New York || Damon Salvatore [1]

Chapter Six

1976 — Provincetown, Massachusetts

   Damon couldn't believe that had arrived at the childhood home of Freya Beauchene. Her home was big, decorated with nature and bright lights emitting from the inside. The front of the house was decorated with evergreen and deciduous trees, the ground decorated with the colourful New England leaves that he had only seen in magazines. In the close distance, he could hear the wind chimes beating against each other, creating a gentle rhythm that danced through the air. There was a table in front of the house, too clean for an autumn day. It didn't matter, Damon thought that the house reflected Freya's personality; warm, bright, filled with searing happiness.

   As soon as the car was turned off, the front door opened to reveal a woman that resembled an older-looking Freya. She had grey hair and bright green eyes, and she looked young for a woman that was supposed to be around fifty. The woman, who Damon immediately assumed to be the mother of the Beauchene twins, ran to the car with her arms wide open and a big grin around her lips. At the same time, she tightly hugged both Frederick and Freya tightly. "My babies!" she cooed, kissing their cheeks. "How was the ride here?"

   "Frederick didn't stop singing along with the radio," Freya said, glancing at her brother with a tight and sarcastic smile.

   "They have good songs," he replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Oh, and Freya got drunk at two in the afternoon when we made a stop in Cranston."

   "Freya!" Her mother didn't look surprised, but she did look a mixture of disappointment and amusement. Suddenly, she turned to the vampire who was leaning against the door, hands deep in his pocket. She moved to him and extended her arm, smiling. "You must be the famous Damon I've been hearing so much about over the phone."

   "Yeah," Damon smiled, shaking her hand. "I hope you've been hearing good things."

   "Well," she chuckled, "that depends." She took a step back and looked him up and down, almost as she were analysing him. "Oh, where are my manners? I'm Ioanna Beauchene, Freya and Frederick's mother." As she spoke, Damon could hear her English accent that had been overshadowed by years of living in America.

   "It's an honour to finally meet you," he responded, still smiling. "I see where Freya gets her looks from."

   Ioanna laughed and waved a hand, shaking her head at the gracious comment the vampire had made. She then turned to her children, who were pulling out their suitcases from the trunk of the car. Immediately, Damon decided to help. He took his and Freya's bags, and was surprised when she suddenly thanked him with a gentle peck on the lips.

   Ioanna led the trio to the house as she spoke about what she was planning to do on Thanksgiving. Apparently, it was going to be a grand family event with family flying from all over. Damon learned all that while sitting on the dining table with a mug full of coffee in one hand and Freya's in the other. Ioanna was making a quick dinner of a simple vegetable and steak soup, her voice loudly echoing from the kitchen. It was the first home-made thing Damon had eaten in decades, and he thought it tasted better than blood.

   During the dinner, he met the rest of the Beauchene family. The eldest Beauchene child, Rohan Beauchene, had arrived weeks before, something about deciding to move in with her mother after an incident at her work place. She was taller than Freya yet more petite, with hazel coloured eyes and hair resembling honey. Their aunt, Helena Beauchene, came from New Orleans months before and opened a voodoo shop in the city. She had the same nose as her sister, straight and small, with dark hair and bright green eyes, yet she had mischief running through her eyes and smile. In a way, she reminded him of Freya.

   The father, well, he greeted Damon with a sturdy hand shake, a nod, and a simple greeting. His name was Arthur Bergfalk, a physicist at the University of Massachusetts. At first, he was confused of why did Freya and her siblings have her mother's surname, but he recalled that Freya told him that their father had come and gone several times throughout the year, and Ioanna thought best to give them her surname. Arthur soon left to his study after finishing his dinner.