Chapter 5
Gwen continued to review Ric's notes throughout the afternoon. Around four, she started feeling restless. Admitting all her work was only making her more nervous, she called it a day. However, hiding her snooping was a challenge. Gwen had to be sure everything was closed out or put back where she had found it so Ric wouldn't know she'd gone through his things. She paid the most attention to the drawer since it had been locked. Still not knowing where the key was, she worried about how to relock it. It would be a dead giveaway if it was open when Ric returned home. Her concern turned out to be for nothing when the drawer miraculously snapped back into place as she applied a little extra pressure to it.
She thought she would relax in front of the TV for a bit; maybe even get some sleep. But she had barely watched ten minutes of a comedy rerun when she began flipping channels and bouncing her left leg. Unable to find a show distracting enough or to sit still, Gwen turned off the television and ran upstairs to change to into her workout gear. She'd been falling behind on her kickboxing training. An hour or so of practice would be good for her.
Unlike in Boston, there wasn't a gym in town where Gwen could go workout. To ensure she kept up with her training, Ric had created space for her in the garage. It was now half-storage, half-gym. The car was regulated to the driveway. The garage wasn't large. It had just enough space for a small sedan and a small workbench, but they'd done what they could to make it work. The boxes were stacked against the far wall, blocking the side entrance that Ric kept locked up anyway. He said the boxes were an innovative home security measure. Gwen told him it was cheap. The rest of the space was the "gym." They'd hung up her punching bag, laid down a few mats, and kept a weight set stored in the corner. They also kept a fan out there for hot days, and Gwen was starting to wonder if they should get a small heater. The space was freezing when she first stepped into it.
Telling herself she'd warm up soon, Gwen set up the docking station for her iPod and selected her workout playlist that was full of loud, fast-paced songs. She turned up the volume on the docking station as far as she could, not worrying about disturbing the neighbors, and started her warm-up.
She let her mind go blank, focusing on her movements and breathing. When she started kickboxing, Gwen thought it was dumb. But she hadn't really had a choice in the matter. Ric had worked it out as part of deal to get her out of a more serious punishment. The kickboxing and therapy were to help with her anger issues, and the community service was to show her remorse for The Incident. So for six months, her life consisted of school, therapy, kickboxing, and sorting food at the food bank. She never got into therapy; her therapist was too much of a hippie to take seriously. Begrudgingly, Gwen realized the kickboxing did help make her feel better, like she was more in control.
Everyone had thought her mother's death was the cause of her anger. They weren't entirely wrong either, but it wasn't the source. Gwen had always been quick to anger, even over the smallest things. She couldn't explain it, and it was through kickboxing that she realized she didn't have to try. The exercise calmed her, the punching and kicking were more therapeutic than any therapy session. Gwen realized she was able to control her reactions better when she trained regularly. It was almost as if the anger was caused by excess energy; it just needed somewhere to go. Liking the effect, she'd kept with it even after the mandated six months.
Now, with every punch and kick she landed on the punching back, she felt her mind growing sharper. It wasn't only fear that was making her jumpy early, it was anger. She was pissed.
Ric had lied. Brought her to this town where he intended to seek out his wife's killer, who happened to be a vampire. Gwen couldn't imagine what his plan was once he found said vampire. Did he really think he could kill it? Had he even considered the possibility this didn't go his way? What about her? What would happen to her if he died?
And what about the fact that the vampire who had probably murdered her aunt was Damon Salvatore, the guy she'd been crushing on for weeks?
Lost in her thoughts and punches, she didn't hear the door squeak open. When the music was suddenly turned off, Gwen spun around so fast she nearly slid and fell on the mat. Thankfully, Caroline was standing far enough away that she was out of range of Gwen's arm, which had been in mid-punch when she'd turned around.
"What are you doing here? How did you get in?" Gwen demanded, heart racing from more than exercise.
Caroline crossed her arms, not appreciating Gwen's tone. "I've been texting you all day and you haven't responded to one message. Matt said you went home sick, so I came to check on you. You seem fine to me," she added haughtily. "Oh, and your door was unlocked."
Gwen rolled her eyes, realizing she must have forgotten to lock it after going out to get the mail. "I didn't feel good last night. I felt fine when I woke this morning, but Matt had already given me the day off. I thought I should take it."
"And on your day off, after being sick, you do extreme exercise and can't be bothered to answer your phone?" Caroline questioned, clearly not believing her story.
Gwen shrugged, unable to explain the real situation. Caroline may think that Damon was evil, but Gwen doubted she would believe he was a vampire. "Why are you so upset I haven't answered my phone?"
Caroline's demeanor changed from put-out and pouty to lit up and excited as soon as Gwen refocused their conversation.
"Something happened last night," she said with a giddy smile.
Given Caroline's reaction, Gwen knew she couldn't be talking about the attack. There hadn't been anything else on the news that morning, though. Her stomach sunk, hoping whatever had happened had nothing to do with Damon. However, her reasons for not wanting Caroline and Damon to be together were completely different than they were last night.
"Oh? What?" Gwen asked, hoping she sounded interested and not worried. Honestly, she probably just sounded winded.
She started to say something, and then stopped. "Can we go inside? It's freezing out here."
Gwen nodded, following Caroline back inside. They settled in the living room, which was more suited for guests than the disaster of a kitchen. Neither Ric nor Gwen excelled at keeping up with the dishes.
"Ok," Caroline said, back to her chipper self. "Here's the setup: I was talking to Damon last night — I have no idea why — and he was his usual horrible self and called me vapid and shallow. I know," Caroline said, noticing Gwen's reaction. "Rude much? Anyway, I was understandably upset and may have indulged in a little too much beer. Matt noticed I was upset, came over, made me feel better, took me home, and then stayed the night."
Caroline looked like she was ready to squeal in excitement and was waiting for Gwen to join her. Gwen, for her part, wasn't sure if she should be excited. Matt was nice enough, but he was clearly still hung up on Elena.
"You had sex?" Gwen asked, wanting to make sure she understood.
Caroline balked. "No, he just stayed over. It was nice. It turns out we actually have a lot in common."
"Oh, all right. Well, that's cool, I guess." Gwen's lukewarm response was clearly not what Caroline had wanted if her glare was any indication. "I'm sorry. It's very exciting, really. I didn't sleep well last night."
"Fine," Caroline huffed, sinking into the couch. Back to pouting it was, then. Gwen could feel her annoyance growing but forced herself to take a minute and calm down. She couldn't afford to lose Caroline as a friend. Plus, no one had seen that side of her here. She wanted to keep it in the past.
"Listen, let me get cleaned up and we'll go out for some…" she paused, glancing at the clock behind her. "Dinner? But not at the Grill. You can tell me every detail and we'll dissect until it doesn't mean anything anymore."
Caroline brightened again. "Finally, some enthusiasm. You go shower because, and no offense, you stink, and I'll pick a place from the many dining options of Mystic Falls."
Caroline decided on Tony's, the only pizza place in town. It was on the edge of downtown, in the newer part, which was perfect. It was far enough from the Grill that Gwen didn't worry about running into anyone. While there was still a lot she didn't know about Damon, she knew he was partial to his bourbon. Tony's didn't have a liquor license. That and its small dining room, made it a less popular spot than the Grill.
The girls camped out in a booth and splurged on a large pepperoni pizza. Gwen ate while Caroline filled her in on every detail from her time with Matt. There really wasn't much to analyze, but Gwen played along, nodding and humming in agreement. Occasionally, Caroline asked for her input and she gave a positive, but vague, answer that always seemed to be what Caroline wanted to hear. Gwen may not have cared much about the conversation, but she appreciated the distraction. As they ate and talked, Gwen finally started to feel calm. It was probably all the pizza, putting her into a food coma. She didn't care; she needed to sleep.
They stayed at the restaurant for two hours, ordering dessert so their waiter didn't get annoyed they were hogging a table. Caroline dropped her off at home when they were done eating, saying she'd see Gwen on Monday and to check her phone more often.
"I promise to check it every minute," she joked, laughing as she slammed the car door. Once inside, she made sure to lock the front door. Vampires may not be allowed in without an invite, but that wasn't the same case for humans. Exhausted, she climbed the stairs, hoping for a long and undisturbed sleep.
Gwen slept until late the next morning. She would have slept longer if it hadn't been for the tapping on her window at eleven. She ignored it at first, long used to her winged visitor. As she came to, however, she gradually remembered reading about vampires controlling things, like animals and the weather. Anger surged through her as she jumped out of bed and rushed toward the window, violently throwing aside the curtains and opening the window. Waving her arms and yelling like a lunatic, she scared the bird off.
After closing the window, she collapsed back on her bed. Gwen realized, of course, that it was possible the bird that had been visiting her for almost a month was simply an odd bird. It was also possible that — for whatever reason — Damon had sent it to spy on her. She groaned out of frustration. Something was going to have to change. Gwen couldn't be like this every day. For starters, she couldn't hide out in the house forever. Plus, Ric would probably send her back to therapy if she didn't get her anxiety under control.
Rolling over, she reached for her phone, and was surprised to only find cold pressed wood instead of cold plastic. She lifted her head to see if it was just out of reach, but found it wasn't there at all. Head dropping back to her pillow, Gwen tried to remember where she had it last. While Caroline had harped on her for not answering it, she couldn't remember taking it with her to dinner last night. It must be in the office still, she thought. Figuring she might as well start her day, she got out of bed and slipped on a sweatshirt to shield her against the chill of the air.
Gwen was halfway down the stairs when there was a sudden knock. She stopped, waiting to see what the person did next. There was no way to see who was at the door, not from the stairs anyway. She'd have to walk all the way down and look through the peephole. If it was a person, she could probably do it without alerting them. If it was a vampire, they already knew she was in the house. They knocked again.
"Gwen? Are you in there?" a female voice asked, the intensity of her knocking increasing. Relieved, Gwen descended the remaining steps and opened the door to find Jeremy and Elena's aunt on her front porch. She was bundled up in a puffy coat, gloves, and scarf and was still visibly shivering. The cold air sent a chill through Gwen as she stood at the door. She was grateful she'd grabbed her sweatshirt before coming downstairs.
"Oh, thank god," Jenna sighed. "Is it so hard to answer your phone? I thought your generation was glued to them."
"I, um, left it in the office last night. I think it might be dead," she explained, motioning for Jenna to come inside. It was too cold to stand with the door open; her pajamas weren't enough to combat it. It seemed the weather was finally transitioning from fall into winter. "Is something wrong?"
Jenna shook her head, slightly bouncing on her toes as she tried to warm up. "Ric called. He couldn't get ahold of you and asked me to come check on you."
"Oh, well, I'm fine," Gwen said, awkwardly folding her arms in front of her. She hadn't spent a lot of time with Jenna, though she seemed nice enough. But it was a little weird for her to come check on Gwen.
"I see that. He also asked if I would convince you to come to my house for a bit."
Gwen grimaced, looking for an excuse.
Jenna held up a hand, a look of understanding on her face. "I know, and I told him it would be super weird since we don't really know each other. But," she said, her tone becoming more serious than flippant, "he is worried about you. So why don't we humor him? I'm going to run to the store and get some things for a late lunch-early dinner. You go get dressed and grab any schoolwork you need to do, and I'll pick you up on my way back. It'll just be a couple hours, completely casual. What do you say?"
Gwen hesitated. It was going to be awkward no matter how Jenna tried to spin it. Not only had she not spent a lot of time with Jenna, but she'd barely spoken to Jeremy or Elena. Her lack of interactions with Jeremy made sense; he was younger and hung out with a different crowd. But Gwen spent most of her time with Caroline and Bonnie and had probably talked with Elena for all of ten minutes. But Ric was worried, and she didn't want him to think something was wrong. She hadn't decided if she was going to confront him about searching for Isobel's killer or not.
Nodding, she said, "All right. I'll need twenty, maybe thirty minutes. That ok?"
"Perfect," Jenna said, her words sounding like an almost relieved exhale. She turned toward the door, and then paused. Looking back at Gwen, she said, rather sternly, "Charge your phone and give your uncle a call before his head explodes."
Gwen laughed. "I will, promise."
After Jenna left, Gwen went to the office to find her phone, which was dead. She plugged it in back upstairs in her room, letting in charge while she dressed. As soon as the phone had charged enough to turn back on, Gwen called her uncle, ignore the numerous missed calls and texts.
"Where the fuck have you been?" he snapped, not even bothering with a 'hello.'
"Wow, dramatic much?" she asked.
"I didn't hear from you at all yesterday and you haven't responded to one call this morning. I think I'm entitled."
Gwen paused, considering how she wanted this conversation to go. He may have every right to worry about her, but she had every right to be angry with him. Only he didn't know she did. She decided to play nice, at least for now.
"I'm sorry," she said, hoping she sounded genuinely apologetic. It would be quite the feat considering how annoyed she felt talking to him. "I was working on an assignment all day yesterday and went out with Caroline for dinner. I was so tired when I got back, I just passed out. I didn't realize until this morning that I hadn't charged my phone."
She heard Ric sigh on the other end. He believed her explanation, which he should since it was more or less the truth, and was calming down. Now, she needed to wait. Let him be the first to talk.
"Don't let it happen again, all right?"
"I'll try not to. I don't know why you worry so much," she said, her tone blithe, "it's not like there's any trouble here. Apart from a few animal attacks, it's perfectly safe."
She was baiting him, wanting to see if he would contradict her. He either didn't hear her or chose to ignore her because he didn't say anything. He was so quite that, for a minute, Gwen thought he might have hung up on her.
"Listen," he finally said, sounding distant. "I have to go; I should be home around eight. Are you going to Jenna's."
"Yes, it won't be at all awkward," she said sarcastically, wanting him to know how she felt.
"You'll be fine. Gotta go. Love you."
"Love you, too," she mumbled before ending the call.
Ten minutes later, she was sliding into the passenger's seat of Jenna's car. The Gilbert house was about a fifteen-minute drive from town, twenty-five from Gwen's house. Needless to say, the awkwardness started early. Jenna did her best to make conversation, asking about school and work. Gwen answered, trying to respond with more that short sentences. Honestly, her mind was still a little preoccupied with vampires. A silence fell between them about eight minutes into the drive. Gwen, unable to stand it for long, blurted out the first thing that came to her.
"I think my uncle really likes you," she said quickly, blushing. She was so stupid. It definitely wasn't her place to say anything.
"Oh?" Jenna was surprised, but Gwen thought that might be more to outburst than what she had said. In fact, Jenna looked pleased with the news. Giving Gwen a conspiratorially look, she said, "Between us, I like him, too. But I am a little worried about the situation with his wife. It seems as if he's still dealing with it."
Jenna had no idea. "He is," she admitted. "But, between us, I think he's ready to move on."
"I won't give up hope then," Jenna said optimistically as she turned onto a two-lane road thickly lined on both sides with leafless trees.
After that, the conversation flowed more easily between them. Jenna asked about Gwen photography, which was always something she could talk about. She actually hadn't been taking a lot of photos that weren't somehow related to school. Unless she got an exceptionally unique shot, she had plenty of examples of sports and candid shots of student events for her portfolio. She needed to add more diverse examples, but it was hard to do that with her work schedule. Plus, the town didn't offer much that would make unique or interesting shots. Jenna suggested she check out some the historic buildings, both the ruins and still standing. Gwen nodded thoughtfully; it could be something. Maybe it could be part of a before and after series, if she could find photos of the original structures.
Jenna pulled into the driveway of a two-story home that looked like every other home on the street. As Gwen placed the strap of her bag over head, Jenna walked to the back of the car to grab the groceries.
"Do you need any help?" she asked.
"No, it's just two bags," Jenna said, closing the trunk a moment later.
Gwen waited for Jenna to walk in front, feeling awkward again. She realized Jenna hadn't actually said if Jeremy or Elena were home. It might be less awkward if they weren't, she thought. Jenna seemed pretty cool. But those hopes were dashed when they entered the house and saw Jeremy sitting on the couch. Music played loudly from the TV, which showed the pause screen of a video game. When they walked in, Jeremy had been glancing at a notebook and typing on a laptop. Gwen wondered if he switched activities when he heard the car in the driveway.
"Nice save," Jenna commented, apparently thinking the same as Gwen.
Jeremy laughed, the corner of his mouth twitching up to form a half-smile. "I swear I've been working. I have three pages done, you can check."
"Don't think I won't," Jenna teased. "By the way, do you two know each other?" When they both nodded, Jenna broke into a smile. "Cool. Gwen, you can hang out here while I make us lunch. Jeremy, be a good host."
Jeremy mock-saluted his aunt while Gwen dropped her bag on the couch next to Jeremy. Taking off her outerwear, she asked, "So… what are you working on?"
"It's an extra credit essay for Mr. Saltzman. I mean —"
"It's fine," she said, waving off his worry over calling her uncle by his last name. That's who he was to Jeremy, and she used to her peers referring to him as "Mr. Saltzman." Sitting down on the couch, she asked "What topic did he give you?"
"Actually, he, uh, he let me pick. It had to be about local history so I'm basing it after one of my ancestor's journals. He was alive during the Civil War. Wrote about some pretty crazy stuff."
"Oh yeah? Like what?"
"Here," Jeremy said, picking up an old, leather journal and handing it to her. "Take a look. Spring and summer of 1864 are, uh, particularly interesting."
Gwen gently took the book from him, flipping through the pages until she found some pages within the timeframe he'd mentioned. As she read, her stomach tightened. Jeremy's ancestor wrote about mysterious attacks, and bodies found drained of blood with violent wounds on their necks. Unlike today, however, the author and the rest of the town seemed to know the source of the attacks was vampires. In fact, they believed the town was overrun with them.
"Crazy, right?" Jeremy asked after she'd read a few pages. Mouth dry, Gwen could only nod, but he didn't notice the lack of enthusiasm in her response. "I have this friend who's convinced what Jonathan Gilbert wrote about the vampires is true. She's even found "mysterious" attacks going back decades."
"So what? The town's haunted by a blood thirsty monster?" Gwen asked, working to make her tone light and derisive.
Jeremy shrugged. "I don't know. I think Johnathan Gilbert believed they were real. There's a bit of a crazy gene in the family. I'm taking the approach that the vampire myth was used to marginalize outsiders even further and justify violence used against them."
"Afraid people will think you're crazy if you side with your ancestor?" she teased, passing the journal back to him.
"It's probably too late on that front," Jeremy acknowledged, looking somber for a moment before shaking it off and returning to his easygoing manner. "Anyway, think I'll get an A?"
"Definitely," Gwen said, her mind drifting back to the many files of research on vampires in Ric's office. "It's got mystery and layers. It's his favorite kind of history."
For the next hour, the two teens alternated between homework and video games. Meanwhile, Jenna worked in the kitchen on their meal and, feeling guilty, Gwen asked if she needed any help. Jenna declined, telling her not worry about it but maybe she and Jeremy could set the table in a bit. Gwen returned to proofreading her English essay. Her analysis of the collection of poems her teacher had assigned wasn't bad, but her conclusion was fairly weak. She'd never been good at those.
"Where's your bathroom?" she asked, stretching out the stiffness in her back from hunching over her paper for so long. She really needed to work on her posture.
Still focused on his video game, Jeremy said, "You'll have to use the one upstairs. The one down here isn't working. First door on your left."
"Thanks."
Gwen climbed the stairs, passing pictures of Jeremy and Elena at various stages in their lives. Some were the classic school photos or the studio portraits of the whole family, and there were a few candid shots mixed in. It was a nice layout; something to be found in any normal family home. Except hers and Ric's. After her mom died, Gwen had packed up all their family photos. They were still in the original box from two years ago, and Ric hadn't even tried to get her to unpack them this time. Gwen continued up the stairs, wondering if Elena or Jeremy had wanted to take down their photos and Jenna had stopped them. Or maybe they didn't bother them the way Gwen's pictures had bothered her.
As she reached the top of the stairs, Gwen heard people talking. Startled at first, she quickly remembered Elena lived there and that it must have been her talking a friend. However, she did think it was odd no one had mentioned she was home or had someone over. She about to pass by to the bathroom, not wanting them to catch her and think she was eavesdropping. But Elena's next question changed that.
"What are we going to do about Damon?" Elena asked, unease evident in her voice. "He hurt Caroline, killed Lexi, and almost killed Bonnie tonight. We can't let him get into that tomb. How do we stop him?"
"We don't," someone said. As the second person continued talking, Gwen realized it was Stefan. "He's not going to stop until he gets into that tomb. The only way to prevent him for hurting more people is to help him."
"What?" Elena asked sharply, disgusted at the suggestion.
As she listened to Stefan's calm explanation from the stairs, Gwen began to feel like she had when she'd seen Damon attack the girl. Gripping the rail for support, she turned around and went back downstairs, forgetting why she'd gone up in the first place.
The vampire situation in Mystic Falls was far worse than she'd thought, and it sounded like it wasn't going to get better anytime soon.
