I sighed looking up at the ceiling above my bed. My good uncle was gone and my bad uncle was trying to get him back while wooing my good uncle's human girlfriend. I sighed again before getting up and starting the day. I guzzled a vial of vervain before putting the necklace my father gave me on. It was an old-fashioned statement necklace with a blue gem with an S curved around it. The metal was a bronze-silver color and the gem had a black spot in the background from its age. Uncle Stefan told me it was his mothers and he'd thought it was lost, but somehow my dad found it and gave it to me for my 16th birthday. That was also when he'd told me about Uncle Stefan and Uncle Damon. "Here's a family heirloom and the big family secret". What a birthday that was.
"I'm headed out!" I called out knowing Uncle Damon would hear me wherever he was in the house. Caroline wanted to meet and probably try to hook me up with another guy. I hadn't been on a date with a guy in over a year, and honestly, I hadn't planned on doing it again for a while. With the big family secret and the constant supernatural attacks, it just wasn't worth it. Not to mention people dying mysteriously. I'd only be able to be with someone who was already in on the big secret which narrowed the field. And that narrow field gets narrower with every death.
"What are you two doing?" Elena asked on the three-way call Caroline had put us on.
"Just shopping for the party you're trying to bail out on," Caroline asked her.
"And I'm avoiding my shopping date with Care," I joked. Sorta.
"And I won't let you do that. After I meet Tyler you and I are going to meet up and get you ready for the party tonight,"
"I never said yes to the party in the first place," Elena reminded her.
"You were never going to which is why I planned it anyway. And my mom wants you to call her," Caroline told her and I perked up at that.
"Did she find something about my uncle?" I asked hopefully.
"An animal attack in Memphis. It's the third one this week in Tennessee," Caroline told us.
"And you're sure it's a vampire?" Elena asked her.
"Yes, but that doesn't mean that it's Klaus," Caroline reminded her.
"No it could be Stefan," I pointed out. "If he's in Ripper mode then he could be the cause of all the killings."
"It's not Stefan. He's not that person. But Klaus is," Elena insisted. "I'll call her."
"Well call her on her cell," Caroline told her.
"Tell her thank you for her help," Elena told her.
"All right. Well, I gotta go. I'll see you in a bit," Caroline told her.
"Oh, Caroline wait, just...keep tonight small. Please?" Elena begged making me laugh.
"Caroline keeping a party small?" I teasingly asked.
"Wear something pretty." Before either of us could say something she hung up and I laughed again before hanging up myself.
I was looking through dresses with Caroline as she babbled about a guy she wanted me to meet at the party.
"He's really cute. Dark hair, dark eyes. Tall." She waggled her eyebrows at me and I laughed.
"Why are you so determined for me to date someone?" I asked her.
"Because I don't want to see you alone, I'm worried that you'll feel like a massive third wheel forever," she told me.
"Stop worrying so much," I tried to assure her with a smile. "I'll find someone one day, I'm sure of it."
"So... you'll meet him?" she asked me and I just gave her a look. "At least consider it! Please."
"I'll think about it," I promised and she smiled happily at me before we continued going back to our shopping.
Later that night, Caroline, Tyler, Elena and I were getting the Boarding House ready for her big birthday bash. Elena was telling us about fighting with Uncle Damon about the possible lead on Uncle Stefan and Klaus.
"I feel like I have to fight Damon every single time we get a lead on Stefan," Elena told us taking napkins from Caroline.
"Maybe he doesn't want to find him," Tyler chimed in.
"Tyler!" Caroline screeched looking at her friend in shock.
"He's got a point," I told them and they turned hurt/shocked eyes to me. "Uncle Damon still loves you right?" I asked her and Elena just looked away.
"The only reason Stefan left with Klaus was so that he could save Damon's life. I mean, trust me, Damon wants to find him," Elena assured us.
"But you kissed him?" My eyes widened at the news as Caroline gives him the look. "Probably screwed with his head."
"You did what?" I asked Elena.
"Tyler!" Elena looked down before looking up at Caroline who finally turned back to her girlfriend. "I'm sorry!"
"Don't worry about it. Look, yes I kissed him, but it was a...it was a goodbye kiss. I thought he was gonna die," Elena sighed.
"So you screw with his head because he's going to die?" I asked giving her a look. "You knew that Uncle Stefan would do anything to find a cure for his brother and you did that anyway?" Tyler nodded in agreement before Elena's phone beeped.
"I missed a call from Bonnie. I'll be right back." She quickly moved away from us and I turned to Caroline.
"Anything else I should know?" I asked her annoyed. I'd done everything I could to protect Elena for Uncle Stefan, even tried befriending her, but this was a low blow.
"She was saying goodbye," Caroline tried defending her.
"Goodbyes are hugs maybe a kiss on the cheek, but from the sounds of it, that's not what that was," I told her.
"She loves Stefan and would never fall for Damon," Caroline said and I could tell something was off by the tone of her voice.
"Are you trying to convince me, or you?" I asked her before walking away.
I sat at the vanity in my room putting on the emerald earrings that matched my one shoulder shiny, emerald green dress. The dress was tight and fell to my upper thighs and the sleeve wasn't really a sleeve. It was open at the shoulder and the fabric just fell around my arm. In the corner of my mirror was pictures of my dad and his girlfriend when she was pregnant with my younger sibling, but she died in 1994. I didn't remember what happened, but I know that dad had been on a major anti-vampire rampage until the day he died.
"Dani." I looked in the mirror to see one of my best friends, Nigel Byrnes. Nigel had been my friend since kindergarten and I, at times, noticed him staring at me recently, but I never said anything about it because that was a can of worms I didn't want to open.
"Hey, Nigel, what's up?" I asked him standing up and turning to him. He walked into my room and sat on my bed.
"Nothing, I was just worried about you with your cousin disappearing and all." Did I also mention that he knew nothing of the supernatural world? He was my breath of normal fresh air and I planned on keeping it that way for as long as possible.
"I'll be okay and I'm sure we'll find him soon. Damon won't let his baby brother be lost forever." I hope.
"Well then," Nigel stood up and held out his hand for mine. "Shall we join the party." I smiled up at him before taking his hand which he placed in the crook of his arm.
"We shall."
About 30 minutes into the party, I needed a breather away from the teenagers swarming my house. I joined Elena in going into Damon's room when we got yelled at.
"This room's off limits!" Elena and I turned to see Caroline drinking from a blood bag.
"Caroline?" Elena called to her confused.
"Sorry. I just needed to take a beat," she told us putting the bag down on the counter and moving to us. "Are you hiding?"
"I am," I told her.
"I was just looking for Damon," Elena told her.
"Well, he better be here somewhere because we haven't even done the cake yet," Caroline complained.
"I think I'm gonna pass on the whole cake thing," Elena told her and I don't think Caroline's eyes could have gone wider.
"What? no, no way, no! It's your birthday! You know it's the dawn of a new day and, you can't get on with your life until you have made a wish and blown out the candles."
"Is that what you all want me to do? Just get on with my life?" Elena asked her hurt.
"No...Maybe..." Caroline said.
"No one wants to see you hurting and obsessing about finding someone who might not want to be found," I told her.
"I'm not gonna give up on finding Stefan," Elena told us.
"No one said you had to," I told her.
"But you have to admit that you kinda just letting your life pass you by. And isn't Stefan the one who wanted to make sure that you lived it?" Caroline asked her.
"You want me to make a wish? I just wanna know that he's alive. That's it! That's my wish," Elena said before walking back out of the room. Before she left, she seemed to notice something and went to Damon's closet.
"I'm sorry, okay. I'm just drunk and dumb tonight. Wait, what are you doing...?" Caroline asked her before the two of us moved up behind her. We saw all the notes and maps and articles that Damon seemed to be using to search for Stefan and Klaus.
"What is this?" I asked seeing a handwritten note that said "Klaus". A newspaper article had the heading saying "DNA FOUND AT CAMPSITE". Another said, "MAN VANISHES FRIDAY NIGHT".
"It's Klaus. Damon's been tracking him without me," Elena said.
"Why wouldn't he just tell you?" Caroline asked.
"I don't know."
Caroline had left the two of us alone in Damon's room while we sorted through the clippings and notes before Damon entered his bedroom.
"What? What are you doing here?" Damon asked us.
"Why didn't you tell me? Why did you keep it a secret?" Elena asked holding up the clippings.
"Can we not do this right now? I'm having a really bad night," Damon told us.
"What happened?" I asked noticing his sad look, but Elena had other plans.
"All summer, every single time I came to you with a lead, you made me feel like an idiot for having hope," Elena complained.
"You were an idiot. We all were," Damon told us.
"Tell me what you know, Damon," Elena ordered.
"I know you need to get back to your party, Elena," Damon told her trying to get her to leave.
"Elena, let's just go." I tried pulling her out of the room but she ripped her hand out of my grip.
"We're supposed to be in this together. Why didn't you tell me that you've been tracking Klaus' victims?" Elena nearly shouted at him.
"Because they're not Klaus's victims, Elena, they're Stefan's!" Damon shouted stunning Elena.
"What?" she gasped.
"He's left a trail of body parts up and down the eastern seaboard," Damon explained.
"No. You're wrong," Elena denied.
"I've seen it happen before. He's flipped the switch," Damon told her.
"He's in Ripper mode," I sighed, leaning on the wall behind me.
"Stop it, Damon," Elena ordered.
"No, you stop, Elena! Stop looking for him. Stop waiting for him to come home. Just stop! Stefan is gone and he's not coming back. Not in your lifetime." After he said what needed to be said, he looked slightly remorseful, but instead of saying anything he just walks out the door as Elena begins crying and touches her necklace while I hug her in comfort.