Billie promised to never drink again. She briefly flashed back to the last time she'd promised that, but her head simply hurt too bad to linger on any thought for long. Pulsing echoed in her ears and she fought the pained groan in her throat. Fortunately, the curtains were drawn and the room was encased in a soft glow from the little light that escaped. Even then, it was still a little too bright for her.
She spotted asprin and water to her left on Georgie's bedside table. They were both bathed in a nauseating light that made Billie want to cover her eyes.
The painkillers are a good idea? No shit! She thought bitterly to herself, wishing there was some way to just turn it off for a day. Well, there was a way, but Billie had learned from past experiences that it was best to just deal with her gift. She was bad enough at making decisions anyway.
She downed two pills with the water as quickly as she had downed the vodka the night before. Her throat was still feeling particularly scratchy, but the thirst was gone. Just as she shifted her thoughts to hunger, a trail of light appeared, halting at the closed door.
Billie rolled her eyes. Pulling the cover off of her, she found herself still wearing the dress from the night before, but the soft fabric didn't prove overly uncomfortable. She changed into one of Georgie's huge and comfortable shirts. The army green fabric fell to her mid thigh, giving Billie plenty of comfortable breathing room, qualities she never had trouble finding in Georgie's wardrobe.
The light was growing brighter, as if getting impatient with her and Billie headed to the door, only to make it go away because it was hurting her eyes. The second the door opened, the smell of cooking breakfast attacked her nostrils and her stomach rumbled. The light from the open windows in the living room also attacked her red eyes but Billie only winced and covered her eyes, following her nose to the kitchen where her sights fell on an unlikely scene.
Damon danced softly to music in his mind, a pan in his hold with a fresh pancake he flipped expertly.
Without turning he greeted her cheerily. "Morning, sunshine." He whirled on his toes, carrying the pan and smoothly slid the contents on top of a stack of two other pancakes
"Breakfast... is served." He flourished his hands outwards, presenting his masterpiece proudly.
Billie winced slightly at the loudness of his voice combined with the flair of the afternoon sun outside.
She observed the dish with great interest, her stomach rumbling loudly once again. Damon chuckled, easily hearing the noise and presented a knife and fork from the drawer.
Harper looked up at him in surprise. "Is this for me?" She asked softly, her voice rough from the night's activities combined with her natural morning voice.
He rolled his eyes like it was a stupid question. "No, it's for Casper, the friendly ghost who lives in the corne-yes it's for you! Eat up." Damon pushed the plate closer to her encouragingly and Billie sat down, heeding his will. She didn't comment on the trail of light begging her to follow continuing to her front door and beyond.
While she ate, Damon cleaned up the kitchen. "I must say, you and your aunt combined form the ultimate slob." Billie laughed, throwing a towel from the island at the back of his head, which he caught, unfairly, might she add, with his supernatural speed.
Billie frowned, the memories of the night before, a jumbled jigsaw puzzle with several pieces missing. "What happened last night?" She asked, eager for enlightenment.
Damon chuckled, the night a new fond memory of his. "Well, we had a nice little crying session here, got to the Lockwood's where you got completely smashed, which may I just say is very entertaining. Mm... what else I can't think of anything else..." Damon tapped his chin melodramatically, a gleam in his eye.
"Damon." Billie looked at him with her hungover eyes, silently telling him to get on with it.
"Oh yes! I do remember a certain incident in which Katherine was knocked out and deposited safely in a happy little tomb to rot. And I, uh... fixed your downstairs friend's problem."
Billie's eyes widened at the information. They'd been busy last night.
"However..." Damon interrupted any happy thoughts. "There is some bad news." Billie frowned, officially curious.
"Tyler Lockwood triggered his curse last night. One of Katherine's games. And Stefan and Elena officially broke up." He put a hand over his heart. "Oh teen drama, how tragic."
He noticed that Billie winced again, like she had the night before and started rubbing her temples. It could have been the hangover, but Damon wasn't so sure. "What's wrong?"
Billie flicked her eyes up, masking the pain badly. "Uh, nothing, it's just the hangover." She dismissed suspiciously and Damon walked forward leaning over the counter to intimidate her, and boy did it work. "I could just compel you to tell me..." He left the suggestion hanging in the air and Billie gulped down a piece of his delicious pancakes.
Billie put down the knife and fork, holding her arms across her chest self-consciously. "It-it's probably nothing, man. You don't need to worry." But the worried frown on her face said otherwise.
He just raised his eyebrows disbelievingly, his threat becoming more and more of a good idea to him. Billie noticed the consideration in his eyes and conceded with a sigh.
"Yesterday, at the boarding house. While Ric was talking about staying with Elena, my eyes... they flashed dark for a second and my head started pounding. And again a few times throughout the day." Damon took in the information, already working through several ideas of what it could mean. "I didn't say anything because I didn't know what it meant and I didn't want anyone to start doubting the plan."
"And I remember sitting outside the room last night with you guys and thinking maybe it was just a warning telling me Elena and Katherine were linked, but I felt it again then and one more time right now."
Billie sat quietly, fiddling with her hands guiltily. Damon pulled out his phone and started dialling a number, immediately getting to the point when they picked up. "Is Elena with you." He demanded. The person on the other line talked for a moment.
"Go check." Damon spoke, nerves increasing, his foot tapping against the floor and daylight right against the counter.
The answer came a moment later and it was clearly not a good one because Damon curtly bid them goodbye and hung up.
He turned to her, shoulders tense. "Jeremy says her bed hasn't been slept in. He hasn't heard from her since last night." Billie knew of Damon's feelings for Elena, it was obvious. She knew he would blame her for this.
Billie closed her eyes, livid at herself for not saying anything. She quickly stood up, disregarding the empty dish. "We need to go, call Stefan tell him we're on our way over, I'm gonna put on pants." Billie glared at the trail of light with contempt.
"I think I might be able to find her."
»»»
Billie had shoved on the first pair of pants she found, dark blue skinny jeans. She didn't bother changing the shirt and bounded outside with Damon. They drove quickly to the Salvatore house, Billie starting to get more fidgety after they'd diverted from the trail to pull up to the house and pick up Stefan.
The brunette sibling quickly emerged from the house on hearing the car pull up, eager to help, his recent ex. Billie turned to Damon urgently once Stefan had climbed in. "Switch with me. I need to follow the trail." Billie quickly opened her door before Damon had time to question her and he begrudgingly did the same. Billie felt like a walking parade of nervous tics being off the trail even for a second.
The second she'd closed the driver side door, she started the car up, bounding out of the drive, her sole focus on the white mist hopefully leading her to their missing friend.
Damon voiced his thoughts. "You wanna tell us what's going on, Blue." He asked, his tone more guarded with her than it usually was, Billie's nervousness rubbing off on both brothers as their legs bounced up and down.
She took a hand off the wheel to point ahead of them. "The trail, it'll lead us to Elena, I know it will."
Stefan and Damon shared a look in the mirror, deciding to trust her. Billie shook her head shamefully. "I'm so sorry. It's my fault, I should have said something."
Damon nodded his head, eyes on the rapidly moving landscape outside. "I agree."
Stefan moved forwards to sit on the edge of his seat and put a reassuring hand on Billie's shoulder. "It's not your fault, Billie. You can't blame yourself, you didn't know what it meant."
Billie hesitantly nodded, accepting the comfort but still feeling incredibly guilty inside.
They drove for a long time. Billie's eyes drying out from how little she blinked them. Stefan called Bonnie from the backseat, she was with Jeremy trying to find Elena, but Bonnie was still new to locater spells. She only managed to send her friend a warning of their arrival. Only Stefan and Damon could hear when Bonnie asked if Billie was alright, saying how she was worried about her
Stefan glanced at Billie in the driver's seat, back stiff and eyes unblinking at the road ahead, following a trail no one else in the car could see. He reassured Bonnie and she asked him to call with updates before he said goodbye and hung up.
The brothers chattered quietly, Stefan bringing up the minor elephant in the room about how Damon was in love with his girl, all the usual jazz. But Billie just watched the trail wisp around on the road ahead with unbreakable concentration.
»»»
About two and a half hours later, Billie muttered to herself while she was driving, a frown spreading between her brows. "What the hell?"
She'd meant for it to be a quiet show of confusion but the vampires turned to her, surprised to hear her speak at all. Stefan moved forward in the front seat. "What? What is it?"
Billie shook her head slightly. "I've been following a trail of light this whole time, and I know it's Elena. But..." Billie frowned deeper, squinting her eyes at the road, like what she saw was an error.
Damon turned his attention from the passing scenery. "But what?"
"The light, it's... mixed with dark now."
The brothers shared a look. "Well what does that mean? Is Elena okay?" Stefan voiced his worries a panic underlying his tone.
Billie paused, debating telling them. But look what happened last time she kept to herself. "Elena should be alright. I think you should be more worried about what we'll find with her."
At that observation, the trail forked off the main road and down a muddy track. "We're close." She warned the brothers.
Past a clearing of bushes and trees, a large white mansion stood proudly around a lawn of decayed grass. The windows were boarded and there was some graffiti on the far wall, but it was usable. In the driveway, a large black SUV was parked beside a sleek Audi. Billie stopped the car, getting startled at the sudden change. The light was now covering the whole house, but the darkness was starting to take over slowly, like they were running out of time. "Go! You need to hurry!"
They didn't need to be told twice, they disappeared with their supernatural speed while Billie sat in momentary shock. She startled out of it, debating if she should go in with them. Harper never could manage to stay out of it so she rooted through the trunk of Damon's car. She didn't know how to work a lot of the gadgets there, but wisps of light flowed around a homemade grenade filled with vervain presumably.
She grabbed it, choosing not to question her gift and bound towards the house, reassured when seeing that the takeover of light around the house was significantly slowed down.
It felt like forever until Billie reached the front door with her nauseatingly slow human speed. She slowed down at the door, opening it carefully. Her plan was... well, Billie didn't really have a plan. She was hoping to make it up as she went along. But Billie had wanted to do it with stealth. Something she quickly realised was impossible when fighting vampires.
On entry, Billie spotted a man in an elegant suit at the steps of an extravagant stairway. Elena stood at the top, a hand across her chest and clutching her arm. Billie was glad to see her, but the girl looked at her with wide eyes as the man turned to face her.
Billie's mind drew a blank for a moment and she resorted to what she always did. Her charm. It wasn't much but it was honest work.
Harper smiled a friendly grin, hoping to slow down the tense situation a bit. She knew Stefan and Damon were somewhere, probably cursing her for grabbing the attention of the enemy.
"Hey there, neighbour! You seem very lovely, but I'm here to pick up my friend. Any chance you'd let us peacefully walk out the door?" Billie tried her horrible luck for a go. The man smirked and spoke in a British accent, but his eyes seemed surprised at her. Not her arrival, no that wasn't it. Something about her peaked his interest.
"I'm afraid that won't be possible. The doppelganger will come with me. I don't suppose you could join us. You're gift would be of the utmost use." Billie got distracted. He knew what she was. A part of her wanted to just talk to him but she knew the situation would never allow it. So she painfully pushed aside her own selfish curiosity. She quietly pulled the pin on the grenade behind her back.
"I figured as much." Billie threw the grenade in a pathetic overhand. It would have sailed past his head but the vampire caught it, observing it for a moment before coming to the realisation that it would explode. And it did. Right in his pretty face. Billie immediately started to feel bad. Who was she to throw grenades at people? Luckily for her general wellbeing, before the immortal recovered, someone had whisked her away with supernatural speed. She would have shrieked in surprise, but a hand was over her mouth.
When the world stopped spinning, she had her back against a wall and Damon's face came into focus. He slowly took his hand away, putting his finger to his lips, urging her to stay silent.
Billie heard repeated gunshots from the stairway and the man grunting in pain. Damon sped away to help his brother.
Harper caught her breath and ran to where the noise sounded, just in time to see Damon shove a snapped, wooden coathanger into the vampire and impaling him in the door. His head hung forward and a moment of silence sounded between them all. Billie noticed a woman at the bottom of the stairs with spiked hair and black biker clothes.
Once she saw the vampire dead, the woman ran away in the blink of an eye, too fast for any of them to react. Damon moved to go after her but a word from Elena stopped him in his tracks.
Billie watched with pity as Elena descended the stairs in tearful relief to hug Stefan while Damon stood away, his heart chipping into small pieces.
They hurriedly left the house, Elena eager to get back home. Billie descended the stairs slowly, realising quickly that Elena held the priority in the situation, which was fine with her. But Billie couldn't help the sting she felt when they left without a single glance back. No matter, it gave her a second to observe the man Elena had named Elijah.
He was impaled and dessicated but Billie could still see a hint of light swirling around him, like her mind was undecided about the vampire. She pursed her lips and softly patted his suit, finding a pen and taking out the handkerchief in his pocket. She scribbled a note for him and deposited it into his pocket, leaving the house without a glance backwards.
For the life of her Billie didn't know why she did that. She didn't know why her heart wouldn't believe Elijah was dead, why it compelled her to write that note. He'd been staked in the heart with wood. That should have been it. So why did she feel like that? She held her tongue though. Billie knew it was selfish, but she wanted to find out more about herself as no one seemed to have any answers for her. Besides, Billie wouldn't have spotted the light around him if it was a particularly bad idea. That thought comforted her on the long three hour drive back to Mystic Falls.