Chapter 6: The Salvatore Arrives
POV: Sam Barton
The old Salvatore boarding house looms like a Gothic monument to decay at the edge of town. Ivy crawls up its brick walls, and broken shutters hang at odd angles. Sam's Enhanced Speed clone perches in an oak tree across the road, motionless as a gargoyle, watching for any sign of movement.
It's been two days of surveillance. Two days of the clone reporting nothing but silence and the occasional raccoon. Sam sits in his car a quarter-mile away, fighting the urge to abandon this vigil.
"Maybe the timeline's changed. Maybe Stefan doesn't come at all."
Then the clone's mental voice cuts through his doubts like a blade: "Target acquired. Black car in the driveway. He's pretty. Annoyingly pretty."
Sam's pulse spikes as he watches through his clone's enhanced vision. Stefan Salvatore emerges from a classic Porsche 911, moving with liquid grace that screams supernatural even from a distance. Dark hair, pale skin, the kind of tragic beauty that makes teenage girls write terrible poetry.
"He's here. It's really starting."
Stefan pauses at the front door, head tilted as if listening to something. For one terrifying moment, Sam wonders if vampire senses can detect his clone's observation. But Stefan simply unlocks the door and disappears inside.
"First phase of the plan," Sam thinks grimly. "Intercept the Stefan-Elena meeting. Change the dynamic before it becomes toxic obsession."
The next morning at school, Sam positions himself near Elena's locker with tactical precision. He pretends to text Caroline while tracking Elena's approach through his peripheral vision. Right on schedule, she stops at locker 142, gathering books for first period.
Stefan appears at the end of the hallway like a romantic novel fever dream—brooding expression, perfectly tousled hair, leather jacket that probably costs more than most people's cars. Several girls stop mid-conversation to stare. Even teachers glance twice.
Sam watches Stefan's approach, noting the predatory grace beneath the teenage facade. 162 years of hunting experience, currently playing human high schooler. The cognitive dissonance would be laughable if it weren't so dangerous.
As Stefan reaches Elena's locker, Sam strikes.
He "accidentally" drops his textbooks between them, papers scattering across the hallway like confetti. The action disrupts Stefan's carefully planned approach, forcing both Elena and the vampire to focus on the immediate chaos.
"Oh God, I'm so sorry," Sam says, diving for his scattered notes.
Elena laughs—a genuine, warm sound—and drops to her knees to help gather papers.
"No problem. I've done the same thing."
Stefan pauses, his vampire senses clearly analyzing this unexpected variable. No irregular heartbeat, human scent, but something indefinable about Sam's confidence suggests he's not entirely what he seems.
Sam straightens, extending a hand toward Stefan. His palm is coated with vervain-infused skin cream from his morning preparation.
"Sam Barton. You're the new guy too, right? Salvatore?"
Stefan takes his hand automatically, and Sam feels the slight muscle twitch as vervain contact registers. Not enough to cause real pain—just a warning tingle that confirms exactly what Stefan is.
"Stefan," the vampire replies, his charming smile never wavering despite the discomfort. "Just moved back into the family estate."
"Cool. Estate living has its perks." Sam releases Stefan's hand, noting how the vampire discreetly flexes his fingers. "Lots of privacy, room to... spread out."
The subtext hangs in the air. Stefan's green eyes narrow almost imperceptibly.
"Yes," Stefan says slowly. "Privacy is important."
Elena glances between them, sensing undercurrents she can't identify.
"Sam's in my AP History class," she tells Stefan. "He's really insightful about local events."
"Careful," Sam warns himself. "Don't oversell the knowledge."
"Just fascinated by how the past shapes the present," Sam replies easily. "Mystic Falls has particularly... rich history."
Stefan's attention sharpens. "Indeed. The founding families, the Civil War battles, all those old stories about what happened in the church ruins."
"He's fishing. Seeing how much I know."
"Stories," Sam agrees, letting skepticism color his voice. "Though my parents always said the most interesting history is what doesn't make it into textbooks."
The warning bell saves them from deeper conversation. Elena hurries toward class, calling over her shoulder: "See you guys around!"
Stefan lingers for a moment, studying Sam's face.
"Nice meeting you, Sam Barton," he says quietly.
"Likewise, Stefan Salvatore."
They part ways, but Sam feels the vampire's attention like a weight between his shoulder blades. Good. Let Stefan wonder. Uncertainty is better than overlooking a potential threat.
At lunch, Sam finds Caroline at her usual table, planner spread like a battle map across the surface. Her blonde hair catches the cafeteria's fluorescent light, and she's wearing a green dress that makes her eyes shine.
"So," Sam says, sliding into the seat across from her, "what's your take on the newest addition to our academic paradise?"
Caroline follows his nod toward Stefan, who sits alone near the windows, book open but clearly scanning the room.
"Stefan Salvatore?" Caroline shrugs. "He's gorgeous, obviously. Elena's already making that face she gets when she's interested."
Sam forces down a spike of jealous protectiveness. In canon, Elena's attraction to Stefan leads to her humanity's erosion, her friends' endangerment, her eventual vampire transformation.
"Just... something feels off about him," Sam says carefully. "Can't explain it. Bad vibe."
Caroline rolls her eyes, but fondness softens the gesture.
"You're jealous because Elena's interested."
Sam doesn't deny it—better to let her believe simple teenage rivalry rather than supernatural danger sense.
"Maybe. Just... trust your instincts around him, okay? If something feels wrong, it probably is."
"Sam Barton, are you trying to be protective?" Caroline's smile is teasing but touched with genuine warmth. "That's actually kind of sweet."
Before Sam can respond, Bonnie Bennett appears beside their table.
"Can I sit?" she asks, but doesn't wait for permission before sliding next to Caroline. "I need to talk about the new guy."
Sam's pulse quickens. Bonnie's psychic abilities were already stirring when she touched him yesterday.
"Stefan?" Caroline asks.
"I felt the same thing around him that I felt around Sam," Bonnie says quietly, glancing between them. "Like he's hiding something big. Something that makes my skin crawl."
"She's sensing the supernatural. Her Bennett blood recognizes vampire presence."
Sam nods gravely. "Your intuition is usually right, Bonnie. Maybe keep your distance until you figure out what's bothering you."
"You feel it too?"
"Sometimes people just... register wrong. Like they're wearing masks."
Bonnie studies his face, brown eyes intent with growing awareness.
"You have good instincts for someone new to town."
"Too good. She's going to keep watching me."
"Orphan survival skills," Sam deflects. "You learn to read people quickly."
Caroline reaches across the table, squeezing his hand briefly.
"Well, I think you're both paranoid. But I promise to be careful."
That evening, Sam's clone maintains its vigil near the Salvatore boarding house. The Enhanced Speed affinity has reached 15% mastery—enough for sustained bursts that rival a car's acceleration. As darkness falls, the clone reports increased activity.
"Movement inside. Stefan's pacing the main floor. Agitated about something."
Then, at 9:47 PM, everything changes.
A second car pulls into the overgrown driveway—sleek, black, expensive. The clone's enhanced senses immediately register the difference in the new arrival's movement patterns.
"Predator," the clone whispers mentally. "This one's different. Scary different."
Damon Salvatore emerges from the car like liquid shadow given human form. Where Stefan projects brooding nobility, Damon radiates barely restrained violence. Leather jacket, cocky swagger, and an aura that makes the clone's supernatural instincts scream warnings.
Through the boarding house windows, the clone watches the brothers argue. Enhanced hearing picks up fragments:
"—Katherine—"
"—tomb under the church—"
"—Elena—"
Sam's blood turns to ice. The conversation he's witnessing never happened in canon—at least not this early. But the keywords confirm his worst fears: Damon knows about Katherine, about the tomb, about Elena's doppelganger status.
"The timeline's accelerating. Or maybe Damon always arrived this early, and the show just didn't reveal it."
Sam texts his clone: "Do NOT engage. Observe only. If spotted, retreat immediately."
The clone's response carries nervous energy: "Damon just looked directly at my hiding spot. Don't think he saw me, but... this one's dangerous. Like, apex predator dangerous."
Through their mental connection, Sam feels his clone's primal fear. The Enhanced Speed affinity grants supernatural reflexes, but Damon Salvatore has had 145 years to perfect the art of violence.
"Get out of there. Now."
The clone retreats, using Enhanced Speed to blur between trees until it's safely distant. But the damage is done—Damon is here, in Mystic Falls, weeks before his canonical arrival. The carefully constructed timeline Sam has been following just shattered like glass.
[QUEST COMPLETE: IDENTIFY VAMPIRE ARRIVAL]
[REWARD: +300 EXP]
[WARNING: TIMELINE DEVIATION DETECTED]
[NEW QUEST UNLOCKED: THE SALVATORE BROTHERS - NAVIGATE STEFAN AND DAMON'S PRESENCE WITHOUT REVEALING YOUR FOREKNOWLEDGE]
[EXP: 850/1,050 TO LEVEL 4]
Sam sits in his car outside the Mystic Grill, hands white-knuckled on the steering wheel. Through the restaurant's windows, he can see Elena and Stefan sharing what's clearly becoming their first date. Bonnie sits with them, protective and suspicious. Caroline is at another table with Matt and Tyler, pointedly ignoring the Stefan situation.
His phone buzzes with a mental alert from his clone: "Damon just left the boarding house. Heading toward downtown. Orders?"
Sam closes his eyes, feeling the weight of impossible choices. Follow Damon and risk exposure? Focus on protecting Elena from Stefan's inevitable manipulation? Or trust that his presence has already changed enough variables to prevent the worst outcomes?
"Follow Damon. Keep distance. Report movements. And if he approaches any of our friends..."
"What then?"
Sam looks at his reflection in the car's darkened windows—seventeen years old, carrying twenty-two years of memories and seven years of plot knowledge, trying to redirect a supernatural storm with nothing but clones and determination.
"Then we find out what the damage relocation system can really do."
The clone's acknowledgment carries grim understanding. Tonight, neither of them sleep. Tonight, they watch the shadows for monsters.
And in the depths of the old boarding house, 145 years of Damon Salvatore's accumulated cruelty begins to focus on the town that took his Katherine away.
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