♤ [2] An Everlasting Nightmare

ı 01 ı Lost Cause

"James, that wasn't very nice," Andie says before walking out of the room. I glare at her, uninterested in anything she has to say. For a whole month it's been me, Damon and Andie in this house, and I honeslty don't know how I haven't kicked her out already. Probably because this isn't my house, but still, she's annoying. Frankly I don't know how I've survived living with Damon.

"What is it?" Damon asks, noticing the map I have laid out on the bed.

On it are several red sticky notes. I scribble down another one, and place it beside the part labeled Tennessee.

"Caroline called me and told me her mother just found out about another animal attack. Two women were killed," I say, concentrating on the collection of sticky notes, trying to make sense of them.

"This has Blair and Stefan written all over it," Damon says, putting on his shirt.

"No, this has Klaus written all over it," I growl. "I should've listened to Blair when she told us where Elijah was. He would've been able to help us, and now I have no idea where he is."

Damon sighs from beside me. "We'll think of something," he says before turning to walk away.

"Think of something? Damon, we've been thinking of something for almost half the summer! We're keeping track of their trail, yet we haven't done anything!" I shout. My temper is shortening by the second, but I force myself to stay calm.

"Yeah? And where has that gotten us? No where! They're leaving a trail of breadcrumbs, and it's impossible to keep up James! Klaus has Elijah, and we're never getting him back, the same way we're not getting Stefan and Blair back!" he shouts back.

His voice cracks at the end and I can tell he feels defeated, the same way I feel.

I close my eyes, and take a deep breath, letting the silence do the talking.

"Listen, I know it feels like we haven't done anything, but we have. We're following leads, and keeping tabs. I promise you, tomorrow we will do something. But for today, let's let Elena have her birthday," Damon says.

I don't look up. Instead I stare at the map, looking for clues of where to look next, but I'm lost. All these places are ramdom, and they don't make sense. There's no pattern.

I feel Damon's arm on my shoulder, and I turn to face him.

"Okay?" he asks.

"Fine," I sigh, folding the map back and putting it back in his drawer.

"You still haven't told Elena yet, have you?" I ask.

"No. I haven't," he admits.

"Don't you think you should? She deserves to know," I say.

"James? Remember when we said just a few seconds ago that we were going to focus on Elena's birthday?" Damon asks.

"Yes," I mutter.

"Great, so let's do that. Tomorrow we can focus on Blair and Stefan, and maybe even wake up your little original friend," he says while patting me on the back.

"If only we knew where he was," I mutter under my breath.

The sound of the front door opening downstairs sends Damon and I sprinting down to see who it is.

Although I know it's highly unlikely, I always hope it's Blair that walks through the front door, but I've learned that by doing that I'm setting myself up for disappointment. It's a feeling I've gotten numb to.

"Speak of the devil," Damon says as Elena walks in.

"Nice to see you too Damon. Hey James," Elena greets. Her cheeks are pale, and there are bags under her eyes. I can tell nothing has been easy the past month for any of us, and it pains me to see that Stefan is missing Elena's birthday and leaving her like this.

I nod in response, but my eye catches the attention of a piece of paper in her hands.

"What's that?" I ask, pointing at her hand.

"Sheriff Forbes told me there's been a new sighting in Memphis. We should check it out," she says, handing me the piece of paper. I take it, and read it anxiously.

"Yeah, Caroline just told me about it. I think it's worth looking into," I say.

"Why are you looking into this? Klaus is suppose to think you're dead- lets keep it that way," Damon warns.

"I'm not just going to sit by and do nothing. We need all the help we can get," she says, defending herself.

"We are doing just fine," Damon says.

"No you're not, you have no leads!" she argues.

"Because they're all dead ends! For all we know Stefan and Blair are dead!" Damon shouts. Their bickering and arguing is something I've gotten use to, but I can't stand it when all Damon speaks is negativity. It's like he has no hope, and I'm sick and tired of hearing no support from him.

"Would you please shut your bloody mouth? Please Damon," I say in frustration, scratching the back of my neck while thinking. Elena and Damon both go quiet at my words, giving me a peaceful few seconds before they're bound to start arguing again.

"They aren't dead," Elena says quietly. I look up and see tears in her eyes, tears that express the same way I'm feeling.

Damon scoffs, causing me to turn and glare at him. "She's right. They aren't dead," I say folding up the piece of paper.

"How do you know that?" Damon asks, shaking his head.

"Because Damon, I just know." I say. I close my eyes and reach out to Blair, something I've done almost everyday.

"Tell us where you are Blair. Please. Come back."

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BLAIR POV

"Tell us where you are Blair. Please. Come back."

James' voice echoes through my head, but I shake it off just like I've done to the many attempts he's made of contacting me through my mind. I know by telling him where we are, I'll be putting everyone in danger, and revealing that Elena is alive. Despite how much it pains me to resist talking to him, I know I have to do what I can. Or Stefan and I won't be Klaus's only pets.

"So, your name is Ray?" I ask, twirling a strand of hair between my fingers, pretending to take interest in the man in front of me.

Klaus sits on the other side of the man, his usual smirk present as he eyes the gentleman.

The man, Ray, hesitates but nods at my question.

"We've been looking everywhere for you. Took two lovely women to direct us to where you were," I say, ignoring the memories of a few days before. I don't want to think of what Stefan and I did to those women.

"I better get going," Ray says, standing up.

Klaus instantly pushes him back down with a massive force, sending a look of confusion and fear on the mans face.

"Vampires?" Ray asks.

"Very good Ray. But you see, I'm not just a vampire. I've got a little werewolf in me," Klaus says, his smirk growing bigger as Ray's face fills with even more fear.

"He's a hybrid," I say, tired of the dramatics Klaus is trying to pull off.

"So, you are going to help us or we're going to play a little game," Klaus says after sending me a glare.

"Don't think about running. My brother over there has compelled every person in this bar," I say pointing to Stefan who is compelling the last few people.

"What do you want?" Ray asks.

"Oh! I'm glad you asked," Klaus says sarcastically. Klaus turns to me, so I sigh and pull out the bag of wolfsbane from my pocket.

"Let's play a drinking game. It's something I like to call, truth or wolfsbane," I say with a smile, although deep down, smiling is the last thing I want to do at the moment.

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[completed & edited: 08/13/2021]