I woke up earlier than usual. Part of Caroline's float idea meant squeezing into a rather tight dress. I kind of wished that I had a chance to get some input in about how bad of an idea it was, but I was too busy with my mama drama. I was really struggling with the corset because I couldn't reach it. The dress was red and it made me feel uncomfortable. The good news at least was that I would be able to change out of it after I was done with the parade. Hopefully, it wouldn't take too long to get it off.
"Need some help?" Anna asked me as she began to tie it for me. "I remember when I wore my first corset. It wasn't until after the war because my mom didn't let me wear them. They probably didn't hurt me as much."
Well, I imagined that the benefit of being a vampire was that it wouldn't hurt her to breathe because she didn't even need to breathe. I assumed that they just did it to seem normal.
"You know I never said that I was sorry for what happened." I declared. John had killed her mother and there was also the other thing.
"You don't need to be sorry. You didn't kill my mother. Your uncle did." She pointed out as she finished tying the corset for me. "There we go, all better."
"I was also talking about the other thing. I really don't want to lead you on when I'm with Stefan." I remarked. "Also, I want to talk to Jenna about letting you stay here full-time. It would be a lot easier than me having to keep hiding you."
"I'd rather not let him know that I'm here." She explained. I sighed. I knew she was right to be weary of him. I also wondered if he was ever going to leave. "If you can manage to get rid of him, I'll let you tell her. So, I can't believe that Bonnie dispelled the device. Actually, I don't believe it. I think I may stay clear of the festivities today."
"Can you at least come and see me in the parade?" I requested. "You know Stefan will probably let you stay at the boarding house if you want to avoid John."
"I'll think about it." She replied. I actually didn't know if they would let her stay there. Maybe if I asked nicely they would. "And I guess I can come and see you, but I'm going to come back here as soon as the parade is over."
"Well, I hope to see you there." I declared. I then looked over what I was wearing again. "Now I have to figure out how I'm going to get this skirt into the car."
"I don't think it's going to fit." She told me with a laugh. Well, that didn't sound fun. "I am pretty sure that is why hoop skirts fell out of favor, well that and women's lib. Give my regards to the Salvatores."
I figured that I would have to walk to the school. I hoped that I wouldn't trip over it again the way. I wasn't sure if my hair was in an era-appropriate style, but I was not going to worry about that right now. The dress was already hard enough.
Once I got to the school, I happened to notice Stefan and Damon were there. Damon was dressed as himself and Stefan as a Southern gentleman. I smiled and curtsied to them. I hoped that I had done it right since I had never curtsied before.
After a minute, Damon walked away, and I couldn't help but notice that Stefan was staring at me. It was making me uncomfortable. I really didn't like it when people stared at me.
"Stefan?" I asked.
"I'm sorry." He apologized. "It's just seeing you like this reminds me of someone. You look exactly like Jonathan Gilbert's. I only saw her a few times because she was already married, and it didn't come across my mind until right now."
"Oh." I declared. I couldn't help but wonder if that had anything to do with me being turned into a girl. Was I transformed specifically to look like this particular person and if I was, why did they do that?
"Speaking of Jonathan's daughter, Damon thinks that your uncle is your father." He added. What? Also, couldn't he have come up with a less awkward transition than that?
"John is my father?" I asked in disbelief. It also made me think about him and Isobel and I definitely did not need that image.
"I wanted to tell you so Damon couldn't spring it on you at an inopportune time." Stefan told me. Damon did like to do things like that. I also couldn't think of what an opportune time would be.
"I appreciate you telling me, but I really hope that it isn't true." I admitted. I had a feeling that it was though. "How can I be related to someone who hates vampires so much?"
"Beliefs are not genetic." Stefan pointed out. "We should get ready for the parade."
The two of us headed onto the float. Amber wasn't going to be there. I was going to be between the two Fells and Caroline. I was also wearing my sash and standing on a higher platform than everyone else. I really didn't want to be the center of attention, but I didn't have a choice since I had inexplicably won the pageant.
"You know you look really beautiful." Tina told me. I hadn't really ever talked to her, but that was probably because I didn't really talk to people.
"Thanks, you do too." I responded with a smile.
The parade itself wasn't very exciting. Standing on a float and waving to people wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. I was just glad that it didn't last that long because I couldn't wait to get out of this dress.
Once it was over, I changed into something much more comfortable: a sleeveless purple dress with fake gemstones on it and black tights and Mary-Janes. In retrospect, I probably should have grabbed some pants, but I went with the first thing that I could find.
"So, Mary, there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about." Tina told me inside the Grill. Now it seemed like I was having a full conversation with her.
"What's that?" I asked curiously.
"There are vampires in Mystic Falls." She whispered. Oh. That was not what I expected her to say. I was pretty sure that she was not a vampire though.
"I'm sorry, but did you say vampires?" I questioned, trying my best to put up a fake laugh. I needed to try to sound convincing.
"I know it sounds crazy, but on the night of the pageant, Amber was bitten on the neck by something." She explained. I hoped that I wasn't going to have to erase her memory. She didn't seem to be particularly threatening. "Plus, she lost a considerable amount of blood. It was just like what happened with Vicki Donovan and Mr. Tanner."
"I think that conspiracy theories are kind of crazy." I told her. I wasn't entirely sure how well this was working. I hoped it was.
"I'm going to prove it to you." She stated as she walked off. I then found Damon at my side. I did not like the look on his face.
"No." I told him. "You are not going to kill her."
"I was actually going to suggest compelling her to make her forget." He replied. That was better, but I didn't want him to do that either.
"Well, we're not doing that either." I stated. There was a problem with that. "For all we know, she knows about vervain and trying to do so would give her proof."
"Why do always have to deny me of my fun?" He asked. I didn't really like his idea of fun.
"Because you need a conscience and if I have to do it, I will." I explained before I noticed my sister sitting at a table. I needed to find out why she was mad at me. "We need to talk."
"I don't really want to talk." She replied. I couldn't help but sigh. Why wouldn't she tell me why she was mad at me?
"Elena, you've been mad at me for the past few weeks and I don't even what I did." I explained. I was confused and a little bit sad as well.
"You know I know that feeling." She replied. "It's almost as if my memory was erased."
"Elena…I had a good reason for doing that." I stuttered. How had she found out about that? The memories didn't come back, did they? Stefan told that happened with Vicki but that was because he didn't drink human blood. It was supposed to work when regular vampires did it.
"Well, I'd like to hear it." She responded as she crossed her arms over her chest. I tried to think of the best way to say it.
"You were falling apart. You were in a complete despair. I tried to talk to you about it, but you were too busy crying." I explained. Seeing her like that had been very difficult. "I didn't know what else to do."
"You could have waited for me stop." She suggested. I wasn't sure if she was going to stop.
"Elena, did you even want to know that your girlfriend trying to kill you?" I asked her. "And I didn't know if you were going to stop. I was scared I was going to have to put you on suicide watch."
"I wouldn't do that." She argued.
"You can say that now, but you don't know how you felt back then." I declared. "Seeing you like that was scarier than any vampire. I know you're mad at me, but if the roles were reversed, what would you have done?"
"I don't know what I would have done." She admitted. I hoped that meant that she wasn't going to be mad at me anymore. "Do you know where Anna is? I keep looking for her, but I haven't seen her."
"She's not coming." I explained. "Elena, I want to know that you and Anna have my blessing. She's my best friend and you're my sister and I want both of you to be happy. So do you forgive me?"
I would probably be better for the two of them to be together. That way no one would be heartbroken.
"I don't know." She replied as she walked away. Well, that was a step up from no.
I then decided that it would be a good idea to find Stefan, and that I also wanted to get some food. There was plenty of free food, so I didn't have to pay to get anyone from the Grill. The only downside was there wasn't any free alcohol, and I wanted something to drink.
While I was looking for Stefan, I couldn't help but notice that my phone was ringing and that it was Anna. I assumed that she was back at the house because she would probably be telling me in person otherwise. I hoped that she had come to the parade at least.
"Hello?" I questioned.
"We have a serious problem." She told me. I did not like the sound of that. "I decided to get out of the house and infiltrate this meeting of the tomb vampires. I promise you that I only did it to spy on them. Anyway, I found out that they're planning an attack on the Founding Families tonight."
"Where are you right now?" I asked her. It would probably be beneficial for her to help us take care of them.
"I went back to the house." She explained. That was not helpful. "I still don't trust your uncle with that device."
"It would be a lot more helpful if you were here." I pointed out. It also meant that I would have to come up with a plan to stop them. I wasn't sure what the best idea but fortunately, I wouldn't have to do it on my own. "I'll make sure to tell Stefan and Damon about it."
"Please be careful." She instructed. I would have a lot easier time doing that if she was here. I would also have to find a way to keep Elena out of harm's way. I realized that the best way to start would be to tell the person with the most ability to kill vampires. Well maybe he didn't have the most ability, but he probably had more weapons than anyone else and he would be able to provide us with weapons to fight against them.
I found him outside. Luckily, Jenna wasn't with him. That would definitely make things a lot easier. I still wasn't entirely sure how I was going to tell him. I tried to think of something else to lead the conversation with.
"So, there are going to be a lot of vampires here tonight." I told him. I decided to go to the direct approach. He looked pretty shocked. "Do you have any weapons?"
"I have some in my car." He stated. I couldn't help but wonder how many places had hidden weapons?
"Get as many as you can." I instructed. "We are going to need them."
"How do you know this information?" Damon asked me as he sped over. Had he been eavesdropping on my conversation? Wait, he was Damon. Of course he had.
"Because I'm good friends with the vampire who infiltrated their ranks." I explained. I would probably also have to explain why she wasn't here at the moment.
"Where is she in all of this?" He asked me. I hated having to explain that instead of taking out the vampires.
"She doesn't trust John." I stated. If she was able to kill him, it would probably be different, but his ring made things difficult. "We need to worry less about where she is and more about the killer vampires that are here now. Ric is getting some weapons. Help me find Stefan."
I was trying my best not to freak out. There could not have been a worse time for them to attack. We could definitely use the weapon against the vampires, but we deactivated mostly to protect Stefan and Damon. It was a bit of a conundrum. Maybe Bonnie would be able to fix it or help. I needed to find her too, at least to tell her about all of the vampires that were around.
I found Stefan first. He tried to kiss me, but now was definitely not the time for it.
"I can't really do that right now." I explained. "So, remember the rest of the tomb vampires? Well, they're kind of attacking here tonight and they want to kill the Founding Families. We need to find a way to stop them."
"Do you know when this attack is supposed to happen?" He questioned. That probably would have been something to ask Anna, but I couldn't even be sure if she knew the answer.
"No, but I was wondering if you could possibly identify them so we can stop them before the attack happens." I replied. "Why do they have to hold a grudge against people who don't even know them?"
"Because it's all they were able to think about for 145 years." He explained as I noticed that the mayor was starting to give a speech. He signaled for the fireworks to go off and I watched as they exploded in the air before suddenly, Stefan fell to the ground in pain. What the fuck?
"What's happening?" I asked.
"I don't know." He replied as he covered his ears in pain. It seemed to be a frequency too high for humans to hear. I noticed a deputy was walking toward us. I wondered if I could take him. I was pretty scrawny, and he had a gun, but I would have to try. Luckily, before I had to figure out if I could do that, Alaric came over and got him away.
It seemed to go on for only a short amount of time. I looked at my phone and found that only five minutes had passed. I wasn't sure what just happened, but I was pretty sure that it was bad.
"What just happened?" I questioned.
"I don't know. It's like a million needles were piercing my skull." Stefan explained.
"I saw like five people go down." Alaric explained. "There were taking them to your dad's old building."
"I think it was the Gilbert device." Stefan remarked.
"No, no, no, it can't be." I replied. "We saw Bonnie deactivate the device. How could it have worked?"
"Maybe she didn't." Alaric replied. He did technically have a point since I couldn't understand the spell that she cast. It was still rude to lie to us.
"He's right. We asked her to deactivate a weapon that could protect people from vampires." Stefan stated. That made sense, but it was still wrong.
"To protect you and Damon." I pointed out and probably also Anna.
"Vampires." Stefan declared. Well, she could have at least told us about it. "We need to find Damon."
Before that could happen, my phone rang yet again, and it was Anna again.
"I don't really have time to talk right now." I answered. I then realized something. "Are you okay?"
"No, it felt like I just had a seizure." She explained. That was probably one way to put it. "I had epilepsy before I was turned. I think John managed to use the device."
"We know that he did and right now, I have to find Damon. I'll see you soon." I declared before hanging up.
We decided that the best place to go was to the building that seemed to be on fire. John was standing in front of it. I knew he didn't want to sell it, but did he really have to make it so nobody could ever use it?
"Where's Damon?" I asked him. I was pretty sure that I knew the answer. There probably wasn't any point to even talking to him.
"Where he should be: with the rest of them." John answered. He looked pretty smarmy, and I didn't like it. "It's over for Damon."
"You're crazy." I stated. I still didn't know why I was continuing to talk to him.
"Why because I'm doing what this town's founders wanted to do?" He challenged.
"Is there another entrance?" Stefan asked me. Yeah, it was probably better to just try to get inside.
"There's a utility door on the side." I explained as he ran toward it and I started to follow him, but John stopped me. "What kind of father are you?"
"You know…" He replied in shock as he let me go. It meant that I wouldn't have to try to fight him off. I couldn't really dwell on the fact that he had just revealed that he was my father because I needed to focus on saving Damon.
"Now I do." I corrected before I took the opportunity to run by him. I went to the door and found Bonnie was standing by it. "Bonnie, what are you doing?"
"I couldn't deactivate the device." She told me as I went to grab the doorknob. Couldn't she put out the fire with a spell or something? "If you go in there, you're going to die."
"I'm not going to let Stefan and Damon die." I pointed out. She then grabbed my hand and began to chant. I was confused, but about a minute later, Stefan came out of the building with Damon in tow. That was right before a blast came out and we all had to duck for cover. I wasn't sure what had just happened, but I had to say that I was relieved that the two of them were okay.
I went back to the Grill with Stefan as I began to look for Elena. We found her in the bathroom looking scared. You know I probably should have been more concerned about her wellbeing than Damon's. I couldn't believe that I had been such a bad sister. I hoped that she wouldn't find that out because I didn't want her to have a legitimate reason to be mad at me. I decided that the first thing that I should do was give her a hug.
"Elena, it's okay. Everything's okay." I assured her.
"This man attacked me before he suddenly went down in pain." She explained with some tears in her eyes.
"He's dead now." I assured her as I gave her a hug. He was probably dead at least. I didn't think anyone else had survived. "Now do you see that I only wanted to protect you from this?"
"I want to go home." Elena replied. That would probably be for the best. I really wanted a drink now, but I still wouldn't be able to get one.
"I'll have Alaric take you." I told her since she hadn't driven. "I'll be there after I find my dress."
I went to the school and began to look for it, only to find that it wasn't there. I checked multiple times, and it was missing. Why would someone steal an 1860s dress? I sighed and began to walk home. It was at that time that I noticed a text from Matt saying that Caroline was in the hospital. I really hoped that she was okay. I knew I would head down there after I went home. It seemed like so many things had happened in such a short amount of time.
I went to the door and opened it, before walking in. At that moment, I heard a scream.
So Anna managed to survive by avoiding the festival. What's Mary going to do when she meets Katherine and will Stefan find out about the kiss? Find out in the sequel, Stuck in Mystic Falls coming soon. Thank you for reading and please don't forget to review.