Cannonball
Disclaimer: I don't own anything or anyone from The Vampire Diaries.
Stealing a quote from One Tree Hill to start this chapter off, I'm sure some of you will recognize it!
October 1st 2012.
Monday 6:00pm.
Mystic Falls.
Do you ever wonder if we make the moments in our lives or the moments in our lives make us? Ever wonder how long it takes to change your life? What measure of time is enough to be life-altering? Is it four years, like high school? One year? An eight-week walking tour? Can your life change in a month, or a week, or a single day? We're always in a hurry to grow up, to go places, to get ahead…but when you're young, one hour can change everything…
I take a sip from my cold lemonade as I stand by the bar in The Grill waiting for Matt to start his break so we can go sit down for dinner.
Looking around the place, I'm not surprised it's not as busy as it usually is at this time of day, the second I walked in here I wanted to walk straight back out of it.
It's ridiculously hot, and stuffy and I lift up my t-shirt slightly to air it out as it sticks to my back, letting out a puff of breath up over my face in an attempt to cool myself down.
"Hey Elena," Ashley from the cheer squad who also works part time here at The Grill walks past with a smile and I send her a small wave and a quick greeting back, her uniform covering her petite body.
"How come it's so hot in here?"
"The AC is broke I think," she explains with a shrug. "I'm not really sure, I just started my shift but I do know that the boiler has been acting up lately." I nod my head, hoping that they get it fixed soon because it's becoming unbearable in here.
"You waiting for Matt?" she asks confused since I'm stood alone.
"Yeah, he should be on a break soon, right?" I double check the time, usually he gets 30 minutes at six, and since it's not particularly busy she didn't think there would be a delay.
"He's already on it." Ashley motions to the other side of the restaurant. "I'm sure I saw him head over there with Tyler Lockwood about five minutes ago."
"Great." I mutter annoyed before forcing a smile. "Thanks." I follow in the direction she pointed me in, and just as Ashley said, there's Matt sat laughing and joking with Tyler.
"Elena, there you are." Matt grins and moves along motioning for me to join him but I stop at the edge of the table.
"I thought we were meeting for dinner today." I go straight into it, not even bothering with pleasantries.
"We are," Matt looks confused for a moment. "I was just talking to Tyler first..."
"You told me to meet you at the bar at six." I practically huff, wondering why I'm being so immature about this and overreacting.
Matt glances at Tyler for a moment who looks a bit uncomfortable before standing up. "Let's go talk somewhere more private." he takes a hold of my hand before I can argue and pulls me into the back storage room. "What was that, Elena?"
"What was what?" I snap impatiently. "We were supposed to meet at six, I was stood waiting for you like an idiot."
"You're overreacting." he frowns. "In fact, you've been like this for weeks!"
"Like what?" I answer despite me knowing that I have been a bitch lately, but I can't seem to help it. I know I'm being unreasonable, I know I'm being harsh but the words keep leaving my mouth before I can stop them.
"Moody and snappy, you're getting angry at me for no reason. Most of the time it's like you're in a completely different place to everyone else, your mind always elsewhere." his eyebrows crease together. "Have I done something to upset you?"
"No!" I snap in frustration. "But good to know what you really think of me."
"This is what I mean, Elena! This isn't like you! What is going on?" he asks me almost desperately.
"Nothing is going on, Matt!" I argue back before wiping my brow as I feel a drop of sweat fall from my forehead. "God, why is it so damn hot in here!"
"The boilers broke." Matt mutters half halfheartedly before taking a step closer. "Elena, talk to me."
"There's nothing to talk about, Matt." I look away for a moment because he doesn't deserve this and I know that I'm not being fair to him. "You're right, I'm overreacting again and I'm sorry."
"I just wish you'd talk to me." he places his hand on my arm and I go to flinch and pull away but stop myself. "What is going on with you, Elena? I feel like you're drifting away from me..."
"I'm still me." I look at his blue eyes as I feel my own watering. "I promise." I need to make myself believe it. "I'm still the Elena Gilbert you fell in love with, who you grew up with. I swear that I am still that girl, I'm not changing, Matt, I'm still me."
"I know that." he looks a little baffled for a moment. "If there is something going on with you, Elena, you need to tell me."
"No." I shake my head, frustration starting to over take me. "Everything is fine. I'm sorry I overreacted, I'll go apologize to Tyler for being rude and we can just go on as normal, ok?"
Matt looks at me skeptically. "You're saying the words but I'm not sure that I believe you."
"Why not?"
"Because you look like you're ten seconds away from crying, Elena! And that isn't someone who is fine." I clench my jaw and turn my head away.
God, pull yourself together!
"I am fine." I look back to face him, pushing down my emotions. "It's...it's that time of month, I'm just hormonal." I lie with a force smile and Matt's whole demur changes.
"Ok," he quickly nods his head, wiping some sweat away from his eyebrows. "I get it...girl stuff." he smiles a little and I throw one back as a way of reassurance. It works. "So now that this is sorted, why don't we eat before my break is over?"
"Yeah," I agree and go to follow him out but all for a sudden a burst of heat and impact comes from behind me, a noise louder than I can describe hurting my ears and before I can even think about what is happening I feel my body go flying forwards out of my own control and then everything went black.
I stop the car as I turn the corner from the town square to see a small crowd of people stood outside of The Mystic Grill. I switch the gear into park before I climb out and walk towards the commotion, curious to see what is going on.
I only take a few steps forward before a loud explosion goes off and one of the windows of The Grill smashes through, a cloud of smoke following it as it pours out with broken glass.
Shit.
The Grill is on fire.
I start to run towards it, briefly wondering why the hell there fire brigade aren't anywhere in sight, but there are police and I notice Sheriff Forbes trying to push everyone back away from the flames and urging them all to calm down.
"What happened?" I spot Kol among the crowd and approach him quickly.
"I have no idea, I was just playing pool in there when some sort of explosion came from the kitchen, we all ran out, obviously, but apparently there are still people trapped inside."
"Shit." I watch with wide eyes as flames are clearly getting stronger. "Any idea who?" I ask worriedly, momentarily trying to think of where Stefan said he was going to be tonight.
"I don't know but the fire brigade need to get here fast because it's not looking good man. They need to get whoever is in there out ASAP." Kol muses before looking to his right. "Although judging from Detective Gilbert right now, I'm guessing maybe he knows someone stuck inside."
My heart stops.
I look past Kol and he's right, Grayson Gilbert is arguing with two uniformed police officers who are clearly struggling to hold him back and I hurriedly but discreetly make my way over to near where they are stood.
"Grayson, we have to wait for the fire services! I'm sorry but you can't go in there it's too dangerous!"
"I don't care! My daughter is in there! Let me go!" he practically screams and before I can even think about it I turn on my heel and run back in the other direction, ignoring Kol's calls about where I'm going.
I sprint around the corner and run further down the road before heading into the public library, thankful that it's not busy and there doesn't seem to be hardly anyone around. They are probably all stood outside The Grill being useless and gawping.
I glance around briefly, making sure no one can see me before walking into the unlocked staff room, and then through another door and down the stairs into the basement.
I'm now extremely thankful that my memory of the maps my Uncle Zach showed me of the underground tunnels in Mystic Falls are still fresh in my brain.
"Sometimes it's better to move things along under the untrained eye. You should know about these tunnels, as an option, you never know when you may need to get around unnoticed." He told me once and I know that he often uses these tunnels to traffic drugs in and out of Mystic Falls.
One of my father's company's were hired about fifteen years ago to make sure that all the underground tunnels in Mystic Falls were completely sealed off and buried in.
Giuseppe of course had his own ideas, and to this day not many people know about some of the tunnels still being in use.
I crawl through the shaft in the basement that leads down into the tunnels before climbing through into it. I take out my cellphone and turn on the torch app to see through the darkness. It's not the best but it will have to do.
I need to get Elena out of there.
I stand still for a moment and try to work out where about it is that I am and which way I need to go to get to The Grill. There is no point in me running crazily into one direction if it's the wrong way. I need to stay calm and think about this carefully, pulling at my memory and trying to work it out.
After eventually gathering my bearings, I turn to my left and run, praying that I won't be too late.
The first thing I feel is pain.
The second is the fact that I'm struggling to breathe.
I peel my eyes open as I start to cough, choking on the dusty smoke that is overpowering the room.
What the hell happened?
I lift myself up, squinting through the dark smokey room and suddenly a wave of panic hits me as I realize what is going on.
"Oh god," I press my hand against my forehead and feel hot sticky blood before another wave of realization hits me. "Matt!" I look around the dark room but I can't see my boyfriend anywhere. "Matt!" I cough, choking on the smoke and I feel my skin laying with sweat from the unbearable heat.
I can't see any flames just yet though.
However, the back wall that would block this room off from the kitchen is damaged, almost destroyed and as I pull myself up to my feet and hobble towards it, and that's when I see the flames overpowering the large kitchen.
Shit.
They'll be coming this way soon.
"Matt!" I swing back around and finally I see the body of my boyfriend lying on the floor. "Oh god!" I run towards him, landing back on my knees beside him and immediately shake him. "Matt! Please, wake up we need to get out of here! Matt!" I cough some more, and lean down, thankful to hear that he is breathing.
"Matt please!" I can feel the tears streaming down my cheeks as a groan comes from his lips and his body shuffles. "Matt, thank god!" I watch as his eyes open and he looks at me confused before he starts to cough.
"What...what happened?"
"I don't know...there was some sort of explosion." I turn my head back in the direction of the kitchen. "There's a fire...it's spreading, we need to leave!"
"Ok, ok." Matt nods his head and I pretend not to notice the large gash on his head, blood dripping down his face at a much faster pace than my own. He goes to sit up and climb to his feet but he's a little unsteady.
"Hey, I've got you." I hold him up against me and we hobble towards the door, however the second I touch the handle the metal burns my hand and I scream and pull my hand away. "Oh my god," I gasp in pain, my eyes stinging and I look down to see smoke coming from the small gap underneath the door. "Shit."
"We're trapped." Matt speaks with wide eyes and suddenly I feel like throwing up.
I let out another painful cough, the smoke getting almost unbearable and it's becoming harder and harder to see.
Harder and harder to breathe.
"Is there another way out?" I ask Matt, not even bothering to hide my panic now. "Please tell me there's another way out!"
He shakes his head and then points behind me. "Only through the kitchen."
"But that's impossible!"
"Shit!" Matt punches the wall in frustration and I feel the tears burning in my eyes.
"I don't want to die!" A sob escapes my lips before I can stop it and I shake my head. "I can't die like this."
Matt stays silent and starts to hobble around the room, like he's looking for something but I don't know what the hell he is even looking for.
We're trapped in this God damn place!
There's no other way out, and it won't be long until the fire spreads and gets to us.
I let out another strangled cough.
That's if the smoke doesn't kill us first.
"Fuck!" I hear Matt shout in frustration and I move towards him, my body feeling weaker and weaker and I watch as he falls to the floor, his hand on his chest.
"Matt? Matt!" he shakes his head and holds out his arm.
"I'm ok." he argues but I can see from his face that he's not. He starts to choke and I feel myself beginning to panic again as he stops coughing. He lets out a sigh, shaking his head as it rolls back to lean against the wall behind him and I panic even more when I see his eyes closing. "Matt!"
He loses consciousness and I try and jerk him awake but he's passed out.
This is it.
I'm going to die alone.
I succumb to my fate, sitting down next to Matt's motionless body letting the tears slide down my face as I cover my mouth and nose with my hand.
I think about all the things in my life that I haven't done, all the opportunities that I've missed, that I let pass me by, all the things I stopped myself from doing because I knew my parents would disapprove.
I haven't even lived.
And now I'm going to die.
I'm about to close my eyes when I hear banging, lots of banging. I look back at Matt who is still unconscious beside me before I crawl to my knees and then to my feet, more than aware of my weakening body.
I follow the noise to the back end of the storage room and frown when I hear it coming from a closet, I don't make the mistake of touching the metal handle immediately, but I do pull down my sleeve and twist the doorknob, thankful that it's nowhere near as hot as the door that takes us back to the restaurant. I pull open the door, and the banging gets louder and I look to the corner to see it's coming from a metal plate against the bottom corner of the wall.
"Hello!" I quickly dive towards it, to where the banging is coming from. "Is someone there?! Please help! Help us!" I shout as loud as my raw voice will allow me.
"Elena?!" A voice calls back my name and my eyes widen that someone is actually here to save us, to get us out of here.
"HELP! PLEASE!" I cry out desperately.
"Elena, I need you to help me unlock this hatch!" the voice is muffled, and I can't recognize who it is. "Find a screwdriver, or something, anything, that can unscrew these nails!"
I nod my head despite whoever is on the other side not being able to see me, and I quickly rummage around the dark storage room to look for something to use. My hands are shaking, and I feel like I'm about to collapse but the adrenaline is keeping me going and eventually I find a knife that might fit.
It's not a screwdriver, but it could work.
I put it in the top nail and twist as hard as I can, almost squealing as it works and after many attempts the nail falls loose and the top of the metal plate breaks open.
"That's it, Elena! Now the bottom!"
Now that there is an open gap between this room and the other side of the hatch, I recognize the voice immediately.
"Damon?" I ask in complete shock.
"That's right," he replies and I can hear the smirk in his voice despite the panic and fear, despite this situation. "Come on sweetheart, we don't have time for pleasantries, break open the bottom one!" he orders me and I quickly start to unscrew.
I get about halfway when the metal of the knife snaps.
"No, no!" I start to panic. "No, I broke it! Damon, it's stuck!" I cry out in fear, not believing how close I came.
"Damn it!" I hear him curse and I feel a new wave of tears overcome me.
I try and wedge the knife out some more, my fingers bleeding from holding the blade, but there's no use. It's completely wedged in.
"Ok, ok! Elena, I need you to stand back!" he orders me and I crawl backwards away from the plate.
Soon, I hear the noise of impacts and grunts and I can tell that Damon is trying to kick it down. I pull myself up to my feet and walk back to the entrance between this closet and the storage room to see Matt still where I left him but then my stomach drops.
The flames are getting closer.
"Damon hurry!"
Another bang, and another, and another.
I feel like he's about to give up.
I wouldn't blame him if he did.
However, before I can even say anything, the metal crashes to the ground with a thud and Damon crawls in after it.
"Elena!" he hobbles towards me, and I don't miss the way he barely seems able to stand on his left foot. "Let's get out of here! Now!" he grabs my hand and goes to pull me away but I immediately shake it.
"No, Matt!" I point back to the storage room and Damon's wide eyes follow my own to see Matt lying unconscious.
"Shit." he gasps. "Ok, you go, I'll grab him and follow you right out, ok?"
"No." I shake my head. "Let me help you."
"Elena!" he shouts at me. "GO!"
"No!" I hiss back stubbornly as he hobbles back into the room, a cough escaping his lips and I don't miss the fearful look on his face as he takes in the flames that are suddenly very very close.
"Now is not the fucking time to be stubborn!" he practically screams at me. "Get the fuck out of here!"
He leans down and attempts to lift Matt but he gasps in pain and falls to his side, leaning against the wall and that's enough to make him see that I'm not going anywhere without them.
"You're hurt!" I note fearful as I dart towards him, my hand immediately on his arm. "Damon! You can't carry Matt alone!" a cough escapes my lips and I start to choke, my hand immediately covering my lips.
I feel Damon's hands pressed against either side of my cheek, the concern and worry evident in his eyes. "You're about to choke to death, God knows how much smoke you've inhaled! You're head is bleeding damn it! Go, Elena! I swear I will be right behind you."
"No." I shake my head, my eyes yet again burning with tears. "I'm not going without you."
"I won't leave Matt behind ok? You need to trust me! I will get him out of here!"
"I'm not leaving without you." I hiss angrily and turn back to Matt, bending down and throwing one of his arms over my shoulder, motioning for Damon to get the other, we attempt to pull him up but Matt's body flops forward, his weight overtaking mine and I nearly topple over.
"This isn't going to work." Damon mutters and glances back behind him towards the fire which is spreading by the second and my cheeks are burning from the heat. "He needs to go over my shoulder." I watch as he takes a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment before bending down and lifting Matt up.
I flinch as Damon screams with pain, his foot clearly protesting against the extra weight but he ignores it and motions for me to start moving and I quickly dart back towards the tunnel that Damon came through.
I go in ahead, and stop a few feet away as I watch him struggle to get through with Matt hanging over his shoulder but eventually they make it and a huge wave of relief takes over me.
Damon leads me through these underground tunnels silently, the only sounds coming from us is his heavy breathing along with painful gasps, and my choked coughs.
"This way," Damon points to his left as we reach a crossroads and I silently head in that direction, turning my head to see him stumble in pain, almost dropping Matt.
"Damon-" I go to protest but he cuts me off.
"Keep walking, Elena!"
I do as he says and we make some more turns before eventually he tells me to stop as we reach some ladders. He instructs me to go first and to open the shaft above me, thankfully this one is made of wood so it's easier to break open than the one in The Grill and I climb out to find myself in the middle of the woods, my eyes adjusting to the evening light, and it feels odd that it's not darkness out here compared to the darkness we've just crawled out of.
I don't know how he did it, but Damon has managed to get an unconscious Matt up the ladders and I watch with tears as he gently places him down onto the grass.
The second he does, a sob escapes my lips and before I even think about it I leap towards Damon and wrap my arms around him tightly, my body crashing against his as I cling to him tightly.
It takes a moment, but Damon's arms slowly wrap back around me, his hands on my back as he whispers soothing words into my ear as I cry uncontrollably against his shoulder.
I don't know how long we've stood there for, but eventually Damon pulls back, his face serious. "You need to call your father and tell him you got out and that you're safe." he tells me firmly. "Tell him where you are, he'll come and get you." he places his hand on my cheek briefly and my eyes flutter close as he wipes away some blood that has fallen from my gash, his hand hovers pressed against my cheek, his thumb gently stroking my skin but seconds later he pulls away. "I was never here, Elena." he takes a step back and I look at him in shock.
"Wh-what?" I stutter confused. "What do you mean?"
"You got out alone, you and Matt."
I look at him like he's crazy, and he does look crazy. His hair is messy, uncontrollable, there is sweat dripping from his forehead and smoke stuck to his face. But that's not even the crazy part of this.
"I'm serious, Elena."
"But...but people should know!" I argue almost desperately. "People should know that you saved my life! Saved Matt's life! Nobody is going to believe that I did this alone, that I carried Matt out here alone! People need to know what you did, Damon."
"Nobody needs to know." he smiles a little. "It's amazing what adrenaline can do, Elena, how you carried Matt out of here alone, how this wave of strength took over you." he looks over my shoulder to my unconscious boyfriend. "Nobody has to know. But you need to call your father, now. And an ambulance, Matt needs one, you both do."
He takes a step back and offers me a smile before turning around and walking away, but I see the hobble, I see the way he can barely put weight on his left foot.
"Damon!" I shout after him and watch anxiously as he slowly turns around. "You need to get looked at too, wait with us! Come to the hospital with us, please."
"I'll be fine." he answers back simply. "Now call your father." he tells me for the third time and I sigh giving in and nod my head, digging into my pocket for my cellphone, grateful to see that I eventually have signal.
I watch as Damon disappears out of sight, but before I can think about it the panicked voice of my father is on the other side of the call.
Before I know it, my Dad is here, followed by an ambulance and I'm on the way to hospital and then I'm in a hospital bed.
It's emotional, and there are lots of tears and hugs and questions and I feel like a zombie but I get through it.
It helps that Matt's going to be ok too.
That nobody else was hurt in the fire, that everyone there got out safely.
It's not until later that night when I'm lying alone in a dark hospital room, the doctor insisting I stay overnight just in case, that I realize something.
Something that makes me feel awful, and it's the last thing I think about before I drift off to sleep and dream about overpowering dangerous flames and icy blue eyes.
I never actually thanked Damon.
Hope you liked it, I wasn't sure about this chapter I feel like I could have done better :/
Big thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, I hope I got back to all of you (except for the guest reviewers because I wasn't able, but thanks so much to you guys too and if I could reply to you I would :))
Until next time!