I felt myself getting pulled from my dream as my eyes suddenly opened and consciousness came back to me. I furrowed my brows, wondering why I had been woken so abruptly. But I didn't have to wonder for long. My eyes landed on the face of my uncle John. He was standing over me with something held in his hand. He quickly stuffed the item into his pocket once he noticed that I was awake.
"What the fuck?" I asked as I sat up
"Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you." John said
"What are you doing in here?" I asked him
"I...don't worry about it." He swiftly turned and left my room, shifting the door behind him.
I exhaled shakily and focused on the door, casting a locking charm on it so he wouldn't be able to get back in. I would have to tell Damon about this, what did he have in his hand? Was he planning on killing me?
It took me a long while to fall back asleep again, but eventually my eyes closed and I fell into a restless dream. A part of my mind was now on edge, waiting for him to try and get back in again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'Come to my class. ASAP'
The message from Alaric popped up on my phone, causing me to furrow my brows. I headed down the corridor towards the history class only to see Damon walking down the hallway towards me.
"Fancy seeing you here." Damon said with a coy smile
"Yeah, not like I go to school here or anything." I said with a small smile
We met in front of Alaric's classroom door. Damon reached for the door hand and opened it, beckoning for me to go first. I gave him a grateful smile as I stepped into the classroom. Damon stepped through behind me and closed the door.
"Damon. Florence, thanks for coming." Alaric said. I noted that both Elena and Stefan were already here.
"Sorry I'm late, my dog ate my, uh...never mind." Damon said
I looked over at my sister to see she had a shocked expression on her face. She was staring ahead of her but I could tell she wasn't really looking at anything. I furrowed my brows at her, wondering what was wrong.
"What's with all the furrowed brows?" Damon asked
"I saw Isobel last night." Alaric said
"What?" I asked with wide eyes
"Isobel's here?" Damon asked
Alaric nodded wordlessly. "In town?" Damon asked again. He then looked over his shoulder at Elena.
I walked over to her and placed my hand on her shoulder, trying to offer comfort to her. Alaric filled Damon and I in on his conversation with Isobel.
"Did you ask about uncle John? Are they working together?" Damon asked. My heart jolted slightly at the mention of him.
"No." Alaric said
"No, they're not?" Damon asked for clarification
"No, I didn't ask." Alaric said
"What about the invention?" Damon asked
"Didn't ask." Alaric said
"She know about the tomb vampires?" Damon asked
"I don't know." Alaric said
"Did words completely escape you?" Damon asked him exasperatedly
"I was a little too distracted by my dead vampire wife to ask any questions." Alaric raised his voice
"What's she want?" Damon asked
"She wants to see me, Damon." Elena suddenly spoke up
"Alaric is supposed to arrange a meeting. We don't know why or what she wants." Stefan said
"You don't have to see her if you don't want to." Damon said to Elena
"I don't really have a choice." Elena said
"She's threatening to go on a killing spree." Alaric said
"Oh. I take it that's not okay with you guys?" Damon said jokingly, knowing what the answer would be.
"I wanna do it. I wanna meet her. If I don't, I know I'll regret it." Elena said
Everybody went quiet for a moment, the decision had been made. If for no reason other than avoiding innocent people being killed.
"Is this a bad time to mention that John was in my room last night when I was sleeping?" I asked
The responses from my friends came practically all at once, their words overlapping each other.
"Excuse me what?" Damon asked
"What?" Elena said
"Sorry?" Alaric said
"Wait, what?" Stefan said
They all looked concerned, but Damon looked pissed. His eyes held a certain danger that would make anyone nervous.
"Yeah, I woke up to him standing over me. He had something in his hand but I didn't see what it was. He hid it from me and then left." I said
"Oh, my god." Elena said
"You are having a sleepover at my house tonight." Damon said
"What?" I asked him
"No, no questions. You are not safe around him. I do not trust him." Damon argued
I sighed to myself before nodding. It wouldn't be the worst thing to be away from him for a night or two.
"Perfect. Now, let's cut off his ring and kill him." Damon clapped his hands together
"No. If we kill him then we won't know why he was even in my room in the first place." I said
"True. Let's interrogate him, then kill him." Damon stated with a smirk
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The autumn air was chilly, causing me to pull my jumper sleeves down over my hands. Damon was pacing along the path across the road from the mystic grill in an agitated manner.
"We should be in there." Damon said
"No. Isobel made it clear that we're not to step foot inside." Alaric said
"I'm not gonna kill her in a restaurant." Damon said
You're not gonna kill her, period." Alaric argued
"She ruined your life. You wanna protect her?" Damon asked
"She's my wife. Was. Was my wife. I looked for the woman I married and she wasn't there. Whoever that is...is cold and detached." Alaric said
"Yeah. She's given up her humanity." Damon said
"See, I don't get that. Stefan has his humanity. He's a good guy. You kill people, but I see something human in you. But with her, there was-there was nothing." Alaric said
"You can turn it off. It's like a button you can press. I mean, Stefan's different. He wants the human experience. He wants to feel every episode of how I met your mother...so he shuts his feelings out. The problem is, as a vampire, your instinct is not to feel. Isobel chose the easier road. No guilt, no shame. No regret. I mean, come on. If you could turn it off, wouldn't you?" Damon asked
"You haven't." Alaric said
"Of course I have, Ric. That's why I'm so fun to be around." Damon said. He began to pace around again, waiting for Stefan and Elena to come outside. I stood up and walked over to him.
"You're lying." I mused
"What's that?" Damon asked as he turned to face me
"You're humanity isn't off." I stated
"And what makes you so sure?" Damon asked
"Because if it was, you wouldn't feel anything. Humanity isn't just happiness, it's also sadness, and rage. You feel all of it. If you didn't, you wouldn't have acted the way you did when Katherine wasn't in her tomb." I explained
His expression changed, he didn't like being seen in this way. I could tell, but I didn't let it scare me. I know he wouldn't hurt me.
"You see right through me don't you?" Damon asked in a bitter tone that was really a way of hiding his real emotions.
"Always." I said, staring up into his eyes and refusing to back down.
"Oh, look, Stefan and Elena are back." He suddenly said, pointing over my shoulder. I turned my head to see the couple heading towards us. He pushed past me and walked over to them, it was clear that I had struck a nerve.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Elena's mother had told her what she wanted. She wanted the invention, and she wanted Elena to give it to her. When Elena had refused, Isobel had told her that the blood would be on her hands, implying that she was going to kill people to get what she wanted.
I was planning on heading home after that, not wanting to deal with the making of the floats for the parade, but Bonnie had sent us a message saying she needed to meet us. Which is how I ended up in school after class in a chemistry classroom.
Bonnie was standing by a desk with an old book open in front of her. Elena closed the door behind her gently and we headed over to her.
"Hey, thanks for meeting me. I wanted you both to see this." Bonnie said
"Is that Emily's spell book?" Elena asked
Bonnie nodded. "I've been going through it since Grams died. Check this out."
I looked down at the page she had open to see a drawing of the vampire compass. "That's the vampire compass." I said
"Yeah. According to Emily, Johnathon Gilbert never succeeded in inventing anything. Emily secretly spelled them all with magic. Compass. Rings. The mystery device you told me about." Bonnie said
"Yeah, that's it. Well, part of it. Damon only has one piece." Elena said
"Emily pledged her loyalty to Katherine. But she couldn't stand by and watch innocent people get killed. This was the only way she could think to help...to let Johnathan Gilbert believe he'd actually invented these devices." Bonnie said
"Does it say what it does?" Elena asked
"Are you sure this is what Isobel wants?" Bonnie asked after reading the page
"Yeah, I'm sure. Why?" Elena asked
"This is a weapon. Against vampires." Bonnie said
"We have to tell Stefan." Elena said
"And Damon. You guys tell Stefan, I'll go to the house." I said
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I sat in my car in front of the Salvatore house, running my fingers nervously through my hair. Isobel had taken Jeremy, and she would only give him back in exchange for the invention. That meant that it was more important than ever to strip it of its magic.
I got out of my car and walked into the Salvatore residence, spotting Damon sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace. I headed over to him and took a seat beside him. He didn't look away from the dancing flames, his jaw was set tightly.
"Damon-" I started to speak but he cut me off.
"She threatened you." Damon said
"Sorry?" I asked him in confusion
"Isobel. She was the reason John was in your room. She knows that you're a siphoner and she believes you're her biggest threat, so she wanted John to find your weaknesses. She wants you dead, or powerless." Damon explained. He looked angry. His eyes burned with anger as the flames reflected against them.
"I think I know why." I said
"Oh yeah? Why? Tell me, why would your sister's mother want you dead?" He asked
"Because I'm a siphoner I could take away her vampirism and kill her, but that's not all. I could take the magic from the invention. Emily spelled all of Johnathan Gilbert's inventions, he was never actually successful. Bonnie found out that the invention you have is a weapon, a weapon against vampires." I explained
"Great. Of course it's a weapon." Damon said with a scoff. "So, if I gave it to you, it would become powerless."
"Yes. And we have to as soon as possible,, because...Isobel has Jeremy. And she won't give it back until she gets the invention. I can strip it of magic, we can give it to her and she won't even know." I nodded
Damon was about to reply, but Stefan, Elena and Bonnie came walking in, causing him to look over at them.
"Damon, we need the invention." Elena said
"What ever for Elena?" Damon asked as he stood up from the sofa. I stood up as well and walked over to the three of them.
"Jeremy's been taken, and Isobel will only give him back in exchange for the invention. Bonnie knows a spell that can strip it of its magic so we can give it to Isobel." Elena said
"Save me the explanation, I'm already caught up. Besides, we don't need a spell, Florence can siphon its magic." Damon said
"I can remove the original spell. It'll work better." Bonnie said, like she wanted Damon to think she was the better person to do it.
"And how do you know that?" Damon asked
"Because I'm a witch, and I've been reading up on it." Bonnie said. I can't explain why, but it hurt my feelings. She's a witch, so she knows better than me, a siphoner, an abomination.
"Well, it doesn't matter who does it, because I don't want to risk giving it to Isobel, who will give it to John, who will kill me." Damon said
"Not if the magic has been stripped from it. Then it won't work. Look, if you won't let Bonnie do it, let Florence do it. John and Isobel will never know." Elena said
Damon sighed but nodded. But Bonnie spoke up. "Look, no offense, Florence, but I would prefer to do the spell. That way I'll know that the magic is gone."
"I'll take all of the magic out Bonnie." I tried to reassure her
"Florence. Please." She said sternly. I swallowed and furrowed my brows, not understanding why she wouldn't let me do it.
"No. No, this is too complicated. I'll get Jeremy my own way." Damon said
"Really? How are you going to do that? Hm? Because Isobel is a vampire...and Jeremy could be dead the second you walk in the door." Stefan asked
"Look, hypothetically let's say I let you do it. Are you even up for this? I mean, no offense. You're no Emily Bennet. Emily knew what she was doing." Damon said to Bonnie
"I've been practicing." Bonnie said
"It's not piano lessons, honey." Damon snarked
"What's your favorite book?" Bonnie asked
"What?" Damon asked
"Name a book. Any book." Bonnie said
"How about call of the wild, Jack London?" Damon said
Bonnie turned to the bookshelf and held her hand out, a book flew out of the bookshelf and Damon caught it with ease. I glanced at it to see it was call of the wild.
"Jack London." Damon said as he tossed the book aside. "Great parlor trick."
"We're doing this, Damon. And we're gonna do it my way. Now give me the device. We're wasting time." Elena said
"I don't trust you. I tried to kill you." Damon said
"Mm. You're right. You can't trust me." Bonnie said
"But you can trust me." Elena said desperately
Damon was silent for a moment before he reached into his pocket and pulled out the invention. He handed it over to Elena.
"Thank you." Elena said gratefully