CHAPTER EIGHT. You're Undead To Me

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SEXY SUDS CARWASH was swarming with teenagers in swimsuits. Hazel Greenwood walked through it, raising a brow. "Surely this isn't high school appropriate." She said lowly, keeping her thin sweatshirt zipped up over her own swimsuit.

      Her step-brother, Mikey, chuckled as he looked around. "Nope. But who cares?" He said as he peeled off his tank top, walking away. Hazel scrunched her face, watching as a couple classmates look him up and down.

     "I'm telling my therapist about this." She muttered, turning to face Bonnie Bennett. "I'm disgusted."

     "Well, clean up your disgust with a towel," Bonnie said as she tossed the redhead an extra rag. "And help us dry off this car. And take off the sweatshirt before Caroline comes over here and rips it off."

     Hazel groaned in dismay, unzipping her hoodie. She felt more naked than she'd like, even if she was just in a black swimsuit top and denim shorts. She kept her hair down, feeling a little more covered. She took the rag, smiling at Matt Donovan as the three of them started wiping down a black car.

     Sadie McCullough walked onto the school parking lot, looking around. She was in an army-green bikini and black shorts, her hair in two braids. She rounded the corner. She heard the music blaring from the speakers. She could see Stefan and Elena at the tables washing a car. She walked closer to the car where she saw Hazel and Bonnie, her gaze moving towards a gloomy Matt.

     "Oh, no." Sadie laughed lowly, shaking her head as she waved a finger. "None of that tortured pining stuff."

     Matt looks at her, attempting to smile, "I'm just observing." He excuses.

     "I know that look," Hazel called out, causing him to look at her now. "That's the woe is me, my heart is broken, and I may never move on look." She waved her towel over her head dramatically.

     "Hazel's a professional." Sadie teased, earning a glare from her best friend. Hazel whipped the towel towards Sadie, who squealed and laughed.

     Bonnie giggled in amusement, looking at another classmate "Oh! Tiki, this one's yours." She called out.

     A girl in a patterned bikini scoffs, "Why do I always get the homely-os?" She turns her head, narrowing her eyes at the younger guy with an old red car. "Just to be clear, your car's a POS. I mean, we can wash it, but it's still a POS."

     "You don't have to be rude."

     "Rude is uglying up the road with that junk." Tiki snarks. Bonnie and Matt share eye contact.

     Hazel looked over with a frown. "She's a raging bitch." Hazel muttered. She and Sadie shared looks. Both of them felt the same way.

     As Tiki focuses on the car wash bucket, Bonnie is glaring at her from the car. Bonnie's eyes travel to the bucket, her anger rising. Suddenly, the water splashes up at Tiki, covering the girl in hot, soapy water. Tiki screams as she jumps back. She seems unable to control the hose, and water splashes everywhere and all over her.

     The two best friends turn around, their mouths hanging open as they try to hold back their smiles. Matt is rushing to help the girl, laughing as he does. "Wet and wild, Tiki." He teases. Sadie and Hazel elbow each other, giggling softly.

     "Karma," Hazel sing-songs. The two girls turn back to the car, focusing on it more. Mikey Manson looks over from another car, trying to hide a smirk. He looks away again and waves at a lady in the next car. Hazel looked at Bonnie, seeing the girl looking almost alarmed. She leaned against the car, raising a brow. "Bon, is everything okay?"

     Bonnie looked over, her eyes lighting up in recognition. "Sorry," She whispered, shaking her head as if that would clear her thoughts. "I've just, um, been having a weird couple of days." She muttered.

     Sadie scoffs, nodding. "I feel you." She said as she looked over her shoulder. She knew he was staring. It was as if he was waiting for the right moment to say something to her. Their eyes met, and Sadie struggled for a moment before looking away. She felt her cheeks warm up, and she moved her focus back to the car.

     Hazel looked around, "Why is the news guy here?" She asked with a frown. She watched as a local news van was parked in the lot, and standing nearby was Logan Fell, talking to a camera.

     "Probably to report on teenage girls washing cars in bikinis." Sadie teased.

      "Hey, snack buddy," The two girls turned around to see Matt. He was looking at Hazel, using the nickname they had for each other a couple of years ago "I just gave Tiki our last towel. Can you grab some more from Caroline?"

     "Sure, Matty," Hazel chirped, patting the car. "Don't miss me too much, y'all!" She saluted, winking at her friends as she turned and started walking towards the table where Caroline was sitting.

     Sadie smiled, looking over. "Is it weird? Talking to Hazel and I outside of the world of snacks and high school?" She chimed.

     Matt raised a brow. "I talk to you," He asked.

     "Because Tyler's my cousin." Sadie deadpanned. "A few months ago, Hazel would have refused to even associate with you. Popular, athletic, lots of friends, parties, it overwhelms her and grosses her out."

     "She's chill." Matt said simply, "She only talks to me because she's friends with Elena and Bonnie now."

     Sadie shrugged. "Sure. But still, funny how fast things change." She said almost more to herself than Matt, turning around and looking at Mikey. This time, he didn't see her. He was busy laughing with another football player, towel over his shoulder. She clenched her jaw, her eyes soft in longing.

     Hazel walked up to the table as Caroline stood up from it. "Hey, we need some more-"

     "Already on it." Caroline deadpanned, continuing to walk in the direction of the school. Hazel watched her, opening her mouth in confusion before clamping it shut.

     "I already beat you to it," Elena teased, sitting at the table now. "We are now on money duty." She clapped her hands on the surface, looking up.

     Hazel walked around the table, taking Caroline's chair next to Elena. "You're gonna have to take the lead on this. I can't count change." Hazel said with a smile.

     "How's Sadie?" Elena asked as she looked over. "Have you two talked about it?" She looked in the direction of Mikey Manson, who was oblivious.

     The redhead sighed, shaking her head. "She's in denial. But, unfortunately for her, I know her better than she does, and I know my stepbrother. He's into her, she doesn't know how to feel."

     "But?"

     "But she totally likes him too," Hazel said with a pursed smile.

     Elena looked down, "Maybe it's not a bad thing." She started taking money from a customer, counting out the extra dollars. "It's weird, but if they're happy, isn't that what matters?"

     Hazel scrunched her face. "Does it have to be together?" She muttered.

     The brunette smiled, looking up. "That'll be $20," She said before recognizing the man at the table. It was an older man. "I saw you last night." She blurted. Hazel looked over, confused. "You were talking to a friend of mine. At the grill?"

     The man looked to the side, in thought. "Well, I thought it was somebody I knew." He told her.

     "Stefan Salvatore."

     "Nah, it can't be, it's, it's just my mind playing tricks on me." The man explained to the girl.

     Elena had her hands clasped in front of her. "Where do you think you'd seen him before?" She asked.

     Hazel looked back up at the man. "When I first moved here I stayed at the Salvatore Boarding House. Stefan was just passing through to visit his uncle. I mean, none of us knew he was even here until the attack." He explained to them both.

     "The attack?" Asked Hazel.

     "His uncle got killed." The man said. Hazel held her breath as he listened to him explain more. "Mauled by an animal in the woods."

     Elena looked at Hazel, who had an almost scared look. "His uncle, Zach?" Elena asked, smiling awkwardly.

     He shook his head. "Joseph."

     Hazel tilted her head to the side. "I'm sorry, sir. I don't think I'm familiar with the story." Elena told him. Hazel sat up straight, looking around.

     "Well, how could you? I mean, this happened years ago."

     Suddenly, Tiki walks up to the man. "Grandpa, you gotta go. Mom wants you home, okay?"

     Hazel stands up, following after the man whilst Elena speaks to Tiki, and rushes. "Sir, wait," Hazel stops him, looking at him in confusion. "Are you sure that the man you saw, the man you knew, his name was Stefan Salvatore?" Elena came up from behind her.

     "Yes. I remember his ring and his brother." His words sent chills over Hazel's spine.

     "Damon?"

     "Yeah." Tiki's grandfather nodded. "Stefan and Damon Salvatore."

     Elena shifted back, "When was this?"

     "It was," The man trailed off in thought. "June, 1953." Hazel sucked in a breath as she looked at him. He nodded as he confirmed his thoughts. 1953 was a long time ago. Too long for Stefan to even be alive, let alone be old enough that Tiki's grandpa would know him.

     As he walked away, Elena and Hazel turned to each other. "I'm confused." Elena blurted.

     Hazel crossed her arms. "No kidding. How could he have met Stefan over fifty years ago?" She asked.

     "Maybe it's a family name." Elena blurted. "Like, he's Stefan the sixth, or something."

     Hazel shrugged. "And the entire he looks just like Stefan from the fifties?" She asked with a frown.

     Elena nods. "You're right. Somethings not right."

     As the Gilbert girl moved to walk away, Hazel grabbed her wrist. "Lena, wait," She muttered, causing the brunette to turn around. "He said that the Stefan he knew he met right after Joseph Salvatore was killed by an animal. The day we met Stefan was the day after that couple got attacked."

     "Hazel, what are you—"

     "Ask Stefan if there's any other Salvatore's. In Mystic Falls, anywhere. I'm going to make a plan." Hazel said, moving to walk around Elena. Confused, Elena stutters as she watches the redhead walk away. Her mind was buzzing, and yet no words came out as she tried to rationalize anything.

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SHE SMILED AS SHE WAVED, saying goodbye to a random customer as they drove off in their freshly washed car. Sadie sighed, putting her hands in her back pockets as she looked around. Her braids had gotten damp at the ends from water, and her skin was pruning from how long she'd been doing this. It was time for a break, she decided, walking through the rows of cars, tables, and classmates in swimwear as she got to a table of waters and snacks. She grabbed a bottle of water, cracking the lid open and taking large sips.

     "Hey,"

     She opened her eyes, making eye contact with Mikey. She nearly choked, tilting her head back down as she swallowed awkwardly. She looked at him, "This is getting stalkery." She said with a teasing smile.

     "Is it?" He asked. Sadie hummed, nodding. "I thought it was you avoiding me after the Founders Party."

     Her mouth hung open. She blinked at him, faltering. She smiled, laughing awkwardly. "What?" She drew out the word, her voice becoming pitchy. "No," She scoffed, drawing out that word as well.

     "Oh yeah? Then why didn't you come running to my car to grab Hazel like you usually do? And why did you avoid eye contact with me the entirety of lunch yesterday? And why are you turning red?"

     Sadie narrowed her eyes, "You guys got here before I did. I avoided eye contact cause your food smelled bad. And I'm turning red cause of the sun." Sadie listed off as she pointed up at the sky. "It's called a sunburn."

     "You haven't gotten sunburned since we were thirteen." He counters, causing Sadie to groan in frustration. He's amused. He smirks at her. She started to hate that smirk. "You forget that I know you, Sadie."

     Those words felt both oddly romantic and oddly threatening. Either way, Sadie's heart surely malfunctioned. She opened her mouth to say something, but Mikey was already walking away. Her eyes softened, watching him head back to the rows of cars. Her shoulders slouched as she watched him, unsure what to say.

     "Code red! Code red!"

     Sadie spun around as Hazel came barreling towards her. The brunette stuck out her arms, grunting out in surprise as her best friend tumbles into her. The two of them take multiple steps backwards, Sadie cursing under her breath as she stabled them both.

     "What are you doing!?" Sadie exclaimed, looking at the redhead girl in front of her.

     Hazel huffed out, pushing her hair back as she leaned forward, her hands on her knees. "Stefan. 1953." She panted.

     "What?"

     The Greenwood stuck out a finger, trying to catch her breath as her friend stood there. Sadie narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms. Hazel stood up straight, rolling her shoulders to fix her posture. "I guess Elena and Stefan ran into this guy, and the guy recognized Stefan. But he didn't just recognize him, this guy claimed to know Stefan and Damon back in 1953 after their uncle Joseph died in an animal attack." She listed off, waving her arms as she spoke. "And Elena is asking Stefan if there's been other Salvatore's and such here in Mystic Falls, I called my dad and he said he was going to leave the library keys at the grill with Sam so we can look at old news paper articles, and we need to go. Like, now."

     Sadie's eyes were wide. She felt like her mind was stuttering, short circuiting. She started shaking her head, "Wait, what?" Was all she could muster out. "1953? Are you kidding?"

     "Nope." Hazel popped the p, giving a wild smile. "So, unless there's been three sets of Stefan and Damon Salvatore's in Mystic Falls, this is weird, suspicious, and we are going find out what the hell is going on."

     Sadie nods, "Okay, let's go. I have my tank top in my car, I'll drive." She says as they turn towards the parking lot. Elena turns away from Logan Fell and Jenna Sommers, smiling awkwardly as she runs over.

     "Did you tell her?" Elena asks. Hazel nods. "Logan said anything the news station has the library does. Stefan said there's no other family here, and everyone just spread out." She quoted with annoyance at the vagueness of it all. "Come on. Let's get out of here before anyone notices we ditched." Hazel grabbed her zip up, jogging the three girls looking back to make sure Stefan wasn't looking before heading to Sadie and Elena's cars.

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ELENA FOLLOWED HAZEL, pushing open the doors to behind the library front desks. Behind a door, was a large office. It had bookshelves, file cabinets, a disorganized desk, even a small couch. In the back left corner, there was a door.

     "I've never been back here." Elena says, looking at the office. "Are the archives in here?"

     Hazel shook her head. "Not the originals. They're in the basement." She gestured to the door in the corner. "Just about anything will be down there. Dad digitized all of the news archives a year or two ago, with the help of the News Station. So, we should be able to pull up any remote footage. And Dad should have the original printed articles, we're just not allowed down there." She sat at the desk chair, logging into the computer.

     Sadie closed the office door, Elena pulling up the extra chair that was always next to the desk. It was usually Hazel's chair. "Why not?" She asked.

     "A lot of its important historical documents. He doesn't want anyone messing with them, damaging them, stuff like that." Hazel explained as she pulled up a database for WPKW9. "So, this is the news records. If there's anything about an incident at the Salvatore Boarding House, it'll be here."

     Elena looked back at Sadie, who had put on a charcoal-gray tank top in the car. Sadie was standing behind their chairs, looking unsure. "It'll probably be nothing. The guys old, right? Could just be memory problems. Dementia, I don't know." Sadie reasoned, trying to give the option that whatever this was, wasn't anything strange.

     The Gilbert exhaled through her nose, "Type in Joseph Salvatore and animal attack." She told the girl at the computer. Hazel nodded, typing away.

     It takes a moment, but a singular match pops up. "It's an old news clip. June 12, 1953." Hazel says, looking back at Sadie. "That's what Tiki's grandfather said."

     "Click on it." Sadie ushered.

     When Hazel clicks on the match, an old black and white clip starts to roll. Franklin Fell, clearly a relative to Logan, stands in front of the Salvatore Boarding House. He was reporting an animal attack.

     The three girls fall into a silence as Franklin tells the camera man to get closer to the bodies. Hazel sucked in a breath, her eyes watching an old gurney being whisked by. It was true, someone had died at that house. Joseph Salvatore.

     Franklin then looks at the camera again, as if asking for verification. "Is that the nephew?" The camera man then turns sharply to the front door, focusing in on a figure standing there.

     All three girls felt sick.

     "Can you zoom in?" Elena asked. Her voice was hoarse, quiet. Hazel rewinded a couple frames, zooming in. The three girls watched in an eerie silence as the face of Stefan Salvatore is staring back at them. There was no mistake. It was the exact same Stefan they had been with at the car wash, and the founders day party, and at school, and everywhere else in Mystic Falls. It had been over fifty years, and yet he looked the same in the clip as he did today.

     Hazel paused the video, and none of them were able to look away. Hazel scooted back in her chair, her mouth opening. No words could come out. Elena was frozen. Sadie was standing up straight, her hand covering her mouth as they all tried to let it sink in.

     "What does this mean?" Sadie asked, gesturing to the screen. "How does someone not age? How is Stefan sixty years old and not a day over seventeen?" She asked as she backed away.

     Hazel shook her head, "Animal attacks." Hazel said as she looked up. "Think about it. Caroline's bite marks looked like Vicki's, but not as brutal. I said that maybe it was Damon that attacked Vicki. Maybe I'm not wrong." She stood up slowly, "Damon and Stefan's are the ones causing all of these. Hell, who knows how many animal attacks there have been in this town?"

     "So what are you saying?" Sadie asked, frustrated. Hazel looked at her friend, a fearful, surprised look on her face as she almost can't believe what she's going to say.

     "Vampires."

     Sadie's entire body goes rigid. She can't comprehend what she's hearing. "How does that make sense? Have you lost your mind!?"

     The McCullough girl storms out of the office, her friends close behind. "Sadie, think about it!" Hazel exclaimed. "The bite marks, the animal attacks, people drained of blood, Vicki said it was a vampire, and a very obvious Stefan in 1953! What else would it be!?"

     "Vampires are not real, Hazel!" Sadie looked at her friend. "This is not a stupid book in this library, okay? This is real life. Real life means no vampires." She looked at the library, shaking her head. "I don't know what that was, okay? But that's not Stefan."

     Sadie stormed out of the library, leaving Hazel and Elena alone. The redhead girl's shoulders slouched as she looked back at the Gilbert. Elena hadn't said a word, her mind reeling. Hazel exhaled, shrugging her shoulders and letting her arms fall limp at her sides.

     "Elena?"

     Elena looked up, a lost look in her eye. She didn't know what to think. She wasn't a believer. People are born, they grow old, and then they die. That's the world we live in. There's no magic, no mysticism, no immortality. There is nothing that defies rational thought. People are supposed to be who they say they are and not lie or hide their true selves.

     It wasn't possible. She wasn't a believer. She couldn't be. But how could she, Hazel, or even Sadie deny what was right in front of them? Someone who never grows old. Never gets hurt. Someone who changes in ways that can't be explained. Girls bitten. Bodies drained of blood. Vicki Donovan saying vampire the night Hazel and Sadie found her in the woods.

     Elena's eyes were glossy, but she wasn't 100% scared. She was determined. She wanted answers. And she wanted them now.

     "We need to find Stefan."

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