Chapter 10: Secrets and Revelations
Part 1
Matt parked the car on the parking lot of the clinic and looked at Caroline. "What are we doing here?"
"Visiting a friend who can help Elena" Caroline said avoiding.
"What friend are you talking about?" Matt asked careful, though he had a suspicion. And since Caroline consciously looked away, he knew his suspicion was true. "Wow. She's been here all this time? No wonder we haven't seen her anywhere"
Caroline turned to Matt. "You can't tell anyone" she said sharp. "If Elena finds out, she won't be happy"
Matt raised his hands. "She won't hear it from me"
They got out of the car and headed to the entrance. They wanted to enter, when they heard a sound.
"Hey!" someone loudly whispered. Caroline turned around and saw Keith waving. She walked to him and Matt followed her.
"Bonnie asked me to walk you to her room" Keith said. "We have to avoid the security" He grabbed Caroline's wrist and pulled her in what looked like a storage room. He opened another door and they winded up at a hallway.
He turned around at Caroline and Matt. "See the stairs at the end of the hall way? Climb it till you're at the third floor. There's a door. You can only open it by inserting the right code, which is 7295. Then go left, go straight ahead, until you're at number 32. It's on your right side" he spoke fast. "Within five minutes someone will realize I'm gone. They're doing checkups right now. You make sure you've opened that door before the alarm goes off"
That being said he ran away and Matt and Caroline raced to the stairs, upstairs to the third floor. They ran to the double door and Matt inserted the code. But the door didn't open.
"You must've inserted the wrong code" Caroline said nervous.
"No" Matt said. "7295, that's what he said"
"Try again" Caroline said. Matt tried again, but it still didn't work. "He gave us the wrong code?" Caroline said disgusted and more nervous than ever.
"Or maybe they changed it" Matt suggested. "Let me try something else" He inserted the numbers, but in different order. Nothing happened, except that the screen said 'Failed Attempt. Doors blocked"
"Damn it!" Caroline cursed and she let herself fall against the door. "Now what?" she said hopeless. She heard a grinding sound and got away from the door. There were cracks.
"I'm such an idiot" she sighed. She lifted her foot and kicked the door open, at the same moment the alarm went off.
"Come on, let's go" Caroline said and she grabbed Matt's arm.
Part 2
Damon raced inside the hospital, Elena tightly in his arms. A female doctor walked their way while she signed at a nurse. The nurse pushed a stretcher in their direction. While Damon lay her down, the doctor started asking some questions.
"What happened?" was her most urgent one.
"She…she's sick" Damon said trembling. "She has cancer. I took her home, but I shouldn't have. She should've stayed here"
The doctor shone with a small flash light in Elena's eyes. "Don't worry, sir. She's just sleeping" She looked up. "Who's treating her?"
"I don't know" Damon said a little sheepish.
"No problem, I'll look it up" the doctor said. "What's her name? Sure you know that?" she added with a faint smile.
Damon nodded. "Elena" he said. "Elena Gilbert"
The doctor frowned her eyebrows. "As in Jeremy Gilbert?"
"Yeah, why?"
"No, nothing" the doctor said. "Just that it's a small world…Okay, you can bring her back to her room and I will find her doctor. It's probably doctor Gorden"
The nurse pushed the stretcher while Damon pointed her in the right direction. At the room Damon turned at the nurse. "You can go now"
She turned around and left. Damon lifted Elena off the stretcher and opened the door. Jeremy was sitting on the bed, but he got up to make room. As Damon carried Elena to the bed Jeremy tried to make the distance between him and Damon as big as possible.
"I'm really sorry" he started. Damon rotated his head to him and Jeremy saw his eyes turning red. He wanted to open the door, but Damon flashed to him and slammed the door. "What did you do?" he growled.
"Nothing! I didn't do anything, I swear!" Jeremy exclaimed.
"Don't give me that" Damon said soft, but threatening. "Everyone knows how messed up you are. What was it this time? XTC? Coke? Heroin?"
"I didn't do anything" Jeremy repeated.
Damon grabbed his collar and threw him against the floor.
"Damon, stop!" Elena yelled terrified. She had woken up by all the noise. Damon ignored her, but kicked Jeremy in his stomach. Jeremy gasped and tried to crawl away, but Damon grabbed his leg and dragged him back. He pulled him up and wanted to punch him, but Elena climbed out of bed and forced herself between them.
"Get out of my way" Damon said trembling.
"Are you out of your mind?" Elena asked upset. "That's my brother you're beating up"
"You don't understand, Elena" Damon said. "He's the reason why you won't get better"
"Okay, first of all, it's not Jeremy's fault" Elena said mad. "And second of all, who's to say he was my only option?"
Damon lowered his arm and his face turned human again.
"How am I supposed to see the bright side of things when you're going to throw punches each time things don't look very good?" Elena said.
Damon looked at Jeremy. "I'm sorry"
"You should get a doctor" Elena said. "Damon will take you" It wasn't a question.
She shot her boyfriend a furious look and he quickly brought Jeremy away.
Part 3
Damon got back fast enough to see Caroline close the door behind her. He entered and almost hit the door against Caroline's head.
"Hey, watch it" she said a little jumpy.
"Sorry" Damon growled. "I'm a little tensed" He walked to the bed, where Matt was sitting on a chair.
"Where's Jeremy?" Elena asked sharp-looking at Damon.
"I left him with that female doctor. She knows him" Damon answered.
Elena smirked. "Well, are you the caring type" she said sarcastic.
"Right now I care more for you than for your little bro, that's true" Damon commented, getting mad, which Caroline picked up on.
"Okayyy, there's no need for discussions now" she quickly interrupted. "I have something that might make you feel better. Both of you"
Damon rotated his head to Caroline. "Really?" he asked sceptic. "And what may that be?" Caroline searched through her pockets and conjured a piece of paper. "How familiar are you with alternative healing?"
Damon and Elena shared a look and then looked back at Caroline, waiting for further explanation.
"I read somewhere that herbs can heal cancer. I looked it up and found what herbs help against blood cancer. I wrote down how you have to prepare them and there's a large bag of herbs back at my place" Caroline said.
"Caroline…" Elena started, but Caroline disrupted her.
"I know it's a little weird and you don't have to do it. I just thought it wouldn't hurt to try" she finished.
"Caroline" Elena repeated, now harder. "I just want to thank you. You didn't have to do this for me. And I will definitely try it"
"You are?" both Caroline and Damon asked.
"Of course I am" Elena said obvious. "Can I see that paper?" Caroline handed her the paper and Elena read it. "This could be my best chance on getting better" she said after reading it.
Part 4
The next morning.
It was still very early and the sun hadn't gone up completely yet. Nevertheless, there seemed to be quite some activity down in the woods. The night before sheriff Liz Forbes had received an anonymous phone call, giving her the exact location of where to find the body of Gabe Lindy.
Liz had heard the voice before. It had been the same person who told her where the bodies of the Lindy sisters were. So it was pretty obvious that whoever the caller was, they were the murderer or at least they knew who did it.
"What do you got here?"
Liz would never get used to her daughter popping up out of thin air. "Caroline" she sighed. "One of these days you're going to get me a heart attack"
"Don't be silly" Caroline said. "You don't have a heart"
Liz frowned her eyebrows, wondering if she was kidding.
"I'm joking, mom" Caroline said. "You know, the kind of thing you're supposed to laugh with"
"Right" Liz slowly nodded. "Not funny"
"You have no sense of humor" Caroline commented grumpy.
"How's Elena?" Liz changed the subject.
"She's fine" Caroline said, while she walked around her mother to get a closer look at the body. "That's not a vampire kill"
"I know" Liz said casual. "Which is why I don't think you have any business being here"
"Mom" Caroline said with a pitiful expression on her face. "Just because it wasn't a vampire, doesn't mean it was something human that killed him"
"Well, then what was it? Werewolf? Hybrid? Witch?" Liz asked annoyed.
"You don't have to get upset with me" Caroline said a little offended.
"I can't have you walking next to me each time I'm trying to solve a murder" Liz said mad. "If they see you here they are going to start asking questions and then I could lose my job"
Caroline shook her head. "Don't you get it, mom? First the Lindy sisters and now their father? There's a connection! You should start interrogating their mother right away"
"I know there's a connection!" Liz exclaimed. "I know how to do my job. I don't need some vampire to tell me that"
Caroline looked away, avoiding her mother's stare.
"Caroline, I'm sorry" Liz said soft. "I didn't mean…"
"Yes, you did!" Caroline said firm. She turned her back on her mother. "You know, I just wanted to help you. I just wanted some distraction"
"I know, honey" Liz said. She lay her hand on Caroline's shoulder, but she pushed it away.
"I guess I should go back to Elena" she said bitter. "At least she appreciates my help" And that being said she raced away.
Part 5
Rachel was cleaning her house. It was the only way for her not to think about what she had done. She was vacuuming when someone rang the doorbell. She unplugged the vacuum-cleaner and walked to the front door. When she opened she came face to face with the person she least expected.
"Hi, Rachel." Veronica said. "I'm back"
"I wasn't expecting you" Rachel said sheepish. Ronnie conjured a huge smile. "Can I come in?"
Rachel couldn't come up with an excuse to send her away and thus she stepped away, letting her pass.
Veronica walked to the kitchen and noticed the vacuum-cleaner. "You were vacuuming?"
Rachel only nodded.
"Wow, you have some hearing" Veronica smirked.
"When did you get back?" Rachel asked, a little nervous.
"Few weeks ago" Veronica answered. "When they found Kelsey. I had to be at the funeral"
"You're a true friend" Rachel said with a slightly trembling voice. Veronica frowned. "Are you afraid of me, Rachel?"
Rachel shook her head heavily.
"Don't you think I should be the one being afraid?" Veronica continued. Now Rachel frowned and Ronnie smirked. "You're really sad, Rachel. I almost feel sorry for you"
"What are you going to do?" Rachel asked scared.
"Well, in any other circumstances I would kill you on the spot" Veronica said cold. She then looked Rachel straight in the eyes. "But because you're Kelsey's mother I'm willing to do you an offer"
Rachel breathed deeply and lifted her chin a little. "And what may that offer be?"
Veronica grabbed Rachel's hands. "Join me. Join me and we can build an army to kill all super naturals. Together we can take them all down" she said enthusiastic.
"No" Rachel said.
"What?" Veronica asked surprised. Rachel jerked her hands.
"I said no" she repeated.
Veronica gasped. "I am offering you a free pass here"
"Thanks a lot, but I don't need it" Rachel said. "You can let yourself out"
"Fine" Veronica said. "Your loss" She turned around and walked out of the door. Rachel leaned against the wall and sank down on the ground.
Part 6
Elena was eating pudding when the door opened and Katherine appeared.
"Katherine!" Elena exclaimed shocked. "You can't just barge in here. I could've been naked for all I know"
Katherine raised her eyebrows and smirked. "Nothing I haven't seen before" Elena thought about that. "Eww, gross" she commented.
"So" Katherine said, sitting down on the bed. "How's my doppelganger doing?"
"Why do you care?" Elena asked curious.
"I don't" Katherine said bluntly. "I'm just trying to get in your good grades so you'd give me the rest of your pudding"
Elena gave her the pudding and Katherine shot her a strange look. "I know you're kidding, but if I'm eating any more pudding I'm going to explode"
Katherine shook her head confused. "How so? You've only been here for a day"
"I know" Elena said. "It's just that I've had a lot of visitors and for some reason they think they should bring me pudding"
Katherine nodded in understanding and took a morsel of the pudding. "It's actually not that bad" she said difficult. She swallowed. "Where's your bodyguard?"
"He's in the cafeteria, with Caroline" Elena said short. Though Katherine could clearly hear there was trouble in paradise she didn't want to go there.
"He needs to start taking vervain again. And so do you" Katherine said severe. "Where's your necklace?"
Elena frowned. "I don't know" she looked up at Katherine. "All I know is that I won't miss it"
"You're vulnerable without the vervain, Elena. Both you and Damon have to start taking it again" Katherine said sharp. "Don't make me compel you"
She felt a firm grip on her arm and the next moment she was standing in the hallway, facing a furious Damon.
Part 7
"What the hell are you doing here?" he asked shaking.
"I'm just paying Elena a visit" Katherine said casual. "That's all"
"How dare you come around here?" Damon said. "After what you did? You attacked Elena, you almost got me killed"
"I tried to convince you to drink blood, but Rebekah compelled you" Katherine tried to explain. "Which is why I told you you have to drink vervain again"
"I want you gone" Damon said threatening. "I want you out of our lives, for good"
Katherine shook her head. "You need me, Damon"
"No, I don't" Damon disagreed. "I really don't need a backstabbing bitch in my life and neither does Elena"
Katherine sniffed. "You want to talk about backstabbing bitches?" she said. She rotated her head to the right. "Go talk to Caroline"
Caroline looked up as she heard her name and she accelerated her steps.
"What?" Damon said.
"You really believe she came up with the whole 'alternative healing' idea? Don't be so naïve, Damon" Katherine said and she rushed away.
"She's lying, right?" Damon said, looking sharply at Caroline. "You wouldn't do that. You wouldn't go behind our backs to see the most treacherous bitch in town"
Caroline looked down and Damon understood.
"Or maybe you would"
"Damon, I was trying to help. I needed someone to talk to. Someone who isn't involved in this. And Bonnie knows a lot about herbs. This could really help" Caroline said desperate.
"Go away" Damon said. "You're not allowed to see Elena until she's fully recovered"
"What?" Caroline asked shocked.
"If those herbs really work so great, it shouldn't take long" Damon said insensitive.
"You're disgusting" Caroline said and she spit in his face. While he wiped off the spit Caroline raced away.
Part 8
Elena was leaning against the door trying to hear what was being said when Damon pushed the door open. Elena rubbed her temple and looked angry at Damon.
He frowned, then got the picture. "Sorry" he mumbled.
"Where's Kat?" Elena informed.
"Gone" Damon said short. "She won't bother to come here…ever"
Elena gave him a weird look, but decided not to ask any further. Not about Kat, anyway.
"Was that Caroline? I thought I heard her voice"
"Yeah, but she's gone too" Damon said.
"Why?" Elena asked.
"I sent her away" Damon said, avoiding Elena's look.
Elena shook her head confused. "Why?" she asked again.
"You need to rest" Damon said avoiding. He bowed towards her and kissed her. He wanted to leave, but Elena grabbed his arm, forcing him to turn around again.
"I know you're keeping something from me" she said fierce.
Damon pressed his lips together. "I can't tell you. It would cloud your judgment" he said secretive.
"Well, it surely clouds your judgment" Elena commented with raised eyebrows. "I mean, if you're sending people away for it"
"I have to go" Damon said.
"Sure you do" Elena said cold. "Make sure to drop by at Stefan. I'm concerned"
"Why?" Damon sighed.
"If Derek was right- and everything points in that direction- then Katherine and Rebekah compelled both of us. And we also know Rebekah is dating Stefan. You see where I'm getting at, right?" Elena said with a superior look.
"I'll tell him to be careful" Damon said.
Elena shook her head in disbelief. "Are you serious? You need to go there and drag him out of there!" she said frustrated.
"Yeah, because he would do the same for me in a heartbeat" Damon replied sarcastic.
"Oh my God" Elena let out. "Seriously, let it go. Stefan was just a pawn in Bonnie's master plan. He's sorry. It's about time you accept that and move on, because your melodramatic behavior is becoming a real drag"
Damon didn't know what to say and thus turned his back on Elena and left. Elena ironed her hair in frustration. There was no way Damon was going to warn Stefan.
Part 9
Bonnie was sitting with Keith in the cafeteria, having lunch, when a nurse came her way. "You have a visitor"
"I'm eating" Bonnie replied.
"He said it was urgent" the nurse said.
"Fine then" Bonnie said and she stood and followed the nurse. When she got back at her room she had to pinch herself to make sure she was not hallucinating.
"What are you doing here?" Bonnie asked very surprised.
"You thought I wouldn't figure it out?" Damon asked arrogant.
"You didn't" Bonnie shook her head. "Katherine did"
Damon made a step forward. "How do you know that? I thought all your mojo stuff had gone poof"
"Yeah, but it seems you're an exception" Bonnie said mysterious. "Remember the curse where I knew every little thing you did and said?"
Damon raised his eyebrows. "Kidding me?"
"It appears there's some leftovers of it. Let me put it this way. I can tell when you're talking about me. Doesn't even require saying my name" Bonnie explained.
"You're so full of it" Damon said disgusted.
"You think I like it?" Bonnie exclaimed. "I just ear-witnessed how you forbid Caroline to see her best friend, because she's the only one who wouldn't give up on me. You really want to do that? Elena already lost me, because of me. She can't lose Caroline, too. She needs all the support she can get"
"She doesn't need yours" Damon said bitter. He turned around and walked to the door, passing Bonnie.
"You really have to do something about this anger, Damon" Bonnie warned him. "Someday it's going to get the best of you. And you will lose Elena if you keep acting like this"
But Damon just walked away.
Part 10
Elena was standing in front of Alaric's loft. Or should she say Stefan's? Doesn't matter. She was at the place where Stefan and Rebekah were hooking up, maybe even having a threesome with Katherine, and she was about to end it. Before she knocked she thought about how she would convince Stefan about Rebekah's true colors. On her way here she had come up with a few ideas.
She could just drag him out of the house, abduct him. Because human girls are so much stronger than vampires.
She could just tell him the truth. "Sorry, Stefan, but your girlfriend is a lying bitch who's using you to get to us" But Rebekah would just say Elena's jealous and Stefan would of course believe her.
She could say Damon left and she's now all alone and she doesn't want to be alone. So maybe Stefan could come with her? But Stefan would say she should go back to her parents house. Or Rebekah would suggest she lived with them. She had to get Stefan away from Rebekah, not get herself closer.
Elena sighed. She was not good in getting ideas. She took a deep breath and knocked. Stefan must've been nearby, because the door opened before Elena had even pulled away her hand.
"Elena" Stefan frowned. "What are you doing here? You need to go back to the hospital. I'll drive you"
Well, there's a thought, Elena thought and smiled.
"Who is it, dear?" Rebekah's voice was heard.
"As if you don't know, slut" Elena mumbled full of bitterness. As if the word 'slut' was her keyword Rebekah appeared.
"Elena!" she exclaimed. "How wonderful to see you again! Why don't you come in, have a drink, have a chat. It's been ages since I last talked to another chick"
"Actually, Elena needs to go back" Stefan protested, though it was a weak attempt.
"Oh, don't be so ridiculous" Rebekah said. She grabbed Elena's arm and dragged her inside. "You get the wine, Stefan?" she asked sweet.
Stefan walked into another room, one that did not store wine. He walked to a table where a red-headed woman was tied onto. He couldn't drink her blood; she was full of vervain. But he could still play a little with his toy. He conjured a knife and pierced it into her stomach.
A macabre cry was heard in the living room and Elena froze. She wanted to get up, but
Rebekah's hand reached out to her and forced her to sit still.
"Where are you going, Elena?" she said surprised as Stefan came with three glasses filled with a red liquid. "Have a drink with us"