Ch. 16

2005 A.D. Mystic Falls

I arrived in Mystic Falls with some fanfare. I'd spent the last decade or so building myself up as a wealthy and successful businessman in the human world, and then I'd made a big show of deciding the wall street life wasn't for me and claimed I'd be retiring early with my riches to a small quaint town. After arriving and buying up some land outside of town, I built a nice big mansion with a stylized M all over it and then spread about two hundred thousand dollars in donations throughout Mystic Falls to grab the attention of its leadership.

Soon enough I was being invited to tea by Carol Lockwood, as her husband, Mayor Lockwood couldn't possibly ignore me and still call himself a politician. I was happy to accept, and soon found myself in front of Lockwood Manor with one of my disciples acting as my assistant. I let my disciple ring the doorbell and Carol answered soon enough, "Mr. Masters, a pleasure to finally meet in person."

I nod my head, grinning easily at the name. I'd always wondered why Klaus kept the surname Mikaelson when Mikael was never his father, but I would not make the same mistake. My name to these people would be Vali Masters. It was fitting in my opinion, "Thank you Mrs. Lockwood. But please, feel free to call me Vali. May we come in?"

She returns the smile, "Of course, please come in. And if I'm allowed to call you Vali, you can call me Carol." I was reminded of how little these people truly knew in the end. It was the middle of the day and so she did not fear accidentally inviting a monster or two into her home. The Founder's Council of Mystic Falls may have dealt with their vampire problem in 1864, but they knew nothing of what was truly out there.

She led me into a sitting room where the Mayor was waiting for us, and we exchanged greetings again, going through the whole song and dance of calling each other by formal titles, before telling one another to use first names. Eventually we were sitting and pleasantries were out of the way.

Adopting a more serious tone, I looked at first the Mayor, and then his wife, "Richard, Carol. I appreciate this invitation. There is much we need to discuss."

There is confusion on their faces now, but I plow on with the act I've prepared for this, "I did not come to this town to retire as the official story says. I came because in all my research, your Mystic Falls is the one town I've found that's successfully dealt with vampires."

The Mayor's eyes widened and his jaw clenched, but Carol was a bit better, laughing it off, "Vampires Vali? That's a bit fantastical don't you think?"

I sigh and shake my head before responding, "Come now, there's no need for the obfuscation with me. I know about the Founder's Council. Now you know that I know about the Founder's Council. I am not here to threaten you or your town, I'm here because I need your help."

Richard speaks this time, frowning deeply, "Help with what Mr. Masters?" It seems I've already lost first name privileges with this one.

I give a grim smile as I reply, "In my time in business, I have come to realize something horrendous. The upper crust of society in America, in our private sector and in our public sector, is infested with vampires. There are vampires who have access to members of Congress and access to our President Mr. Mayor."

They both look an understandable mix of concerned and doubtful at my words. Eventually the Mayor finds his voice again, "How is that even possible? How could it ever get as bad as you imply?"

I take a sip of my tea before responding, "I do not know how or when it began, but from my research I've uncovered evidence of a group of vampires who call themselves disciples. They believe they serve a god-like vampire and that one day he will return to lead them in a conquest of the entire world. To that end, they have been taking control of things behind the scenes for several centuries, hundreds of years longer than the United States has even existed."

I pause for a moment before adding, "Luckily for us, from what I've found one of the laws their god passed down to them was keeping the existence of vampires hidden as best as possible. If not for that, I believe you and I would not be sitting here having this conversation. The reason I've come to your town is because back in 1864, your founding families managed to deal with the vampires who were sent to take over. Since then, the Disciples have avoided your town for some reason, and I'd hoped to find out why."

The Lockwoods exchanged a long look before Carol speaks up, "We might know why. But we will need to see evidence that what you're claiming is true. While we all know that there is more to our world than most see, what you're saying is almost too awful to want to consider."

I smile and nod, "Of course. Perhaps a morning brunch for all of the movers and shakers of Mystic Falls at my new residence would make an excellent cover for a meeting between your Founder's Council and me. I will show you the proof I have of my claims, and if you trust me, you can explain what it is about your town that keeps the monsters away."

Carol looks to Richard for his consent and after a long moment he nods slowly, "If what you say is true, we will need to work together. Set up the event and I'll make sure the right people are invited. Have whatever evidence you've obtained ready for us."

I smile grimly and nod, standing and acknowledging the Mayor's dismissal, "I will. I am glad we were able to meet like this Mayor Lockwood. I hope together, we can find a solution for this problem.

He stands and we shake hands before Carol walks my disciple and I to the door. With a goodbye to her as well, we leave the large manor behind us and head into town. As soon as we're out of sight of the Mayor's house I'm grinning widely. I can't help it, this is probably going to be the most entertaining thing I've done in a very long time.

Soon enough we reach our next stop. Mystic Grill was made to seem like the one place you could even eat in Mystic Falls if you didn't want to cook at home. Hell, I wasn't sure I remembered ever seeing a grocery store in the show. In reality though, I'd seen at least two grocery stores so far, along with at least one or two other restaurants. Still, I couldn't help wanting to at least try out the Mystic Falls experience in full and so I found myself at the one and only Mystic Grill.

I left my disciple behind with the car and entered the Grill as casually as I possibly could. Luckily nobody really knew who I was yet so I was able to get a table with a cute Waitress without any fanfare. I flirted with her off and on, had a burger and fries, and ended up getting treated to the sight of the latest doppleganger with her mother, father, and little brother.

As I observed the group of Gilberts subtly, I couldn't help but smile slightly. Jeremy Gilbert at eleven years old was an amusing little brat as most boys were, and he couldn't help but bug his twelve year old sister constantly. Grayson and Miranda were constantly reprimanding their children and I heard many threats involving grounding and the loss of privileges.

It had been a long time since I'd just actively watched humans live out their lives and as I studied those at the bar it was an experience. It seemed like all of the families I knew used the Grill as their hang out spot. In one corner were the Donovans, in another was Caroline Forbes with her mother acting as distant as possible.

Eventually Elena and Caroline got together away from their parents and I watched as Bonnie joined them. Blinking, I glanced about again and found Abby sitting with the Gilberts now, talking quietly. Of course, I'd killed Mikael and so Abby had never used dark magic to dessicate him and then fled her daughter's life.

Having finished eating, I paid my bill and with one final smile to the young waitress who'd slipped me her number, I left the Grill behind. I didn't want to risk Abby getting a feel of me just yet, she would not only realize I wasn't human, she'd know I wasn't fully a vampire either, and that would make her far too curious.

It would be better to approach the Bennet Witches once I'd gotten the Founder's Council on board with my plans.

-x-X-x-

If you'd like to read more of my work not seen on this website, check out Hentai-Foundry.com and QuestionableQuesting.com! I'm known as 'Cambrian' on those websites.

If you'd like to contribute to funding my writing at all, check me out on P atreon.com/Cambrian

Thanks for reading!