Bloodshed At The Wedding
'Rock 'em, Sock 'em, Make 'em quit, Hit 'em where they know their hit!'
Son of Paleface (1952) . . .
October 31, 1956
I smile at the mirror to inspect my fangs. They're nifty. But my wild curly hair is my favorite because I look nothing like myself. Once I finish adding the fake blood (which I'd never mistake for real deal), my look will be complete. Caroline and I are dressing up as Dracula's brides. We asked Amber Bradley to join us, since we need good group photos for the yearbook. A third bride will complete the look.
I've been keeping my costume a secret from Damon. I want to surprise him. After all, he coined me a 'baby vamp' at the blood bank. I'm willing to bet that Damon is too cool to dress up. I'll find out soon enough when he shows up. I can't wait to be with him, I'm sure we're going to have a fantastic time together.
Jer and I argued non-stop about Halloween. Since grade school, we've hosted the haunted house. The whole town is into it, we get hundreds of visitors every year. The haunted house stopped happening after our mother died, because it was 'her' thing to organize. Her last costume was the Queen of Hearts from 'Alice In Wonderland'. My dad loves Halloween too, but he's always working at the hospital, since the holiday is emergency visit prone. He tries to make Halloween fun for his patients; you can't go wrong with holding a fake funny bone. He even knows how to do 'scary' tricks with x- rays.
Miraculously, I convinced Jer to host the haunted house. My brother is the only person that's allowed to help me, if he had said no, then I wouldn't be doing it. Jer and I spent the week decorating the house. We've been having a blast. I love our sarcastic bickering. Although, sometimes, he randomly asks about Damon. I swear he's triple-checking that I'm being treated right. The perils of dating your brother's best friend.
As for Damon, he's been disgruntled all week. I've barely seen him besides for rides and some heavy petting (he's too horny to kick the habit for a week). Obviously, my busy schedule was rough on him, since he's used to spending all of his free time with me. I'm his favorite addiction. Damon begged to help us for the sake of seeing me, but I explained it was a family affair. The haunted house is top secret, Gilbert eyes only. As an extra touch, Jer posted a sign on the front lawn, 'all pre-Halloween trespassers will be shot'. I didn't bother asking if he has a gun in the house, I don't want to know.
In five minutes, we're going to open the doors. I hope our mother is watching proudly from above. I giggle taking my place in the house. We set up a maze of mannequins and people will have to walk through them, what makes it scary is some of them move. Jer and I like to hide among the mannequins for that extra scare. I love scaring college boys in particular. They're always trying to act more manly than high school boys, but I can make them scream like little girls.
Upstairs there are spiders and other creepy crawlies that drop at random from the ceiling. The hallways in the house are re-designed to give an optical illusion that there are more doors to open. People always freak out trying to get out of the house or simply use the bathroom. In past years, I've literally had people beg me to show them the restroom, 'cause they couldn't hold it any longer.
In the kitchen, there is a buffet of classic Halloween food: severed fingers, stuffed roaches, eyeballs, monster brains. It's a fright that took me a full day to prepare. This is my first Halloween making all the food, I hope everything tastes okay. I'm a little nervous about my baking skills.
From my earliest memory of Halloween, the same townies have helped us run the show. They're senior citizens now, but they won't miss this for anything. Caroline's grandma is one of them, she works the door looking creepy and making sure no children under 7 come in. I love Bella, she's hilarious. I think Caroline got her sense of humor from her.
I try not to laugh as the screaming starts from the first group of visitors. I'm surprised by how early the screams started. Jer and I nod at each other impressed with our work. He's dressed as the Grim Reaper, quite the traditionalist in his favorite color. I think he looks snazzy in the costume.
An hour passes before Caroline and Amber show up. I take a break from my spooking duties to take pictures with them. They're both wearing shorter white dresses, while I'm wearing a longer, more dramatic wedding dress. My dress is rather heavy, but I think it's worth the sacrifice. I bought it at a second-hand store, meaning a bride somewhere wore this dress.
By this week, I'm fairly positive that Amber and Stefan are going steady. I find it hilarious considering they're both ditzy, I wonder how they get anything done together. For example, just tonight, Amber forgot her vampire name three times. Amber says Stefan isn't coming, that he went with Ben to the party at the drive-in. The drive-in is screening scary movies all night long, but if people are stuck in their cars, then how can you check out the costumes? Stefan is missing out by not showing up to my haunted house.
Caroline is having a great time. She looks good in fangs. Somehow they suit her, but I don't tell her, that might sound strange. She remembers to mention seeing Damon in the house. I perk up hearing the news. I excuse myself to wander around. I'm trying to figure out where he could be. I hope he's not wearing all black since it's already hard to see in the dark.
I giggle when I find Damon trying to open my bedroom door. He keeps walking into the mirrors across the hall, it's hilarious. I quietly walk up to him and bite his arm. He turns quickly and picks me up bridal style. How appropriate. He smiles and I notice something gleefully. "You're wearing fangs!" I say excited.
"You are too." He mumbles because he can't talk in fangs. He sounds like a kid.
He puts me down to reach for something in the inside pocket of his leather jacket. He holds out a white bow tie to me.
"Why do you have this?" I ask confused.
"I found out about your costume." He grins cheekily. "I wanted to be your groom, but I didn't know how to put it on and Stefan wasn't around to help."
"I'm supposed to marry Dracula."
"Then where's Dracula? I'll beat him up for stealing my girl." He snickers.
I sigh at the typical Damon response.
He continues his antics by pulling out a tacky plastic ring and takes my left hand. He looks at me intently. "Here's to being damned together. Forever." He says while sliding the ring on my finger. Guess he forgot the getting down on one knee part of our fake ceremony.
I realize that Damon said that word again, 'forever'. I know this is make believe, but it feels more serious with him. I look down at the loosely fitting ring. I don't know how to respond. He completely blindsided me with these 'thoughtful' gestures. I didn't expect him to dress up, but he did and also tried to match me.
Our romantic moment is interrupted when a girl screams. It's a real I'm-about-to-die scream. "That sounds like Caroline." I freak out and sprint down the hall to find her. I know Damon is running after me.
In the den, I find Caroline in Matt's arms. She's sobbing really hard. She's a mess. Her face is all black and red from the make up that she was wearing. Her perfect vampire face went to waste. My heart is racing wondering what got her so upset. She doesn't fall apart easily. I brace myself to hear what happened.
"What's wrong with her? Why is she crying?" I ask worried.
Matt shakes his green head, there is fury in his eyes. He's dressed as Frankenstein with wide shoulders. I remember being amused because he's a football player. "A jerk in a mask tried to take her virtue in the staircase closet." He answers and I understand his fury, remembering my own incident at the high school.
I choke up noticing multiple bruises on her arms. There's also a bruise on her right thigh. The right sleeve and the bottom part of her gown is torn. It looks like she put up a good fight.
Damon removes his fangs to talk normally. "Did she recognize the mask?" He asks seriously.
I know that look on him. The revenge look. He's ready to remedy this situation. It's nice to know that he'll stand up for my best friend. He doesn't know her that well, but they tolerate each other.
"Wolf." Caroline replies still shaken.
Seriously? The big bad wolf tried to take her virtue. That's too much.
"Damn idiot!" Damon shouts and runs away. I chase after him until we're standing on the front lawn.
I pull on his arm to make him look at me. "Damon, what happened? What do you know?"
"I think it was Tyler." He says gravely.
My mouth drops open. "No, not your Tyler..."
"He's dressed as a werewolf." Damon answers matter-of- factly.
"It's Halloween. He's not the only wolf out here tonight."
"Why are you defending him?" Damon asks suspiciously.
"I'm not. I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt."
"He has a thing for her." Damon states with a raised brow.
"So what? You were aggressive with me before we made it official." I remind him.
Damon frowns at my words. "I would never hurt you."
"I know that." I say moving to hug him. "But I don't think it was Tyler and neither should you if you're his friend. If Caroline hit the wolf somewhere, we can check Tyler's appearance and rule him out for sure." I reason trying to calm him. Jer would have a fit if Damon and Tyler go at each other. There would be too much blood spilled.
Damon consents to doing it my way and we confront Caroline. When we talk to her, she's more calm and can tell us what she remembers. She ripped the wolf's button down shirt and kicked him repeatedly in the right shin. Keeping that information in mind, Damon and I walk around the house trying to find Tyler or another wolf.
We find Tyler doing shots with Jer and Vicki-The-Friendly-Ghost in the kitchen. Tyler looks fine, he's a little drunk, but there are no signs of what Caroline described. I breathe in relief. "Tell them what happened. Hopefully someone can catch our wolf before he leaves." I suggest to Damon. He goes up to them, while I back away. It's better if Damon tells them, since he's one of them.
"This happened in my house?" Jer asks nearly shouting. "Who is stupid enough to try that in my house?" My brother is sober enough to take charge and tell the other guys to start a search. Now there's at least nine greasers looking for the wolf. If my brother is the one to find him... I know the end result will be brutal. Not only because of what happened to Caroline but because they dared to disrespect his home.
The rest of the night passes at a strange pace since what happened to Caroline spoiled my mood. Regardless, I have to wait out the party considering I don't have anywhere else to go. I sigh realizing that it's past one in the morning. There's around forty people hanging out in the house. For a lack of better thing to do, I start taking out the garbage, I might as well get going on the clean-up. On my third trip out, I notice a greaser smoking in the backyard under a tree. There's something about him that bothers me, but why?
Memories flash in my head. Why am I not surprised? It's Noah from The Double-Sixes of Grove Hill. He was the one that attacked me in the high school. He's holding a mask in his left hand and I'm willing to bet it's a wolf. I can't believe that he came to our town on Halloween. The freak must be sick, really sick. I remember Jer said that he knocked out his knees using a metal bat. The idea of him trying to do something again and in our house of all places is suicidal.
I want to kill him. I feel a fury overcome me that cannot be settled. This time Noah will know what it's like to be the victim. I grab the long-handled grass shears sitting on the curb and walk over to him. What a strange sight I must be in my wedding dress as I stalk toward him. Talk about being a deadly wife.
Noah puts out the cigarette as I approach him. He stares at me, but does not say a word.
"What? You're not gonna say anything? Do you remember me?" I spit out.
"I remember you." He says stiffly.
"It's too bad my brother didn't finish the number he did on you last time." My voice is tight, a near growl.
"Screw you." He replies.
"Goddamn!" I shout in frustration. "Why did you come to our haunted house?"
I need to know why. It's driving me crazy to not know.
"Because it's fun." He smirks without any apology in his tone.
I'm furious. That's his only reply? I can't believe that he tried to rape my best friend. Not to mention the hell he put me through at the high school. I hate him. The hate consumes me. Without hesitation, I slice him across the face with the shears. The blade is sharp, it cuts a deep line against his right cheek down to his chin. He yells out in pain.
"Still having fun?" I mock.
I kick him hard in the groin. "We should have more fun before you split."
He falls over on the grass crying out in pain. He looks miserable. I won't let him walk away from this. I straddle him and hold the shears to his neck. He's crying, clearly afraid to die. "Want to know the best part? I know exactly where to cut you. You will bleed to death here tonight." I threaten.
In the background, Damon, Tyler, and Jer come running out of the house after hearing the ruckus. Jer and Damon are both yelling "Elena!" from the distance. I wonder if they think that I'm in danger. I'm still holding the shears to Noah's neck. If he moves in any direction, it'll be a clean cut. I watch as the blood runs down his face from the cut I made. With my free hand, I touch it mesmerized.
Jer reaches me first. "Elena, what have you done?" He questions in horror.
"I'm done." I say seriously and get up. I give Jer the shears. It's a pity that my wedding gown is covered in grass stains. Before everything went down the drain, I looked beautiful.
Jer looks at me for a second before turning to Noah. Without hesitation Jer stabs him with the shears. "What should I do with you?" Jer yells at him. "First my sister and now her best friend. Why should I send you home still breathing?"
I hear Jer pull out the shears from a distance. I'm past caring about what Jer will do to Noah. I caught the bad wolf, but everything has spiraled.
Damon is torn for a second, but he leaves Jer and Tyler with Noah. Even though I'm sure he would love to hurt Noah, he decides to chase after me instead. I know he must be worried about me. "Elena! Where are you going?" He's yelling, but I don't turn around. If it were up to me, I'd runaway. I need some time to think, some time away from greasers. My legs keep walking in the direction of the highway.
I wonder if Damon still likes me after what he saw in my backyard. I'm not the same girl he used to stare at in the diner. I'm someone else; can't be just a cheerleader or a greaser. I remember Stefan saying he would kill in the name of love, I thought he was being creepy at the time, but no I understand what he meant. That's a deep sentiment to have in common with someone.
Damon catches up and yells at me, but I don't understand a word that he's saying. I'm not sure if he's worried or disappointed, I guess he could be both. It's a blur of fast words and I'm completely in my own space. No other sounds exist, not the cars passing by nor the costumed drunks. I feel like I am falling apart.
"How did I get here?" I murmur to myself, staring at my hands. I can't believe that such violence exists inside of me. Noah is going to need a lot of stitches. He might even have a permanent scar on his face.
This is the moment that I know the line separating my brother and I has blurred. If I keep going down this path, I'll end up hard just like him.