Chp 7

It has been three years since the Emersons came to Santa Carla, and everything had settled down. Lucy had insisted the Lost Boys move into the house and out of the cave. They could keep it as a "hang out", but knew they needed somewhere more livable. Especially after an earthquake hit in 1989, almost completely destroying the cave. Marko, Paul, and Dwayne grew accustomed to being able to have normal sleep schedules and being out in daylight. David held back. He liked the one they were. He only changed so he wasn't alone, but made it known he was displeased with the changes. The others were getting tired of his behavior.

Funnily enough, it was Lucy, dear sweet Lucy who put him in his place. David had been complaining about something or other and Lucy had enough, "You know, you should be grateful." David snapped back, "Grateful?! For what?!" "For being able to move about freely. Able to gain some sort of semblance of normalcy. Not so easily hunted because you blend in more than you ever have. Your old lifestyle was one wrong kill away from attracting professional hunters. And I'm not talking about those boys working at the comic shop. I'm talking about true hunters, who are so obsessed with ridding the world of abominations like us they stop at nothing and kill those who stand in their way."

Lucy felt like she was getting through to David and she noticed everyone in the house were listening as well, "You may not care or like this new way of life, but the others do. You know how close you all got to being hunted down. Did Liana tell you about the hunters she stopped last year? That night she came home reeking of Vervain, barely able to stand on her own. Hunters caught wind of us all, and only she noticed. While you were throwing a fit, Liana was protecting us all. And you claim to be a leader. You should be ashamed of yourself." Lucy walked away, leaving a properly scolded David to stew over her words.

From then on, the other three plus Sam trained with Liana to be more aware, more attuned to their surroundings, and how to defend themselves. Liana and Lucy had everyone ingesting small amounts of Vervain or in Sam's case Wolfsbane, so they were not so easily subdued by the herbs. However, David, once again did not partake as much as the others. His pride got the better of him, and he felt like he didn't need to do any of this. This mindset will be his downfall.

Speaking of downfall, Star had realized her feelings for Mike were not strong enough to overlook all the red flags. Mike would get angry easily and take it out on Star. He never laid a hand on her, but the verbal and emotional abuse was excessive. Star knew it was only a matter of time before Mike struck her during an argument. The girl had sat down with Lucy, "I wanted to thank you for all you have done for me. But it's time I move on. Mike and I are not in a good place, and I think it would be better if I left." During these past three years, Star was encouraged by Lucy to get her diploma and think about her future.

Lucy nodded, "I am sorry for the way my son has treated you. I know I did not raise him to be this way. I don't know what has gotten into him. I'm not excusing his behavior; I just don't understand what went wrong. If you feel the need to leave, none of us are going to stop you." Lucy hugged Star, "Thank you, Lucy. Without you and the family, I don't know what I would have done. And thank you for helping me contact my family. My father was actually happy to hear from me." And with that, Star left the Emerson household, leaving Michael heartbroken and angry.

A few weeks go by when Lucy gets a call from the police station. Mike had got into a car accident while being intoxicated. She was informed the driver of the other car had died on the scene. The Emerson household knew what this meant, Mike triggered his curse. Lucy sighed, "Alright, I'll come down there." She hung up the phone and went in search of Liana, "Come on. Mike's been arrested. We need to get him out." Liana knew what she meant. The people involved needed to be compelled to forget Mike was the driver. Lucy didn't want to go this route, but she knew Mike would be punished enough every full moon for the rest of his life.

The next full moon was difficult for everybody. Sam had gotten somewhat used to the pain of the shift, so it did not take long for him. Mike refused to listen to Liana, and it took him hours to finally shift, then he fought Sam and almost killed him. It took Lucy using magic to render Mike unconscious before he killed his little brother. After that, Lucy had the men remodel the house and create a separate holding cell in the cellar. It took a few months, and in those few months Sam shifted in the garage away from Mike.

When the newly remodeled holding cells were finished, Mike had to be thrown into his by a very pissed off vampire. Mike had gotten into Paul's face about his relationship with Marko. Mike had called the both of them homosexual slurs and spit in Marko's face. Paul is not one to get angry but when his best friend and lover was assaulted by the homophobic werewolf, Paul saw red. Mike spent several days after the full moon in the holding cell as a form of punishment.

Lucy was at her wits end with her eldest son. After the last full moon, she spoke to him, "Either you change your behavior, or you leave this house. I will not stand for this rude, uncivilized behavior any longer." Mike did not argue with his mother. He packed a bag, took whatever cash he had saved, and got on the first bus out of town. Mike called a few days later to apologize to his mother and only his mother then hung up. He eventually sent a postcard from Florida, saying he was okay and found a pack to run with.

Another few years go by; Lucy was practicing magic almost daily. Some of the magic started taking its toll on her body. Because she went so long without using her magic her body couldn't handle the strain. Liana had let Lucy channel her several times, but Lucy was stubborn. Lucy was tending to her garden when she started to feel ill and needed to take a break. Once she stood up and took a step towards the back door, she crumbled holding her numb left arm to her chest. She wasn't able to call out to anyone inside the house. Lucy was found a short while later, but it was too late. Lucy Emerson has passed away from a heart attack. She was fifty-seven years old. Lucy had Liana promise not to bring her back if she died.

Lucy's funeral was a small affair. Only family and friends minus Mike since he refused to come home. Or even keep in contact. Sam and Liana took Lucy's death the hardest. Sam more than Liana. He decided to travel for a while. Sam had finished high school and was going to take a gap year before starting college. He just didn't expect to not have his mother wishing him good luck. Lucy did leave her children some money. Sam had put his share away, only using what he needs while traveling. Mike came back to Santa Carla to get his money and left again. But not before Sam beat the ever-loving shit out of him for not coming home for his own mother's funeral. Sam made it clear he never wants to see Michael ever again.

Liana, Dwayne, Marko, and Paul had wished Sam the best and saw him off. David stood off to the side, not caring either way. This caused an argument between Liana and David. Liana had argued that David's refusal to change will get him killed. Then David said something that hurt Liana, "What's it to you? It's not as if your own brothers cared about you. If I was your brother, I'd let you die too. Then I wouldn't have to listen to you nagging." That did it. Liana felt the hurt from when her brothers abandoned her for Katherine all over again. So, she flipped her switch.

They all could see the shift in Liana. The shift in her emotions, or lack thereof as she left the house. Dwayne went toe-to-toe with David, "You're an asshole, you know that." David was not backing down, "It's not my fault she's sensitive." Dwayne punched David so hard his jaw dislocated. Marko stood next to Dwayne with Paul on the other side of Marko. Dwayne told David, "I think you should leave. You're not welcome here anymore. None of us want you here." This is when it sunk in, David screwed up and now has lost the only family he had. Without saying a word, David packed what little bit he had and left the Emerson house and went back to the cave. Luckily, the water had receded, and he was able to stay there.

Paul and Marko held the fort while Dwayne chased down Liana. He found her dropping a body after she drained them dry. Liana had killed and drained over 200 people in the time it took for Dwayne to find her. The bodies were lying scattered near the small mining town. Dwayne sighed as he carefully approached Liana, "Come on, baby. Let's get you home." Liana's cold, empty laugh was heard, "Why? Why should I go back?" "Because we're family. We need you. I need you." Liana sneered, "I don't care."

Liana was distracted by one of her victims twitching. Thinking they were still alive, Liana whooshed over to them. This gave Dwayne the opportunity to snap Liana's neck, "I'm sorry." He brought her back home and put her inside one of the holding cells where she stayed for a little over a week. The three Lost Boys didn't know how to get her to turn her humanity back on, but they couldn't keep her in the holding cell forever. So, reluctantly they let Liana out. She stayed cold towards all of them but didn't take off again.

Damon was pissed. He had heard of a small mining town in California that had multiple deaths that looked like something out of a horror movie. He cursed under his breath as he walked through the town. Seeing the result of the attack, the first person that came to Damon's mind was his younger brother, Stefan. Thinking his brother had unleashed the Ripper, he shook his head and cleaned up the mess as much as he could. Damon then left back to New York, never knowing it was actually his baby sister that was responsible. The Salvatore brothers won't know about Liana being alive for quite some time.

The vampires of Santa Carla were unaware of the fact that the Frog brothers had left town to learn what it really means to be a hunter. They too had heard about the 200 bodies found drained of blood. They had suspected it was the Lost Boys' doing, so they returned to their hometown. Back to their comic shop that they used as a cover. It was here they found out the Lost Boys had split up. Edgar had seen David by himself one night and confronted him. The vampire disappeared before Edgar could stake him. His brother Alan had warned Edgar that would happen, but Edgar didn't listen.

Liana, and Dwayne had gone to the boardwalk. Dwayne had wanted to get the girl out of the house, hoping a night out would spark something. He was not counting on getting shoved into a dark alley and a stake shoved into his chest, just missing his heart. Edgar had spotted the guy leaving a food stand with some cotton candy and took the opportunity. While Dwayne was trying to keep the stake from being pulled out and used again, Edgar taunted him, "I got you now. You and your friends will die by my hand if it's the last thing I do."

Any further taunting was cut off when a hand burst through his chest holding his heart. A furious Liana standing behind the hunter. She had gone looking for Dwayne when he was taking too long to come back with the overly sugary snack. Liana pulled her hand back, letting Edgar's body drop. She dropped his heart next to Edgar's body then attended to Dwayne. The stake was pulled out and her bloody wrist shoved into his face. Dwayne could see Liana was concerned, angry, and hurt. Not how he wanted her humanity to come back but was glad it was.

Once Dwayne was healed, they hid the hunter's body. Liana had his heart in her hand. She and Dwayne entered the comic shop. Alan was behind the counter finishing up with some customers when the vampires approached. He grew nervous when he noticed them covered in blood and his brother nowhere to be found. Alan tried to seem unafraid, "What do you leeches want?" Liana smirked as she slammed Edgar's heart onto the counter. It took Alan a moment for it to register what he was looking at. His breathing became ragged, on the verge of panicking when Liana's voice drifted into his ears, "You have the option to leave and never come back or end up like your brother. Missing your heart and stuffed in a dumpster. Your choice?" The vampires leave a pale, sobbing Alan in the comic shop and return home.

The next year, Liana got a postcard from Sam. He ended up finding a pack in Oregon. He vowed to visit for the holidays, but he was happy. Liana, Dwayne, Paul, and Marko continued to live in Santa Carla for the foreseeable future. The heretic never suspected she was being watched from a distance. Ever since his friendship with the Ripper in the 1920s and was told of his twin, Klaus has kept an eye on the Heretic. The Original Hybrid had learned the Salvatore Heretic was traveling with a forgotten bloodline of witches as well as untriggered werewolves. He let them be, but kept up with the Heretic and her movements with the Emerson family. Knowing their whereabouts was enough for Klaus. When the time comes, he will call upon Liana Salvatore.

AN: David has left the group for the moment, but he is still around. Damon made an appearance. Klaus knows about Liana.