Chapter 17: Let The Right One In

January 16, 2010

Dear Diary,

So yesterday, Elena and Stefan went on a double date with Matt and Caroline. From what I saw it wasn't going as well as Caroline had hoped that it would. There was a lot of back and forth between Elena and Matt. I just hope Caroline and Matt worked it out because she really really likes him. Jeremy was also acting weird when Jenna and I got home last night but I don't know what that was all about. I was so tired I just ended up going to sleep instead of trying to ask him about it. I wonder if he's seen Anna. He'll be so excited to know that she's sticking around instead of leaving like she and her mother had planned to do.

The roads were a nightmare to drive on. It made her nervous to be on back roads when no one really knew where she was. So, she decided to park on the side of the road, rather than parking up by the house so that the car wouldn't get stuck in the mud. After she pulled on her rain boots so that she couldn't ruin her clothes, Ellie tossed her tennis shoes into the duffle bag she had. She managed to hide the bag inside her raincoat before she zipped it up and pulled the hood over her head. It was almost startling how much louder the rain was now that she was in it. Once she'd made sure her car was locked, she started the path towards the house.

Even she had to admit, it was a little unsettling to be so far from the house without protection. She banished the thought. She was her own protection. The path was muddy and she sunk into it with every step she took. With the rain, it was much harder to see where she was going and the sudden fear that she would get lost unsettled her. Would she perhaps be able to sense the house? Surely the ghosts of so many witches would leave a magic mark to follow.

She cleared her mind and searched out for the house as she walked. The path so far was familiar enough that she could go even without being sure. Ellie just hoped that it would be a bit easier to sense the house with how much time she'd spent there. Sure enough, it felt like a little tug in her gut. Following the feeling, she allowed herself to walk off the beaten path and into the trees. If it weren't for the fact that the pull felt stronger the more that she walked she probably would have turned back, but she pressed on. A few minutes later she could see the house in the distance.

By the time she was under the safety of the porch, she felt like a drowned rat. With her back against the front door, she pulled off her rainboots and replaced them with the tennis shoes from her bag. Inside was far warmer than she expected, getting warmer still as she ventured to the room she always went to. "Hi Emily." Ellie said politely as she sat her things on the ground before sitting down next to them.

"It's quite a storm outside. What brings you here in weather like this?" Emily asked.

"Well, the storm is actually why I'm here. Caroline is going to be driving a bit today and I don't want anything to accidentally happen to her. I was wondering if we could do some kind of protection spell to keep her safe." Ellie explained.

"That can be arranged. Is there anyone else you'd like to protect?" Emily asked.

Ellie nodded. "Yeah, I guess my friends and then Jenna and Elena and Jeremy."

"The best way for it to work is to tie it to a natural event. Like a phase of the moon." Emily explained.

"Can I tie it to the storm itself?" Ellie asked. "Even if the roads aren't great later as long they can see when they're driving it should be fine."

"That will do. You will need something to represent your friends." Emily told her. Ellie nodded, aware of this much, and began to pull things from the duffle bag she'd brought. She pulled out a photo of her and Caroline in their cheer uniforms and set it to the side. After that she pulled out a photo of her standing between Matt and Tyler at the lake. A jacket that Bonnie had left at her house came next. The bracelet for Elena was next. For Jenna, she pulled out a necklace that her aunt wore often. The item she brought for Jeremy was a watch he used to wear constantly but stopped when it no longer worked.

"Will these work?" Ellie questioned as she organized them on the floor.

"They will." Emily told her. "You came prepared. Good." If Ellie didn't know any better, she'd say that Emily almost sounded amused. "Place candles around you and your items in a circle." Ellie stood, gathering candles from around the room and putting them in place as instructed. "Hold your hands out above the objects and repeat after me. Phasmatos tribum praesidium haec gentem."

Ellie relaxed and felt the candles shoot to life as she closed her eyes. "Phasmatos tribum praesidium haec gentem. Phasmatos tribum praesidium haec gentem. Phasmatos tribum praesidium haec gentem." The candles burned unnaturally high for a moment before going out. She felt drained and she assumed that meant that it had worked.

"You did well. I was worried protecting so many people at once might be a bit draining to you." Emily told her as she collected the items to place them back in her duffle bag.

With a small laugh, Ellie admitted, "I could probably go for a nap right now but that might just be because of the rain." There was a sudden warmth around her. By now, she had felt it often enough to know that it was the other witches taking care of her as she returned the candles she'd used to their original places. "Thank you." She told them kindly.

"It might be best for you to be on your way before the storm gets too strong that you can't leave." Emily advised.

Ellie nodded in agreement as she grabbed her things. "I'm sorry I can't stay longer." She apologized.

"There's no need to apologize. Go on and get indoors as soon as you can." Emily told her and Ellie headed upstairs. Once outside, she slipped back on her rain boots before she pulled up her hood. The rain was coming down harder than it had been when she arrived. Stepping down from the safety of the porch, she made a face as her boot sunk down into the mud. The rain was icy as it blew into her face and she tried to go faster so that she could get out of it. She moved on instinct to get to the car. Nerve wracking wasn't a strong enough phrase to explain how unsettled she was to be in the middle of the woods alone when she could hardly see anything. It didn't help that if she was attacked it would be hard to run through mud like this.

Once she finally got to the car she yanked off her muddy boots and carefully placed them in a bucket on the floorboard of the passenger's seat so that she wouldn't mess up the interior. She cranked the car and blasted the heat as she pulled off the wet jacket and set it and the duffle bag aside. She pulled onto the road carefully and drove slowly. The last thing she needed was to crash. Driving wasn't easy. If she had to guess, she probably couldn't see a car unless it was right in front of her. The road was blending into everything else too much. Once she was finally back on a regular road, she pulled over to wait for the storm to ease up. When curiosity got the better of her, she called Caroline as the rain beat against the windows. "Hello?"

"Hey Ellie! What's up? I'm still on the road from hell." Caroline said in greeting.

"Oh you're still driving? Do you want me to hang up? I was just calling to check and see if you'd made it there safe yet." Ellie asked her.

Caroline laughed, her good mood clear. "No you're good. I need someone to save me from the boredom of driving without music. And Matt is working so he can't talk to me."

"So you two made up?" Ellie asked hopefully.

"Yeah, we did. Thank god. He fixed up this old car of Stefan's that apparently is a really cool sports car and then Stefan let me and Matt take it for a ride and we had a heart to heart." Caroline told her. "He totally knew I was testing him to see how he was with Elena. Was it wrong of me to test him like that?"

"I don't think so. It's not unreasonable to be worried about how he feels about his ex. Even if it's your friend. How did the talk go?" Ellie asked as she turned the heat up a bit more.

"He actually really made an effort to get me to see where he was coming from. He told me that I was the only person he wanted to be in that car with." Caroline said softly. "I don't really know how to put it into words how much it meant to me."

It was a relief to hear that from Caroline, especially when the blonde had been quite upset when she'd called Ellie. "Well if the talk went that well is that all you two did?" She teased. The pause before Caroline responded was telling and Ellie couldn't help but laugh excitedly. "Oh my god you two totally made out in Stefan's car!"

"Ok but listen making out in sports cars is not as easy as you'd think it'd be." Caroline told her. "God it would have been the perfect end to the date if we'd been able to really hang out with Elena and Stefan after we'd talked if it wasn't for what happened when we'd gone back inside the house."

"Wait what happened?" Ellie asked. She hadn't gotten a chance to talk to Elena about the date yet.

"Hold on." Caroline said. Ellie could faintly hear Caroline muttering to herself. It sounded like she was insulting the road. "Sorry, I had to go really slow for a second because I had to drive around something that was in the road. Ok, so when we went inside we saw Damon and Mrs. Donovan making out against the wall with Mrs. Donovan basically wrapped around Damon. Like I'm talking full blown it's gonna end in sex makeout."

"Oh my god you're kidding!" Ellie exclaimed. She had seen them at The Grill but she had hoped that nothing would come of it.

"I wish I was. My ex and my boyfriend's mom? Gross doesn't even cover half of it. Matt ended up taking her home and Elena took me home." Caroline told her. "Matt kind of told his mom how he felt about it and he's worried she might leave again."

It didn't surprise her that he was worried. Both Kelly and Vicki were prone to take off on a moment's notice. "If I see him today I'll try and see how he's doing." Ellie assured her.

"I'd appreciate it a lot. Also where are you? The sound of the rain is like deafening." Caroline asked.

With a sigh, she confessed, "Currently, I'm sitting on the side of the road. I had errands to run but the rain got so bad that I had to pull over."

"As long as you're not driving right now. It's way too dangerous to be on the phone when it's raining like this."

"That's a little bit of the pot calling the kettle black since you're the one driving right now." Ellie teased.

"Yeah but I'm definitely the better driver between the two of us." Caroline reminded her.

"Fair enough, but where are you? Because the call keeps breaking up really badly." Ellie asked.

"I'm on some backroad from hell. I really need one of those like bluetooth thingies. Maybe that would get a better signal." Caroline said.

"Maybe you should just turn around? Come back so that you don't get lost?"

"I'm gonna try and get back on the main road but if I can't I'll turn back. I should probably go though. Let me know when you get somewhere safe."

"I will. Same goes for you. Text me when you get somewhere." The call ended and she decided that the rain had eased up enough for her to try and drive again. She put in drive and tried to go, only for the car to not move. "What?" She tried again, pressing a little harder on the gas, but it didn't work. The next attempt did nothing more than the last, except she saw the mud getting slung in her mirror. "You have got to be kidding me. Shit." She groaned. Not knowing else to call, she dialed the only person who could probably help her the fastest.

"Hey Ellie, what can I do for you?" Tyler asked as he answered.

"Can you come get me? I was driving and pulled over when it got too bad but now I can't get out of the mud." She confessed with a whine.

He laughed at her. "You got stuck. Sounds like you're in a bit of a sticky situation."

"You're not as funny as you think you are, you asshole." She told him.

"Oh well then I guess I should just hang up then?" He teased.

"Rude." She told him.

"Listen I'm with my dad. Can you tell us where you are? We'll come pick you up and then have a tow truck get your car when the weather isn't so bad."

She looked around for anything that would be useful in telling him where she was. In a brief moment where the rain was lighter, she spotted a mile marker. "Um, I'm pretty sure that mile marker says one twenty seven."

"Ok, we aren't far from there. We'll be there in a couple of minutes." Tyler told her. She hung up the phone and waited. As promised, Mr. Lockwood's car appeared a few minutes after the call ended. It also made her realize she'd made the right decision to stop driving when she didn't even see his car until he was basically right where she was. She turned off the car as her door was opened by Tyler who was holding an umbrella over them. "Come on. We're going to The Grill."

"Ok." She said as she double checked that her car was locked before she let Tyler close her car door. "Thank you for coming and getting me Mr. Lockwood." She said politely.

He gave her his politician smile and said, "Any time, Ellie. It would be awful if you got into another car accident so soon." She winced at the mention but didn't reply. Tyler looked back at her with concern and she just shook her head to let him know that it was fine. The ride to The Grill took much longer than normal, but Ellie appreciated that Mr. Lockwood was actually being careful. They stepped in and then to the side of the door to shake off and put the umbrellas down when Ellie spotted Anna and her mother walking towards the exit. "Hey, you're not going out in that, are ya?" He asked Miss Pearl. "The roads are dangerous. Route five is completely flooded."

"We'll make do." Miss Pearl assured him.

To Ellie's surprise, he nodded without a fight as a waitress called, "Mayor Lockwood, we have your table ready."

"Great."

"Mayor Lockwood, is it?" Miss Pearl asked and he quickly turned back around. "I suppose it is treacherous outside. My name is Pearl. This is my daughter Anna. we've just recently moved to town."

"Welcome. Richard Lockwood. This is my son Tyler and his friend Ellie." Mayor Lockwood introduced. Ellie thought it was strange that Miss Pearl said they'd just moved there, but maybe she still considered the move new. "Please, please join us."

"It would be a pleasure." Miss Pearl assured him.

Miss Pearl and Anna walked ahead and as Ellie started to walk, Tyler said, "Be more creepy, dad. Not like your son and his best friend are standing right here."

"Grow up. Elections are coming. She's a constituent. And a rich one, from the looks of it." Mayor Lockwood replied.

"You can tell all that by looking at her ass?" Tyler asked sarcastically. "Awesome. I'm gonna go shoot some pool." He reached forward to get Ellie's attention. "Want to come shoot pool with me?"

"Yeah." Ellie agreed as they left Mayor Lockwood with Anna and Miss Pearl.


They were taking a break from shooting pool and talking with Matt while Tyler shot dirty looks at his dad. "Guy's not even subtle about it." Tyler scoffed as he took a drink of his water.

"Who is that?" Matt asked as he loaded up dirty dishes.

"It's not my mother." Tyler told him as he walked back over to the pool table.

"Hey name is Pearl. Her daughter is friends with Jeremy." Ellie whispered to Matt. "But while Tyler is grumpily playing pool, do you wanna tell me about what happened last night?" She asked curiously.

Matt looked up at her. "Did Caroline tell you?" He asked.

"Not much. We didn't talk long because she was still driving and breaking up. But I did see your mom partying it up with Jenna and Damon Salvatore." Ellie told him and watched as he made a disgusted face. "I'm guessing it wasn't pretty."

"It wasn't. We left The Grill because they were getting drunk and I didn't want to see it. And then as soon as me and Caroline make up, we walk in to see them making out in the hallway. But I yelled at my mom last night. You know, we got home from that mess and I just felt like the parent with screwed up kid." Matt explained.

"Maybe she needed to hear it, Matty. It's not fair to you that you have to keep what you're feeling all bottled up. Especially because you're worried about her reaction. She's your mom. She's supposed to be taking care of you not the other way around." Ellie reminded him.

"Yeah… yeah, I know. I just worry that if I push too hard, then she'll take off again. Cause that's what she does. Her and Vicki both. You know I haven't heard anything from Vicki since she left?" Matt said with a sigh as he wiped off a table.

Ellie made a face. It was strange to her that Vicki wouldn't even call to let Matt know that she was alright. "I'm sure she'll call you soon." Ellie told him reassuringly. "But Matty, you can't control what your mom does, or what Vicki does. Even if life would be easier if you could."

"I just wish that my mom would try, even just a little. You know? To have a mom for once." Matt admitted. "If she even just tried to try that would be enough for me."

"Have a little faith. Maybe she'll surprise you." Ellie suggested.

Matt laughed at that, smiling brightly at her. "You know sometimes you and Caroline are more alike than you realize."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Ellie replied.

"Ellie, come on, you gonna play?" Tyler called. The table was set up for a new game.

"Yeah, I'm coming." Ellie said as she walked back over to the table. "You break." They played a few games before Elliy eventually wandered over to where Jeremy was sitting. Her brother also happened to be staring longingly in the direction of the restrooms where Anna had gone in a minute or so before. "Are you just gonna stare at her all night rather than talking to her?" Ellie asked.

"We were hanging out before her mom got here. Apparently she doesn't want her mom to know about us yet." Jeremy confessed. Anna and her mother appeared from the bathroom before Ellie got a chance to reply. She watched them walk towards the exit as Anna texted. Jeremy's phone beeped a moment later and she watched as her brother's eyes went wide with surprise as he walked Anna walk through the door.

"Is everything alright?" Ellie asked.

He seemed to snap back to reality, putting his phone away hastily. "Yeah, yeah everything is actually great." He told her.

"Am I to assume everything is great in relation to Anna?" She pushed.

"Yeah." He confessed. They sat together and ate to try and kill time. The storm had finally passed but the roads weren't the best yet. When he went to play darts, she went and sat with Tyler and one of the girls she'd seen in passing at school.

"Alright. Give me ten minutes. And keep it out of the news until I get there." Mayor Lockwood said. He caught Ellie's attention as he said to Tyler, "Grab your stuff. We gotta go."

"Kinda got half a burger left." Tyler told him.

"They found Vicki Donovan." Mayor Lockwood said as he pulled on his coat.

"Are you serious? Where was she?" Tyler asked as he stood up.

"Storm unearthed the grave off county road. They just brought her body down to the morgue." Mayor Lockwood told him and Ellie took a tight hold of Tyler's hand. Surely Mayor Lockwood had it wrong somehow. There was no way Vicki was dead.

"Wait. She's dead?" Jeremy asked from behind them. Ellie felt grief make its way into her heart at the look of shock on both Tyler and Jeremy's faces.

"Come on. We gotta go." Mayor Lockwood told Tyler again.

Tyler looked back at Jeremy knowingly. They might have gotten along when it came to Vicki but they'd both cared about her. "Jer, I don't have my car. I came here with Tyler." She told him.

Jeremy nodded in understanding. "It's ok. I'll call Jenna." He told her.

"Are you going over to Matt's?" She asked him softly.

"Yeah. I'll see you there." Jeremy told her. She let Tyler lead her by the hand back to the car where Mayor Lockwood was waiting. The ride to the morgue was silent in the worst way. It left her to her darkest thoughts. The possibilities of how she died filled her head. Who found Vicki's body? How long had she been dead? What if it had been Jeremy instead?

Mrs. Lockwood was already there when they arrived and even she looked to be in shock. She had never been particularly fond of Vicki, but she'd never wanted the girl dead. "I don't think the two of you should see her like this." Mrs. Lockwood said softly. "I know you both cared about her. But it's not a good idea to see her like that. Maybe you should head over to see Matt instead. I'm sure he could use his friends right now." She told them as she offered up the keys to the car she'd driven there in.

Part of Ellie almost wanted to disagree, but the other part was too scared to see what had to be the decaying body of a girl that her brother had cared so much about. "Ty, she's right." Ellie eventually said. "We need to get to Matt." When her parents had died, Matt had been an amazing friend to her. It was important that she returned that care.

"Thanks mom." Tyler told her and gave the older woman a brief, but tight, hug before they headed over to the car. She held his hand tightly during the car ride, trying to offer and comfort she could give. Caroline was the one to open the door, paler than Ellie had ever seen her. She led them to the kitchen where Jeremy already sat as she moved to make coffee.

With a squeeze to Tyler's hand, Ellie went to Caroline and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you ok?" She asked quietly. She could faintly hear Sheriff Forbes talking with Kelly in the living room. "Because you don't look ok."

Caroline glanced over her shoulder to see if they would be overheard and quietly confessed, "I'm the one that found Vicki." Ellie's jaw dropped in shock as she watched Caroline start the coffee maker. "I got stuck in the mud on some back road and couldn't get a signal. So I got out of my car and started walking around and right when I found one, I slipped and slid down like this hill near a river. It was super dark and I couldn't see anything so I was trying to climb back up and I grabbed a hold of something and it ended up being Vicki's hand and she was trapped in like vines and stuff."

Ellie didn't know what to say, so she pulled Caroline to her and hugged her as hard as she could. She couldn't even begin to imagine how terrifying it must be to find the dead body of someone you had known your whole life. "Is there anything I can do to help? You don't have to be doing all of this if you aren't feeling up to it."

"Weirdly enough, I'm ok for right now. I think my concern for Matt is kind of overriding my other emotions and I'm ok with that." Caroline said. "I need to go give my mom and Mrs. Donovan some more coffee." Ellie followed after her to the living room and it was hard to see Kelly look so broken. Both Kelly and Sheriff Forbes were teary eyed. And it didn't take a genius to know that Sheriff Forbes was more grateful than ever that Caroline was alright. She followed Caroline back towards Vicki's room. "I made you some coffee." Caroline told Matt.

"Thanks." Matt told her. He was staring at the floor and Ellie watched from where she stood just out of sight in the hallway.

"Are you… is there anything I can do?" Caroline asked him.

He stood and stepped towards her. "I just, uh… I need to be alone right now." He told her. The doorbell rang, and Ellie could see Tyler going to open the door as she walked that way. Her twin appeared a moment later and Ellie gestured behind her. When Elena walked past her, she turned back to see Matt. he stared at her for a moment before his blank expression began to crumble.

As his breathing got harsher, Elena rushed towards him. "Matt." She pulled him to her as he really began to cry. Watching Matt dissolve into tears hurt more than she'd ever expected and she too began to cry. She wasn't sure how long everyone stayed there, but after a while they began to leave.

"Matt." Ellie said softly as she stepped into the bathroom where he was wiping his eyes. "Is it ok if I stay here with you and your mom? I don't want the two of you to be alone." Fresh tears appeared and he nodded instead of speaking. It didn't surprise her that he didn't trust his voice. "I'm just going to let Elena know, ok?" She went and found her siblings standing at the door, saying goodbye to Kelly. "Elena, I'm gonna stay the night with them ok?"

"Ok, I'll let you know when we get home." Elena said as she hugged Ellie. "Take care of them." She whispered into her twin's ear.

"I will." Once everyone had gone, leaving only the Donovans and Ellie, Kelly grabbed a bottle and headed to her room. Ellie and Matt went to his room where she held him as he cried for the sister he didn't get to say goodbye to. She wished she could fix it, but she wasn't sure there was a magical fix for a hurt like this.


Author's Note:

Thank you guys for over 10000 views! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please let me know what you thought in the reviews! Also, if you are somewhere where there are protests over the murder of George Floyd, please be careful. I don't want any of you guys getting hurt.

To Only Reviewer: Yeah, the disaster at The Grill was not fun for her to watch. She could've had a worse day though.

To Mimi: Yes, in the end Elena was very much involved in Sheila's death. I'm so glad you think Ellie is the better twin. I'm not sure if she'll try to make them leave, also not sure if she'll dislike them forever. Really she just hates Damon at the moment, because Stefan's always been nice enough. But her telling them that they don't have a future with Elena is definitely a possibility.

To Daynesky: Thank you so much! It honestly diverges more the more I write when it comes to her being in scenes that were on the show. Part of that is due to her not really being involved in that side of things yet, she'll probably be involved more in it when she finds out. And yes, Ellie isn't stupid and she knows that Elena isn't perfect, which makes her way more likely to call Elena out when she needs to.

To MoonShadow396: Thank you! The magic lessons are always fun to write. I'm glad that you like Ellie and Tyler's friendship. I've seen a lot of really amazing fics where the OC and Tyler are close, so it's kind of made me like him a lot more. I'm very excited for you guys to get to Ellie and Elijah's meeting. It was something I'd been waiting to get to since I started the fic.

To Oz: Agreed, I think part of Ellie and Caroline being so close comes from the fact that they've both been pushed into Elena's shadow more than once. It's why way back at the beginning Ellie understood what Caroline was talking about when she said it was a competition. And yeah, Elena really should have cared enough about Stefan and Damon to be honest that she never wanted to be a vampire. As for Bonnie and Ellie's friendship, I don't intend for their relationship to get ruined because of Elena at all. And when it comes to Ellie and Elijah meeting, she's going to be very shocked because she's going to have a lot of information thrown at her at once. She's going to meet him in chapter 27, so we've got less than 10 chapters to go!

To RiRi: I'm glad you think Ellie and Emily are sweet! We didn't really get a whole lot of Emily's personality to go off of, so I hope I do her justice. Jeremy defending Ellie is a very good idea. When it comes to Klaus and Caroline, yeah, more than likely she's going to support it partially because I thought they were cute together, and I have ideas on how I want Klaus and Ellie to act together so that's going to impact how she reacts to them together. Also, Ellie is going to be meeting Elijah in chapter 27!

-Madame Magic

Posted: 5/29/20