History Repeating - Part 1
A month has passed, Dearest Diary, since the last time we've spoken. And yikes. It's been a doozy.
First off: Damon has barely left me alone, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it's hard to explain his presence around my mom without outright telling her that he is my "boyfriend" (which is not something I want to play off again) or that he's actually my supernatural bodyguard because some weird person or cult known as Crucifix wants to kill all of my friends and they (they being my friends) are worried that I could be killed too. So far, I think Kelly is just under the impression that Damon's severely crushing on me and I'm just oblivious to it all. I mean, whatever floats her boat, right?
Secondly: Something happened between Stefan and Elena during the month since Raphael's death, and now he's been keeping his extreme distance from her. Zach and Lexi, who has been forced by Zach to stay within Mystic Falls until this Crucifix thing has been figured out, have been bouncing back and forth as Elena's new bodyguards while Stefan gets his shit together. Something along the lines of "Elena asked me to keep my distance, so I am". Like yeah, you idiot, that was before we all got threatened by a cult. Zach and Lexi have also been dropping by other houses too, such as the houses that contained Caroline, Bonnie, and Matt, to just check in on them as well when they switch off for shifts. Nothing seems to be out of the ordinary, although Lexi has texted me (now that she has my number) that she's noticed Bonnie being restless throughout the night multiple times. The Emily hauntings must be becoming much worse.
Thirdly: Noble has completely dropped off of the map. He hasn't stopped by to say hello or to say anything since Raphael's death. He's starting to worry me. I don't know if Noble has been caught up with something or if Crucifix found him but literally, just any indication of his presence would make me feel better. Just something.
Fourthly: My nightmares have gotten worse. I've been doing my best not to wake Kelly or Damon up with them (Damon would occasionally sleep over on the couch downstairs), but it's gotten really difficult. It's just a sick, sadistic loop that I'm forever trapped in. The car crash, drowning, Vicki's kidnapping, Vicki's death, Raphael's death. Cycle, rinse, repeat. It's been a miracle I've been able to sleep at all.
Fifthly (good golly, so much crap has happened in the last month): Caroline's now pissed at Bonnie for some weird crap. Something about how she wants Bonnie's necklace back? I was convinced that I had squashed that notion out of her head because Damon hadn't compelled her (I may or may not have confronted him rather violently when I got the angry phone call from Caroline, and he insisted that he hadn't gone anywhere near her. I'm believing him under the principle that he's saved my life a couple of times now, but I am still wary). But no, this is just typical Caroline, the teenage human. Sometimes, even I forget that Caroline's not the entirely mature individual she typically is with me. She's a teenage girl.
Sixthly (is that even how you write that?): Tonight is the night of the séance with Caroline, Elena, and Bonnie, where Bonnie gets possessed by Emily and she ends up destroying the crystal, and I am conflicted. What the hell am I supposed to do? Because on one hand, if I help the story as it was originally written, Damon will be furious with me. He'll know that I knew Bonnie/Emily was going to destroy the crystal. But if I try to help him, I am threatening all of Mystic Falls with destruction from the tomb vampires.
Shit. It's time for school. Damon's gone back to the boarding house to wake up Stefan, and I have to get to school otherwise I'm going to be late.
Oh! And we get to meet Alaric today. That's nice.
"I'm just saying, have you even talked to Bonnie?" Elena asked, glancing towards Caroline.
Caroline folded her arms across her chest and lifted her nose in the air. There was an air of arrogance in her walk. "No, I'm mad at her. She needs to make the first move."
"Be the bigger person, Care-Bear," Victoria sighed, shaking her head. She gripped the straps of her backpack tighter as she dodged one couple who seemed to be trying to have sex with all of their clothes on. She wrinkled her nose up in disgust. "You guys were fine like two weeks ago."
"Well, it's impossible to be the bigger person in her presence," Caroline huffed.
"Why are you so pissed at her anyways?" Elena had to question.
That set Caroline off into a rant. "She's a thief, that's why! I gave her my necklace, and she refuses to give it back. It's a matter of principle."
"This being the same necklace you found on the ground outside of the Lockwood Manor?" Victoria reclarified (even though she knew).
Caroline nodded her head. "Finder's keepers, and all of those rules."
Elena held her hands up in defeat and said, "All right. Well, I tried. I'm officially out of it."
"Probably a smart plan," Victoria told her. "I have a feeling this ridiculousness is going to be going on for much longer than is necessary."
Caroline scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Says the girl who wouldn't talk to me for a week when I mentioned I didn't know or care about the difference between an aria and an arpeggio."
Victoria threw her arms up in the air in exasperation and spouted, "Caroline! First off, those two are completely different things in the music world and I don't even know how you can..." She trailed off when she noticed the smug look on Caroline's face. Victoria felt her face blush and she cleared her throat loudly. "Anyways. Secondly, you cannot bring up conversations from pre-amnesia me. You know I don't remember that fight, so does it really count?"
Elena glanced at Victoria, and there was a flash of disapproval in her eyes. Victoria frowned at the look, her heart aching, and she turned her face away. Elena knowing the truth about her felt...wrong. Every time Elena gave her that kind of look, the look that spoke of how she was a stranger in a friend's body, Victoria felt like an outsider. Like an imposter. A traitor. Of course she didn't remember the fight between her and Caroline. She hadn't been the one to do the fight.
Caroline, bless her heart, was oblivious of the look from Elena and the enormous guilt Victoria was drowning under and looked towards Elena with curiosity, "So, where's Stefan? Have you talked to him?"
"He's avoiding me," Elena sighed, gripping her bag's strap tighter in her hands.
"Why?"
The conversation was thankfully brought to an abrupt end by the ringing of the school bell. Victoria silently thanked the heavens above and said her goodbyes, moving swiftly to get to her next class. Sometimes, the conversations between Elena and Caroline could just torment her. And Elena's side-glances didn't help her either.
The day progressed quickly and it was very anti-climatic, nothing worth mentioning. Just Caroline being upset at Bonnie for trivial teenage matters, the occasional sideways glance from Elena that made Victoria's heart hurt, and no-show Stefan. Biology was tolerable (seriously though, what had changed Mrs. Landstrom from a terrifying woman to someone who pointedly ignored her table? The next time she saw Noble, maybe she could convince him to figure out what had happened. Yeah. That sounded like a plan).
Then came History.
Victoria walked into the class and took her seat, watching as Elena followed in right behind. Her eyes were glued to Stefan's empty seat and Victoria sighed. Stefan was just doing what Elena asked of him. If he wasn't so brooding all the time and if she wasn't so emotional, maybe then they would have a stable emotional relationship.
Bonnie entered the class and the dark lines underneath her eyes were ones that Victoria recognized. She had seen them in the mirror after her many sleepless nights (thanks, nightmares). Bonnie took her seat quickly and fell in on herself. Her shoulders were tense and she seemed very fidgety. Victoria caught Elena's eyes and the adult-turned-teen mouthed, "Check in on her later." Elena gave her a steady nod and Victoria turned her attention back to the front as Alaric Saltzman walked into the room. Victoria shifted in her seat in excitement. She had a soft spot for Alaric too. He was always a cool dude, and what he did for Jeremy later on in the day added bonus points for him in her book.
"Good morning, everyone. Alrighty," Alaric announced, moving towards the board. He grabbed a small piece of chalk and quickly wrote out his name in large block letters. He turned back towards the class and with awkward, presenting hands, stated, "Alaric Saltzman. It's a mouthful, I know. Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue."
I understand, Victoria thought with a chuckle to herself. Victoria Khalida Vanacore is not exactly the world's easiest name either.
"Saltzman is of German origins," Alaric continued. "My family emigrated here in 1755 to Texas. I, however, was born and raised in Boston. Now, the name 'Alaric' belongs to a very dead great-grandfather I will never be able to thank enough." Victoria couldn't help but chuckle at his dry humor and he sent her an appreciative smile when she was the only one to laugh. "You'll probably want to pronounce it 'all-ah-ric' but it's 'ah-lar-ric', okay? So, you can call me Rick. I'm your new history teacher." He walked towards his desk and sifted through numerous papers, finally settling on one. He reached over and grabbed a pencil, before looking back up. "We're going to start things simple and do roll."
He went through a random list of names, mostly extras that were never named in the show. Victoria tuned them out and waited until there was a name she recognized. He reached Bonnie's name first and he read off her name, "Bonnie Bennett?"
Silence.
Victoria flipped around to look at the teenage witch. Bonnie was huddled in on herself, her hands fiddling awkwardly with the crystal necklace around her neck. Victoria discreetly cleared her throat and Bonnie jumped, her eyes flashing around in alarm. Bonnie seemed to regain her senses as Alaric called out again, "Is there a Bonnie Bennett in the class?"
"Here," Bonnie said softly, and Alaric was able to pinpoint out in the sea of students. "Sorry. Mind got...distracted."
"No harm, no foul," Alaric answered with a smile. "Alright, next up..."
He kept going, reaching Elena next on the list. "Elena Gilbert."
"Here, sir," Elena said and Alaric winced.
"Please, Ms. Gilbert. You can call me Mr. Saltzman or Rick. No need to do any of that 'sir' stuff with me," Alaric explained, chuckling. "Makes me feel older than I am."
"Sure thing, Rick," Elena replied, and the two shared a small smile before Alaric went back down the list.
He reached Victoria's name after a long list of students in between. "Victoria LeBlanc?"
"Present," Victoria said, raising a hand to indicate where she was. Alaric caught eyes with her and nodded.
"Ms. LeBlanc, could you stop by my desk at the end of class? There's something I would like to discuss with you," Alaric told her. Victoria nodded, making a mental reminder to do so. Alaric grinned and continued down the list. When he got to Stefan's name, there was just an awkward silence in the class. He seemed to pick up on that awkwardness and quickly glanced over it, moving on to the next name.
After roll call was complete, Alaric jumped straight into the lesson, and Victoria's nerdy history heart just about died. It was the most amazing lesson she had ever listened to, and she had listened to a lot. Most were boring, taught by people who really couldn't care less about history. But Alaric just seemed to get it. He understood the emotions behind the actions of the notable figures in history and he wanted to portray that, rather than just push dates at them for memorization.
When the bell rang, signaling the end of the class and the start of lunch, Victoria was actually upset. She had really enjoyed that lesson.
Victoria gathered up all of her items and stopped by Elena's desk real quick to talk to her about Bonnie. The teenager was still packing up her things, so Victoria leaned down and quickly murmured, "Talk to Bonnie during lunch. She'll open up to you."
"Got it," Elena agreed, glancing past Victoria towards Bonnie. "Is she going to be alright?"
"The best thing we can do for her is to be there," Victoria explained to Elena. "So, you take care of her; I'm going to see what Mr. Saltzman needs with me."
Elena nodded, and Victoria sent a reassuring glance towards Bonnie. The teenage witch gave her a weary smile in return and Victoria could see that she was really struggling. Victoria's heart went out to her. She had been on the receiving end of not-so-great supernatural issues recently; it was not an easy road to walk.
Victoria passed some students who were loitering around in the classroom and others that had tried their hardest to not run out of the classroom. She frowned. Alaric's class had been great. She didn't know what their problem was.
"Hi Mr. Saltzman," Victoria greeted, coming to a stop at the front of his desk. Alaric smiled at her warmly and she returned the smile. "Before we talk about whatever you wanted to talk about, I just wanted to say that today's lesson was amazing. One of the best, if not the best, I've had in a long time so thank you. I really loved it."
"A fellow history aficionado?" Alaric asked curiously, and Victoria nodded happily. "I'm glad to hear that. Too many students nowadays just feel as history is something that should be left in the past."
"Which is false," Victoria interrupted. "Because learning about the past shows us others' mistakes so we don't make the same ones."
Alaric nodded his head in agreement. "Exactly how I feel. Now, about why I wanted to meet with you." Alaric held up a familiar blue folder in his hand and Victoria felt her stomach drop.
She silently cursed and asked weakly, reaching up to press her hand against her forehead, "I'm in the jackass file?"
Alaric raised an eyebrow curiously and glanced between her and the folder in his hand. "You know about this?"
"I knew it existed but I didn't think I would be in it," Victoria grumbled, shaking her head. "Mr. Tanner and I...we didn't get along. The last time I remember having an actual two-way conversation with him involved me accusing him of verbally abusing a student of his and him threatening to expel me for talking back to him."
Alaric's eyes widened in disbelief as she told her tale and he jerked open the folder, his eyes skimming over the first page. He flipped to the next one and his face fell into a thoughtful frown. "Yep. That's all documented in this thing. You and Jeremy Gilbert are its main characters. Some of it is written so poetically in its hate towards you that you could publish it and it would gain awards."
"That's...great?" Victoria asked, confusion riddling her voice. She blinked a few times before asking, "So are you here to tell me that I am going to remain in the jackass folder or what?"
"Oh no, I'm planning on throwing this away as soon as I can," Alaric explained to her. "I want to talk to Jeremy about it before I do, so it'll be with me until the end of lunch. Believe it or not, this," he waved the folder around before he set it back down on his desk, "was not the only reason why I wanted to talk to you." He gestured for Victoria to take a seat and so she hopped onto a desk in the front row. Victoria signaled Alaric to continue. "Every student in this school has a file on them, as I'm sure you're aware. The principal gave me yours to peruse as he believed it would be very beneficial. I'd like to ask you some questions, but if any of them are too uncomfortable, please tell me to just skip and move on."
"Go for it," Victoria said, nodding her head in consent.
Alaric nodded and took a seat at his desk, folding his hands together. "Your file mentioned that you were in an accident almost five months ago."
"On Wickery Bridge," Victoria expanded. "I was on the bridge when the Gilberts lost control of their vehicle. It hit me and all four of us, plus the car, went into the water. I ended up drowning, but I was revived. Elena survived with minimal injuries, but her parents passed away. I fell into a coma for the last month of that school year and the summer. I woke up a week before this school year started. Lost most of my memory from before the accident."
Alaric looked as if he wanted to say something, but he kept it to himself. He continued with the questions. "Since then, your file mentions that you left school early on the first day because you experienced a panic attack?"
Victoria nodded. "There's a bitc-I mean, unpleasant woman-who teaches Biology who said some not nice things to me and so I panicked. Ran out of class."
"Your file says that you came to school multiple times with extreme bruising around your neck. The school wanted to look into it as a signal for abuse, but the hospital came forward and said it was an assault."
"The night of the bonfire, which is this party for the students of the school at the start of the school, this girl named Leah Hastings got attacked by an animal, so everyone ended up scattering to different areas in town," Victoria confirmed. "I went to the Mystic Grill with two of my friends and my mom. My mom went outside to grab her laptop, I went to follow, but pushed into an alleyway and fought my way out. He got grabby, though, and gave me some gnarly bruises on my neck."
"And then there was another attack? An issue between you and a Mr. Lockwood?"
"Tyler, yeah," Victoria sighed, nodding. "At the first football game, the game that Mr. Tanner ultimately died at, Tyler got into a fistfight with Jeremy over Vicki Donovan. I stepped in to stop Tyler, Tyler's anger issues got ahead of him and he punched me hard enough to land me in the hospital. I got better and the two of us worked on our relationship since then."
"Then a few weeks later you went missing for a week with Vicki Donovan."
Victoria couldn't help but flinch. She did her best not to think about that week. It wasn't good for her mental health to dwell on everything that had taken place during that week. "Y-Yeah."
Alaric picked up on her flinch and quickly moved past the subject. "I guess, Victoria, can I call you that?" Victoria nodded absentmindedly. "Cool. I guess what I'm trying to say, Victoria, is are you sure you feel comfortable coming to school?"
What?
"You have had a shitty past two months since you started your junior year," Alaric admitted, reaching up to rub the back of his neck. "Now, I know I'm not the school counselor, but it seems as though maybe it would be better for your mental health to stay home and homeschool for this year as you recover from your accident."
Victoria held up a hand, stopping him from continuing. "Mr. Saltzman. I already respect you, and I honestly do appreciate that you've stopped to think of me in this way. Not every adult is as kind as you are being, and I've only known you for about an hour and a half." She let out a little chuckle that Alaric joined her in. "I've thought through the possibility of staying home, and I've concluded that dwelling does worse things for me than coming to school. Most of the accidents that I faced happened to me outside of school hours; the only one that could even be considered a school issue would be the punch in the face with Tyler. My mother has me in contact with a therapist. We've been working through my issues since I woke up from the coma."
"And of course, it is your life and I can't force you to do anything that you don't want to," Alaric finished, nodding his head in agreement. He leaned back in his chair and made a nonchalant shrug. "You know yourself. If coming to school is not the problem, then we can just forget this conversation."
"Sure thing," Victoria agreed. "I have to reaffirm, Mr. Saltzman, that I really do appreciate that you care. Since waking up, I've been surrounded by caring people who just want the best for me. But there have been some along the way that can make dealing with issues hard. Just...just wanted to say thank you."
"Of course, Victoria," Alaric stated, giving her a strong look. "You're one of my students. If you ever need to talk, just say the word."
Victoria was out in the courtyard when her phone rang. The caller I.D. read Damon, and she frowned thoughtfully. Why would he be calling her during school hours? She answered it anyways and said, "You're lucky that I'm not in the middle of a class or I would've had a terrible lecture. What is it that you need?"
"Stefan's being a jerk to me."
"Oh my word, I am not going to play family therapist between the two of you," Victoria hissed, bringing up a fist to rest it against her forehead. There was already a headache forming, she could feel it. "You are two grown men. Handle it yourselves or ask Zach for advice. And besides, Stefan's apparently being a brooding jerk to Elena too. Maybe the two of you can bond over that."
"No thanks. Ms. McJudgey can find somebody else to bond with. Stefan is pushing to know why I came back to Mystic Falls."
"I'm honestly surprised he hasn't figured it out by now," Victoria snorted, gently waving her hand as a hello to Tyler. He was sitting off to the side with a couple of other football jocks, but he smiled when he saw her and gave her a 'what up' nod. Victoria considered that to be progress. "With you, being the raging narcissist you are, and me, being the terrible liar I am, the two of us haven't exactly been subtle."
"I will concede to that."
"How are Zach and Lexi doing? Are they still at the house?" Victoria asked curiously, trying to scope out a good spot to eat lunch. She settled for a picnic bench that was hidden under the shade of a tree and made a beeline for it.
"Well, Zach is working with Lexi on the art of subtlety as a bloodsucker, as a matter of fact," Damon snorted. Victoria could already imagine him rolling his eyes. "How to be a vampire in a normal human town, that sort of thing. She's doing pretty decent, I suppose. Don't tell her I said that."
"Oh, I would never," Victoria teased, chuckling at Damon's put-out sigh. "She doesn't have a daylight ring, right?"
"Correctamundo."
"Let's never use that word again," Victoria snickered, shaking her head. "Okay, so Lexi doesn't have a ring, but that could be easily fixed. I'll try and get a hold of Noble, though how I do that, I'm not sure. Noble's the only one that I know of who is in contact with witches, so yeah."
"Now, Mama Bear, you know that's not true."
Victoria sighed and shook her head again. "Alright, amendment: he's the only one that I know of who is in contact with witches who have a grip on their powers. Bonnie isn't anywhere close and we can't pressure her to even try. She's having a hard enough time as it is."
"Emily's necklace is causing her issues?"
"Majorly," Victoria hummed as she set her backpack down by the bench. She sat down and sighed with relief as the pressure lifted from her feet. Ugh, sometimes she hated walking. "I'm sure that you know that Emily's been haunting Bonnie. Has been for the past month. That's why Lexi mentioned Bonnie looked tired whenever she would go check in on her. She keeps sleepwalking and ends up at different places every time."
"How would we stop this?"
"I guess if Bonnie gave over her necklace," Victoria surmised. "But the problem is that Bonnie is attached to it; it's like a validation that her powers are real. Then, of course, there's Caroline who is pissed at Bonnie because she believes that the necklace belongs to her since it was she who found it on the forest floor when you dropped it." Victoria paused, then narrowed her eyes menacingly, even though she knew Damon couldn't see it. "Speaking of which, we need to have a conversation later about using your stupid powers to haunt my friends into setting you free from cages. I don't like that."
"It was just survival, Mama Bear. Blondie was a tool, nothing more."
"I don't know if I should feel relieved or offended," Victoria huffed, rolling her eyes.
Just then, a teenage girl appeared out of nowhere and took a seat across from Victoria. Victoria blinked her eyes in confusion. She had never seen that girl before in her life. Victoria glanced around, trying to see if the teenager in front of her was waiting for someone, but nobody stopped to glance at her table. Victoria looked back towards her table and carefully asked, fully aware that Damon was still on the other line, "Um, can I help you, Miss?"
"I was asked to deliver this to you and then forget our conversation," the teenager replied in a monotone voice. She jiggled the satchel she was carrying.
Victoria sighed and murmured a praise up to the sky. "Thank goodness. Damon, I'm pretty sure Noble just got into contact with me again."
"You're so sure? Is his name stamped on the girl's forehead or something? Or is your Noble radar pinging?" Damon asked hesitantly.
Victoria rolled her eyes. "Give the girl a minute, Damon."
The teen girl reached into her satchel and yanked out a tiny gift bag that was silver and stuffed with tissue paper. She passed it over to Victoria, and then reached back into the bag and pulled out an envelope. She passed that over as well. Victoria shifted the hold on her phone so she would be able to grab both of the items from the girl.
As what had happened with the freshman and the roses, the teen girl blinked her eyes, startled by where she was sitting, and asked Victoria rather bluntly, "Am I high?" Victoria blinked at her, lost for words. "Cause I swore that I was just over by my car."
Victoria shrugged helplessly and lied, "I don't know, dude. I was just sitting here about to open some gifts when you just showed up."
The teenager made a 'huh' sound, before shrugging, grabbing her bag, and standing up. She slipped away a moment later.
"Don't leave me in suspense, Mama Bear. Let's see what's inside this mysterious package of yours," Damon's voice cut through, bringing her out of her shock.
"Haven't you ever received a gift before, Damon?" Victoria chided him, setting the gift bag down. She grabbed the envelope with both of her hands and popped the seal, opening it up to grab the letter inside. "You always read the card first."
"You, Mama Bear, are so boring."
"But you love it," Victoria replied in a sing-song tone. She quickly scanned the letter; she had been correct. It was from Noble.
Dearest Victoria LeBlanc,
I regret that I have not been able to contact you for the past month. Ever since Raphael's death, things have not been...good.
As you are probably aware, Raphael and I both took your safety very seriously. What you may not be aware of is that I had placed several agents around to watch you from afar. Nothing too invasive, just enough to ensure that if you were hurt, they could come to your aid. They were to be my eyes and ears when I could not be watching you physically. You may wonder where they have been, as they have never made an appearance before.
I wondered that too, but I was not able to discover the answer until these past few weeks. Raphael had ordered them killed by some of his acolytes; for what idiotic reason, I do not why. While he may have been delusional in his final weeks alive, he cared about your safety. I do not understand fully why he would have put you at risk. And put you at risk he did.
Since the last time we saw each other, I have been tracking down the rest of Raphael's associates, anyone who may pose a threat to you and your friends. It was through one of them that I heard of my former colleague's death. I am not saddened by this. I am saddened by what he became that led him to this conclusion. But you are safe, so I find relief in this.
Back to the point: Raphael's followers are smart. I will give them that. They know of my reputation and so they hide away from me, making it much more difficult than I originally surmised to hunt them down. I do not know when I will be able to see you next. I had to send one of my acolytes, hand-picked and trustworthy, to find a human to deliver this message to you. By the time you are reading this, I should be somewhere in New York.
Due to my unknown time away, I wanted to be of what little help I could be. And thus, the gifts in the gift bag.
Gift number 1: The ring. I was made aware that Ms. Alexia Branson survived the night that caused my former partner to pass. I am glad to hear of that. I have heard of her reputation and she seems to be a perfect fit for you. I suspect your friendship will become remarkable. I was also told that she does not possess a daylight ring. It would be rude of me to offer a ring to Mr. Zachariah Salvatore and not one to her, so please give this daylight ring to her with my sincerest wishes. May she enjoy the feeling of sunlight on her skin once more.
Gift number 2: The phone number. Due to my unknown time away, I wanted to ensure that you would be able to contact me at any time. This phone number goes to my personal cellphone. Do not call it (though I suspect you will not anyways; you have always been respectful of my wishes when in regards to my identity). I suspect this will allow our conversations to be more than one-sided now.
I wish I could say more to you, but I do not know the proper words to convey how saddened I am that this is happening to you. You do not deserve this, Victoria. Never, ever believe that the culmination of these prior events has ever been your fault.
May your dreams tonight be guided by the wings of the beautiful life giver.
With regards,
Noble
"Mama Bear? You still there?"
"I'm here," Victoria murmured, her smile widening as she finished reading the letter. "You're here at the school, right?"
"Mama Bear, you scare me when you say things like that. Like, you insist you are not a Seer and yet you pull a creepy move like that?" Damon huffed, sounding slightly annoyed and yet, amused. "I'm in the parking lot, why?"
"First off, please don't try intimidating Bonnie, she's been through enough," Victoria said, slipping off of the bench. She threaded her arms through her backpack. Victoria also grabbed the gift bag and quickly rifled through it, her fingers tightening when she found the slip of paper. She yanked the paper out and quickly shoved it into the pocket of her jeans. "Just wait, I'll come with you. She won't be as scared of you if I'm there too."
"Why is she going to her car anyways?"
"These kids skip school all the time, it's a miracle they even graduate," Victoria grunted as she changed her angle so she was speed walking towards the parking lot. "My personal guess is that she's skipping school; Elena will probably join her in a little bit. And secondly, before you interrupted me, Noble must be a mind reader because he got a little gift for our house arrestee."
"He made Lexi a daylight ring too?" Damon gasped in exasperation. "Really? All I've gotten from this Noble guy is a broken neck. What if I want presents too?"
"Be nicer," Victoria replied shortly. "That's literally all there is to it. Just be nicer."
"I am nice."
"Yeah, to me. Occasionally," Victoria snorted, rolling her eyes. She hopped off the sidewalk and started walking through the parking lot, which was still riddled with cars. "You know, you're going to have to expand your borders more if you want to -"
"Look out!"
Victoria's head snapped to the side and her eyes widened in dismay. Her blood ran cold. She heard someone frantically scream her name. Was that Elena? Caroline? Victoria couldn't tell. She knew that her phone slipped from her slacked hand, and she could hear Damon yelling her name in a panicked voice. It was muted though; everything was muted. All her attention was on what was happening right in front of her.
A large truck, holy crap it was huge, was barreling straight towards her. The sunlight glared off the windshield, making it impossible for her to see who was driving the thing. It wasn't like any other car she recognized, so at least she knew it wasn't one of her friends.
Oh, did she mention that it was coming straight for her and that it seemed to have no intention of stopping? None whatsoever.
Victoria was fast, but she wasn't that fast. There was no way she would be able to make it out of the way of the truck, and even if she did, there was no guarantee that the truck wouldn't then notice her and try to swerve to avoid her, only to result in actually hitting her after she tried to move away.
And shit, she had just gotten Noble's number.
It was too late to think. She just reacted and prayed that she wouldn't die. Victoria would really, really, really like to stay alive.
It was healthier that way.
Victoria ducked her head into her arms, curling them up so her head was protected and it wouldn't get thrashed around too much. She closed her eyes tightly and braced herself for pain. Oh glory be, she was done with car crashes. She hated them. And cars. If she survived this, Victoria would petition for Mystic Falls to return to horse-drawn carriages. There was a loud honking noise and Victoria flinched. She prayed for the pain to be short and sweet.
But the pain didn't come.
At the moment when she knew the impact was inevitable, she felt someone grab her around the waist. The next thing she knew, Victoria was being pressed up against the side of a car while a person stood in front of her as a human shield. She was out of the way, no longer in the truck's path. She heard the loud honking of the truck, as it barreled past them, but it didn't stop. Holy shit, she could have died. Again.
Victoria was panting and she could feel herself on the verge of a panic attack. She tried to push it down, though, and think rationally. There was literally no way a normal human could have reached her. But all the vampires were busy. Stefan was most likely still talking to Elena, or by her, and they were tons of feet away. Zach was at home with Lexi, Noble was gone in New York, and Damon was on the other side of the parking lot. No one else would have had the speed to save her. Except...
The person who protected her leaned backwards and gave her a large, cheeky grin. Victoria's mind raced as she took in the apparent man's features. He was tall, inches on both Damon and Stefan, and he had gorgeous brown hair with a slight stubble. Dark eyes, tanned features; all-in-all, a very handsome person. He wore a black v-neck t-shirt that fit him snugly with jeans and a red plaid shirt on top. Great googly moogly, he had muscles on him, even more so than Stefan and Damon (and she had seen Damon shirtless multiple times; that vampire had abs, but Victoria was willing to bet this guy's abs could eat Damon's abs for breakfast).
When he spoke, he had a beautiful tenor voice with a hint of a Southern twang to it. "That was close there, Ms. LeBlanc. Now, I believe that you and I need to get properly introduced. I'm the nice guy who brought you the gift from our mutual acquaintance before this whole fiasco went down. You can call me -"
"- Lee," Victoria breathed, her brow furrowing in disbelief. She looked up at the vampire with wide eyes and Lee looked stunned that she knew his name. She spluttered out, her breathing reaching frantic heights, "Holy shit! You're Lee, Lexi's boyfriend!"
And then she promptly passed out.
A/N: This chapter was a whirlwind. I went from hating it, to tolerating it, to really loving it (all to do with Lee). I did NOT plan on bringing Lee in this early (he was going to join the rest of the cast later on anyways :D but that was supposed to be when Elena and Damon went to Georgia) but the opportunity presented itself so I did :). Here we go again, turning another non-essential character that had no place in the story into a main supporting character. I really like doing it because it allows me an opportunity to grow them as characters. It's fun! And we got to meet Alaric too!
THE SHIPPING WARS! (feel free to keep on voting (you can vote for more than one ship!); 1 full point for if you choose one ship, two half points for two separate ships, more than 2, smaller decimals. Anything that is not a full point will be italicized. This will not decide the final pairing; I already know who Victoria will end up with, I just want you all to be able to guess):
ROMANTIC:
Team Stetoria {Victoria/Stefan} (14.5): insert name here XD, sammyleann's dad, TikiKiki, Maistryia, Don't-Say-It-Feel-It, another guest, Elyse1821, Lime, herewegoagain, K, Yukihino-Sama, emma, hfgfgfrdr, just another guest, BookwormStrawberry, heyyeah, Guest (3), guest4ithinklol
Team Datoria {Victoria/Damon} (11.5): Sciave, Guest, ArganRose, CrystalAris, Marine76, Assenavira, CarlaPA, Guest (1), Maistryia, emma, just another guest, Freeshavacahdoh, Guest (3), Guest (4)
Team Vilijah {Victoria/Elijah} (22.5): guest, Guest, SoraLover987142, insert name here XD, sammyleann, Orange keys 25, LoyalElijahFangirl, Hinata Megumi, A. G Herz, Aryabloodlust, ferallahey, AngelColdHeart, BlueDragibus, dreamwalkerlisa, Guest, Stachelbeere, Guest (1), jocillyria, Guest (2), BookwormStrawberry, Ieviheichu, Teghan-Potter1370, karenc0r, Hachiko33200
Team Klatoria {Victoria/Klaus} (1.5): Tayla141, TikiKiki
Team Koltoria {Victoria/Kol} (2): DreamerPop, MelissaMorningstar
PLATONIC:
Vinn {Victoria/Finn) (.4): LoyalElijahFangirl, Orange keys 25
Varcel {Victoria/Marcel) (1.4): LoyalElijahFangirl, Orange keys 25, jocillyria
Zinn {Zach/Finn} (.9): LoyalElijahFangirl, Orange keys 25, karenc0r
Jol {Jenna/Kol} (1.4): LoyalElijahFangirl, Lime, Orange keys 25, karenc0r
Kelas {Silas/Kelly L.} (.4): LoyalElijahFangirl, Orange keys 25
Koltoria {Victoria/Kol} (.2): Orange keys 25
Kennett {Kol/Bonnie} (.5): Lime
Autoria {Aurora/Victoria} (.2): LoyalElijahFangirl
Vonnie {Victoria/Bonnie} (1): bpopa7110
Vibekah {Victoria/Rebekah} (1): BookwormStrawberry
If it so pleases any of you, I have found theme songs for each of the romantic ships that I feel really connects with the characters involved in the ships, so please feel free to listen to them to get in the mood; if you have any song recommendations for the ships, please leave a review. Maybe we'll have our own playlist!:
TEAM STETORIA: "Unconditionally" by Katy Perry (the acoustic version)
TEAM DATORIA/VIAMON: "Animals (Epic Trailer Version)" by J2
TEAM VILIJAH: "Be Here For You" by Sam Tinnesz
TEAM KLATORIA: "Can You Hold Me?" by NF feat. Britt Nicole
TEAM KOLTORIA: "Dear Future Husband" by Meghan Trainor
New Followers!: The Fool Arcana
New Favoriters!: The Fool Arcana
Onto reviews!:
Guest: Thank you for voting! You're Guest (4), by the way. Damon's such an interesting character because at times he irritates the living crap outta me, but other times I think he's just a sweet little guy XD. He does, and I agree with you there.
DBZFAN45: Tori and Elena will be having multiple confrontations throughout the series based on their different opinions. Tori sees the world more realistically, I believe, since she was raised with tougher parents and she went from living a life of luxury to living just a hair above poverty very quickly. With Elena, she's lived in the same world all of her life with little difference until her parents passed away in the car accident. That's the only reason why she sees the world in jaded glasses. Also, Elena doesn't do grief very well. I am so divided between Klaroline and Steroline. They are both equally cute for their own reasons. To me, it'll always be Klaroline first. I just adore their relationship, but we'll still get that Steroline BFF goals. I believe Sheriff Forbes was aiming for Raphael and Tori got in the way of the bullet, not that Caroline's mom intentionally shot her. I believe that everyone changes when they become vampires, and the same thing is happening to Zach :). Oh yeah, I get the same vibes from Noble. I guess I did unintentionally give Noble a new partner with Lee XD. I'm not overworking myself, but I'll take a break if I need to, no worries!
Ieviheichu: Awwwwww, thank you! That really does mean a lot to me. There are a couple of typos and continuity things that don't make sense in this story, but I do plan on going back and re-reading and editing things to make more sense for others. The romance is brewing. We have to get passed a certain episode before things really start to pick up; like, the story is happening, but the true story doesn't start until this certain moment happens, you know? I like giving everybody a chance to vote. Not that the vote will actually determine who is going to win; I know who she ends up with, I just like that everyone gets a shot at guessing who. He is! I know, that kiss was real smooth.
guest4ithinklol: You're actually Guest (5) now XD. A different guest snuck in before you. Yep! Lexi will be staying alive for quite a while! She's stuck with us (or are we stuck with her?). Your vote has been added!
karenc0r: Thank you for your votes! They have been added!
Lime: Okay, according to Google, limewater is "a solution of calcium hydroxide in water, which is alkaline and turns milky in the presence of carbon dioxide". The more you know, I guess. Mhmm. It is something the Mikaelsons tend to do (Elijah's pretty good at not underestimating people, but he kind of got hazy around the doppelgangers). It's going to be fun to write about the fall out with Katherine. I agree with your opinion of Elena. Right? One of my favorite Caroline lines is when she is like "I was telling you about my problems and yet somehow, you managed to make this about you". I was going to make Tori get hit by the car in this chapter, but I decided to give her a break XD. Oh yeah, Lexi and Caroline could basically be twins at some points. Yeah, Zach will get his therapy buddy soon. My theater schedule has dropped off (it's going to pick back up soon) so my updating schedule might change. I try and do every Monday and Friday, but we'll see. I have been! I just got better from being sick, but then I jacked up my knee at dance classes and I walk all day at work XD. Good times.
Haciko33200: There are a lot of Elena-dislikers here, so we understand. Yeah, I can see that happening. Damon feels closer to Victoria than Elena right now, so he probably would be siding with her on some issues. Your votes have been added!
TrumpasaurusRex: I don't know if you've made it this far or if you have dumped the story, but thanks for your review. I have taken what you have said into account, and if you stick around in the story, we will address that issue in the upcoming chapters. Pleasant reading!
We are doing great y'all! So proud! Hoping the next chapter to be up by Monday; that's the gameplan at least. I hope you all enjoyed and tell me how you're feeling about Lee being in the story now!
Stay healthy and stay safe!
BecomingFearless1F