Vanessa didn't know how long she was laying on the basement floor when she started to get up, groaning in pain as she did so. She reached for the back of her head, feeling the bump and the slightly sticky substance on her fingers. She looked at the blood that coated her fingertips and clenched her jaw.
"Fucking bitch." She muttered, realizing what had happened. She walked up the stairs, trying to steady herself, feeling what was likely the pain of another concussion. She barely got to the middle of the stairs when she heard a loud commotion and two people arguing. Vanessa sped up, running up the rest of the steps and opening the basement door to see the woman holding a knife to Gemma's throat.
Vanessa saw a drop of blood dripping from Gemma's throat as she heard her gasp in pain. Instinctually, Vanessa ran towards the woman, pushing her off of Gemma before punching her in the face. The knife fell to the ground and they both struggled against each other to reach for it. Vanessa's fingers felt the knife first, she picked it up before she felt an elbow to her stomach. She gasped for a breath as the woman ran away from her. Vanessa looked up to see the woman slam Gemma hard into the wall.
Vanessa controlled her breathing and immediately went after the woman again. The caretaker reached for the knife in Vanessa's hands once again but Gemma pushed the woman towards the wall, causing Vanessa to fall into her. Vanessa heard the gasp and the squelching sound before she felt the tiniest amount of liquid hit her hand. Vanessa pulled away, watching the woman fall to the ground in front of her.
Vanessa gasped and covered her mouth, her brain going back to just a few days prior where she watched her friend Half Sack get murdered in front of her.
"Oh my God. Is-is she dead? Did we kill her?" Vanessa mumbled, leaning her head against the wall for support.
"Her plan. Not ours." Gemma muttered before walking away into the kitchen. Vanessa crawled over to the body, feeling for a pulse before closing her eyes and letting out a pained breath.
"She's dead. W-We killed her." Vanessa looked at her shaking hands. Gemma stared at the love of her son's life, seeing just how much she was going to fit into this world. She felt an ounce of pride at the fact that she was molding what used to be a young, innocent girl into a hardened old lady. Gemma held her head high in admiration as she watched Vanessa get up slowly. Vanessa grabbed at her head with shaky hands before running over to the sink and instantly vomiting.
"Concussion, sweetheart?" Gemma moved closer to her, gathering her hair and pulling it back.
"Yeah, at this point I'm gonna have permanent fucking brain damage within the next year." Vanessa grumbled, spitting before turning the faucet on and letting the water wash her puke away.
The door handle jiggled and they both stared at it, praying that it wasn't anyone who heard the commotion. They heard Tig's mumbled 'what the fuck' along with his sigh before they saw him.
"I leave you girls alone for ten minutes." Tig shook his hand before pulling the knife out of the body and bringing it over to the sink. "Both of you, sit."
Gemma looked at him with wide eyes before she took Vanessa by the arm, stopping at the freezer for an ice pack, before sitting Vanessa down in the kitchen chair. She rubbed her back softly as Vanessa held the ice pack to her head. They watched Tig reach for the bleach under the sink and clean the knife.
"Any ideas here?" Gemma spoke first.
"Jax cannot know about this." Vanessa spoke up quickly.
"Yeah, this is the last thing the club needs." Gemma scoffed.
"Well, then we better work fast. They're making a run for the Irish. They're gonna be up here in the morning, probably around 9 o'clock. That only leaves us a few hours to figure this shit out."
"Perfect." Vanessa rolled her eyes. "So what do we do?"
"Bachman." Tig nodded like it was the greatest idea in the world. "He's based out of Crescent City. He can probably be here in an hour or so."
"The cleaner guy?" Gemma sounded worried.
"Yeah, he's independent. He works for around two or three grand, but he is good." Vanessa scowled at the thought of someone voluntarily working a job where they clean up crime scenes and dead bodies, illegally.
"There's some cash here, but not that much. Will he take jewelry?"
"I'll call him."
"Alright. We gotta make this quick, before my dad wakes up again. We'll take care of her."
"We will?" Vanessa asked worriedly.
"Hey, you're the one who decided her fingers needed to breathe. You don't want Jax finding out about this, we gotta handle it."
"Okay. Okay." Vanessa agreed, displeased.
Vanessa and Gemma finally got the body downstairs to the basement. They had only a minute to relax before Vanessa heard her phone going off from her back pocket again. She sighed and pulled out the phone, seeing Jax's familiar number. She realized that it was just after 5am and that Jax and the other guys were probably about to leave for the run.
"Talk to him." Gemma patted her shoulder before going up the basement stairs and shutting the door. Vanessa wanted to answer and to talk to him. To tell him all about the shit that happened, but she couldn't. She remembered how all of their conversations lately ended in yelling and she hoped that this one wouldn't, because she missed Jax. She missed how easy their relationship used to be. She missed the life she had with her son and her old man.
"Hey." She answered the phone.
"Finally. I tried calling a few times last night."
"Sorry, I fell asleep. It's been pretty hectic here."
"Here too." Jax sighed. "What was the crisis with Nate?"
"You really wanna know?" Vanessa sat down on the steps and looked over to the gurney that held the body of the woman she helped kill.
"Shit." Jax cursed and shook his head.
"Apparently, your granddad went off the rails a bit, shot Tig. Thought he was an intruder."
"Jesus Christ."
"He's okay. It's pretty much superficial."
"Look, I'm heading up there. Should be there in a few hours. Just stay put, okay?"
"Yeah." She nodded solemnly. "Jax… I'm sorry for leaving the way I did."
"It's okay. As long as everyone's safe."
"Yeah… everyone's fine." She squeaked out, her voice raising an octave. "How's everything going there?"
"You want the truth?" Jax asked, causing Vanessa to hum quietly. "They're pulling our bail on the church assault. Two days, we're all supposed to go back inside."
"Jesus. Two days?" She thought for a second. "Wait, supposed to? You're skipping bail."
"We have to." He spoke without hesitation. "We have to find Abel."
"I get it. I do."
"Listen, we'll talk about it when I get up there, okay?" Jax cleared his throat. "I gotta go. I'll see you soon."
Jax hung up before Vanessa could answer him, so she closed the flip phone and put it in her back pocket. She looked at the body one more time before walking back upstairs where Gemma was sitting in the kitchen and smoking a cigarette while drinking her coffee.
"You look tired, sweetheart." Gemma spoke up. "Bachman's a few minutes out. Why don't you go get some rest for a few hours before the guys get up here?" Vanessa nodded and was just about to walk up the stairs when Gemma called out to her. "You saved my life, baby. I won't forget that."
Vanessa only got a few hours of sleep before she was jolted awake by the sound of her phone ringing next to her. She quickly looked at the number and saw that it was Jesse.
"Hello?" She answered with a yawn, sleep still evident in her voice.
"Hayes is dead." Jesse said quickly.
"What?" She barely registered what he was talking about, her brain still foggy with pain and exhaustion.
"Just saw an article from the fucking Ireland Times. The Real IRA claimed the murder of him in Belfast last night. His picture was front fucking page."
"Oh God." Vanessa put a hand over her mouth, trying to suppress the sob that was forming in the back of her throat. "If Cameron is in Belfast, then where's Abel?"
"I'm doing everything I can to find him. My best guess is that he's in Ireland too, but, Nes, that's a shot in the dark."
"So what do we do?"
"You tell Jax, figure out what you guys wanna do. I ain't gonna stop looking for this kid. Whatever you need, Vanessa."
"I know. I know." Vanessa heard the motorcycles pull up to the house and she sighed. "They're here now. I… I have to tell Jax."
"I'll send you an email with all this shit. Keep in touch." They both hung up and Vanessa quickly changed into different clothes, trying to make herself look slightly more presentable, even though she was sure that the evidence of only getting a few hours of sleep was prominent in the form of bags under her eyes.
Vanessa met Jax just as he was walking inside and he knew almost immediately that something was wrong. She cleared her throat and mumbled a quiet 'hello' to both him and Clay as Jax kissed her on the forehead. She smiled solemnly at the gentleness of his kiss.
"You okay?" He asked quietly, holding the door open for her.
"Can we talk?" Jax just nodded, noticing the slight worry on her face. He escorted her downstairs and her eyes immediately went to the gurney that held a dead body just a few hours before. She wondered where exactly the body was now.
"What's going on, Nessa?"
"Jax… Jesse sent me this just a few minutes ago." She held out the phone that had the picture of a dead Cameron Hayes from the email. "It was taken from a newspaper in Belfast last night. Cameron Hayes is dead."
"I know."
"You know?"
"Found out this morning. Just a few minutes after I got off the phone with you. One of the Belfast guys sent it to us. I talked to some of my guys out there. Cameron didn't have Abel with him. He's gotta be in Vancouver still."
"Vancouver?" She shook her head, not knowing how he could still believe that. "Jax why would Cameron leave his only leverage in Vancouver. Abel is in Ireland, I can feel it."
"This your hunch or Jesse's?"
"Oh, fucking stop already!" Vanessa scoffed. "Who told you that Abel isn't in Ireland? The same fucking guys who gave you the 'good' intel that Cameron didn't leave the country? They are lying to you, Jax!"
"It doesn't matter!" He yelled at her. "The last solid evidence puts my son in Vancouver. I'm going up North and I'm taking my mom with me. Try to put some space between her and these charges."
"Did you tell her about Abel?"
"Not yet. We will."
"Jesus Christ." She shook her head. "It is killing me to sit here and not tell her. She deserves to know."
"We will tell her, okay? After this shit with Nate."
"Fine. When do we leave for Canada?"
"We?" He scoffed. "No, you are not leaving for Canada."
"Jax, I am the only one who's not wanted. You're gonna need my help."
"No! What I need is for you to go back to school and back to work. So, go back to work."
"He is my son, too." She spoke angrily, through clenched teeth. "I want to be with my family."
"We're not your family!" Jax shouted, his face showing his irritation. "Do you see how deep I'm buried here? You don't want this."
"You do not get to tell me what I want." She pointed at him. "My whole life I have had men telling me what to do. Telling me what I want. You do not get to do that! You are what I want, Jax. Abel is what I want. This family is what I want!"
"No, it's not."
"If you think that Abel is in Canada, then I'm going to Canada."
"No, you're gonna stay fucking put! You're not coming."
"Yes, I am." Vanessa spoke confidently and without any ounce of hesitation. "You don't get to tell me otherwise."
"You want to be a part of this family? You want to be an old lady? Then act like one! Do what you're told!" His voice was irate. "Pack your shit and head back to Charming."
"Old lady?" Vanessa scoffed out an angry laugh, pushing the boxes down before pulling the taped up wheelchair out of the corner it was hiding in and pushing it towards Jax. "I killed someone to save your mother's life last night. Is that old lady enough for you?!"
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"The caretaker." She explained. "She attacked your mother last night."
"What the fuck did you do?"
"I stabbed her. Killed her. Then I helped get rid of the body. Am I fitting in with the other old ladies yet? Am I proving myself fucking worthy to you to be a part of this family yet? Failed when it came to Abel, but at least I saved your mom, right?" She tried to hold in her tears. "I had no choice. It was self-defense. Tig helped us get rid of the body."
They both looked up to see Gemma coming down the steps saying something about more boxes. They both looked to her, Vanessa with an apologetic face and Jax with one of anger and disbelief.
"What?" Gemma asked, noticing the wheelchair in the middle of them. "Oh, shit."
"What the hell happened?" Jax asked, pointing to the wheelchair, but before he could get an answer Clay and Tig came downstairs claiming that they had to leave. "I'm dealing with something."
"Yeah, so are Bobby and Piney." Tig stated.
"What's going on?" Clay asked impatiently.
"Apparently, our lovely ladies whacked the caretaker. And this idiot helped them!" He pointed to Tig.
"What?" Clay looked to Tig, waiting for an answer.
"Actually, I just made a phone call." Both Clay and Jax sighed and muttered under their breaths.
"This- later." Clay said before walking back upstairs with Jax following, muttering 'douchebag' towards Tig.
"What happened to 'Oh, we can't tell Jax about anything?'" Tig pointed between them and gritted his teeth. "You two are killing me." Vanessa watched Tig walk back upstairs and she sighed, sitting down in the wheelchair before putting her head in her hands.
"I'm sorry." She let out a shaky breath. "I just… I lost it. I don't know what the hell he wants anymore."
"What do you want?" Gemma questioned her.
"My family." She spoke immediately, before realizing Gemma still didn't know about Abel. "I want to get closer. I want to go with you to Vancouver."
"No. That's a bad idea, baby."
"I thought you, more than anyone, would understand."
"We need you in Charming. If Jax goes away for that church assault, and I'm God knows where, someone has to take care of Abel. No one I trust more than you to take care of him. You're a good mom." Vanessa nodded her thanks before crying, thinking about how much she thought the opposite. Not only had she gotten one baby killed, but she had gotten another kidnapped. Neither one of which she could protect and that made her cry harder.
"I'm sorry. I just- there's so much shit going on lately. I'm sorry."
"It's gonna be okay, baby. You're gonna be okay." Gemma rubbed her hand on her back, trying to give her a sense of comfort and Vanessa nodded again before following the woman up the stairs.
Vanessa's car was gone. She had just finished signing the paperwork after dropping Nate off, but when she walked back outside her car and Gemma were both missing. With a sigh, she dialled Jax's number and explained that Gemma was gone.
Just a few minutes passed before she heard the onslaught of motorcycles, Jax and Clay were the first ones to pull into the parking lot and Jax stopped right next to her.
"What happened?" Jax asked her over the roaring of his engine.
"She must have taken off." Vanessa called out.
"What do you mean she took off?" Clay asked her angrily, a look of concern painted on his face.
"I went inside to check in Nate. We were only in there for a few minutes. When I came back out, Gemma and the Audi were gone."
"Why weren't you watching her?" Clay spat at her while he got off his bike. "Did she say anything?"
"Don't blame me for this shit." Vanessa looked at Clay then back to Jax. "She was crying when I went inside. Nate was begging her to take him home. It broke her heart."
"Shit!" Clay yelled.
"She probably went back home." Vanessa spoke up. "To Charming."
"Fuck!" Jax shouted this time. "She's going to see Abel."
Clay shuttered at the thought of what Gemma was going to find in Charming. Jax gritted his teeth and clenched his jaw, pulling the helmet off of his head before passing it back to Vanessa, indicating for her to get on behind him. Vanessa looked between them, shook her head and hopped on the back. The thoughts of I told you so running through her head.
She held onto Jax as they flew down the highway, no longer feeling the safety and comfort of being with Jax. Instead, even though they were only inches apart, all she felt was the mile long distance between them. The anger that built up between them. The tension. And it physically hurt her to be so close, yet feel so far away from the only man she ever loved.
The moonlight was their only source of light on the pitch black highway. When Vanessa saw the passing 'Welcome to Charming' sign, she closed her eyes. She knew that Gemma would be on the warpath trying to find her grandson, but she wouldn't find him. She would only find an empty house and an empty crib.
They pulled up to the lot, praying that Gemma would be there. Vanessa saw Gemma standing in the middle of the lot before her cell phone fell out of her hand and the woman fell to the ground while clutching her chest.
Jax was the first one to get to his mother, nearly laying out his bike in the process. He ran to her, screaming for his mother before calling out for Vanessa's help. She ran right after him, Vanessa's heart pounding in her chest as she fell to her knees next to Gemma.
"Vanessa! Help her!" Jax begged her. She listened to the older woman's heart beat pounding erratically over the concerned mutters of the guys telling Gemma to breathe.
"We have to call an ambulance!" Vanessa told everyone, hoping someone would take out their phone to dial the number. "She might be having a heart attack."
"She's a fugitive!" Clay screamed at her, the obvious concern and worry laced his tone and was etched onto his face.
"Well, she'll be a dead fugitive if we don't get her help!" Vanessa screamed back at him, not caring that he was the president of her old man's motorcycle club. "Call 911!"
Jax nodded dialling the number, she barely heard what he told the dispatcher. All she heard was Gemma's still erratic heartbeat as she tried to calm down the woman. Vanessa's only concern was getting Gemma the help she needed, even if that meant she would be going away.
AN: Holy shit, I can't believe this story has nearly 100,000 views! I never would have thought that this would have reached so many people and that so many people would be enjoying it. I am so grateful for every single one of you, especially my amazing reviewers (Shantigal, BlueBloodsSVUOrder, SassyGrl23, NegansGirl2020, and MaddyeTrager). Also, I'm not finished writing this story yet and I have no idea how many chapters there will be but I see you guys who are wishing for a happy ending.
Lastly, I recently started publishing a Klaus x OC fanfiction called Misguided Ghosts. Head over there and check it out if you enjoy The Vampire Diaries & The Originals! Thanks y'all!