Unstoppable | The Vampire Diaries

2. The Fault In Our Party

Riley looked at herself in the floor-length mirror in her room. Her 'party' outfit was basically just changing her black sweatshirt for a gray top that showed more cleavage, keeping her skinny jeans and boots completely the same.

"Too sexy?" she asked herself softly, striking a pose like she was competing on America's Next Top Model. "Slutty? Not slutty enough?"

"The first sign of madness is talking to yourself," her father, Chris Fletcher, said, leaning against her bedroom doorframe.

"Then consider me crazy," she smiled at him through the mirror. "What's up dad?"

"It's a Pixar movie about an old man who attaches balloons to his house-"

Riley cut him off in the middle of his lame joke. "Ha ha. Funny."

"Where are you going?" he asked his daughter curiously, looking at his watch. "Because it's already getting late, and I don't want you out at night on your own. Especially in this town."

Riley stopped in her tracks, turning to look at her father. "Why? What's wrong with this town?"

He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "I met the Sheriff today, Sheriff Forbes. She told me some things about the town's history. Mysterious disappearances, animal attacks, that kind of thing."

Forbes? Why did that name sound so familiar? Oh yeah. "I think I must have met her daughter today, Caroline," Riley guessed. "If the Sheriff is anything like her daughter, I'd take everything she says with a pinch of salt. Caroline is... a lot. Nice, but... wow."

Her dad smiled. "I'm glad you're making friends."

"So does that mean I can go to a party tonight?" she asked hopefully, crossing her fingers. When he tried to protest, she spoke louder. "Dad, we're not in New York anymore, I don't know anyone here. If you want me to make friends, you're gonna have to trust that I can take care of myself, outside, after 10pm."

Being a cop, Chris was always a lot more protective of his daughter than his wife was. He'd seen horrible things; things that would make any parent want to lock their children in the house until they were 30. But she was right. If he wanted her to enjoy being here, then he'd have to trust her. Or, at least, pretend to trust her.

He took his car keys out of his pocket and handed them to her. "11pm, back home."

"Midnight," she bargained. "Please?"

After a second, he agreed. "Midnight."

***

The party seemed to be in full swing by the time Riley got there. It was in the middle of the woods, and there were people literally everywhere, all drinking. She tried desperately to pretend that she wasn't uncomfortable, but Riley was never the person to start a conversation with a stranger. Instead, she walked around the outskirts of the woods, waiting to see someone she recognized.

"Hey! You made it!" someone said. Riley had never been so happy to hear a familiar voice.

"Caroline!" she grinned. Caroline smiled and handed her a beer. "No thanks. Dad's a cop, remember? Underage drinking is a definite no."

Caroline shrugged, taking a swig from the beer herself.

"Elena's already got her claws into Stefan. Typical. Elena gets first dibs on everything because her parents died a few months ago," she muttered, her words slightly slurring as she rolled her eyes to heaven and back.

Riley frowned. "I've been here for 5 seconds, how are you drunk already?"

"I need the confidence," Caroline responded over the noise of drunk teenagers. "I'm gonna take Stefan from right under Elena's nose."