twelve. unpleasantville
Mystic Falls High School
The bell rings loudly, indicating the end of class of every level. Students get up from their desks and start to leave the classroom. Jeremy is packing up his stationaries when a piece of paper is thrown down onto his desk by his History teacher. Jeremy looks down at the paper and picks it up to see a giant red 'A' is marked on the paper. Jeremy smiles, stunned by his grade.
Mister Saltzman spoke, "Surprised? It's a good essay. Your thoughts are clear, and your argument is well laid out. It's just, uh, you don't actually think there are vampires in Mystic Falls." He sits down behind his desk.
"No. I mean, I think statistically there's been more animal attacks, mysterious deaths, uh, people gone missing, more than any other place in the whole commonwealth of Virginia." Jeremy considered aloud, smiling.
"It's conjecture, but creative, which is why you got the 'A'. I just wouldn't get too, uh, caught up in the whole conspiracy theory of it all." Alaric reviewed.
"Ah, I won't." Jeremy finishes gathering up his stationaries, gets up from his seat, and starts to walk out of the classroom when his teacher spoke again.
"Oh, uh, Jeremy, the source that you cited for the 1860s info, uh, Jonathan Gilbert...?" Gilberts. One of the Founding families in the town of Mystic Falls.
Jeremy stops and looks back at him, "Oh, my ancestor's journal?"
"I'd really like to see that sometime." The thirty-three-year-old nods.
A friendly smile makes it's way up to his young boy-ish face, "Really?"
"A first-person account of the Civil War? That's like, uh, porn for a history teacher." Alaric Saltzman playfully commented in an honest perspective.
Jeremy retrieves the journal from his backpack, "You think my essay's creative, wait 'til you get a load of this thing." He skillfully tosses the old journal onto the teacher's desk, which his teacher picks up carefully.
Jonathan Gilbert was a mad genius, that's for certain, and Jeremy Gilbert can never be more proud and honoured to be the man's great grandson.
Mister Saltzman smiles, truly grateful of borrowing it, "Thank you."
Jeremy nods and walks out of the classroom for sophomore level as the last student. Alaric looks at the old, vintage leather journal and unbinds it with genuine curiosity and impatience to read it through. Out in the front courtyard, Caroline, Elena and Rosie are walking across the lawn together. Caroline is observing the pretty necklace, filled with a herb called vervain which is toxic to vampires, around her neck which Elena just gave her.
"It's so pretty. Thank you. God, it'll go with, like, everything. What's the occasion?" Caroline asked the chestnut brunette, smiling widely.
"No occasion. Just a little friend gift." Elena replied as an excuse before the trio of best friends take their respective seats down at a picnic table.
"Lesbian friend necklace? 'Cause we're freaky like that?" Caroline winks at the Gilbert girl, sarcastically, "How come Minerva doesn't get one?"
Elena turns to the caramel brunette for aid with a good excuse, "Uh..."
"I have enough necklaces in my set, or it's probably 'cause she doesn't like me that much." Rosie sarcastically spoke as she playfully glares at Elena.
Elena giggles at her playful sarcasm, "Our friendship is important to me."
"Aw, that is so sweet." Rosie/Minerva commented in a teasing manner.
"Yeah, why are you being so mushy?" Caroline asked her, chuckling in joy.
"Because you two have been avoiding me, and Care, I wanted you to know that whatever is going on with you and Matt, it's okay." Elena assured her.
"I was going to talk to you about that. I was, but there's just not much to say. You know, we've hung out a couple times. That's it, but...I just feel like we've peeked as friends." Caroline spoke and Elena nods, "This is weird. I shouldn't be talking to you guys about this. It's weird. It's weird, right?"
Honestly, Caroline finds it really weird of the fact that she, Caroline Forbes, and her best friend's ex-boyfriend, Matt Donovan, who were never really that close to begin with as good friends are finally close together as a pair. It seems very weird to her, as if she's watching someone finally able to lick their own elbow, which is impossible, because she and Matt never actually get along due to their differences-- they are both polar opposites, truthfully. She shouldn't even be speaking to them about this, especially not to Elena, who honestly cannot believe that she's agreeing to her that it's very weird since she never, not even once, even pictured Matt and Caroline together. Although she really wants to know about this developing new relationship, especially when it comes to her best friends, despite how very weird it gets.
Rosie/Minerva replied sarcastically, "No, not at all, and you know why I don't really have the precious time to be with you, right, Elena?"
"Yeah, such a busy senior you are. And it is a little weird, Caroline, but--" Elena laughs, "--if it's what you and Matt want, then it's not about me." She broke up with Matt Donovan, and he has no right to come in between them. She only wants what's best for her two blonde best friends — happiness.
"Still, she broke the law of feminism." Rosie/Minerva reminded them.
Caroline responded in pure though playful denial, "No, I didn't. And it is all about you, Elena. Matt's not over you, and we all know it. Right, Mins?" She knows that Minerva will agree with her because she always states the truth; the truth is, Matt Donovan is still not over Elena Gilbert. He still loves her.
"I've moved on now. Matt understands that. He knows he has to move on too." Elena unwraps her sandwich and Caroline looks at her, unconvinced.
****
Mystic Grill Restaurant
Bonnie, Elena and Rosie/Minerva are having dinner at a table for four people near the glass window, in which the first formers are sitting opposite each other while the amnesiac safely sits next to the doppelgänger as a guardian. Bonnie has also, already, been informed by her knowledgeable Grams at home about Minerva's true identity, which was then confirmed by Elena. Anger and disappointment were her genuine reactions to the false identity the girl has displayed over the years, though they both turned to sympathy and sadness once she finally figures out of the girl's dissociative amnesia.
"I can't believe you're adopted. I never saw that coming." Bonnie reviewed.
"No one saw that coming." Rosie/Minerva corrected her, smiling kindly.
"Yeah, and it gets weirder. I looked at my birth certificate. It lists Miranda and Grayson Gilbert as my birthparents. None of it makes any sense." Elena Gilbert, unfortunately, really doesn't know who her biological parents are.
Rosie/Minerva scoffs at her in ridicule of the obvious, "Of course it doesn't, Elena, that's what they want you to think." She nods a little.
"And who is 'they'?" Elena asked, truly confused, with a clueless frown.
Rosie/Minerva doesn't respond as she only resumes to eat her fruit salad.
"Which is why you should ask Jenna." Bonnie suggested with a plain look.
Elena groans and Rosie/Minerva spoke again as a mention, "Don't do that. What are you, five? Like you have anyone else you can turn to. First of all, we all know you would always want the real truth, good or bad."
"And second of all?" Elena asked with a raised brow as she eats her chicken.
"You just found out your boyfriend is a vampire, so unless your birthparents are aliens..." Bonnie continued and Elena laughs, "How bad could it be?"
"Ah, okay, look, I have to go to the store with Minerva. My outfit for the dance is severely lacking accessories." Elena gets up, along with Minerva.
"Okay, I'll pay the bill." Bonnie replied suggestively as their volunteer, not noticing the interested gaze of the young bartender wiping the bar clean.
"Okay. Bye." Rosie/Minerva walks out the main exit with Elena by her tail.
Bonnie gets up to pay, "Bye." She starts to walk away from the table when Damon marches right up to her, determined; she stops and looks up at him with all the courage she possesses now, "What do you want from me?"
To say that she's frightened by him would be an understatement. He's the one man who tried to kill her out of his own raging fury the other night.
"I think we need a fresh start." Damon offered suggestively, relaxed.
"You tried to kill me." Bonnie reminded him of his morbid behavior.
"But I didn't, and if I wanted to, I would have. Does that not count for anything?" The perilous, mischievous vampire reminded her in return.
"You know, I can start fires with my mind. Fires kill vampires, right?" Bonnie warned him, slightly concerning him, "Just stay the hell away from me."
The young, tall and familiar waiter, Ben McKittrick, walks over to the clearly antagonistic pair when he senses tension, "Everything okay over here?"
Damon replied indifferently, "Yeah, we're fine."
"I wasn't talkin' to you." The younger man maintains his gaze on Bonnie.
Damon, resisting his urge to kill Ben, grimaces, and just walks away. Ben moves to stand in front of Bonnie protectively, who spoke, "Thank you."
"Any time, Bonnie."
"Wait. You remember me?" Bonnie asked in true surprise, smiling.
"I didn't graduate that long ago. You're makin' me feel old." Ben scoffs.
"No, sorry. I didn't...I didn't mean that. I just-I didn't know you knew me." Bonnie almost stuttered nervously under the handsome guy's gaze.
"I always know a pretty face." Ben remarked, making her smile grow.
Outside of the restaurant, Elena and Rosie/Minerva are walking through the parking lot when the initially hesitant former spoke, "Um, Minerva."
"Hm?"
"I need to tell you something." Though Elena's cell phone starts ringing and she mentally cursed at it for the interruption as she retrieves it from her purse; she answers the phone, holds it up to her right ear as she continues walking to her parked black Mazda with her hybrid best friend, "Hello?"
"Hello, Elena." An unfamiliar masculine voice replied on the other line.
"Hey, who's this?" Elena halts when she reaches her vehicle and retrieves her keys as Rosie/Minerva waits on the other side of the car impatiently.
"You hit me with your car."
Elena freezes, which Rosie/Minerva notices, "Elena, what is it? Come on."
The unfamiliar though perilous young man continued, "Is that a new one?"
Elena, mouth hanging open, looks behind her. She sees the young man in the black hoodie approaching up to her, "Oh my God."
"You got away from me. You won't next time."
Elena quickly unlocks the car door, gets in with Rosie/Minerva, ignites the engine, reverses, and speeds off down the road, right past the mysteriously perilous vampire, who watches her drive off as he walks across the road.
****
Salvatore Boarding House
Rosie/Minerva is sitting on a vintage three-seated couch in the library, listening closely to Elena speaking with Stefan, "Why me? What does he want with me? A-And if he's trying to kill me, then why call first?"
Rosie/Minerva resists the urge to roll her eyes at the displayed ignorance, "Yeah, it's not like he can just apply the element of surprise first, right?"
Stefan walks around the couch and faces his ex-girlfriend, "Yeah, he don't do that. That's because we're predators. We hunt. We stalk. It's often as exciting as the kill. I want you to take this." He pulls out the vampire compass and hands the compass to Elena, who takes it and looks at it.
The Gilbert pocket watch, who is supposed to be Jeremy Gilbert's, every first born son of their historical family's generations, from Grayson Gilbert. Although, Stefan knows that entirely well, significantly knowing his history, and he knows it originally belonged to the Jonathan Gilbert, a scientist.
"A pocket watch." Rosie/Minerva stated obliviously.
"This is Jeremy's pocket watch. How did you get it?" Elena asked him.
"I took it from Damon, who took it from Logan, who must have taken it from you." Stefan informed her, connecting the dots in final conclusion.
Elena opens it up and observes the contents in pure confusion as Rosie/Minerva asked, "Sounds pretty valuable. What happened to it?"
"Well, it's not just a watch. It's a...it's a sort of compass, but it points to vampires." Stefan gently takes Elena's hands in his own, showing them how the compass works, as Rosie/Minerva stands up to observe closely; the sharp needle whirs around on the old compass and finally clicks into place, pointing at Stefan and Rosie; Elena and Rosie look up at him in shock.
Elena questioned, frowning cluelessly, "Why did my father have it?"
"Gilberts were one of the founding families, and back in 1864, they were among those who sought to eradicate the vampires. The compass was used to find us." Stefan explained to them, more especially to the amnesiac.
"So there's magic in it." Rosie/Minerva figured it out — Emily Bennett.
"Emily. Did you know them?" Elena questioned him, expecting a yes.
"Yes. I want you to keep this, Elena. That way, you'll know if you're ever in danger." Stefan informed her protectively and his ex-girlfriend nods.
"Thank you." The chestnut brunette smiles, truly grateful to have it.
****
Gilbert Residence
Jenna, who is neatly dressed up in a cute fifties outfit, is cleaning up the living room when Elena and Rosie/Minerva walk in the room through the front door; the two girls just came back from shopping as they are bringing the paper shopping bags inside as well with their own fifties outfit inside.
"Spoke to the insurance company. Car's totaled. You can keep using mine for now." Jenna spoke to her niece, referring to her Mini Cooper outside.
"So you are coming to the dance." Rosie/Minerva mentioned indifferently.
Jenna smiles at the caramel brunette, "Alaric asked me to help chaperone." She walks around the family vintage couch and leans against it, sighing.
Rosie/Minerva, not looking at them, picks up a fresh red apple from a bowl and is about to take a bite, when she turns around and looks at her best friend, "I'll be trying out the outfits upstairs to see which one's mine."
"Okay. You go do that." Elena watches, smiling, as her best friend hurries up the stairs to go to her bedroom before the chestnut brunette looks accusingly at her own maternal aunt, "Why didn't you tell me, Jenna?"
The woman looks slightly startled by this sudden change of topic, "Your mom was going to do it eventually. I never thought I'd have to. I'm sorry."
"If my mom were here right now and I asked, she'd tell me the truth."
"Your dad was about to leave the office one night when this girl showed up. She was sixteen, a runaway, and about to give birth. He delivered her baby, and he gave her a place to stay, but a few days later, she disappeared. And there you were. Your parents were trying so hard to have a baby. I-It just wasn't happening. All Miranda ever wanted was to be a mom."
Jenna Sommers can never forget how truly sorry she felt for her sister, although Elena doesn't understand that for still being an underaged girl. The million dollar question now is: Who is her real mother? Her birth mother? The one mysterious woman who gave birth to her seventeen years ago and abandoned her. She needs to know who this woman is, and her aunt can truly understand, feeling very sorry for her, how she must feel.
"Well, why were my parents' names on the birth certificate?" Elena asked.
"Your dad was a doctor, Elena. He took care of it. They didn't want to lose you, so they kept it quiet, told as few people as possible, but if anyone ever wanted proof, they had documentation." Jenna explained the sad reality.
"What else do you know about her? The girl?" Elena questioned, desperate.
"Just her name. Isobel."
Isobel. She never heard that name in her young years of life, not even on her birth certificate. Later, Elena is in her bedroom upstairs, adding the finishing touches to her fifties chestnut brown hairstyle. She walks into the connecting bathroom and blow dries her straight hair as she pulls a hot round brush through it. In her bedroom, she has left the vampire compass on her bed. Suddenly, the needle starts to whirl around, but Elena cannot hear it over the noise of the blow dryer. Elena, satisfied with her styled hair, turns the red blow dryer off and walks out of the small bathroom.
The needle of the compass is pointing at her closet, which Elena is heading towards. She opens the closet, dramatically the compass starts whirring again, and no one is hiding in the closet. Elena retrieves a pink scarf from a hanger. Elena shuts the closet door and walks over to her open doorway, poking her head into the hall, "Hey, Jenna. Jenna? Minerva? Jeremy?"
"In a minute!" Rosie/Minerva called out back to her from Jenna's bedroom, where she has styled her caramel brown hair in a simple ponytail and she puts on her silver diamond curve bar bracelet, two dainty sterling silver daisy rings with tiny cubic zirconia stones — a daisy band around her ring finger and a larger daisy ring around her middle finger, both on her right hand, and the silver butterfly pendant necklace as her respective jewelries, also never forgetting her necessary Colombian emerald diamond ring.
Rosie/Minerva is neatly clad in her new dark blue Anni Coco cotton and spandex halter vintage swing tea knee-length dress with lightweight fabric and a V-neckline with thick and long enough halter straps to tie in a bow. Back in Elena's room, the compass' needle continues to spin around and Elena, hearing the noise, turns her head towards the compass. She finally sees the needle spinning out of control. Elena walks over to the bed quickly, and picks up the compass, looking at the needle. She picks up her cell phone and dials Stefan's number before quickly walking out of the room.
"Minerva, hurry."
The phone call is answered by Damon instead, who is at the library of the Boarding House back at home, "Stefan's phone. How may I help you?"
Elena quickly walks down the stairs and anxiously speaks to him, "Where is he?" She looks up to call out impatiently once again, "Minerva, come on!"
"Whoa. Minerva's with you? Oh, of course she is." Damon spoke casually.
"Where's Stefan?" Elena questioned him again in a demanding tone.
"He's on his way to you, or her. Forgot his phone." Damon replied, relaxed.
Elena stops in the living room as Rosie/Minerva finally comes out of the bedroom upstairs to join her best friend downstairs to leave together.
Elena sighs, "Oh, thank God. This compass was spinning." Right above her, the mysterious vampire is braced to the ceiling, looking down at Elena and Rosie doesn't notice him as she joins her relieved best friend in the room, hearing the faucet on in the kitchen sink to keep the tap water running which blocks any sound he makes, "Stefan must be here. Thank you."
"You're welcome." Damon replied.
Elena hangs up and turns to her best friend, "There you are."
Suddenly, the vampire jumps down from the ceiling. Elena spins around and Rosie/Minerva gasps as her best friend tries to protect her. He grabs Elena and extends his fangs, getting ready to bite her neck when Rosie/Minerva screams, which causes him to let go of Elena and backs away from them with his ears covered in pain. Once she stops and begins to breathe heavily after the portrayal of her own power, Stefan yells from the kitchen after he twists the faucet in the sink closed to stop the running water and rushes in.
"Rosie!" Stefan grabs the unknown vampire and throws him over the couch. Rosie/Minerva loses her balance and is about to fall to the floor if it wasn't for Elena to hold her steady; Stefan looks down at the hybrid, worried.
The unknown vampire grunts, gets up from the floor and vamp-speeds out of the house. When Stefan is certain that he won't be returning, Stefan dashes over to Elena and Rosie/Minerva in concern, and pulls the latter into a comforting embrace. Rosie, still frightened, tightly holds on to Stefan.
"Are you okay? Are you okay?" Stefan asked her, both oblivious that Elena is watching them with a hint of envy in her expression and so she turns away.
Elena looks at the front door, still worried that her attacker will return. Not for long, the trio have been joined at the house by Damon. Damon paces around the living room with Elena standing nearby a couch while Rosie/Minerva and Stefan are sitting on that vintage couch next to each other.
"How did he get in?" Damon asked cluelessly. Invited in, obviously.
"He was invited in." Elena answered the obvious. By her brother, Jeremy.
"He posed as a pizza delivery guy last night." Stefan pointed out.
"Well, he gets points for that. Did he say what he wanted?" Damon asked.
"No. He was too busy trying to kill her." Rosie/Minerva spoke up.
"And you have no idea who this is?" Stefan asked him, frowning in concern.
"No." Damon replied, which earns him an unconvinced look from Stefan and Rosie/Minerva, "Don't look at me like that. I told you we had company."
"You think there's more than one?" Elena asked the obvious.
"We don't know." Damon sits on the comfortable arm of the couch.
"Looks like it." Rosie/Minerva shrugs, entirely clueless at this point.
"Damon, he was invited in." Stefan stated the danger this could bring them.
Damon nods, understanding what his brother is hinting at, "Then we go get him tonight." He turns to Elena and Rosie/Minerva, "You ladies up for it?"
"What do we have to do?" Elena asked him, truly determined to be safe.
"Let your ex-boyfriend take you to the dance. We'll see who shows up." Damon simply told them; increasing the awkward tension between the trio.
"Uh..." Elena trailed off, not knowing what to say about her escort.
"That's a bad idea." Stefan quickly labeled, avoiding the girls' gaze.
"You're right. You two just broke up. Looks like I'm escorting Elena." Damon casually spoke with a sarcastically humorous but friendly smile; Elena avoids eye contact with either Rosie/Minerva and Stefan, "'Til we get him, this house isn't safe. For anyone who lives in it. It's worth a shot."
Which means they are going to kill this mysterious vampire tonight.
"I'll do it." Elena agreed, her determination growing strong by the minute.
Both Rosie/Minerva and Stefan look anxious at this idea, contemplating that anything could go wrong with their murder plan. Damon nods, agreeing at his own plan. Elena grabs Damon's hand in her own and looks at him.
"I'll be with the three of you. I'll be safe."
Rosie/Minerva nods and looks up at Damon, who shrugs his shoulders.
****
Mystic Falls High School, The 1950's Decade Dance
The students of the high school in all levels are dressed in their best fifties getups and dancing to 'This Magic Moment' in the spacious gymnasium. Bonnie and Caroline are cheerfully dancing together on the dance floor. Rosie and Stefan, arms linked closely, walk into the dance, with Damon and Elena, arms linked as well, standing on the other side of the organized, dynamic pair. They look around the busy dance floor for any sign of danger.
Alaric spots Damon from the other side of the large, busy room and the smile falls from his face as he recognizes who Damon is — the vampire who killed his beloved wife, Isobel. Suddenly, Jenna approaches Alaric, "Alaric."
"Hey, look at you." Alaric Saltzman smiles at her in a sincerely friendly way.
"I figured I'd stand out less if I dressed up."
The Advanced Placement History teacher chuckles humorously, "Liar."
"Okay, I'm a sucker for the decade dance. I went to school here, you know. They do the sixties and seventies too, FYI." Jenna Sommers recalled.
"Oh. Can't wait. Can I get you a drink? I hear the punch is real boss." The both of them share a good-hearted laugh before they walk off together.
Elena and Rosie/Minerva are standing by the punch bowl, the former nervously fidgeting with her earring as she also morbidly hesitates about the murder plan concocted. Bonnie and Caroline walk up to join them.
"Having fun?" Elena is saved by her other two best friends, smiling.
"No, but this took about two hours, so I'm at least staying half of that." Caroline makes both herself and the seventeen-year-old girl laugh.
Bonnie looks off into the distance, frowning, "What's Damon doing here?"
Caroline, Elena and Rosie/Minerva turn to look at Damon, who is standing with Stefan. Elena mentally cursed at the mention as she turns back around, "He's escorting me. He wanted to come. I promise. He'll behave."
"So what is this, like, a double date now, you two and the Salvatore brothers?" Caroline asked both Elena and Rosie/Minerva with a smirk.
"Um, it could be." Rosie/Minerva shrugs in an awkwardly shy manner.
Elena spoke, "No, but if I'm going to be friends with Stefan, then I have to learn to tolerate Damon. Minerva too. It's not like we can kill him."
Bonnie is still staring at the older vampire brother, "There's a thought."
"Mmm. I'll help." Caroline and Bonnie clink their plastic glasses together.
Rosie/Minerva looks down, trying hard not to smile at her best friends' rebellious comments. Later, Bonnie and Caroline are left to mingle around the punch bowl with a few guys after Elena left them to speak to a friend and Rosie/Minerva went to talk to Stefan. Damon approaches the two girls.
"Hi, Bonnie. Want to dance?"
"I'm out of here." Bonnie, along with her blonde friend, looks at him with disgust; Bonnie starts to walk away, but Damon blocks her with his body.
"Please give me another chance."
Bonnie doesn't respond and moves around Damon, walking away from him. Caroline glares at Damon, "Back off, Damon." Caroline follows Bonnie; Damon watches them leave. Stefan and Rosie/Minerva walk up to him.
"Where did they go?" Rosie/Minerva asked him as she watches the pair go.
"I don't know." Damon replied as he looks down at the hybrid.
Stefan asked him in a rather parental manner, "What did you say to them?"
"I was perfectly polite. Rosie...Would you like to dance?" Damon asked.
"I would love to." Rosie/Minerva looks up at her ex, "May I have this dance?"
Stefan lends her his left arm and she takes it. Rosie/Minerva looks up at Damon with a cute devilish smile and Damon rolls his icy blue eyes. Rosie/Minerva and Stefan go onto the dance floor together, where Stefan twirls Rosie around and pulls her into him. She wraps her arms around his neck, smiling brightly, as they sway to the music. Across the room, Noah, the vampire with the hoodie, watches Rosie, who initially hesitates to initiate a somewhat sensitive topic for a conversation as they are slow-dancing.
"So...you and Elena." Rosie/Minerva begun, knowing that they broke up.
"Oh, yeah. We broke up." Stefan stated out of admittance, no hesitation.
"Mhm. She said something about you being dishonest, and the one where you're...still not over...Rosie. Is that true?" Rosie/Minerva asked gently.
"What else did she say?" Stefan begins to worry of what she already knows.
Rosie/Minerva scoffs in disbelief, "That she and Katherine are look-alikes."
"And, do you believe her?" Stefan asked, at first hesitant to question her.
"Well, now that I know that I have a witch as a friend and another friend as a vampire, doppelgängers aren't so hard to believe." Rosie/Minerva shrugs.
Stefan smiles in great relief, "Oh, I see. You'll get used to it."
"Mhm. I already am." His lovely ex-fiancé smiles up at him in return.
"Just like how you're used to view Rosie and Minerva apart?" He asked.
Rosie/Minerva looks away from him at that, "Stefan..."
He frowns deeply in concern, "What happened, Rosie? You can trust me."
I know. She looks back up at him, initially hesitant, "I...met a witch, the one year after I turned, somewhere in Willoughby. She was the one who..."
"She was the one who wiped your memories. Why would she do that?"
"The one thing I've always hold on to remember why is because of the trauma I've had to endure after my death, and I am terrified to do this. Being here in the first place, being back in town." Rosie/Minerva shakes her head.
"Hey." Stefan gently holds her even closer to her, "I am right here for you."
She gazes into his serious natural green eyes, indicating that they can trust each other, and resumed, "I know. I may not remember what happened in the past, between us, but a part of me just...believes that I can trust you."
Stefan wants nothing more than to lean down and kiss her glossy pink lips, although he knows this isn't the right time. He can't take advantage of her like that, not after his recent split with Elena Gilbert, who's victim tonight. While they are dancing, Stefan looks around for any signs of the vampire.
"See him anywhere?" Stefan mentioned as a reminder.
"Not unless he has a pompadour." Rosie/Minerva replied.
"Heh. Wow. Not one of the better fashion trends." Stefan commented.
"Come on. I'm sure you looked great back then. Are there pictures?"
"No. Burned. Buried." Stefan simply replied without a hint of hesitation.
"Hmm. Okay, well, I was mostly in Paris in the fifties. Nothing about that typically ridiculous picture of somewhere between 'American Bandstand', 'Grease'. Varsity sweaters and milkshakes." Rosie giggles adorably.
"Well, that and, you know, McCarthyism and segregation and nuclear arms race. Do I want to know why you were even in Paris?" Stefan asked, curious.
Rosie/Minerva smiles in reminiscent, "I was with my boyfriend. He's fancy."
"I bet you were fancier." Stefan spins her around and pulls her back in.
Rosie/Minerva smiles, "You're so teaching me how to do the hand jive."
"No. That's not going to happen." Stefan refused, "Didn't you do it?"
She scoffs in pure disbelief, "What, with Mister Fancy? Impossible."
Rosie/Minerva rests her head on Stefan's shoulder as he continues to watch out for the mysterious vampire while they are swaying on the dance floor.
"Maybe he's not going to show." Rosie/Minerva guessed in a tired manner.
"You mean we did all this dancing for nothing?" Stefan concluded.
She throws her head back and moves her hands down to his chest, "Not when I'm here to show off this new vintage dress. Ahh. The horror."
They both smile humorously at her playful comment.
"I think you look really beautiful." Stefan commented, smiling warmly.
"Thank you." Rosie/Minerva adorably smiles up at him in return.
"And I'm really sorry for all this." Stefan told her.
"It's my choice. I decided to be here. I officially signed up for it, so I don't want to hear you apologizing anymore." Rosie/Minerva makes her point by playfully, adorable, poking him in the chest as she says the last few words.
Suddenly, the music through the loud speakers starts to pick up. Stefan looks up at the speakers, realizing he will have to dance faster. Rosie/Minerva smiles broadly in enthusiasm, grabs both of his hands and starts to twist her hips side to side, though Stefan remains still in his spot.
Rosie/Minerva giggles, "Come on, show me how it's done in your fifties."
"Uh, no."
"Come on. Please. One move?" Rosie/Minerva asked.
Stefan shakes his head while Rosie/Minerva nods persistently for their next dance. Stefan shakes his head again stubbornly. Rosie/Minerva groans in a defeated manner and starts to walk off the dance floor from him, but Stefan grabs her by the right arm and twirls her back towards him. He picks Minerva up and dips her on one side and then the other, holding her in the dip for a moment. Rosie/Minerva smiles up at him, surprised and impressed. Stefan straightens them back up and places Rosie/Minerva on the floor.
"Now you remember that, because it's never going to happen again."
Rosie/Minerva giggles. Meanwhile, an old though young-looking vampire named Anna is walking down the darkened corridors of the school building. She stops at the end of one and sees Noah at the other end. Anna vamp-speeds over to him. He looks down at her with a devilish smile.
"What are you doing here?" Noah asked her.
"Trying to get the journal, as in sticking to the plan, something you're not doing." Annabelle sighs in a tired manner, "Leave the girls alone."
"I like them, especially the chestnut one. She looks like Katherine."
"And the other one looks like Rosie. She's not Katherine, and the other one's not Rosie. Okay, Katherine is in the tomb." Anna pointed out.
"Yeah? So where's Rosie then?" Noah asked, morbidly curious for her.
"How should I know? I don't care about her." Anna snapped at him.
"I know where Katherine is, but until we open that tomb, I got her to play with, and I'm going to prove to you that the other one is Rosie."
"Don't be stupid. Those girls are with the Salvatore brothers." Anna warned.
"They don't scare me. They never have."
"Please, Noah. Don't do this. You're going to ruin everything."
"You got nothing to worry about. I'm not going to let anything happen to you. You will get what you came for. Just let me have my fun." Noah said as if it's an acceptable excuse, "She looks like Katherine, and Rosie's here."
Noah walks past her, placing his hood back over his head. Back out on the dance floor, Damon has found a girl to dance with instead of Elena. He gropes her bottom and they glide across the dance floor. Rosie/Minerva watches from the punch bowl with Stefan. She laughs and looks up at him.
"You really can't take him anywhere, can you?" Rosie/Minerva commented.
"Uh, no."
Suddenly, Elena speed-walks up to them at the punch bowl with alarming information for their vampire target tonight, "Stefan, the back corner."
Stefan looks in the corner and sees Noah in his hoodie, "Get Damon."
Stefan, followed by a deeply concerned Rosie/Minerva, quickly walks across the crowded dance floor, with him pushing students out of their way. The boy in the black hoodie has left the gymnasium and walks down a crowded corridor into another darker corridor. Stefan and Rosie/Minerva speed-walk into the corridor and see the boy turn the corner. Stefan jogs after him, then when both him and Rosie/Minerva are in the darkened corridor, he vamp-speeds over to the boy, grabs him by his hoodie and slams him into the lockers, only to have caught an innocent young, teenage sophomore.
"What did I do?"
Rosie/Minerva and Stefan look at the boy, truly confused, before the pair share the same look and the latter questioned him, "Where is he?"
"I was getting a soda, and then this guy gave me his hoodie."
Rosie/Minerva looks around, realizing they've been tricked into leaving Elena alone, and widens her already-big doe hazel eyes, "Oh my God."
Elena walks across the crowded dance floor, searching for Damon when her cell phone rings. She takes it out of her jeans' pocket and answers it.
"Hello, Elena." Noah is on the other end of the line and Elena pauses on the dance floor, terrified, "Here's what you're going to do." Elena looks around her for the source of the phone call, "There's an exit door behind you. You have five seconds and call your friend, Minerva, to join you outside."
Elena shakes her head in refusal, truly frightened by him, "No."
"Or your brother dies." Noah threatened her.
Elena looks over at the punch bowl, where Jeremy is serving punch. Elena sees Noah, the vampire, standing near him, on his phone with her.
"I can snap his neck so fast, I bet there's not even a witness. Now, start walking." Noah watches her, who's on the crowded dance floor, from afar.
Elena starts backing up towards the door, "Don't you dare touch him."
"Keep walking. Through the door."
Elena keeps walking backwards across the floor. Noah starts walking past the oblivious Jeremy. Elena, worried, continues to watch him, but Noah passes the Gilbert brother without even touching him. Elena hangs up her phone and runs out the exit. Elena runs down the corridor, looking behind her to see if Noah is following. She turns into another corridor and comes to a set of doors. She attempts to open the doors, but they are chained shut.
She turns back around and sees Noah walking calmly towards her. Elena rushes down a different corridor and opens the door to the cafeteria. She runs across the room and tries to open another set of doors, which are also locked. Across the room, Noah flings open a set of double doors and before Elena can move, he vamp-speeds towards her. Elena attempts to bolt, but Noah grabs her by her hair and Elena screams and struggles to get away.
Noah pulls her in towards him, then throws her across a table. Elena lands hard on the floor. Noah tosses the table aside and strides towards Elena. Elena frantically grabs at a pencil on the floor and sits up. Noah grabs Elena from off the floor and pushes her against the wall. He extends his fangs and prepares to bite her, but Elena stabs him in the stomach with the pencil. Noah, unprepared for this, takes the pencil out of his stomach and starts towards Elena again. Elena prepares to attack again and Noah raises his hand to defend himself, but Elena's pencil weapon goes straight through the palm of his hand. Noah looks down at his hand and while he's distracted, Elena stabs him with another pencil and pushes him to the floor.
As Noah struggles to get up, Elena walks backwards and bumps into a mop bucket. She turns around and grabs the mop from the bucket and uses her knee to break the handle in two to create a stake. Noah rips the pencil out of his hand and gets up. As he advances towards Elena, she thrusts the stake towards him, but he is too quick and grabs her wrist. Noah takes the stake out of her hand and tosses it aside. He then goes in to bite her neck. Elena screams, but before Noah can bite her, Stefan rips him away from her and tosses him to the floor. Noah gets up from the floor to see Rosie/Minerva's presence as well, along with Damon who spoke up to indicate his presence.
"Hey, dickhead." Damon, with a humorously sarcastic smile, has a stake in his hand, "Nobody wants to kill you. We just want to talk."
Noah smiles and rushes towards Rosie/Minerva this time. Damon quickly throws the stake to Stefan, who grabs it and stakes Noah in the stomach. Noah grunts in pure agony and falls to his knees. Damon walks over towards Elena, Rosie/Minerva and Stefan so that they can interrogate Noah.
"Now you feel like talkin'?" Stefan snarled.
"Screw you."
Stefan digs the stake in deeper and Noah groans in more pain than before, "Wrong answer. Why are you doing this?"
"Because it's fun."
Stefan digs the stake in a little bit more, "What do you want with Elena?"
"She looks like Katherine." Noah stated; Stefan, Rosie/Minerva, Elena, and Damon all look shocked and the vampire scoffs, "And she looks like Rosie."
Damon sends a quick glance at the hybrid, frowning, "You knew Katherine?"
"Oh. You thought you were the only ones." Noah laughs wickedly and gasps in pure agony, "You don't even remember me." He continues to gasp.
Damon leans over towards him, "Tell me how to get in the tomb. Hmm?"
"No."
Stefan leans back down and drives the stake in deeper inside his chest while the others watch the torture, "You better not test my patience right now."
Noah answered in defeat, "The grimoire." Emily Bennett's. It's her spell.
"Where is it?" Damon questioned with a little shake of his head.
Stefan drives the stake in deeper and Noah gasps in more pain, "Check the journal. The journal. Jonathan's journal. Jonathan Gilbert's." He nods.
Rosie/Minerva looks over at her best friend with a worried frown, "Journal."
Outside of the cafeteria, Anna looks in through the glass, looking helplessly as Noah is tortured mercilessly. Damon stands up and grimaces.
Stefan questioned in a cold tone, "Who else is working with you?"
Out in the empty hallway, a door opens. Anna hears it and quickly runs off before she is caught by anyone. Alaric Saltzman, the AP History teacher, walks in alone from down the corridor and walks towards the cafeteria.
Damon questioned as well in a strict manner, "Who else is there?"
"No. You're going to have to kill me."
Damon looks at Stefan, rolls his icy blue eyes, and nods. Stefan removes the stake from Noah's stomach. Stefan waits for a moment, then stakes Noah in the heart, which leads Noah to fall to the floor and begins to desiccate, shocking Elena. They hear a door open and see the teacher coming through one of the door's windows. Stefan looks at his brother, "Go. I got this."
"Come on, Elena." Rosie/Minerva grabs her best friend's left arm and pulls her out of the cafeteria in a quick speed-walk, opposite the two brothers.
Damon walks out of the cafeteria alone. Outside, Alaric is quickly walking down another unoccupied corridor all alone, looking around for something or someone; Damon turns the corner and sees him. He vamp-speeds in front of the teacher and Alaric stops abruptly and clears his throat, "Hey."
Damon starts to compel him immediately, "What were you doing?"
"Looking for Miss Hilden." Mister Saltzman responded in monotone.
"Why are you in Mystic Falls?"
"I got a job as a teacher."
"Do you know what I am?"
"You're my student's brother."
"Is everything you're telling me the truth?" Damon questioned sternly.
"Yes."
"Then forget we had this conversation." Damon walks away afterward.
Alaric stands still for a moment, shaken by the encounter. He looks down at his closed left hand and opens it, revealing that he has vervain. Not for long, Stefan and Damon are leaning against a wide open doorway, facing each other, in a dark corridor, as they are talking about the night's events.
"There's no way that idiot was workin' alone." Damon predicted.
"You are." Stefan sees his suspicious, selfish brother's clear grimace at him, "So the grimoire...That was Emily's, right? That's what you need to reverse the spell. When the founding families burned her, they took her things, and you were hoping that Dad's journal would tell you where it is. Right?"
Since Giuseppe Salvatore was also a Founding family member.
"Look at you, puttin' the pieces together. Good for you. I was half-right. Well, it's out there now. Let the games begin." Damon spoke, determined.
"My offer still stands." Stefan reminded him with his long arms folded.
"Yeah, with some hidden caveats, no doubt."
"No. Nothing hidden about it. No lies. No deception." Stefan warned him, "I'm there when you open up that tomb, you and Katherine go, and the other twenty-six vampires die." Permanently. The town will remain safe.
"If I agree?" Damon asked.
"I'll help you."
"Why should I trust you?"
"Because I'm your brother." Stefan simply stated.
"No, that's not going to cut it."
"Because I want you gone." Stefan told him.
Damon pauses for a moment, thinking if this is an acceptable, valid reason to trust his own brother with a suspicious frown, then he nods, "Okay."
Stefan nods, sealing the terms to their agreement.
****
Devon Residence
Rosie/Minerva is sitting on the vintage couch in the living room, deeply contemplating the night's events at the decade dance earlier, when she hears the doorbell rings loudly. She gets up from her seat answers the main front door to reveal Stefan on the porch, slowly smiling at his presence.
"Doing okay?" Stefan asked gently, deeply concerned for her well-being.
Rosie/Minerva breathes out a sigh, steps out to join him on the porch and slowly shuts the door behind her, "I've...never been better." She chuckles.
He nods a little in great relief, "I need to tell you something, and I don't know how you're going to feel about it." Stefan begun, initially hesitant to speak about this concerning subject about his brother to the amnesiac.
Rosie/Minerva looks deeply concerned once again tonight, "What?"
"I told Damon that I'd help him get into that tomb to get Katherine back. But it was a lie. I let him believe that he could trust me." Stefan revealed as an ultimatum for the danger they will be facing if they ever get caught; he doesn't care if he has to get hurt to protect Rosie Kartwright. He would do it because he loves her, and he would do about anything to protect her.
Rosie/Minerva looks up at him as if he has done something really bad, which is very bad because they wouldn't know what Damon Salvatore might do. Would he kill his own brother if he found out? Or would he kill her? Either way, the morbid possibility of one of their deaths truly does frighten her. Stefan knows this, reading from her clearly anxious expression, although if they do get caught, he will not let anything happen to Rosie Kartwright.
"Well, then why would you be worried about telling me?" She asked.
"Because he can be very persuasive, and you don't know him that much."
"Which makes amnesia a good thing to have, at times like this. I don't just trust anyone that easily, over the years after I lost my memories."
Stefan quickly thinks this one over in great relief, "But you do trust me."
Rosie/Minerva smiles warmly at him, "You've given me a lot of reasons why."
"Well, I wouldn't say I would trust myself after my last relationship, with Elena. I wasn't being honest with her, you were right." He nods a little.
"Now don't tell me it was because you saw her as Katherine." She teased.
"No, actually, it was because I'm in love with someone else." He admitted.
Rosie/Minerva slowly nods a little in pursuit, "I see."
"I don't want to be his enemy, Rosie, but I can't let him do it." Stefan said.
"I understand, and I will help you, whatever it takes. Okay?" Rosie offered.
He never thought he would love somebody as much as he loves her. "Okay."