"Waking Up Underneath the Willow Tree

Chapter 7

"I remembered something." Elena told Damon the next day as he unlocked her chains making her rub her wrist from the soreness.

"Drink this first then we can talk." He replied handing her a glass full of blood which she downed in a flash licking her lips to capture the blood that had fallen on the corner of her mouth.

"Thank you." She gasped licking the corner of her mouth for the leftover blood as she handed Damon back the glass, he had given her.

"Are you feeling better this morning? More yourself?"

"Yeah. The extreme bloodlust is gone. For now."

"That's good. What did you remember?"

"I had a fight with Matt. We were together in this memory."

"Did your memory give you insight as to why you two started dating in the first place?"

"Unfortunately, not. Why do you think I started dating him?"

"I didn't know you personally back then, but I have an idea as to how we can figure this out."

"How so?"

"I think it's time for another experiment. I didn't want to give this back to you until we reached some progress but now, I think you're ready."

"Ready for what?"

"I found this around the willow tree you said you were buried by, I thought you might want it back." Damon said handing her a cellphone that looked familiar. The screen was cracked to hell, but miraculously it still worked.

"Th-This is my phone. But if someone killed me, why would they make it so easy to find?"

"That's what I would like to know. Either we're dealing with a smart master mind who wanted someone to find this or a dumbass who dropped it when they killed you. Either way, we can look at it and see if there's anything you can remember."

Placing the phone in her hand, Elena gasped as a flash of a vision crossed through her mind making her drop the phone in shock.

"Elena. What is it? What's wrong?"

"It was just a glimpse of a vision, but it was there."

"What did you see?"

"It was only flashes, But I-I was struggling with someone and I-I slipped. I slipped and hit my head on this huge rock."

"Anything else?"

"I heard multiple voices and I felt woozy and dizzy like I was either drunk or high. Maybe someone had drugged me, I don't know, but they-they thought I was dead after my head hit the rock. They-They dragged me by my feet threw the forest and someone told another one to check my phone. Before I heard the sound of the coffin shutting on me and the sound of dirt on my casket. Th-They didn't even check if I was dead or not. What kind of monsters would do something like that?" she replied her voice feeling faint as Damon placed her chin in his hands in a gesture of comfort.

"Elena, I promise we'll find the culprits who did this to you, can you remember what you were fighting over?"

"No. It's all just so blurry, something terrible happened Damon, I know it. You saw the condition I was in when you found me. We-We need to go back."

"We have to do a lot of stuff actually."

"I don't know where to start, this is all so confusing." She said putting her head in her hands and sitting on her bed wanting nothing more than to wake up from this nightmare she was living in.

"Well first we have to get your blood lust under control. You won't be of any use in this investigation if you can't get ahold of it."

"Fine, but I refuse to test myself with innocent subjects." She answered as Damon gave her a questioning look.

"What kind of individuals would you prefer?"

"Criminals. The most vile and disgusting humans you can think of. We can practice letting me out of here by taking me to the sketchier neighborhoods and letting me take care of their problem."

"How is that supposed to help with your bloodlust?"

"Easy. If I can control the urge to kill them, I can control the urge to kill anyone. And if I do end up killing them, well then that's one less problem in the world, right?"

"You got a point there. Once we get control of your bloodlust, we have to follow a couple of leads."

"Leads? As in more than one."

"Obviously, you were human at one point, you must have parents, a house, and a bedroom, you know a life before this one. We'll have to figure out as much as we can with the little information we do have. "

"I only got some glimpses of what my life was like beforehand. How are we supposed to find them?"

"Easy. With this." He answered holding up her broken phone.

"The screen is shattered and it's nearly impossible to unlock now. How am I supposed to use it?"

"Caroline has a friend who can fix this. She and I could take it to him, and he can fix it."

"What about the passcode? Most phones have one and I can't remember anything, so how are we supposed to unlock it?"

"He can take care of that too."

"Then by all means, go ahead. What else do we have to do?"

"We'll have to go to Mystic Falls High School. You were a student there and maybe we can find out more about your life. It'll be a mad house anyway, so no one should really notice us. Or maybe I can work with Caroline about getting you a disguise, so no one recognizes you."

"Why would it be a mad house?"

"Prom is this weekend and after that it'll be graduation. It's the perfect time for us to investigate while all this shit is going on since everyone is in a frenzy trying to prepare for it."

"Oh, yeah. Good idea." She responded absentmindedly.

"Does that bother you?" he asked taking her by surprise.

"Does what bother me?"

"You were a senior when all of this happened, Does it bother you that you won't get to go to prom or attend your own graduation?" he asked sitting down on the bed next to her.

"Of course, it bothers me. People I knew killed me in cold blood. I probably murdered a good friend of mine by being reckless and driving drunk. I've killed two people and almost killed Matt while I've been a vampire. And to top it all off I can't remember a damn thing along with not being able to dance with a guy I love at prom or graduate with my friends. So yeah, you can say that this bothers me. And the heightened vampire senses don't help because I can feel the pain in every fiber of my being. And all I want is to make it stop."

"There's always college." He offered making her laugh as she slapped her hand on top of his.

"Thank you for trying to cheer me up. I appreciate all you're doing for me."

"I wouldn't want it any other way."

"You know you're not as bad as I originally thought you were. Why don't you ever let people see the good in you?"

"Because when people see good, they expect good, and I don't want to live up to anyone's expectations." He answered as she nodded.

"I get that." She smiled stroking his hand. If she moved just an inch, she would be able to kiss those succulent lips.

"We should also look into the car crash. If there was one it would be on file. Caroline could get that too. Her mom is the sheriff."

"Caroline's mother is the sheriff?" Elena asked not sure why she didn't remember this. She guessed it was yet another disadvantage to her amnesia.

"Yeah, she has been for years. I'll start working on some of these tasks with Caroline and then tonight we can go over it before I take you out to feed." He said getting up, his hand slipping from hers shocking her from its loss.

"Ugh yeah. Good idea. I guess I'll just stay here." She smiled wishing she could go with him.

"I won't be gone for long, I promise." He said leaving her alone so she could finally shed the tears she had been holding.

One thing was for sure, whenever she found out who had killed her they were as good as dead.