Feelings are Fatal | S. Salvatore. HIATUS

Chapter Three.

Mary sighed, stalking up the steps to enter Mystic Falls High. She hadn't seen her dad since the night before, and he hadn't even had the decency to wake her up for school.

She has managed to find every teacher and every student she had a class with, but not her father. As she continued mindlessly wandering, she felt herself bump into someone. She turned and was face to face with Elena Gilbert, a girl she knew she had a couple classes with.

"Oh," Elena muttered, running a hand through her pin straight hair. "I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going."

Mary shook her head and gave the girl a fake smile. "It's okay, I wasn't either so we can call it even," she responded. Elena gave her a small smile before she moved to go around the girl. "Uh, I'm sorry, do you know where Alaric Saltzman is?"

Elena stopped and turned. "Are you his daughter?" she asked. Mary nodded. "Oh, he was flirting with my aunt last time I saw him."

Mary laughed at that. "Well, thanks anyway. Probably don't want to disturbe him sweet talking my future step-mom," she said and Elena's small smile grew.

"So does that make me your future cousin?" Elena questioned. To Mary, it looked like this girl needed a ligh. Her eyes were so sad, even with the smile lighting up her face.

"Only if you want it to mean that," Mary responded before turning away. "I'll see you later, Elena." The blonde continued her search, glancing into classrooms as she went.

Eventually, Mary went back outside. She had scoured the whole inside of the school and came up empty. She felt herself growing more annoyed with her father, as well as everyone smiling around her. As she turned a corner into a dark area behind the school, she boticed three figures standing around. One was much taller than the other two, and one seemed familiar.

Mary watched as the tallest shoved one of the figures into the other. She moved quicker, and their faces came into view. "What's going on here?" she questioned, her perfect brows raised.

"Just letting these two kids work it out," the Mayor said. Mary wondered what kind of town would have a mayor who forced fights on teenagers. "We're good here. Go back inside."

Mary scoffed and rolled her eyes. "I don't wanna go back inside. What I want is an answer to my question. What's going on out here?" As she spoke, she watched the Mayor's eyes grow angrier and angrier.

"Who do you think you're talking to?" he questioned, taking a small step towards the girl. She didn't back down, only folded her arms across her chest.

Mary pretended to think for a moment. "Hmm," she hummed out, "I think I'm talking to a full grown alpha male douchebag." Mary noticed the smirk on Jeremy's face and the look of awe on the others.

The Mayor took another step. Mary figured he was trying to look more intimidating, but it really just made him look stupid. "You don't talk to me like that," he said, his voice wavering a bit at the end. "I could have your fathers job like that." He snapped in the girls face and she smacked his hand away.

"You do that," she said, a smug smile crossing her features. "Then it'll be you and me, in this parking lot, working things out. I may look small, but I guarantee I could kick your ass into next week. You cool with that?"

The Mayor was fuming and the blonde could practically see smoke coming out of his ears. "You just marked yourself," he stated.

Mary's smile turned sickly sweet. "Okay!" The Mayor stared her down a moment longer before following after the boy she didn't know, who had begun walking away. She then turned to Jeremy, whose smile was so wide she was worried it would split his cheeks. "You alright?"

Jeremy nodded. "That was pretty badass. Not many would challenge the mayor," he said. The lair began walking back to the school and Mary noticed how much taller he was than her.

"Yeah, well, I've dealt with worse," she replied. They walked in silence the rest of the way, an awkward aura enveloping them. They finally came across Alaric and Jenna, and Mary felt her irritation come back.

She marched towards her father and quickly punched his chest. "Ow!" he exclaimed, looking down at his daughter. "What was that for?"

Mary pinched the bridge of her nose before punching him again. "You haven't talked to me
all day and didn't wake me up for school!" When the words left her mouth, Alaric seemed to grow guilty.

"Sorry."

"I hate you."

Alaric smiled lightly, still rubbing where she had hit him. "I love you, too, kiddo." Mary rolled her eyes before smiling at Jenna and Jeremy. She then grabbed Alaric's hand and pulled him away.

"There's a vampire in town, one we haven't met," Alaric muttered as they pulled farther from the crowd. "His name is Logan Fell."

"Isn't that the news guy who skipped town?" Mary recalled, stopping in her tracks. Alaric nodded. "Well, where is he?"

Ric sighed. "I should do this on my own, kid. Don't want to keep putting you in danger."

Mary looked up at him, a frustrated glare in her blue eyes. "You've been training me to hunt vampires since I was 14," she stated and turned to continue to their car. "I think I can handle it."

It hadn't taken long for the Saltzman's to reach the warehouse they knew Logan was hiding at. The ride was spent discussing the plan, which essentially was Alaric doing all the work with a bit of distraction on Mary's part. They had hidden their car behind a thicket of trees nearby and quickly made their way to their discussed positions.

Mary watched from behind a dumpster as Logan Fell exited the warehouse and moved towards his car. Once he was about halfway there, she shoved a heavy metal pipe over. The vampire turned, though he didn't notice the blonde. She watched as her father rushed to block Logan's way and could practically hear the vampires heartbeat pick up when he turned to face the taller man.

"Who are you?" Logan asked. Mary couldn't see his face, but he sounded smug.

Alaric shrugged. "A friend of Jenna's."

"Jenna sent you?"

"No," Alaric answered, shaking his head slightly. Mary noticed his eyes glance her way before turning quickly back to the Fell. "Came on my own."

"Ah, I get it," Logan started, nodding his head in an annoyed fashion. "Well, buddy, I know you think this makes you brave. But actually it makes you pretty stupid."

Alaric shrugged again. "Either way, here I am."

"What do you want?" Logan asked. His voice was still smug, which pissed Mary off more.

"Jenna is a good person. She deserves the best," Alaric stated. Mary felt herself smile at that. "I'm here to make sure she gets it."

"Was that supposed to be a threat?" Logan questioned. "Couldn't you throw a punch? Maybe provoke me a little?" At that, Mary stood. She was careful to not knock anything over. She stalked towards the vampire and slipped a stake out of her sleeve.

Alaric glanced past the vampire at his daughter, a slight smile crossing his face. "I'm not a violent guy by design."

"Well," Logan began, "you're not a very smart one, either."

"How's that?"

There was silence for a moment. Alaric and Logan didn't break eye contact, before Mary felt a shift in the space around them. "Cause you have no idea who you're talking to!" Logan shouted. He rushed forward, and Mary did as well. Just before he reached Alaric, the girl jabbed the stake out and into the vampires heart. He fell to the ground, growing veiny and gray.

Alaric looked up, shock clear in his eyes. He and his daughter exchanged eye contact before quickly leaving.