"Alex—" The girl with the pixie cut furrowed her brow, tilting her head with a smirk. "You're not the usual face I see when I make my deliveries."
"Rose-Marie?" Alex asked, her brow furrowed slightly, reaching out a hand to take the styrofoam cooler from the girl's hand. She tilted her head, letting out a groan. "If you know where I am then so do my brother's contacts."
"That's only if I don't tell them," Rose smirked, letting go of the cooler before crossing her arms over her chest. She shifted her weight as she looked the Mikaelson up and down. "I'm not the one who pissed them off if you remember correctly." Alex laughed, shaking her head.
"You're right," She leaned against the door frame, nodding towards the pink hues of the skyline. "You better get going, the sun will be up in no time and, by the looks of the completely tinted car, you can't be out much longer." Rose nodded, shoving her hands into her pockets.
"Yeah," The girl laughed, slowly backing away. "I'm sure this isn't the last we'll be seeing each other." Alex cleared her throat, nodding.
"I'm sure you're right." She closed the door, rolling her eyes once she was out of sight of the other woman. While catching up with old friends was nice, she had more important things to take care of at the moment.
Damon entered the boarding house quietly, not wanting to startle anyone with his presence. However, as he walked further in, his hearing picked up the last of a conversation that instantly made his mood sour. "How do I know he hasn't had it the entire time?"
"You know, you might want to speak more kindly about someone who has information on something you value more than anything." Damon spoke with a small smirk as he leaned against the wall. "Although it is flattering you talk about me when I'm gone, Alex." He tilted his head, raising his brow slightly. Alex rolled her eyes at the oldest Salvatore, looking from Stefan to Damon, who stood in the walkway watching them.
"Everything I value is either in the hands of my deranged brother, is locked in the tomb, or has been killed by a deranged brother. I truly doubt you have any information for me, Damon." Alex scoffed, her hands landing against her thighs as she stood, turning to make her way towards the decanter on the large wooden desk in the back of the room.
"Mm, well it's good to see they got part of the story right." Damon said nonchalantly with a half shrug. "I guess it doesn't matter then." His lips started to curl into a twisted smile, but he stopped himself. Stefan raised a brow studying his older brother; Damon knew something, that wasn't a lie.
"Have you finished tearing my town apart piece by piece, or are you trying to out us all, soldier?" Alex lifted the square glass that now held a healthy amount of scotch to her lips as she turned around, raising her brow at the raven-haired boy.
Damon moved to sit in one of the wingback chairs, "Your town? I'm pretty sure this town belongs to the state and the people within it." He glanced at Stefan, "You're the one in school Steffy, isn't that what they're teaching you these days?"
Stefan took a step forward, "Cut to the chase, Damon. Clearly there's something you want to share."
Damon chuckled, "What's it matter? Alex is going to believe what she wants. What's an old tale from the 1900's going to do?" He paused for a moment, pressing a finger to his chin. "Oh, did I forget to mention? I went scanning through some of the Mikaelson archives while you were tearing your home apart."
Alex rolled her eyes, twirling her glass as she sat back down and kicked her feet up. "Yes, Damon, my town. Or did you forget who the true founding families were all those years ago? We may not have put up a fancy sign or brick and mortar buildings, but the Mikaelson's, Petrova's and the Bennett's have protected this town with their lives for centuries." She took another sip from her glass, raising her brow when she watched the exchange between the brothers before her. She tried not to let her peaked interest— or her disdain for the fact that he was rummaging through her things— show when Damon mentioned the archives.
"And what's the newest folklore about the lives we've led, Salvatore?" Alex leaned forward, pointing a finger at Damon as she spoke. "Do tell."
Damon rolled his eyes, "So humble." There truly was no point in getting to this debate. He wouldn't mind continuing leading the blonde in circles if it kept her away from him opening the tomb, but then she jumped at the bait. His smile returned and the raven-haired man stood to pour himself a drink.
"Oh, nothing much. Just a story about a big bad wolf and a little fox..." Damon's tone dripped of boredom. "It was a silly thing now that I truly think about it. Didn't make a lot of sense, but it was interesting." He eyed Alex as he finished pouring his drink, trying to get a read on her.
"What are you even talking about, Damon?" Stefan asked, utterly confused. What did a wolf and fox have to do with anything?
"You'd think it was written by the Grimm brothers with how dark it was," Damon gave a fake shiver as he took a drink. Alex placed her glass down, her nose twitching involuntarily as she gritted her teeth.
"Big bad wolf my ass," She scoffed, looking down at her glass. Swallowing hard, she looked up again. "Klaus and Tori, Stefan," she shook her head, standing from her seat. Alex ran her tongue across her top teeth. She thought about snapping Damon's neck just for using her sister's nickname in the inflection he had but she decided against it.
"I really don't believe you, Damon." She placed the glass to her lips, throwing her head back and finishing off what was left in it.
"Oh," Stefan took a second to let the information settle, his eyes moving between the two. "Why would a tale about Klaus and Tori matter. She's gone, Damon." He glanced at Alex to make sure his words weren't too cruel. "You truly are an ass."
"Tori isn't gone, Stefan. She's merely…. Incapacitated," Alex sighed, tapping her fingers against her now empty glass.
Damon glared at Stefan, "I would be extra nice to me right now." He stood from his seat, a scowl taking over his smug features. "I could have kept all of this to myself, but I was feeling a little selfless." He turned his attention back to Alex, "And the story matters because of what it holds. Why not hear it before you dismiss it? A tale written in 1930, nearly sixty-six years after we all left. A little odd don't you think?" A smirk tugged at his lips, "Unless you've given up just like the tale predicts. I suppose 150-some-years can take the fight out of you." Alex's brows furrowed at the added information.
"Damon, Klaus has Finn. If I use a locator spell, Elena is as good as dead. We all know this." She closed her eyes, shaking her head. "But, no, I don't find it odd. Of course my brother would return home knowing I've been gone for sixty years. The question is, who would live to tell the tale that the stingy brother with the tricky little fingers was back on American soil?"
"трептене-миши," Treptene Mishi, Damon said with a shrug. "From the information in this tale, you wouldn't need magic." He gave her a charming smile which quickly turned into a frown. "But you don't believe it so what's it matter."
Stefan huffed, "Just tell the damn tale, Damon. You're just dying for us to ask, aren't you?"
"Little bit," Damon took another sip of his drink.
"Then just tell it already so we can move on."
"Someone woke up on the grouchy side of the bed this morning," Damon teased, "But I don't mind if I do." The vampire moved to refill his glass. "We all already know the juicy parts. The big bad wolf, leads his pack by fear and cruelty. His pack made up of misfits— writers' choice of words, not my own." He said pointing at Alex, "One of the members is the fox— sly little thing— but the writer says they're loyal to a fault. The wolf keeps the members in line with the help of an old mystic tree." Damon looked toward Stefan.
"Something that makes no sense to me, but this tree can apparently put things to sleep. Not the Disney kind either, a torturous sleep. Any-who, one day the little fox just ticks the wolf off, betrays him." He took a quick sip of his drink. "So, big bad wolf puts the fox to sleep. However, instead of putting the fox with the other sleeping members of the pack, he hides her away. For he knew the dove—who I'm guessing is you," Again he looked at Alex, "would come searching for her. So, he buried her." He tilted his head back, swallowing what was left in his glass.
"And it seems his plan works, fore the little fox remains buried in her own personal hell, waiting and waiting for the dove to come find her. The Dove gives up on her, though. Defeated by the big bad wolf just as he wanted. The foxes only hope is for someone to find a way to locate her grave. Now the tale doesn't say where she's buried but it did have a nifty little riddle with it at the end." Alex let out a laugh, shaking her head.
"You had me there for a moment, Damon. You really did." She ran a hand through her hair. "I didn't know you learned Bulgarian just to fuck with my head, that was clever. But, you see," She stood up, stalking towards Damon. "трептене-миши has been locked in the tombs since 1864." She looked over at Stefan, raising a brow. "Does Flutter Mouse ring any bells to you?"
Damon tried not to laugh, "I might enjoy screwing with your head but don't flatter yourself, blondie. I didn't learn anything for you." He took a step back as she moved forward, pulling a small book from his back pocket. Worn forest green leather, the writing on the cover faded silver. He opened to where the black silk bookmark attached to the binding was tucked away, turning it so Alex could see. The title of the tale Little Fox and underneath in the author line трептене-миши. "The name's just a coincidence." He turned the pages until he reached the end of the tale. "Make any sense to you?"
To move to the future you must go to the past.
Where ancient bones fell and familiars dwell, judgment waits.
Pure intentions will call the guides.
Follow the foxes to where she lies.
Alex rolled her eyes, unable to understand how Damon could be so utterly blind to the fact that this tall tale was written by Katerina. Everything that she had learned in the past 24 hours was coming together. The estate, the map, the comment Rose had made, the story.
"A coincidence?" She scoffed, shaking her head. She quickly snatched the book from Damon's hands, her eyes skimming the page. She snapped the book shut, shoving it under her arm as she grabbed her jacket from the back of the recliner she sat in previously. "We'll see about that." She turned her head, locking eyes with the youngest Salvatore. "I need to make a call, and I need you to keep an eye on Elena while I'm gone. Don't let her go looking for me."
"Ah, so it does make sense to you. Good," Damon took a healthy drink from his glass, a smug smirk painted on his lips.
"Wait, you believe this?" Stefan asked with his arms over his chest. "He finds some book in your archives, that holds a tale from 1930— which just happens to be written under an old nickname you gave Katherine— that has some riddle about where Tori is and you're going to run off to find her?" Stefan asked in shock. "Alex, this is insane."
"It's what family does, little brother." Damon moved to sit back in the wingback chair. "Although, I wouldn't go through that kind of trouble for you, that's for sure." Damon made himself comfortable, "And you'll need more than a few blood bags. Toriana was always a thirsty thing. 145 years without a drink," Damon tsked, "she could probably drain a few bodies and still be hungry. Best of hunting, my friend. Let me know if you find her."
Alex sighed, tilting her head at Stefan. "Damon found that book tucked away in my home, Stefan. That old mystic tree? It's the ash of the ancient white oak, the tree our powers are tied to. That betrayal was helping a certain Bulgarian witch escape the sun and moon ritual." She shook her head as she threw on her jacket. "It may seem insane to you, but something in my gut tells me this is right." She wouldn't mention that it was the old coven telling her anything, that was one piece they didn't need to know.
"Let me know when you open that tomb, Damon. I'd kill to see your face when you find what you're looking for." Alex looked in his direction with a cocky grin gracing her features.