A/N: I'm on a roll today! I managed to update both Tough Love: The Return and now Meant to Be! Gah! I'm so happy!
Anyway, I wanted to thank all of you for your LOVELY reviews on the last chapter! So thank you to: SomebodyWhoCares, abby102030405060708090 (thank God for copy and paste with all of those numbers ;D), Tvdlover87654, RockaRosalie, Ktclaire99 and last but not least, xXbriannaXx, who I'll be adressing specially in the Authors note after the chapter! ;)
So, I hope you'll enjoy the chapter! Please review and also a huge thank you to those who put this story and me on alert/favorite! I love you all!
Please, enjoy!
I felt a pain in my chest.
"Did you hear that?" I recognized the voice; Stefan."I think she moved," he continued and I could feel someone gazing on me. It had been such a strange dream...stranger, than most of my dreams. Bonnie had been possessed by that Emily ghost that had been haunting her for so long and then blew up the crystal that Damon- who was apparently a vampire- had been trying to get his hands on for so long...
Why was my head hurting so much?
I slowly began to open my eyes, but the light quickly got me to close them again.
"Is she waking up?" I heard Damon ask.
"Maybe," Stefan replied. "You should leave, you'll just make things worse," he continued. I heard a snort from Damon and once again, tried to open my eyes. This time, I was prepared for the light and for a moment of two, I just stared up at the ceiling. I didn't know where I was and when I looked around, I couldn't see Damon or Stefan anywhere. I grunted as I tried sitting up slowly. My legs were tangled in a blanket and I was apparently laying on a couch. I rubbed my temples, trying to remember how I got here in the first place.
"Look who's finally awake," I heard a smug voice say from the doorway. I turned around but quickly turned away, seeing Damon standing there...shirtless.
"What happened?" I managed to rasp out. I cleared my throat and looked around again, avoiding the place where Damon was standing as much as I could. "Where am-" I stopped abruptly, realizing where I was. I was in the Boarding house. Why was I...? "God! I remember," I exclaimed, pushing away the blanket quickly and standing up. The dizziness took over and I stumbled, putting a hand to my forehead, just as Damon suddenly appeared in front of me. I let out a small shrieking sound, shocked by his speed and sudden closeness.
He looked at me amused. "Are you scared of me?" he asked and I stared at him for a while. He repeated the question.
"I don't know," I told him honestly. "Should I be?"
"I'm a vampire," he said simply. "You tell me." I continued to stare.
"You're a vampire..." I trailed off, realizing how silly I sounded. How was it possible for him to be a vampire? How was it possible for Bonnie to be a witch? How was it possible...for me to dream and to get hurt in real life? The questions kept spinning through my head. Stefan entering the room was what pulled me back to reality.
"Stephanie," he said, "how are you feeling?" His face was covered in concern as he watched me and Damon, who still hadn't stepped away from me.
"I'm fine, I think." The response had been so weak that both of them raised an eyebrow at me. "How can this be happening? How can you two be...vampires," I whispered the last word. Stefan stepped forward and Damon took a step back from me.
"I'll tell you," Stefan began, "but after school. Are you coming with me? I can drive you to your house first-"
"My aunt!" I exclaimed suddenly. "If I stayed the night here, she'll be wondering where I was! What am I supposed to tell her-"
"Elena covered for you," Damon interrupted. I looked at him. "She spent the night at Bonnie's explaining what had happened and she called to tell your aunt that you would stay there as well since you had already fallen asleep."
"Oh," I said and Damon smirked at me.
"And besides," Damon continued, "you are not going to school today. You're staying here with me, until the vervain passes through your system and I'm able to compel you to forget everything." He looked at Stefan, grinned and then looked back at me. Compel me? What did that even mean?
I narrowed my eyes at him. "So you're telling me you're going to keep me here against my own will?" He shrugged at me.
"Well, I can't exactly have you running around screaming 'vampire' in town now, can I?"
"Who would even believe me?" I asked, crossing my arms and tapping my foot on the floor.
"You'd be surprised," he said, walking over to a table and filling a glass with bourbon. I looked at him for a while longer and then turned to Stefan.
"So what you two are telling me, is that I have to stay here the entire day until some vervain-thing disappears from my body, in order for you to make me forget everything that happened last night?" Stefan looked quite ashamed when I put it that way. "Does Elena know? Of what you two are, I mean," I asked and Stefan nodded. "Then why can't I? Don't you two trust me?" Stefan stepped forward.
"We do trust you, at least I do," he said, looking at Damon, who scoffed.
"Yeah, that's why you were yelling yesterday, telling me how we needed to make her forget," he said. At his words I turned to glare at Stefan, who looked even more ashamed of himself.
"That was before you woke up and took it all so well," he defended, but I still felt slightly hurt by what Damon had just told me.
"Well then," I began, "since you don't need to make me forget anymore- and I still don't understand how you can do that- I'll be going to school today," I finished and began walking towards the door, but suddenly, Damon was in front of me.
"No, you're not," he said. "You're spending the day here, until I can figure out what to do with you. I don't trust you like Stefan does and since your aunt is the Sheriff, I'll have to be extra careful with you."
"You can't keep me here all day!" I protested and he chuckled.
"Sure I can." I huffed at him and crossed my arms over my chest again.
"Fine," I finally said after a moment of contemplating. "I'll stay here and you can answer all of my questions about what happened last night." He nodded at me.
"Sounds fair. You ask whatever you want and I'll try my best to answer your questions, my lovely Stephanie," he said. I ignored the last thing he said and nodded.
"But I want honest answers if I'm going to stay here," I told him. "If I notice that you're lying to me, I'll walk out that door and never speak to any of you again." Once again he nodded. I looked at Stefan, who still looked hesitant of letting me stay there alone with Damon. "I need answers," I told him and he nodded.
"If anything happens, call me, Steffy," he told me. "I understand that you're confused and afraid, Elena was too when she first found out, but you need to know that you can trust me. I'm your friend," Stefan told me and I nodded curtly.
"I know." The situation was still awkward, but finally, Stefan left, sending Damon one last warning look. I turned to look at Damon, who was still shirtless. I covered my eyes. "Will you please put a shirt on before I decide to poke my eyes out?" Suddenly, I was pressed against his chest. I gasped, feeling my back hit the couch as he laid down on top of me, holding my wrists in a firm grip over my head. "What the hell, Damon?" I managed to say while struggling against him. He peered down at me curiously.
"You're still weak from last night," he said, watching me intently with his blue eyes. "I suggest you stay on the couch while I get dressed. You shouldn't try to run, since I'll catch you before you even get to the door. Stay. Put," he whispered and suddenly he was gone, finally letting me breathe. I sat up, feeling strange again. I still couldn't believe what was happening. A hundred questions were running through my head, as I waited for Damon to get back downstairs. A few moments later, he walked into the room, his usual black t-shirt on accompanied with his signature smirk. He sat down on the couch next to me, putting his feet up on the table. I scooted away from him slightly, still not sure how to act around him anymore. If he noticed, he didn't say anything about it. Instead, he put an arm around my shoulder.
"So, tell me, Steph" he said, "what do you want to know?" I simply looked at him for a while...
"How can you be a vampire?" I blurted out and he looked at me amused. "I mean, does that mean that you're technically dead?" His grin grew even wider.
"Yes," he answered simply.
"How?" I asked. "How do you become a vampire?" Why were my questions so amusing? He let out a small laugh.
"Well," he began, "first you need to drink another vampire's blood, then you need to die with said vampire's blood in your system and then you need to drink human blood to finish the transition." Once again, all I could do was stare.
"So, who turned you and Stefan then?" His eyes narrowed slightly.
"Why do you ask?"
"You promised you would answer everything, Damon," I told him and he nodded.
"We were turned by a woman named Katherine Pierce," he told me and I frowned.
"Wait a minute, I think I have heard someone mention that name before..." I thought about it for a while, but couldn't remember where I had heard it. "But why did she turn you?"
"We loved her," Damon answered simply, looking at his fingernails as if the conversation didn't bother him a bit.
"Both of you?" He nodded. "Who loved her first? No wait, I don't even want to know," I said, thinking it was better that I didn't know. That was between Damon and Stefan and it didn't matter since this Katherine girl was obviously out of the picture...or was she... "The necklace! It belonged to Katherine!" I suddenly exclaimed, realizing that Katherine must have been the girl that Damon loved that died. "That's why you wanted her crystal; because of her! She's your ex-girlfriend who died," I said and Damon grinned slightly.
"You're quite good at guessing the truth, my dear Stephanie," he said, playing with a strand of my hair with his fingers. I smacked his hand away and he shot me a glare. "However, Katherine isn't dead. She's locked inside a tomb under the old church." Memories from the night before came back to me.
"So why did you need that crystal?" I asked and he grinned at me again.
"To open up the tomb and free Katherine," he replied. "Your witchy little friend, however, decided to ruin my 'diabolical plan' by destroying the crystal," he said, a angry look crossing his face. "So now I'm going to need to find another way to open it up."
"I remember Stefan saying something about 27 vampires... What was that about?" The questions were running out of my mouth before I even had time to process what I was saying.
"Well, Emily, Bonnie's ancestor, who saved Katherine from burning inside the church in 1864, also had to save the other vampires. If I open the tomb, they will also probably be released." As he spoke sounded so incredibly unfazed by what he said. Almost as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
"1864?" I managed to say through shock. Was he that old?
"Yes, that was the year my brother and I were turned," he replied coolly. I needed time to process all the new information, so for a while, I didn't speak.
Minutes passed and finally Damon spoke again. "Is there anything else you'd like to know? I'm not usually one for explaining these things." I looked at him again.
"What happened to me last night?" I finally asked.
"What do you mean?" he asked, trying to sound confused but something in his voice told me he knew exactly what I was talking about.
"When I saw you biting into Bonnie's neck, I remember that I yelled at you to stop and-" I stopped speaking.
"And...?" Damon pressed.
"And you flew back!" I finished. "Did I do that Damon?" He shrugged.
"I don't know. I think you did, but I'm not sure how," he replied and I could hear in his voice that he was being honest. "Though, I may know someone who might know, but I'll just have to drive you there and leave because the person isn't very fond of me," he told me and I nodded. If there was anyone that could help me understand what was going on with me, I would be glad to meet him or her.
"Any other questions?" Damon asked and I nodded.
"Going back to the original topic of vampires: what is that vervain-thing that you and Stefan were talking about earlier?" I asked him.
"It's a herb that is like poison to us. It makes us weak and burns our skin, which is why we don't put it in our tea and lotion," he joked and for some reason, I couldn't help but crack a smile.
"So it can be used as protection from you?"
"Yes, indeed. It keeps us out of your minds, so that we can't compel you or play around with your dreams," he told me and I frowned.
"So you mean you can make us humans do whatever you want us to do?" He nodded as a response and I could feel myself frown even deeper. "Did you ever do that to me? Control me? Make me do whatever you wanted me to do and then make me forget about it?" He trailed his fingers across my collarbone, smirking slightly as he moved closer.
"What exactly are you suggesting Stephanie?" he asked in a seductive way. "That I had my wicked way with you and made you forget? I assure you, I would never be so cruel to make you forget the best night of your life," he purred and I pushed him away.
"Eww," I told him sternly. "Have you ever compelled me?" I asked again and he was still smirking, but this time replied seriously.
"No." I was slightly taken aback by his answer. Damon seems like the kind of person who would enjoy making people do whatever he wanted them to do.
"Why?" I asked and he shrugged.
"Oh, I tried once, but for some reason I couldn't. I figured your aunt might have put vervain in your tea or something," he said.
"My aunt? What does Liz have to do with any of this?" I asked.
"Well, she is a part of the founder's council, the secret council of vampire hunting founder's," he clarified.
"I don't drink tea," I told him. "I just lately began drinking coffee but that was just because of my lack of sleep. I don't think she's managed to slip me some vervain that way," I said and he seemed to think about it for a while.
"Unless she's been injecting vervain in you with shots, she might have put it in a piece of jewelry. That's what Stefan did, to protect Elena," he said, speculating. I told him that my aunt hadn't given me anything like that and he shot me a look. "Those are the only ways Steph," he told me. "Either that, or you simply can't be compelled. My bet is on the latter." I stood up and he stood up too, watching me warily as if I was going to fall over at any moment. I didn't, however, because for some reason it felt like a new power was surging through me.
"Why wouldn't you be able to compel me Damon?" I asked, pacing around in front of him. "I mean, is there something wrong with me? What if I'm sick or something?" He stopped me, grabbing my shoulders and shaking me slightly.
"You are not sick Steffy," he told me. "If you were, I would still be able to compel you. I think you should visit that person I was talking about earlier and ask her all your questions. She might be able to explain it because for once, I am clueless." I snorted at him.
"You're always clueless Damon," I said and he grinned at me.
"There, the old Stephanie is back," he said. "Now, let's go. I'll drive you and then I have some of my own business to take care of." I nodded and began walking towards the door. I felt him slip his arm around my waist, almost protectively, but I figured I was imagining things. He was obviously still hung up on that Katherine girl...
Damon pulled up by a small house and stopped the car, turning to look at me.
"This is the house," he told me and I nodded.
"Aren't you coming with me?" I asked and he shook his head.
"I told you that the person isn't very fond of me, or my type for that matter," he said and I frowned.
"I really don't understand you at all Damon," I told him honestly and he gave me a look. "I mean, since you almost killed Bonnie, I figured you would be the 'bad guy', but you've been really...welcoming, I guess," I said and he grinned at me, putting a hand on my thigh.
"I can show you how bad I can be Stephanie," he told me and I smacked his hand away.
"Stop with the innuendos Damon," I said sternly. "I'm taking everything back. You're still an ass." I took off my seat belt but he stopped me from stepping outside when he grabbed my hand.
"Just relax Steph," he said, offering me a small grin. "Relax," he repeated and pulled my hand to his lips, kissing it softly, all while looking me in the eyes. For a while we just stared at each other. He was an enigma to me... I finally gathered the strength to pull my hand from his grasp and stepped out of the car.
"I'll call you later," I said, shutting the door, not daring to look into his eyes any more. For some reason, when he kissed my hand, I felt as if I couldn't breathe.
I walked up to the door, inspecting the house carefully. I could feel a wave of something run through me, although I didn't recognize the feeling. As soon as I reached the door, I rang the door bell and knocked twice. Soon enough, the door opened, to reveal an older woman with curly, light brown hair and almond brown eyes. She looked at me curiously and frowned upon my outfit. I was still wearing what I had worn yesterday and my clothes were both dirty and torn. I put my hand out for her to shake.
"Hi, I'm Steffy," I began, watching as she slowly reached forward to take my hand. Her eyes snapped open as she took my hand in hers, shaking it firmly. "You must be Bonnie's grandmother. I'm a friend of hers," I said and the older woman looked at me strangely.
"Stephanie? Stephanie Blake?" she asked and I was slightly taken aback by the fact that she knew my name.
"Yes," I said and she smiled slightly.
"I thought you might come to see me sooner or later," she said. "I'm Sheila Bennett, and you can just call me Sheila. Why don't you come in and I'll brew us some tea?" she offered and stepped to the side to let me in. I nodded, even though I was still confused on why she would be expecting me.
She showed me the way to her living room, and pretty soon, we were sitting on the couch, both of us with a cup of mint tea in our hands. I took a sip from it and almost made a face. I never had been one for tea.
"So," Sheila said, putting her cup on the table, "what brings you to my home, dear?" I bit my lip before answering.
"I know," I said and she raised an eyebrow at me.
"You know what exactly?" she asked and I could feel myself blush.
"That you're a witch," I replied. "And I know that Bonnie is one too." Sheila simply nodded at me.
"I figured as much," she said. "However, I'm guessing that you coming here has nothing to do with Bonnie or me. Something has been happening to you, hasn't it?" I nodded and she gestured for me to explain while she took a sip from her teacup.
"I've been having nightmares ever since I moved to Mystic Falls," I told her.
"Do you want me to do a spell so that you don't get nightmares? I assure you that witchcraft is not to play with, especially not for things like that," she said and I looked at her.
"No, I don't want you to do a spell. I just wanted to see if you knew why these strange things are happening to me," I told her quickly, worried that I might have offended her.
"What strange thing?" she asked, but for some reason she didn't sound very surprised. I put the teacup down on the table and pulled up my sleeves, revealing a bandage just above my elbow. I removed it and revealed three scars, that looked almost like claw marks. She put her cup down and moved closer to inspect the wound.
"Whenever I have a nightmare, there is this dark creature haunting me," I told her. "It's killing everyone I love before setting after me. When it catches me, it hurts me and when I wake up, the marks appear in real life." While I spoke, Sheila inspected the wound. She mumbled a could of words as she closed her eyes and I gasped, when the claw marks slowly faded away. "Thank you," I whispered, when she finally let go of my arm and looked at me again.
"You want to know what has been happening to you?" she asked and I nodded. "Well, it's normal for someone like you to experience these things. You're especially affected by your feelings and sometimes you might get blocked, which is the reason for your nightmares." I watched her strangely as she continued. "Your grandmother, Lily Blake, was a dear friend of mine before she moved away. It was nice having someone like me around, but when she left, I was the only one around for a while until Bonnie's powers came through. Then it was just Bonnie and me for a while," she said thoughtfully, looking into my eyes. "That is, until you moved here." I stared at her again.
"What exactly are you telling me?" I asked her and she smiled at me.
"You're one of us, Stephanie," she told me.
"One of you?"
"Yes," she answered.
"You mean..." Thoughts were running around in my head. Was Sheila telling me what I thought she was telling me?
"Yes, Stephanie," she said. "You are a witch." It took a moment for me to react. I stood up abruptly and stared at her.
"What? I am not a witch. You've got it wrong," I stuttered.
"But you are, and I have proof," Sheila said, standing up to take my hands in hers. Once again, a warm feeling surged through my fingertips. "Your grandmother, Lily, and all her children were witches, and very powerful ones at that. It would be strange if you didn't get the gene," she said smiling at me. "Listen to me, you can tell if I'm lying. It's a special trait of you Blake witches," she said and I listened to her as she repeated that I was a witch. It felt strange. The way my heart just pounded in my chest and began calming down as I listened to her as she told me the truth. I closed my eyes for a minute, the coldness around me fading as the warmth from my fingertips spread through my body. I opened my eyes and looked at her again, seeing her in another light as she smiled at me. Soon, I found myself smiling back.
"I believe you," I finally said. "But I can't accept it until you tell me more." Sheila nodded at me and we sat down again. I told her about the woman I had seen in the bathroom and asked if I was being haunted the way Bonnie had been haunted by Emily. Sheila asked for a description of the woman and I gave her one, with as much detail as possible.
"I know who you're speaking of," she told me, standing up and walking away for a minute. When she returned, she had a picture with her. She held it out for me and I took it from her. There were three persons in the picture: and older woman, maybe in her forties and a younger man and woman, both in either their late teen years or early twenties. The young woman had waist long, black hair and pale skin. Her blue eyes seemed to glisten in the picture and her smile was slightly infectious.
"That's her!" I said. "Who is she?"
Sheila pointed at the the persons. "That's your grandmother, your father, almost a year before he married your mother and that is his sister, Demetria."
"Demetria," I whispered, looking at the young girl who couldn't have been older than I was now when the picture was taken. "She's my aunt?"
"Yes, she was your aunt," Sheila nodded. "She died in the same car crash as your father, just a few months after you were born. Your grandmother couldn't deal with the loss of her children, so she left and your mother moved to Los Angeles because she couldn't stay here anymore."
"Why couldn't she stay?" I asked. "Did it have something to do with the council?" I was almost taken aback by my own question. It was as if my mouth had spoken by itself.
"How do you know about the council?" she asked suspiciously.
"My aunt Liz is the Sheriff," She looked at me sceptically. "and I may have found out that vampires exist," I admitted. She sighed deeply.
"Typical Blake witches," she muttered. "Always putting their nose where it doesn't belong." I looked at her slightly offended.
"It was by accident!" I defended. "It's not as if I wanted all of these strange things to start happening to me. Besides, I still don't understand why they didn't happen while I lived in California."
"It has to do with your family," Sheila explained. "You Blake witches are special in a way."
"Great," I muttered. "So I'm strange amongst the strangest." Sheila laughed at my comment.
"No, my dear, you are special," she corrected me.
"Well special today equals strange."
"Are you going to let me explain or not?" Sheila asked.
"Carry on," I told her and she nodded before speaking.
"Your family lineage goes back to a time before vampires even existed. You belong to a very old house of witches, some of the first ones I believe," Sheila said. "I don't know much of your ancestors history since most of it has been kept secret for a long, long time. It's a secret that only Blake's have the right to know about." She stood up again, telling me that she would be back in a moment. After a while she returned, this time, with an old looking book and a small, black pouch. She sat down and handed me the book, which was bigger than it looked from a distance. The cover was brown, torn and as I noticed earlier, very old.
"This is your family's grimoarie," Sheila told me.
"Grimoarie?" I asked.
"Spell book," she clarified. "Your grandmother left it for me to keep safe until you came looking for the truth. She also left me this," she said, holding up the velvet pouch. She took my hand and pulled out a necklace. The pedant was round, ancient and almost coin looking. It was made out of, what looked like silver, but I couldn't quite be sure about it. In the back of it, the last name Blake had been carved in and the front was covered by a white tree.
"What is this?" I asked Sheila and she looked at it.
"It's your family's crest. A white tree has always been the symbol of the Blake witches," she told me. "It is also the key to opening up the grimoarie, which was spelled by some of the earliest witches."
"Spelled how?" I asked. "It won't give me an electric shock or something when I open it?"
Sheila laughed at this. "No, my dear, it won't shock you," she told me. "It was spelled so that only a true Blake witch can open it with the key." I looked at her sceptically. All of this was just too much to grasp.
"So you haven't opened it? Since my grandmother left?"
Sheila shook her head. "Your grandmother trusted me to keep it safe until you arrived. We witches are special when it comes to trust," she explained. "Try to open it, will you? I have to admit that I am curious to know what is inside it." I picked up the necklace and inspected the book closely. I noticed that the latch was carved just like the symbol on the necklace. Slowly, I put the pedant against it and pressed.
Nothing.
I pressed again, but nothing happened. I looked up at Sheila. "Maybe you're wrong," I told her. "Maybe I'm not one of those Blake witches," I stated. "There are lots of people with that last name."
"Yes, but not many of them are related to witches. You are and there is proof, as I've already told you," Sheila answered. I looked at her again and then down at the grimoarie. Could it really be true? Could I really be a witch?
As those thoughts ran through my mind, a warm feeling flooded through my fingers again. I inspected the necklace and the pedant again before pressing it against the latch one last time. This time, the latch opened, and I looked up at Sheila, who was smiling brightly at me.
"You can never doubt, Stephanie," she told me. "If you doubt yourself, you will never be able to learn how to handle the magic inside of you and when you aren't in control, something else entirely takes over." I nodded, accepting the lesson she was teaching me, before opening the book. I looked through it quickly and frowned.
"It's empty," I stated. The old pages were completely blank. I held up the book for Sheila to see.
"Do you always start reading a book in the middle Stephanie?" she asked, a smile still upon her lips as she watched me amused. "Start from the beginning." I sighed deeply before opening up the first page.
"Well that one is blank too," I stated, getting frustrated again. I stared intently at the page, waiting for something to appear...which it suddenly did. A couple of words appeared in a foreign, Latin-looking language. "I can't read this," I told Sheila, holding up the book again. "What does it say?"
Sheila looked at the words. "They are changing; look at them!" I flipped the book around and indeed, the letters had switched places and were now forming words in perfect English.
"'Ask the correct questions'?" I read out loud. "What is that supposed to mean? Is this like in that Harry Potter book with the diary?" Sheila glared at me for my sarcasm.
"No, it is not like that," she told me sternly and I suddenly got the feeling that I should apologize. Sheila looked down at the grimoarie again. "This grimoarie is special and unlike any other grimoarie. Of course, every witch has it's own unique one, but like I told you, this was spelled to protect some of magic's darkest and deepest secrets," she explained. "I suggest you do as the book asks you. Ask a question and see what happens."
I raised my eyebrows slightly. "Something tells me that you already know what will happen," I told her, but once again, she simply replied with one of her mystical smiles. "Fine," I finally huffed. I stared at the book. "Will you please show my my family tree, from my grandmother Lily, down to me?" I asked out loud, feeling stupid all over again. I flipped through a couple of pages, but they were still blank. "See, nothing is working-"
"Look!" Sheila exclaimed, pointing at the book again. I looked down and saw ink spreading across the pages. Lily Blake, Demetria, Adeline and James Blake. The names were connected through different lines. I saw my mothers name, and my grandfathers too. In the end, my name was beautifully written, in calligraphy.
"Adeline? Who is she?" I asked Sheila.
"She was your aunt," Sheila said. "She left along with your grandmother but since your grandmothers death, no one has seen her or heard from her." I traced over the name with my finger.
"So she might be alive?" I asked, my voice cracking slightly.
"She might be," Sheila said. "If you ever find her, she might be able to help you learn more about your magic. I'll help you as much as I can with the normal things, but when it comes to your special abilities, I might not be of much use," she told me.
"Special abilities?" I repeated and Sheila nodded.
"Have you ever read anyone's mind?" she asked me and I thought back to school, when I heard Elena talk even though her lips hadn't moved.
"Maybe, I don't know," I answered.
"Your grandmother told me that you can 'turn it off', if it bothers you," she said.
"How?" I asked quickly. If there was a way for me to keep the thoughts of others outside of my head, it would be great, especially during history.
"By not listening," Sheila replied, as-a-matter-of-factly.
"Is it really that easy?" I asked and she nodded.
"You're curious, which is normal. You're probably not even aware that you sometimes wish you could know what someone is thinking and that way, by wishing it, you open the door to mind reading," she explained. "I can't really explain it any better, since I'm only repeating what your grandmother told me years ago," she added upon seeing my confused face.
"So all I have to do is stop wanting to know what people think and then it will go away?" I asked and she nodded again. "What about the nightmares? And Demetria's ghost haunting me?"
Sheila pointed at the grimoarie. "Why don't you just ask? I'm sure it'll answer some of your questions," she said thoughtfully. I nodded and looked at the book. Did I have to ask the questions out loud all the time? It would be much easier it I could just-
As if it had heard me, the book started spewing out words one the pages. I looked at the words, which were written in English this time. Apparently, the grimoarie could translate too. This would be great for my French lessons. I looked at one extract and read it out loud:
"'We are all connected through our lineage. When one of us is unveiling her heritage, another one from the past shall come to help,'" I read, looking up at Sheila. "Does that mean that I saw Demetria only because I've just begun discovering my powers?" I asked and she nodded.
"I suppose it does. What does the grimoarie say about the nightmares?" she asked and I looked down again.
"There all look like old journal entries. Listen to this: 'The nightmares have come back. I have not seen the darkness inside of me since I was a young maiden. I am no longer afraid, for I know that whatever the demon does to harm me, I can heal myself with my mind as long as I know it has no power. I am a Blake and I am strong,'" I read. "It says that Augustina Blake wrote this in 1507," I added. "Have a look yourself," I said, handing the grimoarie over to Sheila.
"Are you sure that you are letting me read this?" she asked and I nodded. She looked at me before finally beginning to read out loud. "'All Blake witches have experienced it; we all know how much it hurts. To be in a world filled with darkness and then not to be able to dream of anything but darkness, is a curse we all carry, until we realize that light is necessary for darkness to exist.' Morgan Blake wrote that in 1150," she told me.
"A darkness inside of me? Is that what the nightmares are about? Am I evil or something?" Panic stared to rise inside of me, but Sheila put a hand over mine, shaking her head.
"No dear, you are certainly not evil. Every witch has potential to turn to darkness, but you know that good is the true way," she told me. "Maybe this other note by Morgan will explain the nightmares more," she said, handing over the book to me again, pointing at the extract she was talking about.
"'Fear is what gives the demon power. If we control our fears, we control the demon,'" I read. "It makes no sense! What fear is she talking about? I'm not afraid of anything," I said and Sheila shook her head.
"There must have been something that got triggered when your mother died," Sheila explained. "If you confront and admit your fear, the nightmares should stop."
"How do you know? It's not as if you're the one that has been being physically bullied by some 'demon' inside of you," I snorted and Sheila smiled at me again. I was getting very annoyed by her at the moment.
"That 'demon', is a metaphor for your fear. Your grandmother told me that she got rid of her nightmares by telling the one person she would trust her life with, even though she wasn't sure that the person would save her. The most important thing is that you're honest and true to the person," she told me. "You need to face your fears and tell the person who you are and what happened to you. When you do so, your powers will come naturally and you will be able to block out any powers that bother you, such as the mind reading perhaps." We sat in silence for a while as I contemplated what she had just told me.
"It's getting dark outside," Sheila suddenly said. "Maybe you should head home and think about facing your demons." As she spoke, a small smile played on her lips. I had always had the feeling that Bonnie's grandmother was a serious person, but for some reason she didn't seem to be able to stop smiling at me. I would have to ask her about that another time.
"If I accept all of this, will you help me handle it and teach me, like you teach Bonnie?" I asked her and she nodded.
"You'll be my student, just like Bonnie is," she replied. "I told you that I would teach you as much as I could about what I know and with the things your grandmother explained. We might be able to learn more now that you've opened the grimoarie too, but you need to learn of your heritage by yourself. I will be by your side the whole time though," she told me and I nodded.
"Thank you so much for your help Sheila," I told her. "Please don't tell anyone about this, not even Bonnie. I think I need to accept it first before I tell anyone." Once again she nodded at me and I walked over to the door, the grimoarie in my arms and the necklace around my neck. As walked out of the house, I turned to look at Sheila again.
"What happens if I don't accept this?" I asked and she tilted her head, looking at me strangely.
"I don't believe you would be able to deny such a big part of who you are," she said. "However, it would be your choice. We'll just have to deal with that when we get to that part."
"Thank you," I told her again, before walking off. I could feel how she watched after me and suddenly, I felt protected.
I walked out of my house and locked the door after me. After I had left Sheila's house, I had brought the grimoarie with me home and hid it in my closet behind a couple of boxes that I knew my aunt would never touch. I had quickly changed into some clean clothes and put on a pair of converse before walking off to the Boarding House again. I knew that I needed to talk to Damon about all of this. He might just be the one person that I could trust with all of this...even if he did try to kill my friend last night.
Just as I arrived and was about to knock on the door, it opened and Elena jumped back, a frightened look on her face.
"Elena?" I asked as she pushed past me and ran towards her car that was in the driveway. "Elena!" I called and ran after her. She got into her car and I followed, forgetting completely about the reason I had come here. "What is going on?" I asked, but Elena ignored me, putting the key in the ignition and starting the car. Seconds later, we were on our way away from the Boarding house. Elena had fear still written all over her face, which didn't make any sense since she already knew about vampires. "Elena, please calm down and drive slower," I told her soothingly. "Tell me what happened." She looked at me as if for the first time noticing that I was there.
"S-She looks just l-like me," she managed to stutter out through tears. I frowned at her.
"Who?" I asked.
"Katherine," Elena replied and I froze. Katherine? The vampire who turned Stefan and Damon back in 1864? Why would she look like Elena?
My thoughts were interrupted when I saw a figure appear in the middle of the road. "ELENA LOOK OUT!" I screamed, but it was already too late. I closed my eyes, felt a bang against my chest and heard tires screech before it all turned black...
A/N: GAH! Yes, xXbriannaXx! Steffy is a witch! And a special one too! I could hardly conttain myself from telling you after seeing your review, but I had to! Hahaha!
I tried to explain as much as I could about Steffy and her heritage. As you can see, I didn't want Steffy to be just any witch so that's why I made up this whole "Blake witch" thing. It will play a role in the story later on too, but since you're all so smart, I think you've already figured that out...
Anyway, what did you think of the chapter? I had a lot of just Steffy in there but you did get a few Deffy moments as well! I hope you liked them! ;) Oh and if there are any questions relating to Steffy and her being a witch, feel free to ask. A lot of her heritage will be discovered throughout the chapters, so if something isn't very clear, tell me and I'll make sure to explain as much as I can! =)
Also, I have a question for you that I would like to have answered:
You know I've decided to keep to the original plot and all, except that I put in Steffy in the mix: The following chapter is the one with the road trip in Georgia. Do you want Damon to bring Elena along, or do you just want Steffy there? I was thinking of having Elena there as well and maybe have her notice all the Deffy moments that I'm gonna swing your way in the next chapter... Anyway, you tell me what you think and I'll see what I'll do!
So, please please please review! Tomorrow is Monday and I skipped showering so I could finish this for you guys and now I have to wake up early and take a shower before school! Urgh, please tell me it was worth it by reviewing! It would mean a lot to me!
Lots and lots of hugs and love!
xoxo
Spicy
P.S. I am so happy because I found the PERFECT prom dress! :D Okay, bye now!