Unravel

Caroline sat on the end of her bed, the mirror of her vanity showing her eyes her freshly showered reflection. She was not looking at the mirror, however, but at the small ring that sat in her hand. The silver chain sat innocently on her desk, gleaming in the light and calling out to Caroline; as though the jewellery was taunting her. I'm not yours. I don't belong to you. She was sure that the vampire had not noticed at the time but she would discover eventually.

There was a combination of a D and an A, elegant and beautifully carved into the sapphire.

The silence that had followed Damon since Jonas has saved them was clear to her now, as she looked at the ring between her fingers and thinking back to her reaction of the brothers—Damon especially. She had never seen him at the point that he was so shocked he couldn't get out a single word. She turned the ring over in her fingers, caressing the silver. The ring was very well taken care of and it also appeared to have cost a good amount.

But why is someone so close to Damon working against him? However, Elijah wasn't exactly against Damon at the time. Everything about Elijah being there was to protect Elena from Klaus, as messed up as it may seem. Astra had protected Caroline to hold up his end of the deal about keeping all of those close to Elena safe.

Letting out a soft sigh, Caroline moved over to her vanity and put the ring in with her other jewellery; she would have to decide what to do with it another time. Another thing to think about was whether or not to mention what she knew to the others.

Stefan looked over to where Damon was most distinctly sulking in the sitting room of their home, drinking scotch straight from the bottle as he looked into the flames of the fire. He couldn't blame his brother this time, he knew exactly why he was doing it. At a bright and early eight o'clock, however, was pushing the envelope just a little bit.

"It's not going to change anything," he said clearly from where he leaned against the doorframe. The woman that Damon had used as his meal for the previous night had already left after Damon had sucked all the information about Elijah that he could from her and compelled her into a relationship.

"Shut up, Stefan," the elder brother growled out before taking another large mouthful of alcohol.

Stefan sighed loudly as he leaned his head back against the wood. "We don't even know the full story, Damon. Originals can compel vampires so she might be forced to do what he says," he tried to reason, already knowing that Damon wasn't going to take that as an excuse.

"She thanked him. He tore open her chest and she thanked him!"

"Because he pulled out a wooden bullet that could have killed her! You remember what Caroline said, she could feel it rubbing against her heart. He stopped her from dying; she thanked him because he saved her life," Stefan reasoned as he pushed himself away from the wall, making his way around the couch.

Damon swallowed thickly as he swirled the scotch around the bottle in his hand, never once looking over to Stefan. His hand clenched and unclenched at his other side, his fingers digging into his thigh and accenting the ring that rested on his finger. His blue eyes were enraged, filled with the pain of betrayal. He didn't know the full story, but he didn't exactly care at that particular moment. Even the weapon that John Gilbert had dropped off that could potentially kill Elijah wasn't lifting his spirits as well as it should have.

"I want to know what's going on, too, Damon. Drinking life away and moping about long lost love again won't change anything," said Stefan in a cold tone, one of the only things that he knew would get a rise from his brother. Being sensitive and understanding never worked, there was no point in wasting time with trying that again.

"Do not make me throw this at you," Damon growled out in warning as he lifted the scotch up and pointed to his younger sibling with malice.

The front door to the boarding house opened, drawing Stefan's attention away from his brother. Alaric made his way around the corner a moment later, his eyes searching out for the brothers. It didn't take a genius to know that something was wrong in the household. It was never good when Damon drank straight from the bottle.

"Do I want to ask?" he inquired hesitantly, looking between the brothers.

"My dead ex-fiancé isn't so dead," Damon spat out, tipping his head back for another drink.

Alaric's eyes widened at the words, unsure of how to take them. Damon had once been engaged? She's alive? She's a vampire? She was important enough to turn Damon into a depressed alcoholic?

"She's working for Elijah," Damon continued as he finally got to his feet, spinning around and spreading his arms wide as a malicious grin rose to his features, unsettling the other two men in the room. "You know what? I bet she's sleeping with him, too! Elena said that the woman with him was his 'wife'!" The yell of his words made Alaric tense up right before Damon roared in outrage and threw the bottle of scotch against the far wall, only five feet away from where Alaric was standing. The human male jumped to the side to avoid the explosion of glass and liquid, ducking back out into the hallway for a moment.

"Damon!"

"No! The minute we die she disappears! Next thing I know she's a vampire and working for an original!" Damon yelled as he rounded on his brother. "How long did it take for her to move on? Huh? Was she off skipping down the aisle a year later to him!"

"You were the one screwing around with Katherine behind her back!" Stefan yelled back suddenly, leaving Damon with a shell-shocked expression on his face as he looked over to his younger brother. Alaric looked between the two brothers with worry, making sure that the argument didn't escalade. All throughout, he listened and took in the information carefully. "I could see it in her eyes every time she looked at you. She knew exactly what you were doing, Damon, and she never left your side!" The outrage in Stefan's voice was unsettling to hear, especially for the human. He'd never seen Stefan like this. "She was my friend, Damon, and you broke her heart."

Intense blue eyes looked into angered brown ones, neither brother backing down with the new information laid out before them.

"Her name's Astra, isn't it?" Alaric asked suddenly, his voice low. Both brothers looked over to him at the sound of his voice, having forgotten that he was even still in the room. Alaric suddenly pulled something from his pocket as he kept speaking. "I ran into Caroline on my way up here. She asked me to give something to Damon for her. She told me she got it from around the neck of a woman named Astra." A thin silver chain dangled from the man's fingers as he held up his hand, a silver and blue ring hanging on the end.

Damon appeared before him so suddenly he dropped the chain, but it was caught fluently by the elder Salvatore. He looked at the ring with such intensity that he was afraid he'd made a mistake by agreeing to give it to him.

"What is it?" he asked carefully, watching Damon's face as pain began to fill his gaze.

"Her engagement ring."

Elijah's fingers glided along the smooth fabric of her dress, caressing one of the ribbons that tied at the back around her waist. The open back of the dress allowed for him to run his hands over the smooth skin gently, feeling for any traces of injury. Her chest was completely healed, not even a scar left in place. She looked immaculate once again, completely flawless as she stood before the full length mirror.

"I asked for you to tie the ribbon, Elijah, not fondle me," she teased as she looked at his face through the mirrors reflective surface. He smiled faintly in amusement before he bent forward to press a chaste kiss between her shoulder blades. She shivered in response, goose bumps rising on her flesh in response to his touch.

"Just being thorough," he replied back in a deep baritone, causing her to smile at the sound. How she loved his voice.

"Any more thorough and we'll be late for tea."

She turned around to face him fully, her hands moving to adjust his already perfect tie and reach up to brush the strands of hair over his forehead back into place. He was always so well made up that she almost felt sullied compared to him.

Offering her his arm, Elijah escorted her out of the home and down to the flashy red car that they had decided to take to the party. He had done his best to talk her out of it, but she insisted that it was better than the bulky truck that he chose to buy. Her car was small and could find much easier parking than his truck could. The compromise was that he would drive.

"I feel too formal," Astra said after a couple of minutes in the car, brushing at the skirt of her dress. It was a strapless one that reached just above her knees, a soft lilac colour but a silk texture. The only jewellery that she was wearing was her rings form Elijah, two sapphire earrings in each ear and a golden chain necklace with a modest sapphire pendant resting on her chest. The only thing she disliked, however, were the strapped high heels she was wearing.

"You look lovely," Elijah assured, "Nothing you are wearing is too fancy, Astraea."

"Yes, because silk dresses always just scream casual," she countered in a sultry tone as she leaned back against the leather seat. "I suppose that we must dress to match, however."

Elijah only smirked from his place, eyes remaining on the road, as the silence fell over the car. The drive into Mystic Falls took longer with Elijah driving, only because he actually abided to the laws of the road, but Astra didn't mind in the least. She knew, with all her heart, mind and soul that Damon would be at the tea party today. He wanted to get closer to Elijah, find out his plan and stop him and in order to do that he would need to meet with him as often as he could.

"So, what exactly is the purpose of today? Just keeping up disguises?" she asked curiously as she leaned slightly toward Elijah, crossing her legs to get comfortable.

"I do need to get information on this town, information that I do not have."

"Sounds sneaky," she mumbled softly, leaning her head back against her headrest. She watched the lines on the road dart passed. Unconsciously, her hand rose up to her bare throat where the silver chain she had once worn was no longer. There could have been many instances that it fell off or was taken off while she was unconscious, and she would find it at any cost.

"We're here," Elijah announcing, drawing her back to reality. Her eyes moved up to look at where he was parking, remembering the house to be that of the Lockwood's. It was larger than her own, but it was mostly just empty spaces to hold more bodies for parties and get-togethers. "See, we're not late for tea," Elijah whispered softly, a small smirk on his lips. Astra laughed softly, shaking her head as he turned off the engine and moved around the car to get to her door.

She smiled up to him as she took his offered hand, letting him guide her out of the car. People from the town that were also present at the party turned to look at them, first noticing the car and then noticing the 'famous writer' and his wife. Astra smiled to them, letting Elijah guide her arm to loop through his before he escorted her toward the front entrance.

Mrs. Lockwood met them at the door.

"Elijah, it's wonderful to see you again. And I see you've brought your wife," Mrs. Lockwood greeted warmly, turning her smile over to Astra. "Astra, correct?"

Astra put on a radiant smile, showing off her perfect white teeth and held her hand out for Mrs. Lockwood to shake. "It's wonderful to meet you, Mayor Lockwood."

"Oh, just Carol, if you would," the older woman said quickly as she shook Astra's hand expertly before stepping aside. "Come inside, please."

Again, terribly sorry for the seemingly endless wait that I had to put you all through with this story. I've begun writing again, though, and I won't be dallying anymore! At least, not for the summer vacation :P

I tried to get this chapter out the same day, but my wi-fi didn't seem to have the same plans. :(