~*Three*~

Disturbing Behavior

It's about twenty minutes later when we reach Isobel's house. It's been decided that we eat out on their expensive terrace in the backyard by the pool. It's a beautiful day out.

Mason's still in my head as I sit down at the table. That was a close call. I haven't seen him since I left campus, and I didn't plan on seeing him again. I had made that every clear.

"So, when did you two meet?" Grayson's voice pulls me out of my thoughts.

"Well, during college," Katherine smiles. "We both studied Business,"

Grayson nods. "Oh, right. You two went to the same school together."

"Duke," Katherine says, pride dripping from her words.

"I'm going to go to the bathroom," I excuse myself as I stand up.

"Kat, why don't you show her the bathroom?" Isobel says, and Kat groans.

"I'll do it," Damon sighs as he stands up. I'm suddenly wishing I hadn't said anything.

"Thank you." I tell him when I follow him into the house.

"So, you two live here?" I ask him as he leads me down a hall.

"Yeah, until we can find a house of our own." Damon says. "I'm from North Carolina, so I don't live here. I do have family in Virginia, however, I'm not really close with them," Damon says.

"Oh," I nod, not knowing what to say.

We turn a corner down another hallway, and Damon gestures to a door. "Here you go," he says softly.

"Thank you," I nod as I open the door.

"Can you find your way back?" He asks, and I nod.

"I'm sure I can do the task well," I giggle. Damon smiles. God, he has a beautiful smile.

"Alright," He says and sets off the way we came.

I shut the door behind me.

After five minutes, I sit back down in my chair. No one seems to notice that I've returned. Kat and Damon are discussing their housing plans, and Dad and Jer are talking sports. Not my thing. Isobel's gone, I notice.

"Where's Isobel?" I ask, and the conversation ceases as four heads turn to me.

"Oh, you're back," Jeremy says nonchalantly.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," I reply haughtily.

"Oh, Elena, you're back." I look up. Isobel's wandering from inside. "Great."

"So, shall we continue?" Grayson asks, and we all dig in again.

It's been about an hour since we've arrived back home. After receiving a call from the eyeglasses store, we stopped by to grab my replacement contacts. Grayson went to the grocery, and I'm lounging in the hammock out back, wearing nothing but a tank top and shorts. My iPod is plugged in beside me. Ellie Goulding's "I Need Your Love" soothes me as I read Peoplemagazine. Honestly, I have no idea why I even read magazines. It's mostly just rumors, but I have nothing else to do.

A nudge at my feet startles me, and I jump in my seat.

I pull out one of my earbuds as I look up. Jeremy's standing over me.

"God, you scared me," I struggle to calm my breathing down. "Don't do that, Jer,"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm heading out. Can you tell Grayson when he gets back?" he asks.

I nod as I pop my earbud back in. "Sure. Have fun, Jer,"

I sigh as I hear the front door shut. I'm officially home alone, and I have nothing to do.

I hear my phone chime, and when I reach down, my nerves overwhelm me, and I check the new message.

Bonnie B: Can you come down to my office?

I honestly forgot about that. I've been so preoccupied today. I breathe a sigh of relief. I pull out my earbuds and open a new message to reply.

Sorry. Been busy today. I'm on my way.

As I gather my stuff into my bag beside me, I hear a chime. I glance at my phone.

Bonnie B: Did you tell Kat?

I send a reply as I walk into the house and grab my keys.

I'm heading over there now. I won't be long.

I'm sitting in my car, parked outside of Kat's in my silver Hyundai Elantra. Bonnie's right. It's about time that I go to Katherine and tell her about our parents. I have no idea how I'm going to do that.

I climb out of my car and walk across the lawn at the mansion. I knock on the wooden door, and suddenly, it creaks open.

Who doesn't lock their door? Let alone in a neighborhood like this one?

I slowly step inside and as I do, I hear water running. Kat must be in the shower.

I make my way into the living room, looking around for anyone, even Isobel. As I sit down at the grand piano, I trace my fingers across the keys. I haven't played one since my parents died. Mom taught me how, and it was just another reminder that they were gone. Her favorite song was "River Flows in You. It used to be mine as well, until everything. Now, I usually prefer "Claire De Lune". I vaguely hear the water stop as I press the first key of "Claire De Lune" softly.

"Kat?"

My fingers slide across the wrong keys as I hear a voice. I turn around quickly, startled.

Damon stands in front of me, shirtless. Drops of water slide down his chest, and I swallow from embarrassment.

"Elena," I correct, scrambling to get up from the piano bench. "I-I was just looking for Katherine," I mumble as Damon comes closer.

"Where are your glasses?" he frowns.

"I stopped and got replacement contacts." I say. "I-I lost my original pair at school,"

"Oh," he frowns. "Well, about Kat, I don't know where she is. I thought that you were her," he shrugs.

I nod, crossing my arms over my chest. "Do you know when she'll be back?" I ask.

"If I don't know where she is, do you think I'd know when she'd be back?" he deadpans, and I swallow from embarrassment.

"Hey," he says softly, and I look up at him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you," he apologizes. Why? It's not a big deal. I'm not crying or anything.

"It's fine," I mutter. "You didn't." I feel Damon's intense gaze on me, and I swallow. I need to leave, now.

"I-I should go." I stutter as I walk past him toward the door. Damon waves lazily and when I step onto the platform by the door, I turn back to Damon.

"Could you have Kat call me when she gets back?"

He nods, his expression confused as he follows me to the door.

"Bye," I mutter as I walk out of the house, Damon closing it behind me.

Florence + The Machine's "Cosmic Love" is playing on my CD player. I inch down on the brakes as I approach a red light. My phone rings, and I reach down to answer it.

"I'm on my way," I say, knowing full well that it's Bonnie.

"Kat?" She asks.

"She wasn't home," I say, trying not to remember Damon shirtless.

"Alright," she says, and we hang up.

Just as some sappy Taylor Swift song comes on, I jam the stop button off. For some reason, "You Belong With Me" is not good to listen to, with my thoughts of Damon still lurking. I crank the volume as Icona Pop's "I Love it" blasts the speakers. I toss my phone as well as my inappropriate thoughts onto the passenger seat and when someone from behind me honks, I look up. The light has changed from red to green, and I press my foot on the accelerator as I enter the highway.

I wander the halls, searching for Bonnie's office. I've not been to her office since she's gotten her job, and I look lost. Part of me hopes that someone stops me and tries to help me.

"Excuse me, miss," A voice from behind stops me. "But you're not supposed to be back here,"

Crap. I turn around. Some raven-haired woman wearing an elegant blazer and skirt narrows her eyes at me.

"Oh, sorry, I'm just looking-"

"It's alright, Alice," Bonnie's voice says, and I turn to see Bonnie standing at a desk to my right.

"Sorry, I'll be careful next time." I tell her as I walk into Bonnie's office. Bonnie walks around her desk and closes her door.

"She's annoying," Bonnie sighs as she walks back to her desk and sits down.

"She's just doing her job," I shrug. "So, what did you find?" I ask.

"Well, I tried, but I couldn't find the source of the email. It's really tricky, and I don't have access to the stuff that could help me do that." She smiles apologetically.

I sigh. "That's fine," I tell her.

"However, this video," Bonnie says warily as she pulls up the video. "There's something that I caught that's a little disturbing." she says, and I frown as she points to the monitor.

"What is it?" I ask, squinting for any little detail.

"Look at this," Bonnie says as she presses a few buttons. The usual shot of my mom and dad pops up. They're sitting at the dock, laughing as they sit together on the edge.

"What's wrong?" I ask. "I don't see anything."

"Look at your mother's left hand, wrapped around your dad." she says, and I blink to get a better view.

Oh, my god.

There's no wedding ring.

I notice on her left arm as well that there's no anniversary bracelet that my dad gave to her.

"My mom's not wearing her wedding ring," I gasp.

"And look at the next clip," she says as she pulls up the next clip.

"Wait, there's another clip?" I gasp. How did that miss me?

"Yes," Bonnie nods. "It must've cut off during the download to your laptop."

I lean in further to the screen as a new clip comes. Mom and dad are out in the lake swimming. A canoe leaning against the house catches my eye.

Wait, Canoe?

"I've never seen that canoe in my life," I swallow. "I mean, my dad, he mentioned that he used to have one, but I've never seen it."

I'm suddenly staring at my email as Bonnie exits the media player. I sit back in my seat, confused as several questions pop into my head. I thought that that was footage from one of our family trips to the lake house.

"Do you know what this means?" Bonnie asks softly.

"My parents were being watched before they were married." I say breathlessly.

"Why would someone be taking private footage of my parents, before they were married, let alone send it to me?" I wonder aloud.

Bonnie shakes her head. "I think that whoever sent you this video is someone completely different than the person who shot the film. It doesn't make sense why someone who was watching your parents would suddenly turn around and practically turn themselves in by sending this to you," she explains.

I nod. "Thank you, Bonnie." I tell her as I suddenly stand up.

"Wait, you're leaving?" She asks.

I nod. "I need some time to process what this all means," I admit.

Bonnie nods in understanding. "Alright. Let me know if you need my help,"

"I will," I reply as I walk out of her office.

It's around eight-thirty at night. I'm sitting alone in my room, staring at the wall. My head is on overload. I can't stop thinking about that video. Someone was watching my parents, spying on them. And I have no idea when this was. They weren't married, so that means that Jer, Kat and I weren't even born yet. I'm at a loss. I have no idea what to do. I have no idea how I can find out who this person is.

I hear the doorbell ring. Grayson will get it.

About thirty seconds later, the doorbell rings again.

He must still be out. And Jer's out, so no one is here but me.

Sighing, I hop out of bed and walk down the carpeted stairs.

I yawn as I whisk the door open.

"Elena,"

At the sound of his voice, I look up. Damon's standing at my door. I'm completely humiliated when I remember our encounter earlier.

"Damon?" I ask, turning to face him. "H-How did you know where I lived?" I ask.

"Isobel told me." he snaps.

"What's wrong?" I ask, frowning.

"I haven't seen Kat all day, and she's not returning my calls or messages," he says.

"Well, have you called the police?" I suggest, and when Damon shoots me a look, I regret the suggestion.

"Sorry, I'm just worried." He says. "There's nothing that they could do until twenty-four hours pass without seeing or hearing from her."

"Oh, well, do you want some help?" I ask.

Damon nods. "I was hoping that you'd say that."

"Alright," I reply. "I'll be out in a minute. I need to change."

I'm standing in my pajamas, shorts and a tank top. It's a little chilly outside as well. Plus, I have no idea how long we're going to be gone.

"Okay," Damon nods and he walks back to his car as I shut the door.

Oh, god. Kat's missing. What now? Where could she possibly be?

Deciding that answers will only come if I hurry and go help him look for her, I run upstairs and change.

After I leave a note for Grayson and Jer, I make my way out to a baby blue retro-looking car, the headlights reflecting off of the garage door.

"Sorry," I tell Damon as I open the door and hop in, shutting the door behind me.

"It's fine," he says as he pulls out of the driveway.

"So, you haven't heard anything from her?"I ask him softly. Damon shakes his head as he continues to stare at the road ahead.

"I haven't made any communication or laid eyes on her since around ten this morning," he says.

"We'll find her," I say, and Damon looks at me. His blue eyes are shining with confusion.

Why would he be confused?

"What?" I ask, frowning.

"Nothing," He shakes his head as he presses down onto the accelerator.

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Soundtrack that inspired/mentioned in this chapter:

Theme Song: Bad Things ~ Meiko

I Need Your Love~ Ellie Goulding/Calvin Harris

River Flows In You~ Yiruma

Claire De Lune~ Debussy

Cosmic Love~ Florence + the Machine

You Belong With Me~ Taylor Swift

I Love It~ Icona Pop

Animal (Billboard Remix) ~ Ke$ha