Cursed Blood and Bound Fates
Chapter 15
Renfri had gone in search of the faux grass rug that was needed to cover the truck bed for the Miss Mystic float for the Founder's Day parade. After she had found it, she started walking across the cafeteria with the rolled up material on her shoulder to bring it outside. She paused when she spotted Alaric Saltzman corralling a group of students from his history classes at a table, including Tyler and Jeremy, and passing out papers as he spoke. She wandered over curiously to see what they'd be forced to participate in.
"So, these are the specs for the history department's Founder's Day float, we're going to be recreating the Battle of Willow Creek. Tyler has been nominated as head of the production design," Alaric droned, clearly not into the local festivities.
Renfri snorted in delight as Tyler looked shocked, "By who?"
"By me, I've seen your sketches and they're good," the teacher replied shortly.
Tyler immediately shifted uncomfortably, "I'm not really into this kind—"
The redheaded teenager stepped forward after dropping the fake turf on the floor before she leaned over her friend's shoulder and poked his cheek playfully, "Don't avoid the work, accept the compliment and prove him right for choosing you, dumbass, or is it too uncool?"
Tyler rolled his eyes at her and swatted at her hand as she avoided it with a grin, making Jeremy chuckle and Tyler glare as he muttered, "Shut up, Salvatore."
Alaric continued, "Yeah, well, you just pick your team, be creative," his eyes were drawn elsewhere past Renfri's shoulder and she glanced behind her to see Elena and Stefan walking past, "and don't screw it up." He dropped the rest of the packet on the table and headed straight for the brunette teenager and her boyfriend.
Tyler leaned forward and asked the blonde jock across from him, "Do you want to help me out with this?" His tone wasn't quite hopeful, but expectant, and Renfri slapped the back of his head, making him jerk forward and look at her in surprise. She nodded to Matt who replied dully with, "Not really, no." Renfri sighed and turned to continue on her way to drop off the giant rug by the trailer propped up on a jack on the lawn. As she clapped the dust from her hands, her phone buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it out. It was a text from Elena.
Come meet us in Alaric's classroom, we need to talk. It's important.
Renfri wondered what was wrong this time, it felt like they couldn't go more than a couple days without incident. She replied that she was on her way and headed for the history wing. She arrived just as her older uncle was opening the classroom door, and she clicked her tongue at him when he didn't hold the door and let it start to close on her before she caught it. He ignored her as she glared at his back, following him in.
"Damon, Renfri, thanks for coming," Alaric greeted civilly.
"Sorry I'm late, dog ate my…never mind," Damon joked then looked at the three grim faces in the room, "What's with all the furrowed brows?"
"I saw Isabel last night."
Renfri's eyebrows shot up as she and Damon looked at her teacher in surprise, "Isabel's here?"
He nodded and Damon added, "In town?" He turned to look at Elena's anxious face, trying to maintain her composure despite the stressful situation.
The vampire turned back to Alaric intently, "Did you ask her about Uncle John? Are they working together?"
"No."
"No, they're not?"
"No, I didn't ask."
Damon continued his interrogation, "What about the invention?"
"I didn't ask."
"Did she know about the tomb vampires?"
"I don't know," came Alaric's low reply again.
Damon stepped into the man's personal space, clenching his hands in frustration, "Did words completely escape you?!"
Alaric finally showed some emotion and replied angrily, "I was a little too distracted by my dead vampire wife to ask questions."
Renfri interjected, "Well, she must have wanted something, what was it?"
"Me," they all turned to look at the brunette girl sitting in a student desk, "she wants to see me." Renfri tipped her chin up suspiciously while Damon furrowed his dark eyebrows to join the others.
"Alaric's supposed to arrange a meeting. We don't know why or what she wants," Stefan supplied.
Damon looked to Elena, his eyes betraying his concern, "You don't have to see her if you don't want to." Renfri watched them, once again suspecting Damon of beginning to harbor feelings for his old flame's twin-like descendant.
Elena shook her head, "I don't really have a choice."
"She's threatening to go on a killing spree," the hunter told him and Ren sighed.
"Oh, I take it that's not okay with you guys?" Damon asked lightly.
"I want to meet her," Elena announced, drawing eyes back to her again, "if I don't, I know I'll regret it." At that, Damon relented, a softness in his face as he looked at her sympathetically. They agreed to set up the meeting in a public place for Elena's safety, and because she'd requested that she come alone, Damon and Alaric would have to stay away since she knew their faces but Stefan would be inside across the room to act as the unassuming body guard.
Renfri voiced her opinion that if Isabel was in contact with John and even working together, they probably shared information and knew who Stefan was, but they chose to take the risk if it meant someone could get to her if something happened. With the way Alaric described Isobel, completely unlike the wife he knew and there with only her goal in mind and threatening mass murder, Renfri thought that maybe she had her humanity off. It was very dangerous to take risks when dealing with a vampire that had no emotions, and Renfri said as much to Damon once they'd split up, but he shook his head, telling her that Stefan wouldn't change his mind about being there for Elena, and of course he was right about that.
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Alaric sighed as Damon paced the grass by the parking spots in front of the Grill.
"We should be in there," the antsy vampire said impatiently.
"Yeah, if you want her to start killing people," Renfri remarked, standing and watching her uncle with crossed arms a few feet away from the teacher.
Alaric shook his head, "No, Isabel made it clear we're not to step foot inside."
Damon scoffed, "I'm not going to kill her in a crowded restaurant—"
Alaric looked up suddenly, "You're not gonna kill her period."
Renfri eyed at him questioningly, "Dude, she left you to become a vampire and is now threatening to unalive a bunch of people if she doesn't get her way, and you want to protect her?"
Damon raised his eyebrows accusingly at the man when he replied, "She's my wife." He backtracked, "Okay, was, was my wife." He shook his head and looked back at the building, "I looked for the woman I married but she wasn't there, whoever that is is cold and detached."
Renfri waved a hand, "Like I said before, I think she's turned it off. You can't expect her to care about anyone."
Damon nodded as he continued to pace, "Yeah, she's given up her humanity."
The teacher turned to the vampire curiously, "You see, I don't get that. Stefan has his humanity, he's a good guy—"
"When he's on animal blood," muttered Renfri bitterly, crossing her arms as Damon gave her back a quick pat.
Alaric looked at her sympathetically for a second before continuing to address Damon, "And you're a dick and you kill people but I still see something human in you. But, with her, there was…nothing."
Damon paused his pacing to eye the man. He looked at his niece and she shrugged and tipped her head in a 'go ahead' motion. He opened his mouth as he continued to move back and forth, moving his arms hands dramatically with his explanation.
"You can turn it off, like Red said. It's like a button you can push, or a switch you can flip. 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 shrugged, "Isabel chose the easier road; no guilt and shame, no regret." He grinned conspiratorially, "I mean, come on, if you could turn it off, wouldn't you?"
Alaric looked at him skeptically, "You haven't."
The vampire laughed dryly, "Of course I have, Ric, that's why I'm so fun to be around." He went back to restlessly pacing and watching the restaurant as Alaric's eyes wandered over to her. She smirked and stepped closer to the man.
"He's actually just morally grey, which I think is fair considering when you become a vampire your instinct to survive pushes you to enjoy the hunt. If his humanity was off, he'd be way worse than you or I have seen." Alaric raised his eyebrows and Damon looked over his shoulder to glare at her while she just smiled cheerfully back.
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As it turned out, Isabel had wanted Jonathon Gilbert's invention, just like John did, solidifying that the two were working together in some capacity. The meeting with her birth mother had sent Elena into emotional turmoil, especially after Bonnie had walked away from her after seeing the girl crying, Stefan coming up behind her making the witch skittish. Renfri had gone home with Elena to have some girl time together and they were sitting and watching a rom-com while munching on popcorn and chocolate covered pretzels (Renfri's favorite sweet and salty treat) when the doorbell rang. It had turned out to be Bonnie. She had gone over to apologize for abandoning Elena when she was clearly upset and in need of a friend. She offered her another set of ears to listen as she broke down again, explaining about Isabel's disappointing and disturbing visit.
The next day, the groups had begun setting up the floats and decorating the small structures placed upon them. Soon after she had arrived, Renfri had gotten a text from Bonnie to meet her and Elena in a chemistry lab in the science wing. The teenager wrinkled her brow at the message but headed over to the classroom. When the knocked on the door and poked her head in, she saw Elena and Bonnie hunched over an old looking text.
It was Emily Bennett's grimoire.
"Hey Ren, come in," Elena said, waving her over to them.
"Hey, so what's so interesting about Emily's grimoire that you called us over?" Ren asked the witch.
She pointed down at the page it was currently open to, showing a faded looking sketch with color added to depict the image of a gold compass from multiple angles, surrounded by blocks of handwritten text as well as lines of symbols and lettering that was foreign to her.
"That's Jonathon Gilbert's vampire compass," Renfri breathed in surprise, leaning closer to the old book.
"Yeah, Bonnie was telling me that he actually didn't invent anything, Emily spelled it to work," Elena told her and Renfri laughed.
"Isn't it just like a rich, privileged man to think he's created something unique when it was actually a woman's work."
Bonnie quirked one side of her mouth up in amusement, "Typical, isn't it? She secretly spelled them all with magic and let him think he'd created them so that the town could have defenses against the vampires invading it." She pointed to the page, "The compass," she turned to the next, which held images of the gaudy jewelry that lived on the hands of Alaric and Uncle John, "rings," on the next page she tapped decisively, "the mystery device."
Renfri furrowed her brows and examined the page she stopped on, seeing the drawing of the silver, rounded device with a gold centerpiece on the page, also surrounded by writing and symbols, but there was another drawing of a box split in two, the right side had gears and a small mark that might have been a hole and the left had a cylinder lined up against metal prongs and more gears underneath.
"Yeah, that's it…well, part of it," Elena said, looking up at Bonnie, "Damon only has the one piece."
Renfri stared at the image, "It has two pieces? That's weird, why make something with two separate parts? Why not keep it all in one?"
Bonnie shook her head, "I'm not sure about the design, honestly. This book tells me that Emily pledged loyalty to Katherine, but she couldn't stand by and watch innocent people get killed. This was the only way she could think of to help; she let Jonathon believe he'd actually invented these devices so they had some chance against the vampires."
Renfri glanced up at the two, "You know, the second piece of the device, it kind of looks like one of those old fashioned music boxes."
Elena turned to her, "Why do you think that?"
The redhead pointed to the drawing, "See the cylinder? It seems to be sitting on a bar that's connected to the gears, and it's right up against the set of metal prongs. Old music boxes have a cylinder with notches on the sides that stick out, catching on prongs as it rotates, creating the notes of the song. My dad had given me one when I was little, and showed me the inside workings of it without the cover."
Elena's brow furrowed, "But what was the device for?" She looked to Bonnie, "Does the book say?" The witch leaned down and traced her finger across the lines of writing. She frowned and straightened up again.
"Are you sure this is what Isabel wants?"
"Yeah, I'm sure, why?" Elena asked in confusion.
Bonnie looked at the two seriously, "This is a weapon, against vampires."
Elena looked surprised, but Renfri wasn't as taken aback.
"Well, I guess that makes sense, given that the other inventions that Emily spelled for Jonathon Gilbert were intended to give them a fighting chance against the vampires. The question is, why do John and Isabel want it? Or even, who do they want to use it on?"
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Elena and Renfri had made their way outside after their conversation with Bonnie, on their way to start helping set up the Miss Mystic float, when a voice called out.
"Elena!"
They both paused and turned to see the youngest Gilbert hurrying over to his sister.
"Hey," she greeted, "um, have you seen Stefan? I need to find him."
Renfri added, "I texted Damon but haven't gotten a response yet," and pulled out her phone to confirm that was still accurate.
Jeremy shook his head, "Nah, not lately. Listen, um, you have a second?"
"Yeah, what's up?"
"It's Anna, I've left her all these messages, and she hasn't gotten back to me, not even a text." Elena paused and glanced at Renfri briefly before facing her brother.
"Anna? I didn't know that you guys were still friends."
Renfri snorted, "I don't think they're friends Elena, right Jer?" she remarked and nudged the teenager who huffed and pushed her elbow away.
"We're more than friends, look, something could be seriously wrong and if you know anything, you've got to tell me," he said, concern seeping into his tone.
Renfri wanted to spill the beans, and she suspected that Anna had let him in on her little secret, but she wasn't sure and had decided a while ago to let Elena deal with her family in regards to finding out about the supernatural.
Elena hesitantly shook her head, looking wary, "I haven't talked to her, Jer." Renfri stood next to her, arms crossed and saying nothing while the boy looked between the two girls skeptically.
"Are you lying to me right now?"
Elena looked surprised, "Why would you say that?"
"Because that's what you do, Elena, you lie about everything," the boy said quietly, his eyes intense as his sister's eyes widened, "I know what Anna is, and I know that you both know, so tell me…do you have any idea where she is?"
Elena looked gobsmacked at this revelation while Renfri simply sighed, not surprised it had come back to bite her friend in the ass.
"No," the brunette said a bit shakily. Jeremy turned to Renfri who looked at him apologetically.
"I don't know for sure where she is right now, Jer, but as far as I know she was supposed to leave town with her mother. Her phone could have died or she could be out of cell range at the moment, they're supposed to be lying low until they settle." She paused and watched as he looked slightly relieved but still worried and said, "I'm guessing you know about more than Anna?"
He nodded, "I know Stefan and Damon aren't your cousins, they're vampires, and they turned and killed Vicki. I know you tried to convince them to let me decide if I wanted to forget what happened with Vicki." The harsh line of his brows softened slightly at that and she nodded marginally in acknowledgement before he turned to look at his sister angrily again, "Your journal told me everything, while you told me nothing." Elena stood with her mouth gaping open, trying to figure out what to say but Renfri drew his attention back to her.
"Jeremy, listen, you read Jonathon Gilbert's journal right? So you know now that your family, and others in town, have been hunting down vampires since they settled here. That includes today's founding families." When he nodded slowly, she continued, "I'm sure Anna probably mentioned that your Uncle John wants them gone? Yeah, well, he nearly succeeded in making that happen. Anna's mother, Pearl, would be dead right now, and maybe even Anna, if I hadn't ambushed your uncle with a tire iron. Though, don't tell him that, I'd like to keep him in the dark about it being me if he hasn't figured it out yet."
He looked at her in surprise and distress, "So Anna and her mom are okay? You said they were leaving town?"
The redhead nodded, "Yeah, I managed to get there just as he was about to kill her mom, he barely missed her but ended up getting their friend. Anna wasn't there but I know she came back soon after, and he could have waited for her to return to get her too. As soon as he found out that she didn't have something that he wanted anymore, he decided to execute them all. They packed up and left to find somewhere else to settle, but I have a…friendship with Pearl now. Just wait a bit, Anna should get back to you soon, they're just trying to put distance between them and this vampire-hating town."
He sighed in relief as Renfri tentatively reached out and gave his arm a reassuring pat, "Thanks, Ren. I'm glad to know Anna's okay, I'll let you know when she gets back to me." He glanced at his sister and frowned before moving away from the two. Elena stuttered, trying to call after her brother and Renfri gave her a shrug.
"Sorry, Elena, but I told you lying to him wouldn't end well. You can only give him his space now until he's ready to talk," she watched as her friend pressed her lips together in concern, "I'm going to head over to help Caroline with the float, now that the Gilbert family drama is dealt with for now."
She turned on her heel and climbed up on the trailer that her blonde friend had already started decorating. She was immediately put to work on stapling lengths of frilly colored plastic to the elevated platform's backboard. She grabbed the step stool in order to start at the top and work her way down, though the platform wasn't that large, just enough for two people to squeeze on. Renfri glanced up shortly after she started, wondering why Elena hadn't joined them yet, and scanned the lawn for her. She stiffened when she saw her speaking to a woman with a sleek black ponytail and a trench coat, her face neutral as Elena looked upset. She watched the two exchange words across the grass, then the woman's eyes met her own hazel ones and she received a small, cold smile. Renfri paused what she was doing and straightened up a bit, shifting her feet on the step stool to remain stable, when Elena whirled around to look at her. The next second, someone passed behind her, bumping into the stool on the edge of the platform, and Renfri felt the it shift underneath her abruptly right before she fell backwards. She felt her legs and arms instinctively stretch out, looking for the elevated wood floor and something to grab on, but her shoe only grazed it before her head and back slammed onto the trailer bed, knocking the air from her lungs.
People shouted in surprise, but before anyone could react, there was a loud groan and snap of metal before she felt the floor dipping to rest at an angle below her and heard a boy screaming in pain.
"AAAAGGHH! Help! Someone get this trailer up! Aagh, get this off me!" the boy screamed. Ren was dazed and gasping for breath when hands grabbed at her, helping her roll off the side of the trailer. She was helped to a sitting position against a nearby tree by the person, who turned out to be Stefan, before he rushed over to where a group of boys were trying to lift the heavy trailer from where it was crushing the arm of Matt Donovan. Renfri blinked to clear her vision and focus her thoughts as she watched the trailer level out again once Stefan joined the group. They dropped it again once the boy's arm was free and he was cradling it to his chest while breathing harshly.
"Shit, Matt," Renfri breathed and pushed herself to her feet. She held onto the thin tree trunk and paused to assess if she was seriously injured. She rolled her head on her shoulders and stretched her arms and legs carefully, but she seemed alright, just feeling some new bruises and a headache coming on now that she had regained the air that had been knocked from her lungs from the fall. She took a breath, making sure she felt steady, before hurrying over to the blonde teenager sitting on the ground with a worried Caroline standing over him, Tyler joining her quickly after moving away from the trailer.
"Matt, I'm so sorry, someone bumped into me on the stool and I lost my balance—"
"It's fine, Ren, it's not your fault," he cut her off, "Are you okay?"
She scoffed, "Am I okay? Your arm just got pinned under that trailer, I think I can live with a headache and a few bruises. We need to get you to the hospital!"
"The ambulance is saying 15-20 minutes," Caroline announced, pulling her phone from her ear.
"I have my car, I can take him to the hospital," Tyler told them.
Ren nodded, "Yes, that's faster."
Matt shook his head angrily, "Caroline or Ren can take me."
The girl furrowed her brows, "But I didn't drive?"
"Then I'll wait, it's fine."
The blonde girl became frantic and yelled, "You will not wait, okay? You need to see a doctor, Tyler is driving, end of story!"
"She's right, Tyler, get your car so you can all go. I don't trust myself to drive since I just hit my head and am admittedly still a bit dizzy. I don't want to test fate and kill us all by crashing the car," the redhead added dryly. Matt frowned as he hunched over more while holding his arm gingerly and Tyler glanced between them.
Caroline and Renfri looked at the dark haired boy that still hadn't moved and they both yelled, "Go!"
He jumped, "Yeah, okay, I'll, uh, go bring the car around." He ran off and it was then that Renfri's ears finally picked up the sound of Elena calling her brother's name. Renfri stood up slowly, using Caroline's shoulder to help her up, and saw Elena spinning this way and that, frantically searching for her brother in the crowd, the woman with the dark hair now gone. Stefan approached her, reaching his hands out as she also grabbed for him desperately as they spoke. She moved over to them quickly, grabbing Stefan's shoulder.
"What's going on? Why are you looking for Jeremy?"
Elena latched onto her arms tightly, "Isabel took Jeremy, we have to find him!"
"What? Why would she take Jeremy?" Renfri asked in confusion and Stefan explained a bit more.
"She was apparently giving Elena a show of force by having one of her compelled minions cause you to fall onto the trailer, making the rusted axle break and crush Matt's arm. She was demonstrating how easily she could hurt the people Elena care's about until she hands over the device," Stefan said as he pulled his girlfriend into his arms to comfort her.
"We need help," Elena said, "let's find Bonnie."
She called her friend and they met in Alaric's empty classroom in a few minutes. Bonnie sat in a student chair while Renfri and Stefan stood stoically beside a frantically pacing Elena.
"The only way to get Jeremy back safely is to give her the device, there's no way to guarantee that if anyone sets foot in the place she's keeping him, that he isn't dead in a second," Renfri declared, furrowing her brow.
"Where's the device?" Bonnie asked.
Stefan put his hands on his hips, "Damon has it, he's going to be difficult to reason with."
"Then we'll—we'll go to him, I'll talk to him," Elena said hurriedly.
Renfri raised an eyebrow, "It's not going to be that simple. If that thing's a weapon against vampires, Damon's not going to want anyone getting their hands on it, especially not Isabel and John. No amount of pleading or appealing to his 'better nature' will make him disregard his self-preservation. He's not going to hand his enemies a mystery weapon that could kill him; I know I wouldn't."
Elena paused in her pacing and looked at their witchy friend, "What if it wasn't a weapon anymore?" Bonnie tilted her head thoughtfully at that implication as Stefan raised his eyebrows in consideration. Renfri thought it could work, but something in the witch's steady eyes made the redhead's eyebrows furrow.
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"Absolutely not."
"Just here me out—"
"I'm not going to give the device to Isabel so she can give it to John who's going to turn around and kill me; I like being a living dead person," Damon vehemently denied. He stood across from Stefan and Elena in the large study with the alcohol table, couch, and fireplace directly behind them. Bonnie leaned against the arm of the chair with the grimoire in her hands while Renfri stood closest to her older uncle as Elena tried to make her case.
"But it'll be useless, Bonnie can take its power away!" the girl argued.
"I don't trust her!"
"I can remove the original spell," Bonnie explained calmly, looking at Elena instead of Damon, Renfri noted.
Elena held her hands up in a 'see?' gesture, "John and Isabel will never know."
"Until they try to use it, it fails, and they come back and try to kill everyone," Renfri said dryly, arms crossed. She eyed the witch carefully. Something felt off about the way she had reacted when Elena suggested she despell the device, something that made Renfri hesitate to trust her. Things between them hadn't been the same since Sheila Bennett died, and although they had reconciled, something about Bonnie still seemed…off.
Damon shook his head, "No, no, I'll get Jeremy my own way."
"Really?" Stefan retorted, "How are you going to do that, hmm? Because Isabel is a vampire and Jeremy could be dead the second you walk in the door."
Renfri shrugged, "There is that. Even if you could sneak in, she has compelled humans under her control, and we have no idea of what they have been ordered to do. There are too many unknown factors and things that could go wrong to try to sneak him away alone. It might work if we all worked together…" She trailed off after suggesting it, but didn't have high hope of it actually happening.
Damon considered for a moment, then eyed the witch, "Are you even up for this? I mean, no offense, you're no Emily Bennett. Emily knew what she was doing."
"I've been practicing," Bonnie told him easily.
Damon's blue eyes narrowed at her and he said condescendingly, "It's not piano lessons, honey." The dark skinned girl stood quickly and strode over.
"What's your favorite book?"
"What?"
"Name a book, any book in here," she gestured around her.
Damon sighed as he gave in to her little demonstration as the others watched, "Name a book…how about Call of the Wild, Jack London." He watched, unimpressed, as Bonnie turned to the bookcase near them and muttered under her breath for a few seconds before a book flew off the shelves and landed in Damon's outstretched hand.
He glanced at it, "Jack London," then tossed it aside, "Great parlor trick."
"I'm sorry, but that seems like nothing in comparison to stuff like the tomb spell, which Emily pulled off on her own and you couldn't even get through properly with help. How does this prove that you're capable of removing the spell on the device?" Renfri interjected critically, drawing the eyes of everyone in the room, including a surprised and frustrated Elena.
"We're doing this, Ren, Damon, and we're gonna do it my way. Now give me the device," she stared down the older Salvatore while the youngest raised her eyebrows due to her legitimate questions being ignored.
"Woah, sorry, I'd like my questions answered first," she stepped forward, getting between Damon and Elena, forcing the brunette to step back a bit while Renfri looked right at the witch, "How do we know you can remove the spell and how can we trust that you will."
"I've been studying Emily's grimoire and practicing her spells. I read through how she spelled the original device, so I know how to remove it. She included that when she first created the spell, just like how she left a way to undo it when she sealed the tomb," Bonnie explained in a strong voice, maintaining eye contact with Renfri, not looking elsewhere.
The redhead nodded, "Okay, that I can buy. But, I don't see what reason you would have to deactivate the device. It's a weapon against vampires, which you hate."
Damon shifted behind her and Stefan also looked to the girl curiously, though Elena seemed confident that Bonnie would help her as she asked.
The dark skinned teenager folded her hands in front of her, "Yes, I do hate vampires. I blame Stefan and Damon for my Grams dying, and even you, a little bit." Elena looked surprised and Stefan glanced his niece's way in concern but Renfri didn't flinch, she had assumed as much already. Bonnie continued, "But I want to help Elena to keep Jeremy safe, even if it means protecting vampires from a device that was created to be used against them."
Renfri eyed the witch critically, scanning her face for any signs of deceit before slowly nodding once.
"Fine. But, Bonnie, if you screw us over and something happens to the only family I have left…don't expect a goddamn thing from me." Her hazel eyes bored into the young witch's, making the girl hesitate and look uncertain for a second, before resolutely nodding in acknowledgement. With that, Renfri stepped back to stand by her older uncle's side, allowing for Elena to step forward again.
"Damon, we're wasting time. The device," she pleaded.
The dark haired man gazed at her silently for a couple seconds before his eyes shifted to the witch and he gave a mocking smirk.
"I don't trust you, I tried to kill you."
"Mmm, you're right, you can't trust me," the witch replied with a falsely sweet smile.
"But you can trust me," Elena interrupted, holding out her hand expectantly. Stefan watched with a skeptical eye as the two's eyes locked for another heavy moment before Damon reached behind him to pull the small silver device from his back pocket and place it in the girl's hand, noticeably grasping her fingers at the same time, which Renfri saw caught Stefan's attention immediately. She internally sighed, knowing that Stefan was slowly becoming suspicious of Damon's feelings towards Elena as well. Damon was becoming increasingly less subtle about it, that was for sure. One could chalk it up to just building trust between the two or him trying to piss off his little brother, but she had a feeling neither were the sole reason.
"Thank you," Elena said quietly, and Damon released her hand, glancing around the room at them, before walking past her.
"Chop chop, Sabrina," he told the dark-skinned girl as he cleared the desk to make space, "we're burning daylight."
Bonnie gave him a withering glare but picked up the grimoire and opened it to the page with the images of the mystery device. She requested a few candles that Renfri quickly found and was told to place in groups of three on either side of her work station. Elena handed her friend the device to be placed on the table in front of her. The rest all stepped back to watch the proceedings.
Bonnie opened up the glass face of the device and removed the yellow, etched centerpiece and placed it on the desk. She then held her hands over the object and closed her eyes as the candles suddenly were lit. Seconds later, the piece began to float and twist in the air, her fingers flexing wide in the space around it as the flames in the fireplace roared higher behind her.
The lights began to flicker, causing Elena to grab at Stefan nervously and Renfri to narrow her eyes skeptically. It was what she would expect if she went to see a fake psychic or a cheap haunted house. It wasn't the same atmosphere as when the tomb was opened and Bonnie wasn't chanting a spell this time either, not even so much as a whisper. She had barely looked at the spell book before beginning her work…Renfri didn't trust it.
All of a sudden, the fire died down and the lights returned to normal as Bonnie inhaled and the piece dropped into her cupped hands. Everything was normal again and the four other inhabitants of the room looked around nervously.
"Done," the witch announced simply, and Elena approached her friend to pick the piece up out of her hands.
She glanced to her right to gauge Damon's thoughts, finding him watching with eyes just as distrustful as hers, but they both didn't have a way of knowing whether the witch had followed through or not. They were going to have to wait and see what happened, if anything happened.
"Great, now what?" Damon asked dully.
"Now we give it to Isabel," Elena told them, placing the centerpiece back in the silver circle and closing it.
Something occurred to Renfri and she spoke up, "How do we know that removing the spell on this piece ensures that the other part stops working too? The box seems like the major part of it, I don't get what this piece does."
They all looked to the Bennett witch who answered, "The box is the main part. I studied the pages more after we talked about it, and I think you were right, Ren. It is like a music box, only instead of playing music, it emits the spell that is harmful to vampires. However, like a music box, it requires a key," she holds up the device and points to the centerpiece, "to activate it. No key, no weapon."
Renfri hummed thoughtfully while Stefan shrugged, seeming to accept it along with Elena. Damon said nothing but pushed off from his post against the wall.
"Well, now that that's over, let's go meet your mother."
Renfri rolled her eyes at his tactlessness, just as Elena shook her head with a sigh.
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The clock tower loomed over the town square where Elena Gilbert paced back and forth in front of the fountain where the sidewalks converged. Upon her second turn past the water feature, she pivoted again only to step backward in surprise. Isabel stood in her path, in the same black trenchcoat with her hands in her pockets.
"Where's the device?"
Instead of answering, Elena asked, "Where's my brother?"
Isabel's face remained stoic, "This isn't a negotiation, where's the invention?"
The girl just crossed her arms stubbornly, "Where's my brother?"
The corners of the woman's mouth turned up just slightly, "Do you really think that I came alone?" The teenager heard two people approach from behind and she turned to see a man and woman standing a few yards behind her, likely compelled into obedience.
Elena scoffed and looked back at her birth mother, seemingly unfazed, "Do you really think that I came alone?" She tilted her chin and Isabel also turned to see three people approaching her from behind. Damon and Stefan were on either side of Renfri as they stopped a short distance away. Isabel gave them a mild smile and nodded in acknowledgement before facing her estranged daughter again.
"For God's sakes, call home."
"What?"
Isabel rolled her eyes to the sky, "Call home, ask to speak to your brother." Elena quickly pulled out her phone, confirming that Jeremy, and an injured Uncle John, was home safe.
As she hung up the phone, the brunette watched the cold vampire curiously, "You were never going to hurt him."
The woman gave an exaggerated pout, "Nooo, I was gonna kill him." When the girl looked disappointed, she continued harshly, "Don't look for any redeeming qualities in me, I don't have any."
Elena shook her head in confusion and frustration, "But you took a risk with Damon, how did you know he was going to give me the device?"
"Because he's in love with you."
Elena looked back at her with wide eyes, the words stunning her. Renfri peeked to her right and saw Damon glance awkwardly at his little brother on her other side who looked down while pressing his lips together in a thin line. It seems it was out in the open now, though Renfri wasn't sure he was in love with her, not yet. She guessed that he was transferring his feelings for Katherine onto her at first, but she thought that Damon was starting to gain feelings for Elena herself, because of how kind she was and her ability to snark back at him but still look for the good inside, not just because of who she looked like. Ren sighed, knowing it would cause a tense 'discussion' between the brothers that she would likely have to meddiate once this confrontation was over.
Isabel held her hand out, palm up, and stared the brunette down, demanding the device wordlessly. Elena looked away but reluctantly pulled it out of her pocket, slapping it into Isabel's open hand.
"Thank you."
The vampire raised an eyebrow, her chin held high, "For what?"
"For being such a monumental disappointment, keeping the memory of my real mother perfectly intact," she said bitterly.
Isabel gave the girl a falsely sweet smile, "Goodbye, Elena. As long as you have a Salvatore on each arm, you're doomed." The two brothers and their niece listened with interest at this new commentary, "Katherine was smart, she got out, but we all know that you're not Katherine."
Elena looked up at the woman, a bit insulted, before they all heard a snort.
"Well, thank god for that," muttered Renfri, drawing the eyes of the others. She shrugged in response to their glances, unapologetic. It made the corner of Damon's mouth curl up on one side and a small, grateful smile formed on Elena's face as she made eye contact. Isabel looked at the redhead with a face made of stone before turning and walking off, her human puppets following behind her. Elena's face crumpled a bit, pinching into a frown as she watched her birth mother turned emotionless vampire walk away, and Renfri felt sorry for her friend. Stefan moved forward and pulled the girl into a hug. Elena glanced over her boyfriend's shoulder to look curiously at the oldest Salvatore who looked back hesitantly before turning to leave, nudging his niece for her to follow. Renfri looked between the two warily, unsure of how things would play out now that his interest had been openly acknowledged, only sure that it would cause problems between the brothers. She frowned and trailed behind her older uncle as he made his way to his car to take them home.
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While Stefan was dropping Elena off at home, Renfri had showered and changed into some old sweats and a baggy t-shirt for bed before wandering downstairs again to find Damon. She was unsurprised to find him in the study, pouring himself a drink, but paused to see Ash stretched out by the warm fireplace. She smiled and moved to kneel on the carpet next to him and rub his side, making his tail thump on the floor. Her phone buzzed to alert her to a text from Jeremy, letting her know that Anna had finally contacted him now that they were out of Virginia altogether and had reiterated the events of the foiled murder attempt on her and her mother by his uncle John. When she looked up again, this time in Damon's direction, he avoided her gaze; opting to gulp down his glass of bourbon quickly. He immediately poured himself more as Stefan entered the room behind him.
Damon glanced over his shoulder as the amber liquid spilled from the decanter, "Would you like one?" When Stefan said nothing and silently leaned on the low wood railing separating the bookcases from the rest of the room Damon sighed, "Say it, whatever it is, purge, get it out."
Renfri watched the two quietly, waiting to see if they could work it out civilly first before attempting to intervene.
Stefan looked at his brother, seemingly reluctant to put his thoughts into words but also feeling the need to say it, "It's about what Isabel said."
Damon shrugged carelessly, "What about it?"
"Well, I know that you and Elena bonded, and I know that she cares about you, and uh, I know that you care about her…"
Damon smirked, "Well this is going in an interesting direction."
Renfri rolled her eyes, "Quit dancing around it, Stefan, just say it already."
Stefan glanced at her before addressing Damon again, "I'm just concerned about Elena being hurt, she considers you a friend."
Damon nodded, "Same here, Elena's a very good friend. Actually, she might qualify as my only friend, is that a problem?" Renfri raised an eyebrow at the challenge in his tone as she scratched Ash's ears, knowing he was trying to piss off his brother.
Stefan leaned against one of the bookshelves, "So at the risk of sounding like a, um, a jealous boyfriend—"
"Oh there's no risk, you do," Damon interrupted, making his niece sigh loudly at his behavior.
"Damon, just let him get it out, without pushing his buttons, if possible," the redhead scolded, only for Damon to shrug as if he was helpless against his asshole instincts. "Why am I the only one acting like an adult right now, I'm the youngest one here," she muttered. Stefan refused to be provoked by his brother and just huffed at his niece's words before he continued with his warning.
Green eyes met blue as he said slowly, "History will not be repeating itself where Elena is concerned. You understand what I'm saying?"
Damon raised his hands in surrender, putting on a mask of complacency, "Sure," and turned back to the minibar, but Stefan appeared between him and the table in a second. He stood inches away from his brother, maintaining a threatening stance, making Renfri stand up warily as Ash perked his ears up.
"Stefan, don't push it," she warned him.
He ignored her as he stared forcefully at his brother, "Do you understand?"
Damon waved his glass of liquor casually, "Hey, man, whatever you say. I mean, honestly, we're just friends…and as a friend I wasn't looking forward to telling her the truth," he took a sip of his drink, "Anyway, I'll let you do it."
He swallowed the rest of the bourbon as Stefan gave in and asked, "What truth?"
Damon paused, like he was stating the obvious, "About John? I know you guys don't like to keep secrets from each other, so…"
Stefan shook his head in exasperation, "What are you talking about?"
Damon's voice immediately became condescending, "Am I the only one who can put two and two together around here? Isabel? Hello!" Stefan just shook his head while Renfri watched him curiously. "She dated John when she was fifteen, she gets pregnant and ends up at the doctor's office of John's brother—"
"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me," Ren interjected, wrinkling her nose in disgust as soon as she made the connection.
Damon nodded enthusiastically, pointing at her with the glass still in his hand, "See, someone finally gets it!" He turned to Stefan again, "What do you think was John's role in all this? I mean, go ahead, think about it, I'll wait." He watched with exaggerated excitement as Stefan thought it through for a moment. Damon grinned when the young man's head tilted in realization, "You get it, you're there."
"So you think that John is Elena's father?" Stefan asked, his skepticism clear in his tone.
Damon threw up his hands as if Stefan won a prize, "Ding ding ding!"
"Ugh, poor Elena, she's got shit genes when it comes to her family. First Katherine, then Isabel, and now John? Gross," Renfri commented while shaking her head, kneeling to pet Ash again.
"What proof do you have?" Stefan asked.
"I don't need any proof, that's a DNA test for John, Elena, and Maury Povich to deal with," Ren snorted at this, "but I know how well you deal with these big bombshells so…sleep tight!" He moved towards the doorway then paused, "Oh, and when you do tell Elena, and she needs a friend to talk to about anything?" Damon stared at his brother challengingly, "I'm here for her," then he walked out.
Renfri rolled her eyes and called after him, "That's what girl besties are for, Damon, not their boyfriend's brother!" He clearly ignored her and gave no response as he headed upstairs for the night.
Renfri sighed and shifted so she was sitting with her knees up, stroking Ash's fur as she said to Stefan, "You know he's only reacting that way because you confronted him about what Isabel said. Of course he wouldn't talk about it seriously like an adult after that, but you should give him more credit, he's not gonna just steal Elena away."
Stefan huffed, "We already fought over one girl, I don't want to risk that happening again. You heard what he said."
Renfri raised her eyebrows at him, "Seriously, Stefan? You should know him by now. He only said that he'd be there for Elena like that because you made it clear that you don't want them to get closer and basically warned him away from her, of course he's going to try to push your buttons in return for you trying to tell him what to do. You're antagonizing each other for no reason just because of what Isabel said, which was obviously calculated. Even if he has developed feelings for her, you need to trust that he won't act on them, just like you should trust Elena to only be a friend to him."
Stefan looked down, his face grim, "But that's what I'm afraid of, and I don't trust him to not try to do something."
Renfri looked at him with a bit more sympathy but remained firm, "Uncle Stefan, he's your brother. Despite all the shit you guys have gone through over the years, do you really believe that he wants to fight with you over a girl again? You were both left broken because of Katherine, I can't imagine that he wants to go through that again. And whether you believe it or not, I think that you're the most important person to him. He might enjoy agitating you, he's your older brother and that's what they do, but he doesn't want to really hurt you." She shrugged a little, "He just sucks at dealing with his emotions and being open…kind of like a three year old learning how to socialize and express himself in a healthy way."
Stefan snorted, "So he's an emotionally stunted toddler?"
Renfri rolled her eyes with a scoff, "I think you're both acting like toddlers sometimes and you don't handle things very well because of the distrust between you two, but it'll take time and effort to get that back, for things to be easier. You just have to try, keeping in mind what not to do to set him off. I think you'll just have to feel it out." She smiled a bit, "I used to wish I'd had a sibling, though sometimes watching you guys makes me wonder if I actually lucked out on being an only child."
She smirked as Stefan laughed before sighing.
"Thanks, Ren, I know you've been getting caught up in all of our chaos even when you don't have to. I'm glad you're here though."
She grinned and said, "Yeah, well, I think you two might have thrown hands more often if I wasn't here, so be grateful," making Stefan give an amused huff.
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**Please review, it's greatly appreciated!