I'm so so sorry for the late update but I was in holidays with my family and then I immediately went back to school which is hell like always.
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE VAMPIRE DIARIES, I JUST OWN MY CHARACTERS AND THEIR STORY LINES.
Ashley was pacing all around the room with the information Alaric had just gave her. She was utterly shocked and betrayed and Alaric could see her fury. He didn't say anything knowing better. He only followed her with his eyes as she moved around the apartment. He couldn't see her face as her hair were covering it but she seemed to be angry by her moves. She stopped and turned to look at Alaric who wished that she didn't look at him.
"Why?" She asked with a low voice not trying to show the anger inside her. "Why did you all lie to me?" Alaric sighed and looked at his niece who was eyeing him angrily.
"Your mother was devastated what happened to Adam and Sawyer. She wanted to leave all that behind and you were her fresh start." He told her and Ashley shook her head in disbelief.
"All my life I thought that my dad died in a car accident when he was shot by the people who kidnapped my brother." She said in disbelief and then scoffed. "Did you all thought I wouldn't find out! That I had a brother and both him and dad were killed by the same people! How stupid did you all think I am?"
"Please, listen..." Ashley cut him off furious with him and everything around her.
"I have listened to you for half an hour as you told me about dad and Sawyer. About how my big brother were kidnapped and they asked for money. And I waited even though I knew that something will end up badly, I wanted to end goo but I only got my father being shot and by brother who was only four being killed."
"I know it hurts, Ashley. I always wanted to tell you bot Violet always told me not to utter a word about it. I think she was going to tell you one day but she was diagnosed with tumor and she wanted to spend the last moments with you for you to love her, not hate her." Alaric told her and Ashley stood there in silence for a couple of moments. It was an awkward one and a hurtful one. The betrayal on Ashley's eyes was evident to Alaric.
"Did they ever found the people who did it?" She asked him and he shook his head. She let out a deep breath in frustration. It wasn't right, she thought to herself about the whole situation. She looked up and saw that her uncle seemed guilty but in her opinion, he should have been but somehow she felt something in the pit of her stomach. She looked away and looked at the clock to see that it was midnight and late.
"You should go, Ric. It's late." She pointed out and her uncle only nodded her head a little. He hesitated for a split second but he took the last step towards the door. Ashley didn't move until her uncle walked away from her. She looked down and her eyes moved to the photo which seemed to haunt her thoughts in her entire day. She sighed deeply and tried not to cry as she looked at the smiling faces of her family in that photo. And now only her uncle and she were alive while the others were gone. She took the photo and put into a drawer which she closed. She walked to the bathroom and cleaned off her make-up. After she was done, she went to her room and wore a blue tank top and white shorts. She slide inside her sheets and turned off the light. She stared at the ceiling numbly before she fell into a dreamless sleep.
"Come on, Buffy! Wake up!" She heard someone say to her with a really loud voice but Ashley moved the other way around. And just then her drapes were open and the sun almost blinded her eyes. She groaned and grabbed the pillow. She tried to throw it to the person who had woke her up but she failed miserably. "Bad aim for a vampire slayer."
"Shut up, Damon." Ashley told the raven-haired vampire as she opened her eyes. She sat up and scratched her eyes slowly. She then felt someone lay next to her or rather Damon. She looked at him who had a smile on his face. "Don't you have other people to piss off?"
"You're coming with me." Damon told her and she scrunched her nose at his words.
"I would like to spend my day off alone or better without you annoying me." She pulled the sheets over her head but Damon pulled them away from her making her huff at him.
"Come on, shouldn't you be the one up as you are a vampire slayer and as we have something against the oldest vampires." She sat up and looked at Damon who was now standing with his on her bed.
"They are many people in this town who might want to help you." She pointed out and Damon gave her a serious look. "Oh, right! Nobody likes you."
"But you do." Damon leaned up closer to her making Ashley frown at him. "I think you do more than like me." She scoffed at his face but Damon was still smirking.
"You are mixing your dreams with real life." She pointed out but Damon only got closer to her but Ashley didn't seem phased by it all.
"Really? You never felt the need to kiss me. I'm telling you Buffy, I'm hell of a good kisser." He told her and Ashley was afraid that if she rolled her eyes one more time, they would fall out. Damon got closer and then something inside of Ashley changed. Her eyes wandered to his blue eyes that could pierce anyone making her dazed. Don't you dare, she thought as she didn't want her body to betray her mind. He is your uncle's best friend. Ashley hid her thoughts by pushing Damon away from her and getting up from the bed. She heard Damon chuckle under his breath and she turned to him.
"Why don't you get Alaric or Elena to come with you?" She asked and she swallowed a little with the mention of her uncle. It reminded of yesterday, a memory she wanted to ignore for a while.
"Well, they already left and they're quite boring." He told her and she crossed her arms over her chest.
"So I am entertainment for you?" She asked in disbelief but a small smile was on her face.
"You could be more." He suggested and Ashley glared at him before she spoke up.
"Can you try not to make everything leading up to sex?" She asked him and Damon moved closer to her. Really close again making her step back.
"I could stop if you..." He trailed off as he got closer to the feisty dark haired girl. Ashley froze for a second before she got her head clear.
"You're such a perv." She told him making Damon chuckle a little at her words. He stepped back and Ashley dropped her arms down. "Get out, so I can get dressed." Damon did as she obeyed him and she saw as he opened the door and then shut it. She sighed in relief and tried to concentrate on what was she going to wear.
Damon had driven them with his car to the Lockwood Cellar and now they were walking them without any light. Ashley was being careful to look where she was going.
"This is so creepy." She pointed out as she looked around the tunnel and then she heard a voice. A familiar one to be exact.
"So, the Lockwoods really have no idea that these tunnels are underneath their property?" She heard Elena ask someone who she assumed to be her uncle making her stomach drop.
"Careful where you shine that thing. Bats hate the light." Ashley took a deep breath when she heard her uncle's voice. She and Damon neared Elena and Alaric closer and Damon now was standing behind Elena.
"Wait, what?" Elena asked shocked at Alaric's words.
"Elena." Damon called her voice with a hushed tone making Elena turn around and jump because of him. "Scaredy cat." He commented making her glare at him.
"Ah! God, Damon!" She whined and Ashley smiled from behind before she spoke up.
"Ignore him, that's what must people do." She told Elena and she saw her uncle turn to look at her. He didn't say anything and neither did she making Damon notice something was going on.
"So, you really can't get in?" Elena asked Damon who shook his head as they kept walking.
"No. Seems even the ancient Lockwoods were anti-vampire." Damon replied and Ashley scoffed at him making him look at her.
"Can you blame them?" She asked and Damon glared at the dark haired girl who didn't say anything else.
"What do you mean, ancient?" Elena asked and Damon turned to loom at her this time while Ashley smiled in satisfactory.
"See for yourself." Damon gestured forwards and they walked to the part where the vampires couldn't pass. Elena shined her flashlight on the walls and saw the drawings.
"What is all this?" Elena asked and yet again Ashley looked at the drawings with interest.
"Well, as far as I can tell, it's a story. In simple, archaeological terms, it's a really, really old story." Alaric explained and he pointed to the wall. "That right there, is the moon cycle." He pointed to another drawing which Ashley looked at. "A man, a wolf."
"A werewolf." Elena stated while Ashley only looked at the drawings on the walls.
"Yeah, it's the "Lockwood Diaries: Pictionary-Style."" Damon joked making Ashley smile at his comment while the other two didn't.
"I don't understand. I thought the Lockwoods came here with the Original Founders in the 1860s." Elena pointed out confused while Ashley turned to look at other drawings.
"I don't know. Maybe the Lockwoods did, but according to this wall, these werewolves have been here a lot longer than that." Damon told her and Ashley looked at him while he spoke. Mystic Falls had a rich history, she thought to herself as she turned her eyes away from him.
"How long?" Ashley asked Damon as she felt her uncle's eyes on her.
"Long. It gets better. Show them, Ric." Damon said and both Ashley and Elena put their focus on Alaric.
"Names. They're not native. They're written in Runic, a Viking script." Alaric explained and Ashley frowned at his statement.
"Wow, this town has a lot of history since the medieval times. So much for a small one." Ashley commented and the others only nodded at her.
"This name here, I translated it and it reads Niklaus." Alaric stated and Ashley was stunned at the revelation.
"Klaus..." Elena gathered and Ashley looked at the other writings won the wall.
"And Elijah...and Rebekah." Alaric pointed out and Ashley got more interested in the writings on the wall.
"These are the names of the Original Family?" Elena asked and Ashley gave her a 'duh' expression.
"Carved into a cave that's been here since way before the founding of Mystic Falls. Or even the entire New World, for that matter." Alaric explained and Ashley was just amazed by the whole cave.
"Okay, this has gotta be one of Klaus's fakes." Elena stated but Ashley wasn't agreeing with her.
"That's what I said." Damon spoke up and Ashley looked down.
"You really think he came up to a place that you had to ruin first by entering just to fake something?" She asked the two other but they didn't get to speak because Alaric spoke up.
"That could be true, except the last name up here made us think otherwise." Alaric pointed out to them and Ashley's head snapped into his direction yet she hesitated to speak up.
"What's the name?" Elena asked instead of Ashley and Ashley took a step forward to get a better look.
"Mikael." Alaric replied to her and Ashley frowned at the name. Where did I hear that name?
"Mikael...Mikael, as in, the vampire hunter who knows how to kill Klaus?" Elena asked and Ashley bit her lip as she thought about him.
"Yep. I now like to call him "Papa Original"." Damon said and Ashley gaped in shock. Klaus's father wanted to kill him. Alaric took his camera from his back and he started to take photos of the drawings while Ashley looked at the walls.
Alaric and Elena were looking at the photos on the desk while Ashley and Damon were training. It was mostly Damon making joked and Ashley snapping at him as fast as she could.
"These images tell a story...to learn the story, you have to decipher these images." Alaric spoke from his place while Ashley tried to kick Damon who was faster than her. She then tried to stake him but he caught her stake.
"Sloppy." He told her and Ashley glared at him before she said anything.
"Shut up!" Elena turned to look at Damon and Ashley noticing a little smirk playing on Damon's face. She couldn't help but feel jealous so she turned around.
""Ghost of Christmas Past" Mason Lockwood set up the cave and led us to a weapon that can kill Klaus." Damon said as Ashley went to strike it but he caught her arm with ease. She freed it with ease and then she moved to kick him.
"Yeah, but doesn't Mikael have a weapon?" Elena asked Damon who caught Ashley's kick. Ashley stepped back and sighed in frustration.
"Yes." Ashley went to stake him but Damon caught it. She went to push it but Damon didn't let her move at all. Her eyes locked with Damon's as she tried to attack him. "Which probably means the wall will lead us to Mikael, who we have already found...and lost." Damon spun Ashley around making her back press his front. "Bang! You're dead!" Damon went to nibble on Ashley's neck but she pushed him away from her.
"These images at the very least might tell us what that weapon is." Alaric pointed out and Ashley and Damon shared a look with each-other.
"Then all we have to do is find out what they mean." Ashley scoffed at Elena's words and Damon seemed just as irritated with their thinking.
"Fine! Fine! If me and Buffy are being irritatingly optimistic like you two...how do you suppose we do that?" Damon asked Elena and Ashley crossed her arms over her chest.
"Well, if the story is about the Original Family living here, then we go straight to the source!" Ashley put the dots together and looked at Elena in disbelief.
"Do you really think Rebekah is going to tell you everything?" She asked and Elena shrugged her shoulders.
"Elena is right, I think that Barbie Klaus is desperate to talk to someone." Damon pointed out and Ashley rolled her eyes at his comment.
"Okay then, Elena is going to talk to Rebekah and I have to go because I have to go to the school." Alaric turned to look at his niece and best friend. "You two will continue the research, right? I will be quick by the way." Alaric asked and the two others nodded their heads. After Alaric and Elena left, Damon turned to Ashley who seemed focused on the photos.
"What is going on?" Damon asked her and Ashley's head snapped towards him.
"What do you mean?" She asked casually as she straightened up to look at him better.
"You and Ric are acting weird. You don't say anything directly at each-other. So what happened?" Ashley scoffed at him but Damon saw something in her eyes that he couldn't put a finger on it.
"You're delusional." She told him looking away from him and Damon scowled at her.
"I thought you were a good liar." He pointed out and Ashley held a groan to come from her. "I saw it today and yesterday while we were in the cave, you acted weirdly."
"Okay, some family problems." She finally admitted and she waited for Damon to have a smug smile on his face but he looked at her with sincerity.
"What kind of problems?" Damon asked with worry and genuine concern in his voice taking back Ashley who then stared at the vampire in front of her.
"Family. Like everyone else does." She responded and turned her attention towards the photos.
"You learned about your brother?" Damon asked and Ashley looked at him abruptly as soon as he said that. "A day before you came into Mystic Falls, me and Ric went to the Grill and he got drunk. He seemed to be nervous so he drank and drank until he got wasted. He began to blab and your brother slipped out of his tongue. Tomorrow, he didn't remember anything only that he had a massive hangover and he needed to sober up to get you." Ashley didn't say anything but then she remembered Damon asking her in Chicago if she wanted a sibling and he knew back then.
"They all lied to me, Damon. And it wasn't just a simple lie, they lied about my dad's death and that I had a brother. I just can't let it go." She told him and she couldn't stop herself as she felt that she was opening to someone without control. "It sucks."
"Life sucks." Damon summarized making Ashley smile a little. "Sorry I'm not good at advises, better at sarcastic comments though."
"I have noticed that." She pointed out and Damon smiled at her which she returned. there was a moment of understanding between two of them, not a witty banter or comebacks from both of the sides. Just a simple understatement that Ashley actually enjoyed.
Damon had gone to check on Stefan who was locked inside the old Forbes jail cell. Ashley looked at a drawing and saw a round shape figure that looked like a sun so she took a post-it and wrote 'vampire' on it. She put it on the photo and then she moved one and looked at a moon. She took another post-it and wrote 'werewolf' on it. She then moved to her laptop and searched for werewolf. She was reading some mythology when the door snapped open. She heard the voices of both Elena and Alaric but she continued to read on what she found in the Internet.
"Rebekah will come around." Elena told Alaric and they moved to the table that Ashley was doing research on. Alaric was impressed at his niece work as he looked down. A proud smile was on his face.
"You're sure about that? I mean a thousand-year-old vampire, I'm sure, has learned the art of patience." Alaric asked Elena in disbelief and before Elena could reply, she got a text. Elena smiled and she showed it to Alaric.
"She's a thousand-year-old vampire, who's joined the cheerleader squad...There is a whole different set of rules that play here, Ric. I got this." Elena said confidently and she moved to leave.
"Good luck." Ashley called before Elena left and then they both heard the door shutting. There was an awkward silence before Alaric spoke to his niece.
"What did you find?" He asked her and she looked up at him. She got up from her seat and moved close to photos.
"I found other names. The other sibling. There is Finn." She pointed out the photograph where the Runic name was written. "And there is Kol." She pointed to the other one which Alaric followed with his line of vision. "But there is one more Henrik but as Elena mentioned before that two of the Originals siblings died. One in the Old World and one in the New World. I think Henrik might be the one who died in the New World but I couldn't find their mother. I think I missed something."
"You did a good job, Ashley." Alaric stated proudly and Ashley tried to hide the smile on her face at his words.
"It seemed like werewolves were before vampires. As vampires were created with the Original family turning into one. I still feel like something is missing. Like more history." She then showed him another photograph. "This got me thinking all day. I can't put a finger on it."
"You should rest. I will continued to do the other work." Alaric told Ashley but she shook her head at him.
"No, I'm going to continue this but I think you should call Bonnie to learn more about the whole situation. There might be something in her cookbook." Alaric frowned at her last word in confusion. "Damon told me that a grimoire is basically a witch's cookbook."
"Ashley, about yesterday..." Alaric began to say but Ashley cut him off by raising her left hand.
"I know that it must be hard to you too but you need to give me time to think." Alaric only nodded his head in understatement to her and she sighed in relief.
"You know I'm sorry." He told her and she nodded her head at him.
"I know, Ric. I know." She assured him and Alaric got his phone and moved to call Bonnie. Ashley started to read about the whole mythology thing with werewolves. She heard Alaric's voice but she kept her focus on what she was reading.
"Bonnie is coming here and I asked to bring the necklace." Ashley looked up in confusion at his words. "That symbol reminded me of Elena's necklace." Ashley let out an 'oh' before she went to her research. She and Alaric were working soundlessly until the bell rang. Alaric went to open the door and Ashley closed the laptop after she finished her research.
"I brought you the necklace that wouldn't die." Ashley looked up to see Bonnie with the necklace on her hands. Ashley felt sympathetic towards her as she heard that Jeremy had kissed Anna who was a ghost.
"Hi, Bonnie." Ashley said walking up to Bonnie and Bonnie turned to smile at the girl.
"Hey, Ashley." Bonnie greeted nicely but there was sadness in her voice but Ashley didn't say anything.
"Listen, Jeremy is an idiot. And I know this with certainty, because I was once a Jeremy. Trust me, we learn...eventually..." Alaric trailed off and Ashley hid her smile at Alaric's words. He held up the photo that Ashley showed him last and Bonnie looked at it. "So, me and Ashley have been staring at this image all day, wondering why it looked so familiar." He then held up the necklace that matched the symbol. Ashley gaped in amazement as she looked at the necklace and the photo. "I was right."
"It's the same design." Bonnie pointed out the obvious and Ashley looked at the necklace.
"So, your grandmother said this necklace belonged to the witch that put the hybrid curse on Klaus, right? Well, this symbol is repeated all across the wall. I've been trying to figure out what it meant. And now I know..." Alaric grabbed a post-it and wrote 'witch' on it. He then placed it on the photo and Bonnie looked at Ashley who was looking at the other photos trying to connect the dots.
Ashley was alone in the apartment and it was night right now. Alaric, Bonnie and Elena had gone to the cave but Ashley decided not to go as she was too tired to. She was in the apartment alone scrolling through the channels with a beer on her hand. She was so focused that she didn't notice someone steal the beer from her hands.
"You're underage." She heard Damon's voice making her almost jump off the couch. She caught her breath and looked at the smirking vampire.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" She asked him as she seated herself again on the couch. Damon took a swing of the beer and turned to look at her.
"I enjoy bourbon though but beer is fine too." Damon commented and Ashley was glaring at him without breaking contact.
"You could have gotten a beer for yourself in the fridge." She told him and before she could say anything else, Damon was extending her a beer bottle which was open and full. Ashley took it with a scowl and took a swing.
"We got Mikael." He told her and she almost choked on her drink.
"What? How?" She asked confused as she put the beer down on the table.
"No idea. I guess Katherine came through. Plan's in motion." Damon replied to her and she looked at him with skeptical look.
"Heard that you freed Stefan? Did Elena yell at you?" She asked with a little smirk but Damon looked at her with serious eyes.
"I haven't seen her so she can't do that." Damon pointed out and Ashley let out an 'oh' not knowing what to say to Damon. "The plan with Stefan backfired. He's an even bigger dick than ever...just now, he's a dick that's on our side."
"It happens." She assured with a shrug as she looked at the T.V.
"You know, I think Mikael's weapon is a stake, 'cause he mentioned something about it..." Damon told her and Ashley turned to look at him.
"Well, they must have carved it from the white oak tree before they burned it down." Ashley pointed out and Damon hummed before he spoke to her.
"So I was right. After all that, the wall lead us to Mikael." Damon pointed out and Ashley nodded her head at him.
"After all what I learned today with the whole Original family history, I learned that family is more important than I already thought." Damon turned to look at her as he knew where she was going.
"Well, you should tell that to my brother." Damon pointed out to her and Ashley sighed a little.
"You know what I think. I think that the person who will rescue Stefan isn't Elena, it's you. You're his only family left just like Alaric and my grandparents are what I have left." She pointed out and Damon looked down not wanting to meet her eyes.
"You talked to him more?" He asked and she nodded her head as a reply. She moved to grab her deer and drank it.
"He apologized and I told him that I just need time." She replied and Damon only nodded his head.
"Heard that you did most of the research? Good job, Buffy. Or should I call you nerdy." He told her and Ashley let out a scoff.
"It was to save all of our asses. You should be glad." She told him as she took another swing from her beer.
"I am." He simply told her and Ashley looked at him. He was a good guy deep down his bad boy appearance but she reminded herself that he was Alaric's best friend. And possibly her future close friend. Nothing more. Ashley turned to look at the T.V at a comedy film while Damon's eyes lingered on her face.
He could have gone to talk to Elena but instead he chose to come talk to Ashley. He didn't know why but he enjoyed the company of Ashley. Especially tonight after the fight with Stefan. He looked at her and saw her laugh at something on T.V. She was different in so many ways and he liked that. He turned to look at the T.V but he eyed her more than a couple of times during the night. And so did she with him.
Here is the long waited update and I'm so sorry but I just didn't have the time to do it. Today was my free day so I wrote it as fast as I could. We have many Dashley moments in this chapter and I hope you guys enjoy it. Next chapter, it will be the homecoming dance and Ashley is gonna meet a certain character that I love very much.
Persephone Vulturi Uchiha: First of all, your review isn't showing on the review section which is weird but either way thank you for reviewing and cool name by the way. I'm glad that you like that Ashley is Alaric's family because I tried to do something different. I'm glad that you like Dashley and their ship name. There are many parts in this chapter with the two of them and there will be more in the upcoming chapters. We will have lots of confrontations with Elena and Ashley as the stories progresses. We would see more of Ashley and Alaric. Plus, we will have a lot of flashbacks of her previous life before coming to Mystic Falls. I hope you enjoy the chapter.
galwidanatitud: A lot of secrets that are revealed in this chapter and they will be revealed in the later chapters. Sorry for the cliffhanger and the long wait.
Amy: I'm glad that you loved the chapter. I hope you enjoy this one too and I hope you like the answer.
BrittStar1199: Yeah, it sure is and I hope you'll enjoy it.
NicoleR85: I'm glad taht you liked the chapter. I hope you will like the whole photo explanation.
Guys, I'm thinking to do another story. It might be a another Vampire Dairies one, a Glee one, an One Tree Hill one, another Game of Thrones, PLL, Supernatural etc. You guys decided, I will make a poll tonight.