Episode 2: The Comet Festival

She was afraid of heights,

But she was much more afraid

Of never flying

-Atticus

Mystic Falls, 1864

I was Maggie Byrne again. My flaming red hair sprawled across Damon's pillow. We laid naked in bed as the early morning light shone through the window. There was a commotion outside, a carriage riding up to the estate.

"Oh no! I'm late!" I said, sitting up suddenly and reaching for my clothes.

"Come back to bed," Damon said, snaking his arm around to fondle my breast. I playfully smacked it away.

"Stop that." I scolded, "You know I'm supposed to be down there helping your father's guest."

"I'll just tell him you were too busy helping me instead." Damon flashed a dazzling charming smile. That familiar twinkle was in his eye.

"You are dangerous Damon Salvatore." I detangled from him, getting out of bed and pulling on my clothes. Damon got up more leisurely and went straight for the window.

"She's pretty." Damon noted of the newcomer.

"Prettier than me?" I asked.

"No. No one's prettier than you."

"How sweet." I finished with the laces of my dress and joined Damon at the window. The woman Giuseppe was hosting was indeed beautiful, she was also familiar.

"Katerina," I whispered, surprised.

"I believe Giuseppe said her name was Katherine Pierce." Damon corrected.

Mystic Falls, 2009

That morning I was greeted in the kitchen by my mother dressed in her uniform.

"Going to work this early?" Mom had worked late last night. But I suppose a sheriffs work is never done.

"Some campers are missing, I'm going in to help search for them." She poured herself a travel mug of coffee.

"Do you think they'll be alive?" I asked, setting out breakfast for Caroline and I.

"I don't know." She replied, "There was some blood found around the campsite."

"Could it be the same thing that attacked Vicki Donovan?" I asked. All I could imagine though was Stefan Salvatore attacking me with fangs.

"So far that's our best guess. But we won't know for sure until we find them. You and Caroline stay safe okay? And stay away from the woods."

"Got it mom, you stay safe too."

"Love you." She said, kissing the top of my head.

"Love you too!" I called as she left.

"I'm confused." Caroline said to Bonnie between classes, "Are you psychic or clairvoyant?"

"Neither, she's a witch." I corrected.

"Yes." Bonnie confirmed, "Apparently, my ancestors were these cool Salem witch chicks or something. Grams tried to explain it all, but she was looped on the liquor so I kinda tuned out. Crazy family, yes. Witches? I don't think so."

"Yeah, well, feel free to conjure up the name and number of that guy from last night." Caroline joked.

"Oh right, Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome that neither Bonnie nor I actually saw. Are you sure he wasn't actually a ghost?" I asked. Once she woke up that morning Caroline couldn't stop talking about this hot guy she saw last night. But neither I nor Bonnie had any idea who she was talking about.

"Why didn't you just talk to him?" Bonnie asked.

"I don't know. I was drunk." She shrugged.

After school, Caroline, Bonnie, Elena and I met at the Mystic Grill to talk about the plans for the comet festival and fold programs, since Caroline convinced us to volunteer. But naturally the conversation moved on to other subjects…

"Well, I was talking to Grams, and she said the comet is a sign of impending doom." Bonnie said, "The last time it passed over Mystic Falls, there was lots of death. So much blood and carnage, it created a bed of paranormal activity."

"Yeah, and then you poured Grams another shot and she told you about the aliens." Caroline dismissed. Then turning to Elena, said, "So then what?"

"So then nothing." Elena said.

"You and Stefan talked all night?" Caroline said in disbelief, "There was no sloppy first kiss or touchy feely of any kind?"

Or biting, I thought.

"Nope. We didn't go there." Elena said.

"Not even a handshake?" Caroline said in disbelief, "I mean, Elena, we are your friends. Ok? You are supposed to share the smut."

"You can ignore her, that's what I usually do." I said, grinning as Caroline threw a fry at me.

"We just talked for hours." Elena reiterated.

"I think it's good you're taking things slow." I told her honestly. There was less of a chance for her to get hurt.

"No it's not," Caroline objected, "What is with the blockage? Jump his bones already! Ok, it's easy. Boy likes girl, girl likes boy, sex!"

"Profound." Elena said, getting up.

"Where are you going?" Bonnie asked.

"Caroline's right." Elena said, "It is easy. If I sit here long enough, I'll end up talking myself out of it instead of doing what I started the day saying what I was going to do."

"I'll go with you." I said, getting up too. At the looks my friends gave I added, "You know, for moral support."

"Please, Charlie's just hoping to catch a glimpse of Stefan's hot older brother." Caroline called out. I blushed because she wasn't entirely wrong, but I really thought she shouldn't go alone to the Vampire's den.

"That's Okay, Charlie. I should do this alone." Elena said, declining my offer.

I went by the Salvatore boarding house anyway after dropping Caroline off at home. I didn't see Elena's car there when I drove up, so I hoped that was a good sign. I knocked a few times with no answer, but on my last knock the door fell open.

"Okay, not creepy at all." I said, steeling my nerve and pushing the door open more. "Is anyone home?" I called out.

"What are you doing here?" A guy I had never met asked, coming out from the back hall. He must be Stefan's 'uncle'.

"Oh um, sorry for barging in, I'm Charlotte Forbes. I was looking for…"

"Me." Damon said, walking down stairs. "I've got it from here Zach. Why don't you scidattle."

Zach looked unsure, but I wouldn't mind a chance to speak with Damon alone. Even if he was a vampire too, as Zach's expression hinted.

"I'll be okay, Zach." I reassured him.

"As much as I want to believe I'm the reason you came all this way. Why are you really here?" Damon said as he walked up to me.

"I wanted to check on Elena." I replied, "I know she came by to visit earlier. She hasn't replied back to my texts yet."

"Just missed her." Damon's head tilted, "Why so worried for your friend?"

"Honestly? I don't trust Stefan."

"How refreshing, Someone doesn't trust St. Stefan."

"Well, he's new and we don't know anything about him. For all we know he could be a serial killer." I said. Of course the same could be said for Damon, but I felt comfortable around him, perhaps too comfortable.

Damon laughed and he had that sparkle in his eye, as if he knew something I didn't. It was becoming obvious to me that Damon felt like he always knew something everyone else didn't.

"I also wanted to check out the Salvatore boarding house." I said, walking around the Salvatore house until I reached the library.

"Never been inside?"

"Nope." I ran my fingertips over the spines of books. They really did have an impressive collection. "This place was built after the civil war, right? The original Salvatore Estate was burned during the civil war."

"You sure know your history." Damon added, "There were a lot of fires around that time in Mystic Falls."

"It's really beautiful in here." I commented.

"Bit kitschy for my tastes." Damon commented.

"Do you ever feel like, even though it's the first time you've meet someone, it's like you've known them forever," I said suddenly. It was a feeling I had a lot lately.

"I can understand that feeling." Damon said. He was getting closer to me and I thought he might be trying to kiss me again. Maybe I was ready this time.

"Charlie, what are you doing here?" Stefan asked breaking the tension, he was at the top of the staircase.

"Looking for Elena." I said, stepping away from Damon. He looked annoyed at Stefan's untimely presence. "Obviously, she's not here though…" There was a ding from my phone, it was Elena returning my text. "Oh look that's her. So I'm just going to go…Bye, Damon! Bye, Stefan!"

Mystic Falls, 1863

"Are you sure you have to go?" I said. Damon Salvatore was preparing his horse to join the confederate army. Neither of us wanted him to go, but it was Giuseppe's wish for his son to join the fight and Damon wanted to please his father.

"Yes, yes I'm sure." Damon nodded, his jaw clenched. It was a hard decision and ultimately not one he made himself. Just one he had to live with.

"But I know you Damon, I know in your heart you're not on the confederates side."

"Nothing I can do about that Mags."

I held onto Damon's hand.

"Please, just promise me you'll come back. Don't let this war take you."

"I promise." He said, lifting my hand to his lips, leaving a sweet kiss there. "I love you, Maggie."

"I love you too, Damon."

Mystic Falls, 2009

I was walking with Bonnie and Elena through the town square, handing out programs for tonight's Comet Festival.

"He didn't call, huh?" Bonnie asked. Elena was telling us about her visit with the Salvatore's yesterday.

"Or text." Elena added, "But I realized we never even exchanged that stuff. We've never gotten to the texting part."

"That's an important milestone in any relationship." Bonnie pointed out.

"Maybe it's a sign." I offered, "You did say Stefan was acting really strange when you visited."

"Give the guy a break, he was caught off guard." Bonnie defended.

"Why does he need to be 'on guard'?" I asked her.

"The timing is wrong, anyway." Elena interjected.

"When is it ever right?" Bonnie said.

"Didn't Damon mention something about Stefan being on the rebound." I pointed out. "What was the other girls name? Katerina?"

"Katherine." Elena corrected. Bonnie was going to say something but Elena cut her off, "I'm not ready, Bonnie."

"Who is?" Bonnie retorted.

"At least I put myself out there," Elena said.

"Is that what you're calling it? All I'm hearing is reasons why you can't." Bonnie told Elena, but she gave me a very pointed look as well.

"What was that?" Bonnie asked me later, while Elena had split off to hand out more programs.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I replied coyly.

"Why are you being so negative about Stefan?" She asked. "Don't you think Elena deserves to be happy?"

"Of course I do Bonnie." I said, "I just don't think Stefan's the right guy for her, that's all."

"Why not?"

"It's a feeling," I told her, " I get a bad vibe from him."

"Charlie, you're starting to sound like my Grams now."

"You honestly don't feel anything off with him?" I asked incredulously, she was supposed to be a witch!

"No, I don't." Bonnie said, not sounding too sure of herself.

The Comet Festival

"Hey, we got some candles." Caroline said as we met up with Elena and Bonnie. I handed a candle to Bonnie while Caroline gave her extra one to Elena. We found Matt with his candle already lit. He lit my candle first.

"Thanks Matty." I said. I turned around to light my sister's candle.

"Look who Elena found." She whispered. I turned to see Elena lighting Stefan's candle.

"Well don't stare." I hooked arms with my sister and lead her away from the romantic duo, "Come on I know a great spot to watch the comet."

"There it is: the harbinger of doom and gloom." Caroline said as we looked at the comet over head. We sat on a bench in the square.

"I don't believe Bonnie's Gram on that one," I said. "I think it's just a ball of snow and ice that's been traveling alone for thousands of years and every 145 years or so it checks back in with us. Anything bad that happens to occur around that time is coincidence. Humans like to give meaning to everything."

"Humans?" Caroline raised a brow, "What are you an alien?"

I snorted.

"If I am so are you." I nudged her playfully with my shoulder.

We settled and stared up at the sky together, watching the comet.

"It really is beautiful though," I sighed.

I had to use the restroom at the Grill and as I came out, saw Damon sitting alone at the bar.

"You're missing the festival." I said, sitting next to Damon, placing my now unlit candle on the tabletop.

"I've got all the festival I need right here," Damon smirked, holding up a glass of whiskey.

I looked at Damon for a moment, mulling over what it was I wanted to say.

"Do you believe in reincarnation?" I finally asked.

Damon smiled into his whiskey, amused like it was part of some inside joke.

"No." He said, taking a sip of his drink. "Why?"

I probably shouldn't be mentioning my dreams, but I had to tell someone. There were all these emotions welling up, it was like there was a force telling me to speak.

"This might sound crazy, but I've been having dreams about you... and Maggie."

"Maggie?" Damon sounded almost wistful as he said her name, but he quietly shook himself out of it, "Who?"

"Maggie Byrne." I repeated, "The girl on the tombstone, who died in 1864?"

"You're right. That does sound crazy." His words were dismissive, but Damon had put his drink down and looked at me seriously. "I know I'm older than you, but I'm not that old." His eyes narrowed as he asked, "What exactly happens in these dreams?"

I flushed, suddenly embarrassed.

"Well there's you and Maggie, of course, except I feel like I'm Maggie. There was some kissing. And maybe I'm just projecting from that day at the cemetery... You were dressed as a confederate soldier in the last one. It was all so 'Gone With the Wind.'"

"And what does Maggie look like in your dreams?"

"She had wild curly red hair, blue eyes, and creamy pale skin covered in freckles. Why?"

"Just curious." He shrugged.

"Well, I've made this awkward. Just forget I ever said anything. I'm heading back out to watch the comet. Once every 145 years is kind of a once in a lifetime thing, right?"

"Right." He said, picking his drink up again.

I walked out of the Grill, passing Vicki as she walked in. She had a big bandage on her neck to cover the stitches, but she looked better.

"Hi, Vicki. Glad to see you're out and about." I said in passing.

After the festival everyone hung out at the Grill. Jeremy came in looking for Vicki. Apparently he couldn't find her, and then a bunch of drama involving pills and Jeremy and Vicki hooking up enfolded. The drama made people forget for a moment that she was missing.

"You know what, how about all of you shut up and help me find my sister?" Matt said, quieting everyone.

"I'll check the back." Bonnie said.

"I'll check the square." Matt said.

"We'll help check the square too." I said, pulling my sister with me.

Jeremy tried to join us but Elena held him back. It was time for her to have a serious talk with her brother.

"Leave it to the druggies to open up their drama to everyone." Caroline said as we searched the town square opposite of Matt.

"Care!" I said, scandalized, "It's Matt's sister."

"So? Matt knows his sister's got problems. We've all got issues, but you don't see me laying out our family drama in the town square do you?"

"Do you even remember that drunken conversation we had about dad at the coffee place the other night?"

Caroline stopped us both, her eyes wide as she remembered pieces of that night.

"Oh my god, please tell me I wasn't loud." She sounded mortified.

"So loud. Practically yelling," I teased. "But that's good. We needed to get it out."

"Not in public!" It was Caroline's turn to feel scandalized. She groaned. "What did I even say?"

"You brought up dad asking me to move with him," I said quietly, "But you forgot to mention the most important part of that conversation."

"What's that?"

"I chose you." I said. Caroline smiled and we hugged tightly. "He's a jerk for picking one of us over the other Care. But I don't need him, I just need you."

"Okay." Caroline said, sniffling. We hugged it out a second longer before Care released me. "We should split up to find Vicki. We'll cover more ground."

After walking for a few minutes I heard a scream from above. On top of a nearby rooftop I saw Vicki, along with Stefan and Damon. I was trying to see what they were doing up there, but it was impossible from the ground. I felt a rush of warmth, like a summer's breeze wrapping around me. The sensation caused me to close my eyes and when I opened my eyes again I was on top of the roof.

"What the hell?" I said, startled. Vicki was closest to me and she looked high.

"What happened? Where am I?" Vicki asked, seeming to come out of her stupor for a moment "Oh, I ripped my stitches open. Ugh…"

"Are you okay?" I asked. She was swaying, so I grabbed a hold of Vicki's arm to steady her.

"I took some pills, man." Vicki slurred, "I'm good."

"Where did you come from?" Damon asked suspiciously from the far end of the roof. I wasn't sure how I got there, but if he was asking he didn't know either.

"The stairs, duh." I said, my heart was pounding hard on my chest. I really didn't know how I got up there and that was terrifying. I didn't even want to think about it. "Come on Vicki, let's get you back to Matt. He's really worried about you." I said, leading Vicki down the staircase. "You guys coming?" I asked, noticing the two boys haven't moved.

"We'll catch up, Charlie." Stefan said. His expression seemed strained, but I figured that was because his brother was around. It seemed all the Salvatore's were tense around Damon.

Vicki and I returned to the Mystic Grill and I sent out a mass text letting everyone know she was okay.

"What happened?" Matt asked.

"Stefan found her wandering around." I said, he probably wouldn't like to hear she was wandering around on a roof.

"Then where is Stefan?"

"He had to talk to his brother, so I brought her back." I helped Matt with her bandages.

Stefan came in a few moments later. I nodded to him.

"There he is, if you wanted to say thanks."

Matt walked over to Stefan while I finished up Vicki's bandages.

"Ever notice how the druggies are the biggest attention whores?" Caroline was saying as I sat down at her and Bonnie's table.

"Care, we talked about this." I scolded.

"Excuse me. Hi." Stefan said, coming up to our table.

"Hi." Bonnie greeted.

"Um, have you guys seen Elena?" He asked.

"I think she went home." Bonnie took out a pen and wrote on a napkin, "I'm gonna give you Elena's cell number and her email. She is big on texting, and you can tell her, 'I said so'."

"Thank you." Stefan said, taking the note from Bonnie. In the exchange Bonnie touched Stefan's hand and she zoned out, just as she had the first day of school when she touched me.

"Hey, Bon-Bon, you okay?" I asked gently.

"What happened to you?" She asked Stefan. "That's so rude. I'm sorry. Excuse me."

Bonnie got up and left quickly. I followed after her.

"Bonnie, what's wrong." We were outside the Grill now, Bonnie was taking in a few deep breaths to calm herself down.

"You were right, Charlie... I did feel something wrong with Stefan."

"What did you feel?"

"It was so cold and it vibrated through me…" Bonnie was having a hard time coming to terms with what she felt. Finally, she said, "It was death. It's what I imagine death to be like."

"I knew it," I whispered. "We need to look after Elena. I don't want to freak her out, but Stefan Salvatore is definitely more than he appears to be."

"I think it's time to head out." My sister said as I walked back inside, she was picking up her purse. The Grill was slowing down and most of our friends had gone home already.

"In a moment, I gotta use the bathroom first." I said.

"Meet you at the car." She said.

As I was leaving the restroom my phone dinged.

'Spend the night at Bonnie's?' My sister texted, 'Found the guy ;)'