Unstoppable | The Vampire Diaries

6. The Pretty Reckless Necklace

***

Riley decided against going to the car wash. She felt guilty because it was organized by Caroline, but the last thing she wanted to do was stand over dirty cars in a bikini with half her butt hanging out. Plus, she couldn't take her mind off of the Salvatore brothers.

It was clear they were hiding something.

With Stefan's apparent agelessness, the bites on Caroline, the disappearing cut, Bonnie's feeling of death, and Damon's absence, something didn't add up. And when you were confused, google was your best friend.

Person not aging

Reasons someone wouldn't age

Super-quick healing

Witches

Witches and death

Reports of real-life witches

Animal bites

Animal attacks in small towns

The history of Mystic Falls

Mystic Falls Salvatores

Mystic Falls animal attack victims

Most of the search results led her to jokes and dead ends. The only thing of note was that Mystic Falls had an interesting history with animal attacks. Apparently there used to be loads of them, like every other day. Then, for some reason, they stopped. And they didn't come back until now. In fact, the first report was around the time that school started, when Stefan had come to town.

'But it's not like he's an animal,' Riley thought. 'So how could he have attacked anyone?'

Abruptly, she heard a noise and stood up. She should have had the house to herself.
"Mom?" she called. "Dad?"

When she looked down, she realized that Caroline's necklace was hanging around her neck. She didn't remember putting it on.

'Caroline' she heard a voice call. Suddenly, it was like she was in a trance. The necklace was guiding her, and she needed to follow it.

It led her out of the house and down the street, in a direction that she'd never been before.

Soon enough, she was outside a huge house that she didn't recognize. Trying the door once and seeing that it was unlocked, she walked inside. Following the path of the necklace, she went down a flight of stairs and to a cellar, where she saw a man locked in a cell. Damon Salvatore.

"You're not Caroline," he said, his voice weak.

"Where am I?" Riley asked, her breathing heavy and labored. "How did I get here?"

"Open the door," Damon told her. "Open the door."

She didn't want to do it, but it was like the necklace had a hold over her, she had to do what he said.

She unlocked the door slowly, about to open it when someone pushed her out of the way and held the door closed.

"Get out of here! Run! Run!" the man screamed at her.

Riley didn't need to be told twice. She ran as fast as her legs would carry her, aware that Damon was following her. However, when the sunlight touched his skin, he seemed to burn, retreating back into the darkness of the house.

Riley ran all the way home, shaking. As soon as she got into the house, she ripped the necklace off and threw it to the ground.

"Riley? Is that you?" her father asked.

"Yeah," she said, trying to calm down the beat of her heart. Damon was locked up, obviously the work of Stefan. He was also affected by sunlight; it burned him. What would be wrong to make the sunlight burn you? It couldn't be a condition, because she'd seen him out and about during the day before.

"Everything alright?" he asked. Before she could answer, his phone began to ring. "Yeah, sure Liz. The Salvatore boarding house? OK, I'll be right there."

At the word 'Salvatore', Riley looked up in alarm. "What's wrong?"

He hung up the phone. "There's been an incident. Zach Salvatore has been found dead, his neck snapped."

Riley struggled to hold in a gasp. Zach had to be the guy that had told her to run. Had Damon killed him? Was this really happening?

"I need to get over there," he said, kissing her forehead. "Stay away from that house until we figure out what happened."

"I don't even know where it is," she lied. Before, she was intrigued about the brothers, now she was petrified. Riley didn't do too well with being scared, she liked to face her problems head on. So that's exactly what she would do. She'd face the brothers.

***

She hesitated before knocking on the door. At first, there was no noise from inside. Then, Stefan answered. Seeing the look of hurt and grief on his face, she wanted to break down.

"It's not a good time, Riley," he said dryly, not in the mood to deal with any more of her questions.

"I was here," she told him, her eyes watering. His eyes widened. "It's my fault. I let Damon out. He told me to unlock the door and I did, and now that Zach guy is dead. I'm so sorry."

"It's OK," he reassured her. "My brother's never exactly innocent. It's not your fault."

"The sunlight burned him," she remembered. "You healed super-quickly at the football game. You haven't aged since the 1920's, and when Bonnie touched you, she said it felt like death," she said, waiting for him to interrupt and tell her that she was crazy. "Stefan, are you human?"

He sighed. The pain of losing Zach, the anger over Damon's actions and the weight of keeping this huge secret had finally taken its toll.

"No," he admitted. "I'm not human."

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Stefan's finally about to admit the truth - and when he does, Riley's life is changed forever!

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