Chapter 8: I think she jinxed us.
.
.
I pulled my car beside the entrance of the hospital, where Caroline and Matt were standing, waiting for me. They quickly got in and Caroline looked slightly upset. Choosing to ignore the tension, I started the drive toward Matt's house.
Finally, Caroline snapped and turned back on her seat, toward Matt. "I can't believe you made me call Claire! Tyler could have taken us!"
Matt's eyes didn't move from his new plaster cast, "I don't want anything to do with him, Caroline."
She huffed and sat straight again. The rest of the trip was silent, and soon I left Matt in front of his house.
"I can't with him, I swear. Between that and Bonnie and Elena, I don't know what to do."
"I can't really help you there…" I winced sympathetically, driving toward the Grill for dinner.
"I'm sure Bonnie is upset with Elena because of the tomb's business, but it's not like I can tell her I know about it."
I looked sideways at her face, her sadness was killing me, and I knew that it was because of me, because I wanted to keep the secret.
We entered the Grill ten minute later, Caroline's face lit up with a smile when she saw Bonnie, but a frown replaced her smile at Bonnie's expression.
"What happened, now?" She muttered, grabbing my arm and walking toward Bonnie's table. "Hey Bonnie, are you okay? Something happened?" We sat, but the other girl stayed quiet. "Bonnie, you can tell us what happened, we won't judge you."
She looked up with guilt in her eyes. "I did something wrong, and I lied about it."
"What?" I asked.
"To who?" Caroline said at the same time.
"To Elena. I pretended to do something I didn't really do."
Oh. I have a really clear idea about what this is all about. Everything turned quickly in my head, and I made a quick decision. "It's about Jonathan Gilbert's device, isn't it?"
Caroline looked at me surprised, but somewhat hopeful, while Bonnie looked shocked, her mouth opening a few times without anything getting out of it.
"How do you know about the device?" She finally said.
"We know a lot of things, Bonnie. Elena asked you to remove the spell but… You didn't."
"That was not right! Grams would have never…" she retorted instantly, forgetting her other questions.
"True, Sheila always stayed out of vampires' business," I told her with a smile, taking her hand. "It wasn't good to lie to them, Bonnie, but I understand why you did it."
She looked at me before looking at Caroline. "How long have you known for… All that?"
"A while… I was waiting for you to tell me," she whispered, her voice broke on the word 'you'.
"I— I'm sorry, Caroline, I didn't want to drag you into this mess…"
"It's okay, I get it," she smiled at Bonnie, but I knew she wasn't okay. I squeezed her hand slightly under the table.
"Umm, Bonnie?" The girl turned toward me, curious. "I would really appreciate it if you don't tell Elena and the brothers that we know… about all that."
"Why?" She asked with a frown.
"I don't really want to answer Damon's interrogations, not yet." And I wanted to stay out of all the dramas they seem to attract for a little longer.
"I won't say anything, but if they ask me I won't lie," she said solemnly, looking squarely into my eyes.
Well, that was pretty hypocritical, but okay. I didn't say that, though.
"Thanks, Bon," I told her simply with a smile.
We were at the Grill, and I hated that. I wanted to be home, hiding Caroline deep into the closet of my room and not letting her out until tomorrow.
But Caroline was worried for Matt about his fight with Tyler. I can still hear her, 'Breaking up with him doesn't mean I don't care about him anymore, Claire.'
I would have preferred it if you asked me.
But, yeah. Here I am, listening to the pathetic attempts of my sister to try to convince Matt to talk to Tyler.
"Oh, God, Matt please, talk to him already. He made out with your mom, he didn't kill her." I finally snapped, just wanting to go home.
"Claire," she hissed at me, stabbing me in the guts with her elbow.
"Ouch, not fair. I just said what we all thought," I muttered under my breath.
Before anyone could talk, the mayor entered the Grill and rushed to his son. I stood quickly, I knew how the guy treated his son. They whispered at each other and, surprisingly enough, the mayor seemed worried.
Then he suddenly grabbed Tyler's arm.
"Let go of me!"
"Can I help you with something, Mayor Lockwood?" I asked, slipping quickly beside Tyler. He ignored me, the dick.
"Please Tyler; I need you to go home, now. Take your friends with you."
"Why? What's going on?" Matt asked, worried.
"I can't explain. All of you need to get home, now." He looked insistently at his son, pleading. "Please."
"You know what, what about we all go to our house," I began with a smile. "I have my car and like that Caroline could continue with her awful plan, right?"
The mayor looked at me, relieved when his son agreed.
We were all taking the way of the door when I saw her.
"Care," she turned toward me curiously. "Take the key to start the car, I will be here in a second."
She frowned but agreed, knowing she couldn't really ask anything in front of the boys.
I was quickly by her side and grabbed her arm, and she turned toward me with surprise. "Hey, Anna."
Her surprise turned into suspicion, "I don't know you."
"But I do. And I know that the device still works, they will grab you as soon as they can," I whispered, looking sideways at the deputies standing by the door.
"How… Why are you telling me?" She stammered with both eyebrows raised and wide eyes.
"I can help you. They know me, I'm the daughter of their boss. They won't suspect you if you get out of here with me. I could hide you until it's all finished."
"Why?" She frowned, her mistrust clear in her voice.
I just smiled slightly, "I think I have something for saving sad vampires," in love with Jeremy, I added silently. "But we have to go now."
She nodded and we took our way out. "Get in the back, Anna. Oh, my name is Claire, by the way," I sat behind the wheel. "Sorry guys, but I had to get Anna, she is coming with us."
I pulled the car out while they introduced each other, Caroline looked at me curiously but went with it. We were almost at my house when Anna suddenly screamed, her hands around her head. Matt, who was sitting in the middle, grabbed her shoulders.
"Anna?! What is happening?!"
"What is that noise?" Tyler asked, looking around him with panic. "Aargh! That hurts!" He grabbed his head with both hands, blood coming out of his ears.
"Claire! You need to stop the car! Or take us to the hospital!" Matt screamed, leaning forward between the front seats, panic in his voice.
"I can't do that," I stuttered, looking at the deputies who were running around. "We're almost at my home, okay? I'm sure they'll be okay!"
"What?! Claire!" Matt began to protest.
"It's okay, Matt," Caroline said, turning toward him.
"No! It's not! She's screaming like she's possessed and Tyler is unconscious!" He screamed over Anna's scream of pain.
"I'll explain everything, Matt, okay?" I pleaded, trying to concentrate on the road.
"What is there to explain, Claire?! They need help!"
"Matt, please," Caroline whispered when I finally parked in front of my house.
Anna screams stopped and we all turned toward her. Well, except Tyler who was still unconscious. Her vampire's face manifested briefly and Matt screamed, trying to back away from her and hit Tyler in the process.
"Thank you, Claire. I owe you one," she said with a hoarse voice.
"What are you gonna do?" I asked her, choosing to ignore the dumbfounded expression on Matt's face.
"I need to get out of town before John Gilbert finds me. He wants to kill me," she said with a sad expression. Looks like Jeremy has a gift with girls…
She looked at Matt with a frown and then grabbed his face, looking into his eyes.
"Nothing wrong or weird happened in this car, Claire stopped by my house and I got out there," she said before I could stop her. Matt repeated what she said and she disappeared.
I shared a look with Care while Matt shook his head. Well, as much as I hate compulsion on friends, that was one less explanation to make.
Mayor Lockwood died. I feel like I should have known, but I didn't really care much. As cruel as it could sound, I couldn't let myself feel guilty for every death I can't stop.
Right now, the only thing that counted for me was that I succeeded in saving Caroline from her car accident. Hopefully, that would be enough to save her from being stuck at 17.
We were in Mom's car, going to the Lockwood's for the Mayor's funeral. Caroline took my hand and squeezed it. I smiled at her, trying to be convincing. Worrying my little sister is the last thing I want to do.
Mom didn't talk with us, she looked preoccupied. She has been since yesterday, when she got home with Carol Lockwood in tow, looking for Tyler.
After Anna left, we discovered that her compulsion on Matt also included Tyler's outbursts. He seemed to think that Tyler was only asleep, and tried to wake him up. When he succeeded, Tyler didn't mention anything about noises again, and Care and I decided to humor him and did as nothing happened. We spent the night watching movies in the living room.
That's how Carol and Mom found us and announced to us the mayor's death.
Caroline told me about her idea of what happened when we were alone again, and I felt really stupid for not thinking of that sooner. Logically, if Tyler was affected by the device because of the werewolf gene, his father would probably be too.
Tyler was standing by the door of his house when we got there. Mom took him in her arms, told him again how much she was sorry before getting into the house to find his mom. I stopped in front of him, looking at him in the eyes.
"Your dad was a dick, there is no denying that," I state plainly, Caroline facepalming with exasperation beside me. "But he was your father; I don't know what it feels like to lose a parent, but I do know you, Ty. You will get back from that in no time."
I can't swear it, but I'm sure something akin to gratitude passed in his gaze.
"Everything she said, except for the dick comment," Caroline said with a soft smile.
"Thanks, Claire, Caroline." He nodded at us. Our attention suddenly turned toward the car that was parking in front of the house, letting out none other than Mason Lockwood. "If it's not the black sheep of the family," Tyler commented with sarcasm.
I couldn't hold back a smile, sheep was the last term I would use to describe Mason Lockwood. Mason looked at us with surprise.
"No way… Tyler?" He took his nephew in his arms. "And if it's not the Forbes' princess themselves, what do you drink in this town? You're not, like, twelve?"
"First, no one calls us that anymore, Mason," I told him with a pout. "Second, we were twelve years old like, five years ago."
"But you still have your wit, Clairedzilla," he chuckled and ruffled my hair, knowing how much I hated that and his stupid nickname. He turned his attention toward his nephew, putting a hand on his shoulder. "It's good to see you again, Tyler."
"Good to see you too, uncle Mason. Mom is inside." Mason smiled at us and entered the house to find his sister-in-law. I can't count how many times Mason crashed Jenna's babysit session before he fled for a surfer's life. We smiled one last time at Tyler before entering the house.
"90% sure it's active," I whispered to Care, when we were out of earshot, my eyes flying toward Mason quickly.
"Don't you say… I was beginning to think that we don't have enough problems already." I laughed at her tone dripping with sarcasm. "Now, if you could excuse me," she said before ditching me and walking toward Matt without another word.
Honestly, sometimes I doubted their rupture, but I knew how much Caroline cared about their friendship.
I walked around for a while, answering to people who talked to me, probably only because of my mom, searching for Jenna, and stealing one or two glasses of whiskey. Or more, I didn't really count. Then I found Elena talking with Stefan.
"Hey, princess Gilbert," I called her jokingly and didn't hold back my laugh at her lost expression. "Sorry, Mason reminded me of those awful nicknames of his. Stefan. We never had the chance to talk much."
"Uh, yeah, Claire, sorry about that," he said between his teeth, looking nervously between me and Elena.
"Don't be so nervous, Angelius, I won't eat your girlfriend," I was trying to make him relax but it didn't seem to have the wanted effect. Surprisingly, Elena chuckled at my Buffy's joke. "Anyway, I'm not here for that! Jenna came with you? I have to keep her as far away from Mason as possible before he reminds her of Clairedzilla. I swear, he will never get over one tiny, teeny bite. I mean, I was six years old, for fuck's sake," I rambled and, okay, maybe I was a little drunk.
"Sorry, I came alone. But I think she will be here soon," she smiled, apologetic.
"Oh, okay… I thought she told me she was coming with you. Anyway, I'm going to look out for her, thanks, Elena. Stefan, I think it was our longest conversation… Well, sort of," I nodded at them one last time and took the way of the front door.
When I got there, I found Jenna entering the house with Jeremy. "Hey, Jenna!" I hugged her, avoiding the food in her hands. "You need to stay far, far away from Mason, Jenna!" I whispered in her ear but, judging by Jeremy's mocking expression, that wasn't really a whisper.
"Claire, don't tell me you're drunk… Oh god, your mom is here, Claire!" She shoved me into Jeremy's arms. "Keep her here while I go see Carol, I'll be back in a second."
She looked at me as much exasperated as she was amused and went to see the mayor's widow. Jeremy looked down at me, amused and I frowned.
"How is it that you're so tall… Is that why Vicky and Anna loved you? Is that your secret?"
Surprise crossed his eyes. "How do you know Anna?"
I thrust my finger into his chest. "That's because I look out for you, Little Gilbert. I saved both your girlfriends from death, you know? But shuuut, that's a secret," I whispered, my index now on my mouth, he needed to understand how the secret was important.
"What do you mean? Anna is alive? Damon said she was in the fire," Jeremy told me, grabbing my shoulders.
"Shut! It's a secret, Jeremy, do you know what a secret is?" I pouted, he didn't understand anything. "They can't know that I know, because if they know that I know they would want to know what I know and I know— They know— No, I know— Pffff, I don't know anymore."
"Okay, we'll need to have this conversation another time, because you're definitely drunk," he said, looking around him.
"No, I'm not. I wouldn't— I would have you know that I'm responsible, Little Gilbert," I said arrogantly.
"No, you're clearly not responsible, Claire," Jenna said from behind me. Jeremy gave me back to his aunt, looking at me with a frown before walking toward the next room.
"That's not cool, Jenna. It's your fault anyway, if you'd come with Elena, I wouldn't have to wait for you."
She frowned, looking at me curiously. "What do you mean? I came with Elena, she's outside with Damon. I don't really approve, not after the kiss they shared yesterday but…"
"Wait," I cut her, the distress I was feeling sobering me up. "You came here with Elena—" Suddenly, the nervous behavior of Stefan, that I was too drunk to really understand, made sense. "Jenna, I think we have a little big problem."
Jenna frowned, worry clearly visible in her eyes. I grabbed her hand and took her where I last saw them. They weren't in the room anymore, but I could see them through the french windows. I turned toward Jenna and motioned the couple with my head.
"Look at Elena, did she change clothes since you came here?"
Jenna looked toward them surprised, probably by my stupid question. "Uh? Yeah, you're right, she changed. When did she find the time? And clothes?"
"She didn't… Remember that doppelganger I told you about? Looks like she's in town."
I looked back at the couple, just in time to see her stabbing Stefan in the chest with a metal bar.
"Ouch," Jenna winced beside me.
What was Caroline saying about problems, again? I think she jinxed us.
The doorbell woke me up less than one hour after we finally fell asleep. I looked at Caroline, my eyes half-open, and sighed loudly.
"You're not going, are you ?" We spend most of the night talking about the day's event and planning our next moves—we'll probably be forced to reveal our knowledge soon— and we both slept in her bed because I was too tired to go to my room.
She mumbled something, I wasn't even sure what, and I took that for an answer. Breathing heavily, I made my way to the door, ready to kill whoever was coming over at this time of the night.
I was welcomed with the sight of Elena, sitting on our front stairs and sobbing heavily. "Elena? What're you doin' here? You wanna see Caroline?"
She looked at me with tearful eyes, "oh my God, Claire, I'm so sorry! I didn't want to— It's Stefan— He is—" She trailed off, sobbing heavily.
"Oh my, Elena..." Did something happen to Stefan because of the change I made? I grabbed Elena in a hug, ready to comfort her, but was instantly pushed against the wall, Elena's—
No. That was Katherine's hand around my throat, a smirk on her lips.
"Wrong name, sweetheart. Say something to the Salvatores for me, will you?"
I tried to push her back, scratching her hand and her arm, but she wasn't even bothered by it. Choking me with only one hand against the wall, she let her vampire's face appear, fangs out, and bit into her wrist. She released my throat, grabbing my jaws the next second, and forced her blood into my mouth.
That took less than a minute but it felt like an eternity.
"The game is on," she whispered playfully, her mouth brushing against my ear.
And everything went black.
A/N: Hey! Sorry for the delay, I have computer problems right now, and it's not pleasant at all! I'm borrowing my sister's but she needs it for school so that's not really a long-term solution. Anyway, I hope you loved it! Don't hesitate to tell me what you think! Thanks for the Follows/Favs/Review!
Stay safe!
XxxX Miss Dragonish
