The Gilbert Twins

Chapter Thirty Six: A Few Good Men Part II

"Damon?"

Holly awkwardly peered through the side of Damon's bedroom, but nothing. She pushed the door even further, her curiosity getting the best of her. His room was huge, not to mention beautiful. Well, maybe not beautiful but it was the kind of room magazines advertised for honeymoons. Holly noticed the book Gone with the Wind on him night table.

She smirked. Damon reading for fun? She would have never guessed. She had never read Gone with the Wind, but she had heard it was a pretty decent book and a southern favorite. She was just reading the summary when Damon whispered in her ear. "Boo!"

Holly jumped up, clutching the book to her chest. "Damon," she scowled as she threw the book at him, which he easily caught. "You scared me."

"It's your fault for snooping. What are you doing here?" he smirked and she only now noticed that he was only wearing a pair of tight jeans and no shirt. "Like what you see?"

She flushed. "You look. . ." the word handsome was at the tip of her tongue, but she didn't want to boost Damon's ego even more. She had been so distracted by his chest that only now did she begin to smell the alcohol.

"Dashing? Gorgeous? Sexy?"

"Drunk." She said. "Like a skunk."

"Cute." He smirked, not the least bit offended. "Did you get that from a cartoon? Anyway, you shouldn't sneer especially since I'm one of Mystic Falls' most eligible bachelors."

"You?" she blurted out. "You're going to be at the fundraiser tonight?"

He nodded. "Isn't this the reason why you came? To get a taste, I could make you the winner you know."

She rolled her eyes as he grabbed a shirt. "Thanks, but no thanks."

"Can you help with this?" Damon said motioning to his open shirt. "I'm bad with buttons."

Holly sighed as she began buttoning his shirt. "So how are you doing?"

"Since we're doing the whole rhyming thing happy as a clam. You?"

"I just found out who my birth mother is." Holly offered the only news she had.

Damon looked disgusted. "Who cares?"

Holly glared at him.

"She left you, she sucks. She doesn't deserve an ounce of your pity." Damon said simply.

Holly simply shrugged as she stood back. "There all done. So I guess I'll see you at the fundraiser eligible bachelor."

"You're not working tonight, Holly?" Matt asked Holly. Holly, Elena, and Matt were surrounding one of the small tables where Caroline was selling the raffle tickets to glorify her Miss Mystic Falls application.

Holly shook her head as she took a sip of her soda. "Nope, I got today off, I'm lucky now all I have to do is watch middle age woman make fools of themselves."

"Hey," Elena playfully whacked her. "Aunt Jenna bought a raffle ticket."

"Opps."

"Hi, Kelly." Elena said brightly as Kelly Donovan, Matt's mother came in. "Long time no see."

"Elena, honey. Holly, darling you two are looking more beautiful each time I see you." Kelly gave each of them a quick hug. Holly smiled. She liked Kelly, but she sometimes felt sorry for Matt who always seemed responsible for her and Vicki. But if Matt was happy, oh well.

"Oh, same old." She turned to Elena. "I heard you broke Matt's heart."

Elena flushed. "Oh, I-"

"Mom." Matt warned.

"Don't worry he already found his rebound girl." Kelly said glancing at Caroline and throwing some money on the counter. "Oh, here you go sweetie, however that will buy."

As they waited for Caroline to count the money, Kelly turned back to them. "I just hope I don't get bachelor number three, I dated him in high school." She winked at Holly. "Not impressive."

". . . And lastly Damon Salvatore." Carol smiled and she frowned. "We don't have much on you." The raffle had been going on for forty five minutes and Damon was the last bachelor. There were a few people that Holly recognize such as Alaric her history teacher, but Damon was the youngest at least physically.

Damon threw her a cocky grin. "Well, I'm tough to fit on a card."

"Saved you a seat." Holly whispered as Stefan joined them. "Just in time for the show."

Stefan grimaced. "More like the nightmare."

"Do you have any hobbies? Like to travel?" Carol prompted.

Damon nodded. "Oh, yeah California, New York. A few years ago I was in North Carolina, near the Duke Campus. Rick, I think your wife went there, didn't she?"

Holly couldn't help but hear the irony in Damon's voice, she saw Alaric frowning, Stefan closing his eyes, and Elena turning pale looking closed to tears. Why was everyone getting so upset?

"Stefan, what is-"

"I'll explain," Stefan said gently as he pulled Elena and Holly towards the exit. "I already told Elena, but Holly Damon is related to your birth mom, Isobel."

"Related?" she squeaked. "How?"

"Just come with me."

Damon had killed Isobel. He had killed her birth mom and apparently Alaric's wife. Stefan had just explained everything to her, that Damon was responsible for killing Isobel. Holly felt the rage inside her burning. She wanted to tear him into pieces, to destroy him, to make him suffer. Too bad that they were in a public place.

She found Damon backstage, thankfully it was empty. Without thinking Holly pushed him, at this point physical strength was more useful than magic. "How could you?"

"What are you talking about?" Damon asked. "Not that it hurt, but still."

"Did you enjoy it?" she snapped. "Rubbing it in Alaric's face? Making my sister cry, making me feel like an idiot again?"

He blinked. "What are you talking about?"

"The woman you killed, Alaric's wife and my mother, her name was Isobel." Holly spat. "I can't believe I ever felt sorry for you."

"What are you doing?" Elena asked wide eyed as she stepped into Holly's room. She found Holly's room messily done as she was hastily putting clothes in a suitcase. "Are you going on a trip?"

"Yep." Holly announced sounding almost hysterical. "Mystic Falls and I need a long break. I should have never come back here."

"Holly, you're not making any sense-"

"Don't you get it Elena," she snapped. "I never wanted to be a part of this! I never wanted to be a witch, or watch my friend's grandmother die, or deal with supernatural creatures that I don't understand. Everything is moving too fast, everything I've known for the past seventeen years has been a lie so excuse me if I have a bit of a break down and want to leave town for a few days."

"What about school?" Elena blurted out. "Your job? Holly, you can't just dump everything and leave."

"Murdered birth mother, unknown birth father, and dead adoptive parents, I can assure you I can, Elena." Holly said sarcastically as she pulled the zipper of the suitcase. "I'll call you and Jenna to tell you that I'm safe."

Elena crossed her arms over her chest. "Where are you going to go? And for how long?"

Holly shook her head. "I don't know."