Between Two Wings

The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and where the other begins?

Edgar Allen Poe

Chapter One: Before You Start Your Day

Look in the mirror and ask your soul if you're alright
Put out the glitter that your soul hides behind
You're in my mind, I'm singing, nowhere were they holy
Open up your eyes and see the clouds above will hold you
The clouds above will sing and in your mind you're singing

~Twenty One Pilots

The sunlight filtering through the open window warmed her sensitive skin. It left it tingling as her eyes slowly opened. The feeling contrasted beautifully with the cool soft sheets she was laying on. It sent a sensation over her body, lulling her back to sleep. She wanted to bask in this, close her eyes and drift, but she fought against it. Her eyes stayed fixed on the creature lying next to her.

As she rolled out of sleep, she became more aware of his presence. Nilin was surrounded by him. His scent stuck to everything around her, arousing her new senses. It was the smell of old leather from the jacket he'd been wearing the night before, the bar of soap he uses every morning, that spicy cinnamon smell that she always registered with the boarding house, and something entirely new to her. She snuggled further down into the bed as she watched his closed, pale eyelids quivering while he slept. His head was turned towards her as his chest rose and fell in the slightest movement. Dark raven locks fell carelessly on his forehead and stood out on the white pillow he rested on.

Her eyes traveled to his lips as she bit hers. They were somewhat parted, curled in the corners to resemble a soft smile. As she laid there on her stomach— pillows forgotten, sheets tangled— Nilin was completely entranced by the sight beside her.

Watching as Damon dreamed peacefully, she wondered if he had always looked like this or if this was her new found 20/20 vision at play. She desperately wanted to run her hand across the bed and touch him, just to make sure he was real. That this wasn't some dream, some beautiful dream. At the same time though, she feared waking him and ending the moment.

It was stolen instants like this that kept her grounded. She had found a new appreciation from them. Nilly lifted her cheek off the mattress, cranking her neck to look around the room in search for her phone. Her phone which was in the front pocket of her jeans… but where were her jeans?

Damon's room had been torn apart. Tattered clothing laid in piles, thrown over lamps, scattered around the room. The only blanket that remained on the bed was a very thin white sheet that was barely covering the both of them. The rest of his expensive bedding was kicked to the end of the bed and spilling over on the floor.

And of course, there sitting on the night stand, was the catalyst of last night. Damon's special bottle of wine that he insisted they crack open in celebration. And did they celebrate. The bottle was drained, and so were the two wine glasses knocked over next to it.

What were they commemorating exactly? Well, surviving the summer.

He was going to have a fun time cleaning this up. She gave up looking and lowered her head back down with a sigh. Apparently, it was enough to stir the sleeping vampire. His eyes cracked open immediately, revealing the dark irises beneath them.

"Good morning," she said softly.

Damon's lips twitched into a smile as he took in the sight of her. Slowly, he shifted onto his side to face her, propping his chin on his hand. God, she was beautiful. Nilin was what poetry was made up of, the space between breaths, what spring days after a long winter felt like, she was every cheesy analogy he could think of. Kinda made him nauseous, but at the moment, he'd accept it. It was her fault, anyway, she was the reason for Damon Salvatore turning into mush.

Nilin was more alive than he had ever seen her… which was completely ironic. There she laid before him, her hair wild with bed head and the rigorous activities of the night before. Curls sprang all over the place, on her forehead, down her bare back, cascading onto the sheets. Peering up at him, it looked as if she had a halo of them around her. The thought made him want to laugh.

Her cheek rested on her one hand, while her other hand mindlessly played with the tip of his pillowcase. Those blue eyes of hers looked up at him meekly. "Why are you staring at me like that?" she asked with an almost innocent smile on her lips.

"Like what?" he asked, smirking. He swept his eyes down her body. It was completely bare besides the cotton sheet that draped sensually over her lower back and legs. The rest of his sheets were crumbled and kicked to the end of the bed. Looking back up at her, he could hear her unusually slow heartbeat puttering. He loved the fact that he had that kind of affect on her.

She felt her cheeks heat up as she watched him. She couldn't help it. The intensity of his stare caused her stomach to clench up and butterflies to erupt. Nilin watched as a smirk came to his lips, then she was suddenly across the bed and flushed up against his bare chest.

His head dipped down, capturing her lips. Arms wrapped around her, pressing them together. Nilly managed to squeeze her hand out from between their chests to cradle his face to hers, kissing him slowly.

She could feel his one hand start to run down her body. His fingers traced down her back, following the curve of her shoulder blade. Then they swept over her stomach and across her hipbone. As his hand ran back up against the bumps of her ribs, she felt his fingers touch the cool, raised scar right under the last one. A ghost pain shot through her gut, causing her to gasp.

Reflexively, Nilin's hand shot out and grabbed his wrist, stopping him. Damon paused in his movements, realizing what had happened. Her heart rate skyrocketed and he picked up on it. She took in a deep breath before slowly unclasping her fingers from around his wrist. "Sorry," she whispered.

"Shh, it's okay," he told her, tilting her head up to him. His lips found hers again and the incident was quickly forgotten. Damon wasn't one to dwell on things like that, and at the moment, Nilin appreciated it. A pleasurable shiver ran through her as the kiss deepened and she felt him smirk against her lips.

"I could get use to this," he said when they finally broke apart. His hand began to trace down her arm, sending jolts of electricity though her body. Feeling brave she tested her strength out and rolled them over so that he was under her.

"So can I," Nilly said, smirking down at him as her hair framed their faces. It was nothing impressive, her little power boost, but she leaned down and kissed him anyway. Suddenly there was a rush of air and she found herself on her back again with a rather menacing looking vampire above her.

He always had to remind her who the meaner, stronger, faster being was. Even with her transition into a light being, angel— whatever the hell you want to call it— she was still no match for an hundred plus year old vampire. Well, not yet anyway, she was only starting to understand her supernatural side.

Nilly just rolled her eyes and tried to squirm out from underneath him. He complied somewhat, allowing her to sit up against the head board of his bed, pulling the sheet with her. He rested on her legs, draping an arm over them as he looked up towards her.

"Don't get too comfortable," Nilin sighed. "If we get caught by our siblings it's all over."

"I don't get caught," Damon smirked, kissing her kneecap. "Besides, if you haven't noticed, no one's even home."

Nilin went to laugh when she realized something. Nearly knocking Damon off of her, she turned to look at the clock on the side table, cursing promptly after seeing the time.

"Shit. I'm going to be so late," she hissed, trying to untangle herself from Damon completely and leave the bed. Just as her feet were about to touch the hardwood floor she found herself lying on her back and staring up at Damon again. He had a devilish smirk on his face that caused her to get very nervous.

"Ah ah ah, where do you think you're going?" he asked her, his hands braced on either side of her head. Nilly tried to push on his chest and sit up, but even with her above average strength she couldn't budge him.

"Damon, come on." Nilly tired, but he didn't seem to be paying attention as he swooped down and started peppering her neck with kisses. "This isn't funny," she pushed on his shoulders. His lips just traced down her neck to her collarbone. Her hands, with a mind of their own, moved themselves to tangle her fingers into his hair. "It's the first day of school and I'm already going to be late." It was a last ditch effort, but there was no conviction in her voice.

"Damon," Nilly groaned out his name as he outlined her sternum with his lips. "I can't be late."

He looked up at her, his chin resting on her tense stomach. "I'll be quick," Damon grinned as he placed another kiss right above her belly button.

"I'm serious," she swore, but her eyes had fluttered closed at this point.

"I'll drive you," he reasoned before dipping his head down again and pressing his lips to her soft skin. Nilly gave up, letting her head fall back on the bed.

She was going to be so late, starting the school year off strong.

Who needed an education anyway?

Shellie sat on one of the picnic tables on the side of the school, sucking up as much sun as she could before the bell rang and she had to shuffle off to her last year of high school. Her hands rested behind her as she embraced the sun at a ninety degree angle. Her legs were outstretched in front of her, ankles crossed. She was going to miss this.

The bell sounded and people started to make their way into the building. Unenthusiastically she sat up and fixed her navy blue floral skirt and white blouse, starting to feel a bit anxious. Annoying greetings of friends and the constant 'How was your summer?' began to buzz around Shellie.

She found herself asking the same question to her memory. Her summer was a weird one. It felt like it was just one obsessive, psychotic vampire after another. Then of course there were the near death experiences and the actual death experience. Shellie cut the train of thought there, a shiver running down her spine.

It wasn't the time to be thinking about this, not when she had to mentally prepare herself for one and eighty days of public education. Just as she was about to slide off the table, Shellie heard a familiar voice. She turned her head in time to see Nilly sliding out of a blue convertible. "Well, speak of the devils," she murmured to herself.

Nilin was wearing a simple black dress that had a lace detail to it and a plain black wedge. Her hair fell in spiraling curls like it usually did. Her makeup was the same, nothing too fancy or different.

It was a good sight to see; Nilin, seemingly normal. Shellie had grown use to the Nilin who was swimming in sweats and blankets with red eyes and chalky skin. That was what was left of her after that late August day.

It had been a rough few weeks. Nilin had been in a haze since she came back, it's worried everyone. But as Shellie watched her, you could never tell that the girl took a roundtrip to the Otherside. It was impressive. She guessed it was Damon's doing.

Shellie watched as Nilly leaned through the car window once more, her face was obscured for a minute before she straightened up with a wide smile on her lips. She slugged her bag over her shoulder as the car drove away. Shellie shook her head, popping out of her own thoughts and hopping towards her.

"Don't you know you're not supposed to get rides from strange old men?" Shellie asked, a smile on her face. Nilin rolled her eyes as she started for the main entrance, Shellie keeping pace next to her.

"Don't you know it's looked down upon to seduce younger guys?" Nilly retorted back. Shellie let out a laugh as they made their way up the concrete steps.

"I'm not seducing anyone, and are two years really all that bad?" Shellie asked, raising a sharp eyebrow as she wiggled her pointer and middle fingers at Nilin.

"It is when it's my little cousin," Nilly said, adjusting her bag.

Shellie cut ahead of Nilin, turning to smile at her, her hair falling perfectly over her shoulder. "Not so little anymore," she winked.

"Ew," Nilin groaned.

She just laughed, nudging Nilly's side. "So, how have you been? I haven't seen you in a few days. Damon stopped bringing you around the book store." As she spoke, Shellie tried to keep her voice light but kept watching Nilin from her peripherals.

"I'm okay, yeah, I've just been busy. Last minute school preparations," she explained quickly as they walked.

"Mmm," Shellie just murmured, looking at the slight brunette next to her. Up close, Shellie could see that Nilin truly was doing better. Her eyes were vivid and alert. Her hair was washed, curls lying lightly on her shoulders. She was even smiling to herself.

"If I wasn't okay, I'd tell you, Shells," Nilin said and Shellie realized she had been staring at her.

She blinked a couple of times. "I know that," she said. Her eyes landed on anything but Nilin. "So, how's your memory?" Shellie asked, moving the conversation along. "Anything coming back to you?"

Nilin shook her head as she adjusted the bag on her shoulder again, pulling the hair that got caught under it. "Nope, nothing, August is still a blank slate up here," she tapped a finger to her temple.

Shellie gnawed on her bottom lip, she released it to say, "Well, there has to be something to jog it." Since Nilin's return, she had been suffering a supernatural amnesia of sorts. Shellie had seen it before, it happened when a human mind was forced to cope with an inhuman invasion— a sort of defense mechanism, if you will.

Her shoulders bounced up and down in a shrug. "Hopefully," Nilly sighed.

"Don't worry," Shellie told her. "It's bound to work itself out," she explained, looking at the classroom numbers. "Well, here's as far as I go," she grinned, stopping at her Calculus class. "If you need any thing, don't hesitate."

Nilin just smiled. "Will do."

"Good luck," she winked before slipping into the classroom and leaving Nilin to shake her head.

Nilly continued down the hall, following her schedule to her first class. As she maneuvered through the hallways of the high school, she started to realize the lingering eyes. After her eventful summer she would be surprised if there was no gossip on the latest edition to Mystic High School.

She just shrugged it off, holding her head up high. For once in her life she was happy with everything going on and she wasn't going to let her senior year ruin that. She kept that thought in her head as she rounded the corner and collided with the blonde clean-cut, manicured Caroline Forbes. Just her luck.

The girl sent daggers Nilin's way, her mouth opening to spew out some insult but she never got the chance. Elena appeared, putting her hand on Caroline's shoulder. She smiled at her sister.

"There you are," Elena said sweetly. "You already left this morning before I got a chance to see you," she continued. Nilin smiled, trying to look natural. She didn't want Elena to realize she never actually went home last night. Whoops. That would not end well for her.

"Yeah, I had some things to take care of. Sorry," Nilin said slyly.

Though Elena and Stefan had been more tolerant with the idea of Nilin and Damon, they weren't their number one supporters. Finding out that Nilly had spent the night would most likely raise hell around them. Caroline cleared her throat, returning the attention to her.

"Elena, we really should get to class. Wouldn't want to be late," she suggested with a tight smile on her face, directed at Nilly.

"Go ahead, Care. I'm going to walk Nilin to her class." Elena told the less then happy girl.

"What, are you going to hold her hand while she crosses the road too?" Caroline snapped. "She's a big girl now. Well, at least I think she is." Caroline leered, deliberately looking Nilin up and down with scrutinizing eyes.

Nilly ran an uncomfortable hand through her hair. "Forget it Elena, its fine. I'll see you later," she said, brushing past them and down the hallway. She secretly wished that Elena would follow after and actually walk with her to class, but she never did. When she glanced over her shoulder, Elena and Caroline were heading in the opposite direction.

Nilly brushed it off, trying to maintain the positive attitude she had when she had walked in here. But she already knew how this day was going to end.

Most of her classes seemed fairly easy this year. She was just taking the courses to graduate, all she needed was a few more credits and she'd be out of here. Her English class seemed pretty simple. First on the reading list was Edgar Allen Poe's Annabelle Lee, which Nilly could probably recite from memory on the spot.

It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.
I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea;
But we loved with a love that was more than love-
I and my Annabel Lee;
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.

Yup, she still had it in her.

Her math and science classes might be a different story, but she'd get by on them. Because of her transfer, she needed to add a second history class to graduate. So that meant that she had to take American History and Euro at the same time. When she saw this Nilin had internally groaned, but there was nothing she could do about it at this point.

Lunch was thrown in the middle of her day, somewhere. Nilly found herself eating alone outside. She couldn't take the constant chatter and noise of the cafeteria. It took all of five minutes before it drove her crazy. On top of that she had to hear all the inadequate, pointless gossip that seemed to run on an unvarying loop in high school. She preferred the peacefulness of the outdoor patio to the irritating cafeteria.

Finally, the last class of the day came and Nilly found herself walking into the classroom of Alaric Saltzman. She had to double check her schedule to make sure this was her class and, well enough, her seventh period was American History with none other than a Mr. Alaric Saltzman.

Well, this just made things a bit awkward. With everything else going on it had slipped her mind that the part-time vampire hunter taught as a history teacher. She quickly ducked her head and scurried to an empty seat in the back corner of the class just to find that she had sat down next a very familiar bubbly person.

"Does this make three classes we have together now?" Shellie asked, leaning over the aisle and poking Nilin.

Nilly immediately calmed down, releasing the breath that she had been holding. "Yeah, lucky number three," Nilly said quietly, motioning to the teacher at the chalk board.

Shellie's eyes widened in realization as she looked at the front of the room and back at Nilly. "Ooh," she gasped. "That's the guy Damon and my cousin mugged for weapons."

"More or less," Nilly said in a hushed voice as Alaric— Mr. Saltzman —turned around to greet them. Shellie and Nilin straightened up in their seats, eyes forwards, hands clasped on top of the desk.

"Welcome back, guys," he said with a smile on his face. If he had recognized Nilin sitting at her desk, he didn't show it as he went through the motions of first day blab.

After forty-five long minutes the final bell rang. Nilly and Shellie simultaneously rocketed out of their seats and hastened towards the door. Just as they were about to leave, Alaric stopped Nilly, asking her to stay for a moment.

"I'll wait for you outside," Shellie said as she passed her. Nilin nodded before turning back to her teacher.

She smiled at him. "Hi, Alaric," she said sweetly. Nilly hugged her books to her chest as Alaric leaned back on the edge of his desk.

"I haven't seen you lately," he said, eyeing her suspiciously. Alaric and Jenna had this thing going on, though neither would admit it was a relationship yet. They seemed pretty serious, which meant Alaric was at her house more or less on a daily basis and Nilin was more or less avoiding him. Apparently she had done a good job at it.

"I've been busy," she told him.

"I just wanted to check on you. I know you went through some, uh stuff, this summer," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder. For some reason Nilly felt slightly annoyed at the fact that he didn't know everything, yet he claimed to. Not even Nilin herself could remember what happened.

"I'm dealing," she lied. "It wouldn't have been my first encounter with vampires." Nilly noticed the way his face seemed to harden at the mention of the 'v' word.

He cleared his throat, crossing his arms over his chest. Was the big bad history teacher uncomfortable? "Yes, well. I was just concerned and, I don't know if I'm overstepping my boundaries here but, I just want you to be careful." Alaric said, giving her a genuine smile.

"Thank you, Alaric, but really there is nothing and no one to worry about. I promise," Nilly said, nodding her head before turning to leave, calling a 'have a nice day' over her shoulder.

She didn't particularly like the fact that the whole reason for Alaric moving to her home town was to kill the vampire that he thought murdered his wife, other wise known as Damon Salvatore.

Alaric had made this accusation back in the weeks of summer leading up to Nilin's death. Obviously, that vendetta had been put on the back burner because Alaric was still alive and well. She just hoped it stayed that way.

Nilin liked Alaric. He was genuine and made her aunt happy. He even seemed to care about Nilly, even though she was the reason for some discomfort in his life. The chance to say more to him was squashed as she scurried out of the room, not giving either of them the chance to say another word.

She made a quick stop at her locker before she left the school and spotted Shellie waiting for her outside. When she saw Nilly, she pushed off the tree she was leaning on and walked over to her. Shellie slid her bag up her arm as they started walking towards her car.

"What was that all about?" she asked. The car's lights flashed, the doors clicking noisily unlocked.

"I'm not entirely sure," Nilly shrugged as she slipped into the passenger's seat of Shellie's car. "I don't know if he was asking me or warning me."

"About?" Shellie asked, starting the car and roaring out of the senior parking lot.

Nilly flopped her head to the side, eyeing the slight girl. "Guess," was all she said. Shellie made that 'Oooh' sound, nodding her head. "Yeah, can't say I enjoyed that conversation." The anxious feeling started to crawl into her throat. It was a sensation she had grown accustomed to lately. Everything seemed to make her uneasy, Nilin didn't know why. It was nauseating.

"Well you could switch classes, but then you wouldn't have me to keep you entertained," she said, a grin on her face and her eyes on the road.

Nilin chuckled a little, as she rubbed her shoulder blade. "Oh whatever would I do without you," she asked sarcastically.

Shellie just gave her a pointed look, scrunching her nose.

This managed to mask her nervousness as she started to laugh. "Besides," Nilin laughed. "I can deal with it. I'm pretty sure Alaric isn't going to whip out a stake in between Gettysburg battles."

"What battles?" Shellie asked.

"Never mind," Nilly said, shaking her head. "Don't hurt yourself," she teased, leaning her head back on the headrest.

Author's Notes:

First chapter up guys. This is crazy. I've been writing like a mad woman and now I finally get to share all this with you. I have to say it again, THANK YOU. I never thought I'd get this far and now I'm publishing the first chapter to the sequel. I'm going to have to be posting randomly due to summer plans, but I'll try to do a couple chapters a week.

See you soon though, promise :)

Rori Lee Smith

Don't forget to Favorite, Follow and Review if you haven't already. It means so much to me and it gets the story out there to more people, shich is something every writer wants. So thank you.

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Nilin's Outfit: /chapter_one_nilin/set?id=127649521

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Get the song:

Before You Start Your Day by Twenty One Pilots

Youtube DOT com /watch?v=YeX7tFStU50