A/N: Ummm, surprise!?

As much as I loved the ending on Book 1, I hate leaving you all without an answer. So I decided to post the official first chapter of Book 2.

Now, we see the return of a favourite character AND check out my Instagram to see the face of a new character you've all been desperate to meet. Artful_Becca.

After this, I probably won't be posting until I have a good chunk of material ready, but until then... I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Happy New Year everyone xoxo

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GILBERT HOUSEHOLD

It was quiet.

Too quiet for the number of people that were in the Gilbert house.

Stefan watched with red-rimmed eyes as Lexi took care of Aella's body. His best friend had been shocked at Stefan's panic call, so similar to his Ripper days, but this was very different. She had kissed Lee goodbye and sped to Mystic Falls.

Elena had invited her in and had tearfully ushered her up to Stefan, who hadn't moved from Aella's side. Her body was still on the landing floor, and dull eyes stared openly at nothing. Like Aella had done with her when she had saved her from Damon's wicked plan to kill her, Lexi took care of Aella.

When she moved to pick up Aella's still body, only then did Stefan's watery eyes look away from Aella and meet his best friend's sad gaze, "Lexi?"

She moved her hand, so it gently rested on Stefan's, who held Aella's cold hand in his, "I'm here, Stefan. But first, we need to take care of her. She doesn't deserve to be left here."

As if it triggered something within Stefan, his eyes began tearing up as he looked back down at Aella, "She's dead, Lexi."

Seeing her best friend was about to break down again, she squeezed his hand, "Where's her bedroom. Let's get her a little more comfy."

Stefan's hand only then let go of Aella's as he pointed to her bedroom. Lexi then gently picked up her friend, wincing slightly when she felt the bones in her chest crack even at the gentle movement; a sign CPR had been done, yet unsuccessful.

As she entered Aella's room, Lexi smiled softly; it suited the teen. Her eyes watered for the first time when she saw the little nook she had obviously created for Stefan; a sign proudly stated, 'Stefan's Space - Beware He Bites!' Stefan seemed to move to that spot automatically. He sat as Lexi carefully placed Aella down on the bed and conscientiously arranged her hair. It looked like she was sleeping.

The image was too much for Stefan, who suddenly stood and declared, "I can't be here."

Before Lexi could say anything, Stefan fled the room. Instead of following him, Lexi sat on the side of Aella's bed and spoke softly to her friend as she stroked her, "He just needs some time alone. I'll be here in the meantime."

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Jenna's eyes widened when she saw Stefan run down the stairs and run out of the house. Her eyes returned to the phone in front of her that she still hadn't used. She felt sick knowing she had to call Nate and Sheila and reveal such devastating news, but until then, she could live in a world where Aella was still alive for at least a few more minutes.

A cup of tea was placed before her as Alaric sat beside her. He looked down at the phone and gently asked, "Ready?"

Jenna's tears fell from her eyes as she shook her head softly, "Just another minute... I need just another minute."

"Anything," Alaric nodded, his body numb from the shock and sadness of the events.

Her eyes glanced into the living room where her niece and nephew sat with Anna. Her bottom lip wobbled as she thought about them, "They don't deserve this."

"Nobody deserves this," Alaric concurred. "You, those poor kids, Stefan, and Aella. Especially Aella."

"Aella," Jenna sobbed out the teen's name as if hearing the news all over again. "Oh, Aella."

Alaric quickly pulled her into his arms as she began sobbing into his chest, his own tears quietly falling down his face and falling onto the top of her head.

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Anna did not know what to do. Jeremy was staring down at his hands as they rubbed and squeezed with anxiety. Next to her, Elena cried silently into the tissues she had crunched up in her hands.

Anna's eyes glanced at Jeremy; she focused on the neck that had been broken a few hours ago. How quickly things could change. One moment she was happy, then she was grieving, then she was happy again, and now she was just in shock. In all her years alive and undead, she had never seen anything so alarming; Aella was happy, and then she was dead.

Silently she called out to her mother, wishing for strength to help Jeremy and Elena through this awful time, just as they were there for her when Pearl had died. So she sat between the siblings and was there for them, as they had been there for her.

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"Jenna!"

Jenna's heart felt like it had fallen into her stomach as the man's voice echoed around the house as he came storming into the house, calling out her name.

"Jenna?!"

Alaric frowned as he watched Jenna stumble to her feet, "Who's that?"

"Nate," Jenna answered before moving to the entryway. "It's Nate. Aella's uncle."

As she met the man in the hallway, her heart didn't shudder like it always did when she focused on the handsome man. Instead, it broke at the news he did not know.

Nate's eyes seemed relieved when he saw her and somehow missed her tear-stained face, "Jenna. Where's the little ankle-biter? Something's not right, and I need to see her."

Even though she knew he did not know, her eyes watered with fresh tears that Aella's only surviving blood relative didn't know his niece. His remaining family was currently lying dead upstairs.

"Nate, I-"

Nate's eyes widened as he felt something off and interrupted her, "-Uh, Jenna?" The feeling went wild when Elena, Jeremy, and Anna came to the doorway. Nate's eyes narrowed on Anna as he recognized what she was, "Jenna? We have a slight problem."

That slight problem became a big problem when the door opened, and Stefan walked in. Nate jumped and moved back when his senses went to overdrive as another vampire stepped into his house. What confused him was the fact this was the boy his niece was apparently dating.

"Reverse that!" Nate rolled his arms in his typical awkward comical way. "Houston, we have a problem!" He pointed between Anna and Stefan, "A very big, BIG problem!"

"Um, guys?"

Nate was in total shock when Lexi came down the stairs, and he recognized she was also a vampire. He glanced at Jenna in disbelief, "Are you running a vampire B&B here suddenly, Jenna?"

Jenna didn't know what to do as she looked between Nate and Lexi speechlessly.

It was Stefan that spoke with concern as he looked to his best friend, "What's wrong, Lex?"

Nate stepped towards Jenna, "Jenna. What the hell is going on?"

"Her heart's beating."

Everyone, except for Nate, looked to Lexi in shock.

"What?" Nate looked at the shocked faces, his very nosey niece not among them. "Who's heart? What is happening?" He turned to Jenna, "Why are there three vampires in your home? And where is my niece?"

Jenna's mouth opened and closed, yet nothing emerged, but her eyes looked up as if seeing Aella's body laying on her bed.

Stefan gradually stepped toward his best friend, "What do you mean her heart is beating?"

"I-I think it is," Lexi stuttered in bewilderment. "It beats once, and then there's nothing, and like a few minutes later, it does the same."

Stefan wasted no time in running up the stairs as Nate finally had enough, "Okay, that's it! What in God's name is happening here? And who's hea-"

Nate stopped speaking as his brain seemed to realize something. His niece not being there, the emotions of all around him, that feeling he had felt which pushed him to drive wayyyy over the speed-limit to get her quicker. And now his niece's boyfriend was storming up the stairs because someone's heart was beating. Again.

Too quickly, the puzzle pieces came together, and Nate was following the vampires up the stairs, "Aella."

"Nate!"

He ignored Jenna's calls for him as he reached Aella's room, only to freeze at her body laid out on the bed and the paleness of her features. But it was the quietness that hit him first as he watched the vampire place his head on her chest, listening to something. Aella was never quiet. She was his niece. His little ankle-biter that had been happily causing him migraines for the past 17 years. Aella quiet was not... normal. Not natural.

"What happened?" He ignored as those from downstairs joined him at Aella's doorway as he stepped into her room. He felt the same feeling that had him racing all these miles. He moved closer to Stefan, his eyes focused on the vampire rather than his too quiet niece, "What happened? Tell me everything?"

When he could hear nothing from Aella's chest, he straightened up and looked at Nate on the other side of Aella's bed. "One minute, we were laughing, and then she couldn't breathe, and we couldn't do anything to stop it."

Nate nodded, "Did yo-" He stumbled for a moment, "Did you give her your blood?"

"No," Stefan sadly shook his head. "Her heart had stopped beating before I could."

Nate looked down at Aella's body, trying with all his might to focus on the facts and not her dead body.

Nate moved around the bed and sat next to his niece and looked up at Stefan, "She wasn't hurt? No other magic users near? Did a spell she shouldn't?"

"No." Stefan frowned. "It's happened before when she touched a dead man and felt him die. But it was for a moment, and she started breathing again."

"Jeremy had just had his neck broken," Anna quietly entered the conversation.

Nate raised his brow at the teen, "You don't look dead?"

Jeremy only showed the ostentatious ring on his finger, "Magical ring brought me back to life."

Nate blinked as he looked to Jenna, "We have a lot to catch up on." He then looked to Lexi, "You said her heart was beating."

"Just once," Lexi nodded. "I was just sitting with her; I-I didn't want her to be alone. At first, I thought it was one of the others, but then I focused on her heart, and a few minutes it did it again. Just one beat."

Nate looked down at his niece and stroked the apple of her cheek, "Trying to beat your Uncle at his best trick, huh, kid?"

"What do you mean?" Stefan faced Nate. "You've seen this before?"

"Seen it. Did it." Nate turned back to Aella and placed his hand on her forehead. He closed his eyes and began chanting in an unfamiliar language. When he opened his eyes, he smiled gently down at his niece, "There you are, my little ankle-biter."

"Sh-she's alive?" Elena stumbled in. Tears falling again.

"Oh yeah," Nate nodded. It was an answer that had everyone finally feeling some relief.

Stefan's eyes began filling with tears, and he desperately grabbed Lexi's hand in comfort, "You're sure?"

"Totally." Nate shrugged. "The same happened to me when Natasha died. Luckily for me, I had my community around who had some knowledge of this happening with my family in the past."

"Just your family?" Lexi's eyes narrowed.

"It's a defensive mode," Nate looked at her. "A shitty defensive mode. But there when those we are connected with face a life-threatening injury. Our bond with that person allows us to feel what they feel so we can save them." He frowned and looked around the room, "Is there anyone that's not here that she could have bonded with and felt what they were feeling with?"

Stefan's eyes widened as they met Elena's, her eyes wide in recognition as they spoke together, "Caroline."

Elena pulled the phone from her pocket, "I'll call Matt."

She left the room as Jenna stepped into the room, finally looking at Aella, "Can you fix her?"

Nate cheekily smiled, "Are you sure you want her back? Sure is quiet."

Jenna glared at him and pointed at Aella, "Bring her back now!"

Nate held up his hands in defeat, "Wow! Wrong crowd." He then looked to Stefan and pointed between him and the vampire, "But you and me, My Dude. We are having a very strongly worded conversation on how the hell my niece is dating a vampire!"

"Anything," Stefan nodded hastily. "Just bring her back."

"Okay," Nate agreed and placed his hand on Aella's forehead once more and began chanting again.

Jeremy stepped into the room as he watched Aella's color slowly begin to return. His hand gripped Anna's hard when he saw a small raise in Aella's chest. And then, with a gasp that shook all in the room, Aella's green eyes snapped open, glowing furiously. She began coughing as if trying to catch her breath, and Stefan quickly grasped her flailing hands as Nate continued.

"Aella!" Stefan exclaimed. He watched the green glow in her eyes begging to fade before they started darting around the room, looking for something particular until they landed on him and stopped. As soon as their gazes locked upon each other, a feeling like no other settled in Stefan's chest.

Nate slowly pulled back as Aella croaked out, "S-Stefan?"

"Oh thank, God," Jenna fell into Alaric's arms, who could only stare down at Aella in disbelief.

"Hi," Stefan cried and began kissing her forehead, nose, cheeks, and finally lips.

Lexi held her mouth in total shock, tears of happiness now falling.

Aella's eyes moved around the room in total confusion, which deepened when they locked on her uncle's, "U-Uncle Nate?"

"Hey, Kid." Nate smiled down at her. He then slowly raised a brow, "So when were you going to tell me your boyfriend was a vampire?"

Aella smiled awkwardly at her uncle, "Surprise?!"

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"So I was dead?"

Aella now sat up in bed, Stefan, Lexi, Nate, and Jenna surrounding her. She had a lemon tea, courtesy of Anna, to help soothe her sore throat, and her uncle had done a quick healing spell to fix her broken ribs. They still felt sore, but it was a hell of a lot better than when they were broken.

"Yes, and no," Nate shrugged. "Who'd ya bond with, Kid, that could affect you this much?"

Aella's looked to Stefan with fear, "Caroline."

"She's fine," Elena slowly stepped into the room. Her eyes watered as she saw her best friend alive and talking. She pointed furiously at Aella, "If you do that ever again..."

"You'll drown me with your tears?" Aella smirked.

It was a retort that was such an Aella retort it had Elena running to her best friend and pulling her into her arms and hugging her tightly. Luckily for her tea, Stefan's quick reflexes caught the cup before it fell.

"Caroline's really okay?" Aella confirmed again once Elena's sobs had calmed.

Elena sat up and wiped her tears away, "Yeah. I spoke with Matt. He said she's just sleeping."

"Okay," Aella nodded, though something didn't feel right. Feeling uncomfortable with the stillness of the room, she grinned cheekily at her uncle. "So all it took was for me to go into a magical dead state for you to finally visit me?"

Nate's hands went to his hips at the challenge, "So all it took was for you to go into a magical dead state for you to finally tell me your boyfriend is a vampire?" Nate let out a buzzer type noise, "Ehhh! What was that studio audience?" He held a hand to his ear "-she actually didn't tell me?"

"Gotta keep you on your toes, Uncle Nate," Aella winked as she looked over at a very quiet Stefan. "He's a good one. He used to feed on Bambi before he met me."

Nate looked to Stefan in horror as he held his chest, "Not Bambi!"

"Aella has helped Stefan take on a human blood diet," Jenna proudly told Nate, but quickly added. "Blood banks only."

"Vervain immunity too," Aella happily nodded as she reached over and squeezed Stefan's cheek. "My strange little vampire is an oddity."

"Hmm," Nate nodded in thought as he leaned back on Aella's bed. "Make sense why you have a warehouse full of vervain."

"What?"

"You, what?"

"Aella!"

Stefan, Elena, and Jenna's exclamations all came simultaneously, making Aella wince as Nate smugly watched the chaos around him. "Traitor," Aella muttered to him, and he only stuck his tongue at her.

"See what I told you, Stefan!" Jenna pointed between Nate and Aella. "These two are the worst when they are together." She narrowed her eyes down at Nate, "When were you going to tell me this?"

Nate smirked up at her, "When were you going to tell me my niece was dating a vampire and lived in a murderous town?"

Jenna scowled down at him, "Touche." She looked to Stefan and mouthed 'see' as she pointed between Aella and Nate again.

Stefan raised a brow at an amused Aella, "And when were you going to tell me?"

"Um?" Aella pursed her lips in thought. "Nope!"

Lexi was never disappointed when she was in the presence of Aella, "And what was it going to be used for?"

"I don't know," Aella shrugged as she reached for her tea from Stefan and took another sip. "Zach had just died and was the last known supplier. My gut just told me I needed to prepare."

"Someone's been watching a little too much NCIS," Nate smirked. Chuckling when Aella hit his arm. "It's never a bad thing to have in your arsenal," Nate told them as he sat up. "Makes a lot more sense why you would have that much stored as I sit in a house where three vampires are invited in."

"Actually five," Aella winced, holding up five fingers.

"Five?" Nate repeated back in shock. "You know five good vampires?"

"Well we know four," Aella answered him until she recalled Damon's action before she'd keeled over. "Three? Three and a half?"

Nate stared her down, "Now, Kid. I know I barely passed math, but even I know there's no such thing as three and a half vampires."

"Well, Stefan and Lexi are good," Aella pointed out.

Elena nodded and added, "And Anna is good now that she's not looking to free her locked up mother from a locked up tomb full of vampires."

"And Damon," Aella added, but winced at Jenna and Elena's narrowed eyes and babbled on. "Who is Stefan's brother... he was a psycho vampire who seemed to become a good guy until he snapped Jeremy's neck in anger a few hours ago."

Nate winced at all the information that he was being told. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he felt a migraine forming, "And the fifth."

Elena raised her hand, "That would be my psychopathic doppelganger who showed up a few days ago."

Nate looked over at Jenna with a flat stare, "You seriously need to send a memo with this kind of stuff." He pointed at his finger, "First point of call, my niece is dating a vampire." He held up a second finger, "Second point of call, there are good and bad vampires that happily live in the same town as my niece." He held up a third finger, "Third, Locked up tomb vampires - not good." With his fourth finger, he pointed out, "A doppelganger is just weird. And fifth!" He held up five wiggling fingers, "I was totally left out. Not cool, Jenna!"

Elena's phone dinged as Jenna only glared at Nate and his wiggling fingers, "Um, speaking of being left out. That was Bonnie, we're needed at the carnival."

Aella's eyes widened, "I'm supposed to be Caroline."

Jenna's glare turned to Aella, "You are not going!"

"But I'm Caroline," Aella whined. "And I feel totally fine."

"Aella," Stefan calmly spoke to her. "We all thought you were dead until thirty minutes ago. Maybe you should rest?"

"And I understand," Aella said with sympathy. "But I feel fine, and I promised Caroline, don't let me let her down."

As Aella pouted at Stefan, Nate leaned over to Jenna, "She got that look from me." He then did his own version of the pout, which had Jenna's glare falling as she hit the sarcastic uncle in the arm.

Stefan glanced from Aella to Lexi, Elena, and Jenna before he hesitantly nodded, "Fine."

"Yes!" Aella cheered until Stefan fixed her with an authoritative stare. "You stay with one of us at all times. And anytime-anytime you feel off. We stop and come back home."

"Deal!" Aella agreed and jumped off the bed. "I'll go brush my teeth! Being dead makes your mouth taste awful!"

As she left, Nate leaned back over Jenna; he threw a thumb in Stefan's direction, "I like this kid."

"He's 150 years older than you," Jenna raised a brow. "You're more a kid than he is."

Nate wiggled his eyes, "Was that a compliment, Jenna, Dear?"

Jenna raised her eyes to the ceiling, "Kill me, God. Just kill me now."

Elena raised a brow at her Aunt and Aella's Uncle, who rolled his eyes towards her at Jenna's behavior. With a teasing whisper, he smirked, "She loves it."