Chapter Nineteen:
“It’s time both of you know the truth. You have been ready for it for awhile but your mother and I both wanted to keep you out of it. But with her gone and everything that is happening you both deserve and need to know.”
Elena had been woken up about fifteen minutes ago by her dad. His eyes had flashed when he saw that Damon had spent the night in her bed but all he said was that they needed to deal with some family stuff which was when Damon said goodbye. After changing into jeans and putting on a hoodie Elena just put her hair in a ponytail before going downstairs where she found both her dad and Jeremy sitting around the table.
Her dad didn’t waste any time getting to the point, “a very long time ago the founders of this town discovered an ancient secret. That not only do vampires exist but they walk among normal people, using people to quench their thirst for blood.”
So Damon was right, her dad did know about vampires. He definitely didn’t seem like the type to believe in something like that, he was a doctor and was so logical and sensible. Even though he was sitting right in front of her talking quite bluntly about vampires Elena still had difficulty associating with anything that was in the least bit supernatural.
“In order to protect their descendants the founders all wrote in journals about these beasts. They wrote about what they could do, how to recognize them and of course how to kill one. The council that me and your mother were members of are everyone who knows about these journals and has knowledge of vampires.”
If he expected a reaction from them he certainly didn’t get it. Both his children just sat there silently, Jeremy was looking anywhere but his father and Elena was biting her lip and looking at the ground. What if one of the journals he was talking about said something about the Salvatore brothers? What if he already knew what Damon was?
“Why are you telling us this?” Jeremy asked.
“Because you are both Gilberts, this is all something you would have found out about eventually anyways. That and recent evidence has led us to believe that there is at least one vampire in town.”
This made Elena’s head snap up, would he actually tell her if he knew Damon and Stefan were vampires? Somehow she doubted it but she still waited eagerly for his explanation of this evidence they had.
“You both know about the two campers that died a week or so ago. The official story is of course an animal attack but the sheriff and the coroner both confirmed that it was a vampire. There were only two puncture marks on their neck and they had been completely drained of blood, it couldn’t have been anything else. At first we thought they were just passing through but that’s when Liz began to get calls from the local blood bank about blood going missing and when we looked into it we discovered the same thing was happening to the surrounding area.”
“So have you guys been trying to track it down?” Jeremy asked.
Their dad nodded, “we started with the founders party, anyone who arrived during the day were eliminated as suspects and Liz is still investigating those that came during the night.”
Elena let out her breath that she didn’t realize she had been holding. Her and Damon had arrived at the party in the middle of the day, the mayor as well as the sheriff had seen him. Not to mention her parents had first met Damon in complete sunlight. Obviously the journals said nothing about magic rings that made vampires able to walk in the sunlight if they were only searching for people who show up at night.
“Now this might be a lot for you to digest at one time but you both need to know about what happened to your mother. I could very easily lie to you both and say that it was a complete accident but that was not the case. We were in the living room waiting for both of you to get home when we were attacked. The vampire went after me first and then got your mother.”
“Then how are you alive?” Jeremy asked. Elena had been waiting for an opportunity to ask this, it wasn’t that she wasn’t grateful that somehow he had survived but she couldn’t help but wonder how. She had seen him lying there, seen his unseeing eyes yet somehow he was sitting right in front of her one hundred percent alive.
He took a moment before answering; he was examining his hand and twisting the ring he had on. It was the same one Damon had pointed out.
“The ring saved me. It was something invented by our ancestor Johnathon Gilbert, it will save the wearer from death of supernatural causes. So once the creature killed me the ring brought me back, the bite was gone and I was perfectly fine but your mother was not.”
Elena could tell that her dad would have rather discussed vampires than his dead wife, she could see the tears welling up in his eyes. It was hard for her to convince herself that she would never be able to talk to her mother again and she couldn’t imagine what it was like for her dad.
While wiping the tears from his eyes before they could run down his face her dad explained how vital it was that they be alert for anyone they didn’t recognize and tell him if they saw anyone who looked suspicious. After that he stressed how they had to keep this a secret, no one could know anything about what he had just told them.
When the nodded he stood up and told them that he needed to go out to make arrangements. Elena didn’t need to ask what arrangements he was talking about because the way his voice shook when he said her told her that it was something to do with her mom.
Even just think about it made her gut twist and she couldn’t even manage to smile at her dad when he walked out of the door. Jeremy didn’t move and neither did she and they both sat there for a couple minutes of silence before Elena remembered something.
“Hey Jer, do you remember anything funny from last night?” She asked.
Jeremy looked at her and just shrugged, “I stayed out late with Anna, we lost track of the time. The next thing I remembered was waking up in the hospital. The doctors think I saw mom and tried to get away from it but ended up fainting and that I just repressed the memory.”
“That’s it?” Elena asked. She couldn’t believe that he remembered nothing about Anna attacking him. Maybe before Anna had compelled him to make sure he wouldn’t remember anything about it just in case something went wrong with her plan to kill him.
Jeremy nodded, “if I hadn’t been late I would have been here when the vampire attacked, I could be dead right now. I should be dead right now.”
As a single tear ran down her brothers face she ran over and wrapped her arm around him. His body shook and she gently rubbed his back as he buried his face in her shoulder and cried. She just knelt beside him and let him cry, she knew that there was nothing that would help him more than her just being here for him. There was nothing she could say or do that could take away everything bad he was feeling.
She didn’t know when it started but soon she was crying along with him, they both held each other in their hug and supported each other. They cried until they ran out of tears and their bodies stopped shaking because of the sobs.
Both of their eyes were red and swollen and when Elena pulled away she was able smile slightly at him. Even though the smile only lasted for about a second and didn’t quite reach her eyes it was a start and at that moment she knew that even though they would always miss her and the pain in her stomach that flared up whenever she thought about her mom might never go away she would be able to get through this.
The house looked just like she remembered it. The blue siding and stone was exactly the same. The windows were all covered and the smell of herbs growing in the garden just to the side was very strong.
When she knocked on the door a middle aged woman answered it, she looked like the witch Anna remembered but much too young to actually be her. This must be her daughter.
“Can I help you with something?” The woman asked.
“Actually yes, I believe that your mother knows me and I am wondering if she could offer me her help again.” Anna said.
The woman smiled sadly, “I doubt my mother could help you with much these days. She is just in one of the bedroom’s upstairs, I’m sure that if she remembers you she would be happy to see you.”
Without saying another word she stepped aside. She didn’t directly invite her inside, she must be suspicious of what she was. Anna flashed her most brilliant smile as she stepped over the threshold. Thankfully once you were invited in you could never be uninvited.
“Sadie, why don’t you show our guest to your grandmother,” the woman said while closing the door behind Anna. She looked a lot more happy, her suspicions had been put to rest for the time being at least.
A young girl appeared from around the corner, she had cream coloured skin and silky black hair that trailed down her back. Her eyes were a brilliant electric blue and her features looked quite delicate. She was beautiful and moved with complete grace and confidence.
When she smiled at Anna two rows of perfectly straight and white teeth were exposed between her rosy and full lips.
“Follow me,” she said to Anna.
Just like the rest of her the girl’s voice was beautiful. It was pleasant to the ear and almost musical in quality.
“What brings you to see my grandmother?” The girl asked as she led Anna up a narrow staircase.
“I know her from awhile back and I just need a little help with something.” Anna replied.
The girl glanced back at Anna and raised her eyebrows, “sorry for saying but it’s rather hard for me to believe that you know my grandmother from awhile back.”
She was of course referring to the fact that Anna looked like a sixteen year old and that by now her grandmother was probably getting close to being about one hundred years old.
“Don’t be sorry I’m sure your mother was thinking the same thing.”
The girl stopped in front of a door and smiled once again at Anna, “well it was nice to meet you...?”
“Anna.”
Without saying another world the girl opened the door and called, “grandma you have a visitor. She said her name is Anna. Would you like to see her?”
“Send her in, thank you Sadie dear.”
Sadie gestured for Anna to go in and closed the door softly behind her. The only light was the bit that was filtering through the curtains that covered the windows. Even with the lack of light it wasn’t hard for Anna to see the fragile figure that was lying on the bed.
“I have to tell you, I never thought I would see you again. But where is your mother? The comet has passed and I thought that by now you would have surely gotten into the tomb.” Her voice was scratchy but it was still strong.
“I ran into a complication with that, I got the crystal but I was counting on a witch who lived there. Turns out she was just discovering her witch heritage and isn’t capable of the magic I need her to do.”
The woman laughed, however the laugh turned into coughs. It took her a couple of seconds of hacking before she was able to recover enough to talk, “so let me guess? You came to ask your old friend Jasmine if she would do the spell for you.”
“Well I have to admit that was my plan but I hadn’t realized it had been so long.” Anna said.
“Of course you didn’t, time doesn’t mean that much to your kind does it?”
Anna smiled sheepishly, “if I remember correctly I did offer to turn you.”
“I’ve never wanted to be a vampire, even now that my age has landed me in this bed I don’t regret my decision to turn down your offer. Sooner or later everyone should die, that is how life should be. And you can’t actually be a witch and a vampire at the same time.”
“So since you probably wouldn’t be able to make it to Mystic Falls whatsoever do you know anyone who would be willing to help me?” Anna asked.
The old woman considered it for a moment before responding, “I’m sure my granddaughter would be able to help you. She is certainly strong enough and with the help of some of the herbs she has been helping my daughter Rosa grow it would be easy for her.”
“Is she willing?”
She shrugged her frail shoulders and called for Sadie to come in. The beautiful girl walked through the door quickly and closed it softly behind her. Immediately she went and knelt beside her grandmother and asked, “do you need something from me?”
“Actually my friend does, and since I am too old to help her I was hoping that you would. Before you accept just know that she is a vampire.”
Before Sadie could reply the door slammed open, the middle aged woman that had let Anna in stood in the doorway looking furious.
“How dare you try to send my daughter off with a bloodsucker, just because your friendly with leeches doesn’t mean we all should be.” The woman shouted angrily at her mother.
“Momma please, she was giving me the choice and you shouldn’t raise your voice like that in here.” The girl said.
When she spoke to her mother it reminded Anna of the way she used to speak to hers. She had called her mother momma as well.
“It’s just a simple spell, please I won’t do anything to harm your daughter. I just need to get my mother back.” Anna pleaded.
Sadie turned and stared at her with her bright blue eyes, “where is your mother?”
“She was trapped in a tomb over a hundred years ago and I have everything I need to break the spell except for a witch to do it. Please I’m begging you, I just want her back.”
For a moment there was silence in the room but then Sadie and her mother both began talking at once. Her mother was talking loudly to no one in particular about how she would never let her daughter go alone with a bloodsucker to help them.
Even though Sadie spoke quietly her words cut through her mother’s loud ones. She said, “I will go with you and I will help you.”
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So quick note cause I'm tired. I cast Jemima West as Sadie, if you want to see what she looks like feel free to google it cause I'm too tired to post a pic. Just remembber to only look at the ones of her with black hair. Side note she is gonna be Isabelle in the City of Bones movie. OMG so excited for that.
Anyways the reads have just been going up so thanks for that :). Hope everyone likes it.