It was like it was all for nothing.
Elena convinced Bonnie and Grams to open the tomb so Damon would be able to get Elizabeth out. Their plan was for Damon unlock the tomb and let Damon go in to find Elizabeth, but they never intended to take the seal keeping them in off. Damon would have been stuck down there along with the rest. Then Stefan went in to save me, making Elena beg Bonnie and Grams to be lenient and lift the seal at least long enough to get him out again- and Damon for me.
The spell worked and the seal was lifted, but Elizabeth wasn't down in the tomb and the seal didn't go back up. The worst part was that Bonnie lost her grams. She passed away after we took her back to her house. She appeared to be sleeping at first, but when Bonnie couldn't wake her...
Claire said that Grams used up too much power for her body to handle and it ended up killing her.
Anna got her mother out. That was the only positive thing that came out of opening that tomb. Damon found out the love of his life was never was in the tomb and had never bothered to look him up, Grams died, and the seal didn't even stay up.
All thoughts of Katherine stayed out of our heads (or at least mine and Bonnie's head) until after Grams' funeral. She had stayed with Pearl and Anna gathering her strength back. As far as I knew, neither Stefan nor Damon heard anything from her. Not that they really had a problem with it, it was just making Stefan nervous because he didn't know if or what she had planned.
Bonnie left town for a while. She just needed some time away from everything and frankly, I didn't blame her. Elena and I hadn't gotten a hold of her since she left, but all things considered...I think I knew Bonnie's reasons for not contacting us and I respected her choice. It wasn't one I was happy about, but it was her choice.
Besides, compared to Damon's coping method, I was a lot more comfortable with Bonnie's choice. I sighed to myself and sat back in my window seat, wishing that my mother was still here. She would know what to do.
~~~~~
Third POV
"Are you going to tell Sam?"
It was the first question Stefan asked Elena after she told him about what Jenna found out about her birth mother and that she hadn't decided whether or not she would be visiting her possibly deceased birth mother's best friend in Grove Hill. She sighed at the question, a crease of worry and guilt etched in to her forehead.
"I don't know, Stefan," she answered. "She doesn't even know that I knew she was adopted, let alone that we most likely came from different birth parents."
"When are you going to tell her?" he asked then.
She shook her head.
"Later," she replied. "Now...just isn't the right time. There's too much going on and I don't want to make things worse for her."
Stefan nodded and held her supportively in his arms.
"Well whenever you decide to tell her, I'll be there. For both of you."
Elena sighed in gratitude and allowed her eyes to close as she rested her head comfortably against his chest. It wasn't the right time to tell her little sister the truth about her adoption. There was so much Elena herself didn't know about her own adoption and their father didn't mention anything about Sam's adoption in any of his medical journals or records. According to Sam's birth certificate, she was the daughter of Grayson and Miranda Gilbert- same as Elena. Her parents were basically ghosts.
And Elena couldn't help but get the nagging feeling that maybe they were for good reason.
~~~~~
Sam's POV
"Don't you think it's weird?" Chastity asked without looking away from the three books she was currently making hover over the coffee table in her aunt's living room.
It was a trivial spell according to her, but Claire insisted that Chastity needed to practice even the trivial things in order to keep her magic sharp.
"What?" I asked from the sofa across from her.
She pulled her legs up on the arm chair she was sitting on to sit criss-cross before answering me.
"Damon has been binging on sorority girls to cope with Elizabeth not wanting anything to do with him and not even you can get through to him," she started while I frowned.
I did try talking to Damon a few times about his blood binging, but he insisted that he was fine and that I had nothing to worry about. He was coping in his own way and while I definitely didn't like that he was using people as blood bags, he promised he wouldn't kill anyone and honestly I knew that was the best I would get from him.
"Also he seems to be completely forgetting the fact that his former side chick and Elena's twin sister from another century is in town and no one's heard anything from her, which is extremely unsettling," Chastity continued. "I forgot to ask how Elena's doing with that."
"She...was in shock. It's one thing to hear about her and see pictures of her. It's a whole other thing to actually physically see her," I answered leaning back in to the cushions. "She's dealing though. There's a lot of that going on now."
"Yeah," Chastity agreed, finally allowing the books to gently touch the table surface.
Her big green eyes switched up to me then.
"How are you dealing?"
I opened my mouth to answer, but she abruptly cut me off.
"And no lying."
"I'm fine."
"I said no lying, you filthy liar."
"I'm not lying."
"And you're a stubborn filthy liar."
I sighed and held up my hands in an exasperated manner.
"What do you want me to say?" I asked rhetorically. "That I'm absolutely destroyed that Bonnie lost her Grams and has to go through that pain because Elena and I wanted Stefan and Damon out of that tomb? That I feel completely helpless because I don't know what to do for my sister who saw a replica of herself and now has to deal with her living in the same town? Or that I hate that the love of Damon's life knew where he was for 145 years and did nothing because she never cared about him and now he's suffering because of that?"
I let out a deep breath while Chastity stared at me in shock.
"Wow I think that's the most I've ever heard you talk about how you feel," she said surprised. "That's...good. You can't keep that stuff pent up inside, ya know."
I pressed my lips together and rolled my eyes.
"Yeah...it's just...my feelings aren't that important when Bonnie and Damon are the ones who got screwed over. Bonnie especially."
"True...but that doesn't mean you should short count yourself," Chastity told me. "You don't have to be everyone's rock. You don't have to fix everyone."
If I could only stop feeling like I had to.
~~~~~
Speaking of fixing, I thought to myself as I knocked on the door of the boarding house later that day.
Shortly after, to no surprise, the door gently cracked open and I stepped in, calling for either of the Salvatores.
"Sam."
I turned at the sound of the voice and came face-to-face with an obviously drunk- and shirtless- Damon.
Trying not to stare too long at his admittedly breathtaking physique, I cleared my throat and looked up at him. He smirked, obviously knowing I had been admiring him, making my cheeks burn ever so slightly.
"What brings you by?" he asked.
"I just...wanted to check on you," I answered. "You look..."
"Dashing? Gorgeous?" he asked with a smirk. He loomed over me, leaning closer as he whispered, "Irresistible?"
"Wrecked," I told him honestly, placing my hands on his bare shoulders to push him back gently.
I had to ignore the feeling of fire surging through my veins when I touched him and keep my knees steady before they buckled beneath me. It didn't help that I made the mistake of making direct eye contact with him, getting sucked in to the icy blue irises that seemed to have a bizarre effect on me from the moment I met him.
He let out an almost inaudible gasp when I touched him and he stared down intensely at me, his face getting closer before I pulled it together at stepped back.
"You uh..." I began, struggling to find words. "I...I just wanted to see if you were okay, which...obviously you've been better."
He cleared his throat and looked away.
"I'm better than ever," he mumbled, clearly lying. "I'm glad you're here actually, I need your opinion on something."
Before I could ask what, he whisked me up to his room, setting me down in the center while he walked over to his wardrobe. He pulled out two button up shirts, one black and one dark gray.
"Now tell me which shirt one of the most eligible bachelor's in Mystic Falls should wear tonight," he requested.
Eyeing both of the shirts, I decided on the dark gray one.
"Most eligible bachelor," I repeated as he put the shirt I chose on. "No surprise."
Really, the thought of him being raffled off to someone...didn't sit well with me. It made my heart tighten and my stomach twist up in knots, actually. I couldn't help detesting the idea of someone else being able to- shut up. No. No Sam.
He smirked in his mirror at me as he paused buttoning up his shirt.
"Jealous, Miss Gilbert?"
My eyes widened.
"Why would I be jealous?" I sputtered.
"Because someone else may just get the honor of kissing me tonight," he teased.
I gaped at him like a fish before shaking my head clear. Speaking again, I moved the topic to something else.
"If I ask you how you're doing, will you lie to me again?" I asked solemnly.
His smirk dropped and he broke our eye contact through the mirror, going back to struggling to button his shirt. He turned to me and gestured to them.
"Help a guy out, will ya?"
I stepped toward him with a light sigh, grabbing the two ends of his shirt and buttoning from his drool worthy abs up.
"I didn't lie, by the way," he muttered after a moment.
"That was another lie," I called out, not looking up from his buttons. "If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to. I just want you to know I'm here."
"What is there to even talk about?" he asked. "Elizabeth wasn't in the tomb. She's always known where I was and didn't care. That's that. Heartless bitch even left her own sister to rot for over a century, I really shouldn't be surprised that she left me behind too."
"That doesn't mean it doesn't hurt you," I replied finally looking up at him. "Look...Stefan told me that being a vampire...means things get magnified. Which means when you love someone as much as you loved Elizabeth...the pain hurts much more."
He stared down at me, his face tilting downward until his forehead bumped against mine.
"Guess if anyone knows heartbreak, it's you," he slurred a bit. "You know, if I had been around back then...when what's his face did what he did...I would have kicked his ass for hurting you."
"Knowing you, I probably would have asked you not to," I began. "But thanks for the offer."
I put my hand on his chest after I finished buttoning his shirt, leaving the top few buttons undone in his usual fashion.
"I know you keep saying you're okay," I said. "Even though you are...just know I'm here for you. No matter what."
He pulled back and stared at me with an unreadable expression for a few seconds before taking my hand and kissing my knuckles.
"I'm fine," he insisted. "Really."
My heart tightened some more at the lie.
~~~~~
At the raffle, I stuck to Chastity mostly while Damon was off flirting with the mayor. Not that I minded. I mean, he can definitely flirt with whomever he wants to. It's none of my business. Not. At. All.
Kelly Donovan showed up, which was a surprise since I didn't even know she was back in town, and she gave Elena and I both a big greeting hug. Though I felt overwhelmingly guilty when I first saw her on account of her having no idea that her daughter was dead, I was a bit put off by the way she treated Caroline, even calling her Matt's rebound girl.
It was Caroline's weak spot. Being compared to Elena and I hated that Kelly made her feel lesser than my sister when her relationship with Matt had been going well as far as I was aware.
When the raffle started, Chastity and I sat at a table with Jenna and Elena. Mrs. Lockwood moved down the line of bachelors, all of them telling a bit about themselves before she moved on to the next one.
I gave Jenna a sly smile after Alaric's turn and she blushed slightly, confirming my thought that there was absolutely something between them.
"Damon Salvatore," Mrs. Lockwood said, standing beside Damon now. "We don't have much on you."
"Well, I'm tough to fit on a card," he explained.
"Do you have any hobbies, like to travel?" she asked.
"Oh, yeah. L.A., New York. Couple years ago, I was in North Carolina. Near the Duke campus, actually. I think-"
He looked to Alaric.
"I think Alaric went to school there," he said. "Didn't you Ric? Yeah, cause I know your wife did."
I furrowed my eyebrows at the underlying tone in Damon's voice and the look on Alaric's face. It was like Damon was...taunting him? Why would he be taunting Alaric?
My confusion grew when I saw Elena stiffen at Damon's mention of Alaric's wife. What was going on?
"I had a drink with her once," Damon went on. "She was- she was a great girl. I ever tell you that?"
Alaric's jaw clenched while Elena got stiffer and all the color seemed to drain from her face.
"Cause she was delicious."
My jaw dropped. To anyone else, Damon seemed to be bragging about possibly sleeping with Alaric's wife and was now being creepy about it. To me...to Alaric...he was rubbing Alaric's face in the fact that Damon...drank her blood and...did what? Killed her?
"Are you okay?" I heard Jenna ask.
I followed her concerned gaze to Elena, who was getting up from the table saying that she needed air. I got up as well and followed her outside without hesitation.
"Elena!" I called to her after we got outside.
She paced around the sidewalk, breathing heavily like she was running out of air. I put both hands on her shoulders, now extremely worried about her.
"Elena, what's going on?" I asked her.
Why was she reacting this way?
"Elena."
She and I were joined by Stefan, who was looking at Elena with remorse and regret.
"Stefan, what is going on?" I asked him. "What was Damon talking about in there? What happened to Alaric's wife and what does Elena have to do with her?"
He looked to Elena, searching for an answer and I did the same seeing he wasn't going to answer without her opinion.
"Elena?" I said.
She sighed, shaking her head.
"Sam...I...I can't right now," she cried. "I just..."
She didn't even finish her sentence before pulling away from me and walking further down the sidewalk.
I stared after her, feeling both hurt and surprised that- for once in my life- my sister couldn't talk to me though she was clearly hurting.
Desperate, I turned to Stefan, who automatically opened his mouth, probably to tell me he couldn't tell me anything, before I cut him off.
"Please," I begged him. "Just...be there for her."
He closed his mouth and nodded sincerely.
"Go back in," he said. "We'll explain everything to you later."
With nothing else to do, I nodded and went back inside. I didn't know what was going on with Elena. What I did know was that whatever it was, Damon was responsible.
~~~~~
"You," Chastity hissed as soon as Damon came in to our view later. "You have some serious freaking explaining to do here."
I had explained the situation to her, everything I knew at least, and her poorly controlled angry response was the urge to cut Damon's tongue off and set him on fire. But not before he gave some answers.
"Down Lassie," Damon grumbled to her. "I want to talk to Sam alone."
Chastity looked to me and I nodded, determined to get answers from him. She sighed and hopped down from the high chair across from me, glaring at Damon as she bumped past him. He didn't pay her any attention, focusing solely on me with an almost desperate look in his eyes.
"What happened?" I asked seriously.
"I didn't know," he told me. "I really didn't."
"You didn't know what, Damon?" I asked, growing annoyed by my lack of background information on the situation.
He furrowed his eyebrows.
"How much do you know?"
"Evidently nothing," I laughed without humor. "I have no idea what's going on. What I do know is that Alaric's wife is missing, which apparently you had something to do with, and you were just rubbing it in his face. Also, it seems to have a big negative effect on my sister and for the life of me I cannot figure out why because she..."
I sighed and turned forward to face the table in my seat. Damon sat in the chair across from me, reaching his hands out to hold my own. I could feel his prying eyes on my face, begging me to look at him, so I granted him mercy and looked up.
"Alaric's wife's name was Isobel," he informed me. "And I just...I just found out that apparently...that's the name of Elena's birth mother."
I stiffened in shock.
"Elena's birth mother?" I repeated softly, staring back down at the table. "What- but she- I- she didn't...she would tell me if she found out who her birth mother was..."
Suddenly my eyes snapped back up to Damon.
"You killed her?"
He blinked and his face contorted in to something that resembled remorse- a silent confirmation.
"Oh my god," I whispered, feeling tears well up in my eyes. "That's why she..."
I pulled my hands out of Damon's and stood up abruptly, gathering my things quickly.
"Sam-"
Damon stood with me, walking around the table and stepping in front of me. He grabbed my arms to stop me from leaving.
"Don't, please," I begged him.
"Sam, I need you to know that I didn't know who she was," he insisted. "I swear and I...I was stupid up there, alright? It was a stupid thing to do, I admit it. Just...know that I am genuinely...sorry."
The word was foreign to him in the genuine sense, I knew that. Even so, I couldn't appreciate it.
"I'm not the one you should be saying that to, Damon," I told him. "Please let me go so I can go talk to my sister."
With what I could swear was sadness in his eyes, he hesitantly released me from his grasp and I stepped around him, heading straight to the door. It all made sense now. Alaric's...dead wife, Isobel...she was Elena's birth mother. That's why she reacted the way she did.
Still. I couldn't believe she didn't tell me she knew and she...
She didn't tell me Isobel was only her birth mother.
~~~~~
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," Elena said later that night.
We sat together in her room on her bed. I told her what Damon told me and she told me everything she knew about her adoption and her birth mother, which was only as much as Jenna could piece together from Dad's medical journals. Apparently our parents kept things under very tight wraps.
Alaric didn't even know Isobel had a baby in high school. Isobel never told him. What he did know was that she was killed by a vampire. Apparently that vampire had been Damon.
"No, it's okay," I assured her even though it wasn't completely true.
I was hurt Elena didn't tell me about finding out who her birth mother was and going to meet an old high school friend of hers. I was also a little surprised she didn't tell me about the man outside said friend's house and about his warning at the raffle. There was nothing I could do about it now, though. As usual.
"I just...I wanted to wait for the right time to tell you," she said toying with the cell phone she found after the compelled man outside the raffle was hit by the truck.
I watched it curiously, switching my eyes from it to her every couple seconds or so. An idea came to me then.
"What's the last number called on there?" I asked suddenly.
She looked at me in confusion for a moment before she opened the phone, clicking through until she found the recent calls. She furrowed her eyebrows then.
"There's...only one number going in and out," she said.
Without warning, she pressed the call button and put the phone to her ear while I watched in anticipation. Who would be on the other end of that line?
I knew the moment the line was picked up because whoever had answered stunned my sister. She looked like she recognized the voice on the other end, but at the same time shouldn't have been able to.
"Isobel," she questioned.
Wait what?