Rowan Gilbert Pt 1 Chapter 8: Alaric and The Tomb, a vampire diaries fanfic

Hello, everyone! Thank you for reading so far. Alaric has finally arrived and the tomb will be opened.

UnknownreaderHasjoined: to answer your question, the chapter will be word for word from the original until chapter 14. As for why I don't post them all at once, it's exactly the reason you listed. I'm stalling because I'm slow in rewriting and I only want to post the rewrites here ':D

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Three days later, Rowan went to pick up her siblings from school. Today, Alaric was meant to arrive in town and start teaching. The witch waited in the car for her siblings. When they arrived Rowan was startled at the sight of Anna, joining them. "What the hell is she doing here?" Asked the witch in agitation.

"Mr Saltzman assigned us as partners," responded Jeremy.

'Mr Saltzman?' Rowan mouthed to Elena in question.

"Tanner's replacement," Elena whispered in reply. Rowan expressed her understanding but returned to glare at Anna in the back seat.

"She's still not coming with us, I'm not inviting her inside our home," announced the witch.

"Come on! She's fine," argued Jeremy. Rowan wanted to growl at her brother for his naivety. He was trusting a vampire, who Rowan clearly disapproved of.

"Elena, say something!" The witch called to her sister.

"You did kind of invite Damon in and besides, didn't you make her promise not to hurt anyone?" Said the doppelgänger sheepishly. Rowan glared at the younger girl.

"Is this an attempt to reconcile with Jeremy, after giving him hell for his drugs?" Rowan asked bluntly. Elena blushed and pretended she couldn't hear, opting to stare out the window. Jeremy groaned at his sisters' fighting.

"Rowan come on! Just get us home. I'm starving and we have work to do," whined Jeremy.

"What did I tell you about whining cub?" Said Rowan teasingly with a smirk. Jeremy blushed at the embarrassing reminder and shut his mouth. "Fine, I'll take us home, as long as she behaves," Rowan continued. She drove her family to the house but before Anna entered, Rowan grabbed her and pulled her to the side. "Does my brother know your intention is to take his blood?" She hissed at the vampire.

"First of all, I'm not gonna do that, we made a deal. Second of all, no he doesn't know because I don't plan on taking any!" Anna hissed back. Rowan wasn't convinced but allowed the vampire in. She'd deal with Anna if necessary. Jeremy took the vampire and they went upstairs to work on their project, while Rowan prepared the food. Elena said she'd invited Stefan and he'd be coming over. The witch shrugged, now used to the Ripper, walking in and out of the house, regularly.

In the evening, Jenna invited Rowan to the Grill. The two went and were having a good time. Then Alaric walked in and when he spotted them, he bee-lined toward them, gazing at Jenna. Rowan rolled her eyes at the man's antics. "Hello, Jenna right? I'm Mr Saltzman, the new history teacher," Alaric greeted.

"Oh? Hello, thank you for the extra credit you allowed Jeremy," Jenna replied and shook his hand.

"I'm sorry if I'm being too forward but Carol had said, you have a lot of history work I can use?" Asked the man. Jenna was taken aback but grinned.

"Yeah! Yeah, of course," she said. Rowan chose that moment to clear her throat. The two adults stared at her and she raised an eyebrow at Jenna. "Oh, right! This is my older niece, Rowan," the aunt introduced.

"Oh, you're Rowan? Jeremy and Elena talked about you," said Alaric with a smile.

"Hey, thank you again for helping Jeremy," said Rowan.

"You're welcome," said the man.

"Would you like to join us?" Asked Rowan.

"Oh no, I don't want to intrude," said Alaric. The women insisted and he sat down. He ordered a drink and they started talking on Mystic Falls. Mostly it was a two-way conversation between the history buffs and Rowan commented once in a while. The witch smiled internally at how compatible they were.

They continued to talk until Damon walked into the Grill. Rowan spotted him but Alaric was facing Jenna and couldn't see the door. The vampire made his way toward them, similar to Alaric. "Good evening," he greeted when he reached the table.

"Hey Damon," said Rowan. The other two looked up at the vampire and Alaric was startled. He froze, unable to react to Damon's presence.

"Damon," Jenna greeted with a smile.

"May I join you?" Asked the Salvatore. The women shrugged once again and invited him. "Thanks. Hey, who's this?" He asked, pointing at the still in shock Alaric.

"That's Alaric Saltzman, he's taken over the history teacher position at school," Rowan explained.

"Nice to meet you man, sad about the old one but to be fair, he wasn't a favourite," greeted Damon with a cocky smirk. The vampire had extended his hand out to the teacher and waited for a reaction. Alaric blinked and tensely shook the offered hand. The man was deeply uncomfortable and Rowan could sense his confusion.

"So, anyone up for a round of drinks?" Asked the witch, trying to break the tension.

"You don't drink!" Jenna pointed out with confusion. Damon stared at Rowan with a questioning look and Alaric appeared to be shocked by the news.

"You don't drink?" Asked the teacher.

"No, I'm an angel but I suggested it because Alaric is new and I wish to welcome him to the town," said Rowan with a smile.

"That's nice of you," said Alaric.

"I agree, let the first two rounds be on us," said Jenna with a smile of her own. The history teacher stared at the redhead and smiled widely, he really liked her. Rowan smirked knowingly.

"Are you joining us, Damon?" Rowan asked.

"Of course, if there's alcohol, then you can count me in!" The vampire replied with a silly little dance. "I want to welcome Alaric too, so how about I buy the snacks?"

"Go ahead! I want chicken wings and a shake!" Said Rowan, handing her card to Damon.

"Oh! I want a burger with fries!" Said Jenna.

"Hey, I said snacks, not meals!" Damon complained playfully.

"You're rich, you can handle it," teased Rowan with a chuckle. Jenna joined her but Alaric was still a little uncomfortable.

"What about you Alaric?" The vampire asked. The teacher paused.

"Aahh..." he said awkwardly.

"You should get him the Grill's special! He's new and needs to try it!" Rowan interrupted, saving the blonde from further awkwardness.

"Sure," said Alaric with a smile. Damon grinned and headed to the bar, to place their orders.

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The four spent most of the day there, chatting and having fun. Alaric loosened up a lot after his third drink. Jenna pushed him to open up about his past a little. He admitted that he was married and widowed. The three consoled him and wished him a better beginning in this town. Rowan knew it was ironic, seeing as Isobel is technically alive and he won't be having much fun in this town, for the next couple of months, maybe years.

The witch noticed that Alaric kept glancing in Damon's way and studying the vampire. She knew that he'll attempt to figure out, if Damon was truly the vampire that killed Isobel, or if it was just Alaric's wild imagination. Rowan didn't plan on interfering with Alaric's thought process but hoped to prevent his death. All of his deaths, if possible.

Eventually, Rowan left the others with the excuse that she had to get up early in the morning. The witch headed home and found Elena, Bonnie, Caroline, Jeremy and Stefan, having a movie night. "Wow, thanks for the invite guys!" The witch teased with a fake pout.

"Oh sorry, we thought you wanted some adult time with Jenna," Bonnie teased.

"That's rude. Besides, may I remind you that you have a century-old teenager with you," Rowan fired back.

"Hey! I didn't say anything to you!" Stefan complained. He was sitting with Elena laying on him.

"Whatever, go to bed soon, you have school tomorrow," Rowan called out as she headed upstairs. The witch heard groans and smirked in victory.

On the first full moon of December, Rowan joined Sheila and Bonnie at the SWH. It was Bonnie's third full moon and she had grown more accustomed to channelling and redirecting magic. Rowan was pleased by the young witch's progress and realised that the Salem witches, had a hand in speeding up the progress. Rowan had been through the same, with her magic. It didn't take much effort to learn, especially when she spent time at the house.

The renovations were still being carried out and would take another few months but they were fast. Stefan had compelled the project manager to be efficient and honest. While Rowan, offered the renovating company, a bonus check if they had their best workers on sight. It was a good deal and the company worked hard to achieve what was desired. The influence of magic was an extra helping hand on sight. There were minimal accidents and the resources were never low. Inspire of this, due to how small a town, Mystic Falls was, there weren't many projects being carried out.

Also, the house was now officially in Sheila's name and would be passed down to Bonnie and the Bennett line. The property became private so that vampires couldn't enter and witches needed permission to connect with the Salem witches. This would prevent anyone, hoping to take advantage, to rethink their options. Rowan was ecstatic that things turned out better than expected, she just prayed that her stroke of good luck, doesn't run out quickly. There was always a balance.

After the full moon, the days went by sluggishly. Rowan couldn't wait for the next full moon, to open the tomb and get this over and done with. She got tired of Damon's nagging and Anna's desperate stares. Things got worse, a few nights before. The witch was heading back from a shopping trip, to find the gang in her living room. This included the girls, the Salvatores, Jeremy and Anna. "What's going on?" Rowan asked.

"Anna told me about the tomb!" Jeremy blurted out.

"Ah!" Rowan responded, not knowing what else to say.

"Ah! That's all you're saying! Row, you should've told us!" Elena scolded. The older sister sighed and put her bags down.

"I didn't want it to be a big deal. Sheila knows," said Rowan.

"Not a big deal! You're releasing two very old vampires! What if you got hurt?!" asked Elena. "You should've told us! It's not like we're gonna stop you but it's better if we knew, in case something went wrong!" Rowan bit her lip. Elena had a good point. It wasn't wise to keep something like this, from her family. If she had gotten hurt, they needed to at least know her whereabouts, in case she needed backup.

"Okay! You're right, I'm sorry!" said the witch. Jeremy came and hugged his sister.

"We just want to make sure, you don't get hurt," he said.

"I want to help you open it!" Bonnie commented.

"Okay. But, this is a serious matter, so only a few people will be allowed on the day!" Said Rowan firmly.

"We promise not to meddle!" Said Caroline.

"As for Bonnie, you don't need to help. It'll be simple with the crystal since it's basically a key," said Rowan.

"Really? Are you sure?" Asked Bonnie.

"Yeah, I'm sure," said Rowan. The others nodded and decided to trust Rowan's word. The Gilbert witch hadn't anticipated her siblings' reaction. She was surprised by their understanding, she shouldn't have been but she was. They were both compassionate, the same as her. They would be worried for their sister but understood that she was capable of handling herself. If she wasn't, then Damon or Anna would've gotten the better of her. Rowan was glad to have such a supportive family. But now, she wanted to concentrate on opening this tomb!

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On the night of the full moon, Rowan waited outside the church with the rest. The witch was right. Everyone had shown up, despite her request and insistence. "This isn't a show! Why are you all here?!" She groaned.

"We're back up, in case something happens!" Elena explained.

"Elena, I appreciate the sentiment but you're human and so are Jeremy and Caroline. Go home!" Rowan ordered in frustration. It took a few more minutes of nagging before Caroline and Jeremy agreed to leave. Elena insisted on remaining. Rowan begrudgingly let her, knowing she'd probably be safe, with Stefan and Bonnie around. Noah also stayed outside with the others, leaving Rowan, Damon and Anna, to enter the tomb.

The three went down and waited for the moon. Damon had brought 10 or so blood bags; one of them was of Rowan's blood, as requested by Anna. As the moon reached its apex, Rowan started chanting and channelling the crystal. She had informed the two vampires, beforehand, that the tomb will be opened for only 4 hours. Rowan wasn't gonna fully open it, leaving it a way to keep any supernatural prisoner.

As She continued chanting, Rowan felt the spell lift slowly. It wasn't as difficult as she imagined, then again, Rowan had many aiding factors. She was connected to the Salem witches, the crystal was being channelled and she had moon power. It didn't take too long for the spell to break. "Go quickly, I want you out as soon as possible!" The witch announced. The vampires each took a blood bag and rushed inside. They were meant to feed Pearl and Katherine, then pull them out. It was to ensure no desiccated vampire, accidentally gets their hands on the blood.

Rowan waited for approximately 20 minutes, for Anna to come out with Pearl. The woman was still in bad shape, though functional. She looked at the witch weakly, as Anna laid her outside the entrance. The daughter pulled out another bag and fed it to her mother. Rowan expected Anna to pull out the other vampire, whose name she forgot, Harper maybe? Yet she didn't, a part of Rowan felt guilty for that, however, it was better safe than sorry.

As they waited for Damon the witch sat down on the ground. Pearl had been watching her, as she emptied the blood bags. The older vampire looked far better and fully functional. "Thank you," she whispered. Rowan turned to her and shrugged.

"You're welcome."

"What about them?" Pearl asked, gesturing with her head toward the tomb.

"Mum," Anna whispered, knowing the answer.

"Miss Zhu, no offence but it's none of my concern. Your daughter came to rescue you, I agreed to those terms," Rowan explain coldly. The woman stiffened and appeared to be holding back some words. Luckily she opted not to say anything else, just looked on guilty as she sucked her final bag.

"Damon, it's been an hour and a half, where are you?" Rowan yelled at the male, who was still inside. The witch didn't want to break his heart, but she wasn't wasting her time either. "Oh that reminds me, Anna, you can stay in Mystic Falls. Just be careful and get a house with a living person." The words made the vampire smile at Rowan, "don't smile, I still don't like you."

Minutes later, Damon came out of the tomb and his face showed it all. She wasn't there, he felt hurt, confused and betrayed. His emotions were now fully on and the women stared at him, waiting. "She's not there," he whispered, his voice broke Rowan's heart. Once again she was reminded that these people were real. There weren't TV characters, that you know will move past it and survive. At this moment, Damon was in agony and he felt as if he couldn't move on.

Rowan did what Elena had done and just hugged him. After all, what else was there to do? "I'm sorry," she whispered. Suddenly Stefan was down there with them. He also appeared betrayed, then again maybe he'd hoped to see her. Rowan didn't completely understand the ripper's view on Katherine. She doesn't think he understands them either. All that was now known, was that any hope of finding her here was destroyed for both brothers.

Pearl peered at the three, before speaking. "If you let them out, they'll find her for you," she said. Even Anna stared at her mother in disbelief. The Salvatores and the Gilbert, glared at her, Damon with tears in his eyes.

"How stupid do you think we are?" They responded in unison.

"You're pathetic," Rowan said and took out the crystal again. The witch reattached the spell and locked the tomb, once more. Stefan pulled his brother in a hug, while she did that and Anna, handed the remaining blood bags to her mother, seeing as they were no longer needed.

The five finally exited, only to found Noah on the floor, with Bonnie and Elena staring in concern. "What happened?" Elena asked, in fear.

"Katherine?" Pearl exclaimed, to which Anna corrected her, that this was Elena. Damon explained what happened in the tomb and questioned Noah's position. Bonnie had given him an aneurysm because he tried hurting Elena. The idiot was seriously gonna find himself inside that tomb! Rowan thought to herself.

Afterwards, they all headed to their respective homes. The council will be alerted in a couple of weeks, regarding the tomb. Damon suggested the time, using Anna's mother as an excuse. He explained that she should integrate fully before we reveal such a thing. Rowan agreed, mainly to stall as much as possible. For now, she was more concerned with Alaric, as he hadn't tried killing Damon yet.

For a week, everything was so quiet, despite Pearl's annoying interrogations. Her daughter had blurted out that Rowan wasn't a true Gilbert. "Well if you find my parents please, feel free to tell me," Rowan had responded to the stupid question on their identity.

"So you don't know who they are," Pearl asked again.

"Woman! Leave me alone will ya?" Rowan yelled and had got inside her car, as she was on her way to see Damon. He still hadn't recovered from his heartache. Luckily, no innocent people died by his hands, yet. Rowan had tried her best to keep him busy, mainly giving him hope that Katherine was out there and safe. He didn't like that, as he explained that she didn't look for him all this time.

Katherine was a piece of work, she truly was selfish in many ways. Stefan also tried to comfort his brother but it seemed that he was also hurting. The one good thing throughout all of this was Anna finally becoming tolerable. With her mother by her side, she was more cheerful and enjoyed her time. Rowan could tell she was slowly falling for Jeremy, who kept her company. Rowan wasn't happy about it but she didn't actively stop it, she didn't want to meddle in every little thing.

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As days went by Rowan started getting distracted by mediocre things, such as studying and enjoying her friends' company. She was human, well witch, after all. Bonnie's training was very fun too. The girls usually came along to watch, witnessing the young Bennett's progress. Sheila was so proud of her granddaughter, that she gifted her Emily's grimoire. Rowan had also returned the Crystal, which Bonnie also started wearing. The witches had modified its design to fit into two different necklaces, one for Sheila and the other for Bonnie.

The Gilbert witch had completely forgotten about Alaric's involvement with Damon. She also forget, that he hadn't found Logan, so his suspicion of vampires wasn't answered. Therefore, when Rowan received an urgent phone call, late at night from Stefan, she was confused.

When she arrived at the Salvatore house, Alaric had been chained to a chair. "Oh my god! what is happening?" She asked the two brothers, who seemed just as perplexed.

"Mr Saltzman here tried to kill me!" Damon replied, his face full of intrigue.

"Oh my god! Alaric, are you okay?" Rowan asked as she started releasing the teacher from his chains.

"What're you doing?" Damon asked, very upset with her actions. Stefan only sighed and watched from afar.

"I'm sorry but why did you try killing Damon?" Rowan asked innocently, still keeping her voice calm.

"He's a vampire," Alaric replied, "you know don't you," he continued, as he realised that her expression remained unchanged.

"Yeah I do, he's sort of my frenemy at the moment. How did you find out he's a vampire?"

"I saw him kill my wife," came the reply that led Stefan to groan loudly. The older Salvatore did not react, as he saw nothing wrong with the statement.

"I'm so sorry for your loss, when was it?" Rowan asked, completely ignoring the ripper, as she sat Alaric on the sofa. The woman, also motioned for Damon to pour Alaric a drink. The vampire gave an argumentative look, so she sapped him using her magic. Damon groaned in pain but poured some of his finer Whiskey into a glass and handed it to Rowan, to give to Ric.

"It was a few years back," replied the teacher and paused. "Why are you asking all of this?" He wondered, taking a large gulp from his drink.

"When you spoke, you looked in disbelief, meaning this was your first rodeo," Rowan explained and sat next to him. He nodded in acknowledgement. "What was her name?" The witch asked softly, causing everyone to stiffen. Knowing the victims' names was dangerous to a vampire, it led to sentiment and guilt.

"Isobel Flemming," Alaric said, looking straight at Damon, anger filling his voice. Rowan faked a gasp and shook her head. She appeared in shock and this alarmed the men, who looked at her in concern.

"Sorry, what did you say?" she stuttered, theatrically.

"Her name was Isobel Flemming," the teacher repeated, putting a hand on the young woman's shoulder. Rowan dramatically stood up and paced the room.

"No it can't be, Isobel Flemming is my mother!" she announced, possibly causing heart attacks across the room.

"What?" the others yelled at her. The Salvatores knew Elena and Rowan were adopted but had no clue who their parents were. Rowan purposefully withheld that information, only informing her family. Even John was unaware that Elena, Jeremy and Jenna knew he's Elena's father.

"I said, Isobel Flemming, is my biological mother," Rowan repeated, this time angrily. "You killed her?" the witch asked Damon, needing to sound hurt and dramatic.

"Wait, Isobel never told me she had a daughter," Alaric spoke in confusion

"Daughters, Elena is also her daughter," Rowan corrected.

"Well good thing I didn't kill her then...technically at least," Damon said, very relieved in a sense.

"What?" Alaric, Stefan and Rowan asked.

"I turned her...she wanted me to turn her so I did," the older Salvatore explained, with a shrug.

"Wait, she's a vampire?" Alaric asked, clearly having a mental breakdown, which was understandable. It must be a lot to take in. The four spent a while like that, just processing the information, as Damon recounted the full story of meeting Isobel and turning her. Alaric also talked about his life with her, how obsessed with the supernatural she was and proceeded to show Rowan, the Gilbert ring.

Rowan enacted another dramatic scene and explained that the ring was a family heirloom, that was said to bring people back from the dead if killed by supernatural means. Of course, Damon wished to test it, to which Stefan and the witch, both reacted violently and kicked his ass a little.

Rowan forced them all to keep this information to themselves for a few more days. She was gonna invite Ric to dinner as a thank you for helping Jeremy and he would explain all this to the family and a few nights later that's what she did. Rowan prepared dinner and told the family of Alaric's invite. Jeremy was grateful and happy to see the nice teacher. Jenna too seemed excited to have his company. The Salvatores were also invited along, as it was Damon who would tell the full story.

The night went as expected, with freakouts, yelling and comforting. The good thing was, Alaric was now welcomed into the family, as an extension of Isobel. The bad thing was, Elena was determined to get in contact with their biological mother. Which meant, needing to stall a little more. If Isobel came to town early, it could ruin everything! So, Rowan hoped to convince Elena to wait, till after the tomb was given to the council, which would be in two weeks. Pearl would have integrated by then, as it would be a month into her freedom. However, Rowan realised that things were gonna truly get messy.

It was now January 16th 2010

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I hope you enjoyed, please tell me your thoughts!