Chapter 2

I walked into the Grill for my first day of work. I was supposed to meet a guy named Ben, and we were supposed to show me the ropes. I walked up to the bar and saw one guy writing at the bar and another one behind the bar.

"Ben?" I asked. Both of the guys looked at me. I became confused.

"I'm Ben." He clarified.

"Ok. Hi, I'm Myra. I'm supposed to be starting work here today." I told him. He nodded.

"Right. Ok, let me go get you a waist apron and a notepad. Do you have a pen?" He asked.

I looked in my bag and pulled one out.

"Great. I'll be right back." While he was gone, I looked at the other boy writing and recognized him.

"Hey, do you go to Mystic Falls High?" I asked him. He nodded.

"Yeah. Do you?" He asked.

"Yeah. I just started last week. Myra." I said holding out my hand.

"Matt." He answered shaking my hand. He smiled and looked down before we heard a door opening. It was Ben, who came back with a waist apron and a notepad.

"Alright here you go. So, you know each table number right?" I nodded.

"Great. First thing you can do is go give table six their bill."

"Ok. Doesn't sound too bad." I said smiling.

"Where can I put my bag?" "In the back room. Go through these double doors and it's the first door on your left." He said.

"Thank you." I went and put my bag away. I came back and put my waist apron on. I grabbed the bill that was on the counter and walked over to table six. I then noticed Elena was at table six with another girl.

"Hey, Elena."

"Myra . You work here?" She asked.

"I just started. Literally. I started five minutes ago." I said. She laughed.

"Oh, this is my best friend Bonnie. Bonnie this is Myra, she's Mr. Saltzman's daughter." Elena said.

I nodded and shook Bonnie's hand.

"Nice to meet you." She said smiling.

"Likewise." I said before I remembered why I was there.

"Right, here is your bill. I'll see you at school." I said smiling as I walked away. I just finished work, and I drove home with two burgers from the Grill.

When I got there, I saw my dad sitting at the kitchen table writing.

"Hey. How was work?" He asked smiling.

"It was good. Made a couple new friends, which is always good." I told him as I grabbed two plates.

"Good." He said happily. I was questioning why he was in such a good mood.

"What put you in such a good mood?" I asked him taking the burgers out of the bag and putting them on the plates. I slid him one of the plates as I sat down.

"Well, I asked Jenna to the 50s dance at the high school to chaperone and she said yes." He said, and he couldn't contain his happiness.

"Good for you. I'm happy your happy again." I said smiling.

"I'm happy too. Do you have work tomorrow?" He asked me.

"No." I told him before taking a bite of my burger. "I was actually gonna go to that dance."

"Ok. But, I want you to be careful. And make sure you have vervain on you." He told me.

"Yeah, yeah. I know."

It was the night of the 50s dance. I walked in and saw a whole bunch of kids talking, dancing, drinking, eating. I sighed and finally saw a familiar face. I saw Jenna and my dad. Suddenly, he walked off. I walked up to her.

"Hey Jenna." I said smiling.

"Where'd my dad go?"

"He's being a gentleman and getting us drinks." She said smiling.

"Nice outfit." "

Thanks. You too." I said. She smiled and the smile didn't go away.

"What's got you in such a good mood?" I asked her.

"I'm really starting to see a change in Jeremy. Finally." She said relieved.

"I heard about his parents. I'm sorry for your loss." I told her trying to comfort her.

"Thanks." She said sighing.

"Losing someone you love so suddenly, the, uh-the trauma and the grief there are some of the tougher things he'll face in life." I told her.

"From someone who knows. You have no idea what happened?" She asked me.

"That's the hard part, not knowing." I told her.

"Is it ok to talk about your mom?" She asked me.

"Heh. There's not much to talk about." I said shrugging my shoulders.

"That must be impossible to deal with, not having any answers." She said sympathetically.

"I'd be lying to you if I told you it didn't keep me up at night. Wondering why, by who." I said thinking about the constant times I have thought about it.

"Why someone would take my mother away from me."

"No person should have to go through that, especially a young girl like yourself. And maybe one day you'll find out." She told me putting her hand on my shoulder for comfort.

"I hope so." I said sighing.

"So, how are things with you and my dad?" I asked changing the subject.

"They're great. He's a real gentleman." She said smiling.

"So I've been told." I said rolling my eyes.

"What are you two talking about?" My dad asked walking up to us.

"Girl stuff." I told him.

"I'll see you guys later." I said walking away.

As I was walking, I bumped into someone and instantly felt cold. I looked up and saw the guy I bumped into his face falter so I shook it off.

"I'm so sorry. I'm such a clutz."

"It's fine. I wasn't looking where I was going." He said smiling.

"I'm Stefan Salvatore." He said holding out his hand.

I shook it and felt that cold feeling again. I was weirded out but continued to speak.

"Myraliana Saltzman." I then realized I recognized him.

"Wait, your in my history class right?" I asked him.

"Saltzman first period."

"Yeah. My girlfriend told me about you." He said realizing who I was.

"Girlfriend?" I asked not knowing who she was.

"Elena Gilbert." I nodded in realization.

"Yeah. We met last week." I said, but when I looked past Stefan's head I saw my dad talking to the vampire that attacked me. My eyes grew wide.

"Is something wrong?" He asked me with concern.

"Um ... No. Everything's fine. It was nice to meet you Stefan." I said with a smile.

I made sure the vampire or my dad didn't see me. I walked to the locker and classroom areas and walked into my dad's classroom. I looked around to make sure nobody was there. I grabbed an extra vervain syringe. I was walking back to the gym when I heard something. I turned the corner to see Elena about to be bit by a vampire. I hid behind the wall and looked just barely past the wall to see what was happening. But before anything could happen, I saw Stefan rip him away from her and tossed him to the ground. So, Stefan's a vampire. Good to know. Is that why I felt weird around him?

"Hey, dickhead." The vampire who attacked me said.

"Nobody wants to kill you. We just want to talk." The vampire who tried to hurt Elena started running towards her.

The vampire who attacked me threw the stake to Stefan, who grabbed it and staked the vampire in the stomach. He grunted and fell to his knees. I quickly ran out of there before they could see me.

"Well, the dance was not what I thought it would be." I told my dad as he was driving.

"Did you at least have a little fun?" He asked.

"Well, talking to Jenna was fun." I said smirking.

"But other than that, it was a total bust."

"How come?" He asked.

"Vampires were there." I told him.

"Yeah, I know. I talked to one. And, I haven't told you this but, I saw the vampire who killed Isobel." He said.

"How long have you known he was in town?" I asked clearly upset and angry.

"A couple days, but-"

"Why didn't you tell me? Dad, we're a team. You can't hide things like this from me." I told him upset he kept this from me.

"I know. But, I didn't want you to do anything. At least not yet." He said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Just, don't do anything. We just moved, and I don't want anyone figuring us out yet." He said.

I nodded and sighed. It's the next night and I was sitting in my dad's classroom. I was sitting there doing nothing, waiting for him to finish.

"How long is this going to take?" I asked.

"Just a couple more pages." He said.

"You said that thirty minutes ago." I told him.

"Well, you should've put gas in your car last night. Maybe you could've drove it to school this morning and you wouldn't have to sit here and watch me read. But, you do, so stop complaining." He said.

"Man, never interrupt a nerd while he's reading. Got it." I said annoyed.

"Since you're so bored ..." He said closing the journal and handing me some keys.

"Go make copies of the bookmarked pages and put them in my locker in the teacher's lounge."

"Fine." I said.

I grabbed the keys and journal and did what he asked me to. After I closed the door to the teacher's lounge, I heard something.

"Hello?" I asked.

I walked in the hallway and looked around.

"Hello? Someone there?" I walked to my gym locker and pulled out a duffel bag, with weapons in it. I brought them into my dad's room and gave him a "Somebody's here" look. He nodded.

He grabbed to blow dart gun from the duffel bag. He modified it to use wooden stakes and he grabbed some wooden stakes and inserted it into the blow gun. He cocked the gun and motioned for me to hide behind the cabinets in the back. I grabbed a stake from the bag and stood behind the cabinets. He hid up against the wall out in the corridor next to the classroom door. Swiftly, he turned into the doorway, pointed the gun, and shot the dart. I noticed the "someone" to be Stefan and he, without effort, grabbed the stake and stared at my dad. My dad began to reload another stake into the gun as Stefan watched him. He looked down and cocked the gun, moving towards the doorway as he did so. Stefan vamp-sped around him and blocked his way. My dad looked up at him, and Stefan grabbed him by his shirt.

"You shouldn't have done that." Stefan said.

Stefan pushed my dad into the desk and took the gun from him. My dad scrambled up from the floor, ready to fight.

"Have a seat." He hesitated, but Stefan pointed at a chair, insisting that he did as he was told. He sat down in a desk. Stefan examined the gun.

"What is this, compressed air?" No response.

"Did you make it yourself? Who are you?" Stefan moved closer to my dad, and I started to move from my hiding spot.

"I'm not going to hurt you ... unless you try that again." Stefan sat on top of one of the school, while my dad sat in his desk. Stefan handed the gun to my dad and he took it.

"Now..who are you?"

"I'm a teacher." He answered.

"Are we gonna have to do this the hard way?" Stefan asked.

"I'm also a historian. And while researching Virginia, I made a few discoveries about your town." He said.

"So you show up like Van Hellsing. Come on. Tell me the truth." Stefan said.

"My wife was a parapsychologist. She spent her life researching paranormal activity in this area. It was her work that led me here." My dad explained.

"Where's your wife?" Stefan asked.

"Dead. A vampire killed her." He answered. Stefan sighed.

"Where's the Gilbert journal?" Stefan asked.

"What do you want with it?" My dad asked skeptically.

"Where is it?" Stefan persisted.

"It's on my desk." My dad answered.

"No, it's not." Stefan said. I looked over at his desk and saw the journal was missing from where I put it.

"It was on my desk." He answered.

"Wait a minute ..." Stefan said. His eyes shot open as he started looking around the room.

"Someone else is in here." He stood up, and I came out from my hiding spot.

"I was wondering when you would notice." I said holding the stake in my hand.

"You can put the stake down. I promise I'm not here to hurt you. Just want to talk." He said.

I looked at my dad, and he nodded. I sighed and dropped the stake on one of the desks.

"How long have you been aware of me?" He asked both of us.

"I found out last night." I told him.

"I learned just recently. What about your brother?" My dad asked.

"You met Damon." Stefan said surprised.

"Who do you think killed my wife?" My dad asked.

"Wait wait wait ... Stefan's brother killed mom?" I asked trying to clear things up.

"Are you certain it was Damon?" Stefan asked.

"I witnessed it."

"Wait, wait. What does Damon look like?" I asked confused.

Stefan pulled out his phone and showed me a picture of the vampire that attacked me.

I angrily kicked on of the desks.

"That is the idiotic vampire that attacked me that night."

"Wait, your the mysterious huntress that kicked Damon's ass?" Stefan asked.

"No, I'm not a huntress. I was just trying to protect myself. He tried to feed on me." I explained.

"I'm sorry for Damon and his serious lack of being able to control his anger, but if you two are here for revenge, this is going to end very badly for you." Stefan said.

"We just want to find out what happened to my mom." I told him.

"I thought he just said that Damon ..."

"Yeah. I saw him draining the life out of her. He must have heard me coming. He just..disappeared. So did her body. They never found her." My dad explained.

"Damon can never know why you're here. He'll kill you, both of you, without blinking." Stefan said seriously.

"I can take care of myself." My dad said crossing my arms.

"No, you can't. I can help you both. If you let me." Stefan said, looking at us.

The last couple days has really been me working and doing school. No vampire issues, no deaths, and I was happy to get a little break from everything. I was walking to my car because I was on my way to the Gilbert Residence. Jenna called my dad asking for a screwdriver. He was swamped with grading papers, so he asked me to do it. I put the address my dad gave me in my phone and started driving. When I arrived, Jenna was sitting on the front porch.

"Hey ... Myra" She said, a little disappointed it was me.

"Listen, I know you called so my dad could bring the screwdriver. But, he is literally sitting in stacks of assignments that need to be graded." I explained putting the emphasis on 'my dad. "

" Yeah, I get it. It's fine. Would you like to come in? "She asked me.

" Sure, but just for a little while. I have to get back home soon. "I told her.

She nodded and smiled as she opened the door.

" Alaric's wife might have been your mother? "I heard Stefan say and instantly my eyes widened, and I became very confused. Stefan and Elena looked at me.

"What?" I asked confused.

"It's just a theory." Jenna said from behind me. "But, you're a Gilbert. My mom's maiden name was Flemming.

"I told her." I was adopted.

"Elena told me." But, that still doesn't explain how my mom is your mom. "I explained.

" It's not possible. The coincidence is-it's too much. "Stefan said.

" Yeah. Their's no way ... that we .. "I said pointing between Elena and I." ..could be sisters. It's just not possible. "I said.

" I don't know, Myra . There's a pretty big chance. "She said.

She looked down and sighed.

"Ok. I'm gonna head out. I'll tell my dad you wanted a Flathead screwdriver instead of the Phillips one so he'll have to come drop off the other kind." I said holding up the screwdriver.

She smiled at me.

"I'll see you later." I said to Elena and Stefan.

I walked out the door.

"Wait Myra !" Elena called out, and I turned towards her. She came outside the house and closed the door.

"What's up?" I asked her.

"I'm going to one of my biological mother's friend's house. Do you want to come? Because there's a pretty big chance that you're my sister, and I think you should be there." She told me.

"I don't know ..." I said.

"Listen, I know we just met, but I really don't want to go alone." She told me.

I sighed.

"Fine. Just let me call my dad real quick." I told her.

She nodded in relief.

I grabbed my phone from my pocket and called my dad.

"Hey Myra. Was Jenna home?" He asked.

"Yeah. But she wanted a Flathead screwdriver, so you're gonna have to bring her it later." I told him.

"Can't you do it? You know I'm drowning in things to grade." He said, sounding overwhelmed.

"I'm hanging out with Elena today so I can't." I told him.

"I'll be home later on. Love you. Bye." I said hanging up.

"Ok. We'll leave once Stefan leaves." She told me.

I nodded and we walked back inside.

Jenna was confused.

"I thought you were leaving." She said.

"I was, but Elena wanted to hang out today so I said, why not?" I said smiling.

"Cool. Is your dad stopping by later?" Jenna asked curiously.

I looked at Elena and we laughed.

"I'm sure he will." I told her smiling.

"Well, I should get going." He walked over to Elena and whispered something into her ear and she nodded.

I stepped back so he could walk past me. We made eye contact before he walked out the door. As soon as Stefan's car was gone, Elena spoke up.

"Ok, we should get going." Elena said.

I nodded.

"Is it ok if we take my car?" She asked.

"Yeah that's fine. Jenna, can I leave my car here?" She nodded.

"Thanks."

"I'll be back later." Elena said to Jenna.

She grabbed her keys and we walked out the door.

Once we started driving, I spoke up.

"So, I assume since your dating Stefan you know about the vampire situation in Mystic Falls." I said.

"Yeah. Just found out a couple weeks ago. How long have you known?" She asked me.

"I've known ever since my mom died." I told her.

She looked at me with sad eyes.

"I know how it feels to loose a parent." She told me.

She sighed before continuing.

"My parents and I were in our car when the car fell off a bridge. Somehow, I was lived, but both my parents.they .." I could see how sore the subject was.

"You don't have to talk about it. It's not something I like to talk about either." I told her.

"And, I'm sorry for your loss. That's coming from someone who knows how it feels."

"Thank you." She said giving me a slight smile.

After driving for a while, we finally pulled up to the address.

We got out of the car and walked up to the front door.

Elena prepared to knock, but hesitated for a moment.

"You can do it Elena. It'll be fine." I said giving her a reassuring smile. Finally, she worked up the courage, and knocked on the door. Elena shook her head and turned away when Trudie answered the door. We both looked at her.

"Trudie? Tru-trudie Peterson?" Elena asked.

"Yes?" Trudie asked.

"Uh, my name is Elena Gilbert and this is Myraliana Saltzman. We wanted to talk to you about Isobel Flemming." She said.

"Well, I haven't heard that name in years. How do you know her?" Trudie asked.

"I think that, um, well ... do you know if she had a baby that she gave up for adoption?" Elena asked.

"My god. You're her daughter." She said laughing. "I was just gonna make some tea. Would you two like some?" She asked.

"Sure." Elena said. I nodded.

"Uh, the kitchen's this way." Trudie said. Trudie backed away from the door. We both walked in. Elena removed her jacket and we walked into the kitchen. Trudie walked into the room from the kitchen.

"And who are you, young lady?" She asked looking at me.

"I'm her daughter." She looked at me confused.

"She never had another child." She said looking at me skeptically.

"Um ... she had me with my father, Alaric Saltzman." I explained.

"Oh, that's ... that's right." She said with an unconvincing smile. I looked at her with confusion before Elena spoke up.

"We weren't gonna come. I didn't think I was, but I was driving, and I hit this stoplight, and it made me think about when I was learning how to drive and then my mom would always warn me about this blind turn on the left-hand side, and then I was thinking about my mom, and-I had your address. We're sorry for barging in. " Elena explained apologetically.

"It's no problem. Um, just a surprise, though." Trudie said with a smile.

We all sat down at the kitchen table.

"I haven't thought about Isobel in years." She said sighing.

"When was the last time you saw her?" Elena asked.

"About 17 years ago, when she left to go have you." She said looking at Elena.

"We kept in touch for a while. I knew she was engaged, I didn't know she had a little girl," She said looking at me. "... but, well, you know, people drift apart." We nodded.

"And you don't know where she ended up?" Elena asked.

"She was in Florida for a while. She was on her own. I know it wasn't easy." Trudie explained.

"Do you have any idea who my father is?" Elena asked.

"I could never get her to fess up. Anyway, she finally pulled it together, got into college on a scholarship." Trudie said.

"Where did she go?" Elena asked.

"Duke, in North Carolina." I told her.

The kettle started whistling from the kitchen. "Let me just grab that." Trudie said. She got up and left to the kitchen. I turned to Elena.

"Look, based on what this lady is saying, there is a high chance that we're sisters. But, if that's so, than your real mother is dead." I told her.

"I know. But, I just want to know what happened." She said.

"You and me both." I told her sitting back in my chair sighing. Trudie cam back with the tea and some old yearbooks. She opened them up and showed us a picture of her and Isobel.

"Ah. They came to the games for us.The football team hadn't won in years. We were the stars. Well, Izzie was. But I was a damn good backup." Trudie said smiling.

"Heh. This is great. Thank you." Elena said smiling.

"Yeah it is. Seeing these pictures, it brings back memories." I said smiling.

"You're welcome." She looked at our teacups.

"You both haven't touched your tea."

"Oh. Yeah." I said. I picked it up and took a sip. I furrowed my brow at the taste of it. I then smelled it.

"What is this?" I asked. I could see the same look I had on Elena's face.

"Oh, it's just some herbal mixture." She said.

"Vervain?" I asked. Trudie didn't respond. My eyes widened.

"She knows." I said looking at Elena.

"Knows what?" Trudie asked shifting uncomfortably.

"You didn't invite us in, and you're serving vervain tea. You know." I concluded looking at her. She stood up.

"I think that you should probably leave." She said.

"Fine." I said standing up. Elena shook her head.

"Wait. What are you not telling me?" Elena asked.

"Please leave. Now!" Trudie demanded.

We got up, and Elena grabbed her coat. We walked back to her car, and she grabbed the keys from her purse. As we were walking, I noticed a man standing in the middle of the road. Elena noticed the man as well and unlocked the car door. We got in the car quickly, and she ignited the engine and drove off.