Matt, Jeremy and I were milling around in the living room of our home. The two boys were playing some kind of video game while I was playing with Hero and Blue. It was only four days after Vicki died and Matt was coping. I think it helped to have people who he can talk with about all of that stuff. Jay and I had decided to talk with Aunt Jenna about what happened. She had a right to know about the supernatural as well and not only because I had the feeling that Elena was going to be more trouble than she was worth. I knew how it felt to be left out of the loop and I had no intention to do that to people I loved.
The doorbell startled me out of my thoughts. I got up from the floor when it looked like neither Jay nor Matt were going to move from their place on the couch. Typical! "Damon?" I blinked, seeing the vampire on the other side of the door "What are you doing here?"
"Can I come in?" he murmured, shifting uncomfortably.
"Sure," I nodded, stepping to the side "Come in." The dark-haired man walked past me. I shut the door and directed him up the stairs and to my room. He probably didn't want to be around Matt yet, even though the boy was on his way to forgive the vampire "What's up?"
Damon sighed and ran a hand through his hair "Stefan has a friend over for his birthday... I just don't fancy being around them. It also didn't help that Elena is there as well."
I frowned "What is your deal with Elena anyway? It is almost like you expect something from her?"
"She looks like Katherine," he admitted "She was the one who turned Stefan and me into vampires. It's a long story but Katherine fed us her blood, compelling Stefan to fall in love with her. I... I think that I really loved her but she just... It was pathetic really." He sounded like he didn't even believe himself. Maybe Damon should just confront these feeling but I was no expert in love, so I wasn't sure what to tell him.
I put my hand on his shoulder gently "Is that why Stefan is with my sister? Not that I care much but you know? Rebound and all."
Damon chuckled lightly "I don't know. It's just weird, you know? Seeing a double of the woman who fucked up your life as much as Katherine did with me. And I have no idea why I'm telling you all of this... Maybe I like the fact that someone doesn't judge me for once." We fell into a comfortable silence for a bit until Damon broke it again "Did you paint those?"
"Yeah," I nodded "I have started to draw and paint when I was eight. It helped me a lot over the years."
"Who are the people in this one?" he questioned, pointing to the painting I did of a few people from my old life. Friends and family.
I took a deep breath "The two in the middle are my birth parents," I told him quietly "They were murdered when I was still a baby. This one." A man with shaggy black hair and a cheeky grin "Is my godfather. The one next to him is his and my dad's best friend. The others in this picture were a few of my friends. The blonde is Luna, the twins are Fred and George and then there's Neville. He's my god-brother. I haven't seen them since I got here... Hell, I don't even know if they're still alive or not."
Damon blinked down at me "Why wouldn't they be?"
"There was this one occult group or something that randomly killed people who were going against them. It's complicated," I evaded.
"Fair enough," the vampire shrugged "What were you doing before I barged in?"
"Thinking about how to tell my aunt about all of this supernatural bullshit," I admitted "She deserves to know and maybe it would help as well. I mean, she has no idea about not inviting people in and stuff like that. I'm kind of scared that something will happen to her..."
Damon hummed in agreement "Your sister won't like it though."
I snorted lightly "I don't care about what Elena wants. She brought this shit into our lives – no offense – but that doesn't mean that she can keep it to herself. Elena can't protect us from everything that goes bump in the night," I murmured "It would be so much easier if everyone in this house was aware."
"Good point," he complimented "About your tip with the Council... I think I'm close. You already know that I talked to the mayor's wife and I gave the Sheriff some of Zach's vervain."
"You work fast," I noted "If you stop the 'animal attacks' then maybe you can convince them that the vampire who did all of that left town or something."
Damon nodded pensively "Or I could kill Stefan's friend and deliver her to the Council."
"Don't," I advised "You can look for another vampire or something but I don't think that Stefan will ever leave you alone if you kill his friend."
The vampire stared at me for a few seconds "How are you doing that?"
I tilted my head curiously "Do what?"
"Making me care?" he shouted "I haven't cared what people think about me in over a century. Why now? Why you?"
"Maybe you just needed someone to tell you the truth once in a while without constantly belittling you?" I suggested "To be honest, I would still talk to you if you continue to act like you did before. But only until you harm one of my family."
The door to my room opened, revealing Jay "Are you okay, Angel?"
"I'm fine," I waved them off "Damon and I were just talking about some things. Did you need something?"
My younger brother nodded "Aunt Jenna is home. I wanted to let you know in case you wanted to talk to her now?"
"That's not a bad idea," I mumbled and got up from the bed I had sat down on a while ago. Before I was out of the room completely, I turned back towards the vampire "I hope that our talk was of some use for you, Damon. We'll see you again sometime."
As soon as the vampire was gone, Jay shrugged "I like him more than the other one... Less moral."
I rolled my eyes at his words and hit the back of his head in passing "Go on, then. I'll tell Jenna about the basics and then we can talk about what happened with Vicki."
"Whatever you think is best, Angel," Jeremy smiled "Are you going to tell her about... you know?"
I had been thinking about that for a while. Talking to Jeremy about magic and my adventures at Hogwarts helped me so much... Not only that but she was family and I trusted her and even Uncle John with my life. My trust in them meant that I was ready to tell them, right? "Yeah... I... Yeah."
"It will be fine, sissy," he murmured, pulling me into a gentle embrace "Do you want me to be there as well?"
"I'm not sure... I don't want to leave Matt out but I'm not ready to tell too many people. Maybe you should stay with him," I pointed out quietly "I'll be fine, I think."
My brother kissed my temple gently and let go of me "You know where I am."
"Thanks, Jay."
While he left to go back downstairs, I walked over to Aunt Jenna's room and knocked lightly "Come in Angel," she called through the door.
I smiled at her nervously, closing the door behind me "How do you always know that it's me?"
"It's easy," she teased with a grin "Jeremy never knocks, he calls through the door instead and Elena isn't here right now." Jenna stopped when she noticed my expression "Are you alright?"
I swallowed thickly "There's something I have to tell you, Aunt Jenna. Maybe we should sit down for that?"
"What's going on, Angel?" We sat down on her bed "You're scaring me here."
"I'm sorry," I murmured "I... It's not the easiest of topics, so please listen until I'm done?" The older woman stared at me silently and nodded her agreement "You know how the Gilbert's are a founding family... What you don't know is what happened back when the town was founded. They had a bit of a problem with... vampires..."
Jenna started laughing "You're kidding, right? Angel, vampires don't exist."
"Yes, they do," I argued quietly "I'm only telling you because I know that Elena won't. I can give you some of Jonathan Gilbert's journals. They detail what happened back in 1864 if you still don't believe me."
"You're actually serious," she gasped "Why now? What happened that you need to tell me about that now?"
I looked into her eyes "Because there are vampires in town again and I didn't want you to be unprotected."
"Who are they?" Jenna questioned curiously, looking for all intents and purposes calm.
"The Salvatore brothers," I replied sheepishly. She was well aware of Elena's new boyfriend and I think she met Damon at the Founder's Day party or so I heard.
My aunt's eyes popped open in surprise "You mean Elena's boyfriend Stefan? Does she know?"
I nodded lightly "You're taking this well... Unusually well."
"Oh, I'm still processing," she muttered "And I have the feeling that it wasn't everything yet."
"It wasn't," I mumbled uncomfortably "I recently started talking to Jay about... about my past. It got easier after a while and I – I'm ready now... I'm just not sure if you'll believe me."
She scooted closer to me and wrapped her arms around my shoulders "Why wouldn't I, honey?"
"Because I wouldn't have believed myself if I didn't remember," I told her sadly "Anyway, enough beating around the bush. You know how I always was attached to the Harry Potter books?" My aunt nodded with a small confused frown "My real name is... Angel Potter. I – I was in the graveyard with Voldemort when there was this white light. The next thing I know, I'm in dad's practice with all these strangers around me... Aunt Jenna... I'm a witch." I was waiting for a reaction from the woman next to me nervously. Would she accept it? Or even believe me? I had to admit, it wasn't the sanest story but I couldn't help that it happened that way.
My heart was beating out of my chest by the time she pulled back from me "Vampires, I can get my head around with but a witch from another world? Harry Potter? Angel, you have to admit that that's crazy, right? Maybe we should get you back into therapy..."
The world around me turned fuzzy and all I could hear were echoes of Aunt Jenna's words "I – I should go..." I breathed, practically running out of her bedroom. Instead of going to the sanctuary of my room, I headed down the stairs all the while suppressing the tears that wanted to escape. My aunt thought that I was lying? The rational part of my brain told me that it was a normal reaction but I was still hurt by her words.
"Are you alright, Angel?" Jeremy questioned when I entered.
I kept my eyes on the ground "Yeah," I told him weakly "I'm just going for a walk..." I grabbed both Blue's and Hero's leashes and clipped them onto the dogs' collars. As soon as I was out of the house, I ran into the forest. Whenever I was sad or just needed to be by myself, I headed for the forest or when I craved a larger walk – the Falls. I think the habit started shortly after I got Blue but I haven't needed to go there since my parents' funeral...
An hour of walking around later, I dropped the leashes I was holding, climbing up into 'my' tree. The two canines, laid down at the bottom, keeping a watch. Blue had started this habit and it seems like Hero takes to it as well. As soon as I was high enough, I leaned back against the trunk, just staring up at the sky thoughtfully. There were so many scenarios running through my head from Jenna deciding that she couldn't take care of me any longer to getting locked into an asylum. In the back of my head, I knew that she needed time and more explanations but I couldn't help it. A part of me – the part that was still the abused little girl – was at the forefront of my mind right now.
I wasn't sure how much time had passed until my eyes got heavy and I slowly drifted off, still sitting on a branch of my favourite tree.