History Repeating - Part 2
"I swear, Caroline, I'm alright. All that's left is a headache and some blood sugar issues," Victoria insisted through the phone. She paced back and forth in the living room of the Salvatore boarding house, biting her lower lip worriedly as she waited for Caroline's reply.
Caroline, on the other end of the line, did not seem convinced. "You straight up passed out, Victoria, after you were almost hit by a car! If it wasn't for that dashing stranger, your head would've hit the pavement and you would have had more head trauma! And then he just took you and disappeared!"
Reclined on one of the couches, like a long, lanky cat, was Lee. He looked at Victoria with a grin and mouthed "Dashing" to her in a move that was not too dissimilar to Flynn Rider's charming grin. He nonchalantly turned a page in the book he was reading and gave her a cheeky wink before turning back to look at the page. Good heavens, I cannot handle another man like Damon. I can barely handle Damon.
"I understand that, Care, but I am fine," Victoria restated. "He just took me to the hospital and we met up with Kelly there. He was a complete gentleman. Kelly took me home and I've been here ever since. Now please, there is no need for you to worry anymore and there's definitely no need for you to come over and mother-hen me. Goodbye! Love you!"
She moved to hang up, but Caroline cut her off. "Are you going to the girls' sleepover tonight?"
Victoria shrugged and made a noise that represented the feeling 'I don't know'. "Elena and Bonnie haven't mentioned anything to me yet. I wasn't even sure if I was invited."
"First off: you are always invited to these things and never think otherwise! And second: consider yourself officially invited by me if that'll make you feel better. I am not going to go to that party by myself. Hell, invite that friend of Stefan's to come along too! Lexi, was it? She was cool. It would be nice to have some girls on my side instead of it being two against one."
"Care, I haven't picked a side," Victoria sighed, shaking her head. "Alright: I'll ask Lexi if she wants to join, but again, that doesn't mean we are on your side. The two of us could play Switzerland."
"I get that," Caroline replied. There was a hint of disappointment in her voice and Victoria frowned. She didn't want Caroline to get the impression that just because they weren't taking her side on the Bonnie necklace conflict, that didn't mean that they were taking Bonnie's side. "If you don't pick a side, could you at least make sure that we don't get into a giant colossus fight then?"
"What else am I here for except to be the conflict mediator?" Victoria mused, rolling her eyes. "I gotta go, Care-Bear. You can come over to my house in about an hour or so and then we can head over to Elena's house together. Lexi will be there too if she's coming."
"Perfect! I have so much to tell you. So much has happened this last month. Love you, Tori!"
"Love you too, Care-Bear," Victoria hummed, clicking the 'end call' button. Victoria let out a large sigh and flopped over onto the couch opposite of Lee. She tossed her phone onto the coffee table and dragged her palms down over her eyes. She let out a loud groan and rolled her shoulders, trying to relieve some of the tension.
"You're having a girls' night in and you didn't even invite me?" Lee said mockingly, sticking a bookmark at his spot in the book and turning to her to give her a pout. He threw a hand over his heart. "I'm hurt, Ms. LeBlanc."
"It's Victoria or Tori or whatever else nickname you can come up with," Victoria sighed, waving her hand away dismissively. "I thought we talked about this already in the car when you drove me over here."
"No, I believe what happened in the car was you waking up and then panicking that I was here instead of Georgia," Lee mentioned, shutting his book with an audible snap. He tossed the book so it landed right next to her phone on the coffee table. He sat up and stretched his lanky arms out, yawning as he did so. "Though, why I'm supposed to be in Georgia, I don't know."
"It's like dealing with another full-grown Damon," Victoria grumbled, her hands moving up to grip her hair tightly. "I can't do this. I think I am going to full-on panic."
"Lee's just being a jackass," Lexi suddenly commented, arriving into the living room carrying a tray full of mugs. She sashayed into the room, sending Lee a stern look before she set the tray down. "If he's being big brotherly, that means that he considers you to be family. It's a Southerner thing, I think."
"I've known him for a few hours and I'm already family?" Victoria snorted, shaking her head. She flopped her head against the back of the couch and groaned. "What has my life come to?"
"A question I think all of us have asked at least one point in our life," Zach supplied, strolling into the living room. He was carrying a few plates full of sandwiches and Lee sat up straighter, licking his lips as he eyed the sandwiches hungrily. Zach placed the plates down beside the mugs and picked one up, passing it over to Victoria. She took it gratefully and he grabbed another one for himself before taking a seat beside her. Zach took a sip of his drink and then added after a moment of thought, "Well, undead life for three of us."
Victoria nodded her eyes, giving him a look that said "Don't I know it". She took a long sip of her drink, smiling softly when she tasted the familiar richness of chocolate. Hot chocolate was seemingly her comfort drink. Now if only it had the smallest drizzle of caramel...
"So what's this about a girls' night out?" Lexi questioned, plopping down on the couch beside Lee. Immediately, Lee lifted his arm and drew Lexi close to his chest and she snuggled deep against him. Victoria couldn't help the little 'awh' that came at the sight and Lexi smiled softly, her cheeks tinging with a blush.
"Elena and Bonnie are throwing a girls' night because Bonnie's been having nightmares," Victoria explained, and Lexi's eyes flickered. She nodded in acknowledgment. She knew what Victoria was talking about. "Elena wanted Bonnie to feel good about something. So, they also invited Caroline because she and Bonnie got into a fight recently over a necklace that she gave to Bonnie, but then Caroline wanted it back for some stupid teenage reason, so Elena wants Bonnie and Caroline to make up. And then Caroline invited me because she doesn't want to be teamed up against and she wants to have a supporter, even though I told her I'll probably be playing Switzerland. And then she invited you because she thought you were cool."
"Oh thank goodness," Lexi giggled. "I was worried there for a second that there was some diabolical reasoning behind inviting me. I'd love to come!"
"I show up in town only mere hours ago and you're already trying to ditch me?" Lee asked incredulously. He tightened his grip on Lexi's body and he dropped multiple kisses onto her head. The previous 'awh' from Victoria threatened to come back up again, but she did her best to keep her fangirling down to a minimum, which was a goofy smile. "Love you too, Lexington."
Lexi groaned and threw her head against his shoulder, muttering semi-angrily, "I should have never told you that story."
Victoria smiled. That was an oddly familiar feeling. She remembered when Stefan told her the same thing after she mentioned the hula-hoop story. Oh, that was a great story. She needed to remember to write that down in her diary so she wouldn't forget it.
"Oh!" Lexi gasped, sitting up straight. Lee flinched back at the loud noise and silently asked his girlfriend what she was doing. Lexi turned towards Victoria with a wide smile and said, "Tell this Noble friend of yours thank you so much for the ring. I know I thanked you but I forgot to ask you to say thank you to him."
"Why didn't you ask Lee to thank him?" Victoria asked, gesturing towards the other vampire. "He probably has better contact with Noble than I do."
Lee rolled his eyes. "Yeah right; Noble would much prefer to answer your texts than he would answer mine unless it had something to do with you."
Victoria cleared her throat, trying to push down the blush that threatened to hit her cheeks. "He's a really nice guy. But anyways, how long have you known Noble? When did you two even meet? I figured that he was pretty much stationed in Virginia."
"Well that, sugar, is a long story. I think firstly I should mention that I was, physically, born in 1886," Lee commented, reaching forward to grab two mugs. He handed one to Lexi and kept one for himself, chuckling when he saw Victoria's gobsmacked expression. "I know, I'm exactly the young guy I used to be. I meet Lexi when I was twenty, so that would be 1906. I fell in love right there and then. About three years later, she told me that she was a vampire. That...didn't help our relationship at all, but I got over it quickly. She was the one to turn me. When she first showed me her vampire features, I had never been more frightened and turned on in my entire life."
"Gross, Lee," Victoria huffed, wrinkling her nose in disgust. "I don't want to hear about your sex life from the 1910s or anytime else. Keep that to yourself please."
"Noted," Lee replied, giving Victoria another cheeky wink as he placed his arm back around Lexi's shoulders. "Anyways, I hung around with Lexi for about forty years when I was first approached by Noble in the late fifties. He told me that he was looking for vampires to join his cause."
"And that was what?" Victoria asked, tilting her head to one side curiously as she took another sip of her hot chocolate.
Lee shrugged. "Just the usual with him, I guess. Wanting the world to be a better place. He's very noble like that." He grinned widely at Victoria and Victoria rolled her eyes. "I was never that high up in his rankings until recently, so I never knew what our true mission was supposed to be. Hell, the only reason I ever got into a higher ranking within his group was because of 1992."
"What happened in 1992?" Victoria questioned. When Lee gave her a flat look, she glanced between Lexi and Zach to see what he was looking at her like that for. They were both giving her the same look. "What? What happened in 1992?"
"A cute little sugar plum was found abandoned on the side of the road and was taken up by a wonderful mama in this very town," Lee responded, taking a sip of his hot chocolate in a very matter-of-factly way.
Victoria's eyes widened as the information hit her in the face. "O-Oh. Me."
"Yeah, you," Lee snickered, setting his drink down on the coffee table. He snatched up a sandwich and shoved half of it into his mouth. He chewed and swallowed quickly before continuing his conversation. "Noble took, and still does take, your safety very seriously, so most of his followers have at least played the Victoria LeBlanc care-watch once. Noble liked how I did things and I got to do the rotation multiple times. I think maybe seven? He would drop anything and everything the moment he heard you got hurt, whether it was from a paper cut or if some creep shoved you while you were walking in the school hallway in the third grade."
"But why does he care so much?" Victoria asked, setting her drink down too. "I don't know what's so special about my birth. Hell, I didn't know he existed until maybe the second week after I woke up from the coma, so -"
"- Coma?" spluttered Lee, sitting up straighter. His eyes widened in dismay and he glanced worriedly between all three other members of the group before his eyes settled on Victoria. "What do you mean 'coma'?"
"I mean coma," Victoria stated slowly. She sat up a little straighter. Now she was really confused. If he was companions with Noble, even a little bit, wouldn't he know about the car accident? "Last May I got hit by the Gilberts' car and the four of us, me, Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert, and Elena, all went into the water below Wickery Bridge. Everyone but Elena drowned, myself included. Someone pulled me out of the water and resuscitated me, but the head trauma I had experienced from dying sent me into a coma for four months. I woke up with no memory of my past. I mean, I remember a lot about other people's pasts, but I know nothing of my own past. Everything that happened to me personally is a mystery."
Lee's expression fell and his arms went slack beside his body. His eyes turned misty and Victoria's eyes widened in alarm. What the hell...?
Lee was gone in a flash, reappearing at Victoria's feet. He threw his arms around her torso and dragged her into a tight hug, hiding his face against her collarbone. Victoria froze, not entirely sure what she was supposed to do. She looked helplessly towards Lexi but saw that the vampiress had a similar expression of dismay on her face, though not to the extreme that had been on Lee's face.
Lee's grip around her waist tightened slightly and Victoria eventually just moved her hands to awkwardly pat Lee's shoulders. She didn't know what else she was supposed to do. His body shook under her touch and she felt something cold hit her collarbone. She sucked in a shaky breath when she realized it was tears. Lee was crying...no, sobbing on her.
"D-Did I say something wrong?" Victoria eventually murmured helplessly. She didn't know what she was supposed to do. What was she supposed to do? "I-I didn't mean to o-offend you."
"You died and I wasn't there."
Victoria blinked, not fully processing what Lee had just whispered into her. "E-Excuse me?"
Lee yanked his body away from her and looked at her through tears in his eyes. He took a large, uneven breath. "I was supposed to be watching over you this year. I had taken another rotation. A buddy of mine asked if we could switch so he was watching over you. Insisted that I could spend the year with Lexi. It was our hundred year anniversary, and he knew that. Noble told me it was fine, that he didn't need my services and that he would oversee my replacement personally. I-I had no idea you were hurt. Noble never told me and neither did the guy who was supposed to be watching over you!"
"O-Okay?" Victoria stammered, glancing at Zach with concern. He shrugged, a look of confusion on his face too. Victoria turned back towards Lee. "It's not your fault, Lee."
"But maybe I could have stopped it from happening!" Lee insisted, leaping to his feet. He began to pace, his steps erratic and Victoria shot a look of concern at Lexi. Lexi got on to the look and stood up, walking up behind Lee. "If I had been there -!"
"Victoria still could have died," Lexi interrupted, flipping Lee around. She reached up and placed her hands on either side of Lee's face. Lexi's face softened as she gazed up at her boyfriend and she dropped her voice so it was barely above a whisper. "She is okay. You did your job. She's alive. You saved her life today, don't forget."
"But she died, Lexi, and I wasn't here."
"You're not always going to be there to save her life," Lexi cooed, gently brushing Lee's face. "Just learn from what happened and take that information with you. Got it?"
Lee seemed hesitant, but he nodded anyways and Lexi leaned up on her tiptoes, softly kissing him. Lexi pulled back with a wide smile and whispered, "Good."
"I'm still really confused here," Zach interrupted, raising a hand. All three others in the group turned to look at him. "What are these rotations and again, why does Noble care so much?"
"Rotations are based on years," Lee explained, seemingly calmer than before. He wiped his eyes with his fingers, and still gave Victoria a semi-sorrowful look. "I've taken seven rotations, so I've watched Victoria for seven years of her life. I think it was when she was five through nine, and then eleven through twelve. I was supposed to be doing my job this year, but Raphael was very insistent."
"Raphael?" Lexi, Victoria, and Zach all shouted, with varying levels of anger. Victoria was probably the least angry, more shocked than anger. Lexi wasn't too pleased with that information and she growled physically at the news. Zach was the worst. His vampiric features came out and his canines snapped together viciously, and with an audible click too. He was pissed.
Lee glanced between the three of them, equally confused and shocked as Victoria was at hearing the news. "You three knew him?"
"If you watched over me then you must know about Vicki Donovan," Victoria began, sending a worried look at Zach. His vampire features hadn't fallen and he looked like he was struggling to control himself. She wasn't so much worried about herself but about what he might do towards Lee, who had claimed that Raphael was his "buddy". "Raphael killed Vicki when she had Damon's blood in her system, turning her into a vampire. Because of that, she ended up kidnapping me, unintentionally torturing me for a week, and then Zach was forced to kill her. Raphael then apparently threatened everyone in Mystic Falls who had ever hurt me, and before Zach killed him, he was about to kill me."
"And nobody thought this was information that should have been told to me?" Lee growled, his vampire features popping onto his face. His eyes were not as red as Zach's (Victoria wasn't sure anyone's eyes could be as red as Zach's), but the dark veins under his eyes were a close match to the Salvatore's. "Noble better watch out the next time we meet, because I am going to have a few choice words with him!"
"Okay, everyone just calm down!" Lexi snapped, holding her hands up. She glared at both Zach and Lee. "Put the faces away, gentlemen. What's done is done. Raphael is dead and there's nothing we can do about that now. We can't cause him any more pain than what's already been done." She reached forward and grabbed another sandwich, shoving the food into Lee's hands. To him, she sternly said, "Eat. You only act this way when you're hungry."
"Food is not the answer to everything, Lexi."
"It is in this household," Lexi snapped back. She pointed towards the couch. "Sit. Now."
Lee followed her instructions. Throughout the process of him eating his sandwich, his vampire features dimmed until they were nonexistent, his normal human face replacing it. He munched moodily on his sandwich while Lexi turned her attention towards Zach. "Zach. What do you need to calm down?"
"To murder Raphael all over again," Zach hissed, his hands tightening into fists. The vampire took a deep breath and let it out in one quick rush, before adding, "But a sandwich wouldn't hurt."
Victoria grabbed another sandwich and passed it over to him. He barely gave her a second glance before he started to devour the food. Victoria glanced at Lexi, who sighed and shook her head. "Should we be leaving them alone at a time like this?"
"I doubt having you around, with the constant reminder of what Raphael did, or in this case, didn't do," cue verbal growls from both Lee and Zach, "would be good for them," Lexi finished, glaring at the younger vampires for interrupting her. "Let's go. They can go hunting for a rabbit or something."
"Something more challenging," Zach growled, jumping to his feet. He grabbed a jacket that was lying on the end of the couch and threw his arms into it. He didn't look towards Lee as he passed, but he said in the form of a question, "Wanna find a bear?"
"Cougars are more my style," Lee replied, leaping to his feet. He yanked Lexi against his body and kissed her head before whispering something to her and then he disappeared, Zach following him in a quick rush.
Victoria blinked. "What the hell just happened?"
"Zachariah Salvatore and Alexander Ledger pissed off together," Lexi replied, watching them with concern. "I hope we don't regret this."
"His full name is Alexander Ledger?" Victoria couldn't help but ask.
When Elena opened the door to her house, it was obvious that she hadn't expected to see three people there. "Oh! Lexi, Victoria. You guys came along with Caroline?"
"I invited them," Caroline stated firmly, brushing past Elena to stride into the house. "I'll be in the kitchen starting the meal prep." She tossed her backpack, pillow, blankets, and other essentials by the stairs and walked with purpose, disappearing from sight in only a few moments.
Victoria gave Elena an "I'm sorry about her" look before gesturing to see if she could come in. Elena stepped to the side, allowing Victoria entrance. Victoria walked in and paused momentarily, gesturing subtly towards Lexi.
Elena's eyes widened in realization and she turned towards Lexi. "Come on in, Lexi."
"Thanks, Elena," Lexi said with a grin. She stepped into the Gilbert house and let out a large breath. "Okay, it's been a while since I've been invited into a house. And this is my first time having a girls' night. Is it normal to be nervous?"
"For someone who's over three hundred and fifty years old? Maybe," Victoria teased, reaching over to nudge Lexi. Lexi stuck her tongue out playfully at Victoria before setting her items more gently down beside Caroline's items. The vampiress went bounding off after Caroline. "Where's Bonnie?"
"I'm here."
Victoria turned her attention towards the stairs, where Bonnie was walking down. She was wearing a really pretty cardigan, and she hugged it tighter around her chest. The dark lines from earlier that morning were still really prominent. It was taking everything in Victoria's system not to wrap the girl up in her arms in a tight hug. She looked like she could need it.
"There's my favorite Bennett," Victoria hummed, and she grinned when she saw Bonnie's lips twist up in the faintest hint of a smile. "How are you feeling? Any better than earlier?"
"A little," Bonnie answered, yawning briefly. "I think I figured out what the source of my nightmares was coming from and I think I dealt with the problem."
"Way to be proactive," Victoria replied, giving the baby witch a thumbs-up. "Take the problem by the horns and give it a good thrashing."
"You're so weird," Bonnie snorted, an actual smile coming to her face. Victoria gave a mini cheer at that. "Caroline's here?"
"In the kitchen with Lexi Branson, Stefan's friend from his birthday party," Victoria explained. To Elena, she added, "I hope you don't mind that Caroline brought us. I wasn't sure if it was just a you three thing or what."
"You're always included in our girls' nights," Elena insisted. Victoria's heart warmed at that. After all the little glances from Elena that had torn her down throughout the day, it was nice to hear that. "I just wasn't sure you wanted to. I mean, after the fiasco that was this afternoon."
"I heard about what happened!" Bonnie interrupted, rushing down the stairs. She paused at the bottom and looked at Victoria worriedly. "Are you alright?"
"Besides a rush of adrenaline that I so did not need? I'm good," Victoria answered, shrugging her shoulders. "It just so happened that Lexi's boyfriend was in town visiting her, thought she might be around the high school since Stefan was there, and saw me about to become roadkill. He got me out of the way before the car could do anything bad."
"I hope whoever was the idiot driving that car gets punished," Elena grumbled, folding her arms angrily across her chest. "You could have died today."
The silent 'again' at the end of the sentence was heard between Elena and Victoria. And Victoria silently agreed. It seemed that she had come close to death many times since dying and waking up in that foreign world.
"Come and eat some food while it's still warm!" Lexi called out from the other room. Victoria led Elena and Bonnie into the kitchen, where Lexi and Caroline were working to place all of the takeout from the Grill into nice bowls and plates.
The tension between Caroline and Bonnie was obvious from the moment Bonnie stepped into the room. It was so thick Victoria could cut it with a knife. It was awkward and uncomfortable for all parties involved, even the neutral ones.
Caroline finally sighed and set down the knife she had been using to cut through the saran wrapping. "I'm sorry. There. I said it. If you want the ugly-ass necklace, keep it. It's yours."
Bonnie bit her lower lip and a look of guilt flashed past her eyes. "Will you hate me if I tell you I threw it away?"
Caroline let out a groan of frustration and looked at Bonnie incredulously. "You threw it away?"
"I know it sounds crazy, but the necklace was giving me nightmares," Bonnie insisted, pulling her cardigan closer to her chest. "I had to get rid of it."
"You could have just given it back to me -!"
"- Why?" Elena interrupted, looking at Caroline in disbelief. "Just because you found it in the woods does not inherently make it yours."
Victoria sighed. This was going to be a long night.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she slipped it out, leaving Lexi to deal with the ever growing Bonnie-Caroline-Elena drama. It was a text from Damon.
DAMON:
Stefan wants 2 B bros again. Thoughts?
Victoria quickly typed out a response.
VICTORIA:
Might as well hear him out. Could B fun.
DAMON:
I meant as a Seer.
VICTORIA:
Not a Seer. Same response.
Victoria put her phone away just as Caroline interrupted the chattering of the girls by saying, "Are we doing manicures or what? Who has their kit?"
"Mine's in my bag," Bonnie said, gesturing roughly towards her purse.
Caroline moved towards Bonnie's purse, sticking her hands in to start rifling as she asked Elena, "So, Elena...how long do you think this fight with Stefan's gonna last? Is it, like, a permanent thing?"
"I don't know, Caroline," Elena groaned, shaking her head. "It's not like we've had much of a chance to talk about it."
"Well, you need to figure out soon, because you never know who may swoop in..." Caroline continued, her voice dying out as her hands stilled. Here we go. "Why are you such a little liar, Bonnie?"
"Caroline!" Elena gasped in shock, not expecting the sudden mood swing.
Caroline whipped around and held up the crystal necklace, causing Bonnie and Elena to gasp in shock. Their faces paled and Bonnie staggered backwards, grabbing onto the kitchen counter to support herself. She stammered out, "I-I'm not lying to you, Caroline. I swear!"
"It's true," Elena pleaded, glancing between Bonnie and the necklace. She sent Victoria an affronted look before looking back towards Caroline. "I watched her throw it into a field. We had no idea where it landed!"
"Then explain it."
"Emily."
"Who's Emily?" Caroline questioned, looking at Victoria for answers. Victoria had to shrug. It wasn't like she could just straight up tell Caroline who Emily was. That would divulge too many secrets that Victoria hadn't told Caroline about. It wasn't her time just yet.
"The ghost," Bonnie explained weakly.
Caroline scoffed. "Oh, the ghost has a name now?"
"Caroline, please," Elena tried, but Bonnie interrupted her, saying, "I wonder why she won't leave me alone."
"What is going on?" Caroline demanded, taking a step forward. "Why am I not a part of this conversation? You guys do this to me all the time; it's one of the many reasons why I hang out with Tori more than you two."
"That's not true," Elena shot back, referring to the 'all the time' portion of Caroline's statement.
Bonnie seemed to have recovered from her shock, saying sassily, "Yes, it is. I can't talk to you. You don't listen."
"That's not true!"
"I'm a witch," Bonnie stated super seriously.
Caroline did listen, Victoria would like to clarify. Caroline did listen. She just heard the wrong meaning behind the statement. "And don't we all know it?"
"See?" Bonnie said in exasperation, throwing her arms up. "That's what I'm talking about! I'm trying to tell you something. You don't even hear it."
Caroline opened her mouth to say something else, but Victoria took that moment as a good opportunity to interrupt everyone. "Alright, ladies, that's enough. Bonnie, go into the living room. Take a moment, comprise yourself. Elena, by Lexi, finish getting the food into bowls. Caroline, with me."
Victoria grabbed Caroline's wrist and pulled her over to the far side of the kitchen. It struck Victoria that this was where Caroline had pulled out the confession from Victoria about her guilt when she thought she had been the reason for Elena's parents' deaths. Odd.
"I do listen," Caroline insisted quietly to Victoria, a hint of dismay coloring her tone.
Victoria was nodding even before Caroline finished. "I know, Caroline. I know. You do. But sometimes you don't always hear."
"There's a difference?" she asked weakly, and Victoria nodded again.
"You hear the words that Bonnie is saying, but you don't hear the meaning. Or, in this case, you hear the wrong one," Victoria supplied gently. "You may not believe in what Bonnie is saying, but that doesn't make it not true. Doesn't necessarily make it true either. But Bonnie truly believes in it, and that should be enough for you to respect that."
"I do respect Bonnie's beliefs," Caroline said. "It's just...sometimes, her family can just be weird, you know, and I don't always feel right with that."
"Yeah, the woo woo of it all can be kind of mind-altering," Victoria agreed. The Bennett family was a long line of witches and it could be rather confusing to think about. "So just go into that room," Victoria gestured towards the living room, where they could faintly spot Bonnie sitting on one of the couches, "and tell Bonnie the truth: that this all kind of freaks you out, but if she believes in it, then you're here for her. Because you are, right?"
"Right," Caroline confirmed, nodding her head. She took a deep breath and let it out in one fell rush. "Thanks for mediating, Tori. I appreciate it."
"Of course, Care-Bear. Now go get her."
Caroline nodded her head again and flipped around, marching off towards the living room. She slowed her gait as she entered, and it was only when she disappeared from view did Lexi leave Elena's side to stand by Victoria. The vampire glanced off at where Caroline had gone and whistled lowly. "Good job there, Vee-Bee."
"Thanks, Lexi," Victoria replied, grinning at the other girl. "I can dish out some pretty good advice every once and a while." Dropping her voice a little so Elena wouldn't hear her, she added, "Any word from Lee or Zach yet?"
"Lee sent me a photo of him standing above the dead body of a cougar and captioned it with "Dis you?"," Lexi snorted, rolling her eyes. "He likes to make fun of our age gap too much. I'm waiting for a 'spot the difference' meme with that photo and a picture of the two of us together."
Victoria couldn't help but giggle. "Man, that would be awesome. And Zach?"
"When I asked, Lee said that Zach was still moody, but a little less than before," Lexi explained. She folded her arms across her chest and looked at Victoria. "He seems so much different from the last time I saw him, and I'm not just talking about becoming a vampire."
"I've noticed that too," Victoria hummed, her brow furrowing as she thought of the multiple times she'd seen Zach recently. "He's losing his filter, he seems to anger more easily, and his eyes -"
"- Are much darker than normal," Lexi finished for her. Victoria nodded her head in confirmation and Lexi let out a breath. "Yep. Noticed that too."
"Should we be concerned about it?" Victoria asked just as Caroline called out from the other room, "Girls, you can come in now. We're done!"
Lexi shrugged and started walking into the room. "It's uncommon, but I can't remember for what reason why. I'll do some research the next time I'm at the boarding house."
Elena plopped down onto the couch's armrest and Victoria moved so she was sitting on the other side of Bonnie. Lexi plopped down onto the couch between Elena and Caroline. The girls all looked at each other and burst into a round of giggles. They certainly made an interesting picture. Caroline spoke first, clapping her hands together. "There is just way too much drama in this room. I have a brilliant idea, though. Why don't we have a séance?"
Bonnie bit her lower lip nervously. "I don't think that's such a good idea."
"Come on," Caroline pleaded, giving Bonnie the puppy dog eyes. Caroline's puppy dog eyes were pretty effective. "Let's summon some spirits. This Emily chick has some serious explaining to do."
Caroline grabbed Bonnie's and Lexi's hands before they could say anything and stood, dragging them out of the room and up the stairs after them. Elena shot Victoria a hesitant look and couldn't help but ask, "Since you have that...knowledge with you, should we be concerned?"
"Right now? No," Victoria answered honestly. "Within the next fifteen minutes, probably."
"What are we doing?" Bonnie questioned, glancing towards Elena worriedly.
The teenager shrugged and replied "I don't know" and Victoria couldn't help but agree.
The five girls all sat in a circle on the floor, crisscrossed, with candles spread out before them inside Elena's bedroom. They were all lit and spread unevenly inside the circle and that little detail made Victoria very uncomfortable. With dance came the need for precision, and the candle formation in front of her was not precision.
"Be quiet and concentrate," Caroline demanded and Bonnie and Elena shut their mouths tightly. Lexi let out a snort and Caroline shot her a look that demanded her obedience. Lexi rolled her eyes but mimed zipping her lips shut. "Close your eyes." Lexi sent Victoria a look and Victoria grinned at Lexi. She understood that look of exasperation. Victoria closed her eyes shut and waited for Caroline to continue her line. "Now take a deep breath. Bonnie. Call to her."
"Emily, you there?"
Victoria couldn't help but laugh at Bonnie's nonchalant tone and that sent giggles rippling through the rest of the group. Well, all besides Caroline, who snapped, "Really? "Emily, you there?" That's all you got? Come on."
"Fine, geez," Bonnie grumbled. There was some rustling, as if Bonnie was getting comfortable, before she continued, "Emily, I call on you. I know you have a message. I'm here to listen."
There was an immediate reaction, and Victoria opened her eyes just before it happened. The candles within the certain of the circle flared stronger, the fire reaching higher than should have been possible. There was a strong whooshing noise as it did so, and that caused the other four girls' eyes to snap open. Lexi's eyes widened in disbelief and she kept glancing between Bonnie and the candles. Meanwhile, Caroline looked triumphant, as if she knew it would happen all along.
Elena turned to look at Bonnie and asked, "Did that just..."
"Yeah, it just happened," Caroline answered in Bonnie's stead.
It was clear that Bonnie was in denial, as she kept on shaking her head and murmuring, "It's just the air conditioning."
"Ask her to show you a sign," Caroline suggested, and Victoria knew she had to draw the line. Emily's possession of Bonnie didn't just hurt Damon and his chances of finding Katherine easily, but they hurt Bonnie. That was too many people and Victoria wouldn't stand for it.
"Care, I think we went far enough," Victoria tried to reason, but it seemed as though Caroline would not be persuaded.
"Ask her," Caroline repeated, before looking towards the candles. "Emily, if you're among us, show us another sign."
"Caroline, stop it," Victoria pleaded, glancing towards the candles. Nothing happened; in fact, the candles went lower, as if the flame was starting to die out.
"See? It's not working, just a fluke -" Bonnie began, but she was interrupted when Elena's bedroom windows shot open, opening so fast that they banged against the walls. Bonnie let out a little panicked scream and jumped to her feet. Her hand reached towards the necklace immediately. "I can't, I'm done!" She ripped the necklace off of her neck and tossed the stone down onto the ground beside the candles. Quickly, all the candles blew out, throwing the room into darkness except for the light by the candle. Bonnie's pleas were borderline hysterical as she cried out, "Get the light! Please, get the light!"
"Hold on, I got it," Lexi called out and a moment later the overhead light snapped on. Victoria paused to take a quick headcount.
Lexi was by the door, her hand still on the light switch. Elena was over by Bonnie, meanwhile Caroline was standing right next to her. The windows were still open, and the candles were unlit.
But the necklace...
"You guys, the necklace. It's gone."
A ripple of shock went through the group after the sentence left Victoria's mouth. Elena shuffled closer to Bonnie, who looked ready to pass out at any moment. Caroline's mouth kept opening and closing, as if she couldn't believe what was happening.
Elena was the first to speak, as was apparently custom. "Okay, fun's over, Caroline. You made a point, and I get it. Now give it back."
Caroline gasped in outrage and shook her head frantically. "What? Well, I didn't take it!"
"Caroline didn't take the necklace," Victoria interjected. She was about to say more when there was a loud pounding of footsteps from the hallway. She and Lexi caught each other's eyes and Lexi gave the smallest nod. The eldest female flipped the door open and strode out with purpose, glancing back and forth.
"What? What happened?" Caroline asked, looking towards Lexi with worry.
"I-I don't know," Elena stammered, taking a few steps forward. She stuck her head out of the doorway and glanced up and down the hallway. "Jeremy? Are you home?"
"It's not Jeremy," Victoria whispered. Oh, she hated this part in the TV show. Absolutely did. So maybe...she would just have to change it.
Victoria waited for Elena to duck out into the hallway and then Victoria followed her, immediately searching for the bathroom. She had been in there once before, back when she, Caroline, Bonnie, and Elena had gathered up to get ready for the Founder's Ball. But damn it, it seemed rather difficult to find it when she had a time limit!
"Guys," Bonnie called out, and Victoria flipped around. Her face paled.
That was the last line before...
There was a snapping sound of a door shutting and Bonnie let out an ear-splitting scream. Victoria darted back into the bedroom just as Caroline started to throw herself against the door. She could hear Bonnie screaming in a panic, "You guys, open the door! Help me!"
"Bonnie!" Elena yelled, jumping back into the room as well.
Lexi appeared a moment before and grabbed onto the doorknob, using that as leverage as she threw her shoulder into the door. When it didn't immediately break, Lexi looked at Victoria with wide, concerned eyes. Victoria understood the sentiment. Emily was in the process of possessing Bonnie. As much as it hurt her soul, there was nothing that any of them could do for her now except let the process run its course and try to save her from Damon later on in the evening.
"Keep trying this door, I'll check the hallway!" Elena insisted, ducking back out of the room. Caroline ran to join her and Lexi continued to throw herself against the door, grunting with each impact. Victoria joined what she could, but if Lexi wasn't able to break down the door with her three hundred and fifty years of experience, then there was no way that she would be able to do anything to help.
A moment later, the door snapped open, revealing Bonnie. The necklace was back around her neck, and there was a blank look in her eyes. No. It wasn't Bonnie. This was pure Emily Bennett, the Civil War witch.
Elena and Caroline rounded the corner, panting. Elena sprang forward, her hands fluttering around Bonnie as she demanded worriedly, "What happened? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Bonnie replied, but she was anything but. Her voice was monotone and she seemed too calm considering the circumstances.
Caroline seemed to believe but differently. Listening, but not fully hearing. "Unbelievable. You were totally faking it!"
"Caroline, you know that's not true," Victoria tried to reason.
"No!" Caroline snapped, jutting a finger out to jab at Bonnie angrily. "You scared the hell out of me!"
"Bonnie?" Elena asked cautiously when Bonnie said nothing in retaliation.
"I'm fine. Everything's fine."
Bonnie pushed past the four girls, striding with purpose and intent down the hallway and towards the stairs. The girls all stood there momentarily in shock before rushing over each other in an attempt to catch up with Bonnie/Emily (though no one besides Victoria knew that at the moment); or, in Caroline's case, to go home.
"I can't believe I fell for it," Caroline grumbled angrily under her breath. Victoria would deal with her at a later time. Right now, she needed to focus on Bonnie/Emily and how to get rid of her.
"Are you okay?" Elena tried asking Bonnie/Emily again.
Bonnie/Emily replied, "I must go."
"You can't leave, Emily," Victoria called out, and that made the witch pause at the bottom of the stairs. Victoria quickly pushed past Lexi and Elena, making it to the witch first. "Listen, I understand what you think you must do, but you have to trust me, I can make sure that everyone gets what they want."
"You may be strong, child, but you are not that strong," Bonnie/Emily spoke, eyeing Victoria with a certain look. She paused, then continued, "Perhaps, in another life, a life where you did not side with him, we could have been allies."
"Him? Who the hell is him?" Victoria asked incredulously.
"You may side with him, but you do not know what he stands for," Bonnie/Emily continued, moving towards the door. "I won't let him have it. It must be destroyed. But I feel that to do that, I must throw him off."
Bonnie/Emily threw an arm out towards Victoria. Victoria was about to ask what she was doing when she was hit with a terrible case of dizziness. The adult-turned-teen stumbled forward, unintentionally falling straight into Bonnie/Emily's waiting arms. Victoria opened her mouth to protest, to demand to know what the elder witch had down to her, but she was finding herself spacing out. Sudden darkness surrounded the corners of her vision, and she was able to murmur "Oh, hell no" before she passed out.
Damon was just about to toss the football straight towards Stefan's head when his baby brother's phone started to ring incessantly. Stefan held a hand out for him to pause and Damon moaned in disappointment. The faintest hints of a smile came to Stefan's lips and Damon rolled his eyes. It must be his on-again off-again girlfriend, Elena. The one who looked like she could be Katherine's twin. The two were scary similar, but Katherine had more fire inside her belly than Elena ever did. Ambition too. She knew what she wanted and she went out and got it, whether it was fame, wealth, or love. She was similar to Damon in those regards.
"Hey Elena," Stefan breathed, still having that stupid small smile on his lips. So far, Damon had only wanted to punch Stefan in the face twice that night, which was a new record. But that stupid smile was starting to irritate him, so he might be close to breaking that lead soon. Stefan's face fell and Damon heard why. Elena's breathing sounded like she was on the verge of an anxiety attack. "What's wrong?"
"It's Bonnie," Damon heard the teenager reply.
"What happened?" Stefan demanded, turning away from Damon. Damon couldn't help but snort. As if that would prevent him from listening in on the conversation.
"Emily is possessing her." Well, that certainly was a plot twist. Damon could say positively that he hadn't seen that one coming. Maybe Victoria had. "She said something too."
"What did she say?"
"She said "I won't let him have it. It must be destroyed", And then she just left."
"Where do you think she went?" Stefan asked, beginning to pace. Another reason that Damon didn't like Stefan. He seemed to pace. It was a new habit. Did he pick it up from Victoria?
"I don't know!" Elena insisted, but she paused. Damon could hear her mind whirling through the phone line. "Fell's Church, by the old cemetery. That's where she took Bonnie in her dreams. We have to help them, Stefan."
"Just stay there," Stefan told her, his voice softening. "I'm going to find her. Lexi and Victoria can keep you coming."
"But that's the thing, Stefan! Emily took Victoria!"
Damon's blood froze.
She didn't.
She wouldn't.
She couldn't have.
Emily wouldn't risk it.
But Damon had only sworn to not hurt the Bennett witches. He had never said anything about Victoria in his promise to Emily because he hadn't known the girl back then. Damn it!
"She what?" Stefan growled, his voice dropping low.
"E-Emily said "I won't let him have it. It must be destroyed. But I feel to do that, I must throw him off" and then Tori suddenly got all dizzy and fell into Emily's arms and then just passed out! Lexi tried to grab Victoria away, but she got this terrible head pain. Emily just left with Tori and spelled the door shut for about ten minutes before Jeremy showed up from the Grill."
Damon was gone; there was no more useful information to be heard. All that he needed to know had been said.
Emily had taken Victoria to use her against him. Somehow, she knew of their close relationship. Well, close would be an interesting way of describing the two's relationship together, but that was beside the point. Emily wouldn't care about Victoria's safety. Emily just cared about one thing it seemed: destroying the necklace.
And so Damon ran. He ran fast and hard and he blocked out anything that could distract him. His feet took him out of Mystic Falls High School and down into the woods. It was a clear shot to the ruins where the church used to lay. He pushed himself, faster and faster.
He skidded to a stop once he reached the ruins. The Bonnie girl was standing in the middle of the ruins, her hands sweeping against the ground as she set up the spell. Damon sniffed, trying to pick up on Victoria's scent. It was hard to smell anything in the wet forest. He growled lowly, alerting Bonnie, or he guessed he should say Emily, to his presence.
"Hello Emily," he snapped, his voice low and dark. It was hard to keep his rage down to a minimum. "You look different."
Emily straightened and glared at him, brushing her hands against her pants to clear them off. "I won't let you do it."
"We had a deal!" Damon argued, taking a dangerous step forward.
Emily's gaze steeled itself and she replied sternly, "Things are different now. I need to protect my family."
"I protected your family!" Damon shot back, his voice rising. He jabbed a finger at himself. "You owe me."
"I know," Emily answered, taking a hesitant breath. "I'm sorry."
The "I'm sorry" spoke for just more than what she was about to do with the necklace. Damon could hear the hidden meaning underneath. Emily had plans for Victoria, and Damon refused to allow that to happen. Not Victoria. Anyone but her. Not his ally. Not his friend.
Not his Mama Bear.
"You're about to be a lot more than that," Damon growled as he launched himself towards Emily. Emily flicked her wrist and Damon found himself flying backwards, away from Emily and the ruins.
A sharp burning pain raced through his body the moment his body hit the tree and he let out a pained shout. A branch ran him through, right at his stomach, the slightest tinge below his lungs. Damon wheezed and grunted as he tried to slide himself off. The branch was slick with his blood and every movement against the wood felt like someone was running him through all over again.
"Why did you bring her into all of this?" Emily asked him suddenly as she knelt to grab a large stick. Damon panted and gripped onto the tree branch harder, trying to pull himself off. His hands just couldn't get a solid grip! "What made you decide that she needed to know about you?"
"You're speaking crap, Emily, and I don't know what you're saying," Damon hissed, wincing as the wood stabbed into him again.
Emily started to move the stick in her hands in large, eloquent strokes. From where Damon was hanging, he could see the outline of an all-too-familiar pentagram taking place. Damon struggled harder as Emily continued, "You know who I am speaking of. The witch, Damon."
"There is no witch here in Mystic Falls besides your descendent, Emily!" Damon snarled.
"The LeBlanc witch, Damon. Why bring her into this mess?"
Damon froze and blinked once. Twice. And finally managed to say, "The hell?"
A LeBlanc witch?
Victoria wasn't a witch.
It wasn't possible.
There was no way.
"She knows, Damon," Emily confirmed, pausing in her actions to look up at him with blank eyes. "She's known about all your transgressions and do not think for a second that she is truly on your side. When she reveals herself, she will burn you from the inside out. The lightning in her soul is enough to swallow you whole." She paused, then tilted her head while Damon hung from the tree branch, having no clue what the hell just happened. Quietly, Emily whispered harshly, "Til mir."
Victoria appeared out of nowhere, stumbling from the far side of the ruins. Makeup stains were running down her cheeks and she was gagged and bound at the wrists. It was fabric making up her ties, and it looked familiar to Damon. It hit him. Bonnie had been wearing a cardigan earlier that day. Victoria's whole body was shaking and her eyes were glassy, as if she wasn't all quite there. Damon's ears could pick up the raspy breaths she tried to take. She was spiraling into a frenzied panic. It must have reminded her of her week with Vicki. Damon cursed under his breath. Did Emily have no tact? Victoria moved forward clunkily, as if it was not her will to walk, until she was kneeling on the ground beside Emily, in the center of the magical pentagram.
Pounding footsteps from the forest behind him and the overwhelming smell of strawberries told Damon that his brother and his not-girlfriend-girlfriend were close by. Stefan turned the corner around the tree, his eyes catching Damon first. He rushed over, surprising Damon slightly (though he would never tell Stefan that), and grabbed Damon's arms. With a quick pull, Damon was pulled free from the tree branch. His legs gave out on him the moment he hit the ground and he let out a pained wheeze, grumbling angrily to Stefan, "It hurts. This is why I feed on people."
"Stefan."
Stefan turned away from Damon and his eyes latched onto Emily's. "Hello, Emily." A second later, his body tensed up and he said in worried surprise, "Victoria."
"These people don't deserve this," Emily stated, dragging the large stick around the ground. Victoria stayed where she was kneeling, her eyes leveled on the ground as her shoulders shook with quiet cries. "They should never have to know such evil."
"What do you mean 'evil'?" Stefan demanded, taking a step forward.
Emily tossed the stick down onto the ground, away from the lines she had carved into the Earth, and took another step back towards Victoria. She placed a hand on the top of Victoria's head and the girl flinched, hard. Her breathing picked up and her cries became slightly louder.
"Emily, I swear to God, I will make you regret this," Damon spat, his skin bristling. The sight of Emily touching Victoria made his skin crawl. What were her plans? What did she intend to do to her? The questions spiraled in his mind and they made him want to go insane.
"I won't let you unleash them into this world," Emily retorted.
"Them?" Stefan repeated. He looked back towards Damon, who was starting to pull himself onto his feet. Thank heavens for rapid vampire healing. Stefan took a step towards Damon, disbelief and hurt in his eyes. "What part of the story did you leave out, Damon?"
"What does it matter?" Damon snapped at his younger brother. Damon took a step closer towards Emily and Victoria, and noticed Emily's hand tightened just slightly on Victoria's head. It was enough for the human girl to take notice and to flinch again. Damon physically growled and yelled, "Let her go, Emily!"
"Emily, tell me what you did," Stefan insisted.
"To save her, I had to save them."
"You saved everyone in the church?" Stefan gasped, taking a few steps back in disbelief.
More pounding footsteps sounded from the forest, and three more familiar faces appeared on the other side of the ruins. Lexi, Lee (the odd vampire boyfriend of Lexi's that Damon had met when he brought Victoria back to the boarding house that afternoon), and Zach all stood stunned at the proceedings in front of them.
Lee noticed Victoria first and his vampire features rose to his face. "Get your hands off of her"
He bolted forward and Emily swung around, her hand outstretched towards Lee. Lee let out a pained scream as he fell to his knees, his hands moving to grip his head as he was racked with pain. Lexi darted forward, grabbing Lee by the shoulders and pulling him back, trying to distance him away from Emily.
Emily turned back towards Stefan and spoke, not at all disturbed by Lee's pained cries in the background. "With one, comes all."
"I just want Katherine!" Damon argued.
"I knew I shouldn't have believed a single word that comes out of your mouth," Stefan huffed, flipping around to face Damon. There was a dangerous glint in his eyes, one that Damon hadn't seen for quite a while. "This isn't about love, is it? This is about revenge."
"The two aren't mutually exclusive," Damon said, his eyes never leaving Victoria's shaky body. How was she still awake? He could have sworn she would have hyperventilated herself so hard that she passed out by then. Was Emily keeping Victoria awake? Maybe Victoria was doing it herself?
The LeBlanc witch.
What the hell?
"Damon, you can't do this."
"Why not?" Damon demanded, whipping around to glare at his brother. "They killed twenty-seven people, and they called it a war battle. They deserve whatever they get."
"Twenty-seven vampires, Damon. They were vampires," Stefan pleaded. "You can't just bring them back."
"This town deserves it."
"You're blaming innocent people for something that happened one hundred and forty-five years ago!"
"There is nothing innocent about these people, and don't think for a second it won't happen again!" Damon yelled, throwing his hands up in the air in exasperation. "They already know and suspect too much, and," Damon turned back towards Emily, addressing her with this last part, "they will burn your little grandwitch right next to all of us when they find out. Trust me."
"If you let the vampires out of that church just to find Katherine, you are condemning thousands of people to die!" Stefan growled, grabbing Damon's shoulder to flip him around to face his brother. Stefan jerked a hand towards Victoria. "You will be condemning Victoria to die!"
Damon shoved his brother backwards, and Stefan flew through the air, skidding against the ground as he hit the earth, hard. Damon's rage and anger were at an all time high. "Don't you dare try to manipulate me!" To Emily, he pleaded, "Please, don't do this." He didn't know what he was pleading for at that moment: for Emily to not break the necklace, or for her to not hurt Victoria.
He honestly didn't know.
"I can't free them," Emily said, and her voice sounded like an apology. "I won't." She raised her hands and shouted, "Incendia!"
The pentagram that Emily had carved into the dirt erupted into flames and Victoria let out a muffled scream as the flames leapt closely to her. She sided closely to Emily's side, and the flames made her tears sparkle like diamonds against her cheeks. Damon wanted to bolt into the fire, to grab Victoria and take her away, but he wouldn't be able to get that close to Emily without Emily hurting him or her. Damn it!
"No, no, please!" Damon tried again as he crept as close to the flames as he dared. "You don't need to do this. We had a deal, Emily!"
"My apologies, Damon," Emily said demurely. "But it had to be done."
And then Emily brought out a knife, from the back of her pants, and Damon saw it. Stefan saw it. Lee, Lexi, and Zach saw it. Victoria saw it.
And chaos erupted.
Emily grabbed Victoria's arm and lifted it to the sky, making her bound arms parallel to the witch's body. She sliced quickly and only once; the blade cut through Victoria's right arm, just above the elbow, and Victoria let out a pained cry as blood instantly began to cascade down her arm. Emily ran her hand up Victoria's arm until her entire palm was coated in the gooey red substance. She then flicked her hand over by the flames and the flames roared higher, stronger than they had been before. The heat was more intense than any fire Damon had ever felt and all the vampires had to back out, hissing as the heat became too much.
Damon heard the snap of a necklace being ripped off, and then the faint cries of Elena from behind him and Stefan, screaming Bonnie's name.
Damon couldn't focus on that. His eyes were trying to pinpoint through the flames. Where was Victoria? Where was the necklace?
He heard Emily murmur something that was lost behind the crackling of the fire and above the top of the flames, he could see the necklace as it spun into the air.
"NO!"
The necklace exploded into a million pieces, flames encapturing the piece of jewelry in a sight that would have been a spectacle had the giant fires from the pentagram not been there. The spell was over and complete.
The flames died down.
Emily was not there; it was only Bonnie. She stood shaky and in disbelief, as if she had no idea what had just occurred.
Victoria lay on the ground.
Unmoving.
Was she breathing?
There was so much blood.
Damon saw red.
He pounced.
A/N: Is this a very long chapter? Yes, yes it is. Should I have split it into two? Probably. Will I? Nah. I really wanted this episode to only be like, two chapters because I really want to get into the next few episodes soon. Next chapter will have the ending of this episode and the next little bit of the next episode. So exciting! And sorry, I made Victoria have more trauma. It wasn't intentional, it just happened that way. And yes, we'll get to the diary thing eventually, but in order to deal with that, Lee and Lexi have to learn about Victoria and I didn't want to have them be knowledgeable about her otherworldly-ness just so soon.
GAMEPLAN FOR SCHEDULING: I audition again in about a week and a half, so I will be switching up the schedule again. We'll keep doing weekly updates on Mondays, but if I can get a chapter done and I feel accomplished and good about it, then we may have a mid-weekly update on Fridays. Maybe. Haven't decided on that one just yet.
THE SHIPPING WARS! (feel free to keep on voting (you can vote for more than one ship!); 1 full point for if you choose one ship, two half points for two separate ships, more than 2, smaller decimals. Anything that is not a full point will be italicized. This will not decide the final pairing; I already know who Victoria will end up with, I just want you all to be able to guess):
ROMANTIC:
Team Stetoria {Victoria/Stefan} (15): insert name here XD, sammyleann's dad, TikiKiki, Maistryia, Don't-Say-It-Feel-It, another guest, Elyse1821, Lime, herewegoagain, K, Yukihino-Sama, emma, hfgfgfrdr, just another guest, BookwormStrawberry, heyyeah, Guest (3), guest4ithinklol, Guest (6)
Team Datoria {Victoria/Damon} (13): Sciave, Guest, ArganRose, CrystalAris, Marine76, Assenavira, CarlaPA, Guest (1), Maistryia, emma, just another guest, Freeshavacahdoh, Guest (3), Guest (4), Guest (6), sabrinaannpierson
Team Vilijah {Victoria/Elijah} (22.5): guest, Guest, SoraLover987142, insert name here XD, sammyleann, Orange keys 25, LoyalElijahFangirl, Hinata Megumi, A. G Herz, Aryabloodlust, ferallahey, AngelColdHeart, BlueDragibus, dreamwalkerlisa, Guest, Stachelbeere, Guest (1), jocillyria, Guest (2), BookwormStrawberry, Ieviheichu, Teghan-Potter1370, karenc0r, Hachiko33200
Team Klatoria {Victoria/Klaus} (1.5): Tayla141, TikiKiki
Team Koltoria {Victoria/Kol} (2): DreamerPop, MelissaMorningstar
PLATONIC:
Vinn {Victoria/Finn) (.4): LoyalElijahFangirl, Orange keys 25
Varcel {Victoria/Marcel) (1.4): LoyalElijahFangirl, Orange keys 25, jocillyria
Zinn {Zach/Finn} (.9): LoyalElijahFangirl, Orange keys 25, karenc0r
Jol {Jenna/Kol} (1.4): LoyalElijahFangirl, Lime, Orange keys 25, karenc0r
Kelas {Silas/Kelly L.} (.4): LoyalElijahFangirl, Orange keys 25
Koltoria {Victoria/Kol} (.2): Orange keys 25
Kennett {Kol/Bonnie} (.5): Lime
Autoria {Aurora/Victoria} (.2): LoyalElijahFangirl
Vonnie {Victoria/Bonnie} (1): bpopa7110
Vibekah {Victoria/Rebekah} (1): BookwormStrawberry
New Followers!: valentin301099, lillen20, Kgirl1996, sabrinaannpierson, hiyukihime2, crimeFangirl1903
New Favoriters!: valentin301099, lillen20, Kgirl1996, sabrinaannpierson, DBZSUPERGT, crimeFangirl1903
Onto reviews!:
valentin301099: Sometimes, that's how protagonists be. I think it's always important to remember that one, these characters are human, so they are going to mess up and make decisions that are really stupid and we're just going to have to live with that, and two, they are fictional characters. But yes, Victoria and especially Elena will struggle with the whole "is she the true Victoria LeBlanc?" as the story goes on.
DBZFAN45: It literally took me going into this store at the mall called Box Lunch to realize that DBZFAN probably stands for Dragon Ball-Z Fan. Is that right? I kind of feel ridiculous that I never thought of that until now. Elena never meets Alaric privately in this episode, I believe that was just Jeremy. I was actually homeschooled, fun fact. Not that bad of an education, if I do say so myself, but yes, some people do thrive better at public school, and I think Victoria does too cuz she can't dwell on her trauma. Yes, it felt in character for Damon to want gifts too. And yes, I agree that the diary entries do have their ups and downs. My reasoning behind it is one, she's a fictional character and she's going to do stupid human stuff, so don't expect her to be perfect, and two, if everyone assumes she's a stupid teenage girl, why would they want to look into her diary? Her friends and family should first off be respecting her privacy and such is that. But there will be an answer to the whole diary question eventually, I just haven't figured out which avenue I want to do. One involves Lee and the other involves Damon. Lemme know which you think would work best. The writers definitely shortchanged Stefan and so many other people, like Bonnie and Enzo, just to name a few.
LoyalElijahFangirl: Hey you! It's so weird that I can instantly tell that it's your review, even when your name isn't there. There's just a way you write your reviews. Don't hate yourself for being busy! You're getting that education! That's important! How is that going, by the way? Yeah, I know you really do like Raphael. Hopefully this chapter and Lee's remarks about Noble will help you understand more about Noble (or less, if it just confuses you even more). As for Victoria Vanacore being similar to Victoria LeBlanc, keep in mind some characters' remarks, such as what Kelly said in the end of Ch. 7 (The Night of the Comet - Part 3) and Vicki said in the endish-middle of Ch. 16 (Lost Girls - Part 2). They've noticed that Victoria doesn't seem exactly the same as she was before the coma. Bonnie did get a sketchy reading off of Victoria in Ch. 4 (Pilot - Part 3) at the bonfire event. Some things to keep in mind. I love the Datoria friendship. They are so adorable together! She definitely does mean a lot to him, based on what just happened in this chapter too. I'll give you a probably on the Mikaelson therapist. Oh yeah. Victoria has crappy luck. I think with Victoria and the whole "does what she wants", they see that Victoria is very wise for her age, and so they trust her opinion and treat her like an adult. Elena can be very childish, and so it is easy to treat her like one. Oh yeah, tensions is building between Elena and Tori. It'll explode one of these days. I don't know when, but it will. Aww, thank you! I love reading your reviews too. You're very insightful when you review this story, and it helps me learn more about my own character (if you can actually believe that).
lillen20: Thank you!
Guest: Your votes have been added! You are Guest (6) if you ever want to come back and change your vote.
sabrinaannpierson: Your vote has been added!
Lime: Hey Limester. Yeah, it was a really interesting definition. Yeah, not Elijah's best moment, either times XD. And oops, I just switched the trauma for this chapter? he he? Zach would definitely get along with Elijah, but until Elijah shows up, we have emotional support deep-fried chicken wings Southerner Lee (whose full name I made up because he is never called anything but Lee, and so henceforth, his full name is Alexander Ledger, and I'll give him a middle name later). My knee is feeling great! I have this funky knee condition, and so it only hurt for like two days and then it got better. Lexi does deserve her daylight ring. I figured that was a Damon word to use. Alaric's character is difficult for me to like because I do like him, but I just get frustrated with his actor. Stefan is the definition of Angst, like how Victoria is the definition of TRAUMA, all capital letters.
This chapter is ridiculously long, so my apologies for that. If you've made it this far, congrats? Lemme know what y'all think about this boatload of new information, from the Victoria LeBlanc Care Watch to Emily's mentioning of the LeBlanc witch to Damon's pounce at the end. I'd love to hear it all!
Stay healthy and stay safe!
BecomingFearless1F