GILBERT'S LAKE HOUSE
Stefan is on the dock outside skipping pebbles across the lake. His phone rings and he answers it, seeing it's Damon
" What's going on?" Stefan asks into the phone
" Well my girlfriend left me, I've gone through all of the good liquor in the house and there is now a hole in a wall downstairs. So feeling completely swell." Damon informs, his last sentence dripping with sarcasm.
" That makes one of us." Stefan comments, ignoring the sarcastic tone Damon used
"I did hear one piece of good news though. Tyler Lockwood ran away from home last night."
"How do you know?"
" Well, I heard it from Sheriff Forbes, who heard it from a very distraught Carol Lockwood, thus, ending our werewolf chapter, bringing us to..."
" ...killing Elijah." Stefan finishes for his brother
" Exactly."
" Well, it's not going to be easy. He's crafty."
" Well, I've got a crafty little dagger."
" He's an Original. We don't know what all that encompasses."
" Oh, trust me, Stefan. I'm gonna dot all my t's. I don't want any surprises."
" Wow, Damon, tell me you're actually gonna be careful for once?"
" Yes, Stefan, I've become you. How tragic for both of us. Got to run. I've a murder to plan and a girlfriend to get back. Busy day." Damon hangs up. Stefan lowers the phone and looks through the window at Elena and walks back to the house
NEAR THE OLD FELL PROPERTY
Jenna and Elijah are taking a tour of some of the historical sights of Mystic Falls with Jenna as the tour guide.
" The old Fell property actually starts just beyond that fence." Jenna explains
" Ah, the Fells. One of the "Founding Families"." Elijah realises
" Why do you say it like that?"
" My research showed me that this area was actually settled almost two full centuries earlier. It was a migration of townsfolk from the northeast, um, it was Salem, to be precise. "
"Massachusetts? As in the witch trials?"
" Which means the ever lauded founding families... They didn't actually found anything."
" Well, I bet it was the men who made a big deal about being founders back in 1860. Men are very territorial."
" Yes, they are." Elijah agrees as Alaric walks up to the two of them
" Elijah, this is my friend, Alaric Saltzman." Jenna introduces
"Yeah, I got your message about walking Elijah here through the old property lines. I thought I would tag along. You know being a history buff and all. Where to next?" Alaric asks
"I'm pretty curious about the freed slave property owners. Some say, you know, the descendants of the slaves are the true keepers of American history." Elijah responds
" Well, I only brought the surveys. I got that list in the car. Just give me a sec." Jenna says and walks back to her car.
" Alaric Saltzman. So you're one of those people on Elena's list of loved ones to protect." Elijah recognizes
" So is Jenna." Alaric replies
" You don't have to be jealous. I don't really pursue younger women. It's a joke, Ric, lighten up." Elijah laughs and pats him on the shoulder before walking away
" Right." Alaric comments
MYSTIC GRILL
Bonnie is sitting by herself at a table when Jeremy walks in and approaches her. He sits down with her.
" Hey, whatcha doin'?" Jeremy asks happily
" Thinking about last night." Bonnie says
" Yeah, yeah. Me too." Jeremy replies, thinking about their kiss last night
" It was a tough spell. I could feel it draining me. I need practice." Bonnie says, obviously not thinking about the kiss
" Yeah, well, uh, maybe, I don't know… Maybe you should come over tonight. We can practice. Get stronger."
" Yeah, sure. Thanks." Bonnie agrees but then Luka walks into the restaurant and Jeremy sees.
" Ah, incoming." Jeremy informs before Luka walks to their table
" You want to tell me what the hell happened yesterday?" Luka demands
" Sorry?" Bonnie asks, pretending to not have a clue what he's talking about
" Don't play dumb. You both were here and..." Luka trails off
"And?" Jeremy tries to get him to continue
" And that's all I remember. One minute I'm playing pool and the next I'm waking up in a bathroom stall." Luka says
" Sorry, Luka, but everything seemed normal yesterday. I mean, I brought you a coffee and we played pool." Bonnie lies
" See, I think you're lying." Luka growls. Jeremy decides to take action and stands up and pushes Luka away from Bonnie
" And I think you need to back off." Jeremy darkly warns. Luka takes one last look at them before leaving
GILBERT'S LAKE HOUSE
Elena is inside the house, reading Jon Gilbert's diary. She jumps when she hears Stefan open the door and enter the room. He takes his jacket off and looks at her
" Are you still mad?" Elena asks
" Yeah, I'm still mad." Stefan says
" We have a difference of opinion, Stefan. We're not always gonna agree on everything."
" Elena, you've agreed to sacrifice yourself to Klaus. To say that we have a difference of opinion is the understatement of the century."
" You would know." Elena replies. Stefan takes a look at the journal in her hands
" What does Jonathan Gilbert have to say?" Stefan asks
" A lot. It's insane the things he wrote in his journal.?" Elena remarks and passes him the journal which he opens
" That he kept from the founding families. Stuff that nobody knows. Stuff that... You never told me." Elena hints
"We were, uh... We were angry at the founding families for what they did to Katherine. We wanted revenge. I didn't know about Jonathan Gilbert's ring yet. I didn't know that he would... that he would survive." Stefan explains as he sits down
" He describes you as a monster."
" That's what I was. I want you to know the truth... But I want you to hear it from me. In the weeks after I became a vampire, I relished in it. I took it to the darkest place I could." Stefan sighs
1864
Stefan is draining the blood from a woman. She dies from the blood loss and Stefan lies back on the couch, breathing heavily. His shirt and chin are stained with blood. Nearby, two women dance while another woman plays the piano. Stefan gets up.
" Who wants to die next?" Stefan asks and two dancing women walk over to him
" Me, I'm next." The first woman says excitedly
" Me, you promised me.' Woman number two pouts. He caresses both of their chins and then looks over to the woman playing the piano and walks toward her. He grabs her face between his hands
" What about you? You know if you don't pick up the tempo, you're going to lose your head. Snap. Snap." Stefan threatens. The woman does as commanded and picks the tempo up. Stefan super speeds over to one of the dancing women and bites her neck, drinking her blood. Damon then walks into the room
" Company, brother?" Damon questions causing Stefan to stop drinking and look at him
"I brought enough to share." Stefan suggests. He throws the non-bitten girl over to Damon who catches her
"Are you mad bringing them here when the entire town is hunting us?" Damon hisses and Stefan walks to him
" Damon, if you're worried about the founding families, please don't be. They're all dead or about to be." Stefan says. He looks back to the woman he was drinking from. She smiles at him and he continues to drink from the wound on her neck again. Damon looks at the girl that Stefan threw to him and grabs her face making her look him in the eye
"Leave this place. Never think of it again." Damon compels. He then walks over to Stefan and 'his girl' and rips Stefan from her neck before doing the same with her
" Same for you. Leave this place. Never think of it again." Damon compels as his younger brother growls in fury
" Damon, don't be like this. I'm just having some fun." Stefan whines
" Staying alive is more fun, Stefan. We have to be more careful than this. More clever. Like Katherine was."
" Look where that got her."
" I'm done here. With you. I'm leaving town." Damon says and walks past Stefan. Stefan vamp-speeds in front of him and grabs him by the shoulders.
" You hate me. I know. I know. An eternity of misery and on and on. I know, but you don't have to leave town. Damon, I'll do better. I promise." Stefan begs
" No, you will get us killed. I'd rather leave you to do that to yourself." Damon replies and pushes Stefan off him and walks out, leaving an upset Stefan behind
GILBERT LAKE HOUSE - PRESENT
" I wasn't myself then. I was full of guilt. What I did to my father, to my brother. I had to turn it off. It was the only way I could survive." Stefan explains to his girlfriend
" It sounds like you were Damon." Elena jokes seriously
" I was worse."
CAROLINE'S HOUSE
Caroline and Aalleeyah are still in bed, asleep when a loud banging on the front door. They both groan and Caroline sluggishly drags herself to the door. She opens it and sees an upset Damon on the other side.
"Where's Aalleeyah?" Damon demands
"Well good morning to you too" Caroline sarcastically yawns
"Good morning Caroline, how are you? Now where is she?"
"What makes you think she's here?"
"Because I know her and I know she'd never go back home where John and Jenna are, she would never go to Bonnie's and she wouldn't go up to the lake house with Stefan and Elena because she finds them boring. Which only leaves you so where is she?"
"Damon, just give her time to cool off okay. Just leave her alone"
"Okay fine" Damon relents
"But tell her I really need her help and if she wants to help then I'll be at the Grill" Damon replies and sulks back to his car. Caroline sighs before closing the door behind him. She turns back around, about to head back to her room and sees Aalleeyah peeking around the corner.
"You hear that?" Caroline asks and Aalleeyah nods.
"Should I go?" Aalleeyah asks
"Do you want to go?"
"Well what if he needs my help with something big?"
"Then go"
"But I don't face him yet"
"Then don't go" Caroline shrugs
"You're terrible at helping people decide what to do" Aalleeyah sighs
"Sorry but I can't help you. You need to make your own decision on this one" Caroline says and walks back into the room to take a shower, leaving an undecided Aalleeyah behind.
MYSTIC GRILL
Alaric and Damon are at a booth at the Grill
"So where's Aalleeyah? Aren't you two joined at the hip" Alaric asks
"We're in a fight" Damon sighs
"About what?"
"She's trying to commit suicide"
"What?" Alaric asks completely confused
"She has her own plan for the sacrifice and I told her she can't do it" Damon shrugs and Alaric laughs
"Never tell your girlfriend that she can't do something. No wonder she dumped you on your ass" Alaric laughs
"She didn't dump me. We're just fighting"
"Did she leave with a bag?"
"Yes but only because she was staying at Caroline's for the night"
"Did she take most of her clothes though?"
"…yes" Damon reluctantly admits
"You're dumped"
"Shit" Damon curses
"Maybe not" Alaric comments looking behind Damon. When Damon pulls a confused face, Alaric nods his head over to the entrance. Damon turns around and sees the most beautiful girl in the world looking around for someone. That someone is of course Aalleeyah (outfit on profile). She finally spots the two men and takes a deep breath before walking over to them. Once she reaches them, she seats next to Alaric, still angry with Damon.
"What do you want?" She asks harshly
"Are you still angry?" Damon asks
"Yes"
"Well are we going to talk about it?"
"No"
"Why not?"
"Because we're both stubborn and never going to relent" Aalleeyah replies. Damon sighs and reaches over and grabs one of her hands that was on the table and rubs it soothingly while Alaric, once again, is just awkwardly sitting there, trapped between the two.
"Leeyah, I'm sorry" Damon apologizes
"For what?"
"For saying you can't kill yourself"
"Are you serious? It's not suicide! Just because your baby witch doesn't know a spell, doesn't mean it's not possible" Aalleeyah hisses
"Fine Aalleeyah. Make you a deal. If we find no better plan by the time of the sacrifice then you can do your plan" Damon decides. Aalleeyah sighs but smiles before leaning over the table and placing a sweet kiss on his lips.
"Deal" She whispers on his lips and kisses him again, more heated this time
"Um okay. Glad to see you back together but can we not have sex in the middle of a restaurant" Alaric coughs and they break apart and Aalleeyah sits back in her seat.
" Other than your lecture on the history of Mystic Falls, did you get anything out of Elijah?" Damon questions, getting back on topic
" No, it was boring. Of course, Jenna thinks he's charming." Alaric complains
" You sounded jealous. Sound a bit jealous?" Damon asks Aalleeyah
" Kinda do." She laughs. Damon sees Jenna and Elijah enter the Grill
" Ah, there's Jenna with her new boyfriend. Hi." Damon greets as Jenna and Elijah walk to their table
" Hey, guys." Jenna smiles at the two guys but completely ignores Aalleeyah's presence which she expected
" So I hear you two had quite a meeting of historical minds today." Damon comments
" Yeah, I guess you could say that." Jenna responds
" Well, as much as I'd like to continue this, I've got papers to grade." Alaric excuses himself and puts down some money and gets up from the seat
" No, you know what? We should continue this. Let's have a dinner party." Aalleeyah suggests, with an overly excited voice
" Ooh, my girl. Full of good ideas. I'll be happy to host. Say tonight. Maybe?" Damon proposes
" It's good for me. Jenna?" Aalleeyah asks
" I don't know if tonight works..." Alaric starts
" Yeah, I'm free." Jenna cuts off
" It'd be a pleasure." Elijah smiles at Aalleeyah
" Great." Damon responds, trying not to punch Elijah for flirting with his girlfriend
GILBERT LAKE HOUSE
Elena is leaning against the back door, looking out at the lake. Stefan walks up to her and hands her a mug of tea.
" For weeks I kept spiralling. I was completely driven by the desire for blood. Hunt, prey, kill. That was all I knew." Stefan continues his story
" How come no one caught on to what you were doing?" Elena wonders
" Mmm. There was a war going on. The thing about wartime. Endless, anonymous blood supply." Stefan replies
1864 - THE WOODS
There is a camp set up for the sick and injured Civil War soldiers. Stefan is drinking the blood from a man who appears to be already dead. He looks up and sees a hooded figure feeding a bowl of soup to another injured man. The hooded figure stands up and walks away into the woods. Stefan follows them. The hooded person stops and Stefan rushes away. They look behind themselves, but they don't see anyone. Stefan starts rushing around the person and eventually falls down on top of them, but they are too quick and catch Stefan, pinning him to the floor. The hooded figure is Lexi. Her face is vamped out as she looks down at Stefan.
" What kind of an idiot are you?" Lexi rhetorically asks
GILBERT LAKE HOUSE - PRESENT
" Alexia Branson, as she was known back then." Stefan says
" Lexi? Your best friend Lexi? That's how you met her? What was she even doing in Mystic Falls?"
" She had heard it was a good place for vampires. You know, had no idea that they'd all been massacred. Needed a place to crash, so I brought her home with me."
1864 - SALVATORE HOUSE
Stefan and Lexi enter the Boarding house
" I'd say it isn't necessary to take me in, but you did try to eat me and well, with dawn coming, beggars can't be choosers." Lexi remarks
Lexi looks around and sees the dead bodies of the girls lying around in the parlour room
" Or should they be?" Lexi asks
" I, um...I meant to dispose of those." Stefan
" My God, you're a ripper."
" A what?"
" There are good parts of being a vampire and there are bad parts. You're the bad parts. Well... we're going to have to change that."
GILBERT LAKE HOUSE - PRESENT
" Are you okay?" Elena asks concerned
" Talking about her brings up things that I'd rather forget."
" Like Damon killing her?"
SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE
Before anybody has arrived for the dinner party, Aalleeyah and Damon are upstairs in their bedroom, getting ready. As Aalleeyah (outfit on profile) is doing her hair, Damon approaches her and kisses her bare shoulder lovingly repeatedly.
"Damon, I'm trying to get ready"
"But I was all alone last night, I need some Aalleeyah time"
"Well Aalleeyah time will have to wait until tonight because Aalleeyah is getting ready" Aalleeyah says and Damon sighs but pulls away and lays down on the bed, still watching her
"I did miss you though. You were only gone one night but the house just felt empty and boring without you"
"I'm glad that I bring light to the house" Aalleeyah chuckles
"You bring light to my life" Damon smiles widely
"That was very cheesy" Aalleeyah laughs and walks over, kissing his lips. She tries to pull away but Damon grabs hold of her waist and drags her down on the bed, underneath his body. He heats the kiss up by gently pushing his tongue past her lips, their tongues in a battle fighting for dominance. The bell at the door interrupts their heated moment. Damon groans and rolls off of Aalleeyah
"God I hate people" He complains
"Come on, that's probably Ric and Jenna" Aalleeyah says and gets off the bed, dragging him behind her down the stairs to open the door. Damon opens the door with Aalleeyah next to him and on the other side of the door was Jenna and Ric just like Aalleeyah guessed.
"Hey Ric" Aalleeyah smiles
"Jenna" Aalleeyah glares coldly. Jenna rolls her eyes and pushes past Aalleeyah into the house and Ric follows behind. Damon closes the door behind them and looks to Aalleeyah
"Be nice" Damon mouths and Aalleeyah pouts in return. Damon reaches down and kisses her pouting lip
Later on, Jenna and Aalleeyah are silently setting the table for dinner while Alaric and Damon are in the library
" This is a bad idea." Alaric stresses
" There's no such thing as a bad idea. Just poorly executed awesome ones. Here." Damon passes Alaric a glass of scotch but he refuses
"No. I don't like the idea of Elijah being in the same house with Jenna."
" Jenna's perfectly safe. Besides, it's just a fact-finding mission. It's totally harmless."
" Just a fact-finding mission?"
" Yeah."
" Listen, no sneak attacks. No surprise plans. Nothing that's gonna put Jenna in harm's way. Ok?"
" Scout's honour." Damon promises. He puts his hand up and grabs Alaric shoulder and Alaric responds by looking suspicious. Aalleeyah then walks in
" Hey, Jenna needs help with the wine." Aalleeyah interrupts. Damon looks at Alaric, smiles and pats his arm reassuringly and Alaric walks up the steps on the way out
" Thanks." Aalleeyah thanks
" Yeah." Alaric appreciates and leaves the room, closing the door. Damon waits until he's definitely gone before walking over to a small trunk and opens it, pulling out the silver dagger and ash and Aalleeyah walks down the steps to him
"Are you sure you guys are ready to do this?" Aalleeyah checks
"Yep"
"Damon…" Aalleeyah cautions
"Leeyah, this will work. All we need is the element of surprise. Now you're job is to use that charm of yours and encourage the gentlemen to take their after dinner drinks in here while you do coffee in the kitchen with the girls."
"But I hate Jenna" Aalleeyah whines as they hear the bell ring upstairs and Jenna walk to answer the door
"Well makes amends because somebody needs to distract Jenna while I stab Elijah with this nifty dagger" Damon says and hides the dagger from view and goes to leave the room. Aalleeyah processes what he just said before racing after him
"Damon!" She yells out but stops when she sees the Damon and Jenna are talking to John who seems to be at the person who was at the door. She slowly walks to the door
"What the hell are you doing here?" She spits
"When Jenna told me she was coming to a dinner party for Elijah, I decided I couldn't miss out on all the fun and games." John explains as Alaric walks in
" There are not going to be any games tonight, John. It's just a friendly dinner party." Alaric informs and John looks back at Damon for confirmation
" What he said." Damon agrees
AN: Alright guys, I know, kinda boring chapter but I actually have some news. I'm thinking of getting a beta or co-writer for this story because then I'll be able to update quicker and have better ideas. Anybody interested?