four
leave me alone.

"ELSIE! YOU LOOK beautiful, sweetheart," Carol and her husband and mayor, Richard Lockwood greet her as she arrives at the town's Founder's party a week later. "Thanks so much for coming."

Carol looks up and down at the girl's outfit. She's wearing a white dress that has intricate lace flowers embroidered on it. Her normally curly hair is straightened and falling loosely around her shoulders. The necklace Stefan gave her rests around her throat, and she's wearing a pair of black high heels. Her makeup is natural.

"Tyler's here with... Vicki," Richard deadpans, both of them curious as to why he's not here with Elsie. "We were wondering why he's not here with you."

"We broke up," she responds, not wanting to talk about her dating life with her ex's parents. So she kisses Carol on the cheek before going into the home for the party.

She wanders around by herself for a while, enjoying the alone time. She likes spending time with her friends, but sometimes it's nice to be alone so she can think.

She curiously looks around at all of the relics from the town's founders. Then she finds a list of the original guest registry from the town's inaugural Founder's Council Celebration.

She searches the list, only to find two very familiar names written in cursive—Damon and Stefan Salvatore. She gingerly touches the frame, only to see a flash of a memory that isn't hers.

Elsie sees someone who looks exactly like her, but aged a bit. She seems more mature than her and there's something about the way that she walks that's not normal. She walks as though she's gliding on water, so effortlessly. Her curly hair is tied into an updo at the back of her head and she's wearing a blue dress that looks like it's from the 1800s. What Elsie doesn't know is that she's experiencing one of Florence's memories.

She walks towards Stefan and Damon with a mischievous grin on her face. The boys are playing football, and a girl who looks exactly like Elena is at Florence's side. That girl is Katherine. They're all dressed in old clothes, because the memory is from the year 1864.

"Me and Lady Katherine would like to join you," Florence speaks up, her grin widening.

"You girls could get hurt," Stefan shakes his head, holding the football as him and Damon approach them. "My brother likes to play rough."

"Somehow I think that you play rougher," Katherine counters, taking a daring step towards the youngest Salvatore boy. Her tone is seductive and dark.

"I highly doubt that," Florence remarks, noticing how Damon hasn't taken his eyes off of her since the moment she stepped outside.

Katherine uses Stefan's distractedness to her advantage and takes the football from his arms. She runs into the yard, only glancing back to look at Florence. "Come on, Flor!"

Florence giggles, running after her vampire friend as fast as she can. Damon watches Stefan hesitate, at which point he grabs Stefan's shoulder. "What are you doing, brother? They clearly want to be chased."

With that, Damon takes off after both girls, mostly after Florence. Katherine throws the ball to Florence, who catches it with ease. Her pace quickens, but Damon still manages to catch up with her.

The moment their skin touches, Elsie snaps out of the vision and she finds Damon standing in front of her. He grins at her, having no idea what she just saw. "Those are the original Salvatore brothers. My ancestors. Tragic story, actually. The Salvatore name was practically royalty in this town until the war, there was a battle here-"

"The Battle of Willow Creek," Elsie cuts him off, wondering why she just witnessed a vision of him and Stefan. She doesn't know if it means anything, but she does know that the visions didn't start until they came to town. "I learned about it in class. Confederate soldiers fired on a church that had civilians inside."

"What the history books left out was that the people that were killed, they weren't there by accident. They were believed to be union sympathizers. So some of the founders on the confederacy side back then wanted them rounded up and burned alive. Stefan and Damon had two people they loved very much in that church. And when they went to rescue them, they were shot. Murdered in cold blood."

"Who were the people they wanted to save?"

"Women, I guess. Doesn't it always come down to the love of a woman?"

"I suppose so," Elsie nods before separating from him.

She heads to the bar and gets a glass of champagne. She casually sips it until Tyler walks over to her, giving her a careful look. "I come in peace. Just came to get a drink."

"I don't care, Tyler," she shrugs, hurt by how he came here with her sister. "I just wish you'd leave me alone."

"I really am sorry," Tyler apologizes, genuinely meaning it. "I don't know how many more times I can apologize-"

"I don't want your apologies," Elsie scoffs, backing away from him. "I want you to leave me alone."

She then leaves the house, takes off her heels, and makes her way towards her car. However, she stops in her tracks once she spots Caroline standing in the middle of the dark yard with a lost expression on her face. "Caroline? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," the Forbes girl lies, looking white as a sheet, even in the dark. Her breathing grows heavy, but she still maintains her statement. "I'm fine."

"You're clearly not fine," the Donavan girl insists, gingerly touching Caroline's arm. "You're shaking."

"I'm fine. I'm fine-" Caroline trails off, breaking into a fit of sobs as Elsie wraps her arms around her.

UNEDITED