Chapter 12

The telephone rang and rang, causing the pen next to it to vibrate and Damon ran a hand through his hair, as he heard Blakemore's voice leave the massage for him, asking about the research. The pause in the process was supposed to end a week ago, but all he did since that day was talk to the girl about anything she wanted to talk about, and the folder he should be filling was full of lies. He lied at the meeting with his boss, indirectly lying to one of the most powerful vampires on this earth, he did all that, just to gain time.

He realised a while ago that he wasn't doing this for the girl now; he was doing it for himself simply because he was scared of the decision he knew he will have to make soon. To finish his job and forget about the girl, or to help her and break the most important rule of the whole community that would cause his life to be in danger, and never be the same. He knew that he will have to decide quickly as soon as his boss started to call him more often; wanting to know if there was any progress, doubling the amount of pressure that was already on his shoulders.

The telephone rang again and the vampire sighed. He will have to decide till the end of today, but not right now. Right now he needed to go and offer Elena one the best gifts she will get in her whole lifetime.

….

She sat with her back towards the door, her wings flapping quicker and quicker with every line she read, the tension increasing as she turned another page around, the sound of paper in the wind filling the room with life. She thanked Damon every time he brought her a new reading, claiming that fighting the boredom helped her to heal quicker, thought she knew that it was mostly vervain. Since she was drinking it regularly the normal sleep full of dreams returned, most nights causing her to wake up in fear as flashes of pain, blood and shouting haunted her, but felt guilty every time she thought how good it was not to dream at all, knowing that it meant giving up. And she wasn't ready to do this yet, she probably never will be.

She heard his footsteps coming closer, before stopping in front of her door, probably to make sure that she is not asleep. She looked directly in to the peephole, imagining him on the other side and was soon after that welcomed by a familiar sound of the door opening. She closed the book she had been reading, but only after she memorised the page number, and then turned, expecting to come face to face with Damon, but he wasn't there. She scanned the room with confusion, relief washing trough her as she found him leaning against the doorframe, looking at her and she could see that he was tired. She didn't ask why, thought, she never asked, fearing that even though she know she trusted him the question would annoy him and she would be on his bed side again. So instead she tried to find an answer on his face. There was something clearly bothering him for at least a couple of days, but today it was masked with an emotion she couldn't recognise, until he spoke, still gazing at her, his voice strong.

"It is your birthday today."

She couldn't help not to stare at him, not knowing how to respond, emotions that ran through her unrecognizable. Did he really think that she would be happy to hear this news? His face said it all. He did this for her, so that they would become closer; trust each other as much as they could in situation they were in. She had to break the silence before it got awkward seeing his expression change into a sad and disappointed one. She won't allow this. His intentions were good.

"I don't know what to say." Her voice was quiet as she spoke the words with her head down, not daring to look at the vampire who sat next to her. She was so scared, scared that she will say something that would insult or anger him and cause him to become his old self, snapping at her and only caring about his job. But everything was forgotten as she felt his fingers gently turning her head towards him until their eye locked.

"Then tell me how you feel." She could see sadness mixed with confusion and just a drop of curiosity.

She sighed, taking his hands from her face. »It is complicated. I am sorry, I know you imagined that I will react differently to this and I wanted to thank you, but I just can't. It is so unreal, because knowing this here doesn't change anything. It has no meaning. Yes, I am a year older, but it doesn't matter. I won't have a chance to live this year, throw a party, get grades at school, spend time with my friends and family… The whole thing is just pointless. It is nothing special, and it makes me sad, because thinks like that really mattered to me before and now, they just… don't."

….

Damon stared at her for a few moments, processing her words. How could he be so stupid? Of course it wouldn't mean anything to her! She was supposed to spend this day with her family and friends, happy as she would blow the candles of her cake while making a wish, this day would be something special and it shouldn't just be a reminder that she may not even see her family ever again. He had the power to decide that, to choose between their lives, and it will have to be tonight. He squeezed Elena's hand again, before reaching into his bag, thinking about every sentence before it left his mind.

"You have nothing to be sorry about. I understand. I just… I don't know," he spoke, ashamed, suddenly not being able to look at the angel beside him. He screwed up and they both knew it.

It was her touch that brought him from his thoughts, her hands hesitant and as she took his palm in hers, covering it, he could feel her tremble. She was still afraid of him, but offered him comfort anyway.

He pulled away from her slowly not to startle her, squeezing her hands in a silent thank you before reaching into his suitcase, handing her a pen and some paper with her folder as a grounding.

"A while ago I was sent to your home, to talk to your brother and your aunt about you and take their blood samples that we needed for the research. They were fine." He added, smiling when he saw her expression. "Sad and not really happy that I was there, but fine. I am going to send them the outcome of the blood analyse tomorrow and since I will be the one sending them it will not be hard for me to sneak two short letters into the envelope." He motioned towards the objects in her lap. "Consider it a gift. But don't mention anything about the system here or me or anything that you learned from the research, OK? I am going to have to read what you will write. Just in case."

He was relieved when he saw her sadness disappearing, her smile getting bigger every second, the light in her eyes shining brighter.

"Maybe we will make this day matter after all, don't you think?"

The girls laughter was his answer and while he brushed her flapping wings carefully, he suddenly realized that he already chose his fate a long time ago, he just didn't knew about it.


The sound of the doorbell caused him to wake up, startled, and he scanned the room for a moment, before he covered his head with a pillow. He knew that there was no way that he will be able to fall asleep again now, but decided that lying in the bed and thinking about his dreams is far better than facing the real world. Thank god it was Saturday.

The thoughts soon escaped him to the group meeting they had yesterday, on his sister's birthday. It was hard, but at least their plan was, with help they got from the vampire inside CRS, almost finished. Also, Luka and his father explained him about their magic. How most of the witches left America and moved to Europe before the war even started, but for those who decided to stay using spells or teaching magic was forbidden. Anyone who broke this rule was haunted down and killed, because of the very strong spell witches who joined vampires casted. But the magic continued to pass down through generations, new witches only able to make little things to float in the air or light up candles, all of the spell books destroyed or lost on other continents, not like that anyone would be stupid enough to cast one, but still.

The boy slowly rubbed his eyes, sitting on the bed and checking the clock on his mobile phone which lay beside his broken alarm clock. It was half past nine already, only half an hour left for breakfast as one of the old family rules he still followed ordered.

The kitchen was empty as he walked downstairs, the whole floor wrapped in creepy silence.

"Jenna?" He called out quietly, panicking when he didn't hear an answer. What if the vampire from the centre returned and it turned out that strange genes were found in Jenna's blood too? The adrenalin and fear ran through him in symbiosis and his shaking hand grabbed wooden spoon from the kitchen counter, while he was approaching the sitting area. He will not let them take her too.

The scene he walked in on was so different than he expected that it caused him to freeze.

His aunt was sitting on a couch, one hand over her heart, the other holding the paper in front of her eyes; her tear-stained face evidence that whatever she read saddened her, but touched her deeply.

"Jenna?" He tried again, his voice shaking. "What happened?"

She met his gaze for the first time since he came into the room, motioning towards the two envelopes lying on the couch next to her, only one of them opened. "It's Elena…" He felt his heart sink. She cannot be dead, not now, not when they almost finished the plan and was almost a matter of days when they would get her out. Not now. "She wrote me." Jenna's voice cut through his dark thoughts.

"She… what?" He fought an instinct to pinch himself hard, to make sure he is not dreaming as his aunt showed him the letter written with his sisters writing and her signature. This was really happening.

He reached for the envelope with his name on it, barely noticing that it was sent from the CRS, letting the page with his blood test results fall on the ground as he managed to pull out what he was desperate to see for a month. A proof that Elena is alive.

…...

"Dear Jeremy," Ethan's voice spoke the words the boy himself read more than twenty times already. "This page is too short to hold everything I would like to tell you right now, so I will have to stick to the point. I would lie if I would write that I am OK, but I am as OK as I am able to be in this situation. It looks like luck didn't left me completely if I am able to talk to you right now. I won't say that you can't imagine how much I miss you, because I know you do and I won't tell you to stay strong after what happened with mom and dad either. I am so sorry. You shouldn't be forced to go through this without me, but there is nothing you can do. So please never forget: you are not alone, you never were and you never will be regardless what happened and what might happen in the future. I will always be with you. Not just me, I heard that Jenna lives with you now. And I know that she will try to protect you from what is happening with everything she has, but this might be really hard if you do anything stupid. Despite that I am where I am, your safety is still my biggest concern and wish. So please, promise me, Jer, promise me that you will stay out of trouble and be safe, until I see you again, whenever and wherever this will happen. Do this for my sake as well as mom and dad's. I love you, Elena."

As the man's voice died down, Jeremy could feel all seven pairs of eyes observing him intensively, some with pity some with curiosity, until Kylan broke the silence.

"Someone must have helped her; there is no way that she would be able to send this on her own." Jonas nodded, before, turning to the boy again, his voice unsure.

"And you are a hundred percent sure that your sister wrote this."

"The writing is hers and what she wrote sounds like something she would say in a situation like this. She wrote this, believe me I am sure. And besides why would a vampire wrote fake letter and send it to me and my aunt? This wouldn't make any sense."

"Oh it would, you know." Bills raspy voice interrupted him. "Some say that vampires like to play with their food before they eat it."

Linn just rolled his eyes while Ky replied: "As far as we know they are not stupid, too. If someone found out who did this and reported him or her, they would be staked before he or she could even blink."

Bill already opened his mouth to argue back, only to be stopped by Luka. "What if Rose helped her?"

"She couldn't," Alaric shook his head. "Didn't you say that she doesn't work at the department where the girl is kept?"

"That is true, she doesn't. But I can still call her." The oldest man in the room replied, before Lynn jumped in, excited.

"Well, do it than and I will join you. I wanted to talk to her ever since she started helping us."

"She is still a vampire, Lynn." Her husband jumped in looking slightly worried.

"I know, but she is a nice one. And besides there is no way for her to kill me over the phone, don't you think?" The woman laughed, already following Ethan not being able to see Bill growl something under his breath while turning towards Ky, causing him to clench his fist.

…...

Jeremy didn't know for how long they have been waiting until Lynn and Ethan returned. He saw tension filling the room, but it didn't affect him, his heart still full of happiness that Elena wrote to him, causing him to imagine the moment that was still yet to come. He knew it was reckless but he was sure now: they will succeed and she will be safe. No one could convince him otherwise.

"So?" Luka was the first to break the silence when the couple returned, his curiosity obvious.

"She doesn't have any proof, but she thinks she knows who it was." Ethan explained, stopping at Jonas's side. "Apparently there is a confirmed rumour that the head of the girl's research Damon Salvatore has been slowing down the process and lying to his boss for more than a week now."

"Salvatore?" Jeremy raised his eyebrows. "He was the vampire who came asking me and Jenna questions, and took our blood. Are you sure?"

"Positive." Lynn was the one who answered. "But we don't know what he wants to achieve by doing so."

All of them stopped talking, absorbed in their own thoughts until Jonas, who was just listening most of the time brought them on firm ground again.

"That is not true. We know everything we need; he is trying to help the girl as much as he can without saving her, sure we don't understand why, but it doesn't matter as long as he has the same goal as us. I mean, of course he won't try to save Elena on his own, risking his life for her, but maybe if we push him a little and offer him an agreement he will tell us everything we need to know to get her out safely. Sure, Rose helped us map out as much as she could without permission to enter the section the girl's in, but we all know that is not enough. I usually wouldn't be up for this, but this time it is our only option if we all want to return in one piece."

"So… What? You want us to rely on yet another monster?" Ky looked at them like they are all insane. "They are vampires, for God's sake, not our friends. The minute they will feel endangered they will just sell us out and besides there is no way that he is doing what he is doing because he feels sorry for the girl, vampires, remember? They cannot feel."

"I cannot believe that I am going to say this… But he is right on this one." Bill discretely overlooked Kylan's cold stare. "I cannot believe that you would slink that low."

"Well, I think it would be wise to do what Jonas suggested," Alaric stated, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "Let's just ask Rose to talk to the guy and quietly offer him a deal, not telling him our names or giving him any kind of contact. If he says yes, we will communicate with him through Rose and if he says no… Well, there is no damage done."

Room became lively, members talking to each other quietly before the first word of agreement reached Jeremy's ears.


And this is where the calm before the storm ends.

Until next time,

AGirlThatDaresToDream ;) :) Review?