[ BOOK ONE ]
Erin Gilbert believed the worst thing that could ever happen to her was the death of her parents. But when the Salvatore brothers waltz into town, she finds herself longing for the sorrow-filled days of the past.
All too soon, Erin's n...
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THERE SEEMED TO have been a thick air that blanketed the Gilbert household in the days following Elena's transition into a vampire. It wasn't a conscious creation, nor one made of ill intent. The tension simply appeared on its own, following them around whether they wanted it or not.
Neither Erin nor her siblings knew how to handle Elena's new predicament. The recently turned vampire especially. They were all more than aware of the sudden shift in their lives, and none of them were quite sure where to go from there.
With Winter Break in full swing, they at least didn't have to worry about school for a little while. So for a few days, Stefan thought it would be a good idea to start helping Elena adjust to her new normal. And by that, he wanted to coax her into an animal blood diet. The same one he failed at time and time again.
Erin thought it was a horrible idea, as did Damon. But unfortunately, they were overruled by their two one -track-minded siblings.
"I still don't see why you won't at least try to live off human blood," Erin exclaimed, perching on the side of her sister's bed.
Since making her decision, Elena really hadn't explained why she believed the animal diet would work for her when it didn't for Stefan. The thought process didn't make a whole lot of sense, and Erin wanted to know what her sister planned to do differently than the hundred and sixty year old vampire.
Elena packed a few articles of clothing and other items into a duffel bag set on her bedspread. "Stefan thinks that if I start off with animal blood, I'll have a shot at bypassing all the bad parts of being a vampire," she replied.
Erin simply blinked. "Yeah, I know what Stefan thinks. I'm asking what do you think," she said pointedly.
Elena sighed, tossing a folded shirt into the duffel, before she looked up and met her eyes. "I think it's worth a shot. All I know is that - I don't wanna hurt anyone."
Erin's expression dropped into a frown. "I get that, Elena. I do. But Caroline's been drinking human blood since she turned, and she's perfectly fine," she countered in return.
Caroline turned out to be scarily fine as a vampire. Despite the one slip up right after she first transitioned, she took to her new life as if it were a mere bump in the road. A slight inconvenience to her otherwise normal schedule. No other vampires had ever seemed so well adjusted.
To Erin, the answer was glaringly obvious. Instead of learning how to adjust from Stefan, Elena should be taking lessons from Caroline. A vampire who could drink as much human blood as she wanted and not want to tear a person's head from their shoulders.
