chapter 3

Right, right now I feel like an alien
Like I'm sitting in a state of perpetual frustration
Go on, shove me again, fuck with the head, leave me for dead
Please?

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

The same posters of My Chemical Romance, Three Days Grace, Muse and many other emo bands hung on the walls, a little more sun-faded than she remembered. The same vinyl records stacked on shelves next to the old gramophone. The same sketchbooks and canvases awkwardly arranged in the corners of the room. The same dirty easel that had been a savior in her episodes, one of the few things that gave her a feeling of peace.

Also the same boxes under her bed, with her drawings of horror, thoughts and images from her head made real and put on paper. The same razor blades hidden in the hole of her mattress. The same empty opioid blisters tucked in the second bottom of the last drawer of her nightsta━

She didn't know whether she wanted to cry or vomit all over the room.

She blinks rapidly, refusing to let her brain go in a direction she preferred not to look immediately upon waking. She opened her suitcase and pulled out a burgundy lace top, black wide-leg pants and her favourite black velour jacket. She also pulled out her makeup bag and sat on the bed. She rummaged in it for a while and pulled out a small bottle of medicine. Taking out one pill she swallowed it, and took a large gulp from the bottle of water on her nightstand. The Forbes woman took a deep breath and began to change into her previously pulled out clothes. She grabbed the make up bag and went to the direction of the bathroom.

Once inside, she washed away the remnants of sleep and brushed her teeth. The girl took a moment to look at herself in the mirror. She looked like shit. There were purple bags under her eyes, begging her to go back to bed, her face red and puffy and overall looked like she was about to welcome death. She took a deep breath, and reached to her make up bag. Trying to hide her ghost looking face, she applied some of the concealer, blush and her trademark sharp eyeliner. Then, she painted her lashes and finished the ritual by adding dark red lipstick. Her blonde hair left in its natural waves━She didn't have the energy to even dwell on them.

Walking downstairs, she noticed her mother putting dinner on the table. Mom is cooking? Since when? Probably since Jade is not. Did she learn for Caroline? Damn.

"Oh, you're up. I made dinner. Lasagne?" Jade raised one of her eyebrows, her gaze suspicious. "No, it's not from the Grill, if that's what you're thinking." Her mother said, rolling her eyes. Jade let out a snort, taking a seat at the dinner table. "Although it's not as good as yours." She added fondly.

Jade felt her lips twich upwards. "I can teach you someday." she said, resting her chin on her hand, looking at her mother. Liz snapped her eyes at her daughter in surprise. She did not expect the use of the future tense. Smiling, hope filled her eyes. Jade smiled back. Baby steps, right?

Liz, after putting on the food, sat down with her daughter at the table. The feeling that prevailed in Jade's heart was... strange. At the same time, she enjoyed the simple act of eating dinner in her family home, and also hated it because everything reminded her of him. Especially about how she couldn't sit at said table on the mornings before school, because she was once again denied food for something stupid she had done. And then, she would go to her classes and make up lie after lie when they asked her about her slim figure. Where, in reality, each step was tragically painful, her bones scraping against the fabric of her clothes like sandpaper, each step taken with unspeakable force, each step begging to be the last.

But sitting now, years later, just her and her mum, it looked almost... normal. Like in on of her daydreams. Why couldn't it look like this when she was a teenager?

"Have you seen Caroline?" Jade asked, taking a bite of food. It was quite tasty, bravo mom. She's proud.

"No, not yet. I'll go to her after my shift, all this commotion with Richard is driving me crazy. Carol Lockwood is driving me crazy." Liz complained, already exhausted.

Jade hummed. "She is crazy. Remember when she flipped out when I was babysitting Tyler?"

"She found him tied to radiator when she got back!"

Jade rolled her eyes. "Yeah, because we were playing cops and robbers!" She exclaimed. "I was a cop, and what cop does? He puts the robber in jail!"

"You were already home when she found him!" Liz gestured rapidly with her fork.

"Yeah, because my work time was over." She pursed her lips. "And the crazy woman didn't even pay me!" Jade huffed in disbelief.

"Are you blaming her? The poor woman didn't even know how to untie him." Liz couldn't help the laugh that was begging to be released.

Jade laughed. Oh mummy isn't it nice? To just laugh like that?

Jade hummed. "Aaanyway, from what I talked to Carrie yesterday, she looked good. They should be discharging her soon."

Liz let out a relieved exhale. "That's great." Silence filled the room, the only sound of clicking utensils present. Jade decided to bring up one topic she didn't want to bring up. Why? She herself does not know. Maybe for entertainment, there's never enough of that. Or to punish her mother. Again. She deserved it, didn't she?

"So, how's daddy dearest?" Liz choked on her lasagna. "Still rotting in prison, I presume?"

After a few loud coughs and clearing her throat, Liz looked into her daughter's blue eyes. There she found anger, fury, satisfaction, sadness, but also a hint of fear. But only a little, it was Jade Forbes after all.

She began hesistantly, "Uhm, actually... there is a chance that he will be released early for good behavior." Now Jade began choking on the food. "Conditionally, of course." she added, trying to assure her daughter.

Released...

...good behavior

conditionally...

That sneaky motherfucker. He finally did it.

He finally managed to scratch a hole in the real world with his devilish claws. No longer will be just a phantom from the past, a memory of her cruel childhood years. An evil character in a children's fairy tale. No, no. He's becoming a reality again. Bit by bit, slowly and carefully Jade's worst nightmare is returning to life.

She wants to pounce. She wants to scream. She wants to rip out her hair and shove it down her throat. She wants to rip out her heart and prepare it for dinner. She wants to set the shitty suburban house on fire. She wants to set the whole shithole of a town on fire. Oh, think of how delightful it would burn. All the warm memories, just a tad warmer, puff and disappear. Just think of the screams, begging for mercy, her father the loudest of them all, at her mercy, so tiny, so pathetic, so━

"That's lovely."

Liz looked at Jade and saw it all. Fury so blazing that she could parry with her eyes. Her sweet smile, a fake, wicked, smile that could cut blood. But also terror, hidden deep in her irises, if you don't look for it you won't see it. She is attempting to put on a brave face, to prove that strengh she's been building all those years is clearly visible.

"Jade━" Liz tried.

"I'm going to Caroline. I'll tell her you say hi." Jade stood up abruptly from her seat and walked to the door with a quick step. She grabbed Caroline's car keys and left the house.

Liz leaned back in her chair and deeply sighed.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Jade was clutching the car's steering wheel so fiercely that her knuckles began to turn white. The car wasn't even moving anymore; it had been parked in the hospital parking lot five minutes ago. She looked at her hands, full of rings and noticing her middle finger, she loosened her grip.

One ring was missing. Namely the one she got from Marcel for her 18th birthday.

october 22th, 2006

"I do!" Shouted wide-eyed eighteen-year-old Jade Forbes, gasping loudly, covering her mouth with her hand.

Marcel simply rolled his eyes and pursed his lips. Jade snorted at him with a cheeky grin.

"Well, I for sure as hell, don't." he muttered, his voice full of annoyance. "Happy birthday, kid."

„So it's not a marriage proposal? That's a shame. You're quite pretty." she wiggled her eyebrows.

He groaned. "I'm not even gonna dwell on this." Jade smirked and opened the ring box, her eyes widened slightly, her smile faltering.

Before her eyes was a classic cluster ring. A central black gemstone with two small moon symbols and tiny black stars completing the design. After a few long moments, she managed to tear her eyes from the ring and look at Marcel.

"Black as my soul or...?" She trailed off.

Marcel chuckled, shaking his head. "The black stone is a Black Spinel. It's a protective stone that repels negativity and grounds the user while evoking inspiration and empowerment, without overwhelming others. It is also thought to help one find calmness and let go of resentments to re-establish relationships and dispel sadness."

Jade's breath came to a halt. How did he...? No one had ever done such a thing for her. No one had ever listened to her like he did now. Well, maybe━no. Not now.

Damn you, Marcel.

She was actually speechless. And it was her.

She cleared her throat, trying to swallow the stone that dingled there. "I would say some stupid shit like 'I can't accept this, it's too much', but in fact I can and it's not." Marcel huffed a laugh.

"Just promise me one thing, J."

"Yeah?"

"Don't ever take it off."

"I would never, hubby."

Jade walked along an already familiar path to Caroline's hospital room. It was a quite sunny day, the light broke through the large windows and warmed the woman's skin, a gentle wind was seen swaying lightly the treetops. This contrasted with the gaudy atmosphere of the hospital, white tiles surrounded every wall, the smell of disinfectants dominated her nostrils, nervous patients and even more nervous doctors hurried through the corridors.

With the exception of the maternity ward, hospitals are places for people who are sick or the victims of trauma. An atmosphere of pain, fear, helplessness, and death is inevitable, no matter how hard the hospital tries to present a cheerful face to the world. Even the smell of the place is vaguely unpleasant. There is the harsh antiseptic odor that doesn't always mask the smell of sick human bodies and their secretions. There is even a smell she has never quite figured out, but it's common in doctors' offices and hospitals. She smelled it when she had to tend her wounds when she was twelve. She just felt sick being in here.

She entered the room with a smile on her lips. Her sister was finally in no danger, the only things left in front of her were a few scars and ugly memories of the accident. Although she couldn't help but ask, what now? Stay a while longer in this god-forsaken town, spend time with her family or buy a ticket to New Orleans as soon as possible? The girl mentally groaned. Her smile quickly fell as she saw Caroline in the hospital bed, clearly in distress, sitting in the dark.

"What's up, Dracula?" Jade dropped a joke in greeting, raising her eyebrows. Caroline just gave her a tight smile. "Hi." Her voice was strained.

"You good?" She pointed her finger around the room.

"Yeah... just━I think it's just coming to me... The whole life in front of my eyes and everything." she laughed anxiously.

"Oh yes, tell me about it. When I overd-" Jade stopped herself. Caroline doesn't know about her speed OD, and it's better to keep it that way. Why add more reasons is an already endless list of fuck-ups?

She cleared her throat. "Um, anyway. I can barely see your annoying face, so━" The older woman proceeded to pull down the curtains, when she heard a painful shriek. She turned to her sister in confusion, but instead of on the bed, she finds her glued to the farthest wall.

"The fuck?" She mumbled to herself. "Carrie, what's up with you today?"

Her sister, still glued to the wall, trembled in fear with closed eyes. "Just close them, please." She said in a quiet tone.

Jade raised one of her eyebrows questioningly. "What? The hell's the matter━"

"Close it!" Full anger this time.

"Jeez, okay. I'm closing it. Calm your tits." Jade muttered, doing as she was told. She turned to her sister again and saw her starting to have trouble breathing, eyes flying wildly around the room.

"Carrie?"

Caroline only burned at her sister with frantic eyes, her breath shallowing with each passing second. Jade recognized this behavior, panic attacks were practically her daily routine a few years ago.

"Hey, hey, hey," Jade ran up to her little sister, and knelt down in front of her, as by this time Caroline had managed to slide off the wall and fall to the floor.

"Hey, Carrie, focus on me." She pointed her hand slowly in her direction, avoiding sudden movements. When she caught her sister's attention, she began breathing deeply, pointing to her chest. "Breathe along with me, okay?" Caroline nodded her head abruptly, not breaking eye contact with Jade. "Okay, great. You're doing great." She whispered between exhales.

"Concentrate on your breathing. Stay in the present. If you can't concentrate on yours, concentrate on mine." The two Forbes women sat huddled on the floor, breathing rhythmically and deeply together. After twenty minutes of repeating these actions, Caroline felt she could take a breath again without anyone's help. Jade mentally high-fived herself and made a note to buy Cami a drink. It was, after all, her routine to repeat with Jade.

She showed Jade that she was okay and leaned against the wall again, feeling the tears gathering. What was happening to her?

Jade sighed, feeling her head spinning from all the deep breaths. She copied her sister's position and also leaned against the wall, shoulders touching.

They sat like that for a while, Jade not noticing Caroline's silent tears. Suddenly she burst out, crying hysterically and burrying her face in her knees. Jade shuddered and whipped her head to her right, blue eyes peering out.

"Okay, if you don't tell me right the fuck now what's━"

"Everything!" Jade drawed her brows together, waiting for her sister to continue. "Everything! I don't know what's happening to me!" she screamed into her legs.

Jade was about to say something, when Caroline yelled again. "Everything is so terribly loud, my head is about to explode!"

"Hey, everything's gonna be alright. I'm here, it's okay. You're not in that car again." Jade tried in the most soothing voice she could muster, touching her sister's shoulder.

"Exactly!" Caroline's head snapped up so quickly that Jade didn't even manage to register it. "You're only here because this fucking car decided to crash with me inside!" Caroline sobbed and Jade's eyebrows shoot up to her hairline.

"Does it really require that much for you to come back to me? Am I really worth so little to you? Wake up Jade, dad's no longer here!" Jade winced, but Caroline didn't stop her screaming. "Why did you leave me here? Alone? With mum? Nothing has changed! She's still never here!" Caroline's voice were echoing through the hospital's tiles. Jade was staring at her younger sister in straight shock. What in the worl━ "And I've never been more lonely." She added, much more quietly, almost in a whisper.

"I missed you so much. Your stupid eyeliner, your bitchy comments, your terrible jokes, even that fucking stench of cigarettes! And you're never here!"

Jade's eyes began to become glassy. Well, that fucking stung. The two sisters looked at each other with exasperated eyes, in one tears were already decorating the entire face, eyes reddened, breathing shallow. In the other's case, one tear began to slowly tour her face, lower and lower. In a moment, another joined in.

Oh, sweet Caroline, it's nice for her to finally hear what's really in your heart. But don't be frightened, it's nothing new, she knows all this very well. She's just a cold bitch who doesn't care about anything, but herself. She doesn't deserve you, so why do you continue to seek her out? She wouldn't.

"Carrie, I thought━"

"You are not here, mom is not here. Do you see her somewhere?" Caroline began gesturing around the room. "Maybe under the bed? She was always weak in hide and seek." She laughed maniacally.

Should she call the psychiatric ward? She was so lost at this point.

The laughing didn't stop for a good minute.

"Even Elena and Bonnie brushed me aside." Caroline shared, shaking her head. "They think I can't see them saying something quietly to each other, glancing with knowing eyes, even though I have no idea what's going on. But I see it all, I'm not stupid. I've known them since diapers! We were best friends since fucking kindergarten! Am I really so worthless? From the moment Stefan and Damo━" She suddenly stopped her ramble, and her face looked as if she had just realized something, her body utterly frozen.

Jade caught her sister's face, forcing her to connect their gaze. "Caroline, listen to me for at least a moment. Abstolutely. Never. At all. God's hand be damned. You are not. Worthless. Do you understand me? I never wanted━" Suddenly, Caroline rose up from the floor.

"Damon."

Jade blinked. "What?"

"Damon fucking Salvatore." She whispered, eyes wide like pennies, directed at nothingness.

"Your ex-boyfriend, Damon?" Jade asked confused, furrowing her eyebrows and narrowing her eyes, completely lost.

"I remember." She said so gently that Jade almost didn't hear her.

"Caroline, did you inject something? What the fuck are you talking about?" Jade closed her eyes and ran her hand over her face. She was so exhausted that she didn't know if she even wanted an answer to this question.

"Oh my god." Her face twisted to tears. "Oh. My. God." Her body greeted the floor again.

"Caroline! Please tell me what's going on, because I'm about to go fucking crazy!" Jade crawled to her sister, shaking her shoulders.

"He ... did... something..." For that moment it wasn't even crying anymore, she looked like a wounded animal about to give out its last breath, howling through probably all the walls of the hospital. "There was... b-blood..." A terrible sob left her trembling lips. "I-I didn't want to..."

Jade's eyes might as well have been outside her eye sockets, hanging by her cheeks. Her haggard eyes had been focused on one side of Caroline's face, since she turned, hiding her wrenched one. Then, when Caroline's words repeated themselves for, she thought, a thousand time in her head, she made an absolutely horrifying realisation. Her jaw clenched so hard, that she thought her teeth were going to pay the price.

She's a victim.

Her little, tiny, sister is a victim. He has put his unwanted claws on her, destroying and taking something that is only hers and no one else's to take. He has done the unthinkable. If Jade only meets him, she will simply kill him. At that moment she was recalling all the documents about the Middle Ages and its torture culture. Oh, how she will savor his pain, rip out limb after limb, tear out his dick and shove it down his throat━

"Shh... it's gonna be okay. You're here. I'm here." She pulled her sister to her chest and mumbled into her hairline. She could feel Caroline's body shaking. She couldn't look at her sister in such pain, if she could she would pull it out of her and absorb it whole.

They sat like that for a few minutes. Caroline had calmed down a bit by now, she was no longer sobbing so deeply, normal crying returned. Jade held her tightly, whispering reassuring words. That nothing was threatening her anymore, that Jade was here and not going anywhere, that nothing would ever happen to her again. Jade won't let that happen. She'd sooner burn in hell.

She gently detached herself from her sister so she could look straight into her eyes. "And he's not here either. You can consider him officially dead." She said softly. Caroline nodded gently, still in pain. Jade hugged her sister again, their heads resting on each other's shoulders.

Suddenly, Jade felt her sister stiffen. What's the matter this time?

Caroline pushed her older sister away with such force that Jade's head had a very intimate encounter with the tiles on the floor. "Carrie, what the actual fuck?" She hissed, grabbing her head.

"You have to go."

"What?"

"You have to leave, right now." Caroline demanded, turning away from her sister.

"I just said I'm not going anywhere." Jade grumbled, standing up.

"Leave!" Caroline snarled, spinning to Jade and pointing at the door.

"Caro━"

"I said go!" she growled.

Jade looked at her younger sister as if she had grown two heads and three new hands. There were no more tears on her face, only those that had managed to dry. Her eyes were boiling with fury, her body was now shaking not from sadness, but from rage.

What. The. Fuck. Is. Happening.

After a minute-long eye war, Jade picked up her things and left the room.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

She was now sitting in the heart of the town, namely the famous Mystic Grill. The creative name will never cease to fascinate her. Or you could say... mystify her. You see what she did there?

She sat glued to the bar, munching on her fries with a fork, sipping her third drink, her eyes so focused on her glass that if she were Carrie White, the glass would have shattered across the bar long ago. But unfortunately she wasn't, so the glass was fine. Bummer.

She looked at her watch━04:16 p.m. She turned gently back, watching the customers of the only restaurant in the town that was worth something. It's even pretty noisy, she can give that. Do these people have jobs? School?  The girl just let out a big sigh and turned to her miserable fries.

She tried to process the events from the hospital. To no avail. She tried to look at it from the medical side━ was Caroline's mental breakdown due to freshly manufactured PTSD from the accident? Possible. That's actually the best guess she had, the other one was that the Forbes bloodline carried an insanity trait. Well, if she thought about it, she wouldn't cross that one out.

She thought she had to ask Cami about it, after all, she's the expert on diagnosing mental stuff. Jade's just mental.

But damn, what Caroline said.... well, Jade has to admit━it hurt. Although it had no right, after all, it was simply the truth. Jade selfishly packed her suitcases━well, one bag━hopped into her car and drove straight into the sunset. She didn't consider at the time that she was abandoning her little sister, defending herself with the fact that she had her bundle of friends and a mom who actually cared about her.

Well, and then there's the fact that she thought it was only the threat to her life that caused her to come home. This is also partly true, without a major reason she wouldn't have set her foot here. But that major reason was not going to be an accident. It was simply her. Her only sister. She felt like a total shit now, having so many opportunities and reasons to come, but selfishly decided to stay in her bubble of bustling New Orleans. How many times did Caroline need her and she wasn't there? How many times did Caroline refuse to call because she thought her sister didn't care?

Probably quite a lot. Or maybe zero.

And then there's the matter of her nearly free father.... and there's Vicki creeping around somewhere...

And there's Damon fucking Salvatore.

"You have a pretty good grip." A voice resounded to her left.

She looked at her drink. She clenched the glass so fiercely that a slight crack appeared on its side.

She turned her gaze to the man next to her. "Want to test it on your airways?" She asked perfectly politely. Consent, duh.

"Feisty." He smirked. "I like it." She narrowed her eyes and studied the man.

The first thing she noticed was his expressive blue eyes. They were much brighter than Jade's, and she envied him that they were so intimidating. He was quite handsome━okay, totally gorgeous, but.... yet there was something behind those eyes, a note of danger, something that kept Jade from letting her guard down. He was quite tall, but that didn't matter much since Jade was 5'3 feet herself.

Her eyes turned to slits as she recognised few things.

His raven hair... that funeral meet bike boy attire....

She smirked, this evening just got better.

She hummed, taking a sip from her bourbon. "And a bourbon drinker. Color me impressed." he added, shooting up his eyebrows up and down, his smirk even wider.

"How do you know it's bourbon? Maybe it's ice tea." She asked, playfully suspicious.

He huffed, "Well, you can say I know my bourbon."

"Ah," She drawled. "So, an alcoholic, then."

"I prefer the term 'hard liquor connoisseur'." He winked.

Jade couldn't help it, she barked a laugh. "Fancy."

He just flashed his eyebrows up and down again and took a sip from his glass. "So, who's the miserable fellow that deserved a glass crack?"

"Hmm, bold of you to assume it's a man."

"Wasn't it?" He asked, intrigued.

She pursed her lips, "Well, it's actually two men and two women."

He looked a bit taken back and studied her with an impressed look. "Aren't you a busy one?"

"Aren't you a nosy one?"

"Nope, I'm Damon." He grinned. She froze. So that's the bastard.

She quickly collected herself, hoping he missed it. He didn't though, and gave her a puzzled look.

"Well, Damon. I have a question for you." He looked at her, the amusement was gone from her eyes, her hand now held the fork firmly, her jaw clenched.

"Yes, I'm free tommorow night." He drawled and rolled his eyes in playful, mocking manner, hoping to get back to the flirting, but he had a feeling that's over now. He knows from autopsy that women who react this way to his name do not bring anything good.

She gave him a sweet smile, that kinda creeped him out. He turned away and grabbed his glass.

"And were you free yesterday? Sometime at midnight, at Mystic Falls Hospital? More specifically, in Caroline Forbes' operating room?" She mused, burning a hole at the side of his face.

His hand, which had been holding the glass to take a sip, stopped at his mouth. He blinked and slowly turned his head toward the girl. His desire to flirt was gone, as was the friendly atmosphere around them. He looked at her from top to bottom, wondering who the hell she was and how she had somehow noticed him last night.

He connected their gaze and reciprocated the disturbing smile. After all, he invented it, duh.

"Well, well, well. I think you're the nosy one here." He said, bringing his face closer to the mysterious woman. She dropped her smile, not so cocky now, huh?

He studied her eyes, which were dark blue, reminding him of the color of the ocean storm. He couldn't push away the thought that he had seen such a color somewhere before. But this is not the time for that.

"What. Were. You doing. Inside. Her. Room?" She spat through gritted teeth, not backing down. If he thinks that's all he had to do to intimidate her, he had an another thing coming. She inched her face closer to his.

Damon tilted his head and side-smirked, somewhat impressed by the girl's courage. Had it been different circumstances, he would have even been a little turned on.

"Oh, Barbie." He purred in a fake charming voice. "Unfortunately, I don't know what you're talking about. Or maybe I do know?" He mocked a gasp. "Sometimes I like to hang out in hospitals." He didn't know what the hell he was saying, but it got the other girl riled up and it was fun, so he continued. "You know, a lot of helpless girls━"

Suddenly, the only thing that escaped from his mouth was a painful hiss. He looked at the source of his pain and saw a fork sticking out of his hand. He poked his angry eyes into the blond woman, amusement completely dropping his body. Did she know he was a vampire? Or she's simply crazy? He was already about to say something when she let out a dark chuckle.

"Defenseless girls, hm? Now listen to me very well, Salvatore." She spat out his name like venom. He looked at her with narrowed eyes, surprised that she knows his last name. "Approach any woman again without their consent, and the only thing you will see before your miserable death will be me." Her face was a few inches from his, her hand continuing to firmly drive the fork into his palm.

"Or maybe it won't be miserable. I'll drag it out for so long, and it will be so painful, that Satan himself will look away."

He just laughed in her face.

"Oh, don't teach me about misery, it's kinda my thing. Your cute, little threats sound like they are driven by something. Something personal, maybe?" He smirked, and she joined the expression.

"I know what you did to Caroline, you perverted fuck." The fork was even deeper now.

"That's funny, because I didn't do anything to her. And if I did, nobody would know, including her." With that in the air, he pulled the fork out from his hand.

She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. Did he just said that he would drug her? This little scumbag, piece of shit━

She was about to hit his head on the counter, but froze when she saw the wound stitching itself back together.

"What the fuck?" She mumbled, wide eyes not leaving his perfectly healthy hand.

"Oh, yeah. You can't do shit to me, Harley Quinn. Can you see now why it was so funny?" He gave her an amused look, and took a sip from his glass. Jade just stared at him in shock. Is she fucking seeing things again?

"I would very much like to continue this heated exchange we had, I'll admit, you're pretty hot and crazy, my favorite mix I must say. But, I have to go piss off my brother and his cute little girlfriend." With that, he downed his drink and turned to the girl.

"Wha━" He caught her chin, forcing eye contact. She shrugged his fingers off, pushing him away. "Get your fucking filthy paws off m━"

She froze, her body completely refusing to obey, her hands slipping from stopping his own. She stared into his mesmerizing eyes as if in a trance, unable to tear herself away from them. What the fuck is going on?

"Would you chill? Jeez." He pursed his lips. "You never saw me in the hospital, you never found out what happened between me and Caroline, fuck knows how you even know about it, I was never here, you came in for a drink, you had a good time."

"You were never here... I've never found out... I came for a drink..." 

He smirked and caressed her cheek with his thumb. "Good girl." He muttered and threw some money at the bar counter. "See ya, Harley Quinn." He winked and walked out from the Grill.

She blinks.

She shaked her head, that felt like a migraine coming in. She looked at her watch━04:52 p.m

"Huh?" She whispered.

Her eyes looked at the watch in disbelief and bewilderment. What?

She could have sworn it was 04:16 a moment ago.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Jade strolled through the dark streets of Mystic Falls. The sun had long since set, and the town noise had long since quieted. She balanced on the curb of the sidewalk with a lit cigarette in her mouth and headphones on. She didn't want to go home yet, a little tipsy after her little testing of strong spirits at the Grill. She came up with one idea, one very stupid idea.

Namely to visit the old Fell house. After a few moments, she concluded that she would need even more alcohol in her veins.

Since she arrived in Mystic Falls, she has been constantly battling thoughts of Vicki in her head. All the while talking to someone, she fights with herself whether to ask about her or keep her mouth shut. However, Ms. Overthink wins every time, whispering that Vicki totally doesn't give a shit about her and that she should give up. And then Mr. Brain tells her that it's a little strange that she hasn't seen the girl anywhere, nor has anyone breathed a word of her. And then Ms. Overthink comes back and reminds her what Jade did five years ago, and why no one wants to bring up the subject of the Donovan girl.

She mentally groans and rests her body on the street lamp. She was about to continue her aimless walk when she noticed a colorful flyer.

A carnival at Mystic Falls High School? Huh.

She sighed, taking a drag from her cigarette, thinking about the idea.

"That's even worst than Fell's house." She mumbled.

She studied the flyer for a minute and groaned. "Oh, fuck it."

She turned on her heels and started walking toward her new destination. She smiled when she heard the first notes of Teenagers by My Chemical Romance playing in her headphones.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"Ew." She side-eyed the couple that━she thought━was about to swallow themselves on the bench.

Jade always wondered who the fuck bothered to organize all these events in Mystic Falls. Founders Day, Miss Mystic Falls, all the fucking high school dances and charity fundraisers. Where do they get the money for all this, and who's doing it? The conundrum of a lifetime.

And still on such a scale! Jade was currently surrounded by a multitude of merry-go-rounds, carousels, rollercoasters━ wait.

━is this a fucking Ferris wheel?

She won't even question it.

She strolled by the entrance to her former school, taking in the multitude of colors, the smell of popcorn and sweaty people. Ew.

Well, she has to admit that each of these events always comes out phenomenal. There were twinkling lights flashing everywhere, rainbow coloured balloons, those cliché competitions to win the other half a dorky teddy bear, music and laughter were flowing through her ears.

She took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself to enter the school.

After repeating a few convincing sentences full of curses to herself, she walked through the door. She took a moment to wonder if it was by chance more colorful in here than outside. Each of the lockers were decorated with some kind of rainbow trinkets, Christmas lights blew up on the ceiling, and the floor looked like a unicorn had puked on it.

She took a few steps and stopped at one particular locker. She ran her fingers over it, picking off some pink tissue paper. Engraved on it, in the bottom corner, was a small "J.F". She smiled.

Continuing her lazy stroll through the hallway and passing a million of excited teenagers, she saw what looked like trials for the Fight Club. A group of pumped up teenagers circled a small table with currently two boys arm wrestling. Boys will be boys, she thought. She leaned against the lockers and watched the dick measuring contest.

After a few moments, she squinted, watching one particular schoolboy. Although it wasn't a schoolboy, it was━

"Mason fucking Lockwood!" She exclaimed, pushing herself off the lockers and walking to the wannabe Fight Club boys. They all turned their heads. She had a broad smile on her face, unbelievably shaking her head at the same time.

She and the elder Lockwood didn't get along at the beginning of high school, but when drugs came into play, Mason turned out to be a pretty cool guy. He shattered Jade's stereotype that all Lockwoods have a stick up their asses the moment he danced on a table with her at one of the high school parties. Or poured shots straight into her mouth. Or there was still the moment when they both turn into Ms. Williams' art class high as a kite from the earlier smoked pot and both got an A when they turned in their work. What poor Ms. Wiliams didn't know, was that their abstract scribbles represented what they were actually seeing at the time.

"When did you get released from prison?" She chirped cheekily, tilting her head.

Mason laughed out loud, shaking his head. It was a sight he definitely did not expect. "And who did you bribe for a pass from the insane asylum?" He grinned.

She shrugged her shoulders and the two former acquaintances fell into an embrace.

"I have to ask" He breathed, pulling from the hug. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

She chuckled and shrugged once again. "You know how much I love this shithole town, why wouldn't I not come back here?"

He smirked in response. "Of course, of course." He replied, totally unconvinced.

"And what the fuck are you doing here? Aren't you cosplaying a surfer or something like that?"

He chuckled. "I initially came for the funeral of my beloved brother, but I decided to stay a while longer, bonding with my nephew, you know." He pointed with his thumb at Tyler, who continued to stand at the table, avoiding Jade with his eyes. "Have you two met?"

Jade's lips formed a smirk wide enough, that should split her face in half. "Oh I know him, altough I think he knows my right hook better." She winked at already annoyed Tyler and the boy rolled his eyes.

"Oh-oh." Mason turned to his nephew. "You don't want to get on her bad side, Ty." He warned.

"Trust me, I know. Once as we sat together in history class, Jade was writing the fifth page of her notes━god knows about what, because the lesson wasn't that interesting━but anyway. I kept trying to talk to her, 'cause I was bored as hell, and at one point, Jade told me to 'politely fuck off' and the teacher got pissed━and it was Jade who got the detention, not me." He recounted the glory days with a grin.

"As a result, my food was poisoned for two weeks. Teachers thought I had the stomach flu." He let out a laugh. Jade shrugged her shoulders. "It's true." She chimed innocently. "Totally deserved, though."

As the two old friends were catching up on their lives, they failed to notice the two men who were watching them intently.

"Still obsessing over the mysterious uncle?" questioned Stefan, side-eyeing his brother with crossed arms.

"Yeah... but..." Damon trailed off, focusing on the blond woman, who laughed at something Lockwood said.

"But what?" Stefan tore his gaze from Mason, and looked at the side of Damon's face with a raised eyebrow.

Damon was quiet for a few seconds, tilting and retilting his head, like a animal stalking its prey.

"Who the hell is Barbie 2.0?" He narrowed his eyes, leaving the question out on the open.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Jade stood outside, leaning against the walls of her former school, holding her velour jacket in the bend of her arm. She reached into her pocket and pulled out one of her Marlboro Golds, put it between her dark red lips and lit it. Taking a deep drag, she started to reflect on her time as a student here. Dangerous route, but that is what she was, a self destructing thrill seaker.

She recalled when she was a Freshman with Vicki and the girls kept sniffing glue in Ms. Williams' class and snorted at the thought. They were such little shits throughout high school, but Jade always had to be careful, not drawing too much attention to herself. This was one of the reasons why she was so upset with Mason about the whole detention situation. She remembers how afraid she was to go home that day, expecting father's punishment as soon as she stepped over the threshold of the house.

The Forbes woman also remembers hiding in the girls' bathroom and doing coke to preserve at least some of her sanity to get through class. It also fueled her thinking, which resulted in better grades, so two birds with one stone or whatever.

She also remembers how low her self-esteem was at the time. She was constantly trying to be the best, but not for herself. For her father. That was the most important thing at the time━to not let her father down. Because letting him down was linked to punishment, and that was something Jade didn't want to experience anymore. Of course, it never went away, it even intensified, because the older she got, the more she could endure. A twisted version of the cat and mouse game.

But Vicki helped, having shown her since elementary school that she didn't have to pretend to be anyone, at least for her. Her fucking sister from another mother and she thew her aside like a god damn rag doll━

She was forced to stop her self-destructive train of thought when she heard screams. But not just any screams. The same screams that were directed at her just a few hours ago. The screams of Caroline Forbes.

"Get away from me! You killed me!"

"NO! Then why did she looked like you?!"

The. Fuck?

Jade threw her half-burned cigarette on the ground without bothering to put it out and ran toward the screams.

She did not have to run far, and the view she encountered━how would you say it━made her stop fucking dead in her tracks. With wide eyes, she saw her sister screaming bloody murder, while throwing her hands in the air. Is that fucking blood on her face? Next to her stood Elena Gilbert, of course. Why is it that when there's trouble she's always here? There was a brown-haired man hanging on her shoulder, and all three of them were shouting something to another guy who was standing a little farther away with... is this a fucking wooden stake?

"She will die. It's only a matter of time." Mr. Bad Boy stated, the other two started to shout something, but Jade muted them out.

She will... excuse you, fucker?

Mr. Funeral began to approach Caroline with a determined look, a wooden stake prepared to attack.

Ohhhh, not on my watch, you little shit.

"I don't think I caught that, could you repeat? She will what?" Jade revealed herself from behind her wall, taking lazy steps toward the dark-haired man.

He grunted, rolling his eyes. "Why are you everywhere?"

Jade chuckled darkly. "I'm like cockroach. Can't help it." She shrugged her shoulders. Her mind repeating his words, he saw her somewhere? Well, now's not the time to dwell on that.

"Jade, get away━" Caroline tried.

"You" Jade pointed to her sister. "Shut up. We'll talk at home why you're looking like a wannabe Edward Cullen."

"Uh, at home...?" Stefan muttered mostly to himself. Elena poked him, giving him 'I'll tell you later' look.

"As lovely is to see Harley Quinn again" Jade furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Barbie over there is going to die, like it or not." Damon ignored the other woman and turned to his brother.

"Remember the tragic story of a girl named Vicki Donovan?" Caroline winced, Jade froze like a fucking ice sculpture.

"What did you say?" She breathed, not wanting to believe what he was insinuating.

She's dead?

"What?" Damon let out, already being evaporated, not knowing the issue. He pushed his head in Jade's direction and scrunched his face in confusion.

She's deadShe's deadShe's deadShe's deadShe's deadShe's deadShe's deadShe━

"What. The fuck. Did you. Say?" Jade spat through gritted teeth, taking another few steps towards the blue-eyed man.

Dead.

Damon rolled his eyes. "Not now, Blondie. I have a Barbie to kill." He pushed past the girl, wraping his fingers tighter on the stake. Stefan and Elena got closer to Caroline, pushing her behind them.

Dead.

"Oh, I don't think so." She whispered to herself, taking a step back towards the man and throwing her jacked to the ground.

She grabbed him by the collar of his leather jacket and yanked him backwards, putting one of her heels on the back of his feet, which resulted in him welcoming the ground.

"Jade, no!" Elena shouted.

"You've got spunk, huh?" Damon muttered and began to gather himself back to the standing position.

I have a Barbie to kill.

Although Jade did not give him the opportunity to do so, gifting him with a strong kick to the chest, her stiletto heels tearing through his shirt as well as the top layer of his skin.

"Among other things."

Like a fucking vendetta.

Damon pushed her leg aside and sprang to his feet, dashing forward. Lifting his hands off the ground he reached out to Jade's jaw to join their gaze to compel the crazy bitch. Jade jerked a stiff thumb, hitting Damon's eye with a sharp black nail. The raven haired man hissed in pain, and covered his bleeding eye with the back of his hand.

He let out a dark, humorless chuckle. "You're more than Harley Quinn that I thought."

Vicki's dead.

"Go fucking figure." She said darkly, narrowing her furious eyes at the man.

"Hmm." He raised his hand to his face and began knocking on his chin, his eyes turned to the sky. "Okay." He shrugged.

And then, faster than Jade or any human could register, he stood a few inches beside her and firmly clamped his gnarled hand around her neck, lifting the girl off the ground. Then, the observers chimed in like a choir.

"Damon!"

"Damon, stop! Please!"

"Oh my god, Jade!"

"Any last words, hmm?" He tilted his head. She stayed quiet, trying to control her breathing. So that's Damon, huh? Oh, she's gonna enjoy this. "Hm, send my regards to Joker then." He smirked. She smirked too.

Jade, wasting no time, quickly clamped her right hand on his outstretched arm, using his body weight and their height difference for her benefit, and threw her body over Damon's, resulting in her landing with her legs on his shoulders.

She started pounding on his head with her forearms, when Damon threw away the stake, shrugged her off his shoulders in one motion and pressed her to the ground. His right hand returned to its former place━on Jade's airways.

"Look, no hard feelings here. I don't want to hurt you, but you're beginning to be a real pain in the ass."

She smiled, trying to keep it together. His hand was firmer this time, much more... life threating, you can say.

"Bummer." She spat, her jaw clenched. "But I sure as hell want to hurt you."

With that said, she untied her legs from Damon's shoulders and placed them on his chest, summoning all her strength and pushed him backwards. As an annoyed Damon layed on the ground, Jade tried to return to a standing position. However, she stumbled a bit and turned her eyes to her shoes. An exasperated grunt erupted from her lips.

"You broke my fucking heel!" She exclaimed and threw her stilletos aside, leaving the broken heel tight in her palm.

Damon looked at his brother and Elena with disbelieving eyes. "Who the hell is this crazy woman?" 

"That's Carolin━" Elena tried.

"Your worst fucking nightmare if you take one more step towards Dracula over there." She began to quickly approach him and reached one of her hands to pound his head on the ground.

He didn't gave her a chance though, grabbing her outstretched arm and jolting her towards him, resulting in her laying on top of his chest. He switched their position in a flash, her mind not comprehanding the movement. What the fuck was that? She looks at him wide eyed.

He grabs her by the throat again━Is this his fucking kink or what? ━and slams her skull against the cold ground. She lets out a painful shriek, and stabs him in the top part of his ribs, near his heart. That's what Marcel kept telling her in their training━always aim for the heart.

Damon screamed in pain and Elena let out a shocked gasp. Stefan was at their side in a flash.

What is happening? She took her meds in the morning, so it's not it.

Stefan yanked his brother off of Jade and kept him in his grasp to stop him from killing the blonde woman.

"Compel the Nutjob Barbie, Stefan, or I swear I'll kill her in the next five seconds."

Jade turned her head at her little sister and she looked as lost as she was right now.

"Compel... what?" She breathed to herself, pushing herself off the ground.

Stefan threw his brother to the ground and began walking slowly towards Jade. The girl immediately responded by changing her position into one for fighting.

"I'm not going to hurt you, okay? And nobody's hurting Caroline either. I'm giving you my word." He assured, taking sneak steps towards the woman.

"Your word means shit to me, actually. Who the hell are you, anyway?" She tilted her head to wipe some of the blood of the back of her head.

He faltered a little, smelling the blood. "I'm Stefan, I'm Elena's boyfriend. Caroline just, uh, got herself into some... trouble today, nobody is hurting her, okay?" He approached her like someone would a wild animal with rabies.

"Yeah, sure. And was what that with Funeral Guy and the stake?" She questions, wary of the man.

Suddenly, he grabbed Jade's hand and pulled her to him. She immidiately started to pull back, but when he caught her gaze, his pupils dilated, releasing the power of compulsion.

She stopped dead in her tracks, her body disobeying her brain. She felt like in a hypnosis. What the fuck is going on?

"You didn't see me, or Elena, or Damon, or Caroline here. You were at the carnival and had a good time. Now, you'll go home and you won't remember what happened here."

"I didn't see you... I was at the carnival... I won't remember..." She repeated in a trance.

He was about to flash away from the woman, when he remembered something.

He connected his gaze with Jade's and added.

"And you'll forget about Damon's words about Vicki."

She blinked, lost in his forest green eyes. She blinked again and she was alone.

"Where the fuck are my shoes?"

a/n: jade's ring from marcel is the one on the headline of the chapter ^__^

muah