▎FORGOTTEN FLAME ▎
»»———— act one. MYSTIC FALLS
CHAPTER TWO ━━ founding families
"You guys literally have no food." Arabella groaned as she closed the fridge, turning to damon, who sat in a chair in the living room. "How do you just live on blood." She shook her head as she grabbed a glass, poring water into it.
"We're vampires, belly. We don't need food." Damon shrugged his shoulders as Arabella shook her head.
"You don't have snacks or anything?" She asked as damon shook his head, making her sign as she sat down in front of him. "Well, I'm going to the store soon, so you can come with me and compel them to give me it for free." She grinned at the idea.
"Well, I will after I've been to this meeting with the sherif." Damon wiggled his eyebrows, making her nod her head. "Also, I think our little brother has signed you up for school."
Bellas jaw dropped. "No, I came here to help you guys, not to do some useless education, which I don't need." She shook her head as she grabbed a pillow, resting it on her lap.
"That's what I told him, but he says it would help you fit in. Y'know, make friends and what-not." Damon shrugged as he sipped his bourbon. "Elena has a little witch friend, bonnie bennet."
Arabella nodded as she recognised the last name. There was a witch in mystic falls. "Great." She sarcastically grinned.
"Well, you need to get a fancy dress for tonight, we are off to the founders day anniversary. And you, my lovely sister, are coming." He pointed a figure at her, making her hit it away.
"Why do I have to do? I didn't agree to all this extra activities, I came to help my two idiotic brothers." She shook her head and he pouted.
"Ouch, belly." Damon placed a hand over his heart. "But you are coming. You can get to know the people of mystic falls." He dramatically spoke as she stood up, grabbing her car keys.
"Fine." She sighed as she spun her car keys around. "But let's go food shopping because I am hungry. Bella grabbed his arm as she pulled him up.
Arabella flattened her black dress, staring at the mansion. "Oh, god. I shouldn't be here." Stefan sighed as he looked at the house.
"Me either. I have social events." Arabella shook her head as Damon shook his head at his two younger siblings.
"Come on, don't be a downer." Damon told them as he walked straight in. "It's a party for founding families. That would be us. It would be rude to skip." He turned back around to face the two unimpressed siblings.
"As long as I get free alcohol, I'll keep to myself." Arabella hummed as Damon grinned at her comment.
"That's the spirit." He snapped his fingers at her.
"I liked you a whole lot better when you hated everybody." Stefan added as he looked around wearily.
"Oh I still do. I just love that they love me." He chuckled as Bella shook her head at her brother. "How you feeling?" He asked Stefan as Arabella grabbed a glass of wine from a waiter walking by.
"Im good, I'm fine." Stefan mumbled as Bella sipped her wine.
"No cravings, no urges?" Damon taunted him slightly, making Bella hit his arm.
"Don't be a bitch dams." Arabella scolded him slightly.
"Yeah, just friendly conversation, belly." He lifted his hands up in defence. "Is that whiskey you've been drinking all day doing it's job?" He turned his attention back to stefan. "We are who we are stefan. Pretending doesn't change that. Unless you're a witch." He threw his arm around bellas neck.
She shook him off, wanting to go home already. "I will throw you into a wall." She grinned at him sarcastically as he messed up her hair, making her groan.
"Nothing would make you happier that to see me give in?" Stefan narrowed his eyes at damon.
"Whatever. It's inevitable." Damon continued to look around the house.
"I'm gonna go find elena." Stefan told his older siblings as Arabella nodded her head with a smile.
"Don't embarrass me, young man." Damon pointed at stefan as he left. "Now I have to introduce you to many people." Damon grinned as he held her shoulders, leading her into a different room.
"Why?" She shook her head. "I agreed to come, not to make buddies with random people."
"Fine, we'll get a few drinks down you then you'll be talking to to moon." Damon spoke with a slight laugh.
Arabella was now on her forth glass of wine when damon dragged her over to the sheriff. "Ahh, you know I love a woman in uniform, but I have to side with this look." He flirted with the blonde women, making Arabella roll her eyes at him. "You look smashing."
The older woman smiled at his comment. "Thank you, damon." She chuckled as he lifted his glass up. Arabella turned to look at the many people walking past, zoning out slightly until she was tapped on her shoulder. "This is my younger sister, Arabella." Damon smiled as he patted bellas shoulder.
Arabella smiled as she greeted her, bringing out her hand for the woman to shake. "Liz Forbes, it's nice to meet you, Arabella." Liz smiled politely.
"It's nice to meet you too." Bella greeted the blonde.
Liz then turned to damon. "You know, I had my doubts about you at first. But like everyone else on the council, you won me over." She admitted as damon grinned.
"Thanks, Liz." Damon chuckled. "It's really nice how welcoming the councils been." Arabella listened to the conversation as she continued to drink her wine. "I like my life here in mystic falls, that's why I made belly here come all the way from New Orleans."
Liz nodded her head, finding it interesting. "Yeah, I still have to lean a lot about mystic falls." Bella tapped her finger on the glass, her ring clinking with the glass.
"Yeah, it's starting to feel like home again." Damon shrugged.
"Well then, you're not gonna like what I have to tell you." Liz sighed as Arabella frowned. "Jonathan Gilbert claims check out. Blood banks, the missing people, all of its true. We might have a problem." She admitted as damon looked down for a moment.
"Excuse me, sheriff." A voice interrupted damon, making the three turn to see a boy with dark brown hair. He stared at damon before turning to Liz. "Uhm, I was curious if there's been more information on Vicki Donovan." He whispered quietly.
"It was a overdose, Jeremy." Liz answered.
"Yeah, but her body was buried. Somebody must've done that." He shook his head as Bella looked at damon in the corner of her eye.
"We're aware of that. The investigation is ongoing." Liz admitted, shaking her head. "But there's nothing more I can tell you at this time. I'm sorry."
Jeremy nodded at her response. "No, it's okay." He said before leaving the three.
Arabella giggled as she watched stefan dance with elena. She knew stefan was never a dancing person, but he was obviously drunk. And it was slightly entertaining the also drunken Arabella.
"You're Arabella, right?" A makes voice made her turn around with a frown. "You're stefan and Damon's sister. I'm John Gilbert."
"Pleasure." She slowly nodded her head, awkwardly having a drink of her wine. She watched in the corner of her eye as Damon glared at the man. "I have to go." She quickly spoke, getting shivers as she walked past him.
"What's did he want?" Damon frowned as he looked at John.
"He didn't say anything, he just introduced himself and he knew me." She shrugged. "But I got a unsettling feeling." She shook her head.
"Is it your witchy senses?" He wiggled his eyebrows as she scoffed.
"Shut up. By the way, your driving us home." She grinned as he patted the keys in his pocket.
"Got it." He told her.
When Arabella heard struggling outside, she quickly walked out to see two boys fighting, elena telling them to stop. "Are you okay?" Arabella gently laid a hand on elena as she nodded her head.
"Can you do something?" Elena whispered quickly, taking about her magic as Arabella nodded. She turned to the curtains as she snapped her fingers, making the curtains blow up in flames, making people around them jump.
Them Alaric ran outside just in time as he grabbed the boy on top of the other one. "Stop, Tyler!" Alaric told him as Tyler tired to fight in his grasp. "What the hell was that?" He asked as he kept Tyler pinned against the wall.
Arabella walked over to the woman on the floor. "Are you hurt?" Bellas asked as she looked at the woman's forehead, that has a cut.
But the woman didn't accept her help as she got up, walking away from the scene making Arabella shake her head. "Everything's fine." The mayor told everyone as he pushed his son inside. "Everything's fine. Back to the party. Come on, have a good time." He told everyone as Arabella crouched next to elena.
"Are you okay?" Elena asked the bloodied boy.
"Where is she?" He asked as Bella turned to elena with a unsure loo.
"I don't know. Come on, out your head up." Elena told him. "Bella, would you be able to get something to clean him up with?" Elena asked politely as Arabella nodded, standing up and walking back inside.
After helping elena and Matt, Arabella returned to Damon's side. He had told her how he had killed John Gilbert because he was acting suspicious.
But the two were dumbfounded when he walked back into the house, totally alive. They all started to crowed around the mayor as Arabella held her glass in her hand. She had lost count of how many glasses she had, but she had a high tolerance.
"Thank you all. Thank you very much. Thank you." The mayor nodded his head as the people around them clapped for him. "Thank you all for joining us tonight." He thanked them as the clapping died down. "I'm just a few moments. We will officially begin the countdown to our upcoming founders day celebration. And it's a very special one this year."
"The 150th birthday of our town." He continued to speak as Arabella zoned out, looking down at her drink. People started to clap as a bell was brought in. "And I would like to welcome back one of our town's favourite sons to do the honours of ringing our official charter bell." He pointed ti the bell, then looked at John. "John Gilbert." He said as people started to clap.
Damon just glared at the back of johns head, slowly clapping. "Would you please join me up here?" The mayor spoke as John turned around.
"150 years of community, prosperity, family. We take care of each other. We look after each other. We protect each other." John looked over to damon as Damon glared at him. "It's good to be home." He then started to clap as damon dragged Arabella over to Alaric.
"Look at his right hand." He whispered to Alaric, making the teacher frown.
"Whose?" Alaric asked, confused.
"The towns favourite son. Look at his ring." Damon repeated as Arabella looked at the ring on his hand, watching as he pulled the bell. She then realised what kind of ring it was.
"Well, looks like mine." Alaric breathed in as damon scoffed.
"And that'd be a bug coincidence if he didn't come back from the dead five minuets ago." Damon hissed as Bella sipped her wine. "Where the bell did you get that ring?" Damon whispered slightly as he asked.
"Isobel, my wife." Alaric told them as damon chuckled.
"Who gave birth to elena," Damon spoke. "Under the medical care of the esteemed Dr. Gilbert, Johns brother." He hissed.
"You think john knew Isobel?" Alaric asked.
"What if this is a far stretch," the two turned to Arabella. "What If he's Elena's father? I mean, if he knew Isobel, and elena has some sort of Gilbert relations, it would be him?" she spoke her thoughts as the two men looked at her, not saying a word. "What? It could be a possibility." She shrugged as she looked down at the floor, downing the rest of her drink.
Damon had followed John outside, making Arabella and ric follow him. "Going somewhere?" Damon asked as they walked down the stairs.
"I never like to be the last one to leave a party." John said, unfazed by the three that followed him. "It's too desperate. Are you here to kill me or are you gonna let mr saltzman do your dirty work? Or even your sister?" Arabella looked up at the mention of her name with a frown.
"Okay, you obviously know who I am." Alaric sighed as they stopped.
"I do." John answered with a nod. "Alaric saltzman, the high school history teacher with a secret."
"Sure know a kid for someone who just got to town." Damon spoke up beside Arabella.
"More than you can imagine, Damon." John walked towards him slightly. "My knowledge of this town goes beyond anything that you, or you two of the council knows." He directed his words to the three. "So If you were planning on some clever High-speed-snatch-ring-vamp-kill move," he breathed out. "Know that if I die, everything I know goes to the council. Including the fascinating tale of the original Salvatore siblings."
Arabella clenched jaw slightly as he continued. "And their present day return to mystic falls." John eyed the two siblings, both of them glaring at him. He though that Arabella was a vampire, which humoured her slightly.
"How'd you get that ring?" Alaric stepped forward now, pointing to johns hand.
"I inherited one. My brother, gray, the other. This was his. And I wouldn't have given mine to isobel had I known she'd hand it to another guy." John directed his words to Alaric.
"So you did know her." Damon slowly nodded his head.
"Who do you think sent her your way when she wanted to become a vampire?" He grinned, finding the question humours.
"You sent her?" Damon asked.
"Guilty." John admitted as Alaric shook his head. "Why, did you think someone else sent her? Maybe Kathrine pierce?" That made Damon's face drop.
"How do you know about Kathrine?" Damon immediately asked.
"How do I know everything, Damon." John shrugged.
"What do you want?" Damon walked close to him as John grinned.
"So many questions. It's a pleasure meeting you ric. I've heard so much about you." He turned to Alaric. "And it was a pleasure to finally meet you Arabella." He spoke before turning around.
Arabella bit her tongue as she clicked her fingers, snapping johns neck, watching him fall to the floor. Damon and Alaric turned to her as she shrugged. "What? It's not like he's dead? I just wanted to snap his neck." She mumbled the last bit slightly.
"Let's get you home." Damon sighed as he patted her shoulder.
"Good, I'm tired." She groaned as they parted with Alaric.