Heartlines ▹ Elena Gilbert [1]

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER NINE
IN THE THICK OF THINGS

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

     Rowan fought the urge to cover her ears when Stefan's screams continued. She didn't want to hear him like that, didn't want to hear her friend in pain, but his screams were the only thing telling her where he was. She stopped briefly to listen closely despite the grimace on her face, tilting her head and closing her eyes to focus better. It didn't help that his screams were echoing against the trees. Her brows furrowed as she willed herself to pinpoint his location, trying to ignore the echoes. It wasn't hard to do, once she figured out which sounds to ignore and which one to focus on. Once she figured out his screaming was coming from the east, she twisted on her heel and started running again.

By the time she reached the destination, the screaming had stopped. She had to use the old, rusty well to stop herself, her abdomen digging into the stones. Elena, who had been bending over the opening and shouting desperately for Stefan to respond to her, jumped when Rowan appeared at her side, a small shriek leaving her mouth. Rowan didn't blame her for being jumpy. Rowan was jumpy, too.

"I heard Stefan." Rowan's voice came out as a gasp, thought she was hardly out of breath. Running was nothing to her now, as easy as blinking her eyes or expanding her senses. Elena opened and closed her mouth, like she was trying to find the words to describe what happened but not knowing where to start. Rowan bent down over the well and narrowed her eyes. It was dark, but her eyes adjusted immediately, and she could just make out the shadow of Stefan's body floating on top of the water, face down.

"Elena!" Caroline shouted, and she was suddenly there as well, catching herself on the old stones just like Rowan had. Rowan didn't pay her any attention.

"Stefan's down there," Elena rambled quickly, finally finding her voice, "and the chain is rusted." Rowan glanced down at the chain piled at her feet. She only thought for a moment, but then she was bracing her hands on the edge of the well and preparing to hoist herself over. She stopped when Elena grabbed desperately at her arm, voice rising in panic. "No, no, no, don't! You can't, it's filled with vervain." Rowan immediately recoiled, planting her feet firmly back on the ground and wrinkling her nose. Anxiety was swarming through her stomach. Mind racing, she turned and yanked up the chain. She was surprised when it flew up like it weighed nothing.

She didn't think she would ever get used to her own strength.

"Caroline, help me with this," she ordered, tossing a bit of the chain toward Caroline, who caught it and tossed it over the metal railing stretched out above the well, where a bucket used to be attached. Rowan could vividly remember her and Tyler breaking it off, then both of them burying it in the woods and running away, as if Tyler's parents would've cared that they had broken an old well that no one even cared about anymore. She shook her head and got to work securing the chain, tugging at it to make sure the railing would hold. Elena was already climbing slowly onto the edge of the well and bracing a foot in the loop. Rowan helped her steady herself, her hands falling on Elena's hips as she swayed for a moment, unsteady. After a moment where they all held their breath, Elena sighed and gave them a shaky nod.