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The next day I attempted to avoid all the text messages that I received. I wanted to spend the day alone. Unfortunately I couldn't because of Elena. She frantically knocked on my front door and dragged me to the police station. I guess Sheriff Forbes wanted to interrogate us about Vicki.
"Hey Arina, thanks for coming. I know how close you and Vicki are so I wanted to ask you some questions," Sheriff Forbes explained softly as I took a seat. She clicked her pen and hovered it above a note pad before looking at me. With a serious expression on her face, she questioned out,"Did Vicki say where she was going?"
"No," I responded, shifting in my seat from getting anxious. Vicki never told me where she was going. Which is odd because I feel like she would have.
"Do you know why she left?" She asked, pressing forward on the subject.
"She said she needed to take care of something...I'm sorry, I don't really know anything other than that, Sheriff." I answered truthfully.
"That's okay. Thanks Arina. I appreciate you being honest with me and I'm here if you need anything," Liz replied and gave me a warm smile. I returned one back to her and quickly left the police station.
Liz was a good mom and an amazing sheriff. Unfortunately there was nothing she could do to help me. There was nothing anyone could do to help me. I missed my friend and I had this strange gut feeling that she wasn't going to come back.
What is even more strange is the fact that I have memory gaps of what happened during the past two days. For example, I don't remember where I ran off to after I found out Damon was vampire. It's really starting to scare me.
As I left the building I saw Elena and Stefan talking in hushed tones. I ignored their presence and went past them to go home. They seemed like they were hiding something from me. I might've been paranoid though.
"Arina!" Elena shouted but I kept walking. Thankfully she didn't follow and respected the fact that I needed space.
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While I was at home I received a text from Ander. He asked me if I wanted to see him play at his soccer game. With a small smile on my face, I sent him a text back, telling him I would be there.
As I arrived at the school's soccer field I immediately noticed how packed the bleachers were. It was obvious that parents and students were thrilled to see the game.
As I skimmed the audience I noticed a guy in particular. He had black spiked hair and golden brown eyes.
His eyes caught mine as he was laughing about something with a peer. The guy's friend was wearing glasses and had short choppy brown hair. I sat in the seat in front of them because they seemed welcoming and it was the only seat left that had a good view.
While engrossed in watching the game, I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around to see that the guy with the spiked hair had tapped me.
"Hey, aren't you friends with Vicki?" He asked in a chill manner. I glanced over at his friend who stared at me with equal curiosity.
"Yeah." I murmured softly, not wanting to talk about her. My heart felt like it broke into two pieces. My eyes shifted toward the bland bleachers we were sitting on.
"Do you know where she is?" He asked curiously, pressing forward on the topic.
"She left town. I don't know where exactly," I spoke turning around to watching the game, assuming that was all he wanted to know.
"Huh...That's weird. She promised she'd meet me here. I'm Griffin, by the way. And that's Mike." The guy continued causing me to turn around again. His friend Mike waved at me and I gave him a small smile.
"I'm Arina," I introduced myself.
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The three of us ended up talking while watching the game. It was nice talking to them, to be honest. I felt at ease and I could tell how Griffin knew Vicki. He talked a lot about going to parties so they probably met at one.
I saw a lot of myself in Mike, believe it or not. He wasn't as into going to parties as Griffin was, but he still went with him. That was how I was with Vicki. I often went to make sure she was okay.
While I was talking to them I kept getting messages from Elena, Bonnie, and Caroline. I didn't want to deal with them, so I ignored the messages.
Toward the end of the game I got multiple phone calls from Caroline. This caused worry to wash over me. I walked away from the bleachers to somewhere that was quiet before I called her back.
"Arina! Thank god! I was so worried that something happened to you!" She shouted with relief.
"I'm fine. I'm at Ander's soccer game and I happened to meet some new people." I explained to her.
"Ooh, are any of them hot?" Caroline inquired. I didn't have to see her to know that she was definitely grinning from ear to ear.
I chuckled and honestly replied, "Yeah."
"Nice! I'm throwing a party at the grill. Do you want to come and meet everyone there at eight? You can bring your new friends." Caroline explained, revealing her motive for calling me.
"Sure. I'll be there," I confirmed, feeling excited.
Caroline and I chatted a bit more before we both hung up. After the call had ended, I realized that the game was over and most people had left, including the guys that I had met. After congratulating Ander on winning his game, I headed home and changed into a floral-printed cami dress.
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I walked inside the Mystic grill to find that it was packed with with so many people. I initially thought it was going to be a small party.
Scanning the room of unfamiliar faces, I searched for Caroline. As I moved through the crowd I accidentally bumped into a girl. She had carmel hair and was wearing a tight black dress. Something about her was alluring and inviting.
"I don't think I've seen you around here before. I'm Arina," I greeted, holding a hand out to shake hers.
"I'm not surprised. I'm here to visit a friend for their birthday. I'm Lexi." She smiled and shook my hand.
Before we could say anything else a smoky voice joined the conversation, "Where's my brother?"
I turned my head to see it was Damon. As I glanced at him, I noticed he was wearing his signature black jacket. When my eyes met his, he shot me a quick wink. He must've thought I was checking him out. This caused me to nervously chew at my bottom lip and quickly look at Lexi.
She looked between Damon and I and raised a brow before answering Damon, "He said he'd meet me here." And then it hit me. She's friends with Stefan... So it must be his birthday! I felt horrible because I don't have a present for him. He's been nothing but nice to me so he definitely deserved one.
"Buy you a—" Damon started but before he could finish his sentence, Lexi walked away. I laughed out, causing him to look over at me with intrigue.
I looked at Damon and felt conflicted. I remembered the man in the cellar and how Damon killed him. However, it seemed like Stefan and Elena were okay with the fact that Damon killed the man in the cellar. Maybe the man he killed was a terrible person?
To justify my hesitation, I remembered what he did to Caroline. Now knowing what he is I was able to put the puzzle pieces together and understand that he used her as a blood bag.
The gaps in my memory made it hard for me to decipher what was going on with Elena, Damon, and Stefan. I felt lost. I couldn't even figure out how Elena even knew the Salvatore brothers were vampires. Or how Elena and Stefan found out that I knew.
"I'll take you up on that drink offer. It'll give me a chance to apologize for my behavior when I found out the truth about you." I looked at him and gave him a small smile. I tried my best to be discreet by not mentioning the word "vampire".
Damon shot me a puzzled look and it took him awhile to respond, "Uh sure. Why not."
The two of us walked over to the bar and I sat next to him. My arm accidentally brushed up against his and I immediately moved it away. I didn't pay too much attention to what he had ordered me so when I took I sip I was surprised it was water.
"I'm surprised you're not with Elena," He commented after ordering bourbon for himself. I noticed he pursed his lips together as he waited for my response.
"Yeah...I didn't really talk to her today," I admitted. I didn't know why I told him the truth. Maybe part of me was hoping he could give me some kind of advice and make me not feel crazy.
"Now why is that? You two seem thick as thieves," He smirked at his word choice as he grabbed the glass of bourbon from the bartender.
"To be honest, it feels like her and Stefan are hiding something. It also doesn't help that she keeps looking at me with pity." I explained to him, as he slowly sipped his bourbon. He silently sat his glass down on the bar counter and peered at me sadly, as he gave me his full attention.
I continued my rant, "It definitely sounds crazy but I feel off. I have these memory gaps from the past two days. Parts of the days are completely gone from my memory."
Damon sighed and swirled some of the remaining bourbon in his cup. He looked as if he was debating on what to say and it honestly worried me. Does he know something that I don't or does he think I I'm crazy?
When he made up his mind, he looked over at me with gentle eyes and said, "Look, I-"
"All right, the shots are a bribe. I need you to answer a question. What are you really doing in Mystic Falls?" Lexi blurted, interrupting our conversation. I turned my attention to her, watching as she placed the shots on the bar counter.
"Have you tried the Brittle. It wins awards," Damon said with a straight face, indicating to her that he won't answer her question.
"Cut the crap." Lexi spat out as Damon downed a shot.
Damon stared at Lexi unphased and replied in monotone,"Okay, I have a diabolical master plan."
"What is it?" The Carmel haired woman interrogated seriously as she crossed her arms.
"If I told you it wouldn't be very diabolical, now would it?" Damon replied with annoyance.
Gazing away from the conversation, I suddenly saw Sheriff Forbes storm toward the three of us. This caused me to feel anxious. Did she find out where Vicki went?
I didn't get the chance to say anything because the Sheriff's eyes were glued on Lexi. With shock, I watched as Liz injected Lexi with something. My eyes widened and my mouth dropped in shock.
"What are you doing?!" Damon questioned out, looking equally as surprised as I was.
Sheriff Forbes whispered something in his ear so I couldn't hear. It was probably about Lexi being a vampire. As Liz pulled away from Damon, two cops stormed over and grabbed Lexi. They held Lexi up as she looked like she was going to pass out. With ease, they trailed behind Sheriff Forbes with Lexi.
I tried to run after them but Damon grabbed my waist, holding me back. Turning to look at him, I sternly scolded out,"Let go of me, Damon."
He pulled me closer to him so he could whisper in my ear. "No. I'm not letting you get caught up in this. I know what I'm doing." He adamantly said in a hushed tone.
I broke free from his grasp and ran to the entrance of the Mystic Grill. As I neared the exit, I found Elena and Stefan running out as well so I followed them. I guess they had witnessed what was going on and were trying to get out of the Mystic Grill too.
When we got out and neared the corner outside, I heard multiple gunshots and feared the worst. The three of us peeked from a dark corner of the building and saw that it was Sheriff Forbes shooting Lexi. Right when Liz was going to shoot her again, Damon got in the sheriff's way and stabbed Lexi through the heart.
Stefan and I held back Elena who was shaking. "Oh my god." I uttered out of shock.
The three of us watched in horror as Lexi desiccated and fell to the ground, making the sound of a loud 'thump'. I couldn't believe my eyes as I watched Damon and Liz put Lexi's body into a cop car. I couldn't believe Damon killed his brother's friend.
"Stefan. I'm so sorry this happened." I whispered to him. With an overwhelming sadness, I watched as Elena hugged Stefan and whispered soothing words to him.
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