"The Return"
Here is the return of Christina Gilbert. Please enjoy and review!
Inside of the white Victorian styled house, a girl with caramel colored hair was sleeping on her bed when suddenly the sound of people talking made her wake up.
Blinking her hazel eyes, she looked around her room, taking in the pink colored walls, the vanity with the mirror; her dresser filled with clothing and looked down at her bed with the white comforter.
Thinking back to what had happened; she quickly shot up and ran across the hall and rushed into her brother's room to find a girl with brown hair and amber eyes was in the room with a man with sandy colored hair and emerald eyes.
Sitting on the bed was a boy with slightly long brown hair and the same hazel eyes as the caramel haired girl.
"What's going on in here?" Chris Gilbert asked.
Elena Gilbert and Stefan Salvatore both looked at her, unsure of how to answer while Jeremy Gilbert was looking down guiltily.
"One of the tomb vampires was in the house. They attacked John. The ambulance is taking him to the hospital now." Elena told her.
"Why do I have a feeling you're keeping something else from me?" Chris asked warily.
"Jeremy…he uh, he said that Anna gave him her blood and then he took these pills and now…I mean he looks fine, but then again, so does Stefan. So I just…I don't know." Elena shook her head.
Hearing this, Chris looked over at her older brother, who kept his head down to not see the betrayal and hurt that he knew he would see in her eyes.
Walking over to the boy, Stefan took his face in his hand and moved it to face him as he looked into his eyes.
"Look at me." Stefan said.
"I'm fine, okay? I feel exactly the same." Jeremy told him.
"Should I call the paramedic up here? What should I do?" Elena asked.
"No, he's fine." Stefan said as he looked at the girls.
"You mean I'm not a vampire. Damn it." Jeremy cursed making his sisters look at him in shock.
"Don't say that, Jeremy. Jer, why would you want that?" Elena asked him.
"Did you hear about Anna, what happened to her tonight? She's dead." Jeremy revealed.
Elena looked sad at this while Chris felt tears rush to her eyes.
At the back of her mind, something was trying to push to the surface and remind her of something that happened, but she couldn't remember at the moment.
Her main focus was now on her brother who tried to turn himself into a vampire and her friend was now dead at the hands of her own uncle.
"Jeremy, Jeremy. Come here, sit down." Stefan pushed the boy back onto the bed.
The vampire then grabs his face as he stared down at him to make sure that whatever he said sunk in.
"I am very sorry about Anna, but it's very important that you listen to me right now. With every passing moment, Anna's blood is leaving your system. If you try to kill yourself right now, you could really die." Stefan warned.
Jeremy looks away from him, but the vampire slaps his face lightly to make him pay attention.
"Hey! Do you understand me?!" Stefan demanded.
"Stefan." Elena spoke.
"Yeah, I understand." Jeremy nods.
"Good." Stefan says as he backs away.
"What about the pills he took?" Elena asked.
"He didn't take enough to die. Anna's blood actually healed him." Stefan sighed.
He looks over to Chris since she hadn't spoken a word for a while and was worried about her.
She had her arms crossed around her torso as tears were leaking down her face as she stared at her brother.
Someone knocked on the door making the quartet turn around to see a police officer was at the door.
"Miss Gilbert?" he questioned looking at the oldest girl in the room.
"I'll be right there." Elena told him and nodded as he walked off.
"You need to be at the hospital." Stefan insisted.
"But…" Elena trailed off as she looked between her siblings.
"No, no, no. I'll stay here with Jeremy." Stefan told her.
"No, I don't need a babysitter." Jeremy denied.
The door then slammed shut making everyone jump as they looked at Chris, only to see she was gone.
"Yes, you do." Elena sighed as she then walked out.
Stefan listened as he heard Elena, the paramedics and the police leave the house.
Jeremy sighed as he buried his face in his hands, knowing that his sisters were both mad at him, but it would be worst for Chris.
Looking at the boy, Stefan then walked out of the room and went inside of Chris' room to see her curled up on her bed, crying as she held her pillow to her chest.
Walking over to her, Stefan crawled up beside her and wrapped his arms around her and kissed the side of her head.
"Are you all right?" he asked her.
"No. He-He promised me th-that he w-would never leave me. B-Becoming a vampire would m-mean he would leave me. He lied. My own big brother lied to me." she cried.
Sighing, Stefan just held her as he let her cry, gently running his fingers through her hair as he noticed some vials of nail polish, lipstick, lip gloss tubes and mascara tubes started to float around.
He concluded that it must be the young witch's powers acting up because of her emotions.
"I'm sure he didn't mean to hurt you. Leaving you isn't what he wanted, I'm sure." Stefan whispered as he tried to comfort her.
Turning over, she clung to his shirt and rested her head on his shoulder as he held her.
As she rested in his arms, she then thought of something and she looked up at her friend's face.
"Stefan, I need to tell you something." She said urgently.
"What is it?" he asked her.
By the tone of her voice and the look in her hazel eyes, he knew that something terrible must have happened and that made him worry.
"Katherine. She's here. Jenna invited her in. Katherine was the one who attacked John." Chris told him.
Stefan stared at her wide eyed as he stood up and started walking into Jeremy's room, checking to see him sleeping.
Chris then followed him, the girl frowning as she stared at them.
"If she was invited in, then she'll come back. Did she say what she wanted?" he asked her.
"No. She compelled me to fall asleep and then she left." Chris shook her head.
The vampire sighed at that as he walked out of the room when he heard the front door open.
"Stay up here." He told the young witch.
She nodded as she watched him walk down the stairs, her face contorted into a frown of worry and she quietly snuck over to the stairs to eavesdrop.
Poking her head around the corner, she found Elena had come back home as Stefan walked over to her.
"Hey! How was Caroline?" Stefan asked.
At the mention of Chris bubbly blonde friend, Caroline Forbes, it made her wonder what had happened to her.
"Not good." Elena shook her head.
She then wrapped her arms around Stefan and he returned the hug, but then the amber eyed woman's lips curved into a smug grin.
"Just what I needed." She said.
As she leaned in to kiss Stefan, he grabbed her by the hair as his fangs came out and his eyes turned red.
He snarled at her and then threw her across the room making Chris gasp as she watched and knew that it wasn't her sister when the woman shot to her feet in super speed.
"Katherine." Stefan glared.
"At least I fooled one of you." she teased.
Stefan rushed at her, grabbed her and forced her against the wall, but Katherine didn't seem bothered at all.
"Feel better?" she asked and he pushed her against another wall.
The front door then begins to open and it distracted Stefan, so Katherine grabbed his arm and twisted it, forcing him to his feet and threw him across the room.
With a smirk, she rushes out of the house and Chris takes this opportunity to run down the stairs and goes over to check on Stefan.
Elena and Damon Salvatore then enter the house, confused when they find their younger siblings together, Chris helping Stefan to his feet.
"Stefan? Chris?" Elena asked.
"Elena." Stefan says.
"What happened?" Elena asked.
"Katherine happened." Damon sighed.
Everyone shared a look of worry; Elena appearing to be scared as she walked over to Chris and embraced her; worried that Katherine would hurt her or turn her.
Elena then went upstairs to check on Jeremy while the trio of friends stood together in the kitchen to discuss what had happened.
"Did she say what she wanted?" Damon asked.
"No." Stefan said.
"Woman knows how to make an entrance." Damon commented.
"She said she fooled one of us. What does that mean?" Stefan asked as he gave his brother an accusing look.
"S-She was in the house. I thought she was Elena before I started noticing the differences between them. Then she compelled me to fall asleep." Chris reported.
"She pretended to be Elena when I showed up earlier. That must have been before she was with you." Damon said as he looked at the witch.
Hearing footsteps, they saw Elena walk down the stairs.
"I told Jeremy. I can't lie to him anymore." She said as she walked over.
"Are you all right? Stefan asked her.
"No, I'm not all right. I thought that with all the tomb vampires gone things would get better." Elena said.
"I know. We all did." Stefan told her.
"I didn't." Chris sighed as she crossed her arms.
Everyone looked over at her.
"I mean, even with the tomb vampires gone, we still had to deal with Uncle John and Isobel and keeping these secrets from everyone else. Sorry to state the obvious, but the drama and dangers were far from over. They only seemed to be starting." Chris stated.
"Regardless of that, Katherine was in this house. That means she been invited in. What are we gonna do?" Elena asked.
"Move." Damon joked as everyone gave him a look.
"Very helpful, thank you." Elena rolls her eyes as she sits down.
"Katherine wants you dead. There's zero you can do about it. You would be dead, but you're not. So, clearly, she has other plans." Damon reasoned.
"Right and we need to find out what those other plans are and not provoke her in the process. What happened tonight when you thought she was Elena?" Stefan asked
"To risk another frown line encroaching on a very crowded forehead. We…kissed." Damon revealed.
The looks on everyone's faces made Chris want to cry out in aggravation and was happy that she had moved on from Damon or else things would be worst.
"And you thought it was me?" Elena asked him in disbelief.
"What do you mean you kissed?" Stefan asked.
"Well, you know when two lips pucker and they go…" Damon trailed off as he made a kissing sound as he puckered his lips.
Angered by the teasing, Stefan rushed at his brother, but Damon was quick to stand behind Chris, knowing it would stop him and it did as Stefan stood in front of Chris, glaring over her head at Damon.
"Don't be obvious, Stefan." Damon smirked.
"Damon, that's enough." Chris scolded as he gave her an innocent grin.
"Stefan, wait." Elena said as she stood up and walked over.
"He kissed Katherine, not me. I wouldn't do that." She said as she looked at Damon and he had a slightly hurt gleam in his eyes.
"We don't have time for this guys." She said.
"Later." Stefan promised.
"Why would Katherine have attacked John? Do you think he knew something she didn't want him to tell us?" Chris asked.
"She's Katherine. She loves to play games and you're fooling yourself if you think you're going to find out what she's been up to before she wants you to know." Damon scoffs.
"No, actually, Chris is right. John would know something through Isobel." Stefan said as he then looked at Elena.
"Your mother, she was in touch with Katherine, so maybe we can go to the hospital and get him to talk." He suggested.
"I've got a better idea." Damon spoke up.
"What's that?" Elena asks.
"I'm just gonna ignore the bitch. See ya." Damon said as he prepares to leave the house.
"Is that smart?" Elena asked.
"If Katherine thinks she's being ignored, it will lure her out. She'll make a move." Damon told them.
"Yeah? And then what?" Stefan asked.
"Stake her, rip her head off. Something poetic. We'll see." Damon then left the house.
When he was gone, Chris then turned to her sister and best friend.
"What happened to Caroline?" she asked.
Seeing the no nonsense look in her hazel eyes, the doppelganger sighed as she knew she would have to tell her sister now.
"There was an accident. Tyler was driving her and Matt home when he lost control of the wheel. But don't worry. Damon gave her his blood, so she'll be healed by morning. Hopefully." Elena assured.
"Don't worry? My best friend was in a car accident and is in the hospital. The fact that she needed vampire's blood to heal her leaves me with the distinct impression that she wouldn't have lived otherwise." Chris said with anger in her eyes.
Seeing the couch was lifting into the air, Stefan walked over to Chris and placed his hands on her shoulders, rubbing away the tension.
He had discovered that her powers were linked to her emotions and when she was upset, objects began to levitate.
"Come on, let's get you into bed. We'll go see Caroline tomorrow. Let's go." Stefan said as he led the girl upstairs.
(The next morning…)
After showering, Chris walked into her room and searched her closet for an outfit that Caroline had bought her once.
She hadn't worn it yet and thought that maybe it would make the blonde smile if she saw her wearing it.
Finding the white tank top with the sweet heart neckline and jean skirt, she changed into them and then put on some calf length beige suede boots
Looking in the mirror, Chris had to grin at the gold angel wings that were on the back on the top and knew that Caroline had bought her the top because of the amount of times the girl complained about people calling her an angel.
After brushing her hair out and grabbing a baby blue sweater, she ran down the stairs and met up with Stefan and Elena who both took her to the hospital.
While the couple went off to visit John, Chris rushed off to find Bonnie Bennett and Matt Donovan to see if Caroline was awake yet.
As she walked down the halls, she found the other witch and the mortal to see them talking to each other.
"Bonnie." Chris called making the duo look over at her.
"Chris, hey." The mocha skinned woman greeted.
"How is she?" Chris asked as she stood beside them.
"I-I don't know. I just got here. Matt stayed the night though with Sherif Forbes. How is she today?" Bonnie asked as the two witches turned to him.
Matt gave them a smile.
"See for yourself." He said as he then ushered them into the room Caroline was being held in.
Voices and music could be heard and when they walked inside, they found the blonde haired, silvery blue eyed girl sitting up in bed and she smiled cheerfully at them.
"Jersey Shore is on." She announced.
The witches smile in relief as they both rush over and stand on either side of the bed, hugging the blonde happily and in relief.
"Careful, still a little sore." Caroline said as they pulled away.
"Sorry!" they said.
"It's okay, but they say I'm healing really quick." Caroline smiles.
"My turn." Matt said as he leaned in and kissed the blonde on the lips.
Bonnie had tears in her eyes as she held hands with Chris.
"Oh, isn't he cute? Why are you crying?" Caroline asked as she turned to Bonnie.
"I'm just happy you're okay." Bonnie said.
"We all are. I was worried sick about you." Chris said as she blinked back tears.
"Oh, I love you guys!" Caroline gushed.
"We love you." Bonnie said.
Matt, Bonnie and Chris then leaned in and hugged Caroline who did her best to hug her boyfriend and two friends.
(Later…)
Chris walked into the room carrying a take-out box with food inside and smiled at Caroline who was leaning back in bed.
"Okay, I've got pancakes, scrambled eggs and maple syrup. Not very healthy, but more satisfying than what they serve here, right?" the witch smiled.
"You don't have to stay with me. You could have gone to Mayor Lockwood's wake." Caroline said as she accepted the food.
Richard Lockwood, the mayor, had been found in the old Gilbert building with the bodies of the tomb vampires.
His neck had been snapped before his body was burnt and everyone was confused as to how this happened.
"I kind of just want to stay here. I don't like wakes too much. Besides, having a crowd of people come up to you and talk about your parent. It must be really hard for Tyler. He'd most likely just want to hide away from it all." Chris sighed.
"Did you feel that way during your parents' wake?" Caroline asked as she opened the box.
"Yeah. When everyone was gone, I locked myself in my room and just cried for hours." Chris said.
Caroline picked at her food, then started taking small bites of the eggs she had.
Just then, Chris' cell phone rang and she pulled out the red phone, looking it over to see Damon's name on the screen.
"Um, I gotta take this. I'll be right back." She said.
"Sure. I'll be okay here. I've got food and TV. I'll survive." Caroline smiled.
Nodding at this, Chris walked off and answered her phone, hiding to make sure no one saw her using her cell phone.
"Damon, what is it?" she asked.
"You're old BFF is here working the crowd." Damon told her.
Hearing this, Chris' breath caught as she thought of Katherine being there at the Lockwoods' manor with her family and friends.
"Did-Did she attack anyone?" she asked.
"No. Well, she threatened Bonnie and stabbed Stefan with metal rod, but they're fine. No need to worry. By the way, who is Mason Lockwood?" Damon asked.
"Mason? He's back?" Chris asked in surprise.
"Oh, you know of him?" Damon asked.
"Yeah, he's the Mayor's younger brother. He was friends with Jenna in high school. He's also more tolerable than the Mayor ever was. But he doesn't like small town life, so he left. I think he's been living in Florida." Chris told him.
"Well, isn't that interesting." Damon said with a smirk in his tone.
"Damon, why are you interested in Mason?" the witch asked.
"Because I just don't think he's here for his brother's funeral. When people suddenly just appear in Mystic Falls, you should worry. By the way, where are you?" Damon asked.
"I'm with Caroline. She's fine, thankfully." Chris informed.
"You're welcome. Anyway, you should stay somewhere safe. There's no telling what Katherine will do." Damon warned.
"You think she would hurt me?" Chris asked.
"There's no telling. It's been over a hundred years since you last saw her. People change. Be careful." Damon said as he then hung up.
Sighing, Chris leaned against the wall as she hung up her phone and thought over what happened when she first saw Katherine.
Nothing seemed different about the vampiress, but perhaps things had changed.
Katherine may not care for her like she used to, but even if she did; Chris doubted that it was reason enough for Katherine to not hurt Jeremy, Elena, Bonnie, Matt, Caroline or Jenna.
"Why do I feel like this is going to end badly?" the girl sighed to herself.
(That night…)
After spending the day with Caroline, Chris went home cook dinner for the family and decide how to deal with Jeremy since she was upset that he tried to turn himself into a vampire.
As she walked inside, she found John was there with his hand bandaged after having his fingers sewed back on.
Jeremy was also there with him, placing a familiar ring on his finger.
"Hey." Chris spoke up making the males turn.
"Christina." John greeted.
Hazel eyes found the bags that were on the floor and the witch looked back at her uncle.
"You're leaving?" she asked.
"Yes. I'm not welcomed here. So I thought it would be best if I leave." John said.
Looking his niece over, he walked over to her and waited to see if she would recoil from him, and was pleased when she didn't.
"Christina, I want you to know, that I won't accept you falling in love with a vampire," he said.
Jeremy and Chris both rolled their eyes at that.
"But…I can learn to deal with you being a witch." John finished.
Hearing this, the girl looked up into her uncle's eyes and was able to see the sincerity in them which caused her to smile lightly at him.
"What if-What if one of us became a vampire?" she asked.
"I would hate that and probably find a way to reverse the effects. But I was taught to hate vampires. If Grayson was in that situation, I'm sure he would accept you kids no matter what and protect you." John said.
Smiling at this, Chris wrapped her arms around her uncle and he returned the hug, kissing the side of her head gently.
"I love you." John whispered.
"I love you too, Uncle John." Chris whispered back.
Pulling away, John smiled as he picked up his bags, nodded at Jeremy and then walked out of the house, the siblings watching him leave.
When he was gone, things became awkward as Chris walked away from her brother, Jeremy watching with guilty eyes.
Running his hand through his hair, the boy followed his sister into the kitchen and watched as she started pulling out noodles to make macaroni and cheese.
"Chris, I'm sorry. The reason I wanted to become a vampire was, well, I wanted to turn the pain off. I hate feeling this way and wanted it to stop." He explained.
She kept silent as she filled a pot with water and set it on the stove, turning the dial to heat the water up.
"I made a mistake, okay? I just found out that Anna was dead. I wanted to get over my pain, but didn't know how. Becoming a vampire meant that I could turn the pain off." Jeremy said.
"It also means turning off your happiness. If you turn off your emotions, you'll turn off your humanity. You won't feel a single thing. No bad, no good. Nothing." Chris said as she turned to him.
She then walked over to him.
"Are you really sure you want to be numb?" she asked him looking sad.
"I guess I didn't think of that." He admitted.
He just wanted the pain to go away; he didn't know that he wouldn't feel anything at all or that he would lose his humanity.
"Jeremy, I love you. You're my big brother. If you became a vampire, I would still love you. But you have to be sure that it's exactly what you want. Even with all the consequences that you'll be faced with." Chris held his hands.
Thinking this over, Jeremy nodded as he pulled his sister into a hug, holding her tightly, happy that she was talking to him and wasn't mad anymore.
There was then arguing heard upstairs making the duo look at the stairs, curious as to what it was.
"I'll go check it out." Jeremy offered as he walked up the stairs.
Feeling worry, Chris turned off the stove and then headed up the stairs to see what was going on.
"No, Damon, stop it!" she heard Elena call.
Rushing to her sister's room, Chris opened the door to see Damon had Jeremy's face caught between his hands and the vampire appeared to be a bit emotional and hurt.
"You want to shut out the pain? It's the easiest thing in the world. The part of you that cares just goes away. All you have to do is flip the switch and snap." Damon then made to snap Jeremy's neck.
Suddenly, he was thrown away from the 16 year old and thrown out of the window by an invisible force.
Elena gasped in relief as she rushed over to Jeremy and hugged him while Chris walked over to the window, sticking her head out.
"Next time you're drunk, don't try to kill my brother!" she yelled down at him.
The witch then glared as she slammed the window shut and turned back to her siblings, happy that she was able to make Damon levitate away with just her mind.
What could have happened to make Damon snap and try to kill Jeremy, the brother of the woman he loved and his best friend?
To be continued…