Cosmic Love

I walked around Jeremy and Elena’s house looking for any signs of Vicki. From what I could see inside, Vicki wasn’t there. I decided I’d stay close to Jeremy anyway. Odds were good that sooner or later Vicki would show up wherever he was.

Jeremy and Elena came out of the house, Elena in a Halloween costume and Jeremy in all black. I bet they were going to the Halloween party at school. The whole town was talking about it. As they drove I got in the car and followed them from a far.

Once they got there they went into the school. Jeremy scared some little kids on the way in and Elena smacked his shoulder in response. I had to resist the urge to laugh. Once we got into the school it was a lot easier to follow them. It was darker and the chaos made it hard for any one thing to stand out.

Somehow they managed to find Matt in the crazy, twisted pathways. He came up to them, a smile on his face. While Elena was dressed as a nurse, Matt was a doctor. “You went with last year’s costume too, huh?” said Matt as he walked up to them. It was obviously a couples costume.

“Yeah, I didn’t know I was coming until an hour ago,” she said.

“Me neither.” Matt had a strange look to his face I would bet he was remembering when Elena and him were dating. They high fived, Elena’s sawed off hand, with Matt’s sawed off foot, parts of their costume. “And you’re going as…you?” Matt said to Jeremy. Without a reply Jeremy turned and walked off.

“He’s not talking to me right now,” said Elena as I moved to follow Jeremy. “We got into a fight.”

“Yeah, I got into it with Vick too when she got home.” That made me pause in my steps. Maybe she was just home and Stefan’s got her already. Matt’s next sentence dashed those hopes though. “I’m trying not to smother her tonight, but a part of me didn’t want to let her out of my sight.”

“She’s here?” asked Elena. I could hear her concern for Jeremy rising.

“Yeah, you can’t miss her. She’s a vampire.” Ironic.

“Where did Jeremy go?” said Elena looking around for him. I did too and that’s when I realized I completely lost him. I only saw which direction he took to begin with.

“Elena, what’s the matter?” asked Matt concerned.

“I got to go,” said Elena hurrying off in one direction. “I got to find him.” I decided to take the other direction. One way or another we’d find Jeremy and keep him safe. I searched through the maze of hallways but I couldn’t find him. The loud music and crowd of people was getting to me so I exited the building for some air. I’d call Damon and tell him Vicki was here somewhere and that he needed to come.

But just as I stepped outside I spotted Damon taking a piece of candy out of a cauldron. Someone dressed as a witch was standing in front of it. How perfect. As I was walking towards them Damon reached his hand out towards the girl’s neck. He stopped there for a second and then removed his hand. He looked up, surprised at the girl, before she turned and took off running towards the school.

“Better take off that mask, Damon. You’re scaring people,” I said with a cheeky grin.

“You first,” he retorted.

“You just want me to take stuff off.”

“You caught me,” he said rolling his eyes.

“Vicki’s here somewhere. So is Jeremy and I’m worried for him,” I said changing the subject.

“You care for a human?” asked Damon.

“He’s a Gilbert. So am I.”

“What about Elena?”

“She can’t be related to me,” I said shaking my head. “There’s no way. Come on, we’re wasting time.” I grabbed his hand and began to pull him through the crowds into the haunted house to look for her again.

Once we got inside Damon and I looked all around for any sign of anybody but the hallways were so packed and so loud that it was impossible to see or hear anyone. Damon decided he was going to wait outside for anything to happen. With a disapproving look I let him go but kept on with my search. Then I heard a blood curdling scream come from outside. It sounded like it was Elena. Immediately I began to move towards it. It was so dimly lit that I could move as fast as I could.

Stepping outside, Elena stood looking down at Vicki’s decayed corpse. She looked distraught even though Vicki had obviously bitten her. Then I saw Stefan holding Jeremy back from Vicki’s decayed corpse. “Get him out of here,” said Elena looking up to Stefan.

“Stefan, he doesn’t need to see anymore of this,” I spoke up. With a nod Stefan began to lead Jeremy away and picked up his cell phone. Elena sank down beside Vicki’s body. Slight sobs began to escape her throat. “Elena, she tried to kill you,” I said. I laid a sympathetic hand on her shoulder.

“She still didn’t deserve this,” she said. Her voice broke on the last word.

“No one ever does,” I said and sat down beside her. I laid an arm over her shoulders. I was surprised when she leaned into me. It was a couple minutes later, when Elena had calmed herself down, that Damon stepped out from behind some buses.

He stood over Vicki’s body, looking at it with disinterest. “You should go,” he said. “I got this.”

“You did this,” said Elena. Shrugging off my arm she began to stand and face Damon. “This is your fault,” she said accusingly.

“You confuse me for someone with remorse,” said Damon still looking over Vicki’s body. He was probably planning on how to get it out of there.

With a sudden burst of rage Elena moved to shove Damon. But he didn’t move an inch even though it was obvious she put a lot of force behind it. She raised a hand to slap him but he easily caught it. She gave another cry of sadness at not being able to let out her anger.

“None of this matters to me,” said Damon looking her right in the eye. He wanted to make sure she got the message. “None of it.” Elena snatched back her hand.

“People die around you. How could it not matter? It matters and you know it,” she accused. Lightning fast she slapped him across the cheek. He gave her a look that was barely controlled. With a gasp Elena stepped back. It was obvious he was holding himself back from killing her.

“You need to leave,” he said. “Your wounds are bleeding and you need to leave.” The threat was obvious and Elena was smart enough to know she meant business. Touching her shoulder she turned and walked away.