Benny stared at his phone. It was the ninth time Jane had called him. He desperately wanted to answer it, to tell her her some good news but they still haven't found anything. Hitting the ignore button on his phone he returned his attention to the book in front of him. A loud sigh distracted him again, causing him to lose his place. He glared at the cause of the noise. Jesse was casually flipping through a book. Benny could feel the the anger boiling up inside him.
"Look, if you don't want to help that's fine, but don't say you will then do it half heartedly!" Benny wanted so much to throw something at the vampire. Jesse raised an eyebrow and a smirk graced his lips.
"Look, spellcaster, what are we looking for exactly? It's not like there's a 'Lucifractor for dummies' is there?" Jesse closed the book he was flipping through. Benny growled and returned to his book. Of course Jesse was right, but he didn't have to be happy about it.
"And where is Sarah?" He asked, his frustration getting the best of him. He could hear Jesse chuckle but chose to ignore him. He wasn't a big fan of his, but if he helped find Ethan, then he may reconsider.
"Something about a phone call." Grandma informed him. She had just returned from the basement with a large stack of books. Benny replied with a simple oh as he reached for a book in the stack.
"Grandma, how are we going to look for Ethan if we don't know where to look for him?" He asked. She took the book back from him and replaced it back on the stack. Benny glared at her, but his look softened as he realized just how tired his Grandma looked. He knew better than to say anything, but she was starting to look her age. Benny felt guilty, he knew it was partially his fault.
"These books here are going to help us." She told him, tapping the stack with her finger. "They're really old books, so I'm going to need you to promise not to handle them roughly." He crossed his heart as a promise and after a moment she handed him a book.
"So, what exactly are in these books?" Jesse asked, standing next to Grandma.
"Hopefully an explanation." She sighed, handing a book to Jesse.
"Hey! How come he didn't have to make a promise!" Benny shouted. Grandma gave him a withering look. "Sorry." Jesse who had ignored him was already flipping through the book, not seeing anything helpful.
"What's going on?" Sarah asked as she walked into the kitchen. She was placing her cell phone in her pocket as she walked up to them.
"Where have you been?" Benny asked her.
"I finally got a hold of Erica! Her and Rory are on their way back!" Benny could see how excited she was and how hard she was trying to hid it. He smiled at her and she smiled back.
"More people to help look for Ethan!" He said. She nodded as Jesse rolled his eyes. The older vampire went ignored as Benny and Sarah talked about how the two extra vampires could help.
"Let them get here before you two make plans." Grandma interrupted them.
"Thank you!" Jesse told her.
"Here." She handed a book to Sarah. "While we're waiting, look for something that can help."
"What exactly are we suppose to look for?" Sarah asked her.
"I'm not sure, to be honest. This is the first time I've dealt with something like this." She sighed as she grabbed a book for herself. They sat quietly, the only noise was the paper rustling. Benny's attention span was failing him, yet again. He couldn't concentrate on the page in front of him. He was getting worried. They had no idea what to look for, how were they going to find Ethan? He looked up from his book and watched as Sarah, Jesse and his Grandma each concentrated on a book. He turned back to his book and scanned over a chapter about alternate universes. It grabbed his attention as he remembered that it was possible. His Grandma had done it to them not so long ago. A thought popped into his head as he scanned it more.
"Grandma, what if he's not in this world?" Benny spoke up. Everyone looked at him.
"What do you mean Benny?" Grandma Weir asked. He slid the book down to her so she could see the page. "Alternate universes. It's possible." She mumbled.
"Wait, explain this tome. I'm lost." Sarah said, while Grandma Weir, lost in thought, paced the room and Benny looked around for a piece of paper.
"It's like this," Benny said, finding a piece of paper and a pencil. He placed it on the counter. Sarah and Jesse followed him, each taking a place beside him. "The ability of the Lucifractor is to absorb vampires right? Where do they go? In the Lucifractor? What if the spell I did not only reversed the spell that would kill vampires. What if, instead of absorbing Ethan, it sent him somewhere else."
"Because of the reflection spell." Jesse murmured.
"So, you're saying that because the Lucifractor and your spell, Ethan could be in an alternate universe? He really is okay." Sarah smiled. Jesse rolled his eyes.
"Which universe, if any, genius?" Jesse asked him. Benny frowned at the vampire.
"Well, we'll just have to look, won't we?" Benny snapped. Jesse grinned at him, knowing that he pushed his buttons. Sarah rubbed Benny's arm to try to relax him. She knew he was already stressed about finding Ethan and Jesse was not helping matters.
"Benny, there is an infinite amount of universes." Grandma Weir reminded him. "It'll still be a lot of work to find him." Benny pouted. He had forgotten how many alternate universes there were. Grandma had drilled it in his head after she separated them into their own universes.
"Well, we can assume the seer has found a way to a 'Benny' somehow." Jesse said.
"How do you assume that?" Benny asked, watching his tone. He really didn't want to waste anymore time now that they had a lead, and if Grandma thought he was being rude, she'd yell at him for a long time.
"It says it in the book here, or did you not finish reading it?" Jesse raised an eyebrow. Blushing at being caught he glared at Jesse. He hadn't realized that Jesse had the book and was actually impressed that he even said anything. Either way, he was upset with himself for not reading the chapter.
"What exactly does it say?" Benny asked reaching for the book. Jesse handed it over to him.
"'A person will always be drawn to someone, or something they are connected to in their home universe.'" He quoted as Benny read.
"Why do you assume it's me?" He asked Jesse. Both Grandma Weir and Sarah looked as confused as Benny felt.
"Well, I figured it would be either you, his family or Sarah. I eliminated them because of two factors. One, would be time. You and Ethan have known each other longer than Sarah has known him. So she is out. Two, you are his best friend. You are the person he would share everything with. Emotionally, you are closer than his family. That rules them out." All three of them stared at Jesse, who only shrugged. "Hey process of elimination."
"How does that help though?" Sarah asked, taking the book from Benny and reading it herself.
"It does because not all universes have a 'Benny'." Grandma informed them.
"Why does it feel like every time someone says my name, it's in quotes?" Benny asked, momentarily forgetting he was trying to save time.
"What do you mean?" Sarah asked Grandma, ignoring her friend. Grandma took the paper that Benny was writing.
"This is our universe. It has everyone you know in it." She drew a circle. "Now do you remember when I sent you to your own universe?" She asked. Sarah nodded, not being able to forget something like that.
"Yeah, but I'm still not getting it." She admitted.
"Was there a Benny in that universe?" Grandma asked.
"No, well not until this Benny got there." Sarah said.
"And I sent Ethan to a universe where he would be alone. Period. No Benny. No anyone." She added two more circles and then crossed them out. "So we eliminated two universes." She smiled at them. The whole group was lost in the 'Grandma Weir' logic.
"So we go to different universes, find Benny and if we can't find Ethan, then count them out?" Sarah asked. Grandma sighed in frustration.
"We could, but that would be a lot of time and energy none of us have. Even you vampires." She told her. "We'll do the elimination through Benny himself."
"How?" Sarah asked.
"Through meditation." Grandma Weir said. Benny chuckled, then stopped when he realized that she was being serious.
"How is he going to be able to do that when he can't even concentrate on things now?" Jesse asked the question they were all thinking.
"If he truly wants to get Ethan back, he'll learn." She said. Benny nodded at the challenge.
"I still don't get it." Sarah said. "How is Benny meditating going to find Ethan?"
"When Benny is able to meditate, he'll be able to connect with his other selves. If I know Ethan, he'll probably want to discuss what happened with Stern and you kids." Grandma went around the kitchen to get tea ready. Sarah helped her gather cups.
"And Benny would be confused and wonder about it." Jesse finished her thought. Grandma smiled, at him causing Benny to frown.
"I do think about other things you know." Benny said.
"Yeah, that's going to be a problem." Sarah joked. Benny stared at her in disbelief.
"Knowing Benny, this would be a gold mine of information." Grandma said, chuckling herself. Benny couldn't believe that they were making fun of him at such a crucial time. He expected it from Jesse, but not those two.
"Hey dork. Everyone needs a laugh every now and then." Jesse whispered to him. Benny looked at him, then nodded. If they felt better, then they'll work harder.
"So, when do I start?" He asked his grandmother. She looked at him proudly.
"Yesterday." She said. Benny grinned at her.
"Not to rain on your parade or what ever, but how are you going to get him, and may I remind you, find the Lucifractor back at the same time?" Jesse asked them. Grandma looked from her grandson to the vampire.
"One thing at a time. We really can't do anything without Ethan. He's the seer, and if I'm assuming correctly, the Lucifractor will probably be with him." Grandma said.
"Along with Stern, who apparently knows enough of the thing to kill us vampires." Jesse reminded her. She frowned, she had forgotten all about that and was frustrated with herself for it.
"I'll figure something out." She assured him. She turned to Benny, who was deep in thought. "Now, you'll have to get comfortable, this is going to be a while." She told him. Benny nodded his head and went into the living room.
"Now, I want you two to keep looking for things that will help us. For some reason, I feel like this is just falling into place to easily. Something is wrong." She told the two vampires.
"Like what?" Sarah asked her.
"I'm not sure, but you keep reading. Specifically about alternate universes. That's all we can do for now." She said, heading out towards the living room. "Oh, and when the two others get here, ask them to kindly keep it down. It's going to be a long night."
A/N: Thanks everyone for reading! For those of you who didn't read the update here is a quick look at it:Sometime in June I'll be taking my GED test. (For those that don't know what that is, it's a high school equivalency test.) I have from until now till then to cram and study hard.
So, I'm still working on the story, there's just going to be some time in between the updates. I'll get them up as soon as I can though.
Maizi: I'm not sure what you mean by recap. Do you mean a recap of Erica and Rory leaving? Or something else? Thanks for the comment though and I hope you get back to me on that because I would love to fix it!