"WAKE UP ARTY, WAKE UP ARTY" Artemis was violently shook awake by Elena, she abruptly sat up
"What? Is there a fire and- you're laughing, you're lucky I didn't kick you in the face" Artemis grumbled and pulled the covers over her head trying to snuggle back down into her blanket. But it was ripped away from her, making the older girl ball up
"Why-?"
"You have a store to open, and erm….well-"Artemis opened one eye and looked at the time. Both eyes snapped opened seeing the time
"I'm late" she shouted and leapt off of the bed
"No wait your sheets-"Elena shouted but it was too late, the elder girl's legs was entangled in the covers and she was sent crashing down on the ground
"Oww" she groaned,
"You ok?" Elena asked from the bed, and heard Artemis grunt in reply
"Fine, how could this day get any worse?" she mumbled and sat up, she rubbed her sore ankle
"Well, I sort of told Caroline you'll be helping out with the float at lunch and Damon want's to talk to you" with that Elena threw her the phone and ran from the room.
"What-damn it Elena" she shouted and grabbed the phone "What?" she snapped pulling clothes out of the wardrobe.
"Now I know you're not a morning person-"
"Piss off Damon, what do you want? I'm already late I don't need this- I still have to shower and-"
"Whoa, whoa, slow down you're having a shower-" from his tone she could tell that he was smirking "are you naked, can-"
"Goodbye you dick" she hanged up on him and saw Elena in the hallway "here" she chucked the teen her cell and ran past her and slammed the door shut behind her.
"Who's making all this noise?" Jenna asked coming out of the room scratching the back of her head
"It's Arty, she's late-"
"Arty is late? Huh wait-"Jenna's eyes widened "What's the time?"
"It's eight thirty-"
"Holy shit I'm late" Jenna screamed and ran past Elena. She banged on the door "ARTY GET OUT-"
"I'M SHOWERING" Artemis screeched back, she had the fastest shower in her whole life and ran back out of the bathroom. And sent Jenna tumbling into the wall "sorry" she called over her shoulder, she rummaged through her closet and pulled on a pair of jeans and a red shirt, "ow, ow, ow" she hissed as she literally tore into her hair as she brushed the thick curls, when she looked presentable, Artemis pulled on a pair of converses and grabbed her coat, she didn't bother with breakfast and ran out the front door,
"Erm am I missing something?" Stefan asked he witnessed Artemis running past him and nearly shoving both him and Elena in to the bushes.
"Artemis is late, and she doesn't do late" Elena chuckled. Stefan burst out in laughter hearing Artemis letting out a loud swear when her car didn't start,
"Art? Do you want me to-"
"No, it's started shoo" she waved him off, Stefan just managed to get out of the way before Artemis tore out of the driveway.
"I get the feeling that Artemis doesn't like being late" the vampire said dryly,
"You think?" Elena chuckled "come on"
Artemis had just arrived at the store and turned on her laptop. She went around the store opening up the shutters and turning over the 'open' sign, she headed back into her office and let out a yawn, sleep had evaded her last night, and she could tell that Jeremy was hiding something but couldn't figure out what. When she had arrived home last night she thought of speaking to Jeremy but when she opened the door she saw that he was fast asleep so decided to leave it.
The brunette had just poured herself a cup of coffee and was about to take a sip when her cell rang loudly, she groaned and picked it up, and quirked an eyebrow seeing who was calling her.
"Alaric what-"
"Art you need to come down to the school-and no Elena or Jeremy aren't hurt but-"
"On my way" she hanged up and looked longingly at her mug of coffee. She sighed and scooped her car keys and bag and left the store, locking it up.
"Oh dear where are you off to?" Betty asked hobbling up the sidewalk "I got banana bread-"
"Oh Betty you're a saint, but it's a family emergency-"Artemis muttered her eyes however were focused the bread.
"Honey you look like a racoon looking for food" Betty commented "hungry?"
"Understatement" she sighed "anyway I should go-"
"Wait take this dear, I was going to give it to you later, but ya look like you need it now" Betty pressed the banana bread into the younger girl's hands; Artemis kissed her on the cheek.
"Thanks Betty, you're a life saver" she called over her shoulder as she climbed into the car. Artemis shoved her keys into the ignition and pressed her foot down on the accelerator, she revved the engine and pulled her car onto the road and drove towards the school.
Artemis parked outside in the lot and swallowed down a mouthful of banana bread; she left it behind in her car and slammed the car door shut. And headed inside the school, she took the familiar path towards Alaric's history classroom.
"Art-you got the call too?" Damon easily fell instep beside her; she cocked an eyebrow as they walked down the corridor,
"You mean the panicked one from Ric?" she asked
"Yeah, that'd be the one" he smirked and opened the door and gestured for her to get in; Artemis frowned immediately spotting the distressed look on her sister's face.
"Sorry I'm late, it was this one's fault I had to pry her off of me, she's a vixen in the bedroom, fantastic body-"
"Shut up, you ass" Artemis shoved him away and walked over to Elena.
"Oh what's with all the furrow brows?" Damon asked looking around room at the occupant faces. Artemis frowned and placed her hand on Elena's shoulder
"Lena?" she said softly "What's wrong?" she looked over at Stefan and Alaric.
"I saw Isobel last night" Alaric said at last, Artemis's eyes widened at that the history teacher had saw Elena's birth-mother.
"Isobel's here? In town?" Damon asked just as surprised as the others. Artemis had taken a seat besides Elena and bit her lower lip, wondering why that woman was back in town "Did you speak about Uncle John?
"No" Alaric replied, Artemis felt sorry for the man.
"What about the invention?"
"I didn't ask"
"Did she know about the tomb vampires?"
"I don't know-"
"Did words completely escape you?" Damon stepped up to him,
"Back off Damon" Artemis snapped "You're not helping"
"I was a little pre-occupied about my dead vampire wife to ask questions" Alaric spat, Artemis ran her fingers through her hair. She asked the one question that has been on her mind as soon as she found out that Isobel was in town.
"What does she want?"
"She wants to see me Arty" Elena revealed, Artemis's eyes snapped over to hers
"What?-"
"Alaric is supposed to arrange a meeting" Stefan added on, Artemis brows furrowed, she grasped Elena's hand
"Do you want to see her? You don't have to if-"
"I don't have a choice" Elena sighed, Artemis tucked in a stray curl
"You always have a choice Lena-"
"She's threatening to go on a killing spree if she doesn't" Alaric said, Artemis slumped in her seat
"Well I guess you guys aren't a fan of that" Damon commented
"You don't say, you ass-"
"Ya know I feel like you got an obsession with my ass-"
"Shut up" Artemis snapped glaring at him. "Isobel sounds like a sociopath by the way, no offence, I hope that gene isn't inherited or anything, since we would have major problems with you" Elena smiled at that, which somehow soothed Artemis's nerves.
"I wanna do it" Elena declared "I want to meet her, if I don't I know I will regret it"
"Are you sure?" Artemis asked seriously, Elena nodded "ok, but I'm coming-"
"No she wants to meet her alone-"Alaric cut in
"And I'm meant to care what she wants" Artemis uttered "she's not going on her own-"
"Art-"
"No, Elena the woman threatens to go on a killing spree if you don't meet her-"Artemis stood up, Elena got to her feet as well
"Please Art-"
"She won't be on her own, I'm with her" Stefan assured her, Artemis rolled her eyes and looked back over to Elena who sighed
"Fine, maybe you can sit at the next table?" she offered
"OK, so who's got a stake-"
"Art-"Alaric balked at that "you can't kill her-"
"I'm not stupid-"
"Could have fooled me-"
"Shut up Damon, and it's for in case this meeting doesn't go to plan" Artemis said "maybe a small one?"
Alaric let out a sigh and shook his head "let me check in my locker"
Artemis was currently sitting on the table beside Elena, her novel was laid out before her, from where she was sitting she had the perfect view of Elena's table, Artemis looked up when the waitress delivered her, her coffee.
"Thanks Josie" she smiled at the waitress "I definitely need this"
Josie chuckled "No problem Arty, you haven't opened the store yet I noticed"
"Oh, erm, just taking a few hours of rest, then I should be opening up" Artemis uttered whilst she poured some sugar into her coffee "do you want anything from the store or-"
"No, well yes, it's my grandmother's birthday so-"
"I'll see if I could dig anything up, do you know what she likes?"
"She likes novels"
Artemis nodded that would be easy enough she thought "I got a whole collection of first edition novels, I think she'd like that"
"That sounds perfect" Josie grinned "I'll swing by later I have to get back to work" Artemis nodded and watched as the waitress hurried away. She looked over to Elena and could tell that she was nervous the elder girl sent her a small smile.
"You'll be fine" she assured her
"Thank you" Elena said quietly, another advantage of Artemis's table was that she was able to hear everything. Just then a woman clad in black appeared, Artemis concluded that this must be Isobel, she leant her head forward so that her face was surrounded by her thick hair, which created a curtain.
"Hello Elena" she heard Isobel. "you look just like her-" Artemis knew she was probably referencing Katherine "It's eerie"
"You've met Katherine?" Elena asked
"She found me, after I turned, genetic curiosity I suppose, she would be fascinated by you-" Artemis already wanted to slap her in the face
"Is that how you walk in the sun?" Artemis from the corner of her eye could see Isobel holding up her necklace.
"Katherine helped me obtain it" Isobel replied,
"Who's my father?" Elena asked, the elder Gilbert girl didn't blame her for her curiosity
"Not important" Isobel snapped "he was a teenage waste of space-"
"A name would be nice" Elena spat, Artemis couldn't help but smirk at that, finally she thought Elena was showing some backbone.
"It would wouldn't it? You ask a lot of questions" Isobel stated, Artemis resisted the urge to roll her eyes at that, stupid bitch she thought, of course Elena would ask a lot of questions.
"Why did you compel that man to kill himself?" Elena asked "right after he told me to stop looking for you"
"Dramatic impact-"
"You've got to be kidding me" Artemis muttered
"-I wished it had been more effective"
"Does human life mean that little to you?" Elena asked shocked at what she was hearing.
"It means nothing to me" Isobel smirked "it's just part of being what I am"
"No, it's not I know other vampires, that's not true"
"You mean your boyfriend over there by the pool table" Isobel uttered, causing Artemis to glance over to Stefan who got up on to his feet. "Stefan Salvatore, why Stefan? Why didn't you go for Damon-"
"Because he's a dick" Artemis mumbled gripping tightly on to the small stake that was up the sleeve of her top
"Or do you enjoy them both? Like Katherine did? Or maybe Damon has his eyes on someone else right?" both Elena and Artemis stiffened at that.
"Why did you want to meet me?" Elena asked "it can't be just to catch up"
"Because I'm curious about you" Isobel replied "but the real reason is, I want what your uncle wants, Jonathan Gilbert's invention-"
Artemis sipped her coffee wondering why they were all so determined to get it. She heard Elena laugh "How do you know my uncle?"
"I use to spend a lot of time here when I was younger, John had a crush on me, he was the first one that told me about vampires-"
"So what made you want to be one?" Elena asked
"There's a very long list of reasons Elena, all of which I'm sure you thought about-"Elena shook her head "that was your first lie"
Artemis tilted her head and tucked her hair behind her ears.
"It's inevitable, you're going to get old Stefan won't. Forever doesn't last for very long, when you're human-"Artemis downed the rest of her coffee, she could see Elena was getting anxious.
"I'm sorry but I don't have what you're looking for" Elena got up off of the chair, but Isobel grabbed her arm. Artemis shot to her feet "I suggest you let her go" she snarled at the woman, Isobel chuckled and looked at her
"I was wondering when you'd be joining us" she smirked "now tell your boyfriend to sit down-"Elena nodded towards Stefan "and tell big sis to come and join us-"
"I'm right here you bitch, she doesn't need to tell my anything" Artemis snapped taking a seat in between Elena and Isobel "now let her go" Isobel dropped her grip on Elena's arm.
"I want the invention" Isobel declared
"I don't have it" Elena snapped feeling slightly more relieved now that Artemis was sitting beside her.
"I know that, but Damon does, both of you are going to get it for me" Isobel uttered.
"He's not going to give it to either of us" Artemis snapped her eyes darkening
"Then the blood will be on your hands" Isobel got up and grabbed her coat and bag "It was nice meeting you Elena, and lovely to see you Arty" she walked off. Artemis glanced over to her sister and didn't miss the heart broken look on her face, just then Bonnie entered, Elena got up onto her feet with tears streaming down her face, Artemis watched as the dark skin girl left, she glanced over her shoulder and saw Stefan standing there. She inwardly groaned and also got onto her feet
"Elena-"
"I'm- she-"Elena cried, Artemis wrapped her arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug
"It's ok" she murmured into her ear "you want me to go and slap Bonnie for you" Elena gave her a weak chuckle and rested her head against Artemis's shoulder.
Artemis sat at the counter while she went through the first edition of novels for Josie, Stefan had said he would take Elena home so she could go to work; she looked up hearing the bell above the door ringing
"Damon what-"
"So how'd it go?" the vampire asked leaning against the counter, Artemis sighed
"Not well, why the hell did you turn her?"
"I'm getting the feeling that you don't like her" Damon smirked resting his chin in his hand.
"Understatement, she's a cold-hearted bitch" Artemis snapped, "She couldn't even answer one question that Elena asked, just do the Damon thing and stake her-"
"Serious? The mighty Arty wants me to kill her-"
"Ok, a bit too far" Artemis rolled her eyes, she tapped her nails against the hardback book "just make her leave town-"
"What's the real reason you want her gone, my sexy little antiques dealer?" he purred into her ear, she forced herself not to blush that went out of the window when his fingers grazed the apple of her cheek, he tugged one of her curls "So?"
Artemis sighed "she hurt Elena and made her cry, I don't like it when people hurt my family-"
"Understatement, if I recall correctly, you punched Saint Stefan in the face, when he made her cry, kneed me and-"
"I will stake that bitch if she makes her upset again" Artemis finished off; Damon smirked and leant forward, brushing the tip of his nose against her throat.
"I love it when you're feisty" he murmured, just then the bell above the door rang, making Artemis jump back
"Oops sorry, have I come at a bad time?" Josie asked her eyes darting between the pair.
"No-"
"Yes" they both said at the same time, he sent Artemis a wink, she sent him a glare
"Shoo, I have work to do-"
"My girlfriend" Damon laughed pointing towards Artemis "it's her time of the month so she's a bit moody but very horny-"
"Oh my god, I still have that stake that Alaric gave me, I will literally shove it up your ass" she hissed at him, and saw Josie shifting uncomfortably.
"See ya later honey" and much to her annoyance he laid a wet kiss on her cheek. As soon as he was gone, Artemis wiped her cheek.
"Your boyfriend is hot-"
"Not my boyfriend, his a dick" Artemis cut her off "so come on, I've got the books-"
"Forget the books, what's going on with Mister Suave over there, hmm, I could spread in and-"
"You tell me sister, if I was younger-"
"Oh my god Betty, seriously?" Artemis yelled slamming the palm of her hands over her ears.
Artemis arrived home and dropped her keys into the dish-bowl, she hanged up her coat by the front door and jogged upstairs, she stripped out of her outfit and pulled on a pair of shorts and a camisole, she brushed her hair and pulled it into a bun.
She peered into Elena's room and frowned not seeing her sister there. She padded barefooted downstairs and entered the kitchen she spotted Elena sitting on the couch, also in her night-clothes.
"Elena where is everyone?" she asked as she moved around the kitchen, she knew the girl was glum so opted to grab a massive tub of double chocolate chip ice-cream and two spoons. She dropped down in the seat beside Elena, and handed the teen the ice-cream.
"Well John's is in the study, Jenna's hiding from John and Jeremy's in his room" Elena muttered
"Elena cheer up" Artemis said softly
"I can't she turned out-"
"To be such a disappointment?" Artemis asked "It's no skin off your back, mum raised and she did a great job, you can't even compare her to that vampire. You turned out to be such a wonderful person Elena, and that's because of mom and dad"
Elena smiled and nodded "Thanks Art-"
"I think I know what would cheer you up" Artemis smiled and hopped off of the couch "home movies" she said. For the rest of the night they watched old movies of themselves when they were little, whilst eating a tub of ice-cream, soon enough they was joined by Jenna, Jeremy and John.
Artemis rolled over and swatted at Elena "why are you in my bed?" she asked her voice was hoarse.
"Because I need you to get up, we're helping out at the parade-"
"Ergh why? You're the one who offered to help-"
"You own the local antiques store, so you know all the history of everything and all that crap" Elena uttered,
"Fine-stupid Mayor Lockwood made me closed up the store anyway" Artemis muttered and groaned when Elena pulled her hair "What-"
"It's bouncy" Elena laughed, Artemis slapped her upside the head and swung her legs out of bed.
"Well go and get ready then" Artemis shoved her off of the bed, causing the younger girl to fall off. "Where's Jere-"
"He's gone already" Elena said before she could finish off her sentence. Artemis nodded but wondered when did the teen leave, she headed towards the bathroom where she had a quick shower and then hurried back into her room. Artemis slipped on her underwear and looked through the wardrobe; she opted to wear black skinny jeans and a pale blue top. Artemis brushed her hair and braided it. She slipped on a pair of converses and skipped downstairs.
"Art we're going to be late-"
"Hey I don't even want to go" Artemis yelled back and grabbed two granola bars, she handed Elena one and went to open the door, her eyes widened seeing Bonnie on the other side. She looked between the pair and knew that they needed to talk
"I'll wait in the car" she told them, leaving behind both teenage girls. Artemis watched from her car whilst eating her granola bar she could see Elena and Bonnie exchanging words, a small smile made its way across her face when she saw them hugging, once they done that she honked her horn causing the both to jump.
"Come on, we've got to get to your crappy school thing" Artemis yelled,
"Something tells me that Arty, doesn't want to go-"
"Are you kidding? She's super-excited" Elena said sarcastically making the other girl laugh.
"So wait where are we going?" Artemis asked as Elena dragged her from arranging the flowers for the float,
"Bonnie wants to meet us she's got info on the device" Elena replied as they walked down the corridor.
"Anything interesting?"
"Not too sure" Elena replied as she opened the door, Artemis stepped into the room and saw the witch sitting at the table, as soon as she saw them she jumped off of the stool.
"Hey thanks for coming" Bonnie smiled, Artemis nodded but her gaze travelled over to the familiar book
"Is that-"
"Emily's spell book?" Bonnie finished off "yeah I was going through it, here look at this" both Gilberts walked closer and eyed the book. "Look at this" Artemis eyes widened seeing the image of the compass.
"That's the vampire compass" Elena said looking at Bonnie, Artemis canted her head to the side looking more closely at it.
"According to Emily, Jonathan Gilbert never actually succeeded in invented anything" Bonnie told them "Emily secretly spelled them all with magic-"she turned the page "the compass the rings, the mystery device that you told me about"
"Yeah, but that's it, Damon only has one piece" Elena frowned, Artemis bit her bottom lip thinking
"She pledged her loyalty to Katherine, but she couldn't stand by and watch innocent people get killed" Bonnie murmured her eyes meeting Artemis's. "This is the only way she could think of, Jonathan Gilbert believed that he actually invented these devices-"
"Does it say what it does?" Artemis asked leaning forward her fingers grazed over the writing, Elena and Bonnie leaned over her shoulders
"Are you sure this is what Isobel wanted?" Bonnie asked
"Yeah, the bitch was pretty clear about that" Artemis muttered straightening up "why?"
"This is a weapon" Bonnie revealed "against vampires"
Artemis and Elena exchanged confused looks "then why would a vampire want it?"
"I'm going to look for Stefan" Elena told Artemis as they were outside
"Yeah, sure I'll help" Artemis muttered "You go that way" she told her, they split up, the elder teen rushed past the giant float that Caroline was sitting on top of, she stood on the tips of her toes trying to find the vampire, or even Damon.
"ARTY" Jeremy called running up to her,
"Hey, Jere have you seen Stefan?" she asked as she carried on walking, Jeremy followed after her
"No, not lately" Jeremy replied. "Do you have a second?"
"Erm, sure just keep walking and talking" Artemis uttered looking around.
"Well it's Anna-"Artemis stopped and turned to face him "I left her all these messages, and she hasn't gotten back to me, not even a text"
"Anna?" Artemis asked her eyebrows shooting to her hairline, thinking what the hell her brother was doing with a vampire "I-so you're still friends with her?"
"Don't freak out, but we're more than friends" Jeremy said "something could be seriously wrong, and if you know anything, you got to tell me"
Artemis gulped "I haven't talked to her Jeremy, and when the hell did you start seeing her like that?" she snapped
"I don't want to explain myself to you" he scowled "are you lying to me?"
"Why would you say that?" Artemis shook her head
"Because that's what you do Arty" he hissed "you lie, about everything, you're lying to my face, I know what Anna is, and I know that you and Elena both know, so tell me do you have any idea where she is?" Artemis was too stunned for words, but shook her head she could only get one word to come out
"No-"he glowered at her and left, "No, Jeremy, Jere" Artemis called after him, this was bad. She turned around coming face to face with Isobel.
"Can't keep control of the kiddies, I do hope you're doing a better job with Elena" she smirked
"What the hell are you doing here?" she snapped taking a step towards her
"Well I'm here because my daughter is-"
"You are not worthy to call yourself her mother" Artemis snarled
"You really are stupid, aren't you? Standing up to someone who could rip your throat out in a manner of seconds-"
"What do you want?" Artemis repeated her question.
"Well I'm here for Elena; I want to be part of her life-"Artemis scoffed at that
"Cut the crap, you made it clear yesterday that you couldn't care less about her, after you blew off all her questions"
"You're a smart one" Isobel uttered a smirk on her face "but I've been studying, let me at least present my finding-" Artemis gave the woman a confused look "hmm-there's the witchy best friend of Elena's, I better stay away from that one, and that's the sad little brother Jeremy-" Artemis followed her gaze and tensed "and there's Caroline, obnoxious Caroline, I got all of my info from her by the way, she had no idea who I was and she wouldn't stop yapping" Isobel turned her attention towards Artemis "and there's Matt, words been going around that you're looking out for him, he's like another little brother isn't he? And Elena's ex- there's lots of connections here aren't they-"
"Leave them all alone" Artemis scowled
"That's the thing Artemis; all these people have one thing in common you care about them"
"Touch them I won't hesitate to put a stake through your heart" Artemis hissed "leave and never come back"
"No, I don't think so, you're a mouthy little creature, no wonder Damon is into you but one more word and I'll shove this into your heart-"Artemis gasped and looked down, she hadn't even notice that the vampire had pulled out a dagger and it was digging into the younger girl's stomach, she was applying pressure but not enough to break the skin. "I have friends here as well, turn" she hissed, Artemis's jaw clench as she felt the dagger digging into the small of her back "see that man over there, standing by the float near Matt?" she whispered into Artemis's ear "his name is Frank, he is very handsome-"
"I've seen better" Artemis muttered, causing Isobel to chuckle
"Ah but he's also quiet handy and he notice that the axels are kind of rusty, which is very dangerous, so all you have to do is apply a little bit of pressure" she hissed in pain, when Isobel pressed the dagger even harder "and-" Artemis eyes widened seeing the man jump on to the float
"No-"she shouted and went to run forward, but Isobel grabbed the back of her hair and pulled her back, she watched as Matt screamed in pain
"ARGH, GET THIS OFF" Matt yelled, Tyler ran forward to help. Artemis felt the small stake she had up her sleeve and discreetly pulled it out, she saw Stefan coming to help.
"Why are you doing this?" Artemis snapped turning to face her
"I'm telling you how easy it is to hurt the people you care about-"
"You bitch, you're doing this for some stupid invention" she shoved her back, but Isobel pressed the dagger against Artemis's collar bone, she hissed feeling her cut into her skin
"Hand it over-"
"I don't have it" Artemis snarled "Damon won't give me or Elena it-"
"I think you're underestimating how much he cares about both you and her" Isobel hissed
"He will rip your heart out before he gives it up" Artemis's heart was pounding a mile a minute,
"Or after I kill your brother Jeremy, my next one would be Elena-"
"You will kill your own daughter?" Artemis gripped onto the stake
"Get me the compass, or Jeremy is the first one to go" Isobel snapped her eyes darted over Artemis's shoulder. Artemis gritted her teeth and stabbed her in the stomach with the stake, Isobel gasped and looked down at it.
"You made things so much more worse, say bye to baby brother"
Artemis spun on her heel and saw that Jeremy was gone "No, JEREMY, JEREMY" she shouted she couldn't see him anywhere,
"Arty" Stefan appeared in front of her, Elena ran over to them she had been comforted Matt, "Arty?" she could see the tears running down Artemis's face
"Jeremy, she took Jeremy-"
"Artemis you're not making any sense" Stefan grasped her chin he saw the thin line of blood, Artemis hastily wiped away her tears
"Isobel, she took Jeremy"
"What?" Elena asked shocked "she was here-"
"Yes, she wants the device, and she'll kill Jeremy if she doesn't" Artemis felt like ripping her hair out "We have to see Damon"
Artemis paced up and down in the classroom, her, Elena, Stefan and Bonnie were in Alaric's classroom, they were talking things over
"Here" Elena handed her sister a wet cloth, Artemis sent her a small smile and pressed it against the thin cut,
"Where's the device?" Bonnie asked
"Damon has it" Stefan replied "he would be difficult to reason with him-"
"I don't give a shit, we'll go to him" Artemis snapped "Jeremy could end up dead, I'll get it off of him, pry his vampire fingers off of it"
"Artemis he won't give it, especially if it's harmful to vampires" Stefan said, Artemis swore and kicked over a chair she was getting more agitated and irritant. Elena bit her lip and her eyes lit up with an idea
"What if it's not?" Elena said causing the group to look at her
"Come again?" Artemis asked straightening up
"What if it's not harmful to vampires" Elena said, Artemis followed her gaze and saw that it was on Bonnie.
"Huh, now that's an idea" Artemis muttered.
"Absolutely not" Damon snapped, they all had shifted to the boarding house
"Just listen to us" Artemis snapped glaring at him.
"I'm not going to give Isobel the device so she can give it to John, and he can turn around and kill me, I like being a dead person-"
"I swear to god give it or you'll be nothing but a corpse" Artemis threatened she went to take a step forward but Stefan grabbed the back of her top.
"It'll be useless" Elena intervened knowing things could get ugly between Artemis and Damon "Bonnie can take its power away"
"I don't trust her" Damon snapped
"I can remove the original spell-"Bonnie said
"John and Isobel would never have to know" Elena added on
"No" the vampire said "I'll get Jeremy my own way"
"Really? And how are you going to do that?" Stefan asked, he could see both Artemis and Elena were getting more and more anxious "because Isobel is a vampire and Jeremy can be dead the second you walk in the door"
"Please Damon" Artemis begged "please"
Damon's eyes were on her, they moved over to the witch "Are you sure you're up for this? Let's face it you're no Emily Bennett and she knew what she was doing"
Bonnie walked over towards the vampire "I've been practicing-"
"It's not piano lessons honey-"
"What's your favourite book?" Bonnie asked
"What?" Damon asked
"Name a book, any book" Bonnie ordered
"Name a book, how about Call of the Wild, Jack London-"he smirked, Bonnie turned around to face the book shelf, they waited a second a book flew out of the bookshelf, Damon caught it, "Huh, cool parlour trick"
"We're doing this" Bonnie stated
"Please Damon" Artemis approached the vampire "please, we're wasting time, and I want my brother back please" she begged "if you want I'll get down on my knees and beg, please just give it"
Damon sighed and look down at her, he cupped her cheek "you don't have to get on your knees unless I'm not wearing-" she slapped him in the face "ok, too much-"
"You think?" Stefan scoffed; Elena was glaring at the vampire.
"I don't trust her, she could kill me-"
"Hmm, well you try to kill me" Bonnie uttered, Artemis grabbed his arm
"Yeah ok, but you can trust me" she told him she held out her hand "please" Damon looked at her and sighed, he pulled out the device and handed it over, he stroked the back of her hand
"Don't say I don't do anything nice" he muttered, she surprised him by pulling into a tight hug.
"Thank you" she whispered into his ear, her minty breath fanning over the shell of his ear, Damon inhaled her scent and surprised the others by hugging her back, and his icy blue orbs met Stefan's curious green ones.
Artemis pulled back and turned around to face Bonnie and handed it over to the witch.
Artemis was standing beside Damon, whilst Elena and Stefan were opposite them they were watching Bonnie who was dismantling the device, her grimoire was open before her, Artemis rolled her eyes hearing the vampire next to her humming, she elbowed him "Do you mind?"
"Well you know there's another way you can keep me quiet-" Damon wagged his eyebrows up and down suggestively, she rolled her eyes and focused her attention back on Bonnie, they watched as the witched raised her hands causing the device to float, the lights turned on and off, and the flames roared, Artemis jumped but felt something gripping tightly on to her hand, she looked down and saw a large hand encompassing her own, she looked up and saw Damon was looking at her, he gave her hand a brief squeeze, she returned the gesture, Bonnie caught the device
"It's done" the witch said, Artemis let go of his hand and stepped forward and held out her hand
"Great, now what?" Damon asked from behind her.
"Easy enough, we give it to Isobel" Artemis replied her eyes met Elena's the younger girl nodded.
They were both standing in the town square waiting for the vampire.
"Are you going to be ok?" Artemis asked quietly "you don't have to be here if-"
"No I want closure" Elena said, Artemis nodded and felt a pulse of air behind her, they spun around and saw Isobel, the elder teen shoved Elena behind her and stood protectively in front of her
"Where's the device?" Isobel asked.
"Where's our brother?" Artemis snapped back
"This isn't a negotiation" Isobel smirked at her
"Where is my brother?" Artemis went to take a step towards the vampire, but Elena gripped her wrist.
"Do you really think I came alone?" Isobel asked, Artemis stiffened at that and looked over her shoulder she could see the man named Frank and another woman. She took a step closer to Elena
"Dou you really think we came alone?" Elena asked, nodding towards Stefan and Damon who appeared behind Isobel, the female vampire turned to face them and smirked.
"For god's sake call home" Isobel said, Artemis frowned at that
"What?" Elena asked
"Call home, and ask to speak to Jeremy"
Artemis dug through her pocket and pulled out her cell, she called Jeremy and sighed hearing his voice
"Jeremy? You ok? You're not hurt are you?" Artemis asked her eyes were focused on Isobel.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine Uncle John hit his head, it was an accident" Jeremy replied
"Are you ok?" she asked
"Yeah I'm ok" it felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off of her shoulders
"Me and Elena will be home soon, alright? Make sure you eat dinner as well and-"Elena elbowed her, Artemis sent her a dirty look but rolled her eyes "Bye" she hanged up. She turned to face Isobel
"You're a conniving little bitch; you were never going to hurt him were you?" Artemis asked
"No" Isobel uttered "I was going to kill him-"Artemis scowled her eyes hardening, the vampire turned her attention to Elena "don't look for any redeeming qualities in me, I don't have any"
"But you took a risk with Damon, how did you know he was going to give it to me or Elena?" Artemis asked her eyes on her
"Because he loves you, but I'm not sure which one he loves more" Isobel uttered her eyes darting between both brunettes. Artemis shifted slightly and swallowed, Isobel held out her hand for the device, Elena pulled it out of her pocket and handed it over to her.
"Thank you" Elena said
"For what?" Isobel asked
"For being such a monumental disappointment, keeps the memory of my real mother perfectly intact" Elena said, Artemis smirked at that, Miranda Gilbert was a true mother and had all the aspects of a caring and loving mother, which Isobel definitely didn't seem to possess.
"Goodbye Elena, and a pleasure meeting you Artemis, trust me with the Salvatores both of you are doomed, Katherine was smart to get out, but we all know that you're not Katherine" Artemis licked her lips and saw Isobel about to leave, but she stepped in front of the vampire.
"I want you to know" she said quietly as Elena embraced Stefan "never ever threaten my family again, or I won't miss-"
"What are-"with that Artemis plunged the stake into her stomach
"You can thank Alaric for that, he has an awesome collection of stakes" Artemis uttered, Isobel smirked and pulled it out
"You know you're not what I was expecting"
"I can say the same for you" Artemis commented, Isobel twirled the stake in her hand and threw it aside
"Goodbye Artemis" she walked away. Artemis let out sigh and jumped when Damon blurred in front of her
"Have you gone mad?" he growled "Staking-"
"Oh you know you was dying to do it as well" Artemis rolled her eyes and looked over to Elena; the younger girl didn't notice what she had done since she was hugging Stefan. "Elena fancy going home?"
"Yes" Elena smiled; she led the way towards the parked car with Stefan trailing behind her. Artemis went to follow but Damon caught her hand, he trailed a finger down the thin cut
"You know you're pretty badass-"Artemis laughed at that
"I know, see yah later Salvatore" with a smile she left.
They entered the house; Artemis dropped her keys into the dish-bowl
"Hey Jen, where's Jeremy?" she asked
"Up in his room" Jenna replied as she headed into the kitchen, once she was out of earshot she grabbed Elena's arm stopping her from going up the stairs
"Art what-"
"Jeremy knows" she whispered, Elena's eyes widened
"What?"
"Jeremy knows-"Elena realised what she was getting out and her eyes widened
"How? What I-"
"I'll deal with this ok?" Artemis said "ok?"
Elena nodded, knowing it would be best for the elder girl to handle it "Ok, I'm going to have a shower"
Artemis followed her up the stairs and took a deep breath before she knocked on Jeremy's door, when she got no reply she entered the room
"Jeremy?" she saw that he had his back turned to her "we need to talk"
"No we really don't" Jeremy replied, Artemis stepped into the room
"Look Jeremy we really do, I don't know what Anna told you but there are things you need to know" Artemis uttered. He remained silent "Would you look at me?"
"Fine" he snapped and abruptly stood up and stormed over to her "I read Elena's journal and that pretty much covered everything-"
"You read her journal?" Artemis asked
"Save me the lecture of invasion of privacy, because I read a section about Damon erasing my memory and you let him-"
"Whoa Jeremy-"
"You made me forget about what happened with Vicky-"
"Ok I know it was bad, I shouldn't have let that happened but you don't understand" Artemis said, her eyes staring into his "that night, the night where Vicky died you were so hurt, so hurt" she whispered and placed her hand on his cheek "It was like mom and dad died, I-I didn't want you to be hurt anymore" he grabbed her hand and pushed it away
"Jeremy I let this happen because you was in pain I didn't want you to be in pain-"
"Get out" he snapped
"No Jeremy listen to me-I'm not leaving till you do-"
"Arty Get Out-"
"No" she snapped, he grabbed her by the wrist and literally threw her out of his room, she managed to catch herself against the wall and spun on her heel "Jeremy please just listen-" he slammed the door in her face.
Artemis sighed and trudged into her own room. She shut the door behind her, and slid down against it; she held her head in her hands and felt a breeze over her skin. Artemis looked up and saw that her window was wide open, a single tear ran down her cheek and she closed her eyes.
AN: Thanks for all those reviews, there's been lots of reviews insisting Damon and Arty (Darty-I love that name) and some on Elijah and Arty (they haven't got a name-no clue what to call that ship name) So in this chap, we see Arty standing up to Isobel, and made it clear to never hurt her family, Darty moments-Isobel saying that he loves both Elena and Arty, but not too sure which one more- finally Jeremy confronts Artemis about what happened.
Next Chap-Founders day, the fire happens and Arty ends up saving someone- plus Katherine's first appearence
Please REVIEW (makes me update quicker)