Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Diaries in any shape or form. But I do own my OC.
A/N: This one will start off at the end of There Goes the Neighbourhood and continue on into Let the Right One In.
Reviews:
NicoleR85: I'm glad you like their relationship. I can't wait until Katherine, Elijah and Klaus show up either, that's when all the good stuff starts.
Elena hater: I think I'll go along with TVD storyline until around Season 3 and then diverge, but still have some elements of Season 4. The Originals should also be different, I have my own plan for it, but it also depends on what kind of role you guys would want Hayley to have. I plan on having Bonnie join Aliyah in New Orleans because I want them to be like sisters. I don't think I'd ship Bonnie with Elijah (although I love that pairing on its own) because of some stuff that will be revealed when Elijah gets here. I feel like Bonnie/Kol has been done to death, so right now I was thinking either Finn or Tyler for Bonnie. I rather like Kol with Davina as well, so I might keep it like that or change it. With the stuff that happens in New Orleans, I don't think Bonnie would be with someone like Marcel, especially if he plans on taking Aliyah down, so I'm not really sure about that pairing.
Skyeward MusicLover: Thank you so much!
HAPPYS WIFE QUINNS DAUGHTER: I refuse to say right now, but it will all be revealed soon.
tate4eva: Thank you so much! I felt like that was a huge hole in the story. Damon basically raped and abused Caroline for weeks and suddenly it's okay for Elena to date him. Damon never even apologised for what he did to her. And Elena just kept defending her relationship with him and she even had the nerve to go off at Caroline for disagreeing with her. I mean, Damon's done so much crap throughout the series and it was like Elena just forgave him for all of that. And I wanted Aliyah to be totally against the misuse of compulsion for those kind of reasons. I won't reveal who Aliyah's first husband was, but I think people pretty much guessed it. It will all be revealed soon.
Guest: Again, I refuse to reveal what it is, but it is interesting to know your theories.
Stormdancer
Chapter 4
There Goes the Neighbourhood/Let the Right One In
"Well, fancy seeing you here."
Aliyah grimaced and saw a familiar smirking face and she pointedly turned away, returning to her glass of scotch.
"Not really." Aliyah grumbled. "This place is the only bar that this Podunk town has, so I'm stuck here." She paused. "I should just drink at home."
She pushed herself off her the bar stool and made to leave the Grill when Damon pushed himself forward so that he was standing in front of her. She raised an eyebrow.
"Do we really wanna do this now?" Aliyah stepped forwards so that her alcohol-laced breath could graze over his face. "How many more of your bones do I have to break before you understand 'don't fuck with me'?" She whispered, her hand reaching up and scraping her nails through his dark waves.
"Well, we could always just settle this burgeoning sexual tension between us." Damon suggested. "Meet me back at my place for a drink?"
Aliyah threw her head back and laughed, loudly, drawing quite a few glances from other patrons in the bar.
"I have centuries on you, little boy. Don't push me." She warned, smiling innocently, looking to every other customer as a sweet young woman enjoying the attentions of a man. "I have absolutely no qualms about ripping your head right off. You exist because I want you to exist. The second you cease to become of use to me is the second I will rip your heart out of your chest." She bit her lip. "So, if that's everything, I think I'll just go." She pushed past him.
"Actually, there is something." Damon called out and she stilled, turning around and looking at him, sceptically. "I have no idea why I'm telling you any of this…"
Aliyah guessed the compulsion was working at full force and hid a smirk. Now she knew exactly why Niklaus chose to be a master manipulator. It was so much fun being the puppet master. It had a sense of thrill and control that was impossible to find anywhere else. And for people like her and Niklaus, control was everything.
"Funny how these things come to us." Aliyah shrugged. "What is it you want to tell me?"
"One of the tomb vampires came to see me. Her name's Pearl Zhu. She owned an apothecary back in 1864 and she was Katherine's best friend. She told me that she, her daughter Anna, and the other tomb vampires who didn't leave Mystic Falls were staying in a farmhouse outside Mystic Falls. She wanted me to tell her about the Founders' Council and whom I've supplied vervain to. She wants to take back the town and rebuild it like the way it was in 1864." Damon said in a rush, his eyes glazing over momentarily.
Aliyah bit into the pink flesh of her lower lip, thinking through everything that Damon had just revealed to her.
"Don't worry, Damon. I'll take care of the tomb vampires." Aliyah hummed, twisting a curl between her fingers and pinning it behind her ear. "Thanks for the Intel."
She strode past him and walked out the doors of the Grill, her hips swaying.
"So, the tomb vampires are definitely out?" Bonnie asked, leaning back against the headboard of her bed.
"Yep, apparently, a bunch of them are shacked up in some farmhouse just out of town. And they've even instated a leader. Her name's Pearl and she was Katherine's best friend back in 1864." Aliyah crossed her legs on the chair she was sitting on.
"Anything else I missed?" Bonnie asked, dryly.
"What, you mean in your quest to become one of the Halliwell sisters?" Aliyah asked, innocently, and laughed when she ducked the pillow that Bonnie sent flying at her with her magic.
"Ugh, you watch Charmed?" Bonnie grimaced.
Aliyah shrugged. "I'm old, Bonnie girl. I watch a lot of things. I listen to a lot of music. When you're old, you've got to have hobbies, otherwise you'll go insane." She paused. "Actually, you missed a lot." She looked sheepish. "Probably should've told you sooner, but a lot of it completely slipped my mind."
"What?" Bonnie frowned and sat up on her knees.
"Well, apparently your friend, Elena… she's adopted and she found out who her birth mother is. Her name's Isobel Flemming. And she was Alaric's wife, until Damon of all vampires turned her."
Bonnie paused. "Is it strange that the only thing I get out of what you just told me is that Elena has the weirdest family tree ever?"
"To be fair, you're just as connected as she is. You're best friends with a girl who's the exact double as a vampire who tricked two boys into falling in love with her, turned them and left them for dead in 1864. Said vampire boys came back and one of them started dating your best friend and the other apparently made a deal with your witch ancestor back in 1864. You're related to me, and I've known Emily, Katherine, Damon, and Stefan."
And that's just the stuff I've told you. I wonder how you'll react when I tell you about my mother, Esther, Niklaus, Elijah, Rebekah, Kol and Finn, and all of their connections to your friends in Mystic Falls.
Bonnie paused. "Okay, fine, I'll give you that." She looked a little shamefaced that her reaction to her friend's family problems. "I'm a bad person, aren't I? I'm not this person."
Aliyah sighed. "What kind of person?" She asked, gently.
"Elena's my best friend. I should feel for her, shouldn't I?" Bonnie whispered. "She's going through a hard time. Finding out that you're adopted and finding out who you're birth mother is. She must be hurting. I should be there for her."
"But you can't be there for her completely until you've sorted yourself out." Aliyah pointed out, bluntly.
"She's my best friend!" Bonnie protested.
Aliyah exhaled. "Can I be absolutely honest with you without you flying off the handle?"
Bonnie nodded.
"I'm not a huge fan of Elena." Aliyah murmured. "I haven't exactly made a secret of that. I don't hate her. Frankly, I don't think she's worth my hatred." She waved off Bonnie's offended look. "But I can sympathise with her. I know what it's like to have your world turned upside down in a short time. To feel completely lost and completely alone, and I can assure you, that is what Elena is feeling right now. I commend your loyalty to your friends, Bonnie. It's a great quality that you have, but you need to be able to let go of your resentment and anger before you can be there for her. You're angry and you feel betrayed. You have every right to feel like that. I mean, Elena is walking around with Stefan and Damon as if nothing happened, and you're allowed to be angry about that."
Bonnie's face fell as she realised the extent to which Elena had been able to go on with her life without feeling the slightest bit guilt for what had happened to her Grams.
"Bonnie, I'm not trying to hurt you more than you've been hurt." Aliyah stood up and walked over to sit beside Bonnie on the bed. "I care about you a great deal, Bonnie. I just want you to be careful around people. You're young, you don't realise that people can be selfish sometimes. People are very good at protecting what they love. I'm sure you know that better than anyone. I don't want you to get hurt." She whispered, laying one of her hands on Bonnie's.
"She's still my best friend." Bonnie said, weakly.
"She doesn't have to stop." Aliyah shrugged. "I just don't want you to invest too much in a relationship that may come back and bite you in the arse." She told her, lightly. She shook her head. "Okay, a lot of other things happened. So, Damon was a bachelor in last night's Bachelor's Raffle, and I think Carol Lockwood won him. Um, some guy came up to Elena last night and warned her to stop looking for Isobel. She had obviously compelled the guy and he ran himself into a truck, so that chapter was closed."
"Sometimes I forget how blasé you can be about people dying." Bonnie said, reproachfully.
Aliyah shrugged. She smiled, sadly. "Bonnie girl, I'm a vampire. Death is a part of my life, whether I want it to be or not." She pursed her lips. "There was a time in my life, when I first transitioned, that I felt for every person that died. I hurt when someone died, and I'd curl up into a little ball every time I killed someone out of my bloodlust. After awhile, I had to become hard against death, otherwise I knew I wouldn't survive the rest of eternity being what I am." Her voice lowered, almost pleading for Bonnie to understand. "I have to be this way, Bonnie. Otherwise I can't survive."
Bonnie squeezed her hand. "So," She cleared her throat. "Anything else happen that you haven't told me about."
"Caroline asked me about you." Aliyah said, softly. "Poor thing, her boyfriend's mother went off at her for no reason. She seems like a sweet little thing, if not a bit insecure."
Bonnie's eyes lowered. "She's called me every single day. She's been such a good friend. Maybe I do take her for granted." She whispered.
"So, make it better." Aliyah chided, gently. "Stop feeling sorry for yourself for what's happened in the past, and make everything better. Be a better friend to Caroline, fix your friendship with Elena. You're young, darling, you have all the time in the world."
Bonnie leaned over and threw her arms around Aliyah, ignoring the sick feeling she got in her stomach the moment that her skin touched Aliyah's. She buried her face in the older woman's dark curls, inhaling the smell of the jasmine and rose scent of her perfume on her warm, toffee-coloured skin.
"Oof!" Aliyah breathed the second that Bonnie wrapped her arms around her. She slipped her arms around Bonnie's waist and patted her on the back, stroking the ends of her hair with her fingers.
"Thank you." Bonnie said, her voice muffled by Aliyah's long locks. "I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't kept me from wallowing in my own grief."
"No problem, Bonnie girl." Aliyah murmured. "I'm glad I got the chance to meet you." She said, sincerely.
"Me too." Bonnie whispered. She pulled back and wiped the tears off her cheek, haphazardly. "Anything else you haven't told me?" She asked, her voice slightly hoarse from emotion.
Aliyah looked thoughtful. "I'm pretty sure that was all that happened." She rubbed the back of her neck. "If anything else happens, I'll be sure to let you know."
Bonnie sighed. "I need a vampire."
"Okay." Aliyah said, slowly and confused. "I'm right here, but forget that for a moment, why exactly do you need a vampire?"
"I need to practice the aneurism spell." Bonnie told her, softly. "And I can't use it on you, because it won't work. So, I need another vampire to practice on."
"Look at you, Bonnie girl, dabbling in vampire experimentation." A smile grew on Aliyah's pink lips. "I've never been more prouder than you." She said, triumphantly.
Bonnie grinned, sheepishly. "Why do you have to insult me?" She asked, dryly.
Aliyah shrugged. "What can I say, it's part of my charm." She paused. "Are you sure you can do the aneurism spell, Bonnie?" She asked, worriedly. "I don't want you to get in over your head."
Bonnie nodded, confidently. "I have to try it out." She told her. "I need some practice, or I'll never be able to get it to work." She smiled to herself. "But I have been practicing. I can do more things now. Come with me." She grabbed onto Aliyah's hand and dragged her form the bedroom.
Bonnie laid a map of Mystic Falls out on the dinner table.
"I'm gonna need your blood." She told Aliyah. "For the spell to work."
Aliyah nodded and raised her wrist to her lips. Bonnie winced when she heard the sound of teeth tearing into flesh and Aliyah threw her wrist out, letting the blood pool in a corner of the map.
Bonnie took a deep breath, her fingers curling around the edges of the dinner table.
"Phasmatos Tribum Nas Ex Veras Sequita Saguines Ementas Asten Mihan Ega Petous." Bonnie hummed.
The blood that had pooled on the map started to flow in a singular line to reach the point on the map where Aliyah's apartment was located.
Aliyah laughed in disbelief and wrapped her arms around Bonnie. "Wow, Bonnie girl, that was amazing. You managed to do a locator spell much more quickly that I imagined you would be."
"I can do other things too." Bonnie moved and grabbed a pot plant that was sitting on the windowsill. She placed it on the table and closed her eyes, concentrating. "Phasmatos Tribum, Melan Veras. Phasmatos Tribum, Melan Veras." And the small budding flowers in the pot began to bloom into beautiful white roses.
Aliyah fingered the petals of the roses and she smiled, fondly. "That's lovely, Bonnie, it truly is. I'm so proud of you, darling. You're growing so much." She murmured.
Bonnie looked up at her with bright eyes and wrapped an arm around her waist. "Thank you for helping me, Aliyah. All of the grimoires that you collected really helped, and you've been right there with me. Thank you so much." She said, softly.
Aliyah laughed, softly. "Darling, don't worry about it. I'm glad I got the chance to help you out with all of this. A witch needs someone to be there for her at your age for guidance." Her face fell. "Your grandmother should have been there for you. She would have helped you so much more than I can, an ex-witch turned vampire." A familiar self-hatred bled into her voice, tinging her eyes with pain and anger, before she was able to recover. "But I'm not trying to replace her. I just want to help you."
"You are helping me." Bonnie said, sincerely. "I know that you're a vampire, and I'm still not fully sure I can trust you. But you've done nothing to show me that you mean me any harm. And I think I really needed the distraction that you've provided me. Otherwise I would've gone mad thinking about my Grams. You're my friend, Ali, and I'm glad I got the chance to meet you." She murmured.
"Come on, why don't we eat some food and watch a movie." Aliyah suggested. "It's been awhile since I watched a decent rom-com."
That night, after Bonnie had fallen asleep to the sounds of When Harry Met Sally, Aliyah left the apartment, making sure that it was locked properly and that no one was following her, as she made her way to the Mystic Grill. She tugged on her pink blazer, smoothing down the fabric of her teal shirt and looking down at her white shorts, her sandals snapping against the gravel of the road, as she approached the Grill.
It was at the entrance where she spotted Jenna, walking out by herself. Aliyah watched as the woman stumbled, her heel breaking against the footpath, and she tensed when she saw an unfamiliar man approach Jenna.
"Need some help?" She heard the man ask Jenna.
"Damn it! Stupid shoe." Jenna muttered.
"Pick up your other foot." The man told Jenna and he broke the hell on that foot, handing the shoe back over to Jenna. "Here you go."
"Thanks," Jenna frowned. "I think."
"Was that Damon Salvatore you were with?" The man asked, carefully, and Aliyah immediately knew that he was one of the tomb vampires.
"The one and only. You know him?" Jenna asked, curiously.
"We go way back. He still live out by Miller Lane?"
Jenna shook his head. "He lives in the old boarding house by Wickery Bridge. He's still in there if you want to say hi." She offered.
The man smirked, a charming smile on his lips. "I prefer to stay here and talk to you."
Jenna laughed, slightly. "Oh, nice. Very smooth with the shoe and the flirt. But, I'm a little drunk and a guy plus drunk me equals very bad things."
Aliyah tensed when she saw Frederick touch Jenna's face and attempt to compel her, but then she remembered that Stefan had told her that he had given Jenna a perfume infused with vervain. Even if Jenna couldn't be compelled, the tomb vampire couldn't be trusted not to just take a bite out of the woman. And Aliyah actually liked Jenna. A sincere woman in this day and age, it was hard to come by.
"I'm pretty sure you'd like it." The tomb vampire smirked.
In a moment, Aliyah was standing right behind the tomb vampire. She placed a fierce hand on the man's shoulder and spun him around to face her. She leaned in and let her compulsion ring true.
"I'm pretty sure you'd like to walk away now." She purred.
"I'm pretty sure I'd like to walk away now." The tomb vampire said, blankly, and turned in the other direction.
Aliyah cocked her head when she saw a young woman appear next to the tomb vampire and lead him away, guessing that she was another vampire.
Jenna stared at his retreating figure and turned back to Aliyah, laughing softly.
"What was with him?" Jenna shook her head in disbelief. "Thanks for that, by the way."
Aliyah shrugged. "Some guys are just nuts." She smiled at her. "No problem. How are you, Jenna?"
"Not bad, you?" Jenna beamed at her, slurring her words slightly.
"I think you're a little drunk." She winked at her. "I was just gonna get a drink myself." She said, gesturing to the Grill.
"Why don't you come over to my place?" Jenna asked, shrugging. "I've got scotch, bourbon, vodka, peppermint schnapps… everything we need to have a good time." She grinned.
Aliyah's eyes widened at the invitation. "Oh, sure, I'd love to." She said, not being able to think of the last time someone had invited her home for a drink.
"And there's a cab…" Jenna gestured. "Come on."
Jenna stumbled over to the porch, Aliyah steadying her as they came up to the threshold. Aliyah paused at the entrance to the door.
"Hey, don't stand on ceremony, come on in!" Jenna slurred, stumbling towards the kitchen.
Aliyah smiled and stepped over the threshold, following Jenna to the kitchen, where Elena's younger brother, Jeremy, and young girl were standing. From her vantage point from the entrance, she could see that the girl had Jeremy's wrist raised to her lips, drinking down the blood fervently.
Great, another vampire.
Jeremy rushed over from the girl over to Jenna, looking over at her curiously, before turning his attention back to her aunt.
"Jenna! Hey, what's up?"
"Nothing, we're just gonna have a drink in the lounge." Jenna said, snatching a bottle of peppermint schnapps and two glasses from the kitchen. She noticed the blank look that was on Jeremy's face when he saw Aliyah. "Oh, right, Jeremy, this is Bonnie's cousin, Aliyah."
Aliyah smiled and reached out her hand. "Hi, Jeremy, it's nice to meet you." She looked down at his wrist, which was still sliced up from the vampire girl's fangs. "Ooh, that looks like a bad cut."
"Yeah, I was chopping something. Got the knife a little wrong." Jeremy laughed off, nervously.
"We'll be in the lounge, Jeremy, if you need anything." Jenna told Jeremy and dragged Aliyah over to the couch, pouring a generous amount of the alcohol in both glasses.
It was much later when she heard sounds coming from the Salvatore Boarding House. She had tracked the tomb vampire and his female companion after the bar, watching as they arrived at the boarding house, intent of causing pain to the two vampires that had been responsible for them being trapped inside the tomb for over a century.
Aliyah rolled her eyes and walked inside and watched as the man jumped through the window, jumping onto Stefan and stabbing him with a piece of glass that was on the floor. Damon pushed him off Stefan and started to fight with their assailant himself, while Stefan removed the piece of glass. The woman arrived and began to trade blows with Stefan. She pushed him to the floor and was about to snap his neck when Aliyah appeared in front of her, ripped a wooden leg off a chair and stabbed her a few inches away from her heart. She collapsed to the floor and Aliyah grabbed her by the arm and by the waist, tossing her over her shoulder.
She turned around to see Damon throwing the tomb vampire across the living room. He looks at Damon and Stefan and Aliyah and then his gaze fell to his female friend, who he thought was dead. He rushed out of the boarding house and Stefan looked at Aliyah, perplexed.
"Don't say I never did anything for you." Aliyah shrugged.
"Why did you help us?" Stefan asked, pushing himself off the floor.
"Because I need Elena safe, and to be honest, if I'm near her, I'm just going to have urges to rip her head right off… so you two are the best men for the position." She said, cheerfully. "If I let you die, I would have to do it myself and I hate doing that. I much prefer it with me as the queen on the chessboard and you both as my pawns." She told them.
Stefan chose to ignore the comment and turned to Damon. "I remember them from 1864. They were in the tomb."
"Well, they're really not." Aliyah pointed out. She smirked at Damon. "Looks like big brother hasn't exactly been as forthcoming with you as he has been with me." She said, innocently, and then she was gone, the body of the second tomb vampire hauled over her shoulders.
"I brought gifts!" Aliyah called out, striding through the apartment.
"Why do you have a dead vampire slung over your shoulders?" Bonnie asked, slowly, from behind her.
She dropped the body of the tomb vampire, unceremoniously, on the floor.
"What? You said you needed a vampire. Voila!" She gestured, emphatically, to the vampire that was currently waking up. Aliyah reached down and ripped the stake from her chest, drawing a hoarse scream from the vampire. She patted the vampire's cheeks. "Wakey wakey."
The vampire's eyes drifted open and she looked at her new surroundings with fright. "Who are you? What do you want?"
"Don't worry, darling." Aliyah smiled. "No one's gonna hurt you." She paused. "Well, actually, she is." She said, gesturing to Bonnie, who glared at her, momentarily. "You're going to be our little test subject." She smirked. She turned to Bonnie. "Ready, Bonnie girl?"
"I don't know if I can do this… I mean, torturing someone?" Bonnie said, nervously.
"Would it assuage some of that guilt to know that she was going to stake Stefan in the heart before I pulled her off him?" Aliyah offered.
Bonnie's eyes hardened. "Is she one of the tomb vampires?" She asked, harshly.
"Yep!" Aliyah said, cheerfully. "She's partly the reason why Sheila died, Bonnie girl. Have at it." She smirked and stepped back, knowing exactly what mentioning Sheila would do to Bonnie's mind, which was currently on the precipice of torturing the vampire.
Bonnie's shoulders slumped and the vampire in front of her took that as a weakness, lunging forwards, her fangs bared and ready to sink into the luscious flesh of Bonnie's neck, when she whimpered, sinking to the floor, clutching her heard. Bonnie's eyes opened and she stared with awe as the vampire cowered in front of her.
"Well, that was better than I expected." Aliyah pointed out. She walked over to Bonnie, circling the young witch. "Why don't you give it a bit more juice, Bonnie girl?"
Bonnie concentrated, her eyes fluttering shut, and the vampire began to scream in pain, twitching on the ground. Bonnie inhaled and the vampire's wails of pain died down, leaving her whimpering and clutching her head.
"Well, I think you'll have no problem taking a vampire down." Aliyah said, proudly. "I mean, if you can do this, you can pretty much take down all of the tomb vampires and Damon if you wanted to."
"Do you really think so?" Bonnie asked, uncertainly.
"Why don't you give it a couple more tries? Make yourself confident when doing it. You should be able to do it on the snap." Aliyah told her.
After a few more tries, Bonnie had successfully managed to wipe the floor with the tomb vampire on a number of occasions. In one particularly power-fuelled moment, the tomb vampire had been overcome with such a rush of anger that she had charged at Bonnie, intent on tearing her throat out. Before Aliyah could step in front of the young witch and tear the tomb vampire's head off, Bonnie had simply closed her eyes, calmly, and sent the vampire into screams, clutching onto her head, desperately.
Finally, Aliyah held a hand out and asked Bonnie to stop, saying that she had plenty of practice for today. She grabbed the stake off the floor and swung it with precision that it struck the tomb vampire's heart with deadly accuracy. The tomb vampire's mouth gaped with shock, as she began to desiccate, her skin turning grey and her veins rising.
"Wow." Bonnie's eyes widened with awe. "Can you teach me to aim like that?"
Aliyah laughed.
The next morning, Aliyah was unpleasantly surprised to find Elena and Damon walking up to her in the middle of the town square, as she had just finished the grocery shopping for the week.
"We have a problem." Damon said, bluntly.
Aliyah nodded. "How is that any concern of mine?" She asked, pointedly, moving to push past them.
"It's your concern because you promised us that you'd help us get rid of the tomb vampires." Elena told her.
Aliyah sighed. "So, what's wrong now?"
"It's Stefan. He's missing and we think the tomb vampires have him." Damon told her.
Aliyah let out a low growl. "You know, I made a deal to help you both with the tomb vampires, not to save your arse every time you find yourself in a bind." She said, lowly. Her shoulders slumped. "What can I do? You told me that Pearl told you that they were all hiding out in some farmhouse. I can't get inside without an invitation, neither can you." She said, pointedly.
"I just need the muscle." Damon smirked. "It'd be good to have you on our side."
"So, do you have a plan, or are you just going to go in half-cocked? Because if the latter is your plan, don't let me stop you." She snarked.
"I'm planning a visit to the farmhouse. Mind joining me?" Damon smirked.
Aliyah resisted the urge to groan. "Oh, what the hell." She sent off a quick text message to Bonnie, telling her she'd be late and that more tomb vampire problems had come up, Bonnie texting her immediately, telling her to be careful.
Damon knocked, furiously, on the door of the farmhouse, Aliyah standing a little behind him.
"Pearl! Open this door. I swear to God I'll bust through and rip your head off." Damon shouted.
"Pearl's not home. Hmm. Beautiful weather. Not a ray of sun in the sky." The tomb vampire from earlier smirked.
"Where's my brother?" Damon growled.
"Billy." The tomb vampire growled.
Two vampires dragged Stefan into the hallway and into Damon's and Aliyah's view.
Damon's eyes hardened, his face set in stone, and Aliyah marvelled at the protectiveness the young vampire had over his little brother. For a moment, he even reminded her of Niklaus and at that moment, she missed her husband, fiercely, aching to have his arms wrapped around her, securely. She shut down on all of her emotions, though, and instead portrayed a beatific smile to Stefan's captors.
"You're dead." Damon said as though it was a fact. It didn't seem like a threat, more like a promise.
The tomb vampire smirked. "Whoa. I'm sorry. You two haven't been invited in. Miss Gibbons?" He called out and somewhat older, human lady walked into the entrance hall.
"Yes, Frederick, honey?" She asked, sweetly, having obviously been compelled by the vampires.
"Never let these bad people in." He ordered.
Stefan groaned in pain.
Frederick turned his gaze back to Damon, shooting Aliyah a suspicious and confused look. "145 years left starving in a tomb, thanks to Katherine's infatuation with you and your brother. First few weeks, every single nerve in your body screams with fire. The kind of pain that can drive a person mad. Well... I thought your brother might want to get a taste of that before I killed him. Billy."
Billy stabbed Stefan with a stake, making him roar with pain. Damon made to go inside, but Aliyah grabbed the back of his shirt, pulling him back, sending him a meaningful look that told him to keep his mouth shut and not do anything.
Frederick smiled. "You have a nice day."
And he shut the door in their faces.
Damon and Aliyah walked back all the way into the woods where Elena was sitting inside Damon's car. She saw them approaching and opened the car door, getting out.
"What happened? Where is he?" Elena asked, worriedly.
Aliyah raised an eyebrow. "Did you seriously think they'd let him go? Please don't tell me you're that naïve."
Damon glared at her and turned to Elena. "The woman who owns the house is compelled to not let us in."
"I can get in." Elena offered.
"You're not going in there." Damon said, slowly.
"I'm going!" Elena protested.
Aliyah scowled. "Are you seriously that stupid? Do you not understand what vampires are? Surely being around this psychopath taught you a few things." She said, gesturing to Damon. "Vampires kill humans, darling, and those specific vampires have a special bone to pick with your evil twin." She said, pointedly.
Elena scowled at her and shook her head. "Why are they doing this? What do they want with him?"
"Well," Aliyah drawled, determined to be as unhelpful as she possibly could. "I'm taking a wild guess here, but seeing as your Two Stooges over here, plus your Criminal Doppelganger, are the reason that those twenty-six vampires were trapped inside a tomb under a church for a hundred and forty-five years, because your boyfriends wanted to re-enact the world's worst romance movie ever... I'm fairly sure they have a right to be mad." She smirked when she saw identical, furious glares coming. "I was just saying." She tried to say, innocently.
"We have to do something." Elena said through gritted teeth.
Damon nodded. "I know."
"We can't let them hurt him. We gotta get him out of there." Elena protested.
"Well, there is someone we can use." Both of them turned to look at Aliyah.
"Bonnie." Elena nodded.
"What, no!" Aliyah snapped. "Contrary to your popular belief, Bonnie is not here to save your arse every time one of you decides to get into something you're not cut out for." She said, coldly. "If she wants to help you, that's a different case. But you don't go to her and guilt trip her into helping you, got it?"
"And you suddenly care about Bonnie's wellbeing?" Elena scowled. "You haven't even been here for her entire life! I have." She said, triumphantly.
"Yes, but at least I'm not screwing one guy who's responsible for my best friend's grandmother dying and making moon eyes at the other." Aliyah said, viciously.
Elena reeled back in shock and Aliyah watched with nonchalance as tears came to her eyes.
Oh, great, here comes the waterworks.
"Anyway," Aliyah said, pointedly, "Before Elena decided to get all entitled, there is someone who can get inside the house and has the skill to rescue Stefan."
They both looked at her, blankly, not being able to guess who she meant.
Aliyah sighed.
Morons.
Alaric was walking down the hallway of Mystic Falls High School, when Damon and Aliyah appeared out of nowhere. Alaric stopped in his tracks, a slight fearful look entering his eyes, as he stared at Aliyah, dumbfounded. He wouldn't have guessed that the kind young woman that he had met in the Grill a few days ago would also be a vampire.
"Well, don't you look... alive?" Damon said, grimacing.
"You can't hurt me." Alaric pointed out.
Damon smirked and took a step forward. "Oh, I can hurt you, all right."
Elena took a step forward, sensing that Damon was about to ruin everything. "Mr. Saltzman. We need your help." She pleaded.
All four of them walked into Alaric's classroom to talk.
"Stefan's in the house. Damon and Aliyah are vampires. They can't get in. We need you. I would go, but..." Elena trailed off.
"Unfortunately, her life is valuable." Aliyah said, bluntly, rolling her eyes, obviously not feeling that Elena's life was valuable.
If I let her die now, Niklaus might just kill me. She reminded herself.
"Yours, on the other hand…" Damon trailed off, smirking at Alaric.
"Stefan told me about your ring and Bonnie clarified a few things." Aliyah said to Alaric, quietly.
"What about the ring and why would Bonnie know about it?" Alaric asked, confused.
"Bonnie's ancestor was the one to place the spell on the ring to bring someone back from a supernatural death."
"So, let me recap… You tried to kill me. I defended myself. You died. Then according to my brother, your ring brought you back to life. Am I leaving anything out?" Damon asked, sarcastically.
"Yeah. The part where I try and kill you again. Only this time, I don't miss." Alaric snarled.
Aliyah smirked. "On any other day, I would pretty much hand you the stake, but right now, we actually need your help."
"This isn't my problem." Alaric shook his head.
"Please, Mr Saltzman. It's Stefan." Elena pleaded.
Aliyah clucked her tongue. "That's a shame, Alaric." She said, sweetly. "Because I can help you find your wife."
Alaric paled and Damon and Elena turned to look at her. "You're lying."
"Really?" Aliyah raised an eyebrow. "Do you have any idea how old I am? I have friends all over the world, darling. All it would take is one phone call, and I could have Isobel Flemming's location at my fingertips."
"How do you know about Isobel?" Elena asked, sharply.
Aliyah smirked. "Again, darling, I've been around a long time. The second I found out that Bonnie was here, I decided to make it a point to learn everything that happens in Mystic Falls." She said, plainly.
Damon snorted. "Don't bother. He's a coward. Come on."
The three made to leave the classroom.
"All right!" Alaric growled, reluctantly. "Wait. I'll go."
Alaric moved over to the desk and pulled out his arsenal of vampire weapons.
"Teacher by day, vampire hunter by night." Damon muttered.
Aliyah paused and looked at Alaric. "You can shoot him any time you like." She winked, making him crack a smile.
Alaric looked at Damon. "I've you to thank for that."
"What are these?" Elena asked, peering at a few of the weapons.
"Those are tranquilizer darts filled with vervain."
Damon shrugged. "Just get me in. I'll get Stefan out."
"That's your plan? You're just gonna take them all on yourself?" Elena asked, sceptically.
"Well, I'll be a little stealthier than that, hopefully." Damon scoffed.
"I highly doubt that." Aliyah muttered.
Elena took a hold of one of the vervain darts.
Alaric's eyes widened and he made a move to stop her. "Whoa. What are you doing?" He asked, slowly.
"I'm going with you guys." Elena told them.
"No bloody way." Aliyah snapped. "I'm going to have to keep these two alive. I don't want to have to keep an eye on you as well."
"You need me. I'll get in. You could distract them, and then I'll get Stefan out."
"You'll get yourself killed. You're not going in there." Damon told her.
For once, Damon and Aliyah were in complete agreement with each other.
"I'm going." Elena said, stubbornly.
Damon turned to Alaric. "So, when you get us in, get out as quickly as you can. I know how to sneak around where they can't hear me. You'll basically just be in the way."
Elena scowled. "Damon, now is not the time to be the lone ranger."
"Fine. Elena, you can drive the getaway car. You're not going in the house." Damon swore.
Elena glared at him. "You can't stop me. It's Stefan we're talking about here. You don't understand."
Damon rolled his eyes, feeling a pang of jealousy hit him in his heart. "Oh, I understand. I understand. He's the reason you live. His love lifts you up where you belong. I get it."
"Can you just not joke around for 2 seconds?" Elena snapped.
"I can't protect you, Elena. I don't know how many vampires there are in there. That's how long it takes you to get your head ripped off. I have to be able to get in and get out. I can't be distracted with your safety. Or this will end up a bloodbath that none of us walk away from... including Stefan. I know. I get it. I understand." Damon said, sincerely, his eyes boring into Elena's.
Alaric and Aliyah exchanged a look and they both sighed.
"If we're gonna go, let's go." Alaric said.
Alaric knocked on the door of the farmhouse, waiting patiently until someone answered the door. In this particular case, Frederick was the one to open the door.
"Oh, good, someone's home. Uh, could I use your phone? My car broke down a few miles up the road. This was the first house I saw." Alaric said, sheepishly, hoping his act was enough.
"Well, lucky you." Frederick eyed Alaric.
Alaric shrugged. "Yeah. Lucky me. It's no trouble, is it?"
"Not in the slightest."
"Great. Whew." Alaric entered the house. "Hey, man, I really appreciate it. It's rough out there."
"Billy, show our visitor where the phone is in the kitchen. And get me something to drink." Frederick said.
"Yeah, sure thing." Billy said. He turned to Miss Gibbons. "Hey, Miss Gibbons, this guy wants to use your phone."
"Oh, sure, honey. It's right there."
Alaric smiled at her. "Thanks."
Alaric walked towards the phone, when Billy came at him with a stake. Alaric was too quick for him and grabbed the stake and stabbed him in the heart with it, making him scream in pain as he desiccated. Alaric turned on the blender as to create noise, so that no one would be attracted to the kitchen.
"What's happening?" Miss Gibbons asked.
"I'm really sorry. But you're gonna need to invite friends of mine inside." Alaric told her, and opened the door, revealing Damon and Aliyah standing outside.
"Oh, I'm sorry. They're not allowed in the house." Miss Gibbons said.
"I know that. But you've gotta make an exception." Alaric said, frustratedly.
Damon scowled at how slow this was going. "Get her out of the house. Now! Miss Gibbons, tell me the truth. Are you married?"
"No."
"Parents, children, anyone else who lives on this property?"
Miss Gibbons shook her head. "No. It's just me."
"No? Good." Damon smiled.
He reached out and broke her neck with one quick snap, allowing for him and Aliyah to enter the house.
Alaric glared at Damon, furiously. "You were supposed to compel her." He snarled.
"Compulsion doesn't work that way." Aliyah told him, gently. "You can't override another vampire's compulsion directly."
"She was human." Alaric protested.
Damon scowled. "And I'm not! So, I don't care. Now, get out of here. And get rid of the body!"
"Billy, what's the holdup?!" They heard Frederick call out.
Suddenly, the kitchen door opened and another vampire entered. Aliyah swung open the pantry door and stepped out. Her hand reached out, slamming into his chest, ignoring the sound of flesh tearing against the force of her hand, and gripped his heart in her first, tearing it from his chest in one strong pull and tossing it to the side. She watched the vampire in front of her crumple to the ground, her eyes not betraying a single emotion at the thought of him being dead.
"That was pretty cool." Damon murmured.
Aliyah shrugged. "I have a few tricks up my sleeve."
They moved in the direction of the cellar just in time to see Elena aim a syringe full of vervain at a man standing guard by a door at the end of the hallway. Before she could strike, Damon had already got to the man and staked him in the heart.
"Are you insane?" Aliyah hissed at Elena, fury colouring her face. Her eyes turned red and her fangs slipped out, which she bared at a terrified Elena. "Do you have absolutely no self-preservation whatsoever? What part of 'don't come with us, you will die' did you not understand?" She snapped.
She pushed past the girl – the stupid, human girl – and she, Damon and Elena entered the cellar. Stefan lay in the middle of the room, his arms and legs bound by ropes soaked in vervain, as could be seen by the rings of singed flesh on Stefan's skin.
"Elena...You shouldn't be here..." Stefan said, weakly.
"She was supposed to stay in the car." Damon scowled at Elena. He aimed the stake at the man that accompanied Stefan in the cellar.
"Unh! No. No. No. Not him." Stefan told him.
Damon rolled his eyes at his brother's ability to be compassionate in the face of danger and pain. "Whatever. Let's get you down."
"There's vervain on the ropes."
Aliyah turned to Elena. "Remove the ropes." She said, sternly.
Stefan groaned as she did so.
"All right, let's go. Clothes on." Damon told Stefan.
"Wait." Stefan said, struggling to get to his feet.
"What? Guys, come on. We have to get out of here." Damon protested, while Stefan and Elena pulled the stakes out of the vampire's legs.
"Uh!" Stefan groaned.
"Come on, we have to get the hell out of here." Aliyah snapped.
"The other one." Stefan shook his head.
Aliyah turned to Damon. "Is your brother always such a goody-goody?"
Damon rolled his eyes. "You haven't even seen him at his worst." He turned to Stefan. "Can you get him in the car?"
"Yeah." Elena nodded.
"All right, go." Damon exchanged a look with Aliyah and she nodded, reluctantly.
"What about you two?" Elena asked, looking in between Aliyah and Damon.
"We'll be the distraction. Go." Aliyah told them.
Aliyah and Damon joined Alaric, who was still in the house, and the three made their way to the front door and stepped outside, watching as many more vampires approached.
"How many of those vervain darts do you have left?" Damon asked Alaric.
"One." Alaric answered, grimly.
"Not gonna be enough." Damon shook his head.
They watched as a middle-aged Chinese woman and the girl from the Gilbert house approached the farmhouse, leading the group of vampires.
"So, what you said to get me to do this, about my wife. It was a lie, wasn't it?" Alaric asked Aliyah.
Aliyah rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, hunter, I'll help you find your wife. You'll just have to give me some time to figure out where she is. Frankly, I think she's playing a very dirty game and she's the perfect leverage against a lot of people." She shrugged. Especially Elena.
Pearl scowled at them. "Stop. What's going on here? What did you do?" Her eyes ran over all of them and stopped at Aliyah, her eyes widening as she recognised her. Her mouth opened to say something when she saw Aliyah's silent look to keep her mouth shut, and decided against it.
"Us?" Damon snorted. "Your merry little band of vampires spent the day torturing my brother."
"Trust me. The parties responsible for this will be dealt with."
Damon glared at her. "Trust me. The parties responsible for this will be dealt with."
"This wasn't supposed to happen." Pearl protested.
"Well, it did happen, darling." Aliyah purred. "If any of your brood try anything again, you will answer to me." She said, coldly, and relished the way that Pearl seemed to pale in fear.
"If I had a good side... Not a way to get on it." Damon pointed out.
Aliyah, Alaric and Damon left.
Aliyah returned to the farmhouse later, after making sure that no one was following her. She stepped inside the farmhouse and searched for Pearl and motioned for her to follow her outside. She turned around to face the Asian woman.
"I assume you know who I am?" She asked, grimly.
"You're Aliyah Mikaelson. One of the Original vampires." Pearl said, knowingly. "Katherine told me about you. She said you've been searching for her for five hundred years."
"Well, not me, per se. My husband, on the other hand… he really does hate Katerina and he really does want her dead." Aliyah smirked. "But I can't let you going around telling people what I am. I prefer to keep it a secret for now." She reached out and gripped Pearl by the throat, pressing her against the wall. "You will not tell anyone what you know about me. You will only recognise me as someone older than yourself and you will not act against me. You will not mention to anyone that I am an Original vampire. You will keep quiet about anything you may know about my family and Katherine." She said, coldly, the compulsion working full force on the younger vampire.
She let Pearl go and watched as she sank to the ground, breathing heavily.
"Pleasure talking to you, Pearl. We should really do this again sometime."
"Was it seriously that bad in the 1960s?" Bonnie asked, throwing a fistful of popcorn at the screen when Velma Von Tussle tried to seduce Wilbur Turnblad.
"I was quite a few of those marches, myself." Aliyah commented. "I was dark and I wanted to fight for equality."
"Did you get caught by the police?" Bonnie asked, curiously.
Aliyah raised an eyebrow. "Bonnie girl, I'm a vampire, remember. I just ran when the police came, but it was real fun marching." She remembered those times, fondly. "I wanted to make a difference, and skin colour was such a stupid issue to be up in arms over. I mean, no one, back when I was human, looked at my mother or myself any differently than they would look at a white person." She shrugged. "I just thought it was stupid, but it wasn't like I could drain all the racist bastards, so I decided to do peaceful political protests." She said, triumphantly.
"I bet you were a total flower child." Bonnie teased.
"Ha, you know your lingo!" She crooned, proudly. "And yes I was. When you have all of time at your fingertips, you can't have stupid prejudices. They just make life small in the long run." She said, softly. "But yes, the sixties were awesome. It was music and fashion and sexual freedom and drugs. It was 'love, love, love' and the Beatles and Woodstock, flowers in your hair and free love. It was truly amazing."
"You are such a hippie." Bonnie teased.
"I am." Aliyah nodded.
"Teach me to be a hippie." Bonnie asked.
Aliyah laughed. "Let's go and get some flowers."
A/N: Hope you all liked the chapter! I tried to mix the plot of Season 1 as well as some Bonliyah bonding and I hope I managed. If Bonnie seems a little dark in these chapters, it is important to remember that she is pretty angry at the world and I think, even in TVD, that Bonnie has the ability to be very dark when she wants to be. And I think that shows here. She wants vampires to hurt because she's hurt. She still misses Sheila like crazy and she wants to be in a position where she'll never be taken advantage of again.
I hope there wasn't too much Elena bashing in this chapter. Aliyah really doesn't like the Salvatores or Elena, and she's only really helping them because she doesn't want to draw too much attention to Mystic Falls and she wants to help Bonnie. It's just Aliyah's view on Elena that comes up in some scenes. I hope I'm not being too mean. I'm just a bit indifferent to Elena. I prefer Caroline and Bonnie more because I feel like they're the only ones that grew during TVD. And frankly, I find the whole Damon-Elena-Stefan triangle been done to death. So, I'd rather this story focus on Aliyah and Klaus and Bonnie and Caroline. So, if you want any pairings with either of those characters, other than the obvious Klaus/Aliyah, let me know.
By the way, sorry about the lack of Klaus in this chapter. I'm sure I'd be able to write a few flashbacks in the next chapter.
Anyway, hope you all liked the chapter and don't forget to review!