Sitting through school was bad enough, but it was even worse when I had to see Stefan and Elena mooning over each other for three whole periods.
By the end of the school day, I was about ready to gouge my eyes out, but luckily, the bell rang. As I walked across the lawn, I tuned into the conversations around me.
Elena and Matt were talking about Vicki, and she asked about what attacked her.
"She said it was some kind of animal, but that it was too dark to see." He says.
"She didn't see what it was? That's unfortunate." Elena said, sympathetic.
I come back to the moment as I reach Stefan, taking a seat next to him. "Unfortunate indeed, huh Stefan?" I say, bumping my shoulder into his.
He looked over to me, slightly suspicious, but not in a bad way. "Did you...?" He trails off.
"Yep." I say, popping the 'p'. "Why else do you think I left so early in the morning?" I ask.
It's not entirely the truth, I compelled her yesterday, but I did go to visit her in the hospital this morning, mostly to check in on her and whether the Compulsion worked, but partially so I could see Jeremy.
We had talked for a bit before a staff member other than the one I compelled to leave us alone came and told us to leave, and then we had walked to school together.
I think we're on our way to becoming friends, but for now I say, "If you'd like to go check out my work you can, but you can't compel her yourself unless I let her take the anklet off. Luckily, the hospital staff didn't take it off of her, but that means I'll have to be with you if you want to work your magic."
He nods. "I think I will go and check her out, just to be safe." He gets up and grabs his jacket, slinging his bag across his shoulder and speeding off in no time.
I exit the small phone store, iPhone 3GS in hand. It had just been shipped to the store and put on display, so I assumed it was the newest one and probably the best I could get for now, and bought it.
Heading back to the square. I see Bonnie, Caroline, and Elena sitting outside The Grill. I contemplate approaching them, but they're talking about things I've heard before, so I pass them by without a glance, heading back home.
When I arrive back at the boarding house, Damon is there, drinking in the parlor. "Hey there, Drama Queen." I greet. He turns to look at me. "We'll have a visitor soon, so you should get ready." He raises an eyebrow. "A visitor?" He asks.
"Elena. I heard her talking to her friends at The Grill, the two girls you met last night?" I clarify.
I head upstairs and go to the bathroom, shedding my clothes and drawing a bath. I pour a cherry blossom scented bubble solution into the water and head over to the mirror to admire myself while the water runs.
When the bath fills sufficiently, I sink into the bubbly water with a sigh and lean my head back, closing my eyes.
When my head submerges under the water, I wake up with a gasp, accidentally inhaling soapy water. Sitting up, I cough the fluid out of my lungs. I'm freezing cold, how long had I been in there for?
Easing myself out of the bath and stepping onto the rug, I blindly reach for my towel. Grabbing it, I dry the moisture from my face and hair, then the rest of my body. I hang the towel up and wrap myself in a robe.
I exit the bathroom to see Damon rummaging through my closet, pulling out random items of clothing.
"No, no, and no. Your wardrobe is so plain. Where's the style? The pizazz? He asks.
"My wardrobe is designed how I like. Comfortable." I say. "Why are you going through my clothes anyways?" I raise a brow.
"I'm planning ahead." He says, looking into my closet with distaste. "In about two weeks, It'll be the Founder's Ball, and I need a date. And if it's not you, it'll be some poor, innocent human that I'll most likely use as a blood pack like the ones you have in that cooler over there." He points to the cooler in question.
I'm honestly not surprised he went through my whole room. "I wasn't aware living here rent free came with a jealous girlfriend, 'cause that's what you're acting like, Mr. Salvatore." I tease. I'm not especially bothered by the lack of privacy, as nothing here holds much sentimental value and I don't have anything I really want hidden, but I'm still not letting this go without some verbal jabs.
"Very funny, Ms. Bane. Do you want a cookie?" He asks, voice flat. "So, about the Founder's Ball?" He asks again.
"Yeah sure, but you're wearing the dress." I say, half-joking. "Do you have your mom's old one? Or has it disintegrated by now?"
"You're one to talk. You must've been born in the stone age with how easily you threw me over your shoulder yesterday." He retorts.
"Are you ever gonna get over that? I though I was going to be the one holding that over your head for the rest of eternity." I say.
"The rest of eternity? Please. I'll stake you eventually." He threatens.
"You still think you can beat me? Whatever, you'll learn your lesson after I stab you a couple times." I snark back.
Damon scoffs, and we fall into tense silence.
"I'll be buying your dress, since you have no fashion sense." He says after a while.
"Are you gonna go get your measuring tape, or am I just expected to wear whatever potato sack you buy me?" I ask.
"I wouldn't be seen in public with a sack of potatoes, I have a reputation to uphold." He responds.
"Of course, everything is always about you." I say.
"Of course." He agrees. "Now I'll go get my measuring tape. Get out of that robe and put on something I can measure you in." He leaves the room.
After much back-and-forth between Damon and I, we finally finished with the measurements for my dress and I went to bed, falling asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
"Hey, Julia!" Bonnie called out to me as school ended. I stopped walking and turned around to see her jogging towards me.
When she reached me, she straightened herself out and gave me a smile. "Caroline and Elena and I are going to the town square to hand out programs. Do you wanna come with?" She asks.
"The Night of the Comet, huh? Sure." I agree. "I'll come with."
We meet up with Caroline and Elena and head to the square, handing out programs to people on the way.
When we arrive, we split up into groups of two so we can cover more ground. Elena and Caroline go to the middle of the square, and Bonnie and I walk around the perimeter.
"So, have you told your Grams about me?" I ask as I hand out another flier.
"Yeah. Should I not have?" She asks. "No, it's alright. It's only natural to confide in your family." I say in response. "What did she say?"
"She wanted to know more about you, like when you got here, what magic you did, why you approached me, y'know, stuff like that." I nod as she speaks.
"Well, I'd be glad to stop by if she wants answers to those questions. I know she tries to protect you as best she can." I smile, but I'm sure it doesn't hide how homesick I feel.
I see Damon from the corner of my eye, but when I turn to look, he's gone. I roll my eyes. Such a drama queen.
Turning back to Bonnie, I see her looking curiously at the space where Damon once was. "Is there anything you want to know?" I ask her.
"Can you teach me magic?" She asks immediately.
I blink. "I mean I can, but wouldn't it be better to ask your Grams?"
She sighs. "She won't teach me because she says I'm 'not ready'." She uses air quotes as she says it.
"I see. Then if I do, you can't tell her, okay? I don't want to get on her bad side." I hold out my pinky. "Promise?"
She contemplates it for a moment and then takes my pinky in hers. "Promise." She says.
I smile. "I've got a grimoire at home. I haven't looked through all of it yet, but maybe we can do it together sometime."
Entering The Grill, I see Vicki go into the bathroom, and I follow her.
She just glances at me while she washes her hands, but otherwise she doesn't say anything. I walk up behind her and hold my hand above the bite on her neck, covering her mouth so her screams are muffled when she realizes she can't escape from my hold.
I perform the healing spell on the bite, and she stops screaming, confused. I let go of her mouth, and she whirls around to look at me. "It doesn't hurt anymore..." She says, her hand over the bandage. "How did you do that?" She asks. Instead of answering, I mutter the incantation for the forgetting spell instead of going through the trouble to remove the vervain anklet and compel her. It's the least I could do after not specifying that she could take medicine prescribed to her. I didn't want to cause her more pain.
I walk away from the stand giving out candles, heading over to the girls. Bonnie looks up at me and walks over to meet me half way. I look around to make sure no one's watching and then light the candle with magic.
"Incendia" I whisper. Bonnie slows to a stop, mouth hanging open for a moment before she smiles excitedly and hurries over.
"Can you show me how to do that?" She asks quickly. I nod and blow out my candle.
"Basically, just imagine it lighting on fire. However, it's easier to do with an incantation. There are many different ways to say it, but the one I just used was incendia." I explain in a semi-quiet voice, the candle lighting itself again.
She repeats the incantation with a look of concentration on her face and her candle's wick flares up. She rears her head away from the fire, breaking her concentration and the flame dies down to a regular size. She looks around frantically to see if anyone noticed, but thankfully, no one is looking at us.
I enter The Grill for the second time that day to look for Vicki. I see Damon eyeing her, and then he turns to look at me. One second he's sitting there, nursing a bourbon, and the next, he's speeding away to the rooftop, Vicki in hand.
I sit outside the building, waiting for the Scooby Squad to notice she's missing and alert Stefan whilst listening to Damon mess with Vicki. "Oh no! Don't fall!" He teases. "Don't worry, it's all gonna be okay. Or not. Now it is. Now it's not. Now it is. Now it's-" I tune him out. Seriously, he sounds like he's playing peekaboo.
Finally, Matt leaves the restaurant and asks Stefan if he's seen Vicki. Then he says some weird territorial male shit and Stefan walks away, jumping up to the top of the building that Damon and Vicki are on. I get up from my seat and follow suit.
Damon teases Stefan and pretends he's going to drop Vicki once again, but then throws her towards him. I help her up, and she clings to me. Stefan tries to step forward, but I raise my hand for him to stop and mouth to him 'wait'.
"Relax, I don't need her to be dead, but you might." Damon says. "What attacked you the other night?" He asks.
"I don't know, it was some kind of wild animal, it was too dark to see." She says, exactly as I compelled her to.
"Are you sure about that?" He asks again, taking a step forward. "Think. Think about it. Think really hard." he pauses. "What attacked you?"
"It could have been a wolf, a mountain lion, or any sort of animal, I don't know!" She recites another line.
He asks again and again, and each time she just says a different thing equating the same thing. "I don't know." and "It was an animal."
After she runs out of lines for this situation, she clams up. "I don't want to talk about this anymore."
"What was it?" He growls.
"I don't want to talk about this anymore." She repeats.
"Tell me! What attacked you!?" He screams at her.
"I don't want to talk about this anymore." She screams back.
I can't help but let out a little laugh, and his head snaps up to look at me.
"Hypno-frog." I say out of nowhere. Damon looks confused, but frustrated.
Vicki lets go of me and kneels down to take off her anklet. she holds it out for me to take and I grab it by the chain. "Vicki, forget about everything that happened since Damon grabbed you in The Grill. You just needed some air, so you went for a walk around the town square." Internally, I laughed. That rhymed. "Now follow me, and we'll get you back on solid ground." I wrap my arm around her and jump back down to the pavement.
Damon glares at me from the roof, seething.
Stefan jumps down behind me, walking behind me as I guide Vicki to the square.
"How old are you?" He asks for the second time.
I sigh as if I'm disappointed in him, shaking my head. "Don't you know that it's impolite to ask a lady's age?" I ask.
I release Vicki's compulsion, and she looks around for a moment, confused, before she turns to look at me.
"Hey, Vicki, everyone's been looking for you." I say.
"Really? Sorry, I just wanted to take a walk around the town square, I didn't mean to bother anyone. I just needed some air." She responds. "I'll go back now, Matty must be worried."
I nod, and she starts walking towards the grill before I stop her.
"Oh yeah, Vicki?" I ask. She turns to look at me." You dropped your anklet. Make sure to put it back on." I say, giving her a secretive smile.
"Thanks." She replies. She kneels down to put it on once more.
I watch as Stefan walks into The Grill, and just moments later Bonnie runs out. She looks panicked. "Bonnie!" I call out. She looks up and walks over to me as quick as she can.
"What's wrong?" I ask as she stops in front of me. She takes a deep breath and begins to rant, pacing on the pavement. "It happened again. I touched Stefan and I just got this feeling, I don't know what it was exactly. It kind of felt like... death?" She stops. "But that's crazy." she says, shaking her head in denial.
"Bonnie..." I trail off, hesitant. "Witches aren't the only supernatural beings around." I say. She looks shocked, as if this hadn't occurred to her yet.
"Then what is he?" She asks. I'm about to answer when I see Caroline exiting The Grill, and remember what happens next. Immediately, I get up and turn to bonnie. "You should ask your Grams, I'm sorry, I've got to go!" I rush out, running over to Caroline, calling out to her and waving my arms to get her attention. She stops walking and looks over to me, but it's not good enough.
I barely notice Bonnie follow after me when I see Damon just around the corner from where Caroline is. He starts moving, using his vampire speed to try to get there before me, but he should know better. He's already seen a display of my compulsion, so I'm surprised he doesn't expect it when I clothesline him before he reaches Caroline.
Caroline whips her head around when she hears him hit the ground, looking from me, to Damon, to the place I was before I sped over here. She's gaping at me, opening and closing her mouth in shock. Kinda reminds me of a fish.
"Porcelain." I whisper, and she takes of her bracelet, handing it to me. I grab it by the chain and compel her to forget what just happened, put her bracelet back on, get in her car, and go home, She does as she's told.
I walk over to Damon, glaring down at him. "Was that enough, or do I need to kick your ass even more? I'm sure I have a hex or two in your grimoire if that's what you need." I threaten. He groans in response. "Stop causing drama, at least for tonight. I need my beauty rest, y'know?"
Bonnie reaches me, slightly out of breath from running over here, and looks between Damon and I, confused. I sigh. Let's talk about this tomorrow, it's been a long day of keeping you guys safe from this giant toddler." I wave my hand in Damon's general direction.
"Oh, and Damon? Bonnie is another person you don't want to mess with. Not only because of me, she can handle herself. Honestly, you should be more careful who you try to snack on." I warn.
I walk Bonnie to her car and we say our goodbyes. Then, I go back to the boarding house and see Stefan and Elena swapping spit of the porch, so I go around and enter through the back door, heading up to my room and plopping down on my bed, kicking my shoes off and covering up before falling asleep.
Author's Note:
I scrapped this chapter several times, it fought tooth and nail not to be written. I can't believe this took so long when I got 3 chapters out yesterday. Damn you Episode 2! Big thank you to my mom for beta-ing. I needed the help this time for sure.
We've finished episode 2, so onto 3.
"The thing about writing is that it's a lot like life. There's a million possibilities and I can't choose any of them." - me, 5/6/2023
TVD jumpchain: i.