It was Saturday. It had been almost a week since the tomb was opened. Bonnie's grandma wasn't able to survive the spell that she cast. Apparently using too much magic can kill you. I had seen Anna at school, but not outside because her mom wanted her home right after it was done. She was still adjusting to the new millennium, and I wasn't sure how much Anna had told her. My not-blood-related family did kinda lock her in the tomb in the first place. I knew it wasn't my fault, but I did share the name as the people who locked her inside and I kind of felt like I should apologize for it. I didn't know if she would accept it though.
I decided to go outside and try to call her again. She hadn't been answering me. I hoped that her mother hadn't taken her phone away. I wore a grey sweater with a navy skirt and black knee socks. After a few rings, I figured that she wasn't going to pick up. I was too young to leave a voicemail, so I would probably just have to wait to talk to her.
"What are you doing out here? It's cold." Jenna stated. It was January, but we didn't have any snow thankfully. Snow days are on only good on weekdays (and not on ones where there already isn't school like Martin Luther King Day).
"I get better cell reception outside of the house." I remarked. I didn't know why. It might have had something to do with our home internet. I then decided to bring something up. I wasn't even sure how much I cared, but I was pretty sure that she did, so I would let her look. "So, you said that you were going to do some digging about the adoption. So, tell me have you dug yet?"
"Come inside." She instructed. She sounded serious, but it was probably still a good idea to do it inside anyway. "I looked into your father's old files and found stuff from the night you were born, and I was able to find out that you were officially born to a woman named Isobel Peterson."
"Is that her real name?" I questioned. It would seem pretty convenient if it was. I didn't even really want to know about her. Okay, I was kind of curious. I knew that I shouldn't be because I was pretty sure that no good would come from me looking this stuff up. I didn't need a new family. I was perfectly happy with the one I had now.
"For a teenage runaway, probably, but it might be her first name." Jenna explained. Wouldn't it be better just to use a completely different name. "Where did she get Peterson from though? Maybe it was a friend's name. So, I Binged it."
She had to be the only person that I know who uses Bing over Yahoo! or Google. It was almost like she was paid to say that. I just didn't understand why they would go to the trouble of paying a small-town grad student to advertise for them.
"I looked up all of the Petersons and by the process of elimination, I came up with one: Trudie Peterson." She continued. She probably could have at least told me what her process was. She showed me a picture and there was a blonde and a brunette. The one on the right was Trudie, meaning I was looking at a known picture of my mother. I supposed she did look kind of like me. "I have number and address. She lives not far from here."
I took the paper and looked it over. I didn't know if I wanted to go. It would also be pretty weird to show up unannounced. Doing this would bring out some emotions that I wasn't sure if I wanted to feel. I was pretty sure that I would mostly feel bad about my mother being dead.
"There's something else that you need to know." She added. "Alaric's wife was from around this area and was also named Isobel."
"Oh." I replied. That would mean that my History teacher was my stepfather. I didn't say anything else and went up to my room, where I found Stefan at my window. I quickly let him in because I needed someone to talk to. The two of us got on my bed and I began to kiss him.
After our makeout session was over, I decided to share what I had found out. Even though he was my boyfriend, I wanted to tell Anna even more than I wanted to tell him.
"Alaric's wife might be your mother?" He repeated in surprise.
"I know right?" I responded. I had seen enough movies to know that these type of things were never not true. "It's so unbelievable that there's no way that it could possibly be anything but true. Anyway, I have this address and I'm not sure that I want to go there. You know I wouldn't mind if she was Alaric's wife because it would be easier to talk to him than a stranger."
"Well, if you want to go see her, I'll come with you." He offered. I must didn't think that I wanted to go with him. It didn't seem like the place you would go with your boyfriend.
"I don't know." I responded. "The idea of you going with me is a little weird. I wish I could convince Anna to go with me."
"You know I don't like the idea of you still being friends with her." He stated. I really did not want to go there.
"Stefan, I love you, but you don't get to decide who I can be friends with." I told him. I actually wasn't sure which one of them I would choose he made me choose between being his girlfriend or her being my friend.
"I just want to remind you that she kidnapped you and lied to you." He pointed out. He probably shouldn't have been one to judge there.
"Well, you lied to me too." I declared. Sure, he hadn't kidnapped me, but Anna was a little desperate. "I'm going to be fine. I think her mom may have reservations. Do you know what she was like?"
"No. I never really talked to her." He responded. That wasn't useful. "So did Jenna ever tell you how Mr. Saltzman's wife died?"
"I know she was murdered, and they never found the body." I declared as I brushed my hair. Having long hair was a pain sometimes. "How do they know she was murdered if there was no body? Did you know already about that?"
"He thinks a vampire may have killed her." He explained. I was pretty sure that there was no might. It also seemed like there was something that he wasn't telling me, but I wasn't going to call him out. "I still need to talk to him more, but I promised I would find out who did it."
"Well, I'd love to know that as well if it's true." I admitted. I wasn't sure why I wanted to know that. Actually, I was beginning to form a theory. She was murdered and they never found the body…but I would need more evidence before I told anyone about it. "I guess I'll see you later. Parting is such sweet sorrow."
"I will see you tonight, my Juliet." He responded with a grin. I didn't want to be Juliet. They were idiots. They were horny idiots.
A little bit later, I convinced Jenna to let me borrow her car to go to Grove Hill. I had also put on a blue hat. It was a split-second decision, and I still wasn't even sure if I wanted to go in. It was a good thing that the sheriff's department wouldn't stop me. That was a perk of having connections. I knocked on the door, somewhat hoping that she wouldn't be home. I waited for a minute and turned to leave, but unfortunately the door opened.
"Can I help you?" She questioned. I was starting to regret coming at that moment. I knew nothing good would come from it.
"Are you Trudie Peterson?" I asked her.
"Yes." She answered. I needed to just say it already. It was so hard.
"I'm here to talk to you about Isobel Flemming." I remarked.
"I haven't heard that name in years. How do you know her?" She replied as I bit my lip.
"Well…do you know if had a…in high school did she…?" I stammered.
"Oh my God, you're her daughter." She replied in surprise.
"No, I'm sorry. I really should go. I don't want to know more about her." I admitted.
I hurried out the door and couldn't help but notice a suspicious-looking man standing outside. I decided not to take any chances and got inside of the car and drove away as fast as I could.
I had to admit that it was a bit of a mistake. I knew that I shouldn't have gone there. What was I was really going to get from that? I didn't want closure. I actually kind of did hope that she was did because then I would never have to do anything about that again. I didn't need to know more about her. I had good memories of my mother and even if she hadn't given birth to me, she was still my mother.
The drive home was a mostly quiet one. I thought about stopping somewhere but Jenna was pretty clear that I was only supposed to drive there and back. I wished that it wasn't too cold to drive my motorcycle. That was probably why all of the bikers wore those thick jackets. I could probably get something to eat when I got home, even if it probably wouldn't be as good as stopping at the McDonald's. I then realized that I didn't need to stop. I could go in the drive-thru and still get the Chipotle Snackwrap that I wanted.
When I got home, I found a different vampire was in my room. I was probably more excited to see her than I had been to see Stefan. I gave her a tight hug.
"So, I have about five minutes." She declared. I had so much to tell her, and I was pretty sure that I couldn't do it all in five minutes. "I told my mom I was getting some blood from the hospital. What did you do today?"
"Well, I found out about my birth mother and get this Mr. Saltzman is my stepfather." I explained. I realized that I didn't have any actual confirmation of that, but I was going to believe it until I had any evidence to the contrary. "So how is your mom?"
"She's…adjusting." Anna answered. It didn't sound like she was having the easiest time. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the technology scared her. "I haven't told her about you. I don't think she'd be in favor of us being friends."
"I don't think anyone is in favor of us being friends." I replied as Jenna entered my room. Okay, she might be in favor of us being friends.
"Anna, I didn't know that you had come over." She said in surprise. Sneaking in the window probably wasn't the best decision.
"I was actually just leaving. My mom wants me home soon." Anna replied as before she rushed out the door. I was hoping that I could convince her to stay longer.
"So, I have news." Jenna told me. I sat down on my bed to listen to her. "I talked to Ric and showed him the picture. His wife was your mother."
That was going to make class with him on Monday a lot more awkward. I was also happy that I had been right on the money with that prediction, but I would still need to determine if my other prediction was true.
"So, I was about to head to the bachelor auction. Do you want to come with?" She asked. They were having a bachelor auction at the Grill tonight. I didn't know why. Maybe it was because a lot of women in Mystic Falls were horny. Speaking of being horny, I was surprisingly not as horny as I thought I would be. Maybe it was because I was actually having sex.
"I was actually going with Stefan, which reminds me that I need to go over and meet him." I explained. "So, you're getting me a car for my birthday, right? You know the accident wasn't my fault. There was an animal in the road."
"We'll talk about it later." She declared. Was that a yes or a no? Yes, she had gotten me a motorcycle, but I wanted a car.
I then headed to the boarding house and began to look for Stefan. I walked through one of the rooms and found Damon without a shirt on. He had a nice shirt, but I was actually not very attracted to him. There were probably a few reasons for that. One of he was too old for me and two I also knew that he was an asshole.
"Howdy." He greeted me. He seemed to be very drunk. I wondered if he would be willing to share with me.
"You look…worse than I ever I have." I replied. I was pretty good at looking good while I was drunk.
"I was expecting you to say dashing or perhaps irresistible." He stated. No, he definitely wasn't any of those.
"Damon, will you please stop creeping on me?" I requested. I couldn't help but wonder if he didn't think it was as big of a deal because he was from a time where age gaps in relationships weren't as big of a deal. "It's kind of disgusting. If you want to be friends, that's fine, but I don't want anything more."
"Can you help me put this on?" He asked, seemingly struggling with his shirt. Okay, I had actually been there before.
"So, I found out about my mother today." I told him as I began to button the buttons. I didn't even know why I was telling him because I was pretty sure that he wouldn't care.
"Ugh, who cares." He replied as I scowled. "She abandoned you. Fuck her."
That was actually a good point. I didn't need to care about Isobel because she had abandoned me. It was then that I heard some footsteps.
"Hello, Stefan." I stated as I noticed my boyfriend in the doorway. I went over to him and gave him a kiss.
"Hey, why don't you go wait downstairs? I have something that I need to talk to Damon about." He suggested. I pouted but did so. I really wanted to tell him that I was right about Mr. Saltzman's wife being my mother. It was very important, and I would probably have to ride with Damon because it was so cold and neither of us had a car. Though, I wasn't sure if we should let him drive considering how drunk he was. Maybe it was different with vampires though. Why didn't he have a car?
So, I had to wait until we got to the Grill. Caroline wanted me to help her since Elena had bailed. Oh, Caroline had started dating Matt. I didn't know if it would last because his mellowness and her intensity would balance each other out. I decided to hang out with the two of them when I got there.
"He's been hit on like 5 times. He's total cougar bait." Caroline giggled.
"It's not funny, Care." Matt chided her with a blush. I had to agree with him. It would be hypocritical of me to chide Damon for hitting on me if I thought that older women could hit on younger guys. Then all of a sudden, a blast from the past showed up, Matt's mother Kelly Donovan. She immediately recognized me and gave me a hug. I wanted to break free of the hug because I did not trust her. Vicki had told me things about her.
"It's so good to see Little Mary Gilbert all grown up." She stated. I didn't actually want to know what Little Mary Gilbert looked like. "Where's Elena? Matty says she broke his little heart."
"Mom!" He replied in embarrassment.
"Just kidding." Kelly responded. "He found his rebound girl."
That was pretty insensitive. I also didn't really want to talk about how Elena had dated Vicki because it was a little bit hard to talk about for me. I knew that she had tried to kill me, but I did still miss her a little. Though, it was possible that I was only missing Vicki because I hadn't been able to talk to Anna much recently.
So, when the auction started, I couldn't help but notice that Damon was up there with Alaric and two other guys, one who was a plumber. So, it was basically three losers, Alaric, and an asshole.
Mrs. Lockwood was emceeing the event. I wasn't quite sure why they couldn't have gotten a single woman to do it. Maybe it was because she was a much better public speaker than Sheriff Forbes, but still seeing a married woman fawn over a bunch of men was creepy.
It didn't take long for things to go bad at the auction. When it came Damon's turn to speak, he confessed to killing Mr. Saltzman's wife, my mother in front of everyone. He was cryptic about it but also obvious. I couldn't believe it. I ran outside in shock. Stefan ended up following me.
"Damon killed my mother." I replied. It was a statement, not a question. Sure, I didn't care that she was dead, but I was definitely not happy about Damon doing it. "Damon killed my mother."
"He didn't know that she was your mother." Stefan pointed out. It was at that moment that I came to a different conclusion. It also made sense. Well, it didn't really make that much sense, but I definitely could see it happening.
"Why are you defending him?" I questioned. Admittedly I wasn't even sure if I had the right to be angry, but I was anyway. I wanted to hit Damon again, even though Stefan was right. She was just some random woman to him, and I didn't care about any of the other random people that Damon had killed. I only barely cared that he killed Lexi to be honest, but I wasn't going to tell Stefan that.
"Because this was two years and believe it or not, Damon has changed since then." He told me before I noticed that same man that was outside of Trudie's house down the street. It creeped me out.
"That man, I saw him outside of Trudie's house earlier today." I explained as I pointed to him. The man was just staring.
"Let's get inside." Stefan suggested. As soon as I got in, I noticed Damon. Since I was extra-angry, I went over and slapped him. It felt good.
"What was that for?" He asked. Did he really think that I needed a reason to slap him? It was possible that because he was still drunk that he didn't realize what I knew.
"Did I forget to mention that the name of my birth mother was Isobel Saltzman?" I asked him. He looked shocked. There may have even been a little bit of remorse there, which I didn't think that I had ever seen from him. "Do you want to rub it in how you killed her to me too?"
I then went back outside with Stefan and saw the mysterious man yet again. It was like he was waiting for me. Why did this guy want to talk to me? He was standing completely still. It was definitely starting to freak me out a lot.
"Hey you!" I called to him. "What do you want from me?"
"I have a message for you." He stated. Before I could respond and ask who the message was from, he continued talking. "Stop looking. She doesn't want to know you."
"Isobel?" I asked in surprise. There was my confirmation. I was pretty happy that I had been so good at figuring these things out. I also really wanted to tell Anna about it. Maybe I just needed more friends.
"Do you understand?" He asked.
"Did Isobel send you?" I questioned. He didn't say anything in response to that.
"Mary, he's been compelled." Stefan explained. That would explain a lot about why he was so creepy.
"Do you understand?" He repeated.
"Yes." I replied. You know I probably wasn't as surprised as I should have been since I had already figured everything out.
"Good." The man said. "I'm done now."
He then stepped into the street and was promptly flattened by a truck. I also noticed one thing on the ground and that there was a cellphone. I quickly grabbed it before Stefan took me home. I had just stolen evidence from a crime scene, but I needed to know. Okay, maybe it wasn't a crime scene because it wasn't like the driver could avoid someone stepping in front of them so suddenly.
After I was changed for bed, I spent a good portion of the night staring at the phone. I was very hesitant to use it. For all I knew, I was completely off base and perhaps Katherine had sent that guy. No that didn't make sense. I had to be Isobel. I also wasn't really looking for Isobel. The only thing that I wanted to know was why she had abandoned and probably also why she had become a vampire.
I finally decided to push the redial button and waited for someone to pick up. I was extremely nervous and knew it was a bad idea, but I was making all sorts of spur of the moment decisions today.
"Was there a problem with the mission?" She asked me. She had a Virginia accent. It was definitely her. I decided that it would be not to say anything at all and just hang up.
Before I could go to bed, I heard a knock at the door. I put my robe on and went to get it. I saw Damon. I was too tired to deal with him, but since I was so polite, I had no choice but to talk to him.
"What are you doing here?" I asked. I wasn't even really that angry at him anymore. I was just tired. I didn't think that I wanted to talk about Isobel anymore. She sounded like a bitch. If she had asked Damon to turn her into a vampire, then that meant that she literally run away from her husband. Ditching a child that you didn't know was one thing, but she had promised to spend the rest of her life with him. Okay, technically she did do that. She found a loophole to get out of marriage without divorcing him.
"I wanted to apologize." He stated. "I'm not sorry for turning Isobel into a vampire, but I'm sorry because I didn't know. I'm also sorry for hitting on you earlier."
"That's great Damon, but I really want to go to bed." I replied. "If I say that I accept your apology, will you leave?"
I decided to do one more thing before I went to bed. I knew it was a bit desperate, but I wanted to find a place that we could hang out.
"Anna, can please meet me at the cemetery tomorrow? I miss getting to hang out with you and I don't want our friendship to end. There has to be something that you can tell your mom. Maybe we can even go to a movie. I know a place that shows great horror movies. You don't have to text me back, but I want to see you.' I texted her.
After I was done, I took off my robe and went to bed.
So it seems like Mary really misses being around Anna. What will happen with the two of them? Please don't forget to review.