Unexpected

The next thing I knew, I was being slapped across the face and someone was yelling at me to wake up.

“Did you really think that you bringing Stefan here instead of Damon would fool me at all?” Emily asked angrily and I became aware that I was tied to one of the kitchen chairs and Stefan was tied beside me.

“Answer me!” she yelled, and I tried to, but I was still fuzzy from the vervain and couldn’t even remember the question.

“I was waiting for those idiots to catch on to me. I actually expected them to sooner. You’re getting dull in your old age, Stef,” she said more calmly, brushing her fingers down his cheek. He pulled away quickly and she laughed.

“Oh come on, don’t pretend you don’t remember what we used to have. He’s real good in the sack, you should try him out sometime,” she said, directing her attention back to me.

“I thought you were my friend,” I said quietly, tears rising to my eyes.

“Oh shut up. You know, vampires are stupid. Really stupid. I’ve been plotting your death since the second we met. I really thought you would have caught on by now. Don’t be a baby, Serena,” she said, slapping me hard across the face, making me flinch.

She picked up a large knife from the dining room table and ran it across Stefan’s wrist quickly, making him yell out in pain. Then she turned on me and ran the blade down both of my cheeks, making me scream. The wounds healed within seconds, though, and it seemed she wasn’t happy with that. She ran the blade across my arm at least ten times right in a row, obviously trying to cause me pain.

“Stop, Emily. Stop,” Stefan yelled from beside me, and that just made her cut into me more.

Just as she was almost all the way up my arm, the front door was broken open, and there Damon stood, gun in hand.

“Ah, Damon. Hello sweetie, I was just cuttin’ up your girl here. I’d invite you in to watch, but I don’t think I will,” she said, a sinister smile on her face. Damon tried to enter the house even though he knew he couldn’t because vampire couldn’t enter a house without first being invited in.

“I will save you. Both of you,” he said, tuning around and quickly leaving the porch. The next thing I knew, he was standing outside the kitchen window, pointing the gun straight at Emily. He fired and Emily fell to the ground, screaming in pain.

“Hurry and try to break free. She’s probably not going to be down long,” Damon said urgently, back at the front door.

Stefan broke free before me and then helped me get free. As soon as I was able to, I ran to Damon and hugged him to me. “Thank you,” I whispered, and he smiled down at me.

“Anytime, love. Now go help Stefan get that one tied down,” he said, gesturing to Emily on the floor.

**

It took almost twenty minutes for Emily to regain consciousness, and once she began to, I slapped her hard across the face, just like she’d done to me.

“What are you going to do, kill me? Guess what, geniuses, you can’t. I can’t die, remember?” she asked, laughing.

“Oh actually, you can,” Stefan said, holding up the spell book that I’d found in her room. “We know exactly how to kill you. For good,” he continued.

“Stefan, come on, it’s me, Emily. You loved me,” she said, realizing what was happening.

“I never loved you,” he said, picking up the same large knife she’d been cutting us with earlier.

“Stefan, please,” she whispered.

“Why should I? Huh? Why on Earth would I let you live?” he asked, and she didn’t have an answer. “Goodbye, Emily,” he said quietly. She began to silently sob, and I had to look away as he flourished the knife and cut off her head quickly.

“You can go, Serena. I can clean this up by myself if you want,” he said, and I nodded and thanked him quietly. I walked over to where Damon was standing just outside the door and he put his arm around me and led me down to the sidewalk where we began walking towards his house.

“Is it bad that I’m kind of sad that she’s gone? She’s the only friend -well I guess she wasn’t even that- that I’ve had in years,” I said quietly.

“No, it’s not bad. I can see where you’d be upset. But hey, at least you’ve got me now. I’ll be here for you as long as you need me,” he said, and I smiled up at him.

“Well, I have a feeling I’ll need you forever,” I said, stopping and standing on my tiptoes to kiss him.

“Good, because I just might have a forever to give you,” he said, smiling down at me.

So that was it. The vampire I’d heard the most terrible stories about turned out to be the one I fell in love with. And the girl who I thought was my best friend turned out to be a hundred-year-old vampire killer.

I had moved to Mystic Falls to get a fresh start, and even though it was the complete opposite of how I’d expected, that was exactly what I had done.