3rd Person PoV

It was a normal day for Zach Salvatore. Mystic Falls was not the most interesting place, at least not normally. He had tended to the vervain plants he grew in a locked room in the basement. Vervain was mostly used for subduing vampires and since the town always had problems with the supernatural, they definitely needed it. Zach, whose distant family consisted of vampires, volunteered to supply the town with the rare plant.

Around noon, Zach was staring out of one of the many windows in his house, thinking about his life, when all of a sudden his gaze landed on a tiny figure several feet into the woods. He immediately ran outside, closer to the figure. The closer he got, the more panicked he felt. It was a girl, a little girl of maybe six or seven. She seemed to be hurt pretty badly and bleeding from several wounds. How did she get here? Who would do such a thing? All of these questions ran through the Salvatore's head, when he carefully scooped the unconscious girl into his arms. He raced back towards the Boarding House and to his car. Hopefully, he could get her to Grayson – the town's best doctor – before anything happened.

During the drive, the man constantly checked on the little one, who had started trembling in the passenger seat.

"Grayson," he shouted, bursting through the doors of the Gilbert's clinic "Grayson!"

A man in his late twenties with dark brown hair came out of a door to the right of the entrance area "Zach? What are you doing... What happened?" In a second Grayson was next to the other man, staring down at the child in concern.

"I... I'm not sure. I found her at the edge of the woods behind the Boarding House," Zach explained, laying his cargo down onto the exam table.

Grayson hummed "It's good that you brought her here..." the doctor paused for a moment "Could you possibly help me? My assistant isn't here and I'm going to need help."

The only living Salvatore stared at his friend with wide eyes "Me?"

"The faster I get her treated, the better," Grayson shrugged "Lift her up a bit? I need to get rid of those clothes."

Over the course of the examination, both men got angrier and angrier with every new and old wound they found. Whoever treated this child like this was going to pay. The girl had several old scars on her back along with several bruises on her stomach, face and she had two bad cuts. The one on her arm looked the least harmless of the two, maybe a bit too close to her vein, but manageable. The second cut though seemed to be laced with some sort of venom. All around the injury there was this black substance and the wound seemed to be badly infected already, even though it seemed a few hours old at most. Then there was the tremors that randomly shook her small, emaciated body. It took them several hours to finish up enough to be comfortable with the result.

"Thanks, Zach," Grayson nodded in gratitude "I think... I think I'm going to have to call Liz to let her know about this."

Zach was still staring at the small child "How old do you think she is?"

"It's hard to say," the doctor remarked "She's small and severely malnourished, so she could be between six and eight at the most. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. I just don't get how someone could do something like this."

Grayson, who had grabbed the phone from the wall, looked at the other man in sympathy "Me neither. It's disgusting. We can only hope that she will recover from this. Physically she should make a full recovery from what I can see, but her mental state is another thing entirely." The doctor held the phone up to his ear "Liz, it's Grayson. Listen, I have a patient... I think you should come to the clinic. This isn't something... Please, come down here as soon as you can."

About ten minutes after he had hung up the phone, the Sheriff of Mystic Falls, Liz Forbes, walked into the room. She was a part of one of the town's Founding Families, same as the two men already there "I'm here. What was so important?" She seemed to notice Zach next to the exam table and frowned "Zach? What are you doing here?"

"I found a little girl in the woods by the Boarding House. She was injured pretty badly," Zach explained "We thought that you should know."

Liz stepped closer to the table and peered down at the small form, a sad look in her eyes "What is wrong with her?"

"Bruises on her face and stomach, several old scars and two cuts. One on her right arm, the other on her leg," Grayson listed, running a hand through the bright red hair of the child "There are also signs of malnutrition."

A small whimper drew their attention to the injured child. She was shaking badly and appeared to be having a nightmare "No, Cedric."

The small town doctor grabbed a hold of her hand "Shh," he soothed, caressing her hair at the same time "You're alright. You're safe, little one."

Instead of calming down, the girl trashed harder, trying to get away from the contact. Her eyes snapped open and she jerked to the side, tumbling off the table in the process. As soon as she hit the floor, she scooted backwards towards the wall. Wide, frightened eyes that looked way too old for a child this young, swept around the room cautiously.

The three adults had to bite back their reactions. Liz was close to crying, while Grayson and even Zach wanted to hunt down the bastards who hurt the girl.

"We're not going to hurt you, little one," Grayson spoke softly, as her eyes rested on them "My name is Dr. Grayson Gilbert, but you can call me Gray. These two are my friends, Liz and Zach. What's your name, sweetheart?"

"Angel," the little girl whispered, barely audible.

Liz crouched down where she stood to be a bit closer to Angel's level "That's a pretty name. Angel, can you tell me where your parents are?"

Tears welled up in Angel's eyes "Dead."

"And who do you live with?"

Angel shook her head, curling up into a tighter ball "Where am I?"

"Mystic Falls, Virginia," Grayson answered with a soft smile.

The frown that crossed the child's face was almost too cute "America? I have... I have to go back. I have to tell them about... about..."

"You have to rest, Angel," the doctor pointed out "You're still injured. You have two choices. Either we'll bring you to the hospital, where they'll keep an eye on you for a few days or you can come home with me. I have a daughter who is about your age."

The small child looked up at them, startled. Why would they want her? She was a freak... Once they found out, there was nothing she could do. Would they treat her like the Dursleys? Or like Dumbledore? Angel wasn't sure what to make of her surroundings. The last thing she remembered was being flung away from Voldemort in the graveyard and a white light. Maybe her wish finally came true and she was finally free of the expectations and the hate, her life was so full of. No, she couldn't think like that. There was no hope for her. She had to kill Voldemort or die trying. Cedric... I'm so sorry. It should have been me.

While she was lost in thoughts, Grayson had come closer to where she was cowering "Angel. Will you come with me? I promise you'll be safe."

"Never safe," the girl gasped, her breathing picking up "Dead, all dead. My fault."

"Shit," the doctor cursed under his breath, scrambling towards his desk as the girl got more and more hysterical.

Liz was staring at the child with wide eyes "Do something, Grayson."

"What do you think I'm doing?" the Gilbert hissed back, returning to Angel with a syringe in his hand. He carefully grabbed her arm, only tightening his grip when she started twisting. With a swift and practised move the doctor injected the medication into her veins. It didn't take long for the girl to calm down and fall asleep.

"What now? We can't do anything as long as she won't tell us who she was living with," Sheriff Forbes pointed out.

Grayson stood up, lifting the too light child into his arms "I'm going to take her with me for now. Maybe she'll tell us something..."

Liz nodded at the two men "I will alert the Mayor to the situation. Have a nice day, Zach, Grayson."

"Thanks, Liz," the doctor smiled back, making his way to the door of his clinic "Zach, can you lock the door behind me? I'm closing for today."

"Sure," the current owner of the Boarding House agreed "I'm going to go as well."

Grayson sighed "Thank you for the help. I'll be sure to let you know if I find out anything about the girl."