A weekend with her brothers has proven to be the best thing to happen in Arabella's immortal lifespan. Despite being a century apart, their bond hasn't wavered. The Salvatore siblings are just as reckless and bold as ever.
"You mean to tell me that Damon has turned into a charmer?" Arabella laughs. She takes another sip of her whiskey, feeling a bit of the effects begin to take hold over her.
"One could call me a womanizer now," Damon responds with a charming grin. He drinks deeply from his own whiskey. "Chicks dig the bad boys."
Stefan rolls his eyes as Arabella laughs. The sound seems like a melody to the boys, who have missed the excitement their younger sister used to bring them. Now that she is back, she seems to make them feel whole again.
"Damon likes to indulge himself on a lot of things," Stefan states in a somewhat annoyed tone. He takes a quick glance at his watch with a frown. "I'm going to have to sleep. I have school tomorrow."
Arabella smirks. "You're an immortal now and you still care for your education. I'm sure you've graduated from high school about one million times."
Waving his arm in Stefan's direction, Damon begins to mock Stefan. "Stefan's all about becoming more educated. It's part of his 'holier than thou' scheme."
Rolling her eyes, Arabella watches as Stefan leaves the room. His steps seem to bounce a little more than usual, almost as though he is walking on air.
Damon takes a quick look at his watch before he, too, stands. "I'm gonna have to sleep too if I want to have my energy for spying,." Taking note of his sister's quirked brow, Damon turns to face her with a pleasant smile. "The town has a new resident werewolf, and I, being a wonderful citizen, want to make sure his intentions are pure." His blue eyes look to the side as he tries to come up with other words to add to it. "Or something."
The immortal werewolf's eyebrows scrunch together. "Mhm. If your reputation holds any ounce of truth, then I believe that was a lie that came out of your mouth, brother."
A smirk graces his face as he walks away from her. "Maybe, my darling sister. You'll just have to wait and see."
Releasing a breathy laugh, Arabella sets down her glass and leans against the back of the couch. If the past century has led to so many changes, is she ready to face centuries more?
A new heaviness strikes her heart at the thought. Arabella will never be able to live a normal life. If she were to try to, she'd outlive everyone she'd come to care about and would eventually have to leave them. Over and over again in some savage cycle.
Is that a life she truly deserved to live? Is this what Katherine truly wanted to subject her to? An immortal life of misery?
Fatigue slowly washes over the girl and she soon somehow finds herself in her bedroom, sleeping on her gigantic cot. Tomorrow may prove to be a better day.
Arabella scrunches her eyebrows at the small building in distaste. Even from outside, she can smell the terrible greasy food and alcohol.
"You want me to go in there?" She asks him.
Damon smirks at her. "Dad isn't around to reprimand you for being near guys with good taste in alcohol, so you'll be fine." Seeing the glower on her face, Damon waves her off. "Besides, you need to see what modern day people are like."
Following him into the building, Arabella easily keeps up with her brother's long strides. "If 'modern day people' drink all day and eat such greasy food, then I think I shall try to avoid them," she responds.
As soon as they enter the tiny place, the aromas of the pub intensify. It nearly overwhelms Arabella to be around so many scents.
Her eyes scan the room, studying the occupants and their strange new mannerisms. Almost everything about people have changed: the way they dress, their hairstyles, their manners, speech patterns. Such a thought seems to be too much for one person take in all at once.
After spotting a particular brunette in the room, Arabella's heart stops beating in its chest. Her doe brown eyes are too busy scanning a book to notice Arabella and Damon on the other side of the room.
Immediately, Arabella takes a step back and prepares to flee, only to be stopped by Damon with his rock solid grip. "Damon, if you don't let me go she'll kill me," Arabella pleads with him.
Damon shakes his head. "That isn't Katherine," he states calmly. "She's a long story."
Arabella stares at Damon as though he has grown a second head. "That's Elena Gilbert, a descendant of Katherine's. We don't know why she looks exactly like her yet," he continues. "Come on, I'll prove it to you."
He practically drags his sister to the table where 'Elena' is sitting. "So, this is where you go when you're not betraying people," Damon states as he sits down.
Elena stares Damon down. "I didn't betray you," she states. "I just used you to get the truth from you. I used your tactics."
Elena's eyes move to Arabella and scans her from head to toe in confusion, causing Arabella to flinch. "Who's this?" She asks Damon curiously. "Some poor girl that you compelled to be your girlfriend?"
Arabella blinks a few times at the implication. Her brother uses his compulsion to force himself onto women?
"No," Damon states. "This is my baby sister, Arabella. She's here because I wanted her to tag along with me to run a few errands and we saw you. She thought you were Katherine, who she is terrified of, and I wanted to prove her wrong."
The vampire said all of this with a charming smile, one that might disarm most girls. Elena seems to be no fool.
"You and Stefan have a sister?" She asks. She brings her gaze back to Arabella in surprise. "How have I never heard about you?"
Arabella swallows. Her nerves seem to want to slowly dissolve, so it may take a while for her to be able to actually look the girl in the eye for long periods of time. "They thought I was dead," she responds. "How does one talk about a dead relative without reliving the past?"
Elena stares at her intensely before bringing her gaze back to Damon. "You remember that we're not friends anymore, right?" She asks him. "I made myself clear."
The anger in her tone makes Arabella curious about what happened between them. What could Damon have possibly done to anger this girl so much? Steal? Lie? The possibilities are endless.
"Right," he responds. He stands and begins to walk away, which Arabella takes as the cue to get out of there. "See you at the barbecue."
The doppelgänger's eyebrows furrow in confusion as she debates calling after Damon. The fact that Damon decided to mention that could mean that he is trying to trick her.
"How did you know about Jenna's barbecue?" She calls after him after a second.
Damon turns with a smile. "I was the one who suggested it to Alaric."
Arabella watches as the pair converse, noting the fact that they have a strange and awkward relationship between them. Whatever either one of them feel for the other, something is in the way that prevents them from getting together. And Arabella has a strong feeling that she knows exactly what that something is.
"You're not really Jenna's biggest fan at the moment," Elena tells him with raised eyebrows.
Damon pulls out the box of food that he and Arabella came here for in the first place. The square white box holds some pie inside, which supposedly is the key to gaining anyone's trust. "That's why I'm bringing this."
Meeting Arabella's cobalt blue eyes, Damon nods his head towards the exit, giving her a cue to leave. Once he brings his gaze back over to Elena, he lifts his eyebrows with a tight lipped smile. "See you at the barbecue."
All the houses in this town look very different than the living quarters of the past. Instead of flaunting wealth through the size of the house, it seems people show off with design of the outside of it.
"I don't understand," Arabella states. She turns her head to look at Damon in the small car that he is driving. The car he practically had to force her into after she discovered its existence. "Why do people have such small houses? How do they throw parties?"
Damon releases a breathy laugh. "Parties now have a completely different meaning than what parties were in the past," he responds. He glances at his sister smugly. "If you want, I can show you some day."
The look on Damon's face tells Arabella not to trust her older brother. "Everything's much different than 1864," she states. "How am I supposed to grasp an understanding of all of them?"
"I'll help you," Damon states with a smirk. "Rule number one: people don't say big words anymore, so try not to use anything too complicated."
Arabella furrows her brow as Damon moves the stick thing into place. His ice blue eyes gaze at the household in preparation. "Remember the story?" He asks.
"I'm from a boarding school in Florida and I decided to move back here to finish high school with my brother because I got homesick," she recites. Scrunching her nose in distaste, Arabella glances over at her older brother. "Isn't lying wrong?"
Damon looks back at her. "Lying is a tool that is useful when you don't want people to know the truth." He shoves open his car door. "Come on, let's go."
With a huff, Arabella opens her car door. Her stomach ties itself into knots as she follows after her brother, much like it always did before parties. Arabella has always hated socializing with people.
Damon knocks hard on the wooden door and waits a few seconds. A man with short light brown hair and blue eyes opens the door with a smile in Damon's direction. "Damon," he states. His eyes scan over to Arabella with piqued interest. "Who's the plus one?"
"Ric," Damon responds in an excited tone. He nods his head behind him as he walks inside. "This is my baby sister, Arabella, she just got back into town."
Arabella steps into the household after her brother, her eyes scanning the entire house. Alaric's eyes widen as she steps inside, confusion clear on his tone. "She's been invited in?" He asks.
Damon turns to look at her with a frown. "No, she's just a really long story," he responds.
Alaric narrows his eyes at Damon. "What do you mean 'a really long story'?"
"I'm an immortal werewolf that has been placed under a curse so I can't die," Arabella butts in.
Sending a glower in his younger sister's direction, he turns back to face Alaric. "Like I said, a really long story."
The look Arabella gives Damon tells Alaric enough to know that he shouldn't pry too much. He turns his head and gives Arabella an encouraging smile. "Well, Elena and Caroline are in that room over there if you would like to join them," he states before he leads Damon into the kitchen.
Following the man's pointed finger, Arabella enters a room and finds a tall blonde girl standing in front of a large picture of a family of four. As soon as Arabella enters the room, the girl turns around and faces her. It doesn't take Arabella very long to figure out that the girl before her isn't human.
With a hard swallow, Arabella sends the girl a light smile. "Hi," she states, trying to pick up the accent she's been hearing everyone speak in. Her voice somehow sounds much more deeper than she would like, but she feels as though she should blend in. "My name is Arabella." She lifts a hand and jabs a thumb over to the kitchen. "My brother forced me to come here so I could make friends because I'm new."
The girl furrows her eyebrows in confusion. "Mason Lockwood is your brother?" She asks. Her voice sounds a bit nasally and high pitched, but Arabella is not one to judge a person for their voice.
Lockwood. Damon's come here to mess with a Lockwood? The thought freezes Arabella's core as she shakes her head at the girl. "No, Damon Salvatore," she states. "He really didn't tell me anything about who was going to be at this party. All I knew was that we were going to a barbecue."
The girl shakes her head in bewilderment. "Wait, you mean to tell me that Damon and Stefan Salvatore are your brothers?" She crosses her arms and stares at Arabella with raised eyebrows. The blonde obviously doesn't believe a word leaving Arabella's mouth.
Arabella swallows. "What's your name?" She asks with a fake smile.
Elena chooses that moment to walk into the room, saving Arabella from any further questioning. This will force the vampire to answer Arabella's question and to play nice.
"Caroline," the blonde responds. "I'm Elena's best friend."
Elena looks between the two with a passive facial expression. "I see that you two met," she states.
Caroline turns to look at her best friend with a frustrated look. "Yeah, why didn't you tell me that Damon was bringing his little sister? Or the fact that he and Stefan have a sister."
Elena looks over to Arabella. "I just found this out today, too," she responds. Her doe brown eyes scan Arabella, analyzing the girl's being. "I just wished that Stefan told me."
Puzzled, Arabella looks between Caroline and Elena for information. Why would Stefan need to tell this Katherine look alike anything?
Quite possibly to cause trouble, Damon enters the room with a sly grin on his face. He holds a glass of some type of alcohol in his hand and takes a quick swig before he smiles at the small group of teenagers. "Care to join us for a small game of guess the picture?"
Never having heard the word before, Arabella furrows her eyebrows at Damon. Was this game anything like croquet? Or maybe football? If so, Arabella feels as though she is not suited for that type of game. She was terrible at playing both those games.
"Sounds like fun," Caroline states. She walks past Damon and heads out into the living room.
Arabella tilts her head to the side in curiosity. "What's guess the picture?" She asks.
She can sense the confusion radiating off of Elena as Damon began to take the time and explain it. In Damon's type of style that is.
"It might be best," Elena begins with an encouraging smile, "if you watched a round and picked up on it later."
Arabella nods her head as she follows Elena and Damon into the living room to watch this game unfold.
Even after watching several rounds of this game, none of the references and ideas make sense to Arabella. Damon seems to continue choosing wolf-related topics while everyone else decided to choose more sporadic ones. It seems her brother is trying to send the other werewolf a message of some sort.
After finishing his latest drawing of a wolf in a strange pink short skirt, Damon takes his leave into the kitchen to grab the pie.
Mason turns to look at Arabella with a grin on his face. "Your brother likes his wolves, huh?" He asks her.
Arabella smiles lightly at the man. This entire party, she's been trying to spot any resemblance he might have with George Lockwood, but he looks nothing like the man she should have married. He does, however, have the same party attitude her betrothed had in the past. The love of alcohol must be a genetic characteristic.
"My brother has always had a strange fascination with animals," she responds. She can sense that he knows what her brother is, but he has no idea how she is connected. He probably assumes that she, too, is a vampire.
The Lockwood man stands from the couch and enters the kitchen. "Well, maybe I should discuss with him the topic of wolves."
She watches him go, sensing his arrogance as he leaves. He believes that he could easily kill anything that stands in his way. He is unaware of just how wrong he is.
Arabella stands, too, and makes her way towards the dining room. She is excited to eat more delicious food. Preferably, something that isn't a bunch of slop thrown together. She sits at the dining table across from Jenna and Alaric, giving each a polite smile.
"So, Arabella," Jenna states, startling Arabella. The werewolf brings her gaze towards Jenna who is smiling at her encouragingly. "Damon says that you went to a boarding school in Florida. How was that?"
Running through the story in her mind, Arabella thinks back to 1860 when her father tried to force her into a boarding school. "It was rather boring," she states with a smile. "It was an all girl school, but all the girls there were stuck up. I'm just glad I'll be able to go to a school where everyone doesn't pretend to be better than they actually are."
Mason meanders into the room while the girl sells her story. He narrows his eyes at her before sitting on her left. He must not believe her story, then.
Alaric eyes her carefully as Jenna nods. "When's your first day at Mystic Falls High?"
"She's starting next week," Damon butts in from across the room. He holds the pie in his hands and sets it down in front of the entire group. "I thought that it might be best to give her time to settle back in before sending her to a public school for the first time in her life."
He smirks at her before nodding his head towards the pie. "Mason, would you like to start us off."
The room is filled with silence as Mason stares at the silver pie cutter in the pie. Unable to tell Damon that silver does not hurt werewolves, she stares at the pie in complete silence.
Like a unmannered boy, Mason twirls the pie and grabs a slice with his hands. This causes Arabella to crinkle her nose in distaste. Is he really trying to sell this silver thing?
He sucks on his fingers, making Arabella regret choosing this seat. Does no one in the 21st century know about manners?
"Oh, I'm sorry," Mason apologizes as though he has just noticed all the eyes in the room. "Where are my manners?"
Jenna glares at Mason before looking back at the ruined pie. "That is so gross," she points out. "How am I supposed to eat the pie now?"
Mason shrugs his shoulders in an innocent gesture. "Oops?"
Rolling her eyes, Jenna stands from the table and everyone allows Mason a moment to eat his pie in peace.
Once the mannerless werewolf finishes his dessert, he looks up at all the adults. "Anyone want to go to the Grill and get drinks?"
"As appealing as that sounds," Jenna states. "I think I'm gonna have to pass on that one."
Alaric wraps his arm around Jenna. "I'm gonna have to agree with Jenna."
He lifts his arms up in mock frustration while he stands from the table. "Oh, come on," he states. "It sounds like I'm dealing with a bunch of adults here."
Smirking, Jenna walks him to the door with everyone following closely behind her. "I'd prefer the term role model."
Shaking his head, Mason swiftly hugs Jenna before sticking out his hand in Alaric's direction. "Thanks for the barbecue. And Alaric, let's catch that game later," he states.
Damon smiles at the couple. "I think it's time for Arabella and I to head out, too," he states. "Thank you, Jenna. And let's not catch that game, Alaric."
Arabella rolls her eyes at her older brother before she smiles at the pair. "Thank you," she says. "You have such a lovely home."
With a large grin, Jenna grabs the girl's hand. "You are welcome anytime, Arabella." Her eyes follow Damon's protruding figure through the open doorway. "Your brother on the other hand is debatable."
Arabella giggles as she follows her brother out and into his car. Something tells her that this night is far from over for Damon.
"That was a truly pleasant experience," she beams. Damon has never seen his sister so happy before. It's as though this barbecue is the highlight of her life. "Are all barbecues like this?"
Shifting the stick into the 'R' position, Damon glances behind him as he pulls out of the driveway. "Only the fun ones," he responds in full concentration.
He quietly follows behind Mason Lockwood's vehicle by a couple hundred feet, almost as if he is stalking the poor man. "Now, when we stop, I'm gonna need you to stay in the car."
Furrowing her eyebrows at the command, she watches as Damon parks in a parking lot far away from Mason's truck. "Why? What do you plan on doing?"
As silent as a mouse, Damon unbuckles his seatbelt and opens the car door. "I'm going to kill him!" He exclaims in a 'duh' tone.
Arabella fumbles for the door handle, needing to explain to her brother that silver does not harm werewolves. In her moment of blind panic, she accidentally locks herself into the car.
She glares at the door handle and frantically pulls on it. "Come on, you insufferable door," she growls. "Open already!"
Managing to open the door just in time to watch Mason Lockwood get stabbed, she sprints in his direction and kneels down besides the man.
"Damon!" Arabella shouts. She watches as Mason rips the knife out of his chest and stands up. He looks unharmed as he turns to face Damon, who is scrounging around through his things.
"You know," Mason states as he walks over to his truck. "I think it was werewolves who started the whole silver myth. Just for moments like this."
Damon glares, hating to be wrong about anything. "Duly noted."
Mason shakes his head in disappointment. "Ya know, I was really looking forward to last call," he states. "Now, you've made an enemy."
Mason chucks the knife onto the ground next to Arabella, where it skitters away harmlessly. Some of Mason's blood remains on the tip of it. Damon and Mason eye each other before they both begin to walk away.
Arabella follows after Damon. "I think you've just made the worst mistake of your life," she murmurs to him as they approach his car.
"Shut up," Damon responds.
As they drive home in complete silence, Arabella cannot help but to wonder how this war is going to end up killing everybody in the end.
Staring at herself in the mirror, Arabella glares at the extremely long, straight locks of her dark hair. When her hair was shorter, it used to curl slightly in a beautiful little wave. Now, it seems to be dull, almost as if someone has sucked the life out of it.
With a heavy sigh through her nose, Arabella turns and walks out the door. She remembers seeing a small little hair shop on her way home with Damon. Something in her urged for a change.
Before she even knows it, Arabella is in front of the salon, glad that it isn't closed. She feels the wad of cash in her pocket and before she can loose her nerve, she enters the small shop.
The woman behind the desk smiles encouragingly at her. "Hello, do you have an appointment?" She asks.
Swallowing, Arabella shakes her head. "No, it just came to me that I should finally chop off a lot of my hair," she responds.
The woman smiles at her. There must be desperation on Arabella's face because she nods her head in agreement. "That's okay, we're kind of slow today anyways."
She types something in on her computer before she stands up. "Right this way," she commands. She leads her into the back, which is full of chairs and mirrors.
"Lisa," the lady calls out. "I have a walk in for you."
Another large woman walks into the room. Her hair is a bright pink color that Arabella has only seen on flowers.
"Hi, honey," the woman states. She scans her from head to toe, taking in the long locks of Arabella's hair. "My, my, don't you have beautiful, long hair?"
Arabella swallows. "I wanted a change," she states.
The woman shakes her head, her short pink hair bouncing around with her. She pats one of the large black chairs in front of her as a gesture for her to sit down. "I feel ya, sweetheart. Bad break up?"
A smiling Arabella sits down and stares at the mirror. "Something like that," she states.
The woman grabs a pair of scissors. "Now, what do you want done to it?"
Arabella gives her short reply and watches as the woman cuts away her hair. As strands fall to the salon floor, Arabella feels as though a large burden is falling away with them.