one positively thriving!

✧

          LUX WAS NOT A LUCKY PERSON BY ANY MEANS. No one with the last name Morgan and a tie to Mystic Falls was lucky. Instead, they were all cursed with terribly bad luck that ended up with none of their dreams coming true and lot of them with short lives before a tragedy. Lux should know; she had witnessed such a tragedy before and lived it herself.

But the story doesn't start with her bad luck, it started with her mother's because Delilah Morgan used to be such a promising figure. Top of her class in high school, dreams of heading off to New York and becoming a fashion designer before her high school sweetheart knocked her up and then fucked off to who knows where out of Mystic Falls when he learned he was going to be a bad, so already Lux had great origins.

No, begrudgingly, Delilah Morgan kept her child and nine months later out came Lux Morgan with her mother's platinum blonde hair and ambitious mind. People always said that Lux was going places, just like they said to her mother, and look how that turned out. Lux knew that she was the worst thing to happen to her mother, who dreamed of the Big Apple and all the money in the world to her name. She would've gotten it too if her mom hadn't gotten pregnant and had her, locking herself into Mystic Falls and working at the Grill because she couldn't work anywhere else.

It didn't mean Lux had a horrible childhood to accompany her. Delilah tried so hard to pretend that she loved being a mother and that getting pregnant at eighteen was always the goal. She tried to pretend that she didn't have dreams of escaping and never coming back to Mystic Falls except for holidays, but Lux saw through it when she got to middle school and old enough to see and understand her mom.

And she had her Uncle Timothy, who was like the best thing ever to young Lux. Her young, cool uncle who all her friends loved and who himself loved hanging out with young Lux. He was the one who give her the beloved nickname, only calling her Lux until everyone else did and switching it just so he could have something for himself and her alone.

But she still saw. Delilah Morgan never wanted to be a mother, wasn't meant to be one, and it was obvious with her short temper and how she began to pull away until young Lux Morgan found her mother dead. It was a tragedy and Timothy forced her into therapy after he took over custody for her since there were no other living family members, Lux' grandparents passing when she was a child.

Where Delilah struggled as a parent, Timothy thrived. He was absolutely meant to be a dad, and it didn't matter to him that instead of a child of his own he was getting the young teenage Lux because he loved her like his own and never treated her badly. She hated to admit it because it felt disrespectful to her mom, but she loved Timothy more and loved living with him more.

But that was Delilah Morgan's tragedy and bad luck, not hers even if she stemmed for it and suffered because of it. Lux lived a pretty good lucky life for years, only the bad luck of rejection being the main thing to piss her off, but that was until she was seventeen and thriving in New York.

Every summer over the anniversary of her mom's death, Timothy took her to New York, which seemed like a better fuck you look at me to her mom rather than an honor, but Lux didn't complain because she loved the Big Apple. Just like dear old mom, she had dreams of escaping of Mystic Falls.

On this trip, fun and fresh seventeen-year-old Lux wanted a little summer fling. Something to tell her friends about when she got back from the trip, giggling when she admitted that she fucked a guy from New York, and oh did she get a good story.

His name Ben – just Ben – and he was everything Lux dreamed of at first. He made her feel special, like she was the only girl in the world and not just a nobody from little Mystic Falls, Virginia. When he said he could make her special forever, Lux didn't hesitate before agreeing to whatever he asked of her. Being special forever sounded wonderful...she just didn't know forever was the thing that would make her special.

Forever always just seemed like a myth, no one could live forever or stay young forever, that only existed in movies until Lux woke up alone after having her neck broken the night before with the ability to hear things going on outside and this need to feed. She didn't truly understand until the maid at the hotel room knocked on the door and came in and there she was devouring the girl's neck, greedily taking all her blood until the maid was dead.

And yeah, that caused her to majorly freak the fuck out because holy shit she just murdered someone by drinking all their blood like a vampire! And then the realization came that it was like a vampire; she was a vampire. Lux Morgan from nowhere Virginia was a fucking vampire – even burned in the sun when she took off the ring that Ben gave her, and that was weird.

Everything was weird. She was dead but not. She was truly an undead creature pretending that she still fun and fresh and living Lux Morgan from before, but she wasn't. Fun and fresh, groovy Lux Morgan was dead. Undead.

Seventeen the dancing queen forever...and ever and ever. Yep. She was totally thriving and totally didn't spend the entire summer in isolation trying to control her bloodlust before the start of school. It was totally fun and fresh.

She sighed to herself. School was her first step back into humanity, and boy was it a big step, but it wasn't like she could skip the first day or school or just school in general. She had to go, so she was going to suck it up and control herself the best she could.

"You can do this," she muttered to herself, looking into the mirror. Same platinum blonde hair, acne-free skin, and doe brown eyes that she had before she turned and would have forever. This was her forever state because she was dead; Lux Morgan the Unlucky was dead.

"Lux! Breakfast!" her uncle yelled, even though that wasn't necessary anymore. She heard everything, even the things she didn't want to hear – curse her new enhanced ears!

"Coming!" she called back, glancing back at her reflection and giving herself a nod. She could do this. She had been learning how to control herself and she could go into a crowd of people without vamping out for a while now. She would be fine. She would.

But there was no use continuing to stare at herself. Her reflection couldn't help her now, so she turned and left her room, bustling down the stairs into the kitchen.

"How's my Lucy-Lu this morning? Ready to go back to school?" Timothy asked her and she rolled her eyes.

"It's Lux, Uncle Tim, Lux. You know that nickname you gave me when I was younger?" she reminded him, because Lucy-Lu had to be the worst nickname ever and she wasn't exaggerating.

Timothy gave her an amused smile, rejoicing in her annoyance. "I know, Lucy-Lu, but now everyone calls you Lux so I had to get something new," he told her, the same explanation he always had when she corrected him.

"And you decided on Lucy-Lu, the worst name ever," she reprimanded him and he laughed at her, "Stop laughing! It's not funny! I'm being serious!"

"Still doesn't change anything," he shook his head before nodding towards a plate of food, "I made you breakfast."

"I'm not hungry," she shook her head. She hadn't eaten breakfast full of human food in a long time. Human food wasn't necessarily bad, and thank God for that, but it didn't taste the same. The enjoyment she had from Doritos wasn't the same anymore and while it didn't taste like chalk, it wasn't something she wanted to actively eat either.

Timothy sighed. "I know you have first day jitters, but you shouldn't skip breakfast."

"I'm not skipping breakfast," she frowned, "I just don't eat it anymore. I don't know, I've found that I don't need it. Really, I'm fine Uncle Tim," she added the last part when he gave her a suspicious look.

He had a big show about sighing, moving towards the plate and taking it away from the counter where she was supposed to sit and eat it. "Alright, then, I guess it just means more for me," he relented and she giggled at him.

Her eyes fluttered to the clock Timothy had in the kitchen, which he had in every room basically because he constantly lost time because once he got fixated on something he couldn't focus on anything else and the clocks were a reminder to take a breath. "I've gotta get going if I don't wanna be late," she told him, "Love ya!"

"Love you, too. Have a good day!" he turned her through a mouthful of scrambled eggs.

She gave him one last wave before leaving the house, going out to her car and starting it up. She looked at herself in the rearview mirror, silently chanting again you can do this because she needed all the confidence she could give herself.

✧

ALREADY, SHE COULD HEAR people's conversations and their loud heartbeats as she pulled into the parking lot. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to focus on the conversations of people rather than their hearts because if she did that her vamp face would come out and that was bad news. She was fine; she could do this. She was thriving.

She could do this. She knew she could. She had been practicing control all summer to get ready for this moment when she could reenter the human world and go into large crowds and spend a whole day in high school without feeding or having the temptation for it...but it was also her first time being around so many people.

Lux couldn't help but isolate herself over summer. She needed time alone to register the fact that she wasn't alive anymore, not really, and that everything was different in her life. She couldn't go back to Lux Morgan the fun and fresh teenage girl because she was so much more than that now.

She wasn't just Lux the nobody from a nowhere town wanting to be special, nor was her only claim to fame through her nickname and overdosing mother, she was Lux Morgan the forever young vampire. Seventeen the dancing queen forever.

But it was time to go back and pretend, like she had done with Timothy throughout summer. She knew how Lux Morgan the human acted and she could imitate that. This would be good for her – it had to be. Going the human world again was good for her, to help her feel more alive even though her heart didn't beat anymore and not even death could stop her.

Getting out of the car, she swung her back across her shoulder, holding herself up with as much confidence as she could muster before swaggering into school. She was meant to be here; even the dead could mingle with the living and pretend, so she would.

It was her third year in the high school, but she never felt so out of place. She used to own this place, moving around without thought because she knew where everything was and she belonged there. But now everything was so different and she wasn't little human Lux and she felt so out of place.

Her eyes searched for someone she knew and they fell onto to Matt who had his earphones in. Blink-182's "I Miss You"...so he was still reeling from his breakup with Elena. She felt bad for him, because he was always head over heels for their friend Elena and then she dumped him over summer, but so what? It wasn't a big deal, especially in comparison to everything else that happened over summer, like Elena's parents dying and Lux becoming a vampire – not that everyone knew that last part.

She sighed to herself, knowing that talking to Matt was a dead end especially considering he wouldn't want to see her anyway while he was still upset over her friend.

"Oh, Lux! Lux!"

Her head turned quickly when she heard her name being called loudly until they fell onto Caroline. Her best blonde friend in the entire world, who understood the struggles of being called dumb due to something as simple as their hair color and always striving for better. Also her co-captain for cheer this year. It was so weird to think she was co-captain this year, so weird to think about how much that used to mean and how she felt nothing towards it now.

Still, she smiled and went over to where Caroline called her to Elena and Bonnie. Caroline didn't hesitate before giving her a hug and it wasn't like she could push the girl away so she hugged back, though the entire time she was actively trying to distract herself from the fact that her mouth was so close to Caroline's neck and her blood was surely going to be delicious.

No – Caroline was her friend. She couldn't think that.

"Where the hell were you all summer?" Caroline screeched at her once they stopped hugging.

Right, now she had to explain herself. It wasn't like she could tell them the truth, like I died and so I had to figure out how to be a vampire, you know, the usual because that was only for her to know. "Sorry, I know I totally spaced out. I was in New York like all summer," she lied, retelling them same lie she made Timothy tell everyone to excuse her self-isolation.

Caroline frowned. "You never called, I got worried," she said, "And then I had to worry about you and Elena."

Lux' eyes fluttered to Elena, who was looking awkward at the mention of the fact that people worried about her due to the fact that her parents died. Yeah, that always sucked, Lux remembered how people acted around her after her mother's overdose.

"Sorry, I was busy," and she really was apologetic, because these were her friends and she hadn't meant to worry them, she was just trying to control herself so that she didn't eat them next time she saw them because that would suck and be an even greater tragedy.

"How was New York?" Bonnie asked and Lux appreciated the conversation changer.

"Good," she nodded, smiling at them, "I had a great time. I totally understand why my mom always wanted to move there. You guys would love it, too."

Well, she wasn't sure about that actually. Lux wasn't meant for small towns, that was obvious to everyone, and neither was Caroline. The two blondes were too big for small towns, needed more than they had to offer, but she always saw Elena staying in Mystic Falls forever and never leaving. She just seemed like the type to stay where she grew up and raise a family of her own, not that it was a bad thing, it was just different than Lux.

And, well, now she supposed that staying in Mystic Falls forever wouldn't even be an option. She would have to go and leave, explore the world and live in cities. Lux Morgan couldn't be a mother now, but maybe that wasn't such a bad thing. She thought she would be too much like Delilah anyway, and she didn't want that.

The last thing she wanted was to become her mother, but she emulate the whole fucking her life up thing while still in high school part because so many doors were closed for her now because of the whole being dead thing.

"Anyway, so how was summer here?" Lux asked them, not really wanting to continue to lie to her friends about New York. Yeah, she went there, but only for two weeks not the entire summer. Lux always hated lying to her friends anyway, so this vampire thing was really messing everything up for her.

Elena sucked in and Lux immediately felt guilt pool inside her. "Oh my God, I shouldn't have said anything. I'm sorry," she rushed out an apology, eyes on her friend, "That was super insensitive of me."

"No, it's fine," Elena shook her head, "Summer was just...different. Jenna moving in, the funeral..."

"Jeremy," Bonnie listed with her and Lux frowned.

"Jeremy?" she repeated and Elena sent her a look.

"I'll tell you later. It's a long story," and that absolutely did not ease her worries at all. Instead, they deepened them but she respected Elena's wishes not to ask more at the current moment.

Caroline seemed oblivious to the tension or actively wanted to get away from it, so her call out for Tyler Lockwood's name and running after him wasn't surprising, leaving the three girls alone.

"Come on, let's start getting to class," Bonnie said, moving forward and leaving Lux and Elena to follow her.

Lux tried to concentrate on their conversation instead of everything else she could hear in the hallway, until Bonnie stopped them in the middle of the hallway. "Hold up. Who's this?" her eyes were trained on the young looking figure in the front office, causing Lux and Elena to all direct their attention there.

"All I see is a back," Elena told her, a little bit amused that her friend was getting held up about someone's back.

"It's a hot back," Bonnie defended her, and Lux was inclined to agree.

"You're right, it is," she nodded along with Bonnie, who sent her a smile of appreciation. Her ears trained on the stranger, listening in on the conversation until she could hear his voice, and boy was it a good voice. But it was strange – not the voice but the conversation.

One minute, the secretary Mrs. Young was saying that he was missing a transcript and records and after he opened his mouth saying I'm sure they're all there she looked back and agreed. Huh. That wasn't normal at all and Lux was definitely intrigued.

God, maybe this was the reason why she died. She was a curious cat before with Ben and now she was doing it again with his stranger – she really needed to stop before she actually died and satisfaction didn't bring her back.

"I'm sensing Seattle," Bonnie said, still staring at the back of the stranger, "and he plays the guitar."

Elena scoffed at her. "You're really going to run this whole psychic thing into the ground, huh?"

"Pretty much," Bonnie nodded.

Lux frowned at that. "Psychic thing?" she asked, looking for clarification from Bonnie, who sighed.

"My grandma says that I'm psychic or whatever, so I'm just going along with it, seeing where it takes me," the Bennett girl explained and Lux laughed at her, shaking her head slightly.

Yeah, okay, psychics. That was surely real as well. No, she didn't have room to say whether or not something was real seeing as she thought vampires were fake until she turned into one.

But the amusement drained from Elena's features and she muttered a bit angrily, "I'll be right back," before leaving them. Lux frowned, looking to where she had gone off to, before turning back to Bonnie.

"Know anything about that, psychic?"

Bonnie shrugged. "Probably Jeremy. You missed a lot over summer. He's just...dealing with their parents' deaths through drugs," she said sadly and Lux frowned.

"Poor Jeremy," she muttered to herself. Bonnie nodded, agreeing with the sentiment, but her eyes were still trained on the stranger in the office.

But it seemed that Bonnie wasn't focused on Jeremy's drug addiction because she whispered, "Please be hot," and Lux couldn't stop herself from snorting. That was just too good. And they didn't have to wait long for an answer as the mysterious stranger turned around and walked out of the office and they caught a glimpse of his face...and boy, was it a good face.

His eyes were doe brown like her own, but they were so alive. So chilling and positively thrilling that she almost felt alive herself as she looked at him, and his hair was a nice, soft light brown and she was in love.

Lux turned to say something to Bonnie about the stranger before suddenly he was standing right in front of them, causing her to blink. "Hi," he greeted them in his low, melancholic voice that reeled her in more, "I'm new so I'm just wondering where Mr. Tanner's class is."

Lux' mouth went dry, and she cursed herself. Human Lux never had a problem talking to a cute boy – see Ben and how she got herself into this huge mess – but Vampire Lux who was isolated all summer just forgot how to function.

Thankfully, though, she had Bonnie there beside her who offered the stranger a nice smile. "We're heading there, too, so you can follow us..."

✧

SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO be at the Grill, meeting with all her friends and having a little back to school get together, but instead she was in the outskirts of town, munching on a lone driver who tasted fucking delicious.

God, school was worse than she thought it would be. She didn't munch on anyone there and didn't need to excuse herself to the bathroom to calm herself down, but it was a close call. She just wanted to devour them all, and the new boy – Stefan Salvatore – wasn't making anything better with how he looked. But no, he was looking at Elena who always got the guy and not resting bitch face Lux, and it wasn't like she needed anything serious now anyway when she was figuring out this whole undead thing still.

And while sucking the blood out of people wasn't the worst part of it all, it certainly wasn't glamourous either. Still, that didn't stop her from draining humans left and right because stopping was so hard and even if she did stop they would just bleed out anyway and that would just be a waste then.

Besides, blood tasted so good on her tongue, she couldn't help herself.

"You're a little messy there, sweetheart," she heard a voice behind her and in a panic she dropped the body, turning around with wide eyes to see a figure standing in the shadows, walking out to see her, practically stalking her.

"Who are you?" she called out the figure leaving the darkness, knowing that if her heart could pump it would be beating furiously. "What do you want?"

"Nothing," the figure of a man shrugged, "I'm just enjoying the show, but I will say your technique is amateur at best."

She rushed towards the figure, throwing herself at them to fight or kill them before she was shoved to the ground, the figure on top of her, his face all vamped out like her own was seconds before.

"Oh my God, you're a vampire," she breathed out, "You're – you're just like me."

The figure smirked, "But a lot less messy. Really, I would never leave my roadkill behind, or be so sloppy."

The stranger stood up, reaching out a hand for her and she didn't hesitate before taking it. "You don't kill people when you feed? How can you stop? How – How can they survive?" she spit questions out at him.

"Simple: snatch, eat, erase," he said like it was the most obvious thing in the world but she just frowned, causing him to frown, "You newbies are so clueless it's exhausting."

"Then teach me," she blurted out, not even thinking through, "Teach me how to be a vampire. I-I need to know."

The man raised an eyebrow, stalking back to the body bleeding out on the ground. "Well, that's a tempting offer," he admitted, "Who are you?"

"I think I should be asking you that," she shot back before biting her lip and saying, "Lux. Lux Morgan."

"Morgan? Like the founding family?"

She nodded, "Why?"

"Well, it's just that my name is Damon Salvatore, also a part of a founding family," he shared with her and she nodded.

Her eyebrows furrowed, "Like Stefan Salvatore?"

"My brother."

"He goes to my school," she told him, "He just transferred."

"I know," Damon nodded, picking up the body of her latest victim, "It's why I'm back here, to look after him. Stefan's always loved hiding in the human world, pretending to one of them, leaving me to make sure our bases are covered and we're protected from anyone who would want to harm us."

Lux followed him back to the car and the victim that he was now holding up to look at and for her to grimace away from. She hated killing, but she just couldn't stop. "So Stefan's also a vampire?" she asked.

He nodded. "Of course. We were both turned long ago. So, you want some vampire training? What do I get in return?"

"Anything," she told him without hesitation, though her mind reprimanded her for it after she blurted it out because she did the same thing with Ben and look how that ended.

He smiled at her, a bit of cruelness hidden in his features. "Anything?" he repeated, "Well, in that case, I agree. Now, for our first lesson: snatch, eat, erase. Just watch and learn."

authors note
hi i don't know how to feel about this chapter but i already wrote 4000 words for it so we're not turning back now!!! originally i was going to have lux and damon meet next chapter, but i thought it could also work now since stefan and damon meet later in episode 1 at the end of the night she meets damon so it would be a bit weird to have it next chapter, if that makes any sense. i hope you guys like the characters so far, especially damon because he's the one who is changing the most and is definitely important to lux' story.

also her and stefan aren't going to be a fastburn. stefan and elena are going to happen a little and she's going to have a fling with damon, maybe someone else, before she goes to stefan. honestly i can't wait to explore my bby vamp lux more!!!