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"I wanna stay with you until we're grey and old. Just say you won't let go."
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"Go to the place where we first met."
His voice rings around and around my head, too fast for my mind to grasp onto what it really means. I don't know what he's trying to say, and I'm in such a panic that I fear I will never know what he wants me to do. I begin to think of all the worse possible scenarios of how this can play out. What if something terrible has happened? What if these are his last moments? What if I don't get to him in time?
"Stop it. Stop it!" I chastise myself, quite literally smacking myself upside the head. "Focus Blair, come one. You're a freaking detective."
I hop into Stefan's red Porsche, but don't start it up. Instead I sit in the car with my head on the steering wheel, trying desperately to think of the place where we first met. I dig deep into the memories within my mind, the memories Klaus robbed from me, hoping to find any form of recollection. I force my mind to go as far back as 1863, which is the year I know we first met. The pressure of it all starts to get to me again, as I fear James's life is on the line.
"AHA!" I shout to myself, lifting my head up from the steering wheel. I remember the first time we met, and frankly I'm embarrassed it took me so long. It was so long ago yet now as I'm picturing it, it felt like yesterday. My memories were stripped away from me so many times, I have difficulty putting them into place on a specific time frame. I can clearly picture James arriving in a carriage, walking up the steps of the original Salvatore house- the house that was burned to the ground years later.
We only exchanged glances then, as my father guided his newfound apprentice around the house. It was only a glance, but I knew at that moment it was something more.
I shove the keys into the ignition and start it up before speeding out of the Grill parking lot. I head into the direction of the old Gilbert mansion, the creepy one filled with the energy of dead witches and thick cobwebs. I know our old house, the house I grew up in, isn't far from there. In fact, if I recall properly, we were neighbours with the original John Gilbert.
By the time I get to the end of the road cut off by the thick forest, there is only half an hour left of sunlight left before I'm left in the dark. My heart beats a thousand miles a minute, pounding in my chest. I can hear it so strongly, like a million horses galloping through the streets. I feel a lump form in my throat out of fear, but I shove it back, determined to focus.
I hop out of the car and begin my trek through the forest, using the sunset light to guide me through. "James, are you okay?" I call out to him in my mind, wanting to make the time go by quicker.
"Yes," he says, not saying more.
"I'm heading through the forest now," I explain, using his voice to calm me.
"Please hurry," he says succinctly, confusing me more.
"Tell me what happened," I demand, wanting to know what we're up against.
"I can't talk much. Just please hurry Blair," he pleads. I can't understand why he's keeping the talking to a minimum. I mean, only we can hear our conversation in our heads right?
"Okay. Hold on." I reply tensely, but there's no reply back.
I use that as extra motivation to move faster, quicker through the thick forest. I use vamp speed to zoom through the forest once I have a clear path, careful not to run into any branches or trees. I make it to the clearing right in front of the Gilbert house, searching around for another clearing where my old house would lay.
By now it's nothing but rubble, a few bricks outlining the structure and layout of the house. I haven't exactly been back to the house I grew up in since 1864, so as one can imagine, I'm having quite the difficulty figuring out where it is.
However, up ahead on the front porch of the Gilbert Mansion lays a single flicker of a light, like a candle is lit. I instantly speed over to it, picking up the candle in confusion. Beside it lays a single pice of paper, folded up neatly. I pick it up with shaking hands and unfold it, reading the black ink that lays across the surface.
If you've come this far then you must have figured out where we first met. Although, I can imagine with all the overgrowth over the years, you must be having a difficult time remembering where exactly your old house was, so let me help you.
Travel right through the rubble path through the trees until you reach a place where I told you what I was. Can you remember?
-James
I stare at the note confused, fear still racing through me. "What the hell is this? Some sort of game?" I whisper to myself, looking around in confusion. I stand by myself on the porch of the Gilbert Mansion with a note in hand telling me where to go. Perhaps James left me clues to help find him. Maybe he knew he was going to be in trouble, so he left clues for me to find him. He only asked me to come, nobody else, so maybe he knew I was the only one capable of finding him. But then again, who has time to write a note in a time of emergency?
I feel a warm feeling start spreading through my body as my lips curl up in a smile. Maybe he's making a romantic gesture. I try to keep calm so I can focus.
I fold the note and shove it into my pocket of my jacket. I close my eyes and think back to the place where James first told me he was a vampire. It's vague, and all I can make out is his face as he tells me, but not the particular place. "Focus Blair," I beg myself, digging further.
I think back to what we were doing during that time, where we were. I remember taking him on a tour of the town, as a way to get to know him more. I remember seeing my father in the distance, stabbing a man with a stake in which I later learned was a vampire. I remember we were crouched down, watching quietly being an old log.... an old log.
But it wasn't just any log, it was the biggest log I have ever seen. It was large and distinct looking, placed beside a small stream that cut the forest in two.
With a sense of direction in mind, I take off towards the pathway through the trees, vamp speeding all the way until I hear the stream. I use my flashlight on my phone to give me more light as the sun is minutes away from setting.
Anxiously, I point my flashlight all around, looking for that damn log until suddenly I spot it in the distance, sitting in the same place now as it had been more than 145 years ago. I run to it, searching for another clue when my hand runs over another folded up piece of paper.
What an exquisite detective you are. This is the place where you learned about vampires, remember?
Now, I need you to head to the place where we named our start. Remember what it's called?
-James
"Balvatore," I blurt out, remembering the constellation James and I named so many years ago.
I remember exactly where we were that night. We were laying in the front yard of my house, underneath the stars just the two of us. It was so quiet, so calm that I swore I could've stayed like that forever. I forgot all about my problems in that moment, forgot all about my father, about Katherine.
In fact, right now as I think about our constellation, I feel the stress and fear flow out of me, suddenly feeling more confident about where I'm going. I know I can make it to James now, I know exactly where he is. I know that everything is okay, and I feel prepared for anything I may encounter along the way.
I take off down the stone path that I know leads back to my old house. I remember taking this path into town so many years ago, travelling to and from school alongside Stefan and Damon. Damon would take the lead, being the eldest, and Stefan would follow behind, making sure I was always in the middle so they could watch me. Even though Stefan and I are twins, they always acted like I was the youngest, which is actually true considering Stefan was born a couple minutes before me.
As I round the corner through the forest, I finally make it to a clearing where my house would have been a long time ago. Now there's random stones laying about, small weeds growing in the places where the kitchen use to be. So many memories are here, too many for me to sort through. Before I get a change to explore the memories of this place, my eyes land on James in the distance, as he stands upon broken down concrete steps that use to be our front porch.
"James!" I shout, running towards him.
He welcomes me with open arms, a deep chuckle sounding from his chest. "Hey Blair." He smiles, kissing my neck.
"Are you okay?" I ask in worry, releasing him as I check him up and down. "What happened? Who was after you?" I ask all at once, stepping back.
"Blair, I'm okay. Honestly." He smiles, laughing slightly as if he's amused by my worry.
"Then why all the clues!" I exclaim. "I thought something terrible had happened!" I sigh in both anger and relief. "Are we being watched or something?" I ask, turning around to glance behind us.
The sky is now a beautiful dark orange, even purple as you glance along the horizon. However, as I search through the trees I don't see anyone else. It's just me and James. It doesn't make any sense.
Suddenly, candles light up all around us causing me to jump. I had no idea they were even here, nor do I understand how they have magically lit up. Magic.
"Is this a prank or something?" I ask, raising my brow as I laugh nervously. "Is Bonnie about to walk out from behind a tree or something?"
"I had a little help from another Bennett," James says.
I tilt my head to the side. "Emily?" I ask, and he nods.
I turn around, expecting to maybe see Emily or something but of course I don't. She's dead and I'm the most confused I've been in my entire life.
"Will you please tell me what's g-," I say, turning around when suddenly I pause, frozen as I stare down at the man I love in front of me, as he stares up at me on one knee.
"Oh my god," I gasp, placing a hand above my mouth as James pulls out a box from his pocket, opening it up and revealing the most beautiful ring I have ever seen. It's a beautiful gold with a perfect shaped emerald in the middle. I don't care about the ring so much in this moment, but rather what this all means.
"One of my favourite poets, Pablo Neruda once said, 'if nothing saves us from death, may love at least save us from life'," James says as I begin to tear up.
"That is exactly what you did to me Blair. You saved me, showed me what life is really about in a time where I was willing to sacrifice everything just to bring justice to my own piece of mind. I was driving myself crazy, tearing myself away each day until I met you." He says, but he continues on.
"After being on this earth for hundreds of years, I thought I had experienced it all, but man was I wrong. You opened me up to a whole new world Blair, a whole new side that I had never experienced. You are the thoughts in my mind when I'm in a crowd of people, the one I go to whenever I am down. You are the one that makes my eyes brighter, the one that makes my knees weak and my eyes water. Your eyes are the only eyes I want to stare into as you walk down the aisle. It's you, and it will always be you."
"I cannot put into words how much I love you Blair Salvatore. I have loved you since that first conversation right here on this doorstep. I love you today, and I will love you tomorrow and every single day after that." He smiles a beautiful smile, his own eyes shining with tears while my eyes are operating like water works.
"Blair Salvatore, will you marry me?" he finally asks, making my mind scream like a little girl and my heart fit back together just right, like everything is supposed to be.
My brain moves my lips before I even register what's going on, the single word escaping my lips. I don't regret my answer however, as it's a no brainer. "Yes," I say, my shoulders shaking as I laugh and cry all at once.
"Thank god," James sighs in relief, as if he was expecting some sort of different answer.
He stands up and gently takes my hand, sliding the ring onto my fourth finger effortlessly, the size just right. I glance down at it with teary eyes before closing the gap between us, not able to keep myself away from him any longer.
We've been through so much together, witnessed the ugliest parts of the world, yet here we are prepared to see the best parts of life too. I watched him die, lost my memories of him and was lost for 145 years, yet now it feels like none of that has happened.
"I love you James," I whisper, breaking apart for a split second before pressing my lips back to his.
"I love you too."
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ACEHTJMITSOWELALSFJLSJ
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[completed & edited: 11/09/2021]