Silent Vows || Elijah Mikaelson

v. Panic

Jamie spent her morning sitting across from Sheriff Forbes, enduring an interview that felt more like a test she was doomed to fail. She doubted she was much help—she'd been zoning out for most of it. Each time the sheriff asked a question, Jamie tried to focus, but her mind would betray her, going frustratingly blank. It was as though her brain had stalled and her mouth refused to cooperate, leaving her stuck in a fog of silence and unease.

"Jamie?" The sheriff's voice was dim, calling out to her.

"Yes?" The young Gilbert moved her head to look her way, almost like she was a zombie.

"Do you know where Vickie Donovan is? What happened to her?" Liz probed, leaning on her desk a little to look at the young girl.

"All I know is that she was involved with my baby brother for a couple of days before she left. Poof." Jamie flicked her hands open in front of her, showing nothing.

"Jamie, are you alright?"

She furrowed her eyebrows, her eyes staring through the sheriff, voice monotone as she spoke. "Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

Liz smiled softly at the girl, obviously worried not only about the disassociated expression on Jamie's face but also about what Jamie wasn't telling her. "Thank you for your time Jay. You can head on home now. Jenna should be waiting right outside the door for you."

Nodding her head, Jamie stood up and mindlessly walked out of the office, seeing the dead face of Vickie following her as she passed others. She was in a nightmare that she couldn't wake up from. A scary dream that made her feel like her mind was burning up, ready to explode.

Jenna soon joined her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder as they walked out of the police station, passing Stefan who was waiting outside to talk to Elena. Jamie swore she saw his pupils expanding as he looked at them, just like his brothers did last night. Her heart rate increased as she shook the vision from her mind, leaning into Jenna, who looked worriedly at her pale niece. Rubbing her hand on Jamie's shoulder, Jenna leaned over to her and pressed a soft kiss to her hairline. She could tell something was wrong with Jamie, but she had no clue how to address her concern. Jamie was different. She had been for months. The pills that she was supposed to be taking seemed to do nothing for her. Maybe she needed a stronger dose. Maybe she needed something else. Jenna truly didn't know what to do. She also didn't know that Jamie hadn't taken her pills in almost 2 months. But that was a problem for another day.

For now the Gilbert's were headed back to the house. Jenna and Elena headed into the living room to watch TV and Jeremy to finish school work which was just plain weird, but Jamie honestly found no need to care about that as she walked back up to her room.

Stripping from her clothes and slipping into sweats and a baggy hoodie, Jamie laid on her bed pulling her comforter over her, wanting to sleep. But sleep never came. She was never that lucky to get what she wanted.

As she laid there, the blankets covering her head, all she heard was the crunch of the wooden pillar going into Vicki's heart. The thud of her body as it hit the floor. The last little gasp of air that escaped from Vicki's lungs as she died not even 10 feet from her. The words that Damon had to Jamie. Everything about that night was like a broken record spinning on repeat. And once again Jamie was helpless.

She was powerless in the face of death—always had been. It mocked her relentlessly, weaving through her thoughts, daring her to defy it, to intervene. But alas, death was elusive, an untouchable phantom that slipped through her grasp until it chose to be caught. And lately, it seemed as if everyone around her clung to it desperately, as though it were the only lifeline left in a drowning world.