07. Haunted

Aria opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling for a moment, yesterday's events going around in her head, Damon kidnapping her, him explaining their connection, telling her about Natalie, then Damon killing Vicki, and Vicki completing her transition into a vampire.

Aria sighed and got out of bed, as much she wanted to, Aria knew she couldn't stay in bed all day, something tells her, today is going to be one hectic day.

Aria opened the bathroom door, only to see both Jeremy and Elena already in the bathroom brushing their teeth, Elena gave her best friend a small smile, things between the two girls were still very much tense with Aria taking Damon's side and Elena thinking Damon's dangerous.

"Join the party" Jeremy said, smiling at Aria.

Aria smiled and stood between the two Gilbert siblings and started doing her morning routine.

"You're up early, where are you going?" a curious Aria asked Jeremy, while grabbing her bottle of cleanser.

"Police station, they're organising a search party for Vicki" Jeremy replied.

Elena and Aria immediately exchanged a look between them, the two girls knew exactly where Vicki was.

"Wait, shouldn't you be going to school?" Elena asked, wanting to keep Jeremy as far away from Vicki as possible, not wanting Vicki to hurt her brother.

"You're kidding me right?" an annoyed Jeremy asked.

"You shouldn't skip school" Elena defended, "If they find her, we'll know, that's what cell phones are for".

"Yeah your lips keep moving, I don't know why" Jeremy said, before walking out the bathroom.

"He loves her Elena,  he's not going to stop until he finds her" Aria said, also walking out.

Elena sighed and leaned against the sink, wondering when did she start hiding things from her brother, and since when have things between her and Aria been so tense.

***

After Jeremy had left for the police station, Elena decided to go to the Salvatore Boarding House, Aria decided to join her, the atmosphere in the car was so intense that it was suffocating Aria, both girls were to proud to apologise to each other so they stayed quiet, when they finally reached the boarding house, Aria quickly jumped out of the car and rang the doorbell, so glad she didn't have to be in the same car as Elena anymore.

After a moment, Damon finally opened the door with a smirk on his face, Aria smiled seeing Damon, but before Aria could say anything, Elena spoke, "Is Stefan here?".

"Yep" Damon replied.

"Where is he?" Elena asked.

"And good morning to you, little miss I'm on a mission" Damon said, before turning to Aria, "And good morning little witchy".

Aria gave Damon a smile, "Morning vampy", Damon rolled his eyes playfully.

"How can you be so arrogant and glib after everything that you've done?" Elena asked, completely ignoring Aria and Damon's interaction.

"And how can you be so brave and stupid to call a vampire arrogant and glib?" Damon asked, Aria shook her head at the two, she refused to get inbetween this, things between her and Elena were bad enough and if she took Damon's side then god knows what was to happen.

"If you wanted me dead, I'd be dead" Elena pointed out.

"Yes, you would" Damon confirmed.

"But I'm not" Elena stated.

"Yet" Damon said, making Elena's confidence face fall.

"Where is Stefan?" Elena asked, deciding it was safe to change the subject.

"He's upstairs" Damon replied, "Singing 'The Rain in Spain', knock yourself out".

Damon let Elena and Aria in, and after giving Aria a wink, he left to do god knows what.

"Stefan?" Elena called out, walking up to the bottom of the stairs with Aria, the creaking of the floorboards gaining both the girls attention.

"This house can be really creepy when it wants to" Aria mumbled.

"Stefan?" Elena called out, looking in the direction of the creaking floorboards.

"Yes?" Stefan asked, coming up on the stairs.

"Where is Vicki?" Elena asked, getting straight to the point.

"She's upstairs" Stefan informed, walking downstairs to Elena and Aria.

"What happens now?" a concerned Elena asked, "Because my brother is searching for her with the rest of the town, what do I tell him?".

"I'm working with her" Stefan assured, "But it's gonna take time, she's a very volatile and impulsive personality, she's a drug user, that's gonna play a part in how she responds to this".

"So basically she is a vampire with issues" Aria concluded.

"What am I supposed to do? Because I am lying to everyone that I care about" Elena said.

"Sometimes lying to the people you care about shows how much you really care about them" Aria said.

"What's gonna happen to her?" Elena asked Stefan, completely ignoring Aria, she didn't want to have this conversation with Aria right now, not infront of Stefan.

"I'm gonna keep her here with me until I know that she's safe" Stefan replied, frowning seeing the obvious tension between the two best friends.

"How long is that?" Vicki asked, coming to the top of the stairs.

Stefan sighed, "We can talk about that later".

"Hey Vicki" Aria said, giving Vicki a smile which she gladly returned, spending the day with each other yesterday helped Aria and Vicki become a little closer than they were before, however Vicki's smile disappeared when she saw Elena standing next to Aria.

"Vicki, how are you?" Elena asked.

"How am I? You're kidding right?" Vicki snapped, making Elena look down in embarrassment while Aria and Stefan just shook their heads.

***

"Coffee is our friend, it's the caffeine" Stefan explained to Vicki, while sitting on the table with her, Elena and Aria, "It circulates through our vein and warms our bodies so we're not so cold to the touch".

"Well what if I wanna drink human blood?" Vicki asked.

"You have to learn to live with that urge" Stefan replied, "Fight it on a daily basis, one day at a time".

"Oh god, don't start with that whole 12 steps thing" Vicki complained, "School counselor has been down that road, it doesn't work for me".

"Those 12 steps are useless, I don't think they work for anyone" Aria said, knowing fully well what Vicki was talking about as the school counselor had tried to get Aria to follow those steps when the Gilbert parents died, they didn't work, instead they made Aria feel worse, which is why she refused to go to therapy ever again.

"I know right" Vicki said, agreeing with Aria, while Elena looked between Aria and Vicki with a frown on her face, while Stefan just smiled at Aria, knowing she was trying to lighten Vicki's mood.

"It can work though, it's your choice Vicki" Stefan continued.

"So you've never tasted human blood?" Vicki asked Stefan, making Elena and Aria look at Stefan curiously.

"Not in a long time" Stefan replied.

"How long?" Vicki asked.

"Years and years" Stefan replied, "I'm not proud of my past behavior".

Vicki groaned in annoyance, "Does this sketchy feeling ever go away? It's like I have a massive hangover, this daylight thing is a bitch, ugh I need more blood, where's your bathroom? I have to pee" Vicki said, suddenly standing up, "Why do I have to pee? I thought I was dead".

Stefan pointed to the bathroom and Vicki left, while Aria just looked at her retreating figure in amusement.

"She's definitely something" Aria commented, trying to stop herself from laughing.

Stefan shook his head at Aria's amusement while Elena kept frowning, "I'm gonna uh, I'm gonna get her some more, right, I'll be quick".

As soon as Stefan left, Vicki returned, "False alarm, my body's feeling really funky, it's a good funk, but it's weird".

"Who are you calling?" Elena asked, seeing Vicki grab her phone.

"Jeremy" Vicki replied, making both Aria and Elena frown.

"Vicki you can't see Jeremy anymore" Elena said, Aria sighed she knew this wasn't going to end well.

"Oh, come on" Vicki said, "Don't you even start, I'm gonna see whoever I wanna see".

"Even though you could hurt him?" Elena asked.

"I would never hurt Jeremy" Vicki snapped.

"I know you think that" Elena said, "But I can't take that risk".

"Elena, stop talking" Aria warned, she could tell Vicki was losing it, and she didn't want Elena to end up hurt.

"No Aria, she's gonna have to let Jeremy go" Elena stated.

"Oh really?" Vicki asked, slamming her phone down on to the table, "And how long have you been preparing the you're not good enough speech? I assume it predates the vampire thing".

"Vicki, Elena doesn't mean any harm, look you're right, we can't stop you from doing anything, but don't you think you should wait until you're fully in control before you meet up with Jeremy, just to ensure you will not accidentally lose control and hurt him" Aria explained, her words getting through to Vicki as she calmed down a little.

"No Aria, Vicki can't see Jeremy at all" Elena said, her words making Vicki angry again, "Jeremy is not getting involved in any of this", Vicki scoffed in response, "I mean it Vicki".

"Elena for the love god, shut your mouth" Aria snapped, getting angry at her best friend.

"Or what?" Vicki asked Elena, suddenly grabbing Elena by her neck and slamming her to the wall, making Aria's eyes go wide in shock, "Let's get one thing straight, you perky little bitch, you had my brother whipped for fifteen years, fifteen years, and then you dumped him, when I look at you, that is all I see, just so you know, and I'm gonna see Jeremy whenever I wanna see Jeremy, because I have some fun new toys to play with and I won't think twice about ripping your little head off, you got it?".

"She got it Vicki, let her go" Aria demanded.

Vicki looked at Aria then back at Elena, she then let Elena go, Aria quickly ran to Elena and steadied her, "You're lucky I like Aria, otherwise I would have ripped your head off".

***

"She threatened me" Elena said, standing outside with Stefan and Aria while rubbing her sore neck.

"She's on edge" Stefan said, "Imagine every sense in your body operating at super speed, I mean she's uncomfortable in her own skin, and then when you throw in her other issues--".

"How long before it settles?" Elena interrupted, "Hours? Days? Weeks?".

"There's no rulebook".

"Plus you brought this on yourself Elena" Aria snapped, angry with her best friend.

"This my fault now?" a shocked Elena asked.

"Of course it is, you have no idea what Vicki is going through and instead of being sympathetic to her, you go off at her, and if that wasn't enough, when I had managed to get her to calm down a little, you just had to go and open your mouth again, since when are you so insensitive Elena?!" Aria asked.

"Insensitive?" a angry Elena asked, "All I asked was for her to stay away from Jeremy, how does that make me insensitive?".

"Elena, the way you said it was rude, and even when I told you to shut up you didn't and now you're here complaining to Stefan about Vicki when really it was your fault in the first place for being so harsh on her instead of explaining it gently" Aria said.

"Guys enough" Stefan said, hating the way the two best friends were fighting, "Arguing isn't going to help anyone".

Aria took a deep breath and calmed herself down, before turning to the youngest Salvatore, "Stefan can I ask, how long did it take you to gain control?".

"A while, but I didn't have anybody helping me, I had to do it on my own" Stefan explained, "The thing is, it's hard to resist certain people, especially when you're new, it's difficult to separate your feelings, love, lust, anger, desire, it can all blur into one urge, hunger".

"What does that mean?" a confused Elena asked.

"It means Vicki can't see Jeremy" Aria realised.

"Yeah, she might not be able to resist him" Stefan said, "And she could hurt him".

"Or worse" Elena said.

"Jeremy isn't going to die Elena" Aria snapped.

"I'm not gonna let anybody get hurt" Stefan assured the two worried girls.

"I need to get going" Elena said.

"Elena" Stefan said, in an attempt to stop her.

"Please Stefan, there's only so much I can take" Elena said, she then turned to Aria, "You coming?".

"I think I'm going to make my own way" Aria said, knowing her and Elena being in the car alone right now could result in a huge disaster, Elena simply nodded and left.

After Elena left, Stefan turned to Aria, "Aria, what is going on between you and Elena?".

Aria sighed, "I don't know Stefan, me and Elena we have always been different, we have different beliefs, different opinions, different style, but that never caused us to fight, instead it helped us become friends, but ever since we have found out about this supernatural world, our different beliefs and opinions keep clashing, causing this weird tension between us, plus this whole being a witch thing is also taking a toll on me, I haven't told Elena what I did to Logan, I don't know how she will react".

"Hey, hey, hey Aria, look at me" Stefan said, wiping Aria's tears she didn't even realise had spilled, "You and Elena are best friends, you guys will figure this out, I know you will, and Elena will never think differently of you just because your a witch".

"She thought differently of you" Aria pointed out.

"She recently met me, you, she has known her whole life, she loves you, she will never think differently of you, but still if you think there's somethings you can't tell Elena, then come and tell me, you said that you consider me as one of your good friends right, so come and vent to me whenever you want, because keeping it in won't help you, instead it will end up killing you" Stefan said.

Aria nodded and hugged Stefan, "Thank you".

Stefan smiled and hugged Aria back, "Always here".

***

"You gotta call me Vick, I don't get it, what's going on with you? Just call me please" Aria heard Jeremy say into the phone just as she arrived home.

"Hey guys" Aria greeted, walking into the kitchen where the two Gilbert siblings were.

"Hey" Jeremy greeted, while Elena just gave Aria a small nod.

"So Jer, do you wanna hang out tonight?" Elena asked, hoping to distract Jeremy from Vicki, "We could go to the Halloween thing at school, could be fun".

"Cool, sure, sounds fun, can't wait" Jeremy said dryly.

"Wait that thing's today, dammit I really hope Caroline has dropped off my costume" Aria said, running up to her room while nearly tripping on her own feet, making both the siblings look at her in amusement.

Once Aria had gone, Elena turned to Jeremy, "I know you're upset about Vicki, I heard she called Matt, but you can't be with her, she needs to get better, the best thing you can do for her is let her go".

"What does that even mean, let her go?" an annoyed Jeremy asked, "Oh, okay, sure, since we're such experts on letting people go, right?".

"I know you may not see it but trust me Jer, it's for the best" Elena defended.

"For months after mom and dad died, I felt like crap, like nothing really mattered crap, now all of a sudden, I get these moments and things started to feel a bit better, and Vicki was in every single one of them, so you may not see it, but trust me keeping me away from her is not for the best" Jeremy snapped, before walking out the kitchen and leaving an upset Elena behind.

***

Aria's Look for Halloween

Elena, Aria and Jeremy arrived at the Halloween party, with Elena dressed as a nurse, Aria dressed as a angel, and Jeremy simply wearing a black hoodie.

"Aah!" Jeremy yelled, scaring the kids that were passing by, making both Elena and Aria laugh.

The trio entered the school and immediately Matt walked up to them when he saw Elena's costume, "You went with last year's costume too".

"Yeah I didn't know I was coming till an hour ago" Elena replied.

"Me neither" Matt said, after taking a moment to stare at Elena, Matt turned to Aria, "Well don't you look angelic, let me guess Caroline hooked up this year as well?".

Aria laughed, "Caroline hooks me up every year".

Matt chuckled then turned to Jeremy, "And you're going as, you?".

Jeremy didn't say anything, just walked away from the trio making Elena let out a sigh, "He's not talking to me right now, we got into a fight".

Aria frowned, she didn't know Jeremy and Elena were also fighting.

"Yeah I got into it with Vick too when she got home" Matt said, shocking both the girls, neither of them knowing that Vicki had come home, "I'm trying not to smother her, but part of me didn't wanna let her out of my sight".

"Vicki's here, right now?" a worried Aria asked.

"Yeah, you can't miss her" Matt replied, "She's a vampire".

Aria resisted the urge to roll her eyes at Vicki's choice of costume.

"Where did Jeremy go?" a worried Elena asked.

"Elena, what's the matter?" Matt asked, confused seeing Elena look so worried.

"We gotta find him" Elena said ,ignoring Matt and grabbing Aria's hand and dragging her along to find Jeremy.

***

Elena and Aria let out a sigh of relief when they saw Stefan with Vicki.

"Thank god" Elena breathed out.

"What's the matter?" a worried Stefan asked, thinking something had gone wrong seeing the panicked looks on both Aria and Elena's faces.

"We lost of track of Jeremy, I was worried" Elena clarified.

"What's going on?" Matt asked, walking over to the group and confused seeing Stefan holding Vicki's arm.

"Hey, everything's fine" Stefan assured.

"I told you to quit bothering me" Vicki snapped at Stefan, ripping her arm from his hold.

"Vicki don't" Aria warned, realising what she was planning.

"Don't do this" Elena said to Vicki.

"Matt, he won't leave me alone" Vicki complained.

"You need to back off" a angry Matt told Stefan.

"Matt, you're getting this all wrong" Aria defended.

"No I'm not, what the hell is your problem?" Matt snapped at Stefan.

"Stefan, she's gone" Elena said, realising Vicki was no longer with them.

Elena and Aria both ran to find Vicki, while Matt tried to stop Stefan, but Stefan slammed him to the wall, "I'm trying to help her" Stefan snapped, then walked away to look for the three girls.

***

"No! Aah!", Elena and Aria ran outside when they heard Jeremy's yell.

Aria ran to where she heard Jeremy's yell, "Vicki no!" Aria yelled, seeing Vicki about to bite Jeremy.

Vicki eyed Aria, she pushed Jeremy to the ground and started charging towards Aria, Aria took a deep breath and steadied herself, seeing Vicki coming towards her, Aria pushed her hands infront of her and Vicki was sent flying back, Aria looked at Elena who was looking at her in shock, this is not how she wanted Elena to find out about her powers, however as Aria was too busy looking at Elena, she failed to see Vicki stand back up and charge towards her, when she realised it was to late, as Vicki had grabbed her and threw her on the ground.

Aria struggled to get up from the ground, just as Vicki was about to charge towards Aria again, Stefan came and slammed her against the school bus.

"Vicki!" an extremely worried Jeremy yelled, while Elena helped Aria stand up.

Vicki pushed Stefan away from her and vamp speeded away, Aria, Elena and Stefan looked at each other in confusion.

"Go, get inside" Stefan ordered, "Go!".

Elena grabbed Jeremy and Aria's arms and ran towards the door, while Stefan looked under the buses.

Opening the door, the three started to go inside, when suddenly Vicki came up to them, she threw both Jeremy and Elena to the floor and grabbed Aria and bit into her neck making her let out a loud scream, Vicki stopped feeding on Aria when Stefan came rushed behind her and staked her through the chest with a wooden stake.

"Vicki!" a heartbroken Jeremy cried out, running to Vicki, but Stefan grabbed him, preventing him from going over to her, "Vicki!" Jeremy sobbed, "Vicki!".

Elena steadied Aria, then turned to Stefan who was still holding Jeremy, "Get him out of here".

Stefan nodded and started to take Jeremy away, while calling someone on his phone. 

Aria slowly sat down on the floor next to Vicki's dead body and started sobbing, "Oh god Vicki, I'm so sorry, I'm so so sorry".

Elena hugged Aria and both the friends proceeded to sob into the hug.

***

"You both should go, I got this" Damon said, walking up to the sobbing best friends.

Elena stood up angrily, "You did this, this is your fault".

"You confuse me for someone with remorse" Damon said.

Elena attempted to push Damon, but he didn't even move a inch, Aria sighed and got up from the floor, knowing this wasn't going to end pretty.

Elena went to slap Damon, but Damon grabbed her hand, "Damon don't hurt" a concerned Aria said, scared that Damon will lose control and hurt Elena.

Damon looked at Aria, then back at Elena, "None of this matters to me, none of it" he said, before finally letting go of Elena's hand.

"People die around you, Aria got hurt because of you, how could it not matter?!" a furious Elena asked, Damon's eyes darted to Aria's injury and a frown came on his face, "It matters, and you know it" Elena slapped Damon across his face.

"Elena!" Aria yelled, "Me getting hurt wasn't his fault".

"You're still defending him?" a shocked Elena asked.

"I'm not defending him Elena, I know he was in the wrong for turning Vicki, all I'm saying is that you can't blame Vicki hurting me on him" Aria immediately defended.

"Aria, he turned Vicki" Elena said, still not digesting the fact that Aria still didn't see how bad Damon was.

"I know that!" Aria yelled, "I know he turned her,  but never told her to hurt me Elena, you want to blame Damon for Vicki, then go ahead, but don't blame him for me getting hurt".

"You need to leave" Damon told both Aria and Elena, cutting their argument short, "Aria your wounds are bleeding, go take care of it".

Aria nodded, and without glancing at Elena walked away, officially done with this night.

***

Aria and Elena were now in the school parking lot, making their way to their car, both hadn't said anything to each other, the hug between them didn't solve any of their tension.

"Elena, Aria, hey have you seen--" Matt started, but stopped seeing blood on Aria's neck, "Aria what happened?".

"Nothing, some stupid kid threw fake blood on me" Aria lied, "I'm gonna go home and shower".

"I can't find Vicki" Matt said, stopping Aria and Elena from leaving, "She totally bailed on me".

Aria looked down at her shoes, she refused to look Matt in the eye and lie about his sister's whereabouts.

"We don't know where she is" Elena told Matt.

"Is this what I'm in for? A lifetime of worrying about her?" Matt asked.

Aria looked at Matt with teary eyes, "You are an awesome brother Matt, Vicki is extremely lucky to have you".

"Yeah" Matt whispered, "Maybe she went home".

Elena nodded sadly, "Maybe".

"Okay" Matt said, walking away away from the girls.

After Matt left, both Aria and Elena ran to their car, getting into the car both girls let the tears they were stopping to run free.

Aria hit the steering wheel rapidly, "Dammit, dammit, dammit!".

***

Elena and Aria walked up to their front porch and immediately both the girls saw Stefan standing at their porch.

"Where is he?" a worried Elena asked Stefan.

"Inside" Stefan replied.

Elena nodded, and both her and Aria went inside their home to go check up on Jeremy, Elena and Aria rushed up the stairs and towards Jeremy's bedroom, where they spotted Jeremy sitting on his bed, hugging his knees to his chest and crying immensely.

Elena stood sat infront of Jeremy while Aria stood next to them, "Do you understand what happened tonight?" a concerned Elena asked Jeremy.

"No" Jeremy sobbed, "I don't understand, I mean I know what I saw, but I don't understand".

"Jeremy, she was going to kill me" Aria whispered, placing a comforting hand on Jeremy's shoulder.

"Now she's dead, Vicki's dead" Jeremy sobbed.

"I'm so sorry Jer, I'm--"

"Just make it stop Aria, it hurts" Jeremy cried, seeing him so upset caused Aria to spill some tears to.

"Shh it's okay, it's okay" Elena comforted.

"Why does everybody have to die on me?" Jeremy cried.

"Oh my god, come here" Elena said, pulling Jeremy into a tight hug.

Seeing Aria just standing there, Elena pulled her into the hug as well and all three of them just cried.

***

After comforting Jeremy, Elena and Aria stepped outside to see Stefan standing there, with tears in his eyes.

"You okay?" Elena asked Stefan.

Stefan sighed, "I wanted to help her, but instead--"

"Don't blame yourself Stefan, you tried, you tried a lot" Aria assured.

Stefan nodded sadly, "Not enough Aria, anyways how's he doing?".

"He's a mess" Elena cried, "I don't want him going through this again, he's just a kid".

"Elena, Aria, what can I do? I, what can I do to help? I'll do anything" Stefan said.

Elena and Aria looked at each other, they had talked about this already and they knew what was best for Jeremy.

"Can you make him forget?" Aria asked Stefan.

Stefan looked at Aria in slight shock, "Aria--"

"Stefan please" Aria pleaded, "I don't know how will he ever get past this, him forgetting this will give him another chance at life, something he needs more than anything right now".

"Aria, if I did it, there's no guarantee that it would work, because of who I am, because of how I live" Stefan explained, "I don't have the ability to do it right".

"I can do it" Damon said, walking over to the trio, "If this what you want Aria, I'll do it".

Aria looked at Elena who just nodded her head.

With tears in her eyes, and guilt in her heart, Aria turned to Damon, "It's what I want Damon, it's what Jeremy needs".

"What do you want him to know?" Damon asked.

"I want you to tell him that Vicki left town and she's not coming back" Elena said, walking inbetween Aria and Damon, "That he shouldn't look for her or worry about her, he's gonna miss her, but he knows it's for the best".

"Is that what you want?" Damon asked Aria, to which Aria simply nodded her head and with that confirmation Damon went upstairs to Jeremy.

Aria sat down on the chair outside and started crying, Stefan and Elena sat on either side of her, and Stefan side hugged her, while Elena rubbed her back.

"Part of me wishes that we could forget too" Elena said, looking at Aria in sympathy knowing Vicki's death brought back horrible memories for her, "Forget meeting you, finding out what you are and everything that's happened since".

"If that's what you two want" Stefan said, still hugging Aria.

Aria shook her head, "No, I don't want to forget, I can't forget about the supernatural world because I'm part of the supernatural world whether I like it or not, even if I forget you I will never escape this world".

"It is what I want" Elena said, "Because I don't want it to be like this, I don't wanna feel like this, but I can't, with everything that's happened, I can't lose the way I feel about you".

Aria saw Damon step out of the house, and realising Elena and Stefan needed some time alone, Aria went to Damon.

"It's done" Damon informed.

"Thank you" Aria whispered.

Damon nodded, "Aria I--"

"Don't" Aria interrupted, "I'm not really in my mindset to understand anything Damon, so please keep the explanation for another day".

After giving Damon one last glance, Aria went outside and Elena followed shortly, leaving the two brothers alone on the porch.

***

Presenting 1x07 of Cold Hearted!

How was the chapter?

Thoughts on Aria and Elena's constant arguing?

Thoughts on Vicki attacking Aria?

Thoughts on Aria wanting Jeremy to forget Vicki's death?

Thoughts on Damon agreeing to compel Jeremy for Aria?

Published: 6th September 2020
Edited: 9th March 2024