𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐍𝐀 | 𝐬. 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞

18

It takes a moment, but Sheila's face fills with recognition and she grins at Athena, who mirrors it. "Athena, I wasn't expecting you. Who's your friend?"

"We were looking for Bonnie, and her dad said she was here," Athena steps to the side, allowing Stefan to offer his hand to the witch who takes it with ease, only to look at him warily when their skin meets.

"She was. Not anymore."

"Do you know where she went?" Stefan questions, dark eyebrows furrowing on his head.

Sheila stands, unwavering. "No, but you do,"

Stefan starts, eyes widening a bit. "I'm sorry?"

"I told her, face down her fear. And I'm sensing now that you know exactly why she was scared," Sheila steps forward, inches away from stepping out of the door. "You know what I am. And yet you offered me your hand, which means you wanted me to see that I can trust you."

"Can you?"

"I trust you'll keep her safe," Sheila evades his question, her crypticness making Athena mentally roll her eyes. "You'd better be on your way, then. I'm not going to invite you in, I'm sure you understand why."

Sheila steps back inside the doorway, shutting the door gently, leaving the two on the porch together.

Athena sighs, throwing her head back. "Is every Bennett useless? Because that was pointless."

"No, it wasn't," Stefan shakes his head, heading back down the stairs to the sidewalk.

Athena hurries after him confusedly. "I'm sorry, did she say something to you that I missed? We still don't know where the hell Bonnie is."

"I know where she is, let's go," He gestures to the car and Athena stops in her tracks, but groans as Stefan silently motions for her to hurry.

"You're being so vague! Just tell me things!"

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"Let's just say that I'm descended from Katherine," Elena's defeated tone falls quiet in the noisy bar, and Stefan glances at her while he chews on a fry. "Does that make me part vampire?"

"Vampires can't procreate," He swallows, smirking at the girl. "But we love to try."

Elena rolls her eyes and Damon cedes his taunting with a swig of beer. "No, if you were related, it would mean Katherine had a child before she was turned." He shakes his head, his idea sounding insane in his head.

"Did Stefan think that he could use me to replace her?"

"Kinda creepy if you ask me," Damon mocks his brother, but shrugs. "But he's clearly come to his senses."

Elena nearly flinches at the dig but hides it with a frown as she eyes the vampire. "How can you even eat if, you know, technically, you're–"

"Dead?" He stage whispers, glancing around the bar. "It's not such a bad word. And as long as I keep a healthy diet of blood in my system, my body functions pretty normally."

"This nice act," Elena muses. "Is any of it real?"

Damon hums, grabbing his burger off his plate. "Of course not, Elena. I'm a mean, evil vampire whose sole mission in life is to make humans miserable. And trust me, I'm well on my way." He winks at her and takes a bite out of his burger, nodding gratefully when Bree replaces his flat beer with a fresh one.

Elena swallows harshly and orders a beer of her own, wanting more than anything to be away from the cynical man beside her.

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