I almost forgot to upload the story today. But, no worries. Here goes another chapter.


Chapter-4

Elena wakes up from her sleep. As she wakes up, she hears a noise outside her bedroom. She gets out of her room to investigate.

"Hello? Jeremy? Hello?"

Elena tries to turn on the light, but the power is out. Then she comes down the stairs. When she comes in to the living room, the TV turns on suddenly and news was flashing.

"This is Logan Fell coming to you live from the streets of Mystic Falls with breaking news of another deadly animal attack. The wild animal terrorizing the citizens of Mystic Falls has claimed another victim, local high school student Elena Gilbert. Police are certain that forensic evidence will confirm that this is the same animal responsible for recent attacks."

Watching the news Elena panics and turns to leave only to find Damon standing right in front of her.

"You know what's coming next." Damon speaks up in a menacing voice transforming his face into vampiric form. Scared, Elena runs. She opens the front door, but sees Damon standing right outside the door and she slams it shut. She slowly walks towards the stairs, but Damon grabs her and bites her neck. As soon as Damon bites her, Stefan wakes up in the couch screaming.

"Ahh!"

"Bad dream? Do you know how easy it was to get into your head just now? You really need some human blood. It might even the playing field. Football reference. Too soon."

Getting annoyed, Stefan picks up a knife from the kitchen and throws it towards Damon, hitting him right in the stomach. Damon pulls it out with ease as if he felt nothing.

"All right, I deserved that. But I just wanted to let you know, they caught the culprit. The animal responsible for all those people was caught and somehow, yet, mysteriously, Tanner survived. I was damn sure I drank every last bit of blood he had in him. Don't know how but he did survive it. He's not the type to easily die. Just like the Donovan girl."

"What are you talking about?"

"It was a mountain lion. Really big one. It attacked a hunter this morning. It's all over the news. 'Deadly beast captured. All's well in Mystic Falls.'"

"No. Not that. Tanner's alive?"

"Yeah, he somehow survived."

As Damon says it, Stefan recalls the events from last night. What Meredith did last night was a miracle. But he was soon brought out from his thoughts as Damon stabs Stefan with the same knife Stefan stabbed him with.

"This is John Varvatos, dude. Dick move."

It clearly hurts Stefan more than it did Damon as Stefan falls on the floor in pain. But he somehow manages to pull it out and stand up as Damon was leaving the room.

"Why would you cover your tracks Damon?"

"I've decided to stay a while. And I'm just having way too much fun here with you, Elena and Meredith too. Hmm… I can smell Meredith. Is she around here somewhere? Oh! Since you are here, sleeping in the couch, she must be in your room. Let's have a visit."

"Don't you dare Damon!"

"Relax man. Not getting near her or Elena."

"Can't touch Elena now."

"Well, the vervain keeps me out of her head. Maybe that's not my target. Believe it or not, Stefan, some girls don't need my persuasion. Some girls just can't resist my good looks, my style and my charm and my unflinching ability to listen to Taylor Swift."

"So, you have chosen to give life to this thing after all?"

"Yes."


Meredith was having yet, another dream about her mother and the other woman.

"Then you know the consequences too. You won't be able to survive after it happens."

Then, the dream suddenly fades out.

"No! Mom! Wait!" Meredith wakes up with a scream calling out for her mother.

"You okay?"

Meredith then looks to her side to find Stefan who seemed a little concerned.

"WH-what are you doing here?" Meredith looks around her surroundings to find herself in a room she couldn't recognize.

"Where am I?" Meredith asks Stefan.

"You are in my room." Stefan replies.

"What the hell am I doing here?"

"You remember nothing?"

"N-No, I d-don't. What happened last night?"

Stefan was confused. Last night, after Tanner was killed by Damon, Stefan tried to go after Damon. When he returned, he found Meredith hovering over Tanner as if trying to cast a spell or something. Stefan found in the nick of time from Damon that somehow Tanner was alive. Stefan was extremely surprised. He never expected this. He never expected Meredith to be a witch. Meredith wasn't a witch. Stefan could sense it. But she surely was something if not a witch. There surely is an odd vibe from her which was different from any other supernatural creatures he's encountered in the past.

After Meredith became unconscious, he took her to his home. He wanted to ask Meredith a lot of questions. But seeing Meredith forgetting about everything regarding last night bothered him a bit. Then Stefan was pulled back to reality when Meredith calls out to him.

"Stefan? Hello? Where are you lost to?"

"Oh…I…uh…n-nothing. I was just wondering that, are you really sure that you remember nothing from last night?"

"No. Wait! I think I remember now. I was stabbed in the stomach. You took me to the washroom. I was healed somehow on my own and then Damon came…w-wait! Oh My God! D-Damon c-came and k-killed Mr. Tanner! H-He killed him Stefan! How could he be so ruthless? He's such a heartless bastard!"

"Meredith, wait. Don't fret. Tanner's still alive."

"He-he's alive?"

"Yes he is."

"B-but, how? I saw him dying right in front of my eyes! I saw Damon biting into Tanner's neck and suck him out dry!"

"About that, I was going to ask you how he was still alive."

"How am I supposed to know that? I don't even remember what happened after that. I-I think I passed out or something."

Then Stefan explained everything to Meredith about what happened last night. Meredith was really shocked hearing about it. She couldn't believe her ears or any words coming out of Stefan's mouth.

"Are you out of your mind Stefan? How can I revive a dead person?"

"That's what I wanted to ask you. But now it seems, even you don't know the answer to all these. If you don't, then maybe your Dad knows."

"Dad…?"

Meredith herself was really confused. In order to get out of this confusion, only her Dad could help her. He might know the answers to all these.

"Stefan, can you drop me off to home. I need to talk to Dad."

"Yeah, sure."

"But, before that. What about Mr. Tanner? He saw Damon… You know what I mean."

"Don't worry. He's still unconscious in the hospital due to loss of blood. I'm gonna go and visit him after dropping him off."


It was a 15 minutes silent drive with Stefan to Meredith's house. Neither of them talked due to tension building up in the atmosphere. As soon as they reached the house, Meredith gets out of the car and bid farewell to Stefan. Meredith hoped to see her father when she gets in as he was supposed to come back today from his work. Taking a deep breath, she opens the door, getting inside.

"Dad?"

Getting no response and finding the house empty, she quickly goes up to her room to freshen up and change. After a quick shower and change of clothes, she calls up her Dad. The only response that she got was, "The number you have dialed is currently switched off. Please try again later, thank you."

"That's odd. Dad never switches off his phone."

She was about to dial her Dad's number again but she gets a call from an unknown number. She picks it up thinking that it might be her Dad calling from another number.

"Hello?"

"Hello. Are you Miss Meredith Sulez? The daughter of Fernando Sulez?"

"Yes, speaking."

"Your father has been injured by an animal and now he's in coma."


The Hospital

Meredith came to the hospital as soon as she got the call from hospital. She was terrified and angry at the same time. She was terrified for her father's life and angry for suspecting Damon of attacking her father staging it off as another animal attack. When she rushed into the room where her Dad was admitted into what she saw was beyond her imagination. She thought that there would be bandages around his neck as a vampire is most likely to bite there and drain all the blood. But it was different. Her dad had claw marks all over his face and right arm. There were bandages all over his body. Meredith couldn't watch her Dad like this in this condition. So she quietly gets out of the room and sits down on the chair nearby almost collapsing into it. She couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe that Damon could really stoop so low to make the animal attacks more believable staging it so perfectly. She wanted nothing but revenge for what Damon did to her father. She was suddenly brought out of her thoughts when an arm wraps around her. She looks up to find Elizabeth Forbes, the Sheriff of the town and the mother of Caroline. Seeing her, Meredith couldn't hold back her tears. She starts sobbing and embraces the Sheriff. After her Dad, Elizabeth was the only person she could relate to as her mother. All her life during her childhood phase, Elizabeth always stood up for her like a mother figure. She always heeded to her problems and took care of her as much as she could. That was until she became the Sheriff of the town. But she was always there for Meredith nonetheless.

As Meredith was sobbing into Lizzy's embrace, Lizzy starts to comfort her.

"It will be alright honey. Your Dad is going to be fine. He's going to wake up soon."

"I can't believe that Dad's in this condition. I-I think it's my entire fault. I really wish that I knew it was going to happen." Meredith says sobbing thinking that it's her fault that her Dad was attacked by a vampire. Only if she had exposed Damon earlier.

"No way was it your fault. I can confirm that a 12-foot puma mountain lion attacked your Dad while he was on his way home. The animal was shot and killed by your Dad. But unfortunately the animal put up a lot of fight with your Dad injuring him. The injuries were severe and he lost a lot of blood before any help came. That's why he's in coma right now. His body needs to heal. And that's why I think he is going to wake up as soon as his body is healed."

"It was an animal attack for real?" Meredith asks surprised that an animal was the real assailant of her father. In a way she felt somewhat relieved.

"Yes honey. Don't you ever think that you are at fault."

"Thanks Liz. For being here with me."

"I'm your Fairy God Mother after all."

Hearing it both of them start laughing together.

"Anyways I wanted to say that since you have no other living relatives you could come and stay with me and Caroline at my house until your father gets well completely."

"Thank you so much Liz for the offer but I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."

"Are you sure?" Lizzy asks concerned for Meredith.

"I am 1000% sure."

"Okay then. If you need anything at all, don't you ever dare hesitate to ask."

"Yes maam."

"Take care of yourself honey and be careful. There might be more that one animal out there."

"Yeah, I know. With one comes another."


After the Sheriff left, Meredith had nothing else to do but stay at the hospital. She didn't want to leave her father's side. But news sure does pass fast in small town like Mystic Falls. Elena and Bonnie came to the hospital as soon as they heard the news. They tried to reassure and comfort Meredith as much as they could. In order to cheer up her more they even tried to convince her to come to the Founder's Party which was being held in the evening the same day.

"Come on Meredith. If you go there, you can put up your mind to something else. And if you don't come with me to the party I'll be all alone. Elena will be with Stefan, Caroline with Damon." Bonnie says in order to convince Meredith to come to the party. "And besides, you are going to go crazy if you stay here anymore longer." Elena says.

"Thanks guys I really appreciate it but I don't really feel like going. But you are also right Lena. If I stay here any minute longer then I'm going to go all bonkers. So, to satisfy our entire problem all I can do is help you guys dress up then head home. How about that?" Meredith replies.

"It isn't much but I guess it will do for the time being." Elena says as she hugs Meredith.


Gilbert Residence

Meredith was helping out both Bonnie and Elena to get ready for the party. Both of them yet again tried to convince Meredith but she wasn't really feeling like going to a party since her Dad was in a critical condition. She even didn't want to be showered with fake concerns by the people she doesn't even know.

"Delicate flower vs. naughty vixen?" Bonnie asks while Elena was applying her makeup.

"Tough call. Can we mix them?"

"Look at you, getting all pretty for your date. You seem happy-ish."

"Why? Can't she get all pretty for her date? It seems like you have something on your mind. Wanna spit it out your majesty?" Meredith asks Bonnie while she was helping out with Bonnie's hair.

"I am...ish Bonnie. Tonight's going to be a good night. But don't let that stop you from telling us whatever it is you wanted to tell us as soon as you walked in the door." Elena says to Bonnie.

"What if I tell you guys in the morning? I don't want to ruin the night."

"Come on Bonnie don't tell me you are getting bad witchy vibes from Stefan. I thought we were over it already." Meredith says little irritated from Bonnie's recent attitude regarding her so called witch power.

"No it's not about that."

"Then what is it?"

"Okay, but it has to go in the vault, because Caroline will kill me if it gets back to Damon that she squealed. Apparently Stefan has a very interesting back story."

"It sounds like Caroline is yet again getting her nose into where she isn't supposed to be. I mean give me a break. She didn't get the guy she wanted and is making a mountain out of a mole hill. Even I can see through her lies. Why can't you Bonnie?"

"Come on Meredith. Do you know what happened with his ex-girlfriend Katherine?"

"I know that both the brothers dated her and that's why they have issues." Elena says with no reaction on her face.

"Yeah, they both dated her, only she chose Damon. And that drove Stefan mad, so he did horrible things to try and break them up. He manipulated Katherine. He filled her head with all these lies until finally it worked, and she turned against Damon."

"That sounds like one person's side of the story, meaning Damon's."

"I'm with Elena on this one. Either Damon told only the manipulative truth or Caroline just twisted it up a bit." Meredith says confidently.

"I just wanted you guys to know."

"Bonnie, his past relationships are none of my business." Elena says to Bonnie reassuring her.

"Unless he's a calculating, manipulative liar. That is your business."

"Stefan is none of those things."

"Yeah? How do you know?"

Elena was about to retaliate to that but suddenly her phone starts ringing. So she picks up the phone and goes to the other room to talk. When Elena was out of earshot, Meredith lowers her voice and says, "Bonnie I know that you are concerned for Elena. So am I. But as far as I can tell, Caroline could be lying or manipulating us for all we know. She isn't the same old Caroline that we used to know. Let Elena enjoy her time with Stefan. She deserves it. If Stefan is the bad guy, we will be here to kick his ass. Aren't we?"

"Yeah. I suppose you are right. I'm working up myself too much."

Suddenly Elena comes in and rushes to Jeremy's room.

"What happened?" Bonnie asks.

"I don't know. I'll go check it out." Meredith says as she goes to Jeremy's room to investigate.

As Meredith comes near Jeremy's room, she stops right before coming in front of the door hearing shouts coming from the room.

"The one you stole from mom's box. Look, Mrs. Lockwood just called me, freaking out. It was on the list, Jeremy. And she can't find it, and she thinks she's the one who lost it." Elena asks angrily.

"Maybe she did. Maybe Tyler took it."

" Don't even play that card. Jeremy, you took it. If I go online, am I going to find it on eBay? Is that how you pay for your pot?"

"Screw you." Saying that, Jeremy gets up and retrieves the pocket watch and hands it over to Elena. "I would never sell this, ok?"

"Then why did you take it?"

"Because it's supposed to be mine. Dad said it goes to the firstborn son. His father gave it to him, and now what?"

"And he was going to give it to you."

"Yeah."

"Look, Jeremy, it's still yours, okay? Mom promised Mrs. Lockwood. What do you want me to do?"

"Just take it and get out."

Elena felt really bad for Jeremy. Confused, she gets out of the room only to find Meredith standing outside. Feeling depressed she hugs Meredith and Meredith starts comforting her.

"I don't know what to do anymore Mer. I feel so lost and confused."

"Hey. Listen. I know you feel bad for taking the only thing away from Jeremy which he can relate to his Dad, but you can also fix it. Just give it back to Jeremy and tell Mrs. Lockwood that maybe Tyler lost it or something. A little lie won't hurt anyone."

"I don't even feel like facing him right now."

"How about I return it to him?"
"I don't know. You guys haven't been in touch with each other in like forever."

"Don't worry about that. I know my best friend better than anyone."

"Thanks Meredith."

"That's what friends are for right?"


After Bonnie and Elena leave with Stefan, Meredith goes to Jeremy's room to hand over the watch. When she enters the room, she finds Jeremy playing video game with his headphones on. Thinking that he might not have heard her coming, she quietly puts the watch on his table and starts to leave but stops when Jeremy calls out to her.

"Meredith?"

"Oh hey."

"Didn't see you there."

"Oh yeah I just came to drop that off." Meredith points to the watch which Jeremy notices and takes it. "You seemed busy so I decided to just leave it there."

"My own sister didn't have the guts to hand it over by herself huh?"

"It's not like that Jer. She wanted to return it by herself but she felt guilty of taking it from you in the first place. So I decided to bring it to you by myself. I was just leaving anyways. So… yeah, bye." Meredith was leaving but Jeremy stops her in her tracks.

"Heard about your Dad. Sorry to hear it."

"Don't be. Dad killed the animal and came out victorious. Everyone's safe."

"Yeah. And um… I wanted to say something. I-I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"Sorry for being a dick for the past few months."

"Hey. Don't be. You had your reasons."

"Stupid reasons if you ask."

"What really happened Jeremy? I mean what did I even do to you? You shut out Elena I get it. But why me? I thought I was your best friend."

"I know Mer and I'm sorry about that. I shouldn't have done it and I needed you the most at that time. But back then, when you started dating Tyler so I just… I don't know… I felt angry."

"Oh my God Jeremy! If you only had told me for once. I would have just left him. You are much more important to me than anyone else."

"But it's not about that."

"What is it then?"

"I-I kind of liked you."

"Jeremy…"

"Please don't say anything. It was a long time ago. Don't worry about it. All I wanted to say was that if we could start over once again."

"I would love that."

"Why don't we start hanging out? Like before?" Jeremy asks Meredith expectantly.

"I'd love that."


Meredith was happy that her best friend was back again. Jeremy insisted on letting her stay the night but she refused as she was really fatigued from the incident that day. As she was thinking about the day she suddenly remembers the most important thing. She wanted to ask her Dad about what was happening with her. But with her Dad being in coma she didn't know where to find the answers.

"What am I gonna do now?" Meredith thinks to herself.

Confused and fatigued, Meredith came home and lies down on her bed slowly drifting off to sleep.


I know it wasn't much of an interesting chapter, kind of a bit of filler arc I suppose. But something really interesting is coming up on next update. Till then please review the story and please forgive my grammatical mistakes. Even one review helps to motivate to write more.