Just Enough Rope, Chapter 8

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Sorry this is so late in coming. I had it almost finished, but then Thursday's episode happened and it made it a little difficult for me to write. I'm still not sure this chapter is up to snuff, but here goes nuthin'.

On the security system thing: I worked for a security company until recently. Yes, people actually DO do that. You'd be amazed. o_0

Fanfiction.net link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6910203/8/Just_Enough_Rope

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CHAPTER EIGHT

Having made the necessary introductions, Elijah left Caroline and Sofia at the table to talk and joined Marcus at the bar, where the younger vampire had already ordered them a round of bourbon. “To not having to listen to ‘girl talk,’” he said, raising his shot glass in salute.

Elijah did the same. “Cheers.” He downed the shot and motioned the bartender for a refill. “Did you have any luck with that other project?”

“Mm. I forwarded what I found for photos; they should be available to download on your phone.” Marcus pulled a basket of pretzels closer to them, snagging one. “That’s a fairly dated list, though. There’s no telling who else Sebastian has recruited since then.”

“It’s a start.” Elijah downloaded the photos of Justin and Sebastian’s other known cohorts into his phone’s photo gallery. At the sound of approaching footsteps, he looked over his shoulder to see Damon headed toward them. “Thank you for coming. Damon, Marcus,” he said, by way of introduction.

Damon pulled himself up onto the barstool next to Elijah, signaling the bartender. “So, what’s today’s big emergency?”

Elijah forwarded the photos on to Damon. “I have a task for the two of you. Damon, do you still have a stock of the vervain syringes?”

“A few.” He signaled to the bartender and ordered a whiskey, then looked at the photos on his phone. “Vamps, I assume?”

“Mm. If any of these, or for that matter any other, vampires appear in town, I’d like to have a conversation with them.”

“Speaking of vampires in town… what are we doing about our little schoolgirl situation?”

So Stefan had filled him in. “For the time being, nothing,” he sighed. “Better to know where she is than wonder what she’s up to.”

“Or, we could just kill the bitch.”

No, evidently he couldn’t. “She could still be useful.”

“Riiiiight.” Damon downed his drink when the bartender set it in front of him and held the glass out for another. “So, outside vampires. I’m guessing this would be an in-the-dungeon with pointy stakes kind of conversation and not a ‘can I get you something to drink?’ conversation?”

“Your powers of deduction are astonishing, Damon.”

“You have a dungeon?” Marcus asked, looking around Elijah at Damon.

“Doesn’t everyone?” Damon grabbed a couple of pretzels out of the bowl.

Elijah checked his watch and left enough cash on the bar to cover their drinks, plus a few more rounds. “Play nicely, gentlemen.”

Damon gave him the eyebrow treatment. “Where are you going?”

Elijah clapped him on the shoulder as he got up. “I have a date.”

~~~~~

The door to the Gilbert house opened just as Elijah reached for the knob, and Elena crashed into him, letting out a startled, “ooph!” as they collided.

“Whoa,” he said, grasping her arms to steady her. “Is everything all right?”

“Yeah, sorry. Yeah! Bonnie. Jeremy called. She’s awake! She talked to him and everything!”

“That’s excellent news. Please give her my regards.”

“I will.” Elena skipped down the steps and to her car.

Elijah looked up as Jenna started down the stairs. Her normal attire of jeans, shirt and sneakers had undergone a radical upgrade. In its place she wore a wine red cocktail dress. The velvet bodice was overlaid with a pattern etched in silver, starting at a high collar that left her shoulders, arms and most of her back bare. It hugged her body like a second skin all the way down her hips; just below there, a high side-slit allowed the skirt to drape gracefully to about mid-calf. She wore a pair of matching silver and red shoes and carried a small, silver clutch purse. She, or perhaps Elena, had pulled her hair up into a sleek, elegant style, pinned in place by an ornate silver clasp.

Whatever he had been thinking fled as his long-deprived body took over his thought processes. He wanted to Do Things to her. He wanted to run his hands over her bared back, inside that oh-so-convenient side slit, down the silvered front of the dress that appeared to have nothing underneath it but Jenna. He wanted to pull her hair loose and spread it out with his fingers – preferably across his pillow. He wanted to sink his teeth into that tantalizing peek of thigh right there. Most of all, he wanted her writhing underneath him –

“Should… I take this whole speechlessness thing as a compliment?” she asked him, giving him a little sideways look as she paused at the base of the stairs?

He swallowed. Twice. “You look absolutely stunning.”

Jenna smiled the self-satisfied smile of woman who looked good and knew it. “You’re not looking so bad yourself.” She reached into the hall closet for a coat. “I am so gonna have the hottest date there.”

Elijah took the coat from her and held it up for her to slip into. “Are you absolutely certain we must attend this gathering?” he asked suggestively. “There are far more pleasant ways to spend the evening…”

“Easy, tiger. Yes, we need to attend.” She slapped a hand to his chest when he leaned in to kiss her. “Uh-uh. If we start that, we are never getting out of this house, and I did not shimmy into these pantyhose just to slither right back out of them. Besides, I need to make nice with these people. God knows I’m going to need all the help I can get.”

He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her neck instead, making her catch her breath. “How long, precisely, do you expect this ‘making nice’ to take?”

She turned him bodily toward the door. “Out.”

Elijah let her turn him, noticing as she did the new keypad next to the front door. “Excellent. They did get the security system installed.”

“Oh, yeah. Crap. I suppose I should set it, huh?” Jenna stepped up to it and held her finger poised hesitantly over the buttons.

“That’s the general idea, yes. I don’t think it bites.”

“Hrmph. Spoken like someone who has never witnessed my epically bad luck with anything electronic.”

He stepped up to her side. “Here, what’s the code?”

“It’s right there on the flappy drop-down door thingy.”

Elijah closed his eyes and dug thumb and forefinger into them. “Jenna.”

“Hmm?”

“Having the code right there for anyone to look at rather defeats the purpose.”

“Well…” She flailed her arms. “I won’t remember it!”

“It’s a four-digit number.”

Jenna crossed her arms in front of her. “Could you just set the damn thing so we can go already?”

Elijah entered the code – so handily provided – and pushed the ‘away’ button. The keypad emitted a steady, monotone sound.

“Oh God, you set it off!” Jenna tried to reach around him.

“That’s just the tone that signals the unit is set and you’re clear to exit. That’s not the alarm.”

“It’s not?”

Elijah opened the door and motioned her out, closing it behind him. The tone stopped. “See, it silences once you exit. Did they not show you how to use the system when they installed it?”

She glanced up at him guiltily. “They did, but I made Elena go through it with them. I’m sorry! It freaks me out.”

Exasperation at war with charm and attraction, he wisely decided to quit the field of that particular battle. Walking her to the car, he held the door open for her. “You know, chivalry is really sexy,” she told him, once he’d opened the driver’s door and gotten in.

“Duly noted.” Elijah pulled out onto the street, resisting (rather heroically, he thought) the urge to slide his hand off of the gearshift and inside the slit of her dress, which happened to be on the side facing him. “Were you able to get a new phone?” he asked, changing the subject from anything that had the word s-e-x in it.

“Oh! I found mine. Well, Suzanne found mine. We had lunch together yesterday, and she found it on the floor after I left. It must have fallen out of my bag. God, I love the new car smell," she added, inhaling deeply.

“There’s one less worry, then.” He slipped his own phone out of his breast pocket to check for messages. Nothing pressing. “Tell me who we’re meeting tonight. Other than the overly curious professor.”

Jenna turned a little toward him as much as the seatbelt would allow, inadvertently hiking her dress a little higher. Elijah started calculating the pros and cons of waiting until their post-abstract weekend away versus taking her home with him tonight and ravishing her. This level of distraction was verging on ridiculous. “Let’s see…” Jenna started ticking off names on her fingers. “There’s Professor Harris, Professor Scarsdale, and Professor Lee, who are all on the panel. I’m sure several other professors from the department will be there, as well as other grad students. Professor Mitchell, obviously. And Margaret Shumly, who I need to corner.

“For…?”

“Carol wants me to ask – read: strong-arm – her into speaking at the dedication for the new women’s shelter at the end of the month. I made the mistake of telling Carol about a study she did on sexual abuse, which is what started Carol steamrolling on the idea of a shelter. You’d think I’d learn not to give that woman ideas.”

“Is there a great demand for such a shelter in Mystic Falls?”

“Probably more than you’d think. People always assume these problems are more prevalent in big cities, but that’s not really the case. There’s just more anonymity there than in a small town. Hopefully one thing the shelter will do is give the women who need it a safe environment to recover in.”

“You know,” Elijah said reflectively, “there was a time when a woman had a greater expectation of being raped than of living to see her fortieth birthday.”

“That’s awful!”

“It was. Yet it wasn’t looked upon as it is now. A woman was not considered traumatized, but shamed. As was her father or husband.” Elijah glanced over and saw the storm clouds gathering in Jenna’s eyes. “I’m not saying I believe that,” he assured her hastily. “But that was the common perception.”

She didn’t look appeased. “Right. Because a woman was nothing but a piece of property.”

“For all intents and purposes… yes.” Elijah took her hand and raised it to his lips to press a kiss into it. “I know it may not always seem apparent from watching the news, but society truly has come a very long way in that regard.”

“Not far enough.” Jenna rubbed her thumb over the back of his hand before letting go. “What really surprised me in listening to Prof. Shumly’s lecture was how girls who are molested at a young age become almost hyper-sexual. In a way it’s counterintuitive; you’d think they’d want to avoid anything to do with sex rather than seeking it out. It’s like their whole… sense of self gets wrapped into their sexuality, and that’s their primary modality for dealing with the opposite sex." Jenna shrugged. "It’s just sad.”

“Mm. Is this the entrance I want?” he asked, gesturing toward the upcoming road onto campus.

“Next one. All the way down, and take a right. That will put us at the Arts center. Parking will be at a premium, but Professor Mitchell handed out some temp passes to the faculty lot next to the building.”

Elijah parked where indicated and, seeing no one in the immediate vicinity, sped over to open Jenna’s door for her, eliciting the usual little squeak from her. “What if someone saw you?” she asked, glancing around.

“Ah, but that’s just the point – they couldn’t see me.” He held his arm out to her, tucking her fingers into the crook of his arm as he led her into the building. “Shall we?”

~~~~~

After an hour of desperate socializing (on the part of the graduate students) and pretentious intellectualism (on the part of the faculty), Jenna's questionable advisor had yet to put in an appearance, and Elijah was beginning to fear that this entire endeavor would prove to be a waste of time. He had just begun formulating a plan that involved an early departure, a bottle of fine wine, and a number of throw pillows in front of his fireplace when Jenna grabbed his arm and nodded in the direction of the door. "That's him."

The man in question stood in the doorway next to a petite redhead. From that vantage point, he stood surveying the room. He was tall, and what Elijah supposed some would say was physically imposing. Jenna motioned, catching the redhead's attention, and she nudged the Professor. The two headed their way.

"They were just somewhere having sex," Jenna told him, under her breath.

"What?"

"The back of his shirt collar is out over his jacket, his pants have wrinkles from lying on the floor, her hair is sweat-dampened at the temples and crushed flat in the back... they were totally doing it."

Elijah looked down at her, eyebrow raised. "You can tell all that at one glance, from a distance?"

Jenna shrugged. "It's a gift. Suzanne!" she said, as the two approached. "Nice dress! You look great."

"You too! Wow."

"Professor Mitchell, this is my friend, Elijah Smith," Jenna said, turning toward the man.

"Pleasure." Elijah extended his hand to him. The Professor hesitated for a fraction of a second, then took it, squeezing perhaps harder than necessary.

"Nice to meet you," Mitchell returned, though the stare he was giving Elijah suggested otherwise.

Jenna gestured to the redhead. "And this is Suzanne Turner. She's a fellow graduate student."

"Hi." She didn't offer him a hand. In fact, she looked distinctly uncomfortable. Elijah didn't recognize either of them, and would have put money on neither being a vampire. Still, something felt off.

"So, I thought you'd be here earlier," Jenna said to Suzanne.

"Oh, yeah, worked a little later than I planned at the library," she answered, studiously avoiding looking at the professor.

Jenna gave her a knowing "Mm-hmm."

"Jenna tells me you took interest in some of her extracurricular research," Elijah said to Mitchell.

"An intriguing if outlandish subject," Mitchell answered shortly. "I hope you get a chance to mingle, Jenna. Excuse me, I need to speak to Professor Lee." He headed toward a clump of fellow academics, leaving Suzanne standing awkwardly with them.

"I should go... talk to some on the panel, I guess," the redhead said, by way of excusing herself. She headed off in a direction away from Mitchell.

"Okay, so... that was weird," Jenna said, leaning into his side. "Did you get anything, pick up any vibes?"

"I'm not a psychic, you know," he told her, amused.

"No, but... hey, are there psychics?" she asked suddenly. He just continued smiling at her. "Shit. What else is real? Big Foot? The Loch Ness Monster? The Easter Bunny?"

"No; yes; and you would not believe how much he sheds."

Jenna bumped her shoulder into him. "Very funny. Seriously, though."

Elijah glanced around the room. "Have you talked to everyone you needed to?"

"Yeah."

"Let's go, then. We can discuss it on the way."

Jenna stopped to say goodbye to a couple of her friends as they made their way through the gathering, and it took probably another half hour for them to get out of there. During that time Elijah noted Mitchell's gaze resting on him, though he was quick to glance away when Elijah looked back. He'd lost track of the girl in the crowd somewhere.

"I hope I didn't spaz out too much on the panel," Jenna said, once they'd gotten outside. "Professor Lee may not be any taller than my navel, but she is freaking scary. What is it with tiny Asian women being so intimidating?"

"Oh, I wouldn't worry," he told her, pulling the keys out of his pocket as they walked. "I think you'll find your abstract goes over splendidly."

Jenna glanced up at him, suddenly suspicious. "You didn't..."

"Didn't what?" he asked, tone perfectly innocent.

She stopped walking. "You... Oh my God, you did! You compelled them to accept my abstract!"

"I... may have suggested that they consider it favorably." Elijah stopped as well, waiting for her.

She stood with her arms crossed for a moment, eyeballing him. "Okay, I'm trying to be mad at you, but I'm really not feeling it. Does that make me a horrible person?"

Elijah leaned in toward her, lowering his voice. "You're asking the Ancient Evil Vampire?"

Jenna sighed dramatically. "Well that's it. It's happened. I've gone to the dark side." She started walking again; he fell into step beside her.

"It's all right. We have cookies."

"Mmm... cookies!"

He chuckled, opening her door for her as they reached the car, and adding chocolates to the wine on his mental list.

"So, what did you think?" she asked, as he got into the car.

"I don't believe he's a vampire; you were correct there. There was something, though."

"Compulsion?"

He shook his head. "I don't think so. But I'm fairly certain he knew who and/or what I am."

"Why?"

"The way he looked at me. His rapid and surly exit from the conversation."

"That's actually kinda normal for him. He's got a reputation for being moody as hell."

"Still... I believe there's something up with your friend as well."

Jenna giggled. "Uh, yeah, I think that would be Professor Mitchell."

"Yes, well, that may have accounted for some of her nerves, but... let's just say I'm not willing to discount the possibility that whatever he knows, she knows."

"Oh, I think there was definitely a lot of 'knowing' going on between them."

"An intriguing segue," he said, putting the key in the ignition and turning it.

He wasn't sure he could even say, later, what it was that warned him. A sound that was off, a smell... he didn't stop to give it conscious thought, just lurched across the seat and pushed the passenger door clean off of the car. Grabbing Jenna up on the pass, he hauled her with him out of the car. He had time to speed just a few short strides away before the explosion came.