Cursed Blood and Bound Fates
Chapter 9
Renfri stared at the messages on her phone in shock. She couldn't believe that Anna had kidnapped Elena right out of her own home. Although, she probably should have been less surprised, since Damon snubbed her then left with the journal. She quickly responded to Stefan's texts as she got out of her bed:
I'm so sorry, I had my phone on 'do not disturb' while I was asleep, just seeing this now. Damon and I found Anna yesterday at the 'Mystic Motel' on the edge of town by Harris Lane.
I don't know if they're still there, but it's worth a try.
Please keep me updated, just because I'm mad at you guys doesn't mean I don't care.
She went to school without having seen Stefan or Damon while getting ready and taking care of Ash, making her nervous of what would happen. As she sat through her classes with Caroline, she noticed that Bonnie was also absent for the day, which only ramped up her anxiety. She got a text from Stefan during second period saying that they hadn't been at the motel Anna had been staying at, it looked like she had moved to new accommodations elsewhere after she and Damon had ambushed her the night before.
Renfri spent the day going through the motions of each class as she waited to hear news from Stefan. She'd even tried texting Damon, asking if he was aware and if he could help, but got no response. She took that as him not being interested in helping the people who had just betrayed him the night before, and she couldn't fully blame him, though she was mad that he was acting like he didn't care if Elena died because he was pissed at Stefan. This left her to spend her afternoon classes both stressed and fuming quietly at his pettiness.
During her final class, she was surprised to get a response from Damon. Anna had forced a meeting to ensure they worked together to open the tomb. He had the grimoire, but Anna had taken Bonnie, who was needed to do the spell to open the tomb, and Elena was being used as leverage. He'd been forced to agree to meet Anna to do the spell tonight if they wanted to get Elena back alive and because neither side had all the ingredients to get it open on their own. She sighed, somewhat relieved by having more information, but not enough. She sent a quick thank you to him for attempting to help. Though she knew he was mostly doing it to get into the tomb, she was relieved to know that he didn't want Elena to die in the process. She'd seen a few small interactions that kept hinting that he had some kind of emotions for her, maybe because she looked exactly like his long-time love, but she just hoped it meant Elena walked away from the situation safely.
While Renfri was changing into her running clothes for track, her phone buzzed again. She let out a big sigh when she read the message from Stefan:
I found Elena and Bonnie, they're safe. Bonnie's Grams helped locate them at another motel a little further from town, but they're okay now.
Ren sent a quick reply letting them know she was glad and would be heading home after practice. She did mention that Damon had attempted to negotiate with Anna in order to get Elena back and they had agreed to do the spell tonight, and to be careful if Anna came after them again. The redhead could breathe a little easier knowing that her friends were safe and channeled all that pent up stress into the stretch and burn of her muscles as she ran.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Later that afternoon, as the sun began to set, Renfri arrived home from practice. She had seen texts from Elena and Bonnie reassuring her that they were okay now and were safe at Bonnie's Grams' house and responded with her relief that they were alright and hoped to meet up soon. Ash greeted her like always as she came in and followed her upstairs as she headed for her bathroom. He laid on her bed as she cleaned up and changed then started on her homework. It felt weird, having spent the day without seeing anyone but Caroline and her few other friends at school that were all out of the supernatural loop.
She had apparently thought too soon, because seconds after Ash picked his head up with his ears perked in interest, there was a knock at her bedroom door. Renfri called for whoever it was to come in, and smiled when the door clicked open and Elena popped her head in.
"Oh my god, Elena, get in here!" the redhead called as she hopped off the bed in her baggy sweats and t-shirt to give her friend a huge hug, rocking her side to side.
"You're not still mad?" the brunette asked quietly while gratefully accepting the hug.
Ren pulled back and crossed her arms, "I'm still a little mad at you and Stefan for betraying Damon, but of course I'm happy that you're okay. You're still one of my best friends! That won't change." Elena gave a relieved smile and nodded her head.
"I wanted to stop by and see you since we didn't get the chance to really talk because of everything lately. Well, you weren't the only reason I came by, but still a big part."
"What was the other reason?"
"To talk to Damon," they moved to sit on the bed together, and Ash nosed the brunette until she started petting him while she spoke. "I convinced Bonnie and her Grams to do the tomb spell. I figured that Damon wouldn't stop until he got Katherine back and it'd be better to just work with him so no one else got hurt. Sheila agreed to help only as long as we killed the other vampires with fire to ensure none got out and hurt anybody."
"Well, that's reasonable. You do realize that that's the reason I was helping him in the first place, right?"
Elena blinked, "What do you mean? I was wondering why you were helping him, but I just assumed he'd lied to you or something to get you to help; Stefan said it wouldn't surprise him."
Renfri sighed and shook her head, "Stefan needs to learn not to assume shit he doesn't know. Anyway, when I first offered to help Damon, I told him I would only do it if we ensured that the vampires didn't get out, and if needed, we'd set the tomb on fire. He agreed to it, mostly because I was sure that they'd go after the founding families if they got out, which includes me. I trust him because he hasn't lied to me or hurt me. Since we came to an agreement, he's only lashed out when someone else has hurt him first."
"Oh," Elena nodded, "okay, I suppose that makes sense." She looked at Renfri for a moment, "I think he really does care about you, Ren. His relationship with Stefan is clearly complicated and volatile but he really does seem to see you as family. Even if he isn't obvious about it, it still shows in small ways."
Renfri smiled, "Yeah, I'm glad he seems to as well. You know I'm glad I have them both, regardless of the chaos they create. It's only been a little over two years, so I still miss my mom and dad, some days more than others, and Uncle Zach is gone now too. It's nice to have someone…even if they are undead bloodsucking drama queens."
Elena laughed at that but agreed, able to relate since she had lost her parents not long ago, and she only had Jeremy and Jenna now.
"I'm sorry I didn't talk to you first and just went with whatever Stefan said," Elena told her friend, "I figured he would know his brother best and how to deal with him, but I guess that's not necessarily true. I ended up hurting him too by betraying him. I don't necessarily think we were wrong to try to prevent the tomb from being opened because I didn't want to risk anyone I care about getting hurt, but I didn't consider that there were other ways we could have protected everyone and still worked with Damon so he could save the person he loves. I want to do that, which is why I came to talk to him tonight."
"I appreciate you being more understanding, you know. I'm sorry Damon threatened to turn you, though I kind of blame Stefan for that, he wouldn't stop pushing him into a corner, even when he was caught in a lie." Renfri shrugged. "So, how'd your talk with Damon go?"
Elena allowed herself another smile, "He's decided to trust me, that I actually want to help him this time. I realize that's a big thing for him, so I don't want to make another mistake."
Renfri tipped her head to the side, "That's good, just make sure Stefan doesn't get any ideas of screwing it up, I don't want to think about what Damon might do if Stefan betrays him again, especially so soon."
Ren noticed the sun had sunken beneath the sky by that point, turning the world dark and leaving the moon as the only light in the sky. Elena followed her gaze then checked the time.
"We should get going, we're meeting at the old church ruins soon." Elena went downstairs to wait as Ren changed into jeans, black lace up boots, and a thick navy sweater. She grabbed her jacket on her way out of her bedroom, telling Ash to stay and be good.
When she reached the foyer, she found Elena waiting in nervous silence with a stoic Damon, grimoire in his hands.
"Let's go," he said, and they followed him to his car.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
As they walked through the woods, they came upon multiple bonfires, music blasting from someone's car stereo, and groups of teenagers getting drunk from the kegs set up around the area.
"The Duke party, I forgot, I hope they stay away from the church ruins," Elena mumbled.
"Your hope, not mine," Damon said.
"Well, let's pray they stay where the bonfires and booze are, though it's not a great combination for drunk teenagers," Renfri added.
They started moving through the trees, trying to avoid people Elena and Renfri knew so they wouldn't get stopped. Unfortunately, they ran into Matt and Caroline.
"Elena, Ren, hey," Matt called out.
"Elena, oh my god, where have you been? Ren and I missed you at school," Caroline quickly came right behind him and conspicuously linked hands with him. Renfri had discussed the new relationship with Caroline, so she knew she was insecure about Matt's lingering feelings for Elena, but the girl really needed to get a grip otherwise she was going to scare Matt off.
"Hey guys," Renfri said easily, giving them a wave.
"Long story, no time to tell it," Damon quickly interrupted, giving the blonde a condescending smile.
"I wasn't talking to you."
"Sure you were," he retorted smugly, and Renfri elbowed him in the ribs.
"We haven't met, I'm Matt," the jock tried to be the gentleman only to get snubbed. He really was too nice, Ren thought.
"Matt, there's a reason we haven't met," Damon said, then completely ignored the two and turned Elena around, "We're going that way."
As he dragged the girl away she muttered quickly, "Sorry, guys." Renfri sighed, he really wasn't even trying to be subtle anymore and was just being a dick.
"See you guys later," then she waved again and went to follow them.
She caught up quickly and once they were away from the groups of drunken teenagers, an uneasy quiet settled over the woods, only broken by the crunching of leaves underfoot. They soon approached the church ruins and could see three people standing by the entrance and heard one of them speak.
"Are you sure Damon will come back with her?" Sheila asked worriedly.
Damon let out a sharp whistle, letting them know he had arrived.
"Brother, witches," he greeted shortly and headed straight down into the area that Stefan cleared that held the sealed tomb door.
"Sorry, Matt and Caroline stopped us on the way," Ren explained quickly and they all headed for the makeshift steps.
"Everything okay?" Stefan asked as Elena joined him.
"I just want to get this over with, are we ready?"
"Yes," Bonnie answered and her grandmother nodded as well.
"And no more sabotage, got it, Stefan?" Renfri added, looking at him pointedly, "You've already seen what happens when you push him too far, so don't pull that shit again, you're not the only one he'll take it out on." The witches looked at each other nervously and Renfri narrowed her eyes.
"Yeah, I know," Stefan responded warily and led them down into the enclosed area.
She pulled out her phone as the others moved ahead of her down the stairs and sent a quick text to Damon:
I just warned Stefan away from sabotage and the Bennetts got a little twitchy. I know they aren't fans of vampires and might try something, so use me as leverage so they don't just lock you in there. Please leave Elena out of it.
Damon was down there and waiting, eyeing them impatiently. They all watched as the two Bennetts set up the ritual, lighting the torches and naming the four elements as they went, sprinkling a bottle of water around the circle they had made.
"That's it," Elena asked skeptically from the wall she stood against, "just water from the tap?"
"As opposed to what?" Sheila asked.
"I just figured it'd have to be blessed or mystical or something," she ended lamely, making Ren smirk a bit and Sheila smile in amusement.
Damon pulled something out of his jacket, drawing Stefan's attention.
"What's that?" he asked, shining his flashlight on it, revealing it to be a blood bag.
"It's for Katherine; got to have something to get her going, unless your girl's offering up a vein to tap," he quipped, glancing at Elena who was standing by the far wall, close to the stairs.
Renfri stepped up beside her older uncle and nudged him, "You're getting what you want and they're helping, quit pushing their buttons."
"But it's so fun, and they deserve it, at least a little," he responded with a false smile.
Stefan just sighed, to which Damon leaned over his niece and stage whispered, "Admit it, you can't wait to get rid of me."
Stefan shook his head and repeated in a monotone voice, "I can't wait to get rid of you."
"We're ready," Bonnie said as she and her grandmother crouched in front of the open grimoire in the middle of the circle. They stood and clasped hands then began to chant in an unfamiliar language.
Renfri broke the silence among those watching and said, "You know Anna's definitely going to show up to get her mother out, how are you planning on handling it?"
"We'll deal with her," Stefan said vaguely.
"And how's that? She's 500 years old and already shown she's willing to do what she needs to in order to get her mother out, so I'd suggest letting her take her mother and leave then just kill the rest. No need to make another enemy who's older and stronger than the both of you."
"I agree with Red, in this case," Damon interjected. Stefan said nothing, not having a solution.
"What are they saying," Damon wondered aloud, listening to the witches' chant.
"Sounds Latin," Stefan said, which was Renfri's first guess but something about it seemed off.
"Eehh, maybe," she commented uncertainly.
Elena shook her head, "I don't think it's Latin."
All of a sudden, the torches around the circle flared, startling Elena so that she grabbed onto her boyfriend.
"What's happening?" she asked worriedly. There was a dull booming sound then the scraping of rock on rock as they turned to see the stone door with a pentagram shift and one side moved inward, creating an opening into the dark tomb.
"It worked," Bonnie said in a bit of surprise.
"Of course it worked," Sheila told her.
Damon turned to his brother, "Don't you have some fires to build?" Stefan nodded and turned to them, assuring them he was going to grab the gasoline tanks and makeshift flamethrowers he'd put together and left outside the opening above ground, then headed up.
Damon eyed the two witches before calling to his niece with a hand held out, "You ready?"
"What?" Elena said in confusion.
"You think I'm going to go in there by myself so you can seal me in?" he said to Bonnie and Sheila, grabbing Renfri's arm and pulling her to him, and she let it happen.
"Don't take her in, I'll bring the walls down," Sheila threatened.
"You'll bring the walls down if I don't, you think I trust you?" her uncle retorted.
"As much as I trust you—"
"It's fine," Ren snapped, "Look, he needs to know you won't trap him in there once he's inside, I'll go." Elena and Bonnie looked torn, but Ren turned to the Bennett matriarch with a pleading face, "That means I'm trusting you not to let me die in there just because you hate vampires, Miss Sheila." The older witch pressed her painted lips together but said nothing.
Damon leaned down and reached towards a torch, asking, "May I?" rhetorically before taking it. Elena handed Ren her flashlight and gave her hand a squeeze before letting her go reluctantly. Ren gave her a small smile and glanced at the Bennetts before joining Damon as he stepped inside the stone entrance.
They followed the stone tunnel straight for several yards before they came to a bend that headed right. The tomb was pitch black and the torch only lit about a four foot area around it, so Ren couldn't really see where they were going and was trusting her uncle to lead the way.
Renfri paused when she suddenly heard a sound creeping into her ears. Whispers, indistinguishable voices entered her awareness.
"What the hell is that," she asked in a hushed voice.
"They can sense you, they're trying to get into your head but they're too weak to really do anything," Damon responded. "Now, where is she," he mumbled, then moved ahead, seemingly disappearing. Renfri gasped and stumbled forward with only her small flashlight. She couldn't help the fear that crept into her brain, surrounded by absolute darkness underground and catching the occasional hushed sound or half a word brushing against her ears as she slowly moved forward, unwilling to stay put and alone.
"Damon?" she called uncertainly as she moved forward slowly, using her hand to follow the wall forward as her little flashlight barely illuminated more than a foot in front of her and was limited to the ground she pointed it at. She almost face-planted when she took another step forward and reached for a wall where the no longer was one, leaning her weight forward into the dead air and stepping on something that clinked against the hard ground. She caught herself on her other foot, swinging her arms wildly to regain balance, and heaved a deep breath in before pointing her flashlight down to see what she had stepped on. It was a rusted black chain with a manacle on the end. She followed the length of it over to the wall she had been reaching for, only it had dipped in, creating the mouth of what seemed to be a larger space, based on how the wall was curving out. She started to trace the edge of the room and gasped when the beam of her flashlight illuminated a withered looking hand only a few feet in front of her. The whispers in her ears picked up as she lifted the light to find the hand attached to an equally withered face in dusty, old clothes. Her heart rate picked up as she slowly followed the outline of the larger space with her flashlight's beam, finding a dozen other desiccated vampires, their hushed voices penetrating her mind increasingly so as she moved forward into the room hesitantly. She crouched in front of the nearest body, a man with a tattered shirt and waistcoat, looking curiously at the wrinkled, gray skin, wondering how they were still alive when they looked like corpses.
Blood filled eyes opened and looked right at her, causing her to fall back onto her butt, swearing, "Son of a bitch!" She watched carefully, but the body didn't move further, it seemed like it couldn't. She let out a breath and got back to her feet, then started looking around in an attempt to find the pathway she was trying to follow earlier. She swiveled in place once more only to let out a scream.
"AAAHHH!" she jumped backwards when something appeared in front of her, blocking her way. She lifted the flashlight to the figure's face.
"Anna?"
"Hello Renfri, I thought I might see you down here, helping the love-struck idiot."
Renfri attempted to catch her breath and replied, "So you're here for your mother? Go ahead and take her, but the rest aren't leaving. The others won't let them out." She took another step away from the vampire and nearly fell again as her heel caught on the leg of a desiccated body slumped against the wall. Both their flashlight's searched out the face and Anna gasped.
"Mother!" She crouched in front of the seemingly dead body and touched its shoulders. She turned back to the redhead, who had slowly started backing away again.
"Your 'uncles' did this, you know," she said accusingly.
"Uh, that was their father, and it sounds like Damon at least was in agreement with me that he was a dick."
Anna scoffed, "And the other founding families, including Johnathon Gilbert. I made a choice a long time ago that it would be Gilbert blood that revived her. I had Jeremy all ready to go, but…I guess Salvatore blood is almost as good."
Ren's eyes widened in panic and she hissed, "Don't you fucking dare—"
Anna's hand clamped down on her wrist not holding the flashlight and bit down, hard.
"Aaarrghh, fuck, let go!" she shouted, hissing at the pain, before she was dragged to the ground and pushed onto her stomach over the lap of Anna's mother. Her arm bent awkwardly as her bloody wrist was forced to cracked lips. She heard a shout echo down the tunnel, a girl's voice, then another deeper one right behind her, loud and clear.
"Let her go!"
The weight on her disappeared with a shout and she was hauled to her feet and away from the living corpse. Stefan pushed her behind him and told her to go. She started to follow his order before she paused.
Damon, he was still in here and looking for Katherine, she had to find him first.
Anna had squared up with Stefan, ready to fight, but was stopped by a wispy voice calling her name. She whipped around to see her mother's eyes open and looking at her, her face a little less wrinkled.
Renfri took the opportunity to head down the opposite path that Stefan had pushed her towards, heading deeper into the tomb.
"Wait! What are you doing?" Stefan called after her.
"I need to find Damon!" she told him, then moved forward in a hurry, keeping her flashlight pointed at the floor to avoid tripping on any more appendages again. Her wrist hurt and she pulled her sleeve over it and gripped it tight, hoping to stop the bleeding. The fresh scent of her blood must have roused the desiccated vampires because the whispering in her head picked up again, urging her to move faster in fear that they might actually be able to reach out and grab her in their starved state.
She turned another corner and came into what seemed like a dead end, blocked off by a metal gate, oddly enough. It had been opened and inside stood her uncle, the torch he had taken wedged between some rocks. He kicked one of the desiccated bodies and mumbled something, whipping around in a frenzy.
"What?" she asked quietly.
"She's not here," he said a bit more clearly, his eyes wide and confused.
"What the fuck," Ren breathed, her heart heavy in her chest.
"What, what happened?" Stefan said, appearing just behind her.
"SHE'S NOT HERE!" Damon shouted, launching the blood bag into the wall, splattering it with the dark liquid that began to drip down the stone.
Stefan froze in place for a second, shocked, before looking behind him and hurriedly saying, "Damon we need to get out of here."
"It doesn't make any sense, they locked her inside," the older Salvatore mumbled, pacing back and forth like a restless panther in a cage.
"If we don't leave now, we're not getting out!" Stefan said more sternly.
"What are you talking about, Stefan? What did they do?" Renfri asked angrily, knowing Bonnie and Sheila had done something to try and screw them over.
"The seal keeping vampires in was still up. It's down now, but they can't hold it for long," he said in a rush. Renfri scowled and shook her head but turned to the dark haired man pacing the room.
"How can she not be here?" the man murmured again.
"It's time to go," Renfri said firmly, but it was like he hadn't heard her.
"It's not worth spending all of eternity down here, she's not worth it!" Stefan had grabbed his brother's shoulder only to be slapped away as Damon lashed out in anger and confusion. Renfri jumped and took a step back, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire but worried they would be stuck forever.
"Damon!" another voice reached them and Elena came to a stop in the doorway. "Please," she simply said.
He looked at her with wet eyes, then at Renfri, who nodded, "We've done all we can, let's go." She reached out a hand to him and gently wrapped her fingers around his wrist, pulling him in the direction of the door. Stefan put a hand on his shoulder but it was quickly shoved off, though he allowed Ren's light grip to stay as she led him out of the tomb. She picked up the pace, taking long, quick steps in her hurry to escape, as fast as she could go without tripping on the bodies in her path on the way back through the darkness. Stefan and Elena exited first, then Renfri and Damon right behind them, narrowly avoiding the stone door that slammed shut on the threshold. At the same time, the torches extinguished, plunging them into near darkness with only the moonlight peeking through the open ceiling. The brunette and her boyfriend hugged each other in relief, glad to have gotten out safely. Ren let go of her uncle's wrist as he pulled away and leaned against a wall, turning to look back at the stone door with a pentagram carved into it.
The six of them breathed for a moment in the silence that followed the previously panicked moments. Stefan and Elena moved to head up the stairs and go check on Jeremy, who had been knocked unconscious by Anna's tool, Ben the bartender, who Stefan had apparently burned to a crisp.
Renfri watched Damon warily, unsure of what he would do after having just found out that Katherine had never been in the tomb in the first place. He stood there, staring at the tomb's door for another minute before slowly turning and trudging up the stone steps to the surface. Renfri glanced back at Bonnie and her Grams, cleaning up from the ritual and gathering their things, before she followed him out.
Above ground, Ren saw Jeremy sitting up on the ground, groaning from the bump on the head he had. Elena and Stefan turned to look at Damon, watching as he wandered a few yards before just standing there, seemingly lost and staring at the ground. Elena's face was filled with sympathy and he got up from her crouch and approached him.
She wrapped him in a hug and said quietly, "I'm sorry," before quickly letting go and stepping back as Stefan watched them with sympathetic eyes. They turned away to take Jeremy home and the Bennetts soon followed, Bonnie supporting her Grams, who looked drained. Renfri slowly approached her uncle; he looked shell-shocked, like he was completely numb. She hesitantly reached out to wrap her fingers around his wrist and he didn't respond. She sighed and shuffled closer, gently wrapping her arms around his waist, hands pressing into his back.
"I'm so sorry, Uncle Damon," she murmured, and pressed her cheek to his shoulder, facing in. He stood there for about five seconds, completely limp, before he slowly raised his arms to wrap them around her shoulders and let his cheek rest on the top of her head. She squeezed tighter at the response, glad he wasn't pushing her away and accepting comfort from her. She was worried how he would deal with the revelation that the woman he had been waiting 145 years for wasn't in the tomb to be saved. She wasn't sure what conclusion he would come to, but she was sure he would spiral and it wouldn't be good.
After a minute or two, Damon lifted his head and muttered, "Anna knew…"
She took her head from her shoulder and glanced up at him, "What?" He stepped back and she let go of his waist but got a hold of his forearm.
"Anna knew Katherine wasn't in the tomb," he said more clearly and Renfri frowned.
"How do you know?" she asked.
He moved to turn away, but she held onto his wrist, tugging.
"Damon, don't do anything stupid, and if you're planning to, at least take me with you." He scowled down at her and she just shrugged, "Junior partner in crime, remember?"
He huffed, clearly having redirected his sadness into anger, "Stay out of the way."
She shook her head, "No promises." He grunted then scooped her up suddenly and flashed away, making her gasp in surprise and cling to him. He brought them to the new motel that Stefan had found the girls at when they were kidnapped and broke into the room. He sat in a chair in a corner by a standing lamp and she perched herself on the arm of the chair. They sat in the dark, waiting for Anna and her mother to show up. About ten minutes later, Damon stiffened and she sat up straighter as the door opened, showing Anna supporting her feeble mother as they entered the room. Anna flipped the light switch at the door as Pearl moved further into the room, then both froze as the two intruders were revealed.
"You knew Katherine wasn't in there," Damon accused quietly.
A bit of guilt forced Anna's eyes to the floor for a second, "You wouldn't have helped me." In the next second, he sped across the room and had Pearl by the throat, his grip lethal. Bitter fury burned across his face as Anna shouted and Renfri jumped to her feet.
"Why do you get to have a happy ending?" he spat out.
Anna grabbed desperately at Damon, pleading with him, "No! Please, you wouldn't have helped me, you know you wouldn't have!"
"Damon," Renfri called, "pick your battles…"
"The guard, the one at the church," Pearl rasped out while clutching at his hand on her throat and Damon's grip loosened, his interest caught, "the one who locked us in. She promised to turn him, he was obsessed with her, she had him under her spell like everyone else…He let her go." Damon's face was intent and searching, but he was still holding on. Renfri stepped over and put a hand on the arm that held Pearl. He looked deeply into Pearl's eyes and apparently decided she was telling the truth, then let her go. The older woman gasped for air and Anna rushed to support her. The girl glanced at Renfri before looking at Damon again.
"Last I saw her was Chicago, 1983. She knew where you were, Damon, she didn't care." Renfri sighed quietly, this was why Anna had called him the love-struck idiot before. Damon stepped back, looking broken all over again and moved towards the door. He paused and looked back at the mother and daughter clinging to each other in a desperate embrace then turned to walk out. Renfri stopped at the door as well, first making eye contact with Pearl then Anna.
"I get why you did it, I understand wanting your mother back…I'd do the same if I could." Anna looked at her warily before nodding. She continued, "Please don't hold it against him. He waited 145 years only to be crushed, that'd fuck up anyone monumentally." They didn't respond this time, though Pearl eyed her curiously, so she just let out another breath and left. She found Damon waiting in the parking lot by the road, arms crossed. He wordlessly picked her up and flashed away.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
The next few weeks had been unremarkable, for once, with no notable supernatural drama, much to Renfri's relief. The first week had been taken over by the death of Sheila Bennett, which had devastated Bonnie. She and Elena had gone to the funeral and tried to be there for her, but after that Bonnie had cut them off and gone no contact. Elena was worried but Renfri admitted that she assumed Bonnie blamed Damon and Stefan for forcing them to do the spell that had overwhelmed Sheila, and consequently blamed them as well for their connection to the brothers. She figured that Bonnie was avoiding them because she didn't want to see them, not that she was avoiding everyone. She knew Caroline had spoken with her multiple times over the winter break, which is why she had come to this conclusion.
During this time, Renfri had tried to do what she could to kill the awkward atmosphere in the boarding house. She had decorated the den, kitchen, front entrance, and her bedroom for the holidays and with general winter decor, trying to brighten it up a bit. She had cooked a modest Christmas dinner: a glazed ham, garlic mashed potatoes, roasted butternut squash, green beans, and a pumpkin pie. Stefan had been kind enough to set the table and sit down to eat with her in the formal dining room, but Damon had merely ambled in, 'complimented' her skills in the kitchen, grabbed a slice of pie with his bare hands, and ambled back out. The holidays had been quiet for Renfri, mostly spending it either relaxing at home with Stefan and Ash or meeting Elena and Caroline in town or at their houses.
Damon had been in a near constant state of drunkenness and had been popping in and out at all hours of the day, sometimes bringing random women that he had compelled to party with and drink from. She had pretty much expected him to not even show his face at Christmas dinner, given the never ending pity party he was throwing for the past two weeks, so she would take what she could get from him at the moment. It was understandable that he was a mess and she let him wallow in peace, though she let him know on occasion that she wasn't happy about the compelled women invading her house at random times, this was her home too and she would prefer it if he could keep his unfortunate conquests contained to his bedroom or the lesser used common rooms of the house.
Stefan had reacted similarly to Ren, observing his brother's coping methods with distaste but tolerating it and not saying much beyond voicing concern for the girls he fed on and compelled. Ren's way of coping with her uncle bringing his messy coping mechanisms in was to avoid being in the boarding house if he was making his grief hard to ignore. She would go out for runs in town, bringing Ash with her and meeting her friends in town. She no longer ran in the woods or at night, too paranoid with her new knowledge of the supernatural to dare tempt fate and risk becoming a statistic. It helped when school started up again and kept her busy and out of the house for most of the day and some nights.
Today, after the first week back to school, she was relaxing with Elena on the Gilberts' porch. She was sitting on one of the cushioned dark wicker chairs and reading a book with Ash stretched out on the porch floor. Elena had been writing in her journal but had paused to leave Bonnie a message, wanting to check in in hopes she would finally respond.
Jenna made her way up the porch steps and called out playfully, "What are you three doing out here? It's cold!"
"Thinking, writing, uh, the funeral for Bonnie's grandmother brought back a lot about mom and dad," she glanced at Ren who gave her a small smile, it was the same for her and they could relate often on that front.
"You said you'd do some digging about them, the adoption?" Elena continued, looking at her aunt hopefully.
Jenna nodded slowly, "Right."
Elena raised her eyebrows, "So did you, dig?"
Jenna gave her a soft smile and tipped her head towards the house, "Come on inside." She glanced at Ren then back at Elena in question, checking what she was comfortable letting her friends know. Elena quickly invited Renfri in to join them, she was going to tell her afterwards anyway. They ended up in the dining room with a box and Jenna's laptop on the table and listened as she spoke.
"Your dad kept everything from his medical practice records, blogs, appointment books…I found an entry from the night you were born, a patient and a birth date, Isabel Peterson," she showed her the notebook and pointed to the entry.
"It's probably not her real name, right?" Renfri guessed as Elena's eyes lit up in excitement at the progress.
Jenna shook her head, "Pregnant teenage runaway? Probably not. First name could be true but where would she get Peterson? A classmate, a best friend? So I binged it, I searched for all the Petersons born in this area the same year as Isabel and found three: two were men and one a woman. Trudie, who lived in Grove Hill, Virginia."
"So Trudie's close?" Elena said.
"Damn, you could be a private investigator, Jenna," Ren commented, making the young woman grin.
"There's also this," Jenna added and searched for Trudy's name and 'Grove Hill High School.' Of the few results that came up, one was an image from the 1993 alumni page of a yearbook, showing a picture of two girls in uniforms labeled Trudie Peterson and Isabel Flemming.
Jenna pointed at the blonde with a wide smile, "That's Trudie," then pointed at the striking girl with sharp eyes and dark hair, "and that's Isabel."
Elena smiled, "She was a cheerleader," alluding to her own previous stint on the squad.
"And she's pretty, you've got some good genes," Ren joked and nudged Elena, who giggled.
"Trudie still lives there, this is her address," Jenna said and handed her a sticky note.
Elena accepted it but asked, "What about Isabel?"
Jenna's face fell a bit, "I couldn't find anything about her."
Elena's face lost its joy and she sat in a chair to glance over the appointment book again. Renfri watched as Jenna looked at Elena, seeming a little conflicted about something before speaking up again.
"Listen, there's something else," she glanced at Renfri, "and it's sensitive information, so keep it to yourselves because it's only a possibility." Renfri and Elena nodded, they're curiosity clear. Jenna continued, "Mr. Saltzman, Ric? His wife was from around here, and her name was also Isabel."
Elena looked surprised and Renfri's interest was piqued at the mention of the shady history teacher.
"Wait, 'was' as in…?"
Jenna looked at her niece sadly, "She died."
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After Jenna had left, Elena had called Stefan to come over and they had moved up to her room. Ash had wandered over to Jeremy's room where he was playing video games and Renfri let him be. As Elena was putting clean clothes away and Renfri was sitting at her window seat, watching her move around the room, working herself up, Stefan arrived. Elena filled him in on what Jenna had told them and he seemed confused.
"So Alaric's wife might have been your mother?"
Elena shook her head in disbelief, "It can't be true, I mean, the coincidence alone is just crazy."
"I've stopped believing in coincidences, especially ones as big as that, since finding out about the supernatural. It's probably best to look into it keeping in mind that it could be true. I also still think Saltzman is shady and don't trust him, he could be here for a reason related to this," Renfri chimed in, giving her two cents of pessimism.
Elena just sighed and shrugged while Stefan looked thoughtful.
Elena turned to him with the post-it note, "I have the address for her friend, Trudie."
"You want to talk to her?"
"I don't know, I—I don't know," she said, uncertain. She continued, "If it's true and they are the same person, that means that my birth mother is dead, and I don't know if I can handle that."
Renfri felt for her friend, who just lost her parents not long ago then finding out she was adopted and that her birth mother might be dead; it was a lot.
Stefan took a step forward, looking curious, "Did Jenna tell you anything about Alaric's wife, how she died?"
Ren raised an eyebrow at his line of questioning while Elena answered, "Just that she died and the case was never solved." There was a pause and they watched his face, he wasn't surprised.
Renfri's eyes narrowed, "You knew that already, how?"
He glanced at her and said, "The night at the school when he attacked me, he told me some things about her death—"
"Well—"
Stefan interrupted Elena's question, "No, no, no, it's not possible, the coincidence is too great, it's too much." Renfri didn't understand why Elena nodded and seemed placated by this, because she didn't believe it herself.
"Hold up, he attacked you?" Renfri asked, confused.
Stefan stiffened then sighed, "I didn't want to tell you before because I thought you'd tell Damon. Alaric knows about vampires and is basically a hunter. When I showed up at the school, he tried to kill me with a homemade stake gun. But we, uh, worked it out."
"Oh…wow, I guess that explains the shadiness. I'm guessing you didn't tell Damon because he'd just kill him," she said and he nodded. Renfri thought to herself that maybe it was Alaric that staked Logan Fell for the Sheriff to find. The younger Salvatore brother turned back to Elena.
"Listen, if you decide to go talk to Isabel's friend, I'll go with you," Stefan said, running his hands down her arms comfortingly.
"I'll go too, if you'd like, I don't have much going on beyond track right now," Renfri added helpfully.
"Yeah, thanks," Elena told them both and managed a small smile.
Stefan hugged her and announced, "I should get going, I gotta go deal with Damon."
Elena stepped back and asked, "How's he doing?"
"He's…dealing, in his own way," Stefan finally replied after hesitating.
Renfri huffed, "Well, while you're there, can you make sure he cleans up after himself? I don't want anyone getting upstairs and try to make sure he keeps them to the common areas, preferably not where I would walk in on it?"
Stefan shrugged, "I can't make any promises, you know that," and she just nodded warily.
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Elena and Renfri were driving back from having gotten lunch at a cafe in town that afternoon, and as they came up to a red light and waited, Elena glanced at her purse sitting by her friend's feet thoughtfully.
Ren raised an eyebrow at her curiously, "What's up?"
Elena blinked and looked up as the light turned green, stepping on the gas, "Can you grab the post-it note from my bag?"
Renfri's mouth dropped open, "You want to visit Trudie now? I figured you'd wait a day or two before letting your curiosity get the best of you." She reached down to rummage through Elena's purse and pull out the yellow sticky. Elena then asked her to reach into the glove box to take out the GPS they kept in there and enter the address. Once it was set, they headed over to the place, Elena clenching the steering wheel nervously all the way. Renfri tried to distract her by playing music on the radio and singing along obnoxiously to make her laugh, and was somewhat successful, though she couldn't totally put her friend's mind at ease.
They parked on the street and crossed the front lawn of the gray house to climb the porch steps. Renfri stayed a step behind Elena, letting her lead while still supporting her, and watched as she hesitated before knocking on the door. She paused and almost turned away but stopped when a middle-aged woman answered the door with a smile.
"Trudie, Trudie Peterson?" Elena asked.
The blonde woman nodded curiously, "Yes?"
Elena took a breath and told her, "Uh, my name is Elena Gilbert and this is my friend, Ren…I wanted to talk to you about…Isabel Flemming?"
The woman looked mildly intrigued, "Well, I haven't heard that name in years. How do you know her?"
The brunette struggled to put it into words, "I think that—um, well…Do you know if she had a baby that she gave up for adoption?"
Something clicked in the woman's eyes, "My god, you're her daughter." Then she smiled widely, "I was just gonna make some tea, would you and your friend like some?"
Elena smiled in relief and nodded, "Sure."
The woman stepped back and her smile fell a bit, "Uh, the kitchen's this way," she said and gave a weaker little quirk of her lips than before. Renfri looked at her curiously but kept a pleasant look on her face and followed Elena. She noted the relief on the woman's face when they both stepped over the threshold, then led them to the dining room to sit.
Elena rambled about her uncertainty at coming at all, telling the woman about how the stop light made her think of her mom, Miranda, teaching her how to drive, which led to thoughts about Isabel, leading her to Trudie. She apologized for coming without notice, but the woman waved her off as she put a kettle on the stove and returned to them.
"Oh, it's no problem, um it is a surprise, though," she said as she sat in a chair across from them, "I haven't thought about Isabel in years."
"When was the last time you saw her?"
"About 17 years ago, when she left to go have you," she shrugged, "We kept in touch for a while but, you know, people drift apart."
"And you don't know where she ended up?" Elena asked.
The woman thought for a second, "She was in Florida for a while, was on her own, I know it wasn't easy."
Elena asked the next question with much apprehension, "Do you have any idea who my father is?"
Trudie looked sympathetic when she shook her head, "I could never get her to fess up." There was a brief pause before she continued on a more positive note. "Anyways, when she finally pulled it together, she got into college on a scholarship."
"Where did she go?"
"Somewhere in North Carolina…Duke, I think. Smart girl, smart school," she said with a small smile. The kettle began to whistle in the kitchen and she went to get it. When she returned with a cup of tea for each of them she also went over to a bookshelf in the den and pulled a yearbook off the shelf and opened it to the page that Jenna had found online. Elena was absorbed in flipping through the yearbook and Renfri was watching her while she took a sip from her tea, a small one because she wasn't a tea drinker and just did it to be polite, when she paused then sniffed the aromatic liquid. Her eyes found Trudie's which were watching her only to look away quickly. Renfri felt suspicion blossom in her chest and set the cup down on the table.
"Why are you serving us vervain?" she asked bluntly, shocking Elena and the woman scrambled to maintain her composure.
"Oh, it's just some herbal mixture, I don't know everything that's in it," she said hurriedly, though her smile was barely holding on to the tight lines of her face now and her panicked eyes gave her away.
"What?" Elena said, and her friend waved for her to try her tea and she did, looking surprised. "You know?" Elena asked the woman.
"What?" she continued to play dumb.
Renfri narrowed her eyes, "You didn't verbally invite us in and you gave us vervain tea; you're clearly aware of vampires, nice try though."
The woman quickly stood from her seat, "I think that you should leave."
"Wait, what are you not telling—"
"Please leave, now!" she snapped, fear leaking into her voice.
"Let's go, Elena, something's clearly wrong here." They gathered their things and Trudie followed them to the door, slamming and locking it in a hurry as soon as their feet hit the porch.
"Well, that's a bad sign," Renfri muttered as they headed for Elena's car at the edge of the property. As they paused to open the car doors, they noticed an older man standing in the middle of the street a few houses down, just standing there and staring at them. They jumped into their seats and as Elena drove them away, Renfri saw through the side mirror that the man started walking forward as soon as the car took off. Renfri released a breath when he didn't speed after them, indicating that he was probably human.
"And that's an even worse sign."
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