I left early this morning. Sneaking out the backdoor without a sound and disappearing into the early morning haze as the sun was just beginning to rear it's head over the trees. I thought an early morning run through the woods would calm my racing thoughts, but I was wrong. The more I ran, the more I felt the thoughts jumble-up into one big ball. One that I may not be able to untangle any time soon.
Beads of sweat were forming on my hair line the further I ran, whisking through the trees effortlessly at speed. Trying to forget everything for even the smallest of seconds would be a huge relief to say the least.
"Hello?" I called out to the trees as I stopped running briefly. The unnerving feeling that someone was watching me from a far put me on edge.
Maybe it was Stefan, maybe Damon, who knows.
I shrugged it off and continued on my run.
I hadn't heard from Damon at all since I went into my room late last night. And I was avoiding all things Stefan related since the altercation at the front door with Elena and Alaric. Can't lie and say I didn't enjoy the show... because I did. Very much. The look on Elena's face when he called her pathetic nearly crushed her, but she's strong. Not someone who would give up easily, she never has been. That I admired about her, a lot. I tend to push my emotions back inside, for no one to see except for me.
"Okay..." I panted as I came to a staggering halt. "This is pointless."
I couldn't escape the thoughts in my head by running, so it was time to return to the boarding house and see what awaited me today. Hopefully nothing, but since coming home, I don't think I've had a day where something didn't go wrong.
Today might be the day.
I opened the door at the rear of the house. It was unnervingly quite as I entered the kitchen.
"Hello?" I called out into the open space.
"Stefan? No one answered. "Damon?" Again, no one answered.
I was alone in the house for the first time, and strangely enough, the urge to snoop around was the first thing I could think of. Well, other than a sandwich to replenish myself from the long run. I took the opportunity to have a look around the vast house. It truly was bigger than you'd imagine when you're alone on the inside. I walked around the living room, running my hand over the back of the sofa as I looked around. Taking in the quiet for a few seconds before my phone began ringing, ruining the tranquil moment I was having.
Elena's name flashed on the screen until I answered.
"Elena, hi. What's up?" I asked happily.
"Jess, hey. Do you think you could come to the grill?" She asked.
"Sure, just let me shower and change and I'll be right there."
"Thanks. See you soon."
She hung up the phone at the same time. I placed the phone down on the little table behind the couch as something caught my eye. Blood stains near the window illuminated with the sun through the cracks in the curtains. I walked over and kneeled on the ground, placing a fingertip into the blood. It was fresh, not warm, but it hadn't began to coagulate yet.
"What happened here?" I wondered as I wiped the blood on my trousers. A metal fire-poker caught my eyes laying near by. I crawled on all-fours over to inspect the weapon. The blood was beginning to dry on the metal surface as my mind was trying to piece things together that could have taken place. Stefan and Damon could have fought or they could have fought something else. I wasn't going to get the answers I needed here. Maybe Elena knew.
Once I showered and changed, I made my way to the grill to meet up with Elena.
Opening the door and walking in, I immediately spotted her as she headed to the bathroom so I followed after her. Walking in, I nearly bounced off Elena's back as she stood frozen in the spot, staring at her brother and some other girl I hadn't met before. Both of whom were looking like they had been caught in the middle of something they shouldn't have.
"What's going on?" I closed the door behind me so people passing by weren't alerted.
"Good question." Elena spoke, her tone slightly bitter as she stared at Jer.
Elena's phone began to ring. It was Caroline.
Turns out, something happened on the night of the bonfire that opened up the gate to the spirit world, letting them through to ours. I can only imagine what that could mean. I was dreading what could possibly entail.
"How do I do that?" Elena asked Caroline through the phone. The air was palatable. I didn't know where to look without it being awkward as hell.
"Talisman... my necklace?" Elena muttered into the phone, her hand brushing her neck where the necklace once was. "I don't have the necklace. Damon has it somewhere. Text him. I'll call you right back." She hung up the phone and turned to me.
"I'm honestly not even going to ask." I smiled awkwardly. I had absolutely no idea what just happened with Jer, and quite frankly, I don't want to. So I changed the subject quickly. "About Damon, I think I seen him in the bar before I followed you in here. I'll go ask him about the necklace."
"Good idea." Elena sighed, her shoulders heavy. "I'll meet you back here."
"Sure. I won't be long."
I turned and left the bathroom. No doubt Elena was going to have a talk with Jer about the girl Anna that was there and I didn't want to be caught in the middle of that.
As I rounded the bar, Damon was texting on his phone beside Alaric and... Mason?
How is... how is this possible?
"Mason?" I asked sheepishly.
He turned in his seat to face me, also a little taken aback.
"Jessie?" He smiled and I enveloped him in a hug. "Little Jessie!"
"Ugh, It's been so long!" I grinned into his shoulder as he held me tightly. "I'm sorry I didn't get to see you before..."
"No, no." He smiled, "I'm sorry I didn't get to see you before..."
Damon groaned, "Yeah, Yeah." I broke the hug with Mason as Damon spoke, "Let's get to it. I killed you. You want revenge. Get in line."
"You really are a dick, aren't you." I crossed my arms defensively.
Mason laughed and turned to Damon, "Actually, I want an apology."
Alaric laughed, "Good luck with that."
I sniggered.
"Don't you have a family to haunt? You know your nephew has turning into a mindless hybrid minion." Damon moaned.
Mason looked at me briefly, a fleeting gaze at most as he turned to face Damon, "That's why I'm here. To help."
"Well, sorry to break it to you, buddy, but Tyler can't be helped. At least not while Klaus is alive. Which is, like, always."
There it goes... the pit of my stomach beginning to sink at the mention of his name once more.
Mason smiled, "Not necessarily. Not if you had a weapon that could kill him."
Kill him?
Damon snorted, "There is no weapon...What do you know?"
"I know you need to apologise." Mason taunted him.
"You've got to be kidding me."
"Are you incapable of remorse?" Alaric groaned. "Just apologise."
Damon rolled his eyes and squared his shoulders off. "You're right. I didn't have to kill you. I do a lot of things I don't have to do."
Mason broke out into laughter.
"That's the closest thing to an apology I've seen from him." I joked.
Mason placed his arm around my shoulder after he got off his seat. "Meet me at the old Lockwood Cellar. Bring a shovel." He cast his eye over to Alaric and back to Damon. "Come alone."
"What, you're going to bury me alive?" Damon asked in a half serious manner.
"Don't tempt me." Mason replied before leaving the Grill.
I took his seat, "What are you gonna do?" I asked Damon.
He shrugged, "Looks like I'm going to find a shovel."
It was now dark as Damon and I walked through the woods leading up to the entrance of the Lockwood cellar.
"Why did you insist on coming with me?" Damon asked.
I shrugged, "I was suppose to meet Elena after I asked you about the necklace, but Caroline beat me to it." I crunched a branch under my boot. "Plus, when I went back to the bathroom, she was gone."
Damon waved the shovel out in front of us, stopping me from walking any further forward.
"What do you mean gone?" He asked with haste.
I laughed, "Boy, you really do care for her, don't you?" I joked.
He rolled his eyes as we began to walk again.
"Don't worry she's fine. She messaged not long ago that she's helping someone called Lexi to help Stefan, or something along those lines."
"Huh." Was Damon's response.
So I took that as a sign that she really was safe with this Lexi person.
As we entered the cellar, Mason was stood with his back to us, lighting a lantern with a match. He turned around as he heard us rounding the corner.
"I'm surprised you showed." He said, looking a little shocked as he seen me walk out from behind Damon. "Why did you bring Jess?"
Damon shrugged, "Ask her. She invited herself."
I also shrugged my shoulders. "What?" I smiled, "I'm curious."
Mason didn't say another word to me about my being here.
In all honesty, I don't even know why I came. The talk of Klaus and a potential way to kill him intrigued me. Almost like I had to come and see what Mason knew. For my own piece of mind.
Mason handed me a lantern before speaking with Damon.
"Mikael? Yeah. That didn't turn out so well, did it?" Mason smiled smugly.
Damon's face twisted, "How do you know so much?" He asked.
He sighed, "There's not much to do on the other side but sit around and watch other people screw things up."
"What are we looking for?"
"There's an old Lockwood family legend about a weapon that can kill an Original vampire. Like the rest of their secrets," He said, and once again, I caught him staring at me as he spoke so cryptically, "They kept it buried."
Mason grasped the shovel and smashed it against the brick wall, trying to create an opening. Even with his strongest hit the wall remained in place, just debris fell to the ground.
Damon tutted, "Oh, come on, give me the thing." He took the shovel from Mason and told him to move back as he smashed through the wall with ease.
He and Mason stuck their heads inside the hole with a lantern to look around, but went no further.
"Go for it." Mason nudged him.
"You first." Damon sniggered.
A playful smile crossed Mason's face. "What, you think I'm leading you into a trap?"
"The thought had crossed my mind." Damon spat back.
I walked up to then and pushed them aside.
"God, you are both acting like children." I moaned before climbing through the hole and over broken bricks.
The tunnels were dimly-lit by the lanterns, it was difficult to see a few feet in front.
As Damon and Mason bickered behind me, I continued along the narrow passage ways before stopping at a split in the tunnels.
"Mason, Which way?" I asked and turned around.
"I don't know. Flip a coin?" He half joked.
Damon groaned, "Aren't you supposed to be all-knowing?"
Mason frowned, "I'm a ghost. I'm not god. Go left." He pointed to the entrance.
Damon speculated before he walked a little to the left before changing his mind.
"Jess, go right."
"Or not... You have trust issues. Anyone ever tell you that?" Mason pointed out to the elder Salvatore.
"Alright, right it is." I said before walking.
I didn't get very far before wooden poles shot out of the walls and trapped my body between them. I let out a scream as one of the poles sliced my arm.
"Jess!" Damon gasped and rushed to my side.
Mason however left us behind and disappeared from sight.
"Son-of-a-bitch!" I yelled through clenched teeth as Damon tried to set me free, but the vervain was burning his skin each time he touched the stakes.
It wasn't long until Mason reappeared with a shovel in hand and passed it to Damon.
He made quick work of breaking the stakes and setting me free from my little prison.
"What's your game, man?" Damon almost growled. "I killed you. I jammed my fist into your chest. I ripped your heart out. There's no way this whole buddy-trust act is real."
Mason sighed, his tone was serious as he spoke. "You know what the other side is like? We're all alone. We watch the people we left behind and we regret our decisions. That's it." I don' think I had seen Mason this serious and... hurt? "Look, I can't change what happened to me. But maybe I can change what happens to Tyler and..." He quickly caught himself as I walked up beside Damon. "I don't need revenge, Damon. I need redemption."
Damon didn't say another word. His lips were pressed into a fine-line as he dipped his head slightly as Mason finished talking.
Maybe it was regret from Damon as Mason told him was it was like on the other side. Maybe he really didn't care, I don't know. But I know when someone is hurting, and Mason definitely was. I also know when someone's lying...
Mason walked on ahead as I pulled out a small piece of wood and tossed it to the ground.
"Oww." I groaned.
"You alright?" Damon asked.
I nodded, "Yeah, I will be." I replied with a slight breathlessness. "Let's keep going."
Mason was a few steps ahead of Damon and I. I was last in the line as I applied pressure to my open wound. Damon suddenly stopped and I walked into his back without noticing.
"Oww." I groaned once more. His back was like a brick wall.
"God! This is not happening." Damon said as he looked around the area where he stood.
"What now?" Mason asked.
"I can't get through. It's like I'm not invited in." Damon informed him. Mason turned on his heals and began to walk further without us. "Wait!" Damon yelled.
"I'm not stopping just 'cause you're stuck. Jess," Mason called, "Come on. I'll let you know what we find."
"Yeah, but..."
Mason cut him off, "Looks like you're gonna have to trust me."
I walked around Damon and entered past the invisible barrier.
"Sucks to be you." I smiled as I followed after Mason.
I leaned against the wall as Damon stood in the centre of the walkway, looking at Mason as he looked around the cave in awe.
"So? What'd you find?" Damon asked impatiently, tapping his finger against the invisible force-field.
Mason remained silent as he looked around at the drawings on the walls. I ran my fingers along the chalk-like substance as a hand tapped my shoulder.
"Hmm?" I murmured and turned around to face Mason.
"There's something you need to know." He said stone-faced.
I frowned, "Okay?"
"It really should be your mom telling you this, but it can't wait any longer. I don't know how much time I have left."
"You're starting to freak me out, Mason." I folded my arms together.
He hesitated briefly. Thinking over his next words carefully before he spoke, "It's about you. About who you really-"
I jumped back, "Mason?" I called into the now empty tomb.
"No, no, no, no. No, where'd you go? Mason, Mason!" Damon yelled.
"Mason!" I spun around on the spot until I faced Damon, "What happened?" I asked in confusion.
Mason just vanished into thin-air, right in front of us before he could finish telling me something. Something important.
"What do we do now, Damon?"
He pulled out his phone and began dialling. "We get some help."
I nodded in agreement... then we waited.
My mom must know what he was going to tell me. I had to find out what it was.
About an hour had passed by, and Damon and I were still inside the caves waiting for Alaric to appear.
"Why can't you get inside?" I asked and broke the silence that clouded us.
"Vampires and Werewolves, they don't exactly mix. Especially the Lockwood's." Damon clarified for me.
"Ahh, okay."
Damon stared at me, "What did he say to you in there?"
I shrugged as I played with a stone, "I don't know. Something about who I was." I sighed, "I don't know what he was talking about. I don't even think he knew."
"Hmm." Damon groaned.
I looked over at him sceptically, but before I could ask anything else, noises emerged from inside one of the passage ways and Damon and I got to our feet.
He sighed, "You're here. It's about time." Damon moaned as Alaric rounded the corner.
"Didn't have anyone else to call?" Alaric shot back bitterly.
Damon rolled his eyes, "No, actually, I don't. 'Cause I need a non-vampire to get in the cave, and other than Elena, you're pretty much the only one I trust."
Alaric sniggered, "Well, you have a crappy way of showing it."
"Look, If Mason Lockwood can get over the fact that I killed him, can't you cut me a little slack, Ric?"
"I shouldn't have to get over it. I was your friend, Damon. You shouldn't have done it in the first place."
Damon sighed, "Well! Sometimes... I do things I don't have to do."
"You're gonna recycle that same crap-ass apology you gave Mason Lockwood."
"Yeah, well... I didn't mean it with him." Damon smiled as he tried to work his way around it.
I groaned, "Can we just stop this... whatever it is and get to the point. Some of us would like to go shower and change."
"Right, sorry." Alaric smiled and turned on his flashlight before going into the cave.
Alaric walked in and stood almost exactly where Mason was before he poofed into the air without warning.
"So was Mason screwing with me, or is there something in there?" Damon asked, leering round the corner.
Ric ignored Damon as he shone the flashlight around the walls. Clearly just as fascinated by the scriptures on the wall as I was.
"Ric, Ric?" Damon called.
"I found something." He replied.
"Do you know what 'they' are?" I asked.
I wanted to know... no, I needed to know.
He looked between us, "I have no idea..."