Jared stood near the back of the library, eyeing the Bennett witch as she bent over her grandmother's grimoire. She had arrived about ten minutes after Elena called her, the same energy of determination as the Gilbert. He tried his best to tell them that there was nothing they could do but the best friends were stubborn. Very stubborn. And yet, just as he predicted, they hadn't found anything to help find Emma.
Shaking her head, Bonnie flipped back to the previous page she was on in the beginning. "The best I can come up with is a locator spell."
"And like I said before, if I can't track her with my magic, then no one can." Jared commented, crossing his arms.
"There has to be something we can do, Bon. We can't just give up." Elena turned the book towards her, going over the words of the spell. "Who knows what happening to her?"
Damon, seated on the arm of the couch, sipped his bourbon. "Can't you just, I don't know, pray to God or something and ask Him to find Emma for us? Since she's His 'prophet'?"
The angel rolled his eyes. "You think we'd still be looking for her if He helped? He won't because it's my fault and it's my responsibility to find her."
"And you're doing such a good job."
"Boys," Elena snapped, sending both of them glares. "this fighting is not helping, is it?" She looked back at Bonnie. "Are you sure there's nothing else we can do?"
Bonnie sighed, stealing a glance over to the younger boy. "Well, there is something I think could work, if we tried it."
Those words lifted what little hope was left in Jared.
"Spill." Damon said, standing up.
"Since Jared is supposedly more powerful than a witch and can naturally track Emma, then maybe he can get a little extra juice to find her. From me."
"Like taking your magic?" asked Elena.
"No, kind of. How do I explain this?" the witch muttered, searching around the library for help. "Okay, take a radio." she said, moving over to the small electronic piece on the fireplace mantel. "You know how in movies, when the radio signal is not strong enough and they use something to give it a little boost? I'd be doing that with my magic."
Jared had to admit, it was a good plan. "That could work." he said, walking to the center of the room. "I'm not saying it will work, but-but it could."
Bonnie shrugged, closing the grimoire. "Let's get started."
The two sat on the couch, side by side.
"Okay, just do what you'd normally do whenever you'd try to find Emma." Bonnie instructed.
Jared, taking a deep breath, closed his eyes. The way he would locate Emma, it was as if he had the mental image of the world and a single red dot would be where she was. He'd never fail to find her, until now. The red dot was no where to be found.
"Hold out your hand." Bonnie said.
He reached his hand out and felt the Bennett wrap hers in his. It only took a second before he felt her magic rush through him. His map glowed brightly, making it difficult to even pinpoint anything.
"Focus."
Easier said than done. He thought about her and what could be happening to her. She wasn't the type of person to just leave, no matter if she had emotions or not. Someone had her. Someone was hurting her. Someone was keeping him from her.
A red dot appeared.
Emma's eyes snapped opened, a gasp escaping from her lips. She frantically scanned her surroundings. One second the man was about stab her and the next, everything went black.
"What?" she whispered, seeing the man was gone along with Damon and Elena's bodies.
The knife he had stabbed her with was gone, no evidence of him actually getting her. The blood splatters on the wall and on the floor were gone. She sniffed the air, thinking the man cleaned the mess up, and there was no smell of cleaning products.
It was as if they were never there.
The door flew open with a bang, Damon, Elena, and Caroline racing inside.
"Emma! Oh, my god. Are you alright?" Elena asked, kneeling before her and examining the slowly healing wounds.
"Y-yeah?" Emma croaked, watching Elena start to use a pocket knife to cut the ropes binding her arms and legs.
"Hurry it up. I'd like to get out of here in one piece." Damon urged, peaking through the blinds of the window.
Panic washed over the young girl at just the thought of the guy coming back. "No. Get out before he gets here. Just leave me." she pleaded.
Caroline shook her head, grabbing the knife from Elena and cutting the ropes herself. "Are you crazy? We're here to save you."
"Care, he'll kill you guys. Leave now."
"Emma, don't worry. Everything will be okay." Elena reassured.
Why weren't they listening to her? What she saw before was probably a vision and this was her only chance to save them and yet they weren't listening. Why won't they?
"Please! Just g-"
To her left, she heard two clicks and two stake shot out, one hitting Caroline in her chest and the other one hitting Damon. The vampires dropped to the floor, their skin turning gray and dark veins appearing on their faces.
Emma looked at them, holding back a cry. "Not again." She turned to Elena who was still. "Elena, listen. Get out before he gets you, too."
But it was too late. With no one behind her, a long red line materialized across the doppelganger's neck. The Gilbert grabbed it with both hands, choking on the blood she was coughing up.
"NO!" Emma screamed, reaching out with her free hand towards her sister, but she still had some ropes holding her back. She desperately sat there, watching her sister fall backwards.
She woke up with another gasp, her dead heart beating a thousand miles a second. Like before, her face was stained with tears and her throat was soar. She looked around the room frantically, searching for Elena, Damon, and Caroline's bodies but they were no where in sight. What the hell was going on?
"It took me awhile to figure out the perfect plan to execute my revenge." She froze, the man's voice echoing from behind her. "What would be the worst possible thing that could equal the pain I experienced when I watched my daughter's life be taken?" He slowly walked past her right and stood before her. "For you to experience it, too. Over and over again."
Emma gazed up at the man, a new wave of tears flowing down from her eyes. "Please. I'm sorry. I-It was an accident. I had just turned and I couldn't control it."
"Exactly!" he boomed, his face turning red. "You couldn't control yourself because vampires have the natural instinct to kill! Taking innocent lives to feast on their blood." he spat.
"I-I'm sorry." she sobbed, her throat tightening.
He laughed, leaning back. "'Sorry' is if you bumped into me on the sidewalk, not for murdering people." He backed up, opening the door. "Enjoy." he said, slamming it behind him.
And as soon as the door clicked shut, it opened again, this time Jeremy, Damon, and Bonnie bursting through. She shook her head, closing her eyes as she heard them shuffle in and mess with the ropes.
"You are not real." she whispered.
"What? Emma, what are you talking about? We're saving you." she heard Jeremy say next to her.
"You're not real."
"Speed it up, guys. Who knows when he'll be back." Damon said.
"You're not real."
"Why won't these come undone?" Bonnie questioned, the ropes moving around her wrists.
"You're not real."
She heard stomping coming up to her. "What is she talking ab-" Damon's voice cut off when the sickening sound of bones crunching rang around her.
"You're not real." she whispered again, flinching from the thumps of bodies hitting the floor. "You're not real."
"She's here." Jared said, his finger pointing to an area not far from Mystic Falls on a map spread across the coffee table.
Elena leaned down. "There? But that's the middle of nowhere."
He shrugged. "This is where I saw her, alright. I know it worked. Let's go."
Damon vamped in front of the boy, stopping him in his tracks. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. We can't just burst into the place. We need some sort of plan so that we don't get ourselves killed. For starters, we need to contact blondie."
"I tried but her phone keeps sending me straight to voicemail." Elena said.
"Great. Well, angel boy and I will have to go alone. We get in, grab her, and go, hopefully killing the person who has her in the process."
Elena faced the vampire, an eyebrow quirked up. "And why is it I'm not going? She's my sister."
Damon rolled his eyes, groaning deeply. "Must we go over this every single time? You may be some sort of supernatural, but you're still human. In one second, you could die."
"But-"
"Bye-bye." he said, already making his way to the front door. "Come on, Jared."
The boy scrambled to his feet and followed him, quickly sending an apologetic look to Elena. Damon was in his car, the engine roaring to life once Jared sat in the passenger seat.
"Point the way."
"O-oh. Make a left here and keep going straight till I tell you." Jared informed.
Damon did so, zooming off with a cloud of dirt flying. The two sat in silence for some time, the scenery passing them.
"So, what are your intentions with Emma?"
If Jared was drinking water, he would have choked on it or done a spit take. "W-what?"
Damon glanced at him. "I don't buy this 'I need to save her because I'm her guardian angel' act. It may be part of it, but there's obviously more."
"I don't have any intentions." Jared said, shifting in his seat. He couldn't look at Damon, knowing the vampire would see right through his lie in an instant.
It was against the rules of being a guardian. To not have feeling towards the people they were supposed to protect. It just made the job harder to do. So when the angel was assigned to Emma, he knew nothing was going to happen, until he met her. His plan was to become her friend and then keep an eye on her, but once he bumped into her at the carnival preparations, he was screwed. She was beautiful. Being her guardian was difficult enough with having to find ways to be by her without giving her the impression that he was a stalker, adding this just made things worse. When he asked Emma out on those dates, he told himself it was to protect her, but deep down, he just wanted to be with her. And look at where that got her? He let her leave Mystic Falls with that monster and let her die.
"Yeah, yeah, keep telling yourself that. Just know this. If you hurt her in any way, emotionally, physically whatever, I will kill you with my bare hands." Damon threatened, cutting off a slow car.
"You don't know if that's how you can kill me."
Damon shrugged. "Then I'll just keep hurting you till you are nothing more than a pebble. Got it?"
He didn't want to push it. "Got it." he repeated.
The rest of the car ride remained silent, the angel telling Damon to turn here and there. It wasn't long till Damon came to a stop, put the car in park, and cut off the engine. In front of them stood a tan one story house, surrounded by tall trees and bushes. The house seemed relatively new, aside from the cracks here and there along the side of the walls.
"Could you double check your inner map to see that she's here?"
Jared shook his head, unbuckling the seat belt. "Already did. She's here. I know it." he said, stepping out of the car and softly closing the door.
They followed the dirt walkway up to the wooden patio, the two of them peering through the windows. Despite the sun setting and the light hitting the inside of the house, it was completely dark. Damon grabbed the front door knob and twisted it, surprised to see it swing open. He reached his arm out, immediately hitting the invisible wall placed in the door frame.
"Hellooo? Anybody home?" he called out.
Jared went inside, hearing Damon's sound of annoyance. "Relax." the boy said, turning around and waving a hand at the door. "Go ahead."
"I'm sorry?"
"Come on in."
The vampire glanced behind him as if he wasn't the one Jared was speaking to. "I know you're not from around here but you do realize I am a vampire, right? I can't go in without the owner inviting me inside."
Jared sighed. "And I'm an angel with magical powers. What do you think I just did with my hand?"
Damon raised an eyebrow and hesitantly reached out, his face plastered with shock when his arm crossed the door frame to the inside of the house. "W-what?" He walked forward, no invisible wall keeping him out.
"You're welcome." Jared said, beginning to search around the house without expecting a rely.
They searched around the living room, lifting up the dusty rug for some sort of trap door and looking behind the furniture. The room was clear. Jared had been passing by the coffee table when he came across a grimoire laid out. He knelt down and flipped through the spell book, noting how thick and old it was.
"Whoa, Damon. I think we're dealing wi-"
"Shh." Damon interrupted, raising a finger as he turned his head to the side. "This way." he said, darting down the hallway.
Jared was close behind him as they headed toward a closed bedroom door. From where they stood, he could hear a soft mumbling from the other side. The two shared a look before they opened the door. There, tied to a wooden chair, sat Emma, eyes closed as she whispered to herself, 'You're not real'.
Damon made it over to her in three steps, attempting to untie the ropes around her wrist, only to hiss from the vervain stained on them.
"Let me get them." Jared offered, going over and untying the ropes with the snap of his fingers.
The Salvatore hooked his arm under her legs, feeling the young girl flinch at his touch, and lifted her up bridal style. "We need to get her out of here."
Jared couldn't have agreed more. They quickly rushed to the front door, only to be met by a medium built man in the middle of the living room. With the wave of his hand, Damon and Jared were sent flying to the side, Emma landing not far from them.
"I should have known people would try looking for her." the man said, slamming the front door shut.
Damon bared his teeth and vamped to the man but dropped to his knees, shouting out in pain as he held his head. Jared stood up and held his hand up, feeling his eyes start to glow.
The man chuckled. "Ah, an angel. You think I haven't encountered your kind?" He closed his eyes, breathing in deeply before opening his mouth to speak.
"Desino." Jared boomed, and in an instant, the man halted from uttering the spell. Damon's cries of pain and Emma's mumbling ceased and he was able to stand back up, curiously watching the encounter as he checked on Emma.
The man grew furious as he tried to cast a spell. "Impossible."
"I'm not your ordinary angel." he said with a smirk. "Dormio." And the man fell to the floor, out like a light.
Damon, who picked Emma up off the ground, went over to the boy, staring down at the fallen witch. "What did you mean by not being an ordinary angel?"
Jared shrugged. "Nothing. I just always wanted to say that."
The vampire slowly nodded and used his foot to kick at the man's leg. "So, did you kill him?"
The angel shook his head. "No, I just made him sleep. We need him for answers."
"Um, I'm not risking the guy waking up as we're heading back to the house." the vampire commented, carrying the Gilbert out to his car and setting her in the back seat.
From the house, Jared said, "Don't worry. He won't wake up until I make him. It'll be fine."
Damon looked at the boy skeptically before glancing down at Emma's sleeping form. He sighed, closing the back seat door and heading back inside. "Fine, but he goes in the trunk." he said, tossing the man over his shoulder.
Heyy my peeps. I hope you enjoyed this update. I'd just like to let you all know that I'm officially a college student! My first day of classes was Monday and booooooy was I tired cause my first class of the day was 7:30. . . . . in the morning. And I'm commuting and it takes about 45 minutes to get to my school. Yeah, I know, why did I choose such an early class? Well, I had no choice really. It was the only time that worked around my mom's, dad's, my sibling's, and my schedule. But for sure, next semester, my classes are NOT going to be in the morning.
Moving on to the story:
YAY! THEY FOUND EMMA AND HER KIDNAPPER! HOW EXCITING! I hope none of you actually thought I was going to kill off Damon and Elena ( no one in particular ;) ) because that would have been crazy. But I tried really hard to imagine what this guy had gone through and the person he lost so when I came up with the "torture" he was going to do to Emma, I believe that whole "seeing your loved ones die" was perfect for since he had to watch his daughter die as well. Not in person, but he wanted her to feel the exact same way he did. WHICH BRINGS ME TO EMMA HAVING EMOTIONS AGAIN AND WHAT A SHITTY WAY TO GET THEM BACK AM I RIGHT?
And also, during this chapter, I was thinking to myself, what could be a really cool plot twist that would throw everyone off? And then it kind of just came to me and BOOM, Jared lifted the invisible wall so Damon could enter the house. It was crazy, y'all. Like I typed the whole thing out, stared at it, thought about it, almost deleted it, and then kept it. Idk, I thought it was cool to add that.
PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF THE UPDATE. I LOVE READING YOUR THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS TOWARDS IT.
Welp, I'll see you in the next update! :) 3
