Come As You Are¹ || The Vampire Diaries

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟸𝟷: 𝙻𝚘𝚜𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚕

"I'm home." Uncle Nate called out to no one in particular.

Relaxing, I carried on walking to the foyer. "Were you at the library with Jenna?" I asked, waving my uncle 'Hello' before plopping my keys down.

He shook his head and mimicked my actions. "Nope. She wanted to get something to eat and then some takeaway for Jeremy and the parasite that lives in their house."

"John?"

"John." Uncle Nate confirmed. "Then she had to leave quick 'cause Jeremy has a curfew and she had to be back before Jeremy since Elena's not coming home—I assume she's staying over at the boarding house." I nodded. "Thought so. John's not gonna be happy."

I walked over to the foot of the grand stairs and took a set on the bottom steps. "Is he ever happy?" I questioned as I untied my hair from the braid I had on.

"Only when he gets called the 'golden' something." He answered. "Egotistical bastard." I heard him mutter under his breath.

I couldn't help but let out a chuckle hearing that. It was true. John Gilbert and Logan Fell were so similar, shame they hated each other. The only similarities they had were their obsessive nature over vampires and their shared interest in Jenna.

Hate to say it but Jenna had a type, the vampire hunter. Even if she didn't know Mr Saltzman was one or that vampires existed. I used to wonder if Jenna ever had a thing for my uncle since they were so close. Plus my uncle was Jenna's type, a vampire hunter.

Well, I didn't really have to ask. Uncle Nate would shoot that down really quick. He always did whenever grandma Janine or my mom would ask with Jenna in the background quietly agreeing with my uncle. A shame, they could've been pretty good together

"What are you thinking about?" Uncle Nate asked, glancing down at me.

"You and Jenna." I answered without hesitation. "I think you two would make a—"

"No." He shot me down quickly. He turned away from me and walked towards the kitchen. "She's seeing Ric and she's just a good friend."

"Right." I said, unconvinced.

"That reminds me..." He trailed off, turning away from me.

Uncle Nate then took out two glasses and opened one of the overhead cabinets. Taking out a black glass jar with a silver top, he placed it on the counter. Then he grabbed the glasses and filled them up with warm water before unscrewing the tightly sealed jar and taking out a few sprigs of dried vervain.

He dropped the vervain into the marble pestle and mortar nearby, crushing it into fine dust. Then he added the powdered vervain to the two glasses of water. He opened another cabinet and took out the honey pot.

Using a spoon, he distributed a few spoonfuls of honey into each of the glasses before giving it a stir.

He passed a glass to me while keeping the other. "Drink up."

I stared down at the vervain drink and back at my uncle. "I don't need this." I said, pushing the glass away from me. My uncle pushed it back in front of me with one hand while he drank his with the other.

"I know but I'm not taking any risks. Drink up."

I sighed and downed the citrus-sy herbal drink. The tea smelled like lemon or lime mixed with honey while its taste was herb-like. I mean I was used to it.

"So what happened?" He looked a little out of it, especially after he mentioned Mr Saltzman. "Did you see Mr Saltzman?"

"I saw Ric at the Grill. He wasn't alone. There was someone else. Another vampire. Her name was Isobel—"

"Isobel?" I interrupted. "Isobel as in Elena's bio-mom and Mr Saltzman's wife." I added.

"I think so."

"She's here? In town? So she approached Mr Saltzman and then what."

"Then she asked to see Elena." I gave him a look and he bobbed his head in silent understanding. "Ric obviously said no."

"But."

"But Isobel was more determined. She cornered Ric outside of the Grill and threatened to start killing people in this town."

"That's not good."

"Not good at all." He agreed. "Anyways, she took off after her little threat and I waited around before going up to Ric."

"Then what?"

"Then I told him that if he doesn't sort out this mess with Isobel, I said 'A' he leaves Jenna and does something about Isobel or," He paused to take a breath before continuing. "'B' I will kill Isobel myself."

I blinked and stared at my uncle in disbelief. "Wow. You brought up Jenna."

"I had to!" He exclaimed. "His psycho vampire ex-wife threatened to start killing people in this town and knowing her she'll start with the people closest to him."

"Jenna."

"Exactly. I don't want Jenna to die. And Isobel also mentioned Ric's students, you just happen to be one of them."

"But I can protect myself."

"Doesn't matter." He shook his head and carried on wiping the glasses with a cloth to dry them. "It's still dangerous for you and I promised your parents I'd look after you."

"That's great and all but how'd you manage to hear what they were saying. You didn't approach them did you?"

"No. I'm not stupid enough to do that. I had some help."

My uncle walked out of the kitchen after that. I heard his footsteps in the hallway before he came back with his jacket. He pulled out a small small clear crystal.

It looked ordinary at first. He placed it in front of me and beamed proudly at the crystal. Suddenly, the crystal started turning a light aquamarine color that appeared like colored smoke was trapped in there.

"What is that?"

"This is a crystal."

"I can see that."

"It's spelled. I used one of your grandma's spells to spell this crystal with the ability to allow the possessor to hear things from a distance. Basically mimics a vampire's supernatural hearing."

I sat up straight and took the crystal in my hand. "Oh that's good."

"Right." Uncle Nate said, looking at me and back at the crystal. "The only downside is that you can only use it only three times. Then it has to be spelled again."

"So you're practicing again?"

"Druidic magic. Yes. Spirit magic annoys me. Too many rules and effects aren't even that powerful."

"So how does it work?"

"Well," He held his hand out for the crystal and I passed it to him. Then he gripped the crystal in his hands. "You just grip it in your hands tight, any hand is fine but skin contact is a must. Then you need to think about your target or targets hard." He let go and handed the crystal back to me. "And don't let go of the crystal. You let go and it stops working."

With a curious grin on my face I held the crystal up in front of me. "Can I borrow it?" I asked.

"You can read people's minds."

"Not everyone's and I don't have supernatural hearing."

"Fine but remember three uses. I've already used it once so there's two more uses left."

"Got it." With that, I pocketed the crystal into my jacket and looked back up at him.

Putting the two glasses on the drying rack to dry, he placed the cloth back where he found it and walked to stand in front of me. "By the way, I told your dad about Isobel and the current situation with the Gilbert device."

"Okay. Why?"

"Because things are going from bad to worse. And even worse ever since the tomb opened. We both know John is up to something and as much as you and your little 'friends' claim to have things under control, you don't Ava. You haven't not since Sheila died. That wasn't your fault. I don't blame you for that but you have to understand that things have spiraled out of our control."

"Right and we've always had control over this little town." I bit back.

"Don't take that tone with me." My uncle, walking closer to the island counter. "...I was like you once. Naive and hopeful but I quickly learned that our ancestors were right—vampires and humans can never coexist."

"Some of them are different." I pointed out, getting up and trying my hardest to convince him even though I was conflicted myself. "Some of them are capable of being good."

"I wanna believe you. I really do but after your 'friend' Stefan almost lost control of himself and basically kidnapped that one girl from the pageant. I don't know if I can believe you anymore." Turning back to face me, he grabbed me by my shoulders and looked me in the eye. He was hunched over me. "I don't think you believe what you are saying."

"I—"

"We're doing this for the best." He softly cut me off.

My uncle let go of my shoulders and gently patted my head. He sighed again and carried on. "While Bonnie was grieving she let me and Diana borrow Emily Bennett's grimoire. There we found what the device does. Apparently it's spelled to harm or kill vampires. It wasn't very clear to which it was but it was clear, the spell might have been incomplete."

"...Does Bonnie know?"

My uncle looked up and stared at me, shrugging. "About the use of the device, maybe." He answered. "About the spell being incomplete, no." He added. "She's new to all of this. It's gonna be hard for witches like her to differentiate between complete and incomplete spells especially if it's an original spell like the one on the device."

I nodded, taking a seat once again. This was too much for me.

I know what my uncle was saying was right but at the same time, my mind and heart were saying two different things. I was smart. I knew I was but I was also annoyingly compassionate.

I don't know what he wanted me to do.

I was torn between what my family taught me and what I learned myself. Vampires like Lexi made me believe there was good in some of them. Some that retained their humanity but vampires like Damon reminded me that that time strips one of their humanity.

"So what do you want me to do?" I said after a while.

Uncle Nate gave me a sad smile before answering. "Well, I know Damon has the device."

"Yeah and I can't just ask for it back." I pointed out, remembering how we almost always are close to ending each other.

There was too much tension between the two of us. I still wasn't sure what kind of tension it was. Homicidal tension, definitely. I thought.

"Why not?"

"Because we hate each other."

"He has a soft spot for you. Anyone can see it."

I pretended to throw up and rolled my eyes. No. Absolutely no. I would rather swim in the sea with piranhas with an open bleeding wound than consider Damon caring for me. Especially since he actually tried to kill me before. How could I forget that?

"Those people need an eye check. Stat."

"Very funny." He remarked. Clearly not impressed by my denial. "Anyways. Try to get it from him."

"Then what?" I questioned. "If we use it. We risk exposing our real involvement in this town's affairs." I pointed out, reminding him of our family's almost decade long promise to ourselves.

"Remember we promised to stay out of vampire hunting or killing business after grandpa died and if we use the device, Damon's gonna know and he's not gonna keep his mouth shut."

"He will if he's dead." Uncle Nate joked. "But on a serious note, we're not using it."

I tilted my head to the side and blinked a few times. "We're not?"

"No. We're not." Uncle Nate confirmed again. "We are giving it to John. Your dad came out with this plan. The Gilberts have always loved to play heroes and give an illusion that they're the smart ones, when they're average at best—"

"Skip to the important part."

"Anyways, your dad said to hand over the device to John either through Elena or Jeremy or...me. Your involvement is to be hidden at all costs." He said. "Then John triggers the device. Boom vampires dead. Happy and safe Mystic Fall. We remain uninvolved."

"That is a lot that you're asking from me."

"It's about keeping people safe besides...it's not like you haven't killed a vampire before."

"Only a few."

My uncle let out a small laugh of disbelief. "I think you're letting yourself care more about the Salvatore brothers than you'd like to admit." I opened my mouth to protest but he quickly shot me down. "Don't say it's because of Elena. We both know it's not."

There was a short period of silence as I let his words mull in the back of my mind. This was a good thing, the rational part of my brain reminded me.

Remember Vicki, there won't be another case like hers or the missing hikers and campers with the vampires in Mystic Falls dead.

But Stefan's gonna die.

The emotional part of my brain reminded me.

Unfortunately, I was getting attached to the younger Salvatore brother. I would even consider him a friend. The thought of him wanting himself dead did break my heart a bit. Maybe I did care. And by extension, if Damon died, would I be happy?

I didn't know.

At first, I would've been but now it was complicated. I knew Stefan would not. He'd be devastated. If Stefan dies, Elena would be devastated and she'd never forgive me if she knew I was involved. I kept thinking all the what ifs and suddenly I got up.

"I think I'm gonna head to bed."

I mechanically grabbed my jacket and walked out the kitchen. I stomped up the stairs, deep in thought and walked into my room. Gently I closed my bedroom door and slid down to the floor. This was getting complicated.

─────⋇⋆✦⋆⋇─────

"Ava. Hey." I heard someone call out to me as I absentmindedly sat under a tree. My sketchbook on my lap with a pencil wedged between the pages of the book. "Nice sketches." I heard the voice compliment me as I nodded along, clearly not in the mood for conversation.

Around me I could hear the chatter of voices, inside and outside voices that married together to form a symphony of noise that I wished would drown out my own thoughts.

"—va!" The person in front of me waved their hands in front of me as my vision refocused onto reality.

Suddenly the concerned face of Stefan came onto focus. His forest green eyes were staring into my eyes as he peered down at me anxiously. I blinked a few times, trying to clear my mind, taking a few deep breaths as I did so.

The more breaths I took, the aware of my surroundings I became.

All of a sudden, there was a shrill sound of static in my ear that I knew only I could hear before the overwhelming sounds of chatter hit me. The deafening cacophony of voices that only I could hear grew louder.

Forgetting Stefan was watching me, I gasped in pain and covered my ears trying to drown the sound. "...Stop." I mumbled under my breath.

Make it stop. I begged for the noise to fade and go away as I took deep breaths.

Sucking in air, I felt as if I was gasping for breath. Calm down. I said to myself, the more I panic the harder it would be for me to control myself. I knew that but still, I couldn't help myself.

My head felt like it was on fire as the dull headache that came with the slight overuse of my magic returned and I found myself hunched over my sketchbook whilst clutching my ears in pain.

"...Make it stop." I grunted.

Then it was all gone. Like the sounds had been sucked into a vacuum. It was just gone. I opened my eyes to see green orbs staring straight at me. It was then that I noticed that he was sitting right in front of me on the grassy floor.

"A—re y—ou oka—y?" His words sounded slow and slurred. "Ava?" He called out to me, trying very hard not to alarm me.

I couldn't help but let out a laugh. He was treating me like I was made of glass. That felt adorable but at the same time, this wasn't right. I shuddered as the familiar deathly chill came back, reminding me very clearly what my uncle had said.

"I'm fine." I said quietly. He looked unconvinced. "Really. I'm fine." I didn't believe it myself. My head was still a mess.

Nervously, I tried to pry his hands off my head but he didn't budge. It was cold today but his hands were somehow colder. It sent a shiver down my back and I struggled harder against his grip.

Every nerve in my body was on fire as my mind was screaming 'Danger' or warning me to run.

With as much force I could muster, I pried his hands off of me and moved backwards. My back hit the base of the tree I was sitting under as I panted loudly. Gradually, my breaths became even and soon I was fine as if nothing had happened.

"You're not fine." He stated. Stefan looked down and then back up at me. His jaws clenched as his fists tightened. He was angry, I noted. At himself? At me? I didn't know. I didn't want to pry. If I asked questions. He would ask questions. "What's going on, Ava?" He did ask a question.

Sighing, I gave him a tired smile and smoothed out the skirt of my plum sweater dress. "I'm sorry. I'm just tired." I answered. That was not a lie but not the truth either.

It's not like I could tell him about the fact that my family was asking for the heads of all the vampires of Mystic Falls on a platter and that also included him and his brother. It's not like I could say that. I can already imagine how that conversation would go.

He would instantly feel guilty and I would feel even more guilty considering that I was starting to care for him. All of which was making me lose control of my magic. At least I didn't start making orbs of light in broad daylight in front of everyone.

"I'm fine." I assure Stefan who was now looking even more unconvinced.

Trying to be subtle, I changed the subject. "Caroline has a lot of good ideas but her creative vision is something else." I started, picking my sketchbook back up as I flicked through it. "It's a little messy to say the least so I've been busy trying to come up with something that suits her so-called vision."

Stefan nodded. "Right." He nodded along with each of my words, looking convinced about what I was saying. "So that's what's stressing you out?" He questioned with a soft smile on his face. I nodded. "Oh." He quietly exclaimed. "Well...has anyone ever said you are a great liar?"

My face fell and a lump formed in my throat. No they haven't. I knew I was a good liar but I was rarely if not ever caught. "I hope you're feeling better. We need some help on the float. If you're up for that."

Stefan nodded again. "You're changing the subject." He stated. This time he confiscated my sketchbook out of my grips and closed it gently but not before taking out the pen in between the pages. "What's going on?" He asked again. "Ava."

I bit my lips and looked away. "Y'know, we're probably giving the people around us the wrong ideas about us right now." I tried to get him to drop it once again.

"I don't care." He retorted. "Look. You were there for me when I was going through hard times and I wanna be there for you 'cause that's what friends are for."

"Friends?"

"Yeah, I'd like to believe we are."

Ah.

It was then I realized I may have screwed up.

Oh no.

I shut my eyes and threw my head back, my head gently hitting the tree trunk. God, I screwed up and now I actually felt like confessing to him. I sucked in a deep breath and let it go.

"...It seems like you're avoiding me." He quietly said.

"I'm not." I retorted calmly while looking anywhere but at him. "Really. Can I have that back?" I said, referring to my sketchbook. "Caroline's gonna kill me if I lose those sketches."

"Sure. Only if you tell me what's going on."

"Nothing's going on. You're imagining things."

"Hmm. So that thing earlier was just my imagination?" I nodded, still not looking at him. "You looked like you were about to rip your ears off."

"I was just overwhelmed."

"Thoughts?"

I nodded. By now everyone knew that I was a mindreader. "Don't look at me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like, I'm some wounded animal."

"I'm just concerned—you were there for me when I needed you so—"

"I appreciate but it's not like you can help block the thoughts of the hundreds of people in this town."

"I'm sorry."

"For."

"Letting Sheila Bennett die."

"It wasn't your fault. You don't have to apologize for things you didn't do, besides you tried to stop the whole thing. For that alone, I'm grateful, at least someone was on my side."

"But if I pushed even harder, she'd still be here and she'd be able to help. It seemed like she was the only one who could help."

"Not really." I admitted, remembering that all Miss Bennett really did was calm me down. She didn't know much. Even then, it was somewhat helpful. "But she did help me to calm down. Again I don't blame you for it—never did."

From the corner of my eyes, I could see Stefan take in my words as he nodded. He believed that. Of course he did. That wasn't exactly a lie but it wasn't the whole truth. I couldn't get more involved with him anymore than I already did, especially if he was to die anytime soon if John Gilbert got his hands on that device. And he would.

"I heard from Damon that he told you how we transitioned." He lowered his voice and shifted closer to where I sat. "...So you know I—um—killed my father."

"Actually. I saw it." I revealed, finally looking at him. "I had a vision of it when Damon and I were talking and all of a sudden I was there."

Stefan froze. A look of shame washed over him as his eyes shut in pain.

"I saw everything. I saw you struggle and then give in like you were possessed by something."

He struggled to find the words to speak. He couldn't get the words out and I guess that was fine for me. Then he ran his fingers through his hair before giving up.

It was clear to me that his guilt had found a way back. That wasn't my intention. I didn't mean to make him feel that way. I'm sure by now he had tried to repent those sins away.

"At first, I was confused, then I was disgusted, repulsed even and angry. After that I came to the realization that maybe it wasn't your fault." I carried on. "Yeah it did change my perception of you knowing how you transitioned—hate to say it but your dad was kind of dick and he may have had it coming." I finished with a shy smile. "No offense."

"None taken. He wasn't exactly the best father material." Stefan returned my smile. "But that's not the only thing that's bothering you is it?"

"God, you're almost as observant as me."

"I take that as a compliment."

"Let's just say, family obligations are tearing me apart right now and its putting my emotions through the ringer which is making me lose control of my...gifts."

Stefan held out his hand out with my sketchbook. I took it from him without missing a beat and cradled it against my chest. It was precious to me. My hard work.

"You probably can't relate, choosing friends over family, that sort of thing."

"Actually I can."

"You can?"

He moved his head and shifted his position to be more comfortable. "You know my father never thought much of Damon—or you probably did know." He stared off into the distance, looking up at the bare branches of the tree that swayed in the light winter breeze. "The only reason my father kept him as his heir was his engagement."

"His engagement?"

"His engagement to your ancestor, Lydia Fitzroy. We grew up together, you know."

"I do know."

"Yeah, so, after Katherine arrived that kinda fell through. The engagement was called off and all of a sudden my father's attention shifted to me—unlike Damon, I didn't try to rebel as much as him. I trusted him too much. I wanted to. He was my family."

"That's understandable."

"And because of me, Katherine was caught. Damon and I lost our lives and became..." He trailed off, not finishing his sentence. "I guess you're in a similar situation."

"Who knows?" I shrugged it off. I was indeed in a similar situation but he didn't need to know that. "Maybe."

"Maybe?" He let out a sigh. "That doesn't explain anything. Ava, you were about to have to break—"

"Oh there's Caroline." I said, gesturing to my blonde best friend in the distance. Noticing me, she beamed brightly as she waved at me.

Perfect timing.

Getting up, I dusted my skirt and picked up my bag. "I have to go, Care and I promised we'd brainstorm some ideas together for the float and then I have to hand some stuff over to Mr Saltzman. I'll see you around."

Stefan shook his head in disbelief. "You're doing that thing again." He said, referring to me always changing the subject or running away. In this case, I was doing both and Stefan actually caught on to.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I mumbled with a stiff smile as I walked over to Caroline.

All the while Stefan's gaze stayed on me. I could tell that he was still unconvinced and worried. I would be too if I wasn't used to my abilities randomly flaring up whenever I got too emotional.

Maybe I should go back to therapy. I wondered to myself as Caroline hooked her arms around mine and dragged me inside while she chattered on, excited about the Founders Parade. With an ever-present smile on my face, I nodded along.

"—nd I still think my idea is the best, you totally agree, right?" Caroline carried on while I stared off into space. "Ava! You're not listening." She pouted and her grip on my arm tightened.

"I was."

"Sure. Then what was I saying just now?" She asked while I was taking out some handouts the art club made for Mr Saltzman.

"You were saying that you wanted to go with 'Southern Elegance', very 'Gone with the wind' but Tina was being a bitch about it." I recited while closing my locker door. "See I was listening."

"Don't get so smug about it." Caroline retorted, passing my sketchbook back to me. "Anyways, what were you and Stefan talking about?"

Her eyes were gleaming with curiosity and a hint of mischief. I know what she was thinking without reading her mind.

Gently, I wacked her arm with my sketchbook and shook my head. "Knock it off, Care. It's not like that."

"I know. I know. It's just you two looked a little...close."

"Someone forgot personal boundaries," I pushed the cafeteria door open and held it for my best friend. She thanked me before walking in. "and that someone is not me besides he's Elena's man and those two are obsessed with each other."

"Ugh I know right." She complained. I hummed under my breath in response. She led me to a table far off near a window and put her stuff down. I placed my stuff next to hers, leaving a space for Bonnie who would be here soon.

"You click so well with everyone. I'm a little jealous."

"No, you're not."

"I am and it's so unfair that you're so pretty and fun to be around and single."

"Here we go again." I muttered under my breath as I took out a floral binder from my bag. I placed it on the table while ignoring Caroline's attempt to meddle in my love life again.

It's like she made it her mission to meddle since I slipped up and mentioned Isaac. I sighed and quietly chided myself for that.

"Caroline, you're pretty and fun to be around too."

"Pretty. Yes." She bobbed her head with a bright smile on her face at my compliment. "...But fun to be around? Debatable." She carried on. Her smile dropped with each of her words as she let out a tired sigh.

"What? No. I love hanging out with you and so does Bonnie and Matt and Elena. Who said you're not fun?"

"Well, if I'm so 'fun' to be around then how come Matt's always so busy."

"Caroline..."

"Don't. Don't give me that look. I get it that he doesn't have a choice but still."

"Being busy doesn't mean he doesn't love being with you."

"...I know."

"Do you?"

She gnawed at her lips before letting out another sigh. "Fine. I do have doubts—and I know what you're gonna say. I really do but it's just I can't get it out of my head."

"Maybe Tyler was right."

"Did Tyler say something?" Her eyes widened as she tried to deny. "Ignore him. He's going through stuff and when he's hurting..."

"He hurts others." She finished. "Now—" She clapped her hands together and she paused for a moment, before she beamed brightly and started waving enthusiastically. I didn't even have to look around to know who it was. Matt.

Caroline's mood shifts always confused me. How can someone go from happy to sad to happy again in minutes. I would never know.

"—Back to you." I groaned at her words. "I think you need a serious relationship."

"I think I need a drink. And you know, some people are happy being alone."

"Okay. I respect that but Damon and you seem to be getting along so well these days."

"Gross. He's your ex."

I took out my markers and pens, throwing them towards Caroling who caught them with ease. She playfully glared at me while arranging them on the table.

"Also I didn't forget he treated you like dirt."

Caroline stopped in her motions as her face darkened. "At least someone remembers." She muttered. "But still, he treats you better than he ever treated me and...I was his girlfriend."

"Exactly. Unless he—I don't know—goes through a complete major personality change or redeems himself in my eyes, I will not be considering him as anything other than a complete nuisance." Also he was a vampire. I didn't say that part out loud.

The corners of her lips turned up as a smile appeared on her face. She looked down back and carried on doing what she was doing. "Thanks—for looking out for me but we need to get you someone. What about Tyler?"

"Our families hate each other and I think he also needs to change and stop taking his hurt and anger out on others."

"Jeremy?"

"He's younger than me. Not my type and I see him as a little brother."

"Okay, so you like older guys."

"No. I like being happy." I retorted. "So, leave me alone. If I want a boyfriend, I can go get one and no—" I dropped my voice and leaned in over to Caroline. "—it has nothing to do with dead psycho ex. Got it."

"Hey guys." Bonnie sat down. She looked at me and Caroline curiously and gave us confused looks. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Not much. Caroline's being Caroline." I gathered the handouts.

Bonnie got what I meant just from that as she gave Caroline a look. My blonde friend looked at us innocently.

From across the room, I spotted Mr Saltzman and his group of students that he had picked to help on the float. "Anyways, I'm gonna be right back." I said to both my friends.

I strutted towards Mr Saltzman's table.

On my way there, I paused to check on the other student council members. Dana looked frustrated at a nearby person while quietly barking orders at the other students. She and I made eye contact as she gave me a look that screamed at me to get her out of there. I just shrugged in response. I moved on to check on Rei and Will who were quietly working on something.

Done with my checks, I walked over to Mr Saltzman's table.

"Mr Saltzman, here are the handouts the art department made earlier this week." I handed him the sheets.

He took them and flicked through them. Actually being pleased with them. "Thank you, Ava."

I couldn't help but notice his shaky hands and pale face. He looked a little sick. His eye bags under his eyes were darker and more prominent but despite his unhealthy appearance he had a small polite yet convincing smile on his face.

I took a step back after handing the handouts when I also noticed his jittery behavior around me.

It was then that I remembered.

Uncle Nate mentioned he was threatened by his ex-wife and then he got warned by my uncle. I pitied Mr Saltzman at that moment. He got what he wanted but not in the way he wanted. Then again we rarely get the things that we want. That's life.

When I focused back on the cafeteria, Mr Saltzman seemed to have shifted back into his usual self while I accidentally caught the eye of Matt who flashed me a smile. Across from him sat none other than Tyler.

Matt and I shared a look that I knew wasn't missed by Tyler as we continued to trade glances. The two boys hadn't spoken, let alone seen each other since the 'incident' and I couldn't blame Matt.

Tyler screwed up. Again. But this time he crossed the line. Usually I would try to be sympathetic remembering his terrible dad but this time he went overboard.

"—yler has been nominated at the head of the production design." Mr Saltzman said as he got to Tyler. With my arms folded, I stood off to the side and simply watched the table.

The Lockwood boy had a scowl on his face as he tiredly sighed and shifted in his seat. "By whom?"

"By me." The part-time vampire hunter answered with a slight grin on his face. He was enjoying this. I suppose to him this was a welcome distraction from Isobel. "I've seen your sketches and they're good."

Tyler leaned forward as confusion clouded his face. "How did you—" He cut himself off when his eyes found mine. He was good, I knew it and it was only fair that he got a shot to prove himself. "Well, Ava's better."

A quiet murmur followed as the others on the table quietly agreed with him.

"Except I have yearbook committee stuff to handle." I said with a bright smile. "Unless you wanna volunteer, Ty? No. Thought so."

Tyler groaned and glared at me. He wasn't happy and I didn't care. I was lucky that someone else had been assigned to take pictures for the yearbook committee these past few weeks but now I was 'it' again and it was my turn to take the pictures. I glanced down at my bag where my camera nested inside.

"I'm not really into the..."

"Well, you just pick your team, be creative and..." Mr Saltzman trailed off. He looked distracted as he stared towards the door. "Don't screw up." He finished before throwing me a look that I knew too well.

Quietly I followed my history teacher over to Stefan and Elena who he also beckoned to follow him. Stefan and Elena glanced at me, wanting answers while I simply shrugged off their gazes.

Mr Saltzman led us to a corner of the cafeteria in the cover of work on the float before he asked to talk to us. There was a strong sense of urgency and desperation in his tone that caught me off guard. I knew from my uncle that Isobel did a number on him but to see the extent of the damage was slightly alarming.

"Sorry I'm late." Damon was the last to arrive as he strutted into Mr Saltzman's classroom with his usual grin on his face. Oh brother, here we go again. "My dog ate my uh..." He trailed off when he noticed the tired looks of everyone in the room. "Never mind."

Guess Damon knew how to read the room. "What's with all the furrowed brows?" Damon asked, looking at Stefan, Elena and me.

I rolled my eyes and looked away from him, avoiding his gaze. Last night's events were still fresh in my mind and I refused to let things go this time. I was getting tired of this back and forth.

"I saw Isobel last night." Mr Saltzman started off.

Damon paused and stared at Mr Saltzman in disbelief. "Isobel is here?" He tried to confirm as Mr Saltzman nodded. "In town?"

"Well, I'm sure he didn't hallucinate her—unless both my uncle and Mr Saltzman were on drugs last night." I sarcastically drawled. Damon turned back to look at me like I was being serious. "Yes, she's in town."

Mr Saltzman looked at me and let out a tired sigh. "Your uncle told you." I simply shrugged in response. My history teacher tousled his hair in frustration as started pacing around the room.

Stefan and Damon shared a look between them as they stared at me and then Mr Saltzman. A silent conversation took place before Mr Saltzman stopped in his tracks. He turned back to the three of us and started recounting what Isobel had told him. I tuned out halfway through the conversation since I knew most of it already.

Isobel wanted to see Elena. I mean that wasn't that shocking already.

But something was wrong.

Why would Isobel give up her daughter and show up now?

Right after the tomb was opened.

Her timing was strange. Even stranger was the fact she happened to arrive in town at the same time as John Gilbert. I suddenly remembered how my mom said those two had a thing back in the day. John and Isobel knew each other. There was no doubt about it.

I couldn't help but ask. "Weird question, Mr S but did you by any chance ask her about John?"

Mr Saltzman stopped mid-conversation with Damon and stared at me in confusion. "What?"

Damon walked over to the furthest corner of the room where I was sitting and gave me a look before turning back to Mr Saltzman. "Yeah. Did you ask her about Uncle John?" He further questioned. I guess he and I were on the same wavelength. I could tell he was slightly impressed by my thinking.

"Are they working together?" We both said at the same time.

"No." Mr Saltzman replied, looking at us strangely.

"No?" I questioned.

"They're not?" Damon carried on.

"No, I didn't ask." Mr Saltzman corrected.

"What about the invention?"

"Didn't ask."

"Seriously?" I complained as Damon nodded along. "Did she at least know about the tomb vampires?"

"I don't know." Mr Saltzman admitted.

Damon scoffed, frustrated by the lack of answers. For one of those rare times, I agreed with him. Shutting my eyes, I tried to tune out the voices in the distance and tried to focus on Mr Saltzman.

I know this wasn't the best method given how volatile my powers had been lately but I had to know if he was hiding something. And I got nothing. Mr Saltzman's thoughts were just an echo of the things he said already mixed in with the regret of not prodding and probing his ex-wife more.

"Did words completely escape you?" Damon called out to my history teacher, frustration and slight anger in his voice.

Mr Saltzman clenched his jaws and stood in front of Damon. His fists clenched. "No, I was a little too distracted by my dead vampire wife to ask any questions." And he was telling the truth. I could hear it too. "Ava, are you trying to read my mind?!"

"Can you blame her?" Damon defended me.

"Well, I like my privacy."

"And we'd like to know what John and Isobel are planning but here we are."

The two men stared at each other, ready to rip each other apart and as much I'd love to see that, I didn't want my history teacher dead.

I glanced at Stefan, wondering if he was gonna step in. He showed no response. Instead, he was busy checking on Elena. Sweet but unnecessary for once considering his brother was on the verge of losing his temper.

"Leave him alone, Damon." He glanced at me from the corner of his eyes before backing down. "Why don't we go back to Isobel and what she's really here for." I rubbed my temples to soothe the oncoming headache. "And I didn't read my mind, if that helps."

Mr Saltzman nodded at my words as Stefan mimicked his actions. I could see Stefan staring at me with concerned eyes, causing me to pull away my hand from my head and clasp them together, feigning that I was fine. I was not fine.

The older Salvatore brother turned to look at me to make a remark but he stopped when he realized that I was not in the mood. Instead he turned back to Elena. "What did she want?

"She wants to see me, Damon." Elena answered.

All eyes were on Elena as we wondered why?

Why would Isobel want to see Elena?

That was a question that kept floating in my mind since Mr Saltzman recounted his encounter.

Stefan let go of Elena's hand and took over from her. "Alaric is supposed to arrange a meeting." He announced to Damon. "We don't know why or what she wants."

"But she was very adamant." I added, remembering what my uncle had said. I shivered a little, suddenly remembering that I was in the room with two vampires. "I personally think you shouldn't go."

"We're on the same page." Damon stated. "Like Ava said, you don't have to see her if you don't want to."

At his words, Stefan strangely stared between the three of us. He and I shared a look that Damon caught onto quick while Elena was staring down at her hands. This was getting complicated.

"I also think we should kill her." I chimed in. "No offense." I said, looking at Mr Saltzman and Elena.

"I'll help."

"Never asked for your help."

Elena let out a deep audible sigh, cutting us off and shifting our attention back to her. "I don't really have a choice." She said, giving me a pointed look.

"She's threatened to go on a killing spree." Mr Saltzman reminded us.

"Oh! I take it that's not okay with you guys." Damon sarcastically asked.

"No," I said like it was the obvious thing in the world. "which is why I propose we kill her before she kills anyone. I mean this in the nicest way possible, Elena and Mr S but that's not the person you both were looking for."

Stefan looked at me quizzically. I know it wasn't like me to go straight to the kill option but my patience was wearing thin. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"Peachy."

"Ava, please." Elena glanced at me with wide eyes. "I want to do it." She said, I shook my head, indicating it's a bad idea.

Her bio-mom decided to become a vampire of her own choice. No one sane did that or at least it was unheard of. Maybe I was letting my family's prejudices blind or maybe it was that gnawing feeling that told me this was yet another of Elena's bad.

"I want to meet her." She turned to Damon. "If I don't, I know I'll regret it."

Damon didn't say anything. His fists were clenched as a pained look flashed in his face for a second before disappearing. I couldn't help but glance at Stefan who was observing his older brother and his girlfriend with a complicated look on his face.

"Suit yourself." I stated. "It's your call." I added, picking up my bag and taking out the camera from inside.

I placed the strap of the camera on my neck before moving my hair out of the way.

"Are we done here? I have stuff to do" Mr Saltzman nodded and he checked the watch on his wrist before remembering he was still on the cloak.

I walked straight past Damon and Mr Saltzman, pushing the door open. I left without looking back. Before I left, I threw Mr Saltzman a look reminding him of his talk with my uncle. He froze when he remembered and looked away.

The halls were quiet and dark as I walked alone. The camera swung from my neck with each step I took. I had to get the device from the Salvatore brothers, mainly Damon.

The sense of urgency was stronger than ever. My dad had even called to make it an official family mission. I needed the device but the Salvatores, they trusted me. The small annoying voice in the back of my head reminded me. I cursed her out too.

"Can we finish off our talk from before?" Stefan stopped me, flashing in front of me just as I was about to push the door handle to go outside.

I jumped back and clutched my camera to my chest. "My god, Stefan. Don't do that." I complained. I didn't even notice him. "And no. We're done. What happened this morning was nothing."

"Didn't seem like nothing to me." Stefan retorted, grabbing my wrist and stopping me from walking away again. "We need to talk."

"No, we don't." I tried to pull my hand back and free myself. Much to my dismay, I failed. "Stefan, let go."

"There's clearly something bothering you."

"Nothing is bothering me. Just focus on Elena and Isobel."

"I can do both at the same time."

"You can't."

"I can and I can tell that there's something wrong with you." He carried on, his grip on me loosened and his voice softened. "Look, I don't know what's going on with you but you're not being yourself. This morning was one thing and then your suggestion was another."

"I come from a family of vampire hunters, Stefan. It's not strange for me to suggest something like that, actually it aligns perfectly well with my family values."

"But you're different. You helped me. You saved Lexi—and now you're acting differently, something happened, Ava and you're not even bothering to hide it that means you need help because I know you. I know how good you are at lying but right now you're not even trying."

I let out a nervous laugh. He was right. I had been acting differently since last night. It was one thing to hear about his and Damon's transition but I saw it. If that wasn't the only thing, my family suddenly decided to get themselves involved in this town's matters, forcing me to pick sides.

Of course, I was bound to act differently. There was also the matter of my magic flaring up randomly. I was conflicted on a lot of things that no one in this makeshift group really knew.

"I'm fine." I said, repeating his words from a few days ago when he went off the rails.

Stefan visibly flinched and looked down on the floor, a little ashamed of himself.

"I'm sorry that was a low blow." Seeing him like that, I couldn't help but apologize. I knew it wasn't his fault, afterall.

"...You're not okay."

"No, I'm not." I admitted. "But I'll deal with it on my own."

"Let me help you. I owe you."

I shook my head and started turning away from him. "You can't help me Stefan. Thank you for the offer but..." I gnawed on the bottom of my lips as guilt started to cloud my mind.

"Well, if he can't help, maybe I can." A voice called out from the other end of the hallway. Stefan and I stopped before glancing at each other. I groaned internally as I turned to look at the subject of the voice.

Damon stood leaning in the middle of the darkened halls as he stared down at me and his brother.

Shaking my head, I couldn't help but laugh. Damon wanted to help me. This was turning into a joke. Especially after last night. He wanted to 'help' me. Please if anything he was suspicious of me, given by my abnormal behavior and the secretive glance Mr Saltzman and I were sharing which was mostly because of my uncle.

"You're literally the last person I want 'help' from, especially after what happened last night." I smiled brightly at Damon before my face soured and I rolled my eyes, turning away.

"What happened last night?" Stefan questioned, standing in front of me like he was shielding me from his older brother. Well, it was too late.

"The usual."

"Come on. That wasn't me being serious. I was kidding." Damon said, clearly he knew he wasn't.

"What happened?" Stefan asked again.

Just before I could answer. My mind started turning as the colors around me started shifting. Not again, I thought, turning away from the Salvatore brothers as I slipped out of reality and into another vision. I gripped onto the door handle.

Colors around me swayed in the wind as everything turned into colorful dust and swirled around me. I tightened my fists and held on tight around the door handle.

I was a off-white bedroom. There was a bed in the center of the room with white sheets. The floor was white as was the ceiling. I jumped back in surprise when I saw two people in the room.

Actually three.

There was a half naked man and a woman who was dressed in a black lingerie dancing sensually with each other. Their dance looked controlled, disjointed and forced. I couldn't help getting close and see it for myself. Their eyes were glazed over. They were compelled.

Turning away from them, I saw another woman. She had long brunette hair and was fully clothed. She sat off in the far corner with her eyes on the dancing couple. She had a small smirk on her face as she watched the couple with enjoyment. The moment I saw her I felt it. She was a vampire. Suddenly, her eyes became distant as her smile stretched wider.

"You're late." The brunette woman suddenly spoke.

Footsteps were heard as another person came into the room. "I didn't realize there was a schedule." A familiar voice said.

I turned around to face none other than John Gilbert. John? What was he doing here, I thought as I stared at him hard. Was he really working with Isobel? No, that can't be right.

"What's with the sideshow?" John asked, taking in the sight in front of him.

"Cherie is a little jazz singer that I picked up in a blues bar in Brooklyn." The woman answered coyly. "And I got the cowboy at a gay rodeo in Amarillo."

"He's gay?"

"Not right now, he's very good to me." The woman got up and turned to the compelled and forced couple. "Hey Cherie? Cassez vous!" She said and they nodded, leaving the room.

The woman turned back to John and smiled. "I'm teaching them French." She said as John narrowed his eyes at her. "Oh! I can smell the judgment coming off of you."

"Well, they're people, Isobel, and you're treating them like dolls."

Isobel.

This was Isobel. Elena's mother. Mr Saltzman's ex-wife.

I couldn't help but stare at her. I inspected her face and the more I saw it, the more resemblance I could see between her and my best friend.

The mother and daughter were quite similar in build and appearance wise yet so different personality-wise. Elena was kind and caring or appeared to be while Isobel was selfish and a little bit of a bitch. She reminded me more of Katherine than her own daughter which was surprising to say the least.

"—we're gonna be partners, you really have to stop being such a hater." Isobel said, looking at John.

"We're in a partnership together because we share a mutual goal. Don't ever confuse that for an acceptance of your lifestyle."

"My lifestyle? So, I assume that you still don't have the invention."

"I'll get it. I said I would.

"Uh, you threatened to expose Damon Salvatore, that didn't work." She took a step towards him. "You killed that Pearl lady, still no invention. I really don't think that your plan is working, John."

"Well, you being here is not going to help anything."

Isobel stared at John. Her jaws clenched as a plastic smile appeared on her face. Then she brought her hand back and slapped John hard. There was a loud sound of flesh hitting flesh as I was thrown out of the vision.

"...Isobel and John."

Stefan and Damon were crouching over my standing figure in an instant. The older Salvatore had his arms wrapped around my waist to steady me while the younger one rubbed my back to comfort me.

In an instant, all the whispers and thoughts of the people in the school invaded my senses as I tried to grab hold onto reality.

"Easy there, sunshine." Damon tried to comfort me.

I let out a weak but tired laugh at his antics of sudden care and shook my head. He was funny. One minute he was trying to kill me or scare me and the next he was comforting me.

But unfortunately whether it was his hands on my waist or his words, I felt better all of sudden. I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath just as Damon was instructing in the background.

5. 4. 3. 2. 1.

When I opened my eyes. My vision was clearer. I pried his hands off of my waist and took a step back, fixing my hair and dress as I did so. "

Are you okay?" Stefan asked, holding out a water bottle. I could've sworn those bottles were outside in the football field near the float prep. I didn't voice my complaints and accepted it.

Cracking the seal of the bottle, I took a few sips of the water before capping it and handing it back to Stefan. "Better?"

"Better." I nodded, taking a few more steps away from Damon.

Seeing Stefan's relieved smile, I couldn't let Stefan die and I had complicated feelings towards Damon. But I couldn't go against my family.

Familia supra omnia.

Family above all.

Those were the words the Fitzroy family had stood by for hundreds of years. Those were the words I was raised by. I sighed.

"John and Isobel are working together."

Damon didn't look surprised but rather happy at being right while Stefan looked concerned, no doubt for Elena. Her 'uncle' and biological mother were up to no good.

"Is that all?" Damon asked. He must've caught on that I was withholding some information.

I looked away. "Anna's mother, Pearl is dead." I carried on, taking a few more steps back with a hand on my necklace. The bloodstone was warm as if it was itching to attack. "John killed her."

"Why?" Stefan asked. "He wouldn't just kill her for no reason."

I stared at Stefan hard. "He's a vampire hunter, Stefan. He doesn't need a reason." I said. "I should go," I gestured to the camera on my neck. Stefan nodded seeing it and stepped back. "I'll see you later. Oh, and please don't bail on us today. We need all the people we can get for the float." I said, walking away.

─────⋇⋆✦⋆⋇─────

The wooden skeleton of the float stood in front of me as students scuttled around the float like worker ants, adding and removing pieces. I stood off to the side, gripping my camera in my hand. Bonnie stood next to me, keeping me company.

Snap. Snap.

I aimed the camera at my blonde best friend who was near the unfinished float, helping around. She was Miss Mystic Falls, her pictures were the most important part of it all.

Snap.

I turned the camera away from her and aimed it at other students, most of them being from the court.

Snap.

Some of the students turned and waved at me, posing with their tulles and materials in their hands as they did so. I couldn't help but smile as I shot their pictures.

Bonnie hummed lightly under her breath while nursing a warm cup of coffee in her hands. She glanced around and would act like she was working whenever Tiki or someone else from the cheer squad came around. I chuckled quietly seeing that.

"How long do you think it'll take before Tiki or Dana to realize what I'm doing?" Bonnie questioned, swaying side to side.

"Ten minutes, give or take for Tiki." I replied, aiming my camera at Matt who let out a bright grin as he shot me a huge smile.

Snap. Snap.

I caught him mid-motion as he started hammering in some nails.

"What about Dana?"

"Oh. She noticed you like seven minutes ago."

"What!"

"Yeah, she just doesn't care."

"And you know this because?"

"Because we hang out, we're part of the student council, Bon and plus I read her mind."

"You need to stop doing that and I didn't expect you to get chummy with that."

"That is Dana. Be nice and I can't help it."

"Dana's not the nicest perso—okay fine. I'll try." Bonnie picked up a measuring tape from the toolbox nearby and tossed it to a guy from the art club and turned back to me. "Since when are you so close to the student council?"

"Well, they are the most normal group of friends I can get in this town and I mean that with no offense towards you or 'R' and 'J'. It's just...sometimes, I want a break from all the—" I looked for a moment before taking a few steps closer to Bonnie. Standing face to face with my witch best friend. I mouthed the words. "Vampire drama."

"Understandable."

"Sure but don't expect peace and quiet if Caroline tags along." I pointed out, reminding her of the silent and unspoken feud between Dana and Caroline. "Dana's not gonna be happy at all."

"Ugh. That sucks."

"I know right."

Laughing at that, I picked up my camera and pointed it at Matt and Axel but I froze when I saw Tyler staring at me. He looked at me expectedly and gestured to Matt.

Oh no. No.

I was not getting between these two. I refused to play the buffer or the peacemaker. Tyler screwed up and he could fix his own mess. I was going to channel my ancestors and bring back the old grudge. Tyler tilted his head towards Matt again and I shook my head with narrowed eyes.

Bonnie seeing the silent exchange pulled at my sleeve. "Do you wanna get lunch?" She must've noticed him approaching as her eyes narrowed at the football player and tilted her head at him.

"Sounds like a plan." A getaway plan.

I grabbed Bonnie's sleeve and pulled her behind me but not before letting Mrs Saunders know that I was going for my lunch break with Bonnie. Tyler got stopped by the art teacher as I could feel his fury behind me. He had no right to be angry. I wasn't the one who screwed up. It was him. Not me.

"Hey, I know you don't like talking about 'that' stuff but we really need to talk." She started, opening the driver's door and getting in.

"Do we have to?" I questioned.

"Yeah. I need you for this."

"Fine but only because it's you—but first lunch."

I took out my phone and started calling the grill in advance. 'Placing our orders', I mouthed as Bonnie pulled out of the school driveway. She nodded once before telling me her order and I repeated it back to the person on the other line.

"Okay, you have to let me pay." Bonnie said, parking her car.

I rolled my eyes and took out some cash, flashing the notes in front of her face. "Already took out some cash, so I'm paying."

"You always pay!"

"Cause I want to."

Bonnie let out a sigh and got out of the car, taking the notes out of my hand. "We should pick up something for Caroline or she's gonna be in a bad mood for the rest of the day."

"Already placed an order."

"God, you're always so prepared."

I smiled in response and hummed lightly under my breath while Bonnie waited outside the car. "You know since we're gonna be busy the whole day, we should just do a take out—"

"—So that the three of us can have lunch together?" I nodded again. "Yeah I think Caroline would like that but wait—" She paused mid-walk and turned back to look at me. "She's gonna want something for Matt."

"It's fine. I ordered extra just in case."

"You're putting that psychic ability to use." Bonnie clicked her fingers and turned away to go back to the grill. "...God I wish I could do that."

"I'm waiting in the car." I called out. She replied in confirmation before I leaned back and closed the door. I took out my phone and started going through my messages when I froze.

There was a tingling sensation in the back of my spine like I was being watched. Pausing, I turned my phone off and reached for my bag.

Without looking down, I fumbled around the bag looking for the dagger. When I found it, I quickly pocketed it into my jacket and sat up, fixing the rearview mirror or acting so as to catch the culprit.

In the background of the mirror, I could see a lone figure of a woman standing in the distance. She was short and had long brunette hair that seemed to flow in the winter wind.

At first it looked as if she was waiting for someone but then her gaze turned towards Bonnie's car and I froze. My grip on the rearview mirror tightened.

Unfortunately, she was too far for me to make out her face but I could tell at one glance, she wasn't human.

A vampire.

It wasn't Anna from what I could tell. Anna had black hair and she didn't dress like that nor was it Pearl who was already dead. That left only one person left.

Isobel.

I scoffed at the thought and shook my head.

Why would she pay me any attention?

I was nobody to her. She knew my aunt, yes, but I had no connection to her. It must be some other tomb vampire, I thought, shaking my head at my sudden delusions. God, I was becoming as paranoid as Elena. I looked back at the rearview mirror to see the woman was gone.

So it was nothing, after all. I was being paranoid.

A moment later, Bonnie returned with the bags of food in her hands. Her face, devoid of emotion. Pursed lips, teary eyes, the young witch marched towards her car and threw the bags of food in the back before getting in.

"Hey, you okay?" I asked, sitting up and leaning towards her. "Bonnie, what happened?"

Bonnie shook her head and sniffed. "Am I a bad friend?" She questioned back, staring at me. "Cause I just ran."

"I'm a little lost here, Bon."

She let out a sigh and sat up before glancing at the back seat. "I saw Elena and Stefan at the grill. Elena looked like she was going to cry and the moment she looked at me, I ran. I didn't hear her out or anything."

"Oh. That's understandable."

"Is it?"

"Bonnie, it's not your fault. Elena's going through something that has nothing to do with you or Damon and Stefan so it's not your job to comfort her especially if you are hurting yourself."

"I'm fine." Bonnie insisted, starting her car.

"Sure."

"I am."

"It hasn't been a whole year since your Grams died—" I pointed out. "—here you are forcing yourself to be fine with everything when I know you're not. Trust me I can relate."

"Well, what do I do? I don't wanna lose Elena and I feel like I just might if I don't get over Grams' death." I reached for her hand and gave it a small squeeze. "It's just she looked at me and I chickened out."

"Well, it's not your fault."

"You sound like you know what's going on." She remarked, letting go of my hand and pulling out of the Mystic Grill parking lot.

"I do." I admitted. Putting on my seatbelt, I leaned back again. "But it's best if you hear it from Elena not me, go visit her later when we're done." I barely whispered the last part, hoping that Bonnie would get it and she did.

─────⋇⋆✦⋆⋇─────

Despite promising to talk to Bonnie about her concerns, I couldn't help it.

The moment we got back, I was swamped with work. Student council stuff came up along with art club stuff that I didn't even know I had to do.

There was also the matter of a fight that almost broke out between Tyler and Will over the float which I had to break up. That was not fun. By the time I was free, Bonnie was gone.

It was now another day and I was still busy as ever but at least today I was less busy plus I was no longer on yearbook committee duty so thank god for that.

I sighed as I punched my fork through the last mushroom ravioli that I had made earlier for lunch. I washed it down with some apple juice before finishing it while listening to Caroline and Matt chatter on.

Bonnie and I sat around listening to them while acting as two third-wheelers. It was not fun and made me feel a little lonely but god forbid I actually get a boyfriend. A nightmare.

Caroline then glanced at me and mouthed something before she tugged at her boyfriend's arm, pulling him away. Matt threw an apologetic glance at me before being dragged away. I mouthed it was okay and laughed to myself.

Bonnie tapped me on the shoulder once Caroline and Matt were away. She gave me a look that she wanted to talk to me about something. I glanced at our friends in the distance, they were too busy with each other to notice us. Then my eyes drifted to Bonnie.

I nodded in response while packing my things up and throwing away the used utensils and plastic containers.

Silently, I led the two of us to an unused chemistry classroom. Bonnie shut the door behind us and marched towards a table near the windows. She threw her bag on the table and took out a huge book. The covers were old and tattered, the pages yellowed and worn but it looked familiar.

"Is that..."

"Emily Bennett's grimoire. Yeah." Bonnie said as she threw open the grimoire. "I found something in here that I think you'd wanna know. Here."

She beckoned me to come closer. Obediently I followed. "I found these diagrams and notes here. Jonathan Gilbert, Elena's ancestor, never managed to invent anything. In fact, all of his inventions were enchanted by Emily." Bonnie commented, glancing up at me as she leaned down on the table but she paused when she noticed my unsurprised face.

"You knew." She stated.

"Edmund Fitzroy's journal was quite detailed."

Bonnie raised her brows and gave me a look to continue. "After the whole Katherine situation, my ancestor basically saved Emily from being prosecuted as Katherine's accomplice. In turn, she revealed her secrets. Jonathan's inventions were ones of the many secrets Emily imparted but unfortunately, my family couldn't save Emily from the witch trials and she died."

"You knew about the invention. You know what it does."

"All I know is that it hurts or is supposed to kill vampires. Maybe there's more in the grimoire."

"Yeah, no. That's all there is. The two part Gilbert invention is a device that harms vampires. How does it harm them? No clear explanation or maybe there was but it's all faded now. In short it's a weapon. What kind? No idea."

"That sucks."

"Yeah. That reminds me, I found something else you might find interesting."

Bonnie placed a bookmark on the page with the device and flipped to another page. The old yellowed page was even more ruined than the last.

On it were huge cursive letters that spelled out 'Fair folk'. There were a couple of post-it notes with one bright yellow post-it note that read 'Peris'. I reached out for the notes and with one look at Bonnie, I gently peeled it off. The notes were clearer than the grimoire.

'Peris or Paris, beings who were said to be fair, beautiful and nature spirits that sported wings, often mistaken for angels by humans. Originated from Persian Mythology. May be related to—'

The note was left unfinished. "Peris?" I questioned out-loud.

"Those were my Grams' notes, she was going through Emily's grimoire before she—um—you know. Anyways, I thought this was relevant to you and Grams must've added these notes after thinking that these—" She gestured to the note in my hand and the page. "—might be related to the 'fair folk'."

"Makes sense, it was on the same page of the 'fair folk' stuff. How is this related to me?"

"Well, it's just something that reminded me of you when I was going through this. Emily recorded her experience with something that she thought was a witch at first but then she got to know this person and the more she found out, the more different they were from a witch."

Bonnie pointed to a section. "Here, according to Emily's accounts, the stranger had unusual eyes that seemed to glow 'a shade of pale gold' when they used magic and they could summon light. When Emily first met this person during her childhood, this person knew Emily and even predicted Katherine's arrival years before it happened—sounds familiar?"

The more Bonnie read on, the more I could see myself in that. This was very similar to what I could do. "I guess."

"It's also said the stranger could command people with her thoughts or voice...read minds, move objects with their minds and had iridescent wings. Oh."

"I can't do that, well, maybe two of them."

"Which one?"

"I can't move things with my mind or fly—I don't have wings."

"Have you tried looking for them?"

"Bonnie, I think I'd know if I woke up with a pair of wings."

"Well, at least you can read people's minds and control them which is impressive and scary. You're not reading my mind, are you?"

"No, I can't control it."

"Is that why you've been so stressed today?"

I nodded weakly and leaned back, my head hitting the window pane. "Yeah, I don't think this is me."

"Is this because you don't have wings?"

"Or move objects with my mind." I added in.

"Well, the other points are very similar to you. Maybe you inherited only some aspects of this thing, instead of all of them—maybe you're mixed?"

"Like what a half-supernatural hunter and half-faery or peri?"

Bonnie nodded. "Maybe. That's why you don't have wings."

"Doubt that. I don't know. But thanks anyways."

"Sorry it's not much of a help but at least it's something."

"It's a start I guess." I glanced at the notes again.

"There is a downside to this story. It might not be real."

"What?"

"Yeah...according to her later accounts, when Emily came back to see this stranger after Katherine had arrived in town, they were gone. There were no traces of them anywhere. No one in town could remember them, even Emily's mother didn't know about them even though she talked to the stranger several times. It was like it was all in her head."

"Was it all in her head?" Bonnie shrugged. She frowned and flicked back to the page with the device with a frown on her face. I tilted my head and gave her a small smile. She was trying her best at least. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, that was a step in the right direction. Maybe I'll convince aunt Evie to go through some of the things Emily and your Grams noted down with me."

Bonnie smiled and reached for my hand. I outstretched my arms, letting her grab my hand as she gave it a small squeeze before she grabbed my hand and swung it back and forth. It was childish but I couldn't help but smile. She let go and laughed before turning back to her grimoire.

I left before Elena showed up. It wasn't like I was avoiding her. I was called away at the last minute by some guy in the woodworking club. They needed someone from the student council for something, I did not pay attention to hear.

"What are we doing here?" Will grumbled as he pushed up his glasses. He sat at the bleachers with his stuff thrown around the seats haphazardly while keeping an eye on the float.

"Helping, apparently." I replied, taking a seat and throwing open my next week's English homework. "I guess sitting around watching people go wild with a bunch of power tools is helping."

"I would rather be in Trig."

"Course you would. You love Trig." His girlfriend chimed in as she handed him an iced coffee.

Rei gave me a small wave before she skipped over to the rest of the court. She looked happy. I guess it worked out for everyone in the end. Well, almost everyone.

I could see a forlorn looking blonde girl on the side. She stared at the group of girls before she ducked down and walked past them.

"Where are all the teachers?" I questioned looking around.

"Lunch break."

"All at once."

He nodded. My eyes wandered over to the blonde girl once again and they lingered. I didn't know who she was or I couldn't tell who she was but somehow I felt bad.

"Amber Bradley actually showed up." Will quietly remarked. The boy with the glasses shared a look with me before he took out his trigonometry textbook and a notebook along with a pen. "My mom was telling me she protested a lot."

"She did?" I glanced at Amber who stood on the side-lines. I felt bad now. Rei took her place, the place that she painstakingly tried to create only for it to get taken. "I feel bad."

"Why?"

"Because if I didn't convince Mrs Lockwood to let Rei replace Amber, none of this would be happening."

"Then maybe she shouldn't have disappeared." I had to stop myself from visibly reacting as I pursed my lips and looked away. "I heard from my mom that she went on a walk before the thing started and then got lost. I mean she only has herself to blame for that."

"Let's not do that."

"I'm being logical."

"She was nervous and it's normal for those things to happen."

"Sure, I guess."

With that Will turned away from me and focused back on his work. I sighed and flicked a few strands of my hair back, not really focusing on my notebook. I gave up and put everything away. I clasped my hands and leaned back, watching everyone hurry as they worked hard to put together the float.

Everyone looked so happy that it was infectious.

"Ava?" I heard a familiar voice call out to me. I looked up at Will who pointed behind me. I turned around, coming face to face with none other than Jeremy. His eyes were hardened and his fists clenched as he stared down at me. "We need to talk."

He knew.

One glance at him. I could tell. He knew. I didn't even need to read his mind.

I nodded once, glancing back at Will who didn't think too much of the small exchange happening in front of him.

Will didn't even notice when I got up and followed Jeremy under the bleachers. He made a path for me as I weaved through the crowd, unconsciously I reached for the bloodstone pendant on my neck and held it in my hand.

"So what's up?" I broke the ice first as Jeremy shifted around.

He looked around for a bit before glancing at me. "You lied to me. You knew all along that vampires are real and what happened to Vicki. You lied to me not once but twice. You also let Damon wipe my mind or something."

"You read Elena's journal."

"She's not the best at hiding."

"She's not."

"So you lied to me."

"I did. I admit I lied but I did it because—"

"—Elena told you to lie to me."

"No. What? I admit that I let her call the shots cause you're her family but no. I didn't lie to you or let Damon compel you because of her. I did it because you weren't ready to know the truth."

"Bullshit. You're lying again."

"I'm not. You have no idea what you were like the night Vicki died."

"Because you and Elena had Damon compel me to forget—and don't tell me try to compel me yourself, I'll know. So just tell me the truth because between you and Elena, if anyone will be honest, it's you or at least that's what I remembered you to be."

"You were devastated and spiraling that night." I started. "And you weren't the only one."

"You were too." I looked up and met his gaze. "I read that you tried to save her."

"I did and I failed. That's why I wanted to protect you but since you already know, there's nothing I can do."

"You're not gonna try to compel me, are you?"

"Elena wrote that down too?"

"Along with you being psychic and being able to generate light from your fingertips. Yes."

"...I'm going to kill Elena." I muttered under my breath. "Anyways, you know almost everything now, including the part where your sister is dating a vampire and yeah, I know it's weird but just her be. And for the love of all that is good, don't do anything reckless."

"How are you so relaxed?"

"Oh I'm not. I have a lot of issues, I just have a therapist on the side." I replied with a pained grin. "You should get one too." I patted his arm and moved past him to get back. "Have you—um talk with Elena about this?"

"I'm going to, you're going to stop me."

"No, it's your life." I replied with my back turned to him. "Just don't do something reckless, I have enough on my plate then to also worry about Elena's little brother. So stay out of trouble." I said walking away.

─────⋇⋆✦⋆⋇─────

"Remind me why I'm here?" I asked. I was holding a nail gun in one hand and staring at a piece of cloth in front of me.

Caroline skipped over to me and held up the cloth. Her blonde hair swayed in the wind as she did so. I shook my head at her childish actions and motioned her to be careful. Her pace slowed down and she steadied herself.

"Because you love me." She grinned as I shot the nail gun, nailing the cloth down. "Also you promised to help out."

"Me and my stupid promises."

"It's not stupid." Caroline stopped and posed as a camera was pointed at her. "That was the local newspaper." She said, grabbing my arms and doctoring a pose that looked like we were hard at work but not too hard or the picture wouldn't come out right. "Thank god, we looked good today."

"God you're so shallow."

"And you're so petty."

"And apparently a narcissist cause I thought you said I'm so pretty."

"That too."

"And that's why we're best friends." I chimed in with a bright smile. Caroline looked at me before bursting out in fits of laughter. At our words, some onlookers stared strangely at us but we carried on laughing. "Why are we like this?"

"I have no idea. Oh there's Elena." Caroline gestured to Elena who was in the crowd.

She gave a small wave to our childhood friend before turning back to me. With a smile on my face, I turned to find her in the crowd but froze when a cold deathly chill took over me.

It was her, next to Elena, Isobel. The two stood side by side and were deep in conversation or that's what it seemed before Isobel grabbed Elena's arm.

Isobel must've said something to Elena who tried to pry herself off her birth mother before looking around frantically at all of us. "That woman..." I said out loud.

"Are you talking about the one next to Elena, yeah, I spoke to her yesterday."

"You...spoke to her."

Caroline nodded, blissfully ignorant. "Yeah, she was super nice. I know what you're gonna say; stranger danger but she helped me out big time."

"Caroline, have you been wearing those earrings I gave you?"

She nodded, and moved her hair away from her face to reveal two platinum earrings with glass amber gems in the center of each one. Encased in the gem was a delicate flower or what looked like a flower.

It was vervain.

Earrings were less noticeable than a bracelet or necklace. At least she wasn't compelled. I wanted to slap myself still for forgetting how easy-going and trusting Caroline could be.

"Thanks for that by the way. It was such a cute birthday present."

"Did you wear them yesterday?"

"No, I had to take them off to try on my costume and that's when she—" She gestured to Isobel. "—came to help. Super sweet."

"You took off your earrings?"

"Is that a problem?"

I smiled tightly and kept an eye on Elena and Isobel, I couldn't even say anything to Caroline.

Caroline and I pretended to work, I paused when I finally noticed Elena along with Isobel were looking at us.

From Bonnie, Jeremy, Caroline, me to Matt.

They were talking about us. Most likely, Isobel was threatening us. Their gaze lingered a little too long on Matt and I couldn't help but look at him too.

All of a sudden, there was a loud bang and then chaos erupted around us. Caroline and I shared a look before leaning over the float. A trailer had collapsed.

"Matt!" I shouted, seeing him underneath the wreckage.

"Oh my god." I heard Caroline gasp as she fell down to her knees. She quickly recovered but by then I had already started running towards the crowd.

Tyler rushed into the wreckage and started lifting the trailer. Some of the football players and members of the woodworking club also rushed into help while I tried to rush through the crowd.

Caroline was behind me, every step of the way. Stefan rushed in. He and I shared a look before he pulled Matt out.

I ran towards Matt with Caroline on our heels as we both hovered over Matt. I scanned him for any injuries. His arm was bleeding. My eyes widened in fear and pity. His football career.

That was the only thing that seemed like something for him in his bleak life. I gasped out as tears clouded my eyes. I reached over to my childhood friend on the ground.

"Don't." Stefan swiftly grabbed my arm and pulled me off. It was then that I noticed the warmth in my bare hands despite the chilly weather that day. "There's too many people." He harshly whispered, reminding me again about our surroundings.

I weakly nodded as he let go. "Caroline, call an ambulance." He commanded as he got up.

"Where are you going?"

"First aid kit." I hurriedly replied, getting up.

I started sprinting towards where my bag was. It was on the float nearby. Close enough but the crowd. It was hard to get through.

I just wished they would just move.

The crowd went silent for a second before shuffling over to the different sides in pockets, clearing a path for me.

I sighed in relief and ran straight to my bag and got out the kit I always carried. Grabbing the kit along with my bag, I ran over and ran back to where Matt lay.

"I can at least stop the bleeding." I sat back down and helped Matt.

I took out some bandages and started getting to work. Behind me Stefan and Tyler watched closely while Caroline paced back and forth while on the phone with an emergency operator.

"How long are they gonna take?" I heard Tyler ask. Concern and anger laced in his voice. "Ava, can't treat the serious stuff."

I stepped back after haphazardly treating Matt to the best of my abilities and looked at the scene before me. "How did thi—this happen?" I breathed out, looking at the collapsed trailer. "It was fine a minute ago."

"It was an accident." Stefan spoke up, giving me a meaningful look.

Translation: it wasn't an accident.

Isobel did this. She did it. It was obvious. She was clearly trying to threaten Elena. We should've killed her.

"The ambulance is saying in 15-20 minutes." Caroline replied, hurrying over after hanging up.

Tyler nodded along and stepped forward. "I have my car. I can take him to the hospital."

"Caroline can take me." Matt retorted, clutching his half-treated arm.

His girlfriend shook her head. "I didn't drive."

"Then Ava can drive." He glanced at me with a hopeful gaze and I had no choice but to let him down.

"Caroline and I came with Bonnie, Matt." I reminded him.

Matt sighed. "I'll wait. It's fine."

Caroline scoffed at his reaction and stomped over to him. "You will not wait, okay?! You need to see a doctor, Tyler is driving. End of story." She stated.

"Look Ava patched me up a little, I can wait a bit."

Tyler grumbled under his breath. "You know I get you being pissed at me for me screwing up but you're going too far."

"Yeah I'm going too far kinda like you did that night. I'm fine."

"Oh my god. Shut up!" I finally had enough of the two. Matt's anger was justified but here he was with an injured arm, still nursing his grudge. "You can argue at the hospital after your arm has been checked—by a professional."

I carried on, helping Caroline lift her boyfriend up. "Tyler's driving and like Caroline said, that's final. Tyler get the car!"

Turning away from my friends, I looked at the crowd in front of me. God I wish I could work my magic on them but unfortunately everything was going wrong for me so I had no choice but to rely on my natural speaking skills.

"I'd appreciate it if people could give us some space!" I shouted at the crowd. "This is an emergency, folks so give us some space, back off and let Matt breathe! We also need some space to take him to the hospital—so please give some space." I glanced at the members of the student council who were scattered around.

Immediately, Will led the other members of the student council to clear the students off the field. I breathed out in relief and glanced back at Matt who was now being nursed by Caroline. It was just his arm now but it could've been his life. He could've died. I folded my arms around me as the cold truth slapped me in the face.

Matt could've died just like Vicki.

Before I could entertain those thoughts any longer, I felt a tug on my arm. Stefan tugged at my sweater and pointed towards the school building. A meeting, I guess. He gave a look of sympathy and gently patted my back as he led me to the building. He was apologetic yet again for something he didn't do.

I was getting tired of this.

─────⋇⋆✦⋆⋇─────

I paced around the room in circles while Elena and Stefan watched me from the other side. Mr Saltzman was at his desk, leaning on it. Bonnie grabbed me by the arm and stopped me from drilling holes into the ground. It was bad enough that Matt was injured but as if things couldn't get worse, Jeremy was also missing.

"Matt was hurt. Jeremy's missing. And I'm not allowed to kill Isobel." I said looking at both Elena and Mr Saltzman. Elena flinched at my words while Mr Saltzman looked at the floor. "We're not doing this anymore, Isobel wants the device, she can have it."

Bonnie spoke out after a moment. "Where is the device?"

Stefan let out a deep sigh and shook his head. He didn't agree with me but it wasn't like we had any other options left. "Damon has it. He's going to be difficult to reason with."

"We'll go to him, I'll talk to him." Elena said. I let out a laugh.

Yeah, that wasn't happening. Damon trusted Elena or was starting to. At the same time, he was overly cautious of her and Stefan especially after the whole grimoire incident. He just didn't show it to her how affected he was by it all. Stefan knew, I could tell.

"He's not just gonna hand it over, especially if it's harmful to vampires." Stefan being the smart one pointed it at and I remembered then what my goal was.

I needed to get the device to John.

Wait. John and Isobel were working together so if Isobel had the device, she'd give it to John and I wouldn't have to get involved. That seemed easy enough. I'd warn Stefan and Elena in advance who would take care of Damon. Less involvement for me.

It was at that moment, Elena decided to propose something that would complicate everything I was planning. "What if it's not?" She retorted after some moment. She, Stefan, Bonnie and I glanced at each other with a look and I looked away.

"It's not impossible." I commented lightly.

The pros and cons of that weighed on my mind. After all, the tomb vampires were still in town. There were too many cons.

"Then it's settled." Elena nodded her head at Bonnie before she left. Mr Saltzman stared at the floor the whole time, too guilty to look at us. Stefan followed Elena soon but not before giving me a look that screamed 'we need to talk', I pretended that I didn't see that.

Bonnie left next. The minute she was gone I got a text from her, telling me she was gonna wait in her car for me. I sent a quick reply before walking up to Mr Saltzman. "You shouldn't feel guilt for other people's actions."

"She was my wife." He quietly reminded me.

"Was." I emphasized. "Whatever humanity that she had left is gone. Whether you like to admit it or not, that's not your wife anymore, Mr Saltzman and we are not responsible for the actions of others. That's just the way life is."

Mr Saltzman let out a sad laugh before he shut his eyes and nodded in agreement. "Thank you. I needed to hear that."

"I figured."

"Also you can call me, Ric when we're out of school. I am friends with your uncle too."

"I know but we're technically in school and I'm a stickler for rules."

"Got it."

"Don't beat yourself up over Isobel." I reminded him, grabbing my bag off my desk and walking out the door.

To my surprise I found Bonnie waiting outside. She was clutching her arm and looking around. The halls were empty. Everyone was outside. Matt along with Caroline and Tyler were at the hospital but the float was unfinished and it needed to be done before the parade.

I walked over to her and tapped her on her shoulder, grabbing her attention. "I thought you were waiting in your car." I said, walking with her to her car.

"I was going to but I needed to make something."

"You're not planning on un-spelling the device are you."

"I can't." She admitted.

I smiled in response. Letting out a sigh of relief, I pushed the door to the parking lot open and held the door open for her. "Good, because I was gonna ask you not to do it." I muttered just quiet enough for her to heat. "There's still tomb vampires in town." I added in.

─────⋇⋆✦⋆⋇─────

The moment Elena asked for the invention, he said 'no' like I knew he would. Stefan and I shared a knowing look as Elena and Damon went back and forth. This wasn't going to go anywhere. I sighed loudly, Bonnie patted my back in an attempt to comfort me. She knew how anxious I was with everything.

On the drive here, I spilled. I told her about what my family asked me to do. How I witnessed Stefan and Damon's transition. How that was affecting me and I was even close to telling her about what happened during Spring Break but at the last minute I stopped myself.

This was enough.

I shifted my attention back to Elena. "You can trust me." She stepped forward, looking up at Damon with her doe eyes, trying to convince him.

Damon stared down at her, lost in his thoughts but then he blinked. His jaws clenched as he ruefully smiled. "After the trick you and Stefan pulled with Emily Bennett's grimoire? Yeah. I don't think so." He shook his head and threw a glare at Stefan, remembering what the two put him through that night. "...But if you asked nicely..." He smiled wider. I did not want him to finish that sentence at all.

I sighed as I rolled my eyes. I didn't want to do this at all. But I had no choice but to step in. Bonnie and I made eye contact as she looked at me hopelessly, this wasn't working. "What about me?" I called out, against my better judgment, taking his attention off Elena. "I haven't given you a reason to not trust me."

Damon glanced at me. Stopping to really stare, his eyes roamed over my face, checking if I was really Ava. "No. You haven't." He admitted. "But you hate me."

"I fear what you are. There's a difference." I pointed out, taking a step towards him. A bad move, I know especially after what went down last time we were this close.

Damon and I really were like oil and water, never getting along.

"Don't take it personally." I whispered. "So. The device." I said, louder than before with my hand out. "I'll even let Bonnie channel me for some extra magical juice so she can completely 'de-spell' the device. What do you say? Hmm."

"Fine." Damon gave in, placing the device into my hands.

That was easier than I thought. I smiled triumphantly, turning back to give my best friends a look of triumph.

But Damon didn't pull away, instead he pulled me in, forcing me to turn around in an instant. His lips were too close to my ears for comfort as he hunched down to my level.

"Don't let me down." He whispered before letting go and turning away from me. "You're welcome." He said a little louder than before.

"Thank you." Elena said as I passed the device to Bonnie. I could feel his eyes on me as I walked back to stand next to Bonnie.

Stefan and I made eye contact as he checked if I was fine. I nodded and gave him a reassuring smile, turning away to follow Bonnie out the room to help her prepare for the spell.

─────⋇⋆✦⋆⋇─────

Bonnie and I snuck secretive glances at each other while Damon stood off to a side watching over us. Elena and Stefan stood off to the side with Stefan's arms wrapped around Elena.

This was the right thing to do. I said to myself. I promised Bonnie and my family that I'd do this. For the better of Mystic Falls, I said to myself as I placed three large white column candles on the table in front of the fireplace.

I stood back as Stefan helped Elena arrange the boarding house's sitting room for Bonnie's spell. That gnawing feeling of guilt was back temporarily as I watched Elena and Stefan.

Elena even helped to set up the candles which I knew were not going to be used but they were not going to know until it was too late. Bonnie gave me another glance as she disappeared off to grab her grimoire.

We both had a plan. A simple levitation spell mixed with a wind spell. Bonnie would pretend to channel me before she cast the levitation spell on the device and simultaneously she would also cast the wind spell to sway the flames and create an effect that something was happening.

I just hoped it'd go according to plan.

"Who do you think Elena's real dad is?" Damon questioned all of a sudden.

I tilted my head towards the ceiling, thinking of all the possibilities. "Most likely John Gilbert."

"We're on the same page."

"Actually I had a few guesses. Grayson was on my list but he seemed too loyal to his wife. There was also Richard Lockwood, but he was traveling around that time with his brother, Mason—also crossed Mason off the list. Even considered Logan Fell but he was too obsessed with my aunt Diana at the time and then there was my late uncle Eric but he wasn't the type to abandon his own child." I listed off my possibilities, staring at the ceiling.

"That left John. Isobel and John actually interacted compared to my other guesses." I remembered what my mom said.

Damon nodded. "That's a long list. John and Isobel had a thing but I'm guessing that's not why you picked John."

"Grayson Gilbert, Elena's adoptive dad forged her birth certificate. We know that already. All the legal paperwork points to Grayson and Miranda as her legal birth parents. That wouldn't be possible if the person he was forging for was not someone he knew, going by that, I can rule out several other people. This is a small town after all." I pointed out.

He looked impressed and I carried on.

"To add, my dad's a lawyer, I'm sure he was involved in this somehow. He might not have known about the whole truth but he knew Grayson so he wouldn't hesitate to help an old friend. There's also something I found interesting was that John emphasizing that Elena was a Gilbert a lot growing up, that might've been normal 'Founders' family pride' or—"

"It was an attempt to unknowingly reassure her about her parentage. You thought this through. You're smart."

"I know." I grinned.

"I'm sorry..." I froze when he said those words. For a moment, I thought I was hallucinating. "About the other day."

My eyes drifted over to the side. Damon stood towering over me, gazing down at me with pleading eyes. He meant it. He really meant it. I opened my mouth, only to close it again. Looking away, I shut my eyes and internally groaned.

How could he do this to me now?

Of all the times?

Why now?

Why when I finally decided to go through with this did he decide to show some change?

Why did he always have to go and make me falter in my decisions?

I hated it.

I truly hated the way he made me feel.

I already decided by now, I was going to save Stefan. Let Damon fend for himself, if he survived, he survived. If he didn't. Well, that was another story I didn't think about. I didn't want to think about it.

I'm going to ignore him. He would go away if I ignored him. At least that's what I thought "I know what you're thinking..." He began again.

This time he flashed to stand in my field of vision, blocking my view. I couldn't look away. Great. "You're probably thinking that I don't mean what I'm saying but I do. I mean it. For better or worse, you might be the only person in this town that I can safely call the closest thing to a friend—or so—th—mo—." The last few words got lost in the haze as I lost myself.

I squeezed my eyes shut and broke through the haze. I couldn't do this now. I couldn't go into a vision right now.

Shaking my head, I tried to push past him, only for him to stop me. "I mean what I'm saying." He repeated again.

"Somehow I find that hard to believe."

"I know. I know I haven't been the best person to be around or know but I'm trying."

"You turned Elena's birth mother into a vampire." I pointed out. "And who knows you probably talked to her already."

"I did." He admitted. "Only to find out what she wanted."

"Did you?"

"More or else."

"Lemme guess the invention."

He nodded. "It seems to be pretty popular, she's also working with Katherine." I whipped around to look at him in silent shock. "You didn't know about that one." He remarked as I shook my head.

"That sounds like a future problem; Katherine and Isobel working together. Why? What do they have in common?"

"If I knew I would tell you."

"Not without a trade."

"You know me. By the way, good job on changing the subject there. You do that a lot."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Really? Hmm. I don't believe that. I did mean what I said before. I'm sorry."

I pulled my arm away from his grip and looked up at him with a glare. "Stop." I harshly whispered. "Just stop. You're ruining it." I said speaking more to myself than him.

"Ruining wh—"

Just then, Bonnie dropped the grimoire on the table, making a loud banging noise. With one more flick of the grimoire, she pushed it aside and passed it to Elena. "I'm ready." She looked at me and nodded.

It was time.

With one last glance at Damon, I took out the invention and walked towards the table. The old metallic device with its cogs and wheels felt sharp and heavy in my hands. I had the sudden urge to fling the device at the fireplace but I dismissed it.

Placing the device in the center of the table, I looked at Bonnie who gestured for me to bring forth my hand. I placed my hand over hers and felt a fiery heat through my veins. It was only for a second and then it was gone.

Bonnie let go of my hands and went over to the other side.

I backed away. Another glance around the room, Bonnie held out her hands over the device and started chanting the spells. The air grew heavy and suddenly the flames around us started dancing around wildly.

Elena and I made eye contact before I looked away.

The device started levitating now like I knew it would as Bonnie's chants continued. It moved around in her hands mockingly before Bonnie gently let it down.

The device landed on the table while in the background the flames grew higher and higher while Bonnie's chants sped up.

The table started shaking as the device flew up in the air before freezing mid air. The gears of the device started spinning wildly as the invention itself started slowly rotating mid-air. Then it all stopped for a second time.

Bonnie gestured it fall on the table and it landed with a soft thud.

"It's done." She declared, breathing out heavily and opening her eyes. Her eyes met mine as she nodded at me and Damon.

Gingerly, she picked up the now 'ordinary' invention and handed it to Elena.

"Great," Damon clapped his hands together, unimpressed by the whole thing. "Now what?"

"Now we give it to Isobel." Elena stated looking at Stefan, Damon and me.

I nodded. "Well, stay safe. I'm gonna call it a day." I said in response. "Might swing by Matt's though."

Stefan gave me a look of understanding while Elena looked disappointed. Bonnie had walked up to me and grabbed my arm. She squeezed it comfortingly before she too declared that she was going home. Her stuff had already been packed. Not letting Elena or anyone else argue back, she pulled me away and all but dragged me to her car.

─────⋇⋆✦⋆⋇─────

The wheels of the shopping cart hit the gravel underneath as I pushed it through the half-empty parking lot. The cart was filled with last minute groceries I decided to pick up for Matt who to no one's surprise ended up in a cast.

I frowned and my grip on the handle of the cart tightened as I let out a sigh. If only I could've healed him. I know what Stefan did was the right thing, stopping me. Still I couldn't help but think otherwise.

Lost in my thoughts, I cursed myself for parking my car so far away before flipping my phone over and turning it on while pushing the cart.

The screen lit up as hundreds of messages rushed through the screen. I had to pause to swipe through them all. Some were conversations from my friends back in Havensbrook, others were from family members asking about my well-being. I could reply to those later. I stopped again when I found Caroline's messages which were lost in the sea of my unread messages.

She was going to be late, her mom wasn't letting her go so I told her that I'd be there. That always worked.

I rolled my eyes and left Caroline on read, pushing the cart along. It was eerie how quiet everything in this town was lately especially when the sun went down. I didn't like it.

Another message. I frowned and flipped my phone over again, checking it. It was from Elena.

The exchange was done. She was back home and Jeremy was fine.

I turned my phone off and started to push the cart again. Seriously, why did I park so far away?

It was so annoying to drag this all the way to my car. I shivered a little as my hands started to turn pale. I cursed myself again but this time for leaving my coat in my car.

What was I thinking? Why was I being so stupid? I was lucky that I had inhuman qualities, otherwise I would be a popsicle by now.

Just then my phone started ringing. I scowled and turned my phone over to hand.

Damon.

He must've been calling to update me on the Isobel-thing. I didn't want to think about Isobel or John anymore. That matter for me was closed. I did my part and now I wanted nothing to do with either but my curiosity won as I found myself picking up his call.

"So how'd it go?"

"The exchange went along smoothly. Elena had a little breakdown after."

"I figured. She was her birth mom and finding out what Isobel really was like must've been tragic."

"It was." Damon agreed, much to my surprise. "Isobel said something to Elena...and by extension me."

"Oh really." I said, trying to summon some warmth into my hands without the light. 

I found my hands getting slightly warmer and thankfully no light came. I felt better but more tired than ever. I shouldn't have done that.

"What did she say?" I questioned while concentrating hard to banish the warmth, it was surprisingly taking too much out of me now. Slowly the warmth faded and I was left in the chilling cold.

Silence ensued.

Damon didn't say anything but I could hear his rough breathing on the other side, reminding he was still here. Between that and the sound of the cart, I could also hear the soft clicks of my heeled boots.

"Damon?" I called out.

"...I'm sorry." He suddenly apologized. My jaws clenched and I shut my eyes, abruptly stopping before carrying on. "I meant what I said before. I'm sorry for the way I've been treating you all this time."

I couldn't help but let out a sarcastic laugh. "Let's be honest here, Damon. You're only apologizing because I'm ignoring you and for some bizarre reason that bothers you."

"It does. I don't know why but I admit it bothers me a lot when you go ghost on me."

"Unbelievable."

"You told me to be honest and I'm being honest—it's funny that you're doing this now when before I tried to apologize you told me not to 'cause I quote unquote, 'was ruining it'. So what was I ruining?"

"My new resolve to hate you."

"New? Thought you already did hate me. Wait. Did you suddenly start caring about me?"

"No. What? Wh—why would you—um—even think something like that? I would never ever care about you."

"Right. I believe that so much."

"Damon..." I trailed off when I felt that deathly chill in my bones. It made me stop in front of my car. "Are you following me?" I asked him, dropping my voice to a whisper.

Maybe it was him and he just happened to follow me here. Wouldn't be the first time he did something like this.

"I'm at the boarding house."

"Sure, I believe that."

"Ava. I'm not lying."

"Whatever, just knock it off."

Silence followed before I heard rustling on the other side. "Where are you?" He asked. His voice was sharper and more focused.

The chill got more suffocating the longer I stood outside. Swallowing my fear, I started to hurry putting away the groceries. Damn me for being a nice friend. I know Matt told me I didn't have to but I just had to go out of my way to not only grab some takeaway from the grill but also buy groceries.

Why was I so unnecessarily kind? Ugh, I cursed myself and hurried along.

"Ava? Are you still there?"

More rustling followed and I could've sworn I heard the wind in the background as well. I hummed in response while trying to act normal. Damn, my hands were occupied, my crossbow was in the trunk and the dagger in my coat which I left in the front passenger seat. I was just making too many mistakes.

"Where are you?" He repeated with more urgency.

I let out a feigned chuckle. "I'm at the grocery store, Damon. You remember I told you, I offered to grab some groceries for Matt since he's injured." I gave him as many details as I could have without being overly obvious.

As much as I wanted to continue the cold war between us, now was not the time. My hands were full, I was off-guard and my magic was out of control. I was not at my best. Besides, survival first, anger second.

"Turn on the lights." He replied.

It took me a second to realize that he was speaking in code in case a vampire was following me. That was smart but unfortunately, I couldn't use my magic without losing control.

"I can't. The light switch is broken." I quietly admitted. Then the line went quiet. This time I couldn't even hear his breathing. Great. Just great. I was on my own.

Turning around to grab more bags from the cart, I jumped back a bit. My phone fell from my hand and almost landed on the floor before I quickly caught it. Luckily the call didn't cut off, I kept Damon on the other line while clutching my phone tightly in my left hand.

In front of me stood a brunette woman with the remaining bags of groceries.

Isobel.

The brown paper bags filled to the brim were clutched to her chest as he beamed at me. I could've sworn for a second, there were black veins under her eyes but maybe it was the lighting. I couldn't tell.

"Thought you might need a hand." She said, acting as if she knew me.

I stared at her in silent shock. "Um. Thank you but I can handle it." I replied, over the bags in my hands that I was trying to fit into my car. "I do appreciate it, I don't wanna take up anyone's time."

"I insist." She said with a painted smile.

I almost scoffed. Here she was acting as if she didn't threaten her ex-husband or her biological daughter or hurt Matt. I knew what she was capable of. She could kill me without hesitation.

Taking a few steps forward, she took a step back into the darkness. Again, I could've sworn I saw dark veins. I wouldn't lie and say I wasn't nervous or maybe even afraid at that moment. Weakly I nodded in thanks.

Gingerly, I grabbed the two bags from her, being sure to keep my phone in my hand. I briefly and quickly turned away from her to put away the groceries in my car. I turned back to grab the rest but froze when she held onto it.

I tried again to grab the bag but she didn't budge. Her light gray eyes seemed fixated on me as the smile on her face slowly faded.

All of a sudden, her eyes became teary and she looked wistful. In the dim lights, she looked very pitiful. But she abandoned Elena and tried to hurt people, I reminded myself.

"Um. Excuse me." I called out to her, trying to snap her out of daze. "Hello?"

Isobel jumped back a little and let out a deep audible breath. "I'm sorry I zoned out there." She said with an awkward laugh. "Here." She all but pushed the last bags of the groceries before taking even more steps back. I stared at her for a second before turning back around and putting the rest away.

"Long day?" She started while I wrestled to fit the food from the grill with the groceries in the trunk. I could kill her easily if my magic was not acting up. Be done and over with it but Elena would be sad.

"You could say that." I answered. "You're not from around here, are you?" I said, trying to make conversation and get something out for Damon who was still listening in while fumbling around for my bow.

"Not really. I'm visiting. What about you? What brings you to Mystic Falls?"

"I'm from Mystic Falls."

"Oh. I thought you were from Washington."

My blood ran cold and I froze. I let out a nervous laugh, carrying my search on. "What made you think that?"

"Well, I just assumed."

"You...just assumed?"

She hummed in response. "Is that a problem?"

I didn't say anything. Too shocked to speak. How would Isobel know where I had been in the past few years. Was she watching us? The thought scared me a little.

"Um—you didn't say what your name was."

"Isobel. Isobel Flemming." She said with a small smile. "And you are."

"Rose." I replied, giving her the full form of my middle name. That was enough for me.

"Pretty name." I smiled awkwardly in response. "I'm sorry I'm coming across very strange but I knew your mother."

"You did?" I knew that.

Isobel nodded. Tucking a strand of her hair behind her ears, she clasped her hands together. "You are Laila's kid, right?" I tilted my head in feigned confusion, wanting to know more.

"Laila Shaik? Oh wait. She got married and actually took on her husband's name. That was sweet. Um. What was her husband's name? Start with 'G'. Grant? No, that wasn't it. Gage—no! I remember. Gabe. Gabriel. Gabriel Fitzroy. That's your dad right."

"Yeah..."

"You must be feeling pretty awkward right now, Ava."

"It's Rose."

"I know. Aveline Rose Fitzroy but you shorten Aveline to Ava." She recited my full name with a bored tone as if my full name was general knowledge. That horrified me. She knew me. "S—liked roses." I head her mutter.

"It's just that I used to be friends with your aunt and I was in town so I thought I'd come and meet your mother but since she's not here, I wanted to see you."

I ignored that last part and focused on the first part. I already knew about this from Trudy and my mom but hearing it from Isobel herself was strange.

"My aunt? Which one."

"Sunny—no—Sonia. She was my best friend."

"I thought Trudy was your best friend." I accidentally blurted out.

Isobel's eyes widened for a second before she went back to her current self. It was strange to say the least. "That waste of space." I heard her mumble under her breath with a hint of disgust.

"Did Trudy tell you that?"

"My mom did."

"Laila kept track of me?" Isobel asked with a bright smile. The slight boredom in her voice disappeared completely and there was an obsessed look in her eyes that made me stumble back. She looked overly excited for some reason.

"Sorry, it's just your grandparents were like a second family to me."

I guess for that reason she was showing me more care than she showed Elena and that freaked me out. If I knew anything about vampires, the more emotional they were, the easier they would lose control. I had to get away.

"Oh. That's news to me."

I slammed the trunk of my car. Isobel followed my movement. Without turning my back to her, I walked over to the driver's side.

"I spent a lot of time with your aunt and your grandparents...almost as much time you spend around Elena Gilbert, Stefan and Damon Salvatore or maybe that's too little."

"Excuse me? How did you—"

Now she was standing face to face. "I've been watching you, Ava." She admitted. "I had to."

"What the hell!"

Isobel grabbed my arms, my phone falling to the ground. I didn't know if it broke or not. She brought her face close to mine.

"You have your grandmother's eyes, Sonia had them too." She remarked quietly. Her gray eyes stared deeply into mine. "Calm down."

Her eyes dilated as she said those words. She was trying to compel me. I had to play along. Breathing softly, I relaxed a bit as I blankly stared at Isobel, wondering what she was going to do next.

"Good, now I need you to do me a favor, stay away from Stefan Salvatore and Damon Salvatore, especially Damon. You have to stay away from them." I nodded once again, with a blank face. Her grip on my arm loosened and fists unclenched. "Forget this happened."

I closed my eyes and when I opened them, Isobel stood at a distance once again. "Wait, what were we talking about? I kinda zoned out." I lied with a polite smile on my face.

"I was just talking about your aunt."

"Right." I nodded, turning around to open the driver's door.

"Weird question." Isobel suddenly said. "What perfume are you wearing?"

"Perfume..." I looked down at my lavender flower printed dress and the baggy maroon sweater on top. This was happening more frequently than I'd liked.

Did I smell different to vampires or something?

It was strange. But now, I needed to answer Isobel.

"Oh it's Daisy by Marc Jacobs. A little pricey but it was a Christmas gift so..." I gushed. It wasn't a lie. Not the whole truth either because I had a feeling that wasn't what she was smelling.

"Hmm. That's not what I meant." She muttered under her breath.

"Did you say something?"

"Nothing. But would you like to continue our talk over dinner?" Isobel offered.

"Wow." I breathed out, trying to think of a way to say no. My eyes wandered over to my coat and it lingered there. If only I could reach for the dagger. "Um. This is awkward."

"You have plans?"

"Actually, I do have plans with—"

"Me." Damon said, creeping behind Isobel and walking over to me before snaking his arm around my waist.

Isobel noticed this and glared at him. I had no idea where he had come from but I was actually happy to see him for once.

"I was waiting for you." I gave him a look and he blinked twice, telling me to play along.

"Oh." Isobel sighed in disappointment and silent anger. Her face twisted and then she was back. Her compulsion was going to be useless, that's what I could read from that split second of emotional crack in her mask.

"Ava, go wait in the car." Damon commanded.

"Excuse me?" I said, annoyed by his words. He didn't wait a moment before he turned around, grabbing arms and pinning me to the sides of my car. "Sit in the car and wait for me."

His electric blue eyes bore deeply into my honey brown eyes as I pretended to nod. He didn't want Isobel to know about me, for that I was grateful.

Blinking twice I nodded blankly and mechanically walked over to the passenger seat and pulled the door open, taking a seat in the passenger seat. I held my jacket in my arms, clutching it close by.

Carefully, I took my dagger and the crystal that I borrowed from my uncle fell out. Maybe. Just maybe. I was thinking of using it this time but before I could use it, the door of the car opened and Damon slid into the driver's seat.

Damon said nothing and started the engine. I was itching to ask him about his conversation with Isobel. Now and then I would glance at Isobel. "I know I look good but your staring is distracting me."

"Narcissist." I muttered under my breath as I put my arms through my black coat and placed the dagger on my lap. Damon watched me from the corner of his eyes. His grip on the steering wheel tightened when he saw the weapon.

"You took a wrong turn by the way." I said, changing topic.

"I didn't."

"You did."

"Hmm. Last I checked the Fitzroy estate was in this direction."

"Last I checked I never said I was going home."

"Well, I'm taking you home, Aveline."

"Ava." I corrected, groaning.

"Aveline."

"It's French for Evelyn and I don't get along with my aunt who I was named after so it's Ava not Aveline. Now stop the car, Damon."

"Sure after I take you home."

I scoffed. "No, you're not. Stop the car." No response. He acted as if he didn't even hear me. "Damon! Stop the car." He spared me a glance as he furrowed his brows and finally stopped the car. "Thank you. Now get out."

He paused and turned to look at me before he chuckled. "I just saved your life and this is how you thank me." He began, starting the engine again, much to my annoyance.

"You also tried to kill me a couple of times." I pointed out.

"Please, that wasn't real."

"It felt pretty real."

"Come on. We always do this. You try to kill me and I do it back. I don't really mean it and I know you don't mean it. It's our thing."

"First of all, we do not have 'thing', and second of all are you suddenly a psychic or something."

"No but you are." I flinched at his words. "Since you're being stubborn, where do you wanna go? I'll take you there."

"I'm not telling you."

"Ah. But you already did. Matt Donovan's right?"

I sighed and pulled the seat belt, clipping it down before looking away. I could feel Damon's smug smile as he started the engine again. The car started moving. We drove in silence and I watched the windows fog up while passing tall trees that seemed to be the only witnesses to the car passing by.

"Why are you being so 'nice' all of a sudden?" I asked, still looking outside. 

Damon didn't say anything. He made a vague excuse of always being on his best behavior around me which I didn't buy at all. What was he up to? 

"Did Isobel say anything to you?" I questioned. I turned to stare at him.

Between the passing of the clouds and fleeting moonlight, I could see his face a little but not enough to see fully what he was thinking. This was one of those times where I wished I could read his mind.

"Maybe. Did she say anything to you?"

"...She tried to compel me." I admitted, weaving my fingers through my hair. "Thanks for playing along by the way."

"Why did she compel you?"

"Well," I turned my body around to face him and leaned my head to the side. "It was weird. She asked me to stay away from you and Stefan. More specifically you—like I'm not trying anyways. What?" The car suddenly slowed as I heard a quiet crack.

"Nothing." He sped up again, acting as if nothing happened.

"Okay." I said, pulling my coat tight around me. My eyes felt heavy. "Your turn. What did you and Isobel talk about? How disappointing of a mother she was to Elena? Or did you guys talk about Mr Saltzman or Or did you two catch up about your little affair?"

"Actually, we talked about you."

"Well, that's surprising and weird. How is that woman more interested in me, someone who doesn't even know her while totally ignoring her ex-husband and her only child."

"Took the words right out of my mouth. I think her sudden interest and attachment to you is weird and concerning. You sure you don't know much about it?"

"Everything I know, you already know."

"Somehow I don't quite believe that." Damon mumbled under his breath, taking a turn on the left. "Anyways, I might have to compel Caroline again."

"No, you don't."

"I kinda have to. She told Isobel about all of us including the disastrous relationship I had with Caroline and apparently how close you and I've gotten."

"Oh. We're not—we're not close at all. I still don't get why everyone thinks that."

Damon stopped the car just as we pulled up to Matt's driveway and stared at me. "How are you simultaneously the most observant and the most dense person I know?" He looked frustrated as he ran his fingers through his dark hair. I admit he looked good but he was a vampire.

"Wow, Salvatore. I don't know if you're insulting me or you're complimenting me." I freed myself from the seat belt and moved to grab the bags of groceries and takeout. "Also how did you know which grocery store I was at."

"I ran to all three in the whole town. Then stopped by at Bell's and lo and behold there you were."

I stopped. My arms were crammed full with paper and plastic bags. Damon stared at me and moved to help me. I didn't protest. My mind short-circuited for a moment.

"You...ran to all of the grocery stores in town?" I said it out-loud as a question to him but really I was asking myself that. Damon hummed in response. "Why?"

"Because..."

"Because?"

"I—uh—I..."

Just as Damon was about to answer, the door to the Donovan house opened and the warm light from inside the house poured into the front porch where we stood. Immediately, Damon took a step back.

Matt stood in the doorway looking at me. His arm was in a sling while his eyes looked tired.

"Ava?" Matt greeted. "What are you doing here?"

I let out a nervous laugh, suddenly remembering what I was here for. "Remember I told you I was going to bring over some stuff." I said, clutching some of the bags to my chest.

On the side, Damon placed the bags he was holding onto the porch before taking a step back. I heard footsteps behind me. He was probably going back to the car.

"Some stuff?" Matt asked, staring down at all the bags that were on the porch and on me. "I think you might have gone a little overboard."

"A little." I admitted.

Matt let out a laugh and shook his head. "Come on in." He moved aside, giving way for me

Damn it, I thought, looking back to find Damon was gone.

The car was still there locked, the keys were inside on top of a bag. But he was gone. Just like that. I had so much to ask him but I guess I would be saving that for another day. I never got to ask him about if I really gave off a scent to vampires or what he and Isobel talked about.

I guess I would save those questions for another day. I sighed and plastered on a smile as Matt beckoned me inside.

─────⋇⋆✦⋆⋇─────

The small kitchen in the Donovan house was lively that night. Matt animatedly talked with me as we both dragged the bags to the kitchen from the porch. He looked apologetic as he stood off to the side with his cast.

I smiled brightly as I arranged the groceries. Putting the pantry items away, I shifted my focus to the freezer with all the frozen food including frozen microwavable meals.

"Caroline's gonna be late by the way." Matt said, pulling a seat and sitting down. "And so is Bonnie."

I nodded along while quietly humming under my breath. In the background, music blared softly as Matt bobbed his head along to the sound. "I have a strange feeling that Tyler might show up."

"Take that back. Ugh. Come on." He ran his fingers through his hair and started pulling at it.

"You're gonna go bald at this rate. Stop that."

"I'll stop it if you take that back."

"Fine. Fine. I take it back." I said, turning around. "Doesn't make it less true though."

"Ava!"

I laughed and picked up a jar of strawberry jam. I opened a cabinet and placed it there, going back to pick up the peanut butter, two jars of nutella and a jar of apricot jam before placing them all in the cabinet.

The apricot jam wouldn't go in. I pushed it along but it still wouldn't go in. Annoyed, I took out all the things in that cabinet and finally found the culprit.

It was an open expired jar of maple butter that was taking up the extra space.

"This should've been in the fridge and also it's expired."

Matt's smile died when he noticed the jar. I gave him a confused look as he gnawed at the bottom of his lips. "Vicki bought that." He quietly admitted, getting up and taking it from me with his uninjured hand.

I froze on the spot as guilt started to overtake me. Oh god, what did I do?

"She used to think this went with peanut butter and kept it in there. She had a sweet tooth but she's gone and this is expired. No one's gonna eat that. Throw it out." He passed the jar back to me and stood back.

"Matt..."

"I'm fine. It's expired anyway. I can't hoard old moldy food just 'cause Vick was the one who bought it, Rosy."

I held up the jar in my hand with a tight grip, reluctant to throw it out now. "Still."

"Here, I'll do it." He took back the jar of maple butter and walked over to the bin. Before I could stop him, he drew his arm up in a pose to throw the jar in but he froze. He couldn't do it. He took a deep pained breath in and let it out before throwing it in. "There. It's gone."

"Matt. I'm so sorry." I ran towards him and engulfed him into a hug. Matt melted into my embrace and I could feel some tears escaping as he sniffed. "I went overboard, didn't I?"

"No, you didn't. It's just I still can't believe she's gone. I know I used to complain about her but I never wanted her dead. She was getting clean too."

"I know."

"And then my mom had to go and do that. Tyler and her betrayed me." He sniffed. "I miss her. I miss Vicki."

It was getting darker outside. The mood in the kitchen had shifted as the song ended, leaving us in a somber silence. The only thing I could hear was the ticking of the clock on the kitchen wall. I had the sudden urge to tell him the truth.

"Matt. What if..." I swallowed thickly and took a step forward. "What if Vicki's death wasn't accidental?" I said.

The quarterback looked up, his brow furrowed in confusion. He took a few steps back. "Ava, look I know you're grieving as well but the police said it was an overdose."

"Because they assumed it was but what if it wasn't."

"You know something. Do you think she murdered?"

I bit my lips and turned away from Matt. This could be it. This could be the moment Matt's life changed. Jeremy already knew and he seemed to take it well. But could Matt take it. I couldn't handle lying to him about his sister anymore and seeing him like this. He deserved to know.

"Do you believe in vampires, Matt?"