Carlisle Cullen
I was sitting next to Esme as we waited for Damon to tell us the story of what happened to Jeremy.
"Jeremy loved Annabelle very much... He... Protected her with every ounce of life he had... Kept his promise." Damon says.
"What promise?" I ask.
"To love and protect her until his last breath... And he did." Damon says.
Everyone was silent for a minute.
"He protected her in that tunnel... He died protecting her... His last words to her were 'I love you'.... Hers to him were 'I love you, too'... Then he walked into his death... And she was forced to watch... Then she killed the guy that killed the love of her life." Damon says.
"She did?" Bella asks.
"Annabelle watched two people cause Jeremy's death that day." Stefan says.
"Silas, the one that drained the blood from Jeremy and then snapped his neck. I was injured and in the tunnel. Annabelle was helping me when she saw that happen." Bonnie says.
"Then there's Katherine Pierce, the one that impersonated Elena and fed Jeremy to Silas before grabbing the vampirism cure and bolting..." Damon says.
I see Rosalie get angry. Her and Annabelle were very close.
"Kitten was never the same after that."
Damon says, more to himself.
"The mental, emotional, and even physical pain all began to come down on Annabelle so hard that she couldn't take it anymore and... She turned her humanity off. Elena did the same later on." Stefan says.
"I put the Gilbert ring on Matt and snapped his neck to make Elena believe that I killed him. That got her to get her emotions back on. It killed her... But she did it." Damon says.
Elena sniffles and lays her head on Damon's shoulder.
"Annabelle, however... Man. We tried everything." Damon says.
"We finally got to her though. It was... Harsh and very uncalled for but... We had to get Anna back." Stefan says.
"What'd you do?" I ask.
"We told her that you, Jasper, Edward, and everyone else of your family was dead. She didn't believe us. So we had fake pictures made of your bodies burned and decapitated. We had replicas made of Carlisle's ring, Emmett, Edward and Jaspers cuffs, Alice's choker, Rosalie's necklace, and Esme's bracelet. We showed them to her. She sobbed. Once we were sure her emotions were on, we told her the truth. That's when she called you. To be sure we were telling the truth that you were all still alive." Damon explains.
"That was very harsh." Esme says.
"It was. We all agree that we hate having to have gone that far but... We had literally no other way to bring her back. You all mean everything to her. Especially you, Carlisle. You're her only other reason for living. Without you... Plus Jeremy being gone, she'll just end it all completely." Damon says.
"She came close to it when she lost Jeremy... But then once she was reminded of you, she was reminded of why she was still letting herself live." Elena says.
"She began healing. Little by little. But everywhere she went, it was a constant reminder of Jeremy." Bonnie says.
"So I suggested she went back to the one person that she trusts more than anyone on the planet... The person that makes her feel the safest... her father." Damon says.
I nod.
"She agreed then... packed up and left." Stefan says.
"She came to the house, in tears. I didn't know why. All she said was that Jeremy was dead. That he was killed by vampires. We all helped her heal and get to where she's at now." I say.
"That's good. She seems a lot better. She just needs you, Carlisle. She needs this family. No matter how much we mean to her... You guys were her family first. Her initial reason for coming to Mystic Falls was to visit me and my brother. But then she met Jeremy and they happened to fall in love." Damon says.
"She needs you more than she needs us." Stefan says.
"I may be Jeremy's sister but I'm also a reminder of him for her. She's better off here. Away from the memories." Elena says.
We nod. Damon then smiles at something behind me.
"Babyface!" He says, standing up and opening his arms.
"Damon!" My daughters voice says.
Soon, Annabelle runs into his arms and he lifts her off the ground, spinning her around as she laughs. He puts her down, kissing her head.
She hugs Elena then Stefan, Bonnie, Caroline, Matt, Tyler, and Alaric.
Anna then plops into my lap and I chuckle, holding her.
"I'm fine. I know you're all worried about me. I know that you guys know what happened to Jeremy. It's no secret that I miss him every day. But I'm okay. I'm not that person anymore. My humanity is on and it's going to stay on. Jeremy wouldn't want me to be killing people to cure my broken heart. He'd want me to keep fighting and living. Even if it meant it being without him." Anna says.
I smile and kiss her cheek. She smiles.
"I'm so proud of you, Annabelle. Even in the most darkest of times, you continue to fight and see even a dim of light." I say.
She smiles and cuddles into my chest. I smile and kiss her head as everyone just talks.