❝𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺, 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳.❞
Estella Delacour was a normal girl. She had her best friends, was po...
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ESTELLA DELACOUR felt like a broken record, the words she spoke hollow and meaningless, foreign sounds escaping her lips without true understanding. Numbness crept through her, a chilling wave washing over the doe-eyed girl. Each lie was a fresh wound, guilt coiling around her spine like a constricting vine, haunting her every moment. With each falsehood, the weight of her deception grew heavier, though she desperately tried to mask it.
"Where did Vicki say she was going?" Sheriff Forbes's voice cut through the silence, her blue eyes, so like Caroline's, sharp and probing.
Elizabeth Forbes, a woman etched with the weariness of her office, stood as a pillar of protection for the town. Compassion lined her face, but the grim set of her mouth and the deep furrows in her brow spoke of the burdens she carried, her hands clasped tightly before her.
Estella drew a shaky breath, the lie poised on her tongue, tasting like ash. "She didn't say," The truth that Vicki was lost to the world was a lie she had to take to her grave. Two can keep a secret if one of them is dead. What could she possibly do with such knowledge?
"Did she tell her brother where she was going?" Sheriff Forbes pressed, leaning forward, her gaze pinning Estella in place, searching for any flicker of deception.
Estella swallowed hard, fighting down the rising tide of guilt. "No, she didn't say anything to me. We weren't close."
"What was her behaviour like those last few days before she disappeared?" The Sheriff's question hung in the air, thick with unspoken implications.
Estella's foot began to tap a nervous rhythm, a frantic attempt to ground herself. "I didn't see her much. I was sick, and then I only saw her briefly at the party," she offered, clinging to the thread of truth in her fabrication.
"Any signs of aggression or violence?"
Estella frowned, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear, the chaotic images of the previous night flashing behind her eyes. "None that I know of."
"So, you believe Vicki really has left town?"
"I do," Estella affirmed, the lie a bitter taste on her tongue. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, the weight of her deceit pressing down.
"That's all, thank you for your cooperation," Sheriff Forbes said, a kind smile softening the lines around her eyes.
Estella forced a smile in return, mumbled a "no problem at all," and practically fled the police station.
A sigh escaped her lips as she ran a hand through her straight brown hair, letting out a shaky breath. Her lips trembled, her reality settling in. Her brown eyes drifted to Stefan and Elena, locked in a hushed conversation.
Stefan offered her a tense smile, his worry for her radiating across the space. Estella managed a weak smile and nod, a silent reassurance that she was, somehow, alright. She walked down the steps to stand beside Elena.
