Chapter Thirteen
Jessica was staring at a terrified looking Stefan.
Apparently, Jeremy's friend Anna was a vamp from back in the day and had now gone and kidnapped Elena. Stefan was frantic with worry, trying to get Damon to tell him where Anna was residing in town.
Damon refused to budge and went as far as telling Stefan that he wished Elena would die. He was still clearly sore from their betrayal of the previous evening.
Jessica hated seeing the two of them argue and hate each other. They were brothers, weren't they?
Jessica had always wished that she could have a little brother or sister of her own however, her mother had been unable to have children after Jessica had been born. Jessica was an abomination of nature and her mother's magic had punished her mother's body for even thinking about birthing Jessica naturally into the world. Her mother had experienced problems with her body and health from that moment on. Thank God for the NHS back home, they had been her mother's guardian angels over the years and her mother hadn't had to pay for any of her medical care except for a few affordable prescriptions here and there.
"What's got you so deep in thought over there?" Damon asked, successfully pulling Jessica out of her thoughts.
"Sorry, I was thinking about my mother. I…I don't know why" Jessica murmured.
Damon stared at Jessica in pity, he knew the girl missed her mother and Damon knew that he wasn't the most sympathetic or emotionally evolved person in the world, and he found it difficult to know what to say when it came to Jessica thinking about her mother.
"Did you bring anything of hers with you?" Damon asked.
Jessica shook her head.
"She got sick and went downhill really quickly, she put all of our belongings in storage back in the UK. She wanted to make sure that I didn't have to worry about too much after she passed. So, I kept all of our stuff there where it would be looked after until I could be sure that I had settled before bringing it all over here" she explained.
"Well, would you like me to ask for it to be sent over now? I can get that organized for you today, it would only take a few phone calls" Damon suggested.
That brought a smile to Jessica's face.
"Would that be ok? I feel like I'm being really cheeky by asking you to take in a stranger's belongings into your home" Jessica admitted shyly.
"Jessica, listen to me. You ARE family, and this is YOUR home. You are welcome to bring whatever you like into it…except boys" Damon stated.
Jessica giggled at the hastily added words at the end of his previous statement.
Damon grinned back at her despite how serious he was.
"Now, if you can get me the information of the storage company, and the contact details of who was looking after you in England after your mother passed, and I will get them to ship your belongings over here to us" Damon instructed.
Jessica nodded and ran to her room to get the contact information Damon needed. She handed it to Damon.
"Damon, can I ask what's wrong between you and Stefan?" Jessica asked timidly.
Damon frowned and was tempted to tell the girl to keep her nose out of his business however, he also felt bad that she had been roped in to being part of Stefan's betrayal the previous night without knowing why. He was particularly pissed when he found out that Stefan had allowed Jessica to get hurt but, with Jessica refusing to explain how she got hurt, he couldn't do much about it.
Damon sighed and nodded reluctantly.
"I know Stefan told you about the vampire who turned us both – Katherine – well, it was assumed that she died in 1864. However, she didn't. I ensured her survival and there is a tomb under the church which sealed Katherine safely in it until I could open it again. In 1864, Emily Bennett used a spell where she harnessed the power of a passing comet to complete the spell. Unfortunately, I had to wait for a comet to pass by again before the tomb could be opened" Damon explained.
Stefan had mentioned some of this to Jessica before but, hearing it from Damon's perspective helped Jessica to understand both viewpoints of the feuding brothers.
"Emily Bennett possessed the Bonnie girl that night in the woods and destroyed the crystal I needed to open the tomb and I was beyond pissed. I went to Georgia to see another witch who said I would find a reversal process in Emily's Grimoire but, no one knew where Emily's cookbook was. The founding family journals from the time held clues as to where the cookbook was, and Stefan and Elena promised to help me work it out. Stefan had his own agenda and was planning on getting the Grimoire before me so that I couldn't release Katherine" Damon said.
Jessica grimaced.
"Which is where I came in. He needed all the help he could get to try and stop you" Jessica whispered.
Damon nodded.
"Damon, I'm sorry for my part. I rely on both of you, and I would hate for it to seem like I'm supporting one of you over the other. I don't want to get in the middle of something that is not my fight. I need both of you" Jessica mentioned.
Damon stared at Jessica.
"No apology necessary, I know you had no idea about what you were helping Stefan and Elena to do. However, whilst I understand that you do not want to be put in the middle of things, I will keep you in the loop in the future. I have found that in our world, sometimes not knowing is more deadly than knowing the details, ok?" Damon asked.
Jessica nodded.
"Deal. Do you know what the involvement of this Anna girl is? She really seems to have sent Stefan into a tizzy by kidnapping Elena" Jessica asked.
Damon shrugged.
"Leverage. I have the Grimoire so Anna would need leverage on her end to use as a bargaining chip" Damon replied.
"Who exactly is Anna?" Jessica asked.
"Katherine had a best friend called Pearl in 1864. Anna is Pearl's daughter. When Katherine got captured and sealed in the tomb in 1864, so did Pearl. Anna wants her mother back and I want Katherine back. Anna's been working her way into Jeremy's life for the journals, and she is most likely going to be a threat towards the poor kid. However, after the way he spoke to you yesterday, I kind of want to cheer her on" Damon answered.
Jessica chewed her lip, yesterday was the past, and she wanted to keep moving forward.
"About that…Jeremy wants to meet me in town today to talk to me. Can I go? I just want to get it all over with and move on from it all" she voiced her thoughts.
Damon mulled it over for a couple of minutes and then reluctantly agreed.
"I've got to go into town anyway, I'll drive you" Damon stated.
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Once in town, Jessica met up with Jeremy. He apologised profusely for his comments and brought her lunch. He promised that he would spend forever trying to make up for his behaviour.
Jessica quickly forgave him; she was just glad that she still had a friendship with him and that he was going to overlook the whole Tyler situation.
"Are you coming to the party out by the cemetery tonight?" Jeremy asked.
"Are you kidding me? After last time, I think Stefan and Damon would kill me if I tried" Jessica laughed.
"Oh, come on, live a little" Jeremy encouraged.
"You're such a bad influence! Why are you going anyway? It doesn't really seem like your type of thing" Jessica asked.
Jeremy shrugged.
"Anna wants to go with me, and I thought safety in numbers and all that" Jeremy replied.
Alarm bells sounded in Jessica's head when Jeremy mentioned Anna. Jeremy might have thought twice about meeting Anna if he knew that she was the one who kidnapped Elena the night before.
"I'll come. You're right, safety in numbers" Jessica agreed, she would be damned if she let this Anna chick hurt Jeremy.
"Cool, I will see you there tonight" Jeremy said as the two of them parted ways.
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Jessica decided to walk home as she knew both Damon and Stefan were occupied with their Anna business.
However, upon walking into the house, Jessica found Elena and Damon talking. Well, it seemed Elena was daring Damon to compel her.
"Hey Elena, you escaped then?" Jessica asked.
Jessica's entrance broke whatever conversation was being had between the other two in the room.
Elena nodded.
"You didn't get hurt, right?" Jessica asked.
Elena shook her head and gave a reassuring smile.
"No, I'm fine thanks Jessica. Glad to be out of the situation though. Anna had taken Bonnie as well; it was a bit scary there for a while" Elena said.
Jessica was shocked to learn about Bonnie but was glad that everyone was ok for now.
"I'm glad you're all ok" Jessica said.
Elena smiled appreciatively and then said her goodbyes before leaving the house.
"So, what are you guys plotting now?" Jessica asked Damon once they were alone.
"Someone is nosy today" Damon replied.
Jessica shrugged.
"You were the one who said I should be kept in the loop" Jessica stated.
Damon groaned.
"Alright smartass" Damon said.
"I got Elena and the witches on my side, and I have the cookbook. We are opening the tomb tonight. Once I have Katherine, the two of us are out of here" Damon stated, joyful that for once plans seemed to be going his way.
"You're leaving?" Jessica whispered.
Damon froze as Jessica's words cut through the silence, he suddenly realised that in all his plotting to get Katherine back and ditch this town once and for all, he hadn't thought about Jessica once. Damon didn't know how to respond.
Jessica pushed the tears that were building back and let her mask of indifference fall firmly back into place.
Damon noticed and went to speak.
"Well, I hope it works out for you. You've been waiting for this for nearly a hundred and fifty years" Jessica spoke first.
"Look Jessica, I…" Damon began.
Jessica cut him off.
"Don't worry about it Damon, I'm used to it" Jessica stated as she turned and left the room.
Jessica hurried up the stairs to her room. She packed a bag of extra clothes and essentials, and she ran to her window. She didn't want to be here anymore until long after Damon left with Katherine. She would disappear until then; she was good at this.
She knew that she wouldn't be able to sneak past Damon downstairs, and she knew the drop from her bedroom window to the patio wasn't far if she dropped at the right spot.
She stealthily climbed out of the window and found a spot where she would land, hopefully quietly, on a patch of grass. She dropped.
She landed effortlessly on the grass and wasted no time in hanging around. She jumped up and took off in the direction of the woods, she could pick up the trail in there that would eventually lead her into the town.
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Jessica managed to reach the town just after it got dark. She made a pitstop inside The Grille and got changed and freshened up in the bathroom there.
Once she felt fresh again, she left The Grille and headed in the direction of the old cemetery where she knew she would find Jeremy. She was hoping he would let her crash at his place for a couple of days. If not, she would work it out herself if it came to that.
When she reached the old cemetery, the party was in full swing. She immediately noticed Jeremy and went over to him.
"Hey, you made it then?" Jeremy asked.
Jessica grinned and nodded.
"I promised I'd come, didn't I? Now, where can a girl get a drink?" Jessica asked.
Jeremy pointed in the direction of the beer kegs and Jessica went over and poured herself a cup. She downed it and then poured herself another. On her third cup, a voice broke her from her drinking.
"Jeez girl, save some for everyone else" a guy she recognised from her English class said.
She stared at the guy and shrugged.
"Just trying to have some fun" Jessica stated.
"You're trying to have some fun?" the guy asked.
Jessica grinned and nodded.
"Come on, me and the guys have some weed over in the corner. Want some?" he offered.
Jessica, who was trying to drown her sorrow in the darkness that called her, readily agreed, and followed the guy over to the corner where he and his friends were hanging out smoking and drinking.
One of the guys handed her a joint and she smoked it whilst relishing in the numb feeling that it offered. She started to relax and soak up the familiar feeling.
After a while, she remembered that she was supposed to be here with Jeremy and tried to glance around the partygoers and pick out his face.
She couldn't see him, but she did manage to pick out Damon's, and a very reluctant Elena's, faces in the crowd. Jessica remembered that they were opening the tomb tonight and couldn't help but feel a bit curious at the thought of such a big witch spell being cast mere meters from the party.
As Damon and Elena finished speaking to what looked like Caroline and Tyler's friend, Matt, Jessica made the decision to get up and follow them. She didn't look back once when the guys called her name.
She watched from several yards away as Damon and Elena disappeared down behind some sort of brick wall. Jessica approached where they had gone down and saw a stone set of steps and remained quietly at the top just listening.
She began to hear chanting of what was clearly the spell that would open the tomb and she chose that moment to head down the stone steps herself.
As she reached the bottom step, she practically ran into Damon who glared daggers at her.
"What the hell are you doing here?" he snapped, still angry from earlier when he had found that she had snuck out of the house.
"Curiosity" Jessica slurred.
Damon stared at her a moment more, noting her hazy expression, before his eyes widened.
"Are you drunk?!" he exclaimed in disbelief as he caught the scent of alcohol all over her.
"Yep, and I'm bordering on high as fuck for good measure" she giggled.
Damon growled as the two witches continued chanting.
Stefan was watching the exchange between father and daughter with concern. Jessica looked high, not sober, and pissed. Damon looked equally as pissed.
"I will deal with you later" Damon said through gritted teeth, he did not need the stress of Jessica's wayward tendencies right now.
"Seeing as you're not going to be here to see that threat through, I'm not concerned about that" Jessica deadpanned.
Damon and Stefan stared at her in shock and worry as she stumbled forward to be closer to the witches.
Jessica was really fascinated by the witches and could feel the magic sizzling through the air around them. She was mesmerised by the feeling and felt comforted by the powerful presence.
Stefan broke her concentration by asking her to help him bring some tools from outside back down in preparation of the tomb being opened.
Once outside, Jessica and Stefan came face-to-face with Anna, a guy Jessica didn't recognise, and an unconscious Jeremy.
Anna used the distraction to head down to the tomb, whilst Stefan torched the unknown vampire. Jessica was focused on making sure that Jeremy was ok.
"Jeremy?" Jessica begged him to be ok.
"Jessica, can you stay here and keep an eye on Jeremy for a bit?" Stefan asked as he took the tools he needed and followed Anna down into the tomb.
Jessica nodded and sat down in silence next to Jeremy, checking his head injury and making sure that he wasn't getting too cold.
Jessica didn't know how long she sat there but, it was long enough to watch Anna emerge from the tomb with a woman who looked like she was from the Victorian age. Jessica assumed that it was Pearl, Anna's mother.
"I won't trouble anyone anymore; I just wanted my mother back" were Anna's parting words as she disappeared into the night with Pearl.
Jeremy was finally starting to come round, but it was Damon's devastated face that held her attention. He looked beyond broken, Jessica had never seen him so vulnerable before and she didn't like it one bit.
She stood up and made her way over to Damon as Elena and Stefan rushed to check over Jeremy.
"Damon?" Jessica whispered, trying to get his attention.
It was no use, he just waltzed off into the night without another word.
Stefan cleared up the tools as if they had never been there and instructed Elena to go home with Bonnie to Sheila's.
Stefan instructed Jessica and Jeremy to follow him so that he could drop Jeremy home.
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After Jeremy had been safely dropped off at home, Stefan and Jessica made their way back to the boarding house.
"Want to explain to me what happened tonight?" Jessica asked.
Stefan sighed.
"For nearly a hundred and fifty years, Damon has waited to get into that tomb and get Katherine back. Turns out, she wasn't in there. She was never in there" Stefan stated.
Jessica sucked in a shocked breath; no wonder Damon had looked beyond broken when he had emerged from the tomb.
Stefan went into more detail about what had gone on down in the tomb whilst Jessica had been sat with Jeremy. She couldn't help feeling sorry for Damon but, she secretly wished that this would mean he would stay in Mystic Falls now. As selfish as that sounded.
"Anyway, enough about our drama, what was up with you tonight?" Stefan asked.
Jessica shrugged.
"It doesn't matter" Jessica stated.
Stefan refused to believe that.
"So, the large travel bag that you tried to sneak into my trunk when we left the woods doesn't matter?" Stefan pushed.
Jessica remained silent and looked out of the window, trying to hide her tears.
"Plus, you think stinking of beer and pot doesn't matter?" Stefan stated, not noticing her sadness.
Jessica still refused to talk.
Stefan gave up and just continued to drive the two of them home in silence.
It wasn't until they had parked up and had got out the car that he finally noticed that Jessica was crying.
"Jessica, please tell me what's wrong with you tonight?" Stefan pleaded.
Jessica wiped her tears as she grabbed her bag from the trunk and the two made their way to the front door.
"He was going to leave with Katherine tonight" Jessica stated quietly as they entered the living room.
Stefan nodded.
"I know, is that what has got you upset? That Damon was going to leave?" Stefan questioned.
Jessica headed for the stairs, the weed she had smoked earlier was starting to give her a headache and she just wanted to go to bed.
"I don't know why its upset me so much, I should be used to it. Everyone abandons me in the end, I've always been an afterthought" Jessica whispered before heading up the stairs.
Stefan watched her go, a look of concern on his face.