The Gilbert Twins

Chapter Thirty Four: A Few Good Men Part I

"Hey, what are you doing here all by yourself?"

Holly looked up, not even realizing that she had been half staring into space. She was still dressed in the black funeral dress that she had worn to Grams funeral. She couldn't believe that Grams was dead. She was the only one that knew, besides Bonnie how Holly really felt being a witch herself and what if someday she had questions, who would be able to answer them?

"I just needed some alone time after the funeral." Holly admitted. "It brought back a lot of stuff from Mom and Dad, funerals can be depressing."

Jenna nodded sympathetically.

"Speaking of which, I know this is probably the wrong moment, but did you find anything about my birth parents?"

Jenna nodded. "Come inside, I want to show you and Elena something."

Holly followed Jenna inside, Elena was already there. She had dressed out of her funeral clothes and was wearing jeans and a blouse. She gave Holly a faint smile, it was pretty clear that the funeral had depressed her as well.

Jenna turned the computer towards them. "You dad kept everything from his medical practice, journals old entry logs, etc. I found an entry from the night you guys were born. There was a girl's name."

"Isobel Peterson." Elena read the name as she faced Jenna. "Is that her real name?"

"Probably not," Jenna admitted. "Teenage runaway, first name maybe but where did she get Peterson? So I type in the last name and found people who were born the same year as Isobel, and I found a woman Trudie Peterson who lives in Grove Hills, Virginia."

Holly let out a sigh of relief. "That's not far from here."

"And I also got this." Jenna clicked on the screen and an old photo of Isobel and Trudie popped up. Isobel was in the picture dressed in a cheerleading outfit.

Elena smiled. "She was a cheerleader like me." It seemed all of the anger she had felt towards her birth mom for abandoning them had melted when they saw that they had something in common.

"She still lives there." She passed a post it to Holly. "This is her address."

"What about Isobel?" Elena asked.

Jenna looked uncomfortable. "I couldn't find anything about her." She paused looking at Holly's disappointed face. "Listen, there's something else Mr. Saltzman's wife was also named Isobel."

Holly frowned. "Was as in?"

"She's dead."

"Alaric's wife-I mean Isobel's murder was never solved?" Holly asked Elena as she parked the car in Grover Hill. Holly couldn't help but feel nervous, what would they even say to Trudie? We're your best friend's daughters?

Elena nodded. "That's what Stefan said." She shook her head. "No, that would be too much of a coincidence. Alaric's wife can't be our mom. Let's just go talk to Trudie, she'll know who our birth father is."

Holly nodded as she got out of the car and tightened her blue coat around her slim figure trying not to feel nervous. She knocked on the door of a small, red house. A woman answered the door. "Yes, can I help you?"

Holly gaped.

Elena took over. "Trudie Peterson?"

"Yes?"

"My name is Holly Gilbert." Holly finally managed to say. "And this is my twin sister, Elena. We wanted to talk to you about Isobel Flemming."

"Well, I haven't heard that name in years," Trudie smile. "How do you two know her?"

"Do you know if she gave up twins for adoption?"

Trudie gasped. "You're her daughters. I was just going to make some tea, would you like some?"

Holly nodded. "Sure, we would love some."

"Uh, kitchen is this way."

Holly and Elena entered the kitchen, the smell of vanilla and mint seemed to calm Holly down as they sat down on the wide oak table. "We're sorry to barge in like this, curiosity got the best of us."

Trudie shook her head. "No problem at all, it was just a surprise that's all. I haven't thought about Isobel in years."

"When was the last time you saw her?" Elena asked.

Trudie thought for a moment. "Seventeen years ago, we kept in touch for a while, but you know people drift apart. I do know she went to Florida for a bit and then she managed to get a scholarship into Duke. Smart girl, smart school."

Holly bit her lip. "And do you know anything about our birth father?" For all she knew he was a founding member as well.

Trudie shook her head. "I could never get her to confess, I'm going to bring out your tea."

"Isobel was a star, best cheerleader we've had in years," Trudie explained as she flipped through the worn out yearbooks on the coffee table. "All the boys were crazy about her, I imagine it's the same with the two of you."

"Actually she has a boyfriend," Holly pointed to Elena who smiled, thinking of Stefan. "And I'm currently single."

Trudie smiled as she looked at Elena's teacup. "You haven't touched your tea."

"Oh," Elena grabbed the tea cup and took a sip. She paused. "What's this?"

"Oh, just some herbal mixture."

Holly frowned as she took a sip of her own tea. Vervain. Definitely vervain. "Vervain, you know about-"

"You need to leave." Trudie pushed herself up from her chair and pointed to the door. "Leave now!"

"What are you not telling us?" Elena demanded.

"Please leave now!" Trudie shouted.

Holly tugged on Elena's arm, practically pushing her sister out. "Come on, Elena." They exited into the cool air, neither sister talking. Holly saw through the corner of her eye, a man standing in the street as if waiting for them. "Who-"but when she turned around, he had already left.

"So are you going to the fundraiser?" Holly asked wearily as she parked the car in front of the Salvatore mansion trying to forget everything that had happened today. Neither girl had said a word, it seemed both of them were lost in their own thoughts.

Elena nodded wearily. "We sort of have too, we're founding families after all."

She nodded. "Good point." She parked the car.

"Why are you parking?" Elena asked. "I thought you were dropping me off so that Stefan could take me."

"I thought I'd go see Damon, to see how he's you know . . . dealing. I doubt it's with self-help books."

"Holly," she sighed. "You're wasting your time, Damon doesn't want help nor does he need it."

Holly closed the door. "It's worth a try."