Unstoppable | The Vampire Diaries

80. The Journey of Augustine

"I don't want to say 'I told you so' but..." Ciara Fletcher trailed off, pouring her daughter a cup of hot chocolate. Riley sat at the kitchen table, staring into space. "How are you feeling, sweetheart?"

Riley shrugged. "It's been three weeks since Aaron... y'know, since everything. I'm dealing, as best I can. But that's not why I came over."

"I know why you came," Ciara nodded. "Wes was found dead, so it'll be tricky. But if you can find a way to slip Damon some vervain, I'm sure we could get him down to the Augustine cells."

Riley tilted her head in confusion, the cup of hot chocolate burning her fingertips. "What are you talking about?"

"Damon Salvatore," her mother clarified. "He killed Aaron Whitmore – I thought you would want to retaliate."

Riley rolled her eyes. "You thought I'd want to kill him?" When her mom didn't respond, she continued. "Mom, I haven't forgiven Damon for what he did, I hate him for it. But that doesn't mean I want him dead! He is – was – my best friend."

Her mom shook her head. "Riley, your 'best friend' is a vampire. Your 'best friend' is a bad, selfish killer who only thinks about himself. Your 'best friend' murdered Aaron Whitmore. I was friends with his parents, way back when. I promised myself that their son would be looked after."

"I know exactly who and what Damon is. I know him better than anyone, and I know why he did it. Mom, I will miss Aaron... and it hurts me every day that there's nothing I can do to bring him back. But I will not be able to continue living in this supernatural world if I don't have my friends by my side. And for some reason, that still includes Damon. Do you get that?"

Ciara raised an eyebrow and took a sip from her coffee, not saying anything. Then she cleared her throat. "So if the murderer isn't why you came... what do you need?"

Riley took a deep breath. "I came because I want you to tell me about Augustine. Damon and Elena have both been infected with a ripper virus, and Wes told me how involved you are, and that Augustine is a part of me. So I want to know everything. Now."

Ciara knew that this was coming, and she couldn't put it off any longer.

"Do you remember when I told you that my mom rejected the whole 'witch' thing?" Ciara asked. Riley nodded, remembering the conversation that occurred when she first found out the truth about Stefan, Damon and her great-grandmother Gloria. "Well, that wasn't all. She rejected everything supernatural. Until she was told by her mother, Gloria, that vampire blood could heal humans. She wanted to put this to the test. So in 1940, she opened a facility that offered homeless vampires room and board in exchange for blood. It worked well for a while, until she wanted to take things to the next level, by conducting experiments to find out everything she could about their species. And as you can guess, the vampires weren't happy about that."

"So what did she do?" Riley asked, engrossed in the story.

"She employed vampire hunters," Ciara continued. "She told them that, when she was done with her experiments, they could kill them. So that's what they did. The hunters brought the vampires to her, she did her experiments, and then the hunters could have whatever was left of them. She mostly worked alone, until she met the Whitmore family. They admired what she was doing, and she let them take over when they offered her all the funding she'd ever need. They decided that keeping the vampires alive was the best option for her experiments. So the hunters turned into workers, helping them with whatever they needed. Her first long-term resident was a vampire called Lorenzo – or as she knew him, experiment number 12144."

"12144?!" Riley asked, outraged. "She did this to over 12,000 vampires?"

Ciara sighed. "Let me finish. She and the Whitmores kept doing these experiments long after I was born, and your grandma told me everything, kept me completely in the loop. She was grooming me to take over for her, something that I never wanted to have to do. And then one of her vampires got out. I never knew his name, but he started a fire and escaped, leaving 12144 to rot in his cell. That fire killed nearly every worker – soon it was just her and the Whitmores. They had children, and together, they taught all of us the ropes of the business. Your grandmother and Aaron's grandparents died in mysterious accidents in the 80's, but by then, Aaron's parents and I were joined by Grayson Gilbert, Wes Maxfield and Dianne Freeman, among others. I was as involved as my mother was, until I met your father. He didn't know anything about anything and I didn't want to drag him into it. So I restricted my involvement, only helping when the need was dire. Your dad and I had you and moved to New York while you were a newborn. I kept in contact with my old 'colleagues', but I couldn't risk your dad finding out."