Chapter 8.
Someone was shaking me. "Sophie, wake up." Matt whispered.
I sat up, he was starting the car. I looked over to the house, the three girls were climbing down a tree next to the window, it had stopped snowing.
I looked at Matt, he was laughing under his breath, although he looked slightly worried. We waited for them to get in the car before following them, keeping a safe distance so the wouldn't notice us, Matt was still shivering.
I placed my hand on his, and he looked at me smiling, his hair was ruffled and wet from the earlier snow and he looked tired and hungry.
We got to Wickery Bridge and we both hopped out the car, Matt left the headlights on.
The riverbank was muddy, it didn't look like they were here. We walked across the bridge searching for them.
I looked at Matt he looked worried, we went back over the bridge, I couldn't see them anywhere.
I saw a big crow sitting in an ash tree about a metre away, he stared at me in a strange way, his eyes were black….Damon. I gasped in fear and nearly tripped, then it flew away into the night sky, Matt hadn't even noticed him.
Matt was sliding down to bank to look underneath, he gestured for me to do the same, helping me down.
There was a moaning sound, I looked at Matt afraid.
"What re you doing down there?" he said. So the girls were under the bridge.
No one answered, he peered underneath. I didn't want to move because it was too slippery, my shoulder was hurting again.
"Elena? What are you doing?" he said. I thought it was strange, that they were under the bridge, maybe the whole Stefan situation had made Elena a bit crazy.
"Matt." said Elena in relief.
I wondered if they were okay, I knelt down and looked under the bridge, they looked petrified.
"What do you think you're doing?" said Bonnie looking at me, then at Matt, her voice sounded scared but relieved.
"Trying to give us a heart attack? What are you out here for at this time of night?" she carried on, we had definitely scared them.
Matt was rattling change in his pocket, he looked embarrassed.
He didn't look at any of them, instead he stared at the river.
"We followed you." he said. I went over and stood beside him, I nearly slipped but Matt caught me, his arms around me, supporting me. I smiled at him.
"You what?" said Elena, she didn't sound happy.
He hesitated to look at her, but when he did he said. " I figured you'd find a way to get around your aunt and go out again. So I sat in my car across the seat with Sophie and watched your house."
The three girls looked at me, Elena almost looked like she was glaring.
"Sure enough you three came climbing out of the window. So we followed you here." he finished, he looked embarrassed.
Elena looked angry but there was another look on her face, it almost looked like guilt.
She got up and went over to him. "I'm sorry, Matt." she said quietly.
"About the way I acted back at the house, and - and about -" she didn't finish her sentence, I don't think she knew where to start.
"Well, I'm sorry for scaring you just now." he said facing her, he accepted her apology, I wondered how many times she had apologised to him.
"Now could you please tell me what you think you're doing?" he said.
"Bonnie thought Stefan might be here."
"Bonnie did not." said Bonnie. "Bonnie said right away that it was the wrong place. We're looking for quiet, no noises, and closed in. I felt … surrounded." she said looking at both of us.
"What?" I said.
"Sure you did." said Matt, looking at her strangely, like she was mad.
"There were rocks around me, but not like these river rocks."
"Uh, no, of course they weren't." He looked at Meredith.
"What are you on about?" I said confused.
"Bonnie had a vision." explained Meredith.
Matt stepped away a little. I looked up at him, I was confused.
Bonnie had a vision? I didn't understand.
Matt nearly had the same expression on his face, but he didn't look confused, he looked wary, he didn't believe them, and I didn't blame him, neither did I.
"It's no joke," she said. "Bonnie's psychic." she said looking at both of us.
"I know I've always said I didn't believe in that sort of thing, but I've been wrong. You don't know how wrong. Tonight, she - she tuned in to Stefan somehow and got a glimpse of where he is." said Elena, she glanced at me.
I let it sink in, maybe Bonnie really was a physic. Until I moved here I didn't believe in vampires, I did now. I believed that Bonnie was physic.
"I see. OK…" said Matt, he was still doubting it.
"Don't patronise me! I'm not stupid, Matt, and I'm telling you this is for real. She was there, with Stefan; she knew things only he would know." said Elena glancing at me.
"She saw the place he's trapped in."
I nodded, even though It was hard to believe, I knew it was the truth.
"Trapped." said Bonnie. "That's it. It was definitely nothing open like a river, but there was water, water up to my neck. His neck, and rock walls around, covered with thick moss. The water was ice cold and still, and it smelled bad."
I shivered, it sounded like a drain or something.
"But what did you see?" asked Elena.
"Nothing it was like being blind. Somehow I knew that if there was even the faintest ray of light I would be able to see, but I couldn't. It was as black as a tomb."
A tomb did have water in it I thought to myself. I hoped that Stefan wasn't hurt, that Damon didn't do this to him.
"As a tomb…" said Elena shivering.
"But a tomb wouldn't be that wet," said Meredith speaking my earlier thought.
"That's exactly what I was thinking." I said.
"No…but I don't get any sense of where it could be then," said Bonnie.
"Stefan wasn't really in his right mind; he was so weak and hurt. And so thirsty-" she said.
I opened my mouth at the same time as Elena, to try and get Bonnie from going even further, but Matt interrupted.
"I'll tell you what it sounds like to me." he said holding my hand.
The three girls turned around and looked at him, they had forgotten he was there. I saw Elena slightly glance at Matt's hand folded around mine.
"Well." said Elena, still looking at us, she didn't like us holding hands.
"Exactly." said Matt. "I mean, it sounds like a well."
Elena looked excited, hope flickered in her eyes. "Bonnie?"
"It could be." said Bonnie, she didn't sound sure. "The size and the walls and everything would be right. But a well is open; I should have been able to see the stars."
I looked up at the stars, they were so pretty. At home I was rarely able to see them because of the street lights.
"Not if it were covered." said Matt, thinking practically.
" A lot of the old farmhouses around here have wells that are no longer in use, and some farmers cover them to make sure little kids don't fall in. My grandparents do."
I had forgotten his Grandparents owned a farm in Fell's Church. I squeezed his hand, at least one of us was thinking straight.
Elena looked like she was going to explode with excitement.
"That could be it. That must be it. Bonnie, remember, you said it was always dark there."
"Yes, and it did have a sort of underground feeling." said Bonnie, she was excited too.
"How many wells do you think there are in Fell's Church, Matt?" she said shattering our excitement.
"Dozens, probably." he said, my flicker of hope was disappearing.
"But covered? Not as many, and if you're suggesting somebody dumped Stefan in this one, then it can't be any place where people would see it. Probably somewhere abandoned…"
If somebody dumped him in ,I thought to myself. I knew who dumped him, and that somebody was Damon. I clenched my fist, I hissed in pain.
Four heads turned to me. "Are you okay?" asked Matt.
"Yeah fine." I said, I hated to be fussed.
"Is your shoulder hurting?" asked Bonnie, she gestured towards my scarf sling.
"What happened?" asked Meredith. Nobody had noticed it yet.
"I slipped and dislocated it." I said, I felt clumsy. " It's okay now."
Elena looked me in the eyes, she mouthed Damon. I nodded.
"Did you go to the hospital?" asked Matt.
I looked down at the ground and shook my head.
"Sophie!" said Bonnie. "Why?"
I shrugged. "When we get back, I'll take you." said Matt, concern in his eyes.
I looked at him my eyes wide, I didn't want to. "I don't need a hospital." I said stubbornly.
He looked at me, he wasn't convinced.
"Please." I whispered.
He looked away. Great. Now I had to worry about Stefan, Damon and now this.
To my relief we went back to the Stefan situation.
"His car was found on this road." said Elena.
"The old Francher place." said Matt, still glancing at me.
It was silent for a moment, I had never heard The Francher's before, but by the looks on there face, it wasn't a nice place.
"Let's go." said Matt.
Elena put a hand on his arm. "You believe -?"
He looked at the river again. " I don't know what to believe," he said. "But I'm coming."
We split up, I got in Matt's car with him and Bonnie. Meredith was following with Elena.
I looked out the window, we were going somewhere abandoned, it looked like we were in the middle of nowhere. We drove up a little track road leading into the woods.
We got out, I looked around. I didn't have a clue where we were.
"From here we walk." he said.
Elena had a rope in her hand, lucky she was thinking practically too.
It was very dark in the woods. It was hard to see where we were going. Matt grabbed my hand, his was warm now.
The whole time Elena just stared. What was her problem? She had dumped Matt for Stefan, why did she care what he did?
I thought about Matt, how caring he was. I wondered if we had something between us, was it real.
We went through the undergrowth it was thick and bushy. Branches and thorns whipped us in the face. Matt tried to hold them back, but there was too many.
There was insects and moths flying around. We passed a tree that had the biggest cobweb I had ever seen, built by a big black spider, it's long legs….I shivered.
At last we approached the farm. The house was just rubble, it was taken over by weeds and bushes.
"The well would be somewhere out the back." said Matt, gently pulling me along.
We searched around the back, walking through the long grass and weeds that seemed to be everywhere. It was like a jungle.
Then Meredith called us, she had found it. We went over gathering around the square.
It wasn't how I had always imagined a well. It wasn't how they were on TV, it wasn't round with a little roof and bucket.
It was just a flat square, dug deep in the ground covered by a stone slab.
"It's been moved recently." said Matt, bending down and pointing at the dirt around the well.
"Let's get it off." said Elena unable to control her excitement.
The slab was really heavy, Matt couldn't lift it. All four of them pushed it, Matt wouldn't let me help.
It moved and when there was a gap between the slab and well. Matt used a dead branch to lever the opening, then they all pushed again.
As soon as the gap was big enough, Elena bent down, looking in.
"Stefan?"
There was no reply, we all looked at each other, worried.
Then at last there was a faint sound. "Who- ? Elena?"
"Oh Stefan!" said Elena relieved, her voice sounded so happy.
"Yes! I'm here, we're here, and we're going to get you out. Are you all right? Are you hurt?" she nearly fell in with excitement, Matt quickly grabbed her.
"Stefan, hang on, we've got a rope. Tell me you're all right." she said.
It sounded like he was laughing, followed by a weak voice "I've - been better, but I'm - alive. Who's with you?"
"It's me Matt." said Matt letting go on Elena.
He looked down into the hole.
"And Meredith and Bonnie and Sophie, who's going to bend some spoons for us next. I'm going to throw you down a rope… that is unless Bonnie can levitate you out." he said turning to Bonnie.
She playfully slapped him on the head. "Don't joke about it! Get him up!"
"Yes ma'am." he said, he sounded excited. "Here Stefan. You're going to have to tie this around you." Matt threw down the rope.
"Yes." said Stefan obediently.
It took fifteen minutes to pull him up, Matt wouldn't let me help again, but I stubbornly insisted that I wanted to help. It took all five of us.
Every time we paused for breath Bonnie would say. "Come on, Come on." she was as eager as everyone else to get him out.
Finally his hands appeared and Matt put his hands under Stefan's arms and hauled him up.
As soon as he was up Elena was holding him.
He looked awful, he was so still, he was just about breathing. His hands were covered in blood.
Elena lent back get a closer look at him. We all just looked.
He looked half dead, his skin was pale and there were black rings under his eyes.
She looked up at us concerned.
"We'd better get him to the clinic fast. He needs a doctor." said Matt quickly looking at me and then back to Stefan.
Of course he hadn't forgotten, I was hoping he would forget about my stupid shoulder. I was so annoyed with Damon, all my troubles were from him.
"No!" said a weak voice. Stefan slowly raised his head.
He stared right into Elena's eyes. "No…doctors. Promise…Elena."
I wondered if he didn't like hospitals either, but then I remembered if you were a vampire, a doctor would know the difference, they would probably keep him as a lab experiment.
Elena looked like she was going to cry. "I promise." she whispered.
Then Stefan went limp, he lay in Elena's arms unconscious.
"But he's got to have a doctor. He looks like he's dying!" said Bonnie, worried.
"He can't. I can't explain right now. Let's just get him home, all right?" she looked at me.
"He's wet and freezing out here. Then we can discuss it."
We all lifted up Stefan, I glared at Matt before he got the chance to stop me. My shoulder was killing me, but I didn't care, I needed to help Stefan.
We finally reached the cars and lay him in the backseat.
We were all wet and exhausted.
Elena held his head in her lap, we drove to the boarding house.
"Do you want you coat back?" I asked Matt.
Elena was too occupied with Stefan to notice us talking.
I looked at Matt, he was soaking, and his skin was pale, he looked freezing.
He looked at me, then at the coat. I started to take it off.
"No, I'm fine." he said, looking at my shoulder. "You need a doctor too."
I shook my head. "It's fine."
"It's not Sophie." he said concern in his eyes. "You're in pain."
I looked down at my hands, I wasn't going to deny it because it was true.
"Why won't you see a doctor?" he asked, he blue eyes staring into mine, his blonde hair wet and droplets of water from Stefan and the melted snow was dripping down his forehead.
I looked out the window, I took a deep breath. "I'm scared." I whispered.
He looked at me and smiled sympathetically, he took my hand and squeezed it. "Don't worry." he said.
We approached the boarding house. "I see lights on." he said parking in front of the big building. "She ,must be awake, but the door's probably locked."
Elena gently got Stefan's head off her lap and got out the car.
I saw someone push a curtain aside, it was an old woman peering out.
"Mrs Flowers!" shouted Elena. "It's Elena Gilbert, Mrs. Flowers, we've found Stefan and we need to get in!"
Mrs. Flowers didn't move, she just looked down.
"Mrs. Flowers, we have Stefan." she said looking towards the car. "Please!"
"Elena it's unlocked already!" said Bonnie, she was over at the porch.
I looked up at the window, the light turned off. That woman was strange.
Elena, Meredith and Matt lifted Stefan out of the car.
We went in to the house, it was dark and the silence was eerie.
We followed Elena up the stairs up to the second floor. We went into a bedroom and Elena told Bonnie to open a door, it led up another narrow staircase.
"Who would leave their- front door unlocked- after all that's happened recently?" mumbled Matt, Stefan was heavy. "She must be crazy."
I nodded my head in agreement.
"She is crazy." said Bonnie, she opened the door at the top of the stairs. "Last time we were here she talked about the weirdest-" she said but stopped abruptly, she gasped.
"What is it?" asked Elena, looking into the room.
I stared at the room in horror. It looked like a tornado had hit it. There was clothes over the floor, trunks on the their side and their contents all over the place.
There was things everywhere, furniture was overturned and a window was smashed. There was a small lamp on in the corner.
The room was a total mess, everyone was lost for words. We all just stared around the room in surprise, except for Elena.
"What happened?" asked Matt, breaking the silence.
They gently put Stefan on the bed. "I don't know for certain." said Elena.
"But it was already this way last night. Matt and Sophie will you help me? He needs to get dry."
"I'll find another lamp." said Meredith.
"No, we can see all right." said Elena quickly. "Why don't you try to get a fire going?"
Elena grabbed a dark terry cloth dressing gown out of the trunks.
We began to peel off Stefan's wet clothes. Elena was pulling off his sweater. She froze, Matt didn't notice, but I did. I followed her eyes to see where she was looking, his neck. It had been bitten, badly.
"Matt could you- could you hand me that towel?" she said, looking me straight in the eye, she was worried.
As soon as he turned around, she pulled off the sweater and put the robe on Stefan.
Matt handed her the towel and she put it around Stefan's neck like a scarf, covering up the bites.
"I'm going to get a doctor." said Matt, he looked at me briefly, then at Stefan's face. "He needs help, Elena."
Elena looked up worried. "Matt…no. He's - he's afraid of doctors."
Matt looked at me and then back to Elena, I looked down at the ground, listening to her.
"I don't know what would happen if you brought one here." she said, she looked back at Stefan rubbing his hands between hers.
It was silent. Elena was looking down at her Stefan. I didn't know what she was going to do, but we both knew that bringing a doctor wouldn't be a good idea.
She looked at me, her blue eyes burning into mine, then she looked at Matt.
"He's afraid of doctors, but a nurse might be all right." she looked over to Bonnie and Meredith, who were making a fire.
"Bonnie what about your sister?" she asked.
"Mary?" she said looking at her watch. "She had the late shift at the clinic this week, but she's probably home by now. Only-"
Elena interrupted her. "Then that's it. Matt, you go with Bonnie and ask Mary to come here and look at Stefan. If she thinks he needs a doctor, I won't argue any more."
Matt took a second to answer. "All right." he said sighing. "I still think you're wrong, but- let's go, Bonnie. We're going to break some traffic laws."
He took my hand and we went out into the dark landing. "Will you see a nurse?" he asked worried, Bonnie had gone on ahead and was nearly at the bottom of the stairs.
I hesitated and shrugged my shoulders, I winced. "I'm fine."
He looked at me, his voice was firm. "You're lying."
"I suppose so." I said quietly, he squeezed my hand and I faked a smile.
Meredith came down the stairs behind us, she looked annoyed but worried.
We got into Matt's car. It was still chilly outside.
He started up the car, the engine was loud. I looked at the speedometer, he was going at 120 kilometres. I grabbed onto the side of the door.
We pulled up to Bonnie's house. We rang the doorbell and a young woman who only looked a little older than Bonnie, her voice made up for her young appearance.
"Hello." she said looking at us.
"Mary, you have to help us!" said Bonnie.
Mary looked worried. "Come in." she said.
Bonnie shook her head. "No, you need to come now."
"Why?" asked Mary confused.
"We'll explain in the car." said Meredith.
"Okay." she said. "Is it an emergency?"
"Yes." said Bonnie breathlessly. "Bring your bag."
Mary obeyed, looking at us she was very confused.
She got in the front and I got in the back with Meredith and Bonnie.
"Tell me what all the panic is about?" she said firmly.
"Well, we found Stefan down a well, and he's really sick." said Bonnie.
Mary looked concerned. "Why didn't you bring him to the clinic?" she said in disbelief.
"He's scared of doctors." said Matt looking at me in the mirror.
"I see and tell me his condition." said Mary, her voice had an firm and tone.
"Well he was still unconscious when we left the boarding house, he was freezing from the weather and cold water, he just looked really sick." said Matt.
"It doesn't sound good." said Mary quietly. "You should have brought him straight to the clinic."
"He wouldn't let us." said Bonnie quietly. "But he looked like he was dying."
Mary looked really worried. We pulled up to the boarding house and got out of the car quickly. We almost ran up the stairs, Bonnie in the lead.
I could hear a faint sound which sounded like laughter. Bonnie opened the door.
Stefan was sitting up in bed, he was awake and his skin had regained some colour.
"He's better!" said Bonnie, her voice was happy.
I smiled with pleasure, Elena must have gave him some blood.
Matt and Meredith were right behind me, they were smiling too.
Mary went straight over to Stefan and felt his pulse.
"So you're the one afraid of doctors," she said.
He looked at her confused, but then his face went back to normal. " It's sort of a childhood phobia." he said, he looked embarrassed.
I knew exactly how he felt, Matt was holding my hand again.
"Anyway, I don't need one now, as you can see." he said.
"Why don't you let me be the judge of that? Your pulse is all right. In fact it's surprisingly slow, even for an athlete. I don't think you're hypothermic, but you're still chilled. Let's get a temperature." said Mary.
"No. I really don't think that's necessary." he said quietly, it looked like he was trying to compel her.
"Open up, please." she said holding a thermometer, he must be too weak.
"Here, I'll do it." said Elena taking the thermometer, as she took it, it smashed to the floor.
It looked like she done it on purpose, she probably did.
"Oh I'm sorry!" she said, she sounded like she meant it, maybe it had been an accident.
"It doesn't matter" said Stefan. "I'm feeling much better that I was, and I'm getting warmer all the time."
Mary looked at the floor and then around the room. "All right." she said putting her hands on her hips. "What's been going on here?"
"Nothing much." replied Stefan. "Mrs Flowers is just a terrible housekeeper." he was a good liar, he was looking her right in the eye.
Mary didn't look too pleased, I held back a laugh.
She crossed her arms. "I suppose it's useless to hope for a straight answer, and it's clear you're not dangerously ill. I can't make you go to the clinic. But I'd strongly suggest you get a check-up tomorrow." her voice sounded professional.
"Thank you." said Stefan.
"Elena, you look as if you could use a doctor." said Bonnie. "You're white as a ghost."
"I'm just tired." said Elena. "It's been a long day."
"My advice is to go home and go to bed- and stay there." said Mary. "You're not anaemic, are you?"
Elena did look pale and she looked very, very tired.
"No, I'm just tired." she said again.
"Mary, can you have a look at Sophie?" said Matt, I glared at him, he squeezed my hand.
"Why? Is she hurt?" asked Mary, five faces were looking at me, it was uncomfortable.
I shook my head. "I'm fine."
"No, she dislocated her shoulder." said Matt, I looked down at the ground.
Mary looked at me. "I'm fine, it's ok now, It barely hurts." I said, trying to convince her.
"Can I just look at it?" she said, smiling.
I looked at Matt, he smiled at me.
"Not another one afraid of doctors." said Mary.
I looked down at the ground blushing. "It's okay, I'm a nurse." she said.
I walked slowly over to the end of Stefan's bed and sat down, I took off Matt's coat and handed it to him and then I took off my own coat.
Mary gently took off my scarf sling and examined my shoulder, I winced when she moved it.
"When did this happen?" she said looking at my forehead, then at my shoulder.
"Last night." I said, looking back at her, she looked a lot like Bonnie.
"Did you go to the hospital?" she asked, looking at the scarf.
I shook my head looking over at Matt.
"Well, you should have Sophie, it's dislocated." she said.
"I thought I relocated it this morning." I said.
"No, whatever you did pushed it in a bit but not properly. I can pop it back in if you want?" she smiled at me.
My eyes were wide. I quickly got up off the bed. "No, I'm fine." I said.
"Sophie you need to get it fixed, I can fix it or you can go to the hospital."
I looked at Matt, I felt like crying. I didn't want to go to the hospital, but I didn't want Mary to do it.
"Will it hurt?" I asked Mary quietly.
She hesitated then, smiled kindly. "A little bit, but not much. It will hurt a lot more of you don't do something about it."
I went over to the bed slowly and sat down I was shaking.
"Now Sophie you have to relax, okay? Otherwise your muscles will be tense and it won't work."
I nodded. Matt was holding my other hand. I tried to relax at good as I could, it was hard.
Mary waited a few minutes until I was fully relaxed.
She took my arm, and told me to hold it with my elbow bent.
I took a deep breath, she bent my elbow and rotated my arm and shoulder in, then she slowly rotated my elbow and arm out.
I winced and Matt squeezed my hand. She took my wrist and pushed slowly, trying to get my shoulder back into the joint.
My eyes were going blurry, I squeezed Matt's hand. I tried to hold in my scream, but It was too sore, I was in agony. I made Bonnie jump slightly, Matt looked at me worried. I felt embarrassed.
I heard a clicking noise. "There." said Mary. "It's back in."
I sighed in relief, my tears I was holding back streamed down my cheeks.
Mary put the scarf sling back on, " just keep that on for a couple of days and it will be fine and take some Ibuprofen for the pain."
I stood up hugging Matt, my arm was still sore but it felt a lot better.
Suddenly soft lips were meeting mine, they were warm and smooth. I realised it was Matt.
He reluctantly stop kissing me and looked at me. I smiled. I forgot we had company. I looked around embarrassed.
Everyone looked surprised, Elena looked a bit jealous.
"Sophie?" she said.
"Matt." said Bonnie smiling. "I had no idea you liked Sophie."
He smiled. "Are you a thing? Like are you going out?" asked Bonnie excited.
Matt shrugged his shoulders and looked at me. "Are we?"
I looked at his boyish grin, I beamed "If you want."
He nodded he looked happy. "Aw." said Bonnie grinning. "That's adorable"
We both blushed, Elena was just staring in disbelief.
"We can go home now, if Stefan's all right." said Elena.
Stefan nodded, looking over at me and then back to Elena.
"Give us a minute, will you?" he said and we left the room silently.
Matt dropped me home, it was late and Gran was asleep.
I went up in the room and got into my pyjamas and fluffy socks, I felt so cosy. Gran had left a hot water bottle out for me, I filled it up with hot water from the kettle and went up the stairs.
I opened the door and stared in disbelief.
Damon was sitting on my bed, a devilish grin on his face.
"Damon." I said under my breath.
"Sophie." he said smirking. "You and Matt?"
So what did you think? Please review J x xx I will hopefully have the next chapter up by tomorrow! X
