Brooke
Today was the day. Brooke could feel it. She had felt it all week. Brooke’s soul was telling her- she was here. This was the day she’s waited years for.
She could spot her from a mile away, feel the fear radiating from her. She slipped up next to her quietly.
“You must be the new girl,” she said quietly, and she felt the girl’s energy tense up.
“How d’you know?” The girl’s tone was sharp, eyes narrowed.
Brooke smirked, “I can smell fear.”
“I’m not scared.”
She was, Brooke felt it. She asked the smaller girl her name, even though she already knew it. Vanessa. It was a name she’d never forget. It wasn’t always her name though. She had a different one…then.
“Well, Vanessa, let’s get you to your first class shall we?”
Brooke tried to make Vanessa’s first day an easy one. She invited her to sit with her friends, and everyone was nice, even Detox! That was surprising to Brooke but made her happy.
“So you’re the new girl.” Kameron said, “the buzz of the school.”
“Uh, yeah I am. People are talking about me?”
Brooke felt the nervous energy radiating off of Vanessa.
“You’re new and you’re pretty,” Nina said with a wink, “of course they are.”
Brooke felt her face heat up as she straightened her posture and she gave Nina a pointed look. Nina raises an eyebrow back at her. Brooke gave a slight nod, one that you really had to be looking at her in order to catch.
This is her? Nina cocked her head to the side.
Brook gave another nod.
Very interesting. Nina had a knowing smirk on her face and Brooke just rolled her eyes.
“Anyways, Vanessa….”
The rest of the day went smoothly, but when it was time for Brooke and Vanessa to go their separate ways, Brooke felt less than whole. She couldn’t wait for the following day.
“So you’re really sure?” Nina asked out of the blue in the car on the way home.
“Nina, you never saw her, but I need you to believe me. It’s her. I’ll see if there’s a photo of her in the attic.”
Nina pulled into the driveway and Brooke headed inside. She immediately dropped her bag by the door, said hello to her mom, and went to the attic, Nina in tow.
She sifted through boxes and folders, finally coming across a tote marked 1860’s.
“This is it,” Brooke said, pulling the lid off.
Right on top, just how she left it, was an old worn-out picture of two girls sitting under a tree. The blonde had her arm around the brunette, and both faces were smiling bright.
“Holy shit,” Nina said softly, “it really is her.”
The blonde was Brooke, she hadn’t changed, she just wore her hair differently now. Instead of plaiting it, she had perfectly tamed curls. But Vanessa, or Isabela as her name used to be, sat there with the same, wide doe eyes and charming smile, unchanged. This just confirmed it. That was her girl. Now she just had to tell her without freaking her out.
That was the dilemma, and Brooke wouldn’t blame her if she never wanted to speak to her again. The whole thing was quite wild, a story for the movies, really. It was a time she would never forget, and it felt like yesterday.
~*~
It was the summer of 1861 and Brooke was 18. She had been 18 for a while. Her family’s situation was….complicated and they didn’t speak of it. But witches and vampires aren’t just for fairytales.
When Brooke met Isabela, there was an undeniable spark. Brooke was mesmerized, she had never felt this way about someone before. They became inseparable.
No, witches and vampires were real in their world, and they weren’t supposed to fall in love with each other. So when they did, they had to hide it from their covens. It could be dangerous for both girls in different ways. Brooke had to be careful. Isabela had magic in her veins, but she also had blood, and that meant that things could end dangerously. Isabela didn’t care. She knew in her heart that Brooke’s love for her was greater than her bloodlust.
They had been sneaking around for a little over six months when they got caught. They were sitting in a tree near the river, it was a gentle spring day. They shared soft words of affirmation and sweet, short kisses. Out of nowhere, an arrow flies upwards past them. It was a narrow miss, almost hitting Isabela. Brooke looks down and sees her brother, Benjamin, glaring up at her. She freezes. Shit. This is what they were trying to avoid.
“Brooke, what’s happenin’?” Isabela asks, “who is that?”
“That’s my brother,” Brooke said quietly.
Benjamin turned on his heels and took off towards Brooke’s family cottage on the other side of the village, and Brooke knew she was in big trouble.