CHAPTER III ―

YOU'RE THE PSYCHIC ONE!

𝐀 𝐒𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌 𝐄𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐈𝐋𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐓 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐄,the intensity of it almost rattling the walls as it came from Brooklyn Sommers bedroom, and Jenna leaped out of her bed and rushed to her daughter's bedroom, rushing to her aid. "Brooke!" Jenna grabbed her daughter, holding her tightly as the strawberry-blonde woke with a sob, her entire body shaking. "Shh, sweetheart."

The young teenage girl had been plagued by yet again another nightmare, the gore shaking her to the core. Another couple had been murdered in cold blood and viciously. "B-blood," Brooke sobbed, holding onto her mother as she cried. "S-so much."

        Jenna soothed her daughter, shushing her and playing with her curly locks as she rocked her daughter back and forth, knowing that her daughter had another nightmare. They had been more consistent lately, each and every single one scaring her daughter more and more. And although her daughter would put on a brave face, much like she would herself, Jenna knew her daughter better than anyone else - her daughter was terrified.

        After an hour or two of soothing her distraught daughter, Jenna looked down at the one thing in her life that had always been consistent. "Oh, Brooke," she whispered, brushing back a tendril of hair. "What is going on with you?"

...

         "The Battle of Willow Creek took place right at the end of the war in our very own Mystic Falls. How many casualties resulted in this battle? Ms. Bennett?" Mr. Tanner questioned, raising an eyebrow at the teenage witch.

        Bonnie nervously smiled. "Um... a lot? I'm not sure. Like a whole lot." Mr. Tanner rolled his eyes as the class erupted into a fit of giggles.

        "Cute becomes dumb in an instant, Ms. Bennett," he retorted, his eyes landing on the star quarterback. "Mr. Donovan? Would you like to take this opportunity to overcome your embedded jock stereotype?" Mr. Tanner questioned, unfazed after snapping at Bonnie.

        "It's okay, Mr. Tanner, I'm cool with it," Matt says, the class erupting in a fit of giggles again. Mr. Tanner's jaw ticks as he sets on a fake smile, the now where you can tell that the teacher is pissed off.

        "Hmm... Elena? Surely you can enlighten us about one of the town's most significantly historical events?" He questions her, catching Elena off guard. Looking up, Elena's eyes screamed awkward.

        "I'm sorry, I-I don't know," she admits honestly, flushing red in embarrassment.

        "I was willing to be lenient last year for obvious reasons, Ms. Gilbert. But the personal excuses ended with summer break." Mr. Tanner snaps at her, and Elena can't help but feel a little choked up at his brutality.

        "There were three-hundred and forty six casualties. Unless you're counting local civilians," Stefan speaks up, his eyes glanced at Elena before he settled back onto Brooke. Sure, this would get him some brownie points with her. Elena gave a grateful smile, but Brooke just narrowed her eyes.

        "That's correct, Mister...?"

        "Salvatore."

        "Salvatore. Any relation to the original settlers here in Mystic Falls?"

        "Distant," Stefan replied, his eyes flickering to Mr. Tanner and back to Brooke's back.

        "Well, very good," Mr. Tanner mused with a short nod. "Except, of course, there were no civilian casualties in this battle."

        "Actually, there were twenty-seven, sir," Stefan corrected, looking back to Mr. Tanner with a cold stare as he continued to talk. "Confederate soldiers, they fired on the church, believing it to be housing weapons. They were wrong. It was a night of great loss," Mr. Tanner's head hung as he let Stefan continue. "The founder's archives are stored in Civil Hall if you'd like to brush up on your facts, Mr. Tanner."

...

        Brooke and Elena walked side-by-side to the party that was taking place at the falls tonight. Stray, dead leaves crunched under the weight of their feet as they found Bonnie, huddling together.

        "Just admit it, Brooke." Bonnie taunted, giving me a pointed look. They had been teasing her about liking Stefan and trying to get her to admit it.

        "I'm not admitting anything," Brooke denied, shaking her head, her strawberry curls bouncing. "There's nothing to admit."

        "We both know that's a lie! He has that romance novel stare!" Elena giggled, trying to do a smoldering look. "How am I doing?" Elena questioned, narrowing her eyes and pouting her lips to try and pin Stefan's smoldering look. Bonnie and Brooke both looked at each other before erupting in giggles.

        "You know, my cousin-ly love for you keeps going down," Brooke winked, giggling as she adjusting one of the rings on her fingers. She had decided to wear a pretty floral blouse that showed off her shoulders, a pair of dark blue-ish gray jeans, and a pair of gray wedge boots. Not to mention the jacket her mother practically fought to get on her.

        "So, where is he?" Bonnie asked, eyes scanning the party for the familiar boy.

        "I don't know. You tell me, you're the psychic one." Brooke said, shrugging, looking around too.

        "Right, I forgot. Okay, so give me a sec. Grams says I have to concentrate." Bonnie joked, closing her eyes.

        "Oh!" Brooke grinned. "Wait, you need a crystal ball!" Looking around, Brooke grabbed the nearest thing to a crystal ball, which happened to be a glass beer bottle. When Brooke handed it to Bonnie, the two girls gasped as a flash of a crow and a graveyard with a man standing in the shadows showed, both quickly letting the bottle fall to the forest floor, staring at each other with wide eyes.

        "Brooke? Bonnie?" Elena frowned, noticing the stiffness in the air.

        "I-I've had too much to drink," Bonnie muttered, breaking the silence as she suddenly walked away.

        Brooke swallowed, shaking her head. It couldn't be true, she must've had one too many beers. How could Bonnie and her see what had happened in the graveyard today? Taking a deep breath, she grinned at her cousin. "All's fine, no worries." Her green eyes scanned the party, sighing as she didn't see Stefan yet. "I think he's a no show."

        Elena pursed her lips, looking around the party herself and grinned as she saw Stefan. "I'm going to go grab a refill," she excused herself.

        "Elena!" Brooke called, frowning. "You're drink is full..."

        "Hopefully I'm not too late," a voice behind Brooke caused her to whip around, momentarily startled, but calming when her light green eyes met a pair of forest green ones.

"No," she smiled slightly. "You're fine."

"Well," Stefan smiled. "I'm here."

"You're here."

...

        Walking across the bridge near Mystic Falls, Brooke and Stefan walked side by side as they chatted. "You know, you're kinda the talk of the town," Brooke smirked, chuckling slightly.

        "Oh?" Stefan raised an eyebrow, amused. "Am I?"

       "Mmhmm," Brooke flirted. "Mysterious new guy. Oh, yeah."

        Stefan chuckled. "Well, you have the mysterious thing going, too. Twinged in sadness."

        "What makes you think I'm sad?" Brooke questioned.

        "Well, we did meet in a graveyard."

        Brooke chuckled. "Well, no. Technically we met in the men's room. Which, you don't want to know. And I was at the graveyard as moral support for my cousin, Elena..." she paused, pursing her lips. "Her parent's died a few months ago and she's still healing."

         Stefan nodded, leaning against the fence with Brooke next to him. "I'm sorry for her loss. And yours." Brooke shrugged.

        "Let's pass on from this sad mood," she smiled. "How do you like Mystic Falls so far?"

        "Well," Stefan thought for a moment. It had changed so much since he had left, nothing was the same. "It's been quite different."

        "What makes you say that? It's Mystic Falls, nothing bad could ever happen here." Brooke chuckled to herself, it was kinda of a lie.

"It's changed, a lot."

         Brooke nodded. "I get it," she agreed, pursing her lips as she looked out at the stars. "When I came back, it was like the entire town was turned upside down by Grayson and Miranda's death... it was the towns people's gossip and it startled them. Ever since then, nothing has been the same."

         Stefan was quite for a moment as he took in her words, able to relate very easily. When his father had found out about Katherine, the entire town had changed. The trusted town's people turned on each other, all afraid of the unknown. Too bad it was too late to take back his actions.

         Glancing at Stefan, the strawberry blonde's lips came to a slow smile. "Did my words affect you that much?"

         Stefan chuckled, snapping out his reverie. "Yes," he said, being honest. "Your words did affect me." Leaning towards her, Stefan took in her features. She was completely different from Katherine. Flirty and crude on the outside, but tender and caring on the inside. She had been hurt once, he could see it in her eyes. Oh, her eyes. He could stare in them for hours, the light green color reminding him of the light green leaves you see in Spring... he could stare into them for hours. "Whoever or whatever hurt you, Brooke, I'll protect you."

         Dark green staring into light green eyes, Brooke blinked, a soft smile teasing her plump, peach lips as she leaned forward, her lips only centimeters away from his. Stefan was able to smell her minty breath and her strawberry lipgloss.

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Stefan."

...

        Tossing a plastic red cup onto the forest floor, Brooke wandered her way back to the party after leaving Stefan behind. Why couldn't she just let Stefan in? What was so hard about that? 'Probably because you think you're going insane,' a small voice inside Brooke's head reminded her. She scoffed aloud, rolling her eyes. It was pathetic. She couldn't just sleep with him and get it over with!

        Hearing the music from the party, Brooke walked, with the occasional stumble in the dark, towards it. Placing her hand on a nearby tree, Brooke hauled herself up a small incline, only to go tumbling down when she lost her footing. A slight 'yelp' escaped her lips as she hit something hard... and warm.

        Frowning, the young Sommers girl reached for her phone and let the light illuminate what was right next to her. A scream escaped her lips at the person- no! Girl with a bleeding neck she recognized as Vicki Donovan, passed out on the forest floor, her neck, hair, and shirt soaked with blood.

        Leaping from the ground, Brooke shoved her phone back into her pocket, she tugged off the jacket her mother had made her wear, pressing it to Vicki's neck, eyes wide as she thought of a million things to do. "Help!" She screamed, praying someone heard her. "Somebody, help! Please!"

        "Brooke?!" A relieved cry escaped the strawberry blondes lips as she sobbed, pressing her jacket harder on Vicki's wound. "Wh-What happened?" Jeremy gasped, eyes wide as he saw his cousin holding her coat to the girl he loved.

        "Something attacked her!" Brooke swallowed her sobs, trying to think logically. "Hold pressure to the wound and try not to j-jerk her around as you pick her up." She looked at her cousin, raising an eyebrow. "Now!"

        Scrambling to pick Vicki up, Jeremy hauled her up easily and instantly took off to the party, shouting for help with Brooke right behind him.

        "What happened?!" Matt cried, seeing his sister practically dead in the youngest Gilbert's arms as he set her down.

        "Somebody, call an ambulance!" Brooke shouted, putting her blood-soaked jacket back to Vicki's wound on her neck as a crowd surrounded them.

        "Everybody, back up!" Tyler shouted, gesturing for everyone to back away with his arms. "Give them some room."

        "It's her neck," Brooke explained as Elena and Matt came in closer. "Something attacked her and she's losing a lot of blood."

        Matt looked at his sister with tears in his eyes, she was all he had. Leaning down, he took her head into his hands, trying to wake her up. "Vicki, Vicki, come on, open your eyes, look at me!"

...

        Later that night, when Vicki had been taken to the hospital in the ambulance and the party had died down, everyone beginning to go home, Brooke shivered as a cold breeze caressed her skin, goosebumps rising on her skin. "Here," Bonnie smiled, setting her jacket onto Brooke's shoulders. "We're going to head to the Grille, wait for news."

        "I-I gotta take Jeremy and Elena home," she explained, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

        Bonnie swallowed, nodding with understanding eyes, a frown on her lips. "D-Did you see that tonight... when we touched the bottle?" Brooke nodded, pursing her lips. "Wh-Whateer we saw, or felt, I have this feeling..."

        "That it's only the beginning," Brooke added, nodding as she looked at Elena consoling Jeremy, her jaw clenched in frustration. "Whatever this is, Bonnie," she looked back at her friend. "It's bigger than us and we have to be ready for it."

Brooke really didn't know how right she was...

─ ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧  ─