SHOUT OUTS/ANSWERS
Long Live BRUCAS: Yes, Grams wants to help these vampires. Just these vampires though. Not all. Thank you.
DISCLAIMER
Vampire Diaries belongs to L.J. Smith. The Strikers angle also comes from L.J. Smith. I only own the new plots and twists.
Bonnie tossed and turned, moaning in her sleep. She had been tired after finally finishing her homework, so she had decided to take a nap. Unfortunately, her dreams had soon turned disturbing. Guards marched various people into a tomb. Most-if not all-acted as if they had been drugged. Bonnie let out a small whimper. Emily approached the tomb, clutching her talisman and chanting. Once again, Bonnie turned to the side in her sleep. There was a rumble and the tomb opened. Then the scene shifted. People with monstrous visages lunged at Stefan, Damon, Casey and their friends, pointed pieces of wood in their hands. Within moments, Stefan, Damon, and Casey, along with their friends were lying motionless on the ground, the wood buried in their chest. Suddenly, Emily appeared once more.
"Protect them," she insisted. With a scream, Bonnie awoke, jerking straight up. Hearing the cry, Sheila ran into her granddaughter's room.
"Bonnie, are you all right?" Sheila asked, hurrying over to the girl.
"It-it-it was horrible. This-this tomb opened and all these people came out and they attacked Casey, Stefan, and Damon and stuck these pieces of wood in their chests," Bonnie panted.
"The spell Emily placed on the tomb to keep the creatures in must be weakening," Sheila said.
"I don't understand," Bonnie confessed.
"Emily wrote in her diary that a few weeks after she, Katherine, and the Salvatores left, she returned to Mystic Falls to perform a sealing spell on a tomb that dangerous Supernatural creatures had been placed in which meant that they were locked in the tomb. But if the spell fades and those creatures get out, they may try to take revenge on the Salvatores for working with Katherine to stop them," Sheila explained.
"And she wants me to make sure this doesn't happen?" Bonnie queried.
"That's what it sounds like, Baby," Sheila responded.
"I don't know, Grams. I'm still learning all of this. What if I don't have enough power?" Bonnie protested.
"Don't you worry about that. I'll help you," Sheila promised. "Now then, we have research to do," she declared. Bonnie followed her grandmother into the living where the woman went to the shelf, took down two books and handed one to Bonnie while she began flipping through the pages of the other.
"You think the spell she used is in one of her Grimoires?" Bonnie asked, starting to do the same.
"I'm sure it is," Sheila replied. At the Salvatore Boarding house, Stefan was writing in his diary.
Dear Diary, it's been a few weeks since the Founder's Party and Elena and I have been getting closer. We've had a few dates since then and I've told her a bit about myself: my love for great literature and Grisham, my love for Seinfeld and I Love Lucy…I even cooked for her. I haven't cooked for a girl outside our group for so long…it felt good. She's funny and smart; I'm completely falling for her. But…I'm a vampire. And she doesn't know. I don't know what to do. I could tell her…but what if she's different from Jonathan and Grayson? What if she doesn't understand? What if she thinks…I'm a monster?
Stefan placed his pen down with a sigh as he leaned back in his chair, his eyes clouding. He didn't want Elena to think he was a monster, but how could she not? He drank blood. Granted he didn't take it from a human but used blood bags as well as drinking animal blood, but still, the bloodlust would be all she'd see. Things are going well between us. I don't want to ruin it, he thought to himself, rubbing the side of his neck nervously.
"You okay, Brother?" Stefan turned to see Casey who was dressed in a green and red tie-dyed shirt with a pair of black jeans that had a brown belt, white socks, and black sneakers. Her brown hair was pulled back with a pair of green barrettes and she was wearing gold earrings that were shaped like hearts.
"Still can't get over the change from your last cover," Stefan commented.
"Ugh! I hated being so good! I didn't even have a place go to blow off steam," Casey replied with a roll of her eyes.
"Yeah, that had to suck," Stefan agreed. Because of the fact that he and the others tended to drink animal blood or drink from blood bags, they were prone to get more agitated due to the blood's absence from the vein. To keep from completely losing it, they would once in a while go somewhere they weren't known and go on a feeding frenzy until they were satiated.
"Where's Sam?" Casey rolled her eyes again at the deflection but decided to answer the question.
"He's finishing up his homework. I was done long ago. But we have a date later."
"Keener."
"Deflector."
"Touché." Stefan chuckled, ducking his head the way he always did when he found something extremely funny. "I don't know what to do about Elena. I really like her, but how can I tell her I'm a monster?" he asked.
"I wondered the same thing when I first started getting interested in Sam. I did everything I could to deny it," Casey told him. Stefan fell silent. "But Katherine told me to go for it," she continued.
"But what about me being a vampire? Should I tell her?" Stefan queried.
"If you think you can trust her with our secret," Casey replied. "But Stefano, that's something better asked of Damone," she replied, her voice taking on an Italian accent, something that usually happened when she was having a serious discussion with her brothers.
"What's better asked of me?" Damon asked, coming into the room, Katherine by his side.
"Stefano's thinking of telling Elena about himself and us," Casey replied, still using their old dialect, causing the older boy to turn to his sister. She must feel this is pretty serious, he thought to himself. Yes, she had acquired a fondness for their Italian heritage, listening to the music, even learning the language with him and Stefan and learning to cook just like they had, but usually she would go straight into Italian, not speak it with an accent. She only did that for serious conversations, as weird as it sounded.
"Up to you, Brother. We have seen the two of you together and we know where it's going," Damon answered.
"By the way, where are Lexi, Pearl, and Anna?" Casey asked, switching back to her normal voice.
"They went house hunting," Damon replied.
"Ah," Stefan replied. "And Zach's at the garage," he recalled, mentioning their descendant's work as a mechanic.
"Well, I'm going to go, I've got a date with Sam and he should be done with his homework by now," Casey said and then left the house.
"And speaking of hunting, I'm getting hungry and I don't want blood bags. Let's go see if we can scrounge up a bear," Katherine said.
"Sounds delicious," Damon agreed and then they also left. Stefan let out an unnecessary breath. Okay, this was ridiculous. Everyone was okay with him telling Elena about them. What was he so afraid of? This is crazy. I'm just going to talk to her, he thought. He pulled out his phone and dialed her number. A few minutes later, he got through.
"Elena? It's Stefan. Could we meet? I really need to talk to you. Let's meet outside the Grill," he said. Then, he walked out of the Salvatore Boarding House. Meanwhile, across town, Pearl, Anna, and Lexi were looking at house that was being shown by a realtor named Patricia Saunders.
"Shouldn't Sam be here?" Anna asked as they looked around the establishment.
"He said he had a date with Casey and that whatever we picked out would be okay," Pearl answered.
"Well, it's got a big enough living room," Lexi commented.
"The spacious living room is only one of the house's attributes," Patricia stated. "We also have four bedrooms, and two bathrooms. Plus it's close to Mystic Falls High. Of course, if it's out of your price rang-" Lexi, Pearl, and Anna laughed. If this woman only knew.
"We'll take it," Lexi and Pearl chorused. Before Patricia could ask anything, Pearl handed her a credit card, making sure that they were face-to-face.
"You won't question the amount on the card or raise any other objections," Pearl said, her eyes dilating. Numbly, the realtor repeated what she had said. "You'll let the transaction go through," she continued and again, the words were repeated. When she was satisfied, Pearl handed the card to the woman who dialed a number.
"What about her superiors? I mean, it's an awful lot of money and they'll be suspicious that we can afford it so easily," Lexi asked.
"Katherine already took care of it. She went to the bank when it opened this morning and compelled everyone there to accept the transaction," Pearl assured. Presently, Patricia came back.
"You're all set, Ms. Huang," she reported brightly.
"Great. Thank you very much," Pearl responded. While this was going on, at the Gilbert house, Grayson was holding a square gold ring that had a black rectangle in the middle with some kind of design in his hand. Presently, Jeremy came downstairs.
"What have you got there, Dad?" the boy questioned, coming to stand in front of him.
"Your ancestor Jonathan Gilbert's ring. It's been passed down from father to son for generations," the man answered.
"Wow. That's really cool," Jeremy said.
"My father gave this ring to me when I was about your age and I believe that it's time for you to have it," Grayson continued.
"Really?" Jeremy asked in surprise. Wow. I-I…Wow, he thought to himself. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. His parents had always stressed the importance of the family heirlooms and how he and his sister wouldn't receive certain things unless it was the right time. Grayson handed Jeremy the ring and the boy slipped it onto his third finger. His eyes widened when the colors shone brightly before fading back to its original colors.
"What just happened?" he asked.
"The ring just confirmed to me what I thought: that it's chosen you as its wearer. If it hadn't, it would've shocked you and it won't work for anyone else," Grayson replied.
"What do you mean?" Jeremy questioned.
"This ring protects its wearer from death by anything Supernatural," Grayson answered.
"What?" Jeremy asked with a disbelieving laugh. What was his dad getting at?
"This family has grown up with the knowledge of the Supernatural, but I wanted to keep you out of it if I could. Unfortunately, that's not possible," Grayson told him. "Elena and I were saved by something Supernatural and there are others out there. This is the only way I know of to protect you," he continued.
"Thanks, Dad. This really means a lot to me," Jeremy stated. Then, "I'm gonna go meet Vicki. I'll see you later." Grayson let out a sigh and watched as his son walked out. Well, he doesn't seem to be doing drugs anymore, he thought to himself. And he should know. He had been watching his son for signs ever since he had found out he was doing pot. Meanwhile, Elena had met Stefan outside of the Grill and they had sat at one of the outside tables.
"You said you wanted to talk to me about something?" Elena asked.
"You remember when that man said he knew me from when he was a kid?" Stefan asked.
"Yeah, it was Tiki's grandfather," Elena replied.
"Well…he really did know me when he was a kid," Stefan told her. "I'm a vampire."
"Wait. What?" Elena couldn't believe her ears. A vampire? That was impossible. There was no such thing.
"Damon, Casey, and I-we were turned in 1864 by Katherine."
"The girl I look like. I've seen your brother hanging around her."
"Yes."
"Why do I look like her?" Stefan hesitated. How much should he tell her? Her head was already reeling from the fact that he was a vampire and he didn't want to overwhelm her.
"Katherine has a theory, but we haven't found anything to confirm it," he finally answered. Elena nodded. That made sense…not that any of this made sense. But in a way, she supposed it did.
"So…do you mind if I ask some questions?" Elena asked hesitantly.
"Ask away," Stefan invited.
"Do crosses, holy water, and garlic affect you, because obviously sun's not an issue," Elena said. "And what about mirrors?"
"Crosses are decorative, holy water's drinkable but it's disgusting and my siblings and I love garlic, and mirrors are a total myth," Stefan replied. "As for the sun, certain pieces of jewelry were spelled so that my family could walk around in the day. Most have a flower known as lapis lazuli within them, but there are a few that don't," he continued.
"Wow," Elena breathed. Then, "Have you ever used any of your powers on me?" Stefan shook his head.
"Your necklace is filled with an herb known as Vervain, which protects you from compulsion. It's also dangerous to me in that it weakens me if I touch or ingest it and it could possibly kill me," he told her.
"So, who did this necklace really belong to?" she wondered, touching the necklace and the boy smiled gently.
"My mother. What I told you when I gave it to you was true," he answered. Elena inhaled and exhaled sharply. This was a lot to take in. While all this was going on, Vicki and Jeremy had met up at the cemetery and were talking.
"How come we always end up in the cemetery?" Jeremy wondered out of the blue.
"Because it's quiet?" Vicki supplied.
"Yeah, I suppose. It's just weird coming here and not seeing any of our old friends," Jeremy commented.
"Yeah, I haven't had any drugs for a few weeks," Vicki added.
"Me neither," Jeremy stated.
"Every time I get a craving, I just call Matt or you," Vicki mused.
"And I call Dad, Elena, or Aunt Jenna," Jeremy murmured.
"So weird," Jeremy stated.
"Yeah, but I kind of like it. It feels good," Vicki mused.
"Yeah, it does," Jeremy agreed. She snuggled closer to him and he grinned. Vicki felt good in his arms. Back at the Bennett house, Bonnie was getting bored. There was nothing about the sealing spell in this book! She was about to throw the book down when something caught her eye.
"Grams, I think I found it," she declared.