Chapter 24: Moonlight
I hesitated outside the Boarding House and stared at the door. Uncle Nate tugged at my sleeve and beckoned me to go in. For once, he was actually on board with something but this time, I didn't feel like getting involved.
I gave in and decided to follow him inside. Elena met me in front of the parlor and the two of us quietly caught up. I was only here because of her and my uncle.
"What do you know about the Lockwoods being werewolves?" Damon asked once everyone was seated. He looked at Alaric while only nodding his head in our direction.
No hello or how are you, just straight to the point. I held my tongue and said nothing, resisting the urge to make a snarky comment. I promised myself to be on my best behavior and avoid conflict as much as possible.
"Shouldn't they be more knowledgeable on this?" Alaric looked at me and my uncle while I looked away.
"The only thing I know is that they have major anger issues." I folded my arms and leaned back. I really shouldn't be there. I told them that I wanted out but here I was because of Elena's incessant begging.
"No way. Impossible." Damon sat up in his seat, sitting straight. "Way too Lon Chaney."
Stefan scrunched up his brows, turning to his brother. "Is it?"
"Anything's possible at this point. We have witches, vampires and whatever the hell I am, in this town—werewolves aren't completely out there." I'd rather keep my mind open to possibilities than be caught off guard.
"Do you hear yourself? Damon glanced at Stefan and me while Elena tried to think about her stance. "I've been on this planet for hundred and sixty-some-odd years, never came across one. If werewolves exist then where the hell are they?"
"So? Just because you and Stefan haven't met a werewolf doesn't mean they're not there."
"Over a hundred years is enough time to meet everything there is to meet."
"Hmm. Debatable."
"It's not."
"Okay." I leaned towards Damon. "Not to be that person but you couldn't even find Katherine." Stefan held back a smile as Elena snorted before covering her mouth.
"Wow." Damon tried to argue back but he was stumped. He knew I was right but he was stubborn and wouldn't admit it. "That's one person against a whole species."
I rolled my eyes and leaned back into my seat. "I'm just keeping an open mind. If the Lockwoods are werewolves, then I guess we have more things to worry about than Katherine."
Uncle Nate sighed loudly reminding us all that he decided to join us that day. "Ava and Stefan have a point. Maybe werewolves are out there, maybe the Lockwoods are werewolves."
"You know Mason." Stefan remembered.
"What's he like?" Damon asked. "I'm sure if he was a werewolf you'd have noticed."
"I wouldn't. I know he's hot-headed like his brother…actually, now that I think about it, he's pretty strong. Strong enough to almost beat me in an arm wrestle. He got stronger too after this one accident…"
Stefan and Damon shared a look while Alaric looked confused. "And that's remarkable because?"
"Because the Fitzroys aren't regular humans either." Damon pointed out.
"Yeah. Nate's a warlock and Ava's…well something."
"Well, there's also the fact that their entire family are supernatural hunters." Stefan chimed in.
"Yeahh…"
I snorted and threw my head back. Alaric's thoughts were a haze of confusion. "He doesn't get it."
"Are you reading my mind?" I shrugged in response. I couldn't help it sometimes. "Can someone please explain to me what I'm missing?" Elena nodded along as well, she was confused as well.
"Well, I guess it's time for a quick history lesson." I looked at my uncle.
Uncle Nate took that as his que to give the summarized backstory of our family. "Our family was started by a bastard son of an English king—hence the name 'Fitzroy'—son of the king. He was blessed or cursed—depends how you look at it—by a witch with a mark that imbued him with supernatural strength, speed and reflexes along with the ability to sense vampires. He along with a few others with the same abilities were basically given the life goal of hunting vampires."
I picked up where he left off and carried on. "His descendants—that's us—we inherited most of the traits of the progenitor except the mark."
"Over the years, our abilities diluted but we still remained above average humans."
"That explains a lot." Alaric commented.
"What about the mark?" Stefan looked curiously at me and my uncle who stood behind me. "How come that wasn't passed along the bloodline?"
"Nobody knows. The witch wasn't exactly clear on the spell." I sighed. It was true, no one in my family was sure about the true purpose of the mark and what it was for.
Uncle Nate looked at his wrist watch and then glanced at Stefan. He had to go soon. He had a meeting with his thesis advisor in a few hours and he needed to drive all the way to Duke before it was too late. "Although it does show up from time to time, we don't really think about it much." He glanced at his wrist watch again.
Stefan and Damon nodded in response. "Back to Lockwoods and werewolves." Damon reminded us why we were really here. If I didn't know any better I'd say he was a little unnerved by werewolves.
Alaric looked up at Damon and leaned forward. "Why do you suspect the Lockwoods?" He questioned. "Nate's known them longer and he never suspected anything."
"Because vervain didn't affect the mayor at Founders' Day but the Gilbert device did and it affected his son Tyler." Damon looked at Stefan.
"And at the school carnival his uncle Mason exhibited inhuman behavior when he fought with one of the carnival's workers." Stefan added.
I raised my hand like I was in a classroom and Alaric nodded in my direction. "Okay but I was also affected by the device." I reminded them. I was just not at the same time as the others.
Stefan and Damon shared a look before Stefan clasped his hands together as he tried to recall that night. "You were affected but not at the same time."
"I feel like I missed something." Damon pressed.
"Ava lost control of her magic a minute or two before the device went off." Alaric answered.
"That's weird but you're weird anyway."
"Gee. Thanks." I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms before glaring at him. "Anyways, Mr Lockwood, the mayor being affected. What does that mean?"
Stefan agreed with his brother before turning back to Alaric. "Suggests he's some sort of a supernatural entity."
"Isobel's research could help us figure out what he is…was." Elena looked hopefully at our history teacher who sighed.
Alaric leaned forward and looked at us. It still pained him to remember his ex-wife and I didn't blame him. Isobel changed and not for the better. "Well, all her things are still at Duke. I mean her office is still there. She's technically still missing.
"So can we get access to it?" Damon went right to the point. He paused and glanced at me. "If not. We can just try and compel our way through or have Ava do it."
"Do I get a say in this?" I asked.
Who made him the leader of this little group? And why was he calling all the shots? Just because he and his brother are a little pretty didn't mean they got to tell me what to do.
"No." Damon and my uncle said at the same time. I looked at him and pursed my lips.
Traitor.
My uncle shrugged in response. He was only here because of two people: Jenna and Mason, his childhood best friends, two very different people who hardly knew each other. My uncle was the only common link the two had. I get where he was coming from but I didn't want to be here but I was also really curious about werewolves.
"Look Ric, we need to know what we are dealing with." Damon went back to the topic while Alaric was trying to think. "If this wolfman thing is true, I've seen enough movies to know it's not good."
"I'll make a few calls and see what I can do." Alaric quietly said before he got up and left.
"Well I guess I'll see guys at Duke." Uncle Nate got up and started heading towards the front door.
I stared after him, almost tempted to ask him to take me home before he left but if he did, he'd run late. So I guess I'd just walk home even if it took me twenty minutes.
"Don't tell me you wanna bail on us now?" Damon glanced at me as I shook my head in response. He looked like he wanted to say something else but I didn't let him.
I ignored him and looked down at my phone. I wanted to bail but my curiosity over Isobel's research won.
I parked my car in Elena's driveway while Damon stood next to his car waiting. He waved at me when I got out. I looked away. It was complicated between us or maybe I was overcomplicating things. Caroline's situation had put us a few steps back and I didn't know how to act around him without losing my temper. I'd feel bad after for some reason.
"You know it's not too late to back out—you did say you wanted a break." Damon said, leaning against his car as I dug through the trunk of mine.
I glanced at him and pursed my lips, not knowing if he was mocking me or being thoughtful. It sucked I couldn't read his mind.
"You said I'm a hypocrite, which isn't a complete lie." I pointed out with a quiet sigh.
I paused, noticing the crossbow and bow. I had to pick one. I decided with the small crossbow. Picking up the crossbow, I placed it in my messenger bag and put away the bow. I just needed to make sure I had enough arrows for the crossbow.
Damon walked over to my car. The gravel crunched loudly beneath his boots as he came to a stop next to me. "You're avoiding Caroline."
I stiffened and tried to avoid his gaze. He flashed in front of me and repeated his statement. Obviously I denied it so he repeated it again and again until finally I had enough.
"Yes! I'm avoiding her. I don't know what to say and even if I do figure out what to say, I don't know how I'm gonna get close to her without her trying to rip my head off. Stefan said it's best if I give her some time to settle."
"Well he's not wrong."
"I know he's not wrong. It's only been a few weeks since that night."
"I mean it's natural to feel guilt but you have to remember if that was you—you'd be dead, not a vampire."
"Better to be dead than live like a vampire."
Damon's face paled as he tried to imagine a scenario where it was me who died. He tightened his jaw and his eyes hardened. His body trembled a little as he opened and closed his mouth, trying to find the words to answer me.
But before he could, Elena followed by Stefan.
"Are we interrupting something?" Stefan asked, glancing between me and Damon.
I only noticed then how close we were. I quickly parted from him and walked to the back door of the car, leaving the front seat for Alaric. Damon said nothing instead, he kept his eyes on me like I would disappear if he blinked.
"Hey." I waved at Stefan who wanted back. "How's things going?"
"Still the same but she's showing some improvement, she's settling down a little." I could imagine Caroline being the same as the night she turned, hysterical and in denial of her new state of being and suddenly I felt terrible. "You should at least see her once before—"
I sighed and shook my head. It was my fault she was like that. If I didn't leave her alone, she wouldn't have died. "I don't think she wants to see me, Stefan."
"You can stand outside the house in the sun and—"
"Look, I appreciate the optimism but it's just—I…"
"She feels guilty that Caroline's a vampire." Damon finished for me. "Though it's not exactly her fault or mine—for once."
I had to agree. What happened to Caroline was neither our faults. It was tragic, he gave her blood because I couldn't heal Caroline and Katherine killed her because she couldn't get to me.
I said nothing for a moment and let the two brothers talk before I turned to Stefan again. Even though I didn't feel like visiting Caroline, in fear I'd want her dead or she'd try to kill me or maybe the guilt would resurface, I still wanted to know how she was doing. "Keep me updated on Caroline, please."
"I will. She needs a daylight ring."
I nodded. I was still a little apprehensive about the daylight ring and I know Bonnie would be too. "Bonnie won't agree to it." Caroline did almost kill someone. "I'd ask uncle Nate but—"
"He's already at Duke. Bonnie's our only option."
"But it's for Caroline, I'm sure she'll come around."
"You think she'll come around? She looked pretty devastated that night and with what happened to her grams and all…"
"I'd like to hope."
I smiled and nodded. I mouthed 'thanks' before getting into the car while leaving space next to me for Elena who was kissing her boyfriend goodbye. She took an awful long time with that.
Damon got in and started the car. Alaric was already in the front. I looked at the window and plugged in my headphones before shutting my eyes with my head on the window.
The ride to Duke was insufferable. Damon and Elena were just too much. Alaric kept glancing at me to intervene but I just couldn't. I felt too tired from sleepless nights of training to bother with the two.
"Oh my god. If I have to hear you two bicker one more time, I will actually throw myself out of this car right this second." I gripped the door and glanced at the two.
Damon laughed. "You wouldn't dare."
"At this point I'll do anything for you to shut up." I grumbled while putting back my headphones into my ears. "Stop provoking Elena and Elena stop talking to him if he annoys you so much—he killed Jeremy, we know but he's alive."
"Thank you!"
"I wasn't defending you but I'm tired of this." I pointed out. Elena sighed loudly and tried to argue. "Yes, I know he didn't see the ring—you don't have to say it again."
Elena glared at Damon. "Without the ring Jeremy would be dead."
"But he's not. We know Damon's a terrible person, what else is new? Now, can we please have some quiet?" I almost begged. I glanced at Elena and Damon with a look that I was not messing around.
The two shut up immediately and turned away from each other. I saw Alaric smile before he turned on the radio. Damon was not happy and neither was Elena. I had to stop myself from glaring at her. Her thoughts were too loud and it was giving me a headache, at least the radio and music from my headphones dulled her inner voice a little.
Alaric stopped in front of a building on the Duke campus and led us through some halls. "So Isobel was officially employed by the anthropology department given that most paranormal phenomena are rooted in folklore."
It was exactly how I imagined. There were posters and tapestries on the walls about folktales and stuff related to the course. Some of it looked interesting.
In front of the office, a woman was going through a drawer. She didn't notice us at all before Alaric went ahead and introduced himself. "Excuse me, hi. I'm Alaric Saltzman, I called earlier."
The woman looked at us and smiled politely before nodding. "Uh, of course." The woman put away her things and turned to Alaric to give him her full attention. "I'm Vanessa Monroe, research assistant. Comparative Folklore." She examined us, her eyes lingered on Elena.
I narrowed my eyes at her as she walked off to get the lights. She made some comments before leaving but her gaze was on Elena. I didn't care to listen to her other words.
"Ava?" Elena called out and I nodded, gesturing her to go ahead.
Damon took her place next to me. He must've noticed my lack of focus. "You okay sunshine?"
"Vanessa." I quietly said her name. "She's staring at Elena a lot."
"Elena's Isobel's daughter." He pointed out.
I nodded. "Did Alaric even tell her about Isobel having a daughter?" He paused to think before shaking his head.
Vanessa was acting suspicious. We both knew that.
We shared a look before I turned away, finally hearing Vanessa's thoughts with Damon watching me closely.
"Impossible."
"Shit. She shouldn't be here."
"She's not alone."
"It can't be."
"Vampires."
"Katherine Pierce…Damon Salvatore."
"Are they going to kill me?"
"I need to kill her."
"Ava?" Elena called out to me. "Hey—" I pushed her out the way just as Vanessa came back, carrying a crossbow. She aimed it and shot it without hesitation at Elena.
I shut my eyes, expecting to be shot. Hey, at least I had my bloodstone. But I didn't feel anything. I felt as if a shadow had covered me. Carefully I opened my eyes to find Damon's face in front of mine, trapping me between the bookshelf nearby with an arrow sticking out of him.
"You really need to give me a warning before you do something." Damon hissed out while covering me.
Alaric ran towards Vanessa and tackled her while Elena looked at us in shock. Damon collapsed into my arms.
I sat up and dragged Damon over to some seats, shoving him into the seats before breathing out.
"Guess you owe me again." I shook my head and looked over at Alaric who was busy keeping an eye on Vanessa. "Mind pulling it out? Ava? Elena?"
Elena glanced at me and I didn't really have a choice. He took a hit for me which was really meant for Elena. Ugh. This was annoying.
I decided to pull it out. I walked over and leaned over Damon. He stiffened at my touch. "Relax, I'm not gonna kill you." I quietly murmured, breathing out and reaching out for the arrow before pulling it out with a tug.
He grunted and groaned, standing up while I examined the arrow. "Standard hunting arrows. Kinda lame." I laughed.
Alaric and Elena looked at me as they collectively shook their heads. I shrugged. What? I couldn't comment on Vanessa's poor choice of weapons.
"That bitch is dead." Damon declared, on his way to kill Vanessa.
I grabbed his arm and pulled him back as Elena came to block his way. I didn't want to spend my evening cleaning up blood and getting rid of a corpse. I glanced at Vanessa who looked hysterical, Alaric had to take her to the other room to calm down.
Yeah, people would notice her death, not to mention she was related to Isobel, who was still legally missing. It wouldn't look good for Isobel's research assistant to end up dead after this visit.
"You're not gonna kill her." Elena stated, folding her arms in front of her chest.
"Watch me."
"You touch her, I will never speak to you again."
I looked at Elena and blinked. That was the lamest threat I've ever heard. I had to take a moment to just make sure it was real and it was. Damon might have some feelings for her but I knew it wasn't enough for him to reconfigure his whole personality.
Damon slowly chuckled before turning around. "What makes you think that has any power over me?" He questioned. "Because I took an arrow in the back for you? You are severely underestimating yourself here. I didn't even do it for you. I did it for Ava." He glanced at me and I looked away, don't look at me. I'm not involved in this—I just don't want another person dead and another corpse to get rid of.
"Ava agrees with me."
"I do." I answered quietly.
"She hasn't asked me to not kill Vanessa." Damon countered.
"I'm literally holding you back." I looked down at my hand on his arm. He stiffened and breathed out before I let go. "You're not killing her, I'd rather not spend my evening getting rid of another corpse."
"She attacked you."
"Technically she tried to attack Elena because she thought Elena was Katherine."
"You read her mind."
"Then I pushed Elena out of the way. If anyone should want her dead it's 'Lena." I gestured to Elena. "Or me."
"He's not gonna listen to you." Elena chimed in. "We're speaking to a psychotic mind…who snaps and kills people impulsively." She walked over to me and looked up at Damon who narrowed his eyes down on her. Oh god, she was really pushing him. "Fine, go ahead, do whatever you want."
"You're being manipulative."
I sighed loudly, looking between the two. Elena was back at it again, trying her best to get killed but I was not in the mood. "Can you two give it a rest? We get it—you two can't stand each other and I get it. Elena has a reason but please don't start now, not today at least." I pulled Elena away from him and started to walk away.
"So that's a yes. I can go ahead and ki—"
"Damon." I lightly threatened, and walked up to him. He had an amused smile on his face. I brought my hand forward and an orb of light swirled around my hand but he caught my hand before the lights could completely form.
He leaned down to my ears, his lips grazing my ears as the cold chill of death made me shiver. "I'd rather you stay awake for the whole trip." He stood back straight. "You know, to make sure, Elena doesn't accidentally get herself killed. Isn't that why you're here? Besides I know you might not go through with it."
I scoffed and walked off, not wanting to hear him speak anymore. Elena followed.
Opening the door to the other door, I stepped into the room where Vanessa was calming down while Alaric kept a watch on her. I held the door open for Elena and then closed it on Damon's face but he caught it before it hit him and grinned at me mockingly. I know it was childish but I couldn't help it.
Elena went straight to Vanessa and introduced herself. "I'm Elena Gilbert, Isobel's daughter and Katherine's descendant." She turned to Damon and pointed at him. "This is Damon Salvatore who you just shot."
"I'd be extra nice right now." Damon commented as I rolled my eyes. He was still pissed but he needed to give it a rest. We needed Vanessa.
"And this is Ava Fitzroy, my best friend."
"Ignore Damon." I said while waving to Vanessa. Despite her chaotic mind, she seemed nice, scared but nice.
Vanessa "Fitzroy? You're—"
"Yes." I answered without letting her finish. I knew what she was going to say anyways, I didn't have time for chitchat.
"Look, we need your help, okay?" Elena took the lead. "We need to see all of Isobel's research, anything related to Mystic Falls."
Vanessa shivered as she kept her eyes on Elena. I sighed and walked up to her. "She's not Katherine. If you know anything from Isobel's research on my family then I would know."
"They look so…alike." She mumbled as I bobbed my head. Yes, we know. Skip to the part where you help us already. "I just—"
The door opened with a loud bang, Vanessa and Elena jumped. The two glanced at each other before turning to the door. My uncle quietly apologized to the door.
"Sorry I'm late, I had a meeting with my thesis advisor. That took a whi—" He cut himself off when he noticed the stares.
Vanessa looked at Alaric in confusion. "Is he—"
"Yes." Alaric answered with a tired breath. "This Nathaniel."
Uncle Nate waved at Vanessa before taking his place next to me. "Nathaniel Fitzroy, Biomedical Engineering."
"Vanessa Monroe, research assistant, Comparative Folklore." Her eyes wandered to me. "Are you two related?"
"She's my niece." I waved in response.
"Okay. A vampire and two Fitzroys working together, Isobel didn't prepare for this." She muttered before ushering us into Isobel's office. She left to go get files we needed.
Uncle Nate and Alaric volunteered to help her and left the room while I decided to separate from Elena and Damon. I found a spot near the bookshelves and pulled an armchair next to it, taking a seat.
I needed space. I waited for the three to return while I checked up on Caroline. Stefan had been texting me since we left and so far, Caroline was almost the same. She wasn't happy at all and was avoiding Matt. Poor Matt. He didn't deserve any of this, nor did Caroline.
At least, Bonnie came around. It took Stefan some time to convince her but finally she came around. Well, she did call me earlier. I had to text her instead. I just hoped Caroline wouldn't accidentally kill someone after getting a daylight ring.
I was concerned about Matt most of all. With Caroline being a new-born vampire, would she be able to control her urges around him? I didn't know. I remembered vividly how Vicki tried to kill Jeremy at the Halloween carnival.
"Here." The trio returned with stacks of boxes filled to the brim with papers and files. Vanessa slammed her stack onto a table before Alaric did the same. Uncle Nate placed his stack on the floor and took out the files from it, placing them on the table.
I got up and gathered with the rest to go over the files. There were a lot of files.
Uncle Nate and Alaric grabbed a handful from the boxes. The two found a corner and started going over their bunch while leaving me, Elena and Damon with the pile on the table.
Vanessa disappeared again before reappearing with another box. "This box tracks the arrival of Katherine Pierce to Mystic Falls in 1864." She dumped the content of the box on the table as Elena and I tried to get through them.
"Is that all of it?" Elena asked, looking at the stuff on Mystic Falls. There wasn't a lot compared to her other research.
"All that I'm aware of."
"Here." Elena passed a few stalks of vervain she found in the box over to Vanessa.
She carefully took it from Elena and held it in front of her. "Does vervain really work?" She looked at me and Elena.
"Yes." I answered, gesturing to my ears. I didn't really need vervain but the vervain earrings I got for Christmas went with my outfit.
"Nope, not at all." Damon answered after a second.
"Says the vampire." I commented lightly with an amused smile while going through a pile of files.
"Can he hear us?"
"No, that would be creepy." Elena shook here head, digging through the box.
"Can he read minds too?" Vanessa questioned.
"No, that he can't do."
Damon chuckled quietly. "No, but Ava can." He pointed at me.
"Damon!" I hissed.
"You can read minds…" Vanessa marveled at me. "So you knew that…I was going to…" I nodded. "Oh my god. I'm so sorry."
I waved her off and carried on with my task. "It's fine. No one got hurt—"
"Right. I'm no one." Damon complained, looking at me like he expected me to feel bad. I shrugged in response.
"No one important." I corrected myself while glaring at Damon and flicking through some files.
"That's so fascinating. What else can you do?"
"She can—"
I slammed a book on the table. Vanessa and Elena along with uncle Nate and Alaric flinched at the loud noise. "Ignore him, he's just…ugh."
Damon laughed before he went back to searching. Annoyed, I pulled at a book underneath the pile but it wouldn't budge. I kept trying and trying until it moved.
A thick book fell from the pile of boxes, nearly hitting my feet. I caught it before it fell and carefully picked it up.
'Petrova'
I don't know why but I had a feeling this was it. Without anyone noticing, I quickly texted my uncle about it before putting my phone away. I slipped out of the room and went to a separate corner, placing the book on the table.
Flicking through the pages, I stopped at a page where a familiar woman looked up from the pages.
Katherine.
I closed the book and looked at the title again. It read 'Petrova' but Katherine was a Pierce, unless…
Unless she changed her name before coming to Mystic Falls. The puzzles started to fall into place then. Katherine. In my visions, everyone around the Fitzroy family of then, called her a 'no name orphan', I thought it was an insult. Maybe it wasn't completely untrue. They must've done some digging back then. That might explain Katherine's hostility towards Lydia.
"Find anything?" Uncle Nate slipped into the spare room I was in. I don't know how he managed to get there unnoticed and I didn't question it.
I held up the book. "Petrova. It's weird but Katherine's picture is in here, well, a sketch of her anyway along with people who eerily look like her."
"Wasn't she a Pierce?"
"That's what I thought but maybe…I don't know anymore. Why would she change her name? It says 'Katarina Petrova' here."
"Why does anyone change their name? Unless…"
"Unless she was hiding something." I finished. "You don't think…no."
"It's possible." He grabbed the book off my hands and turned around to leave. "I'll be back in ten minutes, I'll photocopy the pages, get some physical and digital copies for us to examine later."
"Good idea. Some parts seem to be in a Slavic language."
"It's Bulgarian, I think. I could be wrong."
"I could send it to your aunt Evie to translate."
"Do it."
"What happened to staying out of this?"
"Katherine Pierce has a grudge against our family, there's no saying what she could do if she ever returns."
"Point taken. I'll be back."
Uncle Nate came back later and handed me back the book before leaving. I made my way back to Isobel's office and slipped the book where I found it, planning to tell Elena later of my findings. For now, I could look around for something else.
"Hey, where'd you and Nate go?" Elena had noticed my absence and decided to come and find me when I came back.
"Out. I needed some air and he had to take a call." I answered, sliding into a seat opposite Vanessa.
"You needed some air?" Damon echoed back while passing by. "Come on, I know you can come up with something better than that."
I said nothing and started going through the pile in front of me. I stopped. This pile had nothing on vampires or werewolves or even Katherine.
"Vanessa?" I called out to her. She was busy in a conversation with Alaric, when she heard me calling she turned around. "Can you come over here for a sec?" She nodded and walked over to me, I led her to a small corner and gestured to the pile. "Do you mind explaining what this is? Cause I'm a little confused over this."
"Oh. Sorry, that's actually my research—lemme just—"
"No, it's fine." I waved her off and held on tight to those sheets of paper. "I just wanted to know a little more about this?"
"It's just Isobel had an interest in vampires, I kind of branched off from it—like did you know the earliest 'vampire-like' folklore actually came from vikings."
"Vikings?"
Vanessa bobbed her head down in agreement. "The draugrs, vampiric creatures who had risen from their graves. They're more similar to revenants or wights than vampires but I'd like to imagine them as something in between."
"So do they drink blood?" Vanessa nodded. "Weakness to sunlight?"
"Not as adverse to typical vampires—sunlight can't exactly kill them but according to folktales it can weaken them."
"Wooden stakes to the heart?"
"They're immune to most weapons."
"Then how do you kill it?"
"Well, some folktales suggest cutting their heads off and burning their bodies as a sure-way of making sure the dead stay dead."
"That's so interesting."
She smiled and looked excited to find someone who actually cared about her research. It was clear she admired Isobel but there was always that ambition for recognition in everyone, Vanessa was not an exception.
"Isobel mostly focused on modern definition of vampires or only looked into American with some European vampiric folktales—mostly English, German and you know the usual—which is interesting but when you start digging into the folklore of other places, it's so much more interesting especially when it starts connecting to each other—I'm sorry I'm just going on and on."
"No. No. It's interesting. It really is. So do you focus primarily on vampiric folklore?"
"Honestly. No. I did this all, hoping Isobel would be found but…yeah. My topic of interest is actually fairies."
I didn't know what to say. If Damon thought werewolves were ridiculous, I thought the same about fairies even though that was Bonnie's number one theory on what I could be.
"Oh. That's—"
"Kinda lame. I know. It's not as interesting as Isobel's topic but—hey, it's something."
"What matters is whether you find it interesting."
"I do. There's less on them than vampires—I do like research so it's fun digging up. Do you wanna—"
She gestured to her desk behind the door. Damon glanced at me curiously from where he stood, I brushed him off.
"It's a little messy around here but here." She handed me a bunch of files to look through and I took them. It was heavy, heavier than Isobel's stuff. "There's a lot of stuff in European folktales about them, celtic myths about the fair folk, unseelie, seelie, changelings—sorry I'm rambling."
I shook my head. "It's fine. I'm just trying to scan through them but I think it's better to listen to you." I placed a few files and sheets of papers on her desk, taking a seat on a empty spot.
Vanessa beamed brightly before carrying on. "Well, fairies or faes in most myths are known to be mischievous and sometimes malevolent creatures. They're often mistaken for spirits, angels and sometimes even Gods."
"So they're evil?"
"Not exactly evil…they're described as tricksters in most cases and they're not exactly a monolith of species. What we think of fairies we think of either tiny human-like beings with wings who can do magic like Tinkerbell but that's more like pixies and pixies are sometimes categorized as a type of faes or sometimes we think of them as unnaturally beautiful human-like creatures that have striking features and are capable of doing magic."
"Which is more accurate?"
"Nobody knows but most lean into the regular pretty human-like creatures who use their beauty to bewitch and steal away people but mostly children."
"Changelings." I remembered reading about them in my family library.
"Changelings." Vanessa confirmed. "They steal away human children and replace them with their own. Parents don't know until it's too late or they never find out."
"That's…tragic."
"Hence why they're known as tricksters. Some folktales also said that they're known to steal life and energy from humans."
I stilled. "What?" Vanessa stared at me curiously. I tried to smile politely and tell her to carry on but it was like I couldn't. I did something like that once but that was just a coincidence, I thought, laughing to myself. "Sorry I was thinking about something else. Continue."
She wasn't convinced. "Right." She gave me a look before folding her arms around herself. "I was going to mention a poem by John Keats, 'La Belle Dame Sans Merci' which best encapsulates how haunting fairies could be, it follows a knight who is seduced by a fairy and his life is slowly drained from him, at the end it's revealed he is just one of the many victims—it's actually interesting to note that sometimes fairies and vampires would be mistaken for one another."
Fairies were bad, that's what I was hearing and I didn't like it especially if I was one. "So they're all bad." Oh this was not good for me. I shouldn't have asked.
She shook her head. "Not necessarily. In Scottish Lore, fairies are said be divided into courts; seelie and unseelie. Seelie were the more benevolent but a little dangerous while unseelie were malevolent. There's Persian folklore of peris."
"Perries? I've heard about them…from a friend."
"It's per-is." She corrected me. "I'm surprised you did. Most people outside of the Middle East and South Asia don't really talk about them but peris are not malevolent creatures. They are kinda like their European counterparts, described as mischievous, beautiful creatures made of light—so not all of them are bad."
Beings of light. I could control light, the pieces were fitting into the puzzle. Vanessa carried on but I wasn't exactly listening. "There's also faes which include many other creatures like selkies, I'd love to go over it sometime."
"Um. I'll think about it but just out of curiosity, what would you do if they were real…fairies and you met them?"
"I'd run."
"I'm sorry what? You just came across a vampire." I turned to look where we left Damon.
Vanessa shook her head. "Yeah but from the stuff I've read on fairies, I'd run if I met one. Vampires will kill you, fairies will either keep you alive and make you miserable or they'll slowly agonize you to death. They're dangerous. They steal people. Worst of all there's little protection against them."
"They have no weaknesses?"
"They do but most accounts are too different from each other to confirm them so it's hard to confirm what works. Some say they're vulnerable to iron, some silver and some say that knowing their real name weakens them or gives a person the ability to control them. Some people even say that like vampires, they also need invitation to get inside homes or they did—that one doesn't have many modern accounts."
"So it's not a weakness."
"I don't know. Remember fairies are very much living beings, different from vampires. I'd like to think they, like humans, evolve to be immune to certain things or even gain new abilities. Again these are all mostly speculations. Any other questions?"
She looked at me expecting me to bombard her with more questions but all the questions I had were more for myself than her. I looked at Vanessa who eagerly awaited my response with twinkling eyes. I felt bad, she thought my curiosity was genuine interest in her work but really I wanted, no, I needed to know what I was before I don't know I hurt someone like Caroline or I hurt myself.
I shook my head with a smile and went back to help Elena but before taking a copy of an abridged version of Vanessa's notes to share with my family. Oh god. I was dreading that conversation.
Was I a changeling?
I wondered.
Probably.
Maybe I was spirited away as a child and I couldn't remember. But if I was then I'm sure my family would've mentioned it or they'd be more overprotective. My parents didn't mind leaving me and my brother alone so I wasn't stolen away or replaced.
That meant I had fairy blood from elsewhere.
Maybe one of my ancestors from my mother's side was a fairy?
I looked at the pile of Isobel's research in front of me. A photo was sticking out from under the pile. Carefully, I lifted the photo up and held it in my hands.
Five people were in the faded color photo. A couple and three girls, two of whom I guessed were their daughters. The third one looked too pale to be related to them. One of the girls looked very familiar. All of them were dressed in what looked like 80s style fashion. I turned the picture over in my hands and behind it was something scribbled out in black ink.
'Mr and Mrs Shaik with Laila, Sonia and Isobel.'
'21.06.1984.'
"Whatcha got there?" I flinched, almost tearing the picture in my hands when Damon crept up behind me. "Woah. Relax, it's just me."
I lightly punched his chest before checking on the photo. "It's a photo of my grandparents, my mom, my aunt and…Isobel."
"Isobel?" I heard Alaric say, walking towards us. I handed him the photo and the three of us huddled over it. Alaric breathed out heavily and shook his head. "I don't think I've seen that look in her eyes."
"She was eight or nine." Damon snorted and took the photo in his hands, waving it our faces. "Kids at that age are perpetually happy."
I shook my head in disagreement. "Not all kids and this might be taken a few years before my grandparents died. I've heard from my mom that Isobel was closer to my grandparents than her own parents."
"That explains why she looks so at home here."
"She must've been devastated when they died." Alaric commented, passing the photo to Elena who just joined us.
Elena shakily held the photo in her hand while my uncle took a peek at the photo. "Wow, she looks a lot like me. I mean, I looked like her at that age." She traced the faces on the photo and came to a stop. "Is that your grandparents and your aunt?" I nodded. "That's your mom?" She pointed to the taller girl in the photo and I nodded.
Uncle Nate reached out and pointed at my grandmother's photo. "What?" Alaric asked.
My uncle took the photo from Elena and put his face close to it. "Am I the only one who's seeing this?" He held out the photo and waved it.
"Noticed what? How similar Ava looks to her grandmother?" Damon folded his arms and narrowed his eyes on grandma Mila's face. "I mean it's no Katherine and Elena…oh."
"What?" I stood on my toes to get a better look at the picture.
"Her eyes." Alaric breathed out. "Are they…glowing?" He glanced at me and then back at the picture. "It's like Ava's when she…" He trailed off when he spotted Vanessa.
It was glowing. Grandma Mila's lips were curled into a mischievous smile while her eyes brightly glowing. It was a blink and you'll miss it type of thing but if anyone looked close enough they'd notice it.
"Maybe there was a problem developing the film." I tried. They all looked at me in disbelief and blinked. I shrugged. I didn't believe a thing I was saying but…
I didn't want to think about it now.
Alaric moved and pulled more photos from the pile. They were all similar. Holidays, breaks and school performances. Most of the photos were with my grandparents. Mr and Mrs Flemming hardly appeared in any of the pictures.
"Isobel mentioned once that her parents were always busy growing up." Alaric mentioned, handing a photo to Elena who walked off with the photos.
She needed space. I understood her. I needed space after the whole conversation with Vanessa. I might be a danger to the people I loved.
Uncle Nate and I shared a look that was not missed by Damon. I was nervous and scared. I don't know if they could tell. My hands felt warm, I squeezed them tight and took a few steps back, returning to my seat in the corner of the room.
Not here. Not now.
I chanted under my breath.
"Hey guys, check this out." Alaric called us over.
He had taken a seat at Isobel's desk and was going through a book, he handed it to Vanessa who scanned the pages.
"There's no record of werewolf mythology in Mystic Falls," Uncle Nate peered over her shoulder and took the book from her hands. "but here are some records of some of the lesser-known legends. Everything from Scandinavian skin-walkers to the Maréchal de Retz." She pointed to the illustration in the book.
"Tonartsliitsii Metslii," Vanessa said. I glanced at my uncle who shrugged in response. "which roughly translates into the 'curse of the sun and the moon'."
"It's Native American." Alaric tried to translate.
"Aztec." Vanessa corrected. "Explains one origin of the werewolf curse traced through Virginia."
She clasped her hands together and took a step back. "The short story: six hundred years ago, the Aztecs were plagued by werewolves and vampires. They terrorized the countryside, made farming and hunting impossible until an Aztec shaman cursed them, making vampires slaves to the sun and werewolves servants of the moon."
"As a result, vampires could only prowl at night and werewolves could only turn on a full moon. When the full moon crests in the sky, whoever's unlucky enough to fall under the werewolf curse turns into a wolf." She finished.
"Can they control the transformation?" Damon stood behind me and I flinched again. He had to place a hand on my shoulders to stop me from jumping.
"It's a curse, Damon." I repeated. "Last anyone checked, curses aren't meant to be controlled."
Vanessa agreed. "If it were a choice, it wouldn't be called a curse. Werewolves will attack humans but instinct and centuries of rivalry have hardwired them to hunt their prey of choice: vampires."
Uncle Nate, Elena, Alaric and I all turned to look at Damon. He let out a laugh of disbelief. I raised my brows and looked away. He was unnerved now.
"Well, if werewolves were hunting vampires, I would know about it." He tried to rationalize.
I gave him a look, trying to remind him of our earlier conversations. He didn't meet my gaze. Coward.
"Not if there aren't that many werewolves left alive. Hundreds of years ago, vampires hunted them almost to extinction."
Uncle Nate turned to Vanessa fast. "Wait. What? How?" Vanessa didn't look like she knew. "I guess it makes sense. Take out your enemies before they take you out."
"Protect themselves came first. Legend has it that a werewolf bite is fatal to vampires."
Oh that was not good. Not good at all. Damon and I looked at each other. For once, he didn't look too good. Oh god. If werewolves were in Mystic Falls, vampires were the least of our concerns.
Uncle Nate shifted on his feet before placing a hand under his chin. He didn't believe her. "You said 'Aztec', right?" She nodded. "I'm sorry but that sounds a little far-fetched."
"Why's that?"
"Well considering the fact that the only relevant vampiric mythos aztec have were the Cihuateteo and they're primarily women. It seems a little out there for there to be a curse on this." He didn't believe her. "Not to mention werewolves are primarily considered part of European folklore and there's some mention of it in Native folklore but that's mostly to do with witches who could shift into wolves."
"Why would witches curse their own?" Elena questioned out-loud.
"Civil conflict?" I offered, turning to her.
She shrugged. "Still. Wouldn't witches work against this so-called curse?"
"I'm aware of these but this curse isn't really that known. It's still being debated among academics." Vanessa sighed and shrugged.
"Can I borrow your notes on that curse and maybe the pictures of the source." Uncle Nate asked.
She scrunched up her brow in confusion. "Um sure but aren't you in Biomed?"
"Biomedical Engineering." He corrected her. "It's for my older sister, this is kind of her stuff. She's an antique curator and former archeologist."
"I'll have these photocopied and emailed to you. It's always nice to hear other opinions."
Damon turned to me and quietly asked. "You think there's a chance she might be wrong?"
I furrowed my brows, watching the exchange between my uncle and Vanessa. "Maybe. I have a feeling that it's mixed."
"Mixed?"
"Her information might be mixed with half-truths."
He blocked my view, standing in front of me. I looked up to him and noticed that he was being serious. He cornered me against the shelves and leaned down. "What made you think that?"
"I don't know. I just have a feeling…" I brushed past him and walked off.
There was something off about some of the things Vanessa mentioned and I didn't think it was her fault. Her translation was fine, I think. Then what was the issue? The source of the myth? It was a small possibility that I didn't think too much of it.
"Hey, you have any research on doppelgangers?" Elena held up a picture of Katherine to Vanessa who looked at it.
"Well, the word means a lot of different things to different cultures, but typically a doppelganger is a living, breathing double of oneself."
"Did Isobel have anything that explained the link between me and Katherine?" Elena and I shared a look and I rolled my eyes. She wanted me to read Vanessa's mind, great.
I stared at Vanessa and tried to dig through her head. Everything I found was what she already told us. Elena looked at me when she was done but I had nothing so I just told her that.
Damon noticed us and came over. "Do you know something, or are you just being yourself?" Elena retorted.
"Well, if I know anything, I'm not gonna tell you, not with that attitude."
"Damon." I warned. "If it's useful, share it. No need to hoard info that could potentially help us all."
He snorted. "Look whose talking."
"You know, friends don't manipulate friends, they help each other." Elena reminded, tugging at my sleeve and dragging me away.
Night had fallen and we were making our way out of the building. Alaric bid Vanessa goodbye and turned to follow my uncle. Vanessa wanted to know more. It was natural for someone like her. I had to secretly do my mind control and make sure she wouldn't spill to anyone that we were here. She wouldn't remember when asked but she'd remember it on her own, forgetting in front of others. It was the most the complex thing I had done so far.
"You were questioning Vanessa a lot." Alaric commented as we got out of the building.
"Can you blame us?" Uncle Nate answered. "Some of Isobel's research was questionable. It's better to be sure than rely on something that's half-true."
"This was kind of a bust." I added in, putting my hands in my pocket. "We already knew most of the stuff she showed us."
Elena sighed. "I just thought we'd find something different, something more instead of this."
I suddenly felt bad. "I mean Vanessa's research was interesting." I tried.
"Really?" She looked at me skeptically with her arms folded against her chest. She didn't believe me. "I could hardly understand a thing especially about those things you showed me—um—dragar?"
"Draugr." Damon corrected her while brushing past me to get to the car. "You seemed a little too interested in Vanessa's research, sunshine."
"Can you blame me? Isobel's was pretty generic and I could've found everything she knew on the internet." I looked at Elena who dragged herself to the car. "No offense."
"None taken. It was pretty useless." She sighed, getting into the car.
Damon didn't look too convinced. "I didn't think it was that useless." He said, looking around before leaning in. "Fairies?"
I trembled a little as I gazed up. "Damon…please…" Keep it yourself for now, I wanted to say those words but for some reason I couldn't.
"My lips are sealed." He tilted my chin up, making me look him in the eye. "You're scared, not like you to be scared." I swatted his hands away and shook my head. "It's okay. You're still going to be the same."
I shook my head. "I don't think so. I don't know." I swallowed and wrapped my arms around me. "What if I'm not? What if I change?"
He let out a laugh. "You won't."
"You don't know that."
"No but I know that you'll still be the same hard-headed, overconfident and smart Ava."
I couldn't help but smile. I wanted to say something. My words were caught in my throat as I looked away. It was strange and I didn't know how I felt about this.
Turning away from him, I went straight to my uncle's car and got in. I needed a nap but first I needed to check on Caroline who at that moment decided to call. She had called many times before and every time, I let her calls go to voicemail.
"...Ava." Caroline quietly called out my name from the other side of the phone. "Is that you?" I made a sound but didn't say anything.
"I'm so sorry." That was the only thing I could say.
Hearing me, she started sobbing. "It's so hard…Matt, I don't know what to do. I think I hurt him. I just wanted things to stay the same. You're ignoring me. Bonnie hates me and now Matt and I…"
I shook my head and put on my seat belt. "Bonnie doesn't hate you and I…I almost killed you, I can't…"
"That was Damon's fault."
"Not all of it. Caroline, did Stefan tell you about me? About my family?"
"But that's not you…you don't think like that. Do you?"
"I don't know. I was raised to kill vampires."
She gasped. "Oh my god. One of my best friends is a witch while the other is a vampire hunter and I'm a vampire." She cried. "This can't get any worse." She sniffed before laughing. "At least you're not ignoring me anymore. Look, I'm sorry as well. I tried to eat you as well but I couldn't help it. It's just you smelled so good—God, that sounds weird but I—"
"It's fine. Caroline, you said that I smelled different."
"Yeah, I know it's weird and I'm not justifying what I did."
I groaned. "That's so not what I meant. I mean—this is super weird—but what did I smell like?"
"I don't know how to explain it but…" She paused to think. "Summer? Maybe Spring? I know it sounds weird but it was like I was in a meadow under the bright sun and it was spring and I had this urge—I'm sorry."
"No. It's fine. I needed to know." I did. I made a note of this in my journal and closed it.
"Please, don't go back to ignoring me. I need you. Stefan's too bossy and he doesn't get me." She sighed. "Please."
I bit my lip and glanced at my uncle who was outside the car, still busy with Alaric and now Vanessa. Caroline was my best friend. I needed her and she needed me. Her mother was a vampire hunter as well. "Fine but you have to follow Stefan's diet."
"Thank you, for giving me another chance." There was a pause and I heard the rustling of the wind behind her. "Anyways, Matt…"
South of England, 1452…
"She's different, father." A girl tugged at her father's sleeve. Her father scowled down at him while his mother covered her face with her long sleeve.
The mother looked down at her youngest in annoyance and signaled for the nurse to take their daughter back to her room.
But the girl didn't budge.
With her cheeks puffed and rosy, she held on tight to his sleeve. Her father moved her hands away and glared at her causing her to flinch.
"Why won't anyone listen to me?" She cried out. "Carmela is not like us."
"Enough!" Her father slammed his goblet of wine onto the dining table and hall silenced. "I will not have you slander your sister any longer."
An older boy with dark hair that matched his mother's parted the crowd of servants and hurried to his younger sister. "Lenore, that's enough." He grabbed her wrist and pulled. "Forgive her, father. She's still in disbelief that Carmela has returned to us."
"It has been over 10 years, Henry. If Lenore cannot come to her senses, I should have the maids pack her bags." The mother spat out, looking at her youngest daughter with disdain. "Lenore is not a child anymore. She is going to be fourteen soon."
Whispers ensued after the words of the lady of the manor. The lord looked unaffected and distant. He didn't care much about his younger daughter and openly favored his sons and his elder daughter, Carmela.
It was no secret that the original disappearance of Carmela was part fault of the nurse and part fault of Lenore. The younger locked her older sister outside their bedroom one night and in the morning, she wasn't found.
The whole manor was turned upside down in search of the eldest daughter. It took a month for Carmela to be found but the poor child only thought it to be a night.
It wouldn't be a lie to say that Lenore was forgiven, even if Carmela had forgiven her. Their eldest brother and heir to their family never forgave her.
"Perhaps we should send her to a nunnery." The eldest said. He sat next to his father and looked uninterested by the regular outbursts of his younger sister.
A girl with long braided hair and jeweled gown hurried into the hall, slowing down in front of the door. "I greet mother and father." She bowed to their parents before sharing a look with her older brother. "Please don't send Lenore to the nunnery."
"But Carmela—"
Carmela smiled, her light brown eyes shone and flashed to pale gold for a split second. "Hugh, I understand you care for me but I think everyone should be nicer to Lenore." She glanced back to smile at her sister who trembled under her gaze.
Murmurs and whispers followed as the eyes of the people in hall all flickered to a pale gold like candles in the wind.
"No! No! Not again." Lenore screamed out, falling to her knees. "Demon!" She shouted.
Carmela rushed towards Lenore. "It's okay. It's okay, everything will be fine." She pulled back and smiled. Her sister blankly nodded but Carmela looked on in pain. She hated doing this but she had no choice.
Her eyes met another and she froze as the chamberlain looked at her. His green eyes turned a pale gold and gleamed with mischief as he held a single finger up to his lips.
She could never tell anyone.
"Viscount Graillon." The Chamberlain snapped his fingers as everyone started to move again. "You have a visitor."
The viscount nodded and dismissed his children. His wife left soon after but not before telling the children to behave. The family dispersed and Carmela broke away from her mother, going the opposite direction.
Carmela lingered near a window next to the nursery. She could feel faint traces of magic from that night all those years ago. She paused when she sensed something.
The chamberlain hurried towards her and grabbed her arm. "What?" He shook his head wildly and gestured out the window.
In his panic, his eyes shifted from green to gold and back and forth.
Outside the window, three stood under the willow tree. Two men and a woman, all dressed like they were nobility but something told Carmela that those people were not people. The woman had long blonde hair, a trait one of the men had but his hair was darker.
"Are they—" She looked at the chamberlain who nodded. "What are they doing here?"
"If I knew I would tell you." He paced down the hall. "We need to leave." He hissed out, being careful to not let them hear. "Your parents will not be pleased."
Carmela laughed and twisted the band around her wrist. The underside had the letter 'K.G' etched onto it. She added it as tribute to the Graillion family. "Mother and father don't care for me."
"They sent me here, did they not?" The chamberlain tugged at her sleeve.
One of the men looked up then. She had good eyesight, much better than anyone else perhaps only the chamberlain was on par with her.
The man had the darkest blue eyes she had ever seen on a human. Yet the moment their eyes met, she knew.
That man and his companions were not human.
Author's note: Edited all of the chapters and deleted the prologues because honestly the plot points in them were discarded and I'd rather delete than confuse people. There's minor changes to some chapters with some scenes being removed along with characters and scenes added in.
Character Renames:
Asher & Scarlett = June & August
Arthur/James = Edmund
Erica/Erika = Rei
That being said, I also took time to research this chapter and boy did it take time. It was interesting and before anyone thinks I spelt Carmela wrong or it's supposed to be something else, it's not. It's gonna come together soon.
