A FEW GOOD MEN

The breeze in the hair blew my hair around me gently, caressing and tickling my face. I sat on the cushioned porch swing, just thinking. Or maybe, I didn't think at all. Maybe I just sat there, and thought about how nice it would be, without all this supernatural crap in my life.

Grams died the other day, and I was slowly dying with her, inside. The funeral was nice, yet it didn't seem complete. As if she shouldn't have passed away. But I had to try to be happy, and think that she hadn't died in vain. But, she did. Katherine wasn't in the tomb, Damon was swimming in misery, Bonnie was depressed, and Grams had died. All, for what? Nothing. Anna got her mother back at least. But really, opening the tomb had only surfaced more problems. The weight crushed me.

I call Bonnie, to check up on her. She didn't pick up, so I left a voicemail, "Hi Bonnie. It's me, checking in, just to see how you're doing. We all miss you. Hope your doing okay at your Aunt's. We love you. So when you're ready, come home. Bye," Fortunately, my voice didn't crack.

Jenna walked up onto the porch, and I smiled slightly at her. "What are you doing out here?" Jenna laughed, "It's cold."

"Just thinking." I said, "About Grams, Bonnie...everything; nothing." I shrugged, "It's hard to know right now actually."

Jenna smiled at me sadly, and she took a seat next to me on the swing. I held onto the railing when the seat shook. She placed her arm around me, and pulled me against her. I rested my head against her shoulder, and we sat like that for a minute. The comfort was nice. She was family, and I loved her. I loved how big her heart was, how she cared about others. How she cared about me.

Then, she broke the silence, by saying softly, "I did some digging on you and Elena's adoption. About your mother. Come inside, I'll show you."

I took a deep breath, and nodded. I needed to know about my birth parents. I needed to know more, before I could tell anyone else the truth. "Okay,"

Once Jenna and I were seated in the warm living room of my house, she pulled out her laptop and started typing in her username and password.

"Your dad kept everything from his medical practice - records, logs, old appointment books." Jenna said, as she pulled out a browning small book. Dad's journal. She turned it to a page, and said, "I found an entry from the night you were born. Patient and birth date. Isobel Peterson."

Isobel. That was my mother's name. Elena's mother's name. "Do you think that's her real name?"

"Pregnant teenage runaway?" Jenna questioned, and answered, "Probably not. First name, maybe. But where'd she get Peterson? Classmate? Best friend? So I binged it." Jenna typed in "Peterson" on Bing, and said, "I searched for all of the Petersons in this area born in the same year as Isobel, found three - two men and a woman, Trudie, who lived in Grove Vill, Virginia."

I smiled, and breathed out the obvious, "That's not far from here."

"Well, watch this," Jenna smirked, and typed so fast that I couldn't even follow her searches. Then, a sudden picture popped up. It looked like a page out of an old high school yearbook. She zoomed in on one of the pictures, and I smiled at it. A couple of cheerleaders were side by side to each other, in red and white uniforms. One was blonde, the other... brunette.

"Isobel." I said, smiling at who I thought may be my mother. Unlike the girl next to her who was smiling a huge smile, Isobel simply gave a sexy smirk. "She was a cheerleader, like me."

"Yep," Jenna agreed, "Trudie still lives here." She handed me a yellow post-it note with numbers and words on it, "This is her address."

I took the small paper from her, and memorized the address. "Did you find anything about Isobel?" I asked Jenna.

"I couldn't find anything about her," she admitted. I mentally sighed. I wanted to know who my birth parents were. I didn't know why this was important, but I felt like I had to at least meet her, just once. I sat down on the chair diagonally from Jenna, a bit frustrated. Jenna seemed conflicted for a few seconds, before she said, "Listen. There's something else. Mr. Saltzman, Ric, his wife was from around here, and her name was Isobel."

My ears perked up. "Isobel" wasn't a common name. Spelt differently, yes, but not "Isobel". So... Jenna was saying that my birth mother may have been my History teacher's wife? Was I their child? That would... be so weird. But, I didn't think that Alaric was my father. Isobel had me and Elena when she was sixteen. They must've met afterwards.

But then, I processed what Jenna had said completely, "You said... 'was'..." I couldn't finish the sentence.

Jenna was hesitant, but she wasn't keeping anything from me, she promised she'd tell me everything, "She died."

I sucked in a quick breath.

I took out my clothes from the dryer, and placed them in my drawers. Stefan had arrived earlier, and stood behind me, processing the information that I had given him about Isobel and Alaric. From the mirror in front of me, I could see that his face was drawn in deep concentration.

"Alaric's wife might have been you and your sister's mother?" Stefan asked me finally.

"I don't know," I answered honestly, "But, I've never met anyone named 'Isobel'." Turning around to face him, I pulled the yellow post-it note from my back jean pocket, and showed it to him. "I have the address for her friend Trudie. She lives around here."

"You wanna talk to her." Stefan didn't ask it as a question, but stated it.

"I do," I admitted, "But... I'm not sure how I'd react if Alaric's wife really was my mother. I mean... she's dead... and ... I don't know. It would raise so many other questions, including what Alaric knows, what he doesn't know, and how I'm gonna explain things to Elena. I just..."

I didn't know what else to say. "It'll be okay," Stefan gave me a sad smile, and rubbed my arm soothingly. Suddenly, his soft demeanor changed, as he asked, "Ariana, did Jenna tell you anything about Alaric's wife? How she died?"

I shook my head, "Not much. Only that she was killed...and the case was never solved." Stefan nodded, as if he already knew this information. "You knew?"

"That night at the school when he attacked me, he told me some things about her death." Stefan explained. Did this mean that Alaric knew more about his wife? About Isobel? Stefan had told me that my History teacher knew about vampires. I wasn't exactly surprised, considering there's been way more unexpected things happen. But, maybe Alaric could help me find out if the "Isobels" really were the same person. That would complicate things further. "Ariana, I'm here for you. If you decide to go talk to Isobel's friend, I'll go with you. Okay?"

"Stefan, you don't - "

He smiled and cut me off, wrapping his hands around my wrists gently, "I want to help you. I want to know as well. Just let me know when you decide to go see her, and I'll be there for you."

He pulled me into a hug, and embraced me. "Thank you, Stefan." I whispered in his ear. He was so kind to me, it was unbelievable. I've never met anyone like him, ever.

When we finally parted, Stefan said, "I should probably go deal with Damon."

"How is he doing?" I asked, concerned, "Will he be alright." Wait. That's a stupid question. Who the heck knows?

Stefan hesitantly said, "He's dealing in his own way."

Not the greatest answer.

The house was small, but cozy. I looked upon it from where I parked my car in front of it. This was where Trudie Peterson lived. I already double-checked the address. Hopefully, Stefan wouldn't be mad at me for coming here without him. But... I wanted talk to her alone. And...something told me that if I were to have brought Stefan here, something bad would happen.

Standing in front of the white painted door, I knocked on it twice. The wooden sound had an ominous feel to it, in the silence.

I waited a few seconds, and my courage left me as I started to turn back around. But then, the door opened. The woman who stood before me was only a few inches shorter. She had wavy blonde hair that hung just below her shoulder blades. I recognized her. It was the girl next to Isobel in the yearbook photo; the other cheerleader; Trudie.

"Trudie?" I still questioned politely, "Trudie Peterson."

"Yes," she said, looking me up and down warily.

"My name is Ariana Gilbert." I introduced, "I wanted to talk to you about Isobel Flemming."

"Well, I haven't heard that name in years." She said, confused, "How do you know her?"

I didn't really know how to start, "...Do you know if she had two babies - twins, actually - that she gave up for adoption?"

"My God." Trudie said, astonished. She looked me up and down again, and I saw a look of recognition cross her face. "You must be one of her daughters." Suddenly, she laughed as a beautiful smile spread across her face. "I was just gonna make some tea. Would you like some?"

I smiled too, at her politeness. "Sure. Thank you."

"Uh, the kitchen's this way." She said, pointing behind her as she stepped off to the side, giving me room to enter.

I smiled at her strange invitation, and stepped over the threshold. Trudie closed the door behind me. The house, like the outside, was dated, but cozy. It felt nice and made me feel like I was younger, a baby again.

Removing my blue leather jacket and placing it on the closet rack, and followed Trudie into, what I assumed was, the breakfast room.

"I'm sorry to bother you," I started as Trudie came back into the room. She had left a minute ago into the kitchen to go make some tea. "I just started thinking too much, and... I thought that if I were to find you, I might be able to calm down a bit. I wanted to learn a bit more about me and my sister's birth mother."

"It's no problem." She said, "Just a surprise. Please, sit."

She sat down on a wooden chair by a round table covered in blue-green cloth. I sat next to her.

"Where's your sister?" She asked.

"Oh, um..." I racked my brain for an idea, "Elena couldn't make it today. She had some other plans with my family."

Truthfully, these days, I had no idea where my twin would go off to. Sometimes, it scared me, but I'd always dismiss the thought before it became a constant worry for my sister.

Trudie nodded thoughtfully, and said, "You know, I haven't thought about Isobel in years."

"When was the last time you saw her?" I asked.

"About seventeen years ago, when she left to go have you and... Elena?" She questioned, and I nodded, so she continued, "Yeah, so, we kept in touch for a while, but, well, you know, people drift apart." She gave me a look, and I understood. "She was in Florida for a while afterwards. She was on her own. It couldn't have been easy."

"Do you know anything about my father?" I asked.

She shook her head after a moment of hesitation, "I could never get her to fess up." She said, "Anyway, she finally pulled it together, got into college on a scholarship."

I smiled, "Cool. Where did she go?"

"Somewhere in North Carolina." Trudie shrugged, "Duke, I think. Smart girl, smart school."

Wow, so my mom went to Duke, in... North Carolina. I think that Stefan had said something about Mr. Saltzman arriving from that state. I gulped, Isobel seemed to connect back to Alaric, meaning... she was dead. It couldn't be true, could it?

I couldn't question anything further when I heard a high pitch whistle. The tea was ready.

"Let me go grab that." Trudie said, getting up an disappearing around the corner of the room.

3rd person POV:

Stefan paced around one of the patches of grass in the Town Square, waiting for Alaric to show up. Stefan was almost certain that Alaric's wife was Ariana and Elena's mother, but... how to tell them? He didn't know.

Alaric finally arrived, as he said to Stefan, "Thanks for meeting me. Something's come up."

"Jenna told you." Stefan guessed, referring to Ariana's mother and Alaric's wife being the same person; Isobel.

Alaric nodded tensely, "Yeah."

"So it's true," Stefan said, "Your wife Isobel was Ariana and Elena's birth mother."

Alaric changed the subject, "What do they know?"

Stefan sighed, and crossed his arms across his chest, "Elena currently knows nothing, Ariana on the other hand..."

"What does Ariana know?" Alaric asked. "About everything. About you, your brother."

Stefan nodded, "She knows what I am, and she knows that you know about the vampires. She suspects that your wife is her birth mother, but I haven't confirmed it."

"Does she know about Damon and Isobel?" Alaric asked.

"No," Stefan replied, "I couldn't tell her, not until I was sure."

"You said you'd help me." Alaric stated.

"I asked Damon without saying too much." Stefan said and shook his head, "He doesn't remember."

"Ask him again." Alaric ordered.

Stefan uncrossed his arms, and said, "Damon is not stable right now."

"You know," Alaric said pissed, "He murdered my wife, or at the very least made a meal out of her. When has he been stable?"

"I'm telling you not to push this." Stefan suggested.

"Give me a reason not to." Alaric retorted.

"Your survival." Stefan responded. "How's that for a reason? I'll handle it, but for now, I need you to let it go."

"Is that what you'll tell Ariana?" Alaric questioned, "Let it go?"

Stefan clenched his jaw and moved closer to Alaric. He was the one pissed now as the stood merely a few inches away from each other. He threatened, "Leave Ariana out of this."

"I need to know what happened to my wife," Alaric said, almost defeatedly. He seemed completely unfazed by Stefan's threatening stance. "I think you would, too."

Stefan breathed out a sigh, and backed away a bit. He wanted to help Ariana find her birth mother. So, Alaric was right, he needed to know what Damon knew about Isobel. "I need something more than just your wife's name." Stefan said, "A picture, something I could show Damon."

Alaric unfolded his wallet that he retrieved from his back pocket, and slipped a piece of paper out. It was a photo of Isobel. He handed it to Stefan, who took it, and nodded. He walked away, somehow knowing that the girl in this picture - Isobel - was Ariana and Elena's mother.

Ariana POV:

When Trudie walked back into the room, she was holding tea cups, and what looked to be an old yearbook. Sitting next to me, she flipped through the pages, and stopped somewhere in the middle. She pointed at a photo of her and Isobel. I recognized it from Jenna's computer screen, the cheerleaders in high school.

Trudie talked about the high school teams, "They came to the games for us. The football team hadn't won in years. We were the stars." That's how it's like now. Or, well, used to be, before Stefan had joined the team. Us cheerleaders were there to make everything more lively and fun. "Well, Izzie was. But I was a damn good backup."

"I'm sure you were," I giggled, "This is great, thanks for showing it to me."

"You're welcome," She smiled, and looked down to my teacup, "You haven't touched your tea."

"Oh." I said, "Yeah,"

I still thought that Trudie's reaction to things were strange. Picking up the now-warm ceramic cup, and lifted it to my lips, and took a sip. I furrowed my brow at the familiar taste. It wasn't like the usual tea that I drank, there was something more mysterious, but it seemed as if I knew what it was. It smelled like... vervain.

"What is this?" I tried asking Trudie curiously.

"Oh," she said quickly, a bit alarmed, "It's just some herbal mixture."

I narrowed my eyes a bit. She definitely knew something. "Vervain?" I asked. She didn't respond. "You know, don't you?"

"Know what?" She said, trying to play ignorant. I could see right through her. She knew about vampires. I had already made the connections in my head.

"You didn't invite me in, and you're serving vervain tea." I stated. Way to "connect the dots". "You know."

Truide stood up so fast, that it startled me and almost knocked down the chair she was sitting in. "I think that you should leave." She ordered, her voice hard and cold.

I placed the teacup down, and asked concerned, "What is it? Are you okay? Has something been happening?"

"Please leave." She repeated, shouting, "Now!"

I cringed, and got up. There was obviously something she didn't want to tell me. Something about vampires. Were there vampires around here trying to hurt her. If so, I still wasn't welcome in her house, not anymore. Even if I was Isobel's daughter.

I walked down the walkway of the house, and to my car. When I looked down to retrieve my keys buried somewhere in my purse. I suddenly shivered, and saw a glimpse of something from the corner of my eye. I looked to the right, and there was a man, standing there in the middle of the road. His eyes were on me, his facial expression neutral. I sucked in a quick breath as my heart beat faster.

Not waiting around to find out what the guy wanted, I quickly unlocked my car, and drove away. As the rearview mirror showed me getting further and further away from the guy (or was he a vampire?), I was able to relax a bit more. Why were all these towns infested with vampires?

I entered the boarding house, hoping to be able to talk to Stefan. Oh wait, we had that fundraiser thing to go to. Then we needed to talk. First, apologize for going to see Trudie without him, then explain to him about her weird behavior and what it may lead to. Isobel was next on my mental "discuss" list.

Once I walked into Stefan's room, I called out his name.

Someone I wasn't expecting answered. "Better." A cocky voice called from beside Stefan's wooden drawers. "Me." Damon was walking out of the bathroom, without his shirt on. I'll admit, he looked hot. His toned body full of muscles belonged to a male supermodel. I didn't know which Salvatore brother had the better body. I'd say Stefan of course, but I was biased.

I had forgotten that Damon was here too; at the boarding house. His hair was currently in a dark mess, while his eyes looked drunk and wild. I guess that's what happens when your heart gets broken; you become wrecked.

He managed to stagger over to me, and somehow make it look sexy. I took a deep breath, and let out, "Wow...you look..."

He interrupted, "Dashing? Gorgeous?" He asked with a smirk, then leaned closer to me, and whispered, "Irresistible?"

I put my hands on his bare shoulders, wanting to push his intoxicated state away from me. Big mistake. I was hit with a strike of freezing ice that traveled up from my hands, and pervaded throughout my entire body. It was followed by blast of raging fire, making me gasp, and my knees weak. Looking into his eyes, I could see that the touch affected him as much as it did me.

Before anything else could happen, I removed my palms from him, and stepped back. My heart rate turned back to normal, and I took another deep breath, ignoring the flash of hurt and disappointment that crossed his features. Trying to forget what just passed between us, I answered him, "It may be true that you're all of those things. But right now, you look wrecked." No point in sugar coating it, or he'd never get past this... phase.

Damon finally collected himself, and the smirk was back in place, "Thank you, but there's no reason why I should look wrecked," He said, "Do you know that I am one of Mystic Falls' most eligible bachelors?"

"Really?" No surprise there. But, that's because no one knew how he really was, they just took a glance at his face.

"Yep."

I looked at him for a few more seconds, and my heart tightened. I knew that this was all a distraction, a mask in which he hid his pain and shielded his heart from others. I hoped he'd get better. I didn't think I could stand looking at him any longer like this, with or without his shirt on. "How are you doing?" I asked concerned.

"Never better," He replied nonchalantly. He moved off to the side, and picked up a dark button-up shirt. He placed it on, as he tried - and failed - to button it up. "Yep. What can I do for you? I'm a barrel of favors today. It's my newfound purpose - how can I help people?"

I eyed him warily, "I'm just meeting Stefan. We're going to the fundraiser thing."

"What? You mean you didn't come all this way for me?" He asked, fake pouting.

I rolled my eyes, as I watched him struggle to button up his shirt. He was obviously too drunk to do so. Sighing, I asked him, "Need some help with that?"

"Yes, thank you." He replied. I walked back up to him, and grabbed the two ends at the front of his shirt. I started buttoning the shirt, from the bottom up. I tried ignoring the scent of alcohol mixed in with something cool but burning - the only thing I could describe it as was, well; Damon.

"So," I started, trying to make conversation while in this strange situation. "I found out who my birth mother is."

"Ecch." Damon made a sound as if this new information displeased him. "Who cares?"

I momentarily stopped buttoning, and looked up at him, slightly hurt. She was my mother after all.

"She left you," he explained, softer this time, his ice-blue eyes boring into mine. "She sucks."

I smiled a little at that. He did care. We stood there for a second, not breaking our gaze from each other as we tried to think of something to say. I was somewhere along the lines of saying "thanks" when his gaze shifted to something behind me.

Damon's gaze hardened, and I looked behind me to see Stefan standing there, his face staring at us blankly.

"Stefan." I said, turning around, and leaving Damon as I walked up to my boyfriend. Stefan instantly smiled as he hugged me.

"Uhh. I need a bigger jacket." Damon complained from behind me. I turned back around to face him as he placed a suit on, then took it off. "You know, an occasional sorority girl might um, you know, help you fill out a little bit." He threw the jacket back onto Stefan's bed (that explains why he was in Stefan's room - he needed to find a suit), and stalked out of the room.

I sighed and looked at Stefan once Damon was out of ear shot. "He's gonna be okay, right?" I asked, uncertainly.

Stefan shrugged, "You never know with Damon."

I sighed again, and hesitantly started, "Um... so.. I went to see Trudie Peterson today."

Stefan's demeanor changed, as his facial expression turned stony. "Ariana-"

"I know." I said, before he could go any further, "I'm sorry. But... I just really wanted to talk to her alone."

Stefan looked a bit taken aback, before he finally softened, and said, "I know. You wanted to be able to learn about your mother by yourself. I get it. But I just want you to know, that if you ever need someone to be there for you, all you have to do is ask, okay?"

He took my face into his palm, and rubbed soothing circles into my cheek. "I thought about calling you," I told him, "But I figured that you had other things to do."

He smiled a bit, "Ariana, I'd drop everything if you were to ever need me." I smiled too, and nodded. God, I loved him so much. He continued and asked, referring to my visit with Trudie, "How was it?"

I dreaded my answer, "Well... I think she knows about vampires."

"She probably does." Stefan said, then elaborated, "This is Alaric's wife." From his back pocket, he pulled out a folded photo and handed it to me. Opening up the crease, my eyes widened at the familiar face. It was definitely Isobel, though she looked older. Around her early twenties, her almost black hair had bangs.

"This is her," I said to Stefan, "This is Isobel." That meant that Alaric was my birth mother's husband, and that Isobel... may be dead. "Did Alaric give this to you?"

"Everything he knows about vampires, he learned from her." Stefan explained. "He believes that she was killed by one."

I gasped a bit in shock. So, not only was my birth mother dead, but she may have been killed by a vampire. My throat tightened, as Stefan said:

"Listen, Ariana, there's a lot about Isobel that Alaric can tell you, but I need you to wait for a little while before talking to him."

I raised my eyebrows in question. What was Stefan not telling me? What was he hiding?

"I'm sorry." Stefan continued, "It's a lot to ask of you, but will you do that for me? Just until I get enough information."

I looked at him for a few seconds. There was definitely something more going on. But Stefan would never hold anything back from me unless he believed it was for my own protection. Not anymore. So I nodded, agreeing to his terms, for now. I wanted to know more about my birth mother. Perhaps, Isobel wan't even dead. Maybe she was somewhere in this world, alive and safe. I could only hope.

3rd person POV:

After Ariana left for the fundraiser, Stefan walked downstairs into the main hallway, seeing Damon walk towards him, while putting on a bigger jacket.

"Where'd our girlfriend go?" Damon asked. Stefan didn't need to question his brother on who the "girlfriend" was.

Ignoring the comment, Stefan went along with it, "She's on her way to the Grill." Stefan paused, then took out the picture of Isobel, and handed it to Damon. "I wanted to talk to you. This is the woman, Isobel, from North Carolina. Remember her now?"

When Stefan had asked Damon earlier about Isobel, the older brother claimed to not know who she was. Now, he was hoping that Damon would admit to knowing her once he showed him her picture. Damon had killed Isobel, and though Stefan didn't want Ariana finding that out... he couldn't keep any secrets from her. She'd know eventually.

"Who wants to know?" Damon asked, smugly.

"I do," Stefan answered.

Damon rolled his eyes, "Who else wants to know?"

Stefan ignored the question. "Did you kill her?"

"Sorry," Damon reliped, "Don't know her."

He walked passed Stefan, while Stefan narrowed his eyes at him. Damon knew something, but he wasn't going to admit anything.

"Hey, are you coming?" Damon asked with a smirk, turning around, "The Real Housewives of Mystic Falls await."

Ariana POV:

Caroline, Matt, and I, talked by one of the wooden bar tables in the Grill. Caroline seemed very proud as she announced, referring to Matt, "He's already been hit on, like, thirty-five times. He's total cougar bait."

I laughed. Of course Matt would be hit on, he was funny, sweet, and handsome. "Impressive," I teased him.

"More like embarrassing." He said, smiling at me.

We all laughed and Caroline stopped giggling as her gaze locked on something beside me. "Hi, Mrs. Donovan." She said, with a little too much enthusiasm.

Oh my God. It was Matt's mom! I haven't seen her in ages, and an automatic smile spread across my face when I realized she was back. I saw her give Caroline a look of distaste, but it may have been my imagination.

She ignored Caroline's greeting as she looked at me and smiled, "Ariana, honey,"

"Hi, Mrs. Donovan," I greeted.

"Oh, please," She said, "That sounds so old. I've told you many times to call me Kelly."

I laughed, "Hi, Kelly."

She gave me a hug, and I hugged her back. Though, I felt bad when I saw Caroline give me and Kelly a look of hurt. What did Kelly have against Caroline? She didn't treat me that way when I was dating Matt.

"Long time, no see," Kelly said, as we pulled back. "Hey, where's your sister?"

I looked around the Grill, and saw Elena standing by Jenna, eyeing the bachelors. I shook my head at them, even though they couldn't see me, and turned back to Kelly, "Over there." I pointed to my twin.

Kelly muttered something under her breath, but I didn't catch it. Whatever it was, it sounded like she was disgusted by something. I changed the subject.

"How are you doing?" I asked her.

"Oh, same old." She said, the smile was back in place. Kelly was like the coolest mom anyone could ever have. But, sometimes, she was just a bit too cool. Especially when it concerned Matt and...and Vicki. Great, when would she find out about that? Hopefully never. Then, the guilt faded away a bit once she fake pouted, "Matty tells me you broke his heart."

My smile instantly faded when she said that. She wasn't looking at me in a particularly accusing way, but... I still felt bad because of the memories the comment brought up.

"Mom," Matt said, scolding Kelly.

"Just kidding," Kelly said, "Calm down. He found his rebound girl." She glanced over at Caroline, and I suddenly felt awkward. There was definitely some foul air around the two of them. Kelly shouldn't have been talking to Caroline that way, it was immature.

After Kelly bought some tickets for the bachelor fund raiser - that if I remember correctly, Damon was in - she said, "I just hope I don't get Bachelor 3. I dated him in high school," then her voice dropped to a whisper, "Not impressive. In any way."

Matt shook his head in embarrassment as Kelly sauntered off. "Very exciting," was her last comment, before submerging into the crowd of people.

My gaze then fell on Alaric, who was also looking at me. Apparently, he was my birth mother's wife, and I wanted to go up to him and ask him questions. But, he then turned his head away, obviously not wanting to discuss it. I sighed.

Finally, Mrs. Lockwood; Tyler's mom, started the "Bachelor Fund Raiser", by introducing each of the men on stage. They were all fairly good looking, in their mid-twenties. Alaric was up up there, looking slightly uncomfortable, yet still smiling. The last bachelor was Damon, who stood there, smirking like always.

I wasn't really paying attention, until Mrs. Lockwood got to Damon. This would be interesting...

Stefan gave me a wave from across the room, and I smiled back. Looking back at the stage, I heard Mrs. Lockwood ask Damon, "Do you have any hobbies, like to travel?"

"Oh yeah." Damon smirked, "L.A., New York. Couple of years ago, I was in North Carolina. Near the Duke campus, actually. I think - " He turned towards Alaric, who sat there staring back blankly, "I think Alaric went to school there. Didn't you, Ric?" He smirked at the History teacher. Where was this going...? "Yeah, 'cause I - I know your wife did."

The smile that was on my face before, fell. How did Damon know Isobel? What did - How was - ?

I had a bad feeling about this.

Damon continued, "I had a drink with her once. She was - she was a great girl." That was kinda creepy. Imagine what the audience thought at the time. Damon went back to mocking Alaric. "I ever tell you that? Cause she was - Delicious. Mmm! Mmm mmm mmm."

I gasped suddenly, realizing what he was implying. To anyone else - anyone in the audience - Damon was just being a creepy, annoying, ass. But to me... I knew what he meant. Damon, a vampire, thought Isobel was delicious? It wasn't a coincidence. Damon had killed her.

My breaths became ragged, as something tickled my face; tears.

"Are you okay?" Jenna asked from beside me.

"Why are you crying?" Elena asked me, kinda annoyed.

"Um.." I said, looking away and getting up, "I'll be back in a sec."

Stefan was there, looking at me in regret. But I walked right past him. Stefan knew about it too, and he didn't tell me. From the look on Alaric's face, I'm guessing he knew about Damon and Isobel as well. That's why Stefan didn't want me talking to him, he didn't want me finding out.

I walked out of the Grill and into the cold, night air. Stefan followed me, as I paced around in anger.

Damon killed Isobel..

Damon killed Isobel...

He drank her blood, and killed her...

"I can't believe it," I said, exasperated to Stefan. "Damon killed her."

Stefan looked at me in sadness, "I don't know what happened," he admitted, "Alaric said they never found the body."

Great. So she's either dead, or a vampire. I didn't know which one was worse. Not all vampires were good. Actually, from my experience, most of them weren't. I was suddenly mad at Stefan, for not telling me sooner. Instead, I had to find out in front of a bunch of other people, who didn't even know what Damon was really implying.

"I'm sorry," Stefan said to me, holding my arms. I resisted the urge to pull away. It wasn't his fault. "I wanted to tell you. But, I needed to know more."

Damon. I thought he could change, but now... I wasn't so sure. I had no idea how long ago this was. When did he actually kill her? He had stated a couple of years ago. He may be changed, now that Katherine's gone. But... this pain that was in my chest... the feeling betrayal...it still hurt. And how could he be up on stage, rubbing it into Alaric's face? It wasn't right. None of it was.

"I don't know what to think Stefan," I said truthfully to him, "He - he killed her, and - "

I couldn't say anymore, or I'd start crying again. Stefan pulled me into his arms, and whispered into my ear, "I'm so sorry. He doesn't know about the connection to you. I thought about confronting him, but he's already so on edge." I knew that, I've seen Damon. He was hurting, and because of it, he thought that making someone else hurt would help, that it would take the pain away. He'd learn, sooner or later, that it doesn't work that way.

"I know," I choked out to Stefan. "I know that he's having a hard time. I'm just... trying to deal with it. We're hoping he'll change, and... he just might. But for now... I need some time, that's all."

Looking over Stefan's shoulder, I did a double take. I recognized the guy standing in the middle of the sidewalk - just a few meters away.

I pulled back from Stefan, and said, "That man." Stefan turned around, and followed my gaze. The man was looking at me, in an unreadable expression. "I saw him outside of Trudie's house."

"Get back inside," Stefan said to me, his gaze not leaving the mysterious guy. "Come on." He gently guided me back into the Grill, staying close to my side.

I walked back into the Grill, not paying attention to where I was going, my tears already dried. Suddenly, I bumped into someone. Before I could apologize, that arrogant, familiar voice said, "Whoa. Easy there." Damon smirked at me, "Buy a ticket like everyone else."

Did he think he was funny? 'Cause he wasn't. He already pissed me off enough times today. I didn't look at him, afraid that my tears would return, as I tried to pass by him.

Before I could take more than a step, his hand wrapped around my wrist. He pulled me back, forcing me to look up at him. "What's wrong?" He asked, genuinely.

I shook my head and mumbled, "Nothing," I tried to move past him again, but his grip didn't loosen.

"Ariana," His eyes made me think he actually cared, though, I really wasn't sure whether I could trust my judgement anymore. He killed Isobel, though he didn't know the relation between her and me. It still doesn't excuse the fact that he killed someone, another human being. "Tell me. What's happened."

I looked away from him, as I saw Stefan approach us. "Let her go," He said sternly to Damon.

Damon turned to glare at his brother, before looking back at me. He finally let me go, and I stepped back a bit.

"Am I missing something here?" Damon asked Stefan, annoyed.

"Remember earlier when we were talking about my birth mother?" I finally found my voice, as I asked Damon, he turned back to look at me. He nodded. "Her name was Isobel."

Damon's face faltered, as his lips turned down in a frown. He understood what that meant, that he was the one to kill my birth mother.

I started to walk away, if not, I would start crying. Damon tried reaching out towards me, as he pleaded, "Ariana..."

"Please," I said, barely able to see through the water in my eyes, "I just...need to go."

I left him standing there.

Once I got back outside, I heard someone following me. Stefan's voice said, "Come on. Let's get you home."

He came to stand beside me as I started to walk towards my car. I stopped abruptly once I saw who stood a few feet in front of me. It was the man, the one that made me shiver in fear. Stefan saw him too, and moved to stand in front of me. He spread his hands out, in a protective stance, trying to act as a sheild.

"I have a message for you," The man's deep voice rang out.

I looked at him confused, as Stefan asked, "Who are you?"

Then man simply chose to ignore him. His gaze stayed on me. "Stop looking. She doesn't want to know you. She doesn't want to talk to you."

Was he talking about... "Isobel?" I questioned.

"You need to stop looking." He told me, sternly, "Do you understand?"

"She's alive?" I asked, hopefully. But then, I was filled with a sudden dread, "Does that mean she's..." I couldn't finish my sentence, as I started to take a step towards the man.

Stefan's arms kept me back, as he gave me a look that said, 'stay back'. "Ariana, he's under compulsion." He said to me.

"Do you understand?" The unknown man replied again, almost robotically.

"Yes." I nodded. I couldn't ask him questions, because he wouldn't answer me. Not if he was under compulsion. Was Isobel the one who compelled him? "I understand."

"Good." The man said. He looked behind him where there were cars driving down the street. "I'm done now."

Before Stefan and I could do anything, the man stepped back. "No!" I shouted, but it was too late. Stefan and I watched in horror as a huge red truck blared its horns, and bashed right into the man, running him over. Shocked, I grabbed Stefan's arm. Tears wouldn't stop flowing down my face.

The man was dead. Isobel had killed him, because she was undead. A vampire.

Yells and shouts sounded all around us. Stefan and I had walked closer to the now-dead man. He confirmed that the guy was dead. The driver of the truck went to go call an ambulance. I looked upon the the dead man in sadness and regret. Why had Isobel compelled him, if she really were still alive? Or, as alive as she could be, as a vampire.

"Come on." Stefan said, gently, "Let's get out of here. Come on."

I nodded, but bent down to pick something up that glistened in the light. A phone. Dropping it in my pocket, I let Stefan practically drag me home.

Stefan didn't want to leave me, but I told him that he should go back to the boarding house. He needed to talk to Damon, and I needed time alone, to think about everything I found out today.

I sat on my bed, tentatively touching the small black phone in my hands. I tried not to think about the fact that it had belonged to the man that was now dead. I ran through the contacts, finding the last phone number that was dialed. I tapped my fingers idly for a few seconds, deciding what to do. Eventually, curiosity won, and I pressed the call button, shakily placing the phone against my ear.

After a few rings, a woman's voice echoed from the other end. "Was there a problem?" The voice was silky, with a cold and uncaring edge to it. It almost seemed as if I recognized it. "Did you find her? What's going on?"

I knew it was stupid, but I answered, questioning, "Isobel?"

She hung up. I shut off the phone, tears running down my cheeks. Isobel was alive, I knew she was. But... that meant she was a vampire. It also meant that he had compelled that guy to kill himself. Why would she do that? Something so cruel? I wanted to blame those actions on her being a vampire. I didn't want to think that my birth mother would do something so horrible. But... look at Stefan. He was good, even though his past was stained, he had made amends.

I hoped that Isobel could too. Once I found her.