"Thanks for coming, Ric."
It was a new day in the small town. Gala was seated on the couch in the Salvatore boarding house across from Elena and Stefan as Damon let in the history teacher. Though Alaric Saltzman was a teacher, he was also the local vampire hunter, one she briefly met her first and eventful night in town.
"You need something to drink? Coffee? Bourbon? Bourbon in your coffee?" Damon asked as they made their way to the three that was seated, patiently waiting.
"Elena mentioned you needed my help." He said ignoring Damon whom motioned for him to take a seat.
Gala watched as he looked at her before hesitantly taking a seat beside her.
"Don't worry, I won't bit." She said smirking as she brought her mug of bourbon laced coffee to her lips. "Unless you asked me too." She finished before taking a sip.
"That's enough Gala." Stefan said when he noticed Ric shift uncomfortably causing Gala to giggle. "And we were hoping you could help shed some light on the Lockwood family."
Gala couldn't help but roll her eyes. She literally told Damon they were werewolves at the wake for the mayor, but apparently, he didn't believe her. So, she just sat back and listened as they talked.
"Now why would I know anything about the Lockwoods?" Ric asked as he looked between the three vampires.
"Well, you wouldn't. But your dead—not dead vampire wife might." Damon said finally taking a seat in the chair.
"Isobel's research, from when you guys were at Duke together." Elena said, speaking up for the first time since Gala arrived that morning.
"You said that she had spent years researching this town." Said Stefan.
"Isobel's research here—Mystic Falls—was rooted in Folklore and legend. At the time, I thought most of which was of fiction." Ric admitted.
"Not fiction." Gala muttered as she finished of her coffee, causing Ric to give her a side eye before focusing back on the trio in front of them.
"Aside from vampires, what else?" Elena questioned.
"Lycanthrope."
"Wait Like werewolves?"
"No way. Impossible. Way too Lon Chaney." Damon said as he shifted in his seat and locked eyes with Gala. "You are the oldest one here. Have you ever seen a werewolf?"
"Yeah," Gala said smirking at her friend before listing a few sightings. "In the late 1800s in New Orleans. When I was human, I was mauled, basically to death. And in 1863 when I visited Mystic Falls and ran into the Lockwoods."
She gained astonished looks from the males as Elena gave her a sad look. Gala could only assume it was because the way she died.
"Well, I don't believe you." Damon deadpanned causing Stefan to look at his brother. "I've been on this planet 160-some odd years. I've never come across one. If werewolves exist, where the hell are they?"
"Well, it's a good thing you have never seen them." Gala said shifting in her seat to pull her phone from her pocket, it had been buzzing constantly all morning. "A werewolf bite is fatal to a vampire and there is no cure."
She watched as a worried look crossed Elena's face before looking down at her phone. It was only ten o'clock in the morning and she already had a dozen messages from Caroline. She quickly sent a text back saying she will be over soon before stuffing the phone away.
"And as for where they are located," she said looking back up at them. "It's usually in the mountains. Or in places with a lot of trees and little civilization. There always afraid they are going to hurt someone on the night of a full moon."
