A/N: If you haven't reread Chapter 61, the new one, I recommend doing so before you reread this chapter, otherwise you're about to be really confused as to why the end of the last "chapter" is the start of this chapter. Thanks y'all ;p.

Isobel - Part 2

"So these are the specs for the History department," Alaric announced, handing out different papers to each of the students that were gathered in a small group around him in the cafeteria. School had been alright, and Victoria's favorite part of the day had been including Amber, Anna, and Jeremy into their small group of friends. Jeremy and Anna had stayed off to their own side, understandably, but Amber seemed to get along alright with everybody (given how shy she was), which Victoria counted as a win.

Alaric got to Victoria and he held out a sheet of paper for her. She accepted it gratefully, nodding her head in thanks to Alaric. She flipped the page right round and started to study it as Alaric continued speaking, handing out the rest of the papers to the other students, "For the Founders' Day Float, we will be recreating the battle of Willow Creek. Tyler has been nominated as the head of the production design."

Tyler, who was standing off to the side, on the notably opposite side of the group as Matt, looked surprised and a little frightened at his name suddenly being called out. "By who?"

"By me," Alaric sniffed, planting his hands on his hips after he handed out the last flyer. "I've seen your sketches and they're good."

"Look, I'm not really into the -"

"- Well, you just pick your team, be creative and..." Alaric interrupted, trailing off when he spotted Stefan and Elena (who had decided to drop into the planning committee late because they wanted to have a lunch date at the Grill while the rest of the high schoolers decided to come early to the cafeteria) entering the cafeteria from one of the far doors. "...don't screw up."

"Great!" Tyler grumbled, turning to the side to address Matt. "You want to help me out with this?"

"Not really, no," Matt answered honestly, twisting around to march off.

Victoria stepped up to Tyler and placed a hand on his shoulder, giving him a sympathetic smile. "I'm not exactly known for my artistic skills, but I'll try and lend a hand."

"Thanks, Tori," Tyler sighed, nodding his thanks to the adult-turned-teen. "I think for now I'm going to just sit down and write up a list of supplies we're going to need. I'll have to tag-team with Caroline later, cuz she's doing the costuming, and we all know how much she's gonna take control of the situation."

Victoria laughed at that. "That's for sure." She gave Tyler a reassuring hug and bounced off to Bonnie and Caroline, who were standing together and swapping ideas back and forth. Amber was standing with the group as well, looking kind of out of place and weirded out. Victoria moved so she was standing in between Bonnie and Amber, the direct opposite side of Caroline.

"Alright, show us," Bonnie said, finger-waving at Victoria as she edged into the conversation.

"Let's reference last year's Miss Mystic float," Caroline explained, typing rapidly at the computer she held in her arms. "This is what they did last year." She flipped around the computer and all three girls (the three girls being Amber, Bonnie, and Victoria) flinched back at the sight of the picture on the screen.

"Oh gosh, turn it off, turn it off!" Victoria groaned, trying to cover the picture up with her hands. She wasn't the kind of person to disgrace others based on appearance (she had shopped her fair share at Goodwill when she was trying to hide from her parents) but hot damn, that parade float was ugly as hell.

"And this is exactly what we don't want to do," Caroline finished, gesturing towards Victoria. "Even Tori thinks it ugly! And she's Tori! Tori doesn't think things are ugly!"

"Ew, okay!" Bonnie agreed, grimacing at the picture before Caroline shut the computer. Amber scrunched up her face too at the picture, but she kept her opinions to herself. "So, what are we doing?"

"Southern classic elegance," Caroline stated matter-of-factly.

Victoria snorted. "Gone With The Wind style?"

"How'd you know?" Caroline giggled, shoulder-checking her best friend.

"You channel Ms. Scarlett, like, on the daily," Bonnie jumped in, raising an eyebrow at the blonde.

"So true!" Caroline laughed, Bonnie and Victoria joining in with her. After a few seconds of laughing, Caroline turned to Amber and, with a warm smile, asked, "Does this sound good to you?"

Amber jumped, not expecting to be called on, and she swallowed heavily, nodding gently. "I-I think it looks good."

"Really? Because it's totally okay if you don't think it'll work! I just wanted to ask somebody else's opinion to make sure I'm not getting best friendship bias."

Amber swallowed again and glanced towards Victoria with frightened eyes. Victoria gave her a subtle thumbs-up and Amber licked her lips before looking back towards Caroline. She sniffed and said, "I-I think it's a good idea, but w-we do know five people who lived traumatic moments through the Southern classic elegance time period, r-right? And I-I just think that it might be a little...much?...for them? Like, will they get PTSD from seeing so many girls in these kinds of costumes?"

Caroline was silent for a moment and Amber looked scared out of her wits that she had said something wrong. Amber opened her mouth and stammered out, "B-But you know t-that I-I still am kind of new h-here and to this whole supernatural thing, so m-maybe that's not a good opinion to consider -"

"- Well shit, you're right."

Amber blinked, not knowing how to respond to Caroline's sudden interjection.

The blonde just froze and shook her head in disbelief. "I am such an idiot! Of course! I should have thought of that before. Thanks, Amber! I'll check in with Harper, Pearl, Damon, Stefan, and Anna before the parade to make sure they're all comfortable with it. Now, can somebody point me in the way of Tyler Lockwood because we got some planning to get done!"

Caroline flipped around and stalked off with Bonnie trailing right behind her. Amber just watched her go and then glanced back towards Victoria with confusion. "W-What...What just happened?"

"Welcome to the Mystic Falls Supernatural Gang, Amber Bradley," Victoria giggled, smiling widely at the girl. "Be prepared for the craziness that is set to come. You'd be surprised at the level of drama we get into on a regular basis."

Victoria went to say more but she found herself stilling when she spotted John Gilbert standing at one of the double doors, looking around the cafeteria room with a bit of interest. His wandering gaze landed on Victoria and he froze, though his facial expression dropped to something like regret. He jerked his head towards the hallway and stepped outside.

Victoria blinked and shook her head. She set her hand onto Amber's shoulder gently and said, "Hey, go find Jeremy and Anna and see if you can get them to help with setting up. Last time I checked, they were already heading towards Tyler. I got someone I need to talk to real quick."

"Y-Yeah, sure," Amber said, startled at their conversation suddenly being over. "I-I'll see you later."

"Of course," Victoria chirped, smiling widely. "Oh! And tell Caroline that I told her to give you my number. Us girls got to stick together in these trying supernatural times."

She shot Amber a playful wink and jogged towards the door she had spotted John Gilbert slipping out of. Victoria entered the hallway with some trepidation, but she closed her eyes and focused up on her hearing when she didn't immediately spot the man. She blocked out the thudding, pounding heartbeats of the teenagers in the room behind her and tried to narrow down on the one just a few hallways down. She followed that pumping noise like it was a homing beacon.

She rounded a corner to find John standing in front of a trophy display case with his hands placed into his jean pockets. He didn't look towards Victoria as she came into view; he just kept his eyes trained onto the case. "You're alive."

"Takes a lot more than a bomb to keep me down," Victoria offhandedly commented as she strode down the hall. She folded her arms across her chest and stopped a few feet from John, giving him a hard stare. "I want you to give me one good reason why I shouldn't rip your heart out right now."

"You know who I am to Elena," John stated firmly, turning slowly so he was facing Victoria. There wasn't an ounce of fear in his eyes. He looked like he felt that he was in control of the conversation. "You may hate me right now, but you don't hate her enough to kill one of her parents."

Victoria felt immediate concern (how the hell would John know that about her?), but she gave John a lazy smirk and snorted to try and throw him off. "Death doesn't stick to you, John Gilbert. I could kill you here and you would just wake up. Unless I took that ring," Victoria pointed at the hand in his pocket that was wearing the ring, "and then I killed you, and that time, you would actually stay dead." Victoria straightened up and growled under her breath, "I thought we made an agreement."

"One night, Victoria, is where that agreement fell under," John replied, shrugging his shoulders lightly. "We agreed to stay out of each other's way for the Miss Mystic Falls pageant. We never agreed to Valentine's Day."

"You set off a bomb, John," Victoria spat, looking at him in disgust. "People could have died."

"People did die," John sniffed, taking his hands out of his pockets to plant them on his hips. He cocked an eyebrow at Victoria and looked her up and down. "I was watching from the sidelines. Confirmed kills, you know? And for some reason...Zach Salvatore was gray and desiccating and you brought him back. That's not physically possible."

"I am only limited to what my mind can imagine and the strength I possess in my blood," Victoria retorted.

"I'm well-aware, thanks," John snorted, taking a step closer to Victoria. She held her ground and just glared at him as he got closer and closer to her. "You were just collateral damage. Those three vampires should have been dead."

"Not while I'm around," Victoria hissed. "None of them are dying on my watch."

"You can't protect everyone, Victoria," John warned her, his voice dropping in its volume but not in its intensity. If anything, that jumped up to another level. "One day, someone will come and those vampires will die." He pulled back a little and his voice returned to its normal volume. His next choice words, however, made Victoria's blood freeze. "Nice new girl to your little posse. I hear she has a thing for emotions."

Victoria let her body choose its next movements. She took one step back and brought up her other leg, ignoring the way that her movements tugged hard at the stitches in her body. With all the strength that she could muster in her body, including a war cry that would make even the bravest fools tremble, Victoria kicked John Gilbert in the chest. The resulting thud was so loud that it echoed down the halls. John was sent flying back, hitting the ground hard and skidding back a few feet across the tiled floor. He let out a moan of pain and grabbed his ribcage, just as a sharp race of pain hit Victoria. She staggered backwards, falling against some lockers to help keep her standing. She pressed her hand against her hip and hissed when she felt the area around her wound a little stickier than usual.

"Forget you even know her," Victoria snarled, breathing heavily as she tried to readjust herself to help with the terrible ache in her hip. "She has done nothing wrong to you."

"It sounds like the start to a really bad joke," John wheezed, pushing himself up onto his elbows. "A vampire, a witch, an Empath, and the Immortalis all pretend to go to a school -"

Victoria froze and her voice dropped to a deadly whisper. "How do you know about that?"

"I have contacts."

"No you don't," Victoria retorted, shaking her head as she felt another chill race down her spine. "I-It can't be possible."

"It can be possible," John hummed, rolling onto his side as he let out a wheezy cough. "Just like it can be possible to know that you aren't from this world."

"Stay away from us, John," Victoria snapped, her voice sounding shakier than it had before. She stumbled away from John and just pointed a shaky finger at him. "Or next time, I will rip your heart out."

Victoria started running, knowing that if John already knew about the Immortalis, he wouldn't be surprised to see her enhanced speed. She got lost within the hallways of the school, running on autopilot. In fact, she wouldn't have even stopped running until she actually collided with someone. Given the speed that she had run into them with, both herself and the person she hit should have shattered bones. However, two strong arms wrapped themselves around her, grounding her. She inhaled sharply through her nose and breathed in the scent that she had grown accustomed to thinking of as safety.

"Damon," she breathed, already feeling the pinprick of tears at the corners of her eyes. She grabbed tightly onto the front of his shirt and shoved her face into his chest. She was already shaking.

"What happened?" Damon demanded, his voice dropping down so it was more of a murmur. His hands started to roam around her back, as if he was patting her down to check for injuries. Victoria heard him sniff her and she could feel him tense up underneath her. "Mama Bear, you're bleeding. What happened?"

"He knows."

"Who knows?" When Victoria didn't answer, one of Damon's hands grabbed the back of her head and tilted her head up so she was looking up into his eyes. His icy-blues looked deadly and he looked ready to eat whoever at hurt her. "Baby, who knows what?"

"John Gilbert. He knows about all of it."

Damon led Victoria from the hallway into the nearest restroom he could find (the female's bathroom in the Science hallway, for anyone wondering). Once they were inside, Damon looked around to make sure the bathroom had no occupants and grabbed a little sign hidden away in the closest that he slapped onto the door to say that construction work was being done on the bathroom. Hopefully, that would dissuade any passersby to keep on walking, looking for a different restroom to use.

He helped Victoria to the countertop decorated with sinks. He helped Victoria up onto the countertop, which took some maneuvering since the place where he would have normally grabbed to help her up was oozing blood. Oh, and it smelled amazing. Which wasn't helping him stay focused.

Victoria leaned wearily against the mirrors and Damon could see just how the events of the last twenty-four hours have been taking their toll on the adult-turned-teen. The dark circles under her eyes were horrendous, even with the concealer she used to try and cover them up. The way her shoulders sagged showed how tired she was and the fresh tearstains on her cheeks just made Damon's blood boil. She deserved more than heartbreak every other week. Was a good, decent, warm life too much to ask for Victoria?

The universe seemed to think so.

Damon went over to the paper towels and grabbed a handful, already mindful that he was probably going to have to grab more. He got some of them wet and moved to kneel in front of Victoria. He rested his hand onto her thigh and that drew her attention, though she blinked tiredly down at him. Geez, she already looked ready to pass out, and it was barely in the afternoon.

"Mama Bear, I'm going to have to get to your hip to see how badly you tore your stitches," Damon informed her, rubbing his thumb comfortingly against her thigh. "How do you want to do this?" Victoria was dressed in jeans and a sweater, so it was her call on how things proceeded.

"I think I can just wiggle the jeans down enough for you to work well," Victoria murmured. She paused and blinked her eyes a few times and shook her head. "That sounded much dirtier than I intended."

"Didn't even cross my mind, Mama Bear," Damon admitted truthfully. It was hard to think those kind of thoughts when Victoria was literally bleeding in front of him.

"Forgive me if I don't believe that the Prince of Sex and Sin doesn't think dirty thoughts," Victoria huffed out in a feeble laugh. She winced and shifted awkwardly on her hip. "Alright, here I go."

Victoria grabbed the edge of her sweater and rolled it up, revealing the top of the large white gauze and medical tape that had been placed over her hip wound. She secured her sweater by tucking some of it up in her bra and then she pushed down her jeans just enough that Damon could see the whole piece of gauze. It looked like a hot mess, if Damon was being honest. Too much of it was red and not enough of it was white. He hissed as he looked at it and he glanced up at Victoria. "What the hell did you do to aggravate the stitches this much? I thought your mom got you that doctor's note for P.E."

"I kicked John Gilbert down a hallway," Victoria mumbled, letting out a whimper as Damon started to peel the medical tape off her skin. Damon dropped a quick kiss to her jean-covered thigh, murmuring an apology, before he kept on going. "H-He was making comments about Amber and I -"

"- got all Mama Bear," Damon chuckled lowly, shaking his head. "That's kind of what you do. Oh, and atta girl."

"It is, isn't it?" Victoria sighed as Damon peeled away the final layers of her gauze. "Alright, Doctor Salvatore, tell me how we're looking."

Damon bit his lower lip as he looked down at her stitches. He grabbed his wad of wet paper towels and gently dabbed at the stitches. Victoria's hand appeared out of nowhere and grabbed his shoulder tightly as she let out a squeak of pain. "I know, Baby, I know. It's gonna sting a little."

"Sting a little is - ow - getting stung by a bee. This is - holy shit, Damon, that hurts! - getting stabbed all over again," Victoria grunted as Damon did his best to clean away all the fresh blood around the stitches. "Just tell me if I tore any of my stitches."

Damon took his bloodied towel to the trash and hid it down in the bag. He came back to Victoria and knelt down in front of her again. "I'm not a doctor, but I have dabbled a little when I got bored in the late nineties. It doesn't appear like you tore any of your stitches, but I would definitely want Kelly-Beans to give us a second opinion."

"Fantastic," Victoria groaned as Damon reapplied the medical tape and bloody gauze back to Victoria's side.

"We're going to need her to replace the gauze anyways. Well, her, Jenna, or Ms. Gibbons."

"Got it. Well, don't let me keep you from Alaric. I'll make my way back to Caroline and Bonnie."

Damon stood up as he finished applying her gauze and took a step forward, standing in between her legs so she couldn't escape. "Not so fast, Mama Bear. I actually came down this way because Alaric asked for me to grab you too. It seems something has gone down in Mystic Falls and he wants you to be present."

"Oh yeah, Isobel's here," Victoria hummed.

Damon's eyebrows shot up in disbelief and he grabbed the bottom of her sweater, tugging it down to cover up the rest of her stomach. Now that she wasn't actively bleeding out, or potentially bleeding out, in front of him, that track of bare skin was a little bit...tempting.

"Isobel is here?" Damon echoed, to which Victoria nodded. "In town?"

"Yeah."

"How does Alaric know?"

"He met her last night at the Grill while Zach, Harper, Pearl, and I were dealing with bodily trauma."

"Great. Well, let's go see what we can do to help with that then."

Damon tugged Victoria off of the countertop and swooped her up into his arms, carrying her like a bride on her wedding day. She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head against his shoulder, letting out a sleepy sigh that warmed Damon's heart. Before he could stop himself, he dropped a quick kiss onto her forehead and sighed, "We will need to get you a better sleeping schedule, Baby." He flashed the two of them out of the bathroom and made his way down to Alaric's classroom. He had to take some corners carefully as they were nearing the cafeteria, but he eventually made it to Alaric's room without any delays.

He walked in with Victoria, and Stefan and Elena and Alaric all just looked at him with a mixed range of emotions.

"Before anyone accuses me of hurting Mama Bear, lemme just say that I have the right to an attorney," Damon grunted as he brought around one of the student desks. He set Victoria down as carefully as he could into that seat, and she thanked him with a weary head bop on his stomach. Damon smiled at her little interaction and he plopped down beside her on the floor, leaning his shoulder against her leg.

"No one would accuse you of hurting Victoria," Stefan mused, shaking his head. "Took you longer than I expected though."

"We had a complication," Damon revealed. At the trio's stares of 'hmm?', Damon rolled his eyes. "You tell me your drama, I'll reveal ours, but you go first. Mama Bear mentioned that Isobel is here in Mystic Falls and that you," he pointed towards Alaric, "you met her for yum-yums last night?"

"Not entirely like that, Damon," Victoria mumbled, whapping Damon's shoulder. He reached up a hand and grabbed her hand, interlocking their fingers. If anyone asked why he had done it, he would just say it was to protect himself from being hit again. No one needed to know the full truth.

Not just yet, anyways.

"Did you ask her about Uncle John?" Damon questioned. "Are they working together?"

"No."

"No, they're not?"

"No, I didn't ask," Alaric clarified.

"What about the invention?"

"Didn't ask."

"Did she know about the tomb vampires?"

"I don't know."

Damon sucked in a sharp breath and did his best not to growl it back out. So much for a well-educated man. And Mystic Falls expects him to teach their children about history? "Did words completely escape you?"

"No, I was a little too distracted by my dead vampire wife to ask any questions," Alaric snapped back.

"Well then, what does she want?" Damon demanded, glancing towards his younger brother and said younger brother's beau.

"She wants to see me, Damon," Elena sniffed, wrapping her arms around her waist tighter. "Me and Victoria."

"Like hell," Damon immediately shouted, shaking his head. He leapt to his feet and started to pace in front of Victoria. "There is no way in hell that I am sending Victoria into that. No, no, no way!"

"Alaric is supposed to arrange a meeting," Stefan interrupted, trying to placate Damon. Not like it was working. "We don't know why or what she wants."

"I don't really have a choice," Elena whispered fearfully, taking a step closer to her boyfriend.

"She's threatened to go on a killing spree," Alaric added in.

"Oh! I take it that's not okay with you guys," Damon growled, flipping around to glare at Alaric. "Victoria is already still recovering from a bomb attack last night and we just want to send her to your dead wife who appears to be working with Katherine, the greatest bitch known to walk this Earth?"

"I want to do it," Elena explained softly. "I want to meet her. If I don't, I know I'll regret it."

"You guys do not understand the severity of this situation," Damon grunted, shaking his head. He pointed towards Victoria, who had moved slightly to rest her head on her arms on the desk. "John Gilbert just confronted her in the hallway. He knows. He knows everything!"

"Everything?" Elena asked, paling significantly.

"I wasn't there personally, so I can't attest to how true that statement is, but he definitely knows about Victoria being a Wanderer and the Immortalis, and he also knows that the good doctor is an Empath."

"Doctor?" Alaric asked in confusion, glancing to Stefan for clarification.

"Amber Bradley, a junior like us. She's an Empath. Lee likes to call her Doc, so it's kind of stuck."

"I want to meet her."

Damon closed his eyes and called upon everything in his spirit to keep him from lashing out. He took a minute to breathe deeply and then it let it out before he flipped around to stare down at Victoria. She wasn't even looking up at him, keeping her face down towards the desk. "No."

"Yes," Victoria retorted gently, finally turning her eyes up so their gazes were locked in with each other. "Isobel knows about the White Witches. They were supposed to be pretty secretive. John only knew because Kelly told him, but Trudie said that Isobel knew about the White Witches when she was really young. Kelly wouldn't have known Isobel necessarily, if I'm remembering everything correctly. I need to know answers."

"You kicked John Gilbert down the hallway and almost tore your stitches. You need a doctor, not a vampire mom intent on playing nice with her daughter."

"Then we make a pitstop and see my mom before then," Victoria argued back, pushing herself up so she was sitting up straight.

Damon fell to a kneel in front of Victoria and he narrowed his eyes down at her. Victoria returned the sentiment with a narrow-eyed stare. In a last ditch effort, Damon let his vampiric features rise up: his bloodied eyes, the dark veins, and the fangs. Victoria retaliated by having her Immortalis face appear, the one with the two different colored eyes that looked ready to drip ooze at any moment.

"Victoria..."

"Damon."

He couldn't say no to her.

It was going to come back to bite him in the ass.

Damon let out a harsh sigh and he let his vampire features fall back underneath the surface, growling through gritted teeth, "Lexi and Lee are going to be your backup. No debate."

"I was already planning on asking them to be my backup," Victoria replied, giving Damon a cheeky grin as she brought her normal eyes that Damon had come to love. "See? Great minds think alike!"

"Or stupid minds," Damon sniffed, reaching forward to flick Victoria's forehead. She let out a little yelp of surprise and glared at him as he rose to his feet and looked towards Alaric. "Schedule the meet."

Victoria settled into the booth seat beside Elena, nervously patting down her clothes as she quietly observed the patrons of the Grill. She had to change out of her sweater-jean combo after Lee took one look at her and said, "Yeah, those bloodstains are enough to probably make her want to eat you." So that outfit was a hard-pass. Damon and Victoria had made a pitstop at the LeBlanc household, where Lexi, Lee, and Kelly were, ready to meet up with Victoria. Lexi was set to work finding Victoria an outfit to wear while Kelly busied herself with fixing up her stitches. The conversations that went down between the two LeBlanc women regarding Kelly's apparent occupation were comical, to say the least ("I still can't believe you're a doctor" and "If you're a doctor, then how come you made me go to the hospital for all those checkups after the neck bruising incidents? I could've been comfy on our couch!").

Now outfitted in a high-waisted black pleated skirt (so the upper hemline wouldn't rub awkwardly against her stitches), a dark blue swooped-neck shirt, and some fashionable heels that were both stunning and functional, Victoria felt clean enough that Isobel wouldn't take one look at her and decide that she was a Thanksgiving turkey. Of course, any vampire who drank from her would die soon, but Victoria wouldn't be able to heal, so she'd have to either die again to get out of more pain or just live with the bite marks until the next time she inevitably died.

Stefan and Elena were quietly chatting (mostly Elena to Stefan, since Stefan couldn't well reply back) from across the diner; Stefan had been the obvious choice of protection for Elena, considering that Isobel hadn't properly met him (who knew what kind of stories Katherine told her?). Lexi played pool with Stefan (and given the baby cheers Victoria heard from that section of the diner, she was winning too) while Lee lounged around at a closer table, debating quietly with Zach of what would be a better choice for food: cheeseburgers or deep-fried chicken. Somehow, Zach had slipped into Victoria's personal protection detail (to be fair, he, Lexi, and Lee were three out of five of the primary VPS), not that Damon was complaining about that.

Victoria drummed her hands against the table, scrunching up her nose as her hands touched the slightly wet table. She understood the perks of sanitizing the tables, but maybe drying them off afterwards would be a good idea too.

She was starting to ramble.

"Your heart is beating like a beaver seeing his dam finally built after a harsh winter," Lee commented, and out of the corner of her eye, Victoria could see him aggressively pointing to a spot on the menu to Zach. "Take a few deep breaths, Sugar."

"You have a weird obsession with beavers, Lee. Has anyone ever told you that?" Victoria murmured, cracking the barest hint of a smile. She took a few deep breaths and tried to calm down her nerves.

"He's not wrong, Tori," Vicki commented. Victoria could faintly see her through the barest hint of reflection that the glass windows gave. She was leaning up against the table in the reflection and she gave Victoria a worried look. "Can an Immortalis go into cardiac arrest?"

"That's enough of out the two of you," Victoria settled, giving Vicki a pointed look. "If you two keep talking, Elena's going to think that I'm crazy."

"Oh, I already know you are," Elena answered honestly, shoulder-checking Victoria. "Who else would dare take on Caroline Forbes when said Forbes was period-hungry for zesty ranch chips and tell her that that was a terrible decision that she would regret?"

"Who the hell likes zesty ranch when you're on your period?" Victoria testified, shaking her head. "She was crazy that night. And then she made us watch Gone With The Wind twice, followed by the Notebook and then the Princess Bride, although I'm not complaining at the Princess Bride. Wesley was the only thing that kept me from murdering her. That, and those amazing brownie bites that she made for us." Victoria smiled warmly and she could distinctly remember the taste of the fudge as it had melted on her tongue. Those brownie bites had been delicious.

Elena noticeably stiffened up beside Victoria and that shook her out of her little daydream. Victoria sat up straighter and looked around the Grill wildly. "Do you see her?" Not that Elena knew exactly what Isobel looked like, but there must be a distinct family resemblance.

"T-Tori..."

"Yeah, Elena?" Victoria asked, turning her head towards Elena. The teenager was several shades paler than usual and Victoria felt immediate concern deep in her guts. Victoria leaned forward in the booth and pressed the back of her hand to Elena's forehead. "Holy shit, Elena, you're paler than Casper the Friendly Ghost. Are you feeling okay? Remember, we don't have to do this unless you want to -"

"- You weren't there for that night," Elena interrupted, her eyes softening considerably.

Victoria wrinkled her brow in confusion. She glanced around awkwardly and cleared her throat. "Uh, yeah, I was. Did I not just literally detail everything we watched that night?"

"No, no, no," Elena said, shaking her head. "Victoria, you weren't there, but she was."

Now what the hell did that mean? "You weren't there, but she was." Who the hell was she -

- Holy shit.

Holy shit.

Victoria Vanacore, herself, hadn't been at that party...

...but Victoria LeBlanc had been.

"Hello, Elena. Hello, Victoria. It's nice to finally see both of you."

Victoria and Elena whipped their heads away from each other and turned to face Isobel. She stood at the other end of the table, looking down at the two girls with a hard-to-read look on her face. The resemblances between Elena and Isobel were palpable enough that even though Victoria knew that the two were related, she couldn't help but comment, "Yeah, there's no doubt that you two are related."

"I will accept the compliment," Isobel said softly, nodding to Victoria and taking a seat across from the two girls. She turned to Elena and paused, though it was so subtle that only Victoria could notice it. "You look just like her. That's eerie."

"You've met Katherine?" Elena asked, her eyes wide with disbelief. She shot Victoria a look that said she felt betrayed. Victoria just ignored it. She didn't have the time to really handle an Elena mood swing.

"She found me after I turned," Isobel explained. She shrugged her shoulders lightly. "Genetic curiosity, I suppose. She would be fascinated by you."

"Fascinated is not the exact wording I would use," Victoria murmured under her breath, and she tensed up when Isobel shot her a curious look of her own.

Elena pointed to the necklace around Isobel's neck. It was relatively pretty, not exactly a statement piece that Victoria could consider wearing herself, but it was alright. She was more of an anklet kind of girl. "Is that how you can walk in the day?"

"Katherine helped me obtain it."

"Different vampires use different jewelry pieces as daylight reflectors," Victoria said, taking the moment to quickly educate Elena. "Most use the standard ring method, since it's easier to find the right stones for it, but a lot of people have been known to use necklaces or even bracelets. Whatever helps the outfit be the most inconspicuous, although some vamps like to be flashy."

"Very well put, Victoria," Isobel purred, nodding her head.

Victoria decided right then that she did not like hearing praise from Isobel. It made her feel really uncomfy. The only kind of motherly figure she had heard praise from was Kelly and Carol, and something told her that Isobel was not about to make the trifecta.

"Who's my father?" Elena asked, turning the conversation back to her (something she was very talented at doing).

"Not important. He was a teenage waste of space."

We agree on something there, Isobel.

"A name would be nice."

"It would, wouldn't it?" Isobel smirked, tilting her head to observe her daughter. "You ask a lot of questions."

"Why did you compel that man to kill himself?" Elena demanded and Victoria's heart sunk. She had totally forgot about the man who delivered the message for Elena only to kill himself right in front of her. Victoria had been dealing with her Immortalis period and had to go home so none of her vampire friends would munch on her. An innocent life, that she had forgotten to save. "Right after he told me to stop looking for you."

"Dramatic impact," Isobel sniffed. "I wish it would have been more effective." Isobel turned towards Victoria and said in a more gentler tone, "Do not fault yourself for not saving him, Victoria. That's not the way things were supposed to go."

How the hell did she...

"Human life means that little to you?" Elena demanded, her voice starting to take a hard edge.

"Means nothing to me," Isobel corrected, returning her attention back to Elena. Victoria just sat there in stunned disbelief. "It's just part of being what I am."

"No, it's not," Elena argued. "I know other vampires, that's not true!"

"You mean like your new boyfriend over there by the pool table?" Isobel commented, lazily pointing towards Stefan. "Stefan Salvatore, playing with his best friend, Alexia Branson. They're being subtly watched by Alexia's boyfriend, Alexander Ledger, and Stefan's great-something-or-other-nephew, Zachariah Salvatore. I would ask why Stefan and why not Damon, why not enjoy both like Katherine did, but I've been told that Damon had his eyes on a different prize."

"Why did you want to meet us?" Elena insisted. "Can't be to just catch up."

"Because I'm curious about the two of you," Isobel answered honestly, looking between the two girls. She stopped and stared at Victoria. "Elena is a mirror image for Katherine, but you, my dear Victoria, are the image of her stories."

"Stories?" Victoria stammered, raising an eyebrow in disbelief. "Whose stories? Katherine's?"

"You know Katherine?" Elena hissed under her breath.

Victoria leaned over to Elena, not taking her eyes off of Isobel as she hissed through gritted teeth, "Not personally, no, so I have no idea what's happening."

"The stories of Lady Victory are inconsequential -"

"- Victory?" Victoria interrupted, her eyes widening in disbelief. She sat up straighter and swallowed heavily. "Lady Victory?" That name hadn't popped up in her mind or psyche since Henri had first muttered it after her first death as the Immortalis. "Who the hell is Lady Victory -?"

Isobel shut Victoria up and quickly redirected the conversation. Like mother, like daughter, I suppose. "But the real reason I showed up to this little meeting is this: I want what your uncle wants. Johnathan Gilbert's invention."

"Over my dead body," Victoria growled just as Elena asked, "How do you know my uncle?"

Isobel addressed both girls one at a time. To Victoria, she said, "I would rather it not come to that. However, I will do what it takes." To Elena, she added, "I used to spend a lot of time here when I was younger. John had a crush on me for years. He was the first one that told me about vampires."

"So what made you want to be one?"

"It's a very long list of reasons, Elena," Isobel said honestly. "All of which I'm sure you've thought about."

"No!" Elena's interrupted was abrupt, but it didn't seem to dissuade Isobel from still speaking.

"That was your first lie," Isobel chuckled. "It's inevitable. You're going to get old, Stefan won't." The look of hurt that hit Elena's face made Victoria's heart pang. She wasn't wrong, but it still was harsh to make such a comment. "Forever doesn't last very long when you're human."

That comment seemed to be the last straw for Elena. "I'm sorry, but we don't have what you're looking for."

Elena nudged Victoria and Victoria stood up to let Elena out of the booth (she still had questions she needed to ask Isobel and she would be damned if she didn't get the answers), but Isobel's hand shot out and grabbed Victoria's wrist all of a sudden, keeping her pinned to the table. And she was able to jerk Victoria's arm just enough that it aggravated her shoulder. Victoria let out a startled gasp of pain as she slammed herself back down into the booth, trying to soothe the ache in her shoulder. Her ankle started to sting too as Victoria landed, bending in a way that made Victoria hear a slight snap. I swear if I snapped any more bones, I am going to sue the universe.

"Please remain seated, Elena, and call off all the vampires who are approaching." Elena gritted her teeth and Isobel squeezed Victoria's wrist tighter. Victoria gasped as she felt her bones start to grind against each other and Elena quickly whispered, "Stop it. Stop coming towards us." to the vampires watching the trio. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Lee forcing Zach back down into his seat and Lexi holding onto a cue stick so tight that it was starting to crack.

Isobel released Victoria's wrist with a smirk and Victoria snatched her wrist back to her chest, rubbing the aching appendage with her free hand. "Thank you, my dear. I want the invention."

"I don't have it."

"I know that, but Damon does and you're going to get it for me," Isobel smirked. She leaned down towards the table, slipping a hand underneath the table and Victoria tugged her legs back. Whatever she was doing, it sent a terrified tingle down her spine.

"He's not going to give it to me," Elena insisted.

"No, but he will give it to you for her."

Victoria wrinkled her brow as Isobel looked towards her. She leaned back in her seat and brought her hand back up, swinging an unassuming chain around her finger.

Unassuming chain...

An anklet was an unassuming chain.

Her anklet.

That ankle stinging...

Shit.

Victoria threw her hands up and tried to do a subtle Immortalis freezing technique that she had practiced pretty well. However, nothing happened. No magic, no nothing. Victoria looked at her hands in shock and betrayal. Isobel, with her free hand, reached out at inhuman speeds and grabbed both of Victoria's wrists, slamming them down into the table hard enough to leave a dent. Victoria let out a startled cry and Isobel grabbed one of the complimentary steak knives that were placed at every table and held it handle out to Victoria. Isobel locked eyes with Victoria before she could even think of running away and commanded, her pupils dilating just enough as compulsion started to work, "Stab your thigh as hard as you can. Don't scream."

Victoria didn't want to, but her body moved by itself.

As soon as Isobel let go of her hands, Victoria reached out and grabbed the steak knife and slammed it down into her bare thigh. The compulsion prevented her from screaming, but it didn't stop the gasp and the whimpers of pain that erupted from her mouth as blood started to congeal and rush out of her body. Elena let out a gasp and opened her mouth to scream, but Isobel held up a finger, glaring into Victoria's teary-eyed face. "If any of your friends make a noise or try to approach, you will slit your throat."

Victoria could feel the compulsion settling into her body and she bit her lower lip to stop herself from crying even more. Elena finally seemed to get her wits about her and she grabbed a handful of napkins from the booth and started to press them down around Victoria's knife wound.

"Say the word, Tori, and we will smoke her," Vicki growled, her reflection glaring down at Isobel. "We will burn her in her spot. We got the blood. Just say it."

"W-Why are you doing this?" Victoria grunted, her voice shaking and wobbling. The smell of blood was so distinct that Damon had to be able to smell it from outside of the Grill. If he took a step into the Grill, then Victoria would be forced to slit her own throat. "W-Why?"

"I want that invention, and Damon will give it to me unless he wants to see you hurt," Isobel mused, gripping Victoria's anklet tighter in her hand. Isobel spoke more compulsion, her words crafting a sentence that froze Victoria's blood.

"Walk to the Wickery Bridge and stand on the ledge. You will stay on that ledge. If I do not get the invention by tonight, then you will jump into the water. Stay in the water until you drown. If anyone tries to physically stop you, then you will use your abilities as the Immortalis to stop them. Now go."

And Victoria rose to her feet, stuck silently screaming in her mind.

A/N: In the age old, inspiring words of BecomingFearless1F:

"Welp. That happened."

Like hot dang. Don't you just love it when you're writing and you're only sort of half paying attention to what's happening and so you finish writing and then you reread and go, "Did Isobel seriously just tell Victoria to jump into a body of water, something that she is currently terrified of?" and then you go, "Yep...wait. I wrote that." Ah, good times.

More secret mystery times for our lovely collective! We got a little hint of a new specimen (one Lady Victory...whoever might she be?) and more angst because why the hell not? Ugh. I love this.

Also, I've been binging White Collar and I can confirm that there will be an OC I introduce in Season 2 (he'll be more of a main character in Season 3 and on) that will be face-casted as Matt Bomer because that man is a younger, American version of Henry Cavill and no one can convince me otherwise.

Also also, the National touring cast of Cats came to my city the other night and I bought floor tickets to see it. Absolutely breathtaking. It was amazing, the dancers were FAN-TAST-IC, and Mr. Mistoffelees did not mark anything, lovelies. He was the best male dancer (rivaled only by the woman who played Cassandra, because her kicks were EVERYTHING). Sorry, rant over.

New Followers!: Pokechan123, EmeraldGhost11, Ryanator7778, caro60 (you're the 400th Follower! Congratulations!), Jessica St Godard, kittycatcacher, daughterofpossy-0813

New Favoriters!: sierra halle, Pokechan123, EmeraldGhost11, Chella218, caro60, daughterofpossy-0813, veronipz (you're the 350th Favoriter! Congratulations!), Zettagyr

Onto reviews!:

Child of Dreams: Oh yeah. There's a whole unintentional history about the Empaths that we'll learn more about in Season 2. That's one of the many subplots I have cooked up.

Elyse1821: Thanks! I really like how it turned out better too. The last part of the OG Ch61 worked better as an opening for this chapter. I won't reveal anything about Caroline (cuz we're really close to reading about it) but I will say the Mikaelsons are definitely showing up. Hands down. You would have to beat me with a stick to get me to not write them in and even then, I'd still would. You will find out if Noble is an OC or someone disguised as an OC, but not for a while. Can't wait to hear your thoughts! I love talking conspiracy theories about my own story with y'all because sometimes, y'all come up with ideas that I'm like, "Dang. Why didn't I think of that?"

EmeraldGhost11: AHHH! Thank you! That really warms my heart that people like you really care about Victoria. I really did not want her to be a Mary-Sue and I hope that she isn't. I did? Thank you and welcome back! You need any good fics, I gotchu (highly recommend "Game of Chance" by MadameMagic. That story was the one that inspired me to write this story).

Gonna ask you guys a semi-serious question (if you've made it this far to even see the question): do y'all think that Victoria is a Mary-Sue? I personally don't think so, and no one has ever mentioned her being one (most just call her retarded or stupid, which I mean isn't totally wrong since she is human, but still) but I'm curious if you guys see her as such. Any feedback on her as a character or a person will really help me as I try and make her as realistic and believable as possible.

Y'all are the best.

Until next time,

Stay healthy and stay safe!

BecomingFearless1F