Author's note: Okay then! The last update in 2010 :) And – this is the longest chapter in my entire history of writing, ever. Which is freakish Oo I did try to make it shorter but it didn't really work LOL Seriously, you have no idea how much stuff I cut out :P Anyway, I had so much fun writing it and this hiatus is just hellish so I've got to kill me time somehow :P You won't hold it against me, will you?
I would like to thank everyone who keeps reading it, your interest is invaluable! Also, I hope everyone is having great time this holiday season! I'll see you all on the other side ;)
Chapter 10
Heightened senses was one of the things that Damon loved most about being a vampire. The one that he had quite a long time adjusting to because it wasn't easy at first – too much feeling, too much hearing, too much everything around him. It was making his head spin and buzz and it was just not big enough for all the noises he never ever imagined hearing, like the pump of blood in humans' bodies from a few hundred feet away or the flutter of wings of the insects – so clear that he could even say how many of said wings they had – but in the end it was such a huge benefit that he couldn't see himself living without it anymore. Once he learned to shut it off and sort them all out into I need that and rubbish. It wasn't easy. It was just too overwhelming at first to concentrate properly but now, one hundred and almost fifty years later, it was just as natural as any other part of him – as natural as being a vampire could be.
And he sort of got used to having it all around him – to the level of knowing how to ignore it completely, which was almost making him feel like human.
But it wasn't an ordinary thing to hear a steady thud of a heartbeat in a boarding house, not since Zach's death at least. Unless, of course, Elena was hanging around, which wasn't the case this time.
Damon picked it up the moment he walked through the massive door. He paused for the barest of seconds and then hemmed to himself as he slammed the said door and headed for the library led by the scent and feel of human being.
"You know, at some point I might actually think about changing the locks," he commented when he found Alaric sitting at the massive redwood table that once belonged to Giuseppe Salvatore buried in… well, what looks like a lot of papers.
"I can pick the locks," Ric called back without lifting his head up. "If I really want to."
Damon headed straight to the alcohol cart and grabbed a low rounded whiskey glass. I knew you had some demons inside of you," he drawled smirking. "You were too good and perfect to be, you know, good and perfect. Would you like to have something to drink?"
"No, I'm good," Ric lifted a glass of his drink making ice cubes clink softly before putting it back onto the table, and Damon sensed a whiff of gin floating across the room.
"You really are quite at home here," he commented nonchalantly.
"Well, I died here, that should count for something, no?"
Chuckling, Damon picked a bottle with dark ember liquid before throwing yet another look over his shoulder, genuinely curious now. "What are you doing there anyway, Ric? Grading the papers?"
"This joke is getting old. I just thought it would be a bad idea to be caught running around the town with the files you stole from the Sheriff," Ric explained finally treating his gaze off of the table, a little annoyed having to explain such obvious things. "These confidential stamps are eye-catching."
"These are just the copies," Damon pointed out.
"Whatever. They are still stolen case files. It's not like I can read them at school."
"It's not like you don't have your own place," he singsonged.
"But I don't have reference materials there," Ric grinned flickering his eyes towards the massive bookshelves. "That's… impressive."
"It's a family legacy. Personally, I prefer something more modern."
"Comics on the last page of the newspapers?" Alaric snorted. "Hey, do you know that for a vampire you have a surprisingly little amount of books about your kind?"
"My kind?" Damon quirked his brows. "You sound racist. It's a deep insult, you know."
"I was just wondering why."
"Because we're not guinea pigs, maybe?" He supposed drawing his brows together with mock thoughtfulness. "Yeah, that must be it. What is there to write about, anyway? We feed, we kill, it's fun. End of story. We have Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' somewhere here though, even if it is all crap. He has it all wrong!"
"Cute."
"You still hadn't talked to Jenna, had you?" Damon asked matter-of-factly changing the subject to give Alaric a little shake when he felt that the conversation was getting too comfortable – like he didn't know the answer, right! He poured himself some bourbon and gave it a shake letting the alcohol whap the ice and cool down a little, took a cautious sip and held it for a while in his mouth to feel the taste before swallowing it. And smirked under his breath as his sensitive ears caught the change in Ric's heartbeat at the mention of Jenna's name. He was so obvious it wasn't even fun. "Why don't you just go and do the right thing instead of… I don't know, setting depression all over?"
Ric didn't answer straight away. His gaze went back to the papers, but right when Damon was about to come up with yet another cocky comment, he said, "I don't know what the right thing is anymore. Can we please not talk about it?"
There was a part of him that wanted to just go to Jenna more than anything because, God help him, he needed her. Unfortunately, it was a much smaller part than the one that was telling him to back off and deal with himself first before he actually screwed up things even more – if it was possible.
Damon ignored him completely though.
"Oh, of course you do! And it sure is not contemplating becoming a vampire."
Alaric quirked his brow up. "And what if it is? What if this whole thing was leading to it?" He asked, more out of wish to disagree than anything else.
"Rrrright! And you being in love with another woman – other than your ex I mean – is working so well with the plan! Have you even heard yourself?" The vampire shook his head in disbelief. "You know what? You can be such a moron for a guy with a university degree, or whatever it is that you have hanging framed on the wall!"
"I am not talking about any of that with you, Damon," Ric cut him off dryly.
"Okay, I take my words back!" Damon lifted his hands up with the universal I give up gesture letting the light coming for the fireplace catch his drink and send a scatter of yellowish gleams on the wall and bookshelves. "Maybe it is not such a bad idea after all. Maybe you will finally drop the drama once you're a vampire! I am getting tired of your pathetic looks."
"Says a guy who has a crush on his brother's girlfriend," Ric reminded him mischievously, as if it was something that needed to be reminded of. "Are you planning to do anything about it, by the way?"
"Is this any of your business or what?"
"Just thought that maybe once you have a hobby, you'll stop bugging me?" Ric hinted without much hope.
They glared daggers at each other for a while before Damon rolled his eyes letting out a string of curses under his breath and walked up closer to the table. "Okay, whatever. What are you doing with these, anyway?"
Now he could see standard police protocol folders and their Xeroxed black-and-white contents scattered all over the redwood surface and mixed with the copies of the news-paper articles, a total mess that didn't make much sense, no matter how hard Damon tried to see it. He picked up one of the folders but returned it back right away. He'd already been there, read them all, twice. What else could there be that he didn't notice was beyond his understanding.
"I wanted to sort out the closed cases," Ric told him. "Match missing people with the reports on the bodies found in the woods or elsewhere lately and see who is left out in the end so that we could check them. If any of them went missing around the time when the killings began and their bodies were never found, our guy could be one of them."
"He could be from anywhere in the country!" Damon told him in a voice that implied that he was talking to someone mentally incompetent. "Are you going to check all the missing people cases?"
"No, he should be from around here," Alaric shook his head. "To have a grudge against Jenna, he should at the very least know her. There should be some connection between him and Mystic Falls."
Damon considered his words before nodding. "Not necessarily but let's believe that until proven otherwise. What have you got?"
"I am not done yet, but these three are already out," he pushed the folders with the newspaper articles clipped to them across the table and towards Damon. "No bodies, no sign of them for the last couple of weeks, all disappeared around the right time. Two of them are campers from Georgia." He sounded skeptic. "I'm not quite sure about the third guy…" Alaric trailed off as Damon opened the folder. "Not so promising."
On the photo there was a man in his late fifties or early sixties with round face and grayish hair, or so it looked on the black-and-white picture, and the vampire took his time to read standard description that ran beside it – height, body complexion, contact information, "Why?"
"I talked to his daughter. She is pretty sure he ran away to Vegas to hide from his wife, and if it was her who picked up the phone in the first place, I am totally seeing why." He rubbed at his eyes. "And, you know, the whole age thing."
"Charming. Anything else?"
"No," Alaric heaved an exasperated sigh. "What I am doing here is already grasping at straws. Our guy could be a loner. What if no one ever reported him missing? What if no one ever will? But I don't know what else I can possibly come up with. Keep checking the abandoned places and warehouses?"
"Well, it can keep us entertained for a decade or two." Damon shrugged and finished his drink. "Without making much sense." He set his glass aside, grabbed his jacket and headed out
"Where are you going?"
"A walk." Damon threw over his shoulder without so much as a look back. "Yes, yes, I'll say hello to Jenna for you if I stop by Elena's." Yeah, it wasn't hard to feel Alaric's glare burning a hole in his back. "Tell Stefan we're patrolling tonight if he shows up." He stopped when he was already one step out of the room but still in Ric's line of sight and turned around. "And do me a favor, get out of here by the time I come back. And take that dark cloud hanging over your head with you."
"Could you please not move?" Elena demanded. "I can actually hurt you with this thing."
It was a girls' night, Gilbert/Sommers style – pizza, ice-cream, pop-tars, soda, pajamas and funny slippers. Jenna was sitting on the floor of her room with her legs crossed, a fancy magazine balancing on her knee and junk food mounting all around while Elena stood behind her on her knees with the curling iron in her hand and a thoughtful expression on her face.
"What exactly are you doing with my hair, anyway?" Jenna asked sending a spoonful of chocolate chip cherry ice-cream into her mouth.
"I am not entirely sure," Elena answered unsurely. "Does it matter?"
"No, not really," Jenna shrugged. "As long as it is not Marilyn Monroe style."
"Why?"
Carefully, Jenna turned to look at Elena over her shoulder feeling the warmth of the curling iron somewhere really close to the skin of her head. Too close for comfort, in fact. "Because if you turn me into Marilyn Monroe, I will turn you into Marilyn Manson."
Elena quirked her brows up. "Deal! Now turn around."
"It's not going to be too bad, is it?"
"Nothing that a straightening iron wouldn't save."
"Okay." Jenna flipped the page of the magazine, her gaze traveling lazily across colorful pictures and intriguing headlines. "What's next on the list?"
"You're painting my toenails. Choose the colors. And nothing extreme please."
Jenna tossed the magazine aside and reached for the makeup box stretching and bending at the weirdest angles ever to avoid being burned by that curling thing until her fingers brushed against the plastic and she managed to drag in across the carpet closer to her.
"Black and green, totally," she said browsing through their collection.
"Black and green? Did you hear the nothing extreme part? My feel will look like watermelon."
Jenna looked up again. "I never thought of that, but… you're right!"
"Don't move, Jenna, I'm serious!"
"It's going to look cool! Besides, it's so cold that no one is going to see them anyway." She paused and added, "And if they do, they won't care. Who cares about the color of your toenails?"
"Black and green it is then!" Elena agreed. "Could you hold this for me for a second?" She caught Jenna's hand and put it on the curling iron handle, hopped up and found a box with pop-tars. Opened the pack and dug her teeth into the sour cherry tart. "Okay, go it." She took the curling iron again. "Want some?" Offered her aunt the box.
"No, thanks, I'm good here." Jenna swallowed another spoonful of ice-cream. "I can do something pretty with your fingernails though, like – draw something on them? Like, nail art, you know."
"Draw something?" Elena sounded doubtful. "Oh well, it doesn't sound bad!"
"Why, thank you!" Jenna scoffed. "Hey, how about watching some movie after we're done?"
"Thelma and Louise or Breakfast at Tiffany's?"
"Thelma and Louise all the way!"
Light rap on the door made Elena turn around as Jenna craned her neck to see anything over her bed. The door creaked open and Jeremy poked his head in, cautious and hesitant. He observed the mess, a stack of magazines, two make-up bags on the floor and blinked as if not sure he wasn't seeing things.
"Here you are. I didn't know anyone was at home," he started warily. "What are you guys up to?"
"Having fun," Jenna informed him. "Hey, Jer, want to have some pizza?"
He weighed all pros and cons of the offer. "No, thank you," shook his head in the end. "I better go find something frozen in the fridge."
"What's wrong with him?" Jenna frowned when the door was closed again and they heard Jeremy head down the stairs.
"I believe that somewhere deep inside he still remembers how Bonnie and I painted his fingernails in pink and tied bows in his hair when he was six because it was more fun than doing the same to our dolls," Elena explained with mock seriousness.
"Really? I've never heard about that!"
"Oh yeah! Mom thought he'd need a therapy after it."
"What if he does now?" Jenna span around nearly knocking Elena down, together with the curling iron that was still tangled somewhere in her hair.
"Don't move!" Elena rolled her eyes gaining back her balance.
"Oh my, you were such a monster!" Jenna shook her head laughing.
Elena grinned. "Who could have said, right? Anyway, better not traumatize him even more now. We've got plenty of food downstairs."
"We've got pop-tarts for sure," Jenna nodded.
Carefully, Elena freed her aunt's hair. "Okay, I'm done here."
"Do I want to have a look?" Jenna asked a little self-consciously.
"Well, if I were you…" Elena drawled uncertainly.
"Yes, I better!"
She got up to her feet and walked up to the vanity table with a big mirror handing above it, marveling in the feeling of soft carpet beneath her feet, her toes practically burying into it making her feel like she was walking on the warm white sand on the beach. She studied her reflection and thick heavy curls falling on her shoulders and streaming down her back, reminding her of… something. Something she couldn't quite grasp at but it was there, in the back of her mind. Like a long-lost memory. The thing was, it did look quite good. Maybe her hair-do wasn't entirely matching the pajama, but then again the pajama was the best part of the night, so it was perfect.
"So, what do you think?"
"I don't look like a poodle, that's a good start." Jenna winked at her.
"I did my best!" Elena gave her work an apprehensive look. "Let them cool down a bit and then I'll finish it and you'll look totally stunning, Aunt Jenna," she told her coming close to go through Jenna's collection of perfume.
"And then we can crash some other slumber party and steal someone's thunder," Jenna nodded with confidence.
"Exactly!"
"And meanwhile let's do something with your toenails."
"You sure about black and green? I mean it's..."
"Just sit."
Elena plopped down onto the floor and leaned her back against the bed. She stretched her legs before herself and wiggled her toes feeling her lips stretch into a smile of the will of their own. She reached out and grabbed the bucket with the remains of caramel ice-cream waiting for Jenna to lower herself down in from on her, cross her legs and find the required nail polish bottles in the box.
"Where is that pizza you were talking about?" Elena asked scraping the bottom of the ice-cream bucket.
"Over there," Jenna's gaze flickered towards the bed right above Elena's head. "That's a weird combination – pizza after ice-cream. You sure about it?"
"All this sweet stuff makes me crave for something… less sweet," Elena explained.
"Oh, I see. Go for it!" Jenna looped a curled strand of hair that kept falling on her face around her ear and untwisted the cap of the black nail polish bottle. "So… how is school?" She started matter-of-factly.
Elena paused for a moment trying oh so hard to keep her face straight. She was waiting for this question to come for, like, two hours already. Jenna's self-restraint was impressive and almost worth admiration, if only the whole situation wasn't that ridiculous. She reached for the cardboard box and pulled it down carefully to set it beside herself, opened it and picked a slice with a huge piece of champignon in the very center.
"School?" She asked nonchalantly. "Or Alaric?"
Jenna paused for a moment and lifted her head up to look Elena in the face. "School," she said pointedly.
"Fine," Elena shrugged. Man, this was going to be fun! "Only we had a pipe-leak that left a huge spot on the ceiling in the girls changing room so they decided to renovate the whole place a little and paint the lockets, and this smell of the paint is just awful! And now we have to change in the spare classroom near the chemistry lab class across the hall. How inconvenient is that? And last week all the boxed stuff for the Founder's Day filled our committee room – I mean literary, floor to ceiling, and we had to move our… well, gathering to the drama club studio because it was supposed to be empty, but when we walked in we saw Brad Harper and Amy Carson. And they were kissing." All that was practically blurted out while chewing, and here Elena took a pause to swallow. "Can you imagine that? And Brad's girlfriend Ashley was right there with us. You should have seen it! She has such an amazing hook! She has two brothers though so it's not a big deal I guess. But the whole committee was a disaster after that because for a moment there we all thought she actually broke Brad's jaw – which he would totally deserve, if you ask me – and then she ran away crying, and the guys took he to the nurse in case he actually had a concussion or something. And a few girls left to calm Ashley down and keep her from killing Amy, and now half of the school has to choose sides because no one can be friends with both of them, obviously. And you know what is unfair? Brad has a reputation of a total macho now when in reality he's just a jerk!" She shook her head and took another bite. "Also, fire alarm went off last Friday. Well, someone set it off for fun but they asked us all to leave the building to make sure it was safe. And it was right in the middle of the lit quiz and now we have to prepare essays instead because we couldn't finish the quiz, which is not exactly my idea of fun, and, to be honest, I'd rather deal with the quiz but this damned essay will affect the semester grade, so…" She grimaced. "And the football team-"
"Okay, stop it!" Jenna cut her off, her hands flailing in the air. "My brain is going to explode. And ruin the carpet. And I like this carpet!" She told Elena giving her a white-hot burning glare as she pursed her lips tight and reached for another bottle, with green nail-polish this time. "Did you… did you see him?" She asked faking disinterest and keeping her gaze cast down.
Bingo!
"Of course I saw him, he is my teacher." Elena let her voice soften a little. "I see him three times a week, and two more at the committee gatherings, and sometimes when I meet Stefan after the football practice."
"And?" Jenna prodded when nothing else followed.
"He's gorgeous," Elena informed her thoughtfully and nodded as if agreeing with herself on that. "And smart."
"Don't make me hurt you," Jenna drawled smiling threateningly at her.
"With a nail polish brush?" Elena cocked her eyebrows in mock fear.
"I have a curling iron within arm's reach."
Elena took her time to swallow the last bit of her pizza slice. "Okay," she let out in a whoosh of breath. "He asked about you, twice."
Jenna snapped her head up going completely rigid as her breath hitched and her heart stopped for a moment. "He did? What—what did he ask?"
"How you were doing," she shrugged.
"And?"
"And – what?"
"And – what did you say?"
"Nothing! I wiggled out of the conversation on lame excuses and tried to avoid him," Elena replied defensively missing out the part where Alaric looked pretty much desperate and exhausted and quite miserable overall. And that just like Jenna, he did a little dance around the topic before actually getting to the point. It would have even been funny if she knew how to ignore fake easiness both fought to express and well-masked pain that nothing could hide. "What was I supposed to say anyway?"
"That I am doing great, maybe?" Jenna offered in a Isn't it obvious? voice.
"Are you?" Elena met her gaze firmly making Jenna choke on her words.
"Well… not really," she admitted after a short hesitation. "But-"
"He is my teacher, Jenna, and I can't lie to my teacher. It's bad for karma and grades." She pointed out with determination, and added as an afterthought, "At least not until you tell me what the hell happened between the two of you."
Which was such a big secret that made her boyfriend and his brother being vampires secret fade compared to it, and it simply wasn't fair. Two weeks and she didn't have even a hint on what was going on! How could she feel for them when she was so curious?
"Nothing happened," Jenna breathed out tiredly, her voice dropping and changing minutely signaling to Elena not to cross the line.
"Work on being more convincing."
"I'm trying." Jenna twisted the cap closed, checked the other one and then dropped both bottles back into the box. "Don't move," she told Elena and let herself relax reaching for a pack of butter-scotch cookies. "Mm, this is heaven."
"You're acting immature," Elena informed her.
"It's not an act," Jenna assured her confidently.
"Why can't you just… talk?"
"Because there is nothing to talk about."
"Fine!" Elena agreed easily. "Then there is no reason for you to ask about him." She hopped up again. "Let me finish your hair and then we can move downstairs and you'll do my nails while watching the TV." She grabbed the hairbrush from the nightstand, pulled Jenna up and pushed her towards the vanity table. "Now that we don't have much to talk about anyway," she added innocently.
Jenna sank onto the chair before the mirror and felt Elena run hairbrush through her locks, which was soothing and comforting. Which reminded her of the times she thought were long forgotten. Of the times before.
"It's the first time," Elena let out softly drawing Jenna out of her thoughts.
"What?" She met Elena's eyes in the reflection.
"This thing. Without mom."
It was, Jenna realized a little belatedly. They used to have so much fun together, the three of them, just laughing and talking about nothing. "Yes, it is," she said and smiled reassuringly through the pang in her chest trying to forget that not only was it the first time but that it couldn't be any other way from now on. "But she loved it. I think she'd be glad we keep the tradition."
Elena returned the smile. "I bet she would."
"'Cause they are idiots! Both of them." Damon grumbled with annoyance as he stood by the window in Elena's room peering outside. "Like one brooding brother wasn't enough," he grimaced giving her a look over the shoulder. "Now I have a depressed history teacher in my hair. It is like being trapped in Sleepy Hollow, in the darkest parts of it."
Elena propped her head of her head and studied him thoughtfully. "What are you guys up to now?"
"Same old, same old!" He chirped. "You Uncle is being a huge inconvenience lately. It's a little disturbing to try and keep an eye both on him and mysterious killers. Did you talk to him lately?"
"We're not exactly on speaking terms," Elena winced. "Why?"
"Just interesting what he has in mind," Damon shrugged. "I try to see his angle and fail."
"Angle?" She quirked her brows up.
He turned around, lowered himself on the window seat and leaned his back against cool glass. "I don't peg him for a town protector," he explained. "And I don't trust him, that's why I want to know what he is up to before it's too late and we're in real trouble."
"What do you think it could be?"
"No idea," he let out in a heavy sigh. "He's not exactly willing to share. And I am a little worried about how it could backfire in the end." He tapped his fingers on his knee.
"Sorry, but talking to him… it's a bit too much for a favor."
"Not that I can blame you," Damon made a funny face at her. "Come to think of it…" he started but then trailed off and tensed.
"What?"
"Someone's coming." He rose up and pulled the window open. "See you later." Paused for a moment, and added in a low voice, "If my boring brother shows up, tell him her is boring. And then, tell him we had plans for tonight."
"What plans?" Elena started suspiciously but he was already gone.
Jeremy rapped his knuckles on the half-open door to Elena's bedroom, and then pushed it further until he could see her lying flat on her stomach across the bed hugging a pillow and with an open book sprawled before her. She lifted her head and looked over the shoulder, her gaze changed from disinterested to surprised.
"Hi," Elena said somewhat warily.
"Hey," Jeremy stopped in the doorway. He swept the room with his gaze, then looked back into the corridor and then at Elena again. "Jenna said to call you, the diner's ready."
"Oh," she breathed out with relief, glad that he wasn't here for another fight and yet devastated by how distanced they became lately. She missed the times when they were fighting as hell and yet remained the best friends. Or at least they could talk to each other without yelling. "I'm… I'm not really hungry." I'd call it more like fed up, she added mentally hoping that it was and he didn't come to pick up another fight.
"Okay," he shrugged. Elena expected him to walk away but instead he hovered in the doorway, and after another hesitant glance over the shoulder, he stepped inside of her room. His eyes flickered on the book lying before Elena. "What are you doing?"
"Math," she grimaced.
Jeremy blinked. "Math?" He echoed. "As in – math?"
Elena scoffed. "I have a test tomorrow. In real life, we still have school, remember? And speaking of – when was the last time you did your homework? Do you even go there?"
He sneered. "Don't worry, Anna sort of keeps an eye on it." Jeremy dropped his gaze and shook him head looking a little embarrassed and yet… well, pleased she'd say.
Elena smiled. "She is a good influence on you."
"Speaking of-" he mimicked her locking his eyes with Elena's once again. "I'm sorry about the other day. I shouldn't have been such a dick. I'm just—I'm really worried about Anna."
"Why?" Elena pushed herself up to sit on the bed and crossed her legs.
"Oh well, you know, these killings…" he frowned. "Uncle John knows about her. And he is on this Council. And she thinks that if at some point he'd need someone to blame for the attacks, it'd be her because they can't get the real guy." He paused. "I know she can take care of herself but I don't want her to leave. And I know that she would, once there is a real threat because she has no reason to stay here now that her mom is dead, and all this crap is not making it any better."
"She wouldn't-"
"Yeah, she would," he let out a long breath and rubbed his eyes. "Look, I didn't mean to snap at you, I just-"
"Care, I got it." Elena finished. "I don't think you should be worried about it. Uncle John knows about Stefan and Damon, too, and I-"
"Like he is going to make a move against them," Jeremy cut her off chuckling. "He'd be dead before he knows it. But he killed her mom, just like that. And we can't do anything."
Well, he had a point, Elena had to admit not without inner wince.
"He's not going to do anything to her," she said reassuringly.
"He may try," Jeremy said darkly, determination ringing in his voice. To that, Elena had no response. Because want it or not, but he was right. Uncle John was a mystery, as well as his shady motives, and as much as she didn't want to go into trying to understand them, she couldn't help thinking about it every now and then. None of them said a word for a about a minute, until Jeremy asked, "Um… d'you know what's wrong with Jenna?"
Elena tensed momentarily. "What's wrong with her?" She eyed him cautiously forcing to keep her rush of panicky thoughts at bay.
He walked up to the dresser and leaned against it, his arms folded on the chest and a shade of doubt of his face. "I don't know, she seems… distracted." He shrugged again. "Not quite herself. And, you know, downcast or something."
"Oh that," Elena frowned and then shook her head on a sigh. "She and Alaric… they are on a rough patch."
"Really?" His brows came together. "What happened?"
"I don't know, she doesn't really talk about it. I tried yesterday – nada."
"I kinda noticed he hadn't been around much lately but I didn't…" He trailed off and cleared his throat. "Anyway, come on. Jenna cooked lasagna. It smells good. When was the last time we had lasagna? And Anna is staying for dinner. And then we can play video games. Let's call it a truce and have fun. Two by two. I'll let you girls win."
"Oh, you'll let?" Elena drawled in dangerously warning voice sliding off the bed. "Last time I checked you lost to me before you knew it!"
"Oh, yeah?" He snorted, his voice ringing with a challenge. "I was cutting you some slack, is all. Let's see who is going to win today!"
Jenna reached out for her mug and took a cautious sip. Freshly brewed coffee that she poured not a minute ago burned her tongue but she swallowed it without so much as a flinch barely registering the unpleasant feeling, too lost in reading to pay attention to… well, anything.
Absently, she set the mug back on the table beside an open book and flipped the page carefully, her eyes glued to a century old yellowish paper covered with neat handwriting. The ink that must have been black once started to fade turning somewhat bluish and smudged, unreadable at some places. She was tired from hours of trying to decipher the entries, handwriting and writing style considered, and her head buzzed with information and unbelievable amount of caffeine that she knew wasn't healthy. And she couldn't care less.
Jenna shifted in her seat and leaned forward propping herself on the forearms and leaning closer to the first journal from Jonathan Gilbert's collection. There was a chance that she'd find the answers to at least some of her questions somewhere in it and she was willing to give it a shot, even with her head spinning and her eyes sandy from lack of sleep.
She crawled out of bed at about five in the morning, after going to bed at two, when decent sleep – or any sleep, come to think of it – ruled itself out and simply twisting and turning in bed stopped making any sense whatsoever. Not that she could brag about having a good sleep anyway. The fear of waking up somewhere in Nebraska was pretty much keeping her awake most of the nights lately.
It was still dark outside when she tiptoed downstairs cringing every time the floor boards creaked beneath her feet. Without turning the lights on and guided by the pale light of breaking dawn she went straight to the kitchen. For a moment she paused before the window to look out at the back yard plunged into all shades of grey taking in dark forms of the trees and silver grass covered with morning frost, mesmerized by complete stillness and silence. She knew she had about two hours before everyone else would start waking up and at least four before she had to be in for her first class, which left her with practically endless possibilities.
Her best intention was to bury herself in the assignments that she was supposed to hand in a few days ago and it was a miracle that she managed to get away with it this long. But her luck wasn't going to last forever and she knew it, and she also knew that she had to concentrate and to finally have it done, hoping secretly that it could keep her thoughts off Alaric at least for a little while.
Ha! Easier said than done. Studying turned out to be an almost impossible task right away and half an hour - and two mugs of coffee - later she found herself drawn to a century and a half old drama hidden in the leather-bound book.
"February 25, 1984, Mystic Falls
A body was found in the woods today. Young boy drained of blood. Not a drop was left. He was lying there on the cold ground, so pale and with his skin wrapped around his bones. I can see it so clearly even with my eyes open that it frightens me. God bless Richard Fell for being the one to find him. We never let anyone come near the body once we knew what happened and immediately we spread the rumor about animal attack not to arise any suspicion. The winter is severe this year, a lot of wild animals are starving in the woods. No one should be surprised. Terrified – yes, and maybe it will keep the town's folk out of the forest.
These bite marks on the boy's neck – no one should ever see them but a close circle of people that trust each other and know the secret.
They are back. I have never though it could happen again. The story that was passed from father to son for generations was almost forgotten. We kept it alive out of respect for our ancestors. I cannot believe that it is happening with us now, but also I cannot close my eyes to the fact either. Quite on contrary, all of us should have them wide open from now on to face the horrifying disaster that fell upon us.
Lord help us in these dark times because if we are right about the evil that returned to be our curse, no one else could save us.
J.G."
This was the first entry that John Gilbert had made and Jenna could physically feel the fear coming from the pages as if they absorbed the emotions of the person filling them and now were radiating it as if unable to keep it all within. Superstition, she thought, a legend that kept them in fear and that came back to life when they least expected it. The vampires. Although, of course, it would never have been her first guess hadn't she known the truth. Hell, it would never have been her guess even if she was a psycho! Jenna shook her head.
The following entries contained the description of daily routine, family dinners, social gatherings mixed with the moments of dark panic, fear, doubts and concerns Jonathan Gilbert couldn't share with anyone but this small book.
"May 10, 1864, Mystic Falls
A friend of Miss Katherine Pierce, on orphan who is staying at the Giuseppe Salvatore's house, has arrived yesterday in the afternoon. I am fascinated by her beauty and elegance. Mystic Falls is a nice town with respectful people inhabiting it but it is neither a place, nor a social circle she obviously belongs to. She is like a delicate flower in the wilderness. Her kindness and courtesy admire me and her smile can brighten up the darkest of the days. I have never thought I would be so attracted to someone else ever since my beloved wife passed away a few years ago and it scares me. But at the same time she is like a breath of fresh air and I cannot resist it.
J.G."
At ten past seven the sounds of life coming from the second floor interrupted the train of Jenna's thought.
She pushed the journal aside leaving in open to get back to it later and got up from her seat to start another coffee pot brewing and take care of the breakfast for all of them. The door opened above her head, and someone padded across the hall. A door-lock clicked and half a minute later the water started to run in the kids' bathroom. She head a muffled thud – suspected that Jeremy fell of the bed, literary – and then a hiss or a groan followed. Yeah, it must have been a nasty fall. The mental image made her smile to herself.
Jenna put a baking tray with French bread and bagels into the oven to warm them up and then went to retrieve eggs and tomatoes from the fridge making up her mind to go for an omelet. Hesitated for the barest of moments and then added a pack of paper-thin bacon to the stack. It wasn't that often that she had time to cook for them anyway, so it should at least be proper food, she thought absently.
Another string of footsteps came from upstairs. She checked the clock and decided that she still had at least about half an hour before any of them would start caring about anything. For all she knew, both remained half-asleep at least until lunch. She found the bowl in the cupboard and made another trip to the fridge to get forgotten milk. Two signs of the morning were already there – the sounds of blasting music coming from Jeremy's room (and only God knew how grateful Jenna was for not having a pleasure to hear it on the weekends) and Elena's hairdryer.
She emptied the milk-eggs-salt-pepper mix onto the frying pan before adding cherry tomatoes cut in halves to it and then tossed several pieces of bacon on another one to let them sizzle for a couple of minutes as she stood nearby tapping her fingers on the counter and trying to wrap her mind around everything she had found out in the last couple of hours, surprised that her head didn't explode. It wasn't that shocking anymore – no as shocking as it was at first – but it still was hell of a lot of information to process. And the deeper she was digging…
After another thoughtful look at the food she went back to the table listening to the sounds coming from the second floor. Good thing was that they were both definitely up, which wasn't always that easy. At times she had to use threats to kick them out of their beds.
"June 13, 1864, Mystic Falls
The butcher's daughter went missing two nights ago. Everything was quiet for the last three weeks and I am ashamed to admit that it was partly the fault of the council that it happened.
I am worried and scared and I am starting to have second thoughts about keeping everything in secret. What if we are making it worse? People cannot protect themselves from the evil without knowing about it. But George Lockwood is right when he says that setting panic amongst town's folk would only bring chaos and the situation would no longer be under control. Not that it is under control now but I can see his reasons.
I want to believe that we're doing the right thing but I feel helpless and defeated knowing that as long as we are unable to track these creatures down, they are going to keep killing the innocent.
J.G."
She flipped though the neat charcoal drawings covering the pages, noting that he did have a talent. Mostly, they were the images of the wolves, just heads or whole frames standing with their heads thrown up as if they were howling at the moon. Among them were what Jenna qualified as monsters. The way Jonathan saw them, with hairy heads, pointed ears and fanged mouths open in soundless screams. Their resemblance with human beings was minimal and grotesque.
Coffee machine beeped and the oven timer went off at the same time. Jenna turned off the burned and piled the bacon on a plate before putting a cover onto the pan with omelet for it not to get cold and reaching for the baking pan with the bread. The smell of coffee was practically reviving and Jenna felt the corners of her mouth tug up slightly when she breathed it in on her way back to the table.
The entry that captured Jenna's attention for some reason started as a description of a party of some sort and was mostly about his feelings for a friend of some Miss Pierce, but then it cut off in the middle of the sentence and continued in slightly different handwriting as if the person was in a hurry, or too emotional, or his hands were shaking.
"They found a girl, or rather what was left of her," she began to read inching closer to the yellowish paper against her own will, "which wasn't much. I have never seen anything as horrifying in my life. She was shredded to pieces, her blood spilled all over the clearing. Young Fell who volunteered to accompany us couldn't stand it, and if I could be as weak, which is the most desirable thing sometimes, I would gladly join him in his misery. But now is not the best time to be weak. It never is, I dare say. We should stay stronger than ever before.
This time, however, it wasn't the demon of the night that did it to poor child. A wolf was reported to be lurking on the outskirts of the town. Ironically, it was an animal attack.
J.G."
Jenna snapped her head up at the sound of someone stomping down the stairs. "Hey, Jer," she called.
"Morning, Aunt Jenna," Jeremy yawned padding into the kitchen, and had she tried a little harder she was pretty sure she'd be able to see his tonsils. "Whassup?"
He rubbed sleepily at his eyes reaching for his coffee mug practically blindly.
Jenna shook her head, smiling.
It was nice seeing him like that. So… alive. Not as harsh and distanced and rebellious and overall self-destructive as he was the first months after the car crash. They were still having their moments but it was a relief to see how much he had changed lately. Almost back to the way he used to be. It made Jenna… well, maybe not exactly proud because God knew she could have been doing better with both of them, but just better because there were times a few months ago when she thought that there was no way back for him and it was making her feel helpless and desperate. She loved them, true, but sometimes love wasn't enough and she feared it was the case.
A few years ago when Miranda asked her to sign the papers in case anything happened to her and Grayson, it seemed to be a plain formality, something that most of people were doing to feel better, never actually thinking that the horrible day could come. Jenna agreed eagerly. There wasn't much of a choice, between her and John, and she was at least getting along with Jeremy and Elena, and everyone knew that. They laughed it off back then. Once out of the attorney's office, Miranda elbowed Jenna saying that she'd haunt her sister's ass down if she saw Jenna turning the lives of her kids into a never-ending party and giving them chocolate ice-cream for breakfast, to which Jenna replied primly that both she and Gray had to learnt to have some fun every once in a while.
And that was it, up until a phone call woke her up in the middle of the night in her rented apartment on campus. The nurse from the Mystic Falls Hospital contacted her from Elena's cell phone because Jenna's number was the last one that her niece dialed, which happened even before the police figured out who was in change for the kids from now on. It wasn't funny anymore and no one wanted chocolate ice-cream…
Muttering something about frigging early under his breath, Jeremy grabbed a roll from the baking tray and then went straight to the fridge and dove into it, almost literary. Jenna listened to him rummaging through packages and food containers with unmasked amusement. He straightened up shutting the silver door, a sandwich in his hand, slices of ham, cheese and lettuce sticking from between two pieces of toast bread. To took a huge bite – making Jenna wonder how it was even possible without choking – and mumbled something like, "Why is school even legal?" which came out as something barely comprehensible, but he was obviously too much busy chewing to care. As for Jenna, she was too used for it to not understand.
"That's the beauty of life," she signsonged grinning and gained a dark look from him.
After that Jeremy headed back to fill his plate with omelet and bacon – the amount which in Jenna's opinion was enough to feed several people – and then flopped down onto the chair in front of her. And then his gaze slid down and fixed on the journal lying before Jenna on the redwood table. Curious, he lowered his sandwich down and even straightened up in his seat.
"Interesting reading?"
Jenna looked at the leather-bound book before returning the look with a crooked smirk playing on her lips. "You have no idea!" She got up to get some omelet and a bagel for herself. "Makes me wonder if any of our ancestors ended up in some mental institutions." Added thoughtfully joining him at the table.
"Who knows?" Jeremy shrugged, smiling. "I bet they kept it off the records though." They exchanged meaningful glances, and then he shoved a horribly big spoonful of omelet into his mouth reaching for the bacon. "How's your car by the way? Running better than ever?"
Jenna stilled, the fork half way to her mouth, as her eyes grew wide by the second. "Crap!" She breathed out letting the fork ding against the plate. "I totally forgot about it. What time is it?" She checked her watch and leaned back heavily letting out a frustrated growl.
She was supposed to pick her car up from the shop last night. They called her in the afternoon to tell that it was ready, which was, like, the best news as of lately if only because it meant that she and Elena wouldn't have to share a car anymore. Jenna was more than willing to pass down the Grayson's car to Elena for good. If of course she was lucky enough to stop by the shop today, she added somewhat darkly, assuming that she completely forgot about it yesterday being caught up by other stuff. And it was too late to go to the shop now. The paperwork would probably take a while and she didn't want to be late for her class. That was definitely a huge down side of her exhaustion – both physical and mental – and lack of sleep. And that apparently was also something that coffee couldn't fix. That was getting… well, frustrating to begin with.
The car signaled outside announcing the arrival of Bonnie and Jeremy snapped his head up before swallowing the remains of his breakfast visibly as he got up. "And, here's the escort." He downed his coffee in one big gulp on the way to the dish washer. "See you later, Aunt Jenna," we waved at her and shouted, once in the corridor, "Elena!"
"I'm coming," came from upstairs and Jenna quirked her brow in amusement watching the retreat. Morning routine could never get boring.
She was pretty sure Jeremy's eyes were more or less closed again when he pulled on his jacket, threw his schoolbag over his shoulder, put on the headphones turning on the blasting music, either to wake him up, or to knock him down, Jenna wasn't sure, and stumbled out of the house heading to the silvery car parked at the curb, and she hemmed to herself. Mornings were evil, she could not disagree with that.
On a sigh, Jenna got up too letting the chair legs scrap the hardwood floor. As much as she liked teasing them from time to time, being late for her own class wasn't that much fun and she really had to hurry now. She grabbed her cup and plate to drop them into the dish washer and reached to turn off the coffee machine. A little more caffeine and she would start to buzz, literary.
Patio door creaked open behind Jenna's back making her spin around. If Elena was up and Jeremy was in the process of loading himself into Bonnie's Prius, or maybe by this time he was already asleep in the back seat, then it could only be… She saw Stefan. He poked his head in, spotted her and stepped inside.
"Hi," he smiled.
"Hi," Jenna echoed smiling back.
"Is Elena still here?"
"Um," automatically, her eyes flickered towards the hall. "Yeah, she got lost somewhere on her way down the stairs." Her gaze locked on Stefan's face again, eyes narrowing. "Aren't you going to school today?" Jenna began but then cut herself off and answered for him before he had time to response. "You probably had enough of it in your afterlife."
Stefan let his smile widen. "Well, something like that," he admitted. "But… I'm going. I just thought I'd catch up with her on the way."
She nodded. "Look, I've really got to go now. Elena must be down soon. You're free to wait for her here if you want," she offered.
"Thanks."
"Feel like home," she reached for the journal and then paused and turned to him. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure," Stefan shrugged, studying her thoughtful expression.
Jenna hesitated for a moment, both searching for the words and wondering if she actually wanted to start the conversation at all. She had to change and check her books and try not to forget her notes for once, and then she'd probably have to break a couple of traffic rules to arrive on time, and among all of that there was not that much time for a chit chat. But the thing was, there was just too much on her mind, too many questions without answers for her to bear, and she needed to get out of this dead end.
"These mind tricks you guys can go…" she started uncertainly. "Do you know the extent of them?"
"Mind tricks – like compulsion?"
"Well, yeah, for starters."
Stefan considered her questions. "Honestly? I don't think anyone knows it for sure." He replied after a short pause. "I doubt anyone ever studied a vampire to find it out," he added skeptically. "On a healthy human blood diet, especially fresh one, all vampires are pretty strong, both physically and mentally. All of us are capable of compelling humans that are not protected by vervain." He rubbed his forehead. "But… like everything, it is all quite individual."
"Individual how?" Now, she was getting curious.
"Well, when human turns into a vampire, all of his feelings and emotions, as well as some traits of character," he explained, "get heightened. They become more prominent. But just like humans are all different in their abilities and emotional range and, you know, capability to feel one thing or another, so are the vampires. To make it short, let's say that becoming a vampire brings out the best and the worst in people. Mainly the worst though."
"And what about… special skills?"
"Special skills?" Stefan blinked. "I'm not sure you can play violin better once you have fangs." And then the question sank in and he added, choosing the words carefully. "But mind thing related, I think if the person naturally has some psychic abilities, as a human, I think he can be stronger when it comes to compulsions and other mind messing once he is a vampire. Plus, age and good diet – again – make us more powerful in this department." He fell silent waiting for the information to absorb. "Do you want to know anything… specific?"
Yeah, about that – I wish I knew!
"No, not really," Jenna said a little uncertainly. "I am kind of still trying to wrap my mind around all of that." A rueful smile touched her lips as she turned the Jonathan Gilbert's journal from side to side in her hand looking at it somewhat condescendingly. "This is interesting, in a fairy-tale sort of way. But it hardly explains much. It's… confusing."
"Are you okay?" Stefan asked her, frowning.
And that was the question that had no answer at the moment, Jenna thought. Okay became a really vague term lately. Now it meant anything from okay, let's watch TV to okay, no one killed me in my sleep, depending on perception and circumstances.
"Hey, guys, what's up?"
The voice made them both turn before Jenna could come with a decent answer as Elena walked into the kitchen, dressed and with her school bag slung over her shoulder. Her eyes jumped back and forth between the two of them.
"Hi," Stefan gave her a small wave of a hand.
"Elena," you just saved me from a very awkward non-answer. "Stefan is here to see you… and I really have to go now. And I think Bonnie and your brother are waiting for you outside." She paused trying to remember what else she wanted to say. "I'm going to pick the car after school and I'll have to stop by the library, and I am also meeting my thesis advisor at six, so I'll be late for dinner-"
"It's okay, Jenna," Elena assured her. "We'll just order pizza or come up with something else. Go!"
Jenna smiled at her. "Okay," she nodded. "You guys enjoy yourselves." Car beeped outside once again, longer and more persistent this time – definitely Jeremy's doing. "And please don't be late, I'm not sure I can deal with squeezing your teacher-parent stuff into my schedule right now."
"Go," Elena ordered giving Jenna a meaningful look. "Is everything okay?" She asked Stefan quietly as soon as she was sure her aunt was out of the hearing range. Her gaze flickered over her shoulder.
"Yeah, we were just talking," Stefan shrugged.
"You didn't come to school yesterday," she said letting her bad slide down her shoulder and caught it by the strap before it ended on the kitchen floor.
"Math quiz? Are you kidding?" He reminded her and smiled when Elena gave him a reproachful look. "Damon and I were checking the old cemetery. Crypts are the best hiding places, and it is on the outskirts of the town and far from the main roads, meaning safer in terms of attracting unnecessary attention."
"And?" She prodded making her way to the kitchen island to fill her thermos-mug with coffee and grab a roll.
"Nothing," Stefan shook his head and then ran his fingers through his hair, and Elena heard mild frustration in his voice. "It didn't look like anyone came anywhere near it in the last ten years, desolation and dust considered, and padlocks looked untouched, too."
"I thought you guys decided he was camping out outside the town."
"Looks like it's the main theory now, but we had to check anyway."
Slowly, Elena nodded. "Are you coming today?"
Another beep cut him off when Stefan just opened his mouth to reply, and lasted for at least half of the minute. "They are going to kill you," he told Elena, chuckling.
"But first they are going to wake up the entire block," she let out an exasperated sigh not having any trouble imagining Bonnie trying to shove Jeremy off and back into the backseat. Not that it ever worked. "So?"
"I'll see you at school. Now you better hurry."
"And wring my brother's neck," she drawled with mischievous anticipation.
It was a dark grey Camaro that caught Jenna's attention. She first spotted it in the rearview mirror when she left the car shop – finally driving her own car again. It was parked at the curb on the other side of the road and her gaze slipped past it without so much as a second thought but as soon as she was on the road, it made a u-turn and followed her moving at the same speed and keeping safe distance.
Jenna frowned as her fingers flexed on the steering wheel totally against her will and fought to keep her eyes on the road ahead of her. At the next intersection she took the right turn even though she needed to just keep going forward to get to the library and sped up as soon as she was sure that the street was empty. The Camaro turned after her and her heart plummeted down settling uncomfortable sickening feeling in her stomach. The car was too far behind for her to make out the person on the driver's seat and when she attempted to slow down a little, Camaro did the same. She did find out that all of the windows were black though but that was just as far as she could say for sure.
Don't panic, she told herself feeling dizzy from the rush of adrenaline in her system. No one is going to do anything to you in the middle of the street in broad daylight. Not that the town was too crowed at four in the afternoon and with the weather like that – thick grey clouds were hanging low in the sky just above the rooftops promising more rain later today and cold wind was chasing dray brownish leaves along the pavements and road-curb. Rare passersby were walking with their hands tucked into the pockets of their jackets and their noses buries in thick scarves. It wasn't like she was alone in the entire world, for heaven's sake!
But her hands were shaking and her palms were sticky on the black leather of the steering wheel, and Jenna totally couldn't control her breath that was short and convulsive as if she didn't have enough air to feel her lungs properly. Well, her ribcage seemed to be too small for her heart too, so maybe that was the case – it was pressing too hard on her lungs suffocating her as a kaleidoscope of horrible images flashed before her eyes.
She took another turn having no idea where she was going and not really caring either at this point as she was feverishly trying to come up with some sort of plan – any plan, really. Not that she could circle around the city for ages but…
The Camaro turned after her again and Jenna was this close to having a heart attack when she nearly ran into the parked car because of being too busy staring in the rearview mirror. "Damn it," she muttered with growing frustration. It was getting ridiculous. Especially the obviousness of it – as if someone was deliberately teasing her following her like that. Spying on her secretly she could get – but this? What exactly were they going to do if she simply stopped the car and got out?
Now that was tempting, Jenna thought darkly.
Okay then, she decided tightening her jaw as her eyes narrowed threateningly, one more turn and if he follows me I am so going to kick someone's ass today. She stepped on the gas, her eyes darting between the road and side mirrors, and then hit the brakes at yet another intersection scaring a flock of birds on the low white fence near the bakery shop. Turned to the left… and let out a sigh of relief when Camaro turned to the right and sped away moving towards the northern part of the town. Jenna neared the shoulder of the road and slowed down, her gaze glued to the rearview mirror as she tried to wrap her mind around what had just happened.
You're so losing it, she shook her head and let out a short nervous laugh. It wasn't even funny anymore. Her paranoia grew to a size of a serious problem by the looks of it. Just because someone happened to be having to move in the same direction she was more than eager to see potential danger in it, which was probably making half of the town homicidal maniacs. Yeah, I'll think about it in the line for group therapy.
Still shaking her head and feeling waves of relief rolling through her, Jenna u-turned and headed for the town's center, her heart still pounding somewhat uncomfortably in her chest but it was getting back to its normal pace. A vampire couldn't have followed her in the light of the day anyway, she reminded herself. He wouldn't be so open about it, too. And come to think of it, even if the previous two statements were wrong, he still had one thousand and one chances to attack her between her leaving the home in the morning and now. But he didn't. For some reason the thought wasn't consoling and she was still having this odd feeling of wrongness but she pushed it back and willed herself not to think about it anymore.
It was just a car and it didn't mean anything. Although… was it the same car that she saw when she was coming back from the grocery store last evening? The memory made her frown. It was getting dark then but… Okay, what if it was? Mystic Falls wasn't exactly New York City, she could keep running into the same people – and their cars – all day round.
Jenna took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly. She had to do something about it.
She couldn't help checking the rearview mirror every twenty seconds on her drive back to High Street but never saw a Camaro again, and ten minutes later she parked her car across the street from the old Victorian building occupied by the Mystic Falls Public Library finally letting herself relax and wincing mentally at the whole thing and her insane reaction. She killed the engine, grabbed her bag and the books from the passenger seat, pushed the door open… and was all but knocked back inside by the chilly wind.
"Could have been worse," Jenna muttered finally climbing out and catching the loose ends of her scarf that flapped behind her back before it was torn off of her neck. Pushed away the hair that the wind kept throwing in her face, adjusted her stuff in her hands and slammed the door close hurrying to get inside the library to hide from the wind. No wonder the streets were empty.
The Mystic Falls Public Library owned its glorious appearance to being a Town Hall before the new one had been built two blocks away from the old one about fifty years ago and was one of the oldest buildings of the town, its magnificent form towering above a small park. Jenna climbed up the flight of marble stairs that led to massive double doors, reached for a huge handle, pulled the door open – not without the effort… and all but bumped into Alaric who was standing before her, his arm lifted as he obviously reached for the handle on his side to push it – she just didn't give him a chance to do it.
Jenna's heart leaped and ended up thudding somewhere in her throat as they stood there and gawked at each other.
Okay, maybe she wasn't that serious about everything being over between the two of them when she said it back then. Not really. She simply couldn't do it, not like that. But she knew that he needed time and space to sort everything out for himself without her hanging around, especially assuming that she couldn't really help – as much as she'd love to. The last thing that she needed was for him to feel obliged to stay in a relationship he wasn't ready for just because it was the right thing to do according to some gentlemen code or whatever. And she could easily imagine Ric sticking to it, which was wrong by definition.
So, she helped them both dance out of it as gracefully as they could deciding that it was for the best to stay out of his way, literary, and let him understand what it was that he really wanted, knowing that with any luck she'd end up being on scenario. Or at least that was what she was trying to assure herself of. Not that it was making the whole waiting thing any easier but it was just as much as she could do for him in given circumstances.
And what Jenna expected least was to run into him like that, which left her unprepared and unsure about how to react. Which led straight to what do I do now? panic because it wasn't working well with the "stay away from him" plan. But then again, she didn't come looking for him – and how about points for it? – so technically speaking she wasn't in charge for that.
"Ric," she breathed out forcing her lips to stop stretching out before she ended up grinning like a fool and trying not to beam too obviously.
Now, speak of miracles!
"Hi."
Alaric didn't even bother to try and hold back the smile that crossed his face, his eyes lightening as he was wrapped momentarily in the familiar warmth of her presence. He cleared his throat then, finding himself at a total loss of words by the second and feeling quite uncomfortable about that. Yeah, words were a problem, sort of.
The football practice was cancelled today due to bad weather conditions and Ric sent the entire team to the gym instead as it obviously was better than nothing at all, deciding to stop by the library to turn in some books he borrowed for his classes, not that eager to be stuck within the confines of his apartment any time soon. It was Tuesday, the Council meeting day and Damon was supposed to talk to the Sheriff and the Council members after the official gathering and then give Ric a call about the news because they were stuck without new information, but knowing that it would hardly happen before five made Alaric try to come up with a way to escape his "home, sweet home" for a while. His mind was too restless to bear the silence and closed spaces, especially when he knew he'd end up pacing aimlessly from one room to another trapped in his thoughts.
And boy, could he ever choose a better place to visit?
Except that he was feeling, like, really dumb standing and staring at her like that. The wind was tearing at Jenna's hair and her short unzipped beige jacket, and her cheeks were flushed from the cold air, and the corners of her lips were tugged up slightly in that soft half-smile that she was wearing when she was feeling good that, Ric knew, she wasn't even noticing most of time, like at the moments when she didn't know he was looking at her. And he couldn't remember her being more beautiful.
The door opened again bumping into Alaric's shoulder – when did her get outside anyway? – and practically pushing him closer to Jenna as a woman in her mid-forties squeezed out trying to button up her coat and push thin-rimmed glasses up her nose without dropping a stack of books she was carrying.
"Oh, excuse me," she breathed out. "I didn't know—"
"It's okay," Ric shook his head distractedly, stepping further away from the door – and closer to Jenna – and holding it for the woman to make her way out safe.
"Thank you," she muttered on a small grateful smile and hurried down the steps.
Jenna followed her with her eyes before turning back to Alaric willing herself to stay cool on "Hi," which was just the dumbest thing to say but nothing more decent came to her mind straight away.
"Hi," he repeated, actually beating her at the 'dumbest thing to say'. O-o-kay, what now? "I…" am feeling really, really stupid, "hadn't seen much of you lately," he said, searching for the words – any words – in his foggy head that would make any sense. Which was true by the way because the closest thing to Jenna that he saw in the past week was a glimpse of her car when she was dropping Elena and Jeremy off at school in the morning, and then she was off as soon as they were out. That was if they hadn't been arriving with Bonnie or Stefan.
"I was…" sort of deliberately avoiding you for your own good, minus trying to spot you somewhere at the parking lot a couple of times… okay, four, "a little busy. You know, school," Jenna grimaced making him smile sympathetically.
"Oh." 'Oh?' Are you serious? Geez! "And… how is it?" Maaaaan!
"It was," the only thing keeping me from actually stalking you, perhaps, "rather tough. But," now that you're here… and I am here… and we're both here, "it's okay. No big deal." She pushed her hair away from her face balancing her books in another hand but fighting with the wind was making just as much sense as… well, fighting with the wind.
"Well, that's…" the most meaningful conversation I've ever had in my entire life, "that's good… I guess."
He locked his eyes on hers and held them only now realizing how close she was standing. So close that he could even see the scatter of golden freckles on her nose and feel the scent of her perfume – the very same one that seemed to be etched into every single item in his apartment, which wasn't exactly helping to keep his thoughts on the track. It was all still there, his memories as fresh as ever. The feel of her, the taste of her, the touch of her hands to his skin, their mingling breaths, the sound of her voice whispering his name. What a torture! Having to stand with her like that was like putting a plate of food before a starving person and only allowing him to look at it when in reality all he really wanted was to swallow it all and ask for more.
"Yeah, um, I guess. And… how is Mystic Falls High?"
"The same… I think."
"Good."
"Good."
And that was just as far as it could go without them starting to repeat themselves. Ric shifted from foot to foot not ready to actually leave but failing to find a reason to stay. He tucked his hands into the pockets of his jacket, his gaze drifted past Jenna for a moment and then returned to her, eyes narrowed a little.
"If that your car?" He asked.
She turned around to follow his gaze. "Yeah, they returned it to me at last. There are some issues with the insurance company I have to deal with but at least I have it back."
"Well, that's great," which probably sounded lame but his smile when their eyes met again was sincere, and they both fell silent for a moment when a bunch of seven-graders filed out of the door chatting and laughing and pushing each other on their way down the steps. "So…" he started. We can still talk about the weather, which is pretty crappy today, "I—I think I should go," before we actually ended up talking about the weather.
Jenna hesitated. "Ric," she called out when he already turned around to leave and waited for him to look at her again. "It was nice to see you."
His smiled softened as he nodded after a short pause. "Yeah, it was nice to see you, too."
~ I die each time you look away
My heart, my life will never be the same
This love will take my everything
One breath, one touch will be the end of me
"Love Song Requiem" by Trading Yesterday~
Jenna strained her eyes to see anything in the pitch-black darkness around her, so thick that it seemed to be sucking in everything that it could touch. She turned around slowly and reached her hand out. The movement stirred the air making her realize how cold it was. So cold that she could practically feel it with her bones. She could barely even shiver because it was taking just too much effort which meant losing precious body heat.
She blinked a few times hoping it would help but she couldn't even see her own breath puffing out although she could clearly feel it – the contrast between it and the air around her. She took a cautious step having no idea where she was going but needed to do something. Standing there in one place surely wasn't making her any good. The air around her was heavy smelled like stone and earth as she was in the cave, which of course could explain the cold but not how she got there and that was exactly what she needed most. Well, getting out would work, too.
Another step with her arms outstretched. She kicked a small stone what rolled away from her. The echo scattered all around and died somewhere is the distance, and she paused in her tracks for a moment fighting to hear anything else, but then everything was quiet again and the only sound she could register was her shallow cautious breaths.
Okay, question – was she even moving in the right direction? Was there such thing as right direction at all? It surely felt like one big black hole that swallowed her trapping her in this cold and emptiness. And yet, she couldn't shake off the feeling that there was something else in this place with her. Something was watching her, waiting, considering. She could feel the waves of danger coming from it.
On instinct, she whirled around praying it would go away. And then again. And again. But wherever she was turning, it was always behind because that was the best way to attack her so that she couldn't fight back. Hell, Jenna knew that if anything like that happened, she'd hardly even notice it. Her heartbeat was racing in her chest threatening to break through her ribcage, her breath was forced and convulsive as if she was suffocating. And she only noticed that all this time she kept backing off when her back smacked into something solid and cold, and she span around, taking an impulsive step back and nearly losing her balance on uneven floor (ground?).
It took Jenna a few agonizingly terrifying moments – during which she expected to have her head ripped off or something like that – to understand that she must have bumped into the wall or whatever it was. She took a few deep breaths feeling slightly lightheaded and wondering somewhere in the back of her mind how much oxygen this place held in case it was closed or blocked, not really bothering to try and find out how she ended up here in the first place. She steadied herself and groped for the wall yet again until her fingers brushed against cold rough surface of a stone. She pressed her palm into it for a moment wrapping her mind around the fact that is wasn't indeed black hole of some sort. Not that it was changing anything but the realization was soothing, and eventually her heartbeat slowed down and she stopped seeing spots flashing before her eyes.
Holding onto the wall not to get lost – as in even more lost – she stared moving forward still listening with all her might. And then stopped short after a while when she realized that that darkness around her faded a little going more into grayish colors from the light forcing its way from somewhere above her.
Jenna let go off the wall and made a few sure steps before all but stumbling at the sight of something lying on the ground a few feet away from her. She narrowed her eyes and tilted her head to her shoulder trying to catch a better angle and not quite daring to come any closer as if something was holding her back. A black heap on the slightly lighter floor that looked very much like—
She knew what it was, and she knew that she knew what it was, but her mind was fighting against it refusing to accept it. And then the fear crept in on her consuming her completely, and she knew what it meant and where she was and what was watching her all the time.
A noise behind her back – intentional without a doubt, aimed to attract her attention – made Jenna freeze to her spot. She could feel her hair move on the nape of her neck as chill ran down her spine. She turned around before she knew how it happened unable to bear that heavy stare burning into her back.
"Hello, Jenna."
To be continued…
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