Try {One | Alaric Saltzman}

Brave New World

Caroline had been preparing for the Mystic Falls High School Carnival for months, but since she was still bound to a hospital bed, she would be missing the whole affair. Abigail was the obvious choice to take over since she had been right by Caroline's side throughout the planning process, so she did. She was entirely overwhelmed even though she knew every detail from the vendors to the number of tickets each attraction cost, but she wouldn't have it any other way.

"Hey, I moved the student booth into the cafeteria."

"Okay," Bonnie said. "I was just telling Elena that Katherine looks just like her."

Elena took a hesitant breath. "She is my ancestor."

"Your vampire ancestor," Bonnie emphasized. "And she didn't just resemble you like a family member would. She was you."

"I don't know." Elena's shrug held a deeper meaning, one she would not get into. "I can't explain it."

"It's creepy," Abigail chimed in. "That's all I got."

"I've been thinking, how do we know that Katherine's not still out there pretending to be Elena?" Bonnie asked.

"I don't think there is a way to know." She sighed. "We could sit here and worry about that or you guys could get these prizes to the ring toss and I could go back inside to check off the long list of things that still needs to be done."

Bonnie looked between them. "Have you talked to Damon since he killed Jeremy? Or tried to kill Jeremy?"

"No, Bonnie, we haven't," Elena responded. "And I don't want to talk about Damon or anything else that's vampire related."

"We're human. We have to do human things." Abigail pushed a bag full of plush toys to Bonnie. "Otherwise, we're going to go crazy."

"Okay, I'm sorry, I'll focus." Bonnie took the bag from her. "We have to make Caroline proud or she will kill us. I don't know how she does all of this."

"Well," Elena started, "she's not human, obviously."

"Obviously."

Abigail was practically running across campus when someone pulled her into an empty classroom. One of their hands was pressed against her mouth, the other was holding her against them, and the grip they had on her was firm. She struggled against it in the light barely let through the blinds, but she was let go just as fast as she had been grabbed.

"Oh, my God!" She pushed Alaric away. "You scared me."

"I'm sorry." The glint in his eyes faded slightly. "I just figured you could use a break."

As he leaned toward her, she shook her head. "If I take a break, I might drown."

"You can handle this, Bea." He scoffed. "It's a school carnival."

"That's not what I'm talking about." He only looked at her. "I just-I can't stop and think about anything else right now. I'm sorry."

She turned away from him, dropping the hand he'd managed to take in their short exchange. He stayed where he was as he had many times before, giving her time to leave with a look on his face that was hard to forget. But she opened and closed the classroom door as if it was not.

She was not expecting anyone to be in the hall, but, passing right by, was her sister. "Elena!"

Elena stopped, bringing them face to face. "Abigail, I was looking for you."

She smiled too widely. "Here I am!"

Alaric stepped out of the classroom. "H-hey, Elena!"

Elena waved at him. "I didn't know you were here already."