DANCING AFTER DEATH - kol mikaelson

20: Founders Day

I laced the silk through and pulled the corset tighter, sighing softly as I finished it, tying it off with a bow.

"She's gonna meet us there, right?"

"She's going to Elena first," Caroline piped up from beside me, automatically handing me the concealer she knew matched my skin tone. "Also, quit complaining, you signed up for this."

"Well, that was when I was going to go in a suit and Rue was going to go in a dress," I frowned softly, as the air got awkward, but I was preoccupied as I used the concealer to cover the eyebags that had formed from stress.

I could die tonight. For real for real.

I shrugged off the uncomfortable feeling that made its way into my being and topped off the makeup look with mascara. It was a beautiful dress, one of my own creation, made from spare fabrics and lace my father's manager had from when she was a designer.

Well. Ex-manager, considering he'd already missed too many days of work and got fired, courtesy of Katherine's compulsion.

"Ty's taking care of Sam, right?" Braelynn questioned and I sighed softly at my brothers name. He was getting older, and he instantly could tell the personality change within his father that had happened the previous days. It was horrible, watching him spiral again, but I knew there was nothing I could do. Removing compulsion required a lot of magic—magic that could've permanently set me to the Other Side, and because Damon and Stefan were both younger than Katherine, overriding compulsion wouldn't work.

It was a mess.

"Yeah, just for a couple nights," I gave them a false smile and breathed in deeply, slinging my tote bag over my shoulder and narrowing my gaze in the mirror before clasping one of Belladonna's necklaces around my neck, and my first adoptive fathers watch around my wrist. "Right, well. I think we're all good."

"You look beautiful," Caroline compliments and Braelynn snorted.

"You kidding me? She looks hot."

°:. *₊ ° . ° .•

We pulled up to the school, Caroline immediately going off to find Matt, but I scanned the area, looking for a specific set of Salvatore brothers, both of whom I had to admit looked great in a suit.

"—n't I be? Bonnie deactivated the Gilbert invention, Isobel's gone and it's Founders Day!" I heard Damon's faux cheer-y voice exclaim. "I'm here to eat cotton candy and steal your girl."

"So that's everything I missed during my brother's birthday," I tutted as I walked towards the two of them, slipping in between them and placing my elbows annoyingly on each of their shoulders. It was probably more uncomfortable for me, considering my height. "Nice to know you folks like to update me on the happenings of Mystic Falls."

"Well," Damon scrutinized, "would I be forgiven if I told you, you look stunning?"

"Perhaps," I grinned towards him, "but in all honesty I wouldn't care. This corset is killing me and I want out of it—no matter how pretty it looks. Besides, it doesn't really matter. My ghost friends updated me anyways."

"Right. Maybe theres another Doppelganger on the Other Side that the both of us can fall in love with, hey?" Damon nudged his brother with a grin, one that was more tormenting and amusing rather than serious.

"Don't start with me, Damon," Stefan scoffed, beginning to walk away but Damon trailed behind, me following out of simple curiosity.

"They almost have a relationship as bad as my brothers," Henrik observed and I frowned towards him, only remembering very vague snippets of his past. He was ominous about it, switching the subject every time almost as if he had something he wanted to tell me but couldn't. All I knew, was that they were old vampires, pretty much psychopaths, and mass murderers, with one particular one that had a habit of putting the others to sleep with fancy daggers.