Sixth.
My eyes fluttered open as the blue/gray light of dawn peeked in around the heavy shades on the window. Elena was no longer in the chair, her blanket crumpled up and hanging off of the side. I looked to my left and saw the linens were wrinkled and pushed aside. Great, I thought, someone obviously took his invitation inside the house a little too far. I sat up and stretched my arms, happy for a few moments of solitude. I wasn't exactly known for being a morning person so they were probably better off downstairs.
My feet hit the cool wood floor shocking me for a moment. I pushed myself up and padded over towards the window. The shades had been pulled closed but the window was cracked open and they billowed in and out with the breeze. I crossed my arms in front of me, it was brisk and I wanted to close the window to try to warm the room up a little. I reached up and grabbed the panels, throwing them open and allowing light to pour in around me.
I stood for a moment, smiling up at the sky. A few puffy clouds were slowly making their way east and the sun was lazily rising casting shadows onto the ground. Someone had their fireplace going nearby, the smell of the burning wood so familiar and comforting. I reached up to push the window down and let my eyes fall to the small yard behind the house. I felt the color drain from my face as I saw her, standing right in the middle of the grass staring up at me, her arms crossed in front of her. She smiled lifting one arm and fanning out her fingers in greeting. Katherine.
"Hey, you're up," I heard behind me as I slammed the window down and spun around. Elena stood in the doorway, "geez, it's freezing in here." I whipped my head back around and looked at the yard, but she was gone. Elena took a few steps into the room rubbing her arms and trying to suppress a yawn. "Where did this come from?" she asked as she walked towards my bedside table and picked up the untouched bottle.
"Uh, Damon dropped it off."
She look confused, "When was Damon here?"
"Late last night, Bonnie must have let him in. He was here when I woke up." I told her.
"And by that you mean that he was lying on the bed staring at you as you slept, right?"
I was surprised and let out a small chuckle, "yeah, how'd you know?"
"Years of experience," she replied. "I guess that's how I ended up in the bed. I didn't remember moving during the night." I was relieved to know that he hadn't stayed, perhaps slightly disappointed, but I pushed that feeling away.
"Are you okay, you look a little pale?" she asked me.
"Yeah, yeah," I said, shaking my head a little, "I think I'm just a little low," I said reaching out for the bottle. She handed it over but didn't look convinced, so I unscrewed and drank thirstily. She shrugged and walked back around the bed. "Are you still tired?" I asked. "I can just go downstairs if you are."
"Maybe a little," she said sitting down and straightening out the sheets. I headed for the door. "Hey Norrah," she called after me. I looked back over my shoulder at her. "We're safe, okay?" I gave her a weak smile and nodded, pulling the door closed.
I went down the stairs, careful not to wake the other girls, ducking my head into each of the rooms and out the windows, but she was gone. I slid open the patio door off the kitchen and poked my head out to listen but there was nothing. Bird and squirrels scurried around the grass collecting twigs, acorns and worms. I turned in the opposite direction but heard only a child prattling on to his groggy father about a recent fishing trip with a buddy. There was no sign of her, but I knew that didn't mean that she wasn't close by and I wasn't going to take any chances. I ducked back into the house pulling the door closed behind me.
Back in the living room I found the TV remote and switched the set on. With the volume muted I flipped through the channels but nothing really caught my interest. I wasn't much of a TV watcher anyway, aside from the occasional rainy day movie marathon. I had never even owned a TV until Lexi brought one home one might insisting that we hook it up and watch. We weren't used to spending a lot of time sitting around the house, and eventually we agreed that it was a waste of money, turned off the cable and the set sat unused for three years until I finally convinced her to get rid of it. I switched it off and picked up a book off the coffee table.
I was about three chapters in when my phone started to ring. I picked it up but didn't recognize the number so I let it go to voicemail. I wasn't interested in talking to anyone yet this morning anyway. I looked up at the clock, it was only 6:15am, who would even be calling me at this hour? I went back to the book, ignoring the chimes of my voicemail alert. About an hour later I had finished the book, it was a quick read, moderately interesting, something my mother would have loved I thought as I put it back down on the table.
I picked up my phone remembering the voicemail and punched in my code as I paced over to the front door. As soon as I heard the first syllable my body seized up. "You know my dear, you might think that you are safe playing house with the witch, but don't let your guard down. I may not be able to get into the house but I have ways of getting you out. And tell Elena I said hello, we're old friends you know." The line went dead and the phone fell from my hand. As it hit the floor the battery flew out and landed at my foot as the rest of the phone bounced over towards the stairs.