Madeline Sage Saltzman, a vampire hunter and adoptive daughter of Alaric Saltzman, did not know what was in store for her when she entered Mystic Falls. Each passing day meant more potential dangers emerging. How will she handle it when she falls in...
A deafening thud echoed through the classroom as Alaric plopped a heap of papers in front of his daughter. With a cocked eyebrow, she gave him an incredulous glance, dreading what was coming next.
"Here, help me grade these," Alaric asked his daughter. Being a high school teacher wasn't exactly simple. Tons of work got submitted frequently, causing the work to pile up without compassion for the teacher. It was the night after the dance, and the event had assuredly taken up too much time to complete any of Alaric's responsibilities by tomorrow (unless he had help).
"This is child labor." Madeline groaned, taking a chunk of essays off the pile as Alaric examined the journal. Her father refused to let her stay home alone, deeming her identity as a vampire hunter had been revealed.
"Come on." Alaric chuckled, flipping the journal's page. "It's not so bad."
"You say that because you're not the one grading it." Madeline sighed, picking up a red pen to mark each trivial mistake she encountered on the various sheets of paper. Stopping her from circling a punctuation error, something whooshed outside her father's classroom too quickly for her to see. Both Saltzman tilted their heads, vigilant. Stupidly, Alaric stood up from his rolling chair and walked so he was at the doorway, glancing left and right.
"Hello?" he called out, hearing his voice reverberate off the hallway.
"Really? Hello?" Madeline mocked in disbelief. "That is how every person in a horror movie gets slaughtered."
"We are doing this now?" Alaric muttered. "We could be getting close to our deaths, and that's what you say?"
"Yes! Be more educated with universal horror movie rules, and then maybe we can talk." Madeline exhorted, doodling on a student's homework assignment. Alert, something in his gut kept gnawing at him. He glanced back at his daughter, determined to make sure she remained unscathed. Alaric signaled Madeline to go to her locker and get out her concealed weapon as hastily as possible. Briskly, her guns that shot out wooden stakes were soon fastened tightly in her hands. Hearing something shift in the classroom, she scurried over and fired without hesitation along with her father. Hesitation got people killed. Her father taught her that.
It was Stefan. A grunt of pain erupted past his lips as he missed seizing Madeline's stake, causing it to pierce his stomach.
"Stefan," Madeline whispered in recognition. Whether she trusted Stefan or not didn't matter. She reloaded her gun, noticing the aggravated expression on the vampire as he tugged out the stake and healed.
