When I got off work yesterday, I went straight to Elena's house to tell her that her brother is here to see her. To say that she was shocked is an understatement. Once she could breathe again, I gave her my phone so she could call him and arrange to meet them at my house. Dad is cooking us a meal to break the ice a little bit. I know Jeremy has something important to tell her. It's probably to inform her that their parents are dead.
Elena pales when the doorbell rings. Lacing my hand with hers, I bring it to my mouth to press a slow, loving kiss to it.
"It's going to be okay," I reassure her. As soon as our eyes meet, I stoop over to kiss the crown of her head before walking off to answer the door. Opening it, I step aside and gesture for them to come in.
"Hello Jeremy, Lexie. Welcome to my home."
"Thank you for having us, Damon," Lexie replies, although her eyes are looking elsewhere. After leading them into the living room, I tell them to take a seat while I go to get Elena. Taking her hand in mine, I escort her into the room, joining her and her brother for the first time in many years.
I hear her breath hitch just before she pulls away from me to run into her brother's waiting arms. In seconds, I can hear her tearing up as she strokes his face and runs her hands up his strong arms.
"Are you real?" she stutters, her hand covering her mouth.
"Yes, Elena. I'm real," he assures her, his voice sounding overcome too. Turning to his wife, he introduces Lexie to his sister. The two women hug as if they've known each other for years.
"Where are you staying?" Elena asks, taking a seat beside Lexie on the couch.
"Um, I'm going to help my dad with supper so you all can get reacquainted," I interrupt, smiling at Elena just before I leave the living room. Dad is cutting up some vegetables so I offer to do that so he can get the chicken pieces ready.
"Is she okay?"
Dad's turns his back to me when he starts to fry the meat.
"She broke down immediately, dad, but that's understandable. She told me she hadn't seen him since her parents sent her here."
Turning around to look at me, Dad crosses his arms over his chest.
"I can't even imagine exiling your child like that. I mean if a fifteen year old daughter of mine got pregnant, I'd be disappointed and concerned certainly but I would never send my child away."
Smiling sadly, I raise my eyes to his.
"I know you wouldn't have."
"Would you mind setting the table?"
"No, of course not, dad."
Reaching into the cupboard, I pick up enough plates and cups. Once I have them spread around the table, I pull open the silverware drawer to take out what I need. Placing them beside each plate, I then put glasses near each plate. Dad sets the lettuce salad, a variety of dressings and some buns on the table. I reach into the refrigerator for a stick of butter and the fruit salad.
"You can tell them to come to eat now."
As soon as he turns the rice cooker off, I give him a nod. While he getting the main dish together, I walk into the living room to announce that it's meal time. They follow me into the dining room, each taking a seat.
Pulling her aside, I wrap her in my arms and drop a kiss to the crown of her hair. With her eyes red and puffy, I can see how emotionally overwhelming and draining too that this has been for her.
"Are you okay?"
"He told me that our parents are dead, Damon."
"I know. He told me that yesterday when they came to my office. I'm sorry, Elena."
"Despite what they did, they were still my parents," she whispers, reaching up to wipe a few stray tears. I nod and pull her into my arms, rubbing my hand along the length of her back for a few seconds till she pulls away. Taking her hand in mine, we walk to the table to join everyone else. Taking a seat beside her, we start to eat. Jeremy asks how long she and I have been together, knowing that she's recently released from Happy Dale.
"Um, we didn't really start anything serious till Elena was released if that's what you're implying Jeremy. I would never take advantage of Elena, I care about her too much for that."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply that you would. It's just that I know she didn't get out till she turned twenty one. My parents made that a certainty."
"Jeremy, Damon has been nothing but exceptionally kind and supportive of me. He gave me a job and found me a place to live."
With her eyes focusing in on him, she gives my hand a squeeze.
"Please don't think ill of him, Jeremy."
"Please forgive me if I overstepped my bounds, Damon," Jeremy concedes, sounding contrite. Once we finish, I help dad clear off the table so he can serve the dessert he made.
"I hope you all like cake."
"I love cake, Owen."
Standing up, Elena walks over to help him serve the dessert. He puts a piece on each plate while she scoops the ice cream and hands us each one.
"This is delicious Mr. Salvatore," Lexie says, her fingers covering her mouth as she talks.
"Thank you, Lexie."
"Did you make this from scratch?"
"I did indeed, Lexie. I am Italian after all," dad laughs.
"I don't suppose you'd share the recipe... please?"
She breaks into a wide smile when my dad agrees.
"Of course."
After we finish, we go back into the living room as Jeremy says he has more to share with Elena. I stay in the kitchen to help dad clean up and wash the dishes. When we're done, he excuses himself to go upstairs while I join Elena. Just as I walk into the living room, I see Elena staring at a piece of paper, her eyes wide and her mouth agape.
"What does this mean, Jeremy?" she asks, shaking the papers in his face.
"It means that your baby didn't die, Elena. He was taken from you and adopted out."
"My baby is alive?"
I watch as the color drains completely from her face. As soon as I see her knees start to wobble, I run over just in time, reaching her before she hits the floor, having fainted. I lay her on the couch before running into the bathroom to get a wet, cool washcloth. Laying it on her forehead, I brush a strand of hair behind her ear, just waiting for her to awaken.
"Jeremy, what proof do you have that her child is alive?"
"We found this."
With his eyes on mine, he hands me a piece of paper. It's an adoption certificate signed by John and Isobel Gilbert.
"Elena was told that her baby was stillborn," I mention, studying the paper.
"Maybe this is the proof we need?" I utter under my breath.
"What are you talking about, Damon? What do you mean by 'proof we need'?"
"I mean, I've heard rumors about the place. I had to do some community service at Happy Dale. That's how Elena and I met. Anyway, one of the kids I worked with died suddenly. That raised my suspicions. Sometimes I have a bit of a sixth sense if you will. My best friend is an attorney. He introduced me to a private detective. I hired him to look into the rumors to see if there was anything there. Mikael is the one who told us about the baby selling rumors surrounding the place. I didn't see any reason to mention it to Elena," I explain, handing him the paper back.
"I didn't want to get her hopes up only for them to crash and burn if Mikael couldn't find anything. I think what you have in your hand is the first concrete proof we have that something shady is going on there. Do you think you could show this to Mr. Mikaelson?"
"You knew?" Elena asks, sitting up. Her stare is deadly.
"I wasn't sure of anything, Elena."
Please try to understand. I didn't want say anything till we had some kind of proof."
"How could you? I trusted you?" she blurts out, getting up, she starts pacing the length of the room, her hands fisting at her sides. Wanting to take her into my arms, I get up, latching onto the crook of her elbow. Staring at me with tear-filled eyes, she shakes her head back and forth, pulling away from me suddenly.
"Elena, please. I didn't want you to get your hopes up..," I add, reaching for her once more. Running her hand through her hair, she turns away for a moment. Taking a deep breath, she turns to me again. When I try to step closer, she raises her hand, stopping me in my tracks.
"Elena?"
She gives me one last look before turning her attention to her brother.
"Jeremy, Lexie, would you mind taking me home?"
Without so much as a backwards glance, she walks to the front door. After putting on her jacket, she spins around, her focus on her brother.
"Um, sure," Jeremy agrees, standing up. After Lexie follows Elena outside, Jeremy walks up to me, putting his hand on my shoulder.
"Don't give up on her Damon. She's been through so much. I happen to think you did the right thing. It would've been far worse to mention it and then have her greatest hope torn away from her again. I will tell her that. Just give her some time okay?"
Raising my eyes to him, I sigh heavily and nod. He gives my shoulder a squeeze before he walks away, leaving me feeling empty and alone once more.
"Why are you doing this?"
"I don't love you Damon. I never did." she sneers, twisting the knife in deeper.
"Why did you stay with me so long then? Why didn't you just leave after...?"
"Oh come on, Damon. Don't act like someone kicked your puppy," she scoffs, rolling her eyes. Stunned, I gawp like a fish out of water. And then she laughs. Suddenly, she morphs into Elena.
"How could you, Damon? You lied to me. I never want to see you again," Elena snaps, walking out the door and slamming it shut behind her.
Lurching upright, a cold sweat on my brow, I sigh heavily realizing it was just a nightmare. Glancing at the clock, I see that it's nearly six thirty in the morning so rather than try to get back to sleep, I get up. Although I badly wanted to drown myself in alcohol last night, somehow I managed to contain the urge. Unable to get the look on Elena's face out of my head, I didn't sleep well at all. After showering and getting dressed, I go downstairs and into the kitchen.
"Good morning Damon," my dad greets me with a cup of coffee in hand.
"Morning. Thanks dad."
"Are you okay? You look a little worse for wear," he remarks, tilting his head just slightly.
"Yeah. I think we should call Mikael though. Elena was always led to believe that her child was stillborn but Jeremy has concrete proof that he was born alive."
"Do tell," dad asks, taking a sip of his coffee.
"He has a document signed by their parents, allowing Elena's child to be adopted. I suppose that could be above board but it's the first piece of evidence that we have of wrong doing at Happy Dale," I explain, exhaling heavily.
"Go call him, I'll brew another pot of coffee."
Nodding my head, I get up to find my cellphone so I can get in touch with Mikael. I can also tell them that I intend to meet Nik at Six Flags. Maybe Mikael or Elijah will join me. I take a moment to give Stefan a call to tell him that I won't be in till this afternoon. Taking a deep breath, I ask if Elena showed up for work this morning. He assures me that she did but he does ask why I want to know. Not wanting to get into it and to placate him, I tell him that I'll talk to him when I get to the office. I also make a point of calling Jeremy to see if he can join us and show Mikael the document.
"Come in Mikael, Elijah. Is Ric coming?"
"Yeah, he'll be here shortly. He was just finishing up with a client when we left," Elijah explains. Just as I'm about to shut the front door, I see Jeremy walking up my sidewalk.
"Good morning, Damon."
"Jeremy, come on in."
"How is she?" I ask, stepping aside so he can come into my house.
"Lexie and I had a long talk with her after we left last night. I can see that you care about Elena very much. And I want to thank you for looking out for her."
"I do care about her, Jeremy. A lot."
He reaches up squeezing my shoulder, an understanding look playing on his face.
"Um, let's go to the kitchen. My friends are already here."
Just as I start to push the door closed, I see Ric pulling up, parking alongside Elijah's car.
"Morning buddy," he greets me, giving me a guy hug.
"Hey Ric. Jeremy this is my best friend, Ric Saltzman. Ric, this is Elena's brother, Jeremy Gilbert."
"Good to meet you, Jeremy," he says, shaking his hand.
"Let's join the others," I suggest, pushing the door closed this time before following them into the kitchen. After introducing Jeremy and everyone has a cup of coffee, Jeremy hands Mikael the document.
"Your sister was told that her baby died at birth?" Mikael asks, his eyes focused on the paper in his hands.
"I haven't seen Elena in six years. But yes, that's what she told me."
Jeremy is staring at Mikael, his hands clutching his coffee mug firmly.
"I really hope you can find out what's going on at that place and what they did to my sister and my nephew."
"This is good, Jeremy. We have something to go on now. Does your sister have an attorney?"
"I don't know, Mikael."
"I doubt it, Mikael. I mean she hasn't had need of one. Why?"
"I think she should get one, Damon. An attorney could take this to a judge. Hopefully he could get a subpoena to look into her file and hopefully find out what became of her child?"
"I'm on it Mikael. That is if Elena would agree to me representing her," Ric offers.
"Do it," Jeremy adds.
"Do you think that maybe you should discuss it with her first?"
"She doesn't know any lawyers, Ric. Damon trusts you so that means I trust you too."
After telling him thank you, Ric takes the document from Jeremy and then takes off to meet his other appointment. I see Jeremy to the door. He and Lexie are staying in town for a couple of weeks so they can spend some time with Elena. He asked Ric to stop by Elena's house later today to speak to her about how best to proceed. Once they're gone, I reveal to Mikael, Elijah and dad about Nik being Miss Starr's insider. I also tell them that I'm meeting Nik at 'Six Flags' on Saturday.
Mikael is going to be out of town on Saturday so Elijah will go with me. When all the details are hashed out, I walk the two of them to the door and tell them goodbye. Picking up the phone, I call Stefan to tell him to send Elena home so she can spend time with her brother. Given the tone of my voice, he wisely chooses not to get into it with me. I am still the boss after all. After saying goodbye to my dad, I grab my things to head over to the office.
"Where are we supposed to meet Nik?" Elijah asks as we walk through the evening crowd at Six Flags. I shoot off a text to Nik, telling him that I'm here and asking where we should meet him? A couple of minutes pass before he answers, telling us to meet him at 'Uncle Bub's Smokehouse' restaurant. Elijah and I go there immediately. When we walk in, I look around till I see Nik sitting in the back. Gesturing to him with my eyes, Elijah and I join him at his table.
"Elijah, it's good to see you again," Nik offers, reaching out to shake his hand.
"As it is you, Nik," Elijah responds, placing Nik's hand between his, giving it an affectionate squeeze.
"Thanks for meeting us here, Nik," I utter, expelling a puff of air. The waitress interrupts us so we each order something to eat so we look less conspicuous, not that anyone should be watching us here. After she walks off, Elijah asks him about Happy Dale.
"These are dangerous people," Nik begins, looking around nervously.
"Mikael told us that there have been rumors about the place for years," I point out.
"Yes, but behind every rumor is a grain of truth. Kids that I have spent time with have died. You remember, Rose, don't you?" he asks, looking at me.
"I only met her the one time when I was assigned to kitchen duty."
Looking first at Elijah and then at Nik, I take a drink from my soda glass.
"They were pressuring her to sign away her parental rights too. I don't know how she knew, but she did. She threatened to go to the authorities and by the next day she was dead. They claimed it was from an undiagnosed heart condition. It isn't rocket science to know that she died almost immediately. They have a very lucrative black market baby selling business. Their 'buyers' pay tens of thousands of dollars for a child. Usually it's people that are denied adoption through the usual channels," he reveals to us, looking around again. Just as he's about to continue, the waitress returns with our food. Once she walks off, I take a bite then turn my attention back to Nik.
"Do you know who's at the top of totem pole? We have to cut the head off the snake if we're going to stop this."
"The Lockwood's are a crime family from way back. I mean back to the twenties and thirties. Rumor has it that Richard Lockwood, he's Carol's husband, anyway it's been said that his great grandfather was a member of Capone's gang in Chicago. They're a mob family. Selling babies is their business. I don't know if Richard is the snake's head as you call it but he's way up there," Nik finishes, taking a bite of his sandwich. Looking out the window, I see that's it's dark out now.
"Were you around when Elena was pregnant?" I ask, sipping a drink of my soda.
"Yes, why?"
"We now have proof that her baby was born alive and adopted out."
"Really?"
"Yeah. So that's probably the single most important piece of the puzzle that we have so far."
"I'd advise you to keep it safe," Nik remarks, raising an eyebrow.
"Believe me, it's in a very safe place," I reassure him. After we finish eating, he agrees to meet us here next week when Mikael can come along with us. Elijah has a date with his wife, Eva so he and I separate after leaving the restaurant. Since Elena isn't speaking to me, I have no reason to immediately go home. I wander around the midway, playing a couple of games. Although I know better, I did have one bottle of beer. Looking up, I see the sky starting to darken so I start to go to my car. Just as I reach it, I feel the blunt end of something poking my ribs.
"Turn around." When I do, I see the barrel of a gun pointing at my middle. Although I don't recognize the man, I don't move.
"My wallet is in my back pocket, you can have it," I tell him, my arms raised at my sides.
"I could care less about your money," he sneers, nudging me forward with the pistol. When we get to a black SUV, he shoves me into the backseat. As soon as I'm inside, someone else blindfolds me. When I open my mouth, a bottle of what tastes like cheap whiskey is shoved in my mouth. I start to cough and sputter, trying to spit it out. My assailant tangles a hand in my hair, using it to pull my head back before forcing the bottle into my mouth again. Given the vast amounts of alcohol I've ingested, it doesn't take long to get me drunk. Yet these people keep pouring it down my throat. While I'm barely still conscious, I'm dragged from the car and thrown onto the cold hard ground. I feel something metal being put in my left hand but I'm too out of it to even begin to comprehend what they're doing to me. I hear a loud crack ring out just before the edges blur as blackness consumes me.
Things are taking a more sinister turn now.
Thank you Eva so much for everything. Love you lots.
Thanks all of you who reviewed last chapter. I love to read your thoughts on my stories.
Chapter title: 'Chasing Cars' by Snow Patrol
Please give my others stories a look. I did post the conclusion to 'Rainy Days and Mondays: Hunter's Song' yesterday as well as updating 'Dig'. I did update 'Angels Fall' on Thursday. I have never abandoned any of my stories which is why I write them in full or nearly in full before I ever start posting. Unless they're still in progress, they are marked complete.
Are readers losing interest in DE because of Nina's absence? Reviews and views are certainly plummeting.
Please do remember to review. They're a big reason I keep writing.
Stay safe and have a wonderful weekend. See you next time.