Disclaimer: I only own my OCs
A/N: Happy Diwali and New Year! Have some fun facts about the chapter. Fun fact number 1: this story is officially 10 years old today. Which is a really scary thought! Fun fact 2: this was the chapter were I was originally planning for Alexa and Damon to get together. So we have had 10 extra chapters of Dalexa goodness!
XXX
I was happily asleep when my sister shook me awake. I swatted her hands away a couple of times, keeping my eyes closed, determined to go back to sleep. But when she called my name in a desperate voice, I knew that I would have to actually wake up.
I sighed and opened my eyes, blinking at the bright light that filled my room. Damn, I must have forgotten to have closed my curtains when I snuck in last night. I had been out with Tyler, comforting him after Caroline wouldn't hear him out. And it was quite late when I made my way home.
I turned my head to the side to see Ellie sitting on the edge of my bed. She was still in her workout clothes, her skin shiny with sweat. But it was the fearful look in her eyes that had me sitting up. I reached out and grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze.
"Ellie, what's wrong?" I asked quickly, glancing over at my phone. There were no missed messages or calls, so there wasn't anything wrong with the gang. This was just something that affected my sister.
My twin hesitated for a moment, before blurting out, "I think Klaus is sending hybrids to stalk me."
Uh, say what?
I blinked and shook my head, "You think that you're being stalked by hybrids?"
Elena groaned, "I know it sounds stupid. But I just feel so paranoid all the time, and I just catch people staring at me. And they just give me a bad vibe."
"Hey," I gently hushed her. "I believe you. It's the sort of thing that Klaus would do. He loves playing mind games and he would send his little minions to keep an eye on you."
"I'm just scared to leave the house sometimes," my twin admitted in a whisper and my heart clenched in my chest. While Klaus might not have killed us yet, which was surprising considering we teamed up with his dad to take him out, he was still messing with us. I knew that I was paranoid when leaving the house and I wasn't even being stalked by hybrids. Well, that I knew of anyway.
"I know, Els," I tugged on the end of her ponytail. "We can either find you a bodyguard or you can just do what I do, and carry a stake with you everywhere you go."
My sister looked shocked, "You take a stake everywhere with you?"
"Well, kinda have to these days," I shrugged, ignoring her shock. "It's just common sense. The only time that I don't is when I'm going out with Damon. For obvious reasons."
"I didn't realise that you did that," Ellie mumbled to herself. I studied her face, seeing the worry etched into her skin, the wary look in her eyes and sighed.
"Look, if you want, I can go jogging with you," I offered, shrugging when my sister glanced over at me.
"But you don't like jogging with anyone," Elena frowned. "You won't even let Damon go with you."
"Yeah, that's true," I acknowledged before grabbing her hand and giving it a squeeze. "But I don't want you to stop doing it, just cos you don't feel safe."
My twin gave me a sweet smile, one that I hadn't seen in a while, not since Stefan left town, "Thank you, Lexa. I would like that."
"You're welcome," I smiled back, patting her head. "I'll show you my favourite routes and I can give you my running playlist too."
"Calm down," Elena laughed shaking her head. "How do you take a stake with you when jogging, anyway?"
"I borrowed one of the sleeves from Ric," I told her, opening the draw to my nightstand to show her. "I use that when its cold out. And when its warm, Damon found me a thigh holster."
"You are a lot more prepared than you used to be," my sister mused, looking impressed.
"Well, I started running again after my deaths. And going outside without protection made me feel sick, so they helped me find these things for my own peace of mind. It's only been recently that I've been taking them out everywhere with me. Something else to thank Klaus for," I rolled my eyes.
"I wish that it didn't have to be like this," Elena said quietly and I gently nudged her shoulder, getting her to make eye contact.
"I wish that too," I reassured her softly. "But this is our life now, and we just have to make the best of it. "Now, go shower." I prodded her with a cheeky smile. "You're all stinky and it's harshing my vibe."
Elena rolled her eyes at me and stood up. But I could tell that she was still overthinking everything. Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot that I could do about that. But I could keep an eye on her. I knew that she was planning on meeting Bonnie at the Grill. And I was due to meet Damon, who was going on a bit of a bender since Stefan's betrayal. But I could make dinner for the evening.
Speaking of Damon, I had distracted my boyfriend best that I could. But sometimes you just needed the numbing juice that was alcohol. And I couldn't begrudge him that. So I either drank with him, or I kept him company while he drank. If we were at the Boarding House, I would find other ways to entertain him, which normally just resulted in sex. But if we were at the Grill or somewhere else, I just kept him talking about other random stuff.
I glanced over at my phone to see Jack from Spanish class had texted me. He was asking if we could be study buddies again for the year. I sighed and placed my phone to the side. With all of the supernatural drama in our lives, I had been seriously neglecting my social life. I had gotten better over the summer, not that it could have been any worse. The time leading up to the sacrifice had royally fucked everything up. But I was still weary about dedicating time to people. I didn't want to let anyone down. But… I also couldn't live in a bubble.
With a determined nod, I picked up my phone and told Jack that we could be. The supernatural was a part of my life, but I refused to let it take over.
XXX
"Hey, Jer, can I borrow some oil, I need to grease up my stake sleeve and I can't find mine," I requested, walking into the kid's bedroom. He was at his computer, playing one of his games.
"Yeah sure," he nodded, not taking his eyes off the screen. "It's on the middle shelf."
"Cheers kiddo," I found the oil before sitting down on his bed, my sleeve in hand. Since Ric let me borrow it, I thought it was only right that I looked after it. Ric had shown me the ways that it might fail me, and had taught me how to keep it clean and maintained. So I was able to oil the release mechanism. "Hey, haven't you got work?"
Jeremy cleared his throat as he turned off his game. The kid turned to look at me, a shifty look on his face, "I'm not on shift today."
"Really? Cos I could have sworn that you normally work Sunday afternoons," I frowned, trying to remember if he had told me otherwise earlier in the week.
"Not this week," he shrugged, looking everything but casual. "I'm actually hanging out with Tyler today."
"Awww, my Ty," I laughed, returning my focus to the sleeve. "Tell him I say hi."
I concentrated on what I was doing, and so I missed the wary look on Jeremy's face. That should have clued me in that something was wrong. But I missed the sign. My brother had spent most of him time in his room ever since he broke up with Bonnie. Well, since she dumped his ass. I had checked in on him every now and then. But I mostly let him have his space. Jeremy knew that he could come to me if he needed to.
"Will do," Jer nodded. Sensing that something was wrong, I placed my sleeve to the side. Leaning forward, I rested a hand on the kid's knee, stopping it from bouncing.
"Jeremy, are you okay?" I asked seriously, keeping my gaze gentle. I knew not to push the kid by demanding answers, he had never responded well to that. But since it was me asking, someone who had had always had his back, he would hopefully let his guard down.
"I'm fine," the kid said immediately and I raised an eyebrow at him. I knew that he wasn't fine, but I wouldn't push him to tell me what was bothering him if he wasn't ready. He hesitated before sighing, "You'll probably find out something soon that doesn't paint me in the best light. Just… don't be mad at me when you do?"
"Oh kiddo," I reached up to rest a hand on his cheek. "I won't be mad at you, I promise. But I do wish that you would tell me what's bothering you."
"I don't want to put you in the position where you're in the middle of everything," Jeremy sighed softly. "That's not fair on you."
"Just know that I would happily be in the position if it meant looking after you."
"I've just… I've been having trouble with everything ever since… you know. And I screwed a lot of things up to the point where I don't know how to fix things. And I didn't want to bother you with it because you haven't been this happy in a long time. And I didn't want to ruin that."
"Oh Jer," I tugged him over so that he was sat next to me. I pulled my brother close, tucking his head under my chin. "I don't care how happy I am, I want you to come to me if stuff is bothering you. I don't care how much you feel like you've screwed things up, I've got your back."
"I just feel like I deserve it, for what I did. And that I don't deserve to be helped."
"Ah," I sighed and shook my head. "Jeremy, as someone who thinks like on a frequent basis, trust me when I say that that's stupid. You've acknowledged that you fucked up and you've apologised for that. Punishing yourself by ruining your life is not going to help anyone."
"But what if it's too late for me to fix it?"
"It's not to late, you're alive. Which in this town is a bloody miracle. Your family is still alive. We can help you fix whatever you've screwed up."
"You really think so?" my baby brother looked up at me with wide eyes and I nodded.
"I really do."
"Thanks Lexa."
"You're welcome kiddo. Now go have fun with Tyler. Tell him I say hi, and please don't get hurt this time. You don't have super healing like he does, so no doing anything stupid."
"I can't promise that," Jeremy gave me a cheeky smile and I rolled my eyes.
"You're lucky that I have access to that first aid kit still."
Jeremy laughed before leaving to go meet up with our friend. Ever since the whole Vicki thing had blown over, they had gone back to hanging out together. It helped for Tyler to have someone to hang with that was as reckless as he was. When they were together, they were literally 'boys will be boys'. The amount of stupid videos that they had sent me was unreal.
But hopefully hanging out with Tyler would help improve Jeremy's mood. I hated seeing him like this. Yeah, what he did was wrong and he knew that. But not even Bonnie, who near enough hated him right now, would want him to be ruining his life like he was. Besides, I could look out for and look after both parties. I wasn't taking sides; I was just looking after both of my loved ones.
I shook my head and sighed. Now that I knew that something was truly bothering my brother, I could help him through it. If it was as bad as he hinted, then he would need my support when the rest of the family found it. Elena wasn't in the best emotional position as it was, so there was a chance that she wouldn't react logically to Jeremy's screw ups.
XXX
The view when I got to the Grill shouldn't have surprised me as much as it did. I waved off Elena as she went to go see Bonnie before shaking my head and approaching my boyfriend.
Damon had amassed quite a collection of bottles at the bar. He had near enough every alcohol under the sin in front of him. Plus quite a few mixers. Damn, I knew that I should have gotten here earlier. Luckily he wasn't alone, as Ric was sitting next to him, grading papers.
"You planning on drinking the place dry, Day?" I asked, shaking my head in amusement as I stood behind him. My boyfriend turned around to smirk at me, his eyes immediately settling on my boobs. Well, that was my fault for wearing a slightly lower cut top that normal. But if it helped to make him feel better, then I would let my boy oogle as much as he wanted.
"I save you something," he held out a champagne flute, filled with orange liquid. "Mimosa?"
"I didn't even know that they had champagne here," I laughed, accepting the drink as I settled on the other barstool.
"Surprising, isn't it?" Damon agreed as I leant in to peck his lips. I saw the female bartender give me a dirty look and I narrowed my eyes at her. I indulged my jealousy and pulled Damon into a deeper kiss.
I didn't let go until Ric mumbled, "Oh stop it, you two."
"Ric seems like a bit of a killjoy today," I muttered and my vampire smirked.
"That's what I told him," he bopped my nose before wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "Come on Ric. Alexa's having a drink with me. So why don't you? I'll even give you a choice. Bloody Mary or Screwdriver. Brunch in a bottle." Damon took a shot of what smelt like tequila before sipping at a bottle of orange juice. I rolled my eyes as I sipped on my mimosa. One of us needed to stay sober and for once, it looked like it was going to be me. Ric rolled his eyes and sighed, making my vampire whine, "Come on Ric, I can't drink all this by myself. And you won't let Alexa get drunk. I mean, I could drink all of this by myself, but then somebody's getting naked."
I felt my cheeks flushing as my boyfriend winked at me. Damn him, why was he so cute? The little fiend. In order to appease him, I downed half my mimosa. I knew that it would be enough to get me drunk, or even close to it, so I could drink this one quickly with no issues.
"At least you know how to have fun," Damon nodded in approval as he held a shot glass to my lips. I rolled my eyes but downed it when prompted. Sambuca. Wow, it had been a while. Where had he even gotten sambuca from?
"I'm busy, Damon," Ric sighed, not looking up from the paper that he was reading. I went to peer over, to read the title of it. But Damon's exaggerated groan distracted me.
"It's the eve of Klaus-ageddon," he pointed out, making me snort at the pun. "And you're doing homework?"
"This may come as a shock," the history teacher rolled his eyes at the vampire. "But I'm not here to hang out with you. I'm here to see Jeremy. Who is an hour late for his shift."
I frowned as Damon mock-sighed, "Kids today. Where are their values?"
"He told me that he didn't have a shift today," I said slowly, a sinking feeling in my stomach. Was that what the kid meant when he said that he had screwed everything up?
Ric shot me a sympathetic look as he slid over the paper that he was reading. It was titled 'American History 201' and next to it, was a big fat 'F' circled in red. It was pretty damning. Jeremy had been doing so well at school, I really hoped that he was just screwing up Ric's class.
"That's his mid-term paper," the teacher shook his head. "Copied it straight off the internet. Didn't even try to hide it."
"Ohh, somebody's getting ground," Damon snickered and I rolled my eyes. I confiscated his drink just before I could reach his lips. Keeping eye contact with him, I downed the drink and immediately regretted it. Absinthe? What the fuck? Where had he managed to find that?
I ignoring my boyfriend's pout, I asked Ric, "Does Jenna know yet?"
"No," Ric replied. "I wanted to speak him Jeremy first, before I involved Jenna."
That was a kind thing to do. Speaking to Jeremy before setting his aunt on him could help. I knew that Jer didn't respond well to pressure. He never had done. His little weed phase had proven that. The more he was told to stop, the more he did it. You had to be careful when speaking to the kid.
"Did you say you were waiting for Jeremy?" the bartender interrupted before we could say anything else. "As in Jeremy Gilbert?"
"Yeah," Ric answered slowly, looking like he really didn't want her to say anything else.
"He was fired last week," the girl gave us a sympathetic smile before going to serve customers down the other end of the bar.
Well fuck.
Oh Jeremy. This was never going to go well for you. Why hadn't he told me? Was he ashamed? Was he worried? I could have helped him. And now the responsible members of the family were bound to find out any moment now. The kid was utterly fucked.
"Ooops," Damon whispered loudly as Ric turned to face my sister. My gaze followed his and I winced. This was not going to be pretty.
"If you tell Elena, I'll tell Jenna," I offered and Ric gave me a look. It screamed 'do you take me for a fool?'
"Absolutely not," he shook his head and I pouted.
XXX
Elena had reacted exactly how I thought she would. At first there was shock, then there was anger, quickly followed by disappointment. Bonnie had excused herself when Damon and I sat down at the table. She said that she had something to do, but I think she just wanted to avoid tipsy Damon. Not that I could blame her. He was a bit unbearable when tipsy, and he got handsy too.
Ric had quickly left the Grill to go home to Jenna. He definitely had the easier job. Despite Jenna being our guardian, Elena was the one who was more likely to overreact. It was the same with the whole weed thing. Elena got more involved while Jenna tried to take the more relaxed road. Of course, neither of them worked. I was the one who actually got Jeremy through it. And I would probably be the one to get him through this.
It was Damon who told my sister. He blurted it out when I couldn't quite find the right words to tell her. Of course, Elena didn't believe him at first. But once I confirmed that his words were true, my sister went on the warpath.
While my sister tried to track down my brother through phone calls, my vampire retreated to the dart board. His buzz had started to wear off, thank god. Although he was still acting way too cavalier for the situation. I didn't mind too much, as it helped me remain calm. But I knew that it would end up pissing off my sister. And then I would just draw her fire when I got in the middle of it all.
While Elena paced behind us, leaving multiple voicemails, I challenged Damon to a competition. Of course, he was more interested in 'teaching' me how to play. It was just a convenient excuse for him to wrap himself around me and nibble on my neck. I let him, enjoying the feel of his body against mine. The only time that I pushed him away was when Elena glanced over with a disapproving look. And that was only because I didn't want her ire to be drawn to me.
Honestly, my loved ones were so annoying at times. I went above and beyond for them, only to get stuck in the middle when one of them fucked up. I was just lucky that Jenna wasn't like that. It was only my idiot siblings. Who I loved far too much for my own health.
"Jeremy, the minute that you get this, call me!" she demanded, leaving her most recent voicemail. She turned around just as Damon got a bulls-eye. It was totally not fair. I was barely able to get a decent shot because a certain someone kept distracting me. "Unbelievable!"
"Ellie, you need to calm down," I sighed, nudging one of Damon's shots in her direction. He kept distracting me from winning, so I stole his drink. It was only fair. "Leaving Jeremy multiple pissy voicemails is not going to get him to call you back any quicker."
"I can't calm down, Alexa," my sister shook her head in frustration. "I'm worried. And you should be too."
"But why?" Damon scoffed behind us, and Elena gave the back of his head a dirty look. "He lost his job at the Grill. He can survive, Elena."
Ellie shook her head sharply, "He is spiralling. Ever since Bonnie broke up with him, he is moody. He is not really talking to anyone."
"He's just being a typical teenager," my vampire rolled his eyes, glancing over his shoulder at my sister before continuing to throw his darts.
"Who's seeing ghosts and has lost nearly everyone that he cares about," Elena countered and I rolled my eyes. My sister was getting too into her feelings. Damon was right, to an extent. Jeremy was just being a typical teenager and wasn't handling his emotions well. He had a lot of people left to look out for him, he wasn't alone while going through this.
"Ellie, he still has us and Jenna and Ric," I rested a hand on her shoulder. "Look, if it helps, he has realised that he's fucked up and is in bad position. He just didn't know how to get out of it. but we can support him now, yeah? But he won't let us if you keep pestering him."
"I just don't know what else to do," my sister admitted with a sigh. "He just makes me feel so powerless."
"That's the beauty of baby brothers. They're horrible little shits that make us want to express our feelings through murder. And they are supposed to make us feel powerless."
"Are you sure?" Ellie asked quietly, looking at me with worried eyes.
I gave her a teasing smile, "Ellie, between you and Jeremy, I am an expert on weird sibling behaviour that makes you want to tear your hair out. So trust me."
"Okay," she nodded before glancing over my shoulder. "Your boyfriend is turning into a day-drunk, by the way. Is he okay?"
"Eh," I glanced over at Damon as he went to collect his darts. "He won't admit it, but he could be better. I'm doing what I can, but most of the time it's just stopping him from burning down Stefan's room. And I only manage to get through to him because I remind him that if he burns down Stefan's room, then he's likely to burn down the entire Boarding House. And then where would he live? And his lovely room would be gone too."
"Stefan really screwed us over, didn't he?" my sister sighed, shaking her head. I grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze.
"Not gonna lie, he really did. But we'll get through this. We're still alive, Klaus hasn't killed us all yet. So keep your chin up, eh?"
Of course, because life hated me and wanted to fuck me over as many times as possible, the most unwelcome voice spoke from behind us.
"Don't mind me."
I closed my eyes and muttered as many curses under my breath as I could managed. This day was just getting worse and worse.
XXX
I turned around to face the smirking hybrid as my sister ground of his name. He was looking like he wanted to be as annoying as possible. It was almost as though my words had summoned him. And wasn't that just wonderful. (Sense the sarcasm).
"You gonna do this in the Grill?" Damon scoffed as he appeared next to me, resting his hand on my back. "In front of everyone? It's a little beneath you, don't you think?"
Klaus just smirked, attempting to look innocent but failing miserably, "I don't know what you are talking about. I just came down to my local pub to grab a drink with a mate."
"You have friends?" I scoffed as a guy walked up next to the Original. Unfortunately, my comment only served to amuse the hybrid as he glanced over at his friend.
"Get a round in, would you Tony?" he requested, before smiling broadly. I followed his gaze, only to see that he was looking at my sister. I frowned at the shocked look on her face as she watched Tony walk over to the bar.
I gently nudged her before mouthing, "Is that…?"
She immediately nodded and I narrowed my eyes at Tony. So he was the little bitch who had unnerved my sister so much this morning. He was lucky that we were in a public place, otherwise I would be kicking his ass.
In an attempt to draw Klaus' attention away from me and my sister, my lovely Damon sneered, "I'm surprised you stuck around town long enough for happy hour."
Klaus' smirk took on a hard edge, "My sister seems to be missing. Need to sort that out."
"Cute, blond bombshell, psycho?" my vampire shrugged, but his sharp eyes never left the hybrid. "Shouldn't be too hard to find."
I frowned at their words. Rebekah was missing? I knew that she hadn't turned up to Homecoming, but I had just assumed that she didn't want to watch her brother's death. But to hear that she was still missing, that worried me. I really hoped that Mikael hadn't done something to her.
"Truth is," Klaus remarked casually, brushing past us to pick up Damon's rejected darts. "I've grown to rather like your little town. Think I might fancy a home here. oh, I imagine you're wondering how does this affect you. The answer is: not in the slightest. As long as I get what I want and everyone behaves themselves, you can go on living your little lives however you choose. You have my word."
We were silent for a moment before my annoyingly reckless sister snapped, "What more could you possibly want?"
"Well, for starters," the hybrid stepped closer and I eased my sister behind me. "You can tell me where I might find Stefan."
"You're asking for the one thing that we can't give," I rolled my eyes as Damon nodded.
"Stefan skipped town the second he saved your ass."
"Well, you see that is a shame," Klaus shook his head before throwing the dart. It went through the board, sticking into the wall. Yikes, that was an impressive show of strength. "Your brother stole from me. I need him found so I can take back what's mine."
"Of course he did," I sighed, rolling my eyes. Way to go Stefan. Thanks for pissing off Klaus and setting him lose on us. That was really helpful of you.
"That sounds like a Klaus and Stefan problem," my sister scoffed from behind me. Klaus narrowed his eyes at her and I just couldn't stop myself. Any perceived threat to my sister had me on edge and that fact that it was Klaus was even worse. It just made me really mad. He had actually killed her once, while also tormenting her and trying to drain all of her blood from her. He had no right to get mad at her for anything, let alone mouthing off.
"She's right," I shrugged, drawing his attention away from my twin. "Why should we care? As far as I'm concerned, you can both go fuck yourselves."
The hybrid's smirk had a vicious edge as he approached me. But Damon stepped in front of me, blocking me from view. Klaus paused, rolling his eyes at my vampire's obvious protective gesture. But he did stop moving.
"Well, this is me broadening the scope, sweetheart," the Original remarked as his stalker friend rejoined us. I gave Tony a dirty look as he leered at my sister, pushing her further behind me. I got really bad vibes from Tony and it was uber tempting to stop my sister from ever leaving the house until the dick was dead.
I repeated his words mockingly, and I could feel my two companions rolls their eyes in despair, before adding, "Why should we trust a word that you say? I mean, you've been sending your creepy little hybrids to stalk my sister. So why should we believe you when you say that you'll leave us alone?"
Klaus looked at me with hard eyes, "All I want is a quiet life with my family."
"That's nice," I scoffed, crossing my arms. "I want that too. But I never seem to get it, so again, why should I believe you?"
"Because I could rip you apart if I wanted to," the hybrid growled, only his desire not to cause a scene stopping him from looming over me.
"And yet, you haven't yet, because you want me 'carry on the bloodline and make babies'," I finished in a mocking tone. I hadn't forgotten that, and I doubted that I ever would. It was creepy on a whole other level.
"Look, just leave us alone," Elena snapped from behind me, before I could say something else stupid. Because it really did look like Klaus was going to actually do something dangerous. "We don't know where Stefan is and we don't want to know."
"Oh, you will," Klaus promised darkly, stepping back. "You will."
XXX
After my reckless display at the Grill, Elena and Damon had quickly whisked me home. Even though my sister berated me for my foolish words, Damon just smirked proudly. He always got a kick out of it when I let rip like that. Especially if it was Klaus.
When we were home, my sister flounced inside while I said goodbye to my boyfriend. He was going back to the Boarding House, to start tracking down Stefan. If Klaus was after him, we would need to know where the younger Salvatore was. Because as mad as we were at him, we didn't want Klaus to kill him.
I would have gone with him, but my family were apparently setting up an intervention for Jeremy. And I knew that I would have to be there to support the little shit. Especially since Elena was not in a good mood. And someone had to be there to diffuse the inevitable explosion. So I kissed my boyfriend goodbye and reluctantly went inside.
I took over making dinner. For some reason, we always had Mexican when doing an intervention. It wasn't even planned that way. It was just weird. I put together my fajita marinade, bemoaning the fact that I didn't get a chance to do it earlier. It always tasted better if you made it in the morning. But there was nothing that I could do now. So I carried on with making the nachos, letting Jenna and Ric help while Elena set the table.
"So, you're ready?" Ric asked, glancing between us.
"How can anyone ever be ready for this?" Jenna sighed, shaking her head.
"Just try not to throw an apple at him this time," I snorted in amusement, getting a dirty look from my aunt. It was something that I hadn't let her live down. Much to her annoyance.
"Vampire, hybrids and Originals? No problem," my sister scoffed, shaking her head as she laid down some of the nicer placemats. "My rebellious brother? I'm worried."
"Proof that you're still human," Ric smirked lightly and I rolled my eyes.
"Y'all are so dramatic," I scoffed, shrugging at the dirty look that my sister gave me. "What? He isn't as bad as you're all making out to be. Yeah, he's made some stupid decisions, but he's acknowledged that. Well, he has to me anyway. You just need to be patient with him."
Before anyone could say anything else, the kid in question walked through the front door. He approached the kitchen and opened the fridge. I could see him eying up the apple pie that I had made yesterday and narrowed my eyes. He better not…
Before he could steal my pie, Elena spoke up, a false brightness to her voice, "Just in time! We're cooking."
"We're cooking?" I coughed, pouting when Jenna elbowed me.
"Sorry," Jeremy just shrugged, thankfully leaving my pie alone. "Just passing through."
"Ah, well," Ric cleared his throat and Jeremy rolled his eyes, pausing at the kitchen doorway. Yikes, the kid had a lot of attitude. He needed to calm down before he got shouted at. "We thought that we would all stay in, have a meal together, like a typical, atypical family."
Jer frowned, glancing between us all. I wondered if he could sense how much I did not want to be here. I would much rather have escaped back to the Boarding House. But someone had to be in the kid's corner.
"Why?" Jeremy asked suspiciously.
"Maybe because you got fired and you didn't tell anyone?" Elena replied sharply, crossing her arms. I winced. That was definitely not the way to go. It would only get his back up and make him even more stubborn.
Jer narrowed his eyes, "Look, can we do this later? I made plans with Tyler. He's right outside.
"No, wait," Ric used his teacher voice to stop Jeremy from going anywhere. "When did you start hanging out with Tyler Lockwood?"
"I've been hanging out with him for ages," the kid shrugged. "Not my fault that none of you noticed. Does it even matter? Alexa hangs out with him and I don't see you moaning at her about it."
I coughed to hide my snort at his words. That was a good point. One that the others didn't have a response to. But it was amusing watching them try to find one. Yikes, I was a really bad responsible family member, wasn't I?
"Yeah, Jeremy!" Elena snapped, before lowering her voice. "He was sired by Klaus. He's dangerous."
I noticed that she deliberately avoided the point about me. Which meant that it was definitely a win for Jeremy.
"He can still hear you," Jer rolled his eyes. "He is right outside. Besides, you of all people are gonna lecture me on who I can and can't hang out with?"
"Jeremy, drop the attitude," Jenna frowned, pointing at the kid. "Don't speak to your sister that way."
"Yeah, whatever, this is lame," Jeremy scoffed. "Tyler is waiting."
He tried to walk out of the kitchen, but Elena quickly dodged in front of him. She pushed the kid back, forcing him to sit down on one of the dining table chairs. Elena stood in front of him, arms crossed, "Oh no, no! You're not going anywhere, especially not with Tyler."
Jeremy sighed and glanced over at the adults for help.
Ric just shrugged, "I'm with her on this, Jer. Sorry."
"It's for your own good," Jenna agreed. "You've been taking too many risks and making stupid decisions. So you're going to stay in here where we can keep an eye on you."
"Alright, fine," Jeremy glared around the room. "You want me to stay in? Then you'll have to tie me to the chair. Because I'm not going to ditch Tyler that easily."
"Oh for," I rolled my eyes before raising my voice. "Tyler! The door's open!"
My family stared at me, aghast, as Ty opened the door and entered the house. He glanced around the room, taking in the tense atmosphere, looking as though he didn't really want to be here. But I gave him a stern look and pointed at the table.
"Alexa, what did you do?" Ellie stared at me in surprise and I shrugged.
"Tyler is my best friend. Of course he's been invited in. And he hasn't done any evil hybrid things yet, has he?"
XXX
The atmosphere grew even more tense as Jeremy got Tyler a glass of water. The hybrid was sat at the dining table, next to the seat that Elena had forced Jeremy in. I took a seat at the end of the table, my back to the back door. I could keep an eye on everyone there.
"Thanks," Tyler said quietly, glancing around the room. Everyone was silent, just staring at the hybrid in the room. I couldn't blame Ty for feeling awkward. He was normally greeted with warmth and food. Not suspicious stares.
"This is weird," Elena muttered, staring at Tyler with a hard look. "Klaus has hybrids stalking me and now you're just sitting in our kitchen."
"He isn't one of the pervy ones that has been following you around," I pointed out. "Tyler was only here to hang out with Jeremy. Because their friends. And he's my friend too. So get those silly thoughts out of your head."
I sighed. It was as though everyone was forgetting that Tyler had been our friend since childhood. This wasn't some random stranger. This was Tyler. We knew him and yeah, he was going through a change that we didn't fully understand, but it was no reason to reject him.
"Look, maybe I should go," Ty remarked warily, sensing the hostilities present in the room. And some of it was directed at him, even though he had done nothing wrong. I couldn't blame him for wanting to escape that.
"Oh, stay," Jeremy rolled his eyes. "You're not doing anything."
Despite the fact that I was the one who invited Tyler in, it was Jeremy who was enjoying the situation more than anyone. He was really determined to get under everyone's skin. I knew that it was his way of getting revenge for the intervention. I knew that he would react like this. They should have let me just talk to him alone.
It also had the unintended effect of distracting everyone from the intervention that was supposed to be taking place. Not that that was a bad thing. But I just wished that it wasn't at Tyler's expense. He had been through too much already; he didn't deserve this. Especially since he was still hurting from Caroline's rejection. I knew that this wasn't easy on both parties, but it was harder on Tyler. Caroline still had her friends. Tyler was losing far too many people
"Unless you have to, you know, check in with your hybrid master," Elena scoffed snidely, as the adults approached the table. Jenna sat down on the bench, opposite Jeremy. Ric took the other end seat, looking serious.
"It's not like that, Elena," Ty laughed, shaking his head. It was lucky that he wasn't taking offence to their attitude. Otherwise that would make things awkward for me.
"Tell me, Tyler," Ric asked, leaning forward on the table. "What is the difference between being sired and being compelled?"
The hybrid's forehead wrinkled as he tried to think of the best way to answer the question. He spoke slowly, "Compulsion… that's just mind control, like hypnosis. And being sired is… it's like faith. You do something because you believe it's the right thing."
It was interesting, listening to Tyler's answer. I knew that he didn't fully understand what it meant to be sired, and here he was, being forced to discuss it in a high-pressure environment. It was clear that the others present would just use his words against him. But I was ready for that. This sire thing had already alienated Ty from his girlfriend, I wouldn't let it hurt him any further.
"So you believe that serving Klaus is the right thing?" Ellie frowned, exchanging a glance with Ric.
"I don't service him," Ty immediately contradicted. "Klaus released me from a curse that was ruining my life. I owe him for that."
"What if he asked you to jump off a bridge?" Ric pushed.
Tyler shook his head, looking uncertain, "He wouldn't! and even if he did, I'd be fine. I'm a hybrid."
"Okay, so what if he asked you to rip your own heart out?" Elena countered and I rolled my eyes.
"Guys, back off," I leant forward in my seat. "Stop asking questions that Tyler is only guessing at. None of us know about this, so stop pushing it."
But my words were ignored.
Tyler stuttered out, "Again, he wouldn't."
"But what if he did?" Jenna joined in and I rolled my eyes. I was hoping that my sensible aunt would stay out of this. She was closer to Tyler than the other two, having spent a lot of time babysitting him with Mason.
"I don't know!" Tyler snapped. "Then I'd rip my heart out!" The others looked shocked by this and I sighed. This was not going to end well. "You guys sound like Caroline, getting all freaked out over something that you don't understand."
"You're right, Tyler," Elena nodded and I knew that she wasn't agreeing out of kindness. "I don't understand. Klaus has terrorize every single one of us and you're just blindly loyal to him."
"You're overthinking it," the hybrid shook his head, glancing over at me for help. "I can still make my own decisions."
"Perhaps we should all remember that Ty never chose this," I stood up, moving around to stand behind Tyler. I rested my hands on his shoulders as I looked around my family. "Klaus did this to him to punish us. So instead of punishing him for a psychological thing that he can't control and that we know nothing about, maybe we should be asking how do we stop Klaus from taking advantage of this sire bond? Because he will, and it won't be Tyler's fault when that happens."
Elena opened her mouth to argue but I narrowed my eyes at her, "It will not be Tyler's fault because he has no control over it. The same way that you have no control over being a doppelganger. This was forced upon him, and I'll be damned if it hurts him more than it already has."
XXX
There was silence while Jeremy disappeared further into the kitchen to answer a call. He spoke quietly while we all just avoided each other's gaze. It was incredibly awkward, but I stayed standing behind Tyler, my hands resting on his shoulders.
Eventually, Jer hung up the call and walked back over. He stood behind the chair, a slightly surprised look on his face.
"What was that about?" Ellie asked with a frown, drawing the kid from his thoughts.
"It was nothing," Jeremy shook his head before glancing around. I watched him with worried eyes. But Tyler giving my wrist a gentle squeeze distracted me from my brother.
"I've got to go," Tyler said, carefully standing up, making sure not to hit me with the chair. "Umm, thanks for the food offer, but…"
"Next time," Ric nodded, sounding completely insincere.
I just rolled my eyes; they were all being so rude. And I was incredibly disappointed in them. There was no excuse for their attitude towards Tyler. And if they did have issues, they shouldn't have said it to his face. Ty had been through a lot since he was turned, I wasn't going to let my own family be dicks to him.
"I'll call you later," I patted my adopted bro on the shoulder as I walked him to the door. I could see him glancing behind with worried eyes and sighed. Nothing about this had gone well, other than the fact that Jeremy's intervention never went ahead. Not that it should have anyways.
"That was illuminating," Ric remarked as I lingered by the doorway. While the rest of the family were gathered around the kitchen island, Jeremy stayed by the table. He had a strange, blank look on his face as he stared into space.
"So, Tyler Lockwood is a lunatic who has access to our house," my sister grumbled and I rolled my eyes, momentarily taking my attention off of my brother.
"He's always had access to it," I raised an eyebrow as the Elena glanced over. "The only difference is that now you know about it."
Elena shook her head at me before returning to the conversation. I went to interject when Jeremy brushed past me. I frowned and glanced back over at the others. None of them had noticed the kid's exit. But something felt weird, felt off. So I followed him.
I eased the door closed behind me as I watched Jeremy walk down the path, towards the road. But he didn't stop there, and walked right into the middle. My heart froze in my chest as he just stood there, waiting expectantly.
It was the harsh revving of an engine that jolted me from my shock. I couldn't see the vehicle yet, but I knew that I had to get Jeremy out of the road. There was a voice in the back of my head just screaming that something bad was about to happen. And I was not going to ignore by instincts.
I ran down the path and out of the corner of my eye, I could see a car screech around the corner. And Jeremy was still standing there. This wasn't right, the blank look on his face sent shivers down my spine. But I couldn't worry about that now.
Behind me, I could hear the others screaming Jeremy's name. But I ignored it. All of my energy was on getting my baby brother out of the way of the car. To get him to safety. I had never ran so fast in my life. And even then it wasn't fast enough.
I pushed Jeremy out of the way with strength that I didn't know that I had. He fell to the floor, his body on the path, out of danger. But there wasn't enough time for me to move too. I closed my eyes, waiting for the impact. But it didn't come as expected.
Hand shoved me forward, out of the way of the car. I landed heavily next to my brother. It took me a few seconds to realise what happened. My body was frozen in shock and it was the sound of Jenna's scream that jolted me out of it.
I spun around to see Ric's body on the ground. There were grazes and scrapes covering his skin. And his shirt was ripped in several places, blood oozing through the thin fabric. Had he pushed me out of the way? Had he just saved me from getting hit? Only to get hit himself?
Jenna and Ellie were by his body in an instant. Jenna carefully turned Ric over onto his back, her hands shaking. I saw something flash in the sun and my heart eased in my chest. He was wearing his ring. But what if the person driving the car wasn't a supernatural? Oh god, had Ric just died for good?
Luckily, before I could panic, a horrifically familiar voice sneered from the car, "There I go again. Bumping into people."
Fucking Tony.
That little hybrid dick was dead. I was definitely going to kill him. He had been tormenting my family and he was going to pay for that. But at least his presence meant that Ric had died a supernatural death. He would come back from this.
It wasn't until Jeremy moved that I realised that I was pressing him against my chest. I had done it without thinking. And it would take a lot for me to let him go. If I hadn't had been there, if Ric hadn't been there, then Jeremy would have been hit by the car. And I couldn't feel his ring on his hand.
"He's gonna be alright," my sister reassured Jenna before glancing over at Jeremy. "Are you alright?"
"I don't understand," Jer frowned, not even trying to fight my grip on him.
"Who was that on the phone earlier?" Ellie asked, her voice softening slightly at the worried look on the kid's face.
He thought deeply for a moment before gasping, "It was Klaus!"
"Shit," I groaned quietly, running my fingers through the kid's hair. "That explains. You were compelled, Jer." I glanced over at Ric's body before reluctantly letting my brother go. "We need to Ric inside. Jer, help Elena."
While my siblings carefully picked up Ric's body, I wrapped an arm around Jenna's shoulders. I could feel her body trembling slightly and sighed, squeezing her against me. It was clear that my aunt wasn't taking this well. And why should she? She had nearly seen Jeremy, and then me, get hit by a car. And then the man she loved was actually hit by it.
Life was so fucked up.
XXX
The first thing that I did when my family were indoors was call Damon. He picked up immediately, a worried tone in his voice. Turned out that Klaus had paid him a visit and this was one of his sick little games. I must have sounded horrible as Damon immediately reassured me and told me that he was coming over.
We waited in silence for my vampire to arrive.
Jenna sat next to Ric on the sofa, his head on her lap as she carefully ran her fingers through his hair. Elena paced back and forth, unable to keep still. I just sat next to Jeremy. He had slumped down in the chair, and I sat on the arm of it. The kid's head was pressed against my stomach. I was reluctant to let him out of my sight. Jeremy must have felt the same way as he squeezed my hand. I didn't know when he became aware of what he was doing, whether it was when I pushed him or when the car hit Ric. Either way, he would have witnessed something traumatic.
Everyone looked up when the door opened.
Damon walked in, his eyes immediately meeting mine. I gave a helpless shrug at his raised eyebrow. None of us were doing well. The only reason why I hadn't broken down over nearly getting hit and Ric actually getting hit was because I felt so numb. I knew that it would hit me later, once Ric was alive and Jeremy was less clingy.
"How is he?" my vampire asked once he had checked in on me. He walked around the sofa to Ric's body and crouched down next to it. Damon checked the ring before glancing up at Jenna.
"He's dead," my sister answered for her. "But he had his ring. Klaus' hybrid hit him." Elena sighed and shook her head. "Now we just wait."
"He compelled Jeremy to stand in the road," I said quietly, holding my brother closer. "He was supposed to get hit. I was able to push him out of the way, but I wasn't quick enough to move myself. Ric got hit saving me."
"Don't blame yourself for this," Damon immediately countered, getting up to walk over to me. He rested a hand on my shoulder. "Klaus did this." He glanced down at my brother and frowned, "Jeremy, why aren't you wearing vervain? Where is your bracelet?"
Jeremy paused for a moment before shaking his head, "I don't know."
"It was Tyler!" Elena immediately growled and I sighed. "It had to have been. That's why he was hanging out with you. To get you off the vervain."
"You don't know that, Elena," I narrowed my eyes at my twin. I could understand why she was throwing around accusations. We had nearly watched our brother get run over by a car. But she had no right to accuse Tyler without evidence. "Vampires are quite capable of snatching vervain from you without you realising. Why don't we take a deep breath before we do anything irrational?"
"It doesn't matter who it was," Damon interjected before Elena could say anything else. She had a real bee in her bonnet about Ty. And I just didn't know why. Was it girlfriend solidarity? Since Caroline had broken things off with him? "The key thing that we should take from this is that Klaus is trying to send us a message. He wants us to find Stefan, who stole his coffins full of his dead family members."
I wrinkled my nose. Klaus had been carting around his dead family in coffins? That was kind of disturbing. And now Stefan had stolen them. No wonder he was so desperate to get them back. Yikes this was messed up.
"Coffins?" Elena frowned, glancing over at me. I shrugged, knowing what she was thinking. Rebekah had mentioned nothing about coffins to me. And she would have known about them. I was assuming that her dick brother had kept her in one during those 90 years. A part of me wondered what he had used to carry around his family before coffins were properly used.
"Yep," Damon nodded as I leant my head against his arm. "So all we have to do is find four coffins and voila! No one else on your family's Christmas list needs to die."
"That sounds a lot simpler than it's actually going to be," I rolled my eyes and shook my head. With Stefan being a little bitch, he wasn't going to give up the coffins easily. Not that we were going to give him much of a choice. Until Klaus had them, he was going to target our loved ones. As much as I hated even thinking it, we had to give Klaus what he wanted.
"Wait, that's your big plan?" Jeremy scoffed, pushing himself to his feet. He ignored my grabby hands, eager to bring him back into my side, and looked around us all. "To steal back four dead Originals so this evil hybrid doesn't kill me and everyone else we know?"
"You got a better idea?" my vampire countered, raising an eyebrow as I stood up too.
"Yeah! Let's get the hell outta here!" the kid snapped, shaking his head. "Pack our bags and go!"
That was how you knew that this situation was really affecting our brother. Jeremy didn't run from anything. It was a habit that could be as annoying as it could be endearing. Seeing Ric die like that, knowing that he was the one who was supposed to get hit, it had definitely shaken him up. And now he was lashing out.
"Hey, Jeremy, calm down," Ellie said gently, keeping her tone soothing and quiet. But it didn't work. Well, it didn't work at all.
"No, no!" Jer shook his head and took a step back. "I'm not gonna calm down, Elena! This happens every time, no matter what we do! Get on my case about school and work, who care? None of us are gonna make it out of this town alive!"
With those chilling words snapped, Jeremy stormed out. I winced as the front door slammed. I didn't really want him to leave the house. But the kid needed space. It was clear that this had gotten to him and he just needed to take a breather. I would rather that he did it in the house, but I wasn't about to go chasing after him.
"He said he wants his family back," Ellie mused aloud, her voice trailing off. The meaning of her words clicked for Damon a second before they clicked for me.
"No, no!" my vampire snapped, pointing a finger at my sister. "I know what you're thinking and the answer is no!"
But Elena wasn't to be deterred, "If we give him Rebekah-"
Damon interrupted her before she could continue, "Yeah, then Klaus undaggers her, first thing she does is kill you! And maybe even Alexa too, since she'll inevitably do something like get in the way. frying pan, fire. Not an option!"
A part of me wondered why Rebekah would target Elena, and I almost didn't want to know why. But I filed away the information for me to mull over later. Because it was a bit too much for me to be thinking about.
"It has to be an option," I sighed as Elena went quiet, a thoughtful look on her face. Damon glanced down at me, an unhappy look on his face and I grabbed his hand. "Look, I can handle Rebekah. For some reason, she cares about what I think. Besides, we could play it that Klaus doesn't even want to undagger Rebekah. Let's not rule it out just yet."
My boyfriend went to argue but was interrupted by Elena asking, "Klaus' coffins, how many did you say there were?"
XXX
Apparently Bonnie had been dreaming about coffins. And it was the exact amount of coffins that we were trying to find. Elena went outside to call our friend to ask where the coffins had been in her dream.
I would have gone with her to ask, but my phone buzzed before I could offer. I pulled it out of my pocket to see Tyler's name on the screen. I waved my sister outside before I answered it. I didn't really want my sister to know who I was speaking to. I would have worried about Jenna too, but she was too focused on Ric to notice.
Damon had gone over to her, to reassure her. While Jenna had seen Ric dead before, it was a lot more different seeing him die. Especially like that. It was a brutal death. And I just couldn't get out of my head that I was supposed to get hit. It was my fault for not getting out of the way quick enough. He didn't need to take that hit for me. I was still wearing my ring. I would have been fine.
So after exchanging a look with my vampire, I retreated to the kitchen to answer the call. I knew that Damon would be able to hear me, maybe even Jenna, but it was the illusion of privacy.
"Please tell me that you didn't have anything to do with this," I sighed, pacing back and forth across the room.
I could practically hear the hybrid's wince down the phone, "I didn't think that anyone would get hurt."
"So you were involved. Did you get Jeremy off vervain?" I pinched the bridge of my nose, hoping to get rid of the impending headache. Not that it would work, but just delaying it would be a win.
Tyler hesitated before confirming, "Yes."
"For fucks sake, Tyler, I stuck my neck out for you. I argued with my family for you. Why didn't you tell me what he ordered you to do?"
"Because he gave me a choice. It was either you or Jeremy. So I chose to protect you."
My breath caught in my throat. The edges of my vision turned fuzzy and I realised that I wasn't breathing. I sunk to my knees, leaning back against the kitchen cabinets.
"Why did you choose me? You should have chosen to look after Jeremy. You knew that I would never have approved of your choice. Damnit Tyler!"
Tyler sounded almost desperate as he said, "I didn't think that he would hurt Jeremy. He said he just wanted to send a message. But with you… he's weird about you, Alexa. And I thought he would hurt you, or even kill you, to send that message. I didn't think he would do that with Jeremy."
"Oh Tyler, you should have spoken to me. I would have helped you."
"I'm sorry," my adopted brother whispered. "I never wanted anything bad to happen to anyone. Not because of me."
"I know you didn't," I sighed. "But I wouldn't come around here for a while. Seeing that happen to Ric… knowing that it was going to happen to Jeremy… it was horrible. And I honestly don't know what will happen next."
I deliberately didn't tell him that I was nearly hit. Tyler had made this difficult choice thinking that I would be safe. And I couldn't take that from him. Yeah, what he had done was stupid and horrible. But it wasn't his choice. He didn't want this to happen. And as much as I loved my brother, I just couldn't cut Tyler off for this. It would only drive him towards Klaus. And I refused to let the hybrid douche win like that.
"Do you hate me for what I did?"
"No, Ty, I don't hate you. I mean, I'm not happy about it, but I don't hate you for it."
I reassured him a bit more before we ended the call. I sighed and rested my head back against the cupboard behind me. This was so fucked up. And I hated Klaus even more than I did before. I might have felt sorry for him, since Stefan had stolen his family. But I refused to now. He had gone out of his way to try to kill my brother. It didn't escape me that Jer had been compelled to take his ring off. He would have died tonight. Not injured, died. All because Stefan was playing mind games with Klaus. Who was too much of a little bitch to take Stefan on himself. No, he had to get other people to do his dirty work instead.
I was distracted from my thoughts by Elena walking back into the house. I sighed before pushing myself to my feet. Best go find out what Bonnie told her. I met her and the others in the living room. Jenna was still sitting with Ric, but she looked a lot more relaxed than she did before.
Damon glanced at me as I approached and held out his hand. I gratefully took it and he tugged me close. It didn't take a genius to realise that he had probably heard most of my call with Tyler. It was hard, because I had stuck my neck out for Tyler, and now this had happened. I was in a tough position but I couldn't abandon Ty. Not over this. He had picked me, he had chosen to save me from being Klaus' 'message', and I couldn't thank him by ditching him.
"Bonnie knows where Stefan is," my sister revealed, standing close to Jenna. "She found him at the old witch house, after being drawn there by her dreams."
"The old witch house?" I frowned, glancing up at Damon. "Bit of a weird place for Stefan to be hiding."
"It makes sense," Ellie sighed and shrugged. "It's the one place that Klaus wouldn't think to look and if Stefan can get the witches on side, then they can help us."
"I was hoping that I would never have to go back there," I grumbled, remembering the last time that I had been at the witch house. The memory of seeing my twin's dead body would forever haunt me.
"You don't have to come," my sister offered quietly, looking at me with her big, brown eyes. But I just shook my head.
"Nah, someone needs to be there to kick Stefan's ass if he tries to be a little bitch."
XXX
The drive over was quiet, all of us caught up in our thoughts. Today really wasn't turning out how I expected it to. I thought I would just be looking after Damon while he turned into a day-drunk, before going home and distracting him from everything in a different way. But no, Klaus had to be a little dick and ruin everything.
"I thought Bonnie said that this place had lost all its mojo," my vampire remarked as we walked up to the house. He was still holding my hand, and I relished the comfort of his touch. While I was able to deal with these shitty situations a lot easier than I would have if it happened earlier in the year, it was still hard.
"The dead witches were angry at her for bringing Jeremy back to life," Ellie replied with a shrug, looking determined. Now that she knew where Stefan was, she was ready to give him a piece of her mind. "I guess now they have something they want her to know."
"I hate witches," Damon rolled his eyes as we entered the old building. "So fickle, passive-aggressive…"
"Stefan?" Elena called, as we looked around the old, dusty, dirty house. I really hated the fact that I was back in this building. It represented that horrible night of the sacrifice. I was stuck in here, unable to go and help my sister.
"Come on, Stef," Damon groaned when his brother remained absent. Whether the dick was actually here or not, we didn't know. But I wouldn't put it past him to just be avoiding us. "Olly olly oxen free."
I was about to shout something too, probably something insulting, when I heard sizzling behind me. I spun around to see my boyfriend's skin burning. He groaned in pain, stuck in the sunlight for a few seconds longer before speeding over to a shadowy corner. I rushed over to him, making sure to block any possible shards of sun with my body.
"Really?!" he snapped, glaring around the building. I reached out to rest my hand against his chest, watching his skin start to heal. "Still?!"
My heart thudded in my chest as I silently cursed the witches. They wanted to help, but each time they tried to hurt my vampire. They didn't do this to Stefan, and he could be just as bad as Damon. At least my vampire had kept the Bennet bloodline alive over the decades, keeping his promise to Emily Bennet.
"What?" Ellie frowned, pausing the hallway. I knew that she was itching to go and find Stefan. So I appreciate her taking a moment to check in on Damon.
"Witchy spirits aren't a big fan," Damon spat, glaring around, probably imagining that the witches were actually there. "And they use their juju to screw with my daylight ring!"
"Then wait outside," my sister shrugged, her determination taking over now that she knew that he was okay. Damon called after my sister as she turned and walked off. He couldn't follow her, since the witches would try and fuck with his ring again. But I could.
I turned around and cupped my boyfriend's face, "I'll go after her. You go wait outside." Damon opened his mouth to argue, but I rested a finger against his lips. "Hey, I'll be fine. I just… I can't leave her alone to face Stefan. And the stubborn idiot won't leave until she knows if he is here or not. Trust me?"
Damon sighed, leaning his head forward to rest his forehead against mine, "I trust you. But be careful, I don't trust these witches."
I gave him a small smile and a quick kiss before rushing after my sister. Behind me, I heard the familiar sound of Damon blurring out of the house. At least he was safe now. My main focus could be my sister.
I found her just before she started down the stairs to the basement. I hated basements, they were creepy and disgusting and bad shit normally happened in them. But of course, that would be the one place that Stefan was hiding.
Ellie glanced over at me as I joined her. I gave her a nod and she took a deep breath before carefully walking down the stairs. I followed her staying close to her back. The basement smelt musty and light poked through the cracks in the walls.
"Stefan?" my sister called quietly, glancing around. She walked further into the basement, the sun shining onto her hair. I held my breath as we waited for an answer. It came from behind us.
"Go away!" Stefan snapped, emerging from the shadows like some kind of deranged bat, causing Ellie to spin around with a gasp. "You shouldn't be here, Elena. Neither of you should."
My sister swallowed hard before staring him down with a narrowed gaze, "Stefan, we need your help. Bonnie said that you would be here."
I was content to let my sister handle this and just provide support for her. I rested my hand against her back, letting her know that I was here if she needed me.
"Well, Bonnie sucks at keeping secrets," Stefan scoffed, shaking his head.
"Listen," Ellie snapped before taking a deep breath. "You need to give Klaus his family back."
"Oh really?" the ass challenged, raising an eyebrow. "Is that what I need to do?"
I was so tempted to interfere and give the dick a piece of my mind. But I knew that it wouldn't help anything. And this was Ellie's battle to fight. He was her vampire; he would be more likely to listen to her.
"Klaus compelled Jeremy to stand in front of a speeding car without his ring," my sister frowned, reaching out for my hand. "Don't you get it? Stefan, he's not gonna stop until he gets what he wants."
Stefan narrowed his eyes and stepped forward, "Elena, stop talking. I'm not giving Klaus anything."
"Are you listening to me?" Ellie snapped and I squeezed her hand. "He's gonna kill Jeremy!"
The vampire douche shrugged, a cold look in his eyes, "Not really my problem."
That was the final straw for my sister. Her face contorted into a glare and she stepped forward. I didn't realise what she was doing until the sound of skin against skin echoed around the room. She had slapped him. She had just slapped Damon in the face.
"Then you can go to hell!" she snarled before storming off. I went to go after her before pausing. I turned back to face Stefan.
"If I were you, I'd change your attitude quick, cos you don't have the Klaus excuse anymore. And I will rip you a new one if you continue to hurt my sister."
XXX
I caught up with my sister as she stormed through the front door. Damon was resting against one of the pillars leading to the stairs. He immediately stood up as my twin barged past him.
"That didn't go over well," my vampire remarked, having clearly been eavesdropping. The cheeky little shit. But at least he would have been able to intervene if Stefan had gone psycho.
"Don't even start, Damon!" Elena snapped without stopping. She continued to head back to the car, clearly not in the mood to talk to anyone.
I sighed and shook my head, stopping next to my boyfriend. I watched my sister's retreating back. I knew that she wouldn't take Stefan's words well. The fact that her previously, oh so caring boyfriend just didn't care that he was putting our brother's life in danger. It was a hard thing to rationalise.
"Stefan's lucky that we need to coffins from him, otherwise I would have seriously been tempted to take him out," I remarked, turning to face my vampire. Damon looked down at me with sympathetic eyes. Seeing how much his brother had changed must be hard for him too.
"Let me talk to him," he suggested softly, resting his hands on my shoulders. "I can be very persuasive when the occasion calls for it."
"But how will you get in?" I frowned, glancing over at the house. "The witches won't stop fucking with your ring."
"Don't worry about that," he brushed it off, giving me a smooth smile. "I've got an idea."
"Just, be careful, I don't want anything to happen to you," I stepped forward to wrap my arms around him. "Because of the witches and your douchey brother."
"I'll be fine," Damon reassured me, resting his chin on the top of my head. "Just worry about your own brother. I can handle mine."
"I think I'd rather deal with yours," I grumbled as I reluctantly pulled away. "Because dealing with Jeremy, with Elena around, will not be fun."
Damon chuckled softly, "Good luck with that." I scrunched up my nose and grumbled. My vampire grasped my hand and gently placed his car keys on my palm.
"You trust me with your car?" I asked quietly, staring down at the keys. Damon loved his car, like so much. He nearly staked Stefan once after he got a scratch on it during a vampire fight. And now he was letting me drive it.
"Ally," my boyfriend cupped my cheek. "I trust you with everything."
I blushed deeply and cleared my throat. It always got to me, when Damon was so open with his feelings. I remembered when I first met him, he kept everything hidden. He barely shared his emotions with anyone. It took a long time to get Damon to trust me with his feelings. I had to prove that he could trust me, that I would be there for him. And I had done that, over and over again.
But even so, when he was so open with them, like that, it always made me emotional. The trust that he showed in me. I never wanted to betray that trust.
"Oh Day," I leant forward to kiss him. "I love you."
My vampire gave me a smile before turning to face the house. He blurred forward, entering the creepy old building. I watched the door for a second longer before going to find my sister.
She was by Damon's car, looking deep in thought. But it didn't take an idiot to see that she was upset. I sighed and approached her, wrapping my arms around my sister.
"Damon's going to go speak to him," I spoke into her ear, giving my twin a squeeze. Ellie nodded, resting her head against my shoulder. "And he won't have any issues in making Stefan realise how much he fucked up."
"I just don't get it," my sister whispered, my heart clenching at the pained confusion in her voice. "Why is he acting like this?"
I sighed and shrugged, being careful not to dislodge my sister from my shoulder, "Maybe he doesn't know what else to do? He's hurt so many people since he was compelled to turn his humanity off. Maybe the only way he can cope with it is to make people hate him. You can't be saved if no one wants to save you. And if you aren't saved, then you aren't forced to confront your guilt."
"You really think that?" Ellie asked quietly, lifting her head up. "And you aren't just being nice?"
"Yeah, I think that," I nodded. "Stefan has a guilt complex that could rival mine. And after all the horrible things he's said and the fact that he attacked you, and killed countless people over the summer, he will do anything to avoid dealing with that."
My sister frowned, "Why are you sticking up for him?"
"Because you still have feelings for him," I answered simply, holding up my hand to stop her from arguing. "It's nothing to be ashamed about. You loved him so much, those feelings won't go away easily. And I don't expect them to."
"I don't want to hate Stefan," my twin admitted softly, looking so conflicted. "But I don't know how to feel about him anymore. I knew he had a dark past, and I saw some of it that time he hurt Amber Bradley. But how I can I still feel things for him after everything he's done?"
"I don't know," I winced, hating that I couldn't properly reassure her. "You can either let him go, or you reconcile what he's done. You put it in the past, acknowledging why he did and try to move on."
"What did you do about Damon's past?"
I sighed, "Well, he never actually hurt me. Yeah, he compelled me a few times, and he did kill some of my friends. But he had his humanity off at that time, and he's apologised for it since. He's done bad things, but you can't change the past. You just acknowledge it and move on. But I know it's different for you. Your situation with Stefan is different." I pulled my sister into another hug. "Look, you don't need to work it all out now. You have time. It's not like Stefan is looking to carry on your relationship any time soon. So don't stress about it, yeah?"
XXX
We got home to see Jenna helping Ric off of the sofa. Night had fallen during our drive and I was utterly exhausted. It had been a long day already, and there was still so much to sort out.
"Ric, hey!" Ellie greeted him, rushing over to help Jenna support his weight. "When did you return to the living?"
"Oh, just a few minutes ago," Ric answered before frowning. "How is Jeremy?"
Just a few minutes ago? Damn, the ring had taken a long time to bring him back. I hope there was nothing wrong with it. It shouldn't have taken this long for him to wake up.
"Hating me. Hating life. Hating the fact that we can't even have a family dinner without somebody dying before dessert," Ellie rolled her eyes with a sigh. The despondent look in her eyes killed sister should never have to feel like this. It just wasn't fair.
"He doesn't hate you, Ellie," I reached out to pat her shoulder. "He's just lashing out because he doesn't know what else to do. He'll be begging for your forgiveness before you know it."
"You really think so?" Ellie glanced over at me with hopefully eyes and I nodded.
"Trust me, the kid is more like me than I'm entirely happy with," I was relieved when the tension in my sister's shoulders eased. "Just give him time."
"Thanks Lexa," Elena smiled before glancing over at Ric when he stumbled. "Are you okay?"
Ric frowned before hunching over, coughing violently. I helped Jenna steady him as he stumbled to the side. He pulled his hand away from his mouth, and the sight of blood had me feeling sick. That was not a good sign. Like at all.
Jenna gasped at the sight of it, "Oh my god!"
"Something's wrong," Ric groaned as I eased him down to the floor. "The ring!"
"It didn't heal you properly," I realised as he let out another moan. "Shit! Okay, Elena, call an ambulance. We need to get him to a hospital. They're our best hope until we can get a vampire here to heal him. Jenna, go grab a pillow, something for Ric's head until we can get him some help."
I called Damon while my sister called an ambulance. His call went straight to voicemail and I cursed. He was still dealing with Stefan. Ellie joined us, letting us know that the ambulance was on its way. I nodded, asking her to call Caroline while I focused my attention on Jenna.
My aunt was pale, her breathing shaky. It was hard, seeing someone you loved like this. It was only the need to look after my sister and aunt that kept me going. Otherwise I would be a mess myself. I carefully eased Jenna down to the floor and placed the pillow in her lap. Elena helped me move Ric so that his head was resting on the pillow.
"Why didn't the ring heal him?" Jenna asked tearfully, looking up at us with watery eyes. I shrugged helplessly and looked at my sister. My ring had never done this. It had always brought me back with my injuries healed. So I just couldn't explain it.
"Maybe its because Tony was driving a car, so it wasn't just a supernatural death?" Elena suggested, looking deep in thought. Hopefully focusing on the why would help keep her distracted. That way I could focus on Jenna. I held my aunt close, uncaring that my knees were going numb from my kneeling position.
"It is possible," I agreed with a sigh. "Any luck with Caroline?"
"She didn't pick up," Elena shook her head, looking frustrated. "The ambulance shouldn't be too much longer. But we need to get a vampire to heal him soon, just in case the hospital can't do much."
"I've texted Damon," I confirmed, each flash of a headlight making me look out of the window. "He'll be here as soon as he gets it."
Ellie nodded and went to ask something else. But banging on the door interrupted her. I let her go and answer it, while I remained with Jenna. From the grip that she had on my hand, I knew that my aunt was reluctant to be left alone.
Elena opened the door before stepping aside to let the paramedics in. They immediately knelt down by Ric and I gently eased Jenna out of the way.
"What happened?" one of them asked, glancing over at us.
"He got hit by a car," Ellie answered from above. "And he's coughing up blood."
The other paramedic nodded before ordering, "Get his vitals."
"Pulse is pretty weak," was the response from the first paramedic. "Looks like internal bleeding. We've gotta get him out of here."
The other nodded, and they both stood up. They hadn't brough the gurney in with them, so I assumed that they were on their way to go get it. but someone blocked the doorway.
Tony smirked at us before making contact with each of the paramedics, "Let's not and say we did. Why don't you two meet us at the hospital?"
"What?" Jenna gasped as the paramedics left without a word. I slowly stood up, my eyes fixed on Tony. He wasn't invited in, but he could stop others from coming to help Ric.
"No, no, no, wait," Ellie protested, stepping forward to stop them. But they were already out the door and Tony quickly blocked the exit again. "No, wait! You have to help him!"
The desperation in the voices of my aunt and sister, coupled with the rattling in Ric's lungs got me angry. I didn't fully understand where the deep rage was coming from, but I embraced it. I had to be the strong one here.
"What the fuck are you doing?" I hissed, joining Elena at the doorway. I narrowed my eyes at the hybrid as he smirked widely.
"You can still save his life, you know," he held out his wrist. "Here, take my blood." He went to step forward before dramatically pausing. "Oh, wait, I can't get in. you're gonna have to invite me in."
"Oh fuck no," I spat, holding my sister close before she could do something reckless.
"Why are you doing this?" my twin asked tearfully.
"Klaus asked for his family," Tony shrugged, looking so uncaring that it had my blood boiling. "You didn't deliver."
"It's been a few hours," I snapped as Ric started coughing again. I directed my sister back over to him while I continued to watch the hybrid, in case he did something else. "Is he that fucking impatient?"
"Klaus has expectation," he answered.
"Klaus can go fuck himself," I retorted, glancing over my shoulder. Elena and Jenna were easing Ric through his coughing fit. But you could see the blood staining his lips.
"We're here, baby," Jenna soothed, despite the tears in her eyes, brushing his hair back. "I've got you."
"He's gonan die, girls," Tony sounded like he really didn't care about that. "You might want to invite me in."
I was just about to snap something back when the unexpected happened. There was a creak and twang before Tony grunted. He glanced down at his chest in shock before falling to the ground. I looked down at the body with wide eyes before looking back up.
Jeremy stood at the bottom of the porch steps, crossbow in hand. He had a serious look on his face as he looked down at the hybrid.
"Jeremy!" Elena gasped from behind me. I glanced over to see that she had joined me in the doorway.
The kid shook off her shock and looked at me, "He's not dead yet."
I immediately got his hint. We needed to kill Tony. He was a threat to everyone. And the only ways to kill a hybrid were to rip out its heart or chop off its head. And since we weren't strong enough to be ripping out hearts, chopping off the head would have to do.
I nodded at my brother before turning and heading into the kitchen. Jeremy kept the crossbow pointed at the body, ready to smack the hybrid over the head with it if need me. I glanced around the room before grabbing the meat cleaver that was still on the chopping board. Ric had been using it earlier and I was just thankful that no one had tied up.
As I reached the doorway, I passed it over to my brother. Despite all of my weight training, the kid was stronger than me. And this needed to be done right. Next to me, I could hear Elena gasping and arguing against this. I loved my sister, but she couldn't see what needed to be done. Tony was a threat, and we were going to eliminate it.
Jeremy knelt down next to the body and slammed the cleaver down. It went straight through skin and bone and muscle, severing Tony's head from his body. I winced at the noise, but Elena screamed.
"Well, that'll do it," I sighed as Jeremy stood up and passed the cleaver back to me. The sight of the blood had me feeling queasy. But it was the feeling of satisfaction, deep within me, that was the most unnerving part. I didn't relish killing, but that part of me was enjoying this far too much.
"We've got to get Alaric to the hospital now," Jer ordered our sister as he brushed past her and over to Ric. But she just stared after him in shock
XXX
Jeremy and Jenna took Ric to the hospital. I stayed behind with Elena to move the body and make a start on clearing up the blood stains. Damon still wasn't answering my messages, so I knew that we would have to do something until he was able to dispose of the body.
I ordered Elena to grab the mop and bucket, while I got an old blanket. The head went into a plastic bag while I wrapped Tony's body in the blanket. I padded it out with some old clothes. I hoped that it would be enough to soak up any of the blood that continued to ooze out.
Once that was done, I took the mop from Elena, before directing her to sit on the porch step. That way she could keep an eye out for any nosy neighbours while I made a start of trying to get this all cleaned up.
It wasn't easy. There was so much blood and it made me feel sick just touching it. But someone had to do it. Elena was in too much shock and I couldn't just leave it there to stain the wood more than it was. I moped it up with a towel before mixing together detergent in the water in the bucket. Once I had gotten rid of the excess, I moped it all up.
Once I had washed off what I could, I let the detergent sit. Hopefully that would stop the stain from setting in. Or we would have to invest in a new porch.
"Okay, so what do we do now?" I sighed, taking a seat next to my sister. My skin goosebumped in the cold air, but I didn't care. It felt nice on my flushed cheeks and the smell of blood had started to invade the house.
"Klaus did this because we didn't give him Stefan and the coffins," Elena said numbly and I wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
"We still can't," I sighed, shaking my head. "But we need to give him something, in order to get him off our backs." I glanced at my sister before saying slowly, "Earlier, you mentioned giving him Rebekah. Does that mean that you know where she is?"
Ellie looked over at me with a guilty look on her face, "I daggered her. It was before the Homecoming dance. I couldn't leave anything to chance and I couldn't risk her betraying us and you getting hurt."
Well, shit. So that's what happened to her. That was so not good. Damon was right, Rebekah would go after Elena the second she was undaggered. But we had to do something. It was the only advantage that we had.
I was pissed at what my sister did. She had hurt my friend and betrayed her trust. But I couldn't focus on that. Keeping my brother safe was more important than my anger. I knew that I wouldn't confront my sister anytime soon. It would fester into something ugly. But hopefully I would be able to control it.
"It's okay, Els, I understand," I tugged my sister closer. "You just wanted to keep everyone safe. Where is she now?"
"The cell in the Boarding House."
"Okay," I nodded. "I'm going to go there and give her back to Klaus. Maybe then he will back off. I'll make sure that he doesn't wake her up, and that will keep you safe for a while longer. Meanwhile, you're going to go upstairs and have a long, hot bath."
"But what about the blood?" my sister tried to look over at it but I couldn't let her.
"I'll deal with it when I get back," I ordered softly, forcing her to look at me. "It's been a long day for you, you just need to relax, okay?"
"It's been just as long for you," Ellie sighed, but I could feel the fight leaving her.
"Yeah, but I haven't been dealing with my dickhead ex. Look, just let me be the strong one for once, okay? Let me look after you."
"I don't know how to do that," my sister admitted softly.
"Then it's time to learn," I carefully eased her up before directing her inside. "Let me handle this. You just focus on not breaking down."
I waited until my sister was upstairs before leaving. I closed the door behind me before glancing down at the bloodstain. It was horrible that Jeremy had to do that. But it was the only thing that would save Ric in that moment in time. Tony was a threat.
But I knew that the others wouldn't see that. They had been sheltered from the worst of this world. Even Elena had been. Stefan had kept a lot of the dirty details from her.
I shook my head and approached the car. Rebekah was at the Boarding House, so that was where I had to go. I drove slowly. I was not looking forward to facing Klaus again. But what choice did I have? I refused to let my sister do this. I was the only option. The only one that could do it.
The first thing that I did when I got to the Boarding House was find some paper and a pen. I couldn't tell Rebekah directly to not blame my sister for what she did. But I could leave her a message.
I asked her not to be mad at Elena, as she was only protecting me. And to come and speak to me as soon as she could.
I could only hope that that would be enough. I poured myself a drink in the parlour before heading down. The harsh liquid helped sooth me, as weird as it sounded. While I didn't drink a lot these days, there was something comforting about it still. Plus, it helped me waste time.
But I couldn't do that forever. So I slowly made my way down to the cell. Rebekah's body was covered by a blanket, but I recognised the red of her dress immediately. It was the one that I had chosen.
I sighed and crouched down next to her body, carefully lifting away the body. I was surprised by how sad I was at the sight of the blonde being like this. I hadn't realised that I was as close to Rebekah as I apparently was.
It didn't escape me that Elena had stabbed Rebekah in the back. The blonde wasn't even expecting it. And I just knew that she would be pissed when she woke up. I shook my head and tucked my note into her dress. Hopefully she would find it before she came after Elena.
Once I was ready, I reached out to Tyler, who gave me Klaus' number. It was time to summon the hybrid douche.
XXX
I waited in the library, sipping at a bourbon, while I waited for Klaus to arrive. He was taking longer than I expected. But it was probably some stupid mind game.
When he eventually knocked on the door, I placed my empty glass to the side and approached the front door. Taking a deep breath, I opened it and let the hybrid in. I was supposed to give some kind of polite greeting, but instead I ended up saying, "You took your time."
"Eager to see me, sweetheart?" the Original smirked and I rolled my eyes.
"Definitely not," I snorted in disgust. "I just want this over with so I can turn my attention to more important things."
"Then I trust you have news of Stefan?" Klaus' tone turned serious and I had to remind myself that I had the upper-hand.
"Unfortunately, the little shit is still playing hide and seek," I shrugged, lying through my teeth. "But I do have something better."
I led him through the hallway and down the basement stairs. The door to the cell was still open and I directed him in ahead of me. Klaus paused for a moment, staring down at me with suspicious eyes, instead of just showing me his back.
"Relax," I rolled my eyes, shoving past him instead. "I have absolutely nothing that could hurt you. And just attempting to stab you with something would just piss you off. Which I really don't have the energy to deal with right now."
The hybrid nodded before following me into the cell. He looked down at his daggered sister with a sigh, "My poor sister. I can't turn my back on her for a moment."
"I'm giving you Rebekah, okay, so just leave my brother alone," I crossed my arms and held my head up high. I knew that I had to hide my exhaustion from the hybrid. He would use any sign of weakness against me.
"The life of my sister in exchange for your brother?" Klaus mused for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, I'd say that's a bargain. Consider him spared."
Oh thank god. That was such a relief to hear. Jeremy would be safe now.
"Oh, one thing though," I spoke up before Klaus could say anything else. "Elena was the one who daggered her. Which means that Rebekah will go after her when she wakes up. And maybe even me. I'm not sure about that part but I know how irrational your sister can be at times."
"I can control Rebekah," Klaus shrugged, kneeling down next to his sister. "Besides, I still need your and your sister's help finding Stefan."
"Do you honestly think that I know where he is?" I rolled my eyes, lying through my teeth. "If I did know where Stefan was, then he would be dead already for betraying everyone."
Klaus smirked at me as he slowly slid the dagger out of Rebekah's back. He stood up, looming over me, "I know you're lying. Fortunately, you have no shortage of loved ones. If I don't find my family, the question you should be asking yourself is who's gonna die next? Bonnie? Caroline? Jenna? Damon?" I narrowed my eyes at the sly look in his eyes, "It's only a matter of time before Stefan gives me what I want."
I rolled my eyes, "What's wrong with you? Stefan doesn't care about anyone anymore. Thanks to you. You turned him into a monster. And that makes him your problem. Not ours." I turned to leave before holding up my finger and facing him again. There was a dark look in Klaus' eye as I spoke, "Just so you know, Rebekah will be gunning for you too. She found out that you were the one who killed mommy dearest. And she's uber pissed about it, to the point where she was going to help us kill you. So I would think about that, if I were you. See yourself out."
I didn't get far before the hybrid grabbed my arm, slamming me against the wall. He glared down at me, "You dare to talk to me like that?"
"Yeah, I do!" I snapped, my exhaustion making me even more reckless than normal. "You know, I actually felt sorry for you, when Mikael was saying all those horrible things. I thought that maybe you weren't as bad I as originally assumed. But after what you did to my brother, after you forced Tyler to make a horrible choice. All of that sympathy went out of the window. So I hope Stefan keeps tormenting you. You deserve it."
"He took my family from me," he growled and I scoffed.
"You killed my birth dad in your stupid little sacrifice," I refused to back down. "And you compelled my birth mom to kill herself. And that's just me. How many other families have you ripped apart over the years? Now you know how it's like. And I hope it burns."
I think I surprised Klaus. He let go of my arm and stood back a step. I didn't mean to say what I did. He was never supposed to know that, in a moment of weakness, I felt sorry for him. But now he did. And it was just a moment. His actions since then had only proven that he didn't deserve any sympathy.
"Even Elijah wanted to kill you for what you've done," I shook my head. "And he is probably one of the most noble men that I know, and I barely knew him. That should tell you a lot."
I turned and left. Klaus let me go, not bothering to stop me this time. I was honestly surprised that I had escaped that alive. After what I said, I really did think that Klaus would kill me. But he did. I was willing to bet that no one had spoken to him like that for a long time. Especially someone that wasn't related to him. But he needed to hear it, and I hoped that he paid attention.
XXX
Since Elena was still upstairs when I got home, I took charge of cleaning the blood off of the porch. Damon got rid of the Tony's body for me, dumping it where it couldn't be found. I didn't care where, I just wanted it gone.
I scrubbed at the wood, ignoring how the cold water stung my hands. After everything that had happened today, I just wanted it all to be over. Except this fucking stain wasn't going. It lingered; little splotches spread out over the wood.
I kept going long than I should have done, unable to let it go. But I eventually had to give up. I carried the bucket in with me, after emptying the water in the drain at the end of the path. The cold air made me shiver and I retreated into the kitchen.
I was just rinsing the blood out of the rag when Damon returned.
"Please tell me the body is gone," I sighed, glancing up at his reflection in the window. My vampire nodded before resting his hands on my hips. His warmth against my back helped me start to relax. I hadn't realised how tense the confrontation with Klaus had made me until just now.
He hummed, "Tony the headless hybrid is down at the bottom of Steven's Quarry."
"Thank god," I leant back against him, ditching the rag and rinsing the blood from my hands. "And Alaric?"
"Took care of him too," Damon confirmed, resting his chin on my shoulder. "He'll be fine. Jenna and Jeremy will be bringing him home soon. How are you?"
I breathed shakily, the events of the day catching up to me, "Well, I've managed to get most of the blood off the porch. But it might need another repaint to get rid of all of it."
"Hey," my boyfriend said softly, using his grip on my hips to turn me around. He grabbed a nearby hand towel and gently dried my hands before taking them in his. "Look at me, baby. It's gonna be okay."
"It doesn't feel like it," I sighed, shaking my head. "I did something that you probably won't like, by the way. I gave Rebekah to him, in exchange for Jeremy's life."
"What?" he groaned and closed him eyes. "Oh Alexa, why did you do that? She's going to come after Elena, and maybe even you too!"
"She won't," I rested my head against his chest. "I left her a note, explaining what happened. and I made sure that Klaus didn't have any interest in undaggering her."
"Do you trust him?" Damon asked and I snorted.
"Hell no, but since he now knows that Rebekah knows the truth about their mom, he won't want to wake her up anytime soon," I shrugged as my vampire held me close. "Besides, I didn't really have any other choice. Stefan is acting crazy and can't be trusted. I mean, do you really think that he's just gonna give up the coffins he stole?"
"My brother is… sort of running his own show right now," Damon admitted with a wince.
"At least he isn't going around chopping off people's heads," I sighed as my boyfriend tightened his grip. "He shouldn't have had to do that. But we had no choice. Tony was threatening the safety of everyone we loved, and he nearly stopped us getting Ric to the hospital. Elena is already worried about him; I don't know what she will do now. She wants to protect him, but I worry that she'll do something stupid to do that."
"Ally, just breathe," Damon soothed, running his fingers through my hair. "Elena won't do anything without talking to you first."
"I just feel so helpless," I whispered into my vampire's chest. "And I hate it. I've worked so hard to be strong and it's all been for nothing. Jeremy chopped off a hybrid's head. Klaus has been manipulating Tyler. And Stefan's just being a little shit. And there's nothing that I can do to stop any of it."
"You are strong, Alexa," Damon assured me, tilting my head back so I was looking him in the eye. "But you don't have to be strong all the time. You can't control everything and you can't look after everyone."
"How can I not be strong with all the bullshit that we have to deal with on a daily basis?" I grumbled.
"Because you have me to be strong for you," my boyfriend rested his forehead against mine.
"That's a lot of pressure that would be put on you."
"Well, since my brother is the one causing a lot of those issues, it's only fair that I take my share."
"You ever feel like running away from it all?" I huffed. It was a tempting thought at times. I knew that I never would. I couldn't abandon my loved ones like that. But when it all got too much, I just fantasied about taking a holiday somewhere far away.
"When this is all over, I'll take you away somewhere," Damon said with a soft smile. "Somewhere warm and relaxing, and where there is no cell service."
"Now that sounds tempting," I laughed as Elena walked into the room. My sister didn't look any more relaxed than she had when I originally sent her upstairs. She was such a stresshead, and it wasn't really a good thing.
"I've been thinking," Elena said with a sigh as I rested my head against Damon's shoulder. "Jeremy was right when he said that we should just pack up and go. I know that I can't, Klaus will just follow me wherever I go, but Jeremy can. We can send him out of town, where he'll be safe."
"He won't leave us," I immediately pointed out, and the regretful look in my sister's eyes had me tensing slightly.
"There are ways for us to persuade him to leave," she said slowly and I shook my head.
"Nope, you are not compelling him to leave," I narrowed my eyes at my twin. But the fact that she was thinking about doing that was not a good sign. "Let me talk to him first. And then we can decide from there."
XXX
I was waiting in Jeremy's room for him when the rest of the family returned from the hospital. Before approaching me, apparently Elena had been discussing this with Jenna and Ric. They wanted him to be safe too and had agreed with my sister's plan. But none of them were giving him a choice. It was like Vicki's death all over again. They were making a decision to protect the kid without asking him what he wanted.
Which is what I was going to do.
I was sat on the kid's bed, flicking through his sketch pad. A lot of his drawings were based on werewolves and vampires. It was another sign that the supernatural was taking over his life. He did need to get out of town, but I wouldn't force him if he didn't want to. Jeremy had the right to decide what he wanted to do with his life. And I would respect that.
"Alexa?" Jeremy frowned, closing the door behind him. "What's up?"
"We need to talk," I sighed, placing the sketch pad to the side. I sat up, crossing my legs, and patted the bed in front of me. "Sit down, kiddo."
"What did I do this time?" Jer tried to laugh it off but I could see the worry in his eyes. He slowly sat down in front of me and I immediately grabbed his hands. The first thing that I noticed was that they were cold. So I gently rubbed them, trying to warm them up.
"You mean other than decapitate a hybrid in front of our older sister?" I quirked my lips and the kid winced. "They're worried about you, Jer. All of them. And what you said earlier, about packing up and leaving town, it's gotten into Ellie's head. And you know what happens when things get into Elena's head."
"I didn't mean any of that," Jeremy sighed, shaking his head. I squeezed his hand in sympathy. I knew that he was just lashing out in the moment. It wasn't easy, knowing that you've been compelled. And the fact that someone got hurt saving him, it was hard.
"I know you didn't," I nodded, giving him a soft smile. "But it got them thinking. Elena doesn't want you to have to give up a normal life because she's a doppelganger. She wants you to be safe and happy, and she doesn't think that that will happen because of her. They want you to leave town, and they're willing to compel you to leave if need be. Probably without consulting you first, because they would want to make this as easy as possible for everyone."
Jeremy scrunched his face up in anger, "Why would they do that? They shouldn't take that choice away from me!"
"Hey, I know kiddo," I squeezed his hand, getting him to calm down. I probably shouldn't have told him that. But the kid needed to know the stakes. He had to know what they were willing to do to protect him. They loved him so much that they would take that choice from him. Just like Elena wanted to do when Vicki died last Halloween."Look, I can't stall them for long. So here's a compromise. We have family friends in Denver. Go stay with them. "
"Why Denver?" the kid asked, a curious look on his face, despite the anger that still simmered in his body.
"Because the Nolan's have family up there. An uncle and cousin. If you want, I can reach out and ask them to train you, like properly train you. How to protect yourself, how to fight. Everything. And then, when things have settled down here, you can come back home if you want to."
"Why would they do that?" Jer frowned and I shrugged.
"Because they said that if I ever needed anything, then they would help," I replied, reaching out to run my fingers through his hair. "And after losing the family, his uncle is even more determined to make sure that people can protect themselves. He'll do this for me. And I'm doing it for you." I sighed and pulled my brother closer to me, tucking his head under my chin. "I don't want you to go, Jer. You're my baby brother and I can't bear the thought of not seeing you every day. But this is the best way that I can keep you safe. While also making sure that you still have a choice."
"I don't want to leave you either," Jeremy admitted quietly, wrapping his arms around my waist. "But I don't want them to take my choices away from me either."
"So go," I urged him gently, despite the pain in my heart. "Go to Denver, Jer, live a happy life, a safe life. Find a new girl, get back into your non-creepy art." My lips quirked up as the kid huffed out a laugh. "Learn how to protect yourself while moving on."
"Even if it means leaving you behind?"
"Oh kiddo, you'll never get rid of me, even if you go to Denver. I'll still call and message. And even visit you when the craziness here allows me to. In fact, you'll be so sick of my messages that you won't even want to talk to me."
"That'll never happen, Lexa," Jeremy laughed and I felt accomplished. Hearing my baby bro laugh was something that I always enjoyed. And the traitorous part of my brain reminded me that I might not be able to hear it for much longer. "But… I'll go to Denver."
"It's the right thing to do," I mumbled into his hair, feeling my eyes burn with tears. But I refused to let them fall. I couldn't do anything to risk Jeremy saying no to going to Denver. Because if he said no, then he might be forced into leaving anyway.
Jeremy nodded, "Thank you for giving me a choice. And not letting them compel me."
"I'll always give you a choice, Jer, and I'll always support what you decide. Even if I think it's the wrong thing, you need to have that freedom. And I won't let anyone take that away from you."
XXX
After telling the rest of the family what Jeremy had agreed to, I retreated back to my bedroom. It was up to them to sort out the details now and arrange for Jeremy to actually go. But I did keep one thing from them. I didn't tell them about the offer to arrange for Jeremy to be trained by Uncle Nolan. And I knew that Jeremy wouldn't tell them either.
I sat on my window seat and opened the window. The cold air actually helped me to relax. The briskness kept me feeling alert. And I needed that. It kept my mind on track, which meant that I wouldn't be thinking about the fact that my brother would be leaving town. Because if I focused on that too much, then I would beg him not to leave me.
I heard my bedroom door open and close before a soft voice asked, "How are you doing?"
I glanced over and gave Damon a weak smile, "Just fantastic."
He gave me a look before sitting down next to me on my window seat, "Alexa."
"Fine, I feel like shit," I turned to look out the window, ignoring the small shiver from the cold air. "I just persuaded my brother to leave town and move elsewhere. I'm forcing him to leave me. And that fucking sucks."
"You did the best thing for him," Damon reassured me, reaching out to grab my fluffy blanket from the footstall. He covered my legs, but kept the window open. I knew that he didn't approve of my stupid idea to keep the window open, but he didn't try to argue me out of it. "You saved his life and trust me when I say that he appreciates that."
"I just couldn't bear the thought of him being compelled," I admitted, looking over at my boyfriend. "I didn't want them to take that choice away from him. He deserves more than that."
My vampire gave me a soft smile, one that he never showed anyone else, and reached out to tuck my hair behind my ear. He cupped my cheek, his thumb stroking my cheekbone, "He's so lucky to have you for his sister."
"If I wasn't his sister, then he wouldn't be going through any of this," I snorted softly but Damon refused to let me look away.
"If you weren't in his life, then it would be a lot sadder," he said firmly before sighing. "You make everything worth it, Ally. Your smile, your laugh, I don't think you realise the effect that you have on people."
I could feel myself blushing and cleared my throat, "Day, stop it. I'm really not that important."
Damon gave me a hard look before saying, "Stefan didn't screw us over, Alexa. Well, he did, but he had a good reason. Stefan saved Klaus to save me. And then he stole the coffins to get even."
"What?" I gasped, my eyes going wide in shock. "Why would he do that? What does it mean?"
"It means that I can't hate him for what he did," my vampire sighed and shook his head. "It means that I owe him my life. And your happiness. Because by saving me, he kept that smile on your face. It means that he isn't lost to us."
"Well, shit," I shifted so that I was kneeling in front of Damon. He moved so that he was facing me directly and I reached out to cup his face. "Trust your brother to throw us a curve ball like that. Guess I can't stake him anymore."
"Guess not," Damon's lips quirked up as he pulled me onto his lap. My legs straddled his as my head rested on his shoulder. "I just wish that he had told me."
"He's lashing out at everyone and anyone to cope with the guilt eating away at him," I sighed. "Does Elena know?"
"Not yet, I thought it best that you told her."
"I'll do it in the morning. Right now, all I want to do is be held by you."
I felt Damon smirk into my hair, "You don't need to ask me twice."
Damon's arms around me was the only thing keeping me sane. It was all so fucked up. Stefan had saved Klaus to save Damon. Jeremy was actually going to leave town. Otherwise he would have been compelled to.
When was life going to get easier?
XXX
A/N: Darlings, I give you smut, I give you Kalexa scenes, and you give me no reviews :( it was disappointing, do I need to start withholding smut to get reviews...? Please review! I want to know if you enjoy my twists and the Dalexa scenes and the smut! Hope you enjoyed xoxo
