Potential (Book Four, The Vampire Diaries)

Chapter 6__We All Go A Little Mad Sometimes

I was at the school for the exhibit thing. 

I saw Jeremy and Matt there. 

"Hey, Nicola," Jeremy told me. "Never thought I'd see you at one of these things."

"Let me guess," Matt said. "Caroline made you volunteer." 

"You can say that," I told them. Jeremy was looking at his hand. I followed his gaze to the tattoo on his hand. "Since when did you have that?" 

Matt looked between us in confusion. "Since when does he have what?" 

I gestured to his hand. "You didn't notice that?" 

Jeremy looked at me in shock. "You can see it?" 

"Duh, dude, it's a freaking bold as hell tattoo," I told him.

"What tattoo?" Matt asked.

"The beginning of a mark like Connor's," Jeremy answered, looking at me in confusion.

I looked at him in shock. "Are you serious? That's what that looks like?" 

Jeremy nodded. "It showed up after he died. He told me that I was a Potential. That that's why I could see his mark." 

"So, what are you saying?" I asked. "That I'm a Potential?" Jeremy nodded. "So what does that make you? Like, the next chosen one or something?" 

"Could you take this a little more seriously?" Matt asked.

I looked between them. "I'm sorry, I'm a human descendant of two vampires that live in my house, and are the only family that I have left. So, excuse me if I find a little hilarity in the fact that I just might be a Potential vampire Hunter." 

"But it makes sense," Jeremy told me.

"In what world does it makes sense?" I asked.

"You said that your parents raised you to fight back against the vampires," Jeremy told me. 

I nodded. "They did." 

"And you already know how to fight, plus you've got strength, character and otherwise," Matt told me.

I shook my head. "This is not happening. I'm just recovering from a tumor that nearly made me die. How can I be a . .. " 

I trailed off when I saw April Young and someone else walking toward us, carrying artifacts.

"Hey, guys," April told us.

"Hey, April," Matt said.

"Well, don't let her do the heavy lifting," the guy told us. "I found her wandering the hallways with this." He showed us a giant rock. "Just teasing. I'm the guy who wrangles all the freaky stuff." He shook each of our hands. "Atticus Shane, please call me Shane, I beg you. Thank you guys for helping. I really appreciate it. You all get free admission to my free exhibit." 

Shane walked away. 

"Why does he look so familiar?" April asked.

"No idea," I said. "And I'm gone." 

I started to walk away.

Jeremy took a step after me. "Wait, Nicola--"

I held up a hand to stop him, walking away. 

There was no way that I was a Potential Hunter when I lived with two vampires who were the only two remaining family that I had.

~~~~

Shane was giving a lecture on the artifacts at the exhibit. "You're looking at what people believed to be the world's first tombstone. This item was donated to Whitmore College last month. It belonged to a very powerful witch, a witch so powerful in fact that Silas, that was his name, created a spell that would grant him immortality. Now legend says that Silas did the spell with the help of a lady witch who loved him, a woman named Qetsiyah. Sadly for Qetsiyah, Silas wanted to give immortality to another woman, so Qetsiyah killed her and buried Silas alive, leaving him powerless, immortal, and alone. This might actually be the origin story of 'Hell hath no fury like a woman’s scorn.'" I saw Damon and Bonnie standing nearby, looking away. "Now, it's said that Silas wants to rise again. Regain his power, wreak havoc on the world. Maybe we should be afraid. Or maybe it’s all a bunch of crap and this is just an old rock." Everyone laughed. "All right, listen, enjoy exploring the exhibit. I'll be around to answer any questions. Thank you for coming." 

Everyone dispersed.

I walked toward the hall. 

Jeremy stood in my way.

I looked at him in annoyance. "What do you want, Gilbert?" 

"Did you really see it, or were you just messing with me?" Jeremy asked.

I gave him a look. "Did you tell anyone that you had seen it? Because Matt, your best friend, sure did look confused and surprised to find out that you had it." 

"No, I didn't tell anyone," Jeremy answered.

"Then how would I have known about it to mess with you with it?" I asked. "Think that one through, Jeremy." 

I started to walk away.

Jeremy turned after me. "You can't just pretend that you didn't see it." I stopped and turned looked at him over my shoulder. "I tried."

"Not well enough, obviously," I told him.

I walked away, leaving him alone.

~~~~

There was this Hunter's Curse, which meant whoever killed a Hunter would be tormented until they killed themselves.

Elena had killed Connor.

They had figured out a way to save her by having Jeremy kill a vampire through the Professor Shane guy from the exhibit.

I was at home, drinking, sitting down on the couch, looking forward in boredom.

Damon walked inside.

I looked at him, standing, starting to walk toward the stairs.

"Please tell me that Jeremy wasn't serious when he said that you could see his tattoo," Damon told me.

I slowed to a stop. "He told you." 

"Oh, was he supposed to keep it a secret?" Damon asked. I ignored him, walking toward the stairs. Damon appeared in front of me, making me stop. "Don't ignore me when I'm talking to you." 

"Yes, Mom," I said sarcastically. "Jeremy's a full Hunter now. I'm still just a Potential. I won't become a Hunter because of the two vampires that I live with, so let's just leave it as 'Make sure Nicola doesn't kill a vampire'." 

"Nikki . . ." Damon trailed off.

"Drop it, Damon," I told him.

"Gladly," Damon told me.

I rolled my eyes, walking away, grabbing the stair railing, walking upstairs.

I wasn't going to become a Hunter.

I had a feeling that this was just the beginning.