Trees after trees were flying past the cab, but the girl in the passenger seat had no eyes for the forest scenery they were driving through. She was watching the water droplets running down the passenger side window. It stopped raining a while ago, but the windows were still wet and the remaining droplets managed to catch all of her attention. She enjoyed the quiet. At first the cab driver had tried to make conversation. Though shortly after their departure he gave up on his mission to entertain his young passenger, discouraged by her lack of response. She wasn't up for small talk, she was worried. And whenever she was worried she got easily lost in her own head. The cab driver had no choice but to accept the quiet even though he was worried it would affect his tip at the end of the trip, which they were fast approaching. Although the girl was oblivious they just passed the 'Welcome to Mystic Falls' sign. A few more minutes and they would reach their destination.
The girl was brought out of her thoughts once they turned into the driveway of a large old building and the cab came to a stop. "Here we are, miss." the driver announced. She blinked a couple times, bringing her back into reality while she reached for her purse to pay for the trip. They both got out of the car and the driver hurriedly unloaded her bags from the trunk, placing them near the massive dark wooden entrance door to the building.
The teenager stretched her tired limbs and watched the cab reverse down the driveway and disappear around the corner. She sighed quietly before she turned around and took a few hesitant steps towards the door. It had been five years since she'd last seen this place and yet nothing has changed. The house, the gravel driveway and the plants decorating the path towards the entrance still were the same. Even the old-fashioned bell at the door hasn't changed. How would her uncle react to her unexpected arrival? She began to doubt her decision not to inform him beforehand. It wasn't polite. She was basically going to ambush him, but at the time that seemed like the smart thing to do. Too big was her fear that he would turn her down. That he wouldn't want her here and would find an excuse to send her elsewhere. But what was to stop him from doing so now? He could easily send her away again. For the same reason he did so all those years ago. It was too troublesome to take care of her. What with all her issues, not to mention the incident that triggered his decision to have her hospitalized in the first place. Maybe if she called and informed him before making the trip here it would have saved her the heartache of seeing the rejecting on his face...
However it was too late now. She was here and her means of transportation was well out of sight. She had no choice now other than to go through with it. She took a deep breath, straightened her posture and took the remaining steps towards the door.
Just as she was about to ring the ancient bell the door opened and her breath caught in her throat. A young man stepped out, obviously surprised by someone standing on his doorstep. She rushed back a few steps almost tripping over her own feet. "Uncle Stefan..." she wheezed out breathlessly, her ice blue eyes wide with fear. Her pulse sped up and her heart audibly pounded in her chest. She was terrified by the sight in front of her.
She had always been afraid of her uncle Stefan. Despite his reassurances that he wasn't going to hurt her and his tame lifestyle. No amount of promises could convince her that he was harmless. She knew that wasn't true. She knew it was all an act and that something dark and dangerous was hidden under the calm and friendly demeanor. Despite all his efforts during her childhood to ease her worries she never warmed up to him.
The boy stared at the younger girl, speechless for a moment. He composed himself quickly and attempted to question her. "What..." But in that moment another figure appeared in the doorway. The man froze in surprise just beyond the threshold at the sight of the dark haired girl. "Nora?" He questioned, not believing his eyes.
The girl's demeanor however changed immediately. She breathed a sigh of relieve and launched herself at the older man. "Uncle Damon!" she called out joyously as she threw her arms around him in a hug. Forgotten was the fear of the blond younger brother. Opposite to her fear for the younger vampire and despite of Damon's unstable nature she has never been afraid of him. She loved him from the first time she laid eyes on him as a toddler. Not even finding out about his bloodsucking undead nature could faze her trust in him and while Damon acted cold and uncaring towards everyone else, he always had a special place for the young girl in his heart. Never did it even occur to him to lay a harming hand on her. Instead he made an effort to spend time with her, play silly games with her as she was just a toddler and take her on exciting roadtrips when she grew older.
Damon was stunned for a heartbeat, not expecting the attack. But he recovered quickly and threw his arms around her, returning the hug. "Nora..." he breathed and placed a kiss on the top of her head. "What are you doing here? How did you get here?" "I took a cab." she responded not letting go of him. The dark haired man chuckled lowly. "That doesn't explain a thing, girly. Come on in." He released her from his hug and ushered her further in the house and into the spacious parlor.
She followed him in all the while inspecting her surroundings curiously. Everything looked exactly the same as she remembered it. "I'm all better" she announced as she flopped down on one of the old fashioned sofas. "Where is uncle Zach?".
Damon and Stefan, who had followed them back into the room, exchanged a worried glance behind her back. "He is not here" the younger man finally answered taking a few steps closer to the sofa where the girl was getting comfortable. She eyed him wearily making him stop a good distance away from her. "Well, I can see that. Where is he?" With a cautious glance back at his brother he explained "Zach had to leave on a business trip. He's been gone for a while now and we aren't expecting him back any time soon." The girl crunched her nose up, a frown making it's way to her forehead. This caused Stefan to sigh. "What are you doing here, Eleanor?". "Not that we don't want you here" Damon interrupted as he sat down next to the girl. "It's just that we weren't expecting you. You know how to use a phone, don't you, kid?" he questioned with a lifted eyebrow and gave her a lopsided smile.
This caused a giggle from her. "Of course I do, uncle Damon. Unlike you, when I was born the phone was already invented." Damon scoffed at the jab at his age. "I'm not that old." She grinned at him before exhaling slowly. Her face grew serious again. "I'm all better. They released me to go live with my family again. As long as I keep taking my medication and see a doctor once a month I should be okay." she explained. At that a smirk grew on Damon's face and he threw an arm around her pulling her close to him. "That's great news. We are happy to have you here, right Stefan?" he challenged his younger brother to disagree. "Of course we are." Stefan quickly agreed "But..." Before he could voice his objection footsteps coming down the large staircase to the upper floor could be heard and three pairs of eyes looked up at the noise.
A brown haired, slender girl descended the steps and stopped on the last stair when she saw the girl sitting on a couch surrounded by the brothers. "Stefan?" she asked wearily. "Who is this?" The boy in question attempted to respond, but Damon beat him to the answer. "This, dear Elena, is our lovely great great...some greats removed niece Eleanor. She just returned home. Nora, this is Stefan's girlfriend Elena who lives with us for the time being." he gestured between the two women making the introduction.
Elena frowned while she looked the young girl over. The resemblance to Damon was uncanny. The two could be siblings. Both had the same jet black hair and ice blue eyes, the same sharp nose and defined jawline, even though Eleanor's was much more feminine and soft. The girl's hair fell down to her waist in soft, natural waves and even though Damon wore his hair short you could tell that he had the same natural waves as her. While Damon looked tall and muscular, the girl had a tiny figure. She couldn't be taller than 5'8 and was slender, thin even. A few more pounds on her ribs sure wouldn't hurt Elena deduced. Despite the differences to their figures there was something similar in the way they both held themselves, a certain confidence.
Eleanor smiled shyly wiggling her fingers in an awkward wave at the older girl. Elena's responding smile looked forced as she continued to question her boyfriend. "Returned home? What does that mean? You never mentioned a nice, Stefan. What's going on?". The boy in question looked increasingly uncomfortable. His gaze rapidly switched from his brother and niece to his suspicious girlfriend. "Eleanor is... She was hospitalized because she was diagnosed with schizophrenia a few years ago. We haven't seen her since then." he hesitantly explained, but Damon interrupted his arm still firmly around Eleanor's shoulders. "Ah ah ah, brother. You haven't seen her since then. I visited her several times during her stay at that god forsaken place." Stefan was surprised at that revelation from his seemingly emotionless older brother. "You did?" Damon scoffed at that, raising from his seat to fix himself a drink. "Of course I did. Bad enough that she had to stay at that place away from family. Visiting her every so often was the least I could do."
Both his brother and Elena stared at Damon blankly for a moment, neither of them expecting this much compassion from him. Elena was the first to compose herself. "Well, Eleanor, it's nice to meet you. I'm looking forward to get to know you, but you have to excuse us for now. Stefan and I have to go to school." And with that she grabbed her boyfriend's hand and pulled him towards the hall and out the house.
Once the two were gone Eleanor rose from the couch. "I'm going to my room" she announced "I'm kinda tired." With that she ascended the stairs towards the left wing of the boarding house where her old childhood room resided. Damon nodded after her. "Sure, make yourself at home again. I'll get your bags." Left alone in the living room he took a large gulp from his drink staring idly at the staircase. His niece was home. Sure, he was happy about that, but it wasn't the most convenient time for her arrival. What with the impending threat on Elena's life; not to mention that Zach – the girl's real uncle and guardian – was dead and not on a business trip like they claimed. By his own hands, no less. He could only hope that all the drama in his and Stefan's life wouldn't put her fragile health at risk. He emptied his glass with a sigh and made his way to the door to fetch the bags left in the driveway to bring them up to her room. There was no use in worrying. She was here now and they would have to make do.
Oblivious to her uncle's revery Eleanor looked around in her room. This too, as the rest of the house, looked exactly the same as she remembered it. From the light purple walls to her books on the shelves and even her teddybear laying on the quilt on her bed as if it was waiting for her. She let herself fall back on the bed closing her eyes and hugging the old stuffed toy to her chest. Finally home, finally away from the dreaded hospital she had to spend five years of her life at. She was thrilled to be home, but she couldn't fight the feeling that something was off here. Something wasn't right. At the mention of her uncle Zach's whereabouts the whispers in her head had started. At Elena's appearance the voices in her head went rampant. Whispering things in her ear, nudging her to question it further, but she ignored the voices. She didn't want to listen to them anymore. Bad enough that she couldn't seem to get rid of them, no matter how many pills the doctors made her swallow or what the psychologists told her in the endless hours of therapy.
She didn't react to Damon coming in to place her bags on the floor. Only once the door clicked shut behind him again did she get up to start unpacking her clothes. She would find out what was wrong here of that she was sure and for the time being she would do her best to hide the fact that she still heard voices in her head. She would prove to everyone...no, to herself that she could live a normal life, that the voices didn't hold any power over her and her decisions anymore.