instead of Stefan to the dance. She'd expected for the blonde to warm up to Stefan a little at the very least in their day together.

"Why aren't you talking to Stefan, though?" The question left her lips before she could stop herself from asking it, earning a look from the blonde and brunette. "I'm sorry, just not updated enough lately."

"He's..." She started slowly, giving her answer a thought. "Well, I was given instructions to drive him off of my back romantically; and that was put into action far too recently for me to take him to the dance as a date. And Damon's casual, he takes jokes, he also has a good storage of alcohol which he's bound to sneak into the dance when he comes. So, just going with him for the sake of the dance seems like a great idea!" She paused for a moment. "Fun comes first for him, so I'd guess that he'd be willing to drop all our beef for one night."

"I-Instructions—"

"I'll contact him," Aurelia cut into Caroline's words, looking towards Elena. "Good luck with the other Salvatore, doppelganger." As she turned around to leave, she finished with one last sentence. "Caroline, your hesitation makes sense, but it's either Damon or dateless, so..."

Once she left the gym hall, Caroline and Elena exchanged skeptical looks. "I don't believe that she's willing to be passive for one night." Elena reluctantly remarked, making Caroline press her lips together. "It's just... you understand, after all that's happened."

"Well, it's not like we haven't been the reason for their attacking us continuously. Aurelia was only protecting her own family. Now that we have nothing to harm them with, she doesn't mind being nice to you. She'll keep her word, don't worry about that."

"WHY ARE WE HERE?" Alaric questioned, scanning the entirety of the Salvatore tomb that he and Esther stood in. "A bit morbid, isn't it?" Esther shook her head and hummed, fixing her gaze on the bowl in between her and Alaric.

"Long ago on this spot," She narrated. "My son tore my heart from my chest. The violence of my death marked this ground for all time. It has powerful magic, magic that will not require anyone such as the Bennett Witches to help us like they had before Ms. Parker turned Abby Bennett." She then looked at Alaric. "I'll need your ring."

Once he had handed it to her, she threw it in the bowl. He then began to spectate in interest and wonder as the ring's silver binding began to melt immediately without the help of any fire underneath the bowl. "I'm assuming you won't kill me because I've trusted you enough to give you the one thing that protects me from death."

"I will give you all the protection you need," Esther explained. "However, the stake will burn up in the body of its first victim. The protective magic in your ring will have to bind to the stake so you can kill all five abominations and the one aberration. That way, it's not going to be destroyed once you stake them. The ring would thus," She pulled out the true final white oak stake from her coat and held the flat end in the pool of melted silver, letting the enchanted liquid coat the wooden material. "Render the white oak stake indestructible." When she turned the stake over, she lifted it up from the bowl, letting the molten silver trail down the sides of the stake slowly.

"Is it done?" He asked.

"Yes, it's finished." She answered, her eyes on the lethal stake. "The ultimate weapon for the ultimate hunter."

"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING ME?" Rolling his eyes, Damon placed his phone between his ear and his shoulder, busying his hands with pouring himself a drink of bourbon. "I let off Caroline for giving you my number, but I didn't think you'd actually use it. You hate me too much."

"Damon Alexius Salvatore," Aurelia's smug voice came from the other end, making him groan loudly at the rare use of his complete name. "When have I ever told you I hated you? It's a rather strong word." He could practically imagine her smirk.

"Hate to quote cliché lines," He justified. "But actions speak louder than words, 'Lia." He closed the bottle and took the phone in his hand as he sipped his drink. "You've injured Stefan and I way too much for you not to hate us."

"Oh please," She responded. "Look me in the eye and tell me you wouldn't have done the same exact thing if you were in my place." He shrugged.

"You're not even here for me to—" The main door of the Salvatore Boarding House burst open, making him spin to look at none other than the woman on the phone standing there with a triumphant smile on her red lips. "Clingy. I don't like it."

"You weren't saying that in 1864, darling." She shot back, hanging up the phone as she kicked the door to close it. "Considering you and your brother preach so much about that time, you'd think that you'd still have some qualities from there... such as liking my clinginess." She walked right into the parlor, standing at one end of the sofa while Damon stood at the other. "Pour me a drink, too, why don't you?"

"Why are you here, 'Lia?" With a click of her tongue, she pointed straight at him with a winning smirk. "What? Spit it out."

"A little birdie told me you were dateless for the decade dance tonight." She answered smoothly. "That little birdie also encouraged me to take to it, considering I'm without date as well." He scoffed and took another sip of his drink as he kept his eyes on her. "a plus b equals—"

"What makes you think I'll even say yes?" He asked, scrunching his nose up in disgust. "It's practically incest." She paused a moment, before her eyebrows shot up and she gasped, flinging the nearest pillow right at him as he dodged it right on time.

"You sicko!" She exclaimed, throwing another pillow. "We are not having sex after the dance! What is wrong with you?!" He caught the pillow and threw it back at her, making her duck to avoid it. "Platonic dates exist, you dumbass."

"I didn't mean it that way! Is that how low you think of me?" He asked, feigning sadness as she simply shook her head and stood back up. "You're, well... you. I didn't know what you were trying to insinuate!" She looked at him in pure disgust. "Damn, I haven't seen you this worked up in like, ever—"

"Shut up." She mumbled, pinching the bridge of her nose. "You're dumb, Damon, I don't know what came over me to talk you into accompanying me to the dance." With a roll of her eyes, she looked back at him with an unimpressed expression. "To think I could put our differences aside," With a sarcastic smile, she let out a breath. "Bye—" As she spun around, she came to a stop as she saw Stefan standing in the hallway, having just walked in. "Stefan." She said, caught off guard by his unexpected presence.

"What are you doing here?" He asked. "I thought you were going to be staying away from me?" She let out a small chuckle before pursing her lips. "And with Damon...?"

"You see, Salvatore," She began. "I'm going to be—"

"Going to the 20's decade dance with me." Damon stated, having caught onto her plans almost instantly—much to her surprise. "You see, blondie," He cut himself off as he looked at Aurelia's head of blonde waves. "I mean Caroline wouldn't let her go dateless, and we thought that we could let loose for a night, considering there's some amount of peace for now." He elaborated. "She likes fun, I like fun, so we'd make for pretty good drinking buddies considering Alaric's not here. And she's the only one who's living through the 20's without going on a binge spree and is still fun." Aurelia hummed triumphantly, her gaze still on Stefan.

"What he said," She added on with a quick smirk. With a small sigh Stefan shook his head the slightest bit and left them, making the blonde vampire exhale in relief as she fell back on the couch, letting her back hit the comfortable cushions.

"You're welcome, by the way." She raised her head further, only to be greeted by an upside down and cocky Damon Salvatore. "Drink?"

"Oh, so now you're offering me one?" She asked with a laugh. "Make it straight." Another breath and she relaxed, shutting her eyes. "That's one thing off my list." Once she heard his footsteps approaching her, she lifted her head up from the couch and looked at the glass of bourbon in his outstretched hand. "Thank you."

"She has manners." He mocked, making her chuckle as she sat up and ran her fingers through her wavy locks. "Who would've known?" When she took the glass, she moved over to the side of the couch as he sat next to her.

"I can be quite the polite lady," She replied, savoring some of the alcoholic drink. "But I was one for a majority of a century. Switching it up would keep my life from getting repetitive."

"Does that justify your harming us, though?" He asked, earning a side glance from her as she took another sip. "I mean, it's only about a couple dozen people who were killed for Klaus." He spoke with sarcasm as he shrugged. She could only huff softly.

"I've said this before. They're my family." She stated yet again. "Would you just sit by and watch as a group people inflicted harm on your family? Or would you do something about it?" She asked rhetorically, a half-smile on her lips. "Klaus was full of greed, but there was a reason behind it. All of us have our own reasons for doing what evil we want to do. His was the desire of people who were like him, hybrids, because he had been cursed out and left alone like this. We were there, yes, but there would've been another feeling altogether to have people like him exist. Mine is my family. For vampire specifically, it's turning off the humanity switch." She clarified. "So, I'll ask you again; can you look me in the eye and say, "I would not do this if I were in your place, if it were my family being attacked."?" She asked.

"...no." He said slowly, making her nod once. "So you do care," She chuckled yet again. "Consider me surprised. But before we go into silence that isn't awkward—because you're in my presence, nothing ever gets awkward then—what's up with you and my brother?"

"Oh, that?" She asked. "Your follow-up's probably something about me asking you and not Stefan." She assumed, leaning back on the couch. "Easy, he's the boring brother and you're the fun brother." Her change in demeanor made him laugh, before shutting up entirely when he realized she wasn't stating the whole truth. "Also I may or may not have got him off my back, harshly..."

"Cruel." He remarked. "I like it."

"Of course, but now it's my turn to ask." She brought up. "Why did you up and change and say you were taking me to the dance tonight?" She asked, turning her body towards him. "Five seconds before that you were screaming, "Incest!"—which by the way, dumbass, isn't something you joke about." She pointed out quickly. "So why the change of mind?"

"Easy," He mocked. "There was obviously something up, and I have a heart, so I did you a favor." She hummed in understanding before tilting her head slightly. "You owe me one though," He said, before taking a sip, making her scoff.

"You're so annoying!" She exasperatedly exclaimed. "Besides, I was gonna skip on you back there. Consider my change of mind as what evens us out." Damon glanced at her through the corner of his eye, before putting his now empty glass aside and snatching hers without a second thought. "Damon!" She whined, watching him as he down the entire glass in one shot.

"There, favor owed."

"Asshole!"

WHISTLING AS SHE SPUN AROUND, Aurelia looked at her figure in the mirror, smiles covering her lips as she was taken back to memories from almost a century ago. Her flapper dress was an attractive shade of off-white with a low waist and a loose hold on her figure. The ends were asymmetrical and went and inch or two past her knee at the longest point.

Her heels were pencils and comfortable, matching the off-white shade of her dress as well as the elbow-length gloves and lacy band with a rose that was placed around her head. Her curled locks that had been secured in place with an overdose of hairspray that Caroline had used on her fringes, styling them out of her face in typical 20's fashion.

"Aurelia, you done with your makeup?" Caroline asked, walking into Aurelia's room, dressed up in a pretty pink dress that was paired with pearls and white gloves. "Oh my God, you look amazing!" She exclaimed joyously, diverting Aurelia's attention to her makeup—the part of her get up that Caroline had let her do by herself. She had chosen to pair a thin strip of eyeliner with false lashes and nude shades for her eyeshadow, while her lips were coated in a color several shades darker than her regular choice. "Are you ready?"

"I am." She smiled at her sister and took her purse, letting the younger pull her to the car.

"OKAY, I'M GONNA GO AND SEE IF the drinks are ready!" Having raised her voice so that Aurelia could hear her over the loud music in amusement—considering Caroline had forgotten for a moment that they were both vampires were amplified hearing. "See you later!" She then left the older vampire to stand by herself and spectate the crowd in the completely decked up gym hall.

What could be called the "20's party music" had been blasting through the numerous speakers placed at far ends of the hall. Considering the size of the gym, she would've expected an echo, but considering the number of things and people, it was fitting that there wasn't.

If Aurelia was being honest, she was delighted to hear the music; she expected for the students to choose something cheap or cheesy, so for her to hear something as enlightening as the music that made everyone in the hall dance—in whatever they thought was a typical 20's dance—was simply satisfying.

"Pulling off a 20's look is hard enough; did you have to make all the other ladies here look like they didn't put any sort of effort into their get up?" With a triumphant smile Aurelia turned her head to look at her date, who hadn't cared nearly enough to even put a suit on. "Now, before you chastise—"

"For what?" She asked, blocking out the music for a quick moment. "I didn't expect you to dress up." Damon smugly smiled, adjusting his signature leather jacket before wincing as he earned a slap on his shoulder. "I'm not gonna yell, but I am going to wipe that cocky smile off your face. Don't take my leniency for granted." With an understanding tilt of his head and a small, "fine", he leaned towards his right and closer towards her.

"When exactly are we going to get out of here and get some actual liquor down our systems?" Without looking at him, she only sniggered as he looked at her in confusion. "What's so funny?"

"You have an emergency stash on you," She said without hesitation, before turning her head to look at him properly. "Ration that with me for an hour, and then we hit the hard shit." With an impressed expression, Damon reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a flat canister that Aurelia was much too familiar with, having used one of her own for almost decades now. "Don't get too drunk, though, that wouldn't be nice." She chaffed, earning the umpteenth eyeroll of the day from him.

"You underestimate me, 'Lia." With a small shake of her shoulder to display her slight laughter, Aurelia turned away to enjoy the music once again, ignoring Damon for another few minutes while he thought back on their conversations in the day.

It was then when he realized; he'd been using her nickname unknowingly throughout the day. As if it were instinct or something wired into his head, which made complete sense considering how often he'd use it.

"Don't finish all that without me, Salvatore." Whipping him right out of his thoughts, Aurelia continued to slap his shoulder. "I said I'd be lenient, but that'll change with a snap of my fingers if I'm not given that canister right away."

"Dramatic much?"

"When you're a vampire, you can never get too dramatic." She answered smoothly, a smile equivalent to her relaxed state making its way onto her lips. It grew a tiny bit when she felt Damon place the flat canister in her palm. She could hear him mumbling slightly as she took a small swig of the drink, but was unable to completely catch it due to her instinct to savor the burning alcohol. "Pardon?"

"Nothing—" He paused for a second, before looking back at Aurelia. "You know how Alaric's alter ego has been getting a little out of hand?" He asked suddenly, making her frown at the pop up of the topic. As he realized that he had her complete attention, he gently pulled her closer by her upper arm, leaning towards her again with the intention of reaching her ear to maintain some privacy. "I'll assume you do; our dearest Bon-bon—"

"You're a grown man, use proper names." She hissed, her tone coming out a little too assertive for him to be comfortable with. "Continue."

"Bonnie," He corrected in clear annoyance with a pointed look towards her. "Whipped up some voodoo herbs to keep the alter ego at bay." As she opened her mouth to respond, he held a hand up. "I know, that's great news and all; the thing is, however," His eyes shot around the hall once before continuing to talk. "I found a completely full jar of herbs when I visited his apartment."

"What?" She asked, her frown morphing into a skeptical look. "Why wouldn't he be taking his herbs? He's a good dude; there's no way he'd sit around with the risk of that bastard—" Realization hit her like a speeding truck as her eyes widened, before she slowly turned her head towards him in slight surprise. "Are you trying to say—"

"—That Alaric's not been Alaric since you got him to show his alter ego to tell you where the stake was? That we've been talking to Evil-Ric this whole time?" Damon guessed obvious answers, clearly knowledgeable of the truth. "That's exactly what I'm trying to say."

"What purpose does he have if there's no way to kill us anymore...?" She hesitantly asked, expression changing to one of visible concern—possibly even fear—for the first time that night. "We've burned all the stakes, and Rebekah literally handed me the last one. I burned it m-myself! There's no way he can come up with any other route for our deaths, unless some powerful witch is in town right now," She pursed her lips. "And by powerful, I mean Esther-level powerful, considering the kind of magic she used to create vampires altogether." She then blinked a few times and reminded herself to lower her voice again. "Wait, why the hell are you telling me this?" She began to pull away from him, but he held her close.

"Because, Aurelia," He slightly glared at her as a way warn her about prying ears. "If there is a bigger picture to this like you say there is, then it could mean the potential end to your psychopathic family, and therefore all the vampires they've turned, like you, me, Stefan, and Caroline!" His whispers turned into harsh hisses. "There is no time for our stupid rivalry right now."

"Damn it." She muttered in agitation. "And here I thought for one bloody night, that we'd get a break and have a little fun." Her sarcasm was worn with an equally sarcastic smile, but Damon couldn't tell if she was forcing it or not.

"It's Mystic Falls; there's no break for the supernatural creatures of this town."

"IS THAT AURELIA...WITH DAMON?" Stefan narrowed his