A Heart Full of Scars

            Most of the students in Mystic Falls High School are filling in the school grounds. Many of them chitchatting and asking each other for things to gossip; such as the alleged relationship of the Sheriff’s daughter, Caroline Forbes and the football player, Matt Donovan. The high school sweetheart, Elena Gilbert and her boyfriend, Stefan Salvatore, are now also seen in the campus. While everybody on the inside kept themselves busy, all of the students outside the school buildings are witnesses; witnesses of a fabulous Bentley car parking just in front of the building. They also happen to witness the skinny girl stepping out of the car. From afar, she looks like a model. She was wearing dark jeans, and leather boots to the knee, a leather jacket and dark sunglasses. The only thing that brought color to her outfit was her crimson-colored scarf. It seems like she’s a famous star and she’s trying to stay away from the paparazzi. Like with her very dark attire, she’s trying to keep the eyes off of her, but she failed. If one of the Mystic Falls’ girls wore what she wore, they wouldn’t have stood out in a crowd. With the way this girl walked and carried herself with confidence none of the other girls have, even though she was wearing dried leaves and figs, she’d still look like one of those girls in magazines. She moved like a feline, like she’s ready to pounce at something with every step, but she moved gracefully through the lot and into the school building.

            She headed directly to the school secretary’s office. And she handed down some of her documents.

            “Well, good morning.” The secretary smiled.

            She smiled back. “I would like to enroll for this semester.”

            She quietly handed a pile of paper to the old woman behind the desk.

            “Scarlett Salazar? It seems that you lack the requirements needed for enrolling in Mystic High.”

           Scarlett removed her sunglasses and stared at the secretary. She smiled at her and her pupils dilated. “Oh, no. What are you talking about? Look at it again. Everything is there, right?”

            She stared for a moment and then digs up on the pile of papers again. “Oh yes. You’re right.”

            “And please, give me at least a class that Stefan Salvatore’s in.” Her pupils dilated again.

            “Okay, dear.” She signed a slip and gave her a schedule. “Welcome to Mystic Falls High School.” The secretary smiled at Scarlett.  She smiled back.

            Scarlett looked at the secretary once more. “Do you mind accompanying me to my first class?”

            The secretary looked deeply into Scarlett’s eyes and all of a sudden she stood up. “No, of course not, dear, come with me.”

            The secretary lead the way to her first class: English. All of students are already in the classroom. She stopped by the third door on the right.

            “Here’s our stop.” She smiled at Scarlett.

            “Thank you.”

            The secretary knocked and opened the door. Inside, the students looked and the teacher stopped.

            “Mr. Carter, we have a new student.” The secretary said. Scarlett entered the classroom and handed Mr. Carter the slip. The boys began whispering; somewhat liking the fact that Scarlett was in their class.

            “Okay, class, this is Scarlett Salazar.” The teacher in his late 40’s said.

            The secretary left.

Scarlett scanned the classroom for a face she knows and she found who she was looking for, Stefan Salvatore. Compelling the secretary worked, she thought.

            “Salazar?” Mr. Carter said. “Are you Spanish or something?”

            “Yes.” She answered in a light voice. “My father is Spanish and my mother is Filipino.”

            “Interesting. Tell us something more about yourself.” Mr. Carter said, asking this to seemingly know more about Scarlett himself than wanting it for the class’s sake.

            “Well, I’m 17 years old and I moved here with my brother from Florida.” She smiled at Stefan. “And we’re actually a friend of the Salvatore’s. Right, Stefan?”

            “Mr. Salvatore?” Mr. Carter asked curiously.

           “Yes. Scarlett and I go way back.” Stefan answered, worried, looking at the curious Elena beside him.

            “And don’t leave Damon out of the picture.” Scarlett said, smiling.

            He laughed. “Of course.”

             “What made you move here?” a boy cut in. Mr. Carter seemed happy the class also felt the same enthusiasm he felt for the girl.

            “My great grandparents owned a house here before. So did my parents. We, Stefan, Damon and I, used to play together in the old Salvatore house when were little. That’s why I came here.” She smiled at the lie she was feeding the hungry ears in the room.

            Mr. Carter was supposed to ask another question.

            “Why won’t you just ask me those things after class? This is Mr. Carter’s time we’re wasting.” She smiled at the teacher. Mr. Carter didn’t do anything about it.

She looked for a vacant chair; she found one on the end of the room. She walked up to a guy sitting next to Stefan.

            “Uhmm, can I just sit here?” she smiled at the guy. “I want to reminisce with an old friend.”

            Scarlett didn’t use her compelling powers but her charms; the guy stood up and smiled at her.

She sat down. Stefan wanted to ask Scarlett things, but he knows it’s not wise to discuss it in a room full of people.

            Stefan and Scarlett sat in silence; as if they didn’t know each other. They waited for the bell and it came.

            “Scarlett, can we…?” Stefan started.

            “Yes, we can.” She smiled. But her smile disappeared the moment she saw Elena. “What the… No!” all the students looked at her. “My shoe has… gum.” She continued, just to lose the attention. “Katherine?” she whispered to Elena.

            “No. She’s not.” Stefan said. “Scarlett this is Elena. Elena this is Scarlett.”

            “Hi, nice to meet you.” Elena said while offering a hand.

            “So it’s you.” Scarlett said while shaking Elena. “I didn’t think you look like Katherine’s twin.”

            “What are you talking about?” Stefan said.

            “C’mon outside. Bring Elena along.” Scarlett dashed outside the classroom. Stefan and Elena followed.

            They didn’t head to their next class; they headed outside the school building away from people.

            “What made you come here, Scarlett?” Stefan asked politely.

            “One word: Katherine.” She answered.

            Stefan’s eyebrows met. Elena felt insecure.

            “She’s coming back Stefan.”

            “What? Why?”

            “Because you and Damon are here.”

            “And so what if we’re back here?”

            “She’ll kill the both of you Stefan and probably Elena too, because she’s jealous. You moved on, you didn’t stay faithful to her. She’s coming back to take revenge.”

            “What?”

            “I’m here to help you fight her. There’s no other way. You know how she thinks, once she made up her mind, there’s now way of changing it. All we can do is kill her, and her friends.”

            “Friends?” Elena spoke for the first time.

            “Pearl. She’s here isn’t she? She’s back. She’s with Katherine.”

            “If there are a lot of them, how do we stop them?” Elena asked.

            “Elena, Pearl is 400 years old. Gladly, I’m 500 or so years old and my brother is a hundred years older than me. It makes us a lot stronger.” Scarlett smiled.

            “How did she know about all of this?” Stefan said

            “I don’t know, I think she’s in contact with some of our old friends.”

            Stefan didn’t know what to say.

            “Stefan… I have an important question.” Scarlett said.

            “What is it?”

            “Can Scott and I move in with you and Damon?”

            School was over that day. The Bentley pulled over at the Salvatore’s. Scarlett stepped out of the car and took her luggage. Stefan went out to help her.

            “Where is he?” Scarlett asked.

            “I still haven’t told him you were here.” Stefan said. “He’s upstairs.”

            “You’d think he’d like it that I’m back?”

            “He is Damon. You know him better than I do.” Stefan said.

            “Well, I used to.” Her light blue eyes showed pain.

            Stefan didn’t know what to say, he just took 2 of her suitcases and brought it inside the house. Scarlett trailed in beside him. Elena was inside.

            “Hi, Elena.” Scarlett smiled at her.           

            “Hi.” Elena smiled back. “You sure do have a lot of things.”

            Stefan went back out to get the remaining of Scarlett’s things.

             “Nah. Those are just a few of my… you know.” Scarlett said, smiling. Elena smiled at her.

            “Will you excuse me for a moment?” Scarlett said eyeing the stairs just by the kitchen counter. “I’ll just go and talk to him.”

            “Yeah, sure, go ahead.” Stefan said while sitting in one of the couches with Elena.

            Scarlett walked slowly up the stairs. She tried to picture how Damon looks now, how extremely exasperating he’s been after she left, and how he’ll react if he knows she’s back and she’s staying with them.

            She smelled alcohol on the second floor. He’s probably drinking again, she thought. She reached the top step of the stairs. She saw Damon sitting, with his back to her, on one of the big throne-like chair beside a small table full of bottles of probably really old brandy.

            “How’s school little brother?” Damon said, thinking it was Stefan.

            “I’ll tell him you asked that.” Scarlett said. “How have things been, Damon?”

            Upon hearing her voice, he stood up and placed the half-empty glass on the table.

            “Scarlett…” he said. “Thanks for the visit.”

            She slowly unfastened the belt of her coat.

            “Is there an extra room here?” she asked.

            He slowly walked up to her. “Yes, Zach’s room is empty.”

            “Oh yeah. Where’s Zach?”

            “He may be on a trip out of town, and may also be dead.” On his face appeared a sly smile

            “Gosh, Damon, you killed him? There goes the Salvatore bloodline.”

            “Why are you here anyways, Scarlett?”

            “I’m moving in with you guys.” She smiled.

            “And Scott?” Damon asked. He stopped just in front of her.

            “Yes.”

“We all know how he hates me.”

Scarlett smiled cunningly at him. “Oh Damon, I missed you.”

Damon reached down to her and he held her waist. “I missed you, too.”

Damon being really perverse kissed her. He felt good, he liked what was happening but because he felt the craving for obscenity. Scarlett felt bad about it, knowing he didn’t do this because of love. She loved him so much that she’s willing to give up her life for him. But Damon didn’t feel the same way, and she knew that. But it was okay. After all these years, she tried to put up with that fact. After all these years, she still believed that deep inside him he knows the truth and after a while, he will love him back. But she learned to adapt to reality, that even though she hoped to be the center of Damon’s universe, she knew too well that it will take a lot more than being beside him for more than 150 years to get him back.

            Scarlett felt they were starting to move, even though the kissing has not stopped. A door opened, Damon pushed her into one of the rooms. She remembered it was Damon’s room. Damon was removing her coat, Scarlett unbuttoned his shirt. Damon pushed her to the bed. He climbed on top of her and kissed her once more.

            “Damon…” Scarlett said.

            Damon stopped. “Yes?”

            “Let’s stop this.”

            “I thought you missed me?”

            “I’m not like you, Damon. Doing this hurts me.”

            Damon didn’t answer. He knew too well how sensitive Scarlett is.

            “If I don’t do something you like, will you kill me?” Scarlett asked.

            “How can you say that?”

            “You did it to Lexi.”

            Damon was utterly quiet.

            “Will you kill me too?” Scarlett asked again.

            “I don’t know, babe.” Damon answered.

            “Well, then maybe I’ll watch out for the unexpected.” She forced a smile.

Damon’s lips traveled to hers again. But while he was kissing her, he thought about it. Of course, if Scarlett was in the way of his plans, she needed to be taken care of, but then he thought, not just thought, but felt, that Scarlett’s feelings for him were true, and if it was true that Katherine didn’t care, Scarlett was the only creature who treasured his being. And by the way, what were his plans now, now that he knows Katherine is out there.

            “By the way, what made you come here?” he asked, out of air.

            “I told you, I miss you.” She lied.

            Even though Scarlett’s lying was smooth, he knew her too well.

            “Be honest with me.” He ordered.

            “If I tell you, maybe you will kill me.” She said cautiously.

            He lay down next to her.

            “Tell me.” He said, with a little bit of pleading in his tone.

            “She’s going back, Damon.” She said. She didn’t need to speak the name, when they were together in Florida; she seldom spoke the name Katherine.

            “Do you know why she’s coming back?” he asked, hiding the excitement in his tone.

            “To take revenge, Damon.” She said darkly, noting Damon’s eagerness. “She’s not coming back for you.”

            Suddenly, he was on top of her again, but now, the perverseness gone, his hands were on her neck, her hands on the pair of hands trying to kill her.

            “Liar!” Damon shouted.

            “D-Da-Damon.” She choked. “Stop, I-I-I ca-can’t breathe.”

            His grip tightened.

            “D-Don’t ma-make m-me hurt y-you.” She said.

            In a way, he somehow didn’t know what he was doing. She was the only person he can be himself with. He was often cynic when it comes to Stefan. He always felt jealous with his younger brother; Stefan was always happy, and he found Elena, meanwhile Damon has found none. Damon acted bossy and cocky around other people, but in front of Scarlett, he is what he used to be: sweet, sensitive, and human. The thought of Katherine attacking him, made him like this to Scarlett.

            She couldn’t take the choking any longer. She tightened her grip on his hand too. She wanted to throw him away, but she thought of the valuable furniture around them; they were old, and they probably cause too much. She clenched on his wrist tighter – tight enough she could hear his bones crack.

            “Aw!” he shouted.

            She sucked in a lot of air and then bended her neck.

            “How the hell can you say, Katherine’s gonna kill me?” Damon said.

            “Why do think I’ll travel all around America just to find you if you weren’t in danger?” Scarlett said.

            Damon was quiet.

            “Do you think I’ll lie to you about her?”  

            He shrugged.

            “You’re being this egotistical maniac again.” Scarlett shrieked. “You never try to trust anyone.”

            “’Cause that’s what it is. The only person I can trust here is me.”

            “Guess after all those years; you never did learn to trust me.”

            She stood up and started to walk away. Damon was used to girls walking away from him, they walk away, and he’ll find another one. But he also didn’t know why he cared about Scarlett.

            “Where are you going?” he asked.

            It’s hard. I’ve kept this secret for almost more than 150 years. It’s time somebody knows about it, at least when Katherine kills me, somebody else can run away and follow you, to tell you it, she thought.

            “I’ll be downstairs.” She sighed. “I’ll talk to Elena and Stefan.”

            He didn’t say anything.

            “Damon,” she turned a little bit back to him.

            “Yes?” Damon answered.

            “Can I still sleep with you?” she asked, trying to cool down the situation. “I don’t want to make Scott sleep on the couch.”

            “Okay.” Damon said, a bit liking the turn of things.

            She headed downstairs. She saw Elena and Stefan on couch. She headed to the fridge just by the stairs. She searched the inside.

            “No blood?” she asked Stefan.

            “Nope.” Stefan answered.

            “What?! Don’t tell me you hunt here!” she said.

            “No, we don’t. I hunt animals, I suggest you do the same.” He said.

            “That sucks.” Scarlett said. “We need to be well fed.”

            “No. I don’t allow you to feed on townspeople.”

            “Fine. I’ll buy some for me then.” She said. “Don’t steal my blood okay?”

            “Tell that to Damon.” Stefan teased.

            She chuckled. She continued scavenging the fridge until she found a bag of chips.

            “So…” Elena said, trying to change the topic. “How did the two of you go?”

            “Not so good.” Scarlett answered.

            “Why?”

            “He thinks, I’m lying.” Scarlett said. “He never trusts anyone. Your fault, Stefan.”

            “Why me?” Stefan asked. “Well, okay. It is my fault.”

            Scarlett grabbed the chips and closed the fridge. She started to go to where they were.

            “What do you feel about a little story?” Scarlett asked, placing the chips on the table.

            “Fine, for me.” Elena said.

            “Yeah. Me too.” Stefan said.

            “I wanna tell you how I became like this.” Scarlett smiled. “For all you know, Stefan, I was just some girl who appeared to Mystic Falls in 1864. I just appear out of nowhere, and same goes for you today, Elena.

            “Well, My real name is Maria Catalina Salazar, I was born in the late 1500’s. Part of what I told Mr. Carter today was true. My father was Spanish. He’s a General of the Spanish colony who settled in the Philippines. He married a woman from the Philippines. It made people look up to me, since I am what they call a mestiza. People always say I am beautiful and I felt that way too. I have blue eyes; I got it from my dad, and my dark brown curls, from my mom. Men were always visiting me, and I enjoyed their company, but I looked at them as friends. But one time, we were at the plaza, I saw a man, probably 20, Leandro. We didn’t meet, but my friends were talking about him, that’s why I knew him. There was this one night, my parents went to a dinner party, and my 2-year old brother and I were left at home. His crib was beside a window, and I sat by him. From the window, I saw a man walking on the street, it was Leandro. He stopped his walk the moment he saw me. I stared at him in the pale moon light. He gestured his hand for me to come to him, and as a stupid girl that I was, I did come to him. Unfortunately, he was a vampire, and he fed on me. The next thing I know I was in the woods. I saw another man; he was as beautiful as Leandro. He told me what he is, and he told me how he saved me from the attack; he fought Leandro and he left me outside the house, so even if I disappear, my parents would think I was dead. Well, my parents did see me there, lying wounded on the ground; they did think I was dead, and he rescued me from the morgue. It was Scott.” She smiled at the memory of how her found brother saving her.

            Stefan was shocked. “I always thought you were related.”

            “No, we aren’t.” she smiled. “Maybe, Elena, if you see Scott, you might think like Stefan.”

            Elena smiled. “I look forward to meeting him.”

            “Well, on with my story.” Scarlett hinted. “Scott, formerly known as Carlos, made me choose between dying and being an immortal. I chose the latter. At first, I thought life like this was like hell, but now, when I think of it, I’m one of the lucky ones to see all this.” She held up her cell phone. “Technology, at its finest.” She smiled. “Scott and I are like walking history books.

            “After he changed me, we always traveled at night, of course, because of me. We traveled to Europe to search for his friend who makes the day walker rings. But we didn’t find him, so we headed here. 1650’s, we found another maker of these rings.”

            “Wait.” Stefan interrupted. “Are you talking about Pearl?”

            “Yes, exactly.” She smiled. “After we have purchased my ring, we traveled all across the world, wherever I wanted. We both changed our names, Scott adapted my last name. In the 18oo’s, we stopped being transitory, we settled here in America, close to Scott’s friends. 1864, we came to Mystic Falls; a mile away from the Salvatore house, Scott bought a beautiful estate. We just moved in, and I decided to go shopping, I visited the farm. That’s when I saw him.” She smiled.

            “Damon?” Elena asked.

            “Yes.” She said.

            None of them knew that from the very beginning of Scarlett’s story, Damon was there hiding on the stairs, eavesdropping. He paid all his attention the moment he heard his name.

            “Oh, I tell you. He was dashing.” She smiled at Stefan. “I don’t mean that you’re not, Stefan, it’s just that, he really is my type.”

            Stefan laughed.

           “I went to the milkman first, and then the farmer, I went past Pearl’s store and decided to visit them. When I decided to go home, as I walked out the door, there they were, the Salvatores. Honestly,” she grinned. “I was trying to work my charms on them, especially, him, trying to look as poised and as graceful as I can, but things didn’t work the way I want them. I tripped, over my own foot! I dropped my groceries. I tell you! It was embarrassing. But I’m fine with it; he helped me up and picked up my groceries.”

            “Nice move then.” Stefan teased.

            “I didn’t know he was a gentleman.” Elena said jokingly.

            “If you knew him, before he was… this…” Scarlett struggled to find the right words. “Vampire-like, then maybe you would have fallen in love with him, not with Stefan.” She teased Stefan.

            “And then?” Elena said, wanting to hear more of Scarlett’s story.

            “He accompanied me to the house. I invited him to stay. We stayed on the front porch, and talked about ourselves. For once in my life, I am what I am. I mean, I didn’t have to pretend like someone else, like the 17 years of my human life came back. We talked till dusk, he bid farewell. ‘Can I come back tomorrow?’ he asked me. Of course, I said Yes.” She smiled. “He came the next day, and the day after that. He came everyday. And sometimes, he’d bring me to the Salvatore house. But it all stopped when he needed to leave for the Army.” Her smile was gone now. “It’s really hard. I often wait on the front porch for him. I always picture him walking to me with a bunch of carnations he picked somewhere. He looks like an angel for me. I’d always wait. But he never came, of course he couldn’t. A week later, Katherine stayed in the Salvatore house. Another week later, Damon came home.” Her eyes showed pain. “That day, I was the first person he came to in Mystic Falls. He gave me a ring. It was the most beautiful ring ever.” She reached into her shirt, she took out a necklace, and its pendant was a ring.

            “Is that it?” Elena asked.

            “Yes.” Scarlett smiled. “I just wish he remembered giving it to me, that with this, he asked my hand for marriage.”

            “I don’t remember him telling me he asked someone for marriage.” Stefan said.

            “That’s what she made you believed.” Scarlett said. “That day, he promised to come back to me but he didn’t. At first, Katherine only wanted you Stefan, but when she saw Damon, she wanted to keep the both of you. You moved on easily, Stefan. Have you ever wondered why he didn’t? It’s because he felt true love. Not for Katherine, that love was for me. But she compelled him to believe the she was the one he loved. And it hurts, Stefan.” She started sobbing. “I tried to get him back. Most of Katherine’s vampire ‘friends’ stopped me and Scott from trying to get to him. When we couldn’t do anything else, Scott decided to leave Mystic Falls. He didn’t want to see me as depressed as I was. Time healed the pain. But my heart still belongs to him. When I knew he was in Florida, I tracked him down. I made him stay for a year, but that was it. And it was hard, I was staying with him, wanting him, because I love him, whereas what he only felt for me was lust.”

            Someone handed a handkerchief to Scarlett. Scarlett reached for the hanky but she stood in surprise the moment she saw whose hand it was: Damon’s.

“Da-Damon…” she cried some more.

            “Why didn’t you tell me?” Damon’s cold voice asked.

            “I wanted you to figure it out on your own. I was hoping, the compelling would fade, but it didn’t.”

            “You still should have told me.”

            “You didn’t trust anyone, Damon. How can I be sure you wouldn’t hurt me if I told you?”

            He didn’t trust anyone since this day. Now he trusted Scarlett more than he trusts Stefan. He acted cold, but he believed what he heard, because what Scarlett was hoping just happened, he felt free of the compelling and he knew it was her he truly loves.

            “Damon, I’m sorry.” She said.

            Even though he knows it was true, it was his ego who was hurt, arrogance and pride washed through him and he started walking away.

            She followed him.

            “Please.” She said.

            He stopped momentarily.

            “Please always keep this with you.” She kept her palm open, on it, a wrist cuff made of leather. “If you don’t want to learn to trust around you, wear this always.”

            “What is this?” he asked.

            “To keep other vampires from compelling you.”

            “Thank you.” He said, and he headed on to his way.