"Allow me to introduce to you all our sister, Victoria" Caesar began the introductions. "The one at the head of the table is Edmond. Once you get past the anger issues, he really is just a lovable teddy bear" He reminded me of Bane from the latest Batman movie. He had a shaved head and forest green eyes, like me, with a tough guy attitude
"To his left is Richard, he's the geek of the group but I am totally convinced he will have a robot army in a few years so I make a point to stay on his good side" Richard had messy brown hair and sharp cheek bones with a sweet smile.
"On the right of Edmond is William, he is the golden boy of the family. He works at the Zoo but he's a former police officer. His best friend is his dog, named Dog. Don't mess with Dog" He had a buzz cut with a strong jaw line and a look in his eye that left no doubt that he was at one point, with the police.
"To the right of William is Charlie, unofficially- the con artist. Officially he works as a Locksmith. Seriously that guy can break into anything. It's borderline scary, unless you have a pickle jar that won't open. Be wary if he ever starts out an idea with 'I've got an idea'. Especially if he's with the guy to his right, Napoleon, the escape artist. Weirdly, neither can actually 'do' art but they have an almost unhealthy obsession with it. Neo's last job was a test subject on an airplane's emergency escape systems, you know, the blow up slides and stuff". The twins looked a little bit like Damon, with 'up to something' smirks and messy hair.
"On the left side of the table with have the bartenders, Alexander and James. Ace is a little twisted in the mind, but has an awesome photo memory. James is a people pleaser who is crazy good at persuading people to do what he wants. So, that's the family. Any questions?"
"Um… Let me see if I have this right, Beast, Lion, and Wallace. Then, there is Charlie and Neo, Ace and Bond. Lastly there is you, Roman, and me?" Luna asks as her twin pulls out her chair for her.
"Sounds like the girls got it" Ace says.
"Do you have a nickname, darling?" Charlie asks.
"Well, my friends call me Luna" I say with a shrug.
Beast laughs, "That will work. You come from a long line of Lunatics" He says with a wink.
"Wait. Do you mean you all are-"
"Werewolves? Where do you think you got the trait, girly?" Neo asks.
"That's awesome!" Luna says
"I think our sister deserves to hear some family stories," Bond says.
"Oh! Beast, tell her about your first job out of the military!" Ace requests.
"Ha, alright. There I was, in California, back from doing a tour, the only job I can find is a wanted ad for a bartender. So I dress in my best and get down there early expecting to be interviewed, right? Well the door is locked, weird. I'm pacing up and down the sidewalk when some guy opens the window on the floor above where I was told the bar is located. He calls down and asks me my name. I told him, he then asked me if I was Irish. I told him on my father's side. That was all it took to be hired. Lucky for me I had been bartending since high school so I was actually able to start with minimum training"
"That's hilarious!
"It's even funnier that he lasted about a month tending bar before they realized he knew how to shoot a gun" Charlie told her.
"Wait, till who learned?" I asked.
"Oh, the bar he worked at was run by the local Irish mafia" Neo said.
"Yepp, they quickly upgrades him from 'man who tends bar' to 'man who shoots people'" Ace joked.
"Wow! How?"
"An old military buddy stopped by and let it slip that I used to be special ops. I stuck around for a while, picking and choosing who I went after. Once that got boring I moved back to the East Coast to be by my brothers. There I opened my own bar and the rest is history" Beast tells her.
"What are you going to do now?" Luna asks.
"Well, the grill is looking like it needs some love and care so I might see what I can do there. But who knows. I don't really have concrete plans," He explains and I nods along.
"What about you? What's your story?" Luna asks Lion.
"He's the hacker with an annoying tendency to know everything" Neo supplies helpfully.
"He's completely right" Lion jokes. "Back in high school, instead of learning a language, I learned code. By my senior year, I was breaking in and fixing grades for all of the siblings"
"Crazy smart, but lacks the ambition for world domination," Neo whispers to her.
"Hey, now! I have my hands full trying to keep the two of you out of jail!" Lion says referencing Neo and Charlie.
"I don't know what you are talking about. My twin and I have been nothing but angels since the moment we were born" Charlie says with an award winning smile.
"Don't let that look full you. Both of them are very accomplished thieves. I'm convince half the things they go for is just for the right to say that they got it" Lion tells her.
"What was hardest?" Luna asks the raven-haired twins.
"The undeserving Monet?" Charlie asks his twin.
"The undeserving Monet" The twin confirms.
"What was the undeserving Monet?" I ask.
"There was this lady-" Neo starts.
"Millionaire" Charlie chimes in.
"And she owned this beautiful Monet painting" Neo continues.
"She thought it was her right to own it because the girl in the painting looked like her" Charlie says.
"But it wasn't, how could it be? He's dead" Neo says continuing Charlie's thought.
"We were at a party" Charlie says getting back to the story.
"And she had it on display" Neo says.
"She was boasting about how it was-"
"And we kid you not" Neo interrupts
"Devine intervention, for the painting to be painted about her, and for her to come to own the painting" Charlie tells.
"So we did our own Devine intervening," Neo says.
"How did you do it?" Luna asks.
"Same way we always do. Charlie gets us in" Neo explains.
"And Neo get's us out" Charlie finishes.
"There has yet to be more to it then that" I say.
"Of course there is, but a good artist never explains his tricks" Charlie says with a wink.
"So, do you two want an update?" Bond asks after checking his phone.
"About the favor we asked?" Caesar questions.
"Yeah, we got it" Ace tells us.
"You bought the old apothecary?" I ask.
"Sure did, kinda on the cheep too. We are meet with Pearl later for the trade" Bond says.
"Wait, you are trading a building for a device?" Caesar asks.
"Well, that and she is going to compel the old guy who owns the grill to will it to us" Ace says with an 'up to no good' smile. Before I could question his motives my phone goes off. It's Damon calling.
"I need to take this. I'll see y'all around?"
"Sure, Luna. We are in the process of building a house here. So yes. You will see us around" Beast says with a smile. I get up and to answer my phone.

"What's up buttercup?"
"Hey, hot stuff. Are you free to do some snooping around?"
"I'm free-ish, where are we snooping?"
"The teacher has a lead on Isobel. You in?"
"Hell yeah! I'm at the grill"
"I'll pick you up. Be there in 10" He hangs up.

"This is the one, here. The records show it was paid three months in advance" Alaric tells us as we park out side a normal looking one-story house.
"I don't think this is Isobel," I tell them.
"Let's check it out anyways" Damon says looking at the house. He then turns to Ric and I, "This is where it gets tricky. I may or may not be able to get in"
"Yeah, how does that work? You always have to be invited in?" Alaric asks as we get out of the car and head up to the door.
"By the owner or the person of entitlement. Sort-term rentals and hotels are a bit of a grey area. You kind of have to play it by ear" Damon explains.
Alaric grabs Damon's arm before he reaches for the door bell, "Could we not kil anyone tonight, please?"
"You mean you just brought me along for my company?" Damon asks with a smirk.

I roll my eyes at there antics and open the door.
"Looks like no one's home" I comment. Alaric and I watch Damon take a hesitant step across the door's threshold.
"Yeah, I'm good. No permanent resident, apparently"
"Or a vampire is here?" I say with a shrug of my shoulders. We split up to look for clues. Unsurprisingly, Damon takes the kitchen, while Ric checks the living room and I check the bedroom.
"You might be on to something. Ric, we have company," Damon says holding up a blood bag.

The next thing I know, I'm slammed against the wall by a guy I can't see.
"What's a pretty girl like you doing, breaking into people's houses? It's not very lady like" I can hear his smirk.
"I'll show you a lady" I say as I grab ahold of his shoulder, with a quick twist I easily dislocate it. One of these days I'll run into someone who doesn't underestimate me, and I'll be screwed. For now I cold cock him right in nose, you know –for the lady comment. But before I can really do any long lasting harm, an arm wraps around my waist and lifts me up in the air.
"Alright, kids. That's enough. Wait, I know you" Damon says.
"Damon?" The guy asks.
"Your name is Henry. You were in the tomb"
"Yes, sir. What are you all doing here?" The three of us share a round of looks, we just found John's informant.
"John sent us" Alaric answers.
"How about we talk over drinks. It's still the customary thing to do" I say with a smile at the guy. He nods and we follow him to the kitchen.
"So, how do you know John Gilbert?" Henry asks. I look at Damon expecting him to answer because I sure as hell am not even going to pretend to get along with that sorry excuse of a guy.
"Well, I've known him for years. He's a good friend. How do you know him?" Damon asks.
"I met him right after I got out of the tomb. He's been helping me out" Henry tells us.
"Helping you out how?
"Adapting. It's a whole new world… Cars, computers, . There is so much to learn. He even helped me get this place" Henry says with pride as he looks around. We all smile at
him before Damon get's us back on track.
"That's my friend's very, passive aggressive, way of asking if you know of a woman named Isobel?"
"Uh, no. No, I don't know an Isobel. I know John. He's my only real friend. He really showed me the ropes. Like how to use a microwave and separating my whites"
"What else do you do for him?" I question.
"I help keep an eye on things, you know, with the others" Henry says.
"The others?" Damon asks.
"The other tomb vampires?" I speculate.
"Yeah. They are all still pissed at the founding families for trying to burn them alive. I'm cool, but those tomb boys, they want revenge" Henry tells us.
"What does John want with them?" Alaric asks.
"Just to keep any eye on them, you know? Trying to make sure they stay out of trouble" Henry says.
"Well, that's John for you. He's such a do-gooder" Damon says as Henry's phone starts going off.
"Hey, that's John now!"
"Oh, can I talk to him?" I ask sweetly. Henry nods and hands me the phone.
"Hello, John. Tell Isobel, Caesar and I send our regards" I say before hanging up.

Henry looks confused for a moment then charges at me. Damon grabs him by the neck and wraps him up in a chokehold for Alaric to stake him.
"Let's not kill anyone tonight, your words. Just pointing that out" Damon says to Alaric. "And you, little miss stir the pot, don't egg John Gilbert on. We don't know who's on his side"
"I just like to remind him that he doesn't have a say in my life, and he doesn't know who's on my side" I say nudging Damon in the side. That earns me a small smile.
"We should do a sweep of this place, in case he knew more that he was saying" Alaric tells us and we split up to search.
"Find anything yet?" Damon calls.
"Nope" I yell back walking towards the kitchen table to sit down.
"No, I looked everywhere. The place is… clean" Ric says joining me at the table.
"Well I found this, behind the blood in the fridge" Damon says handing Ric a beer as he sits down with us.
"Oh, man. This was a real dead-end" Ric says to no one in particular.
"I wouldn't beat myself up over it. What did you think we were going to find? Isobel with a cigar and slippers?" Damon asks.
"No. I can't stand the smell of cigars. I'm betting I got that from her" I say, not really meaning to voice that thought.
"Probably. She didn't like them either" Ric tells me with a weird look on his face before looking back at nothing. "I, I gotta stop this. I can't keep searching for her"
"Really? After only 2 years? That's actually… moderately healthy" Damon tells him.
"Ha. What are you going on? 146?" Alaric asks.
"Well, I figure the 200 mark is probably a good stopping point" Damon jokes.
"I mean, no answer is good enough. I keep thinking I want to know why, when, you know, the precise moment when my wife decided life with me wasn't enough" Alaric says.
"I doubt it was a thought process like that. I think it was that she wanted to BE more. That her existence would have a new meaning if she was immortal. I don't think it was a conscious step away from you. I think she was obsessed that there was a world out there that she didn't know" I tell him.
"She charmed me, your wife, Isobel. She talked a good game. She was smart. She had this excitement in her eyes. I should have known there was some reason I didn't just kill her, some tie to Katherine" Damon says thinking out loud.
"That's enough, Damon. I don't want to hear anymore. I just don't want to waste any more of my life searching for answers that I don't really want. I'm through with Isobel. I'm done with all of this" Alaric says getting up from the table.
"Be careful with words like that. It's almost like your daring fate for her to show up" I tell him with a joking smile.
"Yeah, but it'll be too little, too late" He says walking out the door to the car.
"I think he might be on to something" Damon tells me with a weird look in his eye before getting up to head back to the car.

"So, how's Stefan?" I ask Elena as I sit down with her and Caesar.
"He's going to be okay. Lexi is working with him. Um, who are you?" She asks turning to my twin.
"Oh! Elena, this is our brother and my twin, Caesar Black. Twin, this is Elena Gilbert, our sister" They smile at each other.
"This is so weird. How did you two meet?" She asks.
"I was ranting about my life to Lexi and Vicki-" I start.
"And I happen to over hear, thought it sounded familiar. So I introduced myself" He tells.
"So, what are you like?" She questions.
"Introverted. I love to write"
"Oh, me too. I even keep a journal!" She tells us, mostly him.
"Really? What else do you do?" He questions.
"I mostly spend my time hanging out with my friends" Elena tells him.

We continue talking and getting to know each other well into the night. I have to say, Elena Gilbert is growing on me. Unfortunately, the family reunion going on the other side of the grill isn't having such a warm welcome.
"Hello, Ric" says a beautiful woman with pale skin, dark brown eyes and dark, almost black, hair.
Ric looks over at her, shocked- like he's just seen a ghost, "Isobel".