Beyond the Blood

Chapter Fourteen

Damon drove down a long open road, his window open and his arm leaning on the lip so it was in the sun. The rain from last night had long stopped and the watery sun had risen over the flat landscape. Damon still revealed in the light of the sun; every day spent in the darkness at first was etched in his memory, so now each day spent in the light was a blessing. He watched it rise over the world each day and wondered why he was able to see it, why such things were possible, why he had lived three man's life spans and was still here. Beyond possibility and yet total reality. He never found it boring and he found that the days had yet to bled into one.

Things constantly continued to astound him; even though he'd been alive for lifetimes. He looked across at the passenger seat of his car and saw Autumn sleeping there; she looked so like Katherine and yet she was so unlike her. In more ways than he had first imagined, and if Bree confirmed to him what he thought he knew then he would have to get to know her again, as she would have to get to know herself over again. Everything would change.

He wondered whether he was going to get towards the bottom of the mystery of Autumn and Elena. If what he suspected was true then he would at least know that part, but it still wouldn't solve as to why they could literally, in a third dimension, be Katherine. They weren't just like twins; they were basically body doubles. He didn't even want to begin to think where that came from; his mind was already full of the possibilities that he'd thought of recently.

Autumn stirred slightly in her seat as the sunlight hit her closed eyes. She let out a little sleepy yawn and sat up slowly, getting used to the world around her first thing in the morning.

"Morning," said Damon

"Hey," she said sleepily and rubbed her eyes, "Where are we?"

"About a hundred miles from where we need to be," said Damon with a small smile.

"And you've not stopped," she said twisting in her seat, "Do you want me to drive?"

"I don't need to sleep," said Damon, "It's fine"

"What, like at all?" said Autumn amazed, "What's the bed in your room for then?"

"No," said Damon, "It's more comfortable if we do, but we can go without… And there are plenty of other things you can do in a bed than sleep,"

Autumn didn't blush, she merely raised an eyebrow in his direction, causing him to grin.

"Are you sure you don't want me to drive?" Autumn asked again.

"Nope," he said, "It'll be fine"

"Oh well," said Autumn, "Wake me up when we get there,"

"Some company you are," said Damon with a grin in his voice.

"It's 6.30am," she said shortly after glancing at the clock, "I'm not nocturnal like you,"

Damon smirked, "Alright fine, have your beauty sleep. I'll wake you when we're near"

"Thanks" said Autumn already back on the edge of sleep. Her eyes fluttered closed and soon she was out like a light. Some driver she would have been.

"I can't believe you came all this way just for my birthday," said Stefan with a laugh looking across at his overly blonde friend.

"Well it's not every day that a guy turns a hundred-and-sixty-two years old!" said Lexi with a grin and raised her glass.

"Birthdays get boring after a while," said Stefan staring moodily into his own, "And anyway, as I clearly prove, age is just a number,"

"You think you prove it?" asked Lexi with a grin, "I think I'm looking pretty good for being over three hundred – look, no wrinkles!"

Stefan laughed at that.

"So where are we going to go?" asked Lexi, moving to the edge of the sofa.

"Go?" asked Stefan, "Where on earth would we go?"

"We could go back to New York!" said Lexi, "Do you remember the summer of '89?"

"How could I forget?" Stefan laughed, "Best summer ever!"

Lexi nodded, "Ah, those were the days. So, how about it?"

"Eh…" said Stefan, "I can't at the moment…"

"Why?" asked Lexi with a frown

Stefan didn't say anything but shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Lexi's jaw dropped open.

"A girl?!" she exclaimed.

"Something like that," said Stefan, "Anyway, I can't leave at the moment. She's er… just found out about me and she's beginning to trust me, so I can't do a runner,"

"Oh right," Lexi said, "And how does she feel about that?"

"She's a little unnerved," said Stefan

"As you would be," said Lexi with a shrug

"Her sister isn't," said Stefan

Lexi eyes bugged out, "Her sister knows too?! Stefan! How careless have you been?"

"I didn't tell them I swear!" said Stefan, "It's a really long story, but basically Autumn, that's the girl I like's sister, was attacked by a vampire – god only knows why – and so Damon told her everything; he kinda had too,"

"Damon?" asked Lexi, "What the hell has Damon got to do with anything?"

Stefan sighed slightly, "Well this is going to be longer than I expected,"

"Tell me everything!" said Lexi her eyes sparkling, "What's going on?"

Stefan grinned at her insatiable need for juicy gossip, asked whether she needed a drink before he started and then launched into the whole tale; what they knew, what they thought they knew and what they might be about to find out.

"You brought me to a bar?" asked Autumn looking up at the place where they'd pulled up, a tattered blue awning denoted the bar as Bree's.

"Yeah, what's wrong with a bar?" asked Damon with a nonchalant shrug moving away from the car towards the bar.

"Erm, I'm not old enough; they're not going to let me in," said Autumn not moving from her spot.

"Sure they will," said Damon with a glint in his eye. Autumn rolled her eyes and walked after him, refusing to be left on the curb; her heeled boots clicking on the pavement as she did so.

Damon let her pass him and walk into the bar, a grin on his face. He vaguely wondered why he was smirking and why he felt a slight stirring of attraction towards her. He put it down to the fact that she looked like Katherine, and regardless of what he might feel towards Autumn, his heart still burned for Katherine. He would never admit it to anyone; least of all Autumn… or Stefan for that matter. The thought of Katherine mummifying in that tomb sent a shudder down his spine; he would get back to thinking about that as soon as he got back. That was part of the reason he'd come to see Bree; yes he was overly curious about Autumn, but he always wanted her help to get Katherine back. He wondered what Katherine would make of Autumn and Elena if she ever met them. He felt like he already knew that answer to that and he wasn't entirely sure that he liked it.

"Well now you've brought me here are you coming or what?" asked Autumn from the porch. Damon hurried after her and walked into the dimly lit bar. There were a few people sat here and there inside, but it was mostly empty; it only being just after midday. His sensitive eyes scanned the bar for the woman he was looking for and spotted her almost immediately. Bree was cleaning the bar top with a rag and looked up as the two new customers walked in. Her face dropped in amazement and amusement.

"Well guess who it is," she said in her voice like liquid silk. With that she leapt up onto the bar top and swung her long legs over it, before coming up to him.

Autumn watched with some amazement as the woman, the witch, grabbed Damon by the collar and planted a kiss on his lips. And it wasn't just a kiss; it lasted for at least a minute of passion and memory, Autumn's eyes getting ever wider as she watched. Clearly there was some history here and she couldn't help but feel the unfamiliar pang of very slight jealousy as they broke apart and gazed at one another.

"Bree," said Damon with a grin, "May I introduce Autumn?"

Bree turned to look at her properly for the first time since they had walked in. Her eyes widened as she took her in.

"Holy shit," she said, "Katherine?"

"Nope," said Damon with a shrug, "But…"

"Why does everyone keep calling me that?" asked Autumn, "Who?"

Bree shook her head in amazement, "Never mind honey, anyway, welcome to my bar"

Bree held out her hand to Autumn and Damon held his breath, he wondered what the next second might tell him about the girl who stood next to him. Autumn took Bree's fingers in hers and Bree froze, as if she had been paralysed for a moment; it seemed as if her face had frozen in shock. Autumn looked totally disconcerted and loosed her hand from Bree's.

"Holy fuck," said Bree as she let go, "You're one of them"

"One of who?" asked Autumn, wondering what on earth she might be about to hear; in the answer to what the hell had been going on for the past month.

Bree's voice dropped to a hoarse whisper, "An elemental"

Damon's jaw dropped open in a look of surprise that looked totally out of place on his face. He hid it after a second but Autumn had already seen.

"What does that even mean?" asked Autumn looking between them utterly confused and slightly scared.

Bree breathed in, taking a step back, "We're going to need a drink"

Two drinks later each and Autumn was gobsmacked.

"I just don't understand," said Autumn, "How did I not know about any of this stuff? I'm an elemental faerae of all things; surely I would have known about this before now?"

"Faerae's powers don't manifest themselves until their of mature age," explained Bree, "Eighteen"

"But I'm not eighteen," said Autumn

"But soon, right?" asked Bree

"Yeah," said Autumn uncomfortably, "Next month"

"Hmmm," said Bree looking at her.

Autumn was utterly bewildered, they were treating her as if she were a bomb about to go off, either that or that she would have a mental breakdown.

"I don't understand what this means for me," said Autumn

"Neither do I honey," said Bree, "Elemental faeraes are so rare that the documentation about them is pretty sparse. I only know about them because when reading a book a long time ago I noticed a passage, it interested me, so I researched more"

"But why am I one? How am I different to everyone else? Why am I different to everyone else?" said Autumn, the questions coming out like a torrent. Why was the world totally upside down?

Bree sighed and looked across at Damon who had been conspicuously quiet during this whole exchange.

"I can't answer why you are one," said Bree with a tinge of sadness in her eyes, "Only that you are; I can feel it in every fibre of your body, this power… Tell me, have you ever met a witch before?"

Autumn shifted uncomfortably, "Well I just found out one of my oldest friends belongs to a line of Salem witches,"

Bree's eyes widened again, "Really? Hmmm… well has anything strange ever happened between you? Especially recently?"

Autumn thought for a moment and then remembered the incident a few weeks ago where Bonnie had touched her and had an almost explosive reaction. She relayed this to Bree. And she nodded as if this is what she had expected her to say.

"That's what I felt like today; the only reason I was able to prevent myself was because I've know about my powers for longer; I'm more in control"

Autumn nodded deep in thought, "So what does this mean?"

"It can mean whatever you want it to," said Bree, "You're extremely powerful, and there is so much more you need to learn about it; more than I can possibly tell you. I can tell you one thing though…"

"What?" asked Autumn after Bree had trailed off. The witch looked uncomfortably across at Damon who looked equally as perplexed as Autumn.

"I don't think you should be around him honey," said Bree. Damon's eyes narrowed instantly but Autumn's expression remained the same.

"What? Why?" asked Autumn.

"Because that is a faerae's deadliest weakness – vampires. A faerae's blood is so pure that it is beyond the wildest dreams of most vampires to taste"

Autumn let out a short breath of shock at Bree's blunt statement. She looked across at Damon, an instinctive renewal of fear in her mind; his eyes met hers in something that might have been pleading and he swallowed. This conversation was clearly far from over.