(1) Just Magic (D. Salvatore)

Chapter Twenty-Two

Damon finds himself standing in the town square, his eyes on Cassandra, she stands ahead of him, back to him, but she's wearing that little black dress. She stands looking up at the red sky above the town square. That was his first clue that this is a dream.

"Cassandra?" She glances over her shoulder to find Damon frowning at her, he notes that her eyes are glowing red. So it means he didn't imagine that from the party. That really happened. He just can't figure out why.

"You don't usually talk" She points out. "None of you do...." He looks around, finds people that she knows all around them but they are silent. There is no sound here at all. His eyes linger on where Elena and Stefan are curled up on a bench, snuggling. Damon scoffs a little but there is something off about this. He assumed this was his dream. It's weird but not the weirdest dream. But this red glow on everything isn't him. He looks back at Cassandra who worries her hands together. It's her. This is her dream. How the hell did he get in here? When he takes a step towards her, she takes a step back away from him and he stops. That's understandable. He did try to choke her out. She holds out her hand and curls her fingers, red energy wrapping around the digits, she tilts her head and his eyes widen as a car wrapped in energy is thrown at him.

.............

Cassandra wakes with a groan, reaches up and presses the heel of her hand into her head as the red in her eyes dies down. No one has ever spoken in her dreams before.

..........

Damon wakes at the same time with a surprised noise. That was unexpected. There is obviously something different with her. Something that might not be human.

"Interesting" Damon mutters as he pushes himself against the cell wall. His eyes flickering to the door. He knows where he is. The basement cell of the Salvatore house. Stefan must have gotten to him after Cassandra's little brain beating. Maybe that is what this is. Whatever she did....linked them? That sounds stupid but what else does he have to explain it?

.............

The alarm sings on the bedside table next to Elena, which wakes her. She reaches over and turns off the blazing sound. She sits up and runs her fingers through her hair before standing and heading to the bathroom where she runs straight into Vicki.

"I'm sorry, I'm almost done" Vicki offers, Elena kind of just stares at her a moment before it sinks in.

"It's--it's ok. Take your time" Elena stammers out as she backs out of the room before hurrying down the stairs. "Jenna! Are you aware of what's going on upstairs?" Elena asks as she hurries into the kitchen where Cassandra and Jenna are having breakfast.

"Uh-huh." Jenna answers, Cassandra gives her a weird look.

"And you have no objection?" Elena asks.

"He could be craftier about it, at least make an effort to sneak her in and out" Jenna points out.

"So everyone, literally everyone is okay with Vicki sleeping with a fourteen-year-old child?!" Cassandra asks them.

"Cas" Jenna starts.

"No" She stops her from explaining it away. "Not in this house, not with Jeremy"

........

Cassandra marches towards the bathroom door and with a wave of her wrist, red mist throws the bathroom door open. Vicki spins to her.

"Cas" Vicki starts.

"Don't" Cassandra stops her. "This ends now" She threatens.

..........

Elena and Jenna frown hearing a thud from upstairs. Jenna goes to open her mouth to ask about it but is stopped by thud after thud on the stairs. Jenna and Elena hurry into the living room to find Cassandra dragging Vicki down the stairs by her hair. Vicki is clawing at Cassandra, trying to get her to release her.

"Cas!" Elena scolds. "What are you doing?"

"She's embarrassed this family for long enough," Cassandra tells her as she opens the front door and throws Vicki out. Cassandra glares down at her. "Go anywhere near him again, and I will go to the Sheriff's department and report you myself, if it hasn't been done already. I really, really hope you get what is coming for you, Vicki Donovan....." She then slams the door as Jeremy runs down the stairs.

"Cas" Jeremy starts. "What did you do that for?"

"She doesn't belong here, Jer" Cassandra answers.

"You don't get a say in that" Jeremy argues. "Jenna is the guardian here" Cassandra looks at Jenna and raises an eyebrow at her.

"I don't see the harm in it" Jenna offers.

"Vicki is an eighteen-year-old adult sleeping with a fourteen-year-old child." Cassandra points out. "There is a word for people like that...and it begins with a p and ends in aedophile" Jenna sighs a little.

"You're right" She admits.

"Yeah, I am...." Cassandra points out as she heads back up the stairs. Elena sighs and follows her.

........

Elena walks into Cassandra's bedroom as she is pulling a hoodie from her wardrobe. Cassandra's been in a bad mood, very bad mood since the Founders event. She can tell something happened, she can read her sister pretty well, but she's not talking. She's not said anything. She retreated to her bedroom, this is actually the first day that Elena's seen Cassandra before they've had to go to school.

"You've been in a bad mood since the Founders party." Elena points out as Cassandra pulls on her hoodie. "Did something happen?" Cassandra glances at her and shakes her head.

"Nope," She answers and moves to sit on her bed. Elena gives her a look. "Let's just say, that maybe Stefan was right about Damon" She admits, Elena's eyes sadden.

"What did he do?" Elena asks, Cassandra shakes her head. She doesn't want to talk about what happened that night. She knows that she has these new powers, but she had no idea she could actually knock someone out, that is if Stefan wasn't just trying to make her feel better and she didn't kill him. She really hopes she didn't kill him. He might have been strangling her, but she didn't want to kill anyone. She didn't want these powers to cause anyone pain. "Cas, did he...try and...." Elena gives her a look. "Because that..."

"No" Cassandra stops her, understanding what she is trying to say. "Not that...he's just not who I thought he was...." She shrugs. "I'll get over it. I tried it, the new friend thing...it didn't work" She gives Elena a sad smile. "I'll go back to regularly scheduled programming"