1982
Rachel and I walked into the store after a night out. I had to say that I really liked about being a vampire was never having to deal with hangovers. This shop was in Brooklyn. I was still into punk even though most people said it was dying or already dead. I wore a leather jacket with a black and white striped crop top with a tartan miniskirt, one black and one white fingerless gloves and black and red heels.
"So do we have any new arrivals coming in today?" I asked.
"There's a box in the back." She answered.
"I'll get it." I declared as I went to the back room and opened the box. I immediately felt my hand burning and screamed.
"Brandy! Brandy!" Rachel screamed.
Present
"Brandy…Brandy." Rachel cried. I had her locked into the family crypt. We thought it would be a good idea to separate her and Stefan.
"Rachel, you're hallucinating. I'm okay." I told her. "I'm okay. I just need you to talk to me."
She still hadn't talked to me about what happened and she also hadn't had any of the blood that I had given her. It was getting late. I needed to get home. I wondered if Elena and Damon were having any more luck with Stefan.
I went home and found that Elena seemed to be getting ready for bed.
"Nothing happened?" I asked.
"I don't know how I'm supposed to get through to him." She remarked. "How's Rachel?"
"I've never seen her like this before." I admitted. "She's not eating at all."
"Stefan isn't either. Not even animal blood." She explained.
"I feel so guilty about all of this. I'm the one who pushed the blood on Stefan." I replied. "He wouldn't be like this if not for me."
"Frederick would have killed both of you if you hadn't." Elena told me.
"Well I also pushed for opening the tomb." I added.
"The vampires getting out of the tomb is not your fault." She replied. "Look, Brandy, there's no way that we can help them if we keep blaming ourselves."
"You're right." I agreed. "I need to go to bed. I just hope that tomorrow will be better."
"We're gonna get this." She promised. I just wished that she had a way to back that up better.
In the morning, I woke up and started to get ready for school. I was still getting used to Rachel not being there and I really hoped that it would change soon. I put on a black tank and a white jersey miniskirt and a jacket that was similar to the one I wore in New York, but not the same. I also wore a pair of black sandals and a pair of onyx earrings with a matching necklace.
I walked into the kitchen and found Damon fiddling with something. It was small and round. Apparently, it was something that Anna's mom had stolen from Jonathan Gilbert before she was locked in the tomb.
"Did you ever find out what that thing is?" Elena asked as she folded some blankets.
"Nope, but whatever it is, it doesn't work." Damon explained.
"Pearl didn't say anything about it?" I questioned.
"She didn't know what it is either." He answered. "She thought she was taking the compass. That Jonathan Gilbert was a crazy scientist. So, have you spoken to your uncle lately?"
"I've been avoiding him." Elena replied. "That and I've been here most nights."
"So, you'll be here again tonight?" Damon inquired.
"Is that a problem?" I countered. I was pretty sure that she wasn't leaving until Stefan was better.
"Yes, she's a total nuisance." Damon answered. I rolled my eyes.
"We'll see you later." She said before we went to school.
1982
Rachel ran into the room.
"What's wrong?" She asked.
"There's vervain in this box." I declared.
"Does it say who sent it?" She questioned as I put the box on the floor.
"No." I responded. "But someone knows."
"Do you think we should move the shop?" Rachel responded.
"That or we have to find this person and deal with them." I proposed. She gave me a look. "Rachel, if someone knows who we are, they could find us wherever we go. Sometimes it's better to deal with a problem rather than running from it."
Present
I decided to try to find Anna as soon as I got to school. I knew that she probably didn't know anything about the device, but it wouldn't hurt to ask again.
"Hi." I greeted her.
"No, I don't know anything about the thing." She told me.
"How did you…" I started.
"You asked me for the past three days." She pointed out. "Besides, shouldn't you be more focused on trying to help Stefan than whatever that thing is."
"Did you want to talk about something else?" I questioned as I tried to think of something else. "I know. I never asked you what you thought about the pageant."
"Is that seriously the best thing you could come up with?" She asked.
"Come on. I saw that you were talking to Jeremy again." I replied.
"He wants me to turn him and I don't want to do it." She explained.
"You shouldn't." I replied. "You two barely know each other."
"We know a lot about each other." She argued. That was not what I meant.
"I mean you've only known him for like a month." I pointed out. "Turning someone into a vampire is a bigger commitment than marriage. Plus, he's still young. I don't think it's a good idea for someone who hasn't even finished puberty yet to become a vampire."
"Wow, it sounds like you can make a better argument against it than I can." She admitted. "Do you think you can talk to him about it?"
"I really haven't ever really talked to Jeremy." I remarked before I noticed him walking us. "I've gotta go. He's coming this way. Just be honest."
After school, I went to find Elena. I had given her a ride to school. It meant sense since she was staying over.
"I need to go home and get some things." She explained. I assumed she meant that she wanted me to take her.
"Okay." I replied. Hopefully, her uncle would be gone.
When we got there, Elena decided to call Damon.
"What?" He asked.
"I'm just calling to check up." She said.
"I'm fine, thank you." Damon declared.
"She meant check up on Stefan." I replied as Elena opened the linen closet to get some sheets I guessed.
"He's still broody as ever." Damon answered. "He hasn't eaten either."
"There has to be something that we can do to get him to eat." Elena mused. "Does he have a favorite?"
"What are you talking about?" He inquired. There was no way he was that dumb.
"You know a favorite kind of animal blood." Elena explained.
"No." I whispered.
"Ew gross." He commented.
"Would it kill you to be serious?" Elena asked.
"Just hurry up and get here. I have things to do." He told her.
"I would say drop dead…but." Elena trailed off. I didn't think it would help.
"Stefan likes to eat puppies." Damon remarked. At that point, she did what I would have and hung up.
She then closed the closet door and there was John. Both of us jumped.
"Sorry." He apologized.
"It's okay. We were just leaving." Elena said.
"I was hoping to talk to you." He remarked.
"It'll have to wait until later." Elena replied as she grabbed my hand and started to pull me away.
"What would your mother say if she knew you brought a vampire in here?" He asked. That caused Elena to stop in her tracks and turn around.
"Which mother?" She retorted before we left.
Once we got back to the boarding house, Elena went to check on Stefan. I hoped that Damon would stay long enough at least for me to check on Rachel.
I went back to the crypt and I saw that Rachel had changed her clothes finally. She was now wearing a floral miniskirt with a black sweater with her bra strap hanging out. I smiled a little. Maybe she was getting back to normal finally. Unfortunately, she hadn't had the blood I left her. Why was she being so stubborn. She had never acted like this in all of the years that we had been together.
"Why aren't you drinking the blood? Should I go get you something furrier?" I asked. "You know you need it."
"I don't deserve it." She muttered.
"What do you mean you don't deserve it?" I challenged.
"I'm a terrible person. I used magic recklessly when I was a witch. I shouldn't even be here now. I should be dead." She said.
"Do you remember what happened in 1982?" I questioned.
1982
Rachel and I went to the post office to try and see who had sent us the vervain.
"Hi, my friend and I were wondering who sent us this package." I declared.
"We can't give out that kind of information." The person at the desk replied.
"Of course you can." I compelled. He then started to look through his computer. Personal computers were still in their infancy and the internet hadn't even been invented yet. It did also mean that his boss didn't have to worry about him messing around on his computer. "It says it was sent from the distribution center in Queens."
"We've never gotten records from Queens before." Rachel pointed out. We had never even lived in Queens because it sucked. The Mets were okay…the Mets were terrible.
"It looks like we need to go down there and tell them they messed up our shipment." I replied. I wasn't going to tell the guy that I planned on killing whoever was responsible for sending it to us.
Present
"You know I would have killed that guy if you hadn't talked me out of it." I explained.
"You wouldn't be a vampire if not for me." She declared. "I'm worthless."
"You are not worthless." I argued. "You may have changed my life but that doesn't mean that you made it worse. Because of you, I have a family bond that I never would have had before."
It was also possible that Damon would have just killed me. It just wasn't as poetic to turn someone's son into a vampire as opposed to their daughter. Of course, he didn't know the truth back then.
"Well you're better off without me." She declared. "You have Elena now and you have Anna. You don't need me."
"Yes, I need you." I responded. "I'm sorry that I haven't been there. I should have made you let me in sooner. We could have talked about this. Amber is fine. Elena is fine. You don't need to feel bad anymore. Can you please just drink the blood?"
"How do you know that win make me better?" She challenged. "How do you know that I won't go back to how I was at Miss Mystic Falls. You know in addition to being a vicious monster, I'm also a terrible friend. It was your big moment and I wasn't there to see it."
"I didn't care that you missed the pageant." I replied. "I was more concerned about where you were than where you weren't. I was worried about you. Things might not go back to the way that they were when they were just you and me, but I think that they can be pretty close."
"I don't know." She responded.
"You didn't even kill anyone." I replied. "We can move on. Please just drink the blood for me."
She slowly lifted the bag to her mouth and started to suck on it. I slowly watched as the light returned to her eyes. I then opened the gate and she slowly walked over and I wrapped my arms around her body.
However, I still had a feeling that the night wasn't done. I still had to take her home and check on Stefan.
We went home and found that Damon was gone. Elena then came upstairs. She looked like she was surprised to see Rachel there.
"I wasn't expecting you to be back so soon." She commented. It seemed like Stefan was still downstairs,
"Where's Damon?" I asked.
"He went somewhere with Alaric." She answered. I was surprised that we were already on a first name basis with him. I supposed it was easier for her considering he was dating her aunt.
"How are things with Stefan?" Rachel replied.
"I think we made some progress." Elena replied. "He told me about what you did."
"Are you okay with it?" I asked. I wasn't even that sure what they did.
"Well I don't know if I have any right to be mad." Elena admitted. "I cheated on him first and he was also going through a hard time. You two obviously leaned on each other."
"I don't think it would even be a good idea for me and Stefan to be together." Rachel remarked. "We're just not very good influences on each other."
At that point, Damon returned. He seemed like he was a little tired.
"Ugh, you're still here?" He asked Elena.
"Were you expecting anything else?" Elena challenged.
"It was more of an observation." Damon noted.
"How was the errand?" Elena asked.
"It was a dead end." Damon said. "Though, I did witness the teacher having an existential crisis. Who let Blondie out?"
"I did." I answered before Elena went downstairs. She then ran back up looking distressed. "What's wrong?"
"Stefan's gone." She explained.
"What do you mean he's gone?" I asked. "I thought you had him locked up in there."
"I unlocked the door because I wanted him to come up on his own." She explained. "He's not wearing his ring. I think he might be trying to kill himself when the sun comes up."
"Good riddance." Damon remarked.
"Don't do that." I told him. "Don't act like you don't care. Why would he want to kill himself?"
I did wonder why he wanted to wait until sunrise to do it. There were faster ways.
"Are you mad at him because he killed your father?" Elena asked.
"Fuck no. I hated that man." Damon replied. "Stefan didn't tell you the whole story, did he?"
"How about you tell us?" I suggested.
Damon then told us about Stefan forced him to turn, not like Damon leaving a body for me, but literally sticking the blood into his mouth.
"Oh my god. I get it now." Elena said. "He feels bad for everything, not only what he's done, but for what you've done. Do you know where he is?"
"I don't feel like going out again." Damon remarked.
"No one asked you to go out. Just tell us where he is." I replied.
"Well if he wants to be poetic about it, which he probably will, he'll want to die at the quarry where we were planning to die by not completing the transition." Damon said.
That led to Elena and I heading there. Rachel decided to stay behind because she felt it wouldn't be good for Stefan.
We found Stefan seemed to be experiencing vertigo like he was hallucinating. He needed to have some blood too. I caught him before he fell over.
"I got you. It's okay." I declared. "Damon told us the rest of the story."
"I should have died that night." He replied. "I should have let Damon die too."
I decided that I needed to try to slap some sense into him. I hoped it would work.
"You know what would have happened if you died?" I challenged. "This beautiful girl would have died along with her parents and I would never know what it's like to have a family."
"She's right, Stefan." Elena pointed out. "You saved my life. If you die now, you won't change the past."
"Every single person that died by me or Damon is my fault." Stefan argued. I grabbed him and began to shake him. He was really starting to frustrate me.
"Have you ever thought about anyone else would feel if you kill yourself?" I asked. "I love you, Stefan. You need to stop feeling sorry for yourself and move on. Now put your ring on and come home."
"Okay." He agreed before he wrapped his arms around me and gave me a hug. He gave Elena a hug as well before the three of us went home. It still probably would have been easier for him to stake himself.
Damon was by the fireplace when we got back.
"The prodigal son returns." He commented. I couldn't help but wonder who said that.
"I'll give you three a minute." Elena said before she left the room and went upstairs.
"Thank you." Stefan said.
"No, thank you." Damon countered. "You're back on Bambi blood and all is right in the world."
"You know we need to promise to always be there for one another." I stated. "This may not be the life that we wanted, but it's the one we got and it's the family we got."
"You know you brood too much." Damon told him. "What I have done is not your fault. You don't get to feel my guilt."
"You feel guilt?" Stefan replied. I was pretty sure that he did.
"Yes, it's there if I want to feel it." Damon replied. "Also, I don't hate you because you made me turn. I hate you because she turned you. It was supposed to be just me."
I was pretty sure that he didn't hate him. He just liked to act tough when in reality, he loved his brother.
"Good night, Damon." I told him before I headed up to bed where Rachel was already asleep. I had saved two lives. I would say that I had a pretty good day.
Another story is back from the dead. Brandy had to save Rachel and Stefan. Please don't forget to review.