Ghost World
September 7, 2010
Louise knew something was wrong. She couldn't get a hold of Damon. She grabbed her phone and hit the speed dial button again only to have it go straight to voicemail...again. She ran a hand through her hair in frustration before grabbing her keys and heading downstairs.
The quick drive to the boarding house set her nerves on edge. She knew Damon had said not to come over, but she felt she had no choice. She knew something was going on and she wasn't about to be left out of the loop.
Louise pulled up, not seeing anything out of the ordinary as she got out and made her way to the big front door. She didn't bother knocking, but hesitated a moment before completely entering. The brunette started to quietly shut the door behind her when a gut wrenching cry of agony echoed through the house, freezing her blood. She stood frozen for a long moment before the realization that it was Damon's voice hit her like a fist to the stomach and she was running, heedless of the obvious danger that she was hurtling towards.
She spun around the corner into the den and skidded to a stop, her breath catching in her throat at the sight before her. Damon sat roped and chained to a chair in front of the fireplace, his head slumped forward, his chest heaving and his grey shirt from the night before torn and completely blood soaked. A fireplace stoker poked out of his chest and his daylight ring was on the floor, a few inches away from him.
"What the hell?" Louise said, rushing forward toward her boyfriend. "What - I'm guessing we have your brother to thank for this?"
"Low blow, Stefan." Damon muttered breathlessly as his eyes flickered up to Stefan, who stood at the doorway with a smirk on his lips. "Low blow. Whatever twisted ripper game this is, leave me out of it."
"I didn't do this." Stefan stated simply.
"Really?" Louise scoffed in disbelief. "This who the hell would do this?"
"It's pretty messed up though, isn't it?" Stefan moved closer to his brother and yanked the poker from his chest, which caused Damon to gasp out in pain. Then, he broke the restraints from Damon before walking away without another word.
Louise couldn't help rolling her eyes before she hurried behind Damon and tried to release the chains behind the chair. "Do honestly believe he didn't do this?"
"I don't know." Damon shrugged breathlessly, his eyes flickered toward the curtain that began to twitch. "Louise? Louise, hurry-"
"I'm going as fast as I c-" Louise was cut off by Damon's skin sizzling and burning as the curtains were yanked opened. "Shit!" She moved quickly and grabbed his daylight ring and slid it onto his ring. The burning stopped immediately and Louise sighed in relief.
"What are you doing here, Louise?" Damon asked in a tired voice, his head dropping to his chest again.
"I was worried. You weren't answering my calls." She dropped one set of chains and started working on the ropes around his wrists and the arms of the chair.
"And, of course, your first instinct is to barge into a house full of vampires."
She glanced up at him, biting at her lip. "How are you doing?"
"Just swell, Louise. Thanks for asking."
She rolled her eyes, still picking at the knots. It took her another ten minutes and a knife before she had him completely free. When she pulled the last chain from around his chest she saw him slump slightly before he caught himself, his arms shaking as he propped himself up.
"You need blood." She said, tossing her hair over her shoulder and exposing her neck in a way he could have sworn was deliberate. His mouth watered as he swallowed convulsively, staring at her throat.
"Lou-"
"Drink from me." she ordered, scooting closer until the room disappeared and his world was nothing but her hair and her eyes and her achingly familiar scent.
"No." he argued weakly as he caved to base need and slipped his fingers around the back of her neck, brushing his thumb over the tempting vein on her throat.
"Fine. I'll go get you some blood," she said, turning to head to the basement.
"We're out," he said with a grimace as he ran a hand over his chest. "Rebekah cleaned us out yesterday."
"Damon, you need blood." She smiled slightly. "You just got barbequed. Let me do this. It's not like you haven't done it before. " They were so close, she was the only thing in his world. "Now, drink up."
Louise's eyes fluttered close. Damon drank her in, the way her chest grazed his as it rose and fell, the way her pulse raced beneath her skin where he touched her. Her neck beckoned in silent offering and finally, unable to resist another moment, he lowered his mouth to the pulsing vein in her throat and sunk his teeth into her flesh.
Craning her neck and arching her body against him, the debilitating need to have him closer. Her desire spiked, winding tighter and leaving her panting and breathless in his arms.
The glorious sensations ended far too quickly as he pulled away, running his tongue lightly over the wound before offering her his bloodied wrist. She drank without hesitation.
A low chuckles echoed in the room. "Now I understand why he keeps you around."
Louise froze, her eyes flying open, Damon's hand still in hers, as the familiar voice washed over her and doused the flames of her desire. Lifting her head, Louise caught Stefan's eyes and leered at her. "You enjoy being bitten." he said as she gaped at him in horror. "You don't even need to be compelled. What a delightful find."
Louise held on tight to the passenger door of Damon's car as he came to a halt in front of Caroline and Bonnie, holding bright paper lanterns to hang on the trees. She planted a quick kiss on his smirking lips before she hopped out of the car and walked around it to meet up with her friends.
"See ya later, Gilbert." he winked as she joined her friends. Damon acknowledged the other girls with a nod. "Greetings, blondie. Witchy. I think you got your voodoo wires all crossed when you got rid of Vicki Donovan."
"What do you mean, why?" Bonnie asked in confusion, setting the lanterns down and moving closer to the car.
"Because I'm pretty sure I just got spit-roasted by Mason Lockwood's ghost."
Bonnie raised her brow. "What?"
Caroline: And why would you think that?" Caroline asked.
"He's having a really bad sense of deja vu. He's convinced a ghost chained him to a chair and shoved a hot poker through his chest." Louise faked whispered.
Damon nodded at her, frowning. "What she said."
Caroline looked at Bonnie. "I thought you said that ghosts couldn't physically interact with people."
"They can't." Bonnie stated.
Louise nodded her head knowingly. "That's what I said."
"Yeah, well, I don't have time for a vengeful Lockwood. When I kill someone, they're supposed to stay dead. Whatever you screwed up, fix it." Damon ordered before his tires squealed as he sped off.
In search for Alaric and Jeremy, Louise soon met up with her sister as they walked though the group of volunteers that were preparing the town square for the Night of Illuminations. Carol Lockwood was currently making a speech for the volunteers and the citizens.
"As a long-time member of the Historical Society, I am especially proud to be kicking off this day of festivities." Carol Lockwood said from the stand. "Thank you, volunteers." The crowd clapped loudly. "Tonight, we turn off our town's lights and flare up our lanterns in honour of the night of illumination started by our founders 150 years ago. Here's founding family member Tobias Fell with a history lesson." Again, the crowd applauded loudly and Carol Lockwood stepped down.
Louise's gaze flickered toward her sister as she asked. "What are we even doing here?"
Elena shrugged. "Alaric needed to come, something about Tobias Fell and the history department and what better way to waste our time?"
"You're still upset about Stefan?" Louise asked with a raised brow and Elena let out a long sigh.
"Well, I'm not gonna cry over it if that's what you're wondering." The older Gilbert girl admitted. "But, I don't know..I- Stefan's different."
"We'll figure something out." Louise tried to reassure her and Elena gave her a tight-lipped smile. They approached Alaric and Jeremy. "Hey, sorry we're late. What did we miss?"
"You didn't miss anything." Jeremy informed them. Louise nodded and Elena began to dig through her bag in search for her phone. Suddenly, Jeremy laughed and Elena looked up at him.
"What's so funny?" she asked. Jeremy shrugged once before gesturing toward the Founder, Tobias Fell giving his speech on the podium on the stage. Elena frowned and turned around and Louise listened in as well.
Half way through one of the speeches, Louise and Jeremy had ditched the event while Elena and Alaric had stayed behind. The two now found themselves sat at a table outside the Grill.
"Can I ask you something, Jer?"
The hesitancy in her tone put him on guard instantly. "Um...do I have a choice?"
"Excuse me?"
"Historically, nothing good has ever come from the question 'can I ask you something, Jer'," he replied. "So, why don't you just rip the band-aid off and ask?"
Struggling to suppress a grin, Louise scoffed. "Alright, smartass." she said, dropping her gaze and picking up a French fry. "Do you like Damon?"
Taken aback, Jeremy was momentarily at loss for words. "Sure?"
"Is that an answer or another question?" she asked, raising a brow.
"Why are you asking me this now?" he wondered. "I mean, you've been with him for like, six months, isn't it a little late to ask for my approval?"
"I'm not looking for your approval." Louise replied vaguely, falling silent for several minutes as Jeremy studied her expression for some clue as to where the conversation was going.
"What is this really about, Louise?" he finally asked, after it became clear that she wouldn't offer up any more information without a little prodding.
Biting her lip, she lifted her shoulder in a half-hearted shrug. "I just realised I'd never asked you." she said. "I guess it doesn't matter, but...I just really want the two of you to be friends."
Friends? Jeremy frowned. She wants Damon and me to be friends? Despite the amount of time he'd spent with Damon over the past few years, he'd never considered the question. Before the vampire officially started dating his sister, Jeremy had never thought of him in terms of 'like', it had always been in terms of wary trust and respect. Because of Louise, he'd known that he had a place on Damon's short list of people worthy of consideration, but it had taken awhile for him to feel like he'd made it to that list on his own merit.
Before Jeremy could get a chance to respond, Alaric and Elena joined them.
"Hey, Jer, I need you to help me with something." Elena rummaged through her bag before she pulled out a few thick journals. Louise sipped her drink through her straw as she eyed the books.
"What's up?"
"I've been going through Stefan's old journals." Elena started. "Every single time that he's gone off the rails in the past, his best friend Lexi's been the one to bring him back."
"So where is she now that we need her?" Alaric asked.
"She's dead." Jeremy half guessed as he looked over at Elena. "And you want me to try to reach her, don't you?"
Elena nodded. "I thought if I knew how she did it, maybe I could help him."
"I don't even know if she's on the other side."
"Is that what it's called?" Louise questioned genuinely interested. She wondered if he could see anyone who had passed away. And for some reason she thought of Jenna and her parents.
"That's what Anna calls it." Jeremy said. "There's not like an official brochure or anything."
"So what is it, like some sort of supernatural purgatory?" Alaric asked, playing with the straw in his drink.
"Well, Anna said it's like being here with all of us, only we can't see her or hear her. And she can't interact with anyone. She's all alone."
"Vicki could interact." Alaric resorted. "She blew up my car."
Louise noticed that Jeremy's gaze was slightly off, she turned towards her right and saw the empty seat, unknown to her, she was staring straight at Anna. Jeremy shift uncomfortably in his seat at that, if he didn't know any better, he would've sworn that his older sister was also able to see ghosts.
"How did she do that?" Louise asked turning her face back to her face her brother.
"Vicki had help from a witch on the other side." Jeremy explained. "Anna...She's doing this all by herself."
"I'm just saying, maybe we learned our lesson about summoning dead people." Alaric commented.
Elena ignored the history teacher's comment and looked at her brother. "Do you think it's even possible to contact Lexi?"
"I don't know." Jeremy admitted honestly. "I didn't have an emotional connection with her. I never even met her."
"Can we just drop it, please?" Alaric begged.
Elena snapped. "No, I can't drop it, Ric. I don't know what else to do."
"Don't you think we have a few too many dead vampires in our past to be sitting here thinking of them watching us?"
Louise sighed and placed her glass down on the table, she frowned looking at Jeremy and she saw the same expression on his face as he had beforehand.
"Is Anna here right now?" Louise asked licking her lips.
"No, no. I'm going to go, uh, check my work schedule." he replied hastily, leaving the table knowing if he hanged around long enough Louise would know he was lying to her face.
Louise exchanged a look with her sister; the pair could tell the youngest teen was clearly hiding something. However, they didn't have time to linger on it too long since someone else had joined them.
"Hey, guys." Stefan grinned as he sat in Jeremy's seat. Louise rubbed her temple as it began to throb. "Who forgot to invite me to the family summit?"
"Guilty." Louise grinned with a slight raise of her hand and the vampire smirked at her.
Stefan grabbed one of his journals and flicked through the pages. "Hmm? Wow. All these words. I forgot how much I used to care."
"I didn't." Elena said quietly.
"You know, Elena, it's probably best you not torture yourself with memories from the past. It's best we both just move on and accept things as they are." Stefan told her.
Alaric leant forward in his chair. "You don't have to be here, Stefan."
"You know what, Alaric, you're right. I don't. But Elena and Louise are here, and I look out for them. Besides, there's going to be people everywhere tonight. So there's going to be lots to eat." Stefan said pointing toward the town square. Elena looks at him, wide eyed in shock but he laughed. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding." He assured her and got up from his seat, clamping a hand down on Elena's shoulder. "Loosen up."
With that, he walked away and Elena looked at her guardian. "I can't drop it, Ric."
Bonnie had worked out whatever they had done to stop Vicki from interacting with Matt after he died had somehow cause something to fall apart which allowed other ghosts to come back and mess with people. Which now brought them; Caroline, Louise and Bonnie, to the old abandoned witch house.
The stairs creaked as they descended them. Louise couldn't help but wrap her arms around herself as the place set her teeth on edge.
"So this is where you brought Jeremy back to life?" Caroline anxiously asked as Bonnie led them into the basement.
"Yeah." Bonnie gave her best friends an apologetic smile as she sensed their nervous energy. "Sorry, I know it's creepy, but we needed a private place around here to do the spell."
"Hmm." Caroline hummed as they stood in the middle of the basement. "There's no chance it's haunted by the hundred dead witches who were horrifically burned to death in this very spot, is there?"
"They're not here anymore. And they made it clear they were never coming back."
"Right." Caroline nodded, taking a breath. "You pinkie swear?"
Louise laughed a little, her nerves washing away slowly.
"Why don't you guys light the candles?" Bonnie suggested, pointing to a shelf that held several white, wax cylinders.
Next to the candles was a box of matches. Grateful for something to do, Louise placed six candles evenly space around Bonnie in a circle. Caroline's job was lighting them. Each match the vampire struck and blew out left a distinctive burning scent in the air.
When she finished, Caroline took a step back beside Louise. Bonnie had began casting the spell. First a gentle breeze blew through the room, making the flames flicker. Bonnie's chanting got louder. Again, Louise protectively wrapped her arms around herself. Caroline frantically looked around. A more powerful, loud gust picked up, sending dust through the air and rattling the window panes.
"Bonnie, I don't like this. Bonnie..." Caroline called out over the noise. Suddenly someone was grabbing the witches hands.
Louise's eyes widened at the sight of Bonnie's dead grandmother. "Oh, my God. Is that your-?"
"Grams?" Bonnie hesitantly questioned. Once she was certain it was her grandmother in front of her, the Bennett witch began to cry. "I can't believe you're here!"
"Now stop your crying, we don't have time for tears." Sheila Bennett smiled at the other witch. She looked towards Louise and Caroline. "Nice to see you again, girls."
"Hi, Miss Sheila." Caroline and Louise said in unison.
"A fine mess you've made, honey." Sheila turned her attention back to Bonnie. "The witches told you there'd be consequences to bringing Jeremy back and you did it anyway."
Bonnie shrugged and shook her head. "I didn't have a choice. I love him and I...I couldn't just let him go."
"I understand. But you cracked open the door to the other side. There's an old witch over here. She took advantage of it. She took advantage of you, honey. When you did that spell to send Vicki Donovan away, she wedged the door wide open, giving a free pass to anybody with unfinished business."
"How do you know this?" Bonnie asked.
"Witches talk. Even on the other side." Sheila simply stated. "Who do you think makes all the rules?"
"What does the witch want?"
"That's Original vampire business, not yours. I don't want you getting in the middle of that." Grams instructed firmly. "I'm here because you upset the balance of nature. And it's your duty to set it right. You need to close that door."
Phone pressed to her ear, Louise let out a sigh as she waited for her sister on the other end to process her short relay of everything they had learned from Sheila Bennett.
"How do we do that?" Elena sked, referring to how they closed the door to the other side.
"Apparently the old witch can draw power from this side because of her talisman." Louise grumbled.
"Talisman...My necklace?"
"It's some ju-ju power source...it's all so complicated. And I know you're not going to like this, but Bonnie needs to destroy it." Louise explained, kicking a raised nail in the floorboard.
Elena's voice lowered slightly as she hissed. "I just walked in on Jeremy kissing the reason I'm completely okay with that."
Caroline, who was listening in with her super-hearing, gasped and Louise's mouth dropped open in shock. Bonnie shot the pair a questioning look but Louise shook her head. "What?! Are you kidding?
"I wish. Look, I don't have the necklace. Damon has it somewhere. Text him. I gotta go deal with your bother." With that she hung up.
Louise scowled as she wasted no time in calling Damon. It was annoying how Jeremy was her brother and not their brother whenever he did something wrong. Thankfully her boyfriend picked up on the second ring. Louise waisted no words as she got to the point. "I need to know where Elena's necklace is."
Damon groaned. "I am never going to hear the end of that damn necklace."
"You will when Bonnie destroys it. Where is it?"
Damon clicked his tongue. He had stolen the necklace back from Katherine and Vivienne. Came back to Mystic Falls. When he got to Mystic Falls Louise was in trouble and that was the only thing he'd given a damn about. He wasn't exactly sure where the necklace ended up. With almost certainty he replied. "It's in my room."
Louise breathed through her nose. "That's it? Damon, I don't know if you know this but your room is the size of a small house. So that wasn't helpful."
"I don't exactly know where it is. Just look for it." he said.
"We need to get rid of the ghost problem and you don't know where it is?"
"I know it's in my room! I'm sorry I've been distracted with more important things than your sister's necklace."
Groaning, Louise hung up. When Bonnie cleared her throat, Louise spun around to face her, sarcastic smile plastered on her face. She slid her phone back into her pocket. "So, turns out we have to go on a little scavenger hunt."
"So, this is Damon's room." Bonnie stated the obvious as her eyes darted around the room but she stood in the doorway.
"Yep." Louise glanced over at her and laughed. "You know, you can come in right and help search."
Hesitantly, Bonnie stook a few steps into the room. "Isn't he going to kill me for snooping through his snuff?"
"You can stop him with your brain aneurysm thingy." Caroline snickered as she dug through some of his dresser.
Louise laughed as she dug through the hamper in his closet. She found the pair of jeans he was wearing that night, unsuccessfully she checked through every pocket before throwing them back into the hamper with a growl of frustration.
Just then Louise's phone began to ring and she pulled it out to see it was Elena. Louise came out of the closet to see Bonnie and Caroline at Damon's nightstand looking at a photo frame. She frowned as Caroline flipped the picture to reveal a picture of Damon and Louise kissing. Bonnie and Caroline began to tease her, acting as if they were making out.
Louise's cheeks flamed red. "Oh, my God! Put that back!" she ordered as she finally answered her ringing phone. "Hello?"
"Listen, I need you to get Bonnie to hold off on sending the ghosts back." Elena said innocently.
Louise's face dropped. "What?! But you said you were in full support of getting rid of them."
"I was. I am." Elena paused for a moment and lowered her tone. "Look, Lexi's here and she's helping with Stefan."
"Oh okay." Louise nodded in understanding. "It's all about Stefan now and you couldn't care less that Damon's been trying to fight off a vengeful ghost?"
There was a long silence before Elena finally responded. "Damon will understand. He can handle himself."
Louise scoffed in disbelief. "Whatever." she muttered. "Let's just find it first and then we'll choose between boyfriend-ghost dramas." She hung up, just as Bonnie raised an eyebrow toward her.
"Louise? What are you talking about?" Bonnie asked once she watched the Gilbert girl innocently slide her phone into her back pocket.
"Um...Lexi's back, so Elena wants us to hold off on destroying the necklace."
"You said boyfriend dramas. Plural." Bonnie took a step forward with furrowed brows. "What is it, Louise?"
Louise looked uncomfortable as she shifted slightly in her spot. She glanced towards Caroline nervously.
"Elena caught Jeremy kissing Anna." Caroline blurted out.
Bonnie's face fell and she looked as if she had been punched in the gut. "What?"
Caroline shot her a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry."
"He kissed her?"
Louise's face softened. "Look, I'm sorry my brother's an idiot. I promise I will help you rip him a new one, if you want. But, right now, we have a bigger problem. Anna's got a foothold now, so she probably thinks that she's here to stay. But, Bonnie, we're going to find that necklace. Okay? Okay."
With a small nod from Bonnie, the three continued their search. They tore Damon's room apart.
Checking under the bed, in the sheets, above the fireplace, every draw in the room. They even the soap dish in Damon's bathroom to no avail. Though, the Pierce sisters had stolen the moonstone from there, Louise doubted he was ever likely to use that as a hiding place again. Elena's necklace was nowhere to be found.
Louise stomped out of the bathroom in frustration. "Ugh! I give up. It's not anywhere in this room."
Bonnie's attention was taken by her phone vibrating. She looked down at it and saw it was Jeremy. She shot Caroline and Louise a knowing look. Caroline walked over and answered it for her.
"What do you want, Jeremy?" she demanded.
"Caroline?" Jeremy answered in a baffled tone. "Did you find that necklace?"
"Not yet. Wait, what's going on?"
"Ghosts of the tomb vampires killed Tobias Fell. You might want to find that necklace before they start going alphabetically through the founding families."
"Well, it's not where it's supposed to be." Caroline told him as she raked a hand through her hair. "Unless someone took it."
"Who?" Jeremy asked.
"Well, who do you think?" Caroline ordered. She knew Jeremy had the exact same thought as her. Anna had stolen the necklace in order to keep her foothold.
"She said she didn't take it."
Caroline scoffed. "Oh, and you believe her."
"You know what, yeah, yeah, I do believe her." Jeremy confirmed.
Caroline shook her head in utter disbelief before she snapped. "You know what, you're an even bigger idiot than I thought. So wake up, Jeremy, before you lose everything."
In Bonnie's car, the witch was driving, Louise was in the passenger seat and Caroline was sat in the back on the phone. She hung up and smiled. "Jeremy's got the necklace. He's going to meet us at the witch house."
"Okay." Bonnie said. "What's going on up there?" She slowed her car. Caroline squinted through the car window to see Carol Lockwood's car crashed into a tree by the side of the road. She was unconscious in the driver's seat.
"It's Mrs. Lockwood's car." Caroline gasped. Bonnie slammed on the brakes when Frederick walked across the road in front of her, heading for Carol's car. The other tomb vampires began to advance towards the car as well. "Guys? I'm going to get out of the car."
"What?!" Louise questioned. "Why would you do that?"
Caroline ignored her friend's concern as she instructed the witch. "Bonnie, you're going to drive the hell away from here."
Bonnie shook her head. "No way! I am not leaving you!"
"Bonnie, you've got your ghost boyfriend drama. Elena has hers. Louise has hers. And right now the mother of mine is about to be ghost bait." She referred to Tyler's mother int he car. "So go and send them all back to the other side, okay?"
When Bonnie nodded, Caroline quickly climbed out of the car and despite her better judgement Bonnie drove off.
Louise couldn't help but replay what Caroline said earlier. Louise has hers, referring to her boyfriend ghost drama. A pang of guilt washed over Louise. All day she had been concerned about the necklace not how Damon was fairing against a vengeful Lockwood or if more ghost had shown up to attack him.
Not even two minutes later, Louise cleared her throat. Her doe eyes peered over at Bonnie and far too innocently, Louise asked. "You really don't want me to come back to the witches house with you, right?"
"Seriously?" Bonnie grumbled. "You're going to make me face Jeremy alone?"
"Wouldn't you rather do that?" she asked. "Trust me, I'm pissed at my brother about this. But I don't think I can reasonably talk to him right now. And both of us getting on to him seems like we're ganging up on him and doesn't seem fair. Not that he deserves fairness at all right now."
Bonnie glanced at her best friend out the corner of her eyes. She sighed. "You know, if you wanted to stay to make sure Damon was okay, you could have just said."
"I haven't even been thinking about him." she said truthfully. She bit her lip. "And I feel terrible about that."
A/N: So, here's another chapter. Thanks for reading! Review?