A/N: thank you all for the warm welcome back!
"She was…going to see her boyfriend this weekend," Elena spoke haltingly, looking down at the patterns on the grey carpet. "She was really excited."
"Boyfriend?" Officer Mikaelsen scribbled something down on his notepad, "What's his name?"
Elena continued staring down at the ground, biting her lip as she tried to think, "I'm not sure."
"You're not sure?"
"Officer, is this really necessary?" Damon sounded distinctly angry, "Elena has been through a lot tonight. Can't this wait until tomorrow? She has school in the morning, and—"
"A girl is dead," Elijah interrupted forcefully, "An employee of yours, I might add. So no, this can't wait."
"I've only been working at The Grill for a few months," Elena said in a muted voice, "Anna was a friend, but we weren't close. She didn't talk about her boyfriend much, except to say that he was going to graduate from NYU this year."
"And how long has Anna worked for you?" Elijah addressed Damon, "Did you know this boyfriend's name?"
"I don't usually get involved in the personal lives of my employees," Damon answered stiffly, "I hired Anna about a year ago. You're welcome to see the records."
"Yes, we'll be needing those," Elijah looked up as another officer walked into the room with Stefan in tow. "Well now that we're all here, how about we run through the series of events one more time?"
Damon squinted at the new arrival, "Your name is also Mikaelsen?"
"My brother," Elijah gestured dismissively, "Klaus."
"Alright let's get started," Klaus pulled out his own notepad, "Elena, you said that Anna left The Grill at around 7:50PM?"
She nodded, "Yes. I remember looking at the clock and thinking that it was almost time for my shift to be over."
"So then you left at 8PM?"
"A few minutes after 8PM," Elena glanced at Damon, who nodded to confirm her narrative. "I usually wait until Matt, my boyfriend, gets there for the night shift. But I guess he was running late…Damon told me I could leave, since there weren't that many customers."
"Let's say you exited The Grill at 8:05PM then," Elijah prompted her, "And you began walking to your car. Did you notice anything strange while you were walking? Anything out of the ordinary?"
"I didn't see anyone," Elena swallowed, "It was really cold and windy...I was just focused on getting to my car as soon as possible. But when I neared the back of the parking lot, I heard two people arguing. I recognized one of the voices as Anna's so I stopped." Her voice cracked and she took a deep breath, "I was going to try and find her, but then—"
"And you're sure it was TWO voices?" Klaus interrupted her, "Just Anna's and someone else? Can you describe this voice?"
Elena screwed her eyes shut, rubbing her face tiredly. "The wind was really loud," she mumbled eventually, "It sounded like a man...it was a deep voice, rougher. I think he sounded angry."
"And how did Anna sound?" Elijah pressed, "Scared? Or also angry?"
"Both, I guess," she replied neutrally, letting her fingernails dig into the wooden armrests on her chair. "I didn't hear very much before the...gunshot."
"You're doing great, Elena," Elijah's voice suddenly became noticeably kinder. He stood up and walked to his door, gesturing to someone outside. After a second, he returned with a glass of water. "Do you want anything else? Tea? Coffee?"
She shook her head, raising the glass to her lips with trembling hands. "I'm fine," she said hoarsely, "I just want to go home."
"We'll get back to you in a minute," Klaus said to her, before turning to look at Damon. "So after Elena left The Grill, your brother showed up?"
"Yes," Damon glanced at Stefan, "My brother has football practice after school every day. He comes by The Grill when he's done and does his homework until I close up for the night. Then we drive home together."
Elijah flipped through his notes, "Let's say that Stefan arrived at 8:07PM. You both heard the gunshot?"
"Everyone in The Grill heard it," Stefan cleared his throat, "I thought it was just a car backfiring, but Damon didn't believe me. We both went outside to see what was going on."
"And did you see anything out of the ordinary?"
Damon shook his head, "We didn't see anything, but then we heard Elena scream..." He paused, his jaw clenching, "I started running towards her. I didn't even notice my brother and the other customers following me until we got there."
"Alright, Elena," Klaus sat down across from her, "Now I need you to tell me exactly what you did when you heard the gunshot. And I mean every single detail, do you understand? What was your first reaction?"
"I looked around for a second," Elena answered slowly, "And then I got onto the ground, because I didn't want to be a standing-target." She licked her dry lips, "I sort of crawled to the nearest car and waited to see if I could hear anything else...when I didn't, I made my way to my own car."
"Did you stand up at all during this time?"
"No, I stayed on the ground."
Elijah leaned towards her, "Now I need you to remember this for me, Elena. Was your car within your sights for the entire time?"
"What do you mean?"
"You said that you were focused on walking towards your car," Klaus reminded her, "Did you have a clear view of it the entire time you were walking towards it? Before and after the gunshot?"
"Not at first," she hesitated, "Since it was so far in the back of the parking lot. I had full sight of it right before I heard the gunshot, and then I was about fifteen feet away from it after the gunshot."
"Okay, so then you crawled to your car and tried to open it with your key?"
"I didn't want to use the automatic unlock feature because then my car would beep and make all this noise and I didn't want to attract the attention of the..." she trailed off, "Of whoever was there."
"And when you pulled open the driver's door..."
Elena suddenly felt very lightheaded and she let her head drop into her hands. "Anna's dead body fell out," she said in a muffled voice, "And I screamed. I remember my phone dropping out of my hand...and then Damon and Stefan were there..."
"She looked like she was in shock," Damon said roughly, "I tried to get her to say something, but she was fighting to stay conscious."
"I told one of the customers that had followed us to call 911," Stefan took over the narrative, "And then I checked for a pulse even though it was obvious that she was...dead."
"How was it obvious?"
Stefan frowned, "Because of the gunshot wound in her chest."
Elijah and Klaus conferred quietly for a few minutes, before Elijah finally turned back towards Elena. "I think we have enough to work with for the moment. The three of you will probably have to come in again tomorrow afternoon, is that okay?"
"I have work," Elena began to say, but stopped when she caught sight of Elijah's expression.
"We'll have to ask you to close down The Grill for a couple days," Klaus said to Damon, who abruptly looked even angrier. "We're going to set up a perimeter around the parking lot in the morning."
"You can't just—"
"It's a crime scene, Mr. Salvatore. We'll be seeing you tomorrow."
Damon paid the cab driver as they all got out across the street from The Grill. "I can't believe they're taking my car," Elena stared unseeingly at the parking lot, "Not that I'll ever even be able to look at it again, much less get behind the wheel."
"I'll drop you off at your house," Damon led the way to his car and opened the passenger door for her, "I can drive you to school tomorrow, if you want."
Elena waited until he had walked around to the driver's side before answering, "I can just call Caroline or Matt..." She paused suddenly, her eyes widening. "Oh my god, Matt! I totally forgot about him! He never showed up to work, what if—"
"I called him," Damon interrupted, "As soon as the police arrived. He's probably waiting for you to call him back."
"Oh," she absentmindedly patted her coat jacket, before remembering that she had dropped her phone. "Damn," she flopped her head back against the seat, "I think I lost my cell phone."
"I got that for you," Stefan leaned forward from the back seat and held her phone out, "In all the commotion, I figured that you'd forget it."
"Thanks," Elena sighed, not even looking at the seventeen unread text messages. "I can't believe we have to go back to the police station tomorrow." She turned to look out of the window, her eyes filling with tears, "Poor Anna."
Damon pulled in across the street from her house moments later and let the engine idle as he peered through the windshield, "Is your aunt home yet?"
"Jenna? She usually doesn't get home till midnight." Elena unbuckled her seatbelt and turned to see Damon watching her warily. "I'll be fine," she said, correctly interpreting his expression. "Thanks for the ride home."
"Elena..."
"I'll see you tomorrow," she climbed out of the car and waved once at Stefan, "Get home safe." She slammed the door shut and quickly crossed the street, glancing up at the darkened windows of her house. Ever since Jeremy had begun his stay at the treatment center, she had come home to a silent house every night.
She had just unlocked the front door and pushed it open when she heard Damon calling her name. She turned around in surprise to see him jogging towards her. "What's wrong?" she asked, confused, "Did you forget something?"
"I told Stefan to head home without me," Damon held her screen door open, "I'll call a cab once your aunt gets home."
"You don't have to do this, Damon," Elena flipped the light switch on in the living room as Damon shut the door behind him and locked it firmly. "I told you that I'd be fine."
"I know," Damon acknowledged, shrugging casually, "Maybe I wanted some company."
Elena smiled slightly as he took a seat on the sofa and began flipping through a magazine. "What about Stefan? Will he be alright alone?"
"He didn't just witness a murder," Damon put the magazine down so that he could meet her gaze, "Elena, if you want to talk about it..."
"I'm really tired," she said in a harsher voice than she intended, and Damon flinched. "Sorry," she muttered, "I didn't mean that...Thank you for being here, Damon. It really does mean a lot." She fingered her cell phone for a second, already dreading the thought of calling Matt and having to relive the night all over again.
"Do you want me to call him?"
Elena's shoulders slumped forward as she sank onto the sofa next to Damon. "I just don't want to repeat everything again," she whispered wearily, "It was hard enough the first time."
"I'll call him," Damon gently pried the phone out of her hand, not meeting her gaze as their fingertips brushed together. "Why don't you just head to bed? I'll wait here till your aunt gets home."
"A hot shower would be really nice right now," Elena dragged herself to her feet, "Help yourself to anything in the kitchen. Thanks again, Damon."
He watched her go upstairs, masking the concern in his expression, "No problem."
Elena pulled her hair into a ponytail, wincing as she stared at her pale features in the mirror. Even though her body was straining for sleep, she knew that the nightmare of tonight would only be waiting to relive itself within her subconscious. A second later, Damon appeared in the reflection of her mirror and she turned around to see him standing at her doorway. "Hey," she gave him a small smile, "Everything go alright with Matt?"
"I gave him the Cliffnotes version of what happened tonight, and I told him you'd give him a call in the morning." Damon took a step into her room, his gaze darting around to look at the posters on the walls. "I haven't been in here since we were kids," he said with a reminiscing smile, "You always hated me and Stefan."
"That's because you were mean," Elena grinned in spite of herself, "You and Jeremy would always steal my dolls and hide them from me."
"I did no such thing," Damon said in a mock-offended voice, "That was all your brother's idea."
"He was six," Elena countered, "You were the older one."
"Only by four years," Damon sat down on the edge of her bed, "My ten-year-old self wasn't exactly the epitome of matureness."
"As if your 23-year-old self is," Elena teased back, "How you manage to run The Grill is beyond me."
"I'll have you know that they don't just hand out business degrees, Elena," Damon's smile faltered as he added in a quieter voice, "Besides, it's not like I had a choice. That place has been handed down from Salvatore to Salvatore for generations. I think my parents would've rolled over in their graves if I ever sold it."
"You've been doing a good job with it," Elena sat down next to him, "Your parents would be proud."
Damon hesitated, "And your parents would've wanted you to go to college, Elena."
"Not this again," she stood up abruptly, "Damon, I know that the Salvatores are rolling in dough just like every other person I go to high school with—that doesn't mean I want your money!"
He raised both hands in surrender, "Alright, forget I mentioned it." Damon stood up and nodded towards her bed, "Why don't you try to get some sleep? It's almost midnight, your aunt will be home soon." Elena reluctantly pushed the covers aside and sat back against the headboard, glancing at Damon questioningly when he didn't move. "Oh, before I forget," he said suddenly, reaching into his pocket and pulling out her phone. "You might want to charge that, the battery is almost dead."
Elena took it and quickly scrolled through the unread text messages. As she had predicted, they were mostly from Matt asking her if she was alright. There were also a few from Caroline from later in the night, no doubt resulting from Matt telling her what had happened.
"Good night, Elena."
"Night," she responded absentmindedly, now scrolling through the list of missed calls. These were also all from Matt and Caroline, except for...she paused, her mouth growing dry. "Damon, wait."
"What is it?" he walked back into her room, frowning when he caught sight of her expression. "Elena, what's wrong?"
"I h-have a missed call from Anna's phone," she said shakily, "From 8:22PM."
Damon's expression darkened, "But that's after..."
"I know."
