A few days had passed since my emotional break down. I had been laying in my bed, not wanting to get up or leave since then. But Damon wasn't gonna let it continue. He called me just before he went to the founder's council meeting, asking me to keep an eye on Stefan since he had fell off the wagon and wasn't getting back on so easily. I agreed, albeit reluctantly, and rolled out of my bed with a groan. I snapped my fingers to change out of the comfy sweatpants and oversized t-shirt I was wearing.
I grabbed my phone and went downstairs, grabbing the keys to my Lambo as I left the house. I locked the front door and went over to my baby, climbing inside and driving off to the Gilbert house, where Stefan was with Elena. When I got there, I got out of my car, locking it with the little remote before stuffing it in my pocket. I walked up to the front door and knocked before entering the house without a care. Jeremy was sat at the table, finishing up on homework when he looked up to see who had entered the house like that, and was not surprised to find that it was me.
"Hey, Jer, who's at the door?" Jenna asked as she walked around the kitchen doing god knows what.
"Hey, Lina." Jeremy said in greeting with a small smile, answering his aunt's question at the same time.
"Hey, J. How you feeling?" I greeted back with a smile of my own and asked as I gave him a little squeeze around the shoulders for a hug.
"Hangin in there." He answered my question with a sigh as I pulled away.
"Let me know if you need a distraction or something." I said with a wink then walked around the table to go say hi to Jenna.
"I will." He said with a little chuckle, going back to finishing his homework.
"Hey, Jen." I greeted with a half a smile as she gave me a hug, to which I returned with a side hug.
"Hey! Haven't seen you in a few days. We were getting ready to have dinner, you wanna join us?" Jenna offered sweetly.
"Nahh, I'm good. Already ate." I started to say as I backed up casually. "Where's Lena, in her room?" I asked and she nodded. Then, I turned around to go upstairs.
"Who was that?" John asked Jeremy with a scrunched up face of confusion after I left the room.
"Malena, a friend from school. But she goes by Lina most of the time." Jeremy said not taking his eyes off his english homework.
"Why would he write a report on vampires? Do you think he's starting to remember?" I heard Elena ask Stefan as I went up the stairs quietly.
"Damon took away those memories for good. You don't have to worry about that." Stefan reassured before there was a short pause. "I'll tell you what. Why don't you just ask him?" He added and that's when I reached the top of the stairs.
"I-I can't." Elena stammered.
"Why not?" Stefan asked confused. Then I opened the door with a flourish.
"Yeah, you really should start talking to your brother more. Otherwise he's gonna start snooping through your diary when he thinks you're being secretive." I said as I left the door open a crack. "Speaking of which," I added while pointing my finger at her as I walked closer to where they sat on her bed, "be careful how you answer any questions about Vicki or her death." I finished as I came to a stop in front of them.
"Hey, what're you doing here? Where've you been?" Stefan asked with pinched brows.
"I'm officially you're new sober sponsor, here to keep the cravings at bay." I said dramatically with a chuckle. "And I've been moping in isolation, sue me."
"I don't even know how to talk to him anymore. I mean, we used to be a lot more open with each other..ughh, but now, with all these secrets just piling up...you know, I haven't even told him that I'm adopted yet." Elena went on to rant, pulling us back to the matter at hand here.
"Boom. Opening." I said and took a seat on the corner of the bed across from Stefan and next to Elena's head as she laid on her stomach. I continued when she looked at me confusedly. "Tell him you gotta talk to him, tell him about the adoption and bring up the paper to make conversation afterwards. Duh." I said and laid back on the small space next to Elena's body.
"Yeah, maybe it's time you start opening up to him again." Stefan stated making Elena nod reluctantly. "I'm not saying you should tell him everything, but at least try to find out what he does know and..be prepared for it." He concluded with a sigh. Elena looked him over inquisitively for a moment before squeezing his shoulder affectionately.
"What about you? How are you doing?" Elena asked and that's when I sat up.
"I'm gonna use your bathroom." I said while I got up, then walked around the bed to get to the bathroom. Once inside, I closed all the doors and leaned against the sink while I listened in to their conversation.
"I'm much, much better." Stefan said. 'Lie.' "Yeah, I'm-I'm still, you know, a little, uh...a little jittery, a little on edge, but, uh...I'm gonna be ok. Lina said she'd help, so.." Stefan stuttered and stammered out a believable lie. I heard some movement on the bed, probably Elena sitting up.
"I've been really worried about you." Elena said sweetly. "And I've missed you." She added.
"I just needed to lay low for a little while and, uh, let my body readjust." Stefan said. 'No, you needed to make sure you weren't gonna suck your girlfriend dry.' "It's only been a few days." He teased.
"Mm, it feels like a lifetime." Elena said quietly, her smile heard in her voice.
"I missed you too." Stefan said back equally as quiet. It went quiet after that, which I assumed meant they were making out. Before they could move to lay on the bed, I flushed the toilet, ran the sink for a few seconds and opened the door. They pulled apart as soon as they heard the door open.
"Yeah, none of that. Control yourselves." I said my gaze looking pointedly at Stefan while I leaned against the doorway with my arms crossed over my chest. He nodded looking at the floor.
"She's right. I could loose control, and hurt you." Stefan agreed as he pulled away from Elena. Elena looked between us confused.
"Have you not seen Twilight? Sometimes some thing's are accurate." I said with raise of my right brow.
"O..k." Elena said with a nod, not completely believing me. Stefan stood up as I walked over to the door to leave.
"I'm gonna go..uhm, I'll see you tomorrow." He stammered as I walked out the door, himself slowly walking backwards towards the door before turning around and following me down the stairs.
"See ya, Jer! Nice not meeting you John! Bye Jenna!" I said with a wave as I walked to the front door and out the house with Stefan in tow. We climbed in my car, and I drove us to the boarding house. "So how bad is it really?" I asked glancing over at Stefan in the passenger seat a few times. "Come on Stef, it's me here." I added when he didn't say anything, just looked down at his hands as he fiddled with them.
"You already know..." he said sadly.
"Maybe..but give me some more perspective." I said as we neared the house.
"It's like my veins are on fire, and everybody looks like a fire hydrant, just waiting for me to let the water out." He described after taking a second to think about it. I parked in the driveway and shut off the car as I thought of what to say to next.
"I know I might be the last person that should tell you this, but you're gonna have to learn to control it eventually, Stefan." I said bluntly. He sped out the car and into the house. I got out the car, and waved my hand to un-conjure it as I walked into the house casually. I walked into the library where Stefan was pacing, looking at books, trying to rein in his hunger. I sat on the couch as he went over to the decanters full of liquor. "That's not gonna work forever, ya know." I said bluntly as he hesitated before he poured himself a glass. He hesitated again before drinking it all in one go. "Just feed Stefan, you know you want to." I said lowly and with a smirk.
"No." He growled out as he poured another glass.
"Oh come on, you don't even need to feed off a person. Just use a blood bag." I started as I stood up. I slowly walked around, running my finger along the bookshelf. "But think of that delectable feeling of the blood running down your throat, that sweeter taste when they're afraid of you, that exhilarating rush when you have to chase them..." I taunted, my voice sultry and enticing. Next thing I know, Stefan has his hand wrapped around my throat 'choking' me and slamming me against the wall. I smile as he glares angrily at me while breathing heavily, growling slightly with each breath, and trying to control himself.
"What the hell are you doing?" He gritted out lowly, squeezing my neck tighter when I started to chuckle. I grabbed his hand, using my telekinesis and super-strength to remove his hand from my throat, while levitating in the air where he held me up to.
"I'm trying to help you, Stefan." I started and he squinted his eyes at me, not believing me. "By making you realize what you are." My voice turned hard, my smile still present. "You are a vampire, Stefan. A vampire playing in dreamland, trying to act human, thinking you can be with a human that won't eventually turn into a vampire herself." His eyes widened at that. "You think it's gonna last when she turns into a vampire? She's gonna be perfectly fine, drinking human blood, while you can barely stand to be around it." I threw his hand away from me. "It's time to face the facts, Stefano. What're you gonna do? Go back to munching on bunnys, or accept what you are?" I asked with a mischievous look in my eyes. Stefan started pacing frustratedly with his hands running through his hair. "See you at the founders party." I said with a smirk and teleported up to Damon's room. I jumped and spun to land on his bed on my back.
"What do you want?" Damon asked coldly as he walked out of his attached bathroom in only a towel, his hair wet from the shower he just took.
"What's got your nuts in a twist?" I asked jokingly as he walked over to his dresser.
"My nuts are not twisted, thank you very much. Lemme guess, you wanna go to the founders party?" He asked as he searched for some clothes.
"I mean, I can get in either way, but giving others something to gossip about is so much fun. Whatdya say, D?" I asked as I sat up on my elbow, turning to look at him. I watched a drop of water fall off his hair to glide down his toned back.
"I guess it could be fun." He said over his shoulder with a little smirk at seeing my eyes trail down his body. "I hope you're not planning on going dressed like that..." he said referring to the baggy pants and Jordans I was wearing.
"Of course not." I said with a roll of my eyes as I got off the bed. I walked up behind him and peaked around him to see what drawer he was looking in. "Hmm." I hummed. "Thought you were more of a briefs guy." I said with a chuckle and walked towards the door. "Wear black. No jacket, no tie." I said as I walked backwards with a small smirk before turning back forward and leaving out the door. I teleported to the room I stay in sometimes and went over to the bathroom to take a shower. I sang a song that was stuck in my head as I washed up. After I finished, I snapped my fingers to dry myself off as I stepped out. I ran my fingers through my hair to style it curly, similar to how I had it before. Then, snapping my fingers to put on my outfit for tonight.
(Let's pretend all the jewelry is rose gold to match the eye make up)
I put on some chapstick that I conjured as I walked out of the bathroom. At the same time, Damon knocked twice before entering. After he took a couple of steps in and looked up from the ground, he froze with a slack jaw. I smiled cockily and walked over to him, making the chapstick disappear as I did. I used my left index finger to close his mouth as I giggled. "You look hot." I stated bluntly as I readjusted his open collar. He smirked as he pushed my hair over my left shoulder to my back.
"Right back at ya." He said and offered me his elbow. "Shall we?" He asked politely.
"We shall." I said with a chuckle and placed my hand in his elbow. "Where's Stefan? He's riding with us right?" I asked as we left my room and walked down the hallway.
"Yeah, he's downstairs, drinking his problems away." He said with a light roll of his eyes at his annoyance. I chuckled again.
"You don't get to judge, you do the same shit." I said as we walked down the stairs and towards the front door.
"This is a bad idea. I shouldn't go." Stefan said as we met up with him at the door.
"Oh, come on. Have some fun, Stef. Don't be so broody all the time, your face will forget how to smile." I said and walked passed him to the front door, letting go of Damon's arm.
"What she said. Let's go, don't wanna be late." Damon said with a smirk as he grabbed Stefan by the shoulders and steered him to the door, following after me.
"You're driving." I said to Damon as I walked over to his car. We all got in and headed off to the founder's hall. I conjured a blunt of my non-smelling weed to smoke on the way there, cracking the window open just a bit. When we got there, I got rid of the last of the blunt and Damon parked the car with the rest of them. We walked up to the entrance and paused.
"Oh, God. I shouldn't be here." Stefan said looking up at the building. Damon and I walked ahead.
"Come on. Don't be a downer. It's a party for the founding families. That would be us. It would be rude to skip it." Damon said as Stefan followed behind us.
"I, I really liked you a whole lot better when you hated everybody." Stefan said with a slight sarcastic tone to his voice.
"Oh, he still does." I said plainly as we looked around from where we stood.
"I just love that they love me." Damon added. Stefan chuckled incredulously. There was a few seconds pause, where Stefan seemed jittery still.
"How you feelin' Stef?" I asked with a little smirk.
"I'm good. I'm fine." He said quickly and defensively.
"No cravings? No urges? Is that whiskey you've been drinkin all day doin' it's job?" Damon added on tauntingly. Stefan chuckled as a deflection. "We are who we are, Stefan." Damon said after taking a deep breath.
"Pretending doesn't change that." I added bluntly.
"Ah, nothing would make you two happier than to just see me give in, huh?" Stefan asked with a sigh of his own.
"Whatever. It's inevitable." Damon said plainly. I just hummed in agreement with a nod.
"Uh huh. I'm gonna go find Elena." Stefan said and walked off.
"Don't embarrass me, young man!" Damon called after him with a snap and pointed at him. I giggled while I could hear the women near to my left whispering.
"He so freakin whipped." I said quietly to Damon and snorted out a chuckle. "I'm gonna walk around, bye." I said quickly and walked off. I saw the Tyler walk into a room with a bottle of dark liquor and followed after him.
"Hey, check it out." He said jovially to Matt as he showed him the bottle, walking up to him.
"Dude, your dad's gonna beat you down if he catches you." Matt scolded lightly.
"Yeah, let him try." I said sarcastically as I walked up behind them.
"What, you trynna defend my honor Lina?" Tyler joked as he opened the bottle.
"I was just gonna knock him out, call it what you want to." I said bluntly with a shrug of my right shoulder.
"Alright, screw it." Matt said quickly, grabbing the neck of the bottle and taking a few large gulps. Tyler acted as look out, watching the door for anyone coming in. I grabbed the bottle from Matt.
"I get that you're grieving, dude, but save some for the rest of us." I said and took a couple of gulps before passing it off to Tyler.
"My bad. Hey, you got any smoke?" Matt apologized then asked quietly.
"Always." I said with a smirk.
"Let's go out back." Tyler said and we headed off to smoke my miracle weed (the non-smelling kind).
"There you are." Damon said as he found me walking back inside.
"Here I am." I said sarcastically and grabbed hold of his elbow as we continued walking. We spotted Stefan going off to dance with Kelly, Matt's mom, and walked up behind Elena.
"Have I entered an alternate universe where Stefan is fun?" Damon asked sarcastically as he went to stand next to Elena.
"Ha ha, you're so funny." I said plainly and sarcastically, stepping behind the little bar and mixing a drink for myself.
"Is he gonna be ok?" Elena asked Damon, concerned for her boyfriend.
"Eventually. One way or another." Damon answered plainly giving her a glance before going back to watching Stefan. She turned her head to look at me for a real answer.
"He's the equivalent of a recovering severe drug addict swimming in a sea of heroin. It's gonna take a minute." I said bluntly without looking up, putting a straw in my drink before downing half of it.
There was more dancing and mingling. Damon went off to talk to the sheriff, Elena ended up dancing with Matt, Stefan was dancing with anybody and everybody, and here I was, bored as fuck. I listened in to the conversation between Damon and the sheriff, which later included Jeremy, to pass the time. I was still in the room where everyone was dancing, watching as Stefan asked Elena for a dance. Then, as she bumped into some dude.
"Woah. Watch it." The dude said taking a step forward and turning back to see who bumped into him. I sat my glass down and started making my way through the crowd slowly.
"I'm sorry. My fault. I'm clumsy." Elena apologized with a smile as Stefan stepped up behind her protectively. The guy chuckled.
"Then get off the dance floor." He said rudely, gesturing to the side of them room.
"Excuse me?" Elena asked in disbelief. Stefan walked around her to get to the dude. I was still watching the interaction, not in any haste to interrupt.
"That's no way to talk to a lady." Stefan said to the guy, his face serious and eyebrows pinched together.
"Whatever." The guy said moving to walk away. Stefan pulled him back by the arm, making him stumble back and turn around to look at the two of them while Elena gasped.
"I think you need to apologize." Stefan compelled him. Pupils dilating just a tad. The guy shifted to look at Elena.
"I'm sorry." The guy apologized monotonously. Stefan let him go and he went to walk away again. Stefan stopped him, again, fisting his jacket and harshly pulling him back. That's when I moved in closer.
"Now say it like you mean it." Stefan demanded lowly, once again compelling him.
"I'm really, really sorry." The guy apologized again in the same tone as last time.
"Stefan, it's fine." Elena said harshly. I stepped in between the guy and Stefan, making Stefan remove his hold on him.
"Walk away." I compelled in a bored-like tone. While he walked away, I turned around to face Stefan. "He was compelled Stefan, he can't exactly mean it when you make him do it." I scolded lightly. I turned to Elena. "You're brother is still asking questions. Make sure you choose your words carefully if he asks you about her. That is, if you want the questions to stop." I informed her with a shrug at the end. She nodded to me before putting a hand on Stefan's arm, checking up on him. He turned to her and caressed the side of her face worriedly.
"You alright?" He asked her. I rolled my eyes.
"She's not a tea cup, Stefano, she's fine. Let's go get some air. Get you away from all these warm bodies." I said with a little sass before I grabbed him by the shoulders and steered him towards the door. I looked over my right shoulder at Elena and gave her a small nod, she nodded back and went to leave the room. To find Damon I'm guessing.
"I had it under control." Stefan said harshly once we finally got outside. He quickly walked down the steps to the grass with me following after him at my own pace.
"Right." I said sarcastically.
"I did. She apologized! He didn't have to be a dick about it." He continued.
"That's true." I said shortly.
"I just got so mad, ya know?" He added as we went around the building, letting him walk it off.
"Yeah."
"It's just-when I-ughh...being what we are, emotions are heightened to impossible degrees. And I think that my situation is just making it worse." He concluded with a stammer at first, but sullen towards the end.
"I know. But it's not all bad." I told him with a shrug. When he looked at me confused, I elaborated. "Just like with anger turning into rage, happiness turns to ecstasy, love turns to devotion, desire turns to lust. Not every emotion under the sun is horrible, Stef. It's like crossing over a canyon with a log. You just have to find your balance." I said sagely.
"I don't get you." Stefan pointed out after a silent pause, coming to a stop on the back side of the building, near the corner. I stopped to face him as he spoke. "You can be all wise, giving this sage advice one minute, and the next you're doing something evil." He continued.
"Don't believe everything you see or hear, Stefan. What does your gut tell you?" I asked him with a small smile.
"That I can trust you. Even if I may not agree with your methods of going about certain things, I still trust you." He said with an innocent-like voice, not breaking eye contact with me. I took a deep breath and turned sideways, breaking the eye contact.
"Why don't you go check on Elena, I just need a minute." I suggested with a fake smile. He seemed confused for a second, but nodded and headed inside anyways. I went and sat down on a bench that was on the porch, waiting for Tyler to come out and get beat up by Matt. Not even five minutes later, Tyler stumbles outside with Kelly, Matt's mom. They walk passed me and stop at a table that's about 20 feet away from where I'm sitting. They were talking about Matt, funnily enough. Then, they were talking about Vicki. I just sat there pretending to be scrolling through my phone. Next thing I know, they were making out. It kinda grossed me out a bit, but I kept my opinion to myself. When Matt and Elena stepped outside is when I stood up, putting my phone back in my bra.
"Oh, my God." Elena said monotonously. Matt turned to see what she was talking about. When he saw his mom mackin on his best friend, he lost it. He went over there and snatched Tyler by the shoulder, pulling him away from her.
"What the hell you doin', man?!" He shouted at Tyler in disbelief.
"Matt!" Kelly gasped.
"Mom!!" He yelled back at her, which shut her up quickly.
"Whoa. Dude, calm down." Tyler said drunkenly. Matt reared back his right fist and socked him across the jaw.
"Matt!" Elena shouted.
"NOooO!" Kelly protested, trying to pull Matt away from Tyler, who sent a right hook back to Matt, knocking him into his mom and making her crash into a table. Glass shattered as it hit the brick flooring. Tyler punched him again, getting him on the ground this time. Tyler climbed on top of him and threw more punches.
"Stop it!" Elena shouted. More punches from Tyler. "Tyler, stop it! You're hurting him. Lina help him!" She said as she noticed me suddenly standing beside her with a stone cold face. He then went to choke him and that's when I passed Elena and pulled Tyler off of Matt by his suit jacket.
"Hey!!!" I screamed in his face which seemed to bring him out of the little daze he was in. "Knock it off Tyler!" I said as I pushed him back, away from Matt. Rick was the first one to come outside cause of the racket. "Get a grip, Lockwood!" I shouted in his face when he tried to go back to hitting Matt before turning my head to look at how Matt was doing then turning back to Tyler who stood there with wide eyes, horrified at what he tried to do. Elena had knelt down next to Matt, asking if he was ok.
"What was that?" Ric asked Tyler confusedly.
"I'll take it from here. I'll take it from here." Mayor Lockwood said as he pulled his son aside. "It's alright. It's okay. You hurt?" He asked Tyler, a hand on the side of his head. Tyler shook his head, still a little freaked out. "Ok. Go get cleaned up. It's ok. Go get get cleaned up." The mayor told him as he gently pushed him in the direction of the door to go inside. "Thank you for your help." He said to me with a dip of his head in thanks. Elena got Matt off the floor and onto a chair as the mayor told the crowd that had gathered shit was fine, go back to the party. I walked off to find Stefan, I walked up to Stefan just as Damon did.
"Do you wanna hear the bad news or the really bad news?" Damon asked. Stefan cleared his throat before responding.
"Ahem. Actually, I don't want any news, Damon." Stefan said in a tone that suggests, very obviously, that he was drunk.
"Alright, let me rephrase. Do you want to hear how the council's back in vampire mode or how I just killed Uncle John Gilbert?" He stated bluntly with a playful lilt to his tone.
"What?" Stefan asked confusedly. I snorted out a chuckle.
"Great party by the way, huh?" Damon asked sarcastically before he turned around and walked away. Stefan went to chase after him when he heard Kelly crying nearby and the scent of blood catching his attention. He stopped in his tracks suddenly before he turned around to find her sitting there sniffling with a tissue.
"Is everything alright?" Stefan asked her. I was watching from a slight distance with a smirk on my face. I continued to watch as she got creeped out cause he smeared the blood from the cut on her forehead around. He seemed to snap out of it almost and walked off. I disappeared into the shadows without anyone noticing and popped back up outside where I had a view of Stefan leaning against the fence and licking the blood off his fingers like a blood junkie. I smirked to myself as I teleported back to the party.
I walked out of the bathroom that I teleported into and went to find Damon. Right after I did, I looped my arms around his as Uncle John walked in.
"You've gotta be kidding me." Damon mumbled sarcastically.
"Right, forgot about that." I whispered. "Magic ring." I said nonchalantly when Damon turned his head to look down, and to the right, at me with furrowed and curious brows. While the mayor was trying to gather everyone, we went looking for Alaric. Well, Damon was, I just tagged along.
"Thank you all. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you all for joining us tonight. In just a few moments, we will officially begin the countdown to our upcoming founder's day celebration and it's a very special one this year. The 150th birthday of our town." The mayor began his speech. The crowd clapped. "And...and I would like to welcome back one of our town's 'favorite sons' to do the honors of ringing our official charter bell." He continued as Damon and I stood by the entrance to the hall on the left. "John Gilbert, would you please join me up here?" He asked and the crowd clapped again. There were a few hoots and hollers. Damon seemed to be more attentive now.
"Our hundred and fifty years of community, prosperity, family. We take care of each other, look after each other..protect each other." John pointedly said, looking right at Damon. "It's good to be home." He concluded and clapped along with the crowd. Damon and I made our way over to Alaric on the right side of the room, near the other entrance.
"Look at his right hand." Damon whispered to Ric as I stood emotionlessly on his left.
"Whose?" Ric asked.
"The town's favorite son. Look at his ring." Damon answered with a sneer. In that moment, John gripped the tassel with both hands and pulled, ringing the charter bell.
"Well, it looks like mine." Ric said.
"And that would be a big coincidence if he didn't just come back from the dead five minutes ago." Damon said, whispering the last few words harshly. "Where the hell did you get that ring?" He asked Ric.
"Isobel, my wife."
"From Isobel." Ric and I answered at the same time, him with perplexity, myself with nonchalance as I twirled a piece of my hair at the tips. Damon seemed to have realized something as he tilted his head back and chuckled.
"Who gave birth to Elena, under the medical care of the esteemed Dr. Greyson Gilbert, John's brother." Damon said whispering the last few words harshly.
"You think John knew Isobel?" Ric asked him.
"I think John knows a lot of things." Damon replied, the wheels in his head already turning. I chuckled silently before it turned into a full blown laugh.
"Oh, John knew Isobel alright. All of her." I said before I stole Damon's drink to take a sip. I grimaced and handed it back. "Watered down, ugh." I grumbled before I walked off.
The party was almost over, and I just kept wondering around aimlessly. I saw the Mayor walk into a room Tyler was waiting in and followed behind him discreetly.
"Let's go." The mayor said.
"Dad, I'm sorry." Tyler apologized as they came to stand face to face with a few feet of space between them. I was standing at the doorway with my back facing them. "I don't even know what happened. I was drinking and..I lost control. Can't explain it." Tyler finished, still not understanding what happened. Charles reared back his hand and went to slap his son, when I teleported behind him and grabbed his wrist. I spun him around and grabbed a hold of his throat before slamming him against the wall and raising his body up in the air a bit.
"Now Charles..that's no way to discipline your son." I said lowly. "Why don't you just tell him the truth?"
"I don't know..what you're..talking about." He struggled to get out as I was squeezing the sides of his trachea.
"You can't lie to someone who knows the truth, Charles." I said with a little smirk. Tyler was just looking back and forth between us fearfully, not knowing what to do. I released him and he crumbled to the floor, coughing and holding his neck. "Stop hitting your kid Charles. Or I will do something about it." I said emotionlessly before turning and walking out. I spotted Damon and Ric following John out, and proceeded to follow them out.
"Going somewhere?" Damon asked after he passed through the front doors.
"Never liked to be the last one a party. It's too desperate. You here to kill me again?" John asked as Ric moved to walk on his right, Damon on his left, while I stayed back about 10 feet. "Or you gonna let Mr. Saltzman do your dirty work?" He added.
"Ok, you obviously know who I am." Ric stated sarcastically as they all came to a stop near the parked cars. I stood off to the side by the bushes and trees.
"I do. Alaric Saltzman. A high school history teacher with a secret." John said.
"Sure know a lot for someone who just got to town." Damon said.
"More than you can imagine, Damon." John replied smugly. "My knowledge of this town goes beyond anything that you, or you, or the council knows." He added, moving closer to the cars before turning around to face them again, looking pointedly between Damon and Ric when he bragged about how much he knows. "So if you were planning some clever high-speed snatch-ring, vamp kill move, know that if I die everything I know goes to the council including the fascinating little tale of the original Salvatore brothers and their present-day return to Mystic Falls." John threatened. I teleported in front of him with my resting bitch face tiredly present, putting up an illusion of the four of us standing around and talking jovially.
"We're not gonna kill you. Doesn't mean I can't hurt you though." I stated calmly as I held up my hand and slowly started clenching it closed, making John's throat close at the same pace. "There's no reason for me to kill you right now..." I continued as he struggled to breathe. "You still have a role to play." His face started turning red, then blue, that's when I decided to release him. He crumbled to his knees, holding his throat as he coughed and greedily gasped for air. "My question to you, John, is why don't you tell your niece the truth? Or should I say daughter?" I asked him plainly, turning to sarcastically ask Damon the latter, before turning back to John. "Whatever it is you think you know, I know more." I said before bending down to bring my mouth level with his ear. "Now, why don't you run along and tell Isobel to stop trying to scare the shit out of your guys' daughter. Oh, and don't forget to tell Kitty Kat I said hi." I whispered with a smirk. When I straightened back up, his eyes were as wide as saucers. Damon and Ric looked at each other confused before turning back to look at me and John. "Death is a mercy John, remember that." I said before he nodded his head quickly and scrambled to get up then quickly walked over to his car and left.
"What did you tell him?" Damon asked with pinched brows, making me turn around to face him.
"If I wanted you to know Damon, you would've heard it." I said with a deadpanned look at him. "I'll see yall later." I said before walking off toward the street to leave, disappearing into the shadows when I was out of sight. I reappeared back at my house in the woods. I unlocked the door with my key before walking in. I tossed the keys into the bowl on the side table by the door before walking up the stairs. I snapped my fingers to change my dress and heels out for some black booty shorts and a baggy t-shirt as I reached the top of the stairs. Before I could start rolling a blunt, my phone started to ring. I sighed as I pulled my phone from my bra that I still had on, answering the call without even looking at the caller ID. "Yo." I greeted as I put the phone on speaker and tossed it onto the bed.
"Hey, it's Elena. Can you come over?" She greeted and asked. I rolled my eyes as I plopped down to sit on my bed.
"Right now?" I asked a little snarkier than I intended.
"Yes, right now." She insisted with some attitude.
"I'm not here to be at your beckon call, Elena. What is it?" I responded, flopping back onto my bed with my phone in my hand, laying it on my chest after I laid down.
"Stefan's getting worse. You said you were helping him, if you're helping him why is he getting worse?" She snarked.
"You wanted me to go all the way over to your house for that? It's a fucking process, Elena. It gets bad, then worse, then downright fucking painful before it gets anywhere close to being better. Listen, you obviously haven't ever had to deal with someone that has addiction, so why don't you just let me do my thing, and stop fucking complaining before I make shit cataclysmically worse for everyone. Alright?" I ranted before hanging up on her. After that, I smoked my blunt and went to sleep.
Monday morning, I popped up behind Stefan in the school's parking lot. Elena had just walked off, surprised that Stefan was coming back to school today.
"Yeah, you really got a grip on those cravings of yours." I said sarcastically as I leaned onto the side of his car and crossed my arms. Stefan, startled, slammed the trunk closed.
"I know what you're gonna say, but I have a handle on it now." He said placatingly, shouldering his school bag before moving to walk around the car to go inside the school. I vamp-sped in front of him before he could take more than 2 steps.
"The, what, 17 blood banks you robbed says otherwise." I said as I crossed my arms once again.
"I covered my tracks. I have the cravings under control. I'm learning moderation. Isn't that what you wanted?" He spoke defensively. His nostrils flaring slightly with building anger.
"That's the thing Stefan, you're not learning moderation. You're drinking whenever you start having a craving. You're not fighting it because it's too hard to deny." I replied sternly.
"I don't need this right now." He said and went to walk passed me. I stopped him with a hand to his chest, pushing him back.
"No, you don't want to hear this. But guess what Salvatore? The council's gonna figure it out. Then a certain blonde haired, blue eyed, nosey ass is gonna point them in one direction. Yours and your brother's. And unless you can get your shit a modicum of under control, you'll be the reason they start going all Buffy on your asses." I scolded then turned around and walked away without waiting for a response.
"Ok. This week we're gonna set aside our regular curriculum for a lesson in local history as we approach Founder's Day." Mr. Saltzman, Ric, stated as class was starting. I was sitting in my usual seat, one row over from Stefan, and one desk back. "Apparently, the, uh, community leaders feel that's more important than World War II. But, hey, what do I know?" Ric said sarcastically. Just then, the door opened and in walked Bonnie.
"Sorry I'm late." She said with her soft voice as she closed the door.
"Well, looks like we will be at full occupancy today. Welcome home, Bonnie." Ric said then greeted as she walked over to her seat on the left of Elena. She sat her binder and textbook onto the desk and went to sit down. She froze for a second as we made eye contact, and I looked away, curtaining my face with my hair.
"Right, Founder's Day. What does it mean to have a Founder's Day?" Ric continued on with the lesson.
The rest of the school day went on with me avoiding Bonnie at every possible moment. After the day was done and everyone was either on their way home or going to their clubs, Elena was looking for Bonnie. I was at my locker, stuffing my backpack inside, when Elena came around the corner. I slammed my locker closed, revealing her in the same moment.
"Son of a bitch." I said and put a hand to my chest. "What the fuck, dude. You scared the shit outta me." I said before lowering my hand. I turned to walk out with her sticking to my side.
"Hey, do you know where Bonnie is?" She asked as we walked down the hall.
"Why would I know?" I asked emotionlessly.
"Cause you've been avoiding her all day." She responded. "You have to know where someone is in order to avoid them."
"You mean like she's avoiding you and Stefan?" I retorted with a raise of my right eyebrow as I glanced at her.
"Ah-" she went to say something but cut herself off, not having anything to say.
"Exactly." I deadpanned as I opened the left front door to walk out of the school building. Elena opening the right one as she continued to follow me. "She's over there." I said, pointing towards the right with my chin, making her look in that direction. Then this bitch grabs my hand and drags me over there with her. Why I let her, I will never fuckin know.
"Bonnie." Elena called. Bonnie turned her head back to look at who was calling her. She slowed down some but didn't stop as she turned back around and kept walking.
"Hey." She said casually afterwards.
"Hey. I, uh, tried to grab you after class but you had already taken off." Elena said a little awkwardly. Bonnie finally stopped and turned to look back at us as I yanked my wrist outta Elena's grip with a slight glare at the side of her head. "How are you? How's your family?" She asked sympathetically, making me look down in slight shame.
"We're dealing. It's been hard." Bonnie answered vaguely after she glanced at me.
"Everyone here really missed you." Elena said. Also glancing at me.
"Yeah, I just had so much to deal with after grams' funeral. And honestly after you told me the tomb spell failed I just didn't really wanna come back." Bonnie responded.
"Excuse you, my spell worked. If your dead ancestors hadn't of high-jacked my shit, and tried to keep me trapped in there, everything would've been fine." I snarked unintentionally.
"So my ancestors are the reason my grams is dead?" She asked me incredulously. "How does that even work?" She snarked, crossing her arms sassily.
"Not on purpose." I said with an eye roll. "They were channeling her to have a magical foothold on the side of the living in order to put up the barrier. If I hadn't of broken through, she would still be alive." I said with a blank expression on my face. Bonnie searched my eyes for any spec of remorse. She didn't find any.
"Did you know she was gonna die when you broke through?" She asked on the verge of tears. Her voice was shaky, though she tried her best to hide it. Elena had moved to stand on the side of us, as we were face to face, while she looked at me in a disgusted sort of way.
"Yeah. I did." I answered shortly and truthfully. "I'm sorry I'm the reason you're grieving, but I'm not sorry I did it. I wasn't staying in there, Bonnie." I said with the same blank face on. Just then, Caroline quickly approached.
"Bonnie. Bonnie, thank God you're home." She said relieved as she wrapped her hands around her in a tight hug. "I know we talked every day, but I missed you." Caroline said.
"I'm outta here." I mumbled after a releasing a scoff and turned to walk off towards my car. I got in and peeled outta there with smoke coming off my tires. I drove back to the house in the woods. When I got there, I turned off the car and climbed out. I walked up to the front door and unlocked it before entering and tossing my keys into the bowl. I teleported up the stairs into my room, my clothes changing as I did. I decided to check on my shadow minions, and see what progress they made as I plopped down onto my bed. I sat criss-crossed and closed my eyes. I took a deep breath and tried to connect to them telepathically. That's when my phone rang.
"Uugggh." I groaned throwing my head back and breaking my concentration. I picked my phone up off the bed in front of me to see it was Carla calling. "Hey, boo. What's the news?" I greeted as I answered the phone and put it to my ear.
"Hey, sweets. My guy says she's in Florida. Running with a pack of wolves if you can believe it." Carla answered after she greeted me.
"Yeah, I figured. Go ahead and pull him outta there before she ends up killing him. I gotta go, I'm a little busy at the moment. But thank you for doing this." I responded, wanting to get off the phone cause I wasn't really in the mood to talk with people at the moment.
"Yeah, any time, hon. Hope to see you soon." She said.
"You too." I replied back before hanging up and tossing my phone back on the bed to return to what I was doing. Not even 5 seconds after I closed my eyes, my fuckin phone rang again. "I swear to Lucifer, if my phone don't stop ringing, I'm gonna loose my shit." I said to myself before answering the call angrily. "What." I snarked.
"Did you know that Stefan is still drinking human blood?" Damon asked, not bothering to address my attitude.
"Yeah, he has a freezer in the basement full of blood bags. Along with an empty stack of them in his car and one of drawers upstairs in his room. Why." I responded back monotonously.
"He's the one that stole the blood supply from the blood banks?!" Damon asked incredulously. "He even tried to lie to me about it." He added.
"Yeah. Tragic. I'm in the middle of something, so I'm bout to turn off my phone. Bye." I replied shortly before hanging up and putting my phone on airplane mode. I tossed it back onto the bed and tried to concentrate once again. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I felt a slight tingle in the back of my mind and opened my eyes, that were now all black with the use of my demon powers. I was now able to see through all three of their eyes. Or what the equivalent of eyes for a shadow person would be. They were still scouring the earth in search of them. One was in Italy, another in England, and the last one was Louisiana gathering information on the Hollow. I blinked my eyes closed to sever the connection and return my eyes to their normal blue/grey hue. They seem to be getting close.
A few hours later, after I had taken my phone off of airplane mode, Caroline called. Asked if I was going to the Miss Mystic Court thing, and that's when I remembered Stefan almost killing some chick named Amber. So, obviously, I said I was and immediately went to take a shower. I got dressed with a snap of my fingers after getting out and drying off.
After I was ready to go, I grabbed my phone and teleported into the room Elena was supposed to be getting dressed in. Elena was mid-freak out when I appeared.
"This is all my fault. I'm the one who gave him blood in the first place." Elena said.
"Calm down, Elena. It would've happened eventually." I said with a roll of my eyes.
"Geez! You scared me." She exclaimed, startled at the sudden appearance of me and my voice. "I thought you were helping him." She then angrily directed at me.
"It's not like I have an ankle monitor on him to track his every move, Lena." I said boredly.
"In her defense, she told me about the fridge." Damon said to Elena with a shrug. That's when Stefan opened the door.
"Uh. Well, what's going on in here?" Stefan asked. Elena was acting like they were caught fucking. Both of them nervous as they were standing very close to each other.
"Just filling Elena in on your...extracurricular activities." Damon said unconvincingly. Stefan scoffed.
"What are you talking about?" He asked, trying to play clueless. I rolled my eyes.
"I know about the blood, Stefan." Elena said sternly, pulling out the mom-caught-you voice.
"We're gonna be downstairs consuming alcohol in order to deal with..all this shit." I said with a fake smile as I pushed Damon out the door. We went down the stairs trying to rid ourselves of the awkward moment we just escaped from. "Yeah, I need to be high for this. If you need me, I'll be out by the trees. Try not to need me." I said before walking out of the double doors and past the courtyard to get to the tree line.
I had been smoking one blunt after another to pass the time waiting for the dance to finish and for Stefan to show up with that Amber chick. I was watching Elena dance with Damon and the silent flirting made me want to puke. At this point, I could sense Stefan biting into Amber near the line of parked cars out front. You may be asking yourselves, 'why doesn't she help her?', 'why isn't she stopping him?' Well, to tell you the truth, I simply don't want to. It's kind of amusing watching his world crumble over some blood, granted it may be a lot, but it's still just blood.
Everyone just went inside to crown the winner, Caroline, while I stayed outside. I could hear Amber running through the trees from the front, making her way over to where I was. I made myself invisible with a spell, "invisique", as Stefan arrived in time to catch Amber.
"You said to run!" Amber shouted fearfully. I soaked up her fear like a sponge.
"I changed my mind." Stefan rasped out before slowly leaning in to bite her.
"AAAAAAAHHHH!!!" Amber screamed as he fed.
"Stefan!" That's when Elena and Damon showed up.
"Stefan!" Damon called out to him as he dropped the girl. I silently fed off her pain as well. "Come on. Get control of it. Come on." He tried. Stefan looked over at him with a full vampire face, blood dripping from his mouth and down his chin. "It's okay. Come on. Breathe through it, man." He continued placating. This is when Bonnie showed up. I threw up an illusion barrier around Stefan, Damon and I, keeping Bonnie and Elena confusedly out of the loop for the moment. Stefan tried to throw Damon away from him but Damon bounced off the barrier, confusing Stefan. I made my self visible again with a wave of my hand.
"Stefan." I said calmly. He spun around quickly to face me as Damon groaned and slowly got off the ground. I grabbed Stefan by his forearms when he lifted his hands to reach for my throat. He gripped mine back harder. I stared into his eyes as he slowly calmed. "You are not your hunger, Stefan. Do not let this urge consume you." I said as his breathing became less erratic, and the veins under his eyes started to fade back into his skin. His eyes slowly started to change back to normal as I nodded slowly. I could feel Damon's eyes staring on bewildered.
"Thank you." Stefan said quietly as his grip lessened before he let go.
"Don't thank me yet, handsome." I said with a smirk before I brought my hand up and twisted it 180 degrees, breaking his neck telekinetically. I dropped the barrier with a snap of my fingers. Elena almost crashed to the ground as she had been banging her fists on my barrier.
"Oh, my god, Stefan!" She exclaimed as she scrambled over to his temporarily lifeless body and knelt down next to him. "What did you do?!" She shouted at me with tears welling in her eyes.
"She...helped him." Damon said quietly, still stuck in his bewilderment.
"What does that mean? Lina, did you kill him?" Bonnie questioned as she walked over to stand behind Elena. I rolled my eyes as they looked down at Stefan sullenly.
"Yes." I said monotonously. Bonnie and Elena snapped their heads back up at me with an incredulous glare. "Well, only temporarily." I added with another roll of my eyes. "I'll take him back to your place while you guys deal with her." I said to Damon, pointing my chin at the unconscious Amber on the ground behind the girls. I stepped forward and placed a foot on his chest before teleporting to the cell in the basement of the old boarding house. I levitated his body up onto the cot before snapping my fingers to clean the blood off his face. Then, I took off his daylight ring and exited the cell, closing the door and locking it before going back upstairs. I sat in the study and waited for Damon and Elena to arrive. I didn't have to wait too long.
"Where is he?" Elena asked worriedly right after walking through the front doors. She had already went home and changed before coming here.
"In the basement." I answered plainly. She ran a hand through her hair stressfully.
"Ok." She said before heading in that direction. Damon walked in holding the Gilbert device he had been looking for that he just received from Pearl.
"I'm gonna go now. If you need me, call me." I said as I stood up. Damon nodded absentmindedly, too stuck with staring at the device. I handed him the ring before I shadow traveled to Bonnie's house. I snapped my fingers to change my clothes for something more comfortable.
(Magically inserted pockets)
I walked around to the front of the house from the side and knocked on the door once I walked up the few steps and onto her porch. I could sense her standing on the other side of the door, contemplating whether she wanted to open it or not. I was calmly pacing back and forth when she slowly opened the door. "Hey." I said lowly, coming to a stop and turning to face her.
"Hey." She responded quietly. She crossed her arms and leaned to the left onto the doorway while looking down at the floor.
"I just wanted to make sure you're ok." I said stuffing my hands into my pockets.
"Yeah, I'm alright. I couldn't see anything passed the barrier." She answered, still not looking at me.
"You shouldn't have to do magic for them if you don't want too. I know you don't really want anything to do with vampires, so..." I said and trailed off at the end. I was looking at her softly as I spoke.
"I told Elena I wouldn't make her choose, but it feels like I made the choice for her, ya know?" Bonnie said sullenly. She finally looked up at me and I could see the conflicting emotions in her eyes.
"Yeah. But I see it more like you setting your boundaries." I replied. We were staring into each other's eyes for a moment before she looked back down at the floor. "I know you blame me for your Grams dying, as you should, just know that I won't hold it against you for hating me." I said, breaking the silence.
"I don't hate you." Bonnie said gently after snapping her head up to look at me again.
"You will, and that's ok. And you'll make up with Elena sooner than you think. I wouldn't worry about it too much." I said softly, giving her a gentle smile. "Bye, Bonnie." I said before turning around to leave. I walked down the steps then down the walkway to get to the sidewalk.
"Lina!" Bonnie called out to me. I stopped and turned around.
"Yeah?" I asked as I turned around only to be greeted with Bonnie jumping me with a kiss. She didn't wrap her legs around me like she used to, and this kiss felt more like goodbye than anything either of us could've said. I reciprocated the feverish kiss as I wrapped my arms around her waist. She had her arms around my neck, hands getting tangled in my curly hair. I slowly lowered her back down to the ground as our kisses slowly came to stop.
"I love you. Even if it doesn't change anything." She whispered as we rested our foreheads on one another's.
"I know, and I'm sorry. I'll always be here for you if you need me." I said after taking a deep breath. She smelt like cinnamon and daydreams. "Goodbye, Bonnie." I whispered as tears started to fall from her closed eyes. I teleported back to my house in the woods, leaving Bonnie there to fall to her knees and sob.
I walked up to my door and unlocked it before entering. I went upstairs to take a long hot bath while smoking a couple of blunts and drinking a glass of E&J peach brandy that magically refilled itself once it was empty. Listening to one of the saddest songs I had on my phone.
I wiped a tear that escaped and ran down my left cheek. I kept thinking to myself, 'this is how it has to be, I'd rather have her hate me than give her a false hope and crush it later on anyway. I'm doing this for her, even if it seems selfish...'