Chapter 12 - Alaric problem
Today, I woke up thinking I'd wake up in bed in my apartment in Malaga, or maybe the hospital's bed, but no. It didn't happen. Sighing, I get up to get ready. Yesterday, Jeremy and I went shopping, well I pointed to the shops while he was holding my bags and somehow we managed to rope Kol in. The guy really has arrogance and could be compared to Narcissus. I bought paint for ''my room'' here, red, white, with some matching curtains. Clothes, shoes and jewelleries, mostly black and red garments. If you didn't know, I love the colour red. Okay that's enough, I'm ready anyways, black boots, red leather jacket and pants, white T-shirt and of course some red rings and bracelets. I put some perfume mixed with vervain and off I am.
When I arrive downstairs, I see that I am the last one. « Good morning brother, sister. », I greet them. « What is there to enjoy for the start of the day? »
« What? », asks Elena. « Breakfast. She means breakfast. », answers Jere for me.
« Oh », she says. Then adds, « Well there's coffee, but I know you don't like it so there's some tea or hot chocolate over there and here are some pop tart. Stefan brought them this morning. »
' Really Anastasia doesn't like coffee. Well Mazy does.' « Oh goody! », I say excited for the pop tart, going next to her I take one and set my bag on the table.
« Okay um…I'm leaving, I have to see Matt…Do you need a lift? », Elena asks us awkwardly.
Jeremy and I look at each other, and then look back at her who's awkwardly staring at us. « No it's okay, there's no need. We'll just walk to school. »
« Yes don't worry about us. », adds Jere.
« You sure? », she presses.
« Yes we're sure. »
And with that, she leaves so it's just coma-bro and I.
« School? I thought you didn't want to go? »
« Oh that's right I don't want to go today… But I'll go some other day. In fact, we won't go today. », I say getting ready to leave.
« Why? You realise if we skip school, we'll have to listen to a speech longer than a president' speech, right? »,he says with disdain.
« Yeah, but we have a lot of things to do. », I say already at the door. « Let's go, mysticism is waiting for us. »
« You and your words… », he mutters, shaking his head.
« I didn't do it. », says Alaric as he woke up in a jail cell this morning.
« You're arresting him for what this nut job Dr. Fell says? ». 'Seriously, believing the oh so moral history hunter teacher killed people? Na.', thinks Damon.
« No, I'm detaining him. The cell is for his own good. You were shot and Dr. Fell used vampire blood to heal you. », says Sheriff Forbes.
« I really didn't do it, Dr. Fell, she's the one who shot me. », pleads the teacher.
« Because you came at her with a knife! », the sheriff says.
« Yeah, with a knife I had found hidden in her things! », explains Alaric.
« Are we gonna ignore the part where he is one of the killer's victims? I mean, the guy was practically stabbed to death. », says Damon trying to aid his friend, although he won't say it aloud but Alaric is his best-friend.
« Well, Dr. Fell suggested his wounds could have been self-inflicting. »
« You think I stabbed myself? », he asks in disbelief.,
« Look, I think I don't know what to think. I've got nothing, except murder weapons from your stash and a respected member of a founding family pointing a very long finger. »
« It's a set up. I'm being framed here! », yells Alaric.
« Well, that may be so, but I don't have any proof of that. » Truthfully, she wants to believe him but, there is so much evidence here.
« Well then we'll find some. »
« No, just stay out of this, Damon. You getting involved is only going to make matters worse. »
« Listen, Liz… », tries Damon but Liz cuts him.
« Everything leads to him Damon, so don't make me put you in that cell with him! »
« I still think it was a terrible idea. »
« What do you mean ''terrible idea''? »
« Stealing a car? Really? »
« We didn't steal it, we borrowed it. Well technically you could pass for the thief while I could act like you kidnapped me… », Mazikeen trails off clearly thinking about it.
Sincerely, if you ask Jeremy, he would tell you that he just wishes he was still dreaming. 'When she said she found a beautiful night blue car, I thought that maybe she bought it. But no, she didn't. She just found a prey to steal.', thinks Jeremy. « Don't even consider acting like the victim here, if we get caught, you're older than me so I'll put everything on you. »
« Oh come on, it's no big deal, we'll kindly put the car back with a thanking letter. »
« Unbelievable ! »
« Focus on the road Rem. »
« Yeah, yeah, anyway, what are you writing? »
« I am putting down what's supposed to be the ''next episode''. If my coma is following the script, then we're in the Alaric-alzheimer-psycho-murdering events… »
« What? »
« Something to do with a murderer in town, killing some Town council people and people accusing Alaric. »
« …And did he kill those people? », asks Jeremy, uncomfortable with the thought of Alaric killing innocent people.
« Well… yeah he did. But like he kills them but doesn't remember also, he's not himself. »,she explains. 'Seriously that's Alzheimer.'
« What do you mean he kills them but doesn't remember? Is it because he gets drunk? », he says back.
« No it's not that. He just can't remember at all. Jere, the ring you have although it lets you come back to life, it has a price. There's always a price to pay. Contrary to you Alaric died a lot and also came back to life. The ring brings him back to life but it also creates an alter-ego. That one is the one doing the killings and when Alaric comes back to himself… », she trails off.
« He doesn't remember…because it's not him. »,he finishes, while stroking his ring.
« It's like being a- »
« A werewolf. »
« Yeah, so-. » 'I'm interrupted, again.', she thinks with a pout.
« So don't die, right? I know, I won't. », he says with conviction.
'Yeah, don't.' « We're going to see Meredith Fell, she knows about it and if we can speed things then… »
« There will be less killings and we'll save Alaric faster. », he ends, smiling at the end.
« Wow, Jere, you and I are siblimates! Amazing! », she says excited.
« Sibli- what? »
« Siblimates, you know, sibling and soulmate, siblimate… Oh and as your older sibling, STOP CUTTING ME OFF YOU BRAT! », she yells in his ears.
Damon just got back from the police station, talking to Elena about being the bad guy put him in a bad mood. Entering the Boarding house, he decides to tease his brother. 'What better way to get back on track then to bother St Stefan.'
« Dear diary, a chipmunk asked me my name today. I told him it was Joe. That lie will haunt me forever. », he says when he sees Stefan with his diary.
Annoyed Stefan says, « What do you want? »
« Well, I was hoping we could hang. You know a little brother bonding. I know we don't actually "hang out". We team up, we join forces, we activate our wonder twin powers. », he explains.
« Clearly that's not just what you came for. So what is it? », Stefan asks, already fed up.
« I'm found out, poor me. So, most of the Originals are gone, but now we have a whodunit in town. Hey, do you remember when we came back for Zachariah's funeral? »
« Vaguely. Why? »
« If memory serves, he wasn't the first Founders' Council member killed that year or even that month. It was in 19… », Damon trails off.
« 1912. », answers Stefan with the vague impression of Damon wanting to hint to something.
Grabbing one the diary on the shelf, he throws it to Stefan, « Or as I like to call it: last time Mystic Falls had a serial killer on its hands. »
« It feels strange to be home again after so long away. I thought I would never return. Certainly not for a funeral. », Stefan starts reading the diary.
—-after reading the diary—
« What do you say, brother? Let's hang out. », Damon says.
« Ahhh, right I get it now. You're bored! Your best friend is in jail and you don't have anything better to do with yourself. How sad. », says Stefan with fake concern
« Very funny, brother. There's that and I was hoping you could help me solve a murder. »
We're just in front of Meredith's house, quite cosy.
« So who's knocking, you or me? », I ask.
« Why should I knock, you're older than me and it's your plan. », says Jeremy.
« Exactly I'm older than you so… I'm telling you to do it. »
« I don't want to, you know the plan, you prepared it so go ahead. », he says clearly defying my authority. 'No respect, why such a sad life.'
« Okay let's do rock, paper, scissors. », and with that we started playing. 'That's a good way of deciding who's blindly heading first in everything.' Unfortunately I lost to my own game.
« Madam. », he mocks, as he steps aside to let me room to knock on the door.
« Yes?! », Meredith answers. « Ah the younger Gilberts. Aren't you supposed to be in school right now? »
« Maybe yes, maybe no. Who knows? », I say with the 'I'm the sweetest person' smile.
« Ah ditching school, a hobby at your age you're going to regret later…So what are you here for, I'm heading to the hospital. »
« We need your help. », I say, this time with a serious tone.
« What for? »
« It's really important… »starts Jeremy, and I continue, « Are you going to let your guests outside like this, instead of properly treating them? »
With a sigh, she lets us in, leading us to her couch where we sit down. « So what is it? I'm busy and needed. »
« Well, your plans need to be delayed. »
« And why for. »
« Because we know. », Jeremy says, as we look at each other, then say, « we know about Alaric and the murders. »
We talked to Meredith about a plan both Jere and I came up with.
« So I withdraw my complaint and then what. », she says, confused.
« Then for the next step, », I start.
« We get Alaric out of jail and explain everything to him. », Jeremy finishes.
« How? »
« Well first of all, you're from a founding family, the Fell family. Known for being searchers, doctors and stuff. As a founding member, you must have some old pieces…what not diaries from your family. »
« Yes, and your point is? »
« You have one of my family's diaries. », says Jeremy.
« …How do you know? », she asks, staring at us with doubt.
« How we know is not important. », I say.
« If you want to help Ric, we need that diary. », Jeremy says.
With some reluctance, she agrees and goes to retrieve the diary. When she comes back with it I say, :« You withdraw first, and then we all meet somewhere right after that. You, Alaric, Jeremy and I. », I explain.
She agrees and tells us that they'll meet us back at the Gilbert's house. We all left her house, unfortunately something caught her eyes, « That blue Chevrolet Malibu…I don't remember you having a car like this. »
Jere looks at me with panic but I say, « Yep, it's not ours, some classmate lent it to us. »
Nodding, she gets in her car and leaves for the police station.
« Well we almost got caught…ah no you. », I say as we get in the car. Jeremy looks at me like I have grown two heads and says, « How ''you''? What do you mean? We're on the same boat here so-. »
« Nope we're not. »
« Uh yes we are »
« No we're not. »
« We are. »
« Are not! »
« Are too! »
« Are not! »
« How?! »
« We're not on the same boat…but the same car. »
« Oh my god! How old are you? Are you sure you didn't bump your head for real this morning? »
« I'm 17…and no. »
« Who lied to you about your age?. »
« Drive! »
At the Gilbert's. There are Mazikeen, Jeremy, Alaric, Meredith and…Elena, all stiffly seated. 'Wasn't she supposed to be sneaking into Meredith's house and then get arrested?', questions Mazikeen.
« So you mean you know what's happening to me? », asks Alaric, confused as to what and how they know.
« Uh yeah, kind of. », says Jeremy.
« So what is it? », asks Elena, also confused.
« Well, when we heard about the murders and Alaric being accused, we definitely knew he couldn't have done something like this. », the youngest Gilbert starts, amazingly lying through his teeth.
« Yeah, exactly. I mean, I remember the guy being…like a priest. », adds Mazikeen, trying to lighten up the mood. Well, it didn't work, because of the looks the others threw her. « Ahem, my bad. »
So she seriously continues, « Right, we had some thoughts of what could have really happened, like a spell, or someone trying to frame you, but then I thought of the ring you have. The same Jeremy has. It allows you to cheat death, to come back when a supernatural being kills you. So i thought that, if it allows you to come back like this, what if there's a price to every resurrection. »
« A price? What do you mean? », Alaric asks.
« Well, Bonnie said that the nature's needs to be kept. If one needs to come back to life, another one needs to give his life. So… », starts Jeremy.
« By dying and coming back, you pay the price and that price is some other you, who takes upon your body. », Mazikeen continues.
« So you say because of the ring, I have another self who commits all those crimes, which is why I can't remember because… », Alaric trails off, trying to understand the words coming out of the teens' mouths.
« It's not you. It's your alter ego. », says Jeremy.
« But w-wait, how-how do you know it's the ring? And how does coming back to life make him kill people? », asks Elena.
Meredith who hasn't talked since they arrived at the Gilbert's says, « From what they said, coming back to life is already a forbidden thing in magic, so it must be dark magic, and with that dark magic the alter-ego must be a villain. Alaric, my family, the Fell family is a founding family. Most of the Fell members were doctors and researchers and some came upon cases like this. »
« Yeah, Isobel gave you this ring, so she must have done some research on it. We thought there must have been records of the same incidents happening, like in a diary. We found some clue in Jonathan Gilbert's granddaughter's diary, Samantha. She talks about the same situation. », explains Mazikeen.
Jeremy gives the journal to Alaric, who both with Elena, start reading it. When they're done, they quickly understand that it's true : the ring comes up with a price, an alter-ego.
« So what are we going to do? I mean, w-we can't just stay like this. Samantha went mad because of the ring, we can't let you end up like this. », says Elena pacing back and forth Frustrated and tired, really she wants to find a solution, 'I don't want to lose someone else.'
Standing up, Alaric goes next to Elena, trying to comfort her even though he's clearly the one in need here. « Hey, it's okay, we'll…we'll find a solution. We already know what's happening so let's just calm down. »
« Yeah…the ring is magical so what about asking a witch. Maybe we can reverse the effects of the ring. », suggests Meredith.
Agreeing with what she said, Elena says, « Right…there's Bonnie we can ask her. »
Both knowing that Bonnie wouldn't be able to do something in the long term, Jeremy and Mazikeen look at each other. Though, the latter knows more than the former, she has a feeling that she can't tell him the truth about how to arrange this situation. ' I can only tell the ones who'll really help with it before it's too late.'