The Salvatore Jewel

Chapter 10

The next day, Ellie went to school where she began to read her mother's diary to find out more about her mother's past. After finishing her English class, it was time for lunch and that gave Ellie the chance to read the first entry of her mother's diary. She went through the food line and took a seat outside on one of the tables, getting the diary out of her backpack. Once she got herself settled, the girl read the first entry.

May 1858

Dear Diary,
I will never forget this day for as long as I live. I am deeply saddened that my close friends, Damon and Stefan, lost their mother to consumption. They already go through enough as it is, especially with them being with their father. Mr. Salvatore is so abusive towards them that it just makes me sick. My family and I went to the funeral for Mrs. Salvatore, being the close friends of the family. I couldn't bare to see the distraught look on Stefan's face. Damon told me that he could bare to be at the funeral after telling his brother that he had the right to cry since he was just a child. I did what I could to comfort them but I feel as if I didn't do enough. I can only do my best and be there for Damon and Stefan. For that is our pact. We will always be there for each other.
Yours Truly, Victoria.

By the time she had finished reading the first entry, the bell had rang, signaling that lunch was over. Ellie quickly gathered her stuff and headed back inside. Jeremy caught up with Ellie and said to her, noticing Ellie's mother's diary in her hands, "So, did you start reading that yet?" Ellie replied, nodding, "Yeah, I just read my first entry just earlier during lunch." Jeremy smiled and said, "Did you find anything?" Ellie shaked her head and replied, "No, nothing. The entry was just about my grandmother's funeral." Jeremy gave his friend a sympathetic smile. His eyes lit up when he came with an idea. He smiled at Ellie and said, "Hey, there's a party at Caroline's this coming weekend. And I have been meaning to ask you if you wanted to go with me but I guess I forgot." Ellie smiled back at Jeremy and replied, "Of course, I will go with you, Jeremy. All you had to do was ask." Jeremy's smile grew at Ellie's answer and allowed her to walk in front of him into the classroom. Ellie smiled and playfully rolled her eyes at her friend's antics. As she walked into the classroom, Ellie noticed that Elena wasn't in the class in her usual seat. Ellie turned to Jeremy and said to him, "Uh, Jeremy? Where's Elena?" Jeremy sighed and replied, "Your guess is as good as mine, El. Elena has been acting really weird lately, even around your dad." Ellie was taken back and said, shaking her head, "My dad? What does my dad have to do with anything? As far as I know, he's been busy trying to find out what to do about our situation." Jeremy replied, "So, wait. You haven't told Damon about Katherine?" Ellie said, crossing her arms as she sat in her seat, "That's another subject that doesn't get talked about when I'm around Dad or Uncle Stefan. You and I both know that of Katherine gets brought up, we're screwed." The teacher walked into the classroom, ending the two friends' conversation, and started the class.

While Ellie was in school, Damon and Stefan continued their search at the Salvatore Boardinghouse to see what they could find. Even though Ellie and her friends went through the attic, it didn't hurt to have another set of eyes to scan through the place. Damon looked through a box and said to Stefan, grimacing as he took out an old picture of him and Stefan when they were young, "Why do we even have all of this stuff?" Stefan turned to his brother and replied, shrugging his shoulders, "I don't know, it came with the house." Just as they were starting to look through some of the stuff, a knock on the door interrupted the two brothers' search. Stefan walked down the staircase and opened the door to see Elena. He looked at Elena with confusion and said, "Elena? What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in school?" Elena walked past Stefan, ignoring his questions. Stefan closed the door behind him and stood in the foyer as he watched Elena walk around the place, as if she was looking for something or rather someone. At the mention of Elena's name from Stefan, due to his vampire hearing, Damon sped downstairs to find his girlfriend walking around the place. Damon turned to Stefan with a puzzled look, only for Stefan to shrug his shoulders. Damon cleared his throat and said to Elena, "Um, Elena? Are you looking for something?" Elena muttered, "Where is she?" Damon raised his eyebrow and said, hearing Elena, "Where is who?" Elena slightly jumped, unaware that Damon was now in the room, and said, turning around to face Damon, "Oh, I was just looking for.......someone. But it seems that they're not here so therefor my presence is no longer needed."

Before Elena could make her way out of the house, Ellie's voice called out throughout the house, letting her dad and uncle know that she was home. Damon and Stefan both turned to see Ellie walking into the house with Jeremy close behind her. Jeremy rose his eyebrow when he noticed Elena in the living room and said to her, "Elena? What are you doing here?" Ellie followed Jeremy's gaze into the living room and found Elena looking at the group with a worried look, as if she had gotten caught. Ellie kept quite, she didn't know what to do in a situation like this. Now that she knew that Elena was Katherine's doppelganger and that Katherine was trying to get revenge on her dad and uncle by attempting to kill her, she wanted to stay as far away as possible from Elena. Unaware of doing so, Ellie inched closer to Jeremy and slightly gulped. Jeremy glanced at Ellie to see her face going pale and whispered to her, concerned, "Ellie? Are you okay?"

Ellie only nodded as she continued to stare wearily at Elena. Damon cleared his throat, ending the tension in the air, and said to Ellie and Jeremy, diverting the attention from Elena to the two friends, "So, do you guys have anything planned this afternoon?" Ellie nodded with a smile, getting over her nervousness, and replied, "Yeah, Jeremy and I were just going to hang out around town. If that's okay with you and Uncle Stefan." Damon shrugged his shoulders and said, "I'm cool with it. Just stay out of trouble and call me if anything happens." Ellie nodded and started to make her way out of the doorway, dropping her backpack on the floor by the door as she did, before grabbing her phone and purse. Jeremy saluted at Damon and said to him, "Don't worry, she's in safe hands, Damon." Damon nodded at Jeremy and held back a smirk when Ellie came back and pulled Jeremy out of the doorway, to hurry up the pace.