WARNING: Self-Harm.
Scenario: Aly cuts her arm to use her blood for magic, not realizing that she could just directly siphon herself.
Ashies: Thank you so much for the lovely comment! I hope I won't disappoint you with this next chap ;)
FreakingLEM: I'm really liking the Damon/Aly interactions as well :)) I can't really say much about Grayson because spoilers ;) Honestly as of now I can't ship any of my lovely characters with Damon because he's still in his jerk phase.
"Let's see, I have band practice this Friday, cheer and volleyball on Saturday. I was supposed to help out Caroline for the school council's charity this Sunday at church so I think I can help you- maybe…" Aly looked at her November calendar in her planner, all the dates were filled up. "Christmas break?"
"Oh come on, Alyssandra. I'm pretty sure Caroline can survive dealing with cancer kids on her own."
"I actually planned this month's charity." Aly sniffled, "I think I should be in it."
"Then cut school. I'll see you tomorrow at the Grill."
"No, Damon! I'm not cutting school just because you-" He hung up. "-asked."
Aly huffed, dropping her phone to her messy desk filled with school works and other useless paper. Aly had already gotten herself caught up with all of the homework and projects the teachers had given her after pulling out two all-nighters, just to stay on top of things. She was a busy girl after all. At least, that's what she told herself.
Grayson's letter laid untouched by the side of her desk, along with her file and the box it came with. Her eyes drifted towards it and she pursed her lips. Aly did not want to open that can of worms right now.
Aly sighed, pulling her hair up into a bun. She steadily opened her grimoire, she had all the details she needed in learning how to use magic. There was only one problem;
Aly stared at the scissors.
She thought of all the times she had used magic, remembering now that every time she had used it, she had an open wound. Her blood was a main catalyst. Aly had no idea why, but it just was. She bit her lip, thinking hard. Aly could easily go to the Bennett's to ask for help but Bonnie's message on Sheila not being too happy with her had her hesitating.
Aly herself didn't know if Sheila hadn't at all been lying to her. She had the strangest feeling that Sheila already knew the answers about her magic after asking her previously and for some reason, the older witch remained quiet and cagey about it.
"Fuck it." Aly grabbed at the pair, lightly grazing her arm. She hissed, placing her other hand on top of it. She watched in amazement as her palm gave off a soft red glow. Aly brushed through the pages of her grimoire, going to the section about witches. She read through to see which description she matched with; siphoner.
Staring at the candle, Aly focused, and she jumped in shock as it instantly lit up.
A knock on her door got her quickly blowing it off.
"Come in!" She yelped, rushing to hide what she was doing. Aly's shoulders slumped in relief in seeing Elena on the other side of her room.
"Hey."
"Hi."
They haven't properly talked to each other since 'the reveal day' as Aly dubbed it. She hadn't told her about Grayson's other activities either, Elena and Jenna already had a falling out, her sister was determined to let Jenna feel bad for not telling them the truth. She wasn't sure how Elena would react once she found out that Grayson wiped her sister's mind and experimented on vampires.
"How are you?" Elena fiddled with the hem of her shirt. "Do you want to talk about, you know."
Aly shrugged. "I'm fine. It's a lot I guess, but..." she trailed off, not knowing what to say.
They both fall silent. Elena looked at her with wide eyes, "Is that- is that all you have to say?"
Aly couldn't help but let out an annoyed sigh, running a hand across her face. "What do you want me to say?" The sentence came out more rugged than she wanted to, and she inwardly winced.
Elena's head fell to her feet, and Aly actually did wince, feeling guilty. "I don't know…" Elena sighed, shaking her head. "Don't think about it." She leaves her room.
Aly stared at the door over her retreat before turning her attention back at the grimoire. She really didn't want to think of her family right now.
~ soulmark ~
"Try this one."
Jamie threw a jellybaby into her mouth. Aly caught it, giggling slightly. It was in an assortment of flavors, and each one was a pleasant surprise. They sat outside school grounds, next to the oval. Jamie had texted her that morning asking her if she wanted to try out snacks. His parents just came from Europe, and he had a bunch of food that he got to share.
Aly hummed, "I think this one's the best one."
"Yeah?" He looked at the package, a slight frown creasing his face as he searched for the flavor, the sun gently hit his sandy brown hair, making it look golden. "That's cranberry, I think."
"Why didn't you go with them, anyway? I heard Denmark's great this time of the year."
"I didn't want to miss anything." Jamie snacks on his nutbag. "Just in case Sarah's dad set anything up."
"Does your family travel a lot?"
"Every now and then." He shrugged, "Mostly 'cause of Mom's travel photos. You?"
"We did," Aly said softly, leaning back. "You know, back when. We haven't really gone out of town since."
Jamie leaned forward to her, flicking a hair out of her face. Aly lightly smacked his hand. "How are you?" he asked, "You don't really talk much about yourself."
"Leave it." Her voice was more clipped than she intended, so she gave him a small smile. "It's fine, honestly. Everyone in the fam is doing pretty okay now."
"I didn't ask about your family. I asked about you."
Thankfully, whatever reply Aly's mouth had formed into died as the bell rang. "Have you seen Mr. Saltzman yet? He's a pretty cool teacher."
Jamie gave her a look. "Not yet, but he's my last class. I heard he's better than Tanner."
Aly snorted as she stood up. She cleared her throat, "Yeah, well. Not a hard job." She tapped him by the shoulder. "I'll see you around."
On her way back, Aly spotted Tyler giving Jamie and her a look with Matt right next to him. Aly ignored them both. Her phone began to buzz, a quick glance tells her that Damon's been bombing her with endless text messages, all demanding her to meet up with him at the Grill. Aly sighed, slamming her locker door shut, her fingers already typing out a reply.
"You were supposed to meet me at the Grill!"
Aly rolled her eyes, not even surprised that he turned up at school. "You're not supposed to be here. It's creepy, aren't you supposed to be a hundred years old?"
Damon grabbed her by the arm, forcing her to walk the other direction she was heading to. "Oh please, I don't look older than 25."
"Are you sure about that? You look 30 and dress like Edgy-Boy-15. Though if you told me you died in the middle of a midlife crisis, I'd believe you." She pried her arm away, giving him a slight glare. He had already pulled her outside school. "I'm not cutting class for you."
He glared right back, "I'm not waiting till your Christmas break." he hissed.
"I'm not giving you a choice." She answered in sing-song.
"Is there a problem here?"
They both spun around. gave them both a suspicious look. He stared at Damon head-on, tense. "Are you alright, Alyssandra?"
Aly wasn't sure when she'd updated him to a first-name basis, but she shrugged nonetheless. "I'm fine, Mr. Saltzman."
Damon moved to take a step forward but Aly pulled him back, using her witch powers to zap him again. He jolted slightly, giving her a glare. "I had to pick up my sweet, darling, not-breaking-any-promises, girlfriend." He pulled her waist towards him, placing his hand to her forehead. "She kept texting me that she was sick." He sighed, bringing his hand down. "She's not- false alarm."
He lightly pushed her back into school. She sent him a look and he winked at her. "I'll meet you later at the Grill."
With that, he was gone.
Alaric looked at Damon's retreating form then back to her. She noticed how his eyes trailed her over, "Is he really your boyfriend?"
"On and off." Aly lied, shrugging. It was better than truth, anyway. Aly doubted her teacher would like it if she was 'friends' with her ex-kidnapper. "I'll see you around !" She waved him off, hurrying over to her class (she was already late). She received another text from Damon moments later,
The Grill. Later. Be there.
Knowing Damon would do anything to get what he wants, Aly had immediately headed to the Grill after class. She sat on the corner near the billiards table, moderately hidden with her grimoire covering half of her face. She didn't want people to actually think or believe that she was dating Damon. Though, it was probably already too late.
Not believing her luck, Aly watched as both Jenna and Jeremy entered the bar. They spot her almost immediately, sitting down on the table with her.
"What are you doing here?" Jeremy asked.
Jenna's eye awkwardly met hers, Aly gave her a light smile. Jenna grinned back, relieved. Aly couldn't find it in her to be angry with her Aunt after everything she's done for them.
"Just thought of hanging." Aly lied, she closed the grimoire shut, putting it back in her bag. "What are you guys doing out?"
"Same." Jeremy shrugged. He perked up, and Aly glanced to why. Their newest History teacher stalked towards them. Aly's eyes fell to his hands, studying the ring on his finger, she wasn't sure whether or not it was Lapis Lazuli. "Mr. Saltzman!"
"Jeremy, what's up man?" To her cringe-worthy horror, the two fist-bumped and high fived. "Aly." He nodded at her, she gave him a polite smile in return.
"This is my Aunt Jenna."
"Alaric Saltzman, nice to meet you."
"Jeremy was just telling me about his paper on the way here." Jenna explained, "Thanks for giving him a second chance."
"Oh you know, it was my first day. I wanted to make a good impression." He chuckled, and their eyes lingered on each other.
Jeremy and Aly shared the same bewildered look.
"Well, we'll see you around !" Aly called, leaning up the table slightly.
"See you." He nodded at them, offering another soft smile towards their aunt, to which she returned.
Aly instantly rounded up at Jenna. "Did that just happen? Please tell me that didn't just happen?"
Jenna rolled her eyes, waving a hand. "I have no idea what you're talking about." The smile on her face said the opposite. She took a sip on her drink, her eyes momentarily darting towards their teacher once more.
Jeremy laughed. "He's a pretty good teacher. I won't complain."
Jenna's eyes rolled some more, but Aly hid her concern. She'll just have to ask Damon later if Alaric was a vampire as well. Speaking of which, Damon had texted her once more. Aly instantly sighed as she saw what he said.
Did I say the Grill? I meant my house. Get here.
"I have to go." Aly gave Jenna a kiss on the cheek and waved to Jeremy goodbye. "Duty calls."
"Me too." Jeremy said, almost excitedly. "I'm meeting up with someone."
~ soulmark ~
Aly arrived at the Salvatore's half an hour later. Thankfully her aunt allowed her to borrow her car again, making it slightly easier to head to their hidden estate. Aly gave Damon a glare as she got in the boarding house.
"Where have you been?" Aly snapped.
"There's been a slight problem." Damon answered, "Remember that dude that shot Stefan? He's back and he's a vampire. There are too many vampires running around Mystic Falls, people are becoming suspicious."
"You mean Logan Fell?" Aly paled, remembering his relationship with Jenna. "He's back? Since when?"
"No idea." Damon shrugged, "But don't worry about it. I have a plan."
Aly followed his pace towards the living room. A frown had settled itself on her face, so far all of Damon's 'plans' had been disasters. With people dying. "By suspicious, do you mean the Council?"
"Yeah." He nodded, pouring himself a glass of bourbon. "-And that history teacher of yours."
Aly blinked, "What? Is he a vampire too?"
"Close." He answered, "He's a vampire hunter."
Perhaps the Founders were right in naming their town Mystic Falls, considering it seemed to attract so many mystical beings. "Like- like Buffy?"
"Exactly like Buffy." Damon drawled, "But nevermind that right now." Damon sped away then back, holding up a picture. "Did you bring your grimoire? I need you to do a locator spell. You do know what's a locator spell, right?"
Aly grabbed her grimoire from her bag, tying her hair up as she set it on the table. "Yes I know what it is." She answered snappishly, "Do you have a map?"
He placed both the map and the picture of Katherine on the table. Aly picked it up, staring at it. "Damn."
"I told you she looks like you." He said, "Down to the curls and everything."
"You can say that again," she murmured, placing it back down. Aly opened her grimoire up to see the spell, "Give me your hand."
"What do you need my hand for?" Damon asked, baffled.
"Alyssandra."
Elena and Stefan stood by the archway, concerned looks on both of their faces. In some odd mirroring way, Aly and Damon both looked at them in equal surprise.
"What are you doing here?"
"I can ask you the same question." Aly sent Stefan a disapproving look, knowing fully well that he was the reason she cut class. "Why weren't you at class today?"
"I had to check something out." Elena answered, "What are you doing?" Elena's eyes flickered from Damon to the table then back to her.
"What? Am I not allowed to hang out with my own doppelgänger?"
"I'm not your doppelgänger." Aly sent him a slight glare.
"They're trying to find Katherine." Stefan said in realization. "Damon we've talked about-"
"I promised Damon I'll help him find her." Aly cut him off. "As long as it doesn't interfere with anything else I'm doing."
"Why would you even help him?" Elena looked at Damon with suspicion. Aly couldn't answer her question, not without outing Grayson.
"I'm curious." Aly shrugged, "Don't you want to know why we look exactly like her?"
Elena pursed her lips, looking from Stefan then back to her. "It's what we've been trying to find out the whole day."
"Well then! Since we're all on the same page, Aly," Damon gave her a forced smile, "The spell."
Aly grabbed and siphoned from his hand, she focused, eyes closed. He flinched slightly as her hand began to glow.
"Don't be a baby." Aly snapped, though it lacked the usual heat. She didn't want to accidentally hurt him. If she weren't careful, Aly could end up taking all the magic that turned Damon into a vampire. There was also a supposed limit of how much magic she could take and the consequence of reaching it was death. Aly wasn't in the mood to find that one out.
Glancing at the map of the United States, Aly took a deep breath. "Faire à voir là ré. Faire à voir là ré. Faire à voir là ré."
… Nothing happened.
"Alright. Baby steps." Damon stood up, muttering. He sped away for a moment.
"How did you do that?" Elena asked in wonder, pointing at her hand.
Aly blushed, a little embarrassed. "I haven't done anything."
"Your hand was glowing." Stefan stated, "I didn't know witches did that."
"It's called siphoning." Aly explained, "Technically I'm not a 'witch' witch. I don't have magic of my own, instead, I have the ability to take magic away from magical objects or, well, people. Like Vampire Damon."
Elena sat next to her, taking a look at her grimoire as well. Aly had to stop herself from grabbing it from her. "Do you think I can do that as well?"
"We could check?" Aly said in question, "I had a hard time figuring all of this out. Sheila wasn't exactly helpful. I'd do that- we'd do that- I mean," She took a deep breath, careful in not rushing her words out this time."We're going to figure this all out together." Aly offered her a smile, taking Elena's hand. They haven't been on good terms lately and she wanted to change that.
Elena's face turned determined. "It's why we need to find who our parents are. So we can make sense to all this." She looked at Stefan hopefully, who nodded in return. Aly watched the exchange in silence.
"Well we can all practice later." Damon went back, a candle on hand. "Try this." Aly rolled her eyes, instantly lighting it up.
"I can do that." she said. Aly spent the few nights before practicing all sorts of spells in her room, eager to test out what she could do. It left her a little tired, and she stupidly had a few gashes on her arm because of it before finding out she could just 'palm' herself, but she thought it was worth it.
Stefan grabbed a set of car keys. "Zachariah's spare keys, think you can try him first?"
Aly nodded, trying again. This time, a soft glow appeared on the map, just around Virginia, signalling that he was in State. Well, she thought, if we're going to find Katherine, we're going to need a bigger map.
"She's been cloaked." Stefan actually sounded disappointed at that. "Katherine must have another witch helping her out.
"Try again." Damon said, ignoring Stefan completely. "Do it."
Aly swapped the car keys with Katherine's picture again. Still nothing. Aly tried it once more. "It's not working, Damon."
"Again."
Elena and Aly shared a look. "Damon, I don't think we can." Elena tells him softly.
"Maybe Katherine doesn't want to be found." Stefan said darkly.
"No." Damon denied. Aly winced, remembering his same denial in the tomb. He shot Aly an angry glare, "You're doing something wrong."
Here we go again, back to the asshole. "Listen man, it's not my fault your vampire girlfriend doesn't want to be found."
Damon angrily threw one of the picture frames to the fireplace, cursing. "Something must have happened to her." He said, "We need to find out."
Stefan shot Elena and Aly a look. Aly stood up, taking that as a signal to go, she pulled Elena along, who looked at Damon sympathetically. "Come on, Elena."
"You're not going anywhere." Damon sped towards the archway as they walked towards it. Aly instantly brought her hands up, focusing hard. He fell down immediately, crying out in pain. Elena jumped back in shock.
Another thing she learned, the pain infliction spell against vampires.
"I don't want to hurt you, Damon." Aly murmured, lifting it immediately. She shot Stefan a look, who seemed bummed out as well. "Call me when you find something out."
The twins get to the car in silence. For some reason Elena had sombered up, "You okay?" Aly asked.
"Yeah." Elena sighed, "I just feel sorry for Damon. He's in love with a girl who he thought has been dead for a hundred years, only to find out that she just left him."
Aly winced, starting the car. She drove out of the estate before saying anything else, not knowing how much the brothers could hear. "She tricked everyone," Aly said, remembering Bree's story. "Katherine tricked everyone just to escape Mystic Falls. I suppose Damon didn't deserve that."
"Nobody does." Elena agreed, nodding. "I think it's kind of sweet, that he's loved her for all this time."
Aly sent her sister a look, a little surprised that she'd think of it that way. "I suppose…" she repeated slowly. "It kinda is." Aly realized, "He must've loved her a lot."
It made her hope that maybe she'd find someone to love just as fiercely one day as well. A hundred years.
Elena smiled softly. "That's going to be Stefan and I," she said, "I hope."
"I don't," Aly said drily, giving her another look. "I don't want either of you ending up faking a tomb death." she giggled.
Elena shook her head. "You know what I mean, Aly." she lightly pushed her shoulder by the arm.
Aly softened up, "Elena?" she kept her eye firmly on the road, just in case her sister didn't reply well. Aly wouldn't want to look at her otherwise. "I think we should tell Jeremy about our… adoption."
Elena shifted on her seat, looking at the side of the road.
"I know you and Jenna aren't on good terms right now," Aly continued through her silence, "But we gotta think that it's not like she wanted to hide it from us. It was about our parents' wishes."
"I know that," Elena huffed, "I also know Grayson and Miranda loved us, and that they are our parents. I just couldn't believe Jenna kept it secret all this time after everything."
Aly nodded, "Yeah." Her mind briefly flashed back to Grayson's office, she shook it out of her head. To be fair, both of them were keeping a lot of secrets. The sun was already down when they arrived back at their house. Aly was surprised to see that Jenna and Alaric were standing outside their porch, the twins shared the same look of concern. Elena glanced from Alaric to his ring.
"I'd invite you in but," Jenna motioned to the two of them, "the twins are here."
If Damon was right, then Aly shouldn't have any fear from their new history teacher. Or maybe she should since Aly was hanging out with two vampires.
"Mr. Saltzman," Elena started, confused, "What are you doing here?"
"Oh I just brought your Aunt home." He said, "You know, I never see you two together that much at school. It's kinda scary how alike you two look."
They looked at each other at the same time with the same words floating on their heads, not this again. Alaric watched the exchange, clearly amused.
"Though I can see why there's a no twin per class policy."
Jenna laughed, leaning across the doorway. "Not that it stopped these two." She said jovially, "They used to switch classes all the time. You know, back when they looked exactly alike."
"And they don't now?" Alaric questioned her, "I don't think I'll be able to tell if they both had their hair up."
Aly shifted, slightly uncomfortable.
"They used to have the same hairstyle, same clothes. Matching clothes, bags, everything."
Elena laughed, "Never happening again." she tugged Aly's arm, pulling her inside the house. "Oh and, Jenna? You can invite Alaric in if you want." she sent her a wink, and they both went upstairs. Elena quickly rushed to Aly's room, to her surprise. She took the Gilbert watch and looked at it intently.
"He's not a vampire." she whispered, sighing in relief.
Aly sent her an incredulous look, "And you didn't know that when you invited him in?!" she whispered in retaliation, hitting her sister lightly on the head.
"Aw." Elena rubbed her head, "No- I didn't." She answered, annoyed. "Besides, it's fine. You can do the same thing you did with Damon."
"It's not that easy." Aly told her, closing her bedroom door. She threw her bag to the bed. "The only way I can do that to a vampire if I siphon them by touching them. Otherwise, it won't be powerful enough and it won't work."
"So the spell is only as strong as where you got it from?" Her sister questioned.
Aly nodded, grinning. "Exactly!"
"I wanna try." Elena said, excited, "Do you think we could go to Sheila? Bonnie told me she's been teaching her."
Aly then proceeded to explain her previous conversations with the Bennett witch and their slightly antagonistic relationship. Aly had forgotten the last time they had talked like this. They were both on her bed, Aly's legs were crossed together, and Elena had lain down, playing with her hair.
Elena frowned, "Maybe you're overthinking it." she said, "I mean it's Sheila- why would she do that? We've known her since forever."
"I don't know." Aly frowned as well. "But Bonnie told me Sheila told her to avoid me. And I keep getting this weird vibe from her, like she doesn't want to talk to me."
Elena snorted, "Sounds like highschool." she commented, "Maybe we can talk to her again? There's no way she's pushing you off for no reason."
Aly shrugged, "If you want." she said.
Elena suddenly sat right up. "Well, I wanna try." she said, grabbing Aly's grimoire once again. "Wait-" she paused, "Won't I be able to do it? I don't have anything to siphon from."
Aly blinked. "Well," she stammered. "I- uh… You still could."
"How?"
Aly frowned too, she glanced at her arm. Right now she had covered her lines up with long sleeves, but she knew that if Elena saw what she did to herself she would freak. Trying something out, she held her own wrist, moving the dream catcher bracelet away, she didn't want to siphon it, worried that it might stop working. She briefly trailed the darkened letters before she palmed it. They both watched as her hand slowly began to glow red.
Interesting.
"Try me." she offered her wrist.
Elena looked at her, puzzled. "Alright," she murmured, grabbing her hand. Elena copied her movement, closing her hands. A frown creased her face as she concentrated. After a while with nothing, she huffed. Aly burst into tiny giggles.
"I'm trying!" Elena exclaimed.
"You look like an idiot." she snickered. Her sister rolled her eyes.
"What am I supposed to do anyway? Am I supposed to feel something?"
Aly looked back at her hand. Had she felt something? She tried again, focusing on the feeling that she got. "Warm." She confirmed, "It feels warm? Tingly."
Elena pouted, "How long did it take you to do anything?"
"Honestly? Like since September."
Well, Aly didn't know how to even siphon back in September but she didn't want to crush Elena's hopes by telling her that all it took her for her first spell was a day. Aly stood from the bed, grabbing a candle. "Try this;" she instructed, "Incendia!"
They both watched a little mesmerized as it lit. Aly blew it off.
"You can do that without a spell." Elena pointed out. Aly shrugged.
"I couldn't at first." she said, "I went to Grams and she made me try a bunch of stuff and nothing worked. Actually," Aly frowned, grabbing the grimoire from her sister, flipping through the pages. "Here,"
"What am I looking at?" Elena questioned.
Aly rolled her eyes. "Read it, dumbass," she said. "There are plenty of types of witches. Some of them can't do magic unless under circumstances. Some are more psychic than witch, witch than psychic. Some are leeches."
"So Bonnie and Sheila are the normal ones?" Elena murmured, reading the book's contents. She pointed at the very first description of a witch.
"I guess so?" Aly answered. "I don't know, there's still the deal with being Katherine's magical doppelgangers, not to mention we don't know who our biological parents are." She twiddled with her fingers.
"So it's genetic?" Elena echoed her own words from not so long ago.
"Magic goes through bloodlines." Aly corrected with a smile, "Though I have no idea what that means either."
Elena sent her a look. "So what do you know?"
Aly winced, "Besides that book? Nothing."
Elena sighed, sitting up as well. "We really do need to find them. Have you checked if there's a spell to see who they are?"
Aly didn't have to ask who them or they were, but she looked away nonetheless. "Not unless we have something from them." Aly answered. She thought they could probably use their blood or hair, but she didn't want to try it. "I think we can handle it on our own anyway. We could ask Sheila to see what kind of magic you could do."
"Shouldn't we at least try?" Elena asked softly. "I've- I've talked to Jenna earlier today. She said our mother's name was Isobel, and that it was a teen pregnancy. She wasn't ready for a baby, especially not for two."
Aly shook her head. "Lucky for Grayson and Miranda then." she muttered.
Elena frowned at her. "Aly…"
She shrugged in response. "It's fine."
"It's not! You're not."
"So?" Aly irritatedly shot back. "I'm fine! Honestly."
"There's something you're not saying." Elena argued.
She couldn't. She wasn't ready.
"Well that's saying a lot." She snapped, "There's a lot we haven't said to Jenna or Jeremy either."
"That's not what we're talking about."
It was now.
"Don't you think we should tell them?" Aly stubbornly pushed, "At least tell Jenna- we can't have her walking around not knowing anything when her ex-boyfriend's a vampire!"
Elena looked at her in shock. "What? Logan's been turned?"
"Damon told me earlier today." Aly explained, though now feeling actually worried. "He doesn't know how or who either. It's not safe for her walking around when a newbie vampire might be looking for her." She pursed her lips, deciding to take the shot now that her sister was listening to her. "And I think we should lift the compulsion on Jeremy too."
"We can't." Elena answered, eyes wide. "It'll break him."
"The fact that you had him compelled would break him more."
The words were out before she even knew it. Thankfully, her voice didn't crack, but she did suddenly feel numb all over as the words flowed out of her mouth. She clenched her jaw tightly, shaking her head. "It's not right, El."
Aly hadn't used that nickname since forever. Elena looked down guiltily. "It's too dangerous." Elena said. "What if something happens? It'll be because of us, Al. We got them in this mess in the first place."
Aly frowned, "What?"
"We're doppelgängers." Elena said harshly, "You're a witch and I might be one too. It's already our fault vampires roaming around Mystic Falls."
"Elena, vampires have been around longer than we've been alive." Aly deadpanned, "And are you seriously telling me that it's our fault we're born looking exactly like Katherine? We don't even know what that means. We can't control how we ended up this way, but we can control how we react. And honestly? At least if Jenna and Jeremy knew they'd be more careful about who they're inviting inside the house."
"We need to keep them safe." Elena stubbornly argued.
"We'll be safer together." Aly shot back, "Ignorance isn't safety, Elena."
"How would we even tell them?" Elena asked her, exasperated. "Where would we even begin? How could we even tell them that their ex's are vampires?"
Their argument was brought into a halt as Aly's bedroom door suddenly flung open. Jeremy stood right outside, much to their horror. He held up Elena's open diary. "You don't have to." He threw the diary down to the floor. "I just saw Vicki die." His voice cracked, "She wasn't even going to hurt me!"
Elena gasped, standing up from the bed. "Jeremy."
"I can't believe you had that done to me." Jeremy's voice cracked, staring accusingly to Elena. He pointed a finger to Aly, "And I can't believe you just let her! I actually believed that I was getting better!"
"Because you were!" Elena rushed towards him. "Jeremy."
"What do you mean Vicki died?" Aly stared at her brother in horror, her eyes widened in realization. "You met up with her today!"
"I did!" Jeremy's breath hitched, and he angrily rubbed his eyes as tears began to fall. "And it was a trap! I didn't even know it! Elizabeth Forbes," Jeremy angrily spat out the name, "was following me! She knew something was up. I stayed behind and I saw her kill Vicki!"
"You shouldn't have met up with Vicki in the first place. She's dangerous." Elena shook her head. That was the wrong thing to stay. Aly's eyes went from Elena then back to Jeremy.
"Jeremy-"
"You're right!" His voice rose another octave. Aly helplessly watched as Jeremy's face contorted in pain. "You're right! I shouldn't have met up with her! Vicki told me to be careful and now it's my fault she's dead!"
"That's not what I meant!"
Jeremy began to sob. Aly rushed towards her brother, who angrily pushed her away. "It would never have happened if you didn't have me compelled!" He screamed out. "I would have known something was up!"
"What is going on here!" The sound of Jenna's voice coming up the stairs got them all freezing up on the spot.
Their aunt looked at them with concern written all over on her features. Jeremy ignored her, pushing forwards and headed straight towards his room. He shut the door with a loud 'bang' and 'click', signaling that he had locked the door. They all stared at it in horror in momentary silence.
Elena sniffled, covering up her own mouth as she began to cry as well. She ran straight to her room, locking her door in a similar fashion.
Aly plopped back down to her bean bag chair, silent. Jenna pushed Aly's door open further, holding it by the doorknob. Probably to stop her from doing the same thing as her siblings just did.
Jenna gave her a look.
"Vicki died." Aly answered softly, her aunt's eyes widened.
"What?" Jenna sputtered, "How did that happen?"
Aly held her wrist. "There's so much I have to explain." she closed her eyes, knowing what had to be done. "But you have to believe me."
Jenna leaned by her desk. "What is it?"
And so Aly began to explain. She started all the way from the top, the very start of her dreams to the arrival of the Salvatore brothers, and soon Vicki's turn. Aly explained about the tomb and journals, careful about not slipping anything about Grayson's activities. By the end of it all, Jenna stared at her.
"I can't believe this." she said.
Aly scooted forward, tired over the emotional rollercoaster she just went through. "I know it's a lot."
"No- I can't." Jenna shook her head, she let out a half-laugh. "You know you could just tell me the truth, right? Vampires? Magic? Do you think I'm stupid?" She stood up, looking severely angry and disappointed.
"Jenna." Aly stood up as well.
"Save it." She snapped, walking her way out of her room. "I knew Jeremy and Elena didn't trust me enough. But you?" She looked back at her, hurt. "I didn't expect that from you."
Jenna rushed back to her room as well, doing the exact same thing Jeremy and Elena did. Aly's hands went straight to her face, groaning. She went to Jenna's door, angry as she saw it was locked.
Sighing in frustration, Aly went back to her room. It seemed that turning away and locking doors was a big thing in their family because she angrily slammed it shut as well, falling face-first on her bed in the aftermath of the nuclear bomb that had just happened.
Aly would just have to show Jenna her magic once she's calmed down.
A/N Completely unrelated bu I'm starting Senior year this week! I've also been playing a lot of Genshin Impact. It's such a good game! BUT I'm now completely behind my writing schedule.