The night fell over Mystic Falls quickly.
The quiet streets gave way to silence punctuated by crickets and the distant sound of music echoing from the woods. Improvised lanterns illuminated the dirt path, cars parked haphazardly revealing a total lack of adult supervision...
The bonfire was already lit when Ryan, Elena, and Bonnie arrived.
The music came from a portable speaker propped up on the hood of a pickup truck, too bass-heavy for the quality of the equipment. Groups were scattered among tree trunks, rocks, and blankets thrown on the ground. Loud laughter, bottles passing from hand to hand.
Bonnie accepted a cup from someone she didn't recognize, sniffed the contents, and made a face.
"Definitely alcohol."
"Were you expecting tea?" Ryan commented, grabbing another cup and handing it to Elena.
She smiled faintly, accepting it.
"Thanks..."
They sat on a fallen log near the bonfire. The flames crackled high, casting orange light over the faces and creating long shadows that danced among the trees. The smell of burning wood mixed with cheap alcohol and damp grass.
Bonnie took a small sip, made another face, and decided to hold the cup just out of politeness.
"This is definitely going to make me regret it tomorrow."
Ryan gave a half-smile.
"That's the idea, I guess."
Elena laughed softly, leaning her shoulder against his almost without noticing. The gesture was automatic, too natural for someone who was thinking about it. Ryan, in turn, didn't pull away; he just tilted his head a little, as if that contact was... expected.
Bonnie watched the scene in silence for a few seconds.
She observed the way Elena absentmindedly played with Ryan's fingers while holding her cup. How he leaned slightly toward her when he spoke, even when he didn't need to. How the two of them seemed to exist in a small space of their own, isolated from the noise of the party around them.
She drank her drink slowly; the two were really much closer than before. Had something happened between them the day before? Her instinct said "yes," especially remembering that Elena had spent the whole day walking strangely, which she thought was the reason they seemed so close. She had even asked what had happened, but her friend had limited herself to saying she had twisted her foot while going up the stairs the night before. The explanation, however, had been too false. From the way Elena spoke, it was clear it was a lie. After all, she had known her since childhood; it was hard not to notice when her friend wasn't being sincere.
Still, she didn't have the feeling that Elena was lying out of malice. Maybe... she and Ryan had simply taken a step forward. Maybe, finally, they had gotten together. The idea made her chest tighten for an instant, though she knew it wasn't an absurd possibility. Elena, Caroline, and she herself had harbored feelings for Ryan since adolescence. Now, with his return, emotions that seemed dormant had resurfaced with force, hard to contain or ignore.
On the last night when the four of them were together, it became clear that the three of them, in some way, had a chance with him. Ryan hadn't hidden it. And, although she didn't blame him—any teenager put in that situation where he could be with three girls at will would probably have reacted similarly—it still wasn't hard to imagine that he could get even closer to Elena... especially if she took the initiative. That thought, no matter how much she tried to push it away, insisted on lingering...
But this wasn't the time to get lost in those thoughts.
She had already decided that she would try, in her own way, to win her "first love." Even if Ryan and Elena had taken a step forward, that didn't mean she had already lost. She would only lose the moment Ryan rejected her clearly or said he didn't want her.
As for the idea of exclusivity? Please. With Caroline and Elena involved, it was obvious that it wouldn't be simple, at least at first. Still, she wouldn't give up on having him all to herself. And that didn't mean she had to give up what she wanted just because of the circumstances. Ryan was worth it. Since she had made that decision, the night before at the Grill, to be bolder, she had been seriously reflecting on it. And, for the first time in a long time, she felt like she wouldn't back down.
That's why she narrowed her eyes and decided to test the "waters"...
"You two..." Bonnie began, in a tone too casual to be innocent. "Are acting weird."
Elena lifted her face, confused.
"Weird how?"
"Like..." Bonnie made a vague gesture with her hand, pointing at the two of them. "Married. Like, newlyweds."
Ryan arched an eyebrow.
"Is that a compliment or a criticism?"
"An observation." Bonnie gave a half-smile. "You seem too close..."
Elena felt her face heat up slightly.
"We're not glued together."
Bonnie tilted her head, looking directly at her hand, still intertwined with Ryan's.
"Of course not."
Ryan let out a brief laugh through his nose.
"If it helps, we haven't signed any papers." He commented, calmly. "Yet."
Elena turned her face to him immediately.
"Ryan."
"What?" He shrugged. "It was a joke."
Bonnie laughed, finally taking another sip.
"You two are impossible." She shook her head, but the smile was genuine. "And kind of nauseating."
"Hey." Elena protested, still smiling, while improvising an explanation: "You asked. And, just so you know... friends can hold hands too, okay?"
Then she continued, in a tone too light for someone who clearly cared about the others' reactions: "You know Ryan and I have always been really close. I'm just happy we're talking again. This is an old habit..."
As she said this, Elena raised the hand that was still holding Ryan's, who was arching an eyebrow as he listened to her explanation, surprised that she wasn't admitting their relationship, maybe...? Then, she released his hand carefully, giving him a brief and subtly apologetic look.
She didn't want her friends to know about the relationship, at least not yet. She knew very well that both had feelings for her "boyfriend," and that wasn't an easy truth to expose...
Bonnie held Elena's gaze for a few seconds too long to be comfortable. The smile was still there, but there was something more behind it—understanding... and a slight, well-hidden disappointment.
"All right." She said, finally, shrugging. "If you say so."
The relief was too immediate to go unnoticed.
Elena relaxed her shoulders and let out her breath slowly, as if she had been holding it without noticing. She took the opportunity to change the subject before the silence became dangerous.
"Ah—" She began, turning a little more toward Ryan, in an apparently casual tone. "Bonnie was telling me some things yesterday. About her grandmother."
Ryan shifted his gaze from the bonfire to her almost instantly.
"Weird how?" He asked, too interested for someone who didn't care.
Bonnie arched an eyebrow.
"I knew this would come up eventually."
Elena smiled, encouragingly.
"She said your grandmother thought you were... a medium?"
Ryan didn't laugh. He didn't make a joke. He didn't seem skeptical. On the contrary, he leaned forward a bit, resting his forearms on his knees.
"How so?"
Bonnie blinked, surprised by the reaction.
"She said it with a lot of conviction..." She replied. "She talked about our family coming from an ancient lineage. Witches from Salem."
Ryan tilted his head, thoughtful.
"And do you believe that?"
Bonnie hesitated.
"I... don't know." She admitted. "I mean, I grew up hearing these stories. I always thought it was just... family tradition. But I predicted Obama, I predicted Heath Ledger, and I still think Florida is going to break off and turn into little resort islands... In short, what I told Elena earlier, I might really be some kind of medium..."
Ryan stayed silent for a second, assessing.
"If it were real..." He continued, interested: "What could you do?"
Bonnie frowned.
"How so?"
"Like..." He chose his words carefully. "Could you sense people? See places? Is that something a medium would be capable of or not?"
Elena realized immediately where this was going.
"Ryan..." She murmured, but didn't stop him.
Ryan turned his gaze back to Bonnie.
"For example: my parents are in Japan." He said calmly: "If you had some kind of... sensitivity, what would you see?"
Bonnie opened her mouth to respond and closed it again.
"This is ridiculous." She said, laughing nervously. "I don't have powers."
"Let's assume you have psychic powers..." Ryan insisted, now with a slight calm smile. "What would you need?"
Bonnie thought for a moment.
"Grandma said she needed a personal object." She replied. "Or to touch the person."
Ryan said nothing.
He just extended his hand.
For a second, Bonnie stayed still, staring at his fingers as if they were something dangerous.
Elena felt her heart race.
"Ryan—"
"Just a second." He said, softly. "If it doesn't work, it doesn't work."
Bonnie took a deep breath.
"Okay... Grandma said I needed to concentrate..." She murmured, more to herself than to them.
Then she touched his hand.
The world changed.
The smile vanished from Bonnie's face in the same instant. The color drained from her skin, her eyes widened slightly. Her breathing faltered. She saw a plane cutting through the sky. The distant sound of engines. The infinite blue of the ocean below. Then... silence. Land. Gravestones. A cemetery...?
Bonnie pulled her hand back as if she had touched something burning.
"This is weird. The moment I touched you, I saw a plane. The infinite blue of the sky... A cemetery. I'm drunk. It's the drink. There's nothing psychic about this..." She laughed, forcing lightness: "Seriously. It's just cheap alcohol mixed with imagination."
She stood up at once.
"I'm going to get another drink. To confirm."
"Really?" Ryan murmured, more to himself than to the girl. He frowned slightly, aware that what Bonnie had seen could be more serious than it seemed. After all, she was a real witch. Still, what exactly did that "vision" mean? If he had to guess, he'd say it pointed to bad news involving his predecessor's parents. Maybe they were about to return to Mystic Falls... and end up dying. Bonnie had mentioned a cemetery, after all.
Not that this was really his problem.
Although he carried the memories of the predecessor related to those parents, they weren't, in fact, his. The emotional connection was weak, almost nonexistent, stranger than anything else. Expecting him to genuinely care about it sounded, at the very least, absurd. In fact, he had only arrived at this line of reasoning for a simple reason: his mind worked too fast to ignore obvious possibilities. Blame his absurd genius, he concluded, with a touch of silent irony.
While thinking about this, Bonnie disappeared among the people before anyone could stop her.
For a few seconds, only the sound of the bonfire filled the space between them.
Ryan stood up slowly.
"I'm going to check on her." He said to Elena. "If that's okay."
Elena nodded, still processing; everything had been really weird...
"It's fine." She replied calmly: "But... bring me another drink too."
He smiled faintly, that calm smile that hid too many thoughts.
"Sure."
Ryan walked away, leaving Elena alone on the log, staring at the dancing flames.
Elena remained seated for a few moments, watching the flames rise and dissolve into sparks that disappeared into the dark air. The heat of the bonfire contrasted with the slight shiver that still ran over her skin since the conversation with Bonnie. There was something unsettling about that "vision," even if her friend insisted on treating it all as the effect of alcohol...
She brought the cup to her lips, taking a sip too small to really taste it.
That's when she noticed someone approaching.
Elena raised her gaze almost by reflex and met his.
Stefan Salvatore stopped a few steps away, hands in his jacket pockets. The light from the bonfire reached part of his face, highlighting an expression too serious for that kind of party...
"Hi." He said, his voice calm, polite: "Can I...?"
Elena blinked once, surprised just enough not to seem rude.
"Oh. Hi." She straightened her posture on the log. "Sure."
Stefan approached a little more, keeping a respectful distance before sitting on the other end of the log, without invading her space.
"Are you okay?" He asked. "In class earlier... Professor Tanner was harsh."
Elena let out a faint smile.
"I'm fine. It wasn't a big deal." She shrugged. "He always finds someone to pick on."
Stefan nodded, as if he had known that for a long time.
"Even so." He hesitated for an instant. "I thought it was unfair."
Elena tilted her head, analyzing him with discreet curiosity. Stefan didn't have the flashy way of most people trying to start a conversation. He didn't seem nervous exactly... she held his gaze for a few more seconds before speaking.
"Well, was that unfairness what made you act that way? Thanks... You fortunately saved me from being even more judged by Professor Tanner..."
Stefan seemed slightly surprised by the thanks, but responded with a brief nod.
"It was nothing, I like answering my teachers' questions." He said. "I'm Stefan... Stefan Salvatore."
"Elena." She replied immediately: "Elena Gilbert."
"I know." The words slipped out before he could stop them. Stefan cleared his throat lightly. "I mean... everyone knows you around here..."
Elena smiled politely, without correcting, without showing additional curiosity.
"You moved here recently, didn't you?" She asked, just to keep the conversation going.
"A little while ago." Stefan confirmed: "I'm still trying to figure out how things work around here."
"Good luck with that." She commented, in a light tone. "Mystic Falls seems simple, but it likes to surprise."
Stefan sketched a small, genuine smile.
"I've gotten that impression."
There was a brief pause. The music in the background changed, someone laughed too loudly near the pickup truck, and the crackle of the bonfire filled the silence that settled between them.
Stefan tried to start a conversation again.
"Do you usually come to this kind of party?" He asked.
"Not much." Elena replied, without lying. "Today was more... someone else's insistence."
"Friends?" He ventured.
"Something like that." She said, without elaborating.
Stefan nodded, but the conversation clearly wasn't taking off. Elena maintained a polite but distant posture; her answers were short, correct, without openings. There was no hostility, just a lack of interest.
He noticed...
After a few seconds in silence, Stefan took a deep breath and stood up slowly.
"Well..." He began, adjusting his jacket. "I just remembered I have something to take care of. I promised to help someone."
"Sure." Elena replied immediately: "Good night."
"Good night, Elena." He said, with one last discreet smile.
Stefan walked away among the shadows of the trees, disappearing quickly into the movement of the party.
Elena turned her gaze back to the bonfire, letting out her breath slowly. That was weird; she brought the cup to her lips again, watching the flames dance, while waiting for Ryan to return...
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(A/N: Hey, everyone! I wanted to do the entire forest party in just one chapter, but it would exceed five thousand words, so I decided to split it into two to keep it from being too tiring. In the next one, Ryan will show his side of the [King of Curses] since there's Damon's attack on Vicky. What do you think, should he kill Damon or should Stefan stop him, saving him? Ryan is kind of sadistic and loves to torment those who are his victims... Anyway, I hope you like these chapters, since it's basically the beginning of the drama, about Ryan's parents, and it's one of the mysteries of the upcoming chapters. I hope you enjoy!
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