Unstoppable | The Vampire Diaries

73. Truth or Scare

Riley awoke to a knock on the door. After a moment of disorientation, she remembered where she'd spent the night. In Aaron's room, occupying Jesse's bed.

She sat up and yawned as Elena entered the room, took one look at her, and struggled to stifle a smile.

"You heard about Jesse?" Riley guessed, wondering why else she would be there.

"Jesse?" Elena asked, feigning confusion. No matter what, she couldn't give away the truth about what had happened to the newest vampire at Whitmore.

"He killed himself last night," Aaron clarified. There was an undeniable pain in his eyes as he repeated the words that Dianne Freeman had told him the previous evening.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry," Elena said, her eyes flashing up to meet Riley's, who immediately looked away, guessing that Elena had something to do with the 'suicide'.

"What is up with this college?" Aaron asked, more to himself than to either of the girls. He sat on Jesse's bed, beside Riley. "I came here to start fresh, get away from all the crap in my past."

Riley rubbed his arm sympathetically, knowing that nothing she said could make the situation any better.

"Hey," she recalled, looking at Elena. "If you didn't know about Jesse, what do you need?"

Elena frowned, wondering if she should even bring it up when Aaron was going through such a hard time.

"Have you heard from Damon?"

Riley shook her head. "No. Why?"

"Who's Damon?" Aaron asked, glancing between them.

Elena sighed, worry clouding her features. "He's my boyfriend. He went to talk to Wes last night and no one's seen or heard from them since. I know the timing sucks, but I was wondering if you guys could help me find Wes?"

"Yeah," Aaron said after a moment of hesitation. "I think I know a place where we can look."

***

"Hey mom, me again," Riley said into her phone as she and Elena followed Aaron to where Wes might be. "Call me back when you get this, we're still looking for Wes."

"Don't you think it's weird that both of your friends committed suicide before the first semester was even over?" Elena was asking Aaron.

"Of course I think it's weird," Aaron answered, taking Riley's hand in such a casual way that her heart fluttered, even under the less-than-casual circumstances. "Jesse loved it here, he had a huge crush on Riley's sister."

"So you don't think it was suicide?" Riley asked, avoiding eye contact with Elena once again. She didn't know the full story, and in a way, she didn't want it. There was enough that she was already lying to Aaron about, without the addition of his roommate's mysterious death.

Aaron shrugged. "None of this makes any sense."

"Look, Aaron," Elena began to confess. "I found Megan's body the night that she died. She was murdered, and Wes forged her death certificate."

"What?" Riley asked. "Why would Wes...?" she trailed off, realizing her mistake. Wes was part of the same secret society as her mother. Obviously that had something to do with the mysterious deaths – why else would Wes tell Elena and Caroline to drop out of college?

"Let's find him first," Aaron said as they stopped in front of Whitmore House. "I want to hear his side of the story."

He entered the house and Riley followed, before Elena caught her attention. She was still standing at the door, not able to enter.