Chapter Text
I woke up to a warm body and the feeling of silk clothing in the palm of my hand. I looked up and saw Damon looking down on me. I quickly scrambled away and my eyes widened.
"Damon!" I yelled. "What're you doing here?!" I moved hair from my face.
"You were dreaming last night, so i came back in. You were obviously dreaming about me." He looks down to his shirt. "It explains the drool." He smirked at me.
I opened my mouth slightly and I huffed and hit him with my pillow. "That's so not funny!" He chuckled and got up.
"Well, you should thank me. I did let you sleep in my bed." I blinked in confusion. I looked around. "I thought this was one of the guests bedroom." I admitted.
I blushed and rolled my eyes. "I desperately need some coffee."
The next thing i know, is that i'm now downstairs in the kitchen sitting on the chair at the counter. "Wha–!" I yelled.
Damon goes over to the kitchen cabinets and takes out a container of coffee grounds. I watched him make the coffee and putting creamer in it and added a little design of a bat. He sets it down.
"Here." He gestures to the cup. I stared at him, bewildered. "How did you…?" I looked at the coffee then to him.
"I didn't poison it, you know." He defended. I took a small sip and it instantly tasted like heaven. "Mmm! This is so good! I thought it'd be terrible, but it's not." I continued to drink it.
"I was human once you know. I used to drink this during my human years." I watched him look saddened by the memory of him being human.
"Do you miss it?" I asked warmly. He looked at me shocked, but didn't dwell on it. "Nope. I like being the irresistible, immortal stud." He quickly denied.
He looks to be wanting to say something, but he hesitates. "What's wrong?" I ask.
He sighs. "Carmen, do you want the bad news, or the really bad news?"
I thought about it. "I guess the bad news." I waited for him to say.
"Last night, the police found Vicki's body." He said, carefully. I opened my mouth in shock. 'No, that can't be…'
"Her body was pulled by the storm, which Caroline found." He explained.
My hand covered my mouth, I shook my head. "But she was gone from Mystic Falls. How did she turn up here?"
He sighs and holds me, while I think of the possibility of how Vicki died. I wiped my tears and moved from him. "I need to talk to Caroline and Matt, they must be so devastated." He nodded and let me go. I turned around. "What about the other bad news?" He shook his head.
"It can wait. You need to be with your friends. I'll see you later." He said.
I thought about the opinion to stay and hear him out or to go see Matt and Caroline. I ultimately choose to go.
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I arrived at the Donavan house and knocked on the door. "If it's Caroline with more lasagna–oh, Carmen, nice to see you." Kelly smiled as she opened the door.
I smiled. "Hey Kelly, i was just looking to see how you and Matt are doing. I just heard what happened." I spoke nervously, careful of my words to her.
"Yeah, we've been doing fine, especially after her funeral." She answered, but i could feel a hint of a lie in her words.
I nodded. "That's good. I was just about to call Matt if he wasn't here. Know that it gets better with time." I put my hand on her shoulder, as she exhaled deeply.
"Thanks, Carmen. I'm grateful that Matt has a friend like you." She smiled.
We laughed and hugged, she closed the door, and i left to go to home. I walked in to see John in the house. "Uncle John?"
He turns to me. "Carmen! How are you?"
I looked over to Mom as she looks at me also confused. I see John hold out his arms and gestures for a hug together.
I sighed. "What're you you doing here?" He looks to me and Mom. "Why does everyone think that i have some ulterior motives? Can't i just visit my family?"
"Not when you haven't seen them in a long time." I commented. "If you're planning on staying, don't cause any trouble with Elena and Jeremy."
I walked upstairs to and cleaned myself off, flashes of the tomb vampires and the torture of me and Stefan, shows in my mind like a disgusting memory.
I held onto my chest, feeling it starting to rise and cloud my breathing. The water sounds like the memory of them dipping ropes in vervain to tie up Stefan.
And the haunting memory of being stabbed in the side abdomen, with blood pouring out of me. I touched my side, even though the wound was healed.
I couldn't tell if what was running down my face was water…or tears.
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Eating a bowl of oatmeal, i heard a knock on the door and walked over to it. I see Damon at the door. "Damon?"
"Elena called me. I'm easy like that." He smirked and walked inside. I looked over to Jeremy eating cereal and i pointed to my lips in a shushing manner.
I grabbed his hand and pulled him upstairs. "No, Carmen. I will not…go to your bedroom with you." He spoke deliberately loud for Jeremy.
I rolled my eyes with a small smile. Elena opened the door and sees me and Damon walking towards her.
She lets us in. He hops on the bed and messes with her teddy bear. "You know, did you know that your uncle's been kickin' it with the Founder's council?"
"I knew that he didn't just come to visit. Just another thing to worry about, counting the tomb vampires." I sighed.
"Yeah. How are you doing with that?" Elena takes my arm in her palm.
"I'm fine. It's nothing to dwell on." I spoke calmly, not wanting to lie to Elena. I sat on Elena's bed too at the bottom.
"What happened right there?" Damon asked, using the bear's hand to point.
It was Elena's stuff on the chair, which looked to be broken. I looked at Elena as she sighed. "It's nothing. Look, i–i'm worried about Stefan. He says that everything's okay, but he's clearly struggling. How long is it gonna take before he's back to normal?"
"A few days." He answered. "Give or take." Elena sighed. "But it's been a few days." Damon huffed. "Give then. I don't know. What's the big deal?" He gave me the teddy bear and stood up.
"He's not himself, Damon." Elena stated.
"Well, maybe his problem is that he spent too long not being himself." He messes with her wardrobe.
"Please don't make me sorry for asking you." She calmly asked. "It is what it is, Elena." He continues to fiddle. "The Stefan you know was good-behavior Stefan, reign-it-in Stefan, fight against his nature to an annoying obsessive level Stefan, but if you think there's not another part to this then you have not been paying attention. Tsk. Tsk. Tsk."
"I hate to say it. But Damon's right." He puts his hand on his chest, offended. "Look, i like Stefan, but do you remember that he said that he hasn't had human blood in a long time and that he sustains on animal blood. What you did must've made him lose control."
Elena opens and closes her mouth. I sighed. I turned to Damon. "Is Elena gonna be safe with him during this?"
He hesitates, but nodded. "If you want, i could keep an eye out on him. Don't want any of the council members to find out about Stefan or other Vampires."
I nodded. He walks out of the room. Elena looks at me and Damon walking away. "What was that, Carm?"
I looked to her. "Nothing. It's nothing." I go on her bed. "How do you feel now that John is back? It can't be nice."
"I don't trust him. More now that he's apart of the Founder's Council." Elena huffed. "Mom's not liking it on bit. She should've seen the stink eyes that she was giving him." Me and Elena laughed.
"I'm gonna tell Jeremy that i'm adopted." Elena suddenly cleared the air. I gasped.
"I thought you would've told him already." She gave me a look. "Yeah i know, vampires, and never really haven't the best moment to talk."
"I'm nervous about his reaction." She admitted. I held her hand in mine. "He'll understand. You have nothing to worry about. He's still your brother and i'm still your cousin, blood or not-blood."
She hugged me. "I love you Carm."
We chuckled. "I love you Elena."
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Tonight was the Founder's 150th Anniversary Party. With my white dress and blonde hair, i entered the party with my arm wrapped around Damon's.
Stefan still seemed on edge as he stares at the party in shook – specifically at the hundreds of guests at the mansion.
"Oh, god, i shouldn't be here." He exhaled deeply, hesitant to continue.
"Come on. Don't be a downer." Damon sighed. I jab him in the shoulder. "What he means is, to not be so nervous. You can get through this tonight." I smiled.
"It's a party for the founding families. That would be us. It would be rude to skip it." Damon states. Stefan adjusts his collar. "I-i really liked you a whole lot better when you hated everybody."
"Oh, i still do. Well, except for Carmen next to me." He turned his head to me and winked at me. My face instantly goes red and i looked away. "How you feeling?" He asked the nervous Stefan.
"I'm good. I'm fine." He said.
"No cravings? No urges? Is that whiskey you've been drinkin' all day doin' its job?" Damon asked, egging him on.
I looked at Stefan's reaction, which he laughed at it. "We are who we are, Stefan. Pretending doesn't change that."
"Ah, nothing would make you happier then to just see me give in, huh, Damon?" Stefan retorts. "Whatever. It's inevitable." Damon counters. He hums.
Stefan hits his shoulder. "I'm gonna go find Elena." He walks away from us.
"Don't embarrass me, young man." He yelled to him. I looked at Damon with a really? stare. "Damon. You know that you've just possibility just made a human-blood starved vampire with heightened emotions, riled up."
"What's the harm in that?" He doesn't see the problem with the situation.
"Ergo, Stefan could hurt someone while the Council is still on the move with Vampires. You and Stefan are Vampires!" I loudly whispered the last bit. "In conclusion, bad idea."
I unraveled my arm from him and quickly walked away to go find Elena.
I watched her talking with Stefan and walked over to them. Stefan then walks away to the music player guy.
I quickly went over to Elena. "You noticed anything off with Stefan?"
She sighed. "He's drunk. But he said that it takes the edge off." I nodded and stared at him. "Why?" She asked.
"Nothing. Just wondering." I said reassuring. Kelly walks to us. "Yeah, that's not gonna work. I already tried to bribe the guy with 20 bucks and a date. He said Carol Lockwood has complete control over the music choices."
"You'd be surprised what Stefan can accomplish when he puts his mind to it." Elena said, underlining the meaning.
'Compulsion…' I thought. The music was then changed into an upbeat song and Stefan walked aback over and took Elena's hand, dragging her to the floor.
"Have i entered an alternate universe where Stefan is fun?" Damon spoke from the side of me. "Maybe cause his brother never given him a reason to let loose of the whole brooding attitude."
"You can't still be mad at me." He said. I turned to him. "I'm not mad. I'm just disappointed that i trusted you to keep an eye on him, not make sure he "accidentally" goes on a murder spree."
"He's a Vampire, Carmen. We eat and kill humans, it's not something we can just change." He explained, with a slight frustration in his tone. I huffed.
"Fine. If that's what you think. Why am i not dead? Why haven't you killed me? You had the perfect opportunity when Logan was trying to get answers or when the tomb vampires captured me and Stefan, almost killing me in the process." I felt tears fall down my face.
He instantly looked guilty and went to wipe my face. I pushed him away. "Tell me why, and i'll forget we even had this conversation." I said truthfully.
He doesn't speak nor give any indication that he'll answer. I scoffed. "Maybe you were right, i can't change a person if they're incapable of being changeable."
I walked away from him, but he didn't chose to stop me. And maybe, just maybe, that broke my heart more.
I grabbed two champagne glasses from one of the waiters and chugged them down. I looked around the party, catching Mom with Alaric, smiling happily. 'At least she's having a good time.' I thought, happy that she's happy.
I see Matt and Tyler drinking from a bottle, clearly getting drunk.
I walked over to them and grabbed the bottle from them. "Hey Carm." Tyler said, throwing his arm around my shoulder. I pulled him off. "You're drunk Tyler. Only friends get to call me that. And by the looks of things, we are not friends." I sent him a glare.
"Whoa, chill Carm." Matt laughed and tried to grab the bottle back from me.
"It's perfectly normal to grieve, trust me. But don't hurt yourself or lash out on others to self-destruction." I stated, i held my hand in his. "Just know that i'm here for you when you need to talk."
"Ye-Yeah. I will." He said. I sighed and gave him back the bottle. "Don't go overboard." I walked away from him.
I caught Damon at the bar and walked over. "I'll have what he's havin'." I pointed to Damon. "Damon, he's not doing well. I assumed that after him and Elena's dance he'd be fine. But clearly he's not." I voiced my worrisome tone.
"Well, i'm too preoccupied with Elena's brother. Jeremy's been asking questions about Vicki Donavan's death." He sips his drink. I looked over to him.
"He doesn't think it's a overdose?" I asked. "Really? "Oh, but sheriff, someone buried her. Who would do that?". He retells the exact words Jeremy spoke.
"What if he thinks it was a vampire? I can't have him apart of this, Damon." I looked over to him. "I could easily compell him, make him forget about the possibility of vampires." Damon told.
"No, i don't want to mess with Jeremy's mind. It wouldn't feel right to take his choice away." I shook my head.
"Well, you better think of something, but don't think that i didn't warn you." He picks a rose from the flower pot and handed it to me as he walks away.
'Why can't i stay angry with you? You keep wheezing your way back in, just like that. Twilight Vampires are back on the table.' I laughed at the joke. Smelling the red rose, i smiled at the romantic gesture, even if it wasn't to be romantic.
I searched the mansion for Jeremy, seeing him setting on a couch, staring at the lit fireplace. "Jere, i heard about your conversation with Sheriff Forbes, and i was coming to ask you why you were looking into her death." I sat down.
"No one is trying to figure out what happened to her. They're all willing to believe that she OD'd." Jeremy explained. I frowned my eyes. "But…isn't that what she died of. That's what everyone believes, why don't you too?"
"Is that what you believe?" He asked, honestly. I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing but air came out. "I'm not sure if it's not what happened. We both know that she'd be fine away from Mystic Falls and then a month later, she turns up dead. Jeremy, if it's true that she was killed, then you can't be asking about her, you could get hurt."
"I know. It's probably just me not grieving her properly. I'll stop trying to get information on her death." Jeremy promised. I nodded. "It'll get easier."
I smiled and held out my hand. "Come on. This party is no fun without the Gilbert and Sommers duo!"
He laughed and took it, we both headed towards the party, when we hear a sudden commotion from the outside.
We walked to the entrance seeing a crowd of people surrounding it. I could hear Elena yelling at someone to stop.
Sounds of punches and yelling from the ones who were fighting. I managed to get a clear look at the situation and see Tyler choking Matt while he's bloody.
Alaric quickly gets Tyler off of Matt and holds him against the wall while me and Elena go over to Matt. "Oh, my God. Matt. What the hell happened?"
"Come on. Put your head up." She searches his face for any serious injuries. "Where is she?" He asks.
"Who?" I asked.
"My mom." He tells.
After the whole thing escalated, everyone was back to partying like nothing happened and Mayor Lockwood called everyone to look at him. "Thank you very much. Thank you all for joining us tonight. In just a few moments, we will officially begin the countdown to our upcoming Founder's Day celebration and it's a very special one this year. The 150th birthday of our town."
Everyone started clapping for him. "And…and i would like to welcome back one of our town's favorite sons to do the honors of ringing our official charter bell. John Gilbert, would you please join me up here?" I watched as Uncle John walked to the stage and shook his hand.
"One-hundred and fifty years of community, prosperity, family. We take care of each other, look after each other…protect each other." He looks over to Damon with a knowing glance. "It's good to be home." He finishes.
I walked over to Damon. "Why was Uncle John staring at you like that? What did you do?" I asked. He scoffs.
"Nothing. Only that he provoked me first, and we all know not to provoke a vampire. So when he said some stuff, i…may or may not have…killed him." He said, nonchalantly. My eyes widened.
"You…killed him?!" I whispered.
"Unfortunately, he came back to life. So, you're welcome. He must have that same ring that the history teacher has." He pondered, not even sparing me the details of what he just told me.
"Hold on. Alaric knows about the supernatural?" I questioned.
"Yeah. He helped me and Elena get you guys out of the clutches of the tomb vampires. Did i forget to tell you that?" He told me with a sarcastic tone.
I rolled my eyes. "Why would i expect anything less?" I hit my side with my hands in defeat. Alaric walks over to us.
"Look at his right hand." Damon leans towards him. "Whose?" Alaric asked.
"The town's favorite son. Look at his ring." He states to Alaric, who chooses to see for himself and his eyes catch it.
"Well, it looks like mine." He said.
"Yeah. And that would be a big coincidence if he didn't just come back from the dead five minutes ago. Where the hell did you get that ring?" Damon interrogated him. "Isobel, my wife."
Damon chuckled. "Who gave birth to Elena, under the medical car of the esteemed Dr. Grayson Gilbert, John's brother." He pointed out the identity.
"Wait. You think John knew Isobel?" Alaric asked, shocked. "I think John knows a lot of things." He states.
John soon walks towards the entrance to exit the mansion and both Alaric and Damon follows him and take Damon's hand in mine. "Please, don't kill him."
He smiled lightly and nodded walking away from me. I watched them go and i sighed. I leaned on the wall and feel a tap on my back. I turned to see Mom standing behind me. "Had a nice night?"
"Yeah, i just never want another Founders thing ever again." She joked.
"True that." I laughed. "Why don't we head home? You look tired." I put my arms around her and walked with her heading home, with Elena, eventually catching up with us. We came back and went upstairs to our rooms.
Elena stopped at Jeremy's door. "You okay?" He turns to her. "Fine."
"Are you sure?" She asked.
"I'm fine, Elena." Jeremy insisted.
She walked out and i looked at her confused. She just shrugged and headed towards hers. I peaked in his room and see him working on a paper. I worried about his emotional state, then i left the doorway and into my own.