(2) Just Magic (D. Salvatore)

Chapter Thirteen

Cassandra, Damon, Elena and Alaric are in the car, heading towards Duke. There is a tense energy, what with the twins and their weird car-sharing issues, Elena still not being sure about Damon, and Alaric being in the same car as the vampire that turned his wife into a vampire, not to mention his wife's abandoned, teenaged twin daughters. There is a lot to be tense about. Damon twists a little in his seat so he can look at the twins in the back.

"How are you two doing back there?" Damon asks them, Cassandra hums and nods but Elena ignores Damon, turning to look out the window instead. "You know, this whole pretending to hate me thing is getting a little silly" He points out.

"I don't think she's pretending" Cassandra comments. "You did try and kill Jeremy" She reminds him.

"But I didn't" Damon defends. "And you forgave me"

"I'm having sex with you" she counters with a smirk. He snorts a little. "Pretty hard to be mad at someone that has a pretty huge........."

"Okay" Alaric stops her, she just smirks back at him as Damon snorts and nods in agreement.

"I was going to say bed, but whatever" Cassandra defends, sharing a look with Damon, he winks at her. Elena reaches over to lean on the seat, but that, unfortunately, puts her in Cassandra's space. On her side of the car. Cassandra's eyes narrow at Elena's arm before actually lunging.

"Ow," Elena complains, pulling her hand to her chest. "You bit me" She gives her sister a look.

"Reach over this side again!" Cassandra snaps, she and Elena staring at one another. Alaric glances back surprised by the growl that just came out of Cassandra.

"Cassie, we're 17, you cannot get this defensive over a seat" Elena scolds her.

"Reach across again, see if I still am" Cassandra warns her.

"What is going on?" Alaric asks.

"Cas is weird about cars and her side of the seat" Elena answers. "It comes from years of three kids wedged in the back...And Cas having a very short temper"

"And Elena having absolutely no regard for personal space" Cassandra counters. "This is why I prefer driving myself" She grumbles, crossing her arms over her chest. This whole thing goes further than just the three of them being wedged in the back of the car, this goes back to her and Elena sharing a bedroom. Cassandra always felt like Elena was always encroaching on her space.

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

At Duke University, Alaric, Cassandra, Elena, and Damon walk down a hall towards an office. This is definitely the weird department. Creepy paintings and displays. Supernaturally inspired. Cassandra slows to a stop as a painting catches her eyes. She steps closer to it. The painting is very red in colour. Various shades but all red. A figure, almost indistinguishable, stands in the centre of the swirling vortex of red magic. She cocks her head and stares up at the painting. Damon folds his arms over his chest at her side.

"What's it supposed to be?" He asks, she leans closer to the painting.

"The Scarlet Witch's Chaos" She reads from the little plaque. Damon glances at her and then at the painting. Bree's warning echoing in his head. "It's beautiful" Cassandra comments. "In a creepy way" She adds, Damon hums, staring at the painting. Something about it unsettles him. Obviously the whole Scarlet Witch thing, after Bree, but there is something else about it too, and the longer he stares at it, the worse that feeling gets.

"Guys" Alaric shouts of them from down the corridor. Cassandra moves away from the painting first, Damon staying a little longer to stare at it before he is walking at her side and approaching Alaric and Elena. "So Isobel was officially employed by the anthropology department given that most paranormal phenomenon is rooted in folklore" Alaric explains to them as they get closer to Isobel's office. A young woman sits behind a desk when they walk into the office. She is immediately alert and standing to greet them.

"Hi. I'm Alaric Saltzman, I called earlier"

"Yes, of course. I'm Vanessa Monroe, research assistant, comparative folklore" Vanessa introduces, but her eyes are on Elena. "Uh, let me just grab Isobel's keys" Vanessa rummages around in her desk.

"These are my friends Elena, Cassandra and Damon. I hope this isn't too much of an imposition" Alaric tells her.

"Oh please, Isobel's office is right through there. Isobel was one of my first professors" They follow Vanessa towards a set of doors. "I'm a grad student. She was brilliant, and one of the reasons I went into folklore. Uh, I have to ask - has there been any news?"

"No, I'm afraid not"

"It's this way." Vanessa opens Isobel's office door, they follow her and enter the room. "I'll grab the light, feel free to look around. It's fascinating isn't it?" She asks but is already walking away from them. Cassandra draws her finger over a bookshelf as Damon, Elena, and Alaric look around other parts of the room.

"Where'd she go?" Damon asks. Vanessa comes back with a crossbow and shoots a bolt at Elena but Damon rushes over and puts himself in front of Elena to protect her. He receives the bolt in his back, grunts, and falls to the floor.

"Damon!" Cassandra moves towards him as Alaric catches Vanessa and pushes her against the wall, restraining her.

...........

Cassandra stands with Damon, trying to remove the crossbow bolt from his back. He groans and glances at her over his shoulder.

"Why did you do that?" She asks him quietly.

"You know why" He answers and then groans when she tugs on the bolt. "I'll heal...she wouldn't have....and you know, you'd have been..." He clears his throat. She touches his shoulder softly and then goes back to the bolt. "Just pull the damn thing out. It hurts" He complains. She sighs a little and wraps her fingers around the bolt before yanking it out of his back. Damon stands up straight and shakes himself while grimacing. "That bitch is dead"

"You're not gonna kill her" Cassandra argues.

"Watch me"

"Damon" She presses her hand to his chest to stop him. "At least wait" He frowns at her. "You're not curious as to why she went for Elena like that?" He raises an eyebrow. "There has to be a reason she attacked Elena first, and with a wooden weapon" She holds up the crossbow bolt.

"She thought Elena was a vampire" He realises. "She thought she was Katherine"

"Bingo" Cassandra teases and taps his nose with the bolt. "Now how does a research assistant know who Katherine is?"

"Right" He whispers, agreeing with her. She gives him a look, he hums and smirks at her. "Alright, I get it" He assures her.

"Information first...maim or kill later" She teases, he looks at her and smirks before poking her nose.

"You are like 99% of my impulse control right now, you know that, right?" He tells her, she snorts and nods.

"I'm not saying don't kill people" She whispers teasingly. "I know it's part of who and what you are....but we need to be smart here" He hums and pulls her closer to him. Her eyes flicker to where Elena and Alaric are with Vanessa just outside of the room but she lets Damon kiss her cheek, despite the whole PDA thing.