A/N; I didn't think I'd update tonight. I tried my best with this rewrite of this episode but shit got real close when I shut down my laptop last night, and then Grammarly decided not to automatically save my work like it's supposed to. So, I had to rewrite the entire last part of this chapter, your welcome. Thanks for the reviews and follows and favorites on the last chapter, I always think my chapters suck balls even though I enjoy writing them, so thanks for the really sweet reviews.
For Nova's style in this chapter, car, face claim, go to my Polyvore; randomfashionsxoxo.
Once she introduced herself properly, Lexi had recognized the last name immediately; not surprising since the Bennett family was a big name in the Supernatural community, they were a powerful line of Witches, that always found themselves involved in big Supernatural events.
Also, it seems that Lexi had briefly met some of her family members a few decades ago.
"Sisters. You could just tell by looking at them that they were powerful. They were charming, but kind of reclusive- I didn't stay in town long enough to really get to know them." Lexi explained, applying her makeup as the Teenage Witch listened on curiously.
Nova was always interested in her history, seeing as back in her old universe, the Bennett's were famous amongst the Supernatural, yet at the same time information about them was vague.
When Lexi finished getting ready, the grilling commenced, Lexi wanted to know more about the girl who managed to have a Witch as a best friend and a Vampire for a boyfriend/ex-boyfriend. Lexi was such a free spirit and had a good sense of humor that it barely took ten minutes in conversation before they just clicked - like they'd been friends for years instead of just getting to know each other.
They were laughing as they set up decorations, sharing equally embarrassing stories about their best friends- apparently, Stefan and Nova do have something in common, they've both skinny dipped in a fountain- when Stefan walked down the staircase, he looked around in confusion at the decorations, pausing when he saw them.
"Stefan! Happy birthday! What are you now? Like a zillion years old?" Nova joked as she arranged the red 'happy birthday' banner on top of the living room entryway. Lexi held onto the ladder Nova stood on with a casually strong grip so the teen wouldn't fall to her death because - ouch.
"As of today, he's one hundred and sixty-two years old," Lexi answered for him, flashing her best friend a 100-watt smile at his groan.
"Nova, hi, uh, thanks," Stefan replied, smiling halfheartedly up at the teenager, clearly not up to celebrating his birthday, he proved her correct when he continued, protesting, "You guys- really don't have to do all of this. I don't know if I feel comfortable going to a party planned by Damon."
"It's your birthday, Stefan. We're going to celebrate it - in style. No matter what evil scheme your brother has concocted." Lexi replied swiftly to his protests, more than likely used to them after a century.
"Yeah, I've been awake since seven trying to organize your birthday party, not Damon," Nova replied in exasperation, throwing a scowl down at the birthday boy.
"Plus... I've already invited half the town to this party so it's too late to cancel." Nova commented nonchalantly, tying the banner on the nail she'd carefully placed above the tall wooden square archway.
"Well, it looks great. But I am sorry Damon roped you into this after everything that happened last night." Stefan apologized, being a gentleman and helping the teen down the ladder and everything.
"That - right there needs to stop," Lexi interjected with a frown, she took the younger Vampires shoulders and gave him a hard enough shake that it had him wincing, "You've got to stop apologizing for your brother being an asshole, it's - not - healthy."
"What she said," Nova agreed, watching the pair in amusement before turning towards a still grimacing Stefan, she prodded him in the shoulder to get his attention.
"I don't mind planning this thing - much - someone has to make sure you actually have a genuine birthday party. Damon's only paying for it, which... bonus for me, I got to spend the assholes money on new boots." Nova replied with a smirk, showing off her new red platform boots. Lexi laughed in surprise, and impressed by her gall, she high-fived her.
"Still, you could have died last night," Stefan gently reminded the teen, catching Lexi off guard for a moment as she started folding the ladder they'd found in the garage.
"That's just life, Stefan. You never know whether you're going to get die in a tragic fire or by a vengeful newborn vampire." Nova responded with a shrug, she grabbed the last bag of party decorations. Sadly the last thing that was left was the nonhelium balloons, she could already feel her lungs slowly dying.
"Nova...where the hell are you? They don't have candles, we need candles!" The doorbell rang just as a frantic Caroline's voice sounded throughout the house from the kitchen.
"Still. I never did say thank you for helping us with Vicki. So, thank you." Stefan thanked her with a small smile, patting her on the shoulder on his way to the door.
The apologies and thanks weren't really needed- since she was going to try to save Vicki either way and she didn't do it for them, but for Matt- but it was appreciated all the same. Salvatore's, born lady killers, she thought in amusement at her unintentionally ironic joke.
Caroline rushed into the room with a panicked look on her face as she rushed towards Nova only to swiftly turn her head towards Lexi.
"I love your jacket and your shoes, wow your pretty - who are you again?" Caroline spoke all in one breathe to the now amused Vampire.
Nova had brought her laptop and her old Polaroid camera with her, and with the help of Lexi and Stefan, they made a music playlist on her laptop while the boys were bossed around by a determined Caroline for another thirty minutes to make sure nothing priceless was left out for drunk teenagers to break.
Nova kindly decided to ignore the accusing glares sent her way every few minutes by a still hungover Tyler; it was either ignore the glares or send slightly cruel smirks in his direction- and she's not that mean, today at least.
They'd finished pretty much everything by seven, but of course, everyone would be arriving at least twenty minutes late just so they wouldn't be the first person to arrive.
All of them were currently lounging around, music played on Nova's laptop - it was louder with the help of Tyler's big speaker boosters- and they all watched with barely contained amusement as Tyler tried to charm himself into Lexi's leather pants. It wasn't working at all, especially considering about twenty minutes in a conversation with anyone Lexi started talking about her boyfriend.
The door abruptly opened and when the oldest Salvatore stepped into the now decorated house, both Stefan's and Lexi's smiles dropped like they just got spiked with vervain. And then when the doorbell rang and Damon opened the door to reveal Elena staring amusedly at an excited Bonnie- it got a hell of a lot awkward for the rest of them as Lexi came closer to the door stare at the doppelganger of Katherine Pierce in silent shock.
If Nova listened closely enough she would most likely hear crickets in the background instead of Goo Goo Dolls' 'Iris'.
"Well, if it isn't Elena and Bonnie- don't you two look absolutely appetizing," Damon greeted with a smirk at the now uncomfortable duo standing in the doorway.
Nova rolled her eyes and prayed to every deity known as she got up from her spot on the living room entryway small staircase to help them get away from the leering Vampire; while she did that Lexi was all forced smiles as she pushed an unwilling Stefan into the hallway and into a random door.
"Move it, Cassanova," Nova said dryly, hip-checking the Vampire out of her way of gently pulling her twin and best friend into the house. Damon obligingly moved out of their way- because despite her having hips on her, there was no way in hell did they manage to move a Vampire.
Though the thought was more than a little amusing.
"I've got to talk to you later...about the book I just read. You'll love it." Bonnie stated to her twin with a radiant smile, giving her twin a hug.
She thoughtfully changed her words when she caught the Vampire staring at them with blatant interest. It took an embarrassing amount of almost ten seconds for Nova to get the hidden message her twin sent her; Grams and Bonnie had found the spell that should deal with the Tomb Vampires.
"Okay, can't wait to read it. The rest of the gang are in the living room," Nova replied, sharing a grin with her twin, she nodded her head to the archway as her twin took in the place with curious eyes.
"So... who was that girl?" Elena questioned, after giving the Teenage Witch a hug. "The one who dragged Stefan away as soon as she saw me?" Elena prodded when her friend just stared at her in confusion.
"Oh, that's Lexi, she's Stefan's best friend," Nova clarified, watching her friend in mild amusement.
"She's pretty."
Nova hummed in agreement, amused at the jealousy in her friend's tone, but she frowned when Elena continued to stare in the direction Lexi pulled Stefan towards.
"Hey," Nova whispered as she got her friend's attention with a light shoulder bump, she turned back towards her with a distracted 'hum'.
"They're just really old friends," Nova made sure the put an emphasis on the word 'old', she watched as Elena's eyes lit up in recognition, "You have nothing to worry about. Stefan didn't even last ten minutes in a conversation with me before he asked how you were." Nova told honestly, attempting to comfort the broken-hearted teen.
"Oh," Elena exhaled softly, but it wasn't one of relief, if Nova could name it, she would reluctantly use the word; longing.
Elena soon left to go join the rest of their friends in the living room, but unfortunately, Nova was soon practically tied to the front door as the guest slowly trickled until the party was finally in full swing.
Let the chaos begin, she thought dryly as she let the last person inside.
Apparently, while Nova was greeting guests for almost an hour, the boys had started playing poker. The rich assholes betting with dollar bills and the other more reasonable assholes betting with leftover Halloween candy they'd found in the cabinets.
Nova and Bonnie had gone in the kitchen for more snacks for the snack tables in the living room- orders from Caroline. They'd been watching the game in idle interest for a few minutes now, idle because it wasn't that exciting, they all kind of sucked.
"You ladies wanna join?" Asked one of the Jocks - Nova never bothered learning his name because he was an even bigger dick than Tyler on a full moon; she just calls him Jack Ass whenever he was unfortunately brought up.
The way he was looking at them made her happy he didn't have x-ray vision. Matt, being the loyal friend he was, sent Jack a warning look, that was ignored. Despite being fraternal twins, whenever they did tell assholes that they were twins, they'd get this lewd look in their eyes - like they'd had a threesome with them; Jack was currently sporting said look. Cue shudder and projectile vomit.
"Sure, it's kind of like Uno, right?" Nova agreed on a whim, playing dumb, she forced a sheepish smile on her face when her question earned her a few laughs.
"Sure, Uno. I promise to be gentle." Jack added suggestively, giving the twins another once over after he got finished laughing with his buddies, her own friends watched on in confusion.
Nova had the sudden urge to punch Jack in his stupid face- he was mildly attractive if you like douchebags and could ignore the heavy stench of cologne- but she refrained, letting Bonnie pull her back slightly as Jack Ass went back to finishing the current round.
"What are you up to? Uno? Really, Nov? You love poker, you're really good at it." Bonnie whispered to her sister as soon as they were far enough away from the table of testosterone. "Mhm, but he doesn't know that," Nova explained with a mischievous grin, she explained to an amused Bonnie;
"I was just remembering what Jack Ass did to Caroline and Elena."
Elena had a tragic last year in middle school, she had to get braces, she'd been fine, everyone had to eventually get them and no one had made fun of her, except, of course, for Jack Ass - who then after an entire year of picking on her, tried to get in her pants a year later.
Then there was that incident were Caroline had lost her virginity to one of Jack's more attractive buddies, the whole school found out the next day no doubt because of loud mouth Jocks that like talking shit in the locker room. Jack decided to make a show of slut-shaming the blonde in front of everybody. Caroline had held her head up high and tore him a new one, her cutting words are one of the reasons people don't fuck with her, that and her hurricane personality. But later the girls had found the blonde in the girl's restroom, sobbing in an empty stall.
The girls had gotten their revenge by spreading nasty rumors, some true, some not, till this day no one knows who started the rumors, wink, wink, nudge, nudge.
But, Nova thinks it couldn't hurt to get more when provided a chance to take Jack Ass' money.
"I hope he cries after you take all his money," Bonnie declared after her eyes lit in recognition, thoughts in sync with her twins.
"I'll do my best," Nova replied amusedly as she walked towards the table to join when she was waved over by Jack Ass.
Nova wasn't originally going to cheat, but then Jack Ass- the idiot - decided to let her try shuffling the deck. Not one to waste an opportunity, she deliberately fumbled with the cards, and when she picked up the cards individually, she used her Magic to levitate a random card into her jacket sleeve, smiling in faux embarrassment all the while.
Matt and Tyler, being the smart people they occasionally are, opted out of playing the next round and grabbed a few beers and sat back to watch the show with Bonnie, they didn't know everything that happened with Jack Ass but they knew that he did something to upset girls, which made them avoid him like he caught the plague.
Nova purposely lost a few rounds, folded some, but soon she grew bored of playing - and playing dumb and started actually winning some rounds.
"You said this was your first time playing?" Jack asked, suspicious when she won three times in a row.
Technically she asked if it was like Uno but - would you look at that - Jack Ass wasn't a total Dumb Ass, she mused in amusement as she counted forty bucks, two bags of Skittles, four Snickers and an appetizing amount of Twizzlers.
"Beginners luck," Nova dismissed with a smile that was all teeth, she then promptly ignored the wary looks she got when she put on her best poker face, which was according to her sister, the same as her Vision face; a wide-eyed blank stare.
Next round, she waited for the cards on the table to be revealed by the dealer before she slowly started raising until it was all in, everyone but Jack Ass folded, too cocky too quit. They shared a stare down, her blank stare was getting to him, she used that distraction to quickly switch the shit card with the card in her sleeve.
"Oh, would you look at that, bitches, four of a kind," Nova smiled as she flaunted her better hand, she threw the cards in Jack's direction.
"Thanks for the cash, Jack," Nova said faux sweetly, dismissing his protest she grabbed all the cash and candy off the table and into her tote bag; like taking candy from a Jack Ass - because only Demons are evil enough to steal from a baby.
"You know his name is actually Chris Fell, right?" Tyler asked with a grin when she joined them by the kitchen archway.
"Don't be stupid, Tyler. His name is Jack Ass."
Twenty minutes later, Lexi and Nova were standing in the most private corner the teenager could manage to find in all of the chaos of the party, they talked quietly over the now loud music and chatter of the guests. "So... I noticed you don't have any lapis lazuli jewelry," Nova brought the subject she'd been waiting all fucking night to bring up.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah, lost mine ages ago." Lexi explained with a wistful look on her face, lowering her voice when a teenager ran past them.
Nova was curious and wanted to ask a lot of question like; how did she lose it- she knows that it was most likely taken instead of lost because Vampires almost never willingly take off their only source of freedom from the constant night they'd be forced to without one. Also, there's the little question as to why didn't she didn't ask her friend-who-is-a-Witch to spell another one for her. She didn't ask the questions that were racing through her mind, she just wordlessly pulled two lapis lazuli rings out of her jacket pocket.
Nova had made them years ago when the twins had just started dealing with the gems, stones and crystals part of witchcraft; one was a simple thin sterling silver band with an inlay of lapis, the other one was an antique silver with a very large lapis in the middle. She'd only spelled it earlier this morning, ironically before she even met Lexi.
"What if I said I was willing to give you not just one, but two daylight rings?" Nova offered as she held out the rings on the palms of her hands, watching Lexi's astonished face in amusement. Nova was starting a real bad habit of surprising people- and she's fucking loving every second of it.
"Wow... okay, so, what's the catch?" Lexi asked with skeptical eyes after she finally tore her eyes away from the rings.
Kind but not stupid, she mused as she put the rings back in her pocket.
"Not really a catch- it'd be more of an equal exchange," Nova responded vaguely and then started explaining everything that happened on Halloween.
Surprisingly, it didn't even take Nova pulling out her secret weapon - she has really awesome puppy dog eyes - for Lexi to accept the 'transaction'; Vicki goes out of town with Lexi to learn the ways of a functional Vampire, and in return - Nova would give her the daylight rings for her and her boyfriend.
Nova had taking an immediate liking to Lexi and would have given her the rings even if she'd declined to take Vicki - because if any Vampire deserved not to get a literally killer sunburn, it was her. Of course, she didn't say anything as cheesy as that; wouldn't want to ruin her reputation of being a manipulative bitch, the horror.
A deliriously happy Lexi dragged Stefan off to the 'dance floor' - they'd just pulled back the couches a bit, folded the rugs and placed a lot of nonhelium balloons on the wood floor- when Bon Jovi's 'Wanted Dead Or Alive' began to play.
Nova chatted with her twin and friends for a long time because they supposedly get separation anxiety when apart for longer than an hour and, sadly, she wasn't sure if she was joking when she told them that.
When asked, Elena told them with a bewildered tone that in his own words; Jeremy was too busy to come tonight as he was- no shit - studying. Elena then had to explain everything that happened after the twins dropped her and Jeremy home because no way in hell would moody Jeremy ever study of his own free will. The girls had gotten a shock when she learned that Elena would ever let Damon of all Vampires compel Jeremy, but they all, eventually, let it go when Elena had explained;
"I don't want him to deal with all of this - he almost died and then broke down when he thought he watched someone he loved die. I just want him to actually live again."
It was a valid reason, not a wise decision with all the ways it could and would backfire, but it was done out of love and concern for a spiraling teenager.
They shared a long group hug before going separate ways when the birthday boy finally found his way over to his ex-girlfriend.
Nova had been dragged onto the dance floor by Lexi when Stefan abandoned her to smooth talk his way into Elena's pants for super Vampire sex, Lexi's words not hers.
"I just wanted to say thank you for doing this, it means a lot, you have no idea," Lexi yelled over the sound of the song 'Ain't No Rest For The Wicked', they danced purposely offbeat, earning themselves odd looks when the rest of them were practically humping each other. "I've been dreaming about the feel of sunlight on my skin for centuries."
"And now you get to finally get to fulfill that dream."
Lexi beamed at her as they continued to dance, they danced for an hour straight, but soon, Nova's human needs had her stumbling over to the snack table for a break, her throat beyond dry. She was downing her fifth cup of tequila cranberry cocktail - she'd lost count on how many drinks she's had altogether- when an irate Damon found her.
He didn't even bother saying anything, just picked her up by the hips and threw her over his shoulder. Nova, too drunk to even protest, just giggled and grabbed the bag of tortillas off the snack table on the way out the room.
When she tried raising her head, she caught a glimpse of someone who looked vaguely familiar and waved. But she couldn't remember where she'd seen them before, couldn't even really see them because she's hanging upside down - and she's had way too many cocktails and they'd been wearing an ugly fucking hoodie, and it was so dark, why was it suddenly so fucking dark -
Nova's thoughts were cut off when Damon finally let her down, she bounced on something, it was fluffy, like a cloud; "Fluffy cloud," Nova whispered into the fluffy cloud, only to squint painfully when the Vampire turned the light on, revealing a bed, not a cloud.
It wasn't a cloud, it lied to her, she thought, annoyed she started pouting as she glared at the bed that felt like a cloud but wasn't one. She'd always wanted to live in the clouds, it was where Grams always said her head was at, she wants to go were her head is, and why -
"Bennett!" Damon finally got her attention after the fourth call, she turned her head towards him curiously and watched in confusion as he tapped his ear repeatedly.
"Why do you keep doing that?" Nova asked with a worried frown as he kept tapping his ear. Maybe he had really bad ear wax, she mused, giggling at the thought.
Damon rolled his eyes in exasperation, sighing as he pulled his phone from his leather jacket, he typed something in quickly, but Nova got bored of waiting for him and soon laid back down. Damon promptly shoved the phone in her face while she was munching on the tortilla chips. There was a simple unsent text;
'Got a spell so my brother and his BFF can't hear us?'
"Oh...why didn't you just say so?" Nova asked in disbelief, rolling her eyes at the silly Vampire.
She sat up on the bed, leaning on the headboard for balance. Oblivious to the glare she was receiving from Damon, Nova ran through the list of spells she had remembered by heart and started wiggling her fingers, closing her eyes as she tried to remember.
"That it?" Damon questioned in disbelief only to get hushed by a very drunk teenager.
"Shhh. I've just got to...remember the spell." Nova explained, opening both eyes as she thought really hard; it was a really new spell, Grams made it so she wouldn't have to burn sage everytime she wanted to speak to them privately, which was a lot.
"What you do you mean you've got to fucking remember the spell?"
Nova ignored the harsh whisper, just closed her eyes again and waved her hand around the room in a totally cool but unnecessary flourish as she chanted;
"Implorare secretum silentium." There was a sliver of magic in the air as the spell was cast over the entire room.
"Ugh! I fucking love magic, don't you?" Nova announced giddily to the impatient Vampire, she delighted in doing even the smallest bit of Magic.
"It's nice, has its benefits on rare occasions. You sure do love it," Damon stated as he came closer, seizing her arms when she almost fell off the bed trying to pull her boots off. "Nice boots," Damon commented with a pointed glare.
"Yeah, you paying for them made them even nicer," Nova answered with a smile, tapping his nose when he continued to glare, he gently slapped her fingers away from doing the same thing twice.
"Did you bring me in here to lure me in your bed and glare at me... if so kinky - or did you actually want to tell me something?" Nova asked with a confused frown when he didn't say anything. Maybe the glaring was a secret kink, but Nova - no matter how horny and drunk - was not an idiot and was not going to get in the middle of the fuckfest that is the Mystic Falls triangles and sometimes even squares or five-pointed star-
"You offered Lexi a daylight ring, two in fact, why?" He finally asked with his super intense eyes, keeping a firm hold of her arms, which she was secretly grateful about because she had zero balance right now.
Nova should have known that he was going to find out. She just wished he'd found out when she was sober because she's too fucking drunk right now to have this conversation, she was an emotional drunk, either she was super happy or super sad, something it was even both.
"Because we have a noob vampire in your cellar and you and your brother suck at teaching her anything useful," Nova explained seriously as she could when she was this drunk, she then started giggling into Damon's shoulder at her joke.
"Get it suck-"
"Yeah, I got it," Damon cut her off with a roll of his eyes, leaving her there to fall face first on the side of the bed when he'd had enough of her giggling.
"How is that you always manage to foil every single one of my plans, dammit."
Nova's pretty sure she wasn't supposed to hear that, but she did anyway because she's always had a sensitive hearing when she's not zoning out.
"You can't kill her, Damon," Nova spoke as she hung upside down from the end of the bed, playing with her long ombre hair.
"And who am I not killing?" Damon turned back towards her with a raised brow, playing dumb, which was stupid.
"Lexi, you can't kill her. I love her, she's awesome sauce. You wouldn't want risk making nature mad at you for fucking up our deal, would you?" Nova responded in a 'duh' manner, still a little manipulative even when she was drunk.
"You just met her," Damon replied in skepticism, dismissing her claims with an irritated glare in her direction.
"Love at first sight," Nova shot back, shrugging off his glares as she finally sat up, grimacing at the head rush.
This conversation was boring, why couldn't everyone just do everything she said and believe her when she said important shit - that sounded a little controlling even in her head, she mused with a frown.
"And what the hell am I supposed to do about the Council that's on my trail? When I am this close to getting what I want," Damon asked with a pointed glare, he rolled his eyes when she didn't have anything helping to say.
"Lexi's death won't be in vain, she dies - I live another day of my undead life, win, win. You and Stef can cry over it later," Damon declared callously, moving towards the door to leave. Nova tripped over her feet as she tried to stop him from leaving the room, the only reason she succeeded, was because he paused reluctantly when she'd tripped over her own two feet. Fuck, too much vodka- and tequila, she thought, holding a palm up to her head as she fought off another headrush.
"Just - give me a moment, I can think of something, just hold on." She started pleading with her hands on his shoulders, knowing he could push her out the way if he wanted to but not caring at the moment.
Lexi was so much more important than just because Nova thought she was amazing, it wasn't even about getting Vicki help; all she can think about is the risk Ripper Stefan could pose to all of them, the 'plot' so far has been inconsistent. Ripper Stefan could decide her loved ones looked delicious, he could fall off the wagon sooner than the 'show' suggested- and the only one who's ever been successful of talking Stefan out of his bloodaholic ways was Lexi fucking Branson.
Besides that fuck-show, there was only so much Nova's Magic could do without killing her, meaning she needed allies, not just against The Originals, but against everything she doesn't really remember- or even know about. What she did know was that there was a shit storm heading their way and she had to prepare for it the only way she knew how besides expanding her knowledge of witchcraft, plotting.
"You have one minute," Damon stated impatiently, staring at her while she went through options.
"What are they specifically looking for?" Nova questioned as she tried to focus her thoughts, slowly sobering up as she went through her options a third time.
"Vampires," He answered sarcastically, only adding more when he saw her 'no shit' expression, "Sheriff Forbes is considering that vampires might be walking in daylight."
Shit.
"And they'd be right," Nova returned hollowly as she mentally threw away almost all of her options.
"Mhm. And she's looking into every new person in town. I cannot be on that list, Nova, I'm not done with this cursed town just yet." Damon bit out, silently telling her to hurry up, which she did. From what she can gather from her rather sketchy memories of the show and from what Damon's told her, mostly everyone on the Council would be gullible enough to be relieved to get any sort of evidence of a dead Vampire.
"Do you know that old bed and breakfast, 'bout an hour away from here," Nova asked, seemingly randomly, biting her lip as soon as she said the words.
"Yeah, sure. What the hell does that ha-"
"People new to the town started staying there when your 'uncle' closed this place down last year. Pretty big home, Lockwood property, an old lady runs the place for the Lockwoods," Nova talked over him, trying not to show how freaked she was about what she was suggesting.
"How long does it take to turn someone into a vampire?"
When they came back down to the still raging party, Damon was wearing his patented taunting smirk of his as he passed a glaring Lexi. He made a passing remark towards his suspicious brother before he left the house. Whether he'd do what she'd suggested or do what he'd originally planned to do was up for debate, she supposed she'd find out soon enough.
"You okay? I can go down there by myself if you want? Get a feel for what's going through her mind right now." Lexi suggested as they walked towards the basement.
They'd just gotten finished cutting the cake and singing an off-key version of Happy Birthday to Stefan and after everyone had devoured the cake, Lexi had claimed she wanted to meet the person she'd be rehabilitating so to speak, so here they were.
"No, I'm fine," Nova lied with scary ease despite the skepticism that was shown on Lexi's face. "I'll go down first, explain everything in hopes she won't be a raging bitch to you." Nova didn't wait for a response as she went down the stairs, but she did pause on the stairs to take a moment, breathing in and out as she tried to calm her mind.
She just sent Damon to turn - kill - some poor idiot who decided to come to this fucked up town for a shit vacation. He'd have to turn someone and set loose the newly turned Vampire near the Boarding House - just so he could 'save the day' and make it look like they'd been the ones killing people left and right and not Damon. Mouse, trap.
The really fucked up part about this was that the solution was basically putting a band-aid on a bleeding wound; the Council would find out about their little 'Vampire infestation' sooner or later, she just pushed back the due date.
Nova sucked in the cold air of the basement, clearing her mind, she started shoving the guilt down in a tiny corner in her brain as she finished walking down the rest of the steps. "You aren't supposed to be down here..." Nova spoke up hesitantly, tensing for a fight when she saw someone in the basement near the cellar.
The unidentified person froze before slowly turning towards her, a large hoodie hiding their facial features. Nova was pretty sure she was having Pretty Little Liars flashbacks.
"Lexi!" Nova shouted as she raised her palms towards the intruder, still not completely sober, she was too slow and was rammed painfully towards the stone walls, biting her tongue on the way down to the harsh ground, the apparent Vampire rushed up the stairs, past a startled Lexi.
"Whoa! You okay down there?!"
"Fine! Could you go see who the fuck that was for me though?" Nova asked, breathing heavily as she carefully peeled herself from the floor.
No reply came, so she figured Lexi was chasing down the asswipe, she rubbed the back of her head, wincing when her fingers were touched blood. Fucking asshole, she thought with a frown only to tense when the cellar door creaked open ominously, a pissed off and hungry Vicki stood in the doorway.
Oh, shit.
"Oh shit," Nova voiced her thoughts just as a hungry Vicki sped towards her with crimson hungry eyes, in less than a blink, she was held up by her throat in a choking grip.
"You smell so... good right now, and I'm so hungry," Vicki stated as she pulled the Teenage Witch closer, still clutching her neck in a painful grip.
Nova struggled to breathe, let alone think as her vision blacked in and out for a moment, but all the same, pure stubborn will to live had her raising her hands closer to Vicki's head as the Vampire moved her fangs closer to her neck. Just when Nova was sure she was going to die, she was suddenly dropped like a hot potato, her back hit the stone floor for the second time that night.
Nova gasped out painful breaths, her throat burned and unwilling tears rolled down her cheeks as she rolled over to see who had saved her - ugh, she was a damsel, she thought in distaste, at least her heroes were hot, her mind supplied unhelpfully.
"You good?" Lexi questioned, examining her as she helped the teen sit up as Stefan locked away Vicki - who was sporting a twisted neck.
"I think I'm gonna need another cocktail," Nova commented hoarsely as she held her hand up to her sore throat.
Lexi had fixed her another cocktail, as requested, she also - the sneaky little vixen - spiked the cocktail with her blood. Nova didn't think a nasty cut on the back of her head and sore throat was worth drinking Vampire blood for, but she finished the drink with a knowing look in Lexi's direction as her wounds slowly healed.
"Did you see who it was?" Stefan asked as everyone who knew about the Supernatural joined them in the kitchen.
Everyone had apparently started leaving because of a mysterious complaint to the police about the loud noise. Funny, considering the nearest house was long abandoned - in the 60's. It was more than likely a bullshit reason for the Council to get people out the way of Damon's - her plan; she's just glad she didn't have to see the plan in action, plausible deniability and all.
"Do you feel okay?" Elena asked her for the seventh time, and Nova nodded, for the seventh time.
"All I saw was the back of a cheap hoodie," Lexi answered her best friends question with a frustrated frown, she shoved the mess of balloons and candy wrappers off the counter to make herself a drink.
"How'd they even know you guys had a super creepy cellar in your basement anyway?" Caroline asked a very valid point as she leaned her head on Nova's shoulder, her twin's head on her other shoulder as the four best friends sat on the mess of a table.
Someone very desperate, she silently answered as she struggled to remember where she'd seen that asswipe with hoodie before. There was a moment of silence as they all pondered on the question, but soon Sheriff Forbes came in with a satisfied Damon in tow.
"Stefan, girls," Liz nodded in each of their direction before turning towards her tipsy daughter in disapproval, "Come on sweetheart, say goodbye to your friends, you've got school tomorrow."
Caroline hated being talked to like a child, especially in front of her friends, but she nodded anyway, too tired to argue; it was almost 3 am.
"Call me later, okay?" Caroline asked, and they nodded in agreement as the Forbes women left the kitchen.
Soon, they were all getting ready to leave, with Bonnie already in her car, talking to their father who apparently was back home and 'surprised' not to see them home. Because them not being home was a big deal.
"Will you be safe? You know - with her being in the back seat, restrained only by a seatbelt?" Elena asked as Lexi settled Vicki - who was still knocked out cold- in the back of her UV tinted car. The two most important women in Stefan's life had allegedly bonded over a lot of things, like love, Stefan's great hair, and Damon being an asshole.
Damon had disappeared a while ago with one last suggestive comment towards Lexi, he wasn't too torn up - hint; not at all - about being separated from his 'Childe'.
"It'll be fine. I'm a lot stronger than I look." Lexi reassured the teen with a self-satisfied grin in Stefan's direction.
"She's stronger than she looks," Stefan agreed with an overplayed grimace as he more than likely reminisced over the times he's gotten beaten up by a woman shorter than him.
"Oh, right. Before I forget.." Nova said before handed the rings carelessly to Lexi, and unlike Nova, Lexi held them with care.
"Ugh. I could just kiss you right now." Lexi announced, sharing a grin with Stefan as she put on her daylight ring.
"I wouldn't protest," Nova stated, sulking slightly when the taller woman only gave her a firm hug, but she returned the hug in equal vigor.
"I'll see you lovely people later," Lexi stated as she gave Stefan one last hug, whispering something into his ear, she slapped his arm, laughing mockingly at his false grimace.
"Hey, Elena! Remember what I said okay? Everyone deserves a second chance." Lexi spoke with one last soft smile as she got into the car.
There was an awkward silence as she drove off, "I'm gonna go... to the car before this gets any more awkward." Nova announced, awkward when the not a couple but still in love duo kept sending each other looks, she slowly walked towards her sister's car.
"Thanks for doing what you did for Lexi - and the party too," Stefan said with a grateful smile in her direction, finally tearing his eyes away from Elena as she walked away.
"Happy Birthday, Stefan."