SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE

Elena couldn't believe her ears, "So that's how he's been one step ahead of us, he's had his own little spy."

Jenna held up her hand, "Can I just say, I knew he was evil."

Jeremy snorted, "You slept with him."

"Please don't bring up my past mistakes," Jenna pleaded with her nephew.

Aella shook her head, "I don't know which he deserves more, worst relative of the year or worst hypocrite of the year."

"How did we not know this man is a psycho?!" Caroline exclaimed.

Damon's hand shot up, "Um, I did."

Caroline looked the vampire up and down with a curled lip, "Takes one to know one."

Aella snorted, "Burn."

Damon mocked her tone before Ric stepped in, "If John knows the Tomb Vamps are looking for revenge, this could be why he's so desperate for the device."

Aella tossed the device to Damon as she smirked at their fortune, "Well it's a good thing we have what he needs."

Bonnie, who had been silent, looked around the group, confused, "But I thought that's what we wanted, the tomb vampires dead?"

There was silence between the group as Stefan and Damon shared an awkward look.

"Bonnie," Elena sighed softly, uncomfortable as she felt, she was the only one who could say this to Bonnie without a tantrum from her best friend. "That's not our decision. The tomb vampires have seen nothing but negativity in this new world; Frederick, Pearl, John via Henry. They feel they have to punish because they were punished, but if we can get to them, they may be like Stefan, only needing to fight when it's for their survival."

Aella wanted to clap Elena because she couldn't have said it more perfectly. From the twist of Bonnie's lips, she wasn't as accepting, "These vampires want to kill, nothing will stop them."

"And you know that?" Damon snorted. "You know that if given the option to live or die just to commit revenge, they would choose that?"

"Yes!" Bonnie exclaimed, "Because they are vampires."

"So am I, Bonnie."

Bonnie turned at Stefan's voice, her expression was of shock at him entering the conversation, but she shook that off and waved him off, "It doesn't count you, Stefan."

"What about Damon then?"

Bonnie's eyes closed as she heard her cousin's voice, she knew Aella would eventually speak up, but she had hoped she wouldn't.

"What about Lexie, and Anna, and Pearl..." Aella counted off the other vampires they knew. "Even Harper. You think they should all be killed?"

Bonnie held up her hand to her cousin dismissively, "You would say that, Aella. You are dating a vampire, but you've become buddy, buddy, with his murderous brother. Your opinion doesn't count."

The group seemed to take in a sharp breath at her statement. Caroline and Elena's more emphasized, knowing the cracks forming in Aella and Bonnie's relationship.

Aella's arms crossed tightly as her brow rose, "My opinion doesn't matter?"

Jenna held up her hands at the two girls, "Okay, girls, I think we all need to take a step back."

"No," Aella shook her, an unamused smile appearing. "I think this has been coming for a few months now." She looked to Bonnie, who now wrung her hands at the look upon her cousin's face, "Let's not beat around the brush, Bon Bon, why don't you just come out with it?"

"Aella..." Elena tried to step forward, but Caroline stopped her. Caroline knew as well as Elena that this needed to be aired, and it looked like that moment was going to happen now.

Stefan watched his girlfriend's face, she needed this, but as much as she needed this, it didn't have to be done publicly. He stepped forward and placed his hands on Aella's shoulders, "Aella, let's go for a walk outside."

The two cousins stared each other down, and so Stefan stepped closer and whispered gently, "This isn't the time or place. Let's go for a walk, you and me."

That seemed to knock Aella out of the staredown between herself and her cousin, "Okay." She broke the stare and looked up to Stefan and the hand he held out, she took it and repeated to him and herself, "Okay."

The room was tense once Aella and Stefan had left, Bonnie stood frozen in the middle of the group. When the door shut between the couple and the group, Bonnie was too awoken from the tense atmosphere. She pointed to the door the couple had left through, "And that's why Aella can't be neutral in this discussion."

Caroline went to take a step forward to stand up for her best friend, this time it was Elena holding her back, "Aren't we all the same, Bonnie?" Elena's finger moved around the room, so it once had been pointed at everyone, "We've all had positive and negative moments with vampires, we can't be neutral."

Bonnie had tensed up when her best friend had stepped forward, and now she felt let down. Her eyes burned with an emotion Elena had never seen in her best friend's eyes before, "They're going to kill people, Elena. Innocent people."

"Bonnie, hunny..." Jenna forced a small smile on her face. "They've been angered by the wrong people, they don't understand what they're doing is wrong. Let's allow them to change."

Alaric nodded at Jenna's assumption, "People like Henry have been fed the wrong information, Bonnie. If we kill anyone that has been influenced wrongly, we're just like the council that locked them away.

"Right," Jenna smiled in agreement at Ric. "We educate first, show them they can live normal lives and if not..."

Bonnie's brow raised unimpressed, "If not...?"

Damon raised from his seat, "If not, I'll deal with them. Stefan and I will."

Bonnie wasn't too convinced, but with a hesitant nod, she agreed.

GILBERT HOUSEHOLD

"Well that was an eventful day," Jenna sighed as they all entered their home, placing her keys on the side table.

Jeremy frowned down at his hands, all but two of his fingers having bandages around them, "Who knew old books were so lethal?"

"It's because they soak the pages in the blood of their enemies," Aella smirked at the teenage boy, whose eyes widened at the statement with a loud gulp.

Elena let out a small laugh at her brother's face, "She's joking, J."

Jeremy glared at the witch and wandered down to the kitchen as Jenna looked between the two girls, "Joking and laughter is a good thing, are you both feeling better?"

The two girls shared identical expressions of sadness. Elena shook her head first, "I think I'm going to go write in my diary."

Jenna nodded and watched her niece climb the stairs and enter her room before turning to Aella, "And you? How are you feeling?"

KNOCK KNOCK

Jenna and Aella shared a confused glance before Jenna opened the door to see Anna standing there, "Anna, are you here for Jeremy?"

Before Anna could answer as if her name was a magic lamp, Jeremy came running from the kitchen, half a sandwich in his mouth, and the other half in his hand, "Of course she is."

"Gosh, Anna," Jenna laughed. "If I knew you could get Jeremy away from the kitchen that quick, I would have let you stay over a lot more often."

Anna let out a nervous laugh as she looked to Jeremy, "We really need to talk."

Jeremy frowned, "Is everything okay?"

Anna nodded, but the rest of them could see that was not true, but Jeremy nodded and took Anna's hand, leading her up to his room.

"Keep the door open," Jenna shouted, and Jeremy replied with a muffled 'Okay.'

Jenna sighed deeply, looking at Aella, "That's two dealt with, now you, how are you feeling?"

Somehow, tears filled Aella's eyes, and she swallowed tightly, hoping to stem them, "Like I just fought with a person I consider to be like a sister."

"Ahh, hunny..." Jenna pulled Aella in for a cuddle. "Stefan did the right thing getting you away from that situation, I'm just sorry I didn't do anything."

Aella pulled back and wiped her stray tears, "I think it needed to happen. But Stefan was right, it wasn't the time or the place."

"What did you guys do?" Jenna asked.

"Just walked," Aella shrugged, though a smile appeared on her face at that quiet time between themselves. "No words, just him holding me close to him as we walked around the gardens."

Jenna smiled at her words and remembered a happy memory of her sister. "Miranda used to say that some of her greatest moments with Grayson were when they could just sit together - say nothing - and be as comfortable as ever. She said it was a great sign that you're comfortable just being yourselves." Jenna wiped a final tear on the teen's face, "I'm so happy you have Stefan."

Aella happily nodded, "Me too." She turned to go upstairs when she saw Jenna's phone, "Hey! I spy someone's cell." She picked it up only to let out a gasp of surprise before she was back in the room, breathing heavily and distraught. "I have to go."

Before Jenna could say anything, Aella was out of the door, slamming wide open with a 'bang' from the force, causing Elena to run down, "What happened?"

Jenna picked her cell phone up from the ground, turning it around in her hands before looking back to her niece, "I think Aella had a vision. From Aella's expression, it was nothing good."

Elena nodded and began running up the stairs, "I'll call Stefan, he has a tracking app for her in case something like this happens."

Jenna nodded, looking out of the open doorway. She bit her lip, hoping Stefan would find her quickly, and this wasn't going to be another heavy situation for Aella to deal with alone.

PEARL AND ANNA'S HOUSEHOLD

Aella ran as quickly as she could. Her car could only get her so far, and she was using the training Stefan had bestowed upon her to get to her destination as quickly as possible.

As the house came into view, she saw John Gilbert standing a few feet away from the door, crossbow in hand. She saw the door open, and John press down on the trigger.

"Noooo!"

Aella's scream alerted Pearl, and the witch waved her hand, which quickly directed the small arrow into the doorframe instead of Pearl's heart.

John let out a growl, pulled a stake from his pocket, and threw the wooden stick with a precision that Aella hadn't seen from a human.

Far from the house, Aella ran up to the house as quickly as she could, just to see John had hit Harper directly in the heart with his throw and now fought Pearl, as Pearl's fangs descended with rage. Aella could see the vampire was too emotional in her fight, which caused John to get the upper hand. Just as Aella reached the doorway to help Pearl, John found an opening and plunged his second dagger into Pearl's heart.

"No!" Aella exclaimed in horror.

With fury, Aella threw John into a wall, knocking the man out cold and fell to her knees to catch Pearl before she fell too hard. Sadly Aella could see John had only just hit her heart from the side; a lucky shot that only made Pearl's death slow and agonizing. The same had happened with Vicki.

"I'm sorry I was too late," Aella cried out as Pearl gasped out in pain.

"Protect... m-m-my... Anna... B-belle," Pearl stuttered out.

Aella nodded furiously. "Of course, she's one of us now. We'll protect her with everything we have."

Pearl, still a mother in her dying moments, wiped Aella's tears, "Y-you l-look so much like Ast-trid." Her skin greyed out as she whispered her final words, "Praise t-t-he... Seraphim... l-line."

With a final gasp, Pearl was gone, and Aella fell into her body sobbing.

"Aella?"

"I was too late," Aella whispered. She looked up to her boyfriend as her bottom lip wobbled, "Why am I always too late?"

Stefan pulled her close, and she sobbed into his shirt. As soon as Elena had called, he knew what would happen and had run out before Damon could ask who was calling. He heard footsteps behind him and didn't have to turn to know it was his brother.

"We should bury her."

Aella looked up from Stefan's shoulder to Damon as he pulled off his jacket. She nodded at the suggestion, and Stefan helped her stand. The three found shovels and began digging a hole under the large willow tree that covered the house.

Nothing was said between them as they dug until a snarling voice caught their ears, "Don't bother, she can rot like the vermin she is."

Aella spun with fury, and with a simple wave of her hand, exploded the plant pots, John stood next to. She marched up to the uncle of her best friend as he casually wiped down his dirty clothes without care. Aella curled her mouth into a sneer, "You are a vile thing! It's you that doesn't deserve to be called human. She did nothing to you, and you still killed her without a care in the world."

Stefan and Damon approached her and tried to pull her away. Still, she fought by them and pointed her shaking finger in his face as the tears rolled down her face, "One day John Gilbert, it's you that will be rotting like the vermin you are, and I will be laughing when it happens."

John let out a scoff as he walked away, but both Damon and Stefan heard the fear in his heartbeat at Aella's words.

GILBERT HOUSEHOLD

Outside her home, Aella held onto Stefan as tight as she could as they just stood on the patio. Aella wiped her tears again, she had hoped they would have dried up by now, but they carried on falling, "What are they doing?"

"They're laughing about teachers she'll see tomorrow and which ones to avoid," Stefan told her, stroking her hair softly.

With a small sniff, Aella pulled away, "I know we've not had the best relationship so far, but she doesn't deserve this... She just got her back."

"I can tell her instead," Stefan offered, but Aella shook her head. "What about being there for support."

Aella's head shook again, a small smile on her face, "I think I'll be okay, but thank you."

Stefan nodded, and with a deep breath, Aella entered the house, only to be greeted by Jenna and Elena running to meet them. Jenna took in Aella's appearance and didn't hesitate to ask, "What happened?"

"Is Anna upstairs?" Aella asked, and that was all it took for Jenna and Elena to realize the situation. Jenna put a hand to her shocked face; no matter what had happened, Pearl had been a lovely woman to her. A tear left her eye as she nodded, and that's all Aella needed before walking up the stairs.

As she reached Jeremy's door, she smirked softly that he'd closed it since Jenna had warned him to keep it open.

Aella's hand raised, it shook with nerves, and before she could knock, a familiar hand encircled hers and knocked on the door for her. She may have told him he didn't need to be there, but he knew she would need him. Just as with everything they had gone through, they did it together.

Jeremy opened his door mid-laugh until he saw the emotions of both Aella and Stefan's face, and his smile fell. Aella looked past him to Anna, who had stood suddenly, her eyes locked with Aella's.

Somehow Anna just knew and as she fell to the floor, almost in slow motion, a loud, agony filled wail erupted from her. It hit everyone in the Gilbert household in the heart as Jenna held onto Elena, Stefan held onto Jeremy, and Aella held onto Anna as tight as she could, her silent tears falling down her face.

SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE

Later that night, Stefan stroked Aella hair, a comfort of his and hers. He'd taken her to his home as Jeremy and Jenna comforted Anna; Aella needed to be away from that. She'd finally fallen asleep after a much needed cry, and she finally looked peaceful, though her tear-stained cheeks said the opposite.

Damon leaned against Stefan's doorway, "How is she?"

Stefan only shrugged.

"Do we know why he suddenly went after Pearl?" Damon asked.

"Pearl was older than us," Stefan noted out loud. "By a large margin, maybe he thought she could deter the tomb vampires better than he could? What do you think?"

Damon shrugged the shoulder that wasn't against the doorway, "He knew she had the device, but he didn't seem to be looking for anything when we saw him. Maybe he just saw an opportunity and took it?"

"Thank you," Stefan suddenly told his brother. "For being there with her tonight."

Damon bowed his head, "I'm the big badass brother, always here to help bury a body or scare the shit out of a maniac. All is right in the world..." He looked to Aella lying there, "Plus... she's kinda growing on me."

Stefan said nothing more, he knew that it was hard for Damon to admit it, but he appreciated that his brother cared for Aella. He wondered, with a small smile, if this was what Damon would have been like if they'd had a sister. Before his pondering could continue, Aella let out a moan of distress and feverishly began moving in his arms.

Damon stepped closer to the bed, "What's wrong?"

"I think she's having a vision?" Stefan's brow furrowed as he still tried to hold Aella, but it was like she had no control of her body.

As quickly as the panic movements began, they stopped, and Aella shot up with a sharp gasp, breathing heavily as if she'd just ran a marathon. Her eyes were wide and bloodshot as she turned to the two brothers, "She's back." As quick as she had awoken, her eyes fluttered, and she fell back into Stefan's arms.

Damon quickly sat on Stefan's bed and shook Aella to wake her, thankfully she was breathing still. His eyes met Stefan's worried ones, "Who's back?"

Damon's phone began ringing in his pocket. He pulled it out to see 'Teach' flashing, a sick feeling arose in his stomach as he answered the phone with a question rather than a greeting, "She's back, isn't she?"

"Yes," Alaric confirmed, still shocked to the core. Stefan looked to the phone in confusion until Ric elaborated more, "Isobel has returned to Mystic Falls."

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A/N: Not the happiest of chapters considering the most joyful news we received today, but then it wouldn't be vampire diaries.
Thank you to all that wished me well last week, I had an awful migraine and couldn't bare to be in front of any screens.
As always, I would love to hear your thoughts on the changes and your favourite moments from the chapter. We also have more questions on Astrid and just who was Pearl speaking of????
CONGRATULATIONS to JOE AND KAMALA! Having Joe as President is going to help America so much, but having Kamala - the FIRST woman Vice President - the FIRST woman of colour Vice President... I am so excited to see what amazing things she and Joe will do to America. Celebrate America because you can celebrate being as one once again.
Xoxo