Blair was downstairs all packed and ready to go. It was the deadline Elena gave her the night before. She had to find a place to stay today. The boarding house was off limits, Marge's place wasn't an option because it'd bring up too many questions. As far as the town was concerned, Blair and Marge only knew each other from her father's constant trips to the hospital, nothing more. In order to keep Marge as safe as possible, Blair couldn't draw any attention to her.
She was hoping to be out of the house before anyone woke up be Jeremy was up unusually early that morning. "What are you doing?" He asked with crossed arms.
"It's time for me to find other arrangements, Jeremy. I can't sleep on your couch forever." Blair thought that sounded plausible enough.
"Then crash in Elena's room, hell crash in mine. You don't have to go anywhere." Jeremy was adamant with his words to show her how much he wanted her to stay.
"Jeremy I..." Blair was cut off mid sentence when Jeremy yelled up to his sister.
"Elena! Get down here!" He called up and Elena rushed down the stairs.
"What happened?" Her voice was frantic as she spoke.
"Blair's trying to move out. Will you tell her to stay, please? She'll listen to you." Jeremy looked at Elena but gestured to Blair.
"Jeremy, it's fine.." Blair began but he cut her off once again.
"No it's not fine! You're not going anywhere. I am not losing another member of this family." Jeremy looked at Elena, "Please, talk to her." He gave Blair a brief look before grabbing his jacket and heading out the door.
The girls stood in silence for a few moments before Elena spoke, "You don't have to leave."
"That's not what you said last night." Blair pointed out the current event.
Elena ran a hand through her hair with a sigh, "I know. And I know I keep flip flopping on how I feel about this where you're concerned and I'm sorry, Blair. It's just a lot to take in, but in the end...you're...Blair. What your memories are...it doesn't change that. It's going to take some getting used to and I'm definitely going to be asking some more questions, but right now...let's just be Blair and Elena. Okay?"
Blair set her bag on the couch and nodded, "Okay. I promise I will answer any question I can...but...I wasn't kidding with Jeremy...I don't think I can spend another moment on this couch."
Elena laughed, "Yeah, we've been thinking about that. Don't worry, we have it under control." She smiled as she headed back up the stairs, "See you later."
Blair gave Elena a little salute and took a deep breath. This was definitely a turn of events...maybe she didn't lose everything after all. She wasn't ignorant to the fact she was standing on thin ice though. Being extra careful was a necessity.
"Ugh." Blair said to herself as soon as she arrived at school. There were Halloween decorations everywhere. She wasn't a very big fan of Halloween, in spite of quite a few of her past lives loving the holiday.
When the sight of Matt down the hall reached her eyes, she stopped dead in her tracks. How could she possibly face him after all she said?
"Do you realize you're staring?" Bonnie asked from behind Blair, startling her.
"Shit! Don't do that!" Blair exclaimed. She hated being so jumpy lately. Granted she had a good reason, but still.
"Sorry." Bonnie said through laughter, "But seriously, if you stare at Matt any harder he's going to combust."
"I wasn't staring at Matt. I was just thinking and my eyes happened to land in his general direction." Blair adjusted the strap of her bag as she spoke, hoping that'd be convincing enough. Yeah...it wasn't.
"Blair. This is my you're talking to. I got a little look in that brain of yours, remember?" Okay, that wasn't exactly what happened, but Bonnie knew Blair would get it.
"Even if I was staring at him, it wouldn't make a difference. I told him that he is the last guy in the world I'd ever be with." Blair turned stoic after speaking those words, trying to appear like they didn't bother her.
"Why would you do that?!" Bonnie couldn't believe what she was hearing.
In a hushed tone, Blair replied, "You have your witch secrets, I have my secrets. I'm not going to risk anyone getting hurt because of them." Blair rubbed her temples and threw her hands out in front of her, "You know what? We shouldn't even be talking about this. I'm going to class." Blair turned around on her heels and walked down the hall as fast as possible to avoid any further contact with anyone else.
The school day was uneventful for the most part. Blair punched Tyler in the arm at one point during the day because he jumped out at her in a werewolf mask that made her, and Caroline who happened to be walking beside her, scream.
A teacher saw her punch him and that resulted in an after school detention. It could have been worse, but Tyler would 'testify' or whatever. So a detention was all the punishment she received.
When she was finally allowed to go home, she did. "So much for seeing you later." Blair said to Elena as she walked into the kitchen.
"Sorry I was...checking in." Elena replied, pouring herself a glass of water.
Blair didn't need any more details than that, figuring Elena had been referring to Vicki. "Are you going to the Halloween thing tonight?"
"Yeah, I'm taking Jeremy. You planning on going?" Elena sat at the kitchen table with her.
Blair hated Halloween, something Elena knew, but she always went anyway. This year, however, she had a legitimate excuse, "I don't have a costume."
"You can have mine from last year. Caroline picked me up a new one." Elena grinned at Blair's hell no reaction.
"I am not going as a bloody, sexy, nurse." Blair shook her head an stood to leave, but stopped when Elena spoke.
"I hear Matt's going as a bloody doctor." Elena sipped at her water with a smirk.
"Fine. But I'm only wearing it because I don't have another option." Blair turned around and headed out the kitchen. She popped back in for just a moment to flip Elena off since her friend was laughing at her.
Elena, Jeremy, and Blair walked into the school's Halloween Party. Elena as a witch, Jeremy was a Grim Reaper type thing, and Blair...a bloody, sexy nurse. They saw Matt soon after entrance and he came over to them. "Nice costume." Matt sounded sincere when he spoke to Blair then added with sarcasm, "Better be careful or people might think we planned this. You wouldn't want that, right?"
"I think that's our cue." Elena said to Jeremy as she put her hands on his shoulders and guided him away.
"Matt, I..." Blair began but Matt wasn't going to hear it.
"I think you're said enough already Blair." Matt replied then scoffed, "I don't even know why I came over here. I'm going to find Vicki."
That definitely caught Blair's attention, "Wait, what? Vicki's here?"
"Yeah. She's a vampire. Can't miss her." Matt replied and Blair took off to find Elena.
Thankfully it didn't take her very long to find her, "Where's Jeremy?"
"He went off to get something to drink," Elena replied then asked, "Why? What's going on?"
"Vicki's here." Blair didn't have to say anything more than that.
"We have to find Jeremy." Elena took Blair's hand and pulled her along.
"Took the words right out of my mouth." Blair kept pace with her as they looked around to find him or Vicki. Whoever came first.
The girls decided to split up and cover more ground that way. After looking for what felt like forever, Blair thought she caught sight of Jeremy and Vicki going off somewhere. Granted all the haunted house effects were obscuring her vision, but on the chance it was them, she followed.
Blair lost track of them and almost headed further into the school then it clicked...they'd want to be alone. With everyone inside, that meant they probably went out. She hoped her gut was right about that. Blair ran outside and looked around all the parked buses then heard Jeremy yell at Vicki. Her pace doubled as she ran towards the voice.
Vicki was full on vamped when she got there. Blair ran in front of Jeremy and shouted, "Stay behind me, Jeremy!" Blair felt her blood start to boil as she looked at Vicki. She had just threatened someone Blair cared about and that was not a good thing.
Vicki charged for Blair who punched as hard as she could, but it barely bothered her. "I hate vampires." Blair practically seethed before Vicki threw her up against the bus. Jeremy was about to intervene when Elena came out of nowhere with a wood plank in her hands and screamed, "Vicki! No!"
Elena hit Vicki with the plank, but that wasn't appreciated. Vicki threw Elena away and into a pile of wood pallets.
Blair picked up the dropped plank and hit Vicki across the back of her head. The plank shattered but it didn't affect the vampire. Hurting Vicki with it wasn't Blair's plan anyway. She needed the now accessible broken wood pieces. A whole dull piece of wood couldn't be used as a stake if it came to that.
Vicki was about to attack Blair again but Stefan appeared and tackled the newbie vampire. After a brief scuffle, Vicki ran off. "Get inside. Go!" Stefan yelled at them.
Elena took off for the door, Blair grabbed Jeremy's arm and pulled him along. Blair was about to follow Elena inside when Vicki pulled Jeremy away and drove her teeth into Blair's shoulder. Her cries of pain drew Elena back outside and the next moment...Vicki stopped.
Blair staggered back and saw why she had stopped biting her. Stefan had driven a stake through Vicki's heart. Seeing this froze Blair. It brought back an all too painful memory. A memory of when she had to stake a vampire that was someone she cared about so much. "Get out of here. Go." Blair was firm with her tone though her voice was breaking. "Go."
Stefan took Elena and Jeremy away as Blair slid to the ground next to Vicki. "I'm so sorry." She whispered. Vicki didn't deserve this and those who were left behind didn't deserve the pain of her loss.
Blair looked up when Damon approached and said, "You should. I got this."
She rose to her feet and felt her blood boiling again, "This is your fault! You did this to her!"
"You confuse me with someone with remorse." Damon replied nonchalantly.
Blair punched him in the face for that, even though she knew it wouldn't affect it. It just had to be done. So much so that she tried to do it again, but he stopped her and gripped her wrist tightly.
"None of this matters to me. None of it." Damon practically spat those words at her.
"Everything matters, Damon! And you know it!" Blair shouted, taking back her hand before managing to slap him across the face.
"You need to go." Damon spoke firmly, "Your wounds are bleeding and you need to go."
"Or what? You're going to drain me dry, Damon?" Blair scoffed, "Go ahead. Try it and I will hang you on the line like a load of laundry!" When those words escaped her lips, her eyes went wide. That was something Andrea had said jokingly in the past to Damon and now she said it again. Granted it was in anger, but it was still from Andrea.
Blair let out a breath as she saw Damon's face. It was a mixture of anger and puzzlement. She didn't want to stick around for any possible questions he may have, so she turned around and left Damon with Vicki's body. She didn't want to leave Vicki like that, but there really wasn't much of a choice in the matter now.
She walked around to the front of the school and just wanted to get home. The last thing she wanted was to talk to anyone, but Matt had caught up with her.
"Blair! Hey, have..." Matt was going to ask about Vicki but then he saw the the blood on her. "What happened? Are you okay?"
Blair looked at her shoulder, "Yeah, I'm fine. Some jackass got their fake blood on me." To change the subject she said, "What were you going to ask me?"
Matt accepted her explanation then asked, "Have you seen Vicki? She totally bailed on me."
"I don't know where she is." She was lying through her teeth but was very convincing about it.
Matt sighed, "Is this what I'm in for? A lifetime of worrying about her?"
Without really thinking, just acting, Blair put her hand on the side of Matt's face. Holding in her tears as best she could she managed to get out, "You're a good brother, Matt." Upon seeing the second look of puzzlement directed to her that night, she took her hand away. "Maybe she went home."
"Yeah..." Matt answered softly then Blair turned around to go home. She walked for awhile before dropping right there on the empty sidewalk. It was late so the trick or treaters had already gone home.
Blair wrapped her arms around herself to try and keep together, but she was failing miserably. The tears of so many different emotions streamed down her face. Long after the tears had dried, Blair just stayed there on the sidewalk until finally she picked herself up and went home.
Stefan was on the porch waiting for her when she arrived. Upon seeing him, she asked, "Where are they?"
"Inside." Stefan replied.
Blair nodded and walked past him to get to the door. She paused with her hand on the knob, "I'm not sure how many more lifetimes I can handle if they're going to be like this." Without another word, she opened the door and went into the house.
Upstairs, Blair found Elena standing outside Jeremy's room. "How's he doing?" She asked, even though that was a stupid question.
Elena's tone was a bit hushed when she spoke, "I explained things but he won't talk to me now."
Blair gave her friend an 'I'm on it' look before going into Jeremy's room. Jeremy had his knees pulled to his chest with his arms wrapped around them. She sat down in front of him and cupped his face. Not a word escaped her lips but her eyes told him that he could talk to her.
Jeremy looked up at Blair and through tears he asked, "Why does everyone die on me?"
Blair felt her heart break as she pulled Jeremy into a hug. She wished she could take away his pain, but she couldn't...she couldn't but there was someone who could. "I'll be right back. Okay? I will be right back." She kissed Jeremy's head and left the room to talk to Elena. She wasn't going to go ahead with her plan without Elena's permission.
Elena didn't even need convincing. Just the suggestion made her agree. That brought Blair back downstairs to talk to Stefan. "Stefan...I talk to Elena, she's okay with this...you need to make Jeremy forget."
"Blair...you know because of my lifestyle that it might not work. I won't be able to do it right." Stefan was very hesitant about the whole thing.
"Stefan, you have to try, please. Jeremy's a mess. He won't be able to come back from this. I am terrified of what he'll do...Stefan...please." Blair had never begged for anything in this lifetime, but she was begging now.
Stefan looked so apologetic, "I'm sorry...I can't."
Blair wiped the tears from her eyes and turned around when she heard Damon's voice say, "I'll do it." He walked over to them and repeated, "I'll do it."
"Why?" Blair asked him, "Why would you do that?"
"Because," Damon replied simply enough, "everything matters. Right?" He let that sink in with her before asking, "What do you want him to know?"
Blair knew the answer to this because she and Elena had agreed. Wrapping her arms around herself, she walked over to Damon and said, "Tell him that Vicki left town and she's not coming back, that he shouldn't look for her or worry about her. He's going to miss her, but he knows it's for the best."
Damon nodded and started to walk off, but Blair grabbed his arm before he could go. With a broken voice she said, "Thank you." and released him to go on his way.
She sat on the porch's loveseat next to Stefan and admitted, "Times like this I wish I could be compelled. I wish I forget so much in my lives." She stood up after saying that, "I promised Jeremy I would be right back." Blair passed Elena as she went into the house and headed upstairs while Elena went out to talk to Stefan.
Damon was coming down the stairs as Blair closed the door. "It's done." He informed her and was about to leave, but stopped. He pulled the locket from his pocket and held it in front of her. "Why did you have this?"
Blair had been doing a lot of lying that night, so why stop now. "I took it to get under your skin." And that was all she was going to say to that. Blair walked up the stairs and didn't look back until she heard the front door close. To keep her composure, she clenched her fists and went up the stairs.
It wasn't long before Elena had joined Blair outside of Jeremy's room, watching him listen to his music. There was only one sentence that came to mind to sum up everything Blair was feeling in that moment without going into any real detail or explanation was, "I hate Halloween."
End Episode 7
A/N: Special thanks to AlyAlyAly for her inspirational brainstorming help and thank you all for reading and reviewing Personification. It means so much, thank you! I hope you continue to enjoy reading the story as much as I enjoy writing it. Again, thank you all so much :)
