As the sun shined brightly into sky in the early morning, the parking lot outside of Mystic Falls High School was filled with different vehicles for the car wash fundraiser. Being the leader of the whole event, Emily stood to the side as she watched for something she had to fix. She noticed everything was running smoothly, so she joined Bonnie, who was washing a car with Matt.
Bonnie gave Emily a thankful smile as she noticed the oldest Gilbert girl before they started to wash the windows of a small car. But Bonnie glanced up when she didn't hear the water hose, which Matt was in charge of. "Uh-uh, no. None of that tortured pinning stuff," she told Matt as she saw him staring at Elena and Stefan while they kissed.
Matt shrugged lightly as he uttered, "I'm just observing."
"Mm-hmm," Bonnie mumbled even though she didn't believe Matt for one minute.
"Whatever you say, Matty," Emily smirked at her blonde friend. But she quickly turned around when she heard someone honking. Emily glanced around for someone who wasn't busy at the moment. She called out as she pointed at the red car, "Tiki! This one is yours!"
"Why do I always get the homely ones?" Tiki groaned. "Just to be clear," she told the man, "your car's a P.O.S. I mean, we can wash it, but it's still a P.O.S."
Emily glared at Tiki as she growled, "you don't have to rude." She always hated when someone was rude for no reason. Emily definitely didn't want that attitude on her cheerleading team either. It was just how Emily was raised, to always be respectful - she has her mother to thank for that.
"Rude is uglying up the road with that junker," Tiki told her cheerleading captain. But as soon as Tiki began to fill up the water bucket, the water and soap sprayed all over her. Emily couldn't help but laugh, that's karma for you. "Woah! What the hell?" Tiki yelled out.
Matt quickly ran over and grabbed the water hose that was moving out of control before handing the dark haired girl a towel. He chuckled as he smirked, "wet and wild, Tik!"
Emily grew tired after she had been washing dirty vehicles for a few hours, so she let Bonnie be in charge since she could find Caroline anymore, instead Emily made her way to the cashier to handle the money. Apparently her sister had the same idea, because once Emily got closer, she saw Elena sitting behind the cashier.
""Hey, sis," Emily called out as she moved to sit next to Elena with a bright smile.
But not even a moment later, Emily noticed a familiar man walking up to the cashier. Elena must have had the same thought, because she mentioned, "we saw you last night. You were talking to a friend of ours. At the Grill?"
"Well, I..." the man began before he took a long pause in confusion, "I thought it was somebody I knew."
"Stefan Salvatore," Elena clarified.
"Nah, it can't be," the man shook his head. "It's just my mind playing tricks on me," he tried to explain.
"Where do you think you'd seen him before?" Emily asked the man in confusion.
"When I first moved here, I stayed at the Salvatore boarding house," the older man explained.
"Oh," Elena commented softly.
"Stefan was just passing through to visit his uncle," the man continued. "I mean, none of us knew he was even here until the attack," he added.
"The attack?" Emily asked.
"His uncle got killed," the man explained, "mauled by an animal in the woods."
"His uncle?" Elena questioned, "Zach?"
"Mm-mmm," the man shook his head. "Joseph," he clarified.
Emily looked at the man in confusion. She didn't understand, she knew every resident that lived in Mystic Falls in her lifetime. The only Salvatore she always knew was Zach, even though he kept more to himself. Emily shook her head as she looked at the man with furrowed brows, "I don't think I'm familiar with the story."
"Oh, how could you?" The man shook his head, "I mean, this happened years ago."
Before anyone could say anything more, Tiki suddenly walked up towards the older man. "Grandpa, you gotta go. Mom want you home. Okay?" She told the man softly.
The older man looked at his granddaughter before he nodded his head and slowly turned around. Tiki looked over at the Gilbert sisters as she asked, "he wasn't bugging you guys, was he? He's a little alzy-heimer."
Emily gave Tiki a small friendly smile as she stood up, "no, he's very sweet. Can you watch the cashier for a moment, Tiki?" Once Tiki nodded her head, Emily grabbed her sister's hand and hurried after the older man. Emily was beyond confused what the man was talking about and she wanted the whole story.
"Excuse me, sir," Emily called out softly. Once the man turned around, Emily asked, "are you sure the man you saw, the man you knew, was Stefan Salvatore?"
The man nodded his head, "yes. I remember his ring and his brother - "
"Damon?" Elena questioned.
"Yeah," the man nodded his head, " Stefan and Damon Salvatore."
Emily didn't understand how this man knew the Salvatore brothers and knew their uncle, that wasn't Zach, who has been living the boarding house for the last seventeen years. "When did this all happen?" Emily asked.
"It was early June, 1953," the man responded. He thought for a moment before he nodded his head, "yeah. June, 1953."
Emily quickly looked over at her sister when the older man walked away. Both of the girls had their eyes widened in shock. How could that be? But one thing was for sure, Emily was going to find out the truth somehow.
Emily quickly looked over at her sister once the older man walked away. Both of the girls were in shock as what the man confessed. But how could that be when that was over fifty years ago? Emily knew one thing was for sure, she was going to do whatever she could to know the whole truth.
Emily was slowly walking around the parking lot, making sure that the whole event was running smoothly, and thankfully everything was in order. She suddenly glanced around the benched and was surprised when she saw that her aunt was still her. Emily remember that Jenna's car was one of the very first ones to have been washed. She walked towards the bench where Jenna was sitting with Elena and questioned in confusion, "why are you still here?"
"My car isn't done yet," Jenna told her oldest niece.
"Um, yes it is. It was done hours ago," Emily told her aunt.
Jenna avoided looking into Emily green eyes she mumbled stubbornly, "no it isn't."
"Hi," Logan greeted as he walked up to the three girls. He looked towards the left of Jenna and questioned, "Elena, right?" Once Elena nodded her head, Logan turned towards Jenna's right as he stated, "and that would mean, you're Emily."
Emily couldn't help but roll her eyes towards her aunt, now she realized why Jenna was still hanging around the car wash. But Emily decided to be nice for Jenna's sake since apparently her aunt still like the guy. "I remember seeing you when we were younger," she told the news reporter.
"Your emotional maturity level when we were together," Jenna commented as she looked at Logan.
"Ouch," Logan mumbled. "Here I thought we were making progress," he told Jenna.
Emily couldn't help but smirk as she watched her sassy aunt talk to her ex boyfriend. She noticed the way the news reporter stared at Jenna or how needy he was for the strawberry blonde's affection, so she decided to use that to get her information about what happened in 1953. "Hey, Logan. If it isn't too much trouble, could I ask you for a favor?" Emily asked with a charming smile.
Logan turned to Jenna as he questioned with a small smile, "if I do her a favor, will I get back into your good graces?"
Jenna sighed, "uh, a very reluctant maybe."
Logan turned to Emily with a smile as he spoke, "done." But he quickly turned back to Jenna, "wait. One condition. Dinner, tonight, your house."
"Fine," Jenna deadpanned as her two nieces smirked at her. "But you're eating leftovers," she told Logan.
"Ooh," Logan cooed in fake excitement before he turned to Emily. "What do you need?" He questioned.
Emily bit her lip before she questioned, "do you have access to old new stories, say the fifties?"
"Yeah," Logan nodded, "at the station. Between the archives and the internet, we pretty much have everything."
Elena realized what her sister was doing, so she turned to Logan with a bright smile, "we have this report way past due. It'd be a lifesaver."
Logan nodded his head as he told the two sisters, "heading there now. Let's go."
The Gilbert sisters gave Logan a identical dazzling smile before Emily turned to her aunt, "if you see Caroline, tell her I'm putting her in charge as my co-captain." Once Jenna gave her a small nod, Emily grabbed Elena's hand and quickly followed after Logan.
Logan directed the two Gilbert sisters to a small room as he began to explain, "we digitized all our archives last year. You can pull all the remote footage right up on screen." He glanced at the two girls as he questioned, "what is it exactly you're looking for?"
"An incident from 1953," Emily explained, "at the old Salvatore boarding house."
Before Logan could say anything, his cell phone began to ring. "Sorry, one second," he told the girls. "Yeah? Fire? All right, be right there," Logan spoke into the phone before hanging it up. "I gotta go," he told the two sisters. "Can you believe there is actual news to cover in this town," Logan chuckled. "All right, use keywords to search the database. It's pretty easy to navigate," he explained, "and Brady down in Tech will help you out with anything you need."
Elena nodded her head with a small smile, "okay."
"All right?" Logan questioned. He was almost out of the door before he turned around and asked, "oh, hey. Could you guys put in a good word for me with Jenna?"
"You got it," Elena told Logan with a polite smile.
Logan nodded his head as he spoke, "alright." He threw in a quick, "good luck," before shutting the door behind him as he went on his way.
Emily rolled her eyes once the news reporter was gone. "He does not deserve Jenna," she told her sister. But Emily grew serious once she sat in one of the rolling chairs next to Elena and pulled up the search engine on the computer. She thought for a moment before she typed in 'Joseph Salvatore + animal attack' before pressing search. It took only a few seconds before the page popped up with one match found. Emily clicked on the link and the two sisters silently began to watch the old black and white video.
"This is Franklin Fell, reporting to you from the Salvatore boarding house, where a brutal animal attack has ended in tragedy," the news reporter spoke as he stared into the camera. "Okay, they're bringing out the bodies. See if you can get closer," the older Fell commanded. "Is that the nephew?" He questioned as he noticed someone.
The cameraman zoomed onto the lone person in the background, causing Emily's eyes to widened. The nephew was Stefan Salvatore. He looked exactly the same as he does right now. Emily looked over at her sister, who had the same facial expression. What the hell was going on?
Emily paced up and down her bedroom hardwood floors as she was lost in thought. She didn't know to think after what she and Elena watched at the news station. She didn't understand how Stefan was alive and still young after being in Mystic Falls during the fifties. Emily sighed heavily as she threw her body on top of her bed. She went to close her eyes, to hopefully forget everything for a few hours. But before she could even close her eyes, Elena busted open her bedroom door with wide eyes.
Emily quickly jumped us as she questioned her sister in worry, "what's wrong?"
"Come with me, please," Elena begged.
Emily nodded her head before she quickly followed her sister towards the car. Once Elena started to drive, Emily turned to Elena and questioned once again, "what's wrong?"
"I know what Stefan is," Elena mumbled to her sister as she focused on her driving.
Emily's eyes widened at her sister's confession. Emily had a thought about what Stefan could be as she had paced for hours through her bedroom. But was it really possible? Stefan never ages and as soon as he and Damon come into town, there are animal bite marks on people as well as people being drained of their blood. There was only one thing that could mean... and Emily really hoped that she was wrong.
As soon as Elena pulled in front of Salvatore boarding house, she rushed towards the front door with Emily following quickly behind. Elena took a deep breath before knocked on the door. Not even a second later the younger Salvatore brother answered the door. "What are you?" Elena questioned as her breathing was out of focus.
Stefan stared at the two girls with shock in his eyes. But when he didn't say anything, Elena questioned again, "what are you?"
"You know," Stefan stated.
Emily decided to stay silent, hoping that she was wrong about Stefan. Elena quickly shook her head, "no, I don't."
Emily decided to stay quietly by her sister's side, as she hoped that she was wrong about Stefan. Elena quickly shook her head as she denied, "no, I don't."
"Yes, you do," Stefan stated as he nodded his head, "or you wouldn't be here."
Elena continued to shake her head as she spoke, "it's not possible. It can't be."
"Everything you know... and every belief that you have is about to change. Are you ready for that?" Stefan questioned.
Elena grabbed her sister's hand tightly as she asked one last time, "what are you?"
Stefan stayed quiet as he stared into Elena's brown eyes until he finally confessed, "I'm a vampire."
Emily gasped as she pulled Elena closer to her and took a few steps back from the door. She couldn't believe that she was right and Stefan was an actual vampire. Emily had always thought vampires were from made up stories that people told their kids to scare them.
Elena shook her head and mumbled, "we shouldn't have come," before she quickly pulled Emily towards her car.
"No. Please," Stefan begged.
"No," Elena yelled when Stefan tried to walk closer. "No, no," Elena continued to repeat as she ran back to her car as she held tightly onto Emily's arm. But before they could make it to the car, Stefan was suddenly in front of them. "How did you do that?" Elena asked in shock.
"Please don't be afraid of me," Stefan begged with sorrow in his green eyes.
"Let me go," Elena stressed as she began to slowly walk backwards.
"No. Elena, there's things you have to know and understand, both of you," Stefan told the two girls. He went to grab for Elena's hand but Emily quickly placed herself in front of her sister. She didn't know what to think, and she definitely wasn't going to put her sister in danger.
While Elena was hiding behind her sister's back, she quickly made a run for it to her car. "Don't come any closer, Stefan," Emily commanded before she quickly sprinted to Elena's car and jumped into the passenger seat before Elena drove away from the Salvatore boarding house.
The whole ride back to the Gilbert house, the two sisters were completely silent. There was nothing they could say, when they were both freaking out about what they found out to be true. Once Emily opened the front door of their house, Elena quickly ran up stairs. Emily sighed before she slammed the door shut and raced upstairs to check on her sister. As Emily walked into Elena's bedroom, she saw her sister was pacing back and forth as she breathed in and out hard and fast. Emily quickly pulled Elena into a tight hug as she spoke, "hey, hey. Calm down."
Emily suddenly looked over Elena's shoulder and jumped in fright as she saw Stefan staring at the two girls. "Elena. Emily," Stefan called out.
As Stefan walked closer to the two girls, Emily quickly moved her sister behind her and began to walk slowly backwards as he continued to move forward. Stefan noticed right away that the two girls were scared, so he came to a complete stop. "I would never hurt you, either of you," Stefan commented as he stared into Emily's green eyes and Elena's scared brown ones. "You're safe with me," he promised.
Elena stepped out from behind her sister but kept a tight grip on Emily's hand as she spoke in realization, "all those animal attacks, those people who died..."
"No," Stefan quickly shook his head, "that was Damon."
"Damon?" Elena asked in shock as tears began to build up in her eyes.
"Yes," Stefan nodded his head. "I don't drink human blood. That's not how I choose to survive, but Damon does!" Stefan clarified. "I'll explain everything to you both, but I beg you, do not tell anybody," Stefan continued desperately.
"How can you ask us that?" Elena questioned in shock.
"Because you knowing this is dangerous for so many reasons," Stefan explained. "You can hate me, but I need you to trust me," he uttered.
Emily noticed Elena's heartbroken and confused face, so she looked Stefan directly into his green eyes as she spoke, "just go. Please, if you want us to trust you, you will leave now."
Stefan nodded his head sadly as he whispered, "I never wanted this." He took one last look at the Gilbert sisters before he quickly left Elena's bedroom through the opened window.
As soon as Stefan was gone, Elena broke down in tears. She went to slid down on the hard ground, but Emily quickly caught her sister and brought her into a tight hug. Elena hugged Emily just as tight as tears fell down her face. "I got you. I got you. You're safe," Emily mumbled into her sister's ear softly. She slowly moved Elena towards her bed and laid right next to her sister as she held Elena tightly. The younger sister never loosened her grip on the green eyed girl during the whole transition to the bed. Emily honestly didn't know what to as she held her heartbroken sister. How was she supposed to protect everyone she cared about from something she never knew existed? But Emily knew one thing, she was going to do whatever it took to protect everyone she loved no matter what the outcome may be.