Ch. 4
A/N: Thank you guys for all your favorites and follows. Again, a few more reviews do not hurt. I'm sorry for being like every other author and asking for reviews, but I would really like to know what you guys think about this. Hope you enjoy this chapter!
Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries. Anything you recognize is not mine.
Alliana was running through the forest. She now knows her way through the forest. She spots a good place to hide. She starts to quickly climb the tree. She hears footsteps coming in her direction. Closer and closer they come. She hears a voice calling for her.
"Alliana. Come out now. You know I am going to find you soon," the voice tells her. She tries to blend in even more. The person walks away from her. She sighs in relief and climbs down from the tree.
"Got you!"
Alliana gasps in surprise. "Fine Kol. You win this time." Kol laughs and stands up proudly.
"You actually took a little bit longer to find. I found Henrik very quickly."
"That is because Henrik does not know the best hiding spots. I do know where they are and can then hide from you."
"Yes, but I got you to reveal yourself, did I not?" Kol asks.
"Of course you did, because you are Kol the almighty trickster." Alliana teases him.
"Do not boost his ego. It is big enough already," a different voice says behind her. Alliana turns to find Elijah and Rebekah. "It is, of course, quite alright to tease him about it," Elijah says.
"'Lijah, that is just mean," Kol replies.
"But so very true," Alliana adds. Kol just pouts and the other three people just laugh at him.
"Since it is so difficult to find Alliana, she must be the seeker this time," Rebekah states. All agree very quickly.
"Very well, but Elijah has to play with us this time," Alliana says. Elijah tries to refuse. Henrik walks up at this time.
"Elijah is actually going to play?" He asks excitedly. Elijah looks to Henrik and then to Alliana who is making pleading eyes at him. He concedes. Alliana starts to count, while everyone hides. She counts for a minute before going to search for everyone. She finds Henrik quickly behind a log, because he was laughing. Kol was found next, because his foot was sticking out from a bush. Rebekah was found behind a boulder. She got bored and started to braid her hair more. Elijah was harder to find. He kept switching behind different trees. Eventually, Alliana just starts walking slowly around the area which Elijah was hiding in. Elijah gets very confused as to why she was not really searching for him.
"Why are you not trying harder to find me?" He asks.
Alliana simply smiles and states, "If I find you, then the game would be over." He simply laughs. "I don't want to stop playing the game, yet."
I was getting out of Bonnie's car at school. I was again talking about Stefan with Bonnie and Elena, who was constantly the topic of discussion these days. We were at school and Bonnie was trying to warn Elena about something.
"I'm not saying don't date the guy. I'm just saying take it slow," Bonnie says.
Elena looks at her and I, "You guys were the ones who said go for it."
"I am all for you going for it. Bonnie is the one who is saying 'take it slow'," I say.
"Why the about-face?" Elena asks Bonnie.
"It's not an about face. You are single for the first time in your entire high school career. It's the perfect time to play the field," Bonnie replies.
"Yeah, because Elena is totally that girl," I say defending my sister.
"Seriously, what are you not saying?" my sister asks Bonnie.
"It's stupid," Bonnie says trying to brush us off. We all stop and turn to her.
"Bonnie, just spit it out," I say.
"I accidently touched Stefan and got a really bad feeling," she says, looking kind of guilty and embarrassed.
"Is that it?" Elena asks. I could tell Bonnie was feeling bad about this, but I really like Elena being with Stefan. Bonnie tries to walk away when Elena grabs her arm, "Bonnie!"
"It was bad-bad." Bonnie tries to defend herself.
"Is this the whole witchy mojo thing again?" I ask.
"You know what I am just concerned. This is me expressing concern about one of my best friends' new boyfriend," Bonnie says.
"And I love you for it, I do." Elena says while she grabs Bonnie's shoulders. They smile at each other. "But I feel good. It's been a hard year, for both of us, and I am starting to kind of feel like things are getting back to normal again. And you know what, Stefan is a big part of that." Bonnie just sighs. We continue to walk towards the school and our classes, when Stefan walks over to us.
"Good morning, Elena," he says. "Good morning, Bonnie, Emilia."
Bonnie just starts to walk away. "Um, I gotta find Caroline. She's not answering her phone."
I turn to her. "Hey, wait up. I'll come with." I turn back to Stefan and Elena. "We'll catch you guys later." Bonnie and I keep walking towards school.
We were in Tanner's class. He was asking about different important dates in history. Most of which I knew, but as usual he ignores me.
"World War II ended in…..Anyone got anything?" Mr. Tanner asks. I raise my hand, but he ignores me. "Miss Juan?" Carla Juan just shrugs.
I finally get fed up and just blurted it out. "1945." I hear Elena and Stefan whispering next to me about the football team. Elena starts giggling when Tanner asks her a question.
"Miss Elena Gilbert?" She turns around to face the front of the room and Tanner. "Pearl Harbor?" Of course he couldn't just ask me. Elena tries to come up with an answer she obviously doesn't have. Stefan just answers for her.
"December 7th, 1941." Elena smiles at him.
"Thank you, Miss Elena Gilbert." Tanner says, stressing her name.
"Anytime," Stefan replies.
Tanner must have seen this as a challenge, because he replies with, "Very well. The fall of Berlin Wall."
Stefan simply answers, "1989. I'm good with dates, sir."
"Are you?" Tanner asks. Stefan nods. "How good? Keep it to the year." Here is the challenge apparently. "Civil Rights Act."
"1964."
"John F. Kennedy assassination."
"1963."
"Martin Luther King."
"'68." Tanner starts walking closer and closer to Stefan each time he mentions a new event.
"Lincoln."
"1865"
"Roe vs. Wade"
"1973"
"Brown vs. Board"
"1954."
"The Battle of Gettysburg"
"1863"
"Korean War."
"1950-1953"
"Ha! It ended in '52." The entire class chuckles. Tanner goes back to the front of the classroom.
"Uh, actually, sir, it was '53." Tanner turns around to Stefan.
"Look it up, somebody." Tanner says through clenched teeth. The entire class moves to look it up. "Quickly."
Kyle, another kid in the class looks it up on his phone and says, "It was 19…53." The class tries to clap, but it winds up being kind of pitiful. I am very impressed. That was kind of awesome.
Afterschool, Elena and I go to cheer practice for the first time since our parents died. I knew we were going to behind, because we missed summer camp, but I learn these things pretty quickly. We are walking over to Bonnie who was stretching. I clear my throat loudly and Bonnie turns around and spots us.
"Oh my god! You guys are here!" She says while hugging us both.
"Yep. We can't be these sad girls forever," I say.
"The only way to get back to the way they were, are to do things that were," my sister says. We start to stretch. "Oh, and you are both coming to dinner tonight."
"We are?" Bonnie and I say.
"Mhmm. You, me, Emilia, and Stefan." Bonnie's face falls. Elena turns to see her face. "You have to give him a chance."
"But tonight's no good." Bonnie complains. Elena and I just give her a look. She changes the topic. "Have you seen Caroline? I texted her like a hundred times."
"I have been texting her too. She hasn't answered me either." I say.
"Don't change the subject, Bonnie Bennett. You're going to be there," Elena says.
"Fine! I'll go," Bonnie replies. Elena looks at me.
"I'm cool with this. This should be interesting," I say.
"Good," Elena says. We all continue to stretch. I am actually starting to worry about her. She always answers my texts and calls, but today she isn't. I am seriously curious as to where she is. Bonnie starts to think along the same lines as I was.
"Seriously, where is Caroline?" Bonnie asks.
"I don't know. It's not like her." My twin says.
"Try her again." I say. Bonnie sighs and picks up her phone to try to call Caroline. Bonnie doesn't have to finish that call, because Caroline comes driving up in an awesome convertible. We all turn to face Caroline and what looks like Damon, who were kissing in his car. A car that I really want to have or drive. If only the owner wasn't such a creeper.
"That must be the mystery guy from the Grille." Bonnie says.
"That's no mystery guy," my sister says.
"That's Damon Salvatore." I say.
"Salvatore, as in Stefan?" Bonnie asks.
"Yup. His older brother," I say. Caroline gets out of his car and saunters over.
"I got the other brother. Hope you don't mind." Caroline says as she passes by us. She walks over to the front of the group. "I'm sorry I'm late, girls. I, uh, was busy. All right, let's start with the Double Pike Herkey Hurdler. What do you say?" I look over at Damon who just smirks at me. I roll my eyes at him and focus back on cheer practice. We were doing a routine to STARSTRUKK by 3OH!3 ft. Katy Perry. Elena and I were struggling with it. I was sort of picking it up, but Elena was struggling to keep up.
Caroline notices her struggling and says, "Elena, why don't you just observe today? 'K?" Elena just stops and goes to the back. "Keep going! Okay. Do it again. Let's go. And 5,6,7,8." Elena watches and tries to copy the moves to learn them. I have picked up most of the routine by the second time we got through it. Elena gets distracted and leaves partway through it to watch the football practice. I guess Stefan joined the team after all.
Bonnie, Elena, and I were getting ready for dinner. Bonnie was again talking about being psychic or a witch. Elena was getting food ready. I was sitting on the counter, listening to Bonnie, and drawing. I was drawing my best friends, Caroline, Bonnie, and Elena in one picture. Bonnie was going on about predicting a commercial.
"You explain it," Bonnie says. "Last night, I was watching 'Nine-O,' a commercial break comes on, and I'm like 'I bet it's that phone commercial!' and sure enough it's that guy and girl with the bench. He flies to Paris, and he flies back. They take a picture."
"Oh, come on. That commercial's on a constant loop," Elena says. She hands a platter of food to Bonnie to help her unpack it.
"Fine. Well, how about this? Today, I'm obsessed with numbers. Three numbers. I keep seeing 8, 14, and 22. How weird is that?" Bonnie says.
"Maybe we should play the lottery," I say from my spot on the counter. Elena and I laugh.
"Have you talked to your Grams?" Elena asks.
"She just gonna say it's because I am a witch. I don't want to be a witch. Do you want to be a witch?" Bonnie says.
"I don't want to be a witch," my twin says.
"I would like to be a witch. Imagine just what you could do. You could bring someone to their knees with a wave of your hand. You could probably explode things with your mind, or make someone fly across the room. Just imagine how powerful you could be," I say sort of wistfully. Elena just keeps putting the food into nice bowls.
"Putting it in a nice bowl isn't fooling anybody," Bonnie tells her.
"Ok, serving spoons. Where are the serving spoons?" my twin asks.
Bonnie answers before I could tell her. "Middle drawer on your left." Elena gives her a look and opens the drawer. She takes out the serving spoons. We both look at Bonnie astonished.
"Okay, so you've been in this kitchen like a thousand times," Elena says.
"Yeah, that's it," Bonnie says.
"Especially since you live here and you didn't know where the serving spoons are," I say.
"You are the one who uses the kitchen to cook. I'm not in here as much," Elena replies. The doorbell rings before I can answer her. "Okay, he's here. Don't be nervous. Just be your normal loving self." Elena leaves to go answer the door. Bonnie just stares at me wide-eyed for a few seconds. She puts down the serving spoon she was holding.
"Birthday candles," she says. She waits a second and opens the drawer. I hop down from the counter and rush over to her side. Sure enough, the birthday candles were in the drawer.
I look to her and smile. "That is so cool!" Bonnie just kind of stares at me. Elena then walks in with Stefan and we sit down to eat.
The dinner was kind of awkward. We were all sitting around the table, picking at our food. I try to start another conversation, "So Stefan, I heard you joined the football team."
My sister adds on, "Did Tanner give you a hard time today?"
"Well, he let me on the team, so I must have done something right," Stefan replies. Elena and I chuckle.
Elena turns to Bonnie. "Bonnie, you should've seen Stefan today. Tyler threw a ball right at him, and"
Bonnie interrupts, "Yeah, I heard." We all kind of look around awkwardly. I try to start a conversation again.
"So Bonnie why don't you tell Stefan about your family?" I say.
Bonnie turns to him. "Divorced. No mom. Live with my dad." Stefan just nods his head.
"No, I meant about the witches," I say. "Bonnie's family is supposedly from a lineage of witches. I think it is super cool."
"Cool isn't the word I'd use," Bonnie says.
"Well, it's certainly interesting. I'm not too versed, but I do know there's a history of Celtic druids that migrated here in the 1800's," Stefan says.
"My family came by way of Salem," Bonnie replies.
Stefan looks at her with an interested face. "Really. Salem witches?" He asks her. Bonnie just nods her head and smiles, slightly embarrassed. "I would say that's pretty cool." He says to Elena and I.
"Really? Why?" Bonnie asks Stefan.
"Salem witches are heroic examples of individualism and non-conformity," Stefan replies.
"Yeah, they are." Bonnie says.
"See Bonnie. I told you witches are cool," I say. The doorbell rings.
"I wonder who that could be." Elena says as she gets up and gets the door. I stay at the table and started to clean up. Stefan gets up to find out who was at the door. I go to find out myself when Caroline enters.
"Hey. Damon and I brought dessert," Caroline says. I love my best friend, but I don't like Damon. I did not really want him here, but with my sister dating Stefan, I guess I will have to deal with Damon.
Everyone was sitting in the living room. We had eaten dessert and were now just relaxing. Caroline was going on about Stefan joining the team. Damon was still being very strange. Everything he says seems to have a double meaning. I stopped focusing on Damon and went back to listening to my best friend.
"I cannot believe Tanner let you on the team. Tyler must be seething. But good for you. Go for it," she says.
Damon adds in, "That's what I always tell him. You have to engage. You can't just sit there and wait for life to come to you. You have to go get it."
Caroline decides to also add in, "Yeah, Elena wasn't so lucky today. It's only because you missed summer camp, even though Emmy got it. God, I don't know how you're ever going to learn the routines." My best friend can be kind of cruel sometimes.
Bonnie decides to add in, "I'll work with her. She'll get it."
Caroline being her decides to open her mouth again, "I guess we can put her in the back."
Damon says, "You don't seem like the cheerleader type, Elena."
"Oh, it's just 'cause her parents died. Yeah, I mean, she's just totally going through a blah phase. She used to be way more fun." Caroline says. Then, she finally realizes what she said was mean. "And I say that with complete sensitivity."
"I'm sorry, Elena. And you too, Emilia. I know what it is like to lose both your parents. In fact, Stefan and I have watched almost every single person we've ever cared about die." Again, what is with the double meanings? Why is he saying things like that?
"We don't need to get into that right now, Damon," Stefan says.
"Ah, you know what, you're right, Stef. I'm sorry. The last thing I wanted to do was bring her up," Damon says. I knew he was taunting Stefan about something. When Damon says this, I know that something happened between both of them and Katherine, Stefan's ex-girlfriend.
"Which is exactly why you brought her up just now," I say sarcastically. Damon just kind of looks at me puzzled. Damon then just smirked at Stefan.
I was doing the dishes. Everyone else was in the living room just relaxing. Damon walked over.
"One more," he says. He goes to hand me one glass. I try to grab it when it slips, and Damon grabs it quickly.
"Wow. Good reflexes," I say laughing. "Nice save."
"I like you and your sister. You guys know how to laugh. And your sister makes Stefan smile, which is something I haven't seen in a very long time."
"Earlier, did you mean Katherine?" I ask as I put a dish in the dish washer. Damon grabs it from me and puts it in for me.
He answers me with a "Mhmm."
"How did she die?" I ask.
"In a fire. Tragic fire," he replies.
"Recently?"
"Well, it seems like it was yesterday."
"What was she like?"
He takes a moment to answer. "She was beautiful, much like you and your sister in that department." I roll my eyes at this. "She was just very complicated and selfish, and at times not very kind. But very sexy and seductive." Oh, I get it now.
"So which one of you dated her first?" I ask while handing him a plate.
"Nicely deduced," he says. "Ask Stefan. I'm sure his answer differs from mine."
"Oh, is that the reason for the double meanings behind almost everything you said. You want to get back at Stefan for falling in love with her as well, which probably caused something to happen, which eventually lead to her death." Damon just looks at me. He changes the subject.
"I'd tell your sister to quit cheerleading if I were you."
"Why would you say that?" I say sort of defensive towards him.
"Oh, I saw you guys at practice. You looked fine, but she looked miserable."
"You saw that too, huh?"
"Am I wrong?"
"Nope. I love to dance and cheer, and Elena used to love it. It was fun. Things are different. Everything that used to matter doesn't anymore, not to either of us. There are still things that I love to do, but things are different for Elena."
"So don't let it. Tell her to move on. You do the same as well. Problem solved. Ta-Da."
"Some things could matter again. I know writing still does, maybe cheerleading will too."
"Maybe. But…seems a little unrealistic to me." I thought about it for a second.
"I'm sorry." Damon just looks at me. "You lost Katherine too." Bonnie and Elena walk in before he can answer to help with the dishes. Damon leaves to go back to Caroline and Stefan, who were still in the living room. Eventually, Caroline joins us as well. We all just were hanging in the kitchen until it was time to leave.
The next day, Elena and I were getting ready for the game. I was already ready to go, other than my hair. Elena was staring at her uniform, dressed in her towel. I could tell she was debating whether or not she should actually keep going. I knew this was a good time to talk to her.
"'Lena. I think we need to talk."
"Yeah, what's up?" she asks.
"I think you should really talk about you and cheerleading."
"What about it?"
"'Lena, you are not happy doing it anymore. We aren't the same girls as we were last year. Our parents died and that changed us. Writing just isn't the same for me as it was when Mom and Dad were alive. Cheerleading just isn't as fun as it was for you anymore, and that is okay. You aren't totally different. You are still my older sister, my twin. You still love writing in your journal and gossiping about stuff with Bonnie, Caroline, and I. I am still Lia. Your little twin sister. I still love drawing, music, dancing, and cheerleading. But I don't want to write my stupid little stories anymore. I will leave the writing to you. It is what Mom would've wanted anyway. You were always the better one at it. You no longer have to do cheerleading anymore. You don't have to do the same things you used to do to be normal. You just have to be yourself and be happy."
"I love you, 'Lia." My sister says as she hugs me tight.
"I love you too, 'Lena. I'll let you decide what to do. But first, can you please do my hair? You have always been so good at it."
"Sure."
That night, I was at the bonfire for the game. I was standing with the other cheerleaders, while my sister was standing off to another side, not in her uniform. I knew that was going to be her decision, while she was doing my medium-brown long hair. She was pulling it into multiple braids that all went into a high ponytail, when she paused for a second. I knew that was when she made the decision.
At the bonfire, we were cheering for Stefan and the rest of the football team. I could tell Tyler was getting pissed. I knew he and my brother were having an issue, so when I saw Tyler head over towards my brother, I knew there was going to be trouble. I could see Jeremy was drinking, and I couldn't help but feel disappointed. It is my fault that he is acting this way. Maybe if I had focused more on Jeremy after our parents died, he wouldn't be acting like this. I could only hope that no one would be too hurt after this. I could see Vicki trying to stop Tyler, but it wasn't deterring him. I saw the fight start by Jeremy punching Tyler. The dick probably said something to Jeremy to set him off. It was probably about Vicki. I could see them trying to beat the crap out of each other. Elena and I, along with many other people, walked over to try to see what is going on. I could see Tyler punching my brother while he was on the ground. Stefan grabs Tyler's arm before he could keep punching Jeremy. Tyler punches Stefan in the stomach, but Stefan just doesn't respond. Or he just doesn't hurt him. Tyler stares at Stefan's reaction. This gives Jeremy enough time to grab a broken bottle that must have shattered before. He grabs a piece and stands up. Tyler again tries to fight Stefan, but Stefan just knocks him away. He pushes him away right as Jeremy slashes the broken bottle piece. I see it cut Stefan's hand. Jeremy stares at Stefan. Matt gets Tyler away to calm him down. Elena and I go straight to Jeremy. I check him out while Elena goes back to Stefan. When I look away for one second to check on Stefan, Jeremy leaves. I look around, but first check on Stefan. I look at his hand, which doesn't seem to be injured. Odd. I could've sworn he got hurt.
I go back to the other cheerleaders. Tiki, one of the other cheerleaders, was having trouble keeping the sign up. Caroline and I both go to help her. I could see my twin talking with Bonnie. I was curious, so I ask Bonnie.
"Hey, what were you and Elena talking about?"
"She was asking about the weird feeling I got when I touched Stefan."
"What was it?" I ask.
"It what I imagine death to feel like," she replies.
"Wow. Creepy," I reply. "I have to go find Jeremy. He is injured and escaped from me earlier. Can you cover for me with Caroline?"
"Yeah, sure. Good luck finding him," Bonnie says. I smile at her and start looking around. I look in the bleachers, around the field and all over, but I can't find him. I finally look by the locker rooms. He wouldn't be in the locker rooms, I know that. I go to look behind the locker room building when I see something I know I shouldn't have. I see Damon with his mouth on Tanner's neck. I see Tanner drop when Damon removes his mouth. I only see Damon's face for one quick second while he turns around, but what I did see looked so scary. His mouth was very bloody and his eyes were dark. It looked like something out of a horror movie. I run away from that spot trying to understand what just happened. I can't understand what happened. I just try to continue to look for Jeremy. I hear a little while later that the game is cancelled. Tanner got attacked by an animal. My only question was did it happen before or after Damon was there? Everyone clears out when they hear the game is cancelled. I find Jeremy behind the bleachers with a cool can against his face. I saw Vicki a little walks away. I knew they had some sort of touchy feely conversation. I nudge Jeremy with my foot and sit down next to him.
"I know you are into her, Jeremy. I don't mind you defending the honor of a girl. That is very noble and good. But next time, try not to get your ass kicked and then run away. I don't want to have to search for you and wonder if you are okay. I do that enough. I don't like you drinking or doing drugs, but if Vicki makes you happy, I don't mind if you spend time with her," I say. I give a side hug to my kid brother. "Let's go. I'll clean your face up when we get home." We both got up off the ground. We walked back to the car, where Elena was hugging Stefan. "Hey, Lena. Hey, Stefan."
We drove home. Elena went upstairs to write in her journal and go to sleep. I cleaned up Jeremy's face with the first aid kit. As soon as I was finished, he rushed to his room. Jenna was in her room too. I went to my room as well. I kept working on my drawings, while listening to my music. I thought about what I saw. I still don't really believe what I saw. It was very dark and I only saw it for a couple seconds. It couldn't have been anything bad at all. I fell asleep with that scene flashing through my head.
A/N: I am so so sorry. I have been sick and really busy, so I haven't been able to get this out. I hope the length makes up for it. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Leave a review. I will try to get the next chapter written and published really soon.