It was a late night again, I was out partying with some friends from school. It was a night just like any other, I was out getting my mind off of my doctorate work at a random club while ignoring my ex when my phone flashed.
The caller ID read Sheriff Forbes.
"Hey guys, give me a minute," I said and pushed my way to the bathroom, answering my phone as I went. "Liz, to what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Miss Gilbert," My eyebrows furrowed at her somber tone and formality, "I'm sorry."
"Sorry? What for? Liz what's going on?" I asked in confusion, my heart jumped in my chest.
There was a moment of tense silence on the other side of the phone. "There was an accident on wickery bridge, your parents and sister were in the car."
I knew then that someone had died. "Is Elena okay?"
"She's fine, slightly oxygen deprived but unharmed. Europa, I'm sorry, you're parents died." I felt my entire world collapse in on me.
They died.
I just saw them when I visited for Christmas. They had come out to visit me here a few months before that, and I took them out to visit the great lakes. Now they were gone.
"Europa? Are you still there?" I heard Liz ask me through the phone.
Snapping out of my reverie, I started nodding, wiping the tears from my cheeks. "Yeah, yeah. I'll be home as soon as possible."
When I arrived back in Mystic Falls, I met with Jenna - my aunt who was only nine years older than I was - and we came to the conclusion that she should take on guardianship as she went to college at Whitmore while I was at MIT beginning my masters. After the funeral, I went back to Michigan and continued my studies while also working at the nearby planetarium to pay rent along with a part-time job as a bartender.
It wasn't for another almost two years when I got another call from Liz. I was working a shift at the bar when the call came through. "Hey Jack, can you cover me? I have to take this." The older man just grunted and waved me off as he came over to take care of the drunks and rowdy college students.
Slipping to the back, I answered the phone with serious trepidation. "Hey Liz," I greeted slowly.
"Miss Gilbert,"
"No. Don't say it." I interrupted her immediately. Tears were already gathering in my eyes.
I heard Liz sigh sadly over the phone. "I'm so sorry, Jenna has passed away."
I cursed, my hands were shaking, and my eyes were red. I couldn't continue to do this. It was killing me.
Then everything slammed into me and realization struck. I didn't have a choice. I had to go home and take care of Elena and Jeremy. I was only twenty-two, I had made it pretty far too. I had started College at sixteen, got a bachelors in Astrophysics in three years before starting my master's program at eighteen, finishing it when I was twenty before ai begun working on my doctorate.
In all my life though, I never saw myself taking care of a family. Sure I wanted to be married, but kids were not included in my life plan. Yet here I was, having to go back home to care for my siblings. That part was fine, Jeremy and I got along great and Elena, and I was happy enough. My problem was Mystic Falls.
I hated it, yet I had no choice but to return.