THE NEXT NIGHT, Raven was at the back-to-school bash. Every year, it took place in the woods, only about half a mile from the waterfalls, and every year, something bad happened. Last year, Theadora Blake was caught cheating on her boyfriend of three years, Christian Suzel. Enraged, he picked a fight with the homewrecker (who no one really liked anyways), and both boys ended up getting checked into the hospital that night. It turned out fighting near a fire wasn't the brightest idea.

But new year, new drama.

"Just admit it, Raven," Bonnie was saying as they stood in the center of the party, each holding a plastic red cup of fruit punch that tasted suspiciously strong. "You think he's drop-dead gorgeous."

"No," Raven replied, shaking her head. "Because of you, the title Sexy Back Guy is burned into my brain, and that's all I can think of when I see him."

"So you think he's sexy?"

"What?"

"I never said sexy, I said hot."

"Fine, you got me!" Raven exclaimed defeatedly, playfullying rolling her eyes at the Knew it Bonnie said in her sing-song voice. "But it's not like I'm professing my love or anything, I just think he's cute. And he has this...romance novel stare."

"Stefan looked deep into her eyes, piercing her very soul," Bonnie said mockingly, and the two burst into laughter.

"So where is he?" Bonnie asked when they were done not embarrassing themselves.

Raven shrugged. "You're the psychic one---you tell me."

"Right, okay," Bonne said, playing along. "Give me a sec. Grams says I have to concentrate."

"Wait! You need a crystal ball. Uh..." Raven's eyes darted around the forest and lit up when she noticed a beer bottle on a nearby table. Smiling, she put down her cup and picked it up, showcasing it to her friend. "Ta da!"

Bonnie grinned, shaking her head with mild disbelief as she reached out to grab it, shutting her eyes. Raven watched her with a teasing smile, but it quickly vanished when Bonnie's eyes suddenly snapped open and she spaced out, terror-stricken as she snatched her hand away.

"What happened?"

"That was weird," Bonnie said, frowning as she met Raven's concerned gaze. "When I touched you, I saw a crow."

Oh no.

"What did you just say?" Raven asked, her heart skipping a beat.

"A crow," She repeated, the deep frown still etched on her face. "There was fog, a man...I'm drunk. It's the drinking, there's nothing psychic about it."

"No, I-I actually think you might be onto something," Raven said, shaking her head. "Yesterday I was at the cemetery and there was this crow---I think it was the same one that crashed into your car yesterday morning---and it wouldn't go away. Then all this fog started coming so I ran, but when I turned I could've sworn there was a man standing there and..."

Bonnie blinked, not believing her ears. There was no way in hell she was psychic. So what if her ancestors were from Salem? Her origins didn't automatically give her superpowers. "You're messing with me," She reasoned.

"I'm not," Raven replied and held out her pinky. "Promise."

Bonnie looked down at her finger and back into her eyes. Her serious eyes and thought, Oh my god, she's telling the truth. She closed her eyes for a moment, shaking her head out of denial. When she opened them again, she could see Raven still watching her, her lips stretched into a thin line and an intense crease in her forehead.

"Right," Bonnie breathed out, wide-eyed and appearing to be in a slightly traumatic daze, "Okay, well this is getting weird, I'm gonna go get a refill. Be right back."

"Wait- Bonnie!" Raven called out to her friend who was already walking away. "Are you-"

"I'm fine!" She called out, not turning around. Soon, she disappeared in the scrummage of intoxicated teens, and Raven sighed. Now there she was standing alone at a party. No Bonnie. No Caroline. No Stefan. No one. It felt too painfully similar to where she was just a few months ago, but she hadn't had the luxury to drown in alcohol and pretend her pain didn't exist. Now she did.

So as she drank her spiked punch carelessly, she turned around to find herself face to face with Stefan, who casually muttered "Hi" and felt the cold drink that'd been sliding down her throat splurt back up, which led to an aggressive coughing fit.

Stefan patted her on the back and when she was finally able to swallow properly and breathe, she looked up to see him resisting his laughter, differing from his previously concerned reaction.

"Hi," She said blandly, trying to sound upset, but couldn't quite fight the smile growing on her face.

"I did it again, didn't I?"

"If by it you mean standing there like a stalker and totally scaring the shit out of me, then yes."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be," She said dismissively with a soft chuckle. He nodded, but his grin was quickly replaced with a frown as he surveyed her face.

"You're upset about something," He observed.

"What are you, an FBI profiler?"

"Only when I have to be."

Raven snickered, shaking her head. "I'm glad you could make it."

"Me too," He said, showing off his lustrous eyes to match his smile. They stood there for a brief moment in a comfortable silence that was disrupted by a peer bumping into Raven, inadvertently causing her to spill her drink. She jumped back before the contents hit her and looked at the boy who collided with her, who was too occupied with his disastrous moves to care, likely not even hearing the swear she shouted at him.

"Do you wanna maybe go somewhere private?" Stefan asked, noticing her palpable aggravation.

"That depends. Are you going to murder me with an axe and then dump my body in the woods?"

Stefan cocked his head to the side, pretending to ponder on the subject. "Well I wouldn't use an axe."

"Alright but just so you know, I have pepper spray on me." Which wasn't a lie. She did in fact keep pepper spray with her at all times as a backup defense plan. But she didn't expect him to know that, and wasn't very surprised when he laughed and nodded.

The further Raven and Stefan moved from the party, the more peaceful it became. It wasn't until they reached the bridge that Raven's breath hitch and her throat dried like sandpaper. When Stefan realized her tenseness and reluctance to pass, he carefully grabbed her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

She looked at him and smiled gratefully before taking a deep breath and starting to cross. With each step, she got the terrifying feeling that the ground beneath her feet would crumble and she'd plummet into the icy waters. So to get her mind off of the overwhelming fear, she did what she did best---she talked.

"You know you're the talk of the town?"

"I am?" Stefan asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Raven confirmed. "I mean believe it or not, mysterious, brooding bad boys in leather moving to a small town like this---presumably to get a fresh start from his bad past that he never speaks about---tends to capture a lot of people's attention."

"Well I can't be the only one," He responded, an enigmatic smile plastered on his face.

She frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well you're mysterious, brooding, you look like you also have a bad past and you tend to wear a lot of leather," He explained. She looked down at her leather jacket. "Then there's the fact that you have this twinged in sadness thing going on too."

"Okay first of all that's different because while my past is dark, it's no secret," She pointed out. At least some of it is no secret. "Second, how am I twinged in sadness? I'm a happy person! Do you know how many times I smiled today?"

"Yeah but how many of those smiles were real?"

Raven's smile faded and she somberly nodded. "Yeah I guess you're right. But after your parents dive off a bridge with you in the backseat, recovery isn't exactly easy."

"It never is," Stefan replied. They stopped, turning so they stood directly in front of each other, and he reached for her other hand after placing his beer bottle on the bridge parapet. "You won't be sad forever, Raven."

"You know, I believe in balance."

"Really?

"Mhm. For every loss, there's a gain. Things can't always be just good but they can't all be bad either. It's just important to recognize that nothing in life, including situations and...feelings, are permanent."

"I like that," He remarked, releasing one of her hands to grab his bottle and lift it up." To balance."

"To balance," She repeated energetically, raising her own cup. They clinked their drinks together and grinned. "Cheers."

As she drank the creamy beverage, she turned and stepped off the bridge, her heart rate elevating slightly as she did so. Stefan went down with her and when he lowered his bottle, she narrowed her eyes at him, wondering if the lighting was somehow playing tricks on her.

"Are you okay?" She asked, stepping forwards to get a better look. It seemed that underneath his now dark eyes, his black veins began to pulsate, like...a root with a heartbeat. She'd never seen anything like it.

"Yeah, why?"

"Uh, maybe I'm a little tired but I swear it looks like your eyes are doing this freaky thing and it.." She trailed off, shaking her head. "I don't know."

"Oh, um..." He looked away, letting go of her hand to rub his eyes. "Yeah, it's nothing. Are you thirsty? I'm gonna go get us more drinks."

Before he even finished talking, he was already walking away. It wasn't even just his rush to leave that let her know he was lying. It was the anxiety almost radiating off of him. And she wasn't just confused...she was worried.

What if he was sick and needed help? What if he was on some kind of strange drugs that had darkened eyes and an altered blood color? It could be a number of things, even things that admittedly didn't make sense, but when someone's past was a mystery, the possibilities were endless.

A few minutes passed and Stefan still hadn't returned. Deciding that she didn't want to wait in a secluded area of the woods, Raven decided to head back, walking over the bridge with heedful steps. When she finally crossed, it felt like an hour went by. And for a moment, she worried that Stefan just absentmindedly left her standing alone on a creaky bridge with no intention of coming back, assuming he didn't have anything wrong with him.

What if he really is on drugs? Raven thought as she joined her projecting peers, searching for Bonnie or Caroline or anyone she knew really. Even running into Jeremy or Tyler Lockwood would give her something to do. She couldn't believe it-all these students in one place, and not a single one she knew?

"Looking for someone?" Matt's voice called out to her. Okay...so maybe not anyone she knew. She looked around for a respectful way to escape, but by the time he reached her, there was nothing she could do but sigh. "Hey."

She forced a smile. "Hey."

"Can we talk?"

I don't think that's a good idea. "Sure."

"When you broke up with me," He began and she winced. Oh shit, here we go. "You said it was because you needed some time alone. You don't look so alone to me."

Raven took a deep breath. "Matt...ever since I got back, I've tried reaching out to you, and all you've done is ignore me. But because I'm friends with the new kid, now I'm a priority?"

"Look, Rae, I'm not here to fight you."

"Then why are you here?"

"I just want you to know that...no matter who comes along, I still believe in us. And I'm not giving up on that."

"What if I am?" She asked. She could see the confusion in his eyes and sighed. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt him, but she needed to tell him the hard truth, something she'd failed to do before.

"Matt, we're...we're not a good fit," She confessed. "You're a great guy, but...I'm not in love with you, Matt. I don't think I ever was, I just...I don't know, you were the only guy to see me. And everyone wanted us to be together and it seemed like the right thing to do.

But when everything happened, you were so loyal, even though I could see my distance was tearing you apart. I realized that I wasn't being fair to you but I was too...I didn't want to admit it. Because you deserve so much better than me, and I knew the moment I accepted that, we were done for good. I'm sorry."

Seeing the light dim in his eyes was brutal. She hated hurting him...he'd always been so kind to her. But he ignored every flaw she had to keep their relationship, and it had been killing them both. Raven had been too afraid to let him go because she loved him so much. But her love was selfish and destructive. He deserved love that was as generous and peaceful. And she deserved to grow and become someone she was proud of. She'd made many mistakes, and she'd hurt nearly every person she was close with, but this was her time to make amends.

Matt smiled, but it didn't meet his eyes. "It's okay. I'm glad we could be honest with each other. I'll see you around."

She watched him go...wanting to reach for his arm and comfort him, but she knew that would do him no good. If she'd be honest before, he wouldn't be in so much pain right now. To think there were more secrets....but if he knew what she did, he wouldn't even look at her. Maybe she should tell him. But if she told him, he'd tell Bonnie and Caroline. But didn't he deserve to know? Didn't he deserve to know that the girl he was pining over was a monster? Would that help the healing process? To cement in his mind that she wasn't worth the trouble or grief?

Raven turned around to see Stefan approaching her and smiled warmly, but any trace of joy was vanquished she heard a bottle smash into pieces. Her head whipped in the direction of the noise, and she could see an intoxicated Jeremy staggering into the woods.

"You have got to be kidding me," She muttered, shaking her head and already starting to follow after him.

"What is it?"

"My brother's a junkie," She muttered, ignoring the puzzled frown as she went after him. She didn't like the idea of him coming to a high school party and getting drunk like she did. He was consumed by drugs and alcohol, and it wasn't because they helped him cope with his parents' deaths and the spiral of issues afterwards. It helped him forget.

"Jeremy?" Raven called, pursuing his stumbling figure through the dark. "Jeremy! I swear to God when I get my hands on you-!"

"Leave me alone!" He shouted, speeding a bit. Raven watched as he stumbled over something and fell to the ground, but it was what he said after that grabbed her attention. "Vicki?"

Raven stopped and gasped when she saw her brother looking straight at the unconscious face of Vicki Donovan, Matt's sister. She hadn't seen her since...that night.

Her stomach churned. Vicki and Raven used to be friends, which meant they went out regularly and got high together, much to Matt's disdain. But after Raven found out she slept with Jeremy, some things went down. Things that Raven wasn't entirely proud of. Things that Matt didn't know.

"Holy shit!" Raven yelled, running to Vicki's still body. She fell to her side and placed two fingers against the side of her neck. And as if Raven's hand emitted some sort of electric pulse, Vicki's eyes snapped open and she gasped loudly, then lost consciousness in an instant. Raven jerked her hand away and jumped back. "What the hell? Vicki, can you hear me? Vick?"

Raven muttered a string of curses and looked at Jeremy, who looked like he was going out of his mind. "Jer, I need you to help me get her up. We have to find help."

"I got her."

"Are you sure because I can-"

"Go!" Jeremy interrupted. Raven nodded and started her take-off. Minus cheerleading, she was never much of an athlete, but here she was sprinting through the woods to help a girl she didn't even like. Close behind her, she could hear Jeremy's footsteps and was slightly impressed by his ability to keep up while holding an 18-year-old girl in his arms.

"Somebody call 911!" Raven immediately screamed, grabbing the full attention of her baffled peers. "Clear the table, we got a bloody unconscious girl coming through!" No one moved, paralyzed with shock. Now would be a great time for some adrenaline to kick in. "What, you've never seen someone passed out before? Move! And for God's sake, turn off that horrible music!"

Her schoolmates scrambled around, some rushing to cut off the music and others taking things off the table. Tyler Lockwood, Vicki's on-and-off unofficial boyfriend, wiped the table clean. Jeremy placed Vicki on the bench and Raven removed her necklace. She pressed two fingers against Vicki's neck. She could feel a pulse-a weak one, but a pulse nonetheless. She looked up to see Matt, Tyler, and Bonnie rushing to her.

"What the hell happened to her?" Matt demanded, his panicked eyes widened as they landed on her sister. More blood was seeping out of her neck wound and it didn't look like it would slow down any time soon.

"We don't know, we just found her."

"Somebody, call an ambulance!"

"Everybody back up, give her some space!" Tyler shouted, pushing slow bystanders away from the scene.

Raven pulled up a chair and sat down, studying the girl's puncture wound. "It's her neck, something bit her. She's losing a lot of blood, we need to get an ambulance here now. Someone get me a cloth or something before she goes into hypovolemic shock!"

"I have a scarf!" Caroline yelled out, pulling it around her neck and pushing past everyone as she held it out. Raven thanked her as she grabbed the scarf. Jeremy lifted up Vicki's head so Raven could wrap it around her neck and gently press it against her skin.

"Aren't you supposed to clean it with beer or something?" Matt asked.

"No, that can cause tissue damage and slow healing," She looked at Matt. "This should help stop the bleeding until the ambulance comes."

"What happened?" Caroline asked.

"It was probably just another animal attack. There's been a lot of those lately."

"Yeah but in the neck?"

"Well it's not a group of vampires parading The Falls, I can tell you that," Raven joked, but the graveness of the situation countered her attempt to relieve the tension. "They're called throat clamps. Obviously the effects aren't as, uh, severe here, but it involves an animal attacking its prey by the neck. Usually with its teeth, that's why there are two sets of bite marks. Whatever animal did this would've had to have gotten pretty close...I'm surprised no one heard her scream."

"Do you think she's going to be okay?" Matt asked.

"There's never a guarantee but..." She nodded, giving him a small reassuring smile. "Yeah, I think she will.

She could practically feel the weight on his shoulders decrease as he drew a breath with ease, grateful for the solace. A few minutes later, a chaotic chorus of sirens blared through the woods. Soon police officers, an ambulance, and the Animal Control Unit arrived at the scene.

The party-goers were ordered to call their parents and clear out of the area and the crowd disbanded, but Raven stayed behind to see the paramedics roll Vicki into the ambulance. She watched as Matt hopped in after her and the vehicle zoomed off, its red and white lights zipping through the night.

"Raven?" Someone called out. She turned to see Sheriff Elizabeth Forbes, Caroline's mother, coming to her.

Raven wasn't a big fan of cops, but Liz always had this warm motherly presence that made her feel welcomed and safe. She didn't have this intimidation presence that caused discomfort and somehow still managed to get the answers she needed, which was probably why no one else even tried to run for sheriff.

"Hello Jeremy. If you don't mind, I need to ask you both a few questions, get your statements."

Raven looked at her brother. All he did was nod, so she turned to Sheriff Forbes and smiled. "Yeah, whatever we can do to help."

"Do you want to do this now or go down to the station?"

"Now."

"Okay. Do you think you can walk me through what happened?"

"Of course. Jeremy and I were in the woods," Raven recounted to the sheriff, who pulled out a notepad to jot down information. "We got into a fight, I was chasing him down but then he tripped...and there she was. So Jeremy picked her up and I ran over here as fast as I could to get help."

"Are you the one that put the scarf around her neck?"

"Yeah," She confirmed. "It was Caroline's."

"Sheriff!" Someone shouted, and they both turned to see a young officer standing by the edge of bushes, an indecipherable look on his face as he exhaled. "I think you're going to want to see this."

Liz nodded and turned back to her. "I called your aunt. She's on her way. You might wanna talk to her before she gets her, calm her nerves."

"Okay. Thank you."

Sheriff Forbes nodded, offering up a tight-lipped smile and brief (slightly awkward) hug before walking away to join the officer. Raven turned to see Jeremy walk away and stand under the gazebo, gripping a nearby beer bottle. She watched him for a few seconds, but her surveillance was disrupted when Bonnie came to her side.

"Hey."

"Hey." Rough night.

"We're gonna go mainline coffee, wait for news," Bonnie said.

"Rain check," Raven replied. "I gotta take Jeremy home and Jenna's probably worried sick. But I'll call you when things cool down."

"Okay, I'll let you know when we get an update," Bonnie promised and Raven nodded. There was a beat of tense silence, but Raven's mind was racing. They both shared a look, each wondering who'd be the first to speak up about the incident before the incident. "Raven, there's no way I'm psychic. I know. But whatever I saw...or think I saw...I have this feeling... that's it just the beginning."

Raven opened her mouth to say something, but her attention was diverted when she noticed a brown-haired woman wearing a coroner's jacket rolling a stretcher past them, her lips stretched into a thin, grim line. Raven frowned as she stepped closer to see who was in the body bag on the stretcher, but she felt her heart stop as a male coroner zipped up the bag, just as she saw the victim's face.

Ryder?

Raven's heart dropped. A wave of grief washed over her. Her lips trembled but she bit back the wail that threatened to escape. Her throat ached. It couldn't be him...it had to be someone else. He looked like every other stranger in Mystic Falls---maybe she got it wrong.

Bonnie frowned as she witnessed the color from her friend's face. "Raven? What's wrong?"

Slowly escaping her trance, Raven turned to Bonnie. "Nothing, sorry...just...thinking about how I'm never going to a party again."

Bonnie chuckled softly, but it didn't meet her eyes. A comfortable silence passed between the pair as they stood there, engulfed by their train of thoughts. When they finally departed, Raven loomed towards Jeremy, who was busy drinking. Even when he felt her presence beside him, he didn't look at her but lowered the bottle.

"You alright, Kearney?" She asked. "Stupid question, I know."

She expected him to agree and make a snarky comment like he usually did. But he didn't say anything. He just stared ahead. Raven cleared her throat, smoothly pulling the bottle from his grasp and taking a swig. He looked at her as she harshly set the bottle on the table.

"You haven't had a drink in months."

"Yeah, well, I think tonight calls for at least one," She reasoned, surprised that he even noticed. But she wasn't surprised when he reached for the bottle. And he wasn't surprised when she slapped his hand away. "You just got out of middle school and this place is infested with cops."

"I don't care."

"Well, I do," Raven replied. I know it doesn't seem like it, but I care. So much. "People are going to stop giving you breaks, Jer. They don't... they've moved on. We probably won't. But the least we can do is heal. It's what Mom and Dad would've wanted for us."

She put her hand on his shoulder to raise his spirits. He shrugged her off. A stabbing pain hit her heart, but she forced a smile.

"Jeremy? Raven?" The siblings turned to see a familiar beloved redhead standing a couple feet away. When she saw their faces, she sighed and smiled. She raced over and threw her arms around them. "I came here as fast I could. What happened? Sheriff Forbes said there was an accident and that you two might have to go down to the station and-"

"Everything's fine, Aunt Jenna," Raven stated reassuringly. "Vicki got attacked by some wild animal and we found her in the woods."

"Oh my god, is she okay? Are you okay?

"She's on her way to the hospital, and we're fine," Raven said, giving a smile to ease her aunt's worry. "Promise."

Jenna nodded. "Okay. Let's get you two home so you can rest."

Rest. That sounds nice.

Despite the events that recently transpired, the car ride was silent and... peaceful. She pushed aside all thoughts of Ryder, convincing herself that he was fine. Raven didn't think of Vicki or the fact that Stefan had vanished into thin air (although it did take her a while to realize that one). Instead, she thought about the fact that for the first time since her parents sank, she felt like she had a family.

Regardless of the difficult adjustment, she was momentarily content. Her parents were gone, and they weren't coming back, but...it felt like a part of them was watching over her, and their memories would always live on. And the mere thought of that gave her all the satisfaction she needed to carry on.

When the family arrived home, Raven ran to the bathroom and called Ryder. No response. He was probably sleeping. After all, it was all midnight. Sighing, she stepped into the shower to cleanse her mind and hands of Vicki's blood. As the blood washed down the drain, memories jolted through Raven's mind, but she buried them and scrubbed herself clean.

When she finished bathing, she threw on a t-shirt and joggers, then collapsed into bed. She had a lot on her mind, and what better way to release her thoughts than spill them in her journal? So that's what she did. She didn't know how long she stayed up in the balcony, but by the time she finished writing, she filled up six pages with nothing but honesty. And it felt good.

After chatting with Bonnie on the phone a bit about how to get Caroline sober and receiving an update on Vicki's condition, she decided to rest her mind. But every chance of that diminished when she heard footsteps pounding against the road and opened her eyes to see Stefan standing outside of her balcony, staring right at her with his lips parted, as if contemplating whether or not he should speak.

"Damn. And here I was about to pine for you Juliet-style," Raven teased. She rushed downstairs and opened the door to see Stefan waiting on her porch steps. "I was starting to think that you were a ghost."

Stefan smiled at her. "I know it's late, but uh...I needed to know that you were okay."

"Mm-hmm."

"Are you?" He asked. "Okay, I mean?"

"Compared to Vicki, I'm great."

"How is she?"

"Um, she hasn't woken up yet, but the doctors say she's gonna be fine."

"That's good. You know I saw you out there. You were pretty incredible."

"I put a scarf on her neck," Raven said dryly, raising an eyebrow. "It's basic TV-med stuff. Anyone could do that."

"True. But not everyone knows that you aren't supposed to pour alcohol on the wound."

"My dad is the one to thank for that. The only reason I ever got into anything medical is because he's-" She paused. "Was a physician."

Stefan nodded, studying the pained look on her face. Four months. Four months since they passed, and she didn't think she was ever going to get used to referring to her parents in the past tense. I guess I really haven't moved on.

"Wow, it's...freezing out here," She suddenly said. "And you look like you need someone to talk to. Do you want to maybe come in?"

She shifted aside. Stefan looked down at the threshold, then up at her sparkling eyes. Then he smiled. "Yes," He answered before stepping inside. But little did he know that his first steps inside her house would also be his first steps onto a long road of nothing but trouble and heartbreak.

A storm was brewing in Mystic Falls. And soon, it would sweep her away until all that was left was the debris of what once was.

--

More Raven & Stefan moments <3

For all my Damon fans, there's a few more chapters left to go...