If only | Damon Salvatore

014. THE POWER OF RESURGENCE

Chapter fourteen

"The power of resurgence."

It had been a few days since the tragic events, and Stefan had taken it upon himself to look after Damon and Cassandra Black. Both were reeling. Whatever spell Beatrix's grandmother had used to bring her back hadn't worked as planned, and Beatrix was dead again. Cassandra had insisted they bypass the town cemetery, choosing instead to bury Beatrix in the backyard. Stefan didn't understand the reasoning, but respecting the wishes of a grieving woman, he obliged.

Stefan had just come from checking on Damon at Elena's house, where Damon was obsessing over the fact that Katherine wasn't in the tomb and blaming himself for Beatrix's demise. Now, Stefan was on his way to check on Cassandra. As he walked down the driveway, he heard a jarring, peppy contrast of music spilling out from her house. Frowning, he walked up to the open front door. Peeking inside, he found the house empty, devoid of any sign of Cassandra—only the upbeat, synth-driven sound of Fleetwood Mac's "Seven Wonders" echoing through the foyer.

"So long ago

Certain place
Certain time
You touched my hand
On the way
On the way down to Emmeline."

Furrowing his brows, he looked around the empty space. "Cassandra?" he called out, but there was no response. He listened closely, but his enhanced vampire hearing caught nothing but the echoing music, and a sudden wave of worry washed over him.

"But if our paths never cross

Well, you know I'm sorry, but
If I live to see the seven wonders."

Then the back door clicked open, and Cassandra stepped inside. She was wearing a flowing white dress, a delicate flower crown nestled in her hair. Smiling brightly, she began to spin around the room to the rhythm of the music. Stefan walked toward her, completely bewildered by the sudden shift. "Cassandra?" he asked, noting that this upbeat mood was a stark contrast to the profound grief he had seen her carrying just hours before.

"I'll make a path to the rainbow's end
I'll never live to match the beauty again
The rainbow's edge."

Then, the sharp sound of curtains rattling open cut through the room. Stefan snapped his head to the left, his eyes widening in shock. Standing there was Beatrix's grandmother. She was dressed in an identical white gown and flower crown, and she immediately began to sway and dance alongside Cassandra. Stefan whipped around to face Cassandra, panic setting in. "What's going on?" he demanded.

Neither woman answered him. They simply kept moving to the music, completely ignoring his presence.

"So it's hard to find

Someone with that kind of intensity
You touched my hand, I played it cool
And you reached out your hand to me
But if our paths never cross
Well, no, I'm not sorry, but."

The two women began to glide effortlessly around him, their white dresses swirling as they circled him in a slow, hypnotic dance. Stefan stood frozen in the center, completely trapped by the eerie, silent spectacle.

"If I live to see the seven wonders
I'll make a path to the rainbow's end
I'll never live to match the beauty again
The rainbow's edge

So long ago
It's a certain time
It's a certain place
You touched my hand and you smiled
All the way back you held out your hand
If I hope and if I pray
Ooh it might work out someday."