Down the Rabbit Hole

Growing Pains

Lacey stepped through the other side of the portal and found herself standing in the main square of a small town. She glanced around, hoping no one had noticed her unusual entrance. She followed the path that led out of the square and crossed the road. In front of her was a bar and grill. Just then her stomach began to rumble, the last thing she'd had was a sandwich when she was on the road with Sam. She pushed open the door and walked in. Inside the place was quite dark but in a cosy kind of way. She made her way towards a table by the bar, she sat down and began to study the menu.
"What can I get you?" Lacey glanced up from the menu to see a guy with messy blonde hair standing by her table ready to take her order.
"Ummm can I get a cheeseburger, fries and a coke please?"
"Sure." The guy took down her order before heading back to the bar. A minute later he brought her drink over. Lacey sipped at her coke as she glanced around the room. A short while later he brought her food over. As she was digging into her burger she glanced up and saw a guy with sandy blonde hair sit down at the bar next to a guy with dark hair, they began to talk. As their conversation began to get more animated the guy with dark hair gripped the glass in his hand so tightly it began to shatter. Their conversation grew louder and Lacey heard the sandy haired guy say; "No one can stop me from doing anything." He glanced up and caught Lacey looking at them. A second later he was standing in front of Lacey, he grabbed her by the neck. The room fell silent.
"You see?" He turned back to the guy at the bar. "No one can stop me." Lacey rolled her eyes.
"Oh please." She took hold of his arm and hurled him across the room. As he hit the far wall the silence in the room was broken and the crowds began to disperse. In a moment he was back on his feet and with a snarl ran at her. Lacey put up her hand and fired an energy blast at him. He went crashing through the bar. As he got to his feet again he spat at Lacey;
"This is not over." Before he disappeared.
"Hey." Lacey felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see the dark haired guy standing beside her. "That was... that was really something."
"Thanks." Lacey said. She grabbed her jacket from the chair and threw some money on the table and headed for the door. Suddenly the guy was standing in front of her again.
"Whoah! Hold up there! How did you do that?" He asked, blocking her exit.
"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you." She said trying to go around him.
"Try me." He studied her with dark brown eyes. She let out a sigh.
"I'm part Mutant, part Angel." She told him.
"Vampire." He said holding his hands up. She stared at him for a moment. "I'm Damon." He held out his hand, she took hold of it and shook it.
"Lacey."
"So what brought you to Mystic Falls?"
"Oh so that's where I am? It was kind of a pot luck thing." Damon nodded. "So who was the Douchebag whose ass I kicked?"
"That was Klaus, our resident vampire-werewolf hybrid."
"Sounds...messy." Lacey commented.
"Oh, believe me, it is." Damon assured her. They could hear the wail of sirens in the distance. "Come on." Damon said taking hold of her hand, they headed out of the restaurant at super speed.

When they stopped they were standing outside a large, old fashioned house. Damon motioned her to follow him through the front door. They walked into a large dark foyer.
"Who is this?" A woman with long blonde hair and a British accent stood with her arms folded across her chest, staring at them.
"Rebekah this is Lacey, Lacey, Rebekah." Damon threw his arms in the air. " I don't know why I'm introducing my guest to the squatter."
"Whatever. I'm going to the bonfire." She strutted out the door.
"Squatter?" Lacey asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Another long story. She's the sister of the guy whose ass you kicked." Damon informed her.
"Oh, right, gottcha." Lacey nodded.
"Which reminds me, there's somewhere I've got to be, you wanna come?"
"Sure." Lacey shrugged. It wasn't like she had anything better to do. They headed out and Damon took them to the High School.

When they arrived at the school Damon showed her to a classroom before saying he had to go find someone. Lacey sat down on the teacher's desk, swinging her legs back and forth. Her mind drifted back to the time she and Crowley were waiting for Dean. She stopped swinging her legs, her feet hitting the desk with a bang.
"Stop it." She told herself, shaking her head. There was a noise as someone opened the door and a group of people walked in. Along with Damon there was a girl with blonde hair, a girl with long dark hair and an older guy who looked like a teacher.
"What's going on Damon?" The guy asked.
"This is Lacey, she kicked Klaus' ass today." Damon told them. The three of them looked at her, impressed.
"Are you a hybrid?" The blonde girl asked.
"Yes. If you mean a mutant, angel hybrid then yes. If not, no, no I'm not." Lacey trailed off.
"Well anyone who hates Klaus is a friend of ours!" The blonde smiled at her.
"Okay, so what's the plan?" Damon asked.
"I'll lure Stefan away from the bonfire and when he's distracted..."
"I'll shoot him." The older guy interrupted.
"Who is Stefan and why are we shooting him?" Lacey asked.
"Stefan is my brother." Lacey raised an eyebrow. "He is also being compelled by Klaus." Damon explained.
"Oh, Okay." Lacey shrugged.
"While we sort out the plan why don't you head up to the bonfire, we'll meet you there."
"How will I know where it is?"
"Just follow the mindless drones." Damon joked. Lacey smiled.
"Okay, I'll see you there."

Lacey walked out of the school and followed the groups of people headed out of the grounds and towards the woods. She approached a clearing where the crowds were gathering around the bonfire, sparks flickering above them into the tree tops. Lacey closed her eyes and scoped the area out using her telepathy, getting the lay of the land.
"Hey." She felt a hand on her shoulder and opened her eyes to find Damon standing beside her. "Time to put my charms to work on Barbie Klaus." He nodded towards the bonfire where Rebekah was sitting, roasting marshallows.
"Good luck." Lacey shrugged. Damon smirked at her.
"I won't need it." He strolled over and sat down on the log next to Rebekah. Lacey rolled her eyes before wandering off through the trees. As she wandered back towards the school she heard a scream. Lacey took a deep breath before rising into the air and flew across the tops of the trees in the direction the scream had come from. As she circled around she flew over the bleachers and saw Elena and the older guy dragging someone, who she presumed to be Stefan into the back of a 4 by 4. As Elena got into the car there was a flash and a gas can on the floor caught alight. The fire began to spread to the car. Lacey could see Elena banging on the windows, trapped inside. Lacey flew straight down towards them, the older guy, Alaric, was trying to prise the door open but to no avail. Lacey reached out a hand, palm open, and pulled the fire out of the car. She closed her hand, putting the fire out, smoke curled up from between her fingers. She reached out and ripped open the door at the back of the car. Elena and a semi-conscious Stefan fell out of the car coughing.
"Thanks." Elena rasped as Alaric came around and helped them to their feet.

When they regrouped and arrived back at the house everyone tended to their injuries. Lacey sat on the couch watching the fire, sparks flickered out of the grate.
"Hey." She looked up and found Elena standing next to her.
"Hey." She gave her a small smile as she got to her feet.
"I just wanted to say thank you for getting us out of that car. If it wasn't for you we could have been burnt alive." Elena reached out and gave Lacey a hug.
"Oh." Lacey hugged her back, surprised by the younger girl. "That's ok, it's sort of what I do."
"I'm gonna go see if Alaric is ok." Lacey followed Elena out into the hallway and found Stefan coming down the stairs.
"Well you got me tonight. Definitely wasn't expecting that."
"That was the point." Alaric told him.
"Yeah. You know, you can hate it all you want to, but Elena needs me. I'll always protect her. I think you're both better off having me around." Elena rolled her eyes before heading towards the door.
"Elena, wait." Stefan called after them. "You could have let me die in that fire tonight. Why didn't you?"
"Because I still have hope." She told him.
"After everything I've done... you still think I'll be able to find my humanity again."
"Yes I do. I know who you really are better than anyone Stefan. And I'm not giving up."
"Elena." Stefan leant in close. "Do you have any idea how pathetic that makes you?" Elena exchanged a glance with Lacey.
"No Stefan, that makes me strong." Elena told him before thrusting her fist forward, plunging two wooden stakes from under her sleeve into his abdomen. As Stefan gasped and fell to his knees Elena threw the device towards Alaric before storming out the door. Alaric smiled at Stefan collapsed to the floor before following Elena out the door.

As Stefan struggled into the living room Lacey headed for the front door.
"You leaving?" She turned back to see Damon standing at the foot of the stairs.
"Yeah, it was just a flying visit. I'm kind of travelling around at the moment."
"Where you heading to now?" He asked.
"Not really sure, I won't know till I get there." Lacey replied, mysteriously.
"Do you think you'll come back?" Damon asked as he crossed the foyer towards her.
"Definetely. Here, give me your phone." He passed it to her and she typed in her number. "There, now if there's an emergency or something you can get hold of me."
"How about driving Klaus out of town? Does that count as an emergency?" Lacey smiled.
"I think you can handle that one yourself. But if it turns out you do need me, then give me a call." She gave him a final smile before opening the front door and stepping outside. As she closed the door behind her she took in a deep breath of the crisp night air. She waved her hand in front of her and a portal opened up. Lacey took one more look around before she stepped through and the doorway closed behind her.