A/N: Hey readers, I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update, I've been having lots of problems with my computer/internet connection and my life's been extremely busy recently, so I haven't had the time to write. Nonetheless, thanks to all of the people who have stuck with this story and are still reading it! I made this chapter extra long, it's just over ten thousand words so I hope you enjoy it!
Thanks to everyone who favourited/alerted/followed this story, and thanks to SomebodyWhoCares, Azura Soul Reaver, pandafury11, Kira Tsumi, Guest, Bubblysnow, ILoveYou1978, SerenaDanaRed80, and Jenn for reviewing!
Disclaimer: I obviously do not own The Vampire Diaries.
Brooke's pov:
The sound of a loud, incessant rapping against my door caused me to groan and bury my head underneath my covers. My sleeping patterns haven't been consistent as of late, so I've been finding it hard to drag myself out of bed in the morning.
I haven't been my usual self for the past two weeks; I've been finding it difficult to sleep, so difficult in fact that every time the clock strikes midnight I get out of my bed, change into a pair of jeans and a tank top and drive around Mystic Falls for hours on end. I don't know what triggered my momentary insomnia, perhaps it's the fact that Bonnie has refused to speak to me since the night that I tried to get her necklace, or maybe it's because I watched Damon end Lexi's life. I don't know what the cause is, probably a combination of the two, but what I do know is that it's spiralling into a big, big problem, and I need to fix it, quickly.
Jenna continued to knock on my door but I ignored her, trying to block out the sound by using my hands to muffle my ears.
"Brooke, get your ass out of bed right now! You're late for work!" my eyes snapped open in an instant and I bolted upwards, muttering a series of curses under my breath. That's the fourth day in a row you've been late for work Brooke; Keith is going to be pissed! I darted towards my bedroom door before opening it and staring at my aunt sheepishly.
"I'll be ready in a second, just give me five minutes." She raised an eyebrow at me before scoffing and descending down the stairs, allowing me to breathe out a strangled sigh. She offered to give me a ride today because she said that there was something important that she needed to discuss with me. She knows something's up, I thought before walking into my bathroom and trying to make myself look presentable in the five minutes I'd allocated myself.
I quickly ran a brush though my hair before swiping on some mascara and lip gloss. Then, I walked back into my bedroom and over to my wardrobe to put on a pair of black skin-tight jeans, a grey strapless top and a pair of black flats. I grabbed my bag and rushed downstairs, noticing that Jenna was stood next to the front door looking at her wrist watch.
"Four minutes and fifty-two seconds, that's a big improvement from yesterday." She stated dryly before she motioned for me to step outside and get into her car. I looked at her weirdly for a moment before shaking my head and jumping into the vehicle. Something is seriously up with her.
"We need to have a serious talk." Jenna said as she turned on the ignition and reversed out of the driveway.
"About what?" I questioned, looking out of the window.
"About you." I closed my eyes briefly. I knew this was coming.
"What about me?"
"Where should I start? How about the fact that you sneak out of the house at twelve o'clock every single night and sometimes don't even return until three in the morning? Or, how about the fact that you're only one more day away from losing your job at the grill? I never once thought that out of you, Elena and Jeremy you would be the one who started playing up, Brooke, but you're starting to prove me wrong." Her voice grew softer towards the end of her speech and my eyes involuntarily narrowed. I knew that she was only looking out for me and that she was trying to help me, but for some reason my mind just couldn't comprehend that.
"I'm twenty-one years old Jenna, I can do whatever the hell I want. Who cares if I go out at midnight and don't return until three?" I questioned in a hard tone.
"I do! When it starts to affect your work and your attitude then yes, I care! You aren't normally like this Brooke. You're punctual, you're never late to anything and you're never this negligent! Do you even care that you might lose your job?" I rolled my eyes and leaned the back of my head against the headrest.
"Of course I care Jenna but I'm fine, I'm not about to lose my job. I'm the best member of Keith's staff."
"Sure, when you actually turn up." My aunt scoffed and I shook my head slightly. So I've been late to work a few times in the past couple of weeks - so what? I stay after my shift finishes to make up the time anyway.
"As pleasant a conversation this is, was there anything else you wanted to talk about or do you just plan on lecturing me about the importance of punctuality all day?" Jenna rolled her eyes but nodded in acknowledgement at my question.
"Your father called me last night." I felt my mouth drop open but I swiftly closed it, allowing myself to think her words over. After their turbulent break-up in high school things have been unbearably tense between the two of them, I can't even remember the last time I saw them in the same room together. He never rings her either, not unless they have something important to talk about.
I finally opened my mouth to speak but Jenna held up her hand briefly to silence me before returning it to the steering wheel.
"He wanted to know whether you and I had been in touch and if I knew where you were or how you were doing. I told him I knew as much about the situation as he did." I sighed in relief.
"On a scale of one to ten, how annoyed did he sound?" she shot me an amused look.
"Definitely higher than nine. He kept saying something about some guy he'd spoken to on your phone. He thinks you ran away with some drugged up college dropout and are now touring the states." I squinted my eyes in confusion for a second until the memory of Damon answering my cell phone the night that he and Caroline gate-crashed the dinner Elena had planned for Stefan and Bonnie flashed through my mind. I snickered at the flashback; despite my unrelenting hatred towards Damon, I couldn't be more thankful for him answering that call in his Damonesque fashion.
"He can think that all he likes, the more he believes that the better." I muttered as Jenna pulled up to the grill.
"Get inside, quickly, before Keith realises you're late again." I nodded and stepped out of the car, grabbing my bag in the process. Jenna's sigh made me pause for a second and I turned around to face her, leaning against the car door. As I looked at her closely I realised that she felt just as drained as I did, and the sight pulled on my heart-strings.
She doesn't know why I'm stressed but it's taking a toll on her too.
I shook my head slightly in dismay while my eyes closed guiltily. "I'm sorry, Jen. I shouldn't be taking my stress out on you when all you want to do is help. I promise that I'll be on time tomorrow." She stared at me with soft, warm eyes.
"Good. And to make up for it, you can have dinner with me and Jeremy today, we'll get here near the end of your shift." I smiled as she turned on the ignition and drove off, before entering the grill and taking my position behind the bar as quickly as possible so that Keith wouldn't notice the time.
I need to talk to you, ring me A.S.A.P - Elena x
My heart thumped slightly faster than usual at the sight of Elena's text message. What does she mean she needs to talk to me? Has something bad happened, again? I sighed before shaking my head at myself and my thoughts. I really need to stop expecting the worst out of every situation, maybe she just wants to tell me about her day.
I shook my head again. No, something's definitely up. When isn't something up recently?
"Brooke! Are you on that damn phone again?" I practically jumped out of my skin at the sound of Keith's voice ringing out from somewhere close by as I quickly slid my phone into my jean pocket. I still have no idea how he manages to crawl up behind me without making a sound, everything is dead silent until his boisterous voice decides to echo through the air.
"No, sir." I replied, watching as he walked around to the customer side of the bar. He scowled at me as he slammed his hand down on the bar, ordering me to fetch him a bottle of whiskey. I sent him a look before my eyes drifted over to the clock by the door, noticing that it was only three fifteen, but I kept my views on day drinking to myself, knowing that Keith would only continue to verbally harass me until I give him what he wants anyway.
"I'm going out, I've got... stuff... to do." Keith said as he took large gulps out of his whiskey bottle. He retrieved his car keys from his pocket and I knew that I had to say something - I may not like the man but I don't think I should just let him drink and drive without trying to stop him first.
"Erm, Keith, are you sure that driving in your... state is such a wise idea?" he glared daggers at me while continuing to drink heavily from the bottle.
"I'll do whatever the hell I like, Gilbert! Now shut your trap, the sound of your voice irritates me." He hissed before standing up and slowly making his way out of the main entrance, trying not to trip over his own two feet. I rolled my eyes at his words and behaviour; well, at least I try to be a decent person.
Realising that I could do pretty much anything I wanted to now that Keith had left, I took my phone out of my pocket and scrolled down to Elena's name in my contacts before pressing the dial button.
"Hey B..." My cousin greeted before trailing off.
"Hey... what's up? Your message sounded pretty important, did something happen? Did you see Damon?" I questioned nervously. Neither of us had seen the delinquent since the night that he murdered Lexi, Stefan's best and oldest friend, and I was hoping that it would stay that way.
"No, I haven't, but he is part of a problem that I'm having. He was at school earlier, trying to scare Bonnie into giving him the necklace..." My eyes widened slightly. He's still obsessed with that thing? What the hell does he want with it, what does it do? "And she's really shaken up about it. She didn't give it to him, obviously, but I don't like the way he threatened her, so I invited her to sleep round our house tonight." I coughed nervously for a second.
"I don't think that's such a good idea Elena... Bonnie's not on the best of terms with me right now." I may be avoiding Damon, but Bonnie's been dodging me like the plague and I have a feeling that seeing her tonight will only end badly.
"I still don't know why she fell out with you, both of you refuse to tell me why. But think about it Brooke, would you rather her be out there on her own tonight, where she can be easily found and intimidated by Damon? The safest place for her to be is with us." I sighed.
"I know, you're right."
"And tonight could be a good thing for you two, maybe she can forgive you for whatever you did that's made her so angry." Elena said, hopefully.
"I doubt it." I whispered, before realising that something seemed off with the tone of my cousin's voice. "Is that all or did something else happen?" I heard her inhale sharply through the receiver, confirming my suspicions.
"It's not so much what happened, but what won't be happening. Stefan... he said that he wants to distance himself from me, so he won't be coming to school anymore. I... I just... I know he thinks he's doing the right thing, but it's so frustrating. This isn't what I want." Her voice broke slightly but she recovered, and I felt my eyes slide to a close slowly in despair.
The world isn't very kind to her.
As I opened my eyes I saw Jenna and Jeremy waltz through the door and she waved me over to a table that she wanted to sit at. "I'm so sorry Elle, I know it's not what you want. I really wish I could speak to you about it but I'm a little busy right now, we'll talk later?" she replied with a solemn yes before hanging up the phone, causing me to stare at my electronic device in guilt. I do want to help her but I promised Jenna that I'd have dinner with her when she wanted me to, I've upset her enough during the past two weeks.
I walked over to their table and took a seat next to my aunt. "Hey Jen, Jere." I greeted and they both smiled at me in reply.
"Oh good, I thought you'd forgotten my name, stranger." Jeremy teased jokingly, so I threw a menu at him and laughed slightly.
"Don't you start, or I won't give you any free drinks the next time you come in here." He stopped speaking immediately, causing a satisfied smirk to appear on my face. We quickly ordered what we wanted and when my colleague Jessica brought over our drinks I noticed that Jenna seemed a little distant. Usually she can't stop talking, but it all made sense when I realised what she was looking at, or rather who.
"I like a man who can dine alone. Shows a quiet strength." She commented, and I observed the guy that she was drooling over. He had short blonde hair and was wearing a dark blue, long sleeved button-up shirt that matched the colour of his eyes. He looked smart, like he cared about his appearance but wasn't overly obsessed with it. I decided in the few seconds it took me to notice these things that he was a big step up from Jenna's last boyfriend, but I can't be sure since I've never spoken to the man, so I sent Jeremy a look and raised an eyebrow, silently asking him what he thought. He nodded his head slightly, confirming my thoughts.
"I thought you were still swimming in your depression over your break up with Logan."
"Oh, I am. I've sworn of men for the rest of my existence, but that doesn't mean I can't observe them from a far away distance now and again." Jenna smiled innocently and I laughed at her words. She can't go five minutes without a man.
"Do you want me to introduce you guys?" she shook her head nervously from side to side.
"No, don't be silly. What does he teach?" she asked, shooting sideways glances at him.
"Probably English." I chirped. "He looks like the kind of guy who could write you loads of sappy love poems and letters, it would be so cute. Dear Jenna, I-" She sent me a glare that was so dark I had to stop speaking out of fear of what she'd do to me if I carried on. Jeremy laughed slightly at the look of horror sweeping across my face before returning his attention to Jenna.
"He teaches History and he's so much better than Tanner. He's letting me re-do my work to get me some extra credit too, said he wants me to do a paper on something local and non-internet researched." I smiled at my cousin, pleased with how he was trying to improve his grades and make an effort in school. It wasn't long ago that he was more interested in drugs than his own life, and it pains me to admit this but he wouldn't be where he is now if it wasn't for Damon's compulsion.
"Oh, well that sounds easy, you have all of your dad's stuff to help you." He sent her a confused look.
"What do you mean?"
"He had things from way back down the family tree, he was always into that family history stuff. It's all boxed up in the closet." The sound of a chair squeaking as it moved against the floor caught my attention and I watched as Jeremy's teacher walked towards us.
"Mr Saltzman!"
"Jeremy, what's up man?" he greeted as they slapped hands.
"This is my aunt Jenna, and my cousin Brooke." I smiled at him and held out my hand for him to shake.
"Hey, nice to meet you."
"Same here, Alaric Saltzman." My eyes widened slightly at the name. That sounds like a mouthful, I thought, but I smiled politely at him. Jenna hadn't said a word so I nudged her discreetly.
"Oh, hi! Jeremy was just telling us about his paper. Thanks for giving him another chance." She said softly.
"It was nothing, it was my first day so I wanted to make a good impression." They started talking, about what I didn't know as my attention had drifted elsewhere, to the bar actually, where a man in a black leather jacket stood, nursing a glass of bourbon. I felt my hand involuntarily tighten into a fist and I excused myself from the table, my eyes fixed onto Damon.
"Finally stopped avoiding me, huh? Guess you just couldn't resist me." I rolled my eyes at his words as he turned to face me but felt my heart-beat faster than usual when he sent me small wink. How does he do that? Wha- nevermind, that's not what you're here to find out.
"I heard that you're still stalking Bonnie like the disgusting creep that you are. Don't you ever get bored?"
"Of what?"
"Of being you." He chuckled.
"Oh honey, nothing is boring about being Damon Salvatore." I scoffed before crossing my arms over my chest.
"You should just give up, she's never going to give you that necklace so stop wasting your time. What the hell do you even want it for? It's a necklace, what's so special about a freaking necklace?" I questioned angrily and he placed a hand underneath my chin, stroking it softly with his thumb.
"Ask me what isn't special about that necklace if you want a shorter answer." He said, before releasing my face and raising his glass to his lips. I felt my blood boiling inside of me; why does he always speak so cryptically? Can't he just answer my damn question for once?
"So Stefan, you know, I've been thinking that we should start over, give this whole brother thing another chance. We used to do it oh so well once upon a time." Stefan said as he approached the bar, causing me to look at him in confusion. Why did he call him Stefan?
"I don't, Damon. I can't trust you to be a nice guy, you, you kill everybody and you're so mean and you're, you're so mean... you're really hard to imitate, I have to go to that lesser place and it's such a buzz kill." I stared at the two brothers for a moment, not really knowing how to react to the little moment they were having. Stefan sent me a look that told me he was up to something, so I didn't say a word.
"I just spoke to Elena, Brooke, she wants to know when you're going home." He stared at me with an intense expression and I gathered that he didn't want me involved in what he was about to do; I nodded slightly so that he knew I understood his silent message.
"Right, thanks." I said, shooting Damon a look of disdain that only made him smirk in amusement before I walked back to Jenna's table.
"Hey, I'm going to take off. I'll see you guys later, it was nice meeting you Alaric." He smiled at me in return and Jenna nodded distractedly, barely noticing that I was there. I grabbed my bag and walked out of the door, but not before my eyes strayed towards the bar, where Damon and Stefan were no longer present.
What the hell is Stefan up to?
When I arrived home and entered the living room I was surprised to see Caroline sat on the couch tapping away hectically on her phone, but I was also relieved. Relieved because she was in the same boat with Bonnie as I was and that meant that I wasn't going to be the only one receiving death glares from her tonight.
"Brooke! I am so glad you're here!" she jumped up from the couch and enveloped me in a hug, clinging to me like she was sinking and I was the only thing keeping her afloat.
"Hey, Caroline, it's good to see you." I wheezed out, barely able to breathe because she was squeezing me so tightly. When she finally released me from her steel-like hold she dragged me into the kitchen where Elena was stood removing containers of chinese food from a paper bag, and Caroline quickly set about helping her arrange everything neatly.
When Bonnie entered the kitchen I felt the atmosphere turn from calm to uncomfortable in a second flat and I fixed my eyes onto the wall behind Elena, refusing to look into Bonnie's eyes which I knew would only be filled with disappointment.
Caroline huffed and sent her an annoyed look causing Elena to raise an eyebrow at the two of us, like she expected one of us to say something to Bonnie. There's no way I'm saying anything, I'll just make this entire thing worse, if I couldn't lie myself out of the situation last time then I definitely can't now.
"I'm sorry. There, I said it. If you want the ugly ass necklace then you can keep it, it's yours." Caroline said sarcastically with a patronising smile on her face, and I knew that while I wouldn't have said something that would've helped or made Bonnie forgive me, I knew I wouldn't have said something that bad. Caroline really does have her moments...
"Would you hate me if I told you I threw it away?" I raised my eyes away from the wall to meet Bonnie's, who was looking at the two of us nervously. She did what?
"You threw it away?" Caroline hissed.
"I know it sounds crazy but it was giving me nightmares, I had to get rid of it."
"You could've just given it back to me!"
"So that one of you two could've given it back to Damon?" Elena said, and when I looked at her I realised that she'd known exactly why Bonnie was on the rocks with me ever since it happened, she just hadn't told me. Maybe she was waiting for me to come clean or something, I don't know, but the fact that I hadn't figured out that she knew scared me slightly. We're not meant to hide things from each other and lately that seems like all we ever do.
"It wasn't like that." I said, causing Elena and Bonnie's accusing eyes to turn towards me.
"What was it like then? I mean, you wouldn't be the first girl to get lured into Damon Salvatore's spell." Bonnie said, and Elena nodded with her. She hadn't said the words maliciously, but I knew exactly what they were hinting at and I was done looking like the bad person in this situation.
"Believe it or not I was trying to help you, and you really don't want me to tell you the reason for that right now." I discreetly gestured towards Caroline which silenced the two of them immediately, while the blonde girl looked at the three of us perplexed for a few moments before slamming her hand down onto the counter.
"You know what, screw Damon, he's not coming between anyone in this group. Are we doing manicures or what? Have you got your kits?" I shook my head slightly from side to side. I didn't even know we were having some huge sleepover until I got back ten minutes ago.
"Mine's in my bag." Bonnie said, so Caroline went back into the living room to go and find it, leaving me alone with my cousin and the dark-skinned witch. "What do you mean you were helping me? If screwing me over to help Damon is your definition of helping someone then I'm seriously worried about your mental state." I rolled my eyes; so much for trying to do the right thing. Elena nudged her before telling me to continue.
"He was blackmailing me, alright? For some reason he has an obbsession with that necklace and he threatened me with you. He said he'd go after you himself if I couldn't get it for him, and that's exactly what he's doing right now because you wouldn't buy my excuses! So I'm sorry if me trying to protect you was a bitchy move, I'm sorry I tried to do the right thing. I'm sorry, alright?" I said, my voice growing tired by the end of my speech.
"Oh..." She trailed off, looking at me first in confusion, then understanding, and then in regret. Elena had a pretty similar reaction, but before she had the chance to say anything, Caroline interrupted our conversation.
"Why are you such a little liar Bonnie?" Caroline spat as she entered the kitchen, pulling her hand out from behind her back to in front of her chest. In her hand she held the crystal and I watched it move from side to side like a swing. My eyes squinted in confusion as I observed the looks on Elena and Bonnie's faces. They can't be lying, not when they look even more shocked than I do. But if they are telling the truth, and they did get rid of it, then why is it here? Why was it in her bag?
"I didn't lie about that Caroline, I swear." Caroline scoffed at her.
"It's true, I watched her throw it into a field." Elena whispered, her eyes switching between Caroline and I.
"Then how do you explain it? What, did it magically reappear out of thin air and put itself in your bag?!" The blonde's question went unheard when Bonnie turned to face Elena.
"Emily... the ghost?" Bonnie made it sound like a question but by the look on Elena's face I knew it was a statement. Ghost? Am I missing something here?
"This 'ghost' has a name now?" Caroline said, using air quotations when she said the word ghost. There's a ghost and Caroline, of all people, knows about it? When did I suddenly get taken out of the supernatural loop?
"Why isn't she leaving me alone?" Bonnie asked, exasperated.
"Wait, you two had a go at me for not telling you about my deal with Damon even though both of you have been keeping secrets from me too? When exactly in your idiotic minds did you decide that that was okay?!" I questioned, my voice rising.
"What the hell is going on? Why am I not a part of this conversation? You guys always leave me out of things!" Caroline said shortly after I finished my sentence. I narrowed my eyes as I looked at Elena and Bonnie before smiling cynically.
"I don't know Caroline, I honestly couldn't tell you why these two hypocrites leave you out of things if my life depended on it." I snapped before leaving the kitchen and making my way up the stairs. I slammed my bedroom door shut, ignoring Elena and Bonnie's pleads for me to come back downstairs.
They make me feel ill, sometimes. Physically ill. I understand why they were annoyed about me making a deal with Damon, they didn't know that I was trying to do the right thing and if I was either of them then I would've felt exactly the same way. But, then they do this? It wasn't that long ago that I wanted taking out of the loop; I didn't want anything to do with the supernatural world, hell, I still don't. But this is reality now, and I like knowing what's going on in my life. I like knowing what to expect so that I know how I'm meant to handle the situation, I do not however like being cast aside like trash and being left to guess and wonder about the next tragedy that could occur at any moment.
"Brooke, please open the door." The sound of Elena's voice made me lean even more heavily against the wooden frame next to my desk.
"Please." I clenched my jaw shut tight before getting up and opening the door. Knowing how persistent Elena is she'll stand there all freaking night until I give in.
"What?" I spat, moving to sit on my bed. She hesitantly closed the door behind her when she entered the room and stood there awkwardly, her eyes darting around and bouncing off of each and every wall. "Well? Are you going to stand there silently and avoid the subject or are you going to say something worthwhile before I kick you out of this room?" she laughed slightly at my words. "What the hell are you laughing at? Do you find this amusing?"
"No, no, of course I don't. You've just never said you'd kick me out before." I squinted my eyes in confusion; how is that supposed to be funny? "You have every right to be mad at us," Elena said as she edged closer to where I was sat on my bed. "We should've told you what's been going on. We just couldn't understand why you were working with Damon and it didn't even occur to us that you could have been blackmailed into helping him. When Emily started appearing to Bonnie I wanted to tell you, so did Bonnie actually. It sounds ridiculous but we didn't want Damon to find out and that meant not telling you. We know how absurd that is now, but we thought it was the right thing to do, just like you did." Her bright doe eyes bored into mine and as I felt my anger begin to waver the creaking of my bedroom door opening alerted Bonnie's arrival. She too like Elena shut it behind her as she entered my room before sending me a nervous smile that I didn't return.
"You two treated me like a liability, like I was out to get both of you. Yes, the situation with the necklace looked bad and I'm sorry about that, but why didn't it occur to one of you that I was just trying to help? Not help Damon, help you. There was no guarantee that I could safely tell one of you what was happening without Damon finding out so I did my best. What I did was try and help Bonnie, what you two did was keep all of this from me for your own selfish reasons. Why on Earth would I tell Damon about Emily?"
"Because you have feelings for him." My eyes snapped to look at Bonnie and I raised a challenging eyebrow.
"That is the most stupid thing I've ever heard."
"It may be stupid but it's also true, and it's clouding your judgement." I glared at the two of them for a moment, not understanding where this was coming from.
"I do not have feelings for him! Oh God, it's the night that everyone came over for dinner all over again," I said, referring to Damon and Caroline's gate crash a couple of months ago. "Sure, maybe I did like that guy, the guy Damon was pretending to be. But that's not actually him and I'm smart enough to realise that, if anyone's judgement here is clouded, it's yours." I said, pointing to the two of them. "Before tonight I hadn't even seen him in two weeks and I was perfectly happy with that." Elena and Bonnie's eyes quickly grew worried.
"You saw Damon? Where?" they asked in usion and I shook my head in exasperation at them.
"Why do you need to know?" I rolled my eyes at their expectant faces before giving in. "He was at the grill, I told him to stop harassing you, a decision I'm starting to regret," I paused, shooting Bonnie a glare. "And then Stefan showed up, he was up to something that you two probably know about but have decided not to tell me, as per usual, so I came home. Happy?" Elena sighed.
"We don't know what he's up to, all he said was that he was going to talk to Damon. That's the truth." I stared at the pair for a few moments.
"Clue me in on the entire situation, now."
After what felt like hours but was only five minutes, the girls caught me up to date with everything that was going on - Bonnie's dreams about Emily, her sleepwalking, Damon harassing her for the necklace, everything.
"Stefan said that the necklace originally belonged to Katherine."
"Katherine? As in the woman who turned them, Katherine?" Elena nodded in response.
"That makes sense. I mean, he refused to tell me anything about that necklace, but I knew it was important to him." I said, just as Caroline entered my bedroom holding the pendant in question. She smiled at the three of us before handing it to Bonnie and I came to the conclusion that they had spoken before Elena and Bonnie came to talk to me.
"There's way too much drama in this room so we need to do something fun. Is there anything you guys want to do?" we all shrugged and Caroline gasped sharply before jumping up and down in front of us.
"We should totally have a séance!" we all groaned, particularly Bonnie who was obviously seeing way too much of her ancestor Emily, as she objected to the idea the loudest. "Guys, don't be like that! Let's summon some spirits! C'mon, this Emily chick has some serious explaining to do." Without even looking at Elena or Bonnie I knew that we were all thinking the exact same thing; we may not like the idea but getting some answers could be very beneficial.
It took about twenty minutes to set everything up, including lighting the candles, switching off the lights and rearranging some of my furniture so that there would be enough space for the four of us to sit next to each other in a circle. We chose to have the séance in my room because Caroline didn't want to move which made me laugh, considering that it was her idea. When we were finally ready I linked my hands together with Elena and Bonnie's while Caroline took her seat opposite to me.
"Does anyone know what we're actually meant to say during a séance?" I asked, causing Bonnie and Elena to shake their heads.
"Just concentrate." Caroline muttered before closing her eyes and we followed suit. "Right, let's all take a deep breath. Bonnie, call her." Caroline demanded.
"Emily... you there?" I snorted quietly. Great choice of words there, Bon.
"That's all you've got? Emily, you there?" Caroline repeated sarcastically. "C'mon, take this seriously."
"Alright, geeze," Bonnie took a deep breath before she continued. "Emily... I call on you. I know you have something that you need to tell me, so I'm here to listen." Bonnie said, loud and clearly. We sat waiting for something to happen, for a sign, something to signal that Emily was going to appear to us, but nothing happened; I opened one of my eyes slightly after a long moment of utter silence, ready to tell the girls that we were obviously wasting our time, but stopped when the fire perched on top of the candles doubled in size, before quickly returning to how it was before. Our hands all disconnected from each other's simultaneously.
"Did that just-"
"Yeah that just happened." Caroline said quickly in response to Elena's question. My eyes stayed glued onto the candle sticks and I held my breath, watching nervously to see if they'd change again. Caroline gasped but I didn't tear my gaze away to see what was wrong, I was too focused on the flames that were starting to burn holes into my eyes.
"It's just the air conditioning." Bonnie muttered, before the flames grew even higher than they did before. I recoiled sharply, finally taking my eyes away from the source of our panic.
"Ask her if she'll show you a sign. Ask her!" Caroline repeated after Bonnie shook her head, her eyes too entranced by the flames. I swallowed deeply, trying to ease my now dry throat, before opening my mouth to speak.
"Emily, if you're with us right now, then show us another sign." I said while my eyes span around the room, looking for anything that was out of place or signalled that Emily wanted to contact us. After a long pause I went back to staring at the candles again when nothing else happened.
"See it's... not working." Bonnie whispered and I stared at her intently, noticing how her chest moved up and down the fastest out of all of us. I linked my hand with hers once again and squeezed it gently, letting her know that despite our argument from earlier, I was here for her no matter what. Bonnie's hand slipped away from mine when my window opened abruptly and she quickly jumped to her feet.
"That's it, I'm done!" she shouted, before throwing Damon's necklace into the flames. They soared even higher, just for a moment, before they disappeared completely and everything turned to black. The only shape that I could make out in the darkness was Bonnie's silhouette and I felt Elena clutch my arm tightly, felt my breath get caught in my throat.
"Get the light! Please, turn on the light!" Bonnie screamed. I stood up quickly and made my way over to the other side of my room, reached for the switch that hung right next to my door, and pressed it. I inhaled as much air as I could when I felt my chest tighten in panic, but when the lights came back on I relaxed and leaned heavily against the wall, trying to regain my composure.
"Oh my god." Elena said, she too out of breath. Caroline gasped in horror, Bonnie's mouth hung wide open and I walked back over to the group to see what they were so worried about. When I reached them I realised immediately what had stunned them.
The necklace... it's gone.
We searched my room from top to bottom looking for the necklace, but it was nowhere to be found. After about ten minutes of ransacking my room I realised this, but since Bonnie couldn't comprehend the thought that it wasn't there, she continued to rummage through my room for it.
"Okay we get it Caroline, fun's over. You made a point and I get it, so give it back." Elena said to the blonde.
"What? Well I didn't take it!" Caroline rebuffed, folding her arms over her chest in denial. I sighed and moved off of my bed, placing my hands on Bonnie's shoulders to spin her around so that she'd face me.
"It's not here Bonnie, it's not here." I said, rubbing her arms soothingly to get her to stop torturing herself. The fact that my room now looked like bomb site didn't bother me and I brought her into my arms, holding her head gently while I shot Elena a look. What the hell are we meant to do now? She shrugged helplessly, just as confused as I was, and just as I was about to ask Caroline the same question the sound of creaking floorboards outside of my room caught my attention.
A figure swept past the small space between my door and the frame and when I blinked it was gone, making me wonder whether I'd even heard anything at all. But when everyone's heads snapped towards the door and Bonnie quickly withdrew herself from my arms, I knew that I wasn't imagining things.
"What was that?" Caroline whispered, her petite frame growing rigid as the words left her mouth.
"I don't know. Nothing. Jeremy! Are you home?" Elena said loudly, peering outside of my door and into the hallway. I slowly walked up behind her and stared into the darkness, not noticing Bonnie move towards my bathroom.
"Err, guys?" we turned around at the sound of Bonnie's voice, my heart pounding against my ribcage when she disappeared out of my sight and into my bathroom. Elena, Caroline and I followed Bonnie anxiously to stand only a few meters away from her, just in time to see the dark-skinned witch pick the necklace up from the floor.
Right before the door slammed shut.
What followed next was a series of frenzied, horrified screams as we tried to desperately open the door that had now turned into a barrier, separating us from one of our best friends.
"Bonnie! Bonnie!" her name was the only word that would pass through my lips and I felt tears gather in the corner of my eyes when the lights started to flicker. Caroline screamed. Elena screamed. I screamed. And then, suddenly, it was all over. The lights went back to normal and the sound of the door unlocking was the only noise that could be heard aside from our hectic breathing.
"Bonnie?" Elena whispered as she opened the door. The girl in question clutched her head in her hands, refusing to move even when we entered the room. "What happened, are you okay?" my cousin asked timidly, unsure, like she didn't know if she wanted to find out the answer. Bonnie's head moved away from her hands slowly to look up at us, her hair extremely dishevelled.
"... I'm fine." She said carefully after a long pause, dragging out the words like she didn't understand what they meant. Caroline huffed next to me.
"You're unbelievable. You were totally faking it." She spat, shaking her head in disgust as Elena tried to calm her down. "No, Elena, let go of me!" Caroline demanded before returning her attention to Bonnie. "What's wrong with you? You scared the hell out of me!" she said, before turning around and leaving the room. I shot a look to Elena before slowly making my way towards Bonnie and reaching out my hand for her to take. She stared at it for a moment before shaking her head at me, and it dropped back down to my side as I looked at her in confusion.
"Bonnie?" Elena said gently.
"I'm fine. Everything's fine." She smiled at me with wide eyes before brushing past me and walking out of the door, causing me to shiver ever so slightly at the contact. Her eyes and her voice... they seem different. She doesn't look at people like she's never seen them before, and she doesn't talk in such a lifeless like tone. I shook my head before straightening my posture; I'm over thinking things. Tonight's been a little, well, more than a little strange, so I shouldn't start reading into things. If Bonnie says she's fine then she's fine.
"Bonnie, are you okay?" Elena said, rushing out of the room. I followed her into the hallway just in time to see Bonnie walking down the stairs and Caroline being held back by Elena. "Woah, you guys can't leave."
"Oh yes I can, I've had enough freaky witch stuff for one night!" Bonnie paused in her decent down the stairs to turn and face us.
"Thank you for having me, I'll take it from here." She said cryptically, and I raised an eyebrow at her in confusion. Take what from here?
"Where are you going?" Elena asked, exasperated.
"To where it all began." She resumed her movement down the stairs and just as she was about to reach the door Elena's words stopped her.
"Oh my god, Emily!" I blinked as the realisation set in. Emily was with us, as we'd hoped. But she's not just with us now, she's one of us. She's inside of Bonnie.
"I won't let him have it, it must be destroyed." Elena and I ran down the stairs but we weren't quick enough, and by the time we reached the floor Emily was gone.
"Oh my god Brooke, it won't open." Her eyes turned cloudy with panic and I rushed towards the door, using all of my strength to make it move, but it wouldn't budge at all. Caroline came up behind us asking what was happening, and just as I felt my eyes start to burn hot with frustrated tears the wooden door flew open and a dark figure stood on the other side of it. Screams tore through our throats simultaneously and we jumped back instinctively, before realising that it was just my youngest cousin, Jeremy.
My cousin narrowed his eyes as he looked at us, slightly worried about our behaviour, but chose to ignore us and disappear into the kitchen, much to my relief. Caroline mumbled something to Elena and I before speeding out of the door, leaving the two of us to worry about Bonnie on our own.
"I need to call Stefan." I nodded in agreement.
"Right, you do that and I'll go grab my keys. We might have no idea where she is but we need to start somewhere." I said, before making my way quickly up the stairs. How I'm meant to find anything in here I have no clue, I thought as I entered my bedroom. I could barely see the floor and I had to step over everything carefully out of fear of breaking any of my valuable possessions; I sighed in relief when I spotted my bag sitting in the corner of my room and I fished my keys out of there before returning to Elena who was stood by my car.
"You know how we told you about Bonnie's sleepwalking?" I nodded slowly. "Emily always used to take her to fell's church, by the old cemetary. I could be wrong but, that's where I think she'll be." I smiled slightly at her, hoping to calm the look on her face that was contorted in misery.
"Yes, that makes sense. Don't worry, we're going to find her, Elena. I promise. She can't have gotten that far, and if Stefan's looking for her too then there's no way that we'll miss her. C'mon, get in." I said, motioning towards my car. Despite my words and the certainty in my voice, I was just as petrified as Elena was.
I have no doubt that we'll find her, but when we do, who knows what state she'll be in?
"I think it's this way!" Elena shouted, a few meters in front of me. I felt my heart pump faster than ever, trying to push the blood around my body at an irregular pace, and I was so focused on breathing that I almost tripped face first over the roots of a tree.
"Elena, you keep going, I'll catch up okay?" I panted when she started to slow down; she nodded before continuing and I paused to a halt for a few moments, trying desperately to catch my breath. It's times like these that I really regret not working out more, looks like I'm going to have to change that, I thought, before jumping back into a sluggish run in the direction I'd seen Elena head off in. My eyes squinted in the darkness, finding it difficult to see where I was going, but a bright light in the distance acted as my guide.
Is that fire?
The thought forced my pace to increase drastically, and I was moving so fast that everything around me became a blur. The only thing on my mind was making it to those blazing flames before something disastrous happened, before someone got hurt. That's what I wanted to happen, but that wasn't what I got. I got there after something disastrous happened and after someone got hurt.
The sight that greeted me wasn't of luminous fire, no, that had already burned out. Instead I was met by the sight of Bonnie lying motionless on the ground, Elena standing next to her staring at the floor hopelessly, Stefan crouched over Bonnie's small frame holding his torn wrist against her mouth, and Damon... who I've never seen so quiet. He was stood quite far away from the scene, like he wasn't a part of it, but one look at his lips and I knew that he was.
Blood stained lips. The lips of a killer.
His blue orbs met mine and for whatever reason I couldn't tear my own away. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Stefan lean away from Bonnie, saw her move her head from side to side. I distantly heard Elena's overjoyed voice say that her neck was healing, say that she couldn't believe what she was seeing, but it sounded like an echo in my mind, like she was much further away from me than she was, like this entire thing was just a memory replaying itself in my head.
"Oh my god, Brooke! Come here, you have to see this!" I blinked distractedly when Elena tugged on my arm, and when I reopened my eyes Damon was gone. She dragged me over to Bonnie, told me to look at her neck, but I couldn't focus on anything she was saying. It's not like I wasn't relieved that Bonnie was okay, god, nothing felt more relieving than seeing the wound on her skin close up and disappear like it was never there. But my mind couldn't focus, couldn't comprehend what had just happened, what Damon had just done.
Why does he do this? Why does he continually try and lash out at everyone? It's like he wants to punish us. Like the issues of every day life just aren't hard enough to deal with, like we should be made to suffer along with him.
"Brooke, help me get her up." I nodded before kneeling down and wrapping my arm around Bonnie's right side, Elena grabbing the other. We slowly rose to a stand and I removed my hand from the witch, allowing her to collapse into Elena's waiting arms.
"Wha- what happ- happened? He attacked me. His face was like-" She stopped speaking, too overwhelmed by tears and confusion to carry on. I motioned for Elena to lean her against the car so I could talk to her quickly, only in hushed tones though because we didn't want to move very far away from Bonnie.
"You know what you need to do, don't you?" I asked, gently holding Elena's hands with my own. She nodded slightly in understanding while shooting nervous looks at the crying girl who was rubbing her neck gently. "It's going to be hard but Bonnie's a tough girl, she can handle knowing the truth. She needs to know about them." Elena nodded again, trying to disconnect her hands from mine but I stopped her, placing my keys in her palm. "Take my car and take her back to her place, I'll find my own way home."
"What? No, you'll get lost, I-"
"I'm twenty-one years old Elena, I think I know how to find my way home. I know you're scared but telling Bonnie is something you need to do alone. She doesn't need me right now, she needs you." I whispered as I let go of her hands. She swallowed deeply and stepped backwards towards Bonnie.
"Get home safe." She said, before taking Bonnie in her arms and leading her to the passenger seat. The sound of leaves rustling caught my attention and I span around to see Stefan who was standing alone and staring at us with sorrow written in his eyes.
"I'm not here to hurt you." He said, directly towards Bonnie, who started to hyperventilate at the sound of his voice. As Elena calmed her down and guided her into my car I returned my attentive gaze to Stefan.
"Where is he?" I asked with calculating eyes. He tilted his head to the space behind him and I nodded at Stefan in thanks before walking past him and going further into the woods, intent on finding his brother.
I found him sitting by the ruins of the old church, peering into the darkness. He wasn't facing me but I knew that he knew I was there, so I moved to sit next to him, not looking at him but staring straight ahead just like he was.
"Everything you've done... it was for Katherine, wasn't it?" my question reverberated around us, and I knew the answer without him even having to say anything. I turned my gaze to him, watching as his eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
"My relationship with her was real for me. I wasn't duped like Stefan was. I knew exactly who she was and what she was like every single step of the way. She wasn't like other people, she was different. She didn't judge me." I shook my head gently.
"I never wanted to judge you, you know that. You don't make it very easy on people." His lips curved upwards, not in the amused, arrogant way they usually did, but in understanding. "Believe it or not Damon but I did like you. The person you were when I met you... I thought that it was all pretend up until twenty minutes ago, but no-one can keep up an act like that for the length of time you did unless there is some truth to it. You had ulterior motives but they were inspired by love. That is the best side of you, Damon, and it does exist. Your actions are what make people dislike you, and you can deny it as much as you want but I know that's not the only side to you." He turned to face me and rose a challenging eyebrow at me.
"You're just a man in love. That's all. And you're hurt, so hurt that you think acting the way you do is the easiest way to live life. I'm sorry, about Katherine, but you need to let her go, or this is the best life is going to get for you. Is this what you imagined for yourself all those years ago back in eighteen-sixty-four? Is this what you wanted?" I said as I stood up, brushing down my jeans before turning around so that I could start the long walk back home.
"You should know better than to expect life to turn out the way you want it to. You don't believe me, fine, but this is the only side to me Brooke. You were right about Katherine, everything I've ever done is for her, hell, I breathe for her. Not that it matters now that that damn crystal is gone," he said angrily. "So don't you feel bad for me Brooke, because I have nothing left here worth waiting for. C'mon, put a smile on your face. I'll be gone by the end of the week, doesn't that sound like cause for celebration?" my footsteps crashed to a halt.
He's leaving?
I whirled around, expecting to see Damon's sarcastic smirk but was met with nothing but empty space, completely void of life.
He's not leaving, he's already gone.
My journey back home took much longer than I thought it would, but I barely even noticed the time pass by. My mind was distracted, trying to process tonight's events. Coming clean about Damon, finding out about Emily, arguing with Elena and Bonnie, having a séance, Bonnie getting possessed, Bonnie getting bitten by Damon, Stefan saving Bonnie, my talk with Damon... it all blurred into a huge web of confusion, fright and sorrow.
I was so caught up in my thoughts that when I finally arrived home, at half past twelve, it only just occurred to me that Jenna was going to be pissed with me, again.
I swear that I never catch a break, I thought as I made my way up the driveway. I think the best thing to do is go and take a shower, go to sleep and hope that this night was all just some tragic nightmare that I'm waiting to wake up from. Oh, and some vodka never hurt anyone.
I was so focused on my plan to get wasted and forget about the day that I didn't notice that there was someone standing on the porch until the sound of their hand knocking against the door drew me away from my thoughts. I made my way up the stairs and narrowed my eyes in confusion at the figure standing in front of me. Why do I get the feeling that I know this person?
"Excuse me, is there something I can help you with-" The question died in my throat when the person turned around to face me.
"Logan?"
A/N: So, that concludes History Repeating, I hope it was satisfactory!
I know this chapter didn't contain much Damon but I'm very excited about the next chapter, it's packed with scenes between Damon and Brooke and I've been dying to write it for a while now, so keep your eyes peeled for an update that will come much sooner than this one has.
Review if you want to see the next chapter very soon! :)