Chapter 7: First Blood
POV: Sam Barton
The town square glows with fairy lights strung between oak trees like fallen stars. The comet festival has transformed downtown Mystic Falls into something magical—families spread blankets on the grass, vendors hawk glow sticks that pulse like captured fireflies, and teenagers cluster in groups, pretending they're too cool to care while secretly thrilled by the celestial event.
Sam arrives with Caroline, who clutches a color-coded schedule like a battle plan. She's wearing a sundress that makes her hair shine like spun gold under the festival lights, and her excitement radiates infectious energy.
"Optimal viewing spot at 8:47 PM," she announces, checking her watch. "Food trucks at 7:30, photo ops at sunset. I've calculated the best trajectory for—"
"Caroline." Sam catches her hand, squeezing gently. "Breathe. It's a comet, not a military operation."
She pauses, then laughs at herself. "Sorry. I just want tonight to be perfect."
"Perfect." Through their mental link, Sam's Enhanced Speed clone whispers urgently from its position near the school gymnasium: "Both Salvatores are here. Stefan's with Elena near the fountain. Damon's... hunting. Scanning the crowd like a predator looking for prey."
Sam's stomach clenches. In canon, Damon attacks Vicki Donovan tonight during the festival. Turns her into a vampire, ruins her life, and eventually gets her killed. The memory of that storyline makes Sam's chest tight with preemptive grief.
"Stay on Damon," Sam commands mentally. "If he approaches Vicki, intervene. Non-lethally."
"Copy that."
Caroline tugs his hand toward the ring toss booth. "Come on! I WILL win that giant teddy bear, and you're going to help me."
For the next hour, Caroline drags him through the festival with manic joy. Funnel cake ("It's tradition!"), ring toss (she does win the teddy bear after seventeen attempts), and a photo booth where she makes him pose for increasingly ridiculous pictures. Sam finds himself laughing genuinely, swept up in her enthusiasm.
"When did this happen?" he wonders, watching Caroline's face light up as she wins a goldfish at the basketball game. "When did I stop thinking of her as a character and start falling for the real girl?"
The real Caroline Forbes—who color-codes her emotions, plans everything three weeks in advance, and hides crushing insecurities behind a smile that could power the town grid. She's magnificent in her intensity, terrifying in her vulnerability.
They join the hayride queue as sunset paints the sky crimson. Caroline leans against his side, and Sam realizes with startling clarity that his heart is racing for reasons that have nothing to do with supernatural danger.
"Is this a date?" Caroline asks suddenly, voice carefully casual.
Sam looks down at her—blonde hair mussed from the hay, cheeks pink from excitement, blue eyes uncertain despite her confident exterior.
"Do you want it to be?"
She bites her lower lip, a gesture Sam is learning means she's processing something important.
"Maybe."
"Then maybe it is."
Caroline's smile transforms her entire face. She stretches up on her toes and kisses his cheek—soft, sweet, real.
[QUEST COMPLETE: CAROLINE'S HEART - FIRST STAGE]
[RELATIONSHIP STATUS: DATING (TRIAL PHASE)]
[BONUS: +15% ALL STATS WHEN NEAR CAROLINE]
[EXP GAINED: +100]
But the moment shatters when his clone's voice explodes through their mental connection: "Vicki's in the woods with Damon. It's happening. NOW."
Sam's blood turns to ice. Caroline notices his sudden tension immediately.
"What's wrong?"
"Bathroom," Sam says quickly, already backing away. "Be right back. Don't move from here, okay? Stay with Matt and Tyler."
Caroline's eyes narrow with concern, but she nods.
Sam sprints toward the woods bordering the festival grounds, his heart hammering against his ribs. Through his clone's enhanced senses, he can see the scene unfolding—Vicki Donovan, high and giggly, following Damon deeper into the shadows. Damon's face shifts, revealing vampire features, fangs descending toward her throat.
"Not in this timeline," Sam snarls, pushing his legs to run faster.
His clone materializes from behind a oak tree just as Damon's fangs reach Vicki's neck. The Enhanced Speed affinity activates—20% mastery now, enough for a burst that briefly rivals vampire velocity. The clone doesn't attack—it can't win against a 145-year-old vampire—but it shouts at the top of its lungs:
"VICKI! Your brother's looking for you! He's PISSED!"
Damon whirls, vampire features still visible, eyes narrowing dangerously as he focuses on the clone.
"Who the hell are you?"
Vicki, high and confused, stumbles backward from both of them.
"Matt? Where's Matt?"
The clone grins nervously, Enhanced Speed ready for immediate retreat.
"Nobody. Just... nobody important."
Damon blurs forward with supernatural speed, but Sam arrives via his real body at that exact moment, shouting from the tree line:
"Vicki! Matt's here! He's looking for you!"
Damon pauses, realizing the moment is completely ruined. Multiple witnesses, Vicki stumbling away, the element of surprise shattered. His vampire features smooth back to human perfection, but his pale blue eyes promise violence.
With a sound of disgust, he vanishes using vampire speed—there one moment, gone the next like smoke.
Sam and his clone exchange glances across the clearing. They just altered canon. Majorly.
"Is she okay?" Sam asks through their mental link.
"Unharmed. No bite marks, no compulsion. Damon never got the chance."
Sam finds Vicki stumbling out of the woods five minutes later, playing the concerned friend perfectly.
"You okay? You looked lost."
Vicki's pupils are dilated from whatever she's been taking, but there's no supernatural damage. No bite marks on her throat, no vampire compulsion clouding her thoughts.
"I'm fine," she mumbles, swaying slightly. "Saw this really hot guy who was like... super intense? But then he just disappeared?"
"Vampire speed. She thinks she hallucinated him."
Sam guides her back toward the festival lights, relieved beyond words. In canon, this night destroys Vicki's life. She becomes a vampire, loses control, attacks people, and eventually gets staked by Stefan. But not here. Not in this timeline.
Matt appears at the edge of the crowd, frantically scanning faces.
"Vicki! There you are! I've been looking everywhere!"
His gratitude when Sam delivers his sister safely is overwhelming. Matt grips Sam's shoulder with both hands, eyes bright with relief.
"Man, I don't know what I'd do if something happened to her. Thank you. Seriously."
But over Matt's shoulder, Sam sees Stefan Salvatore watching from across the square. Vampire hearing means he probably caught fragments of what happened in the woods. And worse—Damon leans against an oak tree nearby, studying Sam with predatory interest that makes his skin crawl.
Their eyes meet across the festival crowd. Damon smirks and tips an imaginary hat. The message is crystal clear: I see you, boy. And now I'm curious.
[QUEST COMPLETE: PREVENT VICKI'S ATTACK]
[MAJOR CANON DIVERGENCE ACHIEVED]
[REWARD: +500 EXP, +5 WIS (SELFLESS INTERVENTION)]
[CURRENT EXP: 1,350/1,050 TO LEVEL 4]
[LEVEL UP ACHIEVED!]
[NEW QUEST: DAMON'S INTEREST - NAVIGATE HIS SUSPICION]
[WARNING: FAILURE CONDITION = DEATH]
The comet blazes across the sky at 8:47 PM exactly, just as Caroline predicted. Sam stands with her, Matt, and Tyler on the viewing blanket she spread with military precision, watching the celestial phenomenon streak overhead like a cosmic omen.
"Make a wish," Caroline whispers, squeezing his hand.
Sam closes his eyes, acutely aware of Damon's continued observation from across the square.
"I wish I can save them all without losing myself."
The comet's tail fades into darkness. The festival begins winding down. And somewhere in the shadows between the trees, Damon Salvatore lights a bourbon and smiles.
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