Reborn as a Gilbert
I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING EXCEPT MY IDEAS AND EVERYTHING I WRITE IS FICTION
Summary: Riley Collins was a normal sixteen-year-old foster kid from Harlem. One night her curiosity got the better of her and it cost her her life, or that is what she thought. One moment she lays on the ground in the middle on Central Park where her life was being drained from her and then the next she is being reborn into a world where Vampires were real and her family has a legacy of vampire hunting. This is her journey.
Chapter 3: "Riley's Return"
Riley POV 3rd Person
"Welcome to Mystic Falls" Riley read as Uncle John drove past the sign. It had been almost 3 months since she had been back in her hometown and she was not looking forward to being back. The past three months had been the best of her life. Her sister and brother were not around to torture her, her uncle John had taught her everything he knew of the supernatural world and he had accepted her fully when he found out about her powers.
-Flashback Start-
Riley and John were on their very first Vampire hunt together. It seemed that a newly turned vampire had been left all on his own and was now feasting on the residents of a small town right outside Oakland, Georgia. It took them less than three days to track down where the newbie was hiding out during the day and they went in guns blazing, well stakes blazing. All together it should have been a simple stake and burn but it turned upside down fast, very fast. The newbie had accidentally learned how to turn more vampires so one newbie out for blood turned into five newbies out for blood.
Uncle John took out two and Riley took out two but the last one decided not to come to them head-on but stand back and let his desert eagle handgun do the work for him. Uncle and niece were standing side by side when they heard the gunshots and out of instinct she threw up her hand and brought up her shield around her and her uncle. To say he was surprised was an understatement but he didn't let that stop him from doing what he had come here to do. Without even taking his eyes off of Riley he aimed his stake gun towards the vampire and staked him right through the heart.
It was then that Riley decided to trust her godfather and spent the next few hours telling him everything. Starting from her past life to now she explained it all. Then she broke down crying in his arms. For 14 long years, she had kept all of this to herself and by telling John and trusting in him a weight she didn't even know she had been carrying around was finally lifted off her shoulders and she could breathe easy.
Over the next week, Riley showed John everything she could do. At first, John thought she might be a witch but the things she could do did not go along with what he knew about witches and he didn't know any witches personally that he trusted with Riley to ask them. After that, the vampire hunting went easier but her training got harder because now John was not just training her martial arts and fighting skills, he was also pushing her powers to their limits.
-Flashback End-
During those months John and Riley had become more like father and daughter than uncle and niece. He had even confided in her that Elena was his child and not Grayson's. When that news came out Riley vowed to keep Elena safe for John's sake, not Elena's, Riley could care less about Elena but she was uncle John's only child and she did not want him to go through the pain of losing her.
Riley was brought out of her musings as they pulled up in front of her childhood home and with great reluctance, she got out. Uncle John popped the trunk and started to get Riley's bags out of it. Riley reached in the backseat to get her new backpack with all her school supplies that John had bought her last week and her duffel bag that was enlarged on the inside by a witch as a favor to John. He had one just like it and made sure that Riley had hers packed to his specifications. The duffel bag was an emergency kit that had everything from fresh clothes, MREs, all her hunting supplies, and last but not least her Journal. Now her Journal was not just any journal no. This journal was the one she had started when she was 10 and had everything she had ever learned about herself including her past life, powers, and unknown to anybody except John her weaknesses.
Lucky for her nobody was home so she and Uncle John was able to get her stuff up to her room without any confrontations from the unfriendly Gilbert trio. Well, mostly unfriendly trio. Ever since their parents had died Aunt Jenna, Elena and Jeremy hadn't bothered her but they didn't try to reach out either, not that she cared. Right now the only person she was close to was Uncle John. He didn't stick around to say hi to anyone after helping to get her unpacked, he just hugged me and kiss on the forehead, told her he loved her and that he would be back soon. Then he was gone. Gone back to the exciting life of being a Vampire Hunter and Private Detective and I was stuck here to go back to high school and hopefully if the council agreed to be the new town vampire hunter. Yay me.
The first person to come home was Aunt Jenna. She came in and went to the kitchen to get started on dinner but was surprised to see someone else was in there cooking. It took a second for her to realize that the person she had been staring at was her youngest niece Riley. In the three months that she had been gone Riley had changed just enough that you would have to look twice to see that it was her. Before she looked like a miniature version of Miranda but now she looked more like her Uncle John.
Riley stood at 5' 7" with dyed dirty blonde hair with red, purple, and blue tips. She had on urban camo cargo jeans and a light grey t-shirt with black combat boots on. What could she say, she was more comfortable in clothes she knew she could fight in easily.
"Hey Aunt Jenna, hope you are hungry because I am cooking three homemade pizzas: pepperoni, cheese, and sausage. They will be done in about 30 minutes."
"Oh hey Riley. Wow, you look the same and different at the same time, and thanks for cooking dinner. Pizza sounds lovely. So how long have you been home and how have you been?" Aunt Jenna asked Riley awkwardly.
It wasn't that she really disliked Riley but she always felt awkward around her because Riley seemed so much more responsible at any age then Jenna was and Riley liking John did not help the situation.
"Uncle John dropped me off about 4 hours ago but then he left after helping me unpack and get settled back in, and I have been really good. It helped me a lot being away from mystic falls for the summer." Riley answered her aunt.
Riley meant what she said about being fine as well. It might have been that her mind was actually older than 14 years or something else but Riley went through all the proper stages of grief and finally accepted that her parents were now gone. It might have also helped that in her past life she grew up with no parents most of her life.
"That's good. Do you have everything for school on Monday? If you don't we can go tomorrow around 9 while everyone else in Church and beat the rush of last-minute shoppers."
"It's fine. Uncle John got me everything last week while we were in Dallas. He even caved and got me a signed Chuck Norris backpack. Also, I was planning on going on a hike tomorrow before the chaos of school started and then head by Rec center to see my sensei and have a sparring session."
"Oh okay. That sounds like a good plan. Well, I am going to go to my room. Yell if you need anything or when the food is done, or when your siblings get home, whichever one happens first."
With that Aunt Jenna hurried out of the kitchen and up the stairs making Riley sigh. What was it about her that made the rest of her family not like her, guess she would never know.
Like Riley said the pizzas were done in 30 minutes and just like cats Elena and Jeremy showed up just as she was taking them out of the oven. When Riley had everything cooling on the counter she finally turned around yelling for aunt Jenna and faced her siblings. They were both stunned with their jaws hanging open. You would think that she had been abducted by aliens instead of spending the summer with their uncle by the reactions she was receiving. Elena was the first to react to their sister's presence.
"What are you doing here weirdo.?"
"The last time I checked Brown Hair Bimbo I lived here."
At that remark, Jeremy busted out laughing, and in a move that surprised everyone gave Riley an awkward hug.
"I am really glad you are home Ry. I know I haven't been much of a big brother in the past but I was hoping that we could try again."
Riley was happy that her brother was trying and since he didn't do near as many things as Elena had done in the past except follow his big sister's lead she agreed.
"I would like that Jeremy. How about after dinner we go up to my room and catch up with each other while killing some aliens on the x-box."
"That sounds like a plan Ry. So when can we eat?" He asked reaching for a piece of sausage pizza while getting his hand slapped away by Riley.
"Not until they cool off a bit Jer. Now, why don't you, Bimbo and Jenna go wash up and get things on the table while I finish the dishes I messed up so I won't have that many after we eat."
He agreed happily and left the kitchen dragging Bimbo with him and grabbing Jenna as she came down the stairs.
After the pizza was inhaled, mainly by Riley and Jeremy, Jenna offered to do the dishes dragging Elena to help her while Riley and Jeremy escaped up into her room. Now her room was nothing special right now but Riley had plans to redo her entire room before Christmas break. She had a corner room so two of her walls had windows in them. She had a full-size white bed placed in the corner in between the windows. The whole right wall of her room was an open closet and the door just to the left of the door leading to the shared bathroom with Aunt Jenna's room. Her computer desk was under the window straight across from the door and she had a TV mounted on the wall in between the door and the bathroom door with a shelf right below it for her x-box. Underneath that was a DVD rack holding some DVDs but mostly x-box games. In the corner to the left of the door was a worn-out bean bag and a stand with a light on it and enough room for a drink and a snack. Right now the room was done in soft pinks and purples but Riley was going to change it so the walls were light blue with purple designs on the walls which were going to be ancient protection symbols. The ceiling was going to be painted to look like a galaxy with more protection symbols hidden in the stars. She was keeping the hardwood floor though.
That night Jeremy and Riley stayed up till two in the morning killing zombies, aliens, and robots all the while mending their broken sibling-ship as Jeremy called it. It appears that he had finally dragged himself out of Elena's shadow and toxic influence while she had been away and Riley couldn't have been more proud of her brother. Now, this didn't mean that she approved of him using or pill-pushing, but she understood that it was just a way to cope with everything and he would eventually grow out of it. Though she did say that if he took it too far she would step in and kick his but to steer him in the right direction.
The next day had Riley sleeping in for the first time since before she left with uncle John. John liked to be up early to get some training done. Finally, at 9 in the morning, she dragged herself out of bed and into the shower. She spent her morning in the woods just getting familiar with the area again and confirming that her secret meadow was still a secret. That meadow was where she went whenever she wanted to be alone and where she practiced her powers. She could still remember the time when she learned that she could fly.
Flashback
Riley had just turned 11 the day before and of course, Elena just had to ruin her birthday like always. Her parents hadn't seen anything so BHB (brown hair bimbo) wasn't in trouble, not a big surprise there. Even when they did see Elena do something all they did was scold her and tell her not to do it again. Her dad had been called into the hospital where one of his patients had an accident and requested him. Her mom was at book club with the other founding family's wives, her brother was off skateboarding and her sister had invited her friends over to talk smack about everyone. Riley couldn't stand it when Elena and her poise did that so like always she escaped to her meadow.
She was laying in the flowers looking up at the warm sun when she remembered something. "Floating". With that thought, she sat up and smacked herself in the face with her hand. How could she have forgotten about that? All her other powers she had been practicing and improving and she can't believe that forgot one. Well technically she didn't forget about it, she still practiced moving things but she had never practiced moving as she did during mediation. Whenever she would mediate she would float sometimes, and if she could float maybe she could do more. With a new vigor that she hadn't had in a while, Riley crossed her legs and began to concentrate. She tried to remember how it felt when she floated and before she knew it she was floating. She tried to move herself up, it worked. She tried to move herself down, it worked. She tried to move in other directions, it worked. She sat herself down easily on the ground and stood up before concentrating again and gently lifted herself off the ground. She held herself in the air for a few more minutes before she felt herself growing tired and before she knew what was happening she blacked out.
She woke up in the hospital three days later. When she didn't come home for dinner her parents had called the sheriff and started a search party. They found her around 4 in the morning in her meadow with blood all over her from a massive nosebleed. They rushed her to the hospital where they said she was in a semi-coma. That was when Riley had learned one of her weaknesses. Her power. Riley then made sure she practiced even more but also made sure she never pushed herself over that limit again. Before she went back and try to fly again, Riley focused on feeling her power level while training. When she deemed herself able to tell how low her power could get before damage to her occurred she went back to flying.
Flashback End
It was that day that showed her that she might have great power but underneath everything, she was still human and was not above others just because she could do things that they couldn't. It was that day when she promised herself that she would not use her powers against people that could not defend themselves in some way against them. Vampires were not included in this promise because they were not human and they killed people. Riley decided to bring herself back into the present and exercise her other forms. First was her German Shepard form, next was her feline form and finally her eagle form. She always saved her eagle form for last because she loved the feeling of flying.
After her nature walk, she headed into town to get a late lunch at the mystic grill before heading over to the rec center. Her sensei was there and was pleased to be able to spar with his youngest and most promising student. He was also impressed with some of the moves her uncle John had shown her. On her way home, she accidentally ran into Zack Salvatore and found the perfect opportunity to let the council know of her newfound hobby of chopping off vampire's heads. Her uncle preferred traditionally staking them but Riley had too much fun with a machete one night but her uncle forbade her from putting herself at risk by going for their heads.
After picking themselves up Zack apologized and started to walk away before Riley stopped him.
"Mr. Salvatore."
"Yes, Miss Gilbert."
"I'm sure you heard that I have been spending the summer with my Uncle John."
"Yes, I did. It was the talk of the town for about an hour before your sister broke up with Matt at the Mystic Grill."
"Wow, I was the talk of the town for a whole hour. That has got to be a record for me. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that John took me under his wing and taught me the family business. We even spent a whole hour on how to properly use vervain. I even got to go with him on a few business trips, if you know what I mean."
Zack's eyes went a bit wide before controlling his emotions.
"You mean you know about you know what?'
"Yes Mr. Salvatore, I do know about you know what. I would appreciate it if you would let the right people know that I know and that I have already proven myself to take on solo jobs if need be. You can never be too careful these days, and if anyone has any questions they can call my uncle to confirm this."
"Aren't you a little young to know these things, Miss Gilbert?"
"Please Mr. Salvatore call me Riley and usually you would be right but certain circumstances that I do not want to get into made it so I learned about this before I was supposed to," Riley said vaguely, hoping that Zack would draw the wrong conclusion and think that she was attacked by a vampire.
Zack made a knowing face falling for Riley's trap and thinking the exact thing that she meant for him to think.
"Well in that case I completely understand and don't worry Riley I will get the word around, and please call me Zack. It seems that we might be seeing more of each other."
"Thank you Zack and I don't mean to cut this short but I need to get going before I am late for dinner and Aunt Jenna allows Jeremy to inhale my plate."
"I completely understand that as well. Have a nice night Riley."
"You too Mr. Sal…. I mean Zack."
As Riley walked home she texted her uncle and told him that she told Zack exactly what he told her to tell him and to expect a call from the council. If things went according to plan then she would be in with the council within the week which meant she would be among the first people to know if Vampires decided to come back to Mystic Falls.
Zack Salvatore POV
Zack was doing some errands in town before going back to the boarding house to face his newly returned Vampire Uncle. He wasn't paying attention and before he knew what was happening he was on the ground along with the other newly returned resident of Mystic Falls Riley Gilbert. The only one of the Gilbert children that would most likely take up the mantel that her parents left behind in the council. After picking themselves up Zack apologized and started to walk away before Riley stopped him.
"Mr. Salvatore."
"Yes, Miss Gilbert."
"I'm sure you heard that I have been spending the summer with my Uncle John."
"Yes, I did. It was the talk of the town for about an hour before your sister broke up with Matt at the Mystic Grill." Zack replied with a knowing smirk.
"Wow, I was the talk of the town for a whole hour. That has got to be a record for me. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that John took me under his wing and taught me the family business. We even spent a whole hour on how to use vervain properly. I even got to go with him on a few business trips, if you know what I mean."
Zack's eyes went a bit wide before he caught himself and controlled his emotions in front of the child. Child. Child as in she was too young to be messed up in all this drama. Especially since Vampires were returning to Mystic Falls.
"You mean you know about you know what?'
"Yes Mr. Salvatore, I do know about you know what. I would appreciate it if you would let the right people know that I know and that I have already proven myself to take on solo jobs if need be. You can never be too careful these days, and if anyone has any questions they can call my uncle to confirm this."
"Aren't you a little young to know these things, Miss Gilbert?"
"Please Mr. Salvatore call me Riley and usually you would be right but certain circumstances that I do not want to get into made it so I learned about this before I was supposed to," Riley said.
Zack's thought came to a crashing halt at her statement. Did that mean that she was attacked by a Vampire? It had to be what that meant because Zack knew John would not endanger his brother's child without just cause. But if she was attacked and learned of the supernatural world then the best thing that could have done for Riley was to teach her how to defend herself. I must tell the council of this new development and if John confirmed that she was able to take on a vampire then that would mean more protection for the town.
"Well in that case I completely understand and don't worry Riley I will get the word around, and please call me Zack. It seems that we might be seeing more of each other."
"Thank you Zack and I don't mean to cut this short but I need to get going before I am late for dinner and Aunt Jenna allows Jeremy to inhale my plate."
"I completely understand that as well. Have a nice night Riley."
"You too Mr. Sal…. I mean Zack."
As he watched Riley walk away the only thought on his mind was. I have some calls to make.
When he got home Stefan was not there so he took the opportunity to call the mayor and explain his conversation with the youngest Gilbert. Mayor Lockwood was just as surprised as Zack had been but came to the same conclusion that Zack had about Riley being attacked by a vampire. The Mayor agreed to call a council meeting the following day.
Riley POV
That night after dinner Riley and Jeremy played the x-box some more before he left to hang out with none other than Vicki Donovan. Elena was in her room on the phone with Bonnie most likely talking smack about Riley. Aunt Jenna was in her room getting prepared for a meeting she had with her thesis adviser tomorrow which left Riley with plenty of time and privacy to call her favorite uncle.
Ring. Ring. Ring.
John answered on the third ring and started talking before Riley had a chance to say anything.
"No Riley I can't kidnap you so you don't have to go to school tomorrow."
"But why Uncle John. This town is so boring and high school sucks. You will be my favorite uncle."
"I know that high school sucks but it is something that you must go through and I'm your only uncle."
"But I have gone through it, uncle John."
"Not in this life you haven't and besides I thought you were looking forward to trying out for the basketball and track team."
"Why can't I just try out for the teams and skip the rest."
"No Riley, you are going to high school."
"Fine. I guess I will go but it doesn't mean I have to enjoy it. Oh and guess what."
"I'm not guessing."
"Oh come on uncle John just play along please."
"Ugggh. Fine. You were abducted by aliens and taken to their mother-ship."
"Ha Ha, uncle John very funny and that guess is more believable than what happened."
"Oh really. Then tell me what is more unbelievable than you being beamed into a spaceship above the earth."
"Jeremy is being nice to me."
"Wow, that is unbelievable. What happened?"
"I don't know. I guess that while I was away he finally dragged himself out of Elena's shadow and toxic influence."
"Riley I know that you don't like Elena and after hearing how she has treated you over the years I don't blame you but please lay off her and just ignore her. She will eventually grow up and see the error of her ways."
"I know uncle John and I'm sorry for bad-mouthing her to you."
"It's fine Riley just please take the high road from now on."
"Okay uncle John I will, now back to Jeremy. The last two nights we have hung out playing the x-box and talked about things. Weirdly, all the anger I had for him has drifted away. Don't get me wrong I still don't like all the things he did but most of the time he was just an observer to Elena and her friends. I can tell that he feels guilty about the past and is trying to be a good big brother."
"But."
"But what if it is all an act and he eventually goes back to being the mean older brother I have always known."
"Riley as much as I would like to have all the answers for you I don't but I can give you some advice. Well, it's more of a saying I have heard than advice but it will get my point across. Having faith does not mean that bad things won't happen. It means that when bad things happen you will come out of them for the better. Have faith Riley, that things will work out."
"Thank you uncle John you always know the right thing to say. You would make a great father."
"Thank you, Riley. That means a lot to me. Now it is getting late and you have school tomorrow so I think it is time to wrap up this call."
"Okay, goodnight uncle John. Love you."
"Goodnight Riley. Love you too."
After hanging up with her uncle Riley decided to go to bed early so she could wake up early and get a run in before school.
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