Chapter Fourteen. 

We woke up feeling refreshed from our jetlag and ordered room service for breakfast.
"Can't we literally have room service for breakfast?" Damon pouted, reaching over the bed to stroke my bare ribs as I put my bra on.
"No, Damon." I playfully glared. "Astrid gave me some of her blood bag supply."
"Fine..." Damon grumbled, folding his arms over his bare chest.
I chuckled as I stood up, putting on my black skinny jeans and shirt, shortly followed by a black waistcoat and ankle boots.
After eating breakfast, made up of fresh fruit and European pancakes, we drank our blood bag, went down to check out and left for Astrid's cabin.
"Hallo Alexandra, hallo Damon." Astrid greeted us with a small smile.
"God morgen, Astrid." I smiled back.
Astrid let us pass to come in and we sat down on the couch.
"Tea?" She asked.
"No, thank you." Damon said rather quickly.
"Yes please, Assie." I called.
Once sat down and tea poured, Astrid got right down to business.
"I have thought about your proposal." She started. "And I have decided that I will come with you."
Damon and I took a sigh of relief.
"Thank you, Astrid. I owe you so much." I smiled, taking her hand in mine.
"Do we leave today?" She asked.
"Yes. Next flight out from Oslo if we can." I replied.
"I'd better get packing then. Drink your tea." Astrid smiled, already finishing her cup and placing it down on the small table beside her as she got up.
"I'll be back soon." She said.
I looked to Damon.
"She's our best hope. She knows more about this stuff than me." I told him.
"I know." He nodded. "Let's just hope she can actually help fix this."
"She will. I know her." A few minutes later, Astrid returned with a rather old looking brown leather satchel. I recognised it instantly.
"Is that the satchel your mother got you for your eleventh birthday?" I asked, eyebrow raised.
"Yes." She replied, simply.
"How on earth has it lasted almost a thousand years?" I chuckled in disbelief.
"A decent leather moisturiser and some meat oil." She said matter-of-factly. "And a little preservation magic..."
I chuckled again as I got up, placing my cup down next to hers.
"Let's go then. We have a long trip ahead of us." I warned. Back in Mystic Falls, we settled Astrid into the Salvatore house before introducing her to everyone.

I'd texted the group, telling them we weren't far and to all come to the boarding house, so they weren't long.
We gathered in the den as I introduced Astrid to everyone.
As imagined, they had a lot of questions.
"So why have we never heard of Heretics before a few years ago?" Stefan asked.
"There's not many of us. Before Damon told me about your experience with the six of your mother's clan, I've only ever heard of three others in all of my existence." Astrid answered.
"Are you a siphoner like them?" Bonnie raised an eyebrow.
"No." She chuckled. "I have more than enough of my own magic."
Bonnie just nodded.
"What is Norway like?" Caroline asked, earning unusual looks from the rest of us. "What? I wanna go someday."
Astrid chuckled again. "Very peaceful, my dear." More questions were asked and answered before we actually got down to the case in hand.
"I think it would be a good idea f I saw these patients first hand." Astrid said.
"That's cool. I'll drive you." Damon said, catching his car keys, which he'd thrown up in the air.
"I'll come too." I shrugged before turning to everyone else. "Just sit tight. We'll fill you in when we get back."
Everyone nodded as the three of us grabbed our stuff and left. Once at the hospital and on the right level, I grabbed the first HazMat I saw and flashed him my CDC badge.
"What's going on?" I asked him.
"Uh... Since outbreak, thirteen of day one's patients have died, the rest have a matter of hours. Twenty eight more patients since then have been assigned to this hospital alone, ma'am." The HazMat replied.
"My God..." I gasped.
"Twenty eight new Mystic Falls cases and Matt didn't bother to let us know?" Damon whisper-yelled.
I waved him off, ignoring him as I continued with the man in the HazMat suit.
"Is there a Harry Matheson here today? I need to talk to him." I said.
"No ma'am, he's in Grove Hill right now." He replied.
I sighed. "Dammit..."
"Is there anything I can help you with?" He asked.
"My associate here needs to take a look at your patients." I said, gesturing to Astrid.
"Are you a doctor?" The HazMat asked her.
"Uh, no. She's a consultant." I answered.
"Sorry, only doctors and CDC allowed in, ma'am. Strict orders."
I sighed, then remembered.
I smirked to myself and looked at him.
My pupils shrunk and so did his.
"She's allowed in, isn't she." I more stated than asked.
"She's allowed in." The HazMat said in monotone.
He snapped out of his haze and looked at Astrid.
"Right this way." He gestured toward the double doors to our right.
Damon waited behind the clear screen as Astrid and I got into our HazMat suits. Astrid and I had been examining the new patients for a reasonable time.
"How long did it take them to be like this?" Astrid asked the guy in the HazMat suit.
"About eight hours." He replied.
"It only took the first few patients a few days before they all died. Any

Anti-biotics given to them has sped up the process." I explained to my friend.
Astrid looked over the last couple of patients with a puzzled expression,before looking to me.
"This is not the work of natural illness." She said, gravely.
"What is it then?" Damon asked through the screen.
Astrid looked between us with worried eyes.
"I don't know."