Chapter 12: I'm Always In This Twilight
in the shadow of your heart

Blair never thought she'd set foot in Mystic Falls. For one, the town was called Mystic Falls. And two, she's already painted a picture of it in her head when Damon described it to her once. And the fact that its too close to anything related to Damon scared her. In the recess of her mind she could hear his voice way back from 1863 telling her about his home.

"Tell me about Mystic Falls," she said as they strolled down the path that led from the town square back to her townhouse. Her gloved fingers were entangled in his as they walked closely together. Damon had just fetched Blair from her last day of school for her Christmas Holiday. Both of them were quite excited. Especially her.

"Why should I? I am sure you have seen better. There's nothing spectacular about it." He brought her hand up and placed a light kiss on her knuckles.

"But it's your home. It's where you came from. I want to know about it." Damon stared at the distance, recalling the best memories he had of Mystic Falls. It took him a few moments to finally start describing it.

"There are more trees there, definitely. Anyone could get lost in the thick, lush wood. Our estate is seated somewhere in the middle of it actually. It makes visitors excited when they do drop by to see my father." He paused. "I am not good at describing how truly wonderful it is because the things that make it wonderful are usually connected to an occasion or an emotion. I hope to bring you there one day."

Blair smiled up at him. "Maybe we should visit for Christmas."

"Oh no," he chuckled. "You would not want to spend Christmas at the Salvatore household. No. First of all my father doesn't even know I quit the service. And second, it would be boring there."

"We could make it less boring by locking ourselves in your quarters." She smirked. He stopped dead in his tracks, as if he was stuck on the ground he had stepped on, and he pulled her closer to him. His arms wrapped around her waist and placed a soft kiss on her cold lips, giving it warmth.

Involuntarily, she reached her hand up to her lips as she remembered the feeling of being kissed by him and how different his kisses were from Niklaus. She took a deep breath and shook her head. She could not believe that she was comparing them. She shouldn't. She didn't have to. She also didn't have a choice. She was never going to have those kisses again.

She had Rebekah's ring on for the time being. She needed her own and Nik said there was only one witch in town who can help. She was dropped off in front of a grill with only a description of the witch given to her. Surely she wasn't going to be that hard to find. Usually she could sense witches. It was an uncanny ability.

As soon as she stepped into the bar, everyone's heads turned to her. She hated small towns. Here everyone knew everyone and it added suspicion, like all the weight was on her shoulders and she needed to explain where she came from. Always. She loved New York and cities like it—big, anonymous, full of chains of blurs and blackouts. The perfect setting for a five hundred year old vampire.

It didn't take her more than a minute to spot Bonnie. She was by the pool table with a boy and she seemed to be the only one oblivious of her presence. They seemed to be enjoying themselves and she didn't want to interrupt them but she had to. If she took too long Klaus would blow the cover she was going to pull so she marched up to the pair, a smile on her face.

"Hi, you must be Bonnie Bennett." Blair chirped, leaning against the pool table.

"That's me," she said, questioning. The tall boy by her side stood in a protective stance. So he was her boyfriend then. A boyfriend who knew something, it seemed.

"My name is Blair Waldorf," she offered a handshake, knowing it would trigger some kind of jolt to the witch. Bonnie accepted the handshake and paused for a moment to stare at her.

"What do you need from me?" She asked sternly.

"I'm a friend of Damon's. They've got Stefan back, you know." She smiled, mostly to herself for the fact that Stefan was free.

"I know." Bonnie said, "They're on their way home."

"Probably be here tomorrow or tonight or something." The boy beside Bonnie said. "I'm Jeremy Gilbert."

Blair narrowed her eyes at the boy. Gilbert. It made her cringe on the inside just because he was somehow related to Elena. Elena who Damon loved. She closed her eyes momentarily and then batted her eyelashes at the couple.

"You're Elena's brother?" She was curious now, of these people, of this town. She's never been to a place where the supernatural dominate the population. Well, the important population, that is.

"Yeah. You know Elena?"

She was about to tell him how she met Elena when Bonnie interrupted her. "What do you need from me?"

She sighed. "I need a ring. Would you make one for me? I'm out of witches and I was wondering if you'd help me."

"What's wrong with the ring you have now?" The witch retorted. Why were they always like this? Stubborn and judgmental, especially when it came to her, she felt.

"It's a friend's. I only borrowed it for the time being—"

"Which friend?" She interrupted. If there was something Blair hated more than lying it was interrupting her when she talked.

"You'll meet her soon enough. I'm staying at the Salvatores. If you're up for it then I'd be forever indebted to you."

"Do you promise that?" Bonnie asked.

"You have my word." Blair smiled. "I'll meet you after lunch then?"

Bonnie just nodded; her lips still formed a straight line on her face. Blair took it. Witches were just like that. When she stepped out into the sun, her eyes squinted. There were no tall buildings here to hide her in their shadows. It was all open. With trees everywhere and short buildings that looked old and decayed. It was totally different from New York, but nonetheless it was charming.

She had no idea where Niklaus was but she had a feeling he wouldn't be too far away. She had no idea where the Salvatores lived. When she saw a woman in uniform she took her chance to ask where the Salvatores' house was. It was a small town. Chances were she knew where everyone lived.

"Hello, ma'am," she said as she approached the short blonde. "I'm visiting friends but silly me got lost and the directions they gave were horrible. I was wonder if you'd help me."

"Oh that's alright, dear. I know where everyone lives around Mystic Falls." Blair smiled at herself. "I'm Sherriff Forbes. Who are your friends?"

Forbes. Caroline's aunt maybe? Or mother? Either way she was stunned by her. She was so different from her daughter.

"The Salvatores. Damon and Stefan." She smiled. The woman's expression turned serious at their mention of the brothers. She knew something.

"Maybe I should drive you. It's hard to get there on foot. It's near Wickery Bridge."

"Oh that's alright."

"No, I insist. Damon's a friend of mine."

"Oh he is? I'm sure he's not giving you a lot of trouble."

"Not at all. He's helped this town more than you could ever know."

Blair mused at this fact. Damon had friends. Damon helped this town. Damon's house was somewhere in the woods. Just as he described it to be. She nodded at Sherriff Forbes and decided that she was going to be helpful in case she got into any trouble in town, which she doubted. She sat in the front seat silently as she watched the trees go by. Each leaf was a different color. It was beautiful.

They pulled up in front of a large house that was anything but what Damon had described it to be. This must be some kind of joke. For one, Damon described it to have white exteriors. This had wooden finishes, which despite the classic, rugged, country elegance it had, was still far from the description she had in her head.

"This is it. The Salvatore Boarding House." Sherriff said. Blair got out of her patrol car and smiled at the woman.

"Thank you so much, Sherriff Forbes."

Liz rolled up her window and grabbed her phone right away after she was far enough from the vampire's hearing. She dialed Damon's number furiously and it rang one time before he answered it.

"Caroline's alive, Liz. She'll be home tonight. I promise. With all of her limbs and golden strands intact—" he started explaining but Liz had something else in mind.

"You have a friend here at your house. If she does anything to hurt anyone in this town, Damon, I'll have to bring her down."

"She's there?" Damon's easy going tone suddenly changed into something Liz has never heard before.

"Yes, whoever she is. What should I do?"

"Her name is Blair. Don't touch her. She won't do you harm."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Liz. I'm sure. If she does something stupid then I give you permission to vervain her. But for now… let her be. We'll be home by tonight. The latest would be tomorrow morning."

"Alright. But I'm keeping an eye on her 'til you get here."

"I'd appreciate it, Liz. Thanks."

Damon waited for Liz to hang up first. It gave him time to breathe. Blair was in Mystic Falls, in his house. She was alright. And she was… without Klaus? Where was he? And where was Dan? He closed his eyes for a brief moment before turning back to the crowd in the center of the room.

Lilian Rhodes-Humphrey was not the easiest witch to sway. Which witch was, really? They were all stubborn and judgey. And Lily, in addition to her being a witch, was also a mother to her daughter Serena. And as a mother, of course it was hard for her when her child got into trouble. It was also hard for her when her daughter proposed that she'd live in a small humid town called Mystic Falls for the semester just to save her friends. Yes. It took the whole team's joint effort to sway Lily to let Serena go.

She was to stay with Elena. If anyone bothered to ask where she was from they would say she was Ric's niece from New York. If anyone bothered to ask why Ric never mentioned any family they would just have Caroline compel them to go away and mind their own mundane business. She had a deadline though. By the end of the semester is to return home, even if she was still Dan or Blair-less. It was the only way Lily could let her go. Education was important.

Of course.

"That was Liz," Damon said, "Blair's in Mystic Falls. My guess is Dan's there too—" he was interrupted by his phone ringing again. This time it was Bonnie.

"Hello, witchy." He greeted. Lily's eyes then narrowed down on him and he dodged her judgment with a smile. Witches.

"Damon, there's a girl here who says she's your friend. Her name's Blair. She wants me to make her a ring. She's at your house."

"Slow down, Bonnie. Breathe." He said, amused by the fact that Blair was telling people they were friends. He wanted to huff.

"What am I going to do?" The witch on the other side of the line said, panicked.

"Make her the ring."

"What?" she said in disbelief, "Damon. I don't trust her. Just you being friends with her irks me."

"Everything irks you. Make her the ring. It's my fault she doesn't have hers."

"I should have known this would all be spiraling down on you," she paused. "Wait. She said the ring she had on her now was her friend's. Who's the friend, Damon?"

"I'll tell you when we get there."

"Who is it?" Bonnie demanded.

"Bye bye now," he smirked. So Klaus was there. Of course. But if Bonnie didn't sense Klaus from her then that might be a good sign, right? Unless Blair had the ability to trick witches into sensing different things from her.

x x x

She opened the unlocked front door and cautiously stepped inside the spacious house. Sherriff Forbes called it a boarding house. She'd call it a creepy old house—with armory hung on walls and beautiful Persian carpets. She dragged her fingers on the surface of the hardwood furnishings. Everything was dusty and old. The fire place was glorious and, on impulse, she lit it. The house seemed too chilly.

After a few minutes of lounging in the library, she went up the stairs, into the chambers. A few of the ones she entered seemed like they haven't been slept in for ages. They probably haven't too. She found a room filled with books, slightly used sheets, untouched clothes. She guessed it to be Stefan's. On a table lied a photograph of Katherine from 1864. She was beautiful, but then she remembered she was the one who took Damon's safety away from him and immediately felt angered.

She was starting to get bored at looking into empty rooms when she found one with a flat screen television mounted across a bed fit for a king. It was full of candles, the room. The bed was neatly made, in a way that she felt was familiar to her. It was Damon's room. The thought of it excited her to the point where she was caught off guard with her own reflection smiling back at her from the mirror.

She sat on the edge of the bed, in the middle-bottom corner where she always sat on beds. It was only then that she realized she was tired, physically. She hasn't had a good meal in a week. Everything was either laced with vervain or monitored.

A knock on the door sent her running down the stairs. When she opened it, Bonnie stood before her, a grimoire clutched against her arms. She wore a look that witches wore so well. It was obvious she was somehow pushed to do this. She had no choice. A promise from a vampire was something precious to witches.

"I thought you'd never come," Blair smiled at her, opening the door wider for her to get in. "I really appreciate this Bonnie."

"Don't thank me yet," the witch marched into the library where Blair had already set up a fire. Bonnie sat on the couch and set the grimoire by her side. She had the lapis lazuli ring placed on the coffee table. Blair watched as Bonnie whispered many Latin words that barely made sense to her to the ring. After a few moments, she opened her eyes and handed Blair the ring.

"Try it."

Blair went to the darkest corner of the room, away from the sunlight, and removed Rebekah's ring slowly. And then, like an excited little girl, she slipped on the newly forged ring in her ring finger. She walked slowly to the window, feeling for the burn of the sun, but as usual, she felt nothing but warmth. It worked. She smiled at Bonnie.

"Thank you. I owe you. Anything. Just say it."

Bonnie just stared at her and started for the door. Once she was gone, Blair studied the rock embedded in the silver band in her new ring. She remembered hers. It was the exact replica of what her real mother had given her that her aunt stole from her, except the rock was blue instead of the fiery ruby red.

"Oh my sweet Blair, you still haven't changed." An eerily familiar voice said behind her. It made her jump. She turned around slowly, part scared, part ready to charge if ever needed. Her defensive stance faltered when she saw who stood in front of her and her smile was back on her face.

"Still invested in your jewelry, I see." He said again, smiling. His hands were deep into his suit's pockets. The way he just stood there was so surreal, but once it sunk into her mind that she wasn't inside a dream, she skipped over him and wrapped her arms around his torso, and instinctively, he put his arms around her too.

"I've missed you, Elijah."

N/A: Let us all take a moment to acknowledge the presence of our Elijah. I missed him in the series, didn't you? AND LETS TALK ABOUT KLAROLINE HAPPENING FINALLY! :D Okay. Moment over. This is another one of my filler chapters, I'm afraid. I just wanted to put the things out there already so that we're ready for the next chapter. I'm actually excited for this part of the story and the more moments to come. And I hope you get excited too. XOXO.