ꜱᴡᴇᴇᴛ ʜᴏᴍᴇ ⇴ ᴛᴠᴅ ² ✓

twelve

Billie watched with a deep frown between her brows as the EMTs carried away a body bag on a stretcher, sombre faces decorating the surrounding crowd as they watched on. The clairvoyant cast a look back at Mickey who watched on silently, hands clasped in front of her as though she would not intervene.

She nudged the woman standing beside her who stretched her neck violently trying to get a better view of the scene. "What's going on?" Billie asked the stranger. The woman happily obliged in spreading the word, leaning towards Billie to speak as though it were secret gossip.

"Some sicko strung up Tobias Fell, all cut up and bleeding on that tree right over there." She pointed uninhibited to a large oak at the far end of the square. Billie observed the ropes still hanging from the wooden limbs, cut at the ends where the medics supposedly took down the founding family member's body.

Billie parted her lips in surprise, nodding curtly to the woman as she backed out of the crowd with Mickey. She didn't want to start jumping to conclusions, but it seemed that every time there was a serial killer loose in town, it was a vampire. As far as she knew, however, all the local vampires were semi-reformed and didn't have any specific loathing for the Fells.

"As long as the veil is down, this town's gonna get a few more visits from some not very friendly ghosts." Mickey revealed to her quietly and Billie hung her head. "But we need more time." She stressed to the mature woman and Mickey only smiled charmingly.

"We don't need more time, we just need to make good use of what we already have." Mickey turned from the scene with a final look to Billie, knowing she would follow behind to finish their conversation. 

Billie cast one final look at the red and blue square, catching eyes with Elena at the corner of the old city jail. As soon as their gazes met, the doppelganger straightened considerably, beckoning her over to talk. 

Without thinking much of it, Billie moved her feet, aiming to go to Elena, but a light hand appeared over her shoulder and Mickey spoke to her quietly. "It'll have to wait, Billie." She reminded her of their dwindling time left together and Harper sighed reluctantly, shaking her head to Elena as the doppelganger looked to her with confusion.

The clairvoyants turned, walking away into the night, much between them left to discuss.

⇴

Billie spent the next hour with Mickey, the ghost telling her all about her time with Klaus, and his brother. She hadn't met Rebekah, considering the blonde had been in a coffin since the twenties.

By the end of it all, Billie didn't think she could ever be okay around the hybrid again. Over the summer they had established an uneasy, but liveable atmosphere around each other and it had taken most of Billie's maturity to get over him ripping her from her life. But now, there was no way they could go back to that bare minimum ever again.

Billie couldn't think of Klaus anymore without remembering how he compelled Stefan to kill the love of her life, and now, she knew his ultimate goal was to turn her into a vampire. If what Mickey said was true about her powers, there was no way she could live through her transition. 

Despite having never been a huge fan of her eyes, Billie didn't want them to be burned from her skull. She didn't want her heart to start beating so fast and hard in her chest that her ribs shattered and she incinerated slowly from the inside.

Billie didn't want to die.

Not like that anyway.

They sat on stools inside the Grill, Billie with an empty shot of whiskey in front of her while Mickey had ordered a simple water. In her defence, she'd needed it after what the ghost had told her about her very likely future.

"But... If Klaus wanted to turn me, why hasn't he done it already?" Billie finally asked, fighting the slur in her words so Mickey wouldn't roll her eyes in disappointment at her.

The poised woman set down her water on a napkin, casting another eye around her like she'd done numerously throughout the night. "My guess is, he can't be sure you'll survive, so he's... forgive my rudeness, saving it for a rainy day." She allowed Billie into her thought process, seeing as she was far enough under the influence not to take offence to anything anymore.

She nodded in understanding. "Noted, I'll get him an umbrella for his birthday." Billie remarked half seriously as she hailed the bartender to pour her another drink. Mickey snorted out in laughter at her words, shaking her head at the younger woman in amusement. 

The ghost sighed heavily after a moment, looking around her sadly. "I forgot how much I missed this." She spoke softly, a small smile still gracing her full lips, reluctant to leave. 

Billie ran her finger around the rim of her glass a few times in thought. "You think you could ever find peace?" She asked her quietly, looking to Mickey who sat with her back to the the bar, watching the ongoings of the twenty-first century from her stool.

Mickey smiled, the slightest dimple appearing in her clear cheek. "Maybe when you finally get your shit together." She turned to look at Billie, eyes creasing slightly from her full grin.

Harper laughed out at her words, teeth shining through her beam as she picked up her full shot glass, turning her stool around to face the same way as Mickey. "You'll be waiting a long time, Mickey." Holding up her glass in the air, Billie caught the dark woman's eyes, catching that same twinkle of mischief that was in her own hazel gaze. "Cheers."

They clinked their drinks together softly, Billie quickly downing her whiskey, a sour expression on her face for a moment from the taste. It wasn't her usual, but she'd been feeling adventurous.

Mickey suddenly clapped her hands together, pushing herself from the stool and turning as if to grab her purse before realising she had no possessions. "Let's go. The night as young... and so are you." She dusted her fitted blue trousers of imaginary dust, already heading towards the door and leaving Billie to stumble after her.

Pushing open the door after the ghost Billie stopped beside her, seeing as Mickey had paused just outside of the entrance, gazing on the quiet night with watchful honey eyes. "Where are we going?" Billie questioned after a moment and Mickey turned to smile at her suggestively. "You tell me."

"Look, Billie... not just with your eyes."

Harper scoffed quietly, muttering in confusion. "That makes no sense." Mickey cast her a stern look and she rolled her eyes in resignation, closing her lids for a moment to concentrate before letting them fall open once more.

Her eyes caught a path of subtle light, leading her towards an unknown destination and she turned to Mickey who had her orbs set unfocused ahead of her, mind far off from where they stood.

"Let's get this show on the road then."