Once again, thank you so much for all the love towards the story! I genuinely makes my day seeing the reviews and everything else.
So this chapter is going to get a bit darker, it's why I rated it T. There is going to be discussion of Rape and a bit of violence in it. It's not a lot but I don't want to be the reason for someone being triggered. I have it marked in bold before the whole section starts so if you want to skip the ending of the chapter you can. You may miss some stuff, but don't feel like you have to read it.
Other than that, let me know how you feel about Lissa as you're getting to know her. You see her joke a bit more, but also she's going to be showing her psychotic tendencies a lot in this chapter. Also; Hello Damon! Let me know how you feel about their interactions! I was very nervous to get to him since Damon is my flip flop character. I always flip flop if I love him or if I find him annoying. More so in the later season than the early ones.
Thanks again for reading!
Previously on "Ghost of Lifetimes Past"
Damon, down on the ground, blinked at the bold move the girl gave. He wasn't too sure what to feel about Melissa Gilbert. The girl did have Katherine's face, but with her coloring and piercings, it wasn't an overwhelming comparison like it was with her sister. He'd come here to scope out Elena, but when he noticed the other sister in her room, he couldn't help paying attention.
Taking the move as the challenge it was, Damon gave the girl a lazy salute and flashed away just as the albino girl dropped her blinds.
The next morning Lissa got up with a smile. Flipping Damon off had ensured he'd try and seek her out within the next few days. Soon, she'd either have a new friend or someone that she could play around with mentally. She hoped they could get along, though. Early Damon was fun. It wasn't until he started falling in love with Elena did the guy get predictable and boring.
After getting dressed- black cargo pants and a red mesh shirt with her standard platforms- she bounced down the stairs to the kitchen.
"Hey, Jenna, what's on the agenda today?" She asked, skirting around the young woman who was attempting to wrestle her hair into submission. She needed coffee to get through this day. The day after the back-to-school party was always filled with an excessive amount of hungover teenagers and left her thankful she never got drunk at that party. It never made sense to her why they still had that back-to-school party on a Sunday, but they did.
"Well, I get to meet with Jeremy's teacher today. Elena said to watch out for a Mr. Tanner? What do you think of him?" Her oldest niece was usually a good judge of character, so if she also said Tanner was terrible, she wouldn't take anything he said to heart.
Lissa scowled. Mr. Tanner was the type of teacher that made kids hate a subject. Since he taught her favorite one, it always irked her how he treated his students. For that reason alone, she purposefully made herself seem stupid but would completely ace any test or quiz he had. He was convinced the "incorrigible girl" was cheating but could never prove it to anyone. Jokes on him, she wasn't cheating at all. She just knew the subject well and decided that he deserved to be fucked with.
"The dude deserves to be boiled in hot oil." At the wide eyes Jenna had on her face, Lissa realized she might have been a bit too brutal. Most people don't wish that level of violence on others. "I mean, not really, but he's a major dick."
Jenna nodded along to that sentiment. She'd had a couple of professors like that. The way she said it was a bit concerning, but she was a teenager, they were prone to exaggerations. Plus, dick teachers bring the worst out of people. "Thanks for the warning. I'll keep an eye out for the guy."
Shooting her aunt a thumbs up for good luck, Lissa made her way to school. She was a bit early, but she wanted to check in with Jeremy before their classes. She didn't remember where exactly he went after Vicki was attacked. Little things like this she didn't remember. It was only because she was slightly obsessed with the show that she remembered the big things. So scenes where, in the long run, it doesn't matter? They didn't stick with her.
Her eyes swept the yard before landing on Jeremy standing in front of Tyler and his friends. That was not going to end well. Jeremy was already incredibly jealous of Tyler since he liked Vicki; add in Tyler's lack of genuine care for his "girlfriend," it was a disaster waiting to happen.
Lissa didn't wait to find out what had been said or done; the minute Jeremy went to shove Tyler she slotted herself between the two, taking the shove herself.
She let out a grunt as she took a step back to absorb the force of her brother's shove. "You know, Jay, when Jenna told me you left early, I was thinking you'd be at the hospital or even getting high, not picking a fight."
The reprimand was taken just how she thought it would be, with a frown, but ultimately Jeremy backed down.
"Are you taking Tyler Lockwood's side?" He asked, eyebrows raised at the turn of events. Tyler and Lissa's hatred was legendary in Mystic Falls. "I'm your brother!"
Lissa rolled her eyes at the younger boy. "I probably won't ever take Tyler's side, but I can acknowledge that he would beat your ass in a fight. So, before that can happen, I'm putting a stop to it."
Jeremy scowled at his sister, hurt that she seemed to think he couldn't win against Tyler, a guy she hated. "Whatever. I'm out of here."
"Great, I love fighting with my brother." She muttered, turning towards the guy she'd been keeping her brother from hitting.
Tyler had a weird look on his face as he stared at her. Like he wasn't sure what to think about the girl that he had a lifetime grudge against had kind of stood up for him.
"I didn't do that for you or for Jeremy. I did it for myself cause we both know you'd kick his scrawny ass, then I'd be forced to retaliate. We both know what that would entail." Her eyes stared into him, making him grit his teeth, reminded of the last time he'd pissed her off.
"Don't think just because of what happened four years ago you still scare me." Despite his words, Tyler could still feel his hair rise on the back of his neck at the dark look in Lissa's eyes, even as he glared, teeth bared and chest puffed up to try and seem more significant than he was.
Lissa just stared at the guy, face blank as she stifled the annoyance that was simmering under her skin at Tyler's words. Then before they could even think, she smiled, all of a sudden, as if a switch had been flipped. "Well, just remember, touch my brother, and they won't even have enough of your body to identify you."
The group of friends was left blinking, just standing there after those dark parting words. "Damn, somehow, I feel like her death threat is a lot more serious than any her brother would have given." Tyler joked to the girls next to him, trying to throw off the uneasy feeling that had been left in Lissa's wake.
With her morning ruined, Lissa went through the day only really talking to people at lunch when she met up with Caroline. She'd tried to get her to agree to come to The Grill, but Lissa decided she needed the day to herself. She was still wound up from earlier and, honestly, didn't want to have to watch what she said around anyone. If she hung out with Bonnie or Elena, she'd have to tone down everything, or else they'd get uneasy with her intensity. Caroline pouted for a bit but understood; she was just as intense, so she understood what she was getting at.
So once the final bell rang, Lissa decided to just have the rest of the day to herself. She stopped by the local bakery, Mr. and Mrs. Kinley were the owners, and they always gave her the leftover morning muffins if she asked. After grabbing those, she made her way to a random clearing in the woods she'd found just outside of the cemetery. Did her hanging out in a clearing near a cemetery just add to the multitude of rumors that were slung around about her? Yes, but she'd learned long ago that if she did everything that others wanted you to do, you'd never be happy.
It was the main reason she'd stopped acting like an excellent, non-psychotic, member of society well before she'd died and come to this life. Why be miserable when you didn't have to be?
For the next hour or so, Lissa sat in the clearing with her muffins and her guitar and just did some thinking. Not many people were aware she did things like this. Playing around with music and the like has always, even in her previous life, been an outlet for her emotions. Most days, she would take half an hour or so to just strum her guitar to think things through. It was like Elena's diary but less likely to be stolen and read. This way, the emotions and thoughts are released but not to where people can use them against her.
As the sun started to go down, she started packing up her stuff to leave. Just as she got it all together, she felt that same chill from the night before. Damon was watching.
"You know, instead of being a creep, you could just say 'hello' like a normal person," Lissa called out into the darkening woods.
Some random noises, a swoosh, and suddenly Damon stood in front of her. "Hello."
She jerked back at the suddenness of Damon appearing before her. Her mouth curved into a frown as Damon's smile went from just a cocky smile to a smug smirk at the fact he'd apparently scared her. "You know, if I didn't already know about vampires, that would have actually given me a fright."
"Then I supposed that jump at me appearing was just you feeling the need to move away?" Damon chuckled. "I'm Damon. Damon Salvatore, you've met my brother Stefan. From what he says, you nor your sister are aware of vampires, yet here you are mentioning them in casual conversation. Hmm, odd, doncha think?"
"Nope. What I find odd is you watching me, a 16-year-old girl, change last night." She said, tone just a bit frosty. It was odd the guy was watching her change; he was physically 25. "I may be comfortable with you looking, but any other girl would be appalled at the thought of being spied on. "
Damon stepped back, giving the girl a bit of room. "Ahh, but it wasn't any other girl last night; it was you. So does it really matter?"
Shrugging, Lissa mentally gave Damon a mental point. He had her there. "Alright, smartass, why were you watching me?"
Damon opened his mouth to answer but stopped as the white-haired girl turned and started walking away. Pursing his lips at the fact she didn't even try to stick around for his answer to her own questions, he sped up to walk next to her. "You know, most people, when they ask a question, stick around for the answer."
"I could still hear you. You also have two legs; you can walk next to me." She snarked. "Plus, I gotta get home to make dinner. It's my turn."
Jaw clenched, Damon grabbed the impotent girl and swung her around to look at him. Looking her deep in the eyes, he attempted to compel her. "You will listen to what I say, anything, I say."
Instead of the blank stare he was used to when he compelled a girl, Lissa was staring back at him, anger making her icy eyes seem like daggers.
The feeling of compulsion was hard to explain. It was not unlike the imperious curse described in Harry Potter, but as a human, you can't really acknowledge the feeling. It didn't matter if you had vervain or anything; it still tended to leave a fuzzy feeling in your brain even with the commands not taking hold. She'd fed Enzo extra blood one time so he could compel her back before she had the vervain piercings and tattoos. It wasn't a feeling she liked. She was a person that needed control, so the lack of it that comes with compulsion terrifies her.
Without breaking eye contact with Damon, she reached her right hand up to grab his wrist. Instead of immediately setting the arrogant man on fire, she slowly allowed her palm to heat up until she could feel his skin bubble under her palm.
The action did precisely what she was wanting. Damon was clearly in pain. Face scrunched up, shoulders tense, he kept looking between his rapidly healing wrist and her.
"I think I'd like you, Damon, genuinely I do, but try to compel me again, and it won't just be your wrist burnt." She glared. "Now, can we have a conversation like civilized people, or are we just going to leave it at this?"
"You think I want to have a conversation, now?" He hissed.
Picking her case and basket that had fallen when Damon had grabbed her, Lissa turned around with a shrug. "Suit yourself. I'm just saying, I think you could use a friend. You don't particularly have any of those."
Damon pressed his lips together, well aware the girl was right, he just didn't want to admit it. Getting Katherine out of the tomb would be a lot easier with someone on his side. And she had shown him she could be ruthless; after all, who burns someone without blinking?
"Alright, say we 'become friends' what's in it for you?" He said, eyebrows raised. "Cause you don't seem like the type of girl to just do something out of the goodness of your heart."
Spinning around, Lissa stifled the need to grin at getting the man's attention. "Vampire protector."
"Vampire protector?"
"Yep, I'm not stupid to think my little fire trick will work more than once or twice." She nodded. "I'm human, meaning I'm basically the easiest thing to kill. At least with you as my friend, I'll have one more line of defense."
Damon could feel his mouth open at the request. "You want to use me as a meat shield?"
"I'm not a complicated girl." Lissa bit her lip. She did want Damon as a friend. She really did; he was an interesting character early on. But this was a gamble. If he felt like it was too much work for him or he didn't get enough out of it, then she knew Damon would disagree before she could even argue her point.
"Deal." He said. "But burn me again and I'll drain you dry."
Lissa grinned, happy that, after the Vicki fuck up, something went right. Damon was, tentatively, on her side. "Don't try and compel me again and I won't burn you."
"Seems like the start of a wondrous friendship."
After Damon flashed away, Lissa was left to make her way home. Seems like even with her meeting with Damon, he'd still had time to stir the pot between the couple as Elena was in the kitchen ranting to Jenna about Katherine and Damon and everything else about Stefan. Not wanting to be sucked into that, Lissa tiptoed past them and made her way upstairs.
Stopping at Jeremy's room, wanting to check and see if he was still mad at her, she wrapped her knuckles across the door. Not getting any reply, but hearing his video games, she went on her way. She'd let him sulk.
Once she made it to her room, she dropped to her bed as she logged onto her email seeing Jason had emailed her.
Hey Snow,
You know how you were looking for Mr. Big and Bad? Well, my sources (no, I will not tell you who, stop asking!) says he's gonna be in New York City for the new art museum opening up. Dude's apparently an appreciator of the arts, who knew? Anyway, that's next month, so if you're still insane enough to want to meet him, that's your best bet. Anyway, don't drag me into this. I already have vampires mad that I sell vervain jewelry. I don't need no original fucker on my case. I'm expecting the regular payment for the info transferred by next week.
Fuck off,
Jason.
A month. She had a month to get a plan together so Klaus didn't immediately kill her. What that plan was going to be, she had no idea. Then, she would have to try and find a way for Damon to find out about Katherine without all the drama and not go off the rails in grief and betrayal. On top of all of that, she needed to get all her schoolwork done if she wanted to graduate.
After sending Jason a quick thanks and that the money, $10,000, would be in his account by tomorrow, she started looking into flights to New York City for next month. Thanking every deity possible that she'd actually remembered stuff about the stock market in this time, or else she wouldn't have money at all. Her parents had left their money to be split between her, Elena, and Jeremy, but they couldn't touch it until they were at least 18 or in college. So she'd done the only thing she could think of to make money, get a fake identity, and start investing in something she knew would pay off. Of course, she made sure to lose some money too or else the police would get suspicious, but in the end, she now had a couple hundred thousand dollars, easily enough to hold her over for a while.
No one could even blame her for taking advantage of her knowledge because they'd all do the same thing if they could. Money made things easier. Whatever rich asshat said money doesn't make you happy clearly hadn't ever experienced financial insecurity.
Feeling her phone vibrate, she saw that Enzo was calling. Her stomach clenched, mouth settling into a frown as she tried to decide what to say to the man. He'd told her about Damon, or in his words, 'the son-of-a-bitch that left me to either die or be tortured.' Despite his words, Lissa remembered the hurt and sadness in his voice as he told her about the time Damon and him were cellmates. Sigh escaping her, Lissa quickly pushed the decline button and put her phone away. She could figure that out later.
The good mood from the deal with Damon was gone; Lissa sent a text to Jenna saying she didn't feel up to cooking. Getting an okay back, she turned over, grabbed her giant stuffed bear, and just laid there trying to ignore the guilt bubbling in her stomach at ignoring Enzo.
Just as she was almost asleep, her door opened with a quiet squeak. "Hey, Lis, just wanted to check in with you."
Lissa let out a quiet sigh. "I'm good, Jen, just got a lot on my mind. Sorry about not cooking tonight. I know I said I would."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"No." She said, hugging the teddy bear a bit harder, "It's just a personal thing. If it gets to the point I can't handle it, I know you'll be there."
"Alright, if you're sure." Jenna patted her eldest niece on the head before leaving the room. Her eyebrows scrunched up as she thought about Lissa. She never knew if she should worry about her or not. She'd never really had that breakdown Jenna expected when Grayson and Miranda died. She'd been expecting it, both Elena and Jeremy had theirs, but Lissa never really broke. Not in the way Jenna expected. Lips pressed together, Jenna left her niece to herself, shaking her head as she walked.
Unlike the day before, Lissa didn't wake up in that same good mood. She'd had to decline 2 more calls from Enzo the night before. He clearly picked up the hint she didn't want to talk since there weren't anymore calls after that.
Staring at her ceiling, face blank, until her final alarm went off, Lissa forced herself to her feet. Not caring what she actually looked like today, she just threw her hair up into a messy bun and grabbed whatever clothes she saw first. Usually, she'd just grab coffee out of the coffee pot downstairs. Still, as she hadn't actually slept more than 3 hours, she knew it was time to go get what Caroline affectionately called 'Crack Coffee,' 7 shots of espresso in a large Americana. There wasn't any way she would be making it through the day without insane levels of caffeine. So after stopping at The Brewery, which doubled as a spiritual shop and a coffee shop, she drug herself through classes.
With the Night of the Comet festival tonight, classes were super easy, aka, she slept through most of them. Even lunch was spent dosing as Caroline went on about how Kennedy Curtis, a senior, was seen with a dark-haired older man. More than likely Damon since he couldn't get Caroline now. Lissa didn't give a shit about Kennedy; she was a Karen in the making. She'd let Damon have his fun. She'd just make sure with him that Kennedy had actually agreed to sleep with him, cause if not, that's when she'd have a problem with Damon's playing.
Once classes were over, Lissa was wide awake, the multitude of naps she'd taken throughout the day energizing her in a way the coffee didn't. Caroline caught her right as she left her last class had even managed to talk her into handing out those stupid flyers with her. So now here she was, covered in sweat, handing out colorful pieces of paper all to satisfy her best friend.
Lissa stood next to The Grill, stifling a yawn behind her stack of fliers when Stefan came up to her. "Hey, Lissa. I wanted to talk to you."
"What's up, Stefan?" Her head tilted involuntarily as she asked her question. "If it's about my sister, I haven't really talked to her much lately, been a bit busy."
"Oh, oh no." He stuttered, shuffling his feet as he realized she knew about the issues him and Elena had been having. "It's actually about my brother. He'd mentioned that you guys had met and made friends? Well, I just wanted to warn you, he's not exactly a good guy."
Before she could even think about it, her eyebrows raised. "Wow, I get not getting along with my siblings, but Damon hasn't done anything horrible to me." Well, besides try and compel her, but that didn't work since she knew about their vampire status. "So I don't get why you're trying to warn me away from him."
"I'm just trying to save you some problems, Lissa. You don't want to get involved with Damon."
"Thanks for the advice, but I think I can decide for myself." She snarled. How dare he try and tell her what to do. Even if she hadn't decided to be on Damon's side in the future, this would have pushed her there. "Now, take a flyer and go."
Lissa shoved one of the neon flyers at Stefan's chest, pushing him further away from her. Stefan, not wanting to further antagonize his kind of girlfriend's sister, just frowned and walked away, taking the flyer with him.
She shook her head, still baffled by Stefan. She'd had two conversations with the dude. She knew he really thought Damon was the biggest bad, but this was ridiculous. As long as you stayed interesting and on Damon's good side, you really didn't have anything to fear from the dude. And his version of interesting is Elena, so it's not too hard to be interesting, just have a personality.
"Well, well, well, it seems you were serious about this friend's thing. You stood up to the big bad Stefan for me and everything. I could swoon" Damon pretended to do just that, putting his hand on his forehead and spinning around.
Lissa rolled her eyes, it seemed like today was 'Salvatores' bug Lissa' day. "Well, I'm not someone that would call you a friend then go back on it." Was that a dig only she caught about Enzo? Yes, did it make her feel better? No.
"Aw, come on! You can't blame me." Damon whined, coming to stand next to her and stealing a couple flyers, handing them out himself. "I mean, in our first conversation you burned me!"
"And you tried to compel me to do anything you asked." She said before stopping as a group of teenagers left The Grill. "I say we're even there."
"Aw, are you still annoyed by that? That was like, 20 hours ago, you should get over it."
"Oh, I am over it, but will I still bring it up to you? Yep"
Damon grinned, having Lissa around was going to be fun. She seemed to be able to keep up with him. "Alright, well, I just wanted to say hey, and warn you, I'm going to be pissing Stefan off. So you may want to stay off rooftops tonight. I'm nice like that."
"Oh, dang. I was really hoping to go rooftop hopping tonight. Guess I'll have to reschedule." She joked.
Damon laughed and gave her a lazy wave as he turned to walk away.
Lissa grabbed his leather-clad arm before he could get far. "Hey, before you go, I gotta ask. Kennedy, I hate the bitch, but you did get her okay for sex before you compelled her, right?"
Eyes narrowing at the small girl, he felt a bit of a sting that she would ask him that. "Yes, I'm not a total monster. Thanks for the confidence." He shrugged her hand off and tried to stomp away.
"Hey, I had to ask. I don't think you would, but I did just meet you. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings." And she knew she had hurt his feelings. The way his shoulders tensed when she asked her question gave that away.
"Whatever, Snowflake." His words may have been a bit harsh but the tension that had taken over his shoulder's eased up and she saw a bit of a smirk back on his face. Good, she hadn't fucked this partnership, or friendship, or whatever-they-were-ship, up before it even really began.
Besides Damon and Stefan stopping by where she was, she'd seen Matt and asked about Vicki. He seemed to be taking her being attacked just as well as she thought he would. But other than that, the only additional time she saw someone of importance was when Caroline came and grabbed her to drag her to the candle lighting. Walking around lighting candles, Lissa was reminded of how many people in this town she actually knew. Knew, not liked, but still. It's a bit weird to think about some of them dying within the next couple of years because of all the vampire and supernatural drama.
Not her problem though, as long as the people she cared about were safe, she was okay with a little carnage.
She had just walked into The Grill with Caroline and Matt when she saw Jeremy make a beeline to Tyler again. Seriously? She didn't understand Jeremy's deal with the guy, sure he was probably jealous of him and Vicki, but did something else go on that she was forgetting.
"Hey, have any of you seen Vicky?" Jeremy asked as they walked up to Tyler's table.
"You're her stalker, you tell us."
Jeremy frowned, not even giving Tyler the reaction he wanted. "I can't find her."
"She probably found someone else to party with," Tyler said. "Sorry, pill pusher. I guess you've been replaced."
"Pill pusher?" Elena asked, eyebrows furrowed.
Lissa shook her head, finally joining the conversation. "Not now, Elena."
"Yes now. Are you dealing, Jeremy?"
Before Jeremy could say anything to his sister, Tyler decided it was still his time to shine. "She's never going to go for you."
"She already did, over and over and over again." He snarled at Tyler, ignoring that Vicki's brother was right beside him.
"Wait, Jeremy, you slept with Vicki Donovan?" Caroline asked, trying not to smile. Little Jeremy was growing up. "I mean, Vicki Donovan slept with you?"
"I didn't even have to force her into it!" He dropped that bomb on the table.
Matt quickly stood up and faced his best friend. "What the hell is he talking about, Ty?"
"Tyler." The table got quiet as they recognized the dark tone of Lissa's. They'd all heard it a time or two, generally before someone ended up bloody. "Is he telling the truth? Cause we've had a conversation about taking advantage of people before."
Tyler scoffed, ignoring that he, just everyone else at the table, had frozen the minute Lissa's voice rang out over the group. "Of course not, your brother is a punk."
Matt shook his head, clearing the slight fear that he knew everyone else felt before he spoke. "How about we all just try and find my sister, okay? My injured sister."
Before Lissa could follow Matt and them, Elena grabbed her wrist and pulled her over towards Jeremy. "Jeremy! We need to talk. As a family."
Both of her siblings rolled their eyes in sync. They were used to the "family talks." Their mother used to do the same thing whenever they had a fight or something. As if healthy families actually sat down and talked about their problems.
"Jeremy, are you dealing? Lissa, why aren't you more upset about this!."
Lissa shrugged. She knew their brother better, and in his mindset right now, neither therapy nor rehab nor any of Elena's "tough family love" talking was going to help. He was just as headstrong as she was, and there wasn't any way he was going to back down once Elena made this into a 'her way or the highway' type of thing.
"I'm not dealing. Lissa's not upset because she knows this. You would too if you had any sort of trust in me."
Elena rolled her eyes at her siblings. It was just like them to try and gang up on her. Well, not this time. "Clearly, these talks aren't doing anything, and Lissa isn't helping curb your addictions at all. So you can either go to therapy, be forced to talk to someone and deal with your emotions, or rehab, where you'll sit in a circle and talk about how your life has gone down the drain."
Jeremy scoffed, it wasn't like he didn't talk to people. He spoke to Lissa just fine. It was just Elena and Jenna, both of who judged him because of his addiction. Lissa at least listened. She wasn't happy about it, but she didn't make him feel like shit.
"Elena, leave it. Jeremy talks to me. That should be enough for now." Lissa stepped between her siblings. Giving Elena a disappointed look, she turned to Jeremy. "Go. Look for Vicki. I'll talk to Elena."
Jeremy gave his favorite sister a small thankful smile before leveling a glare at Elena and walked off.
"Are you serious!? You're just going to let him get away with this? He's dealing, Lissa!" Elena exploded once Jeremy was out of sight. Heads swung to look at the two sisters, The Grill was still very much full and busy.
"He's not dealing. He stopped when I asked him to 2 weeks ago. He just shared his stash with Vicki. You and Jenna would know this if you didn't spend every conversation with him judging him." Lissa said, disappointment coloring her tone. "These 'talks' aren't helping. I'm working on it, but every time you try to push him, it just makes it worse. Drop it, Elena, I mean it."
Elena stared at her sister wide-eyed. That was the most she'd learned about Jeremy's problem since it had started. She looked down, sadness making her eyes burn. "So, what your saying is I'm part of his problem."
Lissa shook her head. "No, but you're not helping him. Let me handle it. This isn't the time to be jealous, yes, I know about your jealousy of my and Jeremy's relationship."
"I-I guess," Elena muttered, walking out of The Grill to the part of town she was supposed to search for Vicki. Lissa pursed her lips, knowing that talk hadn't exactly gone how she'd wanted it to.
TW: RAPE IS DISCUSSED IN THIS SECTION! NO ACTUAL RAPE IS COMMITTED BUT IT IS DISCUSSED AS IF IT HAPPENED! ALSO BIT A VIOLENCE
They'd all gotten to their own sections of town they were supposed to search by now, their "family talk" causing Lissa to be later than she wanted, but she'd made it to where she wanted to go. Tyler's area. She had warned the guy when they were 12. If he actually was taking advantage of Vicki, then it was game over.
She blended into the darkness, her regular black clothing allowing it despite her unnaturally white skin. She wasn't sure how long she waited for Tyler to pass the alleyway she was hiding in, just that it wasn't too long.
As fast as lightning, Lissa grabbed a hold of Tyler, maneuvering him into an aikido hold in his shock. This way, no matter how much stronger Tyler is, he wouldn't be able to brute strength his way out.
"What the hell!" He grunted shoulder pained at the unnatural angle it was in.
Pushing just a bit harder, not enough to break or dislocate it but enough to cause him to grunt, Lissa bent down to Tyler's ear. "Am I going to have to follow through with my threat 4 years ago, Tyler? Cause I really don't want to."
Tyler stilled as he realized who was holding him. He should have realized the girl wouldn't have dropped her questioning just because Matt asked her to. She wasn't friends with Matt, but she was friendly with Vicki, the girl her brother accused him of raping. "Let go of me, you psycho! I don't know what you're talking about."
"Bullshit, or else you would have looked me in the eye earlier than you did." She snarled. "I scare you. Good. Now, do you remember what I said that day four years ago? Cause I do."
"You just muttered some threat, I don't remember it." He gritted his teeth. He did remember it, but he'd never give her the satisfaction of knowing she was still the star in most of his nightmares.
Lissa laughed, not her usual laugh, no, this one was darker and he thought he could hear just a bit of insanity in it. The same one she'd given when he tried to play off what he was doing when he was 12. "Oh, Tyler, don't lie to me. What did I say I'd do to you if I caught you forcing another girl?"
Instead of answering, Tyler attempted to get free, his shoulder still in that unnatural angle, all he accomplished was finally popping his shoulder out of place. He dropped to his knees as the pain hit him. Eyes watering, he looked up at the pale girl. With the light from the street hitting her as it was, he was weirdly reminded of those avenging Valkyrie he'd read about when he was young.
"Well, now that your shoulder is dislocated, you gonna tell me what I wanna know?"
Not sure if she could get him into another hold like she had, Tyler decided it was best to humor the crazy chick. "You said next time it wouldn't be my balls you crushed, it'd be my head."
Lissa's head tilted and she smiled as if she was proud of him for remembering. As if he would forget the worst moment of his life so far. "Good, good, you do remember. So, if you remember that, why did my brother accuse you of raping Vicki Donovan?"
Tyler's pulse jumped as he realized he was in actual danger of dying. Sure, there were rumors that some of the burnt drug dealers were because of Lissa, but he'd thought they were just that, rumors. At least, until he was the one staring into her eyes at this moment. He knew she was 100% willing to kill him.
"You'd never get away with killing me! My dad is the mayor! You know this!" He panicked as his eyes swiveled around, trying to find a way to get away from the alley without tipping her off to what he was doing.
Then, just like the day before, he watched as if a flip had been switched and Lissa's eyes filled with tears. "I-I'm so sorry, Mr. Lockwood! I don't-don't know what happened! I just found Tyler like this!" She sobbed as if she really was grieving the boy that was sitting right in front of her. Then he watched as those tears dried up, the only remnants of them were the slight tracks on her face. "I think you mean, you could never get away with murder. Me, on the other hand?"
"What do you want?" Tyler had made his way from his knees to a squatting position, if he timed it right, he could headbutt the girl, possibly knocking her out and getting away.
"The truth, Tyler. I'm not unreasonable. Did you, or did you not rape Vicki?"
He shook his head. He didn't know where the youngest Gilbert got that information, but he'd never forced Vicki. The threat from Lissa alone stopping any sort of thought like that in their tracks.
"Alrighty then! That's all I needed to know." Lissa grabbed Tyler by his good shoulder and hauled him up to the crate next to where he'd been squatting. Yes, she'd noticed what the boy had been planning. She pushed him down to sit and lean over his knees, she gave him one warning. "I'll count to three, once I hit three, I'll pop your shoulder back into place. Though you'll still want to get it checked out."
"What? What're you going to do to me!" He squirmed, trying to get away from the girl that had just been completely ready to kill him. Now she was trying to perform medical procedures on him? No way!
"Oh, suck it up, Tyler." She rolled her eyes. "One"
"I said wait!"
"Two"
"Did you not hear me?!"
"Better stop squirming or else it may not go in right."
"What? What do you mean?"
"Three"
"GAH!"
Lissa felt around the shoulder she'd just popped back into place. Nothing felt wrong, but it'd been almost 50 years since she'd been to medical school so she could be missing something. "There you go. All nice and fixed. Now, what're you going to tell people when they asked what happened?"
Tyler glared at the girl, hand holding the shoulder she'd just popped back into place in a back alley."That you're a psycho and belong in jail?"
"Wrong!" She slammed her hand down on his injured shoulder causing the boy's face to scrunch up in pain. He hadn't let out any sound, though, so good on him. "You'll say you fell, and I helped you pop it back into place. Because I'm a good samaritan like that."
"You really are crazy if you think I'm not telling everyone what you did!" He hissed, standing up to tower over the short girl.
Before she could even panic at not being able to force him to listen to her, Tyler was pushed against the brick wall behind him.
"You will not remember you were attacked. You fell and popped your shoulder out of place, and Lissa Gilbert helped you put it back."
Tyler's face went blank as he repeated what Damon had just compelled him to do. He blinked before looking at Lissa, eyebrows furrowed as he tried to work out why she "helped him" like the compulsion told him she had. "Thanks or whatever, Gilbert."
Damon and her were silent as Tyler walked back towards where everyone was supposed to meet up. "You really are a little psycho, you know?"
Lissa smirked up at the vampire. "Ahh, but all the best people are. After all, you're the one that attacked Vicki just to get at your brother. That's a bit psycho too, don't you think?"
"You got me there. Wanna explain what was going on with Little Boy Lockwood? I can drive you home while you tell me. It seemed like Blondie was going to be staying at The Grill for a while." Damon offered her his arm like a mock of the gentleman he had been raised to be.
Lissa linked her arm with his, and as they got to his car, she'd only just started on the legendary feud between her and Tyler Lockwood. The story lasted the whole way to her house. Damon's commentary during the entire thing didn't help, sending her into laughter a few times at his ridiculous suggestions on what she should do to the guy.
"So that's why you asked me about Kennedy, you're, like, really against sexual assault of any kind."
"That's kind of what happens when you've dealt with it yourself," Lissa admitted.
Damon growled. He may not have known the girl long, but she had, surprisingly enough, endeared herself to him in the very few conversations they'd had. With his vampire nature, that meant his protective instincts were going wild at the thought of someone tainting someone he'd claimed as his friend. "Who?"
Lissa rolled her eyes, ignoring the warmth that filled her body at Damon's protectiveness. The only person she'd ever hinted at her assault to was Enzo. He'd had much the same reaction, though much more violent. "It was a long time ago. Almost seems like another lifetime ago. The guy is dead. Yes, he suffered. But, now you know why this type of stuff bothers me so much."
"If it happens again-"
"If it happens again, I'll torture and kill them myself. Don't worry, Damon, I learned after the first time."She leaned over and kissed his cheek. It was colder than she thought it would be. "But thanks, I'll be sure to call you so you can get your own licks in."
Before he could tease her about the kiss, she opened the door and made her way into the house, not even looking back at the grinning vampire. Oh, he was so going to give her shit about that mushy shit she'd spewed.
She showered and did her normal skincare routine before heading to bed. Just as she was falling asleep, her phone vibrated. Not looking at who it was, she answered. "Hello?"
"Hey, Snow White, wanna tell me why you were dodging my calls?"
Thank you for taking the time to read! See you next time!