The Supernatural Diaries {Book One}

Haunted: Hunger

MATT AND ELENA

Back at the high school, Elena and Jeremy had just arrived at the carnival and met up with Matt inside the school. When he saw the Gilberts he smiled, especially when he saw the nurse costume Elena was wearing. "I see you went with last year's costume, too, huh?" he said. "Yeah, well, I didn't know I was coming until an hour ago," Elena replied. "Me too," Matt nodded, looking to Jeremy. "And you're going as... you?" Jeremy rolled his eyes and walked away from the two juniors without saying a word.

"He's not talking to me right now. We got into a fight," Elena explained with a sigh. "Yeah, I got into it with Vic, too, when she got home," Matt breathed, making Elena bristle slightly. "I'm trying not to smother her tonight, but a part of me didn't want to let her out of my sight." Now Elena really did let her distress show. "Wait, Vicki's here?" she balked.

"Yeah, you can't miss her. She's a vampire," Matt answered.

Elena's blood turned to ice for a split second when he said that before she realized he was talking about her costume. And even then, she still felt a gaping pit of dread forming in the base of her gut. That's when her brain finally caught on to the situation, and she slowly understood what was going on. "Where did Jeremy go?" she panicked.

By now, Elena had worked herself into a frenzy and even Matt was starting to get nervous. "Elena, what's going on?"

"I... I've gotta find Jeremy."

STEFAN AND VICKI

As Vicki wandered through the school, her senses became overwhelmed by the intermingled scents of teenagers crowding the halls. Adrenaline coursed through her veins as the sound of blood pumping rushed through her ears. She felt her fangs begin to drop down and was about to attack one of the teenage girls walking by when she was suddenly grabbed harshly by the shoulders and dragged into an empty classroom.

She broke free of her assailant's grip and turned around to find Stefan glaring at her. "What are you following me now?" she snapped. "You didn't really give me much of a choice," Stefan retorted evenly. Vicki scoffed and tried to move past him to get to the door, however, he instinctively blocked her path.

"Let me out of here?" she growled.

"You shouldn't be here, Vicki," Stefan insisted. "Crowds like this make it even harder to control your impulses."

The newborn crossed her arms defiantly and sneered. "I feel fine," she huffed.

"Really?" Stefan asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Mhm."

"So no headache? Your stomach doesn't feel like it's screaming at you? You don't feel lightheaded or anxious or cranky like if someone looks at you the wrong way you could just rip their head off?" Stefan inquired rhetorically. "Do you know what that's called? It's called HUNGER... and it's only going to get worse for every minute that you pretend it's not controlling you."

DEAN, DAMON, AND CAROL LOCKWOOD

"So let me get this straight," Carol started. "You were rescued from a vampire attack by Damon three years ago and afterwards he taught you everything he knew about vampire hunting including how your mother's family are descended from ancient vampire hunters who helped found Mystic Falls?"

"Pretty much. However, I didn't really have an opportunity to stretch my sea legs in the hunting game until recently... when all of the attacks started happening," Dean elaborated. "However, I have been in contact with Zach. He became sort of a mentor of mine, and he gave me a steady supply of Vervain for me to use and distribute as I saw fit. Hell, he even taught me how to grow it."

Damon's glinted harshly as he listened to Dean spin his tale, and while the hunter spoke, Damon couldn't help but wonder how much of what Dean was telling Carol was actually a lie to get her to trust them. "Yes, well, it's a good thing that Zach entrusted you with the secrets to Vervain," Damon chimed snidely. "It's safer to have more than one person with the knowledge of how to grow it to minimize the risk of losing the practice and falling victim to nefarious vampires."

"Couldn't agree more," Dean smirked. "So, Mrs. Lockwood, you need Vervain?"

"Yes," Carol replied. "My husband and I only have left what his parents left him, and Zach promised to supply us with more."

"Well, like Dean said, he was Zach's apprentice for years, and I talk to Zach all the time, so I can just ask him. Between the two of us, I'm sure we can give you what you need," Damon added helpfully, noticing the barely restrained look of anger and annoyance on Dean's face. "So how much do you need?"

"Well, there's our children, of course," Carol announced.

"Of course," Damon smiled.

"And um, friends, family, and everyone on the council," Mrs. Lockwood listed off.

The men both pretended to look confused. "The council?" "Zach knows how many," she answered vaguely. "But anyway, I am so late. My husband is not going to be happy with me."

"Well..." Damon drifted off sultrily, "are you happy with your husband?" Carol blushed and bit her lip. However, before things could get too flirtatious, Dean cleared his throat, and got up from the table briskly. "Well, we should really head to the school. Why don't we escort you? I mean, it's pretty dangerous out there," he huffed with a forced smile. "I think I saw like 10 vampires on the way here."

Despite the peculiar stare Damon was giving him, Dean's statement seemed to change Carol's mood as well as the trajectory of the conversation. "If only the real ones were as easy to catch," she mused.

"Yeah, how is that search going, by the way?" Damon queried.

"Oh, we had the Founder's party and anyone who arrived during the day was eliminated as a suspect," Carol informed.

Well, that was stupid considering that you invited both of them into your house. Dean snarked inwardly. I can't believe you were actually scared of these people.

Better safe than sorry. Damon retorted mentally.

Regardless, Dean and Damon still played it off like it was the smartest plan they'd ever heard before they escorted the woman out of the Grill.