▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
DEVIL'S DAUGHTER , voidfaye
007. founders party
THRASHING in his bed, Stefan woke up with a startled yell. Looking around, he noticed Damon sitting in an armchair in front of his bed.
"Bad dream?" Damon questioned, casually playing around with the chess pieces in front of him. "Do you know how pathetically easy it was to get into your head just now? You really need some human blood. It might even out the playing field." Smirking, he added, "Football reference. Too soon?"
Using his vampiric speed, Stefan rushed toward his table and grabbed the knife sitting on top of his papers. Instantly, he threw it at Damon, watching as it hit Damon in the stomach.
Damon looked down at the knife unimpressed. Standing up, he pulled it out with an eye roll. "All right, I deserved that." Smirking, he remarked, "I just wanted to let you know that they caught the culprit." Seeing Stefan's look of confusion, he explained, "The animal responsible for killing Coach Tanner and all those people."
"What are you talking about?" Stefan questioned.
Grinning, Damon informed, "It was a mountain lion. A really big one at that." Damon rolled his eyes when he noticed Stefan still wasn't understanding. "The thing that was responsible for all those attacks. It attacked a hunter this morning. It's all over the news." Using his hands to make it more dramatic, Damon spoke, "'Deadly beast captured. All's well in Mystic Falls.'"
Frowning, Stefan asked, "Why would you cover your tracks?" A spark of hope flicked within him as he remembered the conversation from last night — ok so what if Gabriel said no last night, this had to be his doing right? "Did Gabriel put you up to this?"
"Don't make me laugh, Stefan," Damon replied with a smirk. "As if our brother would ever stop me. He's having way too much fun himself. Speaking of fun, what do you think he's doing with Elena's sister, Asteria?" Pretending to think for a moment, he paused before he snarked, "Do you think he's enjoying her blood like I would enjoy Elena's?"
Snarling, Stefan rushed at Damon, throwing him against the wall and holding him in a chokehold. "Neither of you will be touching Elena or her sister."
Damon chuckled before pushing Stefan off him with most of his strength, causing Stefan to go flying into the wall. "You've gotten funnier over the years."
Standing up from where he fell on the ground, Stefan hissed, "I'm not joking."
"How are you supposed to defend Elena and her sister if you can't even defend yourself?" Damon questioned mockingly as he threw the knife back at Stefan, causing it to hit him right in the stomach. "And for your information, I've decided to stay for a while. It's just too much fun being here with you and Elena."
Hissing in pain, Stefan grabbed the hilt of the knife that was stuck in his skin. "Can't touch her now," he taunted.
Smirking, Damon replied, "The vervain might keep me out of her head, but maybe that's not my target." Slowly walking towards Stefan, he continued, "Believe it or not, Stefan, some girls don't need me to compel them. Some of them just can't resist my good looks, my style, my charm, and my unflinching ability to listen to Taylor Swift."
"She's not Katherine," Stefan hissed out, flinching slightly when he pulled out the knife.
Damon looked at Stefan mockingly. "You look like you need to get your eyes checked out." Before Stefan could do anything, Damon pushed the knife back into Stefan's stomach, creating a new wound. "Enjoy playing the human boyfriend, Steffie."
Asteria woke up with a gasp. "God dammit," She groaned, as she rubbed her forehead, trying to get rid of the headache the two annoying vampires caused.
Before she could curse the two vampires in her mind, her phone rang. Grabbing it, she smiled when she noticed who was calling her. "Good morning, Dezzy."
"Spill the tea!" Destiny squealed over the phone. "Tell me everything!"
"One would think you're excited to know more about a vampire," Asteria teased, getting out of bed and going to her closet. She could practically feel Destiny rolling her eyes over the phone.
"Ugh, you clearly have some sort of vampire fetish so I'm only trying to be a supportive best friend," Destiny retorted. Pausing for a moment, she then added, "And he's decent looking I suppose. Better than half the population here at least."
Laughing, Asteria teased, "If I recall, you were the one who called him a hot devil."
"I knew I never should've said that," Destiny grumbled. "But seriously spill!"
Smirking, she questioned, "How are you so sure he did come over last night? What if he actually didn't show up and you're just giving away how much you actually like the vampire."
Spluttering, Destiny denied, "No, absolutely not. He's so not my type."
Laughing, Asteria teased, "Ah yes, how could I forget? Your type is—"
"Stop trying to avoid the topic!" Destiny cut off with a laugh, "Now tell your sister from another mister what happened!"
"Alright, alright," Asteria relented. And so, for the next hour, Asteria informed Destiny about everything that happened last night — from when Gabriel appeared in front of her house to check up on her after Tanner's death, to her inviting him in, to him talking to her for hours in her room, to her falling asleep in his company (which received a large gasp of disbelief from Destiny), and to her vision of Stefan and Damon's conversation.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Knocking on the door, Asteria waited a moment before entering the room. "Hey Jer," Asteria greeted, looking at Jeremy who was playing video games on his computer.
"Ria," Jeremy nodded, giving her a glance before looking back at his game.
Rolling her eyes, she crossed her arms and asked, "Can you pause for a moment?"
"Give me a second," Jeremy grumbled, playing his game.
Nodding, Asteria looked around the room. It looked like a typical teenage boy bedroom, but she knew he was hiding other things in his room. Frowning to herself, she found herself in a dilemma. She wanted to help him, she really did, but the truth is, she hated Grayson — her dad — and her feelings for Miranda — her mom — were complicated. How could she help someone when she herself was conflicted — only on Miranda, don't get her wrong. She never would mourn Grayson for everything he's done to her.
Jeremy cleared his throat to get Asteria's attention.
Looking at Jeremy, she watched as he raised an eyebrow in question.
"What do you need?" Jeremy asked.
Smiling softly, Asteria replied, "I just wanted to check in with you. I know I haven't been the best sister recently, but it's been hard and I just didn't want to overstep."
"Right," Jeremy nodded awkwardly.
"I also wanted to give you something." Asteria pulled out an old watch. "I found this watch lying around the other day. I'm pretty sure it belonged to dad. I just wanted to give it to you since I know how much it means to have something belonging to them." Gag. She hated speaking about him, but Jeremy needed the vervain.
Jeremy looked surprised. Grabbing the watch from Asteria's hands, he looked touched. "Thanks, Ria," he mumbled, staring at the watch in awe.
"Of course, brother. I'm always here if you need me," Asteria replied softly.
Looking slightly awkward, Jeremy asked, "Will you help me put it on?"
Asteria's eyebrows rose in surprise, "You're going to wear it?"
"Yeah," Jeremy nodded, "I want to feel close to them again, you know?"
No, she really didn't, but she should've expected sentimental reasons. Clearing her throat, she nodded, "Right, of course." Jeremy placed the watch on his wrist and turned his wrist around. Asteria grabbed it and clasped it on, silently placing the same spell she placed on Caroline's necklace onto his watch as well. "There," she smiled proudly at her work.
"Thank you again, Ria," Jeremy muttered in appreciation.
"Anytime, Jer," Asteria responded softly, "Anytime.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
"Why do we even have to go to this stupid thing?" Destiny grumbled as she lay on Asteria's bed. "It'll be so much more fun to stay in your room, gossip, and listen to sad songs all night."
"Do you really want your mom to be on a warpath when she notices you're not there," Asteria questioned with a raised eyebrow before looking back at the two dress options in front of her. Red or green? Red or green? Oh who was she kidding? "Red it is!" Asteria exclaimed in delight.
Snorting, Destiny teased, "Did you specifically choose that color because the decent-looking bloodsucker said 'it suits you'?"
"Psh, no," Asteria denied with a wave of her hand. "Besides, it is true you know. I look hot in red."
Destiny nodded in agreement. "No denying that. But come on, Aster. You can't tell me his opinion didn't have a role in you choosing that dress."
"It didn't!" Asteria replied hotly. Then, as if remembering something, she smiled wickedly. "My vampy fling from last summer thought so too." Asteria cackled at the disgusted look on Destiny's face as she walked behind her dressing screen.
"You disgust me. Especially with your vampire fetish," Destiny grumbled, plucking her royal blue dress off the hanger. "Why couldn't it be a werewolf or a warlock or a regular human?"
Asteria popped her head out from behind the dressing screen with a large smile on her face. "That's no fun, my dear. That's no fun." Rolling her eyes, Asteria denied, "And I don't have a vampire fetish."
Laughing, Destiny walked toward the bathroom. "You most definitely do, Aster. Because no one in their right mind would think sleeping with a bloodsucker that could suck you dry is fun."
"It's the thrill of it all, Dezzy," Asteria remarked as she stepped out from behind the dressing screen in her red dress. She was wearing a corset sundress. Looking at herself in the mirror, she smirked, "Damn I look good."
Destiny laughed from the bathroom. "Of course you do, Aster," She remarked, stepping into Asteria's room, wearing her silk royal blue dress that went a little past her knees. It had a slit that reached the upper half of her thighs.
Asteria looked Destiny up and down and complimented, "You look stunning, Dezzy."
"Thanks, Aster," Destiny replied with a bright smile. "And you look drop-dead gorgeous! No one's going to be able to take their eyes off you!"
Asteria blew Destiny a kiss, which Destiny caught playfully. Smiling with eyes full of mischief, she asked, "Do you want to know what I heard earlier today?"
"Depends," Asteria mused, "What was it about?"
Laughing, Destiny replied, "You're definitely going to want to hear about this." Destiny paused in suspense. "So I heard from Caroline, who heard from Tiki, that Stefan has a really interesting backstory, that's currently being told to miss innocent."
"Oh, about the ex-girlfriend, Katherine? The one that all the Salvatore's dated?" Asteria inquired curiously.
Nodding excitedly, Destiny continued, "Yeah, they all dated her, which first off, ew, second off, definitely rethinking my approval on the decent one, but apparently, she ended up choosing Damon in the end." Leaning forward in glee, she whispered, "It drove Stefan mad. Apparently, he did so many horrible things to try and break them up. He manipulated Katherine, filled her head with so many lies until finally, it worked, and she turned against Damon." Cackling, she added, "Can't call him Saint Stefan anymore."
"First off, Gabriel has a very apparent hatred for Katherine, something about lots of manipulation on her end with him, so yeah," Asteria explained, remembering the flash of pure disgust and hatred in his eyes when she asked him about her. "Second off, that sounds like Damon's side of the story. And third off, you've never called him Saint Stefan before."
"Defending your man, I see," Destiny teased. "And I've called him that in my head multiple times. You've just never heard it out loud. But seriously, even though the story may be half made up with lies from Damon, it's obvious those three brothers have some serious issues with each other." Looking slightly worried now, Destiny added, "Just be careful please, Aster. I can't lose you."
Smiling softly, Asteria grabbed Destiny's hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "You won't."
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
"Sweetheart! You look wonderful," Carol Lockwood, the mother of Destiny, complimented after looking over her daughter. "And you, Asteria! Look at you! Beautiful! Absolutely beautiful."
"Thank you, Mrs. Lockwood," Asteria replied sweetly.
"Yeah, thanks Mom," Destiny replied softly. "Oh! Look at the food they have, Aster!" Destiny exclaimed before dragging Asteria away from her mom.
Asteria laughed. "Really? The food distraction?"
Shrugging her shoulders, Destiny replied, "It worked, didn't it? Besides she was going to start rambling and I do not need that tonight."
"There, there," Asteria muttered reassuringly. Grabbing two glasses off the table, she offered, "Champagne?"
Taking the glass happily, Destiny smiled, "You know me too well."
Clicking their glasses together, Asteria took a sip with a devious smile on her face. "The party is finally starting."
Looking around, Destiny noticed what Asteria was talking about. "Ohh, there's some tension over there. Makes me want to join their conversation just for the fun of it."
"Trust me, that's one situation you don't want to get sucked into," Asteria snorted, eyeing Elena, Stefan, and Damon in distaste.
Sighing, Destiny replied, "Can't argue with that. Oh! Chocolate fountain! We'll talk later, Aster!" With a burst of excitement, Destiny rushed over to where the chocolate fountain was, muttering happily, "I can't believe my mom added one this time. I thought after last time she'd never use it again."
Asteria laughed to herself as she watched Destiny rush away. Sipping her champagne, her mind wandered back to the vision she saw earlier today.
"You've been growing vervain," Stefan muttered in shock, staring at the room full of vervain.
"It's just something that's been passed down through the generations. Blood only runs so deep when you're related to vampires," Zach replied. "Damon would kill me if he knew that I had it."
"But you're telling me. Why?" Stefan questioned curiously.
"Because I trust you," Pausing, he added, "And you're going to need it if you want to get rid of Damon." Hesitating, he asked, "Are you going to get rid of Gabriel as well?"
Stefan was silent for a moment before answering, "If I have to. I can't allow him to hurt anyone here."
"Asteria? Are you alright?" A voice questioned, snapping her out of her memory.
Blinking quickly, her eyebrows raised in surprise as she noticed Stefan Salvatore standing in front of her. "Stefan," she nodded her head. "Can I help you?"
"I noticed you were alone and just wanted to make sure everything's fine," Stefan explained, eyeing her unfinished drink.
A frown threatened to pull on her lips, but she kept a smile on her face. "I'm fine. Just enjoying the music. Why aren't you dancing with Elena?"
Stefan frowned for a slight second before shrugging, "Damon asked her to dance while I was grabbing some drinks." Clearing his throat, he asked, "Are you going to finish that?" He nodded at the drink in her hand.
She wanted to tell him no after the way he was acting, but she was pretty sure he just dumped some vervain in there while she was drifting off in thought. Grinning, she lifted the glass to her mouth. Before drinking it, she quickly sniffed it, confirming it was vervain and not something poisonous before downing the rest of her drink. She watched as relief flashed through his eyes before he smiled and excused himself, saying he wanted to go dance with Elena. Watching him walk away, she rolled her eyes. For a hundred-something-year-old vampire, he was pathetically bad at lying, coercing, and hiding his emotions.
"He put something in your drink, sweet girl," Gabriel whispered into her ear, causing her to turn around in surprise.
Her breath hitched as she watched his dark eyes glance down at her lips. Clearing her throat, she took a step back and replied, "I know."
"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow. "And you still drank it? How dangerous."
Snorting, she remarked, "I knew exactly what I was drinking. Your brother isn't exactly subtle."
Gabriel's lips tightened in anger. "Don't call him that."
"Why?" Asteria questioned. "He is your brother, you know."
"Maude, don't play with me tonight," Gabriel growled out, leaning closer to Asteria's face. "You know exactly why I dislike that term."
Frowning, Asteria mumbled, "Sorry about that. I know it's a sensitive subject."
Sighing, his head dropped down for a moment before he looked at Asteria once more. "It's alright," he reassured. "Just please don't call him that when you're with me." He watched her nod in agreement before lifting his hand and asking, "Maude, may I have this dance?"
Grinning, she placed her hand in his and answered, "You may, kind sir."
They walked onto the dance floor together, gathering lots of looks from the crowd of people there. Asteria noticed the way they started whispering while glancing at them and held back the urge to snap at them. Small towns. They seriously have nothing better to do than to gossip.
Placing a hand on her hip and the other on her shoulder, Gabriel whispered, "Don't look at them. Just look at me."
"Possessive," Asteria teased, as they began dancing to the music.
"Only for you," Gabriel smirked. Noticing eyes on him, he looked up and made eye contact with a pair of pale green eyes. He watched how Stefan was looking at them with narrowed eyes so to further spur his imagination, he pulled Asteria closer and leaned closer to her neck. Stefan's eyes widened in surprise and it took all he had not to start laughing.
"What are you doing?" Asteria questioned in amusement, allowing Gabriel to maneuver them closer to the edge of the dance floor.
"You smell divine," Gabriel whispered, taking pleasure in the way Stefan seemed to stiffen up.
Preening, Asteria remarked, "Thank you! It's a custom perfume."
Gabriel hummed, "Perhaps you should show me your perfume collection. I've never met someone who's smelled as sweet as you."
"Oh? And what do I smell like to you Mr. Salvatore?" Asteria teased, knowing full well what he was doing.
"Gabriel," a voice cut in before Asteria could get her reply.
Looking up, Gabriel smiled mockingly, "Hello, Stefan. Enjoying the night?"
"I need to talk to you," Stefan demanded.
"How rude of you," Gabriel replied with a fake frown. "I'm dancing with a lovely lady right now. It would be rude to walk away."
Smiling stiffly at Asteria, Stefan spoke to Gabriel, "I'm sure she wouldn't mind if we talked for a moment. Do you, Asteria?"
Frowning, Asteria commented, "Actually I do. I'm quite enjoying my time in Gabriel's arms and I'd prefer to stay here for a while longer." Stefan opened his mouth to protest but was cut off by Asteria adding, "If anything, you should check on your brother's girlfriend, Tiki. She looks stressed."
Turning his head in surprise, Stefan realized that Tiki seemed to be really worried about something. He watched as Damon appeared in front of her looking unhappy, before dragging her away. Stefan rushed after them.
Bringing Asteria's attention back to him, Gabriel muttered, "You're an observant little thing, aren't you?"
Grinning, Asteria replied, "It's something I take pride in."
"Shall we continue our dance, sweet girl?" Gabriel questioned as he already began moving them further onto the dance floor.
Laughing, Asteria joked, "Why ask if you've already decided?"
Before Gabriel could say anything else, a voice called out to them.
"Asteria, honey, could I talk to you for a moment?" Carol asked.
"I'll be right back," Asteria whispered to Gabriel before walking over to Carol.
"Is everything alright, Mrs. Lockwood?" Asteria questioned, looking around to see if she could spot Destiny.
"Yes, of course. I was just wondering if you've seen the Gilbert pocketwatch. It was supposed to go into the collection but still isn't there," Carol explained.
"Oh, I'm sorry Mrs. Lockwood, I haven't seen it. I thought Elena was handling that?" Asteria replied with an apologetic smile.
Waving her off, Carol answered with a strained smile, "Don't worry about it. I was just checking to see if maybe you noticed it fall out of a box or something."
"Well, if I do find it, I'll be sure to inform you," Asteria offered, watching as Mrs. Lockwood seemed to relax at her words.
"That would be wonderful, honey," Carol replied, relaxing slightly. "I need to go check on the living room!" With those words, she rushed off.
"Aren't you a busy busy bee tonight, Aster," Destiny teased as she appeared before Asteria.
Laughing, Asteria remarked, "I could say the same for you. Did you enjoy your date with the chocolate fountain?"
Destiny sighed dreamingly, "I had the best time. As I'm sure you've had as well." Pointing behind Asteria, Destiny teased, "I think your hot devil is still waiting for a dance." Shooing Asteria away, Destiny laughed, "Go have fun."
"You going to be ok by yourself?" Asteria questioned in concern.
Smiling softly, Destiny replied, "Of course I will be." Winking, Destiny added, "I have a piece of jewelry to go get."
Giving Destiny one more smile and a secret nod, Asteria glided over to where Gabriel was standing. "I believe I still owe you a dance?"
"That you do, sweet girl," Gabriel replied, staring at her with dark eyes.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Zach and Stefan stood outside the cellar door, staring at the unconscious vampire lying on the floor.
Staring sadly at his brother, Stefan thought, I did what I had to do. To protect Elena, to protect everyone. Yes, Damon, the headline reads "Deadly beast captured. All is well in Mystic Falls." Sighing he wondered how he was going to deal with Gabriel.
▔▔▔
"Thank you all for staying so late," Mr. Lockwood remarked, looking at the people in front of him.
"Did you get the Gilbert watch?" Sheriff Forbes questioned.
"Elena claims it's packed away in her parents' things," Mrs. Lockwood explained tensely. "Asteria hasn't seen it either."
Speaking up, Logan offered, "I can get it."
Nodding in appreciation, Sheriff Forbes responded, "Good. We're going to need it."
"Are you sure?" Mr. Lockwood questioned in concern.
"Five bodies all drained of blood? I'm certain," Sheriff Forbes stated.
"They've come back," Logan whispered.
As she opened her eyes, her eyes glowed bright green for a split second before settling back to her regular blue eyes. Looking up at her ceiling, she smiled, "Yes, they're back. And so am I."
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞: i love my babies so much. asteria also literally gives no fucks about what's happening with elena's drama lol. she protects those she cares about. everyone else can be collateral damage.
hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! don't forget to vote & comment! xoxo~