Isobel

*AGE CHANGE FROM 12 to 14*

Emma woke up, somewhat refreshed. It's weird, yes, but Stefan's back and she feels like there's nothing wrong anymore. But then again, there's still Katherine, Elena's evil vampire doppelganger who everyone hates, and Isobel, Elena's vampire birth mother who doesn't want anything to do with her. Yup, there's nothing wrong. Emma was in the middle of getting ready for school when Elena came into her room. "Hey, ready?" Elena asked, leaning against the door frame.

Emma went up to her dresser and pulled out a pair of socks. "Um, almost. Just give me a sec." The girl sat down and began to put them. "How much of a control freak do you think Caroline is going to be today?"

Elena's laughed. "Very. And she's going to be very mad at us if we are late to help. Chop chop." Emma rolled her eyes with a smile on her face. The girls made it downstairs in time to see Stefan's car to pull up on the curb.

"Hey, Stef." Emma greeted as she sat in the back of the car.

Stefan smiled at her through the review mirror. "Hi, Emma." He turned to Elena. "Hi." They leaned in and kissed each other, earning an 'eww' in the background. The couple laughed and Stefan drove the car to school. The three walked out of the car to see everyone decorating and making things in preparation for Founder's Day. When they entered the lunch tables inside, they were confronted by Alaric.

"Guys, come with me. We need to talk." he said, turning around and leading the way to his classroom. The three shared glances before following behind him.

When they entered the room, Emma sat in one of the desks in the front. "So, what's wrong?" she asked, folding her hands together.

Alaric stood by his desk. "Well. . ." Alaric explained what had happened the night before of his encounter with Isobel. Ten minutes later, Damon walked through the door, making everyone glance at him. "Damon, thanks for coming."

"Sorry I'm late. he dog ate my, uh. . . never mind." He looked at the other three to see their distraught faces. "What's with the furrowed brows." he asked Alaric.

"I saw Isobel last night." Alaric said.

Damon's head shot in Alaric's direction, clearly shocked to hear that. "Isobel's here? In town?" Alaric nodded. Damon turned to Elena to see Emma having an arm around her shoulders in comfort. "Did you ask about Uncle John?"

"No."

"Are they working together?"

"No."

"No, they're not?"

"No, I didn't ask."

"What about the invention?"

"I didn't ask."

"Does she know about the tomb vampires?"

"I don't know."

Damon got frustrated and got into Alaric's face. "Did words completely escape you?"

"No, I was a little too distracted by my dead vampire wife to ask any questions." Alaric shot at him.

Damon glanced at the girls before looking back. "What does she want?"

"She wants to see me, Damon." Elena said.

Damon looked at Elena as if she was crazy. "Alaric is supposed to arrange a meeting. We don't know why or what she wants." Stefan explained.

"You don't have to see her if you don't want to." Damon said. He didn't noticed the look Stefan gave him after he said that.

"I really don't have a choice." Elena defended.

"She threatened to go on a killing spree." Emma said, shivering at the thought.

Damon's eyebrows shot up. "Oh. I take it that's. . . not okay with you guys." Damon said sarcastically. Emma glared at him and he glared back.

"I want to do it. I want to meet her. If I don't, I know I'll regret it." Elena said. Emma squeezed her shoulder.

~~~~♡~~~~  

Emma sat on the bench in the park across from Mystic Grill with Damon and Alaric. Elena didn't want Emma to be at the meeting in case Isobel tried to hurt her. The young Gilbert was not too happy to hear this, hating being treated as a child(which she was). As for Damon and Alaric, Isobel said that they weren't allowed to enter the restaurant.

Damon walked back and forth, angrily. "We should be in there."

Alaric sighed. "Isobel was very clear. We're not to step foot inside. And we promised Elena to keep Emma safe just in case." Alaric said, crossing his arms.

Damon sat down next to Emma. "Pipsqueak can take care of herself." Damon's eyes widened. "Damn it." he said, groaning when he saw Emma's triumphed smile. "We'll talk about that later." Alaric furrowed his eyebrows, very confused about what was going on. "Anyways, it's not like I'm gonna kill her in a crowded restaurant."

"You're not gonna kill her, period." Alaric quickly said.

"She ruined your, life and you still want to protect her?" Damon asked.

"Damon, she's his wife." Damon gave a look and she closed her eyes in realization. "Was his wife." she corrected herself. "Sorry." She apologized to Alaric.

Alaric gave her a small smile. "It's okay. You're right. I looked for the woman I married, but she wasn't there. Whoever that is, is. . ." He thought about it. "cold and detached."

Damon scoffed. "Yeah, She's given up her humanity."

"Yeah, see, I don't get that. Stefan has his humanity. He's a good guy. Hell, you're a di-" He stopped himself and looked at Emma. "bad person and you kill people, but I still see something human in you. But with her, there was. . . there was nothing." Alaric vented.

Emma thought for a moment. How could that be possible? Giving up your humanity? Why would someone want to become a heartless, soulless, being? There were times when Emma thought that with Damon. When he almost turned her and when he killed John at the party. But she found out that she was wrong. Damon did feel. If he didn't, then why did he comfort her last night when Stefan was going to kill himself? Why did he help her after what happened in forest during the Miss Mystic Falls pageant? Even though he doesn't show it every much, Damon does feel.

"You can turn it off." Damon's voice broke her thoughts. "Like a button you can press. I mean, Stefan's different. He wants the whole human experience. He wants to feel every episode of 'How I Met Your Mother'. So he shuts his feeling out. The problem is, as a vampire, your instinct is not to feel." Alaric looked down, processing Damon's words. "Isobel chose the easier road. No guilt and shame. . . no regret. I mean come on. If you could turn it off, wouldn't you?"

"You haven't." Emma said.

"Heh. Of course I have, pipsqueak. That's why I'm so fun to be around." Damon replied. He got up and stood facing Mystic Grill again.

~~~~♡~~~~  

The meeting with Isobel did not go smoothly as Emma was hoping. Elena had come out of the restaurant, tears coming down. She and Emma had gone home and the next day Bonnie had come over, saying she felt bad about leaving and comforted Elena after finding out about Isobel. Now, the Gilbert sisters were at their school, meeting Bonnie in a classroom, telling them she had something.

"Hey. Thanks for meeting me." Bonnie said when the girls walked through the classroom door. "I wanted you guys to see this."

"Is that Emily's spell book?" Emma asked, gesturing to the book next to Bonnie.

Bonnie nodded. "I've been going through it since Grams died. Check this out." She pointed to a picture on one of the pages.

"That's the vampire compass." Elena stated.

"Yeah. According to Emily, Johnathan Gilbert never actually succeeded in inventing anything. Emily secretly spelled them all with magic; compass, rings, and the mystery device you told me about." Bonnie said, flipping the pages.

Emma looked at the picture of the box and nodded. "Yeah, that's it. Well, part of it. Damon only has the one piece."

Bonnie continued. "Emily pledged her loyalty to Katherine. But the 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 he'd actually invented these devices."

"Does it say what it does?" Emma asked, watching Bonnie read the page.

"Are you sure this is what Isobel wants?" Bonnie asked.

Elena furrowed her eyebrows. "Yeah, I'm sure. Why?"

Bonnie looked at them intensely. "This is a weapon against vampires."

Emma's eyes widened. "What?" She looked at Elena to see the same expression on her face.

"We need to find Stefan." Elena said, grabbing Emma's arm and leading her outside. They walked through the crowd but could not find Stefan any where.

"Emma! Elena!" The girls turned and saw Jeremy walk up to them.

"Hey, have you seen Stefan? We need to find him." Elena asked, looking around.

Jeremy shook his head. "No. Not lately. Listen, do you have a second?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah. What's up? What's going on?" Elena said.

They kept walking. "Well, it's Anna. I left her all these messages, and she hasn't gotten back to me, not even a text." Jeremy said.

Emma and Elena stopped walking and turned to Jeremy. "Anna? You guys are still friends?" Emma asked, worried to hear his answer.

"Well, we're more than friends." Jeremy said quickly. "Look, something could be seriously wrong. And if you know anything, you gotta tell me." Jeremy pleaded.

"I haven't talked to her, Jer." Elena said truthfully.

Jeremy was quick to counter her statement. "Are you lying to me, right now?"

Emma saw Elena's shocked expression. "Why would you say that?" she asked, offended.

"'Cause that's what you do, Elena. You lie. You lie about everything. I know what Anna is. And I know that both of you know. So tell me, do you two have any idea where she is?" Jeremy pushed.

Emma shook her head. "Jer, we don't."

Jeremy stared at Emma, not believing her, before taking off. Emma had small tears forming when she saw his expression. Before and even after the death of their parents, Emma and Jeremy were inseparable. They told each other everything; about what was bringing them down or whatever came to mind. Even when she was living with John, they called each other and always talked about everything. They were the closest brother and sister you would ever know. And knowing that he doesn't believe her at all, hurts her. It's not like she wants to keep this from him. There were many times where she was close to telling him everything, but Elena was against it. Emma's not saying it's Elena's fault or anything because all she wants is Jeremy to be safe.

Emma went after him, ignoring Elena's calls. "Jer, please, wait." she said, squeezing through people to get to her brother. Jeremy suddenly stopped, making her bump into his back.

He turned around and glared at her. "What."

Emma stared up him. "I'm sorry, Jer. I really am."

Jeremy shook his head. "I thought we were close, Emma. We told each other everything. Do you know how hurt I felt when I found out that you and Elena were keeping this from me? Like I was stabbed in the back." He pulled out his phone and dialed a number. "If you'll excuse me, I have to call Anna."

"Jer, ple-" Emma began to say but was cut off by a woman that started dragging her towards a car. "Hey let me go!" she said, fighting against the woman's grip. She saw Jeremy being dragged as well but by a man dressed in a cowboy outfit.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Emma looked over to see Isobel leaning against the car. She glared at the woman, hatred flowing out of her. Why was she not surprised that Isobel was behind this.

"Ooo, that look doesn't suit such a pretty little face." Isobel said, faking some what concern. She looked at her two companions. "Get them in the car."

With that, the Gilbert siblings were shoved inside the car, soon followed by Isobel. "Where are you taking us." Emma asked, still glaring at her. Isobel didn't say anything to her and told the driver to go. "Where are you taking us!" Emma asked once again louder.

Then in a blink of an eye, Isobel held Emma's wrist in a strong grip that made the young girl gasp in pain. "If you keep asking me pointless questions, I will break every bone in your body and then do the same to you're brother. Understand?" When Emma didn't answer, Isobel squeezed hard. "Understand." she said more sternly.

Emma nodded and Isobel released her wrist. She cradled it to her chest and leaned into Jeremy, who was sitting there, watching the encounter. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, forgetting that he was angry at her. The car stopped in front of a big fancy house after 10 minutes. The Gilberts were once again dragged out of the car into the house, where they were forced to sit down in a small library. Isobel left the room and soon Emma heard a new voice. It sounded like. . . John? The voices got closer.

"'Cause I have the next big thing." Isobel said before walking in the room, with John behind her.

Emma and Jeremy tried to get but were shoved back down by the cowboy. John had a shock expression on his face. "What the hell are you doing?" he said, getting closer to the kids.

"Getting what I want." Isobel said.

"Yeah, but they are my niece and nephew. And you're gonna let them go right this second." John demanded.

Isobel smiled. "The gaudy ring on your finger," Isobel began, looking at John's ring. "It comes off."

John shook his head. "Come on. Come on, Isobel. I--I know you. Okay?" He got closer to her. "It's me, John. You can't hurt a kid."

"I'll kill them to prove you wrong." Isobel countered wickedly. Emma and Jeremy shared a look, believing that she would actually to it.

"Really? Are you that far gone?" John asked. "Look, I know you've changed. Okay? But the old Isobel is in there somewhere still. Isn't she?" Isobel was silent. "Come on. Let them go."

Isobel nodded. "Okay." Emma was a little suspicious. Would Isobel let them go? Isobel put an hand on John's arm and spoke to the cowboy and woman in french. What happened next scared Emma a lot.

John walked towards Emma and Jeremy when the woman grabbed a candle holder and hit John across the face. Emma gasped as John fell. The cowboy then kicked John in the stomach, making him grunt in pain. Emma looked up and saw Isobel sitting down, like she was enjoying the show.

"Stop it!" Emma said to Isobel. The man and woman kept going, kicking him in his side. "Stop!"

"Okay." Isobel said, holding a hand up. She reached down and grabbed John's hand, where the ring was. "Nice try, John. We'll see how you do without this." she said, taking the ring off his finger." Isobel got up and went toward the exit when she stopped. "Emma, come with me." Emma didn't move from her spot. "I said come." Isobel said forcibly.

Emma stood up and followed Isobel out of the room. The only thing that could be heard in the halls were the 'clicks' of Isobel's heels. They kept walking until they made it to another room. "Please, Emma, sit with me." Isobel said, sitting on a chair. Emma slowly walked over and sat down. "So do you li-"

"Why am I here?" Emma asked, interrupting her.

Isobel was taken back at the interruption but answered nonetheless. "So I can get what I want."

"Which would be the compass." Emma interjected.

Isobel nodded. "You're a smart girl." Isobel leaned back and crossed her legs. "Tell me, how did a young girl like you end up in all of. . . this?" she asked, playing with John's ring.

Emma slightly shrugged. "I don't know. How did a person like you become a cold hearted being?"

Isobel laughed. "Feisty. I like it. I like you, Emma. I really do. But you forget that I am a vampire and it would be a shame for me to kill you if you keep insulting me." Emma formed her hands into fists.

"Elena's not going to give it to you." the young girl said.

"Oh, I think she will if it means to save her little brother and sister." Isobel said, smirking when she saw Emma lower head in realization. "I might give you guys back, but you never know."

Emma sat quietly for sometime, coming up with some sort of plan to escape. With her head still lowered, she looked over to the front door. Then, very quickly, Emma shot up and ran for the door. She heard laughter before she felt a sharp pain on her head, making her fall deep into unconsciousness.

~~~~♡~~~~  

Emma let out a moan when she finally woke up. She felt a hand on her shoulder and she flinched away, opening her eyes. "Hey, it's okay." She looked up to see Jeremy looking down at her. That's when she started to look at her surroundings. She was on a couch. In her living room. How'd she get home? "She let us go." Jeremy said in a hushed tone. He must have seen her confused expression.

"What?" Emma asked., sitting up. She looked into the kitchen to see John sitting at the dining table with Jenna cleaning the blood off his face. "Why would she do that?"

Jeremy sighed. "Elena must have agreed to give whatever she has to her."

Emma closed her eyes. Why Elena? Why?, she thought. Right when she thought that, the house phone rang. Emma grabbed it and answered. "Hello?"

"Emma? Are you okay? Is Jeremy with you?" She heard Elena's voice in the receiver.

"Yeah, yeah, we're fine. Uncle John, uh, hit his head." Emma said, making sure not to say anything suspicious in front of Jenna. "It was an accident."

"We're all laughing." Jenna shouted.

Emma chuckled. "Yeah, but, we're okay." Emma said.

"I'll be home soon, alight?" Elena said.

Emma nodded. "Yeah." She hung up and tossed the phone in front of her. She looked over at Jeremy. "Are you okay?" she whispered.

Jeremy shrugged. "I guess."

Emma nodded once again. She looked up and stared at John who stared back. He gave her a slight nod.

"I'm going to go upstairs." Jeremy said, and left before Emma could say anything.

Emma sighed and got up from the couch, closing her eyes when she felt the pounding in her head. She slowly went up each step of the stairs to her room. She laid down on her bed. After a few moments went by, she head Elena and Jeremy arguing. She closed her eyes as tears began falling out of her eyes. Everything was starting to fall apart around her. Jeremy hates Elena and probably herself. She's hiding things from Jenna. It was like she was living two different lives; one where she's a some-what normal fourteen year old and another where she has to help keep vampires away. Emma just hopes that one day, everything might go back to the way it was.