Maria Lorde-Gilbert. The other adopted kid

7

"Jeremy? Need a lift?" Maria asked the next morning. She sipped her coffee as Jeremy entered the kitchen.
"Sure. I sort of need to properly apologise to Bonnie."
"What did you do?"
"Um, I'm seeing my two dead ex-girlfriends' ghosts and Damon dragged me all the way to nowhere to get me to communicate with one of them while she and my sisters were stuck at the school with a psycho. Which totally isn't my fault but I should probably apologise just in case."
"First off, why are you seeing ghosts? Secondly do not tell her it wasn't your fault or anything. Just apologise to her and show her she's the only girl you love and that the other two are dead and therefore do not mean more to you than she does because she's what you have right now."
"I died and Bonnie brought me back to life. And I didn't know you were so poetic. Also, Anna says hi."
"Anna. One of the ghosts."
"Yeah. She's right next to you." Maria turned to her right.
"Other side."
"Oops. Hey Anna, I'm Maria, Jeremy's other sister and of course his favourite."
"Of course." Jeremy agreed. "She says hi. Why hasn't she heard about you before?"
"I have no clue. Frankly I'm a little hurt that neither of my siblings have mentioned me."
"It's because, at least for me, my memories of you and I were ours. I didn't really want to share them with anyone else. And Elena was pissed at you for leaving."
"I should have stayed. Maybe then you wouldn't have died... twice."
"You know about that first one, huh?" Anna must've been leaving because Jeremy waved at the space next to Maria. "Well I don't care if you hurt Damon or whatever but the second time was the Sheriff. It was an accident, I swear. She tried to shoot at Damon, who at the time was suffering from a werewolf bite and he moved out of the way and it hit me."
"It better have been an accident, but still. I no longer like her as much as I used to. Kind of hard to since she murdered you."
"Unintentional manslaughter at the most." He replied. "Now come on. I do need to get to school."
"True." She led him out to her car which had just arrived that morning. "So I need to talk to you."
"What about?" He asked, shoving his bag in the backseat.
"I'm moving out of that house. I'd like you to come. Not anywhere far, probably 10 minutes away, but safe from vampires. No vampire other than those I invite are allowed in."
"But our house has a lot of memories. Our parents, our games, even Aunt Jenna."
"We'll visit. I'd rather not leave either, but I refuse to stay in a house where a guy who killed my brother can waltz in." She sighed. "I'd force you to come but you know I'm a big fan of free will. I would never make you do anything you didn't want to."
"Really?"
"Really, little brother. You know that. Name one time I forced you to do something."
"I suppose. I don't get how you and Elena are so different though you were raised by the same people for over 10 years."
"Well for the first eleven years of my life I was taught to bow down to no one and to not take anyone's free will away. Ever."
"Elena once had Damon compel away my memories. When Vicki died. I guess I couldn't handle it."
"She what?"
"Don't be mad at her. I was in a bad shape. I was a druggie and alcoholic. I was grieving our parents in our own way. So I'm guessing that my reaction to Vicki's death probably wasn't good."
"Oh, Jer." She said. They arrived at the school and she turned to him. "Come here. I promise I'll be there for you this time. I'm sorry I left."
"Hey you had your reasons. I mean protecting us and making sure your sanity stayed intact are two pretty good reasons."
"Thanks. I know you'll probably need time, so I'll move out my stuff but my door is open to you whenever." She told him. "Now go get your girl."
"Thanks, Mia." He said genuinely. "I'll see you soon."

Maria left the house and headed straight to the orphanage. She had received a letter and wanted to get there as soon as possible. Hanna, along with a social worker stayed in a room.
"Hi. You must be Maria." The social worker said. "I'm Jessica Foreman, Hanna's social worker. I understand that you recently found out your sister was here?"
"Yes. I found out from a grandmother who'd been investigating my sister. She was questioning when there was no sign of Hanna's body."
"Is it really true? I have a big sister?" Hanna spoke up. She'd known girls who were older in the care home but this was different. This girl was her actual blood relation.
"Yes. Believe me, I was just as shocked." Maria smiled. "I remember the way you used to laugh at the smallest of things. Of course, you were only one."
"Do we have any other siblings?" Hanna asked tentatively.
"We did. My twin, Ethan. But he, well he died with our parents. I was adopted into another family and I have a younger brother and sister. I guess that would make them sort of your step-siblings."
"I'm Hanna. I didn't have a surname, so they named me Johnson."
"Do you like that surname, or do you want to change it to our family surname, Lorde?"
"I don't know yet. It's been the name I grew up with."
"Of course. Whatever you're comfortable with, Hanna." Maria smiled, before asking, "Do we get to go out, Ms Foreman?"
"As long as I'm there."
"Great, come on. Where would you like to go?"
"Ice skating?"
"Sure, but you might want some warmer clothes." Maria pointed out. Her sister smiled and ran off. It was a school day so it probably wouldn't be crowded. Maria searched up the locations to the nearest ice rink. She was horrible at it, but it was good fun. The only time she went to Alexandra Palace, back in London was on her friend's birthday.

"I'm ready." Hanna said. She wore a black turtleneck with a bomber jacket and jeans.
"Let's go." Ms Foreman decided to sit out the actual skating instead choosing to observe the girls. They all huddled into Maria's car and she set out following the directions. They got there within half an hour, and both girls were laughing and giggling. Neither of them really knew how to skate, and found their failures hilarious. They learnt more about each other, and had a really nice bonding time. 2 hours later they decided to leave the rink but still hung out at the nearby mall. Maria spoiled her little sister silly, buying her clothes she liked and whatnot.

"I'm glad I met you."
"I'm glad I met you too. I wish I'd known about you sooner. I wish we'd never been separated."
"Maria, sometimes I get these dreams. Sort of like flashes, and you were in one of them."
"Tell me more." Maria demanded, a bad feeling churning in her stomach.
"I wasn't there, and you looked younger. You were with this family, a boy and a girl, and a mom and dad. I drew a picture." She told her. Hesitantly she took out a piece of paper that was folded up. Maria took one look at the picture and recognised them all.
"Let me show you something." She said and made sure no one was looking. The social worker had left them for a few minutes and everyone looked busy with their own things. She saw a candle next to them and picked it up. She concentrated and a fire appeared on it.
"Woah. What's that?" She asked taken by the fire. As quick as it came, the fire disappeared.
"Magic." She replied simply. "That family picture you drew? That's my adoptive family."