Chapter 37: Never Close Our Eyes
April 9th 2010,
If I was a little late, Luka and his father would've been dead. I don't understand why they would even put their lives on the line for Elijah. I know they have a deal with him in exchange for the return of Greta, Luka's sister but from what I've learned, Greta's not lost. She willingly left to join Klaus.
Maybe Klaus is known in the supernatural world, in small pockets maybe and he has followers.
If I'm right then we're going to need more than what we have to take him down. We need to be more prepared. Bonnie and Luka are going to restart their search for the witch massacre site again today, Jeremy and Damon are tagging along.
Hopefully, with the power of three hundred witches, Bonnie will be enough to take out Klaus.
There's always the option to run away.
It's not too late for Elena to run. Katherine had the right idea. All Elena has is Jeremy and Jenna. It should be easy for her to run. I don't understand why she keeps ignoring that idea.
I should bring it up again sometime and maybe offer Havensbrook as a place to run to. It's virtually hard to find on a map but known and reputable enough to get into good schools, not to mention the town is protected by a coven of witches. Klaus would have a hard time getting into Havensbrook even with his witch followers.
I'll keep all the options open since Katherine's been sticking around for too long and Isobel just decided to return, exposing herself to Jenna.
It's just one thing after another.
I just hope Klaus doesn't turn up soon. We are not prepared to deal with him anytime soon.
- Ava R. Fitzroy
Shutting the journal, I leaned back and stared at the hard leather bound cover. I'd just gotten the journal last spring and I was almost more than halfway finished with it. It was a pretty big journal with more pages than usual, custom-made. It should've lasted me another year but the way things were going and the way I was noting down everything, I'd finish it by the end of summer.
I'd have to ask my dad for a new journal soon.
"Hey," Jenna poked her head into my room. "Think your parents are coming over this week. They called last night."
"Thanks for letting me know." I said, tucking my journal into the drawer of my dusk. "By the way how's your thesis going?"
"It's…going." Jenna made a face. "Nate's helping me with the research. Apparently my methods were not that accurate. I've been so caught up trying to look after Jeremy and…Elena that I've been doing everything wrong."
"That sounds personal."
"Maybe it is." She sighed and leaned her head against the frame of my door. I watched her carefully to make sure she didn't start banging her head against it. "Oh god what am I doing with my life. I shouldn't dump my problems onto you or Nate."
"But you didn't." I pointed out. "I asked how things were."
"I know but I feel so…immature. I'm supposed to be an adult."
"So? You're allowed to make mistakes."
"Yeah, I don't know."
"This isn't about your thesis is it?" Jenna stared at me and shook her head. "I figured. Did you and uncle Nate have breakfast yet?"
She shook her head again and I heard her softly curse under her breath.
"Well, we can have breakfast together. I have school in three hours, I can make breakfast in under half an hour."
"Oh I can help."
As sweet as Jenna was, she could not cook to save her life. I did not want a burnt kitchen and a visit from the fire department.
"I think you should stay out of the kitchen, Jenna." Uncle Nate said, dragging himself over to my room.
His movement was sluggish and slow so was the tone of voice. He and Jenna didn't sleep at all last night, probably having a movie marathon at our family theater. Cute, I guess.
"Ready for school?" He asked.
I nodded and went over to my balcony to pick up a small painting. "So…how's things going with you know, given that…Mr Saltzman's ex showed up."
"Isobel." Jenna spelled it out, following us down the hall.
She'd been through these halls so many times that she probably knew them better than I did.
"Come on, you can say it. Nate told me she was also friends with your aunt Sonia."
I looked at uncle Nate and he didn't look at me. Of course, he told Jenna almost everything.
"Is there anyone she doesn't know?" She was exasperated. Who wouldn't be?
Uncle Nate and I raised our hands. Jenna smiled at the gesture. She sat down by the kitchen island as uncle Nate and I got to work making breakfast.
"Technically speaking. I never really knew my aunt." I started, taking out a carton of eggs and milk from the fridge along with butter.
"You're okay with an egg breakfast sandwich?" Jenna nodded and I carried on. "All I know was that Isobel was the creepy one in her little group of friends. Does that make you feel better?"
"A little bit. Maybe I'm taking it more personally because she's Ric's wife."
"And Ric lied to you. I did tell you, Isobel was alive. They never found her body, remember?" Uncle Nate said, taking out the loaf of bread he'd probably gotten from the bakery yesterday.
He put four slices into the toaster to lightly toast and turned to Jenna. "You didn't wanna hear it."
"Because I thought—as terrible as this makes me sound, I really thought she was dead dead. How was I supposed to know she was around and Elena knew too?"
Jenna plopped her arms on the counter and placed her head between her hands.
"Maybe this is Elena trying to get back at me for not telling her she was adopted."
"Except you didn't purposely not tell her." Uncle Nate pointed out as the toaster made a quiet beep, signaling the four toasts were done.
He buttered them again and spread a generous layer of spicy mayonnaise and lettuce, tomato and homemade ketchup before adding in the eggs I'd made.
He added two more slices of break to the toasted before carrying on. "You were going to tell her."
"You weren't hiding it from her. You were probably waiting for the right time." I pointed out.
"Exactly." Uncle Nate nodded. "You told me that Miranda or Grayson were gonna tell her when she turned eighteen not you and then the accident happened—that wasn't in anyone's control. Heck you didn't even tell me about it until Elena blew up on you. You were too busy tackling your new role that the whole adoption thing wasn't even on your mind so if Elena's keeping a grudge for that then she's kinda petty—"
"Which I'm sure she's not. I think it just slipped her mind that Isobel was alive." I chimed in trying to defend Elena. She was still my best friend regardless of her choices.
Isobel and John were always there in the back of Elena's mind, just lingering. I knew that.
"It happens. I think you're more mad that Mr Saltzman didn't tell you and you think Elena enabled his lies."
"Maybe I'm mad at both." Jenna retorted, lifting her head to look at me as uncle Nate finished making the last sandwich. "I just thought we were finally past all of the secrets and everything. It's just so frustrating because Ric is always lying to me and Elena's been really flaky lately and now so is Jeremy."
"You're overwhelmed. It happens, Jenna." Uncle Nate patted her back and helped her up, his arm around her waist as she leaned onto his shoulder. "I mean I'd freak too if I was you."
The two went into the dining room, leaving me behind. I heard my parents' voices and I quickly took out my phone to text Elena. I officially had a curfew again since they were back. I mean, I was glad to see them again but the timing sucked.
"Gabe. Laila." Jenna's awkward voice could be heard from the kitchen. "You're back."
"Jenna, I wasn't expecting you here." Mom replied, throwing me a smile before pulling me to into her embrace. "Not that I'm complaining or anything."
"What Laila means is that you're welcome over any time." Dad picked up where mom left off and engulfed me into a hug.
His light cologne seeped into my senses. He must've rushed over from a meeting; he was dressed in a two-piece beige suit, his tie sticking out of his pocket.
Jenna looked down bashfully. "I'm sorry if I'm imposing or anything. I just…didn't know where else to go." She said softly, tucking her hair behind her ear.
Mom's gaze softened and she patted Jenna. "Like Gabe said, you're welcome here anytime and it's nice to have you around. I can imagine it gets lonely for Ava and Nate around here since Gabe and I are so busy with work and Dan's off in college."
"Thanks. It means a lot. I'm just going through a lot."
"This…isn't about your thesis, is it?" Dad asked, eying Jenna before turning to his younger brother.
Jenna and uncle Nate shared a look and a smile before they glanced over at me. "Um. No. It's not but I don't want to bore you guys with my problems."
"Hey, I sat through you flip-flopping between John Gilbert and Logan Fell, I don't mind listening to whatever's bothering you." Mom said. Her eyes lit up with a mischievous glint as Jenna lightly slammed her face against her hands.
"I can't believe you brought that up."
"Come on, it wasn't that bad. Miranda was there too. Think of me as Miranda's stand-in."
Jenna's face softened and she looked down at the ground, swallowing a lump in her throat. Her older sister was still a touchy topic. "Thanks…for letting me stay and offering to talk."
Mom patted her back. "Breakfast's getting cold. You three should sit down and eat." Dad pulled up a chair and sat across uncle Nate. "I'm guessing Ava sent away the maids and the butler."
"They'll be back tomorrow so go easy on her." Uncle Nate quickly jumped in to help me.
"Uh-huh." Dad didn't really care. "So what's the issue, Jenna?"
"I'm not getting away without answering, am I?" Jenna questioned, sitting down.
"No." Mom and dad said simultaneously with a matching smile.
"Did Nate tell you guys about Alaric?"
"Ava's history teacher?" Dad questioned and I nodded. "What about him?"
"He's also Elena's biological mom's ex-husband."
I made a sound. "They didn't really get a divorce." I reminded her. "It's just Isobel 'died' and then he moved on."
Jenna nodded in thanks and carried on. "So Alaric and I've been dating."
"A horrible idea." Mom was never the one to mince her words and her gentle smile with her soft-spoken voice always made her honesty sting sometimes. "But go on."
"He's been keeping secrets, kept blowing me off and just lying to me, only for me to find out—Isobel is alive."
The room grew quiet. Mom's face paled and she blinked a few times. "I'm sorry. What?" Jenna repeated what she said but my mom didn't move. "Then her grave…"
"Is empty." Jenna added.
"So I visited an empty grave?" Dad rubbed mom's back as she leaned into his touch, laying her head on his shoulders. "I can't believe it. Izzie's alive." She turned to me and I looked away.
I held back a groan and focused on my breakfast, keeping my head down. Mom's gaze on me was overbearing. She could tell that I knew and even met Isobel before.
That conversation that was coming was going to be a hard one. I could already look forward to having my allowance cut and a potential curfew.
Thankfully, Jenna ignored whatever was going on between me and mom, carrying on. "No one except Nate is being honest to me and it sucks. I'll take his stupid vampires over Ric's stupid lies about his ex."
"Vampires are real." Dad said, waving Jenna's attempts to pretend they were not off. "And are you sure you're not mad about Ric maybe still being tied to Isobel?"
Jenna stared at me. "What?" She dropped her sandwich. "What do you mean? I mean she was declared dead—"
"Doesn't mean their marriage was over." I finished.
I didn't know the full legality of how things worked but if Isobel decided to declare herself as found and alive, her and Ric would still be considered married. Dad seemed to have the same idea.
He picked up where I left off. "I'm just thinking, Isobel was considered dead in absentia, she wasn't really proven to be dead so legally now that she's actually alive…"
"She and Ric might be still married." She let out soft and gasped, turning to the side, her eyes wide in betrayal. "Ric knew she was alive."
Uncle Nate even looked surprised at what dad said but he didn't look phased. "Divorce or family law isn't my area but if he didn't file a dissolution or a divorce so technically after knowing Isobel was alive—"
"They're still married." She let out another gasp. "Oh god. I might be the other woman."
"You're not." Uncle Nate jumped to her defense. "You didn't know and," He turned to me and dad. "How the hell did you two come to that conclusion?"
"I think a lot." "It's the truth." Dad and I said at the same time, awkwardly sharing a glance.
"Oh god." He let out a sigh and shook his head. "You really are your father's daughter."
He and Jenna shared a look before they burst into fits of laughter like it was an inside joke we weren't a part of.
Mom and dad cracked a smile before mom got up to get breakfast with dad following, leaving me alone with my uncle and Jenna.
I stared awkwardly at them before finishing up my breakfast. Nobody would think Jenna was upset or angry with the way she was acting with uncle Nate. I guess that was good.
"So what do I do?" I pretended I didn't hear her and started rummaging through my bag while my parents came back. "Should I give him another chance or…should I break up with him? I mean it's easy to break up with him but Elena—Isobel's her birth mom."
"I really can't answer that. Ric's my friend." Uncle Nate tried.
"But you're mybest friend. You have a better track of relationships than I do and I'm sure Ava does too."
I snorted. "Yeah. No." I bit my lips and tried to stop myself from picturing Isaac's face. "I'm still in therapy for my last relationship."
"Ava!" mom hissed out and I shrugged.
Jenna's smile dropped and her face twisted into a horrified expression, her mouth wide open. "I'm so sorry I completely forgot."
He kicked my leg under the table and I pretended not to feel it. "Back to Isobel—as Ric's friend, I'd tell you to hear him out but as your best friend, I'd say break up with him. You deserve better than someone who's still hung up over his ex-wife."
"So I should break up with him?" Jenna asked, leaning closer to my uncle.
"Yes." Mom and dad said at the same time and mom carried on. "He lied to you about his not-so ex-wife. Who else knows what he's going to lie to you about?"
"It starts off small—" Mom gave my dad a look and he coughed. "I mean that lying about his dead not-so ex-wife is big but his lies could get bigger for all you know. I've heard crazy stories from my classmates from law school that actually work in divorce and let me tell you, the stories I've heard are not that different from what you're going through so it's nice that you found out before you fully committed."
"I can't tell if you're both trying to comfort me or make me feel even worse." Jenna said with a sigh.
"The first one, hopefully." Uncle Nate replied for my parents.
Maybe I should just leave. I stood up and grabbed my bag, ready to exit when Jenna stopped me.
"Oh wait. I need a favor. Can you not tell Elena I'm crashing at your place? I told her that I was staying on campus."
"You're going to lie to Elena?" Mom questioned.
"She lied to me first."
Mom nodded and pursed her lips. There wasn't anything she could argue against. I already wanted to disappear.
"You'll be here for a while?" I asked as Jenna nodded and uncle Nate gave me a look to play along. "I won't tell Elena a thing then."
"Drive safe and have a good day." Mom said, sending me off and leaving to join the others in the library before I even walked out the door.
I heard uncle Nate ask my parents. "Can you two fill in for me at the Historical Society thing at the Lockwood Mansion since you're both back? Carol would prefer your presence over mine, Gabe."
They didn't really have a choice and I heard dad groan. I just knew mom was already opening her laptop and checking emails for any work she'd missed to skip the event while dad was probably checking his texts.
My phone started to ring when I got inside my car. I had to pause before I even started the car. Caroline's name flashed on my screen a few times. I didn't even notice Matt's texts and missed calls.
Can I talk to you?
- Matt
Please it's an emergency
- Matt
I really need you
- Matt
Please pick up
- Matt
It's about Vicki
- Matt
Pick up, Ava
- Matt
Pick up
- Matt
Pick up
- Matt
I need you
- Matt
That was the last text from Matt. Nothing after that. I stared at my phone for the longest time, wondering if I should call him back. Caroline's name flashed on my screen again and I couldn't help but pick her call up.
"Finally!" She said, breathless and a little louder than intended. "I've been trying to call you since last night."
"Sorry. I've been a little busy with Jenna and everything. My parents are back and Isobel showed up at Elena's last night."
"Great. Not like things can't get worse. Oh wait, they did." She paused. "Matt knows…" I heard her breathe into the phone.
"Knows what?"
"About vampires." She breathed out. "During, um, Dr Martin's attack, Matt got hurt trying to protect and I gave him my blood and he—"
"Found out—"
"And freaked out." She finished for me before continuing. "Now he's not picking up my calls or returning my texts. I can't even find him anywhere. Wh-what if he tells my mom? What am I going to do? I can't—I don't know what to do."
"Caroline, breathe."
"I can't. Matt knows, Ava."
"I know. It's going to be fine."
I was lying. Caroline could probably hear the lie in my voice but I knew she'd believe it.
I heard her breathing calm down before I said. "I'll call Matt. He's been texting and calling me and—"
My heart nearly leaped out of my chest when I heard two knocks on the window of my car, accidentally hanging up on Caroline.
Matt peered inside and without a word, he got in. "Sorry, I-uh-I needed to talk to you." He began, putting on the seatbelt.
I stared at him, mouth agape. "Good morning to you too." I said, starting my car. "Did you walk all the way here from your house?" He nodded. "Oh god. What were you thinking?"
"Clearly, I wasn't. I can't think. All I can think is that you were right." He turned to me and motioned for me to start the car.
I nodded, pulling out of the driveway after putting my phone away. "What are you talking about?"
"Vampires." I almost slammed my foot on the breaks. "You told me Vick was killed by a vampire. I didn't believe you then because you sounded ridiculous. Heck I didn't believe Vick at the hospital—both of you were right. Caroline…is one. She's a vampire. Maybe she killed Vick."
"No." I gasped out. Caroline couldn't have. "Caroline wouldn't—didn't. Matt, it wasn't her."
"She's the one who found Vick's body! It makes sense!"
"But it's not her!"
Matt stared at me, his eyes wide in disbelief. "Why are you defending her? D-did you know? Oh god. That's why you broke down. Caroline told you to keep it from me."
"No! No! What? Where did you get that from?" I licked my drying lips and tried hard not to crash. "Matt, Caroline wasn't the one. She was still human—alive when Vicki was killed. Don't you remember? Tyler crashed his car and she ended up in the hospital. She wasn't a vampire then or she wouldn't be in the hospital."
"That—"
"Think about it for a second. Caroline would never hurt Vick or anyone." I mean that wasn't a complete truth or a lie. She almost killed someone after turning. "I know her and if she did—" I swallowed before saying. "I would've killed her."
Matt paled and turned his head to look at me. I didn't look at him, keeping my eyes peeled on the road in front of me.
"W-why would you do that?"
"Because she's a vampire."
"She's our…" He hesitated, finding it difficult to speak and I barely heard him mumble out the last part of his sentence. "...friend."
The air inside my car was heavy and sickly warm yet cold at the same time. I didn't want to say it but I had to admit. "Caroline's a vampire and if she hurt or killed anyone, I'd have to kill her. I know it'll be hard but I have to."
"Wh-what?! No! I don't want her dead. Why would you—"
"Because it's what I've been trained to do." I found it hard to breathe but somehow I could carry on. "Because I couldn't save Caroline. She wasn't supposed to be a vampire. She's not the one who killed Vicki but if she was…"
"I don't understand...any of this."
"My family…are vampire hunters, Matt." I slowly said, gripping the steering wheel tight until my knuckles turned white. "I've been taught to hunt and…kill vampires."
I heard him gasp. "Then you and your uncle knew that Vick was telling the truth at the hospital." I nodded. "Why didn't you save her?"
My throat felt tight and sore like my words were stuck and I couldn't get them out. Vicki's pale graying body was all I could see for a second and the smell of burnt flesh filled my senses.
Tears spilled out of my eyes before I could stop myself. "I tried…I really did…I almost killed myself trying…but I…I was too late. She was gone by then."
"Th-that doesn't make sense."
He deserved to know.
"Matt," I sucked in a deep breath and quietly said. "Vicki was already dead the last time you saw her. She died a while before Halloween. When you saw her, she—"
"No. I—that's not possible." He sputtered out, tears streaming down his face. "I saw her. I talked to her. She w-was fine."
"But she wasn't Matt!" I parked the car haphazardly on the side of the road.
Shit. I could feel my hands getting warmer as my car started to stop and start, turning on the headlights, the windshields and the radio before shutting them down and on again.
Matt jumped in his seat and looked around. "What's going on? What the hell was that?"
"Nothing." He calmly nodded before relaxing. I sucked in a deep breath and said. "Vicki was dead during Halloween. Why do you think we were all looking for her then?"
"You all knew…" I nodded. "Then how—she was a vampire." I nodded again, not meeting his gaze. "Were you looking for her to k—" He couldn't say it. I know he couldn't. "Were you the one—did you kill her?"
"Matt…"
"I need to know, please."
"She tried to kill Elena and Jeremy. She was going to hurt you."
But he wasn't listening. "Did you?" He repeated.
I couldn't answer him and say it was Stefan. I couldn't. I could tell him Damon turned her. I should've, I know I should've.
But I didn't.
"Matt, please."
"Did you?!"
"Matt…"
Matt was reckless and high on emotions at that moment. If I told him the full truth then he would get himself killed. I couldn't lose him too.
"Great. You're supposed to be one of my best friends. Tyler's not in town—I can't even reach him and Caroline's a vampire. I have no one."
"Matt…please…just listen."
"Did you kill her? Or do you at least know who turned her?" I did. I knew everything. I didn't say a word. "I bet Sheriff Forbes covered it up for Caroline. She did it."
"N-No. She didn't. She wouldn't and Sheriff Forbes doesn't know about Caroline and wouldn't cover for her."
Because she wanted to die when she found out about her daughter being a vampire.
"Caroline would never do something like that and you know that." I grabbed his arm and tugged at him but he kept shaking his head.
Please, please believe me.
"I know she didn't get along with Vicki but she would never hurt her. You know that!"
"That's the thing…I don't know anything." He cried out and I breathed out in pain. "J-just drop me off back home."
"Matt…"
"Or I could just walk."
I clamped my mouth shut and silently drove the rest of the way. I dropped him off and he left without another word or looking back.
I should've just turned Damon in. Why didn't I do that?
God. It all just reminded me why I shouldn't have feelings for someone like him.
Damon killed Vicki.
I spent the whole day just thinking about Matt and trying to get through to him but all my calls went straight to voicemail and my texts were left unresponded.
Caroline leaned against my locker, waiting in silence. Her face buried deep into the screen of her phone while she scrolled through her messages, maybe Matt had text back?
"Hey," I greeted and she moved to the next locker to lean while I opened mine. "Any news from Matt?"
"Nope." With a click, she turned her screen off and turned to me. "He hates me."
"He doesn't hate you." I took out my History and Spanish textbooks and passed it to her to hold. "He's scared and confused. His sister died as a…vampire, remember? Vicki warned Matt about it in the hospital as well so now he feels guilty too. It's not just you."
"You sure?"
"I think so. There's a lot going for him." I took back my books and grabbed my notebooks, putting them into my bag. "I spoke with him before school; he practically ambushed me outside my house this morning."
"Wait." She stopped me, grabbing my arms and almost made me spill my stuff onto the floor. "You saw Matt? How is he? Is he okay?"
"Caroline, breath." She let go and took in some slow deep breaths. "Better?" She nodded. "Matt looked fine for the most part but I meant what I said; he's scared, confused and guilty. He…"
"He what?"
"He kinda blames you and thought you were the vampire that attacked Vicki." I said in a more hushed tone.
"But I wasn't!" She squealed out, jumping back. "I was human back then."
"Which is what I said." Matt didn't believe me but I didn't tell her that. I wanted to soften the blow a little. "I told him that and reminded him of your time in the hospital. He argued that it was you because you…found Vicki."
She groaned. "I have the worst luck in the world."
"I'm sorry, Care."
She nodded, her eyes watery like she was going to cry. "You dropped him off back at his place, right?"
Matt was absent.
He didn't bother to come to school that day. I was so worried about what he'd do if he really knew that the Salvatore brothers were the ones behind Vicki's death and how that would affect us all.
Elena and I both knew. We did nothing to save Vicki. I did nothing to save Vicki. I saw the signs and walked past them because I was too busy trying to keep myself safe.
Caroline was no different from Vicki. She wouldn't be a vampire if I didn't leave her alone at the hospital.
"Yeah, why?" I paused and looked back at Caroline. "No." I said without missing a second. "Caroline, you can't skip school. We have an events' committee and student council meeting about the 60s dance."
"But Matt—"
"—Needs space." I reminded her and linked my arms with hers, dragging her to the classroom where the meeting was taking place. She grumbled under her breath.
I knew Matt did need space. I wasn't lying. He'd be angrier if Caroline went to see him then.
Mr Saltzman stood in front of the class finishing up the last of his lesson plan for the day. He glanced at me and Elena with the 'we need to talk' look.
Suppressing a groan, I focused all my attention on taking notes of the class. I paused to glance over next to me.
"Ava," Mr Saltzman's bored voice cut through my thoughts and I looked up. "I asked you to answer the question on the board and draw a timeline of the brief events of the 1960s on the board."
Blinking slowly, I looked at him. Oh right. I was still in class.
"I was just mapping it out in my head before writing up." I lied smoothly before getting up and taking the chalk from his hand.
I drew a straight line on the chalkboard and started to write out the events as best as I could remember before I paused.
"No pop culture events, right?" I asked just to make sure. He nodded and I handed him the chalk. "I'm done then."
Pleased at the timeline, Mr Saltzman clapped his hands together and turned to the class. "Alright I need everyone to copy this down for our upcoming classes. We'll be referring back to this timeline as we go along and Ava," He looked at me in thanks. "Was kind enough to draw us an accurate timeline of the events through the decade."
A few groans were heard here and there but Mr Saltzman smiled fondly before sitting down. I quickly scribbled and copied my own work from the board and waited.
The clock's ticks among the scribbles of pens were all I could hear before the shrill scream of the school bell cut us all off.
My classmates stood up and hurried out of the room but I and Elena stayed. Stefan left with Bonnie, not before telling us he'd wait for us outside.
"Jenna hasn't picked up my calls." Mr Saltzman began, closing the door. "I know she was serious but I didn't think–"
"You didn't think she'd reach her breaking point?" I sat on top of my desk with my bag in my lap. "By the way, have you finished grading my extra credit essay?"
"What?"
"My essay." I repeated. I didn't stay behind to talk about Jenna. I had places to be. "The extra credit that I told you I'd do to make up for the pop quiz I missed out on because of a student council meeting. You did mark it, right?"
"Um." He blinked at me owlishly before turning away to fumble around his desk. "Here. I barely finished marking it this morning."
I snatched the paper back and gave it a quick scan, ignoring both Elena and Me Saltzman's gazes on me.
"Back to Jenna, she's ignoring me."
"And to repeat, she's at her breaking point. You and Elena lied to her."
Elena nervously looked down. Despite her best intentions, she knew she screwed up. She didn't know what to say or how to reach Jenna.
With a quiet voice, Elena said. "I was trying to protect her." It sounded like an excuse but I knew Elena knew that to be the truth. Her truth.
"I just wanted Jenna safe."
"Isobel would've hurt Jenna. I just wanted her safe." I flinched at the second set of thoughts coming from my history teacher.
What was I going to do with these two who were unnaturally too similar to one another.
"But you both still lied." I reminded them, looking down at them and shoving my essay into my notebook before tossing it into my bag. "And I know what you're both going to ask: has Jenna talked to my uncle and the answer…" Elena and Mr Saltzman both looked at me eagerly. "I can't tell you even if I wanted to."
"I just want to know if she's okay." Ric said slowly.
Thinking about Jenna laughing with my uncle, I couldn't help but say. "She's fine. She's mad…rightfully so but she's fine."
"Did Nate talk to her? I haven't been able to reach him all day."
"Well, maybe—he's been…busy since my parents came back to town, probably why he hasn't picked up your calls or returned your texts."
"Ava." Elena breathed out my name and gripped my wrist desperately. "Is she okay?"
I did say that, did I not?
But Elena needed more than that. I understood. Jenna and Jeremy were all she had. I can't imagine what she'd do if she lost them.
Jenna might kill me for this but I had to let Elena know a little. "She and my uncle did talk. Uncle Nate was the only one who was telling her the truth, you know. She just trusted you both to also tell her the truth but neither of you did, especially you Ric."
Ric flinched at my words and bowed his down, kicking his feet at the dust in the ground. "I didn't expect Isobel to return." He said slowly.
"So you were going to keep her in the dark forever?" I questioned, raising my voice slightly. "Come on. She'll likely forgive Elena for this—Isobel was her birth mother but you—" I looked at him. "Isobel's your wife."
"Ex-wife." He corrected.
"Not legally." I pointed out. "At least that's what my dad said."
"You spoke to your dad about this?" The hurt in Elena's voice was evident.
"Not exactly." I didn't really want to tell them. I did promise Jenna to keep her whereabouts from Elena. "He overheard my uncle, mom and Jenna and chipped in. He thought the whole thing was legally a weird area. Jenna freaked out and was really hurt."
I heard a quiet gasp from Elena and I turned to her. She gripped my wrist tighter and leaned on my arm. "Oh god. T-the fact that we knew–"
"She thought she was the other woman."
"But she's not!" Ric retorted, running his fingers through his hair in frustration and pacing around the room. "Isobel and I were—are over. Our marriage is over."
"Not legally." I chimed in again. "She was declared dead in absentia—that's what dad said but she could still take her identity back if she wanted to and her marriage to you might be valid again. Not to mention, you knew she was alive, Ric and knowing how Isobel is, she might hurt Jenna not just physically."
Isobel was, after all, Katherine Pierce's descendent. The resemblance was there, not as uncanny as her daughter and Katherine but it was there in her manner of talk and walk. They even had the same taste in men: Damon.
I couldn't help but eye my best friend. She was different—from my memories, Katherine was the same once.
No.
Elena would never become Katherine or Katherine-like.
She wouldn't.
Abruptly, Ric stopped pacing and looked at me with wide eyes. "I think I made a mistake. A huge mistake."
Of course, he did.
He and Elena, eerily similar, always thought about protecting the ones they love in the present. But those two never saw the bigger picture.
Kicking my feet on the ground, I jumped up to stand before looking at the two over. Elena let go of me.
"We should've told her." Elena slowly began, her mind racing. "But what would we say–Isobel's not dead because she's a vampire? I don't know. I–she deserved to know. I know. I lied to her. I should've told her Isobel was my mom."
"You also didn't tell her that John was your biological dad." I chimed in. "This was your second strike."
"I didn't…tell her about John."
"I forgot about John."
"Jenna's not going to be fine."
"I messed up."
Elena shut her eyes and turned away from me. "I was trying to protect her."
"I wanted to keep her and Jeremy safe. I can't lose them, not like mom and dad."
"I don't see how keeping away the fact you knew who your biological parents were is protecting someone, Elena." I replied blankly. "And you know if you told her about John, she'd probably go easy on you with Isobel."
"Well, what was I supposed to say? 'Sorry, my biological mom's alive and she's a vampire?' Does that even make sense?"
"I mean all my uncle said was that Isobel wasn't dead because her body wasn't found." I said slowly.
Elena looked at me, blinking slowly.
"Why didn't I think of that?"
I carried on. "And you know what, Jenna wasn't mad at him because he told her the truth. No matter how outlandish and stupid it made him sound. He never lied to her like you or Ric did."
"I just wanted to protect her."
"Keeping her in the dark would get her killed, 'Lena." I softly remarked, glancing at both Ric and Elena. "It's the easy option but it shouldn't be the long-term plan. My family purposely doesn't keep anything supernatural a secret."
"Your family is different." Ric stated, his voice louder than it should've been. "Jenna is…Jenna isn't like us."
"She's human and she doesn't know."
"Jenna's not like me..."
"And you're not like us either, Ric." I reminded him; his thoughts were annoying me. "No offense but you're just some guy who picked up vampire hunting after his 'wife' supposedly died. You're not a real hunter, all your weapons and methods aren't even accurate. No offense but you can't say anything here either."
"Stay out of my head." Ric's face twisted and he looked away. "Jenna will come around."
"Not for you, she won't." I shot back. "I told you that you shouldn't keep lying to her. Elena gets a pass because she's her family but come on! You both should know that lies hurt and secrets kill."
"I was trying to protect her!"
"You blew her off more times than I could count. Lying isn't the only issue here."
"I think we should give Jenna some space away from all of this." Elena tried to ease the tension as she nervously glanced between me and our history teacher. "Being away from home would be good for her since Katherine and Isobel's invited in and there's no saying what they could do."
"Which is why you should've told her the truth."
"Ava…"
"God forbid, a vampire attacks Jenna—say, someone like Katherine, Jenna wouldn't see it coming and she won't even know what's going on. She'd think it's you."
Elena flinched and let out a deep breath. "You're right. I should've…I should've told her but she's not going to listen to me or Ric."
"No, she's not." I agreed.
"We're gonna give her some space and…" She looked down at the floor, struggling to say the next words. "Isobel and John came over after Jenna left."
In surprise, Ric and I stared at each other. Neither of us knew about this.
"Wait. Isobel came back to your place? John was there?" Ric asked and Elena nodded. "What did they say?"
"They wanted to protect me."
"Do you honestly believe that?" I questioned. I didn't trust either of them. "John, maybe. Isobel…well, Isobel is Isobel."
"I was thinking the same thing." Elena agreed. "John would do anything to keep the Gilbert bloodline safe but Isobel, I don't know her. I'm not planning to either."
I nodded and patted her arm sympathetically. Ric didn't say a word. He just nodded and left. He didn't know Isobel anymore or maybe he never knew his wife at all.
Elena and I stayed in the class. Neither of us spoke for some time before Elena left. Stefan was waiting outside like he said he would and he greeted me with a smile, asking me my day but he already knew from the tired look on my face.
"You sure you're okay?" Stefan asked while we waited for Elena to finish getting something from her locker. "I noticed you kept staring at your phone. Did your parents—"
It was freaky how he always knew what was up with me. I mean, I shouldn't be that person. I was a telepath.
"No, my parents are fine. They don't really care much about all of this as long as I'm safe, our family's safe and my grades stay up."
He cracked a smile and threw his head back, covering his mouth with the back of right hand, stifling a laugh. The tension that I had carried with me throughout the day seemed to lift a little and I felt like I could breathe a little easier.
"Your grades?" He echoed back, laughter evident in his voice. "Seriously?"
I shrugged. "We're overachievers. I'm sure you know that."
"I do but it's a little…"
"Ridiculous, hearing me talk about it out loud?"
"No, it's—"
"It's okay. I know it is. I don't really mind." I confessed. I actually liked it. "School and art keeps me distracted from how bleak everything is. It makes me feel productive too. It's a win-win."
"If you say so but if you want to talk—"
"I know but you've got a lot on your plate right now. You're guarding Elena and babysitting Damon."
He winced and tilted his head to the side, ready to deny my words but he couldn't. I was right. "Okay. Maybe I'll give you that one. Doesn't help that Isobel and John's back in town."
Translation: Elena and Damon are going to be even more reckless.
We shared a knowing look before bursting into quiet laughter that echoed down the halls. That was just one of our many problems.
"But that's not the only thing bothering you is it?" He asked all of a sudden.
"I spoke to Matt this morning."
His face dropped. "What did he say?"
"He accused Caroline of killing Vicki and tried to get answers out of me."
"What did you say? You didn't tell him..."
"No. The last thing I want is Matt to go confront Damon."
His eyes widened and he look a little taken aback. "I thought you were going to tell him about me." He admitted. "I did kill her."
"Only because Damon turned her, Stef."
"Still, I'm as much to blame for Vicki than Damon."
"So am I." I chimed in and he tried to argue against me. "I watched her suffer and die. I could've dragged her away from it before Damon killed her but I was afraid."
"You weren't afraid. You were being cautious."
I let out a soft laugh and he mirrored my actions. It was slightly warmer now. "You know it's practically the same thing."
Elena interrupted. I shelved further thoughts of Matt and Vicki into the back of my mind and focused solely on Elena.
I caught sight of Stefan's face for a second, he looked concerned for me before it was replaced with a light smile for his girlfriend.
"What are you two talking about?" Elena asked, looking between the two of us like she was left out of something. "I want to know." She added with an eager smile.
"Just Isobel and John." Her mood instantly deflated at her biological parents' mention and she turned away from us.
Unlike Stefan and I, she didn't really like joking about them. Understandable and it made me feel a little terrible inside. Stefan didn't seem that bothered.
The three of us planned to go over at the Boarding House and Stefan waited for me to follow them but I didn't. He looked up at me in question.
"I have to pick up some stuff from the admin room about plans for the upcoming decade's dance." I said, fixing the strap of my bag. "I'll meet you two over at your place in a bit."
Stefan nodded and Elena drew me in for a hug before letting go.
Without another word, I left the two behind and turned to another corridor, empty like the last one. I stood alone in front of the locked admin room for a second before unlocking it and going in.
Posters. I needed to get the posters for the upcoming dance…
Suddenly I froze when I felt that awful familiar cold sensation wash over me. The bloodstone necklace under my shirt felt warm as I slowly turned around and almost jumped.
"Whoa. Relax." I let out a sigh of relief when I heard Slater's voice. He stood outside the threshold of the room, fiddling around with one of the earrings on his ear. "It's just me."
I nodded, trying to catch my breath. "Give me a warning before you jump in front of me." I pushed past him with the copies of the posters and started hanging them up. "And weren't you supposed to call before you came back?"
"I did call…"
"You did?" Slater nodded blankly and I shoved the posters into his arms before taking out my phone. What the hell. The calls from him were there. I wasn't seeing things.
Slater poked his head over my shoulder to look at my phone and made a sound. "See, I did call. You weren't the one picking up." He said, handing me back the posters. "60s Dance. God I forgot how insufferable these school dances were."
"Let me guess, you were one of those kids who thought it was cool to ditch those dances."
"Hey, I lived through the 60s. It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows."
"Right. Cold war and upcoming Vietnam war."
"Yep. Lost my dad in the Vietnam war."
Oh. I stopped hanging the posters and turned to him to give him a sympathetic look. "I'm so sorry for your loss."
Slater snorted but he didn't laugh instead he sighed and fidgeted with one of the small earrings he wore. "Yeah, no. He was a prick to me and my mom. Good riddance, he died."
I stared at him for a second, bobbing my head to his words. Was it like a prerequisite for vampires to all have issues with their mothers or fathers? Damon and Stefan both came to my mind and so did Caroline and Vicki. There was definitely a track record there.
"What?" Slater questioned.
"Nothing." I turned away and grabbed a poster to stick on the wall. "You know, just out of curiosity…did Rose or Trevor talk about their parents…fondly?"
For a second, Slater said nothing and stared at me curiously. "Um. Rose was an orphan. Trevor's family took her in when she was young as a ward but then they died—why are you asking me this?"
"No reason." I finished putting up the last of the posters and quickly changed the subject. "So how'd your research on Klaus go?"
He sighed and made a face. "I can confirm that you were right. Klaus isn't completely a myth. There's definitely traces of him here and there but it's like he's a living ghost and he's not the only one. Elijah pops up here and there too and up until 1920s, there was another vampire with them—a female vampire. I couldn't get the name out of anyone. It was like they remembered but—"
"Their memories were wiped?" I guessed and he nodded confirming my suspicions. I wasn't surprised. If I was as old as Elijah and Klaus, I'd do the same. It's much easier to move when everyone doesn't know of your existence.
"Which reminds me." I looked up from the floor and snapped out of my daze. "Thanks for the vervain and the…um…daylight amulet–well, earing. I never thought I'd walk in the day ever again."
"Well, I did say I was going to keep my end of the bargain."
"You did. I'm just surprised you threw the vervain in."
"For a reason." I reminded him and went back to my locker to grab the rest of my stuff including the camera I was going to use for the yearbook committee. "Elijah compelled Katherine."
"So you've told me but it doesn't make sense. How is that possible?"
"Kinda makes sense if you think about it. The Originals are the originals—supposed first vampires on earth. I guess the more vampires that were born or created, the more diluted their powers got."
Slater stared at me for a second, moving his head side to side, contemplating my words. "Makes sense, I guess." He said after a moment. "But back to what I found. Klaus is definitely real and he exists but it's like he's a ghost. People know he's there but nobody remembers his face. Almost like—"
"Do you think it's possible he might've compelled the people that knew him to forget about him?"
"Do I think it's possible?" He echoed back with a short laugh. "Well that was my idea. I was thinking of that possibility when you told me Originals could compel other vampires."
"Great. We might be right but we have literally nothing on Klaus."
"The guy is pretty meticulous."
"Anything on Elijah?"
"Not much."
"Great." I sighed, running my fingers through my hair. I did predict getting nothing from Slater. He was good at researching and digging up stuff but I should've known that even he would struggle with the Originals. They were practically undead myths.
Maybe the Martins had more on them than I did. It wouldn't hurt to pay them a visit. I was overdue for one considering that both almost died. But first, I had to go regroup with Elena and Stefan at the Salvatore Boarding House.
Damon opened the door before I even had the chance to knock on the door. He grinned at me and leaned his body against the door, checking me out. "Morning sunshine."
"It's afternoon." I brushed past him. "And were you just standing on the other side, waiting or something?"
"Or something." His footsteps were light and quick.
"Is she still around?"
"By she, you mean mine and Stefan's crazy ex—Elena's ancestor and the doppelgänger?" He questioned back and I nodded. "She went out this morning—for all I know, she's not here."
"Good but Isobel's back in town."
"So I've heard and so is John Gilbert."
"Looks like Elena's birth mom and dad have decided to play their parent cards."
"Or they're up to something."
Damon grinned. "I love how you and I are always on the same page."
I made a face. Always? Please. "I wish I was as delusional as you." I said dryly. "But I have a therapist."
"Aren't you cute?"
"And you're being extra weird today."
It wasn't like Damon to be so…not Damon-like.
I didn't know how to explain like I couldn't put my finger on what exactly he knew or did that was making him act that way.
"What did you do?"
"Nothing." He replied. "Yet."
"Damon—" Before I could press him for more answers, Stefan appeared with Elena trailing behind him.
Elena brushed past Damon, side-eying him before grabbing my wrist and dragging me with her. "Oh good you're here. We can start." She said.
She let go as I took a seat near the fireplace. Damon didn't waste a second and sat down on the arm of the chair I sat on. Seriously? What was he up to? I didn't know and I hated that I just couldn't read his mind.
"Let's recap." I began and Stefan sprung into action, taking the floor.
"Isobel and John are back. We know Isobel was working with John for a while." Stefan went over everything that had happened since this morning.
"We also know that aunt Jenna left the house because of Isobel." Damon added and Stefan ignored him.
"Isobel and John promised to protect Elena because Elena's existence has been exposed, vampires and maybe even werewolves could come after her."
"Which we're not sure is true but better safe than sorry." I nodded in agreement with Damon. He seemed to brighten a little seeing me agree with him before he turned to me. "What do you think? Think Isobel's telling the truth."
I tilted my head to the side in thought. I didn't really trust Isobel. Heck, I barely knew her but she knew my mom and aunt. That didn't really help. I didn't trust Isobel but I didn't know if she was lying.
"I think I'm going to check with Slater and Lexi." I said slowly, looking around the room before my eyes landed on Stefan's.
"I'll get in touch with Lexi." Stefan made a face, probably thinking why he didn't bother to contact Lexi. I knew why. He didn't want Lexi to get involved in all of this.
If things were about to get as bad as we thought they were then Lexi would be just another casualty to the stupid false curse. It was still risky for me to contact Slater but I made a promise to myself to send him back out of Mystic Falls soon.
He might've been a vampire; he and Lexi were not all bad. Both of them didn't hurt people unless they had to—Slater didn't even drink human blood, almost like he couldn't.
Elena rose from her seat and looked around the room to the three of us in front of her. She gnawed at the bottom of her lip.
"Do you really think that Isobel's telling the truth that word's gotten out about the doppelgänger?" She questioned, staring directly at me like she was asking me if I'd caught a glimpse of the future to come.
I hadn't.
If I did, she'd be the first one to know.
"Look, I don't trust a word that she says," Thankfully, Stefan was the one who answered her open question. "but I think we'd be stupid to ignore the warning.
"I don't think it's just a warning." I admitted quietly. "There's a high chance that word might've spread among the supernatural community but so far, it's been quiet."
"So Isobel's lying."
I shrugged. I really didn't know. "I didn't say that. I meant vampire related casualties have been low around Mystic Fall and Grove Hill so if they knew, they're doing a better job at hiding it than those tomb vampires. But we can't rule it out completely given that some of the tomb vampires are still unaccounted for."
"There's a possibility that those tomb vampires might've spread word about Elena." Stefan stated and I nodded. He ran his fingers through his hair, pacing around the room.
"You know, you should just stay here. It's better for us to keep an eye on you." Damon suggested.
"What, in the house that any vampire can enter? No. Her house is safer."
"Well, then we'll stay there."
Both options seemed terrible to me. "Or she could stay at my place. We have god knows how many spells protecting the place along with a state of the art security system." I said before I even stopped to think about Jenna who was hiding out at my place.
Wait.
I had to bite my tongue and turn away after I said that. Uncle Nate was going to be pissed. I'd already said those words and there was no taking it back.
"So is that the plan? Neither of you will let me out of your sight again?" Elena gasped out.
"It's not like we have any other better plan at the moment."
"Doesn't mean I have to be under surveillance."
"We're just worried about you."
"So you'll all keep an eye on me wherever I go."
"Given how reckless you are—yeah." Elena scoffed and crossed her arms. "Look I get it's hard but this a tough situation. We can't just let things be as they are. We don't know if Isobel is even on our side. Remember she hurt Jeremy and Matt."
"I don't trust Isobel either but don't you think you guys are overreacting."
Damon rolled his eyes and stood up. "Let me know when you come up with a better plan."
"Fine." Elena breathed out. "Then one of you 2 bodyguards is gonna have to come with me to the Lockwood luncheon. I would ask Ava but I know she'll turn me down."
"My parents are already going." I stated. There was no point in me tagging along.
"I'll go." Stefan volunteered without waiting for me or Damon to say a thing. "I think Ava's helping Luka and Dr Martin."
"Correct." I said, grabbing my stuff. "Dr Martin's paralyzed and I'm gonna go check on him with Bonnie."
Elena turned to Damon. "I have witch stuff to attend to with Bonnie." He said, looking over to me and signaling me to come over.
"You and Ava are going together?" Damon nodded. "Does that mean that you're taking them to the…"
"Shh." Damon placed his finger to his lips, hushing her.
As if on cue, Katherine walked in. "Don't get quiet on my account." She glanced around the room, her eyes following each and everyone of us before settling on Stefan. "If you have a plan to combat the impending vampire doom, please do tell."
None of us bothered to say a thing. I pretended to check my wristwatch for the time while Katherine let out a low growl.
"Seriously, what is the plan to get us out of this mess, hmm?" She burst out. "I delivered you a moonstone, a werewolf, and the dagger to lure and kill Klaus, and right now all you have is a moonstone. Or so you tell me."
Did we have the moonstone? I asked wordlessly to Damon who stared at me.
Damon smirked. "No, we have it." He said.
"Where is it?"
"It's in a very safe place."
Katherine scoffed. "I've been honest with you." I let out a small laugh and turned away.
"You haven't been that honest." I mumbled quietly under my breath.
"I've been as honest as I can be." Katherine spat out. Meaning she wasn't being that honest. "Time to return the favor."
"Let me be honest with you." Damon took a step forward, standing between Elena, me and Katherine. "Don't mistake the fact that we haven't set you on fire in your sleep for trust."
Elena looked at her and smiled sweetly like she was provoking her. Bad idea but honestly she had too many lately for me to comment on all of them so I stayed quiet.
Katherine looked at me expectedly. Like she was sure I'd offer her something. Anything. But I didn't.
"Fine." She breathed out. "Be that way."
She stormed off and I turned to Damon with a brow raised. Without even asking he knew what I wanted to say.
"Yeah, she's gone." He said.
"She's up to something." I guessed, fidgeting with the strap of my bag. "She was asking about the moonstone a little too much."
Stefan nodded. "The moonstone was her bargaining chip against Klaus for centuries. I'm not surprised she was asking about it." He said.
"No, that's not it." I couldn't shake the feeling that there was something more. "I don't know. Maybe I'm looking too much into it."
"Or maybe it's your instincts telling you something's wrong." Stefan offered and I shrugged. I didn't know what it was.
"Or maybe you're just worried and overthinking." Elena chimed in. "You do that a lot." She added in and I couldn't help silently disagree.
I just knew something wasn't right. I had a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach when Katherine spoke. Maybe something about Isobel, John and Katherine all being in town at the same time was messing with my head.
The clean white tiled floor of the hospital room and the nauseating scent of disinfectant was giving me a headache but I didn't take my eyes off my phone or look at the person on the bed.
Dr Martin laid on the bed. He looked frail and almost on the verge of death despite my attempts to revive him last night. At least he looked at peace. Bonnie stood across from him with Luka beside her. The three witches were in deep conversation that Slater was trying hard to keep up.
If Damon wasn't there, I would've approached Bonnie and confided in her about Matt. I almost sighed thinking about Matt. I still hadn't told Elena or Stefan. I didn't want to burden them with more things to worry about.
Though Stefan did almost catch on. He tried to stop me before I left the Boarding House and tried to ask me why I was so down all day. If it hadn't been for another one of Damon's rude interruptions, I wouldn't have managed to slip past Stefan.
"You okay there?" I heard Slater ask and I nodded. I had to be okay. "You sure? You've been staring at your phone since you got here."
I turned the phone off, throwing it into my leather satchel. "It's nothing. Sorry, um what were we talking about?"
"The massacre site?"
"Right. Did Dr Martin say anything about it?"
"No, I didn't." Dr Martin said, bringing my attention back to the three witches. "I already told Bonnie everything I knew…last night."
"Yeah, I don't really remember." Jeremy retorted. "You were too busy tryin' to kill my sister to tell Bonnie anything."
"Jeremy." Bonnie called out to him.
"Kid's got a point." Damon added on and I sighed.
"Which is why I'm in a hospital bed, paralyzed." Dr Martin gestured to himself and Luka went over to his father to help. "And I'm sorry for trying to hurt Elena. I should've known better."
"Ava didn't heal you completely."
"She couldn't." He said at the same time I said. "I couldn't."
We both stared at each other before he carried on. "Even after she made a deal with me to bypass her limits, it wasn't enough. She's after all, not a full…faery." His voice was quiet as a whisper on the last word, mouthing it rather than saying it out loud. "If she did heal me completely, she'd be the one in the hospital bed not me."
"What do you mean by bypassing her limit?" Bonnie cut in before Damon could say a word.
"Exactly what it means. People like Ava have almost limitless potential but nature doesn't like that. It messes with its ability to keep things in balance so it puts a limit on…faeries. The only way for them to do things that might throw off the balance of nature—"
"Is to make deals?" Slater finished for him. "Like the myths and folktales. Faeries make deals with humans in exchange for what they want to give humans what they need." Dr Martin nodded. "But Ava has an even more limited range because she's not a full faery?" Slater looked at me with eyes wide in interest.
"Please pay attention to the thing I called you about." I said exasperated.
"Right. Right. Sorry. The witch massacre site and the Originals."
Damon chuckled before turning to Dr Martin with a smirk on his face. "So you're crippled now?"
"Damon." I warned and he shrugged. "I'm sorry. I did as much as I could."
Dr Martin shook his head. He knew he was at fault and even though he hated to admit it, he almost lost everything because of himself and no one else. "I was too impulsive." He admitted mostly to himself.
"And stupid." Damon added on. "I mean, come on, you saw Katherine and I guarding Elijah's body and you told your son to go ahead and pull that dagger out—not a smart idea."
"I volunteered." Luka butted in.
"Doesn't make things any better." Bonnie said, rolling her eyes and folding her arms around herself. She narrowed her eyes at Luka who looked down with guilt. "You almost died, Luka. It wasn't worth it…for either of you. Nothing is worth losing your life over and I'm sure your sister wouldn't have been happy with losing either of you."
Dr Martin made another attempt to get up from bed, only to be stopped by his son. "It's my fault." He said between pained grunts. "I was desperate to get my daughter back and Elijah promised…"
"Doesn't matter. You were reckless and the only reason you two are alive and standing is because of Ava." Damon cut him off and paced around the room, stopping to stand next to me. "She hates when I get people killed."
"Which is normal." I chimed in. "Now back to the site of the witch burnings. Slater," I pointed to the vampire in the corner of the room. "Found something–"
"And I took them back to our apartment to gather your grimoires and look through things we already found." Luka carried on where I left off. "So I worked with…Slater," He nervously glanced over at the vampire next to him.
"Relax, I'm vegetarian." Slater remarked with a smile.
Luka stared at him in confusion but Jeremy waved him off. "Right and so Slater and I have a rough idea where the witches were burned."
"That's not all. Emily Bennett was apparently burnt at the same place."
Dr Martin frowned, turning to Bonnie. "Your ancestor." Bonnie nodded. "I take it, you'll be entering the site and drawing on their magic instead of allowing Luka."
"It's only fair since Emily might not be the only of my ancestors to be burnt there." Bonnie replied, looking to me for support.
"Even so, Luka will go with you and help you with anything. I'll be here…"
"Not like you can—" I pinched Damon's back, tugging at his jacket.
"Behave." I muttered quiet enough for him to hear but I knew Slater heard too. He held back his snickers as Damon grinned.
Letting go, I went over to Dr Martin's bed and clasped my hands together. "Alright, we'll be on our way then."
"I'm sorry again to you, Bonnie and Elena." Dr Martin said and I nodded.
"We'll tell Elena that." Jeremy replied, taking Bonnie's hand and leading her out of the room.
Luka lingered before he followed us out of the room.
"Is this the spot Emily Bennett was killed, too?" Jeremy followed Damon while Bonnie and I hung back with Luka and Slater on our trail, watching our backs.
"Founders thought it was poetic burning her where the other witches burned." Damon replied.
Bonnie halted and turned to me before asking Damon. "It took Slater days and hours to find the site. How did you know where the witches were burned?"
How did he know?
I eyed Damon but he didn't look at me. "Because I tried to save her."
"Let me guess: Katherine?" I said, my shoulder colliding against his arm as I passed by him.
I heard him sigh. He probably regretted his past but his past was his past and nothing he did would change that. "Emily was my key to getting Katherine back before I knew what a nasty little bitch Katherine was."
"Uh-huh. That doesn't really make things better." I pointed out and Damon clammed his mouth shut, shifting his focus to Slater.
"You have contacts all over the world, right?" Damon asked Slater.
"I guess." Slater answered, glancing at me awkwardly for any direction. I didn't know what to do or say. "I do have a wide network of connections. What do you need?"
Damon nodded and glanced at me before turning back to Slater. I had a guess what he was going to ask him—Isobel's warning. I didn't think she was telling the truth and neither did Damon.
"Did you hear anything about…the doppelgänger lately?"
It took Slater a minute to come up with an answer and it felt the longest minute to me. I don't know why I was on the edge. Of course, I didn't believe Isobel at all but I couldn't help but worry.
"No. There's not much about the doppelgänger apart from myths and superstitions. Is this–this related to the…um…" Slater dropped his voice lower and moved closer to Damon and I. "...sun and moon curse?"
"What do you think?"
"Yes?" And Damon sighed. "So a definite yes. Then I hate to let you down but there's nothing about the doppelgänger apart from what I said."
"Nothing about anyone knowing who or where the doppelgänger is."
"No. As far as I've seen, people don't know Elena Gilbert. Everyone thinks the doppelgänger line ended with Katerina Petrova."
"You sure?" Damon towered over Slater. His eyes darkened and his fists tightening around itself. "You better not be lying to us."
I pushed Slater behind me and shot daggers at Damon above me. "Damon, leave him alone. You heard what he said—no one knows about the doppelgänger and you know what that means."
"He could be lying."
"He's not." I argued.
I knew Slater and maybe I even trusted him more than I trusted Damon. He put facts and knowledge above everything. I could trust that. It was more concrete than emotions.
"I know he's not lying."
Damon scoffed and backed away like my words had hurt him. "So you trust him?"
"You've gotta be kidding me."
"I'm sensing a lot of tension." Luka stated and I could've sworn I heard Slater curse at his statement.
"Ignore them. It's kinda their thing." Bonnie cracked a smile as she Luka shared a secretive look that wasn't missed by Jeremy. "Did you get your dad's notes on the channeling?"
"Right here." Luka rummaged through his backpack and took a binder of paper, passing it to Bonnie. "I should warn you that there's a small possibility the witches could reject you."
"And what happens if they do reject me?"
"Nothing to worry about. I'll be there to support you if the worst comes to the worst."
"Luka…" I shook my head and turned away. Bad idea. Luka was stronger than Bonnie and more skilled.
"You don't need to worry. We'll all be there."
"Still, I deserve to know."
Luka glanced at me and I shrugged. I didn't know much about witch-stuff. Maybe if my uncle Nate or aunt Diana were there, they could help.
"They…might try to possess you."
"Like Emily Bennett did before."
"You were possessed…" I heard Jeremy say, trying to get Bonnie's attention again but she was too busy with Luka to notice.
It wasn't until Luka repeated what Jeremy said did Bonnie finally acknowledge her last encounter with Emily Bennett.
"Oh yeah. That happened." I remembered the whole necklace incident. Thinking back to it now, it all felt so silly. I was so stressed. Oh I didn't even know what was coming. "Bonnie got possessed by Emily through a necklace. Long story short, blame Damon."
Damon stopped, hearing me say his name and turned around to give me a pointed look. "How was I supposed to know that Emily would come back?"
"Hey, you gave that necklace to Caroline and let's not talk about the stuff you pulled with Emily's grimoire and well everything afterwards."
"I was desperate." He said slowly but loudly like I wouldn't be able to hear him otherwise. "How many times do I have to say I was wrong."
"There's a difference between you admitting you were wrong and actually being sorry." I reminded him and once again went back to ignoring him.
Jeremy let out a soft and quiet laugh. Slater hung back but I noticed him crack a smile that was gone as quickly as it had come. "Yeah, Damon and apologies. I think you're pushing your luck here, Ava."
"Honestly, Jer. I don't care. I said all I wanted to say." I turned my back to them and pulled the straps of my satchel over my shoulders before carrying on. "I'm not asking for much after everything that happened. The tomb, Emily and—"
"Fine." Damon said, interrupting me. "I'm sorry."
Abruptly, we all paused and turned to look at Damon simultaneously. Bonnie and I had to look at each other to check if he did say what I thought I heard him say. No way. Luka coughed awkwardly and looked down like he didn't want to be there anymore.
"No way." Jeremy softly exclaimed. His eyes widened in surprise as they landed on me. "No way." He repeated.
"Am I hearing this right?" Bonnie looked around our little make-shift group. Luka nodded his head but offered nothing in response. "Damon apologized."
"Please don't piss him off." Slater said out loud, trying to keep the peace between us all. "I need to go back home. I just got a cat and enrolled onto a psychology course at University of Richmond."
Damon ignored them. His steeled gaze on me, unmoving like his feet. "I'm sorry." He repeated as I looked up at him.
I could see strangely pale gold-brown eyes reflected in his electric blue trembling orbs as he stood in front of me within seconds of repeating his apology. He didn't turn away from me, refusing to and even stood in my way like he was afraid I'd run away.
I almost forgot that there was still Bonnie, Luka, Slater and Jeremy around—not that Damon cared about them being there. To him, it was like I was the only one there at that moment.
"I'm sorry for every stupid thing I've done because of Katherine and I know you're gonna say that I made excuses because of her and maybe I did but I did love her—no matter how much of a crazy bitch she turned out to be. I did love Katherine and now I don't. I'm trying, okay? It's hard. I'm not Stefan so don't expect me to come up with something better. I'm sorry for what I put through you—"
"And Bonnie." I added in softly, tilting my head towards Bonnie.
He stared at me for a second in silence, opening and closing his mouth like there was a lump in his throat. He swallowed and let out a tired sigh. He didn't want to apologize at all.
I got it.
Damon was Damon after all.
There was no trace of his human-self in the present version in front of me. I rolled my eyes, about to move past him.
But to my surprise, he actually turned to Bonnie and said, "I'm sorry about your grandmother and…" He paused, biting the bottom of his lips and he ever-so slightly tilted his head to the side, almost looking at me but he didn't. "For trying to kill you. I'm sorry." He finished, turning to me with a small but proud smile.
Seriously?
I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair, untying my braid as I combed through my locks in frustration over Damon. At least, he apologized. There was an attempt there, a small one but even then it wasn't anything genuine.
"You're one of the most frustrating people I know." I muttered under my breath.
"I try." He said with a small smirk. "Am I forgiven?"
"Well, that's for Bonnie to decide." I looked over at Bonnie who smiled in thanks but she didn't a day thing. "Oh and you also haven't apologized to Luka."
He groaned. "You've got to be kidding me. Please tell me, you're not going to make me stand here and apologize to everyone here."
"I can't make you stand here and apologize, Damon."
"I mean you can try…" I heard Slater mumble as Damon threw him a glare.
I ignored the two and carried on. "I know you and I know you have your limits and I don't want to push it." I tied up my hair again but this time into a high ponytail and turned away from him. "But you did stake Elijah even though I told you it was a bad idea to do it but it's done. You also didn't tell me about the massacre site which honestly would've been a big help to all of us if you just told us from the start that you knew where Emily Bennett was burned."
"I'm not sorry about Elijah."
"Oh I know." He'd never regret that and I would be tired repeating about how big of a mistake he made but it was done. "I'm just getting it out of my system after Elijah nearly kidnapped me!"
"He was trying to protect you." Luka cut in and I glared at him sharply. I could still feel the fear and confusion I felt that night and something more I didn't know yet. "He told us that your life was in danger."
"Okay, I don't need any more explanation from Elijah's attorney number two."
Jeremy and Bonnie snorted. "Elijah's defense needs to stay out of this one." Bonnie chimed in and we both grinned at each other as she finished speaking before letting out a few quiet giggles.
We all suddenly stopped as Damon held out his hand, signaling us to a halt. He went ahead first through the thicket, breaking branches with his hands and kicking away overgrown trees and plants. I could hear loud snaps and cracks, as we tentatively followed Damon with Jeremy as the lead and Slater after him.
"This is it?" Jeremy stopped in front of an old white decrepit house. Its roof was falling apart and trees along with plants had made its home inside and outside. He eyed the old white decrepit house in front of him and turned the witch pair of Bonnie and Luka as if he expected answers from them.
Jeremy turned to Damon and asked again. "You sure it's the right place?"
But Damon didn't answer. "This is it." Luka tugged at the straps of his backpack before taking it down to get his dad's grimoire. "I can feel the magic and…" He paused as a breeze flew past him. "The spirits."
"Of the dead witches?" Damon questioned, looking at me and Bonnie. I shrugged, standing in the distance. He kept his eye on me while Bonnie was lost in a daze.
Slater hugged his jacket tighter and glanced at me. "Yeah, I don't know if I should go in there. I'm a vampire. Witches don't like vampires, right? That's what I've been told."
"It'll be fine." I said, patting his arm and nudging him towards the
"You know, if you knew about this spot from the beginning—why didn't you just tell us?" Luka questioned Damon again.
Even I had stopped moving to look at Damon expectedly. He knew more than he let on and for some reason I couldn't help but feel hurt. I know it was irrational. We weren't exactly friends or anything really. We were something in-between but it still stung a little.
"This is why you were being extra-nice earlier, isn't it?" I questioned out loud and gave Damon a side-eye.
He grinned and averted his face away from mine. "Maybe." He said. "Or maybe I just didn't want you to avoid me."
"Good to know you keep important stuff to yourself."
"You're the one to talk."
He took his attention off me to stare at the abandoned house with a difficult look on his face. There was still an awkward tension between us. I looked away when he caught me staring.
I pretended that I was checking the place but he knew.
I felt him slowly move backwards. He was next to me within seconds while the others went on ahead. "You want to say something to me." He leaned close to me.
"You didn't really try to save Emily just for Katherine, did you?" I was hoping he did. I was hoping that maybe Katherine wasn't the only thing on his mind.
He didn't say anything and that was all I needed.
"Good to know." I brushed past him and he tried to grab onto my arm. "Damon, let go."
"I didn't just try to save Emily for Katherine. She was part of it, yes but Emily made me my daylight ring and she—she, um, practically saved me and Stefan after we were turned." He said softly, bowing his head. "She made sure we didn't end up in the tomb and in turn asked me to look after her descendants."
"You did a great job of that."
"Not one of my proudest moments. I know but I," He looked up at me, tucking a stray piece of my hair behind my ears. His cold touch sent shivers down my back and I almost backed away from him. "I'm trying." He said softly.
We stared at each other for a second, the breeze blowing past us as his eyes darted down to my lips. He tilted my head up towards him but I pulled back. "Not the best time." I said quietly, moving away.
"Right. The witchy business."
Damon and I entered the house together. Everyone else was already inside. Still, it was quiet and cold. With every movement the house would creak and moan, almost as if it was angry at us for trespassing.
It was the right place, alright.
I paused. Bonnie and Luka immediately looked at me for some reason. "What?" I turned to my sides, checking.
"Nothing." Luka said in response. "It was weird when you walked in."
"Maybe the witches don't like you." Damon joked but his grin fell when he couldn't even lift another foot. It was like his feet were glued to the floor.
I let out a laugh, throwing my head back. "I guess the witches don't like you…"
"Hilarious." He looked at Bonnie and Luka. "Whatever witchy prank you're playing, don't. It's not funny."
"I'm not doing anything." Bonnie looked to Luka who was equally confused.
"I didn't do anything either." Luka said and Slater walked back to where Damon stood and walked forward. "Huh. Looks like it's just you."
"I can't move." Damon spat out.
I was about to walk up to him and pull him away from that spot when something ran across my path and I stopped, letting out a gasp.
"Oh my god. Did you guys see that?" I looked around the room and everyone was confused with Slater being a little scared.
"Knock it off, Ava." Bonnie lightly punched me and I blinked.
"Yeah, that's great and all but I can't move." Damon reminded us, his voice louder than before.
I was about to go pull him out of that spot again when I recoiled at contact. His skin started to smoke and my vision blurred while my head started to spin.
Damon let out a hiss and a quiet scream which mixed in with quiet echoey gleeful giggles that seemed to have no origin.
When I opened my eyes, not only was Damon's skin sizzling under the sun but I could see faint gray shadows all gathered around us in the room.
I couldn't make out their faces but I knew.
The spirits of the dead witches were in the room with us.
"Oh, my ring's not working." Damon yelled out to Bonnie.
"That's the spirits screwing with you." I said softly and the gray faceless shadows moved, gathering around me as I took a careful step back. "Is no one seeing this?"
"My skin burning?"
"I'm talking about the…shadows."
"That's…the spirits." Luka guessed. "I think."
"Oh great!" Damon barked out. "I'm burning here. Can you stop being the ghost whisperer for one second and focus?" I scoffed and he fell to his knees. That wasn't me. "Bonnie, do something."
Bonnie sighed and glanced at Luka. She shut her eyes with her face turned to Damon and muttered something under her breath.
Damon's skin stopped burning. He started to heal. He took a step forward and he glared at the house.
The shadows all moved away from him, circling him like he was their prey.
"Yeah…" I said slowly. "I don't think you should be in here."
"Did the spirits say something?"
"I can't hear them."
"I can hear whispers." Luka added in. "It's too faint to make out a thing."
"I can faintly see them and they look like they're about to jump you."
Slater let out a scared laugh, backing away to the entrance. "Yeah, I don't do witches or ghosts. But what did you do?"
"They really don't like you." Jeremy stated with a quick glance to Bonnie who cracked a smile.
"No, the witches don't seem to want Damon in here." Bonnie agreed and Damon shot daggers at her, stomping past her.
"Then this is the right place."
Damon rolled his eyes and walked out of the room but not before saying. "I'll be outside." With Slater not sticking around soon after.
With the two vampires gone, the air seemed to warm up a little. The shadows seemed to rescind into the walls of the decrepit house but a few lingered. They dragged their phantom feet as they walked around me, not exactly circling me but rather passing in random directions. It was like they were…studying me.
I was getting freaked out and I took a step back away from Bonnie. "Yeah, I can't stay here either. The spirits are freaking me out."
I didn't even wait for Bonnie to respond, I was out that door.
Damon was surprised to see me outside and raised his brow in question.
"The spirits…they were freaking me out." My voice came out disjointed but Damon didn't press me on it.
He nodded and turned away, giving me some space.
"Where's Slater?"
"He left. He said he sent you a text about it." Damon answered and I raised my brow in disbelief.
I swear Damon better not have threatened Slater. "I didn't threaten him or anything." He said as if he read my thoughts. "I can see that look on your face."
"What look?"
"The 'I don't trust Damon' look."
I scoffed. "I don't know what you're talking about."
The woods became eerily quiet. I couldn't even hear Bonnie, Luka and Jeremy inside. But that wasn't on my mind. Katherine's strange flighty behavior this afternoon kept circling around in my head. She really wanted the moonstone and the way she was acting it was like—
"The moonstone…" I said softly and Damon raised his head, turning towards me. "Where did you leave it?"
"Why?" He questioned back, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. "It's somewhere safe. That's all you need to know."
"How safe are we talking?"
"Safe."
"Damon."
He right in front of me. His head was bowed but his eyes stared deeply into mine as he all but pleaded. "Can you just trust for once?" I had no choice but to relent. He had this pleading look in eye that I couldn't help but fall for.
Thinking about it later, it was a bad idea to leave the moonstone in his hands. I should've taken it with me and left it in one of our unused estates. It wasn't a matter of trust, really. It was more of a matter of Katherine Pierce being smarter than Damon.
Neither of us spoke another word after that about the moonstone. We didn't really talk about the moonstone at all, not until much later. I just stood there, my shoulders brushing against his while we waited for Bonnie, Luka and Jeremy.
He wasn't really patient as I was. Every few minutes, he'd check the time on his watch while eyeing the shut door. The spirits didn't even let him go back once he was out. I didn't blame them. They didn't trust him. Whatever he did to them must've been unforgivable.
A small part of me couldn't help but wonder if Damon started or had part in the last witch hunt. He couldn't have. Could he?
I snuck a glance at him only to turn away when our eyes met. He grinned but I couldn't even muster up a smile.
The uneasy tension was back. The same tension that had haunted me since I'd dropped off Matt at his house. He still hadn't returned my calls or texts. I was tempted to ask Tyler to reach out but I quickly dropped that idea. Tyler was already dealing with his own issues. It wasn't fair for me to tack on more on top.
A quiet ping drew me back into the woods. I blinked a few times before Damon's curious gaze on me caused me to move and rummage through my bag to find my phone. A text from Stefan updating me on the Founders' event.
God. I almost wished I was there but my parents were already attending. Still it wouldn't hurt to drop by. It wasn't like Bonnie would need me there, not with Luka there.
"I think I'm gonna crash the Founders' event." I said, reading Stefan's text. John was there, no surprise but I couldn't help but worry.
I heard Damon chuckle. "What happened to helping Bonnie?"
"Well," A quick glance at the shut door and back to Damon. "I think Luka's got things handled."
"You're kidding right?" I didn't move at all and he shook his head in disbelief. "How can you just trust him after everything he did?"
"Because he cares about Bonnie." Damon scoffed and crossed his arms. "And he made a deal with me to save his dad's life, remember?"
"You don't know what'll happen if they break the deal—for all we know, nothing happens."
"You don't know that."
"I'm trying to look out for us here and you're being stubborn."
"I'm being realistic and not emotional here. I might not trust Luka completely but I know he won't hurt Bonnie and try to take the power of the dead witches for himself. They won't accept him and he knows that because Emily's part of those witches and many other Bennetts." I lowered my voice with each syllable, moving closer to him. "So just trust me, okay?"
He said nothing for a moment before he sighed loudly and said. "Fine but if he screws us over, it's on you."
I nodded. I knew I was taking a gamble here trusting Luka and his father but Bonnie needed them and my uncle could do so much…
"You know you should think about yourself more than others." I heard Damon say, taking me off guard.
"You want me to be selfish?"
"Never said that. I just meant that you need to put yourself above others."
I tilted my head to the side, the corners of my lips lifting a little. "But then that's not me." I said softly. "It would be easy for me to be like you but I don't think I can live knowing that there was a way to stop or make things easier for everyone and I did nothing."
"Even if it kills you."
I frowned and pursed my lips, turning away from Damon. "I know my limits."
"Do you?" He countered. "Because I can count how many times you've nearly died."
"But I didn't, Damon."
"You're worse than Elena sometimes."
I let out a quiet offended gasp. "I can look after myself."
"Yeah and that's why you almost always end up in a near-death situation."
"Can we not fight for one day?"
"We're not fighting. I'm making a point."
"If I didn't know any better Damon, I'd think you were worried about me."
As soon as the words left my mouth, Damon took a step back as if I had burned him. His eyes trembled and he looked almost pained. "You don't…believe me." He said softly and I blinked. "How many times…how many times do I have to prove to you that I care—no—"
"Don't say it!" I covered his mouth.
Please, I couldn't hear him say it outloud. I knew it. I knew in the back of my mind that maybe what Damon felt for me wasn't just a simple attraction but maybe it was more but I couldn't—didn't want to hear it.
His piercing blue eyes met mine as his cold hands overlapped my hands, slowly bringing it down before he had them in his grasp. I shut my eyes. I didn't want to hear it.
"I love you." And he said it. I choked on air and looked away. "I know you don't want to hear it but I mean it."
"You loved Katherine too." I countered, backing away and trying to remove my hands from his. "It wasn't that long—"
"And it wasn't real. Katherine—" He let out a frustrated growl. "She didn't care about me. She—it wasn't real. I knew it wasn't—"
"She was the only thing you had tying you to your humanity?" I guessed bitterly, tears stinging my eyes, blinding me. It wasn't fair. I couldn't do anything about it but it wasn't fair.
I knew Damon never really thought about it but he knew I was right. Katherine Pierce and Stefan were the only people tying him to his human past.
"But you still loved her even if it wasn't real to her—it was real to you, Damon. I don't want you to confuse what we have for love because it's not."
"You don't know that!"
"Yes, I do!"
"No," I shook my head and wrenched my hands away from him, stepping back. "I do. I saw you—in Lydia's memories and here, when you first came. You loved her even if it wasn't real—what you felt for her was real. You loved Katherine—maybe it was an obsession but it was real but you also loved Lydia, didn't you?"
"I—"
"I don't want you to see me as a replacement for Lydia just because I can see her memories."
"Damn it!" I flinched and took another step back as the air around me grew warmer. "I don't see you as Lydia! I never have! Why can't you just accept that I love you?!"
"Because you don't know me!" Because I couldn't get over Isaac's image out of my head and I didn't want to ever talk about that night. "I—I need to leave."
"Ava—"
Damon tried to stop me but I held my hands out in front of me. A soft warm yellow-lilac glow enveloped my hands. He backed off and watched me leave without another word. He wasn't going to take back what he said.
Cars were lined outside the Lockwood mansion when I pulled into a parking spot in the back parking lot. I could see my parents' car parked near the front alongside Stefan's car. I paused when I noticed John's car.
John Gilbert was here.
I know I shouldn't have been surprised but it was still a surprise nonetheless. I thought he'd lay low and watch over his daughter from afar but I guess I was wrong.
"What are you doing here?" Mom spotted me pretty quickly and made a straight beeline for me, putting her arm in mine when she got close to me. "I thought you said you were helping Bonnie with…" She paused as Sheriff Forbes passed by. "...something."
"I was but I don't think they need my help." I laid my head down on her shoulders.
"Did something happen?"
"Maybe. I think I made a mess." I answered quietly. She patted my head and bumped my head lightly for me to stand up straight.
Right. Time and place. I'd almost forgotten there was a charity event going on.
"Let's talk about it later, okay?" She turned away and dragged me over to dad who seemed deep into a conversation with Carol Lockwood.
Carol or the now Mayor Lockwood seemed much more serious around my dad. She didn't bat her eyes every two minutes or flick her hair over her shoulder like a lovestruck teenage girl anymore but instead she seemed stressed out.
I understood her. It was a challenge to be the mayor of Mystic Falls—not one dull day in this cursed town.
"So I'll be increasing our donations, will that be okay?" I heard Dad offer. "In turn, I can't offer a member of our family to join in on any potential…hunts."
"Not even Nathaniel?" Mayor Lockwood seemed determined. "I know your daughter's in town so I thought—"
"Ava has nothing to do with the council unless she chooses to become a part and I'd like it if you don't try to bring her in." Dad cut her off and threw a quick glance to mom and me before carrying on. "She's not going to take over the family, Daniel is and I don't want either of my children to be part of this unless you want Tyler to take part in the council."
Mayor Lockwood clamped her mouth shut. Dad had hit a sore spot and nothing she'd say would affect ourdad the same way his words had stung her.
Tyler was all she had left. Mason was there but he has no real ties to her. They were never close with Mason leaving as soon as he was done with high school and around the same time Carol got married into the family. Tyler was her only son and connection to the Lockwood family. She couldn't call the shots.
"I'll accept the donation to the council and in turn I hope you can at least provide us with some support."
"As long as Pastor Young stays away from my family."
"Pastor Young is trying to look after the safety of our town."
Dad scoffed. "I'm not trying to be rude here but Pastor Young is mentally ill. He needs help, not the council. If I were you I'd find a way to get him out or reduce his influence."
"Gabriel—" Dad waved her off. "Pastor Young is trying his best."
"I'm sure but it's not really God he'll turn to when things fall apart."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, don't trust Pastor Young." Was all I heard dad say before mom pulled me away.
She didn't want to continue to stand by and wait around for him or even listen to him talk about the council. She greeted a few guests here and there while I spotted Elena and Stefan nearby. Elena seemed nervous as she seemed to pace around a little in the small lake of people while Stefan tried to keep her calm. It didn't take them long to find me.
"Hey, I thought you were helping Bonnie with that…thing." Elena eyed my mom and smiled in greeting. "Dr Fitzroy, it's been a while."
"So it has." Mom smiled at Elena and swallowed like there was a lump in her throat. "Miranda would be so proud of you if she was here."
"I hope so. I know it's not exactly as she would've wanted it but—"
"What's important is that you're carrying on her legacy and I know she wouldn't have cared that much about how things are."
Elena's eyes teared up and she looked away, swallowing up the oncoming wave of tears. She only bowed her head in thanks to mom and was about to say something in return when she was ushered away by one of Mayor Lockwood's assistants for her speech.
Watching her go, I didn't even notice Stefan who'd come up to me until I heard mom ask. "And you are?"
"Stefan Salvatore." Stefan introduced nervously.
Humming and tilting her head to the side, mom eyed me with interest. "Salvatore?" And Stefan nodded. "Interesting. You're Damon Salvatore's brother—the one who dropped Ava off last time."
Stefan winced. "Did Damon do anything—"
"Not at all." Mom cut him off. "My husband just doesn't like him…" She trailed off for a second, narrowing her eyes on him. "Hmm. We've met before, haven't we?"
"Excuse me?"
The air got colder as tension rose between the three of us. I spotted Elena at the front of the room, eagerly watching us with a soft smile.
"Mom you probably got him confused—" I tried to ease the tension only for her to raise her hand and look at me with a thin smile.
"Didn't I teach you not to interrupt me, Aveline?" I bit my tongue and clamped my mouth shut. She turned back to Stefan. "I remember you." She said again. "Zach Salvatore's celebration dinner. You were there."
Stefan didn't say anything. His eyes widened as if he was surprised someone remembered what had happened so many years ago. I barely knew Zach Was engaged and had a daughter but mom was sharp. She seemed to remember more than she let on.
"I can explain." Mom waved Stefan off.
"You don't have to. It was a tough thing you did back there and I see you're still picking up after your brother."
"I didn't think anyone remembered what happened back then." Stefan slowly admitted.
Mom smiled, her eyes downcast, wrinkling with sadness. "Someone should remember Gail. She deserves that much after Zach forgot about her."
"I didn't have a choice." Stefan's face hardened.
"You were protecting your brother."
Stefan winced again and glanced at me, ashamed of a past I or Elena didn't know. "I take it your husband also remembers?" Mom nodded.
"We buried her in the Salvatore plot. I know my husband's family didn't get along with yours but Zach's a good friend to us and Gail was practically his wife."
"He was going to propose to her."
"He was." Mom confirmed, letting deep pained sigh. "It's a shame what happened to Gail but at least I hope she's at peace."
"I hope so too." Stefan bowed his head.
"I like you." Mom said, taking Stefan by surprise. "You're more…hu–like us than I thought. I'd tell you to come visit more often but…"
"I can't."
"No, you can't." Mom echoed back with a sad smile.
She left without another word, joining dad at their designated seats. Stefan and I said nothing for a while. Both of us didn't know what to say.
He raised his head and looked at me expectedly like he wanted me to question him.
Admittedly I was curious. There were so many questions clouding my mind that Damon's sudden declaration of love had slipped my mind.
"You don't have to tell me, if you don't want to." I said, turning away from him to take a seat and get ready for Elena's speech.
He followed me and sat down next to me. "Thank you." I nodded and sat up straight in focus as Mayor Lockwood passed by. "I'm surprised you came. I thought you would be helping Bonnie and Luca."
"They don't really need my help."
"Did Damon say something to you?" My breath caught in my throat. I couldn't breathe for a moment as I swallowed desperately trying to get some air. "Forget I asked." He added in after a moment of silence.
"...T-thanks." I barely managed to get out. "It's not his fault. I just…I'm complicated."
"He's not exactly an easy person."
"No. He's not." I don't know if I'd ever figure him out.
Neither of us said another word. We stayed in a comfortable silence as Elena was present with a check by the mayor. She smiled as flashes went off around the room with quiet clicks following. Her smile became more and more strained before finally the flashes stopped.
I couldn't help but let out a quiet giggle and share a smile with Stefan at Elena's stiff face. She was struggling. One of the mayor's assistants came by and took away the check. Elena bowed in thanks before taking a step forward towards the mic.
She let out a nervous sigh, looking around the room. Her eyes stopped at my mom's face and she nodded to herself, probably remembering what my mom had said earlier—Miranda, her mom would've been proud of Elena.
"The Historical Society was my mom's baby." She began, looking around the room while trying to shake off that nervous feeling she had. "She considered all of you family and would be honored and touched by this gift."
I smiled and raised my hands to clap in response when Stefan's shoulders brushed against mine. He sat up, alert and before I could even make sense of why he was acting like that. I saw John Gilbert fall down the stairs.
Everyone was off their seats within seconds. Stefan and dad didn't waste a minute to go check on John. Elena left the small stage quickly and came over to me, grabbing my arm.
"What's going on?" She breathed out, her hands tightly gripped my arm and pulled me close to her.
"I think John fell." I answered quietly.
"How?"
"I don't know but stay here and don't go anywhere."
Elena grabbed me, pulling me back. "Please tell me you're not going to attempt to heal him in front of everyone?" She harshly whispered and I shrugged. "Ava!"
Slowly, I pried her hands off of me and took a step back. "I swear I'm just going to check on him. Stay here and don't go anywhere."
As I walked away, I couldn't help but feel strange. Like I shouldn't have left Elena behind. But it was too late as I was already by the stairs.
Dad and Stefan hunched over him, almost blocking the mayor and Sheriff Forbes as they pretended to check John's pulse for a flicker of life. I caught the fleeting secretive glances the two shared. Oh, I'd figured they had history but I didn't think they were comfortable enough to work together.
"There's a bite mark." Stefan whispered close to my ears as I dropped to the floor next to him. I shuddered as a cold chill passed through me while I nodded. "Katherine must've—"
"Or Isobel." I guessed. My mouth barely moved but it was enough for him to understand.
I was about to reach over to John's neck but dad and Stefan grabbed my hand. "Too many people." Dad mouthed and I had no choice but to back off.
"Please, let the Sheriff do her job." Mayor Lockwood addressed the crowd as more people joined the rush.
"Uh, he's-he's bleeding. Is he okay?" Stefan asked the Sheriff.
Sheriff Lockwood patted Stefan on the back and tried to move past him. "Yeah, I got it. I got it."
I brought my bag forward and quickly took out a first aid kit just as Sheriff Lockwood made her way to John. "...I-I have a first aid kit, will that help?" I held it up in the air.
"Yes, yes. Tha-that's great. Thank you, Ava." Sheriff Lockwood looked around the room and passed the kit to my dad. "Gabriel, where's Laila?"
Dad paused and looked up. He stood up, looking around the room wildly. "I-I don't know. Shit. There's too many people."
"You know what? Let's all back off." Sheriff Lockwood bit the bottom of her lip, trying to suppress a silent panic. She motioned everyone to back off while looking for a sign of my mom. "He just needs some air. Everything's fine." She said while eying each and everyone of the guests. "Can Dr Laila Fitzroy please come forward? Just for a quick check-up. He's fine. He just…needs a little check-up. Laila? Dr Fitzroy."
No answer.
I could see from where I sat, my dad's face paled as his fists tightened. I jumped up and looked around the room, almost falling back down to my knees but Stefan steadied me. The voices…
Oh god.
The sudden panic and the fear of the guests…
It was all in my mind like someone flipping channels every two seconds. I could hear everything, everyone's fears and concerns, including my dad's. But I couldn't hear my mom's or Elena's…
"Ava…" Stefan softly called out to me. My mind was a mess, tearing itself apart from all that noise and the cocktail of emotions from around me. "Ava…" He called out to me again, hunching down to my level, his eyes meeting mine. "Hey, I need you to focus. Okay? Focus. Look at me." He desperately looked at me, momentarily taking his eyes off of me to look for Elena. "I know it's overwhelming…just…uh focus on me. I know you can't read me."
I…did just that. I stared at Stefan and slowly, the noise faded and I could breathe more easily. But I still couldn't hear them.
"I can't hear them." I said softly.
"Hear who?"
"Elena and my mom."
Stefan backed away. "Stay with your dad. I'll get Elena and call Damon. Don't do anything."
I tried to grab onto his sleeve in warning. Something wasn't right. I don't know what was going on. When I looked up, I caught someone's eyes. Someone who shouldn't have been there. I didn't recognize him at all. He didn't look like he was a member of the Historical Society or the council but I could feel the slight buzz of magic coming from him.
A warlock?
I blinked and he was gone.
Mom. I needed to find her. I broke free of the small circle around John and sprinted up the stairs. I heard my dad yell out my name but I was already at the upstairs landing before I could help myself.
"Mom…" I called out. "Are you in here?"
The lights in the upstairs hall started to flicker wildly as I passed through them, calling out for my mom and trying not to fear for the worse. My heart felt like it had stopped breathing. I felt like I was swimming through ice cold waters rather than walking through a flickering hall.
My breath caught in my throat when I heard quiet sobs coming from a closed room. My body was shaking violently, my throat closed up but I had to go on. Slowly, I pushed the door to the closed room open.
Mom was on the floor, her face looking down on the carpet while hot angry tears rained down from her reddened brown eyes. Her fingers were deep into the carpeted floor while her nails clawed at the fibers.
Standing above her casting a shadow was a teary eyed Isobel. She didn't look as intimidating as before. "I'm so sorry, Laila." She kept repeating. "I'm so sorry. I know I should've stopped Sonia from going back. I-I should've stopped your dad too. I should've—I'm so sorry. I knew…I knew there was something going on and…I…I was…I just wanted to spend the night with your family. I'm so sorry."
"You knew!" Mom spat out, looking up at her and tearing up the carpet. "You knew that Sonia shouldn't have gone back home that night! My mother begged you to keep her there at your house! She begged you! She begged you!"
"I'm so sorry. I didn't know they'd die. I thought…I could have a normal night at your place like usual. I didn't know. I swear."
"My mother told you—she told you! Not me! Sonia couldn't be home that night! She begged you to keep her at the Flemming house."
"You know my parents didn't like me—"
"I DON'T CARE!" Mom shouted out and I took a step back, wanting to escape. I shouldn't have been there. "All you had to do was keep her there—I could've at least kept my sister."
"I'm so sorry."
"No," Mom shook her head and threw Isobel's arms away from her. "Don't touch me! Don't! You—" She pointed a finger at Isobel accusingly. "You're selfish and horrible. You saw Sonia dying and you ran away—"
"I didn't know what to do!"
"And then you went ahead and threw away your life to become a…monster."
Dark veins appeared under her eyes and her eyes turned black. Like there was something stuck in her throat, she clawed at it, slowly backing away. Dusts of light swirled in front of her and she stopped in horror. Light speckles gathered in front of my mom, circling her before they shot up to the ceiling, creating a pale shimmering gold-lilac shield of light.
Isobel stammered and let out a quiet gasp. "You're like her…you're like Sonia."
"This…isn't me." Mom said slowly, turning back to look at the doorway where I stood. I broke through the shadows and stepped into the room, drawing in the light. "Ava."
"You," Isobel looked at me in wonder and horror. "You need to get out of here." She said, like she was in pain. Her eyes glazed over like she was…
Mom pushed me back behind her and glared sharply at Isobel. "Stay away from my daughter." She hissed out at Isobel as the shield shimmered. "And Elena! Stay away from them both! You might've given birth to Elena but you're not her mother so I don't know what you're doing here! Stay away from them!"
But Isobel wasn't listening. I noticed that her eyes were glazed over. None of mom's words got through to her.
"Elena." I heard her softly whisper as a single tear rolled down her face. With a sad fleeting smile, I blinked and she was gone.
Mom collapsed onto the floor, breathing heavily. I didn't know if I should go after Isobel or stay and wait for my dad. Something wasn't right. I didn't know what but again, that gnawing feeling of guilt and doom settled in the pit of my stomach making me ill.
I sat down on the floor next to my mom. She laid her head on my shoulders while silent sobs wracked through her body. She didn't say a single word, she didn't need to. I already had the gist of the whole conversation.
Isobel could've prevented mom from losing aunt Sonia and maybe even her dad. Isobel was there that night and she knew what happened. I didn't press mom for more and I just sat there, letting her cry into my shoulders for what felt like hours.
I didn't know how long we'd sat there in silence until I heard the door open and footsteps rushing in. "Laila?" I heard dad call out. "Ava?"
"Here." I quietly said, looking over my shoulder to see dad standing there wide eyed. "Isobel was here. She must've been the one to push John down the stairs."
Dad wasn't listening. His eyes remained focused on me and mom. "Are you two okay?"
"Physically, yeah." Was all I could say and dad understood exactly what I meant. "Mom's exhausted, I think you should take her home."
He nodded and came over to pick mom up. He easily picked mom up and cradled her close to his chest, looking down at me with a difficult look on his face before glancing at the end of the room.
His mouth opened and closed before he said. "We'll talk when you get home."
I didn't say anything as he left and I was left alone in that room. For some reason, I felt more empty than usual. Isobel knew more than she let on but I don't know how I felt about it.
Strange how closely Bonnie's, Elena's and my family were tied together. It was almost too good to be a mere coincidence. I didn't believe in fate yet there was no explanation for all of this.
"Ava?" I felt Damon coming before I saw him. That cold bone chilling sensation no longer hurt or scared me, I'd almost become numb to it and the urge to kill had almost died down.
Damon crouched down in front of me, calling my name out repeatedly as he softly shook me out of my stupor. I was listening but I didn't have the will or the energy to respond. His cold hands cupped my face and I jolted awake.
"Damon?" He let out a breath of relief and pulled me into his embrace before helping me stand. "When did you get here?"
"A few minutes ago. Stefan called. Not one day without incident, huh?" His jokes were awkward and even his trademark smoldering smirk seemed forced like he was desperately trying to erase what had happened earlier between us.
I couldn't help but crack a smile. "You can be normal around me. I don't hate you, Damon."
"But you don't like me."
"I…don't "
"No." I admitted. "Isobel was here." I quickly changed the topic and the air became colder. Maybe I should've left that to the end.
"Isobel was here?" He echoed back and I nodded. "Then John being dead—"
"—was her." I finished for him. "It was a distraction. She talked to my mom and…um…it's…everything's complicated and I can't think."
"Hey, it's okay." Damon rubbed circles around my back and I couldn't help but lean into his touch. "Isobel was here. I haven't seen Stefan or Elena anywhere."
"What? Wh-what do you mean? I was with Stefan. I saw him, he said he was going to get Elena and call you."
"Well, he called me and that's it."
I cursed under my breath. Isobel being here wasn't just to talk to my mom. She was here for something else. Elena and Stefan were missing and Isobel had disappeared. I couldn't think straight.
That annoying dull ringing headache was back and I couldn't seem to keep my head straight. Of all the times for that headache to come back, it had to be now.
"Ava?"
"Hmm." I looked at him and around the room. Dark spots seemed to dance in my vision as I blinked slowly. My vision blurred in and out of focus.
"How long have you been keeping that up?" He asked almost in a whisper, his right hand around my waist with a tight grip. His face was grim and dark.
Keeping what up?
I blinked and frowned. "Damon, what are you—" Oh. I didn't even notice the shimmering wall of light I'd erected dividing half the room. I forgot about it.
How long did I leave it up? I couldn't remember. Did Isobel run through it? I couldn't remember.
My feet gave in and I collapsed onto the floor like the wall of light, Damon caught me before I hit the floor. Black spots danced in my vision for a second before I took in deep labored breaths to clear my mind and vision.
Maybe Damon was talking but I don't remember. I was too busy trying to come to my senses to pay attention to him.
"Isobel was here." I repeated like I was in a trance.
"You said that already." Damon replied, a little annoyed but trying his hardest to be patient.
I cursed under my breath and untangled myself from Damon. "You said you haven't found Stefan and Elena?"
"They probably went home." He tried but I didn't believe him.
"And Katherine?"
"What about Katherine?"
"Have you seen Katherine?"
"You're not making sense."
I let out a deep frustrated sigh. I really had to spell things out. "Katherine and Isobel were working together in the past, remember? If Isobel was here…"
"Then Katherine wouldn't be too far away." His eyes widened and he backed away from me. "I'm going back to the Boarding House, you coming?"
I didn't need to be told twice. We went back downstairs and John was still dead while the crowd around him dispersed. My parents were nowhere to be seen and neither were Elena and Stefan.
"Just out of curiosity, where did you keep the moonstone?" I asked quietly.
He didn't answer me but instead walked back inside and grabbed John, carrying him over his shoulder while everyone was busy. We couldn't have anyone see him come back to life.
The Boarding House was quiet when Damon unlocked the front doors. I went in first before he followed with a still dead John over his shoulder. I didn't have to look around to know that Katherine wasn't there and neither was Stefan.
Damon dumped John's body on the shoulder. His shirt and hands hand been covered with John's blood. He glared down at John for the mess before looking at me, gesturing me to not get close.
"I'm gonna get changed. Don't even think about healing him." Damon said.
"But—"
"No buts."
I rolled my eyes and got down on my knees near John. Not touching or healing him but just examining him. His wounds were deep, Isobel did a number on him. My eyes moved down until finally it settled on the heavy ring on his finger.
The Gilbert ring.
Emily Bennett spelled the ring to bring someone back to life. But from what I knew it was hard to bring anyone back to life so how did she do it. I desperately wanted to know. I could only bring back people from the brink of death not from death itself but Emily had succeeded to do the impossible unless…
I was about to reach out for the ring when Damon stormed back into the room. He was angry and upset. I stood up immediately and looked at him in question.
He didn't say anything for a second. "Promise me you won't get mad." He began.
"You're mad enough for the both of us right now." I retorted, crossing my arms. I didn't have a good feeling. "Damon, what happened?"
He swallowed and looked away. "The moonstone…it's gone."
My worst fears came true. I did tell them to let me hide it. But it was already gone, I wasn't going to waste my time again telling them the same thing.
"Katherine?" I guessed.
"Katherine." He confirmed.
"Great. Let's go find her and get it back." I threw a quick glance at John and turned away to head to the door.
Damon grabbed me before I could walk out. "You're not mad?"
"Like I said you're mad enough for the both of us. I'm not going to lose my cool too. Also I kinda expected it."
"You didn't expect me to keep the moonstone safe."
"No, I expected Katherine to be a conniving bitch." I retorted softly, throwing him my car keys. "I know where Isobel might be. Uncle Nate texted me a potential address. He was looking for her last night and noticed one of most expensive foreclosures in town suddenly was taken off the table and he put two and two together that Isobel was working with Katherine."
"So you're not mad that I lost the moonstone?"
"No." I answered slowly, a little annoyed that he kept asking me the same question. "But just out of curiosity, where did you hide the moonstone?"
"Ah." Damon looked away and got inside my car. "Stefan said he'll meet us there."
"Damon…"
"Elena's not with him."
"Oh god." I got in the car and put on my seatbelt. "Did Katherine or Isobel take her?"
"No clue. We might need the witches."
"Right." I nodded, sending a quick text to my uncle. "And back to the moonstone." I turned back to him in question as he pulled out the driveway.
He bit the bottom of his lips, not meeting my gaze. "You don't really—"
"Damon."
"I hid it with bars of soap."
Speechless, I helplessly blinked at Damon's words. Bars of soap?! I admit the moonstone reminded me of a soap bar but come on, how hard was it to get a decoy moonstone and hide it with the moonstone?
It wasn't a bad idea, no, it wasn't. But the execution…
"You're mad." He commented, eyes on the road but every few seconds he'd check on me.
"I don't know what to say." Hiding things in plain sight worked, yes but the moonstone?
"Bad idea?"
"I don't know." I admitted. "But there were better ideas."
"Like giving it to you."
I nodded and let out a sigh. "But it's done. Katherine took the moonstone. We just need to find her."
He didn't say another word. I knew he was secretly glad that I wasn't upset or angry with him. Truth was, I was too tired to get mad. I just wanted to find Katherine. The moonstone was just one of the many ingredients of the ritual.
The main ingredient was the doppleganger.
Like expected, Stefan met us outside the house I mentioned. He paced around the front, checking out the front windows and back, disappearing and appearing every two seconds.
I got out of the car and met him at the bottom of the steps of the mansion. Damn. We were too late.
"I don't think anyone's in there." I said softly, taking out my bow from the back of my trunk with the quiver of arrows. Better safe than sorry.
Stefan paused. "You can tell?"
"Just a feeling."
"Stay by the car." Damon motioned and went inside with Stefan following.
I didn't argue and watched them both go in. Instead, I called Caroline to check in on her.
"So?" I questioned when she picked up her phone. "Anything from Matt?"
She sighed loudly and I knew the answer. "Nothing. I went over to his house after school and well, he wasn't there."
"I'm sorry, Care. You know Vicki's not your fault."
"I know. I can't help but think that maybe I should've done something."
"You didn't know back then. If anyone should be blamed, it should be me."
"Ava…"
"I could've gotten her out and stopped Damon from turning her but I didn't. I was too afraid about my family that I couldn't–didn't take the step and in turn, Matt lost his sister."
Caroline let out another sigh. "You know it's not your fault everything's a mess."
"Kinda feels like it."
"It's Damon's fault."
"I know." I did.
Still I couldn't help but blame Stefan, me and Damon for the parts we had in Vicki's death. Stefan staked her, Damon turned her and I stood by watching it happen.
"Doesn't mean I was completely innocent." I whispered quietly into the phone. "It's not your fault and it's not fair Matt's blaming you. He's scared, I get it but…"
"It all sucks?" She said with a sad bitter laugh.
I nodded even though she wasn't in front of me. "I'm sure he'll come around."
"I hope so because I'm freaking out." I could hear her pacing around like she was trying to drill holes into the floor. "What if…what if he tells my mom?" She asked in a quiet, almost childlike voice.
I did think about that. Sheriff Forbes' reaction to Caroline wasn't the best. She wanted to die rather than live with the fact that her daughter was a vampire.
"I'll deal with it." I said after a moment of silence. It wasn't right what I was thinking but I had no choice.
Caroline was a vampire, not through choice. She was still my best friend and I wanted to protect her the way I couldn't before she turned.
I heard Caroline still. Her heavy breathing echoed in the phone. "You're not going to…erase Matt's memories, are you?"
"If I have to."
"Ava…"
"I don't want him to do something reckless that could hurt you or himself."
"But you don't like doing things like that."
"I know."
But I had no other choice left. If Matt confronted Damon, he wouldn't last a second. Damon had a short fuse and I didn't trust myself to stop him. My feelings were a mess.
I hung up and waited outside for the Salvatore brothers to return. Stefan was the first one out followed by Damon. Their grim faces told me enough.
"Isobel's stuff is in there but—"
"She's gone." I finished for Stefan. I didn't think she was coming back. "Let me guess, no Katherine?"
"Or moonstone." Damon grumbled. "Or Elena."
Great.
I sighed and walked past them to go inside, only to find my path blocked by Damon and Stefan. Both refused to move.
"There's nothing in there." Damon stated.
"Then let me have a look around." I pushed past him and climbed up the steps to get inside.
It was quiet and cold inside. All the windows boarded up and shut. Light barely shone in through the cracks of the boards and the opened door. I walked straight into the foyer.
Empty, like Damon said. But that's not what I was looking for. I needed a trigger, something that would let me see what had happened. Maybe if I touched one of Isobel's luggage, I could see what happened.
Her luggage was gathered in the empty living room. It was piled high, untouched. But I didn't have to touch it.
My visions blurred and darkened as colors swirled around me.
I was still standing in that house but neither of the Salvatore brothers were there anymore. Instead Katherine was in front of me in the foyer.
It did take me a second to realize it was Katherine, not Elena. She was wearing Elena's clothes but she wasn't Elena. Her gait and expressions were too much to be like Elena's.
Katherine turned around. A man stood behind her. I knew him, like he looked familiar to me. Where had I seen him before?
The Lockwood mansion. He was there and he wasn't human.
Katherine knew that too. Her eyes darkened, black veins protruded underneath eyes throbbing angrily as she rushed towards that man.
But she started to scream the moment she got close to him. He was a warlock. I watched in silent horror as she crumpled to the ground, knocked out.
The door behind her opened and more people came in. One of them picked up Katherine. I didn't see where they took her.
The colors around me swirled, I was pulled back into reality.
Damon's face was the first thing I saw when I got my bearings. His handsome face was scrunched up in concern.
"Katherine's gone." I said softly. "There was a warlock and she's gone."
"What do you mean she's gone?" Damon questioned.
"I mean they took her. The warlock and whoever he was working with and for."
Stefan nodded blankly, slowly backing away while motioning to us to follow him. "We need to get out of here." He was at the door within seconds.
"But the moonstone and Elena, Stefan–" Damon was cut off by his brother.
"They're not here. You heard Ava, Katherine was taken. We can't stay here."
"What about the moonstone and Elena?"
Well, as he was talking my phone went off. Elena texted me. I didn't know it was her at first. The number was unfamiliar but it was a simple next with her name signed at the end.
'I'm at Grove Hill Cemetery. Isobel's dead.
- Elena'
I stared at my phone in silence. Isobel was dead. I didn't see this one coming but the blank hollow stare and the teary-eyed conversation with my mom should've been an indication. She was going to kill herself.
Maybe I was getting ahead of myself and guessing that Isobel killed herself, maybe she got killed.
But Elena needed us.
"I know where Elena is." I had to raise my voice to be heard over a bickering Stefan and Damon.
The two immediately stopped arguing about the moonstone and looked at me.
"She texted me from Isobel's phone." I held up my phone screen in front of their faces.
Stefan took my phone from me and glanced at the text quickly before passing it to his brother. He was equally as confused as I was.
I heard Damon scoff. "This is a trap." He said.
"Let's call and find out." I replied, not waiting for his answer.
The call only rang once before I heard Elena's voice say my name in relief. "Ava?"
"Hey, I got your text." I began slowly. "Is Isobel really…" I didn't know how to say it without sounding rough or rude.
I heard Elena sign and she struggled to find words, almost choking on them. "Yeah…" She breathed out, almost gasping for air. "Can you pick me up? Please or tell Stefan. I can't…I can't stay here…"
"Hey," I passed my phone to Stefan. "It's me."
I backed away from my phone and waited by Damon, letting the two finish talking on the phone. Damon stared at the ground in silence. He opened and closed his mouth, not knowing what to say.
"It's not your fault." I said quietly, placing my hand over his. "You only turned her after she looked for you—you didn't kill her this time."
"But I did turn her."
"You did but she looked for you, remember?"
He nodded. "It's not like Isobel to kill herself."
It wasn't. I didn't think she did it willingly. Her eyes were glazed. I remembered it well. "I don't think she did willingly." I said softly.
Compulsion was the only reason I had. Only Originals to my knowledge could compel vampires. Elijah was daggered in the cellar of the Salvatore Boarding House.
Oh god.
Damon squeezed my hand as I leaned my head on his shoulder. I didn't want to think about it. I didn't but the thought of Klaus being so close was terrifying.
"I'm back!" I stepped into the foyer of the Fitzroy manor after Stefan brought Elena back from Grove Hill. I didn't stick around after John woke up. I didn't want to intrude on John and Elena's conversation so I went home after a quick call with Slater.
He'd hurried back to the house I'd let him stay in. It was his but it was in my name. I did share my suspicions over Isobel's death with him and warned him to use vervain. He didn't argue but he also made it a point that he wouldn't leave his house or the campus much anymore with Klaus being out there. I didn't blame him.
Jenna and uncle Nate were the first people I saw when I entered. The two were in mid-conversation when they saw me. Jenna took a hesitant step forward.
"I heard about the…Historical Society event." She began. "Is Elena…"
"She's fine. John and Stefan are with her."
"...Ric didn't go?" She looked like she regretted it when she said it.
I paused. Was he meant to be there? I don't remember. "No. Was he supposed to be there?" I asked and Jenna nodded before she let out a bitter laugh.
"Of course, he blew it off. I shouldn't be surprised."
"Maybe he had some papers to grade?" Uncle Nate offered and Jenna glared at him. "Hey, I'm trying to give him some room for doubt."
"Don't." Jenna turned back to me. "You should get changed and come downstairs. Dinner's almost ready."
I grinned. "You cooked?"
"Do you want food poisoning?" Uncle Nate asked in turn, only to get elbowed in the stomach by Jenna but he grabbed her arm and twisted it around, turning her around to face him. Jenna burst into a fit of giggles, the two mirrored each other almost falling on top of the other.
I stared blankly at the two and took a step back, trying not to get caught up in whatever it was they were doing. Jenna's cheeks were flushed pink and for a moment they both had forgotten I was still there.
When they were done laughing, I asked. "So dinner?"
"Oh. Right. Your mom cooked." Jenna got off the floor and pulled uncle Nate up who was still laughing. Oh god, they were like kids. "She said she's making de-si food and I'm excited. I haven't had your mom's cooking in years."
"The last time you had it, she made Malaysian food." Uncle Nate pointed out.
"Well, whatever she makes this time, it's gotta be better than takeout and prepackaged microwave dinner."
"Oh god. How have you been living?"
"Carefully." Jenna grinned and I sighed, sliding past the two to get to the kitchen.
The kitchen was loud, warm and smelled so good that I swear I heard my stomach rumble. Mom and the chef who I swore I had told to take days off were busy over the stove. The chef heaved up a large pot of rice and placed it on the floor before he began plating it into a dish.
Mom moved quickly and started plating two more dishes simultaneously. "The raita's done, right?"
"I just need to check for salt and I'll put it into a serving bowl at the end." The chef said.
Our chef was an old graying man who was soft-spoken with deep tan skin and deep wrinkles from his age named. He never really said much unless he had something to say but he was friendly as long as nobody interrupted him while cooking and he was a really good cook.
"Mom?" I called out softly.
She perked up at my voice and turned on her heels. Oven mitts on her hands even though she wasn't using the oven. Her lips stretched into a thin smile but her eyes looked pained.
"Oh just in time. I'm almost done with dinner. It'll be on the table in ten minutes. Go get changed and meet us in the main dining hall."
"The main dining hall?" She nodded. I frowned.
That dining hall hadn't been used in years. Even our annual family Christmas dinners whenever it was in Mystic Falls were held in the kitchen dining or the conservatory dining hall among the plants.
"I thought it would be nice for us all to have dinner there. Besides, your dad and I have to return to Havensbrook tomorrow so I thought why not?"
"It's just," I didn't know what to say.
I wanted to ask her how she was and if she was okay. I wanted to tell her about Isobel's death but instead I just asked her what the menu was for dinner.
Mom smiled brighter, taking off the mitts. "Well, I made vegetable pulao–was going to try to make khichri but I didn't have the right ingredients and I don't think Jenna would like that. I also made chicken korma, blackened mutton because we didn't have beef, fried pomfret with lime and chili and garlic pickles that I got from a colleague."
I groaned. "You know I don't like fish."
Mom's smile became tighter and her eyes narrowed. "You're going to eat what I made, okay."
I couldn't argue against that, not in front of the chef who was still listening. I didn't want to embarrassingly get told off in front of him or anyone.
Mom untied her apron. "I spent 5 hours making all of this and you're complaining."
"I'm not complaining."
"Uh-huh. I'm sure you're not."
She hung up the apron and turned back to me. "You know you have a curfew right?"
"I came back before my curfew."
"But were you going to stay out late if your dad and I weren't here?"
"...No." I answered slowly.
Mom narrowed her eyes on me again. "You hesitated." She spat out with a smile on her face.
"Mom!"
"Don't take that tone with me. I'm just asking for you to be honest. That curfew's there for your own safety and with Isobel–" She let out a deep pained sigh. "You know what I mean. She's a vampire, a monster. She got your aunt and father killed. All she had to do was not call my dad to pick Sonia and her up that night from the Flemming house but no she couldn't even do that."
I chewed the bottom off my lip, conflicted whether I should tell her or not. But she wouldn't really listen, would she? Probably not.
"Anyways, go get changed and tell Nate and Jenna help your dad set the table." She added when she was done.
I nodded and was about to leave when I stopped. "…can we talk?"
The apron in her hand was scrunched up as she glanced over her shoulder to check on the chef. He took the hint and quickly exited the room with a cart full of dishes to go set the table.
"Right now?" She questioned, her hands on her hips. A hint of nervousness in her voice betrayed her feelings. "I think we can wait."
We could but the longer I didn't tell her, the more she'd hate herself when I did tell her.
"I don't think we can." I said softly. "It's about Isobel…"
"Isobel." She echoed back, her eyes dimmed as she pulled out a chair and sat down. "What did she do this time?"
Sucking in a breath, I placed my hands on the island counter, my nails almost digging into the marble.
"Isobel is…dead, mom." I waited for her to react, to cry or to argue but instead when I looked up.
Her eyes were wide and distant like she wasn't there. Her right hand rubbing her throat, trying to get rid of a lump in her throat. She bit the bottom of her lips and nodded.
The ticks of the clock grew louder but mom didn't budge or say a single word about Isobel. She just sat there.
"...Isobel…dead." I heard her mumble under her breath after a while.
She swallowed the oncoming tears and I had to back away to give her some space. She sensed me moving and looked up at me with a sad smile.
"...I'm the only one left." The pain was evident in her voice and I didn't know what to say. Isobel was the last link to her childhood and she was gone.
That was the last thing she'd say about Isobel that night. With a glance to the clock, she sprung back into action, shooing me away to get changed and hurry back downstairs for dinner..
She was quiet at dinner, occasionally joining in to tease Jenna and my uncle but distant most of the time. I caught her looking every now and then in silence with wide eyes.
I knew Isobel's death was a shock to her. It was a shock to me. I didn't see it coming, maybe if I had, I could've stopped her.
But how could I go against the compulsion of an Original?
Note: Thank you to everyone for their patience with random update schedule and the reviews. I loved reading them and some of them were very sweet and motivating.
