Chapter 3: American Sadness
The first thing I noticed was the time of day. It was night. I felt the hard and cold gravel underneath me, biting into me where I stood and the cool September breeze against my thin pajamas.
I noticed I was at a football pitch well behind it to be exact. There was little light coming from the pitch that helped me see my surroundings.
I looked around clearly now that my eyes adjusted and realized.
I was not alone.
The light gave away to two shadows in the distance facing each other.
From a distance it seemed to be a fierce argument.
Curious, I slowly walked towards them. It was a bad idea but I couldn't stop myself. The closer I got the more I could hear them. Their voices were a little distorted but enough for me to understand. I was trying to be cautious when I felt myself step on a twig.
Snap.
I paused. Looking up to make sure they hadn't seen me. They hadn't. I looked back down at the twig to see it was intact. I had imagined it breaking. I stepped over it again. To my surprise, my feet went right through it.
Strange.
Taking in a deep breath, I bravely stepped towards the men. I walked in between them and waved my hands in front of their blurry faces. No response. I breathed out in relief and focused my attention on their conversation.
"-Who's pretending?" The one facing towards me said.
"Then kill me."
"Well, I'm...I'm tempted"
"No, you're not. You've had lifetimes to do it, and yet, here I am. I'm still alive. And there you are. You're still haunting me. After 145 years. Katherine is dead. And you hate me because you loved her, and you torture me because you still do. And that, my brother, is your humanity."
145 years? Katherine? I was so confused but I knew one thing for certain. They were definitely vampires. I mean no normal human could live up to 145 and still sound that young. I could only think of two people that fit their description.
"Salvatore! What the hell? We've got a game to play!" I heard another voice interrupt. There was only one Salvatore I could think off from the top of my head and one game that was coming up. But Stefan wasn't part of the school football team. At least I knew he wasn't. I tilted my head confused, looking at the newcomer.
"If that's my humanity...then what's this?" Damon or who I thought was Damon Salvatore spat out venomously as he disappeared in a blur.
Before I could blink I watched reappear behind the stranger, tearing into his neck. I couldn't see much in the haze that clouded my eyes, but I remember seeing his brilliant blue eyes shift to a deadly red as he tore the stranger's neck apart. His arteries and vocal cord were ripped open for everyone to see. Blood was everywhere, it was the only thing that stood out to me in the black and white landscape.
I heard Stefan shout in protest, trying to save the stranger. And I watched in horror as Damon finally threw the now cold and dead body onto the pavement.
"Anyone, anytime, any place." He stated with a sinister but proud grin, his face painted in crimson, caked with fresh blood.
I woke up in cold sweat, clutching my throat in fear. Dried tears coated my face. Feeling the warmth of my soft duvet, I was comforted. I was home, safe. The early days of daylight peeked through the window through the gap in the curtain. It was morning not night. I breathed out in relief. My throat felt as if it was on fire. I quickly got up, throwing my covers off me and turned to my nightstand to pour myself some water. The pitcher was empty.
Frustrated. I ran downstairs and poured myself a glass of water, grabbing the glass from the drying rack next to the sink. I watched in desperation as water filled the glass. Turning off the tap, I brought the cold drink to my parched lips. I downed it in one go.
"Slow down. Are you trying to choke on water or something?"
I jumped up a little as my Uncle Nate stared at me worriedly from the kitchen island. "When did you get back?" I asked, washing the glass and drying it before putting it back on the drying rack next to the sink. I didn't even notice that he was standing there watching me.
"Two hours ago." He replied, picking at his waffles. "I made breakfast. If that helps."
"Waffles?" I asked, staring at the plate of breakfast in front of him. He nodded. Uncle Nate said nothing for a while just staring down at his plate in silent contemplation.
I said nothing as well. Instead I made my way back to my room to get ready for school. Quickly, I got changed and put on some light makeup to hide my dark circles which had only started to form. I paused.
With the concealer in my hand, I stared at my reflection in the mirror. It had been a while since I had really looked at myself. My mid-length black hair had grown past my shoulders. I ran my hands through it and brought it close to my face. The rays of sunlight from the bathroom window made my hair appear a dark reddish type of color in my hand. I let my hair fall down, gently. I need to cut it again soon.
I picked up the concealer again and carefully but gently dabbed some on the light dark circles which had started to form. I then carefully brushed my hair and put it in a neat ponytail. I carefully moved the stray strands away from my heart shaped face and picked some lip gloss from my makeup bag and carefully applied it to my naturally pink lips.
Giving myself a quick look over, I nodded at my reflection. Blood. There was blood on my neck. Quickly, I brought my hand to my neck and went over it. When I blinked it was gone. There was nothing there. My neck was still the same light caramel as the rest of my body, no traces of crimson. I looked back at the mirror to see there was nothing there in the mirror as well. The smooth polished surface shone brightly in the sun. I glanced over at my phone.
7:25 AM
I turned my phone off and got out of the bathroom. Grabbing my red school bag, I made my way back downstairs and took the plate of waffles. The image of the corpse from my nightmare haunted me as I sat there.
Blood.
I dropped my fork on the counter in shock. There was blood on my breakfast. The waffles had been replaced with a bleeding heart. I watched in horror as it continued to beat still after it was separated from the body. I blinked and there was nothing. The waffles were back, it was topped with whipped cream and strawberries. But My appetite was gone.
"You okay?" Uncle Nate reappeared with a coffee mug in his hands and his laptop underneath his arms. He looked at me in concern while he sat down opposite me, placing his laptop on the kitchen island counter and his coffee on it's left side.
I said nothing, just looked at him in shock and horror. "Blood..." I trailed off.
"Blood?"
"There was blood on the plate. And a heart. A live beating heart."
"I can't be that bad at cooking-" He stopped when he noticed I wasn't joking. "You had one of your nightmares again." He said, taking a sip of his hot drink. I numbly nodded. "Do you want to talk about it?" He offered, placing the mug on the counter. He leaned towards me, worried.
I took a deep breath and glanced at the clock on the kitchen clock. "I do but I'm gonna be late." I said, finally picking up the fork and shoving three big bites of the waffle and strawberries in my mouth. It was still food. Even if it for some reason reminded me of a beating bloody human heart. I still hated wasting food. A habit my mom had forced upon me since I was a child.
Uncle Nate said nothing, I could watch him thinking about something as I ate the waffles in a hurry. He got up suddenly. "I can drop you off and you can tell me on the way" He put down the coffee mug and disappeared. He reappeared with his car keys.
"Bonnie promised to drop me already." I started. Taking the plate to sink and washing it "But I can text her and cancel." I finished drying the plate and putting it on the drying rack and taking out my phone from my embroidered denim jacket and texted Bonnie.
"Done?"
Ping.
Bonnie had texted back and she was okay with my change of plans. "Done." I replied, putting my phone back and slinging my backpack over my shoulders, I followed him out of the house.
Uncle Nate pulled up to the school parking lot and parked in a far and desolated spot and looked at me. "So lemme get this straight, you saw the Salvatore brothers arguing and 'Damian'—"
"Damon."
"—just ripped apart a guy because he trying to prove to 'Steven'—"
"Stefan."
"—that he had no humanity?" He finished.
"Pretty much." I nodded at him.
"A little dramatic, don't you think?"
"Don't ask me, I was just looking in, not being them." I replied, picking up my bag.
"That was different. Usually you're either seeing it from the person dying or doing the killing."
"Yeah, this time it was better." I said, realizing that Uncle Nate had a point. "I didn't feel their pain or anything. I just watched."
Uncle Nate nodded in understanding and turned to look at me. "Do you—" He paused. "Do you think you can learn to control this? I know it's a lot to ask but if you learn how to control this, you can block this out-"
"—And sleep properly at night without being traumatized." I interrupted him.
"Exactly." He said excitedly. I smiled sadly, my family were the ones who had suffered the most from my nightmares.
A white car drove into the school parking lot, disturbing my thoughts. I unclipped my seat-belt and got out. "Bonnie and Elena are here, I'll see you at home." I said, leaving.
"Wait, actually, I'm gonna be at the Lockwood's and I might head back to college as well afterwards."
"Council meetings?" I asked.
He nodded instantly. I sighed. The meetings were only going to become more frequent as the attacks went on. If Uncle Nate and I wanted to, we could stop this for once but we would only be exposing ourselves to danger, if the council failed.
"Keep me updated." I stated sternly before running and tackling Bonnie into a hug from behind.
I turned around to wave at Uncle Nate, only to find that his car was gone. Thinking nothing of it, I rolled my eyes. I followed Elena and Bonnie, both of whom were waiting for me.
"Ava." Elena turned to me and held my arms. "Tell Bonnie that she's overreacting."
"About what exactly?" I tilted my head and stared at Bonnie.
"It's her whole psychic witch mojo thing."
"Look, as I was telling Elena." Bonnie started defending herself. "I accidentally touched Stefan at the Grill, remember you were there-"
"—And you froze for a few seconds."
"Yeah cause I got a really bad feeling from him."
"A bad feeling?" I gulped. "From Stefan?" She was definitely a witch.
"Yeah."
I stared at the grassy ground, thinking over what Bonnie said and remembering my nightmare. I almost forgot that Stefan was a vampire but Bonnie's words and the nightmare reminded me again that he was a monster among us. I was still apprehensive about Stefan.
"Maybe take it slow." I said trying to play the peacekeeper between the two.
"Really? You two. Stefan's a great guy." Elena said, clearly annoyed that I wasn't backing her up. Well, sorry for being a concerned friend and trying to be a peacekeeper.
"We're not saying he isn't." I quickly added. Bonnie nodded along in agreement and we both stared at Elena in concern.
"You just met him. And not to mention you just got out of a long-term relationship. Last thing you want is for Stefan to feel like a rebound."
"Stefan's not a rebound."
"She's not saying, he is." Bonnie jumped in.
"Look, I'm just concerned."
"And like I said to Bonnie, I love you both for it. But I feel good and different and it's mostly because of Stefan that I feel like I'm not gonna fall apart." Elena confessed. I totally understood where she was coming from but I knew that Stefan wasn't gonna make her life that stable. Maybe temporarily but not forever.
I looked away and noticed the person we were discussing, making his way to us through the parking lot and onto the grassy field in front of the school. I nudged and whispered to Bonnie. "Speak of the devil and he shall appear." I whispered. Bonnie looked over Elena's shoulder as Stefan came and greeted us.
"Hey, um, I gotta find Caroline. She's not answering her phone. So I'll see you guys later." Bonnie excused herself, looking at me, expecting me to follow her.
"Bonnie, wait…" Elena tried to stop her but she left, not even hearing her.
"Good morning, Stefan." I looked at both of them. "I'll see you both in history. I have to swing by the Student Council and then help Bonnie find Caroline." I said awkwardly, making excuses and following Bonnie inside.
"Ava, please…." I heard Elena say in the distance.
I leaned against my locker, next to Bonnie's, whose locker was wide open. I watched in boredom as Bonnie pretended to look for her books. She kept ranting about Stefan and Elena while organizing her locker. I kept nodding every time she said something. All the while, I kept my eye on my phone.
Uncle Nate texted me, telling me he asked Liz, the sheriff and Caroline's mom for increase the security for the game. I did ask if she was suspicious. Fortunately, she wasn't.
I sighed and turned my phone off. Focusing my attention on my own locker. I swung it open and started getting my own books out.
Slam.
Bonnie almost made me drop all my books, she looked at me. "Do you think I was overreacting with Elena and Stefan?"
"No. You were just concerned." I defended her.
"Really? Elena and Caroline keep thinking that I'm being over-dramatic with the whole psychic thing."
"If it was Caroline saying these things, I would be more skeptical but it's you. You don't do that." I said, closing my locker gently behind me.
"Thanks Ava. It means a lot. Speaking of Caroline—"
Riiiiiiiiiingggg.
"Maybe she's just late. Or skipping history." I offered, walking with her to history. "Not that I blame her, Tanner's a dick." I added.
"World war II ended in...Anyone got anything? Miss Juan? 1945." Tanner barked. And I zoned out.
I literally could care less about this class anymore. The more I stayed in this room, the less I cared about history and my family pretty much loved the idea of preservation of the history of this town. I continued to aimlessly take notes and doodle on the side.
From the corner of my eye, I could see Elena and Stefan flirt with each other. I laughed quietly. Tanner was gonna kill them. But knowing Stefan he would kill Tanner before he could even touch one hair on Elena. I glanced beside me to Matt who was carefully listening in on Stefan and Elena.
"Psst. Matt."
Matt glanced at me. "What?"
"Stop staring at R and J and start paying attention to Tanner or you're gonna fail this class even more."
"R and J?" Matt asked confused before realizing who I was talking about. His face hardened for a second before a grinning. "How do you know I'm failing?"
"Tanner. Keeps. Glaring. At. You. Like. You. Spat. In. His. Face."
"Rude. That's his face."
I breathed out amused, close to laughing loudly. I turned back to concentrate on Tanner, only to see him glaring this way. To my relief I was not the target. Neither was Matt but Stefan and Elena. I should've known. They got drama and English literature mixed with history.
"Miss Gilbert?" Tanner asked.
Elena looked at him sheepishly. Before she could answer. "December 7, 1941." Stefan replied without missing a beat.
"Thank you, Miss Gilbert." Tanner thanked Stefan sarcastically.
"Anytime."
"Oh god." I mumbled. Matt looked at me amused. "I know where this is going." I whispered, rolling my eyes. Stefan the fossil was going to show Tanner just how old he was and I didn't care enough to be focused
I tuned back to the events going on just to see Tanner have a spat over the ending of the Korean War. This is so lame. Stefan was obviously right while Tanner had a big ego. I mean only one of them had lived through these events while the other only studied about them. I knew who my money was on.
"Uh, actually, sir, it was '53." Stefan insisted on the ending of the war.
Tanner looked annoyed and looked around the classroom. "Look it up, somebody. Quickly." He barked out the orders.
Everyone started shifting and shuffling, flipping through their textbook.
The Korean War officially ended in 1953.
I heard someone on the other side say. I looked at Tanner expecting him to say something but he said nothing. I glanced around to see that it was silent. Only the sounds, shuffling papers and flipping pages with occasional clicking sounds. I blinked confusedly.
"19—" "It was 1953." I blurted out without thinking just as someone was about to answer. "The Korean War ended in 1953 with the split of the country." I finished.
Tanner looked at me with his eyebrow raised. He glared at me as he nodded. "Thank you for the clarification, Miss Fitzroy." He was clearly pissed to be proven wrong as he went back to teaching the class. I saw Stefan glance back at me and smile gratefully. I didn't react because Matt was staring at me, instead I just went back to taking notes from the textbook.
I walked across the football field, while putting on the strap of my camera around my neck. My camera had thankfully arrived last night which meant I no longer had to use the one from school. I still, however, have to stay after school and take pictures of the football and cheer practice before the game. It was so annoying. I'd honestly be at home where I would be safe.
My eyes caught on to a figure sitting on the bleachers. I strained my eyes to get a good look at the person on the bleacher. Stefan. Of course it had to be Stefan. For some odd bizarre reasons, it always seemed that the Salvatores, no matter human or vampire, would be doing something angsty and dramatic. In this case brooding on the bleachers. I mean I didn't blame them, I would do that too, if I had their genes.
I rolled my eyes and snapped a picture of him before turning back to the football team. Matt smiled and waved at me. I waved back, picking up my camera and snapping a picture of him in his uniform. Snap. Snap. Snap.
"You seem to be having fun." Matt greeted me as he removed his helmet.
"Hmm." Snap. "Not as fun as you are. I almost feel bad for Tyler. He just got 'Tanner'ed'."
"Tyler? Seriously?"
"I said almost. I don't actually care." I laughed, putting my camera down. "Shouldn't you be over there instead?" I said, gesturing over to the other players.
"I should, shouldn't I?" He grinned. "Well...it's your fault."
"My fault?"
"Your fault."
I scoffed. "How exactly is it MY fault?"
"You're here, distracting me."
"I'm taking pictures for the yearbook committee. You getting distracted is on you." I retorted, lightly punching him.
Matt laughed. "Ow. I'm kidding, Ava, relax."
"Well. Well. Well." Tyler interrupted us, tackling Matt and me. "Ava and Matt. You two look cozy."
"Go screw yourself, Lockwood." I spat out. Tyler really had to always go and be a dick. Then ruin everything.
"Whoa, chill. I'm just saying what everyone else is thinking."
"Not funny, man." Matt said, picking up the camera off the ground and handing it to me.
Tyler snatched it from his hands. "Nice camera, Ava."
"Give it back, Lockwood." "Give it back, Ty." Matt and I spoke at the same time, glancing at each other briefly in surprise.
"Cute." Snap. Tyler quickly took a picture of me and Matt. "Hey, Matt, maybe you should get over Elena and date Ava instead. I mean she did have a cr-" Snap.
I snatched the camera away from Tyler, before he could finish. "Tyler, sweetie, I know the concept of guys and girls being just friends is foreign to you but I can assure you it's real and Matt and I are a good example of it." I replied sarcastically. Snap. "Just because, you..." Snap. "Don't have any..." Snap. "Doesn't mean it's not real." I finished while taking pictures of the practice.
"She got you, there, Ty." Matt laughed, grateful that I didn't make it awkward.
"Whatever, you two are on some hippy bullshit." Tyler said, rolling his eyes. "Damn, Tanner's coming over, we should split."
"Then that's my cue to leave. See you guys." I waved goodbye and turned back to walk to the cheer practice area.
"Wait." Matt stopped me before I could go far. "You're coming to the game right?" Blood. I froze. The bloody image from my nightmares flashed in my head as Matt got closer concerned. "Ava?"
"Yeah. I'll be there." I said quietly, smiling reassuringly. Matt said nothing and nodded, still concerned. He gave me a fleeting look as he jogged back on to the practice area.
I sighed and almost sprinted over to the cheer practice side of the field. I silently complained about the vast length I had to walk to get here and how much I had already missed out on the practice. Maybe if Tyler took a break from being a dick, I could quickly get this done and go get some painting done as well but Tyler just had to be on his bullshit. And now I was behind my schedule.
I stopped. All the cheerleaders were sitting on the grass, some standing, some stretching and gossiping while others just looked bored. Did I miss the practice? I walked closer and tapped Bonnie, gesturing to the cheerleaders scattered in the area.
"Caroline." Bonnie simply said. I nodded in understanding. Caroline was still MIA. This was gonna be another setback for me. I silently debated on packing this up and going back inside the school and going to the art studio instead.
"I'm gonna leave in 5 if Care does not show up." I said, bored.
"That makes two of us. Like, it's not like her to be this late."
"Maybe she's hungover."
"Could be." Bonnie said trailing off. "Wait, did I tell you about Caroline's mystery man?"
"Mystery man? Oh my God."
"Yeahh, so she met this weirdly hot guy at the grill when she was drunk as hell." Bonnie started, sitting on the grass, taking a break from stretching.
"Y'know, what I think?"
"That, Caroline probably imagined it in her drunk state. Don't tell Caroline, I was totally thinking that."
I nodded fiercely, hanging my camera back around my neck. "Let's play the devil's advocate for a moment here?" I said. "If 'mystery man'..." I said using my hands to form air quotes. "...is real then she's probably getting it on, that's why she didn't show up today." I finished, taking a seat on the grass field, next to Bonnie.
Bonnie and I looked at each other laughing. Knowing Caroline, all bets were off the table when it came to guys. I may not have been here for almost six years on a regular basis but I knew her since we were kids, she had almost always been boy-crazed. Keyword, almost. Caroline did have her own ambition, her current goal was to be a reporter. And god forbid, anyone came between that.
I turned around to snap some shots of the football field as a whole while Bonnie looked down. I turned back to look at Bonnie who had glanced behind me. She squealed. "Elena actually showed up."
"No, really?" I said surprised.
Bonnie nodded, asking me to turn around. Before I could, I was tackled into a hug. "Oh, my God! You're here!" Bonnie squealed in delight as the person let go of me to give Bonnie a hug.
"Oh my god. Elena. You almost scared the shit out of me." I complained, clutching my camera. "Also, you're actually here. This is big."
"Yep. I can't be a 'sad girl' forever. The only way to get things back to the way they were is to do things that were. Oh, and you two are coming to dinner tonight."
"We are?" Bonnie and I asked at the same time, looking at each other confused.
"Mm-hmm. You, Ava, me and Stefan. You guys have to give him a chance."
"I didn't even say anything bad about him." I mumbled under my breath.
"Well, then you can be the buffer with me."
"Tonight's no good. Have you seen Caroline? I texted her like a hundred times." Bonnie attempted to back off by changing the subject.
"Don't change the subject, Bonnie Bennett! You're going to be there."
"Fine. I'll go."
"Good." Elena said happily. "Ava?" She asked.
"I don't know El. I still have a couple of paintings to finish and sort through my Grandma's stuff." I tried.
Elena looked at me, trying to give me sad puppy dog eyes. Bonnie narrowed her eyes. "If I'm suffering through this awkward dinner, you're suffering with me." Bonnie said, grabbing my arm.
"Fine, I'll suffer with you." I finally agreed to the dinner.
Pulling up my phone, I quickly texted my uncle my dinner plans. To no surprise, he agreed. I looked back at Elena, held both of her hands and looked at us expectedly. "I promise, you guys are so not gonna suffer."
"We'll see." I grinned, picking up my camera and taking a picture of Elena. Snap.
"Seriously, where is Caroline?" Bonnie complained as she and Elena stretched.
An hour. It had exactly been an hour since I had come to cheer practice and to my surprise Caroline was still not here. I was annoyed as hell. I could have been inside instead of being in the September sun.
"I don't know. It's not like her." Elena replied confused.
"I'll try her again."
"Well, if she doesn't show up. I'm leaving." I said gathering my things.
"Wait. Ava." Bonnie attempted to get me to stay when a silver convertible pulled up next to us.
Elena, Bonnie and I turned to stare at the silver car. Elena looked at me. A look of annoyance crossed both of our faces. I glared holes into the head of the handsome but deadly driver. We watched in shock as Caroline kissed the driver and got out.
"Oh, my God. That must be the mystery guy from the grill."
"That's not a mystery guy." Elena said, shocked.
"That's Damon Salvatore." I finished with a grimace. Elena and I glanced at each other in disgust.
"Salvatore, as in Stefan?!" Bonnie asked, shocked.
"Unfortunately." I said picking up my camera and following Caroline. "Elena, you coming?" I asked her, breaking her out of Damon's spell.
"I got the other brother. Hope you don't mind. Sorry I'm late, girls. I, uh, was busy. All right, let's start with the double pike herkey hurdler, what do you say? Ava, thanks for coming. Make sure to get my good angle. And 5, 6, 7, 8. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Elena, sweetie, why don't you just observe today? Ok? Keep going! Ok. Do it again from the top. And 5, 6, 7, 8. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8." Caroline said not letting us say a single thing.
Suppressing the overwhelming chill, I threw a glare at Damon who had only smirked at me and tilted his head. I watched in annoyance as he drove out. We both kept eye contact as he drove. I don't know his reasoning but mine was to make sure he actually left. After he left I glanced at the cheer practice.
Snap. Snap. Snap.
The only thing that I noticed that truly stood had to be Caroline's neck. It was odd. She wore a short red checkered scarf, tied securely and tightly around her neck. It was not that cold and not to mention, it didn't even go with her outfit. I breathed out. He really did it. He was feeding from her.
Night had set and it was time for the dinner at the Gilbert House. I sat around the kitchen island at the Gilbert kitchen with Bonnie opposite me. We both watched as Elena quickly unpacked food from the Grill onto nice and presentable bowls and plates.
Bonnie took this time to discuss more psychic happenings that were going on. I almost wanted to share with her my own stories but I held back. Mine were clearly more precise and different than hers. If I had shared mine, it would only lead to more questions than answers. Not to mention, it would expose them to the supernatural life, one that their parents had fought hard for them to be kept away from.
"—about this? Today I'm obsessed with numbers. 3 numbers. I keep seeing 8, 14, and 22. How weird is that?"
"Maybe we should play the lottery." Elena said sarcastically.
"Have you talked to your Grams?" I ignored Elena, knowing Sheila Bennett would probably have answers for this. Grandma Janine used to say that when you were in doubt, Sheila Bennett was the go-to person for supernatural stuff, being an Occult professor and a witch certainly helped her.
"She's just gonna say it's because I'm a witch. I don't want to be a witch. Do you guys want to be a witch?"
"I don't want to be a witch." Elena replied, making a face.
"Do I get to turn people into frogs?" I asked with my hand raised like I was in class.
Bonnie and Elena let out a laugh. "Probably, I think." Bonnie said, chewing her bottom lip with a look of amusement.
"In that case, sign me up."
Bonnie laughed and she looked at Elena who seemed to be putting more food into bowls. "And putting it in a nice bowl isn't fooling anybody."
"Seriously, El. You could have asked me to cook instead."
"I didn't think that far, okay." Elena defended herself. "Ok, serving spoons. Where are the serving spoons?"
"Middle drawer on your left." Bonnie instantly replied without looking.
"Well, that was impressive."
"Ok, so she's been in this kitchen like a thousand times." Elena said as she pulled out the serving spoons.
"Yeah, that's it." Bonnie replied dejectedly. I rubbed Bonnie's arm in comfort.
The doorbell ringing broke us out of our discussions as Elena's eyes widened. "Your Romeo is here, Juliet." I said.
"Don't be nervous. Just be your normal loving selves." She said clearly being the nervous one as she left to open the door.
Bonnie and I said nothing in reply. We just looked on. Bonnie clearly looked affected by what had happened earlier.
"Maybe it was a fluke." I said, looking at Bonnie. I knew it wasn't.
"Birthday candles." I watched in silence as she opened a drawer underneath her. She paused, staring at the drawer, her face frozen in horror. I stared at her with wide eyes of concern and watched as she took out a packet of candles and showed it to me. Her eyes wide. "Ava." She gasped.
The dinner was going exactly as I thought it would. Awkward. Boring. Those were two words I would use to describe this dinner. Bonnie and I had decided to put the psychic stuff away for now and distract ourselves with dinner.
Stefan sat at the head of the table with Elena and Bonnie on his left and right. I had chosen to sit next to Bonnie, thinking it would be less awkward. I was so wrong. It felt like the dinner would go on eternally.
I glanced at Elena, gesturing with my head at Bonnie and Stefan. Being around Stefan was still hard, the chill was still there, hence why I was wearing my black blazer jacket inside. But I was still determined to make this dinner less awkward.
"Did Tanner give you a hard time today?" Elena broke the silence.
"Well, he let me on the team, so I must have done something right." Stefan replied.
"You guys should have seen Stefan today. Tyler threw a ball right at him, and…"
"Yeah, I heard." "He caught it." Bonnie and I said at the same time.
"Bonnie, Why don't you tell Stefan about your family?"
"Elena." I hissed.
"Um, divorced. No mom. Live with my dad." Bonnie replied, she was also uncomfortable with Elena bringing up the witch stuff.
"No, about the witches. Bonnie's family has a lineage of witches. It's really cool."
"Cool isn't the word I'd use."
"I would. I think witches are really cool." I smiled. Screw it. I might as well play along and be the buffer Elena wanted me to be.
"Well, it's certainly interesting. I'm not too versed, but I do know that there's a history of Celtic druids that migrated here in the 1800s." Stefan stated, putting his hands together in interest. For someone who is trying to pretend to be a teenager, he sucked.
"My family came by way of Salem." Bonnie corrected him, putting her fork down.
"Really? Salem witches?"
"Yeah."
"I would say that's pretty cool."
"Really? Why?"
"Salem witches are heroic examples of individualism and nonconformity."
"Yeah, they are." Bonnie agreed, smiling and nodding at Stefan.
I smiled as I finished my plate of food. Maybe Stefan did something tonight. He wasn't as bad as I thought. I was only apprehensive towards him for the nightmare which may or may not come true but for now it seemed he was trying his best. I glanced at him and nodded approvingly. Elena also smiled in delight at her friends getting along with her new boyfriend. And I didn't have to act as the buffer after all. There were no arguments or snide comments made by anyone.
Dinner was a success. Or so I thought.
The doorbell rang, breaking us out of the little moment we were sharing. I looked at Elena, questioning her. Elena shrugged. "I wonder who that could be." She wondered out loud before getting up and heading to get the door.
"So, Stefan. You seem to like history." I asked, trying to prevent another awkward break. I silently cursed myself for the choice of question but still managed to keep my face neutral.
"Yeah, I mean Mystic Falls has a rich, deep history. You can't help but follow it and it's a domino effect. You follow Mystic Falls history—"
"-And you get sucked into American and then World history. It's a snowball" I finished. He nodded, smiling appreciatively before he froze. A faraway look took over his face and he looked down at the dining table as if he was thinking about something.
"Stefan? Stefan?" I asked, trying to get his attention.
A chill passed through me. It wasn't because Stefan was here. This was the same chill I felt when I met Damon. I groaned internally. What was Damon doing here? I watched as Stefan got up and went to the door. Screw it. I followed Stefan to find Caroline and Damon.
"What are you doing here?" Stefan all but spat out as he stood on the other side of Elena. Caroline stood between him and Elena. I observed that she had another scarf on her neck.
I turned my eyes to the door and watched "Waiting for Elena to invite me in." Damon retorted, smirking. I'm actually starting to wonder if that's his resting face or something.
Elena started stuttering and about to invite him. "No, no, no. He can't, uh...he can't stay. Can you, Damon?" Stefan cut in.
"I agree with Stefan, El." I said, making myself known. Damon narrowed his eyes when he spotted me. "It's already late as it is. We pretty much finished dinner." I looked at Damon and smiled mockingly. "All we have left is dessert."
"Well. What a coincidence, I love desserts." Damon grinned.
"Of course you do." I breathed out quietly under my breath.
Caroline tried to get Damon to come inside, not knowing that he couldn't get in without an invitation. "Yeah, we're just...finishing up." Stefan said, agreeing with me. We both glanced at each other and nodded.
"It's fine. Just come on in." Elena said annoyed. She gave me a look as she went back.
I watched in silent horror as Damon walked into the Gilbert house. "You have a beautiful home, Elena." Damon complimented, staring at me and Stefan with a mocking smile. Elena thanked him humbly, unaware of what she had just done.
"I cannot believe that Mr. Tanner let you on the team. Tyler must be seething. But good for you. Go for it." Caroline remarked pretty much sitting on top of Damon on a couch.
Damon and Caroline along with Stefan, Elena, Bonnie and me sat around the coffee table in the Gilbert living room just talking about the day. Well, Caroline did most of the talking while Damon openly eyed Elena. Now and then, he would give me and Stefan a proud but cocky look to show that he had been invited in.
To say it was uncomfortable and awkward would be an understatement. Caroline did most of the talking with occasional input from the others and me. She and Damon sat on one of the couches practically sitting on top of each other while Elena and Stefan sat next to each other, Bonnie and I next to each other on another couch sat on the other who occasionally glanced at me in boredom.
"That's what I always tell him. You have to engage. You can't just sit there and wait for life to come to you. You have to go get it." Damon said, acting like a caring older brother. I wanted to gag.
"Yeah, Elena wasn't so lucky today. It's only because you missed summer camp. God, I don't know how you're ever going to learn the routines." Caroline added.
"I'll work with her. She'll get it." Bonnie tried to defend Elena.
"I guess we can put her in the back." Caroline paused contemplating her choices as her gaze landed on me. Oh no. "Or you could take her place, finally put those gymnastic and dance skills to good use, Ava." She asked hopefully.
"I'm gonna tell you what I told the cheer captain in my last school." I replied, bored. Caroline looked on hopefully, leaning towards me a little away from Damon. "No." I smiled, leaning a little back into my seat.
"What's wrong with cheerleading?" Damon asked with a mischievous smile, clearly trying to get on my nerves.
"Nothing." Caroline turned to look at him. "It's just Ava being Ava. She's more into arts and photography, give this girl a camera or some paintbrushes she'll give you a masterpiece." She commented, smiling at me.
"You're exaggerating."
"I'm not, I remember how growing up you'd have these beautiful but morbid pieces of artwork and all I'd have is macaroni."
"They were pretty good pieces of macaroni art."
"They were not." Caroline mouthed to Damon. "And when I'd ask you where you got the inspiration, you'd say you had a dream about it. So mysterious, kinda like—" She went on. Damon leaned forward on the couch, clearly interested in what Caroline was saying. He glanced at me and carefully studied my face to observe my reaction.
Before Damon could ask anything. "—That was like when we were kids. Kids are weird. Um, why don't we get back to cheerleading, Caroline?" I quickly said making excuses and changing topics while looking anywhere but Caroline and Damon.
"Oh right. I was thinking we could put Elena in the back."
"You know, you don't seem like the cheerleader type, Elena." Damon asked Elena, ignoring Caroline. Rude.
"Oh, it's just 'cause her parents died. Ava's grandma died as well. She's fine. Yeah, I mean, Elena's just totally going through a blah phase. She used to be way more fun."
I glanced at Caroline, with wide eyes. I can't believe what she just said. "Caroline, filter."
A look of realization flashed across her face as she quickly understood the weight of her words. "I say that with complete sensitivity" She apologized.
"I'm sorry, Elena. I know what it's like to lose both your parents. In fact, Stefan and I have watched almost every single person we've ever cared about die." Damon said sincerely.
"We don't need to get into that right now, Damon." Stefan cut in, stopping Damon before he could say more.
"Oh, you know what, you're right, Stef. I'm sorry. The last thing I wanted to do was bring her up. Mmm."
I looked at both of them, going back and forth. "Here we go again." I mumbled out. Breathing out, trying to calm myself. I took a long sip of my mocha, pretending like I hadn't said anything. Damon glanced at me, clearly having heard what I had said. I really needed to shut my mouth or one day I would die.
"You know what, I just remembered I have to call my mom and let her know how I am. So I'm gonna go upstairs to make that call. Is that okay, Elena?" I said, trying to remove myself from this awkward situation. I put down my coffee mug and looked at Elena, using my eyes to tell her I wanted to get out of this situation.
Elena looked at me and nodded. "It's fine, I'm gonna go to the kitchen to wash up anyway."
"Sorry, Elena, I also remembered I have to call Grams." Bonnie said getting up and walking out to the porch.
I grabbed my bag, next to Bonnie's seat on the couch and headed upstairs, from the corner of my eyes I saw Caroline pout in annoyance. Annoyed that three of her friends were abandoning her. I could also feel someone's eyes trailing me as I walked upstairs but I thought nothing of it. It was already strange, having dinner with two vampires.
I walked straight into Elena's room and looked around. Jeremy and Jenna were not home. It was obvious. The house was too quiet. Before I made my call, I took out the dried vervain and the vervain essence from my bag. Carefully, I walked over to Elena's dressing table.
The mirror attached to the dressing table had pictures of all the Gilbert-Sommers family members. Well, almost all of them, John Gilbert was clearly missing. That wasn't my concern. I took out some of Elena's perfume, and started mixing the vervain essence in. Two to three drops went in. I carefully shook the glass bottle and then smelt it. I couldn't smell any vervain. It was done. I silently thanked Elena's taste in perfumes being earthy and floral rather than something outrageous. I sighed in relief after mixing all of the things in vervain which was barely noticeable.
Stepping back from her dressing table, I looked around her room. Giving a once over, I walked downstairs to help Elena with the dishes.
I realized she wasn't alone. Damon. Damon just had to be everywhere where Elena was. I was convinced he was trying to sabotage Stefan and Elena's relationship. I stood outside the kitchen, quietly observing.
"—So don't let it. Quit, move on. Problem solved. Ta-da." Damon said nonchalantly.
"Some things could matter again." Elena tried to convince him.
"Maybe. But...seems a little unrealistic to me."
"I'm sorry. About Katherine. You lost her, too." Katherine. That name. It was the third time I had heard it.
I decided then and there to make myself known before Damon tried anything else. "Elena, I'm back." I said, smiling. "Why don't you head back to Stefan? I'll take over from here." I turned to Damon, still smiling politely. "Damon, I think Caroline's waiting for you in the living room."
Damon said nothing but glared at me before he stalked out of the kitchen. Elena turned to me and sighed. "I can't let you do this."
"Your boyfriend's out there getting his mind blended by Caroline." I pointed out. "And I mean that in the nicest way possible but he probably was looking forward to spending time with you after me and Bonnie left anyway, instead he's stuck with his brother's new girlfriend. Go." I said, shoving her out of the kitchen.
I watched Elena, walking away from the kitchen. Separating Elena and Damon was easy, too easy. Turning back to the sink, I picked up the dishes and started cleaning and drying them. My thoughts were interrupted when my phone rang. I opened to see it was from none other than Matt. Matt, I still had to give him some vervain.
"Matt, hey." I greeted, carefully, leaning on Elena's counter and removing the bright yellow rubber with my arms.
"Ava, sorry. Is this a bad time."
"No, not really." I replied, putting the gloves on the counter next to the sink.
Matt paused on the other side. "You sure? I know Caroline told me Elena was having a dinner thing at her house for Stefan and you guys. How did it go by the way?" Matt asked, almost spitting out Stefan's name in disgust. I still felt bad for him.
"Yep and I'm still here. It went from bad to okay to now awkward as hell after Caroline bought a date. Damon Salvatore." I replied, twirling a piece of my hair.
"Salvatore? As in..."
"Yeah..."
"What is it with Salvatores?" Matt complained. "At least you're not into any of them."
I started coughing violently in disgust. "Ew. God. No. Never." The thought of dating a vampire scared me to be honest.
"Woah. I didn't mean to be so..." Matt trailed. "Anyways, I actually need your advice."
I stood up straight. "My advice?" I asked, curious.
"Yeah, it's no surprise but it's about—"
"—Vicki?" I cut in.
"Yeah, her and Tyler and...Jeremy." He was clearly frustrated.
"Wait, Jeremy? As in Elena's little brother."
"That's where one of my problems comes in."
"Look I get what you are trying to say. On one side, you have your ex's little brother who just lost his parents and on the other you have your best friend who is kind of a dick. The way I see—" I paused as a chill passed through me.
"Ava? You still there." Matt snapped me out of my haze.
"Yeah, I'm here. Sorry for zoning out. I was saying, Jeremy is clearly the better choice. And Tyler may be a dick but he's still your best friend so you should talk to him about it all. He's probably gonna be really pissed off at you but it's fine. It's fine. He needs to hear the truth that he's acting like his dad but honestly…what Vicki needs right now is rest and possibly some therapy not this." I ranted on, acting like I was fine. "Look, Matt, I have to go. Talk to you later." I hung up without even hearing Matt's reply.
I turned around to see Damon had walked back into the kitchen. "Don't stop because of me. Just passing by." He said, leaning against the wall.
"Aren't you supposed to be with Caroline?" I asked.
"Hmm. I am, great girl, don't get me wrong. But she reminds me of a really excited puppy."
"She's a nice girl despite her occasional brattiness. Don't hurt her. She's only excited 'cause she loves you." I added.
"Most people do." He joked staring at me with a smile most people would find charming. "Except you." He gestured to me.
"I don't hate you." I said bored, turning back to washing. "I just don't care about you."
"You care about this Matt." He stated, now inspecting a glass. "Boyfriend."
"Friend." I stated, grabbing the glass out of his hands and washing it thoroughly.
"Right..." He put his hand in defense. "You care a lot about your friends. Like Elena, Caroline and Bonnie?"
"Doesn't everyone?" I retorted, not even bothering to look at him.
"Not me. I don't really have..." He turned me around and trapped me in between the sink. "...friends."
"What do you think you're doing?" I barked out, trying to push him away. "See, THIS is why you don't have friends."
"Be quiet." He commanded, looking me in the eyes. His eyes dilated a little. Compulsion. Instantly I pretended to be compelled and became docile. "Good girl." He complimented me patronizingly.
He picked up a strand of my hair and put it behind my ear. I shivered in fear. I wanted to push him away and get away from him. But I couldn't. I had to pretend to be compelled or who knows what he would do to me. I watched in silence as he turned on the tap behind me.
"Right, you're kinda pretty y'know that." My skin crawled with each word he said. "But I'm not here to compliment you." He tilted my head up and stared into my eyes. "Such pretty eyes. Who are you?"
I gulped. "Ava Rose." I said monotonously.
"Ava Rose? Who are you really?" He tried again.
"Ava Rose Fitzroy." I finally revealed after a while.
Damon clicked his tongue. Letting me go, he ran his hands through his hair. "Fitzroy, that makes so much sense." He mumbled. He turned back to me, grabbing my arms. "Listen here Ava, did you ever feel anything around me or Stefan." He paused. "Say a feeling of death, a cold bitter chill."
Yes. All the time. "No, never."
"Never?" He tried.
"Never." I stated with a feigned lostness.
"Are you adopted?"
"No."
"What do your parents do?"
"Dad, an Attorney. Mom, a doctor."
"Huh." Damon breathed out. "Are you related to the founding family, Fitzroy?"
"Yes."
"Distantly."
"Direct." I stated firmly. There was no use lying to him about my family. He clearly knew what my family could do. All I could do was convince him that I was an exception.
"Bonus question, Ava." Damon said, digging his fingers into my arm. He almost bruised me. "Do. You. Know. Anything. About. Vampires?"
Yes. They are monsters and they are real. "Like Twilight? Yeah, they sparkle." I answered, dumbly, tilting my head for extra effect.
"This is getting nowhere." Damon suddenly let go. And glared down at me as he played with my hair. "You're not gonna remember this."
I'm going to remember this. "I'm not gonna remember this." I repeated, blinking, pretending that his compulsion worked. "What are you doing?" I asked, feigning confusion.
"Giving you a hand." He said, slightly smirking. He picked up a towel and started drying the already washed plates, innocently like he hadn't just tried to compel me.
I snatched the plate out his hands. "Thanks, but I—" I froze, as my hands accidentally touched Damon's. The plate fell out of my hands, almost hitting the floor when Damon caught it.
The colors around me shifted and I found myself outside the school football pitch. Sirens blared out loudly as I watched people running around, trying to make space. My eyes adjusted instantly to the bright lights of the police cars and ambulance.
I looked around to see that again I was not alone. This time, unlike last time, there were more than two people. It looked like the whole school was here. I bit my lips, scared about what I would see now. A stretcher carried by a few hospital staff passed through me. I shivered. It was so cold. My blood froze as a chill passed through my body. I turned around to see the same stretcher being loaded up on the ambulance.
It was covered in a white sheet. That only meant one thing. Death. I breathed in and out, trying to calm myself. Someone was dead. I prayed that it wasn't me or any I cared about. My prayers were answered when by a freak accident the sheet moved down a little, giving way for the face of the victim to be seen. My eyes widened as I instantly recognized who exactly it was. It was-
"Ava?" I woke up to see Damon's startling blue eyes that feigned concern. "You okay?"
Pushing him away, I got away from the sink and moved to leave the kitchen. "I'm fine. Just tired." I said, turning away from him.
"You sure, you just fainted. You can talk to me about it." He said convincingly.
Before I could reply, Elena and Bonnie had come into the kitchen. They both stared at me in instant concern. I must have looked really bad. "Hey. Need some help?"
"Sure, why not?" Damon replied, acting like nothing had happened.
"I'm sorry guys, I'm not feeling very good. I'll see you two later. Tell Care, I left." I quickly said, trying to dry my hands and gather my things. I wanted to get as far as I could from him.
"Wait. I thought I was dropping you off?" Bonnie attempted to stop me.
"It's fine, I'll call Uncle Nate or...Matt." I answered, trying to find any excuse to leave.
Bonnie didn't try to stop me. Neither did, Elena. They both understood that I wanted to go. She moved out of the way and gave me a quick hug, asking me to text or call her when I got home. Elena kept apologizing but still asked me to take care.
Damon said nothing. He just watched me. He knew. He knew I wasn't really ill or anything. He knew I just wanted to go home because he saw at my worst. At least at my house, he wouldn't be able to do anything. He wasn't invited and I had no plans or ever inviting any vampires into my house, whether it was Stefan or him.
Matt kindly dropped me home before he left after I had called him from Elena's and now I sat in my bedroom. I was still home alone. Uncle Nate had texted me earlier, telling me he was going to stay on campus for a few days. If you asked me I just knew that he wanted to avoid the stuff that was going on in town right now. I didn't blame him, if I had the chance I would too.
Bonnie's grandmother was right, it was a night of darkness. The comet was a harbinger of evil and darkness. My instincts told me that after tomorrow night, everything was going to change. I still debated on whether or not I should go back to my parents or I should stay and expose the Salvatore brothers, maybe just Damon to the Council.
I decided against doing either, getting up from the floor near, I walked over to my white wooden closet. I swung it open and let my eyes wander through it, before settling on a pair of rose pink silk pajamas. I went to change and just go to sleep to forget about everything. Sometimes, I wished I was oblivious to everything and not someone like this, someone normal like Caroline but I knew I would never be. No one in my family ever was.
Thud.
Something knocked against my window while I changed in the bathroom. I ignored it and continued to change. Thud. Another knock. I ignored it again, hoping it was just a tree branch of something. I carried on washing my face and drying it and thinking about the disastrous dinner tonight. Thud. I huffed, getting really annoyed and tired at this noise. I got out of the bathroom, threw my old clothes into the laundry basket and walked over to the window cautiously but not before getting my family dagger out from my bag.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
It was getting more frequent and more aggressive. Slowly, I walked over to my window and moved my pale pink curtains out of the way. The pitch black darkness of the night made it harder for me to see what this thing was. I strained my eyes to see in the darkness of the night when suddenly a bird flew straight into the closed window.
A crow.
This was the fourth time this week where a crow had done something odd like this. I knew straight away it wasn't an ordinary crow. I glared at it fiercely as it cawed and pecked its black beak against the window pane. I shook my head and stepped away from the window, turning my back at it. I wouldn't open the window. I refused to do so.
Caw. Caw. Caw.
I ignored the cawing sound from the crow and glared at it as I put away my weapon and walked over to the light switch. I didn't flick the light off straight away. I walked around the house quickly, making sure all the doors were closed and I also made sure the security cameras outside were running. Making sure the house was safe, I returned to my room.
The damned crow was still there, waiting to be let in. I shrugged my shoulders at it, mocking it as I walked over to my nightstand and turned on my night lights. I then turned off my bedroom lights.
The crow's beady little eyes followed my every move. The same chill I felt around Stefan and Damon returned. There was a vampire nearby. But vampires couldn't get me, not unless they were invited. And there were no vampires that were ever invited into this house. So I ignored that feeling and slid into my bed and turned off the night lights. I could have sworn that black menace's eyes had flashed an electric blue in the dark for a split second as darkness completely engulfed my room.
September 12th 2009,
Two dead bodies were found, another couple. They were found deep in the woods surrounding Mystic Falls.
Uncle Nate told me the Council is starting to get on the edge. I mean they can't keep calling every attack an 'attack animal attack' forever, and they can't make it look like anything else. Uncle Nate and Dad did suggest 'accidental arson' to switch things up. No surprise, the Council rejected it. They had a good idea, not going to lie. It would destroy all evidence and it worked perfectly in 1864. Though, the fires then were for a different reason.
Anyways, Vicki seems to be improving, at least I think she is. I really hope the Salvatore brothers stay away from her. I'm debating on telling Matt about the whole vampire thing, I don't know why but I have a feeling that sooner or later Matt could end up taking Sheriff Forbes' place on the Council. Call it intuition or something.
What else did I miss? Right, 'the dinner at the Gilbert house'. Yesterday evening, Elena invited me, Bonnie and her undead lover for a meal, for us to basically bond over and give Stefan a chance. It went well, if I had to be honest. That is until Damon decided to gate crash along with his new girlfriend, Caroline. I know he's feeding on her. Things went bad from worse there on. Damon witnessed me having one of my visions after he compelled me, well tried to anyway. He wanted to know who and what I am.
Unfortunately for him, I myself don't know what I am. All I know is that I inherited the stupid Fitzroy gene of sensing a supernatural but the other stuff, nobody knows. I know I'm not a witch or I could be. Grandma Janine would have told me if I was. I don't know. Maybe I'll swing by Sheila Bennett's house to talk with Ms. Sheila about it.
What I do know is, I need to stop Damon. There's no hope for him. I need to stop him before he kills again. And I need to do it without getting myself and my family involved.
-Ava R. Fitzroy
Bright rays of sun glared down at me brightly as I finished writing in my journal. It was a stupid habit, if I had to say for myself but one that encouraged by everyone around me. It was also a founding family thing. At least I was convinced it was. I knew Elena had a journal as did most Gilberts, Fells, Lockwoods, Salvatores and all Fitzroys. Some were in the town museum, some part of the Lockwood's private Founders heritage collection. It was stupid but most if not all of them had vital information on the supernatural.
I shut my journal and shoved it into my black leather bag and took out my camera. I sat on the school football fields. The game would start soon. Right now, I sat near the cheer practice area where Bonnie and the other cheerleaders were warming up. Caroline, as usual was in full head bitch mode, shouting orders, moving people, changing formations.
A strange and uneasy feeling had formed in the pit of my stomach as I watched all the students blissfully get ready for the first game of the football season. The excitement in the atmosphere should have been infectious. I hoped it would be but it wasn't. The gnawing feeling only grew.
Shoving that feeling aside, I gracefully got up from the ground, bringing my bag and camera with me. I put my cross-body bag around my body and my camera around my neck. I couldn't live in fear and anxiety forever. I knew I wasn't the only one, Bonnie too looked restless.
"Ready for the first big game." I said in mock excitement to Bonnie who really wanted to go home.
Bonnie, who was in her maroon Lady Timberwolves uniform, looked at me, her brow creased in anxiety. "No. Not really. I have a really bad feeling about tonight." She bit her lip. "I don't know why? I just feel—"
"—Restless?" I offered. I tilted my head and breathed out. Bonnie nodded fiercely. Her emotions were written all over her face. She just wanted to go home and I couldn't blame her. I didn't bother to reply and Bonnie didn't seem to mind. I think she sensed that I also felt anxious and afraid.
We watched in silence as the last rays of daylight disappeared when the sun set completely, bringing forth the darkness of the night.
Night had come and day had passed. The whole area around the football field had been lit up with big lights that surrounded the field. It looked pretty in a picturesque small-town way. Snap. I took a couple of pictures for myself and followed the crowd.
A crowd had formed around Tanner as he riled them up in excitement. Up until today, I had only heard Tanner being an enthusiast for football and the coach. It was different hearing than seeing. He looked like a totally different person. He looked almost human and less of a dick.
I watched in awe as everyone followed every word he said and cheered loudly for the school's football team. Tanner gave a nod to the apparent new hope for the team, Stefan while also saying the team would be the winners. I honestly didn't care about sports but this was a nice break from the supernatural.
I stood next to Elena who to no surprise was looking at Stefan proudly. I smiled at that. Despite what Stefan was, he really made Elena happy and I was ready to look past what he was for that. My face fell when I noticed Matt looking forlornly at Elena, he noticed me staring at him and just shook his head. I did pity Matt but time was rough, you either moved along with or you would get swept along and lose yourself in its waves. I gave a tight, reassuring smile to him.
"Tyler, stop it! Tyler! Tyler, stop! Stop it! Stop, you're hurting him! Tyler! Tyler, stop! Tyler! Stop it! Tyler, stop!" Vicki's cries echoed through the vast school parking lot.
Instantly the jovial and excited atmosphere shattered as the crowd began to turn its attention away from Tanner to the two boys behind the crowd. All smiles died that moment when the fight began. Oh my god.
Jeremy and Tyler, like Matt had told me the night before, were really fighting. Not verbally like Matt had told me on the drive back to my house but physically. It was getting bloody and dirty fast. Vicki attempted to stop them multiple times, only to be pushed aside.
Stefan jumped in and grabbed Tyler's wrist as Tyler advanced in on Jeremy who was lying bloody and bruised on the ground. I ran through the crowd and stood in front of the brawl. And froze. Jeremy's mouth and face was caked with blood as he barely clung on to his consciousness. Blood. Seeing the bloody corpse from my nightmare flashed in my head. "Hey, he's down! Enough!" Stefan barked out.
Tyler ignored Stefan's order and tried to punch Stefan instead in rage and jealousy. To everyone's surprise, it had no effect on Stefan. His face was not marred and he didn't flinch. I watched with apprehension as Tyler's face morphed into a fearful expression.
Suddenly, Jeremy grabbed a broken glass bottle and attempted to strike Tyler. "Watch out!" I warned.
Was he out of his mind? Tyler dodged in time but Stefan wasn't so lucky. The glass bottle cuts open his hand as blood gushed out of his hands. I looked on fearfully, on the verge of a panic attack. Matt had ran from the crowd and stood next to me and looked at me in concern.
"Jeremy, no!" Elena shouted making her way to Jeremy through the crowds, trying to stop Jeremy from striking Tyler but she was too late.
Matt glanced at me and I nodded. I wasn't the one who needed to worry about it anyway. He sprinted towards Tyler and tried to stop him "Tyler, knock it off! Stop!" He then shoved Tyler aside. While Jeremy stalked off in anger and frustration.
I ran a finger through my pony tail and loosened it a little. I glanced at Stefan to see he was healing at a fast pace in front of the whole crowd. Elena seemed to notice his bleeding hand and rushed towards him.
Elena forced Stefan to open his hand. The bleeding had all but disappeared after Stefan wiped the excess blood on his pants. I couldn't see if there was any residual scarring from where I stood but I knew from Elena's expression there probably wasn't. She nodded unconvinced and skeptically walked away from him. She glanced at me and gave me a we-need-to-talk look. I nodded back.
Elena made her way back to me. "Did you see Stefan's hand by any chance?" She asked desperately to have a reason behind what she saw.
Yes. I did. "No, I didn't." I paused, looking to see if Stefan was still there or not. "I was too far to actually see anything."
"Ava." She breathed out. "I could have sworn his hand was bleeding..." I didn't say anything and nodded understandingly. This wasn't supposed to be my job. Grayson and Miranda were the ones who should have told her and Jeremy about this. I couldn't. I couldn't expose her to this. Not now. Not yet. "Alright. Um. I'm gonna...get my jacket. We need to talk to Bonnie. Do you wanna..."
"Actually, I'm gonna check on Matt. He looked like he needed some help with Tyler." I remembered that I had a first aid kit in my bag for emergencies. Another habit I had picked up from my mom. "Here." I said, opening the kit, taking out some cotton and bandages. "It's not much but if you see Jeremy, you can try to patch him up." Elena grabbed the medical supplies from my hand and smiled gratefully. "Oh wait. I have some painkillers as well. Here." I shoved some of the painkillers into her hand.
"What would I do without you?" She asked rhetorically.
A cool breeze blew through us, causing Elena to shiver and me to pull my cardigan closer to me. I decided to wear a maroon cardigan with some black skinny jeans and a baby pink light turtleneck sweater paired with some boots. Unlike Elena, I had decided to cover up more because of my constant chills around vampires. Elena looked enviously at my outfit, blaming herself for not dressing slightly warmer. She said nothing and walked away.
I found myself outside the locker room for the Timberwolves. Matt, Tyler and I stood outside. I carefully tended to Tyler's bruises with Matt looking on, pissed as hell. Clearly, Matt didn't take it too well that Tyler had started the fight.
I wasn't particularly bothered by it all. I was more concerned about Vicki and Jeremy. Tyler was my last concern. Heck, the only reason I stood here outside was because of Matt. "Ow. Ava. Careful. Don't mess up my face." Tyler complained as I dabbed some antiseptic on his face with a cotton ball soaked in antiseptic.
"Keep squirming like that and I will do more than just mess it up." I retorted. Ungrateful bastard. I was literally wasting my medical supplies tending to his over inflated ego and he wasn't even grateful.
"Please, do. He clearly deserves it." Matt added. He leaned against the wall, next to the locker room doors. "Maybe then he'll learn something." He said looking up at the night sky.
"Seriously, dude. I did it for you."
"God. Grow up. Tyler." I threw the cotton ball in the bin next to me. I rummaged through my kit for some extra bandages and scissors. "Stop blaming your own actions on others. It's not cute." I cut some bandages. "Just say you were jealous of Stefan." I grabbed some medical tape and cut it to a suitable size. Matt watched me carefully, following my every movement.
"I'm not jealous of the new kid. I did it—"
"—Yeah, yeah. Walk it off, Lockwood." I cut in, sticking the bandages to his face securely and roughly. "Now, I just need to find Jeremy." I mumbled out quietly. Tyler looked at me and touched his bandages, somewhat gratefully.
"Whatever. Thanks for this." Tyler just thanked me. I was shocked. "I'll see you inside, Matt." Tyler walked past Matt and walked through the locker room doors, slamming it in the process.
"Huh. Tyler Lockwood just thanked me." I said, tilting my head.
Matt got off from the wall and walked towards me. "Don't get too comfortable. He's still a dick." He warned me. "He went too far today. You were right, I should've had a talk with him." He picked up the roll of bandages from the bleachers next to the locker room. "Instead, I chickened out and said nothing. Now it's gotten bad. I just wasted your time."
"You didn't waste my time." I grabbed the roll and put it in the kit. "I have a feeling that even if you had a million talks with Tyler, he wouldn't have fixed himself." I picked up the scissors from the bleachers. "If you ask me, he's jealous."
"Jealous?" Matt asked, confused. "Tyler doesn't get jealous."
"Well he does now. He's jealous that Stefan has coach Tanner's attention and now yours. There's Vicki who used to worship the ground he walked on, she's interested in Jeremy or I think she is." I finished shutting the kit and putting it in my bag, carefully.
Matt silently stood by and contemplated my words. "You make a lotta sense. But still—"
"—But nothing, you need to enjoy tonight. If you have to, go inside and give Tyler a piece of your mind." I stopped him. "Go Timberwolves!" I said in feigned enthusiasm, trying to make Matt smile. He worried too much sometimes.
A grin broke out on his face as he bursted out laughing. "Even I could do better." He said, wiping away some stray tears of laughter away from his face. "It's like this. Watch. GO TIMBERWOLVES!." He said perkily. "You need to be more perky and excited."
"See this is why I would suck as a cheerleader." I said with a gesture to him.
"Can't imagine you as one." Matt admitted.
"Right! Caroline keeps trying to get me to join her cult."
"Oh no. How'd that go?"
"How do you think? I said no, obviously." I stated sarcastically rolling my eyes and leaning against the bleachers. Ping. "Well, this was nice. I'll see you in a bit." I said getting off the bleachers and walking towards the cheerleaders.
"Leaving? Oh great. I have to go and talk to Tyler now." He complained.
"He's not the worst person." Wait, till he met Damon Salvatore. "You can do this. Good luck with the game and Tyler." I encouraged him, walking away. I had a strange feeling around that area and the more I stayed, the more my anxiety levels would spike. I had to get away. I looked down to see my hands shake violently.
Caroline was picking on a cheerleader called Tiki who seemed to be struggling to put something up. I felt bad for her. But I didn't dare get involved. Instead, I waved at Caroline who had a black scarf around her neck. Damon fed from her again.
Biting my lips, I forced myself to turn away from Caroline and walk toward Bonnie who still looked uneasy and a little scared. She seemed to be talking to Elena who still hadn't gone to get her jacket.
"—When I touched Stefan, it was a feeling. And it vibrated through me, and it was cold, and it…"
"And what?"
"...it was death." I finished off, appearing behind Bonnie. My eyes felt hazy and felt watery.
"Yeah..." Bonnie looked at me perplexed. "How did you—" She started but stopped noticing the faraway look in my eyes. "It's what I imagine death to be like."
Elena looked between both of us and stalked off, scared. It was inevitable. Sooner or later, we'd all fall down this hole.
A feeling of dread overtook me as I stood next to Bonnie, Elena had left before and still hadn't returned. This was the same feeling I had the night of the comet, when Vicki was taken to the roof of the Grill. Bonnie looked exhausted but still carried on with the cheer routine, plastering a smile on her face.
Let's Go Timberwolves.
The students and teachers all chanted throughout the football field. The atmosphere was almost euphoric. Almost. The gnawing feeling pointed me to the direction of the locker rooms.
Snap. Snap. Snap.
Like Bonnie, I attempted to dive head first into forgetting the foreboding feeling. I focused on the yearbook pictures. Snap. Suddenly, the camera fell out of my hands and almost landed on the floor. It stopped and swung from its strap around my neck. My hands began to shake, my vision started to blur and the intense feeling of death took over me. I gave a quick glance at Bonnie before stalking blindly towards the locker rooms.
I slowed down as I came closer to the locker rooms. A chill passed through me with every step I took. An iron-like smell filled my senses as I almost gagged in disgust. Blood. It wasn't iron. It was blood. Someone was bleeding near the locker room. In panic, I sprinted towards the locker rooms, only to find Matt hunched over a corpse.
My stomach dropped as I took in the scene before me. It was the same. My nightmare and this. It was the same. I had again predicted someone's death. Matt hysterically screamed for help as I looked on shocked. He turned around, sensing my presence as gravel loudly crunched beneath my black heeled boots.
"Ava. I didn't—" Matt began, turning to look at me in desperation.
"—I know." I cut him off, taking out my phone and dialing not only 911 but also quickly texting Uncle Nate. I knew who did this. Damon. Tears dripped down my face, making it hard for me to see. "It's gonna be okay, he's gonna be..." I tried to reassure both of us. "It's—"
Matt got up from the ground and cradled me, blocking my view of Tanner's body. I broke down. All my composure since coming to Mystic Falls had broken down. I didn't cry this much at Grandma Janine's funeral. I had been around death ever since I could remember. But this was different. Seeing visions, going to funerals was not the same as actually seeing an actual corpse. I knew someone was going to die today but I didn't think it through. Tanner was a dick, yeah but he didn't deserve to be torn to shred. I broke down, sobbing and clinging onto Matt who rubbed my back, trying to comfort me.
Sirens blared loudly in the background, the noise was mixed with the noise of anguish and shock from everyone around me but I didn't cry. I had long since stopped crying. As did Matt. We both sat numbly, clutching onto individual blankets. My eyes wandered around aimlessly, taking in the aftermath of the tragedy. I stopped and froze as my eyes focused on a cheerleader. Bonnie. She was crying, breaking down like I had done. I had almost forgotten about Bonnie.
I glanced at Matt and whispered that I was going to talk to Bonnie. He didn't say anything. He was too shocked and frightened. The Sheriff's officers had talked to us before with him, sticking to one or two words. He didn't deserve this. None of us did. Sooner or later, we would all be exposed to this stupid truth.
Getting up, I left the comfort of my blanket behind and walked lethargically towards Bonnie. I engulfed her in a comforting hug and whispered comforting words to her but she cried even harder like I had done before with Matt.
"Ava." Bonnie gasped out as I let go of her. "The numbers that I kept seeing...they're here." She gestured to a sign on the building that said 'BLDG 8', the number 14 on a license plate, and parking space 22.
8. 14. 22.
The numbers Bonnie had been seeing. They were predicting Tanner's death. While I had seen him die. Bonnie and I both knew Tanner was going to die and we had done nothing about it.
I turned around just in time to see the stretcher with Tanner's body being loaded up on the ambulance. It was covered in a white sheet, indicating that he was dead. I froze, this was the same as the vision I had when I touched Damon at Elena's house. Bonnie, Matt and I looked on in shock, horror and fear as Tanner's body was taken to the morgue in the ambulance.
