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CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
the real deal
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( isobel )

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Monday, February 15, 2010

Harper's POV.

*Mystic Falls High School Cafeteria*

"Alright, show us," Bonnie says.

"Let's reference last year's Miss Mystic float," Caroline begins. She types something into her laptop. "This is what they did last year." She hits enter and turns her laptop around for us to see.

What immediately jumps out to me is the overbearing amount of red, white, and blue like it was a float for the Fourth of July or something.

"And it's exactly what we don't want to do," Caroline makes clear.

"Ew," Bonnie comments in disgust, still assessing the picture of the float on Caroline's laptop.

Caroline nods. "Yeah."

"Last year's float was not it." I shake my head, agreeing with the two of them.

"Okay, so," Bonnie pipes up, clasping her hands together on her lap expectantly, "what are we doing?"

A light twinkles in Caroline's eyes. "Southern classic elegance," she announces proudly.

"Gone with the Wind?" Bonnie guesses rather quickly.

Caroline's mouth hangs open in surprise. "How'd you know?"

"You channel Scarlett daily." 

Caroline smiles. "So true." She giggles.

"Ugh, I should have been able to figure that out," I comment, looking between them. I'm surprised at myself. It should have been obvious. Gone with the Wind is one of Caroline's favorite movies, apart from Twilight, of course.

Taking a look around the lunchroom, Caroline scowls. "Urge! Where's Elena? She's supposed to be helping."

I take my own look around the cafeteria. "I don't know," I respond cluelessly.

I also notice that Stefan isn't here, so they're obviously together. Elena informed me last night that everything was good with Stefan, and he was pretty much back to normal. So they're absence  this morning might have something to do with Stefan's reluctance to return to school after all that happened these past few weeks. Which is understandable, it wouldn't be very wise just to rush him right back into society.

It takes a moment for Caroline to realize that Bonnie never said anything. She tilts her head to the side at our uncharacteristically uncaring friend. "Okay, what's the deal?" Caroline asks her.

"What do you mean?" Bonnie shrugs.

"Don't play dumb. You and Elena are fighting. Spill."

Bonnie rolls her eyes. "It's nothing," she insists.

"It's not nothing," Caroline begs to differ. "You know, this whole float is supposed to be about friends creating something together, and everyone is fighting. Matt and Tyler hate each other. You and Elena are on the outs. Me and Harper are probably the only normal ones. I just — I don't like it." She sighs. "And I can't fix it if I don't know what's wrong."

Bonnie shakes her head. "I can't talk about it, Caroline, I'm sorry," she apologizes. She casts a glance in my direction, and I feel for her.

As long as we're involved in supernatural drama, we're going to have to keep secrets from Caroline. It's frustrating and annoying at times, but it's for the best. No one should have to be exposed to the terrible things we've experienced and seen.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

*Outside Mystic Falls High School*

Today, we're building the floats for the Founders' Day Parade tomorrow. Pretty much the whole school is here to help — well, at least, anyone involved in any major organizations like the National Honors Society, Student Council, the football team, and the cheer-leading squad. Even some parents and teachers are here to help.

Caroline and I are currently on top of the Miss Mystic float, working on the decorative arch that's going to go at the very back.

"Hey," Caroline pipes up, "I bought some red stars that would go great with the white. They're down in a bucket by the accessories table." She points. "They're just what this float needs to add a little shine. Can you go get them?"

"Yeah, sure," I say, standing to my feet. I climb down off the float and into the crowd of bustling students and workers. As I walk over to the accessories table, I almost run into a woman who had abruptly gotten in my way.

"Sorry," I mumble, about to move past her.

"Harper, is it?" the woman asks.

At the sound of my name, I stop in my tracks. I try to recognize the woman as someone's mom, but I've never seen her before.

"Yeah?" I say to answer her question, hoping to get this conversation over with quick.

She stares at me for a moment, and it makes me uncomfortable. "My, you look just like her," she comments in a monotone voice.

Who is this woman and who is she referring to? Mary? No, she couldn't be possibly talking about her.

"Like . . . who?" I question hesitantly.

Her face remains stoic. "You know who I'm talking about, but by the look on your face I'm guessing you don't know who I am. I'm surprised Elena hasn't told you about me yet."

Now I'm really confused. I don't know what to say. I wish I could just walk away, but she knows my name and apparently Elena too, meaning that she isn't just some nobody I can brush off and ignore.

When I remain silent, she speaks up. "You really are a shy little thing just like Caroline said. Pity, it's always the innocent that have to suffer for everyone else's mistakes."

She knows who Caroline is to? Seriously, who is this lady and what does she want? She's not speaking like a normal person. What if she's a . . .

"Listen," she continues. "I want Johnathan Gilbert's invention. I'm sure you at least know what that is."

Shoot, even if she isn't a vampire, she knows about the supernatural. I'm in a tight spot. I have to be smart about this. Even if there are a bunch of people surrounding us, she could still be capable of doing who knows what.

"I don't know where it is," I say.

"She speaks," the woman muses. "But you should have kept your mouth shut, honey, because that was your first lie."

"I'm not lying." I shake my head quickly. "I don't know where it is."

She's not buying it. Dang it!

She tilts her head to the side. "Look. We can play pretend all you want, but we both know that Damon has the device — and you're going to get it from him for me."

I stand there, flabbergasted. 

"Silent again, are we?" she subtly taunts. "You know, Caroline really knew what she was talking about when she said you weren't the outspoken type. Let's see what else she got right." She turns her head to the side.

Having no idea what she means by this, I follow her line of sight to Bonnie walking by.

"There is your witchy friend, Bonnie." The woman turns back to me, and I stare at her in disbelief. She knows too much about my life, gosh. "Gonna stay away from that one."

The woman then focuses her eyes on something behind me.

I look over my shoulder, and my gaze lands on Jeremy.

No. This isn't good.

She mockingly pouts her lips at the sight of him. "Oh, sad little Jeremy." She pauses before moving on, her gaze going to the top of the Miss Mystic float where I was helping Caroline just moments ago. "And there's Caroline, obnoxious Caroline. She made it way too easy to learn all I needed to know. The chatty cathy had no idea who I was, and she just kept on yapping away."

New movement to my left gains my attention, and I make the mistake of looking in that direction.

"Oh . . ." the woman observes, following my line of sight. "And there's Matt — friend, Elena's ex, yappy's future ex — lots of connections there."

I swallow, my nostrils flaring as I breath hard through my nose. I try to keep myself composed as I glare at her. She's threatening me with my friends. How dare she! I don't even know who she is, and she already knows everything about me.

Even though I'm glaring at her, the woman remains calm and collected, which irritates me. "You know," she says, "I have some friends here too. Look."

She points, and, at first, I don't know who she's talking about.

"See that man over there, standing next to Matt by the float?" she explains. "His name's Frank. He's very handsome, and he's also quite handy. And he noticed that the axle was kind of rusty, which is very dangerous. So, all you have to do is apply a little bit of pressure and . . ."

"Matt!" I scream helplessly.

Everything's happens so fast. Frank jumps up onto the flatbed trailer, causing it to break and land on Matt's hand. I watch in horror as Matt cries out in pain.

"No!" My hands fly up to my head, my fingers running through my hair distressfully. "Stop! Please don't do this! Stop!"

Unaffected, the woman remains stoic. "See how easy it is to hurt the people that you care about?"

Desperation overtakes me. "Just stop, okay? Please just stop," I beg calmly yet firmly. Matt will be okay. I know he will, but I can't let her hurt anyone else.

"I'll stop when you hand over the invention," the woman makes clear.

At this point I have no other choice. She wins.

"I'll try to get the invention, okay?" I give in. "But — But what happens if I'm not able to get it?" There's always a chance Damon won't give me the device. I have to be prepared for that.

The woman looks me right in the eyes. "Then Jeremy dies."

It takes a moment for her words to register in my brain. When they do, I whip around and search for Jeremy. He's no longer standing where he was just moments ago, and when I turn back to the woman, she's suddenly gone.

The weight of the situation slams down on me. The woman took Jeremy. She has him. My sweet little cousin is in danger, and it's up to me to save him. But what if I can't get the device? What if Damon doesn't give it to me? What if Jeremy dies, and it's all my fault? God no. God no.

As I breath heavily in panic, I suddenly become aware of my surroundings again. I just happen to look up, and my eyes meet those of Elena.

And by the look on her face, it probably took her about two seconds to realize that something was wrong with me.

*Alaric's Classroom*

It's not everyday that you get threatened by your quote on quote "aunt." The woman who threatened me was Elena's birth mother, Isobel. She had confronted Elena about the invention too. So much for that very adamant message about not wanting to meet her daughter.

"Where's the device?" Bonnie asks from her seated position in one of the desks.

Stefan stands in front of her with his hands rested on his hips. "Damon has it. He's gonna be difficult to reason with."

Elena stops pacing at the front of the room. "We'll go to him," she says. "I'll talk to him."

"He's not just gonna hand it over, especially if it's harmful to vampires," Stefan says.

Elena looks away in disappointment, and a feeling of hopelessness fills the room.

She then speaks up again. "What if it's not?"

We all look at her in confusion before exchanging glances.

We end up at the Salvatore Boarding House with a plan. Apparently, our ancestor Johnathan Gilbert was not really a brilliant inventor. Bonnie had been looking through Emily Bennett's grimoire and discovered that she had enchanted several of his "inventions" so that they could actually work. One of which was the device that Isobel wants. So if Bonnie can remove Emily's magic from the device, it won't be able to hurt vampires anymore.

Now we just have to get Damon to agree to our plan.

"Absolutely not!" Damon shuts us down.

"Just hear me out," Elena says.

Much to my irritation, he continues standing his ground. "I'm not gonna give the device to Isobel, so she can give it to John who's going to turn around and kill me. I like being a living dead person."

Elena shakes her head and rolls her eyes. "But it'll be useless. Bonnie can take its power away."

"I don't trust her," he fires back.

This is getting extremely frustrating. What is it going to take to get Damon to cooperate already?

"I can remove the original spell," Bonnie says from her position behind us.

Elena raises her arms like what Bonnie just said will settle everything. "John and Isobel will never know," she adds.

"No," Damon says firmly, shaking a finger. "No, I'll get Jeremy my own way."

How stubborn can he be? Gosh.

"Really?" Stefan says.

"Mm-hmm." Damon nods overconfidently.

"How are you gonna do that? Hmm?" Stefan goes on. He tilts his head to the side skeptically. "Because Isobel is a vampire and Jeremy could be dead the second you walk in the door."

Ooh! Got um there! We wouldn't even be in this freakin' mess if Damon had never turned her into a vampire in the first place!

Brushing off his brother's comment, Damon turns to Bonnie. "Are you even up for this? I mean no offense, you're no Emily Bennett." He inhales a breath and crosses his arms. "Emily knew what she was doing," he jabs at her.

"I've been practicing," Bonnie says.

"It's not piano lessons, honey."

Ignoring his words, Bonnie strides up to Damon. "What's your favorite book?"

He blinks rapidly. "What?"

I cross my arms. I bet Damon doesn't even read. I don't know why Bonnie's bothering to ask.

"Name a book, any book," she says again.

"Name a book," he repeats. "How about Call of the Wild, Jack London?"

I uncross my arms and stare at him in surprise. I've read that book before. I think it was back in middle school. Damon . . . reads?

With determination in her eyes, Bonnie turns to face a book shelf against the wall. She stares at it for a moment before a book comes flying out of the shelf.

Damon catches it with ease and glances at the cover. "Jack London," he reads off the cover. Unimpressed, he tosses the book to the side. "Great parlor trick."

"We're doing this, Damon," Elena says firmly. "And we're gonna do it my way. Now give me the device."

He doesn't move.

"We're wasting time!" she raises her voice.

Damon points at Bonnie. "I don't trust you. I tried to kill you."

A small smile plays on Bonnie's lips. "Hmm, you're right, you can't trust me."

Seriously? I don't know what's up with this arrogant display Bonnie's putting on. Jeremy's life is literally on the line, and she's playing difficult!

"But you can trust me," Elena insists.

Damon stares hard at her. "I don't trust you, not after that little stunt you pulled at the graveyard."

My cousin's face contorts into anger. "Can you please just get over that already?" she gripes.

Seeing that this is getting us no where, I take a step towards Damon with a confidence I didn't even know I possessed. "Please, Damon, she's going to kill Jeremy," I beg with pleading eyes.

He doesn't say anything at first, but his gaze remains steadily on me. "Do you promise this will work?" he finally says.

I nod. "I do."

I can't believe it when Damon reaches into his back pocket and takes out the device.

I automatically hold my hand out for it.

He places the device in my hand and runs his thumb over my fingers. The gesture makes my body tingle all over.

I look up into his eyes. "Thank you," I say.

Once Bonnie has the device, we move to the side to let her work. I stand close to Stefan and Elena while Damon watches from a little ways away.

Bonnie lights some candles and sets the device down in front of them. She raises her hands above the device, and it starts to float in the air.

I shudder when the lights start to flicker, and when the fire in the fire place flares up violently, I flinch.

I don't like magic. There's just something about it that puts me on edge. It's like when your in its presence you can literally feel the darkness. No wonder the Bible advises against it.

And as if nothing had happened, the lights return to normal and the fireplace returns to its original state.

Bonnie looks over at us. "Done."

Elena walks forward and takes the device from her.

"Great," Damon drawls boredly. "Now what?"

"Now we give it to Isobel," says Elena determinedly.

*Mystic Falls Town Square*

It's eerily quiet in the middle of town square. A bell tolls in the distance signaling that it's 7 o'clock in the evening.

I scan our surroundings for any sign of Isobel. Elena and I are waiting for her to meet us. My cousin had insisted on coming along in case things don't go as planned. And, of course, Stefan and Damon are off somewhere watching us as well. If we didn't have two vampires on our side, I never would have had the guts to do this. But, either way, for Jeremy's sake, I would have had to. I'm just glad things worked out to where I didn't have to go through this all alone though.

A gust of air from behind makes the two of us turn around.

Isobel.

"Where is the device?" she asks.

"Where's my brother?" Elena fires back.

"This isn't a negotiation," Isobel says. "Where is the invention?"

Elena crosses her arms over her chest. "Where is my brother?" she repeats.

Isobel remains unfazed. "Do you really think that I came alone?"

I hear movement behind me and look back. Her minion Frank and another woman I've never seen before step forward.

The tension in the air grows.

"Do you really think that we came alone?" Elena says, jutting her chin upwards so that Isobel turns around.

Stefan and Damon walk up behind her. 

I can't stop a small smile from forming on my face. Isobel better watch out now.

Isobel turns her attention back to me and Elena. "For God sakes, call home."

"What?" Elena asks, confused.

Isobel rolls her eyes. "Call home. Ask to speak to your brother Jeremy."

Elena does as she says and pulls out her phone.  She dials the home phone. After a moment, someone picks up, and Elena puts the phone up to her ear. "Jeremy, are you okay?" She spends a moment listening then says, "I'll be home soon, alright?"

After putting her phone away, she looks up at Isobel. "You were never gonna hurt him," she accuses.

"No," Isobel says in a fake sweet voice. "I was going to kill him." She pauses, her eyes serious. "Don't look for any redeeming qualities in me. I don't have any."

"But you took a risk with Damon," Elena says. "How did you know that he was gonna give it to Harper?"

Isobel smiles. "Cause he's in love with her."

My eyes widen, and I feel my heart skip a beat. What? That was the last thing I expected her to say. I want to so badly look at Damon right now, but I don't let myself. Is it getting hot out here? It must be getting hot out here . . .

Satisfied, Isobel holds out her hand for the device.

Elena sighs and gives it to her. "Thank you," she says.

"For what?" Isobel retorts.

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

"Goodbye, Elena," Isobel says, not appearing at all affected by her daughter's words. "As long as you gallivant with vampires, you're doomed. Katherine was smart. She knew how to take care of herself. But we all know that you're not Katherine." With that, Isobel and her minions walk away.

Well, that was . . . not how I saw things going at all.

Stefan walks up to Elena and comforts her in a hug.

I suddenly feel awkward standing by myself. I'm very aware that Damon is probably watching me, but I still can't get myself to look at him. I don't know how I should be acting at all. He's not saying anything which is very out of character for him. And it's not like I'm going to say anything either.

Gosh, I just wanna go home. I wanna think. I want some time to process things.

Which is exactly what I do later that night in my room. After all the excitement of the day, it's hard to believe that tomorrow is Founders' Day, and I'm gonna have to wake up early, which is gonna be hard since I cannot stop thinking about what Isobel had said. As I lay in bed in the darkness of my room, I contemplate everything.

Isobel was only in town for a few days, so how could she possibly know that Damon is in love me? But she was right about one thing. Damon did give me the device, which means something. Everyone else had tried to get him to give the device to them, and he didn't trust them. But when I asked, he trusted me.

Maybe it's because I look like Mary. I'm an exact replica of a girl he was deeply in love with. His feelings for me could easily be stemming from the fact that I look just like her.

Oh my goodness! What does it even matter?! I'm not allowed to date anyway, and Damon is the last person I should ever be involved with. He's older, dangerous, toxic, not to mention a murderous vampire . . . but he's also heroic, funny, charming, caring, and not to mention super freakin' hot . . . The way he saved me from embarrassment at the Miss Mystic Falls Pageant by dancing with me. The way he loves his little brother and was willing to do anything to save him from the tomb vampires. The way he made me feel so free while we danced together in his living room . . .

Oh my God! I pull my blanket over my head. I have a crush on Damon!

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

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a/n:

Sorry, guys, for the long wait, but I'm back! Now, I titled this chapter "The Real Deal" for several reasons. One, because two deals in this chapter were made, one with Isobel and another with Damon. Then, there's the fact that Damon's feelings for Harper were exposed by Isobel, making them not just real to him but to Harper as well. Finally, Harper has finally accepted that she has a crush on Damon, which means, we are in the real deal now!

-- roxy

( word count: 3.9k )