Invisible Control

Addie strolled through the labyrinth of school hallways, her shoulders thrown back in confidence. If only she felt that way but this was how she got people to leave her alone. Nobody gave her pity glances or asked her how she was; those were reserved for her siblings. Addie was taking control of her life, even if it meant faking a bit of confidence.

She turned a corner towards algebra and turned right back around. It was too late though.

"Addie!" Elena called, her and her new puppy bounding up to her.

She let her head fall back against one of the old blue lockers, relishing in the slight pain of the thump before they could reach her.

"Can't you be a normal big sister and pretend we don't know each other at school?" Addie groaned, turning towards the pair, leaning against the locker with a shoulder.

"Nope. It's too much fun embarrassing you. Stefan brought it!" she said eagerly. Addie knew Elena was just trying to gain her approval of Stefan but she just didn't like him. She didn't trust him.

Stefan spoke up with a smile, holding out an old book towards Addie, "Wuthering Heights by Ellis Bell."

Show-off, Addie thought while Elena looked at him admiringly.

"You know, I can't believe she didn't use her real name."

"All the Bronte sisters used pseudonyms. It was the time. Female writers weren't very accepted," he shrugged. And a know-it-all, too.

Addie snatched the book from him. She knew Wuthering Heights by heart. Flipping to a random page she read a paragraph; it was accurate. Inspecting the binding and cover, she knew enough about books to know that this dated back to around the time it was originally published.

"All right. You win. It was technically written by whoever Bell and 'Emily Bronte' was a pseudonym. It doesn't really matter what name she went by; the book is the same either way," Addie huffed, shoving the book back into Stefan's hands and continuing on towards math.

Seeing Caroline and Bonnie heading down the same hallway, she sped up to link her arm with Bonnie's, receiving a brilliant smile. Hearing Caroline she realized what conversation she had walked into.

"I'm confused. Are you psychic or clairvoyant?"

Bonnie smiled patiently at Caroline and explained, "Technically, Grams says I'm witch. My ancestors were these really cool Salem witch chicks or something. Grams tried to explain it but she was looped on the liquor so I kinda tuned out."

"Crazy family? Yes. Witches? I don't think so. Fleeing accused ancestors? Yes," Addie interrupted Bonnie, annoyed with this insane psychic and witch stuff Bonnie had been spouting. There was no scientific evidence; therefore there was no explanation. Without any explanation, there could be no truth.

Caroline ignored her, "Yeah, well, feel free to conjure up the name and number of that guy from last night."

Bonnie laughed slightly, "I didn't see him, you did. Why didn't you just talk to him?"

"I don't -"

Addie cut off the blonde, "Caroline Forbes does not pounce on a hot guy? Someone alert the media!"

With that, Addie slipped into her algebra class.

Addie felt unsettled as the rest of the day went by. She hadn't talked to Jeremy or even seen him. She had stared at the door for all of biology waiting for him to walk in but he never showed. It hurt her to know her brother was struggling so much but she didn't know what she could do. All she wanted, really, was to binge on video games and greasy pizza with him all night like they would do before the accident.

Not exactly being the friendliest person, Addie didn't exactly have a clique or even a small group of friends that she hung out with. She had followed Jeremy and his friends for the last two years of middle school and they were more than happy to let her tag along as one of the boys. After the accident, Jeremy had picked up a new group of… troubled friends that she didn't particularly approve of. She supposed she could have hung out with his old friends, they were welcoming enough, but she never really feel comfortable hanging out with them without him.

Ever since they were kids Miranda Gilbert had pushed for her daughters to get along; for her eldest to take Addie under her wing. There were times when Addie was forced to join Elena and her friends, an event both girls hated. Addie got along with Elena's friend Bonnie and actually became close friends with her but the other girls were mostly annoying airheads, in her opinion. The sisters tried to get along and truly loved each other but there were just too many little things about one another that made them not able to stand the other. Elena, now that her mother was gone, still felt like it was her job to turn Addie into more of a girl like her rather than a tomboy. Addie just wanted to help her siblings move on from their parents' death and that's how she supposed she ended up outside the Mystic Grill with Bonnie, Caroline, and Elena.

"You know, each comet has its own atmosphere so in theory, it's just like any other planet in that it could support life. Actually, there is even more to give credit to the theory; a comet is ice. Where we find water on Earth, we find life usually," Addie prattled on while folding flyers, extremely excited about that night's comet.

"Well," Bonnie said pointedly to Addie, starting to enjoy Addie's obsession with hard science versus the supernatural, "I was talking to Grams, and she said the comet is a sign of impending doom. The last time it passed over Mystic Falls there were lots of death. So much blood and carnage, it created a bed of paranormal activity."

"Yeah, well, Einstein's 'proven' quote on astrology was proved to be a hoax," countered Addie, using her fingers to make quotation symbols. "He never supported it."

"Spoken like a true critical, analytical, narrow-minded Virgo!" jabbed Caroline, a fierce believer in the Chinese Zodiac and its beliefs and ideas.

"Don't get me started on that, Caroline," Addie said dangerously. She would wipe the floor clean with Caroline's tears as she disproved the scientific logic of astrology, yet again.

Caroline ignored the dark brunette, like most times and turned towards Bonnie, "Then you poured Grams another shot and she told you about the aliens on Addie's comet, right?" Her conversation about the sexy Salvatore with Elena was much more interesting, "So, then what happened?"

"So then nothing," Elena said simply.

Caroline stared at her in disbelief, "You and Stefan talked all night? There was no sloppy first kiss or touchy feely of any kind?"

"It was all chatter, for hourrrrrrs," Addie drawled. "They made me miss Top Gun so they could talk about absolutely nothing."

"Not even a handshake? I mean, Elena, we are your friends! Addie's your sister! You're supposed to share the smut!"

Addie shook her head, "No smut sharing for me please, thanks. Don't really want to hear about my sister's sex life. Or in her case, lack thereof. They literally just talked."

"Ok, what's is with the blockage?" Caroline demanded of Elena. "Just jump his bones already! Ok, it's easy. Boy likes girl, girl likes boy, sex!"

"Profound," Addie and Elena spoke at the same time in faked awe. They looked at each other, unsure if they were disgusted with each other or found it a cool, bonding sister moment. Addie gave Elena her famous eye roll. With that look, Elena decided to take a page out her sister's new motto on life and take control of her own. She got up and heard Bonnie question where she was going.

"To Stefan's, of course," Addie replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Elena nodded, gathering her nerves, "Caroline's right. It is easy. If I sit here long enough, I'll end up talking myself out of it instead of doing what I started the day saying what I was going to do." She paused as she noticed Addie was right on her heels. "Where are you going?"

"Letting my sister go to some random guy's house alone to possibly get roofied or date raped? Totally an unsisterly thing to do," shrugged Addie, an innocent smile on her face. Really, she just wanted to be a pain in the ass. They made her miss Top Gun so now she was going to be a cockblocker.

"People seriously live in places like this? I mean besides the Lockwoods? Oh my god! Is he as much of a dick as that punk Tyler that's been pushing Jeremy around?" Addie asked, looking up at the house in amazement.

Elena rang the old fashioned doorbell then knocked on the door, which opened a little at her touch. "Tyler's been messing with Jeremy?" she asked distractedly, pushing the door open further and sticking her head in. Addie couldn't believe it when her sister stepped into the house.

"Elena! I know people keep their door unlocked around here but that doesn't make it an open invitation!" Addie hissed at her sister, grabbing at the back of her jacket.

"Stefan? Stefan?" Elena called out, wandering further into the old boarding house with each call of the boys name.

Addie followed her sister reluctantly. Didn't this count as breaking and entering? Addie was fairly sure it did and was fairly sure they were going to get caught when she heard the creaking of the door. Her and Elena both jumped at the sound. Elena gasped, snapping around as a crow flew through the door and past them. Addie was just as surprised but she tried to pay more attention to the bird. It had an odd midnight blue marking on its chest just like the one in the cemetery. She heard Elena gasp again and turned around.

Inches from Elena's face was the man that she had met laying in the middle of the road. That night felt like years ago. Guilt overwhelmed her into silence as she stared at him, remembering how she had lost control and had basically smashed his face in. Yet, only a few months later, here he was looking just as handsome as he had that night. No… she remembered the bones repeatedly breaking under fist but his face was only bloody, not swollen or black and blue, when he had finally had enough of her using him as a punching bag. But she had been so upset; her mind had played tricks on her.

It was him. It was that night. It had been cathartic. She had let all of her feelings out on him. He was the one who had given her a wakeup call, albeit unknowingly. In beating him up, she realized she had power and strength left in her to fight and he had to. He was going to kill her but then he let her pummel him and gave her a new motto for her life: take control.

That bastard was about to kill her and now here her sister was standing right before him. She shot out her arm, getting a tight grip around Elena's, and pulled her back towards her that she stumbled over her feet a little. Addie slightly sidestepped partially in front of Elena, exposing herself to the man but making it harder for him to access her sister, making it clear she would protect her.

The man smiled and cocked his head, as if enquiring about their sudden appearance.

"I...I'm sorry for barging in. The door was," Elena glanced over her shoulder to see a closed door, "open," she finished lamely.

His light blue eyes locked with Addie's darker ones for a moment but she could get no sense of what he was trying to communicate.

"Addison, it's a pleasure to see you again," he smiled slightly. "You must be her sister, Elena. I'm Damon, Stefan's brother."

Addie paused for a moment. She never told him she had a sister. Stefan must have told him Elena's last name and he had put two and two together. At least now she had a name for the man.

A cold chill ran down Addie's spine. "It's good to see you, too, Damon. Elena was just looking for Stefan but obviously he isn't here." At this point, Addie hand grabbed Elena's and was trying to pull her back towards the door. "In which, case we'll just be leaving. We don't want to bother-"

Elena didn't know who she was more annoyed with; her sister for knowing Stefan's brother and not telling her or Stefan.

"Stefan didn't tell me he had a brother."

"Well, Stefan's not one to brag," he replied offhandedly. "Kind of like your sister," he shrugged, raising his eyebrows as he caught a look from Addie, who quickly looked back down at her red Converse.

"Please, come," Damon welcomed, ushering Elena by her shoulder further into the house.

Addie let out an internal groan when Elena let go of her hand and did as he said. This was not good. Damon stood waiting for her, his hand out in a welcoming motion. She took a deep breath and walked towards him, letting him guide her further in by the push of his hand on her shoulder. This touch was gentle but she could still remember his hand wrapped around her throat, cutting off her air supply.

"I'm sure Stefan will be along any second," he continued, leading the sisters into a grand room with high ceilings and a large fireplace. If it wasn't occupied by a man who tried to kill her and one who almost reeked of deception, it would have been one of the dream estates she wished she had out of the old novels she loved.

"Wow. This is your living room?" Elena asked in amazement, looking around at all the old fashioned and expensive furnishing.

"Living room, parlor, Sotheby's auction."

Interrupting him, Addie scoffed as she unconsciously walk in further, "What, did you like buy out a whole collection?"

"Well, we left behind a few pieces," Damon winked at her before continuing. "It's a little kitschy for my taste."

"If you think this is kitschy, then you just don't have appreciation for fine art or the Romantic period," Addie tossed over her shoulder looking at a beautiful painting of a Roman goddess. "Just for that, I like your brother better, and that's not saying much at all."

"Addie!" Elena scolded, her cheeks turning red in embarrassment. "I apologize for how rude and weird my sister is. I'm fairly certain she suffered brain damage of some kind at some point," muttered Elena.

"I find myself romantic enough that I don't have to appreciate the period," Damon grinned smugly, ignoring Elena. "Besides, Addison, if you didn't like my brother better than me, well, that would be concerning," Damon said behind her, just out of earshot from Elena.

She turned around to say something smart but he was already walking back over to her sister who was admiring a bookshelf. Addie followed, not wanting to leave her too close to Damon.

"I see why my brother is so smitten. It's about time. For a while there, I never thought he'd never get over the last one. Nearly destroyed him."

Addie had stirred up enough trouble for her siblings to sense what Damon was up to and she didn't like it. He could take his murdering hands and games somewhere else.

"The last one?" Elena asked, slightly puzzled.

"Yeah. Katherine. His girlfriend," he said as if it were obvious. "Oh, you two haven't had the awkward exes conversation yet."

"Nope," forced Elena, scrunching her shoulders up to her neck in an awkward shrug.

"Oops."

"Well, I'm sure it will come up now, Damon," Addie snapped. She was the only one who got to make Elena feel like that.

Damon nodded as if in agreement but his words were not, "Or maybe he didn't want to tell you because he didn't want you to think he was on the rebound. We all know how those relationships end."

"You say it like every relationship is doomed to end," Elena replied, a tone of pity in her voice.

"I'm a fatalist," he shrugged.

At the same time, "They do. It's reality, Elena. Let's go. You'll see Stefan tomorrow."

Addie, though six or seven inches shorter than Elena was quite a lot stronger and knew exactly where to grab her to lead her out of the creepy Salvatore house. She could feel Damon's eyes on them as they retreated.

"He's on the rebound," Elena worried to Aunt Jenna about Stefan, not wanting to just be a step in until he was actually ready for someone.

"Plus, I think he has some raging family issues," Addie put in, leaning against the counter, watching Elena set the table.

Elena's head snapped towards her little sister, "Why would you say such a thing?"

First he tried to kill me and now Mr. Perfect is obviously too mysterious and hiding something. "Well, neither one has ever mentioned the other," she came up with on the spot, trying to cover up her true thoughts.

"Yeah, back to that, how do you know Damon?" Elena asked skeptically. "He's a little old for you, don't you think?"

Addie literally gagged on the water she was drinking, sputtering and coughing. "Gross! And he's most definitely a little too old for me. Don't even think I look at him like that."

"Ooooooh," sang Jenna at Addie, waving a wooden spoon at her, "someone sounds too defensive."

"He's old, like in his 20's old. You want me crushing on a guy that old, Jenna?" Addie rolled her deep ocean blue eyes; it felt like she was doing that more and more these days. Either her tolerance was lowering or people were stupider or more annoying.

Jenna's mouth dropped open indignantly, "Being in your twenties does not make you old. But that does make him too old for you! No one old enough to drive a car for you!"

Addie shrugged, "Agreed. Not like I'm interested in anyone or vice versa or like I would bother with a relationship. No dating for me. You gotta worry about Elena and her boy toy."

"He's not a boy toy!" Elena snapped at her sister. "You never answered where you met him."

"I met him while I was out on a run this summer." Technically it was true. They didn't need to know that he had tried to kill her.

Elena looked frustrated at her sister, "So, some random guy just stops you on your run and you happen to chat him up?" Addie was supposed to be the smart one with street smarts.

"I didn't chat him up and he didn't exactly stop me," Addie grumbled back defensively. Her voice grew stronger as she continued on, "He was hurt. His head was bleeding. He was out in the rain in a muddy tracksuit. I'm sorry if I'm my father's daughter and I care about others. He had a little bit of amnesia. He wasn't quite sure where he was. Damon just remembered he was out running, most likely he slipped and fell really hard. He had a concussion and some scrapes and bruises. I waited with him until the ambulance came."

Jenna looked at her with a softening expression, "Is that where you were when you came home drenched so late at night that time? When I grounded you for a week?" Addie nodded. "Why didn't you just tell me that instead of storming off into your room?"

"Because it didn't really matter and I really didn't care. Grounded to my room where I have a plethora of books that can take me to magical lands where I didn't have to deal with anything I was facing this summer? That was a nightmare," Addie shuddered overly dramatic, plopping down at her seat at the dinner table. She just wanted the Damon subject to drop. So she turned the table back to the usual center of the universe, her sister. "Basically, Stefan is on the rebound and has raging family issues. A soap opera waiting to unfold. Just walk away, Elena."

Jenna, of course not knowing or sensing what Addie did about the Salvatore brothers, countered her point, "Well, at least it's an ex-girlfriend. Wait till you date a guy with mommy issues or cheating issues. Or amphetamine issues."

"Amphetamine issues might be fun as long as they weren't too extreme," Addie mused aloud. "Speed sounds like it would provide for entertaining stories. Or good grades at the very least."

"No! No drugs! I already have one troubled teen," Jenna snapped at her as if she was being a bad dog. Jenna perked at the sound of the door opening and closing, before she ran around to the front of the house, catching the sight of her nephew and calling out for him. "Jeremy? Jeremy, where were you?"

"Out."

Addie could hear the annoyance and absence of personality in her brother's voice. He was baked and she couldn't face him like that. She shut out whatever Jenna and Jeremy were saying, not wanting to remember her brother this way. She idolized him but not like this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Addie was flaming furious with her brother. She had seen Jeremy hand over a bottle of pills to Vickie Donovan. The only thing that had stopped her from going over there and ripping a new one into Jeremy was the shock that it was Elena's old pills from the car accident that he was giving the skank. She wasn't sure if this made her furious at him for having the gall to steal from his sister or if she found a slight sense of comfort in that he wasn't passing out pills from some kind of dealer. Maybe now that all of Elena's pills were gone it would just be down to the alcohol and pot.

With more force than necessary, the trifold was popped open, and piece by piece Addie put together the extremely powerful telescope. It had been a struggle to lug the heavy thing to the middle of town square, though Elena had been nice enough to give her a ride to the square. She could feel that she was twisting every bolt and knob into place at least one turn too far and it would be a pain to take apart but focusing on exerting her physical energy that way kept her from going back to the Grill and smacking Jeremy in the back of his head with the hope to knock some sense into him.

"Ad," a voice called. Reflexively, her hands tightened around the eyepiece of the telescope.

"What do you want, Jeremy? I'm kind of busy," Addie snapped at her brother, still pissed at the way he had been acting since their parents' death. She knew this wasn't good for him but it wasn't like he would listen to anyone.

"Have you seen Vickie," he asked, his tone genuinely worried.

Addie gritted her teeth, "Nope."

"Well, nobody can find her! She's missing," hysteria crept into his voice.

At least he cared about something, it seemed; she just really wished it wasn't Vickie. He must have taken some of the pills before giving them to Vickie; they tended to make him a little dramatic.

"Yes. She's missing. She was abducted by a flying saucer in the middle of town square and nobody saw a thing," Addie mocked, realizing she had no sympathy for the drug induced state that he put himself in. "She probably took too many of those pills you stole from Elena and is passed out somewhere. Just so you know, if she overdoses or dies choking on her own vomit, part of that is on you Jeremy. You gave her the pills. Get your shit together and start fucking thinking before you act."

"You know what," Jeremy said, staring at his sister as if this was the first time he really saw her, "fuck you, Addison."

Addie looked at her brother's retreating back as wander off into the small group of people who had already gathered for the comet, presumably still asking about Vickie. Jeremy had never spoken to her like that, of course, she had never spoken to him like that. She knew that whatever happened to Vickie was all her own fault. Jeremy shouldn't have done what he did but that didn't give her the right to speak to him the way she had. He deserved some kind of apology. She'd give it to him if she ever came across him sober.

She started scanning the horizon, knowing it would be from there first that the comet would appear. Addie stopped when she thought she saw movement on top of a building. Adjusting the finderscope and eyepiece along with tilting the scope, Addie was able to gain a better view of the building.

Right on the ledge of a rooftop was Damon Salvatore and Vickie Donavan, with the girl looking as frighten as Addie must have when she felt Damon's hand clenching around her throat. Vickie almost stumbled backwards or was that Damon threatening to push her off the roof? It was hard to tell with his hand wrapped around her bicep and that deceivingly charming smile plastered to his face. She guessed he was tormenting her as he placed a hand over her mouth.

Addie's heart skipped a beat in shock as Stefan suddenly came into view, as if from nowhere. There was no door for rooftop access and she hadn't seen him climb up a fire escape. How did any of them get up there, really?

Stefan said something that made Damon look over his shoulder and start to tug Vickie off the building even more. Was she really going to witness this girl's death? She didn't like her but nobody deserved to be treated the way she was being tortured. Damon, thankfully, seemed to change his mind as Stefan took a stance as if approaching a wounded, angry bear. She could make out his lips forming the word 'no' a couple of times.

Damon tossed Vickie further onto the roof, Stefan catching her before she could hit the ground. With what Addie could almost feel as a sense of arrogance from such a distance, Damon stepped off the ledge with confidence. What were these two playing at? She knew Damon was fucked up the second he tried to kill her and she never had trusted Stefan. Yet, Damon hadn't killed her; he allowed her to beat him up. It wasn't that he didn't have the potential or strength to kill her though. Maybe he just didn't have the nerve to actually kill someone? Maybe that was why he had pushed Vickie back on the roof. She didn't know if Stefan was there to join in on the fun his brother was having, but it had looked like he was trying to stop Damon. Though, Addie highly doubted Damon did anything he didn't want to do.

Now Damon was talking to a crying Vickie, who sat on the rooftop, using her hands to push herself up. His hands were on his knees and he was slightly hunched over, as if to connect with her more. Two things came to Addie's mind: first, she finally understood what people meant when they said someone had a nice ass and secondly, she really wished she was better at reading lips. Damon helped Vickie back to her feet. Addie cursed that their back was to her but when she was getting up she saw sheer terror on Vickie's face. She felt a small sense of satisfaction when Damon turned so Addie could see his face fully. He grabbed both sides of Vickie's head and had a concentrated look on his face as he said something to her.

Stefan said something to Damon and the elder brother seemed to give a small shrug. Addie gave out a gasp when she saw the bandage covering Vickie's still fresh stitches in his hand. He seemed to sling her away from himself and into Stefan's arms, throwing the white crumpled cloth at them. What the hell kind of freak show was she watching? Damon seemed to be giving a grand speech, his face broken into a maniacal grin whenever Addie could catch a glimpse of it.

She pressed her eye harder into the telescope, blocking out the pain on her eyeball. Maybe if she got closer to the lens she could see more clearly. Addie was certain she saw dark veins radiate out all under Stefan's eyes and a few up near his temple.

"What the holy fucking hell was that shit?" Addie mumbled, as the veins quickly disappeared.

Not two seconds later, Stefan tossed Vickie to the floor like a rag doll. He was hunched over as Damon had been earlier before though this time it seemed like Stefan was fighting for breath. His brother walked over to him. After a moment, Stefan stood back up and she could see that he was angry; that whatever was going on, he and Damon were fighting.

Damon looked back and forth between Vickie and Stefan a few times before walking over to the girl. He crouched down next to her and whispered something in his ear. He stood up and held his hands out and gestured towards victory; a sign of truce, she had used it many times with Jeremy when fighting over the last piece of pizza or what to watch.

A few words were exchanged before Vickie got up, looking fine, high, but fine and went staggering through the rooftop entrance. She watched Damon and Stefan talk for a few moments before Damon wandered to the side of the building. Addie took a step back in shock as she watched Damon jump off the ledge, into the alley between two buildings. Did he have some kind of death wish?

Addie sucked in a deep breath when she saw Damon walk out between the buildings. He looked around and quickly she tried to look away but it was too late. Damon strolled over towards her and within a matter of minutes he stood right in front of her in the middle f the town square.

"Addison, two times in as many days. The comet must be bringing me luck," he grinned a half smile, shoving his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket.

"Mmm. My friend is convinced it's a harbinger of doom and destruction. I'm not superstitious, really," Addie's eyes darted to the rooftop Damon had just occupied and tortured on, "but I'm beginning to think that she might be right. You, two times in as many days."

Damon had caught the blue eyes flash away and had seen her watching him come from the alleyway. He'd bet the telescope was positioned so you could clearly see the rooftop.

"Mmm," Damon mimicked, pretending to muse as well, "I'd say being superstitious is like trusting the weather man."

Addie's lips quirked as she thought of a song lyric she had written, "I find putting faith in the weather will leave you soaked in rain."

"Not if you carry an umbrella," Damon shrugged.

Addie was pretty certain they were both talking about him, until this point. "What kind of umbrella protects someone like me from someone like you, Damon? You have the power and obviously the mentality to kill me; we both know that."

"Yet, you're here standing," he pointed out.

Addie's eyes narrowed, "And I'm wise enough to get that the only reason I am is because you permit me to."

"True," Damon nodded.

"So, again I ask, how do I find protection from someone like you?" Addie challenged, beginning to get annoyed.

Damon grinned, "First, I recommend not crossing me. Second, you're a smart kid, Addison, but I've watched you. You'll have to think outside what you think you know to be protected from me. I'd suggest you do it fast. I have a bit of a temper and seeing as you smashed my face in, over and over again, well, you could easily be on my radar."

"Is that a threat?" Addie snarled.

"No," he said, a troubled look on his face, "for once it's not. It's just honest advice."