𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐃𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐃 𝐆𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐘 [𝟏]

𝐢𝐢.

𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐃 ran down in the drain as Nathalie ran her hand through her wet hair.

Even though she had promised herself not to drink from humans ever again, she had done it today. It was an old man who had been in the middle of dying, but she still felt bad. On the other hand, she felt a lot stronger than after a rabbit, even though his blood wasn't the freshest. He would've died anyway, so it was a win-win for her. At least that's what she was trying to tell herself for about 10 minutes now. 

After finishing her shower, the brunette put on some clothes that had been lying around on the floor and took her bag. Today would be her first day at Mystic Falls High School. Even though she was about 250 years old, she still looked like a 17 year old. If she lived here and didn't go to school it would get noticed and attracting attention in any way was the last thing she wanted.

Nathalie liked Mystic Falls. It was a nice town with friendly people, good food and beautiful surroundings. The best thing was, that it was in the middle of nowhere, which made it the perfect place to hide. She had never heard of other Vampires in Mystic Falls since 1864 and it was 2010 now. In memory of the cruelly tragic time of the vampire hunt, she quickly wiped a tear from her face. Don't get emotional now.

For such a small town, the High School was immensely huge and the schoolyard enourmosly crowed. Nathalie hated filled places, so she went for a quieter spot on the side next to three girls, who were involved in a serious sounding conversation.

"I'm honestly telling you that absolutely doesn't fit your eyes, Elena!" the blonde one said, giving her brunette friend a disgusted look. "Thanks for giving me confidence in this, Caroline", Elena replied, handing her a pinkish dress embroided with red and white flowers. "I think it looks good on you", the third girl, a dark skinned brunette, said encouraging, making Elena smile slightly. "Whatever." Caroline rolled her eyes. "Do you think I should wear the blue or the red one?", she asked, holding up two other dresses. Girls nowadays really have problems. Vampires had to fight against people who wanted to exterminate their species and they worry about dresses.

"Excuse me", a high pitched voice said, pulling Nathalie out of her thoughts. As soon as she got a clear vision again, she saw the blonde girl standing in front of her, smiling. "Hi, I'm Caroline Forbes and I have a really important question I immidiately need an answer to. It's about life and death." The brunette blinked a few times, confused by her sudden movement. "Which of this dresses should I wear to Damon's party?"

Damon. That name hit her straight into the face and it took her a few seconds to get back to herself. What a long time she hadn't heard that name. But it was impossible for him to be here in Mystic Falls, so she quickly got rid of this thought and returned Caroline's smile. "The blue one, emphasizes your eyes." These began to sparkle as soon as Nathalie spoke out those words.

"She is a Goddess!", the blonde girl squealed, making her friends flinch at her shrill tone. "Caroline stop terrorizing people", the dark skinned girl said sighing, pulling her friend away from Nathalie. "I'm sorry", she apologized, "sometimes, she can be a little too enthusiastic." The brunette smiled. "It's fine, don't worry."

Only now did she notice the silent Elena in the background. She had to look twice to make sure she wasn't dreaming. This girl looked one on one like her old friend Katherine. She had to be a Petrova doppelganger. It couldn't be Katherine, she was dead. Nathalie had never seen a doppelganger before and second by second she became more and more fascinated by how similar they looked.

"Is something wrong?", Elena's rather deep voice rang to her ear, snapping her out of trance once again. When the female vampire gave her a confused look, she laughed a little. "You were staring at me, so I was wondering if there's anything in my face or something." Nathalie shook her head, mentally slapping herself for making it so obvious. "No, I just really like your earrings." Wow, couldn't get any worse, huh?

Elena pushed a few strands of hair aside, revealing her hoop earrings. "Oh yeah, I got them from my boyfriend, Stefan." And once more, the brunette froze. Was it even possible that it was all still a strange coincidence? Stefan. Damon.

"I love them." She smiled. "Thanks, uhm.." "Nathalie. Nathalie Smith." "Elena. Elena Gilbert",  the brown haired girl copied her, stepping aside a bit to reveal the dark skinned female behind her. "And that's Bonnie Bennett, you already know Caroline." Bennett. First the Salvatore brothers and now the Bennett witches. Nathalie could practically feel Bonnie's powers and the young witch was definitely aware of them, no doubt about that.

"So, since I'm new, what kind of party is that Caroline's talking about?" she questioned with true interest. "It's just some celebration for god knows what and for some reason Caroline is exited about it as if it was her graduation", Bonnie sassed, rolling her eyes. "Damon does everything for no reason." It was clear, that she didn't really like the raven haired male, you couldn't blame her for it at times.

"Do you want to come?", Elena asked, making Nathalie's eyes light up. "I don't think Damon would mind another person joining." Oh he wouldn't, for sure.  "I would love to. I bet it's a great place to meet people and that's what I could definitely use right now." "Great, the party starts tonight at 7. Let's meet up here and drive there together", Caroline said, making her suggestion rather sound like an order.

Elena nodded and Bonnie rolled her eyes again. Somehow, Nathalie liked the trio. They would also lead her to the Salvatores, when it was really true. Elena's personality seemed so similar to Katherine's, when she was still human. A little bit shy, but extremely encouraging towards her loved ones and also a little bit bubbly in a way. Thinking about her former best friend made Nathalie miss her even more. No matter what others said, Katherine was truly a legend.

Suddenly, the feeling of being watched by somebody overcame her and she snapped her head around. Only ignorant students. It wasn't just the feeling of being observed, it was a familiar feeling, a familiar scent. But she couldn't identify it.

"Nathalie?" The brunette took a deep breath, turning back to the three girls. "Yes?" "Are you okay?", Elena asked, a slight shade of worry laying in her voice. "You seem pretty distracted." "No, I'm fine. Let's get inside, class is about to begin."

Before following the others inside, Nathalie turned around one more time. She scanned the now empty meadow of the schoolyard, narrowing her eyes. Taking a deep breath and running her hand through her hair, she sighed. It was probably just the stress and she started hallucinating.

She pushed the entrance doors open and walked inside, but not without someone watching every single step of hers.