The Vampire Diaries(BxB)

2: Isobel's Flame

It's still nighttime, as we're looking at Isobel. "Hello, Ethan. It's nice to see you again." She says, as I walk towards her. "Again?" Jenna asks, looking at me, as I look at her, and she looks back to Isobel. "So you're the woman who's dating my husband. I need to speak to Ethan. May I come in?" She asks, and I look at Jenna. "N-N-No. Don't. Don't invite her in." I say, as she looks at me, and I turn back to Isobel. "I need to talk to you, Ethan." She says. "No." I say, and half slam/ half close the door with my right hand, and put it down, and look at Jenna, as she's crying. "You knew she was still alive?" She asks, and I look down and back to her, and she nods. "Ric? John? Did they know?" She asks. "I can explain everything, Jenna." I say. "No." She says, and turns around, running off, as I follow her, crying. "No. Jenna, please. Jenna, please. No, wait." I say, stopping at the top of the stairs, and she looks at me, and slams her door. "No, wait. Jenna, please wait." I say, as I run to it, trying to open it, but it's locked, and sigh. "Jenna, you have to talk to me. I. I need to explain what's going on." I say, and knock on the door with my right hand, and put my hand down. "Jenna, please." I say. It's the next morning, as I open the door with my right hand, and see Alaric. "Hey. Is she up yet?" He asks, and I shake my head, and he walks in, and I turn around, and close the door. "She won't come out of her room." I say. "What'd you tell her?" He asks, as I walk over to him. "Nothing. She won't talk to me." I say, and cross my arms. "We're gonna have to fix this, Ethan." He says, as I look at him. "Yeah." I say, and hear footsteps, and see Jenna walking down the stairs, holding a bag, as I uncross my arms. "Hi." I say. "Jenna." Alaric says. "I don't want you here, Ric. You need to go." She says, walking past us, and drops the bag, as we look at her, and she walks to the closet under the stairs . "Ok, listen. I can't begin to imagine what you must be feeling right now." He says, and she opens the door with her right hand, looking at him. "Rage and betrayal would pretty much cover it." She says, and grabs her jacket, and shuts the door, walking over to the bag, and puts her jacket on. "Where are you going?" I ask. "I'm going to stay on Campus. I have a Thesis to write, and I don't want to be in this house." She says, and picks up her bag, and looks at us, and heads to the door. "Jenna, please just stop. Let us explain to you exactly what is going on." He says, and she turns to me. "Ethan, I need you to go to the Lockwoods' today and accept the Historical Society's check for your Mom's Foundation." She says, and looks at Ric. "And you're not going to the Wedding." She says. "It's not until September." He says. "Exactly." She says, and turns to the door, and opens it with her right hand. "Ok, but, Jenna, please just." I say, and she turns to me. "I don't have it in me to hear any more lies from you." She says, crying, looking back and forth to Alaric and I, and she turns around, and walks out, slamming the door. "Jenna just." I say, stepping forward, and get interrupted by John, and we look at him, as he's walking towards us. "It's better that she's not here, what with everything that's going on. But maybe had you been a little more honest with her from the beginning, this." He says, as I'm frowning at him, and Alaric punches him on the left side of his face with his right hand, and John staggers back, as I gasp, and Alaric begins to walk off, as I look at him. "Sorry, Ethan." He says, and opens the door with his left hand, walks out, and closes it, and I look at John, and laugh. "You know this is your fault, right? Because I hugged you, trying to make peace, and you send Damon on a suicide mission." I say, seeing his left nostril bleeding. "I actually sent him on it before the hug. And, right." He says, and I look at the stairs, as I'm walking over to them, and up them. I'm sitting on my bed, and Stefan walks in, and shuts my door with his left hand, on the phone. "All right, listen. You have to find him. You have to calm him down. Compel him if you have to. Is he still on the Vervain?" He asks, and walks over to me, and sits next to me, and hangs up. "Ah, this is bad." I say, and he sighs. "Between Isobel and Jenna, and now Matt, this is disaster bad." I say, and sigh. "Yeah." He says, and rubs my right arm, and hear footsteps, and we see John walk to my door, as Stefan puts his hand down. "Ethan, can you come downstairs, please? I need to talk to you." He says, and Stefan holds my right hand, as I turn to my right, and give a small laugh, and back to John. "I have nothing to say to you." I say. "Please. It's important. You, too, Stefan." He says, and I look at Stefan, and he looks at me, and kisses my cheek. We walk down the stairs, and walk towards the kitchen, and I see Isobel standing there. "I asked John for a do over." She says, and I look at John. "You invited her in?" I ask. "She has information about Klaus. Please, just listen to her, ok?" He asks, and I look at Stefan, and he pats my right shoulder, and steps forward. "All right. What do you know?" Stefan asks, and we look at Isobel. John's sitting on the table with his right foot on a chair, and Isobel's sitting down, as I'm walking around with my arms crossed. "Since I was last here, I've been doing everything possible to find Klaus. We knew our best chance was to find him before he could find you." She says, and I walk over to Stefan, as I put my arms down. "Best chance at what?" He asks, as I look at him. "Keeping Ethan alive. Well, human." John says, as I look at him, and put my right hand up, and down, taking a step forward. "You don't get to talk, ok, not after everything you've done." I say, and look at Isobel, and sigh, and turn around, walking to the counter. "Were you able to find Klaus?" Stefan asks. "No. Nobody knows where he is." She says, and I look at her. "But there are these rumors that are flying around. That a Doppelganger exists." She says. "Which means any vampire that wants to get in favor with Klaus will be lining up to capture you." John says, as I have my arms crossed, and Stefan looks at me, and I look at him, and turn to John. "I'm not buying any of this." I say, and step forward, and look at Isobel. "The last time that you were here, you made it clear that you didn't give a shit about me. Now all of a sudden I'm supposed to believe that you want to help?" I ask. "Isobel's been helping all along." John says, as I look at him. "Klaus has been obsessed with finding Alex for centuries. All it would take was any one of those eighteen sixty four Tomb Vampires to spread the word around that Alex was still alive." He says, and I look at Stefan. "And it would bring him straight here to Mystic Falls, where you were bound to be discovered, so we killed them." John says, as I look at him, and put my hand out towards Stefan. "And almost killed Stefan and Damon in the process. Not to mention me." I say, and put my hand down, and look at Isobel, as she stands up. "I have a Safe House that I can take you to. The Deed is in your name. No Vampires can get in without your permission, not even me. Let me help you." She says. "You wanna help? The get the fuck out of my house. And neither you or John are invited to the Wedding." I say. I'm in the Salvatore Boarding House Library, sitting on the couch, as Stefan's in the chair in front of me, and Damon is sitting in the chair with his feet elevated on the couch, laying in another chair. "Do you really think that Isobel's telling the truth that word's gotten out about the Doppelganger?" I ask Stefan "Look, I don't trust a word that she says, but I think we'd be stupid to ignore the warning." He says. "You know, you should just stay here." Damon says, as I look at him. "It's better for us to keep an eye on you." He says. "What, in the house that any vampire can enter? No. His house is safer." Stefan says, as I look at him. "Well, then we'll stay there." Damon says, as I look at him, and back to Stefan. "So is that the plan? Neither of you will let me out of your sight again?" I ask. "Let me know when you come up with a better one." Damon says, as I look at him, and he smiles, and I sigh, and look down, and up to Stefan. "Fine. Then one of you two bodyguards is gonna have to come with me to the Lockwood Luncheon." I say, and look at Damon. "That'd be me." Stefan says, as I look at him, and he smiles. "Not me. I have warlock stuff to attend to with Mark." Damon says, as I look at him. "Does that mean that you're taking him to the." I say, and he puts his right index finger up, shushing me. "Don't get quiet on my account." Alex says, as I look at him. "If you have a plan to combat the impending vampire doom, please do tell." He says, approaching us, and I turn around, putting my legs up. "Seriously, what is the plan to get us out of this mess, hm? I delivered you a Moonstone, a Werewolf, and the dagger to lure and kill Klaus, and right now all you have is a moonstone. Or so you tell me." He says. "No, we have it." Damon says, as I look at him. "Where is it?" Alex asks. "It's in a very safe place." Damon says, smiling. "I've been honest with you. Time to return the favor." Alex says. "Let me be honest with you. Don't mistake the fact that we haven't set you on fire in your sleep for trust." He says, smiling more, and I look at Alex, smiling, as he has his arms crossed. "Fine. Be that way." He says, and walks off. I'm at the Lockwood Manor, wearing a gray formal long sleeve and jeans, walking with Stefan, and we Tony walking over to us. "Hey. Any luck finding Matt?" Stefan asks. "None. What if he tells somebody? What if he tells everybody?" Tony asks. "No, we just gotta find him and make sure that doesn't happen." Stefan says, and they both look at me. "Do you have any idea where he would be?" Stefan asks, and I shake my head, and look at Tony. " I wish I did, but he wasn't really one to run." I say. "You know, this wasn't how it was supposed to happen. You know, I was supposed to tell him at the right moment in the right way, and he was supposed to be okay with it because he loves me." He says. "We'll help you find him. I just have to accept this thing for Jenna." I say, and he sighs. "All right. Well, call me when you're done, and I'll be out looking for him." He says, and walks off, and I nod, and hear the door open and close, and Stefan puts his left arm over my shoulders, and sighs. "Maybe he'll come around. You did." He says, and I look at him, and he smiles, and so do I, and he gives a small laugh, and I kiss his left cheek. I'm waiting with Stefan, as Carol's giving the speech. "And here to accept the donation to the Miranda Sommers Gilbert scholarship fund is Ethan Gilbert." She says, and I smile, and see Stefan clapping, and walk over to her, and face them, and take the envelope in my right hand. "The Historical Society was my mom's baby. She considered all of you family and would be honored and touched by this gift." I say, and hear a clatter and a thud, and look to my right, and see everyone getting up, and walking out of the room, and I follow them, and see Alex in the same outfit. "Nice shirt." He says, and puts his left head on the back of my head, and his right over my mouth as I'm about to scream. "Mind if I borrow it?" He asks, and we dash off. I slowly begin to wake up, and feel I'm in a moving vehicle. "I'm sorry, Alex. I had to do what I was told. He wanted the Moonstone, and he wanted you." Isobel says, as I look at her, and she hangs up. We soon arrive to Grove Hill Cemetery, and I see Frank open the left hand door for us, and Isobel gets out. "Just because you can't be compelled doesn't mean I can't force you to come with me." She says, and I get out, and look at Frank, and look at her, and walk over to her. "So is that what happened? You were compelled to betray Alex?" I ask, and we start walking. "If I was, I couldn't tell you." She says, and I hear the car drive off. "So you lied. You did find Klaus, didn't you? He knows where I am now. Are you taking me to him?" I ask, and she doesn't answer, and crouches next to a tombstone. "What is this?" I ask, and she clears some leaves with her right hand, and stands up. "In Loving Memory Isobel Flemming. Jan eighteen, nineteen seventy eight to May fourth, two thousand and seven." I read the tombstone to myself. "My parents, your grandparents." She says, turning to me, smiling, as I look at her, and she looks back at the tombstone. "they put it here when it became clear that the police weren't gonna find my body." She says, looking at me. "They visit every week, and they bring flowers." She says, and looks back at it. "Even though there's no one buried here." She says, shaking her head. "The Isobel they knew is dead." She says, and looks up at me. "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 chose to become a vampire, the part that used to dream about the day that she'd know her son." She says, looking at the tombstone, and back to me, and I look at it, and back to her. "What?" I ask, and she shrugs her shoulders. "Instead you got to meet the other part.. the part that would betray her own flesh and blood." She says, and her phone rings, and she pulls it out of her right pocket, and looks at it, and answers it, and I step away from her. "Yes. Let him go?" She asks, and I look at her. "I'm done?" She asks, smiling, sighs, and hangs up, as I look at her phone. "Who was that?" I ask, and look up at her. "I'm so sorry, Ethan.." She says, shaking her head, as a few tears drop from my eyes. "That I was such a disappointment to you." She says, and steps forward, and I hug her, putting my arms around her back, and hers around my neck, and we release, and I step back, and she takes her sapphire necklace off, and I gasp, as she screams, and bursts into flames, and falls to the ground. I'm at Stefan's house, sitting in a chair in the Living Room, holding Isobel's necklace in my right hand, looking at it, and hear footsteps. "Is that Isobel's?" Stefan asks, as I look at him, as he's in front of me, and I nod, and look down. "I never thought I would feel bad about her being dead, and yet.." I say, looking at him, as he's sitting on top of the couch. "She was your Mother." He says, and I nod. "I hugged her. There was a part of me that wanted to." I say, and look back at the necklace, and back to him. "Why did they let me go?" I ask, and he shakes his head, and stands up, puttimg his hand on his hips. "Well, anything John told Isobel, we have to assume that Klaus knows, right?" He asks, approaching me, and I nod. "So he knows that you're not gonna turn yourself into a Vampire, which you will. He knows that you have us keeping you safe." He says. "He knows I'm not gonna run." I say, and hear footsteps, and look at Damon. "Which is why we need to take some precautions, because we got played, all of us." He says, and I notice he's carrying papers, approaching me, and sets them in my lap, and pats it with his right hand. "What's this?" I ask, as Damon steps back. "It's the Deed to our house." Stefan says, as I look at him, and notice he's has his arms crossed. "It's in Zach's name. As soon as you sign it, it'll be in your name." He says, uncrossing his arms, and I look at Damon, who's sitting on top of the couch. "You're giving me your house?" I ask, and look at Stefan. "Isobel had the right idea with the safe house. You'll just stay here till it's all over. That way, you can control who gets invited and who doesn't." He says. "Although I'll be super pissed if you lock me out." Damon says, as I look at him, and sigh, and he smiles, and I hear gasping, and stand up, looking at John sitting up, and Damon dashes to him, lifting him up by the collar. "I swear I had no idea what she was gonna do. I'm sorry." John says, and looks at me. "I'm so, so sorry." He says. "Damon, let him go." I say, and Damon looks at me. "He and I need to talk." I say. I'm on the couch, John sitting in front of me. "I always knew that she and Alex were close, but I never realized that Isobel and him were working against me. Two of the world's most uncaring and selfish vampires, and yet they were genuinely friends." He says, as I have my arms crossed. "If that's what you thought of her, why did you ever put your trust in her at all?" I ask. "Because I was there when she gave birth to you, Ethan. I saw how heartbroken she was to give you up. And because she was the first girl I ever loved, and when she said she'd help keep you safe.. I believed her. At this point, I will do whatever you want me to do. If you feel safer with me not around, then I'll go." He says, and I shake my head, and look down, and back up to him, and stand up, and he looks sad, and stands up. "You screw up everything, John. Everything you touch just falls apart. But you're the only parent I have left.. so maybe I can learn not to hate you. I kind of have." I say, giving a small smile, and he smiles. "Ok." He says. "Hey, Stefan. Damon!" I exclaim, and they dash in. "What is it?" Damon asks. "You know how Alex took the Moonstone?" I ask, standing up, and walk over to them. "What are you talking about?" Stefan asks, and I pull out the Moonstone from my right pocket. "I knew Alex would take it. So, I switched them." I say, smiling, and we all laugh. "Ten points for Smartass." Damon says, walking over to me, and offers his right hand. "Give it." He says. "Um. No, sorry. Stefan?" I ask, and he walks over to me. "Klaus will come for all us when he realizes it's a fake." He says. "If he finds out." I say, smirking. "So, where are you going to keep it?" Damon asks. "I'm simply going to wear it. The bolder the move, less questions. Under my shirt, of course." I say.