The day after Maddox saved Caroline and me, I stumbled downstairs into the kitchen, only to run into Alaric "Angel," he greeted with a smile "How are you?"
I eyed him suspiciously. Did Damon tell him? "Why?"
"Because you look like you haven't slept," the man pointed out, slightly surprised at my tone "Did something happen?"
My shoulders slumped and I sighed, running a hand over my face "No, everything's just fine. Sorry about that."
"Don't worry. Hey, I was on my way to the Boarding House. Wanna tag along?" my aunt's boyfriend offered.
"Sure," I nodded "Just let me get changed."
Alaric's head shot up "Don't forget to take a dress for the Tea Party thingy. Jenna said that Carol wanted you there."
I blinked "Right... That's today?"
"Yes," my History teacher nodded, looking at me in concern "Are you sure that you're alright?"
"Yes, yes," I waved off "I'm just peachy. Excuse me..." I quickly ran up the stairs, changing my clothes and finding the dress that I wanted to wear. It was one that I bought in New York with Nik... He actually selected it. The dress was a deep blue at the bottom and it had a lace corset part at the top "Done," I breathed, gasping for air when I was standing in front of Ric ten minutes later.
Alaric blinked a few times "Huh. Well, you're faster than Jenna, that's for sure."
I rolled my eyes "Everyone is faster than Aunt Jenna. She takes ages to get ready."
"Too true," the man laughed and opened the door for me "Come on."
The car ride to the Boarding House was silent. I was staring out of the window, thinking about Nik again. Maddox probably told him about what happened yesterday, so I'm not really looking forward to the next phone call I would be getting. One good thing that came out of the whole kidnapping situation was that Nik now had a werewolf to use for his ritual. I wasn't too sure about the others but as long as they didn't bother anyone I couldn't care less. Actually, I wanted to stay as far away from them as I possibly could.
I slid out of the passenger side, following Alaric up to the front door. He was about to knock when the door was opened, revealing Damon and a woman... I had seen her before... Wasn't she the newswoman? She took over for Logan Fell a while ago. Damon smirked down at the woman "Have a great day, honey." He leaned down to kiss her.
"Oh," the woman blinked when she saw us "Hey, Alaric. Later." I turned my head to look after her, not too insulted that she ignored me.
Damon looked at us with a small, triumphant grin "My new girlfriend. Andie Star, action news."
"It's not called action news," Ric mumbled in annoyance, walking past the vampire into the house.
Damon snorted "I know. I just like saying it. Hey, Angel. How are you doing?"
"I'm fine, Damon," I muttered, letting myself be drawn into his embrace. Except for Caroline and Maddox, he was the only one who knew that I was in the werewolves clutches as well. Jeremy was mostly busy with school and Anna now – not that I blamed him. I was glad that he had someone who took care of him and the other way around. I think that there was a good chance that Jeremy would move in with Uncle John once he went back to Denver.
Alaric looked from Damon down to me and back again "Seriously. What happened?"
"It's nothing," I waved off, falling onto one of the couches with a small sigh. Last night had been a bit rough. Even with Caroline there, I had nightmares but for the most part, I could keep them quiet.
Damon sighed and poured himself a drink. He wouldn't tell Alaric if I didn't want him to and that I could honour "Anyway, someone gave me this to kill Elijah." The vampire unrolled the dagger from its protective cloth "Said you have to dip the dagger in the remains of an old white ash tree that dates back to the Originals if there's any truth in that."
He handed the dagger to the other man who frowned "So you think it's a setup?"
"Could be," Damon shrugged "It's Katherine... Wouldn't put anything past her."
"I think the dagger actually works," I spoke up "Not too sure on the how and why but it should work..." Nik told me about the daggers that he kept in most of his siblings. They were made by some Hunters centuries ago to kill the Originals. Only they didn't work on Nik since he wasn't a pure vampire. I didn't care much for the details... Not yet in any case. If the Hybrid wanted to tell me, he would. In his own time. I wasn't the girlfriend who wanted to know everything. If he kept me in the loop, I'd be happy and if not then I trusted him enough to not harm my family.
Damon hummed "Alright... Then they work." He looked down at the silver dagger "What are you two up to today?"
"Well, Jenna and I were supposed to go to her family's Lake House but somehow, we both got roped into doing this Historical Society thing at the Lockwoods'," Alaric explained.
I nodded "Carol wants to show me off. After all, I'm one of Mystic Falls' celebrities now... Also, she wants me to be part of the Council. Not that I will join anytime soon. Uncle John is the one who deals with all of this..."
"So you're both going to be at the party where Elijah's the guest of honour," the vampire smirked.
Ric groaned "Tell me you're not gonna kill him at the tea party."
"No," Damon denied instantly "That would be stupid." I let out a short laugh. Damon was known to do stupid things. While he might not be in love with Elena, he still wanted Stefan to be happy. That would only happen if Elena was safe, so in default, Damon had to protect Elena at least somewhat. It wasn't the reason he wanted Elijah gone though. At least, I didn't think it was the reason. The Original was dangerous and Damon wasn't sure whether to trust the peace or not. In his experience, older vampires weren't known for being nice... That's what he told me "I want to know his endgame before I kill him but I do think it's time Elijah and I officially met."
Alaric glared at Damon in annoyance but left shortly after, leaving me with the vampire. I ran a hand down the dress that was lying next to me and sighed "Do you think it's a good idea?"
"Elijah is dangerous," Damon insisted "He has to die."
I shook my head "That's not what I meant. I was talking about Andie Star."
"It's just a bit of fun," the vampire muttered.
"I'm not telling you to stop, Damon," I sighed, tugging at my hair "I'm saying that you should be careful. She's a pretty public figure and when someone sees... Just promise me that you'll be careful?"
The Salvatore smiled a bit "I should have known," he replied fondly "You never tried to change me before."
I looked up at him in shock "Why would I do that? You're my best friend slash older brother. I like you for you, Day. You're a vampire and that's in your nature. I don't care as long as you don't get hurt... I don't want you to get hurt."
"Thank you, Angel," he whispered, drawing me into a tight hug.
We sat in silence for another while before we got changed. Well, I got changed. Damon only put on his leather jacket, while I quickly put on the dress, braiding my hair into an inverted fishtail.
At the Lockwoods' Mansion, I was leaning on Damon's arm a bit when Jenna came up to us "Angel. There you are... Mrs. Lockwood already asked for you."
"She's really trying to show me off, isn't she?" I groaned, hiding my face in the vampire's leather-clad arm.
"I'm afraid so. Now... Go and greet her, would you?" Aunt Jenna commanded, shooing me off in the direction of the older woman.
I glared at her and Damon who was laughing at me before I made my way to where Carol was conversing with Elijah "Hello, Carol... Elijah."
"Angel," the woman smiled, hugging me briefly "You two already met?"
"When I came home from New York," I nodded "Aunt Jenna was looking for the journals."
Carol smiled "Ah, how was New York?"
"Good," I replied "They loved the paintings again."
"Angel here is an amazing artist. In fact, the picture here was painted by her," Carol told Elijah with a smile.
I closed my eyes for a moment. Why? Why did she have to brag about that so much? I already had several people asking me to paint them something. Most of the Founding Families were on that list. Thanks to Carol, I'd actually have to do those. Not that I didn't enjoy painting but they wanted to have them as soon as possible which I wouldn't do... "It's nothing," I waved off "A hobby that I can make money with."
It was then that Damon approached us. The woman looked up and smiled "Damon." She leaned forward to peck his cheek in greeting.
"Carol," he greeted with a grin.
"Hi," she nodded "Elijah, I want you to meet Damon Salvatore. His family is one of Mystic Falls' Founding Families."
Damon nodded with fake interest in his eyes "Hm. Such a pleasure to meet you."
"No," the Original smiled tightly "Pleasure's mine."
I rolled my eyes at their 'manly exchange' and looked around, hoping for an escape. When my eyes fell on my uncle, I quietly excused myself, slipping over to John. I didn't stop until I wrapped my arms around his waist and buried my head in his chest "Hello, uncle."
"What's wrong?" he asked immediately.
I just shook my head "It's been a shitty few days. I'm fine though."
He looked down at me with knowing eyes "You know that you could always come to live with me, right? You don't have to stay here."
"That's not it," I sighed "It... Something happened yesterday and I don't want to talk about it."
"If it has shaken you up this badly, then it might be better for you to tell someone," John murmured, tilting my head up "You don't have to hide from us. I told you this when you were a child and I'll tell you now."
I blinked away the tears and shook my head "It's nothing... Not important."
"Fine," he relented "If you won't talk about that, would you mind telling me what Damon is doing with Elijah?"
I craned my neck to look at whatever he was looking at, only to see Damon leading Elijah to Mr. Lockwood's study "He's getting himself killed."
"You don't sound very sure in his abilities," my uncle teased.
I snorted out a laugh "That's because Damon has the habit to go against people who are stronger than him. It's his choice though and I won't interfere as long as it doesn't hurt anyone."
"Probably a good thing," he grinned before glancing down at his watch.
"You have somewhere to be?" I questioned curiously, seeing his startled and slightly panicked look.
Uncle John nodded "I have a date with Pearl in ten minutes..."
"Then hurry." I shooed him away "I heard that girls or women don't like it if you're late."
"Of course you're the exception?"
I nodded sagely "If you have a good reason why you're late then sure."
He rolled his eyes and pressed a short kiss to my forehead "You know how to reach me if you want to talk. I love you, kid."
"Love you too," I smiled, watching him hurry away. It didn't take too long until Damon appeared, pulling me away from the people and out of the door. Only outside did I really notice the fact that he was clutching a bloody handkerchief to his neck "What happened?" I pulled the cloth to the side to see an almost healed stab wound.
Damon hissed when I ran my finger over the mark lightly "Mr. Smith didn't appreciate my manners apparently."
"Told you so," Alaric spoke up from behind us.
"There's no time for that," the vampire grumbled, pulling me along again "I need a drink. You coming?"
My History teacher sighed "Sure. But only for a bit. I have a date with Jenna."
I looked at him "Why does everyone have a date tonight? That's so unfair."
"Well, because their significant others don't live in New York," Damon pointed out "Why don't you call him later?"
I shrugged "I doubt he's going to be happy about the fact that I was kidnapped by werewolves yesterday."
"You were what?!" Ric exclaimed.
"Damn," I winced, realizing what I just said "It's nothing... Please don't tell Aunt Jenna?"
Alaric glared at me "Fine. I won't tell her. I'll tell John."
"No," I shouted "Don't... Please? I got out, didn't I?"
"Is that why you've been acting weirdly all day?" the teacher questioned.
I shrugged, looking at my feet "I felt like hugs today. The feeling is rare enough... Can we go now? I don't want to talk about it." As soon as we reached the Boarding House, I excused myself to change out of my dress and into one of Damon's shirts I nicked from his closet. For some reason, Nik's shirts were way more comfortable than my own. Same with Damon's and Jeremy's... Well, I wouldn't complain in any way. Before I went back downstairs, I leaned against the wall, closing my eyes tiredly. I hadn't meant for Alaric to find out about what happened with the werewolves. If Uncle John ever finds out about what happened, he wouldn't take no for an answer. He would definitely take me to Denver with him, no matter what I thought about it.
I jumped when a loud crash sounded from downstairs. It was followed by several more until I heard a body hit the ground and a quiet voice "Whew. Damn, you're strong... It took the whole syringe." I recognized the voice. That was one of the werewolf pack. What was he doing here? "Grab that one. He's dead." He wasn't alone? Dammit... What to do? I couldn't make any noise because they're wolves... Wolves. That's it. I retreated a few silent steps and took a deep breath. After a couple more, I could slowly feel my body changing into my animagus form. I crept down the stairs carefully, practically crawling into the parlor, surveying the scene. Alaric was dead on the ground, while Damon was unconscious and tied to a chair with heavy chains. I growled when one of the werewolves – Stevie, I believe – was about to put a collar around the vampire's neck. With one quick lunge, I was on top of his, snarling in his face. No one hurts my family and lives. No one.
"What?" Damon's groggy voice distracted me for a short moment. It was enough for the werewolf to throw me off and into a wall.
"Morning, sunshine," Stevie grinned ferally, stepping closer to Damon "What did you do with Jules, hm?"
The vampire blinked sluggishly, eyes drifting to me "I have no idea what you're talking about. I haven't seen the psycho bitch." Stevie moved quickly and thrust one of the pokers into Damon's stomach, causing him to groan.
I shook off the daze from the hit and immediately launched myself at the werewolf again, this time actually biting down. Suddenly, I smelt the scent of vampire – older, stronger vampire and backed off "I heard you're looking for the girl," Elijah spoke up, a teasing smirk on his lips.
"What do you know?" Stevie groaned, holding the wound on his neck.
"More than you," the Original said. One of the wolves used his speed to rush towards the old vampire but Elijah being Elijah, plunges his hand into the wolf's chest to rip out his heart.
While he was taking care of the pack, I crawled towards Ric, my belly touching the rough carpet on the floor as I whined. I carefully forced my nose into the man's hand, hoping for some kind of response. A whimper left my throat when Alaric didn't wake up. Elijah was talking to Damon in the background but I ignored it, focusing on my aunt's boyfriend. Alaric was wearing the Gilbert Ring but that didn't mean anything. He was still dead and I hated it. I hated the fact that I couldn't protect the people I saw as family. It made me feel weak. Why did I have magic if it didn't work when I needed it? Some buried feelings bubbled up inside of me. Anger at myself, at the magic that was running through my veins. If I was so powerful, then why couldn't I defend myself against Vernon? Why did I just let him hurt me?
I jumped when a gentle hand touched my head "Easy," Damon soothed, running his hand through my fur. I looked up to see that Elijah had gone, leaving the dead werewolf pack in the parlor with us "Where did you come from, hm?" I jumped up at him playfully before taking a couple of steps back. Within a minute, I was a human again, shaking out my limbs "Angel?!"
"Hey, Damon," I smiled sheepishly.
"Since when can you turn into a wolf?" he questioned in surprise.
I shrugged "Not too long... I just got it down before I left for New York." I stopped and looked at him "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," the vampire nodded "Thank you."
"I didn't do anything."
Damon ruffled my hair "You did. You do more than you think, Angel. Just..." He shook his head "Never mind. How about I get you home? Maybe sleeping beauty will be awake until I'm back."
"Alright," I whispered.
Omake
Klaus was standing over one of the coffins that held his family. His sister to be specific. After what Maddox told him, he didn't want him to be the only one to look out for his girl. Angel – whether she wanted it or not – was a danger magnet. She constantly got into situations where she could die and he hated it. He hated not being there for her but there were some things that he had to take care of first. One of his witches had told him that she could find Mikael and the Hybrid wanted to get rid of him before he joined his girlfriend in Mystic Falls.
"What?" Rebekah breathed, opening her eyes in confusion. Once her gaze fell on Nik and the coffin, she hissed in anger "You bastard. How long?"
"Ninety years, sister," Niklaus murmured, looking down at her with regret in his eyes "I – I'm sorry."
The youngest Mikaelson blinked. She hadn't expected her brother to be the one to undagger her and she certainly didn't expect him to actually apologize "Who are you and what have you done with Nik?" she couldn't help but tease.
Klaus glowered at her without any heat before he sighed "There's a Doppelgänger."
"Are you serious?" the blonde gaped "That's amazing, Nik."
"I know," he smiled, helping his younger sister out of the coffin "There's just something you need to do for me if that's alright?"
Rebekah's eyes widened "You're actually asking me? What changed you so much?"
"An incredibly understanding person," he told her, eyes lighting up as soon as he thought of Angel. She really was perfect. The people who thought differently weren't worthy of her presence "I'm close to finding Mikael and I don't want to risk him coming after us. Could you go to Mystic Falls and try to get close to her?"
Rebekah considered it for a moment "If you take me shopping for clothes, I will. For you."
"Thank you, sister. I really do appreciate it."
"You must tell me about the girl who got through to you. She must be an amazing person to put up with you," the blonde girl teased.
Niklaus rolled his eyes "She is. She really is."