The following morning, I woke up in Stefan's bed, under the covers. I was glad to be there. I wanted some good old-fashioned morning cuddling, despite the fact that I had never cuddled with anyone in the morning before. This is my first relationship and thus the first person that I had had a sleepover with. It felt really good, and I could definitely see why people liked it. Maybe having a boyfriend wouldn't be so bad.
"Good morning." I greeted Stefan with a smile as I noticed his eyes were open. He didn't say anything and just put his hand under the covers to touch me. That also felt really good.
"Rise and shine you two." Damon interrupted. I jumped and covered myself with the sheets in embarrassment. What the fuck was he doing here? Granted, it was his house, but he didn't have a reason to be inside of Stefan's room, especially this early in the morning. I couldn't believe that he was creeping on us.
"Damon, what the fuck?" I responded with a deep red blush on my face.
"Oh, stop being smutty." The older Salvatore stated. We weren't exactly in a position to do that with him in there. I wasn't going to get dressed in front of him.
"Seriously, get out of here." Stefan ordered. Something told me that Damon wasn't going to listen to that. He didn't really seem to have a concept of personal space, or he at least chose to ignore such a thing.
"If I see anything that I haven't seen before, I'll throw a dollar at it." He remarked. That didn't make me any more comfortable. I also hoped that it meant that he had seen me naked without me knowing it. "Now get up. We have much to do today?"
"Does it have to be right now?" I asked in exasperation as I pulled the covers up. I really wanted him to be out of the room at the moment. The only way this could have been worse was if it was either Elena or Aunt Jenna who had found us. I would have to be careful if I ever brought Stefan over to my room.
"If you want to give the other person in the race a leg up then by all means, sleep away." Damon told me. Was it a person or was it a vampire? I supposed that we didn't know that.
"Do we have any idea who this person is?" Stefan questioned.
"No, and I don't like that." Damon answered. Was there anything that we could do to find out? "That means that we have to find the grimoire and to find that we have to find the journal. So, since you are Mary Gilbert, you're on journal duty."
"When did I say that I was helping?" I asked.
"Well Stefan is helping, and you've taken residency in Stefan's bed, so ergo…" Damon replied. So, it looked like I was being volunteered for something that I didn't want to do. I was trying to figure out a way to do this without revealing that I had given the journal to Mr. Saltzman. I didn't want Damon to kill another History teacher.
"You don't have to do anything that you don't want to." Stefan assured me. I had a feeling that wouldn't be true either. Stefan seemed to have zero power over his brother because Damon seemed like he wouldn't listen to him.
"I'll get it today." I promised as I laid down on a pillow.
"Perfect." Damon replied. "Now get up. We have much to do today. You know I'm really liking this whole ménage a trois that we have. Don't screw it up. Chop, chop."
Stefan then got up, but I grabbed him first. I hoped that Damon didn't mean that term literally because I would never like him like that.
"Were you getting in the shower?" I asked him. He nodded. "I'm coming with you."
After we were done with that, we headed back to my house because I wanted to put on some new clothes. I ended up choosing a navy sweater with a grey pleated miniskirt and knee socks.
"So you don't mind wearing skirts?" Stefan asked.
"I did at first, but after a while, I just got used to it. It also didn't hurt that I had to because I have more skirts and dresses than pants." I explained. "So, you haven't told Damon about that yet, have you?"
"No." He answered.
I decided to take Stefan to the kitchen just to see if there was anything else that might tell the location of the grimoire without having to bother Mr. Saltzman. I dug out some of the stuff that had been with the journal. I found a weird metal contraption.
"Is this what I think it is?" I asked. It looked like a muzzle.
"The Gilberts were one of the Founding Families that wanted to rid the town of vampires." He explained as he held up the muzzle. "Jonathan Gilbert was one of the leaders of the charge."
"So, it doesn't look like anything's in here." I stated with a sigh. I was not looking forward to this part. "I guess that means that we have to get the journal."
"What are you guys doing in here?" Elena asked as she entered the kitchen. She seemed to be happy that I was finally dating Stefan. We hadn't really talked much about her sexuality to be honest.
"We were just looking through some old stuff." I explained. "So how is your love life going? I saw your new girlfriend."
"She's not my girlfriend." Elena declared as she sat up on the counter, which might not have been the best idea with the short skirt she was wearing.
"Well I think that you two could really be a good couple." I stated. "She's gay and so are you."
"Just because we have the same sexuality doesn't mean that we're compatible." Elena pointed out. If she got to force a relationship on me, I would force one on her.
"Well, I invited her to sleep over tonight, so maybe you can have a chance to talk to her." I offered before Elena walked away.
"You're having a sleepover tonight?" Stefan asked in surprise. I thought I had told him about that.
"It's just with this girl that moved here recently…that you haven't met. I'll introduce you some time." I promised. I was pretty sure that he and Anna would hit it off. I just didn't want to tell her that he was a vampire. "So anyway, I gave the journal to Mr. Saltzman. I guess that means that we have to try to get it from him today."
"I'm going to go to the school and see if he's there." Stefan declared. Was that really the best idea that he could come up with? Why would he be at the school on a Saturday?
"I think he'd trust me a lot more." I pointed out. "I can probably get his number from my aunt."
"That may be the case, but I don't really want you involved in any of this." He stated before he exited. He didn't even see the pout on my face. Since I couldn't be even sure if he would be there, I was stuck at the house. I couldn't help but wonder what the plan was going to be if he wasn't there Just because he could be the school on a Saturday didn't mean that he would be. I was pretty sure he had an apartment somewhere.
Since I was stuck at home, I decided to call Anna to see if she wanted to maybe come over early. Unfortunately, the call went straight to voicemail. You know it kind of sucked that I didn't have anyone else that I could hang out with. Maybe it would be a good idea for me to make more friends.
"Hey, Anna, it's Mary." I remarked. "I was just calling to see if you wanted to come over a bit earlier. Call me back when you get this message."
From there, I decided to take out my laptop and see what I could find out about Jonathan Gilbert. I first realized that the name was far more common than I expected. I found out that the most common result was an actor from the 70s and 80s. I then changed the search so it to read "Jonathan Gilbert, Mystic Falls Virginia 1864" and found out that he was a doctor and an inventor and also that he went crazy later in his life. It seemed that all of the obsessing over vampires must have driven him mad. I also found out that he was the last of the town's original settlers.
That night, I went downstairs to see Damon in my kitchen. He and Jenna were cooking dinner. Actually, he was cooking dinner and Jenna was sitting on the counter with a glass of wine, just like my mother used to. She also didn't like it when other people sat on the counter. She was kind of a hypocrite in that regard. I just hoped that it didn't mean that she and Damon were going to get together because even though I had given her this vervain perfume, the thought of it still made me extremely uncomfortable.
"Hey, we're cooking dinner." She greeted me. Again, the we was much overstated. I supposed she could have been telling him what to do, but I was also pretty sure that Damon wouldn't need any help because he was probably a better cook than her. I still wasn't sure why he had come to my house. Was he there to spy on me or something? Was he trying to see if I had made any progress in finding the journal? He could have just asked me.
"Where's Stefan?" Damon asked me. I couldn't help wonder why it was taking so long myself. "He's missing family night."
"He'll be here." I promised as I noticed that Elena was sitting on the couch playing some video games. Also when did we decide that it was family night. That was a phrase that I didn't like because it brought back a lot of harsh memories.
Once dinner was ready, Jenna was changing her shirt because she spilled wine on it, so it was up to me and Damon to serve the food. He bumped me as I was getting some out.
"You know it's still illegal." I declared. Sure, vampires didn't have to follow the law, but it made me uncomfortable.
"I don't know what you're talking about." He replied. I didn't know if he was playing with me.
"That move was deliberate." I pointed out as I set a plate on the counter. "I am still 15 and you know that."
"I was deliberately trying to get to the sink." He argued. I was pretty sure that I didn't believe that. Part of me thought that I should, and he just accidentally bumped into me though. "So, this renewed since of brotherhood between me and Stefan, is any of it real?"
"Yes." I told him. I was pretty sure that at least some of it was real, even if Stefan didn't want to open the tomb up.
"Can I trust him?" The vampire then asked.
"You can trust him." I stated as I walked toward the table. He sped over to me.
"Can I trust him?" He asked me again slowly, looking me in the eye.
"I'm wearing vervain." I reminded him.
"I'm not compelling. I just want an honest answer." He declared.
"I'm starting to think that you have trust issues." I told him. I did feel a little bad for lying to him. "Stefan wants to help."
"There was a time where I trusted him more than anyone." He explained. He then told me this story from the past about how his father wanted to round up all of the vampires in town and that his father hated him. I couldn't help but realize that Stefan had never mentioned his dad to me.
After dinner, I still hadn't heard from Stefan and saw that Damon had joined in the video games with Elena, while Jenna and I did dishes. Why was he trying to get close to my family? Why would he want to do that?
"He's so hot." Jenna whispered. I could practically hear Damon smirking. I was also pretty sure it wasn't appropriate for her to be talking about that with me.
"Shh, he's an asshole." I responded. To that, I was pretty sure that he rolled his eyes.
"So have you told Elena about anything yet?" Jenna asked me. I wished that I could tell her more than the fact that I was adopted, but so far, the only person that I had been able to say anything to was Stefan and I didn't know why I could tell him.
"I will." I promised. Then I remembered that I needed to do something. "I just need to figure out the correct way to do that. So, is it okay if I have a friend stay over tonight?"
At that moment, I decided to call Anna again, but it was busy. What was she doing? I really wanted to talk to her, especially since Stefan was busy.
"Yeah, I just wasn't really aware that you had any friends." She told me. She didn't have to say it like that. It made me feel kind of like a loser.
"She's new and I haven't had a chance to introduce her yet." I explained. I was a little surprised that she hadn't noticed me talking to her at the Grill, but she was probably too distracted by Mr. Saltzman to notice.
At that moment, I heard the doorbell ring.
"That's Stefan." I told her as I headed to the door and Damon did too. It would have been pretty awkward if it was anyone else. I went outside and noticed that he…didn't have the journal.
"He didn't have it." Stefan stated. It seemed like there was something that he wasn't telling us. "Someone stole it."
"Who took it?" Damon asked rhetorically. "I bet he does have it and just won't give it to you. There's something off about him."
"No, it wasn't him." Stefan responded. He seemed very sure about it. "It was someone else."
"Well who else did you tell about it?" Damon asked me accusingly. Someone else would have to know he had it.
"Well there was this girl that helped me with my paper, but I doubt she took it. She's just a nerdy girl with a crush on Elena." I explained. There was no way that she could have taken it though. She didn't seem like the type of person to steal something from a teacher especially if it involved breaking and entering.
Damon then went into the house and asked Elena about that and offered to take her to the Grill. So apparently, Anna had been calling Elena all night which was why I couldn't reach her and Elena hadn't been answering. Maybe if I had known that, I could have talked to her. They drove off leaving Stefan and I behind.
"I seriously think Damon is wrong." I stated. "Anna did not take it. We need to look somewhere else for it."
"There's no need. I've got it right here." Stefan said as he pulled out some pages. There was something that he hadn't told us. "Mr. Saltzman made copies and gave them to me."
"Okay, let's find out where the spellbook is." I remarked as I took some of them. We began to read before I noticed something about Emily. "Here we go. I found it. The Fells thought it should I and not them who took the sorceress's spellbook but I feared that she would haunt me from the hereafter. It was Giuseppe Salvatore that relieved my fear. He said that he would take the secret to his grave."
"I know where it is." Stefan replied. I was pretty sure that it wasn't a metaphor and it meant that it was literally buried with his dad. I just didn't know where his dad was buried. I guess that it was good that Stefan did. He wasn't buried in the cemetery or the Salvatore Family Crypt, but off an old country road. After some begging, I managed to convince Jenna to let me borrow her car if Stefan was the one to drive it.
"So why isn't your father buried in your family's tomb?" I asked curiously. It seemed like it wasn't the best idea just to have him on the side of the road like that.
"It hadn't been built yet." Stefan answered. Yeah, I guess it made sense that they didn't want to dig him up. Plus it would be easier to hide the book that he was holding, though I couldn't be sure that anyone else knew that he was hiding the grimoire. I wasn't sure how far the knowledge of such a thing went. We began to dig. "You know I can do this on my own, Mary."
"I'm helping with this." I declared sternly. I could be stubborn too. I could also be very persuasive. If I managed to figure out a way to get my flask back from Jenna and then I would be able to drink again. I felt like I needed one right now. "A lot of people are going to be affected by the tomb opening and it's not something that I can have right now."
We continued to dig until we reached the box. He opened it up and there was a skeleton holding a book in its hands. It was a good thing that it was still in one piece.
"Well what do you know?" Damon asked. Where did he come from? "This is an interesting development."
"I'm sorry but I can't let you open that tomb." Stefan replied. I had a feeling that this wasn't going to end well. Suddenly, I did not want to be there.
"And I'm sorry for too, for thinking that even for a second that I could trust you." Damon responded.
"You are not capable of trust." Stefan argued. "The fact that you're here means that you read the journal and were planning on doing it by yourself."
"Of course, I'm doing it by myself because the only one that I can count on is me!" Damon shouted. How did he find out about this anyway? "You made that clear a long time ago, but you on the other hand had me fooled. You know you better not try to destroy that book."
"What are you going to do about it?" He challenged. That seemed like a bad idea. Damon then grabbed me and wrapped his hands around my neck. Yeah, I definitely felt like I shouldn't be there.
"Give me the book, Stefan." He demanded. I at that point wanted to side with Damon because I liked being not dead. I wasn't completely confident that he would be willing to kill me, but I also knew that it probably wouldn't be a good idea to take that chance.
"You won't kill her." Stefan stated. I didn't really want to take that chance. He needed to listen to Damon and give him the book so we could be safe and not dead.
"No, but I will do this." Damon declared before he bit into his wrist and fed the blood into my mouth. It tasted as bad as the first time that he did it. Also, I felt a lot less confident in the theory that he didn't plan on killing me since I wouldn't stay dead. "Give me the book, Stefan or you and I will have a vampire girlfriend."
"Let me Mary go first." Stefan instructed. I hoped that he wasn't being literal about that. Even if I was a vampire, I would never date him.
"You see the problem is that I no longer trust you, Stefan." Damon responded. I was feeling more and more nervous with every second that passed. I didn't think that I wanted to be a vampire at this time. Also, would turning me into a vampire actually convince Stefan to help? I didn't see how that would help.
"You just did the one thing to insure that I'll give it you." Stefan told him. Damon let me go and Stefan left the book on the ground for Damon to pick up. I couldn't help but wonder how Damon figured out where the book was? Did Anna have it? Well, I guess it was possible, but she could have just really wanted to read it.
After Damon left, I had Stefan give me a ride home. I needed something to drink to wash the taste of blood out of my mouth and I didn't care if it was alcoholic or not. I wondered what the best thing to help with that was. Did we have any alcoholic? I supposed the only way to find out would be to check.
When we got home, I noticed that Jenna was downstairs as I began to raid the fridge. I then closed the door when she came into the kitchen because I did not want her to see me with an alcoholic beverage.
"Your friend is here." She stated. I was a bit relieved. I really wanted to talk to Anna. I didn't even know what I wanted to talk to her about, but it had been a long day and I just wanted to spend some time with my best friend, even though she had that position by default. "Elena brought her with and she's upstairs."
I decided to forego a drink and be a good hostess and went to greet her. I went up to my room where I imagined she would be. She wasn't. Was she in Elena's room or something? I hoped that they weren't making out. As much as I wanted them to date, I wanted Anna all to myself at the moment.
"Anna?" I called for her. I then found her in front of me.
"I'm sorry." She apologized.
"For what?" I asked in confusion.
She didn't answer. Instead, she just grabbed me and held me until I fell unconscious. It seemed like I was pretty bad at choosing friends.
So Mary found out her new best friend is a vampire. She also got a mouth full of vampire blood? Will her friendship with Anna survive? Please don't forget to review.