29: Red Lips Always Lie.
"I'm starting to see Nova more and more in Elena," Stefan told Caroline over the phone, doing push ups in the woods. "They're always together, like she's taken Elena protectively under her wing."
Caroline was running about prepping Miss Mystic Falls. "That probably wouldn't have been such a bad thing if they weren't big, fat crow wings," she complained with a scowl. "It's depressing, watching Elena want to be like Nova."
He stopped and sat down on the ground. "Oh, I'm not depressed. I just want to rip into someone's artery and feed until I can't breathe anymore."
The blonde stopped in her tracks. "Well, you can't. As your sober sponsor, I am not going to let that happen. Try and sublimate otherwise you're no better than them."
"I don't think being a vampire would have changed Elena this drastically if it wasn't Nova to turn her." The sound of something hitting a tree and crunching leaves caught his attention nearby.
Caroline walked outside and noticed Nova sitting on a table while Elena worked on some Miss Mystic Falls decorations. "Look, I got to go. Be careful. And remember, there is sublimating and then there is insanity."
"I'll be fine," he assured her as he stood and started to creep towards the noise. "I've got to check something out. Bye." He stalked silently towards the source of the sounds until he caught a mass of blonde hair and ducked behind a tree for cover. Peering around, he actually had to cover his mouth to prevent giving himself away when he saw Klaus and Lethia together. He tried to quickly turn tail and run but clipped a branch on his turn around. In the quickest of seconds Klaus had him in a chokehold against a tree.
"In what world do the words "tell no one" mean tell your brother and every teenage sycophant in town?" The hybrid hissed. "You'd lose your tongue back when times were still fun."
Lethia came into Stefan's blurring sight and put her hands comfortingly on Klaus' arm that didn't have him in a chokehold. She stood on her toes and told him something quietly. He couldn't understand the Estonian fully, only Nova's name. "Ta on Nova tappa."
"The secret's safe." Stefan tried to assure him. "No one who knows about the cure will endanger us. Trust me, you know I want to find it more than anyone else."
Klaus looked down at Lethia and back to the olive eyed Salvatore. "That's debatable, mate. I suggest you find some more vampires for Jeremy to kill before I'm tempted to offer you up as a victim." In one swift movement he released Stefan and let him drop to the ground, coughing. "And try and keep this one to yourself, would you?" He warned dangerously, snaking an arm around the blonde wolf beside him. "Otherwise I will cut out your tongue."
Stefan hastily scrambled to his feet and sped away without looking back. He went back to the boarding house and straight to his room to clean up and pack a bag of things to train Jeremy with. Coming back down he ran into Damon. "Where have you been?" the elder brother questioned.
He shrugged. "Ah, you know, out."
Damon looked at him disapprovingly. "Where are you going?"
"Out."
He sighed. "Okay, I see shady Stefan is back. Please don't tell me you're still working with Klaus."
Stefan stomped up to his brother and looked him in the eye, rage threatening in his eyes. "You want to know what's up? Elena and Nova. That's what's up. She's always with Nova, becoming like Nova, talking about Nova; for fuck's sake Damon, Elena's drank her blood on more than one occasion. Has it been the other way around?" They were silent for a moment, neither looking away from the other. "Where is Nova, right now?"
Damon's lips pursed into a tight line. "Out with Elena... I'll be quick then. So, apparently, if we want to find the cure, we have to find a vampire hunter who can kill enough vampires to reveal the map on the hunter's mark. Now, unless we want Jeremy to go all Connor two-point-oh, I suggest we find a different hunter."
The younger brother pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay, and?"
"And I was gonna ask Professor Shane, but turns out he's shadier than you are. Matt Donovan connected him and the Pastor through phone records. Apparently, the two were very chatty the day that the Pastor blew up the Council."
"Ah, so you're gonna confront Shane, threaten him, possibly kill him, that sort of thing."
"Yeah, unless he tells me what he's up to." He smirked and pat his little brother's shoulder. "What do you say? Should we tag team this?"
Stefan shook his head, expression cold. "Nah, I'd say you're on your own. I've got to make sure your fiance doesn't entirely corrupt my girlfriend." Without another word he brushed briskly past Damon and out the door.
"Remind me again why Nova is here?" Caroline muttered as she and Elena worked on flower arrangements in vases. "Especially since she looks positively miserable."
Elena shrugged. "I asked if she would come with to make sure I don't derail or anything. She's never been big on girly things like pageants."
"That's probably best because the judges would lose their minds from her choice in eye makeup and red lipstick. You've been spending an awful lot of time with her, I'm surprised you haven't crossed over to the daily smokey, racoon eye yet."
She made a face and laughed a little. "No, Nova knows I'm not huge on makeup. I've seen the way she does hers. Besides, I've been helping with wedding ideas and she's been a great teacher."
Caroline rolled her eyes. "I've never drank from any of my teachers."
The brunette's face heated up immediately. She turned away from her friend, lips pursed into a tight line. Across the way Nova disguised a snicker as a cough. She peered over her sunglasses and sat forward when she saw creepy Professor Shane walk up to the other two girls. He looked like a lost puppy and they were positively confused. Once he walked off Nova slid onto the table Elena was using to work on vases. "What's up with the creepy professor? Got a thing for high school pageant girls?"
"Professor by day; pageant judge by other day." Elena made a face.
"In spite of being absurdly unqualified, he's apparently awarding a scholarship." Caroline frowned.
The ravenette jumped off the table and cracked her knuckles. "Well if that doesn't just sound like absolute bullshit. I'll tail him, see what he's really up to."
The blonde vampire scoffed, arms crossed over her chest. "No offense or anything, Nova, but I don't really think you can tail a pageant judge."
Nova stepped up to the blonde and took off her sunglasses, looking down at her by a couple of inches. She'd never admit it, but it actually intimidated Caroline. "I used to tail Black Ops soldiers of whatever kind and specialty and slit their throats when they got too close to my family's castle. When I was human. I assure you I've done much stealthier since turning."
Elena bit her lip and kept working on vases to avoid them seeing her smirk and her chuckling. Caroline took a quick step backwards and Nova slipped her sunglasses back on with a smirk. She wouldn't make eye contact even through the glasses for a few minutes. "Why don't you actually do me a favor and go get Lethia."
The Romanian's face scrunched up. "What for?" She questioned protectively.
Finally Caroline looked back up at her. "She asked me a while back about Miss Mystic Falls; she seemed really interested. So I signed her up to at least participate in this year's."
She was taken back, it even showed in her eyes behind her sunglasses. "Isn't that your job, to round up the dolled up girls?"
"I tried before coming here; I checked the boarding house and your house. She hasn't answered her phone all morning either."
She's been too calm, Nova thought.
Caroline bit her lip. "The last we heard of Lethia, Klaus had her…"
Far too calm then, she added. I know the link isn't closed, I can still feel it… Her tongue flicked over her teeth and red stained lips. "Then he would have dangled her as bait by now," she spoke coldly. "You want to go storm his mansion? Fine by me. Until a guy who's supposed to be dead gives me incentive, I'm not giving him a home field advantage again."
Elena finally turned and looked to the blonde with a small grimace. "It's true, though, that Klaus would have used Lethia against Nova by now...maybe she got away and she's hiding from him?"
I'd feel that, wouldn't I…? If she was so scared that she would have to run?
Caroline huffed and slammed her clipboard against the ravenette's chest. "Fine, I'll go piss off Klaus. Let's see how you fare setting up a pageant while I'm gone without compelling or murdering anyone."
Nova grabbed the board and read through the pages as the blonde stormed off to her car. Her lip pulled up with disgust. Elena laughed a little and slipped the clipboard out of her sire's hand.
Caroline stared with wide eyes as she pulled up beside a golden Maserati in Klaus' driveway. She got out of her own car slowly, unable to take her eyes off of the '67 shimmering in the sunlight. She walked up to the front door, finding it cracked open still. Looking down she realized there was a black converse stuck in it, preventing it from closing. She couldn't smell any blood or really hear anything; the closer she got her ears picked up on some kind of faint noise. Laughing? She picked up the shoe and stepped into the foyer, looking around cautiously. Her jaw dropped, shoe slipping from her hand and tumbling to the floor.
Lethia stared back at the blonde vampire with guilty eyes and Klaus' hands on her hips. Caroline started to stutter, at an absolute loss for words. Lethia's lip jutted out in a pleading pout. "Please, please, please do me a solid and don't say anything, ever, at all, Caroline. Stefan already busted us this morning and if this gets back to Nova before I talk to her then Mystic Falls might get to see a Supernova up close and personal."
"This isn't happening right now," she told herself. "I can't imagine why you wouldn't Nova Vasile to find out out of all people. I mean, the rest of us at least attempted in keeping Klaus being alive a secret from her because he literally made her shut off her humanity and already almost bring a Supernova to town. Maybe it's got something to do with literally tearing her mind to shreds, spelling her into a room only she can't escape, and trying to force her to marry him? No, I can't imagine why you wouldn't want Nova to find out!"
Klaus moved to step in front of the blonde wolf but she scowled and put a hand on his chest, stopping him in his tracks. She marched up to Caroline and stared her in the eye with a hand on one hip. Caroline was at least glad Lethia wasn't also taller than her. If anything the wolf was almost shorter. "That's funny that you give a damn about Nova suddenly because last I heard you and Stefan talking, you were both complaining about the way and the fact that Nova's teaching Elena how to be a vampire and not want to kill herself like you and Stefan generally do! But neither of you will ever tell Nova to her face because you both know she's alpha. She'll tear your throats out if she wants to and if she doesn't then I will be glad to."
Klaus smirked with a hint of pride behind the girls while they viciously stared down one another. A smirk started to grow on Lethia's face and her eyes flashed a golden glow. Caroline only gave the smallest reaction before quickly composing herself. "Yeah, well, I had signed you up for Miss Mystic Falls!" She shouted back at the wolf, breaking her composure. "You need a dress and to be at the Lockwood mansion by 2p.m. tomorrow or you'll have to answer to me!"
Lethia blinked a few times before pulling herself together and clearing her throat. "Thank you!" She yelled back angrily with furrowed brows and her arms crossed. "I will absolutely fucking be there. Go fuck yourself."
Caroline nodded slowly and started to back out the door. "You as well!" The door slammed behind her both to the mansion and her car. She immediately called Stefan as she backed out of the driveway. "So now we've got NoLena and KlEthia?!"
"What?"
"Try to keep up with the times, Stefan," she rolled her eyes. "Lethia and Klaus and are item now?!"
Stefan sighed heavily. "What kind of item I can't even begin to imagine."
Elena heard Nova's boots on her hardwood floor from the shower. The ravenette walked into her bedroom and tossed her bag on her progeny's bed, looking around at the bedroom curiously. "Are you alright, Nova?" She called.
"Yeah," Nova drawled back, slipping her leather jacket off and onto the bed as well, "just bored out of my mind. Damon is off doing whatever shenanigans today."
"Probably trying to thwart whatever Stefan is up to," she laughed a little. "I haven't seen him since he stopped by the pageant for two minutes this morning."
Nova laughed and picked up one of Elena's pictures. "He doesn't seem to keen on my staying in Mystic Falls."
"He's probably afraid his girlfriend might leave him for another woman," Jeremy teased in the doorway.
"Shut up, Jer!" Elena practically screamed before the shower shut off. Nova laughed again and set the picture back down.
The younger Gilbert waved Nova closer. Curiously she walked over to him. "Do you smoke anymore?" He asked her quietly with a guilty smile.
She snickered and looked at him, realizing just how different his appearance had become. The smirk quickly vanished from her face. "You look like you probably should smoke, Jer. When was the last time you got more than two hours of sleep?"
"Before I found out my town is crawling with vampires."
Her eyes widened and he came at her with a stake from behind his back. She tried her best to only dodge and not harm him but the tip was so point that it made her bleed when it scratched across her neck. She shouted in pain and heard Elena dressing furiously from the bathroom, wondering what was going on. Nova shook off the scratch and slapped Jeremy on the back of the head before knocking the stake out of his hand and out the door. "Alright, what the fuck was that for?"
Jeremy blinked a few times and stepped back. He could hear Elena yelling from the bathroom."I'm sorry, Nova, it's the hunter's mark. It's been happening a lot the more it grows."
Before Elena could get out of the bathroom she went over to her bag and took out a blunt from the front pocket, tossing it to the younger Gilbert. She smirked and winked. "Go to bed, Jeremy." He chuckled and nodded to her before walking out of the room.
Elena finally flew out of the bathroom and Nova looked at her with a small smile by the door. Her dark eyes caught the blood still cascading slowly down past her collar bone. "You're still bleeding."
Nova's brow quirked inquisitively. She pressed a couple of fingers to her neck and found the fresh blood when she pulled them away. She shrugged nonchalantly. "Everything is fine, I sent Jeremy to bed." She noticed Elena's eyes still staring at the red against her pale skin. She smirked and flipped her thick hair off that shoulder. "Make use of it then."
Still she only stared. "Everybody's already found out…"
The ravenette stepped closer and pressed her bloody fingers against the girl's lips. "Then what does it matter, especially if I return the favor?" She whispered.
Slowly, Elena's face began to change. She wrapped her arms around her sire and dug her fangs into the ravenette's throat. Nova's foot reached back subtly and kicked the bedroom door shut, one hand on her progeny's back and the other the back of her dark brown hair. When Elena let go and tried to step back, Nova held her in place, close to her still. She almost felt sympathetic to Caroline from earlier, realizing just how intimidating Nova could be when she was close to and staring down at you. She could almost feel herself getting lost in the Romanian's emerald gaze. A drop of her blood dripped from Elena's lip and she used her thumb to wipe it back, gently tilting her head to the side. Elena watched her face change, the dark ring around the emerald seeming to grow before she bit down.
"Blue," Caroline answered immediately.
Nova scrunched up her nose. "Really? The blue seems a little safe."
Elena shrugged. "Safe is good when it comes to the judges. Blue probably would be best, April."
"But the red-"
"We've already agreed that the red one is a little bit too showy," Caroline huffed.
"This is a pageant, isn't that the whole point?"
"Did you win Miss Mystic last year? No. I don't think you did."
"Neither did Elena and she wore blue." Nova smirked when she heard Damon in the doorway. She swore Caroline's eye twitched.
"Nobody cares what you think."
"I care," April admitted timidly, still holding up both dresses.
Damon smirked. "See? April cares. Red, right, Elena?"
The brunette jumped when she heard her name and Nova's arm flung around her shoulders, focusing her attention. "Red, right, Elena?" She repeated with a smile.
She looked back at the two dresses against April. "The red is pretty."
Caroline blinked with astonishment. "Uh, what happened to thirty seconds ago when you hated the red one? What happened to safe is good?"
Elena looked around at everyone staring at her and pulled away from Nova. "Whichever one you want to wear, April," she spoke quickly before darting out of the room.
Nova started to follow but was quickly snatched up by her own sire. "Lethia is here," he told Caroline over the ravenette he held onto. "She was looking for you two." Caroline and April exchanged looks and decided to go off and find Lethia. "You weren't at the boarding house when I got home last night but you weren't at your house either."
The Romanian took a step back and looked up at him. "I got bored and went to Elena's. She made me watch some sappy chick flick and we fell asleep in the living room. Just made sense to come here together this morning."
"You've been spending a lot of time with Elena. Does that mean her progress is coming along well?"
She smirked proudly. "Exceedingly. She's still fearful but a little paranoia is good for you. She's gotten used to feeding without harming anyone. Her freak out was only because of my link to Lethia radiating down to her. Blood of my blood and all that fun stuff." She stood on her toes and kissed her fiance before smiling and heading down the stairs.
She kept to the outskirts of gossip circles when a tiny shimmer caught her eye. She laughed a little at what they would give the winner for a tiara, having worn real metals and stones in her lifetime. She flicked the barely sterling silver tiara mockingly. Black and silver heels came clicking over, slender, manicured hands clasping the tiara and placing it on a tamed mess of gold. Lethia grinned toothily and blew kisses dramatically. "I just want to thank the judges for seeing past the fact that I'm a raging bitch who would love to tear apart every last one of these losers."
Nova laughed and quickly snatched the fake trinket off the blonde's head back where it belonged. "You don't want to do that. Those girls will cut you. They might have shivs."
The blonde shrugged and held up her manicured black nails that grew into long claws. "And I have claws," she grinned.
The two shared a laugh and Nova started to feel better; Lethia was fine, she must have just been gallivanting on her own for a bit. It wouldn't be unusual for the wolf. Her laugh stopped short when she caught the eyes of her own personal devil. Her expression changed drastically, emerald eyes borderlining on deadly. She was ready to attack when she realized where exactly he was staring, because it wasn't at her. Lethia calmed down her laugh, realizing something wasn't right with her best friend. Nova's lips parted slowly; Klaus was staring at Lethia all dolled up.
"As the reigning Miss Mystic Falls, it is my honor to introduce this year's Miss Mystic Court." Caroline's voice echoed. "We begin the procession with Valerie Fell accompanied by Dylan Clark."
Lethia's eyes widened, fear filling her amber eyes. "Are you kidding me?!" She grabbed Nova's upper arms. "That bitch didn't tell me I needed a fucking escort to a pageant."
"If you go up there alone you'll look like a fool," Nova spoke absentmindedly, still staring down the original hybrid. "But if she calls your name and you don't show at all it looks worse."
"Come with me, Nov. Please? I can't go up there alone!"
"Do I look dressed to escort your ass?" She gestured to her tight jeans, heeled boots brimming her knees, and low cut shirt. Klaus was still staring and she sighed. "Just go get in line and wait. I'll take care of it."
"What are you-"
"Thea," she commanded, "merge." The blonde quickly turned and ran off to where she needed to be. Nova took a breath and stood upright, marching boldly up to Klaus with her shoulders squared. A smirk grew malevolently when he stared down at her fiery emerald eyes. "I know you know this stupid pageant like the back of your filthy hands," she hissed at him. Even with heels she still couldn't meet his height.
"What of it, luv?" He humored her.
"You need to go and escort Lethia or she'll look like a fool by herself."
Something dangerously playful danced in his eyes. "You're telling me to go escort your precious best friend to a pageant?"
"I'll rinse my mouth with fluoric acid for such a deed later, I assure you," she scowled up at him. "I see you eyeing her like a piece of meat because she's all dolled up so I swear to gods if anything happens I'll know who to go after."
"Next, we have Amber Wolvertine accompanied by Hector Lindsay."
"Will you do it?"
His lips twitched playfully. "Can I get a 'please'?"
"Not a chance."
Klaus laughed a little and pat her head as he walked by. "No problem then, luv."
"O-okay," she muttered as he vanished through the crowd. She hurried off to Caroline, slipping behind her and whispering in her ear that Klaus was unfortunately Lethia's escort.
The blonde clicked the off button on the microphone and looked at Nova with wide eyes. "So you did find out about Klaus and Lethia?" She whispered.
Nova took a step back, shock all over face. "What about Klaus and Lethia?"
When realization spread across Caroline's face, Damon swiftly came up behind Nova and whisked her away from prying eyes. "Stefan turned some criminal to help Jeremy hunt vampires and expand the mark." Nova stopped and gave him her full attention. "He started getting too bossy and got a stake in the gut. Jeremy made off with the equipment."
"So Jeremy Gilbert is fiending to murder vampires and now he's got a little arsenal and the freedom to do so?" She confirmed.
"The vampires he already knows well will be his first targets," Damon told her. "We've got to go."
He tried to pull her away but she yanked him back. "Hold on five damn minutes, Damon. That's an issue but nothing we can't deal with. This could end up being the only girly, normal, modern thing Lethia gets to do that she wanted to. I'm going to see her at least enter because she's always known how to make an entrance."
"And finally, we have a last minute entry, Lethia Kross accompanied by Klaus Mikaelson."
'See?' Nova mouthed before whipping around to see Lethia. She started to clap, smiling up at the blonde. Her hands slowly came to a stop, mouth turning back down. Damon put his hands reassuringly on her shoulders, also seeing what she was. Lethia looked stunning in her golden gown that hugged her every curve and Caroline had a way with her hair and makeup. The problem was in the precise way her amber eyes glimmered with life, with emotion. The way they shined when they looked up at the devil on her side. Nova's eyes flicked to him and only saw the same reciprocating to Lethia. Her breathing became slow and shallow before she briskly turned around and pulled Damon's hand out the door.
Klaus and Lethia, she realized. That's what Caroline meant about them.
Lethia stared off at the pond from her seat on a bench with distress in her eyes. She propped her elbows on her knees, her head in her hands. Suddenly, a glass of champagne was in front of her face. She looked up to Klaus who sat beside her on the bench. "What's bothering you, luv?"
She sighed and stared into the bubbles of the champagne. "Not only has Caroline been totally squirrely towards me but I watched Nova run the other way after the entrance."
He shrugged. "Did you expect her to stick around a pageant?"
"No, and it would have been normal if I didn't feel a surge in our link beforehand. That's why I looked down to find her. I could feel a spike in her emotions and she took off. She was pissed."
His eyebrow quirked. "Your link is still actively open?"
"Yeah, and it shouldn't be anymore. At least not this open. I doubt we'd have to struggle to find one another if we wanted to risk it. Stepping into that link is like walking through a dark tunnel. I can feel something wrong on her end from mine but do we dare step into the tunnel?"
"How do you feel, though? You could feel her anger, but what would she be afraid to cross into the tunnel for?"
She took a breath, looking back at the pond and horizon. "I think she can feel that I really haven't been. I haven't cared or thought, only acted. I don't care who wants to put up a fight anymore, I'll tear anyone in my path apart."
He looked at her from the corner of his eye. "Sounds to me like with that link open you're started to get a feel for the vampire in your counterpart. We might just find out the full force behind this link you two have shared in due time."
Neither spoke for nearly five minutes. "Is it even remotely as common in vampires to have such a crippling sire bond as it is with hybrids?" Lethia finally asked.
He took a breath. "Not to my knowledge, no. It's about a one in 100,000 chance. Why?"
She tipped back the glass of champagne until it was empty. "I think Elena is sire bonded to Nova, but I also think Nova's been sired to Damon all this time and never known."
After April got crowned Miss Mystic Falls, Elena caught sight of Jeremy weaving through the crowd. She followed him until she found him sitting in an empty room. "Jeremy," she smiled at him. "Hey, where have you been?" She looked down and saw a stake in his hand, cutting into his palm. She took a cautious step back. "What are you doing with that?" He stood and stepped towards her. "Put it down, Jer."
"Connor was right," he admitted. "All I can think about is killing vampires."
"You're nothing like Connor," she assured him, gaze still flicking down to his bleeding palm.
Jeremy was still for the briefest moment before lunging at his sister. In a flash she was whisked away by Damon and Jeremy was restrained by Nova, the stake having clanked onto the ground. Nova's boot promptly kicked it away. "Alright, time out," she spoke, holding firmly to the writhing hunter. She nodded to Damon who ushered Elena out and away from the room before she vanished out back with Jeremy.
"This is a bad idea, Nova," he told her as they reached the edge of the woods. "All I want to do is-"
"Yeah, yeah, stake me," she rolled her eyes and waved him off. "Do your worst, Jer, I'm not afraid of you. No offense." She shrugged and sat on a large rock, digging around in the inner hem of her right boot. "I never would have harmed you before, let alone now that you're a hunter. No thanks, I learned my lesson." She laughed and took out a small, silver case.
He sat on a rock beside her, more so because he was insanely curious about the things she kept in her boots. "What the hell is that and why do you hide everything in your boots?"
"Because I would get whipped for wearing boots beneath my dresses in Romania but I make the most use of them," she grinned. "And this, my friend, is my on the go private stash in case of emergency." She clicked open the little case and showed him three perfectly rolled joints. He started to laugh and she shrugged. "You seemed like you needed a chill pill, kiddo. And vampire or not, I'm still the best smoking company you'll ever meet." She grinned and flipped the furthest out joint into her mouth. "This one is special though." She winked.
He smirked and took one for himself. "Thought you couldn't find good enough coke down here when you shut your humanity off."
Nova snickered, pulling a lighter from her bra and holding a finger to her maroon stained lips beside the joint.
"Thanks," Damon sighed, taking the glass of whiskey from Nova's hand.
She sat beside him on the couch with her own glass. "How did Elena handle her little brother coming at her with a stake?"
He laughed dryly, sipping the whiskey. "Well it made more sense when she found out Stefan had been having him kill vampires all day."
Nova stirred one of the ice cubes with her nail. "The more he kills, the stronger the desire becomes. Is Elena safe at home?"
Damon set both of their drinks on the table and pulled his fiance onto his lap, nuzzling her neck. "How about for five minutes we pretend we don't care?" He kissed her collar bone, making her smile and close her eyes. "When I found out Lethia had been entered in the pageant I regretted having not signed you up too."
She laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'm glad you hadn't; I'm not meant for silly things like pageants. Lethia has the charm and innocence I lack to fool judges." Lethia and Klaus flashed before her eyes, forcing them open and a small scowl on her lips. "What do you think Klaus wants with her?"
He threw his head back and groaned. "Five minutes, Nova. Just five minutes of you and I like it used to be."
She put a hand on his cheek, looking into his eyes and seeing the toll everything was taking on him. She flipped a leg around and straddled him before pressing her lips to his. It could be that way again, she thought darkly as they kissed. If we go back on our promises we made to everyone else and only keep those we kept to one another...just shut if off and run, finally free again...elope to Vegas and drink all the rest in the chapel or on the strip dry…
But Elena came to mind, and the promise she made Alaric. She knew Damon wanted to stay despite everything. She didn't understand why if it caused him so much grief. Shutting it off wouldn't be wise for Elena, not this early in her transition. Until Damon or both of them was ready to let go she was forced to stay caged as well.
Almost as if on cue, the second their lips parted, Nova's phone rang. She chuckled against his lips. "I guess our five minutes are officially up." She slipped the device from her back pocket, answering it to hear Elena sobbing.
"Stefan hates me being a vampire so much he made vampires for my little brother to kill," she cried. "He said I'm turning into you and Damon. When I got home I could see the stress on Jeremy. I can't stay there anymore. I told Matt to instead."
"Where are you now?" Damon asked quickly.
"Come to the boarding house," Nova told her.
"What about Stefan?" the brunette sniffled.
The two ravenettes look at one another before Nova answered. "Go to my house. We'll meet you there." She hung up and the two jumped for their jackets. "I'm surprised you're not on Stefan's boat," she muttered.
"Stefan's been a dick lately," he told her bluntly. "Elena is too fragile right now in her transition just like you were. It's natural the two of you formed a bond because of it. Your blood turned her and mine turned you. Who better to teach you than the two you're directly descended from?" He smirked.
She smiled and kissed him gently. "Almost like a child." Before they headed out the door they looked at one another very seriously, clearly thinking the same thing. "So what are we going to do about that cure?"
"Oh, we're still going to get it - you and I. We're going to give Elena the choice if she wants it or not."
"And if she doesn't by time we find it? What if she enjoys being a vampire too much by then?"
He smirked again. "Then the three of us will force it down Stefan's throat."
They made it to Nova's house before Elena, but not by much. They stepped into the living room and right behind them the brunette ran in sobbing right to Nova. The ravenette was stiff at first from the sudden contact and tears soaking into her shirt, but slowly relaxed and wrapped her arms around her progeny. "My brother wants to kill me," she sobbed.
"Welcome to the club," Damon quipped back.
Elena took a step back and sniffled. "Jeremy can't live with me, Stefan wants to fix me, and Caroline flat-out admitted that she doesn't like me this way. I think it's safe to say that I'm not so great at this vampire thing."
Nova frowned and grabbed her hands, surprising her. "You want to know what we think?"
Damon smirked proudly. "We've never seen you more alive."
Elena could feel her hands getting a little colder clasped beneath Nova's. The brunette gently took her hands back and wiped some of her tears. "You think so?"
"Please," Nova rolled her eyes, "we haven't even gotten into the fun, advanced lessons yet."
"What's that?"
Damon stepped forward and wrapped his arms around his fiance, resting his chin on her shoulder. "When a vampire acquires enough strength and power - usually from consuming copious amounts of human blood through the decades - they get special gifts." He smirked.
"Like what?"
"Remember the fog in the cemetery the day Stefan and I came to town? The crows?" Outside the large bow window came a loud caw, capturing Elena's attention. A new light sparked in her eyes. "If you think that's cool, you should see what Nova can do."
Her head whipped back and looked up to her sire. "Really?" She started to smile.
Nova frowned, glancing back at Damon. "It takes a lot and gets explosive with my emotions."
"You've managed just fine for years now," he whispered slyly to her. "Maybe this is our break."
"Come on, Nova," Elena pleaded with a massive smile. "Please? For me?"
Heaving a heavy sigh, the Romanian closed her eyes, lashes brushing against her cheek bones. After a minute the temperature of only the living room began to drop drastically until the windows started to frost over. When her eyes opened again the temperature went back to normal but the windows remained frosty. Elena was mind blown. "That's odd," Nova muttered, looking down at her hands and moving her fingers around. "Usually it takes more of a toll on me; I can feel it. But not this time."
"So keep going," Damon urged her, knowing she could do more.
"All I did was make it cold," she shook her head. "I've fed more since being back in Virginia than in a while."
The eldest vampire in the room looked between the two girls curiously. "I think it's because of that, and the three of us together right now. The three closest in our line, all connected by Nova's blood. It makes us stronger. Try it, dolcezza."
"Fine," she sighed, her gaze wafting towards the closed window. She focused for a moment before her eyes almost glimmered and the bow window flew open. Her jaw dropped a little having still not felt a dent in using her Power. Curiously she held her hand out towards a vase in the hall; it flew across the room and shattered against a wall. A grin started to spread across her face.
"Told you," Damon whispered in her ear.
"You're telekinetic?" Elena beamed with glee. "Holy crap is there anything you can't do?"
Nova stared between the open window and shattered glass on her floor before running outside to her front yard. Damon and Elena followed to the porch and watched the ice spread from her feet up the trees and cover them in frost. Elena looked at the ground and saw only patches missing ice. The raven haired ice queen started spinning as ice flaked from the trees and around like snow, fog rolling in thick around them. Holding her hands up towards the sky Nova made the trees shake like there was wind so the makeshift snow would keep falling through the growing fox. She laughed, making Elena smile, her raven hair spinning all around her and glistening with the ice.
"I look inside myself and see my heart is black
I see my red door, I must have it painted black…"
Elena looked around and watched everything growing frosty or icy. The fog caught her attention as it consumed Nova's long legs and maroon blouse. She looked up to Damon and saw him staring with a smile at Nova. She looked back to the Romanian vampire before the fog consumed her but quickly back to Damon, thinking she saw his icy eyes darkening. She took a small step backwards when she realized she was right and looked immediately back to Nova. The fog was swirling around her, making it difficult to see past her silhouette. Elena could still catch glimpses of her emerald irises as she sang and twirled until the black started to consume it.
"Maybe then I'll fade away and not have to face the facts
It's not easy facing up when your whole world is black…"
Through the fog Elena met her eyes. For a second she felt fear, but it didn't take long before her already dark eyes started to darken more.
Translation(s):
Ta on Nova tappa - Estonian - He is Nova's kill
Featured song(s):
Paint It, Black - Ciara
