[Location: The Cross Residence – Bedroom] [Time: 6:30 PM – Halloween Night]
The mirror reflected a ghost of my past life.
I adjusted my tie—a Windsor knot, perfect symmetry. I wore a tailored charcoal suit, a white shirt, and polished oxfords. I didn't need a mask. I didn't need fake blood.
"What are you supposed to be?" my dad asked from the hallway, leaning against the doorframe. He was holding a bowl of candy for the trick-or-treaters.
"I'm a Wall Street Banker," I said, checking my cufflinks. "The scariest monster of the 21st century."
Dad laughed. "Cynical. I like it. Have fun, Adrian. And stay inside the gym, okay? No wandering."
"Loud and clear."
I waited until he went downstairs. Then I grabbed my "briefcase."
It wasn't a prop. It was a hardened leather satchel.
Inside:
Wooden Stakes: Two of them, shaved down to look like oversized pencils.
Vervain Spray: Disguised as cologne.
Collection Kit: Three sterile glass vials and a syringe.
Flashlight: High-lumen tactical.
Tonight was the deadline for Asset: Vicki Donovan.
She had fed. Stefan's text confirmed she escaped, which meant she found a human, fed, and completed the transition. She was now a vampire. A newborn, volatile, drug-addicted vampire.
In the corporate world, when a project fails this spectacularly, you don't try to save it. You shut it down before it bankrupts the company.
I picked up the bag.
"Liquidation time," I whispered.
[Location: Mystic Falls High School – The Gym] [Time: 8:15 PM]
The gym was a sensory overload. strobe lights cut through the artificial fog. The bass of a pop remix rattled the bleachers.
It smelled of cheap latex masks, sweat, and hormones.
I walked through the crowd, clutching my briefcase. I scanned the room.
I saw Elena dressed as a nurse. I saw Matt dressed as a doctor (ironic, given the tragedy unfolding). I saw Bonniedressed as a witch—a self-fulfilling prophecy.
And I saw Stefan.
He wasn't in costume. He wore black. He stood near the punch bowl, his eyes darting around the room, scanning every face. He looked like a bodyguard waiting for a bullet.
I walked up to him.
"Status?" I shouted over the music.
Stefan flinched, turning to me. He looked relieved to see an ally, even a fragile human one.
"She's here," Stefan said, his voice tight. "I can smell her. But the crowd... there are too many heartbeats. I can't pinpoint her."
"Is she alone?"
"No," Stefan said grimly. "Damon is here too."
Of course. Damon was probably enjoying the chaos.
"What's the play?" I asked. "Containment?"
"If I can get her out without a scene," Stefan said. "But she's high on the blood, Adrian. She's erratic."
Suddenly, the music seemed to dip.
I saw her.
Vicki Donovan was dancing in the middle of the floor. She was wearing a vampire costume—fake fangs, torn fishnets. The irony was suffocating.
She was dancing with Jeremy.
She looked euphoric. Her movements were too fast, too sharp. She was grinding against him, whispering in his ear. Jeremy looked confused but happy to have her back.
"Target acquired," I said, nudging Stefan.
Stefan moved.
He didn't run. He weaved through the dancers like water. He reached Vicki and grabbed her arm.
I couldn't hear what they said, but I saw Vicki's face twist into a snarl. She shoved Stefan. He barely moved, but the force of the shove sent a nearby student stumbling.
Vicki grabbed Jeremy's hand and pulled him toward the exit.
"She's taking him outside," I said.
Stefan followed.
I waited three seconds, then followed Stefan.
I kept my hand inside my satchel, gripping the stake.
[Location: The Parking Lot – By the Buses] [Time: 8:45 PM]
The cool air outside was a relief from the gym, but the tension was thicker.
I rounded the corner of the school building. The parking lot was empty, bathed in the orange glow of the streetlights.
I saw the school buses lined up in the dark—massive yellow beasts sleeping in the shadows.
I heard shouting.
"Vicki, stop! You're hurting me!" Jeremy's voice.
I ran toward the buses.
I saw them.
Vicki had Jeremy pinned against the side of a bus. Her face was transformed—veins pulsing, eyes black. She wasn't kissing him. She was looking for a vein.
"I need it, Jer," she hissed. "I just need a little bit. You love me, right?"
"Vicki?" Jeremy screamed, terrified.
Elena ran into the clearing. "Jeremy!"
Vicki spun around. "You!"
She backhanded Elena.
Whack.
It was a vampire blow. Elena flew backward, hitting a parked car and crumbling to the asphalt.
"Elena!" Jeremy shouted.
Vicki turned back to Jeremy, grabbing him by the throat. She opened her mouth, fangs fully extended.
"Let him go!"
Stefan emerged from the shadows.
Vicki laughed. It was a manic, broken sound. "Why? He's mine! I'm hungry, Stefan! Why shouldn't I eat?"
"Because you'll regret it," Stefan said, stepping closer. "Vicki, look at me. This isn't you."
"This is me!" she screamed. "For the first time, I don't hurt! I don't feel like trash! I feel like a god!"
She lunged at Jeremy's neck.
Stefan moved.
It happened in a blink.
Stefan rushed her. He grabbed her by the shoulders and spun her around.
Vicki was strong—newborns are—but Stefan was trained. He pinned her against the bus.
"Let me go!" Vicki shrieked.
"I'm sorry," Stefan whispered.
He reached into his jacket.
He pulled out a stake.
Vicki's eyes went wide. "No..."
Stefan drove the wood into her heart.
Thud.
The sound was sickeningly dull. Like punching a bag of wet sand.
Vicki gasped. Her body stiffened, arching off the bus. Her hands clawed at Stefan's chest, then went limp.
Her skin turned grey instantly. The veins in her face receded, leaving her looking small, pale, and dead.
Stefan pulled the stake out. Vicki slid down the side of the bus and collapsed onto the pavement.
Silence.
Jeremy was staring at her body, hyperventilating. "Vicki? VICKI!"
Elena was struggling to her feet, holding her head. "Oh my god."
I stood in the shadows of the bus, twenty feet away. My heart was pounding, but I forced myself to observe.
Asset Liquidated.
Jeremy fell to his knees beside the body. He touched her face. "Wake up! Vicki, wake up!"
He looked at Stefan. "What did you do?! You killed her!"
Stefan stood there, the bloody stake in his hand, looking broken. He hated this part.
Then, Damon walked out from behind the bus. He looked bored, but his eyes were sharp.
"Well," Damon said. "That went poorly."
"Get him out of here," Stefan said to Elena, gesturing to Jeremy. "Elena, get him to the car."
"No!" Jeremy screamed. "I'm not leaving her!"
This was the critical moment. The trauma that would define Jeremy's Season 1 arc.
I stepped out of the shadows.
"Jeremy," I said.
Everyone turned. They had forgotten I was there.
I walked into the light. I looked at the body. I looked at the blood pooling on the asphalt.
"Jeremy," I said, keeping my voice calm and authoritative. "We need to go. Now."
"Adrian?" Jeremy looked at me, tears streaming down his face. "He killed her! Stefan killed her!"
"I know," I said. I walked over and grabbed Jeremy by the arm. I hauled him up. "But we can't help her now. Look at her, Jer. She's gone."
Jeremy looked at the grey, desiccated corpse. The reality hit him.
"Come on," I said. "Elena, take him to your car. Drive him home. Stefan and Damon... will handle this."
Elena looked at me with gratitude. She grabbed Jeremy's other arm. "Come on, Jer. Please."
They dragged a sobbing Jeremy away.
I stayed.
I stood over the body with the Salvatore brothers.
Damon looked at me. "You didn't run."
"Someone has to clean up the mess," I said.
I looked at the pool of blood on the asphalt. It was mixed with the dirt.
"You guys take the body," I said, opening my briefcase. "I'll handle the scene. If a janitor finds this much blood, they'll call the cops."
Stefan looked at me, surprised. "Adrian, you don't have to—"
"Go," I said. "Get rid of her. Before the Sheriff does a patrol."
Damon smirked. "I like him. He's practical."
Damon picked up Vicki's body effortlessly, throwing her over his shoulder. Stefan gave me one last look—a mix of guilt and respect—and followed Damon into the woods.
I was alone.
I knelt down beside the blood pool.
I pulled out the sterile vial and the syringe.
This wasn't just blood. It was the biological residue of a transition that failed. It contained the traces of Damon's blood, Vicki's human DNA, and the necrotic chemicals of death.
I drew up 10cc of the blood from a clean spot on the asphalt before soaking the rest up with a rag from my bag.
I capped the vial. I wrapped it in bubble wrap and placed it in the satchel.
Sample Secured.
Then, I took a bottle of bleach (which I had poured into a water bottle) and doused the spot. I scrubbed it with the rag until it just looked like a wet stain.
I stood up.
"Goodbye, Vicki," I whispered. "You were a tragedy. But you won't be a waste."
[Location: The Gilbert Residence – Front Porch] [Time: 10:00 PM]
I parked my Jeep and walked up to the Gilbert house.
I needed to see the end of the play.
I found Elena sitting on the porch swing. She was hugging her knees, shivering.
Damon was standing in front of her.
I stopped at the bottom of the steps, staying in the shadows.
"He's a mess, Elena," Damon was saying softly. "He saw her die. He saw her face. That's not something you get over."
"I don't know what to do," Elena sobbed. "It will destroy him."
"I can help," Damon said. "I can make him forget."
Elena looked up. "You can do that?"
"I can take away the suffering," Damon said. "I can make him think she left town. That she just... moved on. He'll miss her, but he won't be haunted by her."
Elena hesitated. It was the ethical dilemma of the series. Free will vs. Peace.
"Do it," Elena whispered.
I watched.
Damon went inside.
I walked up the steps and sat next to Elena.
She looked at me. Her face was streaked with mascara.
"Adrian," she breathed. "You stayed. You cleaned it up."
"Yeah," I said.
"How are you so... okay?" she asked. "You saw it too."
"I'm not okay, Elena," I said quietly. "I'm terrified. But panicking doesn't help. Survival helps."
I looked at the door where Damon had disappeared.
"Is he doing it?" I asked.
"Doing what?"
"Fixing Jeremy," I said.
Elena looked at me, shocked. "You know about compulsion?"
"I told you," I said. "I read the folklore. The mesmerizing. The mind control. It's part of the package, right?"
Elena nodded slowly. "I asked him to. Jeremy... he was breaking. I couldn't watch him break."
"You made the executive decision," I said. "You protected the asset. Your brother."
"Is that wrong?" Elena asked, tears welling up again.
"It's not about right or wrong," I said, channelling my inner salaryman pragmatism. "It's about management. You managed the trauma. You bought him time to grow up before the world crushes him."
I took her hand. It was cold.
"You're the leader now, Elena," I said. "Your parents are gone. Jenna is overwhelmed. It's on you to make the hard calls. Tonight... you made a hard call."
Elena squeezed my hand. "Thank you, Adrian."
The door opened. Damon walked out.
He looked at me holding Elena's hand. He didn't look jealous. He looked... calculating.
"It's done," Damon said. "He's sleeping. When he wakes up, Vicki Donovan left town to find a better life. He's sad, but he's moving on."
"Thank you," Elena whispered.
Damon looked at me. "And the crime scene?"
"Sterilized," I said. "Smells like bleach. No DNA."
Damon nodded. "Professional."
He walked down the steps. "I'm going to get a drink. Or ten."
I stood up. "I should go too. School tomorrow."
"School," Elena laughed weakly. "God. It feels so... pointless."
"It is," I agreed. "But it's a good disguise."
[Location: The Cross Residence – Bedroom] [Time: 11:30 PM]
I locked my door.
I placed the briefcase on my desk.
I took out the vial of Vicki's Blood. It was dark, almost black in the dim light.
I labelled it: Sample V - Newborn/Deceased.
I placed it in a mini-fridge I kept under my desk (ostensibly for sodas).
I sat down on my bed.
I was exhausted. My shoulder ached from the bite yesterday. My mind was racing.
I had successfully navigated the first major "Death Event."
Jeremy is pacified.
Stefan trusts me.
Damon respects me (or at least, finds me useful).
Elena sees me as a rock.
But the biggest threat was coming.
With Vicki dead, the timeline would accelerate. The Tomb Vampires were the next arc. Anna and Pearl.
And somewhere out there, Alaric Saltzman was packing his bags to come to Mystic Falls to kill Damon.
I needed Alaric. He had the Gilbert Ring (immortality from supernatural death).
I lay back on my pillow.
"One ring to rule them all," I muttered.
I needed to make friends with the new History Teacher. And I needed to do it before Damon killed him.
[End of Chapter 15]