Status: In Progress - :)
Beyond the Blood
A Rip Down The Middle
Chapter Fifteen
Autumn was in shock, Damon could see it; she had been staring at the same spot on the table for about ten minutes. Bree had said that they should leave her be, to digest everything that she’d been told in the past two hours. How could she possibly digest it? She probably didn’t even know what half of it meant. Damon almost felt pity for her; in little over a fortnight her whole normal world had been turned utterly and completely upside down. Black was white now, and up was mostly certainly down. How the hell was she supposed to process it?
He couldn’t believe it, looking at her, that she wasn’t Katherine. She just was her physically but it was the little differences that set her apart; the way that they set her apart from her sister. For example the way Autumn turned her head when she saw something was different Elena. Elena had this raw excitement about her, almost a childlike wonder whereas Autumn seemed older, wiser and more skeptical. Just by the turn of the head. Katherine’s had been more seductive, with a set of the head that suggested an ulterior motive. Damon had watched all three and felt something towards all of them; it was too early to reveal his hand but he couldn’t deny the strength of his emotions where these women were concerned.
Autumn looked across at him and her eyes seemed to plead him to come over, he glanced down at his feet first before walking over, an almost reluctant slowness to his step. He was never very good with dealing with an overspilling of female emotion. She, however, was surprisingly calm when he sat down at the table.
“So what happens now?” she asked, pushing her beer bottle between her hands.
“I don’t know,” he said, “I don’t know what you want to me to say Autumn,”
She scoffed slightly at that and then said with an intonation of sarcasm, “You can tell me that my life is going to be total normal, that nothing is going to happen to me or mine, and that because of who and what I am, that every vampire in the world is going to come looking for me,”
Damon took a breath, “Not if they don’t know about you, they won’t”
“And how are we going to keep that secret?” said Autumn, “That vampire back in Mystic Falls clearly knew… how? And Bree figured it out,”
“I can buy Bree’s silence,” said Damon shortly, “As to the other one; I have no idea,”
Autumn sighed and sat back slightly, “And what about you?”
Damon paused, “What about me?”
“Well what Bree said,” said Autumn, “I don’t know what’s true and what’s not but she did say about… vampires”
“What? About the fact that your blood is supposed to be the best thing that vampires will ever taste due to his purity?” asked Damon, “Yeah, I didn’t miss that part. I wouldn’t worry about it from me Autumn,”
“But now that you know that?” she asked still staring at her fingertips.
Damon smirked and shrugged, “Well what are you going to do about it anyway?”
Autumn looked across at him then, a mingled look of fear and utter confusion on her face. She looked as if she were about to break down and cry.
Damon slid into the seat opposite her, “Well you needed to know,”
Autumn nodded, “I was going to find out one way or another. With all the crazy shit that was going on around me. It’s just a bit of a shock,”
“I don’t think it could be any different,” said Damon, “All this shit is a learning curve.”
“Not just a learning curve in your case,” said Autumn
Damon shrugged, “Yup, with vampirism it’s more like learn or die. I think you might have a slightly easier trip of it?”
“Huh,” said Autumn, “I wouldn’t be too sure about that.”
“Well Bree’s going to get that book for you,” said Damon, “The one that told her everything she knows about faeraes. She says you can have it,”
Autumn nodded, “Well that might be useful. I’m supposed to be becoming this… thing… in less than a month, so everything I can know would be a bonus”
Damon nodded, “I don’t think it’ll be too bad,”
“Yeah but you don’t know!” said Autumn with a frustrated ring of her hands.
“No I don’t,” he admitted with a nonchalant shrug, “But Autumn; you’ve got no choice.”
“What are we going to do about the others?” said Autumn biting her lip, “Caroline and Elena, Stefan and Bonnie…”
Damon sighed and sat back in his seat, “Worry about them later – for now, I suggest you concentrate on yourself,”
Autumn nodded dumbly, before jumping as a large book landed just in front of her fingertips.
“There you are sweet,” said Bree from beside the table, “There’s a tiny section, right at the back, that might give you some of the information you need,”
Autumn smoothed her hand over the front of the book; she still didn’t want to believe that any of this was real but she nodded and took the book, slipping into her back pack.
“Thanks Bree,” she said.
Bree smiled, almost coldly, before turning back to the bar because another customer had just walked in.
“Are you hungry?” said Damon randomly, “Because I’m bloody starving”
Autumn raised an eyebrow at him, “Sensitive”
“Oh no!” said Damon with a smirk, “I mean regular hungry… don’t worry oh magic one… your blood is safe with me,”
“Well according to Bree I shouldn’t even be anywhere near you,” said Autumn
“Hate to break it to you honey, but if you wanna get home you’re going to have to stick with me a little while longer,” said Damon with a sneer; his face putting the bravado back on that she had almost been able to break down in the past few weeks.
Autumn nodded, “Alright, so food?”
“Yup, let’s eat at the bar,” said Damon getting up
“Well I hope you brought money because I sure haven’t got any,” said Autumn.
“God woman, expensive already?” said Damon with a grin, “But you’re in luck; I have indeed brought some money”
Autumn smiled and they moved towards the bar to order their food.
***
“Elena, she’ll be okay,” said Stefan running his hand through his hair.
“She’s been gone with Damon almost twenty-four hours now,” said Elena, “How do we know she’s okay? Has she contacted you?”
“Why would she call me? Surely she’d call you first,” said Stefan
“I don’t know,” said Elena sadly, “I think we’re in a bit of a fight over Damon”
“Not difficult to do,” piped up Lexi from the sofa, “He’s such an asshole,”
Stefan couldn’t help but smirk at his best friend’s words; it was true that there was absolutely no love lost between Lexi and Damon.
“How long have they been together?” asked Lexi
“Together?” asked Elena, “I don’t think they’re together in that sense of the word. They’re just spending a lot of time together”
Lexi pulled a face, “I wonder what she sees in him”
“I don’t even want to think about it,” said Stefan looking out of the window, “Damon does seem to have taken an interest in her lately”
“Interest?” said Elena turning towards him, “What do you mean?”
Stefan looked across at her, “That’s the thing; I don’t know”
“You don’t know?” asked Elena, “And yet you let her go with him?”
“I didn’t let her!” said Stefan, “Elena, please, calm down – she’ll be fine. I don’t think that Damon’s interest in her stems from that. At least that’s not the impression he’s been giving lately”
Elena didn’t say anything, just held her phone to her lips before glancing at the screen once again. Still nothing from Autumn.
“If we don’t hear anything soon, can we go Damon hunting?” asked Lexi
“’Cause that would be sensible,” said Stefan motioning to Elena.
“Well we could leave her here,” said Lexi with a shrug.
Stefan shook his head at the same time as Elena made a noise of protest.
“Can’t you do some kind of freaky twin thing?” asked Lexi
“No,” said Elena, “We used to have a connection… not anything proper mind… but recently it hasn’t seemed to be as easy”
Stefan looked across at Lexi and there seemed to be something loaded in their look. Elena realised she was missing something but rather than bombard them with questions which they would probably be unwilling to answer, she decided to wait until Autumn got back and corner her then.
Just then her phone began to ring, she unlocked it and answered it.
“Autumn?” she asked, listening to her sister on the other end, “Where are you?”
“On the road back,” said Autumn’s voice; she sounded intensely tired.
“Are you okay?” asked Elena
“Yeah I’m fine; it’s just been a busy day. Damon’s going to take me home, so if you want to meet me there…” said Autumn
“Yeah that’ll be fine; I’m at Stefan’s at the moment but I’ll be there when you get back. How long do you reckon you’ll be?” said Elena
“Oh several hours yet, don’t rush,” said Autumn, and Elena could picture the small smile on her sister’s face.
“Okay, well I’ll see you later; stay safe,” said Elena
“You too,” said Autumn, “Bye”
Elena didn’t say anything but clicked her phone off before turning back to Stefan and nodding slightly, realizing that he would know this meant that everything was vaguely okay. Elena couldn’t help but keep churning over thoughts in her head; why had Damon taken her? Where had he taken her?
***
“Everything okay?” asked Damon as Autumn put the phone down.
“Yeah, she sounds stressed,” said Autumn.
“Something you apparently have in common at the moment,” he said
“Are you surprised?” asked Autumn looking down at the heavy book that was laid across her lap.
Damon didn’t say anything but shrugged his shoulders in something that could’ve been close to sympathy.
“Have you even looked at that yet?” asked Damon
“Uh-uh” said Autumn, “I’m just gonna wait. I think I’ve heard enough for now”
“But don’t you want to know?” he asked, “I sure as hell would”
Autumn looked down at the book again before letting out a breath, “I’m going to talk to Bonnie first. Bree mentioned something about their being a special connection between faerae’s and witches. I want to see what she has to say”
“But she’s only a new witch!” Damon protested, “She’s unlikely to know very much,”
“Well if not her then her grams might,” said Autumn stubbornly, “She is the occult lecturer up at the university”
Damon didn’t say anything but his mouth hardened into a thin line. Autumn didn’t speak again as they crossed the state line onto home turf. She needed time to think.
Autumn was in shock, Damon could see it; she had been staring at the same spot on the table for about ten minutes. Bree had said that they should leave her be, to digest everything that she’d been told in the past two hours. How could she possibly digest it? She probably didn’t even know what half of it meant. Damon almost felt pity for her; in little over a fortnight her whole normal world had been turned utterly and completely upside down. Black was white now, and up was mostly certainly down. How the hell was she supposed to process it?
He couldn’t believe it, looking at her, that she wasn’t Katherine. She just was her physically but it was the little differences that set her apart; the way that they set her apart from her sister. For example the way Autumn turned her head when she saw something was different Elena. Elena had this raw excitement about her, almost a childlike wonder whereas Autumn seemed older, wiser and more skeptical. Just by the turn of the head. Katherine’s had been more seductive, with a set of the head that suggested an ulterior motive. Damon had watched all three and felt something towards all of them; it was too early to reveal his hand but he couldn’t deny the strength of his emotions where these women were concerned.
Autumn looked across at him and her eyes seemed to plead him to come over, he glanced down at his feet first before walking over, an almost reluctant slowness to his step. He was never very good with dealing with an overspilling of female emotion. She, however, was surprisingly calm when he sat down at the table.
“So what happens now?” she asked, pushing her beer bottle between her hands.
“I don’t know,” he said, “I don’t know what you want to me to say Autumn,”
She scoffed slightly at that and then said with an intonation of sarcasm, “You can tell me that my life is going to be total normal, that nothing is going to happen to me or mine, and that because of who and what I am, that every vampire in the world is going to come looking for me,”
Damon took a breath, “Not if they don’t know about you, they won’t”
“And how are we going to keep that secret?” said Autumn, “That vampire back in Mystic Falls clearly knew… how? And Bree figured it out,”
“I can buy Bree’s silence,” said Damon shortly, “As to the other one; I have no idea,”
Autumn sighed and sat back slightly, “And what about you?”
Damon paused, “What about me?”
“Well what Bree said,” said Autumn, “I don’t know what’s true and what’s not but she did say about… vampires”
“What? About the fact that your blood is supposed to be the best thing that vampires will ever taste due to his purity?” asked Damon, “Yeah, I didn’t miss that part. I wouldn’t worry about it from me Autumn,”
“But now that you know that?” she asked still staring at her fingertips.
Damon smirked and shrugged, “Well what are you going to do about it anyway?”
Autumn looked across at him then, a mingled look of fear and utter confusion on her face. She looked as if she were about to break down and cry.
Damon slid into the seat opposite her, “Well you needed to know,”
Autumn nodded, “I was going to find out one way or another. With all the crazy shit that was going on around me. It’s just a bit of a shock,”
“I don’t think it could be any different,” said Damon, “All this shit is a learning curve.”
“Not just a learning curve in your case,” said Autumn
Damon shrugged, “Yup, with vampirism it’s more like learn or die. I think you might have a slightly easier trip of it?”
“Huh,” said Autumn, “I wouldn’t be too sure about that.”
“Well Bree’s going to get that book for you,” said Damon, “The one that told her everything she knows about faeraes. She says you can have it,”
Autumn nodded, “Well that might be useful. I’m supposed to be becoming this… thing… in less than a month, so everything I can know would be a bonus”
Damon nodded, “I don’t think it’ll be too bad,”
“Yeah but you don’t know!” said Autumn with a frustrated ring of her hands.
“No I don’t,” he admitted with a nonchalant shrug, “But Autumn; you’ve got no choice.”
“What are we going to do about the others?” said Autumn biting her lip, “Caroline and Elena, Stefan and Bonnie…”
Damon sighed and sat back in his seat, “Worry about them later – for now, I suggest you concentrate on yourself,”
Autumn nodded dumbly, before jumping as a large book landed just in front of her fingertips.
“There you are sweet,” said Bree from beside the table, “There’s a tiny section, right at the back, that might give you some of the information you need,”
Autumn smoothed her hand over the front of the book; she still didn’t want to believe that any of this was real but she nodded and took the book, slipping into her back pack.
“Thanks Bree,” she said.
Bree smiled, almost coldly, before turning back to the bar because another customer had just walked in.
“Are you hungry?” said Damon randomly, “Because I’m bloody starving”
Autumn raised an eyebrow at him, “Sensitive”
“Oh no!” said Damon with a smirk, “I mean regular hungry… don’t worry oh magic one… your blood is safe with me,”
“Well according to Bree I shouldn’t even be anywhere near you,” said Autumn
“Hate to break it to you honey, but if you wanna get home you’re going to have to stick with me a little while longer,” said Damon with a sneer; his face putting the bravado back on that she had almost been able to break down in the past few weeks.
Autumn nodded, “Alright, so food?”
“Yup, let’s eat at the bar,” said Damon getting up
“Well I hope you brought money because I sure haven’t got any,” said Autumn.
“God woman, expensive already?” said Damon with a grin, “But you’re in luck; I have indeed brought some money”
Autumn smiled and they moved towards the bar to order their food.
***
“Elena, she’ll be okay,” said Stefan running his hand through his hair.
“She’s been gone with Damon almost twenty-four hours now,” said Elena, “How do we know she’s okay? Has she contacted you?”
“Why would she call me? Surely she’d call you first,” said Stefan
“I don’t know,” said Elena sadly, “I think we’re in a bit of a fight over Damon”
“Not difficult to do,” piped up Lexi from the sofa, “He’s such an asshole,”
Stefan couldn’t help but smirk at his best friend’s words; it was true that there was absolutely no love lost between Lexi and Damon.
“How long have they been together?” asked Lexi
“Together?” asked Elena, “I don’t think they’re together in that sense of the word. They’re just spending a lot of time together”
Lexi pulled a face, “I wonder what she sees in him”
“I don’t even want to think about it,” said Stefan looking out of the window, “Damon does seem to have taken an interest in her lately”
“Interest?” said Elena turning towards him, “What do you mean?”
Stefan looked across at her, “That’s the thing; I don’t know”
“You don’t know?” asked Elena, “And yet you let her go with him?”
“I didn’t let her!” said Stefan, “Elena, please, calm down – she’ll be fine. I don’t think that Damon’s interest in her stems from that. At least that’s not the impression he’s been giving lately”
Elena didn’t say anything, just held her phone to her lips before glancing at the screen once again. Still nothing from Autumn.
“If we don’t hear anything soon, can we go Damon hunting?” asked Lexi
“’Cause that would be sensible,” said Stefan motioning to Elena.
“Well we could leave her here,” said Lexi with a shrug.
Stefan shook his head at the same time as Elena made a noise of protest.
“Can’t you do some kind of freaky twin thing?” asked Lexi
“No,” said Elena, “We used to have a connection… not anything proper mind… but recently it hasn’t seemed to be as easy”
Stefan looked across at Lexi and there seemed to be something loaded in their look. Elena realised she was missing something but rather than bombard them with questions which they would probably be unwilling to answer, she decided to wait until Autumn got back and corner her then.
Just then her phone began to ring, she unlocked it and answered it.
“Autumn?” she asked, listening to her sister on the other end, “Where are you?”
“On the road back,” said Autumn’s voice; she sounded intensely tired.
“Are you okay?” asked Elena
“Yeah I’m fine; it’s just been a busy day. Damon’s going to take me home, so if you want to meet me there…” said Autumn
“Yeah that’ll be fine; I’m at Stefan’s at the moment but I’ll be there when you get back. How long do you reckon you’ll be?” said Elena
“Oh several hours yet, don’t rush,” said Autumn, and Elena could picture the small smile on her sister’s face.
“Okay, well I’ll see you later; stay safe,” said Elena
“You too,” said Autumn, “Bye”
Elena didn’t say anything but clicked her phone off before turning back to Stefan and nodding slightly, realizing that he would know this meant that everything was vaguely okay. Elena couldn’t help but keep churning over thoughts in her head; why had Damon taken her? Where had he taken her?
***
“Everything okay?” asked Damon as Autumn put the phone down.
“Yeah, she sounds stressed,” said Autumn.
“Something you apparently have in common at the moment,” he said
“Are you surprised?” asked Autumn looking down at the heavy book that was laid across her lap.
Damon didn’t say anything but shrugged his shoulders in something that could’ve been close to sympathy.
“Have you even looked at that yet?” asked Damon
“Uh-uh” said Autumn, “I’m just gonna wait. I think I’ve heard enough for now”
“But don’t you want to know?” he asked, “I sure as hell would”
Autumn looked down at the book again before letting out a breath, “I’m going to talk to Bonnie first. Bree mentioned something about their being a special connection between faerae’s and witches. I want to see what she has to say”
“But she’s only a new witch!” Damon protested, “She’s unlikely to know very much,”
“Well if not her then her grams might,” said Autumn stubbornly, “She is the occult lecturer up at the university”
Damon didn’t say anything but his mouth hardened into a thin line. Autumn didn’t speak again as they crossed the state line onto home turf. She needed time to think.