Chapter 5: You're Undead To Me
September 28, 2009
Dear Diary,
Stefan and Elena are fighting, because of Damon I swear, but I have no idea how long until they manage to fix things. He seems good for her, so maybe I'll have to talk to him to see if I can help in any way. Jeremy also seems to think he's being even a little bit discreet with hiding Vicki in his room. I heard her laughing when I woke up. I don't have it in me to be upset, he really likes her. Last night though, something weird happened. I don't think I can put off going to see her for much longer.
Ellie sat in the kitchen next to Jenna drinking coffee as Elena came into the room, whisper yelling, "Jenna! Are you aware of what's going on upstairs?"
"Snitch." Ellie snorted.
"Uh huh." Jenna admitted.
"And you have no objection?" Elena asked in disbelief.
"Oh come on Elena. Him screwing Vicki or him doing drugs, I'd definitely pick Vicki." Ellie told her.
"He could be craftier about it. At least make an effort to sneak her in and out." Jenna replied and Ellie snorted. "Oh and uh, just so you know, I won't be home for dinner."
"Ooh, so you're actually going to do it." Elena said teasingly. "You're gonna go out with Logan."
"I still think it's a bad idea, and I completely reserve the right to kick his ass if he hurts you again." Ellie informed her, "But I hope I don't have to and that he's not an idiot this time."
"I'm gonna show up and torture him, yes." Jenna confirmed. "And yes, if he does something stupid then Ellie go right ahead and murder him. I'll help hide the body. And Elena, have you heard from Stefan?"
"Not since he left that very vague message three days ago." Elena told her as she poured herself a bowl of cereal. "'Hi, um, Elena, I, um, I have something I have to do. I'll uh, explain in a few days.'"
"Haven't you called him?" Jenna asked.
"Nope. Not going to either."
"And you're ok with everything?" Jenna questioned.
Elena sat the milk down on the counter in frustration. "No, I'm not ok with any of it. But I'm not going to cry about it either. You know, I was going to write in my diary this morning, and then I thought, what am I going to write? Honestly I'm not going to be one of those pathetic girls whose world stops spinning because of some guy." She ranted.
Jenna was wide eyed as she said, "Ok, then."
"I'll be fine." Elena told them as she took her cereal and walked off.
"She's definitely not fine." Ellie said bluntly. Jenna nodded in agreement. "Hey, I think I'm going to go check on Caroline. Stuff's been weird with her lately."
"Ok, I'll see you later." Jenna replied as Ellie grabbed her things and headed to her car. The ride to Caroline's was filled with conflicting thoughts of trying to figure out what was happening, and another desire to bury her head in the sand and not think about it. That wasn't an option, Ellie knew, but it didn't stop her from wishing that it was. Her thoughts drifted to Caroline and the bruises and bite marks on her body. She knew Damon couldn't be trusted, but how could he hurt Caroline like that? The blonde could be the worst person she'd ever met and she still wouldn't wish that abuse on her.
She didn't know why Caroline hadn't told her mom, and she didn't know why Stefan hadn't done anything, but she needed to focus on helping Caroline and making sure that son of a bitch never got near her again. She pulled into Caroline's drive and parked next to Bonnie's car and went to the door. "Hey." She said softly as the blonde opened the door.
"Hey. Bonnie's in my room." Caroline greeted as they headed to her room.
Bonnie was sitting on Caroline's bed, staring intently at a candle. "Hey, Ellie." She said without looking away from the candle. Ellie moved to sit next to Bonnie on the bed. "So Caroline, what do you remember from what happened?"
The blonde was sitting at her vanity and told them, "I remember the party. Damon came up behind me, and he was kissing my neck, or biting my neck. I passed out. It's like there's holes in my memory lately. It's just weird. Maybe I let him bite me." Caroline suggested with a shrug.
"Why would you do that?" Ellie and Bonnie both asked her.
"Can we just not talk about it, ok? I just don't want to talk about Damon. I don't want to talk about any of it." Caroline said as she carefully covered up a mark. "I just want to go back to normal. What are you doing with that candle?"
"Um... nothing." Bonnie replied as she set the candle on the nightstand. "What's this?"
She picked up a crystal as Caroline told them, "Damon gave it to me. Or he was going to give it to me. All I know is, it's mine now."
"It's ugly." Bonnie told her as she held it up to look at it.
Caroline snatched it away as she said, "Well, then get your grubby hands off it."
Ellie grinned, grateful that Caroline was feeling well enough to be sarcastic as the blonde moved back to the vanity to add the finishing touches to hide her fading marks. "Here, let me help." Ellie offered as she moved to stand behind her friend and cover up the part of the mark that she couldn't easily see. "Hey Care?" When the blonde acknowledged her, she continued, "If Damon ever even gets near you again, let me know ok? I'll kill him in his sleep."
Her friend smiled at her, and Ellie could see how much this whole ordeal had affected her. "I promise." Caroline agreed.
"Hey, guys, I need to go pick up Elena." Bonnie said as she moved to put on her shoes.
The girls at the vanity nodded, "Can you get Elena to grab my history book for me? I forgot it. It's sitting on my bookcase." Ellie asked as she put a touch more concealer on Caroline's neck.
"Yeah, I'll make sure we get it." Bonnie said. "I'll see you guys later."
"Bye." The two girls chimed. Once Bonnie was gone, Ellie sat down next to Caroline. "So, how are you really?"
"I'm fine." Caroline said dismissively.
"No, you're not and you shouldn't have to pretend that you are Caroline. You've been my best friend for my entire life. It's always been Bonnie and Elena, you and me. So you can tell them you're ok if that's what you need to tell them, but don't lie to me." Ellie told her.
The blonde's hands shook slightly as she sat down the tube of mascara she was holding. "I'm scared, Ellie. I have all of these blanks in my memory that I didn't even realize were there until I tried to think about it. And when I think about Damon, it's like there's this feeling of really liking him but also being terrified of him. I've said things and I don't know why I said them, or did things and don't know why I did them. I'm just really freaked out and I'm scared of seeing him again but at the same time I want to see him. What the hell is wrong with me?" Caroline was nearly in tears as Ellie pulled her into a tight hug. "It's like… sometimes I hate him and I'm scared of him and then other times all I want is to be with him and I don't know why."
"It's manipulation, Care. People stay in abusive relationships because there's a part of them that still sees the good their abuser showed them. It's because he's gotten into your head and the you that knows better is being pushed to the back because of the you that still wants to have that wonderful, hot, sexy, older boyfriend that you can show off and piss your mom off by dating. Listen, I'm not going to let anything happen to you. You're going to be fine." Ellie promised. She picked up a tissue and gently dabbed away the tears that were threatening to spill from Caroline's eyes.
"I'm going to be fine." Caroline repeated. "I'm going to be fine. Ok, let's get to school." Ellie drove them to school as she did everything she could to keep Caroline distracted. Once they'd arrived, two of the girls from the cheer team fell into step with them. "The Sexy Suds Carwash is tomorrow. The football team and the band have committed." She said as she passed out flyers for the event. "Well, not all the band. Just the ones who can pull off a bikini. I want in your face sexy. I mean, it's a fundraiser for god sake."
As Caroline spoke, Ellie could just barely hear Bonnie and Elena talking. She could hear Bonnie making her exit and caught a glance of Stefan trying to talk to her sister and Elena wasn't having it. Caroline must have caught on to what she was staring at because she turned and headed straight for the younger Salvatore. "Stefan?" Caroline asked, "Where's Damon? He has some serious apologizing to do."
"He's gone, Caroline." Stefan told her.
"When's he coming back?"
"He's not coming back." Stefan said ominously. "I'm sorry."
Stefan walked off, but all Ellie was focused on was the expression on Caroline's face. "This is a good thing, Caroline." Elena comforted as she rubbed the blonde's shoulder.
"I know that." Caroline replied without looking at her.
"Oh, Ellie, here's your book." Elena said as she pulled her sister's book from her bag.
"Thanks, come on Care, we need to make sure that we have all the car wash stuff ready for tomorrow." Ellie said as she pulled the blonde along. "You alright?"
Caroline nodded as she slipped her arm into Ellie's. "Yeah, I just feel stupid for asking about Damon."
"You're anything but stupid, Caroline." Ellie reminded her softly as they made their way to the room where everything was being kept. "Don't worry, I'm here to make sure that my ever faithful perky best friend doesn't stay sad for long." Ellie promised, the overly cheery tone of her voice enough to make the blonde giggle. "Ok, so do you have the list to check everything off?" They were careful to make sure they had exactly what they needed, the thoroughness of it enough to distract Caroline from her thoughts, before they left to get ready to go to their classes. Once they went their separate ways, Ellie spotted the Salvatore she actually liked just ahead of her. "Hey Stefan!" She called and he slowed his pace so she could catch up.
"What's up?" He asked.
"Ok, so I know you really like my sister, and I know she's being a bit difficult, so I'm gonna help you out ok?"
"Ok." Stefan said with a nod.
"Jenna isn't going to be home tonight. So why don't you come over and surprise Elena, make her something she likes, like maybe chicken parmesan. It's one of her favorites." Ellie suggested and Stefan nodded gratefully.
"Thank you. I think I'll take you up on that offer." He was honest about wanting to make sure that he stayed in good standing with Elena, that much was clear. With a nod, Ellie left the boy to his own devices.
After school, Ellie had joined Matt at The Grill to hang out and try to beat the boy at pool. Matt had just taken his shot when Ellie noticed her sister approaching them. "Hey, Matt, um, have you seen Stefan?" She asked her ex.
"Nope." Matt replied and as Elena started to walk off, he called, "If you want to kill some time, um, you can rack." Elena looked skeptical so Matt continued. "Come on, we haven't played in forever. I'll let you break."
Ellie watched as Elena slowly broke into a grin as she nodded. "Alright, just until Stefan gets here." The trio fell into a once familiar routine of playing pool. Elena racked and then broke, followed Matt taking his shot, and Ellie teaming with Elena to try and beat Matt. As the game went on, Elena started telling Matt what had happened this morning. "So I get up this morning to get ready, and there's Vicki, all nonchalant in the bathroom like it's no big deal that they're hooking up."
"Yeah, I'm not gonna lie. Your brother and my sister, that's weird." Matt admitted, privately Ellie couldn't help but think it really wasn't that big of a deal and Jeremy seemed happy, so why should she complain? Elena's phone vibrated and as she stared down at it, Matt asked, "How late is he?"
"Hitting the hour mark." Elena told them.
"Maybe something came up, Elena. He does live pretty far out." Ellie suggested lightly, trying to keep Elena's opinion of the Salvatore from turning too sour.
Elena didn't seem to believe her as she added, "Nothing's wrong though." Matt was the one to give Elena a skeptical look. "Which means I'm not talking boy problems with you."
"Good." Matt said as he moved to take his shot. "I mean, it's not like we were ever best friends or anything."
"Ok, here it goes…" Elena conceded. "What do you think of Stefan? Is he a good guy?"
"Why? What's he done?" Matt questioned.
"Not any one thing. He's just so secretive all the time. I think there's something that he doesn't want me to know, which makes me want to know all the more." Elena confessed.
"Like what? Like that he's a serial killer and he keeps a clown suit in his trunk?" Matt joked as both the Gilbert girls laughed.
"No, of course not." Elena told him. "But what do we know about him, really?"
"He's great at football. A little bit of a loner. And as much as I hate saying it, he might be a nice guy." Ellie was proud of Matt, she knew how hard it had to be to be supportive of the guy dating the girl you just broke up with.
"So you think I'm just being paranoid?" Elena asked and Ellie spotted the man of conversation approaching.
"I think you should talk to him."
"Talk to who?" Stefan inquired as he made his presence known to the others. "I'm so sorry that I'm late."
"What happened?" Elena asked him, but Ellie could see that her sister was not impressed.
"I got held up." Stefan said. It was vague at best and that was the last thing that Stefan needed to be doing.
"Is everything ok?"
"There was this thing with my uncle." Stefan told her.
"And you couldn't call and tell me that you were going to be an hour late?" Elena accused.
"Ok. you two have fun." Matt said as he and Ellie made their exit. She could hear them arguing as they walked away and paused slightly to turn back as an older black man had told Stefan that he knew him. Stefan seemed confused and Ellie brushed it off as a slightly senile old man mistaking him for someone else.
She watched as Elena walked off in anger and watched the old man continued to stare down Stefan. Making a decision, she sent a text to Jeremy before going over to the Salvatore. "I sent a message to Jeremy, he knows you're coming over to fix Elena dinner. You'll need to go to the store to get the stuff to make it. Elena, honestly, she's insanely nosey. She wants to know everything. I think she's forgetting that really, we met you less than a month ago and you don't have to spill all your secrets right away. That doesn't mean you can't give her something."
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"I get that you aren't ready to spill all your trauma and anything else that you don't really talk about, but you can tell her something like, I don't know, the music you like or the shows you watch, your favorite color. It can be little things. Sometimes those are the more important things anyways. Make her see that you're someone she doesn't want to give up so soon." Ellie explained and she was pleased to see how seriously Stefan was listening.
"Thank you, Ellie, I mean it." Stefan told her and she nodded at him.
With a soft laugh, Ellie added, "Try not to screw it up."
He smiled as he replied, "I'll do my best, thank you again." Even after Stefan had gone, the man continued to stare at where he'd been. After being stared down by the random man, Ellie nearly sprinted back to where Matt was.
"What was that about?" Matt asked as he pushed a plate of fries to the center of the table for them to share.
"Me being amazing and helping Stefan out." She said, "Also it was really big of you to say that stuff in Stefan's favor." Matt shrugged, trying to brush it off but Ellie continued. "Really, Matt, most guys would be a dick to try and ruin the new relationship or stay out of it completely, but instead you told Elena the truth. It was really mature and I'm really proud of you."
The two of them talked easily and for Ellie it was nice to just relax and hang out with Matt for a bit, something she felt like she hadn't done in a while. "Hey, I'll be right back." Matt said as he stood and made his way to the bathroom. She moved the grab the salt, only to have the shaker slip through her fingers and fall to the ground.
"No!" She whisper shrieked, hands flying out to try and catch it before it could shatter but her eyes went wide as it landed on the floor, perfectly upright. "What the fuck?" She picked it up hastily and felt her stomach drop when she realized that she couldn't see any spilled salt, not even a little bit.
She must have looked sick, because when Matt returned to the table he immediately reached out to her. "Hey, are you ok?" She idly realized that her hands were shaking. When she opened her mouth, nothing came out and Matt looked increasingly concerned. "Ellie seriously, are you ok?"
"I, um, yeah… yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I just, my stomach started hurting. I think I ate something bad at lunch." She said dismissively with a wave of her hand.
He looked really worried and she wondered just how bad she must look to get that kind of reaction. "Do you want me to drive you home?" Matt asked softly.
With a shake of her head she told him, "No, no, I'll be fine. I drove here anyways, but I should probably get going, I really don't want to throw up in public." Ellie grabbed onto her bag and smiled gratefully as Matt walked her to her car. "Thank you."
"It's no problem, just let me know when you get home ok?" He asked and she agreed to it. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Once Matt had returned to The Grill, Ellie pulled out of the parking lot, but she didn't head for her house. She drove the familiar route, undoubtedly breaking a few speeding laws in the process, but her panic blocked out the rational side. When she reached her destination she killed the engine and rushed up the front porch. Any other time, she wouldn't have rung the doorbell like a mad man, but this wasn't like any other time. The door opened and not even the relief of a familiar face was enough to calm her. "I need help." She said breathlessly and she all but collapsed into the arms of the woman in front of her.
The woman caught her with ease. "My dear girl what's happened?" She brought Ellie inside and sat her on the couch. "Ellie, dear you're shaking."
"I… I feel like I'm going crazy." Ellie said as the older woman grasped on to her shaking hands.
"Why?"
"These things keep happening to me, and they shouldn't be happening and I feel like I"m going insane because none of this should be possible and if it is then what does that even mean and I'm really scared and I don't know what to do-"
"My girl, you're rambling."
"I think I might be a witch."
The older woman's mouth snapped shut in surprise. "What?" The woman's question was soft, but didn't make Ellie feel crazy.
"Bonnie keeps talking about how you keep saying she's a witch and things keep happening that I can't explain and I don't know, you were the only person I could think of to go to for help." Ellie said in a rush and Sheila Bennett, the blessed woman, only nodded calmly.
"It's alright my girl. I'm right here, you'll be fine." Sheila assured her. "You were right to come to me, dear. But for me to explain I need you to calm down." She waited as Ellie forced herself to calm down, the need for answers stronger than her panic. "Now, I want you to tell me what's happened to bring you to my door."
"Things have been happening since the crash, but it's been happening more often and I don't know why. Like my pencil stood on its end without falling, and I would put my things in one place and find them in another, or I'd see an unlit candle and boom it's lit, just like magic. Or my windows would be closed and then suddenly they're opened or vice versa. And before I came here, I knocked the salt shaker off the table and it was insane, the salt shaker landed perfectly upright, unbroken, and not a single thing of salt spilled. That's not normal."
Sheila didn't seem like this was huge news, almost like she expected it? "My dear would you let me test something?" Sheila asked her. When Ellie nodded, she tried not to panic as Sheila lifted her hands and pressed them to Ellie's temples. The older woman started muttering something under her breath and Ellie's breath caught in her throat as the candles in the room suddenly burned brighter. After a moment the flames of the candles drop down to their normal size and Sheila removed her hands. "Just as I thought."
"What is it?" Ellie asked nervously.
"You were right, Ellie. You're a witch." Sheila informed her and it felt like the rug had been pulled from underneath the teenager.
"How is that possible?" Ellie questioned. "Witches aren't real."
Sheila laughed softly. "You'll find that what you thought was impossible isn't quite accurate my dear. I've been trying to tell Bonnie for quite some time that she's a witch, but she dismisses me as a drunk, senile old woman. It's quite alright, I'll help you control it. I'll teach you how to master your powers, how to improve them. One day you'll need it." Ellie didn't let the warning scare her, instead she found comfort in the fact that she wasn't crazy.
"What about Elena, is she a witch too?" Ellie asked.
"I've never felt that she was. You however, I knew there was the chance that you were a witch for a very long time."
"What? How?"
"You probably don't remember, but when you were four, you'd come over to play with Bonnie. I'd come to check on you and the girls, but I'd only found Bonnie, Elena, and Caroline in here playing with their toys. I searched for you in a panic, only to find you sitting perfectly content outside. I went to get you and when I'd reached you, there was a perfect circle of fire in front of you and the leaves were floating around you, perfectly still despite the wind." Sheila explained and Ellie searched in her mind, desperate for the memories. "I asked you what was going on and with the most innocent face, you told me you didn't know, but you found the pretty fire circle and just wanted to watch it for a while. I'd brought you inside and nothing ever happened like that again, I thought maybe it would go away, and until now that's what I thought had happened."
"Why don't I remember that?" Ellie questioned.
Sheila smiled softly. "You were a child that thought nothing odd of it, you probably didn't find it significant enough to remember. If you want to learn to control it, you must be willing to put in the effort. It's not a game. You can't tell anyone that you're a witch my dear, it could get you killed."
"Not even Elena?"
"No, it could be dangerous, especially not before you know how to control it." Ellie nodded to the older woman, she needed to learn to control her powers before even thinking about telling Elena. She would never want to accidentally hurt her sister. A moment after the thought crossed her mind, she was taken aback at how quickly she accepted it.
"Where do we start?" Ellie questioned, a look of determination coloring her features.
Ellie sat next to Caroline at the pay station for the car wash as the blonde went over the rules. "No friend discounts. No freebies. No pay you laters. We are not running a charity here." Ellie smiled softly at how serious she was about this.
Elena, who was sharing the chair that Ellie was sitting on agreed, "No we are not." The twins turned as Stefan approached. "Hey!" Elena said as she stood up. Seeing Stefan smiling softly at Elena left Ellie feeling pleased with herself and her decision to get him to come over last night.
Caroline also rose from her seat and informed the duo, "The event is called 'Sexy Suds', you know."
As the blonde walked off, Stefan asked Elena teasingly, "Did we just get scolded?"
"And judged, yeah." Elena confirmed as Ellie grinned, manning the station until Caroline returned.
"Wow."
"I'm sorry but I guess you're going to have to take that off." Elena said with faux-innocence.
"I think you have to go first." Stefan replied with equal innocence and Ellie tried not to cringe at their flirting.
Elena moved to take off her shirt only to get stuck and Ellie couldn't help her gasping laughter to see her sister struggle. "Shut up Ellie!" She whined as Stefan moved to help her out of it. "Oh, sorry, so not sexy." But Elena didn't see the way Stefan was smiling fondly as he helped, but Ellie sure did.
Stefan brushed her hair from her face before cupping her face in his hands. "I disagree." He said fondly and Ellie smiled at the cheesy couple. He leaned in and kissed Elena softly and Ellie felt her gaze pulled away until she noticed Matt, who was also watching the couple.
As she stood and walked over to Matt and Bonnie, she could hear the other girl warn Matt, "Uh uh, none of that tortured pining stuff."
"I'm just observing." Matt replied and both girls made a disbelieving noise.
A red car pulled in and Bonnie turned to call, "Oh, Tiki, this one's yours."
An awkward white boy got out of his car as Tiki walked over. "Why do I always get the homely ones?" Tiki asked. "Just to be clear, your car's a POS. I mean, we can wash it, but it's still a POS."
"You don't have to be rude." Bonnie told her.
"No, rude is uglying up the road with that junker." Tiki said as the boy threw his keys in his car and walked off.
"No, rude is thinking that being a bitch is a cute personality trait." Ellie snapped. Tiki looked like she was about to say something and then thought better of it, instead putting the hose into the bucket of soapy water. The Gilbert felt her focus zero in on the bucket and her anger and suddenly, water exploded upward from the bucket, soaking Tiki. Ellie flinched back in surprise at the same time as Bonnie as Tiki shrieked. Bonnie looked pleased with herself and Ellie couldn't help but wonder: did she do that, or did Bonnie? Or did they both somehow cause the water to explode?
Tiki was still shrieking as Matt ran in to snatch up the hose. Once he'd finally managed to get the hose, he laughed as he offered up a towel. "Wet and wild, Tik." She and Bonnie went back to cleaning the car that they were working on as Ellie thought over everything that she and Grams had talked about last night. She'd walked Ellie through witch basics, how they were meant to keep the balance of nature, and how magic was a blessing but not to abuse it. Grams had explained that there was a place called The Other Side, and unlike regular people, it was where magical beings went when they died. Because of that, their magical ancestors weren't entirely gone and that the deceased witches could bring aid to living ones. Ellie even learned a few basic spells, and to her childish delight, she learned how to make feathers float. When Sheila saw how natural it came to her, she taught Ellie how to light a flame without even having to say anything and had the young girl practice the spells repeatedly. She was brought out of her thoughts with a touch to her arm from Matt. Looking up at the blonde boy, he greeted, "Hey, I just wanted to check on you. You never texted last night."
Ellie felt guilty and she was sure it showed on her face. "I'm so sorry Matt. by the time I got home my head was spinning and I was just exhausted, so I just went to sleep. I'm so sorry for worrying you." It wasn't the full truth, but it wasn't a lie either.
He looked her over, and once he was satisfied to see that yes, she really was ok, he nodded. "Are you feeling better?"
"Yes, I'm feeling much better." She replied, and unlike when Elena had said it, it was the complete truth. Knowing what was happening to her, knowing that she wasn't crazy and that she had someone to help her through, did a great deal in helping her feel better. "Thank you for checking on me, I'm not really sure what caused me to get so sick."
Matt looked sympathetic as he told her, "Well if you get sick again, let me know, I'll take you home."
"I will, promise." She swore. "Now come on, we have cars to wash." Eventually she found herself washing cars with Elena and Stefan.
"You're getting soap in that." Elena said suddenly, staring down at the ring on Stefan's finger.
He glanced at it before saying, "Oh, it's fine."
"I noticed that Damon has one, too. Is there a story behind it?" Elena said and Ellie narrowed her eyes. She knew when her sister was hunting for information, she just didn't know why.
"Yeah, it's the family crest from the Italian Renaissance." Stefan admitted and Ellie looked up in surprise. That was actually fascinating.
Elena moved to grab his hand and get a better look at it as she asked, "What's the stone?"
"It's called Lapis Lazuli." Stefan informed her.
"Oh, you should really take it off. I could put it in my bag." Elena offered.
"No it's… it's fine, really. Thanks, though." Stefan declined and Elena made a face as Ellie watched her.
"Ok. I'm gonna get some towels." Elena said as she walked off.
Stefan watched her as she went and Ellie just felt confused. "What was that about?" Ellie asked him.
Turning to her, Stefan just shrugged. "Honestly, I have no idea." He admitted.
"I thought dinner went well last night?"
"It did, it did." He assured her. "It's probably just healthy curiosity."
Ellie nodded, but didn't say anything more about Elena's odd behavior. "That really is fascinating that you have a ring with a familiar crest from the Italian Renaissance." She told him.
"It's gaudy."
"It's neat." She corrected with a laugh. They washed the car together and after some time, Elena still wasn't back. "I wonder what happened to her."
They looked around and Stefan straightened when he caught sight of Elena. "There she is." He shook his hands to rid himself of some of the bubbles as they walked over to the other Gilbert girl. "Caroline finally freed you, huh?"
"Uh, I don't know where she went." Elena said and Ellie could almost feel the way Elena was hiding something. "She abandoned me." Stefan took Elena's hands in his as she said, "Hey, I realized earlier, I had no idea that your family was from Italy."
"No? Last name Salvatore didn't do it for you?" He asked teasingly and Ellie grinned.
"No one ever accused her of being skilled in the power of deduction." Ellie joked as Elena pretended to glare at her.
"Are there any other Salvatores in Mystic Falls?" Elena questioned.
"My Uncle Zach."
"Where did everyone else go?"
"Kinda just spread out. Why?"
"I'm just trying to learn more about you." Elena told him. "I'm gonna go see if Jenna has seen Caroline."
When Elena started to walk off, Ellie rushed after her. "What the hell is going on, Elena? You're acting sketchy."
"I'm not acting sketchy." Elena denied.
"You definitely are. Seriously what's going on?"
"It's nothing, I just need to do something." Elena said vaguely as they approached Jenna. "Your car was done an hour ago."
Jenna was quick to ask, "And you're saying that out loud why?"
"Hi. Elena and Ellie, right? I think I met the two of you once when you were nine." Logan asked as he shook their hands.
"Your emotional maturity level when we were together." Jenna said sassily.
"Ouch. Here I thought we were making progress." Logan bantered back.
Jenna grinned at him as Elena asked, "Is he enough in your good graces that I can ask him for a favor?"
"If I do her a favor, will I get back in your good graces?" Logan added on.
"A very reluctant maybe to both." Jenna said unsurely.
"Done." He replied immediately. "Wait, one condition. Dinner, tonight, your house."
"Fine, but you're eating leftovers."
"Ooh." Logan teased as Elena laughed. "What do you need?"
"Do you have access to old news stories, say, fifties?" Elena questioned and Ellie for the life of her could not figure out what her sister was getting at.
"Yeah, at the station. Between the archives and the internet, we have pretty much everything." Logan informed her.
"I have this report way past due." Elena told him and Ellie was shocked at how easily the lie fell from her sister's mouth. She knew for a fact that there was no report. Especially not one that Elena would have that was way past the due date. "It'd be a life saver."
"I'm heading there now." Logan said. "Did you need access too?" He asked Ellie.
"Oh, no, I must have already gotten it done, but thank you for the offer." Ellie declined and she could see Elena's face, and she knew that Elena was aware that she'd been caught in her lie.
"If anyone asks, you don't know where I went." Elena said to Ellie and Jenna. "I don't want Caroline to know that I left."
"I should get back to the wash." Ellie said as Elena disappeared with Logan.
"I should probably get my car and go." Jenna said with a laugh.
"Ohhh, not gonna hang around now that your boy toy isn't here?" Ellie teased.
"Shut up or you'll be eating leftovers too." Jenna warned, the threat unimpressive when Jenna was trying hard to not smile.
Ellie headed for Bonnie, stopping short when she heard Tiki telling her that Bonnie was on sweeper duty. "We have to clean the pavement." Tiki said.
"It's a car wash, by definition the pavement's clean." Bonnie asked.
"But not dry."
"And I'm doing this why?"
"Caroline bailed, so that leaves me in charge." Tiki said bitchily, handing the broom to Bonnie with a smirk before walking off. Ellie watched as Bonnie seemed to zone out, focused intently on the water puddled in front of her. As Bonnie stared, the water started to let off steam before a small fire erupted. It trailed down the water quickly, and a car caught fire. The Gilbert girl let out a gasp, and tried her best to stop the flames from spreading. She thought back to what Grams had gotten her to do the night before, the constant lighting and extinguishing and relighting of the candle flame.
She remembered the way the small flame had felt, and could feel the pull of the large fire in front of her. She could feel it trying to grow, but she wouldn't ease up, forcing it down as she fought against Bonnie's own magic. To her surprise, she could see Stefan rush up to her friend, shaking the girl. As Bonnie's focus wavered ever so slightly, Ellie used it to her advantage and forced the flames to go out in an instant. Ellie watched as Stefan held onto the other girl, looking very concerned and briefly wondered if Bonnie's secret was in danger. After a moment, Bonnie rushed away from Stefan, looking nervous.
After a while, Ellie found Stefan again, looking for Elena. "Have you seen Elena?" He asked her. Once again the fear for Bonnie's secret made an appearance, but with a touch to his arm, the fear dissipated.
"No, sorry. I hate to ask, but Jenna was my ride and she's gone, and Care was my backup, also gone… do you think you could give me a lift home?"
He didn't even hesitate, "Yeah sure. Let's go." He told her and they made their way to where he was parked. As they walked, they came across Matt, who was in the process of cleaning the pavement. "Hey, have you seen Elena?"
"Nope, not for a while." Matt admitted.
"You think she went home?"
Matt shook his head. "Not sure." Stefan nodded and started to go on when Matt called them back. "Hey, I'm not saying this for you. I'm saying it for her. But she's big on trust. So whatever you're holding back from her, the more you try to hide it, the more she won't stop till she figures it out."
Once Stefan had dropped her off at home, Ellie was quick to get in her car and drive as fast as she could to Sheila's. The older woman was ready before she could even ring the doorbell, and Ellie immediately began to tell her what had happened. "Earlier at the car wash, Tiki was being really awful to this guy, and then the water from the bucket like, exploded in her face, but I don't know who did it. I don't know if it was me or if it was Bonnie, because she got like this really dazed expression right before it happened and she looked pleased when it did. So I don't know if she was just pleased because it was an accident, or if it was because she did it. Or maybe we both did it."
"If both of you were mad at that girl, then it's most likely that you both caused it to explode. What else happened?" Ellie explained that Bonnie had caused a fire to break out from the water, and that she'd kept it under control when it wanted to keep growing. "I'm very proud of you for keeping her magic in check. You're a very quick study at all of this, it could have ended badly had you not done what you did."
Ellie could feel the pride swell in her chest. She wanted to be good at this. "It felt just like the flame of the candle, only stronger. I felt really strong keeping it in control."
"You are strong, dear. Stronger than you know. The more you practice and learn the stronger you'll grow." Sheila told her.
"Can we practice some more? I have a feeling that Bonnie's gonna come to you tonight, so I don't know whether you want me to be here or not." Ellie explained.
"We have time. Come, I'll teach you something new."
Author's Note:
We have now hit over 1000 views on this story! Thank you so much to everyone that's reading. Please review and let me know how you feel about this chapter or the story in general they make my day!
To Mimi who reviewed on chapter 3: Thank you! I really wanted it to come through that she really loves Jer and I totally agree, OC's tend to have amazing relationships with him.
There were two guest reviewers on the last chapter so I hope you know who you are.
To Guest 1: I actually hadn't thought about having Ellie call out Stefan about Elena and Katherine, but you've definitely given me something to think about! I have wondered how I'm going to have her react about all the supernatural things that are happening because of the Salvatores and Elena but I haven't decided on how she's going to react yet.
To Guest 2: Thank you for your review. Sometimes I kind of have to go word by word to find a place for her to fit into the episodes and it's kind of always been my style to follow the episodes closely, but don't worry. There will be a good bit that doesn't follow it so exactly.
