"I do apologise again, for my appearance," Henrik murmured as the duo sat quietly in Elena Gilbert's car. "I am unaware of a way of change it. It hasn't ever been an issue before, given the fact that no one could see me."

Henrik's face was bloody, but not overly so. He had thick scratches, like claw marks, across the bridge of his nose and down his right cheek. This wasn't what bothered Lois. It was the horrific mess of Henrik's chest that scared her.

He caught her staring, despite her attempts to be subtle, "It appears in whatever I wear. I can change my clothes  every decade or so, perhaps a cruel way for the fates to keep me aware of the world continuing without me. The original tunic looked worse, trust me."

He wore a white (well, Lois guessed it was supposed to be white) dress shirt and suit trousers. His shoes were something that a business man would wear, not like the scuffed trainers Lois had.

"It's not casual attire, I am aware," Henrik smirked boyishly. "But as I cannot feel the clothes against my skin, nothing I wear is uncomfortable thus I chose something stylish..." He was quiet for a moment before adding, "It reminds me of my brother."

"You have a brother?" Lois found herself asking, before remembering the fact that Henrik had mentioned he had died a thousand years ago.

Henrik hummed, "Yes, he, in addition to my other siblings, are vampires. Much like those Salvatores that you have had the unfortunate pleasure of meeting."

Lois turned towards him abruptly, "Wait, so they really are vampires? I haven't gone mad?"

Henrik snorted, "Quite the opposite, sweetest. You seem to be the only one in town who has figured out the truth."

He paused for a moment, before cheekily adding, "With the aid of your little journal, I see."

Lois flushed in embarrassment, immediately growing defensive, "Hey! I don't know if they kept journals back in the olden days, but in modern times they are private things."

"Olden days?" Henrik gasped in mock hurt. "You wound me, darling. Besides, I did not really have a choice. I have been with you ever since your resuscitation back in the summer. It seems that only after your second drowning that you have been blessed with the gift of seeing me."

Lois scowled, "You are incredibly cheeky, you know?"

She chose to ignore his mention of her death and subsequent revival, in addition to her second drowning attempt courtesy of Damon Salvatore via what Lois later learned was called compulsion. It is what Damon Salvatore had tried to do to her sister to get her to kiss him. Thankfully, Stefan Salvatore had gifted Elena with vervain, which Henrik explained to be a rare poison against vampires created by witches to protect humans. It prevented Damon from being able to control Elena's mind.

"Vervain is best ingested," Henrik explained. "It makes your blood poisonous to vampires as well as preventing compulsion. However, it is rare that one has enough of a supply to afford daily ingestion - as vampires have sought to destroy its existence for centuries. Instead, it is more common to wear it in jewellery, such as that gifted to your sister."

"Elena seems destined to be entangled with these people, so it is best that she is protected out of all of us," Lois replied thoughtfully. "I will have to do some research to see if I can get some to protect Jeremy and Jenna."

"You are very protective of your family," Henrik mused.

"You are too." Lois replied.

"Quite, perhaps that is why fate has brought us together."

Silence fell over the vehicle as the two mulled over everything that had been discussed.

"Something is happening," Henrik spoke suddenly, motioning to the passenger side window Lois leant against. The window was open as the night air cooled the humid car, and Lois didn't want to drain Elena's car battery by having the AC running.

Peering out, Lois caught sight of both Damon and Stefan Salvatore close to the vehicle. Neither of them seemed to notice the human girl, which she was grateful for, both seemingly too caught up in their heated discussion. 

It was clapping that had brought Henrik's attention to the situation. Damon seemed to be taunting his brother.

"Not tonight. I'm done with you." Stefan spoke, his voice travelling in the still air, allowing Lois to hear them both clearly.

"Nice trick with Elena. Let me guess... vervain in the necklace?" Damon guessed, but he already knew the answer. "I admit, I was a bit surprised. It's been a while since anyone could resist my compulsion. Where'd you get it?"

"Does it matter?" Stefan retorted.

"Guess I could just seduce her the old-fashioned way. Or I could just... eat her." Damon threatened with a smirk.

Lois fought to hold in a gasp of horror as fear washed over her. How could he be so casual in the way he spoke of murder? She couldn't see the auras of vampires, due to their nature as undead beings, but she was able to tell that he was serious with regard to that threat.

"No. You're not gonna hurt her, Damon." Stefan said.

"No?"

"Because deep down inside, there is a part of you that feels for her. I was worried that you had no humanity left inside of you, that you may have actually become the monster that you pretend to be." Stefan began.

"Who's pretending?" Damon questioned.

"Then kill me." Stefan challenged.

"Well, I'm... I'm tempted." Damon muttered as if in deep thought.

"No, you're not. You've had lifetimes to do it, and yet, here I am. I'm still alive. And there you are. You're still haunting me. After 145 years. Katherine is dead. And you hate me because you loved her, and you torture me because you still do. And that, my brother, is your humanity." Stefan announced.

145 years?!

"Salvatore! What the hell? We've got a game to play!" Lois froze at the sound of Mr Tanner's voice. Alarm bells were going off in her head and her fight or flight instinct began to kick in.

"If that's my humanity... then what's this?" Damon growled, violently tearing out Mr Tanner's throat.

"Anyone, anytime, any place."

The sight of the blood and gore and Mr Tanner's corpse sent Lois reeling. She immediately threw open the passenger door to empty the contents of her stomach onto the parking lot asphalt, subconsciously figuring that Elena would not appreciate her vomiting in her car.

Feeling another wave of nausea hit her, she leant further out of the vehicle, practically falling onto the concrete on her hands and knees as her stomach heaved.

"Eloise! I know you are unwell, but you must be quiet! He will hear you!"

She couldn't stop though, tears springing into her eyes as she gasped out.

He'd killed him, Mr Tanner was dead.

Lois couldn't tell how much time had passed, it could have been minutes but it felt like days.

"Hello there, little Gilbert," a deep voice rang out above her.

Lois shakily tilted her head to meet the gaze of the blue-eyed vampire.

"Seems you have a habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I'll give you a fair chance this time, a head start, you could say. Run."

"W-what?" Lois croaked, her mind still swimming and nausea still racking through her body.

Damon blinked. He wanted to laugh at this girl's stupidity. Though, it did make for an entertaining hunt, he supposed. Crouching down to her level, catching her eyes with his own, he speaks slowly, "I said, run."

"He is not stable, Eloise. Run, please, run!" Henrik pleaded from somewhere behind her.

Lois was shell shocked, but felt her body move on its own accord. The compulsion setting in,  wrapping around and taking over her own conscious thoughts and will. Then she was running.

_____

AURA COLOUR CHART

red: energy, strength, anger, lust, passion, ego

orange: self control, ambition, thoughtfulness, courage

yellow: optimistic, happy, intellectual, naive

light green: peaceful, healing, compassion

dark green: deceitful, jealousy, moody

light blue: fear, indecisive, sensitive, skepticism

dark blue: spiritual, loyal, creative, kind

violet: wisdom, intuition, highly spiritual

indigo: benevolence, highly intuitive, seeker

pink: love, sincerity, friendship

grey: depression, sadness, exhaustion, low energy, skepticism

brown: greed, self-involvement, opinionated

black: lacking energy, illness, imminent death

white: perfect balance