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Thank you for all the reviews!
jessisthebestduh: Thanks! Hope you enjoy!
HEYITSJACE: Maybe just a tiny bit…
aandm20: Had to give you something! It was their Christmas after all!
KEZZ 1: Thank you!
mrs. morgan 35: Oh I think that Caroline and Rebekah will be battling it out for the position of wedding planner.
Nicolle Cullen Masen: Bex and Sunshine will get along great! They're very similar. And Klaus is not going to be having fun next Christmas, when both Luna and Maya wake him up at the crack of dawn!
Serena Salvatore: Nah Elijah has no patience for Brit Pop, especially when Maya insists on singing off key! I'm hoping that with Liz, Rebekah actually has a real mother figure in her life.
Dizzy Florian: Thank you! I'm really glad you like it, I would agree that it's been a while since I've read a story that makes me wait on edge for the next chapter.
dreamsnhugs: Thank you so much! Kai is coming sooner than in canon! That's all I can tell you without spoiling anything!
Blu3b3rryT3a: I'm loving Elijah and Maya's dynamic! As for what Maya received, you'll have to guess, there are plenty of things that a two-thousand-year-old Witch could help her with. Kol needed to make the joke, it's the only time that he can guarantee that he won't get daggered for it!
xotinkerbella: He was so done with her, she'd been sassy all day, and it's been a while since Elijah's had to deal with that level of sass in anyone. Jenna's going to have such a complicated relationship with Klaus! She hasn't even really understood what will happen when Maya joins the Mikaelson's permanently.
Guest: We were robbed of a Klaus – Kol relationship in the shows!
TikiKiki: It had to be done!
musa22lbl: Rebekah deserves to have a friend that she can confide in, just like Klaus does, I reckon she and Caroline will definitely become besties!
APridefulSin: Kitty Kat is coming! And boy is she going to be surprised when she realises that there's an Original in town!
WiseGirlDivergence46: Maya will definitely get that picture, it's probably how Kol worms his way back into her good graces.
salvatoresister887: We will see Kai sooner than in canon, which is all I can really tell you about that. I don't think Kol's going to be with Davina, if only just because he's already got his sights set on someone else. I haven't really thought about a pairing for Jeremy, after all, I'm not sure how he's going to react when he finds out that Maya intends to sacrifice Elena to Klaus.
Christmas morning had gone very well for Klaus, barring the little 'Kol incident', but the pack had had fun, most of them couldn't remember having a good Christmas, but this time, they'd all enjoyed it. They were safe, and warm, and all of them had presents, Klaus hadn't gotten them, he'd just given his card to Cary, but it seemed to have worked. He had one last thing to give out, but not in front of the rest of the pack. All of the Enforcers were in Arizona, three of them would go back to Mystic Falls at New Years. "Cary," Klaus said to his Beta, "Gather the Enforcers, and meet me in my office."
Cary nodded and went to grab them, while Klaus headed upstairs, by the time he'd gathered all of them, Klaus had their rings ready for them in his office. Cary knocked, and then let himself in, "Klaus, what did you need?"
"Well it's Christmas, and…I have presents for you…"
"Presents?" Regina raised a brow, Klaus definitely didn't seem like the type to give out presents, unless you were his family.
"Yes Regina, is that so hard to believe?"
"Yes."
"Totally."
"Yeah."
"No doubt."
"Oh yeah."
"Completely."
"Uh-huh."
All of the Enforcers, and the Beta answered and Klaus fought the urge to growl, "You know what, just take them!" he gestured to the boxes on his desk, "Before I change my mind!"
Alexandra snorted in amusement, and grabbed the box labelled for her, and the others followed suit, David was the first to say something after he opened it, "What's with the rings boss? Are you proposing to us? I mean I'm flattered, but I don't swing that way…I mean Scott'll be all over you, but that's-" he was cut off when Emma smacked him in the back of the head, "Owe! Hey!"
"Shut up idiot!"
"You have been spending far too much time with my brother," Klaus snapped.
"Ignore him," Cary said, "He's an idiot. Are these what I think they are?" he took the ring out of the box.
"Moonlight rings," Regina said in awe, "You're giving us moonlight rings?"
"I-I can't even…" Cary put the ring on, his eyes glowed briefly, he could feel his wolf rise up to the surface and settle in. He felt stronger and faster, "Whoa!" He'd never felt this before, they didn't have control over themselves when they shifted, so they could never remember what it felt like to actually be free, but this, this was as close as it was going to get without becoming a Hybrid. "Klaus this is..."
"I can't believe you did this for us," Emma said, feeling the power of her wolf course through her.
"Until I break my curse, you don't have access to your wolves, as my enforcers, I need you to be protected, and this is as close I can protect you until then."
"Klaus," Alexandra started, "This is amazing." Her ring was perfect for her, in fact everyone's was, all different styles, that matched each of their personalities. "How did you get these so perfect?" she asked.
Klaus shrugged, "I've had a thousand years to read people, and a very, very picky sister that makes my life hell should I get her something that she dislikes."
"Thank you, Klaus."
Maya came home just before January, Caroline had been gushing about Rebekah to her for days, and Maya was happy about it, in the other world, Caroline and Rebekah never got along, but that didn't mean that she also wasn't a little bit worried too. The Original and her best friend had so much more in common with each other than she and Caroline did, it wasn't a stretch to think that they might start getting along better than she and Caroline.
"Okay so relax," Caroline said, as they walked up the driveway to Maya's house, "Everything'll be fine, Maya'll love you! I mean, she loves me, and you're a lot like me…You're also a lot like your brother too, but I guess that's okay, because she loves Klaus, and she did say that they'd reconnected."
"It sounds like you're the one that needs to relax," Rebekah replied amused, "I have nothing to worry about. It doesn't matter whether she like me."
"Really?" Caroline asked. "Because you and I both know that Klaus is in love with her, and she's in love with Klaus. Don't you want to get along with the person that's gonna spend forever with your brother? Isn't that all you wanted from Klaus? For him to get along with the man that you loved?"
Rebekah frowned, "She's a Witch, she has maybe a hundred years, a hundred and fifty at best before time catches up with her. She can't be a Vampire without losing her magic, and the way she acts, she loves her magic too much to ever give it up."
"Maya's not like that," Caroline replied, "When it comes to your brother, she'd give up her magic for him, to be with him forever. She'd do it in a heartbeat." Caroline wasn't about to spill all of Maya's secrets to the older blonde, not letting her know that Maya could in fact have both eternity and magic.
"Then why hasn't she turned?"
"She has a lot to do first," Caroline said, "Dahlia, the Trinity, and couple of other monsters that she needs to stop, in order to keep everyone she loves safe. But after that, you're gonna be stuck with her forever Bekah, it'd be a lot easier if you got along."
"Hmm, we'll see about that."
"Wait," Stefan said, looking at Elena, "Alaric's wife might have been your mother?"
Elena sighed as she cleaned up her room, "It can't be true right? I mean the coincidence alone is crazy." She turned to look at Stefan, "I have the address, for her friend Trudie."
"You wanna talk to her," Stefan concluded.
"I don't know," Elena shrugged, "If it's true, and they are the same person, that means that my birth mother is…is dead. And I don't know if I could handle that."
"Elena," Stefan started, he'd had a talk with Alaric not so long ago, when the man had been acting very suspicious, and the information that he'd received, had been unsettling to say the least, but it couldn't be possible, there were too many coincidences for it to be true, "Listen, if you do decide to go talk to Isobel's friend, I'll go with you."
"I just don't know what I'm gonna do yet." She hugged him, and Stefan held her close.
"I should get going, Damon's back in town, and I need to make sure that he's not up to anything."
Stefan walked into the Boarding House, music was playing loudly upstairs and he sighed, he didn't see Maya's car here, so at least he wasn't going to walk in on anything, but the loud music usually meant that Damon was in the middle of multiple feedings. He whooshed upstairs and opened Damon's door, "OH MY GOD!" he slammed the door and rushed back downstairs, he couldn't believe what he'd just seen, Damon and Enzo, in some very compromising positions!
"Ugh Stefan!" Damon had thrown on some jeans and rushed downstairs, "What the hell? Don't you know how to knock?" he complained.
"Damon! What- were you- what about Maya?"
"That's none of your business Stefan," Damon rolled his eyes and poured himself a drink, "What was so important, that you had to interrupt me?"
Stefan sighed, he was not equipped to deal with whatever his brother and Enzo were doing behind Maya's back, the Witch would probably fry them both, but he didn't have time to deal with that right now. "There was a woman, you may have known a few years back, named Isobel, in North Carolina at Duke."
Damon raised a brow, this was so not where he thought the conversation would go, "You wanna discuss the women of my past right now? Seriously? You don't wanna push about anything that you just saw?"
"I don't even want to think about what I just saw Damon!" Stefan hissed, "I wish I could bleach my brain of what I just saw! Because when your girlfriend finds out, and she will! She's going to lose her shit! And I'd prefer to have at least some plausible deniability!"
Damon fought the urge to laugh at his little brother, the mild panic on his face indicating that Stefan was about to have a meltdown, and was trying really hard not freak out, "Okay fine, what do you want?"
"Isobel." Stefan replied.
"What about her?"
"You killed her."
"What's your point?"
Stefan shrugged, "I just- just wanna know if you remember anything about her."
"It's like a needle in a haystack, Stefan," Damon complained, honestly, if Maya hadn't told him about Isobel, he doubted he would have remembered her at all, "You think I can remember anything about some chick I killed maybe years ago?! I can't even remember who I killed six months ago!"
"Well, think hard. It's important."
"I got nothing," Damon whispered, he wondered what Stefan was up to, did he know who Isobel really was? "Great chat bro, but if you don't mind, I've got someone waiting on me."
"Hey Jenna!" Alaric said with a half-smile, she'd broken up with him before she went away, but he was determined to win her back, "I see you're helping with the fundraiser."
"Yeah," she nodded, "In this town, fundraising is like indentured servitude. You don't have a choice."
"Yeah," he nodded, "I've been put up for auction."
"Good for you," she replied, hanging up one end of the sign, she was dragged into helping by Caroline, who was determined to help on almost anything Mrs Lockwood was working on.
"So listen," he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "I was wondering, I know we broke up, but I don't really think that you gave me enough of a chance, I mean, we only dated for about a month and a half-"
Jenna sighed, she didn't want to have this conversation with him again, especially not since she and Elijah were just starting something new. But she also didn't want to have to hurt him, "Alaric, have you talked to Elena recently?" She was going to go with distracting him, and if that maybe pointed Alaric back in Damon's direction…well, the Vampire could take care of himself, and Maya had made him promise not to kill the history teacher.
"Elena?" Alaric asked confused, "Why would I have?"
"Elena recently found out that she was adopted, and she's been looking for her birth mother…whose name is Isobel."
"Isobel? Like my wife?" Alaric asked incredulously, "No," he shook his head, "Isobel never had a baby."
"Are you sure? Not before you were together?"
"Nope, no way."
Jenna sighed and pulled out her phone, pulling up the photo that Maya had texted her of Alaric's wife, just in case she showed up to town, "This is Elena's birth mother."
"Uh," Alaric paled, "She uh- she never told me, I uh…I'm gonna go." Alaric said, handing the phone back to Jenna and walking off.
"That was cold," Enzo said, appearing by Jenna's side, when the human disappeared.
"Yeah well, he was gonna find out eventually.
"But using it to derail his attempts to get back together? That's mean Jenna."
"Well it was either that or let him deal with Elijah when he comes to town."
Enzo nodded, "Then maybe it wasn't so mean," he conceded.
"What are you even doing here? I thought you and Damon were on a date."
"Stefan walked in on us," Enzo replied.
"WHAT?!"
Alaric texted Stefan to meet him in the park, they needed to talk, "Thanks for meeting me. Something's come up."
Stefan looked at the teacher, "You know."
"Yeah," Alaric nodded.
"So it's true then, your wife Isobel was Elena's birth mother."
"What does Elena know?"
"About your wife?"
"About everything! About you, your brother?"
Stefan blew out a frustrated breath, "She knows what I am, and she knows that you know about the Vampires."
"Does she know about Damon and Isobel?"
"No," the Vampire shook his head, "I couldn't tell her, not until I was sure."
"You said you'd help me!"
"I asked Damon without saying to much, he doesn't remember."
"Ask him again!" Alaric insisted.
"Damon, is not in the best place right now," Stefan thought back to how he found his brother, he must have been going through something with Maya, to cheat on her, especially when he'd said that Maya would hex him, if he ever did."
"You know he murdered my wife. Or at the very least made a meal out of her. He's never in a good place!"
"I'm telling you not to push this." Stefan implored, he liked Alaric, he didn't want to see him as being more collateral damage.
"You're survival, how's that for a reason?" Stefan sighed, "Look, I'll handle it, but for now, I need you to let it go."
"Is that what you'll tell Elena? To let it go?"
Stefan clenched his jaw, "Leave Elena out of this."
"I need to know what happened, I think you would too."
Stefan looked away, Alaric was right, if it were him in this position, he'd want to know, "Look I need something more than just your wife's name, a picture, something I could show Damon." Alaric pulled out his wallet, and offered Stefan an old creased photo of Isobel, "I'll see what I can do." He left the park, and Alaric standing there.
The month before the Miss Mystic Falls pageant, Caroline was going all out on her extra curriculars, she and Matt had gotten to know each other over the Christmas break, gone out a couple of times, and were now in a sort of… tentative relationship. Right now, she was helping to organise the charity auction, they were auctioning off people, which was totally tacky, in her opinion, but it's what Mrs Lockwood wanted, and what Mrs Lockwood wanted, she got. She'd conscripted Jenna, Maya and Rebekah into helping. The Original and the Siphon had taken a bit, but it turned out, all the things that Maya loved about Caroline, she liked about Rebekah, after a few days, both girls bonded over shopping, and coming up with ways to torment Rebekah's brothers.
They were busy arranging the last minute details of the auction, making sure the stage was set for the evening, while Damon and Enzo were sat at the bar, having a drink, "I cannot believe that we didn't hear Stefan come in," Enzo muttered in disgust, he was completely put out at the fact that Stefan had not only interrupted them, but ruined his mood, so their date finished early.
"Well the music was pretty loud," Damon mused.
"Oh my God!" Enzo exclaimed.
"What?"
"You did it on purpose!"
"Huh?"
"You knew that Stefan would come find you, so you turned the music on and we could get caught! I can't believe you!"
"Why would I do that?!" Damon asked.
"Because you want to get rid of my Battlestar Galactica helmet! I knew you always hated it!"
"Oh come on! That's not even remotely the truth!"
"Gentlemen," Liz said, coming up to them both, her Christmas spent with Rebekah, made her feel much more confident when talking with the Vampires that she knew, "Am I interrupting?"
"Liz!" Damon exclaimed, using her appearance to get out of a possible fight with his lover, "What can we do for you?"
"Listen, I need a favour…"
"Lay it on us," Damon smirked, and Enzo rolled his eyes, the Salvatore was laying on the charm thick. "Sit!"
Liz eyed them both warily, getting the feeling that she was definitely interrupting something, "There's a fundraiser here tonight, that the Founder's Council is throwing. The town's most eligible bachelors get raffled off for dates, and well…we're short a couple of bachelors…"
"Is this what you do when there's no um…Vampires? Organise bachelor raffles?" Enzo asked, sitting on the other side of the woman.
Liz let out a small laugh, "Oh trust me, at this point, I miss the Vampires. Look, we both know that you're not dating anyone."
"Ah-"
"Jenna told me all about your plan with Maya."
Damon rolled his eyes, "She's such a gossip."
"And neither are you," she said to Enzo, "Look, you're both single, very handsome and you know it," she said when she saw Damon smirk, "Come on, help me out. Carol Lockwood won't let me live it down if I come up empty handed." She looked at them both with this wide eyed stare that had Enzo wincing.
"Damn it! That's exactly the look that Caroline gives us when she wants something!" Enzo complained.
"Please?" Liz said again and Damon sighed.
"You know, a room full of women, clamouring to win a date with me, sounds tasty."
Enzo glared at him, but then looked back at Liz, "What the hell," he said, "I'm in!"
Liz sighed in relief, "Thank you!"
"Stefan!" Elena called, walking into the Boarding House.
"Elena? I thought we were meeting at the Grill?"
"Yeah, I just…I needed to talk to you first."
"What is it?"
"I went to go see Trudie Peterson," Stefan's face fell and she rushed to finish, "I know you said you'd go with me, I'm sorry, I didn't plan it."
"How was it?"
"She has vervain. Stefan she knows about Vampires, it can't be a coincidence."
Stefan sighed and took a picture out of his pocked, "It isn't, this is Alaric's wife."
"This is her, Isobel, he gave this to you?"
"Everything that he knows about Vampires, he learned from her, he believes that she was killed by one."
"Oh my God!"
Stefan needed time to speak to Damon, find out what he really knew about Isobel, there was no way his brother didn't remember, Stefan remembered his victims. "Listen Elena, there's a lot about Isobel that Alaric can tell you. But I need you to hold off a little while before you talk to him."
"Why?" Elena shook her head.
"I know it's a lot to ask of you, but will you do that for me?"
"Fine, but not for long Stefan."
Caroline, Rebekah, Maya and Matt were at the Grill, talking, "He's already been hit on like 35 times. He's total cougar bait!" She may not have seen a future with Matt, but he was sweet and kind, and a good distraction until she went to college.
"Impressive," Maya smirked.
"More like embarrassing," Matt blushed.
Caroline laughed, and spotted Matt's mother coming in, "Hi Mrs Donavan!"
Kelly ignored her and spotted Elena close by, "Elena!"
"Hi Kelly!" Elena smiled, hugging the older woman. "How are you doing?"
"Oh same old, same old. Matty tells me you broke his heart."
"Mom!" Matt exclaimed.
"Just kidding," Kelly smirked, and looked over at Caroline, "He found his rebound girl," she pulled out some cash and handed it to Caroline, "Here you go. However many that'll buy." Caroline took the money, hurt and embarrassed at the way that she'd just been completely dismissed by Kelly Donovan. "I just hope I don't get bachelor number 3, I dated him in high school. Not impressive, in any way."
Caroline handed her the tickets and she walked off, Matt following, "Who the bloody hell was that wench?" Rebekah asked, sneering at the retreating woman's back.
"Kelly Donavan," Maya said, glaring at the human, "She's Matt's Mom, not that she ever sticks around long enough to be worthy of the title."
"She's never gonna like me," Caroline sighed.
"So what?" Maya replied, "You're friends with literally, some of the most powerful people on the planet. Kelly Donovan is nothing, she'll always be nothing. Whereas you, are most definitely already something!" Caroline smiled.
"Maya's right," Rebekah agreed, "Plus if it helps, I could always just eat her," she shrugged.
Caroline laughed, "No! You can't do that!" Rebekah shot her a look, "Well, you shouldn't, you're tryna keep a low profile here, remember?"
"Fine, but I'd like it noted that I'm not happy about it," the blonde Original crossed her arms.
"Bex may not be able to eat her, but…I can make her night a little less fun," Maya said, shooting a quick glance at Kelly and making sure that her drink spilled all over her.
/ / /
"Oh look!" Jenna said, as the girls joined her at her table, "It's Enzo's turn!"
Caroline, Maya and Rebekah all looked up at the stage, Enzo was standing next to Damon, a smirk on his face, "Bachelor number 5, Lorenzo St. John," Carol said, "It says here that you're from England."
"Why yes I am," Enzo replied, with a flirty look.
"And what can you tell us about you?"
"Oh I'm an investor, you know, mostly stocks and shares, but I have a few places abroad too."
"Oh my! Handsome and rich, ladies, you better hope you get this one!" Enzo shot Damon a smirk as Carol moved on to him. "And, last but not least, Damon Salvatore. We don't have much on you."
"Well, I'm tough to fit on a card."
"Do you have any hobbies? Like to travel?"
"Oh yeah," Damon nodded, "L.A, Ney York. Couple of years ago, I was in North Carolina though, near the Duke campus. Actually…I think Alaric went to school there, didn't you Rick? Cause I know your wife did. I had a drink with her once, she was a great girl you know? Cause she was…she was just delicious."
"What is he doing?" Jenna hissed.
"Being an idiot!" Maya said.
"What's wrong?" Rebekah asked, she had no idea the significance of what Damon had just done.
Caroline sighed, "Alaric is a Vampire Hunter, and Damon, killed his wife."
"Turned," Jenna supplied, eyeing Alaric carefully, maybe she shouldn't have brought up the whole Elena-Isobel connection.
"The point is, now Alaric knows for certain, and is going to try to kill Damon."
"Well, can't Damon handle himself? I mean, he's not a baby," Bekah commented.
"He can," Maya said, "I was just hoping that this didn't happen."
/ / /
Alaric looked around the bar, Damon's number had just been called by Carol Lockwood, and he disappeared. That was it, he was going to find Damon, and end this.
Damon was back at the Boarding House, he knew that the hunter would be coming for him, and he wanted to have some fun. He sensed Alaric's presence and fought to keep the smirk off his face, "Are you really this stupid?" he turned around, glancing at the stake before taking a drink, "Guess so." Damon put the glass down and shoved Alaric, making him fly through the air and land on the other side of the room, "You gonna put down the stake?" Alaric said nothing, and stood up, gripping the stake tighter, "Wow," Damon said, slightly impressed, "That's courage."
"Where's Isobel? What have you done to my wife?!"
"Want me to tell you I killed her?" Damon started walking towards Alaric, "Would that make you happy? Because I think you already know what happened."
"I saw you feeding on her."
"Yeah, I did," Damon said, "And I wasn't lying. She was delicious." Alaric charged at him, but all Damon had to do was snap his hand out, hitting the teacher in his solar plexus, making him fall to the floor, "Come on! What do you think happened? Not an inkling?! Never considered the possibility?" Alaric pulled himself up, using a chair, "I turned her!"
"Why?"
"She came to me," Damon shrugged, "All pathetic, looking for Vampires. But there was something about her, something that I liked.
"You turned her because you liked her?" Alaric panted, struggling to stay on his feet.
"No, I slept with her because I liked her. I turned her because she begged me to." He took in the look on the hunter's face and smirked, "But you knew that too, didn't you? I guess, she wasn't happy at home, wasn't happy with life in general. Wasn't happy with you." Alaric charged at him again, but this time, Damon stabbed him with his own stake.
"AAH!"
"Ah, this is a shame," Damon said, dropping him to the ground, "We're kindred spirits, both abandoned by the women we love. Least I got over mine." He moved over to the couch, "Sounds like I got a lung. Which means," he sat down, "I get to sit here and watch you die."
/ / /
Maya rushed into the Boarding House, hoping to get there before Damon killed Alaric, but it was too late, "Damon!" she exclaimed.
"In my defence," Damon said, taking a sip of his drink, "I was left unsupervised."
"Ugh," Maya crossed her arms and dropped into the seat next to him, "You couldn't have just…made him leave?"
"Where's the fun in that?"
"What happened?!" Stefan exclaimed, running over to the body of the now dead History Teacher.
"He attacked me."
"Damon!"
"All I did was tell him the truth," he shrugged, "His wife didn't want him anymore. It's not my fault he couldn't handle it." He got up, pulling Maya with him, "I'm assuming you'll take care of this?" He made to walk off, but Maya stopped him.
"What?" he asked.
"Wait."
"Wait for what?"
She nodded her head over at Alaric, Stefan was sat next to the body, he'd tried to keep Alaric from Damon, he knew that his brother would kill him, but it wasn't enough. Stefan was about to get up to move the teacher, when his fingers twitched, and then all of a sudden, Alaric gasped back to life.
"What happened?" Alaric asked, "What's going on?"
"You were just…Did Damon turn you?"
Alaric shook his head, "No I uh," he put his hand on his chest, he couldn't feel the wound anymore, "I went for him, and then he uh, he stabbed me."
"No, no, no. You must have Vampire blood in your system, someone must have slipped it to you."
"No. It's…it's something else."
Stefan glanced at Damon and Maya, and then back at Alaric, "Then how?"
"Isobel." Alaric said, looking down at the ring on his finger, the ring that she'd given to him, a ring that was supposed to ward off demons. "This ring protected me."
Stefan shook his head, "That's impossible."
"I know."
Katherine pulled out her phone as she received a text from Isobel, her descendant, and the mother of her shadow self. "The tomb's open, rumours are flying."
Gritting her teeth, Katherine fought the urge to throw her phone across the room, she hoped that she had more time, that Damon wouldn't have opened it so soon, but clearly, she'd underestimated her former lover. Looks like she had to speed up her timeline, "Get the Gilbert device, kill the tomb Vampires. Leave the Salvatores." She shot back, before stuffing her phone back into her pocket, and plastering a smile on her face, as her boy toy came in.
"Hey you ready to head out?" he asked, pulling her close.
"Of course I am," she gave him a flirty look, kissing him, "Let's go! Don't want to be late Mason!"
Damon and Jenna were in a Council meeting, it seemed pretty run of the mill, but she'd received a text from Jeremy that morning, telling her that John Gilbert had shown up at the house. Miranda hadn't been that receptive to him, and neither had Elena, and John wasn't letting on to why he was in town.
"Alright," Mayor Lockwood started, "We haven't had any more Vampire incidences in town, it looks like Logan was the last of them. Thank you, Damon, for taking care of that problem, and with the Council's new detection devices, we should be able to spot a Vampire immediately."
"You mean our detection devices," Jenna said, gesturing to herself, Liz and Damon, "They're not the Council's."
"Right," Richard bristled, "Your devices," he confirmed. "On to more pressing matters, John Gilbert has asked to say a few words."
Damon raised a brow, and leant over to Liz, "Gilbert?"
"Elena's uncle, his name's John, but I call him Jackass," she whispered back, as the younger Gilbert brother walked in.
"Hello everyone," John scanned the room, unable to hide his surprise when he spotted Jenna with a seat at the table, "It's good to see you, and I wish it were on better circumstances. But as a founding family member, I found it's my duty to report some very distressing news." He eyed Damon, with barely concealed disgust, before continuing, "A hospital blood bank in the neighbouring county of Amherst has reported several break ins over the past few months. Seven hunters, four campers and two states employees have been reported missing as well. All of this was within a 75 mile radius of Mystic Falls."
"Look there's no need to get alarmed right at this moment," the Mayor cut in.
Liz leant over to Damon, "Means he doesn't want to cancel the Founders' Day Kick-off Party."
"You think all of your problems are over, but I'm here to tell you, nothing's been solved." John said.
Damon shifted in his seat uncomfortably, he pulled out his phone, and shot Maya a quick text, clearly the Vampires that Nik had left nearby, weren't being subtle enough.
"You think there are still Vampires hanging around Mystic Falls?" Jenna asked.
John looked over at her, "I know there are."
Maya was at her home, with Caroline, when Bonnie turned up, Caroline had said that Bonnie had come to her with questions, but she couldn't really answer them, other than providing her with a hex bag to help the young Witch sleep uninterrupted. "Hi Bonnie," Maya said, as the girl took a seat on the porch, opposite the two, unwilling to take a step inside, even though Maya had said that she wouldn't be in a danger.
"Maya," Bonnie replied slowly. "Did Caroline tell you what I wanted to talk to you about?"
"She did," Maya nodded, "You've been having nightmares."
"Nightmares that drag me here in the middle of the night!" Bonnie said, "Because you have something that belongs to me!"
"Emily's talisman."
"It's not yours to keep, I want it back."
Maya smirked, the little Bennett Witch was growing a spine, she guessed it was a good thing that the girl's grandmother was still alive, it gave her the chance to actually guide Bonnie in the use of her magic. Hopefully it would stop her from falling into the wrong practices. "B+ for effort, but you don't scare me Bonnie."
"Maya it doesn't belong to you."
"It belongs to Damon, that's who she gave it to, and not to temporarily hold on to, to use."
"But he hasn't used it," Bonnie insisted, "The tomb is open, but you didn't use the talisman, otherwise it wouldn't be dragging me here!"
Maya regarded Bonnie for a moment, wondering if these words were coming from the baby Bennett or her Grams, "I'm gonna be real with you Bonnie, that talisman is wrapped up in Bennett energy. It would take far too much effort to get it to work for me. So I don't plan on using it."
"Then give it back!"
"I can't."
"Why not?!" Bonnie didn't understand, if it was never Maya's plan to use the talisman, then why wouldn't she give it back, surely it would go a long way to mending fences between them.
"I have plans," Maya replied, "I can't take the chance that you or your Grams, will interfere, using that talisman."
"We won't!"
Maya shook her head, "You see, you say that now, but when it comes down to it, you will. I'm not going to let you ruin this for me…but if it makes you feel any better, then I'll promise you that you can have it back, in the summer."
"It doesn't," Bonnie crossed her arms.
"Maya," Caroline said, "What about the other thing?"
"What other thing?"
"The other thing," Caroline hissed, referring to the Bennett grimoire, "Why don't you give her that? A sign of good faith."
Maya nodded, she could, it's not like she needed the grimoire anymore, she'd learned all she could from it. "How bout this, I give you Emily Bennett's grimoire?"
"What?" Bonnie asked taken aback, she didn't think that she would ever get that back, Emily was powerful, and her spells were legendary. She didn't think that Maya would ever let something like that go. "You'd give me that?"
Maya shrugged, "It's not like I need it, my studies have far surpassed yours. What do you say Bonnie? The grimoire in exchange for giving me enough time to execute my plan?"
Bonnie frowned, she wanted the grimoire, but what was she giving up in exchange for it? What was Maya up to? It couldn't have been good, "What are you waiting for?"
"None of your business, you have my terms, are you gonna agree to them?"
"You swear you'll give me the talisman in the summer?"
"I swear."
Bonnie hesitated, before nodding, "Okay, deal." Maya held out her hand for Bonnie to shake, the Bennett Witch hesitated for a moment before clasping her hand in Mayas, pulling back as she felt a shock travel through both of them. "What was that?!"
Maya smirked, "I just added a little magic to our deal, to keep us both honest," Bonnie paled at that, what would happen if she didn't stick to the deal? "Wait right there." The red-head got up, and went inside, heading straight into her magic room, she pulled out the grimoire, and brought it down to Bonnie. "Here," she handed it to the Bennett Witch. Bonnie took it from her, gripping it tightly to her chest, "Remember the deal Bonnie, no exceptions."
Bonnie nodded jerkily, and almost raced back to her car, as though she wasn't certain whether or not Maya would change her mind. Caroline frowned, "Does she think running from you would stop you if you wanted that back?"
"Eh- let her think that, it'll be fun to shock her."
Damon called a meeting at the Boarding House, yesterday's Founder's Kick Off Party had caused him quite the headache, John Gilbert not only knew about them, but he knew way more than he should.
"Damon?" Caroline asked, as she and Maya entered, eyeing Stefan, Elena and Alaric curiously, "What's going on?"
"What are you doing here?" Maya asked Alaric, "I thought you hated Damon."
"I do," Alaric scowled.
"So, why are you here?"
"John Gilbert knows about Isobel," he replied.
"Isobel, your dead not-dead wife?" Maya asked, as knowledge flooded her mind.
"Yeah."
"And he's really flaunting his knowledge," Damon cut in.
"What happened?"
"John knows who Stefan and I are. He knows about the tomb, about Katherine, apparently he was the one that sent Isobel to me all those years back."
"Why would he admit to that?" Caroline asked, "If he knows who you are, then he knows that you can kill him in an instant."
"Yeah, that's the other thing, guess who else has a nifty little ring that prevents death?"
"Supernatural death," Maya said.
"What?" Alaric was the one to ask the question.
"The ring only brings you back if you've been killed by a supernatural. If a human kills you, then you're just dead," she sighed.
"Are you sure?" Alaric glanced at his ring, he knew that Isobel had told him that it would protect him from demons, but he didn't think that she'd meant that literally.
"Positive, and I'm guessing John has one?"
"Inherited it from Grayson," Damon nodded, ignoring Elena's flinch at the mention of her father's name.
"So, take the ring," Enzo shrugged, "Then kill him."
"No!" Elena exclaimed, "I may not like Uncle John, but he's my family, you're not killing him!" she glared at Enzo, who rolled his eyes in response.
"Doesn't matter anyway," Damon said, "He said that if anything happens to him, then all the information he has on us goes to the Council."
"We need to find out what he wants," Maya said.
"And that's why you're here Elena," Damon turned to her, "You're our best bet at finding out just exactly what he's up to."
Caroline smirked, "I don't know about that, we could always ask Jenna, John's always had a thing for her."
"You want Mom to flirt with John? Like she'd ever go for that!" Maya protested, shuddering a little at the idea of Jonathan Gilbert wanting her mother in that way.
"Wait," Alaric cut in, "Your mother knows about all of this?!" One of the things holding him back from Jenna was his assumption that she knew nothing of the supernatural, he kept a part of himself hidden from her, but if he didn't have to, then maybe, that would be enough to convince her to give him another chance.
"No," Maya replied sarcastically, "I just involve myself in all things supernatural without telling her a thing. How stupid do you think I am? How stupid do you think my Mom is?"
"Jenna knows!" Elena exclaimed. "How could you tell her?! Don't you know how much danger you're putting her in?"
"Just because you can't trust your mother with your secrets doesn't mean that I can't trust mine, Mom's known about all of this since I was ten, so has Caroline. You're the only one that seems to believe in the whole 'ignorance is bliss' thing." Maya rolled her eyes, Elena always had to make everything about her.
Elena balled up her fists in anger, how dare Maya get to be honest with everyone that she loved! When she had to keep it a secret from her mother, her brother, up until recently her best friend (who was still mad at her for not saying anything earlier). "You can't just do that! This is my life!"
"Your life?" Maya scoffed, "Your life?! You are nothingElena! The only reason that you even know about the supernatural, is that you happen to have the unfortunate luck, to share the face with the bitch that sired these two." She pointed to Stefan and Damon, "I mean, do you think that if you didn't look like Katherine, Stefan would have given you a second look?"
"Maya!" Stefan exclaimed.
"Ah! You bitch!" Elena lunged for her but Caroline raced in front of her, using her new speed and reflexes and shoved the doppelgänger back.
"Back off Elena!"
Alaric's eyes widened as he saw Caroline shoot across the room, "What the-" he glanced at her hands, but saw no daylight jewellery on her, "Is she a-"
"Vampire?" Damon finished, being the only one near enough to him to respond "No, Maya's powerful."
"Maya did that?" he eyed the girl who was stood behind blonde.
Damon nodded with a smug look in his eyes, "Imagine if you'd gotten lucky and killed me, I'd hate to think what she would have done to you then." Damon walked towards Stefan, ready to jump in should his baby brother try anything.
"You think that you're special because you're a doppelgänger?" Caroline asked, "You're a human, wearing the face of some girl that lived five hundred years ago! You're nothing special!"
"Caroline stop!" Stefan said coming forward.
"Oh and you think you're so special!" Elena spat back, "The most special thing about you is your best friend! You have no reason to be here!"
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Maya yelled, pushing Stefan, Elena and Alaric back with her magic, "If you're not going to be a help Elena, you leave, but you will not disparage Caroline, especially not in front of me! Caroline is more important than you could ever hope to be." Maya moved forward, freezing Elena in her place, "If you ever talk about her that way again," Maya clenched her fist and Elena gasped as she felt an invisible grip around her throat, "Cousin or not. I. Will. End. You." She let go of Elena, the brunette gasped, and Stefan rushed over to her.
"Stefan," Elena whimpered.
The youngest Salvatore glared over at Maya, "Come on," he said to Elena, "I'll take you home." He couldn't leave his girlfriend here with her crazy cousin, and Damon certainly wasn't going to kick Maya out, not with what he'd just found out about his brother and his friend.
"Caroline," Maya moaned, it was February 2nd five days before the Miss Mystic Pageant, and Caroline was driving everything like she was a military general. "Why am I here?" Caroline had dragged her the Lockwood Mansion, because Matt, her date, had had to cancel on her, and she needed to make sure that she learned the perfect steps for the dance.
"Because, Matt dropped out, so I don't have a date, and I need a partner! At least to learn this dance!" Caroline almost stomped her foot.
"You want someone for the dance?" Maya asked incredulously, "Why didn't you just say so?" she pulled out her phone and shot a text to Damon. Two minutes later, he appeared walking up the driveway, "Thanks for coming."
"You call, I come, I'm easy like that," he shrugged, glancing at Caroline, whose eyes had just lit up, "Why am I here?"
"Need you to do me a favour D," Maya started.
"Yeah. What?" he was getting suspicious now, especially with the glee he could see on Caroline's face.
"You're gonna be Caroline's date to Miss Mystic Falls, and as such, you need to go in with her and practice the Founder's dance with her!" Maya grinned, before running off.
"Wait, what?!" Damon asked, watching as Maya ran away, "Red? Red? MAYA?!" She ignored him, and Caroline grabbed his arm, dragging him inside causing him to yelp in surprise.
Damon sighed in frustration as he entered the Boarding House, he couldn't believe that he'd been roped into going to Miss Mystic with Caroline. The blonde was loving it, going with someone that had actually been there for the invention of the dance, she was loving the fact that she would have someone to one up Elena, and Damon, was just wondering how he'd let himself be shanghaied into this. He took off his jacket and headed straight for the bar, when there was a knock at the door. Groaning he turned around and opened the front door, frowning when he saw John Gilbert.
"What do you want?"
"You haven't returned any of my calls."
"Most people would take that as a hint John." He walked away from the door, and John followed him inside.
"Where do we start looking for Vampires?"
"What Vampires?" Damon asked.
"The Vampires that have been robbing the hospitals, and killing hikers, you know, the ones that you let out of the tomb."
Damon rolled his eyes, for everything that John thought he knew, he didn't actually know anything really, "You obviously don't care about catching Vampires, I mean, you're here talking to me aren't you?"
John crossed his arms, "Actually I care very much."
Damon snorted in derision, "And what does Isobel say about that? I mean, considering that she is one."
"Isobel and I share a mutual interest."
"Oh yeah?" Damon poured himself a drink, and then threw it back, if he didn't know any better, he would say that he was getting a headache, "What's that?"
"The original Jonathan Gilbert had an invention, it was stolen by a Vampire," he walked into the living room, running his hand over some of the antiques, "That Vampire was then burned alive in Fell's church…or at least, that's what Jonathan thought and the invention was lost forever. But then… the Vampires weren't killed, were they? They were trapped and now they're free, thanks to you which means that the invention needs to be retrieved."
"What is it?" Damon asked, he felt like Maya may have mentioned something about it, but he definitely wasn't paying attention when she talked about it.
"The only thing that matters is that I want it back and you're going to help me if you want to keep your secret safe Damon."
"Why bring me into it John? I mean, I don't know what you're talking about much less who has it."
"Oh come on Damon! You were around back then, you know who these people are, what they look like. Jonathan was friendly with a woman who turned out to be a Vampire. Her name was Pearl. Does that ring a bell?"
"I'm not playing anymore." Damon's eyes hardened as he put his glass down, and walked towards the human, "Get out John."
"I beg your pardon?" John was truly surprised, he'd heard that Damon was reckless, but he didn't think that he'd risk his own brother.
"You know, I only entertained this whole blackmail schtick of yours because I thought you and Isobel could lead me to Katherine." He wanted to be able to get a location for Nik, but nothing had come of it, "But see, now I know that you've got no idea where Katherine is, because if you did you would know that Katherine and Pearl were best friends. Looks like you don't know everything do you?"
John scowled, "I'll tell the entire Council what you are!"
"Go for it!" Damon goaded, "I'll kill every last one of them! Then I'll sever your hand, pull your ring off, and I'll kill you too. Do you understand that?"
/ / /
Damon rushed over to the Sommer's residence, "Sabrina!" he called, "You here?"
"What's up?" she asked coming down the stairs.
"Did Jonathan Gilbert have some special device?"
"What?" Maya asked.
"Back in 1864, apart from the compass, did he have anything else, something to use against Vampires?"
"Why?"
"Because the current Jonathan Gilbert wants it, and threatened to out me to the Council if I didn't get it for him."
"It was secondary piece," Maya said, "A weapon to use against Vampires, it attacks their hearing, and Werewolves. He wants it?"
"Yes. Do you know where it is?"
"Pearl had it, I took it from her before I killed her, it doesn't work anymore."
Damon smirked, "Well then, I don't have a problem handing it over to John, but I think I'm gonna make him work for it first."
It was February 7th 2010, the day of the Miss Mystic Pageant, and Caroline had been up since five, making sure that she had everything perfect. Which meant that Maya was also up super early, even though she wasn't in the pageant. There was a knock Caroline's front door, and Liz opened it with a yawn, she had the day off and she wasn't planning on waking so early, but Caroline couldn't keep it down. "Rebekah," Liz whispered, covering her mouth, "What are you doing here so early?"
The Original Vampire looked unfairly perfect, making Liz a little envious of her Vampire energy, "It's the day of the pageant, I'm here to help Caroline." She replied, her own dress hanging over her arm.
"Mm," Liz's eyes were fluttering closed, she was exhausted, "Okay, they're in her room, try to keep it down, I'm going back to bed." The Sheriff shuffled off towards her room, Rebekah shut the door behind her and sped into Caroline's room.
"Ladies," she said, walking in, eyeing Caroline's wet hair, "Make up or hair first?"
/ / /
The girls had made it to the pageant with two hours to spare, which was good, because it meant that Maya could make sure that not a single thing was out of place downstairs, while Rebekah helped Caroline get into her dress, and ensure that her curls were perfect. Maya did a final check with the band, the caterer and the waitstaff. "Maya darling," Carol said, coming up to the girl smiling, "Don't you just look positively lovely."
"Thanks Mrs Lockwood," Maya was wearing a silvery grey long-sleeved floor length gown, with a bodice full of sparkles.
"You've done a wonderful job with everything, I'm surprised that you didn't enter in the Pageant yourself."
"Me! Oh no," Maya shook her head, "All of this is Caroline, she tells me what to do and I do it, I'm just checking on things while she gets dressed," making sure that Carol was fully aware of how much work her best friend had put into making sure that everything was perfect. "And now that I've checked on everything, I am going to check on her date." She smiled at the Mayor's wife and scurried out of the room, before she attempted to rope Maya into being in the next Miss Mystic Falls.
/ / /
Rebekah made a few last-minute adjustments to Caroline's hair, making sure that it was perfectly set, "Honestly Caroline, you have nothing to be nervous about, your dress is impeccable, your singing will blow them all away, and you have done everything you possibly can to make yourself noticed by the Miss Mystic Committee."
Caroline smoothed down her dress, an elegant green, off the shoulder, mermaid cut gown, "It's Elena I'm worried about, she may not be as popular as she once was, but I don't trust her not to try anything."
"Well that's what Maya and I are here for," Rebekah replied, "Should the doppelgänger try anything untoward, we'll stop her."
Caroline smiled at the Original, "Thanks Bekah."
/ / /
An hour later Rebekah appeared next to Damon downstairs, "Don't you look handsome," she said, looking the Vampire up and down.
Damon smirked, "Not bad yourself Blondie."
Rebekah was wearing a royal blue, halter neckline dress, with a beaded bodice, looking sophisticated enough that she fit in perfectly, but not flashy so she didn't draw any extra attention. "You know I heard an interesting bit of gossip around town," she said.
"Oh yeah, and what might that be?"
"I heard that you and Maya were a couple," she continued, arms crossed, "But that couldn't possibly be true, given who she is to my brother…but then again, people are always betraying my family."
Damon's face turned grim at the implication that he would betray Nik, the man was his best friend, "Maya and I aren't together," he replied, "But you already know that don't you? You're hanging out with one of the biggest gossips in town. You know neither of us are betraying Nik."
Rebekah offered him a cold smile, "Just making sure that you know what will happen if you ever betray my brother."
Damon shrugged, "Out of the two of us," he said, "Which one has actually betrayed Nik?" He walked away from the blonde, leaving her fuming, reminding herself not to kill her brother's best friend.
/ / /
Maya and Rebekah were in the crowd, watching as the Miss Mystic Committee made their final decision as to the winner of the pageant. Their fingers crossed as Rebekah listened in on their whispering.
"She has to win," Maya said, "She has no competition!"
"Except last year's winner," Rebekah remarked.
"Oh please, it's so trashy that she'd enter again, you know it was actually her duty to host the event and she didn't. That alone means that she's not gonna win."
"Yes!" Rebekah hissed.
"What? What did they say?"
"Caroline's got the most points, they're tallying the points for the final portion of the event, she's a shoe in."
One of the members handed an envelope to Mrs Lockwood, stood on stage in front of the girls, and announced the winner of the pageant. The moment the words had passed her lips, Maya, Rebekah, Damon and Enzo were cheering for Caroline. Winning Miss Mystic had been Caroline's dream, to follow in the footsteps of the women of the Forbes family. Caroline beamed as the sash was put around her, and the crown placed on her head.
Just a few more appearances left before Kitty Kat arrives! Isobel, Mason, and then KATHERINE!
If you have time, please leave a review, they make me feel great!