Cheyenne stood at the gate of the old Victorian style house. The gate squeaked as she pushed it open and boldly walked across the lawn and up the creaky stairway.
She took out the piece of paper and re-read it. 85 Maple Street... This was it.
Cheyenne knocked once…twice. "Coming…" came a rushed voice from inside.
The door opened and a girl with long dark brown hair and brown eyes stared at her before saying "Can I help you?"
"Elena? Elena Gilbert?" Cheyenne tried composing herself, but all the nervous energy that had been building up for the past few weeks was almost impossible to contain.
"Yes. Who are you?" Elena's eyes traveled over Cheyenne.
"My name is Cheyenne Ryder…and unless I am very much mistaken…we are cousins." She rushed the words, but felt herself smile faintly as something seemed to connect with Elena.
"Did you say Ryder? I had an aunt, on Dad's side I think, her name was…Emma? Erica?"
"Ella…Ella Ryder. That's my mom." Cheyenne smiled.
"Yeah! That's it! Oh my god, please come in!" Elena stepped aside as Cheyenne crossed the threshold, a relieved sigh escaped her.
"How did you find us? I mean me?" Elena led Cheyenne to a comfy couch. The house was decorated with old family relics and modern appliances. It was a mixture of then and now, and Cheyenne loved it.
"Mom used to talk about your dad, a lot before…" Cheyenne paused and cleared her throat. "…everything happened." She gazed at Elena, silently praying she wouldn't ask what had happened.
"Oh well I can see that…" Elena replied, obviously picking up on the hint.
"Yeah…" Cheyenne nodded.
They sat in an awkward silence, each watching the other…when suddenly a knock on the front door forced Elena to move to open the door.
"Stefan!" Elena wrapped her arms around and kissed a tall, strong looking boy with blonde/brown hair and piercing blue eyes. They embraced each other before finally letting go, Elena led him back over to the sofa, and her face was slightly flushed.
"Cheyenne, this is-"
"Stefan?" Cheyenne's eyes widened with disbelief.
Stefan stared at her like she was a ghost. "Cheyenne…oh my god, is it really you?"
Cheyenne felt herself nod as they quickly embraced.
"It's been so long! Last time I saw you, you had red hair and a studio apartment." Stefan laughed.
"My hair is impossible to keep dyed…and that apartment wasn't my style." Cheyenne smiled.
"Stefan, Cheyenne is my cousin…on my dad's side." Elena stated, clearly trying to turn Stefan's attention back onto her.
"I had you…do you live around here?" Cheyenne was breathless with excitement.
"In the Salvatore Boarding House…my uncle Zack left it to me." Stefan grinned.
Cheyenne felt her lungs collapse, a breath of air caught in her throat.
"Salvatore…as in Damon Salvatore?"
"Damon's my brother. Do you know him too?" Stefan's sky blue eyes widened in surprise…
"Well, let's just say I might have, accidently, tried to kill him this morning." Cheyenne gave a nervous laugh.
Stefan cursed. "He's so damn impulsive…"
"You never told me you had a brother, though! " Cheyenne stated.
"I know, I tend to avoid-"There was a sharp knock at the door.
"Who is it?" Elena called cautiously.
"Tinkerbell…" came a deep, exasperated voice.
"Just a second!" Elena called, "C'mon," She whispered to Cheyenne.
"Stefan, get the door!" Elena called as she led Cheyenne up the stair case.
"Well my morning was just fabulous…" Damon stormed into the house, fists clenched at his sides.
"What happened?" Stefan kept his face blank, folding his arms over his chest.
"New Girl tried to stake me! All I did was say 'Hi'." Damon stormed, pacing furiously.
"Some people just wanna be left alone, Damon…" Stefan smirked.
Damon's glare was like fire; Stefan cleared his throat and looked away.
"I just wish I knew who the hell she was…" Damon grabbed a bottle of beer from the fridge and sucked it dry.
"Do you think he senses us?" Cheyenne wondered. She wasn't afraid, vampires were the least scary supernatural she had ever fought, but there was something about this particular beast that was a little off putting.
"Probably…stay here." Elena got up from the floor of her bedroom and crept to the second landing hallway. "Stefan? Who is it?" She called.
"Damon," that deep voice echoed.
"You let him in the house?" Cheyenne whispered furiously.
"My bad…" Elena replied.
"Stefan? I'm gonna take a shower!"
"Can I join you?" Damon's flirtatious voice rang up the steps, followed by a throaty chuckle.
Elena put a finger to her lips and motioned Cheyenne forward. Cheyenne tip toed and walked towards the bathroom, glancing down the stairs to see the back of Stefan's figure and the boots that had stomped down the bridge that morning.
Elena turned on the shower head and the water made a sound equivalent to small waterfall. Then she opened a wide window and motioned for Cheyenne to enter.
"This is how I used to sneak out to meet Matt. If you slide out on your stomach you can use your hands to break your fall. C'mon…"
Cheyenne stepped onto the toilet and had one hand on the window sill when Elena screamed and she felt herself being thrown back into the bathtub; the water came down on her like tiny hail stones as her head and back smacked against the wet tiles.
"How does it feel to be the one caught off guard?" Damon's sneer showed threatening canines.
"Honestly, I'm not a fan." Cheyenne groaned as she rubbed the back of her head, knowing damn well that a welt was gonna be there within minutes.
"So, who the hell are you?" Damon wrapped a thick hand around her throat and dragged her forward.
Cheyenne felt dizzy, her head was throbbing, but she fearlessly looked back into his eyes…his, intense, muddy brown eyes…eyes that held centuries of pain, fear, loss, death…everything that she held too.
For what felt like hours they simply stared at each other…not speaking, completely unaware of Elena sitting on the toilet, or Stefan who had just stepped through the door way. It was like the world had shut out everything around them, like they were spinning in some kind of vortex all their own.
Until Cheyenne realized she couldn't breathe…breath was literally impossible.
"Damon…" a warning from Stefan brought Damon back. He shoved Cheyenne back and she stumbled over the lip of the tub, falling into a heap in the puddle of water.
Wordlessly, Damon swept from the room; he barely glanced at Stefan who tried to stop him, but immediately gave up.
"Are you okay?" Stefan's words were faint, Cheyenne breathed in and tried to get up, but she slipped against the puddle and fell back again.
"I've had worse…a vamp in Chicago almost drained me of all my blood. I was sick for days. This is nothing." She rubbed the back of her head gingerly.
"Don't worry, I'll stake him one day…" Stefan smiled.