Chapter 10
"They really look beautiful don't they," Jenna commented looking at Miss Mystic Falls court and they're escorts taking pictures around the float. "Caroline did an amazing job as usual."
"Yeah, she is a task master alright," Ally laughed, unintentionally rubbing her arm as she thought about the events during the float set up.
Jenna caught the movement and asked, "So what happened to your shoulder again? You never told me what happened to it exactly."
Ally's eyes shifted slightly to give Bonnie a weary look. "I, uh… I was helping to lift the truck bed so Matt Donovan could work underneath. Apparently someone thought decided to jump on the top of the bed therefore crushing my poor shoulder."
"And you didn't think to use a jack or something instead of your shoulder to hold the truck up," Jenna inquired, shaking her head at her friend's stupidity.
"Yeah, yeah." Ally waved her friend's comment off. "Matt offered, but I wanted to look busy so I wouldn't feel the wrath of Caroline Forbes. It doesn't matter how much older you are than the girl… she's absolutely terrifying."
"Can't argue with you there," Jenna laughed. "That girl planned her entire surprise sweet sixteen, complete with charts, schedules, and specific gifts people were to bring. You were lucky you weren't here.
"Aunt Jenna," Elena called over to the group. "What do you think?" Elena spun a couple of times for them to get the full experience of the dress and hoop skirt.
"Straight out of 'Gone with the Wind," Jenna replied with a smile. Elena and Bonnie burst out laughing. "What is so funny about that?"
"That was exactly what Caroline was going for," Elena explained, giggling.
"It's her fantasy to be Scarlet," Bonnie added.
"You girls get close, I want to take a picture to commemorate this moment like a good guardian," Jenna said to the two teenage girls. They called over Caroline for the photo op, which the blond quickly accepted, smiling bright.
Ally caught sight of Stefan leaning against the float watching the three friends pose for photos. "Well, don't you look handsome," Ally complemented. "You look oddly comfortable wearing this old timey get up."
Stefan smiled at her comment regarding about his clothing. He decided to test her. "Thank you. I can see you wearing something of this era as well. Perhaps a stunning blue dress and soft curls?"
"Nah. Hoop skirts and corsets not my style. I prefer pants and the ability to breathe," Ally replied, with a laugh. She knew what Stefan was implying. He had been hinting more and more since she tried to convince him continue living.
"Oh, so you know what a corset is like… from experience I assume," Stefan commented.
"It's not very gentlemanly of you to comment on a lady's under garments, Mr. Salvatore." Ally playfully glared. "Haven't you learned any couth during your extensive life?"
"My apologies, Miss Whitworth," Stefan replied with a small smile, momentarily forgetting he was not back in his youth with his best friend.
"Carol Lockwood is telling us to get on the float," Elena said, interrupting Stefan's thoughts and bringing him back to the current century. "Ready?" Elena reached out her hand waiting for Stefan to take, which he took with only as slight hesitation, taking one last glace at Ally.
"Have fun," Ally called out to them. "Remember 'elbow, elbow, wrist, wrist, touch your chest and blow a kiss.'" She reminded them how Caroline taught them how to wave on the float.
Elena turned around giving Ally one of Caroline's famous princess waves.
"That's it! Be the Mystic Falls Princess. You are a Mystic Falls Princess," Ally yelled. Elena turned around, her cheeks slightly pink.
"And I thought biological family was supposed to be the more embarrassing people on the planet," Jenna laughed as she approached her best friend.
"Well, you aren't embarrassing enough to your family," Ally said with a wink while linking arms with Bonnie. "Let's go find Sheila and find a good spot to watch the parade."
Ally, Bonnie, and Jenna searched the festivities for the elder Bennett witch. It was proving to be a somewhat difficult task weaving their way through the crowds of people gathered for the Founder's Day celebration. They finally found Sheila talking to someone but once she saw Bonnie and the others approaching she quickly ended the conversation biding the person a polite goodbye.
"Your friend Caroline cornered found me earlier and told me to pass on a message," Sheila said.
"We just saw Caroline," Bonnie sighed, but not surprised her friend could appear in a million different places at once. When she was in charge of an event she seemed to be everywhere, a trait that often baffled and amazed Bonnie at the same time. "What did she have to say?"
"She said she wants us on either side of the street so we can get the Miss Mystic Falls float from all sides," Sheila relayed the message which caused Bonnie to grumble a bit. She smirked a little knowing the young blonde's bossy nature often irritated her granddaughter.
"I guess we will need to split up," Jenna said.
"We'll be quick of it. The Miss Mystics court is the first float of the parade," Bonnie said. "I'll run over to the other side, take some pictures and cross back over to here."
"I'll go with her," Jenna volunteered. "I think Elena is supposed to be on the other side of the float." She and Bonnie went over to the other side of the street leaving Ally and Sheila.
After a couple of moments, Sheila turned to Ally. "There is something bad about today."
Ally nodded. "I smell a lot of nervous vampire energy."
"I thought so." Sheila looked around trying to spot any strange behaviors of the people surrounding them. No one seemed out of the ordinary as they got in positions to watch the parade. "I feel the disquiet of the spirits. They are trying to warn us of something about to come."
"Keep a vigilant eye then."
Ally and Sheila were no longer able to discuss their unease after Carol Lockwood's voice broke through air. She announced the beginning of the parade cuing the Mystic Falls High School band began to march down the street.
After the band had passed, the Miss Mystic Falls float rolled down the route showing off all it's 'Gone with the Wind' southern beauty. Carol presented the girls as they passed. "And let's give it up for the Miss Mystic Falls court, with our very own Miss Mystic Falls, Caroline Forbes. Aren't they beautiful?"
Ally made sure to take a multitude of pictures as the float slowly drifted by. Caroline saw her in the throngs of people and gave Ally, or Ally's camera, a bright smile and nudged Matt to do the same. Ally took pictures mostly of Caroline with Matt, knowing the vain streak the girl had, but made sure to photographically document ever flower as well.
Immediately after the innocent and pristine Miss Mystic Falls float was the bloody, rustic float recreating the Battle of Willows Creek. Several of the male high school students stood, garbed in blood-spattered uniforms and realistic looking weapons from the 1800s.
Tyler had briefly caught Ally's eye and glared at her. He was still angry about the older woman's ability to control his actions. When Ally saw him glaring, she gave him a small smile and a wave. The young Lockwood immediately turned away, resuming his role as solider.
There was a gap in the parade line allowing Bonnie and Jenna to rush over to the other side in order to rejoin Ally and Sheila. On their way over, a man bumped into Bonnie, barely muttering an insincere apology before walking off.
"Whoa," Bonnie said stumbling slightly. She was close enough now that Ally was able to stabilize her by the elbow.
"What," Ally questioned looking towards the slightly dazed witch. Her eyes watched the man—vampire—that just bumped into her charge.
"I just got a really bad vibe from that guy."
"I know that guy." Jenna explained, giving a disgusted look towards the retreating man. "Honesty, bad news."
Bonnie gave Jenna a startled look. "You've met him before?"
"Yeah, he tried to hit on me when I was drunk once." Jenna shuttered at the memory. "Good thing I had my trusty wing-woman with me otherwise I may have fallen prey to Mr. Creepy's advances." Jenna sent an amused and grateful smile to Ally.
"I recognize him too," Ally confirmed, knowing that the man was one of the vampires from the tomb. "How bad of a vibe did you get?"
"Like lots of people are going to die tonight," Sheila said ominously. "We have to get everyone out of the square before they become part of the slaughter."
"Absolutely not," Ally harshly replied, as she continued to push through the crowd towards the street. This man just proved that the tomb vampires had already infiltrated the sea of people watching the festivities. "There is no 'we.' You and Bonnie are going home where you will be safe."
"We are involved," Sheila stated. "Face it, darling, you need our witchy juju to make sure all these people are safe."
"The judgy witch is right," Damon said coming out from nowhere and lacing his fingers with Ally's before she had a chance to argue. Ally tried to tug her hand away, but Damon held it tight. "I'm pretty sure that guy was in the tomb and the others with him… let's just say, they are still holding a grudge against the founding families."
"How do you know there's going to be an attack," Ally inquired glancing sideways to Bonnie who had predicted death not two minutes ago. "Who would you know to tell you such information?"
Damon smirked. "I have someone on the inside of their little angry bird group."
"Damon, that's not something to joke about. You know how serious this town is about civilian safety. You have to tell the Sheriff and the Mayor; otherwise don't say things like that."
"Fine all joking aside, you need to get out of here and take Bonnie with you. They are going after founding family members and that includes you," Damon explained, still holding Ally's hand not letting her pull away as he looked into her eyes.
"You can't compel me, Damon," Ally glared defiantly at the crystal blue eyes looking at her. "I'm not going anywhere. At least not until I know everyone is safe."
"No, one is safe with the device de-spelled and I won't be the cause of you being in the middle of everything if I can prevent it," Damon pleaded, no longer paying attention to the two witches watching the interaction.
"But she didn't de-spell the device. So you technically have no one that needs your immediate protection."
"I wondered why you gave in so easy." Damon smiled softly. "Regardless, the tomb vamps are out for blood and I don't want you to be one of them… Please, Ally." Damon's plead came out in a whisper as he cupped Ally's cheek with that hand he was not using to hold on to her's.
"Fine," Ally relented. "Come on, Bonnie let's find the others and leave this popsicle stand," Ally addressed Bonnie. However before the two females left, Ally turned back to Damon. "Please find Stefan and Elena… and don't do anything too stupid."
Damon gave a sharp nod. "I'll warn them." He gave Ally's hand one last squeeze before disappearing from sight.
"You told him I didn't deactivate the device? Why would you do that," Bonnie angrily whispered as to not attract any more attention regarding the subject of the supernatural with Jenna so close.
"He's the one that gave it to me in the first place. I felt it was only fair to give him a warning." Ally shrugged not wanting to argue with the young witch any longer. She would allow Bonnie to berate her as long as she liked once they were all safe.
"What was that all about," Jenna asked, a slight irritation to her voice about being kept out of the loop especially when everyone knew what was going on, including Damon, except her.
"Damon is under the impression there are some angry people here tonight," Ally began to explain despite Bonnie's intense glares for her to shut up. She also ignored Sheila's protests and continued, "There is this counsel in town. They were created during the birth of the town to protect normal civilians and it's still active today. Apparently, there were some really dangerous people here at one time and the counsel ended up locking them up for a while. Somehow they escaped and according to Damon, they are out for blood."
"How do you know all this," Jenna asked, a little taken back by all this information but still unsure of its truth.
"The counsel is made up of founding family members and because I am technically a member of a founding family I was invited to be part of this group," Ally replied as they continued to push their way through the crowd in search for Elena and Stefan.
"Ally, you really should be talking about this to non-counsel members," Sheila said harshly.
"No, Jenna deserves to know this." Ally suddenly stopped, pulled out her phone and instructed Bonnie to call Elena. Then she ushered the group into a more secluded area and dropped her voice before addressing the red head directly. "Jenna, you should be aware of this because Elena, being part of a founding family, is in danger tonight. We have to find her and Jeremy and get them out of here."
Jenna suddenly looked terrified. She knew Ally was telling the truth because she hardly ever was serious about something and the tone of her friend's voice made it obvious this was a matter that held no room for joking. "Okay, I'll find Jeremy and you guys find Elena. I'm not a founding family member so I should be safe. Meet you at my house."
Ally nodded and watched Jenna quickly pull out her own phone and hurry in the opposite direction.
"You really should not have told her anything," Sheila reprimanded. "She is an innocent party and does not need to be pulled into these supernatural dealings."
"But her family is in the thick of it," Ally argued as they went back to their search. "I know you don't approve of involving Jenna, but I don't think hiding everything from her is a good idea. I know her. She would have resented us for it later if we didn't tell her. Jenna can be trusted."
"It's not important right now," Bonnie stepped between the two of them. "Elena isn't picking up her phone and neither is Stefan. So we have to find them before the vampires start killing people, but we can't do that if you both continue arguing."
"You're right," Ally conceded as she continued to scan the crowd for the familiar teenage face they were looking for, but her eyes caught another group of faces. "Bonnie, keep trying Elena. I see Caroline. I'll warn her."
"I will come with you," Sheila vowed looking at Ally. "You are a founding family member as well and you need some kind of protection."
Ally rolled her eyes muttering something about being the one to protect the Bennett's.
"Here, take your phone back. I will try Elena on mine and then call you if I find her," Bonnie said, giving the cell phone back to its owner. "Please make sure Caroline gets as far away from here as possible. I don't want to lose any friends tonight."
"You got it. Come on, Sheila." Bonnie separated from her Grams and Ally as the latter two hurried over to the bubbly blonde and the two high school jocks.
"Ally," Caroline exclaimed happily when she caught sight of the brunette woman approaching her. "I hope you took a bunch of good pictures. I mean, I saw you with your camera but who knows if you actually took any good ones. For all I know there might be a huge smudge of your finger on all of them."
"I assure you, there are plenty up to your standards," Ally quickly replied. "Listen, I need the three of you to get out of here. Now."
"But we'll miss the fireworks," Caroline pouted.
"There is something really bad that is going to happen when the fireworks start and the targets are the founding family members." Ally was getting frustrated that none of the three teenagers looked willing to leave. Caroline was pouting, Matt had a confused look on his face, and Tyler was glaring at the brunette.
"I'm sure we will be fine," Matt tried to reason. "We'll stick to being only in the crowd and if we see anything happening we will get out right away."
"Yeah, it's not like we are going to listen to you anyway," Tyler spat. "It's not like you are our mother."
Sheila put her hand on Ally's shoulder after seeing a dangerous flash behind the woman's eyes. "Don't do anything you will regret, darling."
"It's fine," Ally gritted her teeth. She then turned to Tyler, looking him straight in the eyes. When he tried to look away she grabbed his chin on either side and forced him to look at her. "You will get out of here and go home. You will take Caroline and Matt with you and you will not come back to the square tonight under any circumstances. Now go."
"Come on you guys," Tyler growled, having given in to allowing Ally making him do something once again.
"But the fire—" Caroline tried to argue, but Matt cut her off knowing not to piss Tyler off any further.
"Let's just go, Care." The three of them reluctantly walked towards the parking lot, away from the festivities.
Ally's phone rang just as she saw Tyler and the other's get into his car.
"I got a hold of Elena," Bonnie explained through the phone. "She and Stefan are a couple of buildings down from the old Apothecary."
"We'll be right there," Ally said hanging up. "Bonnie found Elena. They are on the opposite side of the square."
Sheila nodded and the two women hurried back through the crowd earning a few mumbled comments from disgruntled people as they pushed passed.
"Sheila you get Bonnie and both of you leave." She knew the witch as going to argue. "Please, Sheila. I can't protect all of you at once. Give me the peace of mind knowing you are away from the danger."
"Then take care, child," Sheila said, knowing it was a losing battle bickering with Ally.
They quickly found Bonnie standing with Elena and Stefan.
"Bon, you are leaving with your Grams. Elena you are leaving with me," Ally stated walking up to Elena and putting an arm around the younger girl's shoulders.
Bonnie reluctantly left with her Grams. She too knew when to fight with Ally and this was one situation she knew staying would make it harder.
"Bonnie just told us there's going to be an attack. I'm not leaving. We need to keep a close eye on thing and make sure no one gets hurt," Elena explained watching her friend leave.
"Well, Damon said his informant told him the attackers want to make a statement and what better way than to kill as many founding family members than during a town function."
"We have to find Jeremy first. Jenna would never forgive me if something happened. We can't lose him too," Elena argued.
"Jenna is on her way to find him and take him home. We need to get you to safety."
"But I am safe with Stefan, Ally."
"She right, I can protect her," Stefan agreed.
Ally rolled her eyes at the sheer stubbornness of the teens. "I have no doubt about that. But one false move and you could be hurt. I couldn't live with that. Jenna couldn't live with that. I have lived long enough to witness things a person should never see and I do not want that to….AHHHH!"
"Ally! What's wrong? What's going on?" Elena dropped to Ally's side trying to get her to stand. Then she noticed that Stefan had also fallen to the ground and was clutching his head.
"Oh my god, my head feels like it's splitting. What the hell is happening," Ally cried, clutching her head between her hands as if that stance would alleviate some of the pain.
Elena was pushed aside by two sheriff deputies. One of the deputies bent down and stuck Ally with a syringe.
"It's alright, miss. We'll take it from here," the other deputy said to Elena as he helped his partner subdue Ally.
" .Stefan," Ally whimpered through the pain slicing through her head as she was being lifted off the ground by a pair of police officers.
Elena was torn. She wanted to help Ally, but she could see another pair of officers approaching Stefan not too far from where she was standing. She didn't know why Ally fell to the ground, but she had a sinking feeling as to why. However, she didn't have much time to dwell on the reasons.
"Elena. GO!" Ally screamed through the pain before her head dropped as she was being carried off.
Elena turned to Stefan trying to block him from view of the officers just as Alaric joined her.
"I'll take it from here, guys. There's another one over there," Alaric addressed the officers, pointing into the crowd where another person just dropped to the ground clutching his head. As the cops ran off, Alaric turned to the couple before him, "Elena, what's wrong with Ally? Why are they taking her?"
"I don't know. She all of a sudden just dropped complaining of a splitting pain. It looks like Stefan's the same."
"They're collecting the vampires. Anyone who falls to the ground is getting a shot of vervain. I don't understand why it is affecting Ally though."
"Wait you said they are collecting vampires. Does that mean that the device was never deactivated," Elena questioned as she helped her teacher drag Stefan off into a secluded stairwell.
"It's the only thing that makes sense. But Ally, I don't understand. She isn't a vampire."
"Ric, they're going to kill them," Elena suddenly realized. "Because Ally dropped, they're going to kill her too. We have to go get her."
"No, Elena. It's too dangerous," Alaric said pulling the girl back by the arm. "We can't be seen as sympathizing with them otherwise we are as good as dead too."
"Ric, I refuse to believe that Ally is a vampire. They can't kill her. I can't have anyone else I care about die," Elena struggled against Alaric's grip.
A/N: This is the last chapter you are able to vote for who you think Ally should end up with! Even if you have already voted, vote one more time by merely dropping a name in a review! The winner will be revealed in the next chapter.
Thanks for reading and reviewing!
Always,
orangezauber