♤ ı [3] An Everlasting Love

ı 04 ı Take me to the Grave

I sigh, giving into the truth. I can't avoid what I'm doing, especially when I have a giant shovel sticking out from my bag draped on my shoulder. "I came to dig up James's grave," I say bluntly.

Caroline opens her mouth like she wants to say something, but she can't find the words to say. "Oh," is all she says, not knowing how to respond. 

"I came here just to place these on the Salvatore tomb, seeing as Bonnie doesn't really have a grave. Nor does Damon," she points out grimly, holding the flowers tightly in her hands.

"They don't need a grave," I say confidently, trying my best to make my best friend feel better. Although, deep down I'm also trying to comfort myself.

"What?" she questions in a shaky voice, confused.

"They don't need graves for us to remember them by," I explain. "We'll always remember them in our own ways."

Caroline purses her lips in a stern line, trying to prevent them from trembling as her eyes begin to water. She sniffles and looks down at the ground, staring at the various flowers she holds in her hand. Not a second later does she look back up at me, a small smile on her face despite her teary eyes. "Did you bring a second shovel?"

∆ ∆ ∆

Theo sits by the Salvatore tomb out of the hot sun, playing on my phone and drinking his juice box as Caroline and I shovel our way deeper into the ground. We're secretly taking our time, or at least I am. I'm trying to delay the time I have between finding out the truth because once I find it there's no taking it back.

All of a sudden our huffs of exhaustion are cut off from a single bang of metal upon wood, meaning we have finally hit something. Caroline and I both jolt our heads up, staring at one another with wide eyes. Although the sound should be pleasing, it brings nothing but fear to my trembling body, making all the hairs on the back of my neck stand and my stomach drop like a rock. It takes everything in me not to run away right now, not to leave this all behind out of fear that I won't like the truth, or worse, that I will.

It's a double edged sword really. If the coffin is empty, it means I've wasted the past day refusing to believe James is alive when I should have spent it enthralled with happiness. However, if the coffin is filled with his rotting corpse, then I'll be forced to face the cold, hard truth that I've reached rock bottom.

"It's going to be okay, Blair," Caroline speaks up, noticing my uneasiness. I glance up at her with teary eyes, not able to keep it together any longer. I know Caroline has seen James; she was there that night the other side was open. I know she must think I'm crazy, digging up a coffin when the proof is clearly walking along side with us but to me I've been living with hallucinations, dreams and nightmares of James for almost two years. Now that others have suddenly started to see him, I've become forced to figure out myself if my dreams have finally turned into reality.

"Hey," she says, reaching down and grabbing my hand. "Whatever happens, I'll still be here. We will figure this out together." She speaks with such clarity and confidence that I find myself believing her words, and frankly that's all I need to take the shovel and place it back into the ground.

Caroline smiles before following my actions. In no time we have the whole coffin exposed, allowing us to open it and peak inside. The wood is dirtied and rustic looking, but as I wipe my finger across the surface of the wood do I reveal the shiny underneath.

"Open it," Caroline says, standing on the ground while I've bent down to the coffin's level, close enough to unlatch the latches that seals it closed. I keep my eyes strained on Caroline as I feel the click of the latches unlock and the lid lift. I purse my trembling lips together and keep eye contact with Caroline, as she does with me as we're both afraid to look inside. Although, Caroline's more afraid for me.