A/N: Another shorter update, but I hope a good one nonetheless.
As always, let me know what you think. Thanks!
Nothing. Hours and hours of searching into the night and nothing. A total of 64 empty, abandoned houses searched and nothing.
"Stefan, let's start again tomorrow" Alaric said, having met up with his friend about ten minutes before.
"No" Stefan said, kicking an old plastic flowerpot. He couldn't give up, especially since the detective had called him hours earlier, stating that Derrick's family had arrived at the station. Derrick's family was supposed to get the information out of Derrick, but Derrick refused to see them.
"Then what do you want to do, huh Stefan?" Alaric yelled. "Keep searching until you drop?" he asked angrily. He was tired. He was frustrated. It wasn't a good combination.
Stefan took a step toward him. "That is exactly what I am going to do" he said, pointing his hand at his friend for added emphasis. "She deserves better than this!" he shouted. "She deserves to be at home right now, in our bed, sleeping peacefully!" he added, on the verge of breaking down. She didn't deserve to be locked up somewhere, left to die.
Alaric stared at his friend with empathy. "I'm sorry" he said, finding no other words. Because he completely agreed. Elena shouldn't be in the situation she was in.
"I promised her this life was done" Stefan told him. "I failed her. So it is my responsibility to bring her home" he concluded. Before Alaric could stop him, Stefan was getting back into his car. Alaric got in his rental and followed.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Her eyes were red and puffy, her tears having dried long ago. She wasn't sure she could cry any more even if she wanted to. The only way she knew she was still alive was because she could feel the cold cement of the floor against her cheek. Everything else was numb.
Stefan is coming for me. Elena had let this thought run through her mind on repeat for quite some time now as she remained where she was on the floor. She wondered how long it would take for her to stop believing it. Probably until she was dead.
Stefan loves me. When she started to become scared, she would tell herself this. It had a calming effect on her, even in the toughest of times. It was a wonderful thing, to feel loved.
She loved him too, more than anything. And she hoped that he was not beating himself up over her. After all, it had been her choice to walk out that door and meet Derrick. She didn't regret it. Because the alternative would be Lily on that floor, hungry and thirsty and scared and hurt. The thought made her sick. Numb and sick.
"Stefan" Elena whispered, closing her eyes. They were too weak to stay open. "I love you."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Day three. Stefan looked at his unshaven face in the hotel mirror. Elena wouldn't like it. She didn't like when his prickly hairs rubbed against her face when he kissed her. Her skin was too soft and sensitive.
Stefan grabbed the shaving cream and the complimentary shaver in the bathroom and went to work. He, Damon, and Alaric were heading out in a little bit to check some abandoned properties toward the coast. It was 5 AM. Stefan had gone to bed just after midnight and had slept on and off for a few hours before getting up and sitting outside, looking up at the night sky. It was peaceful out there and he swore when he got Elena back, he was going to sit outside at night with her more often and look up at the stars.
As he shaved, he stared into the mirror and his memory of he and Elena in the bathroom one morning invaded his mind.
She had come into the bathroom just as he was getting ready to shave. Earlier, she had run her hand across his jaw and smiled. That was all Stefan needed to understand that he needed to think about shaving. When she had joined him in the bathroom, she had hopped up on the counter and grabbed the bottle of shaving cream, putting a generous amount in the palm of her hand and rubbing her hands together. Stefan stepped in-between her legs, giving her better access to him. Elena then applied the shaving cream to his face, smiling as she did.
He had been nervous as hell to let her anywhere near his face with that razor, but the moment she started, he couldn't tell her no. She had such a determined look on her face as she expertly moved the razor over his skin.
When she was done, she checked every inch of his face to make sure she had gotten it all. Minus the small bits of leftover shaving cream, his face was smooth. "All done" she said, setting the razor down. She grabbed a wet cloth to wash the rest of the shaving cream off of his face when he grabbed her arms, stopping her.
He had a look of determination too as he leaned in and kissed her hard. Elena leaned back until her head hit the mirror. His hands still held her arms, slowly bringing them back to rest against her sides. She had groaned lightly, wanting nothing more than to touch him. He gave in finally and let go of her arms.
Elena's fingers went to work on the buttons on his shirt, desperate to get it off. He was already unbuttoning her shorts and tugging them down. His lips never left her.
It was fast and sometimes uncoordinated as it would be on a bathroom sink, but it full of passion. He had her coming undone in record time and there wasn't a thing he enjoyed more than having her arms and legs wrapped around him, holding on to him for dear life. She was sure she would melt to a puddle on the floor if she let go. Her short, quick breaths against his shoulder subsided eventually. "Holy crap" she breathed out, holding him closer. That really was all she could say.
Stefan smiled against her neck, glad to hear that he had done his job and done it well. Because loving Elena – being with Elena, that was easy.
Being without Elena – there were no words to describe what that felt like to him.
Stefan snapped out of his memory and made work with the razor and washed his face. He was out the door and banging on Damon's door moments later. 5:20 AM. It was time to go.
They had all decided to ride together this time. The area of houses they were searching was only a mile wide at most. Apparently, a hurricane had come through two years earlier and the homes were left damaged where they stood.
Damon and Alaric had a quiet, friendly chat in the front of the car while Stefan rested his eyes in the back. It was still dark out, but the sun would be up in an hour or so. Not that it mattered to Stefan.
"Does Jeremy and Bonnie know about Elena?" Alaric asked Damon.
Damon looked in his rearview mirror at his brother. "Yeah. We called them after we got Lily back. Told them to stay put. Her brother will probably come out here anyway" Damon said. Damon parked his car at the end of a cult-de-sac finally. "I'll take those six houses over there" he said, pointing them out.
Alaric nodded. "Stefan, you take these five in front of us and I'll take the three on the end over there" he said, getting out of the car.
Stefan zipped up his hoodie as he stood just outside the car. As he walked, the leaves crunched beneath his feet. It would be winter before long. He hadn't gotten all the wood chopped and stacked for winter like Elena had asked. She had gone on and on all summer about how she wanted to have wood heat to keep them warm. He had promised her he would have it done by the first of September.
He hadn't kept that promise either.
The houses they were at now looked torn apart on the outside. The siding had been torn off and was now hanging on by a thread. Shingles on the roof were missing and lawn furniture that had been blown across the yard now had moss growing on it. Stefan thought they might have been really beautiful homes at one point in time.
As he approached, he could see that most of the windows were broken and some even had boards across them. NO TRESPASSING was painted in orange across the side of the house. Stefan stepped up on the front porch of the first house, stumbling to the side as the wood gave way beneath him. Carefully, he made his way to the door and tried the door handle. It was open.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"They're so pretty, thank you!" Lily said excitedly, admiring her newly painted nails that Caroline had done. She hopped off of Caroline's lap and ran into the other room. "Uncle Zach look at my pretty nails!" she said, jumping up and down in place as she showed him.
"Beautiful" he smiled, placing a kiss on the top of her head. "Did Caroline do those for you?" he asked.
"Uh huh" Lily said, nodding her head. She looked at her nails and then sighed sadly.
"What's wrong, little one?" Zach asked, scooping her up in his arms.
She looked at him for a moment and sighed again. "When is Elena gonna come home?" she asked. "I miss her" she said sadly.
Zach hated answering questions he didn't have an answer to, especially when it was Lily who was asking. "I don't know, Lily" he said, sighing himself. "A lot of people are looking for her right now though" he said, giving her an encouraging smile.
"Okay" she said quietly. "I'm gonna go see if Caroline will play Go Fish with me" she said, wiggling out of Zach's arms.
Zach let her go and watched her run off. He checked his phone and saw that he had no new messages or missed calls. The search for Elena must not have been going very well. He pocketed his phone and looked out the sliding glass door behind him to see Katherine on her third drink that morning, sitting in a lounging chair. She was staring out ahead of her.
Zach let himself outside and took the seat next to her. Katherine sighed, really in no mood for company. "If you're here to lecture me, don't" she said, taking another sip of her drink.
"Thought I might join you" Zach said instead. He could use a good stiff drink to ease the tension he had been feeling since Stefan had called him and told him Lily had gone missing.
Katherine looked at him to see if he was serious before handing him the bottle and a glass. He poured himself a glass before turning back to stare at whatever Katherine had been staring at. "I looked online for how long a person can survive without water" she said suddenly before taking another drink. "It said up to a week, if the conditions were right" she added. "It'll be almost four days for Elena here pretty soon" she mentioned, swirling her glass around and looking at the bottom of it.
"They'll find her" was all Zach said, though frankly, it had been on his mind too.
"You welcomed her so easily into this family" Katherine mentioned. "I practically had to prove myself to you people on a daily basis." She took another long drink. "I get it. She's almost perfect to a fault. And she treats Stefan better than I ever did" she added.
"Elena never wanted our approval" Zach said, taking a drink. "Although she went along with the marriage, she never wanted to lie to any of us. I welcomed her into the family because I knew she was exactly what Stefan needed."
"A perfect little wife?" Katherine asked. That was all she had tried to be for Damon and she had failed miserably.
"No" Zach smiled. "Someone who challenged him" he answered. "She's a good person" Zach said. "It's not that I never liked you, Katherine. I question your behaviors, but I think you're a good person too. When you let us all see that in you" he said, finishing his drink and standing up.
"Stefan's going to hate me for the rest of my life if Elena doesn't come home" Katherine said quietly. He would blame her for Elena running off to save Lily when Lily shouldn't have been taken in the first place.
Zach nodded. "Maybe" he answered. "But I think he'll hate himself more." With that, he went back inside, intent on watching Lily and Caroline play their card game.
Katherine leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. She didn't want Stefan to hate anyone. As much as she didn't like Elena most days, she wanted nothing more than for Elena to be okay. For Stefan's sake. For Lily's sake. For the whole family's sake.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Alaric checked the front door of one of his houses he was in charge of searching. It was locked. He checked the windows. All boarded up. He went around the back and checked that door too. It was locked, but he gave it one good shove and the hinges creaked and cracked until the door fell open enough for him to slide through.
Alaric walked inside and took notice of how everything appeared to be intact. There were cobwebs and a lot of dust, but the house was left exactly how it had been. A coffee table, chairs, and a rug all decorated the living area.
Alaric moved through the kitchen next, checking the pantry. He moved through the rest of the house fairly quickly, like he had done all the other houses. He checked bedrooms and closets. He checked basements and laundry rooms too. As he went down the stairs in the house he was in, he turned on his flashlight and walked to the end of the hallway.
He checked the door, giggling the handle, and saw that it was locked. There was a large chain reinforcing that lock. Whoever had lived there probably had something in there they didn't want taken.
He turned around and walked back upstairs, preparing to go to the next house.
He stopped abruptly when he reached the top of the stairs. Suddenly, his heart felt heavy as it beat rapidly against his chest. "Elena" he whispered. He turned around and went back down quick as lightening. He banged on the door. "Elena?" he asked. "Elena, are you in there?" he yelled, banging on the door again. Silence. It was probably nothing. She probably wasn't in there, but something was telling him to check anyway. To make sure.
Alaric grabbed a wrench off a nearby shelf and hit it against the lock a few times until he could push the door open some, as far as it would go until it met the resistance of the chain. The door was open about four inches as he did his best to scan the room.
Then he saw it. A shoe.
A pair of blue jeans.
A head of brown hair.
"Elena!"