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The Odd One Out

FLORENCE NERVOUSLY sat in her spot, shaking her knee up and down out of habit

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FLORENCE NERVOUSLY sat in her spot, shaking her knee up and down out of habit. She bit her thumb when Elena and Caroline joined hands, the blonde's hand outstretched for her to take. She hesitated, wondering whether her being a vampire would affect the seance in any way. Finally, deciding that she'd find out eventually, she joined her hand with Caroline's, almost automatically feeling a spark she'd never felt before.

She let out a shaky breath and nodded, letting the three girls know she was ready. Caroline smiled and then commanded everyone to close their eyes and take a deep breath, which didn't go too well for Florence because of how nervous she was before.

"Bonnie, call to her," she said, voice eerily calm.

"Emily . . . you there?"

Suddenly, Caroline opened her eyes and Florence felt the spark leave. She frowned, taking her hand out of Caroline's for a second to examine it. When she saw nothing out of the ordinary, she returned it to its place in Caroline's hand.

"Really? 'Emily, you there?' That's all you got?" Caroline said with a scoff. "C'mon!"

As if on cue, everyone shut their eyes and Bonnie went back to calling her dead ancestor: "Emily . . . I call on you. I know you have a message. I'm here to listen."

Out of nowhere, Florence felt an odd amount of heat in front of her chest and she pulled away from the girls, the three doing the same. Elena widened her eyes, staring down at the flames of the candles.

"Did that just—"

"Yeah. That just happened," Caroline interrupted before Elena had a chance to finish her question.

A gust of cold air swept past Caroline and Florence, causing the former to shiver. She furrowed her brows, nudging her fellow blonde friend. "You didn't feel that?"

Florence raised an eyebrow. "No? Was I supposed to?"

The flames flew up once again and Florence jumped with her heart.

"Ask her to show you a sign," Caroline breathed out. When she realized that Bonnie wasn't paying attention to her, she demanded, "Emily, if you're among us, show us another sign."

A minute of silence passed and the girls let out relieved sighs, but Florence knew that couldn't be it. And, as she had thought, the windows burst open, shocking everyone around her.

"Get the light!" Bonnie yelled, her voice shaking. "Please get the light!"

Florence sped over to the light switch before any of the girls could notice, flipping it on. She stood there, examining the damage — the pillows Caroline and Elena were using as sort of seat-cushions were thrown across the room and the wax from the candles was dripping down to the floor, covering it in the off-white solid.

"You guys," Bonnie started, "the necklace, it's gone."

Florence shook her head, putting her hands out before her. "Oh, I am so out of here. Y'know, this is one of the times when you guys should really be listening to me."

As they usually did in times of need, Bonnie and Elena ignored what Florence had to say, going back to ganging up on Caroline as they had earlier that night. It started with Elena, who made her words clear: "Okay, fun's over, Caroline. You made a point, and I get it. Now give it back."

Florence scoffed, taking the empty spot next to Caroline. "Are you kidding me? Why the hell would Caroline take the necklace?"

Elena's head snapped to the right suddenly and Caroline widened her eyes in panic. "What? What happened?"

"I don't know. Nothing." She walked out of the room and called down the stairs, assuming it was her brother playing a prank on them: "Jeremy, are you home?"

Bonnie briefly glanced at Florence, who slightly frowned at the mention of his name. For the first time, she felt for her — she really did. Though Bonnie had yet to know how it felt to have a boy leave you behind for someone else, she truly felt for Florence. And so it was of great surprise to the both of them that she placed a reassuring hand on her arm.

Florence turned her head to smile at the girl but, before she could, an amber glint of light caught her eye. She gasped, pointing to the open bathroom door. "Bonnie, look!"

When she saw it as well, she slowly approached it, overcome with nerves. Florence followed closely behind her — she could smell the anxiety that came off of Bonnie and felt herself getting into the same mindset she was in earlier.

She quickly placed a hand on Bonnie's forearm before she could step in the bathroom. "Don't you think we should call Elena and Care first?"

"Uh, yeah," she replied with a curt nod. "Guys!"

Florence made sure at least Elena was behind her before joining Bonnie once again, standing in the doorframe as she went to pick the necklace up.

"That is seriously so fucking cree—"

Before she could finish her sentence, the door behind her slammed shut, which caused her to fall forward and hit her head on the side of the bathroom sink. She groaned in pain and softly grazed the area where her head was hit, bringing her fingers in front of her eyes afterward. Her eyes widened when she realized there was blood on her fingers — her blood.

Her ears began to ring and she could faintly hear Bonnie's screams of agony, but she couldn't bring herself to lift her head. It took her a second to realize that something was holding her down and she would've screamed if it weren't for the pressure on her throat, which was cutting off her airways.

Her face burned up and she began to see black spots littering her vision, rendering it almost useless. The screams of her friends were still in her ears, never ceasing. She was about to completely pass out when it all stopped — the lights stopped flickering, the screamed came to a halt, and the pressure on the back of her neck as well as her throat was removed.

Then, the lock clicked.

Florence practically ran out of that bathroom, gasping for air as she slid down the wall next to the doorframe. Caroline almost immediately ran to her, dropping down in front of her in concern.

"Holy shit, Flore, are you okay?" she voiced her worry, placing her hands on either side of her cheeks.

She shut her eyes tightly, the blood rushing to her head once she got the chance to breathe. After making sure she wasn't hallucinating, she nodded. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine."

"You're bleeding!" Caroline exclaimed, pushing her hair off to the side to reveal that she didn't have a wound. She furrowed her brows, backing away from the girl suddenly as visions of Damon flooded her mind. "Why aren't you hurt?"

Recognition crept up her face and, before she could scream bloody murder, Florence rushed forward, grabbing Caroline's shoulders and forcing her to look into her eyes. It was a strange feeling to compel someone, especially since she could feel her pupils dilate. Every ounce of power in her body zoned in on Caroline's eyes.

"You didn't see anything, Care," she convinced. "There was no blood, no wound, nothing because you didn't see anything. Okay?"

"Okay," Caroline mumbled, vision fogged.

It was official: Florence Allen had just compelled her first human — and, damn, did it make her hungry.

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