Chapter 2
Elena woke up on the couch, her eyes fluttered open to her aunt and her brother gazing over her.
"Oh thank god!" Jenna said and pulled her niece into her arms. "I was so worried, you terrified us!" She then let go of her niece before kissing her forehead.
Jeremy let out a shaky laugh. "Yeah 'Lena, we were so worried. You've been out for twenty minutes and Aunt Jenna wanted to take you to a hospital but I convinced her not to because I know you hate hospitals and I knew you were going to wake up. I mean, the world couldn't be that cruel to kill you after our parents died."
Elena moaned when she tried to stand up, shooting pain ran through her leg. She then remembered, a strange creature had bitten her. "My leg…" She whispered and pointed.
"I know sweetheart, we saw the mark. Did you hurt yourself?" Jenna asked.
Elena shook her head back and forth before giving up on trying to stand up. "No, something bit me."
Jenna squeezed her niece's weak hand. "It's okay honey, we understand. You must feel so anxious about moving into this new house and it's all so new to you. I understand how you might have wanted to hurt yourself but if I see another cut, then I'm going to take you to the mental hospital."
Elena was too tired to argue, she didn't care what her aunt thought or anyone thought for that matter. She couldn't blame them either, what would be another reason that made sense on how her leg was scratched up and had tooth markings? It was the only logical reason; they would never believe or understand that something inhuman bit her. Of course Elena would still cut herself, she had been for the past year and her aunt barely noticed. "I'm sorry," she lied.
Jeremy looked at his sister and sighed. He looked like her almost believed her, he knew that she cut but this mark on her leg, was not made by her. "How about we get you up to bed?"
Elena nodded. "Please."
Jenna pulled Elena up and put her arms around Elena's waist. Jeremy did the same on Elena's other side and together, they carried her up the stairs to her bedroom.
"Thank you guys," Elena sleepily whispered as they set her down on the bed.
Jeremy smiled. "No prob, sis. I'll see you in the morning, okay?"
Elena nodded and waved as he left the room, leaving Jenna with her.
"I'm going to go to bed soon. I love you and just scream as loud as you can if you need me." Jenna said with a smile.
Elena returned the smile. "Okay, love you Aunt Jenna," she whispered.
Jenna walked to the door and then turned around for a moment. "Do you want me to turn off your light?"
Elena nodded. "Yes, thank you."
Jenna turned off her light and closed her door, leaving just a crack open. "There, so we'll still be able to hear you if you scream."
"Bye," Elena muttered, closing her eyes.
Sleep pulled her under almost immediately.
The birds were chirping, the sun was shining and Elena Gilbert was… sleeping.
"Knock, knock." Jenna said in a happy voice and knocked on Elena's door.
Elena groaned and turned the other way. "I'm sleeping." She called out.
Jenna opened her niece's door and sat down beside her on the bed. "C'mon, your breakfast pizza is waiting for you in the fridge and I need to check your leg."
Elena sighed before opening her eyes. "Fine, check my leg but then I need to shower." She sniffed her armpit. "I stink."
Jenna rolled her eyes before pulling down Elena's covers and setting her leg on her lap. She glanced down at her leg and let out a surprised noise before grinning. "Your leg." She gasped. "It's healed."
Elena frowned before looking down at her leg. She gasped when she looked at it, it looked completely normal, like she had never even been bitten. "Wow, that's awesome."
"Does it hurt?" Jenna smiled and asked.
Elena tested this out by trying to stand up, and she felt no pain whatsoever. She placed her hands on her hips and smiled proudly. "I'm super-heal-woman!" she exclaimed.
Jenna laughed before going into Elena's dresser. She pulled out black jeans, a purple knit top and underwear. "Here, go take a shower and change into this." She handed the outfit to Elena.
Elena accepted the outfit. "Thank you, I will." She said before going into the bathroom. She set the clothes down on the counter and put her dirty clothes into the hamper. She realized that the clothes she had just had in her hand, were her clothes from the previous day and she didn't even change into her pajamas before bed last night. Oh well.
Elena turned on her shower before stepping in. The water was fairly cold, so she changed it to lukewarm. She squirted shampoo into her hand before lathering it into her hair.
"And I! I will always love you! Yoooooouuu!" Elena sang very loudly as she rinsed out her shampoo. She was feeling very good, which was odd since she had been depressed for the past year. Was it normal to be happy? Heck, she didn't even remember what feeling happy felt like before today. Yesterday was a very weird day but today was going to be a new day, a great day.
Elena continued rinsing and soaping up before finally turning off the shower and stepping out. She wrapped a white fluffy towel around her body and then flipped her head over to wrap a beige one around her hair.
She then went back to her room with the clothes and set them back on her bed. She let the white towel drop from her body before pulling on her clothes.
Once she was dressed, she took out the beige towel and brushed her hair. She applied a little bit of makeup in the mirror. Now, she was set for the day.
Elena went down the stairs and into the kitchen. Jeremy was at the table, eating a slice of pizza and drinking a glass of water. Jenna was nowhere to be seen. "Hey, where's Jenna?" Elena asked as she went to sit beside her brother.
"She went out to get groceries," he replied. "She should be back in a bit. How are you feeling?"
"I'm feeling a lot better." Elena nodded and then asked, "Jeremy, do you believe that it wasn't me who did that to my leg yesterday?"
Jeremy swallowed his pizza and then looked at her with a slight frown. "I don't know. I just don't know what else it could have been."
"I understand that but please Jer, you of all people should believe me."
Jeremy nodded. "I know, I know." He took another bite of his pizza and washed it down with a sip of water. "So, what really happened last night? A demon possessed you?" He asked and then began to laugh.
Elena frowned; he obviously thought she was crazy. "You what, just forget it. It won't make sense to you." Elena snapped and stood up before going out the back door into the backyard.
"Elena, c'mon! I was just joking around!" he shouted but she was already outside, she couldn't even hear him now.
Elena groaned and sat down in the backyard. She pulled her knees up to her chest and dug through her pocket for something, her blade.
She found it and pierced her wrist with it causing a droplet of blood to ooze out. More blood came out, and more.
She laid down on the grass with the blade in hand. Her wrist was bleeding, and bleeding and bleeding.
Her vision started to blur so she shut her eyes. She felt peaceful and safe.
"Sweetheart, your wrist… it's bleeding." A southern voice said. It was a woman, she was speaking to Elena.
Elena opened her eyes to a blonde, older woman, smoking a cigarette. "Who are you?" Elena whispered.
The woman flicked her cigarette and put it out. "I'm Constance, Constance Langdon. I'm your next door neighbor but we can get acquainted later after I fix up your wrist. You don't look so good, honey." Constance held out her hand for her to grab.
Elena moaned as Constance pulled her up, she collapsed in the woman's arms.
Elena woke up on a pink loveseat. She opened her eyes to a small, brown haired girl wearing an orange headband. The girl was wearing a floral dress and she smiled at Elena. "Yes, she's awake." The girl said to someone who Elena couldn't see.
Elena blinked a few times. "Who the hell are you?" She groggily asked.
"I'm Adelaide, and you're Lena."
Elena smiled weakly at the girl. "Yeah, I am. How do you know my name?"
Adelaide grinned. "My mother saved you from dying a tragic, bloody death."
Elena frowned. "Huh?" But then she remembered, she had slit her wrists and a blonde woman with a southern accent came to her rescue. "Constance." She muttered.
Adelaide nodded. "Yes, that's her name."
Constance walked into the room. "Oh, yes. You're awake!" She smiled brightly and sat down beside Elena. She patted her leg and said, "How do you feel?"
"I feel okay. What happened?"
"You passed out after I found you so I brought you here and I fixed you." Constance answered.
"Fixed me? How?"
"With an herb, It's called vervain and it's a healing herb. It can heal any wound, you just mix it with water and corn starch until it becomes a paste. You then rub it onto your wound and wa-la!" She waved her hand and smiled."You're fixed."
"It's been growing around here for a couple hundred years but not very many people know about it, it's a secret." Constance pressed her finger to her lips and smiled.
Elena frowned. "You sound like you're on some serious meds, Constance." She joked.
Constance forced a smile and said, "Take a look at your arm." She gestured to Elena's wrist.
Elena glanced down at her wrist; no traces of a scar or a mark were there. This vervain herb, was magical. "Wow… Thank you."
"No problem, honey. You stop on by anytime you want."
Elena nodded and got up from the couch to the door. "Thanks Constance, I will." She smiled and began to leave the house but was stopped by Constance who grabbed her arm and frowned. "Be careful in that house, you never know what might happen." She blinked a few times.
"Huh? Why?" Elena curiously asked with her head tilted to the side.
"A lot of vengeful spirits in that house." Constance said with a sigh and shook her head sadly. "A pretty girlie like you oughta be careful and mind her own business. Don't get caught up with them, they'll eat you right up."
Elena frowned. Was Constance a little crazy? Or did she know something that Elena would eventually need to know? What was with this neighborhood? "Oh, uh, um… Okay, thanks." She said before leaving the house and shutting the door.
Elena opened the back door to her house and saw Jenna and Jeremy sitting at the table, they had a worried expression. A redhead old woman was standing beside them. She was dressed in a maid's outfit and one of her eyes was clouded, the other hazel.
Elena frowned.
"Oh god, Elena. Where have you been?" Jenna asked and pulled Elena into an embrace.
Elena hugged her aunt back. "Uh, I was out. No worries." She detached herself and looked at the old woman. "Who's this?"
Jenna cleared her throat and smiled at the old woman. "This is Moira, she is going to be our maid. She worked for the last family that lived her and the family before that."
Moira smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Elena. Your aunt has told me great things about you."
Elena slowly nodded. "Cool, I gotta go. See you guys later." She said and turned to leave but was stopped by Jeremy.
"You really scared me, Elena. After you left, I felt real bad." Jeremy said in a low voice.
"Guys, I'm fine. You need to stop worrying." Elena said and sighed.
Jenna cupped her niece's face with her two hands and frowned at her. "I'm worried about you. Ever sense you first walked into this house, you've been acting weird… Distant… And odd."
"Well, I guess you haven't noticed but I've always been weird, distant and odd." Elena snapped and walked away from them, heading upstairs to her room.
Jenna sighed and sat back down, running a hand through her auburn locks. Moira patted her shoulder and sighed. "Ms. Sommers, don't fret. She's a teenage girl who lost her parents last year, is dealing with a lot of changes and she just moved here. All you can do is give her some time."
"It's so hard though. Ever since she walked into this house, she has been acting really strange. She claimed that something attacked her in the basement and that she saw a creepy person in a rubber suit, all of this happening in this house." Jenna admitted.
"Well, this house has feelings of its own, it's a special house and it will make you believe things you never thought possible. But you don't need to stress, . Your niece will be okay." Moira spoke.
Once Elena was in her room, she slammed it and sat down on her bed. Elena took a deep breath and shut her eyes. That accident that she had with cutting earlier… It was a wakeup call.
