A/N : I know most of you might have filed a missing person report by now, (Sooo sorry!) but

I was grounded (I know, 17, and still grounded… That's why you should believe me when I say my life sucks.);

There was something wrong with the motherboard of the computer, so the computer guy came and took away the whole cpu for a week;

You get my point. I am truly extremely very very very sorry…

Chapter 7: Supernatural

Disclaimer: Seriously, have you seen me all over the news? Because I would be famous as hell if I truly did own any of TVD or Twilight!

It was getting dark. The household had retired for the night. I was returning to the servant's quarters, after I replaced the Lady's clothes after washing. I noticed, with curiosity, that she was not in her chambers. I wondered where she could be, this late in the night. It was not appropriate for young women to be out of their chambers, not to mention in the residence of another.

As I walked down the corridor, returning to my room, I saw the Lady returning from the direction of Stefan's chambers. She was wiping her mouth with her sleeve. I hid myself from her sight, as she walked away, not towards her own chambers, but towards Damon's. My heart was aching. This was why Damon broke up with me. He already had a new interest. I was disgusted with Katherine. Such a vile lady! My intuition was screaming at me to never trust her.

I decided to follow her. Something told me, deep in my mind, to keep a very good distance between the two of us.

As I watched, she entered Stefan's chambers. I waited out for fifteen minutes, and yet, she had not come out. I decided to go back to my chambers, lest someone should find me.

I decided to ask Emily about Katherine. Whatever Stefan said, I was not letting the "Katherine- seems- to- hate- me" matter go that easily. I got a bad feeling, an intuition, about her. Couple that with the fact that my best friend was wooing her, and I just saw her coming from Damon's chambers, and the fact that I got the feeling that she was not what she seemed to show everyone, but in fact, something much more… sinister… dangerous. I realized that I had to talk to Emily. I was a person who strongly believed in intuition, something Emily had raised me to trust. I still suspected something was wrong with the whole… situation. Well, the secret wasn't going to stay hidden; not if I could help it. (A/N: Ha-ha! Isabel's evil side! Howdja like that?)

I decided to ask Emily about it, since she was the one person who had known Katherine longer than all of us other servants. She was with her for the longest. I went to Emily's room that she shared with Mathilde, the Lady's personal cook. She was sitting on a frayed chair didn't look very comfortable, and knitting something.

"Emily, may I come in?"

She looked up. "Of course, my girl. What's the matter? Is something wrong?" Trust Emily to read the emotions right off my face. "How did you know?"

"Oh please, don't take me for an imbecile, my child. I've known you since you were a little bambina." She smiled.

I returned the smile, as I sat down on her bed, facing her. "Can I ask you something, Emily?"

"Ask away, my dear."

"Um, it's about the Lady." She frowned as she heard me. "I just found her going from Da- his chamber, right into Stefan's. Is she… Is she truly in love with Stefan, or is she playing with Stefan's affections? Is she- is there something I don't know about her? Something important?"

She avoided my eyes, and I took that as a sign that she indeed knew something I did not. "You know, don't you? You know her- her secret."

"Isabel," she began, and I immediately registered the fact that she called me by my name, something she only did when she was telling me something important. "What you need to know is that the world is not exactly all that you see. There are things that are living in the shadows, hidden to the human eye. There are things living in the night, of which you have only heard of in fairy tales, and myths. The supernatural, most of it, really, is very, very real, and truly dangerous. That's all I can tell you. I do not want you to be involved in that world. It is not for innocents like you, my child." What? What? How in the world did supernatural end up in this conversation?

"Um, Emily, What do you mean by supernatural? Is Katherine a supernatural creature? Does that mean she is dangerous? I truly want to know! I care about Stefan. He is my best friend, and I don't want something to hurt him, emotionally, or physically."

She looked surprised at my last word. I could tell that she had not been expecting it. She sighed, setting aside her knitting work.

"Isabel, my child, we are her servants. You must understand that. We get our daily bread because she shows us that kindness. We are indebted to her. We must not cause her trouble. We should be grateful for what she has done for us."

"Yes, but my loyalty does not lie exclusively to her! I must also stay true to my only best friend, who has stood by me through thick and thin, Emily. I love Stefan, and I do not want him hurt."

Emily was not convinced by my argument, I could see that.

"Go to bed, my child. I'm sorry, but as I said, I don't want to drag you into my world, a world where you might get hurt."

"Your world?" I asked quietly, peeking at her through my lashes.

"I- I mean-" Emily stuttered. I smiled slightly in my mind, but tried my best to keep a straight face. I had caught her slip. I had always known Emily was hiding a secret, and now I figured out the nature of that very secret.

She sighed in defeat. "Go to bed, child," was all she said.

If not today, then there is always a tomorrow, Emily. I thought, as I fell sleep.

XXXXXXX

I washed the clothes and was hanging them up to dry, when Mathilde ran up to me.

"Isabel, did you hear?"

"Hear what, Mathilde?"

"About the animal attacks, of course! Some sort of animal has been killing the travelers who take the path through the forest. Oh, dear, I do feel sorry for poor old Lisa who had to find them."

"Wh- who did Lisa find?" I was all ears now.

"Why, the bodies, my dear! Do try and keep up! Lisa found the half rotting corpses as she went to investigate the stench. Judging by their clothes and such, I'd say they were traders, from Venice or the likes."

Ughh… Disgusting; I thought to myself. And then something clicked.

"Wait. The animal killed the person, but left their bodies without eating them?" How else would the clothes be left on?

"Yes, not a hair out of place, except for the fact that they were dead. You see this was some wild animal that drinks the blood, but does not seem to have any particular liking to the flesh. The bodies were found with a bite mark on the necks, almost at the exact same spots."

I froze. An animal that drank blood, and left the flesh? That was unheard of. Unless you count…

One word echoed through my mind.

Supernatural.

I left my work undone and ran, stumbling half-way, to Emily.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Emily POV

I stripped the bed-sheets off Katherine's bed, my hands moving of their own accord. My mind was elsewhere, and not what was in front of me. I was worried about the girl. Isabel.

I had accidentally let it slip. If she had even suspected anything before, I had confirmed those suspicions.

The one consolation was that she just knew that the supernatural existed. She didn't know how far into a supernatural world she was living. Witches, Werewolves, Vampires….

"Emily! Emily! Emi- aaaah!" I heard Isabel's voice coming from the antechamber.

"Goodness, my girl! What are you doing?"

"It's alright, I just stubbed my toe in my hurry, that's all, never mind that," she brushed aside my fussing, grabbing hold of my forearms. "Did you hear?"

"Hear what?" I asked, alarmed.

"About the animal attacks!"

I looked at her warily. "What animal attacks?"

"Some travelers were found dead in the forest. Mathilde told me that some wild beast attacked them, but the funny thing is, not a single hair of theirs was out of place, their flesh was uneaten, and except for bite marks on their necks, they were perfectly fine, except that they were dead." She was watching my expression carefully as she said this, and from her face, I could see that she wasn't disappointed at all. Her expression was smug. I rearranged my face to one of remote concern.

"That's strange, and rather awful. Have you seen to the Lady's dress for tonight?"

She looked at me in her familiar single- brow- raised sarcastic expression.

"Fine. What?"

"Is it because of something… supernatural?" She asked, excitement leaking into her voice. It was nothing like how she used to be, before Damon. No, that special spark was lost. I sighed.

"Yes, Isabel, but I really prefer if you didn't know about this…"

"I'm not taking no for an answer."

"Alright." It was pointless to resist her anyway. "But not here."

We reached my room. "What do you want to know?"

"How do you know about the supernatural? How is it your world? How are you involved? How is Lady Katherine involved? Is she- is she human at all?" She said the last question in a whispered rush.

"One question at a time, Isabel."

She sighed. "Alright. How are you involved?"

The most difficult question first. Just like her.

I sat down with her on the bed. "Isabel, I am a witch."

She did not say a thing. She did not move a muscle. She just looked at me. After a few moments, and still no response, I ventured tentatively.

"Isabel?"

"Witch?"

"Yes."

"Witch? Witches are real?"

"I'm afraid so, my child." I said as gently as capable.

"You can do… magic?"

"Yes."

"What sort of magic? Can you make things appear out of thin air? Can you disappear? Make fireballs?"

I laughed. "It is a more basic sort of magic, really. Witchcraft has been in my family for generation. Things that I can do are more of the sort of protection spells, potions, elemental control, psychic telepathy, spirit contact…"

"So when you said… supernatural… You meant… just witches?" she asked, hesitantly.

I looked down. She was asking me to tell her the very things I wanted to keep from her.

Isabel POV

Witches? That was the worst? I could live with that. If Emily was a witch, then surely, they aren't that dangerous. Surely, she was just exaggerating last night, when she said that the supernatural world was very dangerous.

I looked at her, realizing that she still had not answered my question.

"Emily? It's just witches, right?"

"No. There are so many more out there. Things we call creatures of the night. Werewolves… And…"

I realized that I'd touched the core of all the problems. I waited, curiosity building.

"Vampires," she said, almost inaudibly.