Elena Gilbert was leaving a trail of muddy sludge in the hallway. She skidded on snow from her own boots, looked down, and cringed, thinking of how Sam would react when he came on duty tonight. Hopefully, the trail would end before she got to her apartment—or maybe the maintenance man would forget about the mess by the time she got back from her vacation.
And maybe pigs would learn to fly.
She'd have to grin and bear it, just like when the antique washing machine in her apartment decided that it was more efficient to drain out of the bottom than the hose leading to the wall. It took almost her entire senior year before he'd look at her without glaring. Neither mess was her fault. Well, maybe she should have taken a few extra minutes to clean off her boots, but her phone was beeping out a staccato tune as it was. She'd stopped looking at Caroline's texts ten minutes ago. Her roommate would resort to calling pretty soon.
As if on cue, an antique telephone trilled from her pocket. Elena tugged her glove off with her teeth before reaching for the doorknob. "I'm here." Not expecting the door to be unlocked, she practically fell into the arms of her roommate.
"I almost wasn't." Caroline was telling the truth. She was already in her coat and boots with her scarf obscuring all but her eyes. One hand held onto her roll-aboard and the other gripped her cell phone. "Our Lyft is already downstairs."
"Probably the red Mazda that made me walk through the snow drift instead of the shoveled walk." Elena waited for confirmation. Caroline glanced at the screen of her phone and back up at her before giving a quick nod. "Then he can wait five minutes for me change pants. I'm not riding the whole way in these wet ones."
"What if she leaves?" Caroline emphasized the gender of the driver. With one term left before receiving her master's degree in feminist studies, she never backed down from a lecture about equality.
Elena had already tugged one boot off and was working on the other while hopping down the hallway toward her bedroom. "Then go on down and tell her to wait. And while you're at it, see if you can get her to pull into the driveway. I'm not changing clothes just to get this wet again."
But she'd lost her audience at go on down. She heaved a heavy sigh. Talking to Caroline just now had been just as productive as talking to her last group of students. Why her professor wouldn't accept her request to leave her classroom after lunch today was completely inexcusable. "You have to know what it's like to teach students before a holiday break." He'd huffed while shuffling paperwork. So she'd been stuck at her school until four o'clock. And then the poorly-timed Nor'easter slowed the subway to a crawl. She'd promised Caroline that they'd be able to make the six o'clock train. Caroline was convinced they'd miss it.
Glancing at the clock on the wall made her suspect Caroline had inherited a few of their friend Bonnie's psychic powers. Elena rolled her eyes and laughed. When she, Caroline, and Bonnie had been Elena's students' age, they used to joke that Bonnie's Grams was a witch. Witchy abilities would come in handy today. Maybe Bonnie could keep the train from leaving before she and Caroline made it to the station. Once there, Elena had no doubt that Caroline would ensure they got on the train, even if she had to threaten some kind of litigation.
"We didn't think you were going to make it." Matt wrapped Caroline in a one-armed hug. A Boston terrier puppy dozed peacefully in the crook of his other arm.
"You brought Buster?" Elena stared down at the carrier sitting on the floor next to a bag stuffed with dog treats, potty training pads, and enough toys to stock an animal shelter.
"Dog sitter fell through." He turned his bright blue eyes toward Caroline. "Your mom's going to be okay with having him, right?"
"She has no choice. " Caroline traded her suitcase for the snoozing puppy who didn't wake up. "Oh, I haven't seen him in so long." She nuzzled him against her chin. "Still smells like puppy breath. Oh, that's the best smell ever."
"Unless you're smelling it at 2 a.m. when he's staring you down wanting to play ball." Matt hefted Buster's bag onto his shoulder and began walking toward the queue beginning to form at one end of the station.
Elena took pity on Matt and took Caroline's bag off his hands. After her roommate had gone three weeks without seeing her puppy, she knew nothing would drag the dog out of her arms. "How was the train in from Boston?"
"Loud." Matt laughed. "No quiet car with this one."
"Was Buster loud?" She'd never heard the dog make more than a yip or two.
"No, but the three year old twins racing down the aisle were. They kept him awake the whole trip."
"Ouch." Elena shook her head. A day spent with fourteen-year-olds hours away from Christmas break was bad enough, adding toddler tag might make her wish she'd taken the plan like Ric recommended, but a Boston terrier puppy was too fragile to fly…so here they all were. "Do you see them on this train?"
"No. They were visiting New York City for the week, so no chance of riding more with them."
"Train 718 to New Orleans, now boarding at gate 16." An announcement buzzed over the intercom.
"Yep. Called it." Caroline led the way for the trio to board amid the mass of other passengers. "Looks like a full one."
"It does." Elena looked back at the end of the line. "I wonder if there are any empty seats at all."
The conductors were hurrying the passengers aboard. Some families ducked into sleeper cars, and people still wearing business suits headed straight for the dining car. Elena was skeptical that food was high on their list of priorities.
"Do you think we'll find three seats together?" Caroline craned her neck as they stepped into business class. Each seat appeared to already be taken apart from one set of two chairs next to the window by the luggage storage area.
"Don't worry about it." Elena waved toward the exit. "I'll go into the quiet car. I'll be fine."
"But I'm the one who convinced you to come by train."
"Really, it's fine." Elena handed Caroline's bag back to Matt as the train began moving out of the station. "I have plenty of grading to do. The more work I do now, the less I have to do over the holiday."
Matt looked skeptical but nodded. "You're sure. I can go somewhere else."
"I'm fine. And you two need to do more puppy-bonding. Just someone come back to make sure I remember to get off in Mystic Falls. I don't want to fall asleep and miss my stop."
"We promise." Caroline was already moving into her seat, tucking the empty carrier under the seat beneath her. Buster had one eye cracked open, surveying the situation. He gave his mom a half-asleep lick on the chin before nodding back off.
Damon sprinted up the crowded stairs. Of course he would get the one Uber driver convinced that his way to Penn Station was better than the way the GPS was taking him. Now he had exactly ten minutes to make it through the majority of the crowded building on the Friday before Christmas.
And he was on a business trip.
Kind of a business trip.
If Stefan hadn't been so obsessed with not letting this property slip through their fingers, Damon wouldn't have come at all. Now he was probably going to miss his train. Maybe karma was working in his favor, and he'd be able to skip the trip.
Stefan couldn't say he didn't try. Damon had gotten in the Uber almost a whole hour ago, and the drive to the station never took longer than twenty minutes. But when the driver took a detour through the Bronx, it was out of his hands.
"All aboard!" A conductor gave a pointed look at Damon sprinting over a duffel bag. It couldn't have been the beads of sweat streaming down his face that let her know that he was trying to make it. It must have been the game of dodge-the-toddlers he was playing while running through the overcrowded lobby. "Last call."
"I'm here." Damon gasped, barely a step ahead of the conductor as she abled toward the last car. No one walked that slow. At least not on purpose.
"Merry Christmas." She winked at him as she paused at the door. "Ten more seconds and I couldn't have stalled any longer. I've been watching you run since you got off the stairs. You do track as a kid?"
"Nope." Damon huffed and set his bag on the floor, all he could see was a sea of heads and hats and scarves over the seat-backs in front of him. "Just desperate to make the train."
"You're not going to be able to stay in this car. We're fully sold, but you should have a seat somewhere. Try moving a few forward."
"I'll do that, thanks." Damon grabbed his bag and tried to weave through the narrow aisle. By the time he made it to the only car with an empty seat, the older woman in the seat next to him was deep into her knitting. He didn't mind. All he wanted to do was listen to a podcast while staring at the back of his eyelids. He took a seat, careful to toe the woman's knitting bag out of his way. He put his earbuds in and closed his eyes.
"Excuse me." The woman wasn't sitting in her seat anymore. She was standing next to him wearing gloves, and her hat was tied on with the scarf she'd been knitting earlier. "This is my stop." She motioned to the window.
When he'd boarded, the sky was still a faint navy blue. Now all he could see was velvety blackness out in the distance. He stood to let the woman pass, and his stomach grumbled.
What time was it? Had he missed his stop? He scanned the train car—still mostly full. Not enough people had gotten off for them to be anywhere close to Mystic Falls. He hated taking the train that went all the way to New Orleans, but since the regional airline stopped flying to Mystic Falls, his choice was train or drive…and no one in their right mind wanted to drive through Manhattan on a Friday night, especially not on the Friday before Christmas.
Damon checked his bag. All the presents were still there. That was a relief. He might be the delinquent uncle, but at least he was the cool one who always brought the best presents.
A man stumbled into an empty seat a few rows ahead of Damon. A brunette head popped up for just a second. Based on the noise, not all of the man's drink was still in his glass. "And what do you want for Christmas this year?"
A soft voice mumbled something in reply.
"Maybe Santa needs to bring you a boyfriend." The man's speech was slurred. The woman next to him didn't seem to reply. She only pointed to the sign above her head, indicating that it was the quiet car.
No wonder Damon had been able to sleep. He had stumbled into the no-kids zone. No one around him was talking either. No one except the drunk dude a few cars ahead of him.
The car settled into stillness again. Damon stared out the window as nothingness whooshed past. From time to time, the train would pass through a town, and he'd see scattered Christmas lights or maybe a town's illuminated cross on the church.
Damon glanced at the time as he put his ear buds in and settled back to relax. Three more hours. Still plenty of time to relax. Once he was at Stefan's house, he wasn't sure of how well he'd be sleeping. He probably should take another nap.
"Keep it down."
"Honey, make your boyfriend be quiet."
"Shhh."
The commotion in the car roused Damon from his sleep. The drunk man from earlier was standing up, leaning down at the woman on his row. "You sure I can't get you anything?"
"No." The brunette hair rustled against the seatback. "Take your time."
Damon could almost hear an annoyed sigh at the end of the phrase. He'd thought it seemed like the woman didn't know her seat-mate. Now he was sure of it. He'd never met a damsel-in-distress he didn't like. He quickly grabbed his jacket and his bag. Before the man could understand what was happening, Damon slid into the newly vacant seat.
"You can thank me later." He turned, intending to give her his patented smile, but he froze.
He was staring into the astonished eyes of Elena Gilbert.