"Ok, Elena that sounds good. I can be on duty tonight. Tell Stefan I said hello. Ok. Bye."
She placed the phone back on the receiver and called out to Gavin, who was in the living room.
"Gav, looks like I'm heading over to Meredith's tonight. Someone attacked her and my brothers thought it would be best to take turns looking out for her."
The phone began to ring again.
"Hello," Gena said. "Hi Em…calm down. What happened? Uh huh…what a jerk! No, I can't tonight; I have something important to do, but maybe sometime next week? Ok, take care, bye."
"Well, that was weird," she said to Gavin. She walked into the living room and sprawled out on the couch. Gavin looked at her from his chair.
"What was weird?"
"That was Em, my friend from college. It seems that my ex-boyfriend Philip left her for another woman. She wanted to get the whole gang together tonight and hang out. At least she has a new boyfriend."
"That guy really was a jerk," Gavin said.
"See why I had to ditch him? He was very…manipulative. There was something wrong with him. He used to get so angry. But then again, I was never scared of him. Little did he know, I could've killed him pretty easily."
It was the very end of February when Gena started feeling a presence. It made her hair stand on end and created chills down her spine; not a lot of things could do that. There was almost something in the air that made everyone uneasy, and it seemed to her that the rest of the group could sense it as well. Stefan seemed to be in a constant state of alertness and seemed to be caught up in déjà vu. Whatever was going on, it wasn't good.
Gena was worried about everyone, but with Stefan, Damon, and herself taking care of the group, she still had one or two others to worry about. That's when she decided to call Will.
"Hi Will, how are you doing?"
"Hello Gena. I haven't heard from you in a while. It's been…ok here. Zoe hasn't been feeling well lately."
"Oh, that's too bad. Give that crazy girl my love. What's wrong with her?"
There was a pause and a sigh on the other end.
"That's the thing; nothing is physically wrong with her. I've taken her to doctor after doctor and nothing. She lays in bed all day like she's in a coma. She won't talk to me and some days, it seems like she doesn't even know I'm here!"
"That's really odd," Gena said. "Have you listened to her thoughts?"
"I've tried, just to see what she was thinking. But, it's like she's not. The only thing she has said in the last week is 'it happened before and it will happen again'."
"Listen, Will, something is going on. I think Zoe is being affected by it as well. Meredith was attacked a couple of weeks ago by…something. We don't know what happened, but we're sure she was pushed. Stefan, Damon, and I have been doing rounds and trying to find out what's going on. There's just…"
"It feels bad. I know, I can sense it too; something is just not right," Will stated.
"I called because I was worried about you and Zo. Keep an eye out for anything unusual or out of place. We may need another vampire for reinforcements someday; can I count you it?"
"Of course."
"Alright, take care of yourself, Will. Watch my friend, and if she gets any worse, give us a call."
"I will. Be careful, Gena. Bye."
The click on the other end signaled that the conversation was over, but Gena held onto the phone before she hung up.
'What's going on,' she thought to herself.
Images were running through her head: Meredith falling down the stairs, Zoe lying comatose in her bed, and something monstrous lying in wait. Just for the right moment.
"Gena."
"Huh? Oh, hi there," she greeted Gavin.
"Are you ok? What happened on the phone? Who did you call," he asked as he began to rub her shoulders.
The nice gesture slightly eased her tension and she allowed herself to set the phone down on the receiver.
"I called Will. I wanted to let him know what happened, and I got worse news."
"Worse?"
"My friend Zoe is completely lethargic. She can't communicate, she doesn't acknowledge anyone, and there is nothing wrong with her. The only thing she's said is something like 'it happened before, it'll happen again.' I have no idea what that means."
"Me neither," Gav replied. "Listen, Gena, you've been really stressed lately. I was thinking, if things seem to calm down in the next few days, do you want to go on vacation?"
"Vacation? Now?"
"Yeah, just a little trip just me and you for a few days; a time to relax and clear our heads. What do you think?"
Gena eyed him carefully
"I think you're crazy, but I'm up for it."
"Well, where do you want to go?"
"I actually haven't been to Florida in…well…four hundred years. Could we go there? I'll show you where I used to live; St. Augustine."
"Of course, I'll go make the arrangements," he said. He then gave her a kiss and spoke to a travel agent on the phone.
With some luck, they found a flight to Florida early the next morning. The hurriedly packed some things for a week and a half journey for the two of them. They drove to the airport before the sun started to come up, and Gena was actually happy about their whirl-wind expedition.
'This is going to be fun,' she told herself.
Just as Gavin made the turn into the airport entrance, Gena's cell phone rang.
"Hello," she answered.
"Hey, it's Stefan, where are you?"
"Why? Is something wrong?"
She could hear Stefan's relieved sigh.
"No, we were worried something was wrong with you."
"Oh, sorry. Yeah, I forgot to mention that Gav and I are going to a little trip to Florida. We'll be there for about a week. Let me know if anything strange happens and I'll be home instantly."
"I will. Be safe, sis."
"I'll be ok, Stefan. Just worry about yourself, and that other brother."
"Worry about your own self," Damon shouted from a distance.
After standing in line in the baggage check for a few minutes, Gena and Gavin headed to their plane. They found two comfy seats in an exit row and got comfortable for the two hour flight. Gena couldn't wait to see the beaches; the white sand eerily bright compared to the dazzling blue and teal of the Atlantic Ocean. She couldn't wait to show Gavin where she spent some time in her life. And she couldn't help thinking that she was right, she sure needed a vacation.