Blood and Bourbon

4

Damon strolled out of the bar about an hour after Bella left, with a blonde hanging off his arm, giggling at everything-literally. She just laughed at a squirrel jumping into a tree. Rolling his eyes, he led her a little deeper into town. He barely made it away from the safe, police patrolled areas around the bar he took her from. Her laugh couldn't be more annoying.

He wasn't going to feel guilty dumping her in an alley, as were his feeding habits since Elena chose to stay with his brother.

He couldn't get the brunette from earlier out of his mind. She said her name was Izzy, but she didn't seem like she meant it. How could she just...ignore compulsion? That's never happened before. Ever.

The blonde stumbled, letting out one more grating giggle from the blonde, and he couldn't take any more. Feeling the veins around his eyes rippling and his fangs poking against his gums, he shoved her into the closest alley- and yes, she giggled at that- he quickly pushed her against the wall to steady her, and sank his teeth into her soft neck. Letting himself savor both the sweet taste of her blood and the silence, he pulled the blood into his mouth until he swallowed and nothing else came out, and let her body fall to the ground. For a moment, Damon stood over,the girls body, with blood running down his chin, feeling the blood and adrenalin pump through his veins, making him feel alive the way only a good meal can.
After disposing of what was left of her, Damon slunk away from the alley and made his way back to his small apartment off of the beach.

As he walked home, he though again about Izzy- that name really doesn't suite her, he'd have to come up with something different, if he was going to be stalking her long enough to figure out why she could defy compulsion.

Watch out, you just found yourself a new friend, he thought, and climbed into his warm bed, ignoring the vibration of his phone. He drifted off peacefully, sated.

The next morning, I was shaken awake by my mother. "Bella! Honey, get up! It's Monday! You have to go to school!" Ugh, she remembers I have school, but not to pick me up from the airport? I grumbled out an "I'm up" before stumbling into the bathroom and into a hot shower. 

School in Jacksonville was definitely different than Forks. Looking around, I could believe the amount of people shoving through the halls. I managed to find my locker, right next to a tall blonde in what must have been the schools cheerleading uniform taping a flyer onto the locker. Pausing for a second, I noticed the flyers were peppering the halls, taped to the lockers, doors, and a few of the were floating to the ground.

I started to put the locker combination in, and the blonde turned to me. "Hey! Have you seen Tara?"

"I'm sorry, who?"

"Tara! You know, blonde, cheer captain? Like, the most popular girl in school?" She trailed off, lowering her chin as if to say that I'm stupid for not knowing who this Tara girl is.

People don't even know I'm new? This place is definitely nothing like Forks. After that encounter, I made my way to class, only a couple minutes late. Luckily, the teacher hadn't made it in yet, so I slid into a chair in the back next to a gorgeous caramel skinned girl with long, straight black hair.

As soon as I sat down she turned to me, excitedly. "I'm Sarah! Are you new?" Damn, maybe that cheerleader was just oblivious.

"Yeah, I'm Izzy," Just then the teacher barged in and threw a stack of papers that were in his arms onto his desk.

"That's Mr. Kent. He's literally always late, but don't ever get caught being late to his class. He can be a real hard ass." She whispered.

"Ok, class, everyone pull out your notebooks, we're learning about conjugations today!" Mr. Kent called out, silencing the whispered conversations happening throughout the class.

Turns out, Sarah was in several of my morning classes and one of my afternoon classes. She was great, if her constant chatter didn't get on your nerves. Considering I spent most of the last year with Jessica, I couldn't be more used to chatter.

It wasn't until I got home from school that the dark haired mystery from the bar crossed my mind again. There was something different about him...but why couldn't I stop thinking about it?