Chapter 31: Can't Fight The Moonlight


The Grill was quiet that afternoon, more quieter than usual. Matt took the time to clean up and take a break while working. With a rag in one hand, he was wiping the tables while I sat near the bar. He was telling me about Caroline. It was clear he still had feelings for her.

"So Caroline opened the door."

"And Tyler was on the other side of the door." Matt finished, wiping a table as I leaned against the bar of the near empty Grill. "They've never been close and you know that."

"Maybe they bonded over being freezed out by you."

"No. What. No. Caroline thinks Tyler is…y'know and Tyler thinks she's too stuck up. No way."

"Come on, Matty. We all grew up together. It was bound to happen—for the two to put their differences aside and make peace."

"He was at her place Ava."

"And you're not her boyfriend, not anymore," I pointed a finger at him. "You don't get to act like the jealous boyfriend, remember, you broke up with her which was your decision and I respect that but you also have to respect Caroline's choices."

"Tyler was at her place. He didn't have a reason." But he did, I just couldn't tell him what exactly the reason was.

"You don't know that. Tyler lost his dad on the same night Caroline almost died, the two have some common ground over there."

"You're not wrong."

I smiled smugly and glanced up at Matt. "I hardly am." He had a fond look on his face as he came over to me and ruffled my hair. Annoyed, I glared up at him. I didn't really mean it. "Hey, this took a lot of effort to do."

He chuckled. "I'm sure it did." The double doors of the Grill opened and naturally Matt checked over to see. Two customers walked in, fully covered. They even had an umbrella with them along with black sunglasses covering their eyes, not exactly very subtle. "So what do you think is up with them?" He carried on.

"I don't know."

I didn't know how I was supposed to break to Matt that his ex-girlfriend was a vampire and his best friend was a werewolf. If I mentioned that I'd have to talk about Bonnie being a witch and then me being a fairy along with Damon and Stefan. I already tried telling him and he didn't believe me.

"You're close to Caroline…and…" He let out a sigh seeing the look on my face. "I should respect her choices."

Honestly, I was not so keen on the two getting back together. It'd be so much easier for me to give my blessings if Caroline was still human—she couldn't help it, I know. It still made things complicated. "She gave you space so now it's your turn to give her space."

"Fine."

Rose and Slater, who had walked in earlier, kept glancing at me. "Can you give me a second?" Matt eyed Rose and Slater with apprehension, clearly he had noticed something. Unfortunately he didn't have time to say anything before he was pulled away for work.

I took that as an opportunity to take a seat at Rose and Slater's table. Awkward glances were traded between the three of us before Slater cleared his throat and began to speak. "Was wondering if you even wanted to talk to us after…"

"I don't blame you two for what Elena did." I cut Slater off, not wanting to hear another useless apology. "It's not like you two told Elena to be a martyr, now did you?"

Rose went silent; she shook her head and let out a sigh. "No, but if I knew I wouldn't have taken her with me and Slater. I was too greedy for an opportunity to walk in the daylight."

"You were." I admitted. "But again I don't blame you. I can't imagine being in your place, living the way you did and even the way you walked in here."

"We didn't exactly have a choice." Slater interjected.

I waved him off. "I know. I know. If I blame you two, I'd blame myself as well considering I could've avoided it."

"You couldn't have." Rose tried to comfort me which was a little odd. The two of us had a very tense and awkward relationship; I didn't even know why though I had a feeling a certain Salvatore brother might be the reason.

"Oh but I could've." I examined the Grill before leaning in closer to Rose and Slater. "I'm a psychic and…a telepath." I carefully revealed. "So I could've stopped her, easily."

"Is there anything you can't do?" Slater was impressed.

"A lot actually."

Rose let out a deep sigh, getting both mine and Slater's attention. "Since you don't blame me, mind putting in a good word for me…us?"

"Damon." She nodded. "I'm sure he'll come around. He knows how reckless Elena is."

"That wasn't why he was mad." Slater looked around before spotting Matt who took his order. He kept a suspicious gaze on Slater before bringing his order and mine, a strawberry latte to-go.

I raised a brow in confusion while beckoning him to continue. Slater chose not to. "I heard you're leaving town?" Rose decided to change the topic.

"For a day. I'll be back by tomorrow afternoon which reminds me, I know this is a lot to ask but…" I hesitated, wondering if I should even request something from Rose considering our non-existent relationship. "Can you watch—no—keep an eye on Damon and maybe Elena?"

"You don't trust them."

"No. It's not like I don't trust them, from what I know, the two of them are really reckless. Elena's also in the mood for being a martyr."

"Understandable." Rose glanced at Slater and then back at me. "Do I get the same perks as him?"

"Same perks?" Slater echoed.

"You know that shiny new house she got you."

"Well that was more my family, not me." I corrected her.

"Exactly." Slater chimed in. "According to her dad, I've been pretty useful."

"Plus the property is technically in my name, Slater's just invited in."

Rose nodded. "I want that." She stood up abruptly. "I want…somewhere to call my own, somewhere safe."

"I'll see what I can do." My phone kept ringing while I was talking to Rose. It was Elena. "So you'll keep an eye on them?"

She didn't really have a choice. Besides, she wanted to make up with Damon for whatever reason. I was hoping she'd say yes. "Fine. I hope you won't forget..."

I thanked Rose for agreeing to her demands. Should be easy. Only problem was it'd take some time and I'd start looking for a place for her after I came back from Grove Hill. What I didn't tell her was that my uncle had agreed to give her and Slater their own daylight amulets as a little 'thanks'.

Excusing myself, I left the Grill and headed to my car. The parking lot, like the Grill was quiet, eerily quiet and there was a strange atmosphere. Unconsciously, I wrapped my arms around myself and quickened my pace.

I froze when I felt that familiar sensation and quickly I turned around. In the distance, I could see someone staring at me. Unfortunately, I couldn't see them properly. I noticed the person was coming closer. Shit. It was a vampire. I was sure of it. When I blinked they were gone and instead Damon stood in front of me.

"Shit." I hissed under my breath, clutching my chest, scared. After Elijah's little gift, I'd been on the edge. "You scared me."

I lightly punched Damon who chuckled and blocked my punches, grabbing my hands into his. "Well maybe if you picked up your phone, you wouldn't be so scared." He said between his laughs. For a second, he let his mask slip and I could see the concern on his face.

He let go and walked behind me before snaking his arms around my waist and guided me to his car. I didn't say anything. "Something's on your mind." He began, glancing over at me before focusing on the road.

"You can tell."

"Mmm. I can always tell."

I stared at him for a moment and let out a quiet laugh. How strange. The two of us talking like this, like we weren't at each other's throats, a while ago. We'd come a long way. "...Elijah. He sent me a gift." I carefully started to speak, keeping an eye on his reaction.

His grip on the steering wheel tightened and he nodded. "What kind of gift are we talking about?"

"An arrow."

"An arrow? What is it like a declaration of war or something?"

I shook my head. If only understanding Elijah was that easy. I was still surprised he kept the arrow—not only did he keep it but it appeared to be in a good condition. "It wasn't just a normal arrow—it was one of the ones I used, a prototype with the tracker."

"The one you were telling me about."

"Exactly. There was also a note."

"What did it say?"

"Eyes on the road." I said, when he turned towards me before I continued. "He wanted to see me again."

"Absolutely not." Damon stopped the car. He twisted around to look me in the face. "Please tell me you didn't write a message back or try to contact him. We already have Elena acting like a martyr—"

"Do you think I'm like Elena?" I cut him off, offended he even decided to compare the two of us. Unlike Elena, I had plans and people I trusted with the plans. I didn't leave my loved ones

"No. No, of course not. You're…different."

"Right." I didn't quite believe him, maybe I had trust issues.

"You don't believe me."

"I believe you." I lied, turning away from him and playing with my hair.

"You don't. Lydia used to do th—" He caught himself before he finished the sentence but it was too late.

I said nothing and got out of the car. Damon was at my heels, following me and calling after me but I didn't turn around. I stopped in front of the tomb and took out two bottles of blood, animal blood, knowing Stefan would have to share with Katherine, it was the safest option.

"You coming?" I motioned towards the entrance of the tomb. Damon didn't move. "You know I have to leave in like three hours, right?"

"I didn't mean to compare you to Lydia."

"Okay." It did bother me, yes, I didn't want to admit it. "You know, sometimes I wonder…if you see me or if you see Lydia when you look at me. I mean I have access to her memories…" Damon's face contorted and he appeared to be in pained. "I'm going in." I said, not wanting to hear his answer.

Leaving him up there with his own thoughts was not my best idea. It was either that or facing the truth that maybe I wasn't who he saw but Lydia. For some reason, the thought of being seen as Lydia's replacement or ghost was on my mind more often than I'd ever admit.

Stefan didn't meet my gaze and kept staring at the ground. "I know you have a lot to say."

"Yeah, I do." I sighed and waved the bottles of blood. "But you need to eat."

"I'm fine." He subtly motioned behind him, reminding me of his new roommate.

I made a face and avoided looking at Katherine. If I pretended like she wasn't there then maybe she wasn't there. "Are you? Come on, are we really going to have the talk about you starving yourself or maybe we can call up Lexi."

He glanced behind him again where Katherine lingered in the background. She hesitated coming in front of me after our last conversation. She made herself scarce around me, not knowing what to say.

"It's animal blood." I told him, putting down the bottles on the ground before rolling them towards him. "And don't beat yourself up. It's not your fault the Gilberts are a bunch of idiotic martyrs."

He smiled and nodded. "Well, I can see where they are coming from, they don't want to be a burden."

"Better be smart and a burden than stupid and dead."

"Truer words have never been spoken." Katherine commented.

Stefan let out a deep sigh and gazed at me with sympathy. He knew. I guess Katherine told him. I wasn't surprised.

I rolled my eyes and completely ignored her. "You know, you guys could have waited for a few days for the moonstone. My uncle just came back today and I'm still here. Bonnie and my uncle could've channeled me to drop the tomb spell for a few minutes and you or Damon could've gone in and out."

"That was the original plan minus a few tweaks but…Jeremy happened." Stefan took the bottle of blood while Katherine hovered around him.

Katherine made a sound. "Still a bad plan. You know you're not as strong as your grandmother and you could die, Rosy or should I call you sunshine like Damon does?" She interrupted again.

"Stick to Ava and I'm sorry." I was getting annoyed at her constant interruptions. "I forgot where I asked you and please don't act like you cared about the idea of me dying before you found out about my grandmother."

"Ava—"

"Katherine, I don't need whatever this is. I'd stop if I were you."

"A little harsh."

"I should've been even harsher." I fired back. "You did make several attempts on my life and actually killed my best friend."

She clenched her jaws and turned away, not wanting to meet my gaze. "I only made two attempts on your life and Caroline's still here, isn't she?" I didn't know what to say to her. "I think you're being unfair."

"You know we wouldn't be in this situation if you just handed over the moonstone to me when I asked."

"But then I'd be all alone in here." She pouted and eyed Stefan who appeared very uncomfortable. "You know, you should come in here. I feel like the three of us could really hit it off though Damon might not like it."

"Katherine." Stefan warned her before turning to me. "Ava, you should leave before she gets on your nerves."

"You know I can hear you two." Katherine waved at me from her prison.

"That's the whole point." I rolled my eyes and let out a deep sigh.

Things were not going according to plan. Stefan being in the tomb didn't help at all and the two of us silently stared at each other, not knowing what to do next. I might've been psychic but I didn't even know what to do. Were we even on the right path? I didn't know.

"It's gonna be okay." Stefan said, knowing what I was thinking. My thoughts must've been written all over my face.

I couldn't help but laugh. "Is it, Stef? I don't feel like it is. I feel like things are going from bad to worse. I don't even know if we can trust Bonnie's new friend, Luka."

"Bonnie trusts him."

"You don't and neither do I. We hardly know him. For all we know he could be lying to her."

Stefan bobbed his head up and down, understanding where I was coming from. It was never good news if a newcomer to Mystic Falls was being overly friendly. He knew it too well. Katherine was a prime example. "Let's trust…Bonnie on this." Was all he said before I heard footsteps indicating Damon was here.

I turned around and met Damon's gaze before I looked back at Stefan. "I'm gonna wait by my car." I said and quickly left. I was being childish and I couldn't stop myself.


"Are you giving me the silent treatment?" Damon asked, turning down the radio and glancing over at me.

I looked at him and shook my head. "No, I'm thinking." Things were becoming more bleak for us. I was still concerned about Elijah wondering if he would just appear out of nowhere or something. I was a little scared about everything that was going to happen. Worst of all, I hadn't had a dream in a while. It was the longest I had gone without dreaming.

"About what I said. Listen, I didn't mean it."

"Damon, if you stop to think for one second you'd realize that wasn't on my mind."

"You're lying."

But I wasn't and it annoyed me to think he thought I was. "Believe what you will. We have big problems."

"Kinda like how your grandma was best friends with Katherine."

"So Stefan spilled."

"Actually Katherine did." I was surprised and I didn't let it show. Why would Katherine tell Damon? I didn't know, I didn't feel so good about it especially knowing how volatile he could be. "I'm not mad. I figured it'd be you who told me not Katherine."

"I was going to tell you…"

"When?" He parked his car in Fitzroy driveway. I should've left then and there but I didn't. "Probably never."

"I mean it doesn't really concern you."

"She's the reason why I'm a vampire." He fired back. "Let's drop this." I was relieved he did drop it. "At least you'll be out of town if Elijah shows up."

"I'm leaving for a day not a year which reminds me—please don't do anything reckless that might get you killed."

He put his head down on the steering wheel and gazed at me. "Aw you care."

"Yeah maybe." Of course, I cared. "Don't think too much about it. Your brother's in the tomb with Katherine and if you go get yourself killed Elena's alone with just me and Bonnie to look after her."

"And here I thought you cared if I died."

"You're not dying that easily. Besides I did say I would be the one to kill you."

"How romantic."

"No. Not romantic." I retorted with a light grin, getting out of his car. He laughed, following me to the front door.

"You know one of these days you'll admit that you're in l—"

"Damon Salvatore." I froze when I heard dad's voice. Shit. I totally forgot he was home.

Damon groaned. "Come on, seriously? Can people stop interrupting me when I'm about to…ah" He stopped himself when he noticed my dad examining him closely. The two observed each other for a while, neither saying anything.

Awkwardly, I glanced between them. This was not good. Oh god. I knew my dad didn't like the Salvatores least of all Damon who was actually the reason the relationship between my family and his fell apart. "Dad, you're…still here." I tried to cut the tension.

Dad took his eyes off Damon to acknowledge me. "Well I did take a few days off work for this, only to find you and Damon Salvatore in front of our house." He regarded Damon with disdain before putting on a plastic smile. "Where are my manners? I'm Gabriel Fitzroy, Ava's father."

"Right, we've met before. Um, the Founders' Day Fundraiser and Bachelor Raffle."

"And do you remember what I said?"

"Listen, what happened in 1864 was…"

"Oh that was not the only thing we have against you."

"I'm trying."

Dad chuckled. He didn't believe a thing Damon was saying. He gave me a look and I didn't know what to say.

He's trying.

I mean I knew he was trying but did I believe that.

Yes, yes I did.

Before I could say what was on my mind, dad carried on. "Was that before or after Vicki Donovan? And Logan Fell?"

"I'm trying to make up for what I did with Vicki." I didn't think Damon regretted killing Vicki. I guess I was wrong. When he met my gaze, I realized it wasn't because of selfless reasons he had regrets. No, I was expecting a little too much.

"And Logan Fell?"

"Wasn't me. It was the daughter of a tomb vampire."

Dad nodded. He was a little convinced. "Gabe! Diana's on the phone…" I bit my lips to stop myself from screaming when I heard mom's voice. "Who's this?" She asked, her eyes on me.

"Layla, stay inside." Dad motioned her to take a step back despite believing Damon might not hurt him or me, he still didn't completely trust him which was fair.

Mom followed dad's warning and stayed within the threshold of the manor. "Oh hello." She greeted Damon with a soft smile. "Are you a friend of Ava's?"

"Something like that, I'm Damon."

"Salvatore?" She asked, her eyes narrowed in on him and he nodded. "Huh." She glanced at me with a look. I was getting lectured. Great, the entire trip in Grove Hill, I was gonna get lectured and maybe she'd cut my allowance. "Aren't you a little old to be hanging out with a teenage girl?"

"Hundred seventy four to be exact." Daniel answered behind mom. Oh, this was getting worse. Knowing my brother, I knew he was going to make things worse. "I'm her older brother, Daniel and you shouldn't be here." He glared at Damon and I felt a quiet static of power in the air.

Damon and I shared a look. That wasn't me. Before the whole situation could escalate I had to take over. "He was just leaving. Weren't you, Damon?"

Reluctantly, he nodded. We'd talk later. First I needed to get out of this. I watched him get into his car and drive off, leaving me alone with my family.

I counted to five in my head before I turned and exploded. "What was that?"

"What was what?" Daniel asked with an innocent smile. I mimicked him and glared at him.

Dad laughed at Daniel and me. "You know we respect your choices but Damon Salvatore? Really?" He ushered me inside. "Remember what he did to Lydia Fitzroy."

"Yes! You guys don't let me forget." It was all they talked about whenever the Salvatores were brought up. Why were we even keeping the grudge of our ancestors alive?

"Damon Salvatore is the reason why our family had to leave Mystic Falls before, remember?"

"Oh please, you act as if it was the worst thing ever. Not like we didn't find an emerald mine and a bloodstone mine in Washington."

"Money isn't everything." Mom interjected.

"Yes, reputation is. I know and there's nothing between me and Damon."

"Even if there was, he's too old for you."

"Mom, he's a vampire."

"Exactly and you're human…well part human." She paled a little, remembering what I told her earlier. She couldn't wrap her head around the 'Katherine and grandma Mila' thing. Worst of all was that her own mother wasn't human and she had no idea. "Still if you want to go down that road, we won't stop you."

"But we—no—I'll judge you." Daniel remarked, stopping at the foyer where luggage was stacked around the entrance.

"Daniel!" Mom hissed. "Be nice to your sister."

"Hey, I'm kidding…mostly."

"Okay, let's get ready in twenty." Dad cut us off as his phone started to ring. I scanned the stack of luggages for my own and hidden between Daniel's huge navy blue suitcase was my rose-colored bag. "We have to head out soon."

Uncle Nate walked into a foyer, on his way out. "Damon was here?" He asked. Damon must've texted him complaining about dad. Somehow those two along with Alaric had a strange friendship.

Dad gave him a strange look and uncle Nate knew he screwed up. Well, at least it wasn't aunt Evelyn. She would scream and shout until she was blue to remind uncle Nate that vampires were our sworn enemy. "You too, huh?"

"It's a temporary thing." I grinned to myself. He was making excuses and dad knew it too.

Dad sighed, shaking his head and at loss for words. "Keep an eye on them."

"That's the whole idea." Uncle Nate was only helping me because of Jenna anyways. I didn't say that. "Anyways I'm going over the Gilberts to help Jenna."

"Have fun."

"Oh I won't." Uncle Nate waved at us, rushing out the door. I didn't envy him at all. I guess I'd take being lectured

I left my parents in the foyer and went up to my room. Elijah's gift was taken to the library. Uncle Nate and my parents decided it was too risky to keep in my room. I know they thought about destroying the arrow and they just might. I hoped they did because it was freaking me out.

Caroline texted me then while I was packing my laptop and a few sketchbooks. She needed some wolfsbane. Full moon, right. I had completely forgotten it was the full moon and that Tyler was a werewolf now. Mason was still unreachable. According to my uncle he was trekking to a colony of werewolves in South America. I don't know if it was true but I had to take his word for it.

"Where are you going?" Dad tried to block my way as I made my downstairs and to the greenhouse.

"Caroline called, she needed some monkshood." I said hurriedly.

"Isn't Caroline a vampire now?"

"Yes, is that a problem?"

He made a face and let go. "I don't know. Hurry up."

I guess dad still felt uncomfortable around the idea of me hanging out with vampires. There was also the underlying guilt of practically abandoning this town once his own dad died. But Caroline wasn't his fault or my family's. It was something I could've done to prevent. I still blamed myself for it some days while most days it was easier to convince myself that it was all Katherine.

The greenhouse was quiet and empty, just the way I liked it. I'd stay and enjoy the tranquility. Unfortunately I had to go soon. I went to the back where a row of wolfsbane plants were all growing.

In front of the plants was a sign warning it was poisonous. I grabbed a pair of gloves and carefully snipped a few sprigs of wolfsbane before stuffing it into a plastic bag. Three sprigs should be enough.

Caroline called again, letting me know she was here. I hurried out to meet her. My parents were also outside in the front, loading up the car with the luggage. "Here is your wolfsbane. Be careful with that and tell Tyler not to be reckless with it."

"I will." She took the wolfsbane and held it up to the sunlight to see before she turned to my parents and plastered on a bright smile. "Hi, Mr and Mrs Fitzroy."

"...Caroline, hello. It's been a while." Dad greeted and Caroline's smile dropped. He must've felt that awful chill. "You've…changed." He said sadly.

Caroline tried hard not to cry. "I'm still the same, mostly."

"Well we have to get on the road soon so if you'll excuse us." Dad got in the car and gave me a knowing look.

I let out a sigh and turned to Caroline. "They hate me." She stated, eying my house behind me.

"No, they don't. They just don't know how to approach you. My dad feels a little guilty, we let you get caught up in all of this mess."

"It wasn't anyone's fault but Katherine's."

"We know but still. He can't help it. Hey, at least they're treating you better than Damon."

"Wait. Damon was here."

"He dropped me off after my visit to the tomb."

"And how was it?" She grabbed my arm and eagerly stared at me for more. "Your parents, what did they think of him?"

They didn't like him. Still there was room for improvement. At least, I think there was. "I think they don't like him. I mean they said they respect my choices—whatever that meant but…"

"They'll judge you."

"That's what Dan said."

"The Salvatore-Fitzroy grudge runs deep." She was right and I hated it. "Sucks to be you."

I shrugged, I was used to the open hostility between the Lockwoods, Salvatores and my family. I grew up with it and I didn't really care. "I'm leaving. Call me if something happens." She nodded, waving me goodbye as I got into my dad's car.


The ride to Grove Hill was calm, surprisingly. I expected dad to say something about Caroline or Damon. For some reason he didn't bring it up. I didn't ask why or say anything. Maybe he wanted to focus on mom which was understandable.

Dad stopped the car in front of mom's childhood home. An ordinary two-story, four bedroom house with a brick and white wood exterior. It was very ordinary. The house sat at the end of the road, sitting between two houses.

The front yard appeared to have been freshly mowed recently. Mom must've hired someone to take care of the weeds and overgrown grass. There were also two apple trees in the front of each side of the house.

It was an ordinary house, somehow I found it a little strange. Everything in the house seemed oddly symmetrical, from the windows to the plants outside, everything was very symmetrical. It was a little strange.

"So this is where I grew up." Mom unlocked the front door which was painted a dull orange and ushered us in. "I couldn't bring myself to sell this place. It's mostly the same. I cleaned up here and there."

Past the front door was an old mahogany staircase leading upstairs. The floor was a red-stained parquet wood. There were big cream and orange curtains on the window. The interior really gave the impression that time had stopped inside since the 80s.

"Layla! Is that you?" A thin woman with mousy brown hair and mouse-like face got out of a red sports car. She jogged over to mom. "Finally decided to sell the place?"

"Jane." Mom greeted with a stiff smile, glancing back at dad with a look.

"Who's that?" Daniel and I asked at the same time.

Dad leaned in close to us and quietly answered. "Your mother's middle school classmate, Jane Leighton. She's a real estate agent and your mother does not like her."

Like dad said, mom was not having a good time. She looked like she was in a hostage situation, forcing herself to smile and talk. I felt bad for her, not enough to put myself on the line. "Jane, I'm not here to sell my parents' house. I'm actually here to visit, you know, for their death anniversary."

"I almost forgot about that." Jane said with a laugh, looking at us and thinking we'd follow her but no one laughed. "This must be your husband." She said, eying dad who regarded her with little interest; she turned her gaze to me and Daniel. "And your children. My, aren't they the prettiest things?"

"Jane. Do you mind we've had a long day."

"Right. About the house—"

"I'm not selling it."

"Hey, if you ever change your mind."

"I won't but thanks." Mom's smile cracked and she slammed the door behind her. "I can't stand her not even after all these years."

"We know. We know." Dad left us to go calm mom down before quickly changing the topic. "I've turned the gas and electricity back on."

"We just need to buy some groceries."

Daniel groaned, he turned to me and I acted like I didn't see him. No way. I wasn't going to ask mom, he could do it. "Can't we get take-out for just one day?"

Mom's eyes narrowed on him. "Don't act like you don't get take-out all the time back in California."

"Yes but it's—"

"I don't want to hear it. I'm making dinner tonight and we're going to get some groceries first."

"Told you so." I snickered. I don't know why he even tried.

"You didn't say anything."

"Exactly because I knew she'd say no." I knew mom well enough to know she'd say no. "She'd probably get some apple pie from that café she talked about but that's it."

"I guess that's fair." I left the living room, checking each of the rooms. Daniel followed me, still talking. "I have something to tell you."

"Yeah like your request to go on a suicide mission." I thought he was an idiot for even requesting something like that.

"Listen, I had a good reason for that." I nodded. Of course he did, he always had a reason for everything he did. I didn't believe him for a second. "Where are you going?"

I entered the art studio which was the only room locked. "Grandma Mila's art studio. She was an artist so I'm hoping to find something." Like evidence of her past and maybe some information.

"I'm telling mom you're trying to sell grandma Mila's art."

I rolled my eyes at his words. He was so annoying sometimes. "Funny. I'm actually searching for a trace of her old life."

"Makes sense which reminds me," He nodded and became serious. Thank god because I can't deal with him when he's being annoying and look through grandma Mila's stuff at the same time. "Remember that accident I was in a few months back."

"Post-New Year's?" He nodded. "Yeah I remember that, you almost died and here you are again trying to go on a suicide mission."

"Well first of all I did die." I paused and looked away from the bookshelves. I didn't know about this at all. I was so wrapped up with the stuff going in Mystic Falls, I didn't even follow up with my brother. "Dad flew all the way to California to check on me. He didn't tell mom—my heart stopped. I died and then I didn't, kinda like you, last Spring Break."

I blinked and tilted my head to the side. I didn't understand what he was talking about. I didn't die. "Wha-what are you talking about?" I mean I would definitely remember dying. "I didn't die and come back. They said I was fine."

"You don't remember?"

"Remember what?" I tried to think back to that night and I knew some pieces of my memories were missing but I definitely remembered most of it.

"Remember how you were the first to be found—the paramedics that found you and your friends at the scene told us your heart stopped and they declared you dead on the scene. Then you weren't."

I let out a laugh. He was joking around again. He had to be. There was no way I died and then came back to life. "That's impossible. Only way for that is if I had vampire blood in my system which I didn't and I'm not a vampire."

"No, you're a faery." I shut up when he said that. He was right. I wasn't completely human. "And I-uh-I might be one too." And neither was he.

"Do mom and dad…"

"No. I've thought about telling uncle Nate but I thought since you have some experience with this—" He held up his right hand and small wisps of light sparked to life.

My eyes widened. The lights above us started to flicker wildly. I reached out towards the light from his hands. It felt colder than the ones I summoned and it was smaller too.

"Can you read people's thoughts?" I had to know if he was completely like me

He waved his hand and the wisps disappeared. "Nope, that's only you." I leaned back on a desk and sighed. "Sounds exhausting."

"You have no idea." I was glad that I had someone like me and happy my brother could see how hard it was to go through this. At least I wasn't alone anymore. "It makes sense why you wanted to go on that suicide mission. It's still a bad idea."

"I thought you'd understand."

I did and I didn't.

"I do and that's why I'm telling you—you'll get yourself killed." He wasn't that powerful or trained with his new abilities. I only had a few months of experience myself even then it wasn't enough considering I couldn't go against Elijah. "I've been training myself for months and I'm still not good enough to go against multiple vampires. There's also the Originals, I have to worry about."

"It's unlikely I'll meet an Original."

I thought the same yet here I was. "You don't know that. We hardly know anything."

"Talking about the Originals?"

"Dad!" Daniel and I said at the same time as dad casually walked into the room. "How long have you been there?" Daniel asked, afraid dad might know about his new abilities.

"A while." Dad knew and he was concerned which was good. I could tell he was thinking of ways to break this to the rest of the family or to hide it if necessary. "The two of us need to have a talk." His eyes were on Daniel. Though I felt bad, I had my mind on something else.

"You know something about the Originals." I decided to focus on the Originals, those two could have their talk later. I needed something of the Originals; I had nothing to go on.

"Not exactly. Your aunt Diana contacted the Italian branch, since they're the only European branch left after the English and French ones were killed off." I almost forgot about the European branch of our family. Technically speaking, we were not the original Fitzroys, the original family branch died off early. We were the ones descended from the youngest son while other branches were from the oldest two sons. It was complicated to even think about. "They found something in their records similar to the Originals—it's a family—a family of powerful vampires, one of the oldest."

"That doesn't sound so good."

"It's not. Unfortunately the name was illegible and they couldn't make out the family name. Your aunt Evelyn is traveling to Turin tomorrow to help restore documents that could help us figure things out."

"So our family has crossed paths with them before."

"Our ancestors, yes…and they lost."

I groaned. Can't I have one piece of good news? Obviously no. "That doesn't sound so good."

"It's not. Considering, the accounts came from one of our oldest ancestors and it was based on his father who was a member of a group of hunters like himself." I vaguely remembered reading about those accounts last year. I didn't think the 'unkillable monsters' were the Originals. I felt worse and even less confident than before. "They were all killed, all of them, no one was spared."

Daniel scoffed. He couldn't believe what dad was saying. "Impossible. Aren't we supposed to be—"

"Yeah, which makes this terrifying." Dad agreed. He was stressed and when he looked at me, I knew what he was going to say. "I think you should come back home."

"...I can't. I'm already in too deep." I had to say no.

It would've been easy for me to go back but Elijah knew me. What if he or Klaus followed me back to Washington? It was terrifying to think about. Klaus murdered Katherine's family, I didn't want the same to happen to mine.

"Ava, the arrow that Elijah sent you could've been a warning."

"I know. It's a risk, I'll have to take after all grandma Mila is the reason why half the mess happened."

"But you're not her and you don't have to carry the guilt of a dead person." He was right. I know what dad was saying was right. A part of me felt like I had to shoulder the burden of Kamilah even if it wasn't mine. "On that note, I hope you two will avoid talking about the faery-stuff around your mother."

"Right because she's in grieving mode." Daniel said with an annoyed tone. He wanted to talk to mom about this and so did I. Then I remembered mom's reaction to finding out about her own mother being supernatural wasn't the greatest. She was only acting like she was fine. I knew she wasn't.

"Daniel!" Dad warned him and Daniel shut up.

"Gabe," Mom walked into the studio, searching for dad, only to stop. A wave of nostalgia hit her and she was momentarily lost in her childhood memories. "Groceries." She said, remembering why she was in that room. "Let's get some groceries."

"What about Ava?" Daniel pointed to me and I shrugged. I wasn't going, I already told mom why.

"She's staying. She said she wanted to look for something."

"I could help her."

"You could also help your mother and I." Dad put his hand on Daniel's shoulder and gently dragged him out of the studio before he turned around on the threshold. "Remember to—"

"Not invite anyone in. Got it. I'm not a kid, dad." I interrupted, knowing what he was going to say already. It was the standard. He always said the same thing whenever he left me or Daniel home alone.

"Uh-huh. Keep telling yourself that, Rosy."

I watched my parents and my brother leave before I scanned the living room. According to my mom, everything was left as it was and the rooms were occasionally cleaned. Should be easy to find something useful in this house.

In my head, I went over all the different rooms. I had already checked the art studio. There were the bedrooms, living room, kitchen and the cellar, I hadn't checked those yet. I felt like the cellar would be the last place to keep something useful.

I decided to check the bedrooms first starting with the master bedroom. The wallpaper was still the same according to my mom and I could tell. The entire room reminded me of the eighties and it was like time froze here.

Studying the room meticulously, I couldn't find anything. There was nothing here. I tried the other rooms and again I found nothing. I even checked the cellar.

Maybe grandma Mila didn't have anything in her house after all. It made sense, if she was on the run with Katherine and took on a new life, she'd want to distance herself from her old life.

Mid-step, I froze when I felt that familiar bitter chill run down my back. Carefully, I made my way to the living room where the doorbell rang incessantly.

"Oh, hello!" Jane, mom's old classmate, stood on the other side. "Is your mother home?" She asked, trying to peek inside.

She wasn't a vampire. I couldn't feel anything different, not to mention it was bright outside. The coldness was still there.

"No, she isn't. Can I help you?" I asked, eying her with a blank look.

"Well, we have a buyer who wants to see the inside of the house." She gestured to a black car behind her.

I could see a silhouette of a man inside. Unfortunately, the windows of the car were tinted so I couldn't clearly make out his face. But I knew that man wasn't human. If Jane was human then the only other person who wouldn't be would be the man.

"The house isn't for sale." I reminded Jane. The mousy woman jumped back and started to pull at her sleeve. "My mother made it clear so I'm sorry to your client—we're not selling it."

"Oh please." She grabbed my hand. She appeared desperate. "Your mother married rich, I'm sure she can part with the house. At least come outside and meet the potential buyer—you'll love him."

Annoyed, I pulled my hand away and only then did I notice the blank look on her face. She was being compelled. I glanced at the car behind her. The man was still there. I so didn't have time for this. I sucked in a breath and kept my eyes on Jane.

"Jane." Her eyes flickered to a pale gold. "I'll repeat: this house isn't for sale." She nodded blankly, her dark eyes were lost and she had no idea what was happening. "You can tell your client that too and I hope you won't bother my family again."

She nodded again before forcing herself to smile. I watched as she left. I hoped the car with the so-called potential buyer would leave as well. It didn't.

From the living room window, I kept an eye on it, peaking between the curtains. It was still there. I don't know how long I kept an eye on the car but I remembered it was gone by the time my parents came back with the groceries. I took my eyes off to grab a glass of water and when I came back it was gone.

I debated telling my parents—O=one look at mom's face I decided not to. She was already on the edge because of the anniversary. I didn't want to make it worse, so I kept it to myself.

After lunch, we all decided to head to the cemetery to pay our respects. Well that was the plan until both my parents were called away for work—even on their days off they couldn't stop working. It was honestly a little annoying but I was used to it. Daniel decided to abandon me and go get some coffee at mom's favorite cafe.

That left me to go to the cemetery alone. How fun.

Honestly, I hated it. Going to the cemetery alone wasn't my thing. It was an Elena thing. I thought it was a little morbid yet here I was, walking through rows and rows of marked and unmarked graves.

My red jacket fluttered behind me in the wind. It was a studid choice to wear this jacket, the memories tied to this jacket weren't good and the last time I wore it was that night.

Finally I found it. Three graves side-by-side. My grandfather's grave was on the far left while aunt Sonia's was to the far right. Grandma Mila's grave was the one in the center. On her grave her birth year was written '1942'. It was funny because she was older than that.

I laid down the bouquet of lilies at the grave, I paused. There was another bouquet of flowers at the grave. Roses. Curious, I picked it up while laying down the bouquet of lillies and accidentally cut myself on the thorns.

With a quiet yell, I dropped the bouquet of roses to the floor and tried to curse the cut. Weren't roses meant to be pruned in a bouquet? Who would just leave unpruned roses at a grave? I glared at the rose bouquet before turning my attention back to the grave.

I silently stood over the grave. I had so much to say, at the same time nothing to say at all. I mean if I started to talk I'd never stop. I was angry and sad at the same time, mostly confused.

If she was still here, I'd ask her why? Why did she do the things she did? I knew I'd never get those answers so I wondered what if I tried going through her memories again.

The cold death-like chill was here again. Quickly, I turned around to scan the empty cemetery. There was no one there but the half-dead trees and the endless rows of gravestones. I looked around again, taking a step forward when I lost my balance.

I almost fell to the ground and closed my eyes, thinking I'd land on the soft grass. To my surprise, I felt someone's arms around my waist. "Easy there, love."

When I opened my eyes, I was staring into a stranger's dark blue-green eyes. A sharp pain shot through my head and an image of a rain-soaked man flickered through my mind.

"Ava." An unfamiliar voice whispered as he held my head in his right hand while his left hand was pressing something down into the palm of my hand. It burnt into my skin as I struggled to breathe and choked on air.

I shifted my gaze from my hand to the person in front of me. I couldn't make anything out but his eyes. His dark blue-green eyes bore into mine as he slowly brushed away stray pieces of my disheveled and rain-soaked hair out of my face. He never let go of my hand all the while.

It was gone as quickly as it had come, leaving me no time to identify or remember the image.

"C-can you let go of me?" I asked, noticing how close I was to this man who was certainly not human. I tried to pull his hands off my waist and noticed how cold his hands were. He was a vampire, alright. "Um, today would be nice." I breathed out.

The man grinned at my comment, he nodded and helped me stand up before letting go. "What? No thank you?" He wasn't American. The way he spoke gave it away, most likely he was European, British, maybe? He might be older than he appeared. This wasn't good at all.

Warning signs were going off in my head.

This man was a threat I didn't know. But when I gazed up at him, He was still staring at me with deep concern. It was the opposite of threatening. Still, I couldn't let myself be fooled by him. Not all vampires were friendly.

"...Thanks." I hesitantly thanked him and took a few steps back, putting some distance between me and him.

I examined him carefully. He was wearing a light black coat and some black jeans. His dark blonde hair was combed neatly to the side and paired with dark blue-green eyes, I'd admit he was handsome. The accent certainly helped. If only he wasn't a vampire.

"Well if you excuse me…I…uh…have to go." I tried to leave. He didn't move out of the way.

He awkwardly smiled at me and I didn't know what to do. I started walking backwards, keeping my eyes on him and he just stood there. When I turned around, my hand went straight to my neck, feeling the bloodstone necklace around my neck.

"Well, I suppose I'll keep this!" I heard the man call out and I stopped. I didn't want to turn around. Slowly, I turned to look at him. He held up a silvery necklace.

I seized up in fear, thinking it was actually silver. Even though I shouldn't have, I started to walk back but I stopped when he started to come to me. He held up a platinum necklace with a carved oval pendant in his hands.

The necklace, it was mine—my birthday gift from my parents for my sixteenth birthday. It was one of the most expensive jewelry I owned. I didn't think I brought with me to Grove Hill. "...Where did you find that?" I hadn't seen that thing since that night last Spring Break.

"You dropped it." He answered innocently.

"No. No. I didn't. I was wearing something entirely different." In my panic, I showed the man the bloodstone necklace I was wearing. My mistake, I know. I couldn't think straight.

His eyes lingered on the bloodstone and a strange smile appeared on his face. "Bloodstone." I heard him mutter under his breath before he looked up.

Afraid, I took a step back. A quiet hum in the distance filled the cemetery as crows cawed violently. I stood there, unmoving.

He and I kept our gaze on each other before he let out a laugh. "It must've fallen out of your pocket."

Vaguely, I remembered—I did wear this that night. "It must've fallen out of my pocket." I found myself agreeing with him as I reached out for the necklace. He didn't give me the necklace.

I reached for the necklace, he pulled his hand back. "I'm Nik by the way." He introduced himself.

"Well, Nik, nice to meet you but I have to go."

"You never said your name."

"I'm here to visit my dead relatives, not make friends at the cemetery. No offense."

"Of course." I reached out for the necklace again and he pulled it back. "Though this thing, in my hand, says 'Aveline'. Lovely name, by the name—french for—"

"Evelyn." I said without thinking. My mind started to wander again and I turned back to Nik who was staring at me with a strange look. It was like I had been in this situation before. I could hear muffled voices and for a second, I wasn't at the cemetery instead I was in the woods by a lake. "Have…we met before?" I asked, taking a step towards him.

Nik had a strange gaze on me; he didn't answer my question, instead he threw my words back at me. "I thought you were here to visit the dead."

"...I was." There was no way I met him before. I'd know. I couldn't be compelled after all. "Can I have my necklace back?"

I held out my hand for the necklace and he carefully dropped it into my palm. His eyes went to the faded scar of the cut I got from the rose earlier. It had almost healed. He touched it and I flinched at the coldness when his fingers brushed against the scar. I closed my palm with the necklace inside and drew back.

"You're leaving?" Nik called out to me as I turned my back to him. If he wanted to kill me, I'd be dead already. I turned back to glance at him and nodded. "Already?"

"I'd love to stick around but I have people waiting for me."

"I hope I see you again, Aveline."

I almost corrected him then I stopped myself and shook my head. "You won't." I said in response. "Though, thanks for returning my necklace." I added with a soft laugh and he smiled.

In my head, I kept thinking like I had been here before, not the cemetery but I felt like I knew Nik. It was silly. How would I know him? My mind was playing tricks on me again. Thinking nothing of it, I went back to mom's childhood home.

This time, I actually found something. Hidden behind a painting of a medieval castle with a child-like faery was a hollow in the wall. There was a strange magical barrier surrounding it. With a touch, the barrier fell, revealing a cavity in the wall where an old battered journal rested inside.

"Ava! You home?" I heard Daniel call out my name from the living room.

"In here!" I called out from the art studio. "Look what I found." I showed the journal to Daniel and he clapped, impressed. "Where's mom and dad?"

"Busy. Mom's in her dad's office and dad's with her. They're working." I nodded somberly, realizing our family dinner was not happening. "Wanna grab some dinner? I saw a Grill on the way here. It's not as good as the one back in Havensbrook or okay as the one in Mystic Falls but it might be something."

I took his hand and grabbed my laptop along with my notebook. He was trying to comfort me. Even though he was a little annoying, my brother knew when I was upset and I was upset at our parents. They were always prioritizing their work over us. It was unfair.


The Grill that Daniel recommended wasn't bad. It was definitely busier than the one back in Mystic Falls. There were limited seats but luckily Daniel and I managed to find a table in a corner near a socket.

I plugged in my laptop and the two of us sat down to read and take notes of the journal. Well, that was the plan until we opened the journal. "I have no idea what this means." I declared, scanning a page before leafing the entire journal. I looked at my brother and he seemed equally lost.

"I think…this is old English." He guessed before placing an order for the two of us. The waitress appeared bored and in a hurry, she was gone quickly after taking our order. "This is old English." He repeated.

"Anglo-Saxon?"

"That's the other name." I shut the journal quietly and threw my head back. What the hell were we supposed to do now? "I can't believe our grandmother wrote her entire journal in Anglo-Saxon."

I sat back up and looked at him going through the journal. "Well, she's like really old so what did you expect?" I answered. "Maybe we should try to translate what we can and pick out some interesting stuff."

"Like what exactly. I have no idea what any of this means. She wrote most of this in the runic alphabet along with some parts in Latin alphabet, do you know how old she must've been and there's freaking roman numerals out of nowhere. How old was she?"

"Very. Let's go by dates."

"Here." He slid the journal to me. "That's the year Katherine Pierce ran right?" He pointed to the corner of the journal. The numbers were actually easy to understand. It was clear the pages were bound together after they were written.

I nodded and he took my laptop, typing out the entries while I wrote some down.

Suddenly, the two of us stopped mid-action. He and I stared at each other before we carefully scanned the Grill. Nik was standing at the entrance. Immediately he noticed me and headed towards our table.

I reached for the journal and quickly closed it before Nik could even catch a glimpse of a page. "Aveline." Daniel was amused, though he was still on his guard. He stifled a laugh, something unmissed by Nik. I was going to attack my brother when we got back. "The place is packed, would you mind if I took a seat?"

Daniel and I awkwardly exchanged looks before I waved my hand over the free chair. "Knock yourself out."

"History project?" Nik curiously asked, studying my notes. I forgot to put those away.

"Something like that." I answered.

"How do you two know each other?" Daniel didn't waste any time and started to interrogate Nik while giving me a look. Please, I wasn't a vampire magnate.

Nik pulled his chair closer to me. "At the cemetery. Aveline," My brother fought back laughter and nodded along. "She nearly had an accident."

"I almost tripped." I corrected Nik. "It's more usual than you'd think."

The two assessed each other carefully while in my head, I wanted to go home. "And you are…"

"Her brother." Daniel answered.

Nik nodded as if he saw the resemblance between the two of us. There honestly wasn't any apart from our hair which was a particular shade. "Are you two are working on Aveline's history homework?"

"Something like that." I thanked the waitress when she brought our food including Nik's. "So what brings you to town, Nik. Are you a tourist?"

"Something like that." He echoed back my words. "I came to visit the grave of an old friend."

"My condolences."

"Thank you."

Daniel took out the tomatoes from his burger and put them on my pasta salad. "So what do you do? Are you a student or…" His tone was a little rude but honestly I couldn't be bothered to correct him.

"I'm an artist." Nik didn't seem to mind and he removed the tomatoes from his sandwich and placed them on my bowl. I didn't say anything; I noticed too late and I didn't want to say anything. "Traveling artist." He added.

Okay, I was a little interested. I loved art so maybe that's why I let my drop a little. "Oh cool. I wanted to be an artist when I graduated."

"You also wanted to be a lawyer and a psychologist and also a photographer." Daniel reminded me with a laugh.

Nik smiled and kept his attention on me. "Is that Old English?"

"You recognize it?"

"I took a few classes on Old-English back in College." Nik looked at me and then at Daniel.

He could help us translate. Downside was, we didn't know him or his motives. I could send a scanned copy to Vanessa or Slater. That could take time and I didn't know how long we had left. "How fluent are you?"

Nik grinned and I felt uneasy. I shifted around in my seat. This was a bad idea. I should've been more cautious. "I'd consider myself a native. Why? Do you need help translating it?"

Daniel seemed convinced. He wanted those translations more than I did. Unlike me, he didn't have visions or memories of our ancestors to fall back on. He needed this. I thought this was a bad idea. I didn't trust Nik.

"Dan!" He flinched as if he had heard me. Slowly he turned to me. Wait, did he hear my thoughts. "You can hear me?" I tried.

"I can now. Stop yelling." I heard him fire back.

"This is—wait. No, vampire. He's a vampire. We can't trust him."

"You can give it to that Slater-guy—that'll take time or aunt Evelyn."

"Not aunt Evelyn." I almost groaned then I remembered Nik was still here, sitting in front of us.

"Other option is him." Daniel motioned towards Nik.

"Fine." I gave in. Maybe that was a bad idea then and there.

"Fine?" Nik echoed my words, leaning in towards me. "You'll let me translate this." I nodded and he took my notes. I didn't give him my grandmother's journal. Though his gaze did linger on it for a second. "In turn, I'd like to know you."

Daniel clicked his fingers. "Done. First of all, she doesn't go by 'Aveline' but 'Ava'." I whipped my head around to look at my brother so fast that I almost sprained my neck. He really sold me out in seconds. "Her favorite color is pink–the exact shade is rose and she also likes roses—as if she can't be any more basic. Anything else?"

Oh I was going to wring my hands around his neck and squeeze the life out of him.

I wasn't the only one surprised at Daniel's sudden betrayal. Even Nik was stunned. Though he was more entertained than anything.

With a wide smile on his face, Nik took my notebook and a pen from me. He scanned the page. His eyes darkened a little then he was fine after a second. I watched in silence, quietly munching on my salad as he translated two pages of my grandmother's journal.

"Here." He passed me my notebook with the translated passages. "I've translated everything that was in the notebook. I do have to say there were some…interesting bits."

"Like what?" I asked curiously.

"The moonstone." I choked on my salad and both Nik and Daniel reached for my glass of water with Nik backing off. "It seems the writer was obsessed with a curse and a moonstone. Where did you find this?"

"It's just something we found." Daniel lied with ease.

"Really?" Nik was unconvinced. "So that old journal—"

"Our aunt's. She's a museum curator and we borrowed one of her artifacts to translate out of boredom." I added. It didn't make sense, I know—it was the only thing I could think of.

Nik nodded and I started to read what he translated.

December 27th 1492

I spoke with a witch about Katerina and she told me there is no cure—unless I am prepared to spill blood. I didn't understand her, I know my blood is temporarily allowing Katerina to walk in the sun, I also know my blood can do more to vampires than just letting them walk in the sun but I didn't understand the witch's words.

No matter, I did manage to mesmer her into giving Katerina a daylight amulet. I tried to get the witch to release the curse on the moonstone, alas it was in vain. The Original witch was stronger than I anticipated.

Original witch.

Who was that? Was that another threat we'd have to worry about later?

"Is there a problem?" Nik questioned, leaning towards me and gently moving my hair out of the way. I pulled back quickly and carried on reading.

Klaus' curse from the moonstone cannot be released without the Sacrifice. I failed. I tried and I tried hard. Many will die for this damned curse. Three to be exact; a werewolf, a vampire and the doppelgänger.

I clasped a hand over my mouth and leaned back in horror as I realized that Elena wasn't the only one in danger.

The vampire: Caroline.

The werewolf: Tyler or Mason.

And the doppelgänger: Elena.

Katherine knew what was needed for the Sacrifice. She knew and she turned Caroline and forced Tyler to turn. Mason was just another ingredient in the Sacrifice. Oh god. I felt sick.

"Ava, you okay?" My brother looked at me in deep concern while Nik mimicked him.

I swear I saw some suspicion there as well or maybe my mind was playing tricks on me. I didn't know and I didn't care. "I'm…fine." I croaked out, shakily reaching for the glass of water.

Nik handed it to me. His hand brushed against mine and I drew back. "Do you know anything about this so-called curse?"

I emptied the glass and put it down. "Like I said, I found this in the pile of my aunt's artifacts or junk as we like to call it, right Dan?"

"Right. Besides vampires, witches and werewolves—sounds like a complete fictional story to me." Daniel nodded along, understanding that I was not okay.

Nik laughed, agreeing. Somehow his laugh only made me feel more afraid. "You never know." He commented, staring right at me as if he was trying to read my mind.

"You know it has been a long night. We should get going." Daniel decided it was time to go just as the waitress came back with our parents' orders.

I started to gather my things and quickly put them away. I had to go back. "It was nice to see you again Nik but we have to go." I didn't let Nik say anything and I was out of the Grill as quickly as I could without raising any suspicion. I was lucky, Daniel and I had already paid when we ordered.

Daniel followed after me with extra food for our parents. "We are screwed." I said in my head.

"Your friends are." He corrected me in his head while starting the car. "What the hell was grandma Mila caught up with?"

I didn't know what I did know was that Elena wasn't the only one who was going to die. Caroline and Tyler would follow her. I couldn't let that happen.


Author's note: I really do feel bad for the amount of times Damon keeps getting interrupted. He can't win but he's getting close.