Surprise! I know I normally post on Thursday but I got this chapter done a bit earlier and figured, why not? This is kind of just a setup/filler chapter because we're starting to get into the meat of season 1. And that's when a lot of things will be changing, more so than before.
Lissa's not going to keep her mouth shut about stuff too much longer, even now she's getting tired of playing the good girl. So who's to say when she'll crack.
Let me know what you think! And any predictions you have going forward. I'd love to hear where you think the first scene will be going! It's something that won't really come to fruition for a while, but I'd love to hear predictions!
Anyway! Thank you to everyone that's reviewed, Favorited, and Followed! It really tells me that you enjoy the story and keeps me motivated too!
Previously on 'Ghost of Lifetimes Past'
Reaching up to the table to get a bite of a fry, she scrunched up her nose at the texture. Gross, old fries were never good.
Pausing, Lissa shot up to look around the table and realized-
"That fucker left me with the bill!"
The next day Lissa spent shopping, both for herself and for others. Besides buying way too many clothes, Lissa had stumbled across a metaphysical shop run by an actual witch. Once the woman realized she knew about vampires and everything else, she took her to a back room with more magical stuff. While all the stuff in there had been interesting—there had been a knife that didn't allow the wound to clot or close magically—the only thing she ended up buying was a butterfly necklace that would cloak the user if they closed the wings of the butterfly. It had probably been overpriced but Lissa had always thought cloaking spells were cool and useful yet never been able to find a runic version of them yet.
Hence the need for the necklace.
Now she was packing up since she had an early flight back in the morning and would still have to drive an hour back to Mystic Falls once she landed. Huffing, Lissa gave up trying to get the suitcase she'd brought closed. It wasn't even near zipping. She'd just bought too many clothes and other things for it all to fit in one thing. Looks like she'd have to buy another one and pay for extra at the airport. That sucks.
Now to decide if she was going to brave the city again or just pay the extra just to get one at the hotel gift shop. Taking a peek out the hotel window to see how traffic was, Lissa grimaced at the packed streets and sidewalks. Gift shop it was.
Paying for a black hard plastic suitcase, she was wheeling it back to her room when she accidentally slammed into a woman walking around the corner.
Grunting, Lissa stepped back in an effort not to fall. "Whoa, watch it." She huffed up at the woman.
"Sorry, Miss. I was off in my own world." The woman replied, not making eye contact with her.
Lissa furrowed her brows. That was weird. Sure, a lot of people don't like eye contact, and normally the pale girl would write it off as just that…except she recognized the woman.
She had been the woman that brushed past her in the square the day of Stefan's party. The only reason Lissa even recognized her was because she had been a new face in Mystic Falls. She made it a point to remember everyone's face that lived there since, in that town, it literally could mean life or death.
"Do I know you?" Lissa asked. "You look familiar, that's all."
The woman's eyes widened just a tiny bit. If she hadn't been looking for it, Lissa would have missed it. "I don't believe so. I think I would remember someone as strikingly beautiful as you." The woman complimented.
"Oh! Thank you." Lissa blushed, reaching out straightening the woman's jacket, before backing away. "Sorry about that. Where we ran into each other was all messed up. Figured I'd straighten it out."
She laughed, waving Lissa off. "No worries. Sorry about running into you again. It was nice meeting you." The woman said, already walking away from the pierced girl.
Lissa waited until she heard the elevator start moving before shaking her arm allowing the wallet she'd snatched when straightening the woman's jacket to fall from her own sleeve. "Gotta love pickpocketing skills. Good thing I'm not too rusty."
Clicking her tongue, the white haired girl made her way back to her room. Leaving the suitcase at the door, she went over to the table to go through the wallet. First thing, ID.
Sarah Lovelane
Lissa stared at the name confused. She'd been expecting a name at least partially familiar, but this one rang absolutely zero bells. Humming in disappointment, she pulled out the cash, only about $200, and credit cards. Once those were out the woman didn't have much left in the wallet that wasn't trash. Fair, Lissa's own wallet was half full of receipts she just hadn't thrown away. But who knows what was helpful, so she decided to go through the scraps of paper. It was close to the end of the stack that she let out a triumphant "ha". There was a handwritten note. It had the Gilbert residence address at the top and just the words Watch the defective one.
So this was purely about her. And probably from someone that knew about doppelgangers going by her description. Well, unless they were ableist and were discriminating just because of her albinism, but she doubted that. For as dark as the supernatural world was, they didn't really discriminate that much.
Still, rude. She wasn't defective. If anything her mutation made her prettier. Suck on that, random note writer.
Deciding to deal with this whole thing back in Mystic Falls, Lissa threw the trash and cards away and put the ID, money, and note into her own wallet. She still had to finish putting things away before getting some sleep. Her flight back wasn't until noon but she wanted to get breakfast and coffee before the flight or else she'd probably murder someone in the air. Being stuck in a metal tube with idiots that don't know how to be quiet without caffeine would test a saint's patience, and she was no saint.
Once Enzo and her house came into view, Lissa's shoulders slumped down in relief. It was only 6 in the afternoon but she felt like she'd been awake for days. Next time she had to go somewhere she was just driving. Dealing with TSA and then being stuck with idiots for however long the flight was, drained her more than a long drive ever would. She'd already let Jenna and Jeremy know she'd be staying at Enzo's so she didn't have to worry about that. Lissa was pretty sure Jenna expected her to just move out soon, not that she would. Not just yet.
Heaving her—still—too full suitcases out of the back of the SUV, she hurried inside. Tilting her head at the sound of talking and smell of cooking, Lissa left the two suitcases at the door and made her way to the kitchen. Pushing the swinging door open, she involuntarily grinned at the sight that greeted her. Enzo and Caroline were at the stove, clearly bickering about something they were doing. Enzo had her skirt apron on covered in flour while Caroline was repping her own mess on what Lissa knew was an old shirt of Enzo's. To top off the scene was Jeremy sitting at the dining table with what looked to be a chunk of tomato in his hair drinking one of Lissa's strawberry daiquiris.
"Well, isn't this a cozy scene?" Lissa chuckled, leaning against the door frame. All three heads flipped towards her, matching smiles appearing.
"You weren't supposed to be here for another hour!" Caroline squealed, wiping her hands on the shirt before running over to pull her into a hug. Enzo followed at a more reasonable pace, but did get his own hug once Caroline had let go.
Lissa shrugged. "Yeah, they had an earlier flight open up that was a direct line from New York to here so I took it. Wasn't expecting a tiny welcome home party so didn't think to tell anyone."
"I told them you would somehow ruin the surprise," Jeremy said from the table. "Yet both swore they'd get it all done by the time you got here."
Caroline shot a tiny glare at Jeremy as she walked back over to the stove. "It would have been perfect if she didn't get here early! I had it perfectly planned."
Jeremy, knowing better than to disagree with Caroline Forbes on planning, just nodded along. It was safer that way.
"That girl is a tiny bit frightening. She gave me an itinerary for tonight. Like this was some big party and not just us wanting to surprise you." Enzo whispered in her ear.
"I can hear you!"
Enzo's hands went up as an innocent smile flitted across his face. "I respect it. Doesn't mean it's not scary, Blondie."
Lissa laughed as she walked to the fridge, stopping to mess with Jeremy's hair, dodging the swat he tried to get her with. "I see you got into my drinks. Didn't want one of Enzo's beers, huh?"
"Eh, your stuff tastes better."
"You're not wrong, brother dearest." She said sitting down across from him at the round dining table. "Now Care, after you put those pizzas in the oven, you'll wanna get your own drink, cause it's time we had a conversation that's been a long time coming."
Caroline narrowed her eyes over at her best friend. She knew the pale girl had been hiding stuff from her for a while. She was a good liar, one of the best really, but some stuff just didn't make sense, especially recently. Of course, she'd wanted to interrogate her, but Caroline had learned early on it was sometimes easier to just wait for Lissa to just come to you—even if it did kill her to do it. Closing the oven door, the blonde sat down in the middle of Jeremy and Lissa, her own strawberry daiquiri in front of her now.
"I'm guessing the trip to New York went well if you're telling her." Enzo commented, sitting in the last open chair.
"About as well as it could have, yeah. Few death threats, some diabolical planning, you know how vacations go." Lissa agreed before meeting Caroline's curious eyes. "What I'm going to tell you will change your world view, you sure you want to know?"
Caroline glanced at Jeremy and Enzo, both of them giving her their own version of comforting looks. "I want to know."
"Alright." Lissa said before starting the long explanation of the supernatural.
It was more in depth than she'd given both Elena and Jeremy. Caroline hung on every word, eyes intense as she stared at all three of them. Jeremy himself had reacted to the few things that were new to him. Lissa, knowing it was best to get all three of her people on the same wavelength, told them as much as she could. She left out knowing the future, not wanting to really spook Caroline and Jeremy, but she did mention and show her fire and shield. Lissa even outed Sheila and Bonnie, but told them not to let on that they knew. It was a couple hours and four pizzas later that the explanations finally wound down.
"…So vampires, witches, and werewolves are a thing. You're some type of failed witch ingredient that's caused you to be magical but not. Enzo, Damon, and Stefan were already vampires and Kennedy is a new one. Bonnie is a witch and Elena is something called a Doppelganger but doesn't know any of this besides the basic knowledge and the Bonnie thing." Caroline summarized. "Anything else?"
"I spent my trip to New York making a deal with an original vampire about sacrificing my sister but bringing her back because he needed her blood to make special werewolf, vampire hybrids." Lissa added. "Oh, and I found out I was being followed but not why."
"You're sacrificing Elena!?" Jeremy accused, leaning forward in anger. "She's your twin. Our sister."
Lissa, in an opposite move, leaned back and crossed legs. "If you'd have listened to me I also mentioned the fact she would be brought back to life. We don't get along but I'm not going to let her perma die. God, Jer, I'm a psychopath but not heartless."
"That's kind of exactly what psychopath means, though." Caroline whispered to herself.
Enzo, seeing an impending fight between the siblings, interrupted. "What do you mean you're being followed?"
"I mean a new woman in Mystic Falls turned up at the same hotel in New York. There's no way that's a coincidence." Lissa explained.
Enzo nodded. That was a fair assumption. He'd have to keep an eye out for anyone else. Who's to know if she would be the only one to follow Lissa.
Caroline, unlike Enzo, was skeptical. "Wait, what if it was just a weird coincidence? It happens. It's kind of wrong to just assume that someone is up to no good."
"Oh I also stole her wallet and found a note saying to follow me."
"Nevermind, then."
The rest of the night was spent with Caroline and Jeremy asking questions about the supernatural and Lissa and Enzo answering as best as they could. More like Lissa answering, while Enzo knew a lot, he had been kept captive for decades. He never got the opportunity until recently to explore the community like Lissa had.
Finally, around 2AM, Jeremy passed out on their couch signaling the end of the Q and A. Caroline, a bit too tipsy to drive after all the revelations, just crashed with Lissa in her bed.
It was a couple days later that Lissa woke to her phone ringing nonstop. Groaning, she felt around beside her for her phone before finally finding it under the pillow.
"What?" She snapped, voice rough from just waking up.
"Good morning to you too, sunshine." Damon's chipper tone came from her phone causing the pale girl to make a disgusted face. It was too early to deal with Damon's shenanigans. "I was just calling to see if you've talked to Kennedy about the crystal necklace?"
"Honestly, Damon, I forgot I was supposed to be getting that."
"Well, unforget, Snow Princess, because I need that crystal." Damon demanded. "And Kennedy still won't talk to me so it's up to you to get it."
"For fucks sake, it is…" Lissa turned to check her clock, sighing at the early hour. "7AM on a Saturday. Couldn't you wait like two hours before you make me get up?"
Damon rolled his eyes on his end. Teenagers. "If you had held up your end before this, I wouldn't have called you this early. Sadly, looks like you didn't. Ergo, time to get up."
"Fine, I'll go talk to her but I want you to know I'm visualizing gouging your eyes out with hot pokers." Lissa said, ending the call before the vampire could reply and flopping her arm back across her bed.
"Damon sucks."
"Don't know what he did but I agree." Enzo remarked walking past her open bedroom door causing the sleepy girl to smile. Lissa stared at her ceiling just trying to get her motivation to go about her day. The past few days had been spent getting further ahead in homework, doing some finance rearranging and going over her investments for the holiday season that was coming up, before ending with a couple calls to some of her contacts to see if they could look into who Sarah Lovelane was.
So far none had gotten back to her, but she hadn't expected them to just yet. Her biggest hope was Jason, he was normally the one that came through for her with information, while she sent him business anytime she came across a human that needed a few new trinkets against vampires or other things that go bump in the night.
"Bleh" She scrunched her nose up before forcing herself out of bed. Why the hell had she agreed to get that necklace again?
Walking over to her bathroom, Lissa sent a text to Kennedy to meet up with her at The Grill for breakfast. Lucky for her, Kennedy was an early riser so by the time she was done with her rather speedy shower, she already had an okay text back.
Hair still wrapped up, Lissa looked over her closet at this house. The one bad thing about basically living at two different houses? She never knew what clothes she had where. And with the seasons changing it was starting to annoy her. Deciding that it was a baggy camo cargo pants day, she tucked a tight long sleeve black shirt in those and put on some black chunky tennis shoes. Looking in the mirror, she shrugged. Good enough, not like there was anyone to impress in this town.
Stopping by the kitchen, she let Enzo know she was leaving and probably was going to be at the Gilbert house that night, so if he needed her to just text. Grabbing her wallet, phone, and keys, she left the house.
Yawning as she walked through the doors to The Grill, she stared dead eyed at the chipper girl sitting at one of the tables. Of course Kennedy was a morning person, because why wouldn't she be? Couldn't the girl be not annoying in anything she did? Lissa was certain the way she opened her mouth to talk annoyed her.
"Good morning!"
"Oh fuck off Kennedy, how are you so happy so early on a Saturday?" Lissa grumbled. She'd pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head, not wanting to be that asshole that wore them inside, before laying her head down onto the cool table.
"I am just enjoying being out in the sun still. After three days of never being able to even touch sunlight I've grown to love it now." Kennedy smiled as happy-go-lucky as she'd ever seen her.
Lissa snorted in disbelief before raising her head up to look at the other girl. "And the truth?"
"I got laid by a very attractive man. And he wasn't Damon."
"Now that makes a lot more sense."
Before Kennedy could reply, the waitress, someone Lissa only recognized as a girl that graduated a couple years ago, came by to take their orders. Kennedy only ordered some fresh fruit and an iced coffee. Next to that order, Lissa's full breakfast with extra bacon and black coffee really made her look like a glutton if the waitress' reaction was to go buy. Good thing the pale girl didn't care. In this life she could eat as much as she wanted yet still didn't seem to gain weight and if she did it was only a couple of pounds. Even if she did, it wasn't like she cared what she weighed.
"You saving room for a bloody Mary later?" Lissa joked.
Kennedy scoffed. "No, some of us actually care about our figure."
"Kennedy, you're dead. You don't gain weight, except if you gorge yourself on people."
"It's the principal of the matter."
Lissa rolled her eyes, mocking the other girl's words. "Anyway, I didn't just ask you here because I enjoy your company, actually I kind of hate your company."
Kennedy raised an eyebrow. But let the insult slide off her, she was used to it at this point, having spent more time with the pierced girl this past month or so than ever before.
Just as Lissa was going to continue the waitress came back, after dropping their food off, she ripped the ticket off her order pad and left it with them. Taking a bite of food, she started. "As you've probably started remembering, Damon basically used you as a play thing, right?"
Kennedy flared her nostrils as her lips pursed. "Yeah, thanks for reminding me."
"Yeah, traumatic I'm sure." Lissa dismissed. "But he says he gave you this ugly yellow crystal necklace for safe keeping, do you know where it is? He's on my ass about getting it since you won't talk to him."
"Old thing that kind of looks like it would be on some grandma from the 1800s?"
"Yeah! That's it."
Kennedy shrugged, eating a slice of strawberry. "I gave it to Bonnie, you'll have to ask her."
"Bonnie?" Lissa asked, flabbergasted. "Bonnie Bennett? You two aren't even friends. Why'd you give it to her?"
At her question the vampire paused and looked off behind Lissa. It was a moment before she answered. "I…just felt like she should have it. It should have been hers."
Lissa stopped eating and let her shoulders slump. Emily Bennett. That sentence was pure Emily. She must have gotten into Kennedy's head somehow. Dream, general dead witchy stuff, something to plant the idea of giving the necklace to Bonnie. Having figured it out, she snapped her fingers in front of the dark haired girl's face. "YooHoo, Earth to Kennedy. You can stop being weird now."
Kennedy came back to herself, shaking her head as if to clear away something. "Yeah, so I gave it to Bonnie. If you want it back, ask her."
Lissa just nodded as she waved the waitress down to get a box for her food. She'd have to stop by the Boarding House to talk to Damon. Maybe if she worded things right they could bypass Damon almost killing Bonnie and his whole redemption arc that was multiple seasons long between those two. If not, eh, she tried.
Saying bye to Kennedy, she left money for the food and tip on the table and made her way back to the SUV and to the Boarding House. Pulling in she was happy to see Damon's car in the driveway. Less happy to also see Stefan's but what can you do?
Letting herself in, Lissa announced herself with a loud "Knock knock. Daymee-Poo, I have some information~"
Damon sauntered into the room, disgusted look on his face. "I don't know what that was but never do it again." He let out a scoff. "Daymee-Poo. Gross"
"Aw but here I am being the nicest person ever bringing you information and leftover breakfast." Lissa preened, holding the leftover box as if it was an ultimate prize to be desired.
"I suppose I can make an exception for information and food." Damon relented, grabbing at the food box. Opening it he made an appreciative sound. "Ooh, pancakes and hash browns. You even saved me a piece of bacon. Gasp! You do love me!"
Stefan, drawn to the playful banter, walked into the kitchen that the two of them had relocated to. "Hello, Lissa. How are you?"
Lissa stopped moving, staying completely still before whispering. "If I don't move do you think he'll go away?"
Damon started laughing as Stefan looked at her disappointed that she still didn't like him. He didn't even know why. They'd never really had any arguments like her and Damon, nor had he done anything to her. Lissa's hatred of him left him baffled. "I'm not a dinosaur, despite what you would say about my age."
"Shit, well I tried."
Damon grinned at her. It wasn't normal people chose him over the "nice" brother. "Stefan does so like to rain on people's parades. Now, sit, did you get the crystal?"
"What crystal?" Stefan asked. He was surprised that Damon had even brought someone into his plans, let alone some human girl. Glancing over at Lissa, Stefan realized it may be because she was different enough from Katherine he wasn't reminded of the past yet still had that same look. "I hadn't realized you'd shared why you were in Mystic Falls with anyone, Damon."
"Just the Snow Princess here, brother. Don't worry, you'll be the next one I go to when I decide to spill my guts." Damon assured. "Now, shoo. The adults are talking."
Stefan opened his mouth to argue–Lissa wasn't even an adult!–but remembering that he was still pissed at Damon for even thinking of killing Lexi, he gave Damon a dirty look before leaving the Boarding House.
"Hmm, still holding your attempted murder of Lexi against you, huh?" She asked, hopping up onto the counter, while Damon pulled a barstool to the island and started eating the leftovers.
Still chewing, Damon shrugged. "Itsh nat life I ashually dif it"
"Swallow your food before talking. I know damn well you weren't raised in a barn."
Damon's reply was to exaggeratedly swallow his food before showing her his empty mouth. "Happy?"
"Ecstatic." She said, voice as dry as the desert. Deciding to annoy someone while Damon ate, she pulled out her phone and smiled. She could text Klaus. She'd texted him a few times over the week, mainly to bitch about the idiots in town…and once about Enzo eating the last of her cheesecake she'd bought. Surprisingly enough he'd played along, even sent her a new cheesecake–something about if he read one more text about her missing cheesecake he wouldn't have to break his curse because he was going to off himself. Which, dramatic.
Snapping a picture of Damon, cheeks puffed up with syrup on the edge of his mouth, she sent it to the hybrid with the caption : Damon Salvatore apparently eats as messily as his brother.
Was that going to bite her in the ass? Probably, but at least it was funny. So far, Klaus hasn't really mentioned her knowledge and it was making her nervous. She knew the man well enough that he used every opportunity to his advantage and she was definitely a big opportunity for him.
"Now what did you find out from Kennedy?" Damon finally questioned once all the food was gone.
Lissa let out a sympathetic 'ooh' at the question. "Yeah, so, Kennedy gave it away."
"She what!" Damon growled standing up to flash towards the door. That no good bratz doll wannabe. He was going to kill her.
"Listen, as much as I want you to go rip her heart out because I gain about as much joy seeing her as I do a pile of dog shit" Lissa started. "It probably wasn't her fault." She admitted, face looking miserable to be doing so.
Damon looked back at Lissa, who hadn't moved from the counter. As if he cared if it was the girl's fault she gave his necklace away or not. That was his ticket to getting Katherine out. "How do you suppose I should go about finding who has the necklace then? Want me to tickle it out of her?"
She shot the vampire an unamused look. "No, I want you to sit back down and stop jumping to conclusions before I give you all the information." She rolled her eyes. "You're over a hundred years old, Damon, learn some patience. It is a virtue after all."
Damon scowled but did listen to her. Something told Lissa this wasn't going to be the last time she had to talk Damon out of doing something rash that would fuck plans up. Kennedy's death wouldn't really do much harm but she was trying to keep the image of 'psychotic but with a touch of caring' that she'd cultivated over the years. Did she care about the people in Mystic Falls? Absolutely not. But if she just let him go out killing any teenager that pissed him off that image would probably break pretty easily.
"Thank you. Now what dead witch owned the necklace before you got a hold of it?" Lissa calmly inquired.
"And that matters why? Do you want me to hold a séance and ask the dead to guide me to it?" Damon asked sarcastically, standing up again to grab some bourbon they had on the counter.
Lissa just looked at the vampire, deadpanned. "Because, smartass, I think they influenced Kennedy to give the necklace to Bonnie."
"You knew who had it?"
"Obviously. I know everything."
Damon pursed his lips as he turned to the cocky girl. He didn't appreciate her riling him up like that. And she knew what she was doing too if her smirk was anything to go by. "Alright then, Snow Princess. If you know everything, why would Kennedy, who was about as vocal about her dislike of the Baby Bennett as she was of you, give her a necklace?"
Tilting her head back and forth as she contemplated mentioning the necklace being possessed, Lissa decided fuck it. She'd never like Emily Bennett. "Kennedy was minorly possessed by the former owner, who I'm going to guess was a Bennet witch."
"How do you know that? Did she decide to reenact The Exorcism or something?" Damon frowned.
"Actually, she did. Head spun around and everything." Lissa scoffed. What did he think possession was? "No, you incompetent vampire, it was just how she acted; like she'd been compelled to give it to Bonnie. And I know she wasn't compelled."
Damon gave her an offended look before downing his last finger of bourbon. "Alright, no need for name calling. So you just have to get the necklace from Bonnie now. No big deal."
"I don't have to do shit." Lissa stated, jumping down from the counter. "Our deal was that I'd get the necklace from Kennedy. Kennedy doesn't have it. Deal's null and void."
Damon slapped his empty glass down onto the counter, barely soft enough that it didn't shatter. "Let's make a new deal then."
"No," She shook her head, chuckling as she did. "Witches will fuck you over dead or alive, Bennett witches especially. The girl may not know much about her powers right now, but I'm not getting on Bonnie's bad side just because you made a bad choice." Lissa started walking back towards the front door, knowing Damon's patience had run out. "Let me know how it goes getting the crystal. I'm sure it'll be a blast."
She grinned hearing a thud from behind. Damon had rushed at her—just as she suspected him to—and run full force into her shield she'd put across the kitchen entryway. He should know by now that she was always two or three steps ahead of him. Lissa pissed off enough people over the years that she knew when to expect an attack, Damon wasn't unpredictable enough not to know when he was going to go for her.
"Better luck next time, Daymee-poo~"
Thankfully the rest of the month passed without much fanfare. They'd somehow got through a very awkward Thanksgiving dinner that included Jenna, Jeremy, Elena, her, for some reason both Salvatores, and Enzo. Caroline had shown up halfway through eating with her death by chocolate cake and murder in her eyes.
The blonde had told her later that night as they both laid in her bed in the attic that her dad's boyfriend's daughter had purposefully spilled red wine on her tan top just to get Caroline to leave early. Something about her not being wanted. Lissa just comforted her best friend as she cried over the annoying girl before offering to "dispose" of her.
Caroline, being the good person she was, refused with a wet laugh.
"This Care-Bear, is why you're such a better person than me. I'd have gutted her where she stood." Lissa had joked.
Caroline agreed with a touched smile before turning over and going to sleep for the night. She really had chosen the best friend back in kindergarten, even if she was missing a few morals.
After a calm weekend of doing homework, annoying Klaus via text—I'm beginning to realize giving you my number has taken away any sort of healthy fear you feel towards me— and trying—then failing—to get back into her mindscape. She had hoped to get back into it to see if there was any sign on what caused the voice. It hadn't shown up until she did that runic spell so the only lead she had was the mindscape.
But no matter how much meditation, sleep, or overall peace she got, she never got back into the hallway with doors.
Getting dressed in a pair of high waisted black skinny jeans, a red and black striped turtleneck, and a cropped leather jacket, she bounced down the stairs, large platform boots causing a loud thud with each step she took.
Quickly making herself an iced coffee in her red tumbler, she yelled up the stairs for Elena and Jeremy to hurry up. She had agreed to drive them to school since Jenna was taking Elena's car to get an oil change and if they weren't down there soon all three of them were going to be late.
Lucky for them all, both her siblings came hurrying down the stairs, book bags swinging against them as they did.
"Could you two have cut it any closer?" She griped as they walked out the door.
Elena and Jeremy glanced at each other and snickered. It was always funny that the sibling that no one would expect to be serious about school, actually was. Lissa was the one with a 4.0 GPA, advanced classes, and even graduating early, while the other two were just average, or in Jeremy's current case, below average. The only mark against Lissa was she skipped school a bit too much. Not that the teachers could say anything since her work was always in on time and normally almost perfect every time.
Once they were at the school all three of them separated, Jeremy went to hang out with his friends, Elena went to talk to Caroline, and Lissa had to run to the history classroom. She had a question about the essay that was due at the end of the week.
Lissa was digging through her backpack trying to find her history folder when she walked through the classroom doorway. "Mrs. Stapleton, I had a question about-"
Cutting herself off as she looked up and saw not Mrs. Stapleton the long-term substitute teacher they'd had since Tanner's death, but instead someone she knew as Alaric Saltzman. Seriously, it was a bit disconcerting how much everyone looked like the actors that played them.
"You…are not Mrs. Stapleton." She stated awkwardly as she stayed standing in the doorway, checkered folder in hand.
Chuckling, Alaric shook his head. "No, I would say I am not." He gestured to come inside the classroom. "Come in, I'm Alaric Saltzman. Yes, I know it's a mouthful. Just call me Ric. And you are?"
Smiling, Lissa walked inside and dropped her bag on one of the front desks. "Melissa Gilbert. Just call me Lissa." She joked. "If you've read Tanner's notes I'm sure you know a bit about me." If Jeremy had his own folder, she was certain there was at least something said about her in Tanner's notes. They had an unspoken—and spoken—hatred of one another.
"You were not what I was expecting, going by the man's…many notes." Alaric grimaced as he thought about the words the old history teacher had used to describe the young girl in front of him.
"Called me a cheating bitch, didn't he?" Lissa grinned smugly. She took pride in her downright menace status that she'd had with Tanner. Fuck that man, he deserved getting his throat ripped out by Damon. Now that she thought about it she never did thank Damon for doing that.
The history teacher cleared his throat awkwardly. "Among other things, yes. But don't worry, I burned those pages as soon as I could. While the Jackass file, that now I realize is probably all about your brother, was something I didn't feel too bad keeping if just to throw away later. The things he wrote about you were…cruel, to say the least."
Lissa waved her hand at him. She didn't care what the bitter man had said about her. "Thanks for that, though I really didn't care about him or his opinion. I only started the feud with him because first day of my freshman year he insinuated that women were stupid." She scowled just thinking about Tanner's sexist remarks over the years. "Hence, the "stupid girl" that got all 100%'s on his tests. He'd taken to giving me my own tests, different from everyone else's just to try and prove I was cheating."
"The more I learn about this man, the more I dislike him." Alaric shook his head. "Anyway, you clearly came in for something. What can I help you with?"
"Oh, yeah! I had a couple questions about the essay that Mrs. Stapleton was having us do in AP-History." Lissa started before going in on her inquiries. Since the AP class was so small, the sub had given each of them a decade in American history and it was up to them to go over each event and how it affected the country in later years to come. Lissa had been the lucky—in her opinion—recipient of the 1970s. Nixon, Watergate, Vietnam, there was a whole slew of things she was wanting to write about.
The rest of the time before first period was spent going back and forth with Alaric about how she could go about tying all that together and expunging on how it was still affecting American politics now. They both agreed on a lot of stuff, including their shared hatred of Richard Nixon, so it was generally an enjoyable half an hour.
As the bell rang overhead, the two of them jumped. They had gotten so drawn in on their debate on which events were more impactful that neither had realized the time.
"Oh, damn. I didn't even notice the time. I don't think I've debated like that over US History since back in college." Alaric admitted scratching the back of his head. "Here, I'll write you a note so you don't get in trouble with your first period teacher."
"Thanks, I have chemistry first and Ms. Steele, while nice, hates when people are late." Lissa said, grabbing the sticky note Alaric had written on before grabbing her bag, waving bye as she wove through the entering students.
After school Lissa drove Caroline and herself to the Gilbert house. Enzo apparently decided he needed vein blood instead of the bagged stuff so was going to a bar a couple towns over for the night. That left the two of them to hang out without him. Elena had texted earlier asking them to stay over with Bonnie since she was being haunted—Elena's words—so they had picked up a bunch of food at The Grill and some movies to watch.
"So he said 'hey' twice to me today after a month of awkward no talking he decided to start doing 'hey' again! And when I confronted him on it, he called me Lame-Girl! ME!" Caroline ranted. "I'm not lame. You wouldn't be my friend if I was lame. He's lame. That's why you don't like him."
"Well…" Lissa tilted her head side to side. "There's not really one solid reason I dislike Matt, but sure we'll go with it's because he's lame."
"Ha! I'll tell him that next time. See what he thinks of that." Caroline huffed before stepping out of the now parked SUV. "I'll grab the food if you grab the movies."
Lissa chuckled and she gave the fuming girl a thumbs up. Somehow, Lissa doubted Matt was going to care if she thought he was lame. Grabbing the movies—really Caroline? Four horror movies and two rom coms?— Lissa walked inside and sat them down on the living room coffee table to choose from later. Just as she turned to find Elena standing a tad too close.
"Whoa, I know we shared a womb, 'Lena, but we don't need to be that close together anymore." Lissa said, taking a step back.
"I need to talk to you."
"Ooh-kay" She muttered, confused.
Elena grabbed her twin's hand and dragged her back towards the porch outside. Once outside, the dark haired girl glanced inside to make sure Bonnie and Caroline were preoccupied with the food. "I've talked to Stefan about this but you seem to understand him better. You need to get Damon to back off Bonnie."
"Listen, Elena, if Damon is bothering Bonnie, I have no part in it. Plus he's only been bothering her for like two weeks. It can't be that bad."
"I know you don't have a part in it, but you and Damon are friends, for some insane reason, you can get him to quit threatening her." Elena insisted. "He did that today, by the way, threatened Bonnie. That's how bad it's gotten in just two weeks."
Lissa shrugged, lost on why she was so adamant that she could help. "Damon and I are, at most, frienemies. And he's not just going to stop because one or two people ask him to. From what I understand that crystal is going to help him with whatever he came to Mystic Falls for."
Elena sighed. That was just great. That meant Damon was probably never going to give up on that crystal. At least Bonnie had gotten rid of it on the drive here. They can just tell Damon the general area and hope for the best. He should leave Bonnie alone now that the crystal isn't in her possession.
"What the hell!" Bonnie yelled from inside. "How is this here?"
Lissa and Elena glanced at each other before hurrying inside.
Bonnie stood next to her bag, staring down at it, horror on her face. Caroline stood at the counter looking both confused and concerned. Once the two of them were in sight, Bonnie turned to Elena and demanded, "I threw that necklace into a field right? I didn't imagine that?"
"I saw you. The necklace went flying. Why, Bonnie? What's going on?"
"If I threw it away, then what's this doing here?" She shrieked, jerking her fist up. Hanging from it was a very ugly old necklace with a yellow crystal. Lissa grimaced at the necklace. She'd forgotten about how creepy Emily Bennett had been to Bonnie. She respects the creepiness, but damn. If she was trying to endear herself to the newbie witch, that was not the way to do it.
Watching as Elena and Bonnie freaked out over the necklace, Lissa walked over to Caroline, who had stayed in the kitchen, a bit away from the freakout. "I said it once, I'll say it again; Witches, dead or alive, will fuck you over." She whispered to her blonde friend.
"Does that include Bonnie?" Caroline whispered back, eyes not leaving the two girls in the dining area.
"Eh, to be determined."
Elena turned to the two of them, face determined. "We need to see why Emily is haunting Bonnie."
Caroline gave the dark haired girls a confused look. "Who's Emily?"
"The ghost, Caroline." Bonnie explained walking into the kitchen necklace clutched in her whitening fist.
"We've named it now?"
Lissa shook her head. "No, Care, it came with a name. It's her ancestor."
"How do you know that?" Bonnie questioned, suspicion coloring her tone. "I never told you that."
Fuck, she hadn't. Thinking up a lie, Lissa leaned back against the counter, picture of nonchalance. "You and Elena aren't that good of whisperers. I eavesdropped."
Elena scoffed. That was just like her sister, telling others to keep out of her business yet sticking her nose in other people's problems.
Caroline, pushed off the counter she'd been leaning on next to Lissa, and turned to Bonnie. "Since we have a name and something connected to her, why don't we do a séance? You can just ask the ghost, Emily sorry, about what she wants."
"Or…how about not? Doing a séance with normal people and normal ghosts are one thing." Lissa explained. "But doing a séance with a witch and a ghost witch, especially one between ancestors, is just asking for a full possession,"
"Oh, hush, I didn't ask you." Caroline waved her hand at the pale girl without looking away from Bonnie. "Bonnie, do you want to know what Emily wants?"
Bonnie stared at Caroline's determined eyes before glancing over at Lissa, who didn't really look worried despite telling her she could get possessed if she did the séance. "Elena, what do you think?" She asked wanting the opinion of the girl that was as good as her sister.
Lissa discretely rolled her eyes. She'd warned Bonnie not to do the séance. Now if they did it, that was on them.
"…I think you should do it. Lissa's warning is scary, yes, but isn't living with being haunted also scary?" Elena muttered.
Bonnie nodded. "We're doing a séance."
Great, well, she wasn't going to stop Damon when he attacked Bonnie/Emily. If Bonnie wanted to be stupid and get possessed by a dead witch bitch that was knowingly pissing off a vampire that was stronger than Bonnie, then she can. Lissa was done playing nice with them. She tried the 'gear them a different way' now she was just going to go along for the ride and afterwards tell them a very sweet "I told you so."
Thank you for reading and enjoying!~