Redamancy | Elena Gilbert

Chapter 55

Ruby nodded. "That's usually what I'd tell bartenders. Of course, I had to compel them to not card me." She toyed with a string on her shirt once she sat across from her. "So... my guess is that Bonnie orchestrated this."

Rosalind popped off the wine cork. "It was her idea, yeah. Pulled the 'what would your girlfriend tell you' card to convince me to go through with it."

The girl smiled. "Elena is beautiful. And very sweet, from the looks of it. Just like her mother and her aunt. Miranda and Jenna were friends of mine. Mostly Miranda. I was sad to see, through your memories, what happened to her and Grayson. Though, something about Grayson always was weird. Now, I guess, it's turned out that he experimented on vampires."

"Right," said Rosalind awkwardly. "You didn't know they were dead."

"I didn't know a lot of things," said Ruby. "Through your memories, I found out about how your dad died. How Jenna died. Miranda, Grayson... Richard... I'm glad to see Carol is doing well. And, um, Liz, too. I..." she laughed lightly, "I actually recommended for Carol to name her son Tyler, if she ever had one. I never knew about his birth until you gave me those memories. I've had three months to process everything. Feels like I know everything about you."

Rosalind poured them both some wine. "Meanwhile, I know nothing about you."

"I'd give you a taste of your own medicine and shove all the memories in, but I don't think I can do it like you did and select which memories I put in. How does that work?"

Rosalind blinked. "What do you mean, you can't do that? You don't just... pick and choose? I didn't want to pass on anything inappropriate, so I just concentrated and it happened."

Ruby clicked her tongue. "Yeah, I don't either, which is why I'd rather tell you. I don't know how to do that, I wasn't really taught the way you were. I also don't spar the way you do." She rubbed the back of her head, trying to figure out where to start her story. "Well, um, let's see. My mother, Lorena, was born here in the United States, but her parents were from Mexico... I think the state was called Jalisco. My father, Xavier, was born and raised in Oregon, but moved to California for college, where he met my mother. They had me, and I grew up there until I was thirteen, when we moved to Mystic Falls because my dad's company was opening an Eastern branch.

"I grew up speaking Spanish and English. Dyed my hair often because I didn't like being a natural blonde. My mom's mom was a fucked-up woman, liked me more than her other grandkids 'cause I was born looking more white, and she thought that was better. I tried to look more like my mom... wished I didn't bear so much of a resemblance to my dad. Mason was the one who helped me start to feel more comfortable with my body even if it wasn't the way I thought I should look. I was fifteen, just learning about what love was like, and I... I fell so hard for him. I mean, I couldn't even go to sleep without dreaming about him. I was completely head over heels in love with Mason Lockwood."

"And then, I happened," said Rosalind awkwardly. "We can skip that part."

She nodded. "I think it might be better if you ask specific questions. I don't really know what to tell you, exactly. I didn't picture us having this conversation. Or any conversation, really. You got a lot of Mason in you. Relentlessly stubborn and temperamental. Still kind though, and caring. When you love, you love fiercely and wholly. At the same time, when you hate or dislike anyone, you get very passive-aggressive and just..." she sighed, "For the sake of honesty, you can be a real bitch, Rosalind. That, I imagine, is attributed to the wolf gene. In the past, I was always too scared to stand up to people. Too scared to protect myself. Richard bullied me and I just let it happen. Girls at school talked shit and I would cry in front of them. I didn't have your dad's ability to snap back and assert dominance. In certain situations, it's a good thing. In others, not so much. I can see it gets you in quite a bit of trouble, sometimes."