Unstoppable | The Vampire Diaries

20. The Kids Aren't Alright

They told him everything.

"How could you keep this from me?!"

"I didn't think you could handle it, OK?! This is a world that you're not ready for Chris!"

"Oh, I'm not ready? But it's totally fine for our 17 year old daughter to be this involved?! She's friends with vampires, Ciara!"

"I've told her to stay away from the Salvatores. What the hell else could I do? Ground her? Keep her at home indefinitely? Lock her in her room?!"

"You should have talked to me! When it's something that concerns Riley, you had no right to enter into any conversations with her without talking to me first."

"I didn't ask her to befriend vampires. And you know what Chris? I didn't ask her to drop this information on you because she was having a tantrum. John Gilbert was making this town safer!"

"Don't put this on her. However you feel about these people, our daughter did the right thing, she protected her friends. We should be proud of her."

"Proud?! Are you kidding me?! Because of her and her friends, vampires are free to roam around Mystic Falls."

"She loves these people. Do you know how traumatic it would have been for her if they had died? Do you know if she could handle that?!"

"Our job is to keep her safe."

"Safe, and happy, and educated. Our job is to make sure that she grows up to become someone that she's proud of, around people that she loves. Don't you understand that?"

"Our job is to keep her alive!"

Riley tried to tune out the argument, but the walls of the house were thin, and she could hear every word.

She felt guilty for keeping this from her dad, but she also felt angry. Angry that her mom had kept this a secret for so long, and then forced her to do the same. Angry that she'd come to this town and made friends with people that she couldn't imagine losing. Angry that John Gilbert had almost killed her friends. But most of all, she was angry that this immense amount of supernatural pressure was put onto the shoulders of a group of 17 year old kids who should have been studying and having fun.

"This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you!" Ciara shouted at her husband.

"Why? Because you knew that I wouldn't agree with you?"

"Because I knew that you wouldn't help us if Riley asked you not to. She's got you wrapped around her little finger and it's gonna get us all killed."

"Our daughter is a good judge of character. I'm choosing to believe that she knows who her friends are. I'd never let her put herself in danger."

"Vampires will never be her friends."

Riley heard her phone ringing, and walked from her bedroom to the living room to answer it. The shouts coming from her parent's room were even louder out there.

"Hey Bonnie," she answered softly.

From the other end of the phone, she heard sniffing. It sounded like Bonnie was crying.

"It's all our fault. We can't let her die because of what I did."

"Slow down," Riley said. "Who are you talking about?"

"Caroline," Bonnie replied. Riley's heart sunk. "Tyler Lockwood was affected by the device, and Caroline and Matt were in the car with him when he crashed."

"Is she gonna be OK?" Riley asked quickly.

"No," Bonnie said. "Not without Damon."

"What does Damon have to do with anything?"