Audrey thought about something Elena said in the Grill earlier that evening. How to protect the people they love, they've lied to keep them out of everything, and only ended up hurting them in the end. She tore her eyes off of Isobel, and looked at Jenna, who was stood in a stunned silence. She could see the tears in her eyes, all of the hurt, and she felt sick with guilt. She opened her mouth to say something, anything, but she could form the words.
"Hello, Elena. Hello, Audrey." Isobel looked at her daughters one by one. "It's nice to see you both again."
Jenna looked at the sisters, betrayal in her eyes as she took in what Isobel said. "Again?"
"So you're the woman who's dating my husband." Isobel said after a moment, as neither Elena or Audrey knew what to say. "I need to speak to Elena and Audrey. May I come in?"
"N-n-no." Elena stuttered out, shaking her head rapidly as she walked closer. "Don't...don't invite her in."
"I need to talk to you, girls." The Flemming woman told them, giving them both a look.
"No!" And before she could say anything else, Elena slammed the door in her face.
Tears fell down Jenna's face, as she looked between Elena and Audrey. "You knew she was still alive? Ric? John? Did they know?"
"Jenna..." Audrey trailed off, finally finding her voice again. "Please. W-we can explain everything."
"No." Not giving either of them a chance to say more, Jenna moved past them and ran upstairs.
"No. Jenna, please." Exchanging a quick look, the twins ran upstairs after her, only to see Jenna lock herself in her bedroom. "Jenna, you have to talk to us. We...we need to explain what's going on. Jenna, please." Elena pleaded, hitting her hand on the door desperately.
Leaning her back against the door, Audrey slid down it till she was sat on the floor, holding her head in her hands. "Jenna...we're so sorry."
* * * * * * * * * *
Jenna refused to come out of her room that next morning, not that either girl could blame her. Alaric arrived when she eventually did come downstairs, but she didn't stick around long. Not ready to hear a word the three of them had to say, she left the twins with instructions to pick up check from the historical society, before leaving to stay on campus for a few days. The only silver lining in it all, if Audrey could even consider it one at this point, was watching Alaric punch John in the mouth.
Then, things seemed to only get worse. Stefan arrived to check on Elena, and told them that now Matt knew what Caroline was, after she had to give him her blood last night. He'd disappeared before she could make him forget, so now Matt was missing, questioning what Caroline was and everything that happened to Vicki.
"Ah, this is bad." Elena sat with Stefan in he bedroom window, holding her head in her hands. "Between Isobel and Jenna and now Matt, this is disaster bad."
"I'd say it can't get worse, but I've been proven wrong before." Audrey mumbled, sat on the end of Elena's bed, hugging a pillow to her chest.
"Elena, Audrey." John appeared in the doorway, earning glares from them both. "Can you come downstairs, please? I need to talk to you both."
"Ha." Elena scoffed. "We have nothing to say to you."
"Please. It's important." He stressed, and looked toward the Salvatore in the room with them. "You, too, Stefan."
The three warily went downstairs with John, each with skeptical looks on their faces. They paused as they headed toward the kitchen, as they spotted Isobel stood in the doorway, not looking phased by the looks on their faces.
"I asked John for a do-over." She informed them.
"You invited her in?" Audrey snapped, her glare appearing once again as she looked at him.
"She has information about Klaus." John defended calmly. "Please, just listen to her, okay?"
"Alright." Stefan spoke up, looking at the woman with narrowed eyes. "What do you know?"
"Since I was last here, I've been doing everything possible to find Klaus." Isobel begins to explain. "We knew our best chance was to find him before he could find you."
"Best chance at what?"
"Keeping Elena and Audrey alive." John answered simply.
"Well, for starters, I'm not apart of the sacrifice. So, hate to burst the parental light bulb that's suddenly turned on in your heads, but I don't need or want your protection." Audrey snapped, and pointed at John. "And you don't get to talk right now. Not with everything you've done."
The Salvatore kept a calm frame of mind. "Were you able to find Klaus?"
"No." Isobel answered. "Nobody knows where he is but there are these rumours that are flying around. That a doppelganger exists. Not only one, but two."
"Which means any vampire that wants to get in favour with Klaus will be lining up to capture you." John carried on, looking at the youngest twin. "It won't matter to Klaus, he'll take to be certain he can break the curse, which puts you in danger."
Elena paced up and down, shaking her head at the whole thing. "I'm not buying any of this." She looks at Isobel. "The last time that you were here, you made it clear that you didn't give a damn about me or Audrey. Now all of a sudden we're supposed to believe that you want to help?"
"Isobel's been helping all along." John informed them, a knowing look on his face. "Klaus has been obsessed with finding Katherine for centuries. All it would take was any one of those 1864 tomb vampires to spread the word around that Katherine was still alive and it would bring him straight here to Mystic Falls, where you were bound to be discovered, so we killed them."
"And almost killed Stefan and Damon in process."
Isobel gets up and moves towards her daughters. "I have a safe house that I can take you to. The deed is in your names. No vampires can get in without your permission, not even me. Let me help you."
Elena and Audrey looked at one another, knowing exactly what the other was thinking. When it came to Isobel or John, it was something they were always going to be on the same page about. No matter what.
"You want to help?" Elena crossed her arms over her chest.
Audrey pointed toward the front door, her lip curling as she sneered in distaste. "Then get the hell out of our house."
* * * * * * * * * *
When Elena volunteered to go collect the check from the Historical society, Audrey didn't object. She couldn't face being in a crowd of people, and instead stayed back at the house alone, despite some arguments about her safety. But, Audrey ignored them. After everything that had happened lately, the Salvatore brothers were in place to start dictating to her. She sat in cross legged on her bed, with her laptop resting in her lap, trying to do anything to distract herself.
Even trying to do some school work.
"Well, I'd say I'm surprised, but I'm not." Hearing a voice that sounded much like her own, Audrey looked up, not surprised at who was leaning in the doorway. "No body guards like your sister? Shocker."
"Let me guess." Audrey began, looking back to her laptop screen. "Stefan and Damon finally kicked you out."
"They're being mean." Katherine pouted, as she wandered further into Audrey's bedroom. "Like I haven't done enough to prove I'm on their side already, but, they're still leaving me out of the loop."
"Huh, I wonder why?" The Gilbert girl mused, pulling a look of faux confusion. "What reasons could you of possibly given Stefan and Damon not to trust you?"
"Don't you start." Katherine warned her. "I came here because unlike your sister, I actually don't mind you."
"I'm not in the mood, Katherine." Audrey told her bluntly, closing the laptop. "So, if you're not here for any reason other than to annoy someone, please just go."
The Pierce vampire opened her mouth to retort, when she narrowed her eyes at her. "I take it you aren't aware of the blood dripping from your nose?" She rose a brow, gesturing to her face. Audrey looked past her into her vanity mirror, to see blood falling from her left nostril, a droplet falling onto her shirt. With a sigh, she cupped her hands around her nose and went into the bathroom, quickly grabbing some tissue to clean herself up with. "How long has that been happening?"
"Ever since Elijah got daggered." She admitted, dabbing carefully at the blood. "Before you ask, I don't know why, and I don't know how to stop it either."
Katherine tilted her head in interest. "Since Elijah was daggered?" She repeated, something slowly dawning on her. "Let me guess, chest pains? Short, sharp ones. Like you've been stabbed in the heart with something."
Audrey paused, looking at Katherine behind her in the mirror, some hesitance in her voice as she answered. "Maybe..."
And Katherine laughed.
Audrey stared at her in confusion, as Katherine laughed, looking back at her in disbelief. "Of course." She smirked, shaking her head. "It makes sense now. Oh, Audrey." She walked up behind the teenager, resting her hands on her shoulders from behind. "You've bought yourself out a get out dying free card without even realizing. It'll make sense soon enough. Even makes me feel better about what I'm about to do."
"What are yo--"
Audrey was cut off by Katherine grabbing her by the head, throwing her against the wall so hard the world around her went black.
* * * * * * * * * *
Audrey held her head, biting her lip to stop herself groaning in pain. When she woke up, she found herself laid in the back of a car, her sister laid unconscious beside her. When she saw it was Isobel who was driving, she decided it best to stay quiet, only speaking when Elena started to stir beside her. It was long before the car came to a stop, and a compelled man opened the door for Isobel to get out, before doing the same for Elena and Audrey.
"Just because you can't be compelled doesn't mean I can't force you to come with me." Isobel warned the pair, as they made no attempt to move.
"So is that what happened?" Elena asked as she got out the car. "You were compelled to betray Katherine?"
"If I was, I couldn't tell you." She replied, leading them along.
"So you lied. You did find Klaus, didn't you? He knows where we are now. Are you taking us to him?" The eldest of twins demanded. Isobel doesn't answer but instead walks to a tombstone and crouches down in front of it. "What is this?"
Audrey's eyes scanned the words written on the headstone, as Isobel cleared away the leaves that cover it. "In loving memory of Isobel Flemming." Her voice cracked slightly. "January 18th, 1978 to May 4th, 2007." She looked toward their birth mother in confusion. "Why did you bring us here?"
She glanced up at her daughters, with cracks of light appearing in her otherwise cold eyes. "My parents, your grandparents, they put it here when it became clear that the police weren't gonna find my body." She explained to them. "They visit every week, and they bring flowers, even though there's no one buried here. The Isobel they knew is dead. So maybe there's a part of me that's buried here, the-the human part, the part that I abandoned when I-when I choose to become a vampire, the part that used to dream about the day that she'd know her daughters."
The words hit harder than either of the girls expected. It was something they never expected to hear her say, as it always been made clear by her she didn't care. "What?"
Isobel shrugged as she rose to her feet again. "And instead you got to meet the other part...The part that would betray her own flesh and blood." She then answered her phone when it started to ring. "Yes. Let them go?" Elena and Audrey exchange glances at that. "I'm done?" And a few seconds later, she hung up, with what looked to be relief on her face.
"Who was that?" Elena asked.
"I'm so sorry, Elena." She told her wholeheartedly, and looked to Audrey. "Oh, I am so sorry, Audrey. That I was such a disappointment to both of you."
Before either of them could say anything, she pulled her daylight necklace off from around her neck, her skin beginning to crack and burn int he sunlight. The twins both took a step back in shock, clinging onto one another tightly with wide eyes, unable to look away at what was happening in front of them. Audrey felt sick, tears appearing in her eyes at the sight, her hands shaking as she gripped onto Elena's arm.
"Rey..."
"I-I know..." And the twins just hugged one another, forcing themselves to look away.
* * * * * * * * * *
It was never a doubt in Audrey's head who her parents were. Miranda was her mom, and Grayson was her dad, that was never going to change. Yet, after what happened in the cemetery, she felt confused. After everything Isobel had done, she thought she'd hate the woman forever. Instead, in the current moment, she felt sad.
A sadness she hadn't felt since her parents died.
"Here." She glanced up, seeing Damon now in front of her, holding a glass out to her. "It'll help."
She took it without a word, taking a sip and pulling a face, as the whiskey hit the back of her throat sharply. "Thanks." She choked out, coughing into her arm.
Instead of leaving like she thought he would, the eldest Salvatore sat down beside her, placing a pile of papers into her lap. "Your sister had already signed them, you need to as well." She rose a brow in confusion. "We all got played today, precautions need to be made. Sign them, and this place." He gestured around the Salvatore house. "Will be in yours and Elena's names. You can control who can get in and out."
"A safe house." She realized. "Like Isobel suggested."
"Better safe than sorry." He shrugged. "And like I told Elena, lock me out, I'm going to be super pissed."
"Why are you doing this?" Audrey asked him bluntly.
Damon looked at her for a moment, before taking the glass out of her hand, downing the whiskey she'd left. "You told Elena words mean nothing till we do something to prove it." He reminded her. "Well, I hope that proves it." He looked at her honestly. "I don't care about a lot of people, little Gilbert. You're no exception to that, but... you're my friend, even I've been crappy about showing it. You're not worth less than Elena, and we won't let anything else happen to you."
Audrey stayed silent for a long moment, taking those words in. Deep down, if she was being honest with herself, she wasn't sure if to believe him. He'd done so much to contradict those words in the past, but he was right about something. She said they needed to prove to they wanted things to change, and this was a start. It was a step in the right direction, and she didn't want to ignore it.
Patting her knee, Damon got up and walked away, leaving Audrey alone with her thoughts.
And her mind went back to something Katherine said to her. "You've bought yourself out a get out dying free card without even realizing. It'll make sense soon enough."
And she hoped, in this case, Katherine Pierce was telling the truth for once.
Five chapters left of season 2, I am so excited. Klaus is here, Elijah is back very soon, and everything is about to go down. I am beyond excited to get started on season 3. Was Damon being honest with what he said? We'll find out as the season comes to a close. Katherine knows something about Audrey, and all that will come out soon enough.
Next up, we have the decade dance, and Alari-Klaus.
I hope you all enjoyed!