21. Isobel

"Caroline is forcing me to help her build the Miss Mystic float for the founder's day parade" Aria informed Damon through the phone while running around her room and gathering her stuff, "But before I go, I wanted to check up on both you brothers".

"Well, I'm doing great, thanks for asking" Damon said, sitting on Stefan's bed.

"And Stefan?" Aria asked, still a bit worried for the younger Salvatore.

"Oh him? Oh, he's--he's terrible" Damon said.

"What, why, what happened, he was fine when I left" a worried Aria said.

"He's just back to boring, strait laced, off the junk" Damon said, making Aria breathe a sigh of relief, "You've successfully cured him of anything that was interesting about his personality, that and him and Elena are apparently all good as well".

"First of all, I know Stefan and Elena are good as I was the one who forced Elena to talk to Stefan" Aria said, "Second of all, don't you dare forget who helped me cure him".

"I hate myself" Damon joked.

"Yeah right" Aria laughed, "I've never met anyone who loves themselves more then you do vampy".

Damon laughed at Aria's words, "Hey, did Uncle John mention anything to you about my field trip with the history teacher?".

"Nope, still been avoiding him" Aria replied, "Still don't know what he's up to?".

"Nope" Damon said, "But I'd love it if you could find out for me".

"Not happening" Aria said, "Now I gotta go, I'm already late, bye Damon".

"Bye Ria" Damon said, just as Stefan walked out of the bathroom, "Have fun with the Mystic queen, I know I did".

Aria shook her head and let out an amused laugh before hanging up on Damon.

Damon stood up and walked over to a confused Stefan, and handed him his phone.

"Ria called to check up on you" Damon informed, walking out of Stefan's room.

***

"So these are the specs for the History Department's Founder's Day float" Alaric informed, handing a group of students the paper, "We're gonna be recreating the Battle of Willow Creek, Tyler's been nominated to head up the production design".

"By who?" Tyler asked confused.

"By me, I've seen your sketches and they are good" Alaric said.

"I'm not really into the whole--".

"You just pick your team, be creative and--" Alaric stopped mid sentence, when he saw Stefan, Aria and Elena enter, "And don't screw up".

Without listening to anything else, Alaric left the group and walked over to the trio.

"Hey, Mr Saltzman" Elena greeted.

"Come with me, we need to talk" Alaric said, getting straight to the point, confusing the trio, but nonetheless they followed Alaric to his classroom.

***

Damon opened the door to Alaric's classroom and walked in only to see Alaric, Stefan, Aria and Elena sitting there.

"Damon, thanks for coming" Alaric said.

"Sorry I'm late, the dog ate my, uh" Damon tried to think of a excuse, but quickly gave up, "Never mind".

Damon looked at Aria, and frowned seeing her worried face, looking around he saw everyone with the same expression on their faces, "What's with all the furrowed brows?".

"I saw Isobel last night" Alaric informed Damon.

"Isobel's here?" Damon asked shocked, Alaric nodded, "In town?", Alaric nodded again, "Did you ask her about Uncle John? Are they working together?".

"No" Alaric replied.

"No, they're not?" Damon asked confused.

"No, I didn't ask" Alaric clarified.

"What about the invention?" Damon asked.

"Didn't ask" Alaric replied.

"Did she know about the tomb vampires?" Damon asked.

"I don't know" Alaric replied.

"Did words completely escape you?" an annoyed Damon asked.

"I was a little too distracted by my dead vampire wife to ask any questions" Alaric snapped.

"What she want?" a curious Damon asked.

"She wants to see me, Damon" Elena informed.

"And me" Aria added.

"Alaric is supposed to arrange a meeting, we don't know why or what she wants" Stefan said.

"I get why she wants to meet Elena, but why does she want to meet Aria?" a confused Damon asked.

"We don't know" Stefan replied.

"You don't have to see her if you don't want to" Damon told Aria.

"She hasn't really given me a choice Damon" Aria said.

"She's threatening to go on a killing spree" Alaric said.

"Oh" Damon said, "I take it that's not okay with you guys?".

"I wanna do it" Elena said, "I wanna meet her, if I don't, I know I'll regret it".

"And I wanna be there for Elena" Aria said.

Damon looked at Aria, clearly not happy with her decision.

***

Elena and Aria were now at the Grill waiting for Isobel to arrive, Stefan was standing by the pool table, keeping an eye on the two girls, while Alaric and Damon were standing outside.

The waitress placed Elena's coffee and Aria's hot chocolate on the table, making Elena jump slightly.

"Elena relax" Aria said, "Don't be scared, I'm right here".

"Thanks for coming with me Aria" a grateful Elena said.

"Anytime Elena" Aria said, giving Elena a small smile.

After talking to Aria, Elena looked in her boyfriend's direction, "Can you hear me?", Stefan simply nodded, "Thanks for coming" Elena said, "I'm nervous".

"If you weren't nervous then I would doubt your human" Aria teased, making both Elena and Stefan laugh.

"I'm happy both of you are here" Elena told her boyfriend and best friend, both Aria and Stefan smiled at Elena, "I love you" Elena told Stefan.

"I love you" Stefan mouthed back, making Aria smile, she was really happy that both of them had sorted everything out between them and were back to being all loved up.

Suddenly a figure stood infront of the two girls, blocking their view of Stefan, both Elena and Aria looked at the figure in shock, it was Isobel.

Isobel sat down and gave both the girls a smile, a smile the caused chills to go down Aria's spine, the smile was anything but friendly, it was pure evil, "Hello Elena, Aria", Isobel looked at Elena, "You look just like her, it's eerie".

"You've met Katherine?" a shocked Elena asked.

"She found me after I turned" Isobel informed, "Genetic curiosity, I suppose, she would be fascinated by you" Isobel then turned to Aria, "While I'm fascinated by you Aria, I never knew Lucas could create such a beautiful child".

Aria looked at Isobel in shock, "How do you know my father?".

Isobel smirked and leaned forward, "Aria you ever wonder why you feel so close to Elena, why do you always feel so secure around her, almost like she's family".

"She is family" Aria snapped, "I've known her since I was a kid and she's been my family ever since".

"So you know that you and Elena share the same blood?" Isobel asked, shocking both Elena and Aria.

"What?" Elena asked.

"Tell me Aria, do you know your Dad's really name, before he changed his last name to Connor?" Isobel asked.

Aria tried to think of her dad's real name, but her brain came up with nothing, she hadn't gotten to spend a lot of time with her dad, she never got to ask him real name, in her mind her dad's last name has always been Connor, she had no idea he had changed his last name and not her mother.

"No" Aria whispered.

Isobel smirked, "I'm feeling very generous tonight Aria, let me tell you something, something that has been hidden from you, your entire life".

"What?" Aria asked, suddenly very scared.

"Your dad, Lucas, his name wasn't Lucas Connor, he had changed his last name to Connor because he didn't want your mother to change her last name, before marriage he was known as Lucas Flemming" Isobel revealed.

"Flemming?" Aria asked shocked, knowing Isobel's name was Isobel Flemming.

"Aria's dad was related to you?" Elena asked, equally shocked.

"He was my brother" Isobel said, "Twin brother, if we're being precise".

Aria and Elena looked at each other in shock, "Me and Elena are blood related?" Aria asked.

Isobel nodded, "Now, my charity work for the next century is done, let's get to what we are actually here for".

"Is that how you can walk in the day?" Elena asked, pointing to Isobel's necklace, and taking her attention off of a still very shocked Aria, who was having a hard time processing everything.

"Katherine helped me obtain it" Isobel informed.

"Who's my father?" Elena asked.

"Not important" Isobel replied, "He was a teenage waste of space".

"A name would be nice" Elena snapped.

"It would, wouldn't it? You ask a lot of question" Isobel observed.

"And you dodge a lot of questions" Aria snapped, glaring at Isobel.

Isobel smirked at Aria, "You might look like Lucas, but you have Amelia's fire".

"Stop talking about my parents" Aria snapped, very close to losing her control.

Elena quickly grabbed Aria's hand, "Calm down Aria".

Aria looked at Elena then back at Isobel, who was already looking at her, she knew how important this was for Elena and she didn't want to ruin it for her, so she took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down before she ended up doing something she will end up regretting.

"Why did you compel that man to kill himself right after he told me to stop looking for you?" Elena asked, after seeing that Aria has calmed down a bit.

"Dramatic impact, wish it would've been more effective" Isobel replied.

"Human life means that little to you?" Elena asked disgusted.

"It means nothing to me" Isobel replied, "It's just part of being what I am".

Aria observed Isobel keenly and that's when she realised why Isobel was being so emotionless, "You've turned your humanity off" Aria realised.

"You're an observant one, aren't you Aria?" Isobel teased.

"What you said, it's not true" Aria said, "Me and Elena know other vampires, they are not like you".

"You mean Elena's boyfriend over there by the pool table?" Isobel asked, "Stefan Salvatore", Isobel turned to Elena, "Why Stefan? Why didn't you go for Damon? Or do you enjoy them both, like Katherine did?", Isobel then turned to Aria, "Or maybe you did go for Damon, but his too busy with your cousin, to ever notice you".

"Okay" Aria slammed her hands on to the table and stood up, shocking Elena and Stefan, "I'm on my last thread with you, don't you dare say anything about Elena, she's not Katherine, she's in love with Stefan and only Stefan, upset her one more time and I don't care who you are or where we are, I will kill you".

Both Isobel and Aria glared at each other, while Stefan and Elena looked at Aria with a small smile on both their faces.

***

"We should be in there" Damon snapped, as he paced back and forth at the town square.

"No" Alaric denied, "Isobel made it clear we're not to step foot inside".

"I'm not gonna kill her in a restaurant" Damon said, rubbing his chest.

"You're not gonna kill her, period" Alaric said, he frowned seeing Damon rub his chest, "What's wrong with you?".

"Nothing's wrong with me" Damon snapped, the slight pain his chest making him very anxious.

"Then why are you rubbing your chest like your in pain?" Alaric asked.

"It's Aria" Damon said, looking back at the Grill in worry, "She's upset".

"You can sense each other's emotions?" Alaric asked shocked.

"No, yes, I don't know" Damon fumbled, "This is all very new to me, I don't know what we can and can't feel, all I know is that something has happened inside, something that is making Aria slowly lose it".

"She will be fine, I haven't known her for too long but even in this short amount of time, I've seen how strong Aria is" Alaric said.

"I know more then anyone else how strong Aria really is, doesn't mean I'm not pissed at your wife for doing something to upset her" Damon said.

"Ex wife" Alaric corrected, "I looked for the woman I married, but she wasn't there, whoever that is--is cold and detached".

"Yeah" Damon said, "She's given up her humanity".

"Yeah see, I don't get that" Alaric said, "Stefan has his humanity, he's a good guy, hell your a dick and you kill people, but I see something human in you, specially when you're with Aria, but with her, there was--there was nothing".

"You can turn it off, it's like a button you can press" Damon said, "I mean, Stefan's different, he wants the whole human experience, he wants to feel every episode of how I met your mother, so he shuts his feelings out, the problem is, as a vampire, your instinct is not to feel, Isobel chose the easier road, no guilt, no shame, no regret, I mean, come on, if you could turn if off, wouldn't you?".

"You haven't" Alaric retorted.

"Of course I have, Ric" Damon said, "That's why I'm so fun to be around".

"No you haven't" Alaric argued, "Your love for Aria proves that you still have your humanity", Damon looked at Alaric in shock, "What? Don't look at me so shocked, it's obvious that you love her Damon, even a blind bat can see it".

Damon didn't say anything, just walked away from Alaric, not wanting to talk about his love for Aria with him.

***

"Why did you wanna meet us? It can't be just to catch up" Elena asked Isobel.

"Because I'm curious about both of you" Isobel answered, "But the real reason is I want what your uncle wants, Johnathan Gilbert's invention".

"How the hell do you know Uncle John?" Aria asked confused.

"Me and Lucas used to spend a lot of time here when we were younger, that's how he met Amelia" Isobel informed the two girls, "John had a crush on me for years, he was the first one that told me about vampires".

"So, what made you wanna be one?" Elena asked curiously.

"It's a very long list of reasons Elena, all of which I'm sure both of you have thought about" Isobel replied, Elena shook her head while Aria stayed quiet, "That was your first lie Elena, it's inevitable, both of you are gonna get old, but Stefan and Damon won't, forever doesn't last very long when you're human".

"We don't have what you're looking for, we are leaving now" Aria snapped, getting up along with Elena, not wanting to hear anymore of Isobel's crap.

"Sit down" Isobel said, grabbing Elena and Aria's wrist, "And tell your boyfriend to walk away".

Aria glared at Isobel, and suddenly Isobel let go of Elena and Aria's wrist and instead clutched her head in pain.

"Don't touch us" Aria warned, stopping her magic and sitting back down with Elena, after nodding at Stefan and letting him know they were fine.

"Wow, you sure are strong for a little thing" Isobel said, shaking her head.

"You have no idea" Aria snapped.

Isobel smiled, "I want the invention".

"I told you, we don't have it" Aria said.

"I know that, but Damon does" Isobel said, "And you're gonna get it for me Aria".

"He won't give it to me" Aria argued.

"Then the blood will be on your hands" Isobel threatened.

After getting her point across, Isobel grabbed her purse and coat and stood up from her chair, "It was nice meeting you both" she said, before walking out the grill.

As soon as Isobel left, Stefan walked over to Elena, while Aria ran away from them.

"Aria!" Elena called out, but Aria didn't listen, she just kept running.

"Don't" Stefan told Elena, grabbing her wrist before the Gilbert girl could follow Aria out, "Don't stop her, let her go, she's going to be fine".

Aria stepped outside of the Grill and her eyes immediately started looking for Damon, who she saw standing across the street, Aria quickly ran over to him and hugged him.

"Damon" Aria cried.

"Ria" Damon said, hugging Aria back tightly, "What's wrong Ria, why are you crying?".

"They were siblings Damon" Aria replied, the strong faced she put infront of Isobel, crumbling down.

"Who were?" Alaric asked, walking over to Aria and Damon, confused.

"Isobel and my father" Aria revealed, shocking Damon and Alaric, "They were twins".

Alaric and Damon looked at each other in shock, this was something no one expected.

***

"Uh-oh, Cherie, you won again" Damon teased.

After calming Aria down and sending her home with Elena, Damon had decided it was time to visit Isobel himself, which is how he ended up playing strip poker with one of Isobel's minion, while waiting for Isobel to arrive.

"Hope I'm wearing my good underwear" Damon teased, getting up and unzipping his pants, before he could take them off, Isobel entered the room.

"Tonight's just one blast from the past after another" Isobel said, "No, no, no".

"Mm" Damon said, zipping his pants back up.

Isobel said something in french to Cherie, causing her to get up and leave.

"Mm" Damon said, waving at her, then turned to Isobel, "It's good to see you Isobel, just having fun with your naughty little minion".

"Mm" Isobel said, as Damon proceeded to wear his shirt again, "How'd you find me?".

Damon vamp speeded towards Isobel and trapped her between the wall and himself, "I searched all the bank owned foreclosures and found the most expensive one".

"Oh, I should have known, you were the one that taught me that" Isobel said.

"Mm-hm" Damon said.

"What are you really doing here?" Isobel asked.

"Well you caused quiet a stir" Damon replied, "You blew into town, saw everyone except for the man who made you, I'm a little hurt".

"I'm so sorry" Isobel mocked apologised, going to hug Damon, then grabbing him by his hair, "Did you bring the device?".

Damon chuckled, "Ow" Damon said, as Isobel left his hair and speeded away.

Isobel laughed, "What are you doing with John Gilbert?" Damon asked.

"We dated a few times when we were young" Isobel replied, "He was a little bit in love with me".

"I'm sure, one of the many" Damon taunted, "Now, this little invention, what do you want with it?".

"Oh, me personally?" Isobel asked, "I don't want anything with it, I'm just doing what I'm told", Isobel handed Damon a drink, which he denied, "You know Damon, we're on the same side".

Damon scoffed, "Oh, yeah? Which side is that?".

"Katherine's" Isobel revealed,  shocking Damon, "She wants John Gilbert to have the device, and I think that you know that she's not happy when she doesn't get what she wants".

Damon pushed Isobel off of him, "Why are you doing her dirty work?".

"Don't kill the messenger" Isobel said, "We both know that you can't control Katherine, she does what she wants".

"Pfft, and so do I" Damon said.

"Oh really Damon?" Isobel asked, not convinced.

"Yeah".

"You do?" Isobel asked, going to punch Damon, but he quickly held her hand, "What should we do now?", both Isobel and Damon laughed, "Oh, yeah" Isobel said, as Damon started to lean in, "Memory serves".

Isobel and Damon started to kiss, Isobel pushed Damon to the couch and started kissing him again, then suddenly Damon grabbed her by her neck and slammed her on to the floor,

"Now that I have your attention, listen up" Damon said, "You do not come into my town, threaten people I care about, going after Aria? Bad move, you leave her alone or I will rip you to bits, because I do believe in killing the messenger, you know why? Because it sends a message".

Damon slammed Isobel into the floor causing to yell in pain, "If Katherine wants something from me, you tell that bitch to come get it herself".

"You're going to save the device from Katherine, but are you going to be able to save Aria from her?" Isobel asked, struggling to breath with Damon's hand around her throat.

"What?" Damon asked confused.

"Oh come on, don't pretend Damon, I know your smart enough to figure it out" Isobel said, "To figure out which vampire had killed Aria's parents".

"Katherine" Damon realised, "It was Katherine who killed Aria's parents, wasn't it?".

"Correct" Isobel said, "And now she knows that there is still one Connor witch out there, and she will be coming back for Aria, to end the Connor bloodline once and for all".

Damon glared at Isobel and tightened his hold on her neck, "Let the bitch come, I will protect Aria, your the messenger right? Then tell Katherine that if I see her near Aria, then I will rip her heart out and feed it to her".

After getting his point across, Damon let go of Isobel and left the house, leaving behind an shocked Isobel, who had never seen Damon look so dangerous.

***

Elena and Aria were at the Gilbert house, both trying to wrap their head around the fact that they were cousins, when suddenly someone knocked on the front door.

"I'll go check that" Aria whispered, Elena simply nodded her head.

Aria opened the door and was shocked seeing Bonnie standing on the other side, "Bonnie".

"Hey" Bonnie said, just as Elena walked over, equally as shocked to see Bonnie at the door, "I couldn't sleep last night, both of you were obviously upset about something and even though I saw it, I just walked away".

"You were at the Grill yesterday?" Aria asked, not remembering seeing Bonnie there.

Bonnie nodded, "Yeah, I saw you run out of the Grill upset and then I saw Elena crying, but then I saw Stefan, so I walked away, that's not me, that can't be us, both of you are my friends, if you both need me, I'm here for you, and I'm sorry I couldn't show you that yesterday".

Aria looked at Bonnie with teary eyes, "Me and Elena are cousins".

"What?" Bonnie asked, looking between Elena and Aria confused, "How?".

Aria stepped aside and made room for Bonnie to enter, "Come in, it's a long story".

Bonnie nodded and entered the Gilbert house.

***

Next day, Elena and Aria entered the chemistry lab at their school, where Bonnie had called them to meet her at.

"Hey, thanks for meeting me" Bonnie said.

"Is everything okay?" Aria asked, walking over to Bonnie.

"I wanted you both to see this" Bonnie said.

"Is that Emily's grimoire?" Aria asked, seeing the book Bonnie was reading.

Bonnie nodded, "I've been going through it since Grams died, check this out".

Elena and Aria looked at the page Bonnie was pointing at, "That's the vampire compass" Elena said confused, looking at the picture on the page.

Aria skimmed through the page, "This is a spell, a spell to activate the compass".

"Wait, you can read this?" Bonnie asked shocked.

Aria nodded, "Yeah, for some reason I can".

"It took me days to read this and here your reading it at first glance" Bonnie said.

"Another perk of being a Connor witch, I guess" Aria said, "Witchy language comes naturally to me".

"That makes sense" Bonnie said, "Anyways, according to Emily, Johnathan Gilbert never actually succeeded in inventing anything, Emily secretly spelled them all with magic, compass", Bonnie turned the page, "Rings", she turned the page again, "The mystery device you both told me about".

"Yeah that's it" Elena said, looking at the picture.

"Part of it anyways" Aria said, "Damon only has one piece".

"Emily pledged her loyalty to Katherine" Bonnie said, "But she couldn't stand by and watch innocent people get killed, this was the only way she could think of to help, to let Johnathan Gilbert believe he'd actually invented these devices".

"Does it say what it does?" Elena asked.

Both Bonnie and Aria bent down and started reading what Emily had written, and both were shocked to know what the device actually does.

"Are you sure this is what Isobel wants?" Bonnie asked Elena.

"Yeah, I'm sure, why?" Elena asked confused, seeing both her friend's shocked faces.

"Elena this is a weapon" Aria informed, "Against vampires".

***

Aria was outside the school, where everyone was busy creating their float for the founder's day parade, she was looking for Stefan, she needed to tell him what they mystery device does.

"Aria" Jeremy called, running over to the young witch.

"Hey Jeremy, have you seen Stefan anywhere?" Aria asked, looking around for the younger Salvatore.

"No, not lately, listen do you have a second?" Jeremy asked.

"Sure, what's up?" Aria asked, confused as to why did Jeremy suddenly want to talk to her.

"Well, it's Anna" Jeremy said.

"Anna?" Aria asked confused.

"Yeah, I've left her all these messages and she hasn't gotten back to me" Jeremy replied, "Not even a text".

"You're still friends with Anna?" Aria asked shocked.

"Yeah, we're more then friends" Jeremy said, immediately regretting his words, as he saw the slight hurt expression on Aria's face, he wondered how did he miss this expression before.

"Right" Aria whispered.

"Look, something could be seriously wrong" Jeremy said, "And if you know anything you gotta tell me".

"Why would I know anything about Anna?" Aria asked confused.

"Are you lying to me right now?" Jeremy asked.

Aria looked at Jeremy in shock, "Why would you think that?".

"Because that's what you do, you and Elena, both of you lie" Jeremy snapped, "Both of you lie about everything, I know what Anna is, and I know that you know, so tell me, do you have any idea what she is?".

"How did you know?" Aria asked shocked.

"I read you diary" Jeremy confessed, making Aria look at him in shock.

"You read my diary?" Aria asked shocked, knowing fully well that her diary didn't only talk about vampires.

Jeremy nodded, "Yeah, I did, now tell me, do you know where Anna is?".

Aria shook her head, "No, I don't know where she is".

Jeremy stared at Aria, then after a moment turned to leave, but Aria held his wrist, stopping him, "If you've read my diary, then you know more then just about the vampires, Jer".

Jeremy looked at Aria, he knew what she meant, she meant the fact that Aria was in love with Jeremy.

"Aria--".

"No Jer" Aria said stepping away from Jeremy, "I get it, me and Elena are horrible people, we hid the truth from you because we cared about you, we didn't want you to suffer anymore then you already were, which is why we got Damon to compel you, and if that makes us horrible people then so be it, but Jeremy your no less, you knew about my feelings for you, yet you came up to me and bragged about you and Anna being more then friends, I guess this makes both of us as equally as horrible as each other, doesn't it Jer?".

Jeremy looked at Aria's retreating figure with a guilty expression on his face, he never meant to hurt her, but that's exactly what he did, and he couldn't stop the guilt from rising in his heart.

***

"What do you mean Isobel took Jeremy?" Aria asked shocked.

"It's exactly what it sounds like Aria" Elena snapped, pacing up and down the classroom, "Isobel took Jeremy and if we don't give her the device then she's going to kill him".

Apparently after Aria had gone off at Jeremy, Isobel had cornered Elena and had threatened her for the device, she had managed to break Matt's hand and kidnap Jeremy to force Elena's hand.

"Where's the device?" Bonnie asked, as her, Stefan, Elena and Aria talked in the empty classroom.

"Damon has it, he's gonna be difficult to reason with" Stefan replied.

"I'll talk to him" Aria said, "He will listen to me".

"He's not just gonna hand it over, especially if it's harmful to vampires, not even to you Aria" Stefan said.

"What if it's not?" Aria asked suddenly, an idea forming in her head.

***

"Absolutely not" Damon stated, the ground now standing in the Salvatore's library.

"Damon, just hear us out" Aria pleaded.

"I'm not gonna give the device to Isobel so she can give it to John, whose going to turn around and kill me" Damon said, "I like being a living dead person".

"But it'll be useless" Elena argued, "Bonnie can take it's power away".

"I don't trust her" Damon retorted.

"I can remove the original spell" Bonnie informed.

"John and Isobel will never know" Elena said.

"No, no, I'll get Jeremy my own way" Damon said.

"Really? How are you gonna do that? Hm?" Stefan asked, "Because Isobel is a vampire and Jeremy could be dead the second you walk in the door".

"Are you even up for this? I mean, no offense, you're no Emily Bennett, Emily knew what she was doing" Damon told Bonnie, he then turned to Aria, "And if your so eager to save Jeremy, then you do the spell, I don't trust her but I trust you".

Aria sighed, "Damon I would have done it myself, but according to the grimoire only a Bennet witch can remove the original spell, and before you ask, yes I read it myself".

"Plus, I've been practicing" Bonnie said.

"It's not piano lessons, honey" Damon taunted.

Bonnie stood up from the chair she was sitting on, "What's your favorite book?".

"What?" Damon asked.

"Name a book, any book" Bonnie said.

"His favorite book is Call of the Wild by Jack London" Aria said, shaking her head at Damon's stubbornness, while Damon looked at Aria with a small smile on his face, happy that she knew him this well.

Bonnie turned to the bookshelf and took a deep breath, she put her full focus on the bookshelf and suddenly a book flew into Damon's hand.

"Jack London" Damon said, looking at the book, he then threw it on the ground, "Great parlor trick".

"We're doing this, Damon" Elena said, "And we're gonna do it our way, now give me the device".

When Damon made no movement in giving Elena the device, Aria stepped forward, "Damon please, we're wasting time".

"I don't trust her Ria, I tried to kill her" Damon said, still very apprehensive.

"Mm, you're right, you can't trust me" Bonnie mocked.

"But you can trust me" Aria interrupted, making Damon look at her, "Bonnie knows what you mean to me, she will never do anything that will upset me, please trust me on this one Damon".

Damon stared at Aria for a moment, then after a moment, placed the device into Aria's hand, "I'm doing this, only for you" Damon told Aria, he then turned to Bonnie, "Aria's putting her trust in you, don't let her down".

Aria gave Damon a small smile, "Thank you".

***

Bonnie stood near the table, with her grimoire open and the device infront of her, all ready to do the spell, while the other four stood by the side watching her.

Damon suddenly started humming a song, making Elena and Stefan glare at him, while Aria nudged him, Damon rolled his eyes, but nonetheless stopped.

Bonnie started the spell and the device started floating in the air, suddenly the lights started flickering, and the fire grew higher, suddenly Bonnie jerked, and everything went back to normal, Aria frowned, for some reason that seemed way too quick to her.

"Done" Bonnie said.

"You sure?" Aria asked suspiciously.

Bonnie nodded, not meeting Aria's eyes.

"Great, now what?" Damon asked, as Aria took the device from Bonnie's hand.

"Now we give it to Isobel" Elena replied, while Aria tried to ignore the pit in her stomach, something didn't feel right.

***

Elena and Aria walked in the town square, looking around for Isobel, when suddenly they heard someone behind them, turning around both the girls come face to face with Isobel.

"Where's the device?" Isobel asked, getting straight to the point.

"Where's Jeremy?" Aria asked, glaring at the women infront of her.

"This isn't a negotiation" Isobel snapped, "Where's the invention?".

"Where's my brother?" Elena asked.

"Do you really think that I came alone?" Isobel asked, as two vampires stood behind Elena and Aria.

"Do you really think we came alone?" Aria asked, as Damon and Stefan came and stood behind Isobel.

"For god's sake, call home" Isobel snapped.

"What?" Elena asked confused.

"Call home" Isobel repeated, "Ask to speak to your brother, Jeremy".

Elena took out her phone and called home.

"Hello?" Jeremy answered.

"Jeremy, are you okay?" Elena asked, relieved hearing her brother's voice.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, Uncle John hit his head" Jeremy replied, "It was an accident".

"And we're all laughing" Jenna interjected.

Jeremy chuckled, "Yeah, but I'm okay".

"Me and Aria will be home soon, all right?" Elena asked.

"Yeah" Jeremy replied, hearing Aria's name, his mind going back to their confrontation.

"You were never gonna hurt him" Elena told Isobel, after hanging up.

"No, I was gonna kill him" Isobel said, "Don't look for any redeeming qualities in me, I don't have any".

"But you took a risk with Damon, how did you know he was gonna give it to me?" Elena asked.

"Oh please, Damon didn't give to you Elena, he gave it to her" Isobel said, pointing to Aria, "And he gave it to her because he's in love with her, but his not the only one".

Elena wasn't shocked hearing Isobel, as Damon himself had admitted to her that he was in love with Aria, but she did get confused when Isobel mentioned that Damon wasn't the only one in love with Aria.

Aria on the other hand, was shocked, she knew her and Damon had feelings for each other, but she never knew those feelings were called love, slowly but surely, Aria was realising what she felt for Damon, and she isn't going to lie, that scared her a bit, however in all this, Aria completely missed Isobel's words about someone else being in love with her as well, but Damon hadn't.

After hearing Isobel's words, Damon looked at his brother, who was avoiding eye contact with him, this wasn't news to Damon, he knew his brother could deny it all he wanted to, but the truth is Stefan was also in love with Aria, just like he was in love Natalie, and that angered Damon way more then he liked to admit.

After dropping such a huge bomb, Isobel held her hand out for Aria, and gestured towards the device, Aria sighed and slammed the device in Isobel's hand.

"Thank you" Elena told Isobel.

"For what?" Isobel asked confused.

"For being such a monumental disappointment" Elena replied, "It keeps the memory of my real mother perfectly intact".

"You know, if my dad, your brother, if he was anything like you, then I'm kind of glad I didn't get much time with him" Aria said, equally as upset as Elena, this was the first time she had met her dad's family, and it turned out to be horrible.

"Goodbye girls" Isobel said, "As long as you both have a Salvatore on your arm, you're doomed, Katherine was smart, she got out, but we all know, you both are not Katherine".

After Isobel walked away, Stefan and Damon walked over to the girls, Stefan hugged Elena, while Aria looked at Damon, who was already looking at her.

"Aria--".

Aria didn't let Damon finish his sentence, she just hugged him tightly, she could deal with Damon being in love with her later on, right now all she wanted to do was stay in Damon's arms, she was too overwhelmed to think about anything else.

Damon gladly hugged Aria back, not missing the look Stefan had given Aria, before turning his attention back to Elena.

***

Aria opened Jeremy's door and entered, "Jer".

"Aria?" Jeremy asked confused, "What are you doing here?".

Aria looked down at her fingers, "I'm here to apologise".

"Apologize?" a confused Jeremy asked.

Aria nodded, "I shouldn't have gone off at you this morning, I was frustrated about something else and I ended up taking the frustration out at you, I'm really sorry".

Jeremy gave Aria a small smile, "It's okay".

"And I'm also sorry for making Damon compel you the night Vicki died" Aria said, "It was wrong and I know that, but Jer you need to understand that the night Vicki died, it was like supermom and dad's death all over again, it was all over your face and seeing you like that, it hurt me and Elena a lot, we just wanted to take your pain away, we didn't want you to feel anymore pain, because you didn't deserve all this, you deserved better, it was wrong and we know it, and if I could go back in time and makes things right then I would, but I can't, so all I can really say is that I'm so sorry".

After apologising to Jeremy, Aria turned to leave but Jeremy stopped her.

"Do you still--? Do you still have feelings for me?" Jeremy asked.

Aria thought about Jeremy's question, did she still have feelings for Jeremy, she knew the answer to Jeremy's question now it was just about admitting it to herself.

"No" Aria answered truthfully, "I was in love with you for a very long time Jer, I thought I would always love you, but I couldn't have been more wrong, I fell for someone else, I didn't mean to, it just happened without me realising".

"It's Damon, isn't it?" Jeremy asked.

Aria wasn't shocked that Jeremy realised that Aria was in love with Damon, Damon's name was everywhere on her journal, so Aria simply nodded, "I tried not to fall for him, but he just sneaked up on him and no matter how much I try, I can't shake him off, I honestly didn't even realise when and how I fell in love with him, I just did".

"Yeah, that tends to happen when you fall in love" Jeremy said, with a small smile on his face, "I'm happy for you Aria, I really am, a girl like you deserves the world".

Aria smiled, "So we're cool?".

Jeremy nodded, "We're cool".

***

"Would you like one?" Damon asked Stefan, pouring himself a drink, "Say it, whatever it is, purge, get it out".

"It's about what Isobel said" Stefan said.

"What about it?" Damon asked.

"Me and Aria share a special bond Damon" Stefan said, making Damon tighten his hold on his glass, "But that bond is nothing compared to your and Aria's love, I care about Aria and she cares about me, but not the way she cares about you".

"Well, this is going in an interesting direction" Damon said, he fully expected his brother to come here and tell him that his in love with Aria and that his not giving up on her, he definitely didn't expect this.

"I'm telling you that I consider Aria my best friend" Stefan said, "She might even qualify as my only friend, you know since you killed Lexi, but Damon I assure you, when it comes to Aria, history won't be repeating itself, you love Aria and Aria's in love with you, and I'm not coming between that".

Damon scoffed, "Aria's not in love with me, she's in love with Jeremy".

Stefan shook his head at Damon, "Don't be an idiot Damon and open your eyes, Aria loved Jeremy before you were in the picture, ever since you've entered her life, all Aria sees is you, when she's happy she comes to you, when she's sad she comes to you, when she needs help she comes to you, and despite everything you've done, she refuses to hate you, to give up on you".

"She refuses to give up on you also" Damon argued.

"It's different with me" Stefan argued back, "We are friends, you, she loves".

"Since you and Aria are such good friends, I'm going to assume your going to be telling Aria who killed her parents and while your at it, tell your girlfriend who her real father is" Damon said, deciding to change the topic.

"What?" Stefan asked confused.

"Isobel told me who killed Aria's parents" Damon informed.

"Who?" Stefan asked.

"Turns out my suspicion was right, it was your ex girlfriend, the one and only, Miss Katherine Pierce" Damon announced, "And according to Isobel, Katherine will be coming back to finish the Connor bloodline, to finish Aria".

"Let her come, we will protect Aria" a determined Stefan said.

"Well before we protect Aria, you should probably go tell your girlfriend the truth about her father" Damon said.

"What truth?" Stefan asked confused.

"About John" Damon replied, "Because I know you guys don't like to keep secrets from each other".

"What are you talking about?" Stefan asked frustrated.

"Am I the only one around here who has the ability to put two and two together? Isobel" Damon snapped, "Hello?", Stefan shrugged in confusion, "She dated John when she was fifteen, she gets pregnant and ends up at the doctor's office of John's brother, now what do you think John's role is in all this? I mean, go ahead, think about it, I'll wait, did you get it? You there yet? Hm?".

"So you think that John is Elena's father?" Stefan asked, finally catching on.

"Ding, ding, ding, ding!" Damon said.

Stefan scoffed, "What proof do you have?".

"I don't need any proof" Damon snapped, "That's a DNA test for John and Elena and Maury Povich to deal with, but I know how well you deal with these big bombshells, so, sleep tight", Damon started to walk away, "Don't worry about telling Aria, I will tell her myself, you focus on your girlfriend".

***

John was putting an ice pack on his injury when his phone started ringing, "Hello?".

"On your doorstep you'll find what you've been looking for" Isobel said.

"And my ring?" John asked.

"Don't screw this up, you know what you have to do John" Isobel warned, as John went to the front and picked the device and his ring up.

"I got it, I won't fail" John assured.

"You better not" Isobel stated, "Katherine wants all of those tomb vampires dead, and I wanna add two more to that list".

"Let me guess" John said, putting his ring on.

"Stefan and Damon" Isobel said, "I don't want this life for them".

"Well, that was always part of the plan, consider them gone" John said.

"Elena's our daughter John, we owe that to her" Isobel said, "And Aria's my brother Lucas's daughter, your best friend's daughter, after Lucas and Amelia's death, Aria was supposed to my responsibility, I already failed Lucas once, I can't fail him again".

"I know" an extremely guilty John whispered.

***

"So you're not gonna tell me what happened?" Caroline asked Bonnie, sitting at the Grill with the Bennet witch.

"I did something bad, Caroline" Bonnie spoke after some hesitation, "And I lied about it".

"To who?" Caroline asked confused.

"To Elena and Aria" Bonnie confessed, "I pretended to do something, I didn't really do".

"What are you talking about?" Caroline asked.

"I couldn't do what they wanted me to do, it wasn't right" Bonnie defended, "Grams would have never done it, so I couldn't either, but when Elena and Aria find out, Elena might even forgive me, but Aria's going to hate me for putting some she cares about in danger".

***

Presenting 1x21 of Cold Hearted!

How was the chapter?

Thoughts on Isobel wanting to meet up with both Elena and Aria?

Thoughts on Isobel revealing to Aria that she is her father's twin sister?

Thoughts on Aria finding out that Jeremy read her diary?

Thoughts on Isobel revealing to Aria about Damon's feelings for her, and to Damon, Stefan's feelings for Aria?

Published: 14th November 2020
Edited: 6th December 2024