Beauty and Blood

Fool Me Once

December 13th, 2009

She hadn't meant to fall asleep, hadn't thought she'd be able to with how her mind had been racing, time slipping through her fingers like the sands of an hourglass. But like some things in life, it was inevitable and unavoidable, taking her by force.

A blur of a faceless crowd passed her by, like a swarm of wasps or a timelapse video brought to life, noiseless in their flurry of movement. Despair clutched her chest as she turned helplessly in place, searching for familiarity as the certainty she was lost twisted her gut tighter and tighter. They swirled and circled and spun around her in a dizzying whirlpool, the murky shapes doubling and tripling until it was like someone had repeatedly painted over and smeared a wet oil painting.

Then it all stopped, leaving her in darkness with only her frantic breaths.

An unseen large gentle hand engulfed hers, frigid and cold as death, but soft with comfort like snow as it guided her. It anchored her in the inky sea, slowing the tears that had begun to stream down her face. Slowly her head rested against a solid chest, with the steadying thumping of a slow heart beneath her ear, much larger arms carrying her and holding her close as if she were tiny. The smell of wood and clean soap met her nose alongside the tang of iron, the peaceful lull of a river serenading her ears.

Despite it all, she couldn't stop shivering, and the darkness didn't recede.

With a jolt and a choked gasp, Andy's eyes flew open to meet pages upon pages of loose papers and open books, splayed out in front of her on the pale grain of a wooden desk. Tremors wracked her shoulders as her breath quivered, air clogged in her throat as she slowly sat up, the terror rolling off of her so thick you could get drunk off of it. Of all the dreams her mind could have greeted her with, for some strange reason she didn't know, she felt this one hollow her out at the core.

A stray paper from the scattered pile stuck to her face shocked her out of her haze, batting the offending item off of her cheek, as she took desperate deep breaths. The night before still weighing heavy on her shoulders, side by side with her exhaustion, the girl slapped her face slightly to gather herself as she turned her attention back to her research. The distant sound of chatter told her that the Library had filled up in the time she was asleep, a small bout of paranoia prompting her to slip her journal, Johnathan's notes on alchemy and Emily's grimoire back into her leather rucksack out of view.

After her world had frayed at the edges from Stefan's latest bombshell, he'd immediately set off to the streets of Mystic Falls in search of her sister, leaving her like a worried housewife whose husband was at war. She'd found a mostly full bowl of popcorn on a small table in the hall, and after staring at it for longer than she should have, she had left it where it was. In fact she'd left everything where it was. The half-eaten food, the paused film, the rumpled blankets, the hanging lights, everything.

Afterall, she'd had no plans on using her bed that night.

Emily's grimoire had been safely where she'd left it, which had tasted like a sour victory on her tongue. To think, the very thing Anna had wanted had been sitting under her all along. But Andy would have rather handed over the musty leather book than have Elena placed in unknowable danger. Having pulled out the alchemy journal and her own from under her wardrobe, alongside her corkboard from within, she'd thrown them onto her desk with the grimoire and dove right in. Springs had coiled tight in her bones, the storm clouds that had been brewing on the horizon for months finally upon them, and time was running out to prepare.

From cover to cover, through Johnathan's travels and madness to Giovanni Gilbert's curiosity and quest to better the world, she'd read through it all in search of something useful. She'd also cursed her phone's vow of silence as it sat still on her desk, waiting impatiently for any news from Stefan. Though, she was reluctantly glad, considering who was alphabetically at the top of her contacts. When it was clear he had turned up empty in his search, she'd started looking through the witch's spellbook.