What's At Stake, Part Eight

I had hoped to just have to do one more section before delving into new territory, but it was going to be way too long; Jenna keeps wanting screentime, and she gets so little on the actual show that I hate to begrudge her here.  So, next up after this:  The Dinner Party.  Of Doom!!
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Elijah was waiting by the roadside at a little after sunrise, two coffees in hand, when Jenna pulled up and parked her Mini Cooper behind him. She waved and started fishing for something in the back seat. It appeared it was being recalcitrant; Elijah was treated to a rather nice view through the windshield as she turned full around and leaned over the back of the seat to reach whatever it was she was searching for.

No distractions, he reminded himself firmly, then wondered exactly how long it had been since he’d… been distracted. Decades, at least. It wasn’t an urge that pestered him overmuch anymore. There were only so many anatomical possibilities, after all, and he had long since exhausted that rather extensive list. Still, every now and again someone piqued his interest, and right now it was piquing over Jenna Sommers. It surprised him more than a little to realize that it had everything to do with the woman herself and not her tertiary relationship to Elena Gilbert.

Jenna finally recovered what she was after and climbed out of the car, juggling several tubes that he supposed contained property maps. He hustled over to relieve her of the armload, laying them on the hood of his own car. “I didn’t realize there were so many in the archive; I could have come and helped you with all this.”

“Oh, it’s fine. I wasn’t sure where we’d end up going from here, so I just grabbed everything.” She eyed the coffee like a starving wolverine eyeing a T-bone steak. “Please tell me one of those is for me.”

A few strands of her hair had fallen forward and were stuck in her lip gloss. He handed her one of the coffees and pushed the hair back, his attention lingering a little longer than he liked on her lips. No distractions. “Hazelnut, extra cream, three sugars.”

“You remembered my coffee order?” she asked, blushing a little as she raked her hair back behind her ears.

“There are certain things a man should always remember when it comes to a woman: birthdays, anniversaries, and how she likes her coffee.”

“Wow. How is it you’re still single?” Jenna took a long swallow of coffee, and closed her eyes in pleasure. “Mmm,” she sighed, low in her throat. “Perfect.”

No! Distractions!

Elijah cleared his throat. "I guess I just haven't found the right girl, yet." He started sorting through the cylinders, checking the archive label of each until he found the correct one for the area they were in. Removing the parchment from the tube, he spread the age-stained map out along the hood for them to study as they finished their coffee.

Jenna hitched one hip on the car and looked back and forth from the map to the field in front of them. “Right there, that stone wall,” she said, gesturing with her empty cup as she shielded her eyes from the sun with her other hand. She turned back to the map and pointed at a boundary line.

“Excellent. We have our reference point.” Elijah rolled the map back up and tucked it under his arm while Jenna tossed the rest into a canvas bag that she slung over her shoulder.

They set off down the embankment and followed the old stone wall, out of the early morning sunlight and into the dappled shade at the edge of the woods. Dried, fallen leaves skittered around their ankles as they walked, remarking in whispers upon their passing. A squirrel dashed along the top of the stones, its plume of a tail streaming behind it as it dove headlong into dense foliage; occasionally a bird cried out overhead, startled from its perch by this sudden invasion into their world. The trees – some saplings, some ancient – kept a silent vigil over it all. It was no mystery why magic was drawn to gather in such places.

The wall ended perhaps thirty or forty feet into the trees. Elijah consulted the map again. “It looks like the property continued about another fifty yards or so, to a small stream. Do you have any idea if it’s still there?”

“The stream? Yeah, I think so. It’s probably pretty low this time of year.” Jenna forged ahead as he re-rolled the parchment. “At the risk of sounding clueless, what exactly are you hoping to find by walking these old property lines?”

Elijah picked up a stick, idly peeling bark from it as they walked. “At the time the area was settled, many of the people would have put up some sort of hasty shelter to get them by before until they had a firmer foothold on the land. Sometimes you can find the remnants of these old cabins and such.” They rounded a copse of trees, looping back toward the road, and came to a clearing around a small, dilapidated house.

"Like this?" Jenna pointed at the structure.

"Hmm... no, this looks newer, and probably larger than what the settlers would have begun with."

“That makes sense. I never really thought about it, but yeah, I guess all those antebellum mansions didn’t just spring up overnight. Though I’m sure if you ask any of the founding families they’ll tell you their ancestors never set foot in a one-room cabin. Speaking of which,” Jenna pointed. "...the old Fell property actually starts just beyond that fence."

“Ah, the Fells. One of the ‘founding families’.”

"Why do you say it like that?"

Following the fence line, they headed back toward the cars. "My research showed me that this area was actually settled almost two full centuries earlier. There was a migration of townsfolk from the northeast. Um, it was Salem, to be precise."

"Massachusetts? As in the witch trials?"

Elijah nodded. "Which means the ever-lauded founding families didn't actually found anything."

Looking up, he saw a third car parked along with theirs. He tossed the stick and stuffed his hands in his pockets as he watched a figure approach: the history teacher Elena had spoken of. The one Jenna was currently dating. She hadn't spotted him yet.

"Well, I bet it was the men who made a big deal about being founders back in 1860," she said. "Men are very territorial."

"Yes," he agreed ruefully. "They are."

Jenna glanced in the direction he was staring and watched the teacher approach as well, looking surprised to see him; she didn't seem to have been expecting him. "Ah, Elijah, this is my... friend, Alaric Saltzman," she introduced, not sounding terribly thrilled about it. And wasn't that just interesting?

"Yeah, I got your, uh, your message about walking Elijah here through the old property lines. I thought I would, um, tag along, you know, being a history buff and all." Saltzman looked from one of them to the other, a false smile plastered across his face. "Where to next?"

History buff, my ass. Elijah half-expected the man to start marking trees. "I'm pretty curious about the freed slave property owners," he answered. "Some say, you know, the descendants of the slaves are the true keepers of American history."

"Well, I only brought the surveys. I've got that bit in the car. Just give me a sec." Jenna headed toward the vehicles without waiting for an answer. Giving herself a moment to absorb this new development?

Elijah turned his attention from her fleeing figure to the man before him. "Alaric Saltzman," he drawled. "You're one of those people on Elena's list of loved ones to protect."

"Yeah, so is Jenna."

Irritation warred with amusement at this mere human bristling in front of him. "You don't have to be jealous," he said, cutting to the heart of the matter. "I rarely pursue younger women." Though, if the timing were different, he would be sorely tempted to do just that. Saltzman didn't answer. Elijah just shook his head. "It's a joke, Ric," he said, clapping him on the shoulder as he passed him to go help Jenna at the car. "Lighten up."

Elijah rejoined Jenna, leaving Saltzman to catch up. What the man sought to accomplish with this fool's errand, he didn't know. As if he had any intention of harming Jenna! And even if he had, what exactly did the schoolteacher think he could do about it? Surely he wasn’t so foolish as to think that one of his homemade stake-o-matic contraptions posed any threat to him. No, more than likely it was his own romantic interests Saltzman sought to preserve, not Jenna’s safety. Elijah wondered how much Jenna introducing him as a ‘friend’ had rankled.

“According to this list," she said, as he drew even with her, “we’ll have to go down the road a few miles and cross the river, then up the hill to the old Reilly property.”

“What exactly do you hope to find on those properties now?” Alaric asked, joining them.

“Well, that's the beauty of it. One never knows what one might stumble across when he starts exploring the unplumbed depths of the past," he replied airily. "But I'm sure you can relate to that. You know, being a history buff and all.”

“Right. Yeah. Yay, discovery." Saltzman made an inane little rah-rah gesture.

“There's no sense taking three cars,” Jenna pointed out. "Since I've got everything in here anyway, we may as well take mine."

"Of course." Elijah went around the passenger side. Opening the door, he flipped the front seat forward, then stepped back, gesturing to Saltzman – several inches taller than him, and with much longer legs – to climb into the tiny car's miniscule back seat.

The teacher gave him a faltering smile and, with some effort, got himself folded into the car. Elijah pushed the seat back, where it banged against Saltzman's knees. He declined to pull the seat forward as he got in himself and fastened his seatbelt, smiling at Jenna. "Lead on, milady," he said, laying a British accent on thick and making her giggle.

Saltzman grunted in the back seat, hitting his head against the roof as the car bounced onto the road and drove away.

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Jenna breathed an audible sigh of relief as Alaric got into his own vehicle and drove away. They had spent the better part of four hours, the three of them, touring the properties on Jenna's list. During that time, Elijah had witnessed an increasing annoyance on Jenna's part with her erstwhile suitor, and a corresponding increase in desperation on the part of the schoolteacher. Weak attempts at wit had been met with withering silence, and the whole mess had devolved into a rather charged and awkward silence.

Elijah was delighted.

"So – " Jenna began.

"That – " Elijah said at the same time.

Jenna laughed, breaking the tension. "Sorry. You first."

"I was just going to thank you for a lovely morning."

She lifted an eyebrow at him. "Really?"

"Uh, no." He screwed his mouth up into a rueful expression, making her laugh again.

"I am so sorry. I had no idea he was going to just appear like that."

"No, don't apologize. I take it the two of you are..."

Her breath came out in a huff. "I don't know what we are right now, honestly."

Elijah leaned back against the car, crossing his arms and his ankles. "Trouble in paradise?"

"Paradise. Hah! It's... He... I..." Jenna raked her hair back in frustration. "I don't know. I like him, we have a great time together... I just... Sometimes it just feels like he's hiding things from me, and I don't know what to do with that."

"Another woman?" Plant a little seed, see what grows...

"Not exactly." Jenna leaned against the car alongside him, mirroring his posture, her hip brushing his. "He was married once, and she died. There were 'mysterious' circumstances..."

"Such as?"

"That's just it! I don't know. He doesn't want to talk about it, and I get that, but... What if he isn't really over her? Or..."

"Or?" he prompted.

Jenna shook her head, as though to clear it. "Nothing."

She's wondering if he had something to do with it. "Perhaps he just isn't ready yet."

"Yeah. Maybe." She slapped her palms lightly against her thighs and pushed off of the car. "Anyway, that's enough of 'Jenna's Travails With The Opposite Sex.' Did you at least get anything out of the search you can use?"

"Oh, everything proves useful in one way or another." He caught her hand as she turned to gather the maps and lists. "Let me take you to lunch. It's the least I can do after you traipsing all over hell and beyond with me."

She seemed to consider for a moment, then tilted her head and smiled. "I would love to have lunch with you, Mr. Smith." She paused. "Why does that always sound like an alias?"

Elijah raised his hands in mock surrender. "That's it, you've found me out." He made a show of looking all around them before leaning down to whisper, in a deliberately bad Russian accent, "I'm really Russian spy, sent to find evidence of the lost Tsar amongst the slave populace of the American South." Sliding a hand into his breast pocket, he withdrew a pencil. "This is my link to the former Soviet satellite system..."

Jenna shoved him playfully, laughing. "Get in the car, comrade."


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This is a mistake, Elijah thought to himself, even as he walked into the Grille with Jenna. If he was trying to remain free of distraction, he was going about it in the most wrong way possible. He had research to do. He had plans to draw up with Jonas. He had a sacrifice ritual to plan in such a way as to render the actual sacrifice unnecessary. What he did not have was time to be... playing with some human woman. Even one as endearing as Jenna Sommers. Especially one as endearing as Jenna Sommers.

Despite being distracted, Elijah noticed Damon, Alaric and Andie Starr the moment he entered, and smiled to himself when he heard Damon announce to Saltzman, "Look, there's Jenna with her new boyfriend." Damon raised his hand and waved them over. Elijah followed Jenna to their table.

"So," Damon said, "I hear you two had quite the meeting of historical minds today." Elijah merely raised a brow at him.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," Jenna answered.

Alaric rose from the table. "Well, as much as I'd like to continue this, I have papers to grade."

"You know what?" Andie said, sitting up straighter. "We should continue this. Let's have a dinner party."

Damon looked immediately taken with the idea. "Ooh, my girl! Full of good ideas. I'll be happy to host," he volunteered. "Say, tonight maybe?"

"It's good for me," Andie agreed readily. "Jenna?"

Alaric shook his head. "Nah, I don't know if tonight works – "

"Yeah, I'm free," Jenna broke in. She looked up at Elijah questioningly.

"It would be a pleasure," he agreed.

"Great!" Damon enthused. He and the girls conferred on the details of food and drink for a few moments while he and Alaric stood by, Alaric looking slightly dyspeptic at the idea of the whole thing. Elijah resisted the sophomoric urge to taunt him further. Once they'd arrived at a suitable time, the teacher beat a hasty retreat from the restaurant, retiring the field. The arrangements thus made, Elijah escorted Jenna to an open booth.

And wondered just what the devil Damon Salvatore was up to now.