The wail of sirens crescendos as police cars and an ambulance screech to a halt in front of 123 Maple Drive. Red and blue lights flash, casting an eerie glow over the suburban neighborhood. Officers and paramedics spring into action, moving swiftly towards the house with practiced precision.

The house on Maple Drive is set back from the road, hidden by a stand of trees and thick overgrowth. Its presence is marked only by a mailbox at the foot of the long concrete drive.

Connor Jordan steps out of the vehicle taking in the chaotic scene. As he heads up the driveway, a young girl stands inside the double garage. She looks scared and bewildered, almost in shock.

"Who's shot?" Connor asks as he approaches.

"He's in the last bedroom," the girl stammers through her tears. "Go...go right the...then left, down the hall."

"You stay here and direct the others," Connor tells her. He catches a glimpse of Matt Donovan as he pulls up at the foot of the drive.

Connor has one purpose, getting to the patient and helping him. But as he enters the house, he feels spooked. He has no idea who's been shot, how, or by whom. Could someone with a loaded gun be lurking? The thought unnerves him, but he turns into the dark hallway, pounding the wall with his fist to announce his present.

"Fire Department," he calls. "Did you call for an ambulance?"

A light comes on abruptly and the door opens. A distraught and disheveled woman appears. She appears to be around thirty and is wearing a bathrobe.

"Is someone hurt?" Connor asks.

The woman gestures toward a king-size bed. A man is lying on his left side under a plaid comforter. He's snoring loudly and Connor's first impression is to shake him awake. But as he rounds the end of the bed, he sees a bloodstain spreading darkly across the back of the pillow under the man's head.

While the woman watches, Connor feels a pulse and finds it racing chaotically. The left side of the man's head is buried in the pillow, his left eye obscured. Connor shifts his head slightly to get his nose and mouth visible. Blood oozes from his mouth and nostrils and is running down the side of his face. Connor reaches into his kit for IV supplies.

Matt Donovan, captain of the Mystic Falls Volunteer Fire Department leaves his pickup on the street with the emergency flashers on to mark the site. He hurries into the room, carrying a trauma box, oxygen, and an Ambu bag.

"What's the story?"

"Gunshot wound to the head," Connor tells him.

The man is unconscious, his pupils dilated and rolling back. His face is ashen. Matt begins recording vital statistics as Connor calls them out. Both men don rubber gloves to search the man's bloody hair for a wound but only find an abrasion behind his left ear.

The woman abruptly blurts out, "I don't know why he had to put it there. I...I told him not to."

"What happened?" Matt asks.

She tells him that she had been pulling the gun out from under her husband's pillow when it discharged. "You know with those reports of peeping toms and burglaries in the area, the gun was for protection. He put it under the pillow so he could reach it easily. It just went off," she cries.

Another first responder, Mason Lockwood, enters the room. He immediately recognizes the man in bed.

Kol Mikaelson.


Thank you for reading. I hope you like it. You know I love crime stories. This is based on a true crime. I'll reveal it at the end. "Welcome to the Jungle" and "The Night All Angels Cry" were also based on real-life crimes. I have written Elena and Kol as best friends before. "I Can't Escape Myself" and "Turn the Page" come to mind off the top of my head.

Thank you to Eva and WattsKerryLou for the cover image.

I posted a one-shot yesterday. "Animate Me". I tried hard to add some of Damon's sarcastic wit and charm. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.

Have a fabulous weekend.