My necklace was empty. It was only a matter of time before it happened, and I'm honestly surprised that the spell Sheila cast has lasted as long as it did. This meant that I would have to get Bonnie to cast a new spell, and I can only hope that I won't need any magic before then.
I sighed softly as I pulled my hoodie over my head. Not having my own magic was an inconvenience at the best of times, and now I have no access to magic. Sure, I have supernatural friends I could take from if the need arises, but I would rather not have to hurt them.
Aunt Jenna was putting a notebook in Elena's bag when I walked down the stairs. Elena shot her a smile before she opened the front door. All three of us were surprised to see an unfortunately familiar face standing on the other side of the door.
"Elena."
"Uncle John. Hi." Elena said awkwardly
"Jenna. Florence." John said, looking over Elena's shoulder.
"John. You made it." Jenna said. I didn't know he was coming to town, and by the look on my sister's face, neither did Elena.
"I said I'd be in by noon." John said as he stepped past Elena and walked into the house.
"What you say and what you do are typically two very different things." Jenna said
"Uncle John. What's up?" Jeremy said as he finally walked down the stairs with his backpack
"Hey. I had some business in town. I thought a visit was in order." John said
"How long are you staying?" Elena asked
"I don't know yet." John said
"Okay, well, I'm going to school. I'll see you later." Elena said. I was already standing at the doorway, waiting for her, so when she said that I very quickly exited the house and headed towards my car.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bonnie was still off. I couldn't blame her for not being here after everything that happened to her grams, but she is the only witch I know and until she gets back to Mystic Falls, I'm basically defenseless.
I was so lost in thought that I didn't notice Elena striding over to me. I was startled when she sat down in front of me with a serious expression on her face.
"Jeremy wrote an essay on vampires." Elena said as she sat down beside me
"Oh. Um, well, let's not jump to any conclusions. What type of vampire are we talking about here? Dracula? Edward Cullen?" I asked her
"It was titled, fact or fiction? The truth about vampires in mystic falls." Elena stated
"Yeah, that's bad. That's really bad. You don't think the compulsions wearing off, do you?" I asked her
"I hope not. I don't know what he knows, I'm going to talk to him later." Elena said
"Okay. Let me know what you find out." I replied with a nod.
"Will our lives ever be easy, or normal?" Elena asked with a sigh
"Nope. Life is never easy, for anyone. As for normal, I cannot answer that. Considering that I'm an abomination of a witch, so even if I ran away from town and away from all vampires, I'd still...be me." I said. I felt like I had over shared. "Who wants to be normal anyway? It's overrated."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I couldn't help but sigh as I walked up the path to the Lockwood mansion yet again. We were having yet another founders day party, this time to celebrate the 150 year anniversary of founders day. I put my hands into the pockets of my dress and walked into the building. There were a lot of people inside, all of their talking merged together into one incomprehensible sound.
The first people my eyes landed on however, were the Salvatore brothers. I was actually relieved to see them. I walked up behind them and placed my hands on both of their shoulders.
"Hello boys." I said with a smile
"Hello, Flo." Damon said with a smile. I took my hands off of their shoulders and moved to stand beside Damon.
"How you feeling?" Damon asked Stefan.
"I'm good. I'm fine." Stefan replied
"No cravings, no urges?" Damon asked, I looked between the two in confusion, not understanding what Damon was talking about. "Is that whiskey you've been drinking all day doing it's job?"
Stefan smiled sarcastically at his brother, looking like he wanted to rub away.
"We are who we are, Stefan. Pretending doesn't change that." Damon mused
"Nothing would make you happier than to see me give in, huh, Damon?" Stefan asked
"Whatever. It's inevitable." Damon said with a smirk.
"I'm gonna go find Elena." Stefan said
"Don't embarrass me, young man." Damon said jokingly as Stefan walked off.
"What have I missed?" I asked Damon in confusion
"Ah, you don't know? Well, Stefan was very hurt after we broke him out, and Elena gave him some of her blood. You see, any normal vampire could handle that, but Stefan, who doesn't drink human blood, is not doing so well. He is craving it and it's driving him crazy." Damon said in a low voice
"That's not good. Why didn't Elena tell me any of this?" I wondered out loud
"Don't know. Maybe she didn't want you to worry." Damon suggested with a shrug.
"Maybe. Why doesn't Stefan drink human blood?" I asked Damon
"Let's say that when he does, he can't control himself, he takes things too far." Damon said
"How far?" I asked him
"You don't want to know." Damon replied as he began to walk through the crowds. He picked up a glass of champagne as he went.
"But I do, he is dating my sister, I want to know if she's in any danger." I said as I followed after him.
"Look, Stefan loves Elena, he would never do anything to hurt her. She isn't in danger. The other humans in Mystic Falls might want to keep an eye out." Damon said with his usual dramatic flare.
"That's not comforting." I said quietly as I followed him into the room where people were dancing. The music suddenly changed and Stefan began to dance with Matt's mother.
"Have I entered an alternate universe where Stefan is fun?" Damon asked Elena as we came to stand beside her.
"Is he gonna be okay?" Elena asked
"Eventually. One way or another." Damon said
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This party had been going on for what felt like forever, even though it had only been a few hours. I absentmindedly began to walk on eggshells around Stefan, Tyler kissed Matt's mom, and Matt beat up Tyler over it, which was understandable.
Damon and I stood together in the large crowd as everyone gathered to look at a very old bell. The only thing that was keeping me going was the knowledge that it would be over soon.
"I would like to welcome back one of our town's favorite sons...to do the honors of ringing our official charter bell. John Gilbert, would you please join me up here?" The mayor said. John walked up to the front of the room and shook hands with him.
"One hundred and fifty years of community, prosperity, family. We take care of each other. We look after each other. We protect each other. It's good to be home." John said.
Damon moved through the crowd towards Alaric and I followed after him, curious as to why he suddenly looked like he had seen a ghost.
"Look at his right hand." Damon said in a hushed tone
"Whose?" Ric asked
"The town's favorite son. Look at his ring." Damon said. I glanced at John's hand to see a ring that looks identical to Alarics. He pulled the rope on the bell and it rang loudly.
"Well, looks like mine." Alaric said
"Yeah, and that's be a big coincidence..." Damon lowered his voice even more, like he didn't want me to hear, but I moved closer. "If he didn't just come back from the dead five minutes ago."
"Excuse me?" I asked in shock, what was he talking about?
"I'll explain later." Damon said to me before he turned back to Ric. "Where the hell did you get that ring?"
"Isobel, my wife." Ric said
"Who gave birth to Elena...under the medical care of the esteemed Dr Grayson Gilbert...John's brother." Damon said
"You think John knew Isobel?" Ric asked
"I think John knows a lot of things." Damon said.
It seemed that they had finished talking, so I grabbed Damon by his arm and began to drag him through the crowd. Even though I was literally manhandling him, he followed after me.
"Woah, take me to dinner first." He mused with a coy smirk as I dragged him outside where no one could hear us.
"What the hell do you mean John was dead?" I asked him, turning to face him with raised brows.
"Well, that's a complicated question, you see...I may have snapped his neck and pushed him off the balcony." Damon said with a slight grimace. He wasn't guilty for doing it, he was only feeling guilty for getting caught.
"You what?" I gaped at him. Several thoughts went around my mind at incredible speeds. I can't believe this is the guy who I have feelings for, I can't believe he would kill my uncle, I don't even like the man but still, I don't want him dead. The most pressing thought of all however, was how the hell was he still alive.
"Look, I'm sorry. But he knew about me. He knows that I'm a vampire and he knows about the tomb vampires, and that I'm the one who let them out." Damon said in a hushed tone, trying to explain himself.
I nodded wordlessly, taking in what he said. I could understand why he would do it, but it was the fact that he did it to a family member of mine. He didn't know that I don't like John, I could have loved him for all he knew and he still did it.
"Okay." I said with a small nod. I backed up and turned to walk away, but his hand clasped into my elbow, stopping me in my tracks.
"Florence. I'm sorry." Damon said
"I just need a minute, Damon. Just a minute." I said. I shrugged my arm out of his grasp and walked away. If I keep excusing his actions, am I any better than him? Will I lose myself in the process of loving him? Or am I really like this? Am I okay with him killing people? Killing my own family?