They had never heard her name. No one spoke of her. She is but a myth unknown, bent and broken. Her past changed her, made her into a monster. And now she's in Mystic Falls.
(Book One in The Demons Within series)
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The bottle of bourbon was nearly empty when a knock sounded at the door. Lillian sat up, her mind fuzzy from the alcohol, as she set the bourbon next to the other three bottles she had downed in the last hour.
With a grunt of annoyance, she stumbled over to the door, stepping over the body of old Mr. Thompson on her way. In a drunken fit of rage directed mainly at Stefan and Damon, she had drained him of his blood, killing him in the process. With the alcohol swirling her thoughts, she hadn't stopped to think that with him dead, anyone could come into the house.
Lillian opened the door, shaking her head to clear her blurry vision. She squinted, trying to make out the person standing in front of her.
"Damon, what a pleasure," she growled.
"A snarky bitch and a narcissistic alcoholic," Damon remarked, smelling the bourbon on her breath. Uninvited, he stepped into the house.
"You're one to talk," Lillian retorted, remembering when she'd first seen him at the bar and grill. Her words were slurred, nearly incomprehensible. "How'd you find me?" She would have killed him then, but curious as to why he had come kept her where she was.
Damon moved to the couch Lillian had been sitting on, picking up the bottle of bourbon and downing the rest of its contents. "That's none of your concern."
Lillian didn't press. She took a seat on the chair opposite, throwing her feet up onto the ottoman. "Why are you here?"
Damon shrugged, pouring another bottle of bourbon into a shot glass Lillian had left on the coffee table. "What can I say? I was looking for another drinking buddy."
"I threatened to kill your brother," Lillian reminded him. Her hand still had a red tint from where the blood hadn't washed off. "And I tried to kill your friend."
Damon swallowed the sip of bourbon, refilling the glass. "April? She's not my friend. Just a girl Elena used to babysit."
Elena. Lillian assumed he meant the Katerina look-alike. "I've heard tales of doppelgängers," Lillian began, trying to win some information out of Damon. "Shadow selves, the ones who look alike. They say their blood can be used to create powerful spells."
"Do they now?" Damon said, not giving anything away. He clearly wasn't drunk enough, although Lillian couldn't say the same. Damon knew that as well and was obviously going to use it to his advantage. "What's your name?"
The older vampire smiled, snatching the bourbon from his hands. In her drunken state, she told him. "Lillian Sinclair."
Damon grinned, pleased with himself for snatching that little bit of information, but there was a darker glint behind his eyes as Lillian said her name.
"I suppose you'll be telling your annoying brat of a brother," Lillian said. Damon didn't respond. "Well, I hate to be at a disadvantage. What's your last name?"
Seeing no harm in telling her, Damon replied, "Salvatore."
"Savior," Lillian murmured, remembering the Italian translation of the surname, even as it made her pause for a fraction of a second. "Tell me, Mr. Damon Salvatore, how old are you?"
"173. How old are you, Ms. Sinclair," Damon asked in the same mockingly formal tone.
Lillian's head was beginning to spin. She set the bottle of alcohol down, not trusting herself to drink anymore without telling Damon everything. "Old."
"How old?" Damon pressed.
"Older than you," she replied. Lillian stood up, turning around to head up to her new room. "I'm tired, Mr. Salvatore. Would you do me a favor and leave?"
Damon tapped his chin in a fake state of thinking. "That accent... it sounds Scottish."
Lillian was beginning to lose her patience. She turned around, using her vampiric speed and strength to quickly pick up the older Salvatore brother by the neck and throw him out of the house. "You're boring me, Damon. I said 'leave.'"
Knowing he was not welcomed anymore, Damon stood up, dusting off his jeans and leather jacket where dirt clung to them. "You've quite the temper, Ms. Sinclair." He began his walk back to his car, calling over his shoulder, "I hope to see you again."
Lillian slammed the door.
Unfortunately, Damon Salvatore's wish was granted the next day as Lillian found herself standing just outside of Mystic Falls' only high school. The school day was just beginning. Students of varying ages and grades stood in clusters all around the school, chatting.
"I will never understand vampires' need to graduate from high school, especially multiple times," Lillian remarked as Damon came up to her right side. She was looking to where Caroline, Stefan, and Elena were standing around a tree. A few other people were with them.
"Why are you here?" Damon asked casually.
Lillian walked up to the nearest student. Looking him in the eyes, she compelled, "Follow me. And don't scream." He did as he was told, clear that he wasn't on vervain. Lillian led him to a spot behind a tree, where they wouldn't be seen by wandering eyes. Damon followed.
"So this is why you're here," he said, the hint of a smile in his tone. "You can't find another source of food?"
"There are only a small few in this town of whom are not on vervain," Lillian replied. It was likely the boy hadn't had a shower in weeks, but she was hungry. Her fangs slid out as she felt the veins beneath her eyes bulge out. Tilting the student's neck, Lillian sank her teeth in and began to drink.
A few moments passed before Damon spoke again. "I think that's enough," he stated, trying to pull her away as the student started to sway on his feet.
Lillian's head snapped up. "Don't tell me what to do, Damon. I've had quite enough of that." Her accent was more pronounced as she spoke through her fangs.
"You're going to kill him."
"The world isn't going to miss one less junior," Lillian said, sinking her fangs back into the student's neck. He groaned slightly in pain before becoming silent once more. "Another word, and I'll kill everyone here." Lillian had only known a few instances in which she didn't kill the victim. She didn't plan on this being one of them.
The body fell to the floor with a satisfying thud when Lillian let go.
Damon looked at the body. "You should show a little restraint," he suggested. "Mystic Falls isn't like other places you've been."
"I'm well aware of how different this town is, Damon. It's not my first time."
Shock flashed across the Salvatore vampire's eyes, but he quickly hid it. "So," he said, picking up the body Lillian had left, "you've been here before."
"Of course. I was one of the ones who founded it."
