a/n: yoooo! im so sorry i've been gone a bit longer than i thought i would be. it's now midnight so today is actually my birthday now, guys my 20s are going by too fast it's disgusting. anyway, i felt bad that i didn't manage to update last month due to sad brain and procrastination so here we go! any typos will be fixed later when i dont need to go to bed. hope all of you are doing good ily!
this chapter is in honor of betty white, may you rest in peace you absolute legend, thank you for being a friend.
CHAPTER FOUR: LEGACY
Nova pressed her fingers to her eyes, her forehead hitting the steering wheel with a loud thump that was accompanied by the sound of her horn. She ignored the what the fuck gaze her sister sent her way, and moped for a moment longer.
Stelena officially meeting soon meant that she sadly, could no longer hold the rest of her plans off. She needed to stay six steps ahead of everyone else. Her efforts to keep Miranda and Grayson alive had failed, her heart clenched at the thought of them.
The dull ache in heart was a painful reminder that she needed this win, needed to make sure the rest of her plans didn't fuck up. The pressure of everything weighed her down, pulling her by the throat and reminding her why she had brought her sister with her.
She wasn't the best at honesty, let alone being vulnerable enough to lean on people for help. She had spent most of lives being the shoulder to lean on, and falling to the ground bloody and bruised when others failed to do the same.
Now though, help was much needed if she wanted to stay alive and… if she trusted one person to always have her back, it was her sister.
She just hoped she wouldn't regret roping her into this mess weeks, maybe months before she would've been.
"Why are we here?"
Nova lifted her head up from the steering wheel, the hazy glow of streetlights guiding her to meet her sister's hazel eyes, reminiscent of their grandfather's eyes, with her own brown ones.
Though she couldn't wrap her sister in bubble wrap, she would protect her baby sister for as long as she remained in this universe, she promised silently.
"Grave robbing!" Nova announced cheerfully, smiling in the face of her sister's disbelief.
"I've gotta admit, you worry me, like a lot." Bonnie said after they both got out of the car so she could proudly show her the shovels and flashlights in the trunk.
"Ah, but my questionable mental health is all part of my charm." Nova was all cheer as she aimed a grin at her sister that was illuminated eerily by her flashlight.
"Nova." Bonnie, though she took the shovel offered, refused to move until she got her explanation.
"Fuck, okay, okay. I can't say much right now with our nosy ancestors probably watching us but …" She shivered, zipping up her black hoodie and glaring at the air like she could see them.
Honestly it could've just been the wind…
Said every dead horror chick ever, she thought.
"I know something and.. I need your help, please," she said, turning her big brown eyes onto her sister.
Bonnie's hesitance melted away, instead a quiet determination to help her took its place.
It warmed her previously aching heart to see that unlike the people who had continuously disappointed them, her twin would always be there when she needed her.
"And that requires grave robbing?" Bonnie was torn between curiosity and unsettled.
"Yeah!" Nova confirmed, a little too enthusiastically, but come on! This was a once in a lifetime opportunity, they would get to take something from a dead white man and return to its rightful place, their home.
Without another word she walked towards the black gate keeping them from entering the cemetery. She threw her shovel over the fence, watching as it fell with a heavy thump that made Bonnie jump. She stuffed her Spider-man flashlight in her backpack, quickly grabbing the iron fence and beginning the exhausting process of climbing it.
She felt proud when she reached the top and deftly swung over to the other side of the fence, dropping down to the other side.
She ignored her burning palms that had slid against the iron gate, and her stumbling feet once she was on the ground. Instead, she fixed her clothes and aimed a triumphant grin at her sister.
It was the best grave robbing attire she could find, black sweatpants, and a matching hoodie and worn in sneakers — all too big for her. If she was a few feet taller and whiter, she could pass for Jeremy.
Bonnie shoved at the gate, watching as it let out a creaking noise and opened easily at her touch. Either it had been open all along, or she had used her magic which was… smart. Her sister stared at her with a raised eyebrow, her amused face lit by her Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles flashlight.
"...my way was much cooler," Nova mumbled to herself, ignoring the amusement on her sister's face.
Nova quickly pushed past her embarrassment, grabbing her shovel and turning on her red and blue Spidey flashlight. She looked around the eerily silent place with its heavily swaying trees and chilled air. She sighed before she headed towards the older graves.
Bonnie's eyes kept scanning the place warily, keeping close to her. She couldn't blame her sister's cautiousness, learning about ghosts at a young age did give one caution around graves. And the quiet certainly didn't help, as the only thing the twins could hear was their breathing and the sound of the trees rustling in the wind.
"Do you even know where you're going?" Bonnie asked, her skeptical voice breaking the silence.
"… sure," she replied, which didn't exactly inspire confidence in either of them.
It took what felt like an hour until they finally came across his grave. She nearly walked past it, simply because it didn't bear the last name Salvatore, simply Giuseppe.
She stopped in front of it, and immediately held her finger to her lips and pointed to her ears. Though she couldn't completely keep the nosy bastards out of her plans, the less the Other Side knew about her plans, the better.
She pulled colorful runic crystals the size of pebbles out the side of her backpack, humming at the warm magic that she had stored inside of them over the past few weeks. It warmed her hands like the sun on a summer's day. She quickly threw them on the ground around the grave, pressing them into the ground with the heel of her foot.
As much as burning sage would keep those living and dead from eavesdropping, it worked better in enclosed spaces where the sage could hit walls instead of wind.
Grams had instead taught them a spell that would just as well as burning sage. Their great-grandmother had created a boundary spell that would not only keep any sound in but any being, living or otherwise, out.
She wasn't powerful enough to do the spell without either her sister and grandmother's help or proper preparation; it would drain her and leave her dead if she tried. She had time to prepare though, months even, hence the runic crystals filled with enough magic that would keep the spell strong for her.
"Corpus meum protege, verba mea protege." Nova muttered under her breath, a strong gust of wind swallowing whatever volume her words had left. The low chants that spilled from her mouth ignited the spell that grew to its full strength as her magic latched onto the power of the crystals.
She closed her eyes as noticeably warmer air hit her cheeks as she felt the spell settle around them, a smile played on her lips when she kicked at the invisible barrier and her foot hit something solid that vibrated at the touch.
"Light this." Nova told her sister, pulling out a tall and thin lavender candle from her backpack and tossing it towards her sister.
She could've done it herself, it was just more fun bossing her little sister around.
Bonnie caught it effortlessly, side eyeing her with a before she lit the candle with a sharp glance, gently placing it on the crumbling headstone for lack of a better place to put it.
Though an old trick, lavender would hopefully aid them in keeping spirits away, at least the ones that wished them harm. She could be impulsive, but at her core she was paranoid and wanted to be prepared for anything and everything.
Bonnie waited expectantly for her to finally speak, her arms crossed and her brow raised.
"It's about the Salvatore's. Damon Salvatore, the Spike wannabe, wants to open a tomb in Mystic Falls that currently has twenty-six desiccated vampires inside." Nova answered the silent question, remaining calm in the face of her sister's panic.
"What?" Bonnie asked, her voice raised as panic and terror painted her features.
Nova instinctively shushed her and they both looked around in panic, only relaxing when they remembered that no one could hear them.
"Why? How?"
"It's a long story for another night. The problem right now is that he thinks that his long lost love is in the Tomb. She isn't, which is another problem for another day. Thing is he needs ingredients to open the damned thing. And one of them is buried here."
With that she picked up and handed her sister her shovel back with a bright smile that looked eerie underneath the flashlight.
"Time to get digging!"
"We should call Grams," Bonnie said, trying to stall the inevitable work ahead of them.
"I did. I left a voicemail. You know her Bon, at this time she's usually knocked out after a couple glasses of wine and reruns of Girlfriends. We can turn ourselves in the morning."
She fumbled a bit before sticking the flashlight between her legs and grabbing her own shovel. Hm, yeah that would work, but she could already tell it was gonna be hell on her back.
Hello, back issues before thirty! … again.
Bonnie reluctantly joined her in digging up the grave, a guilty look on her face all the while.
"If it makes you better, he was a racist old white man who was buried with our ancestor's grimoire." Nova casually surprised her sister once again, as she was prone to doing.
"Why the hell was a Salvatore buried with our ancestor's Grimoire?" Bonnie questioned, sounding rightfully furious as her mind ran wild with theories. By the dark look in her eyes, none of them were good and all of them were probably close to the truth.
"You know white men, he probably stole it and claimed it as his own," she said, her tone dry even as she hit the dirt with her shovel hard.
"Dig faster," Bonnie ordered, impatient now that she knows what they're after.
Nova started digging faster without complaint, and wished for a moment she could use her magic for this, but that on top of her little crystals would draw the attention she was trying to avoid. And so she dug, until her hands started shaking and her vision blurred with cool sweat.
When they kept getting in each other's way, they decided to take turns on who held the flashlight and who dug up the grave.
About halfway down to the coffin, she started to giggle, making Bonnie shine her flash light directly on her.
"...Are you laughing while digging up a man's grave?" Bonnie asked her, it was the first time they had spoken in hours and the judgement was clear in her voice.
Nova waved away the concern for her sanity, trying to muffle her almost hysterical giggling but her hands were stained with dirt and she was pretty sure her hoodie was even worse.
"It's just something Caroline said once, she called me Dean Winchester, and here we are digging a grave." Nova replied, looking up at her sister, now completely out of breath as she failed to control her laughter.
Bonnie rolled her eyes, smiling in a slightly patronizing manner as she offered her a hand.
"Come on then, Dean, we'll switch, someone clearly needs a break."
Nova sighed in pure relief, taking the hand offered and crawling out of the hole; it wasn't long until she collapsed onto the dirt and grass. There was a bug on her arm that she was too fucking tired to care about at the moment.
Nova kept her ass firmly on the ground when her legs refused to cooperate, pointing her flashlight on the grave. Her sister had already skidded her way back into the depths of the grave.
Nova should have brought snacks like pizza rolls, some hot cocoa, maybe her mp3 player, and a blanket because it was getting fucking cold.
Television always made digging up graves seem easy, or at the very least like it wouldn't take hours. She scoffed with a roll of her eyes, of course that was just a fucking lie.
She would prefer to be doing anything else, like eating. She was craving sushi, or crispy tacos and enchiladas with a side of retried beans and rice.
Bonnie rudely interrupted her very important daydreams about food. "I hit something."
Nova peered into the dirt hole and watched with hopeful eyes as her sister hit the remaining dirt again— and a thump too loud to be dirt answered them.
Bonnie glanced up at her nervously, taking care to clear the remaining dirt with her hands, revealing old rotting wood that she assumed was a casket. Her sister wasted no more time in attempting to open the old wooden casket, the thing creaked under her pulls yet it still remained closed.
"I need a little help down here." Bonnie said, rubbing at her sore fingers.
Fuck, she should've packed them some gloves too. Next time, she reminded herself, knowing that with her luck she would definitely end up doing this again.
She scrambled down towards her sister, her legs shaking as she landed with a thud on top of the white wood encasing the Salvatore brother's sorry excuse for a father. She huffed in and out, exchanging a look with her sister as they both grabbed the opening.
..1
…2
3!
With the two of them pulling on the opening, it only took three hard tugs for it to open with a sharp creak.
Despite mentally preparing themselves for the sight, they both let out disgusted sounds at the sight of the skeleton.
"What the hell." They both cursed when the skeleton hands stuck on tightly to the fragile book.
It was a small relief when they realized the bastard had not in fact animated, and one last pull from a stubborn Bonnie had the grimoire free from the skeleton's grip.
They shared a slightly delirious grin as they finally reaped the reward of their hard work.
Their triumph only lasted about a second, as they both realized two things; they would have to put all the dirt back into the grave.. and how the fuck were they gonna get out without the other's help?
"Shit," they both said at the same time, sharing a miserable look.
Nova blinked slowly, her eyes feeling just about as heavy as the rest of her limbs as she dragged her feet into the kitchen. She mercilessly pulled her wet curls into a bun, hoping that the leave in conditioner would treat her well enough until morning. Her tired brown eyes roamed the kitchen for something easy to eat, a small excited smile appeared on her face as she found something quick to make before she collapsed.
"You think dad heard us come in?" Bonnie quietly asked, her now dry hair into an effortlessly done afro puff atop her head.
She snorted. "If he's home," she replied back just as quietly.
Bonnie had nothing to say against that and quietly sat down at the kitchen table, water bottle in hand.
Nova felt bad for reminding her sister of their father being a continued rare occurrence in their life. It had been a bitter pill to swallow, realizing that she had been left with neglectful parents in more than one life.
She looked at her sister with her big brown eyes, hoping to be forgiven as she slid an offering of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches towards her sister. The crust was cut and shoved into her mouth, per usual.
Bonnie glanced at the bribe and back at her again, her lips turning up into a crooked smile as she accepted the bribe with a low, "thank you."
As they quietly ate their sandwiches, she felt content with the fact that at least in this life, they had each other as sisters.
"What are we gonna do with that?" Bonnie asked, looking at their ancestor's Grimoire that laid innocuously on the table.
She hummed, swallowing down a bite of her sandwich with her own water bottle. "We'll confess our sins to Grams in the morning and find a spell strong enough to keep it safe from Dracula."
Bonnie swallowed down the last of her sandwich, looking anxious at the mention of the vampires being a toxic brooding mess around Mystic Falls.
She couldn't blame her — for all her outward calm, ever since … that night, her brain had been questioning if she really could change people's fate. If whatever she planned or did would ever be enough, if she would ever be enough.
"Whatever we do, we won't have to do it alone," said her ever perceptive twin, reminding her that no matter the amount of weight on her shoulders she was not alone.
"...simul stabunt, simul cadent," she agreed, sharing a smile with her sister as her shoulders relaxed from their tense posture.
Bonnie soon finished up her sandwich, leaving her with a soft spoken goodnight as she slowly made her way up stairs, legs still visibly shaken from their hours and hours of their newly acquired hobby of graverobbing.
Something had her lingering in the kitchen though, even when she finished cleaning up the evidence of their late night snack, her sore feet stayed locked in place as she stared at the moon shining through the cracks in the blinds of the window above the sink.
Her whole body froze when her brown eyes caught sight of shifting shadows outside.
Okay, so.. she could do two things, check the doors and windows, turn the light off and go the fuck to bed with one eye open. Or she could do the cliche white girl in horror thing and go outside to see what it was and ultimately get shanked.
Magic or no, for obvious reasons, she chose the former.
She was too hot to die this early in her life.
Nova was halfway finished with checking the kitchen windows, only to then freeze once again when she heard something — an eerie sound that resembled scratching on wood. She slowly turned when she heard it once again, looking in the direction it came from: the door that led out to the backyard.
The sound still persisted.
She bypassed the cliche of grabbing a kitchen knife and grabbed her sister's abandoned bottle of water, and simply waited; like hell was she going to go outside, but if something decided to come inside...she would be prepared.
The scratching sound didn't let up and in fact got louder, and then..
A meow?
Nova was confused for a second, as she had been expecting maybe a growl, or a taunting voice perhaps, not a …
She quickly abandoned her cautiousness and opened the door, her fingers fumbling with the lock in her eagerness.
His bright green eyes were a beacon in the dark once more, and her shaky legs sank to the kitchen floor until her brown eyes were on his level.
"Hello," she said softly, gently scratching his fur behind his ears, making him close his eyes with a deep purr.
It had been so long, she had thought he had forgotten all about her.
She breathed in and out, feeling at peace as she laid with him on the floor for just a moment longer.
"You have to get in."
Merlin looked up at her and then at the tub, his tense body a contrast to his relaxed state earlier. And sure, his little noises were breaking her heart, but like hell was she letting his stinky butt step into her newly redecorated room.
Nova picked him up and, despite his loud protests, tried to put him in the tub. He clung to her like glue, his claws attached to her sweater.
"C'mon, parum stercore," she said, her whining echoing in the bathroom.
Nova tried to be as quiet as possible, his sharp clinging and her cursing probably didn't help though.
"Shitshitshit."
"What the hell are you doing?" Bonnie asked, walking into the bathroom without knocking and scaring the absolute fucking shit out of her.
Merlin had managed to cling to her hair, pulling the strands into the water with him, and that's how her sister found her. "…wassup," she said, acting as though she wasn't getting beat up by a fucking cat.
Bonnie was quick to gently de-tangle the menace from her hair, and then sweater when he managed to dig his claws back into it. She was even kind enough to help her wrangle him into the water until eventually he resigned himself to his fate.
She knew if he had a human form, he would be pouting, the little stinker.
"When did you.. exactly find time to kidnap a stray cat?" Her sister questioned, leaning her elbow on the side of the tub and smiling down at the menace.
"I didn't kidnap him." Nova scoffed with a roll of her eyes, pouring a shit ton of Dawn dish detergent onto Merlin's fur.
He hissed at her as she gently massaged it in with more water.
In all of sleep deprivation glory, she hissed back.
She smiled when he sat there silently.
Bonnie turned to fix her with a look that spoke volumes on what she thought of her mental state but hey, if it works, it works. "That doesn't explain the cat, Nova."
"He followed me home," she said, a secretive smile on her lips. And as far as she was concerned, it was the truth.
Right now she cared very little about the how's and why's, just that he was here, a little piece of her life from before was with her.
"You think dad will let you keep him?" Bonnie asked, helping rinse the suds off of him.
Oh… she had forgotten about that little detail.
Barely even a year ago the girls had shown a united front in front of their dad and asked for a puppy — they had even made two separate lists of reasons why they should have one, ones that obviously hadn't worked.
He hadn't thought they were ready for the responsibility of taking care of a life. Ironically enough, with them learning how to control their magic so they wouldn't possibly kill each other, taking care of a dog would have been the least of their responsibilities.
"I guess we'll see in the morning," she finally said, already thinking of ten different ways to convince him to let her keep Merlin. Worst case scenario, she could explain her connection to him to Grams and hopefully convince her to keep him.
She refused to say goodbye to him again.
She changed her mind, her old universe could take the little furry menace back.
Nova glared up at the little shit who had woken her up by pressing his claws into the back of neck, probably leaving scratches in his wake. She knew he was only hungry and tired of waiting for her to wake up, yet she couldn't help but tiredly wonder if one day he would kill her in her sleep.
"Bastard," she hissed, simply picking him up as she peeled herself from her bed, pressing kisses to his head that he accepted if only because she was making her way towards the kitchen.
Even in all of her grief, after seeing him in the forest she had picked up some things for him here and there, silently holding onto the hope that he would return to her. She found his favorite dry food pushed in the back of the cabinet, hidden behind bottles of half empty cleaning supplies and poured it into a small bowl she knew no one would miss. For all her tired grumbling, she even topped the dry cat with his favorite sardines.
Nova worked on pure auto-pilot as he ate, drinking two glasses of water dosed with vervain, starting the coffee machine, sticking toast for her and Bonnie in the toaster when she heard her sister stirring, and eventually making her way back up the stairs so she could get dressed for school.
She blinked and found herself looking in her full length mirror, it's frame decorated with pictures of her and her friends. Her wet hair curled around her chin, a pimple was on her nose like she was auditioning for fucking Rudolph the red nosed reindeer and there were black circles underneath her eyes that she was too tired to care about covering.
She smoothed the black dress over hips, hoping that the school dress code wouldn't fuck her over again for showing her knees. Scandalous stuff, she thought sarcastically, eyeing herself in the mirror before choosing her nicest pair of ball stomping boots.
Today would either be a horrible disaster… or potential for the chaos she secretly craved to brighten her day up.
"Morning." Nova greeted her sister and grandmother with a small kiss on their cheeks, joining her twin in watching the older woman make their lunches.
Bonnie smiled and passed her a thermos filled with coffee, she murmured a soft 'thanks' to her sister, taking a few small and painful sips of the hot coffee fixed just right. Her sister knew her so well, she thought, humming as the taste of cinnamon and caramel hit her tongue after the initial burn.
"Good morning, baby." Grams replied, eyes focused on stuffing their lunch bags with food; it was just leftover chicken and rice and beans stuffed in a tortilla, but it was better than all the shit they gave them at school.
"Your sister told me what you two dug up last night." Grams words made her pause in her perusal of chips or candy to put in her lunch bag.
"Oh?" Nova's eyes moved towards an entirely non apologetic Bonnie first, "oh," she sighed, and then turned to look at her grandmother, bracing herself for anger and judgment.
Grams, to her credit, was never one to yell at them when they did something wrong, and remained calm, aiming her with a look that made her feel as though she was being truly seen - it was fucking terrifying.
"While I can't condone you two leaving the house alone in the middle of the night to dig up a man's grave," the older witch started, her expression turning pinched. "I am proud that you two managed to get what you did. We thought Emily's Grimoire was lost forever to this family."
Grams gently squeezed her hand that laid on the marble countertops, a small proud smile on her face that she failed to hide from them both. Even as she returned the smile with a pleased grin of her own, she was still stuck on her grandmother's phrasing.
We.
As her twin hadn't even known it existed, that ruled her out. It could be the royal we, but she had a hard time believing that.
Maybe she had been in contact with their ancestors?
Grams handed them their lunches, fretting over them and distracting her from questioning her grandmother. "As proud as I may be, I would still ke to remind you both to be careful. Stefan might mean no harm at the moment, but he's still a vampire and if nothing else vampire's love dragging witches into their drama."
"You both still drinking the liquid vervain I gave you?" The twins nodded much to their grandmother's relief. Unlike normal humans, they didn't need it for things like compulsion, but it was an extra precaution and nasty surprise in case any vampire's got close enough to chomp on them for brunch.
"We'll be fine, Grams." Nova tried to comfort their grandmother, wrapping her arms around the older woman's shoulders and inhaling the calming scent of jasmine perfume.
"We look after each other." Bonnie added, joining her on the other side and gently side-hugging the older woman with a soft look on her face.
"Always."
"I know babies, just be careful." Grams said, sending them off with a kiss on the cheek for both of them.
"See you later, Grams!" The twins said goodbye in sync as they were prone to doing every now and then, reluctantly leaving the older woman alone with her worries.
Hell was here on earth, she thought solemnly, and it was this goddamn school.
Everyone was talking about Stefan this, Stefan that, she could barely go a second without hearing how hot and mysterious he was — at this point fuck the marriage, they were officially divorced. She was determined to ignore his existence.
Her eyes glazed over for the millionth time since she had entered the classroom. It was a goddamn miracle that, with Mr. Tanner's comical resemblance to every fucking horrible teacher in Harry Potter, he hadn't gotten fired yet.
…maybe he was cheating on his wife with someone on the school board, she theorized, grimacing at the thought of her teacher being with anyone.
"The Battle of Willow Creek took place right at the end of the war in our very own Mystic Falls. How many casualties resulted in this battle? Ms. Bennett?" Tanner droned on and on, the sound of his voice grating on her ear drums at this point.
She wondered why the fuck would any of them know the exact number of casualties, especially when he hadn't finished teaching them or even told them to study yet? She ignored him the best that she could, hoping that he was talking to her twin, and she was thankfully right.
"Umm...a lot? I'm not sure, like a whole lot." Bonnie's answer made her look up and send her sister an amused look.
"Cute becomes dumb in an instant, Ms. Bennett," Tanner said to his student, to her sister, and well, his words quickly wiped the grin from her face.
Mr. Tanner then turned on Matt, his face getting even more smug and unbearable to look at as he worked on tearing down his students' self-esteem one by one. "Mr. Donovan, would you like to take this opportunity to overcome your embedded jock stereotype?"
"It's okay, Mr. Tanner, I'm cool with it." Matt replied with a quick smile, his words quick to make the whole class chuckle to their teacher's displeasure.
"Hm. Elena, surely you can enlighten us about one of the town's most significant historical events?"
"I… I'm sorry, I... don't know." Elena replied, resembling a deer in headlights as she was targeted by Tanner the Terror.
"I was willing to be lenient, for obvious reasons, Elena. But the personal excuses ended this semester." Mr. Tanner said, completely unapologetic as the class stared at him in stunned belief.
Elena sank in her chair, her hair hiding her face from the rest of the class. No doubt feeling utterly embarrassed along with a painful and public reminder of her grief.
Nova struggled not to lash out with her magic or get out of her seat and body slam the piece of shit.
Elena didn't get the flu, or forget to bring her homework, her parents fucking died and she was this close to dying with them.
Nova bit her lip, dark hopes rattling inside of her brain, of the elder Salvatore hurrying up and unaliving her teacher.
"There were 346 casualties, unless you're counting local civilians." Nova quickly stole the wonder boy's line, her words making eyes turn towards her instead.
Good.
Elena shot her a grateful glance when the silent and unhelpful pity stares finally came off of her.
"That's correct, Miss. Bennett," Tanner said, but then he decided to belittle her rather than encourage. "Of course, there were no civilian casualties in this battle."
She gritted her teeth and once again struggled not to do anything that would land her in the principal office.
Or prison.
"Actually, there were 27, sir." Stefan said, saving both her and Tanner. He was unbothered by Tanner's beady little eyes staring him down.
"Confederate soldiers fired on the church, believing it to be housing weapons. They were wrong, it was a night of great loss." Stefan said, his words making her feel some weird deja vu.
He paused for a second before going in for the metaphorical and verbal kill. "The founder's archives are, uh, stored in the Civil Hall if you'd like to brush up on your facts, Mr. Tanner."
Nova wasn't gonna lie, his confidence and complete disregard for Tanner's authority was turning her on.
She shot the vampire a grin as the class struggled to control their laughter.
Mr. Tanner glared at Stefan as the bell rang, all the students scrambling to escape and ignoring his talks of homework.
She arrived at the back to school party armed with vervain and a shit ton of caffeine in her system. Slumber parties, beach parties, picnics, big town events where she could eat fancy pastries; those were all more her thing. But if all there was to do was socialize or make out with someone, she preferred the latter.
Hence the making out.
Despite his tongue being shoved down her throat, she wasn't actually sure if she remembered his name. Just that he was cute and had dimples, she could admit to being an absolute sucker for dimples. They were total brain cell killers.
Cute face aside, he sadly wasn't a particularly skilled kisser. All teeth and tongue, she thought as he practically mauled her mouth. This did not feel like kissing.
Nova tried to guide the kiss, to guide him, yet no matter how hard she tried, it still felt like he was trying to eat her face instead of kissing her.
Zombie lips, she thought, her sudden laughter against his lips ultimately breaking the kiss.
She was really fucking grateful when a throat being cleared broke them apart completely; the party crasher was obviously not, as he glared at a nonplussed Stefan.
"The fuck is your problem man?"
"Steve!"
Stefan's marble cut face suddenly looked irritated, and she couldn't quite tell if it was because of Dimples posturing or her fucking hilarious nicknames.
"Sorry to interrupt," he said, polite as ever even though it didn't seem like he meant it. "Caroline's looking for you, I think she might need to be taken home."
Damn, it wasn't even midnight yet, what the fuck had her best friend drank to get drunk this fast?
"Huh, okay. Thanks for the uh, whatever that was, but I gotta go save a girl from drowning in booze." She pressed a kiss to the guy's cute dimples, talking and moving at the speed of light so he couldn't even process that she had walked away from him until it was too late.
Nova ignored the meager protest she could hear from behind her to fix her jacket until it wrapped around her, protecting her from the brutal bite the air had tonight. If she was a regular human girl, she would've been concerned on how far Dimples had led her from the party.
"Thanks for the save, Captain America…does Care actually want to go home?" she asked, turning around and continuing her walk backwards.
"I figured you could use an out, and she did look like she could use a ride home." He all but admitted that yes, Captain America does lie and doesn't even seem guilty about it.
Is this why they say never meet your heroes, she thought as a loud sigh left her lips, being over dramatic as was her right as a goddamn bisexual.
"She flirted with you, didn't she?" She didn't need an answer, the constipated look on his face said enough. She couldn't help but cackle like the witch she was as she turned around on her heel, playfully bumping her shoulder with his as they continued on. "I see, someone got scared of a 5"8 petite blonde."
"Absolutely terrified." His quips dry as ever even as he shared an amused glance with her.
Awww, look at her, bonding fast with a ticking time bomb of a vampire. Her mama would be so proud, she thought sarcastically.
"Question," she said, her footsteps slowing as they got closer to the hazy glow of the bonfires, the smell of weed and spilled cheap booze already coating her nostrils.
The vampire hummed, curious enough to slow down his considerably longer legs to walk at her new turtle slow pace.
"…out of all the things you could do, why the fuck are you back in high school - in the middle of bumfuck nowhere no less? " She posed it as a serious question, though he reacted like she was a goddamn comedian and simply smiled.
There was very little she wouldn't do if she had immortality and going to high-school again sure as hell didn't make the fucking list; sure learning was fun and all, but again, high-school? In the U.S? If she had the option, she would've been home-schooled instead of dealing with this shit.
"You know.. age doesn't always imply intelligence, keeping up to date with education is important." Stefan simply said, and for a moment it seemed like he was going to leave it at that but the look of exasperation on her face must've prompted him to explain himself properly because he added, "Mystic falls is home."
It still wasn't enough for her, if only simply for the fact that she knew he was leaving out some key things. She figured that he wasn't spilling his guts to her meant that he didn't completely trust her, and though it was annoyed the absolute fuck out of her, she understood it completely and so she simply nodded as they resumed their faster pace.
She would be fucking lying if she said she trusted him enough to be honest with him about anything that she was planning behind his and his brother's back. But for a moment, she thought about it, sharing something.. Like the fact that his brother was in town.
It might save Vicki, or.. as cold as it sounded, it might completely fuck up her plans.
Her mind was a tangled web of thoughts that she was seconds away from unraveling when she found herself stumbling back from a blonde octopus latching onto her arm. She sent the highly amused vampire by her side a thankful look when he stopped her from tripping over with a light hand on her shoulder.
"Wherehaveyoubeen, I've been looking for you for like forever." Caroline's words slurred together, her coherency not made any better by her squishing her face into the shorter girl's shoulder.
"Caroline!" Bonnie held the blonde's shoes in hand as she approached, warily eyeing Stefan, who was still hovering behind her.
Someone must be in one of her drunken cheer-leading moods then, she thought, an amused smile on her face as she returned the hug, wrapping her arm around the drunk girl who was struggling to stand straight.
"I was getting my face mauled by a zombie," she said in mock horror, pressing a kiss to Caroline's forehead to muffle her laughter at the gasp of shock that came out of her friend's mouth.
"That sounds horrible," Caroline replied, her arms tightening around her.
"It was." She cleared her throat, giving her cagey sister a glance to remind her that no, using magic in public would not go over well.
Stefan, the poor son of a bitch, tried to be polite and smile at her sister, who refused to even look in his direction for a moment longer.
To be perfectly honest, she didn't and would never blame her for being wary around vampires; they had violently used and killed enough witches to warrant the reaction, plus the Salvatore brothers history of coming to town and being deranged dick heads didn't really sell her on the whole Cullen bullshit.
Nova herself couldn't say that the teachings of being wary of vampires hadn't stuck with her, it had in some ways worsened her paranoia and trust issues. She was just also lacking in the self preservation brain cells that her sister had around pretty people.
She took the strappy sandals from Bonnie's hand, officially relieving her sister from her designated sober bitch duty for a moment. She spotted her other best friend in the crowd, her eyes roaming over the party until she caught sight of them and smiled. Well, the smile was probably more for Stefan than her messy friends but, schematics.
Even though she was completely confused over the power a boy who they'd known for less than a day had on her friend, she was just happy to see that smile again. The sight of it made her shoulders relax as the knot wrapped around her heart slowly loosened until it felt like she could breathe again.
"Thank you," she couldn't help but say to the vampire, confusing both him and her sister for a moment. Honestly, why the fuck couldn't they read minds? She was too tired and horny to even think about explaining her emotions, so she did what she did best and lied.
"For saving me from the zombie."
Elena looked confused by that last bit as she finally made her way over through the crowd of drunk and loud teenagers. Clarification would have to wait though, because she had grabbed hold of her sister's arm and was all but dragging her away from the blooming lovebirds. Caroline thankfully, wasn't being stubborn and simply followed her with her arm still wrapped tight around her.
"Don't worry. We'll leave you two horn dogs alone," she said, winking at them with a wicked grin on her face. She didn't stop to see what she was sure was going to be an adorable reaction from them both, alas she had her arms busy with a drunk and now rambling blonde and a stubborn twin.
Caroline's adorable and incoherent drunken ramblings were cut short by the girl's stomach, prompting her to hurl herself into a bush as she vomited and cried.
Nova held the girl's curled blonde locks away from her face, her other hand rubbing circles onto her back with a disgusted but mostly sympathetic look on her face. She looked over for a moment to make sure her sister hadn't escaped and saw her sister aiming an intense warning look at the vampire, who was talking animatedly to their much more sober best friend.
"He's not gonna eat her in public, Bon-Bon," she said, speaking low but she was pretty sure Caroline was too busy dry heaving to even notice them.
"I don't get how you can be so casual with him. You know what he is, what he could do to her when we aren't looking," Bonnie said, crossing her arms over her chest, a furrow in her brow as she looked at her sister.
Nova met her eyes with a serious look on her face. "I'm sure he knows what will happen if he does anything to hurt her - don't get me wrong, I don't trust him, it's just.. she's smiling again and he likes her as much as she likes him."
Bonnie couldn't deny that, but wasn't in a hurry to stop keeping an eye out for the brunette even as she took a sip of sprite. "You okay, Caroline?" She managed to tear her eyes away for a moment, to look at her.
Caroline hiccuped, but nodded, her eyes bloodshot and watery from all the crying. "I'm such a.. a mess."
"Oh for fucking sure, but a hot mess." She agreed in a teasing voice, wiping the girl's tears away with her thumbs as she let out a wet chuckle.
All three girls flinched when a bone chilling scream filled the air, cutting the moment short as it silenced even the loud music blaring through the woods.
There had been so much blood, she thought, a thousand miles away as she remembered the crimson liquid staining through the borrowed shirt Elena had pressed against Vicki's neck. Her eyes had rolled back into her skull by the time Bonnie had silently numbed the pain, and when the ambulance had finally arrived, her friend's hands had been stained a sharp red.
"Are you sober yet?" Bonnie asked the blonde, the sound of her voice making her finally come back to the present.
"...no," Caroline replied, practically moping as she just stared into the depths of coffee instead of drinking it.
"Keep drinking, we've gotta get you home before midnight, Cinderella," Nova said, her tone teasing as she gently tapped the blonde's coffee cup.
"Why didn't he go for me? How come the guys that I want, never want me?" Caroline randomly started rambling.
"They're idiots," it was said automatically, even though she had no fucking idea who the blonde was talking about. Unless you count the first time she had gotten fingered by a person she didn't even remember, they were all about as single as could be.
"Stefan," Bonnie mouthed to her, when she caught sight of her scrunched up nose and lost stare.
Ohhh
Honestly she forgot about Caroline and Stefan's whole .. thing. She thought to reassure the blonde, to tell her that she got what she wanted in the end, that she was going to end up with him — even if it had ended tragically.
But for whatever reason, it didn't sit right with her, the thought of things ending the same, so she bit her lip and just listened.
"They are idiots! But so am I… I.. I'm inappropriate, I always say the wrong thing, and Elena always says the right thing. She doesn't even have to try, and he just picks her, and she's always the one that everyone picks, for everything. and I try so hard, and I'm never the one."
Her sad drunken rant ended with her head dropping to the table with a loud thud that made the twins wince.
"It's not a competition, Caroline," Bonnie replied, and it was clear to see the other girl disagreed though she was too busy throwing herself a pity party to say otherwise.
Nova grabbed her hand to get her attention, gently squeezing until one of her blue eyes opened to look at her. "Elena isn't perfect. She can be a self centered bitch sometimes, but we still love her because that's our bitch. And fuck Stefan, he can go suck an egg, I chose you to be my best friend. I choose you. Always."
"Promise?" Caroline asked, holding out her pinkie, her cheeks still flushed from alcohol and her hair a mess, but she was no longer wallowing — that was the important part.
"Promise," she said, locking their pinkies together with a silly grin that got her to smile.
Looking around, she noticed her sister had slipped away to go pee or shit or something. She wondered why she hadn't said anything, but just shrugged and turned back to the blonde.
"Might I offer you a tarot reading?" Nova offered, whipping her Major Arcana tarot cards out of her backpack and dramatically fanning her face with them.
Caroline looked both curious and skeptical at the white and purple tarot deck.
"Can it tell me when I'll find someone who is dumbstruck by me instead of Elena?" Caroline asked snidely, perking up when she nodded.
"Someone's bitter," she muttered, getting an eye roll in return. "Who do you wanna know about the most, your next love or your last love?" She deftly shuffled the deck three times, laying them flat down and accidentally smearing Caroline's glitter eye shadow on them in the process.
Caroline sat there so quietly she had to look up to make sure she was still there, and she was — she even had her thinking face on. "My last," she whispered, but she was still drunk so her 'whisper' was a little too loud.
"Pick a card, any card," she said with a horrible New York accent for some reason unknown even to her. "Uh, preferably three cards."
Grams would probably ground her if she caught her using her cards like this, it was just, she figured the blonde could use some more reassurance… and she was bored, gosh she was so bored.
She watched, smiling happily as the blonde studied the cards so seriously, it was just so freakin' cute.
Though there was doubt in her eyes, the moment she touched the deck, Caroline's fingers quickly gravitated towards a card on the edges, and two in the middle.
There was no magic needed when she dealt with tarot cards, not really, it was mostly based on pure intuition that came naturally with being a witch and the unintentional magic that witches imbued into the cards when they used them. She simply placed the first card picked on the least coffee stained part of the table, humming when she saw the reversed strength card.
".. Well? What does it mean?" Caroline asked, leaning over to take a better look.
Caroline's long blonde hair almost got dipped in her coffee, but she managed to reach over and gently tuck the blonde strand behind her ear moments before it did. Her blue eyes were wide and confused for a moment, until her brain visibly caught up and she smiled brightly in thanks.
Nova looked down at the card again, her mind stumbling through her knowledge of the cards and their meanings. "The card is who you are inside right now, it's telling you what's keeping you from finding love, basically means you've got a shit ton of insecurities."
"I could've told you that," the girl scoffed loudly, drawing looks from the few people there also trying to cure hangovers.
Nova snorted at her words, smiling as she went ahead and laid the second one out, right next to the first. "This card will show you the challenges you'll need to face before you fall in love."
She revealed the upright Death card.
"What the fuck, bitch am .. am I gonna freaking die?" Caroline asked her, her skin turning a few shades paler.
"The death tarot doesn't always mean someone is gonna die," Nova was quick to reassure, yet even she couldn't help but feel dread just looking at the card. "It can mean the end or beginning of something, it's about change, good and bad."
Nova knew a lot about change, she thought, staring at the Death card — the damn bastard. For all of her reassurances to her friend, she knew perfectly well the implications behind the card could turn ugly with the universe they were in.
It wasn't a sure thing though, she reminded herself that even tarot cards weren't always accurate when the future was forever changing.
"Third and final card will reveal what your relationship will be like in the future." She sighed in relief when she flipped over an upright sun. She was a little confused by the card to be honest, with what she knew of the future. The card drew her in with its beauty, filling her chilled bones with a warm sort of hope for the future.
"Whoever the lucky bastard is, you two will be happy, disgustingly happy." Nova told her, her trance ending only to bask in the blonde's smile that made the warmth of the actual sun pale in comparison.
Caroline's grin on her face turned mischievous and flirtatious as she quickly fixed her hair as much as possible, looking over at something over Nova's shoulder. "Oh my god, am I still drunk or are you seeing what I'm seeing?"
She blanched when her brown eyes met his piercingly sharp blue ones. Jesus fucking Christ, would it have killed their parents to have ugly children? She felt like the universe was fucking with her heart, by making everyone ridiculously more beautiful than in her shoddy memory.
She resisted the urge to just walk away in outrage.
"Yeah," Nova replied to her friend, grimacing when he smiled at them and it made her heart skip a fucking beat.
Calm the fuck down you horny bitch, she thought, aiming an imaginary finger at herself.
"Isn't he gorgeous," the blonde stated rather than asked, whatever filter she had left was fucking destroyed by whatever the hell she had drank.
"Eh, I've seen better," she said, shrugging and turning her back on him like she hadn't been staring, starstruck for about a minute.
She would just need to build up an immunity to the Salvatore's. Maybe she could list all the terrible things they had ever done whenever she saw them? It was a solid plan, she decided, ignoring the fact she could still feel the fucker staring.
"Who? Who the hell have you seen that's hotter than that?" Caroline asked, sounding oddly passionate about this.
"You," she said, winking at her friend and watching as her words cut off any protests as the girl, caught off guard, blushed.
"Elena, Jenna, Mason, Freema Agyeman, Stefan," she added that last one to really piss off their eavesdropper.
Caroline rolled her eyes with a pout, and yet she didn't disagree with her, so that was a win for her.
"What did I miss?" Bonnie said, walking up to the table like she hadn't been gone for an eternity.
"Caroline's astronomically bad taste in men," she replied, only laughing when the blonde threw a rolled up piece of paper towel at her.