Ch. 12 – Isobel and Founder's Day 1x21-22
Edit: 12/27/21
Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries.
Nothing had been the same since the death of Henrik. Esther spent a lot of time crying in the house. Mikael had been quicker to anger. Finn spent even more time by himself. Kol spent no time with his family, instead preferring to spend time in the company of his women or his whores, depending on how one chooses to see it. Rebekah spent her time between staring off into space and crying for hours on end. Niklaus chose to spend his time in his sketchbook or hiding from Mikael. And Elijah spent his time trying to keep his family together. Of course, by doing this, he ignored his own grief.
Alliana spent most of her time trying to help Rebekah, Niklaus, and Elijah, but really spent most of her time trying to gauge Niklaus's feelings for her. While he sat by the waterfall and drew, Alliana was right there trying to get him to speak to her. If he did speak, he spoke of the simplest things such as the weather or what he should draw next, nothing that could lead to the discussion of feelings, which frustrated Alliana to no end. One day, she got fed up and just blurted is out. "Do you care for me, Niklaus?"
He looked up from his drawing, a bloody scene of a wolf and what appeared to look like it would be the body of Henrik. His face was one of extreme shock."Wh-what… what do…what do you mean," he said stuttering.
Alliana would have giggled at his facial expression if she was not so serious. "Do you have feelings for me?"
He sat up straighter. "Well of course I have feelings for you. You are a close friend of mine."
Alliana sighed. "No, I meant… Do you have feelings for me…romantically?... Such as would you ever court me?"
"Well, I uh. I am not sure what to tell you exactly," Niklaus said, rubbing his neck.
Alliana stared him right in the eye. "Tell me the truth."
"I…uh... I do have feelings for you, Alliana. I am sorry that I did not tell you before. But I have only just realized these feelings for you. And now I fear it is too late."
Alliana moved closer to him, so that her body was right up next to him. "Niklaus, it is never too late." She leaned over and kissed him. After his initial surprise, he started to kiss her back. Unbeknownst to them, someone was watching them.
That night was the night that changed everything. Alliana was walking over to the Mikaelson's hut when Mikael caught up to her. He knocked her over the head with a rock, causing her to collapse and to bleed. He collected her body and brought her to Esther. The girl awoke the woods at Esther's feet. She did not have time to ask before Esther directed Mikael to have the girl stand and suddenly, his sword was thrust through her stomach. She collapsed onto Mikael, who then cut her wrists so her blood dripped down her body. Alliana was breathing hard and her last moments of life were filled with pain. She could feel Esther catching her blood into glasses. Alliana fell to the ground, her life fleeting away. The last words she heard were Esther whispering in her ear, "This is what happens when you mess with my family."
The night of Alliana's death was the night of the death of the Mikaelson clan. The same night that Mikael drove his sword through Alliana was the same night that he did the same to his children and one more. Mikael and Esther killed both Alliana and Tatia collecting their blood as they died. The blood of twins was very powerful. This same blood was then spelled and laced in the wine that was given to the children. Mikael killed each of them and fed them blood when they awoke.
The first vampires had been created.
The deaths of Alliana and Tatia were kept secret as the Mikaelson family transitioned. The family had to sort out their issues with daylight, vervain, and control first. But soon the lies and treachery of Esther and Mikael was discovered.
The first vampires were hunting. They used their enhanced speed to run through the forest to other villages to search for new prey. Early on their way there, Niklaus found a unique scent. He called his siblings over and they started to follow the scent trail. Unknown to them they were following the trail of Mikael when he dragged the twins' bodies. They took a break at the same spot that Mikael did.
"Niklaus, what are we following?" Elijah asked.
"I do not know," he replied.
"This scent is different," Rebekah said. She breathed it in again. "But yet it feels familiar."
"I do agree, sister," Niklaus replied. "Which is why I believe we should follow where it leads."
"As long as it leads to food," Kol said. They nodded and were soon on their way.
It became apparent that they were close when they scent began to strengthen. Soon they found where the scent was originating from. A large pool of blood that had soaked into the earth. They searched around the area. Rebekah's scream of surprise alerted them as to what was actually there. A cold hand sticking out of the ground. The boys rush over to their shaken sister.
"Why would someone bury a body way out here," Kol asked as he looked around.
"Because they are trying to hide who was killed," Elijah said. He walked over to the hand and he started to dig around to find out who had been buried her. Soon his brothers joined him. Once they got out the majority of the arm they realized that there were two bodies buried here, both female by the looks of it. They dig out the majority of the bodies before just giving up and using their strength to pull out the bodies. They immediately recognized the bodies.
"Alliana!" Rebekah shouted as she recognized the body in Elijah's and Kol's arms.
"And Tatia," Niklaus said as he recognized the body in his and Finn's arms. They boys set down the bodies. They all immediately run over to Alliana's body. Rebekah cradled the head of her best friend in her lap with tears in her eyes. Elijah cradled her hands, holding them to his body. Niklaus sat opposite to Elijah, staring at her bod, almost unbelieving. Kol sat by her feet trying to keep from crying like a child. Finn stood further away, watching as his siblings grieved.
"What happened to her?" Rebekah asked, crying.
Elijah looked at her body. He noticed the blood on her clothes and the marks on her wrist. "It seems that she was stabbed with a sword and her wrists were cut."
"It seems to be the same with Tatia," Niklaus said.
"It looks to be that they have been dead for a bit of time," Finn said, speaking up.
"I have not seen Alliana since before we were turned," Rebekah said, noticing the bracelet gone from the dead girl's wrist.
"I saw her last the afternoon the day we were turned," Niklaus said, thinking of their shared kiss.
"Her wrists were cut. Her body was drained for blood," Elijah said, attempting to remember her (unknown to him) faked words of love.
"We were given wine laced with blood the night we were turned," Kol said, remembering her tricks and her laughter.
"You think that Mother and Father used their blood to make us what we are?" Rebekah asked, still holding the head of her dead best friend.
"I'm afraid so." Elijah said.
The siblings gathered around their fallen friend/lover and grieved for their tragic loss. This would be their first of many tragic losses, but they would eventually meet someone who would bring light to who Alliana was and heal all the wounds from this one.
Stefan spends the next couple of days on a detox. Elena spends her nights at the Salvatore Boarding House watching and worrying over him. It would be more, but I put my foot down when it came to school.
Which unfortunately backfired on me as being at school mean I witnessed my brother making out with a vampire that kidnapped me. And my sister. And him if we're being realistic.
A quick shovel talk later (you know with a stake and vervain instead of a shotgun, but I digress), and I'm trying to be cool with it. Jeremy has been decent or quiet about snooping through Elena's stuff now that he knows what was being hidden from him. And he tells me when he hangs out with Anna, so I can rest a little easier. Little being the operative word.
I'm still worried about Elena. I'm sure she is doing a lot of reckless and stupid things with Stefan while he's angsty and detoxing. I try to stay out of it. I don't know what to say here. Stefan and I are friends, but only because we're bonded through Elena. I don't know him that well outside of their relationship. I don't know how to help him.
At least, I didn't. Until Elena told me the story.
Two brothers. Trapped in an endless cycle of torment. Stefan and Damon were turned by Katherine. By Stefan officially transitioned by drinking the blood of their father. And then he forced Damon to turn.
And suddenly, I have a lot of understanding for Stefan.
Stefan is alone when I come to visit the house. He's sitting by the fire, brooding. Typical. But this time, there's more tension in his posture.
I sit in one of the chairs nearby and as soon as he looks over at me, I start, "You know I don't understand certain things about being a vampire. I don't understand what it's like to crave for blood to the point of obsession. And I don't understand the weight of killing someone over it." I look over at him. "But I do understand guilt. And I understand drowning in it to the point where all you could think is 'Is the world better off without me?'"
"Emilia," Stefan starts.
But I wave him away, "Don't interrupt. I'll say my piece and we'll never talk about it again."
He nods and sits back in his seat.
I take a breath before I continue. "I made choices. I've been selfish and it got people hurt." I rub my right hand across my left forearm. "It got me hurt." I grip my hands together. "The first vampire I ever met was after me because I was a virgin. Someone I knew- Someone I trusted basically sold me to him. The second vampire I encountered was through my ancestor's journal. Johnathan Gilbert did not take kindly to your kind as I'm sure you know better than I do. But what I'm trying to say is that I should've run. I should've taken Elena and ran from you once we found out what you were. I had every reason to. But I stayed and I let her continue to see you and fall in love because I made the choice. I made the choice to trust you. And I made the choice to curse her with the knowledge of the supernatural. Because I was being selfish. I said I wanted to protect her and I did. I still do. But really, if I think about it. Deep down, I wanted her to know. I wanted her to be aware, because I didn't want to be alone. I didn't want to be by myself in my fear."
I sigh, "I did the same thing with Jeremy. I didn't want him compelled because I was terrified. I know what it's like and I didn't want him to suffer those gaps. But also, I wanted him to know. I wanted him to be scared of Vicki. And of what Damon could do to him, because I was so freaking terrified every time I spent a moment alone with him. I was willing to let my brother be tortured by grief and fear because I didn't want to be by myself."
I look over at Stefan who is trying valiantly to keep a straight face. "I think you were doing the same thing with Damon."
I give him a small smile, "I know I should be the first person to condemn you. I've been very vocal in my hatred of Damon. And I could easily blame you for what he's done, but frankly, I get it. I get why you had him turn too. It's because you didn't want to be alone either."
I lean over to Stefan and place a hand on him, "We all make choices Stefan. Damon made his. I made mine. You made yours. There's so much to regret for all of us. But at the same time, there's a lot to think back and remember fondly." I lean back. "I see my sister smile when she's with you. I see you stand with me against threats. And in those moments, I don't think 'Look, it's the Ripper of Monterey.'" Stefan looks up at me in shock. "Yeah, I researched who you were. But that's my point. I don't think of you as that guy. I just see my friend, Stefan. You made a choice to be there for my sister and be there for me. And I don't regret making the choice to trust you. Well, I don't regret for more than a few minutes at a time."
Stefan chuckles and shakes his head.
I stand and move towards the door, "Don't make me regret my choice now, Stefan."
I almost make it to the door when Stefan stops me with a quiet, "Emilia." I turn back to face him. He stutters out, "A-about that, uh, drowning moment earlier. The one you mentioned."
I look away as I answer, "Elena told you about the party the night we crashed off the bridge." Stefan nods, despite it not being a question. "We were already on the road before she called. It's not her fault we crashed, it's mine. But I made the choice not to tell her. Like I said, Stefan, we all have choices we have to live with."
And with that, I leave him to brood in silence.
The next day, the school is busy with Founder's Day Parade prep. I walk into the busy cafeteria with Elena and Stefan, but they get called away by Alaric. I can tell it's important, but I really need to meet up with Caroline and Bonnie. One of us has to face her wrath or we both will, and since it's my best friend, I volunteer myself. Plus, she's with Bonnie, so it's just better for me to go. I tell Elena that I will meet up with them later and I walk over to the table with Caroline and Bonnie. I hear Bonnie say, "Alright, show me."
Caroline says, "Let's reference last year's Miss Mystic Falls float." She opens her computer and pulls up a picture last year's float right as I pull over a chair. I sit next to Bonnie and look at the picture. It's not bad, but I have a feeling Caroline is going to criticize it. "This is exactly what we don't want to do."
Bonnie and I both immediately respond with, "Ew." Caroline nods her acceptance of that answer and moves her computer to face herself again. Bonnie speaks up, "So what are we doing this year?"
Caroline responds, "Southern Classic Elegance."
"'Gone With the Wind.' Really?" I comment.
Caroline looks up in surprise. "How did you know?"
"You channel Scarlett daily," Bonnie says.
"So true," Caroline agrees with a smirk.
We all chuckle.
Caroline looks around. "Where's Elena? She is supposed to be helping."
Bonnie makes a weird face while I respond, "She is in a meeting with Mr. Saltzman," I say, trying to distract from the awkwardness. "I will talk to her."
Caroline picks up on it anyways. "Okay, what's the deal?" Bonnie must still be hurt. As much as I hate that they are fighting, I'm glad she still doesn't blame me. I blame myself enough.
"What do you mean?" Bonnie asks, still trying to avoid admitting it.
"Don't play dumb," Caroline says. "You and Elena are fighting."
"It's nothing," Bonnie says.
My phone buzzes. I open my phone to see a text from Elena: come 2 Alaric's
Uh-oh. I guess I need to go. "Hey, I need to get going. But Bonnie talk to Caroline. Get something off your chest, so you can start to forgive Elena and we all can move on." I pick up all my stuff and I stand up. "I will see you guys later. Care, I will try to draw up some designs for the float as soon as possible if you want." They both nod and wave me goodbye. I then head to Alaric's room. Something big must be going on. But when is that not happening?
I find Stefan, Elena, and Alaric in Alaric's room. Elena is sitting in a front row desk, Stefan is sitting on the desk, and Alaric is leaning against the board. They tell me a bit of what is going on. Isobel, our birth mother is an emotionless vampire and she is looking to meet us. We are waiting for Damon to go over more details. I sit by the window right as Damon walks in the door.
"Damon. Thanks for coming," Alaric says as he walks in.
Sorry I'm late. The dog ate my…" Damon starts, but he realizes we are not responding, so he stops. "Never mind." He looks around at all of our serious faces. "What's with all the furrowed brows?" That's one way to put the situation.
"I saw Isobel last night," Alaric says.
Damon turns to face him. "Isobel's here?" Alaric nods. "In town?" He nods again. Damon turns to face Elena in concern and then turns to me. Damon walks over to stand by me by the window. Wow is this a move of friendship from Damon? He's been good recently, despite my anger at Grams's death, and I'm almost tempted to see what happens if I accept it. He faces Alaric again. "Did you ask her about Uncle John? Are they working together?"
"No," Alaric responds.
"No, they're not?" Damon asks. He takes a few steps towards Alaric.
"No, I didn't ask," Alaric replies.
"What about the invention?" Damon asks, still walking to Alaric.
"Didn't ask."
"Does she know about the tomb of vampires?"
"I don't know."
"Did words completely escape you?" Damon says as he gets right in Alaric's face. Harsh, Damon.
"No, I was a little too distracted by my dead vampire wife to ask any questions," Alaric replies, getting right back in Damon's face
Damon turns to face the rest of us, "Well, what does she want?"
"She wants to see us, Damon," Elena says, motioning between us. He turns to her in surprise.
"Alaric is supposed to arrange a meeting," Stefan adds. "We don't know why or what she wants?"
"You don't have to see her if you don't want to," Damon says. Of course, he is mainly talking to Elena. So much for friendship.
"I don't really have a choice," Elena replies.
I finally speak up. "She's threatened to go on a killing spree."
"Oh," Damon says. Very eloquent. "I take it that's… not okay with you guys."
"I want to do it. I want to meet her," Elena says. I walk over to her and sit next to her. We grasp each other hands in support. Twin support.
"We'll regret it if we don't," I say sullenly. I'm going to regret this anyways.
After school, Elena and I find ourselves at a table in the Grille. We sit in the middle allowing Stefan who is at the pool tables to see us and hear us using his vampire hearing. Elena is talking to him. Or really, she is saying things under her breath, he is listening and responding with nods and mouthed words from across the room. From the whispers I am trying desperately to ignore, they are saying really mushy romantic stuff, so I focus on my drink, a mocha cappuccino. I am too wired to try to draw. Rogue, emotionless vampire means hidden weapons and being alert, no matter if this is our birth mom.
Isobel is sitting down in front of us. She is pretty, but in a very serious way. She has dark hair and eyes and a very intense face. Part of it may come from her vampire aspect, but I see where Elena gets her mysteriously pretty looks. "Hello Elena, Emilia." She focuses on Elena, "You look just like her. It's eerie."
She is obviously talking about our favorite bitchy sire, which means the question of the moment is the one I ask, "You've met Katherine?"
"She found me after I turned. Genetic curiosity, I suppose." That would be a good reason. If I was immortal and one of my descendants had turned immortal too, I would probably check on them as well. "She would be fascinated by you." She is still talking to Elena, I guess.
I notice the necklace she is playing with. "Is that how you can walk in the day?" I ask referring to her necklace.
"Katherine helped me obtain it," she replies.
"Who's our father?" Elena asks. Oh, good question. Go twin.
"Not important. He was a teenage waste of space."
"A name would be nice," Elena continues.
"It would, wouldn't it? You ask a lot of questions," Isobel replies. Well, you are our vampire birth mom, what did you expect?
"Why did you compel that man to kill himself right after he told me to stop looking for you?" Elena asks.
"Dramatic impact. Wish it would have been more effective." Well now you and me both.
"Human life means that little to you?" Elena asks. That's a stupid question to ask a vampire. She flipped the stupid emotions switch, of course she doesn't care about anyone.
"Means nothing to me. It's just a part of being what I am." It makes some sense. We don't think about the lives of the animals we eat, but then again we weren't once pigs. Plus who wouldn't want to not care about anything. No love, but no pain.
Elena shakes her head. "No, it's not. I know other vampires. That's not true." I roll my eyes. Stefan is an exception and she must be totally forgetting when we first met Damon.
"Your boyfriend over there by the pool table? Stefan Salvatore." I look over at Stefan who seems to be slightly agitated. "Why Stefan? Why didn't you go for Damon?" That's gonna make him more agitated. "Or do you enjoy them both? Like Katherine did?" Elena looks at her with surprise. Ok, I am officially obsolete in this conversation. Isobel seems to only be focused on Elena. She just wanted to meet her; I am an afterthought.
I try in vain to get myself back into the conversation, "Why did you want to meet us? It can't be just to catch up."
She looks Elena dead in the eye as she replies, "Because I'm curious about you." Thanks mom. Way to remember you gave birth to twins. I look down into my drink as she continues. "But the real reason is I want what your uncle wants- Jonathan Gilbert's Invention." So that is what this is all about. Fucking Johnathan Gilbert. Uncle John couldn't come home because he wants to spend time with his only family remaining. No. He wants a vampire-hating invention.
"How do you know our uncle?" Elena asks.
"I used to spend a lot of time here when I was younger. John had a crush on me for years. He was the first one to tell me about vampires." Way to go, Uncle John, that's how you woo women. Tell them about all the things that go bump in the night. Something in my brain tingles when she tells us this and hopefully it's not the horrible images of them together.
"What made you want to be one?" Elena asks. I mean, yeah, I understand the fascination with the supernatural. She's a researcher too. Huh, weird. You'd think that would be enough to start a conversation, but no. Mommy dearest just wants to talk to her elder child. Fucking fantastic.
"It's a very long list of reasons, Elena. All of which I'm sure you've thought about." Elena shakes her head. "That was your first lie. It's inevitable. You're going to get old. Stefan won't. Forever doesn't last very long when you're human." What is her angle with this? If I didn't know better, it would almost be caring.
"I'm sorry, but I don't have what you're looking for." Elena tries to stand, but Isobel grabs her arm.
"Sit down. And tell your boyfriend to walk away." I loom up. Stefan has moved closer to us, but he backs away when Elena nods. She gives Elena a half-smile. "I want the invention."
"I don't have that."
"I know that. But Damon does. And you're gonna get it for me."
"He's not going to give it to me." Based on the patterns of behavior I've unfortunately noticed from the darker Salvatore, I'm going to guess that he is and that Elena is blissfully unaware of all of it. I mean they have been getting closer (as much as it makes me ill), what with her being the only one who cared to imagine that he was hurting when Katherine abandoned him, him stepping in during the pageant, and all their shared time during Stefan's detox.
"Then the blood will be on your hands." Elena is silent. Isobel stands and walks away. "It was nice meeting you, Elena." Then she stops and turns around at the last second. "And you, Emilia." She then leaves. Ouch. Fuck. Why did I expect anything different? She never said she wanted to meet me, she wanted to meet Elena. I had just assumed if she wanted to meet her daughter, she would want to meet both. Like as some sort of package deal. I guess I was really wrong. I hate being wrong almost as much as I hate being passed over for Elena. I guess Mommy is giving me a double whammy today. God, this is pathetic! I squeeze Elena's shoulder before I finish my drink and quickly leave. I bump into Bonnie as I leave. I quickly apologize, giving her enough time to see the tears building in my eyes.
I run into Damon and Alaric on the way out. They give me concerned looks that I brush off. I turn to Damon. "Isobel wants Jonathan Gilbert's invention. Give it to her or she will start killing people." I then quickly run off, ignoring how they reach after me.
The next day, Elena and I meet Bonnie in the chemistry lab. She and Elena had somewhat made up this morning. Apparently, Bonnie felt guilty after she didn't do anything when she ran into us upset at the Grille. She and Elena talked it out and now we're trying to get back to being normal. "Hey, Bonnie," I greet her.
"Hey, thanks for meeting me here," she replies. "I wanted you to see this." I look at the table and see what must be Emily's grimoire.
"Is that Emily's spell book?" Elena asks. Grimoire but that's me being pedantic. Bonnie and I both nod in reply.
"I've been going through it since Grams died," Bonnie says. Elena wisely does not comment. "Check this out." We look down and see drawing of the vampire compass which Elena points out. "According to Emily, Jonathan Gilbert never actually succeeded in inventing anything. Emily secretly spelled them all with magic." She flips pages showing us each new thing. "Compass, rings, and the mystery device you told me about."
"Yeah, that's it," Elena says. I look down at the picture again. "Well part of it. Damon only has the one piece."
I get a closer look at the picture. "Wait, I know what this is. I read about it in one of Jonathan Gilbert's journals. This is a weapon against vampires. I don't remember exactly what it does, but it is extremely harmful to vampires. Why would Isobel want this?" I look at both of them, neither of them with the answer.
With the new information in mind, we head outside to spread this info to the rest of the group and, in my case, help with the floats. I head over to help Caroline spread streamers on the Miss Mystic Falls float.
I look over to see Jeremy and Elena in an intense discussion. He is still mad at her for the whole memory-erasing thing. Plus, I haven't seen Anna around since our shovel talk a few days ago. Hopefully things are okay there. I've finally come around to semi-tolerating her.
I hear Elena call out for Jeremy, so I look up at Elena. There she is with Isobel. Uh-oh. I immediately leave my post and head over to protect my sister.
"What do you think you are doing here?" I ask. I pull Elena slightly behind me. I'm so glad I always come prepared. I finger the stakes I have in my jacket sleeve.
"I'm your mother. I want to be more involved in your lives," she replies.
"You don't want to be part of our lives. If so, you would've been here a long time ago. You want the invention, but as Elena told you, We. Don't. Have it." I say, enunciating the words of the last sentence.
"Oh, Emilia. You really are the smart one."
"I'm also the dangerous one. I've been dealing with vampires for years. You're nothing compared to what I have dealt with. You don't scare me. So, get to why you are here." I say getting closer to her.
"You are very protective of the people you care about. And you have a lot of people that you care about. But I've been studying. Let's see if I got this right." She turns to face Bonnie who is walking by. "There is the witchy best friend, Bonnie. Gonna stay away from that one." She looks to someone behind us. "oh, sad little brother Jeremy." I tense. She better stay far away from him. "And there's Caroline." We turn to face Caroline, who is still working on the float. Always the perfectionist. "Obnoxious Caroline. I got all of my info from her, by the way. She had no idea who I was, and she wouldn't stop yapping." I roll my eyes. Caroline would do that. Isobel then turns to face Matt. No. "Matt. Emilia's closest guy friend. Elena's friend and ex. Yappy's future ex. Lots of connections there."
"Matt's not involved with us," Elena says.
"He's involved with you, isn't he?"
Elena is about to say more, but I cut in. "What is your point with all of this?"
"You have lots of friends. But I have some friends here too. Look. See that man over there standing next to Matt by the float?" We turn to face Matt. There is an attractive cowboy standing next to a crouching Matt. "His name is Frank. He's very handsome. And he's also quite handy. He noticed the axle was kind of rusted, which is very dangerous." I see where she is going with this. Oh crap. I want to move but I don't want her to hurt him or someone else, so I stay put. I can't exactly stake her in this crowd. "So all you have to do is apply a little bit of pressure, and…"
We both scream out, "No!" as we see Frank jump on the float where Matt was currently working on, causing the float to fall and trap Matt's hand. We both try to move, but Isobel grabs our arms. She had moved behind us and trapped my left arm and Elena's right in her vampire death grip. I struggle for a second, before I pull her pinky finger back as hard as possible, which could break it on a human, I don't check beyond getting her to release me. I immediately rush over to Matt. The guys with Stefan's help to lift the float off of Matt. Caroline rushes over. I tell her to call for an ambulance. Matt is cradling his hurt arm. I gently try to examine his arm. From what I can tell, at the very least his hand is at broken, if not multiple parts of his hand and arm shattered. I can see from the corner of my eye that Isobel still has Elena. Soon I hear her calling out for Jeremy. Oh fuck. Isobel just made a big mistake. Threatening lives in this town is one thing, but threatening my family is another and I will get her for that.
Caroline comes rushing over. "The ambulance is saying 15-20 minutes." She kneels by Matt's left side.
Tyler comes rushing over as well. He crouches by Matt's right. "I have my car. I can take him to the hospital."
"Caroline can take me," Matt says.
"But I didn't drive," she replies.
"Then I will wait. It's fine," Matt stubbornly says.
"No, you are not waiting," I say from my spot in front of Matt. "You need to see a doctor now. Tyler is driving you. End of story."
"Fine," Matt says. He knows better than to argue with me.
I look up at Tyler, who is still standing there. I'm guessing in some sort of surprise. I yell at him to go get his car. He says that he will bring it around. As soon as Caroline and Matt take off to the hospital in Tyler's car, I rush off to find Elena, so that we can get Jeremy.
At first, we meet up in Alaric's classroom, where we decide to try to convince Damon to hand over the device to give to Bonnie to undo the original spell, rendering it useless. We then go to the Boarding House where we argue with Damon to hand it over. He says he doesn't want to give it Isobel to give to John, who would turn around and kill him. He tells us that he would get Jeremy his own way. I try to formulate some plans, but they all wind up with the huge possibility that Jeremy could get hurt or be killed, especially if Damon goes off half-cocked. We still have to convince him to trust Bonnie to do the spell. She shows him what he claims is a parlor trick of her pulling a book that he names (Call of the Wild by Jack London) out of the bookshelf using magic. Eventually Elena does her thing where she connects with him by unknowingly appealing to his feelings for her. He gives her the device and I help Bonnie get the supplies needed for the spell.
Bonnie places a piece of the device in the center of a table filled with candles. With magic, it levitates and spins. She whispers something in her magical language and the lights dim until it is just the candles lighting the room. I can again feel the magic swirling around right before the flames in the candles and the fire in the fireplace increase. Then everything stops, the piece drops into Bonnie's hand and she says that she did it. That magic didn't feel much like the magic used at the tomb, but even though this is both Emily Bennett's spells. I guess this probably doesn't require nearly the same power.
We meet Isobel in the center of town. She flashes behind us and immediately asks, "Where's the device?"
I take a step closer to her. "Where's our brother?"
"This isn't a negotiation. Where's the invention?"
I take another step. "True. A negotiation is a discussion intended to produce an agreement. We have already come to one. We will give you the invention, once you have shown that our brother has is safe and unharmed. So we ask again."
Elena takes a step closer and asks, "Where is our brother?"
"Do you really think that I came alone?" Isobel asks. Frank and a tall woman walk in behind us. As if that was supposed to intimidate or scare us.
"Do you really think that we did?" Isobel turns to see Stefan and Damon walking in behind her. I think they look more intimidating than her little friends.
She turns back around. "For god sakes, call home."
"What?" Elena asks.
Isobel rolls her eyes. "Call home, ask to speak to your brother Jeremy."
Elena whips out her phone and calls home. Jeremy picks up, assures us that he is okay and then she tells them that we will be home soon. She hangs up and puts her phone away, turning to Isobel. "You were never going to hurt him." I roll my eyes at her naiveté.
"No. I was going to kill him." Knew it. "don't look for any redeeming qualities in me. I don't have any." She says this almost sadly. Huh. Her switch is seemingly more like a dimmer. Gotta love all the crap information spread about the switch.
"But you took a risk with Damon. How did you know he was going to give it to me?" Elena asks.
"Cause he is in love with you," Isobel replies. And there are the shocked looks. If this weren't a serious situation, I would be cracking up. Elena, Stefan, and Damon all have this wide range of emotions going through their faces. Elena is surprised and confused. Stefan is the same, but also a little mad and jealous. Damon is shocked and guilty.
Isobel holds out her hand. Elena sighs as she pulls the device from her pocket. She steps forward and right as she plops it in Isobel's hand, she says, "Thank you."
Isobel asks, "For what?"
"For being such a monumental disappointment. It keeps the memory of our real mother perfectly intact."
"Goodbye, Elena," Isobel says. "As long as you have a Salvatore on each arm, you're doomed. Katherine was smart. She got out. But we all know that you are not Katherine." They walk away from each other. I grab the stake from my jacket sleeve, step up to Isobel, and stab her through the stomach and up towards her heart. She gasps in pain and starts to lean on me.
"That is for threatening and kidnapping my brother," I shove the stake further with each accusation. "hurting Matt, and threatening the rest of the people I care about." I can feel her backup walking towards me and I can see Damon, Stefan, and Elena stopping and watching to see what I do. "Ah, Ah, ah. I would call your guard dogs off. This stake that I'm holding is centimeters away from your heart. One wrong move and it goes in." I shift it just so she feels how close it is. I change my tone to more mocking, "Do you wanna compare how fast your 'babies' are? Because I don't like your odds." She waves them away. "Good. Now if you ever try something like this again, I will do far worse than just stabbing you with a stake. We are quite similar, Mommy, dear. How much do you think I've learned about vampires; about all their weaknesses, all the ways they can hurt? How bad do you think I can be? You threatened my family, you have no idea how far I will go to protect them. Do you understand me?" She nods, so I pull the stake from her body and step back. She crumples to the ground. I crouch down and whisper softly to her. "If you do come around again, try not to forget, you have two daughters." Or else, I'll have to remind her physically again.
But then again, if I think about it for more than a second, I kind of want an excuse to make her hurt.
I quickly stand and walk away. I see Elena hugging Stefan, while Damon looks on kind of longingly and forlornly. I must be really desperate as I walk over to him. "I know we are not close or anything like that. And I don't know about you, but I could really use a drink and a friend right about now."
He pulls his eyes away from the loving couple and looks over at me. He gives me a half-smirk. "Come on, Buffy." He starts to walk away.
"Buffy?" I ask.
He turns back towards me, "As in 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer.'" I chuckle and follow him.
Damon may not be the best guy, but he can be a pretty good friend when you need one. He takes me to the Boarding House and gives me a glass of some of his good bourbon. We sit staring at the fire, drinking for a good few minutes before I finally ask, "Does this mean that we are friends now?"
I turn on the couch that I am laying on to face him. He turns to face me on the chair he is lounging in, "Does what?"
"I don't know. This. You giving me a nickname and some bourbon, and me not threatening to kill you and distracting you from… well you know."
He chuckles. "I guess so."
"Is the nickname your sort of official seal of acceptance? Like this person is now a part of my life, unfortunately, so I now will call them whatever I want, sort of thing?"
He takes another sip of his drink. "I guess so."
"Huh," I say. "I think I'm glad to be the first one then." Damon just nods and then we both just take another sip of our drinks and relax. A few minutes later my phone goes off. Jenna is calling me. I get up and walk to another room as Damon stands to get another drink. I tell Jenna that I am hanging out at Caroline's, finishing some last details before the parade tomorrow and that I will be home soon. I hate lying to her, but she is not exactly going to understand hanging out with Damon. Hell, I barely understand it. I walk back to the living room/parlor whatever you want to call it. I find Damon and Stefan having an intense conversation. I don't want to get in the middle of that. I am about to go walk around the house, but then I hear Damon say, "I wasn't looking forward to telling her the truth anyway?" Oh curious, so I stop and listen.
"What truth?" Stefan asks.
"About John." What about Uncle John? Like specifically. Dude has got a lot of secrets. "Because I know you don't like to keep secrets from each other."
"What are you talking about?" Yes, Damon, what are you talking about?
"Am I the only one around here who has the ability to put two and two together?" No. But I'm not sure which twos you are referring to. "Isobel. Hello?" Narrowing it down, but not enough. "She dated John when she was 15. She gets pregnant and ends up at the doctor's office of John's brother." All the air leaves me in a rush. Oh my God. "Now, what do you think is John's role in all of this, huh?"
I take that as my cue. I step forward into the parlor thing. "John is my father," I say. They both turn to me in surprise. It takes all my self-control to keep my face impassive. "It makes sense. Nice job, Damon," I say softly, but emotionlessly. I pour myself another drink and knock it back quickly. "Stefan, you can tell Elena. I don't think there will ever be enough time for me to process this and then be able to explain it to someone else, especially not Elena." I set down my glass. "Thanks for the drink, Damon. I will see you guys at the parade tomorrow." I quickly leave.
The next morning is a flurry of fabric, curling irons, and ribbon. The day of the Founder's Parade. Elena and I start the morning the same way women did in the time of the founders. Jenna wakes us up to start the day. We shower and blow-dry our hair, not exactly like in 1860, but whatever. Then the styling starts. I sit for what felt like hours while Jenna curls and styles my hair into a style while Elena does my makeup. Jenna teases some of the curls near my face so they poof out to the side, which was a popular look for the time. She then smooths everything from my middle part to the back and starts pinning things into an updo, with ribbons matching my dress incorporated, and the ends of the curls left in ringlets hanging across my shoulders.
Then it was Elena's turn. Jenna leaves her curls down but clips the front ones back with a red rose clip. Then we get dressed. Layers and layers of fabric are put on us. Petticoats and corsets and stockings and garters. Ugh, I want to kill Caroline for making us deal with this. I love history, but there are reasons why I don't actually want to live there. Modern conveniences are great and hoop skirts are a pain to get used to, despite all the amazing history behind their creation.
I keep trying to share fun facts from the time, such as hoop skirts being invented as a way to keep cool. And how the large diameter was used to force some distance between predatory men and the women they intended to attack. But every time I try, Jenna and Elena groan and wave me off with some fond laughter.
But, in the end, we look great. Elena dress is yellowish-green. It has straps that hang off her shoulders and flowers and butterflies embroidered on it. My dress is lavender and has thin capped sleeves and a layered skirt. The dresses are really heavy and pretty uncomfortable, but they look great, only if we stand still or sway slightly. Walking is a task that takes some getting used to.
We walk through the school courtyard to get to our float. This is one of the busiest days of the year. Everyone is outside today, helping out with the floats and the parade, but at least it is a gorgeous day. We walk towards our float and on the way, we find Stefan and Damon. As soon as they see her, it looks like the whole world disappears to them and there is only Elena. Oh great, a confidence boost. I'm runner up, but Elena is the one that stops men in their tracks. I get that Elena is the pretty one. We have basically the same face, (well, similar. We used to look closer when we were children. Not so much now, I guess.) but she has the dark hair and eyes that give her this air of mysterious beauty. My slightly lighter hair and eyes are nice, but they aren't anything spectacular; I'm demoted to the less pretty one. No wonder I stick to books. Gentlemen are better in fiction. We both curtsy and then I rush off to find Caroline, Bonnie, and Teddy. I don't want to think about this anymore.
I find them taking pictures by the float. Caroline is ordering Matt to hide his cast because it is 'not era-appropriate.' They look great with Matt looking dapper in his era-appropriate suit and Caroline looking bright and bubbly in her yellow dress with three quarter sleeves and gloves. Then Caroline asks for one with Bonnie and me. Tyler is there to volunteer as cameraman, which makes Matt mad. He is still pissed off about the whole making-out-with-his-mom-and-then-brawling-thing, shocker. We take a few more pictures and then get on the float.
The parade is great. Carol Lockwood is the announcer for the event and I can hear vaguely hear her introducing the different parts of the parade through some speakers. The marching band is first. Then the Battle of Willow Creek float which Tyler made, and Jeremy is on. Good for the youngest Gilbert to get involved with some town history. Then it's us on the Miss Mystic Falls float. It's a red and white float with bannisters and stairs decorated with white flowers and streamers. We are ordered by our title thing. Caroline is at the back of the float, but at the top. I am in front of and beneath her, Elena is in front of and beneath me, and so on and so forth, with those on the base of the float organized in two rows. Of course, we are standing with our escorts, so Matt is with Caroline, I'm with Teddy, and Elena is with Stefan (who is actually here this time) and I think we look great. We are waving at everyone and everyone is cheering. It's actually kind of fun.
After the parade is a sort of celebration thing for the Founding Families. It's mostly just an event with speeches aggrandizing our history. But there's food at the Grille and music and some little carnival games and a celebratory air. It's pretty fun, as much as we get here in our small town. That happens until nighttime and then there are fireworks. All in all, it's a pretty good day.
Of course, there is drama. First off, Jeremy is still pissed at Elena, so he stalks off angry when she tries to apologize again at the Grille. Then Damon is in love with Elena, so he goes off after Jeremy to get Jeremy to forgive her so he looks good in Elena's eyes. And this means that the guys wind up almost fighting and I have to break it up.
I see Jeremy start to walk away and Damon grabs his arm. They exchange words and I'm betting Damon is threatening him, based on Damon's posture. I walk up to them and tell Damon to let Jeremy go. Stefan walks over and grabs Damon while I take Jeremy. I ask him if he is okay.
Stefan steps next to me and in between Damon and Jeremy. "What my brother is trying to say is don't blame Elena for this. Damon turned Vicki. I killed her. She was a threat to you, and she was a threat to your sisters. I'm sorry that it happened. I wish that it hadn't." Yeah, you and me both Stefan.
Jeremy replies, "You shouldn't have made me forget." And then he walks away. I roll my eyes and groan internally at his teenage angst. We've got bigger problems in the world then something that is in the past. But I feel for his pain. I just wish that there was an easy way to fix it and then we could move on. Vicki seems like a million crises ago.
I go to find my friends. I hang out with Bonnie and Caroline for most of the evening. Stefan and Elena are being couple-y, and I am not in the mood for being a third wheel, so I tell them to contact me if anything happens.
We are eating dinner at the Grille when everything first starts to go wrong. Bonnie leaves to go check on a few things, which seems like something wrong. But I stay with Caroline and Matt, because I figure they could use some protection and if no one is calling me there must not be anything that needs my attention. I'm sitting next to Matt who is currently glaring at Tyler, who is playing pool.
Caroline notices and says, "There was this time in freshmen year when Bonnie and I were in a fight. And we swore that we would never talk again." I remember that. They were crushing on the same guy and got into this huge argument. It was bad. They didn't talk to each other for three weeks. Elena and I went back and forth between them before I finally got them to forgive each other.
"Caroline, give it a rest," Matt says softly.
That's when the Mayor walks in. That is a second kind-of sign. He walks over to Tyler and tells him to go home. Tyler tells him something he doesn't like. The mayor grabs him, and Tyler pulls away. That's when we walk over. "Mr. Mayor, is everything okay?" I ask him sweetly. He looks around and sees the three of us.
He turns back to Tyler. "Please, Tyler, I need you to go home. Now. Take your friends with you."
"But why? What's going on?" Matt asks.
"I can't explain," the Mayor says. "All of you need to get home. Now. Please." Sketchy. And suspicious.
Tyler nods, "Yeah, okay."
The Mayor hands him his keys. "Here. Take my car. It's out back." Tyler starts to walk away. The Mayor sees us again. "Come on. Caroline, Matt, Emilia, go with him." We grab our stuff and follow Tyler out. I don't understand what's going on, I mean a council member freaking out and Bonnie rushing out with no explanation, something is happening, so I try to call Elena. But she doesn't answer.
I try to leave the group, but Caroline grabs me and pushes me into the car. I try to leave as soon as I notice that I'm in the backseat, but Care just shuts the door and gets Tyler to lock me in. That girl is strong when she wants to be. As soon as we drive away, the fireworks start. I am sitting in the back seat with Matt, so I'm able to turn around to watch. Here's to hoping that I'll be calmer if I'm focused on something other than being in the backseat. Bad things happen when I'm in the backseat.
This used to be my favorite part. My family would always get together and stand real close when we watched the fireworks. It started when we were little kids who got scared by the noise, but we made it a tradition to always be by each other when the fireworks started. It seems like so long ago.
A minute or two after the fireworks start Tyler starts acting weird. "What the hell is that?" He asks.
"What's the matter?" Caroline asks from her seat in the front.
"That noise," Tyler replies. That's when I remember. The Gilbert device: it was used to cause great pain to the vampires. It sent out a signal that only the supernatural could hear and it was supposed to be very painful. But why was Tyler hearing it. Bonnie was supposed to un-spell it. And how could he hear it? He's definitely not a vampire, so what is he?
"Wait, what noise?" Matt asks. The Tyler starts to really freak out. He grabs his head in pain. We start calling out to him. He starts screaming and let go of the wheel. The car starts to go out of control. I yell at Caroline to grab the wheel while Tyler keeps screaming. The tires are screeching. I unbuckle my seatbelt to check on Tyler. I move forward right as Caroline grabs the wheel. She jerks it to the right, which means the car jerks and I slide to the left, into Tyler's seat. I try to move to check on Tyler again and Matt tries to pull me back in my seat.
Then we crash.
I barely have time to breathe before I am shooting forward. I try to stop myself by bracing myself on against the dashboard, but pain goes through my arm and I feel my shoulder pop. Matt grabs me just in time, so I don't go through the windshield, but my weight pulls his body enough to cause the seatbelt to stop him hard. We all fall back into our seats again when the car stops.
I spend a second in shock just thinking how seatbelts are no joke, before reality crashes through me.
I immediately hand Matt my phone and I tell him to call 911. I get out of the car and help Caroline out. Tyler has been knocked out and my right arm and shoulder are killing me. Matt hands me my phone back and he and Caroline try to get Tyler out of the car. I tell them to wait for the ambulance.
I call Elena and she finally picks up. I can hear Stefan groaning in the background. I tell her to put me on speaker. I can hear Stefan explaining the pain from the device.
Alaric voice comes up on the phone, "I saw at least 5 vampires go down. They were taking them to your family's old building."
I speak up, "It's the Gilbert device. I just remembered earlier. It was meant to send out a powerful sound that only vampires could hear to cause them pain and weaken them. That is exactly what happened, wasn't it?"
"But how did he get it to work?" Elena asks. "Bonnie un-spelled it."
"Maybe she didn't," I hear Alaric say.
"She did. We saw her do it," Elena replies.
"No, no, no. He's right. Think about it," Stefan speaks up.
I sigh as I realize, "We asked Bonnie to deactivate a device that could protect people against vampires. She did the same thing Emily did."
"So we could protect you," Elena states, I assume to Stefan.
"And Damon. Vampires," Stefan responds. "Where is Damon?"
"I don't know. I haven't seen him since this started," Alaric says.
"What about Jeremy? Has anyone seen him?" I ask.
"Can you get my brother? Take him home?" I hear Elena ask, I'm guessing this time is to Alaric.
"Of course," he replies.
"Let's go," Elena says. I tell her to make sure to keep me on speaker. I need to know what's going on.
The ambulance has finally arrived. The EMTs get Tyler out and are checking him out. Matt is checking on Caroline. I hear him ask if she is okay. Her side took the biggest hit.
"I'm fine. I'm fine," she replies.
I can see Matt is still worried about her. "No, they need to check you out." But Caroline keeps denying it, saying she is fine.
"They are helping Tyler," Caroline says.
I hear an EMT say that his pulse is steadying which is good. I walk over to him, just to keep an eye on him. I'm still wondering why he was affected by the device. An EMT shines a light in his eye. His eye is different, almost animal like. The EMT recoils in shock. The go to check him again, but he wakes up, with his eyes normal. Matt and I both sigh in relief, but I know what I saw.
"What happened?" Tyler asks. I guess he is okay for now. Matt is watching him, so I head to Caroline. God, this was a lot. My shoulder is killing me, but I push past the pain. I make it to Caroline. I am reaching out to comfort her when she suddenly collapses. I try to grab her but I used my right arm to grab her and it pulls on my shoulder painfully. All I can do is try to set her down gently.
"We need help over here!" I call out. I shake her, but she won't wake up. C'mon Caroline. You were fine. The EMTs get to us immediately. They get her on a gurney and into the ambulance. They try to pull me in too as they can see that my shoulder is seriously injured (and something about my arm, maybe), but as much as I don't want to leave my friend – I'm so worried, I need to know what's wrong -, I have to help out my sister, as much as I can. I grab a ride to the center from a townie who saw the accident. Gotta love small-town hospitality. I stay on the phone with Elena my whole way there. She is asking about what happened to me, but I tell her that I'm fine and to focus on saving Damon. I hear over the phone that my father's building is on fire and that is where the vampires are trapped, including Damon.
I hear Elena ask, "Where's Damon?"
"With the rest of them," Uncle John says. Oh jeez. Of course, he is behind all of this. I can't deal with this. I can't even call him Uncle John anymore as he could be my father. Ugh, that is still too weird. "Where he should be," I hear John continue. "It's over for Damon."
"You're crazy," Elena says.
"Why?" John asks. "Because I am doing what should have been done 145 years ago? This is the right thing Elena." Is it though? "Go ahead. You won't make it out. It will save me the trouble of killing you myself." He must be talking to Stefan.
There is a break and the sound of movement. "You know the building well. Is there another entrance in?" I hear Stefan ask into the phone. Thank god he knew to ask me first. That saved some time.
"There's a utility door around the side," I answer. My friendly driver gives me a look, but I ignore them. There is the sound of movement, which I guess is the phone being handed back to Elena. Then there is a grunt, which I figure comes from Elena.
"You take one more step, and I'll alert those deputies that they missed a vampire," John says. He must have grabbed her before she ran after Stefan. The car that I am in drives up to the center right as I figure this moment out. I barely have time to thank the driver before I exit the still moving vehicle and start sprinting to the medical building.
"I'm asking you not to," I hear Elena say.
"That doesn't mean anything to me," John says, as I turn around the alley to find them.
I speak up. "As our father, it should."
A moment of silence. I finally hang up the phone.
John steps back in shock. "You know," he says.
"We weren't sure," I start.
"But now we are," Elena finishes for me. There's another tense silence before Elena grabs my good arm and drags me to the side entrance.
Bonnie calls as she runs up to us, "Elena! You can't go in there." She grabs my sister before Elena runs inside. Good, my right arm is throbbing horrendously, and I don't want to pull her myself.
"Bonnie, what are you doing?" Elena asks.
"I'm sorry I lied to you," Bonnie says, still holding on to my sister's arm.
"Bonnie, just do something! Fix it!" I stress to her.
"Bonnie, I've got to get in there," Elena tries to leave again. But Bonnie holds onto her arm and starts chanting. I send all thoughts to Bonnie, hoping she can help, feeling the magic to prove she is doing something, but we've been burned by this before. When the magic wind and chanting dies down, coughing from behind us starts up. We turn to find Stefan supporting a singed and coughing Damon out of the building. Elena rushes to Stefan's other side while I wander over more slowly. Stefan and Damon just take the moment to breathe and Bonnie slips away.
I put my hand on Damon's side to help his breath calm down a bit. When he is standing on his own feet, Stefan and Elena hug while Damon goes to pat my shoulder. We are the less touchy-feely ones. But unaware to him, he pats my bad shoulder. I shout an expletive from the pain, and everyone finally notices my bruised and broken body.
"Oh my god, Emilia." Elena turns to me, running her eyes over my injuries, especially my distorted right shoulder and disfigured right arm. "What happened?"
"I got in a car accident. Well, me, Caroline, Matt, and Tyler. The guys are fine, but Caroline is in the hospital."
"Caroline is in the hospital? You need to be in the hospital?!"
I take a deep breath through the pain, stars starting to distort my vision. Did I hit my head? I can't remember. "Yeah, good idea."
I finally make it to the hospital and let myself get checked out. An hour, an X-ray, and a lot of arm pain later, the doctors diagnose me with a posterior shoulder dislocation and fractured ulna. They pop my shoulder back into place and get a cast for my wrist. The shoulder part hurt for that second, and then the pain is gone, mostly. The doctors commend me for being brave and doing it without pain meds. I wave them off with an attempt at a casual air. Based on the looks I get, they've seen my medical records. They know what else I've been through. But they don't say anything else as the finish bandaging me up with the cast and a sling and give me a prescription for some pain meds for any lingering soreness. They discharge me, so I'm allowed to go home. But I find Matt in the waiting room, waiting for news on Caroline before I leave. I tell him that I will go home and bring back some food as long as he keeps me updated. He gives me a small smile and I squeeze his arm with my good hand. I see Tyler walking up, so I leave.
I rush home to find Jenna there. She immediately fusses over me when she sees the sling and furiously questions what happened to me. I explain to her that I was in a car accident and that besides the damaged right arm, I am completely fine. It isn't until Caroline still being in the hospital comes up and my plans to return to the hospital anyways, that she finally relents. She even agrees to help me make some food for Matt and the Sheriff. As we do, she explains that the medical building burned down and that she will have to talk to the fire marshal about it. Jenna makes some sandwiches, while I try to bake cookies, with one hand. It is not easy, but I managed with a little help from Jenna. We look for something to pack it all in, and I suggest the picnic basket that is in Jenna's car. She always forgets to take it out. She goes to open the door to go outside and in the open doorway I can see Damon and Elena kissing… Holy shit!
They stop when they realize that Jenna is there. Elena almost glares at her before realizing that it is Jenna. That's weird. What is with the glaring? "Hi," she says, turning to face the door. Damon turns so he is facing the other way. Oh, he knows he is in trouble.
"It's late. You should probably come inside," Jenna says. Elena sighs and goes to grab her stuff. She slides past Jenna in the doorway and starts heading upstairs.
Jenna turns to follow her upstairs, neither realizing that I am there, "What are you doing?" Yes, good question.
"I don't want to talk about it," Elena says as she storms upstairs.
I join Jenna staring at her retreating figure. I place my hand on Jenna's shoulder, "I don't get it either. But I'll get the basket myself." Jenna nods and goes back to the kitchen while I walk outside.
Damon turns to me and sees the sling. "You gonna be okay?"
"I've been worse," I say shortly. He nods and flashes away, so I go back outside and grab the picnic basket from the car. I quickly set it on the counter and scurry away from John who is in now in there. He opens his mouth to say something but I just push past him to head upstairs. I hear Elena go down the stairs right after I make it into my room. This is weird. She would normally check up on me, especially if I'm injured. And the Damon thing. That was all kinds of weird.
I take off the makeup that is still on my face. Then I hear screaming. I rush outside of my room and I hear that it is coming from downstairs.
"John?!" I yell.
I run downstairs as I hear him groan in pain. I look over to see a woman with dark curls holding a knife to his stomach. I know those curls. And the weird behavior.
Oh My God. It's not Elena. It's…
"Katherine," I whisper.
I hear keys opening the front door. Elena.
Katherine's body stills, her back to me, as she hears the whisper of her name and the keys. And she flashes away. John falls to the ground.
I call out, "Elena!"
A/N: So the start of this chapter was the second new scene I added with this round of edits. I was rewatching the episode Blood Brothers and I realized how much Emilia, as I have written her, could find things to relate to. Let me know what you think!