the inherent danger of a teenage girl
"SO, I CHECKED EMILY'S GRIMOIRE AGAIN AND IT'S WHAT I EXPECTED IN THE FIRST PLACE," Bonnie's tinny voice comes through the speaker of Athena's phone as she swings her locker open and exchanges her textbooks before heading to lunch.
"It has to be a Bennett witch that opens the tomb?"
"Yeah, but I think I could alter the barrier spell, too,"
Athena raises a brow as Caroline falls into stride with her, and holds up a finger to pause her apparent excitement. "Alter it to do what?"
"You know how no one can get in or out right now? Which means no crossing the barrier at all, and no access to anything on either side?"
Athena nods, despite Bonnie being unable to see it. "Painfully aware, yes,"
"Well, I think I can make it like a one-way door. People can get in, but they can't get out."
Athena stops in her tracks, making Caroline do the same. "You're saying you can make it to where people can get in, but they can't get out? Which means if we had a rogue vampire or worse, we could trap them in the tomb?"
Caroline looks around the emptying hallways as Athena speaks, her eyes widening with each hopeful word.
"I think so, but I'll need you. I don't have enough control yet, but if I channel you like Grams did, I can do it. All we have to do is bring the barrier down temporarily so Stefan can get out, and then use the new spell to create the new barrier."
"And you're sure you can make the new barrier?"
"Emily said it was possible, and I know that if Grams were here, she'd say I could do it."
Athena lets out a sigh of relief, her hand resting on her racing heart. "Okay, yeah– yes, I'll let you channel me, whatever it takes to get Stefan out. When will you be home?"
"I need at least a day or two to make the new spell, but I'll come to you and Damon first thing,"
"Okay, I'll, uh, see you soon, then. Bye, Bonnie."
Athena hangs up after Bonnie's farewell and pockets her phone, looking at Caroline before she lets herself process the news. "What's going on with you?"
Caroline grins, remembering her original excitement. "As you know, the Miss Mystic Falls pageant is in a few days,"
"I was avidly ignoring it, yes,"
"Well, what if you participated in it instead?"
Athena's face falls into a glare. "You didn't. Caroline, please tell me you didn't sign me up for this stupid pageant."
"Okay, I didn't sign you up for the pageant," Caroline pauses, nodding to herself. "Except that I did."
"Caroline, what the hell!" Athena throws her arms up, her exclamation echoing down the hallway. "I am not a pageant girl, okay? I don't do pageants. And that's nothing against you or any other girl that does, I just don't want to spend twelve hours of my life prancing around on a stage trying to impress strangers, when I could've done something better— like get Stefan out of the tomb."
"Okay, but he's been in there for almost a week, what's another few days?"
"Caroline!"
"Okay, okay, I was just kidding," Caroline pushed her hair out of her face, looking at Athena pleadingly. "Listen, our lives have been overtaken by vampires and— and witches, and scary things I can't think about too long or I get anxious, and the Miss Mystic Falls pageant is one of the only things I have left of my life before that, so I'm begging you, Athena,"
The brunette purses her lips, rolling her gaze away from Caroline's sad, pleading eyes. "Stop doing that."
"Doing what?"
"Giving me a sad speech and sad eyes, and making me feel bad about not wanting to do things,"
"I don't–"
"I'm not doing the pageant," Athena cuts her off, watching her face fall. "But I will help you win it. I'll walk you out, and help you get ready— you can borrow a dress if you need to."
Caroline's eyes brighten again, and she gives Athena a nod at the compromise. "That's totally fine– it's better, actually, because the prize is a scholarship, and no offense, but I'm pretty sure your dad could pay for Stanford out of pocket."
Athena sighs, giving her an exasperated smile and Caroline grins, feigning innocence. The blonde quickly starts, slapping Athena's arm rapidly, making her yelp and back away from Caroline.
"Ow, ow— what!"
"What was Bonnie saying on the phone about the tomb?"
Suddenly reminded of the good news, Athena grins wide in a way that makes Caroline's heart ache for the times when it was all she did. Though it was a rare sight now, it made her appreciate it all the more. "She found a way to get Stefan out of the tomb and she's coming home in a few days to do it."
Caroline's eyes widened in surprise. "Really? So Stefan will be free by the end of the week?"
"If he isn't, then I might kill someone again, so," Athena smiles wryly, and then strides past Caroline towards the lunchroom, leaving the blonde in the hallway to process her words.
"Wait– again? Athena!"
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"Athena, would you mind staying after class? I, uh, need to ask you a few questions,"
Athena looked up from the mindless scribbles she'd been making in the margins of her notebook, her eyes narrowing suspiciously at Mr. Saltzman. Though, knowing it would only gain curious eyes and ears, she simply agreed to his question as the bell rang and students fled from the classroom.
Alaric watched the young girl meticulously pack up her things, making sure she had everything she needed before she finally set her gaze on him.
He'd noticed far before he saw the incident the night of the dance that Athena Hunt was not a normal teenager. At first, he assumed that maybe it was another case of that popular kid in high school who thought they could ride the wave of relevancy for the rest of their lives, but he quickly learned otherwise.
She didn't carry herself like just anyone did, even a cocky kid who hadn't met the real world yet. She was refined and practiced like she'd gone through some royal etiquette training or something. He's sure that some students in this school probably considered Athena to be like royalty. He knew how the high school hierarchy worked.
And the supernatural seemed to flock to her if not just the Salvatores. Stefan was infatuated, that much was evident. He doted after the girl like it was his sole purpose in life, but that was to be expected with teenagers in love, immortal or not. He couldn't say anything, he fell head over heels with Isobel and despite his attempts at caution, he knew he was doing the same with Jenna.
Damon Salvatore's relationship with the girl threw him for a loop. He'd seen the night of the dance the way that he watched his brother and the girl dance around each other, watching others in their vicinity like they were a possible threat to their little bubble of sanctity.
The three of them all had such an odd dynamic, to begin with, but Damon and Athena seemed to be reckless at the best of times and downright dangerous to the public at the worst. Their relationship would've been otherwise innocuous if not for the fact that they've most likely killed multiple people together.
The girl could hold her own, that much was evident, but Damon was dead set on protecting her, even if it was from a distance.
And perhaps he wouldn't have thought twice about it. He's heard about Athena's father, Raphael, and how he's away for months at a time due to his work which left the girl without a steady paternal figure in her life.
But Damon Salvatore is a vampire. He's a monster. Alaric had watched Damon kill– turn– his wife and then disappear, and the man barely remembered doing it until it was best used to his smug capabilities in the public eye. He murdered people without blinking, compelled them to get what he wanted, and somehow managed to weasel his way into the council dedicated to killing people like him. Damon Salvatore was every bit a psychopath, yet when it came to his brother and Athena Hunt, all of that went out the window, it seemed.
This train of thought had led him down a bourbon-filled path in the wee hours of the morning, and he found himself with questions about the girl. What was she, for one? Unless she was just smarter than them all, he'd never seen a human that could get the drop on vampires as she had done so easily.
He'd fought vampires– hell, he'd tried to fight Damon the night before, and look how that turned out. It wasn't easy, they had the speed and the strength, and not to mention the fangs. Yet Athena was fine, spare a dislocated shoulder and a split lip. How could a seventeen-year-old girl do that without some sort of inhuman assistance?
He wanted to know why the Salvatore brothers seemed to follow at her beck and call, and maybe throw Caroline Forbes into that equation as well. She was yet another person who had this blind loyalty to Athena, and something like that seemed dangerous. Athena seemed dangerous.
Athena was lethal, even in her everyday monotony. Alaric didn't know what exactly it was, but sometimes he swore being around her made his skin buzz like she was a ticking time bomb waiting to go off. She put him on edge, and he didn't like being on edge. It led to mistakes, and when you liked to spend your free time hunting vampires, making a mistake often meant death.
"What did you want to talk about, Mr. Saltzman?"
Alaric clears his throat, leaning against the front of his desk as the girl approaches him with a calculating look in her eyes. As if she's already got three ways to kill him planned out if things go south. "Stefan has been absent for a few days, and I know you two are close. I was just wondering if he was alright, or if something was going on,"
It wasn't necessarily a lie, but he couldn't come out of the gate with What the hell are you, otherwise, he didn't doubt he'd actually end up dead this time around. And, he was curious as to where Stefan had been. No matter if it was all an act, Stefan put in effort in school, especially history for obvious reasons.
"He's caught something. A bad case of hay fever, I think. We went a hike the other day in the woods, and wildlife just doesn't agree with him," Her eyes shift to the open door as if that's a deciding factor in what she says.
He knows she's lying for the simple fact that vampires can't get sick, and Athena Hunt has never worn anything but neck-breaking shoes, let alone shoes fit for a hike. "That's unfortunate," He smiles placatingly, despite his suspicions. "If you'd like, I can gather the lessons he's missed for you to take to him?"
Athena smiles, sharp and cold. "That would be wonderful, Mr. Saltzman, I'm sure he'll appreciate it."
Alaric nods, warily turning his back on her. He can't quite stop the chills that crawl up his spine as he hears her heels click on the tile, but he quickly sits at his desk, giving her the best, unsuspecting look he can muster.
"You know, some kids think this position is cursed," Athena speaks, her eyes drifting around his classroom. "Because of what happened to Mr. Tanner,"
"Yeah, animal attack, right?" He figured it was a vampire. After their unfortunate encounter the other night, he figured it was Damon.
"It was tragic," She doesn't seem upset, she seems amused, if anything. "Do you think it's true?"
Alaric raises an eyebrow, his hands faltering while making the stack of papers for Stefan. "Do I think it's a cursed position? No," He chuckles, unable to stop it. "It was one incident, a fluke. The rumors are just kids being kids, you know?"
She nods slowly, kissing her teeth with her tongue. "Right."
Athena takes the papers offered from him, shifting the paperclip on them back and forth. "Was that all, Mr. Saltzman?"
"Actually, I wanted to ask you–"
"Athena!" Caroline Forbes juts her head in the room, barely sparing him a second glance. "Damon's waiting for us in the parking lot, let's go,"
Athena steps back from his desk, putting a distance between them he didn't realize had disappeared. As if she'd been inching closer to him to attack, like some sort of viper. "Sorry, Mr. Saltzman, I've gotta go,"
He waves the girls off, a smile on his face. "It's no problem, I'll catch you later. Have a good day, Caroline,"
"You too, Mr. Saltzman!"
Caroline drags Athena out of his classroom and Alaric waits until they're out of his earshot before he lets go of the large breath he'd been holding. He slid a stack of papers from his lower classmen before him and grabbed a pen, tapping it on the surface of his desk belatedly.
He hadn't gotten all of the answers he wanted regarding Athena Hunt, and he doubted he ever would. But he knew one thing for sure; she was dangerous, and seemed to have her sights set on getting rid of him.
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author's note; this chapter is boring so i'm sorry, also Alaric isn't being a creep I'm just tryna describe how Athena comes off to strangers and not people that are in love w her yk
originally published; 12.4.20.
edited: 11.30.23.
- liz