Chapter 9: Basket Case
Life is unfair and I own nothing.
Everyone else in the house, at this point, heard Caroline and Elena's hysterics and came rushing toward the source from the back yard of the mansion where they must have all been occupied.
Witchy got up to us first. "Wha- oh my God. Care, what's wrong? Talk to me."
With a blank stare in my eyes I replied "Jeremy's gone." My voice sounded lifeless, just like it did so long ago when I'd said those words before.
Bonnie looked up at me in disbelief. "That is beyond not fucking funny, Damon."
"Wish I was joking… " I said in my lifeless tone.
"Oh. My God. We have to find him, then. I'll go do my locator spell… " Bonnie said as she got up and ran to her room. I numbly nodded.
In the next moment Stefan was in the room, holding Caroline against his chest. "We'll find him, baby, we'll get him back. It's going to be okay. I promise." My baby brother said, rocking his wife back and forth on the floor. Elijah, Katherine, Rebecca and Tyler came bursting into the room at this point. They, of course had heard everything. Elijah directed everyone to look in different places throughout the house for Jeremy. Once again the room was occupied only by myself, Stefan, Caroline, and a unbelieveably distraught looking Elena. I finally snapped out of whatever trance this whole situation had thrown me into. I grabbed Elena and held her against me, feeling her shudders as she began hyperventilating. "J-Jeremy's… he's gone." She stammered. I kissed the top of her head, trying my best to soothe her. I gently pulled her toward our room, so that she could at least get away from the chaos that had suddenly surrounded us. She went willingly with me, sobbing.
How could this have happened? Not only was April dead, but Jeremy was gone. Could the same person have killed April and then taken Jeremy? Thoughts sped through my mind as Damon led me into our bedroom. Once we were in our room and he had closed the door, he looked me in the eyes, holding my arms in his hands, and said "We are going to find him, Elena. It's going to be okay." All I could do was numbly nod at him, not able to form words anymore.
Memories of losing my Jeremy came back with a vengance. Finding him so alone and empty in that tomb. Taking him back to his bedroom and laying him down, hoping against hope for him to awake. Finally admitting that he was gone. Burning down my childhood home along with my baby brother's corpse. These were the things I had run from all those years ago and in that moment I wanted nothing more than to do the same thing. To get away from all the tragedy, all the heartache.
I looked up at Damon, pleading silently for him to make it stop hurting, like he did before. But I knew he would never allow me to turn off my emotions again. He wouldn't want to put up with me like that again. Instead, he swept me off my feet and carried me over to the bed. Gently he laid me against the soft matress, went around the bed, and climbed on the bed next to me. I rolled onto my side, facing him, and the tears began to flood from my eyes as I let myself go. He cupped my face with his hands as he wiped away my tears. We layed like this for a long while before my eyes dried and I was left simply staring into the cobalt eyes of the man I loved but didn't deserve to have again.
I finally found words and the strength to say them as I looked into his eyes. "What are we supposed to do, Damon? How are we supposed to even begin to look for him if we don't even know who took him or why?" I suddenly sat up, "We shouldn't just be laying here, we need to be out there looking for him!"
Damon pulled me back down onto the bed gently and said "Princess, there's nothing we can do right now that Elijah, Katherine, Bonnie, Matt, Tyler, and Rebecca aren't doing already. Please, sweetheart, you've been through enough. Just rest. Caroline will need you to be strong tomorrow."
"You're right, Damon. Thank you for forcing me to rest." I said with a shy smile and a yawn. I wasn't aware of how exhausting stress was before. All I wanted to do was sleep. I felt my eyes getting heavy as I heard Damon's silky smooth voice say "Ric and Meredith should be getting back soon. I'm going to go greet them when they arrive and let her investigate Klaus and April's room."
I groaned and shook my head. "Don't leave me, please." I pled as I grabbed his torso and dragged myself into him, burrowing my face into his chest as he wrapped his arms tightly around me and kissed the crown of my head. I felt him chuckle at my demanding as he softly ran his fingers through my hair, causing me to become even more drowsy than before. "Ok, baby." He said as he pulled the covers around us and I drifted off.
As I was telling Elena about my plans to let Meredith investigate the crime scene in Klaus and April's bedroom, it dawned on me. Where the hell was Klaus? I wanted to believe that he had changed, but a lot of that change was thanks to what he has, err had with April. If she were to die, there's probably very little that he wouldn't do to get her back. Oh shit.
I decided to hold Elena and let everyone else know later. It was obvious to me that she was on the edge of losing herself again and I would do anything and everything in my power to prevent her from turning it all off again. Besides, I could not be in a better place than with my arms wrapped around this woman, keeping her safe and letting her sleep in peace.
I must have drifted off myself as I was awoken by the sound of my car rolling up the driveway. Alaric and Meredith had arrived. I looked down at the angel still wrapped up in my arms, softly snoring. A genuine smile spread across my face. Would I ever get used to seeing her in my arms and at such peace?
I gently peeled myself from around her and tucked her into the covers, placing a feather light kiss to her temple as she sighed and snuggled deeper into the pillows. I smiled to myself as I quietly left the room and padded downstairs to greet Ric and Meredith and fill them in on the chaos still going on in the house.
When I arrived downstairs, I saw Stefan sitting forward on a couch, resting his elbows on his knees and sipping on a tumbler of bourbon. I sat next to him and asked if there was any news on Jeremy. He looked up at me with a look of such pain and loss that I almost thought that they'd found Jeremy's body. Then he spoke. "No one's been able to find him, Damon. None of us could find him. Caroline's finally asleep from the exhaustion of everything she's seen today. I'm scared, brother. I don't know what's going to happen."
I patted Stefan on the back and let him in on my secret notion. "Stef, I think I know who at least took Jeremy." At his anticipating, shocked gaze I continued. "Has anyone seen Klaus today?"
"Oh my God, Damon, you are NOT blaming my brother!" Barbie Klaus suddenly yelled. "He would never ever hurt April. What reason would he have to take Jeremy?" She said, exasperated.
"Well, even I know he would never hurt April, but he would do anything to get her back if she died." I said, looking from Barbie Klaus to Stefan. A look of understanding broke on his face. "Oh my God. Damon, Jeremy's blood… maybe it can… I don't know, heal? Resurrect? Holy shit. We have to find him." Stefan spoke, speaking quicker with each word.
"Exactly what I was thinking. Becca, will you go tell Bonnie all of this? We don't want to hurt Klaus. He's hurting already and there might be another way to help April without putting Jeremy in any more danger."
"Did you just call me by my name? I mean, yeah, I'll go tell her. Thanks for thinking of my brother, Damon." With that, she turned and went upstairs to tell Bonnie about my revelation.
It was then that Alaric and Meredith came through the door with broad smiles on their faces.
"Hey, guys, how's everything?" Alaric asked, oblivious to the ominous tone of the whole house.
"Ric! Just the man I need right now!" I said, clapping him on the back. "Things are shitty. April's dead upstairs, oh, Meredith, hello, would you mind looking into that? And Jeremy's gone missing."
"Wait, whoa. How? What?" Alaric stammered, trying to collect himself after my slight onslaught of information.
"Yep. Jeremy's at large, as is one Klaus. Shall we go look for him?" I said, suggestively raising my eyebrows.
"Uh, yeah, of course. But Stefan should come, right? I mean, Jeremy is his son."
"No no, guys. Caroline needs me here and besides, I'd be an emotional mess trying to find him. Just, be quick and get him back safely. Please." Stefan said, his inner turmoil breaking the surface.
I approached my baby brother and said "I promise you, Stef, we're going to go get Jeremy and Klaus and we'll all four be back unscathed before you know it." Placing my hands on his shoulders I looked him in the eye until he responded "I trust you, brother, I just hope it's not too late."
"It's not. Come on Ric, let's do this." I said, turning from my brother, grabbing the keys to my car from a still semi-stunned Alaric, and heading out the door with him at my heels.
Elena was going to be so pissed off at me when she finds out my plans, but she still loves me, I think, so she'll get over it. Besides, Wednesday was still a go.
I woke up once again to an empty bed. I could hear Damon talking to Alaric and then shuffling before the front door shut. Groggily, I made my way downstairs and sat next to Stefan after pouring myself a bourbon.
"Where is everyone?" I asked, secretly meaning only Damon.
"Caroline's asleep in our bedroom, Meredith and Alaric got here a little while ago. She is upstairs checking out the crime scene. Bonnie is still trying to do the location spell with Matt's help. Katherine and Elijah are out with Tyler looking for Jeremy still. And then Alaric and Damon..." Stefan trailed off.
"Where are they, Stefan?" I practically demanded before softening as I realized the stress he must be under.
"Damon figured out that Klaus took Jeremy, presumably after finding April's body. They're going after him right now. No idea when they'll be back. Rebecca is upstairs with Bonnie too, telling her about the latest development in this fuck storm." Stefan sighed and I placed my hand on his shoulder.
"Everything is going to be fine. I know it's hard to believe right now, but Klaus has changed. I really don't believe for a second he would mortally wound Jeremy. Damon and Ric will find him and sort everything out before anyone gets too out of control. And if they can't find him, Bonnie will. Seriously, Stef, none of us are going to let anything happen to J-him." I promise solemnly. I still couldn't say that name. Maybe I never would be able to.
Stefan finally raised his head and looked me in the eyes. I had to fight hard to not break down at the look of utter devastation in his eyes. Never before had I seen him look this way. In that moment all I wanted to do was whatever it took to get that look off of his face. Since I couldn't do that, I decided to go see how things were with Bonnie and maybe check in on Care.
When I reached Bonnie and Matt's bedroom door, I could sense the power Bonnie was using. It was beyond powerful.
"Hey guys, c-can I come in?" I sheepishly asked as I knocked on the door.
Matt replied "sure Elena, come in." I opened the door and my mouth fell open.
"Seriously, Damon? Where the hell are we supposed to even begin to look?!" Alaric exclaimed as we drove down the highway.
"We'll hopefully witchy will be able to narrow it down to at least a state or country here soon." I replied, pressing down on the accelerator harder than necessary. I was trying to block from my mind the image of Elena's face when we returned. I was in for it, big time. Or maybe not. Maybe, she'll be so happy to have Jeremy back that my head will be spared.
Wishful thinking...
My phone rang about an hour later. Alaric quickly answered it and told me what could only be witchy was saying.
"Klaus is in New Orleans." Alaric said, ending the call.
Since we were already in Georgia, that was a blessing. "Good. We're only a few hours away, unless you let me speed." I looked at my friend with a smirk plastered across my face.
"Goddammit Damon, fine. Let's just get this over with and get back home to our...err, my woman. How are things with you and Elena?"
My foot involuntarily slammed down on the gas and we jerked forward as my speedometer quickly approached 100.
"We're good, I guess. She's gonna be pissed at me when we get back, so how good we are may be subject to change shortly." I admitted. "We aren't back together yet, but if no more shit hits the fan, that may be changing Wednesday." I smiled to myself at the plan I had brewing in my head as we sped toward New Orleans at a faster than safe rate.
Bonnie's nose was bleeding profusely as she chanted the spell to find Klaus and Jeremy.
"Matt, what the hell is going on? Why is she bleeding like that?" I asked.
"Whenever she uses a lot of power, this type of thing still happens."
"Well damn..."
"Hey guys, I found them." Bonnie suddenly said, pointing to a place on the map. When I looked where she was pointing, I gasped.
"New Orleans? Why would he..."
"There are a lot of powerful witches in New Orleans, 'Lena. Jeremy's blood must have some kind of super healing power."
"Okay. I'll call Alaric and you two get cleaned up. Christ, Bonnie, this place looks like a massacre took place in it!"
"Sorry." She replied sheepishly.
"It's ok. Just don't ever do it again until that baby is out of your body, got it?" I warned. Before she could respond, I turned and left for my bedroom to call Alaric.
"Ric, Klaus is in New Orleans. Get there quick, Bonnie said there are multiple very powerful witches there. Jer's blood must have some kind of healing or resurrecting power. Hurry, please."
"You got it. Thanks for the update."
"Hey Ric?"
"Yeah."
"Tell Damon I'm not mad at him for just up and leaving. I don't deserve to know where he is after he had no idea where I was for a decade."
"I will tell him...maybe." I could hear his smirk over the phone.
"You two be safe, kay?"
"You got it. Bye now."
"Bye."
I hung up the phone and went to check on Caroline. Poor thing, I couldn't imagine the pain she was in right now.
I quietly opened her bedroom door and crept in, watching her sleeping form on the bed. I hadn't been in Stefan's bedroom since we broke up and it was odd how much girlier it was now. Classic Care. I sat on the edge of the bed and swept some of Caroline's hair off of her cheek. She groggily opened her eyes, which were now red from crying.
"Hey. How you feeling?"
"Pathetic. My son is missing and there's not a damn thing I can do."
"Well I come bearing good news. Bon found him and Klaus. Damon and Ric are on their way down to get Jer and try to talk some sense into Klaus."
Care shot up and hugged me. "Oh my God, that is wonderful! But, where is 'down', exactly?"
"New Orleans."
"Well, I guess my son is going to get to experience it a little earlier than expected." Caroline said with a sigh.
"Let's go get something to eat. Sound good to you?"
"Sounds amazing,'Lena." She said as she released me. "Thanks so much for...well, everything. I've missed you so much. It's good to have you back and by my side."
"It feels good to be back, Care. I've missed you all too."
With that we ventured downstairs to get something to eat and wait for an update from the boys.
Stefan's face when he saw Caroline's look of relief was immediate. "They found him, didn't they?" He said and as I nodded, he wrapped his arms around me and then moved to his wife.
"Everything is going to be okay."
I sure as hell hoped so.
One way or another, the next week was going to be life changing for every one of us.
We just didn't know it yet.
