"Wait, explain it to me again," Caroline said, shaking her head in confusion. "You're related to-"
"The devil, yeah." Riley nodded, sighing in frustration. "Maybe. I mean, he never told me anything, just said we have 'all the time in the world'. But he knew my middle name, and it felt like he... recognized me."
Caroline bit her lip worriedly. "No, that can't be right. This is you, Riles. You're not evil... you're nothing like Seline and Sybil."
Riley shrugged her shoulders. "The only person I can get answers from is Cade, and it's not like he's gonna be stopping by for a chat anytime soon." She took her sister's hand. "How long does Stefan have?"
Caroline put on a brave smile. "He has today. We get Christmas, and then he and Damon start their eternal servitude to Cade... sending evil people to hell."
"I can't believe this is happening," Riley said under her breath. "You guys should be planning your wedding. We should be having an engagement party, and Damon and I should be planning Bachelor and Bachelorette parties. You know, where I plan something tasteful and his ends up looking like 'The Hangover'."
Caroline laughed, glad to have even a moment of happiness in what she thought would be the worst day of her life. The day when Stefan left her, and she had no idea when he'd come back.
There was a knock at the door, and they went to answer it together. The only thing Stefan wanted on his last day was a normal Christmas. Or, as normal as they could manage.
Caroline opened the door to Ric and the twins.
"Merry Christmas!" they squealed excitedly in unison.
"Hi girls!" Caroline said, equally excited.
"Merry Christmas!" Riley added. They both pulled the girls into hugs, relieved that Stefan and Damon's deal had spared the girls an eternity of Cade.
"Hey, I thought I heard you two," Stefan said, coming in from the kitchen, where he'd been cooking. "I have your Christmas present upstairs."
He took the girls by their hands and led them up the stairs. Ric removed his coat, awkwardly avoiding eye contact with Caroline and Riley.
"What's wrong?" Caroline asked, worry immediately replacing her previous smile.
"I have to tell you something," he said guiltily, looking at Riley, whose chest began to feel uneasy. Couldn't they have one day without something bad happening?
Before Ric could answer, the front door burst open and in walked Damon, arm-in-arm with Sybil. The eldest Salvatore smirked.
"Merry Christmas, Ric."
Ric stared at him in disbelief. "I killed you."
Caroline's mouth dropped open, and Riley gritted her teeth, trying not to react in front of Sybil. From what she could tell, the Siren was still in Damon's head, which meant that their relationship was still a secret.
"You what?!" Caroline asked angrily.
"Yeah, he and Matt took a whack at me," Damon confirmed, grinning at them. "I know, I know... Christmas just got merry."
***
"I'm sorry," Bonnie said down the phone the second she answered Caroline's call. She and Riley were in the kitchen, hiding from their new arrivals. "I know we're late."
"Thank goodness. Don't come," Caroline warned. "Damon's here with that psycho American Idol reject. Enzo cannot be around her. And don't even get me started on what Matt and Ric just tried to pull."
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Unstoppable | The Vampire Diaries
Fanfiction❝Because there was no possible way that someone who was alive in the 1920s could still be alive today. No possible way.❞ [TVD 1x01+] Riley Fletcher is a human. In a normal town, this would make her extremely ordinary. In Mystic Falls, this makes he...
