Hello, readers! I am so psyched for having gone past the 6,000 views of this story and I couldn't more more honored that so many have tuned in for a read. I also hope that you are all staying safe!
Now, on to the response of your awesome reviews:
-xenocanaan: I'm so glad you're loving it! And yes, I wanted Damon to know a bit, 'cause the series never really showed neither Damon or Stefan being aware of other supernatural beings, even though they were pretty old vampires who got around. Also, Mystic Falls has a bit of everything in its history, so I added a bit to it. Of course, the Mystic Falls gang never learns NOT to be smart and play their cards right, I'll leave it at that.
-PrincessMagic: Yass, there's gonna be a lot of bonding for the girls in these chapters that are to come, so I hope you enjoy them as much as I am. The switching teams for the Scooby Gang is still a work in progress, since I have entertained the idea.
-GhostGypsy: Yes, Gwen will have her moments and even more as the story progresses and she breaks out of her shell. I am so happy that you're liking this revamp, since I've been worried about it a bit, but I just love working on this again and spacing things out. The whole situation with Gwen having problems with her magic is a little secret for the future, which I can't wait for you guys to read, but I won't spoil anything about it.
-Love . Fiction . 2020: Thanks, I'm so glad you liked it!
-GreenLilly: So happy you loved it, and I hope you'll love this one. I love writing the girls together and fleshing them out. And yes, I gotta give tidbits about the faeries and such, but I am taking my time with that, since I don't want to make a blank exposition about it and want to show what other characters have to say about them, which is why I felt the need to connect someone of the Scooby Gang to the faeries in some way, which I will delve into later on. And I love and hate writing Damon, only because I want to do him justice and stay true to his character. And yes, June can be a Mama Bear, especially when she has no one else she cares about to protect.
-treesofsilverleaves: Yes, I want to show you guys more about their relationship, which is extremely complicated, but there are reasons for it. I am not making their relationship like this without an explanation, since it's not so simple. And I have to admit that Klaus and Juniper are awesome to write. I am so excited for the ships you guys might want, so no fear in sharing!
-amg . supernatural: Thanks! Glad you enjoyed and will continue to do so!
Disclaimer: I own nothing from The Vampire Diaries and claim no ownership over anything pertaining to it. I only own my characters.
bonfire tales
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While Juniper wore an expressionless stare as she gazed at the large crowd of teenagers having a good time at the Bonfire Party, Gwen and Rebekah were amused with everything that was happening around them as they looked around with mild curiosity. They walked around before they arrived at one of many tables with items that were made available for consumption, mostly finding kegs and coolers filled with beer and some water. They did come across a few snacks, and one of them caught Gwen's attention, which had her mouth begin to water in anticipation.
"They have s'mores!" the halfling announced with a smile as she reached for the bag of marshmallows, glancing at the chocolate bars and graham crackers that she also grabbed.
"What's that?" asked Rebekah, raising an eyebrow when the other two girls looked at her with incredulity. She realized that what she asked must have been a dumb question, but only to those of the modern century. "Do remember that I've been stuffed in a box for ninety years. I have a free pass for stupid questions."
"It wasn't stupid," Gwen told her, adjusting the snacks she grabbed in her arms as she also grabbed some sticks that had been laid out on the table. "We just forget and have a hard time processing that Nik stuffed you in a box in the first place."
Juniper made a humming noise as she looked around them. "Yeah, we're going to need drinks if we want to have a good time."
Rebekah grinned at the witch. "Now we're talking." She turned to look at Gwen. "You go find us a bonfire, while June and I get some drinks."
Gwen made a mock salute. "Oui, Capitaine."
The group of three girls separated there so that Rebekah and Juniper could look for some drinks, whereas Gwen went about looking for a relatively isolated bonfire for herself and her friends. She smiled at people and apologized to anyone she bumped into, also being careful not to trip on anything on the forest floor. Finally, she found a bonfire that had an empty wooden bench that could fit her and her companions easily, so she sat on the bench with the ingredients needed to make s'mores. All she had to do now was wait for Juniper and Rebekah to find her.
Next to a keg, Juniper chuckled as she watched how Rebekah struggled with trying to get some beer out of the barrel and into her red cup. "Are you sure you don't need my help?" the grinning witch asked the frustrated vampire.
Rebekah huffed as she gave Juniper a halfhearted glare before giving up, having wanted to do things by herself. "Fine, you do it."
Juniper smiled at the blonde vampire before she filled their three cups with some beer, explaining to Rebekah how to manage a keg as she did so. "You got it?" she asked as she handed the blonde her drink.
Before Rebekah could answer, Stefan appeared out of nowhere. "You two all right there?" he asked the two women as he poured some beer into his red cup. "Gwen doing all right?"
"She's fine," said Juniper, guessing that he was only asking due to Klaus' compulsion.
"I thought Tyler would be here," Rebekah remarked, hoping that her interest in the new hybrid would irk Stefan in some way. She was bothered that he didn't want to rekindle their relationship or even want to spend time with her after severing his connection with his emotions, but she wasn't going to let that keep her from having fun.
"You're into Tyler now?" Stefan asked Rebekah, but his tone showed he was disinterested in whatever she said. "That's kind of fickle," he mocked the Original, not at all fearful of teasing her.
"When you're willing to give me the time of day again, then we'll talk," Rebekah scoffed at Stefan, taking a sip of her beer. "Until then, a girl has needs."
Juniper raised her cup. "Amen to that." She touched Rebekah's cup with her own before they both took a good gulp of the beer. The witch directed a smirk at Stefan. "Now, you can go on your merry way and bother someone else."
Elena arrived at the keg, surprising only Stefan by her silent approach as she poured some beer for herself. "Excuse me." She only acknowledged Rebekah and Juniper with a tight smile, ignoring Stefan's existence completely.
"Elena, hi," Stefan greeted his ex-girlfriend as he tried to catch her eyes, but she openly avoided looking at him. He watched as she took a rather large sip of her beer, the smile on his lips being an awkward one. "What are you doing?"
"I'm having fun, Stefan," Elena countered with a bit of an edge to her voice, raising her eyebrows at him. "You have a problem with that?" She then proceeded to drink the whole cup, sighing in relief when she was done.
"All right, take it easy," Stefan told her, itching to reach over and take the red cup from her hands. Even though he had turned off his humanity, he could still hear a voice nagging in the dark recesses of his mind to get Elena to stop drinking too much too fast, and it had nothing to do with Klaus' compulsion. "We both know you are kind of a lightweight," he said, trying to deter her from getting drunk.
"Uh-huh. Really?" Elena chuckled mockingly as she frowned at Stefan, a little peeved by his comment as she poured some more beer into her cup. "You think I'm going to let a blood addict tell me how to drink?" She then left, purposely ramming her shoulder against Stefan's when she walked past him.
"Wow," Juniper chuckled as she took another sip of beer. "Not a good break-up?" she taunted Stefan, eliciting snickers from Rebekah as they watched the young vampire walk away to follow Elena. "Does the whole humanity switch actually work?" she asked the blonde vampire standing next to her.
Rebekah shrugged her shoulders as she looked at her beer. "Honestly, after so many years witnessing and feeling so many things, that switch stops working, as if it's been used up. We just end up having a better handle of our emotions…to an extent." She frowned as she glanced at Juniper with pursed lips. "I don't know if you understood, but…"
Juniper nodded, giving Rebekah a sympathetic smile. "I understand."
"Well," Rebekah began, taking a deep breath as she filled up her cup once more and another to take to Gwen, "let's go find our little lamb and enjoy some s'mores. I'm dying to try one."
Juniper was just about to follow Rebekah when a cold and unpleasant feeling went down her back, causing her to look around as she tried to find whatever it was that caused goosebumps to manifest on her skin. There was something wrong going on, something she couldn't ignore due to the powerful magic she sensed was being used. "You go on ahead," she told Rebekah. "I'll go find us some other snacks." Rebekah wasn't convinced by this, but she nodded and left to find Gwen. "Don't wait for me!" she called after the Original, seeing the latter raise a cup to tell her that she heard.
Not too far away, Rebekah found Gwen sitting on a bench and arrived just as a boy was about to approach Gwen. "Move," she told the brown-haired teenager who had yet to greet Gwen. She locked eyes with the teen boy and said, "And bother someone else. Can't you see it's only going to be us girls tonight?" She grinned as she watched the boy leave and join a crowd with a dazed look. "Now, let's get back to our s'mores and see what all the fuss is about," she said as she sat down to Gwen's left, handing the young girl one of the red cups she was carrying.
Gwen took a sip of beer, the taste of it made her grimace and her body released an involuntary shiver. "Oh, that's not good. It's not good at all," she mumbled, more to herself. Her reaction had Rebekah laughing a bit. "It's not funny. That was disgusting." She tried to take another sip, but she still couldn't find anything she liked about the sour taste. "How can people drink this?"
"Years of practice," said Rebekah.
"You mean, like…a thousand years?" chuckled Gwen, placing the cup on the ground next to her feet.
"More or less," said Rebekah, chuckling. "Still, I think you're more of a wine girl, or maybe fruity drinks."
"Probably," Gwen chuckled before she looked around when she didn't see Juniper, so she asked Rebekah, "Where's June?"
"She said she wanted to find more snacks, but I think it's a witch thing," Rebekah answered and noticed the halfling look around in search of her friend with concern in her eyes. "She'll be fine," she assured the young hybrid as she patted Gwen's knee in comfort. "Let's enjoy a few of these and wait for her to come back." Gwen nodded, but Rebekah could still see the halfling had yet to relax. "We're not doing anything until you smile," she said as she stared straight into Gwen's hazel eyes, straightening her back as she waited. "I have all the time in the world."
Unable to fight it, a smile grew on Gwen's lips. "Fine." She reached for their snacks and sticks, placing them between herself and Rebekah. "Here," she said as she handed Rebekah a stick and kept one for herself. "So, a s'more is a snack that is normally eaten over a bonfire." She placed her stick on her lap and opened the bag of marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate bars, while Rebekah watched with rapt attention. "We start with the marshmallow." The half-breed impaled a marshmallow with her stick before placing it over the bonfire in front of them, allowing the flames to lick at the white confection as she reached for two graham crackers and a chocolate bar. "Then, we make ourselves a very tasty sandwich." While keeping the stick steady as she brought the lightly burnt marshmallow closer to her, she positioned the chocolate bar on top of the warm marshmallow before she managed to grab the combination of the marshmallow and chocolate between two graham crackers. "And here we are." She showed the warm, sweet treat to Rebekah with a smile. "A s'more," she said as she gave the snack to a fascinated Rebekah.
"It's so simple," Rebekah whispered before taking a bite from the sugary treat, releasing a pleasant moan when her mouth was filled with nothing but blissful sweetness. "And so good." She stared at the s'more in her hand with wonder. "How on earth did I live a thousand years without ever having any idea this existed?"
Gwen laughed. "You get a pass." She waited until Rebekah finished the s'more before gesturing to the stick on the Original's lap. "Your turn."
And so, Rebekah set about trying to make a s'more on her own with Gwen's directions. They shared a few laughs and giggles at the vampire's failed attempts when placing the marshmallow over the fire, leaving it too long or not enough. She had almost gone through the entire bag of marshmallows without any luck, given that she ended up burning them and picking up another one to try again. Rebekah's stubbornness prevented her from giving up making the perfect s'more, determined to at least make one of the delicious snacks before the night was over.
"I can just make them for you. It's no big deal," Gwen laughed as she watched Rebekah failed yet again with a huff. The half-faerie munched on her s'more, her sixth one.
"Says the pro." Rebekah groaned when she watched her marshmallow melt through the stick and fall into the flames. "Why is this so bloody hard?"
"It won't be after you get the hang of it," Gwen comforted her.
Rebekah looked up at all the people around them with a small smile. So far, she was having a good time as an exchange student and enjoying what she learned in every class, even though she had only been a student for a mere day. This was an experience she always wanted to go through if only to feel what it meant to be normal for a small moment in her life. Klaus's paranoia and fear of their father kept her from fulfilling such simple desires that had always fascinated her. "You know, I've heard people complain all day about going back to school and waking up early and having to study, but none of them know how lucky they are," Rebekah said without looking at Gwen, still gazing at the teenagers having a good time. "They have no idea."
"Yeah." Gwen nodded as she placed down her stick, deciding that it was best to stop eating s'mores before her stomach got queasy. She followed Rebekah's line of sight, observing her surroundings. "None of them have any idea about the creatures of the night lurking among them."
"I don't think that would be so bad," Rebekah remarked, picking up another marshmallow to stab through it with her stick.
"No, probably not," Gwen hummed in agreement.
"So, speaking of normal things," Rebekah began as she turned to Gwen. "Let's talk about boys. You start."
Gwen furrowed her brows playfully. "Why do I have to go first?"
"I'm older than you," Rebekah said with a shrug of her shoulders.
"You're older than anyone in this town, so I don't think that's fair," Gwen argued.
"I suggested the idea, so you have to do the polite thing by going first," said Rebekah. "Besides, my list of suitors is too long to be able to cover it in one night."
"Fine," Gwen sighed, her sullen eyes staring at the fire, a familiar face appearing in the forefront of her mind. "There was a boy, but only one."
Rebekah chuckled. "Do tell."
Gwen smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "It was when we were staying in New York around three years ago, I think," she said, trying to recall the exact date. "I was thirteen and alone."
"Oh, puppy love," Rebekah cooed.
"Yeah," Gwen said, nodding in agreement. "I was going to a bookstore and bumped into a group of students who were coming out of school." She smiled as she remembered the nervous apology that she received from one of the boys, how handsome he looked in the uniform of his private school. "There was this boy who wanted to buy me some cake or something to say he was sorry."
"Cake?" asked Rebekah.
"We were thirteen," countered Gwen, still smiling. "He was very sweet, but I knew that it was pointless to say 'yes', so I left." She chuckled as she recalled what happened next. "He was waiting by the bookstore a week later with a cake in hand."
"Oh, now that's very sweet," said Rebekah, finding the story to be quite adorable. "Quite charming, too."
"He was, and very clumsy," said Gwen, giggling.
"What was his name?" Rebekah asked her.
"Adam," Gwen told her, exhaling her bottled-up emotions to keep her voice from cracking just by saying his name. "He was insistent on being friends and kept trying to meet up with me, but I didn't want him to go anywhere near where Nik and I were staying, so I made him a deal to give him my number if he left." She cleared her throat, fighting to stay strong. "We called each other quite a lot and just talked." She smiled when she could still hear Adam's voice ringing through her mind. "I liked him so much. He was my first friend." The halfling could feel her cheeks begin to heat up as the familiar emotion she felt back then settled on her chest once more.
"You had a crush on him," Rebekah stated, laughing when she saw Gwen hide her face behind her hands. "Oh, and you still blush just thinking about him," the vampire teased.
"He told me he liked me," Gwen said, her voice muffled from behind her hands that still covered her face.
"What happened next?" Rebekah asked after Gwen pulled her hands away from her face. "Did this Romeo come to Juliet's balcony and waltzed her away to a dance?"
"He tried to invite me to get-togethers with his friends, but I couldn't, not with Nik there," she explained as she shook her head, remembering how frustrated she had felt when she couldn't meet up with Adam to do anything. "I was trying to get Nik to let me go out more, but he wasn't budging."
Rebekah furrowed her brows. "It was a harmless crush."
"Yeah, tell that to Nik," Gwen sighed.
"What did you do?" asked Rebekah.
"Well, an opportunity presented itself when Nik had to leave for a while, so I planned to go to one of the parties Adam invited me to." Gwen's gaze became downcast as she stared at her fidgeting fingers on her lap, feeling the familiar pressure of tears behind her eyes. "I met up with him at one of his friend's penthouse for a get-together and had a good time playing games and watching movies, but I didn't want to risk it. I needed to get home by midnight."
"Like Cinderella, the magic wore off," remarked Rebekah, her gaze becoming downcast as she thought about the countless times that she had to give up on her own happiness for fear of what Nik might to do her.
Gwen chuckled at this, finding the reference to be quite funny. "Yeah, something like that. I was thinking about sneaking off and calling Adam the next morning, but he found me and convinced me to let him walk me home," she said as she focused on the fire in front of her. "We kissed at the door before he left." Her heart ached as she recalled her first kiss and the feelings that awakened inside of her when their lips had met, but she tried to steel herself to continue the story.
"The night ended on a good note, so why the long face?" Rebekah asked Gwen, but she already knew that nothing stayed good when her brother was against it.
"When is anything good and simple when it comes to Nik?" Gwen asked Rebekah with a raised eyebrow, causing the Original to frown. "He came home the next day looking more than a little happy. A bit smug, but I didn't pay too much attention to it." Her eyes watered as she shrugged her shoulders, her lips in a thin line. "Adam called me and asked to meet up at the bookstore, so I did." She paused, taking a deep breath to undo the knot in her chest with an exhale. "He was a different person, telling me that it was all just a game to him."
"What?" Rebekah frowned, not having expected that. "Wasn't he charmed and such by you?"
Gwen looked at Rebekah with a tight smile. "Not so much after being compelled to be cruel to me, something that Nik had no trouble confessing to having a hand in when I asked him." She scoffed, remembering how angry she had been.
Rebekah wanted to be surprised, but she wasn't, not when it came to her older brother and his ways of 'protecting' his loved ones from what he perceived as a threat. "You're lucky he didn't kill him. Nik has killed almost all my lovers…or did something horrific to them. And he always said he did it to protect me." She placed a comforting hand on Gwen's shoulder. "What did you do with Adam?"
"Well," Gwen released a humorless laugh, "I had a choice. I either never contacted Adam ever again…" she trailed off as she cleared her throat to push down the lump that was growing in her throat. "Or Nik would have him kill himself."
"Yes, Nik always has a thing for leaving it up to others to decide to live by his standards," said Rebekah, rubbing Gwen's back in an attempt to offer some comfort.
"Adam's safe, so it's fine," Gwen said as she exhaled. While she had been heartbroken when it happened, she found that she wasn't too bummed about the situation as the days went on and she returned to the norm of her life. She hated herself for always falling back into the mold that best suited Klaus, never being brave enough to break out of it. "It's my fault, really. I just never have the guts to stand my ground when it comes to him." And she knew that it wasn't because she was afraid of Klaus, realizing that she was simply afraid of getting what she wanted by exploring life without him.
"Amazingly, you're still with him," said Rebekah.
Gwen smiled at Rebekah. "Yeah, but the same could be said about you. We can't seem to abandon him."
Rebekah huffed with a groan as she shook her head. "We're supposed to be having fun, but we ended up digging up old stuff that needs to stay buried."
"True, but we're bonding," Gwen said with a bit of a lull in her voice, receiving a smile from Rebekah. The young girl looked around, blowing some air at her the wisps of her hair to get it out of her eyes before just using her hands to swipe her tresses to the side. "I think I'm going to go find out what's taking June so long." She stood up and turned to Rebekah. "Will you be fine on your own?"
"Yes, I'll catch up with you guys in a mo," Rebekah sighed as she began to roast another marshmallow, glaring at the sweet treat, as if that was enough to will the delicious treat to do as she wanted. "I really just want to get one right."
"Okay, I'll try to be quick," Gwen told the vampire before she set off to search for Juniper.
Rebekah watched Gwen leave before returning her attention to her marshmallow, her eyes narrowing in determination. She glanced up to her left when she saw Damon sitting down on the bench next to her, but she had sensed him approaching her right before Gwen left. "What, no friends your own age?" she remarked after Damon made himself comfortable, but she remained focused on her task.
"Like you can talk," Damon quipped in return.
Rebekah brought her burning marshmallow close to her mouth to blow away the flames, scowling at the now blackened treat. "Is this supposed to be fun?" she asked, not expecting to get an answer since she was speaking to herself. "I've been through almost an entire bag of these."
"No, you're just looking at it all wrong. Look, this is a little rough on the outside," Damon told her as he reached up to Rebekah's marshmallow and pulled off the burnt outer layer to reveal the fluffy insides. "But the inside…" he trailed off with a hum as he moved the stick closer to Rebekah's mouth, allowing her to eat it with the care needed so that she wouldn't get singed. "Yum." He licked his sticky fingers that had touched the marshmallow's burnt layer he threw on the ground, maintaining eye contact with the older vampire.
The Original vampire hummed in delight, smiling at the younger vampire. "It's good," she told him, her eyes looking him over, concluding that he was quite handsome. "Still not what I am aiming for."
Damon nodded, inching closer to the blonde without knowing about Elena's jealous gaze that watched him get cozy with another woman. He reached for another marshmallow, along with some graham crackers and a chocolate bar to make Rebekah a s'more. "Have you never had one of these before?" he asked Rebekah as he handed her a finished s'more, giving her a playful glare.
Rebekah paused for a moment before she took the s'more. "Well, I've been in a casket for ninety years."
Damon hummed with a playful scowl. "That's no excuse."
Rebekah paused from taking another bite of her s'more, glancing at Damon to find him giving her a sultry grin, which she found odd. "Why are you being so nice to me?" she asked the younger vampire after taking a bite of her s'more, her eyes narrowing as she dropped the snack to face the raven-haired vampire. "You hate me. You should be mean."
"Well, I could be mean, if that's what you're into," Damon told her with a lopsided grin.
Alarms began to ring in Rebekah's mind. Her mind went to Gwen and Juniper, which caused her to worry. It was all too convenient that this vampire was clearly trying to keep her attention on him. "You're distracting me." She stood up, grabbing her discarded stick. "Why?"
Damon also stood up in front of Rebekah, feigning confusion. "Just trying to be a good housemate."
Rebekah smirked as she placed her left hand on Damon's right shoulder before dragging it down his bicep. "There's never a fair fight between us, Damon," she whispered into his ear before she stabbed him in his abdomen with the stick, grinning as he groaned in pain while twisting her makeshift weapon further into him. "Remember that when you get the bright idea of being good enough of a distraction." She pulled away from him and walked away to search for her friends, no longer in the mood to stay at the party.
"Damn," Damon groaned as he sat down on the bench and removed the sharpened stick with a pained gasp, leaning to one side to hide the blood as he waited for his wound to heal. He made a mental note to tell everyone else to listen to him when he warns them that he stood no chance against an unpredictable Original with temper problems.
Elsewhere in the forest with partying people, Gwen looked around for Juniper with no luck, so she moved to the parking area closest to the entrance of the area where the party was taking place. Instead of finding Juniper, she felt something off when she saw a beautiful young lady with long, brown hair that was in waves standing beside a car with a joint in her hand. She could only sense such loneliness from the girl, but her eyes widened when she saw that the girl's appearance faded in and out in certain parts, and she also saw that a dark aura surrounded the young brunette.
"You noticed?" Juniper's voice whispered in Gwen's ear, startling the latter.
"Yeah." Gwen glanced at Juniper standing beside her before she looked back at the girl with the lit cigarette in her hands. "Is she dead?"
"Very much so. She's the reason I haven't been able to have a good time," said Juniper, her brows furrowed as she looked at what she deemed to be a ghost. "And she's not supposed to be here, especially when she's a ghost."
"How can we see her?" asked Gwen.
Juniper hummed, her eyes analyzing the dead girl. "We're sensitive to this kind of thing, but we still shouldn't be able to see ghosts, unless…" she paused as her mind supplied an explanation.
Gwen turned to Juniper with an eyebrow raised inquiringly. "Unless…what?"
"Unless she found a strong foothold to channel. It's the only way for her to get here that allows her to have a physical body, but she'd need magic to be able to do that," Juniper explained. "Dark magic, which happens to be my specialty."
"What do we do?" Gwen asked the witch.
"What?" Juniper gave Gwen a confused stare, folding her arms over her chest. "Are we supposed to do something?" Gwen tilted her head with a pointed look. "Just because you give me that look doesn't mean I get whatever point you're trying to make."
Gwen groaned as she watched the ghost walk away, feeling like they shouldn't ignore the spirit. "I'm just getting a bad vibe from her."
"You and your bad vibes," Juniper grumbled as she grabbed Gwen's hand and began to follow the teenage ghost. "You're lucky your bad vibes always mean something." She huffed, "I hate them." This had Gwen rolling her eyes while smiling for having gotten her way.
The two girls followed the ghost to a more secluded part of the parking area, finding the dead teenager standing in a corner near the school. Their eyes then turned to what the ghost was staring at, which was Alaric putting an unconscious Stefan in the trunk of a car just as Elena got into the passenger seat. They watched as Alaric closed the trunk and went to get into the driver's seat, but flames spreading across the ground surrounded the car, causing the history teacher to jump back.
"Elena!" Alaric called frantically as he ran to Elena's side and tried to open the door. "Open the door!" he instructed, still unable to open the car door.
Elena tried to do as Alaric said, but she couldn't unlock the door. "I can't! It won't open!" She tried once more. She tried unlocking it, but it would just lock itself again, to which she frowned. "What the hell?"
"Uh-oh," Gwen and Juniper said simultaneously.
Gwen followed the flames and saw that they originated from where the ghost had been. "That's not good." Her eyes narrowed when she saw that the ghost was sitting on the driver's seat. "Is it just me seeing things or is the ghost sitting right next to Elena?"
"Unfortunately, you're not seeing things," Juniper groaned, having preferred not to get involved. "Klaus is going to throw a huge tantrum if his doppelgänger dies, isn't he?" she asked with a frustrated groan. "He might even blame me for it."
"Most likely," said Gwen.
"Ugh," huffed Juniper before she walked toward the burning car with Elena and Stefan still inside of it. "I could have gotten drunk and ignored my witchy vibes, but no…"
Inside the burning car, Vicki watched as Elena struggled to get out. Even though she knew that she was killing someone important to her brother and many others, she didn't want to go back to being alone without anyone else to even talk to. "I'm sorry, Elena," she said, even though she knew she wouldn't be heard. The least she could do was stay with Elena until it was over.
Alaric had tried to break the window of the passenger's seat with all his strength, but he was met with unbreakable glass. He gasped as the fire grew stronger and tried to reach for the door in his desperation before he was pulled back by Gwen. "What the hell are you doing?" he yelled at the girl, frowning when he was unable to recognize her.
"No, what are you doing?" Gwen countered as she kept a firm grip on his arm, pulling him away from the raging fire that was getting too hot. The only reason she was strong enough to force him back a few steps was that she caught him by surprise. "You're going to get yourself killed."
"I need to save her," Alaric said as he tried to shake off Gwen, but she kept him in place.
"She's going to be fine," Gwen assured him, receiving a perplexed look from the teacher.
"What?" Alaric asked her, frowning.
Juniper stepped in front of the burning car with her hands on her hips, gaining the attention of both Elena and Vicki. "You don't belong here," she said while looking at the ghost next to Elena, causing the doppelgänger to frown as she looked to the driver's seat, but she found no one there. "But we both already know that." She relaxed and dropped her arms to her sides before lifting a hand to the car, focusing on the flames. She took a deep breath and chanted, "Na bi tuilleadh," Her spell calmed the flames, but it wasn't enough to extinguish them. "Na bi tuilleadh!" she tried again, but nothing happened. "Uh," she hummed, thinking that there had to be stronger magic involved to fight against her own. "Something's wrong," she called out.
Gwen stepped away from Alaric and approached the scorching car, ignoring Alaric's and Juniper's warnings. Her hazel eyes that were slightly glowing focused on the flames, the colors of her irises brightening as she felt the familiar warmth of her magic. She took a deep breath and blew lightly into the night air, willing the air to blow out the flames and whatever was giving them life. Not only did the fire completely disappear before the car blew up, but Vicki also vanished after being pulled away by Bonnie's magic.
Juniper sighed as she clasped her hands in front of her. "This car has been cleansed."
"Boo!" Gwen called out at the joke that she found terrible.
"Shut up! It was the perfect moment for the reference," Juniper yelled at Gwen as she went over to the passenger side's door, watching as Alaric struggled to open it. "Step aside." The teacher only looked at Juniper without moving, but he was pulled back a few steps by Gwen's grip on his bicep. The witch waved a hand that caused the door to be violently ripped from its hinges and thrown into the ground a few feet away, which had Alaric staring at the witch with wide eyes filled with incredulity. "Oh, come on. It's burned beyond recognition because of a vengeful ghost, so I think a broken door is not the worst thing it could have happened to it."
Alaric opted to ignore the witch and helped Elena get out of the car, getting her to lean against him as she continued to cough. "You okay?" He only received a nod from the brunette, since her lungs were trying to take in as much clean air as she could to fill her burning lungs.
Gwen took pity on the girl and approached her, causing Elena and Alaric to become alarmed. "I only mean to help," the halfling assured them as she lifted a hand that she placed on the skin of Elena's exposed collarbone. She closed her eyes and concentrated on her power and taking deep breaths herself as a faint green light appeared from beneath her hand.
The history teacher stared at Gwen with apprehension before he glanced at Juniper. "What's she doing?"
"Helping for free, so shush," said Juniper, crossing her arms over her chest.
Elena was suddenly taking a deep breath of air without trouble, feeling better than she did before and no longer feeling fuzzy from the alcohol, as if fresh air went into her body and cleansed it. "Thank you," she told Gwen as the latter took her hand off Elena. Before she could say anything else, the doppelgänger's eyes widened when she realized that Stefan was still in the trunk, so she went to it with everyone else following behind her. "Stefan!" she called just as Alaric opened the trunk to see said vampire stirring awake, so she helped him get out.
"Is there insurance that covers ghost attacks?" Juniper asked out loud.
"Doubtful," Alaric sighed as he began to survey the damage done to his car.
"There you are!" Rebekah approached the group as she looked at Gwen and Juniper. "I've been looking for you two." She raised an eyebrow when she saw the damaged car and the state that Stefan was in. "What the bloody hell happened here?"
"Nothing much, just an angry ghost stirring up some trouble for the locals, which we solved," Juniper answered.
The Original looked at both of her friends, searching for any injuries but found none. "Are you two all right?"
"Aww," Juniper cooed. "You do care."
Rebekah playfully rolled her eyes. "Don't make me regret it."
Gwen shook her head at Juniper's taunting, giving Rebekah a reassuring smile. "We're fine."
"Yeah," Juniper said, motioning for Gwen and Rebekah to follow her to their car. "This party is a bust."
"Tell me about it," Rebekah said with a nod as she walked between Gwen and Juniper.
Elena saw the women were leaving and stepped toward them after letting Stefan go when she was sure that he could lean against the side of the cooled car on his own. "Thank you!" she called out to the three women who had their backs to her.
Juniper stopped and glanced at the doppelgänger over her shoulder. "I didn't do it for you, but you're welcome." She turned back around and went to catch up to Gwen and Rebekah. "Okay, so let's trade marshmallows for some popcorn, a movie, and snug pajamas," the witch suggested.
"I'll have to do a rain check on that very awesome idea. I have to check up on something," Rebekah said as she stopped walking in the middle of the empty parking lot, causing her two friends to stare at her with confusion.
"What's wrong?" asked Gwen.
"Nik's hybrid didn't show up, so I'm gonna go make sure he's not dead," Rebekah explained.
"Please do," said Juniper. "The last thing we need is Klaus bitching about how terrible we are at doing him a favor."
Rebekah nodded with a hum. "Exactly."
"Be careful," Gwen told Rebekah, while Juniper made her way to the car. "And call if you need anything."
"I will," Rebekah said before she sped away, leaving behind a whisper of her fast movements.
Gwen went to turn around to walk the last few steps to the car Juniper was already in and turning on, but she squeaked when she bumped into someone. "I'm so sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going," she apologized to the person with a sheepish smile that fell when her eyes met the dark brown ones of a beautiful young woman who stood around six inches taller than her and possessed a slim body with strawberry blonde hair with parted bangs that was half up, and the other half fell past the middle of her back in soft curls. What caught Gwen's attention was the simple red dress the other girl was wearing that looked outdated, which also had a belt and other accessories made of leather added to the outfit. "Are you okay?" she managed to ask through the waver in her voice.
"I'm fine. Nothing's broken," the redhead said with pearly white teeth showing due to how wide her smile was. "I wasn't being careful myself."
Something about the girl told Gwen that she should get away from the woman, but she kept herself grounded on the spot, fighting to keep her body from shaking. She kept her eyes locked on the taller girl, preferring to always keep her in her line of sight. Her heart was beating too fast as her chest threatened to burst open due to how fear clawed at her very core, causing a lump to grow in her throat. She suddenly felt cold and she could tell that it was coming from the woman in front of her. There was something wrong, so very wrong.
"You all right there?" asked the redhead, tilting her head to the side.
"I'm fine," Gwen assured her with a slight stutter before honking caught her attention, causing her to look at Juniper in the car. "That'll be my friend. Have a good night." She walked toward the car and glanced back at the woman over her shoulder, but her breath got caught in her throat when there was no one there, so she jogged over to the car, quickly getting in.
"We just put out the fire. What's the hurry?" Juniper chuckled at how fast Gwen climbed into the car, but her brows furrowed when she saw the frightened look on Gwen's face. "You okay?"
"I'm fine." Gwen sighed and looked at Juniper. "I'm just tired. I really want a bed right now."
"Okay," Juniper said, not believing Gwen's reassurance but deciding not to push the girl for answers with the faraway look that was on the halfling's eyes. "I think we should just hunker in, give you some tea, get myself a nice glass of wine and call it a night. We've had enough excitement for one day."
"A little too much of the bad kind," Gwen sighed, deciding to forget about the woman she encountered. She just wanted to have some vanilla tea to calm her nerves and succumb to her comfortable bed to allow sleep to take her.
Juniper pulled out of the school's parking lot and headed toward the Salvatore Boarding House, passing by the same girl Gwen had bumped into with two men appearing behind her.
Rough Translation (French to English):
Oui, Capitaine.-Yes, captain.
Rough Translation (Scottish-Gaelic to English):
Na bi tuilleadh!-Be no more!
End of chapter!
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