Singing Blood

The Sacrifice

We were back in Mystic Falls earlier than planned. The drive back home after the Fiasco in Richmond had been silent. Damon on the steering wheel was angry, Rose was still shaken up about almost burning to death and I was looking out of the window, pondering. About Klaus, Slater's whereabouts, who could have possibly been behind the attack. Maybe the twins knew. I didn't like involving them in this dangerous mess, but from the look of it, they were already involved. Rose kept giving me questioning side glances. I knew she wanted to know how I had known about the attack and I would tell her. Just not with Damon within earshot. If he found out about the twins' gift, he would no doubt try to use it to his advantage. He would force them to help him save Elena and find Klaus. As much as I wanted to save Jenna's niece, my children's safety would always come first.

Damon drove us back to the Boarding House. Rose asked me if I wanted to stay for a while, but I declined the invitation, too tired and still slightly shaken up from today's events. Before I drove home we exchanged phone numbers and promised to meet soon. We both had something to tell the other that none of the Salvatores should hear. Rose may have promised to help save Elena from Klaus, but she wasn't as desperate as the brothers. I trusted her to not endanger the twins. I also needed her help with telling Jenna the truth. She wouldn't believe me without evidence and the other three (halfway) trustworthy vampires in town were as determined as Elena to continue keeping her in the dark.

I spent the rest of the afternoon on my old laptop, researching vampire and werewolf lore. Most of what I found was utter rubbish, but until I found a way to gain access to the founder archive, the Internet was pretty much my only available source. Well, I guess I could also ask Rose. She was over five hundred years old and thus a few centuries older than the Salvatores and I trusted her not to lie to me. The historian in me couldn't wait to ask her about the various historic events she witnessed and the famous people she met. Though I also reminded myself to lower my expectations. She and Trevor spent all those centuries on the run, hiding from Klaus and Elijah. They probably spent more time crawling through sewers than charming nobles and poets in court.

At around half past seven I left the house to pick up the twins from the Gallagher residence. Katie Gallagher, a friendly redhead in her mid-thirties and Sophie's mom, opened the door. "Marianne," she greeted me. Then she turned around to scream up the stairs, "Erin, Estelle, your mom's here!" A few minutes later the twins came running down the stairs, followed up by Sophie. They (minus Sophie) threw themselves in my arms.

"Mommy!"

I caught them, laughing. "Hey, how was your day?"

"Awesome," Erin beamed. "In art class Mrs Fell wanted us to draw our family." She ran to her school bag by the stairs and opened it to pull out a picture, before proudly presenting it to me. She had drawn fourteen figures and one puppy standing in front of a grand mansion. I frowned. "Who are all these people, sweetie?"

"The two smaller ones in the front are Estelle and me, next to us are you and our daddies, those in the back are Auntie Jenna with Uncle Brandon, Auntie Bekah and Uncle Enzo, Auntie Freya with Auntie Keelin, Auntie Rose and Sophie," Erin explained while pointing at the different figures.

"And what's with the dog? Last time I've checked we didn't have one."

"That's not a dog, mommy." Estelle giggled. "It's a wolf and he's our daddy too."

Next to me Katie started to laugh.

"Well Erin, you certainly a wild imagination."

"Did you show this to Mrs. Fell?" I asked Erin, feeling heat rising in my cheeks.

"She presented it in front of the whole class," Sophie chimed in. "Mrs. Fell didn't like it, though. She called you a harlot and some other bad words and said you were a bad role model for children." Then she frowned and turned to her mother. "What's a harlot?"