The Blood Bond

Prologue

Evelyn Mason lost her parents at a young age. Six to be exact. That's when her world spiraled out of control. She was sent to her Aunt and Uncle's house. There, her and her younger brother were told about what their family has always been. Hunters. Not just vampire hunters, not just werewolf hunters, not only witch killers, they killed everything.

She didn't want anything to do with the world her family lived in. All Evelyn wanted to do was curl up with a book and disappear into a better world. A world that took her away from the 4 am wake up call to fight before her school work and gave her the freedom of choice. The first time she told Uncle Aaron she didn't want to fight her leg was broken. He attacked her, saying that vampires won't care if you didn't want to fight. Told her anything that wasn't human would kill her if they knew what her family was.

At the age of seventeen, she was brought salvation, contacting her aunt from her father's side. She let her live with her. Her younger brother, Paul, stayed with their Uncle Aaron. He enjoyed the thought of killing things that weren't human. Evelyn just wanted to be a normal teenager for once. That summer she moved to Mystic Falls with her Aunt Megan.

She met Elena Gilbert, a girl who lost her parents and wanted to return to normal. There was Caroline, a bubbly blonde who made Evelyn want to pull her hair out sometimes. Her favorite was Bonnie, a beautiful woman who Evelyn could tell was going to do great things. She held a certain power about her, like Caroline but with a less eccentric personality. Jeremy was Elena's younger brother who Evelyn immediately wanted to befriend. He held a sadness within him. But as much as she wanted to be friends with Caroline, Jeremy, and Bonnie she only managed to become friends with Elena. Her social skills weren't the best and she felt like Caroline and Bonnie didn't like her as much.

In one summer Mystic Falls had become a familiar place to her. She loved the small-town feel, the freedom to do whatever she wanted. She picked up a hobby she always wanted to do: paint. Any time she would finish one she would run over to Elena's house to show her the progress, it would make the sad girl smile for at least a few minutes. Her progress was quick, soon she took on realism to her paintings.

"Elena you have two options. Iced mountains or a lush forest," Evelyn said over the phone.

"What for?"

"Christmas present, plus whatever I buy when it comes around,"

"How about an icy mountain?"

Evelyn smirked and hung up the phone. She was in the mood to paint. There were canvases surrounding her, some with a detailed lake or blank ones waiting for the oil or acrylic paintings to begin. Before she could pick up a color of paint there was a knock on her door.

"Come in," she sung out.

Aunt Megan opened the door, her dark brown hair in a high ponytail. She smiled at her niece. Evelyn returned it, putting down the brush. Turning to face her, Evelyn gave her aunt her full attention.

"Yeah?"

"Do you need anything for school tomorrow? Did we get everything on that list?"

"Yes, ma'am,"

"Are you ready? We can get you in there late if you still need it,"

Evelyn smiled, "I'm ready. I'm excited. I read a lot about Mystic Falls and I am actually pretty excited,"

"Where did you get time to study? You've been painting almost nonstop this entire summer,"

Her niece's eyes widened, "um. I did it before I went to sleep."

Megan's eyes went up in suspicion, "What time have you been going to bed?"

"9, like you've been telling me to," she lied smoothly.

"Alright... I've got an all-nighter at the hospital but I have a roast in the oven. It should be ready at 8,"

"Thank you, I'll see you tomorrow, have a good day at work."

Megan smiled, "goodnight kid, get some sleep for the big day,"

"Yes ma'am,"

Once Megan left Evelyn went back to painting. She started the first layer of her oil painting before switching to a different canvas, painting whatever was in her head. The first one was small and bright. It reminded her of Mystic Falls. As the night grew on she worked on something she had been working on since the last month of summer. It was dark. Full of claws and glowing yellow eyes. Its oil was thick, making the claws that were coming out of a girl's mouth come to life. It was one painting she hated but she loved it all at once. The painting reminded her of what she came here to leave behind. She didn't want to know how to spot a vampire from a mile away. Evelyn didn't care about killing a werewolf or knowing how powerful a witch was.

This was a new year. A new Evelyn Mason. She was going to make at least one more friend, so she told herself. Elena even told her she should try to be a cheerleader with her. Evelyn confessed she had never done anything like that but Elena insisted to at least try out when school started.

So that night she attempted to lay down at nine. The roast was put in the fridge, very little ate, and she was ready to try to be normal. It wasn't two hours later she woke up almost screaming, the pain in her chest apparent as she woke up from a dream of her Uncle Aaron beating the hell out of her. Standing up, Evelyn made herself a glass of water and attempted to go back to sleep. She wasn't asleep until 3 am.