White Lies (The Vampire Diaries)

| 12 | Fatalist

The drive from the high school to the Salvatore Boarding House roughly took around fifteen minutes, except, this time, Presley pulled into the long driveway in less than eight minutes. She originally stopped by the house after she ditched school the first time, only to discover the entire house was empty and her phone was dead.

She drove all around town in search of Stefan after she realized her mistake, coming up short at every place until she ultimately decided to head back home.

After months of being alone, aside from Zach, Presley was beyond thankful her younger brother returned back to her life and there to assist her during these stressful times. Her mind was physically and mentally overwhelmed with the new issues in her life; another vampire in Mystic Falls attacking residents, and Bonnie belonged to a long bloodline of powerful witches.

She feared what would happen if Bonnie's grandmother informed her of the supernatural world and how she would react to such otherworldly information. Presley always wanted her friends to know the truth to avoid lying to them, yet she became overwhelmed with paranoia at the sheer thought of Bonnie finding out.

Witches and vampire had a difficult past, usually not always getting along.

Her eyes swept over the driveway and spotted a familiar figure walking down the asphalt toward the house. She slowed the black car to a stop beside him and leaned part of her upper torso out of the rolled down window.

"Get in the car, Stefan," she calmly ordered, yet her voice remained taut with stress. "We need to talk about some things."

Stefan walked to the other side of the car and slipped into the passenger seat with a sigh. He ran a hand over his face. "Yeah, I need to talk to you about some things, too."

She rested her hands on top of the steering wheel and gently pressed down on the gas pedal, rolling the car down the driveway. "Mine can wait a few minutes. You go first," Presley decided, glancing in his direction. "Did you find anything out about the vampire that attacked Vicki?"

Stefan refused to look in his sister's direction instead chose to stare straight ahead at the driveway through the windshield. A void of silence filled the atmosphere of the small confinements of the car. Presley frowned at the lack of response from her brother. She peered at him from her peripheral vision, expectedly.

"Stefan?" She softly questioned, pressing the garage door opener in the car.

His eyes never wavered from the driveway and the garage door opening up ahead. His determination to avoid glimpsing at his sister silently confirmed Presley's worries that he was keeping something important to himself. Stefan never struggled to talk to her.

"Stefan, what aren't you telling me?" Presley asked in a fearful voice.

Stefan opened his mouth to answer until he recognized a familiar car parked near their front door. "Why is Elena here?" He asked, eyes growing wide.

Presley drew her attention to the far left and frowned at Jenna's car parked underneath the entryway. "I—"

A frown formed on her lips as she stared at the car, knowing Elena was the only one who would drive it here. Her hands tugged on the wheel to change directions and parked a couple feet behind the red Mini Cooper.

"I don't know," she answered.

The passenger door slammed shut before Presley had a chance to twist the keys out of the ignition. She knitted her brows at the blur of her brother's figure as he tapped into his vampire speed. She sat in the car in a moment of bewilderment before she matched his actions. She caught up to him by the front door in seconds and returned to his normal speed, walking alongside of him into their foyer.