I Know The End | D. Salvatore

John Gilbert

Aunt Jenna was putting a notebook in Elena's bag when I walked down the stairs. I stifled a yawn, feeling grateful once again that I was no longer in high school as I watched my younger sister get ready to leave.

Elena walked over to the front door and opened it, only to find an unfortunately familiar face standing on the other side of the door. I fought back the urge to pull a face at the sight of John.

"Elena."

"Uncle John. Hi." Elena said awkwardly

"Jenna. Althea." John said, looking over Elena's shoulder.

"John. You made it." Jenna said. I didn't know he was coming to town, and by the look on my sister's face, neither did Elena.

"I said I'd be in by noon." John said as he stepped past Elena and walked into the house.

"What you say and what you do are typically two very different things." Jenna said

"Uncle John. What's up?" Jeremy said as he finally walked down the stairs with his backpack

"Hey. I had some business in town. I thought a visit was in order." John said

"How long are you staying?" Elena asked

"I don't know yet." John said. I screamed internally, knowing that he could be here for months for all I know.

"Okay, well, I'm going to school. I'll see you later." Elena said. She walked out of the house, leaving an awkward atmosphere behind her.

I've never gotten along with John, and he's never liked me either. When my parents had adopted me, he seemed adamant that they made a mistake. It's like he knew something no one else did. Like he thought five year old me with the sad eyes and the stuffed bunny was a danger to humanity.

Aunt Jenna glanced awkwardly between us before she moved to the kitchen, trying to escape the awkward tension that filled the air now that Elena was gone.

I looked at the man for a moment before I turned on my heels and walked back up the stairs, forgetting why I had even come down in the first place. I closed my bedroom door behind me and collapsed onto my bed, letting out a heavy sigh as my hands rested on my stomach. If John is going to be hanging around the house, I might need to start spending more time at the Salvatores.

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I couldn't help but sigh as I walked up the path to the Lockwood mansion yet again. We were having yet another founders day party, this time to celebrate the 150 year anniversary of founders day. I put my hands into the pockets of my dress and walked into the building. There were a lot of people inside, all of their talking merged together into one incomprehensible sound.

The first people my eyes landed on however, were the Salvatore brothers. I was actually relieved to see them. I walked up behind them and placed my hands on both of their shoulders.

"Hello boys." I said with a smile

"Hello, Thea." Damon said with a smile. I took my hands off of their shoulders and moved to stand beside Damon.

"How you feeling?" Damon asked Stefan.

"I'm good. I'm fine." Stefan replied

"No cravings, no urges?" Damon asked, I looked between the two in confusion, not understanding what Damon was talking about. "Is that whiskey you've been drinking all day doing it's job?"

Stefan smiled sarcastically at his brother, looking like he wanted to rub away.

"We are who we are, Stefan. Pretending doesn't change that." Damon mused

"Nothing would make you happier than to see me give in, huh, Damon?" Stefan asked

"Whatever. It's inevitable." Damon said with a smirk.

"I'm gonna go find Elena." Stefan said

"Don't embarrass me, young man." Damon said jokingly as Stefan walked off.

"What have I missed?" I asked Damon in confusion

"Ah, you don't know? Well, Stefan was on the verge of death after we broke him out, and Elena gave him some of her blood. You see, any normal vampire could handle that, but Stefan, who doesn't drink human blood, is not doing so well. He is craving it and it's driving him crazy." Damon said in a low voice

"That's not good. Why didn't Elena tell me any of this?" I wondered out loud

"Don't know. Maybe she didn't want you to worry." Damon suggested with a shrug.

"Maybe..." I spoke the words with clear hesitation, before I shook myself out of my thoughts and turned to my next question. "Why doesn't Stefan drink human blood?"

"Let's say that when he does, he can't control himself, he takes things too far." Damon said

"How far?" I asked him, my heart twisting with nerves.

"You don't want to know." Damon replied as he began to walk through the crowds. He picked up a glass of champagne as he went.

"But I do, he is dating my sister, I want to know if she's in any danger." I said as I followed after him.

"Look, Stefan loves Elena, he would never do anything to hurt her. She isn't in danger. The other humans in Mystic Falls might want to keep an eye out." Damon said with his usual dramatic flare.

"That's not comforting." I said quietly as I followed him into the room where people were dancing. The music suddenly changed and Stefan began to dance with Matt's mother, Mrs Donovan.

"Have I entered an alternate universe where Stefan is fun?" Damon asked Elena as we came to stand beside her.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Elena asked

"Eventually. One way or another." Damon said. His words were not all that comforting, especially since I have no idea just how Stefan responds to human blood. And if Damon's reaction is anything to go by, it's bad.

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This party had been going on for what felt like forever, even though it had only been a few hours. I absentmindedly began to walk on eggshells around Stefan, Tyler kissed Matt's mom, and Matt beat up Tyler over it, which was understandable.

Damon and I stood together in the large crowd as everyone gathered to look at a very old bell. The only thing that was keeping me going was the knowledge that it would be over soon.

"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?" The mayor said. John walked up to the front of the room and shook hands with him.

"One hundred and fifty years of community, prosperity, family. We take care of each other. We look after each other. We protect each other. It's good to be home." John said.

Damon moved through the crowd towards Alaric and I followed after him, curious as to why he suddenly looked like he had seen a ghost.

"Look at his right hand." Damon said in a hushed tone

"Whose?" Ric asked

"The town's favorite son. Look at his ring." Damon said. I glanced at John's hand to see a ring that looks identical to Alarics. He pulled the rope on the bell and it rang loudly.

"Well, looks like mine." Alaric said

"Yeah, and that's be a big coincidence..." Damon lowered his voice even more, like he didn't want me to hear, but I moved closer. "If he didn't just come back from the dead five minutes ago."

"Excuse me?" I asked in shock, what was he talking about?

"I'll explain later." Damon said to me before he turned back to Ric. "Where the hell did you get that ring?"

"Isobel, my wife." Ric said

"Who gave birth to Elena...under the medical care of the esteemed Dr Grayson Gilbert...John's brother." Damon said

"You think John knew Isobel?" Ric asked

"I think John knows a lot of things." Damon said. I glanced between Damon and John, a curious and confused look on my face.