"The greatest enemy of any one of our truths may be the rest of our truths." ~William James
Elena anxiously smoothed out invisible wrinkles to the comforter on the bed in the guest bedroom of her home. Her brother Jeremy smirked from his room. This was the eighth time that she had gone into the room to make sure everything was in place. She nearly jumped out of her skin as soon as the doorbell ring. Quickly leaving the room she looked in at her brother as a sign to come downstairs and greet the new quest.
"Seriously, I think you need to chill for a bit." Jeremy said as he slowly made his way down the staircase.
Elena rolled her eyes with her back turned to him. She reached for the doorknob and turned it to open the door. On the other side stood a woman dressed in fashionably torn jeans and a black shirt with fishnet sleeves. She was wearing dark sunglasses and had her hair twisted up in a messy bun. "Surprise, surprise! Okay, maybe not surprise since you knew I was coming like a month ago." Her voice was cheerful and had a slight southern twang to it.
"Ashleigh! You don't understand how great it is to hear your voice after so long!" Elena exclaimed. She stepped over the threshold of the front door and wrapped her old friend in a hug.
When Elena was younger she and her best friend Bonnie had traveled to the southwestern part of Virginia to a summer camp in the mountains. There they became friends with Ashleigh. Ashleigh seemed to be a loner at the camp, she was a few years older than them but the three got along pretty well. They kept in touch over time through letters, emails, and texts. Often before the passing of Elena's parents they would travel back there and stay with Ashleigh's family for a vacation. Within the past few months Ashleigh had to deal with the tragedy of losing her parents at the hands of a house fire. She would have rather lost the entire house than her parents along with it. Elena sympathized with her long distance friend and offered her a place to live in Mystic Falls.
"Let's get your things and I will show you to your room. I hope it will be okay for you. I mean I had no idea how you would want to decorate it so I just fixed it up enough so that it was sleep able. If you don't like it you can do whatever you want to it." Elena started helping her friend bring her bags into the house.
Ashleigh nodded to her friend and picked up her last bag. She could tell her friend was nervous and anxious for her to be here but there was no way possible that it was greater than hers. A new town that she had never been to where she only knew three people, it was a bit unnerving to start over fresh. She sighed to herself as the two, along with Jeremy, made their way up the stairs with her things. Entering the room, she smiled. The room was a decent sized room. It was twice as big as her old room. She walked over to the bed and laid one of the bags on top of it. She traced her fingers along the threaded pattern of the comforter and smiled again. This was defiantly nicer than sleeping in a motel room.
"It's okay right?" Elena asked her unsure of what her answer would be.
Ashleigh nodded her head up and down. "El, it's great. You don't understand how grateful I am that you opened you home to me." She turned her head to look around the room. "You and Bonnie, even though y'all lived all the way here, have been my best friends through a lot. It sucks that we lived so far away, but I still felt like we were close."
"Y'all?" Jeremy laughed at the slip of some southern dialect. Ashleigh's face grew hot and she turned back to her bag on the bed.
Elena quickly glared at him and he took the hint to leave the two friends alone. They worked together and began putting away Ashleigh's things. Elena came to a bag with some reflective material sewn around it. "What is this?" She asked.
Ashleigh was sitting in the floor removing shoes from another bag. She looked in her friend's direction and smiled. "Mom and Dad got me that bag when I finished the Paramedic program at college. It's like an advanced first aid bag. It has things for bandaging and it also have IV supplies as well in case I run up on something out in public. Back home it was fine to have all of that but I will have to check up here with the agency before I start carrying it. I won't put it in my vehicle until everything is clear."
She had gone to college to become a Paramedic for the state. She enjoyed helping the sick and injured and chose to make it her career. In a few days she would be starting her new job at Mystic Falls Ambulance. Until then she hoped that Elena would be able to show her around the town and introduce her to some new people. She knew things wouldn't come easy but she could make it one way or another.
"I was thinking maybe wearing a light blue dress but I don't think I've been getting enough sun lately so I don't want it to make me look too pale. What do you think Bonnie?" Caroline asked her friend as they sat at their usual table at the Mystic Grill.
Bonnie wasn't really paying attention to her friend. Her eyes were fixed on the entrance waiting for it to open at any moment. Of course it finally did and two of her friends entered. A smile formed to her mouth and she rushed up to the two girls. "You finally left the sticks?" She grinned toward her friend Ashleigh.
"Did you seriously think I was going to live somewhere with such awful cell phone service that much longer?" Ashleigh laughed and accepted a hug.
Elena and Bonnie led Ashleigh to the table to meet Caroline who meekly accepted her into their little circle. She was sketchy and took some time to get over jealousy when she felt someone would interfere in her friendships. The girls sat together and ordered some food. They all exchanged stories and the three natives to the town informed Ashleigh of all the juicy gossip. Elena felt that Ashleigh was fitting in well. There were some things that she wouldn't be able to tell her friend. She had told her that she had a boyfriend, but she left out the small detail that he was a vampire. She didn't know that Bonnie was a witch and she wasn't going to tell her about how crazy the past few years had been. If everything stayed quiet she wouldn't have to tell her any of the supernatural details.
"Again I'm really happy I had friends who were willing to take me in. I never thought I would lose my parents like this. I always thought it would be years before anything would ever happen." Ashleigh sighed and looked down at her hands.
"You can count on us Ash. If you need anything just let us know. We're here." Bonnie smiled at her and went to put her hand on her arm. Her hand stayed on her arm for a long moment. Elena noticed a look on Bonnie's face. She had a blank stare. She was seeing something. Ashleigh stared back at her friend with a puzzled look.
Bonnie jerked away and noticed that she was being stared at. She stood up and grabbed her jacket from the back of her chair. "Um I just remembered that I have to help my dad with something." She gave them all a smile and left.
Ashleigh looked at Caroline and Elena both and shrugged her shoulders. That was a little awkward. The remaining three girls continued their conversation with each other. Elena was so wrapped up in everything that she did not notice that Stefan had arrived. Ashleigh saw the instant smile in Elena's face. "So this is the man who charmed you?"
Elena nodded as Stefan sat down next to her. "Yes. Stefan this is Ashleigh. Ashleigh this is Stefan. I guess it's about time that you guys met." The two exchanged a friendly hand shake and conversation continued.
"So Stefan, Miss Elena informed me that you had an older brother. Where is he?" Ashleigh asked. Stefan looked over at Elena; he had hoped she didn't mention anything about Damon. He realized that in the middle of the girly gossip that it may have slipped out.
"Yes, I do. He actually won't be around for awhile. He's visiting some relatives in Europe for a week." Stefan lied about his sly brother. Damon wasn't someone that Ashleigh needed to be introduced to first thing.
Caroline stepped in at the mention of her past lover. "There are plenty of hot guys here in this town. Once you get settled we can go to some parties and make selections." Ashleigh smiled at her new blonde friend.
The night began to get late and it was time to head back home after the long day in a new town. The three girls paid for their meal and, along with Stefan, began to leave the Mystic Grill. Ashleigh and Elena walked slowly toward Elena's car. Stefan declined a ride home. He wanted to let the girls have some more time together. They began their travel back to Elena's house. Elena's cell phone began to ring and she looked down. It was Bonnie. She immediately answered wondering what her childhood friend wanted this late at night.
"Hello….What's wrong….What….What do you mean….Bon calm down you're talking in-"Elena's phone flew from her hand. Ashleigh closed her eyes. Everything felt as if the two had started on a rollercoaster ride. She closed her eyes. The car, which seemed as though it was going in slow motion, was flipping over side to side. Elena's stomach began turning. It reminded her of her accident two years. The two were being hit by items from the car as the tumbled around for what seemed like minutes. Finally the car stopped with one final landing on its roof.
"Shit!" Was all Elena could manage to say, the two were still in their seats. Both were holding themselves up with their hands pushing against the roof.
Ashleigh opened her eyes and looked around. She noticed items from her purpose were now scattered above her head. Her seatbelt cutter caught her eye and grabbed it. Normally she would use this to extricate a patient from their seat, not her own. She fell from her seat and winced as she bounced against the metal below her. A burning sensation went through her forearm. Pain, not something she was use to feeling. A piece of metal was sticking out of her arm. She examined herself and noticed that it hadn't completely gone through her arm. Through her training she knew not to pull it out. She looked her friend who was still dangling upside down in her seat.
"Hold on El, I got you." She took the seatbelt cutter to Elena's seatbelt and assisted her down more graceful than what she fell.
The two girls crawled through what was once the windshield. They both quickly removed their hands from the shards of glass that covered the road. Elena stood first and looked around with her hand against her forehead. There was no other vehicle there. She looked back at her car. What was once silver Ford Focus was now a crushed can. Glass and metal covered the road around the two girls. Ashleigh was still sitting on the ground.
"Are you okay?" Elena asked her. She noticed her friend was covered in blood. Her eyes widened noticing it was a large amount of blood.
Ashleigh began to stand up. "I think now would be a good time to call for an ambulance. I won't be any use to us right now." Then everything went to black.
"Miss Gilbert it's obvious that you and your friend were hit on the passenger side by another vehicle. We're still trying to locate the other vehicle involved. No witnesses have come forward with any information but as soon as we find out something we will let you know so that you can inform you insurance company. You two are quiet lucky." The police officer closed his notepad in his hand after writing down some things and left.
Elena sat in a hospital bed holding a bag of ice to the side of her head. Stefan was by her side in no time. She was replaying in her head what had happened. Then she remembered the phone call she had received from Bonnie. She said something about not driving. They shouldn't be in the vehicle. Then they were hit. She began to get up from her bed. Stefan put his hand on her shoulder and gently guided her back down.
"Ashleigh is fine. There's someone sitting with her for when she wakes up. The metal in her arm came out real easy and she's getting fluids for the blood loss." He said giving her a comforting smile. She also noticed it was a smile that meant he was leaving out another detail.
"Who is with her?" She asked turning her head to the side. He sighed and answered her with his brother's name.
Ashleigh had been staring at the IV pole next to her bed side for five minutes. She broke her concentration and rolled her head to look in the other direction. She jumped seeing a man sitting next to her.
"I was wondering if I was going to have to tell a nurse to call for a code." His voice sounded monotone and sarcastic. "I'm Damon by the way. I take it you are Ashleigh, Elena's friend from the south."
She began to open her mouth to say something and was interrupted by him. "You two were involved in a little accident. The car only flipped a few times so everything should be fine. Actually you have a pretty good wound to your right arm there. It should be healed enough by the time you start your new job. I thought you were supposed to be the one saving lives not being saved. In case you are wondering I did some research on you before you arrived. No I'm not a stalker. Just consider it being concerned about who my little brother is hanging out with."
Ashleigh was caught in a trance with his eyes. He was coming off as a smart ass toward her but she hadn't paid much attention to what he was saying. He rolled his eyes and shook his head. He picked up a magazine that was lying on the counter next to him and began reading. "Nice tattoo by the way."
Ashleigh blushed and pulled her shirt down over the tattoo that was peeking above her jeans. What the hell was going on? Thirty minutes had gone by and a nurse came in to assess her vitals again. She was informed that her blood pressure was stable enough for her to leave however she needed to come back in a few weeks to have the staples removed from her arm. Damon was still in the room with her to her surprise. She had assumed that Stefan told him to keep her company while he tended to Elena. As she pushed herself of the bed she felt dizzy almost causing herself to stumble. Damon grabbed her uninjured arm. A jolt of electricity ran through her arm to her head with his touch. She jerked away from him and looked into his eyes. He had obviously had the same experience that she did.
"Oh, God." She said rubbing her arm. There was something about him that would have to be explained to her.
Damon looked at her, "You're-"He was cut off by Stefan and Elena entering the room. The two noticed the other two standing staring at each other with odd expressions on their face. He shook his head and began speaking again, "So I guess I'm giving everyone a ride home now? This is the last time. Next time you guys are splitting the gas fee." His eyes darted back to Ashleigh and she shivered.
Stefan led Elena and Ashleigh both into the house making sure they made it in safe. The two had a long night so he didn't want to over stay his welcome the first night Ashleigh stayed there. The two girls went to their separate rooms and cleaned up the reminders from the accident that they had left on their clothing. Ashleigh could hear Jeremy talking to Elena in the other room. Multiple thoughts were running through her head at once causing her to have a headache. Something was strange about this town. Something strange was going on with Elena. There was something strange being left out. These thoughts, these thoughts were something she had not had since the fire. She knew things were going to happen before they ever happened. She knew the fire was going to happen but she couldn't stop it. These thoughts went away after the fire.
Now they were back. They came back after she touched Damon. She felt something on Damon. She felt years and memories from him. She felt something dark coming from him. She remembered his eyes. They were blue, but they turned dark. She screamed out and fell to the floor. Elena and Jeremy rushed in to her. Elena reached down and touched her shoulder. The electricity shot through Ashleigh again and she jumped away. "Elena! Tell me everything! You are leaving out something important. There's something you want to tell me but you were going to wait until something happened. I want the truth from you. I will give you the truth from me."
Elena closed her eyes and sighed. "Okay."