Outfit: danielles_6th_outfit/set?id=144572250
Danielle
The sound of my ringing phone filled my ears. I groaned in annoyance when my alarm clock read 6:30 a.m.
"Who on earth would call me this early in the morning? I still want to sleep." I went back to sleep, trying to ignore my noisy phone. "Ugh! Fine! I'll pick it up!" I picked up the phone not even bothering to know who it was.
"You better give me one good reason why I shouldn't snap at you right now for waking me up this early in the morning." I threatened.
"I... Uhh..." Damon cautiously said as if one wrong move he will get killed.
"Spill it."
"We, mainly Elena, Stefan and I, would like to ask you a favor to come here in the Salvatore boarding house for something really important." He surprisingly asked in a very nice way. "Please?"
"Fine, but I will torture you if this is really something insignificant."
"See you!" He quickly hung up. I got out of bed, knowing I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. Getting my outfit for the day, I went to the bathroom. The mirror showed the dark circles under my eyes.
"This is what I get for staying up until past midnight researching for something nearly extinct and hard to find." I sighed and took my time in the shower. After taking a bath, I put on some makeup to hide my dark circles. Then, I headed out of my room.
"Morning grandma." I kissed her in the cheek.
"Morning darling." She replied as I got some toast.
"Grandma, I'm going out." I said before heading to the front door.
"Take care!"
"I will!" I made my way to the car and drove to the boarding house.
~~~~~X~~~~~
I arrived at the boarding house a few minutes after. Going to the front door, I rang the doorbell. It didn't take long for the door to be opened and I was greeted by a smiling Stefan.
"Good morning, Danny. Thanks for coming. Come in." He moved aside and let me enter. "Let's go to the living room where the others are." He then led me to the said room. When we arrived in the living room, I saw Elena, Damon, and an unknown man.
"Danny you came!" Elena stood up and gave me a hug.
"I believe we haven't met. Alaric Saltzman. You can call me Ric." The man introduced as he extended his hand.
"So you're Alaric. I've heard a lot about you from Jenna. I'm Danielle Sullivan. You can call me Danny." I teasing smiled and this made Ric blush a bit as I reached for the handshake.
"Are you somehow related to Keith Sullivan?"
"Yes, you know my uncle?" I answered Ric.
"Yeah, I was my mentor and friend when I was still in Duke. Everybody loved him. He was a good man and a good mentor."
"That's nice to hear. I've heard great stories of him from my dad. I wish I could have met him when he was still alive."
"I'm sorry."
"No, it's alright. At least, I hear many people say good things about him and that is enough for me." I smiled. "Well back to the agenda, I'm here now, so what is this important thing you were saying?"
"Yeah, we were hoping you and Ric could shed some light on the Lockwood family." Stefan answered
"Now, why would I know anything about the Lockwoods?" Ric raised a brow in confusion.
"Yeah, me too."
"Well, you wouldn't. But your dead not dead vampire wife might." Damon directed to Ric. "As for you, Danny, couldn't you use your juju magic? And you said something about the Lockwood boy doing something supernatural."
"It doesn't work that way, Damon. As for the other one, that was the only thing I could think of as to why you would have interest in Tyler all of a sudden and besides, it wasn't my fault you're such a genius that you gave away everything." I emphasized the last part.
Damon opened and closed his mouth for a couple of times trying to get any words out but he couldn't make any witty remark. This made me smirk and the others tried so hard not to laugh out loud but you could see that they were barely keeping it in.
"Isobel's research from when you guys were at Duke together might help." Elena told Ric, going back to the topic.
"Isobel's research here in Mystic Falls rooted in folklores and legends but at that time I thought much of which was fiction."
"Like that amazing vampire story." Damon added.
"Aside from vampires, what else?" Elena asked, seemingly interested.
"The lycanthrope." My ears perked up when I heard Ric's answer.
"Wait, like werewolves?" Elena clarified and this got my whole attention.
"No way, impossible, way too Lon Chaney." Damon scoffed but Stefan countered him.
"Is it?"
"I've been on this planet for one hundred sixty something odd years. Never came across one. If werewolves exist, where the hell are they?" Damon argued.
"Werewolves are already near extinction that's why." I explained while they looked at me surprised.
"How do you know?" Damon raised a brow at me.
"I researched last night about werewolves and I only found very few information about them. You suspect the Lockwood's, don't you?"
"Yes, because vervain didn't affect the mayor at Founder's day but the Gilbert device did and it affected his son Tyler."
"And at the school carnival, his Uncle Mason exhibited inhuman behavior when he fought with one of the carnival's worker." Stefan added. "It suggests it's some sort of a supernatural entity."
"We were hoping that Isobel's research could help us figure out what it is." Elena told Ric.
"Well, all her things are still in Duke. I mean her office is still there, she's technically still missing."
"Ric, we need to know what we are dealing with. If this wolf men thing is true, I've seen enough movies to know it is not good. It means Mason Lockwood is a real life Lon Chaney and that little Tyler punk may just very well be Lon Chaney junior which means Bella Lugosi, meaning me, is totally screwed." Damon said in an annoyed voice.
~~~~~X~~~~~
After the talk in the boarding house, I went home to get my things for the trip and then, I would head to Elena's house. It was decided that I would go too and I wanted to go since Uncle Keith used to work there before he died. This was my chance to find out more about him and I was very excited to know what he was teaching there. After I fixed my stuff, I went to grandma to tell her I would be out for the rest of the day.
"Grandma!" I called.
"In the office, darling." She replied.
"I'm going to Duke with Elena and the others."
"Duke?" She looked at me with wide eyes.
"Yes. We're going to research about werewolves." I smiled at her but she seemed tense. Why would she be?
"Why Duke and why the sudden interest in werewolves?" Grandma gently smiled at me but something was wrong. I could tell it.
"Well, Ric's wife had her research materials there and we need them. About the werewolves, I just feel like there is something to know about them. Besides, that's where Uncle Keith used to work and I want to visit there. This is my chance to know him better and learn new things about him. I feel like by doing this, I get to be closer to him." I grinned excitedly but this didn't help grandma look any calmer. She looked more tense and stiff than a while ago although she tried her best to hide it. She was acting very weird.
"Alright. Just promise me that you will be careful and that you will take care of yourself." She looked at me with such seriousness in her eyes. Now I was sure that something was definitely wrong.
"Grandma, nothing will happen to me. I'm with Elena and the others. I'll be fine." I assured her but her serious demeanor didn't change.
"Promise me." Grandma repeated with a stern voice that she rarely used and this sent a bad feeling in my stomach.
"I will. I promise." I smiled at her to assure her once again and grandma just hug me very tight as if this would be the last time she would hug me.
"Go on now, darling." Grandma gently smiled at me with an unknown emotion in her eyes.
"Okay. I might be home late so please don't stay up to wait for me. Bye, grandma." I kissed her cheek and before I fully closed the door, I heard her utter something in a sad and distant voice.
"Goodbye, sweetheart."
Something was definitely amiss with grandma. What on earth was wrong?
~~~~~X~~~~~
It didn't take long for me arrive at Elena's since her house was not that far from mine. I parked the car and turned off the engine. When I walked to the house, I saw Damon leaning on the car.
"Hey Damon!" I greeted with a smile.
"Hey Danny." He smirked as a reply. I ignored that and went to put my bag in the car.
"Sorry you can't come too, Stef." Damon said in somewhat a mocking tone. When I went back, Ric was going to the driver's seat and Elena was placing her bag in the car.
"Hi guys." They returned my smile with one of their own.
"Call me if you need anything." Stefan told Elena.
"Oh, I'll take really good care of her." Damon interrupted, making Elena glare at him. Elena caught Stefan by the neck and kissed him in front of Damon.
"Ew! Stop! Don't taint my innocent mind! Please!" I teased while covering my eyes and making gagging sounds. The others just laughed at my silliness and shook their heads.
"Okay, time to go." Damon announced.
We got into the car and Ric immediately drove away and to our destination, Duke. With nothing to do, I tried to take a short nap. The fatigue was starting to get me.
"How are you doing back there? You know, this whole pretending to hate me thing is getting a little silly." Damon told Elena, probably.
"I don't think she's pretending. You did kill her brother." Ric argued. Damon was really such a jerk for dragging Jeremy into his problems and he was so blinded by his heartache. I really disliked Katherine right now. She hasn't even shown her face since what she did to Caroline.
"There is a huge asterisk next to that statement. He came back to life." Damon shot back.
"Yeah, thanks to the ring, you didn't know he was wearing." Elena retorted.
"Can't sleep. Too much bickering and noise."
"Why are you so sure I didn't know?"
"Did you?" Elena questioned.
"Yes."
"Just try to ignore it, Danny. Try to sleep." I told myself.
"You're lying." Elena accused.
"Elena, I saw the ring! It's a big tacky thing, it's hard to miss." Damon replied in defense.
"I can't take this anymore!" I opened my eyes and glared at both of them.
"Enough!" I shouted, which got all of their attention. "I'm tired. I'm trying to sleep here but I can't, because you two idiots won't stop bickering with each other. You will both get along and shut up because if you don't, or so help me God, I will do it myself and you won't like it. Do I make myself clear?" I uttered in an intimidating tone. All of them were silent and the two idiots hesitantly nodded their heads while Ric tried to hold his laughter.
"Good, I will go back to sleep now. If any of you argued again and I wake up, I will fry both of your brains." I threatened and then, went back to sleep.
"I like her!" I heard Ric say happily. Hearing it made me smirk. I just made them a mental note to never cross Danielle Sullivan. With the total silence, I fell into a deep sleep.
~~~~~X~~~~~
I felt someone tugging me to wake up. "Danny, wake up. We're here." Elena said.
I opened my eyes to see that we did arrive at Duke already. Covering my mouth while yawning, I went out of the car and walked towards the office with the others.
"So Isobel was officially employed by the anthropology department given that most paranormal phenomenon is rooted in folklore." Ric explained. After a few more while of walking, we arrived at the office.
"Excuse me. Hi, I'm Alaric Saltzman. I called earlier." Ric told the brunette lady.
"Yes, of course. I'm Vanessa Monroe, research assistant of comparative folklore." She answered and then, looked strangely at Elena.
"Something's not right."
"Uh... Let me just grab Isobel's keys."
"These are my friends Elena, Danielle and Damon. I hope this isn't too much of an imposition."
"Oh please, Isobel's office is right through there. Isobel was one of my first professors. I'm a grad student. She was brilliant and one of the reasons why I went to folklore. Uh... I have to ask, has there been any news?"
"No, I'm afraid not."
"It's this way." She led us to the office. Vanessa opened the office door and let us enter. "I'll grab the light, feel free to look around. It's fascinating isn't it?"
I then started to look for random books that could help us.
"Where did she go?" Damon said as he looked around thr room. I looked around to find her but I didn't see her anywhere.
Vanessa appeared out of nowhere with a crossbow and shot an arrow at Elena. I was far from her so I couldn't get there in time. It was a good thing Damon covered her by putting himself in front of her that ended up him receiving the arrow on his back. I knocked the crossbow out of Vanessa's hands and Ric pushed her against the wall.
Ric dragged Vanessa to another room while I followed closely behind. He stopped in front of a chair and pushed her so she would sit down.
"Please! I freaked, alright? You would have done the same thing. It's not possible! Katherine Pierce can't be alive and Damon Salvatore died in 1864, okay? I read Isobel's research." She desperately reasoned.
"Well then, you should know just how possible this is." Ric seriously looked at her in the eye. The creaking of the door meant Elena and Damon were back and they came towards us.
"I'm Elena Gilbert, Isobel's daughter and descendant of Katherine Pierce. And this is Damon Salvatore who you just shot."
"I'd be extra nice to me right now." Damon said with a hint of irritation.
"Look, we need your help okay? We need to see all of Isobel's research, anything related to Mystic Falls." Elena asked and Vanessa eventually agreed to help us.
After everyone have calmed down, we started looking for information that could help answer our questions. I was currently looking for more information about the lycanthropes while Elena was looking for things about Katherine.
"This box checks Katherine's arrival in Mystic Falls in April 1864." Vanessa placed down a box full of resources and showed them to Elena.
"Is that all there is about her?"
"All that I'm aware of." Vanessa replied. Elena saw a vervain in the box and looked over to Damon. She got some and gave them to Vanessa.
"Here, take this." Elena handed the vervain to Vanessa.
"Does vervain really work?" She asked us and in return we just gave her a nod.
"Nope, not at all." Damon said from the other room.
"Can he hear us?" Vanessa asked and Damon once again butted in.
"No, that would be too creepy."
"Can he read minds too?"
"You know, if you want to see me naked, all you have to do is ask." I just rolled my eyes at his statement.
"No, that he can't do. He is very capable of being a first rate jackass." Elena said, which made me laugh so hard.
"Nice job putting him in his place." I gave Elena thumbs up. She just smiled and shook her head at my silliness. Vanessa heeded our advice and placed some vervain in her pocket. Suddenly, I remembered something.
"Hey Vanessa? Do you know if Keith Sullivan's office is still here?"
"Yes, I'm also the one who looks after that office. Why do you ask?"
"Can I go see it?" I asked full of hope.
"Sure, but if you don't mind me asking, why do you want to see his office?"
"I'm Danielle Sullivan, his niece. You see, I want to get to know him more since I was never able to meet him in real life." Her eyes widened after hearing what I said.
"It's you." I just tilted my head in confusion so she elaborated on that. "Before he died, he sent a letter and two chest boxes to us. The letter said that if ever a girl named Danielle Sullivan was to come, she will inherit all of his important things in his office. She can get all of his researches too. It was also stated that the two chests are to be given to her when she comes here in Duke. Come with me."
This had stunned me and I just followed her without minding that the others were listening to our conversation just now.
"Did Uncle Keith know that one day I might come looking for answers and for him? Why would he put so much effort and would go to the extent of making me inherit all of his stuff?" After a while, we came upon a door and Vanessa opened it.
"Here it is."
I looked around in awe and amusement. There were books everywhere and most of them were about history and folklore but I had a feeling most of them were our family books. While roaming around the room, I found one large chest and a medium sized one.
"Are these the two chests you were telling me? Can I really take home all of this?"
"Yes, those two are. Of course, you can. He wanted you to have not just those two but all of this."
"Then, can I pack them now? I don't think I will have time to come back here again."
"Of course. I can help you pack them."
"Thank you." I smiled at her and she returned it.
"For what?"
"Thank you for showing me all of these. At least at some point, I feel like I can connect with Uncle Keith."
"It's nothing. Mr. Sullivan was a very good man and this simple thing is just me repaying him for all of the things that he has done for us." She smiled genuinely. "Alright, let's start."
We started packing Uncle Keith's stuff in boxes but I left the irrelevant stuff behind. The packing didn't take long since most of his stuff were kept safe in boxes. After an hour of packing, Vanessa called for someone to carry all of the stuff to Ric's car. Ric agreed since he knew how important this is to me and Uncle Keith was his good friend. I was very thankful to him for that. Vanessa and I went back to the others and started helping them again. Damon and Elena were fighting again but I just ignored it seeing as I would just waste my energy trying.
"Hey guys, check this out." Ric said, making me face his direction. I went to his place as he handed Vanessa a book.
"There's no record of werewolf mythology in Mystic Falls, but here are some records of some of the lesser known legends. Everything from Scandinavian skin-walkers to the Maréchal de Retz." She explained. Then, she handed us the picture. "This Aztec phrase roughly translates into the 'curse of the sun and the moon'."
"I never saw that in the family books. Maybe I missed it. I'm going to look through them again when I get home."
"It's Native American." Ric said.
"Aztec. It explains one origin of the werewolf curse traced through Virginia. The short story: 600 years ago, the Aztecs were plagued by werewolves and vampires. They terrorized the countryside, made farming and hunting impossible until an Aztec shaman cursed them, making vampires slaves to the sun and werewolves servants of the moon. As a result, vampires could only prowl at night and werewolves could only turn on a full moon. When the full moon crests in the sky, who's ever unlucky enough to fall under the werewolf curse turns into a wolf."
"Can they control the transformation?" Damon asked Vanessa.
"If it were a choice, it wouldn't be called a curse. Werewolves will attack humans but instinct and centuries of rivalry have hardwired them to hunt their prey of choice, vampires." Vanessa answered but Damon wouldn't accept this.
"Well, if werewolves were hunting vampires, I would know about it."
"I already told him the reason to that before we came here. He wasn't listening." I thought in annoyance.
"Not if there aren't that many werewolves left alive. Hundreds of years ago, vampires hunted them almost to extinction."
"Why would they do that?" Elena asked Vanessa
"To protect themselves. Legend has it that a werewolf bite is fatal to vampires."
"I didn't find anything about that. If Mason and Tyler are indeed werewolves, we're in some serious trouble." I anxiously exchanged looks with Damon.
"Today's a full moon. I've to call Stefan." Elena went out of the room while taking her phone out.
After that info we learned, we went back to searching for more details about werewolves. I was currently reading one of Uncle Keith's researches about vampires and werewolves.
"Hey, have you done any research on doppelgangers?" Elena inquired to Vanessa and this caught my interest.
"Well, the word means a lot of different things to different cultures, but typically a doppelganger is a living, breathing double of one's self."
"Did Isobel have anything that explained the link between me and Katherine?"
"That's all she had on Katherine, unfortunately, but I can tell you that doppelgangers usually torment the people they look like, trying to undo their lives. It's not exactly uplifting." Vanessa added
"And more things we already know. Just... I want to know why we look alike." Elena heaved another sigh.
"Head scratcher, isn't it?" Damon provoked her again and Elena harshly retorted again.
"Do you know something, or are you just being yourself?"
"There they go again." I sighed for the nth time today.
"Well, if I know anything, I'm not going to tell you, not with that attitude." Damon glared at Elena, making her glare at him too.
"That's good, Damon, and this is coming from someone who wants to be my friend, but you know what? Friends don't manipulate friends, they help each other."
~~~~~X~~~~~
"Thank God, we're going home! I don't think I can take any more of their stupid arguments." I wanted to talk to Vanessa but Ric was still talking to her so I was just waiting patiently in the sidelines. At this point nothing would make me go with Elena and Damon. I might just go crazy hearing them quarrel with each other again and again. A few minutes later, Ric was done talking with Vanessa so I went to her.
"Hey, thanks again for everything. I can't thank you enough."
"It's fine seriously. You don't need to keep on saying thanks to me. Besides, I'm in debt to Mr. Sullivan. This is nothing compared to all of the things he has done for me and for this school." She said whilst smiling.
"But still, thanks. It was very nice meeting you." I gave her a hug, which she returned.
"You too."
"Bye!"
"Bye!" She waved her hand. I then made my way to the car and saw Elena and Damon talking. Elena was holding a book and it made me curious about what is that book.
"Hey, are we going?" I asked.
"Yup." Elena went inside the car and I followed her.
The road back to Mystic Falls started as I was recalled all of the things that I had learned today. My curiosity was killing me as to why Uncle Keith would leave me everything that was his. It was as if he knew that one day this would happen and he prepared for it. With that, the drive back to our town continued with me still in my train of thoughts.
After a few hours of driving, we finally arrived at Elena's. I told them I needed to go home since it was already late. Damon helped me carry all of my stuff from Ric's car to mine after I asked him to. After that, I bided them goodbye and went home. When I arrived home, I decided that I would remove all of the things tomorrow since I was too tired. Grabbing my house keys, I made my way to the front door. I was about to open the door when I noticed the door was slightly open.
"Strange, why would the door be open? Grandma always makes sure the door is closed. I have a bad feeling about this." I cautiously went inside and noticed small trails of blood that made my blood ran cold. Quickly following the trail, I was led to the living room.
The scene before me terrified and frightened me. My grandma was there lying in a pool of blood with her stomach stabbed with a knife. I screamed and rant to her. Nothing mattered to me at this moment. All I needed was my grandma alive.
"No, no, no. PLEASE NO!" I tried looking for a pulse and I paled. There was none. Tears ran down my face and numbness started to spread all over my body. With trembling hands, I tried to reach for my phone and after a while, managed to dial Sheriff Forbes' number.
"Danny, how may I help you?" She greeted.
"Ple-Please c-come here now... Gra-Grandma's... mur-murdered..." I choked between my sentence.
"I'm on my way. Stay there and be careful." She immediately responded. The phone slipped through my fingers and I curled myself into a ball with my eyes still glued to my grandma's lifeless body. After a few minutes, Sheriff Forbes arrived with some deputies and medics. When she entered, she looked at my grandma's body with a horrified expression. She immediately brought me to a tight and comforting embrace when I looked at her with a face void of emotion.
"Shh.. It's okay, Danny. I'm here." She gently comforted me. The only things that I could do were to clutch onto her and sob. The deputies and the medics hastily went to do their jobs. They started looking for evidence and prepared to take my grandma's body.
"Sheriff, we need to talk to you." One of the deputies said, which he got a nod in return from the said person.
"Danny, I need to go for a while. I will be back. For now go to the ambulance outside." She made someone accompany me to the ambulance.
Before I left, I muttered a spell because I knew they would tell her what happened to my grandma. I was sure Sheriff Forbes wouldn't tell me. She might think it would be too much for me but I needed to know. Some people examined me if I sustained any wounds because my clothes were covered in blood. My spell started to work and I could hear the sheriff and the deputy's conversation.
"There were puncture marks on her neck but the one that killed her was the multiple stabs she received."
"This is a vampire's doing. Agatha didn't deserve this. I don't know what would happen to Danny from now on. I need to take her to my house for tonight. Can you take care of the rest?" Sheriff said.
"Alright." The deputy answered and the conversation ended.
Sheriff Forbes came and took me to her house. During the car ride, I did nothing but stare into space. This feeling, I hated it, the feeling of losing someone dear to you. Things were becoming great for me since I came here. I thought my scars could heal and I could be put back together. Sheriff Forbes dropped me off and Caroline was waiting for me there. She gave me those pity filled eyes that I loathed so much. Caroline immediately hugged me without caring the blood would stain her shirt. I started to cry again and I couldn't stop it. She led me to her room and helped me get cleaned before helping me get to bed. Caroline was about to go out but I stopped her.
"Please… Please stay with me. I don't want to be alone. I'm… I'm scared." I said in a small trembling voice.
"Shhh... It's okay. I'm here. You don't have to be scared. I'm here with you." She lay down with me and embraced me. She rocked me like a little child and I held on to her like my life depended on it.
Closing my eyes, I tried to sleep but to no avail, I couldn't. The images of my grandma lying in the pool of her blood would haunt me. All of the memories of my loved ones kept on coming back and I didn't know how much longer I could still hold on.
Why was that every single person dear to me was being taken from me? Was I not worth of any happiness even if it was only a little? My once scarred heart was now shattered into pieces and this time, I didn't think anything could piece it back together.
