Everyone was staying goodbye to Jeremy today because he was leaving town and going to art school.
Never saw that one coming.
Alaric, Matt, Tyler and Jeremy were at the Grill, having drinks and having a goodbye party for Jeremy.
I could only assume that I would run into Stefan or Damon there, so I was deciding to avoid them.
But I couldn't say alone in Tyler's dorm, because the freaking branding spell was getting worse by the second, getting my coat, walking toward the door, opening it, about to leave.
I stopped when I saw a box on the floor in front of the door, looking at it in confusion, looking around for anyone that could have left it here. I didn't see anyone, pulling the box into the dorm, closing the door, looking at the address on the box.
It said Whitmore College, the dorm building and the dorm room number this one was in.
And it had one name, but no return address.
Nicola Salvatore.
What the hell?
I found a knife nearby, cutting open the tape, opening the box up, looking inside to all of the photographs inside of frames inside, pulling them out, seeing the darkness about all of them. Whoever took them went to the extreme, but I kind of liked the extreme.
Still confused about how they got here, I turned the one in my hands over, looking at the photographer's name on the back of it.
Sarah Nelson.
I looked up in confusion.
~~~~~~
I went to the Grill since I didn't have anywhere else to go, relieved to find that neither Stefan or Damon were here, sitting at the bar.
Matt walked toward me hesitantly.
"And where have you been, Donovan?" I asked. "It's not like you ditch out on your job."
"Just talking to a friend of mine," Matt answered. "So... what's up?"
"Bored," I answered. "Feeling like the world is crashing down around me, and I need a drink, stat."
"Okay," Matt told me. "Got it." He poured me a drink. "Coming right up."
"Thanks," I told him, taking the drink, taking a sip.
"So... you're not pissed?" Matt asked.
"You're gonna have to narrow that one down just a little bit," I told him. "I'm pissed about a lot of things."
"But you're not pissed at me?" Matt asked.
"Why would I be pissed at you, Matt?" I asked. "You were just talking to a con artist who was pretending to be my sister before Enzo killed her trying to get information out of Stefan." Matt looked confused as to how I knew that. "You told Tyler. Tyler told me."
"Right," Matt said awkwardly. "Did Ty give you a name as to who the con artist and what your sister's name would've been?"
"Nope," I answered. "And I don't want to talk about it anymore. The more that I talk about it, the more I..."
I didn't finish, gazing off, having a rapid series of flashbacks of everything bad that Stefan and Damon had did, or every bad thing that happened to me because of them.
"I get it," Matt told me, bringing me out of my thoughts.
"And as strange as it seems, no, I'm not mad at you," I told him. "You tried to contact me to introduce me to who you thought was my sister when my real sister died 20 years ago."
Matt looked at the alcohol bottles. "And, um, when I couldn't reach you, I told Stefan to call you, but he never did, obviously."
"Well, if I hadn't broke my phone the night I made my first human kill, then maybe you would've reached me," I told him, taking a drink.
Matt looked behind me, clearing his throat to get my attention and to get me to stop talking about the supernatural as a girl stepped up next to me. "Hey."
The girl stood next to me with a camera. "Hey, Matt. So, we can go moodier with the lighting if you want or feature more patrons or menu items."
"Yeah, that sounds good," Matt told her.
I took a drink, looking at the name tag on the camera the girl was holding.
Sarah Nelson.
I looked at her in surprise. "You're Sarah Nelson? The photographer?"
Sarah smiled a small smile. "I didn't know that people this far from North Carolina would know me."
"Well, I mean, I don't know you, know you," I told her. "But I just got this whole box of pictures from somebody unknown, and the pictures said they were taken by you."
Sarah nodded in understanding. "That's where all those went."
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
"I had an open house for my work not that long ago," Sarah explained. "Somebody told me that a man just came in and bought all of them. Didn't say what for. Just that he wanted it to be a surprise. You have a boyfriend?"
"Yeah, I do, but I don't think he's ever been anywhere near North Carolina," I told her.
"Well, maybe you have an admirer," Sarah told me. "That sounds pretty cool."
I chuckled without humor. "Yeah, right."
I barely noticed that Matt was slowly walking away.
"Well, obviously, since you saw this..." Sarah trailed off, pointing to the name tag on the camera. "You've correctly assumed that I'm Sarah. What's your name?"
"Nicola," I answered.
"Hi, Nicola," Sarah told me.
"Hey," I told her.
"Can I call you Cola?" Sarah asked.
"No," I answered. "Anything but Nikki and Cola. Nikki's a family nick name, or closest friends, and I am not a Coke."
Sarah smiled in amusement. "Okay. Well, I have some more pictures one the camera if you want to see."
"Sure," I told her. "Just... anything to take my mind off of some things." Sarah sat down next to me, showing the pictures to me. "Wow."
"I know," Sarah told me. "A lot of darkness. I'm just really into dark subject matter. And now I sound like a freak. Sorry. I'm a little twisted."
I chuckled. "No, it's okay. These are great."
"You like darkness?" Sarah asked.
"Believe me when I saw that is all I see," I told her. "And now I'm the one that's starting to sound like a freak." We both chuckled. The next picture Sarah scrolled to had nothing to do with the others, completely provocative. "Whoa, too far."
"Oh, my God," Sarah said, scrolling to the next picture quickly, laughing nervously. "Totally forgot that was on there."
I laughed, sighing. "Oh, God."
"What?" Sarah asked.
"Nothing," I told her. Sarah tilted her head, unconvinced. "It's just that... It's been a while since I've been able to laugh like that. I guess we're both a little twisted."
"It beats being normal," Sarah told me.
I chuckled once thoughtfully. "Yeah. You can say that again. Although, sometimes, I would kill to be normal. Have a normal life, family, friends..." Sarah nodded understandingly. I looked away. "Sorry. You don't want to hear all this."
"No, it's okay," Sarah told me. "I mean, I wouldn't know anything about any of what you're going through, but it's okay. It'll all get better, right?"
I sighed, looking down, sighing. "I don't know."
~~~~~~
Sarah had left awhile ago with Matt.
I was sitting at a table alone now, having a drink.
Tyler sat next to me. "Look at that. She's now longer closing up."
"Look at that," I repeated. "Hey, did you send me any pictures?"
Tyler looked at me in amused confusion. "What?"
I shook my head. "Nothing."
"Who was that girl you were talking to earlier?" Tyler asked.
"Some girl from Duke," I answered. "Photographer. Matt got her a gig here for taking pictures of the Grill, and then they left."
"You think she's got a thing for her?" Tyler asked.
I shrugged. "I don't know what to think."
"Well, I'll tell you what I know," Tyler told me. "You were laughing. That hardly ever happens anymore."
I smirked. "You're making it sound like it's my fault."
"No, of course not," Tyler told me. "But I can tell you that it was good to see that."
I smiled a small smile, looking away. "Oh, God."
Tyler smiled, leaning back into the chair. "What?"
I shook my head. "Nothing."
Tyler slowly returned serious. "I talked to Damon." My smile faded. "He told me that Kai's MIA, and that he's sick, and that while he's sick, he can't do anything to help you. But the merge with Luke made him start to feel all of these feelings, and now he's feeling guilty about what he did to Jo, to Liv. To you. He knows that he can't take back what he did to their family or to their coven, but he's trying to prove to Jo that he's sorry. He also feels guilty what he did to you, and he said that once he finds a way to get better, then he's gonna undo what he did to you."
I nodded thoughtfully. "So you're gonna put your faith into a madman turned sympathetist overnight?"
"No," Tyler answered. "I'm just saying that we hold him up to his word."
"Sounds like a plan," I told him.
Tyler looked at me in slight surprise. "Really?"
"Why do you look so surprised?" I asked.
"I just expected more of a fight on this one," Tyler answered.
"Yeah, well, I'm tired of fighting," I told him. "Especially when I have these things playing on in my head on repeat every single second of every freaking day thanks to Liv's backfiring boundary spell."
Tyler took my hand on the table. "Every second? Even now?" I didn't answer, but that was answer enough. Tyler sighed, leaning forward against the table. "Then I guess we just have to find a way to get you through it until Kai takes the spell away."
"We?" I repeated.
"Yeah," Tyler answered. "We. Nikki, you're barely hanging on by a thread. Just let me help you."
I nodded. "Okay. So when is this grand rescue supposed to come?"
"Whenever Kai finds a way to stop being sick," Tyler answered.
"Oh, yeah?" I asked, tilting my head. "And when's that gonna be?"
Tyler shrugged, shaking his head. "I have no clue. But hopefully soon."
I smiled a small smile. "Thank you."
"For what?" Tyler asked.
"For everything," I answered. "Helping me when nobody else would. Teaching me how to be a vampire and doing everything you could to keep me from killing anyone, even when you turned human. Not turning your back on me when my only family did. And out of all of my friends, you're the only one that never lied to me, so... thank you."
Tyler smiled a small smile. "Don't thank me until you get better."
I smiled, looking down.
All things considering, with everything that had been happening, today had been a half-way decent day.
~~~~~~
Well, it had been until Stefan had called.
Of course, I hadn't answered.
But he left a message.
In Tyler's dorm room, I looked at the phone until I finally gave up, picking up the phone, listening to the message.
"Nikki, hey, it's Stefan. Look, I know you're angry at us right now, and that you have every right to be. And I know that you're going through a lot right now, but Caroline's mom isn't doing too hot. She's dying, Nikki. Tonight. I just wanted you to know. And I don't know if you'll come to the hospital because you know that Damon and I will be here, which we will be, but... I'll call you with updates. And I hope that you come. I'm sorry."
Out of everything that Stefan had just told me in that message, the only thing that I could think about was that Caroline's mom was dying tonight.
Tyler was standing a few feet away, standing in the doorway. "Yeah, I heard about it, too. I'm going to the hospital. But the question is, are you?"
I slowly looked at Tyler. "Even after all the things that Stefan and Damon did, or what they didn't tell me about what..." I shook my head sadly. "Sheriff Forbes doesn't deserve me taking it out on her."
Tyler looked slightly surprised and impressed by my response, knowing what it meant.
~~~~~~
At the hospital, Caroline and Stefan were standing at Sheriff's side. She was unconscious, having slipped into a coma, unable to wake up.
Elena, Damon, Matt and Tyler slowly walked into the room, standing behind them, watching them sadly.
I kept my distance in the hall, looking only at Caroline and Sheriff.
The line on the EKG diminished.
"Mom..." Caroline trailed off. The flat line beeped. "Mom..." Caroline sobbed, crying, looking toward us. "She's gone." She sobbed, leaning her head against her mother's chest. "No."
Everyone remained silent, despaired.
Stefan reached over, turning the machine off.
The beeping stopped.
Goodbye, Sheriff.