Spending winter break at the country house proved to be just as magical as Elena expected. She tore through Damon's bookshelves, reading as many books as she could fit into the day. At night, she watched the stars and cozied up to the fireplace. While she spent a lot of time with Caroline, oftentimes the blonde was nowhere to be found. She disappeared on occasion with no notice, always returning at odd hours without explanation. But Elena didn't pry, lest she lose her first friend in twenty-four years.
Many of her days were also spent working through complex translations, attempting to test her own skills. While Damon was away, she kept the competition at the front of her mind. If she wanted to continue her reign and stomp him into the ground by the end of the year, she needed to stay sharp. The amount of drinking, however, she feared might counteract the work. Because truly, if she'd thought drinking with the cohort was dangerous, drinking with Caroline was deadly. The girl almost always had a glass in her hand once the clock struck five, and sometimes before then.
In that time, the two also got to know each other better, sharing portions of their pasts. Caroline spoke of hers in bits and pieces, not revealing much beyond moments of strife. Elena, however, gave Caroline the rundown of her time before arriving at Harmon College. She spoke about her close friendship with Jeremy, the way her father treated them both, and how genuinely alone she'd felt before meeting the blonde.
Each day, like clockwork, Caroline checked in with Elena about The Hall. Elena pushed the date off successfully for the first week, but by the weekend of the second, Caroline wouldn't take no for an answer.
So, she found herself standing in front of that same mirror in Caroline's bedroom, looking through dresses once again. By the time Caroline dressed, Elena still hadn't made a decision on what to wear.
"What about the purple one?" Caroline asked as she applied makeup at the vanity in the corner of the room.
The purple one did have a certain charm, but it wasn't perfect. If this was her only chance out on the town for the foreseeable future, she didn't want to mess it up in any way. And yes, wearing the wrong dress could majorly mess things up.
Caroline stood up, half makeup done, hair in curlers, and walked to the closet. She shuffled through the dresses and pulled something from deep in the back. She handed Elena a hanger with a sequined black dress.
"I haven't even worn this one. And it was expensive," Caroline said before returning to her vanity.
Black and gold sequins created zig-zags from the scooped neckline to the hem. After each row of sequins, a row of fringe hung in the same zig-zag formation. Fringe also hung from the capped sleeves and the hem. It should have been a tangled mess, but once Elena put it on, it mesmerized her. Especially in movement, the fringe splayed out when she spun, revealing more sequins beneath that caught the light at different angles.
After staring at herself in the mirror for far too long, Elena let Caroline do her makeup, which included a few different powders, rouge on her cheeks, and a touch of lipstick. She almost didn't recognize herself. She hadn't seen the feminine version of herself in months, and she'd never seen herself in such modern fashion. She found it nearly impossible to keep her eyes off the mirror.
And when she started to feel her eyes sting from tears of overwhelm or joy or whatever they happened to be, Caroline was quick to remind her not to cry in the makeup she'd just spent nearly an hour applying and perfecting. But Elena took her friend's hands anyways, and she smiled wide and bright and real. "I'm so glad you saw through my disguise."
Caroline pressed her lips into a line with the corners turned up, her cheeks blushing even more under the makeup. "Me too," she said simply before grabbing Elena's hand and heading for the door.
The two made a most delightful pair when they stepped into The Hall together. Elena had never been anywhere without male supervision, and it felt taboo. Certainly, someone would approach them and explain that they needed to leave immediately, that women like them couldn't leave the house looking like that, and that they certainly couldn't be alone.
But no one seemed to care. In fact, many women arrived in groups without men. That was the delight of The Hall. Normal society rules were pushed to the sidelines and instead, young men and women could simply exist, drink expensive cocktails, and dance to their heart's content.
The beginning of the night played out much like the last. Caroline quickly got them drinks at the bar, which she paid for out of the small sequined purse that hung from her shoulder. She passed a drink to Elena immediately, and Elena took a small sip, hoping to feel the effects as soon as possible.
At the bar next to them, a group of three men had just finished taking shots. One of them, a blond with kind eyes, looked at Caroline with a smile. He held up an empty shot glass, tipped slightly in her direction. Caroline put a hand to her chest and batted her eyelashes. "Me?" she mouthed and he nodded. The trio of men made room for both of them and the bartender poured a round of five shots. Elena stood awkwardly off to the side, separated from Caroline, sipping at her existing drink.
The two friends' eyes met over the heads of the seated men, and Caroline smiled brightly as if encouraging her to do the same. She almost rolled her eyes, but then plastered on a smile, instead.
As much as she loved the atmosphere and the energy that thrummed through The Hall, being herself was so much more overwhelming than being Jeremy. It felt like being on display like everyone else must have been thinking about her, picking apart her appearance, her dress, her makeup, the way she spoke, everything. But in the same vein, it felt good to be there as Elena Gilbert, to not have to hide behind a hat and a wrinkled button-up.
Once the shots were passed out, she could hardly wait for the rest of the group before downing hers in a fluid motion. It'd been quite some time since the beginning of the semester when everything she drank resulted in a disgusted look on her face. Now, she could toss back a shot just like the other gentlemen, without even a wince.
After another quick round of shots, one of the men took Caroline's hand and led her out onto the dance floor. Out of pure obligation and nothing else, one of them offered a hand to her as well. The three of them had all seemed much more interested in Caroline than her. Her eyes drifted to her friend, twirling around the room and laughing like no one else watched, or maybe it was because she knew they did. Her partner seemed overjoyed too, all smiles and hands roaming down her body.
The man whose name she didn't know, nor did she care about, held her at a great distance as they danced. He barely spoke either, his eyes avoiding hers and instead wandering to other girls. When the song ended, Elena abruptly excused herself and grabbed a seat at the bar on the other side of the room, hoping to avoid the trio at all costs.
Summoning Caroline's energy, she lifted a hand at the bartender, who promptly took her drink order and her money and got to work. When he placed the drink in front of her, another patron sat down to her right.
He looked at her with a polite smile, tipping his cap in her direction. His attention turned away from her and Elena went back to sipping at her drink.
However, once he had a drink of his own in hand, he looked back in her direction. "I'm not sure what's wrong with the men here, to leave such a lovely lady like yourself without a dance partner," the man said, his green eyes finding hers.
He was decidedly handsome, unlike the wealthy posh-looking men who'd been interested in Caroline. They'd have turned their noses up at the idea of a woman reading a book, that much was certain.
This man, with tousled blond hair and sparkling green eyes, quickly enchanted her. Perhaps it was only because he seemed interested in speaking with her, unlike the drab men from before who ignored her in favor of Caroline's attention.
"I'm afraid I must have scared them off with my poor dancing," Elena said with a chuckle. Her hands already felt clammy. How long had it been since she'd properly engaged with someone like this? It felt so far out of her wheelhouse.
He threw back the drink he'd just received and held out his hand. "Well, now I simply must ask you to dance, if only to experience it for myself."
She debated for only a second before throwing back her own drink, very ladylike, and placing her hand in his.
While her first dance had been horrible and boring, this man, whoever he was, made her feel like a princess. He twirled her around the room only to pull her back tight. And when they were chest to chest, he looked down at her lips, then up at her eyes, and smiled. His gaze made her blush, but before she could say anything he twirled her out again.
When the song ended, the band quieted and the singer belted the most beautiful ballad. The man pulled her close again, placing one hand in hers and the other on her waist.
He held her so close to his body that they nearly touched in the middle. "I see no issues with your dancing, Miss…?"
"Gilbert. But you can call me Elena," she said, her eyes meeting his deep green ones.
He nodded but didn't reveal his own name, and she didn't bother to ask. The magic in not knowing appealed to her too much. The hand on her waist moved to the curve of her back, eliminating any space between them. Her cheeks flushed the brightest possible shade of red. Not only was this the first time she'd danced with a man like this, but it was the first time she'd shared what felt like an intimate moment in a crowd of strangers. If only she could crane her neck away to look for Caroline.
The pair danced and drank for hours, alternating between the bar and the dance floor. He peppered her with compliments and spoke about her beauty at great length, and she continued to blush under his gaze. No one had ever held her like that, romanced her so. All of her own previous romantic encounters had been clumsy and awkward in her younger years.
But this… she wanted for him. Wanted him to steal her away into the night, wanted him to kiss her in the middle of the dance floor. And maybe it wasn't him exactly. In fact, it almost certainly wasn't. But she longed for something, someone to make her feel, well, loved. Or perhaps at least admired. And the way he looked at her, god did it make her feel.
When the end of the night came around, and patrons began to file out, he held her hand tight in his, bringing her knuckles to his lips. "Let me walk you home?" he asked, looking down at her with those adoring eyes.
Maybe she should have known better than to intertwine herself with a man whose name she didn't know, hadn't asked for, but the liquor had gotten the better of her, and she couldn't help herself. "I have a carriage," she said, glancing down at their hands. "Would you like to accompany me?"
If it wasn't clear, Elena Gilbert had no plan. She'd been abandoned by her one and only friend and had received more male attention than ever before. But she wasn't thinking about the future, even an hour from then when they would return to the Salvatore house, together. She only thought about this moment.
Her dance partner nodded, and she led him to her carriage. He opened the door for her, ever the gentleman, and she slipped inside.
Once on the road, tension settled thick in the carriage. They were tied up in one another, his arm draped around her shoulders, her head leaned on his chest. If they had stayed that way, she would have fallen asleep before they reached the house.
Instead, he looked down at her, a question on his lips. "Elena?" he asked, peering into her eyes. Everything stilled for a moment, her lips parted, her breathing heavy as the realization of what came next settled in her bones.
He licked his lips, lowered his head slightly, then met her eyes again. The question still heavy in the air. She only nodded, breaking the slow static tension between them. He seized the moment with no hesitation, finding her lips immediately with his own.
This was by no means Elena Gilbert's first kiss, but it was the first one brimming with drunk desperation and passion. All her encounters before had been delicate, with men careful and hesitant. This man, whoever he was, kissed her hungrily, his hands finding her waist quickly to drag her onto his lap.
She kissed him back with the same eager hunger, her hands settling on his shoulders. The sequined black dress she wore rode up, exposing her pale thighs. One hand trailed down the top of her thigh before both settled at the base of her spine and pulled her close, their bodies touching everywhere. Then, his hands were in her hair, on the side of her face, running down her body. It was intoxicating, she couldn't get enough of him.
The way he looked at her, eyes full of desire and need for her, only spurred her on more. He'd pulled her hair to one side and was kissing along the column of her neck. She moved her hips against him, desperate to get as close as physically possible. The desire burned through her and she craved satisfaction. Never before had passion consumed her so.
He dragged his teeth along her neck slowly as she moved, clearly as desperate as she was. He pulled her face back to his and kissed her again, hard. Her hands found the buttons of his shirt and began working at them as he watched.
"God," he said before his mouth found her neck again. In an instant, the pleasure of his kiss turned to pain. He flipped them fast, pressing her between his body and the carriage seat.
She tried to speak, scream, anything, but the words caught in her throat, jumbled and stuck. Wet, hot liquid and far too much of it, blood, it must have been, gushed from her neck while she tried to squirm. His hands held her firmly in place as he continued to feast. Elena couldn't form a thought, couldn't puzzle together what was happening to her.
The pain grew and grew as Elena gasped under his clutches. She'd been just about to scream, just about to cry out for help, when the pain finally pulled her under completely, and everything went dark.
A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks so much again to anyone who's read this far! Super super excited to post this chapter so please let me know what you think. I'll see you next week! (Also, surprise! there's vampires!)