❪ 𝓢𝑰𝑿 𝓕𝑬𝑬𝑻 𝓤𝑵𝑫𝑬𝑹 ❫ ⚰️ ˖ ׁ ⁩ 𓂃
𝚃𝚅𝙳  ⸻  ✸ 🔮⭑.ᐟ
❝ 𝖫𝖤𝖳 𝖳𝖧𝖤 𝖦𝖠𝖬𝖤𝖲 𝖡𝖤𝖦𝖨𝖭 ❞

✦ ╮ 𝟏𝟑. ❝ 𝖴𝖭𝖯𝖫𝖤𝖠𝖲𝖤𝖭𝖳𝖵𝖨𝖫𝖫𝖤 ❞ ── .✦

❝STEFAN WHO WAS that man in the road?❞ Elena asked as she laid in her bed with Stefan.

He shook his head, "I don't know. Do you remember anything else about him?"

"I wish. I never really saw his face. He was wearing a hoodie." She tells him, describing the man she saw that had ran her off the road days prior.

"I brought some vervain for, um, you and Jenna." Stefan tells her, moving to grab a wooden box that he had brought with him, "And Anastasia is gonna give Jeremy a bracelet, make it less suspicious, few extra for friends. You can put it in jewelry or you can even put it in food or drinks, but as long as it's in you, or on you, a vampire cannot control you."

Elena twirled the bracelet for Jeremy in her hand, "Wow. So, much to remember."

"I know, but there's another vampire in town. So, until we find out who it is, and what he wants, we have to be careful."

❱ 🌿⋆｡˚

DOWNSTAIRS, JEREMY and Anastasia were sitting in the kitchen, both of them doing their own things as the doorbell rang.

"Oh, thank god!" Anastasia shot up, following Jeremy towards the front door, "I'm starving."

"I've never seen someone eat as much as you do." Jeremy laughed as he pulled the door open.

"Hey." The pizza delivery guy spoke, glancing at Anastasia for a moment, a look of recognition in his eyes, "It's gonna be twenty-two dollars."

"Elena! I need the money!" Jeremy called up the stairs to his sister, "Uh, here. Come in. Just put it on the table."

"Hi." Elena came down the stairs to hand the guy two twenty dollar bills as Anastasia packed her stuff up and grabbed a slice of pizza, "Um, keep the change."

"Thanks. And you have yourself a good night." He says before Elena shuts the door on him, turning around and pulling the hood of his jacket over his head with a smirk on his face.

"Gross." Elena scrunched her face up as she watched Anastasia lean down to kiss her brother, "Can you please not do that in front of me?"

Anastasia chuckled as she was pulled down in Jeremy's lap, him kissing her once more before she pulled away from him fully and put her bag on her shoulder, "If you can have a full blown make out session with my uncle, you can watch me kiss your brother."

"Get home safe, please!" Jeremy called as she walked towards the front door.

"Always!" She called back, closing the door behind her.

Elena laughs at her little brother, "You are so whipped."

"Hell, yeah I am."

❱ 🌿⋆｡˚

"WHAT ARE you lookin' for, Damon?" Stefan asked as he waled into the library with Anastasia behind him, the sound of books hitting the ground filling the air.

"Not your concern." Damon tells him, still looking over the bookshelf.

"No, but putting Elena in harm's way, that is my concern." Stefan said.

"What are you talking about?"

"He's talking about Atlanta." Anastasia tells her father, "You know, Lee."

"Oh, yeah. Elena and I had a blast."

"I get it. You're just bitter because two of us gets to be with the person that we love, and poor Katherine is just out of reach." Stefan says, "Unless, there's another way for you to get into that tomb. Is that what Bree said?"

Damon looked between his daughter and brother, "You're both pathetic when you're fishing."

"I'm not fishing for anything."

"You're transparent when you're deflecting." Anastasia said.

"Don't you two have school?" Damon asks them.

❱ 🌿⋆｡˚

ALARIC THROWS Jeremy's paper onto his desk, the Gilbert boy chuckling in disbelief at the A marked on the top in red marker.

"Surprised?" The history teacher asked with his arms crossed over his chest, "It's a good essay. Your thoughts are clear, and your argument is well laid out. It just, uh, you don't actually think there are vampire's in Mystic Falls."

"No, I mean, I think statistically there's been more animal attacks, mysterious deaths, uh, people are gone missing, more than any other place in the world commonwealth of Virginia." Jeremy tells him, glancing over at the door as Anastasia walked up and leaned against the doorway, causing he to start putting his stuff in his bag.

"It's conjecture, but creative, which is why you got the A. I just wouldn't get too, uh, caught up in the whole conspiracy theory of it all." Alaric tells him.

"Ah, I won't." Jeremy walked towards the door, throwing his arm over the Salvatore girl's shoulders.

"Alright. Oh, uh, Jeremy." The history teacher stops the two of them from walking out of the classroom fully, "The source that you cited for the 1860's info, uh, Jonathan Gilbert...."

"Uh, my ancestor's journal?" Jeremy asked.

"I'd really like to see that sometime."

"Really?" Jeremy asked surprised.

"A first person account of the Civil War? That's like, uh, porn for a history teacher." Alaric tells him.

Jeremy removes his arm from around Anastasia's shoulders, causing her to pout slightly as he pulls the journal from his bag, "You think my essay's creative, wait till you get a load of this thing." He sat in on Alaric's desk.

"Thank you." Alaric tells him as the teens walk out of the room.

"I hope you don't think this is weird, but I got you something." Anastasia tells Jeremy as they stop at her locker.

She pulled the metal door open and pulled out the black woven bracelet, grabbing him by the wrist to put it on.

"You have to promise that you'll keep this on. Don't take it off no matter the circumstances."

Jeremy grinned, leaning down the kiss her, "I promise, I won't take your bracelet off of my wrist. But this just means that I have to get you something."

"No, you don't." She grinned, closing her locker and walking away from him backwards with a smirk on her face, "I already have something of yours."

"You took the hoodie out of my closet, didn't you?" He asked with a laugh.

The green eyed girl sent a wink his way before she turned to walk correctly so that she wouldn't run into anyone.

❱ 🌿⋆｡˚

"WHY ME?" Elena asked Stefan as she sat on the couch in the Salvatore house, "What does he want with me? A - And if he's trying to kill me, then why call first?"

"That's because we're predators, Elena. We hunt. We stalk. It's often as exciting as the kill. I want you to take this." Stefan handed her the pocket watch that belonged to Jeremy.

"This is Jeremy's pocket watch. How did you get it?" Elena asked.

"I took it from Damon, who took it from Logan, who must have taken it from you." Stefan tells her.

"What happened to it?"

"Well, it's not just a watch. It's a - it's a sort of compass, but it points to vampires." Stefan said.

"Why did my father have this?"

"Gilbert's were one of the founding families, and back in 1864, they were among those who sought to eradicate the vampires." Stefan tells her, "The compass was used to find us."

"Did you know them?" Elena asked.

"Yeah. I want you to keep this. That way, you'll know if you're ever in danger."

❱ 🌿⋆｡˚

"MISS." ANASTASIA whispered in Jeremy's ear as she stood behind him, both of them playing pool at the Grill.

"Ugh, really?" He groans as he missed, Anastasia letting out a small giggle. "That's cheating, and you know it."

"I don't think it's cheating." She grinned, taking her turn.

"Hey." Anna's voice made the vampire miss, this time Jeremy laughing at her as he turned around, "How'd it go?"

"What?" Jeremy questioned, sitting on the edge of the pool table as Anastasia moved to stand next to him, wrapping her arm around his waist.

"She means your paper, stupid."

"Oh. I got an A. The articles Stacie gave me really helped." Jeremy tells her.

"Cool." Anna says, "So, what'd he say about the vampires? Did he believe it?"

"I don't even believe it. It's just a paper, Anna. Anyways, I, uh -- we gotta get goin'." Jeremy points between him and his girlfriend.

"Uh, hey, um....D - Do you wanna do something later? Maybe?" Anna asked, causing Anastasia to raise an eyebrow.

"Uh, sorry." Jeremy shook his head, wrapping his arm around Anastasia's waist, pulling her closer into his side, "I'm stuck on punch duty at the school dance."

"Oh." She sounds disappointed, "How'd you get stuck with that?"

"He's falling English, so he copped a plea." Anastasia told her, wanting nothing more than to give the girl an aneurysm, but knew that she couldn't for three reasons as Jeremy walked to put the two pool cue's away.

One, she had compelled Jeremy to forget everything she had told him about vampires and herself. Two, she didn't want to cause a scene in the middle of the Girl. And three, because most withes, when turned into a vampire looses their powers, but for some reason she still had hers, which no one knew besides her uncle, her father, Elena and Bonnie.

"So maybe, you know, tomorrow or something?" Anna asked.

Jeremy glanced over at Anastasia who stood with her arms crossed.

"I'm being pushy again, aren't I?" Anna asked him.

"Well, thanks for the help. I'll - I'll see you around." He tells her, walking around her to pull Anastasia with him away from the pool table and out of the Grill.

❱ 🌿⋆｡˚

"YOU GOT the hair right." Damon spoke as Stefan walked into the room, Anastasia behind him. Stefan sat the journal on the desk in front of him, "Why are you bringing me Dad's journal?"

"Cause you were looking for it." Stefan tells him.

"Why would I want it?"

"Maybe you wanna do a little bit of posthumous bonding." Anastasia says, arms crossed over her chest, "Go ahead. Enjoy it. Read it. Uncle Stefan and I have."

"Nowhere in it does it say anything about Katherine, or the tomb, or how to open it." Stefan said.

"I'm not surprise. Man could barely spell his own name." Damon says, flipping through the pages, "Hell, he couldn't even spell his own granddaughter's name."

"I'm really sorry that it won't be of any help with your diabolical plan, the squeal. You know, I could - we could - help you."

"You, help me?" Damon raised an eyebrow, "Awe, I don't know. Seems a little unnatural."

"I'll do anything to get you out of this town, even release Katherine." Stefan said.

Damon glanced at his daughter before looking back at his brother, "What about the other twenty-six vampires?"

"No, no, no." Anastasia shoo her head, "They have to stay put, but Katherine. You get her and then you and your little, whatever you wanna call her, can enjoy the rest of your lives together, while Uncle Stefan and I have the time of our lives right here in good ol' Mystic Falls."

"I would consider that." Damon says, a little hurt that his own daughter would rather stay with her uncle than go with him, "What are you doing? Hmm? What's your angle?"

"Think about it."

"Why would I trust you?" He asked his brother.

"See your problem, Damon. You apply all of your shortcomings onto everybody else." Stefan says, "If history's any indication, there's only one liar among us."

❱ 🌿⋆｡˚

ANASTASIA QUICKLY sped into the Gilbert house as soon as she heard noises coming from inside, and right on time as a vampire had tried to attack Elena.

She was quick to pull the vampire off of her and throw him across the room as Stefan rushed in and pulled the human girl into his arms.

Anastasia goes after him, but he's already out of the house and gone.

"Are you okay?" Stefan asks Elena. "Are you okay?"

❱ 🌿⋆｡˚

"HOW'D HE get in?" Damon asked.

"He was invited in." Elena says as she and Stefan sit on the couch.

"He posed as a pizza delivery guy last night." Stefan tells him.

"Well, he gets points for that. Did he say what he wanted?" Questioned Damon.

"No. He was too busy trying to kill me." Elena told him.

"Don't look at me. I told you we had company."

"You think there's more than one?" Elena asked.

"We don't know."

"Damon, he was invited in."

"Then we go get him tonight." Damon says.

"You up for it?" Anastasia asked Elena.

"What do I have to do?" Elena questioned.

"Let your boyfriend take you to the dance. We'll see who shows up." Damon tells her.

"That's a bad idea." Stefan tells his brother.

"Till we get him, this house isn't safe. For anyone who lives in it. It's worth a shot." Anastasia said.

"I'll do it." Elena spoke, "I'll be with the three of you. I'll be safe."

Anastasia frowned at her words.

She liked Elena, but she spoke just like Katherine would have, and if this was going to be a repeat of 1864, even though she was only four at the time, she wanted no part in it.

At all.

❱ 🌿⋆｡˚

ANASTASIA HAD ditched her uncle, Damon and Elena the moment the four of them walked into the dance. Now, she wa s standing next to Jeremy at the punch bowl."

"You both neglected to mention that this was a theme party." Anna says as she walked over to them.

"What are you doing here?" Jeremy asked, glancing over at Anastasia.

"Well, seeing as you also neglected to invite me, I took matters into my own hands." Anna tells him.

"You don't go to school here, so by default you're not supposed to be here anyway." Anastasia gave her a sarcastic grin.

"You're doing that thing again." Jeremy tells her, moving closer to Anastasia.

"What think would that be?" She questioned.

"That thing where you pretend we're dating, even though we're not." Said Jeremy.

"Oh, you mean stalking? Yeah. Get over yourself." Anna tells him, "Come on, I've never been to a school dance before. Humor me."

"I would." Jeremy wrapped his around Anastasia's waist, "But my date is already here, so..."

Anastasia gave the girl standing in front of her a wave, "Bye, Anna."

Jeremy chuckled as he watched Anna walk away, turning back to Anastasia and looking down at her, "You know, you're cute when you're jealous."

"I wasn't jealous."

"Sure you weren't."

❱ 🌿⋆｡˚

"YEAH, I don't recognize you." Alaric walked over to where Damon was standing. "How's you get roped into chaperoning? Alaric Saltzman. I'm the new history teacher."

"Ah, the, uh, cursed faculty position." Damon shakes his hand.

"So I've been told."

"Damon. Salvatore."

"Salvatore? As in, uh, Stefan and Anastasia?" Alaric asked.

"He's my little brother. I'm his legal guardian. And Anastasia is my teenage daughter." Damon tells him, "Hence the chaperoning."

"I hear he's very bright, not that I've had a chance to see that for myself." Alaric tells him, "Anastasia on the other hand....."

"Yeah, she gets that from her mom's side of the family." Damon tells him, "And Stefan, well, his attendance records are a little spotty. Family drama."

"Parents? Her mother?"

"Mh, it's just the three of us." Damon says, "Anastasia's mom died during childbirth."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Alaric says, "You, uh, you live here your whole life?"

"On and off. Travel a bit."

"Really? Where? Around the states?

" Damon gives him a look of confusion.

"I'm sorry. I'm nosy. I - I didn't mean to pry." Alaric says, "Look, it was nice meeting you."

"You, too."

"Enjoy the rest of the dance."

Damon watched the history teacher as he walks away.

❱ 🌿⋆｡˚

"ANASTASIA!" STEFAN rushed to where his niece and Jeremy were standing by the punch bowl, "You gotta come with me."

"What? Why?" She looked at him confused.

"He's here."

"What? I -,"

"I'll be back, Jer." Anastasia tells him, rushing off with her uncle.

❱ 🌿⋆｡˚

"HEY, DICKHEAD." Damon spoke, causing the vampire that was attacking Elena to turn to face the father and daughter, Damon holding a piece of the broken mop in his hand, "Nobody wants to kill you. Just wanna talk."

The vampire went to attack again, but Damon threw the broke mop piece to his brother while Anastasia chanted a spell under her breath, causing the vampire to grip his head in pain long enough for Stefan to stab the mop into his stomach.

"Now you feel like talking?" Stefan asked him.

"Screw you."

Anastasia stood behind him and grabbed the end of the mop, stabbing it further into his stomach, making him groan out in pain and for Elena to look at the girl in disbelief, "Wrong answer, dumbass."

"Why are you doing this?" Stefan questioned.

"Cause it's fun." He replied.

Stefan nods his head and his niece pushes the mop even further into this stomach, making him gasp for a breath of air, "What do you want with Elena?"

"She looks like Katherine."

"You knew Katherine?" Damon questioned.

"Oh. You thought you were the only ones?" The vampire asked. "You don't even remember me."

"Tell me how to get in the tomb. Hmm?" Damon bent over, hands on his knees.

"No."

Anastasia shoves the mop further into his stomach, and out though his back as she held him against her chest.

"The grimoire."

"Where is it?"

"Check the journal. The journal." He groaned in pain, "Jonathan Gilbert's."

"Who else is working with you?" Stefan asked.

"Who else is there?" Damon asked when he didn't answer it.

"No." The vampire gasped out, "You're gonna have to kill me."

"Eloise." Damon looks at his daughter.

Elena watched in shock, and fear, as Anastasia yanked the mop handle from the boy's stomach, standing them both of. A gasp left her mouth as the vampire gasped, falling to the ground.

Anastasia stood in the middle of the cafeteria, a smile on her face, hand bloodies as the vampires heart was clenched in her hand, "That was fun. Haven't done that in a long time."

"What do we - How are we gonna find the others now?" Elena asked as Anastasia dropped the heart to the floor.

"He had to die." Damon told her with his arms crossed.

"But..."

"Elena, he's been invited in." Stefan tells her.

The four looked up at the sound of doors closing, seeing a figure walk by the door.

"Go." Stefan tells his brother, " Me and Anastasia got this."

❱ 🌿⋆｡˚

"NO WAY that idiot was workin' alone." Damon says as he stood in the hallway with his brother and daughter.

Anastasia stayed silent, choosing not to tell the two about Anna being in Mystic Falls until she knew what her true intentions were, especially with Jeremy.

"You are." Stefan says, looking up at Damon who gave him a fake smile, "So the grimoire...that was Emily's, right? That's what you need to reverse the spell. When the founding families burned her, they took her things, and you were hoping that dad's journal would tell you where it is."

"Look at you, puttin' the pieces together." Damon says, "Good for you. I was half-right. Well, it's out there now. Let the games begin."

"My offer still stands." Stefan says.

"Yeah, with some hidden caveats, no doubt."

"No. Nothing hidden about it. No lies, no deception. We're there when you open up that tomb, you and Katherine go." Stefan says, "And the other twenty-six vampire die."

"If I agree?" Asked Damon.

"We'll help you."

"Why should I trust either of you?"

"Because I'm your brother and she's your daughter." Stefan nodded his head in Anastasia's direction.

"No, that's not gonna cut it."

"Because we want you gone." Anastasia spoke up.

Damon looks over at her, "Okay."

❱ 🌿⋆｡˚

ANASTASIA SAT on Jeremy's bed, knees pulled up to her chest as she stood in the bathroom, brushing his teeth, one of his t-shirts and her underwear being the only thing she had on her body.

"You seem distracted. "Jeremy spoke as he walked back into his room, closing both the bathroom door and his bedroom door behind him, "Anything you wanna talk about?"

"No distracted, just tired." She tells him, holding her arms out.

The boy chuckled, wrapping his arms around her waist before the two of them laid back, him laying on her chest, his face in the crook of his neck, "Listen, I know this whole Anna thing, her always popping up, is getting old for you. But I promise, my main focus is you."

"I don't care if you hang out with her without me." She sighed, wrapping her arms around his neck and playing with the hairs on the nap of his neck, "I just - I don't want her to, you know, get too attached and think that you gained some kind of feelings for her."

"Hey." Jeremy moved his head, leaning up slightly to kiss her. "You are the only person that I have feelings for, and that's not gonna change any time soon. It's just you and me. Okay?"

Anastasia smiled slightly, nodding. "Okay."

"Good." Jeremy grinned before kissing her.