"There are Bennetts living in Mystic Falls."
Damon raised an eyebrow at Stefan who had just entered the room.
"Colour me unsurprised."
"Damon, I'm serious."
"So am I."
"Don't you think we should maybe introduce ourselves? Assure her of our good intentions."
"No need. I already let Sheila know that we've moved back to town and the reasons why."
"Oh, that's… Wait. What?"
Damon sighed and put down the pile of books he'd been attempting to shelve and gave Stefan his full attention.
"Before Katherine and the others were killed in the church, you remember what it was like in this town?"
"I remember the fear and the hysteria."
"Townspeople were killing vampires one by one. When they came for Katherine, I went straight to Emily, said, 'I'll do anything. Name your price. Just protect her.' She did."
"What was her price?"
"After we transitioned, after Emily told me that her spell was successful, and that Katherine was sealed in a tomb beneath the church. She asked me to protect her family, her descendants. Of course, fifty years later I discovered Katherine wasn't in the tomb at all, probably never even in the church, but…"
"You carried on protecting Emily's descendants anyway."
"We had a deal, and I doubt Emily even knew Katherine hadn't been in the church."
"That's –"
"Not that big a deal. They don't need all that much protecting anyway but I made sure all the Bennett descendants know how to contact me if they need to. Sheila did once about fourteen years ago now. Her daughter had disappeared, she asked me if I could help find her."
"Did you?"
"I did. For all the good it did."
"She was dead."
"No, she was alive, she just didn't want to go back. Asked me not to tell anyone where she was, convincing enough that I agreed. Told Sheila I'd found her but that she didn't want to come back. I've checked in on her now and again over the years, but she wants to remain out of the supernatural world, and I've respected her wishes. I update Sheila whenever I do check in on Abby, not to tell her where she is but just to let her know she's alive and doing okay. As soon as I knew we were moving to Mystic Falls, I contacted Sheila and let her know the whole situation."
"And she was okay with that?"
Damon shrugged.
"She wants to meet all of us and Maya, see for herself that I'm telling the truth, but she's not actively against it."
"Okay so when are we meeting her?"
"Probably next week, we've just got to agree on a location. Somewhere neutral, probably a coffee shop or something."
"Ok, I guess you've got it covered."
Damon rolled his eyes.
"Thanks for your confidence little brother. Now help me get these books shelved."
Damon and Enzo were in the living room, hanging the painting Maya had gifted him for Christmas, when the doorbell rang. Dobby popped in a moment later.
"Two people Dobby is not knowing be being at the door Mister Damon."
"Thanks Dobby, I'll go and answer it in just a minute."
"Mister Damon is being most welcome."
As soon as they'd got the painting on the hooks, Damon climbed down off the ladder and went to see who was at the door. Probably somebody from Mystic Falls, looking to be the first person to meet the newcomers, it was that sort of town. He pulled open the door and came face to face with two blondes. An older woman and a teenager holding a Tupperware full of what looked like brownies.
"Hello?"
"Hi, I'm Sheriff Forbes, Liz, and this is my daughter Caroline. I heard from Zach that he and Gail and the kids were moving away and that you were moving in, and I thought I'd just come over and welcome you all to town."
"I'm Damon. Damon Salvatore."
"We brought brownies!" Caroline said, offering the tub to Damon.
"Caroline brought brownies." Liz corrected, "I can't bake."
"Thank you very much, that's very kind of you. Would you like to come in?"
"Only if we wouldn't be intruding."
"Not at all. We've mostly been unpacking and I'm sure we could all use a break."
"In that case, thank you very much."
Damon held the door open wide for them to enter, shutting it behind them and then leading them into the Living Room. Stefan was already inside, told of their guests by either Dobby or Enzo. Damon saw Carolines eyes light up at the sight of him and knew that his little brother had another fan. Probably the hero hairdo.
"Hey, I'm Stefan Salvatore."
"My baby brother." Damon told them, "This is Sheriff Forbes –"
"Call me Liz, I'm not on duty."
"Liz then, and her daughter Caroline."
"It's nice to meet you both, would you like a drink of anything?"
"We wouldn't –"
"We'd love one." Caroline spoke over her mother and received a slight frown.
"A drink would be lovely, as long as it's not too much trouble."
"No trouble at all. I think we've got some fresh lemonade, or I can make you a hot drink if you'd prefer, coffee or something?"
"Lemonade would be fine thanks."
Stefan nodded and went to fetch drinks, passing Maggie on his way out.
"Enzo said we have guests; he's just gone to get Maya. Hello, I'm Dr Maggie St John, call me Maggie."
She strode forward, offering her hand to Liz and then Caroline.
"I'm Liz, Sheriff Forbes when I'm on duty, which I'm not now."
"Caroline Forbes."
Maya was the next to arrive, bouncing into the room just ahead of Enzo, and Stefan with the drinks. She curled into Damon's side and stared at the two strangers with naked curiosity.
"Ah, this is Maya, my goddaughter. I'm her legal guardian. And this is –"
"Enzo St John, Maggie's husband."
"Liz, and my daughter Caroline."
"Pleasure."
Once they were all sitting down with a glass of lemonade and a chocolate brownie each, Damon turned to Liz.
"So, Sheriff. Is it a busy job?"
"Mostly accidents and drunken teenage escapades. Mystic Falls is a quiet town for the most part."
"That's good to hear."
"So, what made you move here from, New York was it?"
"We needed a change of pace and when Zach mentioned he was moving out of Mystic Falls, it just felt serendipitous."
"Yes well, Zach's sudden decision to leave came as a bit of a surprise to us, but I guess he and Gail had been talking about it for a while and when the opportunity came, they seized on it."
"So, Stefan, How old are you? If you don't mind me asking." Caroline questioned.
"I'm seventeen."
"Will you be going to Mystic Falls High in September?"
"Um, well, I guess I hadn't really thought about it."
"It's a good school." Liz said looking at Damon, "So is the middle school, your brother and your goddaughter would both do well there."
"Maya's already enrolled in a private school for gifted students. We hadn't really discussed what Stefan would do yet."
"Well, if you want, I could give you the Principals contact details. I'm sure she'd be thrilled to have Stefan enrol."
"That's very kind of you. Thanks."
"You're welcome, Damon."
The conversation flowed smoothly, as Caroline peppered Stefan and Maya with curious questions, Liz did the same with Damon, Maggie, and Enzo. Maggie and Enzo were careful not to reveal too much about their jobs, only mentioning that they worked in psychiatry and teaching, respectively. Damon, on the other hand, was vague on purpose, saying that he could do his work from anywhere, without specifying what it was. Liz shared some stories about the town, the various festivals, and events, and about some of the people.
"Of course, you'll have an automatic invite to all of them, Salvatores being a founding family and everything, even though you've only just moved to town. I'm sure Carol Lockwood will come by to greet you soon, she's the mayors wife and chair of most of the committees. I'm surprised we beat her to it to be honest."
"I suppose that's the difference between the big city and small-town living. I'd be hard pressed to name my neighbours back in New York."
"New York must be an amazing place to live." Caroline said wistfully, "so much to do there, so much to see."
"It was great. Babbo took me to loads of places."
"Babbo?"
Damon smiled.
"It's what Maya calls me."
"Aaaw, that's so sweet."
Liz finished off her lemonade and stood, Caroline followed suit.
"It was lovely to meet you all, but we'd better be going. I'm sure you still have lots to do."
Damon stood up as well.
"I'll see you out."
The rest of them said goodbye as Damon escorted them back to the front door and held it open for them.
"Thank you for the brownies, Caroline, they were delicious. We'll return your tub as soon as possible."
"No rush. It was nice meeting you."
"Why don't you go wait in the car, honey. I'll just be a minute."
Caroline frowned, shooting a disappointed look at her mother, but did as she was bid. As soon as she was out of earshot, Liz turned back to Damon and lowered her voice.
"Zach told me that you're aware of vampires."
Damon nodded, he'd known this was coming as soon as she'd introduced herself, Zach had told him that the Founder's Council was still very much active, that he was a member and supplied them with vervain. Damon had surprised Zach when he'd suggested the man let whichever member of the council needed to know that Damon was aware of vampires and could continue to supply them with vervain as they needed it. Zach had been suspicious at first, but Damon had simply reminded him that he was moving to Mystic Falls to keep Maya safe and that included from rogue vampires who were drawn to the town. He'd promised to pass his name on to the Sheriff as the new vervain supplier, and if that didn't make him sound like a drug-dealer Damon didn't know what would.
"I am."
"He also said he left you most of his vervain plants and that you were happy to keep supplying us."
"I am. Just let me know how much and when."
"Thank you, Mr Salvatore."
"Please, call me Damon. Mr Salvatore was my father; I still look around for him whenever someone calls me that."
"Damon then. Zach didn't say if you'd like to be included in our meetings, but if you do decide to, just let me know."
"I'll think about it, We've got a lot of settling in to do."
"Of course. It was good to meet you, Damon. If you ever need anything, call me. And ah… if you're ever in need of a sitter for Maya, Caroline has some experience and she's pretty responsible."
"Thank you. I'll keep her in mind."
"So how long have you been planning to go to Mystic Falls High?" Damon asked, later that night once Maya was in bed.
"It's not like that, Damon."
"Of course not, this has absolutely nothing to do with your obsession with that Katherine lookalike."
"I'm not obsessed."
"Of course not. That's why you haven't been following her around whenever you get the chance, and you definitely haven't been digging into her background as much as possible. Because you're 'not obsessed'."
"Look, I thought you'd be happy that I was trying to blend in. I thought that was what we were all trying to do."
"You could have blended in without telling them you were seventeen Stefan. No-one would have questioned it if you'd claimed to be a few years older."
"Fine. Yes, you're right. I want to go to Mystic Falls High. I want to get to know Elena, personally. Not just from a distance."
"Why?"
"Because I like her, okay!"
"You don't even know her!"
"I know enough."
"You really don't. But there's obviously no getting through to you right now."
Liz had been right on the money when she'd told them that Carol Lockwood would come by soon to welcome them to town. The very next day she'd arrived on the doorstep with her husband and an invitation for them to come to the Lockwood Manor for dinner, at their convenience of course. They'd collectively decided on today, allowing them to fully settle into the house, and allowing Carol, society wife that she was, to organise a top-notch catered dinner.
With a glum thud, Maya stomped down the stairs, her lips curled into a faint pout. A pale lavender dress clung to her developing curves and flared out at the waist, falling just below her knees. Her hair cascaded down her shoulders in glossy waves, parted to one side, and her nails sparkled with the same hue as the dress. She had put on her charm bracelet and a simple silver star necklace that he had given her for her birthday.
"Why do we have to go?"
"Because we need to make a good impression." Maggie answered stepping forward and straightening Damons tie.
She was dressed in a similar style of dress to Maya, just in bronze and with a more mature cut suitable for an adult woman. Both of them looked fashionably and fancy enough for a dinner party, without being overly formal. Damon himself was wearing a suit and tie, and Stefan and Enzo had both been given orders by Maggie to do the same.
"I'm with Maya. Why do we need to make a good impression?"
"Yeah, why?"
Maggie sighed.
"Because, we are having dinner with the Mayor and his family, if we make a good impression tonight, we can easily fold into the community here. We will be accepted and if anything happens, which is more than likely in this town, then none of them will suspect us, because we are part of the town, not outsiders. Now, where are your shoes, Maya?"
"Dobby has them."
"Why does Dobby have them?"
"I spilled paint on them, and he said he could get it off."
"Dobby is having them here Miss Maggie."
"Ah, thank you Dobby. Good as new, put them on Maya, we need to leave soon."
Damon shot a commiserating look at Maya behind Maggie's back as she sighed and sat down on the bottom step to pull on the shoes Dobby handed over. Enzo and Stefan came shuffling into the hall soon after. Maggie gave them all an appraising look, straightened Enzo and Stefan's ties as she had done Damon's and nodded.
"Okay, let's get this over with."
It wasn't a long drive to the Lockwood Mansion and Maggie gave them all another once over before gesturing to Damon to lead the way. He rolled his eyes, but led them all up the steps and rang the doorbell to the Lockwood Mansion, it was opened almost immediately by the Mayor himself.
"Welcome, all of you, come on in."
"Thank you, Mayor Lockwood."
"Please, no need for formality tonight, call me Richard."
He led them all into 'the small dining room' where his wife and son were waiting.
"You'll remember my wife Carol of course, and this is our son Tyler."
"Welcome, all of you. So glad you could make it. Oh, don't you look stunning Maggie, and you, well you're a beauty in the making aren't you, Maya."
Maya plastered on a smile.
"Thank you, Mrs Lockwood, you look very lovely as well."
"Aren't you sweet."
Carol directed them all into chairs. Her husband sat at the top of the table with herself on his left and Damon on hers, Maggie was seated opposite her with Enzo next to her. Tyler was opposite his father with Maya on his left and Stefan on his right. The conversation was mostly among the adults, with Tyler seeming as happy to be at the dinner as Maya was, and his being three years older than her, conversation amongst them was mostly stilted. Carol had perfected the art of mining for gossip in casual conversation. Asking them about their education, their occupations, their political views, and anything else that might reveal something interesting.
"So will Maya and Stefan be enrolling in Mystic Falls?"
"Stefan will, but Maya is enrolled at a private school for gifted children, it's a partner school to the one she was attending in New York."
"You know the schools in Mystic Falls are very good."
"I'm sure they are, but Maya is a legacy student, her mother's family were enrolled in an associated school in Scotland, for several generations. Even though we've moved out of New York, I wanted her to get the same education she would have got had her parents been here to raise her."
"I see." Carol smiled at Maya, "And how have you been finding Mystic Falls so far Maya."
"It's okay. I haven't really seen much yet; I've mostly been decorating my room."
"Hmm, you know I could recommend you a great interior designer, she'd be able to arrange everything for you." Carol said to Damon.
He smiled as charmingly as possible.
"Maya's a bit of an artist. I agreed to let her decorate the walls of her bedroom with murals and pictures of her choice."
"Oh, how lovely. Tyler's a bit of an artist too, is that something you'd like to do when you're older Maya?"
"I'm going to be an astronaut."
Carol seemed a bit stunned by that assertion, but Richard came to her rescue.
"Always good to have ambitions, gives you something to strive for. What about you Stefan? Any plans for your future career?"
"I've been considering medicine, but I haven't really decided yet."
"Tyler's a bit like that, I think he should be a football player, he's good enough to go professional, but he claims he's not sure what he wants to do."
"Well, they've still got time, Richard. They're only Juniors after all."
"Less than a year before he'll have to start thinking about college and applying to good schools."
Maya noticed Tyler's white-knuckled grip on his fork and decided to redirect the conversation.
"What art medium do you prefer? I quite like photography, but I'm excited to start studying sculpture next year."
"I sketch mainly, but I've done some work with charcoals."
"I found charcoals quite difficult, myself."
Slowly as they began talking art, with Stefan contributing his knowledge of art history, and the others restarted their own conversation, Tyler's grip on the fork relaxed. The rest of the evening didn't go too badly, Tyler, Stefan, and Maya were shuffled off to another room for a while so that the 'adults' could enjoy their after-dinner drinks away from the 'children'. Tyler took the opportunity to grab his sketch books and show Maya some of his work and they carried on discussing art until it was time for them to leave. Maya waited until they were back at the boarding house to drop the bombshell on the others.
"Mayor Lockwood and Tyler are untriggered werewolves."
