Angels and Demons

By, 2280

Elena wrapped the towel around her head and flipped upwards. She knew she ought to turn the fan on, but the steam on her body felt heavenly after spending so much time in limbo. She leaning across her bathroom sink and wiped the steam off of the mirror. Blue eyes framed by a pink towel with blond hair peeking out gazed back at her.

It had been a couple of months since her miraculous 'return'. At first it was a miracle, but now people had begun to forget, to create 'reasonable explanations' for what had happened. They had finally settled on Elena having been in a coma, hypothesizing that she may have a heart condition that slowed her pulse down to the point where it was undetectable.

Elena shook her head, she had a heart condition all right, but it was probably still sleeping in his apartment across town. Either way it didn't really matter. She was back, she was human, and she was with the people she loved. People could say anything they wanted as long as that didn't change.

She took the towel of and squeezed some more water out of her long blond hair before she picked up a comb and started to work through it. She was meeting Bonnie and Meredith today at the mall. They had decided that after everything that had happened they needed some wind down time and shopping for school cloths seemed like the perfect thing.

So what if it was only mid-June? Elena was halfway through with her summer schooling so she could graduate and then they were all going to go to the University of Virginia. Summer school, it made her want to cringe. She had come back from the dead and they still made her go to summer school, sometimes she just didn't get any respect.

There was a tap on the door and her sister's voice echoed through the wood. "Bonnie's here 'lena." She called.

Elena smiled, she had missed her sister so much, there were times when she just wanted to hold her, to always keep her safe; but she knew the danger was gone now. Katherine was dead, Damon was gone, and the nightmare was over.

"Tell them I'm drying my hair and I'll be right down." Elena called back, throwing her towel in the hamper and picking up her dryer.

Downstairs Bonnie and Meredith sat in the old fashioned living room and chatted with Elena's aunt. She had recently married her long time boyfriend, finally giving Elena's little sister a father figure.

It had taken awhile to get acclimated to having Elena back, but now it was as if those horrible months had never happened. Elena was finishing school, they were planning for college, everything was going as it should be. For all purposes everything was perfect. There were a few differences of course. Elena and Matt were no longer dating; instead it was Bonnie and Matt. Caroline wasn't around anymore either. After the episode in the woods she had decided to go to school in California and had left immediately, saying she needed a change of scenery. They didn't really blame her, and even after all the horrible things she had done to them, she had atoned for it in the end and they missed her.

Bonnie jumped up when she heard Elena coming down the stairs.

"Oh my god, I got a flyer in the mail the other day, and they are having SO many amazing sales, it is gonna be such a blast. I'm sure your going to be glad to get something new, after all everything you have is from last year." Bonnie squeaked as Meredith came up behind her and kicked her in the ankle. Realizing what she had just said and what it meant, Bonnie blushed.

"I mean, everyone likes new cloths. Right?" she added lamely, giving Meredith a cross look.

Elena rolled her eyes, "your right Bonnie, I can't wait. So how about we blow this popsicle stand, pick up Stephan, and get on the road?" She smiled.

In a cloud of chattering and laughs the three girls headed towards Meredith's car.

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Sarah leaned against the counter, this sale was a killer and she wondered for the hundredth time why she was working here. Oh yeah, college money so she would never have to work in retail again. She plastered a smile on her face as another customer came up, asking them if she could help them find anything.

The man she addressed turned to look at her, fixing his large gray eyes on her. He was tall, almost 6 feet, with silvery grey hair. It seemed odd to Sarah that such a young man had gray hair but she figured he must just have a lot of stress in his life. She knew what that was like.

"Perhaps," the man's voice was soft, almost velvety. "I'm looking for something in particular."

Sarah felt her smile become strained, "Well what are you looking for?"

Sarah's eyes widened as he reached forward and took a lock of her long brown hair in his fingers, rubbing it between them. What was with this guy? Hadn't he ever heard of a personal bubble?

"I'm not sure yet, perhaps you can help me find it though."