A/N: Hi guys! I'm sorry, I haven't abandoned this fic I was just really struggling to write this chapter for some reason. Thank you SO much for 100 followers on this fic, it really does mean a lot to me. I hope you enjoy this chapter and as always, would love to hear your thoughts! XO, Eden.
Song: Our War
Artist: Neon Trees
When we were in our youth, we had dreams that we could fly
We had friends that weren't visible, and love that never died
And as we grow old, I felt the pain that we always new the truth
Love would heal, if we stayed true, to the dreams of our youth
I been walking 'round for hours, holding onto stems of flowers
Just as feeling all your pain as it began to rain
And now it has come to this, the little victories I'll miss
Of everything we've over come, and all that's said and done
While Ric had been setting up Elena's meeting with Isobel, Isobel made it very clear that she wanted to meet with Elena alone, and that there would be dire consequences if that wish was not granted. Since Damon had been the one to change Isobel, she knew his face, and obviously she knew her ex husbands face as well. So while Elena sat inside the Mystic Grill talking to Isobel; Damon, Alaric and I were waiting in the small park across the street.
Fortunately, Isobel had never met Stefan, so he was inside posing an inconspicuous bar patron. If things went really poorly, he would be able to intervene. Nonetheless, I was freaking out. I was pacing back and forth, contemplating all of the things that could go wrong during their meeting. Damon and Alaric matched my nervous energy. If I weren't so busy worrying about Elena, I would have had time to be jealous about how protective Damon was being towards her.
"We should be in there." Damon hissed.
"Agreed." I huffed.
I had tried to persuade everyone to let me be in the grill during the meeting, as Isobel had no clue who I was either, but Damon reasoned that it would be too difficult for Stefan to protect two humans if shit hit the fan. Not that I really trusted Stefan to protect me anyways. It didn't really take too much convincing to keep me outside, away from Stefan.
"No." Ric replied sharply. "Isobel made it clear that we're not to step foot inside."
"I'm not gonna kill her in a crowded restaurant." Damon rolled his eyes.
"You're not going to kill her, period." Ric snapped.
"She ruined your life, and you still want to protect her?" Damon asked.
"She's my wife. Was. Was my wife." Ric corrected himself. "I looked for the woman I married but she wasn't there. Whoever that is, is . . . cold and detached."
"Yeah." Damon scoffed. "She's given up her humanity."
"Yeah see I don't get that. Stefan has his humanity. He's a good guy." I laughed in shock at Ric's statement. "Hell, you're a dick and you kill people and I still see something human in you. But with her there was . . . there was nothing."
A look of sympathy crossed Damon's face for a moment, but was quickly replaced with a scowl. Watching a friendship form between the two of them had been interesting, to say the least. They were constantly bickering with each other, but I could tell Damon was forming a soft spot for Ric. Maybe it was just him feeling a shred of remorse for turning Isobel into a vampire, but still, it was there.
"You can turn it off. Like a button you can press. I mean, Stefan's different, he wants the whole human experience, he wants to feel every episode of 'How I Met Your Mother' so he shuts his feelings out; the problem is as a vampire your instinct is not to feel." Damon pondered this for a moment and let out a slight sigh. "Isobel chose the easier road. No guilt and shame, no regret. I mean come on, if you could turn it off, wouldn't you?"
"You haven't." Ric stated.
"Of course I have Ric." Damon clicked his tongue. "That's why I'm so fun to be around."
"No, you haven't." I mumbled so low it was almost a whisper, but it was still audible enough to be picked up by Damon.
Damon scrunched his brow and turned to walk away from us. It was clear he didn't want to have this conversation anymore, not that I blamed him. His back still turned to us, he leaned against one of the cars parked in the square and kept his head turned in the direction of the grill. What I would give to have a glimpse inside his mind at that moment.
"He hasn't." I repeated, leaning against the bench that Ric was leaning on. I didn't have the vampire senses thing down to a t, but I was sure we were still within earshot.
"I know." Ric nodded. "I just don't understand why he's so intent on acting like he has."
I understood. Well at least, I thought I did. Damon's last memories as a human were of hurt and betrayal, from Katherine, from his father, and from Stefan. If he retained his humanity, he was opening himself up to feeling that hurt again. This way, he could pretend not to feel any of it.
Despite his pretending, I knew that he felt. From the first night I met him, I could see the emotional depth behind his eyes when he spoke of his heartbreak. That depth had only grown as I grew to know him. Damon cared. I could see it in the way he acted towards me, towards Stefan, hell even towards Elena and Alaric.
"Well it would help if you stopped treating him like the bad guy." I suggested. "You put that idea into someone's head, and they're going to start believing that it's true."
"He killed my wife, Lucy." Ric said for what felt like the thousandth time.
"It's more complicated than that and you know it." I shot back. "Have you ever stopped to consider that maybe Damon isn't the one you should be mad at for all of this? That it's just easier to be mad at him than it is to be mad at Isobel?"
Ric sighed. "You're right."
"Look, I'm not saying he's perfect. I know he isn't." I wasn't really sure whom I was trying to convince with that statement. "But neither is Stefan. So maybe you should stop trying to compare the two so much."
Ric looked over his shoulder at Damon, who was pretending that he wasn't listening to our conversation. "Are you only saying all this nice stuff about him because he can totally hear us right now?"
"No, I'm saying it because you need to hear it." I insisted.
"He's still a dick." Ric said.
I followed his eyes to the back of Damon's head and smiled. "Yeah, he is. But he's a dick that saved my life."
Ric turned back towards me. "Yeah, what exactly happened there? I was kept out of the loop on that situation."
"Hm, I know that feeling." I retorted. "I don't know. Stefan got bloodthirsty, I happened to be the first person he saw. I guess I'm just lucky that they realized I was missing."
"I'm sorry." Was all that Ric could say.
Whether he was sorry about Stefan, or sorry for not telling the truth, I wasn't sure. I didn't have time to ask, as Elena and Stefan emerged in front of us, cueing Damon to shuffle over as well. We hadn't been watching the grill to see them come out, and I was certain that Stefan had also overheard our conversation about him.
I jumped up. "Elena! Are you okay? What did she want?"
Elena looked a mess. Her eyes were watery, and all the color was drained from her face. I immediately pulled her into a hug.
"She's awful." Elena whispered.
Ric grimaced at Elena confirming what he already knew to be true about Isobel. "What did she say to you?"
"She wants Jonathan Gilbert's invention." Elena looked at Damon. "The one you have."
Damon shook his head. "Mm, nope. Not happening. Did she say why she wants it?"
Elena shrugged. "She just said that Uncle John wants it."
"And that concerns her why?" Damon raised an eyebrow.
"They've known each other for a long time." Stefan filled in. "Isobel said that John had a thing for her, and is the one that told her about vampires. Maybe she's just returning a favor to him."
"Ok, for the record I was joking about the high school sweethearts thing." Damon looked disgusted. "Doesn't matter though. If Uncle John wants the invention, I don't want him to have it. Sorry- not sorry Elena, I'm not giving it to you."
"I told her you wouldn't." Elena sniffed. "She said the blood will be on my hands then."
"It's going to be okay Elena. We'll figure something out." I tried to assure her while shooting a glare at Damon over her shoulder, urging him to rectify the situation.
Damon let out a begrudged sigh. "I think it might be time for me to pay Isobel a little visit."
"What?" Ric looked shocked. "How do you know where she is?"
"I don't. But I have a pretty strong hunch. I taught her everything she knows about being a vampire." Damon explained. "I'd invite you to come, but an altercation between two vamps is no place for a human."
"Damon, don't you dare . . ." Ric practically growled at Damon, taking a step towards him.
"Relax, Ric." Damon rolled his eyes. "She'll still be alive when I'm done with her. Well, undead."
"What should we do?" Elena asked.
"Nothing. Stay inside, don't invite anyone you don't know in." Damon looked between the two of us. "Maybe stick together and keep an eye on each other. I don't know how mad she'll be when I'm done talking to her."
"I can drive them back to Elena's." Stefan offered, and then looked at me. "If that's okay with you."
I just nodded in agreement. While I didn't particularly want to hang out with Stefan, I did want to be there for Elena. There was also a chance that John would be at her house, and maybe I would work up the courage to actually talk to him.
The car ride was painfully silent. Elena was understandably not in the mood to chat, and Stefan knew better than to try to make conversation with me. All I could do was stare out the window and hope that Damon wasn't doing anything horrendously stupid right now.
When we pulled into the driveway, Stefan turned off the car and sighed. "If you two want to be alone for a little bit, I can leave you be. I have an errand to run and I trust you two to not let anyone into the house."
I looked to Elena, and we both nodded in unison while she forced a smile at him. "Thank you, Stefan."
"Just don't tell Damon that I left you two unsupervised." Stefan requested.
I laughed a bit at the thought of the fight that would ensue between the two brothers in that scenario. Damon really didn't trust us to take care of ourselves. Not that I blamed him, we did have a tendency to get into sticky situations.
"I'll be back in an hour or so." He said.
"Bye Stefan." Elena kissed his cheek, sparing me the intense PDA.
I gave Stefan an awkward wave before ducking out of the backseat and following Elena into the house. She shut the door, watching through the window as Stefan backed out of the driveway.
"He is trying." She said.
"I know." I replied, not wanting to fight with her right now.
"Elena, you're home." We both turned our heads towards John, who was walking towards us from the kitchen. "Where were you?"
Elena glared at him. "Out."
"Out with Stefan?" He asked.
"Out." Elena repeated.
He nodded slowly, peeling his eyes from her to look at me. "You brought your friend over . . . what was your name again, Lily?"
"Lucy." I corrected him.
"Lucy, right." John smiled with a charm that felt so rehearsed it just had to be fake.
"Do you really not know who I am?" I snapped.
His smile was replaced with a combined look of shock and discomfort, as his eyes darted from me to Elena, unsure of how to proceed with this conversation. I hadn't really planned this out; I just was so angry that this man who brought me into the world didn't even know my name.
"I'll be upstairs." Elena quickly picked up on the fact that I did actually want to speak with John, and that he wasn't going to say anything else with her standing there.
He sighed as Elena walked up the stairs. "I take it from your question that you know who I am."
"Do you know how many months I spent trying to find you?" I shot back.
"Jeremy's home." He looked nervously at the top of the staircase. "Why don't we talk in the kitchen."
Not waiting for an answer, he turned and walked into the kitchen. He motioned for me to sit down at one of the island stools, but I just shook my head. As I waited for him to speak, I searched his face trying to find some resemblance between the two of us, but there was none.
He let out a long exhale before finally breaking the silence. "Of course I know who you are. How could I not know?"
"I don't know, maybe because you haven't seen me since I was born almost eighteen years ago?" I retorted.
"I thought it was you the moment I first saw you. And then I thought that it wasn't possible, that Peter and Elise had moved away and said they wouldn't return." His eyes glazed over a bit as he spoke. "Then you told me your name, and I knew for sure."
"Did you ask them to move away?" I didn't want to waste any more time getting to my reason for speaking to him.
"Lucy, you have to understand that not watching you grow up was probably one of the most difficult things of my entire life. But the only thing more difficult would have been watching you grow up here, watching your parents give you the life that I couldn't have given you back then." He tried to explain.
"So is that really the only reason?" I pried. "That you couldn't bear to watch me grow up?"
"What other reason would there be?" He challenged.
"Vampires." I said. "I know you know about them."
John looked shocked. "There are no secrets between you and Elena, I take it."
If only he knew. I shook my head. "This is a secret I found out on my own."
He nodded slowly, pondering what to say next. "Your parents were too many years above me for our paths to have ever crossed. However, they did know my older brother, Grayson."
"Elena's dad." I filled in.
"Her adoptive father, yes." He paused for a moment. "Back then, this town wasn't so quiet about the creatures that lurk here a night. There was no worry of secrets being posted to the Internet and Mystic Falls becoming nothing more than a spectacle."
"So my parents knew?" I pressed my lips together, waiting for him to confirm my suspicions.
"We all grew up hearing the same stories." He clarified. "Whether your parents chose to see them as just stories or not, I don't know."
"You never talked to them about it?" I asked.
He narrowed his eyes inquisitively. "What reason would I have to speak with your parents about vampires?"
"I-I don't know . . ." His stare was so harsh that it made me feel embarrassed. "I thought maybe . . . I thought maybe you asked them to leave so that I would be safe from them."
"I never wanted for you girls to be involved in any of this." He shook his head. "But no, that wasn't a concern at the time. I was only fifteen, I had barely started to accept the stories as true myself."
Us girls? I mean, blatant sexism with the exclusion of Jeremy from that statement aside, I didn't know that he cared for Elena that deeply. She had just described him as the asshole Uncle who was barely present. The thought hadn't crossed my mind that he was actually concerned with her involvement with vampires.
"Right." I practically whispered.
"Is there anything else you want to know?" He offered.
"Who's my mom?" I asked.
He tilted his head, looking confused. "You don't know?"
"What? No. My parents said you arranged everything, they never even knew her name." I said.
"That's true. I just thought that . . ." He trailed off for a moment. "Never mind. It's better that you don't know."
"What do you mean? Why can't I know?" I questioned him.
"You're just better off not knowing her." He replied, as if it was a valid answer.
"I want to know." I raised my voice a bit, frustrated that he wanted to keep this from me. "You don't even have a picture of her?"
"I know I have no right to ask this of you, but trust me. Let it be." His eyes bore into mine as he spoke.
"You're right." I sneered. "You do have no right to ask this of me."
"I think we're done here." John said, his voice eerily calm.
Before I could protest any further, he turned and walked out of the kitchen. Moments later, I heard the front door open and close again. What the hell was his problem? If he was so adamant that I not know who my birth mother was, he could have just given me a fake name and I wouldn't have known any better.
That conversation got me pretty much nowhere. All I knew now was that there was the possibility that my parents knew about vampires. That possibility wasn't enough for me to bring it up to them.
It felt like everything always had to have a secret tied to it here. Everyone tried to keep the vampire secret from me. John was adamant that I not know the identity of my birth mother. I was hiding the truth about the car crash from Elena. Maybe I deserved to have things kept from me. I wasn't exactly the queen of being up front over here.
I composed myself as I trudged up the stairs to Elena's bedroom, where I found her writing in her diary. She closed it and looked up at me when she heard me enter.
"How was John?" She asked tentatively.
I shrugged. "You've met him."
"Not well, huh?" She picked up quickly. "I take it you had something you wanted to talk to him about."
"A couple something's." I plopped onto the bed next to her. "Not that he was really open to talking about anything with me."
"I'm sorry." Elena said. "Do you want to talk about any of it?"
"I just . . . my parents were- are so weird every time I bring up John, my mom literally said she thought it was 'safe' to move back when they heard that he had left Mystic Falls." I spilled to her. "And John won't even tell me who my birth mother is. I don't know. It all gives me an uneasy feeling."
"Well, what do you think they're hiding?" She asked me.
"I don't know if my parents know about vampires, if that's why they left, or if that's why John asked them to leave. He says he doesn't know if they know or not; not that I have any reason to trust him." I told her.
She mulled it over for a moment. "What would it change if you found out that your parents did know?"
"I don't know. Nothing, I guess. I wouldn't blame them for keeping it from me. I just kind of want to keep them out of all of this. They've been through enough." We all have, I thought. "Has John always been an ass?"
"Oddly enough, no. I actually remember him being a really cool uncle when I was little." A small smile crossed Elena's face as she remembered her childhood. "It wasn't until I maybe turned six or so that he just kind of stopped showing up so often. Jeremy only ever knew him as the uncle that showed up on holidays with a cool toy, so he doesn't resent him so much. Only I know that he used to actually be there."
"Weird." I said. "I guess family just isn't his strong suit."
"You can say that again." Elena rolled her eyes at the thought of him. "Do you want to sleep over tonight?"
I smiled. "I thought that was a given."
Despite everything going on, we somehow managed to have an actual nice normal evening. Jenna picked up a pizza on the way home, which we all ate together. After dinner, I even played video games with Jeremy for a little bit. Okay, I invited myself to play video games with Jeremy until he unplugged my controller and said I had to leave because I suck. But still, it was fun to hang out with my other cousin and my Aunt, even if they didn't know we were related.
John still hadn't come back by the time Elena and I went back upstairs for the evening. I'm not sure where he went, as he was staying at the Gilbert house while in town, but he clearly wanted to avoid me. At one point, I looked out the window and saw that Stefan's car was parked across the street. He was keeping an eye on us, making sure that no danger was around while still letting us just have a fun night together. It was a nice gesture on his end.
I had just gotten out of the shower and changed into a pair of Elena's plaid pajama pants and one of her sweatshirts, and Elena was just getting into the shower. Hopefully there was enough hot water left for her; I had a tendency to take unnecessarily long showers. As I shut her bathroom door behind me, I jumped as I realized that Damon was leaning against the wall closest to her window seat.
"Damon." I gasped. "Elena didn't tell me you were here."
"That's because she doesn't know." He smirked. "I just snuck in, had to get past Stefan first. Wanted to see what it is that you girls really get up to at sleepovers."
"Ew doesn't be gross." I wrinkled my nose. "What are you really doing here?"
"Bringing you this." He held up his hand, and I actually felt my heart skip a beat.
He was holding my locket, the one that Stefan tore off my neck and threw into the woods. I recognized the etched flowers and the emerald stone almost instantly, and I felt my eyes well with tears at the sight of it.
"My necklace." I choked. "How did you find it?"
"I didn't. Stefan did." Damon explained. "I think it's meant to be a peace offering, or a way of relieving his guilt."
"Don't." I warned him. "Don't ask me to forgive him. I'm getting enough of that from everyone else right now."
He held up his hands. "I'm not asking you to forgive him. That's why I'm here. I told him that him giving you the necklace would just make you uncomfortable."
I nodded. Again, for someone who claimed to not feel anything, he sure was showing a surprising amount of empathy right now. I reached out for the necklace, and he pulled his hand away.
"Not yet. One more thing." Damon put his free hand on my cheek, causing it to flush with warmth. "No nightmares tonight."
His eyes dilated as his spoke, and I knew that it was a command. It really was sweet that he was concerned about me having nightmares. I knew that under his compulsion, my mind would have no choice but to give me a peaceful night's sleep.
"What, only tonight? What about every other night?" I joked, wanting to take the weight off of the kind gesture that he had just shown me.
He winked. "Well, I need an excuse to sneak into your room another night."
"Damon!" I couldn't help but giggle at his response.
"Come on." He motioned for me to turn around, and I pulled my hair aside so that he could fasten the clasp. "I had to have the chain replaced, but everything else is the same."
"It's perfect." I closed my hand around the locket, and turned back towards him. "Thank you. For bringing it to me."
His mouth formed a small, albeit genuine smile. "It's me who should be thanking you."
I tilted my head. "For what?"
"I heard what you said to Alaric earlier." He explained. "You're always on my side."
"Well, someone has to be." I teased him.
"I'm glad it's you." He said. "I should go. Get some sleep, Stefan and I will be outside all night if you two need anything."
I wondered why he and Stefan both felt the need to be here, looking over us. "What happened with Isobel?"
Damon's brow furrowed. "We'll talk about it tomorrow, with everyone there. Don't worry about it right now. Good night, Lucy."
"Good night, Damon." I said.
I was speaking to the air. By the time the words left my mouth, he was already gone, leaving the window slightly cracked behind it. I walked over to close it, and peered out at the shadow of Stefan's car. I couldn't see inside, but I knew that he could see me. Closing my hand around my necklace again, I mouthed thank you, and nodded towards the driver's side. Then I pulled the window closed, and crawled into Elena's bed.
I was already dozing off by the time Elena got out of the shower. My eyes were closed, but I felt her get into bed next to me and turn off the light.
"Lucy? Are you awake?" She whispered. "Were you talking to someone while I was in the shower?"
"Mm. Damon." I rolled over. "Brought my necklace."
"What? He found your necklace?" She asked.
"Mm-mm. Stefan did. Damon brought it though." I mumbled. "Night-night, Elena."
She chuckled a bit at my tired slurring. "Good night, Lucy."
For the first time in months, I drifted into a truly peaceful sleep. No nightmares about Stefan, Brandon, or anything else. It was all thanks to Damon. I wished it could be like that every night.
I'm leaving our war behind, life can go on without you
I'm leaving our war behind, the night that I leave town
The walls that you and me take down are only taller now
And I have even forgotten how to stand on my two feet
How honestly I am on my own, I happier to be alone
Everything I do alone has everything of you
I woke up feeling rather well rested and ready to take on the day. There was more Founders' Day prep to do today; we had to actually build the floats for the parade. Apparently Elena had texted Stefan, and he and Damon would be filling us in on Damon's visit with Isobel after our Founder's Day prep. I don't know why the two of them were so determined on having Elena and I do normal high school activities; it seemed to me that the ship had sailed on us having a normal high school experience.
I was waiting by the door for Elena, coffee in hand, as she bounded down the stairs with her school bag. Just as we were about to head out, there was a knock at the door. She and I exchanged tentative glances with each other.
"Wait," I stopped her as she reached for the doorknob. "It could be Isobel."
"Well, if it's a vampire they need to be invited in anyways." Elena shrugged, and opened the door, looking shocked at who was behind it. "Hi."
"Hey." Bonnie said, hands in pocket and looking visibly uncomfortable.
Bonnie glanced at me, and it was apparent that she hadn't been expecting me to be here. The two of them clearly had some long-term friend business to discuss, that didn't include me.
"I'll wait in the car." I offered, and Elena handed me her keys.
A few minutes later, Elena got into the car. Her makeup was a little messed up, and her eyes a bit red, but she was actually smiling.
"Are you guys okay?" I asked.
"We will be." Elena assured me. "We're going to talk more at school. Wouldn't want to be late and get chewed out by Caroline."
Amen to that. I wasn't really sure what the rift between Bonnie and Elena was, but it was very obvious that it had to do with the vampires. I always thought that werewolves were supposed to be the moral enemy of vampires (thank god there weren't any of those in Mystic Falls), but maybe it was witches. Or maybe Bonnie just didn't vibe with the whole drinking blood thing, which was also completely understandable.
At school, Elena quickly took off to meet up with Bonnie again. I went over to Caroline, knowing that she would have something for me to do. She quickly tasked me with hanging red tinsel from her float. While I was doing so, Jeremy came up to me, looking stressed. He had left unusually early this morning.
"Hey Lucy, have you seen Elena?" He asked me.
"I think she's in the school somewhere, she should be out soon." I replied. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah I just haven't heard back from my girlfriend in a little bit," Jeremy sighed. "I was hoping Elena had seen her."
"Ooh Jeremy has a girlfriend." I teased him. Maybe not the most appropriate time.
He rolled his eyes. "Ok. Tell Elena I was looking for her?"
He sauntered off. Yeah, okay. Maybe I wasn't doing so well at this whole older cousin thing. He definitely thought I was Elena's weird friend or something. But if he knew I was his cousin, he'd totally like me!
It was a while later when Elena finally came up to me, her usual worried expression on her face. "Have you seen Stefan?"
"No, I haven't. But Jeremy's looking for you." I told her.
She grimaced. "Yep. He found me."
"What's wrong Elena?" I asked her.
"Jeremy knows. His girlfriend is related to one of the tomb vampires." She replied with a very low voice. "Come on, we need to go find Stefan."
She grabbed my hand, and led me away from the Miss Mystic float. We only took a few steps before she stopped dead in her tracks when we came face to face with a woman.
"Isobel." She gasped.
So this was Isobel in the flesh. She blended in well, her hair pulled into a perfectly curled ponytail and her fair skin hidden beneath a trendy brown trench coat. From a distance, she would pass perfectly as a PTA mom or something. But from just a couple feet apart, I could see the hollow lifelessness in her eyes. It was harrowing.
"What are you doing here?" Elena asked, digging her nails into my hand.
"I'm your mother, Elena." Isobel feigned offense. "I want to be more involved in your life."
Elena shook her head. "I don't want you in my life."
"I understand that. You already have a lot of people that you care about." Isobel smiled sweetly. "But I've been studying. Let's see if I got this right. There is the witchy best friend Bonnie . . . gonna stay away from that one. Oh, sad little brother Jeremy. And there's Caroline, obnoxious Caroline. I got all of my info from her, by the way. She had no idea who I was, and she wouldn't stop yapping."
When was this? It had to have been before I got there, right? God, I hope I hadn't missed Isobel prying information out of Caroline less than six feet away from me.
"We can't forget one of the most important ones, what was it, your cousin?" Isobel turned to me, causing Elena to take a half step in front of me. "John didn't tell me you were back in town, Lucy."
"Why would-" I tried to ask, but she cut me off.
"Don't underestimate how close John and I are, girls. Don't worry Lucy, we'll catch up another time." She glared and then turned to look at one of the floats. "Oh, and there's Matt. Friend, ex, yappy's future ex. Lot's of connections there."
"Matt's not involved with us." Elena tried to sound tough, but was clearly scared.
"He's involved with you, isn't he?" Isobel asked, but it was more of a statement.
"You shouldn't be here." Elena's voice was a little less shaky. "You need to leave."
"No. I have some friends here too. Look- see that man over there standing next to Matt by the float? His name is Frank. He's very handsome." We looked over to see a blonde man peering around the float. "And he's also quite handy, and he noticed that the axle was kind of rusted, which is very dangerous. So all you have to do is apply a little bit of pressure and-"
"NO!" Elena shouted, as Frank jumped on top of the float.
Instantly, it buckled, and Matt let out a pained yell as the weight came crushing down on the arm that he was working on the float with. Elena tried to run towards him, but Isobel caught her in a painful looking grasp.
"Hey! Pick this trailer up! Come on, guys. Lift it up, please!" Matt shouted.
Tyler directed the guys around him. "Come on, lift!"
The guys struggled to lift it up, but I noticed Stefan run over and join them. With his aid, the trailer lifted with ease. He probably could have done it alone, but it was better that he didn't. It drew less attention that way. Stefan instructed Caroline to call an ambulance, and she crouched by Matt's side.
"Why are you doing this?" Elena struggled against Isobel's grasp.
"I'm showing you how easy it is to hurt the people that you care about." Isobel replied in a monotone voice.
"You're doing this just because of Jonathan Gilbert's invention?" Elena asked.
"Hand it over, and the fun will stop." Isobel instructed.
"I told you, Damon's not going to give it to me." Elena pleaded with her.
"And I think you underestimate how much Damon cares about you." Isobel said.
Elena shook her head. "He'll kill you before he gives it up."
"Is that before or after I kill your sibling?" Isobel questioned.
Our eyes shot over to where Jeremy had been standing. He wasn't there. "Jeremy? Jeremy!"
When we turned back around for answers, Isobel was gone. She had done this. Her little minion Frank had taken Jeremy. God, I wish I had a stake. I'd find her and shove it in her myself. She needed to back away from my family. Stefan heard Elena's frantic voice, and rushed over to us.
"What happened?" He asked, immediately taking Elena into his arms.
"Isobel was here." Elena cried. "She took Jeremy."
"Shh, shh." He tried to comfort her, while looking around the lot to see if there was any sign of Jeremy. "Okay. Damon and I are going to find him. It'll be okay, Elena. I promise."
"What if she hurts him? Or worse?" Elena sobbed.
"We'll get to him before that can happen." Stefan promised her. "Lucy, I don't think you should be here anymore. You need to go home, where she can't get to you. You too, Elena."
"No." Elena wiped her eyes. "I'm coming with you and Damon."
"I didn't drive here." I said.
"Okay. We'll drop you off at home on our way to the house." Stefan nodded. "We should meet Damon there, make a plan of attack. Have either of you seen Alaric?"
We both shook our head. I wanted to protest, and come with them to look for Jeremy, but I knew that it wasn't the time. Plus, I would just be another human in the way. It wouldn't be easy for Damon and Stefan to look out for Elena, Jeremy, and me.
Stefan tried to call Damon while driving, but it just went to voicemail. Hopefully he was already at the house. He then called Ric, and I could hear him yelling curse words through the phone before agreeing to meet at the Salvatore house. The ride was tense, and while Stefan didn't drive quite as recklessly as Damon, he was still speeding quite a bit.
He pulled up to my house, and I leaned forward towards Elena before getting out. "Keep me updated, okay?"
She nodded. "I will."
I squeezed her shoulder. "It'll be okay, Elena."
"Lucy, stay inside. I mean it." Stefan looked at me, his face stony.
I nodded, and got out of the car, not wanting to waste any more of their time. I had barely shut the door before they sped off. After taking a moment to compose myself, I went in the front door.
"Hello?" I called out. "Anyone here?"
"Lucy, honey." I breathed a sigh of relief at my mom's voice; I did not want to be home alone right now. "I'm in the kitchen. My friend Lauren is here."
I put a smile on my face as I walked into the kitchen. I froze as soon as I saw who was sitting at the table, drinking tea with my mom. Isobel. How did she get here so quickly? It was barely half an hour ago that she was at the school, threatening Jeremy. I couldn't let on that something was wrong. Not in front of my mom. I had to get Isobel away from her.
"Hi Lauren, I'm Lucy." If my mom noticed my voice crack, she didn't say anything. "It's nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you too, Lucy." Isobel smiled.
"Mom, how did you and Lauren meet?" I asked my mom.
"Oh you know, we just go way back. It's like we've been friends forever." I noticed my mom's vacant expression when she answered my question, and realized that she had been compelled. Dammit, I hadn't even considered getting my parents vervain. "How was Elena's, honey?"
"It was good, the usual girls night." I feigned surprise. "Oh my god, I just realized I left my phone there. I have to go back and get it. I'll be back later, mom. So nice to meet you, Lauren."
"Alright, by honey!" Mom said.
My phone was safe in my sweatshirt pocket, but I had to lead Isobel away from her. It was a risky move. I was assuming, hoping, that Isobel was there to talk to me. If I was wrong, I was leaving my mom alone with her. I grabbed my keys from the hook by the garage door, and headed out to my car.
Sure enough, a few moments later and Isobel opened the door and gave me a menacing smile. In a flash, she was by me and had me pinned against my car door.
"I told you we'd get the chance to catch up." She jammed her arm across my chest.
"Isobel," I gasped, barely able to breathe under the weight of her strength. "Where's Jeremy? What do you want?"
"Well, you know what I want. I want Jonathan Gilbert's device." Her eyes narrowed. "Like I said, I've been studying. Not just Elena, but Damon too. I had just assumed that since he loved Katherine, he would love Elena too. But I was wrong."
"What does that have to do with-"
"QUIET." She commanded. "You see, Jeremy was just my insurance policy, in case my original hunch was correct, and he does love Elena. But I think I was going after the wrong girl, originally. Problem is, now that I've figured it out, I'm running out of time. I can't play nice anymore."
I didn't have time to question what she wanted from me. Without so much as flinching, she raised her free arm to her mouth, and bit into her wrist. She shoved it against my mouth, and I was overwhelmed with the tasted of blood. I tried to struggle, but it was absolutely useless.
Her wrist was blocking my nose, and it wasn't long before I was dizzy from not being able to breathe. I had no choice but to swallow the blood that was in my mouth, and I gasped for air after doing so. Before my eyes, her wrist healed, and she moved her hand to caress my hair.
"Tell Damon that he has twenty-four hours to give me the device before I come snap your neck." She whispered into my ear. "Because I do believe in killing the messenger."
And then she was gone, leaving me shaking and covered in her blood. I had to get away from there. I couldn't risk my mom finding me like this. There was absolutely no way to explain that.
I fumbled with my keys to open my door and start my car. On autopilot, I backed out of the garage and onto the street. I was shaking so hard I could barely grasp the steering wheel. After driving a few blocks, I pulled over. I knew I shouldn't be driving like this, that wasn't a mistake I would make twice in life. I just needed to get away from home. I reached into my pocket to pull out my phone, dialing the number of the person I knew I could trust.
"Can you come pick me up," I whimpered. "Something happened."
I'm leaving our war behind, life can go on without you
I'm leaving our war behind, the night that I leave town
Don't tell me to just avoid living my life without you
I'm leaving our war behind the night that I leave town
All my life it's always the same thing
All my life it's always the same thing