A/N: Finally there is a Bitten section and I can't wait to see all the great stories we will all come up with together. So here is my little story for episode 6 as I wait for episode 7. I thought we needed a little more Claylena in our lives.
Disclaimer: I do not own Bitten.
'You've got to be kidding me,' Elena thought as she heard her phone ring yet again. She pulled it from her clutch as the woman from the coat check laid her jacket on the counter. Checking the caller ID Elena hesitated a moment upon seeing it was a blocked call. However, considering the night she had been having, she decided there was nothing that could surprise her anymore. She swiped the answer button, bringing the phone to her ear. "Hello,"
"Hey- hey. Ummm. How's the big city?" his voice is raspy and Elena immediately knows something is wrong. However, she can't help her next words; they come like some sort of built in defense mechanism as she moves further away from the coat check, checking the area around her for anyone who might be listening in.
"I can't really talk right now." As soon as the words are out of her mouth, she regrets them. He's hurting and she wasn't making this any easier for him. She can hear his heavy sigh, but there was nothing else saves for some rustling, which she could only assume meant he was moving. At least that meant that he wasn't physically hurt, though she knew how emotional turmoil and pain could hurt even more. Pete's death had taught her that. "Clay what's wrong?" she wants to be mad at him, but there is something inside her that almost feels frightened by what was going on. She had to fight the urge to start walking out of the building right then and hailing a taxi to take her straight to the train station.
"I've done things, necessary things." He says, and she can't help but picturing herself digging her hand into the warm chest of another person, she knows all too well what that's like. She can only imagine what's happened this time, and the things her imagination brings up scares her.
"Clay-" she has to say something, had to stop him. She feared he might go into detail, he might decide that she needs t know the things that he had done, and she was scared. She didn't want to know about it. She had thought she had walked away from all this; this was her chance to get away and stay away. She was almost angry. Here he was, trying to drag her back into the whole mess, the Pack's mess, even if he wasn't doing it intentionally. Elena knew deep down that Clay called because he was upset, because he didn't know where else to turn. Unlike her, the Pack was all Clay had.
"They're coming at us hard darlin', I- I feel like I'm barely keeping my head above water." The words stun her. He sounds so tired, and she doesn't know what to do. She wanted so badly to be angry with him, to just hang up and pretend none of this was happening, but the more she let him speak, the more she wanted to be there. She wanted to be in Stonehaven, comforting him, just as he had always been there for her.
"It- it won't end well if it keeps going like this Clay," it's the best she can do right now. Her words are firm, not because she is angry anymore, but because she knows it's what he needs. He needs support and stability and from such a distance it was all she could do. She new by this point her mind was already made up. But his next words froze her before she could even set herself in motion.
"I know." There's a deep sigh from him again, and Elena had to hold her tongue, knowing there was more he had to get out. "I wanna be a better man Elena. I need you. Please come home." And then the connection was lost. She held the phone to her ear for a second longer, half expecting him to tell her he loved her before he was gone, but all she got was the dial tone and a sudden jolt like a stab to her heart, though she had to tell herself it was because Clay sounded so lost and not because of the abrupt ending to their conversation.
Her next steps were taken without full conscious thought. She moved back to the counter, retrieving her jacket, her mind clouded with mist, the mist only clearing when she pulled her jacket to her. As it fell in her hands, she noticed a weight that shouldn't have been there. Curiously she found a package in the inside pocket, upon further investigation, it was a wrapped present box. Elena roughly pulled it out, turning it over to read a card. 'Jeremy Danvers', her heart raced. Even if she hadn't been planning on going straight home, she was now.
She looked up, her mind coming to one conclusion. Daniel Santos.
That was the end of her delaying. Her face changed from one of confusion to calculated determination, stowing the box in her clutch she threw her jacket on and walked with purpose out the door and into the cool Toronto air. It didn't take her long to hail and taxi and direct the man to Philip's building.
As they pulled up to the curb Elena gave the driver a few bills, informing him to keep the change and ran through the doors, and headed straight to the elevator. As the doors closed Elena was already wishing she had taken the stairs. The elevator was too slow for her liking, and she didn't much like the idea of standing still all the way up either. She felt like a caged animal.
As soon as the doors opened Elena was striding out, already having dug her keys out from her clutch. She didn't even break stride between inserting her keys and unlocking the door to opening it, the whole thing being executed like a well practiced dance. Once in the door Elena made straight for the bedroom. She emptied the contents of her clutch into her purse and then proceeded to throw some of her clothes into her bag. Life on the road with Clay had at least taught her one useful thing, she could pack for a week in a matter of minutes and be ready to leave.
With everything packed Elena strode right back out the door, this time taking the stairs down to the main floor. She ignored all those around her, her mind and body on a mission. She needed to be home, she needed to be with the Pack, her Family. She understood that now.
Thankfully it still wasn't too late and she was able to hail another taxi almost as quickly as the first. She asked to be taken to the train station and then leaned back a little in her seat, pulling out the box and turning it over in her hands a few times before resolving to open in. She couldn't smell anything coming from it, so she decided it couldn't be all that bad. She realized her mistake almost instantly.
The opened box revealed a pair of eyeballs staring back at her, carefully wrapped in plastic. That was why she hadn't smelled anything. She closed the box quickly, her head snapping up to make sure the taxi driver hadn't noticed anything, a faint smell now coming from the box from where Elena had disturbed the plastic keeping the stench of decay inside. She shoved the box to the bottom of her bag, bringing her cell phone out this time.
The blonde had been s distracted with getting to Clay, to Jeremy and the others, that she had completely forgotten about Philip. Guilt weighed down her heart, but not as much as it should have. Not as much as it would have before she had returned to Stonehaven. She quickly typed out a text apologizing for leaving and telling him she would call later, it was all she could do. She had no idea how she would explain her reasoning behind leaving this time, and she wasn't going to worry about it at the moment. She had bigger things to focus on.
She only had to sit a minute or two more in the taxi before coming to the train station. As she had done only a half hour before Elena gave the driver a few bills and left, this time without so much as a word.
Fate was apparently on her side, as she had just managed to get to the train station 5 minutes before a train was leaving. She hurriedly bought her ticket and raced to the platform. The train was just starting to take on its passengers as Elena arrived, which allowed her to find a nice secluded seat to sit quietly and maybe catch an hour or two of sleep. She looked out the window, her mind reeling, her whole body tensed, half ready for some mutt to come out of the adjoining car and attack her. She kept her phone in her hand, ready to answer any call that might come through.
An hour into the ride Elena finally managed to calm herself down a little. If anything drastic happened Jeremy would call her. She would know the moment it happened. She had to keep her head if she was going to make it through this. Panicking wasn't going to do any good, and it wasn't like they were alone. There was six of them to combat Santos and Marsten, they were stronger when they were together.
Elena found herself jostled awake by the train coming to a stop. The early morning sun was shining bright and it looked like they were in for a beautiful day.
Elena disembarked the train and dialed a cab company as she walked through the station, hailing a cab in Bear Valley was a rare occurrence. Being assured a cab would be waiting for her by the time she got outside Elena hung up and replaced her phone in her purse.
She did her best to ignore and looks she got. She knew what people were saying around town, especially after Braxton went missing. The friendly people of Bear Valley were not very happy with her, or her family, regardless if they thought these attacks really were done by a wolf or not. It was their property and they were already outsiders, which was good enough for them.
Elena didn't speak to the driver as she climbed into the back of the cab, and he didn't seem inclined to speak to her either. They drove in complete silence, the driver not even mentioning how much she owed as she slipped from the car. She handed him the money through the window and he avoided eye contact of any kind, taking the money and then pulling away from the gate as if they were the very gates of Hell.
Elena didn't waste her time thinking anything of it, and made straight up the drive and to the front door. She didn't see anyone, nor could she hear anyone, indicating to her that they were in the basement. She left her bag and purse on the floor, pausing only a moment to pull the box from her bag.
As she neared the stairs she could hear Nick speaking, and then Antonio speaking of avenging someone's death. Elena hurried down the steps at that point, afraid of who else had died. Why hadn't she been informed? Was it Clay?
She froze on the last step as Jeremy spoke, instincts kicking in to be attentive when the Alpha spoke. He was rather calm as he spoke, indicating to Elena that whoever had died, was not a close member of the pack. She moved forward again as Jeremy finished speaking.
"Marsten's not the one you need to worry about," she said as she rounded the corner, watching how all eyes turned to her. She found Clay for a brief moment, watching as he stood up upon her arrival. Knowing he was at least safe for the moment allowed her to focus on the big issue. She turned her attention to Jeremy, finally telling him her secret from the night before. "Daniel Santos found me in Toronto," she told him, half expecting a lecture of something for not mentioning it on the phone.
"Santos did?" Jeremy questioned, looking for clarification.
"Yeah," her eye flickered to Clay, worried what this news might do to him after their talk last night, but they quickly returned to Jeremy, this was important. She moved forward a few steps, stopping a foot away from Jeremy. "He had a lot to say," she informed him, though the details were not important at the moment the box, however, was. "He left this for you," she said, handing him the box.
Jeremy handed his coffee cup over to Antonio and made to open the box. Elena felt like she at least owed him some sort of warning so she placed her hand over the box stopping him. "You're not going to like what's inside," she told him, the pieces falling into place. Whoever's death they were supposed to be avenging, she had just handed their eyeballs to Jeremy in a nicely wrapped box.
Elena felt her eyes glued to the opposing two as Jeremy opened the box. After a heartbeat or two she looked up to see her Pack Brother's had come closer into order to see what was held within. Antonio and Nick looked on the verge of tearing someone's throat out, and Clay didn't look much better. Finally she looked to Jeremy, awaiting their marching orders.