Review responses:
Only reviewer: You can never assume anything with Damon, at least at this stage. But we'll see...I like to keep you on your toes.
Charmedbycharmed: Thank you! It's always a challenge with balancing original stuff with the continuity of the universe. But I'm glad the pacing isn't too slow for you, though that might change over time. This one will definitely be a slow burn that will hopefully end with a very big bang!
Swan-Redb: Thank you so much for that! I'm glad you're enjoying the story and all the little moments Sarah has with all the characters. Hopefully the wait in between chapters doesn't bother you too much.
PPLforeveremison: That is one of the nicest compliments I've ever read, thank you so much for that! Truth is, I need this time to figure out the characters too so that I'm certain in where I'm going with them. No point in having them get together only to then have no clue what to do with them next. It is about the journey for these characters and I'm aiming to make it a good one so thank you!
Almost at the end now, after this, just three chapters to go! More tensions building in this one, especially with Isobel coming up, we all remember how lovely she is. Some decisions to be made and hints into Sarah's past, another seed for you guys to think about in future. And trouble for Scarlett on the horizon. All in all, another fun chapter!
And thank you to everyone who's favourited and followed the story since last time. It really does mean a lot and makes my day when I see a new name pop up, almost as much as when I hear what you guys have to say. Love talking to each of you that reviews so please don't be afraid too. I respond to every one and that's the same for PMs. I just love hearing what you all have to say! Hope you all enjoy the latest update to the story and I'll see you later!
Chapter 28: Isobel
Sarah had been up in Stefan's room, flicking through his recent diary entries when his phone rang. Without even thinking twice she plucked the phone up off the nightstand and glanced at the name across the screen. 'Elena'. Sarah grinned, answering the phone and putting it to her ear as she placed Stefan's diary down by her side. She didn't really care if Stefan caught her, he probably knew she was in his room anyway since he was showering in the next room. Besides, she had to keep an eye on him after everything he'd just been through, and that included going through his diary and reading his written thoughts.
"Hello, Elena," Sarah said with tease in her voice, coming across more like Damon than she wanted too. It was hard being the one in the middle.
"Sarah?" Elena said in confusion, pausing as she checked her phone, making sure she'd called the right person. "What are you doing on Stefan's phone?"
"He's showering, so I answered it. I was in his room, going through his diaries and I heard it ring," Sarah answered as she picked Stefan's diary up once more, glancing over it before dropping it back down on the bed.
"Why were you going through his diary?" Elena asked.
"I'm his sister, Elena. Call me nosy. That and he tried to kill himself yesterday."
"Point taken," Elena said. "I'm supposed to help build the Miss Mystic float for the Founders' Day parade. If I don't, I get the wrath off Caroline…wait a seconds. How did you get out of this?" Elena asked curiously knowing Caroline was fond of Sarah and had grown to like her quite a bit. Or at least enough to drag her into her extracurricular activities.
"Compulsion works wonders, Elena," Sarah said with a grin.
"Sarah!" Elena snapped disapprovingly.
"Joking! Joking," Sarah said with a chuckle that Elena then sighed too. "She's just left me a couple hundred messages asking me to call her, though I imagine she'll catch me before school ends."
"Not even a vampire can escape Caroline Forbes," Elena teased with a giggle that made Sarah roll her eyes. "Anyway, I just wanted to check in first, see how Stefan's feeling today?"
"He's doing good. Still tormented inside, but that's just another Tuesday for Stefan. Nothing in his diary's screaming suicidal so that's good. Unfortunately there is bad news," Sarah admitted gravely.
"What's the matter?" Elena asked in concern.
"Well…he's boring again." Elena sighed in relief and even managed to laugh a little. "He's back to drinking animal blood, puts a real downer on things. You think maybe I should slip him some human stuff?" Sarah asked casually as she began checking the nails of her free hand. There was a pause before Elena came back, not sounding at all too happy.
"Sarah," Elena said in a low, angry and disapproving voice.
"You really can't take a joke can you," Sarah said with a smirk.
"To be honest, I can never tell with you," replied Elena, sounding a bit more perky.
"You falter me," Sarah said in a high voice as the two women began to laugh. Sarah then caught movement off to the side and looked over to Stefan's bedroom door to see Damon having walked in.
"Elena?" he asked. Sarah nodded, calming down from her laugh. "Ask her if John's said anything," he then added. Sarah guessed he was referring to what he and Alaric had been up to the other day while she and Elena where babysitting Stefan. She'd gotten the story later on from him, telling her that he and Alaric had found a vampire, but not Isobel, who they'd originally gone looking for. Turns out this vampire had been working for John as a spy so he could keep tabs on the Tomb Vampires. They never found out why and killed him before they could get anything else out of him. Sarah had then scolded her brother, pointing out she could have helped with her feminine charm but he just laughed at that.
He really could be a jackass when he wanted to be one.
"Damon would like to ask if that fabulous uncle of yours has talked to you recently?" Sarah asked on Damon's behalf.
"No," Elena answered thankfully. "I'm still avoiding him, even more so now that he's revealed everything to me, not that I didn't already know. Why's Damon asking? Do he think he's up to something?" Sarah glanced over at Damon with a look that told him she expected him to answer. She knew fine well he was listening in on every word they were both saying.
"Yes, I think he up to something. No, I don't know what it is," Damon answered simply as he folded his arms. "Tell her I'd love it if she could find out for me." He began playing with his eyebrows, something he always did when he was up to one of his little games. Sarah could practically see the gears turning in his head as he tried to get ahead of John Gilbert.
"The Jackass would like you to do some snooping," Sarah said as she turned away from her brother, smirking when she felt his glare on her.
"No promises, but I'll see what I can do," Elena answered. "Look, I've got to go, I'm late."
"Alright, tell Caroline I'll be there as soon as I can," Sarah said as she caught Damon leave the room as Stefan entered it from the bathroom, towel wrapped around his waist.
"Do you really mean that?" Elena asked skeptically.
"No," Sarah answered smugly as she grinned over towards her brother who just shook his head, though he too was smiling.
"Bite me," Elena playfully snapped down the phone.
"Oh, tempting," Sarah replied, making an audible sound of licking her lips in anticipation.
"Goodbye," Elena said, the rolling eyes implied in her voice as the call ended.
"Elena, alright?" Stefan asked as Sarah turned her attention to him.
"Yep, she's good," Sarah said as he swung her legs off the bed, stood up and threw the phone to Stefan who caught it with one hand. "You going to be ready soon?" she asked, already aware they were close to being late. She was good to go but she wasn't about to leave her brother high and dry, or in this case, damp. Besides, it was his car they took to school, and although Sarah could just take it herself, she knew how Stefan would get her back for ditching him. He'd take her motorcycle. So when she looked at the big picture, it was worth being a few minutes late to keep her brother off her precious baby.
"Yeah, just let me get dressed and we can head off." Sarah nodded and walked past her brother, making it to the doorway before he caught her attention and she stopped. Stood in the doorway, Sarah looked back over her shoulder, seeing that Stefan was still smiling at her. "I just wanted to say…I'm glad you and Elena are getting along. I know it must be hard for you, what with her…appearance, and everything."
Sarah cocked and eyebrow at her brother. "Careful, Stefy. If Elena heard that it might hurt her feelings," she teased as Stefan shook his head, smiling as he ran his hand through his wet hair, droplets of water dropping as he did.
"I'm just trying to say, thank you," Stefan said with a chuckle. "I appreciate that you've managed to put…certain thoughts aside, and are now able to get along with her."
Still keeping her eyebrow cocked, Sarah replied with, "Don't flatter yourself, Stefan. Yes, it's true if you weren't dating Elena then I probably would have killed her on sight. But since I've gotten to know her I now see her instead of Katherine. I would even goes as far as to say we're friends." She smiled at her brother and he smiled proudly back before she shot him a wicked grin and a mischievous glance. "And as her friend, I'm so going tell her about what you said about her appearance."
"You're funny," Stefan said with a dry laugh. Sarah then shot him one last teasing smile before heading down the stairs. Shortly after Stefan joined her and Scarlett came running down at the last second to grab a ride. Turns out she'd slept in after spending a late night at Jeremy's. She hadn't gotten back until the small hours and hand only managed to grab a couple hours sleep. Sarah thought about tormenting her – and lecturing her – but decided to cut the girl a break since she hadn't been giving her much attention while dealing with Stefan. So she apologised, offered her some aspirin and then they headed off to school.
Upon arrival, Sarah new she had to go to the cafeteria to meet with Caroline, Elena and Bonnie. That or risk being yelled out by Caroline for the rest of the year. It was something she could handle obviously, what she couldn't handle was Caroline actively seeking her out just to yell at her. Then a miracle happened. On the way to the cafeteria, Alaric caught up to Sarah, Stefan and Scarlett and told them to head to his classroom because they needed to discuss something serious. They all got it was supernatural related and made their way while Alaric went to grab Elena. As they went their separate ways Alaric called after them, telling them to call Damon. So Sarah did and asked him to come over to the school. He grumbled for a bit but gave in in the end and promised to be there in a few minutes. By the time he arrived, everyone else had already gathered in the class room.
"Damon, thanks for coming," Alaric said as Damon walked in. He glance around the room, seeing Alaric standing by his desk which Stefan was leaning on. By the window, Sarah and Scarlett leaned back with their arms folded and at a lone desk, Elena sat, staring straight ahead. Thinking over what she had just been told.
"Sorry I'm late. My dog ate my uh…" he paused half way through his joke, sensing the tension in the room. "Never mind," Damon finished as he looked from face to face, all of which were frowning with varying degrees of worry and shock. "What's with all the frowns?"
"I saw Isobel last night," Alaric said.
Damon's head swung towards Alaric. "Isobel's here? In town?" Alaric nodded. He then looked to Elena, as did everyone else, making sure that hearing it again hadn't caused her to break down. Her eyes flickered between everyone, the startled look remaining on her face as she did. With a sigh, Damon began to pace back and forth. "Did you ask her about Uncle John? Are they working together?" Damon asked Alaric. Questions Sarah had been wondering about herself.
"No," Alaric answered.
"No they're not?" Damon pressed.
"No, I didn't ask," Alaric elaborated as Damon rolled his eyes.
"What about the invention?" Damon asked, moving on to his next thought.
"Didn't ask."
"Did she know about the tomb vampires?" Damon asked, getting more irritated.
"I don't know," Alaric said, sounding out each syllable.
"Did words completely escape you?" Damon snarled as he squared up to Alaric.
"No, I was a little too distracted by my dead vampire wife to ask any questions," Alaric snapped with a raised voice.
"Man this is crazy," Scarlett muttered as Sarah shared an agreeing look with her.
"What did she want?" Damon then asked.
"She wants to seen me, Damon," Elena spoke up as everyone looked to her again.
"Alaric is supposed to arrange a meeting. We don't know why or what she wants," Stefan explained from his position on the desk.
"You don't have to see her if you don't want to," Damon said to Elena. Sarah frowned and she could see Stefan doing the same. It was rare to see Damon being nice, especially these days, but ever since Stefan's rehabilitation he seemed to be opening up a lot more. Even so, it was still weird for Sarah to see Damon looking at Elena with a softness to his blue eyes.
"She's threatened to go on a killing spree," Alaric added.
"Oh. I take it that's not okay with you guys," Damon said as he looked around the room.
"I want to do it," Elena spoke up once more. "I want to meet her. If I don't, I know I'll regret it."
"Alright, so what are we actually going to do then?" Scarlett asked as she looked around, waiting for someone to ask.
"What's Scrappy doing here?" Damon asked as he nodded to Scarlett.
"She's here to help," Sarah answered.
"What exactly does she bring to the table? We've already got a useless human on the team," Damon pointed out with a nod over to Alaric.
"You're an ass," Alaric grumbled.
"And you're the one who couldn't get any useful information out of his dead wife," Damon said with a glare over to Alaric who just shook his head with a clenched jaw.
"To answer your question, Scarlett," Stefan cut in before Damon could piss of anyone else. "I'm going to go in with Elena, everyone else is going to wait outside."
"No, no, no, no," Damon quickly said as he waved his finger back and forth, marching over to Stefan. "We're not letting her go in alone and you're to weak to take on someone like Isobel," Damon said as he pointed back over to Stefan. He'd already worked out what Sarah had assumed, that Isobel had flick her switch. From everything that Alaric had told them about his wife before she turned and what she was like when he met her last night, it made sense to think she'd turned off her humanity. And with that state of mind, she'd be taking no prisoners and would be full of blood, putting her at an instant advantage against Stefan.
"I'll be fine, Damon," Elena said reassuringly.
"At least let me and Sarah come in too," Damon insisted.
"No. She wants her alone, Stefan we can probably get away with but anyone else and she'll get suspicious," Alaric explained as Damon swung around to face him, glaring at him as if it was all his fault.
"We can cover the exits," Sarah spoke up. "Damon and Alaric watch the front while Scarlett and me watch the back."
"And what good's that gonna do if Elena's inside getting her head ripped off?" Damon asked as he turned on her.
"She's not going to kill me, Damon," Elena insisted. "If she was going to do that, she'd have done it already."
"Exactly," Sarah agreed. "So we let her have her little chat with Elena, then follow her, find out where she's hiding, and what she's up too. Then take it form there. And if she tries anything we've got the exits covered and can box her in." She could see Damon was coming around to the plan but still wasn't happy because he was essentially on the side lines. Eventually though, he agreed and Alaric set up the meeting for after school at the Grill.
And as planned Elena and Stefan headed in, waiting for Isobel while Damon and Alaric waited out front at the park across the street. As for Sarah and Scarlett they took up the side alley of the Grill, the back exit in case of a fire. They listened in but it was all just mindless chatter. Elena and Stefan weren't talking, because they weren't together. To keep Isobel appeased, Stefan was to stand a few feet away from Elena who would have claimed a table. Because of that it was kind of hard for the two to have a conversation. It also made listening in extremely boring. Just listening out for Elena's voice so that they'd know when Isobel arrived.
Hearing a sigh from next to her, Sarah turned to see Scarlett pouting at the Grill's wall. She was sat on the ground, back against the wall with her legs crossed and her hand below her chin, holding it up. "You okay there?" Sarah asked with a thin grin to her ward as she looked down. Scarlett turned her head slightly to look up at the vampire, still pouting out of boredom.
"Bored," Scarlett answered bluntly.
"Recently, boring doesn't sound like such a bad thing," Sarah pointed out as she looked back towards the Grill's wall. She listened in for a few seconds but there was still no sound of Elena's voice.
"So what exactly is the big deal about this Isobel?" Sarah turned to look at Scarlett once more. "I mean, I get she's Elena's brith mom and all that. But she's only a few years old, vampire wise. Shouldn't you and you brothers be able to run circle around her since your older?" The girl looked up with a puzzled look and Sarah nodded her head in agreement. Yes, they could easily take her if push came to shove. But Alaric and Elena weren't too happy when the idea of killing Isobel had been brought up in the classroom before Damon had arrived. Understandable, they both had questions and a connection to the woman, even if she'd cut off all her connections to them. Emotionally at least.
"She's turned off her humanity. That makes her unpredictable and dangerous. So it's better if we just play along just now and once we know what she's after then we can decide how to act," Sarah explained.
"What does that mean though, turning off your humanity?" Scarlett asked.
"It can mean different things for different vampires," Sarah began. "For the likes of Isobel, she's basically got no feelings towards anyone or anything. She just does whatever she wants and if something doesn't go her way she'll probably react badly and go overboard. She has no reason, no morality, just her instincts and personal experiences."
"What about you? What does it mean for you?" Sarah pulled away from that question, turning back towards the Grill. That was something she didn't want to relive. Those had been her darkest hours and afterwards, her most shameful. Twice she'd been pulled back thanks to Lexi and the third time had been pure luck. But what she'd done while her humanity was off scared her. It was almost like it had been a split personality, like someone else had been driving her body. For a brief while after her first experience without humanity, she'd wondered if Katherine'd had hers turned off all along. She quickly realised upon reflection that wasn't the case.
"It means something very bad," Sarah answered quietly. She was thankful that Scarlett didn't ask anymore questions after that, though that might have been because Isobel arrived. Sarah then listened in along with Scarlett as Isobel explained what she wanted. Of course before she got to that point she had to go through the awkward small talk. Just the usual stuff though; how she met Katherine, her daylight necklace, not telling Elena who her father was and taunting Elena because she was getting along with all the Salvatores just like Katherine did.
Now Sarah wasn't feeling an overwhelming urge to go in and attack Isobel, but if she happened to come out the back door then she'd certainly be getting hit with something. Then she got onto the real reason she was in town. The Gilbert device, not the compass, the other one, the one Damon had. Then Isobel made the standard threat of killing everyone she cared about and left, ordering Elena to hand over the device. Luckily for Isobel, she went out the front, a fact which disappointed both Sarah and Scarlett.
The two then regrouped with Alaric out front to tail Isobel but she was already out of sight and so was Damon. When Sarah asked where he'd gone to Alaric just said he'd gone to follow a lead of his own. Typical, Sarah thought with a roll of the eyes. An emotionless vampire on the loose and what's Damon doing? Running around on his own. Fantastic.
Scarlett was thankful for the new day, the previous one had started out so promising and then turned dull. After the stakeout at the Grill, nothing more happened. Damon eventually came back and Sarah interrogated him about where he'd been. Apparently he'd located Isobel and gone to warn her to leave town. Sarah hadn't been too happy about that, nor had Stefan, both agreeing he'd more than likely aggravated her. But Damon maintained he had the whole situation under control. Though that was typical Damon from what Scarlett knew, never admitting when he was wrong until it blew up in his face.
The new day wasn't looking all that much better until Scarlett reached school and she got a text from Jeremy. From what he'd said, it seemed urgent so Scarlett quickly made her way to one of the empty classrooms, skipping her locker as she went. When she arrived, she found Jeremy waiting in the room with his bag on the teacher's desk which he was leaning against.
"Hey, what's up?" Scarlett asks as she shook her bag from her shoulder and dropped it on the floor next to the door.
"Have you heard from Anna recently?" Jeremy asked as he pushed off the desk.
"No. Why?" Scarlett asked as she folded her arms.
"I'm starting to worry about her. I've been calling her and she's not answering," Jeremy explained with a worried look on his face. Scarlett offered him a sympathetic smile as she stepped towards him, placing her hand on his arm and gently rubbing it affectionately.
"Jer, she's a vampire, a pretty old one too, which makes her super strong. I'm sure she can take care of herself."
"I'm not sure," Jeremy said as he shook his head. "I mean think about it, we're basically her only friends, so why would she dodge all our calls?" Scarlett had to admit it was odd, but she was still sure Anna could take care of herself. She'd beaten her before so Scarlett knew what Anna was capable off. But she could feel the worry radiating from Jeremy and she was beginning to get the seem feeling as him, that something wasn't quite right with this.
"Alright… Let's say there is something wrong, what are we going to do about it? We don't know where she is, we can't call her, what's your plan?" Scarlett questioned. She'd been expecting Jeremy's face to drop at that, she didn't like it but if he really wanted to go looking for Anna he'd have better have a plan. But his face didn't drop, instead he looked Scarlett square in the eye with an irritated look. At first Scarlett thought he was mad at her for pointing out the obvious.
"We go and ask Elena," Jeremy declared.
"What?" Scarlett said in confusion as her brow lowered.
"She might know where Anna is," Jeremy suggested.
"Jeremy, I don't think-" Scarlett began to say but Jeremy cut her off, just like he'd been doing every time Scarlett had tried to defend Elena's actions. She understood why, he didn't want to get mad at her but the mention of his sister's name recently just set him off. She understood how it must feel to lose his memories. She'd lost hers too, but unlike Jeremy she'd gotten them back and had gotten to know the people that took them away. Jeremy didn't know them and now felt alienated from his sister, someone he'd trusted dearly.
"She's talked about her in her diary before, maybe she knows what's happened to her," Jeremy continued.
"If she did then I'd know. Sarah keeps me up to date remember," Scarlett pointed out but it did little to sway Jeremy.
"But you don't know that for sure, and even if she does, what if Elena knows something and Sarah doesn't," Jeremy argued though he managed to keep his voice level and in control. He was definitely trying to avoid fighting with her. She would have been more irritated with him for that if she didn't see the point he was making. She couldn't say for sure that she knew everything Elena knew. So there was a possibility Elena might no something about Anna, but Scarlett wasn't willing to give the idea much thought.
"Jer, I know you're mad with your sister," Scarlett tried to reason but Jeremy was done with this discussion.
"I'm going to have to talk to her sooner or later about all this anyway," Jeremy admitted as he grabbed his bag, slinging it over his shoulder before heading for the door. "Might as well do it now since she might know something about Anna," Jeremy said with a shrug, his shoulders tense as he walked out.
"Jeremy," Scarlett called after him, grabbing her bag before following him out. She caught up to him in the hall but even then he refused to back down no matter what she said. So rather than continue fighting she just followed him in mutual silence before walking outside into the parking lot where several students were helping to decorate and construct the floats for the Founders' Day Parade. Scarlett, along with more than half the school and teachers, though this was the most stupidest thing ever. But whoever was in charge of everything clearly wanted them to waste school time doing it so for the rest of the week anything Founders' Day took priority.
"Elena!" Jeremy called out as he began to march, Scarlett now having to put effort into keeping up with him. Elena had been walking off somewhere else but stopped when she heard Jeremy calling.
"Hey," she greeted the two before she began walking again with Jeremy and Scarlett following. "Have either of you seen Stefan? I need to find him." Scarlett could tell from the subtle look it was something supernatural and that she'd hear about it eventually, but right now she was more concerned with the argument that was about to occur between the two Gilberts.
"No, not lately. Listen, do you have a second?" Jeremy asked, fight now gone from his voice and sounding little more friendly.
"Yeah, what's up?" Elena asked as they continued on, looking this way and that in case she caught sight of either Stefan or his sister.
"Well, it's Anna." At that Elena stopped, turning to Jeremy to give him her full attention while sending Scarlett a confused and worried glance. "We've left her all these messages and she hasn't gotten back to us, not even a text," Jeremy explained while Elena's gaze slowly drifted over to Scarlett who began to grimace. The last thing she wanted was to get dragged further into the sibling feud than she already was.
"Anna? I didn't know that you guys were still friends?" Elena said, her gaze now more on Scarlett and mentally asking, what they hell is going on?
"Yeah, well, we are," Jeremy said, attitude seeping into his voice. "Look, something could be seriously wrong and if you know anything you've got to tell us."
"I haven't talked to her, Jer," Elena said as she brushed her hair back behind her ear.
Jeremy stared at his sister for a moment before asking, "Are you lying to me right now?"
"Why do you say that?" Elena asked, taken aback by the accusation. Her eyes darted over to Scarlett, hoping for a hint at what was going on but Scarlett just lowered her head, reaching up to scratch the back of her neck.
"'Cause that's what you do, Elena, you lie. You lie about everything," Jeremy declared angrily before leaning in to whisper the rest. "I know what Anna is and I know about Scarlett and I know that you know. So tell me, do you have any idea where she is?"
"No, but, Jer…" Elena said but Jeremy was already done, knowing his sister knew nothing about his friend's disappearance he brushed past her and took off with Elena turning to look after him. "Jeremy, wait!" Elena called after him. At that moment, Scarlett reached forwards and placed her hand on Elena's shoulder. The older girl looked back and was met with sincere blue eyes.
"I'll talk to him," she promised before jogging off after Jeremy, calling after him as she ran.
Hearing a heavy thud of metal followed by a painful scream, Sarah's head swung when she heard a familiar voice cry out. "Get this trailer off me!" Through the crowd she quickly spotted Matt, lying on the ground, his arm trapped beneath the half built float that was now crushing his arm. While several members of the football team, including Tyler, rushed forward to try and lift the float, Sarah looked to Stefan. He nodded and the two rushed forwards, pushing through the crowd before reaching the float. With the added muscle around no one noticed their added vampire strength as the float lifted and Matt dragged himself free while Caroline rushed onto the scene.
"Caroline, call an ambulance," Stefan quickly ordered as he and Sarah ran around the float to check on Matt.
"How does it feel?" Sarah asked as she knelt down next to Matt, lightly grabbing his arm like she was holding an injured animal, careful not to make things worse or move it too much.
"Painful," Matt groaned, Sarah continued to feel his arm, each movement of her finger making Matt wince in more and more pain until finally he snapped. "Can you please stop!" Sarah jumped at his raise voice but was careful in removing her hands from his arm. "Sorry," Matt apologised with a shameful look.
"It's alright," Sarah said with a small understanding smile but it was quickly replaced by a serious look as her hand moved just above Matt's arm. "It's broken, but I can't tell to what degree. You really need to get to a doctor as soon as possible," Sarah said before hearing Elena cry out.
"Jeremy! Jeremy!" Sarah looked over and then looked over to where she last saw Jeremy, eyes widening when she spotted Scarlett lying on the ground. She looked to Stefan and he rose, moving over to go and check on Elena.
"Tyler, watch him," Sarah said as she stood up, motioning with her hand for the teenager to watch Matt.
"I don't need-" Matt began to protest.
"Shut up, and wait for Caroline to get back here with the ambulance," Sarah said sternly before running over to Scarlett, brushing the girl's hair aside, checking to see if there was any injures. If there had been anything bruised, it had healed now. Scarlett's eyes were already fluttering open as Sarah helped sit her up against a nearby car.
"What happened?' Scarlett asked, rubbing her head as she screwed up her face. Sarah opened her mouth to answer but then Scarlett's eyes shot open and her hand dropped. "Where's Jeremy?" Sarah gave her a sorry look and felt horrible when she saw the fear flood into Scarlett's blue eyes. "Jeremy. Jeremy!" Scarlett called out as she stood up, using the car to pull herself up. "Jeremy!"
"Scarlett, look at me. Look at me," Sarah said as she grabbed hold of the teenager and turned her around to face her. Her eyes now glowing a furious gold. Admittedly Sarah did feel a primal fear arise inside of her, but she shoved it down because she knew Scarlett was just scared and needed her help. "We're going to find him. Just don't panic." As she reassured her, the glow began to leave Scarlett eyes, but her breathing remained just as laboured. "Come on, let's find out what's going on," Sarah said as she took Scarlett's arm and began to lead her over to Elena and Stefan.
The two joined the couple just as Elena finished rapidly explaining everything to Stefan. He then explained it to Sarah and Scarlett while Elena filled in the gaps. Afterwards, Elena then grabbed Bonnie and the group retreated into the school to discuss what to do next. They all now knew Isobel had Jeremy hostage and was threatening to kill him unless Elena handed over the device, the device Damon currently possessed and wasn't going to be handing over any time soon. Especially if it could be used to kill vampires such as himself and his siblings. Even Sarah wasn't too sure she wanted to hand over such a weapon to someone like Isobel, particularly if she was working for Katherine.
Nevertheless, they got themselves set up in Alaric's classroom and started to discuss the matter.
"Where's the device now?" Bonnie asked, making sure she had all the facts before she stared throwing out her opinion on the matter, though Sarah was pretty sure she already knew where the young witch stood.
"Damon has it. He's going to be difficult to reason with," Stefan answered from in front of the desk Bonnie was sat at while Elena paced back and forth nervously, worrying about her brother. Sarah would have felt bad for her if she wasn't more worried about Scarlett who was stone still with her arms folded. Her nails digging into her arms. She was leaning against Alaric's desk next to her and while Sarah was watching Bonnie and Stefan, she also had one eye on her teenage ward.
"We'll go to him, I'll talk to him," Elena said in a not so confident tone, more like she was bargaining than demanding.
"And say what?" Sarah asked with a questioning frown as Elena turned to her, bitting her lower lip when she realised she didn't have an answer. The brunette groaned in frustration as she ran her hands through her hair desperate for a solution which would keep her brother safe. "Sorry, but Damon's not just going to hand it over because you said pretty please," Sarah said with a sorry shrug to Elena who once again began to pace.
"Especially if it's harmful to vampires," Stefan added. Then Elena stopped and lifted her head, an idea flashing through her eyes. She turned to Stefan and Bonnie and Sarah frowned curiously, wondering what the girl had.
"What if it's not?" Elena asked, a mental lightbulb shining above her head.
"This is stupid!" Scarlett suddenly snapped, slamming her hands down on the desk she was leaning on. Everyone turned to her but whereas the others had surprised looks, Sarah shot the teenager a warning look. Mentally telling her to calm down. Scarlett didn't seem to care, her jaw clenched as she heavily exhaled. "This isn't going to get Jeremy back."
"Scarlett, calm down," Sarah said in a low serious tone.
"No," Scarlett snapped back before turning on Elena. "You're stupid vampire mother has your brother and you're doing nothing to help find him," Scarlett said as she pointed an accusing finger at Elena, a look of hurt flashed across her face.
"Outside, now!" Sarah shouted as she grabbed Scarlett's wrist and pulled her out the classroom, slamming the door behind her so that the others couldn't hear. She knew they would end up hearing her anyway but it was the principle that mattered. "What the hell was that?" Sarah demanded, crossing her arms as she glared at Scarlett who glare back at her with equal rage.
"Nobody's doing anything!" Scarlett yelled in frustration.
"Yes we are, we have a plan," Sarah argued but she could see Scarlett's point. She hadn't heard Elena's idea yet but even if they could disarm it she couldn't see Damon handing the device over. He was a savour and if there was any chance the device would kill him or his siblings he wouldn't part with it. Especially if he knew Katherine wanted it, and while Sarah was all aboard the revenge train, last stop Katherine Pierce, the timing was really bad for Jeremy.
"It's an idea. A really crappy idea!" She tried to say something else but couldn't find the words and then threw her arms up in the air before growling, her eyes flashing gold just for a second. "You know what. Forget this. I'll find him myself," Scarlett said before she turned and began to walk off.
"Scarlett!" Sarah called when the girl was a few meters away. With a groan, the teenager turned back around fully expecting Sarah to order her back or drag her. But instead she remained outside the classroom door, her arms folded. She stared for a moment and then sighed. "Good luck." Scarlett smiled a tiny thankful smile. "And don't do anything stupid, please." Scarlett turned away at that and continued on down the corridor. "And if you find anything call me!" She just hopped the call came before she made a one girl rescue attempt to save Jeremy from Isobel. She might not be that old, but she had no emotions. She was pure hard logic and Scarlett was running high on emotions and stamping on logic as she went. Keep her safe, Sarah silently prayed to anyone who was listening. Though the only person she'd imagine would was Lexi and she was probably getting sick of hearing her complain and ask for favours by now.
Sarah smiled to herself. She could practically hear Lexi telling her that could never happen.
And with that she returned to the classroom, three sets of eyes instantly landing on her. "She's gone off to see if she can track Jeremy," Sarah explained as she walked back over to the group.
"Will she be alright?" Elena asked in concern.
"She's fine. Remember, Scarlett's not an average girl," Sarah said with a pointed look to both Stefan and Elena. They caught on but still seemed a little on edge about the idea. Bonnie however frowned in mild confusion before shaking it off.
"So, Elena, what's your idea?" Bonnie asked, moving on. Elena then explained her idea which was extremely simple which only seemed to make Sarah worry. She didn't say anything though and neither did Stefan but she could tell he was thinking the same thing. But they would let it play out and see how things evolved. Once Bonnie agreed to the idea, the four made their way over to the Salvatore boarding house and found Damon waiting for them. He wasn't doing an awful lot, a bit of light reading in the study that had quickly ended when the four high school students entered. They then explained themselves and Damon reacted exactly as Sarah predicted.
"Absolutely not!"
