Recap:
Feeling sick, Talia didn't know what to do. She had travelled many thousand miles only to almost chicken out. She sighed and slowly walked towards the door, stopping a short distance. She rang the doorbell after muttering, "here goes nothing."
Chapter 2:
Talia rang the doorbell again before the door was yanked open and a tall man barged into her. He had headphones on and was clutching an apple. "Whoa!" He looked down, taken aback by the girl in front of him, who reminded him eerily of his sister, Elena.
Talia looked at him, observing him carefully. Tearing her eyes away, she looked at the wall outside again to check whether she was at the right house even though she knew deep inside, it was the right house as she had stared at it for some time before mustering up the courage. Looking back at the door, she smiled as the guy and introduced herself. "Sorry, hi, my name is Talia. I'm looking for someone called Alaric Saltzman. He's my fa-" Talia stopped and smiled. "He's my old friend, I'm from England." She said this so fast that the man barely had time to take it all in.
"Cool, my name is Jeremy Gilbert," Jeremy grinned. He looked at his hands, which held an apple and his phone. "I'd shake your hand but um, my hands aren't free obviously, like you can't see that." Jeremy chuckled awkwardly, causing Talia to smile. Jeremy went on, "Alaric lives here, but you'll find him at the Grill. That's practically his second home!"
Talia, who thought this was her brother, was slightly crestfallen as soon as she heard his surname. But it gave her a little hope that perhaps her father hadn't moved on from her mother and her. She was also surprised that he trusted her enough so easily to tell her where Alaric lives, especially as he met her a few seconds ago and she could be a stalker. Smiling to herself, Talia looked up at Jeremy before furrowing her brows as if she's trying to remember something. "Um... where is this... Gr- place?"
Jeremy chuckled. "I'm on my way to the Grill, we can go together if you like?"
Talia was about to respond when she heard the gravel crunch. A petite was walking up the driveway, her arms folded.
"Bonnie! What you doing here?" Jeremy asked sheepishly.
Bonnie frowned at Talia, sizing her up before turning to Jeremy, fearful that he had moved on after their argument. "New friend? Aren't you gonna introduce us, Jer?"
Jeremy stuttered before introducing the girls. As he told Bonnie about who Talia was, Talia remained quiet, feeling awkward. She widened her eyes when Bonnie faced her suddenly. "Um... hi."
"Aren't you a little young to be Alaric's friend?" Bonnie smirked.
Talia grimaced mentally. She's right. It looks weird that a young girl is looking for an older guy and claiming to be his mate. Ugh why didn't I say I'm his niece or something. As she mulled on her thoughts with a frown, she was not aware that Bonnie and Jeremy were staring at her, waiting for her to reply. "Appearances can be deceptive, Bonnie, is it?" Talia spoke.
Bonnie did not respond, feeling out of turn. "So Jer, wanna hang?"
Looking conflicted between helping a stranger and pleasing his girlfriend, Jeremy shuffled his feet. "The guys are at the Grill, we're gonna hang and play pool." Jeremy glanced at Talia before looking at Bonnie. "Wanna come?" he added in a apprehensive voice. "Bon?"
Talia suddenly felt annoyed that she was not going to get anywhere with finding her Dad, especially now that Bonnie was shooting daggers at her. Talia was a little amused, I've barely been in Virginia a few days and already I've made an enemy.
"You go hang with them, Jer, I gotta go anyway, I have a headache." Bonnie said in a pointed way. Jeremy knew that this was an excuse but didn't press her.
"Ok," Jeremy murmured, looking concerned. He stooped his head slightly low to kiss Bonnie's forehead, who was looking at Talia to see if she got the message that Jeremy was hers. Talia stood there as if she was invisible. "I'm gonna go to the Grill and drop Talia off too, she's gotta meet someone. You rest up and text me if you need me, okay?"
Finally, Talia thought.
Bonnie smiled at her boyfriend before nodding her head. She continued to smile lovingly whilst he walked down the driveway, throwing the half eaten apple in a flower pot. Talia glanced at Bonnie and smiled genuinely to show her that she's not after Jeremy, causing Bonnie to return one.
Talia began to walk after him. Unbeknownst to her, she had dropped the paper the manager gave her, with the address. Bonnie noticed this and ran to the girl to give to her. "Here, you dropped this," Bonnie smiled. But as her fingertips accidentally brushed Talia's outstretched palm, a feeling of dread and mysteriousness jolted through her. That's the same feeling I got when I touched Stefan, she thought in a panic. Whilst her insides were squirming in fear, she kept a light smile on her face that didn't reach her eyes.
"Thanks," Talia muttered, looking at Bonnie with a mixed look of curiosity and surprise. She too had felt the jolt, and felt the tingling sensation in her hand. She turned and walked down the driveway to Jeremy's car. Just as she got to the car door, she looked back curiously to look at Bonnie only see the half eaten apple disappearing into thin air before her very eyes with Bonnie's eyes closed and lips moving audibly. Talia had to admit that this looked like a weird sight. Talia shrugged this off before slowly sitting in the car and fastening her seat belt. Her back was still in pain and the bruises was slowly fading but still hurt whenever she touched it gently.
"Sorry about that," Jeremy murmured whilst his eyes were on the road. Talia was apprehensive about getting a lift from a guy she just met but was comforted by the fact that he knew Alaric.
"No worries," Talia smiled.
Man, Mystic Falls is a strange town she thought to herself.
After a surprisingly short journey, they had arrived at Mystic Grill. It was not what Talia had expected, who thought it would be a chrome building with actual grills. In reality, it looked homely from the outside and she could only imagine what inside would be like. Jeremy smiled at the awed look on Talia's and walked towards the entrance. Talia immediately followed on but getting to the door, Jeremy's phone rang.
"Huh, I can't hear you. Where are you? Ok, I'm on my way," Jeremy looked annoyed as he put the phone back in his pocket. "Sorry, I gotta go, my sister needs a lift. You'll be ok?" He felt bad for leaving her alone in a strange place. But was reassured by the confident smile she threw his way.
"I'll be fine. Thank you for the lift. Hopefully I'll see you around?"
"Sure!" Jeremy replied. He was a little worried about how the oblivious girl would fair in the town with supernatural happenings. "Go to the bar and ask for a guy named Matt, he's my friend and will look after you. I'll be back ASAP!"
Taking a deep breath the brunette forced herself to walk in the Grill. She immediately scanned the huge room before realising that she did not know what her father looked like. Sighing, Talia made her way to the already crammed bar. Looking up and down, she spotted a barmaid with bright red hair and a small butterfly tattoo on her neck. Talia asked her for Matt, and the red head pointed him out on the other end of the bar. He had a friendly face with big blue eyes.
Talia thanked the red head and proceeded to walk to the other side of the bar. Taking care not to bump into people, she finally reached the bar only to find it packed with revellers. Damn, it's Friday. No wonder it's so busy.
Looking at the blond boy's forehead crinkled with concentration as he multitasked, she felt sorry for him being rushed off his feet on a Friday, when he should be enjoying life. "Excuse me," Talia called but he didn't hear her due to the rowdiness of the party in the corner and chatter at the bar. Clearing her throat, Talia tried again. "Excuse me?!" Again, he didn't hear her. For the third time, she practically shouted, "EXCUSE ME, MATT?!!"
Hearing her, the barman threw an apologetic look before shuffling towards her, looking glad to be relieved of his duties for a minute. "Hey, how can I help?" he asked.
Talia smiled. His accent is so cute. "I'm looking for a bloke called Alaric, someone told him I can find him here. Someone called Jeremy...?" she added the last part in slowly.
"Ah yes, I know Jer. Yeah. Alaric is just there," Matt pointed towards a pool table in a corner. Looking over, Talia saw a few guys there. She turned to the barman to ask which one Alaric was, but he had moved away and was busy serving a line of impatient customers.
"Shit," Talia muttered under her breath. Slowly she walked towards the pool table, earning a few curious glances from guys whilst a couple of girls gave her dirty looks. When she was a few metres away, Talia looked again over at the pool table and saw that there were now four guys.
Standing still, Talia assessed each one to see which one was most likely to be her dad.
The first guy looked way too young to be her dad. He had a strong jaw, light brown hair with beautiful green eyes.
The second guy had jet black hair up to his ears and piercing blue eyes. He was a mischievous smirk on his face while he watched couple of young women at the bar. Ugh, Talia groaned inwards. What a bloody perv.
The third guy was propped up on the bar and had brown hair with light blue eyes. He had a kind face but was currently clutching a glass of amber liquid and in a heated discussion with the guy next to him who was dressed in a sharp suit and he had sandy hair with brown eyes.
Talia looked at the last guy and was certain that he was her father. Before she so much as moved, the man with the piecing blue eyes called out to him. "Where's your new girlfriend Elijah?" earning him a scowl from the blond man next to the suited man.
"Take a chill pill Ric, you don't wanna get wrinkles before the end of the school term" the black haired smirked, leaning on his pool cue with both hands resting on the tip.
Talia gasped, causing the young man with the beautiful green eyes to look at her with his eyebrows raised slightly and a look of curiosity. So that man was her father. His nickname was Ric. That's what Nanna and Pappi called him when they talked about him to her as a little girl. But there are a million guys with the name Ric the voice inside her head argued. Shaking the voice off, she walked up to him before looking into his eyes. The man with the green eyes was now looking at her intensely.
Alaric was about to reply to the black haired man with a retort before he noticed a young girl walking up onto him. The other guys noticed her too and had quietened down. Glaring at the man, he turned towards the girl. Before he could think any further, the girl spoke in a British accent. "Are you Alaric Saltzman?" Talia's voice wavered slightly. When the man didn't reply, she repeated the question in a much stronger voice. "Are you Alaric?"
"Who's asking?" Alaric murmured quietly, lifting the tumbler to drink the last bit of the amber liquid. Even though her gaze was firmly fixed on the man in front of her, she was aware that the other three guys heard him and were eavesdropping.
"Your lost long daughter," Talia replied with a nervous smile. "It's been a long time, huh?"
The other two guys were looking gobsmacked whilst the guy in the suit looked amused.
SMASH!
The tumbler had slipped out of Alaric's hand, drops of liquid spattering the girl and him.
Alaric looked at the girl puzzled before realisation dawned on him; this was his baby, Nathalia. He stared at her with his mouth hanging open.
DUN DUN DUN.
What do you guys think?
OMG she's found her father again!
What do you think this means for her? I will be doing POVs from different characters and this will follow the show but will also have my own mini story lines.
Please comment below and follow.
Thank you my little minions.
Xo