Chapter 18
Close your eyes
Give me your hand, darling
Do you feel my heart beating?
Do you understand?
Do you feel the same?
Am I only dreaming?
Is this burning an eternal flame?
Eternal Flame – The Bangles
"I'm sorry what did you just say?" I whisper yell as I slam my locker shut and turn to face Elena. "Katherine escaped the tomb after Alaric staked Elijah." She restates to me. "Do Bonnie and Caroline know?" I ask. Shaking her head at me Elena responds "Not yet. I just found out myself Annie." "Okay that fine but they are both going to be pissed and for very different reasons." "Well, it's not like I did it Annie." Scathes Elena. "Whoa hold up. I didn't say you did anything I was making a statement. Calm down." I tell Elena with a raised brow. Slowly she nods towards me and mutters "sorry." "Don't worry about it. Its stressful. I get it." "God Annie. What are we going to do" Elena mutters as we start to walk down the hall. I wish I knew the answer Elena, I really do. Turning my head towards Elena as we walk, I whisper, "How is Bonnie dealing with loosing her powers?" Shaking her head at me Elena responds "Not good. I am worried this will push her over the top. But her Caroline, and I were thinking of having a girl's night. Want to join?" "Of course, I will" I tell Elena with as much enthusiasm as I can muster, which is not a lot.
After a quick call from Bonnie, I skip the rest of my classes to meet her and Stefan at the grill. Sitting with them, beside Bonnie, I see Jonas and Luka make their way over. "Thank you for coming." Says Stefan as the two of them sit in the remaining chairs. "I didn't want to but my son made a case to hear you out." Slightly sneer Jonas. "Bonnie said that you have information about Elijah." In jumps Luka. Stefan and I glance at Bonnie as Stefan says "Elijah's dead. I'm sorry." Quickly Jonas stands to leave but finds himself with Stefan's hand on his shoulder "Hear me out. We can help you." Says Stefan. "We know that Klaus has your daughter. I'm sorry about the way I had to get that information, but it's good that we know. We can all work together to get her back." Adds Bonnie. Looking between the three of us Jonas sneers "And why would I want to work with a powerless witch, and weak vampire, and a siphon. Doesn't sound helpful to me." As I stare down Jonas, I hear Stefan let out a sigh before he responds "I suspect that you and Elijah had a plan to kill Klaus. Let us help you carry it out. You can trust us. I give you, my word. We all do."
"Chinese food or pizza?" Asks Caroline as the four of us stand around Elena's kitchen. "Like you have to ask." Responds Elena. "I will get it." Says Caroline as she pulls out her tablet. Glancing at her I notice a look of sadness cross her face. On the tablet is a photo of her and Matt. "I'll do it." Announces Bonnie as she grabs the tablet from Caroline. "Do you believe that Jonas is being sincere?" Asks Elena towards Bonnie and I. "Seems highly suspicious that they were unable to find a sight of a massacre. It feels like a set up to be honest." I say to them both. "I don't know what to believe. I think he's at a loss. He's not sure who to trust." Says Bonnie. "Join the club." Mutters Elena. Jumping into the conversation with her typical enthusiasm Caroline asks "Well, what are we going to do about this movie situation? What about The Notebook?" The three of us shakes our heads and groan as Elena asks "Caroline, how many times have you seen that movie?" "That is so not the point." "Well, yeah, I mean..." Starts Elena as Jenna walks into the kitchen. "Hey." Says Elena. "What's going on?" asks Jenna looking around the four of us. "Girls' night." "Oh" "How are you doing?" asks Elena. "You heard about my fight with Ric." Giving Jenna a small smile Elena adds "He feels terrible." "Is this some kind of disguised attempt to cheer me up?" Accuses Jenna. Looking towards us Elena responds "No. No, this is about us girls hanging out and you know, we'll be here if you happen to want to talk, or..." "Because I am a winner when it comes to successful relationships." Caroline jumps in. "Not like I am any better. I haven't been in a relationship in years." I add with a laugh. Turning to the fridge Jenna opens it and adds "It's this whole Isobel thing. He's hiding something from me." "To play devil's advocate, maybe there is a great reason why he's not telling you. Maybe he is just trying to protect you." Adds Caroline. "Well, that's not his call to make. I mean, I deserve the truth. Everybody does." "Sometimes it's harder than that." "Not if it's somebody you care about, it isn't." Giving Jenna a nod Caroline turns to us and announces "You know what we need? Dancing. There is a band at the Grill." The four of us nod in agreement. More people just what I want. I think to myself as Caroline jumps and clamps with excitement.
At the grill Jenna immediately sees Alaric and goes for a drink while Matt walks past us. "Hey, Matt." says Caroline with a smile that dies as he ignores her and continues walking. "Things just got really awkward." Shares Bonnies as I give her a nod in agreement. Caroline, Bonnie, Elena, and I make our way closer to the band as Caroline tells us about what happened with Matt. "He said the balls in your court." Asks Bonnie." "Yeah, but I can't do anything about it." Responds Caroline. "Why not? All you do is talk about how much you care about him." "Yeah, but I am still keeping so many secrets." "Alaric's in the same boat with Jenna and maybe that's our mistake. We're trying to protect the people that we love by keeping them out of it, but in the end, we're hurting them anyway." Adds Elena. Around us the bands song ends and with a determined look Caroline takes her jacket off and gives it to Elena. "What are you doing? Where are you going?" Asks Elena as Caroline makes her way to the stage. Once on the stage Caroline's takes over the mic "Hey, everybody. Let's hear it for the band! Weren't they awesome?" She says with a smile and a clap. "So, there's this guy. And, uh, he told me to tell him how I feel about him. Like it's so easy. Um, you know, just 'cause I talk a lot doesn't mean I always know what I'm actually talking about. Ah, like now, I'm feeling loopy and I don't really know how to express myself." Rants Caroline as the lead singer approaches her. He tries to take the mic from her as she quickly says "I can sing. Yeah! Yeah. You know what, I'm going to sing." Turning to Elena and Bonnie I mouth 'sing' to them as they shake their heads in confusion. Back on stage the singer approaches Caroline and she says something off mic to him before he walks away and begins to play music. From behind us Jenna approaches and whispers to us "she's good" "Yeah" responds Elena. As the song ends, I spot Matt making his way on to the stage and before I know it Caroline and Matt are kissing in front of everyone. From beside me I hear the girls start to cheer and with a laugh I join in.
After running into Elena with Bonnie and them having the awkward dating your brother talk, Bonnie and I find ourselves making eye contact as we watching Jonas enter the grill. I follow behind Bonnie as she makes her way over to him. "Dr. Martin. You, okay?" "Where is she?" he responds. Both Bonnie and I give him a confused look as Bonnie says "I don't understand." "My son is dead." Announces Jonas with an anguish laced tone. "Whatever it is you think you need to do, there's a better way." Bonnie tries to tell him. "They killed Elijah and they killed Luka and my only shot at getting my daughter back is if I have Elena." Shaking her head Bonnie responds, "No. No, Dr. Martin." Suddenly the stage lights burst, and I feel Bonnie reach towards me and grab my arm. "Where is she?" He demands. "I don't know. I haven't seen her." Around us the rest of the lights in the grill burst and go out. After a moment Jonas tells us "No one's getting out of here until I have her." Don't do this. Please don't do this." says Bonnie as she steps towards him. Behind us bottles burst and fire erupts from the bar top as Jonas reaches out and touches Bonnies forehead. Without warning Bonnie collapses. Step towards Jonas I say "wha-" "Don't even think about it siphon. I will take you down too," he interrupts. As I step back and kneel by Bonnie I hear Matts voice as he rushes towards us "Bonnie! Hey, Bonnie!" As Matt kneels beside me Bonnie starts to wake up and, in the distance, I hear Elena address Jonas. "Dr. Martin! I'm so sorry about Luka. I never wanted that to happen, but...at least let us help you get your daughter back." As we are fussing over Bonnie I suddenly hear Caroline scream. Turning I see her grabbing her head and Jonas staring her down. Aneurysm spell. Without more though I use my powers and pull his spell from Caroline. At the same time Matt rushes Jonas and pushes him against a nearby wall. As if in slow motion, I watch as Jonas grabs a broken bottle and stabs Matt in the neck with it.
Once Caroline saves Matts life, I find myself home as my friends continue to fuss over Elena. My bubble of self-pity is burst when my phone goes off. Bonnie. "Hey how are you feeling?" I ask as I answer my phone. "I am okay. Well better than okay actually. When Jonas touched me, her gave me my powers back… and…" Pauses Bonnie. "And what?" I ask her. "I know how to kill Klaus or at least how Jonas was going to do it." "What do you was?" "Katherine and Damon killed him when he tried to attack Elena when they came home." "Wow. I would ask if this town could get any crazier, but I don't want to jinx it. Now, tell me how we are going to kill Klaus."
