VII. THE MURDERER KNOWN AS
TIME

   TWO hours.

Ivy had been in the year of 2010 for two whole hours— she was sure she still had yet to truly comprehend the position she was in.

For her, it felt as though it had been two hours since she had seen her brothers shot before her and her father had thrown her into a burning church.

   How kind of him.

She knew it had been far longer than that, but she couldn't quite grasp the reality of it all.

In its own twisted sort of way— it made sense.

She knew she would never have a happy ending; it was impossible for a woman like her in the time in which she grew up. It was impossible for a woman like her who loved in the way she did. A woman like her couldn't live a simple life in the settlement of Mystic Falls.

Of course— she never imagined that she would somehow end up in 2010 due to unexplained circumstances surrounded by her brothers who did not look a day older than the last day she saw them over 100 years ago.

Now, that was not exactly something she ever would've predicted for herself.

But ever since she was a child, Ivy knew that she was meant for more than the life of a wife and homemaker in Mystic Falls— she was destined for something; even if she did not know what it was.

   But there was something about the allusive manner in which the woman, Emmeline, spoke; something that clued Ivy that her dreams of having a destiny greater than living on a plantation in Virginia and being a wife to a man whom she did not love was perhaps reality and not just something she would see when she closed her eyes to sleep at night.

There was a promise in the words Emmeline had shared with them. All in due time.

She was going to see them again.

She did not yet know why, but she knew deep in her gut that something felt right.

"CAN you stand?"

Ivy's eyes flickered to her twin's, her brows furrowing as she looked down at her legs. "I believe so? I remember how to at least, but I'm not sure how well my body has held up. I mean, I'm pretty old now, aren't I?"

Damon glanced over her face, turning her cheek to the side before nodding, "Yeah, I think I see a wrinkle or two."

Ivy's hands slapped against her cheeks, pushing against her skin in an attempt to locate the wrinkles on her face, her lips pushed out into a pout when she didn't feel anything, "Do I really? Please tell me I don't look like a grandmother."

Stefan grinned, the sort of smile he had reserved for his sister, "You look fine, V."

"Thank you."

"But, I think I spot a gray hair or two."

Ivy pulled her hand from Stefan's grasp, smacking him on the shoulder with a pout, "You haven't seen me for years and yet you already have me itching to be dead again." With a small pause, she looked at her brothers, "Or not dead? Decaying? No, I would have far less flesh."

"I don't know, V. I think I see some skin missing."

She ignored Stefan's words, continuing to think of a word that best suited her absence from the world, "Sleeping? Yes, I am ready for a nap. You two are awfully exhausting, you know."

   Damon smiled fondly at her, ruffling her hair with his hands, "Come on, grandma. Let's get you home."

   Home.

   Surely their childhood home did not survive the curse of time; even if it did, Ivy wasn't sure if she could step inside that home again.

   Well, it was a house, but it was not home.

   Her home was with her brothers.

As if sensing her hesitation to return to the house in which they suffered, Stefan clasped his hand around hers, "Ivy, that house isn't there anymore, we have a new house, okay?"

"Okay." With a sigh she rolled her shoulders back, trying to prepare herself before she huffed, "Damon, did you call me grandma?"

   The smirk that pulled at his lips gave Ivy her answer, prompting her to raise her arm again and slap his shoulder with a groan.

   "I am not a grandmother. I may be well over one hundred now, but at least I do not feel it; which I'm sure you do." She placed her palms flat against the slab of marble, pushing herself off and onto the ground beneath her.

   Oh, that is not good.

   Her feet swayed lightly, accompanied by an aching sensation in her limbs that caused her to grumble, "Perhaps I feel it a bit more than I thought."

   "Alright there, sis?"

   Her eyes narrowed as she stared at her eldest brother, "Will you stop laughing at me? I am on the verge of fainting, you gibface."

   However, her words sparked laughter from both of her brothers; neither of them came to her aid as they curled in on themselves, laughter filling the air.

   With a pout she leaned back into the slab for support, "You two are incredibly obnoxious."

   "I haven't heard someone say gibface since the 1800s, V, sorry."

   Ivy glared at her twin. "And yet you call me old."

   She grumbled as she pushed herself forward again, stumbling on her feet.

   Damon continued to snicker behind her before calling out, "Need a walker over there, grandma?"

   "A what?"

   Stefan chuckled, attempting to help her walk, "It's like a walking cane." 

   She turned her head to scowl at Damon, "Your speaking privileges have been revoked."

   "You can't be serious!"

   "I am quite serious! No more speaking until we get to wherever it is you two live now; you're annoying me."

   Stefan continued to laugh under his breath, holding out his arm for her to hold onto while he aided her in walking out of the mausoleum.

Ivy staggered slightly as she held onto Stefan, wincing as her body ached while she moved.

Okay, so apparently just because I did not experience the past 100 years, my body did.

She stole a glance at Damon sulking behind them, hiding a smile as she turned back to her twin. Tightening her grasp on Stefan's arm, she allowed him to aid her out of the exit and put into what appeared to be a large area of woods surrounding a small cottage in the distance.

   Emmeline followed them out with a serene sort of smile covering her face. She brushed a section of braids off her shoulders with a grin, "I will see you soon, darling."

   "All in due time?"

   Emmeline nodded, "A fast learner, I see."

   "Thank you."

"It was my pleasure, truly."

Ivy smiled in return, hobbling alongside Stefan while murmuring her frustrations under her breath. The sound of Damon's poor attempt to conceal his laughter was heard behind her, causing her to attempt to, and fail, turning around on her feet to scold him.

Somehow in her endeavors, she ended up on the ground.

She groaned and instead of getting back up, she accepted her defeat and laid down on the dirt, covering her face with her hands and groaning into them, "Leave me here to perish."

While Stefan attempted to coax her off the ground, Damon was doubling over in laughter, holding his stomach as tears all but fell down his face.

"Come on, Ivy. You can't just lay there."

"Yes, I can. My legs refuse to work and my eldest brother is an absolute idiot! I have no quality of life left." She grumbled, pushing her hands away from her face and down onto the dirt, grabbing some in her hands.

"Still as dramatic as the last time I saw you," Stefan rolled his eyes and leaned forward, "let's go. I will even carry you."

Ivy blew out a breath of air, taking the handful of dirt in her hand and tossing it at Damon— who had yet to stop laughing at her.

The dirt hit him in the chest, halting his laughter as it cling to his white t-shirt and fell off his leather jacket. He reached up and attempted to brush it off his chest, only causing it to smear further across his chest.

Ivy beamed, "Well, I feel loads better."

She pushed herself up onto her elbows and then moved in a shaky attempt to get back onto her feet.

Damon rolled his eyes and stepped forward, wrapping his arms around her torso and tossing her over his shoulder. Ivy gasped and hit her fists against his back, "Damon! Let me down!"

"I'm done waiting for Bambi to remember how to walk, let's get home. I'm famished."

Stefan chuckled, following his brother as Ivy attempted to kick her legs. "You aren't supposed to be speaking!"

"I'll stop speaking when you stop walking like a baby deer, which clearly will take a while."

Ivy twisted around in his grasp, her eyes darting up to Emmeline's figure which continued to get smaller as her brothers continued walking, "Emmeline, please! I beg of you to reverse that spell you used to wake me up! These two are imbeciles!"

"Watch it, Bambi."

   "I don't even know what a Bambi is!"

SOMEHOW, the Salvatore siblings managed to successfully get to their home.

Ivy's new home.

When Damon finally placed her on her feet, she couldn't help but stare at the house they stood in front of.

It was beautiful.

   Stefan urged her forward and inside the home, once again chuckling when Ivy winced as the lights came on.

   She held her hands up to her eyes, attempting to protect herself from the lights, "How did you do that?"

   Prying her hands from her face, Stefan gestured to the light switch on the way, flicking the lights off and on once more, "If you want light, you just turn this off or on."

   Ivy was entranced by the light switch, walking towards it with an apt fascination. Hesitantly, she stuck her finger out and turned the lights off.

   With a mixture of a gasp and a giggle of disbelief, she turned them on again.

   Then off. Then on. Then off. Then on.

   Finally, Damon broke her out of her trance, "Ivy! Stop messing with the lights!"

   Ivy turned to look at Damon, grinning at him as she turned the lights off again.

   Then back on; purely out of spite.

   When she reached over to mess with the switch again, Damon was right beside her, moving her away from the light switch, "That's enough of that."

   Ivy exhaled loudly, "Now what am I supposed to do?"

   Her brothers were silent for a minute, looking at each other in silence as they contemplated how exactly they were supposed to tell their sister of all that had happened in the course of her absence.

   "Well, let's get you cleaned up first."

   "Are you insinuating that I am dirty?"

   Damon crossed his arms over his chest, "Ivy, you've been in a coffin inside of a tomb for over one hundred years, so yes."

   Ivy turned around, ignoring Damon. "Did you hear that, Stefan? I think your home may be haunted; I could've sworn I heard a spirit."

   "Let's get you some clothes and a shower running."

   Ivy reached out, tugging on Stefan's sleeve, "Shower? Stefan! You have a shower here? And you didn't tell me! I read about them months, or well, years ago? I never imagined we would actually have one! Where is it?"

   "Come on," Stefan held his hand out for her, "I'll show you."

   Ivy grinned and took his hand, following him out of the room, but not before she noted the light switch on the wall by the doorway. With a mischievous smile, she turned the lights off again.

   Giggling when she heard Damon groan and stomp away, she continued to bounce on her heels as she followed Stefan.

   A shower in their home!

   Amused by her obvious excitement, Stefan led her up the stairs and into his bedroom. Grabbing clothes from his dresser, he continued leading her along until they reached his bathroom.

   He opened the door and stumbled as Ivy pushed past him, shoved aside his shower curtain, and stared at the showerhead.

   In the same hesitant manner in which she inspected the light switch, she reached out and poked the faucet. Spinning around to face him, she was grinning. "How fascinating!"

   Stefan set the clothes down on the sink before stepping forward and turning the faucet, causing water to flood out of the showerhead.

   Ivy jumped back in surprise before reaching out and laying her palm flat out underneath the water— beaming as the water hit her skin.

   Her twin gestured to the clothing, "Go ahead and take a shower," Stefan turned to the collection of bottles by the shower floor, pointing at one of them, "this is shampoo. It's liquid soap for your hair. You use it first and then put this," he gestured to another bottle, "on next. It's called conditioner; it makes your hair soft." He pointed towards the last bottle, "then you just use that as regular body soap, got it?"

   Ivy nodded, noting everything her brother said down in her head. "I think so."

   Stefan opened up a cabinet, pulling out what appeared to be some sort of razor and two towels. "Here are towels for when you're done in the shower and if you want it, here is a razor. Some people shave their legs or hair in general now. It's a bit weird, but I know you always used to steal Damon's razors growing up because you liked smooth skin."

   Ivy grabbed the razor and towels with a smile, "Thank you!"

   "Just yell for me if you need anything."

   "Okay," Ivy walked over to the clothing, setting down the towels beside the clothing before sorting through her things as Stefan turned to exit. "Stefan!"

   Stefan turned around at the sound of her harsh whisper, staring at her as she inspected the clothing he handed her, "What?"

   She held up an item of clothing, eyes wide as she gazed at him, "These are pants!"

   "Yeah?"

   "I can't wear these!"

   "Right." Stefan pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh, "I think I need to get you a history book or something. Okay, well, long story short, women can wear pants now. Those are called sweatpants, they're super comfortable."

   "Is this a trick?"

   "No, V. I promise you can wear them."

   Ivy stared at the pair of pants intently, inspecting them, "They do look nice."

   Stefan shook his head with a laugh, "Alright. Come out when you're done. I have spare combs and toothbrushes in that cupboard that you can use."

   When Stefan finally exited the bathroom, Ivy was for the first time, left alone.

   She inspected the bathroom for a minute before noticing the way the mirror had begun to fog up. Deciding to finally step into the shower, she began pulling at the strings of her dress and pulling it off her body.

Once her body was free of clothing, she stuck a single foot into the shower and flinched as the hot water fell on her skin. After a few seconds, the feeling began to feel calming.

She grimaced as she fully stepped into the shower; much like with her foot, it became comfortable after a few seconds.

The silence that filled the air finally forced Ivy to confront everything that she had been told.

It was 2010, not 1864.

Her father was dead.

Her brothers, however, are still alive.

Everything she had known aside from them to her knowledge was gone too.

Grabbing the shampoo, she put some in her palm before pushing it into her hair and scrubbing at her scalp. The movement provided her with a small distraction from reality.

The reality was that her life would never be the same.

After she had conditioned her hair and washed her body, she moved on to the task of shaving. Women in her time were not expected to shave aside from their faces and on occasion their necks; parts of the body visible in a dress, but Ivy had a habit of taking her brothers' razors and not returning them. Using them to create the same smooth sensation on her legs and arms as she did on her face occasionally.

Once she completed the task of shaving, she felt, well, lost.

And it was at that moment that the full force of everything hit her.

Her body shook as she crumbled down onto the floor of the shower, wrapping her arms around her knees and pulling them against her chest.

The water continued to cascade down her back and pool at the bottom of the shower until it went down the drain and Ivy's tears mixed in with the water.

She was completely lost.

Her brothers were here, but even they were not the same.

Nothing was the same.

She would never see her friends again; she never got to say goodbye to Claire or Charlotte. They were just gone.

Ivy felt hopeless, but more than anything, she was angry.

Angry that time had stolen so much from her; ripped it from her grasp without her knowledge.

Angry that she was never able to say goodbye to those she loved.

And in the most twisted way, angry that she wasn't there to witness her father's death.

She had lost everything.

Well, she still had her brothers.

And in a way— that was enough to soothe her pain.

STARING at the so-called sweatpants, Ivy turned them inside-out and then back to the right way, scrutinizing them as though they would burn her if she put her legs through them. Following her shower, she had sought out a comb and a toothbrush, coming across lotion on the process.

After what felt like an eternity, she had showered, moisturized, brushed her teeth, and combed through her hair.

Now, she just needed to put on pants.

Pants.

May Giuseppe roll over in his grave.

Ivy closed her eyes and stuck one leg through the hole in the fabric— sighing when they did not in fact burn her. The success of her first leg pushed her to fully commit and put her other one in.

With a grin she pulled them up, fastening them in a tight bow around her waist as they were far too big on her.

Why have I been deprived of pants for so long? These are incredible.

Pulling the long-sleeved shirt over her head, she watched as it fell to the middle of her thighs. She tried tying it up and tucking it in before ultimately allowing it to fit her loosely and lay against her covered thighs.

Stepping out of the bathroom, she noticed both of her brothers standing in the bedroom. Stefan looked up as she stepped out, setting his book aside, "Hey, V. Feel better?"

"Much."

"Listen, we don't have to talk right now, but we need to get an idea of what you already know and what we need to explain."

Damon nodded at Stefan's words, "You can sit down."

Ivy followed their instructions, sitting down on Stefan's bed and smiling at her twin as he reached over to wrap a blanket over her shoulders.

Stefan sat back with a sigh, "I guess we should start at the beginning, what all did Katherine tell you?"

________

i tried to make ivy sound
victorian-era ish, so i was successful
in that area :)

qotd: if you were a vampire,
what time period would you
have wanted to be born in/lived
through?

sorry for the lack of updates,
but thank you for all of your
endless support. it means
the world to me.
i love you all <3

i also am obsessed w the salvatore
siblings, even if i don't actually
like damon lmao

copyright © -loonylupins