Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Diaries in any shape or form. But I do own my OC.
A/N: Okay, so this is the episode where Stefan tells the story of his transition into a vampire and Aliyah may be making an appearance in some of his flashbacks. Some more Bonliyah bonding, I promise.
Reviews:
Jane: Well, I plan on changing little things here and there through Season 1 and 2 and 3, and then it'll only have bits and pieces of canon from Season 4 and 5 and The Originals in it. The whole Bonnie not fixing the device will be solved in this chapter, so don't worry.
Guest: Thank you so much!
NicoleR85: I love that burgeoning relationship too! I love writing Bonliyah because they're so good together!
MadaleineWinchester: Thank you so much!
tate4eva: I'm glad you think so. I thought I might be overdoing it with the Elena bashing, but I'm trying to have Aliyah advice Bonnie on doing what feels right to Bonnie, which will come out a lot in this chapter, not just what others want Bonnie to do. I'm glad you liked the flashback. I'm trying to put as much Nikliyah backstory in the story before Klaus appears, so we understand some of her reactions when she sees him face to face.
Guest: I'm glad you liked it. I haven't gone all out with the smut, mostly because Klaus isn't here yet, but I plan on doing some smutty flashbacks.
lovetolongago: Thank you so much! You gave me such an amazing review! I'm glad you like Aliyah so much. My main thing is to make my story seem as realistic as possible. I understand that I am writing about witches, vampires and werewolves, so there is that element to fantasy, but I'm trying to make my characters seem realistic as possible. For Aliyah, because Ayanna didn't approve of her becoming a vampire, I think she's searched for some link to the Bennett family and she gets that in Bonnie. She loves the Mikaelsons like they're her own family, but I think there's a part of her that really wants to be accepted by her family by blood. Not to mention, she sees a lot of herself in Bonnie and once I reveal the pairing I have planned for Bonnie, I think we'll see the similarities between the two more clearer. As for Aliyah and Klaus, I'm trying to balance the whole kind, loving, sweet guy he was as a human with the psychopath he is as a vampire/hybrid. Because I think it would have dramatically changed the way they saw each other, or at least, the way that Aliyah saw Klaus, so it's really interesting to write flashbacks in different times for them. There's always that element of softness Klaus has with Aliyah, but we haven't seen any particular violence towards Aliyah from Klaus just yet. Rest assured, she has been daggered by him and that will come out soon enough.
Guest: Thank you so much!
ellenfp: Thank you so much! Actually, with the writers snubbing Bonnie, I've actually finished writing the first couple of Season 2, and there's something that happens really early on that shocked me a lot. It was a huge injustice and I absolutely loved correcting it. I'm not confessing which brother she married first or why they separated, but that will be revealed really early on in Season 2. Caroline and Hayley. Caroline is my favourite character in TVD because I think that she's probably one of the more genuinely decent characters there. She didn't let her sudden vampirism overwhelm her and considering she had quite a traumatic death, she would have more reason than others to be a total bitch. As for Hayley, I have very much mixed feelings towards her. You see, I started watching The Originals before Season 4 of the Vampire Diaries, so I started shipping Klaus/Hayley together 'cause they had some adorable, sassy moments in Season 1 together. But then, I watched Season 3 of TVD again and I thought 'You know, Klaus and Caroline make the perfect couple.' So, I ship Klaroline with a great amount of passion. It's definitely my OTP in TVD. And what a day to confess to this, because today's the milestone of a year without Klaroline, which is incredibly sad. And then, I watched Season 4 and I realised exactly what an absolute bitch Hayley is and I started to hate her, because her character on The Originals seemed so OOC from the one in TVD. So, there will be no Klaroline in this story, mainly because I have a pairing planned out for Caroline and Aliyah and Caroline will be very close in the coming seasons. And there's no Klayley, because I think Aliyah would rip the werewolf's head off her shoulder if she made a play for her husband. But I do have some plans for Hayley in The Originals, she will have a big part to play, but it doesn't mean she's on the Mikaelsons' side and they will not like her. I'm so glad you're starting to ship Klaus and Aliyah, because I like them together. Thank you so much for your review!
Stormdancer
Chapter 7
Blood Brothers/Isobel
"So…" Bonnie trailed off.
Aliyah raised an eyebrow. "Were you planning on finishing that sentence anytime soon?"
"You mentioned you helped Stefan transition into a vampire, Lee-Lee. What actually happened?" Bonnie asked, curiously.
"Well, I think that he and Damon were shot, but I wasn't there for that bit. I arrived in the woods just around the time to find him and Damon lying on the ground in the woods. I was looking for Katherine, you see, and a vampire told me that they were rounding up the vampires in the woods and one of them was Katherine."
"Why were you looking for Katherine?" Bonnie asked, interested, crossing her legs.
"I did something for Katherine a few centuries back and I was worried she would spill my secret if I didn't get to her first." Aliyah replied, blankly.
"So, I went there to find her. By the time I got there, the wench was gone and Damon and Stefan were lying on the ground. I could sense that they had vampire blood in their system, and they had died, so they would wake up as transitioning vampires. So, I carried them to the quarry, from where I visited Emily, who came to assist me. She told me all what Katherine had done in Mystic Falls with the two Salvatore brothers and she already had daylight rings for the two of them, and she asked for my help. I always was a sucker for a love story gone wrong." Aliyah said, wistfully.
It was midnight when she finally reached Mystic Falls. The vampires settled around Mystic Falls had alerted her to Katerina's presence in the small town. She had retained a few vampires around Mystic Falls out of her own homesickness and worry that the power and knowledge contained in the little town could be harnessed by some witch or warlock seeking power. The town was the birthplace of the Original Vampires and the sight where one hundred witches were burnt alive. The secrets that the natives inscribed on the cave walls beneath the town could pose a threat to her family if anyone dreamed of going against them.
It was a difficult task to prevent Niklaus or Elijah from following her. They couldn't know where she was going or why she was going there. Their attentions were best left in New Orleans. Niklaus would tear after her and kill Katerina on sight and Elijah would attempt to save her out of some misbegotten empathy he had for the doppelganger. She, herself, wasn't out to kill Katerina, at least, not yet. All she wanted to do was to make sure that Katerina didn't reveal her secret, lest Niklaus find out and dagger her for a couple of centuries for her betrayal.
When she arrived in the forest, she found an empty carriage and two young men lying on the ground beside it, bullet holes torn into their white shirts. She could smell Katerina on them and guessed that Katerina had managed to make them fall head over heels for her, her ability to entrance men ringing true even more so in her vampire state, a stark difference to the sweet young thing who had visited their home in England in 1492, and turned their world upside down with just the mere sight of her face.
She looked closer and she could sense Katerina's blood running through their veins and her interest began to grow. These boys would wake up in transition and it would be better if they didn't wake up in the forest, where the vampire hunters could return at a moment's notice.
She sighed, cursing herself for the same compassion that Niklaus reproached her for time and time again, and grabbed onto one of the boys' arms, slinging it over her shoulder, while she threw the other one over her arm. She ran as fast as she could, lest innocent townspeople find a well-dressed woman carrying two, bloody dead bodies. She finally found herself in a quarry and she dropped the bodies, haphazardly. She then left them, knowing that it would be awhile before they awoke, deciding to go and visit Emily and see what she knew about Katerina Petrova before she left.
Stefan awoke with a start. He opened his shirt to find a bloody smear but no bloody hole. Something on his hand twinkled in the sun and he looked down to find a ring with a lapis lazuli on his finger. He looked up to see a beautiful woman with long, dark curls and dark skin. She wore a long, cobalt blue, button-down dress, with long sleeves and a white shirt peeking out through the collar. She wore matching leather gloves and a dark blue bonnet sat on her head.
"Emily had already made one of those for you, on Katherine's instructions." The woman nodded at the ring that now graced his finger.
"Where am I?" Stefan asked. "Who are you?"
"The quarry just north of town. I brought you here last night. I found you dead in the woods." She told him, her face blank of any emotion.
"Where's Damon? Am I...? Am I a...?" Stefan stammered and the woman understood exactly what he was trying to get at.
"Not quite yet. You're in transition."
Stefan frowned. "But how? I…"
"You had Katherine's blood in your system when you died." She told him.
"No." Stefan shook his head. "I never…"
"I imagine Katherine's been compelling you to drink for weeks." The woman murmured. "It is something that she would do."
"And my brother?"
"I apologise. I wouldn't know." The woman shook her head. "When he wakes, he should know if he was compelled by her. As you go through the transition, if a vampire has ever compelled you, you will remember."
Aliyah's phone rang and she looked down at the caller ID, not being able to recognise the number. Since she had arrived in Mystic Falls, she had decided to get a new phone with a new number. The first number that she had originally was only given to a handful of people, just to make sure that there was no way that Niklaus would be able to find her, and out of the people in Mystic Falls, she had given that number to Bonnie only. The second number, seeing as she was making friends in Mystic Falls, had been given to Jenna and Alaric, and Damon, Stefan and Elena, reluctantly.
"Hello?" She called out.
"I'm putting you on conference call with Alaric." Damon said.
"Alaric," Aliyah beamed, she had taken a liking to the rough vampire hunter. "You know, if you want to talk to me, you don't have to go through Damon, I'm happy to answer a call from you." She said, sweetly.
"You're hurting my feelings, Aliyah." Damon said, mock offended.
"I'd like to hurt more than that." Aliyah muttered to herself. "So, tell me, boys, what can I do for you?"
"I've, uh, been doing some digging on Elena's uncle. You two interested?" Alaric asked.
Damon frowned. "What kind of digging?"
"I've got an old friend from Duke. Who studied criminology when we were there together. Let's just say he's become a very proficient digger."
"Did he find anything?" Aliyah asked, curiously.
"Well, I had him run a track on John's cell records. He was getting a call from a number... The same number that Elena dialled to get Isobel. And then the number was disconnected." Alaric said.
"Isobel knows John. Whatever. We knew that." Damon said, rolling his eyes.
In more ways than one, if my guess is correct. Aliyah thought.
"Right. Well, after that, he started getting calls from a new number. And I had my friend run a geotrack. Got the address. It's... It's an apartment in Grove Hill."
Aliyah raised an eyebrow. "Isobel's in Grove Hill."
"I don't know. I thought we could take a look and see what we find."
"Okay, give me the address." Damon said.
"So, you can go without me? I don't think so." Alaric laughed.
"Or me, keep dreaming, Norman Bates." Aliyah smirked.
"No offense, Morticia, but I don't trust you not to kill me on the way there. And Alaric, you actually did try and kill me."
"Alaric, you drive." Aliyah told Alaric. "I'll go over to the Boarding House and Alaric will pick us up in an hour."
"Hey, who died and made in you in charge of the quest?" Damon asked, incredulously.
"Done."
Both Aliyah and Alaric hung up, leaving Damon staring at the phone with confusion, wondering exactly how he had managed to lose control over the conversation.
"He's being dramatic, Bambi." Aliyah rolled her eyes. "Trust me, he won't starve himself."
"But, then why would he say something like that?" Elena protested.
Damon rolled his eyes. "He feels bad about hurting that girl. It's a very typical Stefan martyr stuff. It will pass."
"Will it? Because he seemed to be in a lot of pain." Elena said, worriedly.
"Yes. He'll start to desiccate if he starves himself. All he has to do is eat and it'll pass." Aliyah nodded.
Elena shook her head. "I didn't mean physical pain."
Damon grimaced. "We know what you meant. Look, are you gonna be okay here if we have to run out? I have to go to an errand with the teacher."
"Wait, I have a question." Elena looked at them, sceptically. "Are you two friends now?" She asked, incredulously.
Aliyah raised an eyebrow. "I'd rather stake myself in the heart than be his friend." She deadpanned.
"And the teacher? Alaric? Are you two friends now?" Elena asked Damon.
"Don't be stupid, Bambi, he doesn't have any friends." Aliyah shook his head.
"Right." Elena nodded, agreeing with Aliyah much to her surprise.
"You should, um, you should stay up here. You shouldn't be down there by yourself." Damon said, weakly, trying his hardest to seem compassionate.
"It'll be fine." Elena said.
"You know... You're very trusting of him, given the circumstances." Damon offered.
"So are you. Otherwise, you wouldn't be leaving." Elena pointed out.
Aliyah rolled her eyes. Great, and it begins. "We won't be long."
Aliyah, Damon and Alaric were at the apartment in Grove Hill, where Isobel was rumoured to be hiding out.
"This is the one here. The records show it was paid 3 months in advance." Alaric said.
"This is where it gets tricky. We may or may not be able to get in." Damon said, staring at the apartment.
"Yeah, how does that work? You always have to be invited in?" Alaric asked, curiously.
"Yes. By the owner or the person of entitlement, in the case of a property. However, short-term rentals and hotel rooms still apply, just not in the way you'd think. There's no need for an invitation by the tenant because they don't have a right to ownership."
"Could we not kill anyone tonight, please?" Alaric said, nervously.
"You mean, you just brought me along for my company?" Damon smirked.
Aliyah chose to ignore him and shoved open the door to the apartment.
"It doesn't look like anyone's home." Alaric pointed out.
"Yeah, we're good." Aliyah murmured. "No permanent resident, apparently."
She walked into the kitchen of the small apartment and opened the fridge. She tensed when she saw blood bags and she heard the telltale sign of someone trying to sneak up on them from behind.
"We have company." Aliyah scowled and shut the door with a bang.
She turned around just in time to see a man jump on Alaric, who stabbed him with wooden knuckles, making him rear back and evaluate his best mode of attack. The man made to attack Alaric again, and Aliyah reached out, gripping the vampire by the shoulder and throwing him off Alaric.
"Boys, boys, that's enough." Aliyah sighed.
"Wait a minute, I know you." Damon frowned at the man.
"Damon?" The vampire said, incredulously.
"Your name is Henry. You were in the tomb." Damon said, remembering.
"Yes, sir." Henry nodded. "What are you doing here?"
"So, how do you know John Gilbert?" Henry asked, curiously.
"Well, I've known him for years. He's a good friend. How do you know him?" Damon asked, interested.
Henry shrugged. "I met him right after I got out of the tomb. He's been helping me out."
Aliyah frowned. "Helping you out how?"
"Adapting. It's a whole new world... Cars, computers, . There's so much to learn. He helped me get this place." Henry said, gesturing to the room.
"So, do you live here alone or is there someone else here?" Alaric asked, slowly.
Damon smirked. "That's my friend's very passive-aggressive way of asking, uh, do you know a woman named Isobel?"
Henry shook his head. "Uh, no. No, I don't know an Isobel. I know John. He's my only real friend. He really showed me the ropes... how to use a microwave, separate my whites."
"What else do you do for him?" Aliyah asked, narrowing her eyes.
"I help keep an eye on things...You know, with the others." Henry leaned back, nonchalantly.
"The others?" Damon raised an eyebrow.
"From the tomb." Henry replied. "They're still pissed at the founding families for trying to burn them alive. I'm cool, but those tomb boys, they want revenge."
"What does John want with them?" Aliyah asked.
"He's just keeping an eye on them, you know? Trying to make sure they stay out of trouble." Henry told them, smiling.
Damon resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Well, that's John. Heh. He's such a do-gooder."
Suddenly, Henry's phone rang and he looked down at the screen. "Heh. That's John now."
"Oh. Hey, let me talk to him." Damon reached out for the phone.
Henry nodded, not seeing what harm it could do. "All right. Yeah. Are you gonna answer that?" He asked, seeing that Damon was holding the phone in his hand and not doing anything with it.
"Am I gonna..." Damon looked to Alaric and Aliyah to see what they would say. "Answer that?"
Both Aliyah and Alaric shook their heads, signalling for Damon not to answer the phone.
Henry frowned at their strange behaviour and his hackles immediately rose. "What's going on?" He asked, sharply.
He ran at Alaric and Aliyah grabbed him, holding him up for Alaric to stab him in the heart with a stake.
"'Let's not kill anyone tonight.' Your words. Just pointing that out." Damon pointed out, smirking.
"Oh, shut up, Damon." Aliyah growled.
"Find anything yet?" Aliyah asked Alaric and Damon, while the latter drained all of the blood bags in the fridge.
Alaric shook his head. "No, I looked everywhere. The place is...The place is clean." He sighed, mournfully, obviously distraught at the lack of a sign of his wife.
"Well, I found this." Damon threw Alaric a beer. "Behind the blood in the fridge."
"Oh, man, this was a real dead-end." Alaric shook his head.
"I wouldn't beat myself up over it, man." Damon offered. "What did you think you were gonna find, huh? Isobel with a cigar and slippers?" He snorted.
"Oh, man. I... I gotta stop this. I can't... I can't keep searching for her." Alaric buried his face in his hands.
Damon raised an eyebrow. "Really? After only 2 years? That's actually… moderately healthy." He said, stunned.
"What are you going on? 146?" Aliyah asked, spitefully, as she sank down onto the couch beside Alaric.
Damon shrugged. "Well, I figure the 200 mark is probably a good stopping point."
Alaric groaned. "Ah. I mean, no answer is enough. I keep thinking I wanna know why, when, you know, the precise moment. When my wife decided life with me wasn't enough." He shook his head.
Aliyah paled and watched as Alaric stared off into nothing. Her hands shook, wondering if that was what Niklaus felt right now. Or if he had moved past that. He would have wondered, wouldn't he? At least, straight after she left him – why wasn't he good enough for her? He was good enough for her, that wasn't why she had left him. She couldn't stand being with him, knowing that if she watched the brutalities he committed for much longer, she would start to hate him. She was trying to avoid getting to that point where the love between them had disappeared, and all was left was resentment and hate. It was as if someone were staking her in the heart with a white oak stake to think that Niklaus believed she wanted more than he gave.
For a brief moment, she wondered if the pain she put herself and Niklaus would be worth it in the end. Would she ever have the strength to return to him? Would he ever forgive her for seemingly abandoning him?
"She charmed me, your wife, Isobel. She talked a good game, man. She was smart. She had this excitement in her eyes. I probably should have known there was something different about her, some tie to Katherine. There had to be some reason I didn't kill her." Damon shook his head.
"So not the thing you should be telling her husband, you bloody moron." Aliyah hissed.
"That's enough, Damon." Alaric said, finally, his voice growing cold and angry. "I don't wanna hear anymore. I just don't want to waste any more of my life. Searching for answers that I really don't want. I'm through with Isobel. I... I'm done with all of this. Yeah." He nodded and walked off, still clutching his beer.
"You know, you could be a little more sensitive to the teacher." Aliyah said, pointedly. "Considering you're still hung up on Katherine like a lovesick schoolgirl, you don't actually have much room to talk."
Damon cleared his throat, desperate to change the subject from his feelings for Katherine. "How do you know Katherine, anyway?"
Aliyah raised an eyebrow. "Any particular reason why I should tell you?" She asked, patronisingly. She stood up. "Don't fool yourself into thinking for a moment Katherine actually had feelings for you, psycho-wannabe. Katherine hasn't cared for anyone since she turned into a vampire. The fact that she turned your brother alongside you should tell you so much." She said, grimly. "Take my advice, Damon, let her go. You'll be much better off if you stay away from Petrova women. That includes Elena."
With that, she walked off, out of the apartment and in Alaric's direction.
"So, what are you going to do today?" Bonnie asked Aliyah, curiously.
"Well," Aliyah drawled. "I have some plans to do a little leg work on the Founder's Day preparations. You know I have to keep up the façade that I'm actually someone writing a book on Mystic Falls. What about you?" She asked, turning to Bonnie.
"Well, Caroline roped me and Elena into helping her build the Miss Mystic Falls float for the Founder's Day parade. Caroline will burn me alive like one of those Salem witches if I don't." Bonnie said, shaking her head.
"This town is kind of fanatical, wouldn't you say?" Aliyah smirked.
Bonnie sighed. "You're telling me." She shook her head. "What happened to Stefan?" She asked, suddenly.
"Oh, you mean after he lost control at the Miss Mystic Falls pageant?" Aliyah asked and Bonnie nodded. "Damon told me that he trapped Stefan in the cellar and made him wait out the bloodlust, getting him back under control by force feeding him animal blood." Aliyah explained. "He should be out by now." She paused. "Are you worried about him?" She asked, curiously. "Because all you have to do is call me and I'll rip his head off." She said, reassuringly.
"No." Bonnie shook her head, emphatically. "I can take him down if he pulls anything." She said, confidently.
"Good." Aliyah smiled, fondly, at Bonnie. "Make sure you do, because the Salvatore brothers need to brought down a peg or two, and I think you're the perfect person to do that." She smirked.
Bonnie laughed and wrapped her arms around Aliyah's waist. "I don't know about that, you seem to do a pretty good job." She grinned.
"I do, don't I?" Aliyah grinned back, smugly.
"So, what happened at Grove Hill yesterday?" Bonnie asked, curiously.
"Oh, well, we went to that apartment we thought Isobel was staying at, which turned out to be a dead end. But it turns out that John Gilbert has made friends with one of the tomb vampires and is using him to keep an eye on all of the others. But, alas, that friend is now dead, thanks to our resident vampire hunter, Alaric." Aliyah shrugged. "Alaric seems to have given up on finding Isobel. The poor thing." She shook her head.
"Mr Saltzman deserves better." Bonnie looked disgusted. "Isobel's just screwing with him."
"Maybe Jenna is that 'better'." Aliyah said, slyly.
"Why?" Bonnie beamed at her. "What do you know?" She asked, excitedly.
"I may have witnessed them exchanging quite the kiss when they were helping put the banner up for the Bachelor Raffle. Of course, that was the time when Jenna revealed that his wife was actually Elena's birth mother, so he ran away. But they looked quite cosy at the Miss Mystic Falls pageant." Aliyah smiled to herself. "You never know what will happen, Bonnie girl, love works in mysterious ways." She said, wistfully.
"Alright, show me." Bonnie urged Caroline.
"Let's reference last years Miss Mystic float." Caroline offered and typed something on her computer. "This is what they did last year," She turned her computer to face Bonnie to show her a picture that was splayed across the screen. "And this is exactly what we don't want to do." She rolled her eyes, flicking her blonde hair behind her shoulders.
"Ew." Bonnie grimaced. "Okay! So, what are we doing?" She asked, half-heartedly.
"Southern classic elegance." Caroline replied, primly.
"Gone with the Wind?" Bonnie asked, knowingly.
Caroline flushed. "How'd you know?" She asked, curiously.
Bonnie rolled her eyes. "You channel Scarlett, daily."
Caroline smirked at what she took as a compliment. "So true!" She beamed.
They both laughed at the astounding normalcy of the moment. Caroline looked around, expectantly, searching for a familiar head of brown hair but finding none.
She scowled. "Where's Elena? She's supposed to be helping." She said, crossly.
Bonnie shrugged. "I don't know."
She still had a lot of problems interacting with Elena. It was still hard for her to look at Elena when all she saw was putting her Grams' body in the ground at her funeral. It was hard to see her move on with Stefan while she still felt that pang in her heart every time she thought of the only woman who had ever given a damn about her. Especially seeing how Stefan acted at the pageant, she was more convinced than ever that the Salvatore brothers were no good. She already knew that Damon was the devil incarnate. She still blamed him the most for her Grams' death. She just didn't know how Elena could keep defending them.
Caroline frowned, seeing the way Bonnie's face went blank at a mention of Elena. "Okay, what's the deal?" She asked, sighing.
Bonnie shrugged. "What do you mean?"
Caroline shook her head. "Don't play dumb. You and Elena are fighting. Spill!" She demanded.
"It's nothing." Bonnie insisted, looking anywhere but Caroline in the eyes.
Caroline glared at her. "It's not nothing. You know this whole float is supposed to be about friends creating something together and everyone is fighting. Matt and Tyler hate each other, you and Elena are on the outs and I don't like it! And I can't fix it if I don't know what's wrong." She said, finally.
Bonnie bit her lip, wanting to confess to Caroline everything that had happened and everything she was worried would happen, but she didn't want Caroline to be brought into this. She needed one bit of normalcy in her life and Caroline was that.
"I can't talk about it, Caroline, I'm sorry." Bonnie sighed.
Caroline looked at her, sadly. She knew what people thought of her. Blonde, shallow, dumb, selfish, neurotic, control freak, useless. She had heard all of those words so many times it was like they were ingrained in her mind. But she was more than that. She knew it. She just wanted Bonnie to confide in her so that she could make her best friend feel better.
Students who were walking along the corridors of Mystic Falls High School were stunned to find a beautiful woman walking through the halls, wearing a tight, long-sleeved lime green and grey dress that came halfway up her thighs, coupled with a sleeveless denim jacket. What was more surprising was the fact that the woman proceeded to go down the hallways to Mr Saltzman, the history teacher's room.
"Any reason why you called me, boys and girl?" Aliyah asked with a smile, once she entered the room and shut the door behind her.
"I met Isobel last night." Alaric told her.
"Oh, joy." Aliyah rolled her eyes. "Another vampire we have to deal with." She shook her head.
The door opened and Damon stepped over the threshold.
"Damon, thanks for coming." Alaric said, slowly.
"Sorry I'm late. My dog ate my uh… never mind." Damon stopped when he saw the identical glares coming from Stefan, Elena and Aliyah.
"Can you please shut up for once in your life?" Aliyah sighed.
Damon rolled his eyes and he looked at Stefan, Elena and Aliyah. "What's with all the furrowed brows?" He asked.
"I saw Isobel last night." Alaric said.
Damon's eyes widened. "Isobel is here?" Alaric nodded. "In town?" He clarified. He turned to Elena and looked at her, wondering how exactly she was taking this new information. "Did you ask her about Uncle John? Are they working together?"
"No." Alaric shook his head.
"No, they're not? Or no, you didn't ask?" Aliyah wondered out loud.
"No, I didn't ask." Alaric told her.
"What about the invention?" Damon asked.
Alaric shrugged. "Didn't ask."
"Did she know about the tomb vampires?" Aliyah asked.
"I don't know."
"Well, what the bloody hell were you doing when you saw her?" Aliyah snapped, furiously.
"Well, I was a little too distracted by my dead vampire wife to ask any questions." Alaric said, sarcastically.
Damon rolled his eyes and turned to Elena. "What did she want?" He asked.
"She wants to see me, Damon." Elena said.
Damon looked at her.
"Alaric is supposed to arrange a meeting. We don't know why or what she wants." Stefan explained.
Damon, however, did not take his eyes off Elena. "You don't have to see her if you don't want to."
Stefan, confused by the sudden sensitivity from Damon of all people, looked at Damon and then at Elena, while Aliyah smiled to herself at Damon's newfound affection towards yet another Petrova doppelganger.
It's starting again. Aliyah resisted the urge to sing to herself.
Elena shrugged. "I don't really have a choice."
"She's threatened to go on killing spree." Alaric explained.
Damon looked at all of them. "Oh! I take it that's not okay with you guys."
"Yes." Aliyah deadpanned. "Because any more murders in Mystic Falls and the Council would be turning their eyes to any possible vampire in town, including the two brothers, whose names are on the registry from the first Founders' Party in 1864."
Damon smirked at her. "And the journalist who's writing a book on Mystic Falls."
Aliyah smiled, viciously, at him. "I know how to deal with pesky townspeople and silly vendettas against vampires. Let's just hope it doesn't end up like that. I'd hate to turn Mystic Falls into a cemetery." She purred.
"I want to do it. I want to meet her. If I don't, I know I'll regret it." Elena said, firmly.
Damon and Elena looked at each other, something unspeakable passing between them.
Aliyah clapped her hands. "Well, if that's settled, it's time for Elena to meet Mommy Dearest."
Elena was sitting alone in the Mystic Grill, while Stefan was standing at the pool table, watching after Elena, acting as her silent bodyguard. Aliyah could see the young couple from outside, where she was standing with Alaric and Damon, waiting for Isobel to arrive and speak to Elena.
Elena pursed her lips. "Can you hear me?" She asked, quietly. "Thanks for coming, I'm nervous." She confessed. Stefan smiled at her. "I'm happy that you're here. I love you."
Stefan moved his lips and mouthed 'I love you' at her. Suddenly, a middle-aged, dark-haired woman with sharp features, wearing a smart dress, arrived and sat down opposite Elena.
"Hello Elena. You look just like her, that's eerie." Isobel said with a small smile.
Elena's eyes widened. "You've met Katherine?"
Aliyah rolled her eyes. Of course, she's met Katherine. They're very similar. I'm sure they're great friends.
"She found me after I turned. Genetic curiosity, I suppose. She would be fascinated by you." Isobel said, pointedly.
Elena looked at the necklace around Isobel's neck, a lapis lazuli stone acting as the pendant. "Is that how you can walk in the day?" She asked, curiously.
Isobel nodded. "Katherine helped me obtain it."
Elena paused. "Who's my father?" She asked, slightly fearfully.
Isobel shook his head. "Not important. He was a teenage waste of space."
"A name would be nice." Elena offered.
Isobel smirked. "It would, wouldn't it? You ask a lot of questions."
"Why did you compel that man to kill himself? Right after he told me to stop looking for you."
Because she's turned her humanity off. Aliyah thought.
Isobel shrugged. "Dramatic impact. I wish it would have been more effective."
"Human life means that little to you?" Elena asked, incredulously, unable to believe that the woman in front of her was actually her mother.
"Means nothing to me." Isobel corrected. "It's just part of being what I am."
Elena shook her head. "No it's not. I know other vampires, that's not true."
Isobel smirked. "Your new boyfriend over there by the pool table? Stefan Salvatore. Why Stefan? Why didn't you go for Damon? Or are you enjoying them both like Katherine did?" She asked, curiously, a wicked glint in her eyes.
Elena seemed shocked by the question, having never considered the thought, while Stefan grimaced, uncomfortable by the thought of Elena acting as Katherine once did with him and Damon. He loved her for being so unlike Katherine that the thought of her 'enjoying' both of them made him sick to his stomach.
Damon scowled at the window to the Mystic Grill, being able to see through the glass and see Elena and Isobel interacting.
"We should be in there." Damon growled.
"No, Isobel made it clear we're not to step a foot inside." Alaric said, sharply.
"And let Elena have her time with her long lost mother." Aliyah rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.
"I'm not going to kill her in a crowded restaurant." Damon protested.
"You're not going to kill her period!" Alaric snarled.
Aliyah raised an eyebrow, impressed by the man's loyalty. It was hard to see that in this day and age. There was a time when love was the most decent thing a person could experience and everyone cherished it once they had. Nowadays, it seemed as love went as fast as it came. But this man in front of her was different. He was loyal to a woman who had done everything to show him that he wasn't good enough for her.
"She ruined your life and you still want to protect her?" Aliyah asked, quietly.
"She's my wife." Alaric shrugged. Both Aliyah and Damon looked at him with interest. "Was my wife. I looked for the woman I married but she wasn't there. Whoever that is, she's cold and detached." He said, shaking his head.
"Yeah, she's given up her humanity." Damon nodded.
"Yeah, see, I don't get that. Stefan has his humanity, he's a good guy. Aliyah threatens you and Stefan, but she's decent to people and she obviously cares about Bonnie." Alaric pointed out and Aliyah smiled at him. "And you're a dick and you kill people, but I still see something human in you. But with her there was… nothing."
"Vampires have a switch." Aliyah explained, quietly, looking elsewhere. "You can turn it off or just make it dimmer, like a button you can press. Stefan hasn't done that, he's empathetic. He keeps all of those pesky feelings, that's why he broods like crazy. Damon's an arse, but his is more a dimmer switch and his morality is just skewed." She shook her head. "For a vampire, emotions can be intense. All of those feelings, love, hunger, pain, grief, they become more and more intense. So, a vampire just shuts them off. Like Isobel."
She looked at Alaric, suddenly looking remarkably older than first impressions. "If you could turn it off, wouldn't you?" She asked, slowly.
"You haven't." Alaric pointed out, softly, wondering whether he was lucky to get such an inside glance into this vampire.
"Do you know witches can't be vampires?" Aliyah asked, suddenly. "Witches are servants of nature. Vampires are abominations of nature. To be a vampire means you cannot be a witch." She said, wistfully. "I was a witch as a human. And now I am not. It is my punishment for being an abomination." She said, plainly. "I work through my emotions, I don't turn it off. I am not a coward."
"I can't." Aliyah spat. "I can't do anything!" She shrieked.
"Aliyah, enough." Elijah said, calmly.
"I can't." Aliyah sobbed out and her legs fell weak, buckling. She fell to the ground, her hands falling into the dirt, desperately seeking purchase. "'Lijah, I can't feel anything. The spirits have abandoned me. The Earth has abandoned me. What will I do now?"
Elijah walked closer to her, kneeling beside her on the ground. His arm wrapped around her shoulders and he brought her into his body, allowing her to cry into his shoulder. She wound her arms around his neck and she wept her heart out. Her tears felt like nothing she had felt before. Her heart ached and she felt sick to her stomach.
"Elijah, what do I do now?" She asked, weakly.
"You will clean yourself up." He said, firmly, the port in the storm that was overwhelming his mind. "You will come home with me and you will live, Aliyah, inamorata. You will heal and you will live."
She leaned up to place a hand on his cheek. "What if I am not strong enough?" She whispered.
"I am here. You will be." Elijah said, firmly.
"Why did you want to meet me? Can't be to just catch up." Elena said, suspiciously.
"Because I'm curious about you." Isobel said, simply. "But the real reason is: I want what your uncle wants. Jonathan Gilbert's invention."
Elena frowned in confusion. "How do you know my uncle?"
"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 that told me about vampires." Isobel said with a smile that resembled fond reminiscence, but everyone watching her knew better.
"So what made you want to be one?" Elena asked, curiously, desperate for some information that would make her feel closer to her birth mother.
"It's a very long list of reasons, Elena. All of which I'm sure you've thought about." Isobel said, knowingly.
Elena shook her head, knowing exactly what Isobel was getting at. "No." She said, finally.
Isobel smirked. "That was your first lie. It's inevitable, you're going to get old, Stefan won't." Elena looked back at Stefan, who realised the magnitude of what Isobel was saying. "Forever doesn't last very long when you're human." She pointed out.
"I'm sorry but I don't have what you're looking for." Elena shook her head, determinedly.
Elena jumped to her feet and made to walk away, but Isobel caught her arm and forced her to sit back down.
"Sit down," Isobel said, warningly, her eyes and her grip turning threatening. Stefan made to go and free her. "And tell your boyfriend to walk away. I want the invention." She said, finally.
"I don't have it." Elena insisted.
Isobel rolled her eyes. "I know that, but Damon does and you're going get it for me." She said with a malicious smile.
Elena raised an eyebrow. "He's not going to give it to me." She pointed out.
Isobel shrugged. "Then the blood will be on your hands."
She slid to her feet and made to leave. "It was nice meeting you, Elena." She said, sweetly, and walked out of the restaurant.
Elena started to cry, the meeting finally overwhelming her. Stefan made to go toward her when Bonnie walked through the door of the Mystic Grill. She had met Aliyah outside, who had filled her in on exactly what was going on inside the restaurant. She had been a little wary on going inside once she knew Elena had been inside, but her love for her friend surpassed her momentary anger and she wanted to know if Elena needed her. She walked in to find Elena sitting at the table, tears in her eyes and her shoulders trembling. Bonnie bit her lip and moved to comfort her, when she saw Stefan arrive behind Elena. Suddenly, all of her anger and resentment rushed at her, blinding her and her vision turning a hazy red. Elena noticed the way her gaze shifted and turned around to see Stefan behind her. She turned back to watch Bonnie's reaction. The witch simply stared at Stefan with burning eyes and left the Grill.
Bonnie stormed out of the restaurant, in a blinding rage, seeing Aliyah standing alongside Damon and Alaric, near the restaurant. She strode over to her, seething, and grabbed the older vampire's wrist, pulling her away, while sending a withering glare to Damon, who simply smirked at her.
"We need to go." Bonnie told Aliyah, firmly, her voice clipped and cold.
"Okay," Aliyah said, slowly. "Let's go home, then." She shrugged at Alaric and Damon, and allowed Bonnie to lead her away.
"You okay, Bonnie girl?" Aliyah asked, quietly, once they were enough of a distance from Damon and Stefan so that the young vampires wouldn't be able to listen into their conversation.
"Am I a bad person?" Bonnie asked, sighing, her face falling.
"Why do you say that?" Aliyah asked, incredulously. "Bonnie, I've met a lot of bad people in my life and I can assure you, you don't come anywhere close to them." She said, reassuringly.
"Why did I walk away from Elena, then?" Bonnie asked, wearily. "How could I do that? She's my best friend and she was clearly upset, and I just walked away from her."
"Why don't you explain to me exactly what happened?" Aliyah offered.
"I walked into the Grill and I saw Elena about to cry and I made to comfort her, I really did," She insisted, tears falling down her dark skin. "But then I saw Stefan behind her and something just snapped inside of me." She whispered, as if it were her deepest darkest secret that she was confessing. "I just couldn't stop myself from being angry at Elena, and I just left her in there." She hissed, feeling furious and ashamed of herself.
Aliyah nodded, slowly. "Okay, can I offer you some advice?" She asked, gently.
Bonnie nodded, gratefully. "Please." She murmured, desperately.
"Okay," Aliyah nodded. She, then, looked thoughtful, as if she were trying to figure out what was the best way to put what she was thinking. "I think what you just did was a little cold. There is nothing I like better than to give Elena Gilbert hell, but you could have been a better tonight." She said, sternly. "But I still stand by what I said earlier, you told me that you walked into the Grill, you saw Elena, you wanted to comfort her, you saw Stefan and you got angry. If anything, that shows me that you haven't forgiven Elena for what you feel she did wrong. You shouldn't push it, Bonnie." Aliyah said, softly. "It… it won't be good for your friendship in the long run, darling."
Bonnie nodded. Her face faltered. "I just… I just want to help her. But I can't be around Elena without wanting to scream." She spat.
Aliyah paused. She couldn't believe she was going to suggest this, and for Elena Gilbert nonetheless. She sighed. "How about I talk to her?" She asked, slowly.
Bonnie frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Well," Aliyah laughed, slyly. "I do have some experience with family members who inevitably disappointed me. I can offer her some advice."
"Yeah, but you…" Bonnie trailed off.
"Because of my undying hatred for Elena Gilbert?" Aliyah laughed, throwing her head back. "It's true, I have a lot of problems with Elena, but I don't like kicking people when they're down, Bonnie." She said, quietly. "I won't say anything to hurt her. I just want to offer her some advice."
Bonnie bit her lip and then nodded. "Okay, can you please talk to her?" She asked, shyly.
Aliyah nodded. "For you, of course."
Aliyah walked into the house that Isobel was using as her own to find her watching in barely disguised lust as a pretty French woman danced with a hulky, shirtless cowboy. She leaned against the doorframe and shook her head.
"You know, just because you're a vampire doesn't mean you have to act like some daft, slutty sorority girl." Aliyah pointed out.
Isobel spun around to face her, her face transforming into an expression of interest. "Now, who might you be?" She purred.
"What, Katerina didn't mention me?" Aliyah asked, innocently, her smile turning dangerous. "I suppose I should be hurt by the disregard." She mused, walking into the room.
Isobel lunged towards her, a flash of speed, and pinned her by the neck against the wall.
"Who are you?" She hissed in Aliyah's face, baring her fangs.
"Oh, darling," Aliyah laughed, condescendingly. "Your little parlour tricks don't work on someone like me." She purred. Her hand reached up and grabbed onto Isobel's wrist, squeezing until the woman in front of her screamed with pain as she broke every single bone in her arm. As quick as a flash of lightning, Aliyah had spun them around, her hand gripping Isobel by the chin and holding her up in the air. "I'm much older than you, little girl, and frankly, that Petrova arrogance that you, your ancestor, and your daughter seem to have just gets on my nerves." She hissed, her nails digging into the sensitive skin of Isobel's jaw. "Now, my name is Aliyah, do you know who I am now?" She cocked her head, her eyes boring into Isobel's.
Isobel's face paled and she practically trembled with the force of her fear. She immediately started to struggle, thrashing in Aliyah's hold, while Aliyah simply rolled her eyes.
"Don't struggle, darling. You won't escape me." She told Isobel, sharply, and then let her go, leaving the woman on the floor, clutching her neck and gasping for air.
She turned around, surveying the house with vague interest. "What does Katherine want?" She asked.
"She wants to be free of you and your family." Isobel managed to hiss out.
Aliyah laughed, coldly. She turned around and her hands fell to her hips. "Isobel, no one is ever free of my family. Klaus will hunt her down for taking the moonstone and turning herself into a vampire." She said, sweetly. "There is no escape for her, no pardon. She will die." She said, plainly.
"What if she offers up Elena?" Isobel asked, slyly.
Aliyah went cold and, in a flash, she was standing right in front of Isobel. "Don't get dragged into this, Isobel." She warned. "I will not allow Klaus to sacrifice Elena, and if you go against me, you will die a very painful death. Not by my husband's hands, but by mine." She said, coldly. "Don't interfere in matters beyond your comprehension."
"You know, for someone married to Klaus, you sure don't care about whether he breaks his curse or not." Isobel smirked.
"You know, for someone who claims to be Elena's mother, you sure do seem eager to sacrifice her like a lamb for the slaughter." Aliyah shot back. "You do not want to make me angry, Isobel. My husband indiscriminately kills anyone who is in his way. I am not like that. I kill anyone that may be a threat to someone I care about. And right now, that is you."
"You know, from what I've seen around town, you don't seem to like Elena all that much. Why go to so much trouble to protect her?" Isobel asked, curiously.
Aliyah smiled, baring her teeth. "My reasons are my own. Stay away from Elena or you will have me to deal with. And I can be worse than Klaus in so many ways." She said, coldly.
Elena walked into her bedroom, ready to switch off the light, and turned and jumped in fear, her hand clutching her chest as she desperately tried to regain control of her breathing.
"What are you doing here?" Elena hissed at the vampire in her bedroom.
Aliyah rolled her eyes. "Don't be so rude. I come in peace." She said, warningly. "Actually, I come at Bonnie's behest." She amended.
Elena swallowed hard. "What do you mean?" She asked, weakly.
"Well, as you might have observed, Bonnie still has lingering anger issues to do with you and your vampire boy-toys, but she felt bad for leaving you like that in the Grill last night, especially when you looked like you needed someone. She didn't want to come here, try and comfort you and then say something she'd later regret, so I offered to come in her place."
Elena laughed, harshly, and dragged her hand over her face. "What can you possibly do?" She asked, sceptically.
Aliyah leaned back against the window. "Contrary to popular belief, Elena, I do have family other than Bonnie. And what I've learnt over my considerably long life is that family can be a pain in the arse." She shrugged. "I can understand why you were disappointed in Isobel. She is quite the raging bitch."
Elena bit her lip and sank down on the bed. "Even after I found out that Damon turned her, I still wanted to meet her, you know." She said, weakly. "She's still my mother. I just wanted her to…" She trailed off.
"Look at you like a mother is supposed to." Aliyah finished, knowingly.
Elena nodded, surprised that Aliyah was able to finish her thought that easily.
"I don't know if Bonnie or Damon and Stefan told you whatever they knew of my story, but before I was a vampire, I was a witch." Aliyah confessed, folding her hands over her lap. "My mother, Bonnie's ancestor, she was a very powerful witch in the village we lived in. The Bennett line has always produced powerful witches, but my mother and I… we were more so than the rest of our family, in fact, I don't think I see as much power as we had, except in Emily Bennett and Bonnie." She said, wistfully. "Anyway, my mother raised me in the craft and all of my life, I heard about how rewarding it was to be a servant of nature, that my magic was a part of me and I shouldn't be ashamed of me, that it was a great calling to be a witch." Aliyah whispered. "But, then, I was turned into a vampire. And a vampire cannot be a witch. A witch is a servant of nature and a vampire goes against nature. The two species cannot exist in one person. So, I was a vampire. I went to my mother, seeking comfort after my transition, and she turned her back on me. She told me that she would forget that she had a daughter and that I should leave and never come back to her." Aliyah said, the pain of her mother's rejection still hitting her hard and leaving her breathless.
"I'm sorry." Elena said, softly, seeing another side of the scary, vicious vampire that she had seen before.
Aliyah cracked a smile. "Of course, I waited. I wanted her to come to me, to tell me that she was sorry that she treated me like that, that she still loved me, that she was still my mother and I was still her daughter, but that never happened. But, she was still my mother underneath all of that anger and hatred and resentment, Elena. She put this spell on me, a protection spell that would leave me untouched by magic. Magic, by any witch, cannot hurt me, Elena. That was my mother's gift to me despite her hatred of what I was." She whispered. "Sometimes, family disappoints you, Elena. But that is what they're supposed to do. Family are supposed to make you miserable, otherwise they aren't family." She said, softly. "Isobel, while a raging, humanity-less bitch, is still your mother and I wouldn't give up hope that she will show that side of her to you." Aliyah murmured.
Elena swallowed, deeply moved at what Aliyah had confessed to her. "I had a mother, you know," She pursed her lips. "Miranda Gilbert, and she was my mother and I loved her as my mother, but…"
"There will always be a part of you that needs Isobel." Aliyah finished, knowingly. "Yes, I know that feeling. Just because you feel curious about Isobel does not diminish how much you loved your adopted mother, Elena. In fact, it makes your bond with Miranda so much more strong knowing that she was a woman who chose you, wholeheartedly. And that is a gift that you will realise." She said, earnestly.
She remembered meeting a young boy in New Orleans in 1815, his mother dead and his father hating him. She remembered how much love she had showered that child with and how he had grown under her tutelage and Niklaus', and how he seemed so much stronger with them, knowing that Niklaus may not be his father and Aliyah may not have born him, but they had chosen him as their son and that was strong enough to overwhelm the rejection he faced by his birth father treating him as nothing more than a slave.
"How do you know?" Elena asked, weakly.
"Because I've seen it happen. Because I've lived through it." Aliyah said, simply. "Isobel may not look at you the way you want her to look at you, but you have family and friends who love you more than anything. Jenna and Jeremy, Caroline and Bonnie, Stefan. You had parents who loved you, even if they weren't genetically bound to you. And that alone is enough for a person."
"Why are you saying this to me?" Elena whispered. "I thought you hated me."
Aliyah sighed. "Okay, look, I don't mean to be a bitch…" She looked thoughtful. "Actually, I do." She mused. She sighed. "Okay, this can't be an apology. I'll lose my reputation if I apologise to you. Look, I don't hate you." She said, finally. "Frankly, I don't think of you enough to hate you. I see you repeating the same, bloody mistakes that your ancestors did. I see you treating Bonnie like she's your witch-for-hire and that makes me angry. I see you disregarding the hell Damon put your friend, Caroline, through and actually treat him like a person, when he's no better than a psychotic rapist. I see you sidelining the hurt Bonnie went through when her grandmother died because of your boyfriend and his brother."
Something changed in Aliyah's eyes.
"I am a bitch when someone threatens my family, Elena." Aliyah's voice turned cold. "I am vicious when someone I care about is hurting and right now, that is Bonnie. I don't think you're good for Bonnie, if I'm being honest, and that's why I don't like you. I don't want to see Bonnie go down the road she'll go if she stays with you."
"So, you're trying to take my best friend away from me?" Elena snapped.
"No," Aliyah said, flatly. "I'm trying to show Bonnie that she has a life outside of Elena Gilbert and any apocalyptic mission she finds herself in." She paused. "Okay, I tried my best and this isn't going anywhere." She shook her head. "Other than the way this conversation ended, Elena, please try and remember what I told you. Don't let Isobel run your life. She's not worth it and you'll get over it, I promise."
And she was gone, as fast as she came, as if she were never standing in Elena's bedroom.
Bonnie was leafing through Emily's spell book in one of the biology labs when Elena entered the room.
Elena blinked, seeing Bonnie inside. "Sorry, are you busy?" She asked, hesitantly.
Bonnie swallowed hard, her feelings mixed when she saw Elena. "Um, no, you can come in." She paused. "Actually, I wanted you to see this." She said, slowly.
Elena frowned as she came closer to Bonnie, being able to see the book in her hands much clearer. "Is that Emily's grimoire?" She asked, curiously.
Bonnie nodded. "I've been going through it since Grams died. You might wanna check this out." She said, showing her a particular page in the book.
Elena's eyes widened as she took in the familiar picture that was sketched on the page. "That's the vampire compass." She whispered.
Bonnie nodded. "Yeah, according to Emily, Jonathan Gilbert never actually succeeded in inventing anything. Emily secretly spelled them all with magic. Compass, rings and the mystery device you told me about."
She showed her a page from the book, which depicted how the device was designed.
Elena nodded. "Yeah that's it. Well, a part of it. Damon only has the one piece."
"Yeah, Aliyah told me." Bonnie said, nonchalantly. "Emily pledged her loyalty to Katherine. But she couldn't stand by and watch innocent people get killed. This was the only way she could think of to help. To let Jonathan Gilbert believe that he'd actually invented these devices." She explained.
"Does it say what it does?" Elena asked, curiously.
Bonnie's eyes scoured the page. She paled. "Are you sure this is what Isobel wants?" She asked, carefully.
Elena nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure. Why?" She frowned.
Bonnie pursed her lips. "This is a weapon. Against vampires." She explained, darkly.
Elena swallowed hard.
"Isobel kidnapped Jeremy." Stefan explained to them in Alaric's classroom, while everyone was preparing for Founder's Day. "She wants the device in exchange for him."
"Where is the device?" Aliyah asked, curiously.
Stefan sighed. "Damon has it. He's going to be difficult to reason with."
"We'll go to him, I'll talk to him." Elena offered.
Stefan shook his head. "He's not just gonna hand it over, especially if it's harmful to vampires."
"I could just kill him." Aliyah offered. Elena, Stefan and Bonnie glared at her. She sighed. "Okay, so not a plan."
"But wait, what if it's not harmful to vampires?" Elena said, her eyes widening as they searched for Bonnie's.
"Absolutely not." Damon shook his head.
"Just hear me out." Elena pleaded.
"I'm not gonna give the device to Isobel, so she could give it to John, who is going to turn it to kill me. I like being a living dead person." Damon scowled.
"At the risk of sounding like a total moron by agreeing with Damon Salvatore of all people, your plan won't work because Bonnie's not going to do the spell for you." Aliyah said, coldly. "Remember, Elena, we talked about this last night. Bonnie isn't your witch-for-hire." She said, dangerously.
Bonnie placed her hand on Aliyah's harm, softening her. "It's okay, Lee-Lee. I can do it. I'll explain it to you later." She said, softly.
Aliyah pursed her lips, clearly not pleased by Bonnie's decision, but nodded anyway. "Fine." She said, curtly.
"It'll be useless, Bonnie can take its power away." Elena told Damon, reassuringly.
Damon scowled at Aliyah and Bonnie. "I don't trust them." He said through gritted teeth.
Bonnie raised an eyebrow. "I can remove the original spell." She said, confidently.
"John and Isobel will never know." Elena said, excitedly.
Damon shook his head. "No, I'll get Jeremy in my own way."
"Really? How are you going to do that?" Stefan asked. "Because Isobel is a vampire and Jeremy could be dead the second you walk in the door." He pointed out.
Damon turned to Bonnie. "Are you even up for this? I mean no offense, you're no Emily Bennett. Emily knew what she was doing." He smirked.
Aliyah smiled, darkly. "You're right, she's no Emily Bennett. She's much better." She smirked.
Bonnie grinned at Aliyah. "I've been practicing."
"It's not piano lessons, honey." Damon said, condescendingly.
Bonnie growled, sick of Damon questioning her abilities. "What's your favourite book?" She asked, sharply.
Damon frowned in confusion. "What?"
Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Name a book, any book." She ordered.
Damon raised an eyebrow. "Name a book… How about "Call of the Wild", Jack London?" He asked, smugly.
Bonnie spun on her feet and stared at the library, her eyes focused on the stacks upon stacks of books on the shelves. Suddenly, a single book flew out of the shelves and landed in Damon's hands. He looked down at the book with scepticism.
"Jack London. Great parlour trick." Damon scoffed.
Elena scowled. "We're doing this, Damon. And, we're doing it my way. Now, give me the device. We're wasting time!" She shouted.
Damon glared at Bonnie and then Aliyah, who simply stared at him, her face blank. "I don't trust the two of you, I tried to kill you." His eyes turned to Aliyah. "And your new BFF tried to kill me."
Bonnie smirked. "You're right, you can't trust us." She purred, feeling her magic thrum underneath her veins, ready to strike him down at a moment's notice.
There was a lot she had learnt from Aliyah in such a short time, and one of the most important lessons was to never let your enemies see you weak unless you want them to. She was fine with Damon thinking she was just some uppity schoolgirl wanting to try her hand at playing witch. It would make his pain at her hands so much sweeter when he realised just how wrong he really was about her.
"But you can trust me." Elena said, softly and endearingly.
Damon stared at her for a moment, something unreadable passing in his eyes as they softened around Elena. Stefan looked at them, worry over the suspicions that Isobel had raised brewing inside of him. Damon handed Elena the device and Stefan looked at him with suspicion.
"Thank you." Elena said, softly.
Bonnie flipped open the pages of Emily's grimoire until she reached the page which depicted the spell that was placed on the Gilbert device. She placed the device next to the book and took in a deep breath, staring at Aliyah, uncertainly, for a moment. Aliyah nodded at her and Bonnie brimmed with the confidence that her friend had in her. Bonnie pursed her lips and began the spell, chanting under her breath, lowly, while Damon, Elena and Stefan looked at her with wonder, and Aliyah stared at her with pride.
After a few moments, Bonnie took a sharp breath and sighed. "Done." She said, finally, and handed the device over to Elena.
"Great, now what?" Damon asked, looking at all of them, sceptically.
Elena shrugged. "Now, we give it to Isobel."
Caroline and Bonnie sat in a booth at the Mystic Grill.
Caroline regarded her friend with worry. "So, you're not going to tell me what happened?" She asked, sceptically.
Bonnie swallowed hard. "I did something bad, Caroline, and I lied about it." She whispered, weakly.
Caroline frowned, wondering what Bonnie could do that would be considered bad. Bonnie was one of the sweetest people she knew. Her idea of bad was bringing in an assignment a day late. "To who?" She asked, slowly.
Bonnie bit her lip. "To Elena. I pretended to do something I didn't really do." She confessed.
"What are you talking about?" Caroline asked her, confused.
Bonnie shook her head. "I couldn't do what she wanted me to do." She whispered. "It wasn't right. Grams would have never done it, and Aliyah didn't want me to do it, so I couldn't either. But when Elena finds out, she's never gonna forgive me."
Bonnie walked back into the apartment, late at night, to find Aliyah sitting on the couch, sipping at a glass of bourbon.
"Do you want to tell me what happened earlier with the device?" Aliyah asked, carefully, keeping her face blank.
Bonnie bit her lip, knowing that she couldn't keep it a secret from Aliyah for much longer, especially if she was going to have to convince her to leave Mystic Falls before the device was activated.
"Okay, you know how I said that I was removing the spell on the device?" Bonnie said, weakly. "I actually didn't."
Aliyah's face was stunned but she quickly recovered. "Okay, so, why did you lie?"
Bonnie bit her lip. "I couldn't, in good conscience, remove the spell, Lee-Lee." She whispered. "I mean, those tomb vampires are dangerous and Damon and Stefan have killed people before. What's to stop them from hurting more people?"
Aliyah nodded and placed the drink back down on the coffee table in front of her. She stood up and walked up to Bonnie. "And me?" She asked, slowly, wondering if Bonnie meant for her die as well. The device would most likely not affect her due to her being an Original, but that didn't mean that it wouldn't sting to know that Bonnie wanted her dead.
"No." Bonnie said, firmly. "I don't want you to die, Lee-Lee." She confessed. "Actually, I was coming here to convince you to leave Mystic Falls before the device gets used by John Gilbert." She said, softly. "I don't want you to be here when the device goes off, you'll get hurt and I don't want you to get hurt."
Aliyah felt her soften when she heard that Bonnie was trying to keep her safe from harm. It was such a long time since anyone had shown her that sort of concern outside of her family that she had almost forgotten what it felt like. Aliyah placed her hands on Bonnie's shoulder and leaned down, slightly, to look Bonnie in the eye.
"Bonnie, while that is very sweet of you, I am stronger than you think and there's no way I'm leaving you here, alone, in Mystic Falls." Aliyah said, determinedly. "You're my family now, Bonnie girl, and I protect my family with my life." She swore. "There are entirely too many vampires in Mystic Falls for me to leave you unprotected. I can handle the Gilbert device. I'm not going anywhere." She said, finally.
"But… but…" Bonnie stammered, feeling tears come to her eyes at the thought of Aliyah getting hurt.
"No, Bonnie, I refuse to leave you." Aliyah said, firmly. "Darling, nothing bad will happen to you or me, I promise."
Bonnie bit her lip. "Elena's never going to forgive me." She whispered, distraught. "If Stefan dies…" She trailed off.
"I don't know what to say, Bonnie…" Aliyah confessed. "I wish I could tell you everything's going to be alright, but I'm not too sure of that myself." She murmured. She cupped the younger girl's face in her hands. "Look, we'll deal with it when it happens, okay?" She said, softly, stroking Bonnie's cheeks.
Bonnie nodded, finding that there was nothing else she could do, and she finally lost control, the tears falling down her cheeks, steadily, and all Aliyah could do to comfort her was to draw her into an embrace, and allow Bonnie to sob her pain and fear away in her arms.
A/N: I'm glad I got the chance to write one really long chapter for this story, but I suppose that's what happens when you write two episodes in one chapter. I hope you all liked the Bonliyah scenes and the flashbacks of Aliyah in Mystic Falls in 1864 and the one of her and Elijah right after she transitioned. I thought, as a witch who turned into a vampire, she would need someone with a strong presence to guide her through the transition like Elijah, and I figure that Klaus was pretty much overwhelmed by what happened after his transition to be that person.
Aliyah got a chance to show her compassionate side with Alaric and Elena in this chapter, this doesn't mean she likes Elena by any means, but she does know how it feels to be rejected by her mother.
Bonnie and Aliyah are getting close. So close that Bonnie doesn't want Aliyah to get caught in the crossfire when the device gets used, so she tries to convince her to leave Mystic Falls, but Aliyah refuses, wanting to protect Bonnie instead.
I hope you also liked the scene between Isobel and Aliyah. I'm guessing, like John, that Isobel already knew about Original vampires from Katherine when she first came to Mystic Falls, but she didn't recognise Aliyah at first glance, only once she introduced herself. She's not protecting Elena because she likes her. She's protecting Elena because it would hurt Bonnie to see her friend die by Klaus' hands and she doesn't want that added complication between two people who she cares about.
Anyway, hope you all liked the chapter and don't forget to review.