Lycanthrope

“Tyler, stop it!” I giggle as Tyler starts to leave a trail of kisses from my jaw to my neck, “We’re supposed to be studying.”

“I am studying,” Tyler says between each kiss, “your reaction to me kissing you in certain places.”

Rolling my eyes, I gently push Tyler away from me so I can look at him. It’s been a couple of weeks since our first date and things have been going really well. Granted, we still bicker but that’s something about our relationship, or whatever it is that we currently have, that I wouldn’t change. As I’m staring into Tyler’s eyes, I feel a smile tug at the corner of my lips and slowly lean forward until I feel his lips upon my own.

Tyler brings his hand to my face, cupping my cheek and intensifying the kiss but before it goes too far, I pull away. “I should get going. It’s getting late.”

“Or you could just spend the night,” he smirks, gently pulling my face closer to his.

“Goodnight,” I murmur against his lips before place a soft kiss upon them.

He groans but pulls away nonetheless. “Fine, I’ll see you tomorrow then.” Smiling softly, I kiss him once more before gathering my things and leaving his house.

As I’m driving home, I see a figure in the middle of the road. Due to the darkness of the night and the slight fog, it’s difficult to make out just who, or even what, it is. My foot lightly presses down on the brakes so the car will slow down then soon, it comes to a complete stop.

The figure, or should I say figures now that I can clearly see two people, don’t budge from their spot as if they didn’t even notice a car approaching. Wanting to make sure that everything is okay and they aren’t in need of help, I put the car into ‘park’ and get out of my car.

I slowly walk towards the two figures, but remain far enough so there’s still a bit of distance and close enough to the car in case they turn out to be crazy and I need to escape quickly. “Hey, are you guys okay?” I call out to them.

Then I see the man who has his back towards me turn his head slightly and a very familiar voice answers, “Well, this is a little awkward.”

Before I have a chance to respond, he turns around completely and reveals himself to be Damon Salvatore. Then, in an instant, I notice the blood dripping from his mouth and the motionless body of a girl, her throat nearly ripped out, limp in his arms. In this moment, the connection of Elena to the vampires finally made sense. Damon and most likely Stefan are the resident vampires.

My gaze darts from Damon to the dead girl and back before I’m finally able to find my voice. “Okay, I’m just gonna go now,” I say, wanting to be as far away as possible and turn to walk away.

“Oh, no, you don’t,” Damon calls out and before I can even walk a foot towards the car, he’s already standing in front of me, “you’re coming with me.”

I feel my heart drop to the pit of my stomach and fear quickly consumes me. It’s quite clear what Damon is capable of and not knowing if he had intentions of feeding on me sends an uneasy feeling of anxiety through my body. “No, that’s okay. I’m just going to go home and pretend that I didn’t see anything,” I reply nervously in hopes that he’ll let me leave.

“Relax, I’ve been put on a strict ‘no Sydney’ diet. You’re safe,” he says nonchalantly as he walks past me to pick up the dead girl that he dropped to the ground.

“Oh, sure, that makes me feel much better,” I mumble more to myself in a light, sarcastic tone. Running a hand through my hair, I let out a deep breath in attempt to relax but fail to do so when I notice Damon opening the trunk of my car. “What are you doing?”

“We need to get rid of the body,” he answers as he drops the girl in the trunk and closes it shut.

I raise my eyebrows in surprise and begin to shake my head vigorously. “We do not have to do anything. You have to and you have to do it without using my car,” I reply. Then as if things were taking a bit longer for me to process due to shock, I exclaim, “Oh, my God! There’s a dead body in my car! You just put a dead body in the trunk because you killed her and need to clean up your tracks. You have officially made me an accessory to crime by using my car... Oh, God. I think I’m going to be sick.”

“Okay, if you’re done having your panic attack and being overdramatic, get in the car. I’m driving,” Damon says, the eye roll practically evident in his voice.

With my mind still running wild with thoughts, I do as Damon says and simply ignore everything around me during the drive. I have no desire to see where he’s decided to bury this poor girl or to even make small talk with him. Then finally, after driving for what feels like hours, Damon pulls up to a large house.

“No Sydney diet, right?” I ask as I slowly get out of the car and follow Damon inside of the house.

A soft chuckle passes through Damon’s lips as if my fear is amusing to him and answers, “If I was going to kill you, I would have done it already.”

“You are horrible at reassurance, you know that?” I tell him in a matter of fact tone before collapsing on the couch and burying my face in my hands.

“Well, you don’t seem to be a picnic to be around either so we’re even,” Damon says causing me to lift my head to glare at him. But when I look up, he’s standing before me with a glass of Whiskey and any feeling annoyance is gone. It’s been a long night and a drink is exactly what I need so I take the glass from his hand and quickly take a sip. “Okay, I think it’s time for us to talk,” he says as he takes a seat in the chair beside the couch.

Taking another sip, I raise my eyebrows in slight interest but then quickly shake my head. “There’s not much to talk about. I mean, you’re a vampire! What else could there be to say?”

“Right, about that,” he begins before leaning forward so his elbows are resting on his knees and stares into my eyes intently as he continues, “you’re going to forget everything that you saw on the road tonight. You were on your way home and drove by two people talking, just talking. Do you understand?”

My eyebrows furrow in confusion, unsure of what Damon is doing. Was he creating a lie for me to tell if necessary to keep his secret? Or was he trying to convince me that I didn’t really see anything? “What are you doing?” I question before realization strikes. “If you’re trying to compel me, it’s not going to work.”

Now it’s Damon’s turn to be confused but before he can say anything, we’re interrupted by a voice calling out from the doorway of the living room, “What’s going on?” I turn quickly turn my head to find Stefan and Elena standing there, confusion evident on both of their faces. “Why would you be trying to compel Sydney, Damon?” Stefan questions.

“She knows about us,” Damon answers as he stands up to refill his glass of Whiskey, “but either she’s been drinking vervain or has it on her somewhere so it was failed effort.”

“Wait a minute, you know that they’re vampires? How?” Elena asks me while joining me on the couch.

I’m about to explain to her about what my father told me and how I found Damon tonight, but Damon quickly cuts me off, “That’s not important. What’s important is how we’re going to get her to keep her mouth shut about it. Killing her is always an option.”

“Or,” I scoff in a slight nervous tone, “you can stick to that ‘no Sydney’ diet and my lips will be sealed. I won’t tell anyone your secret.”

Just as Damon’s about to say something, Stefan interjects, “Don’t worry, you’re safe. We trust you.”

I smile softly at him and simply nod my head. Then, while placing my glass on the coffee table, I tell them, “Well, it’s been a long night. I better get going.”

“I’ll walk you out,” Elena says as she rises to her feet. I say my goodbyes to the brothers and walk with Elena towards the door. When we reach the door, she stops and says, “Sydney, I’m sorry about you getting caught up in this. I was hoping that you’d never have to find out.”

Running a hand through my hair, I shake my head and chuckle softly. “Oh, this is nothing compared to what I’ve heard recently,” I tell her earning a questioning look. While mentally slapping myself in the head, I simply say, “I’ll explain another time. I just really want to get home.”

“Yeah, of course,” she nods her head, “I’ll see you in school tomorrow.”

Waving goodbye, I walk out the door and towards my car. Once I’m inside the car, I immediately lock the doors, suddenly feeling afraid of whatever else is lurking in the dark and lean my head against the steering wheel. First, I find out that my dad is a werewolf. Next, I find out that the Salvatores are vampires. How many more secrets could possibly lie in this town?