Enemy Fire | J. Saltzman - Legacies [3]

T W E N T Y - F O U R

As Stella walks through the suburbs of Mystic Falls, she constantly keeps her head tilted down and focused on the note in her hand with the address she is interested in. With Josie now living off-campus, Stella can't see a reason why she shouldn't visit her girlfriend to make sure everything is ok. It's not like she's avoiding the school or Hope or Aaron or her life as a whole. Not at all.

Rounding the corner, she pauses before crossing the street. Before she can even approach the large house, a soft mewl catches her attention; Stella looks down to see a tuft of fur stuck to a nearby bush. Bending down, Stella moves the stiff branches away to see a small grey cat covered in fur, mewling and clawing at the bush.

"It's ok," Stella says, quickly singeing the edges of the bush to allow easy access with her non-bandaged hand. "I've got you."

The cat pounces out from the bush and rubs its back on the cement, its eyes closed and purring loudly. When it gets back to its feet, it opens its large yellow eyes before sliding against Stella's legs happily and plopping down on her feet. It looks back up at her and meows.

"You're adorable," Stella breathes out, feeling a strange pull towards the familiar eyes. Somehow, she knows the animal won't harm her. It simply wants to be near her, and that feeling of safety is in short supply these days. "But I have a girlfriend to visit."

When she manages to get out from under the cat, it jumps onto her jeans and climbs up to her shoulders, despite her shouts. It licks her cheek, its sandpaper tongue tickling her skin, before carefully settling in her hood, its head resting on her shoulder.

Stella lets out a laugh before simply shrugging and continuing towards the house, flicking her growing hair over the quiet cat. Knocking on the door, Stella takes a step back to look around the large porch. When the door opens, she is faced with a man she does not recognize with jet black hair and piercing blue eyes like her. "Um, hello," she says warily.

The man narrows his eyes. "Sorry, who are you?"

"Josie's girlfriend. She said it was ok if I stopped by—"

"Damon, who's at the door?" A feminine voice echoes from inside.

Only once Stella hears the name does her skin begin to itch. "Damon Salvatore?" She asks. "Like Elena and Damon Salvatore?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

A woman Stella has never seen but knows from stories comes up to the door clad in scrubs. "Damon, be nice." She smiles down at Stella. "Josie's in the guest room getting ready for school. Come in."

Stella nervously steps into the house, her eyes darting from the living room to the kitchen. She knows the stories of the people who have died in this house, but she pushes it away as the woman she identified as the doppelgänger shows her the guest room where Josie is organizing her bag.

"Josie, you have a visitor."

Josie looks up and instantly smiles at Stella. "Thanks, Aunt Elena," she says, dragging Stella further into the room while the woman walks away. "I didn't know you'd be here. How'd you get the address?"

"I'm really sneaky," Stella replies, glancing over her shoulder nervously. "I didn't realize it was the doppelgänger's house. Maybe I should've called first."

"Oh, it's ok. It's the past, right?" Josie asks, swinging her bag over her shoulder.

Stella shrugs. "I mean, they did kill my uncle in their kitchen."

"They don't need to know that." Josie laughs, linking her arm through Stella's. "But you didn't answer my question, so don't think you're getting out of it. Bye, Aunt Elena!" She shouts as the two girls make it to the door. "Bye, Uncle Damon!"