Chapter 7: Haunted
October 31, 2009
Dear Diary,
Well, Happy Halloween. Today is everyone's favorite spooky day, and of course there's a Halloween thing at school tonight. I've already got my outfit picked out, it's gonna be a killer costume. I'm sure Caroline will have a fit over it. Of course, there have been other things to keep me busy. I've been practicing with her, a lot… like a lot a lot. I don't think I've ever put so much time and energy into anything, not even cheerleading, but do not tell Caroline I said that. I've improved a lot, more so than what she was expecting in such a small amount of time. But I'm pleased that she's impressed with me. Despite all the practice, I still haven't told Elena. She doesn't think that I'm ready to tell her yet and I know that she wouldn't force me to keep this kind of secret if she didn't find it necessary. Elena's been acting pretty weird anyways but she won't tell me what's going on. I don't know… I just can't wait until I'm in the all clear to be honest with her. But Vicki… no one's seen her since she ran from our house and I don't have any personal items of hers I could use to try… you know. Jeremy and I have been out constantly trying to find her… I hope she's ok. I don't know that Matt and Jeremy could handle something happening to her.
Ellie and Jeremy stood in the bathroom, brushing their teeth quickly when Elena walked in. "Sorry." Elena apologized as Jeremy rinsed out his mouth.
"Oh, no it's cool. I'm done." Jeremy told her.
"You're up early. Where are you going?" Elena asked as she grabbed her own toothbrush.
"Police station. They're organizing the search party for Vicki and Ellie's gonna drive me so…"
"Wait. Shouldn't you be going to school?" Elena asked him as he started to go back to his room.
"What? You're kidding me right?" Jeremy replied.
"You shouldn't skip school." Elena told him. "If they find her, we'll know. That's what cellphones are for."
"Yeah, your lips keep movin' and I don't know why." Jeremy said as he walked back to his room and Ellie scoffed a little.
"You're one to talk little miss skipped school last month to spend the whole day with Stefan." Ellie retorted.
Elena turned to look at her. "You're ok with him skipping school?"
"He's going to the police station to try and help find someone he cares about. If it were Jeremy that disappeared we would be doing the same thing. I'm sure not being at school for something like this isn't something the school board would get mad about. Besides, Jenna already told him she was ok with it. The only reason I'm not going as well is because I promised Caroline I'd help get all the stuff for the Halloween thing set up today." Ellie explained. "It's fine, Elena."
She'd left the bathroom before Elena could protest and went to make sure that she had everything she needed. Jeremy was waiting anxiously at her door. "Ok, let's go." He said as he rushed them down the stairs and to her car. They were off to the police station in a hurry and Jeremy's nervous foot tapping only made her all the more concerned for him.
"We'll find her, Jer." She promised as she reached over to give his hand a squeeze. She didn't know if as a witch she had the ability to influence his mood, but she tried her hardest to make her grip a calming one.
Ellie was clueless as to whether she'd used magic to do it, or if she'd actually managed to calm him on her own, but his foot stopped tapping and he squeezed her hand back. "I really hope so. I don't know what I would do if something happened to her." He admitted. "I should have stopped her."
"Jeremy don't you dare blame yourself. Matt and I couldn't even catch up to her before she disappeared. It is not your fault. And it's not your fault that she took whatever drugs she took. We're gonna find her and it's gonna be ok." She insisted. Every since Vicki had disappeared, Jeremy's drug usage had really all but stopped. If Ellie had to guess, he was probably afraid of taking whatever had caused Vicki to act like that. While she was grateful for the dramatic cut in drug and alcohol usage, she hated that it happened because something had happened to Vicki. The rest of the drive went quickly, and soon enough Ellie was pulling up in front of the police station. "I'll see you later, Jer. Be careful."
He nodded and started to get out of the car before turning back. "Hey, uh, thanks for sticking up for me and my decision to come here with Elena. I really didn't want to deal with her yelling at me about it."
"It's what big sisters are for, Jer. Now go on and get in there before you miss something." She told him. He grinned brightly at her before rushing off into the station.
Her drive to school was uneventful and as she got out of her car to head into the school, Tyler fell into step beside her. "Hey… you heard anything about Vicki?" Tyler asked and for once, the dickhead attitude was gone and in its place was a real concern for his ex-girlfriend.
"Unfortunately not, I'm gonna go see if Matt has. Wanna come with?" She offered softly. Even if he hadn't treated Vicki well, he did care about her.
"Yeah." He agreed and they headed for Matt's locker. The blonde boy was pulling out binders to put in his locker as Tyler called, "Hey man."
"Hey." Matt replied.
"I heard they're putting together a search party for Vicki." Tyler started to say.
To Ellie's great surprise, Matt told them, "She just called. She's ok."
"Oh, good." Tyler said, his surprise as clear as Ellie's. "That's great. I figured you must have been goin' out of your mind."
"Little bit, yeah." Matt admitted.
Despite Tyler's good intentions, it was easy for Ellie to see the tension. "I was just gonna offer, you know, if there's anything I could do."
"I appreciate it." Matt said honestly and Ellie smiled at them.
"Did Vicki mention when she was coming home?" Ellie wondered.
"Nah, I think it was more to just give me something so I didn't go insane with worrying about her. I'm just glad she's ok." Matt said and despite Ellie's intentions to say something else, Caroline was pulling her away.
"Sorry to steal her boys." Caroline said, although it was clear that she wasn't sorry in the least.
"Rude. I was talking to them, Care." Ellie scolded lightly.
"You like me more anyways so it's fine." Caroline said as an excuse. They found Bonnie in an instant and Caroline passed a brown shopping back to her. "I have got your costume." Caroline singsonged. "It's all here."
Caroline looked quite excited as Bonnie pulled out the costume and Bonnie made a face at it as her smile fell. "Seriously?" Bonnie asked, unimpressed.
"Come on. Can someone please be excited that it's Halloween?" Caroline pleaded. "I just wanna have fun, you know, just some silly, fluffy, Damon-free fun."
"I am, as always. I even have my costume picked out already." Ellie informed her with a grin.
Caroline perked up immediately. "What are you going as?"
"My lips, my dearest Blondie, are sealed." Ellie retorted with a smirk.
Bonnie had continued looking through her costume, before pulling up a necklace saying, "Hey, isn't this the one you got from Damon?"
"Yep. Wear it. Toss it. I don't care." Caroline said with a shrug. "I just want it gone." The blonde straightened up suddenly and turned to Ellie and Bonnie. "Hey have you seen Elena? Do we know what she's wearing?"
"I was with Grams all weekend." Bonnie said with a shake of her head. "I haven't talked to her. Maybe she's with Stefan."
Ellie was aware that the other witch had spent the weekend with their mentor, but she still didn't think that Bonnie knew. "I saw her this morning, but I didn't ask about her costume. Sorry Care."
"Riding to his castle on his white horse." Caroline said bitterly.
"Don't be bitter." Bonnie told her. "It provokes wrinkles."
The blonde scoffed at her. "Haha, you're hilarious Bonnie." Caroline sassed.
They started to walk as the bell rang, signalling that they had five minutes to get to class. "Hey guys, I need to call Jer really quick. Go on ahead." Ellie told them. Caroline and Bonnie waved as they headed off. She dialed his number and before it could hit the fifth ring, he'd answered. "Jeremy, hey!"
"Hello… hey. What's up?" He questioned, his voice was low and she could hear Sheriff Forbes talking in the background. "Sheriff Forbes is going over the plans to look for Vicki what's going on?"
She felt herself grin in excitement. "So, I talked to Matty and apparently just before I came to talk to him, Vicki called him." The moment the words were out of her mouth, she could hear him choke slightly in surprise.
"Wait. What? Seriously? Oh my god." His whispered voice was almost frantic. "Do-does he know where she is? Does he know if she's coming home? Is she ok? Did she tell him?"
"Breathe, Jer. To answer your questions, no he doesn't know where she is. She didn't tell him. And no, she didn't say if she was coming home or when she was coming home. She did, however, let him know that she was ok." Ellie explained.
His relief turned to something else a moment later. "Wait… if she called Matt… why didn't she call me?"
Her heart ached for her baby brother. As glad as he was that she was ok, he wanted to talk to her for himself. "I'm not sure, Jer. Maybe she just hasn't had time to yet?" She suggested.
"Yeah maybe." She could hear the disbelief, but the bell signalling the start of class had already rung. "That was the bell… you should go. I'll talk to you later." Jeremy hung up quickly and his disappointment had her hoping that Vicki would call him sooner rather than later.
After school, Ellie was sitting in Sheila's living room, a place she was starting to be more often than not. "So, what have you started teaching Bonnie?" Ellie asked curiously.
The older woman raised an amused eyebrow at her. "Worried that you'll fall behind on the learning curve?" She teased softly.
"Nope, just healthy curiosity." Ellie said with a grin.
"Bonnie… after I explained to her that she was a witch, she didn't return to me for quite some time. It wasn't until this past weekend that I taught her anything at all. It's been explaining out family history to her, and about Salem. She… she wants to get to the 'fun part'. She wants to play with her magic. Which I understand, but until she understands what all of this means, she's not ready to learn the way of our kind. She needs to understand us before she can begin to practice." Grams told her.
"But magic, part of it is fun." Ellie argued.
Grams laughed at that. "I know dear, but I don't want her going into this thinking it's all fun and games."
Ellie took a moment to collect her thoughts before asking, "If you've had Bonnie waiting for days, and you haven't taught her anything… why was I taught right away?"
She seemed to be expecting this question. "You and Bonnie, you're different. Bonnie isn't focusing on the dangers, she sees the childish fun she could have. You however, the moment I told you about the potential dangers you got focused. It was your determination to control it, to not hurt your loved ones that made you different. As well as a certain magical display from your childhood. Bonnie, I could feel the magic in her, but she didn't show signs of it. Some people can be witches and never tap into their powers. The things I taught you at first were things that you could have done accidentally anyways, it was better to teach you to control those as opposed to them happening accidentally and you not knowing what to do."
"Oh." Ellie replied.
"Besides, the repetition of the spells did a great deal of good." Grams added. "So, if you're worried about Bonnie getting ahead of you. You're doing just fine." She added with a wink.
"You're hilarious Grams." Ellie said sarcastically. "Well what about the locator spell we did that day to find Elena?"
"I was right here with you the whole time. If the situation were to get dangerous I could have stepped in to help. You haven't performed it on your own have you?" Her tone was that of warning.
"No, I haven't needed to. Although I wish I could, to find Vicki. She did call Matt though so hopefully she's ok." Ellie said, lost momentarily in thought. She snapped out of it and asked, "Can I learn something else?" Grams smiled at her enthusiasm and motioned for Ellie to put down her tea and follow. The young witch did just that and watched Grams pick up a handful of dead roses. She handed the bunch to Ellie and with a nod of Gram's head, Ellie uttered the now familiar spell. "Belle la vie a cette fleur, maintentant." Despite how many times she casted the spell, she still felt quite pleased to see the flowers return to full bloom, colors bright and beautiful. "Ok… now what?"
Grams pulled a single rose from the set that Ellie had. "Watch." She instructed before saying, "Tomar lento. Na paz, amor."
A shriek of surprise came from Ellie as the flower in Sheila's hand exploded and petals were floating down. "Ok, I know I say it every time I learn something, but that's awesome." Ellie cheered. "Ok, ok, ok, let's do this." She said as she set down all the flowers onto the kitchen table except for one. With a deep breath, she straightened up and repeated, "Tomar lento. Na paz, amor." Like what happened with Sheila's, her flower exploded and the petals fell like rain.
The young witch was positively beaming at Grams as the older woman gave her praise. "Very good. Now get the rest of the bundle and do it again."
"At once?" Ellie questioned for confirmation.
"Mmhmm. Think you can handle it?" Grams taunted teasingly.
"Of course I can." Ellie said with confidence, still smiling at Sheila. "Tomar lento. Na paz, amor." This time, it really was like it was raining petals, as opposed to the few that come from a single rose. "That's fantastic." As they always did, they spent ages letting her repeat the spells and as night started to fall, Ellie remembered what she had planned. "Oh! Grams, I gotta go, the Halloween dance starts in a bit and I need to go home and get ready."
Sheila nodded as she moved to get the broom to clean up the petals. "I thought you would be. Go ahead dear, I can sweep up the petals. Have a good time at the dance young lady."
"I will! See you later!" Ellie said excitedly as she rushed to get her bag and get to the house. The drive went by quickly in her excitement and as she came in, she could hear her brother's voice from the kitchen.
"You gotta call me, Vic." He was saying as Elena reached the foot of the stairs. "I don't get it. What's going on with you? Just… just call me please."
She and Elena stepped into the kitchen as he ended the voicemail. Elena was the one to greet their brother. "Hey." He turned back to glance at her, but didn't say anything in acknowledgement. "So, um, do you wanna hang out tonight? Maybe all three of us?" She suggested. "We could go to the, uh, Halloween thing at school. Could be fun."
"Yes. Say yes, Jeremy. As the oldest I command you." Ellie joked, pointing a dramatic finger at him.
After a moment, he said, "Cool. sure. Sounds, uh… sounds fun. Can't wait."
"Yes!" Ellie cheered. "My powers of oldest Gilbert control are still effective."
The corner of Jeremy's lips quirked up into an almost smile as he rolled his eyes at her. "You weirdo. Let me go find something."
He had started to leave, when Elena called back, "I know you're upset about Vicki. I heard she called Matt, but you can't be with her. She needs to get better. The best thing you can do for her is let her go."
Ellie knew her look of confusion mirrored her brother's as he asked, "What does that even mean 'let her go'? Oh, ok, sure. Since we're such experts on letting people go, right?"
"I know you may not see it, but trust me, Jer. It's for the best." Elena told him and Ellie fought back the strong urge to sigh. Sometimes Elena really just had no clue on what not to say to their brother, and that should have never come out of her mouth.
Jeremy walked back towards Elena and leaned down slightly to get a bit more in her face. "Look, for months after mom and dad died, I felt like crap. Like 'nothing really even mattered' crap. Now all of a sudden, I get these moments and things started to feel just a little bit better. And Vicki was in every single one of them. So you may not see it, but trust me, keeping me away from her is not for the best." With that, Jeremy turned and walked out of the room, leaving the twins alone.
"Elena!" Ellie scolded. "What the hell was that about?"
"I don't know what you're talking about. I only told him the truth." Elena tried to say.
"No. Elena you were rude. How on earth do you know what's best for him? Or for Vicki for that matter? I have heard literally no one ever say that it's easier for a person to get better when the people they care about abandon them and that's what you're telling Jeremy to do. When have you even stopped to really talk to him about what he's going through since mom and dad died? All you've done is tell him what he should and shouldn't be doing Elena and that is the last thing he needs from you." Ellie snapped.
"Ellie…"
Her twin wasn't having it. "No. And on top of that you're gonna be a hypocrite now too? You told Jeremy this morning to not skip school to go to the police station to help find his missing girlfriend and then you turn around and the very same day skip school with Stefan, again might I add because you did it last month too. So maybe, for once, stop trying to control him and what's he doing if you can't even practice what you preach."
Elena looked shocked at her sister's outburst, but Ellie knew it was coming for a while. "That's not fair." Elena protested.
"Not fair?" Ellie asked with a scoff. "Have I said literally anything that wasn't true, Elena? Besides, you have been critical and disapproving of them being together since day one and for what reason? She made him happy and yes, she might have a drug problem but when he was with her he actually wasn't using as much as he had been before. So why did you have such an issue with it?"
"She's older than him."
"So? There's not that much of an age difference."
"And yes, I didn't like that she's a druggie."
Ellie scoffed. "News flash Elena, so was Jeremy."
"Besides, its weird that she and Jeremy are dating after me and Matt dated."
"Elena, your relationship with Matt should have literally zero impact on his relationship with Vicki. That has nothing to do with the two of them. Could it make you feel awkward? Yeah and it's not weird for it to be a little weird for you and Matt, but that doesn't mean you should have any say in whether or not they can date. You don't get to control that. You never saw Matt trying to involve himself in their relationship, did you? No, because he respected the decision they decided to make. Maybe you should take a page out of his book and give Jeremy that much respect. I've gotta go get ready." Ellie turned on her heel and left the kitchen before Elena could respond, leaving the younger twin in the kitchen, dumbfounded as to what just happened.
She made her way up to her room and pulled her costume. It was a deep red witches costume that she'd seen in an antique store as opposed to a regular store bought costume. Despite the small price for the dress, that material seemed to be quality and she slipped into it. The black accents on it really made it something special. It didn't take long for her to style her hair, adding in some blood red clip in extensions to her brown hair to match the outfit as well as a red lip. Soon enough the trio were out the door and, since she was still kind of mad at Elena, she didn't say anything about her usage of her Halloween costume from last year. The ride to the school was awkwardly silent, and Ellie was quick to get away from Elena and split up to avoid the awkwardness.
As she walked over to where she could see Bonnie and Caroline, she adjusted the witch's hat on her head. Caroline was the one to spot her first. "Holy shit, Ellie you look amazing!" The blonde yelped as she hugged her. "Oh my god, look at us. A little coven!" Caroline gushed before giving Bonnie a wicked grin. "Be careful Bon. I think Ellie just out-witched you."
"Feel free. I didn't want to be a stupid witch anyways." Bonnie replied and Ellie wondered if she meant the costume, or being an actual witch as well.
"We can be the best witch bitches together." Ellie offered with a grin. She fell into place next to Bonnie and Caroline in front of the cauldron and watched as people ran about laughing and screaming.
Tyler approached them, dressed as a Spartan no less, and holding up glasses of cider. "Cider for the ladies?" He offered. "It's a Lockwood special."
"No way." Bonnie denied. "Last year, I was hung over until Thanksgiving."
"Lightweight." Caroline told her. "I am going to drink until someone is hot enough to make out with." Caroline explained as she picked up a cup.
"Sounds like a plan." Tyler raised to toast with the blonde.
"Well if I'm going to have to be looking at that the whole night, I'm probably going to need something to make it an easier sight." Ellie mocked playfully as she motioned to Tyler's costume which left his abs on display and grabbed a glass from Tyler as well.
"Ouch, and here I thought I looked good." He shot back, pulling her into his side to make her squirm.
"Disgusting." She said but they were all grinning as the three with drinks toasted before taking a drink. "Damn that's strong, Ty." Even with the strength, she chugged her glass and then snatched Tyler's away to finish his as well. Almost immediately, she felt a little bit floatier and pressed a kiss to Tyler's cheek before announcing, "Well ladies and idiot, I'm off to find my darling twin. Cheers." She found them headed for the building and looped her arm through Elena's. "Ok… no more weirdness? I wanna have fun tonight."
Thankfully, her twin took the olive branch with a grateful nod. "No more weirdness." She promised and just like that the tension was gone and they kept heading inside. Jeremy screamed to scare some kids, causing both twins to laugh as they whacked him.
Matt was grinning as he walked over to them, also in last year's costume. As he pulled out a fake hand from his pocket he said, "You went with last year's costume too, huh?"
"Yeah. I didn't know that I was coming till an hour ago." Elena admitted.
"Me neither." Matt told her and with a giggle, Elena hi-fived her fake hand to Matt's. The blonde boy turned to Jeremy and said, "And you're going as… you?"
Jeremy wasn't having it, and walked off without a word. Well, Ellie had thought that the weirdness was gone. Maybe she was just tipsy enough to ignore her anger at Elena, but Jeremy wasn't. "He's not talking to me right now. We got into a fight."
"Which you should apologize to him for because you were in the wrong." Ellie singsonged… yeah, guess she wasn't over it either.
Elena gave her a frustrated look but her attention shot back to Matt as he said, "Yeah, I got into it with Vic, too, when she got home. I'm trying not to smother her tonight, but part of me doesn't want to let her out of my sight."
"She's here?" Elena questioned, the pitch of her voice rising.
"Yeah. You can't miss her, she's a vampire." Matt informed them.
Ellie was confused as Elena started to breathe heavily. "Where did Jeremy go?"
"Elena, what's the matter?" Matt asked, just as worried as Ellie was.
Her sister didn't respond, so she too tried to get her attention. "Elena?"
"I-I've gotta find him." Elena said as she rushed off.
"What the hell was that about?" Ellie questioned but Matt was just as clueless.
"I don't know." He said and Ellie went off to try and find her psychotic sister.
As she wandered around, it wasn't Elena that she stumbled upon, but Vicki. "Vicki, oh my god! I've been so worried about you!" She exclaimed as she pulled the older girl into a tight hug. To her surprise, Vicki returned it but she seemed to be in pain. "Hey are you ok? Here come in here." She said as she pulled the other girl into a classroom. Vicki immediately looked better and Ellie nodded sympathetically. "Yeah, the noise and the people can be a bit much sometimes yeah?"
"You have no idea." Vicki agreed. "Why do you look so happy to see me?"
Ellie was surprised by such a question, but recovered quickly and answered honestly. "I know we aren't super close Vic, but I've known you my whole life and Jer really cares about you. That automatically makes you someone I care about too. Plus you're good for Jer."
"You really think so?" Vicki asked softly as she fiddled with the ends of her sleeves.
"Mmhmm I really do. He's definitely been better about the drugs and alcohol because you make him happy. We've been worried sick about you. Are you feeling any better?" Ellie questioned.
Vicki seemed to think it over and then nodded. "Yeah, I'm still working on it, but I think I'm getting there. I just… I wanted to see Jeremy. I know I upset him by not calling sooner and the last thing I ever want to do is hurt him."
"Oh I know that Vicki." Ellie said as she gave her a warm smile. "Besides, if I ever even thought you had intentions to hurt Jer, I'd have given you that big sister threat ages ago. You know what I mean."
Vicki pulled her into another tight hug and after she let go, she grinned at the Gilbert. "If I'm honest, I always liked you better than Elena. You never treated Matty like crap."
"Oh, you'll never have to worry about me hurting him. He's one of my favorite humans." Ellie joked before leaning in conspiratorially. "If I'm honest, I always knew you liked me better."
The duo laughed before Vicki moved to the door. "Thanks for pulling me in here for a breather, and thanks for being so nice to me, Ellie. I'm gonna go try and find Jeremy."
"Have fun!" Ellie told her. "And don't do anything in public that a five year old shouldn't see." Vicki's grin was wolfish, no other way to describe it, and then the Donovan girl was gone. Ellie was still in search of her sister when she ran back into Matt. "Well, I haven't found my sister, but I did find yours."
They walked through the crowds together as he asked, "How was she?"
"Seemed a little overwhelmed with the music and people, but I think we were just in a crowded area. I pulled her into a classroom to give her a breather and she seemed fine after that." Ellie informed him.
"Thanks."
"She's your sister, Matt. it's no problem." Ellie assured him.
It wasn't much longer before they stumbled across Stefan, Vicki, and Elena with the latter saying, "I was worried."
Ellie just sighed at the sound of her sister's attitude. Obviously whatever buzz she'd had from Tyler's drinks had worn off. "What's goin' on?" Matt asked as he moved to stand near Vicki protectively.
"Hey, uh, everything's fine." Stefan said but after a moment, Vicki yanked her arm from Stefan's hold and moved to stand behind Matt and Ellie.
"I told you to quit bothering me." Vicki told Stefan, who looked entirely confused.
"No, Vicki, don't do this." Elena said as she looked between Stefan and Matt.
"Matt, he won't leave me alone." Vicki said with wide fearful eyes.
Her brother immediately moved to stand in front of Vicki to block Stefan from her. "You need to back off, man."
"Matt, it's-it's ok." Elena tried to say.
"No, it's not ok." Matt snapped at her before getting in Stefan's face. "What the hell is your problem?"
Ellie felt the air around her shift and then saw Elena's panicked expression. "Stefan, she's gone!" Elena dropped her stethoscope as she took off running.
The Salvatore tried to push past Matt but the blonde grabbed his shoulder. Ellie yelped slightly as Stefan turned and forced Matt against the wall. "Stefan!"
"I'm trying to help her." Stefan insisted and after a tense moment he released the other boy and went after Elena.
"Jesus Christ, what the hell is going on tonight? Matt are you ok?" Ellie questioned as she straightened out Matt's costume.
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. I need to find Vicki. I don't know what's going on." Matt told her.
"I'll help you." She assured him and what felt like the millionth time that night, they went off on their search. They asked countless people if they'd seen the Donovan girl, the faces blurred but the responses practically all the same. After a while, Ellie was wondering if they'd ever find the girl, when she'd spotted her sister. "Hey, look there's Elena!"
Matt instantly spotted her and shouted out, "Elena!" They ran over to her and Ellie immediately spotted the blood now splashed on her sister's clothing. "Hey, have you seen-" Matt's question ended abruptly as he too spotted the blood. "Whoa, wh-what happened?"
"Elena are you ok?"
Her sister tried to brush them off. "Nothing. I'm fine. Some idiot with some fake blood got me. I'm gonna go home and shower."
Ellie assumed that must have meant that Stefan was taking her home, but as Elena had started to go, Matt blurted, "I-I can't find Vicki. She totally bailed on me."
Elena looked like she was tearing up as she said, "I don't know where she is."
"Is this what I'm in for? A lifetime of worrying about her?" Matt asked as his shoulders dropped in defeat.
Despite Matt being upset, all Ellie could focus on was how distraught Elena seemed as she told her ex, "You're a good brother, Matt."
"Yeah." He said with a scoff. "Maybe she went home."
"Maybe." Elena agreed. "Ellie… can I just drive the car home?" With how upset Elena seemed, she didn't even protest and just handed over the keys. "Thanks."
As Elena walked off, Ellie turned to follow after Matt, catching him at his car before he went home. "Hey Matt!" She called and when he turned she pulled him into the tightest hug she could manage. If she couldn't figure out what was going on with Elena, the least she could do is comfort one of the boys that had been her best friend her entire life. "I'm sure Vicki will be ok and even if this is what your life looks like I will always be here to try and make it better ok?"
She could feel him relax into the hug, gripping her back as much as she held onto him. Ellie let him hang onto her for as long as he needed and by the time they broke apart, to her relief, he did in fact look a little better. "Thank you, Ellie. You're a really good friend and I don't know what I'd do without you." Matt admitted.
"You'll never have to find out." She promised. "Let me know when you get home safe, and let me know if she's there." The rest of the Halloween event consisted of Ellie worrying over her friends, trying to do everything Caroline asked of her, and making sure that her particularly drunk friends - Tyler - got home safely. By the time she got home, both Jeremy and Elena were sleeping peacefully in their rooms and Jenna was sitting on the couch and eating ice cream while she watched trashy reality tv. Desperate for the escape of mindless tv, she quickly changed out of her costume and washed her face before joining her aunt. All she could hope for was a better day tomorrow.
Author's Note:
Thank you guys for over 2,000 views! Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Please review and let me know what you thought about it or if you have any questions! Also guys please stay safe with the corona virus going around. Make sure to wash your hands and self-quarantine if you can!
To Mimi: Agreed. As a younger sibling I know just how old it can get to have an older sibling try and boss you around. I think that might be part of the reason that Ellie pushes back, because that's what I do. Elena definitely needs a reality check.
To Guest: Oh, I hadn't thought about it, but that's definitely something to consider. It does get pretty tiresome to constantly see everyone always choose Elena. You're not the first person to mention wanting to see Bonnie kind of pick Ellie over Elena, so it's definitely something I'm gonna have to think about. I'm definitely going to think about where I want the members of the Mystic Falls Gang to stand.
-Madame Magic
Posted: 3/18/20
