AN: Thanks a lot for the review guys. I hope I will get more for this chapter
Chapter 10: The founder's party
Everyone from the Gilbert family was present at the founder's party at that night. And obviously it included me as well. The party took place at the founder's hall like it was supposed to. I was still very upset about my failure at saving Stefan. Specially because I was so sure that I would succeed. Due to my upset mood, I had decided before coming to this party that I won't interfere in anything that's going to happen tonight. It's not like my doing anything will help anyone anyway. So far that's what I understood otherwise I would have succeeded in saving Stefan and no way in hell he would have become a blood thirsty uncontrolled monster.
However, my mind was occupied nonetheless. My dream from last night that I still couldn't remember after trying my hardest had my mind completely puzzled. Everyone was talking with everyone or minding their own business. I on the other hand was more like observing everyone. I may have decided to stay away from the action tonight but that doesn't mean that I am not gonna sit down and watch others doing it. For the night I was determined to be only an audience. And just for the information, I was living the episode 'Under control' currently.
Elena was standing right beside me until she saw Stefan and made her way over to him. Stefan looked bad and obviously drunk. I am sure, Stefan's being Stefan and trying to resist the urge to drink something stronger than animal blood, and the alcohol certainly wasn't helping him much. But he was trying to pretend to be in a good mood. Stefan went over to the DJ and made him change the music to which he and Kelly started dancing along with others. I was so lost in my own thoughts that when Tyler sneaked up on me from behind, I jump out of my skin with a startled yelp. I was flushed red with embarrassment immediately. Tyler didn't help the situation a bit as he started laughing out loud. I glared at him and playfully hit his arm.
"Shut up, you scared the hell out of me." I was still breathless.
"I didn't know you were so lost in your own thoughts" said Tyler in a way apologizing to me by saying that. I let out a small laugh of my own and shook my head hopelessly at myself.
"So, what are you doing for fun apart from scaring me to death?" I asked in a bit flirty way.
"I thought about getting drunk earlier with Matt but he bailed out on me." He said sighing out heavily. I pouted at that, pretending to feel bad for him.
"Oh sad." I said and he rolled his eyes at me knowing I wasn't really sad about that. Then Tyler noticed the music and said-
"The music is good, wanna dance?" I thought about it for a moment. Well there is no harm in it. It might cheer up my mood as well.
"Yeah sure. But I should let you know that I am not really a good dancer." Tyler leaned near my ear and whispered.
"Don't worry neither am I?"
It was strange that his closeness didn't make me shiver. It didn't stir some strange feelings in my stomach. But I am sure if it was Damon, I would have felt those kind of things. Maybe it's just a Damon thing. Anyway, Tyler led me to the dance floor and we started dancing. He wasn't a bad dancer at all and I was having fun too. But suddenly I felt someone's gaze on me. I looked around and found a pair of piercing blue eyes looking at me coldly. Damon was standing with Elena. While Elena was looking worriedly at Stefan, Damon was glaring at me and Tyler.
I looked away from him and focused back on Tyler. There was no reason for Damon to be jealous. Maybe I just imagined it. Matt and Elena joined us in the dance floor as well. I saw Jenna talking with Alaric. After some time I noticed Jeremy roaming around the hall. I should stop him from going to the Sheriff even though I said to myself that I won't interfere in anything but I really didn't want Jeremy to be in any kind of trouble. Call it a sister's concern for her stupid brother, I immediately got into action.
"Excuse me Tyler, I need to go to the wash room." Tyler nodded and let go of my hand. Unfortunately, by the time I found Jeremy, it was too late. I watched my idiotic brother going straight to the sheriff while she was still talking with Damon and he asked her about Viki's death without thinking twice about it. I wanted to slap him in the head for that. If I hadn't plan to be inactive tonight, I could have stopped him from doing that, actually I should have stopped him from being an idiot. But the damage was already done. Because of that action, I was also forced to decide that I wouldn't deal with Jeremy anymore about vampire business. He is very emotional and vulnerable. He could screw up big times and I am not getting involved with him in that. I needed a drink, so I sneaked one glass and went far away from the crowd into the opening. Suddenly I felt someone's presence behind me.
"What is it Damon?" I asked without turning around because I knew it was him.
I don't know how but I just did. And when I did turn around, there he was standing right in front of me. I raised the glass up to my lips to take another sip from it but it was taken away from me before I knew it. I glared at Damon as he gulped down the remaining of the drinks himself and threw the glass away. I huffed angrily at him and crossed arms over my chest.
"Tell me, how come I never managed to even startle you and that punk kid Tyler scared you out of your bones." The way Damon was looking at me while saying that, it pierced my soul. It took a lot of will power for me to turn away from him. I hoped it would send him the message that I was avoiding him and he would leave me alone. But who was I kidding. It's Damon after all.
"What got your mood off?" He inquired, choosing to ignore my avoiding attitude towards him.
"An idiotic brother of mine." I replied without thinking much.
"Does Jeremy know anything?" Damon asked seriously this time.
"How would I know?" I snapped at him and walked away from there.
Thankfully Damon didn't stop me from walking away but I saw him shutting his eyes close tightly and took a deep breathe. As if trying to control himself or calm himself down. What got him so worked up? Well who knows? I certainly don't. I was just walking around when Matt informed me that Jeremy was looking for me. Elena was standing with him too but she didn't pay much attention to that. Which I was thankful for or else she would have got suspicious immediately. As much as I wanted to avoid Jeremy at that time, but I was curious about why he was looking for me? I found him sitting alone in front of the fire place. He jumped up to his feet when he saw me there.
"Jacq, I can't take this anymore. I know you know what really happened to Viki. Please tell me, please. No one else is saying the truth, not even Elena." I jerked his hands off of my arms.
"It's because they don't want you to know the truth." I snapped at Jeremy angrily. I actually shouted at him.
"Don't you get it? It's a secret that only a few people are allowed to know. Not kids like you and me. The minute they are going to find out that we really know what is going on in this town, they are gonna lock us up, make us vervain free and then compel us to forget everything that we know." I exhaled a deep breath to release my frustration.
"Your running around and asking people questions about what happened to Viki, it would only get your memories whipped out once again." I said in a pleading tone of voice and hoped for Jeremy to get my point.
"Again?" He caught on that part right away. "What do you mean by again?" He asked with strong tone of voice.
"Your memories were whipped out once before. You were compelled to forget something." I confesses. At first I didn't think I should tell Jeremy but then I thought why not. Besides, he is going to find out anyways.
"Forget what?" He grew more impatient.
"Jeremy, I cannot tell you that. Just pretend not to know anything about vampires, okay. And if you really want to find out what happened to Viki, then look for things without letting anyone know about it. Or you are gonna get both of us in danger." I left the room without giving him a chance to say anything else. I hoped that this conversation will get my point through his thick head. I really didn't want to get compelled because of his stupidity. Thankfully Jeremy got the idea and he rushed back home. Hopefully he would find all his answers by reading Elena's diary and stop bothering me with his questions.
As I was still at the party, I had yet to face more dramas. While walking around the halls, I came across a crying and bleeding Kelly. It meant that the kiss between her and Tyler happened this time as well. I was about to walk away from there but Stefan came over. I stopped myself from leaving right away. At first, I thought there was nothing to worry about because Stefan wouldn't lose his control right now. I mean that's what happened in the show. Stefan was able to walk away. So I thought if all the other events happened the same, why wouldn't this one? But I was wrong and Stefan lost his control right in front of my eyes. He actually licked the blood off of Kelly's forehead this time. I had no other choice but to run to them.
"Stefan!" My voice helped him to snap out and I pulled Kelly away from him. Stefan realized what he just did and looked horrified. Kelly was just stunned.
"I need to get out." Stefan said to me though more to himself but I stopped him.
"You need to compel her to forget first." He looked back at Kelly and quickly compelled her to forget what happened.
"Go straight to the boarding house Stefan." I kind of ordered him. He nodded and took off immediately. This is really, really bad.
Right that moment, I heard the sound of the bell. Uncle John must be ringing it. I was still a bit shaken from what just happened. My mind was buzzing with thoughts. I needed to get out of the party immediately. However, I couldn't leave right away because once I walked outside I spotted Damon, Ric and Uncle John talking, well more like having a heated conversation. I thought about avoiding them but uncle John saw me before I could go away.
"Jacqueline!" He called me over. I slowly walked up to him having no other choice. Damon and Ric were still standing there and watched us intensely.
"Are you heading home?" Uncle John asked and wrapped an arm around me for a light hug.
"Yes Uncle!" I replied quite shocked at his gesture. I would never page John as someone to show his affection without hesitation.
"Did you enjoy the party tonight?" He asked and I nodded with a smile trying to be as much convincing as possible. Then John turned to Ric with a smug look on his face.
"Alaric, my niece thinks you are the best history teacher she has ever got." Both Damon and Ric looked troubled this time because they understood where this conversation was going and so did I.
"But you have no idea Jacqueline how many dark secrets he has right under his sleeves." John said mockingly and expected me to look baffled and clueless about what was he talking about. He was clearly trying to turn me against Alaric. No wonder why everyone hates John. The next thing I did, rather confused John because I beamed brightly instead of going all curious and dark.
"Well that certainly explains why Alaric isn't so boring like other history teachers. It's really cool, isn't it uncle?" John's face immediately darkened and I had to lower my face to hide the smirk that crawled up my lips. I stole a glance at Ric and Damon and found that they were smirking at John as well.
"Yes, very...I guess you should get going now. Take someone with you." John said obviously dismissing me from there.
"Aren't you heading home too? Let's go together." I offered him but he shook his head.
"No, I have to stay for a while longer." I nodded to that.
"Okay I will go look for Tyler then. He can drop me home." I didn't miss to see the irritation on Damon's face at the mention of Tyler's name. What's his problem with Tyler?
I walked away from them but didn't really go looking for Tyler. I knew he was in a bad mood at the moment, better not bother him right now. Instead I got out using the other way and planned on walking home which wasn't that far. While walking I started thinking about Stefan and what he did today. Maybe I shouldn't have saved him in the first place and let things happen in it's own way. Clearly things got worse than before. What's going to happen to Stefan and Elena's epic love? Would it still last or would Elena choose Damon this time? I was seriously running out of my patience. Suddenly all I wanted now was to get the hell out of here and go back to my old life. Because at least there I wasn't crushing over someone who was slowly falling in love with someone else.
"Didn't your dear uncle just ask you not to walk around alone?" Suddenly Damon was walking by me. He came out of nowhere. Well he always comes out of nowhere.
"So?" I asked not even looking at him and kept walking at a steady pace.
"What about your boyfriend Tyler? Wasn't he suppose to give you a ride? Or are you pissed off at him for kissing Kelly Donovan?" I knew Damon was trying to provoke my anger and he was succeeding to some level.
"The only thing pissing me off right now is you Salvatore." Damon smirked smugly at me. God he is so obnoxious.
"Guess, I hit a sensitive nerve." I took a deep breathe to cool off because anger would get me nowhere with Damon Salvatore.
"Why don't you go back to your ignoring me mode? My life was so much fun when you were avoiding me." I said with a sweet fake smile.
"If I remember correctly you are the one avoiding me little Miss. Gilbert." He smirked again. It was really hard for me not to punch him in the face for that.
"Now why would you think that? Because if I remember correctly you are the one who hadn't talked to me for four days." I stopped walking and faced him finally. There formed an awkward silence between us. We just kept staring at each others eyes. Unknown to me Damon came closer to me. I realized it when he caressed my cheek with his thumb. He did it so gently as if I am made of wax and his slightest touch could damage me. My stomach filled up with butterflies at that moment and my heart started pumping faster in my chest.
"You look beautiful tonight." Damon sounded like he meant it and for a second I thought he would lean in and kiss me. But then he pulled away suddenly.
"But not as much as your sister." I was actually gaping at him. How can I forget? He is an insensitive jerk and an exceptional jackass. As much as I wanted to glare at him, I didn't and shrugged my shoulders at him nonchalantly.
"Keep saying that Damon, no one else would agree with you on this matter." I said confidently. He rolled his eyes at me.
"God, you are so full of yourself Jacq, and that's coming from me." I really wanted to get rid of him right away.
"Seriously Damon, what do you want?" I asked getting straight to the point. He shrugged his shoulders at me.
"I don't want anything Jacq. I am just being a gentleman and walking you home." Damon said it with sincerity. But I hardly believed that.
"Really, are you sure? I mean you don't want to get any information out of me about Uncle John, so that you can plan a way to kill him again." I asked him with a fake serious look. Damon stared at me with confusion.
"You know I killed your uncle tonight, well tried to and failed." This time I smirked at him.
"I saw you snapping his neck and throwing him down. It was quite an impressive move but alas it didn't work." Damon frowned at me as I said that. I didn't really witness it happening tonight but I knew he must have done that and I was not letting the chance pass by to rub it on his face that he failed to kill John. At least it made the smirk disappear from his face for a while.
"You knew he was wearing the ring, didn't you?" I nodded making a smug face.
"It's a big tacky thing Damon, really hard to miss. But I am surprised you missed to see it. Besides, I wouldn't have let you touch him if he wasn't wearing the ring." I said with firm tone of voice.
"He is a douche bag." Damon groaned with frustration and disappointment.
"He is my uncle. And I don't want him dead. Not that I have to worry about it. He is a smart guy." I smirked as Damon rolled his eyes.
"Smart, my ass." I chuckled at his annoyance and resumed walking towards home again but kept talking as Damon walked along with me.
"Don't you agree? He is definitely on your bad side and he is still breathing. Of course he is smart. After all he is my uncle." I said the last part proudly.
"He could be a real problem for me and Stefan" stated Damon in a matter of fact tone. Good that he mentioned Stefan's name. I was dying to confront Damon about not telling me anything about him.
"Speaking of Stefan how is he doing?" I asked with casual tone of voice. Damon glanced at me. He felt a little uneasy. I could tell because of the way his eyes narrowed for a moment.
"Good." Damon said, clearly he didn't want to talk about Stefan but I was not letting it go.
"Really because what I saw today, it was anything but good." Damon looked at me seriously this time.
"What did you see?" I told Damon about what Stefan did when he found a bleeding Kelly. Damon realized that there was no point in hiding it from me now.
"I didn't want you to know about this. I am trying to get him on a healthy diet but my brother could be very stubborn when he wants to be" explained Damon which made me roll my eyes at him.
"I am sure you didn't do it the right way." I said it with surety and sent a glare at his way which Damon returned instantly. Then I sighed out heavily.
"I am really worried about him. I wish I could help." I really meant that and earned a snarl from Damon instantly.
"I see you really care about my brother." I rolled my eyes at him at first but then something popped into my mind suddenly.
"Why else do you think I risked my life to save him?" I couldn't help but feel satisfied at the jealous look on Damon's face. Though why he was jealous was a conflicted matter. He could be jealous because I was giving Stefan my attention and not him or it just could be that his brother is getting care and attention from a girl and it's not him again. Damon opened his mouth to say something but I cut him off.
"Besides, he is your brother, and Elena's boyfriend. And he doesn't deserve to suffer like this." That silenced him up for a while.
"So, what do you suggest to do?" asked Damon with sarcasm in his voice but I replied him with seriousness.
"Give him, one or two drops of human blood every day. It will help him built a resistance against too much craving. And lots of animal blood into his system." We stopped in front of my house.
"Can I ask you something?" I asked and Damon nodded. I know I shouldn't push it but I couldn't help myself.
"Why do you pretend like I am invisible to you in front of everyone?" Damon frowned at me with confusion at my question.
"Well, you are the one who wanted to keep it a secret that we actually talk." Damon answered as if that was the only and obvious reason. I rolled my eyes at him.
"I don't want anyone to know that I know about vampires. But I never said anything about pretending not to see me when I am standing right in front of you." I said with angry undertone which Damon groaned at right away.
"Fine, I will stop it if you want me to. What's the big deal?" He asked innocently. I glared at him more with my arms crossed over my chest.
"Why the hell do you flirt with Elena so much? I thought you do it just to piss off Stefan but there is more to it, isn't it?" Damon smirked at me as I burst out in anger.
"What do you think there is?" He asked in a husky whisper. I almost shivered hearing that tone but got a hold on myself right on time.
"You are falling for her." I gave Damon a straight answer. "Now that Katherine is out of picture, you are falling for Elena. After all they look alike." Damon got angry after I said that.
"What do you know about Katherine?" He asked with rage in his voice.
"Just that you loved her for 146 years only to find out that she betrayed you. Anna told me everything." Damon took a deep breath to control his anger and not to do anything to hurt me.
"It doesn't matter now. I have moved on." He said. I narrowed my eyes at him.
"Moved on to whom? Elena right? God, Damon what is wrong with you? Why do you always have to go for your brother's girl?" We both glared at each other but he looked beyond dangerous that time. And I should really run away from him.
"Get inside before I hurt you." Damon growled at me.
"Fine but from now on, I want nothing to do with you Damon and stay the hell away from me" saying that I entered the house. I went straight up to my bedroom where I found Jeremy waiting up for me. My anger washed away at the sight of him. He looked so broken.
"I read Elena's diary. Viki was killed by the Salvatores. They are vampires. And Elena knew it all along." Jeremy said it all at once. I took in a deep breath.
"I don't want to say anything in this matter Jeremy. I knew all of this too but I couldn't tell you." There was nothing else I wanted to say to him in my defense because in that matter I was guilty too. Jeremy sighed out heavily.
"Well at least you didn't deny not knowing anything and didn't pretend to be oblivion. But Elena, she lied to me the whole time. I asked her so many times but every time she refused to have any idea about it. And she even asked Damon to compel me to forget everything about it. I don't think I can forgive her for what she did to me" said Jeremy with anger in his voice. I sighed out knowing it was time for things to get bad between Jeremy and Elena.
"Elena loves you, she cares about you Jeremy. But it's up to you if you want to forgive her or not. Frankly saying, if I were you I know I wouldn't have. But still she is our sister and only wants the best for us." I tried to lessen Jeremy's anger as much as possible. After that we just sat in my room together for sometime.
"I need to freshen up." I announced. Jeremy nodded and left for his room. At night I was thinking about Damon like every other night before falling asleep. I didn't know what I was doing anymore. What I said to him today was completely unnecessary? Why the hell would I care if he loves Elena? Why it bothers me so much? It's really frustrating. I really should do something about it. This can't go on like this. Because very soon things are going to get worse in the world of vampire diaries.