VD We're Stuck Here 86
Chapter 86
That evening Elijah did not join the group as they played a card game in the parlor. The cards were getting worn and a couple were missing corners. Everyone had memorized the various cards' damage, so no one, like Kol, had an advantage over another player. Elijah sat out on the porch, his chair tipped back against the wall, while various thoughts ran through his mind. He especially thought of Sarah and about the four-year friendship he had had with her. He would miss her.
From somewhere over the stone wall there was a watery splash. He listened, wondering if one of the animals had fallen into the creek. There was no further sound, but now he was curious, so he left the porch and walked past the wall and to a place where he could see almost everything under the dome. Despite the dimness of dusk, he made out the dark forms of the horse, the cow and the calf at the fence, looking at him. Close by, the chickens were in the damaged hen house, making the best of the situation.
"We'll have to fix that tomorrow," Elijah muttered to himself. It then occurred to him that perhaps another piece of the dome had fallen, splashing into the creek. Not good. He went into the parlor and faced the group playing cards in the candlelight.
"I believe another piece of the dome fell. I did not go look for it, but I heard a splash down in the creek. I was not one of our three, but it could have been some other animal."
"Or the sky is still falling," Kol muttered. He looked at the three women. "You have to do something before one of us gets hurt."
"You're right," Freya nodded. "But not tonight. I don't have the energy I would need. I'm not even sure I can do anything. I'll think about it. Maybe Barb and I can come up with an idea. Tomorrow."
Barbara nodded and looked worried. If she and Freya failed, would it be her fault? She knew she didn't have the power the older woman had.
"I could use a drink," Kol said.
"You could have one if someone had not already drunk it all."
Freya glared at the brothers. "Don't you two get into another fight!"
"We're cool," Kol said, although he would have liked to punch Elijah.
"I did not think to ask John to bring us another bottle. I shall try to remember to do so tomorrow. If John ever comes to visit us again."
"Let's hope so. I enjoy talking to him," Rebekah said. "Shouldn't we put the cow and horse in the barn? Maybe they would be safer."
The others agreed, and before long they had moved the three animals from the pasture to the barn. They had to hope no large piece of dome came crashing down on the barn.
A short while later,in the bedroom Barbara had been sharing with Kol, she slipped on her cotton nightgown and sat on the edge of the bed.
Kol, removing his clothes so that he was nude in the cold air and the dim flicker of the candle, looked at his lover and asked, "Are you alright? You look tired and worried."
"I really am worried. And tired. I feel like we're fighting a battle with that dome over us and we're losing. I don't think me and Freya can fix it. What will happen to us if it disappears or just all falls down?"
"Come on, darlin', don't go worrying yourself over it tonight. Tomorrow you and Freya will come up with a solution."
"You don't know that," Barbara muttered. She had her hair done up in two braids which she now undid. Over the four years, her hair had grown quite long. When Kol sat on the edge of the bed beside her, she leaned against him. He was big and strong and usually optimistic about things, even though he complained a lot. She had recently come to realize that he was unchanged, not growing older, while she was. She loved him and worried that at some time he would find he did not like her maturing before his eyes. She was not at all confident in the future.
Kol lay down and lifted the sheet and quilt so that she could lie under them and close beside him. He loved her warm body and he loved to have sex with her. She had bloomed into being quite skilled at sex. Over the four years, he had condescended into letting Elijah have some intimate time with her once in a while. Barbara didn't say that she didn't want to do that, and he wondered if she really liked lying with the older brother. Still, he was happy that she was in his bed each night.
He snuffed out the candle, but noticed that moonlight beamed into the bedroom. It was brighter than usual because it was shining through a hole which had slowly enlarged in the dome.
Throughout the night the group heard the crack and thud of falling dome segments. None came through the roof of the house, but in the early light of dawn, they found the privy damaged and lying on its side.
"We can fix it," Elijah said. In the meantime, there were chamber pots under the beds.
"This place is a mess," Rebekah observed. "Like if a huge plastic dome fell apart all over the place."
"Everyone be careful," Freya cautioned. "Some of these pieces are sharp, although it looks like most of them are not." She picked up a large piece which actually had one of the original holes in it.
"I want to be sure the pasture is safe before we bring the animals out," Kol said with concern. "How about we all walk the pasture and pick up any that the animals might cut themselves on?"
"After I milk the cow," the older sister said and she headed for the barn with her milk bucket. "Do you want me to feed the horse, since he's in the barn anyway?"
"No, I'll do it. And I'll give him some hay. He's stuck in the barn until we get the pasture cleaned up."
After eating breakfast, it took about two hours for the group to pick up and remove the dangerous pieces of dome from the pasture and stack them out of the way. morning seemed very bright to them because they had been living under a dusty canopy that now was gone, for the most part. There were still pieces of the barrier remaining, almost all of them standing upright in place on the ground. Gravity had pulled down the higher sections and some of the bottom pieces. None of the barrier had any electrical charge in it anymore.
With the pasture clear, the cow, calf and horse were turned loose. None of the chickens had been killed, and they roamed around pecking at everything. The family hoped none of them consumed anything sharp. They also hoped none of the wild birds that flew in ate any of the dangerous pieces, many too small for the people to spot. The group had no intention of walking around barefoot.
"Alright," Freya said firmly, "Now, Barbara, Rebekah and I are going to set up for a strong spell and erect another dome, if we can. Any objections?"
"I'd like to be able to walk free of this place when I feel like it," Kol admitted.
"I would prefer to be able to invite people in to socialize," Elijah added. "But, we know someone out there, including our father, wants to harm us. Do we really want to let down our defenses and walk around here like sitting ducks?"
"If we walk away, we won't be like sitting ducks," Kol argued.
"And we might just be walking away from any chance of Hayley finding a solution to our problem."
"We don't know that. Her quest might be a lost cause."
"Gentlemen, let's not argue again about this," Freya said. "I believe Hayley will succeed. I believe we must stay here. Together. And protected by a dome."
"You mean imprisoned," Kol muttered.
"Whatever," Rebekah grumbled. "I say we have Freya do her thing."
Barbara said nothing. She only wanted to be wherever Kol was.
It took a while for Freya and Barbara to set up what they needed. It was not very different from what they had done for dome maintenance, but their goal was a whole new dome. Although Rebekah had no magic powers, she participated because of her vampire blood, which was thought to add more strength to the spell.
When the three women finally sat on the kitchen floor with its markings and candles, the two men went outside. There was work to be done including righting the outhouse, chopping wood and picking up more old dome pieces. After some time they stood together at the well drinking cold water. They were hot, although vampire did not sweat.
"I can't believe they are putting up a dome that is like frosted glass!" Kol said. "We can't even see the outside anymore. And it's hot in here."
Elijah had to agree that he didn't like it. He scanned the obvious dome, which was almost complete. "Holes! There are no air holes!"
A/N Since a lack of air would eventually kill everything except the three vampires, what will they do to prevent this disaster?