A/n- Hello, everyone! Another chapter and we're finally getting close to the action. :)
I have nothing else to comment on except:
Warning: switching of verb tenses, choppy and rushed writing. Sorry. I try to be better.
To my lovely reviewers: Thank you all for reviewing!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my plot.
Remember Me as I Once Was
Ch. 3- The Home That Built Her
You leave home you move on and you do the best you can
I got lost in this old world and forgot who I am
...
I know they say you can't go home again
I just had to come back one last time
-The House That Built Me, Miranda Lambert
Elena Gilbert-Evans woke up exactly at five in the morning as usual. The familiar sounds of downtown Chicago drifted muted into her room. She heard the distinct roar of a train, the soft voices of people walking on the street, and the occasional furious honking. She stayed in the queen-sized bed for a while, staring up at the ceiling and hoping that maybe this day would be different.
Eventually, she got up even though it wouldn't make a difference at all if she stayed in bed or not. Elena opened the door to her closet and as she surveyed her collection of clothing, wondered what to put on today. She saw the bright colors of a summer dress and the darkness of a black conservative suit and pondered which one to wear.
Catching a glimpse of her reflection in the full body length view in her mirror, Elena had to say she was pretty satisfied at the way her life had been. She had a good marriage, a sweet child, and some good friends/family in her life. The fifteen years that had passed since her 18th birthday had only touched her briefly despite her heavy-load work much to the displeasure and envy of many women who knew her.
Only in a certain angle of light can the fine laughter and frown lines could be seen on Elena.
She got dressed in a conservative business suit and walked down the hall to peek into her child's princess-themed room before remembering that her daughter wasn't home.
Eliza was in Asia with her Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Bonnie. The reason why rushed into her head and made her lean heavily against the doorway.
Joshua, her husband, was missing, have been for a week now.
It had been a normal Friday morning when Elena had last seen Joshua. As usual, he left his packing to the last moment and barely kissed his wife and child as he rushed out the door in order to catch his flight on time.
Trying to get Eliza to eat her veggies, Elena barely managed to cry "Call me when you land!" before the door slammed and the engine roared.
As usual, Joshua forgot to call her or at least send her an email.
On Saturday, Jeremy and Bonnie came to visit her on their way to China with their son, Johnathan. When Eliza found out they were going to China, she begged to go along and they readily agreed to take their favorite neice with them. Elena reluctantly let her go.
She was alone in the house when Sunday came along and got a head start on her next novel.
It was only on Monday when the company had called the residence to speak to Joshua that Elena realized he never got on the flight. An icy feeling shivered through her bones as her face paled. What happened to Joshua?
She immediately filed a missing person report.
Some days she regretted filing that report since policemen would randomly come to wherever she was at and interrogate her more. They always told her the finding of the investigation going on into his background. That's how she found out about Joshua's campaign to become an Alderman of their district. With that small step, he would've been on his way to merge into the murky waters that was Chicago's politics.
The two policemen questioned her with delicacy as if one harsh quick question would make her crumble into tears. Elena knows they suspect her, after all, she didn't watch crime shows and come away with nothing. Finally, before the interview was over, one of them produced with flourish a picture from out of nowhere and placed it in front of her. Elena leaned closer to see it.
The picture is a fuzzy screenshot from a camera. Right away, Elena's eyes picks out the curve of her husband's back as he bent over to gather some things scattered on the floor. In front of him is a young blonde woman, very pretty, looking at him coyly.
"Ma'am, do you recognize the woman your husband is with?" asked the older policeman carefully.
Immediately, she shook her head.
"Think carefully Ma'am. 85% of the time, the wife knows the other woman from somewhere." said the younger policemen gently.
She flinched at the words "other woman." Could Joshua really have been cheating on her all this time? Could those trips really have been "business trips" instead? Thanks to the policemen, doubt started to take root in her heart and she longed for Joshua to waltz into the house like nothing happened.
Elena was a strong-willed woman. But like all other women, she shivered at the thought of infidelity and tried to look for support among her friends. She found none, only pity and fear. Is Joshua, who was one of the most close-to-perfect husbands out there, was cheating; what did that mean for them and their husbands? Elena understood and left them was only one place that would give her the comfort and strength she needed to get through this ordeal.
So she books herself a flight to Mystic Falls immediately after telling the police where she could be contacted at. After all, Elena had a perfectly good alibi on not being a suspect as that blonde woman was the last person to see Joshua.
The next day she boarded the flight to Mystic Falls.
Well to be exact, the closest city near the town.
0o0o0
The last time she had set foot on Mystic Falls had been about six years ago. That had been to be present for the birth of Bonnie's first child, her beloved godchild. Elena and her husband had stayed there for a week at the boardinghouse to help the new parents out, dousing out the helpful advice they wished they had when Eliza had been born.
For that whole week, Joshua had turned off his phone and let her dragged him all around town to show him the sights. However, he was more intrigued by the boardinghouse and all the antigues that were in its rooms.
"Is this boardinghouse in your family? It says on the plaque hanging on the wall that its the Salvatore house but your family is Gilbert, unless its an old wedding present when a Salvatore woman married into your family?" he asks, running his hand over the words Salvatore.
At this, she paused, and tilting her head to one side, tried to remember how it came to be in her ownership.
"I got it as a graduation present after getting my degree. Alaric gave it to me." she said simply, remembering how Alaric had handed her the deed to the boardinghouse.
He nodded in understanding and said, "So Alaric is descended from the Salvatore family?"
Automatically she nods and mentally frowns.
Alaric wasn't from Mystic Falls originally, in fact his family was mostly in-Elena's glance catches their one year old girl about to eat dirt.
"No! Joshua, Eliza is eating dirt!" she exclaims.
Quickly they averted the disaster and Elena smiles at the distinct memory.
Going back to her hometown, Elena notices that nothing has really changed-except the people. There are new generations of people now. Somewhere out there in Mystic Falls are three friends telling each other secrets. There are new decorations up around the town square and new store fronts. She tells the taxi driver how to get to Alaric's house and he leaves her in front of it with her big purse filled with essentials.
Elena's eyes grew moist as she took in the house that have once been her aunt's house. Jenna's house looks exactly the same outside but she knows it is different inside. Quickly she bounced up the porch stairs and stood in front of the door. Noticing that the door is slightly different from the one that it used to be, Elena raises her fist to the door.
She knocks. Once. Maybe three times.
Immediately the door opened to reveal Alaric Salzerman.
"Elena!" he exclaimed in surprise before hugging her.
She lets go of her grip on the bag and returned the hug, automatically smiling. Alaric was the adored uncle/stepfather that could have been and their relationship reflected it. Letting go of each other, they critically eyed the other person to see how they were.
Elena notices that his hair is almost fully gray, there are a few hairs that are sticking stubbornly to black, and though he stooped slightly, still stood as straight just like when she started knowing him.
Alaric notices slight bags under her eyes, the telling sign of Elena being overstressed and came to the conclusion that she needed a vacation. He motioned her inside and asks her if she wants something to drink.
She shakes her head no and her eyes immediately fall on the pile of suitcases by the stairs. Alaric notices this and grins sheepily.
"Listen Elena, you know you can stop by whenever you want. This is your house after all but...I'm actually leaving in an hour. There's a conferance for history buffs up in New York..." he drifts off awkwardly.
Elena rushes to reassure him that it was fine, that she should have called, and that she'll be fine staying by herself for a while.
"I actually came to soak up some inspiration for my upcoming novel so I wouldn't make a good roommate anyway." she says.
They danced around it until Alaric realized he was almost late for his flight and Elena basically pushes him out the door.
It is when the car is almost pulling out that Alaric realizes something and sticking his head out the window, he shouts, "There's nothing in the fridge Elena!"
The he was gone and she went back into the house. Immediately she goes to her old room, which was a guestroom now, and collapsed on the bed. Elena closes her eyes for just a moment and falls asleep.
The next morning Elena stared into the vast emptiness that was the refridgerator. Not. A. Thing.
Alaric hadn't been lying after all.
So after stopping at the Mystic Grill for a quick breakfast, Elena immediately went to the Farmer's Market store. The time flies as Elena shopped for things she needed and greeted the people who came up to her to say hello.
After two hours, Elena is done and wheels her cart out of the store. In her hurry she accidently bumps into a young blond man going inside with his girlfriend, and when he turns around with a frown, smiles at him apologetically but continue on walking fast to her car.
She completely misses the look of absolute shock on his face before it morphs into one of fury.
0o0o0
Klaus had gone to the store with Mindy out of boredom. He had tried to figure out what had gone wrong in his curse breaking but really, everything seemed checked off. All the bodies he buried in the forest were still there. There is a gravemarker for the doppelganger in her ancestral part of the cementary. Still, he had to wait for his sister to join them in order for all of them to figure out why. Stefan had left the house to find some food in a depressed state. That chap was always in the pits without Rebekah. He bumps into a woman who is in a hurry and he turns to see who it is. She smiles at him sweetly, the type of smile that made people smile back and forget why they were mad, and continues on to her car.
It is rare for Klaus to feel shock but he is.
Despite the fact that this woman is older, her hair is no longer the long straight darkness it used to be, he is sure (so sure he is willing to bet his collection of coffins on it) that he has just bumped into Elena Gilbert.
Klaus has spent centuries looking for the doppelganger that he knows the telltale features and this woman has them down perfectly. But how was this possible? As soon as he walked inside the store, he ditched Mindy and started investigating on the how.
0o0o0
Mindy was putting in the groceries when Klaus appeared with his brooding face on.
"Let's go." he orders.
It is as Mindy drives back to their hideout that Klaus thinks about what he has found out. He had been right, it was the doppelganger Elena but older. Somehow she had died and come back, not a vampire obviously, but still.
She is married now. She had gone to the university and gotten it all. The rich husband, the white-picket fence house, and although there was no mention of children, Klaus was sure there would be eventually.
If he lets her.
Anger boils and he strikes at the dashboard. Mindy flinches and the car swerves a bit but he doesn't care.
"Get out."
Mindy pulls over and gets out as Klaus slides into the driver's seat.
"I'll see you back at the house." He says as he shifts gears and starts driving. In the rearview mirror he sees Mindy walking to the bus bench that is slightly ahead of her. He has to visit an old friend.
0o0o0
After Elena put away her groceries, she started on writing her next novel. She has forgotten how much she loved Mystic Falls, how much the town inspires her to write. She pauses for a moment to think about why she never came back to Mystic Falls after the birth of Johnathan when the doorbell rings. Sneakily, she peeks out to see who it was and sees only a blonde teenager waiting.
Elena frowns and goes to the door. Opening it, she greets the teenager with a small smile.
"Hello, may I help you?" she asks, prepared to slam the door on his face.
"Now, now Elena. Is that anyway to greet an old friend?" says the young blonde man, leaning against the threshold of the door. Her hand tightens on the door knob and she places a hand on the door near her face.
Though his tone was one of politeness and his posture nonthreatening, a chill went down through her spine at the sight of him. It feels as if she's known him before and it frightens her so. However, she strengthen her spine and refused to let on how this punk had unnerved her.
She shook her head and said, "Young man, I think you have me confused with someone else. I haven't seen you before in all my years living in Mystic Falls."
At the mention of "young man" the corner of his mouth lifted up in amusement.
He got as close as he could to her and said, "How about you let me inside your lovely home and I'll help you remember what you have forgotten, Elena?"
Klaus has plans for her once he is invited in. He has plans that would make her scream in agony, make her cry, make her pay. She was the reason why the curse hasn't been broken at all!
"How about you quit harassing people, especially one of the benefactors of this town, and get off my porch?" retorted Elena back. She hated using her "descendant of a founding family" card but sometimes in Mytic Falls it was absolutely necessary. This teenager was calling her by her first name as if they had been friends or something and frankly, she has had enough of this freakiness.
Without waiting to see if he would leave, she slammed the door in his face and stormed up to her room.
She doesn't hear the curses Klaus spews as he leaves.
0o0o0
Stefan barely hears the door slam as he viciously pushed a young woman up on the wall and ripped into her throat. He greedily drinks up the blood that surges into his mouth as he tilts his head to get a good look at the doorway.
He relaxes when he sees Klaus stomp in angrily and rip the couch into pieces. It takes him only mere minutes before Klaus calms down and turns his attention towards Stefan.
"Ripper, brother, how about we go call on an old friend of ours?" asked Klaus charmingly as he settled into a chair and held his hand out for the glass of scotch Mindy had ready to give him.
Stefan frown as he thought about old friends he had in common with Klaus and found that they really didn't have any.
"Who?" he asked as he turned back at the blonde girl who was standing calmly behind him, her gaze blank and unwavering from the wall.
"Miss Elena Gilbert."
A/n- So, the title/song probably didn't go with this chapter but it inspired me to write this chapter lol. I hope you all enjoy the small cliffhanger ;) Or did you hated everything? Let me know.
Since I know reviewers need inspiration to review, here's a preview of the next chapter:
She screams and runs to the back door. She is almost out past the threshold when she notices the shadow among shadows and skidded to a stop. He steps out into her view, placing his hands on the door frame.
She is shocked beyond thinking. It can't be...