**Chapter thirty one**
The Ellis manor
*Hailey*
I woke up on Elena's couch, my head and neck aching. I moaned slightly, what the hell did I do last night? I got off the couch, my hangover making my head pound. I could only remember bits and pieces of last night. Nathan turned out to be a vampire, and then I killed him. I got wasted, somehow ended up at Elena's, and then had another flashback about Victoria.
I found Elena, Stefan, and Damon talking in the kitchen. They were talking in low voices, as I walked to the kitchen counter and poured myself a large cup of coffee. They stopped talking as I jumped up onto the counter and began to drink the warm coffee.
"What the hell happened last night?" I groaned, touching my neck. There was bandage covering my neck, and my eyes widened. Did I get bitten last night?
"What do you remember?" Elena asked, as I sipped my hot coffee.
"After killing Nathan? Not much. I got drunk obviously, and then Damon, I think, brought me over here. Then I had another flashback of Victoria, and then I got bitten." I said, thinking about the flashback. My eyes widened when I finally figured it out- when Katherine bit Victoria, it was like she bit me too.
There was silence, until I finally said, "I know you guys were talking about my little episode last night. Don't worry about." I jumped off the counter, and ran a hand through my wild hair.
"It's not a little episode, Hailey." Elena said. "This is the second time you've had one in the last week, and during it, you got a vampire bite out of nowhere. It just appeared on your neck, I saw it happen."
"You were also sleepwalking again, where you could've easily gotten attacked by one of the tomb vampires." Stefan added.
"What was the flashback even about?" Damon asked, avoiding my gaze. My eyebrows furrowed- did I say something to him in all my drunken glory?
"Victoria and Katherine were burying that damn box." I said. "And apparently, Victoria has more powers than just telekinesis and visions. She can control the elements. It was pretty cool, actually."
"How'd you get the bite?" Elena asked.
"Oh, that's simple. Katherine bit Victoria." I said casually, finishing my coffee.
"Katherine what?" Stefan asked, eyebrow raised. Everyone chose to ignore how awkward it got when Katherine was mentioned.
"Yeah, she was apparently feeding off Victoria back then, probably because of how good her blood smelled. Didn't you say my blood was the best blood you've ever smelled?" I asked Damon.
He nodded, and continued to avoid looking me in the eyes. My stomach dropped; I did say something to him when I was drunk. Oh shit.
"Am I the only one who's worried by the fact that when Victoria was bitten in a flashback you experienced, it happened to you?"
"Yep." I said, but Stefan and Damon's looks begged to differ.
"No, that's definitely a problem." Damon said.
"Why? Why is it such a big deal that I have memories of Victoria? We're connected, there's no doubting that, so of course I'm going to experience some of him memories. Nothing to make such a big deal out of." I argued.
"It's a big deal, Hailey, because this is the same Victoria who went insane, murdered two people, and then killed herself. And now you're experiencing some of her memories. I don't know what it means, but it's definitely not good." Damon said, finally looking at me.
"And now you're sleepwalking to god knows where." Elena said.
"Oh, I know where I'm sleepwalking." I said, standing up to put my empty mug in the sink. "I know why too."
"Why?" Damon, Stefan, and Elena all asked at the same time.
"I'm sleep walking to the old Ellis manor, to get that stupid box with the pretty knife Victoria and Katherine buried more than a century ago." I said. "And I also know what we're doing today."
"Do I even want to ask?" Elena asked.
I smirked at her. "We're going to dig that damn thing up."
~LMF~
Surprisingly, no one argued. I knew it was because they hoped my strange dreams would stop, and I'd stop sleepwalking in the middle of the night, because I hoped it too. I took a quick shower, got dressed, and took some Advil to help with my headache. Soon, we were off to the old Ellis Manor.
We got there in fifteen minutes, and when I walked into the yard where my ancestors used to live, a small part of me wondered why someone would let such a pretty house go. It was in ruins, only half of it left. It really should've been torn down years ago, but I realized soon why it wasn't. It had become part of the woods that practically consumed this town. You could barely tell where it ended and the house began. Then I realized that our job just got much harder. It was going to be a real pain trying to get through the forest, and I was suddenly glad I wore converse instead of my usual black leather boots.
"We should split up." Stefan said, taking shovels out of the trunk.
We all agreed, and somehow Elena and Stefan went one way, and Damon and I went the other. I knew why, though. Elena couldn't stand him, and if Stefan and Damon were left alone longer than five minutes, someone's throat was gonna be ripped out. I didn't mind though. I never minded being alone with Damon. Even though I had said something to him when I was drunk, and I didn't even want to know what.
It was silent as we walked. An awkward silence too, and I hated it. I just wanted us to be friends, I wanted him in my life. And since we didn't work out romantically, we had to be friends. And now my stupid drunk mouth ruined it.
"Look, whatever said to you last night, I was wasted. I don't even want to know what I said, but I didn't mean it." I blurted out, waving my hand to bend branches back as we walked.
"You didn't mean it?" Damon repeated skeptically.
"I didn't. Can we just stop with all this awkwardness now?" I pleaded, looking up at him.
"Course," Damon said, smirking easily at me. I pretended not to notice that it didn't reach his eyes.
I was glad that we had that settled, but that awkwardness didn't leave. It hadn't left since the moment we agreed to be just friends. And it would probably never leave.
We continued to walk in silence, but it was less awkward than before. I noticed that Damon looked deep in thought, like he had something to say, he just didn't know how.
"Spit it out." I said with an easygoing smirk.
I felt his gaze on me as we walked, before he finally spoke. "I don't get you, Hailey."
"Don't feel too bad about that, nobody does. I barely do." I said, but raised my eyebrows at his serious expression, that was so rarely on his face.
"I distinctly remember you freaking out a few weeks ago about looking like a crazy girl who murdered her family, and then herself. Now you have flashbacks of her memories, and you couldn't care less." Damon said.
Yeah, well, a lot of things have changed since a couple of weeks ago, I wanted to snap, but I had enough self-control not to. Instead I shrugged.
"I just don't see it as a big deal, I guess. I actually think they're kind of helpful." I admitted, stepping under a long branch.
"Helpful? How?" he asked.
"Well, the newest one showed me that my powers aren't limited. Victoria could control the elements, who know what else she could do- what I can do? I've been thinking that maybe I should try to expand them a little bit. It could be helpful." I shrugged, thinking about the possibilities.
I expected Damon to agree with me, to say that it sounded smart. But his reaction was the opposite. He snorted, and said, "That's the stupidest idea I've ever heard."
I felt like he slapped me across the face.
"Tell me how you really feel, Damon." I muttered, my cheeks burning.
His expression softened instantly. "Hailey, I just meant that I don't think that it's a very good idea."
"Why not?" I argued, glaring up at him.
"Well, for one, you're following in the steps of a nutcase. But you're right, what could go wrong?" he said sarcastically.
"I'm not Victoria!" I practically shouted. "I'm not gonna go crazy and kill myself like she did!"
"How do you think Victoria went crazy?" he retorted.
I paused. "You don't know that." I whispered.
"Well, it's obvious. Victoria went digging into her powers like you want to, and they drove her insane." he said easily, looking up at the bright blue sky.
I considered his words, not wanting to believe them. "Well, I guess I have to take the risk." I shrugged, looking away.
Damon looked at me like he couldn't believe me, and we walked in silence again. I wanted so much for his approval at that moment, for him to understand my plan, to be okay with it. When I realized what I wanted, and I mentally slapped myself.
Why did I need Damon's approval? So what if he thought it was shitty idea. Since when did I need anyone's approval to be able to do something? This thought only made my plans to expand my powers more final. If anything, just to spite Damon, and to prove to myself that reckless, couldn't-care-less-about-what-anyone-thinks Hailey is still inside me somewhere.
We reached the house, and then Damon finally looked at me. "Do you know where the entrance to the tunnel is?" he asked.
I nodded slowly. "It's under the house." I said, then it suddenly dawned on me how hard this job was becoming.
We both looked at the ruins of the house. Two sides of the house was gone, revealing the four floors that were caved in. the remains of the roof were already sagging into the house and looked like it could collapse at any minute. It was a freaking death trap, that manor.
"I'll go." Damon said, walking towards the house.
"What? No fair!" I shouted, my eyebrows furrowing.
"I'm indestructible, Hailey. If the house collapses on me, unless a piece of wood somehow manages to get itself into my heart, I'll be fine. If the house collapses on you, you'll die." he argued.
I sigh, I knew he had a point, but I needed to go. "Please." I begged. "If the roof starts to collapse, I can hold it up long enough for us to get out." I said, though I had no proof that I could actually do this.
Damon looked at me skeptically. "You don't know that." he said.
"I'll try!" I exclaimed. "I don't know why, but I need to get this mysterious box with you. Please."
Damon looks at me for a few more seconds before sighing. "At the first sign of trouble, I'll throw you over my shoulder and drag you out of the house if I have to." he said, looking like he already regretted saying yes.
I gave him a wry grin. "Since you're about 10,000 times stronger than me, I don't really have a choice." I said dryly. He rolled his eyes at me, then we set out to go into the house.
A few minutes later, we stood in front of the "entrance" of the house. The moldy and termite eaten door was still there, but a large branch about the size of two Damon's blocked it.
Damon easily flung the branch out of the way, then gestured for me to go first. I climbed through the small entry way the door offered, to enter the Ellis manor. It reeked of mold and rotten things. My nose wrinkled at the smell as Damon climbed into the house too.
"Do you have any idea where the basement is?" I ask him.
"Actually I do." he said, already walking towards the back of the house. I followed him, and the floor creaked with each footstep.
"I've been here before, a few times." he explained, as we walked through more rooms. Trash littered all the rooms, and the stench got worse and worse the farther we got into the house.
Suddenly, we stopped in front of an entry way that obviously used to have a door. Wooden stairs that looked about as stable as Victoria stood behind it.
"Come here." Damon said abruptly, grabbing me by my wrist.
I looked up at him, bewildered, as he wrapped an arm around my waist.
Suddenly, we're moving so fast I barely blink and we're suddenly in the basement, watching the wooden stairs crumble.
I inhale a deep breath of contaminated air, wondering how we're going got get back up. But we would cross that bridge when we came to it. I followed Damon as the sunlight disappeared and we were suddenly in the dark. I opened my mouth to ask how we were going to see when he suddenly clamped a hand over my mouth.
"Shh, I hear something." he whispered, and he pulled me behind a stack of moldy boxes.
I held my breath, as Damon listened intently. Soon I heard it too, the sound of footsteps. Did they belong to tomb vamps? I suddenly heard a soft scream and then a loud thud as the intruders landed into the basement. I automatically grabbed Damon's arm, and feel him tense, ready to fight if necessary.
"Shh, Elena, someone's here." I heard a familiar voice say abruptly. I sighed with relief, as Damon relaxed.
"Thank god, it's just you two." I said, as I stepped out from behind the boxes. I saw Stefan and Elena both relax at the sight of Damon and me.
"Where's the secret passage way?" I asked Damon, as Stefan and Elena walked up to us.
"I don't know." he says, his eyed scanning the darkness ahead of us.
"Wait." Stefan said abruptly. "I think I know."
He walked into the darkness and a few seconds later, I heard the sound of rusty metal. Then Stefan reappeared.
"Come on." he told us, and we followed him.
Elena pulled out her cell phone for very dim light, but it's enough to see a square hole in the middle of the floor. Damon jumped down, and I edged toward the hole, nervous to jump.
"Just do it, Hailey. I'll catch you." Damon called up to me. I took a deep breath, before jumping.
I was falling for a few seconds until I felt Damon's arms wrap around me, catching me. He set me down, as Stefan jumped down. I looked around the dark tunnel, as Elena joined us. Stefan took a flashlight out of his pocket, and the tunnel was suddenly illuminated with light.
It looked just like it did from my vision, except older and dirtier. But I knew where to go. I walked down the tunnel, everyone else following me. I didn't stop until the very end. I could almost feel the energy radiate as I stepped on the very place Victoria buried the knife.
"It's right here." I said, turning to look at them.
Damon and Stefan walked foreword with shovels in their hands. I stepped away, against a wall with Elena. I watched them shovel fast, when something suddenly caused me to double over in pain. There was a sharp stab of pain in my stomach, and I cried out in pain.
"Hailey!" I heard Elena exclaim, before rushing to my side.
But I didn't see her. I was still in the tunnel, but instead, I was watching a girl with jet black hair and neon green eyes, dressed in old fashioned clothing. She was holding a familiar knife over her stomach.
"It's for the best." she murmured to herself, before stabbing herself.
I gasp in unison with her, as blood suddenly started bleeding from my stomach, like someone was stabbing me with an invisible knife. Victoria stabbed herself again, and I felt it, I felt every single stab as I just stood there, watching her kill herself, kill me.
"Hailey!" I hear someone sob as I'm brought back into the real world.
All I see is a flash of ice blue eyes before familiar copper blood is forced into my mouth. I gulped it down automatically, before passing out in strong, familiar, leather covered arms.
~LMF~
A/N: thank you to: Pinkbeca, Samantha meyers, colleenrawr, AubreySalvatore, KimmyWSmith, aireagle92, jacquline, Carrie9596 and SomebodyWhoCares for reviewing!
Reviews are inspiring :)
~Abby!