Chapter 12: Blackboard Jungle
Elena walked back and forth with a range of conflicted emotions all displayed on her face. Now and then, she would loudly sigh and turn to stare at me to try and make sense of what she had found a few days ago.
Her revelation of her birth made her move in with me for a while. Well, it was like two days but still. Not that I minded. My house was big, the problem was that Jenna would drop by every few hours to check up on her and say how sorry she was. And every single time, I or uncle Nate would have to personally tell her some stupid lie instead of telling her that Elena didn't want to talk to her. That was the problem.
Uncle Nate had also resorted to complaining that his friendship with Jenna was dying because of this and it totally had nothing to do with his constant disappearances on her.
I rolled my eyes and uncrossed my legs, laying down on my side. I got up a little, putting my right hand on my cheek for support to stare at Elena with a bored expression.
"You're going to drill holes in my floor—and it's polished rosewood." I exclaimed boredly.
Elena stopped pacing and quickly apologized and took a seat on one of the armchairs in my room, folding her arms around herself as she did so.
"...Aren't you being a little dramatic?" I asked, checking my freshly manicured nails.
She scoffed in response. "Dramatic? Ava, Jenna and my parents lied to me. I'm not a Gilbert. I'm not being dramatic..." She trailed off, biting her lips and scrunching her face in deep thought.
"You're also gonna get wrinkles at this rate if you keep making that face. Wrinkles are not cute." I got up from my bed and reached over to the night stand to grab my rose colored water bottle.
"My looks are the least of my worries, Ava." She bit back, rocking back and forth.
Katherine's psychotic face flashed through my mind. "Well I would argue..." I took a swing of water and dabbed my mouth dry. "Anyways, how do you know you're not a Gilbert? Because you're adopted?"
Elena got up and strolled over to my bed, crashing into it, flat. She got up and folded her arms against herself again. I took a seat next to her without a word.
"I'm adopted. The chances of me being a Gilbert is impossible—"
"—You don't know that."
"Yes. I do." She retorted with a sad smile.
"Come on. What are the chances that mom and dad—no Miranda and Grayson took me in from another Gilbert family and why would they give me away. It doesn't make sense..." She looked down and fiddled with her hands.
"It also doesn't make sense that my birth certificate says something else and the truth is..." She sighed, too tired to finish her words.
I pursed my lips and debated in my head whether or not to point out the fact her father was a doctor and doctors can change medical documents to their liking. There was also the fact that on our family archival records, it listed Elena as a Gilbert.
"...I mean your dad was a doctor. Your boyfriend's a vampire. One of your best friends is a witch. And I'm...something. Anything is possible at this point."
For a moment she didn't say anything. "...None of this makes sense. Maybe I am a Gilbert but then who are my parents."
"Do you really wanna find out?"
"I need to know. I need to know how Katherine and I are related and why my real parents gave me up."
I sucked in a breath and stared at the ceiling. "I don't know if it's just me but I've just got a bad feeling. Like are you ready to know the truth? Emotionally and physically prepared..." I got up and leaned down at my vanity table, staring at my reflection. "For all you know, this could be your pandora's box."
Elena said nothing for a while, letting my words sink in.
From the reflection of my mirror, I could see her face as a rage of conflicted emotions passed through her again.
She snorted and a slow smile spread across her face. "And you call me dramatic." She rolled her eyes and gathered her clothes into her backpack. "I think I'm gonna head back tonight."
"Being dramatic is like my thing...and Caroline's but don't tell her, I think I pull it off better than her." I replied with a wink before starting to help her pack up. "Also try to find time to talk to Jenna about this."
"Oh no. I'm not goi—"
I grabbed her by the shoulders, cutting her off and looked into her warm brown orbs with a fierce but determined look in my eyes.
"Elena Marie Gilbert, stop being a goddamn prideful coward and go find answers that you need yourself."
"But Jenna—"
"No buts." I sighed and dusted my skirt, picking myself off the ground. "I have to go find an appropriate outfit for the dance and then check in with the other student council members about the dance. Kill me now."
Elena snickered and stuck out her tongue. "That's what you get for trying to do everything."
"We'll see who gets the last laugh when I get accepted to my dream colleges." I retorted, sticking out my tongue.
Elena laughed and started rummaging through her backpack again. "Oh before I forget. Stefan got this for everyone." She held up a silver-colored bracelet. "Sorry it's a cheap metal bracelet. But there's vervain in it." She gestured to the bracelet and gently swung it.
I carefully inspected it and took a glance at Elena. She looked happier and hopeful that with vervain, her relationship with Stefan would improve.
I took the bracelet and brought it close to my face. A citrus-like scent hit my senses. It was definitely vervain. Guess the Salvatores did continue growing that herb.
Carefully, I handed her the bracelet back and shook my head. "Give it to Jenna. I don't need it."
"I have one for Jenna. What do you mean you don't need it? Come on, Ava. It's for your own good."
I rolled my eyes and shrugged. "And I don't need it...I have this." I gestured to my neck. On my neck lay my family heirloom, the bloodstone necklace. "This is all I need. Not to mention, vervain draws unnecessary attention to me."
Elena let out a deep breath and made a face. She placed her hands up in the air to show she had surrendered.
Just as she was about to say anything else, uncle Nate knocked and stuck out his head from the doorway to let Elena know that Stefan had come to pick her up. He left as soon as he came with a little wave goodbye, he was gone. I assumed he went back to the library to finish his essays.
With a shy smile, Elena nodded and gave me a hug before running downstairs with her bag swung on her back.
I walked over to the second floor sitting room and stood by the large floor length windows overlooking the huge driveway to the manor. In silence, I watched as Stefan let Elena in. He caught me watching as he nodded his head and threw a bright smile in greeting before driving away to the Gilbert house. I did return the smile, banishing the idea of being hostile to Stefan elsewhere. He was the good one, I repeated in my head for god knows what time.
The moment they were gone, I retreated back to my room relieved that they had made up. With a smile on my face, I skipped to the attic. I badly needed to find a costume before the 50s dance. I groaned as the thought passed through my head. I should've ignored my mom and ordered one instead of wearing one of grandma Janine's old dresses. Now I was stuck with the tedious task of sorting through old clothes.
Carefully, I climbed up the sturdy wooden attic stairs. The stairs eerily creaked and groaned as I slowly climbed them up. My grip on the railing tight, in case I fell. With one last step, I climbed straight into the fairly clean but still somewhat dusty attic. Dust particles gently floated in the air in front of the small stream of little sunlight peeking through the small window on the top. I stood in the entrance of the attic, squeezing my eyes shut and scrunched up my face as some dust gently blew towards me.
Achoo.
I sneezed. Covering my nose with my hand, I fumbled around the attic for the string to turn on the damned lights. I found the string and tugged at it. In an instant, light flooded the huge attic. Blinking tiredly, I took in the somewhat tidy nature of the attic. I breathed out in relief seeing all of the old furniture neatly pushed to one side and covered with old dusty white cloths while other oddities were sorted meticulously in large plastic translucent boxes, clearly labeled. Each of the boxes were labeled with their contents while being safely stacked upon each other.
I was determined to find a suitable outfit for today's dance. Whether it was from grandma Janine's closet or great-aunt Penelope and Joanne's. It didn't matter. I just needed to quickly grab a decent but dress-code friendly maybe something to my taste and get the hell out. Staying here for a short amount of time had already started giving me the creeps. I shook my useless fears off and marched towards the boxes.
There were columns—and I mean columns of boxes lined up all up against the left-hand side of the attic, arranged almost like a maze. I took a deep breath as I realized the tediousness of the task at hand. I really shouldn't have left it to the last minute. Ugh. I still had to dry clean the outfit as well and get rid of the 'old people' smell from these clothes.
Why was I so disorganized lately?
Weaving through the maze of the huge plastic boxes, I finally wandered across the stuff from the 50s. And checking my watch, it only took two and half hours. I pursed my lips and sighed. Craning my head, I checked the label of each of the boxes.
'Dean Fitzroy'
'Kenneth W. Fitzroy'
'Charles D. Fitzroy'
I read out the names of long dead family members as my eyes trailed down the column. I moved on when I didn't find what I was looking for. I paused at another column.
'Jeanette M. Fitzroy née Harper'
'Joanne Harwood née Fitzroy'
'Janine D. Fitzroy née Hawthorne'
'Penelope G. Fitzroy'
'Margaret Fitzroy née Hawthorne'
This was it.
I took a step back and carefully tried to climb the boxes to get the top one down so I could get the rest of them down. Keyword tried. To my horrible luck, I slipped and the whole column came crashing down on me. I curled up in an attempt to dodge the falling boxes. The boxes in that column fell one by one like a jenga tower.
One of the boxes burst open, its contents splaying down on the floor with the heavy lid landing on my stomach. I heaved and groaned as I pushed off the heavy lid of the box. I sat up with much difficulty and blinked. This was so not my week. My head snapped to my sides. All the other boxes that fell were perfectly intact and surprisingly had landed upright.
On the other hand, one pesky little box was empty.
Its contents were on the wooden floor. With a push, I picked myself up from the ground and wandered around the area of the attic collecting various objects from the box, going back and forth to put it by the boxes' side. In that time, I also made sure to restack the other boxes. I crashed in front of the half empty box as I gathered the last of the things. My eyes scanned its label.
'Penelope G. Fitzroy'
Great aunt Penny, grandpa Charles' older sister. I scrunched up my face when I tried to remember what I had heard of her. It wasn't much actually. Just that she had lost her mind and killed herself. Tragic.
Grandpa Charles hardly ever talked about his sisters or his older brothers. He was the youngest and wasn't supposed to take over the family but due to unfortunate circumstances he had no choice, kinda like my dad.
With a shrug of my shoulders, I carefully started putting her things back into the back. There were some of her old clothes wrapped in brown paper. She did live through the 50s, I thought as I carefully unwrapped one of the packages.
A sweet pastel blue white polka dot dress rolled out in front of me. The edges and bottom layers of the skirt of the skirt were a pastel bubblegum pink. There was also a thin pastel bubblegum pink belt across the waist of the dress. The skirt was the typical circle skirt of the 50s while the neckline was a v-shape with butterfly sleeves. It was cute and seemed appropriate enough to wear to a school dance.
I dusted my clothes off and grabbed the dress. Putting it aside, I started putting the rest of Penelope's things away. An old photo slipped out of my hands and landed on the floor just when I was about to finish. I groaned and bent down to pick up the picture.
Swiping it off the floor, I turned it over in my hands. It was an old black and picture of Penelope. She stood side by side with her twin Joanne and great aunt Margaret. A small pained smile was painted on her face like she was holding herself back from doing something awful.
Joanne and Margaret on the other hand had a pleasant expression on their faces, a sharp contrast to that of Penelope's. I squinted when I noticed that Penelope was wearing the green dress I had picked up. I frowned and shook my head, turning to give a glance at the dress. Please don't be cursed, I silently begged.
Turning the picture in my hands again, I flipped it to check the back. 'Jo, Marge and Penny in front of Mystic Grill (June, 1953)'. Huh, I breathed out. I turned it back and stared hard at the picture to stare at the three girls in front of me. My gaze kept wandering back to Penelope's every single time.
Her eyes were sharp and seemed to glaring at the person or someone behind the camera. She clutched her pearl necklace in fear. A chill passed through me as I shook my head and took a step back. Bending down to put the picture back when colors around me started to shift. I could hear faded laughter, ringing bells and sounds of cars.
"Penny, come on, wake up. It's almost time." A soft voice called out to me. I had a tall glass of strawberry milkshake in front of me. I threw a glare at the girl who said that.
A petite woman with a heart shaped face grinned at me with a teasing twinkle in her eyes as she checked herself in her compact mirror. It was Joanne. Her deep mahogany hair was pulled back just like in the picture with a baby blue ribbon to match her floral blue dress.
I frowned and rolled my eyes, looking away from her. Everyone around me and those who walked by were all dressed like it was the 50s. Wait a minute. Joanne was sitting in front of me and she called me Pen.
I inwardly screamed when I realized I had done it again and this time, I was Penelope instead of Lydia this time. Penelope didn't reply immediately, her gaze wandered around taking in her surroundings.
"Not all of us have men in their minds, Jo. Not his kind anyway. The ones that look like devils." Penelope or I muttered out. "Peter or his sister on the other hand."
Joanne made a sound. She sucked in her breath and lightly punched Penelope, looking around to see if anyone heard me or Penelope. "Penelope Gale Fitzroy, would you hold your tongue."
I shrugged. "Why should I? It's not like we're not already frowned upon by this cursed town for our existence." I drawled out and took a sip. "Peter is a looker. You gotta admit."
"I admit but don't say anything like that 'bout Nancy. You know what folks are like 'bout those things. Maybe in Canada you can say those things or up North but not here." Joanne violently shook her head as she fixed the ribbon in her hair. "And we wouldn't be frowned upon if our ancestors didn't talk about 'those' things."
I scrunched up my face and glared at Penelope's twin. They looked similar but they were so different. One was clearly motivated and smart, the other was easy-going and naive. "They weren't stories. They were real." I spat out, glaring at a black chevy in front of me.
My gaze wandered to a couple, no they weren't a couple, a pair of siblings. Peter and Nancy Lloyd. I had to admit they were a pair of good-looking siblings. Nancy's strawberry blonde hair swung side-to-side in perfect curls as she clutched her brother's arm.
A rosy smile painted on her cheeks with light freckles dusted carefully on her face as her bright sapphire eyes twinkled with joy. She looked as if she came right out of an old 50s teen movie where she was the protagonist.
Nancy gave a little wave to the twins before skipping inside while Peter simply gave a nod as a simple greeting. A light blush spread across his face as he did so. I noticed, he also shared the same hue of blue orbs as his little sister.
"He's dreamy, alright. I'll give you that." Joanne's soft voice cut through Penelope's thoughts. "But I'll tell you now that those things that our family talked 'bout are simply tales, nothing else."
"Whatever, Jo." I retorted, twirling a stray curl. "When's Margie gonna show up anyways?" I asked, staring out at the horizon. I assumed Janie was none other than great aunt Margaret who with her husband, my great-uncle moved away before I was born, cutting off all contact.
The town was emptier than what I remembered. There were less people and less buildings, more trees. It was somewhat peaceful. I could see from my seat that there was some on-going construction work going on or some nearly finished.
"The sun's 'bout to set. It's almost time for the dance. We have to be home before curfew especially since..." I dropped my voice to a whisper. "...since the Salvatores are having some visitors over in this town. Father said we should be careful not to bump into them."
"Oh Penny, since when did you become such a good little girl? You need to relax and have fun. Here." She slid her drink to me. "Try this. I think it'll loosen you right up."
I threw a skeptical look at her and leaned down to try her drink. One sip and I was already coughing.
"This is alcohol." I hissed at my sister. I made a face of disgust and slid it back to her. "No wonder you're being this irrational. You're drunk. Oh momma's gonna kill you." I muttered which turned into a fit of coughs.
To get rid of my coughing fits, I sipped my milkshake. Trying to wash out the strong after-taste of the bitter alcohol. To my luck, it didn't go away. Throwing a glare at Joanne, I got up. Only to bump into a man. I shivered involuntarily as I collided against him. "I'm sorry." I quickly apologized and tried to get past him. He flashed a smile, carrying on towards the bar.
I paused and looked back at him. He looked familiar to me not Penelope but to me.
The more Penelope stared at him, the more I realized, it was none other than Stefan. He looked exactly the same as I remembered to look like in my time. I mean of course he would, he was a vampire. This must be when he came to visit his uncle Joseph. I wanted to talk to him, say something but Penelope had other plans. She took me straight to the toilet.
I stopped in front of the half-crowded sinks as I shuffled to an empty one in the far corner. Around me, some girls fussed and complained about the dance tonight while others did some last minute touch-ups while talking about their after-dance dates or parties.
I or Penelope didn't bother to join them.
Now and then, I would feel some eyes on me. Some would try to approach me or even drag me into their conversation only to be repelled away by Penelope's cold glare. I turned on the sink and washed out my mouth of the bitter aftertaste of whatever alcohol Joanne had been drinking.
When I was done, I pulled back and dabbed the excess water away with a handkerchief that matched the pastel blue dress. I stared at Penelope's reflection as she turned away to get some make-up out. She re-applied her lipstick and stood back, letting me inspect her appearance once more.
Penelope was different from the pictures I had seen of her. For one, she wasn't in black and white. Her face didn't look pained. In fact, she looked strong. She had a light tanned complexion with deep brown eyes and deep reddish mahogany hair that seemed to be a typical Fitzroy trait. She was pretty. Her eyes were slightly cat-like and her lips were painted a vintage red and seemed to be in a natural smirk. She was very attractive yet so different from Lydia who was the innocent type of beautiful.
The door opened with a bang as a woman stomped into the room, her hair somewhat disheveled. I noticed then that I, no, Penelope was all alone. Gone were the gossiping high school girls and disapproving spinsters. It was almost empty.
That woman stood a few sinks away from me. Her head turned away from me with her hair covering the sides of her face but I could tell she was not happy with her situation. She grunted and complained about something under her breath as Penelope shifted in her place. My eyes wandered over to that woman again. Only to see that she had her hair back in place already. They were in perfect curls like nothing had happened.
"What are you looking at?" That woman growled out. "Look away." She spat out, her face turning to scowl at me. Her face was so familiar. Olive skin with deep brown doe eyes and brunette hair. She looked almost like Elena and Katherine. But Elena was not born yet.
And this couldn't have been Katherine, she was in the tomb then who?
"Do you have a problem?" She asked again.
"I was staring at your hair, miss. It seems your pins are in the wrong place." I replied in a sickly sweet tone. Slowly, a sudden bloody urge crept into my mind or Penelope's.
My hands started shaking as my mouth went dry and my palms sweaty. I had this uncontrollable urge to kill. Not just kill anyone but to kill this woman.
Red veins had appeared on my eyes like I had been staying awake for days on end or I was in rage. My arms shook violently. Voices whispered in my head, telling me to use Penelope's brooch as some sort of weapon or anything against this weapon.
Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill...
Kill...
Rip her head off...
Stake the vampire…
Destroy the abomination…
"No!" I screamed out, clutching my head in pain and falling to the hard linoleum floor. "Make it stop! Please!"
"Are you okay?" That woman asked, feigning concern. She was closer now. The urge to kill her had only grown deeper. If the urge wasn't satiated, it felt like my head would burst open.
Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill...
I grunted and pushed myself off the ground. "Get away from me!" I hissed and pushed her away. She glared at me and apologized sarcastically for trying to help before getting away and leaving. With her gone, the urge disappeared like nothing happened.
Penelope pushed herself off the ground with ease and quickly dusted her dress off. I, along with her, was forced to do her actions. I watched as she leaned against the sink and splashed some water on her face.
With one last look, I walked out and headed straight towards the bar to buy myself another cool drink or something to eat. There was no doubt the milkshake had already melted into a slightly cool strawberry cream milk by this time. My gaze wandered around the bar as I waited patiently for my order.
I paused when that woman came into my view again. She sat in a far corner booth tucked away from prying eyes behind other tables and chairs, only visible if you squinted. She had her head down but you could still tell she was staring at you, no, not at me or Penelope.
Discreetly, I followed her gaze and stopped when it reached a boy. It was Stefan. The woman sat and eyed Stefan as he quietly asked the people around him about his uncle Joseph.
A chill went down my back when I remembered who or what that woman was. It seemed Penelope knew as well despite her sister's blissful ignorance. Penelope knew and wholeheartedly believed her family. I glanced back to check on that woman only to find her gone. I scrunched up my face in worry as I stared back at Stefan.
In Penelope's mind, she debated whether or not to tell that gentleman about his 'admirer'. In the end, she simply carried on walking outside with her new drink in her hand, taking me with her.
Outside, Joanne sat and chatted happily with another woman and a man. Her face lit up when she spotted. She waved at me to come closer.
"Marge's here. We can go now." She beamed brightly, gesturing to the blonde woman sitting in front of her. The woman turned around, it was great-aunt Margaret. She rolled her eyes and got up to give me a hug before sitting back down. She held the man's hands in a soft grip.
"You gonna babysit us tonight, Kenny?" I joked as I sat down, placing the iced lemonade in front of me. I could feel Penelope's mind still on edge.
Charlie scowled and shook his head. "You're starting to take after Jo, Pen—"
"We're twins, Ken. What did you expect?" Jo smirked as she rocked back and forth.
Margaret started laughing watching us bicker. "We're gonna be stuck here all day at this rate, if you three keep at it." She said between breaths.
"And whose fault is that?" Kenneth defended himself.
"Not mine." I chimed in.
"Well. I. Ugh. It's not fair. You all always put the blame on me. Even Marge." Joanne pouted and folded her arms.
"Has anyone seen Charlie?" Kenneth tried to change the subject.
"Charles said he was gonna go over to the Hawthornes for a school project." I answered.
Margaret snorted. "School project…called Janine."
"Leave 'em alone, Jo. They're in middle school." Margaret rolled her eyes and looked away.
Joanne got up and asked if Kenneth would do them the favor of taking the pictures of the girls before the dance. He got up and went back to his car to grab his camera.
I was too busy staring at that woman again who had reappeared out of nowhere. She was standing at a distance still staring at Stefan. This time she was more visible but the crowd of people made it easier for her to blend in.
Pursing my lips, I excused myself for a moment before striding towards Stefan. He was leaning against a red vintage sports car, looking lost in thought. The moment I approached him.
I felt it.
A cold shiver that felt suffocating passed through me. He was a vampire. A fact I knew but Penelope didn't. Immediately, I could feel Penelope regretting her decision to talk to him already but she pushed it down and pressed forward. He seemed polite despite what he was. She thought.
"Excuse me." I called out in a sweet voice.
Stefan's head snapped to look at me. He looked annoyed but plastered on a smile as he turned to look at me. "Yes, Miss?"
"Fitzroy. It's Miss Fitzroy." I introduced myself with a slight bow.
A flash of recognition passed through his eyes as he took in my appearance. "Any relation to the founding family?"
I nodded. "I'm a direct descendant of Edmund Fitzroy." I looked around again with urgency and swallowed thickly as a wave of thoughts flooded through me.
The urge to kill had returned. I tried hard to suppress it. This time, it was easier to suppress, maybe it was me who was mentally stronger and prepared for it or maybe Penelope was fighting harder this time around. I didn't know.
"I apologize for interrupting your time but I believe there is a woman who is following you."
Stefan got out of the car and stood straight in front of me. The closeness started to make my hands violently shake. Kill.
Kill. Kill. Kill.
"A woman?" He asked, confused. He scrunched up his face and held his hand under his chin, thinking. He turned back to me and smiled gratefully. I could tell he was pretending. "It was probably my friend. She's blonde, am I right?" He asked, somewhat distracted.
Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill…
"No, actually. She was—"
"Penny! Where did she run off to now?" "Penelope! Penelope Gale Fitzroy" "Pen, come on!" The collective voices of Margaret, Joanne and Kenneth rang out through the parking lot as I silently cursed them for their timing.
I threw an apologetic smile towards Stefan. "It seems they're calling for you, Miss Fitzroy." He stated.
Before I could say anything else, he had walked back inside the grill. I scowled and stomped back to Joanne. She beamed brightly and hooked her arm with mine. The girls dragged me towards the front windows of the grill and posed me like a ragdoll.
Kenneth stood across from me with his camera out. The scowl on my face only deepened. The voices in my head slightly echoed.
"Ready?" He called out as he brought the camera up to his face. "Oh sorry." He paused to let a man pass by.
It was Stefan again. He threw a quick smile at me before returning to stand in front of his car, still looking like he was waiting for someone.
The urge came back again in waves as I stared at Stefan distractedly. There was something about vampires that was triggering these thoughts. I clenched my fists and bit down the inside of my cheeks to stop myself from losing composure.
I felt the flesh break and small drops of blood mix in with my saliva. Swallowing heavily in pain. I painted on a pained smile as Charles smiled. "Ready?" He asked again with a sweet well-meaning smile.
"Ready." Janine and Joanne echoed. "...Ready." I added in with my mouth clenched shut and fist tightened. The flash and sound of shutters drowned out the voices.
Snap. Snap. Snap.
I found myself laying on the cold wooden floor of the attic. I was face up, staring at the swinging lights. From the small window, I could tell the sun had set. How long was I out? I wondered as I picked myself off. I panted and huffed, sitting up.
I thought back to what I had seen. That was the start of Penelope's madness. An uncontrollable urge to kill vampires. I knew Stefan was a vampire. And there was no doubt that the woman or Katherine as I would like to believe was one too. No wonder she had ended her own life.
The urge to kill was inescapable and suffocating. I had no doubt I would do the same if I was in her place. The thought of that being me scared me and I hoped that a day would never come where I end up like her.
Turning around, I looked everywhere for the photograph. It was gone. As was the box with her belongings. The clothes I had picked out from her belongings, however, were neatly folded in a fold-up chair. Her box had been put back in its previous place along with the other boxes. They were all neatly stacked, like they didn't just topple over me a few hours back.
"You're up." I jumped where I stood when uncle Nate's loud and cheery voice interrupted my train of thoughts. "Do you know what time it is?" He asked with a tone of concern. I shook my head. He sighed and closed his eyes, opening them to stare at me. "It's like twelve am."
My mouth widened in shock before snorting "...Yeah. I'm not buying that." I quickly retorted and tried to push past him. He grabbed my arm and slipped my phone into my hands. With a scowl, I flipped it open. Sure enough, the screen read.
12:17 AM
I had been out for almost eight hours. I didn't just faint. I had fallen asleep here in the dusty attic. I let out a sound of anger and frustration. This was getting out of hand. I flipped my phone to a close and hugged myself. My eyes wide awake. Sleep was not going to come tonight.
"Well, this is just great." I hissed out, staring at the ground in anger.
Uncle Nate sighed and picked up the neatly folded up dress. "I'll have the maids dry-clean this." He gestured to the dress. I flashed him a grateful smile. It was half-hearted. I was too mad at myself to give it my all. "You should get something to eat from the kitchen and maybe have one of the sleeping pills, Dr. Warren prescribed for you." He suggested, as his head now popped up from the opening of the attic while he stood at the top stairs of the attic.
"Thanks. I think I'm gonna need it after being great aunt Penny for eight freaking hours." I muttered out.
He whistled as he descended down the stairs. I followed him without much thought, making sure to turn off the lights and lock the attic. "That sounds rough." He commented. "No offense, that woman was a nut-job."
"I don't...blame her. Anyone would go mad if they heard voices in their heads."
"Technically you also have voices in your head."
I made a sound of disapproval and followed him down the corridor and down the stairs to the kitchen. The house was half-lit. Most of the maids and servants had most likely gone home already.
"...Technically, those are not voices but thoughts. Not all of them are mine." I paused, swinging the fridge door open. "And great aunt Penny was hearing her own voice and—had this violent and I mean violent like psychotic, urge to kill."
Uncle Nate paused and his head snapped towards me. He blinked in shock. "I'm sorry. But what did you just say?" He asked, clearly surprised at this revelation.
"Um. She was having thoughts of killing vampires." I repeated, this time adding the bit about vampires.
"Oh." He didn't say anything much but simply looked to be in deep thought.
I didn't say anything else after that. Instead, I went back to browsing the fridge for any leftovers. My eyes scanned the half-filled fridge. I paused and took a step back to grab a plate. I decided to carefully dump a small piece of Tuesday night's chicken lasagne into the plate and take out some iced coffee. With my leg, I shut the door of the fridge and skipped towards the microwave.
It was kinda scary how fast I was getting used to things like this. It was almost tragic. Like I had already accepted these abnormalities in my life. And I just knew things were downhill from here on out.
Wordlessly, I threw the plate into the microwave, walking away to grab a straw for the coffee and a set of cutlery.
Ping.
With that, I skipped over to the microwave and took out my plate and skipped over to a seat near the counter. All the while, uncle Nate stood on the side with a hard contemplative look on his face. He took a deep audible breath and shook his head as I quietly stuffed my face with my late dinner.
"Right. I'm gonna pack this up for dry-cleaning. Oh, right. I forgot but some people called Will and Dana called you several times." He finally spoke up.
I tried to chew quickly and swallow. "...Wiii an' Dayya cawed fo' me?" I asked. My mouth was clearly full. I washed the food down with the coffee and repeated the same question. "Will and Dana called for me?"
"Yeah... something about the dance." He said before disappearing out the door and reappearing with his phone. I fell back onto my seat. Ugh. I aggressively flipped my phone open.
21 missed calls. 67 New messages. 15 Voicemails.
I was so screwed. I had lost so much time that I had almost forgotten about the dance. At least this time Caroline was the one in charge. I would be so dead if it was me in charge. "Question?" Uncle Nate called out from the door. "Y'know how Penelope felt. Have you ever had any experience like that?" He asked with his phone held out in front of him.
I stared at him blankly. "...No. Why?" I replied in a small voice. I had never ever felt that before. It was horrible and nightmarish. I hoped that I never would.
"No reason. Just checking." He replied, typing something on his phone. I was too tired to say anything back. I just nodded tiredly, munching down on my late dinner.
A few days had passed since that incident. It was late evening and I sat in an almost empty Grill. Keyword almost. Now and then, my eyes would drift towards Matt who sat next to me with a job application in front of him. I was trying my hardest not to be a terrible friend, well less of a terrible friend. It had taken me a while but I had come to terms with Vicki's death. Thinking hard about it, avoiding Matt would only help me, not Matt himself. In other words, I was being a hypocritical selfish bitch. To put it in nicer words.
The job application was slid across my view and landed perfectly in front of me. I paused twirling my straw and raised my eyebrows at Matt.
"Can you double-check it? Please." Matt asked with a tired look on his face. He had been spending countless nights and days trying to make sense of his expenses now that he was alone. I did offer to help him as did my family but no surprise, he turned us down.
With a tight smile, I picked up the form and held it to my face. "Looks fine...so far." I glanced at him, only to see him staring down at the table with a conflicted look. Without thinking, I slid my plate of fries to him. "Your nervousness is seriously starting to infect me. Eat—" I gestured to the plate. "—It's a good distraction." I added in, bringing my gaze back to the form.
"So...is it okay?" Matt asked as he nervously gnawed on a fry. I nodded and handed him back the form. I opened my mouth to say something, only to be cut off by him. "Before you offer your help. Again. I appreciate it but I'll pass."
I sighed. "I mean—"
"Really, Ava. I'll be fine as a busboy." He cut me off as he gave another look to his application before sighing. "I can't rely on whatever my mom remembers to send me forever or wait for Vick to come back."
A flash of guilt went through my face before I composed myself and awkwardly drank my lemonade. "Fine...just try not to fall behind in your classes." I said. "That hot dumb jock stereotype won't stick forever, y'know."
"Well, that's what I have you for." Matt grinned at me before putting down the form and turning to look at me with a relieved smile. "Seriously I don't know what I would do without you."
"Who knows? Guess we'll never find out." I stole a fry from the plate in front of him and nibbled on it.
I tried to imagine a world where I didn't survive that 'incident' and I could see it a little clearer. Matt would be sat alone here while Zach Salvatore would be very much dead because of Damon so would Lexi. I shuddered at the thought.
He sighed and stared back down at the form. I could tell he was still afraid I would push him away again. I didn't blame him. I wanted to. Every time I remembered Vicki, I wanted to run for my sake and to avoid the burning feeling of guilt. I just wish I could tell him the truth.
"Matt—"
I never managed to say anything more when a chill passed through me. I sat up straight and carefully looked around the grill. I paused when my gaze landed on none other than Damon. Rolling my eyes, I relaxed. I know I should be used to this being around the Salvatore brothers all the time but I never was.
"Hey, you okay? You're shivering." Matt's concerned face peered down at me. His eyes roaming around my face, trying to make sense of what just happened.
With a nervous smile, I was about to reply when a commotion caught my attention. "Ugh, Damon keeps bothering Bonnie."
"I know right. What a dick!"
We both got up to go over Bonnie and help her out when someone else beat us to it. A handsome and young bartender came to Bonnie's rescue. With ease he got rid of Damon and from what I could see had managed to charm her as well. I stared hard at the bartender, confused at who this guy was.
"Matt, whose that?" I gestured to the bartender I had never noticed before.
Matt opened his mouth to say something only to be cut off by the same guy I was talking about. "Ben Mckittrick." He answered with a charming smile, Bonnie trailed behind him with a dreamy look. Oh, I knew that look.
I threw Bonnie a look of disbelief before plastering a smile on my face. "Ava. I don't think I've ever seen you around before..."
He nodded with a smirk and got behind the counter. I don't know why but something about him really made my skin crawl. There was something unsettling about him.
"Course you haven't. You're Ava Fitzroy." He grabbed my half-empty glass and refilled. "On the house." He stated, sliding the glass back to me before leaning towards me. "No offense, but your family are pretty exclusive with who you guys associate yourselves with, more than the Lockwoods and that's saying something. Plus, heard you all skipped town after your granddad died and—I say that with complete sensitivity."
"Umm. Not true. We left because of my dad's job." I retorted, fidgeting in my seat as I carefully took a sip of my refilled drink. "And we just...like to keep to ourselves." I added, keeping my head down. There was still that god awful cold feeling in my chest. And Damon was long gone.
"You're proving his point." Bonnie chimed in while Matt broke into a fit of laughter.
I rolled my eyes and passed Bonnie my drink. "Whatever." My eyes drifted to the clock at the back of the bar. I sighed. I really forgot to prepare my costume for the dance.
"Well kids, it's getting late. I have to go." I got up and turned away from the trio to gather my things. "Hey, thanks for the—" I held up the still almost full glass of lemonade. "—the drink but I have to run."
Ben snorted and turned away from us. "You have time to grab another drink sometime?" He asked boldly.
I paused to share a look with Bonnie. She looked disappointed and gazed at me with hope. She wanted me to turn him down. Well, she was in luck. I had no intention of giving him a chance, not when he gave me the creeps. But I also didn't want him to go out with her. Ugh. I hated this.
Pursing my lips, I smiled tightly. "I don't. Student council duties and yearbook committee plus photography, art and debate club stuff." Excuses, excuses. Hopefully, he would take a hint and back off.
Ben whistled and stared at me impressed. "Wow you're 'that' kid, huh."
"I like being busy." I shrugged and tilted my head. "But Bonnie's free...if you're interested." I gestured to my best friend.
"...Ava." She hissed under her breath while Ben looked at us with a knowing look. A soft blush spread across her mocha skin as she tried to look anywhere but at Ben. Matt shook his head and waited patiently for the manager.
Before she could go off on me, I ran out the grill and got inside my replacement car. It was black and smaller than my previous car. This one had belonged to my aunt Diana before she upgraded. My car was still getting fixed, thanks to uncle Nate and my brother.
I still hated that vampire who totaled my car with a passion. If I see that bastard, I will flambé him alive. With that thought, I drove back home.
"I can't believe you're handing things over to Caroline!" Dana whined while checking her nails and leaning against a set of lockers.
Will rolled his eyes and just threw Dana and Aimee a look of disdain. "Well...it is Caroline's job in the first place." Chad added, trying to calm his girlfriend down. "It'd be pretty weird for us to take over."
"Still...the girls on the cheerleading squad are so...so bitchy and have zero taste in what the actual 50s was like." She whined.
I shared a look with Will who sighed deeply. "Dana. You and Aimee are literally on the squad." He retorted with a deadpan look. I snorted at Will's statement. Dana clearly didn't mean herself and Aimee. I was sure she was talking about Caroline and Tiki and their minions. I mean Caroline could be a sweet girl but Tiki, she was a bitch.
Shutting my locker, I leaned against it. "I think you're just being a little dramatic. We already have too much on our plate." I spoke up. "We have the annual Christmas play and there's that debate about the winter ball—"
"—if the budget allows us to throw it." Will cut in. I nodded.
"And the winter festival." Jeff chimed in with a tired look. "We have a lot of work to do."
Aimee banged one of the lockers. "We could either give Caroline the job of organizing the winter ball or we could just skip the ball since we're having the decades dance later this week and have the festival." She suggested.
"Ditch the ball. We're having the festival. No arguments. I'd rather die than give Caroline more power." Dana replied without any hesitation. We all stared at her questionably. "What? She's like this school's Regina George. No offense, Ava. I get that she's your best friend but y'know I'm right."
"Okay..." Will nodded. "All in favor." We all raised our hands and nodded. "Great. We only had the budget for one more event anyway. We're set. We can all go back to the decade's dance prep."
He clapped his hands together whilst clutching his clipboard against his chest, only to stop and bring it out. He took out a pen and scribbled down what we had just discussed. "By the way, where did you disappear off to, the other day. Dana and I tried to reach you on your house phone and your cell. You just never responded."
Everyone in the council stared at me. Jeff and Chad looked like they didn't care while Aimee looked bored. Dana seemed concerned. "You seem to disappear a lot lately." She remarked, flipping her ponytail back. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah...I fell asleep early while looking for a costume for the dance." It wasn't exactly a lie but it wasn't exactly the truth either. Telling them the truth was never on my mind.
They looked unconvinced. Guess I was running out of excuses. "Well, y'know you can trust us with—"
"—Hey!" Tyler's loud voice boomed across the entry school corridors as he ran towards us. My head snapped to stare at him. In his hand, he carried a folded up banner. He marched right up to us. He did not look too happy. "Do you guys know where I should put this thing?" He asked, puffing his chest and looking angry, probably because he was forced to help out.
No one said anything for a while. We all just stared at him in confusion. We weren't really in charge of this dance. Caroline and her group were. We were just making sure they didn't go over the budget or stuck to the guidelines at least.
"Um... that's Caroline's work. Go ask her." Aimee retorted, a little rudely.
Tyler glared at her and then asked again, clearly not in the mood to go talk to Caroline. Ah. I understood why. She was probably with Matt. For some weird reason, he was so against Caroline and Matt dating. I sighed and signaled him to follow me. The rest of the members scowled and some commented I was being too nice. When really, I just wanted to get out of that situation.
I led Tyler to the gym as he trailed behind me. His expression had shifted and his mood seemed lighter. I didn't comment on it but I had definitely noticed. I swung open the doors of the gym and Tyler went in first, putting up the banner in its rightful place without any instructions from me.
I stared at him tiredly. "You didn't need help did you?" I questioned out-loud, folding my arms and narrowing my eyes up at him.
He turned around on the ladder and grinned down at me. "Nope. You're welcome by the way." He stated before turning back to secure the banner. "Pass me the nail gun, please."
I walked over to him and placed the nail gun out into his stretched out hand. He smiled gratefully before nailing the banner to the rafters.
I rolled my eyes and huffed. Annoyed at being ignored, I leaned against a table. "You're welcome?" I echoed his earlier words. "For what? Wasting my time?"
"For rescuing you from an uncomfortable situation." He corrected me and carried on securing the banner. "You're welcome." He repeated again.
"Thanks but I had it handled."
"Is that why you looked like you wanted to throw up?"
"For your information, I was...tired."
He snorted and shook his head. "... Whatever you say." He paused and leaned back on the ladder to stare at the banner. "Got a date for the stupid dance?"
"Why? You interested in being my date?" I teased him.
Tyler had zero interest in someone like me. I knew that. According to him, I was too stuck up or something along those lines. He'd be better off with some like Caroline but the two would throw up in disgust if I ever mentioned it to them.
"I mean unless you're interested."
"I'll think about it." I smiled before rolling my eyes and turning away from him. "I'm not putting in a good word for you to Matt." I stated, checking my nails. "If you wanna make up with him, then drop the alpha douche-thing you have going on and go approach him. It's not that hard."
He climbed down the ladder and put down the nail gun. "It is when he's always with Caroline these days. I don't see what he sees in her. Like—"
"Choose your next words carefully, Lockwood or you're gonna be spending the next season on the bench." I glared at him as I folded my arms.
He threw his hands up in defense and backed off. "Phew. Hey. I was just—"
"Just? I don't care. Caroline is my friend. And so is Matt. If they're happy. That has nothing to do with you or me. Now if you excuse me. I have places to be."
"Come on. I was trying to be nice." Tyler grabbed my arm and stood in my way, trying to stop me from leaving. I pulled my arm away from him and narrowed my eyes, trying to get past him again. "Why do you always have to be so serious?"
"Why do you always have to be such a dick?" I retorted.
His jaws clenched and his grip on me slackened. "...I'm sorry for being such a dick." He mumbled out. I made a sound of frustration and looked away. "So the dance—"
"There you are!" Caroline threw open the doors of the gym and marched straight to me. Tyler's face hardened as he glared at Caroline. My eyes widened and I looked between my two friends. Caroline narrowed her eyes, staring at Tyler with an open look of disgust and annoyance. "What are you doing here with...him?" She gestured to Tyler with her head.
"He can hear you."
"That's the whole point." The blonde replied with a sickly sweet smile. But the smile didn't reach her eyes. Her eyes were dull and narrowed like she had no interest in this conversation at all. "Um...do you mind?" She asked him to leave, pointing at the door.
Tyler scoffed and stomped out the door, only to stop at the door. "About the dance—"
"—I'll think bout it. No promises on it or Matt."
"What about Matt?" Caroline questioned with a curious glint in her eyes.
"Nothing." "Nothing." Tyler and I stated at the same time. With that Tyler was gone.
Caroline huffed and turned to stare at me with an inquisitive look. She opened her mouth to ask, only to close it again when I gave her a look. She huffed and instead dragged me outside the gym to the parking lot. She walked me through the decorations that the cheerleaders had made with the football players with some help from the art and woodwork club.
The winter sun shone brightly as Caroline dragged me through the football field. She would point and gesture to each of the decorations that were laid out there, commenting on them. They were mindless comments and it felt like she was wasting my and her own time. I pursed my lips and stared at her as she chatted away.
Instead of replying, I would nod or make some sort of noise of acknowledgement. I didn't know what to say. Everything she said sounded hollow like she was trying so hard to be nice and positive. It was kinda grating on my ears and was starting to get on my nerves. I was thinking back to how I should have gone home after the mini-student council meeting. At least I wouldn't be getting dragged like a ragdoll nor would I have to think about being Tyler Lockwood's date to a dance.
I stopped and dug my feet in the grassy field when Caroline tried to drag me elsewhere. She stopped and turned around, staring at me, confused.
"Pause." Now I was the one who dragged Caroline when she tried to drag me somewhere. "What's going on?"
She smiled thinly and widened her eyes, trying to make herself look more livelier and happy. "What do you mean?" She asked with a fake happy voice.
"You're using your 'cheer' voice and look." I gestured to her face. Unconsciously, her hand went up to her face before she dropped it to her sides. "So what happened?"
"Do you think I say the wrong things at the wrong time all the time?"
"Yes." I replied with a deadpan look. It wasn't a secret. Caroline was sweet but she was also very blunt and often mean with a penchant for terrible timing. "But you're also thoughtful, dedicated and kind in your own way." I added as I took a seat down.
"I keep saying the wrong things to Matt. He hates me."
"He doesn't hate you." I replied. "I mean I would know."
"You would, wouldn't you?" She retorted with a slight jealous look in her eyes. I scoffed and stared at her. "...I'm sorry. Okay? It's just you're good with people and I'm not."
"It's easy for her."
"She's just naturally good with people."
"Well, the trick is to not to be insecure and trust the other person. Trust Matt and I'll tell you what I told Tyler—talk to Matt.."
"Fine. Wanna come over to my house so that we can get ready for the dance?" She asked, trying to change the subject. "Bonnie's already coming over."
"Sorry, I already promised Elena that I'd go over to hers." Caroline rolled her eyes and skipped over to Bonnie who stood by herself. I watched her go and shook my head.
I leaned over Elena's bathroom counter, checking my curls. I had decided to go with pin-up curls which meant putting in hair rollers in my hair and sitting around for hours. This better be worth it. Carefully, I removed the rollers while Elena hummed lightly from next to me.
"There." I huffed out, putting down the last roller. "All done. This better be worth it." I complained while I moved to grab some pins.
Elena didn't say anything but simply grinned while adding the finishing touches to her hair. I carefully pinned my hair in the right places to create perfect pin-up curls. I had already helped her with her makeup. She was ready, just needed to straighten her hair.
Elena dropped her makeup brush and took a step back. From the corner of my eyes, I could see her fidgeting and gnawing her lips with anxiety. She had something she wanted to say.
Without a word, I placed the hairspray on the counter and turned to face her. My eyes narrowed, raising an eyebrow, I stared at her questioningly. She pursed her lips in response, still hesitating whether or not she should speak her mind.
I rolled my eyes and picked up the hairspray again. She followed my actions and carried on getting ready. Picking up a lipstick, she opened and closed her mouth several times, still debating with herself. I didn't bother to look at her, letting her quietly decide on her own, if she really wanted to tell me what she had on her mind.
After all, I wasn't the type to push someone if they weren't sure. However, this time she was doing too much.
"Alright, spit it out." I spoke out after a moment of prolonged silence.
"...Do you remember the night, we...well you crashed into that...vampire?" She questioned, fidgeting with her hair. I nodded once. "Well, he called me when I went to pick up my costume."
"Have you told Stefan?"
"I did."
She disappeared back into her room, only to reappear after a while with something shiny and small in her hand.
With trembling hands, she passed it to me. It was the compass, the Gilbert compass. This was supposed to be missing. I raised my eyebrows and stared at Elena as I carefully turned it over in my hands. It still worked or so it seemed. She turned around to face the mirror and opened her mouth to explain.
"Stefan gave that to me." She began, pointing at the compass. I stared at her, telling her to continue. "It's to protect me."
I nodded, understanding where Stefan was coming from and handed the compass back to Elena. It was after all her family heirloom, regardless if she still didn't believe herself to be a 'Gilbert'. Elena took it back, her fingers going over the glass. She stopped, straightening her posture, she went back into her room.
I snorted quietly when I saw her just chuck the compass onto her bed. Somewhere in this town, Carol Lockwood was losing her mind at Elena's handling of heritage items.
"You have the compass now and Stefan is also gonna be there for you. Don't worry too much about it." I stated, trying to reassure her while she stepped back into the bathroom. She nodded. "Anyways, why don't we focus on something more positive?" I asked with a hopeful smile.
"Like?"
"Tonight's dance?"
"Only you would be excited over a school dance."
"And Caroline."
"And Caroline." Elena chimed in. "Which reminds me..." She started with a suspicious grin on her face. "Caroline told me that Tyler Lockwood asked you to the dance."
I facepalmed myself, wanting to slam my head into the hard counter repeatedly to hide from this. Sometimes, Caroline really did have a big mouth.
"She told you that?" I asked, knowing I was so going to kill Caroline when I saw her next. Elena made a sound and bobbed her head excitedly. "Did she tell you I turned him down."
"Technically you didn't."
"The dance is tonight, Elena. Unless he likes being the 'last minute date'. I'll pass."
"Still...I can't believe Tyler asked you to the dance."
I rolled my eyes and blew out a puff of air while re-checking my makeup. "Only 'cause he wants me to put in a good word for him to Matt." I replied boredly. Turning around to stare at her, I grinned. "Please, do you actually think Tyler would have genuine interest in someone like me."
Elena whistled and threw her hands up, coming over to hug me from the back. "Have you seen yourself?"
"I'm not talking about my appearance. I'm a twenty, on my best days. A ten on average. I meant he's too much of a dick and according to him I'm too uptight. It's not happening."
"Would it kill you to maybe pretend to be interested?" She sighed and walked off.
"In Tyler?" I retorted. "I have standards." I commented quietly as I checked my hair again and carefully applied a neutral peach lipstick on my lips.
"Don't we all know it?"
I snorted loudly.
"Don't make that sound. Y'know I'm right." She called out to me and carried on. "What about Damon?" A mischievous grin spread across her face as I rolled my eyes. She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. "So Damon?" She blew a stray hair out of her face as I quickly moved to secure it with some hairspray.
"Hmm. I'd rather swallow a hot iron rod while walking off a cliff into straight magma than consider Damon as a...romantic anything." I replied back while I let go of her to grab a light pink scarf from my bag.
I wrapped it around my neck, swapping the pearls that Penelope wore for a more casual 50s look. I stood back and admired myself in the mirror. I turned to glance at Elena.
"Besides, I think he has a thing for you...since you sorta kinda look like his bitchy ex. No offense"
A grumbled response was all that the brunette gave me before she put on a red scarf around her neck.
"Did she have to say that out-loud. It's not like I didn't know already."
"This is so—"
I scoffed and before I could stop myself. "I'm just saying. We're just in this weird limbo while he actually has feelings for you...for Katherine that he's projecting onto you. But you have nothing to worry about because you're not Katherine."
Elena stood away from the counter and stared at me, confused and scared. "How did she—"
"I never said that but..." Her words trailed off but her thoughts didn't.
"Bonnie's psychic and she's—"
"Oh my god."
"Wait. She's probably screwing with me."
"She does have a point."
"Wonder when Stefan's gonna show up?"
"Maybe I should check up on Jeremy and—"
I flinched back a little at the onslaught of Elena's thoughts. I thought now would be the best time, I wouldn't get another opportunity. "I read your mind."
She paused to stare at me with wide eyes. "You. What?" She opened her mouth and closed it before letting out a laugh. "You're kidding, right? Very funny, Ava."
"I wasn't joking." Breathing out, I walked over to Elena's bed and sat down.
"Okay. So you can read minds, okay."
"I know I just sprung this on you but I thought you deserved to know."
"Are you reading my mind now?"
"No. I don't always do it. I'd go insane if I did."
"Okay."
"Okay?"
"What else can I say to that? Nothing really. I guess I just gotta get used to things like things." She carried on. "Anyways…"
I nodded along to what Elena was saying, not really listening or responding to her. I picked up the compass, turning it over in my hands. and put down the compass while Elena walked off to straighten her hair.
My eyes would drift towards the compass as I boredly scanned Elena's room. The burn marks from the candles we put on the ground for the séance were still there but faded out, hidden underneath the rug.
The pictures that we took from the last time I was in Mystic Falls were also stuck on the side of the vanity mirror. I kept looking around but my eyes would always go back to the compass. Maybe it was a weird sense of paranoia.
"Elena..." I called out to my best friend who hummed away softly while she straightened her hair with the blow dryer. "Elena!" I tried again.
"What?" She answered, turning off the blow dryer. Her head peaked out from the doorway of the bathroom as she peered at me. "What is it this time?"
I said nothing but grabbed the compass and got up, stalking towards her. The hands of the compass were spinning around wildly. I froze when the hands of the compass paused, only to start spinning again. A look of terror flashed through Elena's face.
"It's probably Stefan." She stated, trying to convince both of us.
I looked at her unconvinced and on-guard. I handed the compass to Elena. "Call Stefan." I commanded her. She nodded and walked down the stairs to call him. I didn't follow her, instead I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.
A chill passed through me, a faint deathly cold feeling gripped me tight as I struggled to breathe. I opened my eyes and tried to follow him down the stairs.
"False alarm!" Elena called out from downstairs. "Damon said it was Stefan." She added, her voice inching closer to where I stood in the middle of the stairs. "See I told you so."
A cold shiver passed through me again as I hugged myself tighter. Taking a deep breath, I nodded unconvinced and started going back.
"Elena!" Stefan's shouts stopped me in my tracks and made me do a u-turn as I sprinted down the stairs, being careful not to trip.
I made it down the stairs just in time as Stefan threw a vampire across the room. He landed on the rug, taking the vase and bowls on the coffee table down with him. The sound of glass shattering made me flinch and take a step back. Stefan and I made eye contact. He paused. I watched as his eyes widened.
A flicker of recognition flashed through his eyes, like a memory running in his mind. He blinked and it was gone. I broke off the contact first and ran towards Elena. Helping her get up, I heard grunts and groans from the fallen vampire. In a flash, he was up. Before I or Stefan could do anything. He was gone.
Elena unwrapped her arms around me and ran towards Stefan's embrace while I stared at the half-open door leading to the backyard. Stefan gave me a look while he tried to calm my best friend down. I knew what he was trying to say. Nodding with a word. I swallowed and wordlessly stalked upstairs to call his brother even though the thought of it made my skin crawl.
"What happened?" Damon questioned as I begrudgingly let him into the Gilbert house. I stared at him, more annoyed at myself for looking so pathetic and weak than his presence. His eyes scanned my face, checking for any injuries. "You look fine." He stated after a second.
"It's not me who was just attacked." I thought about how I did nothing to save Elena.
Damon said nothing but just quietly. "You're ignoring me." He stated, pausing at the foot of the staircase.
"It's nothing personal. I just have a lot on my mind." Without another word, I glided towards the living room. This time, he followed silently.
In the living room, Elena sat on the love-seat. She clutched her arms around herself as she rocked herself back and forth. "Elena?" I called out.
She stared up at me with her wide doe eyes and sprang up to give me a hug, pulling me down with her. I took a seat next to her and patted her back to soothe her while Stefan took a seat on her side while Damon stood in front of us.
"Tell Damon what happened." I gently coaxed her as she sniffled quietly.
"A vampire attacked me." Elena breathed out, swallowing painfully as she clutched her throat.
"How did he get in?" Damon asked as he paced around the room. His eyes met mine and we both knew we were thinking the same thing.
"He was invited in."
I fidgeted with my dress and stared at Elena. "How?" I asked, knowing her to be too cautious to let someone strange into her house. In all the danger, I had forgotten to ask Elena about the vampire and how he managed to get in.
"He posed as a pizza delivery guy last night." Stefan stated.
Had to hand it to this guy. He was smart. He knew what he was doing. This meant one thing. He wasn't a new vampire like Vicki or Logan. He was probably around the same age as the Salvatores or older.
"He's creative." Elena gave me a deadpan look while Stefan stared at me incredulously. "What? I'm just saying…"
"No. No, she has a point. He gets points for that." Damon agreed with me and turned to stare at us while I made a face. For once, he and I were one the same side. "Did he say what he wanted?"
"No." Elena shook her head. "He was too busy trying to kill me." She added sarcastically. I snorted and rolled my eyes as I folded my arms around myself.
Stefan leaned forward and narrowed his eyes at his brother. "And you have no idea who this is?"
"No." Damon breathed out.
Stefan and I shared a look. We didn't believe him for one second. He could spare us the excuses. It hadn't been long since he had been in this town and most if not all of the trouble here was caused by him.
"Don't look at me like that, you two." He narrowed his eyes at Stefan and I, peering down at me while I sighed. Damon then turned his attention to his brother and gave him a look. "I told you we had company."
Elena gasped and leaned into her boyfriend in fear. "You think there's more than one?" She asked with her eyes wide.
"We don't know."
I stared at the floor and took a deep breath. I was so tired of this already. "No but there probably are at least a few. After all, we don't know who turned Logan Fell." I turned my gaze away from the floor to stare at Damon.
His jaws clenched and he swallowed heavily like he was hiding something before Damon looked away. He didn't comment on what I had said but I knew that Logan told him something. There was no way I believed the fact that a new vampire bested him when said vampire was down already. He was hiding something.
Without another word, Damon sauntered over to the couch and took a seat on the arm of the couch next to me. I threw a look at Stefan, telling him we needed to talk about this. He nodded as he turned his attention back to his older brother.
"Damon, he was invited in." Stefan began again trying to placate the tension that had started to grow in the room.
Damon nodded, understanding what Stefan was hinting at. I rolled my eyes and tilted my head. For a couple of over hundred year old vampires, they sucked at hunting other vampires.
"Then we go get him tonight." Damon replied, going back to his usual cocky self as he mindlessly played with a few loose strands of my hair. God, I hated how easily he could just ignore everything.
I groaned and gave him a side eye look, shrugging his hands off of me. "Who's 'we'? Don't you mean Stefan and you?" I retorted back, clearly tired of this night already. "Elena and I have a school dance to get to. You have your own problems to clean up."
"Well, clearly. It's not mine anymore or Stefan's problem—" He leaned down and fired back. "—Since Elena was also attacked, I'm sure this guy is also the one who totaled your car. So, I'm just saying."
"Okay but—"
"Why? You scared, firefly?"
"Ava has a point." Stefan cut in.
I sighed in relief. Finally, someone here is using their brains. If Elena and I get involved, it's more dangerous, not to mention it just paints a bigger target on Elena's back. And she's already a walking target just by existing.
Damon rolled his eyes and looked away. "Well, why don't we ask Elena?" He turned his head and stared at Elena who had been silently watching us all bicker and discuss with wide eyes. "You up for it?" He asked.
A deep breath and a sigh passed through Elena's lips before she leaned forward and gripped my arm. "What do I have to do?" She questioned, throwing me a cautionary look.
I made a noise of protest only to be ignored as Elena just shrugged in response. Damon smirked and got back up. "Let your boyfriend take you to the dance. We'll see who shows up."
"So you're gonna use Elena as bait." I stated. "There's totally no way that could go wrong." I added sarcastically, looking away from the older Salvatore brother.
"She's right. That's a bad idea." Stefan remarked, putting one of his hands over Elena protectively.
Once again, agreeing with me. I was starting to think maybe Stefan and I were the only ones here who were actually thinking ahead.
"Till we get him, this house isn't safe. For anyone who lives in it. It's worth a shot." Damon added, trying to convince his brother and me. I scoffed and snorted. This was a bad idea.
"I'll do it." Elena repeated again, staring at me and Stefan. She was still trying to convince us but we all knew this was a bad idea.
I sighed and removed her hand off my arms, getting up off the couch. Staring directly at Damon now, I put on a bitter smile. "That's great and all but how is he going to get in?" I asked folding my arms and leaning my weight on my left feet with my hands on hips. "Last I remembered, only students and chaperones with their dates are allowed into the dance." I carried on, narrowing my eyes at Damon. "And Damon is neither."
"She's right." Stefan nodded as he put his free hand under his chin in a thinking pose. "It's gonna be hard to get Damon in-"
"No it's not. I can be Ava's date." His brother cut in with ease. Damon's gaze never leaving mine. I really hated him. "Besides, it's not like you have one. You don't, do you?"
"Well Tyler asked me to—" I tried to make an excuse and put a stop to this plan.
"Great. Then it's settled." Damon cut in again. I scoffed and shook my head unbelievably. "What?" He asked with a grin. "It's not like you were gonna give a Lockwood your time of the day." He did have a point.
Stefan looked at all of us anxiously. He sighed deeply after he gave me a look that it didn't matter how much he and I argued. Damon and Elena had made up their minds. Damon nodded, agreeing with Elena who again confirmed her participation in Damon's stupid and dangerous plan. I watched the three of them in silence, gnawing my lips in anxiety.
After a moment of combined silence, Elena grabbed Stefan's hand in her own and looked at him with her big doe eyes. "I'll be with the three of you. I'll be safe."
Stefan nodded after a while, letting Elena's words of comfort sink in. He nodded at his girlfriend once, finally convinced before he threw me and his brother a look. Damon shrugged while I sighed loudly.
This was a bad idea.
There were so many things that could go wrong tonight. Without another word, we all decided to get ready to go to the dance. I ran up the stairs as quickly as I could in these heels and grabbed my bloodstone necklace, replacing the scarf with the necklace.
Quietly, I ran my fingers through the chain of the necklace, contemplating all the possible outcomes of the night before heading back downstairs and following the Salvatore brothers out of the house.
"Can I just take a second to repeat: This is a very bad idea." I stated as the four of us stepped into the gym with my arms hooked with Damon's.
Damon gently tapped my arm. "We know." He replied back with a smirk. I scowled and unhooked my arm from his. He made a face as I let go.
"Try not to stand out or be a creep." I spoke out quietly, just so the Salvatore brothers could hear me. My gaze wandered around the gym, carefully looking out for anyone I didn't know or did know. "Most of the people here are minors."
From the corner of my eye, I could see Caroline and Bonnie dancing away on the dance floor. On the other side, I could see Rei and surprisingly Will dancing together. A smile unknowingly made its way to my face, seeing my friends genuinely enjoy themselves. My smile dropped as I turned to stare at Stefan.
"Keep him in line, will you?" I asked with a sweet smile. I didn't hear Stefan's response as I walked away to try and find Bonnie and Caroline.
With a smile, I skipped over to Elena who stood at a nearby table. She looked bored as she swirled the drink in her hand. My expression was the exact opposite of hers. My face was flushed and I had a bright smile on my face.
I had spent too much time dancing away with my friends instead of focusing on the task. I know. I should feel guilty but somehow, I just couldn't. I guess I trusted Stefan too much that I had let my guard down.
"What's up with Debbie Downer here?" I asked, replacing Elena's drink with some punch that was probably spiked.
Elena sighed again and gestured to Stefan who stood behind her on the lookout with Damon standing by his side. I made a sound and pursed my lips. Of course, she'd be down. Her boyfriend was too worried about protecting her to have fun.
I sighed and snapped my fingers in front of her face. "Look on the bright side."
"Which is?" She asked.
"If we can get rid of this leech before the night is over. You and Stefan—" I gestured to her boyfriend behind her. "—can have the most perfect 50s date ever."
"What if we don't."
"Well I say you will." I reassured her, squeezing her hands comfortingly.
She pursed her lips and nodded unconvinced. With a sigh, she put down the cup and started fidgeting with her earrings. She wandered around the crowded gym, looking for a sign of the vampire.
Elena paused and quickly stood straight. I stared at her confused before I followed her gaze to two girls. Bonnie and Caroline were walking towards us.
"Having fun?" She asked the two with a forced smile.
Caroline mimicked her and crept close to the table. "No, but this took about two hours, so I'm at least staying half of that."
I snorted at her response while Caroline and Elena laughed, trying to lighten the mood. She was so right. The whole decades look was so time consuming, add in a stalker vampire and well, you have yourself a killer headache.
But Bonnie didn't react, she stared off into the distance, behind Elena and I. She was staring at Damon. "What's Damon doing here?" She asked, looking not so happy as she did before. Elena and Caroline turned to look at Damon, who was standing with Stefan on the lookout.
With a deep breath, Elena turned back around and threw me a look. I shrugged. This wasn't my idea and yet I had to take the fall for this.
I sighed loudly and put down my drink. "He's...my date."
"WHAT!?" Bonnie and Caroline chorused at the same time. "What the hell, Ava? You're the one who told me to stay away from him." Caroline carried on, starting a rant. I know she was right. I let her continue while giving Elena a look that screamed 'your fault'.
I sighed again. "He wanted to come so I asked Ava to let him be her date." Elena jumped in, trying to diffuse any tension. "I promise. He'll behave." She added.
Caroline rolled her eyes and narrowed them, staring at me and Elena. "So what is this, like, a double date now, you, Ava and the Salvatore brothers?" Caroline chimed in with a snarky voice.
"No, but if I'm gonna be with Stefan, then I have to learn to tolerate Damon. Ava's just watching out for me. It's not like I can kill him."
After a moment, Bonnie spoke up. Her eyes trained on Damon like a hunter on its prey. "There's a thought..." She mumbled.
"Sounds like a plan." I added, swirling my drink around the cup.
"Mmm. I'll help." Caroline nodded as she, Bonnie and I clinked our glasses together.
I mean just because I was playing nice didn't mean I had to not plan his murder. Elena, on the other hand, stared hard at the table, trying hard to suppress her expression. Sometimes she was way too nice.
I carefully weaved through the crowd to find Dana and the other student council members. I didn't stick around to hear Elena's response. Before she could blink, I had disappeared into the crowd.
I shivered slightly. He was here. The vampire. Unfortunately, there were too many people here. I couldn't tell where or who he was. I checked every face that passed by me but nothing.
Just as the chill had appeared, it disappeared. I clicked my tongue in frustration and plastered a friendly but painted smile on my face while I weaved through the crowds. There were too many eyes on me. I didn't mind, usually. This time, however, I had to find someone.
"Ava?" A soft grip on my arm was felt as someone gently turned me around. "There you are." Dana gasped with an unusually happy grin. She was drunk or high or maybe both. Either way, it was a nice change of pace. At least someone was having fun. "Here we thought, you weren't gonna show up."
"Or ditch the dance early." Aimee chimed in, taking a swing of her drink.
Chad cut in with Jeff and Will behind him. "Give Ava a break, you guys. Come on." He defended, passing me a drink.
Will nodded agreeing with his friend while his arms were around Rei whose face was flushed with excitement. It was definitely odd, seeing the student council members letting loose for once. Usually they'd be ones running around everywhere but for today I guess things were different.
Carefully, I accepted the drink and took a sip of it. The cool red liquid was sweet at first as it slid down my throat burning me reducing me into a fit of coughs.
An alcoholic aftertaste lingered on my tongue while I made a face. I shook my head in disappointment while the rest of the group started giggling and laughing at my reaction to the spiked punch.
"Great. The student council spiked the punch bowl." I sarcastically praised the group in front of me. "Great job, you guys." Bringing the paper cup in front of me, I passed it to Dana who gulped the whole thing in one go.
Rei giggled as she hid her face in Will's arms. Her head peaked out a little as she peered at me. She was definitely drunk. "You're giving them too much credit." She murmured between her laughs.
"Rei. Breathe." Will rubbed her arms comfortingly.
"Sorry, I think I had a little too much punch." She apologized with a lost expression. "But yeah, they didn't spike the drink."
"Then who did?" I questioned out-loud to the group in front of me.
Dana opened her mouth to speak only to get cut off by someone else.
"I did." A voice answered behind me. Confused, I turned around only to be met with none other than Tyler. I turned back to give everyone a look, only to find everyone avoiding my gaze. Everyone acted like suddenly they were too busy to face me. Dana and Aimee along with Jeff started pretending to have a conversation while Rei and Will were busy with each other.
"Tyler." I greeted him with a feigned smile. "You spiked the drinks." I stated, not really surprised but surprised that he actually decided to come and find me. "I'm surprised you even showed up to the dance."
"Well, the punch needed to be spiked so here I am. Oh. This is for you." Tyler handed me a drink. Without even taking a sip, I knew it was a spiked drink. With a painted smile, gingerly I accepted the drink but not daring to take another sip. I needed to be sober tonight. "Aren't you gonna drink?"
"Ah...well..." I tried to think of an excuse. Racking my brain for something didn't really work. "The thing is...I...really really...can't..."
All of a sudden, someone took the drink out of my hands. That someone was Damon. He took the drink without any hesitation and downed it in one go. He smirked and showed off the empty cup mockingly to Tyler, handing it back to him.
"Thanks for the drink." He remarked. "Now if you would excuse me, I need to borrow Ava for a second." He linked his arms with mine and tried to slowly drag me away from the group. I didn't protest.
"Wait. You're—" Tyler grabbed my other arm and tried to stop me. I shuddered and tried to pull myself free. "—um...Stefan's brother. Damien?"
"Damon. And yes. Now if you excuse us." Damon tried again but Tyler didn't relent. He tried protesting and tried to 'defend' me, acting like he had my best interest at heart.
I rolled my eyes, pulling back from both of them. Without doing much, I looked around to check if anyone was watching us. The student council members had all slipped off to somewhere else during Damon and Tyler's little spat.
I sighed and glared at Tyler who grabbed me again. "For the love of—Let go of me." Tyler's eyes flickered to amber as his grip on me slackened as he took a step back. "Leave us alone and go get drunk or something." He nodded dumbly with a blank face as he took more steps back and turned around, leaving with no hesitation.
"Nice." Damon remarked with an awed look. "That was..." He whistled as he tilted his head to follow Tyler's movements. "...so much more effective than compulsion. More discreet. Way to go, sunshine. Anyways—"
All of sudden, a wave of fatigue washed over me and I stumbled a little. My vision blurred a little and colors swirled around me as a loud buzzing noise filled my ears. A cold sensation filled me. It felt like someone had dunked me in an ice bath.
Then I wasn't on the dance floor. Panting and groaning, I struggled against a chained up door, trying to get out. I blinked and I was no longer struggling. I was the watcher again. Looking around, I noticed I was still in school but in the dimly lit and empty hallways. I wasn't alone. There was someone else here. I rubbed my arms comfortingly as I slowly crept towards the disturbance.
On the other side of the hallway, Elena was facing me. Her eyes looked right through me before turning and pulled at a chained set of doors.
Petrified, she panted and struggled against a set of locked double doors while a shadow stalked her every move. She cried out in frustration as the door would not budge. I heard her pound and push her weight against the door but it wouldn't budge. I wanted to run to her. To help her but I knew it would be useless.
As if one cue, I watched her look around before sprinting down another hallway. I watched in silent anticipation as she threw open the doors of the cafeteria and ran inside. She ran across the room and slammed into another set of doors.
Locked.
The doors, most likely the ones leading outside, were locked shut. I watched helplessly as Elena cried out in frustration, trying to escape.
BANG.
Slowly, the shadow stalked towards her and threw her aside like a rag-doll. Elena crashed onto the cold hard linoleum floor. I flinched in pain. It wasn't me, just staring at it looked like it hurt. She picked herself off the ground as the man came close to her once more. She took out a pencil from somewhere and stabbed him. The shadow hissed in pain violently before tossing her aside in anger. The doors to the cafeteria burst open as the two struggled against one another.
Elena stood up against him but still struggled to stand still. She was limping a little. I watched in silent terror as she looked around frantically for something, anything to defend herself with. My eyes wandered around the room as well, trying to find something.
I paused as my gaze landed on a mop and bucket. The wooden mop would make a decent weapon. Elena. I tried to shout but much to my dismay, I couldn't reach her. I struggled to give her a sign. The mop. I screamed out in my mind. Elena froze. She turned around and thankfully grabbed the mop. She picked up the mop while the man was hunched over.
Her hands trembled in fear as she tried to break the mop in half. Her grip was tight and she brought the mop over her knees, trying to snap it in half. It didn't work. A sharp breath and another attempt. It didn't work. My stomach dropped and I turned to check on the man.
Crack. Crack.
His injuries, already healing as he groaned and hissed in anger. He moved his head side to side, cracking his neck. His eyes' full of poison as he narrowed them on the girl in front of him. He hissed again before pouncing on Elena, going straight through me. I shuddered and hunched over in pain as the man launched himself on Elena. She shrieked in pain as the man tried to dive into her neck.
Gasp.
"Ava?" Damon peered down at me with concern as my vision cleared slowly. My world was spinning and I almost stumbled onto the floor.
I blinked hurriedly, trying to grab onto reality. There was a haze in front of my eyes. Colors floated around like little clouds. Everyone around me was simply shapes and colors. I gasped again before trying to straighten up. This was the first time I had gone from being the person in the vision to being an observer. That never happened.
"Ava." He called out again, trying to snap me out of my haze. I gasped again and I was awake.
"The cafeteria. The vampire is trying to attack Elena there." I stated, straightening up and standing.
Damon stared at me in concern, ready to say something before he blew out a breath, frustrated. He ran his fingers through his hair before nodding.
Without any delay, I led him to the cafeteria. I weaved through the crowd with ease and then broke off into a sprint the minute I got to the hallways. Damon had no trouble keeping up.
I passed Damon a stake from my purse. He gave me a look of disbelief before he flung open the door. We both rushed into the almost empty cafeteria just as Stefan threw the vampire across the room.
"Hey!" Damon called out, grabbing that vampire's attention while I silently formed a ball of light around my left hand.
A light buzzing sound filled the air as lights flicked lightly for a second.
The man's head snapped to stare at Damon and me with some apprehension as he crawled backwards to create some distance. His eyes wandered, carefully assessing us. He froze when he noticed the stake in Damon's hand and the orb in mine.
"...Nobody wants to kill you. We just wanna talk." Damon continued. He was clearly trying to negotiate or something.
I snorted and brought my hands forward, making the orb bigger. "Speak for yourself, Salvatore."
I knew that keeping him alive was pointless. He was a vampire and he was invited in, plus he destroyed my car.
The man grinned before he rushed towards Elena. I threw the orb of light straight at him. I held my breath and watched with wide eyes as the orb struck him straight in the jaw. His face sizzled and burned. His groans of pain echoed throughout the cafeteria as he hunched over and clenched his face over in pain.
Lightning shaped scars formed and healed within minutes. I was taken aback. Shocked that my aim was right.
He groaned and tried to get up once again before Damon threw the Stefan who caught it with ease and stabbed him in the stomach, being careful to avoid his chest. I threw a dissatisfied look at Stefan before rushing to help Elena.
Damon followed after me, wordlessly. I stood next to Elena and started checking for any injuries while Damon stood guard over us both, not that I needed it while Stefan kept an eye on that man. I knew where this was heading. It was clear the brothers wanted to interrogate him.
"Now you feel like talkin'?" Stefan questioned, still holding onto the edge of the stake.
"Screw you." The vampire spat out.
Stefan sighed as he dug the stake in deeper. The man groaned in pain. "Wrong answer." He hissed, pushing the stake in a bit more. "Why are you doing this?" He continued.
"Because it's fun." Throwing a glance at the incapacitated vampire, I scoffed.
He had a crazed look in his eyes like he didn't have a care in the world or that he was having the time of his life not someone who was on the brink of death for the second time in his life. This interrogation was not going to work. He was better off dead.
The stake was pushed in more. A loud squelching sound made my ears hurt and almost covered them in disgust. The vampire hissed in pain and groaned but the crazed look didn't disappear.
"What do you want with Elena?" Stefan asked.
The man hunched over and panted loudly. "...She looks like Katherine."
Katherine.
Again. I should start keeping a count on the times she's screwed us over without even being here.
A moment of silence took over as we all stared at each other with wide eyes. Before I could stop myself I took a step forward. "You knew Katherine?" Damon and I asked at the same time. Damon stared at me in suspicion while I just shrugged. This was getting too messy.
A bitter and maniacal laughter bubbled out of that man. "Oh. You thought you were the only ones." He laughed, pausing to gasp in pain as he stared straight at Damon. "...You don't even remember me."
Damon breathed out loudly and leaned over Noah with a look of fierce desperation. "Tell me how to get in the tomb. Hmm?" My head snapped to stare at him.
The tomb.
I thought he had given up but no, he had not. There were twenty-seven vampires in that place. Twenty-seven, if let out, would wreak havoc on this town. Katherine was not worth the lives of everyone in this town.
"No."
Stefan and I shared a look of concern before he leaned back down and drove the stake in deeper. I swallowed thickly and tried to calm myself.
"...The grimoire." The man spat out in pain.
"Where is it?" Damon asked.
The stake was pushed in deeper. I felt someone put their head on my shoulder. Elena put her head on my shoulder. She couldn't stomach this afterall. "Check the journal." The man gasped out.
There was at least fifteen or twenty journals from that era. "The journal." He repeated again. "Johnathan's journal. Johnathan Gilbert's." His hissed, repeating his words once more but this time putting an emphasis on whose journal.
I froze when a sudden chill came over me. There was another vampire here. With everyone distracted, my gaze wandered around the cafeteria until it settled on the double doored entrance. There, a small shadow peeking through the windowed doors. I titled my head in confusion and blinked twice to make sure I wasn't seeing things. Nope. It was still there.
Unfortunately, I couldn't get a better look of that person but I knew he or she was definitely working with the vampire hunched in pain. The chill made me gasp as I stumbled back. Elena removed her head from my shoulders and stared at me in concern. My back hit the wall as I stared at the struggling man in front of me.
"...He's not alone. There's another here." I gasped out, trying to control the suffocating chill.
All eyes were on me. The vampire on the cafeteria floor moaned in pain. "I should have killed you when I had the chance." He spat out.
Stefan shoved the splintered wooden mop handle deeper into his chest causing him to hunch over again in pain. "Who else is working with you?" Stefan asked.
"Who else is there?" Damon questioned.
"No. You're gonna have to kill me." The man shook his head, his eyes were hazy and his desperation leaked into his voice.
I rolled my eyes, bored. This was such a waste of time. They were better off killing him. "You heard the man." I drawled out, still glaring at the man.
Stefan stared at me annoyed while Damon rolled his eyes and nodded. The man stared at me hatefully and made one last attempt to gain the upper hand. He jumped at me, the minute Stefan removed the stake but he wasn't quick enough as Stefan shoved the stake straight through his heart. Elena gasped in shock and jumped back. Stefan let go.
With a deep sigh, Stefan took out the makeshift stake. He took a few steps back, letting the vampire fall face down. He gripped the vampire's head and pulled him back. Stefan threw one last look at his brother and me before plunging the wooden splint straight into his chest. A gasp was heard.
I recoiled in disgust and horror as the man's face was stuck in a permanent horrified state. His skin turned gray and ashy just like Vicki's did the night of the carnival. Deep gray veins protruded through his skin as he struggled to hold on to life. With one more grunt, he was dead. His eyes turned dark and then back to a muddy brown before it rolled to the back of his head.
"What do we...how are you gonna find the others now?" Elena asked, taking a step forward.
"He had to die." Damon simply stated. I nodded, agreeing with him.
I hunched down and fumbled around his pockets for a sign of identification or something. Nothing. Whoever he was, he didn't want to be found or he didn't have any identity in the first place.
Stefan stood above me. He gave me a look, asking me if I found anything. I simply shook my head and got up. Dusting my dress clean, being careful not to get blood on the dress or shoes.
"But…" She tried to protest.
Stefan sighed and closed in on his girlfriend to comfort her. "Elena, he's been invited in." He tried again.
"He literally tried to kill us. 'Lena." I added with a deadpan look. He seemed friendly too. Elena nodded understandingly as she wrapped her arms around herself.
All of a sudden Damon and Stefan looked at each other and nodded. Damon left without saying anything. I stared at Stefan in confusion. "Someone saw us." He said before he took Elena's hand and led her back to the gym, beckoning me to follow him. But I didn't follow. Instead, I went after Damon.
I trailed a little further behind Damon as he walked out of the cafeteria and down a corridor. Suddenly, he disappeared. I huffed in annoyance and tried to find Damon. I ran through the many corridors before I finally found him.
His back was turned to me in the dimly lit hallways. He faced another man. I groaned as I could not see his face at all. I didn't have night vision. All I knew was this man was human.
I crept behind a set of lockers and craned my head forward, being very still. "—Looking for Ms. Hilden…" I heard the man answer. I immediately recognized the voice. I silently cursed Damon and prayed in my head that he wouldn't kill the only decent history teacher I've had in my life.
Carefully, I stepped back and went in another direction. I needed to get Mr Saltzman away from Damon. I bit my lips, trying to think of a way. I paused and quickly walked to the gym. Outside, two boys who looked around Jeremy's age leaned against the wall. They were probably stuck doing extra credit like Jeremy.
"Hey! You Two!" I called out to the two boys in front of me while I craned my head around the corner of the hallway to stare at Mr Saltzman and Damon.
The atmosphere between them looked heavy and I worried for Mr Saltzman's life. Damon was a vampire, there was no telling what lengths he would go to keep his and Stefan's secret.
Turning back to stare at the boys, I gestured to them to follow me. Their eyes flashed to a vibrant amber as they nodded. I guess I didn't need to use my voice for this after all. The two boys followed my gestures and stalked towards me. For a moment, I felt guilty doing this. That was until their thoughts started pouring into mine.
I knew what they were thinking. Their thoughts were not pretty. I suppressed the feeling of disgust and switched my attention to them. "What?" They both chorused.
Taking a deep breath, I tried to block out their disgusting thoughts. It was bad. "...I need you two to fight." They stared at me for a few seconds before staring at each other. I made a sound of frustration before trying again. "Don't stop until Mr Saltzman tells you to stop."
Their eyes flickered to amber and they nodded. The boy in the blue shirt threw the first punch. A loud crunch was heard as his fist met his friend's nose.
The boy in the yellow shirt recoiled and grabbed his nose in pain and hissed. He got up with a blank expression and punched the blue boy, drawing blood. I looked away in disgust, almost regretting what I had done.
"—Is everything you're telling me the truth?" Damon asked, clearly in the middle of compelling Mr Saltzman.
In a daze, Mr Saltzman answered. My eyes met Damon's as his jaws clenched. "Then forget we had this conversation."
I watched Damon walk away and Mr Saltzman stand still for a moment. I swallowed heavily, clutching my necklace. I pinched my cheeks to make them red like I had been running around all night. I didn't wait any longer.
I ran towards Mr Saltzman and Damon who had come around the corridor and had seen me. "Mr Saltzman!" I called out, pretending to pant loudly. His gaze snapped to stare at me.
"Ava? What's wrong?" He asked, now ignoring Damon.
I pointed toward another end of the hallway. "A fight." I gasped out. "There's a fight going on in front of the gym." I continued. "It's bad. There's blood and...and—" Mr Saltzman nodded and broke off into the direction of the fight.
The minute he was gone, I stopped panting and straightened up. I flicked my curls behind me and smirked. "You're welcome." I remarked quietly to Damon who stood on the other side. He had followed me and watched it all play out. He stared at me, slightly impressed. I didn't give him a chance to say anything before I gestured to the gym. "We should get back…"
Damon spun me around with ease while I looked like I would rather be anywhere but here. But it was either dancing with the devil or Tyler Lockwood. He looked too happy for a man on a mission to open a tomb full of half-dying vampires. I scowled as I let him move me like a ragdoll.
"Y'know, one of these days you have to admit—" Damon started.
"—that you're a creep."
"Nope. That you're attracted to me."
"Oh my god. You're so right—I'm totally irrevocably in love with you."
He spun me around. "See that wasn't so hard."
"I think I just killed a few of my brain cells."
He clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes. "You're really mean. Is that your way of saying—"
"Damon." I cut him off again. "Back there with Mr Saltzman. I didn't do it for you. I did it for him. The last thing I want is for another person to die because of you. So stop thinking that we're friends or something. We're not."
I looked away and from the corner of my eyes, I could see Stefan and Elena. They looked happy as Stefan led Elena to the dance floor. I looked away to gaze at Damon who too was staring at the couple but he had a look of envy painted on his face. His gaze was trained on Elena.
With a deep breath, I decided to stop what he was thinking. "I just wanna pass history. Nothing personal." I added, diverting his attention back to me. The last thing I wanted was for this night to spiral even more.
He snorted and ran a finger through a strand of my hair which had become loose. Damon pulled back and looked around before he leaned in. His mouth was close to my ear as he dropped his voice to almost whisper.
"You act like I have a habit of killing or eating your teachers." A shiver passed through my spine as I tried to suppress the chill in me from being so close to a vampire. "...I'm not as bad as you think."
I pulled back and smiled at him. "I'll believe that when I see it." I retorted without missing a beat. He didn't say anything but simply spun me around and swayed me on the dance floor.
"Why don't we talk about something else other than the burning hatred you feel for me..." A suggestion by Damon, no doubt to distract me from this hellish dance.
"Fine." I gripped his hands tight in response. "...The 50s—" I started, looking around the gym and in its 50s decoration. "What was it like? You lived through it and I'm sure you were in Mystic Falls at that time as well."
"Hmm. The 50s. I don't really remember much about it. Nothing memorable really." He spun me around and dipped me low before pulling me back up. "...And how do you know I was here?"
"A feeling."
"A feeling?"
Now it was his grip that tightened on mine. It felt painful. I tried to pull away from him but he didn't let me. A long conflicted look flashed through his face as his stormy eyes looked blank for a second like he was thinking of a nightmare or a memory forgotten.
"...I was here but then I was not."
"So you were passing by?" I questioned, still trying to get him to loosen his grips on me. He didn't answer. His eyes were still unfocused and he looked pained. "Hey, you okay?"
He blinked twice and almost mechanically, he snapped back to his usual self. "Why? Do you suddenly care?" He asked with a smirk.
"Do you want me to?" His grip slackened. I almost pulled away but I stopped. "...You looked like I asked you some deep stuff. I only asked about the 50s..."
"It wasn't good. Not for me at least. Then again, I barely remember anything from then apart from James Dean, poodle skirts and uh...Elvis, I guess." He shrugged, his smirk still ever present on his face but I could tell that his mask was cracking. "Why don't we talk about another time period? Ask me about Titanic or the 80s."
But I didn't relent. I swallowed and tried again. This might be a crack in his armor. "Something happened in the 50s, huh." I quietly remarked.
I expected Damon to rebuff my attempts or just stop and leave but he didn't. Carefully, Damon pulled me into a corner. He swayed me across the dance floor, away from his brother and Elena.
"You're right something did happen." My eyes widened as it snapped to stare at him. He blew out a puff of air and let go of me, taking a step back. "...Y'know you should have met me in the 1800s, you would have liked me. I was a real gentleman." He finished with a smile.
Folding my arms, I scoffed. I knew exactly what kind of person he was. Well, Lydia did. She watched as her childhood friend broke her heart and humiliated her family all for a woman who probably didn't even care about him.
"I'm sure I wouldn't, Mr Salvatore." I quietly replied, taking out a pin from my hair. Lydia's horrified face at Katherine flashed through my mind. How anyone could love a monster was beyond me. "Is Katherine worth all of this?" I questioned out loud.
Without looking back or expecting an answer, I threw open the back gym doors and walked out. The cool winter night air immediately slammed into me, making me shiver. Bringing my hands together, I rubbed them for some warmth.
A slight glow appeared between them, engulfing me in its warmth. I clutched my hands and it was gone just like that but the feeling of warmth lingered. A small smile made its way onto my face as I stared at the starry sky above me. I could feel Damon's eyes on me. He had followed me outside.
The sound of gravel crunching beneath his feet was the only sound I heard along with the faded out music from the dance. For a moment, he didn't say anything, just enjoying the silence in peace.
"...When I had nothing, the thought of Katherine. Her face. Her voice. Her everything. Kept me from going insane. She's worth it to me."
"What about Stefan?" I replied, taking down my hair and letting it gently blow in the winter air. "Where was he?"
"Where was he?" Damon echoed. "That's the question, I used to ask myself every single night and day in that—" He never finished his sentence before turning away from me.
I did catch a glimpse of his face. It was dimly illuminated by the faded lights from the gym. Black veins had started protruding from his face as his eyes had darkened. I swallowed and took a step back. My hand unconsciously went to my neck. The necklace was still there.
"...It's funny how you think vampires are the only things capable of being monsters." He began, slowly turning around. His eyes flashed between black and its usual electric blue. "But y'know, the way I've seen it. It's humans who are the real monsters."
I was taken back by his words. My hands dropped to my sides and I stared at the ground beneath me conflicted. He wasn't wrong but why did he have to say it out loud.
"Is that what happened in the 50s?" I asked again. Clearly, I had become that girl. The girl who was stupid enough to interrogate a killer when really she should be running.
"Something like that..." Damon nodded, staring at the sky once more.
We didn't say anything for a while. I almost felt bad for Damon.
Whatever had happened back then clearly messed him up. But I still couldn't trust him enough to let him in so without another word, I went back inside, leaving him out alone in the cold with his own thoughts and memories.
