I… think I got hijacked by my character again? Maybe?
Fanfiction.net link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6910203/5/
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CHAPTER 5
“So how long are you going to leave him in the dog house?” Andie asked, picking mushrooms off of the slice of pizza on her plate. “Because he is being super cute right now.”
Jenna looked out the kitchen window, to where Elijah was occupying Conner with a slingshot they had made from a tree branch and a big rubber band. So far, Conner had missed the neighbor’s cat, but with Elijah’s help he had enjoyed slightly more success against the old iron birdbath. “I’m not sure ‘cute’ is the appropriate word to use for an ancient vampire.” She pulled a piece of pepperoni off of her own pizza and stuck it in her mouth as Conner pegged a plastic flower pot and Elijah held the boy’s hand up in a victory gesture. “He is being pretty cute, though.”
“Who’s being cute?” Elena asked, coming into the kitchen and reaching into cupboard for a glass.
“Conner!” Jenna answered hastily, turning away from the window and pushing the curtain across. “Have you heard from Jeremy?” He had insisted on staying behind at the hospital, to be there when Bonnie came out of the sedation.
Elena nodded. “Bonnie woke up a little bit but she was pretty agitated, so they’re keeping her under light sedation. They want to bring her out gradually.” She wandered over to the counter and lifted the top of the pizza box, settling on a slice of the veggie pizza.
The back door opened and Conner came thundering into the kitchen. “Mama! I hit it! I hit the flower pot!” He leapt up into Andie’s lap; only the quick reflexes of a mother with a small, active child made her set her pizza on the plate before he could upend it on the floor. “I’m gonna be a… um…”
“Marksman,” Elijah filled in, coming in from outside.
“Yeah! A markthman! I want pizza!”
Andie caught him before he could hurl himself bodily onto the counter and the pizza. “Hands. Go wash them.” She set him on the floor and turned him toward the half-bath down the hall. Conner hit the floor running and made engine noises as he ran toward the bathroom. Andie shook her head in amazement. “If only I could harness that energy…”
“Did Stefan leave?” Jenna asked Elena.
“Yeah. Homework.” She pegged Elijah with A Look. Elijah looked distinctly unapologetic. “Speaking of which, I should get back to mine.”
“Hold a moment, if you would, Elena,” Elijah told her.
“Uh-oh… Mama!” Conner yelled from the bathroom.
Andie groaned. “Nothing good ever follows those two words,” she said, getting up and going down the hall.
“I need to talk to you both about what happened today,” Elijah told them. “It wasn’t an accident. The driver of the truck had been compelled. And he was waiting for my car to go by.”
“He was waiting for you?” Jenna pushed her plate away, pizza forgotten. “Is this what you were talking about the other night, when you said someone might be taking a shot at you?”
“Wait, what?” Elena asked.
“Time to go!” Andie said, coming through with Conner held out at arm’s length in front of her. The wet stain on the front of his pants gave a pretty good indication as to the nature of the emergency.
“But I want pizza!!” Conner yelled, kicking his feet as Andie carried him through the kitchen.
“We’ll get some at home. Sorry, guys,” she said as she passed Jenna. “I should remember to bring a change of clothes for him. I guess I’m a little rusty at this whole mom thing. Call you later.”
“What’s this about someone taking a shot at you?” Elena asked, once Andie had gone out the door.
The door opened again, and Andie poked her head back in. “Um, did someone order a new Lexus?”
“That would be mine,” Elijah said, heading for the door. “I expect the keys will be in it.” He followed Andie out, presumably to move the car.
Elena turned to Jenna. “What is he talking about?”
“The other night he told me he was worried about some of the other Originals coming after him, now that Klaus is gone." She grabbed some plates to start tidying up; set them down, took a glass to the sink; rinsed it and set it back on the counter again.
Elena took the stack of plates and opened the dishwasher. “You okay?”
Jenna gave up on the pretense of straightening up and leaned back against the sink, arms crossed. She wished that she hadn’t eaten the pizza; she could feel it swimming around greasily in her stomach, pitched to and fro on the waves of sudden anxiety that Elijah’s words had churned up. “Is it always like this?”
“Is what always like what?”
“Is there always some life-and-death emergency on the horizon? Someone who wants to eat/kill/sacrifice someone else? Can’t vampires just be accountants and collect postage stamps and watch ‘American Idol’ like normal people?”
“Aunt Jenna, I think you need to be realistic about your expectations. There are much better shows to watch on Thursday nights than ‘American Idol.’” Elena grinned impishly at her and turned to get a drink out of the refrigerator. “How do you feel about stamp collecting,” Elena asked Elijah, as he came back through the door.
“Excuse me?”
“Ignore her,” Jenna told him, rubbing her stomach. “So. This accident. Or non-accident, as the case may be?”
“There isn’t much more I can say. It was obviously intentional. I don’t know who compelled the driver, but I have a fairly good guess. There was a vampire at the restaurant the other night who is aligned with one of the other Originals; I’d peg him as the most likely culprit. Though I did give him some… encouragement to leave town.”
“But… they had to have known that wouldn’t kill you,” Elena said, frowning.
“Not me, no. But it could very well have killed anyone who was with me.” Elijah drummed his fingers on the counter, biting his bottom lip as he seemed to consider something. “I’d like to have a security system installed here, if you’ll allow it.”
“Vampires can’t come in unless they’re invited,” Jenna pointed out, swallowing another wave of nausea.
“Vampires, no. Compelled, or even hired humans can.” He looked over at Elena. “There is also the matter of your safety.”
“My safety?”
“Klaus may be dead, Elena, but you are still a doppelganger, and there are still vampires and werewolves out there who want to break the curse. Surely you’ve thought of this.”
Elena’s expression of dawning realization made it clear she hadn’t. “I… I guess I just thought, after Klaus was gone…”
Jenna pushed away from the sink to go to her, but the movement sent her head into a sudden tailspin. Her stomach lurched as the wave of dizziness put the room at a drunken tilt. Saliva filling her mouth, Jenna clapped a hand over it and ran for the bathroom. She had just enough time to slam the door, drop to her knees and raise the seat before the first wrenching rush came up, followed swiftly by more as she was completely and thoroughly sick.
She hung there over the toilet, dark spots dancing in her vision, until she was sure it had passed. When she had gone a couple of minutes without retching, she reached up to push the handle and leaned back against the wall in a cold sweat, eyes closed. A few minutes passed, then a timid knock sounded at the door. “Jenna? Are you okay?” Elena asked.
Jenna opened her eyes and groaned as the light speared into them. “I think I’ll live,” she answered thickly. “Unfortunately.”
“Okay…” She heard Elena pad back down the hall, and low voices in the kitchen, the words indistinct through the closed door and the buzzing in her head. She turned so her cheek pressed against the cool wall, sitting there until the very thought of movement no longer made her want to hurl again. Climbing to her feet, she went to the sink and cupped her hands under the water, drinking some in to rinse her mouth out. That accomplished, she decided she felt partially human again.
Elena was just putting the last of the food into the refrigerator when she rejoined them in the kitchen. “Sorry. Apparently pepperoni and attempted murder are volatile when mixed. Who knew?”
Elijah squeezed her hand. “My apologies. I didn’t wish to upset you.”
“I’m fine. It’s fine,” she said, squeezing back. “I think I’m just going to go brush my teeth for five hours and call it a night, though. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
Jenna left them in the kitchen, twin looks of concern on their faces, and hauled herself up over the stairs. Crawling into her pajamas, she brushed her teeth and started her nightly getting-ready-for-bed ritual of removing make-up, washing her face, moisturizing. She wasn’t even sure when the tears started, but when she lay down in bed, her cheeks were wet with them.
Curling up, she pulled the extra pillow – the empty pillow – over and hugged it to herself. Unimaginable as it may have been a few weeks ago, she missed the ‘simplicity’ of worrying only about raising her orphaned niece and nephew. She missed thinking that vampires and werewolves and witches – oh my! – were just creatures out of books and horror movies. She missed having the phone ring and not being terrified to answer it for fear of what new crisis loomed. She missed going to bed and having someone to curl up with, tell jokes with, discuss the day with.
She missed Ric.
Curled around the pillow, alone, Jenna cried herself to sleep.
~~~~~~
Jenna had half hoped that she would still be feeling under the weather when she woke, so that she would have a viable excuse to stay home rather than go to campus, but she woke feeling hail and hearty, if somewhat sandy-eyed from the crying jag. Since she couldn’t in good conscience skip class for no reason, she showered, dressed, and drove to the campus.
One the way, she dialed Andie, but it went straight to voicemail. Speaking of voicemail, there were two waiting for her. One was from Elena, saying she would be stopping at the hospital after school. The other was from Elijah, expressing concern for her health and saying he’d call her later. Jenna erased the messages and tossed the phone back into her bag.
Her impromptu pity party of one notwithstanding, she had to admit that Elijah had sure as hell been a lot more honest with her than Alaric had ever been. And she couldn’t argue that he treated her well. She didn’t think she had ever dated anyone with such impeccable manners. Oh hell, who was she kidding? She had barely dated anyone who didn’t think belching the alphabet was the height of accomplishment. And what was up with him just having a new car delivered, out of the blue? She hadn’t even heard him make a phone call. Were vampires like the Mafia or something?
She could have asked him to stay the night before, she supposed. Although asking someone you hadn’t had sex with yet to sleep – just sleep – with you seemed like a bad idea, especially with an upset stomach. Nothing said ‘baby, take me!’ like being vomited on. Hey, did vampires even sleep? She’d have to ask. She was sure they didn’t get sick –
Out of her peripheral vision, she saw the rounded, red hood of a Volkswagen jut out into her path. She hit the brakes hard and swerved to the left, which made the oncoming minivan swerve to avoid her. Once past the VW, she was able to pull back into her own lane and pull off the side of the road, shaking. Remembering what Elijah had said about his “accident,” she looked in her rearview mirror at the VW. A blond girl, maybe all of sixteen, had pulled to the side of the road as well, and was getting out of her car. Jenna shot a hand over to the passenger seat to grab her phone; her hand hit nothing but air, her bag having crashed into the mess of papers and garbage on the floor when she had stomped on the brakes.
Not sure what to do, but not wanting to be trapped in the seat of her little car, Jenna hastily got out as well and stood facing the girl, adrenaline screaming through her system and making her jittery as the fight-or-flight response tried to take over. To do which, Jenna wasn’t sure. She tried to visually frisk the girl for weapons, though if she were a vampire she wouldn’t exactly need a weapon; her own strength would be weapon enough. Nothing in her hands except a cell phone…
“Are you okay?” the girl asked as she drew near. Two big tears coursed down her cheeks. “I am so, so sorry! I was reading a text and I didn’t see the stop sign. We don’t have to call the police, do we? My dad will kill me!” she sobbed.
Jenna let the breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding out in a rush. “Uh, no,” she said, shakily. “Nobody hit anyone else, so I guess there’s no damage done.”
“Oh my god, thank you so much!!” The girl sniffled and wiped a sleeve across her eyes, and might have hugged her had Jenna not lurched back when the girl leaned toward her. Jesus, Jenna. Paranoid much? It’s just a kid, not paying attention. “I will be in SO much trouble if my parents find out.”
Jenna sighed deeply, trying to relieve some of the tension coiled in the pit of her stomach. “It’s okay. Just do yourself, and everyone else on the road, a big favor and leave your phone alone while you’re driving, okay?” She gave herself a mental raspberry for the fact that she had just been doing the same thing.
“Totally! Thank you.” The girl turned around and walked back toward her car, calling someone as she went so that she was already back on the phone by the time she got back into her vehicle. It did look like she ended her call before driving away from the curb, though.
Jenna got back into her own car as well, grabbing her bag from the floor and shoving books and notebooks back into it while she gave her nerves a minute to settle. She wondered if maybe it was time to think about trading the mini-Cooper in for something a little bigger and safer.
Like maybe a tank.
~~~~~~
The whole ordeal, combined with the stop that Jenna made for some therapeutic doughnuts to overcome it, made her almost half an hour late to her first class. That in turn gave her whole morning a rushed and off-kilter feel, so that by the time she dragged herself to the student union for lunch, she was grumpy, exhausted, and out of sorts. Consequently, she was less than thrilled when Suzanne, one of her fellow grad students, invited herself to sit with her.
“Jenna! I’ve hardly even seen you this semester. How are you?” the bubbly little redhead asked, settling in across from her.
“Been better. How is your abstract coming along?”
“Oh, I’ve had that done for weeks now,” she said offhand. Jenna wondered how much trouble she’d get into for hitting her. “That’s right, you got Professor Mitchell for an advisor, didn’t you?”
“Yep. Lucky me.” Jenna pushed her tray aside, leaving half of her beef stew still in the bowl. Given her sickness the night before, the doughnuts and extra coffee had maybe not been the best idea in the world, especially when combined with the adrenaline rush from the near accident.
“Oh, he’s not so bad. I’m TA-ing for his abnormal psych class this semester.” And with Suzanne, Jenna thought uncharitably, the ‘T’ and ‘A’ in this case could go either way. The redhead was about as subtle as a tornado in a trailer park.
“Yeah? Any tips on how to deal with him?” Jenna asked, giving in to cafeteria boredom and shredding her napkin. “He seems to run pretty hot and cold.”
“Oh, he’s a little weird at first, but he chills out once he gets to know you.” She stopped, a thoughtful look on her face. “Or maybe you just get used to him.”
Jenna highly doubted it. “Are you going to this mixer tomorrow night?”
“Definitely! You?”
“Yeah. Professor Mitchell actually recommended I go. I get the feeling he thinks I’m going to need all the help I can get when it comes time to present my thesis abstract to the committee.”
“Yay! I’m so glad you’re going to be there. Are you bringing anyone?”
“Mm-hm. A guy I’m seeing. He teaches history at Mystic Falls High.”
“Oh, that Ric guy? You showed me photos of him when we were doing that clinic rotation. He’s a hottie!”
Awkward. “Uh, no. I broke up with him, actually. I’m seeing someone new. His name’s Elijah.”
“I’m sorry. I must be mixing them up. I was thinking Ric was a history teacher.”
“Heh. Yeah… funny story, that. Ric left town after we broke up. Elijah took over his teaching position.”
Suzanne stopped mid-chew and gave her the eyebrow treatment. “Okay… So is this history teacher fetish something new, or is there some deep, dark, scandalous secret from your high school past that you’re not sharing?”
Jenna had to laugh. “Nothing salacious, I’m afraid. Mrs. Murray was about sixty years old, and she was just not that hot.”
“Speaking of hot teachers, where would you rate Professor Mitchell on the hotness scale?” she asked.
“Probably somewhere in between ‘he’s my advisor’ and ‘I’m not even going to think of him that way?’”
Suzanne stuck her tongue out at her. “I think he’s kind of handsome. Maybe it’s the beard. It makes him look…”
“…like a lumberjack?”
Suzanne kicked her lightly under the table. “No! He looks distinguished.”
“Hey, whatever does it for you.”
“Oh, shut up. Here, eat half of this brownie. I want to fit into my cocktail dress Friday night.”
Jenna waved it away. “No thanks. I ate two doughnuts this morning and they’re still fighting the good fight.”
“Well… I DO have to carry a bunch of equipment this afternoon. I’m sure I’ll work it off!” she decided, lighting into the brownie. “Professor Mitchell has this slide show to do, but none of the slides were digitized, so I have to bring this huge – ” In making a sweeping gesture with her arms to demonstrate, Suzanne knocked her glass of soda onto the floor. “Dammit! Jen, could you grab me some more napkins out of that dispenser over there?” she asked, getting on the floor and dabbing at the puddle with the two napkins she had.
Jenna walked over and grabbed a wad of napkins, hauling her bag out of range of the liquid when she came back with them. It looked to have escaped unscathed. Not that one more stain would really signify at this point, but still. She saw the opportunity to escape and took it. “I’m going to run over to Barrowman. They’re starting a series of clinical trials this afternoon,” she said, swinging the strap over her shoulder.
“’kay. See you tomorrow, Jen.”
“Yeah. Tomorrow.”
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