It has been a week since Emily, Elena, Damon and Tyler had gone to Chicago to bring the younger Salvatore vampire back home. It has been a week since Stefan turned them down. It has been a week since Emily got her heart broken by the one person she has ever romantically loved.
After the group of supernatural beings had returned home to Mystic Falls, Emily didn't want to do much of anything. Emily had decided she didn't even want to be at Salvatore boarding house. It reminded her too much of Stefan and the happiness they used to have with one another. Instead, Emily had been staying at her childhood home since their return.
Naturally, the Radkova witch wasn't truly alone like she would have liked to be able to dwell in her sadness and heartbreak. Damon and Elena had temporarily moved into the Gilbert house to be there for Emily -- along with Alaric, Jenna, and Jeremy, who still lived in the house.
Emily appreciated the support greatly but that didn't mean that she didn't hide herself away in her bedroom all week. The Radkova witch didn't mean to shut everyone out but she just wanted to be left alone. Emily's social meter was practically nonexistent for the time being.
The Radkova witch, of course, didn't stay completely locked away in her bedroom. Emily would come out to eat or Elena would bring her food during the days where Emily didn't have an energy to leave her room. The Radkova witch even had a few conversations on the phone with the trio of Scott, Stiles and Allison in Beacon Hills.
It took a lot out of Emily to have those conversations, though. It was like everything Emily had fought so hard to do these past two weeks were all for nothing. The Radkova witch felt too numb to do anything else but sulk away in her bed.
It was as if half her heart was ripped away from her before she was dropped on an unknown planet with an open and bleeding wound.
The Radkova witch didn't want to do anything but stay in bed and wallow in her sadness. That had been Emily's plan for the eighth day in the a row. However, sadly, Emily would have to leave her bed and the safety of the Gilbert house today.
Mrs. Lockwood was hosting some sort of founders' party or potluck thing today at the mayor's mansion. Emily honestly couldn't say what it was for. The Radkova witch hadn't exactly been paying attention to the town's activities as of lately.
Emily would rather not go and have to put on a fake smile for Mystic Falls' residents but Emily knew she needed to go. Jenna, of course, was going as well but Emily felt like as the face of the Gilbert family that she needed to represent her parents, no matter how much she didn't want to.
The Radkova witch, however, did plan to stay cuddled up in her warm blanket for as long as possible. Elena had already picked out a cute summer dress for Emily to wear to the party. All Emily had to do was slip on the outfit and deal with her bed head before she would be ready to go.
The Radkova witch was absently rubbing her thumb across the red ruby on the vervain necklace that Stefan had given her so long ago before there was suddenly a knock at the door.
Emily glanced over to her bedside table and over to alarm clock. The Radkova witch furrowed her brows in confusion when she saw that they still had two hours until they had to leave for the Lockwood party.
There was no reason for Elena to be knocking at the door, especially since she was supposed to be downstairs with Bonnie making the chili for the party. It wouldn't be Damon, either, since he wouldn't even bother knocking -- same with Jeremy. The only answer the Radkova witch could come to that it was either Jenna or Alaric at the door.
Emily wanted to be presentable if it was the Saltzman hunter, so Emily forced her body to sit up before she leaned back against the headboard. "Come in!" Emily called out to the person.
The door slowly swung open before the Radkova witch quickly gasped as her green eyes widened in surprise when she saw a grinning Caroline Forbes standing at the threshold.
"Holy crap!" Emily exclaimed, "you're back!"
The Forbes vampire giggled as she closed the bedroom door behind her. "Yes, yes!" Caroline exclaimed as she spread her arms out before she uttered in a singing voice, "I'm back, baby!"
The Radkova witch softly chuckled as she watched Caroline jump on top of her bed. Emily leaned over before she pulled the blonde vampire into a tight hug. "How was Maine?" Emily curiously asked her best friend.
Caroline hadn't been in Mystic Falls since the Gilbert twins' birthday party after her older cousin, Talia, had called from Maine. Talia had been away at boarding school in Croydon, England for the past few years before she finally returned back home.
The Forbes cousins used to be very close growing up, so it was no surprise that Caroline jumped at the chance to spend some time with her cousin.
Caroline gave the Radkova witch's shoulders one last squeeze before she slowly pulled back from the embrace. "It was good," the Forbes vampire murmured as a wide grin quickly stretched across her face. "It's been so long since I've seen Talia, so it was fun to catch up with her," Caroline stated.
"Is she still with that boyfriend of hers?" The Radkova witch wondered.
Talia used to spend the summer time here in Mystic Falls when Emily and Caroline were in junior high school. Emily could recall how much Talia would gush over the same guy every time she would come down for the summer.
Caroline's blues quickly widened as if she was suddenly remembering something. "Yes! Simon even proposed!" The Forbes vampire exclaimed. "The ring is so gorgeous," Caroline gossiped, "and she even showed me the dress she picked out. It looks straight out of a fairytale!"
"Good for her," Emily murmured as a tiny smile played on her lips. While Emily's love life was practically nonexistent, it was nice to know people did get their happily ever after.
The Forbes vampire almost immediately noticed that the smile wasn't truthful on Emily's face, especially when the smile didn't exactly reach her green eyes. Caroline would have to be blind not to notice that her best friend wasn't okay.
Caroline released a small sigh before she reached over and grabbed ahold of Emily's hand. "How are you holding up?" Caroline softly asked. "Elena called and told me what happened in Chicago," the blonde vampire mentioned.
The Radkova witch grimaced at the mention of her failure of a trip. Emily let out a small, humorless chuckle before she admitted, "I could be better."
"Aw, Em," the Forbes vampire cooed. "I'm so sorry," Caroline apologized before she pulled the Radkova witch back into her arms for a tight embrace. "I can't imagine how you're feeling right now," Caroline mumbled as she gently patted Emily's brunette mane.
Caroline kissed the side of the young witch's head before she muttered, "if Stefan was here, I would have totally kicked his ass for you."
Emily couldn't help but break out into a giggling fit against the blonde vampire's chest. "Thanks," the Gilbert girl murmured as she squeezed Caroline's waist. While Caroline was a way younger vampire than Stefan and probably wouldn't stand a chance, the Gilbert girl still appreciated the offer from her best friend.
"I tried to come back as soon as I heard what happened," the Forbes vampire confessed. Caroline slowly pulled back from the embrace to looked over to Emily before she guiltily mumbled, "but I didn't want to just leave Talia hanging."
The Radkova witch immediately waved her hand as to brush off Caroline's apology. "I'm glad you didn't. You should spend as much time with your family as possible," Emily stated before she joked, "especially if it means getting away from this crazy place for a while."
Caroline playfully rolled her blue eyes. "It did feel kind of great not to have to look over my shoulder every other second," the Forbes vampire stated.
"I bet," Emily uttered with a light chuckle.
"But for some damn reason, I missed this place while I was away," Caroline admitted with a chuckle. "I guess I missed having my girls by my side," the Forbes vampire murmured as she shot Emily a teasing smirk.
"Well, the rest of your girls are in the kitchen," Emily informed the Forbes vampire with an amused but small grin playing across her lips.
"Actually, that's part of the reason why I came to see you," Caroline timidly revealed. "Elena thinks she might have messed up the chili," the Forbes vampire explained.
The Radkova witch released a loud groan as she threw her head back to stare up at the white ceiling. "I told her to follow my recipe to a T," Emily whined, "I told her I wasn't going to be able to do it this year."
Emily usually would be the one to make the chili for the party that was still slipping the Radkova witch's mind. The old Gilbert chili recipe tasted quite horrible. Emily had been improving it with her parents since she was fifteen. However, Emily just didn't feel up to doing it with everything that was going on. Emily thought she had written out the recipe pretty easily but it didn't seem Elena could understand it.
"Come on," the Forbes vampire murmured as she squeezed Emily's hands in her own. "It will be good for you to get out of this room for awhile," Caroline stated.
"I'm showing up to the party," the Radkova witch mentioned before Emily complained, "isn't that enough?"
"Nope!" Caroline exclaimed as a wide grin stretched across her face. The Forbes vampire used her enhanced strength to pull Emily out of the bed.
"You need to make sure the chili is up to Emily Gilbert's standards!" Caroline exclaimed as she wrapped her arm around the young witch's shoulder. "You know Lena isn't exactly the cooking type," the blonde vampire joked.
The Radkova witch lightly chuckled as Caroline led her downstairs. "I guess you're right," Emily murmured.
It was very well known between their tightknit group of family and friends that Emily was always the chef while Elena was always the elder girl's helper, who would hand Emily the ingredients and utensils, when they would cook together.
The Forbes vampire and the Radkova witch silently walked through the living room before they headed into the kitchen, where they found Bonnie and Elena confusingly staring down at a piece of paper in front of the stove.
"I've brought the head chef!" Caroline exclaimed as she grabbed the Radkova witch's lower arm before she hurriedly pulled Emily further into the kitchen.
The Gilbert girl and the Bennett witch quickly look over to the voice before they both released a sigh of relief when they saw who was standing next to the blonde vampire.
"Oh, thank God," Elena gasped as she closed the distance between her twin sister. "I didn't want to bother you," Elena guiltily mumbled before she stated, "but I'm extremely lost."
Elena waved the paper that held the recipe in the air as she explained, "it says to add chocolate but I thought that couldn't be right for a chili."
Emily playfully rolled her green eyes at her twin sister. "Chocolate enhances and gives the chili a richer flavor," the Radkova witch clarified as she accepted the recipe from Elena's hand.
"Oh," Elena mumbled before a deep and embarrassed pout settled onto her lips. "I'm sorry you had to get out of bed for this," the Gilbert girl apologized as she shyly rubbed the side of her neck.
The Radkova witch lightly chuckled and waved her hand to brush off the apology. "It's alright," Emily promised as she pulled her twin sister into a side hug.
"I needed to get out of there, anyways," Emily admitted as she glanced over to the Forbes vampire, who widely grinned when she realized that Emily had listened to her advice about getting out of her bedroom.
The Bennett witch walked around Elena before she pulled her fellow witch into a tight embrace. "How have you been doing?" Bonnie gently asked.
The Gilbert girl slowly pulled out of the hug before she shot Bonnie a small smile. "Better than yesterday," Emily murmured.
That was honestly the only response Emily could give whenever someone would ask her how she was doing. It was quite obvious that Emily wasn't okay. How could she be when the love of her life broke up with her?
Emily was just trying to keep moving forward and go through the motions. Some days were harder to get through and there were some days where Emily felt okay enough to smile. It was just something Emily needed to take day by day for now.
Bonnie shot the Radkova witch a sad smile. "It'll get better," the Bennett witch murmured as she reached over and gave Emily's shoulder a short squeeze.
Elena quickly noticed the way Emily's green eyes saddened and the way her shoulders begin to slump. Elena decided to quickly move the conversation elsewhere, so Emily didn't fall back into the gloom she had been feeling all week, especially when the Radkova witch was finally out of her bedroom.
"Can you help me with the rest of the chili?" Elena shyly asked her twin sister as she brought her hands together in a praying motion. "I don't want to mess it up anymore than I probably already have," the human girl mumbled.
Emily softly chuckled once she looked over to her twin sister and saw Elena's pouty face. "Yeah, alright," Emily murmured in agreement. "Tell me everything you've done so far," the Radkova witch requested as she worked on putting her hair into a ponytail, so it wouldn't be in the way of cooking.
"Well, Damon cut up the onions before he left and then I cooked them down until they were nice and golden just like you said," Elena began to describe. "I then added the coriander, cumin, salt, oregano, and chili powder," the human girl listed off on her fingers. "Oh!" Elena quickly exclaimed before she added, "and I added the garlic, too!"
"I cooked the pork and the beef meat," the Bennett witch told Emily as she went over what she had done for the homey dish. "We browned it in the pan before we added it to the big pot," Bonnie explained as she pointed over to the red pot on the stove.
"Mhm," the Radkova witch murmured as she mentally checked off each step down on the sheet of paper that held her chili recipe. "How about the tomatoes?" Emily asked as she looked back over to her fellow witch and twin sister.
"We didn't have any fresh ones," Elena admitted with a timid and tiny smile, "so, we had to use canned tomatoes."
"It's alright," Emily promised as she lightly waved her hand. "As long as you made sure to crush them with a potato masher first and watched the amount of salt you added, we should be fine," the Radkova witch explained.
"What else?" Emily inquired as she moved onto the next step in the recipe, "did you put all the right seasonings in?"
"We did!" Elena quickly promised as she assured her twin sister that she had crushed the tomatoes. "But then we ran into another problem," the human girl mumbled.
"What happened?" The Radkova witch inquired as her brows pulled together in concern.
"We couldn't find any bay leaves," Bonnie stated as she answered for the human girl. "We looked and looked but we couldn't find them anywhere!" The Bennett witch exclaimed. "But!" Bonnie uttered as she quickly held up her point finger, "worry not! I looked online and it said thyme would work as an alterative, so we used that instead."
The Radkova witch couldn't help but softly chuckle as she watched how worried Bonnie and Elena were to please her as the 'head chef' from what everyone liked to call her when it had to deal with the kitchen. Emily honestly found it adorable. It made their lives seem normal for a bit.
"Good idea," Emily complimented the human and witch duo as she shot them a small grin. "Thyme offers the same flavor profile," the Radkova witch explained before she added, "so, it was a good move."
Elena instantly let out a heavy sigh of relief. "Oh, thank God!" The human girl huffed out as she slapped her palm onto Emily's shoulder. "I was so sure I ruined the chili!" Elena exclaimed.
"No, no. You're fine," Emily assured her twin sister with a giggle. "We just need to add two squares of semi-sweet chocolate and a few teaspoons of vinegar," the Radkova witch instructed.
"I can do that!" The Forbes vampire exclaimed as she jumped in to help. "Where is it?" Caroline inquired as she glanced around the kitchen.
"The vinegar is the cabinet behind you," the Radkova witch told Caroline as she pointed her index to the wooden cupboard behind the blonde vampire.
"I'll grab the chocolate," Emily announced before she turned around and headed further into the kitchen. The Radkova witch walked over to the pantry before she opened the door. Emily entered the tiny room before she headed over to the far left shelf, where they had all the baking goods for desserts and whatnot.
Emily lifted up an unopened bag of peanut butter chips and a bag of caramel before she found the semi-sweet chocolate bar. The Radkova witch grabbed the blue and silver package before she exited the pantry. Emily closed the door behind her before she turned around to join the trio back in front of the stove.
However, the Radkova witch had barely taken a step forward before she suddenly yelped, "ow, fuck!" Emily instantly dropped the package of chocolate as the pain took over her body.
The Radkova witch quickly tried to pinpoint where the pain was coming from before she realized it was on her chest, right underneath her vervain necklace. Emily bent her body over her knees, so the necklace wasn't directly on her skin.
"Emily!" The human Petrova doppelganger shouted before she hurriedly rushed over to her twin sister. "What happened!? What's wrong!?" Elena worriedly asked.
Emily cautiously pushed her body to its full height before she released a shaky breath of relief when the necklace wasn't shooting pain through her body anymore. "It was my necklace," the Radkova witch mumbled in confusion as she looked over to the trio, "it hurt me."
"Let me see," Bonnie uttered as she took a few steps forward until she was standing directly in front of the Radkova witch. Bonnie gently lifted up the pendant before her brown eyes quickly widened in surprise. "It didn't just hurt you. It burnt you, too," the Bennett witch stated before she moved to the side to show Elena and Caroline the burn mark on Emily's chest.
The Forbes vampire lightly shrugged her shoulders as she leaned her left hip against the counter. "Maybe it's a sign you shouldn't be wearing it," Caroline mumbled.
Bonnie swiftly twirled around to shoot the Forbes vampire a glare. "Caroline," the Bennett witch warned.
"What?" Caroline uttered as she innocently raised her palms in the air. "Stefan is a dick!" The Forbes vampire exclaimed. Caroline pointed over to the Radkova witch as she stated, "he left her. He doesn't deserve anyone's sympathy and he sure as hell is not in my good graces!"
Emily could only heave out a heavy sigh at the blonde vampire's response. There was nothing Emily could say when she knew Caroline was partly right. Stefan was kind of being a dick since he broke up with her but Emily understood his reasons. Stefan was just trying to protect her. Emily just wished it didn't have to be this way.
Elena rolled her brown eyes at the Forbes vampire. "There's nicer ways to say that," the human girl told Caroline before she quickly focused her worry back onto her twin sister. Elena shot the Radkova witch a soft smile before she murmured, "let's get out of that thing encase it hurts you again."
The Gilbert girl walked around Emily's body until she was standing at her back. Elena waited for her twin sister to lift up her brunette hair before Elena took off the silver necklace.
Emily turned to face her twin sister once she couldn't feel the heaviness of the necklace against her chest. The Radkova witch went to grab the necklace from Elena's hand but when she touched it, the necklace zapped Emily's finger and a spark of electricity shot over her shoulder.
The Radkova witch didn't even hesitate before she dropped the necklace down to the ground as it joined the bar of semi-sweet chocolate. There was no way she was going to get burnt again because of the piece of jewelry.
"What the hell just happened?" Caroline slowly gaped as she stared down to the necklace with her blue eyes widened.
"I'm not sure," the Bennett witch admitted as she squatted down in front of the necklace with her brows pulled together in confusion.
"It has to be a witch doing this," Emily concluded as she leaned down until she was level with her fellow witch. Emily shook her head as she uttered, "there is no way a piece a jewelry could do that without some sort of magic being involved."
"I agree," Bonnie murmured. The Bennett witch cautiously and carefully picked up the necklace. Bonnie slowly ran her thumb across every piece of surface of the pendant as she pulled her body up to stand up straight. "I'm not sure what could have caused that," Bonnie admitted.
"Do you think it could hurt her again?" Elena worriedly asked as she tightly held onto her twin sister's lower arm.
The Bennett witch released a heavy sigh. "It could," Bonnie honestly stated as she looked over to the Gilbert twins. "We don't even know what we're dealing with," Bonnie reminded the human girl.
Emily gave her twin sister's hand that was on her arm a short squeeze of comfort before she focused her gaze onto the Bennett witch. "I'll do some research," Emily stated before she mentioned, "I'm sure my Radkova grimoire has something on this."
"You left it at the boarding house," Elena remined her twin sister. "Don't worry," the human girl quickly assured Emily before she uttered, "I'll call Dam to grab it for you."
The Radkova and the Bennett witches silently watched Elena quickly walk out of the kitchen as she pulled out her cell phone to call the Salvatore vampire. "I'll look through Emily Bennett's grimoire as well," Bonnie stated as she turned back to face the elder Gilbert twin, "I'll see if I can find out why your necklace would react like that."
Emily nodded her head as she uttered, "that sounds good."
The Radkova witch glanced over Caroline's shoulder to the white clock on the wall. "We have like an hour or so before we have to be at the Lockwood's," Emily mentioned before she suggested to the Bennett witch, "you wanna compare notes at the party?"
"Yeah," Bonnie agreed before she stated, "we should be able to find an answer between the both of our grimoires." The Bennett witch glanced down to the silver watch on her wrist before she muttered, "I better get going now. I still need to get dressed."
Bonnie looked over to the Radkova witch as her brows furrowed together and a worry expression took over her face. "Be careful, okay?" The Bennett witch advised before she mumbled, "who knows who's on the other side of that spell."
"I will," Emily vowed as she shot the Bennett witch a small smile.
The Gilbert girl moved her gaze down as she raised up her palm. Emily thought about the coldness through her body before she lit up her hand with ice and cold vapor. The Radkova witch reached over before she grasped her necklace from Bonnie's hand.
Emily let the magic flow up her body until the piece of jewelry was covered in a thin layer of ice. "Hopefully this will stop the energy from hurting me again," the Radkova witch mumbled.
The Forbes vampire walked over beside Emily before she placed her hand onto the brunette girl's shoulder. "We'll figure this out," Caroline uttered as she comforted her best friend.
"Let's hope so," Emily mumbled as she stared down at the necklace resting on her palm.
The Radkova witch honestly felt very puzzled as to what was happening with the necklace that Stefan had given her. Emily never thought it was something special. It was just a necklace that held vervain to protect Emily at one point.
The necklace was apparently a lot more important than Emily originally thought, especially if a witch was using magic through the piece of jewelry. Emily just didn't understand what this witch's goal was. What was the point of burning her? Was the witch trying to contact her or threaten her?
The Radkova witch wasn't sure but she was definitely going to find out the truth one way or another.