Me and Jeremy were jogging, the weather was fine, the mood... not so much. I mean I was fine, obviously, I was used to early wake ups, Jeremy on the other hand... he should have been used to it as well as it wasn't our first time, but I suppose he just wasn't a morning person. He was whining at first, cursing me for torturing him, but I gradually increased the speed and eventually he didn't have much breath to spend it on a chit-chat, so by the time when we stopped in front of our house, he looked... well... battered.
"You... became... faster. What the hell... was that?! Are you on steroids or something?" He managed to croak out eventually.
"Maybe it's you who became lazy, little brother," I laughed and patted him on his wet back before heading to the front door.
We heard Jenna's voice as soon as we entered the house.
"Do I look adult? As in respectfully parental?" We heard her asking... Elena, I guess, as she hadn't seen me and Jeremy yet, so that was the only logical option.
"Depends on where you are going?" Elena answered and we were finally able to actually see them. Jenna was standing in front of a mirror, putting her hair up and down, trying to see whichever way suited her best.
"Jeremy's parent-teacher conference." I looked at Jeremy raising my eyebrow at him, as if asking "what the hell did you do now?" but he just groaned, bumping his head to a nearby wall, making me close my mouth with my hand in attempt to suppress my laughter. "Hair up or down?" Jenna asked putting her hair up.
"Up, definitely, up," I finally butted in, startling them. "You look more presentable like that. And hotter." I winked at her making her roll her eyes in mock annoyance.
"Look at you two!" She exclaimed observing me and Jeremy. "Was Jeremy the only one running?"
Her question confused me, so I looked at both of us closely for the first time, and immediately understood what she meant. I was dry and shiny, while Jeremy... well, let's just say he looked like he fell in a pool on a way here.
"Actually she ran longer and farther than me. I couldn't keep up with her." Jeremy said before heading upstairs. "I'm gonna take a shower."
"Yeah me too," I said following him. "Help yourselves to the pancakes, ladies. I've made plenty when I woke up."
"When did she even wake up then?" I heard Elena asking in shock.
"At an ungodly hour, obviously." Jenna answered disapprovingly.
Oh Aunt Jenna you have no idea how right you are.
During the whole history class I was thinking about my nightmares that had grown stronger recently. They were obviously bound to my mental condition and I've been feeling like shit recently, so...
I missed Nik. With every day that had been lived through without him I was feeling like he didn't even exist in the first place. My life just became mundane again, the school, the people, everything was as boring as usual, and sometimes I had these weird thoughts that my meeting with Nik was just a dream, that my sick mind was playing games with me. And only his constant phone calls, and the fact that I knew for sure that he missed me as much as I missed him, helped me to stay sane.
There was another thing. I hinted a few times that it would've been amazing if he visited me here in Mystic Falls, that I would like to introduce him to my family, but he kept finding some excuses. I mean I knew that he'd been busy lately, but it still bugged me a little.
The other thing that kept bothering me more and more, was my incompetence in breaking the seal. I haven't said it out loud, but I was feeling hopeless. What on earth should I do, how much magic should I use to finally be free? There was no answer.
My family obviously noticed my condition. I knew that they were worried, but they didn't say anything yet, and I was grateful for that, as I had no idea what I should tell them. They knew nothing about the supernatural, ergo I couldn't tell them about my problems. And I found myself wanting desperately to tell them the truth. Eventually they should know. They were from a founding family, and I knew that our parents wanted to tell them (meaning all of us, they didn't know that I was aware of the supernatural world) when they turned 17. And now I was the only one that could tell them and I didn't know where to start, and honestly, I was a little scared. How would they react when they'd find out about the creatures that go bump in the night? When they'd find out about me?
So, you can say that I was waiting for the perfect opportunity, and something was telling me that I would get one sooner rather than later.
I walked out of the classroom with Bonnie and Caroline, deep in my thoughts, until Caroline said what had attracted my attention.
"I'm confused. Are you psychic or clairvoyant?"
Where did that come from?
"Technically, Grams says I'm a witch. My ancestors were these really cool Salem witch chicks or something. Grams tried to explain it all, but she was looped on the liquor, so I kinda tuned out. Crazy family? Yes. Witches? I don't think so." Bonnie snorted rolling her eyes at her Grams' antics.
Huh, so I guess, Sheila had finally come to her senses and tried to have the talk with her granddaughter, but failed miserably. Have I told you that she was doing a shitty job? Yes? Well, a little reminder wouldn't hurt.
Really cool Salem witch chicks she said, I bet they are very proud right now, watching their descendant from the Other Side.
I separated from them, quietly laughing at Bonnie's antics. That was fun and all, but I had an MMA training ahead of me, and after that I'm meeting with the girls at the Grill. I wanted to drag Jeremy along as well as I had threatened him to, but I couldn't find him anywhere, so I decided to bring him next time.
An hour later I walked into the gym, already in my training clothes and went to my usual spot to warm up. My training turned into fighting with my shadow lately, as no one of my sparring buddies wanted to spar with me anymore. Even Malcolm, 2 feet tall, bulky African-American guy, who was the only one who dared to spar with me as of late, bailed after calling me a wild cat.
My trainer said that not only I became a lot more stronger lately, but my attitude and fighting style became more fierce and violent as well. So he announced today, smiling happily, that he'd made some new training complex for me, which worried me a little as he was former special forces in Vietnam, who smiled only once or twice a year and only on special occasions.
I was right to be cautious, as he showed me a huge tire, which no doubt used to belong to a tractor or something, since it was twice my size, and told me that I would be running with it chained to my waist with a special vest from now on. Oh, joy.
So you can already guess what condition I was in when I remembered that I've promised girls to meet them at the Grill after the training.
My hands were wobbly at first, but I managed to drive safely. Cars were still a painful reminder that life was short and I was only mortal human, yeah with magic, but not with supernatural healing.
I parked my car near The Grill and walked to the girls, who were sitting at the table outside. I sat down heavily, just waving instead of greeting them properly and put my head on my hands that were lying on the table.
"Hey," Elena said gently, caressing my back. "How are you?"
"Tired," I mumbled. "My coach was extra cheerful today, making me train to death." I took a heavy sigh and raised my head looking at the girls sitting around the table, before stopping my gaze on my sister. "I've seen you talking to Matt at school. How's the bitch doing? Please tell me she's dying," I pleaded taking a sip from Elena's glass of ice tea.
"Thalia!" she said scoldingly, ignoring Caroline's laugh. Even Bonnie tried to hide her smirk in her own glass of... whatever she was drinking. "She's fine," Elena finally said after stopping burning a hole in me with her accusing glare. "She lost a lot of blood but she'll be fine, eventually. Apparently she was on some serious drugs as she told Matt that she was attacked by a vampire. Can you believe that?"
I nearly choked on my... Elena's drink, when I heard that. What the hell? Could Damon be any more obvious?
"And that doesn't surprise me at all," Caroline scoffed, sharing my burning despise to the druggie. "So then what?" She suddenly asked Elena, obviously continuing the conversation they were having before I got here.
"So then nothing." My sister shrugged.
Was it just me, or did she just sound a little bit defensive?
"You and Stefan talked all night? There was no sloppy first kiss or touchy feely of any kind?" Caroline continued hoping to get some juicy details.
"Nope. We didn't go there."
"Not even a handshake?" Caroline asked desperately, making me laugh. "I mean, Elena, we are your friends, okay? You are supposed to share the smut."
"We just talked for hours." Elena shook her head stubbornly.
"Yeah that's true," I finally decided to defend my little sister's purity. "That was a little boring, but cute."
"Hey!" Elena yelled, blushing furiously. "You were eavesdropping?"
"Of course not, I had more important things to do," I replied rolling my eyes at her. "I heard some snippets of your conversation when I was leaving, then again when I came back. They were talking about books, can you believe that?" I said mockingly, turning to Caroline and Bonnie, who burst into laughter.
"Okay, that's enough," Elena huffed, standing up quickly.
"Where are you going?" Bonnie inquired, confused with her friend's sudden mood change.
"Caroline's right. It is easy. If I sit here long enough, I'll end up talking myself out of it instead of doing what I started the day saying I was going to do."
And just like that she stormed off.
"She's feisty today," I said proudly.
"You are not gonna go with her?" Bonnie asked curiously.
"Nah. This battle she will have to fight alone."
After almost an hour of chitchat and gossip, I finally waved goodbye to the girls and was about to head home, when I glimpsed Jeremy sitting inside the restaurant. I approached him quietly, trying to figure out why he was sitting there all alone, and saw him drawing something in his favorite sketchbook. I looked above his shoulder and saw the sketches of different fictional creatures.
"Nice," I said making him raise his head in alert. He didn't like showing that hobby of his to others. I sat down across from him and saw him relax a little bit.
"Thanks," he simply said returning to his notebook.
"So why are you here, all alone?"
"Jenna's at home. And after that meeting she had with Mr. Tanner I don't want to be anywhere near her just yet," he shrugged indifferently.
"What did the dick want from you?" I asked trying to hide my anger.
"He told her that I was on drugs or something like that. And that I skipped some of his classes."
"This whole situation with drugs is getting on my nerves. Someone is definitely trying to spread those rumors about you. And you and I know for sure who that is. That bitch will regret that she didn't die that night. I swear, I will kill her myself." Then I sighed tiredly, Jeremy didn't deserve this crap. "Let's go home, I'll take care of Jenna."
He silently stood up and followed me to my car. He was too quiet and I didn't like that. I didn't like that at all. This whole situation was affecting him more than he would admit. And now he was scared that Aunt Jenna wouldn't believe him too.
I was desperately searching for something to lighten his mood, when I remembered the conversation I had with Caroline earlier this day and casually said, trying to hide the smirk that was threatening to appear on my face
"Caroline told me that a friend of hers from a cheerleading squad, Bethany, told her that her little sister, who's in your grade by the way, is having a massive crush on you. Of course it was meant to be a secret, but you know Caroline, she can't keep secrets from me." I was watching him discreetly the whole time, and had to fight with myself to hold in laughter. He tried to play it cool, and pretend that he wasn't interested, but, his ears were blushing profusely giving him away. He was so cute when he was embarrassed. He didn't say anything so I continued. "I think her name is Emily, Emily... Jackson? Jones...?"
"Johnson. Emily Johnson. We have English together. And Biology... and Math..." he said quietly, but I continued as if I didn't hear him.
"Yeah, Johnson, right. Bethany said that apparently she was into you for quite some time now, but she's like very shy, and when she finally gathered the courage to approach you, well... it wasn't the right time. I heard she's cute."
"Yeah she is," he whispered still avoiding my gaze. I just smiled proudly, I did a pretty good job.
When we arrived home Jenna and Elena were sitting in the kitchen, so I gestured Jeremy to go to his room and joined them.
"He's on the rebound and has raging family issues," Elena said sighing heavily.
"Well, at least it's an ex-girlfriend. Wait till you date a guy with mommy issues or cheating issues. Or amphetamine issues." Wow Jenna, you disturbingly know a lot about... issues. Then she turned to me. "Have you seen Jeremy?"
"Yeah, he's in his room. And actually I wanted to talk to you about him," I said seriously. I poured myself some orange juice, gathering my thoughts before starting the conversation. "He's not on drugs. He has started smoking a while ago, yes, but he's clean now. Someone has been spreading those rumors about him at school, and so probably Tanner heard them as well, that's why he started this conversation with you in the first place. Or he was just being a dick, I can't say for sure. The point is, Jeremy's not showing it, but he's hurt because no one believes him, including you two." I gave them a disappointed look, making them avoid my accusing gaze. At least they looked guilty
"I didn't know who to believe," Jenna said defending herself. "I didn't want to accuse him of lying, but his teacher said those things, and I'm really concerned. Maybe I believed Tanner that easily because some part of me expected that from Jeremy, I mean he's young and he's coping. I wouldn't approve it, but wouldn't be surprised either."
"Hey, have a little faith in him, okay?" I said giving her a quick hug. "He will be fine. We all will be fine." Elena quickly joined us too, that girl really loved hugs. "So how was your trip to Casa de Salvatore?" I asked turning to Elena.
"Apparently, Stefan has a brother. His name's Damon and their relationship with Stefan is a little bit tense. He told me about Stefan's ex, Kathrine, or something like that."
That whole situation was really bothering her, so I supposed she was into Stefan more than I thought.
"Just talk to Stefan. If they have such a "tense" relationship, I wouldn't be surprised if that Damon guy just lied to mess with Stefan," I suggested her.
Actually, after I heard him saying to Stefan that he promised him eternity of misery, I wouldn't be surprised if he made this whole thing with Stefan being on a rebound up.
"I know, I will try." Oh, my poor sister, what would you do if you found out who he was? "Anyways, me Caroline and Bonnie are going to hand out pamphlets tomorrow. Are you coming?"
I almost groaned out loud. I hate handing out pamphlets, I always look like an idiot. Caroline talked me into doing that last year, and I promised myself, no more! I had more important things to do anyway. That comet passes by only once in 145 years or something, I wasn't gonna let that opportunity slip through my fingers. What can I say, I was becoming desperate.
"No, I don't think so, I'm sorry. I have something else to do, so I won't be coming home tonight."
"But you will come to watch the comet, right?" She asked hopefully and I felt really bad for upsetting her.
"I don't think so, honey. I will try, but I won't promise anything. I'm sorry."
"No, it's okay. I'm just..." she stopped, looking at me with her huge brown eyes filled with concern, and I could easily guess what she wanted to say, so I felt myself tensing a little bit. "Be careful, okay?" She said in the end, not what I expected her to say.
"I will, I promise." I kissed her on a forehead, before waving them goodbye and leaving the kitchen. I needed to pack.
I got to my room and took out Nefeli's Grimoire once again. I actually was studying it lately, writing down some interesting spells and rituals in my own grimoire (and there were a lot of them), when I came upon this theory of hers that she wrote down in the back of the book. She had a lot of theories, I told you she was a genius, some of them were so crazy, that she even admitted that herself, but they all were interesting nonetheless. Especially this particular one.
She wrote that it was potentially possible to enlarge your own magical reserves by channeling huge amount of power through oneself in one go from lunar/solar eclipses, winter/summer solstices, Halloween and etc., when the level of magic increases exponentially (though the kind of magic that levels up at Halloween is more spiritual but nonetheless). But what really got my attention was that comets could be used for that purpose as well.
So I got this crazy idea...
I checked for a hundredth time, if I prepared everything correctly for the ritual, I wouldn't want to be fried or something, now, would I? The ground of my meadow was covered in runic circles and candles. I was sitting in the biggest circle, patiently waiting for the comet to pass.
I've been preparing everything since I got here last night, so you can say that I was exhausted. I drank all of Nik's blood that was left, though it wasn't too much, it would help even if nothing goes wrong, because I was going to channel the power of the passing comet through myself. Crazy, I know. It would hurt like a bitch too, of course. But as I said, I was desperate.
I felt little hairs on my body standing on their end, and took a deep breath. It was almost here. I felt magic filling the air and started to chant. My control over magic was on the level where I didn't need words to direct it, but in some really powerful rituals, like this one, it was a necessity. I needed to keep chanting, without interrupting even for a second, or the consequences would be... dreadful.
I felt the comet appearing in the sky above me and changed the rhythm of my chanting, pronouncing every word strongly before raising my face to the sky.
It started slowly at first, drop by drop I started pulling on the magic around me, which was growing exponentially with every second. It was exciting at first, every cell in my body was singing in pleasure. It felt almost euphoric. That was the tricky part, engrossed in that feeling, one can easily slip, and the whole ritual can backfire. I moved that feeling to the back of my mind and continued chanting.
I don't know for how long I sat there like this, seconds? minutes? maybe hours? The pleasure I felt earlier was slowly turning into pain, overwhelming my senses and I had to strengthen my concentration even more. I was used to pain, especially after a few months of torturing myself.
It was becoming stronger and stronger, but I tuned it out, slowly falling into a trance. The concentration of magic in the air was becoming thicker and thicker, until it eventually started affecting the world around me. The wind started blowing all of a sudden, getting stronger with every second, the fire in candles grew larger, lighting up the darkness of the forest around me, lightnings started to strike in the clear sky. All in all, I didn't doubt that the illumination might possibly attract some unwanted attention, but I didn't care.
The power was coursing through me, in and out. What started as a drop, became a full blown river. It was almost too much, but I went on. I had to end the ritual properly. I just needed to survive the true apogee of the comet, when the power would be so overwhelming, that it supposedly should be enough to break the seal completely.
I was vaguely aware of my body floating in the air, too concentrated on the chanting. The lightings were striking around me, almost touching my body. The sound of the wind and the lightning overpowered the sound of my voice so much that I couldn't even hear myself anymore.
My face was raised to the sky, so I remember the moment when the comet was passing right above me very clearly. It was so small but it held so much power, it was unbelievable.
As soon as it reached its apogee, the lightning struck my body... once, twice, thrice... eleven times. With every strike I could feel my seal weakening more and more and I couldn't hold happy laughter, though I'm sure if someone was watching me at the moment, they would assume I was nuts. The pain was too much but I didn't care, I was feeling it. It was almost gone.
The lightning struck for the last time and I fell on the ground. The wind, the fire, the lightning, everything was gone in a second, as if it was never there. After the cacophony of sounds, the silence was almost deafening.
I felt numb. I couldn't even move a finger. The only thing I could feel, were my tears and blood running down the sides of my face uncontrollably. I looked inside myself at my magical core, but I already knew the answer.
I've done so much and it still wasn't enough. I failed... again.
I failed.
That thought was enough to push me over the edge. Loud, ugly sobs forced their way through my mouth into the darkness of the night. It felt like the air that I sucked in through gritted teeth wasn't enough to fill my lungs completely so I immediately started hyperventilating. Each painfully sucked in amount of air tore it's way out of my body with a sickening sob. I couldn't remember the last time I had a breakdown as equally devastating as this one. No physical pain could ever compare to the agony of despair and hopelessness.
What did I ever do to deserve this?
It took me some time to calm down. My bodies, both physical and magical, were overwhelmed and I could say that it would be hard for a while to use magic, but I didn't care.
I felt hopeless. I could feel myself accepting defeat. If after what I've done tonight it still wasn't enough, I didn't know what else I could do.
It took me a while to make my limbs move. A constant tremor kept running through my hands and feet and I had to try a couple of times to properly lift myself from the ground and crawl my way out of the runic circle, or what was left of it.
I grabbed my backpack that I left previously under the nearest tree and limped in the direction of my car in a catatonic state.
When I reached my car, I got inside, turned on the lights and looked at myself in the mirror. I looked exhausted and sick with the blood from my nosebleed smeared all over the lower part of my face. My hair also was all over the place but other than that I didn't look any different.
I took some baby wipes from the glove compartment and started trying to wipe the blood from my face ignoring the tears that still kept leaking from my eyes. My fingers shook a little and a tissue kept slipping through them but I still managed to finish the job.
My phone that I left on the passenger seat came alive indicating a new message and after checking it, I found dozens of messages from Elena, Caroline and Bonnie that kept trying to lure me to the Grill where they were all hanging out after watching the comet.
I kept scrolling through messages when my quivering thumb froze upon another message, this time from Nik. It was sent a few hours ago asking if I was okay and I felt tears start streaming down my face with a new force.
Almost subconsciously I found his contact and my thump froze yet again upon the call icon. My hands shook violently and I started sobbing again. I wished to hear his voice so bad but I knew I couldn't. I hated the thought of him seeing me like this, a sobbing, quivering mess. It didn't matter that the second his soothing voice reached my ears I would calm down immediately, didn't matter that he would never judge me and think less of me. I didn't want to burden him with my problems just as he never asked for my help in breaking his curse or finding the doppelgänger.
Each of us had our own battles to fight. But it didn't make it any easier.
After almost five minutes of inner debate I finally found enough courage to throw the phone back to the passenger seat and returned to the task of tidying myself. As I was trying to put my hair into a ponytail, I caught the glimpse of my arms, so I observed them more closely and couldn't hold back a surprised gasp. Starting from my fingertips to elbows, my hands were covered in a web of dark veins. You can usually see the similar pattern on people who were struck by lightning. I think they were called Lichtenberg Figures.
I sighed tiredly and rubbed my face trying to shake off the exhaustion, I promised Elena I would come. Though the comet had passed already, knowing Mystic Falls, townsfolk would be still there celebrating and worse of all, the Grill was probably packed as well, but that was exactly where my friends were hanging out.
I needed to hide the marks on my hands, but I didn't have anything suitable for that purpose in my car, so I stopped by pharmacy and bought some bandages. I owned a pair of similar ones as I needed them for MMA, but they were at home so...
My leather jacket covered my arms and my bandaged hands didn't look weird as it wasn't the first time I would be seen with those. I used to bandage my hands from time to time after some really intense training.
The drive to town center was agonizingly slow due to my condition. Tremors would still shake my hands now and then, so I had to be extra careful. I parked my car near the Grill and walked inside, looking for my friends. I found all of them sitting at the table along with Tyler for some reason. I approached them and smiled at them tiredly, instead of greeting.
"Hey, you came!" Caroline smiled happily, giving me a strong hug, making me flinch, which didn't go unnoticed.
"I overdid on the training," I shrugged, seeing her frown. Elena looked at me worriedly and moved a little making me a room to sit, which I accepted happily. I felt slightly groggy. "So, how was the comet? And where's Stefan? I thought he wouldn't miss it."
"The comet was nice, I guess. Stefan came, but we had a little argument, so... I think he left" She said sadly and I patted her on the back.
"Where's Jeremy? Isn't he here?" I asked looking around, but couldn't spot him anywhere.
"He is somewhere around here. I think I saw him talking to some girl half an hour ago," she said, exchanging knowing looks with me.
"Hey guys, have you seen Vicki?" Matt asked, approaching us with slightly worried expression.
"Vicki? Isn't she at the hospital?" I asked, confused.
"No, she actually was feeling much better, so they discharged her this morning. She was here somewhere, then told me that she wasn't feeling well and disappeared when I went to bring her some painkillers."
Oh Matt, he was such a nice brother, the bitch didn't deserve him. I'm sure she's lying somewhere after taking her special pills, as usual.
Everyone said that they hadn't seen her and suddenly decided to go look for her. I was too tired for that shit. I mean it's not that I would've went along if I was completely fine either, not in this universe. So I told them that I wasn't feeling well and went home.
When I reached my car, I spotted some familiar figures on a roof of a nearby building so I ran my hand upon my eyes and ears muttering a spell under my breath so I could hear and see what was going on up there. My magic responded only after one long minute and I couldn't help but sigh.
"Your choice of lifestyle has made you weak." I heard a very familiar voice speak. "A couple of vampire parlor tricks is nothing compared to the power that you could have, that you now need. But you can change that. Human blood gives you that."
"No!" A girl screamed in terror. Huh, I guess I found the bitch. Hope they'll kill her. Fingers crossed.
"You have two choices. You can feed and make her forget. Or you can let her run, screaming "vampire" through the town square." Damon said evilly.
"That's what this is about? You want to expose me?" Stefan finally found his voice.
"No, I want you to remember who you are!" Damon screamed, exasperated.
"Why? So what, so I'll feed? So I'll kill? So I'll remember what it's like to be brothers again? You know what, let her go. Let her tell everyone that vampires have returned to Mystic Falls. Let them chain me up, and let them drive a stake through my heart, because at least I'll be free of you!"
Wow, that was deep, I thought, suppressing a yawn. They were such drama queens.
When I realized that the druggie was going to live to see another day, I lost any interest in the conversation and drove off.
It just wasn't my day.
I was sleeping soundly in my cozy bed, too exhausted to even have any nightmares, when I felt like an elephant suddenly decided that it would be nice to step on me.
"Fuck!" I managed to gasp, when someone who looked like my sister, except for the disgustingly cheerful smile, jumped on me. She was lucky that I wasn't on alert at home, and didn't hex her or something. I worriedly checked if my bandages were still in place and only then turned to my sister. "What the bloody hell?"
"Rise and shine, sleepyhead," she said with a giggle. "It's morning already. I'm actually surprised that I managed to wake you up, I haven't done that since..." she scrunched her nose, thinking really hard, and I couldn't hold my laughter.
"Never. You've never done that. Now, get off me until I threw you out of the window."
She gave me a dirty look and finally got off me, letting me breathe properly.
"Why are you so cheerful anyway? Yesterday you looked like someone killed your puppy. Did something happen?" I asked her, slowly getting off the bed and heading to my closet to pick some clothes for today.
"Actually, yes. I went to the Boarding House yesterday and talked with Stefan. And... we kissed," she said happily, falling on my bed with a gentle smile, her mind wandering to dreamland.
"Wow. Okay. Congratulations." I wasn't surprised as I expected it to happen eventually, seeing the longing looks they've been throwing in each other's direction. "That's it? You just kissed? There was no checking how soft and cozy his bed is while naked or something?" I wiggled my eyebrows at her, and quickly stepped aside, avoiding the pillow that she threw at me. Rude.
"No, there was nothing like that!"
"Have I just heard a disappointment in your voice?" I asked teasingly, making her blush.
"Okay. I woke you up. My mission here is done."
And she quickly left the room, leaving my laughing person behind. I fucking loved to embarrass my siblings.
I realized that everyone was feeling cheerful except for me that day, when I drove to the school with Jeremy who was constantly smiling at his own thoughts. Don't get me wrong I was happy that my siblings were in love, but at the same time I was sooo annoyed. Where was my favorite Hybrid when I needed him so much.
He texted me again yesterday saying that he would be out of reach for a few days, as he was going to visit some werewolf pack in God knows where, and apparently there was no signal there. Bugger. I was happy that he decided to follow my advice and started looking for werewolves who would really want to become hybrids, instead of turning everyone against their will. He hadn't broken his curse yet obviously, but my vision showed us that it would happen soon, so he decided to be ready. It was all good and stuff, but I already missed him.
Jeremy walked away as soon as I parked my car, making me roll my eyes at his leaving back. I saw Elena and Bonnie coming out of Bonnie's car looking like they were having an argument and decided to join them.
"...Seriously, what are you saying?" I heard Elena asking the soon to be witch, with serious expression. They both nodded, acknowledging my presence, but didn't break their conversation.
Everyone is ignoring me today, I thought, rolling my eyes for a hundredth time.
"It's stupid." Bonnie said hesitantly.
"Bonnie .. "
"What?"
"Spit it out!"
"I accidentally touched Stefan, and I got a really bad feeling." Bonnie finally said. I guess my bracelet was doing its job perfectly, her magic was getting stronger.
"Is that it? Bonnie!" Elena asked surprised, obviously thinking that Bonnie's "bad feeling" wasn't an enough reason to slow things down with her precious Stefan.
"It was bad bad!" Bonnie said defensively.
"Is this the whole witch mojo thing again?" Elena frowned.
"You know what? I'm just concerned. This is me expressing concern about my best friend's new boyfriend."
"And I love you for it, I do. But I feel good. It's been a hard year and I'm starting to kind of feel like things are getting back to normal again. And you know what? Stefan is a big part of it."
"Thalia, what do you think?" Bonnie suddenly asked turning to me and I almost froze in the middle of yawning. "You always seem to know everything about everyone and your intuition is borderline supernatural."
Oh, Bonnie, dear, you have no idea.
"Stefan is not white and fluffy, but he would never hurt Elena." I simply said, then checked the time on my phone. "Let's go to the class or we'll be late." But I couldn't finish what else I was about to say, as someone interrupted me.
"Good morning Elena. Good morning Bonnie. Good morning Thalia." Wow Stefan, so official.
I waved at him silently, too lazy to open my mouth.
"Hey, um. I gotta find Caroline. See you guys later," Bonnie quickly said and stormed off. Well, I guess I wasn't able to convince her.
"She doesn't like me very much." Stefan said awkwardly.
"She doesn't know you. She's my best friend. She's just looking out for me. But when she does, she will love you." Elena tried to reassure him ignoring my skeptical expression. Most witches don't get along with vampires. "Here's what we gonna do. Are you free tonight?"
"Yes." Stefan shrugged wondering what she had in mind.
"Perfect. Dinner, my house, 8:00. You, me, Thalia, Bonnie and Caroline. You will spend some quality time and she'll get to see what a great guy you are. Mission accomplished." She looked very proud of herself until she saw my raised eyebrow.
She said "dinner" so bravely as if she was going to be the one preparing it. Yeah right. As if I'm gonna let her anywhere near my oven. She and Jenna were personas non grata in my kitchen.
She looked at me pleadingly, giving me her best puppy eyes, and I sighed giving up. It wasn't like her beaten puppy look worked, I just realized that I didn't have much of a choice. Fucking hell. I was planning to nap whole afternoon and evening, until it was time to sleep, but whatever.
"Fine. Whatever. I'm going to the class. See ya." I walked off without waiting for their reaction. The day just started and I already felt drained. Oh Joy.
I was leaving the history class with a satisfied smile on my face. It's not that Stefan's knowledge of history amazed me or something, come on, the guy is a vampire, I would've been surprised more if he didn't know any of that. But still. The way he humiliated Mr. Dickhead was priceless. I would cherish that memory for a very long time.
I wished a good luck to the girls who were heading to cheerleading practice after the classes, feeling sorry that I wouldn't be able to attend as I needed to go to the grocery store and prepare a dinner later.
Everything was going smoothly, the dinner was almost ready the table was set, the only thing missing was the dessert, so I texted Caroline to bring something with her on her way here. She agreed and replied that she wouldn't be alone, drawing my interest. I didn't know she started dating someone, she was ranting about the mystery guy that she met at the Grill, but other than that, nothing.
Bonnie and Elena walked into the kitchen and I ordered them to place lasagna in more suitable platter while I would go and change for dinner. I decided to wear a simple white sun dress and put my hair in a bun. When I came back I heard Bonnie whining yet again about not wanting to be a witch. Poor girl.
"...Have you talked to your Grams?" I heard Elena asking, when I walked into the kitchen.
"She's gonna say it's because I'm a witch. I don't want to be a witch. Do you want to be a witch?" She asked looking at me.
"Honey, I am a witch," I told her the truth, knowing that she wouldn't believe me anyway. "And do tell, why don't you want to be a witch? I, personally, think it's what makes you special."
She looked at me surprised and thought about my question properly before giving me an answer.
"I don't know... it's just, I'm scared. I don't understand what's happening to me," she finally said and I suddenly realized that she was still very young. I mean I was just a few months older than both of them... physically. But mentally I felt more mature and experienced.
"It's okay to be scared. The unknown frightens." I patted her on her back and sighed. "You are not ready yet."
"Ok, serving spoons. Where are the serving spoons?" Elena asked cheerfully, making an attempt to distract Bonnie from her unhappy thoughts.
"Middle drawer on your left," me and Bonnie said at the same time and looked at each other.
"Ok, so you've been on this kitchen like a thousand times," Elena said laughing awkwardly.
"Yeah, that's it."
Bonnie sounded like she wanted to convince herself, but was failing miserably.
Then we heard the doorbell ringing and Elena's face lit up immediately.
"Ok, he's here. Don't be nervous. Just be your normal loving self," she said reassuringly and quickly went to answer the door.
"Birthday candles," Bonnie suddenly whispered and opened the random drawer, and we both looked at the birthday candles, but while I wasn't surprised at all, having seen the signs of premonition and experiencing them myself lots of times, Bonnie looked like she was about to cry.
"Hey, there's no need to be scared. It's magic," I gently said squeezing her hand. "One day you won't be able to imagine yourself without your powers."
I didn't wait for her answer and headed to greet our guest, already feeling the awkwardness in the air.
Sometimes I hated being right. Well that was my blessing and curse at the same time. The awkwardness was so thick that I could almost touch it with my hands. The silence was almost deafening. Bonnie was eating silently and hadn't raised her head even once. I was praying for Caroline to arrive before I would go on a killing spree. Elena made a few attempts to pull Bonnie into the conversation but failed miserably.
"Why don't you tell Stefan about your family?" Elena asked her desperately.
"Um. Divorced. No mom. Live with my dad," Bonnie said nonchalantly and I almost choked on my drink.
Wow, Bonnie, nice one.
"No, about the witches. Bonnie's family has a lineage of witches. It's really cool."
Oh poor Elena, trying so hard
"Cool isn't the word I'd use." Bonnie shook her head.
"Well, it's certainly interesting. I'm not too versed but I do know that there's a history of Celtic druids that migrated here in the 1800s." Stefan said trying to save the conversation and this time I think he actually succeeded as I saw a glimpse of interest in Bonnie's eyes.
"My family came by way of Salem witches." She admitted quietly.
"Really? Salem witches?" Stefan raised his eyebrows in amazement.
Sheesh, he's such a great actor, I thought trying to hide my amusement.
"Yeah."
"I would say that's pretty cool."
"Really? Why?"
"Salem witches are heroic examples of individualism and nonconformity." Stefan said solemnly and Elena looked at him like a proud momma at her child.
I tried not to laugh so hard, that I even had to bite the inside of my cheek.
"Yeah, they are," Bonnie said with a proud smile.
Aaaaand sold!
We heard the doorbell ringing and I stood up happily, Caroline always had a perfect timing.
But I was "pleasantly" surprised when I found not only my friend, but someone who I didn't expect to see at all that day as well.
"Hey," Caroline said hugging me with one hand, while her other one held a box. "We brought dessert!"
"We?" I asked looking at freaking Damon Salvatore with raised eyebrow.
"Yes, we. Let me introduce you to my boyfriend Damon Salvatore. Damon this is Thalia Gilbert, my best friend," she said enthusiastically while Damon gave me a charming smirk.
"It's "nice" to meet you Damon," I said and casually took the box with the cake from Caroline, using the opportunity to touch her. I closed my eyes for a second looking for the information that I wanted to know and sighed with relief when found out that she wasn't bitten or under any kind of compulsion, they were truly "dating" like a "normal" human couple. Who would have thought? He has some sense of self-preservation after all. "You can... "
I was going to invite him in, when Stefan appeared in the hallway with worried expression.
"What are you doing here?" he asked his brother.
"Waiting for Thalia to invite me in, obviously," he replied with that annoying smirk.
"Get in here," Caroline told him obviously confused with the whole situation.
"Actually, Care, can you prepare the cake for the tea, we will be right behind you," I said sending her a silent signal which she understood completely, giving me a small nod.
"Okay, don't make me wait," she winked at Damon and went inside.
As soon as she left I turned to an unwanted guest.
"You can come in," I said, ignoring Stefan's shocked expression. I waited, watching closely as Damon walked over the threshold, smugness dripping from his smirk and closed the door behind him. "Relax Stefan, you are both in witch's house. If he had any bad intentions he would've never been able to walk in, even if he was invited." They both looked at me with huge eyes, surprised that something like that was even possible. "I'm a very powerful witch, boys. My house is my territory and I guard my territory with all I have. No one with bad intentions will come in." Then I listened to the voices in the kitchen, making sure that the girls were distracted, and turned to Damon making him freeze with a panicked expression on his face. "Can you feel it?" I whispered gently. "I'm holding your heart in my hand right now, and it depends on your answer whether I rip it out or leave you be. I told you very clearly to stay away from my family and friends. Which part of that did you not understand?"
"I didn't harm her I swear! We are just dating," he groaned and I squeezed his heart even tighter making him gasp.
"Oh I know. You would be dead already if you did," I said calmly, then let him go, watching indifferently as he almost fell on his knees, trying to suck in some air. "Don't feel threatened or offended, Damon. You both came into my life, and while I know that Stefan would never harm Elena, you are playing some sick game, and can and will do anything to aggravate him. And I'm not letting you use my loved ones for that purpose. I know you lied about the real reason why you came here, and I don't even care actually. Do whatever you want, but don't harm my loved ones, or I swear to God, you will regret it."
I left them both there and went to the kitchen to see what the girls were doing. Caroline threw some curious glances at me, but I hinted that I would tell her everything later, only to receive a grateful smile in return.
Not a while later, after the dinner and the dessert, we all were sitting in the living room having a pleasant conversation.
"I cannot believe that Mr. Tanner let you on the team. Tyler must be seething, but good for you. Go for it," Caroline said cheerfully, sitting almost on Damon's lap, who by the way looked like his usual smug self.
"That's what I always tell him. You have to engage. You can't just sit there and wait for life to come to you. You have to go get it." He butted in looking at Stefan like a concerned older brother.
I rolled my eyes at Damon's antics. His acting was so obvious.
"Yeah, Elena was not so lucky today." Caroline said giving Elena an apologetic look. "It's only because you missed summer camp. I know you can easily catch up but you seem not interested in this anymore."
"Yeah, you don't seem like cheerleading type Elena," Damon said putting his hand on Caroline's lap.
"She'd changed and it's totally fine. I mean I used to ride on horses when I was little, my parents used to take me to racetrack every other Saturday, but after they divorced I couldn't even look at horses anymore. So I totally understand." Caroline shook her head sympathetically.
Oh Caroline, at moments like this I really feel proud of being her friend.
"So, you won't be angry with me if I quit?" Elena asked guiltily.
"I would be upset obviously, because one of the perks of being in a cheerleading squad was doing something with my best friends, but if that's what you really want, I'm fine with that."
"Thank you," Elena said sincerely and I realized that one of the reasons why she didn't quit earlier was because she didn't want to upset Caroline.
"Thalia, why aren't you on the cheerleading team?" Damon asked probably trying to make me feel uncomfortable.
"Well, I'd better beat a living shit out of someone, than do jumps and flips," I said smiling sweetly at him.
He looked like he wanted to say something else, but my phone started ringing and I picked it up immediately when I saw who was calling.
"Hello, love." I heard the sweetest voice in the entire world, and couldn't hide my excitement. I felt everyone looking at me, including Stefan and Damon who looked shocked, probably seeing that side of me for the first time, but I didn't care.
"Nik," I whispered, losing my voice from excitement. "How..?"
"l know I said that I won't be able to call for a few days, but I found it almost impossible to live through the day without hearing your voice." He said and my heart melted into a puddle.
There was this hint of tenderness in his voice, that always got me emotional. We never said those three words to each other, but what else was it if not his way to express his feelings?
"I missed you too, love," I said and stood up, giving everyone an apologetic look.
"Go, I will take care of everything," Elena said smiling happily as she always did seeing my interaction with Nik. I thanked her quietly and quickly left the room, eager to talk with my Hybrid.
"You are not alone, I assume? I can call back later if you want?"
"No way in hell!" I said hurriedly, afraid that he could really do that and heard him laughing happily. I fucking loved to hear him laugh. "You are not getting rid of me that easily, Mister!"
"Good. Because I never want to be rid of you, love."
And just like that, the tiredness, the anxiety, the fear... everything was gone. The whole world stopped to exist. There were only two of us.
I closed the door to my room, placed the silencing spell on it and lay down on my bed, ready for the next dose of Niklausotherapy.