Disclaimer: I don't own 'The Vampire Diaries' in any shape or form. But I do own my OC's.

A/N: Okay, so this is the episode where Annabelle explains why she doesn't like Vicki, and there will be issues of her dealing with Vicki's transformation.

Reviews:

Ohitssara: Thank you so much! I'm glad you like those characters. I'm trying to make them both different, but both likable at the same time. Thankfully, Layla has only appeared in only one episode so far, so I have a lot of time to think about how to make them different (like Katherine and Elena), but both likable. And I'm glad you chose a couple to ship in my story. We'll see how that plays out! One thing I can promise you is that there will be a bond between Stefan and Annabelle, definitely.

Love Also Has Thorns

Chapter 7

Haunted

Annabelle sighed tiredly as she held a cup of coffee in her hands, her elbows resting on the dining table in the Gilberts' kitchen. She was dressed in black skinny jeans, and a loose white tank top, her bare arms covered by a thin military-green jacket. She had on a pair of her brown combat boots, and her hair was pulled up in a messy bun. She closed her eyes briefly before taking in a deep breath, trying to sort out the plans she had for the day in her head, but finding it difficult as everything that happened since the beginning of the school year replayed in her mind. It's been a month since Vicki completed the transformation, and Stefan just sent her, and most likely Elena, a text message saying that he and Damon finally found Vicki last night. However, while she and Elena knew what really happened to the Donovan girl, no one else did, and many people, especially Matt and Jeremy, were worried about her.

Annabelle didn't dare to even so much as think about her... abilities for the entire month, not wanting extra weight on her shoulders. Although Bonnie let her know that she talked with her grams, who revealed that Bonnie truly is a witch, she didn't want to... she couldn't ask Bonnie's grams to tell her about her family history. She just couldn't. First of all, it was very doubtful that the woman would know anything about the Gilberts' or Sommers' lineage, and even if she did... Annabelle didn't think that she could handle more supernatural beings, and if she turned out to be... a witch...

"Hey," Annabelle was snapped out of her thoughts by the sound of her brother's voice from behind her, and turned around in her chair, only to see Jeremy heading towards the door, already fully dressed.

"Hey," she greeted back, before her brows furrowed, "Where are you going? It's like..." she glanced at the clock on the wall to her side. "6:30,"

"The police station," Jeremy answered as he gripped the front door knob in his hand, "They're organizing a search party for Vicki," he finished, before opening the door and heading out without another word.

As soon as the door closed, Annabelle groaned quietly as she turned back around in her chair and put her head in her hands.

"Hey," Elena said to her sister as she entered the kitchen, and Annabelle looked up at her briefly before putting her head back down. "He told you?"

"Yup," Annabelle nodded, looking up with a sigh. "God, I hate doing this to him,"

"I know," Elena nodded with a sigh.

"You know what?" Annabelle suddenly spoke up after a few seconds of silence, and Elena looked at her curiously. "I think I'm gonna skip school today,"


"Are you sure we should be doing this?" Elena asked her sister nervously for what seemed like the millionth time as Annabelle rang the doorbell of the Salvatore Boarding House.

"It's the only way to stop me from going crazy," Annabelle said without looking at her as she took a step back, waiting for someone to open the door. And when someone did, it was, unfortunately, Damon, "Is Stefan here?" Annabelle asked him as Elena inhaled sharply in fear.

"Yep," Damon answered with a smirk.

"Where is he?"

"And good morning to you, little miss 'I'm on a mission',"

"How can you be so arrogant and glib after everything you've done?" Annabelle asked the Salvatore in disbelief, looking at him incredulously.

"And how can you be so brave, and stupid, to call a vampire arrogant and glib?" Damon answered the question with a question of his own, his eyes staring into Annabelle's. He just barely refrained himself from smirking even wider at the familiar fire he found in them.

"If you wanted me dead, I'd be dead," Annabelle said flatly.

"Yes, you would,"

"But I'm not,"

"Yet," Damon retorted, and felt genuine enjoyment at his banter with the blue-eyed girl in front of him.

"Believe it or not, I'm actually not scared of you," Annabelle said confidently as Elena's eyes widened at the way she talked to a vampire who could kill her within a second. "Where is Stefan?"

"He's upstairs. Singing 'The Rain in Spain'," Damon smirked, and Annabelle rolled her eyes before pushing past him, which Elena gaped at, surprising even herself with her boldness, "Knock yourself out," Damon smirked, not even turning around as he walked past Elena, waiting until the eldest Gilbert closed the door behind her before allowing a smile to grow on his lips.

Elena fastened her pace until she caught up with her sister, before grabbing her arm and pulling her to a stop.

"Are you crazy?" she questioned, looking at Annabelle with wide eyes, to which the blue-eyed girl looked at her questioningly, "He could kill you with a flick of the wrist and you're snapping at him like you would at Tyler?" Elena spoke in an incredulous voice, staring at her sister as though she grew a second head.

"Damon wouldn't hurt me. Or you," Annabelle dismissed before continuing to walk down the hall, but Elena's grip stopped her again.

"Oh, yeah? How do you know? He already killed many people, including Matt's sister!" she stressed.

"Look, I don't know how I know, but... I just do," Annabelle shrugged, "Besides, I wasn't lying when I said I'm not scared of him," she added quickly when she saw Elena open her mouth again.

"How can you not be?" the brown-eyed twin asked in disbelief, and Annabelle opened her mouth to answered, but was interrupted by a creak of the floor boards by the door. If she was being honest, Annabelle was quite thankful for the distraction, even if it creeped her out, because she truly didn't know how to answer Elena's question. She didn't know why she wasn't afraid of Damon. She knew it was stupid, but... she actually felt like she could protect herself.

"Stefan?" Annabelle called quietly as she and Elena both looked in the direction of the door, neither seeing anyone but both hearing the creak.

"Yes," came a voice from above them, and they both turned around, only to see Stefan standing on the small stairway balcony above them.

"Where is Vicki?" Elena asked, but Stefan quickly shushed her by putting his finger to his lips and gesturing for her to be quiet.

"She upstairs," he answered quietly before walking down the stairs to meet the girls while they both sighed quietly.

"What happens now?" Annabelle questioned once he reached them, "'Cause our brother is out there looking for her with the rest of the town," she stressed. "What are we supposed to tell him?"

"I'm working with her, but... it's gonna take time. She's a very volatile and impulsive personality, she's a drug user, I mean, all that's gonna play a part in how she responds to this," Stefan explained quietly, not wanting Vicki to hear their conversation.

"So she's a vampire with issues?" Annabelle asked, exasperated. She didn't think this could get any worse than Vicki turning into a vampire, but apparently she was wrong. Great. So her screwed up personality is now even more screwed up. She knew how insensitive these thoughts would seem if she ever spoke them out loud, but she couldn't stop herself from being so bitter. All Vicki has ever done is hurt Jeremy, which Annabelle would never forgive her for, and now she's a vampire who will be causing even more problems because of her screwed up way of life. Annabelle didn't know how much of this she could take, and how many more problems caused by the Donovan girl she could handle.

"What are we supposed to do?" Elena asked as she looked at Stefan. "Because we are both lying to everyone that we care about. What's gonna happen to her?"

"I'm gonna keep her here with me until I know that she's safe," Stefan replied as he tried to calm her down.

"How long is that?" came a voice from above them, and they all looked up, only to see Vicki coming downstairs, which made Stefan sigh.

"We can talk about that later," he tried to dismiss as the newly turned vampire stared at him expectantly.

"Hey," Elena spoke up. "Vicki? How are you?"

"How am I?" Vicki repeated, and they all looked at her, "You're kidding, right?" she asked rhetorically, and Annabelle didn't know if she meant that in a positive or negative sense.


"Coffee is our friend. It's the caffeine. It circulates through our veins, and it warms our bodies so we're not so cold to the touch," Stefan lectured Vicki as they sat at a table in the Salvatore Boarding House, both holding a cup of coffee, Elena and Annabelle sitting beside Stefan.

"Well, what if I wanna drink human blood?" Vicki asked, and Annabelle immediately tensed, an unfamiliar feeling surging through her veins.

"You're gonna have to learn to live with that urge, and fight it on a daily basis one day at a time," Stefan replied.

"Oh, God, don't start with that whole 12 steps thing," Vicki half groaned half whined, "School counselor has been down that road, and it doesn't work for me," she said, and Annabelle couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"It can work, it's your choice, Vicki," Stefan said.

"So you've never tasted human blood?" Vicki asked almost skeptically, but a small grin grew on her lips as her eyes flickered between Elena and Stefan, seeing the brunette eye Stefan as she waited for him to answer.

"Not in a long time," Stefan replied after a moment of silence.

"How long?"

"Years and years," he said, and Annabelle could tell that it was a bit hard for him to talk about it, which lead her to believe that he must live with an amount of guilt about something he must have done in the past that concerned human blood. "I'm not proud of my past behavior,"

"Ugh. Does this sketchy feeling ever go away? It's like I have a massive hangover," Vicki complained, "And this daylight thing is a bitch!" she exclaimed in irritation, and Annabelle had to stop herself from rolling her eyes again as Vicki stood up with an irritated sigh, "I need more blood. Where's your bathroom? I have to pee. Why do I have to pee? I thought I was dead," she rambled, and Stefan simply pointed to the hallway behind him.

"Oh, my God," Annabelle groaned quietly after Vicki left the room, resting her arms on the table and covering her face with her hands. She didn't know what was worse. The fact that Vicki was now a vampire or the fact that she had to listen to the Donovan girl's voice more than usual.

"I'm going to, uh, I'm gonna go get her some more," Stefan informed the two sisters sitting beside him, "Alright. I'll be quick," he said, before leaving the room.

"This is a nightmare," Annabelle stated as she looked up from her hands, and Elena feebly shrugged, not knowing how to respond. "You know what? I'll be right back,"

"Where are you going?" Elena asked in confusion as her sister stood up.

"I need to get some air," Annabelle simply replied before leaving the room. She didn't know how much longer she could stand being around Vicki with 'heightened emotions' before she exploded.

"Hey," Stefan called as he saw her walking out of the house and down the outside hallway, and Annabelle stopped walking and turned to face him, giving him a small, strained smile. "You alright?"

"Yeah, just..." she trailed off, not knowing how to say what was on her mind without seeming heartless, "Vicki and I never got along," she finally said, and Stefan joined her beside railing of the boarding house's outside hallway, before putting his full attention on her, "I never liked her. I guess it might have something to do with her attitude. But after she started stringing Jeremy along... I think... I think I actually hated her," she admitted shamefully, but when she looked up at Stefan, she saw no judgement in his eyes. "Look... I know I should be like Elena. I should feel sorry for her, and I should worry about her, but... I just can't. She hurt my brother, Stefan. And I'm never going to forgive her for that. And it might have something to do with that, or it might be just the fact that her attitude always drove me over the edge, but I just... I can't stand being in the same room as her,"

"Hey," Stefan spoke up, making sure she gave him her full attention before continuing, "It's okay. You don't have to change your entire perspective because of the recent events. Yes, what Damon did to her is unfair and it never should have happened, but you have no obligation towards this,"

"She's my friend's sister and the girl my brother loves," Annabelle said. "How is that not an obligation?"

"The people you care about care about her, but that doesn't mean that you are obligated to do the same. Not if it's not something you can do effortlessly," Stefan said, and Annabelle couldn't help but smile, and he returned it, "Am I right?" he asked a bit teasingly, and Annabelle chuckled before looking up at him.

"Yeah," she smiled. "Yeah, I guess you are,"

As they stood there for a moment in silence, Annabelle thought about how ridiculous her sister was being. Yes, Stefan is a vampire, but... he's an amazing guy who is as good-hearted as he can be despite his nature. Why would anyone ever want to push someone like that away?

"Stefan!" came a voice from inside the house, and not a second later Elena ran out of the house and down the hallway, her eyes wide and distressed.

"What's wrong?" Stefan asked in concern, seeing Elena clutching her throat.

"Vicki attacked me," Elena said as she breathed heavily, on the verge of tears.

"What?" Annabelle spoke up.

"She threatened me," Elena stressed.

"She's on edge," Stefan said. "Imagine every sense in your body operating at super speed. I mean, she's uncomfortable in her own skin, and then when you throw in her other issues-"

"How long before it settles?" Elena asked. "Hours? Days? Weeks?"

"There's no rule book,"

"Well, how long before you learned to control it?"

"A while," Stefan admitted. "But I didn't have anybody helping me, I had to do it on my own. The thing is, it's hard to resist certain people, especially when you're new. It's difficult to separate your feelings. Love, lust, anger, desire - it can all blur into one urge: hunger,"

"What does that mean?" Annabelle asked, suddenly feeling a bit frightened.

"It means that Jeremy can't see her. Not now. She might not be able to resist him, and she could hurt him,"

"Or worse," Annabelle stated, feeling her chest tighten at the thought.

"I'm not gonna let anybody get hurt," Stefan tried to soothe her, seeing the impact it had on the blue-eyed girl.

"We need to get going," Elena finally spoke up, before turning around to walk away.

"Elena-"

"Please, Stefan, there's only so much I can take," Elena pleaded with tears in her eyes, before walking away.

"I'll see you later," Annabelle gave him a small smile, trying to make him feel a bit better since she could see how hurt he was that Elena, once again, walked away from him, and he returned the smile. And Annabelle was surprised to see that it was a genuine smile.

She then turned around to follow her sister, seeing as she had the keys and Elena was probably waiting in front of the car, before she felt her phone buzz in her back pocket. Her brows furrowed as she pulled out the phone, silently wondering who might be texting her. For a moment, she was even confused because she almost forgot all about reality while she was stuck in a house full of vampires.

'I got u a costume!' she read the text from Caroline, and stopped in her tracks.

"Oh, God," Annabelle groaned to herself quietly, already dreading the party. And, even more so, the costume Caroline picked out for her.


"Seriously?" Annabelle asked her best friend incredulously only half an hour later as she stared at the costume that she just pulled out of the bag.

"Those were my exact words," Bonnie said from where she lied on Caroline's bed, finishing her History homework so that she wouldn't have to worry about it after the party they were going to in a few hours.

"Oh, come one, Anna! It's Halloween!" Caroline exclaimed, as if that were an explanation enough. "Oh, by the way, do you know what Elena's wearing to the party?"

"Uh, I don't know, but she hasn't been shopping, so my guess is she's just gonna go with the costume she wore last year," Annabelle replied, shrugging.

"Ugh, how completely boring," Caroline wrinkled her nose, making Annabelle bite her lip so that she wouldn't laugh out loud.

"Do we really have to go?" Bonnie suddenly spoke up, silently begging Caroline to just let them all stay and have a nice sleepover.

"Yes!" Caroline exclaimed as she went over to her make-up kit, pulling out different eye shadows that would match their costumes, while Annabelle sighed quietly and threw her costume down on the chair beside her before lying down next to Bonnie, also not feeling like partying after spending the first half of the day with a bitchy vampire Vicki. Not that the bitchy part was anything out of the ordinary, "Oh, come on! Can someone please be excited that it's Halloween?!" Caroline exclaimed in annoyance as she saw the other two girls' expressions, "Look, I just want to have fun. You know, Damon-free fun," she said, her voice wavering slightly, and Annabelle and Bonnie's expressions softened as they shared a quick look.

"I'm sorry, I'm just..." Annabelle trailed off, quickly cutting herself off before she blabbed about what happened to Vicki. Bonnie and Caroline both looked over at her, but her eyes traveled to Caroline, who looked innocently hopeful, simply wanting to have fun with her best friends like they used to, "You know what? Never mind. We're going," she stated, jumping off the bed and walking over to Caroline to grab the make-up kit, the blonde's face brightening in a grin.

Bonnie sighed from where she was still lying on Caroline's bed, but smiled and closed her History book, willing to do anything in order to truly get Caroline's mind off of the crap Damon put her through. Even if that meant going to the Halloween Party.


Annabelle wrinkled her nose as a drunk guy from her school pushed past her two hours later at the Halloween Party, sighing quietly in annoyance before quickly catching up with Bonnie and Caroline, who were both dressed in costumes that matched hers. They were all actually dressed up as witches, which is why both Bonnie and Annabelle couldn't believe that Caroline made them put those costumes on. Annabelle's matched Caroline's in color, black and purple. The dress had a fluffy skirt, the sort of fluffy that five-year old ballerinas have on their skirts, except a lot more sexy looking and made out of black and purple material. There was a purple corset around Annabelle's waist, displaying her curves, and black material covering her breasts. Caroline curled her hair, letting her keep her real hair, wanting her to be 'the dark one' out of them, while Bonnie was forced to wear a blonde wig. Then, to complete the look, Annabelle's curls were decorated with a pointy witch hat, mostly black but with a purple outline.

"Cider for the ladies?" Tyler spoke up as he walked up to the three, holding four small glasses of cider, two in each hand. He was shirtless, a cloak the only clothing covering his torso. "It's a Lockwood special,"

"No way. Last year I was hungover until Thanksgiving," Annabelle shook her head, quickly making up an excuse so that she wouldn't have to drink, even though Caroline and Bonnie knew the truth. However, the two didn't say a word, simply going along with it.

"Lightweight," Caroline scoffed teasingly, reaching her hand out to grab a glass from Tyler, while Bonnie shook her head when he offered her one, not wanting to get drunk again. "I am going to drink until someone is hot enough to make out with,"

"Sounds like a plan," Tyler nodded, before clinking his glass with Caroline's in a toast, while Bonnie and Annabelle rolled their eyes after sharing a small smile.

"Alright, why don't you get drunk off your asses, while Bonnie and I go dance," Annabelle grinned, before grabbing Bonnie's hand and pulling her between all the other people from their school who were now all in costumes and having fun. Bonnie laughed as Annabelle continued to pull her behind her, before they stopped once they reached the dance floor, where about thirty people were dancing, at least half of them already drunk.

"Hey, where's Elena?!" Bonnie called over the music as she and Annabelle started to dance, and the blue-eyed girl shrugged.

"I have no idea!" she called back.

"Is she even coming?!" Bonnie called, but only received a shrug in reply.

After about five minutes of dancing, Bonnie glanced over Annabelle's shoulder, and smiled.

"There she is," she stated, and Annabelle turned around, only to see Elena, in her last year's nurse costume, and Stefan coming toward them. She smiled, and gave Bonnie a quick smile, silently telling her that she'll be right back, before walking over to them.

"Anna, thank God!" Elena exclaimed, and Annabelle's smile immediately faltered as she noticed the worry in her sister's eyes and the urgency in her voice.

"Hey, what's wrong?" she asked.

"We lost Vicki," she said, her voice shaking slightly, and Annabelle's eyes widened.

"Wait, she's here?" she asked in surprise, and Stefan and Elena both nodded. "How?"

"That's not important right now," Elena shook her head. "We don't where she is, and I can't find Jeremy anywhere,"

"What?" Annabelle breathed out, her heart clenching in fear for her little brother, who would definitely be trying to find Vicki if he had any idea that she was at the party, and Elena nodded with fear in her eyes before running off, Annabelle and Stefan quickly following, leaving Bonnie to stare after them concernedly after she got a glimpse of the worry on their faces.


Annabelle and Elena split off from Stefan pretty soon as they all searched the school, the girls looking for Jeremy and Stefan looking for Vicki. After about ten minutes of failure, Annabelle and Elena managed to push through all the people in the school and take the back exit, which led to the parking lot for the school buses. They were only going to glance around and then go back inside, but once they heard their little brother's yells, they didn't hesitate to run toward the voice, Elena grabbing a wooden plank on the way. They ran behind one of the school buses, only to see Vicki pinning Jeremy against the bus, hissing as her fangs descended and she was about to bite into his neck.

"Vicki, no!" Elena screamed, and Vicki whipped around to look at them, veins under her eyes showing as she growled and hissed like an animal. She pushed Jeremy away roughly, making him fall to the ground, before stalking over to the girls. Elena quickly swung her arms and tried to hit her with the plank, but Vicki raised her arm to block the hit, and the plank snapped in half. Elena and Annabelle both backed away as Vicki growled at them, before the vampire grabbed Elena by the shoulder and threw her so hard that the brunette flew through the air with a scream before landing on a pile of rubble about fifteen feet away from them.

Vicki's gaze then fell on Annabelle, and she stalked towards her. Annabelle breathed heavily, scared out of her mind, before suddenly something in her mind pushed her to throw out her arm in front of her, her palm open and positioned towards Vicki. If Annabelle thought about it for even a few seconds, she would be wondering why on Earth she did that.

There was no reason behind it. She didn't even comprehend what she was doing until Vicki was thrown back by an invisible force as soon as her palm faced the vampire. Vicki flew through the air, before landing on one of the buses' windshield, the glass shattering at the force of her body. She quickly brushed herself off though, and jumped out of the bus, growling at Annabelle with fury in her eyes. The brunette, however, was too busy staring at her hand with wide eyes and breathing heavily in fear of herself to notice the newly turned vampire stalking towards her, but looked up as she heard a loud bang, only to see Stefan pushing Vicki against the bus roughly, holding her in place.

"Vicki!" Jeremy called as he stared at the scene before him with wide, fearful eyes, and Vicki somehow managed to push Stefan away with force before using her vampire speed to disappear. Stefan, Annabelle, and Jeremy all looked around with wide yes, all breathing heavily as Elena managed to get back up on her feet, clutching the bleeding wound on her torso.

"Go! Get inside!" Stefan ordered as Elena walked over to the three, limping the tiniest bit in pain and proceeding to go back inside like Stefan ordered them to. Jeremy looked over at Annabelle, who was hesitant to leave Stefan even though she knew that he would be fine, with wide eyes, not knowing what to do. Stefan also looked over at her, and his heart warmed at the fact that she cared enough to stay behind for him, even though she had just been attacked by a vampire. No one has cared about him like that in a long time. He took a few steps towards her and put his hand on her shoulder, before looking into her eyes, wanting her to know that he was being absolutely serious, "Go," he told her in a firm voice, and she eventually nodded, quickly grabbing her brother's hand before proceeding to go back inside.

However, as Elena opened the door and ran inside, Annabelle and Jeremy about to follow, Vicki appeared from behind them and pulled Jeremy out of the way, pushing him to the ground, before grabbing Annabelle roughly by her arms, harshly enough to leave bruises, and biting into her shoulder. Annabelle screamed in pain as Vicki fangs penetrated her skin, and tried to get out of her grasp, but Vicki only tightened her grip as the brunette's hat fell off her head. The vampire pulled away for a second, and was about to bite into Annabelle's neck, but Stefan appeared behind her and stabbed her in the back with the wooden, broken plank, piercing her heart.

Vicki slowly pulled away from Annabelle's neck and released her grip on her, to which the brunette reacted by quickly staggering backwards and as far away from the vampire as possible, her hand reaching up to touch the bleeding wound on her shoulder. Stefan pulled out the plank from Vicki's body, and his eyes rested on Annabelle, wanting to make sure that she was alright.

"Vicki!" Jeremy screamed from the ground as Vicki breathed raggedly, and a tear ran down her cheek before her skin started to turn gray, veins appearing all over on her body, "Vicki! Vicki! Vicki!" Jeremy screamed hysterically as she slowly dropped her knees, and Stefan quickly pulled him away as he tried to reach the strawberry blonde, who now completely collapsed, dead. Elena stepped over to her sister from where she was standing by the school exit the entire time, before wrapping her arms around Annabelle and nearly crying in relief.

"You're okay," Elena repeated over and over again as she started to cry into Annabelle's neck, the thought of losing her twin too much for her to bear. Annabelle wrapped her arms around Elena, trying to calm her down, but her eyes remained on Vicki's corpse. She never liked the girl, sometimes she even hated her for hurting Jeremy like she did way too often, but she never wished Vicki dead. She could never wish anyone dead.

"Vicki!" Jeremy screamed desperately as he started sobbing, struggling in Stefan's hold.

"Stefan, get him out of here," Annabelle pleaded as she watched her brother sob, and Stefan immediately nodded before pulling out his cellphone and calling his brother as Elena pulled away from Annabelle and looked down at Vicki's body, tears starting to roll down her cheeks. As Stefan led Jeremy away, Elena stepped over to Vicki's body and slowly dropped to her knees, her arm wrapping around her stomach as she started to sob again, while Annabelle stood helplessly, clutching her shoulder in pain.

After only a few minutes, Damon suddenly appeared from behind one of the buses, and walked over to stand above Vicki's corpse.

"You two should go. I got this," he said, and Elena looked up at him, rage in her eyes.

"You did this," she nearly growled as she slowly got up to her feet, staring at him the entire time. "This is your fault,"

"You confuse me for someone with remorse," Damon said, not even bothering to look up, and something in Elena snapped as she pushed on his chest roughly, though he didn't even budge. Noticing that the shove had no effect on the vampire, Elena swung her arm to punch him in the face, but he quickly caught her hand before she could touch him, "None of this matters to me. None of it," Damon said with a small half-smirk half-smile, before letting go of Elena's wrist, and something in Annabelle snapped as he said it.

"People die around you," she bit out as she took a few steps forward, her hand still clutching her shoulder. "How could it not matter?"

"It matters and you know it," Elena said, her voice shaking with rage and sorrow. Without a thought, she slapped Damon in the face, making Annabelle gasp as Damon looked at her sister with a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"You need to leave," Damon simply stated after a moment of silence, "Both of you," he added as his eyes flickered to Annabelle. "Your wounds are bleeding, and you. Need. To leave,"

Annabelle and Elena both stared at him for a second, one with pure rage and the other with disbelief, both with tears in their eyes before they proceeded to make their way back. They got past the people who were still partying, oblivious to what happened only a few minutes ago in the parking lot.

"Anna, Elena!" came a voice from behind them, "Hey, have you seen..." Matt trailed off as the two turned around, and he looked at their wounds in shock and worry. "Whoa. Wh-wh-what happened?"

"Nothing," Annabelle quickly brushed him off, quickly trying to think of a lie. "Some idiot spilled fake blood on us. We're just gonna go home and shower,"

"I ca-can't find Vicki," Matt cut in as the girls turned around and were about to walk away, but they quickly turned back around at the mention of the dead vampire's name. "She totally bailed on me,"

"I don't know where she is," Annabelle shook her head, deciding to take the lead, knowing how bad of a liar her sister was.

"I don't, either," Elena said after a moment of silence, forcing herself to keep her tears at bay.

"Is this what I'm in for? A lifetime of worrying about her?" Matt questioned, sounding almost helpless.

"You're a good brother, Matt," Elena said quietly with tears in her eyes as she tried not to break down, while Annabelle looked down, not knowing what to do or say.

"Yeah. Maybe she went home," Matt said, and Elena forced herself to nod.

"Maybe," she agreed, giving him a small smile.

"Okay," he whispered, before walking away. Annabelle closed her eyes briefly, before grabbing onto Elena's hand and quickly pulling her over to her car, letting the brown-eyed girl get in the passenger seat before she herself got in the driver's seat.

As soon as the girls were seated, they slumped in their seats and Elena began to sob as Annabelle covered her eyes with her hand, trying not to break down, knowing that if she'd start crying she might never stop. Elena, in her despair, hit the dashboard a few times, before beginning to sob again as Annabelle took in a deep, shaky breath.


After a quiet drive, the two sisters managed to get home. Annabelle parked outside, and they both got out of the car, making their way toward their home. As they reached the front porch, they stopped once they saw Stefan, waiting for them.

"Where is he?" Annabelle asked quietly, not knowing whether she actually wanted to see Jeremy or not. She might never be able to smile again after she did. But she had to.

"Inside," Stefan answered, his eyes sad, and the girls nodded before quickly heading inside. They made their way up the stairs, before halting as they saw Jeremy in his room, sitting on his bed, his knees pulled up to his chest and tears streaming down his cheeks. Elena was about to go to him, but Annabelle stopped her by grabbing her arm.

"Wait. Let... Let me," she said, her voice nearly pleading, and Elena for once decided not to argue, and nodded. Annabelle gave her a nod, before slowly entering Jeremy's room, and taking in a deep breath before walking over to sit on his bed in front of him, her heart breaking as she saw the tears and despair in his eyes, "Jer..." she trailed off, her voice cracking. Jeremy looked up at her, and the moment his eyes met hers, she couldn't help but wrap her arms around her, her hand caressing his hair as he cried into her neck, clutching her waist desperately.

"She's dead, Vicki's dead," he cried, his grip on Annabelle becoming almost painful, but she only gripped him tighter, pressing kisses to his head.

"I am so sorry, Jer..." she trailed off, not knowing what to say. It was as if their parents had died all over again. It was painful to see him like this.

"Make it stop, it hurts," he whimpered, and Annabelle closed her eyes as a tear ran down her cheek. She couldn't bear her brother in so much pain. She just couldn't.

"Shh..." she pressed another kiss to his head, before he pulled away but let her hands stay on his shoulders.

"Why does everybody have to die on me?" Jeremy asked brokenly, and in that moment Annabelle's heart completely shattered.

"Oh, my God. Come here, come here," she whispered as she quickly pulled him into her arms, letting him rest his head on her chest and wrap his arms around her waist tightly. Her fingers stroked his hair, and she pressed soothing kisses to his head as Elena watched helplessly, tears streaming down her cheeks, before she went downstairs as Annabelle continued to hold Jeremy in her embrace as he sobbed into her chest brokenly, his body shaking in emotional turmoil.


After holding Jeremy as he cried for ten or more minutes, he calmed down enough to stop shaking. Annabelle didn't want to leave him, but her wound was still bleeding, so, after making sure he would be fine for a minute or two, she reluctantly left him and went to the bathroom. After cleaning and wrapping up her wound as quickly as she could, she proceeded to make her way back to Jeremy, only to bump into Damon as he exited Jeremy's room.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, her eyes widening in fear for herself and for her brother.

"What Elena asked me to," Damon replied, shocking Annabelle into silence for a few seconds, before she managed to snap out of it.

"Which is?" she questioned, and Damon sighed quietly before taking a few steps towards her, feeling a bit of happiness when she didn't move back.

"I took away your brothers memories of tonight. Compelled him to forget Vicki's death," he said, and Annabelle stared at him with wide eyes.

"What?" she breathed out, and Damon simply stared into her eyes for a few seconds before walking downstairs. Annabelle stayed in place for a few seconds, her eyes wide as she tried to comprehend the information Damon had just given her, before she quickly made her way to Jeremy's room, only to see her brother asleep peacefully with tear stains still on his cheeks.

She sighed, not knowing what to think. Jeremy's pain broke her heart, and she was ready to do anything in order to take that pain away... But doing it like that...

Annabelle sighed once more, before grabbing a blanket off of a chair beside her and covering Jeremy with it, making sure it was tucked around his form. She then caressed his cheek gently, feeling the dampness beneath her fingertips, before leaning down to press a kiss to his forehead. As she pulled away, she saw Elena coming upstairs out of the corner of her eyes, and she straightened her back as her sister stopped in the doorway of their brother's room.

"How is he?" Elena asked, and Annabelle kept her face blank as she walked over to her, closing the door behind her before facing Elena.

"What did you do?" she asked, her voice betraying the anger she felt, shocking Elena.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't play stupid with me, Elena," Annabelle snapped quietly. "Damon told me what you had him do. How could you do this?"

"'How could I'... Did you see how much pain he was in?" Elena asked, shocked at Annabelle's anger. Why was she angry? Jeremy wasn't in pain anymore, and that's the most important thing. "It was like our parents died all over again. I just wanted to help him,"

"And so you have Damon, the vampire whom you supposedly hate, take away our brother's memories? What the hell is wrong with you?" Annabelle questioned angrily, and Elena opened her mouth to respond, but Annabelle cut her off, "Yes, you're right. It was like our parents died all over again. He was in pain. But he would have gotten over it, Elena! It might take months, maybe even years, but we would've been there for him and he would've gotten over it! You took away his memories! That's not okay! You took away a part of him! How would you feel if someone did that to you?" Annabelle asked, but didn't wait for an answer as she shook her head before walking away from her sister and into her room.

She closed the door behind her and sat down on her bed after lighting the lamp on her nightstand, and collapsed onto the pillows as she covered her eyes with her hand, sighing heavily. So much had happened that night... she didn't know what to feel. There was pain, there was anger, there was... there was everything. Every bad emotion a person could ever feel was there.

Annabelle sighed once more, before turning her head to the side as she closed her eyes briefly. However, once she opened them again, her eyes landed on the candle on her nightstand. She always had a lot of candles in her room, because she loved to have the sort of warm and slightly medieval feeling whenever her room was lit up only by candles. She sat up slowly as she thought over the events that took place earlier that night.

Something happened when Vicki attacked her... or, rather, was about to attack her. She never got the chance to because some force threw her back. A force that... came from Annabelle.

Annabelle looked down at her hands, which began to shake slightly as she recalled all the strange events of the past month and a half. So much had happened, and a lot of things that happened were never explained. The lit candles, the hose splashing water all over Tiki, the force that threw Vicki back, something in her mind telling her that she can protect herself against vampires, even though that's complete rubbish... Something was happening to her.

Annabelle's eyes traveled to the candle, and she concentrated on it more than she ever had before on a candle. She thought of the warmth of a flame, its light, its brightness...

She gasped quietly and jumped back slightly a few seconds later, the flame of the now lit candle reflecting in her blue eyes.


A/N: I hope you all liked the little moment of complete honesty and trust between Stefan and Annabelle. I thought that she really needed to explain why she didn't like Vicki at all to someone, and Stefan seemed like the perfect person, seeing as he never judged her for as long as she knew him, and I think she just also had to let it all out before she exploded. Caroline and Bonnie already know, as does Elena (and we all know how judging of everyone she is), and I know that I sort of explained why Annabelle didn't like Vicki in the third episode, but I wanted to give a little more detail, and this episode seemed perfect for that.

Annabelle got the chance to show her a bit more confident side, as well as her angry side, with both Damon and Elena in this chapter. This doesn't means he hates them, but she sure as hell isn't happy with them. I think she's even more mad at Elena than she is at Damon, 'cause Elena was the one who had Damon take away Jeremy's memories, and I, personally, think it was a really wrong thing to do. Pain of the past is what makes us who we are, and Elena took that away from him.

Stefan and Annabelle are getting close. So close that Annabelle actually thought about staying behind, even after Vicki nearly attacked her and did attack Elena, because she was worried about him.

I hope you also liked the scene between Jeremy and Annabelle. The two have always had a strong bond, and if I cried when Jeremy cried in this scene, then I can't even imagine what kind of pain Annabelle would feel at seeing him like this.

Anyway, hope you all liked the chapter, and don't forget to review!