A/N: I said I wasn't going to update until Tuesday but I managed to get a lot of writing done so here you are! I say it every time but thanks for the reviews, you've all been super kind in them and I really do appreciate it. So far this fic has had over a thousand hits, and I believe this chapter marks 30,000 words! Alaric is finally starting to become more important to the story in this chapter, which I'm excited about because he's one of my favorite characters, it feels so weird to refer to him as "Mr. Saltzman" since it's Lucy's POV. I hope you guys like this chapter, please leave a review! Also, still looking for another writer to chat about writing with if anyone is interested. Xo, Eden.

Song: East

Artist: Systems Officer

There are secrets buried inside
That you ought to know
That you need to know
Just another time that we don't share
It's an hour long, but we don't care

I stared into my locker, absolutely miserable at the prospect of a full day of school. There was a massive storm brewing, and the sky was already ominously dark and the wind was whistling so loud I could hear it inside the school hallway. On top of that, I had hardly gotten any sleep. I wasn't ready to face Caroline, and I sure as heck wasn't ready to face Elena and tell her that Damon had showed up at my house last night.

As if she knew I had been thinking about her, Caroline Forbes manifested out of thin air. I closed my locker and was immediately ambushed by an energetic hug that smothered me in a sea of blonde hair. Caroline pulled back, a serious look on her face.

"I am so sorry." She said. "I was so mean to you last night and you didn't deserve that."

I smiled. "No Caroline, it's okay. I'm the one who should be apologizing, you have every right to hate me."

"Who do you think I am?" Caroline asked. "I could never actually hate you for getting hurt. I mean sure, it's going to totally screw up cheer practice for a week or two, but it's nothing I can't handle. Besides, it's not like you did it on purpose."

"No, it's not that." I shook my head. "I meant about Damon."

Caroline tilted her head. "What about Damon?"

"Elena told me that you dated him, and it didn't end well." I explained. "I mean, I can't imagine how that felt. First your double date didn't go as planned, and then you come back to Stefan's house and I'm there hanging out with your ex."

"Um, no." Caroline shook her head. "I don't know what Elena's talking about, but I'm totally over Damon. If you have a thing for the hottie older brother, I'm all for it."

"Really?" I was confused. Elena made it sound like Caroline was absolutely heartbroken over Damon but that clearly wasn't the case.

"Really." Caroline nodded. "I'd rather have you check out Damon than check out Matt. It's bad enough having to compete with Elena for his attention; I don't need to compete with Elena 2.0 as well."

I laughed. "Elena 2.0?"

"Yeah, that's what everyone calls you now." Caroline stated.

"What happened to new girl?" I asked.

"That nickname got old." Caroline explained. "Elena 2.0 is much more fitting. I mean come on, have you seen you two together? You're like . . . the brooding brunette twins of Mystic Falls High."

"I'll take it." I shrugged. "Anyways, speaking of Elena I actually need to go talk to her about something. See you in class."

"Of course." Caroline smiled. "Let me know if you need any help getting around today, okay Elena 2.0?"

Caroline bounced off to go talk to a couple of the cheerleaders who were gathered down the hall. I turned and went to go find Elena. It was still pretty early, but the halls were starting to fill with students. She had to be getting here soon, if she wasn't already. I managed to intercept her just as she was walking to her locker.

"Hey." She smiled. "You're here early. What's up?"

"I don't know, you tell me." My voice came out angrier than I intended for it to. "I just talked to Caroline."

"Talked to Caroline . . . about what?" Elena's eyes shifted back and forth. "She's not still mad at you about the cheer squad is she."

I shook my head. "No she's not. She's not mad at me about anything. In fact, I talked to her about Damon, and she said she doesn't care about him at all. So what was up with that story?"

"Lucy . . ." Elena sighed. "It's more complicated than that."

"Why is it complicated?" I asked. "Is it because of Katherine? Is that why you hate him?"

Elena looked shocked. "Damon talked to you about Katherine?"

"Yes. He did." My eyes narrowed. "And I'm guessing you didn't want him to."

"What- what did he tell you?" Elena stammered.

"Oh not much. Just that he and Stefan both dated her, which I'm sure you already knew." I said. "He also told me that I look like her."

"I'm sorry, he said that you look like Katherine?" Elena let out an angry laugh. "Why don't you ask to see a picture of her the next time you two hang out, since you're so close now?"

"Yeah, maybe I'll ask him to bring one next time he comes over." I said coolly.

Elena froze. "Next time?"

I immediately regretted saying it. I was mad at her for not being honest with me, but I knew that would upset her. I should have been gentler about it. My shoulders dropped, and I looked at her apologetically.

"Yeah. He showed up at my house to get his jacket back." I admitted.

"He came over to your house?" Elena's mouth was open with shock. "Tell me you didn't let him in. Lucy please tell me you told him to leave."

"I didn't." I looked at the floor. "He came inside and we talked for a little bit. Elena I'm sorry I didn't-"

"Oh my god." Elena whispered, cutting me off. "He's been invited in. I have to go find Stefan."

"Elena wait." I called after her, but it was too late.

Elena had already turned and run off. I knew I had messed up. I should have told Damon to leave when he showed up at my house. I had promised Elena I wouldn't hang around him anymore, and it only took me a few hours to break that promise.

Now she was mad at me, and had gone to find Stefan. They were probably going to go yell at Damon and tell him to leave me alone. Despite how upset Elena was with me, I wasn't sure how I felt about that. After yesterday . . . the way I felt when I was with Damon . . . the way he just made me lose my ability to think straight. I wasn't sure I was ready to lose that feeling.

With no one else left to talk to, I decided to make my way to history class a bit early. I was already dreading Elena showing up to class. I wasn't sure what to say to her when she did, or if she would even hear it. The classroom was dark, but Mr. Saltzman was there arranging papers on his desk.

He looked up when I came into the classroom. "Good morning Lucy. Is everything alright?"

I shrugged. "Just got here a bit early today."

"Well early is good. Better than late, which a lot of students seem to be at this time of year." Mr. Saltzman chuckled. "Is everything alright there?"

"What? Oh. Oh yeah." I realized he had noticed me limping. "I just sprained my ankle, no big deal."

"Oof. Well besides that, how has Mystic Falls been treating you?" He asked.

"It's been . . . pretty good." I said, going over to his desk. "Everyone's been really welcoming so far."

"Yeah? From what I saw at the auction you and Elena have really hit it off. That's good. She and her family are good people." He said. I felt a pang of guilt in my chest at the mention of Elena.

"You know her family?" I asked. "I thought you were new here."

"I know of them." Mr. Saltzman shrugged.

I nodded. I was hoping he would say more. I so desperately wanted to understand the connection between him, and his wife, and . . . Damon. But he didn't say anything else. I set my hand on his desk to steady myself, and looked down at the piece of paper I was touching.

"Fact or Fiction: The Myths of Mystic Falls." I read aloud.

"Oh that." Mr. Saltzman brushed the paper under a stack of others. I noticed he had a ring on that sort of reminded me of Damon's, but with a black stone in the center. "That's just an extra copy of a paper from a student."

"Interesting." I said, wondering why he was so quick to hide the paper. "And what are the myths of Mystic Falls?"

"Really?" He asked. "You haven't heard any of them?"

I shook my head. "Why would I have? I just got here, remember?"

"I just figured since you hang out with founding families and all." He replied.

I laughed. "I hate to break it to you Mr. Saltzman, but we don't exactly sit around talking about history when we aren't in class."

"Right." He nodded. "Well the mythology is . . . not exactly respected as academia by everyone."

"And yet, you accepted a paper on it." I pointed out.

"Yes, I did." He said. "Listen, if you want to do your own research on the history of the town, you absolutely can. In fact, I encourage it. I just don't want the PTA board to come after me for putting . . . ideas into your head during class."

I gestured towards the empty chairs. "We aren't exactly in class right now."

"You're right, we aren't." Mr. Saltzman agreed.

"So . . . you can tell me whatever mythology you want to and it doesn't count as a history lesson." I prodded.

He hesitated for a moment, but the opportunity to share history with an eager to learn student won over. "So as I'm sure you know, the town of Mystic Falls was founded in 1860. From the beginning, the town was plagued with mysterious deaths."

"Let me guess." I interrupted. "Animal attacks."

"That's . . . what's been the accepted explanation." He nodded. "But the founding families believed it was something else. They believed it was . . . an evil creature. They started searching amongst themselves for someone to blame. In 1864, they rounded up 27 people and burnt them alive in Fell's Church, recording them as civilian deaths in the Battle of Willow Creek. They believed that the creatures had been defeated."

"Oh my god." I gasped. "That's horrible. Those poor people. What did the founding families think they were?"

Mr. Saltzman grimaced, clearly trying to find the words to say next. The bell rang, and students began to shuffle into the classroom. I looked at Mr. Saltzman, waiting for an answer, but he shook his head.

"You should take your seat, Lucy." He said, and I knew it wasn't a suggestion.

I sat down and braced myself waiting for Elena to walk in, but she never did. Neither did Stefan, though that shouldn't have been a surprise. If she was skipping class to avoid me, my best guess is that Stefan was as well. Or maybe they were off somewhere throwing darts at a picture of me. Or a picture of Damon. Who knows?

I tuned out almost immediately as Mr. Saltzman began the day's lesson. Whatever he was talking about was definitely not as interesting as the story he had just told me about Mystic Falls. All of it reminded me of the Salem Witch Trials, just a bunch of innocent people being killed due to mass hysteria.

It seemed like something that would happen in such a small town. To me, the idea that humans are so quick to turn on one another was more terrifying than any mythical creature that could be dreamed up. However, I still wanted to know what the people of Mystic Falls thought they were burning in the church. I guess it was just morbid curiousity

Unfortunately, Mr. Saltzman didn't seem to want to finish telling me the town's history. The second the bell rang, he shoved his papers in his bag and walked out of the classroom. The way he was so hesitant to tell me made it seem as if he actually believed that the creatures the people of Mystic Falls thought they were burning were real. It was so out of character for an otherwise intelligent man.

The rest of the day dragged on. Rain was starting to fall, generating a continuous patter on the classroom windows. It was a sound that made me want to be curled up under a bunch of blankets watching scary movies, not sitting in school. By the end of the day, I still hadn't seen or heard from Elena. It wasn't like her to skip classes; she must really be upset with me.

"There you are!" Caroline caught me just as I was leaving school. "Have you seen Elena? Practice is cancelled. Apparently the roads are getting pretty bad because of the storm and they want everyone to go home."

"No, I haven't seen her." I said. "I think she may have gone home earlier."

"Oh." Caroline looked concerned. "Was she feeling okay?"

I sighed. "I don't know. We sort of got in a fight. She stormed off and then never showed up to class."

"A fight? What could Elena number one and Elena number two possibly have to fight about?" Caroline teased.

"Damon." I explained. "She's mad that I was hanging out with him, and won't tell me the real reason why."

"That is so Elena." Caroline groaned. "She's probably just worried you guys would date and then break up and then it would be all weird because she's still dating Stefan and they're like, the most perfect couple ever."

"Yeah." I forced a smile. "You're probably right. I should see if she went home and try to smooth things over."

"It'll be okay." Caroline reassured. "Drive safe, okay? If you get another injury I will kill you."

I laughed. "I will. Thanks Caroline."

"Bye Lucy!"

I pulled my denim jacket around me as I headed outside. It was icy cold; I hadn't prepared for the weather today at all. Once inside my car, I blasted the heat, and went to call Elena. The phone rang for ages, and then went to voicemail.

"Hey Elena it's me." I spoke with the awkward high-pitched voice I always used when talking on the phone. "Um, Caroline and I were worried about you since you disappeared from school today. So I'm gonna come over and check on you, because we should probably talk anyways. Bye."

I hung up, and went to pull out of the parking lot. Even with my windshield wipers on high speed, it was hard to see through the rain flowing off of my window. I couldn't remember the last time I had seen a thunderstorm this bad.

There were hardly any other cars on the road, which was a shock as it should've been nearing peak traffic hour. My car swerved on the slick pavement a few times, and I cursed myself for having two-wheel drive. My phone rang when I was about halfway to Elena's house. I almost ignored it, but then I saw that it was her.

"Elena hey what's up?" I put the phone on speaker and set it in my lap.

"Lucy thank god." Elena's voice was mixed with static. "Have you heard from Stefan?"

"What? No I haven't seen him all day. I assumed he went home with you." I said.

"No, Damon's here and-" Elena's voice cut out.

"Elena I can't hear you." I exclaimed. "What happened?"

"Damon's here and he hasn't seen Stefan since he left for school." Elena yelled, I could hear the panic in her voice. "I didn't see him before I left and he's not picking up his phone and I was just hoping you had seen him."

"No he never showed up. But I'm sure he's okay." I tried to calm her. "I'm on my way to your house right now. We'll figure out what to do, I promise."

"No – no Lucy. Don't come over." Elena shouted. "Listen to me, you need to get home, and lock your doors, and wait the storm out. Do you understand?"

"Elena I'm already on my way. If Stefan is missing I'll help you look for him." I insisted.

"Lucy please go home." Elena pleaded. "It's not safe out, and I have Damon here. I'll call you when we find him. Okay?"

I was squinting to make out the road, and it looked like something was in the way. Slowing as I got closer, I realized a tree had fallen. Shit. It was completely blocking the road; there was no way I was getting around it.

"Elena I'm going to call you back okay? There's a tree in the road." I shouted, hoping she could hear me over the rain. "Elena?"

I looked at my phone, and realized the call had dropped. There was no service. Great. This route was the only one I knew to get to Elena's. Of course there were other ways to get there, but I couldn't look up directions without signal. I sighed and did a U-Turn, realizing that I had no choice but to listen to her and go home and wait out the storm.

I tried to accelerate out of the turn, and couldn't. Pumping the gas a few times, I heard my back wheel spin and splash mud behind me. I was stuck. As if I didn't already feel useless enough knowing that Stefan was missing and that Elena was freaking out and I couldn't do anything to help. Now I was quite literally a stick in the mud.

I checked my phone to see if I had signal again. No luck. I debated waiting for a car to come by, but given the lack of cars on the road that afternoon I realized that wouldn't be beneficial. My call had only just dropped, which meant I had cell phone signal a few feet down the road.

I got out of the car, and regretted my jacket choice for the day. I didn't even have an umbrella stashed in my car. A few seconds outside and I was already soaking wet. Visibility was horrible in the rain, so I walked on the side of the road that way if a car did come, they wouldn't hit me.

Looking back at my car, I realized that I was well past the point where my call had dropped, and I should have had signal by now. The storm had only gotten worse, so it must be interfering with the phone lines. I held my phone up, praying that the rain wouldn't damage it.

Paying attention to my cell phone, I completely forgot about my bad ankle. I went to step on it, and it completely gave out on me. I tried and failed to regain my balance, and fell down the hill that ran alongside the road.

It felt like I was moving in slow motion. The rain made the foliage on the hill so slick; I must've slid for twenty or thirty feet. I groaned when I finally came to a stop. My second fall in a twenty-four hour period. At least this time it didn't feel like I had acquired any injuries beyond a few bruises.

I took a second to catch my breath. With the storm clouds obscuring what little daylight was left, I could barely see around me. It was all just dark masses of damp leaves. It looked like there was a branch within arms length of me, so I reached for it to help myself up. It was soft to the touch, too soft even for rotting wood. I squinted, trying to make out the object in the dark.

I was holding an arm. A human arm.

I screamed. And screamed. And screamed.

Just another town we're passing through
It's of no concern to me and you
Do you really want to know what I think
Do you really want me to show what I know
Buried deep inside
You ought to know you need to know