Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Agreement

It was the Monday after I broke Damon's neck and both Caroline and Elena found out I was a vampire. I had not heard from either of the young women since then, luckily it seemed as though they had not told anyone about me either. So I was quite surprised when both of them walked into the classroom on time for the lesson, even though their heartbeats increased slightly when they did, they met my eyes with a smile before taking their seats. Just before the class started I was surprised to see the familiar face of Vicki Donavon walking through the door. I knew she was in the class, of course, but since I had started teaching here, she had not turned up to one lesson, so it was quite odd for her to be here. Looking at her quickly I saw the weight of the last two weeks etched on her face, hidden from most people by the charming smile, but I saw through it with ease. She quickly made her way to a seat behind her brother, sinking into it carefully as if to avoid drawing attention to herself. Looking over the class, I noted only two students were not attending, the first being Alexandria, as she wanted to back off from Caroline and Elena for a bit, perhaps worried her new friends saw her as a monster. The other being Stefan, which was odd and I had no idea what caused the absence.

I began my lesson as usual, continuing with the history of Mystic Falls, now and then looking over my students, trying to figure out what they were thinking. Every time our eyes met, I watched as different emotions flicked across their faces, each fighting the others. Yet they did not avert their eyes, matching mine each and every time.

The class ended, the entire class of students rushing out, on his way, past Matt, I shook my hand and thanked me before darting out to follow his sister. Yet again, it was just me, Caroline, Elena and Bonnie in the classroom alone. "What can I do for you three"? I showed confusion at the fact that Bonnie was still here. "I know what you are. They did not tell me, I found out alone," Bonnie said, adding the last bit after seeing my gaze shift to her two friends.

"I know you're a vampire, I wanted to show you something" She walked to the door, locking it as she spoke before heading back to my desk. Taking a pencil out of a pot on the desk she laid it on top of the desk before focusing on it. Slowly the pencil started shaking, increasing in intensity before starting to hover slightly. "Magic, impressive though you're new to your powers, let me guess you found out that I was a vampire when our hands touched the other week"? I said, drawing a look of surprise from the young Witch, "Tell me what you saw"? I continued.

For a moment, I saw her tears before she began speaking, "It was only lashes, pain, suffering, bloodshed, fire and war. They all flashed by too quickly for me to be able to understand any more than that". I smiled, nodding as I began to speak, "Okay, well then if you have discovered your magical abilities, I would offer to train you in them, help you control them". All three looked shocked at my words, but Bonnie spoke again "Okay". With that settled, I decided to move on to other topics.

"Where is Alexandria"? Caroline asked me, kind of out of the blue, "She decided to take a couple of days off, to give you all some space after you found out what we are," I responded. "She did not need to do that", Elena said before Caroline could speak again. I simply nodded at what she said, waiting for one of them to speak again.

"So, about you being a vampire," Elena begged, slightly hesitating. I motioned for her to continue, "You really aren't going to hurt us, or anyone else" She managed to get out, slight worry still on her face. "Of course not", I said, watching as some stress and worry left their faces.

"How are you so strong? Stefan said he was far weaker than Damon, yet you dealt with him like he was nothing," Elena asked, confusion now marring her face. I smiled, not surprised at her curiosity "There are a few things that dictate a vampire's strength, the first is the condition your body was in when you were turned. Vampirism enhances that, meaning the stronger you are as a human, the stronger you will be as a vampire. Damon was the son of a founding family, he was probably not used to training, and as such, his strength was not that good. I, on the other hand, spent every day training, enhancing my skills as a warrior, meaning my strength would turn out to be greater. As I finished the first bit of my explanation, I saw some confusion leave their faces.

"The second thing that denotes a vampire's strength is age, we get older the longer we live. Damon is young, not even two hundred years old, and I, well, let's say I am far older and as such far stronger. The third reason is how much you push your limits. If you continue pushing yourself, training your body, and fighting stronger opponents, your body adapts and becomes stronger. The last one had not been stated in the show, but I had confirmed it since, in my many fights, I got stronger pushing myself further and further away from my baseline strength. I left out the last reason I was stronger than him, the fact that I was an original vampire, they would find out eventually, but for now, they did not need to know.

After my explanation, each of them had more questions, taking my time answering each to the best of my ability, until one in particular, by Elena, caught me off guard. "Do you drink blood from people or animals"? It left me silent for a moment as I thought before answering "I drink human blood, it's the best and does not limit my strength". "What about the people who you drink from"? She continued. I had expected the question and so started without pause, "In Europe, it was simple, the systems I had put in place allowed us to get blood bags with ease. Someone would turn up to donate in exchange for some cash, and then be on their way. A vampire could then come and pay for it. Here it's slightly harder as I have not put the systems in place yet, instead we have to compel hospital staff, tamper with records so no one is any of the wiser. If that is not available, most of us just take what we need from a person, then compel them to forget about it. Damons' butchery of people is rare, as most of us try to avoid attention. You also get the occasional person who is willing to be fed on for whatever reason" I answered.

They stayed silent for a moment, considering my words, before Bonnie spoke up, "So you don't kill people"? She asked. "I have, I was a warrior before becoming a vampire. By the time I was your age, I had killed many men in battle. Since becoming a vampire, I have fought just as much, killing hundreds, maybe more, but no one innocent. I certainly do not kill those I drink from I answered, watching their faces change at my words.

"Okay, we will keep your secret on a few conditions", Elena spoke up. I raised my eyebrows and let out a small laugh at her words, clever to get something out of this. "Go on", I said, letting her speak. "First, you teach Bonnie magic like you said you would, second, you teach us all how to defend against vampires, and third, you make us something to avoid compulsion". I thought on that for a moment, teaching Bonnie magic was a given, teaching them how to defend against vampires, that could go either way, but I would do it. The last one making an amulet for each of them to avoid compulsion, I would it made sense as it was the easiest way to keep them safe. "Done" I responded.

Before we could continue, the bell rang out, signalling the end of break. They all had to go to their next lesson, so the conversation would have to wait for another day.