If only | Damon Salvatore

006. ALL HALLOWS EVE

Chapter six

"All hallows eve."

The next morning, the three generations of Black women sat around the kitchen table. None of them touched the breakfast spread. Instead, Beatrix and Cassandra sat in silence, cups of hot coffee cradled in their hands, staring intently at the oldest of the three.

"Remind me why we are all sitting here like this again?" Beatrix asked, breaking the silence.

"Because I'm going to tell you the real story about the Salvatore brothers," Winnifred answered smoothly. "Or at least, the truth of what actually happened back in 1864."

Cassandra furrowed her brows. "Yeah, but I thought you told us everything about them already."

"Not everything," Winnifred corrected, taking a slow sip of her coffee. "There are some things I wanted to keep to myself. But sooner or later, my past is going to catch up to this family—just like Stefan and Damon did. Here is what you don't know: because I was a bit older than the boys back then, I became their friend. Their confidante. I was the woman they came to when they needed to share their troubles."

"Like about Katherine Pierce?" Cassandra asked.

Winnifred nodded slowly. "They didn't always use to fight like this. They were once best friends. But Katherine got right in the middle of them. She made them estranged, turning them against each other without either of them even realizing it. Take the Founders' Ball, for instance—the exact same party we attended the other night, where the boys, myself, and everyone else signed that original registry Elena pointed out. Katherine played a game with them in front of the whole crowd. She asked them both to dance."

Beatrix furrowed her brows, leaning forward. "And she chose Damon?"

Winnifred shook her head. "No. She chose Stefan. Damon had to stand by and watch the two of them spin across the floor. And Stefan..." She paused, a shadow passing over her face. "This is exactly why he always scared me all those years ago. He always seemed to care so much about everyone, but when it came to this? He didn't care that he had taken something his brother desperately wanted. He didn't care if it hurt Damon. He only cared that he wanted her more—or at least, that's what he believed. Because Stefan was the gentleman who took her home that night. Or is the gentleman? I still struggle with the wording, seeing as the boy has been alive for so long."

Taking a deep breath, Winnifred continued. "But Damon decided to get even. He waited for Katherine afterward, trying to win her affections, but she rejected him. Though, that is another story for another time. The point of this one is that Katherine Pierce completely warped Stefan and Damon's minds. She used her compulsion on them, feeding them her vampire blood without their knowledge."

"Eventually, the boys started pulling away from me," she shared, her tone hardening. "They grew distant and cold. I'm certain Katherine was actively turning them against me because she realized I was the only one who could stop her insanity. And then there was Emily Bennett. I thought she was my friend. I was teaching her everything I knew, sharing the spells and talismans I created. But she was working with Katherine behind my back the entire time. Emily stole my magic—including that amber crystal necklace around your neck. It was mine first, before she took it from me."

"And that is why you're not a fan of the Bennetts," Cassandra realized, everything clicking into place.

Winnifred nodded slowly. "And that is why, when I say the only people we can trust are our own kind, I don't just mean other witches. I mean all supernatural beings. Werewolves, vampires... our kind was the catalyst for all of them. We are the ones who can actually help them thrive, if they want the help. Some don't. Damon might think he doesn't want it, but he does. Every powerful being needs a witch by their side. And he is incredibly lucky to have the three of us."