Madeline Sage Saltzman, a vampire hunter and adoptive daughter of Alaric Saltzman, did not know what was in store for her when she entered Mystic Falls. Each passing day meant more potential dangers emerging. How will she handle it when she falls in...
"Here, help me grade these," Alaric asked his daughter. Being a high school teacher wasn't exactly simple. Tons of work got submitted frequently, causing the work to pile up without compassion for the teacher. It was the night after the dance, and the event had assuredly taken up too much time to complete any of Alaric's responsibilities by tomorrow (unless he had help).
"This is child labor." Madeline groaned, taking a chunk of essays off her father's desk as Alaric examined the journal. Her father refused to let her stay home alone, deeming her identity as a vampire hunter had been divulged.
"Come on." Alaric chuckled, flipping the journal's page. "It's not so bad."
"It really is." Madeline sighed, picking up a rubicund pen to mark each trivial mistake she could encounter on the miscellaneous sheets of paper. Stopping her from circling a punctuation failure, something whooshed outside her father's classroom too quickly for her to see. Both Saltzman tilted their heads, vigilant. Stupidly, Alaric stood up from his rolling chair and walked so he was at the doorway, glancing left and right.
"Hello?" he called out, hearing his voice echo off the walls.
"Really? Hello?" Madeline mocked in disbelief. "That is how every person in a horror movie gets slaughtered."
"We are doing this now?" Alaric muttered. "We could be getting close to our deaths, and that's what you say?"
"Yes! Be more educated with universal horror movie rules, and then maybe we can talk." Madeline exhorted, doodling on a kid's homework assignment. Cautious and sensing something was off, Alaric signaled Madeline to go to her locker and get out her concealed weapon as hastily as possible. Briskly, her guns that shot out wooden stakes were soon fastened tightly in her hands. Hearing something shift in the classroom, she scurried over and fired without disinclination along with her father.
It was Stefan. A grunt of pain spewed past his lips as he missed seizing Madeline's stake, rendering it to go into his stomach.
"Stefan," Madeline whispered in recognition. She reloaded her gun, noticing the aggravated expression on the vampire as he tugged out the stake and healed.
"Have a seat," Stefan ordered, applying his super-speed to materialize behind them. Not voluntarily, the father and daughter were seated at their own desks without their firearms, feeling their hearts pound erratically.
"I thought you said your father didn't know," Stefan spoke, marveling at the weapon the two produced themselves. Stefan strode forward and returned their weapons. "I will not hurt you. I just want to know who you are."
"I am a teacher." Alaric lied, almost as if he were trying to make his fib conspicuous.
"Dad, that is literally the worst lie in the world," Madeline mumbled, causing her father to shush her. "I guess I am just a normal student then."
"Are we going to do this the hard way?" Stefan questioned, inducing anxiety to spark inside the father.
"I am also a historian. While researching Virginia, I made a few discoveries about your town." Alaric confessed, keeping back a lot of the truth.
"There's more to it than that," Stefan said, taking his own seat across from the hunters. "What is it?"
"My adoptive mom, his wife, was a parapsychologist. She devoted her life to researching paranormal activity that ensued in this area. That's what led us here." Madeline conceded, seeking to disguise the sorrow in her tone when she spoke about her mother.
"And where is your mother?" Stefan doubted. Madeline looked down at her hands, biting the inside of her lip.
"Dead. A vampire killed her." Alaric asserted, comprehending his daughter didn't want to acknowledge it out loud. For a split second, compassion dispersed onto the vampire's features when he saw Madeline's expression. Soon, it dissipated when he remembered what he was there for.
"Where's the Gilbert Journal?" Stefan questioned.
"What do you want with it?" Alaric asked, not genuinely expecting an answer.
"Where is it?" Stefan inquired again.
"It's on my desk." Alaric proclaimed, agitated.
"No, it's not." Stefan sighed, glancing at Saltzman's daughter. Madeline glimpsed at the desk, eyes widening with surprise threaded in her irises when she acknowledged the journal was gone.
"It was on his desk." Madeline scoffed, understanding another vampire most likely acquired it when they were distracted. Based on the look on her face, Stefan recognized she was revealing the truth.
"Great," he grumbled. "How long have you guys been aware of me?"
"Well, we learned through your brother. When Madeline met him, she knew." Alaric uttered distastefully.
"What do you mean by that?" Stefan questioned, creasing his brows in perplexity.
"Who do you think killed my mom?" Madeline said, sinking her fingernails into the palms of her hands to maintain her heightening defiance.
"Well, that explains your behavior towards Damon. And you're certain it was him?" Stefan added, concealing his empathy with a frown.
"We both witnessed it." Alaric sighed, reliving everything that transpired that momentous night.
"Attempting to get revenge will end very badly for you." Stefan forewarned.
"We just want to know what happened to my mom, Stefan." Madeline huffed, depleted.
"But you just said that Damon─︎," Stefan muttered.
"─︎Yeah. This is the fun part." Madeline interrupted sarcastically, scowling at the Salvatore. "I saw him draining the life out of her when all I expected was a smile and a welcoming hug. He must have heard us coming because he just ─︎ disappeared along with her body. Now, don't you think that's just marvelous?" Stefan's germinating remorse only strengthened. He knew Damon had generated a lot of suffering in this world, but when he identified it on Madeline's face, all he sought to do was take away her woe.
"Damon can never know why you're here." Stefan sighed. "He will kill both of you without blinking."
"We can take care of ourselves," Madeline uttered, reminding him about what occurred at the Decade Dance.
"Damon will be worse. I can help you if you let me." Stefan advised, making eye contact with both of the Saltzman. Not possessing much of an alternative, Madeline printed out a copy of the journal and conveyed it to the vampire.
"I am sorry about your mother," Stefan whispered to only her.
Madeline retorted, "Please don't pity me, Stefan. I have enough to last me an interminable lifetime."
