LETTIE WILLIAMS.

Tina smiled as the other girl seemed to agree with her. " I don't remember seeing you around." Although for all that Tina knew Lettie could have lived in Mystic Falls all her life. The heiress only paid attention to people she thought were worth keeping tracks off. " I'm sure I do." She said with an absent smile. Sometimes it felt flattering to look familiar, sometimes it was just a reminder that she did not stand out. "I'm a Fell." There were many of those in the area. You could throw a stone and hit three blonde Fells. " Maybe you've seen my sister or cousins around." Or perhaps the other woman had seen Tina's infamous mugshot. It had circulated quite a bit, much to her family's dismay.

talking to this fell was harder than lettie expected. privilege was all but dripping off of her. she had a mouth full of unearned confidence and it was off-putting. determined to give it another crack, lettie allowed her head to bob slightly. "maybe, maybe. which fell are you? or, is that a secret?"

"What about after? What if you don't find out?" This was genuine curiosity. Lettie's purpose might keep her focused, but what might she do if the answers she found were less than satisfactory? Maeve knew that vampirism heightened everything, good and bad. "Maybe I could help you with that too."

people didn't help. they only ever hurt. it was hard to imagine maeve was any different, but lettie wanted to believe she was.

"probably," she agreed, though there was no move made toward her home. niamh tucked her phone into her back pocket, attention flicking to her nails. thank god she had an appointment coming up. "i think we both know that's not the case," she purred, far braver than she had any right to be.

watching her in the darkness, lettie felt the strangest sense of dread crawl over her. she was the one with the fangs. why did she feel uneasy? the girl was confident, and it was unsettling. lettie still didn't know how to trust in her abilities. she was ancient and new at the same time, cursed to be turned almost 200 years before only to spend the duration of her vampire life desiccated in a tomb. she squinted slightly. "you're that girl, aren't you? the one that oisín keeps 'round?"

" He does." That April could agree with. She knew that her father loved her. " I just wished he would find other ways to show that he cared." Like actually spending time with her. " Great. I thought you didn't look like a spy but one could never know." People loved to talk. " That's kinda sad to say. I think it's not that bad !"

"i hope you consider yourself lucky, then. even if he's still figurin' things out." at least he tried. that was more than most could say. maybe lettie was just unexperienced in the world of having a father, though. she shouldn't have commented. what did she know about it at all? at the girl's comment, her nose scrunched slightly. "i didn't think i did. nobody's ever mistaken me for one of those before." they wouldn't mistake her for a vampire either, but here they were. it was hard to not pity the girl with her next comment. lettie couldn't imagine being that naive about the world. "well," she said slowly. "i'm very glad you've had the kind of life that's led you to believe that."

Tina turned to register the other girl. " Thanks." She replied with a smile. She loved compliments. " Not really." Unlike many things in her life, she had not practised for carnival games. Not having seen the use or anticipated that it could be a way to dominate others. " I guess I'm just naturally great." All the pent up rage and anger was more likely a better explanation.

to lettie's surprise, it was hard to not feel annoyed. i guess i'm just naturally great. why wouldn't this fell think she was? if lettie had to guess, she'd probably lived an easy life. the fell's had money and power. that was nothing new. lettie had seen their wealth first hand. two hundred years later, and they were still on top. it was sickening, but she kept that opinion to herself. "guess you are," she replied instead with a forced smile. "we don't know each other, do we? you look familiar."

"no, no. i'm okay." lettie rushed to say, instinctively taking a step backwards. she dropped her hand from her mouth, already poised with the excuse that she had bit her tongue or something of that nature. "it's nice of you to offer. you seem like a real gentleman. good manners are surprisingly not that common now."

"not a rumor," lettie confirmed. it was very real for all of those who had been left to slowly starve and rot. "i don't want to sound too negative, but in my experience, that's all humans are." lettie had known that even before she'd been turned and hunted.

"i think it's one of the most beautiful things i've ever seen." that much was true. there hadn't been much beauty in her life before, and lettie was still getting used to modern technology. the array of colorful lights as they spun through the night looked like magic. "people don't really seem to be givin' it the attention they should." even the people on the ride were taking pictures of themselves instead of taking it in.

Like a stable and totally not emotionally unstable person, she was taking her anger, frustration and agression on target attractions. It felt so good knocking down cans. Again and again. Tina eventually forgot about her troubles. " YES ! I win. Again !" She flipped her hair and was that close to do a celebratory dance. " This is how this is done people !"

lettie had been passing by right as the game ended. the ringing of a bell to signal a winner caught her attention, and her gaze drifted over to the blonde who caught in the throes of celebration. it took a second, but the face quickly registered in her mind. a fell. she wasn't sure which, but lettie had seen this girl as she stalked researched the family. slowly moving forward to get closer, lettie cocked her head to the side and pretended to look at the game. "looks like you're real good at this. you play a lot?"

the carnival was an exercise in self control. lettie was, by choice, choosing to sustain herself with blood bags instead of hunting. overall, it was far from ideal. she wasn't as strong, her compulsions faltered. all the supposed perks of being a vampire felt a little out of reach. still, lettie wasn't totally at peace with the idea of digging her teeth into someone's neck again. that didn't mean the temptation wasn't there. the throbbing crowd of people with their pulsing arteries were all but calling to her as lettie did her best to ignore their siren song. she felt like she was doing a decent job until another body made contact with hers. there was a millisecond where her fangs began to slide into view before control was regained. she moved a hand quickly to cover her mouth until the immediate risk had passed. "—'m fine, thank you. are you?"

taking the puffy, bright pink mass from andrew, lettie's arched a brow. "and what is this? i thought you said it was somethin' we could eat." being out in a public place felt risky after the town had just slaughtered some of their fellow entombed vampires. that being said, they needed to go outside when they could. staying inside after almost two years trapped felt too claustrophobic.

"But…" But. She needed assurances and had no idea where to get them from. "I don't really know you. No offence. It's a big ask." She spoke as though the opportunity to show her power didn't raise goosebumps along her arms. "How do I know you won't… y'know. Go for the all you can eat buffet?"

lettie wasn't sure what a buffet was outside of a piece of furniture that honoraria fell had fussed over. she knew what all you can eat was, though, and that was enough to paint a picture. "respectfully, miss, i'm not like some of the others. i drink from the blood bags miss pearl gives us. i don't like to hunt. what do you want to know about me? i don't have secrets to keep. i just want to find out what happened to my mama."

"He is smart but very annoying and controlling and paranoid !" It was suffocating to live under all of his rules. April kind of missed boarding school and the freedom she had there. " Is he sending you ? Do you have like a little speech to give me ?" She joked but then wondered if that could be the case. Perhaps Pastor Young had asked one of his younger parishioner to help him talk some sense into his daughter.

"sounds like he cares about you, if not a little intensely." it had to be nice to be cared about in such a way. lettie had loved her mother, and her mother had loved her. that hadn't been enough in the end. there hadn't been much phillis could have done to save herself— or lettie. they had been at the fell's ( lack of ) mercy. almost two centuries had done little to dull the sting. shaking her head at the question, lettie replied, "no, i don't know your father. i just know there's a lot of things out there, and most of 'em aren't fair."

"oh, you don't much about mystic falls at all, do you?" lettie asked. it was hard to not feel resentful. some got immortality without being forced to desiccate for centuries. "it was october 1864. the founding families got together and trapped all of us vampires in town. stuck us in fell's tomb to desiccate for eternity. we only got out recently. you really never heard about that? i would've thought you had considerin' you're... well..." like lettie. a vampire.

WHITNEY PEAK for L'Officiel Brazil | February 2023 photographed by Tyler Patrick Kenny

" You sound like my father." April made a face. " We're in the city centre" Or what classified as such " Surely no animal is lurking here." April still looked around, a little spooked after Lettie reminded her of the attacks. " Right ?"

lettie didn't have a father. she did, technically, but thomas fell was no family member of hers. he was a cruel shadow cast over her childhood. this girl with her modern sensitivities seemed to speak in the way that lettie heard all her age chatter. to have an active parental figure— was that such a bad thing? still, she kept the musing to herself. "perhaps your father is smart then," she said instead. "besides, animals are never the only thing we need to worry about. did you father not teach you that?"

after the massacre of most of the entombed vampires, the survivors were on edge. they weren't safe from the humans— or each other. if lettie had any hesitance about being out at night with maeve, it wasn't solely a refusal to believe in maeve's power. there was a reluctance in lettie to bare her fangs against the few left who understood the situation she was in. being seen with maeve meant alerting more to her presence or creating the conception that lettie was trying to gain an advantage. however, at the end of the night, lettie couldn't lose her chance to talk to maeve. she needed her too badly. "yes, of course. do you have an update?"