The Raven

‘The trail ahead fades as it leads into the darkness of the woods and despite her reservations, Layla cautiously made her way forward. It wasn’t long before she reached the cemetery and felt her anxiety spike, when she spotted a group of people standing around a fresh grave.

“Grandpa?” Layla said, smiling as her grandpa turned to face her and pulled her into a hug.

“Hey sweetpea, my you’ve grown up.”

“How... whose grave is that?”

“Yours,” her grandpa replied morosely, taking her hand and leading her over to a tombstone with her name engraved on it.

“What happened?”

“You lost faith in yourself and your abilities,” her grandpa explained, “This is just one glimpse at your future, but there are many other paths that you could take...”

“Why am I seeing this one?”

“There’s something coming, something dark and you must be prepared.”

Stood by her locker later that morning, Layla stared into space and jumped as someone placed their hands on her shoulders. Snapped from her thoughts, she closed the metal door and turned to find Stefan watching her concerned.

“Are you okay?” he asked, “You’ve been staring into your locker for nearly ten minutes.”

“Just looking for Narnia,” Layla replied with a shrug as they walked to their history class, seeing him roll his eyes and sighing, “I’ve been having a hard time sleeping recently is all.”

“How come?”

“I’ve had this recurring nightmare for the last week and I’ve suffered from nightmares the majority of my life, but this is different... something is coming.”

Ric soon entered the room, cutting their conversation short and everyone fell silent as he started the lesson. Layla loved learning about Mystic Falls's past, although a lot of it was made up of half-truths and altered accounts. School soon finished and Layla headed home, stopping by the cemetery on the way.

Cemeteries had never scared her in the past, but something about this time was different and she found herself on edge. Leaves crunched under her feet and a light mist crawled among the weathered tombstones, creating an amazing opportunity for Layla to get some photos.

She had taken a few snaps, when movement behind her caught her attention and she jumped back as a murder of crows exploded from the evergreens. Jesus Christ Layla mumbled under her breath, gathering her composure and deciding to head home.

“Hey sweetie,” her gran greeted as she entered the house a while later, “How was school?”

“It was okay,” Layla replied, dropping her bag on the floor and hanging up her coat.

Not wanting to answer the questions that Stefan had, Layla made the decision to stay home and started on dinner. She had just put the seasoned chicken in the oven, when someone knocked on the door and she went to open it. Damon stood on the other side, hands shoved in his jean pockets and a frown on his face.

“Hi,” he said, looking at her and stepping in as she motioned for him to enter.

“What’s with the face?” Layla asked, gathering everything she needed to make a salad and watching as Damon sat up on the counter.

“Nothing, I just haven’t seen you in a while,” Damon added.

After everything that had happened with her mom, Layla had distanced herself from everyone and that included Damon. Their relationship had been going well, but her abilities still scared her and she couldn’t bear the thought of hurting one of them because she wasn’t in control.