Mystic Falls High School, night—after a Founder's Day event

The halls were quiet. Everyone had gone home after the cleanup, except you. You wandered through the dimly lit corridors, your fingers trailing across the old lockers. Everything felt too still.

You should've gone with Elena and Caroline. Bonnie had texted twice asking if you were okay. But sometimes… you just needed space. The noise, the crowds, the fake smiles—it got too loud for someone still carrying everything you’d been through. Some memories crept in: the screams, the wreckage, the silence that followed the crash. Your parents. Gone. The foster homes after. The nights you woke up screaming, fists clenched, calling for people who were never coming back.

Losing your parents had left scars. Not the kind people saw—but the kind that screamed in silence. You never talked about that night. The crash. The cold. The way their voices disappeared into the dark. You buried it deep, like everything else.

A sound snapped you out of it.

Footsteps. But not steady ones. Slow. Dragging.

You turned sharply—nothing.

But then… a whisper.

"You don't belong here..."

You spun again, heart pounding. “Who's there?”

A shadow stepped out from around the corner. Pale, hungry, unfamiliar.

A rogue vampire.

You stumbled back, nearly tripping over a broken chair in the hall. The vampire hissed, low and taunting, eyes glinting with hunger.

Before he could lunge, a blur slammed him into the wall. Damon.

He looked at you, his expression unreadable. “You really shouldn’t wander off alone, trauma girl.”

You glared. “I’m not helpless.”

He smirked. “Didn’t say you were. Just… breakable.”

The vampire growled behind him, but Damon didn’t flinch. “Go home,” he said without looking at you, his voice suddenly serious. “You’ve already lost enough.”

You hesitated—then ran.