Unstoppable | The Vampire Diaries

18. Gone With The Witch

Riley woke in a cold sweat, the same way she'd been waking up every morning for the last week. Her parents had allowed her to skip school, where she stayed under the covers and barely left her room. Every time she closed her eyes, she could see Stefan's fangs. She could practically feel the teeth in her neck, and every time she looked in the mirror at the marks that were taking ages to heal, she went back to that day.

It was Stefan. The good one. The brother that she'd risked her life for. How could something like blood change a good guy into an almost-murderer?

A knock on the door made Riley jump, pulling her out of her spiraling thoughts.

"Hey honey," her dad said, poking his head around the door. "Bonnie's here to see you."

If it was anyone else, she would have said that she didn't want to see them. But Bonnie was there that day. And she was the only person who wouldn't try to defend Stefan's actions, like Elena or Damon would.

"OK," she said softly, nodding.

Chris smiled sadly at his daughter, before sending Bonnie in to see her. The animal attack had really shaken her up, and he was worried about how long it was taking her to recover. Bonnie, on the other hand, completely understood where she was coming from. When Damon had bitten her, she didn't know if she'd ever not be scared of him.

"Hey," she said, walking into the room. "How are you?"

"Fine," Riley lied.

Bonnie sat on her bed. "If it was up to me, I'd let you stay at home and wallow in much-deserved self-pity for as long as you need. But there's this person that won't allow that. You may have met her... Caroline Forbes?"
Riley smiled.

"We're supposed to help build the Miss Mystic float for the Founder's Day parade and she's refusing to do it without you. Especially since you missed her actually winning the pageant."

Riley sighed. "Bonnie, I can't risk running into him. Every time I even think about going outside I just think about him attacking me again."

"He won't," Bonnie assured her quickly. "Elena and Damon vervained him, drained him of blood and got him back on the right path. He's not drinking human blood anymore."

Riley shrugged. "Even if I believed that... I can't trust him."

"You think I can?" Bonnie asked. "I'm the last person to ever defend or advocate for a vampire. I'm not saying that you have to trust him. But being in this town, having the friends that we have, we can't avoid. But what we can do, is help Miss Mystic Falls with that float."

Riley sniffed and nodded, Bonnie was right. If she wanted to be friends with Bonnie, Caroline and Elena, she'd have to accept the fact that, like it or not, Damon and Stefan would be... around. And she'd have to find a way to deal with that.

"I'll try," she promised.

Bonnie smiled and hugged her friend.

Eventually, they arrived at the school. Being outside wasn't as scary as Riley thought it would be, especially when she had Bonnie the Bennett witch by her side. She felt safe.

"Riley! How are you?" Caroline asked, launching at her and pulling her into a tight hug.

"I'm fine, Care," Riley insisted, holding her equally as tightly. "Really."

"So, what are we doing with the float?" Bonnie asked, distracting Caroline before she could ask too many questions about Riley's mysterious absences.

Caroline kept one arm around Riley's shoulders as she addressed Bonnie.

"Southern classic elegance."