Beyond the Blood

Chapter Four

Music filled the dark woods, emanating from a wooden gazebo at the centre of the clearing where the celebration was taking place. Cars were being left at the edge of the clearing near to the road, so people could make a quick exit if they needed to. Autumn parked up next to Bonnie's car and hopped out, making sure her dress didn't catch on the seat as she got out, last thing she needed was to flash everybody before the drinking started. Elena got out the other side far more gracefully and scanned the clearing for their two best friends.

"Over there," said Elena pointing, to where she could see Caroline and Bonnie stood by one of the many punch bowls, assumedly both getting drinks. They both headed over to meet up with friends, grabbing drinks along the way from yet another bowl.

"Hey guys," said Caroline, her eyes sweeping over the gathering crowds. Caroline would make sure that everybody who was here was meant to be here, and there was nobody left looking uncertain or alone. She had social butterfly/socialite down to an art.

"Is the new guy here?" Autumn asked her, knowing that her friend would be aware either way.

"Not yet, but he will be," she said assuredly.

"How do you know?" asked Bonnie with a grin.

"Well one because Elena's here and did you see that look he gave her in private study today? And two because I invited him and nobody turns down a Caroline Forbes invite" she said.

"Did you really just refer to yourself in the third person?" asked Elena with a giggle.

Caroline shrugged, "He'll be here"

"Anyway, what do you mean, 'gave me a look'?" said Elena, "It was hardly a look, it was more like a glance!"

"Oh don't play it down!" Caroline said, "It lasted at least three seconds, that makes it 'a look'"

"Alright, alright," Elena said, "If you say so"

"I do say so, that boy is definitely interested," she said knowledgably.

"So it's gone from a look to interested in about three seconds flat?" asked Elena with a hint of exasperation in her voice.

"I don't know," said Caroline with a smile, "Why don't you ask him yourself?"

The whole group turned around at her words and looked in the direction of her gaze, to see that, the new boy, Stephen was picking his way through the crowd, clearly making a beeline for them. To look as if they weren't staring Autumn quickly engaged Bonnie in conversation about her Grams.

Sure enough about ten seconds later they were interrupted by a soft male voice from just behind them.

"Um hey," said Stephen, with his hands in his jeans pocket.

"Hi," said Caroline confidently, "Glad you came"

"Well thank you for inviting me, it was kind of you," he said without a falter. He was so formal at times; it would've sounded stilted out of anybody else's mouth, yet somehow it seemed totally genuine from him.

"Not a problem, have you got a drink?" asked Caroline, turning around to get him one. Autumn watched as her sister looked up at the relative stranger from underneath her lashes, Elena knew how to play it, even subconsciously. Caroline handed him his drink which he took with a note of thanks.

"Hey guys, do you wanna go see whether Matt and Tyler are here yet?" Caroline asked, speaking specifically to Autumn and Bonnie, who quickly accepted her request. Autumn didn't think her sister had even noticed the question because her and Stephen had already begun to have a conversation. The three girls quickly left the pair alone, sensing that they would prefer a chance to get to know each other little better than stolen glances across the library.

"It always makes me wonder," said Caroline, clearly on the edge of saying something she considered deep.

"What?" asked Autumn.

"What makes a guy pick Elena over you? Or you over Elena for that matter?" she asked

"Er, because we're not the same person?" asked Autumn with a giggle.

"Yeah, but Stephen didn't know that," she said pointedly, "I mean when they only have looks to go off, why do they not fall for both of you?"

Autumn shrugged, "I guess we just give off different signals, or something. We don't dress the same, we have different mannerisms, etc. Once you get past the obvious physical similarities well…"

"I guess," said Caroline, "I think you're both hot"

"Well thank you Caroline," Autumn said with a smirk, "You're not bad yourself"

"Okay, well before this turns into a girl-on-girl make out session," said Bonnie sarcastically, "Weren't we going to find Matt?"

"Oooh, nevermind Matt," said Caroline suddenly, looking over Autumn's shoulder, "Who is that?"

Autumn turned around to see who her friend was looking at, and spotted a convertible car pulling up into the car park, the driver pushing the button to put the top up. She couldn't see much except the dark head of the driver, bent over in his seat.

Then the person straightened up and Autumn let out a little gasp, it was the man from the bridge yesterday; what was he doing here? It seemed that every girl in the clearing had turned around to watch the newcomer as he got out of his car. Autumn noted that he was still wearing black, but this time it was button-up shirt as opposed to the t-shirt he'd had on yesterday. She shook herself slightly at the fact she had remembered this detail. The firelight from the bonfire was flickering on his angled face, only throwing that gorgeous bone structure into sharper relief.

The man's eyes scanned the clearing; clearly amused at the fact he was currently the centre of attention before his eyes lighted on Autumn, a smile half appearing on his face.

"Oh my god, he's looking at you!" said Caroline half under her breath.

"It's alright Caroline, don't lose your shit," said Autumn trying to tear her gaze away from the stranger, "I met him yesterday at Wickery Bridge"

"Who is he?" asked Caroline excitedly as the stranger started to move into the clearing, his confident step doing nothing to draw attention away from himself.

"I don't know," said Autumn, "We didn't get around to exchanging pleasantries"

She had noticed that the not-so stranger appeared to be making a steady beeline for the group when she felt a presence at her shoulder, she turned around and saw the Stephen had joined them, minus Elena.

"Where's Elena?" Bonnie asked

"She went to find her brother," said Stephen quickly before the stranger joined them.

"Hello Stephen," said the guy, making Caroline's jaw drop; apparently she couldn't quite handle the fact these two ridiculously attractive men knew each other. Wait, ridiculously attractive? Autumn gave herself a mental slap, she'd known one vaguely for a day and the other she'd met once in passing.

"Damon," said Stephen and instantly Autumn felt the tension between them, "Ladies, please allow me to introduce my brother, Damon Salvatore, he's visiting the town for a while,"

Caroline was the first to recover from this piece of news and quickly stuck her hand for Damon to take, "Well, welcome to the town, I'm Caroline"

"Enchanted," said Damon with a sparkle in his blue eyes. Autumn hadn't noticed they were blue up until now, but now she did she couldn't quite tear her own eyes away from them. She gave herself another mental slap; she had to stop being so weird.

"I'm Bonnie" said Bonnie with a little wave in his direction as he let go of Caroline's hand, leaving Autumn vaguely concerned that her friend might fall over without the support.

"And we've already met," said Damon turning to Autumn.

"Only very briefly," she said with a grin, "And I don't think I was in the best state ever"

"Wasn't overly bad from what I can remember," said Damon, causing Autumn to blush – was he flirting with her?

"Autumn mentioned you meant down by Wickery Bridge," said Caroline, "Taking in the scenery of the town?"

Damon appeared to ignore her question but his eyes flicked to his brother, "Autumn? That's a pretty name"

"Thank you," she said, unsure as to whether she was actually supposed to be answering this question due to the fact that Damon was still looking at Stephen, apparently they were having some kind of silent conversation, despite the obvious tension between them.

"Well I'm gonna cut out," said Bonnie, "Vicky's here and I wanted to catch up with her"

"Alright Bonnie, if you see Elena along the way, can you tell her that I want my jacket and she's got the car keys," Autumn said as her friend disappeared with a nod.

"You have a sister?" asked Damon smoothly, his voice sounding somewhat like melted chocolate.

"An identical twin," Autumn confirmed, "As well as a brother"

"Identical?" Damon asked, his eyes betraying a split-second moment of shock.

"Yeah," said Caroline butting in, "Just wait 'til you see – it's eerie!"

Damon smiled slightly, "How interesting, I can't wait to meet you both together. Excuse me, ladies, I must get a drink. Brother, do you want another?"

With that he walked away, his brother following behind him. Clearly this was a conversation that both of them viewed as important. Autumn watched them go, not at all disappointed with the view this provided, and feeling decidedly unashamed at her blatant staring.

"Well he's certainly very attractive," said Caroline looking after the pair, with a small smile on her lips.

"Yes," Autumn said with a smirk, "I agree"

"Their family must have just had a good set of genes," Caroline said, "Anyway, are we gonna find a good spot of the hill to watch the comet? It's supposed to be visible soon"

"Sure," said Autumn, "Let me just get another drink along the way,"

Caroline smiled and grabbed her hand, pulling away to the small hill in the clearing where people were beginning to sit down to watch the comet.

On the other side of the clearing, where the woods got thicker and so the pair were less likely to be heard, were standing Stephen and Damon.

'There's two of them?" asked Damon in shock, this was one of the few times he had actually lost his composure somewhat.

"Yes," said Stephen somewhat amused by the confusion on his elder brother's face.

"And you just failed to mention this when I said I'd met Elena yesterday?" asked Damon, "When I clearly didn't, I met Autumn"

"Well, I didn't know which one of them you'd met," said Stephen with a shrug, "And anyway, I thought it might be amusing for you to find out for yourself,"

"Clearly, little brother," said Damon, his eyes flashing, "Well that is interesting. Two Katherine-lookalikes in one town"

"And from what I've apparently seen, neither of them anything like the original," said Stephen. "I can't speak for Autumn wholly on this but-

"-But Elena?" asked Damon with a grin, "You seem to have been drawn to that one,"

"What can I say?" asked Stephen, unwilling to defend himself to his brother.

"Oh nothing," said Damon, "But you know what two means? Double the fun!"

"You won't hurt either of them," said Stephen, his face darkening at the implied threat.

"Oh relax baby bro," said Damon, "I find them interesting, that is all, if I wanted to kill either of them, trust me they'd know about it."

Stephen bristled slightly, but realised that he was unlikely to get anything more civilized out of his brother and let it go.

"Now if you excuse me, I have some hunting to do," said Damon with a waggle of his fingers at his brother causing Stephen's eyes widened in horror at the thought.

"Oh wait, sorry, was that a bad choice of words?" asked Damon with a smirk, "I meant investigating,"

Stephen could have punched his brother at that moment, but knew it would only serve to draw attention to them. It irked him so much that his brother had the ability to play with him, as a cat plays with a mouse. He watched cautiously as his brother walked away towards the firelight of the clearing, assumedly to do his 'investigating'. He didn't trust Damon further than he could throw him, and yet for some reason he couldn't help but constantly give him the benefit of the doubt – he was his brother after all.

"Hey," said a female voice from beside him, breaking him out of his reverie to see Elena stood there, her jacket drawn across her shoulders against the chill, "Do you wanna go find Bonnie and Jeremy on the hill to watch the comet?"

"Sure thing," said Stephen taking one last look to see where Damon had gone, but could no longer pick him out, "You lead the way"

Elsewhere, Caroline and Autumn had found a prime spot to watch the comet and had both drawn a patch of grass to sit upon.

"Do you mind if I join you?" came a smooth voice from behind them, Autumn twisted around to see Damon stood there, a bottle of beer in his hands – he didn't really strike her as a beer kind of guy, but she guessed it did in a pinch.

"Not at all!" said Caroline, slightly too enthusiastically, "Make yourself comfortable,"

Damon smiled at her and sat down beside Autumn, accidently brushing her with his arm as he did so, her skin feeling the soft material of his shirt.

"So what's so special about this comet anyway?" he asked, taking a sip of his beer, his eyes finding the faces of the two girls in turn.

"Well it only passes over once every hundred and forty years or something," said Caroline, "So it's a once-in-a-lifetime kinda thing"

"Uh-huh" said Damon, looking across at Autumn, who shrugged.

"Bonnie, that's our other friend, says it's almost magical because it's a huge celestial event" the brunette said, nonchalantly.

"Bonnie likes to think she's a witch," said Caroline with a giggle at the absurd notion. Damon didn't say anything to this; he just raised his eyebrows and shrugged.

"Well more psychic than a witch," said Autumn attempting to defend their friend; she didn't want Damon to get the wrong impression for some reason.

"Hey look!" said Caroline pointing upwards, to where a huge ball of light was just clearing the edge of the trees. It was moving fairly quickly, but slow enough that it would probably take about two minutes to fully travel overhead. There was a collective murmur of excitement from the crowd as everyone spotted it and gave it their full attention.

"So beautiful," whispered Autumn gazing upwards, her white neck exposed as she tilted her head backwards to look up at the night sky. She couldn't help but marvel at the wonderous and yet intensely lonely beauty of the comet, trapped in its cycle, doomed to continue its path until it burnt out in an explosion of heat and light.

As she watched she thought she felt a tingling sensation in her fingers, almost like pins and needles, traveling up her wrists and her arms. It felt most odd and she shook one of them to shake the feeling off, but the sensation continued, along with a passing feeling of heat. It was as if she was tingling with heat from the inside, it was uncomfortable and she wiggled where she sat despite herself, not understanding the sensation.

"Are you alright?" asked Caroline, noticing her friend's discomfort.

"I'm okay," said Autumn and then got to her feet, "I'm just going to go for a walk over that way,"

"Do you want me to come with you?" asked Caroline, but Autumn shook her head.

"No, I'll be okay," she repeated, before walking quickly off in the other direction, trying to contain the feeling of utter sickness within her body. She had hardly had anything to drink, so it couldn't be that, and she hadn't let the drink out of her sight, so she doubt anybody could've drugged her. She walked past the cars and towards the woods on the other side of the clearing, hoping the solitude would help her slightly.

She shook her hands as she leaned against a tree, the world spinning around her making her clutch her head in distress, a tear rolling down her face at the horrible sensation she was experiencing. Her body felt hot and cold at the same time, her skin felt tight against her bones and yet she felt detached from herself, almost outside of herself. She could smell the leaves around her and yet the very smell was making her feel even sicker. She glanced skyward to see the comet complete its journey over the clearing, the light providing a fixation point but also making her head pound. She felt as if electricity were flowing down every vein in her body, providing an intense amount of life and power, but also a feeling close to death – if she could possibly know what that felt like. She whimpered a little as the sensation didn't pass.

"Hey, are you alright?" came a smooth male voice from just behind her, she turned around to see the dark figure of Damon amongst the trees, his black silhouette making him difficult to totally depict.

"No" she said truthfully, feeling the very ground underneath her feet shake, she took a step towards him, hoping he could anchor her but her vision faded to black from the bottom of her eyes upwards and she pitched forward. She was vaguely aware of an exclamation of reactive shock before arms prevented her from hitting the floor, then all was still.