Shea Butter Baby// D.S

2

Chapter 2: Fifty Shades of Fucked Up

      "Look, how about you just pretend we never met? Save yourself the trouble."

      Caroline peered up at the female before her, her pretty golden skin seeming to glow when her magic was used. "You really don't know anything about this town do you?"

      "Is there something that I missed in the pamphlet you provided me with?" Snatching up the map she had received from Miss Mystic Falls, she skimmed over the back, small facts written on the corner in cute handwriting but not a single sentence said 'vampires crossing'.

      Pulling herself from off the ground, Caroline Forbes wiped her hands on her jeans, her weight feeling too much for her bootie covered feet. "Well, Mystic Falls is vampire territory."

      Nala blinked a few times, a small smile forming on her face, a loud boisterous laugh soon emitting from the back of her throat. "You're kidding me," Stomping a foot on the ground, her laughter morphed into a groan. "I left Louisiana because of some hotshot vampire who thought he could control people like me, just for me to wind up in a town full of people just like him."

      "Well," Her voice shot up a few octaves, her nerves no longer on edge. Nala seemed honest enough and there was no way every new member of Mystic Falls could be evil. "—not exactly. My friends and I are some of the good ones." Caroline studied the decedent of Marie, she didn't seem like she was evil, in fact she seemed really nice. "How about you meet them? I know it seems a little rushed but given your past experience with vampires that you don't like, wouldn't it be nice to find a few that you do?"

      Warily, Nala responded. "How do I know you aren't going to try to kidnap me or eat me or something?"

      "For starters, I don't feed from the vein."

      "Fine," Nala interrupted, immediately feeling comfort. "—give me a second," Turning to face the room around her, Nala spelled her items to finish their jobs so she wouldn't have to. "Take me away."

      Caroline smiled, leading the voodoo practitioner to her car. Once she started talking, Nala realized that there was a very low probability of her ever stopping, but in a way it was soothing. "—that over there is the police station, my mom is actually the sheriff. Right next to it is the town hall, Mayor Lockwood is the father of my boyfriend—well I'm not exactly sure if I can even call him that because we've only had sex a couple times but he popped the 'L' word so there's got to be something there."

      "Sounds complicated."

      "All of the sexy, bad boy types are." Stopping in front of a high school, Nala panicked.

      "Oh, no. Definitely not, I graduated last year and I have a bad reputation at schools."

      Intrigued, Caroline prodded, her fingers tapping profusely on her screen before aggressively pressing send. "Tell me more." Nala hesitated and the sheriff's daughter slapped her palms of the thighs of her jeans. "Come on, have you not already accepted that I am most likely going to end up your best friend?"

      Laveau laughed. "Is that so? Well, essentially where I'm from it's a bit more normal to see witches and voodoo practitioners. However, when I started I wasn't as educated, you could say."

      "How could you of all people not be educated? Your grandmother practically put witchcraft on the map."

      "Well, she's part of the reason why there are limitations on the magic that's allowed to be practiced there today." The curiosity on the vampires face grew. "When I was young my mother used to teach me how to use herbs to heal and then as I older she would teach me how to do readings on people. I started to get really good at it and I was practicing all the time with kids at my school but its unethical to lie in a reading, and not everyone's reading is filled with love and light."

        Before she could finish herself, two females and a brown haired male approached. "Uh, hey Care, who's this?"

        "Elena," Caroline unlocked the door, the new members flooding inside blondes car. "This is Nala," Friendly smiles were sent her way, though it was obvious they weren't completely comfortable around her. "I met her today she's my new neighbor."

        "Nice to meet you," Elena's smile was forced, her mahogany brown eyes glancing over to the man beside her—that must've been her boyfriend. "Are you from around here?"

"Not exactly."

       Shaking hands with their other friend, Nala found a sense of comfort in her. "I'm Bonnie, Bonnie Bennett."

       Nala's eyes widened and darted back over to Caroline. "Wow, you weren't kidding when you said this town is a supernatural palooza. A Bennett witch? No wonder you have a vampire problem."

      "She knows?" Elena and Bonnie all but screeched at Caroline as if she was known for spilling the beans. "What are you?"

      "I am Nala Laveau." She watched the way their eyebrows furrowed in familiarity, then realization. "Yes, that Laveau. A direct descendent, fun huh?" The way Bonnie had suddenly begun taking in her features, making mental comparisons was comical but understandable. "I take it you were one of a kind before I came."

Bonnie broke a smile first, her worry seeming to disappear after a few beats of time. "Trust me, it feels nice not being the only one around. Maybe you can teach me a few things."

"Maybe, if you're willing to cross over to the dark side. Voodoo and magic aren't exactly the same."

"Is there that big of a difference?" The tall man finally spoke up, his voice much gentler than Nala had anticipated.

"Yes—?"

"—Stefan," He offered.

"Yes, Stefan. There is a pretty big difference. See witches usually use nature as binding agents for spells, but when you practice voodoo the main components come from sacrifices."

Immediately she could feel Elena judging her. Her shoulders tensing up and her lips pursed in obvious worry. "It's just animals, chill out with the evil eye."

"Well, we don't exactly have the best luck in making new friends."

"I can see why." Getting a bit more comfortable with the group, Nala pushed some boundaries. "So, you're a witch," She pointed at Bonnie, her pointed finger dragging over to Caroline. "—and you're a vampire. So what are the both of you?"

Elena hesitated, still upset about how quickly her friends were accepting someone new into their clique. "I'm the doppelgänger."

          "'The' doppelgänger?"

"Technically, we both are," Stefan corrects. "But I am a vampire or you can call me Ripper, that's fun too."

Nala laughed, Elena clearly displeased with the sarcasm in his tone. "You guys are so fucked up, I can feel it."

"Don't worry," Bonnie retorts. "It'll catch up to you soon enough."