Disclaimer-I do not own the Vampire Diaries. Only the people and stuff you don't recognize.
Chapter Two-July
Audrey's P.O.V
"You don't have to go with me, you know." I said to Damon, sitting on the edge of the bed next to Damon's opened suitcase, "Just because I agreed to go with Aurora and Jace doesn't mean that you have to suffer by coming with me."
"What, and stay here with Elena and Jeremy?" Damon questioned, throwing another pair of black jeans into his suitcase, "Not sure if you've noticed but your cousins don't like me and I can only handle so much glaring and awkward silence."
"Okay, so new plan." I started as Damon zipped up his suitcase and set it next to mine by the door, "You come with me but instead of going to Minnesota we go to Europe. I've never been to Italy, we could go there."
"As much as I would love to go to Italy with you, that's not gonna happen today." Damon said and I groaned as he made his way back over to where I was sitting. "And I know what you're trying to do but it's not gonna work, we're going to Minnesota." Damon grabbed a hold of my hand and pulled me to my feet. "It'll be good for you, Audrey. You know, closer and all."
"You and Aurora keep saying that but I'm not buying it." I told him with a scowl before sighing in defeat. "Well, come on, we have a plane to catch." I added, walking around Damon, grabbing my suitcase and heading out of the room.
I stood by myself outside of the air port, watching as car after car passed to pick up loved ones that were either returning home or visiting. I crossed my arms across my chest, looking down at all the luggage that was surrounding me to make sure that everything was still there. Jace, Aurora, Damon, and I had made it into Minnesota after an extremely boring and uneventful plane ride and a quick trip through customs, thank you compulsion. Shortly after we had touched down, Damon and Jace had gone off to get our rental cars and Aurora had headed back inside the airport without a word, leaving me stuck with all the luggage.
"Audrey!" I heard Aurora call out excitedly just as I was about to call her to find out where she had gone. I turned around and smiled at her when I saw what it was she was carrying that had her so excited.
"Wow." I replied as she stopped next to me, "It's been what, twenty minutes and you've already found a Caribou? That has to be a new record."
"Don't judge me, I haven't had one of their Chai lattes since we left." She said, smiling down at the two travel mugs in her hand before handing one to me, "Just be happy that I got you one too, because I was very close to just claiming this one as my own as well."
"Honestly, only you would order a hot drink when it's like ninety five degrees." I smirked as she started sipping on her drink
"There is never not a time to have a Chai latte." Aurora retorted, taking another sip before adding, "What happened to the guys? I mean, how long does it take to get a rental car?"
Just as I was about to open my mouth I spotted a cherry red Chevy Camaro convertible headed our way followed by a noticeable less conspicuous silver Prius. I peered over my sunglasses as the two cars pulled up next to us and rolled my eyes when I saw Damon step out of the Camaro with a huge smirk plastered on his face.
"Your chariot m'lady." Damon said as he walked up to me, giving me a quick kiss before grabbing our luggage and heading back towards the car.
"Nice. You sure you couldn't have gotten a more conspicuous car?" I questioned him with a smirk of my own, hearing Aurora laugh in response as she started helping Jace move their stuff into the Prius, "I'm not sure this is flashy enough."
"Says the girl that not only has a Camaro just like this at home, but also a 1967 Impala." Damon retorted, grabbing the last of our luggage and putting it in the trunk, "You know you love it."
"Well, you've got me there." I said before taking a sip of the Chai Latte Aurora had given me. I set my drink in one of the cup holders in the Camaro and made my way over to the Prius to help Aurora and Jace stuff what every they had brought into the small car. Luckily they were having most of their things shipped over so it didn't take too long. As Jace threw the last bag in the backseat I headed over to Damon and held out my hand, only to get a look of confusion in return. "Sorry gorgeous, I'm gonna need the keys seeing as you don't know your way around town."
"Fine." Damon sighed, handing over the keys, "I'm more of a fan of the classics anyway."
"So where are we headed?" I questioned Aurora as I made my way to the drivers side door, "Dinkytown?"
"Yep. The lofts." Aurora replied, smiling when she saw the identical looks of confusion on both Jace and Damon's faces
"Perfect, see you there." I told her as Damon and I got in the car, smirking as I put the car into drive and sped off down the road and right into the heart of the city
It didn't take much time to make our way to the lofts and it took even less time to get all of Aurora and Jace's luggage stored away into their loft. I set the bag I had been carrying down in the living room before looking around at my friends new digs.
"Compared to a lot of other city apartments, I think you're doing pretty good here." I told Aurora as she walked over to me
"Yeah, well, I sorta compelled the landlord to give us the nicest one." She said sheepishly and I couldn't help but laugh at that
"I'm gonna miss you, Aurora." I smiled, pulling her into a hug after my laughter had died down, "It will not be the same without you."
"I'll miss you too." Aurora replied as we pulled apart, "Try not to get into too much trouble without me."
"I make no promises, I'll be in Mystic Falls and that place is a trouble magnet." I told her before turning to Jace who had just come out of the bedroom, "Mr. Somerhalder, I am afraid it is time for me and Mr. Salvatore to bid you adieu."
"Ah, Miss Darke, our time together was to short but your company will be missed." Jace replied with a small smile before giving me a short hug, "In all seriousness though, we're gonna miss you."
"Ditto, Jace." I said before walking past them and toward where Damon was leaning against the door frame, watching the scene unfold.
"Blondie. Lost Boy." Damon said with a nod to the two, his own goodbye, earning a small wave from Jace and a smile from Aurora in return.
I smiled once more at both of my friends before saying goodbye once more, grabbing Damon's hand in my own as I turned and headed out of their loft, trying my best to hold back tears as I left my best friend behind.
I was surrounded by darkness. Not just middle of the night darkness where you have the moon and stars lighting the way for you. No, it was pitch black, the kind of darkness where I couldn't even see my hands when they were right in front of my face. I tried to remember how exactly I had ended up here but I only came up blank. The last thing I could recall was that I had been with Damon in our hotel room, after that there was nothing, which actually worried me more than my current situation.
I attempted to walk forward out of the darkness but found that my legs wouldn't move, as if they were numb from all the time that I had spent in... wherever the hell I was. I was suddenly overcome with panic when I felt my air supply cut off, as if the darkness was wrapping around my throat and suffocating me. I began clawing at my throat in an attempt to get rid of whatever was making it impossible to breathe but only succeeded in causing more pain instead of the relief I was hoping for. I heard a familiar voice call my name as I began to get light headed but, due to the crushing weight on my throat, couldn't muster a reply.
"Audrey!" Someone shouted and my eyes snapped open as the pressure was removed from my throat. I was suddenly aware that someone was straddling my hips as they held my hands over my head and I immediately sent them flying off of me, across the room into the nearest wall.
When I came to my senses I turned on the bedside table without so much of glance in its direction and saw that it had been Damon who I had thrown across the room. He stared at me, worry filling his eyes.
"Oh my God, Damon, I'm so sorry." I apologized as I stepped out of bed and looked toward him, "Are you okay?"
"What did you see?" Damon countered, getting to his feet and moving to stand in front of me in an instant. I just stared back at him unsure of what I should tell him that would make up for sending him flying out of bed. Before I could come up with a good enough lie Damon grabbed me by the shoulders and added, "Your vision, Audrey, what did you see?"
"Nothing Damon." I said as I shook my head back and forth, avoiding his eyes
"Don't you dare lie to me right now, Audrey." Damon snapped, causing me to flinch slightly before focusing back on him. He moved his hands from my shoulders to my wrists, forcing me to look down at my hands as see that they were covered in blood. "Especially since I woke up to find you trying to tear out your own throat. So tell me what you saw."
"I'm telling you the truth Damon. I didn't, couldn't, see anything." I told him as I continued to look down at my bloody hands, "It's what I felt what freaked me out. It was the same thing that happened last month. It felt like I was suffocating." I moved out of Damon's hold and ran into the bathroom to wash the blood off of my hands and neck. When I had gotten rid of all the blood, I threw the towel I had been using on the counter and looked up at myself in the mirror, not bothering to look toward the door where Damon was standing as I continued. "I just don't understand why this is happening. It doesn't make any sense. I'm a psychic, I'm supposed to see things but whenever this happens it's physical, It feels like it's happening to me. At the very least I should see something, someone that this is happening to but there's nothing to connect it to."
"Hey." Damon said gently, walking up to me and turning me around to face him before bringing his hand up to cup my cheek, "We'll figure this out just like everything else we've dealt with in the past, okay. You'll be fine."
"Optimism does not suit you, Damon." I frowned as I looked up into his icy blues, sighing before adding, " Just please don't tell Elena or Jeremy about this please. They already have enough to worry about."
"I wouldn't dream of it." Damon replied with a small smile, "Now, how about I order a very early breakfast from room service and we can restart the beginning of our day."
I looked past Damon to see what time it was and saw that it was only six thirty but nodded anyway. There was no way I was going to be able to fall back asleep anyway.
"Sure. I'm just gonna grab a quick shower first." I said with a smile that I was sure didn't reach my eyes before slightly pushing Damon out of the bathroom and shutting the door.
A few hours after our breakfast and fresh start to the day found Damon and I driving out of the city down familiar suburban streets to a place that made me wanna go through the delightful suffocation I felt ten times in a row rather than be there. I pulled up to the house I hadn't seen in nearly three years, my fingers drumming against the steering wheel as I stared at the empty building.
"You don't have to do this you know." Damon said from his spot, "I think what happened this morning is reason enough to avoid this and just rest up."
"I can't." I sighed as I cut the engine and opened the car door, "We did the whole fresh start thing this morning which means that I have to go about my day like I was going to, no matter how much I would rather not." I stepped out of the car and slammed the door before exchanging the rental car keys to my house keys as Damon got of the car and joined me by the drivers side door.
I took a deep breath as I looked back up at the house and started walking toward the house. I unlocked the door without any problems but hesitated at the threshold for a moment before walking in. I looked around the house warily, noticing that nothing had been moved in the slightest since I had last seen it, which wasn't all that surprising since it had been empty for two of the three years I had been gone. The only noticeable difference was the fine layer of dust the covered almost every surface. I had almost forgotten that Damon was still around until I made my way over to the stairs that led upstairs.
"Do you mind giving me a minute?" I question without turning to face him, instead keeping my eyes focused on the top of the stairs
"Of course. I'll just wait by the car." Damon replied and I waited until I was sure he was gone before heading up the stairs and toward my old room.
I opened the door and slowly walked in, greeted by the sight of my nearly empty room since I had taken most of my stuff with me. There were a few things left around the room but I focused my attention mainly on the pictures that were taped to the mirror that hung over my dresser. I looked over the pictures I had of me and Aurora as well as couple of Jeremy, Elena, and I from the few times they had come up to visit. A small frown made it's way onto my lips when I realized that this was all that I had from my old life, back when ninety nine percent of my family wasn't dead, just a few pictures none of which had my parents in them. I sighed as I carefully took them off of the mirror and held the ten or so pictures in my hands before giving my room a once over and leaving without so much as shutting my door.
I walked the short distance across the hall to where my parents room was and stood there for a minute trying to decide if it was worth it to go in or not. I wrapped my hand around the doorknob when I built up enough courage and pushed the door open. I walked in and was surprised to see a shoe box perched on top of my parents bed. I cautiously walked over to it and saw an envelope with my name written on it in my mother's handwriting. I picked it up, blowing off some dust, before opening up the envelope and reading the letter than had been inside.
Dear Audrey,
If you're reading this then it's safe to assume that I never made it back from Mystic Falls. Given what John has told me about what has been going on between you, Elena, and the sun and moon curse then I wouldn't be too surprised. I just want to tell you how sorry I am for doing this to you. Leaving you so soon after your father died, it's not right. But I'm doing what I have to do to keep you safe, even if that means dying to do it. I know how hard it must be to hear this honey but I would rather leave you with this letter than nothing at all. I just want to remind you that you are a strong and beautiful young woman that I am proud to call my daughter.
Love, Mom
I wiped away the few stray tears that had fallen as I set my mom's letter beside the shoe box with the pictures I had taken from my room. I gingerly removed the lid of the box, staring down at its contents in awe. It was filled to the brim of old photos that had been taken, ranging from the few days after I had been born to the days right before I had left for Mystic Falls. I guess my mom had wanted to make sure that I never forgot the happier moments in my life and for that I was extremely grateful. For the first time since I had arrived in Minnesota I felt a genuine smile make its way onto my lips as I looked down at the almost forgotten memories that my parents had been able to catch on camera. After a few minutes I set the letter and extra pictures in the small box, picking it up before I headed out of the room, making sure to shut the door behind me this time. I carefully balanced the box on one hand as I headed down the stairs and to the front door, grabbing the house keys out of my pocket. I closed and locked the door before turning around and sending a smile toward Damon as I walked up to where he was leaning against the passenger side door of the Camaro.
"So?" Damon question me, taking in the box in my hands and the smile on my lips
"So, maybe closure wasn't as bad of a thing as I have been making it out to be." I replied with a shrug as I set my stuff in the back seat, "I guess it is what normal people do after they lose someone close to them."
"Yeah, but when have you ever been normal?" Damon asked with a smirk as I walked over to the driver's side door
"I like to think I have my moments." I smiled back as I opened up the door, "Now come on, let's get the hell back to Mystic Falls because I am in desperate need to get back home." Damon nodded before we both got into the car and drove back toward the city, going as fast as possible so I could get back to my family where I belonged.
Author's Note
I am so sorry for the long wait between chapters guys. I promise that there won't be nearly as much time in between this and the next chapter. I would also like to apologize for how short the chapter is but I promise that they will get longer. Okay, now that all the apologies are out of the way, leave me a review and tell me what you think. The last summer chapter is up next then we get back into the swing of all the Mystic Falls craziness. I can't wait. Until next time...
Audrey;D
