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𝕬𝖈𝖙 1 ──── 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕽𝖆𝖇𝖇𝖎𝖙 𝕳𝖔𝖑𝖊

"𝕴 𝖐𝖓𝖔𝖜 𝖜𝖍𝖔 𝕴 𝖜𝖆𝖘 𝖜𝖍𝖊𝖓 𝕴 𝖌𝖔𝖙 𝖚𝖕 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖒𝖔𝖗𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌, 𝖇𝖚𝖙 𝕴 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖓𝖐 𝕴 𝖒𝖚𝖘𝖙 𝖍𝖆𝖛𝖊 𝖇𝖊𝖊𝖓 𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖓𝖌𝖊𝖉 𝖘𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖗𝖆𝖑 𝖙𝖎𝖒𝖊𝖘 𝖘𝖎𝖓𝖈𝖊 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖓" -𝕷𝖊𝖜𝖎𝖘 𝕮𝖆𝖗𝖗𝖔𝖑𝖑 

「 ✦ 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖁𝖆𝖒𝖕𝖎𝖗𝖊 𝕯𝖎𝖆𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖘 𝕾𝖊𝖆𝖘𝖔𝖓𝖘 1-4 ✦ 」

Chapter Text

Dappled light filtered through the sheer curtains of Alice’s room, casting a glow onto the bed in which she lay. The formerly sleeping teen let her eyelids flutter open and take in the morning sun. She let out a soft groan as she used her forearms to push herself up on the mattress. She turned her head slightly in order to peer over at the alarm clock seated on her bedside table. The hour hand ticked towards the seven, telling Alice that it was time for her to get up.

After she had let warm water wash over her body, wiping away the last traces of sleep, Alice had chosen her first day of school outfit. She went with a pink t-shirt with a tied bow in the center, a pair of low rise jeans, and a white sheer bolero. After putting on her outfit, Alice bounded down the stairs, making her way down to the kitchen. 

When she arrived in the kitchen, there was already a plate of eggs benedict waiting in her spot at the table. Her mom was standing over the stove, cooking what Alice assumed was Tyler’s breakfast. She smiled as she walked over to her, snaking her arms around her in a show of affection. 

Carol would’ve jumped if this wasn't such a familiar feeling. Unlike Tyler, Alice was a very affectionate and loving person, especially with her family. She could be cold and sharp when she needed to be, closing herself off from the world, but she would eventually melt in her mother’s embrace. “Good morning, baby.” Her mother greeted, poking at the egg with a spatula.

“Morning, Mom.” Alice let her mother go and made her way over to her spot at the kitchen table. A book lay discarded on the table from where Alice had left it there the previous night, her place still held. 

Alice was halfway through her breakfast by the time Tyler trudged into the kitchen. His eyes were slightly groggy but he had managed to put on his clothes correctly, so that was a win. He smiled when his sister looked up at him mid-bite and grinned. “Mom made eggs benedict.” She told him as she placed the fork in her mouth. Tyler chuckled at his sister’s appetite just as their mom passed a plate into his hands.

“Thanks,” He said, taking the plate over to the table to sit by Alice. Alice smiled as she licked the remnants off her fork and turned to her brother. She let her eyes trail up and down his body, determining if his outfit was first day worthy. Tyler, who had become used to this, simply rolled his eyes fondly and allowed her to do as she pleased. Alice, satisfied with his look, nodded and turned back to her plate. 

“Oh, Alice, did you ever get that tupperware back from Elena?” Carol asked as she finally slid into her own seat. Alice had been making food for the Gilbert family for the past month or so. When tragedy struck and Miranda and Grayson Gilbert drowned, Elena and Jeremy were put under the guardianship of their Aunt Jenna. Jenna Sommers was a wonderful woman, but she had been drowning in her newfound responsibilities. Due to this, Alice had taken it upon herself to make a few premade meals a week for the grieving family. She had tried her best to be subtle about it, not wanting to make them feel like a charity case. Thankfully, they had all been extremely grateful for Alice’s help. 

“I’ll ask her for it today at school.” Alice promised. Her mom nodded with a satisfied smile. Tyler, who had already finished inhaling his food, snuck his hand over to Alice’s plate and grabbed a hashbrown. “Hey!” Alice complained. 

“It’s the sibling food tax.” He reasoned. 

“You know, you’ve said that every time you’ve stolen my food, and not once has it made sense.” Tyler just grinned as he shoved the food in his mouth. 

“Tyler! Utensils!”  Their mom scolded him.

────୨ৎ────

“Matt, if you stare any longer you’ll burn a hole through her head.” Alice told Matt as she pushed her bag into her locker. Matt, Alice, and Tyler all had lockers right next to each other, which meant Alice had a clear view of her friend’s pining. 

“Well, what do you think I should do?” He asked her, slamming his locker shut after Elena had given him an awkward wave. 

Alice smirked at the question. “Watch and learn.” She told him, before she grabbed her books and strutted over to where Bonnie and Elena were talking. 

“He hates me.” She heard Elena say glumly.

“That’s not hate. That’s ‘you dumped me, but I’m too cool to show it, but secretly, I’m listening to Air Supply’s greatest hits.” Bonnie told her.

“Not so secretly, actually,” Alice added, making herself known to the duo. 

“Allie!” Bonnie cried gleefully, pulling Alice into a quick hug. Alice laughed with joy as she returned the embrace. She turned to Elena as soon as she released Bonnie. Elena smiled brightly at Alice, a smile that would’ve been convincing if Alice didn’t know how much time Elena had been practicing her fake smiles. She disregarded that for the moment, promising herself she would talk with Elena later, and allowed herself to be pulled into a hug once more.

“Thank you so much for everything you’ve done.” She told the blonde. “It means so much to all of us.” 

“Of course,” Alice said with a compassionate smile. “On that topic: my mom was wondering if we could have the tupperware back.” She told them, grimacing slightly at the request. 

Elena chuckled a little at Alice’s hesitance to ask –she had never been good at asking for anything but permission– and nodded. “I’ll get them to you tonight–” her speech was cut off by another blonde coming over to the three girls. 

“Elena. Oh my god.” Caroline Forbes quickly grabbed Elena in a hug so fierce the brunette might have suffocated. “How are you? Oh, it is so good to see you.” Caroline turned to Bonnie and Alice. “How is she? Is she good?” 

“Caroline, I’m right here.” Elena reminded her. “And I’m fine. Thank you.” 

“Really?” Caroline questioned.

“Yes, much better.” Elena assured Caroline. 

“Oh, you poor thing.” Caroline pulled Elena into another hug, not reading Elena’s energy. Alice loved Caroline with all of her heart, but she knew that the girl could come off as a little much. Caroline and Alice had always been best friends, just as Elena and Bonnie had been best friends. It was a group that consisted of two duos. Due to this, Elena and Bonnie never understood how hard Caroline tried, not like Alice did. 

“Okay, Caroline.” Elena signaled for the blonde to stop. 

“Oh! Okay, see you guys later?” Caroline wondered. 

“Okay! Bye, Care.” Alice said with a soft smile as the Forbes girl departed.

“No comment.” Elena said as soon as Caroline was out of earshot.

“I’m not going to say anything.” Bonnie promised.

“She means well,” Alice insisted as they began walking down the hall. The three girls chatted lightly until they reached the office.

“Hold up. Who’s this?” Bonnie asked as they pulled to a stop. Someone was signing up to join the high school.

“All I see is back.” Elena told her. 

“It’s a hot back.” Bonnie insisted.

“And a hot ass.” Alice added. Both of them snapped their eyes to her. “What?” She demanded, sensing their stares.

“Nothing,” Bonnie said with a chuckle. “I just did not expect that from you.” 

“Just because I’m soft spoken doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate what I see.” 

Bonnie smiled at her friend before turning her attention back to the mysterious new guy. “I’m sensing Seattle, and he plays the guitar.”

“You’re really gonna run this whole psychic thing into the ground, huh?” Elena asked.

“Pretty much.” Bonnie confirmed. Elena laughed until she heard a voice from down the hall.

“I’ll be right back.” She ground out. Alice spared her a glance before she continued staring. 

“Please be hot.” Bonnie whispered. After a minute of staring he turned around and revealed his face. The person Alice was staring at was easily the most gorgeous person she had ever seen. He had emerald eyes and a striking face; Alice could already imagine he was ripped.

When Alice had been twelve years old, she had laid eyes on Alex Maybank. He was in town for the summer, staying at the Young Farm, and from the second she had seen him, Alice had been head over heels. Or as much head over heel as a twelve year old could be. She had pined after him for the entire summer, never gathering the courage to talk to him. Eventually, he went back home and she all but forgot about him. But ever since then, every time she developed a crush, it had happened within the first few minutes of seeing them. Maybe it was vain, but it was how her brain functioned.

Within seconds, Alice already knew that this was going to be a problem.

────୨ৎ────

“His name is Stefan Salvatore.” Caroline explained to Alice and Bonnie as the three girls walked through the grill together. “He lives with his uncle up at the old Salvatore Boarding House. He hasn’t lived here since he was a kid. Military family, so they move around a lot. He’s a Gemini and his favorite color is blue.” 

Alice shuddered a little. God, even the word made her uncomfortable. 

“You got all of that in one day?” Bonnie questioned. 

“Please, I got all of that between third and fourth period. We’re planning a June wedding.” Caroline smiled at them before she went over to greet some other friends. Bonnie and Alice made their way over to the table where Matt and Tyler were sitting. 

“Hey, you okay?” Tyler asked, noticing the lost expression on his sister’s face. 

“Yeah,” Alice assured him, putting on a comforting smile. Tyler seemed convinced, seeing as he wrapped her in a one arm hug and then left to go play pool. 

Matt and Bonnie smiled at the interaction. Tyler Lockwood was a dick; he could be rude and brash, but never to his sister. Matt turned his attention away from the siblings and back to Bonnie and Alice. “How’s Elena doing?” He asked. Alice and Bonnie shared a look; they felt this question coming from a mile away.

“Her mom and dad died.” Bonnie reminded him. “How do you think? She’s putting on a good face, but it's only been four months. 

“Has she said anything about me?” Matt asked. Alice smiled sympathetically; it wasn’t hard to tell that Matt was still in love with Elena. While she couldn’t relate, Alice still felt for Matt. 

“Oh no, so not getting in the middle. You pick up the phone and call her.” Bonnie advised.

“I feel weird calling her. She broke up with me.”

“Give it more time, Matt,” Bonnie told him

“Matt, you and Elena have known each other since forever.” Alice reminded him “Just because you’re not dating doesn’t mean she doesn’t still care about you.” 

Bonnie suddenly looked up at something, causing Alice and Matt to follow her gaze. It was Elena walking into the grill with Stefan Salvatore. 

“More time, huh?” Matt rose from his seat and made his way over to the newcomers. 

“Oh, boy.” Bonnie whispered.

“He’s got this.” Alice told her. “I hope.”

“Hey, I’m Matt. Nice to meet you.” He greeted them, putting his hand out. Alice and Bonnie let out a simultaneous breath.

“Hi. Stefan.” Stefan shook Matt’s hand. Matt and Elena exchanged awkward greetings before Matt stepped away. 

Caroline quickly got the group to be ushered around a table. “So, you were born in Mystic Falls?” She asked as if she didn’t already know. 

“Mm-hmm, and moved when I was still young.” Stefan confirmed. 

“Parents?” Bonnie asked. 

“My parents passed away.” Stefan told them.

Elena’s eyes went wide with sympathy. “I’m sorry. Any siblings?” 

“None that I talk to.” Stefan informed them. Alice’s eyes narrowed at the dodge. He clearly did have a sibling, they just weren’t talking. She could relate to that. “I live with my uncle.”

“So, Stefan, if you’re new then you don’t know about the party tomorrow.” Caroline mentioned. 

“It’s a back to school thing at the falls.” Bonnie explained. 

Stefan turned his eyes to Elena. “Are you going?” He asked.

“Of course she is.” Bonnie answered for her.

────୨ৎ────

The next night, Alice sat on a bench near the bonfire, listening to Tyler talk to his friends. She knew that Bonnie, Elena, and Caroline were here somewhere, but she had decided to hang out with her brother for a bit. 

“Hey,” Tyler said as he sat down next to her. He looked at her sideways, a red cup of beer in his hand. 

“Hey.” Alice said softly, a small smile on her lips. Tyler looked her up and down quizzically, similar to how she had done this morning. Though Tyler’s look came with a question buzzing on his tongue. 

“Why do you even come to these parties?” He asked. Alice furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. It was no secret that she didn’t have a party attitude, but usually she could count on Tyler to be enough of the party life for the both of them. If he was already questioning motives behind age old habits, it meant that he had already drunk too much. It took a lot of alcohol to get Tyler to the slurring and stumbling stage of drunk that television so often portrayed. Instead, you could tell he was tipsy by the way his already low impulse control would vanish completely. 

Alice rolled her eyes. “I come to these parties because you always need someone to drive you home after you get drunk.” She said, fixing a sardonic smile onto her face. Tyler rolled his eyes and shoved her lightly. 

“Buzzkill.” He went to say something else when Vicki Donavan walked by, her hips swaying alluringly– and purposefully. Tyler’s gaze followed each of her steps as she stalked further into the party. He gave his sister an apologetic look. 

She snorted. “Go.” She said with a small smile. “And don’t be a dick.” She yelled at his retreating figure. 

Alice wandered around the party grounds for a little while more before she found something to occupy her time. That something came in the form of a very drunk Caroline Forbes. She was stumbling through the party and nearly ran into Alice. “Easy there,” Alice cautioned, holding Caroline’s shoulders. 

“Heyyy.” Caroline slurred. Alice frowned; this seemed like more than her party drunk. 

“What’s wrong?” She asked. 

“Nothing…absolutely nothing.” Caroline said. “Just that I’ll never have a June wedding… never.” It dawned on her that this meant Stefan had rejected Caroline. This was her rejected drunk. Alice pulled Caroline into a hug and allowed the other blonde to cry into her shoulder. 

Eventually she pulled back as Caroline’s sobs became hiccuping gasps. Then, to her horror, it became a burp. Alice cringed in anticipation; Caroline had zero alcohol tolerance. She shifted her friend's shoulder just as she began to heave. Alice held her hair and rubbed her back as Caroline retched onto the ground until she had purged all the contents of her stomach. Once she was done, Caroline let out another small sob causing Alice to sigh and take Caroline aside to a bench. She pulled Caroline’s blonde head onto her own. 

They sat like that for a good amount of time before everyone heard screaming. Alice shot her head up and found Jeremy and Elena running out of the woods holding a severely bleeding Vicki Donavon. “Oh my god.” Alice breathed. 

────୨ৎ────

Alice stood outside the Forbes household, taking in the night sky for a moment. She knew she needed to return to Caroline soon, but she wanted a minute to breathe.

“Hey.” A voice came from behind. Alice swiveled and saw none other than Stefan Salvatore standing in front of her. 

“Hey.” She hesitated. “What are you doing here?” 

“Well, I was heading over to Elena’s house and saw you standing here.” He admitted. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Oh,” Alice was glad it was dark; that way no one could see her blush. She knew she didn’t have a chance with Stefan. He was obviously already falling for Elena. “I’m fine.” She told him. “Just staying at Caroline’s after someone rejected her.” She put her head up as if in consideration.

“Oh, um– I–” Alice laughed at his response.

“Don’t sweat it.” She assured him, causing him to let out a breath. “I was just teasing. But tip for next time: be more gentle.” 

“Yes, of course.” He nodded. “I’ll apologize to Caroline tomorrow.” He turned to leave but then looked back at her. “I never got your name.” 

“Alice,” She told him. “Alice Lockwood.” She held out her hand; smiling, Stefan shook it. Alice would have blushed at the touch had her attention not been entirely captivated by the red glow surrounding their hands and the rush of magic she hadn’t felt in so long. 

Stefan winced and pulled back. “Sorry, I must have shocked you.” He told her. 

“Yeah, that must be it.” Her voice was barely a whisper. 

“Goodnight, Alice.” He nodded and continued down the street. 

Alice ran into the house as fast as humanly possible, gasping in shock. 

She glanced out the window, watching the vampire fade into the night. 

Heart pounding, she looked down at her shaking hands. She shook her head violently, trying to shake off the terror and guilt that had been instilled into her by a man she once called her father and forever her nightmare.

Chapter Text

Alice smoothed out her babydoll top with still shaking hands. She had returned home early that morning; right after making coffee for Caroline. She didn’t know what to do with herself and knew that she needed to be at home. Whenever Alice got overwhelmed and anxious, the Lockwood mansion was her safe space. 

She was well aware that the manor was more than a bit over the top, but she loved it. The founding families of Mystic Falls all had considerable wealth. But the Lockwoods had the most out of all of them, with their fancy parities and the way they practically bled money. She knew how lucky she was to be a part of this family.

She looked in the mirror one last time before sighing deeply and stepping out of her room. Tyler met her at the bottom of the stairs, a troubled expression on his face. “Hey,” Alice said breathlessly. It had been hours and her heart was still beating a little faster than normal. Luckily, it was beginning to calm down as she repeatedly reminded herself that she wasn’t in that haunted house anymore. 

“Hey.” Tyler said back, his voice short with worry. Alice looked at him quizzically, trying to determine the source of his bad mood. It dawned on her quickly: he was worried about Vicki. He turned around and made his way out to the car before she could get a word in. Both Tyler and Alice had been gifted cars on their sixteenth birthday, but occasionally they would carpool to save money on gas. That in mind, Alice followed her brother out to his car and hopped in the passenger seat. Tyler sighed when he saw her get in, but didn’t object. 

They sat in silence for a while before Alice finally spoke up. “Why don’t you go visit Vicki?” She asked. 

Tyler didn’t look at her, he only kept his gaze on the road ahead of them. “I have school.” He told her. 

Alice snorted. “So? You ditch school all the time.” Tyler didn’t reply. A moment passed before Alice figured it out. “Oh.” She let out, causing Tyler to look at her. “This isn’t about school; you’re afraid of what Mom and Dad would think.” 

Tyler pulled his car up into a parking spot at the school. “I already know what Mom and Dad will think.”

Alice sighed; he was right, of course. Alice loved her parents but she knew that they wouldn’t approve of their son’s relationship with Vicki Donavon. Contrary to the belief of one Jeremy Gilbert, Tyler legitimately liked Vicki. But he knew that their clashing status in the town would put a damper on any relationship they might hope to have. “I think you should go for it.” She told him as they both exited the car. Tyler gave her a look. “If you genuinely like her, go for it. Mom might throw a hissy fit, but she'll get over it eventually.” 

Tyler said nothing, so Alice simply gave him a hug and made her way to the first period. 

────୨ৎ────

Alice sighed with relief as she finally got out of history. She used to like history; then she met William Tanner. He was everything a teacher was not supposed to be; she honestly didn’t know how he kept this job with all the complaints that got sent in. 

Her eyes flickered across the hallway in search of her friends. She smiled when she saw Bonnie and Caroline walking through the hallways. She quickened her pace to catch up with them. “Hey, guys.” They both smiled upon sight of her.

“Hey, Alice.” Bonnie greeted, pulling her over to walk with them. 

“I’m confused.” Caroline told them, referencing the conversation she and Bonnie had been having. “Are you psychic or clairvoyant?” Alice giggled a bit with a grin.

“Technically, Grams says I’m a witch.” Bonnie said. The grin disappeared from Alice’s face within a millisecond. “My ancestors were these really cool Salem witch chicks or something.” Alice’s heart was in her throat by now. “Grams tried to explain it all but she was looped on the liquor so I tuned out. Crazy family? Yes. Witches? I don’t think so.” 

“Yeah, well, feel free to conjure up the name and number of that guy from last night.” Caroline told them but Alice could barely hear her with the blood rushing in her ears. 

“I didn’t see him, you did.” Bonnie reminded Caroline. “Why didn’t you talk to him?” 

“I don’t know. I was drunk.” 

Alice was completely lost in her own thoughts. This could not be happening. Maybe Bonnie’s Grams really was drunk and rambling nonsense. Everything in her was telling her that was false, though. 

“Alice, you okay?” Caroline asked, noticing her friend was not speaking and had gone deathly pale. Alice didn’t respond. Caroline and Bonnie shared a worried look and Caroline snapped her fingers in front of Alice’s face. Alice blinked and was met with worried stares. 

“Um… I gotta go find Tyler.” She rushed out. “I’ll catch up with you later.” She left before either girl could get a word in and hurried to where she knew her brother would be. 

She found him talking to some girls by the football field. “Ty,” She called out. Tyler looked around, and saw her approaching him. It only took a single glance for him to know that something was really wrong.

“Hey, you good? What’s wrong?” He immediately asked, his douche act disappearing and being replaced with the worried brother.

“I wanna go home.” Alice whispered. Tyler glanced back at the girls he had been talking to and then nodded at his sister. He grabbed her hand and took her over to the car. 

They drove home in silence, Tyler throwing her concerned looks now and then. When they parked, Alice got right out of the car and walked into the house. Tyler followed until she turned to face him. 

“I-I’m gonna go take a nap. She informed him and then headed up to her bedroom. Alice got into her queen sized bed and held her blankets close to her chest. Before she knew it, she was fast asleep.

Alice woke up with a start. She had been napping again: she did that a lot, seeing as it was one of the only ways she could pass the time on her own. She blinked her eyes sluggishly and looked around for what had woken her up. The attic was as bare and cold as usual, save for the twin beds in each corner.

It took a moment before the noises started up again. It was clear to her what the noises were now: it was screaming. Blood curdling screams were filling the air of the house; as if this place wasn’t haunted enough. 

Alice’s insides curled painfully with fear, her heart beating wildly. What was going on? She wanted to go back to sleep and hide under her covers, hoping it was only a bad dream. But then words began to break through. “Kai! Kai, please.” Alice’s eyes snapped wide open. Dad must have been home already and decided to take out his endless frustration on Kai. Frustration that stemmed from the fact that Kai and Alice existed, of course. It was strange though, their siblings never intervened during a beating. Either way, she needed to get down there. When they were both down there, it provided a better outcome, seeing as he couldn’t focus his rage on just one person anymore. 

Alice tossed off the blankets and banged the door open. She climbed down the ladder with familiar urgency. If she was lucky, she could get to Kai before her dad did any real damage… again. 

The scene she arrived in was not what she had been expecting. Her father was nowhere in sight, the room was covered in blood. The screams had faded as Alice stared at Joey, her older brother, lying on the floor with a knife in his gut and no life in his eyes. Sandra, her sister, hanging from the stair railing. The room wasn’t all that was covered in blood. In front of Joey, stood the perpetrator of the horrific act in front of Alice’s eyes. Kai. Her beloved brother, her protector, standing in front of the massacre he had performed as if it was his greatest creation. “...Kai?”

Kai’s head swiveled to face the only sibling of his he had ever cared about. Alice stared at him in horror. “Come on, Alice,” He said, urgency in his tone. 

“Come on, where?” Her voice was terrified; it angered Kai. 

“To finish this.” He said as if it was obvious. “To get revenge on them. To punish them for everything they’ve done to us.” 

Alice shook her head slowly in denial, both of Kai’s offer and of the scene in front of her. “I-I can’t.” She whispered. “I won’t.” At eight years old, she already had a firm set of morals, hardened by the cruelty she had experienced, making her promise never to inflict that on anyone.

Kai’s eyes grew murderous, he stalked forward, approaching her slowly.  “What do you mean, you won’t?” He strung out his words dangerously. 

“This-this isn’t right.” She told him. Kai’s eyes flashed with unfiltered rage. He tore the knife out of Joey’s abdomen, and held it up, the light of the full moon glinting off the steel blade. “No! Kai, no!” Alice yelled, realizing what was about to happen. This couldn’t be real– it just couldn’t. She screamed with terror one last time before it was silenced by the knife plunging into her side. 

“Alice!” a voice yelled. “Alice, wake up!” Alice shot out of bed with a scream. She was met not with a blade, but the concerned look of Tyler. He looked almost as scared as she felt. 

“Wh-what happened?” She asked, trembling.

“You were having a nightmare. You were screaming.” Tyler told her, holding her shoulders to steady her. 

Tyler brushed a stray strand of blonde hair out of her face. The action was so different from the one she had experienced in the memory turned nightmare. It was all it took for her to collapse. She all but fell into Tyler’s arms, sobbing as she held him tight.

Tyler, although stunned for a moment, reacted quickly by holding her tight. He held her head in one hand, stroking her hair as she cried. “It’s okay, I’m here. It’s all okay.

────୨ৎ────

Carol Lockwood was more than just a snotty small town wife. Before she had met Richard Lockwood, Carol had been into politics herself. She had attended Whitmore for a degree in political science. Then she fell in love. He was a jerk, but she loved him and she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. And that’s what she was doing. 

It was 5:30 AM when she started working on some pointers for the next historical society meeting. She had a piece of toast and a mug of coffee to keep her going, and that was all she needed. When she was passionate about something she was working on she could go hours without sleep. 

Her husband came into the dining room not much later. He was fixing his tie and had a coffee in hand when he approached her. “I’m going to be out late tonight. Meeting with Liz Forbes.” He told her. 

“And you’re sure about this?” She asked, sipping on her coffee. 

“There’s nothing else it could be, Carol.” Richard told her once again. She stayed silent. “I know you don’t want it to be true, but we have to face the facts.” He sat down next to her and looked her in the eyes. Carol nodded, she knew this. She knew that if she wanted to keep her town and her family safe she needed to admit the truth.

That was when a scream pierced the air. She and Richard exchanged a wide eyed, terrified look as they bolted from their seats. Another scream commenced. She raced into the entrance to see where it was coming from. It was clearer when she got there. The screaming was coming from her daughter's room. 

“Alice.” She heard her husband let out. They both ran up the stairs and into their daughters room, fear gripping at the parents’ hearts. Richard all but banged the door open, looking for any sign of an intruder. What they found instead was their daughter, thrashing in her bed, screaming bloody murder. Richard sighed in relief that she was physically unharmed, but Carol raced to the bed. 

“Alice! Alice, it’s not real!” Alice let out one more shout before she shot up in her bed, gasping like she had run a marathon. 

“Mom?” Her voice was shaking like mad. 

“I’m here, baby,” She told the terrified teenager. 

“Make him go away, Mom. Please make him go away.” She begged. Carol felt helpless at her daughter's panic. 

“Oh, honey,” She didn’t notice that Tyler had come into the room, awakened as well by the noise. She was too busy pulling her daughter into her arms.

Because, above all, Carol Lockwood was a mother. 

────୨ৎ────

Alice could feel Tyler’s worried gaze on her as she walked into the park. He had been watching her like a hawk all day. She couldn’t say she was surprised, seeing as he had witnessed her wake up screaming twice in less than twenty-four hours. 

She didn’t know why she had even come to the stupid party. Maybe it was because she had wanted to convince her family that she was fine. (She wasn’t and she doubted she ever would be.)  

Alice scanned the party for any sign of her friends. Most of them, anyway. In all honesty, she had been avoiding Bonnie since the whole witch conversation had happened. That was, until she heard a familiar voice call out her name from across the park.

“Alice!” She turned her head to see the very person she was avoiding. She contemplated turning around and leaving, but that would be rude. It wasn’t like she was mad at Bonnie, she was just…scared. Scared that she was doomed to repeat the past and be sentenced to a lonely life so much like the one she had left behind.

Despite all her doubts, she reminded herself that if Bonnie didn’t know she was a witch she probably didn’t know what to think of Alice’s kind either. Gathering her courage, Alice smiled and walked over to Bonnie and Elena.

“Hey, guys!” She said in what she hoped was a carefree tone. Bonnie smiled at the fact that she had gotten Alice to talk to her. Alice felt the guilt from avoiding Bonnie start to creep in. She was only in her position because of old fashioned beliefs, she could not start to apply them as well.

“Do you want a program?” Bonnie asked cheerfully. Alice nodded with a smile, taking the leaflet that was handed to her. She looked between the two other girls and quickly realized that she was missing something. 

“What did I miss?” She questioned. Bonnie shot Elena a look that Elena pointedly ignored. 

“Elena was telling me that she doesn’t want to be with Stefan.” 

“All I said was that the timing wasn’t right.” Elena defended. Bonnie and Alice both looked at her with disbelief. 

“When is it ever right?” Bonnie countered. 

“I’m not ready, guys.” 

“Who is?” Bonnie pushed. 

“At least I put myself out there,” Elena defended her choices.

“Is that what you’re calling that?” Bonnie asked.

“What do you mean?” Elena wondered. 

“All I’m hearing is reasons why you can't,” Bonnie pointed out. Alice stayed silent. She had been all for Stefan and Elena before she found out the former was a vampire. She didn’t know what his deal was, but she knew they were dangerous. 

“I’m gonna go get some food,” Elena said in an attempt to get out of this conversation. Bonnie and Alice were silent for a moment after she left. 

“Are you mad at me?” Bonnie finally asked. “Cause you’ve been avoiding me all day, and if I upset you then you can tell me.” 

“No, I’m not mad at you.” Alice reassured her. “It’s just– I've had some bad days recently and it's stuff I feel like I can’t talk about.” Bonnie looked at her sympathetically 

“Alice, I’d never force you to talk about anything.” She told her friend.

“Thank you, Bonnie.” Alice said sincerely. 

The girls continued their walk through the park as night slowly began to fall. 

Finally, the comet came and went.

────୨ৎ────

Alice was resting her head on Bonnie’s shoulder as she dipped her fries in her milkshake. It was weird to some people, but Alice loved it. She absentmindedly nodded her head in agreement to whatever the group was saying. Usually she was a more attentive listener but with how her sleep had been recently, she was now constantly fighting the pull of exhaustion.

“Hey, has anyone seen Vicki?” Jeremy Gilbert said as he approached their table. Alice blinked her eyes open from where she had been nodding off. 

“You’re her stalker, you tell us.” Tyler snapped, causing Alice to sigh; this was so not going to end well.

“I can’t find her.” Jeremy explained. 

“She probably found someone else to party with. Sorry, pill pusher, I guess you’ve been replaced.” Oh boy. 

Elena’s eyes snapped over to her brother. “What’s with the pill pusher?” 

“Ask him.” Tyler told her. 

“You wanna do this right now?” Jeremy challenged.

“Are you dealing?” Elena asked with repulsion. 

“She’s never going to go for you.” Tyler declared to Jeremy.

“She already did. Over and over and over again.” Now that was something Alice had not been expecting. 

“You slept with Vicki Dovavon?” She blurted, unable to help herself.

“Vicki Donavon slept with you?” Caroline asked, sharing Alice’s sentiment.

“There’s no way.” Tyler denied.

“And I didn’t even have to force her into it.” Jeremy snapped. Matt and Alice immediately pinned their stares onto Tyler. 

“What the hell is he talking about, Ty?” Matt asked. 

“Nothing man, just ignore him, he’s a punk.” Tyler said in an attempt to defend himself. 

“You know what? How about all of you shut up and help me find my sister?” Matt proposed. 

“We’ll check the back,” Bonnie offered, dragging Caroline and Alice with her. 

They looked around for a little while before they got wind that Vicki had been found and they headed back inside. Elena had gone home by then, so it was just the three of them. “Ugh, it’s just so much drama.” Caroline complained. “Ever notice how the druggies are the biggest attention whores?” 

“Care,” Alice said softly, reminding the other girl to be tactful. She wasn’t the biggest fan of Vicki either but she could acknowledge that she didn’t know the whole situation. She had to respect that people dealt with things in their own ways, and while she found Vicki’s way concerning, there wasn’t anything she could do about it. 

Alice ducked her head as she saw Stefan approach their table. “Excuse me, hi.” 

“Hi.” Bonnie responded.

“Have you guys seen Elena?” He asked them. Alice truly didn’t know what to think of Stefan Salvatore. He was a vampire, and she knew how dangerous they could be, but he seemed to genuinely care about Elena. As far as she could tell, at least. 

“I think she went home.” Bonnie informed him. Stefan nodded and turned to leave when Bonnie spoke up again. “I’m gonna give you Elena’s cell number and her email. She is big on texting and you can tell her… ‘I said so.’ ” 

“Thank you.” Stefan said gratefully. He reached out to grab the paper, but as Bonnie handed it to him, their hands brushed. She gasped and her eyes flew wide open. 

“You okay?” Stefan asked.

“What happened to you?” Bonnie said bluntly. She then seemed to come back to herself. “That’s so rude. I’m sorry. Excuse me” She stood up from the table and left. 

Alice didn’t hear what Caroline was saying. It was drowned out by her heart beating wildly in her chest and her ears. 

She couldn’t deny it any longer; Bonnie was a witch. 

Chapter Text

Alice had always been a firm believer in the sentiment of not judging people until you got to know them. No one deserved to be iced out or picked on for something that wasn’t even true. She held that sentiment close to her as she got in her car in order to pick up Bonnie and Elena.

Bonnie and Alice had been friends from the first time they saw each other. And over the years that had followed their initial meeting the two girls had only grown closer. So, thinking about it, Alice did know Bonnie. She knew her kindness and loyalty, her selflessness and her strength. But she also knew witches.

She was holding onto hope that when Bonnie inevitably learned about her heritage, the loyalty she had to Alice would out way the judgment she had of siphons.

She pulled up at Bonnie’s house first, honking her horn to signify to the Bennett girl that she was here. Bonnie came rushing out of the front door not long after. She had her bag slung around her shoulder as she hopped into the passenger seat. “Thanks for the ride,” Bonnie said gratefully.

“Anytime,” Alice reassured her once she had swallowed back her fear. “We’re picking up Elena and then we’re heading to school,” She explained. Bonnie nodded and began sifting through her bag in order to ensure she didn’t forget anything.

When they pulled up at the Gilbert household Elena was already waiting for them with a grin on her face. She bounded over to the car and got into her seat. There was quite obviously gossip itching to come out from Elena’s mouth.

She had kissed Stefan last night. Elena was ecstatic about it, but it wasn’t hard to tell that Bonnie was not. Alice could only assume that whatever Bonnie had seen or felt the other night had caused her to do a 180 on her stance. Elena could also tell that Bonnie was more subdued on the matter then she had previously been. That made Elena begin to start pushing Bonnie on her change of opinion.

“I’m not saying don’t date the guy,” Bonnie insisted as they got out of the car. “I’m just saying take it slow.”

“You were the one who said to go for it.” Elena reminded her.

“Now I’m saying take it slow.” Bonnie countered.

“Why the about face?” Elena asked

“It’s not an about face,” Bonnie told her. “You’re single for the first time in your high school career. It’s the perfect time to play the field.”

Oh, because I’m so that girl.” Elena laughed. “Seriously, what are you not saying?”

“It’s stupid,” Bonnie insisted.

“Bonnie…”

“What?”

“Spit it out.” Elena urged her.

“I accidentally touched Stefan, and I got a really bad feeling.” Bonnie explained, confirming Alice’s suspicions.

“Is that it?” Elena asked, causing Bonnie to walk away from them. Elena grabbed onto her arm. “Bonnie.”

“It was bad bad,” Bonnie told her.

“Is this that whole witch mojo again?” Elena queried.

“She’s got a point,” Alice spoke up, dragging the conversation away from witches. Bonnie looked gratefully, albeit surprisedly, at Alice, but Elena seemed taken aback. “It’s just,” Alice began. “You don’t know anything about him. You don’t have to break up or anything, maybe just learn more about him before you go all in.” She advised her. Elena only gave them a look. Alice held her hands up in surrender. “We’re just concerned. This is us expressing our concern about our best friend’s new boyfriend.” Bonnie nodded in agreement to Alice’s statement.

“And I love you both for it, I do.” Elena told them. “But I feel good. It’s been a hard year and I’m starting to kind of feel like things are getting back to normal again. And you know what? Stefan is a big part of that.” Alice sighed but nodded at her explanation.

They only got a few steps farther before Stefan approached them. Alice took a step back without noticing it. “Good morning, Elena. Good morning, Bonnie. Good morning, Alice.” He said with a smile.

“You know, Caroline’s not answering her phone, so I’m gonna go try and find her.” Alice explained. “I’ll see you guys later.”

“I’ll come with you.” Bonnie said. The two girls departed from the happy couple. Bonnie let out a sigh of relief once they stepped away.

“You okay?” Alice asked with a compassionate look.

“Yeah,” Bonnie confirmed.

────୨ৎ────

“I cannot believe Tyler.” Alice complained as she and Bonnie were stretching. She had heard about the football incident and was very peeved. Bonnie chuckled a bit at Alice’s expression. “And if I know him, which I do, he’s not going to apologize. In fact he’s probably going to make things worse.” She flung her head back and groaned. “Now I have to talk to Stefan on his behalf.”

Bonnie gave her an odd look. “Why would you have to do anything?”

Alice pulled the string on her high ponytail one more time for good measure and gave Bonnie a look in return. “I love you, Bonnie, but your only child is showing.” Bonnie only playfully shoved her and went back to stretching.

When they turned their heads, they saw Elena approaching. Both girls grinned upon sight of her. “Oh, my God!” Bonnie and Elena embraced. “You’re here.”

“Yep. I can’t be sad girl forever.” Elena declared. “The only way to get things back to the way they were is to do things the way they were.” She began to join the others in stretching. “Oh, and you’re both coming to dinner tonight.”

“We are?” Bonnie questioned.

“Mhmm. You two, me, and Stefan.” Alice and Bonnie exchanged a look at the mention of Elena’s new boyfriend. “You have to give him a chance.” Elena insisted.

“Tonight’s no good.” Bonnie told her. Elena gave her a look that told her she could see right through the lie.

“Have you seen Caroline? I’m starting to get worried.” Alice said, attempting to divert the conversation.

“Don’t change the subject, Alice Lockwood. You’re going to be there.” Alice looked at Bonnie and then back at Elena before she sighed in resignation.

“Fine, I’ll go.”

“Me too.” Bonnie conceded. Elena grinned and they all began to stretch.

It didn’t take long for them to begin to grow concerned about Caroline’s wearabouts.

“Seriously, where is Caroline?” Bonnie wondered.

“I don’t know. It’s not like her.” Elena agreed.

“I’m gonna try her again.” Alice told them. Just as she began to dial Caroline’s number loud and obnoxious music filled her ears. They all turned to see Caroline riding in the car of whom Alice could only assume was the mystery guy she had been talking about.

“Oh, my god.” Bonnie exclaimed as the couple shared a passionate kiss. “That must be the mystery guy from the grill.”

“That’s not a mystery guy. That’s Damon Salvatore.” Elena informed them.

“Salvatore as in Stefan?!” Alice said, her voice almost a screech. If Damon was Stefan’s brother that probably meant that he was a vampire too. There was always the chance that he wasn’t but the scarf on Caroline’s neck said otherwise. Alice felt sick. Her best friend was probably being drained of blood and she couldn’t think of anything to do.

“I got the other brother. Hope you don't mind.” Caroline flaunted as she made her way to the captain’s place. “Sorry I'm late, girls. I, uh, was busy. All right, let's start with the double pike herkie hurdler, what do you say?” She instructed.

It didn’t take long to see that Elena had fallen behind from her time away from cheer camp. “And 5, 6, 7, 8. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Elena, sweetie, why don't you just observe today? Ok? Keep going! Ok. Do it again from the top. And 5, 6, 7, 8. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.”

────୨ৎ────

At Elena’s house, she, Bonnie and Alice were all helping to prepare for the dinner they were about to have. “You explain it. Last night, I’m watching Nine-o, the commercial break comes on and I’m like, "I bet it’s that phone commercial.” Bonnie was currently telling them her most recent strange experience. “And sure enough, it’s that guy and the girl with the bench, he flies to Paris, he flies back. They take a picture.”

“Oh, come on,” Elena laughed. “That commercial is on a constant loop.”

“Fine. Well how about this? Today I’m obsessed with numbers. Three numbers.” Bonnie pushed. “I keep seeing 18, 14, and 22. How weird is that?” Alice wanted nothing more than to simply let Bonnie learn the truth. Then she could either be accepted for her siphon nature or rejected. It was agony for it to be dragging out like this.

“Maybe we should play the lottery.” Elena proposed. “Have you talked to your Grams?”

“She’s just going to say it’s because I’m a witch.” Bonnie reminded them. “I don’t want to be a witch. Do you guys want to be a witch?” Now that sounded like a question Alice didn’t know how to answer.

“I don’t want to be a witch.” Elena denied.

“What if she’s right?” Alice said tentatively. She might not be able to tell Bonnie herself, but she could at least push her closer to the truth.

“Not you too,” Bonnie complained.

“I mean, think about it.” Alice proposed. “You keep saying all these weird things are happening. What if the answer is right in front of you?” She hated herself so much. What kind of idiot pushes one of their best friends to want to drop them.

Bonnie stared at her for a moment, although it looked more like she was staring into space. She was snapped out of it by the doorbell ringing. “Okay, he’s here. Don’t be nervous.” Yeah, who would be nervous about eating dinner with a vampire? “Just be your normal loving selves.”

When she left to go get the door, Bonnie turned back to Alice. “Do you really think that it’s possible? Me being a witch?”

Alice stayed silent for a moment. “Yeah. Yeah, I do.” She had to have faith in her friend. Elena returned with Stefan not a moment later.

“Hello,” he greeted them. Bonnie gave a nod and Alice forced a small smile before she began taking the food to the table.

The awkward silence continued as they sat down for dinner. Bonnie and Alice just exchanged secret looks with each other while Elena did the same with Stefan. “Did Tanner give you a hard time today?” Elena finally asked, breaking the silence but not the tension.

“Well, he let me on the team, so I must have done something right.”

“You guys should have seen Stefan today,” Elena raved, “Tyler threw a ball right at him and–”

“We heard.” Bonnie cut her off. More awkward looks were exchanged.

Alice sighed. “I’m sorry about him,” she told Stefan. “My brother can be a real dick at times.”

Stefan smiled warmly. Partially because she was finally speaking to him and partially because he could relate. “Don’t worry about it. You didn’t do anything.” He assured her. She nodded with yet another forced smile. She really was sorry, but she still didn’t love the idea of being friends with a vampire. Elena smiled at the fact that Alice seemed to be warming up to Stefan and turned her attention onto Bonnie.

“Bonnie, why don’t you tell Stefan about your family.”

Bonnie gave Elena a frustrated look. “Um, divorced. No mom. Live with my dad.”

Elena scoffed. “No, about the witches.” Alice tensed, her eyes going wide as Stefan’s own eyes widened. The first thing a witch isn’t supposed to do around a vampire is blatantly say that they're a witch. Especially not one as unaware and unpracticed as Bonnie. That way, if they try to attack you, you will have the element of surprise. “Bonnie’s family has a lineage of witches. It’s really cool.” Oh, god, this was bad.

“Cool isn't the word I’d use.” Bonnie downplayed.

“Well, it’s certainly interesting,” Stefan admitted. “I’m not too versed, but do I know that there’s a history of Celtic druids that migrated here in the 1800s.”

“My family came by way of Salem,” Bonnie told him, much to Alice’s displeasure.

“Really? Salem witches?” Stefan questioned.

“Yeah,” Bonnie confirmed.

“I would say that’s pretty cool.” He said.

“Really? Why?” Bonnie wondered.

“Salem witches are heroic examples of individualism and nonconformity.” Stefan informed them.

“Yeah, they are,” Bonnie agreed. Alice could see her defenses falling as she began to warm up to Stefan. Which was the exact opposite of what she should be doing, seeing as he now knew she was a witch.

The doorbell ringing again stopped her from any further panicking. “I wonder who that could be?” Elena expressed. She rose from the table to open the door. Stefan followed her a moment later. When they rejoined Alice and Bonnie they were accompanied by Caroline and Damon. Alice cursed inwardly at the sight of Damon invited into Elena’s house. Vampire’s need to be invited in, and now Damon had free range. This night was quickly going from bad to worse.

They all sat gathered in the living room as both Alice and Stefan, unbeknownst to the other, squirmed with fear and anger. “I cannot believe that Mr. Tanner let you on the team,” Caroline gushed. “Tyler must be seething. But good for you. Go for it.”

“That’s what I always tell him. You have to engage. You can’t just sit there and wait for life to come to you. You have to go get it.” Damon stated.

“Yeah, Elena wasn’t so lucky today,” Caroline said, referencing cheer practice. “It’s only because you missed summer camp. God, I don’t know how you’re ever going to learn the routines.”

“I’ll work with her,” Bonnie told them. “She’ll get it.”

“I guess we could put her in the back,” Caroline thought aloud. Alice tried sending a subtle look Caroline’s way, reminding her to be tactful, but it went unnoticed.

“You don’t seem like the cheerleader type, Elena,” Damon commented.

“Oh, it’s just ‘cause her parents died. Yeah, I mean, she’s just totally going through a blah phase. She used to be way more fun.” Caroline expressed. This time, Alice’s look wasn’t even attempting to be subtle.

“Care,” She said quietly. “Tact.”

“And I say that with complete sensitivity,” Caroline added.

“I’m sorry, Elena.” Damon expressed in a voice that almost sounded too sincere. “I know what it’s like to lose both your parents. In fact, Stefan and I have watched almost every single person we’ve ever cared about die.”

“We don’t need to get into that right now, Damon.” Stefan kept a steady glare on Damon the whole time he spoke.

“Oh, you know what, you’re right, Stef. I’m sorry. The last thing I want to do is bring her up.” Damon proceeded to send Stefan a smile that showed he wasn’t sorry at all.

Alice decided right then and there she couldn’t judge Stefan for being a vampire anymore. She could see that he was more complex than any of the vampire stories she had heard in her youth. And it didn’t hurt that she related so heavily to having a toxic family. In fact, she decided that from here on out, they would be friends. And friends protect each other. So, as she saw Stefan growing more uncomfortable, she decided it was Damon’s turn to be uncomfortable.

“Caroline,” Alice said cheerfully, “I love your scarf. It brings out your eyes.”

Caroline smiled happily and looked down at her scarf and then back up at Alice. “Thanks! It’s new.”

“Is it a new trend I’ve missed out on?” She continued.

“What do you mean?” Caroline wondered.

“Well, you wore one to cheer practice, too.” Alice mentioned. She was poking the bear and she knew it. “With the heat, I can only assume that you’re doing it because that's what the magazines are saying.” She smiled innocently. Alice didn’t miss the looks that the Salvatore brothers were giving her.

“Oh, I…”

“There’s also the obvious explanation.” She said offhandedly. “But for your dignity…” she trailed off with a wink. She couldn’t help but relish in the way Damon’s smile tightened.

“Obvious explanation?” Stefan repeated her previous words as a question, dodging the subtle glare Damon gave him.

“Well, you know…” Everyone in the room was staring at her now. Maybe this was a bad idea. “Hickeys.”

“Alice!” Elena scolded, but she was grinning as well.

“TMI, Allie, TMI.” Bonnie said. The group of four girls shared one look before they were all laughing hysterically.

She saw Damon exhale in relief.

The dinner wrapped up pretty quickly after that. Bonnie and Alice had gone to help Elena with the dishes and Caroline had even joined them. Then they bid their host good night and all went their separate ways.

────୨ৎ────

Alice stood beside Bonnie and Caroline, the three of them all decked out in their cheer uniforms. Elena had quit last minute, upsetting Caroline, so Alice had spent ten minutes reassuring her that the routine would still work well. It was definitely last minute notice for Elena to drop out, but they made do nonetheless.

Tanner stood in front of the crowd and spoke into a microphone. “Wait, wait, wait, Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait. Let's be honest here. In the past, we used to let other teams come into our town and roll right over us!” The crowd booed at that declaration. “But that is about to change.” This time they all cheered. “We've got some great new talent tonight starting on the offense, and I'm gonna tell you right now, it has been a long time since I have seen a kid like this with hands like these. Let's give it up for Stefan Salvatore!” Alice threw her pom poms up with the rest of the team as Stefan smiled, clearly not used to all the attention.

Alice furrowed her eyebrows as she saw Tyler lean over and whisper something to Matt before he departed from the team line. Alice, who knew how Tyler’s temper could get, hesitated for a moment. She loved her brother and he had a good heart but she had seen on multiple occasions what happened when he blacked out with rage. She wanted to trust him, but he was already pissy about Stefan joining the team and, truthfully, she didn’t see this going well.

With only an apologetic glance in Caroline’s direction, Alice raced after her brother. When she stepped away from the crowd, she looked around to see where he had gone and quickly heard the distressed calls of Vicki. “Tyler, stop!

Picking up the pace, Alice followed the noise and was appalled by what she saw. Tyler in the act of pummeling Jeremy Gilbert. Jeremy was trying to fight back, but Tyler was stronger by a long shot. Once she snapped out of her shock, Alice raced over to the fight as Vicki’s screams increased. “Ty!” She yelled. He either didn’t hear her or was ignoring her. She thought furiously for a moment; she still had the magic she had siphoned from Stefan a few nights ago. “Tyler, if you don’t stop right now I swear to god!”

The conjoined noise of both her and Vicki screaming at Tyler had drawn over a crowd. Stefan raced over into the action and grabbed Tyler’s arm. “Hey, he’s down! Enough!” Tyler didn’t seem to care that Stefan was stronger than him. He swung his fist as the Salvatore boy, but Stefan didn’t even flinch. Alice silently thanked the universe that she didn’t have to intervene. She also thanked it for the fact that Stefan didn’t seem like the person to tear into Tyler’s throat for that stupid move.

“Jeremy, no!” Alice swiveled her head to see Elena staring at where Jeremy lay on the ground. Following her friend's line of sight, Alice saw the younger Gilbert grab a broken bottle and swing it at where Tyler was attempting to punch Stefan away. Alice was frozen for a moment. Luckily for her and Tyler, Stefan pushed Tyler out of the way and put his hand up just in time. Alice let out a breath; Stefan was a vampire, he would heal within seconds.

Now that the action was settled, Alice pinned her furious glare onto Tyler, who Matt had dragged away from the other boys. She stormed over to where he was fighting against his friend, fire ablaze in her eyes. “What. The. Hell.” She ground out her sentence. Tyler didn’t even have the decency to look ashamed. Matt sensed the uncommon amount of rage coming from his best friend’s sister and backed away. Alice didn’t get seriously angry often, so when she did it was best to not be within a 50 foot radius.

“Relax, Al–”

“Relax?” Alice repeated incredulously. “I am not the one who needs to relax.” Tyler, to his credit, looked ashamed this time. “What exactly did you think would come of you beating up a fucking fifteen-year-old? Fifteen! You are supposed to be more responsible! You are supposed to know better! If you ever do something like that again, so help me God, you will regret it.” She turned and walked away, ignoring him calling out her name.

────୨ৎ────

Alice found Stefan walking away from Elena’s car not long after animal control had shown up.

Matt had found Mr. Tanned with a tear ripping through his throat, bleeding out on the sidewalk. Both the authorities and animal control had been called. Alice didn’t need to wonder what kind of animal would do this, she knew already. It was a dark, vile, and ruthless creature, the kind that hunts in the night, manipulates innocent teenage girls, and goes by the name of Damon Salvatore.

If Stefan was the everything the vampire stories weren’t then Damon was everything they were. She knew this only meant she should distance herself from the both of them in order to protect herself from Damon. Despite knowing better, Alice couldn’t help herself from getting involved. She would find a way to help Caroline and she would find a way to make Damon stop.

“Stefan!” She called out as he walked through the parking lot. He turned his head and exhaled in relief when he saw her.

“Alice, are you okay?” Stefan asked in genuine concern.

“Yeah. Are you?” She questioned. He nodded with a comforting smile. “I’m so sorry,” Alice expressed. Stefan went to say something but she continued before he had the chance. “Tyler was such an absolute dick at the rally. He never should have done that and you should not have had to get involved.”

“It’s really not a problem. I’m just glad that everyone is okay,” Alice exhaled in relief.

“Still, I’m really sorry,”

“You say sorry a lot.” Stefan commented. He smiled at her in a way that, much to her horror, made her heart skip a beat.

“I feel it a lot.”

Chapter Text

Being the mayor’s daughter came with certain obligations. There were certain ones that Alice preferred over others. Take the founders party, while it wasn’t the most exciting, it gave Alice a chance to dress up nice and see her friends. There were also ones that Alice absolutely detested. For example, sitting in a booth at the grill with her family when she was trying to avoid her brother

She usually loved it when they all went out together– Tyler hated it, though –but today she had to actively pull herself back from smacking her brother. Even after contemplating it for hours, she still couldn’t understand what had possessed him to go after Jeremy. By now, the guilt of what he had done began to creep in and he was trying to get his sister to forgive him. She was having none of it.

She could feel him giving her a pleading look momentarily before their dad’s voice called his attention again. “So what happens with the season?” he was asking. “One big forfeit? Are they looking for a new coach?” 

“Dad, people are focusing more on mourning and less on football.” Alice reminded him as she dipped her last fry into her milkshake. Her father sighed but didn’t protest otherwise. 

“Richard, founders party, focus.” Carol reminded him from where she was looking at her planner. Before her dad could protest any further to her mom’s request, Vicki Donovan walked over. Her mother and Tyler both immediately averted eye contact, not even attempting to be subtle. 

“How are we all doing over here?” Vicki asked cheerily. 

“Ah, we’re doing great, sweetheart.” Alice wasn’t sure if it was better that her dad had the decency to fake it. Vicki clearly wasn’t satisfied by his response so she reached across the table for Tyler’s empty water glass and filled it.

“Is there anything else I can get you?” There was an underlying frustration in her tone, but that was to be expected due to Tyler’s blatant disrespect.

“The check would be great, Vic.” Alice said, her smile genuine unlike her fathers. 

“Here you go.” Vicki handed the check over and swiftly departed from the table. Her dad quickly took the check and began to pay the bill. 

“You know, you guys could try to be polite.” Alice suggested quietly. 

“We have to uphold our reputation, Alice,” Carol reminded her. In Alice’s opinion the whole reputation thing was a load of BS. Yes, they were a higher class than people like the Donovans but that didn’t mean they had to be rude to them. Being the mayor’s family didn’t give them an excuse to act like assholes. 

If she had the guts, Alice would have told her mom exactly that. Instead, she just sighed in relief when she spotted Bonnie and Caroline at a table close by, waving her over. Thank God, she could not be a part of this self-righteousness any longer. “Well, I’m going to go sit with Bonnie and Caroline.” She resisted making a snippy comment about if that was ‘proper.’ 

“What happened to you?” Bonnie asked, noting the exasperated expression on Alice’s face as she joined them at their table. 

“Nothing major,” Alice assured them. “Just a judgy family.” Both of the other girls snickered a little bit. It was no secret that the Lockwoods were huge snobs, especially in regards to other people. “Enough about that; what are you guys doing for the founder’s party?” Alice had settled on a light blue, off the shoulder skater dress. It had a ruffled neckline with a skirt that flared out to just above the knee. 

“Well, we were going to go together,” Bonnie told her, sending Caroline a heated look. “But Caroline ditched me for Damon.”

“Damon?” Alice had to fight hard not to recoil. The looks on the other girl’s faces told her that she had not been entirely successful.

“He’s not that bad!” Caroline insisted. Bonnie and Alice shared a look.

“Not that bad? Care, he’s terrible.” Alice insisted, surprising the other girls. Alice was not one to smack talk even the worst people and even more so without any shame. But, here she was insulting her best friend’s boyfriend with a fire.

“He’s not terrible.” Caroline told them, her expression shifting. “He just has a lot of issues with his brother. You know, like major, deep-rooted drama.” 

“Like…?” Bonnie prompted.

Caroline bit her lip with confliction. “I’m really not supposed to say anything.”

Bonnie dropped her questioning eyebrows and gave Caroline a flat look. “Caroline Forbes, when have you ever kept a secret in your life?” 

“Okay.” Caroline finally gave in. “But you can’t tell Elena.” 

The story Caroline told them was… interesting. It definitely painted Stefan in an unflattering light. But wasn’t that Damon’s goal in the first place? To get under Stefan’s skin? To undo the life he had built for himself? 

Alice shook her head in order to shake those thoughts off. As much as the evidence pointed to Damon being a psycho, she couldn’t know anything for sure. Yes, her gut was telling her that Damon was the reason there had been so many ‘animal attacks,’ but she needed more evidence. 

By the time Caroline had to go, Bonnie looked traumatized. “Bon, you good?” 

“What are we gonna do, Alice?” Bonnie said immediately. Alice sighed, whatever Damon was planning was working too well. “We can’t let Elena date him.”

“That’s a little dramatic,” Alice attempted to downplay it, despite her efforts seeming weak. 

“You heard what Caroline said!” 

“No, I heard what Damon said.” Alice clarified, unsure of how to say this without giving anything away. Bonnie looked at her like she was crazy. She had to admit that, from Bonnie’s perspective, she did sound a bit apathetic. “Look, I don’t know what happened between them, but I don’t trust Damon.” She told her friend, who looked at her quizzically. “I can’t say why, but he gives me really bad vibes.” 

She didn’t know how to phrase it other than that. Unsure of how to continue the conversation, she decided to switch topics. “Why don’t you go to the founders party with me?” She proposed. “It’ll be fun and if anything happens with Elena and Stefan we’ll be there to kick his ass”

Bonnie smiled a bit and nodded.

────୨ৎ────

Alice delicately applied her mascara as she stared into the mirror on her vanity. She smiled once she was pleased with her make up and began putting on her silver bow earrings. It was as she was placing the back into the second earring that a loud knock sounded on her bedroom door. “Come in,” She called, not looking to see who it was. 

“You look really pretty,” Tyler told her and Alice, despite being mad at him, smiled lightly. 

“Thanks,” it was as she was taking in his own outfit that she realized the conflicted expression he held. She let out a long, exasperated sigh and beckoned him to sit on the edge of her bed. “What is it?” 

“I screwed up. Big time.” 

“Well, that much is clear,” She grumbled. 

“I know I was a massive dick at the rally, and you have every right to be mad at me, but I really need your advice,” he pleaded, and Alice saw the sincerity in his eyes.

She rolled her eyes lightly. “What is it?” The light smile on her lips encouraged him to be honest.

“When we were at the grill… I asked Vicki to come to the founders party with me.” He admitted. Alice smiled, glad that Tyler was trying to make it up to her. “But then I realized that I only made things worse.” 

“How is asking her to a party worse?”

“Because when she comes to the party I can’t do anything with her but sit in the corner.” Tyler sighed.

“And why’s that?” Alice asked despite already knowing the answer. 

“You know why, Allie.” Tyler told her, giving her a look.

“I know that Mom and Dad are the epitome of judgmental,” she told him. “But I also know that that doesn’t mean we have to be.” She looked at him meaningfully, willing him to understand her point. He stared back at her thoughtfully. “So, if you really want to make it up to me and to her, you’re going to take Vicki to the party, you’re going to dance with her in front of everyone, and you’re gonna show her that you are not the dick you pretend to be.”

Tyler hugged her tight, and Alice happily returned the embrace. “Thank you, Alice, for everything.”

────୨ৎ────

Alice shook the hand of another guest as she stood at the foyer with her parents and brother. She smiled gently as they nodded at her and entered the house. Tyler was making far less of an effort into greeting guests. He preferred to watch the line and then look back at his mother with equal amounts of anxiety and frustration. 

The anxiety look became more apparent once he spotted Vicki in the line. Alice spared a glance away from the incoming guests and saw Vicki straightening herself up from where she stood in the line. Vicki gave her the smallest of smiles when they made eye contact before she looked over at Tyler. Alice turned back to the guests, but she was all too aware that Tyler had left his position at the door in order to drag Vicki away. So much for making it up to her. Alice noticed her mother narrow her eyes at the interaction before she went back to greeting the guests. 

After far too much time greeting people, Alice noticed Bonnie in the line and sighed in relief. Unfortunately, the relief was gone as soon as she noticed Damon and Caroline standing in line in front of Bonnie. Alice desperately tried to rein in her heartbeat when she realized what that meant. The whole town was invited to this party, and she couldn’t turn Damon away, but if he was allowed in he would have access to her house

She took a deep breath and put on a relatively convincing fake smile. There wasn’t anything she could do about that, but she could, at the very least, keep Damon from finding out what she knew. She was confident that if he knew that, he would try and snap her like a twig. 

But, seeing as there was nothing else to do, Alice simply stood by as her mom welcomed the two into their home. “You know that you’re glaring, right?” Bonnie stood at the front door with a bemused expression. Alice sighed and smiled at Bonnie, momentarily disregarding Damon and Caroline. 

“You look gorgeous, Bonnie,” Alice told her. 

“Thanks,” Bonnie chuckled, stepping inside and linking arms with Alice. “So do you.”

Alice smiled in appreciation and turned to where her mom was still greeting guests. “Mom, I’m going to go look around with Bonnie, is that okay?” 

“Of course; you girls have fun.” 

“Thank you, Mrs. Lockwood,” Bonnie began dragging Alice away from the entryway. 

The girls ended up wandering around for a little while, simply pursuing the grounds and making small talk. The sun had long since dipped into the sky by the time Alice was wondering about Tyler’s whereabouts. 

Alice turned to Bonnie with an apologetic expression. “Do you mind if I go find Tyler? I’m worried he might have done something he’s gonna regret later,” 

“Of course not, I'll see you soon.” 

“Thank you!” Alice gave Bonnie’s hand a grateful squeeze before she rushed off further down the party grounds.

She found him sitting on a bench with a very displeased Vicki. Alice sighed in disappointment. She had really hoped that Tyler would be able to stand up to their mom without her intervening. But, then again, it was never easy standing up to a parent; God knows she struggled with it. “Vicki!” She called out to the girl, who perked her head up upon hearing her name. 

“Alice,” both Vicki and Tyler said her name, but she turned her head to Tyler first. 

“I was just coming to let you both know that a spot on the dance floor opened up,” She smiled kindly at the both of them but was giving her brother a look. 

Vicki looked at her with confusion in her eyes. “Thanks, but I’m sure Tyler doesn’t want to dance,” The bitterness in her voice was clear when she said Tyler’s name. 

“Now, that’s just not right,” Alice insisted. She was about to say something more when her brother finally got himself together. 

“She’s right,” He said suddenly, surprising Vicki. “I don’t think I’ve fully appreciated how good you look in that dress.” Vicki blushed visibly even in the dark night. “Why don’t we show it off?” Vicki nodded, somewhat hesitant but also happy. Alice grinned triumphantly and nodded when Tyler mouthed ‘thank you.’

She followed them out to the dance floor and watched Tyler lead Vicki into a dance. She turned her head when she felt someone tapping on her shoulder. “Hey, Bonnie. Everything okay?” 

“Elena texted,” Bonnie explained. “Stefan trouble,” Alice furrowed her eyebrows and nodded, following after her friend. 

────୨ৎ────

“This is my fault,” Bonnie insisted as the three girls ate away at their tiny bowls of ice cream. “I planted doubt. I’m a doubt-planter.”

“It’s not your fault,” Elena assured her. “I just– I feel terrible because I said I wouldn’t get in the middle of it and then that’s exactly what I did. I got all snotty,” 

“Elena, honey, there you are,” Alice’s mom greeted as she came up to the three girls, effectively stopping their conversation. “I noticed the watch still isn’t in the collection.

“Oh, um, I’m sorry Mrs. Lockwood,” Elena began, “I, um, I couldn’t find it. I guess it’s still packed up with my parents' stuff somewhere.”

“I see. Well, please let me know if you do find it.” 

“Okay,” 

────୨ৎ────

Elena eventually needed to reapply her makeup and Alice pointed her in the direction of the nearest bathroom. She and Bonnie had been chatting since then. They were right in the middle of a very important conversation when Tyler arrived.

“Ty, come tell Bonnie that Jacob is so not right for Bella,” Alice requested as soon as she set eyes on her brother.

“Jacob was so much more down to earth,” Bonnie insisted. 

“Yeah, but Bella was never in love with Jacob like she was with Edward,” Alice reaffirmed. 

“Uh… that’s cool and all, but I need to borrow Alice,” Tyler interjected. Alice tore herself away from her conversation and noticed the obvious discomfort on Tyler’s face. 

“This isn’t over,” She told Bonnie as she was dragged away by Tyler. She vaguely heard Bonnie giggling in the background. “What’s up?” She asked him. 

“Mom saw me and Vicki dancing,” he admitted. 

“And…?” 

“And then she started talking to us and being so passive aggressive that Vicki eventually left.” Alice sighed at the information her brother gave her. She loved her mom so much, but that didn’t make her mom a perfect person. Or a nice one.

“I’m sorry, Tyler,” Alice told him and pulled him into a hug. As she released him, she grabbed his shoulders and looked him in the eyes. “You did what you could and that’s what matters, okay?” 

He nodded. “I should have told Mom to stop,” he sighed.

“That’s probably true, but as much as I encourage you to stand up to them, that doesn’t make it easy,” She reassured him. “I mean, can you think of a single time I’ve told them that they’re wrong?”

“No, actually,” Tyler admitted, his brow furrowing in confusion.  “Then why are you always on my ass about it?” He asked, a faux accusatory look on his face. 

“Do as I say, not as I do,” she told him before patting him on the shoulder and making her way back to Bonnie.

────୨ৎ────

Bonnie had left soon after Alice had found her, claiming she wasn’t feeling well. Due to that, Alice had taken to wandering the grounds, looking for something to do. “Allie!” She swiveled to see Elena running over to her.

“Hey, Lena, what’s up?” 

“Have you seen Caroline?” She asked, seeming rattled. 

“No, why?” Alice frowned in confusion. Elena seemed to hesitate to tell her something, biting her lip slightly. “Elena, is something wrong?”

“I think Damon is hurting Caroline.” She admitted. 

“What? Why?” Alice immediately questioned, unsure of how to handle this. 

“I saw bite marks on her skin,” Elena whispered, as if she was afraid of someone overhearing. “And–and she was insisting that nothing was wrong but something is clearly wrong and now I can’t find her!” 

“Hey!” Alice gripped Elena’s hands to provide comfort. “She’s gonna be okay. You search the grounds, I’ll search inside, okay?” Elena took a deep breath and nodded. “I’ll text you if I find her,”

“Same,” 

Alice took off with a parting glance, looking in every place she could think of. She had been searching for about fifteen minutes when Elena texted.

–FOUND HER. SHE’S OK BUT SEEMS RLLY RATTLED.”

Alice breathed a sigh of relief and texted back her thanks. There was one more person she had to find before the night was over. 

It was easy to find Stefan by the fountain. “Stefan!” She called out to him. He turned to look at her.

“Alice, is everything okay?” 

“Stefan, I consider us friends,” Alice stated. 

“Stefan smiled slightly. “So do I.”

“And it’s because we’re friends that I’m telling you this.” Stefan looked confused.

“Telling me what?”

“Telling you that I protect my friends,” 

“I’m not sure I understand.”

“I know how important family is, so, out of respect for your family, I’m giving you a warning. Make sure Damon keeps his fangs out of Caroline, or I swear to God, I will pull them from his gums.” 

Chapter Text

At one point or another, a person will deviate from their normal behavior and do something completely out of character. Sometimes these abnormal actions will bring favorable outcomes and the person will feel a sense of accomplishment and reassurance that it’s okay to go off track once in a while. Other times the results will be undesired and unappreciated. Say, a football player did some play that they had never done before and ended up losing the game due to it. What Alice did might have lost her much more than a football game.

Alice had diverged from her normal persona as the quiet, soft-spoken, and gentle person her friends knew her as. She still didn’t know why she had been so blunt and rash at the party last night. Something about thinking of her friends being in danger had woken something up inside of her. A need to protect. But now she feared it would have the opposite effect.

A vampire’s instinct was to hide in the shadows, waiting and watching for the perfect time to pounce. They stalked, they hunted, and then they killed; all in secret. Anything or anyone that posed a threat to their life in the darkness would be taken off the board. 

Stefan Salvatore seemed like a good, composed person. Like someone who wanted nothing more than to live their life in peace and surround themselves with things that made them feel good. But he was still a vampire. And she had just walked up to him and announced that she knew the truth and that she was a threat to his way of life. 

She wasn’t an idiot; she knew that there was a target on her back now. But even with the danger, she found herself going about her life. When– not if –either of the Salvatore vampires came looking to get her out of the picture, it wouldn’t do her any good to be hiding. Last night had gained them an invitation into her home. She supposed she could sleep over at Bonnie’s, seeing as she was the only one of their friends to not have invited a vampire into their home.

She looked over at Bonnie in consideration of that idea. The girl in question was currently holding and intently staring at a candle she had found in Caroline’s bedroom. Alice could almost feel Bonnie coming into her abilities; she was on the cusp of figuring it out. 

“I remember the party,” Caroline offered. “Damon came up behind me and he was kissing my neck or biting my neck. I passed out. It’s like there’s holes in my memory lately. It’s just weird. Maybe I let him bite me.” 

Bonnie stopped staring at the candle and gave Caroline a flat look. “Why would you do that?” 

“Can we just not talk about it, okay?” Caroline begged and Alice’s brow creased in sympathy. “I don’t want to talk about Damon. I don’t want to talk about any of it. Just want to go back to normal.” 

“It’s okay, Care, we get it. You don’t have to talk about anything unless you want to.” Alice reassured her, smiling comfortingly. Caroline smiled back at her, clearly grateful for the support.

“What are you doing with that candle?” Caroline asked Bonnie as she applied more foundation to cover up the bite marks. 

Bonnie startled and put the candle down like she had been caught doing something bad. “Um… nothing. What’s this?” She asked in regards to an amber crystal that was hanging from a necklace chain. Bonnie watched it dangle in front of her as she picked it up off the side table. 

“Damon gave it to me.” Caroline informed them. “Or he was going to give it to me. All I know is it’s mine now.” 

“It’s ugly,” Bonnie commented. 

Alice tilted her head in consideration. “I mean, it could be made to work,” She said, reaching out to fiddle with it. As soon as her fingers touched the crystal she felt a powerful rush of magic enter her body. She dropped the crystal instantly. 

“Is it just me or did it just glow?” Bonnie asked. 

“Must be a reflection,” Alice lied quickly.

“Well, get your crabby hands off of it,” Caroline told Bonnie, grabbing the necklace. 

────୨ৎ────

“The sexy suds car wash is tomorrow,” Caroline told Alice, Gabby, and Maya as the four girls walked through the hallway. Gabby and Maya were two of the other members of the planning committee. “The football team and the band have committed. Well, not all the band. Just the ones who can pull off a bikini. I wan’t, in your face, sexy. I mean it’s a fundraiser for god sake,” 

“It’ll be great, Caroline.” Alice assured her. “Oh! Guess which teacher I managed to get to agree to be the chaperone?” 

Caroline gasped and swiveled to face Alice. “No, you did not!”

“Oh, yes I did,” Alice confirmed with a grin. “Ms. Cooper is going to be there,” All three of the other girls cheered and Alice laughed. Ms. Cooper was the teacher that was everyone’s favorite chaperone. That was due to the fact that– not only did she do practically no actual chaperoning, which allowed the kids to get away with a lot –but at the end of the event she would give out baked goods to the kids who did the most.  

Because she was in such high demand, she rarely chaperoned. Partially because she got grief from the other teachers for always being requested and partially because she loathed being at school after hours. That was part of the reason she would always be sitting on her computer throughout any event she was a part of.

“Alice, you are a godsend,” Maya said before she and Gabby departed. Caroline looked at her with narrowed eyes as soon as the others left.

“What?” Alice asked, feeling interrogated.

“How did you get Ms. Cooper to agree to chaperone,” 

“What do you mean?” Alice asked uncomfortably. Caroline just continued to stare her down. Alice sighed in resignation, “I told her I’d register for this bio competition”

“Oh, my god! That is so cool, Allie!” Caroline cheered. Caroline was right; it was cool, but it was also terrifying. She felt honored that her teacher thought highly enough about her to want her to participate. But, on the other hand, she knew how rigorous of a competition it was and how suspenseful it would be. Caroline didn’t seem to register her conflict, her eyes instead flashing over to where Stefan was talking with Elena.

Alice spotted Stefan and panicked, “I gotta go get to class,” she told Caroline, “I’ll see you later. 

────୨ৎ────

“I can’t believe that you dragged me into this,” Tyler complained as he scrubbed at a car. 

“Hey, the rest of the football team is here too,” Alice pointed out.

“Yeah, yeah,” Tyler grumbled. Alice smiled at his attitude and went back to washing her car. All things considered, the fundraiser was going pretty well. There were numerous cars in the school parking lot, all being washed by teens in clothes that were far too revealing for any other school event.

Alice scrubbed a bit harder at some gunk on the car windshield when she heard people screaming.  She shared a startled look with Tyler and quickly turned her head to see a car on fire. People were screaming as the fire grew and rushing to get out of its path. 

“Shit!” Tyler called, grabbing Alice’s hand and dragging her farther away from the flames. Alice, however, pulled her wrist from his grasp as soon as she saw Bonnie standing in front of the fire. She was staring at it intently and seemed to have no recognition of the world around her. Already knowing that Bonnie had set the fire with her mind, Alice raced over in her direction.

As soon as she got there, she clocked the fact that Stefan was already approaching in an effort to snap Bonnie out of it. She didn’t want to interact with him, but it was more important that she prevented the fire from growing out of control. “Bonnie!” Alice reached out and grabbed Bonnie’s wrist, gripping tight and allowing Bonnie’s magic to rush into her own body. 

Almost immediately, Bonnie winced and snapped out of whatever trance she had previously been in.  She spun her head around to look at Alice and Stefan in horror. “What just happened?”

“You were in some kind of a trance,” Stefan provided.

Bonnie looked at the burned car and then back at Alice and Stefan. “Did I do this?” She sounded rightfully horrified.

“Yeah; I think you did,” Alice told her regretfully.

“Nobody else saw, did they?” Bonnie wondered; her voice soft with fear. Stefan shook his head. “No? Don’t tell anybody, please,” Bonnie pleaded, and Stefan nodded.

“Of course,” Alice confirmed as Bonnie rushed off. 

Alice didn’t have to wonder where Bonnie was going. She was going to go see her Grams. And Alice already knew what her Grams was going to tell her; that she was a witch. What would come after that revelation was giving Alice a headache. She wasn’t ready to lose Bonnie as a friend; she never would be.

Despite her inner turmoil, Alice turned and attempted to leave, hoping Stefan wouldn’t call out to her. Her hopes were dashed in mere moments, though. “Alice,” she slowed her pace but didn’t stop walking. Stefan came up beside her and she sucked in a breath. “Alice, can we talk?” Alice finally turned to face him, her blue eyes meeting his green eyes. They seemed to suck her in, making it even harder for her to say no than it usually would have been.

“Sure,” 

Stefan pulled her aside so that they were standing in a secluded area, away from any eavesdroppers. “I wanted to talk about what you said last night,” 

“Look, Stefan, I messed up last night. I shouldn’t have confronted you and I definitely should not have threatened you or your brother. I’ve probably just sealed my fate as a human blood bag but–” 

“What?” Stefan cut her off. “No, I–I’m not going to hurt you,” 

“Really?” Alice asked, voice small and tentative.

“Yeah, I don’t even drink human blood,” 

“Oh.” 

“I was just going to ask if you told anyone,”

“No, I didn’t.” She informed him. “It wasn’t my secret to tell.” 

Stefan looked at her curiously, taking in her body language and soft voice. It was easy to tell that she was scared but she was also genuine. “Thank you for that,” he told her. “And, just so you know, I’ve dealt with Damon.”

Alice breathed a sigh of relief, “Good. That’s good,” she paused for a moment. “You didn’t tell him that I know… did you?” 

“Of course not,” Stefan told her. “He would kill you instantly. Besides, it wasn’t my secret to tell,” Alice let out a shaky laugh and Stefan smiled brightly at her. “But, how did you know? Because if someone’s onto us and they told you…” He trailed off. 

“No one told me,” she admitted. Stefan raised a questioning eyebrow and Alice sighed before elaborating. “I–I’m adopted. My birth family was… very aware of vampires,” Alice admitted, her tone quieting upon the topic of them. 

“Oh.” 

“Yeah.” She threw out a sardonic laugh, “Congratulations; you officially know more about my birth family than anyone else in this town,”

He looked at her with eyes that told her he could see right through her. “Thank you for keeping it a secret, Alice,” was all he said.

Alice nodded. “Have a good day, Stefan,” 

────୨ৎ────

Alice wrung her hair out with a towel, soaking up the remaining water from her shower. She sighed as she looked down at her phone, exiting the ensuite and stepping back into her bedroom. She had been checking her phone every five minutes for the past hour. Taking a shower had allowed for a momentary distraction, but now she was right back at it again. Waiting had always been a strong suit for Alice, but right now she didn’t feel very patient. 

To her credit, she had already been waiting for what would come of Bonnie’s discovery for weeks. Now, though, as she pulled on her pajamas and stared at her phone screen, Bonnie was on the very cusp learning about witches and Alice was terrified. 

She didn’t know what Sheila Bennett knew of siphoners but, seeing as she was literally an occult studies professor, Alice was willing to bet she knew quite a bit. She also didn’t know what Sheila would tell Bonnie, but she had a pretty good guess on what her opinions were. 

Opening up her messages, Alice pulled out Bonnie’s contact and typed up a text.

—HOPE UR FEELING BETTER 😘

She didn’t know what to do after that. It wasn’t like she could call Bonnie and expose herself. She could rely on the hope that Bonnie never found out Alice was a siphoner. But, even if that never happened, she didn’t want to spend the rest of her friendship with Bonnie terrified of what might happen. For someone so good at handling others’ emotional outbursts, the only thing Alice could think to do was sink down to the base of the wall and let her sight become blurry with tears that were sure to be shed soon.

Chapter Text

“Hey!” Alice jogged to meet Tyler at one of the exits in the back of the school. “How was practice?” 

“Fine. How was your lab?” 

“It was awesome; Ms. Cooper thinks I’ll be ready in a few weeks,” 

“That’s great, Allie,” Tyler congratulated her as they both made their way over to Tyler’s car. Alice had taken to spending after hours with Ms. Cooper in order to prepare for the bio competition coming up soon. 

As they made their way further towards the car, the wind whistled, succeeding in sending chills down the backs of both Lockwoods. Alice, more aware of the creatures of the night than Tyler, grabbed her brother's hand from where he had been looking around and pulled him toward the car. Walking quickly now, they both made it to the car and Alice tapped her foot anxiously as her brother put his bag in the trunk. 

“Come on,” she encouraged, wrapping her arms around her stomach. 

“You’re not scared, are you?” Tyler asked, teasing undertones to his voice. Alice didn’t dignify him with a response, choosing to roll her eyes in his direction instead. If only he knew how much there was to be afraid of in this little town. 

Pulling the car door open, Alice made to get into the passenger seat, only to realize someone was already there. She let out a shout of fear at the sight of Vicki Donavan hunched over in the passenger seat of Tyler’s car. Tyler, having heard her scream, came rushing over.

“Hi, Ty,” 

“Woah, Vicki?” Tyler asked in shock, noticing the girl in his car. “Everyone’s looking for you,”

“I know,” Vicki admitted. Tyler shared a worried look with Alice before he turned back to Vicki.

“What’s wrong Vick?”

“I’m so cold,” Vicki shuddered, not seeming to look at either sibling.

“Are you on drugs?” Tyler asked, causing Alice to sigh dramatically at his bluntness. “Everyone thinks you’re off on a bender,”

“I wish,” 

“Hey, Vick,” Alice greeted, developing a comforting tone and soothing expression. “Something happened in the woods, right? When those kids were killed? What did you see?” 

“I’m so scared,” was all Vicki replied with. She sniffed and turned to them, revealing her disheveled state. Alice and Tyler shared another worried look.

“Come here,” Tyler pulled Vicki into a quick hug. “It’s okay. We’ll take you home.”

“I can’t control it,”

“Control what?” Alice asked, her voice becoming apprehensive with suspicion. 

“I am so hungry. And it won’t go away” 

Alice eyed Vicki suspiciously, a sinking feeling forming in her gut. “What are you on? What drugs did you take?” Tyler, who had no such feeling, asked firmly.

Vicki all but growled as she began speaking again. “I want it. I’m so hungry, Ty.” 

“Okay, look, I’ll get you something to eat. Just sit back,” Tyler tried to persuade her. Alice tried to grip Vicki’s shoulder. “Look, let’s just get you home, okay?” Vicki let out somewhat of a roar as she began pouncing on Tyler. 

In a moment of panic, Alice gripped Vicki’s wrist harshly, feeling the flow of Vicki’s newfound vampirism enter her body. Feeling the sting of Alice’s siphoning, Vicki turned her body to pounce on Alice, full vampire face out.

“Alice!” she heard Tyler yell her name but paid it little mind. 

“ Motus!” Vicki flew backward with an enraged shout. Alice felt a rush of emotions enter her. It had been so long since she had actually performed a spell. With all the magic she had slowly been collecting since Stefan’s arrival in Mystic Falls, it was high time she tried one out. Especially since there was no one here to punish her for it. 

“Alice?” She turned to look at a shocked Tyler. Unfortunately, Vicki had recovered in that short time and came charging at her again. Before she had time to perform any other spell, Stefan came rushing through the night and grabbed Vicki by the waist. 

“Let go of me!” Vicki demanded with a yell, but Stefan did no such thing.

“What’s going on here, Stefan?” Tyler demanded to know, “What’s wrong with her? And why did Al–” He was thankfully cut off from revealing Alice’s secret by Damon of all people. 

“You don’t talk,” he ordered.

“Screw you, dude,” Tyler said, causing Alice to tense up.

“Ty…” She tried to send her urgency through that one word but it didn’t seem to work.

“‘Dude?’ Really? ‘Dude?’” 

“Damon, don’t,” Stefan warned.

“Oh, come on, who’s gonna miss this idiot?” Alice clenched her fist, ready to throw a spell his way if he hurt Tyler. Tyler had no such sense telling him that Damon was dangerous. So, like an idiot, he swung his fist and punched him. 

“Tyler!” Alice yelled, alerting Damon to her presence. 

“Ooh, don’t you hurt him,” Vicki begged.

Damon looked over at Vicki for maybe half a second before he grabbed Tyler by the throat, causing Alice to let out a shout of fear. “Forget what you saw here tonight. None of us were here,” He shoved Tyler to the ground and approached Alice, who tensed upon feeling his gaze. “Same for you. Forget what you just saw and go on with your life,”

Alice blinked and they were gone. She rushed over to Tyler, who was blinking rapidly, and, unlike her, had forgotten everything that just went down. 

────୨ৎ────

Alice delicately placed her freshly curled strand of hair down and checked the mirror. She had wanted to do something fancy for Halloween but Caroline had insisted on doing a group costume. She was yet to tell her what the costume would be but either way she wanted to look good for it. 

“Alice, are you ready yet?” Her mom’s voice sounded as the Lockwood woman walked into her daughter's room. Carol stopped and smiled at her daughter who turned to her mom with a soft smile. She usually loved Halloween but she had a lot on her mind today. For example: Vicki Donavan was now a vampire and she had no idea how that happened. “You look lovely, dear,” 

“Thanks, Mom. I’ll be down in, like, two seconds,” She promised, causing her mother to nod and leave her room. Alice picked up her locket and clipped it around her neck, looking at her mom’s retreating figure. It didn’t take much to figure out that her parents were stressed about something. Her mom had been staying up more throughout the month leading up to Halloween. Her dad had been working late, too. It might have been paranoia but something told her that those two things were connected. 

She shook those thoughts off; she would check in with her parents soon but, first, she needed to figure out the Vicki situation. 

────୨ৎ────

“Matty!” Alice called out to her friend with Tyler only one step behind her.

“Hey,” Matt said, placing books into his locker while he spoke.

“I heard they’re putting a search party together for Vicki,” Tyler supplied. Alice scrunched up her nose a bit, admittedly worried about what would happen if they did find Vicki. She didn’t know what was going on but she knew that a new vampire plus a crowd of people was not a good idea.

“She just called. She’s okay,” Matt informed them, continuing to shove his books into his locker. 

Alice and Tyler let out a simultaneous sigh. “Oh thank god,” Alice expressed, relieved for so many reasons.

“That’s great. I figured you must’ve been going out of your mind” Alice nodded along with Tyler’s statement. God knows they’d both go insane without the other. Even though they hadn’t spent their early years together, Alice and Tyler couldn’t imagine a world without each other.

“A little bit; yeah,” 

“We were just gonna offer if, you know, if there’s anything we could do?” Tyler offered.

“I appreciate it,” Matt said, nodding a bit.

It was then that Caroline came into view and walked up to the three of them. She grabbed Alice by the arm, her other hand holding bags that Alice assumed contained the costume. “I’m stealing Alice,” She informed the boys, who chuckled as they watched Alice get dragged away.

Caroline released Alice once they had made their way over to Bonnie’s locker. “I have got your costumes!” She announced happily. Bonnie and Alice exchanged a glance, looking inside the bags and sharing an exasperated look. Witch costumes. Perfect. 

“Seriously?” Bonnie protested, pulling the dress from her bag.

“Ah, come on,” Caroline complained, leaning back against the lockers. “Can someone please be excited that it's Halloween. I just wanna have fun, you know, just some sill, fluffy, Damon free fun,”

“Cheers to that,” Alice said with a laugh.

“Hey, isn’t this the one you got from Damon?” Bonnie asked, pulling the amber crystal from the bag. Alice narrowed her eyes slightly, she remembered the magic she had siphoned from the crystal after the founders party; it had been strong. She briefly wondered what Damon was doing with a crystal containing such powerful magic 

“Yep,” Caroline confirmed, snapping Alice out of her thoughts. Whatever Damon was doing with that crystal was none of her business. Unless, of course, his actions put anyone she cared about in danger. “Wear it. Toss it. I don’t care. I just want it gone. Hey, have either of you seen Elena? Do we know what she’s wearing?” 

“I was with Grams all weekend. I haven’t talked to her. Maybe she’s with Stefan,” 

“Riding to his castle on his white horse,” Caroline commented. 

“Don’t be bitter, Caroline,” Alice reminded her, “it’s not good for the soul,”

The three girls giggled a bit and then made their way to the first period. 

────୨ৎ────

Alice adjusted the hat of her costume and twirled around in the mirror. She had to give it to Caroline, it was a cute costume, irony of it aside. Her mother’s voice traveled down from the master bedroom and reminded Alice of the agenda she had set for herself. 

She knocked lightly on the doorframe of her parents bedroom just as her mom was hanging up the phone. Carol turned and smiled at her daughter, taking in the costume she was wearing. “Hey, Mom,” Alice greeted, walking further into the room. “You look great,” she said in reference to the costume her mom was wearing. She vaguely thought it was something to do with ‘The Great Gatsby.’ 

“Thank you, Alice. You look very good, as well.” 

“Yeah, I think I can pull off the witch look,” Alice smiled slyly, despite her mom not understanding the joke behind that statement. She was proud of herself for saying it, too. The night with Vicki had let something shift in her. Almost as if it was a sign that was telling her she shouldn’t hide from who she was. Now, that’s not to say she planned on telling anybody or doing anything rash, but she didn’t need to be scared every time the word witch was said. 

“It looks very nice, baby,” Her mom complimented again. 

“Thanks, Mom,” she smiled before perching on her parent’s bed and broaching the next topic, “um… is everything okay?” 

Carol frowned, eyebrows pulling together. “What do you mean?” 

“It’s just that, well, I noticed you’ve been up late at night and that Dad’s been working really late recently. I just wanted to make sure everything was okay,” Her mom’s smile was genuine and soft, but it wasn’t hard to tell that she hadn’t expected Alice to notice those things.

“Oh, baby, you don’t need to worry about any of that stuff,” Her mom told her, coming to sit down next to her daughter. 

“I know, but–” 

“Your Dad and I have just been working on something,” 

“Something bad?” Alice couldn’t help herself from asking.

“Something that we’re going to take care of, okay?” Alice nodded, still somewhat unconvinced. Her mom smiled sympathetically, and tucked a blonde curl behind her daughter’s ear. “Everything is going to be okay,” She promised, pulling Alice into a hug that was happily reciprocated. 

“Alice! You ready?” Tyler called from downstairs. 

“Coming!” Alice called and released her mother, smiling at her before making her way downstairs. 

────୨ৎ────

Fully decked out as a witch, Alice made her way through the party and over to where Bonnie and Caroline were waiting for her by the entrance to the school. “I think we make a pretty good coven,” she told them with a grin. Bonnie and Caroline laughed and they all exchanged hugs. 

It was nice to have some time with her friends while not worrying about anything. The thoughts of the supernatural were still in the back of her mind but she was having just enough fun that it didn’t take precedence. “Okay, Ryan Reynolds or Ryan Gosling?” Alice proposed.

“Um, hello?” Caroline demanded. “I will never get over The Notebook ” it was true that during almost every sleepover that the four girls had, Caroline somehow ended up convincing them to watch that movie. By the seventh time, Alice was pretty sure she could recite the script from memory. 

“Yeah, Allie, even I knew that,” Bonnie teased, her nose scrunching up.

“Okay, fine. But I’m a Reynolds girl all the way,” She informed them. “Bonnie?” 

“Don’t kill me, Caroline, but I have to side with Alice on this one,”

Caroline gasped in faux offense, “how will I ever recover from this betrayal,” 

Bonnie and Alice both laughed at the overly dramatic voice Caroline had put on. The three of them were then approached by Matt. “Hey, Matty” Alice greeted.

“Hey, have any of you seen Vicki?” 

Alice’s heart skipped a beat as Caroline and Bonnie shook their heads. This party was a horrible environment for Vicki to be in now that she was a vampire. “I’ll help you look,” Alice offered hastily, hoping to be able to find her before anyone got hurt.

“Thanks, Allie,” Matt said and guided her away as soon as she bid farewell to Bonnie and Caroline. They searched around the halls for a little while before Alice offered to split up. After that, Matt took the outside and Alice took the inside. She was pushing past some people attempting to jump out at unsuspecting strangers when she felt a brush of skin and the familiar surge of magic. 

Her heart was still beating wildly, but she ignored it and went after the figure with narrowed eyes. She rounded a corner and found herself face to face with Vicki in a full vampire costume. Irony of the costume aside, Vicki was quite obviously not at her peak. “Alice!” She exclaimed, her eyes widening in indication that she recalled the night where Alice performed magic. 

“Come with me, please,” Alice begged, keeping herself from grabbing Vicki’s arm. 

“No!” Vicki cried. 

Inhaling sharply, Alice spoke again, “Vicki, I’m going to take you into a classroom where you can calm down and hopefully not eat anyone. I’d really rather if you just followed me.”

“I said no!” Vicki growled, allowing her vampire face to show. She took a threatening step in Alice’s direction but Alice quickly grabbed onto her arm and began to siphon. “Ah! How did you do that?”

Alice stared at Vicki and released her hold but kept her fingers millimeters away from Vicki’s skin so that she could grab her again if need be. “I don’t want anyone to get hurt and right now you seem agitated, so I am begging you to come with me and calm down willingly rather than have me force you.” 

Vicki glared at Alice but followed her into a classroom anyway. Once Alice closed the door, she turned to face Vicki who had her arms crossed petulantly. “Are you okay?” She tried to keep her voice soft so as to not disturb Vicki’s heightened senses. 

“What do you care?” 

“When I said that I don’t want anyone to get hurt, that included you.” 

Vicki only scoffed and made her way towards the door. “ Vis porta ” Alice mumbled the spell under her breath and watched as Vicki tried and failed to open the door. She smiled proudly to herself for both performing and remembering that spell. It had been a long time since she had skimmed over the grimoires Kai had stolen from their father’s library.

Alice pulled out her phone and quickly dialed Stefan’s contact number. He picked up after two rings and Alice began speaking quickly. “You wouldn’t happen to be missing a newly turned vampire, would you?” 

“ Vicki? How did you find her? Where are you? ” He asked all in one breath.

“Yes, Vicki. By looking and I’m in Mr. Tanner’s old room,” She answered. 

“Okay. I’ll be there in a second.” He hung up and Alice turned back to Vicki who was still fervently attempting to open the door. After a second passed, Alice muttered the counter spell that allowed Vicki to open the door. 

When she opened it, however, Stefan was there waiting for her and immediately grabbed her by the shoulder. Vicki cried out in frustration, “what, you’re following me now?” 

“You didn’t really give me much of a choice.” 

Not wanting to be a part of this situation, Alice walked over to them and spoke, “well, it looks like you’ve got this handled. I’m gonna go now and please give me an explanation soon,” Stefan nodded at her request and she began exiting the room.

“Alice,” Stefan called, causing her to turn her head. “Thank you,”

She nodded and made her way out of the room hoping that answers would be coming her way soon.

Chapter Text

Alice looked at the flowers in front of her in consideration. She had taken the brown, wilting flowers that were corrupting the atmosphere of her dining room and brought them into her room. That had been an hour ago and she was still contemplating whether or not she was actually going to do this.

Her confidence in her own magical abilities was growing but was still not very high. It would take a lot more than a few spells directed at a vampire to undo what her childhood had done to her. Her eyes instinctively flickered to her chest, but she closed them for a moment and looked back up at the flowers. Even when she had been a child and had found rare moments to be able to practice magic, she had always had a natural talent.

She sucked in a breath and reminded herself that she wasn’t tied down by his cruelty anymore. “Phasmatos Tribum, Plantus Vivifey, Plantus Herbus.” With bated breath she watched in pure delight as the flower petals expanded from their withered form and gained their lively color back. She stared at the now alive flowers and let out a laugh of joy. The spell had worked.

She was grinning like an idiot by the time she had placed the flowers back as the centerpiece of the dining room table. It was just as she was making her way up the stairs and back into her room, that the doorbell rang. “I’ll get it,” She called out to the other inhabitants of the house. She made her way to the door and opened it, seeing Stefan standing at the threshold.

“Hey,” He greeted, ducking his head a bit.

“Hi,” Alice said, slipping out of the house and shutting the door behind her. “I take it this means you’re finally going to explain what happened to Vicki?”

Stefan sighed and nodded. “Why don’t I take you to my house? We can talk more freely there,” He explained, glancing back at the door. Alice nodded to his request and quickly texted Tyler that she was going out.

They walked in silence for the first few minutes but, strangely enough, it didn’t feel the least bit awkward. After a bit, Alice looked over to where Stefan was walking with his hands tucked into his pockets. “So, I take it that this isn’t what you planned on returning home for?”

“That obvious, huh?” Stefan cracked a smile in her direction.

Alice smiled back at him, cursing the warm feeling inside of her stomach. She didn’t want to admit to herself that she had feelings for Stefan, but it was becoming increasingly more obvious as she spent more time with him. “Just a little bit,”

They arrived at the boarding house not long after that. A thought occurred to Alice as Stefan led her over the threshold and into the house. “Stefan?”

“Hmm?”

“Is Damon here?” The anxiety in her voice was clear as she looked around the hall like she was expecting him to appear out of thin air.

“Oh, no he’s not,” Stefan assured her, “but we’ll go up to my room just to be safe.”

She ascended the staircase, following Stefan to one of the rooms down the hall. He pushed the door open, and Alice smiled politely as she entered his room. For a moment she was stunned at the sight of his room. It was huge and a very stereotypical vampire bedroom that you would see on television. “Yeah, it’s a bit much,” Stefan said, also looking around the room.

“It’s very nice,” Alice reassured him. “It suits you,”

Stefan nodded and took a seat at his desk while Alice chose to perch on the edge of his bed. She was barely sitting in an attempt not to add a single crease to the bedding. Stefan didn’t seem like the person who would be upset about that kind of thing, but she was trying not to risk it. “So?”

“Yeah, um, a little while ago Damon turned Vicki into a vampire.”

“Why?” Alice asked, crossing her arms over her midsection for comfort.

Stefan let out a sigh that sounded quite disappointed. “Boredom,” he admitted.

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Well, I tried helping her with her new, um, abilities but she resisted.”

“Stefan?” Alice asked, her voice cautious and tentative.

“Mhmm?”

“Is Vicki dead?” A wide-eyed, guilt-ridden look appeared on Stefan’s face. She hadn’t meant to catch him off guard like that, but the way that he was talking about her just gave Alice that impression. She had also heard from Tyler who had heard from Matt that Vicki had left town. She didn’t see many scenarios where that outcome was actually possible.

“Yeah. Yeah, she is,” Stefan admitted regretfully. “I tried to help her but, uh, she was going after Elena and… well,”

Alice looked at Stefan sympathetically. “You know, I have seen person after person try to help Vicki Donavan.” She told him, causing him to look up at her curiously. “She resisted every attempt ever made. And as sad and regretful as her fate is, that doesn’t make it anyone’s fault.”

“I should’ve–”

“You tried, Stefan. Sometimes that’s all you can do,” Alice bore her eyes into Stefan’s green ones, hoping to convey her message through her eyes if her words were failing.

Stefan looked at her gratefully, allowing a bit of emotion to crack through his facade. “Thank you, Alice. I’m really glad you’re my friend.”

Alice smiled softly. There was another moment of comfortable silence before the door to Stefan’s bedroom burst open and a blonde woman stood at the entrance. She seemed almost as taken aback by the presence of Alice as Alice felt about her presence. She looked from Stefan to Alice and then back at Stefan before arching an eyebrow. “Is this the famous Elena I’ve heard so much about?”

“Oh, uh, no,” Stefan told her. “Alice, this is Lexi. Lexi, this is Alice” Alice smiled politely and gave a small wave to the fellow blonde. “Lexi is my best friend.” Stefan explained to Alice who nodded. “And Alice is a new friend,” he told Lexi.

“Well, it’s great to meet you,” Lexi said, grinning.

“You, too,” Alice said with a smile and a nod. “Are you in town to see Stefan?” She asked, trying to be polite. She couldn’t imagine another reason, seeing as Mystic Falls wasn’t exactly a hotspot for exciting activity, but she was trying to make conversation.

“Yep. I’m just here for Stefan’s birthday,” Alice whipped her head around to look at Stefan, who grimaced a little at her gaze.

“It’s your birthday? Why didn’t you say something?!” She demanded, springing up from the bed.

Stefan pointed at Lexi from his desk. “You see what you’ve done?” Lexi only grinned triumphantly and shrugged a bit.

“Is that why Caroline’s throwing a party at the grill?”

“No.” Stefan immediately denied. “She’s doing that for reasons probably influenced by Damon”

Alice let out a groan that earned a grin from Lexi. “I like you,” She decided, placing herself on the bed next to Alice.

“Thanks,” Alice said with a slightly confused chuckle.

“Anyone who doesn’t like Damon is good in my book,” Lexi said with a shrug.

Alice turned back to Stefan and arched an eyebrow, coming back to the birthday topic. “So, you’re turning what? 300 years old?”

Lexi’s eyes widened at Alice’s teasing comment. “She knows?” Stefan nodded and Lexi looked at him with a puzzled expression on her face. “How?”

“My biological family knew a lot about vampires,” Alice explained. “I recognized the signs and confronted Stefan.”

“Wow,” Lexi exclaimed. “Confronting a vampire you just met. Ballsy.”

Alice laughed and Stefan smiled too. It was the kind of smile that made Alice realize how close Stefan and Lexi must be. “Well, I only did it because I wanted to encourage Stefan to… handle Damon.” Alice admitted, causing Stefan to smile even more and tilt his head to the side in consideration.

“Oh, I like you even more now,”

“I take it he’s screwed you over too?” Alice asked.

“He only left me to burn on a rooftop,” Lexi said casually, as if that was something that happened every day. Stefan hissed at the thought of what Damon did all those years ago.

“Yikes!”

────୨ৎ────

Alice’s eyes scanned the walls of the antique shop she was standing in. She had decided that there was no way she was not going to get Stefan something for his birthday. After considering what he would like for quite some time she had found herself at an antique store about half an hour out of Mystic Falls.

“Can I help you find something, dear?” Alice turned her head to face an elderly man with warm eyes and a kind smile.

“Oh, no, I, um, I’m not exactly sure what I’m looking for,” She stuttered. “I’m shopping for a friend.” The old man looked at her as if he was taking her in and Alice got the strange impression that she was being read like a book.

“Why don’t you come with me? I think I have something you’ll like,” Alice bit her lip but nodded after a moment. She was well aware that following a strange man she’d never met to his secret garage was the first step to being a serial killer’s victim. But it wasn't like she was defenseless either. She was running low on magic, now that she thought about it, but the act of purposely siphoning made her stomach turn uneasily.

She followed the man out to the garage and watched as he pulled on a chain, allowing the steel door to rise to the ceiling and reveal the treasures behind it. The door rising had revealed the garage full of vintage leather jackets and eccentric belts. She turned to the man with wide eyes and he smiled at her, motioning for her to take a look around.

She could have spent the whole day there, simply marveling at the old clothing. But, unfortunately she had places to be and gifts to buy. So, she managed to only spend 45 minutes ogling at the shop owner’s collection. She was skimming through the rows when she found it. It was a leather bomber jacket that was a rich brown color and Alice knew as soon as she saw it that it was perfect.

She took it out of the row and admired its beauty for a moment before she took it up to where the man was waiting at the cash register. He looked at the jacket and smiled brightly at her as he began to ring it up. “You have good taste,” he told her, punching in the numbers. “This was my husband’s jacket,”

Alice’s eyes widened at the thought of taking someone’s connection to their lost love. “Oh, I couldn’t possibly–”

“It wouldn’t be up if I didn’t want someone else to have it. I think it deserves to be worn by someone again,” Alice tilted her head with a smile; it was a sweet sentiment. She scanned her credit card and gave her well wishes as he packed up the jacket.

When Alice got into her car, she smiled at the jacket. It was the perfect gift for Stefan.

────୨ৎ────

By the time Alice arrived at the grill, people had already flooded the scene and began chatting up a storm. She scanned her eyes across the place in search of Stefan, the gift box held under her arm. She was admittedly anxious about how Stefan would react to the gift. He wasn’t the kind of person who would react poorly if he didn’t like it, but he hadn’t asked for a gift either.

Seeing that he had not arrived yet, Alice walked up to the bar and took a seat, placing the gift on her lap. A moment later, another blonde slid into the seat next to hers and looked over at her. “Alice, hey,”

“Lexi,” She smiled at the vampire, who turned to the bartender.

“We’re gonna need a few shots,” She told him, then proceeded to compel him when he asked for ID.

“Oh, um–” Lexi arched an eyebrow at her.

“Sorry, I just assumed you knew about compulsion.” She said, apologetic tone to her voice.

“I do. It’s just…I don’t drink,” She told her bashfully. She wasn’t ashamed of her sobriety but she felt rude turning down an offer to drink.

“Noted,” Lexi said with a grin. Her eyes then trailed down to the box on Alice’s lap. “Is that for Stefan?”

“Oh, uh, yeah,” Alice said, a small yet scared smile on her face. Lexi looked at Alice carefully and gave her the distinct impression that she needed to be more subtle about her crush on Stefan.

“Don’t worry,” Lexi reassured her. “Whatever you got him, he’ll love it.”

“Thanks,”

“Speak of the devil,” Lexi said, turning around and facing Stefan, who had just arrived. He smiled at Lexi and then at Alice. She took a deep breath and turned to Stefan.

“I got you something,” She announced timidly, holding out the gift box.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Stefan told her, despite the smile on his face.

“I know,” She told him, nodding a bit awkwardly.

“Don’t keep me waiting, open it!” Lexi ordered, causing Alice’s nervous tension to disappear. She understood now why Stefan was such good friends with Lexi. The blonde had a way of getting people to feel effortlessly comfortable.Stefan chuckled and nodded, undoing the ribbon and opening the lid. He grinned upon sight of the jacket, eyes crinkling with joy. He picked it up to admire it and Lexi whistled. “That’s so you,” She informed him, making Alice smile with satisfaction.

“It’s amazing, Alice, thank you,” He said. He placed it back in the box, seeing as he was already wearing a leather jacket and, surprising her, gave her a small hug.

She nodded, and looked up at him with a smile, doing everything in her power to keep herself from blushing. After a moment, she averted her eyes and saw Bonnie coming up to her. “Excuse me,” She said, bidding them farewell and coming up to her friend.

“Alice,” Bonnie greeted, hurrying up to her. “Do you know what’s up with Caroline?”

“What do you mean?” She asked, concern forming in the back of her mind.

“Well, she was asking for the necklace back, and I said I couldn’t give it back, so she tried to pull it from my neck.” Alice frowned.

“I mean, Caroline can be tactless sometimes, but not pulling a necklace from someone’s neck tactless,” She then eyed Bonnie suspiciously. “Didn’t Caroline give it to you in the first place?”

“Yeah, it’s just,” Alice continued to eye her and Bonnie sighed, motioning for her to follow. She led Alice to the bathroom and into a stall.

“Bonnie, why are we in a bathroom stall?” Alice asked as Bonnie locked the door behind her.

“Remember when you said that me being a witch was possible?” Alice nodded, fear becoming more prominent for an entirely different reason. Bonnie turned away from Alice and faced the toilet. She raised her hands and water floated out and into a hovering sphere. “You were right.”

“Danm,” Alice said, finally finding her voice.

“That’s why I can’t give the necklace back. Grams said it was a talisman.”

“Oh,”

Bonnie turned to face Alice, taking in her pale complexion. “You don’t think I’m a freak, do you?”

“No. No, of course not,” Alice promised. “I guess it’s just a shock,”

“Yeah, you and me both,” Bonnie unlocked the stall and let them out. Alice didn’t know what to do, she was terrified. She had known this was coming for a while now, but it seemed so much scarier now that it was real.

────୨ৎ────

Eventually, Alice had made it home and into bed. She stared up at the ceiling of her bedroom, deep in contemplation. Against her wishes, her mind wandered to the day when the man who contributed to her birth yet was not her father found out about her little…ability.

As she drifted off into an uneasy sleep, one word rang in her head.

Abomination.

Chapter Text

Alice had managed to drag herself out of bed and to school somehow. The previous night had taken a serious toll on her and she felt as though half of her was somewhere other than school. But she knew she had to keep up appearances and not make anyone too concerned. “Have you even talked to Bonnie?” Elena asked Caroline.

“No, I’m mad at her. She needs to make the first move,” Caroline pushed back. 

“It would be good for you to do it anyway,” Alice advised. “To be the bigger person.” 

“Impossible in her presence,” Caroline responded, taking none of Alice’s advice.

“Why are you so pissed at her anyway?”

“She’s a thief, that’s why. I gave her my necklace and she refuses to give it back. It’s a matter of principle.” Alice would admit that Caroline’s reasoning was pretty fair. She couldn’t know that the necklace actually belonged to Bonnie’s family nor that it was a talisman. All she knew was that she had given something to Bonnie and Bonnie refused to give it back. Looking at Caroline’s side of things, her anger was pretty justified.

“All right,” Elena sighed. “Well, I tried, I’m officially out of it,”

“Good.” Caroline declared. She was clearly eager to get to her favorite topic: gossip. “Your turn. Where’s Stefan? Have you talked to him?”

“He’s avoiding me,” Elena informed them. Alice frowned a bit at her friend’s admission. Thinking about it, she hadn’t heard anything from Stefan either. She assumed that he was just busy, but from Elena’s words, she gathered that something deeper was going on.

“Why?” Alice asked gently

Elena struggled to explain the situation, which made Alice sure that there was something supernatural going on. “…It’s complicated.” Before either girl could push for more details, the bell rang. “I’ll see you later”

Alice made her way through the hordes of children that were littered through the halls. She smiled as she saw Elena standing at the entryway to history class, waiting for her. “Thanks for waiting,” Alice whispered as she and Elena hurried into the class and sat down.

“Good morning, everyone!” The teacher walked into the room right after Bonnie had scurried into her seat. “Alrighty,” He said, more to himself, as he picked up a piece of chalk and began to write on the board. “Alaric Saltzman. It’s a mouthful, I know. Doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue.” The teacher announced as soon as he had finished writing his name on the board. “Saltzman is of German origin. My family emigrated here in 1755 to Texas. I, however, was born and raised in Boston. Now, the name Alaric belongs to a very dead great-grandfather I will never be able to thank enough. You’ll probably want to pronounce it Al-or-ic, but it's Alaric. So, you can call me Rick. I’m your new history teacher.”

────୨ৎ────

Alice’s eyes scanned over the rapidly emptying gymnasium with slight interest. She couldn’t help the grin that was on her face as she placed her project back into her bag. 

Today she had finally attended the science competition that she and Ms. Cooper had been preparing for. She had spent a fair few nights hunched over her desk and quite a couple lunches in the lab in order to finish it on time. But, as she looked over at the trophy that her teacher was delicately placing into a case, Alice knew it was worth it.

She had done a study on how DNA tests in dogs could also be used to determine genetic factors that might lead to trouble in the breed. It was something she had been reading about for a little while and wanted to go deeper into. The disease patterns could be attributed to a lot of breed specific traits and she was hoping that knowing these things could be a key factor in preventing them.

It was a topic she was passionate about and, judging by the first place award she had received, the judges had taken an interest in it as well. 

Once she had finished packing everything up, she joined her teacher in the bus that was taking them back to school. “You did really well, Alice,” Ms. Cooper congratulated her once they had made it back. Alice smiled at the other blonde and ducked her head a bit at the sudden praise. 

“Thank you, Ms. Cooper.” She bid her teacher farewell and, since the school day had just ended, made her way over to her car. While she was walking towards it, however, she caught sight of Stefan. She hadn’t seen the vampire since the party at the grill and had been beginning to worry that something was wrong. 

She walked in his direction as he began to walk away from the school grounds. “Stefan!” She called out, causing him to turn his head to face her.

“Alice, hey,” He greeted as she caught up to her. 

Almost immediately, Alice noted the different and most definitely not good vibe she was getting from him. “Is everything okay?” She asked, her brow creased in concern.

“Yeah, it’s just… I’m not going to be coming to school anymore,” He told her, causing shock to appear on her face. 

“Oh.” She exclaimed. He nodded and she couldn’t help but take note of how sad he looked. “Are you okay? Did something happen?” She asked, eyes wide with concern.

“Damon, he uh… he killed Lexi,” Stefan told her, blinking rapidly for a moment. Alice gasped and put a hand to her mouth in shock. No wonder he had been avoiding everyone; his best friend just died at the hands of his brother.

Alice didn’t say anything, she only pulled Stefan into a hug and held tight for a moment. He smiled sadly at her once she had released him and then he turned and walked away. 

────୨ৎ────

Alice pulled the DVD out of her bag and placed it on the countertop in the Gilbert kitchen. Bonnie walked in and, due to the fight between her and Caroline, the atmosphere became really awkward really fast. 

Alice shared a look with Elena who then looked at Caroline, causing her to finally speak up. “I’m sorry. There. I said it.” Caroline declared. “If you want the ugly ass necklace, keep it. It’s yours.” Alice smiled at Caroline with pride. She had actually taken her advice and decided to be the bigger person. 

“Will you hate me if I told you I threw it away?” Bonnie asked guilty. Alice’s eyes widened at that admission. This was so not going to end well. 

“You threw it away?” Caroline asked, annoyed and flabbergasted. 

“I know it sounds crazy, but the necklace was giving me nightmares.” Bonnie defended. “I had to get rid of it.”

“You could have just given it back to me.” Caroline pointed out. 

“Why? So you could give it back to Damon?” Elena asked, causing Alice to furrow her eyebrows in distaste. She knew that Elena hated Damon and was just sticking up for Bonnie, but Elena didn’t seem to realize how justified Caroline’s anger was. They couldn’t expect Caroline to think the same things as they did if she didn’t have any of the information that they did.

Caroline, surprising Alice further, simply decided to once again be the bigger person. “Screw Damon. Are we doing manicures or what? Who has their kit?”

“Mine’s in my bag,” Bonnie told them. Caroline smiled softly and went to grab the kit from Bonnie’s bag.

“So, Elena,” Caroline spoke up, “how long do you think this fight with Stefan’s gonna last? Is it like a permanent thing?” 

“I don’t know, Caroline,” Elena responded, exasperation thick in her voice.

That was when Caroline scoffed and angrily demanded, “why are you such a little liar, Bonnie?”

“What?” Bonnie asked.

“Caroline!” Elena reprimanded, astonished at the blonde’s words. 

“Care–” before Alice could reprimand her friend at all, she was met with shock as Caroline held up the very necklace that Bonnie had claimed she had gotten rid of. Caroline marched over to the counter and placed the necklace down, looking at Bonnie expectantly.

“I’m not lying to you, Caroline, I swear,” 

“It’s true,” Elena backed Bonnie up. “I watched her throw it into a field.”

Caroline was clearly not having any of it, though. “Well, then explain it,” she demanded. Alice looked at Bonnie and Elena, wondering what kind of turn this was about to take. Bonnie didn’t seem too concerned with the fact that Caroline wanted an explanation she couldn’t give. In fact, her focus was entirely elsewhere.

“Emily,” She said with meaning.

“Who’s Emily?” Alice asked.

“The ghost,” Bonnie pushed. Alice’s eyes widened; that was why the crystal had so much magic in it. It must have been spelled by one of Bonnie’s ancestors.

“Oh, the ghost has a name now?” Caroline said in disbelief. 

“Caroline, please,” Elena told her, holding up a hand to silence her. 

“I wonder why she won’t leave me alone,” Bonnie asked, though the sentence was very clearly directed to only Elena. 

“Okay, what is going on?” Caroline finally demanded to know. “Why am I not a part of this conversation? You two do this to me all the time,”

“That’s not true,” Elena attempted, despite all four of them knowing that it was.

“Yes it is.” Bonnie spoke up, surprising everyone with her honesty. “I can’t talk to you. You don’t listen.”

“That’s not true!” Caroline defended. 

“I’m a witch,” Bonnie spoke up.

“And don’t we all know it,” Caroline bit back, not missing a beat.

“See? That’s what I’m talking about. I’m trying to tell you something. You don’t even hear it.” Bonnie declared before storming away.

“I listen. When do I not listen?” Caroline wondered.

────୨ৎ────

Elena paced the kitchen as Caroline went to talk to Bonnie. “I can’t believe Caroline,” She exclaimed in frustration.

“What do you mean?” Alice queried, wanting to know what Elena was actually thinking before she resorted to the first assumption she had made. An assumption that made her quite upset at the brunette.

Elena looked at her like she had started spouting gibberish. “I mean how disrespectful she’s being to Bonnie!” 

Turns out the first assumption was the correct one. “You can’t be serious, Elena,” Alice said slowly, trying to be as respectful as possible. 

“What do you mean?” Elena said in shock. “She’s not listening at all,”

“Elena,” Alice began gently. “I don’t think that’s very fair. Bonnie just told Caroline, with no proof mind you, that she has magic powers. And we should all just expect her to accept that without batting an eye?”

“Well, no, but…” Elena trailed off, seemingly unable to come up with a rebuttal. Finally, she sighed and nodded. “You’re right; maybe I’m not being very respectful either,” She admitted with a self-deprecating chuckle. 

Alice gave her a soft smile. “I guess that makes you two even,” 

Elena smiled back at her when they heard a voice call out to them. “Elena, Alice, you two can come in now. We’re done,” They joined Bonnie and Caroline in the other room, smiling shyly at their friends. “There is just way too much drama in this room.” Caroline declared. “So, what do you guys want to do?” Caroline gasped and shot up in her seat. “I have an idea. Why don’t we have a seance?”

Alice’s blood turned to ice in her veins. That could absolutely not happen. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Bonnie said anxiously.

“Come on,” Caroline insisted. “Let’s summon some spirits. This Emily chick has some serious explaining to do.”

From the way Caroline was smiling and the way that Bonnie and Elena were wearing amused expressions, Alice could tell that they were coming around to the idea. “Or, we could just watch a movie?” She suggested nervously. Caroline only looked at her with excitement and began going upstairs to enter Elena’s bedroom. “We can even do The Notebook !” But Alice’s pleas fell on deaf ears. 

────୨ৎ────

Despite everything in her telling Alice to run away, she somehow found herself on the floor of Elena’s bedroom, about to perform a seance. She had made sure to position herself between Elena and Caroline, careful not to touch Bonnie.

“What are we doing?” Bonnie asked.

“I don’t know,” Elena didn’t sound too pleased by this turn of events either.

“Shh! Be quiet and concentrate,” Caroline reprimanded them. “Close your eyes. Take a deep breath. Bonnie, call to her,” 

“Emily, you there?” Bonnie said lamely.

Caroline was obviously not pleased with that summoning. “Really? ‘Emily, you there?’ That's all you got? Come on,”

“Fine, geez,” Bonnie exclaimed. “Emily, I call on you. I know you have a message. I’m here to listen.” 

The candles they had placed in the center flared higher and brighter. Alice could barely hear over the sound of her heart pounding in her chest. She wanted, no, needed, to get out of here. Whatever was about to happen, she couldn’t be there for it. She had experienced enough witchy crap for a lifetime. 

“Did that just?” Elena wondered.

“Yeah, that just happened,” Caroline confirmed as a chill raced down all of their spines. 

“It’s just the air conditioning,” Bonnie’s attempt to deny it was pretty futile.

“Ask her to show you another sign.” Caroline instructed Bonnie, who shook her head. “Ask her.”

“Care…” Alice warned, trying to ignore the tremor in her voice. 

“Emily, if you’re among us, show us another sign,” Caroline requested, disregarding Alice’s unspoken advice. For an agonizing moment no one said anything and nothing happened. 

“See? It’s not working,” But their hopes were dashed when the windows burst open with a dramatic bang. They all gasped, and Bonnie pushed herself up from the ground. “No, I can’t, I’m done,” She declared, pulling the necklace from her neck and throwing it to the ground. It landed beside the candles which immediately went out, scaring the girls further. “Get the light. Please get the light!” 

“Hold on, I got it,” Elena called out, racing over to the light switch and flicking it on. 

“You guys, the necklace, it’s gone,” Bonnie told them. 

As they searched high and low across the room, Alice slowly began to feel dread pooling in her gut and anxiety forming in her head. “Okay, fun’s over Caroline,” Elena said, attempting to find reason. “You made a point, and I get it. Now give it back.” 

“What? Well, I didn’t take it,” Caroline told them. 

It was then that Alice realized it wasn’t nerves that were wrong with her. What she had thought was an anxiety induced headache was now a throbbing in her skull. She clenched her teeth closed but the pain didn’t alleviate. She knew this was going to happen. This Emily lady was, much like the entirety of the witch population, not a fan of siphoners.

“What? What happened?” Caroline asked Elena, who was staring at the hallway.

“I don’t know. Nothing. Jeremy, are you home?” 

There was no response. “Uh, guys?” Bonnie spoke up, causing Alice to pick up her head and stop rubbing her temples. Bonnie walked into Elena’s bathroom, and they all spotted the necklace she had seen. But before they could do anything, the bathroom door slammed shut on its own.

Bonnie screamed for help as Elena and Caroline raced to the now closed door. Alice took a step in that direction when the pain in her skull pushed forward with a vengeance. She couldn’t help the groan of pain that escaped her lips and was thankful that the other noises covered it up. 

After a terrifying few seconds, the door to the bathroom opened and Alice felt the pain fade. “What happened? Are you okay?” Elena immediately asked, looking at Bonnie, who held her head in her hands.

“I’m fine,” Bonnie said in a monotone voice, looking back at them. 

“Unbelievable.” said Caroline. “You were totally faking it,”

“Caroline, come on,” Elena tried.

“No! You scared the hell out of me,” 

Alice walked forward cautiously. “Bonnie?” She asked.

Bonnie turned to face her and horrifyingly, Alice watched disgust and hate takeover her friend’s face. It made her swallow audibly and sent her mind into overdrive. Before anyone did anything, though, Bonnie’s eyes trailed to Elena and the rage disappeared. “I’m fine. Everything’s fine.”

“I can’t believe I fell for it,” Caroline expressed, following Bonnie down the stairs.

“Are you okay?” Elena asked Bonnie.

“I must go,” Was all Bonnie said. 

“She’s leaving. I’m leaving,” Caroline declared. 

“You guys can’t leave!” Elena protested. 

“I can.” Caroline pushed. “I’ve had enough freaky fake witch stuff for one night.”

“Thank you for having me,” Bonnie said, her voice still in a scary state of calmness. “I’ll take it from here,” 

Elena only seemed more confused by this and said to Bonnie, “where are you going?” 

“Back to where it all began,” Alice was even more lost now. 

“Bonnie!” She called out, but Bonnie didn’t do anything but continue down the stairs. 

“Bonnie!” Elena tried but got the same response. “Oh, my god! Emily!” 

Bonnie, or Emily, whipped her head around and stared at Elena. “I won’t let him have it. It must be destroyed.” She declared and then quickened her pace down the stairs. She began to race out the door as the other girls followed after their now possessed friend. She flung open the door and Alice made it out just in time for the door to slam shut behind her. 

────୨ৎ────

Emily was still on the warpath and, luckily for Alice, hadn’t noticed her presence. It made sense now why she had been looked at with a distaste she hadn’t felt in a long time. Bonnie might not know what she was, but Emily sure does. Alice decided that she couldn’t wait and see what would happen; she had to go after her. “ Invisique ” Alice muttered and took off after her friend. With the cloaking spell she had on Emily wouldn’t be able to see or hear her.

Thanks to that factor, she was able to run after her possessed friend, following her undetected all the way to old fell’s church. She ducked behind a tree, despite being invisible, when she saw Damon appear. “Hello Emily. You look different.” 

“I won’t let you do it,” Emily told him.

“We had a deal,” 

“Things are different now. I need to protect my family.” 

“I protected your family,” Damon reminded her. “You owe me,”

“I know. I’m sorry,” Emily expressed.

“You’re about to be a lot more than that,” But as Damon began to charge at her, a branch magically impaled him in the gut. 

Alice waited in the shadows until Stefan arrived and pulled the branch from Damon’s gut. By then, Emily had started digging a dent into the ground for whatever spell she was about to cast. “These people don’t deserve this,” Emily was saying. “They should never have to know such evil.” 

“What do you mean evil?” Stefan asked while Damon pushed himself up and Alice stayed listening under the cloaking spell. 

“Emily!” Damon warned, gritting his teeth. “I swear to god, I’ll make you regret this,”

“I won’t let you unleash them into this world,” Emily told Damon.

“Them?” Stefan asked. “What part of the story did you leave out, Damon?”

“What does it matter?” Damon asked, straining. 

“Emily, tell me what you did,” 

“To save her, I had to save them,” Emily told Stefan.

“You saved everyone in the church,” Alice’s brow furrowed at his words. What on earth were they talking about? Maybe she shouldn't have gone after Bonnie. But, then again, she wasn’t going to let Bonnie, or at least, Bonnie’s possessed body, go into something dangerous alone.

“With one comes all,” 

“I don’t care about them. I just want Katherine,” Alice was so confused. What did their ex-girlfriend have to do with this? 

Stefan turned to his brother, shock and anger on his face. “I knew I shouldn’t have believed a single word that comes out of your mouth. This isn’t about love is it? This is about revenge,” 

“The two aren’t mutually exclusive,” Damon said, still trying to stop Emily.

“Damon, you can’t do this.”

“Why not?” Damon demanded. “They killed 27 people, and they called it a war battle. They deserve whatever they get.” Alice felt one piece of the puzzle click into place. They were talking about the battle of Wickery Hill. 

“27 vampires, Damon,” Alice felt the blood drain from her face at Stefan’s words. She had always wondered how so many people ended up in a church while there were soldiers running around. Now it made sense. They were vampires who were probably forced into that church to be killed. “They were vampires! You can’t just bring them back,” 

“This town deserves this,” Damon insisted. Alice felt the cogs turning in her brain. Maybe Katherine had been a vampire? That would explain how Damon thought he could bring her back. But surely the townsmen would know that it takes more than a gunshot to kill a vampire. 

“You’re blaming innocent people for things that happened 145 years ago.” Stefan told him.

“There is nothing innocent about these people, and don’t think for a second it won’t happen again.” Damon spat. “They already know too much and they’ll burn your little grandwitch right next to us when they find out. Trust me.” He directed at Emily.

“Things are different now,” Emily insisted. 

“Don’t do this,” Damon practically begged. 

“I can’t free them. I won’t” Emily told him. “ Incendia ,” 

Alice’s eyes widened as she realized what Emily was about to do. She was going to destroy the crystal which obviously had something to do with saving all those vampires. Slowly, while Damon was distracted, Alice let herself become visible again. 

The pentagram that Emily had carved into the dirt became alight with flames. The scorching heat of them stopped anyone from reaching Bonnie inside the pentagram. “No. no, please,” Damon begged.” Then Emily removed the pendant and tossed it into the air. 

“Bonnie!” Alice’s eyes widened as she heard Elena’s voice call out for her best friend. Turning, she raced to Elena and grabbed her by the shoulders, stopping her from racing into the flames. Elena’s eyes widened when she realized Alice was there, but Alice was too focused on staring at Bonnie. 

Stefan came running up to the two of them just as Damon let out an agonized scream when the necklace, along with his hope, was destroyed. As soon as the sparks had faded and the spell was complete it was clear that Emily had departed Bonnie’s body. Their friend looked around, confused. For a single moment, no one did anything. Then, Damon gave an enraged growl and charged at Bonnie, tearing into her throat. 

Elena and Alice yelled out in fear for their friend's life and Stefan raced over to push Damon off of her. The two girls hurried to Bonnie’s side while Stefan checked for a pulse. “She’s alive but barely. I can save her.” Stefan then bit into his wrist and pushed it to Bonnie’s lips. Alice exhaled in relief as the vampire blood healed Bonnie’s wound. 

────୨ৎ────

When the three of them were back at Elena’s house, curled up in her blankets, the explanation finally came. Bonnie was shocked and started crying into Elena’s arms. Alice, on the other hand, just stayed silent and clutched the covers to her chest. 

“Alice?” Bonnie began tentatively once she had collected herself. “You seem… surprisingly not shocked.” 

Alice gulped audibly, causing both of her friends to turn to her. “That’s because I already knew,” She admitted. 

“About Stefan and Damon?” Elena questioned, sounding shocked. “How?” 

Alice closed her eyes for a moment. “My… the family that I was adopted from,” she began. “They were not oblivious to the supernatural in the slightest.” 

“Oh,” Bonnie said quietly

“Yeah,” Alice confirmed. 

“You never talk about them,” Elena said gently, treading lightly.

“And I’m not about to start.” Alice told them, causing Bonnie and Elena to share a worried glance. “My family; my real family are the Lockwoods, you guys, and Caroline.” Elena and Bonnie did smile at that proclamation. “And I couldn’t have asked for anything better than that,”

Chapter Text

Whoever said that practice makes perfect was delusional. For example, Alice had had plenty of practice being alone, but that didn’t mean she was good at it. That was why she had promised herself that she would show up at school today and talk to Bonnie and Elena. 

She hadn’t missed the looks the two of them had been exchanging since the night of the seance. They both obviously had questions about Alice’s biological family. But that had never been a topic Alice was willing to discuss and that hadn’t changed. She was determined to stick to the same ideology that she had always had when it came to that topic. 

Bury it. She had sealed that part of her life in a box and destroyed the key. But the contents of said box were festering, growing angry at all the time they had spent locked up. Alice knew deep within herself that one day they would revolt and everything would go up in flames. 

For now though, she pushed the lid closed and smiled like she wasn’t fighting an internal battle. “Did I miss something?” Elena asked, watching as Caroline and Matt made their way into their class with playful and happy smiles. 

“They’ve been hanging out,” Bonnie explained with a shrug. 

“Kinda weird don’t you think?” 

“I think it’s good,” Alice spoke up, smiling at the sight of her best friend being so happy. “She needs to be with someone good; someone who makes sure she knows how amazing she is,”

“As opposed to a homicidal vampire like Damon,” Bonnie piped up, her face twitching with dislike at the thought of the older Salvatore.

“Yeah, how are you doing with that?” Elena asked, worried about her friend.

“I’m freaked out. Damon attacked me, I could be dead right now. But I’m also grateful.” Bonnie expressed, smiling slightly.

“Hmm? “Alice hummed, turning to look at her friend in confusion. 

“To Stefan.” Bonnie explained, causing Alice to smile at the thought of the vampire. She was realizing now that he had become a really good friend of hers. And friend was all it would ever be. She loved Elena far too much to say or act on her secret crush. “He saved my life and…have you seen him?”

Elena sighed frustratedly at the question and pulled her scarf from her neck. “Not since he told me he was leaving. For all I know, he’s already gone.” Elena said as she shoved her scarf and bag into her locker. 

“He wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye,” Alice argued, a little hurt that Stefan hadn’t told her of his departure. 

“Yes, he would,” Elena insisted, pulling her books from out of her locker. “He thinks he’s protecting me. Clean break and all that,”

“So, what are you going to do?” Bonnie asked. 

“What am I supposed to do?” Elena said. “I already begged him not to go, if I ask again I’m being selfish. It is what it is.” Alice didn’t think that asking him to stay would be selfish. Futile maybe, but asking the person you're in love with to stay instead of leave was natural. 

“Well, maybe it’s for the best,” Bonnie said as they departed from the lockers and started walking down the hallway.

“What? Why?” Elena asked, pausing to stop and stare at Bonnie.

“I mean, what kind of future could you have with him, even if he stayed?” Elena looked affronted at Bonnie’s words. The banner that was being hung on the wall then drifted down. Elena picked it up and looked at the words: The Promise of Your Future. 

“Did you just…?” Elena asked, wondering about Bonnie’s witchcraft. 

“No, I swear,” Bonnie promised. Elena, looking pissed off at the world, swatted the banner away and began marching towards class. 

Bonnie and Alice exchanged a look before they followed after her.

────୨ৎ────

Later, after the school day had ended, Alice found herself playing basketball with Matt and Tyler. She had never been very good at basketball, or any sport except track, but she liked the opportunity to ‘accidentally’ hit Tyler in the balls with a basketball. 

Just because she loved him didn’t mean she didn’t enjoy messing with him. “So, what’s up with you and Forbes?” Tyler asked as he dribbled the ball. 

“Nothings up,” Matt insisted as if the Lockwood siblings were idiots. Well, maybe Tyler was, but not in this case.

“I saw you two in the hall today. Don’t even try to deny, bro. You’re tapping that.” 

Alice rolled her eyes. “‘That’ is my best friend so watch your mouth before I tell Mom that you’re getting a D in English.”

Tyler’s eyes blew wide and he gaped at his sister’s audacity. “You wouldn’t.” Alice only cocked an eyebrow. 

“It’s not like that,” Matt told them, tearing the siblings from their battle of wills. 

“Never is,” Tyler said, managing to move past Alice’s threat and score a goal, or basket. “Until you become we people.”

“We people?” Matt questioned, catching the ball as it bounced from on the pavement.

“Yeah, ‘we can’t make it to the party,’; ‘we’ll never miss a game,’; ‘we don’t like the color red,” Tyler taunted.

“We hung out, like, twice,” Matt defended, shooting and scoring. Alice rushed over and caught the ball.

“Like I said, ‘we’” After that proclamation, the basketball somehow hit Tyler right in between the legs. Funny how those things happen.

────୨ৎ────

“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” Tyler complained as the two made their way through the career fair. 

“You have talent, Tyler. I think that other people should see that too,” Alice insisted, looking over at her brother with a comforting expression. She knew that he was worried less about students' judgments than he was their father’s. Alice sometimes wondered why their dad was more harsh on Tyler than he was on her. “Come on, show me what you submitted,” 

Alice took Tyler’s hands and pulled him in the direction of the art station. “You’re a pain in my ass, you know that?” 

“You love me,” Alice countered. 

“Doesn’t make you any less of a pain,” Tyler told her, scrunching up his nose to which Alice scoffed in indignation. When they arrived at the table Tyler glanced around, probably checking for their dad, and then flipped to the page. 

“I haven’t seen this one,” Alice commented, admiring her brother’s work. “It’s good,” 

“Thanks,” Tyler said and gave her a small, appreciative smile. Jeremy approached the art bench, probably to see his own work, and stared at Tyler in confusion. “What do you want?” 

“Hey. Uh, just surprised to see you here.” He said, walking closer to the siblings. “Art usually implies culture and culture implies, well, not you,” 

Alice sighed. It wasn’t as if Tyler didn’t have a rude comment from Jermey coming, seeing as he had pummeled the kid. But she had hoped that they could fight about something more meaningless than what Tyler was passionate about. “Go to hell,” Tyler said flatly, taking Alice’s hand and guiding her away from the table.

Tyler sighed and looked down in disappointment. “Don’t let him get to you,” Alice advised him. “He’s just being a dumbass. Which makes you two a perfect pair.” 

Tyler cracked a smile at that and shoved Alice lightly. The blonde laughed and slapped Tyler on the arm, ducking away from him and their fake fight. Tyler was one of the few people who Alice let touch her in that way. She knew that some friends showed love through faux aggression, but Alice wasn’t one of those people. 

However, she knew Tyler well enough and loved him more than enough to allow a bit of her walls to come down around him. Once the two had calmed down and realized that chasing each other down crowded hallways would be a bad idea, they lounged against some lockers. 

“Are you gonna drag me to the vet booth, or what?” Tyler said, smiling at his sister. Alice grinned back at him, practically jumping for joy as she grabbed his arm and led him in that direction. Alice had always wanted to be a vet, ever since moving in with the Lockwoods. Her dad absolutely refused to let them have any kind of pet, but she would always be one of those annoying people who went to dog parks without a dog. 

There was an instance where it hit her how much she wanted that for herself. Caroline’s dad’s girlfriend had a puppy, and her friend had invited her to hang out with them. By some stroke of bad luck, Caroline had ended up dropping a chocolate brownie on the floor that day. Since they were in a rush, Alice got to come with to take Toby, the dog, to the vet. She watched with fascination as they fixed Toby up. 

It was then that she knew that was her calling. She loved animals and by that point she had accepted that she would be able to go to college, so it all worked out.

When they arrived at the booth, Alice immediately went for a pamphlet and Tyler watched with a fond sort of impatience. “Are you interested in becoming a vet tech?” The woman at the stand asked.

“Actually, I want to be a veterinarian, like, with the title and everything.” Alice explained.

The woman at the stand looked at Alice with an impressed expression. “That’s a grueling process, you know?” 

“I know.” Alice confirmed. “But I know it’ll be worth it to help the animals.” 

“That’s just the mindset people like me are looking for,” 

────୨ৎ────

Alice was once again walking alongside Tyler, who was eyeing her. “You look like you’re going to explode from happiness. Like, violently combust,”

“Thank you, Tyler, that’s such a wonderful image.” Alice said, still too happy about what the vet at the stand had said about her to be bothered. 

“I aim to please,” Tyler said with a wry smile.

Before Alice could quip back, they were approached by Jeremy Gilbert. “I didn’t know you drew,” He mentioned to Tyler. 

“It’s an elective,” Tyler said tiredly. 

“Because it’s good stuff. You like graphics? Cause that’s, uh, that’s kind of my thing,” 

And Alice was officially and completely lost in what was going on here. Tyler and Jeremy hated each other and now, suddenly, here Jeremy was making conversation. Tyler was just as lost, judging by his next words. “Woah, woah, what are you doing?” He asked, stopping in his tracks.

“Well, it’s just something else we have in common,” Jeremy explained, stopping as well.

“What's the other thing? Vicki?” Tyler asked and that’s when Alice knew this was going to end badly. “Let's hang out because we did the same chick? Go be friends with one of the many other guys that she screwed, there is no shortage of them.” 

“Dick move, Tyler,” Alice muttered under her breath as Jeremy pushed Tyler against the locker and the two began to fight. “Dick move,”

Obviously, everyone’s attention was drawn to the fight. Mr. Saltzman went to pull Jeremy away, while their dad went to pull Tyler away. Alice gulped at the sight. She loved her dad but, a lot like Tyler, he had a bad temper. She knew that he loved them and that he wanted what was best for them, despite his more than questionable methods.

“You two, come with me,” He said, and Alice’s anxiety racketed up a notch as the two boys were led away.

Mr. Saltzman, it seemed, also had doubts about her dad’s intentions. “Excuse me, Mayor. Where are you taking them?”

“I'm gonna talk to them. All fights should end in handshakes, don't you think?” When he led Tyler and Jeremy outside, Alice quickly followed after them, barely noticing that Mr. Saltzman was doing the same.

When she pushed the utility door open, she saw her dad facing the two troublemakers. “Okay, let’s get this out of your system. Go ahead, fight,”

Alice took a sharp breath in, not knowing what to do.

“You want us to what?” Jeremy asked, sounding like he wasn’t sure what if this was actually happening.

“I’m not gonna fight him, Dad,” Tyler said, sounding tired. And he was tired; their dad wasn’t usually this bad, but he was still consistently a bit of a dick. 

“I don’t think so, Sir,” Jeremy said, and he moved to step away.

His path was blocked in a second, though. “You don't fight in there like pansies.” He informed them and Alice knew she had to do something. “You take it outside, fight your battles like men, and move on. Best lesson my dad taught me. So let's settle it. Fight.” Just as she was about to make her presence known, she caught sight of her history teacher. 

“Stay out of sight. I got this.” 

She nodded thankfully, guiltily grateful that she didn’t have to step in. “Come on, Dad,” Tyler tried.

“It’s not gonna happen.” Jeremy insisted.

“I said fight!” This time his voice was more forceful, and it made Alice scared. 

Tyler tried to move forward and leave, but their dad shoved him back, making Alice’s heart jump into her throat. “Woah, what’s going on out here?” Mr. Saltzman asked, walking towards them.

“Just letting these two kids work it out,” the mayor said, anger in his tone vanishing in an instant. “We’re good here. Go back inside.”

“I don’t wanna go back inside,” Mr. Saltzman said, and Alice felt a rush of gratitude for him. “What I want is an answer to my question; what’s going on out here?” 

“Who do you think you’re talking to? Do I look like a student?” 

“No,” Mr. Saltzman denied. “You look like a full grown, alpha male, douchebag,” Alice gaped and she saw that Tyler had a matching expression. No one had ever had the guts to tell their dad that. 

“You don’t talk to me like that,” the mayor said, offended despite his cool tone. “I could have your job like that,” He snapped his fingers.

Mr. Saltzman, however, was unaffected by his threat. “Ah, you do that. Then it’ll be me and you in this parking lot, working things out. You cool with that?” 

Their dad narrowed his eyes. “You just marked yourself,” 

He looked at Tyler, who started walking forward, their dad following. Alice slipped inside as quietly as she could, not wanting them to know that she had seen the whole thing. 

────୨ৎ────

Later, after she had confessed to Tyler that she saw everything, they sat on a bench together, Alice resting her head on his shoulder. Jeremy came by then, and his expression was much softer than earlier. “Hey,” 

“What do you want?” Tyler asked, thoroughly done with the world.

“I don't know. I, uh, I thought that was weird with your dad, what he did. Is he like that all the time? Is that...Is that what you gotta go through? Man, I...I get it. I get it–” Tyler cut Jeremy off by hitting him. If she had the energy, Alice would have scolded him for that. “What’s your problem?” The young gilbert asked. 

“Look, I don’t need you pity,” Tyler said and Alice closed her eyes in disappointment.

“Seriously, you don't have to be like this. You don't.” Jeremy insisted

Tyler, having none of it, just said, “Just go.”

“What is your problem, man?” He was asked as Jermy backed away.

“I don’t know, ok? I don’t know”

Alice took her brother’s hand and guided him away. She managed to find Matt and was hoping that he could give them a ride, neither wanting to be with their dad right now. “Would you mind giving us a ride, Matt?” 

Matt nodded at Alice’s request. “Sure.” He paused for a moment before turning to Tyler. “Look, I like Caroline.” Tyler stopped and looked at him, gripping his sister’s hand tighter. “She's got this thing....this way about her....and I like her ok? And I'm not gonna defend it or apologize about it.”

“Okay,” Tyler said calmly.

“So stop your little bromance bitch act,” 

“Okay,” Matt seemed surprised by how easily Tyler gave in, but accepted it and they all got into the car.

────୨ৎ────

Later that night, having been plagued by awful memories, Alice had asked Tyler if she could spend the night in his room. Curled up next to her brother, she felt safe. And it was nice.

Chapter Text

When they were younger, Tyler and Alice would often sneak into each other’s rooms and the two would curl up together. There was a sense of safety that sharing a bed with someone you trusted brought. It felt as though you knew you were safe, that the person beside you would fight the devil himself to stay.

That wasn’t an inaccurate description when it came to Alice and Tyler. Nowadays, they rarely did it, but, when one of them really needed it, the option was always there. And, after the career fair, both of them had really needed it. 

Alice, being much more of a morning person, was up first. She dragged Tyler out of bed and they both, rather unwillingly, got ready for school. Neither of them wanted to be there.

But, somehow they had both made it to school and Alice was now walking along the grass with Bonnie.“I swear I’m gonna rage quit math,” Alice declared.

“You say that at least twice a day,” Bonnie told her with a laugh. There was a slight chance that Bonnie’s statement was 100% correct. Alice detested math and wasn’t shy about letting her friends know that. It wasn’t that she totally sucked at math –she only moderately sucked– but there was just so much…stuff. Math was definitely not something Alice was adept at. It was, without a doubt, her weakest subject. She didn’t mind doing math for science’s sake, but math for math’s sake was just ridiculous. 

“And I mean it at least twice a day,” Alice insisted despite there being no real force behind her words. 

“And yet you still show up to class every day,” Bonnie reminded her, smirking at her friend. Alice was sure by now that this was a personal attack. Bonnie had just pointed out both her math hatred and her obsession with attendance. 

Alice shook her head in indignation, not actually offended. “You’re lucky I love you, Bonnie Bennett.” Both girls laughed as they continued walking to class. Speaking of the devil in variables, they were actually heading to math right now. Alice had a sinking feeling that there was going to be a pop quiz. She had no evidence but she felt as though the universe would do that to her. 

“Bonnie!” Both girls turned their heads to see Stefan walking up to them with a serious expression on his face. Whatever Stefan was here for, judging by his face, it was not to tutor anyone on stupid trigonometry.

Bonnie tensed at the sight of the Salvatore vampire. By now, Bonnie had come to terms with the fact that vampires were real and lived in their town. That did not mean that she wanted anything to do with said vampires. “Stefan.” She said tensely.

“Hey,” Alice said, smiling lightly at him whilst she subtly placed a hand on Bonnie’s forearm, careful not to siphon. When they first met, Alice had quickly discovered that Bonnie took comfort from the physical contact of her friends. She was always the one in the group that would give the first hug when she deemed it appropriate. 

“Hi,” Stefan replied and his smile was nowhere near as calm as Alice’s had been. “I haven’t seen you lately,” He mentioned to Bonnie. “How are you doing with everything?”

“I’m fine. All’s fine,” Bonnie clearly wanted this conversation to be over but Alice couldn’t think  of a polite or subtle way to end it. 

“Good, yeah,” Stefan confirmed, also tense.

“Are you back in school?” Alice asked, hoping to ease even some of the tension.

“No.” Stefan denied. “Actually, I came here to find you, Bonnie. I was hoping you could help me with something. A spell,”  

Bonnie paused in her walking and the other two did so as well. “Stefan, look,” Bonnie began. “I know Elena's okay with all of this, and I appreciate what you did to help me. But I'm not really ready to dive into it with you just yet.”

“I understand that,” Stefan said, indicating just how little he understood that. “But I need your help. It’s Elena. She’s with Damon,”

Now that got Alice and Bonnie’s attention. They both hated Damon, Bonnie especially, and they both wanted Elena to stay as far away from him as possible. So, after Bonnie had assured them that Alice could come with, she led them to a secluded area to perform the spell. Alice managed to keep her anxiety in check, even with the close proximity to magic.

“I have Elena’s necklace,” Stefan was telling them. “I was just hoping you could use this to make some sort of a connection. I just need to know that she's okay.”

“How do you know I can do this?” Bonnie asked, sounding seriously unconvinced. 

“Because I’ve known a few witches over the years. I’ve seen what they could do,” Stefan explained.

“I’m still new at it,” Bonnie reminded them.

“You got this, Bonnie,” Alice said, trying to sound encouraging. She didn’t know if it worked, but Bonnie gave her a grateful smile anyway.

“Okay. All right,” Bonnie agreed and she took the necklace into her hands. She closed her eyes and clasped the necklace tightly in her hands, appearing to be very concentrated. “There's nothing. Nothing's happening.” Bonnie said frantically, opening her eyes. “Usually there's an image or… tell me if anyone's looking.”

“Okay,” Stefan said and Alice nodded. Bonnie picked up a leaf and began to hold her hands out, attempting to make it float. Nothing happened. “What is it?” Stefan asked after Bonnie sighed in distress. 

“Something’s wrong,” Bonnie informed them.

“With Elena?” Stefan asked and Alice could have smacked him for that question. Couldn’t he clearly see that Bonnie was having her own issue?

“With me,” Bonnie corrected. “There's something wrong with me. I have to go.” She said, grabbing her things. “Alice, do you mind getting my work and dropping it off at my grams’ place?”  

Alice’s heart leapt into her throat. She could, under no conditions, be anywhere even remotely close to Sheila Bennett. “Of course not,”

────୨ৎ────

Alice was no stranger to being scared or anxious. She’d had a lot of fears in her life so far, some rational and others not. But, not since before she had moved to Mystic Falls, had she felt terror like this. 

She really needed to get better at saying no. But she had already told Bonnie that she would get her work to her grams’ place and she couldn’t back out now. Since she had told Bonnie she would do it, her panic had steadily been increasing throughout the day. 

Her hand shook as she scribbled down some math problems, –by some grace of good luck, there had been no pop quiz– she gripped the pencil as tight as she could in her closed fist, but the numbers still came out wobbly and distorted. No matter how many times she tried to steady her hand, it didn’t work. Her other hand was shaking violently too, so holding the pencil steady with both hands was out of the question and she didn’t think a pencil grip would do any good, seeing as it wasn’t her grip that was faltering. 

Her heart beating in her ears drowned out the sound of Mr. Saltzman’s lesson. History, odd as it was for her career path, was one of her more favored topics. Mr. Saltzman was a million times better than Mr. Tanner and he, thankfully didn't call her out on her messed up composure. It still felt as though every pair of eyes in the classroom were one her. 

By the time the school day had ended and she managed to force her legs to carry her to the car and take it to Miss Sheila’s house, panic was everywhere. She couldn’t focus and the closer she walked to the porch, the more her vision zeroed in on the red door to the house. Or was it red? It could be blue? Maybe black? It was as if it was taunting her. If she had a weaker stomach, she would have puked all over the porch. 

She had developed a strong stomach through her childhood. It was necessary considering all the blood she saw. Oh god, what if I’m going to bleed like that again. I can’t feel that pain again. I just can’t.

Oh, the pain . She knew it all too well, but she also knew that the physical agony would not be the worst part.—she raised her hand to knock—it would be what followed. —her hand was knocking before she could stop herself— it would be the loneliness that killed her once and for all. 

She knew she should turn around and flee but her feet wouldn’t comply. The door creaked open and she curled her hands tighter around the multiple pages of work. She didn’t hold tight enough to tear the paper but she definitely creased it through the plastic of the folder. 

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the door opened fully and the stern but kind eyes of Sheila Bennett welcomed her. I’m drowning. Oh god, I’m drowning! “Um,” Alice began, swallowing down the first wave of fear that was approaching.“Bonnie– she asked me to, uh, drop off some work,” 

“Well, I’ll be sure to get it to her,” Miss Sheila said, holding her hands out to take the folder. Alice painstakingly uncurled her hands and passed the folder over. Nonononono. I need that! I need to hold something, anything. I can’t float if I don’t have anything to hold onto. As the older woman went to grab it, she noticed the violent tremors Alice couldn’t seem to make stop. “Come inside. Why don’t I make us some tea?” 

Alice felt the world getting smaller but she, somehow, managed to nod. One foot in front of the other. One food in front of the other. She repeated the mantra over and over again in her head until she was in the witch’s kitchen. 

Miss Sheila had started walking over to the tea pot and wasn’t looking at Alice. Which was good, considering that her legs faltered for a moment and she stumbled. Managing to catch herself, Alice slowly lowered herself into one of the wooden chairs.

Her heart was beating louder. There was a faint noise that sounded vaguely like someone saying her name, but she didn’t have the energy to figure it out. The wave returned, stronger and larger than before. A tsunami. I-I’m going to— wait, what’s going to happen to me!?  She swallowed once; then twice. It was still there. 

Alice didn’t know if she was dying or if she wished she was dying. Before she could figure it out a cold sea shell was pressed into her hands. It was on a chain that indicated it was part of a necklace. She clutched it tight. The ribbed material pressed against her palms and she closed them tighter. 

As she became more aware of the sensation, words that had been nothing more than garbled sounds a second ago, began to make sense. “I got that on the beach when I was a child,” Miss Sheila’s voice told her. “My sister and I wanted to make huge necklaces of them but we each only found one shell we deemed worthy of putting on a chain.” 

Miss Sheila kept speaking and her words made more and more sense as she went on. Alice realized that she was twisting her hands to feel the shell better. “Thank you,” She said, taking in a shuddering breath as the world began to come back to her.

“Of course,” Miss Sheila said, her voice sounding like what she had just done was nothing. “I didn’t expect this to be easy for you, Alice.” The young Lockwood stared at the older Bennett. “I know that Bonnie coming into her power must have you scared, but you should know that no harm will come to you because of it,”

“…What?”

Miss Sheila smiled softly. “The witches of your past haven’t been kind to you. But, frankly, I don’t give a damn what you can do. I know who you are in your heart, child, and that girl is not what the world has deemed her to be,”

Alice was shocked. Was this actually happening? Miss Sheila knew who she was, what she could do and she… accepted her. The experience felt beyond surreal. “How… how do you know about that?” 

What Alice learned next was something she had never expected to hear. Sheila Bennett had been a friend of the Gemini coven. She had even aided them in putting Kai away by giving them her blood. “I never knew what they were doing to you,” She said, sounding grave and it made Alice know she was telling the truth. “Now, I can’t say I didn’t know that your siblings weren’t treated as poorly as you and your brother, but I didn’t realize the extent until much later.”

“When?” Alice asked, sipping on the tea she had been given.

“I had my first clue after, well, after that horrible day in the year 2000.” Alic gulped, not wanting to think about that. “I was shocked when your– when he told me they were giving you up, but now as shocked as when he said it would be to the foster care system.”

Alice gaped. She had always wondered why she had been given to such a wonderful family by a man who had only ever shown her cruelty.

“I told him about the Lockwoods, who were looking to adopt, and I managed to convince him to let them adopt you,”

“Is that when you figured out what h– what he had been doing,” Alice asked, struggling over the thought of him. 

“That was when I got suspicious, but I didn’t find out until around a year later.”

February, 2001 (flashback begins)

Sheila Bennett had not been expecting to be called into the mayor’s office today. She knew the Lockwoods were busy with their children, and seeing as Alice had only just recovered from the nasty flu she’d had, Sheila had assumed they would be home with her and Tyler.

The door to the office within city hall was opened and she found both Lockwood parents sitting down with matching concerned expressions. “Mayor Lockwood. Mrs. Lockwood,” 

She inclined her head in respect. “Please take a seat, Miss Bennett.” Richard said. Sheila would be lying if she said she wasn’t confused. She rarely interacted with the mayor and his family. The couple exchanged a look before the mayor spoke again. “We had some questions about Alice and, seeing as you were the one who helped us adopt her, we were hoping you shed some light on this situation.”

His words did not quell any of her confusion. “And what is this situation?” 

“As you know, Alice has been sick for the last few days. Now, she’s doing much better, but during her illness she displayed some concerning behavior,” Mrs. Lockwood explained, looking pained.

“Like what?” Sheila asked.

Mrs. Lockwood seemed incapable of going on, so her husband placed a hand on hers and picked up where she had left off. “When her fever peaked, she became delirious.” He explained. “And in her delirium, she began speaking to her father. At first, we thought she was talking to me, but it became apparent that she thought she was speaking to her biological father.”

Sheila furrowed her brows, hoping beyond belief that this wasn’t going where it looked like it was going. 

The mayor continued to actualize her fears. “Some of it was incoherent, but the majority of her words were her begging for him to stop. At times, she would say that it hurt or she would apologize for existing.” 

Sheila felt the blood drain from her face. She had always known that Joshua had never liked his siphoner children but she had never imagined that his hatred ran that deep. She felt the Lockwoods looking at her expectantly. “I never knew. But, looking back, the signs were there,”

Both parents sighed deeply and Mrs. Lockwood looked close to tears. “Is there… is there anything we could do? Anything you know that could help?” She asked. 

“I doubt anything we do could penalize him, if that’s what you’re asking.” Sheila said regretfully. “I believe that the best course of action would be making sure your daughter knows how loved she is, and that she’ll never have to go through that again.”

(flashback ends)

Alice didn’t know how to feel after that retelling. She could vaguely recall the unusual kindness her dad exhibited in the weeks after the fever. She had then assumed he was just happy she was okay, but she never thought they knew

────୨ৎ────

Eventually, once Alice was fully back to herself, Miss Sheila gave her some pie and the two began to talk. Alice felt a strange surge of gratitude when she learned that Miss Sheila had cut off her ties with the Gemini coven after she knew what they had been doing.

“Do you…” Alice asked eventually. “Do you think Bonnie would accept me?”

“Of course she would.” Miss Sheila told her confidently. “Whether you want to tell her or not is up to you, but I think it would be good for the both of you,”

“I… I think I wanna tell her,” Alice admitted smiling shyly. 

Miss Sheila returned her small smile and, as if on cue, someone knocked at the door. Alice rose along with Miss Sheila and they both went over to the foyer. Miss Sheila opened the door to reveal both Bonnie and Stefan. “Well, now look who’s returned from battle,” Bonnie smiled and embraced her grandmother before stepping further into the house. “Can I talk to your friend for a minute?” 

Bonnie nodded before she faced Stefan. “Thank you,”

Stefan nodded as, as Miss Sheila and him went to talk, Bonnie noticed Alice’s presence. “Hey,” Alice said softly, giving a small wave. 

“Hey,” Bonnie said with a confused laugh. “What’re you still doing here?” 

Alice gulped and it drew Bonnie’s attention. “There’s something I need to tell you,” 

Bonnie furrowed her brow in confusion and worry of Alice’s tone and words. She nodded and allowed the Lockwood girl to lead her over to the couch. Alice was tense and obviously worried. “Alice, is something wrong?”

Gathering her courage, Alice found her voice and began to speak. “Do you remember when I said that my biological family knew a lot about the supernatural?” 

“Yeah…” Bonnie said, clearly confused.

“That’s because they were supernatural.” Alice drew in a shaky breath at Bonnie’s look of confusion. “I, um, I come from a family of witches.” Alice powered through the way Bonnie’s shocked expression made her stomach squirm. “I’m not like them, though. I don’t actually have any magic of my own, but I can take it from other sources. A siphoner. That’s what I’m called.”

“Oh, wow,” Bonnie said in shock. “Why didn’t you tell me?” 

“The witch community has never been kind to siphoners; calling us abominations of nature, and all that,” Bonnie looked horrified from Alice’s view that was obstructed with her tears. “My…gene donor was especially cruel; he enjoyed making us…hurt.” 

“Oh, my god, Alice,” Bonnie said in horror. “I’m so sorry,”

“It’s not your fault.” Alice insisted. “When I realized you were a witch, I just– I was so scared o-of losing you–” 

Bonnie cut her off by wrapping her in a hug and allowing Alice to cry into her shoulder. “You’re not going to lose me, I promise. I don’t ever want you to feel like that again.”

Alice let out a teary sounding laugh and the two girls finally pulled apart. Miss Sheila walked into the room at that moment and stood beside Bonnie on the couch. “And we will do everything in our power to make sure you never do.” Bonnie looked up at her grams in confusion. 

“Did you know about this?” She asked.

“I knew Alice’s birth family, but I never knew how awful they were.” 

Alice looked at Miss Sheila appreciatively before looking back to Bonnie. “No one else knows about this. I didn’t even know that Miss Sheila knew until I dropped off your work.” 

“Wait, if you were afraid of witches knowing, why did you come in the first place?” Bonnie asked.

Alice hesitated for a moment. “Because I haven’t been working on my ability to say no,” 

Bonnie looked at her reproachfully before another thought came to her. “Wait, did you say ‘us’?” Alice stiffened and she looked up at Miss Sheila. 

“That’s a story for another time,” Miss Sheila said, and Bonnie nodded, getting the hint. “What matters now, is that you girls have each other to rely on,”

The two younger witches smiled at each other, and in a single moment, an already existing bond became eternal.

Chapter Text

If there was a cloud ten, Alice was on it; she had entered a whole new state of joy. Finally, after so many months of fearing for what would happen if Bonnie found out about her heritage, it was over. Bonnie knew and, better yet, she accepted her.

Tyler, of course, picked up on her unusually good mood instantly. “What’s got you in such a good mood?” He asked while the two met up at school. They had driven separately but found each other on the school grounds, as was the usual. “I don’t think I’ve seen you this happy since… ever,”

Alice was still grinning like an idiot when Tyler spoke, which only seemed to amuse him further. “Let’s just say things are looking up,”

Tyler gave her a look. “That didn’t even remotely answer my question, you know,”

Alice was going to say something when she was approached by Elena. “Hey, Allie,” Her friend said, smiling softly at her before turning to Tyler. “Can I borrow Alice?”

Tyler nodded and walked forward on the grass, heading into the building. “What’s up?” Alice asked.

Elena looked around quickly, checking to see if anyone was nearby before she pulled out a small heart-shaped necklace. “I got something for you,” Elena explained, pulling the silver necklace into view. “It’s filled with vervain. Do you know what that is?”

“Yeah, I know what vervain is,” Alice gave Elena an appreciative look when she reached for the small necklace. “Thank you, Elena,”

Elena nodded and bid Alice farewell, the two girls heading in different directions. Alice felt a little guilty about not telling Elena the truth yet. Bonnie had suggested it but Alice said that she wasn’t ready for more people to know yet. In time, she would tell Elena and maybe, when she thought he could grasp the subject, she would tell Tyler, too.

────୨ৎ────

After the school day had ended, Alice went to eat with Bonnie and Elena at the grill. Elena was telling them how she had recently found out, through Stefan, that she was adopted. “I can’t believe you’re adopted,” Bonnie expressed after they heard Elena’s story.

Alice nodded in agreement whilst biting into the fry she had just dipped in her milkshake. “I never saw that coming,” Alice added.

“And it gets weirder,” Elena informed them. “I looked at my birth certificate; it lists Miranda and Grayson Gilbert as my birth parents. None of it makes any sense.”

Alice thought about that for a moment, wondering why that might be possible. Then again, her dad was a doctor. “You should ask Jenna. I’m sure she’d be willing to tell you,”

Elena only groaned at the thought of having to talk to Jenna about that topic. She had told them how she was upset with her aunt for hiding the truth from her for so long. Alice thought that was a bit harsh, seeing as Jenna probably never expected that responsibility would fall on her, but she could also see how hurt Elena must have been. In that moment, it would be natural for anyone to be upset and take it out in the only way that they could.

“First of all,” Bonnie began. “The Elena we know would always want the real truth, good or bad.”

“And second of all?” Elena asked, not wanting to acknowledge the truth in what Bonnie had said.”

“You just found out your boyfriend is a–” Bonnie looked around and lowered her voice. “–vampire, so, unless your birth parents are aliens, how bad could it be?”

Elena laughed a little at Bonnie’s comforting words and seemed to take in her friends’ advice. “Ah, okay, look, I have to go to the store. My outfit for the dance is severely lacking accessories.”

Both girls nodded. “I’ll get the bill,” Alice told them, reaching for her wallet.

“Okay, thanks,” Elena said as she rose from the table and headed to her car. As Elena walked away, Alice and Bonnie rose from the table and began to gather their belongings.

“I gotta get to Caroline’s to help her prep for the dance,” Alice told Bonnie, stealing the last fry from the dish that the three girls had practically inhaled. Bonnie, after glaring at Alice for taking the last fry, smiled and nodded. “You sure that you don’t want to come with?”

“Yeah, I still have to figure out how I’m gonna convince my dad to let me borrow my mom’s dress from when she went to the dance.” Bonnie said, wincing. Alice nodded sympathetically; Bonnie had never been touchy around the subject of her absentee mom, strangely enough. Still, Alice knew better than to push on that topic. “Besides, what are you betting that Caroline’s going to spend more time on her outfit than she will at the party?” Bonnie said, smirking.

Alice tilted her head in consideration. “Solid ten bucks,” She said with a resolute nod. Bonnie laughed and Alice found herself joining in. They both loved Caroline to death, but she did have a habit of putting far too much effort into dances like this one. Especially considering how often these dances happened. Alice seriously questioned how the school board managed to do it. The number of dances that Mystic Falls High did was a bit overkill.

The giggles died in their throats at the sight of one Damon Salvatore. He had his signature, smug, and obnoxious smirk on his face and it was not endearing in the slightest. If someone had passed by in that moment, they might find it odd how Bonnie and Alice’s faces slipped into matching sneers at the exact same moment.

Bonnie looked at Alice, who glanced at the door and nodded. Bonnie thankfully understood what she was silently saying: keep walking normally and hope he doesn’t make a move towards them. As they expected, Damon dashed their hopes in a second when he stepped in front of their path to the door. He was looking at Bonnie more than he was Alice, but it was clear that he knew she was there by the way his eyes flicked to her.

“Hi, Bonnie,” His voice was just as smug as his face and Alice clenched her jaw in annoyance. After Bonnie had found out about what Damon was, Elena told them what he did to Caroline. Bonnie already hated him for attacking her, but it was enhanced by her protective nature.

“What do you want from me,” She spat, and Damon did not seem affected by her harsh tone at all. He went to open his mouth to reply but then looked at Alice and snapped it shut.

That told the two girls pretty much everything they needed to know about what he wanted from this conversation. “It’s Alice, right? The mayor’s daughter,”

“Yes, it is,” Alice said stiffly. “But that’s not really any of your business, is it?”

Damon’s smirk curled upwards at her words and the tone in which she said them. “That seems a bit harsh. You don’t even know me,”

“I know you’re a dick who messed with my best friend,” She told him, a smirk of her own on her face. Alice honestly didn’t know what she was doing. She had always been soft spoken and attempted to avoid getting into fights whenever she could.

“Well, I’m not here to mess with anyone. I just want to have a friendly chat with Bonnie. A private, friendly chat," he added. “So, if you would,” He motioned to the door.

Alice narrowed her eyes and was tempted to tell him that she would not, but she felt Bonnie nudge her. “Alice, it’s fine. Really,”

Alice was tempted to disregard her friend’s advice and insist on staying, but she saw Bonnie’s meaningful look and relented. Bonnie could handle herself, and she doubted Damon would try anything in such a crowded place. “Okay. meet me outside when you’re done.”

Bonnie nodded and Alice made sure to glare at Damon as she exited the grill.

Alice waited outside for a few minutes, rocking back and forth on her heels. After a bit, Bonnie walked out of the grill to meet her, a blush covering her cheeks. Alice narrowed her eyes on the smile on her friend’s face. “You look way too happy for someone who was probably just threatened by a vampire,”

Bonnie giggled a little at that before regaling what had happened in the grill. Alice smiled with her friend, pleased by the joy Bonnie’s expression held. “And then he said that ‘he always remembers a pretty face,’”

“Aww, that is so cute. Well, I gotta go, Ms. Pretty Face,” Alice said teasingly, bidding Bonnie goodbye for now. “But I will see you at the dance,”

────୨ৎ────

Alice held her dress up in Caroline’s mirror, turning around with the poodle skirt look pressed to her figure. “You like?”

“I love,” Caroline confirmed from where she was meticulously adjusting the flowers on her own dress. They had both been at this for a while now, more so Caroline than Alice, but still.

“So, are you and Matt coordinating for the dance?” Alice asked, turning back to the mirror to admire the dress once more. Alice was getting ready to put it on when she saw the disappointed look on Caroline’s face and frowned. Last she heard things were going good between the pair.

“No, he’s not going,” Caroline said dejectedly, once again turning to the flowers on her dress. “He has work,”

“Oh,” Alice commented, beginning to pull the dress over her head. She would’ve pressed further on Caroline’s boy drama had the other blonde not let out a shocked gasp. Alice turned her head at Caroline’s sharp inhale, her eyes searching the room for whatever must have scared the girl.

But Caroline’s eyes rested solely on Alice. “Alice… what is that?” Caroline’s voice was horrified, and it caused Alice to curse internally. She had always been careful, making sure to never let anyone besides doctors see the proof of that awful night. But she had gotten sloppy.

She didn’t need to follow Caroline’s gaze to confirm that she had caught sight of the scar that adorned her side. She did anyway. She traced the path of Caroline’s terrified eyes and found the jagged remnants of her deepest wound.

Alice winced and quickly pulled the dress over her head, covering up the evidence. “It’s nothing, Caroline. Nothing at all,”

“That is not nothing! That looks like a stab wound–” Caroline cut herself off when Alice’s heartbroken expression confirmed what her friend was guessing. “Oh, my god. How did that happen?”

Caroline’s voice wasn’t pushy or nosey, it was gentle and soft. It almost made it worse that Caroline was showing so much restraint and respect. Alice didn’t know what to say; what could she say? Caroline had seen it and there wasn’t any lie she could tell that Caroline would fall for. “I had a different life before I came to Mystic Falls, you know that.”

“I knew that your past was a sore subject, but I never thought that…” Caroline clearly had many questions that she was struggling to hold back.

Alice bit her lip in consideration before deciding to show mercy and open up just a little. She flattened the poodle skirt and took a seat on the chair of Caroline’s vanity. “I got that scar from someone I won’t ever see again. It’s hideous but it–”

“It's not hideous.” Caroline declared, her voice quiet but also strong. “It just means that you're what we always knew you were. Strong; a fighter,”

“Thank you, Caroline.”

────୨ৎ────

Eventually, the two girls had managed to get ready for the dance, both wearing their 50’s themed outfits. Caroline had somewhat managed to store the information she had just learned far enough away that it didn’t ruin their night.

Once they had gotten to the dance, the blondes met up with Bonnie who had managed to convince her dad to let her have the dress. When all three girls were together, Alice pulled the other two onto the dance floor and began their night.

Despite the party going on around them, dancing got tiring quickly and they fled over to a nearby table. Elena was already over by that same table and smiled upon sight of her friends. “Having fun?” She asked when they approached.

“Mmm, no but this took about two hours so I’m at least staying half of that,” Caroline declared in regard to her outfit which had, in fact, taken about two hours to put together. Alice and Bonnie had both settled on cute dresses that didn’t take long to put together, but Caroline had gone all in.

Elena laughed at Caroline’s words and Alice found herself joining in. Bonnie, however, was staring straight ahead of them with a displeased expression on her face. “What’s Damon doing here?”

They all looked to see Damon standing by Stefan, both of whom were scanning the gymnasium. Elena looked back at them and then to her three scowling friends. “He wanted to come. I promise. He’ll behave,”

Alice saw no universe in which Damon Salvatore behaved but it wasn’t like there was anything she could do about him being here. “So, what is this, like, a threesome now? You and the Salvatore brothers?” Caroline said snippily.

“No, but if I’m gonna be with Stefan then I need to learn to tolerate Damon. It’s not like I can kill him,” Elena said with an awkward laugh.

“I mean…” Alice trailed off, tilting her head to the said as if in consideration.

“There’s a thought,” Bonnie said, still staring at Damon.

“Mmm. I’ll help,” Caroline declared, and they clinked their punch glasses together in celebration of their plot to kill a vampire.

Elena laughed at their antics. Soon after that, Elena and Stefan found themselves pulled onto the dance floor. The other girls stayed by the punch bowl and chatted. Just when it seemed like the night was going good, Damon approached them.

“Hi, Bonnie,” He greeted, causing three matching scowls to appear. “Wanna dance?”

Bonnie clearly did not want to dance, she scowled once more and said, “I’m out of here.” Bonnie attempted to leave but Damon quickly blocked her path, causing Alice to grimace.

“Please give me another chance,”

Bonnie said nothing in response to Damon’s request, but her denial rang loud and clear. She walked around Damon and headed away from him. “Back off, Damon,” Caroline told him and then she and Alice followed after Bonnie.

────୨ৎ────

“Let's sit up there,” Bonnie suggested, indicating to the bar that Ben Mckitrick was working at. Alice giggled at her poorly veiled attempt to spend more time with her new crush.

“Be a little more obvious, Bonnie,” Caroline teased, crossing her arms as she looked at the bartender.

“Don’t rain on my hot guy parade,” Bonnie said.

“What? It's just a drizzle. Ben McKittrick? Really?” Caroline asked.

“He’s hot,” Bonnie defended.

“He’s a washed-up jock who pours drinks for a living.” Caroline countered. “You could do way better,”

“Don’t listen to that, Bonnie,” Alice advised. “If you like him, go for it,”

Bonnie smiled appreciatively at Alice. Matt walked by and Caroline perked up, hoping to spend more time with the boy she was crushing on. “Hey!”

Matt, on the other hand, seemed not even a bit excited at Caroline’s arrival. “What’s up?” He said tonelessly, not even bothering to turn his head toward them. Alice frowned, wondering what had changed from the last time she had seen the budding couple.

Caroline’s face fell and Alice shared a look with Bonnie. “Why don’t we get a table?” Alice proposed, hoping to help drown Caroline’s sorrows in comfort food.

They did end up getting a table and ordering their usual basket of fries. Alice seemed to be the only one who was actually eating them, though. That was unusual because the three of them and Elena would commonly fight to the death over who got to eat more fries.

Despite their habits, Caroline was too let down to eat and Bonnie was full on the eye candy that was Ben McKittrick. “Tonight was so much better on paper,” Caroline said pitifully.

“Now you’re just feeling sorry for yourself.” Bonnie pointed out. “Go and talk to him. Be bold and fearless.”

“Yeah, this coming from the girl who's been eye stalking the bartender.”

Bonnie didn’t seem deterred at all by Caroline’s words. If anything, they seemed to give her the motivation to do what she wanted. “You’re right,” without another word, she rose from her seat and walked straight over to the bar where Ben was working.

“Oh, my god.” Alice said as she watched Bonnie talk to Ben, who put his elbows on the counter in order to talk to Bonnie. “She actually did it,”

────୨ৎ────

After both her friends had scored in the romantic department, Alice found herself walking up the stairs to her bedroom. She looked around at the room and her eyes settled on her old jewelry box. With a sigh, Alice walked over to her vanity and opened the box, the little ballerina dancing along with the melody.

She didn’t often do this but seeing all of her friends in relationships while she wasn’t made her feel the smallest bit left out. When she felt alone, she had a bad habit of resorting to the secret she kept buried in her jewelry box.

The beaded bracelet looked the same as the last time she had looked at all those months ago. Usually, she only admired the detailed beading once a year, but tonight she felt compelled to do it out of schedule.

A small, sad smile graced her lips. The memory of the day when she had received the bracelet was foggy after all these years but the meaning behind it wasn’t.

You are not alone

“No, Kai, I’m not alone.” She whispered into the empty room. “Not anymore,”

Chapter Text

Alice blew a strand of blonde hair out of her face with a frown at the other strands dangling in front of her eyes. Eventually, she gave up and flopped back down on the bed, letting her head hang off the edge. 

From her position on the bed, Alice had a nice, albeit upside down, view of where Bonnie was getting ready. Well, getting ready was one way to put what Bonnie was doing. Another way would be frantically flinging her clothes onto the floor and giving herself a heart attack from how much she was stressing. 

“This is so not working!” Bonnie said frantically. “I have nothing to wear,” 

Alice finally decided to do what she came over here to do and help Bonnie prepare for the date she was freaking out over. She picked her head up and sat right side up, pausing for a moment as the blood rushed back from her head and into her body. 

“Okay, let’s do this,” Alice declared, coming to stand beside Bonnie. She scanned her eyes over the clothes that Bonnie hadn’t discarded onto the floor. Pursing her lips in consideration, Alice pulled out a few sweaters from the closet. “One of these,” 

Bonnie turned and looked at the options Alice was presenting. “Why are they all sweaters?” 

“Because it’s like 30 degrees out there,” Alice reminded her.

“But we’re going to be inside most of the time,” Bonnie countered. Alice considered that and looked back at the sweaters in her arms. 

“Fair point. Maybe a t-shirt with a cardigan over it?” 

Bonnie groaned in frustration. “I’m gonna blow it,”

Alice sighed and placed the clothes she was holding on the dresser beside them. She lightly grasped Bonnie’s shoulder and made the other witch face her. “You are not going to blow it.” Alice insisted. “You are going to show up, you’re going to look cute as hell and you’re going to knock his socks off, okay?” 

Bonnie smiled and nodded. “Okay,”

They turned back to the closet and managed to find a cute outfit for her to wear. Bonnie settled on a plain black t-shirt and velvety red cardigan to pair with her jeans. Then, once Bonnie had stared in the mirror a little bit and Alice assured her that the outfit was perfect, they moved on to makeup. 

Makeup and hair didn’t take long seeing as Bonnie took Alice’s advice to look casually cute and go with just a touch more than her regular look. “And done!” Alice declared once she had finished helping with the lip gloss. 

Placing the wand back into the tube, Alice turned and grinned when she saw how happy Bonnie looked at her date outfit. Bonnie stood up and looked in the full length mirror to admire the whole look that the two girls had put together. 

“I like it,” She announced, turning away from the mirror to face Alice. 

“As you should,” Alice agreed. “You look amazing, Bon. You’re going on a date!” Alice said in a high-pitched voice, hoping to hype Bonnie up via her own excitement. 

Bonnie grinned and squealed. “I’m going on a date!” She gave a joyful laugh and grabbed Alice’s hands with another happy squeal. 

Alice was about to join in on the excitement she had started but both girls were forced to pull apart. They had each felt a different feeling coming from the same action. Bonnie winced just the smallest bit when Alice’s siphoning stung her.

Alice’s heart skipped a beat and her body flooded with terror. Her hands stayed frozen where they had pulled back for a moment. “Alice?” Bonnie’s voice was delicate and tentative. The gentleness in her friend’s voice should have soothed Alice but it did nothing to help her. Before she could do anything, her stomach lurched, and she gagged. 

Nothing came up so she took a deep breath and managed to steady herself. She picked her head up from where she had been staring at the ground. Finally, she saw Bonnie’s horrified expression as she looked at Alice. “I’m sorry, that was a bit dramatic of me,” Alice gave a weak chuckle that any idiot could tell was forced. 

“Alice, you have nothing to be sorry for. I just…” Bonnie began, treading cautiously. “I don’t know what to say.”

“It’s fine, Bonnie, really.” Alice told her, thankful that her voice was beginning to steady. 

Bonnie looked even more upset by the fact that Alice was attempting to play it off. “It’s okay if it’s not fine, you know?” Bonnie said.  “I mean, I obviously don’t know what happened back then but none of what you’ve told me sounds remotely fine,”

Alice’s eyes widened at Bonnie’s words. It was somewhat nice to hear someone validate how awful all of that had been. But Alice also couldn’t deny that it felt all too real to hear someone else talk about things that, until recently, she had vowed to never talk about again. “Thank you,” 

Bonnie smiled softly. “Of course.”

“You should probably head out now,” Alice advised, checking the clock. 

Bonnie looked up at the clock on her wall and she also saw that she would need to leave soon to make it her date on time. “Yep,” Bonnie agreed. She and Alice walked to the door of her house and they managed to resume the comfortable small talk they had been making. Just as Bonnie was about to leave, though, she turned to Alice to tell her something. “I almost forgot, Grams said that, if you’re up for it, she’d like to talk to you today.”

The lack of terror she felt at those words was a pleasant surprise for Alice. “Okay, I will drop by her place later,” 

Alice went to grab her coat and leave as well, when Bonnie said one more thing. “Oh, Alice! You should know that if you ever need to siphon from me, I’m totally fine with it,”

Alice felt happy tears form in her eyes. 

────୨ৎ────

The door to Sheila Bennett’s house opened and Alice smiled upon sight of the older woman. It was strange, to be smiling upon sight of another witch, especially one who she had feared for so long. “Come in,” Miss Sheila said, opening the door wider.

Alice did so, stepping over the welcome mat and shrugging off her jacket. Placing the fluffy white coat on one of the hooks on the wall, Alice followed Miss Sheila into the living room. The candles were already lit, the flickering flames spreading a wonderful smell across the room. “Bonnie said you wanted to see me?” Alice asked.

Miss Sheila nodded and gestured to the couch in an invitation to sit down. “Sit with me, we have much to discuss.” 

Following her lead, Alice took a seat on the plush couch beside Miss Sheila. Before saying anything, Miss Sheila reached down and grabbed a cup of tea, sipping on it for a moment before continuing. “You must have questions about why I asked to see you here today,” Miss Sheila said, placing her tea cup back on the tray on her coffee table. 

I have a few,” Alice admitted, placing her hands in her lap. She fidgeted with the hem of her shirt, feeling a small bit of anxiety rise up in her. She was elated to have the beginnings of a relationship with Miss Sheila, but she did have much, or any, positive experience with witches. She knew that it was natural to be scared, but it didn’t make her feel any less guilty. 

Miss Sheila smiled and eyed her like she knew exactly what was going through Alice’s mind. “Well, I suppose I should start with the prefaces. You are not required to agree to anything I propose, and I completely understand if you don’t.

“That’s a little worrying,” Alice admitted. Whenever someone led with a statement like that, it usually meant that they were proposing something insane. And, insane or not, Alice wasn’t exactly the best at say no just yet. 

Miss Sheila picked up another cup of tea and offered it to Alice, which she gladly accepted. Once she had taken a sip of the drink and placed it back down on the table, Miss Sheila began to talk. “I can’t imagine it would be easy, by any means, but, if you’re willing, I want to help you to control your abilities and harness your magic.”

Alice paled and her throat became very dry. She didn’t know what she had been expecting Miss Sheila to say but that was certainly not it. What she was offering sounded equal parts amazing and petrifying. 

She had always wanted to learn to use her magic and perform spells. But, seeing as she could only perform magic after siphoning, and the consequences that happened whenever she did siphon, she had become apprehensive around the idea of it. 

“I… I don’t know what to say to that,” She told Miss Sheila, who nodded like she had known that would be Alice’s answer. It wasn’t like there was a normal response to such an unusual situation so her response couldn’t have been anything beyond confusion, really.

“I understand that the prospect would be frightening, but you have great potential, and you shouldn’t let it go to waste,” Alice looked up from where she had been fiddling with her hands. It was odd, hearing someone tell her not to let it ‘go to waste.’ She had spent so many years wishing to be free of the ability that she had always been told was a curse. And now, to hear someone describe it as if it was something good, there was a certain strangeness of that.

“I mean, I can’t deny that learning to use magic would be… fantastic, but I can’t use magic without siphoning.” Alice reminded Miss Sheila, despite knowing that the other woman was well aware of that fact.

“I know.” She said calmly. “And if you want to do this, the hardest part would be learning to accept your ability as something not to be despised, but as a part of the girl you are.”

With every word that Miss Sheila said, Alice grew more and more shocked at where this situation was going. She had longed to hear the words coming from Miss Sheila’s mouth for so long. For as long as she could remember, all Alice had wanted was for someone to guide her in the same way that her other biological siblings were. Kai had tried to teach her but it wasn’t exactly like he could teach her something that he hadn’t been taught. Well, he had been self-taught pretty well, scrambling to get his hands on every scrap of magic he could reach. 

And now she was being offered exactly what she had always wanted, and she didn’t know what to say. Well, she knew what to say, she just couldn’t manage to get the words out. But, after stuttering a little, she managed to push her answer into the air. “I would really like to have that chance,” Alice finally said.

Miss Sheila smiled proudly. “Why don’t we get started now, then?”

Soon enough, a grimoire was placed in front of Alice, and she began the work she should’ve had the right to know so long ago.

────୨ৎ────

By the time that the sun had dipped into the sky, Alice had made significant progress in her work. Miss Sheila told her that it was important to pace herself and not to push too far out of her comfort zone. So, for the first two hours or so, they had worked on memorizing spells and practicing pronunciation. 

Then, just as her eyes were beginning to droop and Alice was preparing to leave, she had done something she didn’t think she would do. Alice had never expected to do that, especially so early in her learning, but practicing the spells and having a mentor beside her had given her a new sense of confidence. 

So she had extended a shaking hand and, smiling brightly, Miss Sheila had put her own arm out and nodded at the blonde. The rush of magic was both harrowing and euphoric. It helped that Miss Sheila didn’t even react to the sting Alice knew the siphoning must have caused. 

When the magic had entered her system and her racing heart had calmed down enough for her to feel so entirely awakened by the sensation, Miss Sheila had gotten almost every candle she owned. Once the candles had been placed around the room, she had nodded and with a quick pheasmatos incendia , Alice had lit every candle in the room. She had laughed with joy and then looked back at the spell book in front of her. 

Soon enough, butterflies of flame were dancing around the room in a perfectly planned recital. The pride she had felt at performing such an advanced spell for her skill level kept her smiling all the way home. 

She fell asleep with a smile on her face and hope in her heart.

Chapter Text

Alice shot another ball into the middle of the pool table and, as Tyler had predicted, she missed completely. This was why she did track and cheerleading; the closest thing to sport balls she ever had to deal with in those sports were pom-poms. 

Tyler was currently telling Matt about the party some douche was having. “Ten kegs? You know how much damage we could do with ten kegs?” 

“Yep,” Alice said before Matt had a chance. She leaned over aging to attempt to slightly improve her aim. “You could do some real damage, like, to your liver. You know, that thing that you would die without?” 

Matt chuckled and Tyler scoffed. “Don’t be a buzzkill," He told her, but his tone was playful and teasing.

“As long as there’s no buzz to kill,” Alice countered. 

“Duke has got it all hooked up.” Tyler insisted. 

“Duke is a douche,” Matt accurately stated. 

“Yeah, a douche with ten kegs. Aka my new best friend.” Before Alice could think of a retort to Tyler’s alcoholic idiocy, Jerome Gilbert let out a scoff from the table nearby. Oh boy. “What’s the problem, Gilbert?”

“Don’t have one, Lockwood,” Jeremy said, a tired sort of amusement in his voice. 

“Yeah, didn’t think so,” Tyler commented, causing Alice to roll her eyes. 

“Do you ever get bored of it?” Matt asked Tyler suddenly. 

“Of what?” Tyler questioned.

“Yourself,” Matt smirked and walked away to continue working. 

“Oooh, burn,” Alice commented. 

────୨ৎ────

Alice knocked on the door to Miss Sheila’s house and waited eagerly. When the door opened, however, she noticed the serious look on Miss Sheila’s face. “Miss Sheila?” Alice asked. “Is something wrong?”

“Come inside,” Alice became concerned at the clipped voice that the older witch spoke in so she did as was asked quickly. Once Alice was in the house, she watched as Miss Sheila locked the door with urgency and ushered her into the kitchen. 

“What’s going on?” Alice asked worriedly, sitting down on the chair opposite of Miss Sheila. The other woman gave her a grave look before she began to speak.

“I assume you’re aware of the Salvatores, too?” 

“Yeah.” Alice confirmed, confused as to where this was going. It occurred to her pretty quickly, though. The person who must have made Miss Sheila look so shaken up had to be Damon. “Did Damon do something?” 

Miss Sheila nodded and explained what had happened when the vampire had come to her door earlier in the day. “Alice, I know this is moving at a very fast pace, but with Damon Salvaatore on our radar, you need to be prepared should he try anything.” 

“I know,” Alice said with a strength she didn’t feel. She knew that she could do this but that didn’t make the prospect of it any less frightening.

For the next hour or so, Miss Sheila would lend Alice a small bit of magic and help her practice spells. It wasn’t an incredibly quick process, seeing as Alice had needed to take a break a few times in order to calm her racing heart. Because as much as she was improving, a few spells here and there coupled with two days of training did not undo seven years of fear and torment.

It was as they were sitting in the kitchen, Alice having requested a chance to look over a spell book, that the doorbell rang through the house. Miss Sheila got up from where she was cleaning up the petals from the flowers Alice had worked with and went to greet whoever was at the door.

Alice didn’t intend to pay attention to whoever was at the door, but when she heard Stefan’s voice she got the feeling that something was very wrong. What could possibly lead to Stefan needing to come to Miss Sheila for help? 

Alice placed the book upside down, careful not to lose her page, and rose from the table to join Miss Sheila at the door. When she approached and Stefan caught sight of her, his eyes widened in surprise. “Stefan?” She asked. “What’s going on?” 

“Uhh…” Stefan looked to Miss Sheila who nodded, probably to indicate that he was allowed to reveal whatever was going on. “There are other vampires in town. They have Bonnie and Elena.”

“What?” Alice asked, horrified at the danger that presented to all of them. 

“I was hoping that you could do a locator spell, Sheila.” Stefan said, looking away from Alice to ask Miss Sheila for help.

Miss Sheila nodded in agreement; she was willing to help a vampire if it meant helping her granddaughter. “Come in, Mr. Salvatore,” Stefan looked shocked at Miss Sheila’s words but stepped over the threshold anyway. 

After Stefan had fully explained the situation, Miss Sheila grabbed a map of Mystic falls. Then, much to her surprise, Miss Sheila looked over at Alice, a silent question in her eyes. Alice looked at Stefan, who was watching the interaction in confusion. Making a decision she was not entirely sure she wouldn’t come to regret later, Alice nodded at Miss Sheila. “I’m ready,”

“Ready for what?” Stefan asked, looking between the two witches. 

Alice knew that she was the one who needed to explain this to Stefan so she didn’t bother asking Miss Sheila for help. “I’m a witch, too. Well, kind of; it’s a complicated situation.”

Stefan opened his mouth, looking like he was about to ask questions that Alice wasn’t ready to answer. Luckily for her, Miss Sheila seemed to sense Alice’s uneasiness and pulled the map closer to them. “Let’s start,” 

Then she cut into her finger slightly and let the blood drop onto the map. The blood of one of Bonnie’s blood relatives would make the connection stronger. Once the blood had collected on the map, Miss Sheila held out her hand to Alice. Taking in a deep breath, Alice took the other woman’s hand and began the chant alongside her. “ Phasmatos Tribum Nas Ex Veras, Sequita Saguines, Ementas Asten Mihan Ega Petous ”

The blood moved as they chanted, coming to rest on the motels that were on the edge of the town square. Once they were sure that Elena and Bonnie were at the motel, Stefan took off almost instantly. 

Once he was gone, Alice sighed and slumped back in her seat. “Are you alright?” Miss Sheila asked. 

Alice nodded. “Yeah. That felt… good,”

────୨ৎ────

Thankfully, Stefan was able to rescue Elena and Bonnie from the hold of the other vampires. The two girls had rushed inside the house, where they had been quickly hugged by Alice and Sheila. 

Alice had told Elena a short version of the truth about her, leaving out the painful details. But before Elena could process that fully, she needed to talk to Stefan about the whole Damon situation. 

Bonnie, however, joined her fellow witches as the table. “How did you know where we were?” Bonnie asked, watching them carefully. 

“Many things can fuel a witch's power. Worry. Anger. After Stefan told me they had taken you, I had a lot of both.” Miss Sheila explained.

“Yeah, me too.” Alice said with a soft scoff. 

Bonnie turned to her friend, a surprised expression on her face. “You did magic?” 

Alice smiled a little at the pride in her friend’s voice and nodded. “Miss Sheila taught me how to do a locator spell,” 

Bonnie smiled for a moment before she remembered the situation they were in and sighed. “I’m sorry. About all of this,”

“Not as sorry as they’re going to be,” Miss Sheila said with a smirk. The teenage witches both smiled a little at that declaration. Elena and Stefan came into the room a moment later, both of them looking serious. 

“So, what do we do now?” Elena asked, coming up to the table.

“Well, for now you need to stay here,” Stefan advised the women.

“A prisoner, in my own home?” Miss Sheila countered. “I don’t think so,”

“I can’t protect you if you leave the house,” Stefan stated. 

“We’ll protect ourselves.” Miss Sheila said, reminding the vampire that he was surrounded by three witches. 

Elena looked rather contemplative as she thought of what to do about this. Finally, she seemed to come to a decision. “We need to let him have Katherine back.” A decision that Alice did not like. “He’s not going to stop until he gets her. If we help him, maybe this ends.”

“No! He doesn’t deserve to get what he wants,” Bonnie protested. 

“And maybe if we help him he decides we’re no longer worth anything and then he kills us?” Alice cut in. She was completely on Bonnie’s side on this one. Not only did she not want to reward Damon for all the bad things he had done in his effort to get Katherine back, but she highly doubted that giving him his girlfriend back would solve anything. What if Katherine wasn’t interested in leaving Mystic Falls? What if she wanted revenge on the founding families, such as Alice’s family?

“What other choice do we have?” Elena said desperately. Unfortunately, Elena had a point; they were out of options. She looked up at Stefan who clenched his jaw in frustration.

“Witches being pulled down by vampire problems. As much as we tried to do to stay out of it.” Miss Sheila mused. She looked up at Stefan. “I’ll open the tomb. You get your brother's girl and then destroy the rest with fire. Then this will all be over,”

“We still have to get Damon to agree,” Stefan mentioned. 

“He already agreed once.” Elena said.

“Yeah, and then we double-crossed him.” Stefan reminded her. “So, now he’s angry.” 

“He’s hurt. There’s a difference.” Elena said. Alice didn’t like the way that Elena seemed to be sympathizing with the serial killer vampire.  “I think I know what I have to do.”

────୨ৎ────

Despite her concerns, Alice went with the Bennetts to the church in order to see them open a tomb door concealing a bunch of starving vampires. Safe to say, she was questioning her judgment as much as her self-preservation skills.

“Cleared the debris away,” Stefan announced as he walked back up the steps to join them. “Set the torches like you asked. We can get down now.”

He placed the shovel next to the gas canisters that he had brought. That was the plan to keep all the other starving vampires from attacking all the unknowing humans. “What is that?” Bonnie asked, looking at the canisters. 

“It’s everything I need to destroy them,” Stefan told her seriously. 

He handed Miss Sheila a gas torch and she asked him, “are you sure that Damon will come back with her?”

Stefan’s expression was proof that he was not sure and a moment of tense silence passed. It was a short moment, though, seeing as it was broken by a whistle coming from none other than Damon. He approached them with Elena by his side. “Brother. Witches. And…you,” He said in Alice’s direction. She straightened up but showed no other reaction. “Why are you here?” 

“I’m here to help,” Alice said firmly. Technically, she was the backup plan. She couldn’t do much without magic from either Bonnie or Miss Sheila, but if needed, using some of their magic, she could save them some strength by joining in. 

“And how do you plan to do that?” Damon asked in a condescending tone. “You’re no witch,” 

Alice spotted the Bennetts exchanging a look, but she ignored it. “And you know this because?” She challenged.

“Huh,” Damon exclaimed. “What’d you know,”

“Let’s just get this over with,” Elena stated, taking the attention off of Alice, to which Alice smiled thankfully at her. “Are we ready?”

“I guess so,” Bonnie decided. 

“Air. Earth. Fire.” Miss Sheila said as she lit all the torches, signifying the start of the spell.

“Water,” Bonnie added, handing the water bottle she had brought to Miss Sheila. The older witch took the bottle and began to sprinkle it across the ground.

“That’s it? Just water from the tap?” Elena asked dubiously, her voice soft. 

“As opposed to what?” Miss Sheila countered. 

“I just figured maybe you’d have to be blessed or mystical or something.” Elena mumbled, to which Miss Sheila only smirked.

Alice knelt down and helped the other witches prepare for the spell. After a minute, they were done and Alice stepped back. “We’re ready,” Bonnie told them.

When Miss Sheila and Bonnie stepped forward and linked their hands together, Damon turned to Alice inquisitively. “Why aren’t you helping?"

Alice looked over at him and said, "I'm more of a last resort,”

Damon hummed but didn’t say anything else. Alice turned the rest of their conversation out, choosing to focus intently on what Miss Sheila and Bonnie were chanting. “ Phasmatos Salves Nas Ex Malon, Terra Mora Vantis Quo Incandis, Et Vasa Quo Ero Signos. ” 

Alice’s eyes widened as she heard them chanting. The flames surged high for a moment and then the sound of stone scraping was heard. They all turned to look and see that the stone wall blocking the tomb from entry was sliding away. 

“It worked,” Bonnie murmured, seeming to be shocked by her own skills.

“Of course it worked.” Miss Sheila chided, confidence clear. 

“We have some fires to build,” Damon told his brother.

“I’m gonna go get the gasoline. I’ll be right back.” Stefan reassured Elena, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. 

As soon as Stefan had left, Damon turned to face Elena. “You ready?”

“What?” Elena asked.

Damon didn’t reply to her. He looked at the witches instead, and said. “You think I’m gonna go in there by myself so you can seal me in?” Damon proceeded to grab Elena’s arm and tug her towards him. 

“Don’t take her in. I'll bring the walls down,” Miss Sheila threatened. 

“You’ll bring the walls down if I don’t,” Damon insisted. “You think I trust you?” 

“As much as I trust you,” Miss Sheila challenged. 

Before it could get any further, Elena intervened. “Enough! Both of you. Look, he needs leverage. He needs to know that you’re not going to shut the door when he gets inside. I get it. I’ll go.” 

Everyone stopped but no one relaxed even a bit. Damon, still eyeing the witches, reached down and grabbed a torch. “May I?” He walked forward into the tomb, sparing Elena barely a glimpse. Elena looked at her friends uncomfortably before she followed him down the path.

Alice had managed to push down her sly smile until Damon was out of sight. She knew Miss Sheila was smart, but this was borderline genius. She hadn’t let the vampires out. In fact, she had just trapped one more. 

The next vampire to come wasn’t Stefan; it was Anna. She raced down the stairs, desperate to get into the tomb. “Hey, you’re not going in there,” Bonnie told her.

“You think you can stop me?” Anna challenged. Bonnie took a step forward to try and stop her, but Miss Sheila acted before anything could happen.

“Bonnie,” she warned, telling her granddaughter to let Anna go. Anna seemed dumbfounded by their lack of resistance, but didn’t question it. She walked closer and grabbed a flashlight before racing into the tomb.

“Why did you let her go in there?” Bonnie demanded.

“Because she isn’t coming out, baby. None of them are.” Before Miss Sheila or Alice could explain to Bonnie what the spell had actually done, Stefan rushed into the antechamber.

“Where’s Elena?” He asked, whipping his head around in search of his girlfriend. 

“Damon took her inside,” Bonnie said regretfully. 

“What?” Stefan demanded before he headed in the direction of the tomb. Alice was about to cry out for him to stop, but Miss Sheila beat her to it

“Stefan! If you go in there, you won’t come out.” She announced, keeping hold of his arm.

“What did you do?” Stefan asked. 

Miss Sheila shrugged. “Opening the door didn’t remove the seal, it just opened the door.”

“What’s the seal?” Stefan asked, his voice grave.

“Some seals keep vampires from entering. This one keeps them from coming out.” 

“Elena's human. She can leave. Anna and Katherine can't. Damon can't. You were never planning on breaking the spell, were you?” Stefan realized. 

“I told you, I will protect my own.” Miss Sheila reminded him. “Elena can get out. That’s all that matters.”

The air was tense and Alice could see the conflict in Stefan’s eyes. But there wasn’t another moment to ponder what to do, seeing as Elena’s scream echoed through the church. Stefan, disregarding what the consequences would be, raced in after the sound.

Alice’s eyes widened. “Stefan!” She called out, making an attempt to run after him. Before she could, though, Miss Sheila put out an arm to stop her.

“You can't just leave him in there, Grams!” Bonnie said desperately. Alice agreed, she did, but she knew that there was nothing more they could do.

“He made his choice,” Miss Sheila affirmed. 

Bonnie didn’t accept that answer. “No.” She raced over to the ground and grabbed the grimoire. “Just tell me what to do. I’ll do it.” she offered.

“We are not strong enough.” Miss Sheila told her and Alice knew she was right. “Even if we were to bring the seal down, there’s no guarantee we could get it back up again.” 

“You said it yourself. Many things can fuel a witch's power.” Bonnie attempted to reason.. “Help me, or I’ll do it alone.” 

Alice’s eyes widened, there was no chance that Bonnie would be able to do it. Miss Sheila knew that too, and she went over to help her granddaughter. Elena came running out of the tomb as the Bennetts were looking over the grimoire. 

Alice couldn’t find it in herself to pay attention to anything that was going on around her. She hadn’t learned a lot from the gemini coven, aside from what Kai taught her. But she did know what would happen if a witch over exerted themselves. 

This was overexertion. So, forcing herself to listen to the furious turning of pages and Elena and Stefan conversing, Alice came back to the moment. She made her decision. “Let me.” 

Miss Sheila immediately looked over at her. “You can’t,” 

“I can!” Alice insisted. “I’ll siphon the spell long enough for them to get out. It’ll work; I know it’ll work,”

She didn’t pay attention to Elena explaining what Alice could do. She only kept her desperate eyes trained on the other witches. Bonnie was watching carefully, but Miss Sheila was staring her down. 

“You’ve only just started to practice. You might not be able to consume that much magic,” She told her.

“And if you do the spell, you might die!” Alice said forcefully.

“What?” Bonnie asked, turning to her Grams in shock and horror. Miss Sheila didn’t take her gaze away from Alice’s face, so Bonnie looked at her friend. “What do you mean?”

“If a witch pushes themself to far, it could kill them.” Alice told her friend softly. 

“Oh, my god,” Bonnie said breathily. 

“But I’m different from a normal witch, you know that,” Alice continued. “You told me to embrace what I can do; to use it in a positive manner. This is me doing that,” 

Her voice was desperate and both Bonnie and Elena were watching the battle of wills intently. “Fine. But I don’t approve,” 

All three teenagers exhaled and, out of the corner of her eye, Alice saw Elena nod at Stefan before he went back into the tomb to get Damon. 

Alice looked around at everyone watching her. She took a deep breath and shook herself out a bit. Then, with the faintest bit of trepidation, Alice kneeled down and placed her hands on the floor of the antechamber. 

She felt the magic entering her system instantly, the way everything in her was lighting up and bringing her alive. It was a wonderful feeling, having access to the magic that she had been denied for so long. Unfortunately, the wonderful feeling didn’t last as long as she hoped it would. The magic began to overload her body and the soft warmth that had comforted her a moment later, became a blazing fire. She kept her hands pressed down even as every part of her brain told her to let go. Every part of her body began to scream in protest. And she began to make her distress known aloud too. She couldn’t feel anyone’s stares but she was sure they must have been staring based on the gasps of pain she was letting out. Faintly, she heard her friends whispering encouragement, and felt Elena’s hand on her back. 

Then, someone shook her and she released her grip on the ground. She let out another gasp before turning to face her friends. She noticed that Stefan and Damon were out, Damon had wandered off, but Stefan was looking down at her in concern.

“Are you…?” He began. 

“I’m alright,” She told them, pushing herself up. Elena smiled at her and then the couple raced out towards someone lying on the ground not too far away. Next Alice turned to face Bonnie and Sheila. Bonnie immediately wrapped her in a hug and Alice reciprocated the best she could with how weak she felt. 

Miss Sheila walked over to her once Bonnie had let go. “Thank you, Alice. You might have saved my life, back there,” Alice nodded sleepily. She was so tired. Miss Sheila removed the necklace she had been wearing and gave it to Alice, who looked at her in confusion. “Try putting some of the magic you just took in there. It will help you.” 

Alice nodded and did as she was told, focusing on the feeling of transferring some of her magic into the pendant. Almost instantly, she felt better and sighed in relief. 

“That packed a punch,” She said softly, and Bonnie chuckled, taking her arm. 

────୨ৎ────

Bonnie had stayed with her until they’d found Tyler who had seemed to know that she was tired, not that he knew why, and agreed to take her home. 

She had fallen asleep almost as soon as she had gotten into her room. And as she slept, she was utterly unaware of the magic that was wreaking havoc in her body.

Chapter Text

Tyler Lockwood had, for the first time since she came into their family, woken up before his sister. At first, he had felt proud when he had come down for breakfast and his mom had told him that Alice wasn’t up yet.

Then, after he had gotten showered and put on his clothes and his sister was still not up, he became a little unnerved.

It was as he was waiting for her by the door, that he finally decided to check on her. While walking up the stairs towards Alice’s room, Tyler tried to think about why Alice might not be up yet. Unless the universe had shifted on its access and Alice was suddenly a drinker, she shouldn’t be hungover from the party.

And it wasn’t like she was sleeping in, or anything. They had been planning to go to the art fair in the next town over for a few weeks. Finally, Tyler knocked on the door and waited for an explanation. But the door remained closed and Alice remained quiet. Feeling a little bit unsure, Tyler pushed the door open and trailed his eyes over the room.

He found Alice still in bed, curled tightly in a ball with her eyes shut tight. He sighed and walked over to the bed, a little annoyed she hadn’t set her alarm today. But he wouldn’t say anything about it, seeing as he had made that mistake a few times over.

But when he got to the bed, he found that the alarm was not the problem. Alice’s eyes weren’t just shut, they were screwed up like she was in pain. Her face was pale save for the dark flush that adorned her cheeks.

Tyler swallowed at the realization that she was sick. In all their years, Alice had only gotten sick two times. When they were kids, it had been awful. Then, as preteens, it was nothing more than a low grade fever.

He placed his hand on her forehead, which he found damp with sweat. His eyes widened in shock and fear. She felt like a furnace beneath his hand. “Alice?” Tyler asked, reminding himself that people got sick all the time.

Alice’s only response was to whimper and burrow her head further into her pillow. Tyler didn’t know what to do. Before he could do anything, though, Alice’s eyes opened and she shot up with a gasp. Tyler was frozen for a moment before he rushed close enough to grab her when she all but collapsed into his arms.

He didn’t have much time to process what it had been, seeing as Alice was clearly about to puke. All while holding her up so she wouldn’t collapse, Tyler reached for the small trash can beside Alice’s dresser, thankful it was so close. As soon as he placed under her chin, Alice began retching, bringing up bile and the food that was previously in her system.

After what felt like an eternity, Alice took in a sharp gasp and her body sagged against her brother, all of her energy spent. Tyler carefully placed the bin down on the ground and at the same time Alice gasped again, this time full of pain. Tyler’s arms quickly encircled her as her distress became louder. “It’s okay. I’m here. It’s all okay,” He whispered soothingly despite knowing it wouldn’t do anything.

────୨ৎ────

It didn’t take long after that for Alice to drift into an uneasy sleep. As soon as he was sure that she would remain asleep long enough, Tyler had raced downstairs and told their mother what was happening.

Carol had offered to stay with her so that Tyler could go to the art fair but he had quickly declined. It had unnerved him seeing his sister so agonized and vulnerable and he needed to stay with her for his own peace of mind.

So he stayed. By the time their parents both got home from work, which was late but not unusually late for them, Tyler still hadn’t left Alice’s bedroom. Now, that wasn’t to say that he was not practically falling asleep in her vanity chair.

His head shot up when he heard Alice gasp like she had this morning and he raced to her side. The bin from earlier had been cleaned out so he quickly brought it up again, bracing himself for the sight and smell of what was about to come.

What actually came was far more disturbing than anything he had expected. Alice gagged once and then, much to Tyler’s horror, she gagged once more and brought up blood. His eyes widened comically as Alice continued heaving blood into the waste bin.

Once his brain caught up with reality, Tyler didn’t hesitate to scream. “I need help!” The terror in his shout must have registered quickly with his parents, for he heard their footsteps approaching rapidly.

The door was practically flung open and Tyler snapped his head to see the horrified expressions on his parents’ faces. “Oh, my god,” Carol exhaled, obviously deeply disturbed by the blood Alice was still bringing up. Their dad snapped into motion quicker than their mom did, rushing over to the bed. Tyler stepped aside instantly, letting his dad take the reins in a desperate hope that he could fix this.

Richard began talking to Alice in a rushed but, somehow, not shaking voice. Whatever he was saying had no effect. The next thing they knew, Alice’s eyes rolled back in her head and her body went limp. “Call 911!” Richard said to his wife, who nodded and pulled out her phone. Tyler didn’t think he’d ever heard such genuine terror in his father’s voice.

And even as he thought that nothing could make this worse, Alice began to convulse on her bed, trapped in a seizure.

────୨ৎ────

The waiting room seemed to be taunting Tyler as he sat, his leg bouncing anxiously, glancing at the door every five seconds. Well, technically, it was a private consultation room for family members; maybe it was supposed to be helpful, but all it did was tell the family how much danger Alice was in.

His dad was still pacing, his hands unclenching and clenching over and over again as the helplessness of the situation became deeper. There were very few situations in which Richard Lockwood was helpless, in which everything was going downhill and had no influence over the problem. Their mom, on the other hand, was sitting in a hospital chair, practically curled in on herself. She was on the edge of a breakdown, much like her husband and son; she only displayed it in a more typical sense.

Two hours and forty-seven minutes. It had been two hours and forty-seven minutes by the time the doctor finally came in. All three of them were up and expecting answers before the door was fully closed.

Dr. Michaels looked to be somewhere in her forties. She also looked calm and composed, but the air around her betrayed her manner. Tyler had seen plenty of medical dramas, he knew what good news and bad news looked like.

“Thank you for your patience,” Dr. Michaels began. “I know this is a terrifying ordeal,”

“Where’s our daughter?” Richard said at once, his voice was stern and commanding. “What’s wrong with her?”

“Mayor Lockwood, please,” Dr. Michaels said calmingly. “Allow me to explain. Your daughter is currently in the ICU, under constant monitoring. She’s stable and her vitals are holding but she is in critical condition,”

Tyler took in a shuddering breath. Nothing about what had just been said was comforting. “But what’s wrong with her?” The mayor pressed.

“I wish I had a clear answer to give you. We’ve ruled out infections, overdose, seizure disorders, and most known toxins. Her bloodwork shows abnormalities — inflammation, possible immune overactivation — but they don’t point to any one clear diagnosis. Her system is… reacting to something. Violently. But we don’t know what.”

Tyler could practically see the anger rising in his dad’s composure. “You mean to tell me that our daughter was seizing and vomiting blood mere hours ago and you have no idea what happened?”

Dr. Michaels didn’t flinch visibly but her demeanor became more somber. “I’m sorry, but yes. I’m afraid that, while I have more to tell you, none of it is good,”

Carol’s eyes widened further and her tears became more apparent. “What is it?” She asked, her voice shaking.

“She isn’t under any sedation, or other medication that affects one’s consciousness. But, despite all this, she still hasn’t woken up.”

“What does that mean?” Richard asked and this time his voice wasn’t demanding; there was too much going on for him to be angry.

“It means her brain isn’t responding the way we hoped. Her reactions to the outside world, things like light and sound, are absent.” Tyler felt his breath catch in his throat as Dr. Michaels folded her hands on top of each other. “We’ve run tests to check for structural damage, but there isn’t any. Her brain looks normal on the scans but the electrical activity — her brainwaves — are significantly reduced. We’ve classified her as being in a coma.”

Coma. The word sunk through Tyler’s skin and seemed to have the same effect on his parents. They weren’t doctors, but they weren’t idiots either. They all knew basic facts about comas, for one, they knew that sometimes it takes days for someone to wake up and sometimes… sometimes they don’t wake up at all.

“Can we see her?” Tyler asked faintly, speaking up for the first time.

“Of course,”

────୨ৎ────

Bonnie Bennett was having a good day. She and her grams were safe, Stefan and Damon were out of the tomb, and Damon was no longer trying to kill everyone in an attempt to free his vampire lover.

“Jenna said she’d do some digging on my birth mom,” Elena told her as they walked through the halls of Mystic Falls High School.

“That’s good.” Bonnie said sincerely. “I hope you can get some answers.”

“Yeah, me too,” Elena said. Bonnie smiled sympathetically at her. She could see how much this whole situation was weighing on Elena. But it seemed like she was getting closer to the truth and Bonnie was happy for her friend. “Anyway, how’s your grams been?”

“Good,” Bonnie said with a smile. She would never be able to thank Alice enough for telling her the truth. If she had pushed her grams to do a spell that ended up killing her, she might have never forgiven herself, or anyone else in the situation, for that matter. “She said that we’re gonna start working on more this weekend.”

“That’s great, Bonnie!” Elena congratulated, her smile firming up as they strayed towards a more happy topic.

The girls continued chatting for a little bit, walking outside to the tables to eat lunch. Once they sat down, Elena started looking around for Alice, who was going to be eating with them. Usually, it was either the two of them, or all four of the girls, but Caroline had decided to eat lunch with Matt for the day. That automatically meant that they were rescuing Alice from a bad case of third-wheeling.

The Lockwood who approached them wasn’t Alice, but Tyler. “Tyler, hey,” Elena greeted. “What’s up?”

Tyler swallowed and Bonnie shared a glance with Elena. Tyler looked awful. Her eyes had dark circles underneath them, his hair was disheveled, and his body language was giving off a horrible feeling. “You were with Alice at the party,” He said to Bonnie.

Bonnie nodded, not liking where this conversation seemed to be going. Nonetheless, she didn’t panic, sure that it was nothing. “Yeah. Why?"

Tyler’s hands were fidgeting. “What were you doing?” He asked and Bonnie and Elena shared a quick glance; had Alice told him something? Bonnie didn’t know if that was a bad thing but she wasn’t sure it was a good thing either. “Like, did something seem off, or– or did she drink something?”

“No…” Elena answered. “The three of us were just hanging out by the church ruins, why?” Tyler didn’t say anything for a moment and both girls started to feel nervous. “Tyler, is something wrong?”

“Yeah,” Tyler answered shakily, and Bonnie felt her stomach drop. “Um, Alice was sick yesterday and I thought it was just the flu or something, but then, later that night, she started– uh, she started vomiting blood,”

Bonnie felt the blood drain from her face and she saw Elena having the exact same reaction. “What? Is she– is she okay now?” Bonnie asked, desperate for good news.

“No, she’s not,” Tyler said shortly. He was clearly fighting a battle to keep his voice from shaking; he was losing the battle. “She had a seizure and we– we, um, we took her to the ER. She’s stable but, uh, she’s– she’s in a coma. Apparently”

“Oh, my god,” Elena said breathily. Bonnie couldn’t find it in herself to say anything.

“I gotta– I have to head back to the hospital.” Tyler said, nodding to himself. “I just wanted to know if you knew anything but you don’t, so… I’m gonna go”

Tyler turned and walked away quickly. Elena and Bonnie looked at the other, both in shocked horror. This was not what anyone had seen coming.

────୨ৎ────

Tyler had never been a vulnerable person, never been weak. The few times he did let his walls down it had always been around Alice. It was only fitting that he felt most open and raw when he was sitting by his sister’s hospital bedside.

His insides were being clawed at with poison dipped claws. They grew closer to his heart with every beep of the monitor. He was being torn apart in a way he had never known. Perhaps it wasn’t vulnerability that was weakness; perhaps it was the absence of such vulnerability.

(He had been and probably always would be weak; the strongest part of him was now laying helpless in a hospital bed.)

Chapter Text

Consciousness came back to Alice in slow waves. First, she could swear that she heard voices from nearby. Her parents talking in hushed voices, Bonnie’s distressed words, a very un-Tyler like pleading from Tyler.

Then she felt the sterile smell of the hospital wafting up to her nose. She gave a little cough at the smell and her chest ached from the effort. When her eyelids fluttered for the first time she could tell she was in the hospital.

All that was confirmed when she finally woke up fully, after what felt like it was either hours or years. Her throat was sore and she scanned the hospital waiting room, looking for anyone to help. Like her mind had been read, a nurse walked in a moment later, holding a clipboard.

The brunette gave a friendly smile when she saw Alice’s blue eyes staring into hers. “Welcome back, Alice,” She walked closer to Alice and came to the side of the bed. “I know this must all seem rather confusing, but everything’s okay. You’re in the hospital right now, but don’t worry; you’re doing really well.”

Alice nodded faintly, already wanting to go back to sleep. “I know you’re tired but I need you to try something.” The nurse took her hand and squeezed it. “I need you to try and squeeze back. Can you do that for me?”

Alice gathered the energy she had and pushed into squeezing back. The nurse smiled widely. “Good job! You’ve got more force than a lot of people who’ve been asleep for this long,” Alice smiled and opened her mouth. She wanted to say something, to ask what had happened. The last thing she remembered was falling asleep after siphoning the tomb spell. The nurse had said asleep but she couldn’t quite put the pieces together.

The nurse seemed to pick up on her wish and held up a glass of water with a straw, offering it to the blonde. Alice opened her mouth and took a few sips, her throat feeling less dry than before. “Okay, I’m going to let Dr. Michaels know that you’re awake and then she’ll inform your parents,”

Alice gave a genuine smile at the thought of seeing her parents and then slipped back into sleep.

────୨ৎ────

When Alice awoke next, it was to the sound of the door to her room opening. She opened her eyes fully this time, no longer feeling so sleepy. She still felt a sort of exhaustion but she no longer felt like sleep was calling to her. “It’s good to see you awake, Alice. I’m Dr. Michaels.”

Dr. Michaels asked Alice to do some very simple tasks that still felt rather draining but she managed. Then she was left alone again before the doctor returned two hours later. By then, Alice was able to form coherent sentences, and answer the Dr. Michaels questions in a soft voice.

When Dr. Michaels was explaining the events that lead up to Alice being admitted to the ICU, Alice realized what had happened that the doctors couldn’t explain. All the magic she had taken in from Emily’s spell had been too much for her body and, as such, her body had reacted violently.

It took her some time, but she finally got her words together enough to form her question. “How long has it been?”

Dr. Michaels smiled sympathetically. “You’ve been comatose for about a month,”

Alice blinked hard to make sure that this was actually happening. “Wow,” She said breathily.

“I know it’s a lot to take in, but try not to overexert yourself. Your body is still waking up. Your parents and brother are on their way right now,” Alice managed another nod before the doctor left the room.

It seemed like not even five minutes later, the door was flung open and Tyler and her parents were standing in the doorway. Everyone was still for a moment before Carol rushed forward, gasping in relief. Alice grinned as her mom wrapped her arms around her in an embrace. She couldn’t hold back her wince, though, and Carol quickly pulled back. “Still sore,” Alice said softly.

“Right, of course,” Carol said, her voice heavy with emotion. Alice smiled up at her mom who then came to sit down on one of the chairs beside the bed.

Her dad approached her next. Alice didn’t think she had ever seen such open and honest vulnerability on her dad’s face. It wasn’t anything she had ever expected to see, but she welcomed it happily. Richard walked closer and placed a soft kiss on the top of her head in another unusual display of affection. Maybe she was being unfair; even a man as firm as their dad would be relieved and shaken up by his daughter waking up from a month long coma. “Welcome back, Sweetheart.”

After their dad had sat down beside their mom, Alice’s eyes sought the person she most wanted to see. When she met Tyler’s eyes, they were filled with relief and tears. He seemed frozen to the spot, as if he was entranced by the sight of her awake. “Hey, Ty,” Alice said, smiling gently at her brother. Her words seemed to snap him back to reality and he walked closer to her.

“Hi, Allie,”

And the world shifted right side up once more.

────୨ৎ────

“Oh, and Kelly Donavan is back in town,” Tyler told her. Alice’s eyes widened whilst she popped a banana slice into her mouth. Tyler nodded with an amused expression at her reaction. “Yep!”

“How’s Matt doing?” Alice asked once she had swallowed the banana. Over the past three days, her voice had slowly firmed up and she had been moved out of the ICU and into a small rehab center for people recovering from major issues.

When she had first woken up, she had just been enjoying her family’s company and the joy that her awakening had brought. They hadn’t talked too much due to her not being back up to full cognitive abilities yet. But then she was transferred out of the ICU and she had passed some fancy tests that told them she was much stronger mentally. It had only been a few hours, really, since Tyler had arrived today. But once he had arrived and settled into the chair beside her, Tyler had started catching her up on everything she had missed.

Her brother tilted his head in consideration. “Good… I think,” Alice raised an eyebrow as a signal to elaborate. “He’s hard to read when it comes to her, you know that. She’s pretty flaky, after all.”

“That’s for sure,” Alice muttered, causing Tyler to grin again. Neither of them had ever liked Kelly Donanvan much. Most of Mystic Falls didn’t like her, actually. Alice had never been one to judge someone based on others’ opinions but after the second time she left Matt and Vicki alone for months, Alice figured out that she wasn’t a good person.

“I’ve missed you, Alice. So much,”

Alice smiled sweetly at Tyler’s confession. He wasn’t a particularly emotionally available person, even if he was far better with Alice than he was with anyone else, but the whole debacle had clearly shaken him up a lot. “Well, I’m back.”

They stayed like that, talking and enjoying each others’ company, for a while longer. It wasn’t until someone else arrived that they paused. Bonnie’s eyes were full of tears when she walked into the room, a small bouquet of flowers in her hands. Alice smiled at her and then looked up at Tyler. He nodded and squeezed her shoulder lightly before leaving to give the girls the room to themselves.

As soon as Tyler had left, Bonnie placed the flowers down and rushed forward to hug her friend. Alice giggled a little bit and returned the embrace. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” She murmured before finally letting go.

“It’s good to be awake,” Alice said with a smile. Bonnie laughed a little but her voice hitched and Alice noticed the few tears that were leaking out of her eyes. “Oh, Bonnie, it’s okay. I’m okay now,”

“I know,” Bonnie said, drawing in a breath and calming down a little. “It’s just, I was so scared. I mean, we were all scared. No one knew what to do, or what was going to happen.”

“Yeah, but it worked out. We’re both okay and your grams is okay too, right?”

Bonnie nodded. “Yeah, she’s okay. We’ve been working on magic and she’s been coming with me when we visit.”

“Then it all worked out,” Alice said sagely.

────୨ৎ────

The next day, she was discharged from the hospital and allowed to go home under strict supervision. It was Saturday, so Tyler volunteered to stay with her so that their parents could get some work done. It was really more so that he could soothe the anxiety he was trying his best to hide. He put on a good show, but Alice had always been able to see right through his many facades.

“How much homework did I miss?” Alice finally asked while she was laying in her bed with Tyler sitting on a chair, his legs on the edge of her bed. She had avoided asking that question for a while, hoping that denial would make it go away.

Tyler chuckled a bit at her expression. “Well, it’s not pretty, I’ll say that,” Alice grimaced at the thought of all the schoolwork awaiting her. “Maybe you could wheedle Dad into getting you out of it?”

Alice sighed at the suggestion and reclined her head against the headboard in exasperation. “A) the only thing that will get me is an F on upcoming tests. And B) I seriously doubt that Dad would do that,”

Tyler cocked his head to the side. “You’d be surprised. He’s been a lot more… open than usual,” Tyler explained. Alice looked at him strangely to which he shrugged before he began to explain. “At first, he was angry at everything; the smallest thing would set him off. But I think once he realized that his anger wasn’t going to change the situation he started getting scared. Like, actually scared.”

“Really?” Alice asked, looking over at her brother in disbelief. She knew that her dad had been unusually loving when she had first woken up but, still, showing fear was something she never would have expected from him.

“Yeah. I don’t think anyone has ever seen him that vulnerable. Even Mom seemed shocked by his attitude.”

“Oh.” Alice couldn’t find the words to say anything else besides that. Tyler reached over and squeezed her hand, smiling at her, and Alice knew that it was all okay.

────୨ৎ────

It wasn’t until the next day that Alice was allowed to see anyone else. Her access to the outside world had been limited when she was recovering. The doctor had said that it was to try and minimize exposure to anything that might be harmful, seeing as she was weak after the coma. Bonnie had gotten special permission to see her but besides her, no one else was allowed. Bonnie had told her that Elena had wanted to have Stefan compel their way in, but seeing as her parents took vervain, she had been advised against it. Thankfully, neither girl had to wait that long to see each other.

Alice perked her head up from where she had been sketching and looked at her mother, who had knocked on her door frame. She had been advised against doing anything like technology or reading her books, so she had settled for drawing when she got bored. “Stefan and Elena are here,” Her mom said softly. “Is it okay if they come in?”

“That’d be great,” Alice confirmed, placing her sketchbook and pencil down

Her mom nodded and then left for a moment to get her friends. Not even a minute later, Elena rushed into the room with open vulnerability on her face. She surged towards the bed and grabbed Alice in a soft hug. “You’re okay,” She said softly, holding onto her friend. “Thank God you’re okay,”

Alice smiled at Elena’s words and hugged her back, knowing the other girl needed the comfort. She was grinning when Elena finally pulled away with tears in her eyes. “I’m okay,” Alice whispered in confirmation.

Elena turned her head back to the doorway where Stefan was watching the girls with a soft smile. Alice appreciated that he was waiting for them to have their own reunion before he came in. Elena nodded at her boyfriend who looked at Alice and when she nodded too, he came further into the room.

“It’s good to see you awake,” Stefan said softly, his eyes kind.

“It’s good to be awake,” Alice said in response.

Elena sat down at the edge of the bed and started telling Alice about everything that she had missed on the supernatural side of things. Alice didn’t know what to think about the whole Katherine debacle. She would be lying if she said that it didn’t make her nervous of what Damon was going to do in response.

But when she voiced her concerns, Stefan assured her that things had been handled while she was in the coma and that if it got out of control, he’d handle Damon. When the end of their visit was nearing, Stefan spoke up. “Oh!” He said, something coming to mind. “I almost forgot.

“Forgot what?” Elena asked, looking at him in confusion.

Stefan reached into the bag he was carrying and pulled out a decent sized folder. Alice raised an eyebrow and Stefan chuckled. “I took the liberty of… lightening your homework load.” Alice’s eyes widened as he handed her the folder. She opened it and smiled at the completed assignments she saw in the folder; he had somehow managed to make it look somewhat like her handwriting. “Consider it my thanks for what you did. For getting Damon and I out of the tomb,”

Alice smiled in a heartfelt type of joy, pushing back the tears rising in her eyes at the gesture. “Thank you, Stefan,”

Chapter Text

It had taken a fair bit of convincing on Alice’s part to get Tyler to let her walk through school by herself. He had openly wanted to stay by her side every minute of the day until he had made his own deduction that she was okay. The doctors had cleared her and said that she was ready to be back in school now, but her entire family was still anxious about it.

Thankfully, Tyler had gone to talk to Jeremy about Vicki and Alice wanted to talk to Matt about her too. A few days ago, Tyler and their dad had gone out to the grill and come back much later than planned. Tyler had come up to her room and told her that Caroline had found Vicki Donanvan’s dead body in the woods.

Alice couldn’t and didn’t want to imagine how heartbreaking that must have been for Matt. That was why Alice was searching for him in the first passing period of the day. Her eyes landed on him and Elena chatting by Matt’s locker. His eyes quickly landed on her and he grinned at the sight. Alice smiled back and raced over there causing Elena to step to the side so that they could hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” Matt said softly.

“Are you?” Alice asked. “Okay, that is? I heard about Vicki,” She admitted quietly.

Matt’s expression flickered into something a little more somber. “I wouldn’t say I’m that good but I’m getting there,”

“Good.” Alice said. “I’m here if you need anything at all,”

────୨ৎ────

The school day ended up passing in a blur, most of it was spent gathering her work and being welcomed back by teachers and other students. The work that Stefan had given her ended up being a big help and she was very grateful for it.

Soon enough, Alice found herself back at her house, preparing for the founder’s day kick off party. She had settled for a flowy, pink mini-dress with long sleeves. By some stroke of luck– she hadn’t decided if it was good or bad– she had managed to sway her parents into letting her come to the party. Alice knew that the main reason her dad had agreed was so that he could present an image of having a picture perfect family. They weren’t a horrible family, but they weren’t picture perfect by any stretch of the imagination.

She and Tyler had decided to drive together, separately from their parents. But it was still important that they arrived to greet the guests as soon as they could, or so they were told. “You know, this whole event is a pain in the ass,” Tyler mentioned under his breath.

Alice chuckled a little. “Whiner,”

Tyler grinned and bumped her shoulder playfully before their dad appeared. “Come on, let’s go greet the Donavans.”

Alice gave Tyler a heavily confused look. Never before had either of their parents willingly stood within sniffing distance of any of the Donavans. Maybe Matt during a football game but that was about it. Tyler only shrugged in response to her look. He was probably just as confused as she was. Even with Vicki’s death, it was still out of character for her dad to be so welcoming. Then again, re-elections were coming up soon and he was doing everything he could to ensure the position. Alice thought that was a bit pointless, he had been mayor for as long as she had been in the family.

Alice and Tyler entered the room just as Matt and Kelly arrived, both looking tense. “I’m so glad you could join us tonight,” Richard said, putting on his politician voice.

“It was nice of you to reach out to us,” Kelly said. She was stiff and clearly uncomfortable but Richard paid it no mind, continuing on with his routine.

“This town is one big family, when we lose a member we all have to come together.” Alice and Tyler shared a look between the two of them in a silent conversation. Now their dad was just laying it on thick. Alice loved her dad, but she couldn’t deny how full of shit this conversation was. “Matt,” He stated, shaking the quarterback’s hand. “Kelly,” He shook her hand too before eyeing his children and walking away.

Alice and Tyler quickly followed after him, but not before they both gave Matt a parting look. Tyler’s look was more mocking their dad and Alice’s was more apologetic for how full of shit their dad was.

“So, dad definitely could have been more respectful,” Alice mentioned, following after her brother.

Tyler scoffed. “That’s your too nice way of saying that he’s an asshole,”

Alice sighed softly. Tyler wasn’t wrong about their dad being an asshole but she had always tried not to think about him in a negative light. She wasn’t blind to his faults but she knew, intimately, how much worse a father could be.

Quickly, Alice shook those thoughts off, reminding herself that this wasn’t the time nor the place. That there wasn’t any time or place. She needed to stop letting that horrible man ruin her life when they had been miles away from each other for years now.

When she came back to the present moment, still following Tyler, she noticed that he had swiped a bottle of whiskey from one of the drink stations and was holding tight. “Tyler!” Alice hissed quietly.

“What?” Tyler said indignantly. “No one cares,”

She rolled her eyes as Tyler practically dragged her back into the room they had just left. Matt was still there but Kelly had already gone off to somewhere else in the party. “Check it out!” Tyler said, showing Matt the bottle he had stolen.

Matt looked at Alice who just shrugged in resignation before turning back to Tyler. “Dude, your dad is going to beat you down if he catches you,” Matt said and despite knowing it was a joke, Alice still got uneasy at those words. He wouldn’t do that… right?

“Yeah, let him try,” Tyler said with way too much confidence. He proceeded to screw the bottle open.

“Alright, screw it,” Matt declared, taking the full bottle of whiskey from Tyler’s hand and drinking straight from the top. Alice looked around the room frantically, making sure that they weren’t being watched.

“This is so not going to end well,” Alice whispered as Tyler took the bottle back from Matt and took a drink of his own. He smiled mischievously at her once he lowered the bottle from his lips. Alice shook her head softly. “I’m still the one who’s going to have to drive your drunk self home tonight, remember?”

“Right,” Tyler said and took another swig as he led Matt and Alice into a private room. Alice followed in exasperation as her brother and his best friend continued to get drunk.

Matt eventually walked off to do something else, leaving the siblings alone together. Alice and Tyler stayed chatting for a little bit before Tyler left, probably to make some questionable decisions, and Alice went to find her friends.

────୨ৎ────

“Bonnie!” Alice said happily, laying eyes on her friend. “You look gorgeous.”

Bonnie turned and smiled at the blonde pulling her into a quick hug. Bonnie was dressed in a modest, satin blue dress that made her look like a literal princess. “You too,” Bonnie told her, looking at Alice’s dress. “Also, since when did your mom play fun music?” Bonnie asked, the two girls looking at everyone dancing in the town hall. It was true that there was never any fun at these founder parties.

“Since never,” Alice said with a nod. “Someone must have put a spell on the DJ,” Alice joked. She and Bonnie giggled a bit at the witch joke and continued to walk around the party.

“Oh!” Bonnie said suddenly. “I almost forgot. Grams said that she thinks it’s safe for you to practice magic again. If you’re up for it,”

“I am totally up for it.” Alice confirmed. “I missed working with you and Miss Sheila.”

“We’ve missed you.” Bonnie agreed. “I need to show you everything Grams taught me while you were in the coma.” Alice nodded, satisfied with that plan and excited about improving her abilities.

Not long after that, Bonnie got tired of the founders party and decided to call it a night. Alice couldn’t blame her for that; even though this party was more fun than usual, it could still be a pain to be at. Alice didn’t always mind these parties but even she got tired of them once and a while.

Alice was in search of something else to entertain herself with when she ran into Matt and Elena. “Hey, guys, enjoying the party?” She asked, smiling at her friends who smiled back.

“Yeah, who knew I’d be missing all the fun at founder's parties,” Matt commented, causing Elena to laugh as she and Alice fell in step with each other.

“This is rare, believe me,” Elena insisted, having gone to more parties like this than even Alice had.

“Is it bad that I'm enjoying myself?” Matt asked.

“No, it’s great that you are enjoying yourself,” Elena assured him.

“Yeah, you deserve to have some fun,” Alice added. Matt smiled at his two friends as they continued walking through the hall.

“Thanks for making me dance,” Elena said.

“Yeah, no problem,” Matt replied and the two embraced. Alice smiled despite noting the fact that Matt must have drunk a little more since the last time she had seen him tonight. It was clear that he was a little bit off. Matt pulled away with a chuckle after a second. “Air. I need some air. Um, come with me?”

“Sure,” Elena agreed.

“Totally,” Alice said.

“You guys haven’t seen my mom, have you?” Matt asked as the three walked out to the patio.

“No, not in a while,” Elena told him and Alice just shook her head. Alice followed behind Elena as she pushed the door that led to the patio open. “Oh, my god.” Elena said, causing Matt and Alice to follow her gaze.

Alice could have passed out then and there from what she saw. Tyler, her brother, making out with Kelly, Matt’s mom. She had seen her brother do a lot of stupid shit over the course of their lives but this had to be the most stupid of them all.

Matt’s brain was the first one to spring into action and he rushed over to the pair and pulled them apart. “What the hell are you doing, man?!” Matt demanded once he had pulled Tyler off of his mom.

“Matt,” Kelly said desperately.

“Mom!” Matt shouted angrily. After all the stuff that Kelly had pulled over the years, this one must have been the one that finally got Matt to lash out; truly lash out.

“Woah, dude, calm down,” Tyler said, raising his hands in a stupid move. Alice could have screamed at his idiocy. Matt had every right to be mad and had no obligation to calm down.

In a show of how his rage was fueling his actions, Matt turned around and suddenly punched Tyler in the face. “Matt!” Elena called out, the two girls finally racing over to the scene. Tyler, of course, punched back, his punch being strong enough to send both Kelly and Matt crashing into one of the tables. Glass flew in different directions as Tyler began hitting Matt over and over again.

“Tyler! Stop it, you're hurting him!” Alice yelled out. When Tyler didn’t stop, Alice searched the crowd desperately for Stefan. She had left her magic filled necklace at home and now would be a great time to have some magic to separate the fight.

“Somebody help us!” Elena cried out as Alice tried and failed to find either Salvatore vampire in the growing crowd.

Alice was about to make a sprint to find one of the vampires when her dad and Mr. Saltzman rushed onto the scene. Mr. Saltzman got there first, pulling Tyler off of Matt and pressing him against the wall. Alice was torn on what to do but she settled for going towards Matt with Elena. That was when her dad came onto the scene and approached her brother.

Alice tried to focus on helping Matt but her attention kept being drawn to where her dad and brother were standing. She couldn’t make out the words but she could see the unusual gentleness her father was displaying towards Tyler.

She gulped, not knowing what would come next.

────୨ৎ────

Alice had left Elena and Matt once she was sure that the latter was okay. She was looking for Tyler in order to give him a well deserved lecture when she saw her dad walking towards the room where they had greeted the Donavans. He probably knew where Tyler was, Alice thought, so she followed after him.

He didn’t notice her and neither did Tyler when they arrived in the room. “Let’s go,” Richard said sharply.

Alice couldn’t help but notice how genuinely freaked-out Tyler looked. “Dad, I'm sorry. I don't even know what happened. I was drinking and...I lost control. I can't explain it.”

Their dad nodded and turned like he was about to walk away. Then he did something that Alice would always remember. He turned back around and backhanded Tyler across the face. The blow had enough force to knock Tyler back a few paces.

Richard might have said something after that but Alice couldn’t hear anything over the blood rushing in her ears.

How could this be happening? Again?

────୨ৎ────

Alice had gotten a ride home from someone that she didn’t even remember. The entire drive home and the entire walk up to her bedroom was a daze, like she wasn’t really there. Because she wasn’t; she was back in that house.

But this time, she wasn’t in her original position. For a moment, her mind flashed back to whispers outside the door to that room. That horrible room where that horrible man she had once called a father would take her and her brother into.

The few times that she heard anything other than screaming in that room was when it came from just outside the door. It was whispering. The older Parker siblings whispering to the younger kids, telling them not to linger outside that door, that it wouldn’t end well.

Even then, even as a child, Alice had always resented her oldest sister for that; all of her siblings for that. For the way they stood by and did nothing while their other siblings screamed in pain.

The realization that she had done the exact same thing hit Alice like a ton of bricks. She didn’t cry, not this time. Instead she made a choice. A choice that never again would she be that person, that sibling.

With a newfound determination, Alice walked over to her vanity and took out the necklace filled with magic from the tomb spell. She was done lying to Tyler.

She walked up to his room and knocked three times on his door. The door opened slightly and Alice took a breath at the slightly scared look Tyler wore. “Alice–”

“We need to talk,” Alice told him, forcing her voice to be steady.

Tyler swallowed thickly and nodded, opening the door further and allowing her in. She stayed standing as Tyler took a seat on the edge of his bed. “I know I screwed up; believe me, I know. And I know that you’re here to wring me out, which I deserve, so I’ll–”

“I’m so sorry,” Alice cut him off.

Tyler’s head shot up as he looked to his sister. “What? Alice, why would you be sorry?”

“I saw Dad hit you.” Alice said and this time her voice wavered. Tyler’s eyes widened and he was rendered silent. “I saw him and I didn’t do anything.”

Tyler frowned a bit. “Alice, you didn’t have to do anything. It’s not on you,”

“You’re my brother, Tyler, and I just stood there.” Alice said. She took in a shuddering breath before continuing. “I stood there the same way all of my other siblings would stand by when I got punished. “

Tyler’s eyes widened and horror began to creep into them. “What are you talking about?”

“Can I show you something?” Alice asked shakily.

“…Yeah,”

Alice took a hand and placed it on her necklace, ignoring Tyler’s shocked look when he saw the red glow. “I’m gonna show you something and I want you to do your best not to freak out,” Tyler nodded hesitantly. Alice raised her hands slowly, and all the small items in Tyler’s room began to float.

“What the hell…?” Tyler breathed out. “How did you–?”

“I’m a witch, Tyler.” Alice said seriously.

“That’s insane!” Tyler insisted. “You can’t be a witch!” Alice gulped and then a gust of wind flew and Tyler's face. He stared up at her in shock as the realization sunk in. “Holy fuck,”

Alice nodded with a small chuckle and moved over to sit by her brother. “You.. you don’t think I’m a freak, do you?” Her voice was small with a fear she had always held.

“Of–of course not, it’s just– it’s a shock,” Tyler paused for a moment. “Why are you telling me this now?”

“Because I’m tired of hiding from you. And because you’ll need to know that to understand the rest.” Tyler looked confused but Alice continued. “My biological family was a family of witches. Every kid was a witch. But me and my oldest brother, we were a different kind of witch.”

“A different kind of witch…?”

“We didn’t–or don’t–have any magic of our own.” Alice explained. “We have to take it from other sources of magic, like an enchanted object or another witch. The man who… contributed to our birth, he hated us for what we could do. And he wasn’t afraid to show us that either.”

“Allie…” Tyler trailed off, worried about where this was going.

Alice took in another shuddering breath of air. “He– he would use his magic to… to hurt us,” Alice explained, her voice cracking as tears began to release from her eyes. “The spells he used. The agony he put us through…”

Tyler looked absolutely horrified. “You don’t have to keep going,”

Alice shook her head at those words; now that she had started, she had to finish. “There was this room. A specific room he would take us to whenever he… did what he did. And every once and a while, over the sound of our pain, I would hear our other siblings outside the door. Whispering and doing nothing as we were put through hell for existing.”

“Oh, my god,” Tyler said, closing his eyes.

“And I can’t be like them. I won’t be like them. Not again. So, if you ever need my help, I’ll be there.” Alice promised, gripping Tyler’s hands. Tyler managed a smile and held hers just as tight.

“If I can ask, what happened to you brother?” His voice was tentative, the battle between being respectful and being curious having been fought. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that,”

“It’s okay.” Alice assured him. "You know that saying: the abused becomes the abuser?” Alice laughed humorlessly. “That’s exactly what happened. He snapped one day, went on a rampage and killed half of our siblings.” Tyler’s look was beyond horrified but Alice could barely see it through her tears. “Then he was sentenced to some sort of magical prison and… and I never saw him again,”

It was at that point that Alice finally broke down. Tyler took her into his arms and held her as she sobbed, stroking her hair and promising to be there for her as she promised the same to him.

That was how the night ended, the two of them curled up in Tyler’s bed, finally having the comfort that they had been seeking.

Chapter Text

Alice giggled a bit as she walked with Tyler through the grass after school.

After they had both come back down to earth a little bit, Alice had decided that she needed Tyler to be more aware of the world they lived in. She had decided to take a few days before telling him everything, seeing as he was still shocked from the witch news.

“I can’t believe it,” Tyler whispered, keeping his voice low so as to not be overheard. “Vampires. Like, actual vampires.”

“Yes, Tyler, vampires. Like you’ve said three hundred times already,” Alice said in amusement. She wasn’t actually annoyed; it was really nice to be fully honest with her brother.

“Cut me some slack!” Tyler demanded. “Not all of us can read minds.”

“I can’t read minds, Ty. Not instinctively, anyway." Alice told him.

Tyler shook his head again. He had been asking all the questions he could since Alice had told him about the supernatural. Alice had happily answered them all, elated that she could now confide in him. “So are you ready to tell me who the vampires in Mystic Falls are yet?”

“Depends,” Alice began, just as she had the other times he had asked. “Are you ready to have your throat torn out yet?”

Tyler gave her a look that she returned and he just sighed when she didn’t let up. “I’m gonna find out. Mark my words.”

Alice gave a long suffering sigh. “Don’t you have practice to get to?”

Tyler gave her a mischievous smile before bidding her farewell and heading off to practice. Alice was still chuckling when she saw Bonnie and Elena by the school bulletin board. Bonnie caught her eye too and waved her over, causing Alice to grin and jog over to meet her friends.

“Hey!” Alice said happily when she approached the two brunettes.

“Hey, Allie,” Bonnie said. “How are you doing?” Alice looked at Elena with concealed exasperation in her gaze. She was trying to send a message to Elena and it caused Elena to give a little chuckle that caused Bonnie to look between the two girls “What?” she said, chuckling a bit.

“Bonnie,” Elena began, “Alice is too nice to say this, but she wants you to know she’s not made of glass.”

“Hey!” Alice exclaimed. “I told you that in confidence!”

“And I told you to just tell her,” Elena said, smiling innocently.

Bonnie hid her face in her hands for a moment before she lowered them and looked at Alice guiltily. “I’m sorry. I just feel guilty, you know? I want to make sure you’re okay.”

“I’m okay, I promise,” Alice assured her comfortingly. Bonnie nodded before something else occurred to her. “Also, I have something to tell Miss Sheila something.”

Bonnie nodded and Elena said, “Witchy secrets?”

“Not a secret so much as I need to tell an adult before I tell either of you.” Alice explained.

“Should we be worried?” Elena asked jokingly.

Before Alice or Bonnie could reply, Caroline came rushing into the scene, practically jumping for joy. The three other girls all grinned at Caroline’s glee. “What’s got you in such a good mood?” Bonnie asked.

“The founder’s court is out.” Caroline told them. “Which means a major wardrobe confab needed ASAP. You need to help me pick the perfect dress for the Founder’s Court.”

“The founder’s court?” Elena asked. “Am I missing something?”

“The Founders' court! You know, Miss Mystic Falls.” Caroline reminded Elena. “They announced it today. You and I are both on it.”

“Wait. Alice, you, the mayor’s daughter, aren’t on the founder’s court?” Bonnie asked in shock. Caroline was eyeing her suspiciously now too, despite the slight relief behind her eyes. Alice participated in almost all of these events and, despite her parents being adept at hiding a lot of things they did, everyone knew what was going to happen in the pageant. It was practically common sense that Carol Lockwood, the head judge, would pick her own daughter to be Miss Mystic Falls. That was half the reason her mom had pushed her to be so active in the community this year; more so than other years. She wanted to make it look like Alice wasn't being picked just because she was the head judge’s daughter, which would be a total lie.

“Yep!” Alice said happily. She hadn’t put up much of a fight at the idea of competing but it wasn’t something she had been looking forward to by any stretch of the imagination. “The one benefit to falling into a month-long coma.”

Elena looked lost in thought before she spoke up. “Oh my god! We signed up for that so long ago...I completely forgot.”

“So, are you dropping out then?” Caroline asked, her hope poorly hidden. Caroline had wanted to win Miss Mystic Falls since forever. Bonnie and Alice shared a look at that.

“I can’t,” Elena admitted dejectedly, looking over at Bonnie.

“No?” Caroline asked.

“Her mom is the one who wanted her to enter,” Bonnie explained.

────୨ৎ────

Alice pulled away from the hug she had just given Miss Sheila as both Bennetts welcomed her into the house. Alice had been here a million times but it still felt magical, Miss Sheila’s house. “You gave us quite the scare, child.”

“So I’ve heard,” Alice said, moving to sit on the couch with the Bennett witches. Bonnie smiled at her friend but Miss Sheila just clicked her tongue. “So, where do we start?”

“Small.” Miss Sheila told her. “We start small.”

Alice sighed but nodded nonetheless. She knew that she needed to be careful considering what had happened last time and how much magic she had consumed, but it was still a bummer to have to go slow again.

Miss Sheila held out her arm and said, “hold on for no more than ten seconds.”

Alice did as she was told and still smiled at the magic she was consuming. She counted to ten and then let go of her mentor’s arm. “So?” Bonnie asked curiously.

“I feel fine. Normal.” Bonnie let out a sigh of relief that Alice had a feeling she had been holding in for a long time. Alice hesitated for a moment before she went to reveal what she had done. “I have to tell you something.”

Miss Sheila gave her a look and Bonnie eyed her suspiciously. “Nothing good has ever come from those words.” Miss Sheila commented. “What is it?”

“I did something. And I know it was stupid but I don’t regret it.” Alice said quickly, rushing to get her words out.

“Alice, what did you do?” The older Bennett witch asked.

Alice averted her eyes from their gaze in anticipation. “I told Tyler the truth. About me. About the supernatural.”

“What?” Bonnie demanded, her eyes going comically wide.

“I didn’t say anyone’s name. I just told him what was out there. I didn’t tell him about either of you. I promise.” Alice said. “I’m sorry for putting you at risk but–”

“No, it’s okay.” Bonnie said, though she still seemed shocked. “Is it okay, Grams?”

Miss Sheila had been shocked into silence before she found it in herself to piece her words together. “Yes. It's okay. Tyler is your brother and I understand that you need to be honest with him, but make sure to be cautious with who else you tell.”

Alice let out her own sigh of relief. She had been worried that one or both of the other witches would be upset with her for what she had done. “What does he know?” Bonnie asked.

Alice began to tell them everything she had told Tyler about the supernatural and about the history of Mystic Falls. He had definitely been shocked to hear about the founder’s council. When she finished Miss Sheila looked rather thoughtful, taking in what Alice had just told them. “I know that Tyler would never do anything to put you in harm's way, Alice.” Miss Sheila said. “And because I know that is why I am okay with him knowing about Bonnie and I. Now, I’m not telling you to go out of your way to tell him, but if you need to, you have my permission.”

Bonnie nodded in agreement to her grandmother’s statement. Alice smiled appreciatively. “Thank you. Both of you.”

────୨ৎ────

Alice and Bonnie had both taken to helping Caroline prepare for Miss Mystic Falls. Both girls had wanted to continue working on their magic but Miss Sheila insisted that they go out and have a life outside of witchcraft.

Bonnie had been her fill in for the rehearsal, seeing as Matt was unable to get away from work for that. Alice had volunteered to help her get ready on the day of the pageant. She stood behind Caroline, working with the curling iron as Caroline applied her make up. “How does it look?” Caroline asked.

“You’re an absolute knockout, Care,” Alice assured her, placing down the curling iron once she had finished. She noticed how her friend’s face had fallen a bit and furrowed her brows. “Is everything okay?”

Alice followed Caroline’s gaze and saw that she was looking at Elena and Jenna through her mirror. “I just wish my mom would be here for me,”

Alice sighed softly and thought about how to place her words before she spoke. “Your mom is a very busy woman and I'm not saying that to excuse her but maybe to help you see that she works so hard so that you can do stuff like this. And whether or not she is here, I am, Bonnie is; and we’ll always be here,”

Caroline gave a watery smile before she fanned at her eyes so as to not ruin her makeup. “Thanks, Allie,” Alice smiled at Caroline. “I have to go put on my dress but I’ll see you soon, okay?”

“See you soon,” Alice told her.

She made her way downstairs after that and looked around at everyone who had come for the party. She found Bonnie and the two girls talked for a little bit before it was time for the ceremony.

She and Bonnie smiled at each other as the music started playing and the contestants started descending from the staircase. They both smiled brightly as Caroline came down the stairs, perfectly composed and the picture of Miss Mystic Falls.

Next was Elena. “Miss Elena Gilbert, escorted by Mr. Stefan Salvatore.” Alice heard her dad announce them but when she looked at the row of escorts, Stefan was nowhere in sight.

“Do you know where Stefan is?” She whispered to Bonnie who shook her head, equally concerned for Elena. She was descending the stairs and Stefan was nowhere in sight. Alice heard Bonnie take in a sharp breath as they both came to the realization that Stefan wasn’t coming.

Alice held her breath too, not looking forward to what was about to happen. Then, out of nowhere, Damon stepped in and took his brother’s place. “What the…?” Bonnie muttered as they watched Elena and Damon begin the dance.

Alice watched Caroline perform nearly perfectly and she had a soft smile at that. But the whole time, she couldn’t help but wonder about Elena. She briefly turned her head to watch Elena and Damon dance. And for a moment, Alice couldn’t help but think that there was something more in the way they were looking at each other. She shook that thought off quickly; Elena would never do that to Stefan.

Alice managed to push her worry aside long enough to give Caroline all the congratulations that she could on her victory. The smile that Caroline wore when she was announced as Miss Mystic Falls was enough to make Alice forget about her worries and be happy for her friend.

────୨ৎ────

Alice was looking for Elena, hoping that she would know what happened with Stefan. She found her in a corner, speaking in hushed, urgent voices with Damon. Alice knew it was wrong to eavesdrop but she couldn’t help the feeling in her gut that something was very wrong. She was proven right when she heard

“There were signs of a struggle in the upstairs bathroom.” Damon was telling Elena who was visibly growing more panicked. Alice couldn’t deny that her own nerves were flaring up. “There was blood and that Amber girl is missing.”

“Oh my god! He wouldn't hurt her, he won't!” Elena insisted and Alice, despite her distance, could hear the fear and doubt in her friend’s voice.

“Let's just find him, okay? Let's get your coat. Come on!”

They departed and, despite knowing that it was probably a bad idea, Alice’s worry for both Elena and Stefan overruled her survival instinct and she followed after Damon and Elena.

They didn’t seem to notice her as she followed them down the path and outside to the path away from the founder’s hall. She didn’t know if she should make herself known or not. She arrived behind them just as a shrill scream pierced the air.

Alice picked up her pace and saw Elena and Damon facing Stefan, who had blood dribbling from his mouth and his eyes were darkened in hunger and horror. Alice brought a hand to her mouth in horror, suddenly frozen to the spot.

Damon approached his brother cautiously, putting his hand out and speaking soothingly. “Stefan, come on, get control. It's okay, come on. Breath through it man.”

Stefan stopped for a moment and then, as Damon approached slowly, he grabbed hold of Damon and threw him backwards. Damon was on his feet and in a defensive stance in an instant. “Stefan, stop it!” Elena cried out in horror.

The scene in front of her snapped Alice back into the present moment. Before she knew what she was doing, Alice raced over to Damon and grabbed his arm. He hissed and turned to face her. “What are you–?!” He demanded.

Stefan took Damon’s distraction as a chance, but before he could, Alice had already started giving him one hell of a headache. She didn’t want to hurt him, but she couldn’t let him hurt anybody else, either.

Alice held the spell for a moment, letting go of Damon’s arm now that she had enough magic, before she calmly stopped applying the spell. Stefan stopped groaning and looked around at the scene in horror. From Damon’s soft words to Elena’s horrified expression, and Alice’s resolve despite her sorrow. Then he was gone.

Damon shook himself off before he turned to face the two girls. “Elena, are you okay?” He asked and Elena managed a nod and then looked over at Alice. Damon tracked her gaze and looked over at Alice and, probably only because of Elena, asked, “How about you, Suction cup?”

Alice whipped her head around to him. That was not what she had been expecting to be dubbed. But, she supposed that it did describe her abilities somewhat accurately. “Yeah. Fine.” She managed.

The sheriff turned up not long after that, having been called over to deal with the attack on Amber. First she quietly conferred with Damon and then turned to Alice and Elena. “You didn't see anything?” She asked, her voice apprehensive .

Alice shook her head and she saw Elena look at her gratefully for that omission.

“No, we just found her and then called Damon.” Elena said, sounding shaken up. She was probably more shaken up by the fact that it was Stefan who attacked Amber rather than at the gory scene in front of them.

“Is she going to be okay?” Alice asked, her voice tense with worry.

“Looks like it, yeah.” The sheriff confirmed. “Why don't you girls get back to the party? Damon and I can take it from here.”

“Okay,” Elena agreed and she and Alice walked back up towards the party. Alice didn’t know what to say; it was clear that Elena was rattled by this but Alice didn’t think there was anything that she could say to make Elena feel better about seeing her boyfriend tear into someone’s throat.

So Alice settled on saying nothing and simply wrapped Elena in a hug.

Chapter Text

“What about werewolves?” Tyler said by way of greeting, barging into Alice’s room. The young witch had been reading, laying back on her bed but, upon her brother’s arrival, slammed the book shut out of surprise.

“Hello to you too?” Alice said, her brow scrunching up in a show of incredulousness.

“Oh right, hi,” Tyler said, already moving to sit by Alice’s bed. Alice let out a long suffering sigh and put the book down on her nightstand. She was starting to regret telling Tyler she would answer all his questions about the supernatural. Well, not actually, but she was slightly afraid that he was addicted.

“Okay, what’s the question?”

Tyler gave her a look. “Werewolves? Are they real?” He asked. “Because we’ve talked about vampires and witches and in every single bad movie there are werewolves too.”

Alice tilted her head back in consideration, trying to recall if she knew anything about the existence of werewolves

January 9th, 1998 (flashback begins)

“Ugh!” Alice let out a purposefully exaggerated groan as she saw the ten on Kai’s card, which was able to beat the seven on hers.

Kai grinned good naturedly at his five year old sister as he took the two cards and added them to his pile. A few months back, Kai had snagged a deck of cards from a classmate. From then on, he had begun teaching Alice every card game she was old enough to understand. “Don’t pout, Allie, I have more experience,” Her brother reassured her.

“That’s ‘cause you’re old,” Alice said as they began to pack up the card deck.

“How dare you!” Kai exclaimed in an overly dramatic tone, placing a hand to his heart as if she had wounded him deeply. Alice giggled at his flare, which was likely the reason he was so dramatic in the first place. Kai had, in Alice’s opinion, a bad habit of winning every game they played. Well, she did manage to make better card towers than him but they had debated whether or not that counted for quite a while before they agreed to disagree. Kai wasn’t one to let someone else win so they wouldn’t feel let down, but he would always do something to make her laugh after he had won a game.

Kai grinned at her laughter before a thought occurred to him. “Oh! I almost forgot to tell you; dad’s going to gone all week next week,”

Alice’s eyes, full of hope and the kind of relief that no kid should have to feel at that news, snapped up to her brother. Her heart was beating rapidly with hope. “Really?”

“Yep,” Kai said with his own smile. “I overheard him and mom talking. Something about dealing with a werewolf problem in North Carolina,” he added offhandedly.

“What are the werewolves doing wrong?” Alice said, getting up off the floor and hopping onto her bed.

Kai flopped back on his bed with a sigh. “Probably existing in a way that offends the oh-so-mighty gemini coven.”

“Maybe dad will get bitten by a werewolf and won’t be able to lead the coven anymore?” Alice said, despite knowing that that would never happen. She did that an alarming amount, fantasize about ways in which their dad wouldn’t be in charge of the coven that didn’t involve her waiting years.

Kai gave a bitter laugh and pushed himself up on his forearms. “As amazing as that sounds, that plan has one tiny problem. You can’t be turned into a werewolf; it’s something that you have to be born as and then trigger the curse.”

“Oh.” Alice said, a little bit disappointed.

Kai noticed her expression and his face contorted into something of a comforting smirk. “Don’t worry, Alice. In a few years, I’ll be the coven leader and then a werewolf will be the least of dad’s problems.”

Alice nodded with a smile. If she was older, perhaps she might have noticed the dark glint in her brother’s eyes when he said that last part.

(flashback ends)

“Alice? Hello?” Tyler’s voice snapped her back to reality.

Alice blinked rapidly as if that would wash the memory away. “Sorry, just thinking,” Alice told him, which wasn’t a total lie. Tyler gave her a slightly questioning look before he seemed to let the topic drop. For that she was thankful. “Okay, I don’t know much but I’ll tell you what I do know,”

“Cool,” Tyler exclaimed.

“You have to be born a werewolf. Not like in all the movies where they get bit; bites from a werewolf don’t actually turn you into one. And werewolves don’t turn into wolves on the full moon until they trigger the werewolf gene.” She recounted.

“How do they trigger it?” Tyler asked.

“I dunno,” Alice admitted with a shrug. “And that is all I know about werewolves.”

────୨ৎ────

Alice stepped up the stairs to Miss Sheila’s house and knocked lightly on the door. A second later, the door opened and Bonnie faced Alice with a smile. “I’m not late, am I?” Alice asked as Bonnie ushered her into the house.

“No,” Bonnie told her while Alice hung up her coat. “We’re just about to start.”

Alice followed Bonnie into the living room where Miss Sheila was already sitting. She had an open grimoire on the table and was stroking the fire. “Hi, Miss Sheila,” Alice said with a smile.

“Hello to you, too,” Miss Sheila said warmly. She put both her hands out to motion for both Bonnie and Alice to take a seat on the couch. The girls did so quickly, both eager to practice more.

They had developed a routine since Alice had come out of the coma. Two to three times a week, Alice and Bonnie would come over to Miss Sheila’s house. They would then spend a good amount of time practicing magic and also dedicate time to learning about the different types of magic. So far, they had covered traditional, ancestral, and spirit magic. They had only practiced traditional magic so far, but it was still important to know how magic could be used in other ways.

“What are we working on today, Grams?” Bonnie asked.

“Well, I was thinking we could cover some more advanced elemental spells.” The two teenage witches exchanged an excited look. They had been wanting to get to the more advanced parts for a while, but while they both had the power, they were lacking in the experience. “The first one I’d like you both to try is a fire manipulation spell,” Miss Sheila explained.

She held out her arm for Alice to siphon from, which the blonde did with a grateful look. “Thanks,”

Miss Sheila nodded and turned to the grimoire, pointing to a spell for fire manipulation. “Watch,” She instructed, turning to face the fireplace. “Ex Spiritum In Tacullum, En Terrum Incendium, Phasmatos Salves A Distum”

Bonnie and Alice watched in awe as the fire surged, then dipped, then surged again, before falling back to its original state. “Woah,” Bonnie said and Alice could only nod in agreement with Bonnie's statement.

“Now, it’s your turn,” Miss Sheila said, motioning to the girls. Bonnie and Alice exchanged a look, both of them being terrified and excited at the same time.

Bonnie went first due to Alice’s nerves. At first, it only sputtered a little but it was still something. Alice went after Bonnie and her attempt got essentially the same response. Still, knowing how impressive it was that they had managed to get even a small result on such a spell with their level of experience, Miss Sheila congratulated them.

They worked on the spell for a little longer and they could slowly see their manipulations of the fire growing stronger. Once they were both a little worn out, Miss Sheila advised them to take a break.

Naturally, a break meant eating the apple pie in Miss Sheila’s fridge that was probably not made for them. Miss Sheila just clicked her tongue and shook her head fondly when she saw Bonnie and Alice’s expressions as she came in to see them eating the pie.

“Is Caroline doing something with Matt for Valentine’s day?” Bonnie asked as she scooped another bite onto her fork.

“Yeah,” Alice confirmed. “She said they have some kind of movie marathon at Matt’s place planned,”

Bonnie chuckled. “Did she say if she’s making heart shaped brownies or not?”

“She’s Caroline,” Alice said fondly. “Of course she’s making heart shaped brownies.”

Bonnie and Alice both began to laugh good naturedly.

────୨ৎ────

By the time Alice was almost home, she was really wishing she had driven to Miss Sheila’s house. When she had left the house, she’d had a burst of energy and hadn’t felt like sitting still. So, in what she now knew was an idiotic move, she had decided to walk over to meet up with her fellow witches.

She hugged her jacket tighter around her body as she grew closer to the mansion. Before she could get into the long driveway, she heard a rustling in the leaves. She didn’t stop walking, but she turned her head to see what had made the noise.

By the time she realized it must have just been the wind, it was too late. From the other side of her, a vampire descended down onto her throat.

The pain came on quick, a bright blinding sensation that dulled her senses and prevented her from doing any spell that could have helped her. It seemed to go on for hours and seconds at the same time and as her vision started to grey, Alice finally grabbed the arm that was holding her and siphoned. The vampire cried out in pain as her weak, but still present grip dragged the magic out of him and into her.

Despite the pain mingling with her thoughts, Alice managed to extend her hand and choke out a spell. She snapped the neck of the vampire before he had a chance to pounce again.

The spell had stopped him but it had also sapped what was left of her strength. Her legs gave out and Alice collapsed to the ground.

She seemed to be drifting before she was startled back to the real world by her brother’s voice. “Alice!” He cried out. “Alice, oh god,”

“Tyler?” Alice questioned weakly, barely feeling the blood running down her neck.

“Yeah, it’s me. I’m gonna get you help okay? You’re gonna be fine.”

“Stefan…” Alice trailed off, thinking of the vampire blood.

“What?” Tyler questioned, panic in every part of his voice.

“Call… call Stefan.” She murmured. “He can help,”

Tyler hesitated for barely a second before he pulled out his phone and dialed Stefan’s number. Alice faintly heard his panicked speaking before the world began to grey again.

────୨ৎ────

When Alice woke up, she was in her bed and Tyler and Stefan were both talking in hushed voices. “What…?” Alice mumbled, pushing herself up.

They both looked to her quickly, and relief flashed on Tyler’s face as he walked over to the bed and hugged her tight. “Don’t ever scare me like that again.”

“I’ll try my best,” Alice said with a smile as she returned the hug. Tyler released her and she looked over at Stefan who was watching with a small smile. Alice looked between Tyler and Stefan, wondering if Tyler had been taking the vervain she had been giving him and if Stefan knew that he was on vervain.

“Do you–?” She began, cutting herself off, unsure of how and what to ask.

“I told him,” Stefan supplied, knowing what she was asking.

“I’m so sorry,” Alice told Stefan, shaking her head a little. “I know that it’s a risk.”

“Alice,” Stefan said calmingly. “If you trust Tyler to keep it a secret then so do I. And either way, saving your life comes way ahead of keeping my secret.”

Alice smiled softly, touched by his words and the conviction behind them. “Thank you, Stefan, for saving me,”

“Of course,”

Chapter Text

Alice grabbed her bag as she made her way to the driveway. She, Bonnie, and Elena were all helping Caroline with the Miss Mystic Falls float for the Founder’s day parade. Tyler hopped into the car soon after she did. It was safe to say that he wasn’t quite over learning that Stefan and Damon were vampires yet. “Okay, you remember what we talked about?” Alice said as they drove to the school.

“Don’t act any different around Stefan, don’t do anything at all around Damon and try not get killed?” Tyler said, looking over at his sister.

“Exactly!”

When they pulled up and entered the cafeteria, it was already packed with students. Alice and Tyler sat down at the table where Mr. Saltzman was going to be giving out his directions for the history department. Also at the table was Matt, who wasted no time in glaring at Tyler. Her brother shifted uncomfortably under Matt’s gaze and Alice decided to try and break some of the tension. “Where’d Mr. Saltzman go?”

The anger in Matt’s gaze softened just a little bit when he turned and faced Alice. “He went to go get some papers. He should be back soon,”

Alice nodded and went back to awkwardly sitting in the crossroads of Matt staring at Tyler. Luckily for her and her sanity, Mr. Saltzman returned to the table quickly after that. “So, these are the, uh, the specs for the History Department's Founders Day float. We’re gonna be recreating the battle of Willow Creek. Tyler’s been nominated head of production design.” Alice had to fight to contain her urge to burst out laughing.

“By who?” Tyler asked, clearly not pleased with this development.

“By me.” Mr. Saltzman said. He seemed to be in no mood for messing around today. “I’ve seen your sketches and they’re good.”

“Look, I’m not really into the whole…” Tyler attempted to say.

“Yeah, well, you just pick your team, be creative and…” He trailed off as he looked over at the door. Alice tracked his gaze and her brow furrowed when she saw that he was staring at Elena and Stefan. “And don’t screw up,”

He tossed the papers onto the table and walked over to them, making Alice even more suspicious. “Great,” Tyler said sarcastically, drawing Alice’s attention back to her brother. “You wanna help me out with this?” He asked Matt, leaning forward on the table.

Matt fixed him with a hard stare and said. “Not really, no,”

Tyler blinked and looked down in resignation. He shuffled through the papers that Mr. Saltzman had placed on the table and sighed. “This sucks ass,” He complained to his sister, who gave a small chuckle. “Don’t laugh at my pain!” Tyler said dramatically, making Alice laugh more. Her laugh was so bright, though, that Tyler soon laughed a little bit too.

“You’ll be fine, Ty.” Alice assured him as she pushed her chair back and stood up. Alice scanned her eyes across the gymnasium in search of her friends. They had all planned to work on the Miss Mystic Fall float together.

“You cannot leave me like this,” Tyler said.

Alice smiled comfortingly at Tyler. “You’re talented and I’m late to help Caroline.”

Tyler rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah.”

Catching sight of Bonnie and Caroline at a table by the windows, Alice headed over in their direction. Both girls smiled when they saw Alice coming over and Caroline pulled out a seat for her. Sitting down, Alice looked in Caroline’s direction, knowing the other blonde had a plan already. “Am I late?” Alice asked as she sat down.

“No, you’re right on time,” Caroline assured her.

Alice nodded and Bonnie said, “Alright, show us,”

Caroline smiled and turned the computer around. “Let’s reference last year’s Miss Mystic Float,” The computer pulled up the picture and Caroline showed it to Alice and Bonnie. “This is what they did last year. And it’s exactly what we don’t want to do,”

Alice grimaced at the sight of the picture on Caroline’s laptop. “Ew,” said Bonnie, showing her agreement of the unpleasantness of the float.

“Yep.” Alice confirmed. “In the kindest way possible, that float looks like it was thrown together by a group of fourth graders.”

“Okay, so what are we doing?” Bonnie asked.

Caroline smiled, “Southern classic elegance,”

Bonnie shared a fond look with Alice before they both said, “Gone with the wind?”

“How’d you know?” Caroline asked.

“You channel Scarlett daily,” Bonnie informed her.

Caroline sighed and dropped her shoulders with a smile. “So true,”

The three girls gave a little laugh. Caroline looked around the gymnasium in search of Elena, who hadn’t shown up to help yet. “Ugh. Where is Elena?” She complained. “She’s supposed to be helping,”

Caroline looked to Bonnie who just shrugged in resignation. “No clue. She told me she’d be here,” Bonnie told them, now looking around as well.

“I saw her earlier,” Alice told them. “She was talking with Mr. Saltzman; maybe she still is?”

“Well, she better hurry up because it is a four girl job to make this float fabulous,” Caroline said.

Alice grinned mischievously. “Fabulous, you say?”

Bonnie’s eyes widened. “No. Nope. We are not going there,”

“Come on!” Alice complained in faux offence. It was very well known among her friends that Alice had a small obsession with the High School Musical franchise. She had watched it far too many times but whenever she was teased for it she maintained that it was a cinematic masterpiece. “I want fabulous, that is my simple request. All things fabulous—,”

“Oh, no.” Caroline cut her off. “I’m with Bonnie on this one. I refuse to have that song stuck in my head again,”

Alice sighed. “You guys are such haters,” She said good naturedly.

They laughed again and continued on with the float.

────୨ৎ────

After spending a good amount of time on the float, Bonnie and Alice had gone over to Miss Sheila’s to practice spells more. They had not only worked on the fire manipulation spell some more but they had also started working with air spells.

Naturally, all the magic work had made them hungry so they went out to the grill for lunch. “I call dibs on the last fry,” Bonnie said, grabbing it from the tray and eating it.

Alice shook her head. “Not fair. So not fair.”

“You snooze, you lose, Allie,” Bonnie said, smirking playfully at her friend.

Alice scoffed dramatically, making Bonnie giggle.

After they had finished their food, Alice and Bonnie got up and began to head towards the exit. When they were doing so, however, the two witches made eye contact with Elena. The brunette was looking at them with tears in her eyes. Immediately worried, Alice headed over to her friend, with Bonnie quickly following suit.

“Hey,” Alice said comfortingly as she put a hand on Elena’s shoulder. “What happened?”

“What’s wrong, Elena?” Bonnie said in the same soft tone.

Elena gave a shrug and choked out, “I met my birth mother,”

That wasn’t what Alice had been expecting to hear. She knew that Elena had been searching for her birth mother but she hadn’t thought she would find her so easily. Nor did she think their meeting would go as bad as Elena’s expression told her it went. “Was it…?” Bonnie trailed off as Elena’s face fell further. She immediately pulled her best friend into a hug at the sight of her devastated expression.

“Let’s get out of here, okay?” Alice suggested, giving Elena’s shoulder a gentle squeeze.

Elena nodded and the three of them made their way out of the grill, with Stefan following not far behind.

Once they returned to the Gilbert house, Stefan left in order to give them some girl time. Elena had tearfully explained what happened with her birth mom. Bonnie and Alice had both offered her their comfort and stayed with Elena till the sun began to set.

────୨ৎ────

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Alice asked as she followed her brother over to where Matt was working on a float. Tyler was still on his mission to try and repair things with Matt.

“I have to start somewhere, Allie.”

Alice smiled softly and gave her brother a nod, following after him towards Matt. Tyler walked over, trying to seem casual. “Hey, man,”

Matt gave him barely a glance before he turned back to the float. “Yeah?” He was clearly in no mood to listen to anything Tyler had to say. Tyler picked up on that too, but still tried again.

“So, Caroline tells me you’ve been on your own for the past two weeks. Is everything okay?” Alice winced in second hand embarrassment, closing her eyes very briefly. Of all the ways Tyler could have started this attempt at a conversation, asking about Matt’s mom, who he had made out with, was probably the worst.

Matt obviously thought so too. “You’re asking me about my mom. Seriously? Look, man, why don't I just have her to give you a call when she comes back to town?”

“Dude, that’s not what I meant, okay?” Tyler said, backpedaling. “I’m just trying to… I don’t know what to say.”

“Good, man, don’t say anything. You’re a dick, end of story.”

“I know–” But before Tyler could say anything else, Matt turned and walked away from them. Alice turned to Tyler, who looked disappointed and somewhat frustrated. “I don’t know what to say, Alice. It’s like every time I try, I make things worse.”

“So don’t say anything, show him. When you hurt someone, words only go so far. You have to show him that you really are sorry; not just tell him.” Alice implored, looking at him with a soft, yet meaningful look.

Tyler nodded, taking in her advice. “Okay. Thank you, Alice.”

“Of course. Now I have to go meet Bonnie and Elena. Can I trust you to not do anything stupid while I’m gone?” Alice asked jokingly.

“Of course,” Tyler parroted her earlier words, making her laugh as she walked into the school.

She went over to the classroom that Bonnie had asked them to meet in. “Hey, Bonnie,” Alice said with a smile. The other witch looked up from Emily’s spellbook and smiled at Alice, beckoning her over. Alice joined her by the table and skimmed the pages she had already gone over with Bonnie and Miss Sheila.

The door opened and Elena walked in, smiling at her friends before closing the door behind her. “Hey, thanks for meeting us.” Bonnie said when Elena came closer. “We wanted you to see this.”

“Is that Emily’s spell book?” Elena asked, pointing at the weathered grimoire.

Alice nodded. “We’ve been going through it with Miss Sheila. Check this out,”

Elena came closer and looked at the page in front of her. Her eyes widened when she saw the drawings of all the devices Jonathan Gilbert had ‘invented.’ “That’s the vampire compass,” Elena realized.

“Yeah.” Bonnie confirmed. “According to Emily, Jonathan Gilbert never actually succeeded in inventing anything. Emily secretly spelled them all with magic. Compass, rings, and the mystery device you told us about.”

“Yeah, that’s it.” Elena said when they landed on the page where the device had been drawn. “Well, part of it. Damon only has the one piece.”

“Emily pledged her loyalty to Katherine. 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 that he'd actually invented these devices.” Bonnie explained.

“Does it say what it does?” Elena asked.

Alice skimmed the words on the page and furrowed her eyebrows at what she saw. “Are you sure that this is what Isobel wants?” Alice asked, wondering what Isobel could want with a device so harmful to her.

“Yeah, why?” Elena asked.

“This is a weapon,” Alice told her. “Against vampires.”

────୨ৎ────

Alice hadn’t been able to be there and siphon the magic out of the invention, so Bonnie had unspelled it. However, she had insisted that she come as backup when they went to confront Isobel.

“Alice, are you sure that you want to do this? Isobel’s dangerous,” Stefan reminded her. She appreciated his concern but, still, she knew she could handle this. If she could take down Stefan or Damon, who had been vampires for 145 years, she could take down someone who had been a vampire for not even twenty years.

“I’m sure, Stefan.” Alice assured him, hoping her confident expression would help comfort him that she could do this. “I can handle this,”

Stefan, though he still seemed somewhat worried, nodded. Alice moved to stand by him and, unfortunately, by Damon.

“Where’s the device?” Isobel asked.

“Where’s my brother?” Elena countered.

“This isn’t a negotiation.” Isobel told her. “Where’s the invention?”

Despite Isobel’s attempt to intimidate her, Elena stood her ground. “Where’s my brother?”

“Do you really think that I came alone?” Isobel turned her head and two people stepped out from the shadows.

“Do you really think that I came alone?” Elena nodded and Alice stepped out to face Isobel with Stefan and Damon. Isobel rolled her eyes and smiled condescendingly at the three of them before she turned back to Elena.

“For god sakes, call home?”

“What?” Elena asked.

“Call home and ask to speak to your brother Jeremy.”

Elena, all while eyeing Isobel, pulled out her phone and dialed Jeremy. They spoke for a short minute before Elena hung up and turned back to her biological mother. “You were never going to hurt him.”

“No, I was going to kill him,” Isobel corrected. “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 that he was going to give it to me?” Elena asked.

“Because he’s in love with you,” Isobel stated plainly. Damon and Stefan exchanged a short, awkward look. Alice couldn’t help but stare at Damon in slight frustration. She knew that it was none of her business, and that the Salvatores had a very complicated relationship, but, to her, it seemed wrong of Damon to want to steal his brother’s girl.

Elena walked forward and practically slapped the device into Isobel’s hand. “Thank you.”

“For what?” Isobel asked.

“For being such a monumental disappointment. It keeps the memory of my real mother perfectly intact.”

Isobel gave Elena a calm stare. “Goodbye, Elena.” She turned to walk away but paused for a moment and turned back to Elena. “As long as you have a Salvatore on each arm, you're doomed. Katherine was smart. She got out. But we all know that you're not Katherine.”

After Isobel vanished from sight, Alice sighed and smiled at Stefan and Elena before getting in her car.

────୨ৎ────

Late at night, Alice stared at her bedroom ceiling, not a trace of sleep in the air. It was stupid, she kept telling herself, to get paranoid about her friends’ relationship, but she was. She cared for both Elena and Stefan, and despite her trust in both of them, Alice couldn’t shake the way Elena had danced with Damon at the pageant. The way the two had looked into each other's eyes.

Alice pushed the thoughts away with force. Elena would never do that.

…Right?

Chapter Text

Founder’s Day has always been a hectic experience; people running around, setting up floats, and hiding from her mom’s judgmental gaze. Alice was in no way grateful for the fact that she had fallen into a coma, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t the smallest bit glad that it got her out of the pageant.

Watching Caroline and Matt take pictures, with the sash draped over her best friend, Alice knew that this was what today was supposed to be. She was so happy for Caroline, and grateful for the fact that Caroline hadn’t had to be in the pageant with the odds against her due to competing against the head judge’s daughter.

“Say cheese!” Bonnie instructed, holding up the camera.

“Oh, wait!” Caroline interjected before the picture was taken. “Hide your cast, it’s not era appropriate.”

“Seriously?” Matt questioned.

“Yes!”

Matt chuckled but did as he was asked, smiling as the picture was taken.

“I want one with Bonnie and Alice now,” Caroline said.

“I’m honored, your majesty,” Alice said, dramatizing her voice on purpose.

Bonnie laughed and did a mini courtesy, herself, increasing the amusement of the small group. Before they could get too happy, Matt’s face darkened enough for Alice to know that her brother had appeared. “Here, I can take it,” He offered.

“I’ll be on the float,” Matt said coldly, giving Tyler a look before he walked away.

Tyler gave a small scoff. “I said I was sorry,”

Caroline and Alice both gave him a look. “You made out with his mother and then you beat him to a pulp. You’re going to have to do a little bit better than sorry,” Caroline told him.

“Enough pouting,” Alice insisted, pulling Bonnie by the arm. “Take our picture,” Bonnie gave Tyler the camera and the three girls got in a picture position.

Tyler sighed fondly but did as his sister ordered him to do. Caroline made him take a few other photos before Bonnie needed to not be squished by her blonde friends.

“Tyler!” Their mom’s voice rang out, “It’s time to get on the float. You too, Caroline.”

Tyler rolled his eyes when their mom walked over to the group with a clipboard. Alice, on the other hand, smiled softly and said, “Mom, come take a picture with me,”

“Oh, well, I do have to go…” Her mom’s voice trailed off when she saw the look Alice was giving her.

“Please?” She wheedled.

“Oh, alright. Just one picture,”

A few pictures later and Alice finally released her mother to go scold some other teenagers. “I will never understand how you can get Mom and Dad to do pretty much anything,” Tyler said, watching his mom walk back towards another group of students.

“I can,” Bonnie said. “It’s the puppy dog eyes.”

Alice gave her a look which Bonnie just giggled at. When her brother joined in the laughing, Alice gave him a look just for him. “Don’t you have a float to get on?” She said snippily.

“Right! See ya, Allie. Bonnie.”

────୨ৎ────

While Elena and Caroline stood atop the float with their dates, Bonnie and Alice watched fondly from the sidelines. Alice’s mom was enunciating the parade as it went by, with all the floats looking well done.

Naturally, Alice and Bonnie both clapped when Caroline and Elena came by on the Miss Mystic Falls float. “This is Caroline Forbes, Miss Mystic Falls. Aren’t they beautiful?”

Before either girl could get too happy, Damon appeared in their line of sight and creepily waved in Elena’s direction. Then, of course, he turned his head and faced Bonnie and Alice, both of them developed peeved expressions. Alice didn’t think it was possible to not look peeved when interacting with Damon Salvatore.

“What do you want?” Bonnie asked in a cold voice and when Damon didn’t turn away from them. Alice chose to simply roll her eyes.

“Just watching the parade.” He said casually.

“In that case we should watch the parade somewhere else,” Alice told Bonnie who nodded and began to follow after her blonde friend.

Before they could get to far, Damon spoke up again. “Where are you two going.”

“Away from you,” Bonnie said bluntly.

“I want to say something to you,” Damon said to Bonnie, walking closer to her and Alice.

Bonnie took a step in Damon’s direction to glare at him from a closer angle. “Just leave me alone,” She demanded.

“Thank you.” Damon said, shocking Alice. “The device that Emily spelled could have killed me. I don’t take what you did lightly, so… thank you.”

Bonnie stiffened a small amount. “I did it for Elena.”

“I know that, but I’m still very grateful. And… I owe you,”

There was a tense moment of staring between the Bennett and the Salvatore before Alice decided to break the think tension in the air. “Enjoy the parade, Damon,” She said, earning a short nod. Alice then took Bonnie’s hand and the two girls got as far away from him as they could.

“Ugh,” Bonnie said, shaking herself off after that interaction.

“Am I hallucinating or did Damon Salvatore just act civilly?” Alice asked.

Bonnie sighed and said, “Your guess is as good as mine,”

────୨ৎ────

Alice looked around in search of Tyler. After chatting with Bonnie for a little while longer, Alice had gotten distracted by the kids running around and had bid farewell to Bonnie. Once she was done entertaining herself with small children, Alice had decided to go and find her brother.

She was walking around outside the grill when she nearly rammed into Stefan. “Oh! Sorry!”

“No worries,” Stefan assured her. “What’s going on with you?”

Alice smiled at the conversation starter and the two fell into step with each other. “Not much. Tyler and Matt hate each other, I didn’t fail my math test, and I have yet to be killed by a vampire.”

Stefan gave a small huff of amusement when Alice gave a shrug along with her words. “I’ll take that as life going well.”

Alice smiled too. She always loved how easy it felt to talk with Stefan, how the conversation flowed like a calm river. “Can’t complain. By the way Damon did something super weird today when I was with Bonnie,”

Stefan’s eyes widened in alarm and concern. “Are you both okay? What did he do?”

“He was nice,” Alice said in a purposefully shocked and dramatic voice.

It took a half second for Stefan register the joke and when he did he actually laughed. “Ooh! I wonder if he’s feeling alright,”

Alice laughed at the way Stefan was keeping up her joke. Caroline then rushed up to the two of them and grabbed Alice by the arm. Alice, who hadn’t been expecting that, gave a yelp and swirled around, a spell already on her lips. Luckily for Caroline, Stefan had felt Caroline’s arrival before Alice had and placed a hand tightly on Alice’s shoulder, causing her to siphon from him instead of attack her best friend.

“Sorry! Sorry!” Caroline insisted.

Alice took a deep breath and nodded thankfully at Stefan, who released her shoulder. “A little waring next time?”

“Right!” Caroline confirmed. “Do you want to join me, Matt, and Tyler at the grill?”

“I’d love to,” Alice confirmed and Stefan bid her farewell before Caroline’s sentence fully registered in her brain. “Wait? Matt and Tyler? As in Matt and Tyler getting along?”

Caroline sighed when she realized what that had sounded like. “As in Matt giving Tyler dirty looks while Tyler silently plays pool,”

Alice sighed too. For a moment there she had gotten her hopes up that Tyler had succeeded in appealing to Matt. But, at least for now, she would settle for a lack of physical fighting.

────୨ৎ────

Alice focused her vision, making sure that she had the perfect shot. She pulled back and… completely missed the target. “You suck ass at this game,” Tyler declared, pulling back on his own pool stick.

“Oh, like you’re so perfect,” Alice mocked in good nature, glaring at him from across the table. Tyler chuckled and hit the ball just as he had intended to, sending it into the hole.

“You were saying?”

Alice wanted nothing more in that moment than to slap him. So that was exactly what she did. It only made Tyler laugh more. Despite her frustration at her brother’s annoyingly good pool skills, Alice laughed a bit too.

Tyler did sober up a little but when he saw Matt and Caroline at the table next to them. Tyler sighed in disappointment before returning his focus to the pool table, as if that would distract him. “Why don’t I get us some fries?” Alice offered in an effort to lift Tyler’s spirit.

Tyler gave her a smile and nodded. However, when Alice returned to the table her dad was already there. Not just that, but he had a tight grip on Tyler’s arm, one that had to hurt. Taking a breath in, Alice walked up to them to fufill the vow she had made to herself and to Tyler. “Dad? What’s going on?” Her voice was hard but it got her dad to let go of Tyler’s arm.

“Alice,” Her dad said, his voice a bit softer and more concerned now. She didn’t think that it was fair for him to be harsh with Tyler but soft with. But when she opened her mouth to say something, Tyler gave her a tiny shake of the head, silently asking her not to do anything. It pained her but she stayed quite per her brother’s request.

“Mayor, is everything okay?” Caroline said, her and Matt having come over at the interaction between the Lockwood siblings and their dad.

“Please, Tyler, Alice; I need you to go home, now. Take your friends with you.”

“But, why? What’s going on?” Matt asked in confusion.

“I can’t explain,” Their dad said, sounding pained. “All of you need to get home, now.” Shocking Alice and Tyler, their dad handed Tyler his keys. “Here, take my car, it’s out back. Caroline, Matt, go with them.”

Alice exchanged a scared look with Tyler as they walked to the parking lot. “What do you think’s going on?” Tyler quietly asked his sister.

“I don’t know but probably something bad. Dad never lets us drive his car.” Alice said in the same worried tone.

Still, they got in the car and Tyler began to drive. They hadn’t been driving long when something began to go wrong. “What the hell is that?” Tyler asked all of a sudden, looking around.

“What’s the matter?” Alice instantly asked.

“That noise,” Tyler exclaimed.

“What noise?” Matt asked but by then Tyler was beyond answering. Holding, his head in both hands Tyler began to scream.

────୨ৎ────

In the end, they hadn’t been able to stop the car from crashing and Tyler had passed out. Alice kneeled close by Tyler while the paramedics checked him out. Matt and Caroline stood not far away.

Alice’s heart was going at three times its normal pace. “What the hell?” One of the paramedics exclaimed after checking Tyler’s eyes.

Alice’s heart jumped into her throat. “What? What’s wrong?” She asked urgently.

“His eyes…” The man trailed off.

Matt came over too, anxiously staring at Tyler’s unconscious form. But then, thankfully, Tyler woke up with a gasp and Alice could breath again. “What happened?” He asked.

Alice instantly threw her arms around him, holding him tight. Matt let out a sigh from behind them and said. “Dude, don’t scare me like that.”

Alice finally released him and they turned around when a paramedic spoke. “Hey, she needs some help over here,”

Caroline had passed out on the pavement. Matt rushed over to her as the Lockwoods shared a terrified look.

────୨ৎ────

Alice’s had, at first, been running at top speed in an attempt to make sense of what had happened. But then the cold truth had settled over her. The only thing that could have caused such a reaction would be the gilbert device affecting a supernatural.

And that meant two things.

The first thing: Bonnie had lied. Alice could understand where Bonnie was coming from, really, she could. The tomb vampires were a danger to the entriety of Mystic Falls and this was the only way to take them out. But the lying? Putting the love of her best friend’s life in danger? Someone who was supposed to be her friend, too, and had only ever been kind to her? That Alice didn’t understand. She could have, at least, warned Stefan not to be in public when the device went off. And in all honesty, it hurt Alice that Bonnie hadn’t thought to include her on this decision.

The second thing? The one that turned the blood in her veins to ice and changed everything in a way she could have never predicted? Tyler was a supernatural being.

Those two realizations, the second one especially, were making it difficult for Alice to talk when they sat down with Matt in the hospital waiting room. “I’m so sorry,” Tyler was saying. “Look, I don’t even know what happened.”

Alice did and she wished she didn’t. “It’s okay, man,” Matt told Tyler, seeming to have finally forgiven him. “She’ll be alright.”

It was barely a minute after that when the sheriff came out from talking to the doctors. Matt instantly got up and faced her. “What’s happening. Is she alright?”

“There was some internal bleeding,” The sheriff explained. “They’re taking her into surgery.”

“What else did they say? Is she gonna be okay?” Matt pressed.

The sheriff looked as if she was barely holding it together as she explained it to them. “They’re going to do everything they can,”

Alice closed her eyes tight. She knew what that meant. There was a high possibility that her best friend was going to die. Just when she thought that everything that could have gone wrong tonight had, the sheriff turned to her and Tyler with a somber look on her face.

“Have either of you talked to your mom?” She asked the Lockwood siblings.

“I left her a message saying that we we’re here,” Tyler explained after sharing a look with Alice.

The sadness on the sheriff’s face grew. “You need to call her,”

Alice’s stomach dropped. “What is it?” She asked in a small, terrified voice.

“It’s your dad.”