I don't own Vampire Diaries, or any other references I will use for this story. I only own my OC, Harmony.

Chapter 17 - Under Control

~ Harmony's P.O.V. ~

I had finished packing breakfast and lunch for my family and carried them to the door.

"Jeremy! Harmony! Time to go to school. Heading out now!" Elena said.

"Got our lunches and breakfast!" I said coming up to her and giving her food.

"You forgot this," Aunt Jenna said giving Elena her wallet.

Elena opened the door to see Uncle John on the other side about to knock. He gave us a smile.

"Elena, Harmony," Uncle John said.

"Uncle John," Elena said.

I smiled up at my Uncle. My family might not like him that much, but he is an amazing person. He has helped me whenever he could, and with the vampires in town, he gave me vervain and instructions on how to avoid them. I moved out of the way with Elena to let him in.

"Jenna," Uncle John said to my Aunt.

"John, you made it," Aunt Jenna said.

"I told you I would be here by noon," Uncle John said.

"What you say and what you do are two different things," Aunt Jenna said.

"Uncle John. What's up?" Jeremy said walking down the stairs.

"Hey," Uncle John said in reply as Jeremy patted his shoulder as he passed him to leave the house.

"I had some business in town, so I decided to stop by," Uncle John said, "Besides, Harmony was asking when I would come to visit."

My Aunt and sister looked at me in surprise, and I just shrugged my shoulders.

"I haven't seen him in a long time," I said to them before looking at my Uncle, "How long are you staying?"

"Don't know yet," Uncle John said.

"Well, we are going to go to school," Elena said, "I'll see you later."

As I was about to exit the door, I turned and said, "Oh! Aunt Jenna, your food is on the counter. Also, Uncle John, there's leftover breakfast if you want any."

"Thank you, Harmony," Uncle John said.

I left the house with Jenna closing the door behind me.

~ Jenna's P.O.V. ~

"What's up with Jeremy?" John asked.

"He just lost a friend. So, try to be sensitive," I told him.

"I'm always sensitive," John said.

"Right. So, how long are you really staying?" I said getting straight to the point.

"Can't you at least pretend that you're happy to see me?" John said.

"Oh my god, John. It is so good to see you. How have you've been? No, I can't," I said.

"Did you really think I was just going to sign those Escrow papers and send them back?" John asked.

"Actually, I did," I told him.

"I'm not gonna let you sell my brother's office," John said.

"It's not up to you or me. It belongs to Elena, Harmony, and Jeremy," I told him.

"But, they're minors, so I have the final say," John said, "Being that I'm the estate's trustee."

~ Elena's P.O.V. ~

"He said his trip is open-ended," Elena told Matt.

"Uncle John. I never liked that guy," Matt said.

I scoffed.

"Besides my sister. Does anyone?" I asked.

"I am here for moral support if you need me," Matt said.

Thanks. I think I'll suffer this one alone," I told him, "You've been through enough."

"Thank you, by the way. For everything you and Harmony did. At Vicki's funeral, and her memorial," Matt began to say, "I couldn't have done it without you."

"Of course Matt," I told him.

"So, is Caroline still baking for you around the clock?" I asked him trying to change the subject.

"She finally went to her dad's, which is a good thing because my mom was going to strangle her if she dropped off more lasagna," Matt said.

"Oh," I said.

~ Damon's P.O.V. ~

I had just entered the council meeting when the Mayor introduced Johnathan Gilbert.

"He's a Gilbert?" I asked Liz.

"He's Elena's Uncle. His name is John, but I call him Jack," Liz said.

John went on to say how the vampire problem wasn't over yet. Just great. Just what I needed.

~ AT THE GILBERT HOUSE ~

~ Harmony's P.O.V. ~

I was serving dinner when the subject of the Founder's Kickoff party was told. I gave a small sigh, since I knew, thanks to Mayor Lockwood, that I was going to perform a few songs.

"I have no interest in the Founder's Day Kickoff Party," Jeremy said to Uncle John.

"Sure you do. It's tradition," Uncle John said.

"Far be it for us to break tradition," Aunt Jenna said.

"The Gilberts have been part of this town for 150 years," Uncle John began saying, "One of the Founding Families. With that distinction, comes certain obligations. Including, going to the party. One day, when you can appreciate that significance, I'll tell you all about your heritage."

"Mmm, the Gilbert Family Legacy," Aunt Jenna said, "I forgot how sacred it was. I'm not a Gilbert, so I was never cool enough to hear it."

"Why does she hate you?" Jeremy asked.

"We used to sleep together," Uncle John said making me choke on my food as Jeremy gasped.

Aunt Jenna threw the newspaper at Uncle John's head.

"I'm standing right here," Aunt Jenna said.

I turned to Uncle John and told him that Mayor Lockwood asked me to perform a few songs at the party for some cash.

"Good for you. I'm happy that you are going. Even if it's for the money," Uncle John said with a small smile.

"I would have gone even if I wasn't going to play. As you said, it's tradition, and since Miss Mystic Falls is almost here I want to make the best impression to win," I told him.

"Aren't you a little young to compete this year?" Jeremy asked.

"Yes, but they made an exception since I'm an outstanding student and citizen of this town. Plus, being part of a Founding Family gives me some leverage," I said.

Jeremy smirked at me.

"Sneaky," Jeremy said.

~ A FEW DAYS LATER ~

Elena took Jeremy and me on a walk in the woods because she wanted to talk to us. She explained how she was adopted and didn't want us to know because she was scared of how we would react. I already knew this but let her talk. The conversation went to the paper Jeremy wrote for his extra credit assignment and I waited to hear his response.

"What made you choose that subject?" Elena said.

"Uh, I don't know. Boredom," Jeremy began to say, "Or maybe I'm just as nuts as the long line of Gilbert Crazy."

"The Gilberts aren't crazy," Elena said.

"Easy for you to say. You're not one," Jeremy said making me laugh.

"Ouch," Elena said before playfully shoving him.

We went back home to get ready for the party. I went through my closet and chose to wear a strapless knee-length a-symmetrical ombre dress. Pink from the top, going to a charcoal grey color fading back to pink. Black one inch heels, hair curled and had it in a low elegant bun. Some of the hair framing my face. To finish my outfit I put on my black stud earrings and black teardrop necklace. My vervain anklet was still on. I went to my mirror to put on smokey eyeshadow, mascara, liquid eyeliner, and nude lipstick that had a pink tint. I grabbed my violin and walked down the stairs. Uncle John was the first to see me.

"You look beautiful," He told me.

"Thank you," I told him with a smile.

We all left to go to the party. The party was just as boring as the one before. That was until I walked by a room where Elena and Jeremy were talking.

"Is there something you're not telling me?" Jeremy asked Elena, "Why aren't you looking at me?"

I raised an eyebrow. What was happening?

I stayed quiet to hear the conversation.

"Stop it. That doesn't mean anything," Elena said.

"If there was something else you would tell me right?" Jeremy asked.

"Of course I would," Elena said with slight hesitation.

I decided to make my presence known.

"I will always tell you if something was wrong, " I said gaining their attention, "All you have to do is ask. You know that."

With that said, I gave a knowing look to Jeremy and by the look on his face, I knew he realized that I know something. I left them in the room to enjoy the party as much as I can.

Kelly Donovan was making out with Tyler Lockwood. Matt and Tyler were fighting and it was horrible. I tried to make Tyler stop, but he shoved me and I hit the wall. I looked at Elena before running inside the house looking for Tyler's dad. It looked like Tyler was going to actually kill Matt. Mr. Saltzman managed to get Tyler off by the time I returned with Mayor Lockwood who took Tyler. Feeling that the night is over, at least for me, I told Elena that I was going to go home.

~ AT GILBERT HOME ~

I was walking to my room when I heard noises in Elena's room. I looked inside her room to see Jeremy rummaging through Elena's stuff. I automatically knew what he was looking for. I went and grabbed Elena's journal/diary and turned to Jeremy.

"Looking for this?" I told him.

Jeremy quickly turned and sighed as he realized it was me. I held the journal in my hands, and waited for Jeremy to speak.

"What happened to Vicki?" Jeremy asked.

"She became a vampire, and Stefan killed her right in front of you, me, and Elena at the Halloween party at school," I told him truthfully before giving him the journal, "I told Uncle John about the deaths in Mystic Falls and he told me about vampires. He sent me vervain, which is in my anklet, and I consume it every day now. He gave me these darts that were filled with vervain and I took one to the party because I knew Vicki was already a vampire from Elena's journal. The dart was just going to knock her out. Not kill her, but when I found her she was already attacking and Elena. I was going to inject her with the vervain when Stefan came up behind her at staked her. She died, and Damon buried her body. Elena had Damon make you forget what happened that night and just placed it in your head that Vicki left town. He tried doing that to me, but since I drank the vervain it didn't work on me. I couldn't tell you then because you didn't believe me when I told you about vampires. If you want more information, read the journal. Any questions that you have would most likely be answered."

I left Jeremy to read Elena's journal, and headed to my room. I took off my makeup, brushed my teeth, and changed into my pajamas before falling asleep.

~ Damon's P.O.V. ~

I can't believe John Gilbert is still alive. Alaric and I decided to confront him about the ring he had. Finding out he gave Isobel that ring and to know he was the one to send her my way to be turned surprised me, sure. However, to know he is informed more about my brother and I, especially with Katherine, didn't set well with me.

Now my brother doesn't have control of his blood lust.

What to do?