The Heavenly Appeal {A Vampire Diaries Fan Fiction}

{22} Beyond What Is Known

Thanks for reading this far! Thank you, thank you, thank yooou! -Her Lady

Chapter Twenty-Two

Beyond What Is Known

=-Mystic Falls, Virginia-=

2010

"C'mon! Hurry up!" I heard Caroline groan from afar. Glancing back, I saw that she was ordering a few pitiable sophomores around with the white sparkles for the Miss Mystic Falls float. "They're not going to be glued by themselves, are they? It's tomorrow and we're not even halfway done! So chop-chop!"

My younger brother looked worried out of the blue. "Bad decision," he said with pressed lips as a brave sixteen year old complained to the blonde.

"I don't care," we heard Caroline snap irritably.

"If she's trying to motivate them, she's doing a horrible job."

"More like she's trying to murder them," I commented dryly.

They were sweating guns under the heat like everyone else in the football field. It was filled with half-finished floats in need of paint, decorations, and that special thing Caroline liked to call pizazz. Elena, Stefan, and Bonnie had yet to appear and I was starting to believe they were purposely missing out on the preparations. I didn't get lucky to ditch again when Caroline woke up extra early to order Winslow and I to get dressed, gobble up breakfast, and head out the front door in the next half hour. We were picked up by Tyler by my request and had spent the ride trying to encourage the poor guy to just talk with his lost best friend; he was still fighting with Matt.

Winslow snorted beside me, carrying the boxes of glue guns that were generously given by a freshman pre-algebra teacher. "The float has to be finished first, Char. Extra labor, and if things go smoothly after the parade, then civil execution. They'll be greatly missed though; I guess that counts."

"Ha! Aren't they your classmates?"

With a shrug, he remarked, "Better they face the wrath of Caroline than I. To be honest, she's scaring me with her domineering tendencies to scream and lecture all at the same time."

Recalling the patronizing speech my second cousin had given me yesterday after returning from the grill, I found myself agreeing. "That's Caroline for you." She could be vicious if she wanted to be when things didn't go her way, a trait I was starting to admire. We reached the table crowded with paper and knickknacks for the parade and dropped the boxes off with the rest of the supplies, going to our assigned float that wasn't dictated by Caroline.

Much to my satisfaction, Nicole Armstrong was at the opposite side of the football field with the rest of her cheerleading and artsy friends. I could imagine her irritation with sharing her boyfriend's attention, but as petty and greedy as it sound, she had to learn that I came first to Winslow; and I just loved shoving it in her face. Besides, it was my turn to hang out with him after all the days she annoyingly captured his consideration. During their first days together, I had believed that she was his rebound girl after her and that incident in New York. I was sorely mistaken when I noticed Winslow glance back at the redhead with a fond smile. Then again, when I was around Winslow, I couldn't help but feel guilty.

I hadn't told him anything concerning our mother - like John's appearance or Alaric's past knowledge of the sober Beatrice Archer - and it wasn't only because I was uncertain with how he would react; his relationship with her was similar to that of our father's and mine. As I openly claimed to loathe William Rudolph Blackburn, Winslow had done the same toward our mom. It was no secret that our parents hooked up in secret for several years before ever getting engaged and married, making Winslow and I the illegitimate children of the Blackburn family until they finally decided to tie the knot a few months after Winslow's birth.