Lost and Found (The Vampire Diaries)

Chapter 16: Bereft

Damon's view

The sun was just beginning to rise over the Boarding House and my little brother and I had spent the whole night searching through Mrs Flowers' books for a way to rescue Jade. After three hours solid of rummaging around countless mouldy boxes of dusty hard-backs, my brother finally decided to call it a night and took off in the direction of the kitchen, where Mrs Flowers just happened to be making a cup of tea. I carried on relentlessly.

Not really knowing what I was looking for, I blindly scanned the pages, yellowed with age, for anything that could be of use; contacts, potions, but most importantly spells. By 6:30 in the morning, sitting cross-legged amongst several towers of precariously piled books, I finally found what I had been unwittingly searching for. I had raced from the room, knocking down most of the books along the way, to the kitchen in less than a heartbeat. My eyes were wild and manic with desperate hope and my hair in disarray.

Both my brother and the old witch were chatting with each other over what should be done about Jade, they fell silent at my entrance confirming my suspicions that I had also starred in their conversation. I strode over to the table unperturbed and dropped the book, three quarters of the way in, between them. They glanced at the text briefly, exchanging meaningful looks with each other, before bringing their heads up to me in unison; Stefan spoke first, "An apparition spell?"

His voice was filled with so much doubt, so much uncertainty, that I felt my own anger begin to rise in response to his obvious lack of confidence in me. I had neither slept nor fed since Jade's disappearance, making me very cranky, "Yes an apparition spell!" I snapped at him, "What of it?"

Mrs Flowers answered for him, keeping her eyes fixed on the book, not daring to look me in the eye, "Well dear, it's very…ambitious."

I blinked in disbelief, I had spent all night looking for a plan, a good plan, like this one, just to have it thrown back in my face. And I couldn't help but wonder what exactly these two had done apart from 'chat', "If my plan's so 'ambitious'," I put my fingers up as air quotations, "Then let's hear a better one." My mood was darkening quickly.

To my disgust they simply looked down at their porcelain mugs in embarrassed silence, telling me all that I needed to know.

"Right," I headed towards the front door, picking up the book and grabbing my black leather jacket along the way.

My younger brother sped over so that he was standing in front of me, a look of concern taking over his features, "Where are you going?"

His worried tone of voice made me smirk, "Always the caring one aren't we my dear brother," I said with bitter sarcasm laced into the words like poison.

"I'm serious Damon-,"

"As am I little bro," I interrupted him. We stared at each other for what seemed like hours when in reality it had only been a few seconds. Without altering my gaze I gave him my answer, "To get Jade back."

I shoved him roughly to the side with my shoulder to clear the path, took three long strides, wrenched at the handle and slammed the door so hard that the whole house shook.

I stood outside and rubbed the bridge of my nose in frustration, as I did I listened to the house's occupants; Mrs Flowers slowly scraped her chair along the wooden floor-boards and shuffled over to Stefan, I could just picture her frail, withered hand, like cottage cheese I couldn't help but think, on his shoulder in an old-lady-like fashion. Her wise voice travelled to me, soft and weightless like a hoard of small, white feathers, yet sure of herself at the same time, "I wouldn't worry dear, Damon can take care of himself."