Chapter 19:
I'm in my room getting ready for the 50's dance and I'm pushing away any thought of my family at all. I fear that if I start to think about it I will start to overthink it and then I will be too upset to even show up to this stupid dance, and I'm going to this stupid dance. I will force myself to have the best time of my life if I have to. I was finishing up my hair that I styled to be half up and half down and curled at the end. I was wearing high waisted dark blue jeans and a red and white plaid shirt the I tied in the front. I matched them with a pair of black heels.
The makeup I chose to wear to complete the look was some mascara and red lipstick. I thought I looked good before turning towards my bed to find the compass Damon gave me spinning out of control. I watched for a second before stepping outside of my room and calling out Jeremy and Elena's names. I figured Elena was just getting ready and Jeremy probably just left, but just to be safe I walked back into my room and picked up my phone to call Stefan.
After the third ring I heard the wrong Salvatore's voice through the phone:
"Stefan's phone. You ask he saves. Hero hair is extra." I rolled my eyes at his sarcasm.
"Where's Stefan?" I ask immediately. I walked out of my room closing the door behind me.
"Last time I checked he was on his way to your new home." He told me without expression.
"Okay good. That stupid compass is freaking me out. It keeps on spinning and scaring the crap out of me." By now I was already down the stairs and in front of the door.
"Just your boy toy on his way to do the deed." Damon teased causing me to hang up and stuff my phone in my back pocket.
"Hey, you called me. Is everything okay?" Elena asked as she descended from the stairs.
"That compass that Damon gave me was spinning, but it's just because Stefan's on his way. Didn't mean to scare you." She looked slightly relieved, but all that fell from her face when a vampire dropped from the ceiling, landing right between the two of us.
He jumped after Elena first and he was inches from biting her neck until I made the unthoughtful decision to jump on his back, which definitely caught him off guard. He stumbled backwards and slammed my back into a wall extremely hard, causing me to release my grip on him.
I felt an aching pain in the center of my back which I was forced to ignore because of the vampire that was stalking towards me with a wide grin spread all across his face.
"We can be friends, right? And friends don't kill friends. If you can look past the whole me running you over with a car, i'm sure I can over the whole you dropping from the ceiling trying to kill us." My talking seemed to push back the part where he killed me. I looked past him to Elena who had this panic expression on her face. Well it looks like she's not going to be much help.
Wait! Isn't Stefan suppose to be on his way. I'm sure if I yell loud enough he'll hear me. Let's just hope he can get here before this dude kills me.
"STEFAN!STEFAN!STEF…" I was cut off by being slammed into the wall and before I knew it I was about to be a vampire snack. Luckily, before he was able to bite me he was ripped off of me.
I looked over and I saw Stefan was the one who saved me. Without another thought I ran into his arms ignoring to pain in my back. He happily took me into his arms.
"Are you okay? Are you okay?" He asked desperately running a hand through my hair. I looked up at him and nodded my head. I laid my head against his chest and enjoyed the feeling of security it gave me.
0_
Damon decided to join us and he was pacing around the living room while Stefan and Elena sat on the couch and I sat on the arm of the couch like a child next the Stefan. I let his hand lay on top of my thigh and enjoyed the physical contact. It was the only thing that was keeping me even remotely calm.
"How did he get in?" Damon asked.
"He was invited in." Elena answered.
"He posed as the pizza guy last night." Stefan further explained.
"Who invites the pizza guy in? He rings the doorbell. You give him money. He gives you food. Ta-da no invitation needed." I said like it was the simplest thing in the world. Which it is!
"You're definitely not wrong, but he gets points for that. Did he say what he wanted?" Damon asked me.
"No his was probably to busy with, I don't know, killing us!" Does nobody understand how mad I am. All I was trying to do was get ready for a normal school dance, but noooo, little miss vampire buddy thought it was a good time to make an appearance. Why isn't Elena as mad as me?
"And you have no idea who it is." Stefan asked Damon.
"No," Stefan looked at him unconvinced. "Don't look at me like that. I told you we had company."
"Do you think there is more than one?" Elena asked concerningly.
"We don't know." Damon asked.
"Damon, he was invited in." Stefan points out.
Damon nods understandingly, "That's why you," He pointed at me, "should go back to your house where the only two vampires that can come in are Stefan and I." He said it like he was ordering me to do exactly what he says.
"No." I say sternly.
"What do you mean 'no'?" Damon asked like he was unknown of the word. "This creep is trying to kill you and he has an open invitation into this house, which means it's not safe anymore."
"Maybe he's right. It'll keep you safe." Stefan butts in.
"No. I'm not going back there. And what about Elena, Jeremy, and Jenna. They still live here and that means open targets for this pizza guy." I said sternly giving both brothers a look that told them I wasn't backing down from this one.
"Fine." Damon huffed thinking for a second. "Then we get him tonight."
0_
After fighting Stefan to let me come we finally arrived to the dance. As soon as we got there Elena went to Caroline and Bonnie.
"You're not going to go mingle with your friends." Damon asked me as I stood silently.
"No, why would I do that when I can drag my boyfriend out to the dance floor." I said sarcastically as I grabbed Stefan's hand and dragged him onto the dance the floor.
"So you were alive during the 50's, why don't you show me some moves." I asked him. He smiled brightly before twirling me and pulling me back.
We swayed to the music as I had my
hands around his neck and he had his on my hips. "Besides the whole vampire wanting to kill you part, this is nice. Dancing here with my girlfriend." He told me causing me to smile.
"As soon as all this is over we should do something. I have some more things to tell you about my family and with all this vampire stuff going on, I'm afraid we won't have time to just relax and enjoy each other." I expressed myself.
"I know the feeling. How about this; I promise you a whole night with just you, me, and chinese food. We can talk about anything you want. I just want to get rid of this guy and keep you and Elena out of danger." I nodded agreeingly. Before we could further the discussion Damon's voice interrupted.
"Mind if I steal your date?" Stefan looked at me before back at Damon sending him a glare.
"It's up to her." Stefan tells him. Don't you just love all the unwanted attention being sent my way. Note the sarcasm.
I turn my head to look for Elena to see if she can help me out of this, but I saw her dancing with some guy named Daniel from her class. She looked so happy and I didn't want to be the one to end it. So I turned back towards the brothers who were still looking at me and groaned.
"Yeah whatever."
Stefan looked at me with an expression I couldn't figure out before saying, "Stay with him until I come back. I'll go look for this guy." He didn't give me time to respond as his pulled me into a soft and gentle kiss. It was without a doubt meant to be right in front of Damon, which was maybe a good thing. He could finally see that I didn't just get together with Stefan because I was overwhelmed. I think I'm just confused with everything that's happening and it's clouding up my judgement.
Stefan finally pulled away and whisper 'stay safe' in my ear before walking off. I turned back towards an emotionless Damon, but a smirk soon spread across his face
He held his hand out for me to take and a slow song automatically turned on. This should be fun. Again, note the sarcasm.
I took his hand and we soon began to move in rhythm to the music. I was half expecting him to taunt me about Stefan like he's made a habit of doing lately. But what he said was completely different than what I thought he would.
"You look beautiful."
"Thank you." I blushed lightly.
"This fifties look really works for you. It's hot." He flirted.
"You can't do that." I warned him.
"Do what?" He said doing that thing with his eyes. This is going to be long night.
"That. Listen I'm with Stefan now, which means no more flirty comments or that weird flirty thing you do with your eyes." I put my foot down.
"You mean this." He did that thing with his eyes again.
"Yes! Listen you might not believe that I actually want to be with Stefan, but I do. And I don't need you confusing my feelings. You're my friend. That's it." I told him with no specific emotion in my voice.
He looked me in the eye for a couple seconds before leaning forward to my ear until he was an inch away from my skin.
"If I was just a friend, then how would I be able to confuse your feelings so easily."He whispered causing me to shiver. "But I'll play your little game of not facing your real feelings, just know that it won't last as long as you think." He leaned away from me and I looked at him in the eyes, lost for words. I looked past him to avoid anymore eye contact, but immediately regretted it.
In the far corner of the gym was the guy in the black hoodie. "He's here." I whispered so only Damon could hear. "Behind you." I said again causing him to turn around and look at the guy for himself, however; as soon as Damon saw a glimpse of him he used his vampire speed to run of somewhere else.
"Go find Stefan." Damon told me sternly. I nodded my head. You don't have to tell me twice.
"Be careful." He said before running off.
I walked away from everyone who was dancing and I scanned the room for any sign of Stefan, then all of sudden my phone began to ring. Hoping it was Stefan or Damon I answered it without looking at the number.
"Hello Madeline." I recognized the voice to be the black hoodie guy.
"What do you want?" I asked. As I looked around for him.
"I want you to grab Elena and walk into the school quietly and without making a scene." I scoffed at that.
"And why would I do that." Probably not the best time to get an attitude.
"Because if you don't I will snap Jeremy's neck." I quickly looked over to the table that had punch on it where I knew Jeremy would be. And of course I saw the black hoodie guy standing behind him.
"There probably won't even be a witness." He said through the phone.
I hung up before he could say anything else. I ran up to the dance floor and grabbed Elena away from the guy she was dancing with.
"Hey! What was that for?" She whined, as she stopped walking. I turned to face her and said, "He's here and said if me and you don't go into the school he'll kill Jeremy." I said frantically.
I watched as her eyes went wide and she complied and walked into the building with me. We ran through the exit and down the corridor. We looked behind us to see if he was following us, but we didn't see him yet. We turn down another corridor and towards a set of doors. We get to the set of door just to realize they are chained shut. I look behind us again to see the black hoodie guy stalking towards us. I grab Elena's hand and drag her down yet another corridor that leads to the cafeteria.
We run through the cafeteria to get through another set of door, but of course, with our luck, they were chained shut too. I look over at Elena and I can see she's in full blown panic mode.
"What do we do?!" She asks frantically.
The sound of the cafeteria door flinging open makes us look over at this guy coming towards us.
"Pray to god that telepathy is real and try to talk to Damon and Stefan through your thoughts and tell them to get their vampire asses over here." I suggest.
Elena had a slightly better idea which was to make a run for it, which didn't work very well since he was in front of her in a second. He grabbed her by her hair and yanked her backwards.
I, without thinking, through my phone at this vampire dudes head. And let's just say I have incredible aim. I heard him let out a low, but very effective, growl.
He threw Elena in the ground, sending her flying into a wall. Now his eyes were on me. I looked around me to see if there was anything that could possibly help me defend myself but the only thing I saw that was near me was a flyer on the wall. Sadly, I don't think a paper cut will hold off this dude for long.
I backed away from him until my back hit a wall and I realized there was nowhere else to go as this guy was walking towards me with a murderous expression on his face.
"I can tell you have some anger issues and I think I can help. I'll start of with saying I didn't mean for my phone to hit you." I apologized as I saw that was my last hope.
"So where did you mean to throw it?" He asked sarcastically, but with some kind of amusement in his voice.
"You see, this is just a huge misunderstanding. My phone just seemed to slip, but if you hadn't went after my friend it might not have slipped, so I think we all have to do some re-evaluating." By now he was directly in front of me. And I saw that his face was starting to vamp out so I did what I had to do to get out of this situation. I kneed him where the sun doesn't shine.
He let out a loud groan and hunched over grabbing his member in pain. I took this as an out so I immediately ran towards where Elena was getting up from the ground, but I didn't get very far as I felt the back of my hair being pulled back and before I knew it my head was colliding with a wall, which by the way, hurts a lot more than it looks like on tv. Then he threw me across one of the tables and I landed on the floor really hard. I tried to open my eyes but a bunch of black dots clouded my vision.
I don't know how long I was on the floor for but after what felt like 5 minutes I heard Stefan's voice.
"Madeline?" I felt him pick me up and sit my at one of the tables. I could finally see clearly and I could see the worry on his face.
"Hey, are you okay?" He said in a low voice. I look around the room and I see Damon tearing the black hoodie guy off of Elena and throw him to the ground. He picked up what looked like a broken mop.
"Hey dickhead. No one wants to kill you. We just want to talk." Damon says trying to reason. However, a smile just appears on his face and he tries to go after Elena again.
"No!" I shout, scared for my kind of sisters life. Thankfully, Stefan appeared in front of her and stakes him in the stomach. He grunts and falls to his knees.
"Now you feel like talking?" Stefan asked challengingly.
"Screw you." He replies. I cringe as Stefan pushes the stake deeper into him.
"Wrong answer. Why are you doing this?" Stefan tried again.
"Because it's fun." He says which kind of scares me. I mean who just tortures people for some kind of sick pleasure.
Stefan digs the stake a little deeper before asking another question.
"What do you want with Elena?"
"She looks like Katherine." He tells Stefan with what could be detected as a chuckle.
"What about Madeline? She doesn't look like Katherine." Stefan asked glancing over at me.
"She's amusing and fun to play with. And beautiful."
That made me shift uncomfortably. How you can he torture me just because I'm 'amusing' and 'fun to play with'?
"That can't be the only reason." Damon said joining the conversation. The smirk on the black hoodie guys face showed that there was more to why he was torturing me.
"What do you want with her?" Damon pushed, but the guy showed no sign of him opening up. I guess that was the wrong answer since Stefan pushed the stake even deeper. I'm surprised it hasn't just went all the way through his body.
"How do you know Katherine?" Damon asked realizing that he wasn't going to reveal his real reason.
"Oh. You thought you were the only ones. You don't even remember me." He laughed.
"Tell me how to get in the tomb. Hmm?" Damon pushes.
"No." He refuses, so Stefan takes the stake out of him and pushes it back into his stomach.
"The grimoire!" He exclaims.
"Where is it?" When he doesn't answer Stefan dives it even deeper.
"Check the journal. The journal. Johnathan's journal. Johnathan Gilbert's." He reveals in pain. Damon ends up questioning who he is working with him and when he refuses to tell them Stefan pulled out the stake and staked his heart, cause me to flinch along with Elena.
"You do realize you just killed the only guy that could give us answers!" I yell as I build up the strength to stand up.
"Well it was that or let him wander back into your house to kill you and everyone else who lives in that house." Damon defends Stefan.
"How are we gonna find the others now?" Elena asks.
"Do you two not realize that if we didn't kill him he wouldn't stop taunting you?"
"But…" I was going to argue back when Stefan interrupted.
"It was either him or you and I'm not willing to take that chance." I huffed knowing that he was right and I took a look around myself. I saw Elena who was pretty much on the verge of crying. A desiccated body laying on the floor. My boyfriend who just staked a vampire, and then his vampire brother who I don't know, is a pain in the ass. Everyone was looking at me waiting for me to respond, but I had nothing to say. I just know that everything that is in front of me isn't normal. Nothing about it is normal.
Without a word I walk past everyone and out the cafeteria. I kept on walking until I was back to the dance.
"Hey Madeline. Where have you been? I barely saw you all night." Caroline asked stopping me.
"I was just mingling, but I'm heading home now."
"Are you okay? You look kind of pale." She asked.
"Yeah, I just had a long night. I'll see you tomorrow though. Good as new." I crack a smile that I had to force.
"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow." She says smiling, clearly believing me.
As I walk into the parking lot I realize I came to the dance in Stefan's car. So I decide to just walk home since I had no idea where he was.
About 5 minutes into the walk it starts to rain. At first it was just sprinkling but now it's full blown pouring. Life officially sucks. I'm soaked. I'm walking in heels. My head hurts. Ughhhh.
As I was walking I hear a car honk at me from behind. I was about to flip off whoever it was but when I saw whose car it was I was thankful.
It was Stefan. He stopped next to me and I ran into the passenger's seat. When I closed the door I looked over at a chucking Stefan, probably at my now smudged makeup.
"Stop laughing at me. I didn't know it was going to rain." I pouted and crossed my arms.
" Why didn't you just call me?" He said, clearly amused.
" Because I may or may not have thrown my phone at that vampire dudes head prior to when you and Damon showed up." I said a little embarrassed.
"Oh course you did." He laughed at me.
"Ughh." I groaned and laying my head against the seat. "I need alcohol."
"Great thing your boyfriend just happens to have an alcoholic vampire brother who happens to have a humongous stash." Stefan says.
"To the Salvatore House we go." I say with excitement. "But does Damon have to be there?" I asked.
"He shouldn't be home for like an hour. And that's enough time to get you drunk."
"I now declare you as my favorite person in the world." I say in a cheery voice.
"And all I had to do was get you drunk."
"I'm easy like that. Just not in a sluty way." I laugh at myself and he laughs with me.
We pull up to Stefan's house and we go straight for Damon's stash.
30 minutes later me and Stefan are sittin on the floor of the basement hallway outside of the room Damon's alcohol is in.
"So what are some things about you that I don't know?" Stefan asked me and I think it was the first time I saw him drunk. But I kind of liked it, maybe because I am too.
"I don't know." I said taking a sip straight from the bottle.
"Come on, there has to be something." He guessed. " Put your thinking cap on." He encouraged.
I pretended to put my thinking cap on and I made a face that made it look like I was deep in thought.
"Um...I tried pot when I was 15." Stefan almost choked on his bourbon.
"Are you serious?" He asked surprised.
"Yeah, everyone in my grade was doing it and my parents told me that if I ever tried it then I would be grounded but then 1 week later they grounded me for getting an F in English. And since I was already grounded I thought 'what's the harm in trying since I'm already in trouble?'" I laughed.
" Wow if knew I was dating a druggy before…" he said sarcastically. I slapped his arm jokingly.
"I was not a druggy. It was a one time thing." I defended. " Come on. You've never done anything exciting. Or broken the rules. I refuse to believe that." I said waiting for him to share something.
"When I was 9 I use to collect frogs and one day I was really mad that Damon popped my football so I let them go in his room while he was sleeping." I started to die of laughter at this, but the sound of Damon's voice shut me up.
"What are you guys doing?" He said sounding mad.
"Are you drinking from my stash?!" He yelled and used his vamp speed to try and speed towards us but Stefan thought quick and grabbed me and sped us into the room where we got the alcohol and locked the door so Damon couldn't get in.
"Stop acting like children." Damon said banging on the door.
"We are doing this to help you." Stefan said as we erupted in laughter.
"It's the first step to recovery." I added.
"Recovery to what?" He asked clearly annoyed. But I was too drunk to care.
"You have an alcohol problem. And the solution to your problem is; me and Stefan will drink all your alcohol so you can stay sober." I explain through the door.
"Are you two drunk?" He accused.
"Maybe." Stefan admitted.