The Founders' Party at the Lockwood Mansion. In Mystic Falls, this was the ultimate stage for high-society posturing and low-key interrogation. For me, it was a target-rich environment.
I stood on the balcony, dressed in a black suit that cost more than most people's cars. My black hair was styled just enough to look intentional, and I had replaced the blood-stained bandages on my hands with a pair of thin, black leather gloves.
"You look like you're planning a massacre," a voice drawled.
I didn't turn. "And you look like you're trying to find a neck that doesn't belong to a relative, Damon. We all have our struggles."
Damon Salvatore stepped up beside me, sipping a glass of amber liquid that definitely wasn't apple juice. He looked out at the crowd at Mayor Lockwood, at Sheriff Forbes, and at the unsuspecting humans.
"The Council is on high alert," Damon whispered, his blue eyes scanning the perimeter. "They found your work in the woods. They're calling it a 'wild animal attack,' but Liz Forbes isn't an idiot. She knows the difference between a wolf bite and a surgical strike."
"Good for Liz," I said, flashing a quick, sharp smirk. "Maybe she'll hire me. I'm much more efficient than the local deputies."
"Careful, Kael," Damon warned, though his tone was light. "Alaric Saltzman has been asking questions about you. He thinks you're a little too comfortable with the dark."
"Alaric thinks a lot of things. Most of them involve a bottle of Scotch and a dead wife," I replied, finally turning to face him. I leaned in, my blood pulsing in the heat of the crowded room, making Damon's jaw tick. "But let's talk about you. You're looking for a crystal. An Emily Bennett special. Want to tell me why a vampire needs a magical battery?"
Damon's playful mask slipped for a fraction of a second. "You're well-informed for a newcomer."
"I'm a Hunter, Damon. Information is my primary weapon. The steel is just for the finishing touch."
Down on the dance floor, I saw Stefan and Elena. They looked like the perfect couple, but I could see the cracks. Stefan was starving himself again, trying to play the 'good man' while his brother wreaked havoc. It was a tragedy waiting to happen and I was the only one with a front-row seat.
Suddenly, my instincts flared. A cold chill, ancient and heavy, washed over the back of my neck.
I turned my head toward the entrance of the ballroom. A man walked in Logan Fell. He was supposed to be dead, or at least missing. But the way he moved was wrong. His pulse was silent.
"Well, look at that," I murmured. "Someone turned the local news anchor. And he's looking very hungry."
"Logan?" Damon hissed, his eyes narrowing. "That idiot was supposed to stay buried."
"He's headed for the kitchen," I noted, already moving. "And Sheriff Forbes just went in there to check the catering. This is going to be messy."
I didn't wait for Damon. I slipped through the crowd with the fluidity of a ghost. I reached the kitchen just as Logan Fell was cornering a terrified waitress. His face was a mess of gray veins and red eyes.
"Logan," I called out, my voice flat and bored.
The new vampire snapped around. "Who the hell are you?"
"I'm the guy who's going to save the Sheriff the paperwork of a missing person's report," I said.
I didn't use a sword this time. I walked straight at him. Logan lunged, fueled by the erratic strength of a newborn, but I stepped inside his reach. I grabbed his throat with my gloved hand, the vervain-soaked leather burning into his skin.
He shrieked, but I slammed him against the industrial refrigerator.
"You're a mistake, Logan," I whispered into his ear. "And in my world, mistakes get erased."
Before I could finish him, the door swung open. Sheriff Forbes stood there, her service weapon drawn. She looked at me a high school student holding a 'dead' man against a fridge.
"Kaelen?" she gasped. "What are you doing?"
I looked at her, my expression calm, my blue eyes like ice. I didn't let go of Logan. "Sheriff, your friend here has a bit of a medical condition. Why don't you take a look at his eyes?"
Logan snarled, his fangs dropping in a moment of pure instinct. Liz Forbes went pale, the reality of the "animal attacks" finally staring her in the face.
I let Logan go just enough for him to try and charge her, then I tripped him, sending him sprawling. I looked at Liz.
"You've been looking for the monsters, Liz. Well, here's one. Now, do you want to play by the book, or do you want to let the professional handle this?"
Liz looked at the monster that used to be a man, then back at me. I could see the world shifting for her the realization that the town she protected was a hunting ground.
"Get him out of here," she whispered, her voice shaking.
I nodded, grabbing Logan by the collar. As I dragged him toward the back exit, I caught a glimpse of Stefan in the doorway. He looked at me with a mix of horror and begrudging respect.
I just smirked.
But as I looked up at the moon, I felt that strange, ancient pull again. A feeling of a thread being pulled from across the world. Somewhere, far away, an Original was stirring.