The party of the year had been going on for three hours now. The Radkova witch was honestly surprised by how much fun she had been having. Emily felt like a normal teenager, not a witch, for once in her life as she danced and drank with her fellow classmates.
It felt nice for Emily to not have to constantly check over her shoulder for the next bad guy after her and her loved ones.
Emily had been dancing with Jason Blossom for the past fifteen minutes before they fell back on the leather couch with a huff. "You sure do have a lot of stamina," the red headed teenager joked as he tried to catch his breath after dancing to five whole songs without a single break in between.
The Radkova witch let out a giggle before she lightly shrugged her shoulders. "I guess it never went away after my cheerleading days," Emily stated.
Emily couldn't exactly say that she built her stamina from constantly running from vampires and werewolves but the cheerleading thing wasn't exactly a lie. The Radkova witch was sure cheerleading was part of the reason.
Jason slowly moved his blue eyes down the length of the Gilbert girl's emerald dress that exposed her thighs perfectly. "It definitely shows," the Blossom teenager flirted with a tiny smirk playing on his lips.
The Radkova witch immediately turned red as she choked on her saliva from Jason's flirting. Emily wasn't used to the Blossom teenager openly flirting with her. Emily figured it had to be from the shots of tequila that Jason took earlier.
Emily was thankfully saved from having to reply to Jason's flirtatious words when the Radkova witch suddenly heard Elena shouting out her name over the music. Emily glanced around the party before she spotted a very looking Elena standing at the edge of the living room. The Radkova witch was instantly on red alert from her sister's expression as Emily knew something must have happened.
Emily turned her gaze back onto the Blossom teenager beside her on the leather couch. "Hey, I'm going to see what Elena needs," the Radkova witch told the human boy as she lightly placed her hand on Jason's knee before she promised, "I'll be back in a few minutes."
Jason silently nodded his head in understanding after he noticed the younger Gilbert sister looking their way. The Blossom teenager looked back at Emily with a wide grin as he asked, "another dance when you get back?"
Emily lightly chuckled before she agreed as she teased, "get ready to get schooled again." The Radkova witch shot Jason a playful smirk before she stood up from the couch and quickly headed to the edge of the living room to join Elena.
"Hey, is everything okay?" Emily worriedly asked her twin sister as she softy touched Elena's lower arm.
The Gilbert girl nibbled on her bottom lip for a few seconds before Elena mumbled, "I'm not sure."
Emily knew it was serious, so she grasped the human girl's hand before she pulled Elena in a quiet corner by the front door. "What's going on?" Emily gently asked once she faced her twin sister before the Radkova witch ordered, "talk me through it."
Elena took a large deep breath to calm her worries down enough to get her mind in order. "Were you there when Jenna said she had to leave?" The Gilbert girl asked her twin.
Emily silently nodded her head with her brows lightly furrowed from where her sister was going with this conversation. "Yeah," the Radkova witch mumbled before she recalled, "Jenna made Damon take her to pick up Andie while Alaric stayed here to watch over the party."
"That's the thing, though," the Gilbert girl mumbled before she informed her twin, "That was over two hours ago." Elena anxiously ran her fingers through as she quickly rambled, "I've been calling all three of them for the past hour now but no one is picking up and I'm getting worried about them."
"Shh shh," the Radkova witch softly murmured as she could see how worked up Elena was getting. "It's okay," Emily whispered as she tried to keep her sister calm.
Emily didn't want her twin to be worried, especially on their birthday, so the Gilbert girl took a few seconds to think about what she could do to help. Emily's green eyes soon widened when she thought of the perfect solution. "I can do a location spell on Damon if you want," the Radkova witch suggested, "at least then we can know where he is."
Elena quietly nodded her head before she mumbled, "I think that would help."
Emily shot her twin a soft smile before she murmured, "okay, we can do that." The Radkova witch linked her finger through Elena's digits before Emily led her sister upstairs.
"I just need to grab something of Damon's then we can begin the spell," the Radkova witch explained to her twin sister as she led Elena towards Damon's bedroom at the end of the hall.
Emily opened the large wooden door with a heavy push with her free hand. The Radkova witch was immediately on high alert when they walked through the bedroom and Emily heard some strange noises coming from somewhere in the room.
The Radkova witch tightly held Elena's hand while she protectively hid the human girl behind her back as Emily slowly walked towards the sound. Emily immediately let out a sigh of relief when she walked towards Damon's bathroom and found the Forbes vampire drinking from a blood bag.
Caroline shyly waved her half full blood bag at the Gilbert twins. "Sorry," the Forbes vampire apologized with a giggle before she uttered, "I needed somewhere quiet to feed."
Emily lightly waved her hand to brush off the vampire's apology. "It's okay," the Radkova witch assured her best friend before she stated, "no one has been up here all night, so you're good."
Emily shot the Forbes vampire a reassuring smile before Emily focused back onto her anxious twin. The Radkova witch slowly led Elena over to Damon's king sized bed. "Take a seat," Emily murmured as she guided her sister to sit down on the edge of the bed.
"Is everything okay?" The Forbes vampire worriedly asked as she walked further into Damon's bedroom and out of the bathroom. Caroline could definitely tell something was wrong by how concerned Emily was being towards the younger Gilbert twin.
"Damon and Jenna disappeared hours ago and we can't get ahold of either of them," Emily quickly explained to the Forbes vampire as she pulled the top half of her brunette hair into a bun. It was just something Emily had began doing since becoming a witch. Emily despised having her hair in her face when she was trying to focus.
"They still aren't back yet?" Caroline inquired before she expressively threw her hands in the air with a loud groan. "Damon knew we had a schedule to keep up with tonight!" The Forbes vampire whined. Caroline glanced over to the black clock on the wall before her blue eyes widened as she exclaimed, "we are supposed to cut the cake in less than twenty minutes!"
"I think cake is out is out of the question right now, Care," the Radkova witch mumbled as she glanced around Damon's bedroom for something personal that she could use for the spell. Emily didn't care about her and Elena's birthday anymore, so cake and presents were on the back burner of Emily's mind when two of her loved ones were missing.
Instead, Emily focused all of her attention on finding Damon's signature leather jacket for the location spell. The Radkova witch knew it had be here somewhere. Emily was so sure that the Salvatore vampire wasn't wearing the leather jacket tonight.
Caroline looked at her best friend like she had gone completely insane. "What?" The Forbes vampire gasped before she exclaimed, "you can't miss out on birthday cake, either of you!"
Caroline quickly shook her head before she rambled, "you have to make a wish! Your birthday is like a new opportunity to move on from the past and become a newer and better version of yourself!"
Emily quickly turned to look at the Forbes vampire with a mixture of confusion and disgust on her face from Caroline's words. "Move on?" The Radkova witch repeated before she asked with a humorless chuckle, "you really expect me to move on?"
"Emmie, that isn't what I meant," Caroline quickly backtracked as her blue eyes widened. The Forbes vampire shook her head as she stated, "that came out so wrong."
"There is no moving on from this life," the Radkova witch muttered as if she didn't even hear Caroline's apology. Emily, of course, knew that the Forbes vampire wasn't saying those things to aim them directly at her but Emily still took them to heart.
No one will ever understand how much Emily wished she could walk away from this life. The Radkova witch wished she could pack everything up and hide out in the middle of nowhere but it wasn't possible. Emily knew she was always going to be right in the center of it all with her being the only Radkova witch.
Moving on was not an option for Emily no matter what she did. The only thing Emily could do was to keep fighting and pushing forward while trying to keep everyone safe along the way.
"I know that but you should still get to be happy and blow out your candles!" The Forbes vampire exclaimed as she tried to get Emily to see the best in this crappy situation that is their lives as supernatural beings. Caroline shot the Radkova witch a soft smile before she added, "you know Stefan would want you to be happy."
Emily really tried to hold in her frustration but that statement about her boyfriend just angered something inside of her. "That's the thing," the Radkova witch muttered before she sarcastically huffed, "we don't know what Stefan wants since he's not here!"
Emily quickly turned around when the Forbes vampire stared at her surprise. Emily knew she had made a mistake when those words came from her mouth but she couldn't help it. The Radkova witch was just too anxious and worried about Damon and Bonnie that she took Caroline's words too personal.
Emily turned around and faced her best friend with a soft expression taking over the hard exterior that she had since their conversation began. "Look, I'm sorry for blowing up on you," the Radkova witch apologized to Caroline.
Emily briefly glanced over to her twin before she told the Forbes vampire, "we really need to find Damon right now, so you can either help us or go back to the party." The Radkova witch didn't even give Caroline a second look before she went back to searching for Damon's leather jacket.
Emily would usually be kinder and make sure her best friend was okay but that would have to wait for later. They had two people missing and that was the only thing Emily cared about right now.
Caroline watched her best friend move around the vampire's bedroom with a deep frown on her face. Caroline really did regret what she had told Emily. The Forbes vampire didn't mean to say for Emily to move on from Stefan. She just meant that the Gilbert twins deserved to let go of the pain and be happy again.
Caroline didn't blame the Radkova witch for her anger. The Forbes vampire knew how stressed Emily had been ever since the beginning of summer. Caroline could only imagine how the Gilbert girl was feeling when her boyfriend was trapped with the dangerous hybrid.
Caroline didn't want to be reason for the Radkova witch's negative mood to be even worse, so the Forbes vampire decided that she would help. Caroline figured that way, she could make up for what she had said.
The Forbes vampire silently watched Emily throw clothing and books around Damon's room for a few minutes with a look of confusion on her face. "What are you looking for?" Caroline inquired with her brows pulled together.
"His stupid jacket," the Radkova witch muttered with annoyance in her voice from not being able to locate the item that she needed for the spell. It was driving Emily insane that she couldn't find the leather jacket.
"It might be in the closet," Elena called out from her boyfriend's bed. "I think I put it in there last night," the human girl mumbled.
"I'll look!" The Forbes vampire immediately exclaimed to jump in and do something useful. Caroline walked over to the closet before she opened the door to look for the leather jacket.
However, Caroline's mind completely forgot about the piece of clothing when she saw a large board on the back of the closet door that looked very similar to something Caroline's mother would use for work at the police station.
"Uh, guys, I think you might want to see this," the Forbes vampire called out to the Gilbert twins. Caroline wasn't exactly sure what she was looking at but after noticing Klaus' name written on the board, she knew it had to be important.
Emily and Elena glanced at one another in confusion before the human and the witch walked together to join the Forbes vampire to see what she found.
Emily pushed open the closet door all the way before the Radkova witch's green eyes widened when she saw what was covering Damon's door. It was a scrap of cardboard with the US map pinned to it with sticky notes and newspaper clippings all around.
"You got to be kidding me," Emily growled once she realized what this board meant.
Caroline glanced over to her best friend with confusion in her blue eyes. "What is it?" The Forbes vampire curiously inquired.
"He lied," Emily snarled through gritted teeth. "Damon has been tracking Klaus on his own when he promised he would tell me when he found anything!" The Radkova witch explained to Caroline while she tried to control her anger.
Emily was honestly so tired of being burnt by the Salvatore vampire. The Gilbert girl gave Damon a second chance after he killed Jeremy but here he was again, lying to her. Emily felt frustrated because Damon swore he would keep her in the loop when it came to Stefan and that they would work together to bring him home.
The Radkova witch swiftly turned her gaze onto her sister before she asked, "did you know about this?" If anyone knew what Damon was doing, it had to be Elena. They live in the same room together for Christ's sake!
Elena quickly shook her head before she received the end of her sister's anger. "Damon did say there was a couple of leads but he would tell that there was nothing there," the Gilbert girl recalled before a frown quickly took over her expression. "I should have looked into it myself," Elena guiltily mumbled.
"It's not your fault," Emily immediately told her sister when she noticed the guilt on Elena's face. "You couldn't have known," the Radkova witch uttered as she lightly squeezed her twin's hand to comfort the human girl.
Emily didn't blame her sister at all. Emily knew Elena would instantly tell her anything if she found any sort of lead about Stefan like Emily would do the same for her twin if their situations were reversed. The Gilbert girl figured Damon knew that as well and that was why he kept Elena in the dark, too.
The Radkova witch moved closer to Damon's detective board before she ripped a piece of newspaper clipping with a frustrated huff. "Human and wolf DNA discovered at Tennessee campsite," Emily read the headline.
Emily let out a sarcastic chuckle as she turned to look over at her sister. "He knew about the Memphis lead all along," the Radkova witch stated as she waved the article in the air before she muttered, "he only mentioned it because we knew about it."
Elena released a heavy sigh as she nodded her head in agreement with her twin sister. Elena was puzzled and hurt that her own boyfriend didn't tell her about this. The human girl just didn't understand why Damon would hide this from them.
Elena took a step forward towards the door before she pulled a small newspaper clipping from the board. "Here's another one," the Gilbert girl told her sister before she read the headline, "Man vanishes Friday night."
Elena quickly read the article to herself before she informed the witch and the vampire, "it says here that a guy named Trevor went to his girlfriend's car to grab her sweater but he never came back. The girlfriend found Trevor gone and her sweater lying in the parking lot."
"Is this all just from Klaus?" The Forbes vampire curiously inquired.
Emily pointed to the multiple sticky notes on the map that said the hybrid's name in Damon's handwriting. "It has to be," the Radkova witch mumbled. "These attacks all mention wolf DNA or even wolf sightings," Emily mentioned before she added, "it has to be Klaus."
"Why would Damon hide this from you guys?" Caroline asked in confusion, "shouldn't you guys be working together to bring Stefan back?"
"You would think," Emily muttered with annoyance and anger dripping all throughout her voice that was directed towards the Salvatore vampire.
Emily really did think that she, Elena, and Damon were a team all this time. She thought they were going to work together in finding Stefan but it seemed like the older Salvatore had a different plan behind her and Elena's backs.
"Emmie, look at this," Elena called out to her twin sister as she pointed her finger towards an article next to a sticky note that said Stefan's name.
The Radkova witch moved next to Elena to get a look at the article that her sister was looking at. Emily instantly furrowed her brows when she found Stefan's name instead of the hybrid's on the board.
Emily quickly grew concerned when she silently read the article that was describing a body being found in South Carolina at a drive-in. The Radkova witch felt sick to her stomach as she read how the body fell completely a part when the local CSI team tried to pick up the deceased male.
This article made Emily worry even more for her boyfriend. The Gilbert girl could only imagine the hell that Stefan was having to go through while trapped with the hybrid.
Emily honestly felt like crying from how worried she was for the younger Salvatore. It pained the Radkova witch to think that her boyfriend was in any sort of pain right now. Emily wanted to break down but one look to Elena, the Radkova witch knew she shouldn't. Emily knew she needed to be the strong one.
The Radkova witch took a shaky deep breath as she tried to get her mind to focus on getting answers instead of worrying. Emily had to remind herself that her boyfriend is a vampire and he could look after himself.
Emily's main goal right now was to get answers from the Salvatore vampire, whenever Damon decided to show his face again. The Radkova witch wasn't going to let Damon slip by this time after finding out that he has been lying to her for months.
Emily was going to get her answers. She didn't care if she had to use her magic to get them out the Salvatore vampire. Emily was going to do whatever it took to finally know the truth about what Damon has been hiding from her.
