Our Little Cousin the Vampire Hunter (The Vampire Diaries)

The Gilberts

      She stuck out like black in the middle of a rainbow.

      And she hated every minute of it.

      She had on her hunting boots and torn skinny jeans and hoodie from the night before becuase she hadn't exactly bothered changing due to fatigue. Damon decided to waltz in her room at the crack of dawn this morning, proclaiming they were going on a field trip and gave her absolutely no time to change at all. She had maybe five seconds to slip on her boots which wasn't exactly easy considering she was still dead to the world at that time and she had no idea what was going on. Her hair was a giant puffball and there had been a scowl permanently plastered onto her face ever since her dearest cousin dragged her out of the house.

      She currently sat in a less than comfortable chair in the administrations office at Mystic Falls High, glaring at the back of Damon Salvatore's head while he charmed and compelled his way into getting Alydia enrolled at the school. Even though the lady at the front desk--Mrs. Rosen, was it?--attempted at making it discreet, Alydia still caught the worried looks she shot in her direction. Great. They think I'm a delinqeunt. Thanks Damon. She took a break from glaring and looked around at the many pictures that were posted on bulletin boards. One had big, bold letters that said in bright green, HOEMCOMING COMMITTEE. In just about every picture was a prettygirl with blond hair and a bright smile. In a few she was hanging streamers and other colorful things up along with another girl...one who looked exactly like Katherine Peirce. Her hair was perfectly straight and her grin was warm. Katherine's smiles are never warm. Hell, Katherine doesn't smile at all. She also didn't have that bracelet on. How peculiar....

      "Alright, thank you Mrs. Rosen. She'll be here, bright eyed and bushy tailed on Monday morning," Damon flashed her one of those charming smiles he had given to many girls over the years. Mrs. Rosen just smiled and nodded, quickly looking at Alydia with the same worried look as before. Alydia rolled her eyes followed Damon out the door. He had an accomplished smirk gracing his face.

      "Why the hell am I going to school?" she asked angrily once inside the car.

      "Because I need you to do me a favor."

      "I haven't even been back for a full twenty-four hours yet and I'm already starting to save you? Jeez, Damon. Congrats! You've officially broken a record!"

      He rolled his eyes and turned down another street. "Just wait. When we get to Elena's house it'll make more sense."

      "Who's house?"

      He didn't answer. Alydia just shook her head. High school? She'd never actually been in one but she'd seen enough shows and movies to know that being the girl was never fun. You always got picked on by the "popular kids"  and dealing with that never ended well. What the hell was Damon thinking? This Elena girl better be worth it. High school. Pfft.

      They pulled up to a nice sized house with a swing on the porch. She got out after Damon and they walked up the steps. He knocked three times and just moments after, a tall kid that looked about sixteen answered the door. He had on a tight fitting long-sleeved shirt that showed off the defined muscle he had. Alydia swallowed hard and mentally shook her head. He looked at her quickly before turning his attention to Damon.

      "Hey, Damon. What's up?"

      "Hey, Jeremy, is Elena around?"

      "Uh, yeah, she's just getting ready. Come in."

      Damon walked in with Alydia trailing behind him. She uncomfortably hugged her arms to her chest and looked around the house. It was clean smelled of fresh cotton. She stuck out a bit without having Damon next to her, wearing all black as well. At least it was his choice to wear the dark color. If it was up to her she'd be wearing shorts and a tank top with some cute sneakers, like Vans or Converse. Not bloddy boots and torn jeans.

      A moment later low thuds came from the direction of the stairs. She turned to find a girl--Elena, she assumed--wearing a green T-shirt and jeans. She looked at Alydia with confused eyes and then shifted her gaze to Jeremey, silently asking him who this girl was. He shurgged in response and shook his head. Something caught his attention and his head snapped in the direction of the stairs and Alydia swore she heard something else. No one else seem to notice. He quickly jogged up the stairs. Elena looked to Damon.

      "Hey Damon..." she took another wary look at the stanger. "Um...who is this?"

      "Elena, this is Alydia Salvatore. Alydia, meet Elena Gilbert."

      "Salvatore? You mean, you guys are--"

      "Siblings? No. Cousins, yes."

      "Hi," Alydia gave a tiny smile and even maller wave in her direction.

      "Hi...? Elena closed her eyes and shook her head before opening them again. "Damon, I thought you didn't have any other living relatives besides Stefan."

      "Yeah, I did too until after you left last night. Guess we were both wrong. Anyways, she's a vampire hunter and--"

      "She's a vampire hunter, Damon?"

      "Awkward right? As I was saying, she's a vampire hunter and as of Monday morning, you're new body guard when I'm not around. Like at school. And...basically any other place I'm not with you."

      "I can't go along with a complete stranger I just met less than five minutes ago. No offense to you Alydia. And on top of all that, she isn't--"

      "I just enrolled her today."

      "Damon, you can't just spring something like that on me! It's not fair to me and I'm pretty sure Alydia feels the same way."

      "You're either safe or not Elena. This way, I know you're fine."

      "By putting you're little cousin who you haven't seen for decades in danger to keep me safe? That's not exactly the best welcome home gift."

      "Alydia," Damon sighed, looking over at said girl. "Do you mind protecting Elena?"

      Alydia shrugged. She didn't want their little argument to turn into something fierce so she nodded. If Damon really hadn''t changed, his attitud definitely stayed the same. A cranky Damon somehow managed to piss of just about everyone around him.

      "See?" Damon looked at a ticked off Elena triumphantly. "She doesn't mind! Anyway, we'd better get going."

    "Whatever Damon," Elena looked to Alydia and smiled. "I'm sorry you got dragged into this, especially since you haven't been here that long. And it was nice to meet you. While you're forced to go to school and be my Damon-appointed "body guard", I'll try to help get you comfortable."

      Alydia couldn't help but smile back. "Thanks, Elena."

      "Anytime."

      "What grade are you in, by the way?" Elena asked.

      "Tenth," Damon answered for her.

      "Tenth it  is, then," she giggled. "I've never really been in high school before, so this is going to be interesting."

      "Well, I'm sure Jeremy will be able to help you out more than I will. He's in tenth, too. Speaking of which, Damon, I'm a senior. She's a Sophomore. How is that going work out...?"

      Damon smiled mischeviously. "I have a feeling you two will be very close to each other at all times."