A/N: In going to be outside in high humidity and heat for band all day today so I decided to post. Please comment! I read all of them and they make my day, which will be needed today.
I met Klaus at the Mystic Grill at noon, we got a booth in the back and put in an order for food. "So, how did the Scooby Gang react?" Klaus asked with a sly grin as my rum and coke arrived.
"Damon isn't a fan but I couldn't care less what he thinks, the rest of them are in agreement that this is the best option," I said with a shrug, sipping my drink.
"So, I already know what you want, now its all about me," Klaus said with a wide grin as he sipped his bourbon. I chuckled softly and shook my head at his antics. "I want one day, to be determined and at our earliest convenience, where it's just you and I."
I cocked an eyebrow, "Like a date?"
"If we're labeling it, yes. A day-long date. And, I want to be even. A clean slate, judged by my actions from this time forward." Klaus told me seriously.
I leaned back in my seat. It seemed fair enough. I live and in return, I forget the past and spend a day with him? It wouldn't be too hard, especially seeing as we seem to get along so well. "Deal," I said with a grin.
The food arrived and Klaus was still smiling triumphantly. He really did act like a puppy sometimes. It was kinda adorable. Once the waiter was gone, I pulled the spell from my purse and handed it to him. "Here you go, I would give you my number but you already have that."
"That I do." Then, he leaned forward, I knew he was going to do the compulsion so I held up my hand and took my necklace off, setting it on the table. "You are no longer required to spy on the Scooby Gang for me. All of your emotions towards me will be entirely your own."
When I got home, I found an empty house, which was nice seeing as usually everyone was here or at the Salvatore's. Enjoying the peace, I started catching up on some work when a manilla folder caught my eye.
I walked over to my travel bag and pulled it out only to remember why I had gone to Tennessee in the first place. My friend had told me that weird stuff would be happening in Mystic Falls, that I should be careful.
Opening the folder, I started to read.
The serial killings always happened when animal attacks popped up, which I recognized as the code word for vampire attacks.
What made my blood run cold was that the serial killings always targeted the founding families. All except one.
The Gilbert family.
Rushing downstairs, I started digging through our families stuff. For whatever reason, it wasn't just Elena and Mom who were big into journaling, but most of the Gilbert line. Which meant I had primary accounts on what really went down in Mystic Falls when serial killings popped up.
I picked the journals from my ancestress in the early 1900s and started reading. At first, there was nothing interesting but as I kept going, I learned all about the vampires in the town and watched as my ancestress slowly lost her mind.
I picked up Johnathan Gilbert's diary, knowing that vampires were around in his time and was shocked to find similar passages in his diary too.
It didn't make sense though. There were entire generations of Gilberts who didn't go crazy, but once vampires show up we go insane?
It wasn't logical.
Night had fallen but I hadn't moved from my spot on the floor of my bedroom as I read. I flipped back and reread the diaries, making note of any similarities.
What I found made my blood run cold. The Ancestors that went crazy both had been killed and resurrected using the ring. They had done so only four or five times before they started...
Well, before they started killing people themselves.
I snapped the diaries shut and leaned against the wall in shock.
The rings had a negative effect, which made sense. I suppose you could only escape death so many times before paying a price. Everything had to have a price, right?
I felt like there was something else though, something that was incredibly obvious but I was just missing it.
That's when the front door opened and I heard Rick enter with the pretty brunette doctor from the hospital. Slowly, I snuck out of my room and lingered at the landing, shamelessly listening in on the conversation.
"You told me your secret. This is mine." Alaric told her, probably showing her either his empty alcohol bottles or his vampire hunting collection.
Probably the second. The first wasn't good for picking up chicks. "You're a vampire hunter." I heard the Doctor Lady say in shock.
I'm so good at guessing these things, "Semi-retired."
"You're trying to get out of taking me to dinner, aren't you?" The woman asked Rick accusingly.
I held my breath, hopefully, Rick could be smooth and get the girl. He needed to move on, get back out there. "I just want to be honest. No secrets." Hell yeah! Good job Rick!
"Okay. Then tell me how you survived getting hit by a truck. Your injuries were fatal. Was it vampire blood?" The Doctor Lady asked. My eyebrows rose in shock. She must be on the council or something. Or Rick told her about vampires, which I doubt.
"That and...this ring protects me from death at the hands of supernatural beings." My hand flew to my forehead as I realized what I was missing.
Rick had a ring and had died a few times. This was not good, not good at all. I had to warn him about the ring.
"A vampire hunter, who can't be killed by vampires. Convenient!" The woman said with a smile in her voice. Meanwhile, I was panicking on the top step as I tried to figure out how to explain the whole serial killer thing to Rick without freaking him out. "Are you worried I'm a supernatural being?" The woman spoke again.
I looked in the direction of her voice in confusion and concern. If she was a founder and Rick was losing his marbles than she was in danger. Shit! Too many things to do and too little time. "One can never be too careful."
There was a slight pause and then the front door opened, Elena walking in. "Oh. Umm, hey, umm, sorry."
I rushed down the stairs then and smiled brightly at the Doctor Lady, "Oh, hello, you're the doctor from before, I don't think I got your name, I'm Europa Gilbert." I said sticking my hand out, smiling brightly at the woman.
"Meredith Fell," She said with a smile. Shit! She was a founder. Dammit. "I'm gonna go," She told Rick awkwardly. I stepped aside and nodded with a smile.
"Okay, yeah, sure, sure, sure." We all watched as she left before Alaric turned to Elena and I. "Elena, Europa, I'm sorry." He said guiltily.
Why was he guilty? "Please, it's okay," Elena said with an easy smile.
"It's not okay. I mean, it's not even my place. It's your place. It's Jenna's place. It's your family's place." Alaric pointed out awkwardly.
I shook my head at him and put my hand on his shoulder, "The minute that you slept on that couch it became your place too. My siblings needed you and...you stayed. And then, even after I came by, you stayed and helped me with them. So thank you for that."
My sister nodded in agreement with me, "Hey, look, I know it's hard. But Jenna's gone. And you're allowed to move on."
After Elena ran up the stairs, I turned and looked at Alaric. "Rick, I need to tell you something mildly - scratch that - majorly concerning about the ring," I told him in a hushed voice.
I really didn't want to involve Elena or the Scooby Gang. I didn't need Damon to go crazy and kill Rick or something like that. Alaric immediately looked concerned and gestured me to continue. "Back when Klaus kidnapped me, I went to Tennessee to meet up with a friend and he gave me some troubling information. Indirectly he told me whenever vampires are in town a serial killer follows. I did some digging into Gilbert records and found that it was always someone in our family who was the killer."
"What does this have to do with the ring?" Rick asked me in confusion, his fingers twisting the ring but not taking it off.
"Everything, the members of my family only go crazy if they've been killed a few times wearing the ring. I think it has a negative side effect, it can mess with your brain." I told him.
His eyes widened but there was something false about it. "Okay, we need to be careful about who we tell this to. I'm going to take the ring off and hide it somewhere. No one can know though,"
"Rick, I totally get it. Having suspicion you might snap and kill someone isn't good when you're a teacher. I trust you. It'll be fine," I assured him with a smile, "I just needed to make sure you knew so that there were no problems. Night!" I said with a smile, walking up the stairs.
Once I was in my room I sighed and locked the door. Something wasn't right. I needed to be careful about how I went about my next moves. If Rick was already losing it than that meant that I could be in danger if I let on that I suspect anything.
I had to go to work, so the next morning found me in the kitchen with my bag and wearing a suit. My hair was pulled up into a bun to keep it out of my face and my make up was done. I silently watched Elena and Rick as I sipped my tea.
Was this what it felt like to be Elena? Constant plotting?
It was slightly exhausting.
From what I gathered from the Gilbert Journals, Rick wouldn't remember anything crazy Rick did while he was himself. Basically, Crazy Rick was just under the surface and was as cunning as a very bored psychopath.
Which sucked.
You try outsmarting a psychopath, it was exhausting,
There was a knock on the door and I went to answer it, finishing my tea in a gulp. On our doorstep stood Sherrif Forbes with an awkward look on her face. "Sherriff? What can we help you with?" I asked sweetly.
Behind me, Rick stood on my right and Elena on my left. I subtly clenched my hand in slight fear, not letting any of it show on my face. "This is an unconventional conversation we're about to have. So I hope you'll protect me on it."
All three of us nodded, "Of course," Alaric answered Liz.
"I assume you three heard our medical examiner was murdered the night of the Wickery Bridge fundraiser." Murdered Medical Examiner. He would definitely be on the council if I had to place a bet on it.
I coughed in shock and looked at my two housemates. "What? When?"
"When you were in the hospital," Elena told me softly.
I nodded and looked back at Liz. "Now I heard about it."
"Yeah. Brian Walters. Why?" Alaric said in confusion.
Walters. Great, he was definitely a founder. If I wasn't sure before, I definitely was now. Rick was losing his mind.
Liz held up an evidence bag with a stake in it, confirming what I already feared. It was one of our stakes. "We've been investigating. Someone drove this stake through his heart."
"That's one of ours. I mean this is one of a set from your parents' lake house." Alaric said to us in shock as we stared at the offending piece of wood.
The Sherriff nodded her head and looked at us. "That's why I'm here. I haven't told anyone but forensics ran it for prints and found only one clean set." I expected her to say Rick but instead, she looked at Elena. "Yours."
"What?" Elena and I asked at the same time.
There was no way Elena was the killer, the ring wouldn't work on her anyways. It was definitely Rick!
What was going on?