Unstoppable | The Vampire Diaries

66. You Don't Know What I Did Last Summer

"I don't want you to stay in town," he clarified. "I just want you free from distractions. You're gonna help me find what I'm looking for."

Riley rolled her eyes. "Which is impossible if you don't tell me what it is."

He smiled again, saying nothing. He loved having all the power, and he was sure that having Riley as leverage was the key to getting exactly what he wanted.

"What's happening, Stefan?" Liz asked. For a moment, they had both forgotten that she was there.

"Well, first of all, I'm not Stefan. I am a two thousand year old immortal that goes by the name of Silas," Silas revealed. Liz's eyes widened in shock and she turned to Riley.

"He's appearing as Stefan?"

Riley shook her head, keeping her eyes on the immortal. "This is his true form. Stefan is apparently an Elena/Katherine style doppelganger."

"And you spent the whole summer with him?" Liz asked. Throughout the summer, Chris had been worried about his daughter, but Liz had assured him time and time again that Riley could look after herself. Maybe she should have listened to him.

"He wouldn't let me come back," she admitted. "He wouldn't even let me call anyone."

Silas finished draining Liz and removed her arm from the cup, putting it to his lips and taking a gulp before he spoke. "I had to make sure you didn't tell anyone, and since I can't get into your head, you can't be trusted."

Riley rolled her eyes. "Can you just make her forget this so that she doesn't tell my dad? Otherwise there's no way in hell I'll be able to keep your secret."

"You'll keep my secret," he told her. "You know what will happen if you don't. Now Liz, all you need to remember about this encounter is that Stefan stopped by to say hello."

He smiled again and got up from the table, winking at Riley as he left. Liz's face cleared and she smiled at her step-daughter.

"So you and Stefan spent the summer together, right?" she asked. "How was it?"

Riley shrugged. "It was fine. But sometimes it felt like he was a completely different person."

***

"I compelled Principal Weber into a very generous three-day suspension," Damon told Jeremy in the Grill. The newly reincarnated teenager got into a major fight on his first day back. "Elena does not need to know about this."

Riley snuck up behind them. "Keeping things from your girlfriend? Really?"

Damon turned, and immediately his face broke out in a smile.

"You're back," he noticed happily, before his eyes trailed down to her new uniform. "You're... a busboy?"

Riley rolled her eyes. "Nice to see you, too. And Jeremy! Back from the dead! Hug me!"

Jeremy stood and wrapped his arms around her. They weren't the best friends in the group, but they had definitely missed each other while Jeremy had been dead.

"Is Stefan with you?" Damon asked, looking around. "Considering you both ignored my calls all summer."

"He's... around here somewhere," she said, hoping that it wasn't true. With any luck, Silas had found whatever the hell he was looking for and was already out of Mystic Falls. Unfortunately, nothing in their little town was ever that simple.

"Hello, Damon," Silas said, approaching them and putting a hand on Damon's shoulder.

"Stefan, welcome home." Damon stood and they hugged. Seeing Silas embrace someone that was so close to her made Riley's heart hammer in her chest; a sound that Damon could hear.