╔═══*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*═══╗
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
never trust a pretty face
╚═══*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*═══╝

( children of the damned )

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

THE WOODS
1857
*Mary Gilbert is 18 years old*

"Help!" Mary screamed as she held onto the horse for dear life. She had made a terrible mistake in trying to ride it without any help. She was just so curious. She couldn't help herself. Everyone else in the community seemed to be able to ride with ease, so why couldn't she?

The horse made a violent turn to the left, and her head almost hit a low-hanging tree branch. Panic swelled in her chest as she realized there was no way she could possibly avoid every obstacle up ahead. Her only hope was for the horse to slow down, but any attempt she made to stop it only seemed to encourage the horse to go faster.

"Somebody! Help me!!" she cried.

Mary could now faintly hear behind her the sound of galloping hooves. She thought she was imagining them until a voice called out, "Give me your hand!"

She turned to her left, and there was another woman on horseback, reaching their hand out to her. Mary took the woman's hand without hesitation and got pulled off her horse and onto the horse of the other woman. She was now awkwardly sprawled between the woman's body and the neck of the horse.

After the horse slowed down to a trot and stopped, Mary slipped off her rescuer's horse, stumbled backwards, and landed on her butt. Could this day get anymore humiliating for her?

Laughing, the woman dismounted her horse and came to Mary's aid. She lifted the embarrassed girl to her feet. "I got you," she assured, holding in another laugh.

The woman let Mary go, and after Mary caught her breath — she didn't realize how breathless she had become — she got a good look at her rescuer. The woman appeared to be a girl around her age with blond hair, a firm chin, and green eyes.

"You saved my life!" Mary blurted out, unable to contain her emotions. She had almost died while riding a horse. She could care less about formalities at the moment.

The blond girl turned to tighten the saddle on her horse before bringing her attention back on Mary. "Are you all right?" she asked.

"Yes," Mary answered. "But I am never riding again."

The blond girl scoffed. "Nonsense. The only way to overcome fear is to face it. To get back on that horse as soon as possible." She patted her own horse proudly.

Mary sighed. "I suppose you are right." She brushed a few stray leaves off her shoulders. "What is your name, may I ask?"

A smile graced the blond girl's lips. "Noella Branson, but my friends call me Ella."

"Thank you for saving me, Ella. My name is Mary."

Saturday, November 12, 2009

Harper's POV.

*Elena's House*

I guess now that Elena and Stefan have decided to keep me in the loop of all things vampire, they've realized that they could use my help. We're currently looking for Elena and I's ancestor Johnathan Gilbert's journal. Well, I guess he's just my ancestor since Elena is adopted and isn't really a Gilbert by blood. To make sure our search is thorough, I've brought over a box of my mother's old Gilbert family memorabilia as well.

"Do you think Damon really believes us? That we're trying to help him?" Elena asks Stefan as she puts an old handbag back into a box.

Stefan is sitting at the breakfast bar, watching me and Elena comb through the Gilbert family memorabilia. I've gotten a lot more comfortable around him, but that's probably because of Elena. If she weren't here, I'd be a little more tense.

Stefan answers Elena's question, "I don't think Damon knows what to believe. Trust isn't something that comes naturally to him."

I look up from the box I was digging through. "Damon doesn't know I'm helping you guys, right?" I ask.

Stefan looks at me. "No, and I'd prefer to keep it that way," he says.

"You know," Elena speaks up. "I really think that Damon believes that everything he's done, every move that he's made, he's done for love. It's twisted, but, kind of sad."

Stefan takes a moment to soak her words in. "There are other ways to get what you want," he says. "You don't have to kill people. Damon has no regard for human life. He enjoys inflicting pain on others." Stefan inhales, leaning forward and clasping his hands together. "For a hundred forty-five years, every single time that I have let my guard down and let Damon back into my life, he's done something to make me regret that. I'm not going to make that mistake again."

"So what do you think will happen?" Elena asks. "If the tomb gets opened and Damon gets Katherine back?"

Stefan takes a moment before answering. "I think that no matter what Damon promises, a lot of people will die."

Elena exhales loudly and absentmindedly picks up a photo from the box she was looking through. Stefan gets up and stands behind Elena, examining the photo in her hands.

I stand up to give my feet a break. One of them was falling asleep, and it was starting to bother me. I go over to see what's on the photograph they're looking at.

Stefan points to the bearded man in the photo. "That's Johnathan Gilbert."

"He was Mary's dad, right?" I question unsurely.

"Yes, he was," Stefan confirms.

Elena looks down into the box she got the picture from. Puzzled, she opens up a smaller wooden box inside of it, revealing what looks like a small metal basket. "What's this?" she wonders.

"What are you guys doing?" says Jeremy. He comes strolling into the kitchen, adjacent to us in the dining room. He leans back against the counter to watch us.

Elena quickly puts the wooden box back into the bigger box she got it from. "Hey," she says. "Just going through some stuff, feeling sentimental. Dad had this old family journal from years ago. I thought I'd dig it up," she explains.

Jeremy sits down on the kitchen counter. "Johnathan Gilbert's journal?" he questions.

"Yeah," Elena says. "What do you know about it?"

"I just did a history report on it," Jeremy answers.

"Oh," Elena exclaims in surprise. "So where is it now?"

"I gave it to Mr. Saltzman. He wanted to see it," Jeremy says.

Elena and Stefan exchange looks before Elena exchanges a look with me.

*Time Skip*

The last thing I expected was to go to school on a Saturday. But here I am, leaving out Elena's front door with Stefan to retrieve Johnathan Gilbert's journal.

The only reason I'm coming along is because I'm Mr. Saltzman's designated student aid. I know my way around his classroom better than anyone else. If he's keeping the journal somewhere in his classroom, I should be able to find it.

This is pretty awkward for me though, going somewhere alone with Stefan. I like it and dislike it at the same time. I like it because I like Stefan; he's nice and cute. I dislike it because being around him makes me act like an even more awkward mess than I already am. I can't seem to just be myself and let loose like other girls do. I always have to be tense, even when I don't want to be.

Stefan and I walk down to the end of the sidewalk in front of Elena's house. It's getting dark outside, and it's at this moment that I realize that I have no idea how we're going to get to the school. I don't see his car anywhere, and now that I think about, I don't even know if Stefan has a car. I've never seen him get in or drive one. He probably walked — or since he's a vampire — ran with his vamp-speed to get here.

"How are we gonna get there?" I ask, not sure at all what Stefan's plan is.

Stefan turns to look at me. "Elena told me you liked Twilight," he says with a teasing grin.

"Oh God, she didn't," I say in embarrassment, hoping to die. My cheeks flame red as I struggle to make eye contact with him.

"It just gave me an idea." Stefan shrugs.

I can't concentrate on what he's saying. I'm too humiliated.

"So," he says, bending his knees and lightly patting them. "Are you gonna hop on my back or what?"

My ears can't believe what they're hearing. "You're serious?" I blurt out.

Stefan looks up at me and nods. "Yeah," he says as if this is the most normal thing ever. "I mean, unless you wanna walk all the way there in the dark. Then, by all means, go ahead."

My stomach jolts with surprise when it dawns on me that he's teasing me. He really is willing to do this.

"Umm, okay," I say tentatively, expecting him at any moment to admit that he's messing with me, but he doesn't move out of his knee-bent position. I awkwardly move towards Stefan, place my hands on his shoulders, and jump to wrap my legs around him.

I still don't believe this is happening.

"You ready?" Stefan asks, unbending his knees and rising to his full height.

I squirm a little to readjust my position on his back so I don't fall off. "I guess," I say, feeling excitement start to bubble in my stomach.

Without warning, he takes off running.

If I thought carnival rides were fun, it's nothing compared to this.

Stefan streaks through the dark, thick trees of the woods like a bullet, like a ghost. There is no sound, no evidence that his feet are touching the earth. His breathing never changes, never indicating any effort. But the trees fly by at deadly speeds, always missing us by inches.

Then, it's over. It takes about ten minutes to get to school on a regular day in my mother's car, and now, in less than three minutes, we've arrived at the school.

I giggle uncontrollably as I slide off Stefan's back, the exhilaration still running rampant through my veins.

"Was it fun?" he asks me with a smile.

"Yes." I nod quickly with a silly grin on my face. "Thank you."

A serious expression morphs onto Stefan's face.

It's back to business.

The two of us head into the school. All the lights are off, giving the building an eery atmosphere. Even though we're the only ones here, we cautiously make our way down the hall as if making any noises will set off some sort of alarm. Unlike most schools, Mystic Falls High has never needed a high maintenance security system due to the lack of crime in our small town, that is, before vampires returned a few months ago.

Suddenly, Stefan stops in his tracks which makes me stop as well. I wait for him to say something.

"There's someone else here," he whispers before lifting his head in concentration, probably trying to scope out where they are and what they're doing with his vampire hearing.

He looks down at me. "Stay close to me," he orders before continuing forward down the hall. This time, at a quicker pace. We're nearing Mr. Saltzman's classroom, and now I'm able to hear the footsteps with my own ears. It's making my legs push forward more urgently.

When we reach Mr. Saltzman's classroom, we spill inside through the open door. We head behind Mr. Saltzman's desk and look back through the open door to make sure no one is there.

I have to calm my breathing down a bit after all that tension.

Stefan nods at me, and I know what to do. I start searching through the top places I think Mr. Saltzman may be keeping the journal while Stefan keeps watch. With my back to Stefan, I check inside the top drawer of a small shelf by the window.

That's when a strange shooting noise reaches my ears. I whip around out of reflex and gasp at the sight of Stefan holding a stake and Mr. Saltzman aiming some sort of gun at him.

Oh shoot. Mr. Saltzman knows about vampires.

Surprisingly, I'm less worried about getting in trouble with Mr. Saltzman and more focused on the fact that he has probably been aware of the existence of vampires this whole time that I've known him.

Paying no mind to me, Mr. Saltzman hastily struggles to insert another stake into his gun. But before he can successfully reload it, Stefan speeds over to him and grabs him by the collar of his shirt, taking away his stake gun in the process.

"You shouldn't have done that," Stefan intimidates before shoving Mr. Saltzman into some desks.

Concern zaps through me. "Woah. Woah," I caution, raising my hands at Stefan. It's one thing to watch him threaten a psychotic vampire; it's another to let him hurt my history teacher, a man I've considered to be nothing but kind and good-hearted. Maybe we can explain things to Mr. Saltzman, and he'll understand.

Stefan doesn't look at me, but I know he heard me because he stops attacking Mr. Saltzman. It's still so weird to me, seeing Stefan act so rough. It's like he's a different person, and it scares me sometimes.

With his hand, Stefan gestures to an empty desk. "Have a seat," he orders Mr. Saltzman.

His eyes never leaving Stefan, Mr. Saltzman hesitates, then slowly lowers himself into the desk.

Stefan takes a moment to examine the stake gun. "What is this?" he asks. "Compressed air?"

When Mr. Saltzman doesn't respond, Stefan moves closer to him. "Who are you?" he inquires.

All Mr. Saltzman does is flinch. He's clearly afraid. All the confidence from moments ago is now gone.

"I'm not gonna hurt you," Stefan says calmly. "Unless you try that again."

I decide that now is the time to step in. I hope that Mr. Saltzman will be able to trust me like I trust him. I've been able to gain his trust as his student aid. I just hope that it will be enough for him to at least hear us out.

I come over and stand beside Stefan. "Mr. Saltzman, please, we need your help," I beg. I have no right to involve someone else in our vampire drama. Heck, Elena and Stefan just decided to include me the other day. But as I see it, we have no other choice but to request Mr. Saltzman's help. He might even be a valuable asset to help get Damon out of town.

Mr. Saltzman continues to keep his mouth shut, but this time, his eyes are on me. His expression is dumbstruck like he can't believe what he's seeing.

Stefan gets comfortable on top of a desk across from him. "Are we gonna have to do this the hard way?" he threatens, eyes narrowing in annoyance. "Who are you?"

Finally, Mr. Saltzman speaks up. "I'm a teacher."

Stefan looks down at the floor and smiles, unimpressed. "Do better."

"I'm also a historian," Mr. Saltzman continues, gaining confidence again. "And while researching Virginia, I . . . made a few discoveries about your town."

"So you show up like Van Helsing," Stefan says amusedly before growing serious again. "Come on. Tell me the truth."

Mr. Saltzman sighs. "My wife was a parapsychologist. She spent her life researching paranormal activity in this area. It was her work that led me here," he explains.

"Where's your wife?" Stefan inquires.

"Dead," Mr. Saltzman answers with a stoic expression on his face. "A vampire killed her."

"Where's the Gilbert journal?" Stefan changes the subject, going back to why we came here in the first place.

"What do you want with it?" Mr. Saltzman questions skeptically.

"Where is it?" Stefan repeats.

"It's on my desk," he says.

"No, it's not," Stefan says.

Like an idiot, I look over at Mr. Saltzman's desk even though I already know it's not there. Otherwise, we would have seen it when we first walked in here.

"It was on my desk," Mr. Saltzman corrects after looking at his desk for himself.

From his tone of voice, I can tell that he's telling the truth. It's so weird seeing Mr. Saltzman act so uncomfortable and weary. It's like we've switched roles. He's now the student, and Stefan and I have become the authoritative teachers.

"How long have you been aware of me?" Stefan asks him.

Mr. Saltzman averts his gaze to the desk. "I learned just recently." He brings his eyes back on Stefan. "What about your brother?"

"You met Damon," Stefan says.

"Who do you think killed my wife?" Mr. Saltzman asks rhetorically.

"Oh my God," I say a little too loudly, gaining their attentions unintentionally.

I don't believe this. Damon is such a monster. He's a psychopath. I mean, I already knew this. But the more and more I find out about what he's done, the more I can't believe someone like him has been allowed to roam freely — vampire or not.

"Are you certain it was Damon?" Stefan asks Mr. Saltzman, wanting to know for sure if it really was his brother.

"I witnessed it," he testifies.

"If you're here for revenge," Stefan warns. "This is going to end very badly for you."

"I just want to find out what happened to my wife," Mr. Saltzman says.

Stefan's brow wrinkles in confusion. "I thought you just said that Damon—"

"Yeah," Mr. Saltzman cuts him off, exhaling. "I saw him draining the life out of her. He must have heard me coming. He just . . . disappeared. So did her body. They never found her."

With a sigh, Stefan nods. "Damon can never know why you're here. He'll kill you without blinking."

"I can take care of myself," Mr. Saltzman assures.

Stefan chuckles and shakes his head. "No, you can't," he makes clear. "I can help you, if you let me."

In response, Mr. Saltzman wiggles his jaw in uncertainty. Then, his gaze turns to me. "So, how do you two know each other?" he questions curiously. "You aren't a vampire too, are you?" he asks, looking at me in scrutiny.

I shake my head. "No, I'm just trying to help get Damon out of town," I explain.

Mr. Saltzman nods in understanding, reminding me of how we usually interact when I'm working for him as his student aid after school. At least, he's not acting so closed-off anymore.

"For how long have you known?" Mr. Saltzman asks. He doesn't have to say the word vampire out loud. It's pretty obvious what he's talking about.

I cross my arms, growing uncomfortable that the focus in the room has shifted to me. "Not that long," I say.

He nods again, and his gaze falls to the floor. He appears lost in thought. After a moment, he looks up at Stefan. "I think I'll take you up on that offer," he tells him.

*Time Skip*

I giggle loudly as I loosen my grip on Stefan's shoulders and slide off his back. He had me ride on his back again to get back to Elena's house. I'll never be able to thank him enough for giving me the Twilight experience I always wanted, minus the whole him being in love with me part, of course.

He shoves his hands into his jean pockets. "Now, you remember that because it's never gonna happen again," he says as we walk up the front steps of the Gilbert house. He rings the doorbell and brings a finger to his lips. "Shh, and don't tell Elena," he adds jokingly just as the door opens revealing Elena and — my heart stops, Damon.

Talk about awkward. The four of us remain locked in a standstill, Damon and Elena inside the house while Stefan and I are outside. A pang of guilt courses through me, even though, if anything, Damon is the one should be feeling guilty about things. So sure, it was supposed to be a secret that I'm helping Stefan and Elena. Damon was never supposed to find out, but now he's here, and there's no way to hide my involvement now.

Damon tilts his head to the side. "Well," he says, looking at Stefan. Then his eyes fall on me. "Well, well, well. What do we have—"

"Damon," Stefan addresses firmly. "Leave her out of it. She's just trying to help."

Damon brushes past Stefan and onto the front porch with us. Elena comes out of the house as well and closes the door behind her. I'm thankful for her presence, but right now it's doing little to soothe me, not now that Damon is here.

I keep close to Stefan and Elena. They stand somewhat in front of me in a protective manner.

The three of us watch Damon walk over to the porch swing, stop right before it, and turn around to face us. "Now," he says, crossing his arms, "why were you keeping it from me that she was helping you?" He gestures towards me with his hand.

He's talking about me like I'm not even here. I don't know how to feel about it. It bothers me because it's making me feel dumb and irrelevant, but it's also somewhat relieving since that means I won't really have to speak for myself. He's mainly talking to Stefan and Elena, so they can do the explaining for me. Something that I really suck at.

"Because," Stefan begins, "we wanted to keep her out of it as much as possible. She's just helping us find the Gilbert journal. She's a Gilbert. She has connections. I'm sure you can understand," Stefan explains.

"Oh, I understand," Damon assures, readjusting his folded arms. "But what I don't understand is why you had to keep it from me." He takes a step towards us. "Don't you see, Stefan? This puts us in a really bad position. If you lied to me about this, how do I know you're not lying to me about everything else?"

It's Elena's turn to take a step towards Damon. "He didn't lie, Damon. We just wanted to protect her."

A silence befalls the four of us. I feel like I should say something, but I don't know what to say that won't make things worse. The truth is, we are lying to him regardless of my involvement. Whatever we're doing to "help" him get Katherine back, isn't about helping him but about stopping him from opening up that tomb.

Finally, Damon breaks the silence. "Fine," he says. He looks to Stefan. "What did you find?" he changes the subject, referring to our little trip to the school.

"We checked Mr. Saltzman's classroom," Stefan explains. "But someone took the journal. It wasn't there."

"Who took it?" Damon asks.

"I don't know," Stefan says.

"You know what? It's that teacher," Damon speculates. "There's something really off about him."

Stefan crosses his arms over his chest. "No, he doesn't know anything. Somebody got to him right before us," he defends Mr. Saltzman.

All these casual lies. Sooner or later they're going to catch up with us, and Damon is going to eventually find out the truth. I really don't wanna be there when he does.

"Who else knew it was there?" Damon inquires.

Stefan turns his head automatically to look inside the house through the window. I follow his line of sight to Jeremy playing video games on the living room couch.

Jeremy. Jeremy knew it was there.

Elena already sees where this is going and tries to stop the desperate Salvatore. "No, Damon, leave him out of it," she orders.

Ignoring Elena, Damon slips between her and Stefan and heads for the front door.

As he passes me, I'm unable to stop myself from speaking up. "Please don't hurt him," I beg.

That gets Damon's attention. He stops in his tracks and looks back at me over his shoulder. "I'm not gonna hurt him," he says, sounding offended.

I'm taken aback by his words.

Damon continues his way inside the house while Stefan, Elena, and I follow him. He walks up to Jeremy on the couch, sitting down on the armrest. "So, I heard you found a really cool journal from back in the day. Who else did you show it to?" he asks him.

"Huh?" Jeremy questions absentmindedly, eyes focused solely on the big screen TV where his game is playing.

"Don't ask questions," says Damon in an annoyed tone. "Just spill."

Jeremy laughs in disbelief. "You're kidding me, right?" he says, eyes finally leaving the screen.

"Jer," Elena speaks up. "Did you tell anyone other than Mr. Saltzman about Johnathan Gilbert's journal?"

"Why is everybody so obsessed with that thing?" Jeremy asks skeptically.

"Who else did you tell?" Elena repeats in a firmer voice.

"Mm," Jeremy says. "Just that girl Anna."

"The hot, weird one?" Damon asks.

Jeremy nods. "Yeah."

"Wait," Stefan speaks up. "Who's Anna?"

Damon looks to his brother. "That's what I wanna find out," he says. Damon turns his attention back to Jeremy. "How do you know her?" he interrogates.

Suddenly, Elena leaves my side and goes to answer her phone that I just realized was ringing. I was so enthralled with the conversation that I had zoned everything else out, including outside noises.

Elena picks up her phone and takes it upstairs. The urge to follow her yanks at my gut. I may have been okay with being alone with Stefan, but being alone with Damon and Stefan, even with Jeremy here, is a little too much for me handle. So I turn around and follow Elena upstairs.

"Gentleman, huh?" I hear Elena say in an upbeat voice from her room.

I join her, and she turns around when she hears my footsteps. Elena puts a hand over the phone to muffle what she's about to say to me. "It's Bonnie," she informs. "I'll put her on speakerphone." She takes her hand off the phone and presses the speaker button. "Hey, Bonnie," Elena says. "I put you on speakerphone. Harper is here."

It's at this moment that I remember Bonnie is on a date with Ben McKittrick right now, a boy who graduated from Mystic Falls High last year. He also happens to look a lot like Tom Cruise, so yeah, he is pretty handsome.

"Oh my gosh, Harper," Bonnie exclaims. "It's going amazing."

"So I've heard," I smile, happy for my friend.

"I just wanna grab him and lay one on him," she says.

"So why don't you?" Elena encourages.

"Cause I'm a chicken," Bonnie complains.

Elena laughs. "You're a powerful witch goddess. Come on, seize the day, Broomhilda."

We hear Bonnie laugh into the phone. "Okay," she says. "I'm going to text you guys later with more details."

"You better," Elena says.

"Alright," I say.

And with that, Elena ends the call.

As if on cue, Stefan comes into the room.

"Where's Damon?" Elena asks.

"He left to track down Jeremy's friend Anna, see if there was anything there," he says.

"Aren't you gonna go with him?" Elena asks confusedly. "If he gets to the journal before we do, then—"

"Doesn't matter," Stefan interrupts. He grins before pulling out a small stack of papers from his back pocket. He holds them up for Elena to see.

It's takes a moment for me to remember what the papers are. "Oh yeah," I say. "I forgot about those."

"What are they?" Elena asks, still confused.

"It's a copy of the journal," Stefan explains.

"How did you get it?" she asks.

"Well," says Stefan. "Mr. Saltzman made a copy and was kind enough to loan it to me."

Unconvinced, my cousin crosses her arms. "He did?"

"No, he didn't," I speak up, grinning. "He wouldn't even have given it to us if it wasn't for me."

"Fine," Stefan gives in, turning to look at me with a smile. "I couldn't have done it without you."

Elena laughs at our exchange, and my heart warms. If someone had told me on the first day of school that I would one day be joking around with Stefan Salvatore, I never would have believed them. But here I am, just a few months later, already getting more comfortable with him than I've ever been with some people I've known my entire life, like Tyler Lockwood for example.

The three of us start looking through the various copied pages of Johnathan Gilbert's journal. I'm sitting on the window seat next to Elena while Stefan is leaning against the wall beside us.

"Here's a reference that he wrote about Emily," Elena speaks up as she flips to another page. She reads off the paper. " 'The Fell family believed it should be I, not them, who protected the witch's spell book. But I feared she would haunt me from the hereafter. They mocked my fear, but it was Giuseppe Salvatore who—' " Elena suddenly stops then looks up at Stefan. "Is that your father?" she asks him.

"Yeah," Stefan says. He stops looking at his own copy of the journal and takes the pages away from Elena. He starts reading off them himself. " 'It was Giuseppe Salvatore who removed my fear'," Stefan reads slowly. " 'He told me he would protect the secret of the spell book. He said he would carry it to his grave'."

Instead of continuing like I thought he would, Stefan pauses and looks away from the paper. He appears deep in thought for a moment until he says, "I know where it is."

GILBERT ESTATE
1858
*Damon Salvatore and Mary Gilbert are both 19 years old*

Mary Gilbert and Noella Branson were playing croquet in the garden. Mary hit the ball with her mallet, knocking it through a hoop. Noella sighed, and Mary giggled triumphantly at her friend's defeat.

"Don't you ever intend to fall in love?" Mary asked as she picked up the ball to start another game.

Noella smiled with amusement. "Oh ten to eleven times, but only for recreation. And I'll keep changing partners like a dance." Noella took a moment to pick up her own ball, her smile growing bigger when she looked back at Mary. "When I do finally say 'I love you' to any man, and really mean it, it'll be like a defeated general who's lost all his troops, surrendering and handing his sword to his enemy."

Mary rolled her eyes. "You'll change your mind one day. I'm sure of it."

Setting her ball on the ground, Noella prepared  for her first turn to hit. "The hideous thing about being young," she complained. "Everybody's always telling you you'll change." She swung her mallet, and the ball rolled through the hoop.

The clip clop of hooves filled the two girls' ears. A horse and carriage was coming down the dirt road.

"Speaking of love," Noella teased.

A blush coated Mary's porcelain cheeks. She had almost forgotten Damon was taking her on a carriage ride that afternoon.

Mary gave her mallet to Noella who had a cheeky grin on her face. "Someone is awfully in a rush," the blond commented.

In response, Mary glared at Noella playfully before turning on her heel and racing towards the carriage.

It slowed to a stop in front of her, and Damon climbed down from the driver's seat to greet his lover. He was in a navy blue suit that day, and Mary thought it made him look as handsome as ever.

Damon took one of her dainty hands in his own, gave it a gentle squeeze, then brushed a kiss across her knuckles.

Impatiently, Mary attempted to hook her fingers in the neckline of his shirt and pull his face down to meet hers. Unable to resist her advances, he smiled lovingly into her eyes and leaned down to give her what she wanted — a kiss.

Blood boiled under Mary's skin, burned in her lips. Her breath came in a wild gasp. Her fingers knotted in his hair, clutching Damon to her. Her lips parted as she breathed in his heady scent.

Much to her displeasure, she felt him turn unresponsive beneath her lips. His hands gently, but with irresistible force, pushed her face back. She opened her eyes and saw his guarded expression.

Damon then smiled. "Don't tempt me, you lovely girl."

"Oops," she breathed, forgetting they were still within the grounds of her home where her father could at any moment come outside and catch them being openly intimate.

Sometimes she just couldn't help herself. Damon Salvatore drove Mary Gilbert mad.

Saturday, November 12, 2009

Harper's POV.

*Harper's Bedroom*

Stefan and Elena had gone out to the old cemetery to dig up Emily Bennett's grimoire in Stefan's dad's grave. While they were gone, my mother had picked me up from Elena's house and took me home. I'm glad I'm no longer in the exposed Gilbert house, but in the safety of my own home where Damon can't get in.

Elena is supposed to call or text me when they get back to her house with the grimoire, but it's getting close to midnight, and she still hasn't called.

My fingers are just itching to text her first in case she got sidetracked or forgot.

Luckily, I don't have to wait for much longer because a call comes in from Stefan. I was expecting Elena, but I'm not complaining. I've had Stefan's number for about a week, and this is the first time either of us have called each other.

I accept the call and put the phone up to my ear. "Hi."

"Anna took Elena."

"What?" That was the last thing I expected him to say.

"Jeremy invited her into the house. She waited until I was downstairs, and then she took her," Stefan says.

"Wait," I pause, "so does that mean Anna's a vampire?"

"Yes, I remember her from 1864. She was the daughter of one of Katherine's friends."

I let that information soak in. "So what are we gonna do?"

"I'm going out to look for her now." He sighs. "Harper, Elena has vampire blood in her system, so if anything happens to her . . ."

"Oh my God," I say.

THE POST OFFICE
1858

Dearest Katherine,

It has been a long time, has it not? Then again, I suppose a long time for us is not really that long, is it? I do miss our pleasant chats, but I cannot deny that I am quite enjoying myself here in this small town in Virginia. There is gossip among folks that the founders are considering to call it "Mystic Falls." Such an unoriginal name, if you ask me.

However, not all the town folk are a complete bore. I have made a friend, and you will not believe when I tell you she is a doppelgänger like yourself, of the Nolla line, in fact. She really has no idea what she is, so innocent and carefree. I would hate for Mr. KM to discover her whereabouts. The girl has charmed me very so. She reminds me a lot of you, in fact. I think you would like her very much.

As it is, I do hope to see you very soon one day, hopefully. I know things are busy, wherever you are; however, I do speak very highly of this small town. The feeding is simple here. I do suspect a few believers among the founders, but other than that, I have been able to make my way easy enough. I could see myself residing here for a few more years, if not a few more decades. I do hope you will come to visit as I do miss you.

Your friend,
Ella

Noella Branson walked up the front steps of the post office with her letter in hand. She opened the door and went inside. There was a woman in her late-twenties behind the desk with waist-length dark hair and intelligent grey eyes.

Noella thought she looked delicious. She could go for an afternoon delight.

After giving the letter to the woman and letting her put it away, Noella whispered to her, "Don't scream" using her compulsion.

The woman seemed confused at first, but then opened her mouth to let out a scream that never came just as Noella's eyes began to darken and veins beneath began to show. Her gums began to open, revealing her fangs. When they pulled through the skin of her gums, it hurt. However, she had done it so many times that the pain was no longer a problem.

The woman continued to open and close her mouth as she tried to scream, but she stopped moving once Noella's teeth sunk into her neck. The sweet blood escaped the two punctured wounds fast, leaking into her mouth as if she hadn't drank in months. It was sweet, tangy, with a hint of iron or rust. Noella drank until the woman fell over, and the fangs were pulled out of her skin. She was pale and leaning against a shelf of old letters, breathing hard.

Noella leaned down and looked into her half-open eyes, and began to use compulsion once again. "You were tired, and you fell asleep," she told her. "The last thing you remember is preparing to mail a letter for a nice blond girl."

The woman nodded and leaned back, closing her eyes and falling asleep. Noella straightened her back, wiping away the blood on her lips with the back of her hand. She then turned to walk out the door, satisfied.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

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a/n:

So, yes, Noella Branson is played by Florence Pugh, and yes, she is Lexi Branson's younger sister. I'm sure you can see the resemblance lol. 

Also, I named this chapter "Never Trust a Pretty Face" for several reasons. One, because Noella turned out to be a vampire. Two, because Anna also turned out to be a vampire. And three, because of Elena's lie to Damon that made him force feed her his blood in this episode.

-- roxy

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