Singing Blood

Katerina

"Mommy, mommy, mommy!"As soon as I was walking through the entrance of the Gilbert residence I was greeted by my two little whirlwinds. Erin and Estelle threw themselves at me with so much force, it nearly knocked me to the ground. "Careful," I laughed. "I won't be of much use if you run me over.""We've missed you, mommy," Estelle said as she wrapped her tiny arms around me from one side while Erin did the same from the other. Relief flooded through me as I pressed my babies closer to me. To think I nearly didn't make it...I swallowed down the lump that had formed in my throat and knelt down next to the twins."I'm sorry I was gone for so long. I hope you had fun with auntie Jenna."The twins nodded."Auntie Jenna was worried about you but we told her you'll be fine," Erin explained. "We knew one of our daddies would come and save you."I frowned at her words."One of your daddies? Sweetie, you only have one daddy and he's still in New York as far as I know."The twins looked at each other in silence. I could tell they were having a conversation without spoken words. They always did this, probably a twins thing."Marianne! Thank god you're back!" Jenna came out of the living room and hugged me. "Ric and the twins said I shouldn't worry about you, but when Mrs. Lockwood called this morning and told me that your car was still parking in front of her mansion and she couldn't reach you, I nearly had a heart attack. Where were you?"I pressed my face into my best friend's neck, breathing in the familiar scent of vanilla and sandalwood. And then I finally allowed myself to break down. I didn't know how long we stood there, me crying my eyes out on Jenna's shoulder while she held me and soothingly stroked my hair. At one point she moved us to the couch in the living room. I snuggled to her side while Erin climbed on my lap and Estelle snuggled to my other side. There we sat together in silence for the next hour, as I allowed the weight of everything that had happened in the last twenty four hours to settle in. I had been kidnapped, by vampires no less. Said vampires had fed on me, nearly killing me. Fortunately another vampire, Elijah, had fed me his blood, healing me, only to be staked to death by the Salvatores who had come to rescue Elena and me. Oh, and I had found out that the town I had been born and lived in all my life was apparently some kind of hot spot for the supernatural. Vampires, werewolves, witches and doppelgängers mingled among the unsuspecting human population. There was apparently a secret Town Council consisting of members of founder families that were adamant on ridding the town of vampires. Though they did a terrible job, considering that Damon, a vampire, managed to infiltrate them fairly easily. Furthermore there was currently an Elena-lookalike trapped in a magically sealed tomb underneath Fell's Church. Stefan and Elena had filled me in on everything that had happened since September last year on the three hour drive back to Mystic Falls, while Damon had chirped in every now and then to fill in the blanks. It was...a lot. My head was spinning with all the new information. I was still hung up on the fact that vampires, werewolves and witches truly existed and my sweet, lovable Jenna had been compelled to stab herself with a knife, nearly losing her life. Elena had told me in how much danger Jenna had been, repeatedly I might add, and yet they still refused to tell her the truth. It infuriated me. They had asked me to not tell her, to lie about what happened today, but I refused to play this game. Jenna and I had always been open with each other. I would never lie to her. She deserved to know the truth and the truth she would get. Furthermore I planned to get my hands on some vervain to protect Jenna and the twins from compulsion. I apparently was immune to mind control for some reason. Maybe the founders archive would provide some useful information about vampires and other supernatural creatures. Elena might trust the Salvatore's to keep her safe but I wouldn't put the safety of my family into the hands of someone else. I would protect them myself, just as I had always done.

"Erin! Estelle! We have to go now or you'll be late for school!"It was the next morning and I had just finished packing the girls' lunch boxes. It had been late yesterday and thus we had all woken up later than usual. A short glance at the clock told me that we had to hurry up indeed. I doubted the archive would be in high demand today but for the small chance that I was wrong I had to make sure to be on time. God knew those pesky Karens would put me on a timer and not hesitate to rat me out to Carol if I was even a second too late. Not that Carol would fire me or anything. She needed me. I still didn't want to push my luck though."Estelle? Erin?" I called again as the twins still hadn't left their room. No reaction. I was starting to get worried, so I knocked on their door. Nothing. I opened the door and found the room empty. Panic crept into me. Where could they be?Oh god, please don't let them be kidnapped or hurt!I was about to call Liz Forbes when I saw the note on the desk. I recognized Estelle's neat handwriting (yes, my children could already write perfectly. They were way ahead of their age in many ways).