Writer's block is a pain... Sorry for the delay :/ Summer's here, and we've had 25-30°C the last couple of days (ugh), and not a lot of rain this spring either (wrote this after I wrote the chapter, so now I really recognise the feeling from the first paragraph...). Hopefully we don't get a repeat of last year's wildfires, because that was horrible.

The Battling Bard: Yeah, I agree – While Elena's never been my favourite character, I don't think she's often treated fairly

ahyeon: Thanks, as always ;)

Red red red ribbon: Thank you for your review! Hope I got the amount of reds right there :)

Innieminnie: Well, I suppose it would. It did when I did a quick search, haha. But, for the sake of the story, it's not really in focus – also, I think if it would pop up, she would treat it the same as the HSP results bound to show, and not think of it as an actual power but more of a personality trait.

Guest: I'm not confirming nor denying anything, because I've thought about what would happen too, but I like your ideas and they are entirely plausible :)

TheComprehensiveJellyfish: First off, I love your username XD I'm glad you think so, I don't think falling in love with a man instantly, right after seeing him decapitate someone, is quite realistic either. I sure wouldn't, no matter how handsome he was

If you're interested in the playlist/soundtrack, my Spotify username is bookworm96 (original, I know). It's got the same name as the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries, only my own characters and plots

''You've got a habit of using people

You get what you want no matter what the cost

You've got a habit of using people

You seem in control but inside you're lost''

- Gabrielle Shonk

The following week passed in a blur. The warmth that came with the beginning of June had been persistent throughout the whole of the summer, and we'd had very little rain. The whole town was tired, sleepy, almost. The abnormally hot weather made everyone irritable eventually, the heavy air smothering people's energy and at times testing even my mood.

That's partially why I'd signed up for training with Elena and Alaric, to let off some steam. The other reason was that I, besides the progress I'd made, still felt distinctly human. I was stuck with human strength and human speed. Elena wanted to learn how to defend herself properly – and also relieve herself of some pent-up emotional stress, I think – and when she suggested the idea to me, I didn't need to think twice about it.

So, in the early hours of the first day of school I found myself in the middle of the woods with the two of them. I had, thankfully, been guided there. Otherwise, I would've probably ended up lost.

''Are you serious?''

''Yup.''

I don't think my reaction measured up to what I was actually feeling. I was lowkey relieved that I wasn't a senior. I was worried. I didn't know how to react, how to think, what to say.

''That's three,'' I said after a while.

''Huh?''

''That's three,'' I repeated. ''Three Original vampires.''

''And not one is particularly nice,'' Alaric muttered, throwing the bag he'd brought with him on the ground, unzipped it, and went through its contents. He pulled out a small crossbow, and then a couple of strange looking objects.

A part of me wanted to ask if there had been any mention of Elijah, but I kept quiet. The only reason I thought that was because something in me, apparently, was still interested in knowing; despite the time spent to move past all that.

''How is everyone?'' I asked, thinking mostly off Matt and Tyler, who'd both died. When I'd first heard it, my legs almost gave out. Tyler was a hybrid now. Elena was a walking blood bag. To Klaus, that is. I cringed even when I thought the word.

''Good,'' Elena said with a sigh. ''Considering.''

She was obviously not fine. I kept my walls up, but the frustration was clear in her eyes, her harsh movements, and her tone. Now was not the time to pry.

While Alaric strapped a dummy to a tree, Elena bent down and grabbed something looking like stakes on a wristband, trying fastening it to her lower arm. ''How does this work?''

''Well, you've got half of it right,'' Alaric said and turned to adjust it for her. ''The pressure of your punch ejects the stakes.'' He grabbed another one of the same kind and put it on his arm. ''So, you punch-'' he slammed his fist into the dummy, the stakes penetrating its chest, ''and voilà.''

Elena pursed her lips, determination on her face. ''Okay,'' she said, and took a deep breath. She threw a punch, but the stakes stayed in place. She tried again, but didn't manage that time either.

Angrily, Elena unfastened the device from her arm and handed it to me. ''You try.''

I struggled a little with putting it on. The leather was unfamiliar against my skin, and it made my whole arm feel a little stiff – almost as if it was splinted or something.

''You should start lift some weights, put some meat on your bones,'' Alaric said, earning a glare from Elena.

''Here it goes,'' I mumbled, took a stance, and punched. It didn't work.

''Try again,'' Alaric encouraged.

I loosened my fist and wiggled my fingers a little before closing my hand again. I put some more focus behind the punch this time, and it worked.

''Whoa.'' I let out a surprised laugh. It made me feel strangely powerful.

''Good,'' Alaric praised.

''Lucky you, no weight lifting,'' Elena smiled, seemingly not looking forward to it. I think she was a little sour that I'd managed to do it but not her.

''I guess that could be useful anyhow,'' I said, looking at something else Alaric had just pulled out of his bag. ''What's that?''

''It's a vervain grenade,'' Elena said quickly. ''I've used one before.''

Alaric turned it in his hands. ''Then you know... the element of surprise is your only advantage when it comes to a vampire.''

Then he pulled the pin on the grenade and threw it to Elena.

''Surprise.''

''Holy-'' I yelped. Luckily, Elena acted quickly and threw it away before it exploded. She turned to our teacher for the day with a glare.

''This isn't a joke to me, Ric.''

''You think I'm joking?'' Alaric replied harshly. ''Vampires will take whatever they want. They will hurt whoever they want. And they'll do it without remorse. It's in their nature.''

I couldn't help but think back to Elijah. He hadn't taken what he obviously wanted. And I had no idea why. Alaric was slightly biased on purpose, I think, to get more out of Elena. I didn't pay very much attention to their jibes, as I was still slightly dazed from almost getting blown up.

''You don't have to use pronouns,'' Elena muttered. ''You can say Stefan.''

Alaric sighed. ''Look, I get why you're here. Stefan hurt you. You don't want it to happen again.''

''But you think I'm crazy,'' Elena said. ''To believe that I can protect myself from a vampire who's flipped the switch on his,'' she glanced at me, ''humanity.''

''I think you found a way to get out of bed this morning. And that makes you the strongest person I know. I think you can do pretty much anything.'' His words were sincere, but I don't think Elena took particular care at the moment. She muttered something inaudible, and grabbed a normal stake from the bag.

When she hit the dummy this time, the stake tore straight through its chest.

After training – as soon as they'd escorted me out of the woods – we went our separate ways. When I thought about what was left of the day, all that filled me up was exasperation. It almost felt like going back to the beginning of all of this, when I was just their substitute teacher without a clue.

I still felt a little like I had no clue about everything. The summer had been pretty uneventful, but last night had changed that. I tried to wrap my mind around it. Two Originals gone, but one left behind in Mystic Falls. I hadn't even met her, but from what Elena had told me, she was just as ferocious as her brothers, if not more.

And then there was Stefan.

Well, he was back, apparently. But he was probably in a worse state than he left in. I don't know whether having the state of his switch confirmed was a good thing or not, partly because someone running around ripping people apart without dulled emotions seemed somewhat worse.

Mystic Falls High was practically buzzing. The halls were filled with chatter, tanned kids, and that unintelligible excitement that would disappear as soon as the first week had passed.

I greeted a few familiar faces as I passed, my smile getting wider and wider at everyone's eagerness. When I'd reached the teacher's office I had trouble wiping the grin off my face.

Quick as I could, I went to go through the information left for me. Not that there was much to do, the first day back. Some teachers started the course instantly and almost forcefully the first lesson, but some just did an introduction and then let everyone go. Seemed Mr. Davis wanted me to do the latter.

I grabbed the handouts someone had printed and placed in a neat pile on his desk, and headed to the door, sending a silent thank you to Mr. Davis for being organised. He'd probably sent someone an email from his cabin and had them fix everything. It wouldn't be a surprise. As I went to grab the handle, I had to quickly jump back to not get hit by the door when it swung open.

''Jesus,'' I breathed, and frowned when I looked up to see who it was. ''Stefan.''

''We're far from synonymous,'' he said, taking a few steps closer. When I instinctively backed up, he smirked.

''What are you doing here?'' I asked, trying my best to ignore my racing heart, because I knew he could hear it.

''I go to school here, professor.''

''Funny,'' I retorted.

''I'm here because Klaus wants me to keep an eye on Elena while he's gone,'' Stefan said, and leaned casually up against the door, consequently blocking my exit. I thought to ask him where Klaus had gone precisely, but decided against it.

''That's the only reason?'' I asked him, not letting my eyes wander away to where I couldn't see him.

''Why would there be another one?''

''Yes,'' I said slowly. ''Why would there?''

Stefan frowned, and I couldn't believe it. ''What's your game?''

''No game,'' I said, contemplating his failure at keeping face.

''You always were observant,'' Stefan said. ''Scheming.''

''Scheming?'' I laughed. ''Now you're really reading into things.''

''Am I?'' he said, boring his eyes into me. I tried my best to keep a straight face. Lying sure didn't come easy. If this could even be considered lying.

''If you don't mind, Stefan,'' I said, and stared him straight in the eyes, ''I have places to be.''

''Go ahead,'' he said, and made a gesture with his arm.

Letting out a small sigh, I held onto the material in my arms a little tighter, and made my way past him.

I wished that I had gotten to know him better than I had. Somehow I seemed to have had more conversations with Damon than Stefan. That's just how it had happened, I don't know why. When this had all started I hadn't even particularly liked Damon. Stefan seemed more talkative now than he was before, but I would obviously prefer his past self. Now, he was like a ticking time bomb. Cut the wrong wire – say the wrong thing... Boom.

Weaving through the mass of students in the hallway, I hurried to the classroom reserved for French. I had kind of hoped that no one would have gotten there yet so I had some time to collect my thoughts, but some of the students were already there.

''Bonjour,'' I greeted them, slightly out of breath. I got a few smiles and nods directed my way, and when they realised I wasn't going to begin the lesson just yet they went back to whatever they were doing.

I sat down, picked up one of my pens and twirled it between my fingers. Being back in Mystic Falls High was strange, to say the least. I almost felt more comfortable seeing all of my friends outside of school – they now seemed somewhat out of place in class.

It was a little easier getting back to normal, so to speak, when I had classes without them. French was one of those classes. The only, as I was usually called in for History or English.

''D'accord,'' I said when the clock struck nine. Standing up, I folded my hands in front of me and let my gaze sweep across the room. It was a small class this year, only a handful of students. Not everyone took French through all four years. ''Ça va?''

I made it through the introduction Mr. Davis had wanted me to do by pure routine. I was somewhat aware of what I was saying, or, well, I was – but it was as if the words came out of my mouth without me thinking about them. I wasn't quite there.

When I'd made it through the first fifteen or so minutes of the lesson, still in my zombielike state, something happened that pulled me straight out of it and had my nerves on high alert.

The door slammed open with a bang, and walked a blonde girl with a blank expression on her face.

''Yes?'' I asked expectantly. I hadn't seen her before, not even around town. Slowly, a chill ran through my body when I started to realise who she probably was.

The girl walked over to an empty seat and sat down, crossing her legs with a defiantly bored look on her face.

''I'm new,'' she tilted her head and forced a smile.

''Et votre nom?'' I asked her, wanting to confirm my suspicions after also hearing her accent; and even if I knew what was coming, my breath still caught in my throat when she opened her mouth and said:

''Rebekah.''

It was my lunch break when I saw her the second time. It wasn't a big school – and when everyone fawned over the new girl it wasn't difficult to spot her in the centre.

The seniors had P.E., so when I was on a stroll around the grounds I passed them by the stadium. Rebekah was in the middle of the cheerleading squad, and Caroline wasn't looking too happy about it. Rebekah, on the other hand, seemed completely at home.

I watched her from across the field. Just looking at her, she could pass for any young and popular girl out there. You would have no idea what her true nature was like.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. It was a text from Elena, wondering if I was alright. Seemed Rebekah had joined the seniors. Why an Original vampire would do such a thing was beyond me. Her two brothers appeared to spend most of their time forging diabolical plans, but so far, all she seemed to be busy doing was becoming the resident queen bee.

Throwing a glance towards the field again, I quickly typed a reply to Elena, and then slipped the phone back into my pocket. Rebekah was doing cartwheels and somersaults like she'd done nothing else since the day she was born, and when she landed after a long combination, she had a big smile on her face. It was completely absurd, and completely intriguing.

The last class for the day was senior English. That meant that I'd have all my friends, plus Stefan and probably Rebekah, and I wasn't really looking forward to it. Stefan still felt like a ticking time bomb. He knew about me, and there was no telling whether he'd rat it out or not.

Safe to say, I was an internal mess by the time I was heading from the teacher's lounge to the classroom. When I entered, I was met by Elena, Caroline, and Bonnie.

''You're early,'' I said, and went to place all my things on the table in front of the class.

''Have you met Rebekah yet?'' Elena asked.

''Yeah,'' I said with a nod. ''She was in my French class. Why on earth has she enrolled in high school?''

''She told me that she wanted my life,'' Caroline grumbled, and the hairs on my arms stood up. ''She's probably gonna have a go at Tyler, and – ugh!'' She pressed her lips into a thin line and was practically seething.

''Apparently, Klaus took off without her,'' Elena said, eyeing the angry Caroline with sympathy. ''And now she's here.''

''But...'' I paused. ''Why?''

Bonnie shrugged. ''Who knows. Maybe he left her to keep an eye on Stefan?''

Speaking of the devil, as soon as his name escaped her mouth, the door burst open, and in stepped Stefan. He crossed his arms across his chest, and leaned against the wall with an arrogant look on his face.

''Stefan.'' Elena looked anything but happy.

''What are you guys doing?'' he asked, looking between us, still smiling.

''Waiting for class,'' Elena replied coldly.

''Oh, well then I'll wait with you,'' Stefan said and clapped his hands together, as if it was a cause of celebration.

My eyes darted between the others. Caroline had a grim look on her face, and Bonnie's pokerface was almost flawless were it not for her rigid posture. And Elena, well...

''Stefan, you can't tell anyone about Ev,'' Elena said suddenly. Nervousness had been nagging me all day, ever so slightly at the back of my mind. He knew about me, and he was ticking. I was grateful for Elena's backup, because I don't think I would have said anything about it myself, at least not yet.

''Why?'' he shrugged, a smirk tugging at his lips.

''Because,'' Bonnie said, her voice firm, ''she doesn't want anyone to know unless they have to.''

''If she's in on all this,'' he gestured towards the other girls, ''why does it matter?''

''It matters because I don't even know what I am,'' I told him angrily. ''And I don't want to throw it around like it's nothing.''

''If you're in it...'' Stefan trailed off.

''No, Stefan,'' Elena snapped.

He smiled, but didn't say anything else. Other students started coming in – our cue to break it up – and Stefan was in his seat before any of the rest. As the classroom filled up, my eyes wandered to him. He was staring right back at me, still smiling. It wasn't a kind smile, even if my gut didn't warn me it was evident in his eyes. But it wasn't dead cold, either.

''Miss Moreau!'' a familiar voice called from the door, and redirected my attention. A grinning Isaac was standing in the door, his arm stretched out in a greeting gesture. ''You're alive!''

For a second I thought about all the things that could actually, potentially, have taken my life, and my thoughts were way too serious than that comment should have made them. Not coming up with any words to give back, I simply welcomed him with a smile before I turned to the whole class.

''I've got orders from Mrs. Cooper,'' I said, while handing out the worksheet from the folder she'd left on her desk. ''She wants you to do a diagnostic.''

Any other day and I think the rooms would be filled with more protests, but that was the joy of the first day back. Everybody had the energy to do almost anything. I, on the other hand, was starting to feel the repercussions of getting up so early.

I threw a worried glance at Stefan, and was met with a smirk. But he kept his mouth shut. Of course, that didn't mean he wouldn't give me away later. The door opened another time, and Rebekah stepped in.

''Take a seat,'' I said, and she plumped herself down in one of the chairs closest to the door. I handed her a worksheet, looked at the clock on the wall, and waited until it struck an even digit. ''Alright, go ahead.''

The room was instantly filled with the sounds of rustling paper and the scribbling of pencils. Rebekah took one look at the sheet in her hands before dropping it on the desk. ''This is ridiculous.''

Ever since I'd become friends with Elena and the rest, it felt a little as if I'd lost whatever authority in the classroom I had over them, and Rebekah... she was on a whole other level. I knew I had to deal with it as any sub would, but it was like I'd momentarily forgotten how to do that.

''Well,'' I said, and cleared my throat uncomfortably, ''it is what's required. So I'd suggest you do it.''

Rebekah mustered up the sweetest smile she could, but I could see her eyes darken when they bore into mine.

''It's not a problem,'' she said, not as a reply, but more as an order. Even if the other students weren't all looking at us, they most definitely were listening.

''You do it now, or when Mrs. Cooper is back,'' I said slowly. ''Either way, you're doing it.''

Maybe I was stupid. Maybe she wouldn't kill me for resisting her compulsion. Maybe she couldn't know if I were on vervain or not.

She huffed, but grabbed a pencil and started scribbling down answers.

I was completely baffled. She was actually writing something down. It could be insults or rambles, but still. Why was an Original vampire in school, in class, and taking instructions from a substitute teacher?

The rest of the class was still writing when Rebekah stood up, went up to my desk, and put down the worksheet right in front of me. She looked at me daringly, then turned around and walked straight out of the classroom.

Her handwriting was extremely elegant; her letters old fashioned, swirly, and beautiful. All her answers were correct, and there was no jabbing comment to be found anywhere on the page.

My eyes went to the door she'd just left through, because I really couldn't believe what had just happened.

When the classroom had emptied of students, Bonnie came up to my desk and said without hesitation:

''I've got an idea.'' Her words were quick and short. ''About the switch.''

We'd both had a couple of days to think about it, and I hadn't pressed her for answers. I mean, I hadn't come up with anything useful, so I wasn't going to stress her out by putting all of the work on her. Patience was a virtue I did possess.

I put down what was in my hands and eyed her with interest. ''Okay?''

''You can manipulate emotions,'' Bonnie began.

''Yeah,'' I said and made a face, ''but I don't really like the term manipulate.''

''Do you think you could turn someone's switch back on?''

''I-'' I paused, marvelling at the idea. ''I have no idea. I don't know how it works.''

''I'm still not completely sure either,'' Bonnie said. ''But, let's say the switch is reliant on emotion. What if you could, like, kickstart Stefan?''

''But... I mean,'' I stopped. ''Like I said. There's no way there are no emotions inside of you.''

''But you should be able to enhance something, right? Couldn't that trigger their switch?''

''I don't know,'' I bit my lip. ''And if I could try it, maybe... I don't know. But who knows what Stefan would do if I tried to do that to him?''

Bonnie grimaced. ''Yeah, but let's just play with the idea... what if we got him tied down?''

''There's no harm in trying?'' I said, not completely sure, and certainly not liking the idea of an angered vampire and what he could do that was now forming in my mind.

''That's what I'm thinking,'' Bonnie said. ''We need a plan.''

Harbouring a long-time crush on Tom Hiddleston is slowly but surely breaking my heart. Seriously, it's been years. Help.