❝blood only runs so deep when you're related to vampires❞
***
"What is he doing here? What does he want?" Avery Salvatore asked her father, Zach Salvatore, as he passed her in the hallway.
"I don't know, okay? I don't like it either but he's not the...
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"What is he doing here? What does he want?" Avery Salvatore asked her father, Zach Salvatore, as he passed her in the hallway.
"I don't know, okay? I don't like it either but he's not the worst of the two..." He replied with a sigh, avoiding her gaze.
She raised an eyebrow at his attempt to justify the situation, "I know he's not... It's just that, whenever Stefan comes to visit... Damon's usually not far behind."
"Don't you think I know that? But we can't do much about either of them." He sighed, running his hand across his face tiredly. He paused, as if he was going to say something, before shaking his head slighly and walking away from her.
Avery stood in the hallway, school bag in hand, as Stefan Salvatore appeared next to her. She jumped in surprise at his sudden appearance, instinctively bringing her hand to cover her racing heart. Stefan quickly apologised and Avery inhaled sharply to calm herself down. She did not need to risk setting Stefan off, having no real clue how in-control Stefan was nowadays.
"Um," she hummed softly, having recovered enough to speak. "We better get going... don't want to be late, for school..."
"Yeah." Stefan replied, holding the door open for Avery as they both left the Salvatore Boarding House.
***
Avery stepped out of the driver's seat of her dad's car, as Stefan stepped out of the passenger side. Almost instantly all eyes were on Stefan, and some on Avery. Stefan didn't seem to mind the attention, whilst Avery felt herself wishing that the ground would swallow her up. She couldn't even begin to think about what people would start saying now that she's turned up with the mysterious new guy.
She glanced off to the side and saw Jeremy Gilbert handing Vicki Donovan some pills, the motion making her stomach twist uncomfortably. Jeremy had always been nice to her, but ever since his parents died he'd become a completely different person.
Some people just deal with loss differently, she thought. I have no idea how I would act if my father died.
"Uh, so, you don't mind showing me where the office is, do you?" Stefan asked her quietly, noticing how uncomfortable she felt.
"No, of course not. It's this way."
***
Standing in the school office as Stefan spoke to the secretary, Avery noticed Elena Gilbert and Bonnie Bennett come to a halt. Avery suppressed the urge to roll her eyes, of course they'd want to find out who the hot new guy was.
"Your records are incomplete," the secretary told Stefan. "You're missing immunisation records, and we do insist on transcripts."
Stefan leaned in to compel the woman, "Please, look again. I'm sure everything you need is there."
The secretary blinked before looking back at the papers, "Well, you're right. So it is."
"Thank you." Stefan smiled.
"You're welcome." replied the secretary.
As Stefan and Avery exited, he noticed Elena enter the men's bathroom and began to make his way over. Elena ran straight into him as she tried to exit.
"Uh, pardon me. Um... is this the men's room?" he asked.
"Yes. Um, I was just, um - I was just - it's a long story..." Elena stuttered before trying to pass. Stefan made way for her and Elena thanked him.
***
It turned out that Stefan had almost an identical schedule as Elena Gilbert which meant he was in Avery's history class.
"Once our home state of Virginia joined confederacy in 1861, it created a tremendous amount of tension within the state. People in Virginia's northwest region had different ideals than those from the traditional deep south. Then Virginia divided in 1863 with the northwest region joining the union." Mr Tanner told the class.
Despite having every intention to pay attention to Mr Tanner, Avery couldn't help but find herself distracted by her vampire relative. She was unsure of his motives, as was her father, but after seeing Stefan and Elena repeatedly exchange glances, she couldn't help feel like this was not going to end well.
***
"You were right." Zach told his daughter as she got home that evening.
"About what?" Avery asked, as she was handed a newspaper. Darren Malloy and Brooke Fenton were dead. She scanned over the contents of the article, chewing on her lower lip nervously. The contents made her stomach roll uncomfortably, and she found herself abruptly stop chewing at her lip. If it was Stefan who did this, she did not need to be accidentally bleeding around him. With an anxious breath, Avery handed the newspaper back to her father.
"Where is he?" Zach asked with a tone of underlying urgency.
Avery shook her head, "I don't know. He told me I didn't need to wait for him after school."
***
It was later that evening that Avery heard her dad and Stefan talking. She stood up and walked into Stefan's room to find her dad handing the newspaper to Stefan.
Stefan scanned the paper before stating, "This was an animal attack."
"Don't give me that. I know the game. You tear them up enough, they always suspect an animal attack. You said you had it under control." Zach said. Avery hovered by his door, shifting her weight from foot to foot. Her heart was thrumming as anxiety-induced adrenaline pumped around her body. Avery supposed it was her fight or flight instinct kicking it, though she wasn't sure how well her fight instinct would hold up to a one-hundred year old vampire who may or may not have just killed two people.
"And I do." Stefan replied, trying to make eye contact with the human Salvatores. Avery avoided his gaze, feeling awkward and uncomfortable.
"Please, Uncle Stefan." Zach pleaded. "Mystic Falls is a different place now. It's been quiet for years, but there are people who still remember. And you being here, it's just going to stir things up."
"It's not my intention." Stefan stated cooly.
Avery was being to get annoyed at his tone of indifference, a burst of confidence arising out of nowhere, "Then what is? Why did you come back? After all this time, why now?"
"I don't have to explain myself."
Zach sighed, "I know that you can't change what you are. But you don't belong here anymore."
"Where do I belong?" Stefan asked.
Anywhere but here, Avery thought.
"I can't tell you what to do... But coming back here was a mistake." Zach opened a door, pulling out a journal with what looks like a really old picture of Elena. However, the writing under the picture clearly said 'Katherine 1864'.
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