Guardian Angel

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{outfit for chapter above}

"the simple concepts confused her more than she ever thought they could."

~~~~~

"How was the party, Lor?"

Alora closed the front door behind herself before she turned around and looked toward her father. He was sitting on the couch with his legs propped up on the coffee table in front of him. He had a beer in hand and the news was playing on the television. The current headline looked like something  boring and uninteresting.

She shrugged in response, walking to the fridge and pulling out a water bottle. She walked over to where her father was and collapsed down onto one of the cushy chairs that was next to the couch.

"People are rude and have little care for the wellbeing and feelings of others," Alora replied, not giving a complete straight answer as to what happened.

Dean was taken back by her sullen attitude. Normally, she was a lot more chipper after hanging out with other people. Something had definitely gone wrong.

"Care to elaborate?" He questioned.

"Someone attacked one of the high schoolers at the party," Alora twisted the cap back onto her water bottle, tossing it to the side just as Arthur jumped up onto her lap. "Her name is Vicki Donovan. She's a senior, works at the Mystic Grill, and she was out in the woods one moment and the next..."

"Being carried out with bite marks on her neck?"

Alora nodded, running her hand through Arthur's orange fur.

"Everyone was just standing around doing nothing. No one had a clue what to do," Alora kept her eyes trained on the little fur ball in her lap. "If the vampire keeps attacking people, it's only going to get worse."

She was worried about what was going to happen to the people in this town. She assumed that there must be some people that were aware of the happenings in Mystic Falls. That there were people that knew about all the things that went bump in the night and believed that it was true.

But what was their plan?

How were a group of humans meant to be able to take on a vampire?

A creature of the night that was faster than them, smarter than them, and could control their minds if they didn't ingest vervain or have it on them.

They didn't stand a chance.

No matter how high they thought of themselves or how equipped they believed they were, they couldn't take on a vampire. No amount of wooden bullets, stakes, or weaponized vervain would be helpful, especially since there were two vampires.

They would get one shot.

One shot.

Then the vampire would know that they were on to them and they would either leave town, go into hiding, or blend in like a normal townsperson.

And that wouldn't be good for anyone.

"Alora."

Alora blinked, shaking her head. She looked at her father with a confused expression.

"I've been calling your name for the past few minutes," He told her. "So what were you thinking?"

"What makes you think I was thinking anything?"

"Because you're me," Dean retorted. "Half of me anyway."

Alora scrunched her face up.

Mannerisms and magic from her dad.

Personality from herself.

And looks from her mom—not that she would know, only from what her father had told her.

She scrunched her face and shrugged, "Just that it's a funny coincidence that we end up in the one town that has vampires and witches crawling around it...all it's missing is werewolves and we'd have a complete set."

"Don't even kid about that," Dean took another sip of his beer. "Werewolves are insufferable pains in the ass."

"Even worse than vampires?"

"Debatable."

"Aren't some of them okay?" She questioned, carefully, knowing she was touchy about the subject—with good reason that is.

Dean sighed, "Maybe, but don't let my pessimism bring you down."

"Not like it isn't justified," Alora was always one for backing up her father, mainly because she didn't want him to be mad or annoyed at her.

Which he never really was.

Dean didn't reply. He simply downed the rest of the beer that had been in the bottle and turned off the TV. "And you should go to bed," He told her, ruffling her hair as he passed by her on the way to the kitchen.

"It's not even that late yet," Alora protested.

"You have school, so get your ass to bed."

Alora huffed, going to get up, only for Arthur to not jump off her lap. She looked down at her cat. "Well, you heard the man," She told the cat.

Arthur batted his tail at her face before hopping off the chair.

Alora followed swiftly after, but not before she gave her father a quick hug and made her way up the stairs, picking up Arthur once she got to the top of them.

"Night, Lor!"

~~~~~

When Alora came down the stairs the next morning, she saw her father already standing in the kitchen, putting the tea kettle on the stove.

"How come you aren't just using magic?" She questioned, grabbing a granola bar from the pantry—they had finally gone grocery shopping.

"Am I not allowed to appreciate the old-fashioned way?" Dean shot back, grabbing two mugs from the cupboard and then he placed them on the counter.

"I guess," Alora shrugged. "I mean, you are old-fashioned yourself given your age at all."

"Ouch," Dean monotonously said. "One would think having a child would mean undoubted loyalty, but here I stand, betrayed, heartbroken, in tears. I have been reduced to the general population, treated as nothing more than a joke."

Alora stared at him without blinking as he recited everything in an emotionless tone. "Funny," She mused in an equally dry tone, earning another unamused expression from him.

"I think I'm going to make you walk to school," Dean told her, taking the kettle off the gas stove once it began to whistle, pouring the boiling liquid into the cups.

As he did so, Alora walked to a different counter and pulled out their own mixture of herbal tea—one that contained magical boosters, vervain, and plenty of other herbs that her father had picked up over the years. She then scooped some out of it and placed it into the tea pouches, cinching them shut before dropping them into the hot water and putting away the metal canister.

"You wouldn't do that."

"And why not?"

"Because you love me too much not to," She commented, slipping onto one of the barstools and tearing open her granola bar. "You also promised a few nights ago..."

"True," Dean sat down on the barstool next to her. "But you know what I'm looking forward to?"

"What?"

"When your car gets here because that means I get to sleep in and not be your personal chauffeur," Dean responded, even though he actually didn't mind being able to spend more time with her.

"Out of the few places I have been to in this town, you've driven me around twice," Alora sipped at her tea. "Which hardly makes you my chauffeur, maybe just a really caring dad."

Dean's lip twitched, "I sense sarcasm in your tone of voice."

"Really?"

"Really?" He echoed her voice.

Before she was given a chance to say anything back to him, Hades jumped up onto the counter top, sending one of his glares at her.

"What did I ever do to you?" Alora questioned the black cat before she looked at her father. "Seriously, what did I ever do to your moody cat?"

Hades hissed at her.

"I didn't do anything to you!" She exclaimed, putting her hands in the air in innocence.

"Hades."

The black cat looked at Dean and then quickly jumped off of the counter, landing gracefully. It then pranced out of the room no doubt going up the stairs to Dean's bedroom.

"I think you're too bubbly for him."

"Too bubbly?" Alora questioned and frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Dean looked at her for a moment, pausing. "Nothing," He shook his head and finished up his cup of tea. "Nothing at all," He stood up from his seat. "Now, hurry up, you got school and I have work."

He then headed upstairs to change.

Alora blinked.

Too bubbly?

Did that mean she was too happy? Too positive?

She was confused.

Was she too bubbly?

Alora shook her head and drank the rest of her tea. She threw out the tea bag and her wrapper for her granola bar. She then made her way and put on a pair of shoes and grabbed her bag before she waited for her father to come down the stairs again.

"You ready to go?" Dean asked her when he got to the bottom of the steps.

Alora tilted her head at his attire, "Why dress up if you work from home?"

"Because I'm not a hooligan, who is going to wear his pajamas all day," Dean tilted his head in the same manner she did. He then ushered her out the door.

"Now off you go, out the door, come on."

~~~~~

School was boring,

Alora didn't know why she expected anything more of it.

To keep herself entertained, she had been paying more attention to the side conversations that were happening, specifically the ones that involved or were about Stefan and Bonnie. She wanted to know anything she could about the vampire and the clueless witch.

She had found a few things—most of which were tedious and unimportant.

Stefan was crushing Elena, a girl who had recently got out of a relationship with her childhood best friend. He kept to himself, mostly, only ever talking to said girl. From what Alora observed, she could also tell that he was pretty self-reliant and only ever showed one emotion.

That was about it.

He didn't seem like much of a threat.

But as she had figured out before, Stefan wasn't the only vampire in town. Last night was a great indication of that. She had also noticed in the midst of the panic with Vicki that Stefan had a realization, which meant he probably knew who attacked the girl.

Alora's guess was that Stefan was related to the other vampire.

Maybe they were even brothers.

Unfortunately, Alora had found out even less about Bonnie. She knew just about the same as she did from the day prior. The pretty witch was friends with Elena, Caroline, Matt....and Tyler? The last one was still up for debate, seeing as Alora had noticed that Tyler was pretty much a dick to everyone.

Alora had also found out that Bonnie's grandmother told the girl about their witch lineage yet Bonnie didn't believe the older woman—no one in the town did.

That was a pity.

A witch on their side would be a very helpful thing.

Alora was sitting down at one of the tables outside of the high school. She was reading one of the books she had packed away in her bag, minding her own business as she heard all the chatter coming from the other students.

She was flipping the page when a shadow appeared over it, darkening the words and page itself. Alora looked up and saw Stefan, who had decided to sit on the table.

A chill shot through her due to her being in such close proximity to a vampire.

"Hi?" Alora questioned, wondering why he would sit here instead of in the many other places he could go or be.

"Hi."

That's creepy.

Did he know she was a witch?

Doubtful.

But still creepy.

Alora gave him an awkward smile.

As much as she wanted to be polite about this all, she opted for being smart instead. She marked the page she was on in her book before shutting the cover. She then stuffed it into her bag before quickly making her exit, ignoring whatever else the vampire had to say.

Since the school day was over, Alora had decided to walk around town a bit and get more accustomed to it, all the while avoiding Stefan. She ended up in the Town Square, where she ran into Bonnie and Elena passing out flyers.

"Alora!" Bonnie called out her name.

Alora whipped her head around at the sound of the familiar voice. She then saw Bonnie beckoning her over, so she made her way towards the two teenage girls with a smile on her face.

"Hi," Alora greeted back.

Bonnie shifted on her feet, "Want a program?

"Uh, program?" Alora looked back and forth between Bonnie and Elena.

Bonnie's eyes widened, slightly. That was such a random thing for her to say. "For the comet," Bonnie quickly added. "Tonight."

Elena turned to her friend, curious about the sudden switch in behavior.

"Oh!" Alora exclaimed in realization. She remembered her father had mentioned the comet that passed over Mystic Falls every so often. He had gone all fanboy about it, it was remarkable that she briefly had forgotten about it. "Right, sorry. I will see you there, hopefully, maybe," She stumbled over her own words.

Bonnie nodded.

Alora went to leave.

"Wait!" Bonnie stopped her. "Program?" She offered with a smile, handing one of them.

Alora looked down at the program before taking it, "Thank you."

Once Alora was gone, Elena turned to Bonnie with her eyebrows raised and a teasing smile on her face. "What was that all about?" She questioned her friend.

"What?" Bonnie was caught off guard, tearing her gaze away from the retreating witch. "Nothing," She shook her head. "It was nothing."

Bonnie then turned to another person that was walking by.

"Tonight, night of the comet! Would you like a program?"

~~~~~

Mystic Falls Town Square was crowded with people. There were friends, family, classmates, strangers, and many others all gathered there to watch the comet go overhead that night. The area was beautiful and the night sky was even more captivating with the way the select few stars seemed to twinkle.

Alora saw the beauty in it all, but her father on the other hand...did not.

"These are the exact kind of town events that I was dreading," Dean commented, making Alora roll her eyes. These were the exact kind of events she was hoping for.

They were literally polar opposites.

"Come on, it'll be fun," Alora tried to convince, but either way he was going to go along with it. "You may even meet someone worth your while."

"Oh, I hope not," Dean looked up to the sky for help. "Enough of that, Lor. Let's go get candles."

Alora frowned before she quickly followed after her dad, who had already found two candles, one for each of them. When she got to where he was, Dean handed her one of them before subtly lighting them with a single thought—he didn't want to risk having to conversate with someone to get it lit.

Dean had once again been talking to Alora, though she had zoned out just like she had earlier. He lightly nudged her out of her stare, watching as she snapped back to reality.

"What's caught your attention?" He questioned before he followed her previous line of sight and he saw exactly what or shall he saw who. "Let me guess, that's the witch or how did you put it...the very pretty witch. Are you going to keep staring at her or go and talk to her?"

"I wasn't staring," Alora told him, ignoring the knowing look on his face. "I wasn't!"

"Sure you weren't...and I enjoy being here."

Alora turned towards him, squinting her eyes, "Your humor sucks."

"Do you really care that little about your father's feelings?" Dean mockingly sounded offended. "Because that's twice in one day. I mean, if you keep that up, I might actually have to show some authority. Stop being the cool dad and be a literal pain in the ass like most."

Alora sighed, knowing he was joking, but that there was some serious threat there. "Sorry," She mumbled. "But I wasn't staring at her, okay? I wasn't! I was admiring from a view because as much as I loved the idea of a small town, they also look like the sort of people who would label someone a town pariah based on one single rumor, and I don't really want that to happen."

Dean frowned. "First off, I'm not asking you to go and ask her out or anything. I'm just saying to go and talk to her because you clearly want to. Second off, if this town doesn't like you then it's their loss and a bunch of bullshit. And lastly, if you become a pariah, then I'll do something ten times worse so they hate me instead, okay?"

Alora half-smiled at his words, "But I thought you wanted to watch the comet together?"

"And ruin your high school social life by forcing you to hang out with your dad?" He questioned. "I'll pass. Now go talk to her."

"What are you going to do?"

"You're stalling with all these questions, but I will find something to occupy my time," Dean responded.

Alora scrunched her face up, "You mean someone."

"Same thing," Dean spun her around, took the candle from her hands, and then gave her shove in the direction of the witch. "Go talk to her."

Reluctantly, Alora did, sending another look over her shoulder to her father, who gave her a subtle thumbs up. She looked up at the sky.

Why be a father when you could be a wingman?

Seriously!?

"You came!" Bonne exclaimed with a bright smile when she saw Alora approach the group, which consisted of Matt, Caroline, and Tyler.

All the attention then turned to Alora.

She wanted to kill her father.

"Didn't know you were into these town things," Tyler commented, surprised to see the newcomer to town at one of them.

"More into the whole history behind the comet than anything else," Alora winced at her wording. "That sounded rude, sorry. I mean, I like the history behind it and all the folktales, but I also wanted to get more used to the ways of the town and meet more people. Not just that, but also the Founder's thing you all seem to have in this town."

Alora thought it was quite strange. The way that the people of the town believed so adamantly that there were specific families that made Mystic Falls what it was today. There had been many settlers before then, such as the Vikings for one and then there were plenty of Native Americans that had been there before the war had taken place. There were even witches and shapeshifters that lived here before them.

But somehow a group of old white men became the town view?

Okay.

And as much as she valued her father's personal experience on top of her own research into the topics, Alora would love to have a chat with one of the Founders—or one of their descendants, seeing as the original ones were dead. Obviously.

"That's perfect!" Bonnie clapped her hands together in an excited manner. "All of them," She gestured to the three friends, "are a part of the founding families."

"And you aren't?" Alora questioned, earning a shake of the head in response.

Interesting.

How did the line of Bennett witches make their way to Mystic Falls?

They originated in Salem, no?

"Tyler is the mayor's son," Bonnie explained, not knowing why she was being so vocal about everything. Normally, she just stayed in