BRAVE NEW WORLD
With Caroline still cooped up in the hospital, it was up to Bonnie and I to prepare for tonight's carnival. I started sorting out the stuffed animals, placed them in corners, and hung them from the booths' ceilings. I filled Bonnie in on the recent activity, a.k.a., vampire activity, while she told me the conclusions she's come to.
"Katherine looked just like you, it was freakish." She said, picking up a toy from the barrel, and placing it into the socket in the wall of the booth.
"She is my ancestor." I stated, then said sarcastically, "Oh, how I can't wait to meet her."
Bonnie snorted, then added, "Your vampire ancestor, and she didn't just closely resemble you like Elena does. She was you."
Yeah, I know, that's how she's been able to go around town, pretending to be me, I thought. "I don't know." I said lamely, "I can't explain it."
"How do you know she's not still out there pretending to be you?" Bonnie questioned, as if reading my mind.
"I don't," I stated, "But I'd rather be spending my time helping with the carnival for Caroline, rather than ponder over what I don't know."
She suddenly changed the subject, "Have you talked to Damon since he killed Jeremy... or... tried to kill Jeremy?"
I swallowed uncomfortably, getting flashbacks to that night... "No, I haven't." I simply said, not wanting to talk about it any more. I pulled out a bag full of plush toys out of a barrel, and handed it over to Bonnie, "Let's just sort these out, okay?"
"Okay, I'm sorry, I'll focus." She said, grabbing the bad, "And you're right, we have to make Caroline proud or she will kill us. I don't know how she does all of this."
I smirked, "Neither do I." Then I fake gasped, "Maybe she's been hiding a secret from us..." I whispered, "That's she's actually not human."
Bonnie fake gasped as well, her eyes widening, "OMG, you're probably right." Then we dissolved into a fit of laughter, tears almost emerging in Bonnie's eyes. We were just so glad that Caroline was going to be okay. Damon had fed her his blood, and she had healed completely, with no sign of her previous injuries.
Walking across the hallway, holding my clipboard, I spotted Stefan talking to Jeremy and Elena, and went over to them.
"Hello Ariana." Stefan greeted before I was even in his line of sight, and draped an arm around me.
"Hey," I smiled, then looked to my siblings, "Did you guys - "
Jeremy cut me off, "Yeah, yeah. We set up the gold fish toss - all three hundred gold fish." He rolled his eyes, stating sarcastically, "It's gonna be epic."
Slamming his locker closed, he strode away. Okay, then... Elena rolled her eyes, and said, "When he says 'we', it was actually all me. After he dropped and killed his fourth fish, I decided to intervene."
I gave out a little puff of laughter, but then started to worry. Would Jeremy be alright? After... he killed him, I started panicking, not knowing how he'd react to it. Being killed mustn't have been a pleasant thing to go through. But alas, he's back to being the same old "I hate my sister" Jeremy.
Stefan, catching my eye, stated, "He's gonna be alright, he's just been through a bit of an ordeal."
Elena scoffed before I could answer, "Yeah, I'm so sure 'ordeal' is what you'd call it." She said sarcastically again.
Stefan gave her a hard stare, "Not helping." He simply stated.
Elena rolled her eyes again, then took a deep breath. "Whatever. I'll see you guys later." She then spun around and took off in the opposite direction to wherever Jeremy had gone to.
It got a little awkward, and I smiled at Stefan, "So..." I started, referring to Elena, "She's probably thinking that I'm crazy for organizing this carnival. But it's for Caroline, and I was hoping that it would take our minds off of... everything else that's been going on."
"Hey." Stefan smiled and held up his hands, the palms facing me, "I'm totally on board with it. We're going to have 'fun'." Then his smile faltered. "But, uh, quick question. What do we do about Damon?"
Uh... the one thing today that I definitely did not want to talk about. "I - I don't know. How's he been acting recently?"
Stefan shook his head, "I'm not sure. Unfortunately, Katherine showing up has been a little bit of an odd place, little off-kiterr, kind of dangerous." He looked wary, "Who knows what he's up to?"
I sighed.
3rd person POV:
Damon stood in the boarding house parlor, squeezing out the contents of a blood bag into a crystal glass. With his vampire senses, he heard Stefan enter the room. "Care for one?" Damon asked his brother jokingly, as he turned to face him.
"No, thank you." Stefan replied, "I'm not hungry, I just ate."
Damon read his double meaning, and smirked, "Are you worried that one day, all the forest animals are gonna band together and fight back? I mean, surely they talk."
Stefan looked at him squarely, and pointed to the glass of blood, "I'm just happy that's a blood bad and not a sorority girl supplying your dinner."
"I like this." Damon stated, and smirked, "You, walking on egg shells around me, because you think I'm gonna explode. Very suspenseful." He raised his eyebrows, "Is Ariana worried too? I bet I'm your every conversation."
Stefan's jaw tensed at the mention of his girlfriend, as he decided to change the subject, "Have you heard from Katherine?"
Damon avoided that subject as well, looking thoughtful, "I think the Lockwoods have a family secret because the Gilbert device affected them, but vervain didn't. So they're not vampires, they're something else."
"Is this your new obsession?" Stefan questioned.
"You'd rather some unknown supernatural element running rampant upon our town." Damon shrugged, trying to come off as nonchalant. "Fine. I'll drop it."
Stefan returned to the subject before, trying again, "We haven't seen the last of Katherine, you do know that, right? We have no idea what she's up to."
"Sure we do." Damon stated, "She came back to profess her undying eternal love for you, so I'm gonna let you deal with that because I have more important things to do... like... explode." He raised his glass of blood, and took a sip, "Cheers!"
He walked out of the room, sauntering to wherever his mind took him. After finding out that Jeremy was still alive, at first he was shocked. But then relief flooded over him like he never thought he could feel before, and he realized that maybe Ariana wouldn't hate him forever. She was kind, so perhaps she could learn to forgive him.
Damon never thought he'd think this, but thank God for John! If he hadn't have given Jeremy the Gilbert ring, the latter would be dead right now, lost from this world.
Ariana POV:
The sky turned dark about an hour ago, and I looked around, seeing many bright lights, smelling delicious foods, hearing the laughter of children... The carnival was amazing, all courtesy of Caroline's awesome plans which I just had to follow.
Bonnie met up with me, to tell me about the recent updates on supplies and prizes. "The ring toss is out of Bart and Homer dolls and team Jacob T's." She said.
"Okay, I can grab some from the science club." I stated, while scanning the paper on my clipboard. My black heels clicked against the asphalt as we made our way over to back of the school. With them, I also wore some deep blue skinny jeans, and a hot pink tank top, both of which hugged my body perfectly. My silver Eiffel tower necklace hung to my stomach, and it matched my angel wings ring, dice earrings, and charm bracelet. "Also, we lost a speaker in the karaoke booth."
Bonnie came to a stop in front of me, and said, "Hey, all good Ariana, take a beat, look around. This is a huge success."
"That's because you and Caroline did an amazing job planning it." I stated.
She shook her head, "Not just that. Ariana, you practically ran this whole thing today."
I smirked, taking a deep breath, and questioned sarcastically, "You mean I can actually do something other than wait around for others to do it for me?"
Bonnie clicked her tongue, rolled her eyes, and gave me a look, "Don't even..." She shook her head, not finishing the sentence, then smiled, "I'm not even going to bother to argue. But, go figure!"
We laughed, and I caught sight of a guy trying to repair one of the stands. I recognized him as one of the guys who had helped set up the carnival. "Hey, Carter, right?" At the sound of my voice, the guy turned around to look at me, "You're with the carnival."
"That'll be me." He said with a friendly smile. "What do you need, beautiful?" His eyes kept flickering to Bonnie, and I gave my best friend a knowing smirk.
"What do you know about karaoke speakers?" She asked him, clearly entranced.
"Why don't you show me the problem?" He queried back flirtatiously.
"Yeah, Bonnie, show him the problem." I jerked my head towards him, and she smiled.
"Okay," she agreed, "Come on."
They left over to where the karaoke station was, and I stood there, smiling like an idiot. Oh my gosh! I had to admit, that guy was hot. I hoped he was good guy. Who knew? Maybe they'd spark an interest for each other.
While Bonnie was still gone, I started talking to one of my classmates from school, who had volunteered to run a booth for tonight. We barely got a few lines of dialogue in, before someone arrived beside me.
I didn't need to look up to know who it was, and that thought scared me.
"Ariana." He said my name.
"What do you want, Damon?" I questioned not-so-politely, anger from that other night clouding my senses again. The girl I was just talking to widened her eyes as she drank in Damon. She then glanced between him and I, and I could see the longing that held in her eyes when she looked at him. Great... Damon was hot alright, but it still didn't erase what I thought about him. What did I think about him? I still wasn't completely sure where he stood in my life right now.
"I know I'm the last person you want to see right now but I need you to come with me." He stated urgently.
"Yeah, well, I need to gather up fifty more of these Elmo dolls for the booth." I used as an excuse.
"Yeah, I need you to come with me right now, Ariana." He persisted, and I looked up at him finally.
His eyes were smoldering as the ice-blue in them hit me. The intensity of his gaze communicated the urgency of whatever situation was occurring right now, and so I nodded my head. Something was wrong... again. I took a deep breath, preparing myself, and followed him.
No.
No.
No, this couldn't be happening.
Caroline was a vampire. And guess who turned her... Katherine. Her name was like acid on my tongue. How could she do this? I knew from stories that she wasn't known for her kindness but... why? Why would she do this? To Caroline... my best friend...
"How did this happen?" Stefan asked Damon. The three of us were standing in a classroom at school, discussing the issue.
"Well, I fed her blood and Katherine obviously killed her, and A plus B equals..." Damon trailed off.
"But... why? Why Caroline?" I asked, stricken, tears shining in my eyes.
"Because Katherine is a manipulative nasty little slut." Damon spat out angrily.
"And she said 'game on'?" Stefan questioned, "What does that even mean?"
"It means she's playing dirty, she wants us to know." The older Salvatore answered. He looked at me, and gave me a sympathetic gaze before turning serious again, calculating something in his mind.
Stefan spoke up, "Caroline must be completely out of her mind, she doesn't even know what's happening to her."
"Oh I think she does." Damon said, while Stefan and I looked at him in question. He explained, "All of my compulsion from the past started wearing off the minute she was in transition."
Every second I was becoming more anxious and worried about Caroline. "We have to find her." Stefan stated.
Then Damon said, "Yep and kill her."
"You're not gonna kill Caroline." I told him sternly, finally speaking up.
"She knows who we are." Damon said, obviously, "She's officially a liability, and we've got to get rid of her."
"Damon, absolutely not." Stefan told him, glancing at me.
"Need I remind you of a tragic little story of a girl named Vicki Donovan?" Damon raised his eyebrows, as I swallowed uncomfortably at the unwanted memories resurfacing, "Caroline, of all people, will not make it as a vampire. Her mother is a vampire hunter." I continued to stare unblinkingly at him, and he sighed, "Guys, come on, we all know how this story's gonna end, just flip to the last chapter and..."
"It's not an option, Damon." I willed him to understand, again.
"No?" Damon then shifted his gaze to Stefan, "Your silence is deafening, Stefan." He pretended to look deep in thought, "Wait, wasn't there a school carnival the night you staked Vicki?" He smirked, "Talk about a town where history repeats itself. You know I'm right."
No, no, no. Caroline will not die. She had a whole life ahead of her, and I wasn't gonna let Katherine, Damon, or her transition into a vampire stop her from living and doing what she loves.
Stefan stated after a pause, "We're not gonna kill her." He then walked out of the classroom, frustrated.
When I went to pass Damon, he muttered, "It's the only way."
No, I'd make sure it wasn't.
Stefan and I walked briskly, dodging people as we tried to find Caroline. All of a sudden, Stefan wigged out and punched the side of a trailer, causing it to rumble and stir. A huge dent was left by his fist in the metal.
"Stefan?" I asked concerned, "Hey, you okay?"
"Damon's right." Stefan stated, and my heart dropped, "Not about what we should do but about what's gonna happen. Katherine's already decided Caroline's death sentence."
"Well, we can't let that happen." I tried to tell him sternly, and wincing when I didn't sound very convincing.
"I'm sorry, Ariana." He said, sounding regretful, "The reason this is happening is because she's doing this to me."
"Hey," I placed a hand on his arm, "This isn't your fault. We just need to focus on finding Caroline, and helping her, okay?"
His eyes were wet with torment, but he nodded. "Okay."
We started off again.
My mind was doing summersaults as it went crazy. We had circled almost the entire carnival, and still no sign of Caroline. Stefan stopped suddenly, and turned his head, noticing something my senses couldn't pick up.
"Stefan?" I asked, "What is it?"
He stayed silent for a while, until he answered, "Blood, I can smell blood." My breathing hitched.
Oh my gosh, we found Caroline! But... no... Damon was there, holding a stake, and about to plunge it through her heart. Thank God for Stefan. He rushed forward using his vampire speed, and pushed Damon away, the stake knocking to the ground.
"Stefan!" Damon complained in annoyance. I quickly grabbed Caroline - not caring that she was a newborn vampire - and pulled her away from the brothers.
"Get away from me!" She shouted in menace, pushing me, "You killed me!"
What?! No, I would never... Then I got it. "No, no, no, Caroline." I started, a bit hurt, "That wasn't me. I'd never do that to you, that was Katherine."
"No!" She denied, crying. I realized that there was blood smudged all over her face. A dead body lay on the elevated concrete; still; dead. Carter... Oh shit. No. "Then why did she look like you?" Caroline cried, "Why did she do this to me?"
"Caroline." I swallowed, not knowing if my words would be true, "You're gonna be okay." I turned to Stefan, "We've got to get her inside."
"It's okay Caroline." Stefan stepped up to us in caution, "Come with me."
"She'll die." Damon spoke up, in an obvious tone, "It's only a matter of time."
"Yeah, maybe so, but it's not gonna happen tonight." Stefan glared at him.
"Oh, yeah it is." Damon's eyes hardened, and I acted without thinking. Just as Damon picked up the stake and rushed forward to Caroline, I stepped right in front of her, ready to take the blow. But it never came.
Damon had stilled right in front of me, his arm raised, holding the wood, but made no move. His eyes challenged mine, telling me to move out of the way. I refused.
"Damon, she's my friend." I told him sternly, on the brink of a glare. He killed my brother once, and I wasn't about to let him kill another person I loved. I wouldn't be able to handle it.
Damon hesitated for a second, but after staring at me for a while, he dropped his arm. "Whatever happens, it's on you." He said, before backing away.
My breathing became even more heavy, as I stood there, with my eyes glued to Damon's. I wasn't taking the chance that he'd change his mind.
"Caroline?" A small voice queried from behind her, Stefan and I. We turned around, facing Bonnie who looked as if her worst nightmare had come true. "No, you're not; you can't be." She walked up to Caroline, and touched her friend's wrist. She pulled away, horrified.
"Bonnie?" Caroline questioned, sad.
Bonnie's eyes caught sight of Carter's dead body, and her voice broke, "Oh God!"
"Bonnie..." Caroline trailed off, new tears resurfacing. Before Bonnie could react, Stefan gave me a nod, then proceeded to lead Caroline away. To help clean her up and teach her. She had to be okay, or I may literally die inside.
"I can't believe this is happening." Bonnie cried, disgusted after Stefan and Caroline had left.
I was still stunned. Too much was going on in one moment. Damon arrived - I wasn't even aware he had left - with a shovel in his hands. "Come on." He said to Bonnie, unsympathetic, "Don't pout about it, I've got a body to bury." He looked to Carter, "Sucks to be you, buddy."
I gave him a look that he missed. But suddenly, Damon's face scrunched up in pain, and he dropped the shovel, falling to the floor with it. His hands clutched his head as he agonizingly groaned.
I knew what was happening: Bonnie. She did this same thing to Stefan on the night of the pageant. But it was different this time; she wasn't stopping. No, she took it further. The hose connected to the stone wall came free, and water spurted out of it, heading towards Damon. What was she doing?
"I told you what would happen if anyone else got hurt." Bonnie stated in a voice I couldn't recognize as her own.
"I didn't do this." Damon spat out through his groaning.
"Bonnie," Fear settled into me at my ignorance, "It wasn't his fault." I was referring to Caroline. He may have fed her his blood, but Katherine was the one who killed her.
"Everything that happens is his fault, Ariana." Bonnie said, glancing at me for a second, before focusing her gaze back on Damon.
"Bonnie, please, what are you doing?" I was so confused and scared.
A fire sparked on the water by Bonnie's powers, and quickly emblazoned the entire line of water, like a flame on gasoline. Damon's leg caught on fire, and he screamed in fear and pain as he tried to pat down the fire. It was spreading quickly.
"Bonnie, stop it!" I was stuck there, planted. Screaming in fear. I couldn't do anything, I wasn't supernatural. I wasn't special. Stefan wasn't here to stop anything this time. "Bonnie, Bonnie, stop it! Please! You're going to kill him!"
But she wasn't listening to me, she continued to pierce Damon with her eyes, making the flames grow taller. There was literally a line of fire separating Bonnie and I. Damon shouted again.
"Bonnie!" I yelled again, then realized what I had to do.
"No, Ariana, don't!" Damon screamed at me. I was surprised he could even focus on anything else right now, considering half his body was ignited with flames.
I chose to ignore him for now, and faced the yellow-orange flames. Heat radiated off of them, and I gulped. No turning back now. I jumped across the line of fire. The temperature only burned me for a second, before I was on the other side, almost collapsing. Stupid heels.
I grabbed Bonnie's arm, and the fire vanquished as her concentration broke. "Why did you stop me?!" She asked, annoyed.
"Because this isn't us." I retorted, "We're not like this. Bonnie, this can't be us."
I looked at Damon, relieved that he was okay. He lied on the ground, his legs completely scorched, but he'd heal. The look he gave me implied that he couldn't believe what I'd just done. He's saved me so many times, yet he didn't believe I'd do the same for him.
Yes, I was pissed at him for trying to kill Jeremy and Caroline, but I wasn't about to stand by and watch him become a vampire torch. I wasn't gonna let him die.
Embracing a shaking Bonnie, we left the scene.
My locker provided as a distraction as I sorted out my textbooks. Trying to keep a hold on my sanity. I arranged them in color order, then period, then size, then just proceeded to shove them into my locker and slam the metal door closed.
Frustrated didn't scratch the surface of the overwhelming emotion I had right now.
"Hey." Stefan said, arriving, "Caroline is okay for now, I'm gonna check in on her later."
I nodded, "What about... Carter..."
"It's taken care of." He said solemnly.
I felt numb, "We have to help Caroline, Stefan. Damon can't be right about her."
He nodded, "I know, I'm gonna make sure that he's wrong."
I gave a frustrated huff of laughter, "I just can't believe what this day has turned into."
Today was supposed to be about having fun in the carnival, hanging out with friends. And then... then all this had to happen.
"Not your normal day, huh?" Stefan questioned understandingly.
"No, it isn't. And I was stupid to think that it could be." I stated, "I mean, nothing about my life is normal. My best friend is a witch, my other best friend is a vampire, and I have a doppelganger who doesn't seem to be here looking to make friends."
"I'm sorry." Stefan repeated the same statement from earlier.
Tears clouded my vision, and I smiled weakly, "No, it's not your fault, Stefan. It's no one's fault, you know? Maybe, it's not even Katherine's." I shrugged, "It's not anyone's fault. It is what it is."
He touched my face gently, worried.
"I'm fine, I'm fine." I assured him. "It's just that..." But then I changed my mind. Stefan didn't need to handle my emotions and problems, he already had enough of his own, "You know what? I'm fine. Don't worry. I'm going to call you tomorrow, okay?" He nodded sadly, "Goodnight, Stefan."
I left him, knowing that he didn't believe I was alright. He could see straight through me. He felt sad for me, sad that he couldn't really help me. I was in complete denial about everything, and the weight of it was bound to crush me. So I tried to stand tall, as I went home.
"Goodnight." I didn't know whether or not I had imagined it, but I think that's what Stefan had just whispered back to me.
A soft kiss, like the light feathers of a moth's wing, grazed my cheek, awakening me. Stefan lay above me, his leaf-green eyes beautiful. "Hi." I greeted him groggily, "What time is it?"
"It's almost dawn." He answered with a whisper, laying on my bed beside me, "Come with me."
I looked at him questioning, but took his strong hand with my own.
He took me back to the now-deserted carnival. It was completely devoid of people. "Stefan, what are we doing here?" I asked him, a jittery feeling settling in my stomach. I smiled. "We could get caught."
Stefan smiled at me, explaining, "I compelled the guard to go on break so I could kiss my girlfriend at the top of the Ferris wheel." He took my hands, and stared deeply into my eyes, "We have to take these moments, Ariana. What Katherine did to Caroline could just be the beginning, and there are things with Tyler's family that we don't even understand yet."
I took a deep breath, and he continued, "But I came back to this town to start a life with you. We can't forget to live it."
I nodded, "Your right. There's a bunch of crap in our lives, but we need to learn to live with it." I smiled, "So, how are we gonna get to the top?" Though I asked the question, I think I already knew the answer.
Stefan smirked, "I guess you'll just have to hold on tight." I clung to the front of his shirt, as he wrapped his arms tight around me.
In a move so agile, experienced, and amazing, he jumped. The ground beneath my feet ceased to exist, and wind rushed past me as I felt weightless; flying. The next thing I knew, I was sitting next to Stefan, on the top of the Ferris wheel. The seat swung back and forth, and I laughed at the exhilaration.
Stefan kept staring at me in a look of wonder, awe, and love. I asked, still smiling, "What?"
"It's just so nice to see you laugh." He said, smiling, and kissed me gently once.
I smirked, and joked, "What? I laugh."
He smiled, "You do. But after today, I thought I'd never hear it again. When you laugh... it sounds beautiful." He gazed adoringly at me, "You're so beautiful."
My gaze dropped a bit, as I smiled. The way he was looking at me made me feel a bit embarrassed, even though we were the only ones around. I finally met his gaze, "Thank you, Stefan. Whenever I'm around you, I'm happy."
Stefan's smile widened, "Same here. So, you'll allow me to stay?" I heard the joking tone in his voice, though there seemed to be an underlying implication of seriousness.
"Of course." I answered, and we kissed again, this time for longer. When we pulled back, my mind grabbed ahold of an unwanted realization. I questioned, "It's not going to get any easier, is it?"
Stefan sighed, and took a deep breath. He looked away, then back at me, replying, "No, it's not."
Okay, so this chapter wasn't as long, but it'll get better. Still, I hoped you enjoyed it! Since it's getting too hot to go skiing anymore this year, I'll be able to focus more on writing. Though, it's too bad that school never lets up...
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Thanks for reading! Luv ya! Please review!
-Spiralcloud