"Mother, I'm an adult now," I told her as I spoke in hushed tones on the phone. It was near a quarter past five in the morning, and it was obvious that she forgot the hour time difference. "The calling hours were already rough, and Katherine's funeral is today at noon. I'm not coming home right after. I have enough money saved up from work, and I just don't yet have it in me to be passing all of the places Katherine and I have been together. If I go by the Sub Shoppe in this shape, I'll bawl like a baby."
Some of it was a bit too dramatic, but I needed to make my point. I'd packed enough clothes for seemingly a month. In my despair, I just threw everything that would fit in my suitcase.
"Stefan, don't make me beg," she whined over the phone. "What about work?"
"I worked as a paid tutor at the school, Mom," I said. "School let out for summer."
"Please," she said as she tried her typical begging skills. As an overly attached matriarch, she didn't like me being far away for extended periods of time.
"No, Mom," I said firmly.
"What about your brother?" she asked.
"Damon?" I laughed. "You must be desperate! You know we're not on speaking terms ever since the incident. He didn't even come down with me to pay any respect to the woman he drunkenly tried to kiss. Instead, once he heard the news, he took the first flight to Italy to go live with Dad for the summer."
"You should at least call him," she said. "Katherine is a perfect example of how life is precious, and you never know if you'll ever speak to him again."
"You're using my dead girlfriend as a comparison to my relationship with my brother?" I asked in disgusted disbelief. "That was low."
I hung up.
I then tried going back to sleep. It was working until I heard a knock at my door.
"No room service," I groaned and rose out of my warm bed to answer it.
The door opened and I nearly fell out. There she stood before me in a dark blue dress and matching heels.
"I must be dreaming," I said as I touched the figure before me. She was real.
"Stefan, wake up," she said. "I'm Elena, not Katherine."
Her words cut into me as I realized that I'd never awake to Katherine's voice or face again. She'd be a memory that faded with time, but she'd never be forgotten.
"Right," I said. "Come on in. How'd you find me?"
"Stefan, this is the only hotel in Mystic Falls, and even then it's only a boarding house," Elena said as she sat down at the edge of my bed.
"Oh," I replied. As consciousness returned, I suddenly became aware of what I was wearing.
I stood before her, my brown hair strung out in arrays at the top of my head from tossing and turning in my sleep, my green eyes were most likely baggy and glazed over, and I was in nothing but my boxers.
I blushed, "Wait right here."
I quickly grabbed my suitcase and drug it into the bathroom. I'd get ready there.
"So, what are you doing here so early?" I asked through the door.
"I thought we'd do a little digging before Katherine was laid to rest," she began. "In order to do that, though, we need to get to her body before anybody else does."
Her body? Aw, Hell!
I certainly didn't want to do it, but I just agreed and continued getting ready. I never got up this early, and it was taking a toll on me.
I quickly showered, brushed my teeth, applied deodorant, styled my hair, and put on my suit. Katherine liked when I wore ties. Easier to lead you around, she once said. Though, I was already so wrapped around her finger I would've followed her anywhere if she'd asked me. I missed her so much.
"Alright, I'm ready," I said as I came out of the bathroom and donned my socks and shoes.
"Wow," Elena said. "You look very nice."
"Thanks," I grabbed my wallet, locked everything up, and headed downstairs.
Elena's Jeep was simple and looked like it had been in a fender bender or two. It was nothing compared to my classic red Porsche my father had gotten me for my sixteenth birthday. I didn't drive it much because it was near impossible to drive anywhere in New York City, so it stayed in the garage for the most part. I still loved it, though.
I hopped in the passenger seat and got to view the first bit of sun streak the sky with its light. I buckled my seat belt and watched Elena do the same out of the corner of my eye. I tried my best to look for any physical differences between her and Katherine, but I just couldn't - not even one.
I said nothing as she drove us to the funeral home. I didn't even speak when she parked her car out of the security camera's view, or even when she donned a tool belt she had in the backseat and covered it with a black trench coat.
She led me to the back door, but stopped before a camera could see her.
"Stefan, how good of a shot are you?" she asked.
"Why?"
"There are no other surrounding stores or homes with security cameras and I need you to take that one out," she replied as she pointed to the one near the back entrance.
"I guess I could do it," I said. I looked around and picked up the heaviest rock I could find and threw it at the camera.
I missed.
"Don't worry," she whispered. "Try again."
I tried again, imagining I was throwing a pass on the field. I knocked it down and shattered the lens.
"Great job," she approved.
It seemed to be her job now. She went to the locked door and pulled out a bobby pin from her hair as she began to pick it. To my surprise, it worked after a few minutes.
"My father taught me that in case I needed the fire extinguisher from the case and couldn't find the key," she smiled. "He had to keep it locked up because Jeremy always tried to spray the dog with it when we were little."
When she knocked the lock off of the door and opened it, we were surprised to find it dark. Elena pulled a flashlight from her tool belt, and turned it on. We both jumped when she shone it to the right as it reflected off of a mirror that led to the surveillance room.
Again, she picked that lock with her bobby pin and entered. The cameras were still rolling, all but the one I knocked out. That screen showed nothing but a technological blizzard. She pressed a button that rewound the tape so see if we were caught by the camera outside. Thankfully, we weren't. I was also grateful she knew how to disable the ones still in place.
I ejected the tape I took it-just a precaution.
"Come on," she said quickly. I followed.
She used the flashlight as her guide as she made her way through each room. When we reached the basement door, we saw light shining through the bottom of the door crack. I placed my ear against it and listened. There was no sound.
"Let's go," I whispered.
"Stefan," Elena started, "before we do, you must know that this is where the bodies are stored for funerals. My parents and Katherine are going to be down here, and maybe even some other bodies that we don't know about. Are you ready to do this?"
I contemplated this for a bit, but I'd already seen Katherine's body, so I knew what to expect, "Yes."
"Then that makes one of us," she said as I heard voice break.
"Elena, I'm so sorry," I said softly. "If it helps, I'll be right beside you the whole time."
She took a few deep breaths before opening the door. She turned off her flashlight, for the fluorescent lights hung to the ceiling like silent death. They buzzed ever-so-slightly in a mocking manner that made me want to throw a rock at them, too.
I descended the first three stairs first, and almost threw up as a most revolting smell invaded my nostrils like a plague. Down here, there were no flowers to cover up the scent of death, and I suddenly wished there was.
"Here," Elena said as she handed me the items of success: a small bottle of VapoRub.
"Thanks," I said. I'd never been so thankful for the stuff until I rubbed it on my top lip. I smelled nothing but menthol in a room full of death.
"Where do you think they'd be?" she asked me once we reached the basement.
The basement was separated into five separate rooms. Room One was labeled to be the freezer where bodies were stored pre-embalming. The second room was labeled as the place where the embalming was done.
The third had the bodies in coffins ready for viewing. The fourth: the room with new, empty, overstock caskets. The fifth room, which was quite far away from the rest, was the furnace. On-site cremation-how financially efficient.
I led Elena into the third room and nearly froze when we entered through the doors. There were over ten caskets in here scattered about the area-all of which looked exactly alike.
"How are we going to find them?" she asked.
"Open each one and hope for the best?"
"We don't have time, Stefan," she sighed. "There's too many, and the funeral home opens soon."
"Are there names or initials on any of them?" I asked.
"No, they're all the same, except for the serial numbers near the bottom," she replied. "Hey, look! There are files along the back wall. They're most likely the medical examiner's, but maybe the numbers on the caskets will be in them."
Well, that was hopeful thinking, but there were over seemingly three hundred files along that wall. I silently decided my plan was better, but I went along with her idea, anyway.
"This place opens at 6:30," she said. That gives us a little over a half hour to find what we need. You look for Katherine's file, and I'll look for my parents'."
I went over to the wall and scanned for the "P" section.
"Pier, Piera, and…," I mumbled to myself, "Pierce."
New problem: Katherine Pierce was a popular name. There were over eight files with the exact same spelling.
I pulled the first file. The date was on the inside flap of the folder.
It read: Katherine Margaret Pierce 1805-1896
Well, that certainly wasn't it.
The second one: Katherine Allison Pierce 1901-1996
Nope, not that one, either.
Third: Katherine Penelope Pierce 1918-1938 (Cause of death: Animal Attack)
Fourth: Katherine Nicolette Pierce 1920-1976 (Cause of death: Animal Attack)
Fifth: Katherine Celia Pierce 1930-1973 (Cause of death: Animal Attack)
Sixth: Katherine Jane Pierce 1989-2012 (Cause of death: Animal Attack)
I began to wonder if that was the medical examiner's excuse for every young, sudden death.
Seventh: Katherine Elena Pierce 1995-2012 (Cause of death: Animal Attack)
That one shook me to my core. The name included Elena's and the poor girl was just one year younger than I was. Needless, to say, though, it wasn't the Katherine Pierce I was looking for.
Eight: Katherine Elizabeth Pierce 1993-2012 (Cause of death: Automobile Accident)
"There she is," I mumbled to myself.
I lifted up the paper clipped inside to see if her casket's serial number was in here, but instead there were photos of not only the accident, but also Katherine's mangled body on the examiner's table. My breath caught in my throat and I dropped the file. I wanted to throw up. I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream. I wanted to do all three, but I had to keep my composure. Instead, I picked the file back up and skipped the photos to find the serial number. It was in the very back of the file.
I found Elena, who was pulling out the second file of her father.
"I found Gilbert members that go all the way back to the 1800's," she said. "Ah, here's Grayson."
She opened the folder and pulled out the slip with the casket numbers on. Lucky for her, the pictures were in an envelope, so she didn't see them. Why didn't they do that for Katherine's?
Elena seemed so calm about this, and I felt the need to ask her why.
"I guess it hasn't hit me that they're gone," she said. "I was in that accident and I'm fine, so I just think maybe my mind is still in shock."
"Maybe," I agreed.
"Did you find Katherine's casket number?" she asked.
"Yeah," I said sullenly as I gave her the paper with the numbers on it.
Elena and I looked at all of the numbers and she found her parents.
She then helped me look for Katherine's. When we found the number, she hesitated with her hands on the lid.
"Stefan, we have to open it to examine anything that people are trying to cover up," she said. "Are you sure you're ready?"
I nodded, and together we opened the casket. It was extra heavy and hard to lift. Both of us nearly screamed when we did, though.
My Katherine's casket number was 96500B001. I rechecked the number on the casket in front of me, and with closer examination, the number read 96S008001. We had the five and the B mixed up.
We only realized when it became obvious that 1, it wasn't my girlfriend in the coffin, and 2, it was quite clear this person was having a closed casket funeral.
This wasn't Katherine Elizabeth Pierce's casket. It was Katherine Elena Pierce's…and there was a reason that her casket was all but glued shut.
The examiner wasn't lying when he or she determined the cause of death was an animal attack.
The poor girl's face was marred and mangled. Her skin was so ripped up that it was visibly sewn back to her face and a chunk of her bottom lip was gone! If I'd have eaten anything before hand, I would've definitely seen it again from barfing after seeing that poor girl's body.
"Oh my God!" Elena said.
She took out her camera and actually snapped a picture.
"What are you doing?" I asked her with wide eyes. "You can't be serious."
"Stefan, those marks on her neck were the same ones that my mother had on hers. If there's any similarity, I have to have a picture.
I said nothing and tried to breathe normally again. Once the casket was sealed, we tried looking for our Katherine's casket. When we found it, and I double checked the number closely before opening it. Elena helped me, and the lid came up with more ease than the last one.
I saw her again. Her face was set in neutrality, as if she was sleeping, but Katherine never slept with her hands folded on her midsection. Her hands were always under the pillow she was cuddling with, or around me when I took the place of said pillow.
"Are you ready, Stefan?" she asked.
"Yeah," I replied quietly.
"Okay, I need you to undo the white cover over her bottom half.
I did so, careful not to touch her icy skin. Her shirt was above the waistline of her jeans in the slightest, and I saw thread sewn into her flesh.
Elena saw it, too. She then lifted Katherine's shirt up to get a better viewing. The scar ran all the way up to the bottom of her left breast, and it wasn't the same slice as the one made for embalming; it was a different one.
Another thing: the wound ran below her waistline and was covered by her slacks.
"Stefan, unbutton her pants, will you?" she asked as she examined the scar.
I did so quickly, blushed a bit as I'd done this a number of times before. I wasn't about to announce she had on a set of her favorite underwear-the black, silky boy shorts.
The scar went just a little more beneath her underwear, and Elena looked at me again.
"You already know what I'm going to ask you to do," she said blatantly. I did, indeed.
I pulled down the corner of her underwear and stopped where the wound did. The top part of her unmentionable area was showing. I knew this was just a shell of her, but the least I could do was give her some modesty, nonetheless. A lot of thread was used to sew her up. Elena snapped a picture of the whole scar.
"Can I see her file?" she asked.
I handed it to her when I dressed Katherine back up and fixed the white blanket.
"That's funny," she said to herself. "There's no mention of this scar anywhere, but it's obvious in the pictures."
Right before I closed her casket, I kissed the tips of my fingers and then placed them on Katherine's cold ones. Once she was back the way she was, I felt tear fall down my face.
I didn't say anything more the whole time I was helping Elena examine her parents' bodies. She didn't have the heart to examine Grayson's-not only because that was her dad but because he was also a male. Thus, I did all of the work on that, the majority being photographing him since we didn't have much time before the funeral home opened.
We did the same with her mother, and then put them back the way they were. Elena took a moment to say goodbye to the family she never got to experience wholly, and then we were off. We bolted up the stairs and out the door, exiting through the back while the owners and workers came through the front. She quickly put all the locks back before running back to her car and hopping in. She still had the tool belt on while she was driving. I could tell it was digging into her body as she tried to adjust it every five seconds.
"Do you need help with your belt?" I asked. "I could take the wheel."
"It's safer if you would just undo the belt for me," she said. "The hook is on my front. Will you undo it?"
"Yeah," I said.
It felt weird when I reached over to her and un-clipped the annoying accessory because it called for me to touch her almost intimately. I said nothing as I worked, hoping my held breath and undoubted blush wouldn't give me away. The belt came off with ease, and I pulled it out from behind her.
"You can just throw it in the back," she said.
I did so, and then rested my hands on the three files I had in my lap.
"Are you hungry?" she asked after a moment of silence.
For some reason, I pictured Katherine Elena Pierce's body and almost said "no", but my stomach rumbled, and she heard it.
"I am, too," she laughed. "Let's get breakfast at the Grille."
We arrived at the Mystic Grille just in time for the elderly rush to clear out. It wasn't the Rosenthal Sub Shoppe, by any means, but I still felt just a little more content than I had in near a week and a half.