A/N; Okay, I'm a little late, as always, I know, but I didn't want a shit update because I'm a little bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my writing, I nitpick at everything. But guysssss someone made me friggin fanart for this story, ME! Can you believe it? I can't. But go check out Ap3x-Phantom on deviantart it is so amazing, so much so, that I made it my story's image. I'm just awed by the fact I could inspire anyone, let alone you amazing people!
Okay, enough about me and my self-doubt, hope you enjoy, this was fun to write after I got my groove! Edited; the very next morning cause I apparently catch more fuck ups on my phone than on my laptop.
{PEOPLE WHO DON'T READ MY NOTES} check out my Polyvore; randomfashionsxoxo, for Nova's face claim, and style and everything, it's in a collection, pretty hard to miss.
Elena made sure to slam and lock the door as soon Caroline and Bonnie walked into the house.
"What was... that?" Bonnie asked, indicating towards the now closed door, her face showing how wary and bewildered she was.
Jeremy shuffled down the stairs before Elena could answer the question, he carefully avoided looking at them as he moved towards the living room, turning on his PlayStation. Elena sighed as she motioned towards the stairs, the three of them of them followed her up the stairs and into her room.
"Okay, spill. What was Spike here for?" Caroline demanded to know as soon as the door was locked behind them.
"He was looking for Stefan, who is looking for Vicki, who is in... transition to become a vampire. Because of Damon." Elena explained in a rush, she nervously locked her window and pulled the curtain.
Locking doors and windows won't do much against a human, let alone a Vampire. Nova wisely kept her thoughts to herself, choosing to sit down on the window seat.
"Vicki? Matt's sister? Vicki Donovan? That Vicki?" Caroline questioned in disbelief. Bonnie also looked shocked, less than Caroline, but shocked all the same.
"Mhm." Elena hummed, she nodded her head like a bobblehead as she sat down next to Nova.
"Shit." Bonnie cursed as Caroline sat down on Elena's bed, Bonnie soon sat down next to the blonde, watching their friends in concern.
"Yup, that about sums this entire situation." Nova agreed with her sister's assessment. Nova had to pulverize the small margin of guilt that tried to make her take the blame for not trying hard enough to save a girl who never wants to be saved.
"What do we do? How do we tell Matt his sister might want to eat him for a snack?" Caroline asked suddenly after they'd remained silent for a long few minutes.
The twins shared a glance that spoke volumes about how much they didn't want to tell Matt; for one, he'd try to kill The Salvatore's, she couldn't exactly blame the guy, if someone hurt Bonnie she'd make sure they suffered for longer than her lifespan, but it'd end badly for all of them if Matt decided he wanted to play Hunter.
"We can't, Caroline. You heard what Stefan said about what happened the last time this town learned about vampires. Besides she hasn't turned yet, she has to drink blood or something?" Elena said in question towards the twins, who nodded in confirmation.
"You have to die with vampire blood in your system. And then drink human blood to complete the transition." Bonnie explained the process of becoming a Vampire to a slightly confused Caroline.
Elena stood up suddenly and started pacing at a speed that made Nova dizzy as she watched her friend pace around the small room.
"We can't tell him. He would freak if he knew, I'm freaking! And he's already got so much going on- and don't give me that look Caroline. " Elena finally stopped rambling nervously, looking towards a now slightly sheepish Caroline.
"Hey, no looks, zero judgments," Caroline raised her hands in a placating motion.
Elena shot the blonde a frown with raised eyebrows, not believing her. "Okay, maybe a little judgment," the blonde amended, continuing before Elena could speak, "It's just, Lena, it's Matt." Bonnie had to dodge Caroline's hands as the blonde asserted to them as though it explained everything- and it did.
Sweet Matt, who'd been left in the hands of his teenage sister when their mother abandoned them.
He's multitasking trying to get into college with an athletic scholarship, which will be next to impossible with their football coach dead, he works at the Mystic Grill on weekends to help Vicki pay the bills, and has to keep his grades up because if he doesn't, he can kiss college goodbye.
The cherry on the fucking top; his sister technically just died and he doesn't even know.
"I know, I want to. But, we just can't." Elena spoke dejectedly and started pacing again, her fingers running through her hair.
Nova takes full blame for giving her friend that bad habit.
Nova shot her twin an urging glance as it was Bonnie's turn to deal with their friend's freakouts seeing as Nova had dealt with the last few; the twins are the 'therapist' of the group, they like to take shifts.
Bonnie sighed as she got up, laying a hand on Elena's shoulder to stop her from pacing. "Relax, inhale, exhale," Bonnie stated firmly.
Elena did as she was instructed, breathing in and out, calming down marginally. "I'm sure Stefan will find Vicki. And then we can go from there. It'll be fine, won't it, Nova?" Everyone in the room turned towards the teenager who was now attempting to disappear into the window seat.
Bonnie had been doing so well before she brought Nova into this, there was literally nothing Nova could say that'd make any of them feel better.
"Uhm, yeah, tots..." Nova trailed off and tried to grin reassuringly but failed so much it was painful to look at.
Caroline groaned falling back into the pillows, Bonnie sighed and Elena's nerves came back but she, thankfully, didn't start pacing again and sat back down. "How did this even happen? How did she die?" Caroline questioned, playing with the ears of Elena's old teddy bear that'd been laying on the bed.
"Damon said he gave her his blood. And then she apparently died without his knowledge." Elena answered, not buying that Vicki had gotten herself killed instead of Damon killing her.
"And do we believe him?" Bonnie asked her twin, seeing as it was already clear that Elena didn't believe him.
Nova's always been better at reading people without adding personal grudges or attachments to the mix.
"I think that if Damon had turned her, he wouldn't bother hiding it, he'd be gloating about it. He doesn't seem like the type to care if he's painted as the bad guy." Nova explained as her phone buzzed in her jacket pocket.
Speak of the devil and he shall appear, Nova thought dryly, as she read the message;
'You were right'- Damon
'Course I was'- Nova
Nova texted back quickly, not bothering to play dumb, she then quickly put her phone back in her pocket when she sent the text.
"He does seem like he likes being a massive dick." Caroline voiced her thoughts. Bonnie nodded in agreement as a thoughtful look appeared on her face, she gave Nova an 'We need to talk later' look.
Nova nodded in full agreement, she could see her twin was currently thinking what she'd been speculating about for the past fifteen minutes; if Damon didn't kill Vicki, what or who did?
Elena started to say something, but the doorbell chimed. "Probably Stefan," Elena announced as she got up again, her nerves obviously kicking up a notch. "I should get it." Elena didn't move, just stared at the door like it was going to eat her, which was an ironic thought, considering.
"What are you going to say to him?" Caroline asked, gently drawing Elena's attention towards them as they all got up from their individual perches.
"I can't be with him anymore," Elena said in realization, the confession shocked everyone in the room.
Well, that certainly didn't last long, Nova thought to herself, slightly confused. She jokingly predicted the breaking up over the whole undead thing, but can't really remember if they broke up before the fuckfest that was 'season three'.
"I know he means well but our relationship was built on some... pretty dangerous lies. I thought it'd be a fresh start but... it just wasn't the one I was looking for." Elena answered dejectedly, her brown eyes were sad just at the thought.
"Do you want us to come down with you?" Nova suggested despite knowing the answer.
They could hear Jeremy pausing his game to finally get up to answer the door, eventually calling Elena's name, really loudly.
"No, I need to do this alone. If you could just-" Elena bit her lip hard as tears welled up in her eyes.
"I'll get the ice cream,"
"I'll get the tissues,"
"And... I'll kick Jeremy out the living room and put on a horror film so horrifying you'll never think about romance again." Nova offered when all the good stuff got taken.
"Thanks." Elena gave them an exhausted smile, hesitantly opening the door, finally leaving the room.
They all went about doing what'd they'd promised to do while Elena led Stefan towards the porch to talk outside.
Bonnie got every ice cream flavor that was in the freezer and stacked them on the living room table.
Caroline grabbed two boxes of Kleenex from the upstairs bathroom and a brush; it was something Miranda used to do whenever one of the girls was upset, it always somehow just worked. Nova hadn't realized how much she missed having a mother until Miranda first brushed her hair after Nova had spent the first hour of her first slumber party in the bathroom sobbing, she'd been five and homesick for a home she hadn't really known was lost.
As promised, Nova paused Jeremy's game, and, ignoring his protests, she mercilessly dragged him out of the living room and into his room; it's not like his team had been even winning with the way he'd been getting sniped down every two seconds after his respawn.
Minutes later, Nova had picked one of the many 'Scary Movie', which was more of a comedy than a horror, but the corniness of it should avert Elena's attention from her dying romance. She almost chose Twilight since it's such a terribly cliche movie it should be classified a comedy. But it didn't seem appropriate given the circumstances, no matter how much she thinks it'd be hilarious, given the circumstances.
Nova conveniently ignored how when the movie came out in her old world she'd been obsessed with it and had been; Team Jacob 4 ever.
Caroline was setting out snacks with the help of Bonnie when they all paused when they heard the door shut and a strange noise.
The girls all turned to see Elena breaking down in quiet sobs, hiccuping as she slid down against the closed door, the sight was more than a little heartbreaking for all of them to witness, the last time they saw Elena cry was at her parents funeral.
They hesitated for a second, but eventually Bonnie rushed over to help her up. Caroline sped over to her as well, offering a box of Kleenex, only to start dabbing the sobbing teen's tears herself while Nova wrapped a blanket around Elena. They led her to the living room where they'd cut off all the lights and the movie was already playing. Caroline guided Elena to sit in front of the couch, which she did without comment, too busy trying to stop crying to pay attention.
Caroline sat down next to the twins on the couch and started to brush Elena's long brown hair that had become slightly tangled, "I could have loved with him," Elena spoke up after twenty minutes of absolutely no one paying attention to the movie.
"Oh, honey. I think you already were falling." Caroline replied sadly, moving the brush through Elena's hair gently.
They stayed like that for hours, talking for hours about random things, things that didn't involve boyfriends; like Magic and how waiting for their favorite shows to come back is practically torture.
It wasn't the happiest of nights but Nova felt content enough to appreciate the company of her best friends as they all piled on the couch and fell asleep talking about new ice cream flavors.
"I just don't understand why you want to torture yourself going over there. Because that's what it is you... you masochist." Caroline declared the next morning as they all got dressed for school. Elena sighed at Caroline but overall sat still as Nova carefully applied concealer under the other girl's eyes.
All of them stayed up late, or early, and that meant they all tried out Nova's sleeping schedule that includes only a few hours of sleep; they only woke up because Jenna almost sat on them, it was embarrassing, for Jenna, hilarious to them.
"I'll be fine," Elena reassured a cynical Caroline for what felt like the hundredth time in the hour she'd announced she wanted to go check up on Vicki before she went to school. Right, Vicki is the one she wants to check up on, Nova thought skeptically as she blended the concealer in with a sponge.
"Look- I'm only to say this once, but you were right." Elena grudgingly told to a now confused but slightly haughty Caroline.
"Duh, I'm always right...What was I right about this time?" Caroline inquired sheepishly as she brushed her blonde hair into a ponytail.
"Look. If I can't tell Matt about his sister, I can at least check up on her while she's surrounded by unfamiliar people in a... bizarre situation." Elena spoke determinedly, attempting to finish the discussion once and for all.
Caroline still didn't look entirely convinced by Elena's reasoning, but let it go as Bonnie came into the room from the bathroom.
"Don't worry, Care. I'll be going along to be an emotional buffer. Again." Nova added the last part with a big fake smile in Elena's direction as she capped the other girl's concealer. Elena just shot her an unamused look at the reminder of their many encounters of being stuck in the middle of the Salvatore brother's regular alpha male contests. It was becoming a terrible habit, those two, starting dick measurements in front of them.
"Uhm... Elena... Jeremy is up." Bonnie made the statement sound more like a question as she came into the room, sitting down on the bed to lace up her boots. Nova can't exactly blame her sister; it is 7 am, and Jeremy's been regularly skipping class to the knowledge of the whole damn town.
So, the obvious conclusion is- as always, anything about Jeremy acting weirder than he usually does is more than likely to do with girls, aka Vicki.
Nova might sound a little heartless if she says this out loud, so she won't, but she can't until this Vicki drama is over and done with because just as she'd gotten tired of hearing about The Salvatore's every day when they came into town, she's getting bored of hearing about Vicki drama- which to be fair to the local Vampires, while they've caused a lot of drama lately, 'Vicki Drama' has always been a thing.
Elena looked puzzled about what her brother was doing up at this time and dubiously went into the bathroom to check.
"Is she still going?" Bonnie asked them when she was sure Elena was too busy talking to Jeremy to pay attention to their conversation.
"Yeah, she says its because she feels guilty about leaving Matt's sister alone with strangers," Caroline scoffed but proceeded with a roll of eyes, capping her lipgloss, "As if Vicki doesn't do that on a regular basis before she got turned into Drusilla."
Nova and Bonnie wordlessly agreed but otherwise just went about getting dressed. Nova finally stopped procrastinating getting dressed, mostly because she'd finally gotten cold being only in her underwear and pulled on her print leggings, a grey sweater dress and stole Elena's light blue jean jacket.
Nova eyed her sister across the room as she pulled her socks on, her twin was pulling her dark coffee-colored hair into a braid, she had realized earlier that they hadn't had time to talk more about Emily haunting her dreams, with everything else that'd been happening, it was understandable, but made her feel like a shit sister all the same.
Nova looked towards their blonde friend and was thankful to see she was too busy texting and subtly wandered over to her twin.
It wasn't that she didn't want Caroline to know, but Bonnie hadn't brought up the issue with anyone other her, so she won't say anything until Bonnie was ready; it is a little weird, sharing everything with them after so long of keeping this part of their life hidden.
"Are you okay?" Nova whispered as she gently took over braiding her sister's hair into a one-sided braid.
"Nothings changed, not really," Bonnie whispered back, immediately knowing what Nova was asking about, "The talisman did appear in my bag when I left it behind last night. We might need to try something, anything."
There were very few things that they could do, Damon and Grams would kill them if they destroyed the talisman despite that being exactly what Emily wants and summoning Spirits are tricky.
Tricky, but doable, Nova thought firmly as she looked into her sister's sleepy eyes.
"I'll look up a few summoning spells, but it'd be better if we waited until Halloween." Nova murmured and her twin nodded in agreement, relief in her green eyes.
They had until the end of the Day of the Dead to summon their dead Ancestor from the Other Side.
Great, this should be fun, she thought sarcastically.
"Do you have food? And I mean like the kind humans eat. Not that humans haven't been known to go Hannibal." Nova rambled in a way of greeting as she ducked under Damon's arm that tried blocking the entrance. Cute, like that would ever stop her from stealing their food.
In her old life, she hadn't had such a large appetite, in this life when she's not plotting devious plans, she's eating- maybe it's a Witch thing. Probably just a Nova thing, she thought as she remembered Bonnie's eating habits that would never match hers.
"Good morning to you too," Damon replied, his body still preventing the much less brave Elena from entering the same way Nova had.
"Well do you? Come on, Elena, I'm starving." Nova called out as she looked around trying to remember where she'd seen the kitchen.
"Uhm..." Elena looked towards the smirking Vampire that was practically daring her to try the same thing and then her pleading brown eyes went towards Nova who was behind him.
Honestly, Elena shouldn't be so nervous, she had told the girls everything she did to make sure they'd stay safe from Damon's shit fest.
"Oh, come on, Elena. If he can barge into your home anytime he wants, so can you." Nova ignored the apprehensive glances she was getting from Elena to reach under Damon's arm to grab the other teens arm, yanking her inside with a firm grip.
Damon had no choice but to step aside or risk getting head-butted by Elena, which would have been amusing to see, but didn't happen. Once Elena regained her footing, she glared at Nova as she involuntarily dragged Elena into the- thankfully, correct room.
"Is Stefan here?" Elena asked with a resigned sigh as a silently amused Damon trailed behind them into the kitchen.
"Yep!" Damon answered cheerfully, as he leaned in the archway, watching them both as Nova poured herself a coffee.
It smelt like heaven, better than the brand they have at the Mystic Grill anyway.
"Where is he?" Elena asked when he didn't look as though he was going to tell her.
Nova tuned them out as she looked through all the cabinets, letting out a small hiss of; 'fuck, yes,' when she finally found a box of cereal, the box said that it would be expired in a week, but it was food, and she was too lazy to make pancakes.
"I'm going to go look for Stefan. Will you be alright, alone with him?" Elena asked not bothering to whisper now that she knows it'd be useless.
Nova just gave her a thumbs up as she had her mouth stuffed with a bagel she'd found in the refrigerator of all places, she placed two other bagels in the toaster. Elena sighed but left with one last glower in Damon's direction.
"You're quiet. That's not a good sign." Nova commented absently as she finished her stolen food and coffee.
When the other teen left, the Vampire just stood there, staring not at her, but through her; he was either listening to the conversation going on between Stefan and Elena, or thinking about something to do with Katherine, either way, it was fucking creepy.
"What makes you say that?" He finally lost the vacant stare that only dead people have to pay attention to her.
She just stared at him blankly as she politely, and grudgingly, started to clean up her mess, waiting for him to bring up whatever he's thinking about.
"The Council, will they be a problem?" Damon asked suddenly as he finally moved away from the archway, walking over, and surprisingly helping her dry the dishes she'd used. Must be that terrible gentleman phase that never really died when he did, she thought with amusement.
"They could be. But they won't get in your way with getting you what you want." Nova responded vaguely enough just in case unwanted ears where listening. She's not sure if he caught the fact that she didn't deny that they would be a problem, sooner or later.
He must have gotten her subtle as fuck message because he just hummed in acknowledgment before leaving. She's getting super good at this vague wording bullshit- who knew the whole cliche of Seers being vague as shit was a real thing.
Nova was drying her hands on a dishcloth, having eaten another bowl of cereal, when Stefan came in, not entirely surprised to see her, meaning he must have heard her- there's also the little fact that all of the girls are attached to the hip and most of the time stick in pairs.
"Morning!" Nova greeted cheerfully, happy now that she finally got food, she threw the dishcloth on the marble island.
"Morning. I was just getting Vicki some... coffee." Stefan finished lamely when he saw that the coffee pot had been emptied.
"Sorry, I had the last cup." Nova apologized but wasn't very sorry, because- coffee.
But she made effort to at least seem apologetic since Stefan looked stressed out, dealing with a human Vicki was exasperating, she can't imagine what it'd be like to deal with Vampire Vicki. "It's not a problem," Stefan waved off and started the process of making a new pot.
"But, uh..." Stefan started to say something when he saw she was about to leave the room. She raised her eyebrows and waited patiently for him to get his balls back, she hasn't taken them, yet.
"Vicki is going to need a-"
"Daylight ring, I know," Nova finished for him before he could choke up again, now suddenly impatient. "And when she gets her shit together enough not to be a danger to ones I love- she'll get it- but not any sooner."
"I completely understand. And agree." Stefan nodded in agreement as he turned the coffee pot on.
Nova nodded back, slightly awkwardly, before rushing out the room. She must have looked strange, with her practically running from the kitchen. It was just a stray thought wouldn't go away; if Stefan was in the kitchen with her-
Who the fuck was watching Vicki?
When she finally found Elena, her spine was being pressed into the living room archway as she was held up by the throat by Vicki.
She slowed down as she got closer to them, making sure not to bump into anything as she glared in Vicki's direction, her Magic spread throughout her veins. It was as though it'd been sleeping, just waiting to be called on, she repeated a spell inside her head over and over;
In cruciatu dolorum, In cruciatu dolorum, In cruciatu dolorum.
That was the thing with pain afflicting spells- Harry Potter actually got it right- you have to be really angry for the more powerful ones to work, the angrier you are, the more painful the spell will be.
"I'm gonna see Jeremy whenever I wanna see Jeremy, because I have some fun new toys to play with, and I won't think twice about ripping your little-"
Elena coughed loudly, clasping her throat as Vicki dropped down on the carpet, clutching her head and groaning in agony as Nova compressed Vicki's blood vessels in her brain until they burst, over and over again.
"Are you okay, Elena?" Nova asked keeping her eyes on the Vampire, slowly advancing towards the whimpering Vicki.
"I'm fine." Elena managed to cough out, coming to stand near Nova, warily eyeing the now quiet Vicki, who'd presumably passed out from the pain.
Nova kicked the elder teen with her chucks to check; Temporarily dead then, good.
"What did you do?" Stefan came into the room a little too late, she shot him a frown at the accusing look he gave her, but she stopped the nonverbal spell.
"Next time- Maybe. Just maybe don't leave the newbie vampire alone with a human." Nova told him and with one last glare in his direction, she left the room to find something for Elena's throat.
10 minutes later, Vicki was fireman carried by Damon into her temporary room. Nova shot the passing elder Salvatore an amused look as Vicki's swinging arms conveniently knocked an ugly vase to the ground.
Nova walked over to Elena and Stefan as they continued to talk, the crash of the vase having made them pause; she's not sure, but it feels like they've been talking more than they used to when they were an actual couple.
"- There's no rulebook."
Nova was silent as she held out a glass of water and a bottle of aspirin towards Elena, who took both with a grateful smile.
She ended up having to go into a dead dudes bathroom just to get it, seeing as the rest of the residents in this place are Vampires, and go figure, they don't have pain pills. He won't miss it, being dead and all, but she's so going to get haunted for doing that shit.
"I'll wait in the car." Nova didn't wait for a reply and left before shit could uncomfortable because Stefan had this guilty look on his face, and while she likes him, she really doesn't want to be around an apologetic Stefan, it's almost worse than a brooding Stefan.
A few minutes later she's standing outside around like an idiot because she'd forgotten Elena actually locked the car doors this time. Thank fuck for the fact that Elena rushed out the house faster than Nova had and after she had unlocked the doors, they both got in and left.
"You weren't a very good buffer," Elena commented dryly, her voice still hoarse but better than before.
"Take that back. I totally was a good buffer. I buffered the shit out of you getting killed." Nova joked and counted it as a minor success when she got a small laugh out of Elena.
School had been boring, as always; whenever she goes to school she has to remind herself why she purposely gets a few shit grades every now and then because technically- Nova could have skipped a few grades be well on her way to graduation by now, but she wants to stay with her friends.
Education is important for sure, but her old life had been wasted on trying to keep everyone happy including her old teachers- and then she died, and suddenly stuff like that was less important. She always makes sure to not look like an idiot, but living her new life is so much more important than a few silly grades that wouldn't mean much when she's long dead.
One thing that made up for a shit day at school was getting ready for the schools Halloween Carnival with her friends. Elena home had been taken over by a mildly insulted Caroline- who had found out Elena had been going to skip the first Halloween festival Caroline and Nova had been allowed to plan. Not to mention they always go together, sometimes Matt and Tyler would tag along, but since they'd been 7 years old and all dressed up as Disney faeries it'd become one of the many little traditions between the four of them.
"Come on, Elena. We always go together, you cannot be the antisocial girl anymore. That's Nova's job." Caroline told Elena with dead seriousness and Nova didn't take it personally and just laughed as she picked up Merlin, who nuzzled her nose in greeting.
She had picked him and her outfit up from home before Caroline had dragged the twins over to The Gilbert's, said blonde held her outfit covered in plastic in one hand, and Elena's hand in the other as they came into the room.
"I don't know, Care. I don't even have a costume." Elena said hesitantly as she was dragged into her own room.
"No excuses. You are going, just accept your fate." Caroline replied dramatically, going over towards where Nova was looking in Elena's closet for something to throw together. They both ignored Elena's overdramatic groan as Bonnie finally came in with her own outfit in hand.
"You know.. this has got to be the first time in a while that we've all been single." Bonnie said in realization out as she stripped down to her undies, pulling on a green blouse with a fake corset and a matching torn skirt.
"You, my dear sister, are right. Maybe we'll be single forever and be forced to use Plan B." Nova said in mock horror as she threw Elena her old cheer uniform, now slightly torn up by Nova's trusty sewing scissors. Elena gave it a slightly nostalgic look as she started grudgingly changing into it.
"I love you all, very dearly," Caroline started to say as she pulled on a skirt, they all waited for the 'but' part, the blonde didn't disappoint; "But I don't want to monogamously live in an apartment with you three until we get old and grey. I want sex, I haven't had sex in weeks."
Nova snorted at her words, sharing an amused glance with her twin as Nova changed into black underwear and bandeau bra.
"I'm hurt. You thought it was a great idea four years ago." Bonnie replied with a faux hurt look in the blonde's direction, now fixing her hair.
"Yeah... I remember we were going to adopt two cats, two dogs, and a..." Elena trailed off looking at Nova in question as she finished zipping herself into the almost too small uniform.
"A yellow boa constrictor," Nova answered as she slipped on an all black bell sleeved dress that was almost too short to be worn around kids.
"And I told you that I won't risk getting strangled by an eighteen feet snake just so you can live your Slytherin Harry Potter fantasy." Caroline shot back as she helped Bonnie with her hair.
Caroline and Nova argued back and forth over the pros and cons of getting a snake as a pet as they all got dressed; as far as Nova is concerned, she won that argument years ago.
Soon they finished getting dressed, the twins ironically dressed as cliche Witches, hats and all. Nova's Witch outfit was a black high-necked, short-skirted bell sleeved dress, with black ankle boots and cute black star and moon jewelry, whilst Bonnie's wore a green blouse that was a mock corset paired with a darker green skirt that was torn on the bottom with a lot of chunky jewelry. Elena managed to pull off a good dead cheerleader after Nova overdid it with the skillfully done makeup, she had painted Elena's face to look paler and made a few 'bleeding wounds' with leftover fake blood from last year, and made her eyes look sunken in with dark eyeshadow. Caroline after two long months of debate decided to go as the Cher from the iconic movie Clueless, the outfit and makeup was such a perfect match to how it looked in the movie- it was scary.
There was, of course, some major irony in all of their costumes.
Elena dragged a suspiciously not so reluctant Jeremy with them, and after squeezing into Bonnie's car- as it was Bonnie's turn to be designated driver- she drove them all to the school where the festival was running smoothly thanks to Caroline's careful instructions.
Jeremy, being the annoying little shit he now is, snuck off as soon as he could when they became distracted into a conversation with Matt, dressed in his costume from last year- and thank god Caroline and Nova saved Elena from that embarrassment. Elena being the concerned sister she is, ran off to find Jeremy, leaving the other three teenagers to explore the 'haunted' school that two out of three of them had a hand in helping plan.
"Cool costumes as usual ladies, you look hot," Tyler commented as they passed him, dressed as a pirate, eloquent as one too, "Cider for the ladies? It's the Lockwood special." Tyler offered temptingly before they could say anything, waving his hand at the cauldron that was filled with no doubt; spiked punch, this town is filled with cliches tonight.
It was also hilarious, considering he was supposed to be in charge of making sure no one spiked it.
"Can't, I'm driving. Plus, last year I was hungover until Thanksgiving." Bonnie declined, wincing at the thought of last years hangover.
It had been even more traumatizing for all of them when they had taken the party towards Tyler's house for more free booze. The girls, minus Elena who'd been lovey-dovey with Matt, had woke up, somehow half-naked, on Lockwood property.
It's a wonder that Mrs. Lockwood doesn't loathe them, with her constantly finding them with her son, naked, platonically naked, but naked all the same.
"I'm good. I've got my own." Nova grinned shaking her 'PolyJuice Potion' flask that she had bought online last month, it was filled with cherry vodka.
"Well. I am going to drink until someone is hot enough to make out with." Caroline announced, snatching the giant cup Tyler offered from his hand.
Meanwhile, Nova hissed in pain, letting a clawing Merlin, who she had taken with her, escape her arms, trusting him to stay close.
"Sounds like a plan. Cheers girls." Tyler replied with a smirk, raising his cup in their direction, walking away when his name was called.
"Nova! Caroline! Stop checking out his ass."
"What? We can't help it."
"Yeah, twin, it was right in front of us. How can we not stare?"
Nova's been charitably helping hand out candy and freshly baked cookies for the past twenty minutes, she had lost her twin and best friend in the crowds almost an hour ago.
Although charitably might be a strong word for what she's doing, she had maybe, most likely, stole some- okay, four handfuls of candy and hid it in her locker. She's currently unapologetically eating the chocolate bat-shaped cookies as she handed out candy to passing kids- who love her because she always gives them two handfuls each of their favorite candy, completely ignoring the five limit rule because screw that bullshit.
"Merlin, don't you dare."
Merlin turned his 'innocent' green eyes towards her, he had found his way up the tablecloth that the snacks rested on and was trying to push food off the table. The Familiar had been acting angsty and disruptive all night.
This is their first Halloween together in this different universe, so she can't blame him for acting out. Halloween always makes Nova feel unusual, her Magic always becomes more uncontrolled and it always feels like someone is watching her.
Nova has a feeling that Spirits almost always watch them, but its always around this time of year she can feel their gaze, it was more than a little unnerving.
Familiars can feel and see things differently than humans on a completely normal day. But tonight, Merlin could probably feel the change in the atmosphere because as the clock got closer to midnight the stronger the chance that Ghosts and Spirits could interact with the living.
Thank fuck for vodka or this night would be unbearable with the piercing feeling of dead eyes on her.
"There you are."
Merlin turned his head towards the noise, giving her opportunity to pick him up from the table. She ignored his claws sinking past her long sleeves and into her arms to turn towards a pissed off Damon. "Who pissed in your blood bag?" Nova only asked because she'd been waiting to say that for weeks.
"Why does your sister have my talisman?" Damon demanded to know, his question made her snort in amusement.
Of course, it's about the talisman, which is connecting to getting Katherine Fucking Pierce. She's still annoyed at how everyone in this town is mooning over unavailable people, emotionally or otherwise. But then again- she is emotionally unavailable people.
"Oh... you mean the talisman I helped you steal? Emily Bennett's talisman? My ancestor's talisman?" Nova replied to his question, she tilted her head, silently mocking him. Teenagers moving through the crowded halls interrupted the Vampire from responding and Nova and Damon's dark glares kept the teens from spraying them with silly string.
"Did you really think I wouldn't figure out who it belonged to?" Nova asked ignoring the dark look he was sending her, too busy making cooing noises at an angsty Merlin.
"I knew you'd figure it out, I just didn't care, I still don't. I want it back and if you don't get it back I'll just rip it off your sister's neck." Damon threatened her, stepping into her space- because threats always work on her;
{Insert Sarcasm Here}
"You've already tried that, haven't you? And it didn't work out like you expected to, huh?" She answered with a knowing grin, she was highly amused by his anger, in fact, she thinks he looks kinda hot when he's angry. You could never really tell what he'd do with that anger, but that was half the fun with Damon- that unpredictable part of him.
She absently wondered what he'd look like really, truly angry.
Merlin- it was like he could read her fucking mind- stuck his claws deeper into her arm, meowing loudly, she hissed but didn't let go.
"Look, it'll be fine. You'll get it back when it's time. Now if you excuse me, I need to-" Nova had been about to try to find her sister but a cold hand gripped her arm. Nova's eyes glazed over as she was hit by a sudden Vision;
"I was so worried about you."
Nova was having a major moment of pure vertigo, she could only see a row of buses and hear annoyingly loud voices, and a long scream that was stuck on repeat. The bad mix was making her want to vomit even though she couldn't focus on her physical form.
"I'm fine now, but...I gotta leave."
"Come with me." Repeated over and over.
The Vision suddenly faded out as abruptly as it came.
"That was...freaky. And that's coming from me; the guy who regularly takes immense pleasure in freaking people out." Damon told her when he saw that her eyes weren't glazed anymore.
Nova ignored what he said to walk on unsteady feet towards the back entrance of the school, trying not to puke as she shoved her way past a teenager that tried to scare her with his zombie costume. The music she'd picked out was suddenly too loud, and the multicolor lights they'd picked out last month was making her feel sick.
"Wait a minute. Wait just one moment-"
Sadly, it didn't take long for Damon to catch up to her, with him having longer legs and all- Yes, she's still sore about the loss of height- she only made it halfway through the school before he stepped in front of her, his grip firm on her shoulders, unintentionally steadying her still disoriented frame.
"Did you just have a Vision?" He asked thoughtfully, looking into her eyes as she impatiently tapped her foot.
"No. I'm just really fucking high- Yes, Damon! I had a Vision- and I swear, if my friends die because you decided you wanted to stop for a little 'chat' on the way-" She geared herself up to come up with a very creative threat.
"Okay, fine. I'll bite. What's the big emergency?" Damon interrupted her rant calmly.
Nova huffed in amusement at his choice of words but explained as calmly as she could while rushing towards the back of the school where they always park the buses after school.
They had a solid plan by the time they neared the back entrance; the only thing that Nova is doubting is if it'll work or not. Merlin was missing but she wasn't worried, he'd find her sooner or later and she doesn't have time to find him right now while Elena and Jeremy are in danger.
Nova and Damon shared a glance as they hear a terrified scream;
"Vicki!"
Nova curbed the terrible urge to play Gryffindor and run towards Elena and Jeremy's screams and instead watched Damon, as planned, went in first, closing the door behind him.
"It's two against one now, Vicki. You really won't win this fight. So stop hiding and then we can go back to being one little dysfunctional vampire family." She started counting when she heard the older Vampire start threatening the younger Vampire;
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
She snuck out the door, taking care not to breathe too loudly despite knowing her heartbeat more than likely gave her away.
The first thing she noticed was a shaken and bleeding Elena leaning on Jeremy, both trying to make their way towards the door, the second thing she noticed was that Damon had successfully lured Vicki out into the open. Nova held a finger to her lips in a shushing motion as Elena and Jeremy hid behind a bus when Vicki showed herself.
"That's the thing, guys," Vicki appeared in front of the brother's, too cocky for her own good, too high on the power she had over humans to realize she had none over the Vampires in front of her.
"I don't want to learn any more rules about being a vampire- I'm finally free to do whatever the hell I want. I don't want your help. "
Nova rolled her eyes at the villain speech as she carefully snuck past the bus where her friends hid, ignoring Elena's worried gaze and carefully walked around different buses to get behind Vicki.
"You might not want it, Vicki. But trust me, you need our help-" Stefan's speech was cut off by Vicki's scoff.
"What? So you can guide me in trying to choke down revolting animal blood. No thanks, human blood is so... much better."
Nova hoped the brothers kept up their little chat because she was almost behind Vicki and it'd be super lame if she died this way.
"I don't want to tell you I told you so brother, but-" Damon couldn't help but poke fun at his brother's method of trying to stick his diet plan on other people, which, not cool, they probably wouldn't even be in this mess if Vicki learned to deal with human blood before jumping to the bunnies, probably.
She can't say for sure because, Vicki is an addict, even if she won't admit it, and since she can't get high off of drugs anymore she might become addicted to human blood more than the average Vampire, but, still, starting the animal diet first is not smart, even Nova knows that and she's a Witch.
"Not now, Damon." Stefan for his part didn't even look at Nova as she crouched next to a bus, right behind Vicki, her hand postured out for a spell.
Of course, because she has a laser focus on Vicki- and this universe apparently hates her- she steps in a fucking small puddle of blood.
Nova looked up slightly sheepishly at the face of pissed off Vicki Donovan as her heart practically galloped; although she isn't sure if her heart is racing with fear or excitement. Either way, her Magic reacted to her swirling emotions, nearly bursting with an intensity that Nova's rarely felt.
"And you! Oh, I can't wait until I get my hand on you. You fucking bitch!" Vicki shouted at her, her angry eyes turning a dark crimson and teeth sharpening as she slowly stalked towards her.
The first rookie mistake Vicki made was voicing her displeasure, clueing Nova in that she was about to be attacked; the second mistake was instead of using that neat Vampire speed, the younger Vampire wanted to prolong her hunt by stalking towards the Witch slowly.
This all gave Nova more than enough time, less than ten seconds, to think of a spell."Nova!" Elena yelled as the noob Vampire came closer and closer, faster with each step. Nova decided to ignore the yell in favor of clenching her still raised palm into a fist instinctively as a spell ran through her mind;
Inténde, non spiritus, accipere non caeli
This time, with her emotions running high, it worked the first time and her Magic immediately seized Vicki's airways.
The young Vampire grabbed her throat in confusion, gasping for air that wouldn't come no matter how hard she tried to breathe.
The third mistake and final mistake Vicki had made was turning her back on her other opponents; Damon took advantage of that mistake to rush behind Vicki, quickly snapping her neck. Vicki's body hit the asphalt with an audible thud that made Nova wince in mock sympathy.
"No! Vicki!"
Maybe she should feel a little sympathetic for the sobbing Jeremy as he clutched Vicki's limp body, and she is, for the most part, but somehow all she can think about is how much of a disappointment that so-called fight had been.
"Huh, I thought that'd be harder," Nova commented as she walked closer to the brothers as they watched Elena comfort Jeremy.
"Well. I never doubted us for a moment." Damon commented as he watched Jeremy cry in sadistic amusement.
Jackass.
"Mmm.. is anyone going to tell them that she isn't- You know, dead, dead? Just undead." Nova commented just as the back door slammed open again, the three of them all turned towards the noise.
Bonnie stood in the doorway, both hands outstretched, a fierce look in her eye that made even Nova a little terrified.
"Uhm. You're a little late to the party, Bon-Bon." Nova spoke up after an awkward pause where the only thing anyone could hear was the music coming from the still ongoing festival and Jeremy's sobbing.
"...Is it safe to come out yet, Bonnie? Merlin looks hungry, you know how he gets grumpy when he's hungry. Kind of like his owner."
They could hear a very drunk Caroline babble from behind an embarrassed-but-trying-not-to-show-it Bonnie.
It was all very adorable.
"I'll guess, I'll just- explain." Stefan sighed, ignoring his brother's amused eyes, he walked over towards a crying Jeremy, the temporarily dead Vicki and Elena who was trying to comfort her brother as best as she could.
The girls had all wanted to be there for Elena after everything was said and done, but the other teen had told them that she needed a little time alone while Damon carried Vicki away to be locked up in the cellar for a 'time out', Stefan followed behind Damon to make sure he actually did lock her up.
They understood the need space, especially considering the three of them had been like glue at Elena's side since her breakup, so, after dropping The Gilbert's off, they successfully snuck a very drunk Caroline past her mother's room and tucked her into the blonde's own room.
The twins wouldn't be sleeping for a while though, instead, when they got home they gathered the items needed and drove to the forest where Grams put up boundary spells up years ago; the elder Witch made it so only those of Bennett blood could see or come through the boundary.
This is where they're finally going to summon Emily's Spirit, they had to do it exactly at midnight or it wouldn't work, thankfully it was only nearing midnight now. "You ready?" Nova asked as she carefully held Bonnie's hand over a hand-carved wooden bowl that they sat on opposite sides of.
Bonnie bit her lip, faltering, but eventually nodded in acceptance and Nova tried smiling reassuringly as she hesitantly took the sterilized kitchen knife over her sister's open palm firmly as could. Once the blood required was in the bowl, she hurriedly threw the knife on the dirt, placing her now free hands on her sister's bleeding wound, she whispered one of the only healing spells she knew by heart;
"Sanguis concrescat." They watched as the cut slowly scabbed over, it was still slightly red and most likely tender, but the wound was closed, Grams was better at healing spells than the twins but Grams was currently out of town at a conference for the Occult.
Bonnie carefully cut the sage into the bowl of her blood before hesitantly pulling the talisman off her neck, and into the bowl, while she did that Nova flinched as she yanked a few strands of hair from her scalp, adding it in the bowl, she then dipped a small paintbrush into the odd mix, stirring it before she carefully started drawing a crimson circle on the grass around them.
The hair and blood was the minor sacrifice needed to make the spell successful- equal balance for Nature and all- the talisman would make it so they only summoned Emily and no one else, and the circle of lit sage should keep Emily's Spirit in the circle, preventing a possession, that last part was Nova's idea because she is not letting anyone, even someone of her own blood, possess her twin sister.
They left the circle as soon as it was made, leaving the bowl in the circle. "Okay! Let's summon a Spirit, this is a great idea." Nova spoke sarcastically, her twin rolled her eyes at the sarcasm.
"This was your idea, not mine."
"I know, I know. But it doesn't make it a good one."
Not to mention that Grams would kill them once she found out they did this without her- Grams was a bigger history nerd than Nova. and Emily was part of that history, Bennett history.
"Let's just get this over with," Bonnie sighed and set the circle ablaze with a glance, obviously impatient.
The fire was as tall as they were and it took almost a full minute for it to settle, inside the settled flames was the serene Spirit of Emily Bennett; "It took you long enough."