????????????

At a similar piece of woods nearby, a man hikes down one of the many trails of the park, escorting a few boys and girls towards the path as well. They're here for a little outdoors trip, and as one of two only adults, it's the man's job to do the obvious, make sure they get around safely, especially with how dark it is around here. 

"Dad, are you sure about this?" One of the kids, the youngest boy in the group, asks as he almost literally shakes in his little shoes. "It's scary out here, why couldn't we have waited for morning to go out?" He questions him, not liking the chills he's getting thanks to his vision still not adjusting to the darkness. 

"Because, we only have two days, your old man can plan for crap, and our stay would've been canceled if we waited a couple hours longer." The man tells his boy with a humorous, but self-criticizing expression on his face. "Don't worry, I'll make sure to have the tent be my first priority." 

"Aren't there gonna be mosquitos now?" The oldest girl notes as she anxiously glances around, causing the man to sigh a little bit as he realizes that she's gone into outside-phobia stage. 

"Yes, but-"

"Did we bring bug spray?"

"Yes, Amy, don't worry-"

"Don't mosquitos suck our blood, does that mean we could die-"

"Amy!" His father holds up a hand as he quickly snaps her out of her quavering rant. "It's gonna be fine, no, they don't kill you." He assures her, while trying his best not to laugh at her amusing antics. He then points to an obvious fireplace placed for campers like them. "Go set your sleeping bags if you're tired, I'm gonna make sure your mother is looking for the tent." He tells them with a comforting smile before walking back to where they came from. 

The trail isn't as long as it may seem, so getting to where the truck is doesn't take any longer than ten minutes.  While on his way there, there's a small rough sound that causes him to pause for a brief moment, but with one look towards it, all he sees is woods. So, he just shrugs it off. 

Eventually, he finds the recognizable big white vehicle, and spots his wife trying to find something in the trunk. "Hey, you should make sure you grab that tent first, the kids are already getting nervous just standing here." 

"And let me guess, you didn't help quell it even a tiny bit?" The woman queries with a knowing voice, as if already having a clear image of the dialogue that was going on at the campsite without being being there. 

"What? No, babe, of course I wouldn't do something like that." The man defends himself, trying to look offended that she would even guess that sort of thing. But then, he shows off the small smirk in his face. "I'm gonna be doing that right after we get a fire going." He confirms with a wink and click of his tongue.

"I don't expect anything less." The woman sarcastically remarks, causing her husband to laugh out loud as he then walks over to the driver's seat of the truck.

"Okay, now, where did I put that....?" He mumbles after opening the door, looking around until he finds a metal water bottle under the seat itself. "Ah, there it is! Forgot my water bottle." He points out with a semi-victorious look. "You need help with anything?" He then turns to the women. 

"No, I'm fine." She assures him with a smile and nod, prompting him to do a cowboy tip of his invisible hat before heading back down the small trail. 

As he continues walking, he checks the time on his watch and sees that it is past ten P.M. "Geez, it really is that late..." He comments, as if he went past farther than 3 A.M. But anyhow, he eventually makes his way back to the kids.

And that's where he finds the sleeping bags, only they're all coated with a new paint of crimson red. 

The man blinks before he then realizes it's blood. 

The bags having been ripped apart, showing their stuffing, and his children dead..... with various body parts strewn about the dirt around the campsite. The man's breathing gets shaky as he sees one his boy's decapitated head, eyes covered in sheer terror. And above all, it's safe to say that not all of the body parts have been left behind. Half of each kids' corpse is missing. 

It's enough to make him throw up. 

"Oh my gosh, are you vomiting?" The woman's voice echoes across the lonely night as she approaches from behind him. "I told you not to eat some many......" She stops upon getting close enough to see the scene for herself, and she drops the tent, face now pale as her hands cover her mouth to prevent any ghosts from being able to haunt it. 

After a few seconds that feels like a day, the man finally says something.

"Help...." 

When he doesn't feel like he was heard, he then immediately turns around, running past his horrified wife, into the woods. Away from the gore, away from their dead kids. 

"HELP!"

"SOMEONE!"

"SOMEBODY HELP!"

.........

...........

.........

Y/N's eyes flash open as he looks put the ceiling, where his ceiling fan hangs in the center. He then quickly sits up, looking around to find him back in his room, instead of the cold, terrifying woods.

"Again...." He says to himself in a quiet voice.

It happened again. 

_______________________________

L/N Residence: 

Once finished with the usual morning stuff, Y/N went into the bathroom to release the urine that was building up in his bladder during his entire sleep. Whether that was because of the drinks, or water, is a discussion that doesn't need to bother discussing, mostly because Y/N got too busy staring at himself in the mirror after he did his business.

He glances between himself and at his knuckles, thinking about the night of the founders party. It's been four days, but that isn't enough to deal with the fact that not only did you lose control and break a guy's face in one punch, get jumped, and survive a freaking knife tip to your neck. The thought of it makes Y/N rub his fingers against where he remembers feeling the steel impale his skin, sometimes waiting for it to abruptly open, revealing that it was only briefly closed for a lucky amount of time. 

He felt the blood coming out, he felt his body getting warm, his vision getting dark, and then..... he was much stronger a second later. Jeff's reaction when he stood back up was actually the same mental one that Y/N had before he literally knocked his teeth out. However, he will admit, that despite the shock he felt and having experienced all that, he was glad to be alive.... and still is. 

Washing his hands, and spraying himself with whatever, you'd never know what had happened that night, and frankly, Y/N wants to keep it that way. He probably pushed the laws of self-defense a little with that last kick that sent Jack smacking the concrete with the back of his head. Also, he's pretty sure that the police will have no reason to believe him for the accounts of what happened, should they decide to tell them that he survived a stab to the jugular. After all, there's no scar to suggest that he ever was. 

"Hey Y/N! You there?" Y/N hears his father calling out for him, causing him to wonder if he's been in the bathroom for a really long time. "School's about to begin, do you need me to drive you there?" He then queries, confirming that he definitely has been going on a mental monologue.

 "Oh, yeah! Sounds good!" Y/N responds, quickly stepping out and heading downstairs where his father's wait for him. He notices his slightly concerned look as they walk out of the house together, Y/N grabbing his back on the way out. 

"Are you okay?" 

Y/N blinks upon being asked this. 

"Yeah." 

He was just thinking about Jeff.

________________________________________

Salvatore Boarding House: The Night Before

After half a week, Damon has been in the basement of his own house thanks to his brother, Stefan. When he finally wakes up for who knows how long, he finds himself still feeling weak as the moment Stefan spiked Caroline's own blood with vervain, his kind's weakness. If only he was able to smell it, that son of a bitch....

Finding the ability to look up, he spots Stefan staring at him through the little look-see of the large, hard to open door. He feels something missing and touches his hand, realizing that he's missing something important from his ring finger. "Where's my... ring?" He asks Stefan in a weak voice. 

"Won't be needing it anymore." Stefan simply answers him, his eyes and half of his face covered by the shadows that coat this section of the boarding house. Damon groans as he tries to stand up, only for his muscles to give before he can even move them.

"How long have I been here?" 

"Three days." Stefan tells him, making him realize the cause of his poor sedation, not only has he been injected with more of the poison, but he doesn't have the fresh power to fight against it. 

"What are you doing?" Damon asks as his face winces due to the constant poking at his flesh and bone, torturing him every time he tries resisting their hold on his ability to stretch or stand. 

"During the Dark Ages, when a vampire's actions threatened to expose or bring harm upon the entire race, they would face judgement." Stefan mentions to him, speaking to him as he should know this already. "They sought to reeducate them rather than to punish them."

You know what will happen if I don't...." Damon groans, taking a big swallow as he tries to maintain his hold on his face. "...feed on blood?"

"You'll grow weaker and weaker, and eventually, you won't be able to move or speak." Stefan easily answers, full aware of what will happen, and will take the side-effects with open arms as they are necessary. "In a week, your skin will desiccate and you'll mummify, a living corpse, unable to hurt anyone.... ever." 

"So what, you're just gonna leave me in the basement.... forever?" Daman questions him, challenging if he's truly willing to let his brother rot away in his own house for the rest of their undead lives. 

"I've injected you with enough vervain to keep you weak." Stefan informs him, confirming the reason for his invisible chains that keep the older brother down. "Once your circulation stops, I'll move you to the family crypt, and then in fifty years, we can re-evaluate." He tells him, causing Damon to let out a weakly chuckle.

"I'm stronger than you think...."

"You always have been." Stefan admits, which is why he used his own arrogance against him. "But you're not stronger than the vervain and we both know it." He tells him, knowing that he's got him exactly where he should be. "I'm sorry, it didn't have to be this way..."

"What about.... Y/N?" Damon then brings up, causing Stefan to pause and walk back to the door. "He's suspicious about us.... I know it..... and you ruined my one plan to silence him..." 

"You see, now that's where the difference between you and me shine brighter on my side." Stefan notes as he seems to already know how he'll deal with that. He knows that Y/N's gotten an off-spot about their family the second that mess with Vicki started happening, but that he doesn't know enough to suspect everything. "I know how to make friends, instead of irritating everyone I know to the point of punching me in the face." He remarks, referencing that moment at the founder's party. 

"Fuck.... you..."

"Don't worry, the goons you compelled failed to do your dirty work, and half of them have been arrested." He then tells him, knowing the police won't believe any vampire-related things that they'll tell them. "Now, things will get back to normal."

However, Damon pathetically squints, confused. "What are you..... talking about?" 

"The guys that attacked Y/N a couple days ago, the ones you ordered to kill so no one would blame it on an animal and mess up your whole frame up plan." Stefan reminds him, but that doesn't seem to ring any of Damon's bells.

"I didn't.... compel.... anyone." He says, and Stefan scans him a moment before realizing that he's actually being genuine with that answer. If not him, then who did?

Or was the timing just that convenient? 

___________________________________

Mystic Falls Sheriff's Station: Back to Present Time

Speaking of Jeff, he's still in confinement at the police station, still waiting for his trial. For the entire four days, he's spent most of his time staring down at the hard floor with an emotionless expression, as if trying to shut every sound of the world out so he can continue living in his secret world. 

For good reason, as a matter of fact, since his arrest after assaulting Y/N resulted in his family's situation becoming much worse than when it started. Now, everyone in town knows about what their son did, bail is too expensive to pay, and the obvious motive that investigators figured out with kindergarten playground difficulty. He didn't really set the best example, to put it in smaller words. 

Today, however, gives him something unique to react to, as the deafening quiet area gets broken when he hears loud footsteps echoing across the hallway each and every time they tap on the ground. They keep going, passing two smaller cells, until it ends up reaching Jeff's own cell.

"Hello there, Jeff." The deputy greets with a mocking smirk. "Enjoying your time off?" he questions, only for Jeff to not even spare a glance at him. This just makes the cop chuckle, however, as he reaches for something in his belt. "Stand up, face up against the wall." He then orders as he pulls out his keys. Jeff blinks a little bit, giving him an odd look. Why does he have to do that?" I mean it, bub, stand up, towards the wall, with your face against it." 

With the cop giving a look that warns the prisoner that he shouldn't have to repeat it again, Jeff mentally sighs as he slowly pushes on the bed, getting back on his feet as he steps towards the wall. Once that's done, he's left there standing for a few second, while hearing the sound of the cop unlocking his cell with his keys and the door sliding open with a loud screech. 

At first, Jeff thinks he's being messed with, until he hears another row of footsteps clicking and clanking against the concrete floor. He wants to look, but with the deputy showcasing sadistic behavior, he decides not to overstep his boundaries until he gets the word or some kind of cue.

Then, the cell door closes, and Jeff slowly turns back around to see a women with red, twirly hair, looking at him with a very unsettling smile. "Hello, Jeff." She greets as if she knows him personally before, even though they've only met each other once before. 

"I know you...." Jeff notes, squinting at her as he tries to pinpoint where, the woman just smirks at him before turning to the deputy. 

"Thank you, you can leave now." She then instructs the cop, her eyes pulsating for a few seconds. The deputy then nods as he walks out in a somewhat robotic manner, leaving the two alone for a time that's probably not gonna be all that fun. "Now, Jeff, from what I've heard, you've been a bad boy~" She purrs as he takes a step closer to him, then something suddenly clicks for Jeff. 

"I failed...." Jeff mutters, glancing down ashamed. "I attacked him, just like you asked, but I couldn't kill him for some reason. He just.... he got back up." He relays to her, a small drop of sweat leaking down his forehead. He knows that she doesn't like it when things don't go her way, and he could be made an example. 

"Oh, don't you worry about that, you pathetic waste of space, you did exactly what I wanted you to do." The woman assures him with a satisfied look on her face, which can't help but confuse Jeff. Didn't she order him to kill Y/N? "In fact, that's why I compelled you, because it was a simple experimentation if your weak little knife would work." 

"What?" Jeff utters, looking at her with an even more perplexed expression. "What do you mean?"

"People like Y/N, they don't die from a simple stab to the neck, or gunshot to the head, because it just heals up in seconds." The woman says as she grabs him by the collar of his jacket. "Instead, they just shrug off the pain and rip your head clean off your shoulders, before eating it for lunch." She then growls into his ear before roughly letting him go. "People like you are just meat to them." 

"So what? Was I supposed to die? Is that what you're saying?" Jeff questions her with a look that feels personally attacked by her downgrading his life with such glee. 

"Usually, but I don't think he's reached that stage yet." The woman guesses with a small shrug, before she slowly circles him, taking unnerving steps until she's right behind him. "But I bet that the little dog inside him as now been riled up by that little comet in the sky." She says while dangling her hand up towards the ceiling as if it was a paper plane, before bringing it towards Jeff's neck which she grabs tightly. "Calling all of the special beasts in our world back into the light, where all of the meat bags get to do nothing but suffer, die, or become one of us...... and most likely suffer and die." 

Jeff shakes in his shoes, wanting to run out of the cell and into the street, but something inside him can't find the willpower to. So, instead, he's frozen solid, a unfortunate victim of the woman touching him. "What happens now?" He then asks her, his voice afraid, like it knows that it is going to receive bad news. 

"Well, simply put...." The woman smirks, getting closer to Jeff's body as she leans in to whisper in his ear. "You're free to go." 

She then suddenly cuts his throat open with a blade that she pulls out of her person, causing Jeff to fall onto his knees. He chokes and gags on his own blood, his heads gripping his throat in a desperate but futile attempt to stop the liquid from coming out. 

Within a few seconds, he then collapses onto the floor, dead thanks to having completely bled out. "Better than the electric chair, I imagine." The woman quips before pulling out a wet wipe from her breast pocket and wiping the handle of the shiv with it. She then tosses it next to Jeff's body as she walks out of the cell, marching down the hallway where the deputy waits for her. 

"Close and lock the cell door." The woman then orders him, her eyes once again pulsating. "And remember that you never saw me or remember anything that just happened in the last five hours." She adds, and the deputy nods and does what she says. The woman smirks victoriously as she then makes her stealthful exit out of the police station. When that same deputy, or somebody else walks in, they'll just think that Jeff has committed suicide due to the guilt of letting his family down. 

All in a day's work for Katherine Pierce. 

______________________________________

Mystic Falls High: 

Now, when Y/N heard that the school was going to have a 'Sexy Suds Car Wash' Tomorrow, in honor of Coach Tanner, he honestly thought it was going to be a joke. After all, if you had two or one deaths by animal every other day, and you were the last victim of one, the first thing you would expect people to do was to raise money by having teenagers wash cars in clothing they'd wear at the beach. 

But no, it's actually a thing, according to the flyer that Y/N had just gotten handed to him. "The football team has already committed, Y/N, so you better not disappoint me by not showing up." Caroline quips with a cheeky smirk before she and her girls continue striding down the hall. 

"Why a-?" He's about to question the ethics of it, until he sees that the girls are pretty much on patrol duty as they don't make any stop for conversation. So, he just hums and shrugs it off, deciding to give her the option of considering it. 

"I'm just as surprised as you, buddy." A guy chimes in behind him, and Y/N turns around to see the one and only Matt Donovan, looking no worse for wear at all. "Hey, man." 

"Matt!" Y/N exclaim as the two share a handshake and pat on the back. "I see you didn't call or text any of us that you were awake." He remarks with a look that's glad to see him in perfect shape, besides maybe some still visible bruising around tiny spots of his skin. However, it's fairly easy to not notice. 

"Yeah, well, my phone died a couple days ago, as I'm sure you would know." Matt mentions with a quirky smile, to which Y/N understandably nods. Guess there wouldn't be much time to charge it, would there? "Hey, Y/N..." He calls him by name, noticing the way he's glancing down a tiny bit. "It wasn't your fault." 

"Sure..."

"I mean it." Matt persists, not liking how his friend still looks like a man wearing an orange jumpsuit at court. "Look, Jeff was a thug, even if he had his reasons." He tells him, as if trying to remind him that people don't resort to that kind of level, especially to people who weren't even responsible for your problems. 

"I know, I know..." Y/N responds with a nod, grabbing all of the usual school stuff from his locker. "Still, what are you supposed to think when you hear that people are getting hurt just because of someone's beef with you?" He questions out-loud as he turns back to Matt. "Was I supposed to feel..... calm, and...... and nonchalant because I knew that it wasn't 'my fault.'?" 

"No, that wasn't what I was saying." Matt retorts with a shake of his head. "You're human, feel however you want, I'm just saying that-" 

"Guys." Bonnie Bennet, who just awkwardly left one conversation, has now inserted herself into this one. "Good news, bad news." She begins with a somewhat mixed look on her face, causing Matt and Y/N to glance nervously at each other. 

"I just got good news, so I guess I can handle bad news first..." Y/N comments as he nods towards Matt. 

"Well, no one can seem to prove that it was Damon who hurt Caroline." Bonnie regretfully tells them. "She remembers Damon biting her neck, but...... nothing else can come to mind." 

"Wonderful...." 

"Good news, Damon's gone." Bonnie then continues, grabbing the boys' attention. "As in, left town, not coming back for a long time kind of gone. That's what Stefan's saying, anyway." She then relays to them. Y/N's a little surprised if he can be honest. Gone? Just like that? What prompted him to leave Mystic Falls so quickly? 

"Huh, I didn't see that one coming..." Y/N comments with a hum. 

"Oh, and no assault charges for making Damon kiss the entire Lockwood Buffet." 

"Ah, yes..... that too, more happy for that one." Y/N quips, causing Matt to confusingly glance at them both when they chuckle a bit at that one. 

"Wait, what happened?" Matt questions them both, feeling a little bit out of the loop. Y/N and Bonnie then remember that he was still in the hospital at that time. 

"Long story, ask Tyler about it." Y/N advise Matt with a pat on the back, who then just nods slowly.

 "Right....." Matt mutters, before checking his watch and realizing what time it is. "Oh crap, I should start heading to class, my next period's on the other side of the building." He points out as he then speed-walks down the hall, waving bye to the both of them as he leaves. After a few seconds, Y/N then turns to Bonnie.

"Hey, remember when we were talking about how things were getting weird?" Y/N then queries Bonnie, who nods while giving him a curious look. "Well, I think it's happening to me too. I keep getting dream of people dying, and then...." He shares with her, only to stop when he catches himself about to spill the incident with Jeff. "And then I keep.... lashing out at people, more so than before." He corrects himself in a solid save, thinking about Tyler's comment when he punched Damon in the face. Sure, he probably would've confronted him anyway, and he always was more prone to listen to his anger than most people. But he's never actually..... released in a physical way, not like that before. 

"And you think that's weird?" 

"Pretty much, yeah." Y/N admits with a small shrug. "I mean, sure, some people would just say that the animal stuff has bothered me, but..... none of it makes any sense in my head." 

"That.... does sound very familiar, when you phrase it like that." Bonnie comments, glancing down as he plays through her experience of the founder's party in her head. "You know, there was this moment, when...." She tries explaining, but ends up stopping herself instead. "Gosh, you're gonna think I'm crazy if I tell you..."

"Actually, I think I've landed myself in a place where I can listen to anything and find some truth to it." Y/N replies with an encouraging look, promising Bonnie that he's not going to crack some type of skeptical joke at whatever she's thinking about. 

"I...." Bonnie stutters, only for the bell to ring before she could consider letting it out. "We should get going." She then says instead, and Y/N nods as he watches her leave. 

"Hey, Bonnie!" Y/N calls out to her, causing her to stop after she gets a fair distance away. "I mean it, I'll believe anything." He promises her with his most earnest expression he can show her before heading off to class as well. 

Guess she can take that as she will.

____________________________________

A couple hours later, Y/N finds himself in the school library, yes, the school library. He can tell you leaving all kind of jock stereotype jokes in your mind, but if you want him to smack you in a history quiz, then we'll see who's talking. 

However, he's not here for studying purposes, well, he is technically, but none of it is school-related. He's on a random school laptop, trying to find something that may not actually be there, a possible reason for his dreams. He tries waving it off as aftermath of the animal attacks, just like his father suggested, but something about them is off, way off. He feels like he's there, but not really there at the same time, and each time he got one, he could literally feel the cold breeze or hear the crickets buzzing as he stood 'outside' or whatever. He needs to find some other excuse to blame it on, for his own sanity. 

That's when he decides to look up parks, he remembers the family from the second dream, and how they found that campfire that looked like it was made solely for people who wanted to be outdoors to find. If he can search up four mutilated kids, and pretend that nothing's weird about it if someone looks over his shoulder and realizes what he's doing, then he might find something. 

And low and behold, there it is. 

The Gracewind Park Incidents

According to the website he's clicked on, multiple disappearances following what services say was a bear attack. Now, sure, the obvious note is that it sounds a lot like the situation in town, but what catches Y/N's attention is the fact that it involves the moment with the kids in the same detail that Y/N saw in his dream, only vaguer in the text. 

But that's not the only thing. Apparently, there was another death of another hiker and a park ranger that was trying to help him reach safety. The ranger who took the job after, quit his job no more than half a month later when he claimed that he kept hearing voices from the radio, sounding like multiple people but in a monotone voice, constantly teasing and threatening him every night. 

This is what spiraled the rumor of the Goatman. Yup, you heard it correctly, this is what caused people to suspect another Goatman of the deaths. Only this time, there's no ghost story to further sow in the seeds of the park possibly being haunted. After some more searching, Y/N then spots a book that gets his attention, relating to Gracewind Park, and reminds himself to order that later when he gets back home.

Ain't that cool? 

_________________________________________

Mystic Grill: After School

"And then, supposedly, it was the Goatman who did all of those things." Y/n finishes recounting the entire story to Matt as they continue playing pool at the Grill, killing time the best way they know how. "Kind of like the Anton Bridge story, only that it's an actual Goat..... man." He adds as he grabs some chips from a side table and eats the next one he puts in his mouth. 

"And I'm guessing believe it?" Matt queries with an amused expression, causing Y/N to give him a look. 

"What's that supposed to mean?" He questions him while munching on another chip, wondering if some kind of skeptical remark is coming, to which Matt just innocently shrugs. 

"I don't know, I just-" 

"Hey, Matt." Someone suddenly calls out towards them, and the boys turn to see Elena walking towards them. "Y/N, have any of you seen Stefan?" She then queries them, seemingly look like she's been standing her, glancing her head around for a painfully long time. 

"Nope." Matt simply answers, and Y/N shakes his head as well, before then putting an entire stack of chips in his hungry self. Elena then sighs as she starts to amble around some more, until Matt calls her back over. "But if you want to kill some time, um.... you can rack." He then offers, whipping up an inviting simile as he brings her attention to the pool table.  "Come on, we haven't played in forever." He then mentions upon seeing her slightly hesitant face, a biproduct of their break up. "And Y/N is starting to get boring with his pool skills. 

"Wow, okay...." Y/N sarcastically quips with an eye roll, causing Elena to giggle. 

"I'll let you break..." Matt then adds, gabbing a pool cue and extending it to her. 

Looks like it's enough to win her over. 

When Y/N then has to go to the bathroom really quick, he ends up bumping into a guy he hasn't seen all day. "Sorry...." He quickly apologizes, only to see a very mixed terms of friendly face. "Tyler." He then recognizes, mentally noting how he hasn't seem him all day. 

"Hey...." Tyler hesitantly greets back in a low voice, showing some clear signs of a very poor mood. He starts continuing to walk, only to stop two steps in and turn back towards him. "Vicki's pretty much done with me, as I'm sure you'll be glad to know." He then tells him in a very bitter tone, and Y/N stares back with a blank face before  the guy starts walking off. 

"Hey, Ty....." Y/N calls out to him, giving him a inquisitive look. "Did you actually mean it? About Vicki?" He then asks her, causing Tyler to glance down as he thinks about it intently. 

"Would you believe me if I said yes?" Tyler questions him in a slight non-answer. "Even if I really meant it?" He then specifies, and to be honest, all Y/N can really do is shrug. "Then...... Yeah, I think I did actually like her, even if I tried to..... you know." 

 Y/N slowly nods, secretly feeling conflicted on whether he can actually trust him on his word. "You know people would understand you more if you weren't such a dick, right?" He then queries him, and despite everything that's happened, Tyler nods.

"Yeah, I know." He admits before walking away for real this time. 

Guess that leaves Y/N to decide if he'll believe him. 

___________________________________________________

L/N Residence: 

After he's done hanging out with Elena and Matt, Y/N then eventually finds himself back home, expecting it to be the usual for once. However, the second he steps through that front door, it turns out to be anything but normal. 

"Y/N." His father calls out to him the second he realizes that he's back home. "You should come into the living room." He advises with a very serious look on his face. Y/N notices it and squints as he follows him, where Raymond then points towards the TV where the news is discussing the latest incident. 

Jeff Warren..... dead. 

"Deputies were shocked when they found twenty-four-year-old Jeff Warren dead in his cell inside the Sheriff's police station." Logan Fell, the news reporter, states as the police station lays in the background. "Police are deeming in a suicide as his parents grieve the unfortunate loss, we'll update you on more when-" 

"It happened this morning." Raymond relays to him while Y/N continue staring at the screen with a extremely perplexed look on his face. Jeff..... killed himself? What the heck was the point of that? Why did-? "Now I keep getting calls from the press, no doubt trying to get some kind of comment from about the situation. And so.....  I wanted to warn you." He then tells his son, worried that he might get visits from them too. 

"Geez...." Y/N utters with a shake of his head, still a little shocked. "And I thought today was gonna be the calm before the storm." He sarcastically remarks, to which his father gives him a sympathetic look. 

They then hear the doorbell ringing, and Y/N offers to go answer it. When he opens the door, he finds a package on his front porch, a rectangular box. He already knows what it is and picks up the object taking it to his room. "It's nothing, just the books I ordered." He tells his dad as he heads upstairs. 

"Books?" Raymond queries before deciding to shrug it off, knowing that books aren't exactly related to.... his situation. "Be careful from here on, alright? Call me if you get cornered by people with notepads." He advises in a somewhat humorous tone.

"I will!" 

Y/N quickly marches into his room, swiftly opening up the box before taking out the Goatman book written by some random journalist a few years ago. He sets it on his desk that he normally only uses for playing on his computer, and to pass the time until bed, begins reading it already.

It documents the events of the Gracewind Park like usual, only this time, adding more details here and there. Things that Y/N gets to know because some don't actually come from peopling dying or getting their body torn in half. During one of these pages, it goes about the evidence that was left behind the scene of the third death at the park. The only out of place thing the cops found was this little object, the book actually includes a small image of it.

And it looks exactly like the thing Y/N saw in the Lockwood mansion on display, during the founder's party. 

This, needless to say, spikes Y/N's curiosity greatly. Why the heck does his dad have a weird object that should probably be in a police storage room somewhere, or if it was released or however the police stuff works, why is it claimed to be one of the L/N's lost things. After all, the Gracewind Park Incidents happened in 2005, and his father said that most of this stuff came from 50 years ago. That doesn't compute at all. 

Now, he doesn't know exactly why he does the next thing, but Y/N pulls out his phone dials up Tyler Lockwood's number, yes, he's serious. "Hello?" Tyler thankfully answers it. 

"Tyler, hey." Y/N anxiously greets, standing up to pace around his room. 

"Listen, I need to talk to you about something." 

__________________________________________

Mystic Falls High:

Now, it's the time for that 'Sexy Suds' event the school's having. Which is pretty much a cheaper car wash with the everyone wearing swimsuits the entire time. You know, to what seems to be celebrating four days of nothing crazy happening this week, the last thing Y/N had in mind was.... this. 

"I kid you not, that is the actual reason he's grounded." Y/N shares Tyler's small little story to Matt, Bonnie, and some other girl named Tiki as they wash a person's car. "All because he brought Vicki to the founder's party." 

"If that's all it takes to get on his parents' bad side, no wonder he acts like such a dick." Matt comment with a small shake of his head. "Has he found his extracurricular yet?" He then wonders out-loud, to which Y/N shrugs.

"You think everyone's thinking about school grades?" Y/N sarcastically remarks, to which Matt admittedly nods to. "I would say he isn't missing much, but.... honestly, I'm pretty sure he would kill a guy to show off his abbs in this environment." He then quips, chuckling to himself. 

"And you're not?" Matt jokingly queries, to which Y/N raises a brow.

"Why do you think I have a shirt on?" Y/N brings up, not wanting to be like how he was back during summer break. "No, I'm not gonna become that mess again." He declares as he then gets back to work. Others may not have seen it, but he knows that he became a slave of the devil during the summer. Taking advantage of his body and popularity to mess with every girl he wanted, even the ones that were taken because it 'added to the experience'. The rest of the year, he's making sure that he isn't that guy anymore. 

And so far, it's been going smoothly.

A few minutes into washing the next car, Y/N and Bonnie glance up and notice Matt getting easily distracted by something. So, accordingly, they both follow his gaze, where they see Stefan and Elena, and they can tell that seeing them kiss is bringing back the sour thoughts in the jock's head. "Uh-uh, no." Bonnie quickly snaps Matt out of it. "None of that tortured pinning stuff."

"I'm just observing." Matt claims with a shrug.

"Ah, yes observing." Y/N remarks with a skeptic bro, before turning on a narrorater's voice. " 'How, as Stefan's hands touch Elena's exposed skin, I think about times'-" 

"Okay fine, it was a little bit of that, too." Matt admits while giving Y/N an amused look, causing the two of them to chuckle a bit. Another car then rolls up, finding a parking spot, and Y/N decides to take it along with Tiki while Matt and Bonnie continue with the other newcomer. 

Whether it's the car, or just bored from the constant task of doing the same thing, it takes only two seconds for Tiki to eye him and start a conversation. "Hey, Y/N, if you don't mind me asking..." She begins to get his attention, causing Y/N to curiously turn to her. "How are things with Caroline? She was talking happily about you for a couple days, and then.... it just stopped." She queries, summarizing the last four days. 

"Oh, right...." Y/N glances down. It's true, when Damon stopped being vanished and suddenly vanished from Caroline's life, the platonic relationship start being more frequent. But then, once again, it was Damon, all the time, every second. Because he needed to 'apologize' and this and that. Damon, Damon, Damon. "Honestly, It's what it is, and I probably just suck at making girl friends." He remarks, making sure she can hear the space between girl and friends. 

"Are you kidding me? Bonnie likes you too, I'm sure it's just a phase Carol's having." Tiki assures Y/N with a somewhat obvious smile, the second Y/N crotches to scrub a spot underneath, the true intentions behind it slightly crack open until they hide away when he stands back up. 

"I guess so..." Y/N idly replies, as Tiki glances around before saying the next thing on her mind. 

"So, you planning anything for the weekend?" She then asks him, causing Y/N to give her a brow. "I-I'm just asking because everyone else's been... giving me the cold shoulder for some reason, and my parents will be out by that time, and.... I get bored easily by myself." She explains to Y/N's observing gaze, to which he nods slowly. 

"Well, not really, my mind's been more focused on the weekdays, believe or not." Y/N remarks with a small hum. "Not about school stuff, but more..... about the things that I need to do that happen to be at that specific day." 

"Oh, cool, cool." Tiki says, anxiously biting her lip as she circles around the car, closer to him. "Hey, um.... before they leave, my parents planned to buy me a whole bunch of snacks if you want to hang out later, once the weekend hits." She offers, causing Y/N to glance curiously at her. 

"They told you that ahead of time?" 

"They plan every single detail." Tiki quips with a small giggle, to which Y/N nods with a slightly amused smile. "So.... what do you think?" She says as she looks at him expectingly.

"You know what?" Y/N says as a suggestive smirk creeps onto his lips as he turns fully towards Tiki, his arm leaning against the car they're supposed to be washing. "I think.... that... your attempts at being subtle are both painfully and pathetically obvi-" 

Before he can get the last word out, the bucket between them suddenly bursts out a strong quarter of its waters, all blasting themselves directly towards Tiki. "God, WHAT THE-" Tiki exclaims as she takes the full blast of the soapy water, a bit of it possibly getting in her eyes. The hose also suddenly turns on and sprays more water all over herself. "Oh my God! What the-" 

"Whoa, hey!" Y/N laughs as he looks over his shoulder. "Matt!" 

"Coming!" Matt quickly replies as he jogs over with the towel on his shoulder. As Y/N then helps with getting the hose turned off and calm, Matt tosses Tiki a spare towel while unable to hide his own amusement. "Wet and wild, Tik." He quips, causing both him and Y/N to share a strong laugh with each other. It's like Death from Final Destination came and decided to cut the cringy flirting himself. 

When the others glance at Bonnie to see if she's also getting a laugh, she just quickly turns back to the car with a blank expression, to which the boys both shrug. True, it wasn't that funny in retrospect. But Tiki's panicked reaction....

Priceless. 

Once dry, Y/N hears his cell phone ringing, and quickly sneaks off from the crowd after seeing the contacts. Once double checking to see if he's in the clear, Y/N then answers and puts it up to his ear. "Yeah?" 

"Hey, I finally got a date." Tyler Lockwood informs him as soon as he hears his voice. "Tomorrow, my parents are gonna have a nightly meeting or something, no one will be around by then." He reports, causing Y/N to slowly nod as he glances around one more time. 

"You sure?" He then queries, just trying to find the logic in the term 'nightly meeting'. "What kind of nightly meeting are they having?" 

"I don't freaking know man, but if you want to check out this weird wire thingy so much, then that would be the earliest time." Tyler tells him, practically waving his parents off. Guess Y/N can't blame him for not wanting to talk about his parents so much. They seem...... well, they seem just as bad as his adoptive mother. 

"Alright, alright, cool then.... I'll see you then." Y/N says, getting the point, before hanging up and quickly tucking it in his pocket before speed-walking back to the 'Sexy Suds'. Gosh, he cringes every time he even thinks of that dumb name...

Before he can get back to the others though, he hears someone calling his name. "Hey, Y/N!" Elena comes over upon seeing him, getting the guy's attention as he quickly turns into looking like he wasn't planning any kind of possible trespassing. Well, technically, it won't be trespassing, but knowing the Lockwoods, it'll feel like it. 

"What's up?" 

"Where were the towels again?" Elena asks him, causing Y/N to give a look that thought she knew where they were since Caroline pretty much gave them a 'you better not forget' tour of it all. "I looked at where I thought they were, but they aren't there." 

Y/N blinks as he then quickly remembers. "Oh, sorry, I think we used the last ones that were on the table." He then tells her with a small apologetic face. "Tiki got soaked earlier and knowing her, she probably required the full amount." 

"Okay, thank you." Elena says with a polite smile before walking off to possibly relay that information to Caroline, the host of this..... 'sexy' event. Man, thank gosh they all look much older than they actually are, or the FBI would get pay a visit with their cars as well. 

Who thought of this? 

Oh, right.....

________________________________

Mystic Grill: 

While Logan is still working on getting the watch from the Gilbert family, two members of the council meet up at the Grill to discuss the current situation involving the Vampire threat. Those members being Sheriff Forbes and Raymond L/N. As the latter casually takes a sat at the bar next to her, he gives her an expecting look.

"Nothing?" 

"We went over the entire west side of the lake. All the caverns by the falls were clean, no sign of habitat." Forbes shares with Raymond, who rubs his chin as he tries offering up some suggestions.

"Then they're staying in town?"

"We canvassed all abandoned buildings and warehouses." She mentions as well, saying that not even they have had any squatters. Raymond nods with a small hint of frustration. Their guard should be down, and yet they still haven't found a slightest clue the arrogant creatures could have left behind. 

"There has to be some place they're sleeping." Raymond states with a mental groan, trying to pick the pieces together himself. "Even if it's just only one, moving from place to place is too risky for them." 

"Wherever it is, they've made it much harder to locate if not impossible." The Sheriff notes with a professionally look, acknowledging that they're most likely dealing with ages past sixty to eighty. "These creatures are smart, they know how to go undetected." 

"Logan's work had to have made the Vampires think we don't know about them." Raymond brings up, trying his best to cling to whatever optimism he has in his soul. "They're gonna be more relaxed, and its then that they're gonna make a mistake, and give us a scent to follow." 

"Logan's said that he's still working on the watch, did you get the herbs?" Forbes queries Raymond, who instantly nods. 

"They'll be finished in a few hours, then we'll able to try setting some literal traps for these bastards." Raymond reports with a confident voice, causing Forbes to nod, believing him that they will, and it'll happen soon. "I'll make sure they're sent to the Lockwood's mansion, the second they are done." 

"Good." She replies as Raymond glances around, remembering something. 

"Speaking of, I should go find Zack. I'm running out of vervain." Raymon mentions as he stands up to head back to his car, ending the conversation right then and there. Now, you could argue that, that conversation was pointless, but even if it's minor things, it helps the council for each and every member to constantly report whatever has happened during the day. All it takes is one detail for the Vampires to accidently reveal themselves. 

And it's then, that they'll wipe them out, just like in the old days. 

______________________________________

Mystic Falls High:

A few hours later, Y/N and the others are finally finished with the- You know what? He's not gonna even call it by it's name, and even though he is getting more tired from doing similar things the entire time, he has noticed a few things. And to be frank, the day is getting weirder by the second, a similar kind of weird as it was four days ago. First, Caroline never returned with the towels, Elena disappeared the second the event ended, and he keeps seeing that damn crow cawking and flying all over the parking lot, stopping at a few poles, but never flying away to somewhere else. It took for the event to end that it left. You know what? If the crow somehow learned how to observe the female anatomy while having the gift of never being called out for it..... respect. 

"Hey..." A somewhat nervous voice calls out to Y/N as he's finishing drying up the last car. "Y/N, have you seen Elena anywhere?" Stefan Salvatore asks him as he turns to face him. "I tried asking Jenna, but she doesn't seem to know where she went at all." 

"Nah man, I've been busy making sure Bonnie doesn't eat Tiki alive." Y/N answers with a shrug and regretful look, knowing that the two are sort of going on a hit and miss swing in their relationship. "Sorry." 

"It's okay." Stefan says as he mentally sighs, going to pursue his worried search. 

"Hey, Stefan." Y/N taps on his shoulder, redirecting his attention towards him. "You two okay? It sounds like you two keep going back and fourth between rough and love." He asks just in checks he's comfortable with sharing, while also mentally chuckling at choosing the two words that rhymed. 

"It's nothing, I just...." Stefan tries replying, only to let out a defeated sigh. "I did a lot of stuff I want to forget in the past, like my ex, but every time I try fixing things, there's just one little detail that strikes a negative cord with her."  He shares with Y/N, who understandably nods. "It's like nothing I can do satisfies her, as selfish as that is to say..." 

"Oh, it's not, really.... sometimes, people have a habit of pressing boundaries." Y/N mentions with a small shrug, giving the guy a sympathetic look. "But, if you really wish to be the type that buries your past self, than I'd say you two aren't gonna last." He tells her the blunt truth, while Stefan holds a blank expression, successfully keeping any reactions he's having invisible. "One thing Matt told me when he and Elena were still dating, is that she's big on trust. So, if you know that she's onto something, the more you try to hide it, the more she's gonna try and figure it out.... until she does."

Stefan process this for a moment before eventually nodding. "Thanks." He says to him, unclear whether he's glad or disappointed to know this side of Elena. 

"No problem, hey." Y/N decides to tell him another thing. "Don't tell the others I said this, but the guys? We usually hang out at the Grill for pool every day when nothing's happening." He mentions to Stefan with an inviting tone. "So....if you're willing, and the loner lifestyle gets boring at some point, I'm sure the jocks won't mind playing with the Timberwolves's best catcher." He offers with a smile, before getting to his work.

Stefan glances down before smiling. "I'll think about-"

*BOOM*

A blue car next to them explodes, the shockwave, sending them a few feet back. Everyone in the area reacts in shock and slight terror as the car sparks up flames upward that fall all around the pavement. While people scram to call the fire department, Y/N and Stefan slowly stand to witness the suddenly flames. 

Well, Stefan does, when he notices Y/N's still on the ground, he looks at him, noticing him shaking on the ground. "Fire...." Y/N utters in complete horror, his hand grabbing onto his heart rapidly beating. "Fire....." He repeats multiple times until he then one again falls fully on his back. 

"Y/N?" Stefan says his name in worriment, only to not get a verbal response back. "Y/N?!" He yells louder as he kneels down, seeing the man's body begin to spasm on the concrete, when he touches his chest check his heart, he finds it beating way too fast, and that his skin is starting to sweat, and not because of the heat. 

The symptoms then become clear to him, a panic attack. He looks up and sees Bonnie staring down at the two of them with a haunted expression. "Bonnie, get 911!" He yells urgently at her. However, the girl still remains still, uttering one sentence. 

"Did I do this?" 

Stefan looks at her, noticing all of the signs he's seen before. 

She probably did.

___________________________________________

Salvatore Boarding House:

Raymond L/N drives to Zach's place at the old Salvatore Boarding House, finally glad to be here with his house being even farther than his house is from the main town. He rubs his tired face a bit before grabbing a sack from his glove box and stepping out of his car, making sure it's locked thanks to his constant paranoia which comes from knowing about Vampire's existence. 

He marches down the front lawn's brick path to the door, which he proceeds to knock on. When he doesn't get a response after a few minutes, he then rings the door bell instead. He waits a little bit longer, but still doesn't have the door opened for him. 

"Dang it, please don't tell me I came at one of the rare times Zach isn't at home..." Raymond mutters as he tries knocking again and again, still no response. Sighing, but still deciding to prioritize safety over manners, he opens the door himself...... 

And it works. 

Raymond squints as the door opens with a creak, glancing around the second his foot steps through the door and past the console table. "Zach?" He loudly calls for, in case of letting the guy know that he's entering his home anyway. "Zach, I'm out of vervain to put in my coffee.... and I really need more." 

He quickly checks the living room, not finding him in the very open section of the mansion either. That's not the weirdest part about the room however, the weirdest part, is the dead crow on the floor with its insides, out, as if it was eaten raw.  "Zach, why the fuck is there a dead crow in your-" He shouts out into the darkness, only for a body to fall right on top of him from the second floor. 

"What...?" He utters in confusion as he looks up to see a dead face staring right into his eyes. 

Zach Salvatore. 

"Oh shit....." He then silently exclaims as he realizes who it is, frantically pushing it off of him. Once back on his two feet again, he notices how badly jointed his neck is, hinting at a neck snap being the cause of death. 

Then he realizes that the body had to have been dropped from somewhere. Quickly reaching into his pocket, he swiftly jabs a wooden steak behind him, right as he's about to get attacked by a Vampire with black hair coming at him with superspeed. 

"You.... Mother...." He curses in a extremely pained voice before falling to the ground. Raymond quickly then bolts it out of there, knowing that even if he successfully killed it, he shouldn't stay to see if there are other more of them prowling around. It's nighttime after all. 

Forbes was right, the Vampires are smart.

They managed to kill a man of the council.....

________________________________________________

Mystic Falls Hospital: 

And now, the day gets even more worse when he hears that his own son has been put in the hospital due to, get this, a panic attack. Which just doesn't make any sense, Y/N hasn't shown any signs of anxiety, and while being near to an explosion definitely has a way of jump starting your heart, it's not enough to put you in an arrest. 

The second he finds a parking spot, Raymond wastes no time in marching his way through the front doors of the hospital, towards the lady at the front desk. "I'm here for my son, Y/N L/N?" He asks for, and due to being a man of high status in Mystic Falls, the nurse instantly recognizes and leads him to the room where he's being held. 

Once he gets there, he sees a couple of, what must be his friends, standing in front of his bed. He watches them curious before seeing the girl having to step out. "Bonnie?" The male teen says in worriment as the brown-skinned girl walks out, with a hint of tears in her eyes. He sighs, planning to follow her until he sees Raymon standing there. "Mr. L/N..."

"Hello Matt." Raymond greets back in a blank tone, showing that he knows of him. "How is he?" He asks as he glances at the familiar face of Y/N, passed out in the hospital bed. Matt nervously looks back before answering. 

"He's.... going to be fine, the doctors gave him some meds to help with his heart." Matt relays to Raymond, who acknowledges with a nod. "It'll take him a couple hours, but..... they say he'll need a moment before he wakes up." He tells him before walking off to go find Bonnie. 

Raymond then turns back to the hospital room, which he slowly steps inside of to see the unconscious boy up close. Once he's inside, another teen then steps into view, and quickly snaps out of biting his thumb to see who's just walked in. 

"I'm sorry for what happened, Mr. L/N." Tyler quietly says before exiting the room, feeling the sense that he should probably leave the two to themselves. Raymond glances back curiously as he leaves, before directing his attention back to his son. 

"A panic attack...." Raymon whispers to himself as he sits down on the chair right next to Y/N's hospital bed, wondering if that's the whole story. 

"What happened to you, son?"

__________________________________________

https://youtu.be/_DgngA3rMl0

________________________________________________

(A/N) Hey dudes! Sorry this was late. As mentioned by one of my announcements, I was writing a strong bit of the Scream 2 fanfic at the time, and didn't have the energy to continue with this. However, I'm only one day late, so I hope you guys aren't too mad with me. 

Anyway, plz vote and comment, any counts as feedback, and I'll see you in the next one!