I danced victoriously as I slammed my shot glass down after I finished my shot before everyone else at the bar- including Damon- yet again.
"That's 3!" I cheered, looking at Damon. "I'm a lot better at this whole drinking thing than I thought."
"Learn something new everyday," Damon smirked.
I giggled and looked around.
"All right, who's next?" I asked.
I knew it was probably a bad idea to continue down this path, but a more dominant part of me wanted to keep going.
"Honey, you should be on the floor," a blonde woman with pink cheeks next to me said.
"I am not even drunk. My tolerance is like way up here," I said jumping up to show her just how high up it was.
"You're so small though," she said.
"Tiny but mighty," I grinned.
~~~~~
The guy I was playing pool with- I know his name, trust me- swore loudly after his missed his shot. I laughed and leaned forward to take my shot when my phone rang, slightly bringing me out of my drunken high.
I jogged to my jacket, struggling to take my phone out of my pocket. When I finally got it out, I answered.
"Hello?" I said in to the receiver.
"Samantha?"
Crap, Aunt Jenna. She even used my full name? I'm in trouble.
I started yanking my jacket back on as I headed outside to hear her better.
"Jenna!" I greeted. "Hi!"
"Where are you? Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," I assured her, feeling guilty for making her worry. How long had it been since I last spoke to her? Or Elena and Stefan for that matter?
"It's not fine," she argued. "I got a call-"
I tripped over my own feet, dropping my phone in the process, and landed on my hands and knees. I groaned at myself and hurriedly picked my phone back up. Elena must have told her about the crash because she ran out of excuses for me. I felt terrible for putting her in a position like that. What kind of sister and niece was I?
I picked myself back up, ready to confess to Jenna where I really was, when an arm wrapped around me from behind and a hand covered my mouth and muffled my screams. More fear set in when I realized it was a vampire holding me after I was sped away at a speed no human would be able to move at.
Who was this person? Was I about to be dinner? And where is Damon?
~~~~~
Third POV
Damon returned to the bar with a sigh. It was dark out already and he knew that he needed to get Sam back to Mystic Falls before her sister and his brother had bigger hissy fits than they'd already been having.
"Hey, where's your girl?" Bree asked.
Damon frowned and looked around, not noticing the look on Bree's face as he did. His gorgeous companion was no where to be seen, not even by the pool table where he last saw her.
His eyes narrowed and he immediately got up from the bar without saying a word as a slight panic overtook him. Something wasn't right. Not even drunk Sam would take off on him like this.
He stepped outside, eyes searching wildly for her. Where was she?...
His eyes spotted her phone on the ground and a sick feeling settled in the pit of his stomach.
"No," he muttered to himself.
He snatched up her phone and glanced all around him. Sam...
He walked around the building quickly, determined to find her and possibly end the life of whoever took her. He came across an electrical building where he saw Sam on the ladder of a storage tank.
"Damon, no!" she warned him.
Before he could get a word out, he caught sight of a blur heading straight for him and a sudden pain in the back of his legs knocked him down.
Great, so his enemies were already starting to figure out they could use Sam for bait.
~~~~~
Sam POV
I climbed down the ladder, running toward Damon and the vampire attacking him with the metal bat.
The other vampire let up and went off somewhere, but I knew he'd be back. Damon glared in the direction he went in.
"What the hell?!" he spat. "Sam, get out of here!"
"I'm not leaving you!"
True there wasn't anything I could do, but I didn't want to leave Damon with this guy. Who knows what he would do?
The other vampire returned quickly with a container of gasoline. He wasted no time before he began dumping it on Damon.
"No!" I panicked, running toward them.
He glared back at me, fangs out and veins popped. I stopped in my tracks. He turned back to Damon.
"Who are you?" Damon demanded.
"That's perfect. You have no idea," the guy scoffed.
"What did he do?" I asked. "What could he have possibly done to you?"
"He killed my girlfriend," he spat.
My eyes widened as realization set in. Damon killed his girlfriend? Who was his girlfriend?
"What did she do to you, huh? What did she do to you?!" the vampire raged as he continued pouring gas on Damon.
"Nothing," Damon replied, a little guiltily.
That guilt was familiar...
"Lexi," I whispered. "Lexi was your girlfriend? She told me about you. You turned so you two could be together forever."
It was romantic. Very romantic, but short-lived.
He took out his lighter, his eyes glistening with tears that made my heart break.
"Wait," I begged. "Lexi- she loved you! I didn't know her long, but I know she was good. Which means that you must be good too, so you're better than this- better than him!"
"I'm doing you a favor," he hissed.
He lit the lighter, letting Damon watch the flame almost tauntingly.
"Please, don't hurt him," I begged softly. "Please, don't do this. Be better than this. Be better for her."
Lexi didn't deserve to die, but neither did Damon. He was good, I knew that. Beneath it all, there was good in him. Just like there was in this guy.
His hand shook, like he wanted to drop the lighter but was fighting with himself not to do it. He looked over his shoulder at me with his tortured eyes before he sighed and let the flame go out. I sighed in relief when his shoulders slumped, but tensed once more as he picked the weakened Damon up and threw him in to the building across from him.
I winced when Damon landed, but felt relief that he was alright. Alive, at least.
"She'd be proud of you," I said to Lexi's boyfriend. "She'd be proud of you for being strong."
He looked at me tearfully and nodded once before speeding away. I didn't waste any time before running to Damon's side to make sure he was alright.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"Been through worse," he groaned. "Am I still pretty?"
I laughed in relief. At least he was still Damon.
~~~~~
Third POV
Lee ran to his car, tears still soaking in his eyes. He came here tonight with the purpose of killing his girlfriend's killer, but that girl got to him. He was annoyed when she stopped him, but she was right. Lexi wouldn't have wanted him to get lost in vengeance. She had a pure heart, just like that girl.
He leaned his head forward on his car and sighed. At least he got to kick the crap out of that guy first.
"You should consider yourself lucky," a voice behind him said.
He jumped, whirling around defensively with the metal bat in hand. Standing across from him was a calm looking man with his hands folded in front of him.
"Who the hell are you?" he demanded. How did this guy sneak up on him?
"Although you did us the girl to lure Damon Salvatore out, you didn't harm her," the guy said, ignoring his demand. "Which warrants you a quick death, but a death nonetheless."
"What are you talking about?" Lee asked. "What does it matter to you?"
"My orders are clear," the guy replied. "There are no exceptions."
Without further explanation, he sped forward and ripped Lee's heart of his chest.
~~~~~
Sam POV
Shortly after Damon recovered from his attack and he said goodbye to Bree, we were on the road back to Mystic Falls. I asked Damon again why he brought me along with him and got an actual answer. Turns out, I'm fun to be with and he wanted to save me and piss Stefan and Elena off, which I'm sure he did.
When we got back to town, we went straight back to the boarding house where I knew Elena and Stefan would be. I found them upstairs, talking closely. As soon as she saw me, Elena stood up and pulled me in to her arms.
"Where have you been?" she asked. "Are you alright? Why haven't you called? I had to tell Jenna that I wasn't sure where you were because the school called and said you weren't there and-"
"Elena," I cut in. "I'm okay, it's okay. I don't blame you for telling Jenna, frankly I may have done the same thing. I know you were worried about me and I'm sorry, but-"
"Don't," she said. "It's okay, I know you didn't have much of a choice. I just need to keep in mind you were with Damon. Did he hurt you at all?"
"No," I instantly said. "No, he didn't hurt me."
She eyed me up and down. After she seemed to be assured that I wasn't hurt, she let out a small sigh and hugged me tightly again.
"Don't even disappear on us like that again."
"Sorry."
Stefan stepped over and I hugged him briefly.
"I'm glad to see you're alright," he said.
"You should really give your brother more credit," I said lightly. "He'd never hurt me."
Silence fell over and I knew it was because what I said. Though I trusted him, I knew Stefan and Elena didn't. That was alright. Over time they would see.
I cleared my throat and put thumbs in my pack pockets.
"So...you two seem to have worked things out," I noticed.
"Yeah, uh...we did a lot of talking while you were gone," Elena said. "Found some things out."
I furrowed my eyebrows.
"Like what?" I asked looking between the two.
They exchanged glances and Elena stepped forward slightly.
"Well...Stefan was the one who saved me from the accident," she began.
My heart stopped and I looked at Stefan.
"You were there?" I asked him.
"I was here to see Zach," he explained. "I was out in the woods when I heard the accident. I didn't get there fast enough- the car was already completely in the water by the time I got there. Your dad was still conscious. I could have saved him, but he refused to let me until I saved Elena."
I let out a shaky breath in shock as tears blurred my vision.
"You saved my sister's life?" I repeated. My father...sacrificed himself to save Elena. To let Stefan save Elena.
Silent tears slipped down Elena's face as Stefan nodded.
"I went back for your parents, but...it was already too late."
I stepped forward quickly and wrapped my arms around Stefan, crying harder than I had been a second ago.
"Thank you," I said thickly. "Thank you for saving my sister."
"I'm sorry for not telling you earlier," he said. "That was the first time I saw Elena- the first time I saw that she looked like Katherine. The first time I met you was at school on the first day, I had no idea who you were. I actually thought you were Elizabeth. I wanted to tell you both but...I didn't want to drop it on you. I'm so sorry, Sam."
I shook my head and pulled away from him.
"It's okay," I assured him. "It's okay. You have nothing to apologize for. I understand. But...I don't get it."
"Get what?" Elena asked.
There seemed to be a hint of dread in her voice, like she didn't want me asking whatever I knew she knew I was going to ask.
"Why the resemblance?" I asked. "How do we look exactly like them?"
"It's not important-"
"You've already been through so much."
"Please," I begged them both. "I want to- I have to know."
Stefan hesitated, looking at Elena. She shook her head at him and opened her mouth.
"We did some digging," she began. "It didn't make sense because our last name is Gilbert and theirs was Pierce. The resemblance was too strong for it to be coincidence. And then...we found the truth."
"Which is?" I pressed patiently.
Elena sighed.
"We were adopted, Sam."
~~~~~
Walking up to the house, my mind was in a haze. I was adopted. Elena was adopted. We were most likely descended from Katherine and Elizabeth somehow...
Stefan and Elena found our birth records. We had birth certificates with our names- Elena Gilbert and Samantha Gilbert- and birthdays on them from Mystic Falls General. However, they couldn't find any records of Miranda Gilbert ever being admitted for either of our births or even her being pregnant with us.
Elena wanted to look more, but as Stefan said it was too risky for him to go asking around about Katherine and the Pierce family.
"I don't set a lot of rules, girls. Not with you two. I trust you both to tell me the truth: where were you? Why would you lie to me about it? I thought we were closer than that?"
I blinked once and looked up, realizing now that we were inside the house. Jenna was standing in the living room, looking at us expectantly.
"Now is not the time to talk to us about lies," Elena countered.
"Don't do that, don't turn this back on me," Jenna said. "I didn't do anything."
"Okay question," Elena started.
"Are Elena and I adopted?" I asked before I could stop myself.
Jenna's face morphed from anger to shock and guilt.
"We trust you to tell us the truth too, Jenna," Elena said. "How could you not tell us? I thought we were closer than that."
Elena started up the stairs while I stayed where I was, watching Jenna and waiting for her explanation.
"Elena, Sam, I didn't- they asked me not to," she said regretfully.
"I don't want to hear it!" Elena said going straight to her room.
The door slammed and Jenna shut her eyes. She looked back at me desperately.
"I am so sorry, Sam," she said. "I didn't think I'd have to be the one- they asked me not to say anything to you before..."
I took a deep breath and swallowed my pain. As hard as it was for Elena and me to find out we were adopted, it must have been harder for Jenna to find a way to tell us. Especially when she didn't think she'd have to be the one to do it.
"It's okay," I whispered. "Jenna, it's...I just...I need time."
She nodded sadly as I made my way up the stairs to my own room. I shut the door behind me softly before walking over to my bed, where I sat down slowly. Some couple of days these have been.
~~~~~~~~~~
So Sam's got herself a mysterious protector! Who is he and why is he doing it? All shall be revealed...eventually.
Thanks for reading and for being patient while I get my groove back! You guys are the best!