"Oh my gosh Damon. Of course I'll marry you," she gushes, staring at the ring I just put on her finger.
"It's beautiful." I smile when I see that she's still unable to take her eyes from that finger. When she finally looks away, she wraps her arms around my neck, kissing me with all she has.
"I aim to please," I tease, pressing a kiss to the tip of her nose. Just as that memory fades, another more sinister one takes its place.
"But I thought you were happy and you wanted to be with me? I make a good living. I've given you everything you've asked for. Why are you doing this?" I scream back, fisting my hands in my hair.
"Can't you get it through your thick skull, I want nothing to do with you? I can hardly even stand to look at you," she sneers, twisting the dagger in deeper with each syllable that flies out of her mouth.
"Can we at least talk about this? What have I done?" The sinister look on her face makes the cut of the knife hurt even more acutely as it eviscerates me with precision.
"No," she snaps, looking back once more before slamming the door behind her. Completely discombobulated, I walk over to the window, the dagger twisting even deeper when I see the two of them kissing. Unable to watch any longer, I turn away, sinking to the floor in heap, stunned as tears begin to prick at my eyes.
Stefan, Liz... What's going on?" As soon as she says it, my knees buckle as I collapse to the floor, not wanting to believe what I just heard. 'Drowning? What? No, no, no?" I whimper, tears filling my eyes.
"No," escapes my mouth when I fly out of bed. Looking around the room to get my bearings, my eyes focus on the picture that hasn't left my bedside. Picking it up, I clutch it to my chest before dissolving in a puddle of tears, my legs no longer able to hold me up.
"Damon?" dad whispers when he sees me curled up on the carpet. Just as quickly, he's on his knees, pulling me against his chest. My body relaxing a little more with each stroke of his palm against my back. Unable to move just yet, I close my eyes and bury my face against his chest, my pain slowly ebbing to a level that allows me to function.
"I'm sorry I woke you." My breaths are still coming out in pants and gasps.
"Son, you have nothing to apologize for. We can't help where our minds take us sometimes," he says, the low tone of his voice soothing. Sucking in a deep shuddering breath, I finally pull away so I can look at him.
"Thanks dad. I don't know where I'd be without you." He stares at me for a long moment.
"I'm your father and I love you. Where else would I be?" he asks, laying his hand atop mine. "Do you need something to help you sleep?" he asks.
Just as I'm about to answer him, a volley of sneezes escapes my mouth. He leans over towards my bedside stand to grab a tissue. After I wipe my nose, "I might have some 'Advil PM' in the medicine cabinet. The Benadryl might help my nose dry up too."
"You get back into bed. I'll go look. Do you have some water to swallow them?" Nodding, I point to the water bottle on my bedside stand. He gets up and goes into my bathroom. I hear the noises as he's moving things around to look for it. When he comes back into my bedroom, he hands me two of them. I raise my eyes to him then quickly swallow them down.
"Do you want me to stay?" Shaking my head no, I lay back down, covering my eyes with my forearm.
"Okay then but Damon, I'm right across the hall if you need me."
"Thanks dad. And I love you too. Goodnight." When the light goes out and I hear the door close, I roll onto my side, hoping this time my sleep is dreamless.
"Ric, Elijah, thanks for coming," I greet them, stepping aside so they can come into my house.
"You look like shit," Elijah chuckles.
"Feel like it too to be honest."
"Hello Owen," Ric says, greeting my dad when he walks into the room.
"Owen, this is my business partner, Elijah. Eli, this is Damon's father, Owen."
"It's nice to meet you sir," Elijah says to dad, shaking his hand.
"I've only heard good things about you from both Damon and Ric." Dad smiles and leads us into the kitchen. After giving us all a cup of coffee, he sits down.
"What's this about, Damon?" Ric asks.
Taking a deep breath, I look around the table. "You might think I'm crazy but something untoward is going on at Happy Dale. I don't know what it is, but I've seen things. My gut instinct is telling me something isn't right about that place. Add that to the fact that when I went over there for my duties not long ago, I found a young girl died," I add, pausing to let that sink in a little bit.
"So dad and I did as much research as we could online. It seems that Rose was the third young woman to die there in the last couple of years. The article talked about the death will bring the conspiracy theory kooks out of the woodwork again." I pass my eyes from dad then to Ric and Elijah.
"What kind of things have you seen?" Elijah asks, tilting his head curiously.
"For one thing, I've seen Carol Lockwood's secretary observing me for lack of a better word. The other day when I left work, her car was parked across the street and she was staring at my office. I went out the back door otherwise she would've seen me leaving. I was sorely tempted to jump her but I didn't. I've seen her eyeing me when I've talked to some of the staff and the residents of the place. She just gives me bad vibes." Feeling a chill, I pick up my coffee cup and take a drink.
"What about Mrs. Lockwood? Has she acted strangely too?" Ric asks, cupping his hands around his mug.
"I've caught her staring a time or two as well. She did come onto me once but I put an end to that and quickly. She hasn't tried that again. It's more April than Carol but I've seen the two of them huddled together. I can't explain it, Ric. I just know something is going on there."
"You say this girl is the third person to have died there?"
"That's what the article said," Dad adds, getting up to pour himself a refill.
"That is suspicious in and of itself," Elijah agrees. "You know my dad is private detective. Why don't I give him a call to see if he has time to run over here?"
"That's a good idea." Getting up, I grab the carafe, offering to refill their coffee cups. Maybe a half hour passes when I hear the doorbell.
"I'll get it," dad says, standing up and leaving the kitchen. A few moments later, the two of them step back inside. I stand up and offer him my chair.
"Dad, this is Damon," Elijah tells him, pointing at me, palm up.
"And this is his father, Owen. Guys, this is my dad, Mikael."
"How can I help you today?"
"Would you like a cup of coffee? I just made a fresh pot."
"Yes, thank you," Mikael says. Grabbing another mug from the cupboard, I fill it up then hand it to him," pointing to the cream and sugar that's already on the table top.
"The reason we called you dad is because Damon has some suspicions about Happy Dale."
"Ah... Happy Dale... I haven't thought about that place for quite some time," he utters, more to himself than to the rest of us.
"Now you have me intrigued." I add, leaning back against the counter.
"There have been rumors about the place for years. I, for one, believe the so-called conspiracy theories. They weren't born out of nothing," he says, looking at each of us.
"When I was a young man, a friend of mine got a girl pregnant. I knew her too. She was a very nice girl. Her parents sent her to Happy Dale. She died quite unexpectedly and quite suspiciously but nothing ever became of the investigation. As far as I know it was written off as natural causes. I have never believed that."
"I would very much like to investigate this if for no other reason than to give that girl justice."
"Thank you Mikael." Reaching over, I extend my hand to shake his.
"I'll keep my eyes and ears open but is there anything else I can do to help you?"
"I have some people who work undercover for me from time to time. I'm going to try to get her admitted there. She'll be able to do some digging as well."
"Before I told dad of my suspicions, I did a little research myself. The only articles that were listed had been purged from the website. The reporter listed is someone named Andie Starr. She's in Oklahoma City now according to a search of her name."
"Maybe I'll have to drive up there to see if I can have a word with Miss Starr," Mikael says, his eyes on me for a moment. Glancing at his watch, he backs out of his chair, stands up and puts his cup in my sink.
"I have another appointment so I need to run. I'm going to try to get in touch with Miss Starr. I'll be in touch." He first offers dad his hand and then me again.
"Thank you, Mr. Mikaelson," I tell him, shaking his hand.
"Please call me Mikael." Turning around, he starts walking out of the kitchen.
"I'll walk you out, dad," Elijah says, standing up and walking with his dad.
"I need to get back to the office too, Damon. I'll talk to you soon," Ric says, giving my shoulder a light squeeze when he sets his own cup in the sink.
Gesturing for him to lead, I follow him outside. After saying goodbye, I watch the three of them drive away. Deep in thought, I don't hear my dad come outside.
"I'm going for a walk, would you like to join me?"
"Let me grab a handful of Kleenex and then yes, I'd like that." Walking into the bathroom, I pick up the box and stuff a handful of tissues in my pocket, I make sure I have my house key before locking the door, pulling it closed behind me. The two of us walk side by side into the woods surrounding my home, hoping to escape the heaviness inside me for just a little while.
Although I still feel like hell from my cold, I decide I need to go to the office for the day, having ignored it for far too long. Fortunately I was able to call in sick at Happy Dale. I don't want to expose anyone to this because it just won't let go of me. I miss little Anna though and I can't wait to see her again but the last thing I want is for her to get sick. Once I turn on the computer, I try to do some work but my mind keeps jumping back to Mikael, especially the part about women having died there in distant past too. Folding my arms across the desktop, I lay my head down as fatigue finally catches up with me.
Elena isn't here yet today, she had a class to attend apparently and is planning to come over for a few hours afterwards. I smile when Melanie told me that she's a quick learner. Fortunately Mel will be here a few more weeks before she says goodbye for the final time. I am grateful that she's taking such care with Elena, showing her the ropes and all.
"Damon?" I raise my head when I hear my name. Slowly I sit up straight watching him as he walks into the room.
"Did you need something Stefan?"
"Yeah, it's about that girl...,"
"What girl?"
"What girl do you think? Hello, Elena," he mutters, throwing his arms up.
"Don't be so melodramatic," I scoff.
"What about her?"
"I don't want her here. She won't fit in. She's a mental patient Damon," he says softly, looking at me pensively.
"Oh come on. Don't be ridiculous. She as sane as you and I are. Actually her head is probably in a better place than mine is."
"How do you know she won't go postal or something? Do you even know anything about her?"
"I know she's not dangerous. Chill already."
"Admit it, you don't know anything about her."
"Fine, I don't know a lot about her. All I know is that she's been completely kind to me. I am giving her this job so you're just going to have to deal with it," I add in no uncertain terms.
"If anything happens, it's on your head," he says, his voice angry as he turns around and walks out, slamming the door shut behind him.
I haven't seen anymore of Stefan today. He must've left in a huff. I love my brother but sometimes he really tries my patience. I lock my office door then go to see if Elena is ready to leave. I'll walk with her back to Happy Dale. It's a good ten blocks or so but I can catch the bus from there too. Even though my body is still at war with me, I want to spend a little time with her. Standing just outside the door, I watch the two of them for a few minutes before stepping inside, greeting them both with a smiles.
"Hi boss. We were just finishing up," Mel says, clicking her computer off. Elena looks up, her smile wide when our eyes meet.
"I thought I could walk you back?"
"That would be lovely."
"Go on, I'll finish here. I'll see you tomorrow Elena. And boss, you still look like crap and should be home in bed," Mel adds, scolding me with her pointer finger.
Rolling my eyes, I reply, "I actually think the fresh air might do me some good. Let's go, Elena." She smiles when I nudge her back lightly with my palm.
"See you tomorrow Mel. Would you lock up on your way out?"
"I will. Bye now." She giving us a shushing motion with her hands before turning her eyes back to the computer.
"Thanks," I mouth to her before turning around and walking out with Elena. The two of us walk side by side down the sidewalk chit chatting about nothing at all really. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I take her hand in mine, lacing our fingers together. She looks at our joined hands for a moment before leaning over and pressing a kiss to my lips.
"Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity Damon. My twenty first birthday is coming quickly and then I can leave Happy Dale for good. Now that I have a job, I have to find myself a place to live."
"Elena, I'll help you find something. Don't worry about it, okay?" Watching her face relax, I reassure her.
"I'll look at some of the listings on line this evening. I have to be at Happy Dale tomorrow, maybe we'll see each other?"
"That would be great if you could find something. I don't know the first thing about renting a place. I mean as far as cost and everything. I really appreciate your help." Smiling, she gives my hand a squeeze. We sit down on the bench at the bus stop, still holding hands.
"I'll walk the rest of the way from here. There are 'eyes' at Happy Dale that I would prefer to stay blind."
"Why?"
"When I'm free of that place, I'll tell you. But please trust me for now." Unable to take my eyes from hers, I lean in and press my lips to hers. As our lips slide together, I wrap my arms around her, deepening the kiss.
"I do trust you but I want to be able to do that without cause for concern. You scare me a little bit Elena."
"Don't be scared. I'll tell you everything I know when it's safe."
"Promise me you'll be careful." I stare into her beautiful brown eyes before lifting another kiss from her lips.
"I promise," she whispers, initiating another kiss. Our bubble is broken by the sounds of grinding gears as the bus pulls up.
"You better go," she says. Standing up, I pull her up with me, embracing her for one last bone melting kiss before saying goodbye and hopping on the bus, not looking away till she disappears into Happy Dale.
There is definitely something amiss at Happy Dale...
Thank you Eva for everything. I really appreciate all of your help and wise counsel. You're the best and I love you lots and lots and lots and lots.
Chapter title: 'Mary Jane's Last Dance' by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
Thank you so much for all of your reviews and support. I appreciate them more than you know. Right now I'm going through a little difficulty, finding my DE muse dimming a bit. I'm trying to work my way through it though.
I did post the first chapter of 'When You Wish Upon a Star'. Please give it a look. It's one of my 3 Christmas themed stories. Unless, I just can't wait, I'm going to post the Christmas one-shot that I wrote for This is My Escape next week.
Please give 'Rainy Days and Mondays' and 'It Came Upon a Midnight Clear' a look too. Do remember to *REVIEW*.. So many of you follow and favorite my stories and although I'm grateful that you're interested enough to do so, it would be a nice treat to have you review once in awhile too.
As always, stay safe and be aware. Sadly, the world is a very dangerous place. Have a wonderful weekend. Until next time.