School started, and I used my time to make sure Jeremy didn't use heavy drugs and stuck to marijuana at most. At least that would avoid a lot of problems. Since I messed with fate, let's do it properly.
He still became friends with Vicky, but by then I had already "fixed her up" a bit, and she's been keeping herself under control too.
How did I make an addict less addicted? Lots of dick and magic! Just kidding… not that much, but still a lie.
I cast an anti-paranoia curse on her. Basically, she can't get high from anything. That was the theory, but I made some changes so she wouldn't have total resistance and draw attention. I allowed the curse not to work fully with alcohol and marijuana; even so, the effect is reduced. That way she won't spiral so badly.
"Nik, it's the first day," Bonnie yelled at me and slapped my back. "Let's pick up Elena at her place."
"She has a car," I replied, confused. "I don't think she needs a ride."
And then I got another smack on the back. What the hell is Bonnie's problem with hitting people?
"She just lost her parents in a car accident," Bonnie growled at me and stepped on my foot. Ow… Seriously, am I getting abused for nothing? "Be nice."
"But I've always been nice," I said, irritated. "Tell me when I wasn't."
"Let's see… when she invited you to the New Year's party three years ago, you turned your back and ignored her. When she wrote you a love letter in elementary school, you tore it up in front of her," Bonnie said with an amused and annoyed look. "You caused her several traumas. The poor girl had never been rejected in her life."
"I'm not obligated to return her feelings," I declared irritably. Honestly, why the hell would I want the most coveted magical creature in the supernatural world by my side? I'm not suicidal. "And I was a kid in school."
"And now?" Bonnie asked suspiciously. "Are you still a kid?"
"No… I'm not an idiot. She got pretty hot," I said, and Bonnie closed her face, ready to hit me again. "But I have a preference for blonde, curly girls."
Bonnie broke into a very happy smile and typed something on her phone. Whatever she typed made her way too happy for just having heard a random word—then she narrowed her eyes.
"Elena can be curly too," Bonnie replied, eyes narrowed.
"Too white for my standards," I said with a light teasing tone—even though Elena is technically, biologically Greek, but Bonnie doesn't need to know that yet.
"Dude, you're blond," Bonnie punched my shoulder lightly. "How the hell are you complaining that the girl is too white? And she's more Persian than white. But at least you prefer blondes—that's good."
I rolled my eyes and sighed deeply, that classic sigh of someone who realizes they lost the argument before it even started.
"Okay, okay… point to you," I muttered, raising my hands in surrender. "But that doesn't change the fact that I'm not obligated to become a walking emotional support system."
Bonnie crossed her arms, walking backward in front of me while smiling in that dangerous way—the smile of someone who already won and is just enjoying the view.
"You don't need to be emotional support," she said. "You just need to not be an idiot."
"That's a personal attack," I replied.
"That's an empirical observation," she shot back instantly.
Jeremy ran past us, backpack on, with that nervous energy typical of someone who still doesn't know if school will be hell or just social purgatory.
"Hey, Nik!" he yelled. "Vicky's already outside."
I nodded. Vicky really was different. Not just cleaner, but centered… there was something in her eyes. Not that constant paranoia, not the chemical desperation looking for the next fix. The curse was working like a shock absorber for chaos. It didn't heal, it didn't save—it just prevented free fall.
Magic doesn't fix people. It just changes the angle of the fall.
Bonnie watched me silently for a second that lasted too long.
"I don't know what you did, but you know you shouldn't use magic to control people, right?" she said, quieter, almost too serious for that early in the morning.
"I know," I replied. "But I can give a little help."
We reached the front of the Gilbert house. Elena's car was parked there, spotless—too spotless for someone who had recently lost her parents. That always bothered me: artificial normality, like a badly assembled set.
Elena came out soon after, backpack on her shoulder and a sad smile when she saw Bonnie.
"Good morning," she said, then turned to me and smiled—this one looked a bit goofy. "Good morning, Nik."
"Good morning," I replied, neutral.
Bonnie practically jumped to her side, hugging her like childhood friends who survived a war together.
"Ready for the first day?" Bonnie asked.
"More or less," Elena replied. "But I think I'll survive."
"Let's go," I said. "Before the school officially traumatizes us."
Bonnie laughed. Elena smiled a little more genuinely this time.
---++---
When we arrived at school, we saw Matt Donovan—Elena's ex—looking at her with anger and at me with hatred.
"He hates me," Elena said, downcast.
"And thinks I'm sleeping with you," I replied with the same irritated tone. "Which I never did."
"Not for lack of opportunity," Elena muttered quietly.
"Excuse me?" I replied harshly. "I didn't understand what you said."
"Nothing," she just denied it and ignored me, and that's when Bonnie stepped into the conversation.
"He doesn't hate you," Bonnie said with a sigh. "He's just sad."
"Yes, he's just a puppy abandoned by its owner," I replied cheerfully, throwing my hands up. Elena shrank back.
"NIK," Bonnie slapped my arm. "You said you'd behave."
"Sorry?" I raised my hands.
"Was that a question mark in your tone?" She narrowed her eyes.
That's when the blonde bombshell arrived, way too cheerful.
"Nik, Bonnie, and Elena," she said, hugging the girls and giving me a strong hug—strange…
"Did you see the new people who are joining?" Caroline asked, and miraculously didn't talk about boys. Something was wrong.
"I saw them. Most aren't my interest," Bonnie replied indifferently.
"Nothing interested me either," I added, also indifferent.
"Seriously?" Elena and Caroline said together, then made a face.
What the hell is going on?
The group naturally split up, as always happens in the first five minutes of school: hallways swallow people, friends turn into alternate routes, and educational chaos takes over.
Elena stayed behind when she saw Jeremy turning the corner in too much of a hurry, guilt written all over his face. Teenage guilt has a specific smell. She recognized it immediately.
"Jeremy!" she called, following him.
I saw the almost invisible bag being slipped into his pocket and sighed through my nose.
"Men's bathroom," I muttered. "Classic."
Bonnie was about to say something, but Caroline grabbed her arm hard.
"Guys, for the love of God, you NEED to see the new guy," she said, pointing with her chin in a very unsubtle way.
I followed their gaze.
And there he was.
Tall, posture strangely restrained for a teenager, eyes far too attentive for someone on the first day of school. Stefan Salvatore looked less like a new student and more like someone who had missed the right century.
Bonnie tilted her head, assessing him like someone observing a suspicious work of art.
"Okay… I admit it," she said. "He's hot."
"I've seen better," Caroline replied with ridiculous casualness.
I frowned.
"Looks like you like the vampiric type, huh, Bonnie?" I laughed, looking at her—and Stefan flinched a little. You bastard, listening in on other people's conversations.
"Privacy." I cast a sound-barrier spell that prevents others from hearing what we're saying, even with super hearing.
Both of them froze.
Bonnie blinked. Caroline laughed.
"Haha, very funny," Caroline said. "You have such weird jokes—"
"It's not a joke," I interrupted with a different kind of laugh. "My little sister here has a talent for being attracted to vampires. If you want to find a vampire in a place, just ask which one she finds the hottest."
Bonnie stared at me, trying to feel something beyond my irritating certainty.
"…Nik," she said slowly, "I would feel it if it were magic."
"Try again," I replied. "Now with more energy… he's probably feeding on rabbits. Rabbits have a low mana level, which affects his magical power."
Caroline took two steps back.
"Wait. Wait, wait, wait," she said quickly. "Are you serious?"
Stefan passed by us at that moment, looking confused, like he was searching for something.
Caroline swallowed hard.
"He… he just—"
"Tried to listen to our conversation? Yes, he did," I replied.
"That's not normal," Caroline whispered.
"Welcome to the club," I said.
Meanwhile, in the men's bathroom, Elena pushed the door open hard enough for it to echo.
---+++---
"JEREMY!"
He almost dropped the bag.
"Elena?! You can't come in here!"
"I can when you're being an idiot," she shot back, snatching the marijuana from his hand. "You promised."
Jeremy looked away, embarrassed and irritated.
"You're not my mother."
"No," she said more softly. "But I've already lost too many people to watch you destroy yourself."
He went quiet. The silence weighed more than any scolding.
---+++---
Outside, Caroline finally processed the information.
"…there are vampires," she said, voice thin.
"There are," I confirmed. "And they walk around unnoticed by everyone—except my little sister here, who enjoys checking out their asses."
Bonnie took a deep breath, irritated. "Whose fault is that? Who's the idiot that made me normalize the existence of vampires? It's not my fault they're hot."
Caroline let out a sound that wasn't quite a scream, but close.
"I DID NOT SIGN UP FOR THIS."
I smirked.
"No one does."
---+++---
Then I saw Stefan go straight to Elena and start talking to her, and the doppelgänger curse kicked in.
They were already attracted to each other and looked like they were about to eat each other alive in the classroom.
Class ended, and I received a message from Bonnie asking if it was safe to leave Elena with the rabbit-eating vampire.
Yes, she also started using that nickname for him.
While people were talking out on the street in front of the school, I followed Elena to the cemetery.
Since I messed with fate, I have to prevent Damon from trying to eat her—literally, not sexually and consensually.
When I arrived, hidden among the trees, I used a spell to disguise my scent and sound.
I saw Elena sitting in front of her parents' grave and starting to write in her diary.
That's when I saw the magical fog beginning to spread through the cemetery and some crows starting to circle Elena.
That's when I realized Damon was quite powerful despite his young age… He doesn't seem to have full control over the elements. It looks like he discovered the mystical abilities of vampires by accident and learned to use them on his own—still far from the level of the ancient vampires I knew on the Other Side.
If I were to rank vampire mystical abilities from 0 to 5, Damon would be a level 2—very impressive for someone who probably learned alone. Likely through the fog. He has an affinity with the water element and animal control.
Now I understand why, in the series, he caused so much trouble for the villains… Damon has the potential to reach ancient-vampire level even while young. Interesting.
When Elena started to get scared by the fog and I followed the mana trail to its source, I found where Damon was.
He was a few meters away from the cemetery, eyes closed and a smile on his face… The guy is perverse, and I smiled.
So am I.
"Levitate."
I cast a spell that hit Damon and moved my hand. He was thrown several meters until he slammed into a tree with such force that the tree fell on top of him, and all the fog's mana dried up. Damon passed out—probably broke his neck.
Despite being talented with mystical powers… he's still a young vampire. He doesn't have the physical resistance to take a hit like that and stay conscious.
Damon's body lay motionless beneath the fallen tree. The fog dissipated like embarrassed smoke, the crows flapped away and vanished among the branches, as if none of that was their problem. I've always found it curious how nature cooperates with the first vampire that shows up… until someone more stubborn interrupts.
I kept my hand extended for a few seconds, feeling the residual mana fade from the air. Nothing. No attempt at immediate regeneration. Neck definitely broken. Too young to endure raw impact without preparation.
"Talent without discipline ends like this," I muttered.
I turned my attention back to Elena. She was still sitting there, tense, looking around, sensing that something was wrong but not understanding what. Humans don't see magic, but they feel its echo. It's like hearing distant thunder and knowing the storm passed too close.
She closed the diary firmly, took a deep breath, and stood up, determined to leave. Good. Fewer variables.
I waited until she left the cemetery before moving. No need to traumatize the girl more than fate was already doing a great job of providing.
I walked up to Damon and pushed the tree aside with a simple gesture. Wood creaking, weight shifting, vampire revealed. He was unconscious, expression still carrying that irritating half-smile of someone who thinks he's in control even when he isn't.
I knelt beside him.
"So you're the problem brother," I said quietly. "Nice to meet you. I'm the owner of this city."
I ran two fingers across his forehead and cast a short spell—nothing elegant. A block. It didn't seal his powers—that would draw too much attention—it just scrambled his magical perception. For a while, the fog wouldn't respond properly. Animals neither. Like trying to use an arm that fell asleep.
"Learning on your own is admirable," I continued. "But you're too young, and mystical powers shouldn't be learned by just anyone."
Then I used a fog spell and took the opportunity to terrorize Elena—and unfortunately Stefan appeared and saved her.
Damn… looks like things are going to get hectic.
Explanation of vampire powers
1. Esther copied Tessa's spell, and because of that all vampires have a lesser version of Silas's powers hidden within themselves.
2. It is a mix of the vampires from the TV series and the books.
3. It is just an illusion from the author's mind.