Stefan Salvatore was rarely caught off guard if he could help it. Becoming a vampire and remembering all of the tricks that Katherine had played on his mind made him careful, and he often tried to predict the actions of those around him.
But he could not call a single thought to mind in the moments after the short, dark-haired girl had pressed him against the wall and then subsequently fled.
Damon, predictably, was the one to break the silence with a large dose of sarcasm.
"Anyone want to explain what the hell that was?"
Rebekah was the only one to reply, rolling her eyes and sounding pissed off as she said, "That was my older sister. Who we've lost again. Unless Kol wants to translate whatever she said in your idiotic twin language?"
The youngest Original brother shrugged and had an exaggeratedly innocent smile on his face when he replied, "Haven't the faintest idea what you mean, Bekah."
Immediately after he responded to his sister, Elijah interrupted the scene and looked back to Stefan and Damon before saying, "You're free to go. This is family business."
Not needing any more prodding than that, the brothers ran into the woods outside of the house, heading in the direction of the Lockwood cellar. After a few minutes they deemed it safe to slow their pace to a relaxed walk.
Stefan glanced at his older brother and cleared his throat before grudgingly saying, "You were right about Elijah. Undaggering him was a smart move."
Damon let out a snort and Stefan could hear the underlying tension in his tone when he responded, "Wow, actual acknowledgement of a job well done. You're going soft, Stefan."
After a moment Stefan looked back to Damon meeting his eyes and asking, "How worried should we be about the other Original sister? They said they'd lost her as if she wasn't with them very often. And she definitely seemed a little…"
"Uh, crazy? The last thing we needed was another insane indestructible bitch. But she was completely nuts; after she was undaggered she and mini Elijah were gleefully discussing what method of torture was their favorite. And did you see what she was wearing? A Nirvana t-shirt and flannel. If her taste in fashion is anything to go on, yes, we should be worried."
"Damon, I'm being serious. We don't know anything about what she's planning on doing, especially now that she's taken off."
"Well there's nothing we can do now. Let's just wait and then ask either Elijah or Barbie Klaus for the low down on her after they've all cooled off."
They agreed that there was nothing to do but wait to investigate the girl. After that their conversation quickly veered away from the Originals and onto a certain doppelganger, putting her aside and far out of their minds.
Dagmar didn't stop running for hours, didn't stop until she began to grow tired. As an Original vampire, that meant that she had covered an incredible distance. She slowed her pace when she left the woods, walking leisurely through the town she had reached. As far as she could tell it was the fall, perhaps even the early winter, and the temperature wasn't too cold yet. In her jeans, t shirt and long sleeve flannel her attire didn't stand out too much from the humans she observed walking around. With all the running she'd been doing, it was definitely useful that her combat boots had been fairly new when she wore them the day she was daggered.
The world didn't seem drastically different than it had appeared in 1996, when Niklaus had caught up to her again and daggered her – for the fifth motherfucking time.
It didn't matter that all of them were now awake, for what she assumed to be the first time since Finn was daggered. Her brother didn't trust anyone, but in reality Klaus himself was the one who could not be trusted.
The town she was in seemed small, and when she entered the convenience store it appeared to be a family run establishment. The man behind the counter looked bored as he flipped through his newspaper, and she was sure to plaster on an enormous smile, though she knew from what she'd seen reflected in the store window that she looked like shit at the moment. Dagmar had tried combing her fingers through her wind-tangled hair and wiping at the eyeliner smudged below her eyes, but only so much could be done.
"Hello, could you please tell me the date?"
Without looking up the man gestured to the wall behind him where a calendar was hung. Having been worried that he would need further prodding in order to reveal the year, and perhaps forcing her to compel him, she looked to the laminated print in relief.
Her breath froze in her throat.
Could it really be – she'd hoped, yes but – less than twenty years? The shortest period of time that she had ever been confined to the hell of her coffin was just a few months shy of seventy five years. Had she been the emotional sort tears would be rushing to her eyes. On the first occasion when she had been woken from stasis she had been forced to learn English - an entirely new language to her that she had struggled immensely with - after finding out her native tongue had died off centuries before, and each subsequent awakening had to acclimate to wildly different cultures and vastly new technologies. Her question about Morrissey to the flighty baby vampire hadn't truly been about her favorite singer, though she adored him – it had been a way for her to try to anchor herself to whatever time she had looked forward to finding herself in.
When she finally turned back to the man behind the counter she saw him staring at her in frank confusion and a little bit of amusement.
"Something special about today, little lady?"
A small smile spread on her face as she answered back softly, "Not quite, but something along those lines."
"Alright then, can I get you anything else?"
"If it isn't too much trouble could I get a brief glance at the local newspaper?"
He immediately turned the paper he had been reading towards her, allowing her to flip back to its front in order to ascertain what town, and better yet what state if she was indeed still in North America as she had assumed, she was currently in.
This was what she loved about humans. Ask politely, smile, and her young and harmless appearance would grant her many things. Though compulsion was an incredibly useful tool, Dagmar had always found it to be a bit like cheating at a game. She preferred to succeed at whatever game she played in her life without unfair aid. Though of course when strictly necessary she was more than able to turn a mind into mush without so much as a second thought.
According to the paper before her she was in Springfield, Kentucky. Well then. That had certainly made her life much easier than she had anticipated. She had taken a guess when she had let Kol know which safe house she was retreating to. Denver, Colorado was in the center of the country, and without knowing where it was she was released from her prison, it was her go-to. Dagmar and her twin had dozens of cities throughout multiple countries that they had assigned code names to. These cities were what they jokingly called their secret bases. In reality, they were places that they had homes in and that they felt they could successfully evade Klaus.
Kentucky was only three states over from Colorado, so the journey would not be a prolonged one. In addition, "Valstrop" – her home in Denver – was one of her favorite properties and had been to her sadness incredibly underused thus far. With a quick nod she returned the paper and left the store, walking back to the road she had entered the town from.
When she reached the curb she walked a few more miles, enough that she was on what she would classify as the very outskirts of the city. Deeming the location appropriate for her task, she held out her arm, thumb sticking out of her clenched fist.
After two dozen or so cars drove by without stopping – which was understandable, and unknowingly wise of them what with her being a vampire – an extended cab pick up truck pulled over. Two women, looking to be in their mid twenties, sat in the front seat while the back row looked to be vacant.
The driver grinned, looking amused, and leaned over her passenger to ask her, "Hey, are you looking for a ride?"
Dagmar nodded and hopefully questioned, "Yeah, are you by any chance heading anywhere near Denver, Colorado?"
The woman in the passenger seat nodded and said, "We are going west, but we wouldn't be able to get you all the way there. Is that alright with you?"
Nodding once again, she beamed when the driver motioned for her to climb in the back. After shuffling in and getting comfortable, they began to head down the road. The woman in the passenger seat turned around to meet her eyes before nodding to the woman beside her.
"That's Jessica, I'm Beth. Before we get too far – how old are you? Are we kidnapping an angsty teenager away from her parents after a fight?"
Dagmar laughed lightly and smirked before answering as close to the truth as she could, "Despite my appearance, I'm actually nineteen" – physically, anyway – "and I'm not running from my parents. I was staying with my brother, but we're parting on very bad terms. Denver is actually where my home is, but I didn't have any method of transportation to get back after leaving unexpectedly and I'm low on cash."
Beth whistled lowly and laughed before answering back, "I'm right there with you when it comes to sibling troubles. Just wanted to make sure we weren't about to become felons for bringing a minor over state lines."
Jessica joined in the conversation then by saying, "Hitchhiking isn't exactly as safe as it used to be. What if some psycho murderer had picked you up?"
The irony of the statement wasn't lost on Dagmar. They were the ones who had just picked up an arguably "psycho murderer". However luck was on their side today seeing as she wasn't on one of her blind binges nor was she particularly hungry or emotional.
"I have been taking care of myself for a while, and I've gotten used to getting out of bad situations."
"Still. After we drop you off I'd feel better knowing you're alright. I'll give you my cell, you should call me when you get home so I don't go to bed for the rest of my life thinking I've delivered your ass to a serial killer."
"Sounds good. Thanks again for the lift. And sorry, I completely forgot to introduce myself properly. I'm Dag Northman."