ISOBEL

Ariana POV:

The phone rang a few times before someone picked up, but it wasn't who I'd originally called. After getting past the introductions, I got straight to the point.

"I need to help build the Miss Mystic Falls float for the Founder's Day parade." I explained, "But before I left for school, I wanted to check in first."

"Well, I'm doing great, thanks for asking." He replied.

I rolled my eyes, "I meant Stefan." I stated with a smile. Who was the person locked up in a cell for the past few days...? Oh yeah, Stefan.

"Oh him?" Damon's voice turned sour, "Oh he's... he's terrible."

I sucked in a quick breath, "What's the matter?" I queried.

"He's ack to boring, straight-laced, off the junk." he complained, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Stefan was fine. "You've successfully cured him of anything that was interesting about his personality."

"Hey, I can't take all the credit." I smiled, then said in a sing-song voice. "Don't forget who helped me."

"I hate myself." He stated, obviously joking. Then, he turned serious, "Did John mention anything to you about my field trip with the History teacher?"

"Nope." I responded, "Why? What's happened?"

"I don't know. Whatever, I'll find out later."

"Alright, well good luck." I said, "I've got to go, I'm late."

"Have fun, Mystic Queen." He said.

"Bye." After hanging up, I hurried to school, barely making it on time.

I met up with Caroline and Bonnie at lunch in the cafeteria to talk about the Miss Mystic float. After being seated, Caroline showed us a picture. "Let's reference last years' Miss Mystic float. This is what they did last year, and this is exactly what we don't want to do."

The float was basically a bunch of balloons tied to posts on a plain white float, nothing too special.

"Ew." Was Bonnie's immediate reaction. "Okay! So, what are we doing?"

Caroline looked to me, "You're the Queen, what do you want to do?" Though she said this, I could see that she already had some sort of picture in her mind of what she wanted to float to look like.

"I'm sure my idea couldn't beat yours." I told her. "What do you want to do?"

She took a deep breath, and smiled, "Southern classic elegance."

I gave a puff of laughter, "Gone with the Wind?"

"How'd you know?" She fake pouted.

"You channel Scarlett, daily." Bonnie stated obviously.

"So true!" Caroline squealed proudly, and we all started laughing at her reaction.

"Ariana." A voice called from behind me. Still half laughing, I turned around, and my smile faded when I saw Alaric, Stefan, and Elena, standing there, completely serious. Alaric looked worried, Stefan concerned, and Elena looked half-annoyed, but also... half-afraid. What was going on? "I'm sorry to interrupt... but we need to talk."

I looked back at Bonnie and Caroline's confused faces, then back to Alaric. "Yeah, sure." I agreed, and stood up, turning to my best friends. "I'll be right back." Though, I didn't know if I would.

They nodded tightly, and I walked to Stefan, who took my hand, as the four of us followed Alaric into his classroom. Elena was avoiding eye contact with Stefan and I, trailing a few feet behind us with her head down. I guess she was still mad at me, and I silently sighed.

What...? Alaric just told us that Isobel wanted to meet Elena and I. But... why? Our birth mother never wanted anything to do with us... after killing that compelled guy, I took the hint. Making matters worse, if we didn't meet up with her, she said she'd murder the citizens of Mystic Falls.

I sat in one of the student seats at the front, Elena sat in the back, Alaric leaned on his desk, while Stefan stood by the window, all of us in deep concentration. Elena finally asked, "Why now? She never bothered to contact us before, what's gotten her so interested that she suddenly wants to meet up with us?"

Alaric shook his head, "That's what we all want to know." he stated, "She didn't state anything specific about the appointment, just the time, date, and place."

The door suddenly opened, and Damon walked in.

"Damon, thanks for coming." Alaric said, walking towards the vampire.

"Sorry I'm late." Damon joked, "My dog at my..." He trailed off when he saw Stefan, Elena, and I, all looking worried. He glanced back and forth between us in question. "Uh... never mind. What's with all the furrowed brows?"

"I saw Isobel last night." Alaric replied softly.

"Isobel is here?" He asked in disbelief, and Alaric nodded, "In town?"

He looked at me, probably wondering the same thing everyone else was questioning. Why? What does she want?

Damon looked back to Alaric, and queried, "Did you ask her about Uncle John? Are they working together?"

"No." Alaric answered. "I didn't ask."

Elena then piped up, "Wait. Uncle John? Did I miss something?"

Damon glanced at her, and then to me. "You didn't tell her?"

I shifted, uncomfortable, "We haven't exactly been..."

"I'm not talking to her." Elena finished, and I sighed. Yep, definitely still pissed. "So, what's this about Uncle John?"

Damon and Alaric looked at each other, and Alaric looked at her, "John and Isobel dated in high school... and now Damon suspects that they may be working together."

Elena looked initially repulsed, and asked, "Working together? To do... what exactly?"

Damon rolled his eyes, and looked at her, "What do you think we're trying to find out?" He turned back to Alaric, "What about the invention?" He was referring to what Isobel knew about it.

"Didn't ask." Alaric shrugged.

"Does she know about the tomb vampires?" Damon persisted.

"I don't know."

"Did words completely escape you?" Damon questioned irascibly.

"No," Alaric defended, raising his voice, "I was a little too distracted by my dead vampire wife to ask any questions."

Damon rolled his eyes again in annoyance and turned to look at me. "What did she want?"

"She wants to see us, Damon." I told him gently, "Elena and I." His eyes lost their flare, and he clenched his jaw.

"Alaric is supposed to arrange a meeting." Stefan said, "We don't know why or what she wants."

"You don't have to see her if you don't want to." Damon said sensitively, looking me straight in the eye. I saw Stefan look down, a bit sad. I was confused by this reaction, but I didn't let the emotion show on my features.

I shrugged, "I don't have a choice."

Alaric explained it to him before I could, "She's threatened to go on a killing spree."

"Oh!" Damon's eyes widened, "I take it that's not okay with you guys." He smirked at Stefan and I. I shook my head at his expression.

"I want to do it." I said finally, "I want to meet her. She's my birth mother, after all."

"Wait, why should we even meet her?" Elena asked from the back of the mostly empty classroom.

"Don't you want to meet her?" I questioned, turning around in my seat to face her. "To see at least what she's like?"

Elena scoffed, "As if I care. She gave us up, remember? It's clear that she doesn't want us anymore, and so 'no'. I'm not exactly thrilled about seeing her."

I sighed, "It's not really about what we want, Elena." I told her, "If we don't talk to her, she's going to kill innocent people."

Elena's face softened, but she remained stubborn, and took a deep breath. "Fine." she huffed out, "We'll go see what the bitch wants, and tell her to get the hell out of town."

I gave a little smile. If Elena were to say that to our birth mother, who knows what she'd do as a retaliation. Whoever Isobel once was, the way Alaric was reacting, it was clear that becoming a vampire had changed her. I was scared actually to see what she was like, how she was as a person. Would it disappoint me, intrigue me, frighten me... She could never replace mom, but could she show some of those qualities towards Elena and I? I didn't know. I guess that was why we were having this "appointment".

When I turned back to look at Alaric, Stefan, and Damon's concerned faces, I had completely made up my mind. I nodded at them, but they still looked wary. "We'll meet Isobel."

Damon and Alaric had to stay outside, since Isobel wouldn't let them into the Mystic Grill. I felt extremely nervous as Elena and I took a seat on one side of the table-for-four, waiting for our birth mother to show up.

Stefan stood by the pool table, watching me, making sure that we'd be okay while Isobel was here. He smiled at me, trying to keep me calm.

"Can you hear me?" I whispered to him, and he nodded. Even though he was meters away, with a bunch of noisy teenagers and adults between us, he could still listen with his vampire hearing.

"What?" Elena asked from beside me, thinking I was talking to her. She turned her head to see Stefan, rolled her eyes and went back to fiddling with her fingers.

I ignored her and continued to say to Stefan: "Thanks for coming, I'm really happy that you're here." He smiled, "I love you."

Stefan smiled, and mouthed, "I love you." I smiled too, while Elena just fake gagged.

"Uh," She complained, "It's like 'Twilight' all over again."

I laughed, but immediately stopped when someone arrived. Isobel. Elena and I shared a worried glance, and watched silently as Isobel placed her purse and bag down onto the floors, leaning against the table. Isobel had brown, almost black, straight hair, with dark grey eyes and full red lips. She was beautiful, but in a cold and sharp way. Her movements and expressions were nonchalant as she sat gracefully into the chair across from me, glancing between Elena and I like she was deciding on a painting to buy. "Hello Ariana, Elena." Came her silk smooth voice.

So this was my mother. She looked nothing like Elena and I. The only similarities was that she had brunette hair, yet her color was still many shades darker than mine. Her face structure was much wider, more square shaped, and even though she was out birth mother, she only looked to be in about her mid-twenties. Kinda creepy.

Her eyes eventually settled on me, and she smiled a slow smile. "You look just like her, that's eerie."

I caught on to watch she meant, "You've met Katherine?"

"She found me after I turned," She explained, "Genetic curiosity, I suppose. She would be fascinated by you."

Elena was still as she sat beside me, calculating something quietly in her mind, watching Isobel.

A huge pendant hung around Isobel's neck from a sliver strand, and I recognized it as a lapis lazuli. "Is that how you walk in the day?" I questioned.

"Katherine helped me obtain it." she responded.

Elena finally snapped out of her haze, and she narrowed her eyes at Isobel, asking, "Who's our father?"

"Not important." Isobel replied cooly, "He was a teenage waste of space."

"A name would be nice." Elena stated through clenched teeth.

"It would, wouldn't it?" Isobel inquired, steering clear from the question. Elena just glared at her.

"Why did you compel that man to kill himself?" I asked her, remembering that horrid night, "After he told me to stop looking for you."

"Dramatic impact." She shrugged lightly, "I wish it would have been more effective."

"Human life means that little to you?" I asked, sadly. My birth mother really was turning out to be disappointing. But, I mean, what could I have expected? Maybe there was still hope. Maybe she could still learn to be loving and to be loved. But when I looked into her eyes... I saw nothing. Not so much as a glimmer.

"Means nothing to me." She corrected coldly, "It's just part of being what I am."

"No, it's not." I stated, breathing deeply, "I know other vampires, and they're good."

"Your new boyfriend over there by the pool table?" She raised an eyebrow knowingly. Great, she knew about him. "Stefan Salvatore." She furrowed her brows, "Why Stefan? Why didn't you go for Damon? Or are you enjoying them both, like Katherine did?"

I was shocked by her question, and I sneaked a glance at Stefan, seeing that he was very uncomfortable with this conversation.

Elena snapped, and scoffed at Isobel. "Listen here, you little bitch. If you're just going to play games, I suggest you get the hell out of here. You're existence is polluting the earth."

Isobel looked a bit annoyed for a second, before she gave a deadly smile, "Elena, the only reason I wanted to meet you here was to see how closely you resembled your sister. Through human eyes, you're almost identical to each other, but through my eyes, I can tell that your sister is the one I need, not you."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Elena sneered.

"All will be revealed in due time." Isobel stated poetically.

Before Elena could start ranting off again, I asked Isobel, "Why did you want to meet us?"

She shifted her gaze to me, and replied, "Because I'm curious about you. But the real reason is: I want what your uncle wants. Jonathan Gilbert's invention."

"How do you know our uncle?" Elena asked, trying to control her anger.

"I used to spend a lot of time here when I was younger." Isobel explained, "John had a crush on me for years. He was the first one that told me about the vampires."

"What made you want to be one?" I asked softly.

"It's a very long list of reasons, Ariana." She answered, fluttering her dark lashes. "All of which I'm sure you've thought about."

"No." I said, confused. Why would I want to become a vampire? The way it changed people... changed Isobel... What would I be like if I were to ever become one? Would I still love my friends and family, would I still care about their well-being? It wasn't a risk I was willing to take.

"That was your first lie." She stated, and I raised an eyebrow. She continued, "It's inevitable, you're going to get old, Stefan won't." I glanced at Stefan again, and he seemed really sad. "Forever doesn't last long when you're human."

I swallowed. I admit, I had thought about that... how I could have a relationship with Stefan if he would never age? It was an uncomfortable subject that I never brought up, simply because it was too much to think about.

Elena, seeing my discomfort, grabbed my arm, and stood up, pulling me with her. "We don't have what you're looking for." She said, and turned to leave.

A hand wrapped around my wrist, so tightly that I winced, and stopped me from being dragged by Elena, "Sit down." She said to me, in a threatening tone. "And tell your boyfriend to walk away." I looked up, seeing Stefan start to walk towards us, trying to help me. Catching his gaze, I nodded, telling him through my eyes that it was okay. He still seemed unconvinced, and so I smiled a bit, and he stayed put.

Isobel then looked to Elena, who was giving our birth mother the death glare. "You may go," Isobel stated, "You're no longer needed."

"I'm not leaving-" Elena started.

Isobel cut her off, "If you don't leave right now, I'll kill you." She threatened, showing no emotion. "You're worthless to me, just like any other human." She shifted her gaze to me, "But you, on the other hand, can get what I need." She looked to Elena once more, "So what's it going to be. Tick, tock."

Elena grounded her teeth together, and gave me a look. "I'll be fine, Elena," I said. I knew Isobel would carry out her threat just to make a point, and I wasn't about to allow Elena to be the victim.

With one last glare at Isobel, Elena huffed, and walked away swiftly, not stopping until she went through the doors of the Grill, out of sight.

I sat back down with Isobel, and she got straight to the point. "I want the invention."

"I know." I replied, "But I don't have it." Who knew what the invention did? Damon had it anyways, and he definitely wasn't about to just give it to anyone.

"Yes, but Damon does." She said, as if reading my mind. "You're going to get it for me."

"He's not going to give it to me." I told her, obviously.

"Then the blood will be on your hands." Her voice was cold, and dead serious. She then stood up, and gave a fake smile, collecting her bags and purses, "It was nice meeting you, Ariana."

With a predatory-like gait, she walked away, disappearing to wherever she had arrived from.

Stefan came over to me straight after, and engulfed me in his arms. I didn't even realize tears were running down my cheeks, until I pulled away, and there were water droplets on Stefan's leather jacket.

"S-Sorry." I stuttered, trying to distract myself,"I-I got.." I started to sob.

"Hey, hey," Stefan lifted my chin, and looked at me with kind and concerned eyes. "You okay?" I barely nodded, "Let's get you home." With one of his hands around my waist, and the other one on my shoulder, he led me slowly to the parking lot of the Mystic Grill, and he drove me home.

Elena was there in the car, asking Stefan what had happened. I didn't remember what he said, but it probably had something to do with saying I was in shock, or something.

Isobel, my birth mother, could've been as good as dead. There was nothing in her, no heart, no soul. But I continued to believe that she could be better, that she could still become like a mother to me. Who knew? Maybe it would just take time.

Then the blood will be on your hands, those words gave me an unpleasant shiver, making me want to wrap myself into a tight ball. Isobel was threatening to kill people, unless I got the device from Damon. But what was it? I wouldn't hand it over to her until I found out what it was.

3rd person POV:

Isobel walked into the mansion on her estate, and saw someone unexpected waiting for her. Damon Salvatore was playing strip poker with Cherie, his shirt off, exposing his toned muscles and abs. He was just about to remove his belt, when Isobel spoke up, "And it's just one blast from the past after another." She pointed to his pants, "No, no, no."

Damon looked at Isobel, and tightened his belt once more.

"Degage Cherie." Isobel said in French to Cherie, and she left the room.

"It's good to see you, Isobel." Damon said once they were alone in the expensive living room, "I was just having fun with your naughty little minion." He smirked and placed his black shirt on, but left it unbuttoned.

"How did you find me?" Isobel wondered.

Damon's smirk dropped, and he flashed towards Isobel, leaning close into her face. "Search for the neighborhood bank foreclosures and found the most expensive one." He explained quickly.

"Oh, I should have known." Isobel smirked, "You're the one who taught me that." She turned serious, "What are you really doing here?"

"Well, you caused quite a stir, you blew into town." Damon stated, "Saw everyone except for the man who made you. I'm a little hurt." He fake pouted, leaning in closer.

"I'm so sorry," Isobel said, not sorry at all. She grabbed Damon's hair by the roots and twisted his head around, "Did you bring the device?"

Damon rolled out of her hold, and she walked past him indifferently, "Ow." He complained, "What are you doing with John Gilbert?"

"We dated a few times when we were young," she shrugged uncaringly, "He was a little bit in love with me."

"I'm sure. One of the many." Damon said, knowing that all the women in the Petrova line strongly attracted people, especially Katherine and Ariana, whom looked identical. "Now, this little invention - what do you want with it?"

"Oh, me personally?" Isobel questioned, "I don't want anything with it. I'm just doing what I'm told. You know Damon, we're on the same side." Isobel turned back towards Damon, and cupped his face with her hands.

"Oh yeah?" Damon inquired, "What side is that?"

"Katherine's." Isobel responded, surprising Damon. "She wants John Gilbert to have the device and I think that you know that she's not happy when she doesn't get what she wants."

Damon threw Isobel off of him, and glared at her. "Why are you doing her dirty work?"

"Don't kill the messenger." Isobel stated. "We both know you can't control Katherine. She does what she wants."

"So do I." Damon said arrogantly.

"Oh, really, Damon? You do?" Isobel raised her eyebrows and walked up to him, their lips only an inch away from one another. Damon grabbed her forearm. "What should we do now?" She whispered flirtatiously, and they chuckled.

The distance between them closed, and they kissed each other passionately. No feelings included. Isobel flashed him towards the couch, and they continued to kiss, her hands roaming his body. Damon decided that she was distracted enough, and grabbed her by the neck, slamming her onto the hardwood floor.

"Now that I have your attention, listen up." Damon threatened her, keeping her to the ground. He slammed the back of her head onto the wood again, and she winced. "You do not come into my town; threaten the people that I love. Going after Ariana?" His eyes turned dead hard. "Bad move. You leave her alone or I will rip you to bits because I do believe in killing the messenger. You wanna know why?" He leaned even closer to her pain-filled and shocked expression, whispering into her ear, "Because is sends a message. Katherine wants something from me? You tell that little bitch to come get it herself."

Damon left Isobel in a rage and vampire sped back to the boarding house, pretty please with his actions. He was pissed at Isobel, pissed at Katherine, and he didn't want to deal with them. Whatever the device did, it was obviously important.

Ariana POV:

Trapped in my own thoughts, the sound of knocking invaded the sound barrier in my mind, and I got up to open the front door.

"Hey." Bonnie smiled at me, "We haven't seen each other in a while, and I figured I'd stop by."

I giggled a bit, "Bonnie, there was school yesterday."

"I know." Bonnie sighed, "Okay, I admit that the real reason of why I came here is because I'm concerned. Is everything alright? Yesterday you disappeared with Alaric, Stefan, and ... Elena, I think. It seemed pretty intense, and I wanted to make sure everything was okay."

I hesitated, but then decided to just get it out, "I met mine and Elena's birth mother."

"Oh, how was it?" She asked with a smile, but it faded once she saw my reaction. Tears started to well up in my eyes again. From what? At this point, I didn't even know. Crying seemed to be on a regular basis for me, and I was getting pretty annoyed at it. But emotion wasn't something that could be suppressed, and when Bonnie brought this up... it made me want to let it all out. "Are you okay? Come here."

Bonnie pulled me into a hug, and I continued to sob.

After a few minutes, I finally stopped, and Bonnie leaned back to look at me. She smiled slightly, and said, "I know something that will take your mind off of everything."

"What?" I asked, my voice cracking.

She smirked, "With you being Mystic Queen and all, it's practically required that you help build the Mystic float."

"Oh," I groaned with a smile, "That."

"Yes, that." She said, "Tomorrow we'll meet up with the other students helping after school, and it'll be fun!"

I huffed in laughter, "Okay, Bonnie. Thank you for being here for me."

"You're welcome." She said, "You sure you'll be okay? I can stay with you, if you want."

"Bonnie, it's fine." I smiled at her, "I'm feeling a lot better now actually. I guess most of it is just nerves for what's to come."

"Yeah," she agreed, "You're strong, Ariana, you'll make it through. See you soon." She said, walking down the porch.

"Bye, Bonnie." I called out to her, and she waved back.

I contacted Bonnie a little while later, explaining to her what Isobel wanted. The next day, after school, we met up in the empty classroom, as she leafed through her ancestor, Emily's spell book.

"I wanted to show you this." Bonnie said, as I stood beside her, looking at the old, yellowed pages of the spell book. She flipped through them, and found a page with words I couldn't make out, since they were in a different language, and pictures of... devices. "I've been going through it since Grams died. Check this out." One of the pictures was the vampire compass.

"The vampire compass." I stated.

"Yeah, according to Emily, Jonathan Gilbert never actually succeeded in inventing anything." Bonnie explained, "Emily secretly spelled them all with magic." She looked at me, "Compass, rings and the mystery device you told me about." She flipped another page over, and revealed a section on how the device was designed. But, the device didn't look like that. Damon had the round part, but there was supposed to be a rectangular metal box that holds the round part up. We didn't have that.

"That's it, but Damon only has the one piece." I told Bonnie, as she explained to me the story.

"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."

So all of this, vampires and the way to kill or fight against them, were all based on magic, not science. It was kinda cool, but it freaked me out way too much for me to like the idea.

"Does it say what it does?" I asked Bonnie.

She took a minute to read the ancient language, and then her brows furrowed, and she gave me a weird look. "Are you sure this is what Isobel wants?"

"Yes," I answered, now equally confused, "I'm sure, why?"

"This is a weapon." she replied, "Against vampires."

My eyes widened in shock and surprise, as I tried to figure out why Isobel would want this device. What vampires would she want to kill? The only ones around were the tomb... oh. The tomb vampires, that's who she wanted to kill. For what? I wasn't sure. Perhaps she really was working with John, and he wanted the vampires dead. But maybe, she was also working with Katherine. But then, that wouldn't make much sense. Why would Katherine kill the tomb vampires, who were supposedly her friends?

Scanning the grounds where people were working on the Mystic float, I searched for Stefan and Elena. Jeremy came up to me suddenly, but I knew he was trying his best not to looked at me straight in the eye. "Hey, Ariana, do you have a second."

"Yeah." I said, "Of course. What's up? What going on?"

"Well, it's Anna." Jeremy said. Wait, Anna? "I left her all these messages and she hasn't gotten back to me yet, not even a text. Have you seen her lately?"

"No, I haven't." I answered, "Jeremy, are you sure that you should be hanging out with her? Especially after what's she's done to you?"

"Yeah, well, I've forgiven her." Jeremy said. "She's actually not that bad if you get to know her. In a way, what she did was for her mother. If you're questioning whether I should be with her, then you're a hypocrite."

"I'm sorry, Jer." I said, "You're right, I just want you to be careful, okay?" Anna and I didn't exactly have the best interactions and all, with her kidnapping me and feeding me to her mom...

"I can take care of myself." Jeremy stated stiffly, "Look, Ariana, something could be seriously wrong and if you know anything, you've got to tell me."

"I'm sorry, but I really don't know." I told him. "When I said no more secrets, I meant it. I wouldn't keep anything from you."

"Are you lying to me right now?" He asked in disbelief.

"No, Jer." I took a deep breath out of frustration. "I promise, I'm not lying to you."

He scrutinized me for a few seconds, and then walked away from me, muttering, "Whatever."

"Wait, Jer." I meant to say that, but it came out as a choke, and was no more than a breath of air. Me lying to him really hurt him, and it broke our close bond. Would it ever be mended? I hoped so.

I didn't get to ponder over it anymore, because when I turned around to keep walking, I gasped at the person in front of me. "Isobel." I looked around at the friends around me, nervously, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm your mother, Ariana." She feigned hurt, "I want to be more involved in your life."

"Why?" I questioned, "You've already proven to me that I mean nothing to you."

"I understand that." She agreed, "But you have a lot of people that you care about, and I've been studying. Let's see if I got this right." She turned her head to the side, and I followed her gaze to Bonnie who was walking quickly over to her car. "There's the witchy best friend, Bonnie. Gonna stay away from that one." Her gaze moved behind me, and her eyes spotted Jeremy, who stood by a wall, calling someone, probably Anna. "Oh... sad little brother Jeremy." she mocked, and tilted her head more to the side, where Elena stood, sorting out pieces of cloth for the float. "I've already met her, my other daughter." Isobel smirked at me, "How does it feel? Being the center of attention all the time while... people barely notice her?"

"What are you talking about." I queried.

"Oh, come on, Ariana." Isobel rolled her eyes, "You're so clueless. You know that she hates you, don't you?"

I looked back to Elena, and then to Isobel again. "Why would she hate me?"

"Because all anybody ever talks about is you, not her." Isobel smiled, "I can hear every word that people are saying in the hallways, so I know who they're thinking about. You can bet they're not thinking about Elena."

Isobel said that Elena hated me... was it true? I mean, I knew we didn't have as strong as a bond that Jeremy and I shared, but we were still sisters, still twins.

Isobel gave me a look, then went back to her analysis of my friends. She looked up to Caroline, who was painting the top of the float, and laughing, having fun. "Anyways, there's Caroline... obnoxious Caroline. I got all my info from her by the way. She had no idea who I was and she wouldn't stop yapping." Isobel looked at me with dark humor, shaking her head. Caroline spotted us, and waved, oblivious to the tense air between Isobel and I.

"Oh..." Isobel looked to another one of my close friends, "And there's Matt; friend; ex; yappy's future ex. Lots of connections there."

I narrowed my eyes at Isobel. "He's not involved in this."

"He's involved with you, isn't he?" She said slyly. What was that supposed to mean?

My heart sped up, and I got this sudden fear over my friends and family. Isobel knew that I cared about them, so what was she planning to do? "Why do you care?" I asked.

She smirked, "I got some friends here too. Look, you see that man over there, standing next to the Matt by the Float?" I did, his face was unfamiliar to me, and he seemed to be in deep concentration as he scrutinized the bottom of the Float, near where Matt was building it. "His name is Frank, he's very handsome and he's also quite handy, and he'd noticed that the axles are a little rusty, which is very dangerous. So, all you have to do is apply a bit of pressure and..."

"No!" I cried out in a panic. Too late. Frank jumped onto the trailer above where Matt was working, and the weight titled, crushing Matt's arm under the float. He shouted in pain, and I started to run towards him. A hand like steel grabbed my arm, and held me in place. I looked up at Isobel in fear, fear for Matt, fear for my friends and family.

Good thing Stefan was there to help Matt, and he got the trailer off of him, telling Caroline to go call an ambulance. The worst thing Matt would get, would be a broken arm.

"Why are you doing this?" I questioned to Isobel.

"I'm showing you how easy it is to hurt the people that you care about." Isobel replied.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"I've told you many times, Ariana." She stated, "The Gilbert invention. Hand it over and all will be stopped."

"What are you planning to do with it?"

"That's none of your concern." She answered, fluttering her eyebrows. "Just know that I'll actually be doing you a favor."

How, by killing off all the vampires? That wasn't what I wanted. "Damon's not going to give it to me." I tried to convince her.

"I think that you underestimate how much Damon cares about you." she responded.

"He'll kill you before he gives it up." I said, but she showed no sign of fear, only boredom. I'd rather Damon not kill Isobel. Even though she didn't seem to care about anything right now, she wasn't always like that. And I believed that she could be the person that she used to be, it may just take time.

"Is that before or after I kill your brother and sister."

I whipped my head around, my eyes trying to find my siblings. I looked by the wall where Jeremy was standing earlier, gone. The cloth table was left unattended. "Jeremy? Elena?"

No. I looked back to Isobel, but she was no longer there. She had disappeared along with Elena and Jeremy. I couldn't let her hurt them. I needed to find a way to give Isobel the device, but also render it useless, so that it wouldn't be of harm to vampires either. I breathed heavily, and decided to find someone to help me with my plan.

Bonnie and Stefan met me in Alaric's classroom, and I told them about my unexpected encounter with Isobel. She had taken Elena and Jeremy, and threatened to kill them if I didn't give her Jonathan Gilbert's device.

"Where is the device?" Bonnie questioned.

"Damon has it." Stefan responded, "He's going to be difficult to reason with."

"We'll go to him, and I'll talk to him." I told Stefan.

He swallowed, looking uncomfortable. "He's not just gonna hand it over, especially if it's harmful to vampires." He stated, but it seemed more like he was trying to convince himself of something.

Shaking off the strange feeling, I suggested, "What if it's not?" I looked at Bonnie, and she stared back, understanding my meaning. Stefan looked between us, and realized as well.

"Ariana..." Damon dragged out uncertainly. After telling him what Bonnie had found out about the device, I told him about Isobel "visiting" and that she had kidnapped my brother and sister. I was trying to convince him to give the device to me so that I could hand it over to Isobel. We stood in the parlor of the boarding house, while Stefan and Bonnie stood a few feet behind me, listening to every word I was exchanging with Damon.

"Please, just here me out." I pleaded.

"I can't just give the device to Isobel so she can give it to John, who is going to turn it to kill me." He said, "I like being a living dead person." He shrugged at his word choice.

"But it will be useless." I explained, "Bonnie can take its power away."

"I don't trust her." He said, glaring at my best friend.

"I can remove the original spell, and they'll never know." Bonnie said from behind me.

"No," Damon shook his head, "I'll get Jeremy and Elena with my own way."

"Really?" Stefan questioned, raising his eyebrows, "How are you going to do that? Because Isobel is a vampire and they could be dead the second you walk in the door."

Damon clenched his jaw and shifted his gaze to Bonnie. "Are you even up for this? I mean, no offense, you're no Emily Bennet. Emily knew what she was doing."

"I've been practicing." Bonnie stated.

"It's not piano lessons, honey." Damon narrowed his eyes and fake smiled.

"What's your favorite book." Bonnie suddenly asked.

"What?" Damon rolled his eyes in confusion.

"Name a book, any book." I wondered what Bonnie was planning to do, when she said this.

"Name a book..." Damon smiled, "How about 'Call of the Wild', Jack London?"

Oh, that book. It was a pretty cool book. When we read it a few years ago at school, most of my classmates found it boring. But I was intrigued by it, the evolution of these dogs, and how much they resembled their distant ancestors who were wolves. The different relationships between the humans and dogs, it was very interesting.

Bonnie turned around and looked towards the book shelves that lined the walls of the living room. A book started to shake in one of the shelves, and out popped a fairly narrow one, that flew across the room, and Damon caught it with his hand. Damon looked at the book, and recognized it.

"Jack London." He stated, "Great parlor trick."

I rolled my eyes at Damon's demeaning language towards witches and magic. "Damon, please." I pleaded, "Give me the device, we're wasting time. Isobel has Jeremy and Elena!"

Damon looked to me, and then to Bonnie, saying. "I don't trust you, I tried to kill you."

I did not want to remember that memory, and so I pushed it away, focusing on the present. "But you can trust me." I said, holding out my hand for the device.

Damon looked at me for a moment, and finally succumbed. He raised his hand, and placed the round object into my hands. It was cool and smooth, just like the Gilbert pocket watch. Damon had already let go of the device, but his hand still lingered there for a moment, and his thumb ran over my fingers once. When he finally pulled away, I said gratefully, "Thank you."

I could feel Stefan's eyes on us throughout the entire exchange, and for some reason...I felt some sort of guilt. I was confused by this, but I didn't let it show. Anyways, I was preoccupied with something else, involving rescuing Elena and Jeremy.

Bonnie quickly got to work. She opened Emily's spell book, and placed the device next to it. Candles lined the room, and Bonnie began the spell. She muttered something over and over again, too quiet for me to hear. The lights flickered, and the candles' flames got bigger, along with the fire place. It burned as if gasoline was added to it.

The device floated in mid-air, but was controlled by Bonnie's hands. Suddenly, everything stopped. The flames returned to normal, the lights came back on, and Bonnie caught the device before it dropped back on to the table. "Done." she stated.

She handed the device to me, and I took it, holding it carefully.

"Great." Damon said, "Now what?"

"We give it to Isobel." I said, almost completely sure.

We planned to meet Isobel in the Mystic Falls square, so that's where I waited for her. The square was deserted; no one was walking the streets at night, and there were only a few cars that passed by every now and then.

I paced around a few times absentmindedly, trying to rid myself of any nerves. When I turned around again, I was face to face with my birth mother, who got straight to the point. "Where is the device?"

"Where's Jeremy and Elena?" I asked back.

She rolled her eyes, "This isn't a negotiation." She stated, "Where is the invention?"

"Where are my brother and sister?" I questioned again.

"Do you really think that I came alone?" She inquired in a superior tone.

I looked behind me to see Frank and this other girl behind me. When I turned my head back to Isobel, I asked, "Do you really think that I came alone?"

I saw Damon and Stefan stand a few feet behind Isobel, and after glancing back to see them, she looked back at me. "For god sakes, call home." She rolled her eyes, frustrated and annoyed.

"What?" I asked softly, not hearing what she just said.

"Call home and ask to speak to them." She ordered.

Looking a close eye on her, I reached into the back pocket of my jeans, and pulled out my phone. Once I dialed my home phone number, I waited impatiently for someone to pick up.

"Hello?" A familiar voice asked.

"Jeremy," My voice came out as a gasp, half-relieved, and half-fearful. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." He answered. "Elena's fine too, she's here. But Uncle John hit his head. It was an accident." The way he said it obviously implied that it wasn't an accident. Isobel must've hit him or something.

"We're all laughing." I heard Jenna say, it was muffled, so she must've been across the room, probably mending John's head.

"But yeah, we're okay." He replied, and I let out a breath. They were okay.

"Good." I said, "I'll be home soon, alright?"

"Yeah." He responded, and I hung up the phone.

Looking at Isobel, I realized that not all of her was gone. She must've still cared a bit to have kept my siblings safe. "You weren't going to hurt them." I said.

"No," She denied, "I was going to kill them." I took a staggering breath. "Don't look for any redeeming qualities in me. I don't have any."

"I don't believe that." I said.

"I'm sorry, Ariana. But it's the truth." She said. "I can never care for you like others do. I can't be there for you, like your mother did." She glanced to the ground, then looked back to me, "It's better if I'm not in your life."

I swallowed nervously, then asked the question that had been tugging at me since I called Jeremy. Why would she have returned my siblings if she wasn't sure that I'd actually have gotten the device? "But you took a risk with Damon. How did you know that he was gonna give it to me?"

"Because he's in love with you." She replied with a smirk. I furrowed my brows and looked over her shoulder to the Salvatore brothers. Damon, looking really uncomfortable glanced at Stefan, who was staring at the ground, upset. Did Damon really love me? I thought he was in love with Katherine... who looked exactly like me. Maybe it was just because I looked like her, and he missed her a lot. It would explain why he had tried to kiss me the other day, and why he seemed to treat me with more respect than others.

I walked up to Isobel, and gave the device to her. It was useless now, so she wouldn't be able to harm vampires. After a long pause, I finally said, "I still believe that you're still in there."

She smiled sadly, "Then you're in for a major disappointment. Goodbye, Ariana. As long as you have a Salvatore on each arm, you're doomed. Katherine was smart. She got out. But we all know that you're not Katherine."

We looked at each other for a few more moments, and then she left, along with the man and woman. Stefan came up to me, and embraced me. Whatever that had just happened, it gave me mixed emotions. I clung onto Stefan, and hugged him back, tightly. Over his shoulder, I saw Damon staring at me. It was a look of longing, anticipation, and wonder.

I gave him a nod, indicating that I had acknowledged him and the help that he had given us. Isobel's claim was unnerving, and I wan't sure what to make out of it. Damon and I cared about each other, but were his feelings deeper than I had realized? I hoped not. Because even if he was in love with me, I was with Stefan. I'd just end up hurting the older Salvatore, which was something I didn't wish to do.

Burying my face into Stefan's chest, we stood there for a moment, just relieved that no one had gotten hurt this time.

I wished that Isobel could be there for me, since my mother couldn't. But it seemed as if that would never happen. She was so deeply rooted in her beliefs of being evil, that she stated she could never change. I believed that one day she would, the question was: would it happen in my lifetime?

After Stefan dropped me off back home, I rushed upstairs to see Jeremy and Elena. The door to Jeremy's bedroom was open, and I saw him leaving a vocal message to someone. When he finished, and finally looked at me, and said, "Hey,"

"Hey," I said back, "You look okay. You're not hurt or anything, are you?"

"No, no, I'm fine." he replied, looking kind of uncomfortable.

"Hey, Jer..." I started, "Will you ever be able to forgive me?"

He didn't need an explanation to what I was talking about. I had a feeling he'd been thinking over this subject for days, wondering how he felt about it. "Look, Ariana." He said. "I understand why you did what you did. You believed you were protecting me... and I've always admired that about you... how you can care, forgive, and be selfless so easily." He blinked a couple times, and averted his gaze from me, "But... It's going to be a while before I can fully forgive you. I mean... you took away my memory. Of Vicki, and now I can't even remember what she was like before she... before she died."

I swallowed, and nodded painfully, "I understand that. And again, I'm really sorry. It was wrong of me to do that, to you and Elena." I took a deep breath and tried to smile, "So how's it going with Anna? You don't seem as down as you used to be."

Jeremy smirked, and stated, "I am not talking girls with you. It's almost as strange as talking about it with Uncle John."

"Uncle John?" I questioned.

"Yeah, he suddenly wanted to talk to me. You know that he knows about vampires, right?" He asked.

"Yeah, I know." I nodded. We stood there awkwardly for a few seconds, and I said, "Be careful, around Anna."

"I know her, Ariana." Jeremy claimed, "She'd never hurt me, not now."

I nodded. Back when the tomb vampires weren't out yet, Anna was planning to use Jeremy as a human blood supply for her mother. Jeremy's convinced she's changed, but I didn't know for sure. He seemed better though, not hung up over Vicki's death anymore, and it made me happy. As long as Anna wasn't going to hurt him, I'd have no complaints against her. "Alright. I'm gonna go check on Elena. Goodnight."

He nodded stiffly, then closed the door, and I was left staring at it in the hallway. Sighing, I turned to the right, and almost had a heart attack.

"Elena, gosh, you scared me!" I exclaimed, clutching my chest and leaning against the wall.

"Oh, stop being such a baby." She said.

"Did you... did you hear... all of that?" I asked, referring to my conversation with Jeremy.

She nodded, "Yeah."

"Does this mean that... you're still mad at me as well?" I questioned, anticipating for the answer.

"No," She replied, and I was pleasantly surprised. "If you are able to deal with my... attitude, and not so nice actions... then I can forgive you for what you did." She sighed.

I smiled broadly, relived, "Thank you."

"Don't worry about it," she said, "We're even." I gave a huff of laughter, but she cut me off, turning serious. "But this wasn't why I decided to talk to you right now."

I furrowed my brows, "What is it?"

She sighed, and said, "While I was trapped at the mansion where Isobel had left me and Jeremy, I learnt something from John. That device, the one you gave Isobel, she's planning to use it against the tomb vampires, as some sort of revenge, or something."

That's what I had originally thought. The only vampires still in or near Mystic Falls were the tomb vampires, Stefan, and Damon. Unless, of course, she was going to use it for vampires somewhere else. But Elena's information strengthened my conclusions from earlier.

I nodded, and leaned in close, so that in case someone was eavesdropping, they wouldn't hear me, "But Bonnie was able to deactivate the device. It's useless now, so the vampires won't be harmed by it."

Elena looked at me, confused, "Why did you do that?" She asked, "Aren't the tomb vampires a problem for us? If they were dead, it would be one less thing to worry about."

"No," I shook my head, "I can't just let people kill vampires, it's wrong."

"How is it wrong?" She scoffed, "Ariana, they're vampires. They've killed people. Many of them, probably. Why would you defend them?"

I shook my head, "I don't know." I said, truthfully, "But I don't think they deserve to die. Some of them are good. But mostly, this isn't about the tomb vampires. Stefan and Damon could've been harmed by the device, and that wasn't an option."

Elena blew out a long breath, and ran a hand through her short, straight hair. After a minute, she admitted, "I guess I didn't think of that. God, this situation is really messed up."

I smiled a bit, "Yeah, it is."

3rd person POV:

Damon stood in the parlor, as he poured himself a glass of scotch. He was thinking over what Isobel said, about him loving Ariana. Was it really that obvious? That he loved her? Man, he was losing it... all over this one girl.

Stefan arrived later, as Damon had predicted he would. "Would you like one?" Damon asked, smirking as he turned around to face his younger brother. Stefan clenched his jaw, and leaned against the railing the separated the parlor from the living room. "Say it, whatever it is, purge, get it out."

"It's about what Isobel said." Stefan explained.

"What about?" Damon raised his eyebrows and took a drink from his glass, playing dumb.

"Well, I know that you and Ariana have bonded, and I know that she cares about you and... I know that you care about her." Much more than I had originally thought, Stefan thought, after he stated this uncomfortably.

"Well, this is going in an interesting direction." Damon smirked.

"I'm just concerned about Ariana being hurt." Stefan said, "She's very compassionate, and she considers you a friend."

"She is." Damon agreed, "And same here, Ariana is a very good friend. Actually she might qualify as my only... friend. Is that a problem?" He smiled devilishly.

"So, at the risk of sounding like uh... like a jealous boyfriend..." Stefan started.

"Oh, there's no risk, you do." Damon said before Stefan could further explain anything.

"History will not be repeating itself, where Ariana is concerned." Stefan stated sternly, "Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Sure." Damon shrugged it off, "Sure."

Stefan wasn't having any of it. Using his vampire speed, he rushed right up to his brother, and glared at him, "Do you understand?"

"Whatever you say man." Damon said, pretending not to care. "I mean, in her eyes, we're just friends, and as a friend, I wasn't looking forward to telling her the truth anyway so, I'll let you do it."

"What truth?" Stefan narrowed his eyes.

"About John." Damon answered, "Because I know you guys don't like to keep secrets from each other."

Stefan, still not getting it, shook his head, "What are you talking about?"

"Am I the only one around here who had the ability to put two and two together?" Damon rolled his eyes, annoyed, "Isobel, hello? She dated John when she was fifteen; gets pregnant and ends up in the doctor's office of John's brother. Now, what do you think John's role is in all this? I mean, go ahead, think about it, I'll wait." Realization dawned on Stefan's features, "Did you get it? You there yet?"

"So... you think that John is Ariana's father?" Stefan questioned, processing the information.

"Ding, ding, ding!" Damon said, when Stefan guessed correctly.

"What proof do you have?"

"I don't need any proof, that's a DNA test for John, Ariana, Elena, and Maury Povich to deal with, but I know how well you deal with these bombs so..." Damon said sarcastically, as he left the room, "Sleep tight."

Then suddenly, Damon stopped, and turned back to look at Stefan. "Oh, and when you do tell Ariana and she needs a friend to talk to about anything; I'm here for her." After that, he finally left.

Stefan looked at the last spot where Damon had just been, trying to get a grip on his emotions, running wild with rage and jealousy.

Isobel was riding in the back of a car, the driver taking her out of town. She called John, instructing him on what he was supposed to do, with the device.

"I won't fail." John stated over the phone, opening the envelope Isobel had left on his doorstep.

"You better not." Isobel said, "Katherine wants all of those tomb vampires dead, and I want to add two more to that list."

John slipped his ring back onto his finger, and wondered, "Let me guess."

"Stefan and Damon." Isobel stated. "I don't want this life for her."

"That was always part of the plan." John said. "Consider them gone."

"She's our daughter, John." She said, almost showing some emotion, "We owe that to her."

"I know." John said tightly, before hanging up.

Thanks for all of the reviews! They're awesome. So, I was thinking that the shipper names should be: Stariana, Dariana, Klariana, and Eliana. Maybe? I don't know. It seems to run smooth when the pairings sound sort of like each other.

In reply to helios101, I think your ideas are GREAT. You've seem to have put a lot of thought into your ideas, and I really like them. I will definitely put them into consideration.

Also, do you think that I should have Elena more a part of the story? Like, should she have a bigger part/storyline? Thank you for reading, please review!

-Spiralcloud