Walking past the crowds at the airport looking for a seat to sleep in because it looks like my plane won’t arrive until the morning I spot a dark-haired man sitting next to an empty seat.  Trudging over I sit and then look at him and then I really look at him.  He looks up, and I ask, “Damon, Damon Salvatore?”

He shifts uncomfortably and asks, “Um, tell me I didn’t kill someone you know and love.”

I giggle and tell him, “Well you did kill my uncle, but he was wearing one of the Gilbert Rings, so he came back to life, so I suppose that doesn’t really count.  I’m actually gonna see Uncle Jer when I go home for Christmas if the stupid plane ever gets here.”

Frowning he asks, “Gilbert Rings?  That makes you a Gilbert?”

I smile and say, “Actually my last name is Salvatore, but yes my mom is a Gilbert and Jeremy is my uncle, her brother.  God, my brothers are going to be so jealous when they find out I actually found and met you before they did.  Whenever we went on road trips as kids, we’d play this game of ‘let’s see if we can spot Uncle Damon.’  We never did obviously, but wow, here you are.  My mom is going to be really pleased that you’re not dead, then again Dad always said it would take a force of nature or an act of God to end you.  You should come home with me.  Everyone would be so stoked to see you.”

He smiles but shakes his head before saying, “Sorry Cupcake, but I don’t fancy spending Christmas with the man who forced me to turn and the woman who doesn’t love me the way I wanted her to.”

I put my hand on his and tell him, “She may not be in love with you, but she does love you.  From what I gather you don’t have too many friends so I’m kind of surprised you’d throw one away so easily.”

He scowls, and after pulling his hand away from mine almost growls when he says, “You shouldn’t talk about things you know nothing about.”

I smile and ask, “So that bitch Katherine didn’t tell you that it would ‘always be Stefan’ mere hours before my mom unknowingly uttered the same words?  And then you didn’t snap Uncle Jer’s neck and flee never to be seen or heard from again?”

He sighs but asks, “How do you know all of that?”

Smiling despite the topic, I tell him, “Katherine overheard Mom and Dad talking about what led up to you snapping Jer’s neck, and she told them that she had said the same words to you earlier when you asked her if she ever cared about you.”

I look at him, really look, and he looks exactly like the photos Mom has of him all over our house.  Although, he actually seems more, tired I guess is the word, like he hasn’t had a good night sleep in twenty years, which I suppose is possible.  Arching my eyebrow at him, I ask, “Well, if you’re not willing to come home with me will you at least let me fill you in on all that you’ve missed?  Then you can tell me what you’ve been up to so I can report back and let Mom and Dad know you’re okay.  I was serious when I said they’ll be happy to know you’re okay.  You know mom, such a worry wart, especially when she can’t lay eyes and hands on the person she loves.”

Shifting in his seat so he’s fully facing me, he makes a carry on gesture with his hand so I tell him, “Hmm, where to start?  So obviously Jeremy woke up, human.  What you don’t know is that while you were packing your bags and leaving town, Katherine was at the hospital smothering Caroline.”

He sits up straight at that and asks, “Caroline’s dead?”

Shaking my head, I tell him, “Nope, or at least not any deader than you.  She had your blood in her system, remember?”

Shaking his head at me, he asks, “I turned Barbie and didn’t even know it?”

Nodding I tell him, “She woke up and completed the transition by feeding off her nurse.  Now I’m actually a witch, much like Katherine was long before she became a vampire—”

Shaking his head he asks, “Wait, Katerine was a witch?”

Nodding I tell him, “Yup and because she’s my great, great whatever grandmother I happened to inherit her witchy powers, of course, that had something to do with Aunt Bonnie doing a spell and then me being born with vampire blood in my system.  Anyway, I bring it up because a few years ago my brothers and I did a spell to see our family’s past.  If you want I can tell you the story like I was there or we could go get a hotel room, and I can do the spell on you, and you can see it as if you were there too.”

He shakes his head again, “Sorry Cupcake, but I’m not stupid enough to let a witch, even if she might be my brother’s kid, do any mojo on me, not after only just meeting you anyhow.”

I smile and tell him, “Aww, if I were going to kill you I wouldn’t have alerted you to the fact that I recognized you.”

He nods but says, “Maybe later, so Caroline is a Vampire, and Jer woke up human…”

I nod and say, “Right so, Caroline woke up confused because a woman with Elena’s face asked her to give you and Stefan a message before smothering her.  When she woke up, she looked around the hospital room but found she was alone.  There was a terrible thirst in the back of her throat…”

TBC…