Chapter Thirty-Eight: A Little Party Never Killed Nobody

Glad that you made it, look around
You don't see one person sitting down
They got drinks in their hands and the room's a bust
At the end of the night maybe you'll find love
Fake chit chat 'bout the things they got
And my stout reputation keeping it hot girl
At the party of the year I'm a master plan
If you make me realize I'm your man

~Fergie

Nilin stood amongst the guest as the ceremony began. With her hands clasped in front of her, she waited for Elena's name to be called. Jenna had stuck a camera in her hands and shoved her to the front of the crowd, telling her to get a good shot.

Mayor Lockwood was at the bottom of the spiral staircase, introducing each one of the girls. "Miss Tina Fell, escorted by Bartholomew Whitmore," he announced as a blonde girl in a pink dress began to descend the stairs. People began clapping as her escort took her hand and led her out to the main hall.

Nilin felt someone come up next to her. She didn't need to glance to her side to know who it was. "Nilin," he greeted.

"Mr. Salvatore," she said in a board voice.

He cleared his throat, feeling uncomfortable. "Do you see Stefan anywhere?" Damon asked, in a hushed tone. She looked to where he was supposed to be, standing with the other escorts and waiting for Elena, but he wasn't there.

"No," Nilin answered, cranking her neck to look around.

Mayor Lockwood was announcing another girl. "Miss Caroline Forbes and her escort, Jeffrey Lockwood Hamilton." She saw Caroline make her way down the steps in a long green dress.

"Elena's next," Nilin realized, in a panic. She looked around for any sign of Stefan. "You have to step in," she said, looking to Damon.

"I need to find my brother," he told her.

"I'll find Stefan, you dance with Elena," Nilin said.

"Miss Elena Gilbert, escorted by Mister Stefan Salvatore," Mayor Lockwood called.

Nilin pushed Damon, "Go, please," she said, as she saw Elena start her decent. Her eyes were locked on the spot where Stefan should be.

"Fine," Damon hissed. "But if you find him, you come get me. Don't try anything, I don't want you to get hurt," he pushed.

"You lost the privilege to worry about me," she muttered before she gave him one last shove. As she pushed though the crowed of people, Nilin saw Damon taking Elena's hand and leading her out.

She went to grab her coat, when she saw her Uncle John and the Sheriff gathered outside one of the bathrooms. As she approached, Sheriff Forbes said something to John and quickly left. Nilin walked over to him.

"What's going on?" she asked.

John seemed a little surprised that she was talking to him. "Nilin? Shouldn't you be watching Elena's entrance?"

She held up the camera that was still in her had. "Camera died, Jenna said she had another one in her coat. I'm going to get it. So, what's wrong with the bathroom?" she pushed, cranking her neck to see into it.

John stepped in her way. "Nothing, just a plumbing mishap."

"A plumbing mishap called for the Sheriff?" Nilly asked.

"She knows who to call," John shrugged. "You should go find that camera and get back before you miss anything."

"Sure," she said, slipping past him an around the corner. She waited until she heard John walk away before she went back to the bathroom. Nilin opened the door to find shattered glass everywhere. Then she saw the blood. Nilly swallowed hard and slowly closed the door again.

As she went down the hall she could feel her hands shaking. She quickly grabbed her black petticoat and slid it on. Making her way out the back door that was located in the hall's kitchen, Nilly stepped out into the chilly air. She pulled her coat tighter around her as she tracked through the parking lot.

She was looking for Stefan's car, any indication that he was still there. Her breath came out in puffs as her heels clacked across the asphalt. Finally, she spotted it. Stefan was here, somewhere. As Nilin neared the car, something caught her eye. There was what looked to be a handprint on the car. It was red, dulling to a brown. A shaky finger touched it and Nilin felt something catch in her throat. It was blood.

Swallowing hard, Nilin whipped her head around and scanned the parking lot. She swore she could feel something poking at her, prodding her. But she wasn't strong enough to focus in and locate it. She realized that she, alone, might not be a match for Stefan if she did find him. She wasn't even sure what she would find.

With that thought, she booked it back into the Miss Mystic Falls pageant. Out of breath, she pushed through the crowd until she spotted Damon. Her attempt to get to him was cut short. Finch had grabbed her arm. "Where were you? I got worried," he wondered.

"Nowhere," Nilly answered. "Just a vampy problem to take of, ya know? I didn't want to get you all wrapped up in nothing."

"You shouldn't be getting yourself involved either," he told her, keeping his voice to a whisper. "You don't owe them anything," he pushed.

"It's Stefan, he's a good guy. I just need to tell Damon something and I'll be right back here," she promised. She tried to walk away, but he didn't let go of her wrist.

"Damon? Since when were you talking to him again?" he asked, almost disgusted. The tone made Nilin feel self conscious.

"Like I said, it has to do with Stefan, his brother. Seriously, Finch, I'll be right back," Nilin told him.

"Don't worry about it. I need to go take care of something anyway. Thanks for inviting me Nilin," he said quickly, not even looking at her. He kissed her cheek before turning around and disappearing through the crowd.

Nilin was left standing there confused. She didn't quiet understand what had happened, but what ever it was, it gave her whiplash. Nilly went to say something, call after him but her voice was drowned out by the Mayor's.

"Before I crown the winner, I'd like to offer a personal thank you to all of these young ladies for their efforts to better our community," he announced, standing on a small stage that was set up. The Miss Mystic contestants, Elena included, stood behind him. People let out applause as he motioned to them.

Nilin pushed her way up to the front and next to Damon. "We have a problem," she whispered to him.

He seemed to tense up. "How bad?" he asked her, just as quiet.

"It can hold out until the crowning," she told him. Damon just nodded.

"So, without further a due," the Mayor said, smiling. "It is my honor to announce our very own Miss Mystic Falls, Miss Caroline Forbes!"

The crowd erupted. Nilin could see the shock and surprise on Caroline's face as she hugged Elena. Nilin clapped along with everyone else as a sash was placed around Caroline.

Damon touched her elbow lightly. Nilin retracted from him, jerking her arm back. He looked surprised at her reaction, and so was she. He composed himself though. "I think it's about time we go."

Nilin nodded. Looking back to the stage, she made eye contact with Elena. The look on her face changed from celebratory to uneasiness. Then Nilin followed Damon out through the crowd and back outside. The entire way there, she informed him on what she had pieced together so far. They waited out in the cold for Elena, who showed up as soon as she could.

"What is it, did you find him?" she asked, barging outside and struggling to pull on her coat.

"There were signs of a struggle in the upstairs bathroom." Damon informed her. Elena's face dropped. "There was blood and that Amber girl is missing," he continued.

She turned pale. "You're not thinking that he'd hurt her, right? He wouldn't hurt her, he won't," she swore. Elena reached out and grabbed Nilin's hand, squeezing it tightly in a fit of panic.

Nilin stepped in front of her, looking her dead in the eye and trying to calm her down. "Let's just find him, okay? Come on," she said. Then she turned to Damon. "He's out here, somewhere."

Damon nodded, "I hear something," he said. Nilin noticed how his eyes slid past her to the woods. Suddenly he took off towards the trees. Elena went after him and Nilly went after her.

"Wait up," she shouted, pulling off her heels. With those out of the way, Nilin was able to keep up with Damon. "Where are you going?" she asked.

"Shh," he hushed her, coming to a halt. He shot his arm out, across Nilin's chest to stop her. The three of them stood still. "Focus your hearing, like I taught you," he hissed at her.

Nilin froze and tried to hear something other then her breathing. She closed her eyes and focused. The world came alive around her. She could hear the slightest wrinkle of dry leaves yards away… and something else.

It sounded like a girl, whimpering. Nilly's eyes snapped open. Damon and she looked at each other before taking off in the same direction. Elena was hot on their trial. As they went around the side of the town hall building and into the woods, Nilin's stomach sunk further. Then a scream pierced the air.

They raced towards it, dodging trees.

Nilly suddenly came to a stop. She instinctively reached out and grabbed Elena's arm, putting her behind Nilin. Damon had slowed down as well, but continued to approach the scene they had stumbled upon.

They had found Stefan and Amber.

"Stefan!" Elena yelled, fighting against Nilin. Stefan detached himself from Amber's neck. The girl had gone limp, only thing holding her up was his arms.

Damon was still advancing on them, slowly. "Damon, don't be dumb," Nilly told him. He ignored her, of course.

"Stefan, come on get control. It's okay, come on," he asked his brother, walking towards him as if he were approaching a rabid animal. "Breath through it man."

Stefan had blood staining his mouth and dripping off his chin. His eyes darted between Damon and Elena. He looked wild and frantic, holding on to Amber's body as if it was a life source. Nilin knew she should feel scared, frightened by the sight. But she didn't, she felt alive, running on adrenalin.

Damon made a move for Stefan while he was staring at Elena. But Stefan was quick. Amber's body dropped to the ground. He grabbed Damon by the jacket and swung him into a tree. In a flash Damon was back on his feet and Stefan was starting for him.

"Stefan, stop it!" Elena screamed as Damon was pinned against a tree.

Nilin felt her heart speed up and her hands start to shake. There was a pressure in her chest and suddenly Stefan was staggering backwards, releasing Damon. He turned to face Nilin and Elena, before he dropped to his knees, gripping his gut.

Elena and Damon looked to her as she locked on Stefan. "Nil," Elena breathed out, fighting the sobs that wanted to escape.

"Breathe, Nilin," she heard Damon say and she did. Taking a step back, she felt the pressure vanish from her chest. She looked to Damon, who was brushing himself off.

He took a step towards his brother, hands held up this time.

"Its okay, Stefan," he said. Stefan was breathing heavily, looking around as if he was an animal backed into a corner. Damon took another step towards him, but Stefan suddenly disappeared, flashing into the forest.

They all stared off to where he had vanished. Nilin was the first to recover. She ran to Amber's side, turning over the girl and prodding her neck to find a pulse.

"She's alive," she breathed out. Both Elena and Damon seemed to take a breath of relief.

Damon stood with the Sheriff amongst the paramedics and officers. They were tending to the girl his brother decided to take a chunk out of. He was watching Nilin carefully though. She stood with Elena, off to the side. Arms wrapped around herself and starting to shiver, Nilly was making sure Elena was okay. She was selfless.

"She doesn't remember what happened," Sheriff Forbes was saying, causing Damon to tear his eyes off Nilin and look at her.

"It's a good thing the girls got here when they did, she lost a lot of blood," he said, playing his part of concerned town member.

Sheriff Forbes looked over to where the girls were huddled, she motioned for them. "You didn't see anything?" she asked.

There was a pause as Elena looked to Nilin. She turned to the Sheriff, shaking her head. "No, we just found her and then called Damon," Nilly lied.

"Is she going to be okay?" Elena asked.

"It looks like it, yeah. Why don't you girls get back to the party? Damon and I can take it from here," Sheriff answered.

"Okay." Nilin said, grabbing Elena's arm and walking away. She could feel Damon watching her the entire time, but she kept her back to him.

The two of the slowly made their way back. Right before they were about to walk back inside, Elena stopped. "I can't go back in there, not knowing Stefan needs help," she told Nilin in strained tone.

"I know, I understand Elena but…"

"I think I have an idea, Nilin," she said. "Just, hold on, I need to talk to Alaric," she grabbed Nilin's hand. "Wait here."

Nilly just nodded and watched her walk inside. The wind blew through, causing her to shiver. It stung her bare skin. Wrapping her arms around herself, Nilin tried to stay warm in her petticoat as she waited. She saw Damon coming up the steps of the town hall.

Nilin stepped to the side and looked down allowing him to pass by her and back into the party. He paused, stopping in front of her. "Did Elena go inside?" he asked. Nilin nodded. "What is she doing?"

"Talking to Alaric," Nilin answered, short and sweet, still not looking at him. She had turned her head to the side, looking at the side garden that long had withered in the chilly weather.

"Is this all were going to be?" he asked. Nilin just shrugged. "I never meant to—"

"Save it," she snapped, jerking her head towards him.

He just wore a tight grin on his face and sighed. "Fine, be that way," he said just as Elena came back outside. She glanced between the two of them, looking as if she wanted to say something.

But she didn't. "I have a plan," she told Damon instead.

"Oh, goody," he said sarcastically.

Walking through the boarding house, Damon flipped on the lights as he went. The house was dark and quiet but he knew he wasn't alone. Turning the corner into the parlor, he found a pair of unwanted guest. "All right now, this is getting weird," he said, putting his hands in his front pockets.

"We're here to talk," Anna explained as Pearl stepped up next to her.

"Not in the mood, today's been a no good, very bad day," he told them, going over and igniting a fire in the fire place. Pearl didn't seem to care.

"Annabelle tells me you're looking for something I took from Jonathan Gilbert," she revealed, clasping her hands in front of her.

Damon stood up, abandoning the fire. She had perked his interest. "I'm listening." Anna dug for something in her pocket. She pulled it out and tossed it to him.

He caught it and looked down at the thing in his hands. "What is it?" he asked, turning the device over.

"Jonathan was passionate about his inventions." Pearl began to explain. "He confided in me that he had created a detection device meant to track down the town's vampire element."

"It was a pocket watch." Damon stated, holding out the device.

"That's what it turned out to be yes," she said. "But that's not what I stole. I discovered my mistake when I saw the watch in Jonathan's hand, the night they took us, its stile pointed at me."

Damon looked at her. If this wasn't the magical vampire tracking device, that also told the time of day, then what was it? "So what is this?" he asked, growing tired of the back stories.

"I have no idea," Pearl admitted. "But now it's yours."

He looked at the device and then to her. "What's the catch?" he questioned, skeptically. Damon watched her carefully as he strolled towards her.

"There is no catch. My daughter wants to stay here. I want to stay here. You refused to trust us and for good reason. Consider this an apology," she shrugged. "Now if that is all," Pearl took Anna's hand. "Have a nice night, Mr. Salvatore," she said before disappearing.

Damon stood there with the Gilbert device in his hand. He turned it over once more before shoving it into his pocket. He turned around to find Nilin standing in the arc way. "How much of that did you hear?" he asked.

"Enough," she said, walking into the room. Damon watched her, Nilin made him uneasy lately. There was a coldness about her that gave him déjà vu. "So you don't trust them?" she asked.

"I don't trust anyone," he explained, making his way over to her.

Nilin crossed her arms over her chest and nodded. "Touché," she agreed. "Even though she promised to reunite you with your betrothed?" Nilin asked, coldly. She didn't even bother to look at him as she made the accusation.

He realized what that déjà vu feeling was, this was the most Nilin had reminded him of Katherine. It made him sick.

"That deal was dropped along time ago, Nilin," he told her. She just nodded. "I'm serious," he pushed. "We need to talk about this."

"No, we don't. We don't have to do anything," she said, her back still towards him. She was quiet for a moment. "I thought you loved me," she said so quietly, even he found it hard to pick up every syllable. "I don't think I'll ever be able to get over that."

"Nilin," he tried, but there was suddenly a crash from upstairs.

Nilin whipped around, locking her eyes with him. "Elena," she said, the first emotion he's heard in her voice all night.

"Give her a moment, she knows what she's doing," Damon said. "This is her plan, after all." Just as he said that there was a louder crash. The sound of Elena's startled gasp traveled down the stairs to their ears.

It only took a moment before Nilin was racing up the stairs and up to Stefan's room. Damon followed right after her. She opened the door to find Elena kneeling next to Stefan's unconscious body. Nilly dropped down next to Elena, tilting her head to look up. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?" she asked.

Elena shook her head no. "I'm fine," she said. "Let's just get him downstairs."

Both girls looked to Damon, who was standing in the door way. "Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked.

"I'm sure," Elena answered.

"There's no guarantee that this is going to work," he added.

Elena kept the determined look on her face. "It has to," she told him.

Damon didn't say anything more. He walked over and picked his brother up easily, throwing him over his shoulder. They put Stefan down in the vervain cellar, laying him down and locking him away like an animal.

As Damon locked the heavy metal door, Nilin let out a sigh. One problem was solved, for now. She started to make her way out of the cellar, right behind Damon. But she stopped and turned to look at Elena.

She was looking into the cell. "He'll be okay, Elena," Nilin promised.

"I know," she said in a strained voice, one hand still on the door. "I think I'm going to stay here." Elena explained, walking over to one of the walls and sliding down it. She leaned her head back on the brick wall and let out a sigh.

"Coming?" Damon asked, looking at Nilin. She shook her head, walking over to where Elena was, and took a seat next to her. Nilly took Elena's hand in hers and squeezed it tight.

Nilin caught movement from the corner of her eye. She turned her head to find Damon taking a seat across from them. There was a small gracious smile that came to Nilin's lips, one that she couldn't hide. She nodded at Damon and he gave her a light half smile back. Nilin felt her heart skip a beat, but she ignored it and stared forward again as the three of them waited for Stefan to wake up.