Veins of Desire

05. Rescue Me And I'll Never Be The Same

Jeremy is instantly at the door when he hears it being opened.

"Elena?" he calls out as he skips down the steps of the staircase, nearly stumbling over his feet. It has been hours since Stefan sent him a quick text message to inform him that the rescue mission has been successful and they were already on the way back to Mystic Falls.

Ever since then, he has been anxiously pacing up and down the entire house, unable to calm down until he's been able to determine for himself that his sisters are fine. Stefan has texted him that Elena is unharmed and fine, but there has been no mention of Ellie's current condition, which greatly worries him.

If they have truly been kidnapped by someone from Katherine's past, then the older twin must be terribly frightened and confused. She doesn't know anything about vampires or the supernatural in general. Well, they will have to tell her now. There's no point in continuing to keep things from her and he sure as hell will not let Elena make Damon compel her memories away as she has done before when Viki nearly drained her of her blood or when Ben, a young vampire Anna has sired to assist her in her quest to free her mother from the tomb underneath the ruins of Fell's Church, accidentally kidnapped her instead of Elena to enforce the Salvatores' help.

Jeremy has no recollection of those events since Damon compelled him to forget about the first and he hasn't been present for the second, but he has read about them in Elena's diary.

Well, and there's also that one incident with a tomb vampire mistaking her for Katherine, that wouldn't have ended as well as it did if Anna hadn't jumped in, and a meeting with Isobel, her and Elena's biological mother, in the school courtyard - both compelled away by Damon as well.

Yeah, no, Ellie decidedly has had too many close brushes with death that she doesn't even remember. Today's events should be a wake up call for them, especially Elena. If Katherine's enemies are now coming after the twins, they can't keep her in the dark any longer. They have already been lucky enough as it is that Katherine didn't seem to have any interest in her other doppelganger. To think how easily she could have snuck up on her while pretending to be Elena...maybe she has, who knows.

He sighs in relief when he sees his sister standing at the entrance door, looking tired and exhausted, but overall fine.

"Elena!"

Bonnie rushes past him down the stairs and instantly launches herself at her best friend, pulling her into a bone-crushing hug.

"I'm okay," the brunette assures both the witch and her brother. "I'm okay." As the two girls briefly separate, Elena smiles at her friend. "I got your message."

Bonnie instantly tears up at that and pulls her back into a tight embrace. Jeremy patiently waits his turn, enclosing his arms around his sister when it's finally his turn. He buries his face in her hair, soaking in her presence to try and calm down his still erratically beating heart.

After what feels half an eternity, the separate, his gaze instantly drifting across their surroundings, in search of the other twin. He furrows his brows when he realizes that Elena has come back home alone. "Where's Ellie? Bonnie repaired her audio processors via magic. Now they're good as new. I'm sure she's anxious to get them back."

Elena shoots him a confused look. "Ellie? How should I-Oh my God." She claps a hand over her mouth as a realization hits her. "I completely forgot about her."

Jeremy narrows his eyes at her, a dreadful suspicion sneaking up on him. "What do you mean, you forgot about her? I thought she was right there with you? Where is she, Elena?"

The brunette teenage girl gulps audibly, her face paling, mixing with utter horror and remorse. "She still has to be at the house. I-I was so relieved to see Stefan and they we're all fine and alive and I-I forgot she's there too. We left without her."