Chapter 5
Living in this big blue world
With my head up in outer space
I know I'll be A-O, A-O-K
I know I'll be A-O, A-O-K
When I see trouble come my way
I be makin' lemonade
I know I'll be A-O, A-O-K
I know I'll be A-O, A-O-K
AOK – Tai Verdes
Alone at last. With Tyler and Matt at Duke's party I decided to stay home and relax rather than deal with drunk idiots. As I lay on my bed reading a book my phone goes off Bonnie. "Hey Bonnie what's up" I ask into the phone. "Hey Annie, Grams and I are just about to pull up to your house can you come chat with us for a minute" "ummmm okay? Why is your grams with you?" I inquire. Letting out a sigh Bonnie says "please just come down" "okay, be right there". So weird I think to myself as I grab a sweater and put it on over my tanks top and shorts. Running down stairs, I open the front door to see Bonnie and her Grams, Sheila, making their way up the front stairs. "Hello child, do you remember me?" asks Sheila once her and Bonnie reached the top of the stairs. "I know you are Bonnie's grandma if that is what you are asking?" Turning to Bonnie I whisper "What is going on Bonnie" Bonnie gestures to her Grams and as I turn back towards her Sheila reaches her hand out and touches my forehead as she states "now you remember".
Light. Pure white light. Then me, as a child. "Look Ms. Shelia I can make the flowers dance!" crouching in front of me a younger version of Sheila takes hold of my hands "good child, no focus on drawing the energy from you amulet and make the flowers fly" nodding my head I take hold of the purple amulet around my neck and pull with my mind. In doing do the dancing flowers begin to rise higher and higher. As I open my eyes I yell out "Look, look. I did it MS. Shelia." Letting out a short laugh Shelia nods "now pull them back down child"….
Suddenly the light fades out and I return to the room with Shelia and Bonnie. As my vision comes to I make eye contact with Shelia and say "I am a witch, you taught me how to be a witch" "Yes but for your safety your mother, before she died, asked me to block your gifts and memories of being a witch" "Why would she do that" I demand. "I will explain everything to you later but right now we need your help?" Looking between Bonnie and Sheila I nod my head "let's go". Before anyone can move to leave Shelia thrusts her hand towards me with a familiar purple amulet held within. "Take this child you will need it, now let's move" state Shelia.
On the drive to the vampire tomb Bonnie explains what is going on with the vampires, Katherine, and the Salvatore brothers. After we park, the three of us make our way on foot to the tomb entrance. From the entrance emerges Stefan "Cleared the debris away. Set the torches like you asked. We can get down now." As Stefan places his shovel down, I notice various cans of what appears to be gasoline "What is that?" I ask him "It's everything I need to destroy them" Nodding silently I see Stefan hand Sheila a flashlight as she asks "Are you sure that Damon will come back with her?" From behind us a whistle sounds, turning to face the sound Damon walks towards us with Elena behind him "Brother. Witches, plus one" without stopping Damon makes his way into the tomb as Elena stops beside us. "Everything okay?" Stefan asks Elena "I just want to get this over with. Are we ready?" Asks Elena "I guess so" responds Bonnie as we all descend into the tomb. Within the tomb Sheila begins lighting torches as Bonnie and I stand beside her "Air. Earth. Fire." "water" states Bonnie as she passes a bottle of water to her Grams. Sheila begins sprinkling the water as Elena asks "That's it? Just water from the tap?" "As opposed to what?" responds Sheila "I just figured maybe it would have to be blessed or mystical or something." Letting out a short laugh I notice a smirk on Sheila's face as she shakes her head. After a moment of checking the spell over Bonnie announces "We are ready" are we though I ask myself. Gesturing for Bonnie and I to stand with her, Sheila states "Annie I want you to focus on powering up the spell, use the power from your amulet and channel it" "what? You don't want me to say the spell?" I ask "no dear, you are a power source" Nodding, I step towards her and take her and Bonnie's outstretched hands. As they begin chanting, I close my eyes and tilt my head down. Power, find the power. Just as I am about to give up, I feel a whisper along my spine. Straightening my back, I reach for it and pull. The amulet around my neck begins to warm and around me I feel the torches burn brighter than I hear stone moving. From beside me I hear Bonnie whisper "It worked" opening my eyes. I turn towards the entrance as Sheila states "Of course it worked." Looking towards Stefan Damon asks "Don't you have some fires to build" turning towards Elena Stefan gently tells her "I'm going to go get the gasoline, I'll be right back." As Elena nods, Stefan makes his way out of the tomb. Damon then turns to the three of us and with an inquisitive look on his face he holds his hand out to Elena" You ready?" "What?" responds Elena, turning back to us Damon says "You think I'm going to go in there by myself so you can seal me in?" As Damon grabs Elena's arm and pulls her to him Sheila announces "Don't take her in. I'll bring the walls down."" You'll bring the walls down if I don't. You think I trust you?" "As much as I trust you." Retorts Damon. Finally speaking up Elena announces "Enough. Both of you. Look, he needs leverage. He needs to know that you're not going to shut the door when he gets inside. I get it. I'll go." As Damon grabs a torch, Elena nods reassuringly at us before following Damon into the tomb.
As we wait for Stefan, we hear footsteps coming down the stairs. "Hey, you're not going in there!" announces Bonnie as girl I don't recognize comes into view and responds "You think you can stop me?" Stepping towards Bonnie, Sheila states "Bonnie…" With an annoyed look on her face Bonnie steps away from the girl. At the same time the girl grabs a flashlight from the ground before making her way into the tomb. Bonnie turns to Sheila and angerly asks "Why did you let her go in?" "Because she isn't coming out, baby. None of them are." Responds Sheila. "What! What about Elena?" I ask, shaking her head Sheila responds "she is human she can come out but the vampires can't." After a moment Stefan makes his way down the stairs towards us "Where's Elena?" "Damon took her inside" tells Bonnie "What!" exclaims Stefan as he rushes towards the door. As Stefan makes his way to the door to find Elena Sheila grabs his arm "Stefan! If you go in there, you won't come out" "What did you do?" "Opening the door didn't remove the seal, it just opened the door." "What's the seal?" he asks. "Some seals keep vampires from entering. This one keeps them from coming out." "Elena's human. She can leave. Anna and Katherine can't. Damon can't. You were never planning on breaking the spell, were you?" Accuses Stefan. "I told you. I will protect my own. Elena can get out. That's all that matters." Looking on in disbelief the moment is shattered by Elena screaming from inside the tomb. Suddenly Stefan runs and enters the tomb. At the same time Bonnie and I rush towards him yelling "Stefan" as Sheila steps in front of us blocking the way "He made his choice!" "no" Responds Bonnie as she turns towards the grimoire and picks it up before looking towards Sheila and saying "Just show me what to do. I'll do it.". Shaking her head at her granddaughter. Sheila responds, "We are not strong enough. Even if we were able to bring the seal down, there's no guarantee that we could get it back up again." "You said it yourself; many things can fuel a witch's power. Help me or I'll do it alone." Stepping towards Bonnie I disagree "No, you are not doing this alone. I will help you." Smiling at me Bonnie then looks expectantly towards Sheila.
Looking through the grimoire the three of us are interrupted by Elena running out of the tomb. "Elena, Stefan..." "He's right behind me." From behind Elena, Stefan walks forward stopping at the entrance with a forlorn look on his face. "Stefan, what are you doing?" inquires Elena. "It's going to be okay. We'll fix it." Announces Bonnie from beside me as I nod in agreeance. Looking towards Stefan, Elena asks him "What is it?" "I can't." "Can't? Can't what?". Stepping away from Bonnie and Sheila towards Elena, I gently tell her "The spell's still up. We can't get them out yet." Without looking towards me Elena asks Stefan "You went in there not knowing if you could come back out?" Without giving a verbal answer Stefan looks down as Elena responds "Oh my god" "I heard you scream." He utters. "We can't leave him in there. We promised him. Both of us." "I know." From behind me Sheila states "Even if we're able to break through the seal, we won't be able to hold it for long." With a nod and solemn look at Elena Stefan turns and makes his way deeper into the tomb. Standing in our original circle Bonnie and Sheila begin chanting as I focus on pulling power from my amulet to help the spell. From around us the torches flare and Elena states "I think it's working." The unfamiliar girl steps forward from the entrance supporting a grey wilted looking figure "I just wanted my mother back. Jeremy's fine. He's outside. I won't touch him" she tells Elena. From beside me I feel Bonnie shake and stop chanting "Bonnie, keep going!" exclaims Sheila. Focusing on Elena, Sheila adds "They better hurry." Yelling into the tomb Elena says "Stefan, they can't hold it much longer!" After a moment of further chanting Bonnie falls into Sheila "Oh my God. I can't!" pushing her back up Sheila states "Yes, you can." Suddenly the sound of stone moving emerges as the torches go out. Opening my eyes I see that Damon, Stefan, and Elena are standing safely by us.
After helping Bonnie bring Sheila back home Bonnie and I get to work making tea as Elena talks to Stefan on the phone. "I am going to bring this to grams, '' says Bonnie. Nodding in response I watch Bonnie walk away. Everything will be okay, I think to myself. Breaking through my thoughts I hear Bonnie yelling and crying "Grams! Grams, wake up! Grams! Grams!" Breaking out of our shock Elena and I run to where Bonnie is and see her crying, shaking Sheila to try and wake her up. "Help! Wake up! She's not breathing! She's just not breathing! Please, wake up!" Cries Bonnie as she hears us enter the room. Elena runs out of the room and calls 911 as Bonnie starts rambling "I'm gonna fix it! It's okay, I can fix this!" Grabbing her grimoire off the side table I realize what Bonnie is going to try. Rushing towards her I grab her hands Bonnie... Bonnie. You can't fix this'' I tell her as I pull her in for a hug.
That night a different dream plagues me. Or should I say memory plagues me.
"Mommy, Mommy! Chase me!" a 7-year-old version of me screeches at a woman that I barely recognize. As the figure turns around all I can think is Mom. "Come here Annie we need to chat" mom announces as she waves me towards her. Grumbling under my breath my young self makes their way over to her. Picking me up and sitting us down on a chair she pets my hair and tells me "Your father wants to meet you Annie but we have to have a big rule. No telling him you are a witch or a siphon. He can not know. Okay Annie." Glancing up at her with a confused look I ask "but why mommy. Won't he love me anyways?" "Oh Annie, I have no doubt that he will love you. But the supernatural is a whole other story. He can't know honey." "Okay mommy I won't tell him." "Not just tell. You can't use any magic while you see him." Pouting towards her I agree. After a moment I see myself settle onto her lap and lean into her neck. Jasmine and vanilla, I think to myself. A smell I could never forget.
