IT WAS ANOTHER normal day at the Lockwood residence. Tyler was doing what a teenage boy does alone on a Friday afternoon. He invited his friend, Matt Donovan, and a few other people to play pool and drink Richard Lockwood's liquor that they stole from his cabinet.

It was the Lockwood boy's turn, and he grabbed the pool cue, lining it up with the white cue ball to make his shot. He pulled the stick back to build momentum, and just as he shoved it forward to hit the ball, the doorbell rang which caused him to miss, the cue knocking the side of the ball gently. The white sphere rolled slowly and steadily a few inches from where the stick had made contact with it.

Tyler groaned in embarrassment while some of the other guys laughed. The doorbell rang again, the sound echoing throughout the house, bouncing off walls and objects. 

The person at the door seemed to become annoyed, for they began incessantly and obnoxiously ringing the bell. The Lockwood boy got fed up, and when he realized his mother was not going to answer the door, he groaned.

"One sec, guys," he told the boys in the room, making his way towards the front door, pool cue still in hand. "I'm coming!" he yelled, hoping that whoever was on the other side of the door could hear him.

It seems they did because the ringing stopped. Once Tyler reached the door, he grasped the handle and swung it open, and what was staring back at him shocked him so much that he dropped the stick that he was holding.

There stood Charlotte Lockwood, his sister that had went to Florida to live with their Uncle unannounced. His mother had been worried out of her mind, especially since all Charlie had as a guardian was Mason. His father was convinced that she was never coming back, and Tyler figured that she just needed a break before she began high school. Or that their parents had actually shipped her off somewhere and were just pretending to be worried.

"Hello, Brother."

—

"So, you're back," Tyler observed awkwardly. His guests had left a few hours ago, a few minutes after Charlie showed up. The two siblings were sat in the living room. Their parents had gone to bed hours ago, but not before the youngest Lockwood got a "stern talking to" as they liked to cal it.

Charlie nodded, "Yep." They remained in silence for a few uncomfortable minutes before they both burst out laughing. This is what the siblings did. They very rarely had deep, meaningful conversations, and they never took anything very seriously, even though Charlie had matured slightly over the break. "You should have seen your face when you opened the door," the Lockwood girl laughed out, "It was priceless."

"I was shocked, okay?" Tyler defended, holding up his hands, "I wasn't sure you were coming back." 

Charlie sighed, responding, "I'd never leave you here alone, dude. I wouldn't make you deal with them all by yourself. Or leave them all by themselves to deal with you." She gestured upstairs to their parents' room. "You would die... and so would they. We all know that I'm the most responsible sibling."

Tyler scoffed, "Last time I checked, you were worse than me."

"Well, I've matured over the summer," she told him, "I've grown." Tyler looked at her like she had two heads which wasn't a rare look that she got from him.

He almost laughed before replying. "With Uncle Mason as you're only guardian? I'm surprised that you didn't get that much worse." The two chuckled at the thought of Uncle Mason trying to be a parent. Charlie did consume an alarming amount of goldfish and mac 'n' cheese while she was staying with her Uncle, but he taught her some very helpful things.

"Yeah, well, he tried his best," she smiled, letting out a yawn. "Well, I'm going to go to bed. Long journey." Tyler nodded as she stood up, looking after his little sister that had noticeably matured, most likely more than him.

He grabbed her arm for she left and said, "Hey, sis, I missed you." The words sounded weird coming out of his mouth. He was never really a sentimental person, none of the Lockwoods were.

The corner of Charlie's lips twitched up. "I missed you too, dude." She nodded at him one last time before heading up to bed.

☾⌑❄⌑☽

School. A type of imprisonment that only seems to apply to those who are currently enduring it. Parents can never understand the agony of being kept in the confines of a building where children are forced to listen to some of the most boring things that they will never use. It's like they were never kids.

So Charlie stood there in front of the tall school, contemplating whether she should skip or do the mature thing and go in. She was truly trying to turn herself around, but it was hard considering the dangers of going in there. 

She then heard a high-pitched scream come from behind her, and she was sure that someone was being attacked by something. The volume of the noise caused her to cover her ears quickly in hopes to stop the ringing in her head.

The Lockwood girl spun around just in time to see a clump of blonde hair flying towards her. Before she knew it, she was being embraced by the one and only Forbes girl. Charlie hadn't seen Caroline since before school ended last year. The older girl had sent her, like, five million texts the first week that she was gone.

"Can't...breathe," she choked out, and she could've sworn that she heard one of her ribs crack. "Bones...crushing."

"Sorry," the elder girl told her, releasing her, "I can't believe you didn't tell me you were back in town. I thought you had left me forever. Then Tyler would have to be my favorite Lockwood sibling, and it's Tyler we're talking about. He's nobody's favorite anything. And I would have no one to mentor. I'm your high school mentor. You can't leave me studentless. Why did you do this to me?"

Charlie was frozen, not knowing how to respond to any of that. "I wanted to go to Florida." Caroline rolled her eyes at her response before pulling the groaning brunette behind her into the school.

☾⌑❄⌑☽

"I'm going to go to the bathroom," Charlie told Caroline after the blonde had basically told her everything about the school during their free period. The Lockwood girl could probably give her own tour by now. Although she loved Caroline, she was desperate for a chance to breathe.

She was making her way to the back door that led to the stoner pit. Probably not the best place to get fresh air, but that was the last place that Caroline would look. She was almost to the door when someone rounded a corner and crashed into her.

The person grabbed her arms to steady her and keep her from falling. The collision wasn't the only thing nearly knocking her over. As soon as she made contact with the person, she was hit with a wave of bad energy. That sounds like some meditation person juju or whatever, but she just felt off. 

"I'm sorry," the boy said as Charlie looked up. He was very handsome with defined features on his face. "I'm Stefan. I'm new here."

Charlie responded, "I'm Charlie. I'm a freshman, so I guess I'm new here too." She laughed slightly, trying to get rid of the feeling that she had. She couldn't tell if it was from how horribly awkward she was being or something else. "Well, I hope to see you around some time."

"You too," he replied as Charlie pushed past him and out the door. She visibly shook away the feeling he gave her. 

Once she was out the door, she looked around, taking a deep breath before regretting it when she could taste the smoke in the air. It was pretty empty, so she walked over to a picnic table and laid down on the bench, dropped her bag on the ground, and stared at the sky.

Not much had changed since she got back. The sky was the same color, everyone acted the same, Tyler was still a douchebag. Nothing had changed. Except her. She had forgotten what it meant to be Charlotte Lockwood. She had to be social and popular. She had to put on a smile and act like everything was okay even though everybody knew that she killed her best friend. She had been getting weird stares all day.

She killed her friend. Poor Jenny had just had her heart broken and then Charlie had killed her. She was drunk. She knew that she wasn't supposed to drive. She knew that something bad might happen, but she still did it. It was her fault that Jenny was dead.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even notice the person that laid down on the other bench of the table. "Hey," Jeremy said.

Charlie flew off the bench, yelling as she stared at the boy on the table. "Dude! What the hell is wrong with you! You can't just do that!" She held her hand to her heart. Her reactions have been slightly heightened for the last couple of months.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," he told her. He way still on the bench, his bottom half hidden by the tabletop. "Didn't know you were so jumpy."

"I'm not," she sighed, laying back down on the seat and looking over at Jeremy on the other bench from under the table. "You just caught me at a weird time." She closed her eyes for a second before opening back up.

"Wanna talk about it?" the Gilbert boy asked. He sounded awkward saying it, not exactly being the 'wanna talk about it' type. When she shook her head, he held up his hands to reveal a cigarette in between his pointer and middle finger. "Wanna hit?"

After a moment of hesitation, she shook her head again. "Trying to turn myself around, you know?" She really was. After what happened, she vowed to try to be as responsible as she could. Things like what happened after the party have consequences, especially for someone like her.

He smiled, looking at her. "Is that why you're laying on a bench in the stoner pit?" he chuckled, causing her to let out a light laugh. After their laughter stopped, they both just stayed there. Neither of them had anything to say. They weren't exactly best friends. They had barely talked before. The probably talked more at the party than all the other times combined.

The bell rang after a little bit, signaling that the students should be heading to their next class. Charlie stood up and picked up her bag. "I have to go. Caroline will probably be looking for me." Jeremy held a thumbs up into the air, not moving from his position. Charlie beamed at the gesture, telling him, "See you around."

☾⌑❄⌑☽

There was a party that night. The classic beginning-of-the-year party where a bunch of teens get drunk near fires. Probably no the best idea, but it is what it is. Although Charlie wasn't legally able to drive, she sure as hell wasn't drinking after what happened at the beginning of the summer, and she knew that there wasn't anyway that Tyler wasn't drinking. So, she volunteered to be the driver for both of them

She got ready, deciding on wearing some bleached ripped jeans with a short sleeved crop-top. It was probably going to be cold, so she also brought a jacket. She made her way downstairs, keys in hand, where Tyler was waiting for her.

"You ready?" he asked, but he was already pulling the door open. "Bye, Mom! We're going!" he called out, and, without waiting for a response, he pulled his sister out the door behind him.

Once they got to the party, Tyler jumped out of the car, muttering something about finding Vicki. Him and Jeremy Gilbert had been in some type of war about her all summer. So, Charlie was left all alone in the middle of the parking lot. She then moved towards the loud music and the faint smell of alcohol.

She saw Caroline talking to that Stefan kid with a smile. Something about him just made Charlie feel weird. He just seemed off. She had to admit, though, he was pretty hot. 

Some guy bumped into her as he was walking past her which resulted in her spinning around, ready to yell at him or beat him up. She just needed to do something. Once she realized what she was doing, she took a few deep breaths. She had always been a little short-tempered, but these pat few months, she had gotten angry at the slightest things.

She turned back around, deciding to look for something to drink that didn't have alcohol in it, which was probably unlikely at a high school party, but someone had to have brought water or something, right?

"Didn't expect to see you here," Charlie heard from behind her. Recognizing the voice she turned on her heel with a small smile on her face. "You know, after everything that happened at that party a few months back."

"Yeah, well, I guess I like surprising people," she responded as she spotted a cooler with a few plastic water bottles visible on the top. She walked over to them, plucking on from the ice.

"Walk with me?" Jeremy asked, holding out his hand as she unscrewed the top of the bottle. 

She looked at his outstretched arm hesitantly before grabbing it with the hand that wasn't holding the bottle. "Sure."

Jeremy led them into the woods, the trees providing shade from the bright moon. "It's almost the full moon," the Gilbert boy pointed out, not really knowing how to begin a conversation.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Charlie replied a little too quickly. Jeremy furrowed his eyebrows slightly in confusion at her response. 

He answered, "You know, bad things happen during a full moon. Monsters come out and do who knows what." Charlie chuckled nervously, partly because she was sure that Jeremy was a little drunk and because she was worried that he knew something.

"Well, I'm more worried about you murdering me," she said, "It's really creepy, you taking me, an almost stranger, out in the woods in the dark. You would think that you might have ill intents, Gilbert."

Jeremy chuckled a bit before holding up his right hand. "I, Jeremy Gilbert, do solemnly swear that I will not murder you today."

"Today? How about you never murder me?" she quizzed, giggling slightly as she said this. 

Jeremy shrugged. "Well, you never know. I can't promise that I'll never murder you. I haven't planned that far ahead." He looked at her and beamed when he saw the smile on her face.

"That's really creepy, Gilbert," she told him. She then heard something in the distance. Well, not really distance. She stopped walking so that she could hear better, straining her ears in order to do so.

When the Gilbert boy realized that she had paused, he stopped too, standing next to her. "You alright?" he questioned, concern in his voice.

She nodded slightly before grabbing his hand again and pulling him after her. "Come on," she ordered, running in the direction that she heard the noises. 

"It's not going to happen, not here, not like this." Charlie heard the voice of Vicki Donovan say. The Lockwood girl was friends with Matt, but she never really spoke to Vicki. "No. I said no." She then heard rustling. Jeremy heard them too as both of them moved faster towards the girl. "I said no! Ow, that hurts!"

They then saw Vicki pressed up against a tree by someone. It was dark, so Charlie couldn't make out who it was. "Hey, leave her alone," Jeremy ordered once he saw them. Vicki was able to push the person off her and reveal who it was.

"Tyler, what the hell?" Charlie yelled, staring at her brother in shock. 

Ignoring her, Tyler addressed Jeremy, "You know, you're starting to get on my nerves, Gilbert. You're moving in on my sister now?" Charlie kept her angry and shocked glare on him as Vicki pushed him again.

"Just go, Tyler, get the hell away from me," the Donovan girl told him firmly. Charlie could tell that tears were starting to form in her eyes.

Tyler scoffed, "Wow. Vicki Donovan says no. That's a first." He then turned and walked away while Vicki and Jeremy watched him go. Charlie, however, ran after him angrily.

She finally reached him and grabbed his arm, pulling him around to face her. "What the hell is wrong with you? I knew you were an asshole, but I never thought you'd go this far."

"You know what, Charlie? I really don't care what you think," he informed her before storming off back to the party. Charlie groaned, wanting to hit her head on a tree repeatedly. 

She rejoined the party, but not long after, something happened.

"Somebody help!" Elena Gilbert yelled, her and Jeremy carrying something out from the woods. Wait, not something. Someone.

Matt, seeing his sister in their arms, yelled, "Vicki? Vicki, what the hell?" He rushed over to the siblings as people crowded them. "What happened to her? Somebody call an ambulance!"

"Everybody back up, give her some space!" Tyler shouted, pushing people away from the unconscious girl.

Charlie pushed through the crowd of people to get to the front, tuning out what Elena said after that, and Tyler let her pass to get to Vicki. The Lockwood girl stared at the girl, and she noticed the blood dripping down her neck. She then realized that there was one thing that could've done this.

Vampires.