it's alive

"SEXY VAMPIRE? REALLY?" Athena holds up the costume Caroline brought her in disbelief, but the blonde girl is just grinning.

"Of course! You'll put the sexy in vampire." Caroline throws her witch costume on Athena's bed and then sits on the cushioned bench at the end of it.

Athena furrows her eyebrows at Caroline. "That doesn't make sense. And besides, I wasn't even gonna go to this party considering I hate literally everyone we go to school with."

"Um, no, you have to go!" Caroline exclaims her face one of scandal at the thought of Athena ditching. "I don't wanna show up alone like a loser."

Athena looks at the costume Caroline brought for her to wear to the Halloween party tonight. She wasn't going to go at all, as she'd rather go to the theater's season-special showing of Goosebumps. She could've invited Stefan.

It was hysterically comical, the costume. It was black and red, and somewhat Victorian-looking in style, with its corset design that made the poofy skirt look even poofier, if possible. There was a cape, too, with a Dracula-like collar that popped up around her neck and framed her head. There were even black, fishnet tights to go with it, and she had to physically restrain herself from laughing.

"Vampires don't dress like this, Care," She snorts, looking at the girl through the reflection in her mirror.

"Vampires are inherently sexy, Athena. They're all dark and broody, and of course, the blood."

Athena was really trying not to laugh, but it seemed like the universe was just trying to make life harder for her the longer Caroline went on. If only she knew that vampires were just broody teenagers and temperamental adults with murderous tendencies.

"Fine," Athena sighs in defeat, rolling her eyes when Caroline claps excitedly. "But I plan on getting extremely drunk off of spiked punch because there's no way I'm doing this sober."

──────

She's found herself sitting on top of a school bus, vaguely wondering how she's going to get down when Vicki and Jeremy come rushing out of the same door she exited through nearly twenty minutes ago.

Athena frowns in disgust when they start making out, but her interest is piqued when she hears Jeremy's groan of pain and sees Vicki drinking the blood she'd drawn from his neck.

"Okay," She mutters to herself, looking over the edge of the school bus warily. "Time to get down."

She gently takes her ridiculous heeled boots off that she wore with her costume, and sets them down next to her. "It's like, ten feet. You can do this. Just jump down, and land on your feet, it'll be fine."

Athena is only slightly aware that she's talking to herself when she startles out of her one-sided conversation and sees Elena go flying backward onto a palette of trash, screaming out in panic.

"Okay, we're getting down now," She jumps off the top of the school bus without much further thought, and lands on her feet harshly. She knows she's probably skinned them, but she ignores the slight sting of her barefootness on the wet asphalt. Stumbling slightly as her drinks catch up to her, she pushes herself off the side of the bus and rushes toward Elena.

Briefly, she registers Stefan's presence, but she takes no consideration of it, and instead grabs a piece of wood from the trash can Jeremy knocked over, and snaps it in two over her knee.

Right as Vicki bites into Elena's neck, she lunges forward and stabs her through the back.

She grunts and pushes the vampire down, looking around to see a myriad of shocked faces looking at her.

"Vicki!" Jeremy screams out, grief ripping through the air that makes Athena grimace to herself and step away as Stefan holds Jeremy back from Vicki's decaying body.

"Get him out of here," Elena says to Stefan, her eyes darting back to Vicki's body.

Stefan pulls out his phone as he walks off with Jeremy, and Athena stands awkwardly as Elena bends down next to Vicki. "I, uh, I should go. Probably."

"Probably," Damon walks out from in between two buses, smirking at the sight of the dead vampire.

Elena stands up and looks at him with a glare. "You did this."

Athena holds up a finger, pointing to herself. "Uh, technically I did this,"

Damon looks amused at her drunken state, but he quickly looks back at Elena, focusing on her upset demeanor. "You're confusing me for someone with remorse."

Elena tries to shove Damon, but he doesn't move. Frustrated, she draws her hand back to slap him, but Damon catches her by the wrist, glaring down at her. "None of this matters to me. None of it."

"People die around you. How could it not matter? It matters and you know it." Elena slaps him, this time successfully, and Athena watches from behind the vampire as Elena's face floods with fear at the realization of what she's done.

"You need to leave," Damon practically snarls, clenching his jaw. "Your wounds are bleeding and you need to leave."

Elena walks off with a quivering lip and Athena watches silently, before turning to Damon, putting her hands on her hips. "So. Vampire 101, what do we do with the body?"

Damon sighs, wondering how he ended up with a drunk Athena to help him dump a dead body.

──────

When she got home, she had the momentary thought to be glad that her father was out of town right now, because she wouldn't be able to explain why she was in such a state. Covered in blood that could probably be explained by her 'vampire' costume, and still somewhat buzzed, she stripped down in the hallway and left her dirty clothes behind as she went to her bathroom, immediately turning the water on as hot as it could go.

The shower sobered her up the last bit she needed, and when she stepped out and wrapped herself in a towel, she felt the night's events hit her and all of her adrenaline crashed. Her eyelids were suddenly heavy, and she yawned at the thought of prolonging her collapse into bed any further past getting pajamas on.

She grabs a matching set out of her closet off a hanger and pulls it on quickly, letting her wet hair fall down her back, dampening the fabric of her shirt.

She swallows roughly and coughs with it, bringing a hand up to cover her mouth as she stops in her tracks just beside her bed, suddenly feeling as if she was choking on something.

She pulled her hand away from her mouth as she continued to cough, the sound growing more choked off as she struggled to get a breath into her lungs. When she looked down at her hand, she saw specks of glimmering gold splattered across her skin, appearing as if it was flowing.

Athena's hands came up to her throat, clawing at the skin there as if it would relieve her airways of anything as she stumbled haphazardly over to her vanity, meeting the sight of her reflection.

The golden substance streamed from her eyes like tears, and she let out a stuttering gasp at the sight.

Athena's grip on her table slipped and she fell forward onto her knees, her head hitting the hardwood floor beneath her as she cried out. The sound echoed hollowly in her room, right back into her ears.

Her chest heaved as she gagged, choking around the burning sensation in her throat as streaks of gold splattered on the floor in front of her. In the back of her mouth, it tasted like blood, but there was no redness to any of this. Just the offputting, completely inexplicable gold something that moved like it was alive.

A choked-off yell of fear and pain burst from her throat, a wordless bleat of noise that was immediately followed by another retch that clawed up through her chest, like something was trying to fight its way out of her stomach.

"Athena!" Her bedroom door burst open and Damon rushed towards her with wide eyes. He bent down to pick the girl up but jerked back when he saw the way the veins in her arms were glittering beneath her skin like someone had pressed a flashlight right up against her skin to illuminate it.

He looked down at the girl on the floor before him, panic lacing his voice. "Athena, look at me,"

The teenage girl lifts her head, throwing her frizzy, half-wet hair out of her face. Damon's face drops in horror when he sees the golden veins moving across her face as if they were her blood. They crawl up from her arms to her eyes, and when he meets her burning gaze, he sees nothing but the burning color covering any semblance of her usual dark brown.

"Damon," She cries out, her voice hoarse with a sob. "Damon, something's wrong. It won't stop– it won't stop burning me!"

She claws at her neck, at the fiery blood bustling through her veins and Damon looks at her apologetically. "I'm sorry," He mutters the apology right as he cups the back of her head and pushes her forward, slamming her head into the floor hard enough to stop her pained cries.

──────

Athena stood outside the police station, tapping her foot impatiently. Her head darted up to the large doors, and she rolled her eyes when Matt came out, Stefan trailing a few feet behind him.

"Oh, my god, that took forever," She groaned impatiently, grabbing Stefan's arm as soon as he got off the steps. She eyed the upset look on his face and narrowed her eyes accusingly. "Let me guess, Matt hates you and Elena is feeling oh-so-sensitive about her executive decision to erase everyone's mind?"

"Got it in one," Stefan replies sarcastically, running a hand through his hair. "But Sheriff Forbes isn't suspicious so that's a good start. None of this needs to come back on anyone, especially you."

Athena tipped her head side to side, physically weighing his words. "Yeah, but I am the one that killed her."

Stefan smirks slightly. Between Lexi's surprise visit this morning and Athena's sarcastic light-heartedness, he wasn't feeling as burdened as he could've been. "Let's keep that to ourselves, though, yeah?"

Athena sighs like the thought physically pained her. "I suppose so," She leans forward, propping her chin on Stefan's chest so she can look up at him. "Are you going to feed me? I'm emotionally broken, you know. I took a life last night and food is the only cure for my aching heart."

"You seemed rather unbothered by it when you made me carry you home barefooted because you forgot your shoes on top of a school bus."

"In my defense, I was drunk and wandering around town like an idiot," She shrugs his words off but frowns at the thought of her lost boots. She liked them, despite them not being all that practical. "Did you at least like my costume?"

"Sexy vampire. Very funny." He flicks her forehead and she huffs a puff of air up at him in annoyance. "No, really. Very cute, the, uh, the fishnets were a nice touch. I mean, as you know, us vampires are very into corsets and fishnet tights."

"I wouldn't say that, but I'd certainly say you fit the gothic era just fine, Mr. Salvatore," She smiles when he rolls his eyes amusedly at her. "I demand you to feed me, or I'll be forced to kill you, too."

Stefan sighed, grabbing her waist and pushing her off his chest to see her face in its entirety. "Now you're threatening me?"

"If there is or has ever been a time where I'm not threatening your life in some way, I need to know. This relationship is all about asserting dominance."

Stefan furrows his brows at her, but can't help the slight laugh that leaves him. "I've seen an old woman mistake you for a twelve-year-old. Whatever dominance you have to assert is long gone,"

Athena's jaw drops in offense and she shoves his shoulder, making him laugh. "Just for that, you have to carry me to Charlie's and buy me food. Asshole. I made you swear to never mention that again,"

Stefan sighs but lets her jump onto his back with a slight grunt. His hands wrap around her thighs and she leans forward to wrap her arms around his neck and place her chin on top of his shoulder.

Athena turns her head to the side, resting her cheek on his shoulder instead of her chin. Her eyes widen briefly when she sees Elena exiting the police department, tapping her fingers against Stefan's chest. "Incoming. Let's escape before she tries to talk to us."

His eyes dart over, and he sees his ex-girlfriend looking at them like it physically pains her to see it. He sighs to himself but is almost relieved to feel no sign of heartache at the scene. Clearing his head of any Elena-related thoughts, he adjusts his grip on Athena and begins walking in the direction of the cafe Athena was so fond of.

"I'm not a personal chauffeur, you know that right?"

"Does it technically count as chauffeuring if you're carrying me?" She muses, and he can hear the slight laughter that makes her shake against him. "Or are you just a pack mule?"

"You know, that's a really good question."

──────

"It's bullshit! It's all bullshit!" Athena storms into the boarding house, slamming the door shut behind her. "Over 2 centuries worth of books and bullshit journals, and yet nothing explains why I can't murder people in peace,"

She stomps up the stairs to Damon's room but frowns when she sees he's missing. Heading further up the stairs, she goes to Stefan's room, stopping in the doorway at the sight of the blonde girl lying in his bed.

"You're not Stefan."

The blonde sits up and looks Athena over suspiciously. "No, I'm not. He said he had to go deal with something about this girl Vicki?"

"Vicki Donovan, yeah I'm familiar with her," Athena mutters, but walks further into the bedroom. "I'm Athena."

"Lexi," The girl's smile suddenly grows and Athena eyes her sudden excitement oddly. "I'm a friend of Stefan's."

"I was under the impression all Stefan did was stare out windows longingly and terrorize forest animals."

Lexi gets up and speeds over to Athena, stopping right before her with a grin that Athena thinks is a little adorable. "Care for a drink?" Lexi hooks her arm in with Athena's and the girl shrugs, letting the cute vampire lead her downstairs to where Damon keeps his bourbon.

"So, how do you know Stefan?" Athena asks, sitting across from Lexi on the couch in the parlor room. "I mean, obviously you're a vampire, but I'm under the impression he's a social outcast."

"I met him when he was fun," Lexi shrugs simply, and Athena nods curiously. "Look, there's a reason Stefan doesn't drink human blood anymore. Let's just say I helped him through a rough time."

Athena nods, contemplating her words for a moment and taking another small sip of the bourbon Lexi poured for her. "Any special reason for this visit?"

"Of course, he didn't say anything," Lexi rolled her eyes at her friend. "It's his birthday. 162."

Athena's eyes widened. He certainly had not mentioned anything about a birthday, let alone his birthday. Smirking, Athena leaned in closer to the woman. "Tell me you have some sort of terrible surprise planned out that he'll hate."

Lexi laughed deviously, and Athena's smirk widened. Considering herself, she was coming to find that Stefan had great taste in friends.

──────

"See, he talked about this Elena chick and how they were constantly fighting because he lied to her. And then– then he said something about how she found out he was a vampire and won't look him in the eyes anymore."

Athena frowned, her hold on the glass bottle faltering for a moment as she took another large gulp of the bitter alcohol. "He's lovesick. Very in touch with his emotions, which means when precious Elena calls him a monster, his heart breaks."

"No, you see, that's the thing," Lexi waves a finger at the girl, her words slurring slightly. The two girls had had more than just one drink as they sat in the Salvatore house alone, awaiting Stefan to get home. "He didn't sound that upset by it. The monster thing, maybe, but that's just because of who he used to be. Now you, he talked a lot about you. Athena this, Athena that, oh Lexi, she's so gorgeous, I think I really like her!"

Athena raised an eyebrow, ignoring the way her stomach swirled with butterflies. It made it more real, hearing it from someone like Lexi. Whatever it was, of course. Athena wasn't even ready to admit it to herself.

Shrugging helplessly, she looks at the vampire. "I don't– we aren't– anything."

Lexi just looks at her knowingly. "Of course you are, you just don't know it yet. Have you had sex yet?"

"Oh, my god– no!" Athena exclaims, her eyes widening as a drunken flush fills her cheeks. "Never!"

"No need to call the church, Athena," Lexi teases, her eyes alight with playful deviousness. "You just have to have hot vamp sex, and then you'll confess your love right then and there."

"No, no, no, no, no," She shakes her head, dizzying herself from the actions and her drinks. "Stefan and I aren't going to have sex. Although, I am interested in learning more about this hot vamp sex you speak of. But, it's not like that. It never will be."

Lexi shrugged and Athena couldn't help but think the look on her face was too knowing for them having just met a few hours ago.

Athena startles when her phone rings and she picks it up with a confused frown. "Oh," She hums, answering the phone call. "Hey, Care, what's up?"

"I'm throwing a party. You are coming, and you have to bring friends. Oh! You should invite Stefan, like as a date."

Athena pulls the phone away from her ear and frowns. Why was every person suddenly trying to get her to date Stefan, or have sex with Stefan? "Wait, wait, why are you throwing a party?"

There's a brief pause on the phone as Athena awaits an answer, sending an apologetic look to Lexi who waves her off. "Why not? Everyone needs a good party."

"Uh," She trails off, glancing at the almost empty bottle in her hand. "Will there be alcohol?"

"Do you know who I am? Of course."

"Okay. I guess I'll see you later then. Text me?"

"For sure! Love you!"

Athena stares at the phone in shock, watching the call time flash before disappearing. Love you. Love you. Love you–

"Who was that?"

Athena shakes her head, her dark eyebrows furrowing as she looks at Lexi. "My, uh, my ex-girlfriend. She invited me to a party."

Lexi looks at her curiously. "Ex? Tell me more."

"Oh, well, I, uh–" She stutters for a moment before clearing her throat. "Caroline and I used to date until a bunch of shitty stuff happened, and now we're working on a friendship. But she just told me she loved me for the first time in like, six months."

Lexi's mouth forms an 'o' in shock. "What's this I hear about a party? Why don't we go, and you and Caroline can have make-up sex in the bathroom? Total cliche, totally down for it."

Athena huffs a laugh and smiles at Lexi. "It's just a lame party she's throwing for no reason. I don't really know if I'm gonna go."

Lexi's eyes dart up as a new presence joins them, and she points to the both of them. "We're going. All three of us. In celebration."

Stefan furrows his eyebrows and looks in between the two girls sitting in his living room, drinking his brother's alcohol. "Where are we going? And what, exactly, are we celebrating?"

"Your birthday, for one," She stares at him accusingly as Athena snickers to herself. "And Athena here is gonna have make-up sex with her ex."

Stefan's eyes snap to Athena, who has gone silent at Lexi's words. "You and Caroline are back together?"

Athena shrugs as she turns around to look at him. "Uh– no. But I'm, like, pretty sure we aren't going to have sex tonight."

"Anything could happen," Lexi muses, watching her best friend's face flood with barely contained jealousy. She smirks to herself, watching them dance around one another obliviously. "Isn't that great for them, Stef?"

The man clears his throat, forcing a smile on his face as he nods. "Yeah. Yeah, definitely."

Lexi stands up with a smile. "Great. Then it's settled. We're all going to this party."

Athena stands up, wobbling slightly as she sets the liquor bottle down. "I need to sober up before I go home and get ready."

"Nonsense," Lexi waves her off and grabs her arm, dragging her towards the stairs. "You can use Stefan's shower, and I'll let you borrow some clothes and makeup."

Athena goes to protest, but Lexi shushes her with a finger. The blonde looks over her shoulder at Stefan, who's watching them retreat up the stairs with wide eyes. "Get a towel for her, Stefan?"

────── 

author's note; I think my favorite thing to do is drop big plot points in chapters and then move right past them 

originally published; 11.7.20. 

edited: 11.27.23. 

- liz