A/N: Thank you so much for the wonderful reviews on the last chapter! And a special thanks to Riana Salvatore for her great ideas! I hope you enjoy chapter 9. ^.^
Chapter 9:
"Oh, sorry," I apologized to Jeremy after bumping into him on my way downstairs.
He looked at me, saying nothing, and kept walking. I noticed that he wasn't carrying his school stuff as he exited the house.
Turning to Elena, who had just come out of the bathroom, I asked her, "Why's he not carrying a backpack?"
She sighed, "He's skipping school. Again."
"Why?"
"To help out with finding Vicki," she said, going downstairs and getting her stuff ready.
"Look," I started, making her turn around to look at me, "I'm going to Stefan's house to see how Vicki's doing. Do you want to come?"
At the mention of Stefan, Elena shook her head, "It's fine, Kels. You can go without me. I can't miss school today anyway, with my French exam and all."
I nodded, getting the car keys, and before I left I told her, "Happy Halloween!"
Ringing the old-fashioned bell, I expected Stefan to open the door. Unfortunately, Damon's big smirk greeted me instead and my mouth went dry as I said, "Damon."
"And good morning to you too, sweetheart," his smirk only widened and I crossed my arms over my chest in annoyance.
"How can you be so arrogant and glib after everything that you've done?" I asked, proud of how strong and harsh my voice was, when on the inside I was breaking down into pieces under his incredibly blue-eyed gaze.
"And how can you be so brave and stupid to call a vampire arrogant and glib?" Damon told me, his voice making it seem like a threat instead of a question.
"If you wanted me dead, I would be dead," I said, a smug smile on my lips while I tried to hide how really scared I was from him.
"Yet," Damon added with a look in his eyes that made me gulp.
He had done it. Again, Damon had managed to see how weak and scared of him I really was, and I hated that.
And he knew that I hated it, too, by the triumphant smirk he wore on that stupid little face of his as he brushed pass me.
"Happy Halloween, Kelsey," he whispered in my ear, sending chills down my spine.
I shrugged his lingering presence off me once he was gone and I stepped inside the Boardinghouse, looking for Stefan.
He came down the stairs not a couple of seconds later, "Hey."
"Hey," I smiled. Unlike his brother, I actually felt safe around him and didn't have to act so defensive and tough either. That was a very good thing when I was surrounded in a town filled with vampires and other supernatural creatures. And talking about other supernatural creatures, "Where's Vicki? Is she going to be okay? Oh, Stefan, I'm so worried. Jeremy and the whole town are looking for her, and I don't know how longer I can hide the truth. Also, there's Elena who's acting more distant around me and I can't help to think that it's all my fault-"
Stefan took his hands and cupped them around my face, shaking his head, "No. No, Kels, this is not your fault." I looked at his green eyes and nodded as he took his hands off my face and put them on my shoulders, continuing, "I'm working with Vicki, but it's gonna take time. She's a very volatile and impulsive personality. She's a drug user. I mean, all that's gonna play a part in how she responds to this."
I gave him a warm smile and asked, "So you're going to keep her here until it's safer for her to go out?"
He nodded, "Yeah."
"And how long is that?" a third voice, Vicki, was heard from the stairs.
Stefan turned to look at her, answering, "We can talk about that later."
"How are you feeling, Vicki?" I asked her, sincerely.
"How am I?" she scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "You're kidding, right?"
Looking at Stefan and then back at her, I had a feeling she didn't like me very much.
Stefan, Vicki, and I were at the table drinking coffee. As the newly turned vampire sipped her coffee, Stefan explained, "Coffee is our best friend. It's the caffeine. It circulate through our veins, and it warms our body so we're not so cold to the touch."
Vicki made a face and asked, "Well, what if I wanna drink human blood?"
"You're gonna have to learn to live with that urge and fight it on a daily basis one day at time."
She rolled her eyes, "Oh god! Don't start with that whole 12-steps thing. School counselor has been down that road, and it doesn't work for me."
"It can work. It's your choice, Vicki," Stefan told her calmly.
Vicki leaned back in her chair, surprised and a little amused when she asked, "So, you never tasted human blood."
Stefan looked disturbed at the question, probably because he didn't want me to think that he was once like Damon. I smile on the inside, thinking that if he only knew how much I knew about him, he would be the one freaking out.
However, I said nothing as he answered Vicki's question, "Not in a long time."
"How long?" she narrowed her eyes at him.
Stefan shifted uncomfortably in his seat and I said, "It's fine, Stefan, you can tell her."
He gave a defeated sigh, "Years and years." Looking at me, he added, "I'm not proud of my past behavior."
I nodded in understanding as Vicki continued to whine, "Does this sketchy feeling ever go away? It's like I have a massive hangover. This daylight thing is a bitch!" She stood up. "I need more blood. Where's your bathroom? I have to pee. Why do I have to pee? I thought I was dead."
I suppressed a fit of giggles as Stefan pointed in the direction of the bathroom.
"'m going to, uh. . . I'm gonna get her some more. I'll be quick," he told me after Vicki had left, and stood up.
Grabbing him by the arm, I told him, "Wait. I've been thinking and what if she feeds off blood bags instead?" Stefan sighed, already starting to disapprove of that, but I held on, "I mean, if you keep giving her animal blood. . . She's never going to learn how to fight the hunger for human blood. You can't fight something and win when you don't even know what your up against, right?"
He took my hands and held it in his and gave me a sad smile, saying, "Kels, I appreciate that you're trying to help, but it's much more complicated than that."
I nodded, "It's fine. I get it."
After Stefan left, I grabbed my bag from the chair and headed for the door but Vicki came out of the bathroom, saying, "False alarm. My body's feeling really funky. It's a good funk, but it's weird."
I noticed that she grabbed her phone and was texting, so I questioned, "What are you doing?"
"I'm texting Jeremy," she said simply.
My eyes widened. She couldn't see Jeremy in the state that she was. I couldn't let Vicki hurt him. Shaking my head, I told her, "I don't think that's a good idea. You could hurt-"
"I will never hurt Jeremy," she snapped.
"I know, but you might want to stay away from him-" she didn't let me finish.
Vicki put her phone down, and interrupted me, "Oh really? And how long have you been preparing the 'you're not good enough' speech? I'm assuming it predates the whole vampire thing."
"You're a vampire, Vicki. You're stronger, faster, hungrier, and I'm just trying to keep the ones that I care about safe," I explained to her, not liking the tone that she was using with me.
She rolled her eyes and pushed me against the wall, choking me. "Let's get one thing straight, you little bitch," she threatened me. I'm gonna see whoever I wanna see because I can do whatever the hell I wanna do. And I'm gonna see Jeremy whenever I wanna see Jeremy, because I have some fun new toys to play with, and I won't think twice about ripping your little head off. You got it?"
I would've said something back but I was too busy trying to breathe again after she stopped chocking me. I stared at her angrily as she walked away, not caring if she died tonight. Actually, I hoped she would.
It was Halloween night and Elena had gotten Jeremy to go to the Halloween party at the school tonight to distract him from Vicki. I agreed to go after finding out that I was going to wear last Halloween's costume, since I didn't have time to buy a new one.
As I put on my medieval princess costume, it made me remember that I was Kelsey Gilbert and not Kelsey Hunter. I remembered that I was not at my real home anymore and that even though Elena was my sister, she wasn't Samantha.
Suddenly, I felt a pang in my chest and I got teary eyed as I realized that I missed my big sister and real friends.
Elena's voice from downstairs brought me to my senses, "You're ready, Kels?"
I laughed at my nickname, Kels. Even my nickname wasn't mine. Back at Arizona, nobody called me Kels. It was always Clover, because bad luck seemed to follow me everywhere I went. I was starting to wonder if being stuck in The Vampire Diaries was really bad luck after all. I mean, I did almost die in more than one occasion thanks to Damon, and I might be a part of Klaus' sacrifice. . . So yeah, was being in my favorite TV show a good thing or a bad thing?
Either way, I put on my sparkly silver shoes and came out of my room. "I'm coming!" I called out as I went down the stairs, careful not to trip on my long, silky, light-blue dress.
Music, screams, and laughter were heard from the parking lot as Elena, Jeremy, and I walked to the party. Students dressed in costumes passed by us, some laughing and others crying as they exited the haunted house.
"Wimps," I muttered, seeing two junior boys practically run out the haunted house.
Jeremy laughed behind me, hearing what I said, and Elena just scowled at us. We kept laughing until we met Matt inside the school, now decorated with Halloween knick-knacks and there was fog everywhere.
Matt saw us, and smiled, "You went with last year's costume too, huh?"
"Well, we didn't know we were coming until an hour ago," Elena said with a smile, grabbing her rubber hand.
"Me neither," Matt admitted, taking out a rubber foot out of his pocket.
They both laughed as they high-fived with their toys and Matt diverted his attention toward Jeremy.
"And you're going as. . . you?" he asked him, Jer rolling his eyes in response and walking away.
"He's not talking to me right now. We got into fight," Elena explained to Matt.
"Yeah, I got into it with Vic too, when she got home. I'm trying not to smother her tonight, but part of me didn't wanna let her out of my sight."
Elena's eyes widened and I asked him, "She's here?"
"Yeah, you can't miss her. She's a vampire," he said and Elena started to hyperventilate a bit. "Elena, what's wrong?" he seemed concerned.
"Where did Jeremy go?" she asked me, looking around for him.
"Come on, we gotta find him," I told her and we left Matt behind, who looked really confused.
Elena and I separated to find Jeremy faster, but I didn't find him anywhere. I was really worried. What if we didn't find him? What if Vicki found him? I didn't realized that I was started to breathe hard until I bumped into a kid dressed as Batman.
"Hey, are you alright?" he asked me.
I nodded and kept walking, trying to calm myself. Jeremy didn't die in TVD, so he couldn't die now. With that in mind, I managed to breathe at a steady pace and I tried to remember where Vicki and him were in the actual episode.
It had been a while since I saw season 1, so I finally remembered that they were at the buses ten minutes later.
"Vicki! Vicki, no!" I heard Jeremy from behind a bus as I opened the school's back door.
My heart started racing and the adrenaline kicked in as I grabbed a wooden plank from the trash can.
I brought up my knee and broke the plank in two as I called out to the vampire, "Get away from him!"
Turning her head to me, Vicki dropped Jeremy to the floor and ran over to me. I tried to stab her with the pointy end of the plank, but she was faster than me and grabbed the plank, throwing it out of reach, and pushed me to a pile of garbage.
There was broke pieces of glass were I landed, and one of them stabbed my side. I gritted my teeth, pulling out the glass and let a few tears fall as my dress was covered in blood. Stefan and Elena arrived, and my sister ran over to me as Stefan fought Vicki. I pressed my hand tight against the wound, hoping the cut wasn't deep, and I pulled myself up, cursing under my breath as pain coursed through my body. Elena offered her hand as I stumbled, but I shrugged her off.
There was silence and we looked at Stefan. He was no longer fighting Vicki because she was gone.
Looking at our frightened faces, Stefan told us, "Go. Get inside. Go!"
There was a moment's hesitation before Elena grabbed Jeremy and we ran to the door. Elena had barely opened it when Vicki came behind us and pushed Jeremy out of the way to grab Elena. Thinking quickly, I pushed Elena to the side and Vicki got hold of me instead.
The hungry vampire didn't think twice about bearing her fangs out and puncturing my throat with them. I let out a scream as I felt her tearing through my flesh. Stefan heard it and grabbed the wooden plank that I had broken and pierced it through Vicki's heart.
She pulled back, staring at me wide-eyed and gasping for air as Stefan took the wooden plank out of her back. She stared at us in disbelief and cried, looking down at her bloody hands.
"Vic-Vicki!" Jeremy exclaimed, getting up from the ground and running towards her.
Stefan held him back as he screamed her name and we all saw as her body turned an ashy gray and her veins protruded. I turned away from the awful sight and hugged Elena as she cried.
Pulling away from her, I told Stefan, "Get Jeremy out of her and take Elena with you."
"Kels, no," Elena started to refuse but I cut her off.
"Now, Stefan!"
Stefan nodded and took Elena and Jeremy with him as he took out his phone and called someone.
Alone, I knelt down to the ground beside Vicki's body and cried. Being in The Vampire Diaries was bad luck after all.
"You should go. I got this," Damon's voice said to me.
I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath before I stood up and looked at him. Anger boiled inside me as I met with his arrogant smirk and blue eyes. This was all his fault to begin with. If he hadn't turned Vicki none of this would've happened. Sure, Stefan only giving her animal blood was a bad idea, but it was all Damon's fault at the end, and that made me furious.
He had no right to ruin a person's life like this. Actually, Matt was also going to end up hurt because of what Damon had done.
My mind was reeling with hatred and rage, and I finally yelled at him, "I hate you Damon! I hate you!" He seemed taken back by my sudden outburst, but that wasn't enough for me, so I hit his chest with both my hands, "This is all your fault! You did this to her!"
Damon clenched his jaw when I finally stopped hitting him. It wasn't like I had done any damage since he was stronger than me, but he was getting impatient. Finally, he said, "You confuse me for someone with remorse."
Seeing it coming, he grabbed my hand before I slapped him and squeezed it hard. I tried to fight back the tears and said nothing as he hurt my hand.
"None of this matters to me. None of it," he added and let go of my hand.
I was fuming by the time I said, "How can it not matter?! You kill people, Damon, and that matters. It matters and you know it!"
He was looking down at Vicki's dead body, so he didn't stopped me when I slapped him hard across the face. My hand stung but my anger was much stronger than the pain.
He brought his head up and glared at me with a dark look in his eyes that made me flinch without thinking about it. There was a hint of satisfaction in his eyes when he saw that I was still scared of him, and he said, "You need to leave. Your wounds are bleeding and you need to leave."
I stood still, wanting to show him that I wasn't scared of him. I was tired of running, and I wasn't going to run now.
Taking a step forward, I challenged him, "Why? It didn't stop you before, so why now?" He said nothing and I smirked, "Careful, Damon, somebody may think you're showing remorse."
After that, I didn't stay any longer and left him. I didn't run this time, but walked with my head held high. I wasn't a scared little princess anymore. I was a strong and fearless queen that wasn't going to be pushed around by Damon Salvatore any longer.
By the time I got home, my light-blue dress was a dark purple due to the blood that seeped out of my wounds.
Stefan and Elena were talking on the front porch and I asked, "Where's Jeremy?"
Wiping her tears away, Elena turned to me and said, "He's in his room." At her words, I started for the door but she stopped me, "Wait. I don't think you should go in there yet."
"Why?" It was a simple question, but somehow the glances between Elena and Stefan said otherwise. Worried, I demanded, "What did you do, Elena?"
"I. . .I-"
"It's done." I turned around to see that Damon had come out of the house and I spun around to meet Elena's eyes.
"Please tell me you didn't let him compel Jeremy," I told her, pointing a finger at Damon. Elena lowered her eyes, and anger fueled inside of me. "How could you?!" I looked at Stefan and added, "Both of you!" Speaking to Damon, I told him, "Go inside and de-compel him."
"No, Kelsey, listen to me," Elena protested. I turned to her again as she continued, "You didn't see him, Kels. Jeremy was-"
I shook my head, angry at her, "I don't care what Jeremy was feeling! All I know is that you let him," I pointed at Damon angrily, again, "mess with Jeremy's head after all that he has done! He's a murderer, Elena, and you trusted him with our brother!"
Elena flinched at my harsh words and said, "No. Please, Kelsey, you have to understand-"
"I don't have to understand anything, Elena," I said, my voice low. "You had no right to do this to him."
"But he was in pain! It was like Dad and Mom all over again, and I couldn't let him go through that!" she cried.
I let out a dry laugh, "Oh, of course! You did all of this because you didn't want to hurt him. Well, how did you feel when you found out that I had been keeping from you that Damon and Stefan were vampires? Huh?"
Elena stood silent, looking at me with teary eyes as I said, "Exactly, Elena. And that is how Jeremy is going to feel when he finds out that you let Damon erase his memory. Because he's going to find out about the vampires in Mystic Falls sooner or later, trust me." I looked at the three of them and said, "Goodnight," before I stepped inside the house and slammed the door.
A/N: So here you have it! Kelsey's pissed, Elena's hurt, and Jeremy was compelled. I don't have much to say, other than I hope you liked the chapter and please leave a review to let me know what you thought about this chapter. :)
Once again, thank y'all so much for reading and reviewing and please make sure to check out Kelsey's outfit on my Polyvore profile (link can be found on my profile)! I wish you all a good day/night and see you all until next time! :D
