CHAPTER SIXTEEN: 1912

•]••'º'•» b̵̸͙̅̽͡ͅr̶̷̲͍̭͐̾̀͟ȍ̸̢̢̮͚̐̚t̴͕͖͓̀h̶̯̰̝̻̿̓͢ę̷̵̧̖̫̗̆̊r̶̷̲͍̭͐̾̀͟ ă̶̸̝ͦ͊̿͋͞n̷̶̯͉̊̽̐ͦ͘d̸̡̩͍̔ͥ͜ s̩͙͖̋͛͟i̵͓͙̱͚̎͟s̩͙͖̋͛͟t̴͕͖͓̀ę̷̵̧̖̫̗̆̊r̶̷̲͍̭͐̾̀͟ «•'º'••[•

JENSEN GILBERT WAS A FEW STEPS AHEAD OF ELENA. Who was ahead of Matt.

"What are we running, a marathon?" Matt called out.

"You're on the football team," Jensen pointed out. "You should be able to handle a jog.

"You are also on the football team! You made Tyler and I sign up to spend more time hanging out," Matt reminded.

"If you can't keep up," Elena yelled as she pushed herself.

"Elena, you can't outrun your problems," Matt breaks to a walk while Elena continues running.
"Though it looks like you're gonna try. I talked to Bonnie!"

That had caused the twins to stop running and turns to face Matt. "What did she say?" Elena asked.

"They're at her mom's house. Abby is gonna complete the transition," Matt informed.

"She decided to become a vampire?" Jensen asked, shocked.

"Yeah. Caroline's gonna help her through it. Teach her to control it and stuff."

"Did Bonnie say-is there anything I can do?" Elena questioned.

"She knows it's not your fault," Matt looks between the twins sadly. "Elena, she's just upset."

"Damon turned her mom into a vampire to save my life. It's absolutely my fault."

"You're gonna make me run more, aren't you?"

Elena doesn't answer as her phone begins to ring,

"Who is it?" Matt asked.

Elena looks a bit confused, answering the phone. "Sheriff Forbes, is everything okay?" She paused. "He what?"
•]••'º'•» b̵̸͙̅̽͡ͅr̶̷̲͍̭͐̾̀͟ȍ̸̢̢̮͚̐̚t̴͕͖͓̀h̶̯̰̝̻̿̓͢ę̷̵̧̖̫̗̆̊r̶̷̲͍̭͐̾̀͟ ă̶̸̝ͦ͊̿͋͞n̷̶̯͉̊̽̐ͦ͘d̸̡̩͍̔ͥ͜ s̩͙͖̋͛͟i̵͓͙̱͚̎͟s̩͙͖̋͛͟t̴͕͖͓̀ę̷̵̧̖̫̗̆̊r̶̷̲͍̭͐̾̀͟ «•'º'••[•

The twins has ran to the sheriff station. Damon walked up to Elena, looking at the female doppelgänger.

"Were you just..?" Elena started.

"Ric's fine. Sheriff wants me to stay out of it," Damon informed.

Jensen laughed. "Like you can do that."

"But you're not going to. Are you?" Elena asked at the same time.

"Seems just as good a plan as any."

Jensen turned up, surprised. "Your only friend's in jail for murder. And you, for once, don't want to do anything? Like, I don't know, commit a replica murder to release him?"

Elena elbowed him.

Damon hummed. "Good idea, Jensen, for once. Well, I guess I could rip out Dr. False Accusation's throat. Maybe her tongue. You know, I could chew it up into little tiny pieces and feed it to the squirrels,"  He mimes chewing like a squirrel.

"Stop it, Damon!" Elena snaps.

Jensen looked between the two.

"Guess me staying out of it suddenly sounds like a good idea, doesn't it? I saved your life last night. You're welcome," Damon says.

"You know, you could show a little compassion about Bonnie," Elena replied.

"I know, you're right, her and her mom must be really hurting right now. Should I send lasagna?"

"Okay, now you're just being mean."

"What's new with him?" Jensen sarcastically muttered,  crossing his arms.

Damon glanced at Jensen. "I'm mean, you hate me. The Earth is back on its axis."

Elena starts to walk away from Damon, but turns around. "You know if you keep pushing people away, you're gonna end up alone."
Elena leaves.

Damon looks at Jensen, who lifted his hands. "Don't ask me. I've hated you for basically as long as I knew you. The only reason you aren't dead if because of Stefan and Elena."

"Thanks Jensen," Damon sarcastically replied. "I can't imagine why Elijah likes you."

Jensen tilted his head. "I'm not the one who daggered him. If you want friends, try not killing them."

Damon looked at Jensen has if he was an idiot, before he laughed, shaking his head. "Why would I want to be friends with him?"

"Hey, you're the only who brought up that he doesn't like you. But, no one likes you."

"I didn't bring it up. I brought up that he likes you."

"I didn't plan his death! Or try to kill him. Twice."

"God, how are you so stu-"

"I'm selling you out as a vampire to the entire council if you finish that sentence."

Elena entered again, sighing as she wrapped an hand around Jensen's arm and began to pull him towards the door. Jensen glared at Damon, bringing his hand up from the one Elena wasn't holding and flipping Damon off.
•]••'º'•» b̵̸͙̅̽͡ͅr̶̷̲͍̭͐̾̀͟ȍ̸̢̢̮͚̐̚t̴͕͖͓̀h̶̯̰̝̻̿̓͢ę̷̵̧̖̫̗̆̊r̶̷̲͍̭͐̾̀͟ ă̶̸̝ͦ͊̿͋͞n̷̶̯͉̊̽̐ͦ͘d̸̡̩͍̔ͥ͜ s̩͙͖̋͛͟i̵͓͙̱͚̎͟s̩͙͖̋͛͟t̴͕͖͓̀ę̷̵̧̖̫̗̆̊r̶̷̲͍̭͐̾̀͟ «•'º'••[•

Jensen had went to continue in training, lifting a set of weights. The barbell was weighing at two hundred.

"Jensen!" Elena yelled shocked to see her brother doing heavy weights without someone spotting him.

"Fuck!" Jensen yelled, the bar slipping from his grasp. Jensen dunked, moving in time for the bar to fall where his head had previously been.

"Jensen!" Elena screamed again, worried this time as she ran to her twin.

"The hell Elena? You shouldn't sneak up on people doing that!" Jensen looked back at the weights, moving to stand up before grabbing the barbell and lifting it to place it back on the holding racks. "What was so important that you almost had me kill myself for?"

•]••'º'•» b̵̸͙̅̽͡ͅr̶̷̲͍̭͐̾̀͟ȍ̸̢̢̮͚̐̚t̴͕͖͓̀h̶̯̰̝̻̿̓͢ę̷̵̧̖̫̗̆̊r̶̷̲͍̭͐̾̀͟ ă̶̸̝ͦ͊̿͋͞n̷̶̯͉̊̽̐ͦ͘d̸̡̩͍̔ͥ͜ s̩͙͖̋͛͟i̵͓͙̱͚̎͟s̩͙͖̋͛͟t̴͕͖͓̀ę̷̵̧̖̫̗̆̊r̶̷̲͍̭͐̾̀͟ «•'º'••[•

"Okay, as much as I love spending time with you," Jensen speaks. "and creepily stalking people," he gave a pointed look that caused Elena to huff, laughing as she shook her her. "although, this seems more like a Damon kind of thing-"

"Oh, there she is!" Elena interrupted, jumping out of the car.  Jensen quickly followed.

"I'm due in surgery. Whatever case you're gonna make against Alaric, make it quick," Meredith speaks.

"He didn't do anything," Jensen quickly speaks.
"I don't have to make a case, he didn't do anything," Elena says at the same time

Meredith turned to her two. "How do you know? Sure you live with him, he takes care of you, but do you really know anything about him?"

Jensen glared at the woman. "Right because the mad-woman who goes around giving her patients vampire blood without their knowledge is such a wonderful human being. We know him enough."

Meredith stops walking and turns to face the two. "Let me tell you what I know. He was arrested for fighting four times before the age of 21. When he was at Duke, his future wife, Isobel, filed a restraining order against him. Twice. Although, then she married him, so I guess that says more about her."

"Okay, you're making all of this up," Elena says.

"You're lying. And even if it's true. We've met his ex-wife. She was a selfish bastard who manipulated people to get her way," Jensen snapped at the woman. "she probably did that so she could go and cheat on him without getting caught."

"Am I? How would you know? You took pity on a borderline alcoholic vampire hunter and you never even thought to look any deeper."

"How could you do this to him? He didn't kill anyone and you know it," Elena says.

"You date vampires, Elena. It shouldn't come as a shock to learn that your guardian is a murderer," Meredith walks away.

Jensen glared at her back. "Next time, hit her. I'm gonna get people calling me a terrible person for hitting a woman. Although, we can ruin her doctor credibility."

Jensen planned to say how Meredith has poisoned and gave unknowing patients procedures they didn't agree to. He just had to figure out something more unethical, illegal but also known from vampire blood. "I'm gonna kill her, the same way Brian was killed, Alaric will have to let out."

"Jensen!" Elena scolded lowly, smiling.
•]••'º'•» b̵̸͙̅̽͡ͅr̶̷̲͍̭͐̾̀͟ȍ̸̢̢̮͚̐̚t̴͕͖͓̀h̶̯̰̝̻̿̓͢ę̷̵̧̖̫̗̆̊r̶̷̲͍̭͐̾̀͟ ă̶̸̝ͦ͊̿͋͞n̷̶̯͉̊̽̐ͦ͘d̸̡̩͍̔ͥ͜ s̩͙͖̋͛͟i̵͓͙̱͚̎͟s̩͙͖̋͛͟t̴͕͖͓̀ę̷̵̧̖̫̗̆̊r̶̷̲͍̭͐̾̀͟ «•'º'••[•

The twins and Matt were standing in front of Meredith's door, they were lock locking the door in order to get in.

"Wow, nice job," Elena says, when Matt actually opened the door.

"All that breaking and entering adds to the list of life favors you owe me,"  Matt speaks.

"Okay, look, I don't know how much longer Meredith is gonna be in surgery, so let's see what we can find." Elena, Jensen and Matt begin searching through her place.

"Don't you think the police already combed through this place? She handed over everything she had," Matt says

"Yeah. But we are looking for things she didn't hand over," Jensen tells.

"And you're sure it's her we should be investigating?" Matt asked.

Elena stops her searching for a moment. "I know him, Matt. He's innocent. And I know that Meredith's a Fell, founding family." Elena looks over at a closet. "Which means..."

Elena walks over to the closet and opens the door. She turns on the light and starts looking through her stuff. Jensen and Matt walk over to her. Elena finally finds a hidden panel at the back of the closet. She knocks on it, it's hollow. "Skeletons in the closet. Just like a true founder."

The two young men enter the closet, standing next to Elena as Matt moves over and pulls out the panel. He takes out a cardboard box and the two of them start rifling through the folders inside.

"Brian Walters. Bill Forbes," Elena reads out.

Matt takes out one of the folders and shows it to Elena and Jensen. "Alaric Saltzman."

•]••'º'•» b̵̸͙̅̽͡ͅr̶̷̲͍̭͐̾̀͟ȍ̸̢̢̮͚̐̚t̴͕͖͓̀h̶̯̰̝̻̿̓͢ę̷̵̧̖̫̗̆̊r̶̷̲͍̭͐̾̀͟ ă̶̸̝ͦ͊̿͋͞n̷̶̯͉̊̽̐ͦ͘d̸̡̩͍̔ͥ͜ s̩͙͖̋͛͟i̵͓͙̱͚̎͟s̩͙͖̋͛͟t̴͕͖͓̀ę̷̵̧̖̫̗̆̊r̶̷̲͍̭͐̾̀͟ «•'º'••[•

They searched through the files, well, only Alaric's.  "She's got everything on him: medical records, old court documents," Elena announced.

Jensen started to look through the other files.

Matt pulls out a journal from the box. "What's this?"

Elena takes it and opens it up. "It's an old Gilbert journal."

"Why is one of your old family journals in her closet?"

"What ever reason it is, it can't be good," Jensen sighed, looking at the pages over Elena's shoulder.

"Didn't you say the medical examiners time of death was between one and three a.m.?"  Matt questioned.

"Yeah, why?" Jensen asked back.

"Because the county coroner's office says that's wrong."  Matt hands Elena the paper, as she looks at it, Jensen looked over her shoulder. Suddenly, they hear footsteps approaching.

"Oh my God," Matt says, horrified as they rush to put the stuff back in the box, and hide it back  in the closet. Meredith enters her apartment, and puts her cup of coffee and her keys on the table. Matt is about to say something when Elena puts her finger to his mouth. Jensen slowly brings his hand to his bloody, feeling the vervain needle in his pocket.

The three hear Meredith open and close the front door. They turn the light back on and open the door. Meredith is standing right there.

•]••'º'•» b̵̸͙̅̽͡ͅr̶̷̲͍̭͐̾̀͟ȍ̸̢̢̮͚̐̚t̴͕͖͓̀h̶̯̰̝̻̿̓͢ę̷̵̧̖̫̗̆̊r̶̷̲͍̭͐̾̀͟ ă̶̸̝ͦ͊̿͋͞n̷̶̯͉̊̽̐ͦ͘d̸̡̩͍̔ͥ͜ s̩͙͖̋͛͟i̵͓͙̱͚̎͟s̩͙͖̋͛͟t̴͕͖͓̀ę̷̵̧̖̫̗̆̊r̶̷̲͍̭͐̾̀͟ «•'º'••[•

Jensen held an ice pack against his red knuckles, as he, Matt and Elena all sat in Liz's office.

"What were you thinking?" Liz questioned the three as she entered her office.

Elena sighed. "I know that we had no right."

"No right? You broke the law."

"But, we found something that clears Alaric. It gives him an alibi in the Brian Walters murder," Elena says.

Liz holds up a piece of paper. "You mean this?"

"What is that?" Jensen questioned.

"A letter from the county coroner's office correcting the error in the time of death of Brian Walters. Meredith Fell received it today. She brought it to me several hours ago, full of apologies for accusing an innocent man."

"That's a lie. Before we broke into her apartment, she was saying how Alaric is an murderer. She's hiding something else," Jensen speaks.

"Why would she have a copy hidden in her closet?" Matt asked.

"I can't ask those questions, Matt, because the very fact that you broke into her home to find it. Do you know how much I'm already protecting the three of you?" The older woman asked the three.

"I'm sorry." Elena says.

"Just...get out of my office and go home. Please. Alaric will be released as soon as the letter is authenticated. Go."
•]••'º'•» b̵̸͙̅̽͡ͅr̶̷̲͍̭͐̾̀͟ȍ̸̢̢̮͚̐̚t̴͕͖͓̀h̶̯̰̝̻̿̓͢ę̷̵̧̖̫̗̆̊r̶̷̲͍̭͐̾̀͟ ă̶̸̝ͦ͊̿͋͞n̷̶̯͉̊̽̐ͦ͘d̸̡̩͍̔ͥ͜ s̩͙͖̋͛͟i̵͓͙̱͚̎͟s̩͙͖̋͛͟t̴͕͖͓̀ę̷̵̧̖̫̗̆̊r̶̷̲͍̭͐̾̀͟ «•'º'••[•

The three were walking pass an alleyway, pausing  when they had seen Damon feeding a young woman his blood.

"What are you doing?" Elena questioned the dark-haired vampire.

Stefan turns around, revealing that he had blood covering his face.

"Stefan?" Elena whispered.

Stefan wipes the blood off of his mouth.  "Elena."

"What are you two doing?"

"Relax, Elena. Just a little experiment. There's no need to make this more dramatic than it needs to be," Damon says.

"You did this to Stefan? Again?" Jensen asked, angrily. He walked towards him.

Matt grabbed Jensen's arm, trying to pull him back.  "Guys, let's just go. Elena help me."

Elena continues to stare at Stefan.

"Elena!" Matt yelled again, keeping a hand on Jensen Matt forces Elena to move, she eventually does. Then pulling Jensen back with Matt.

•]••'º'•» b̵̸͙̅̽͡ͅr̶̷̲͍̭͐̾̀͟ȍ̸̢̢̮͚̐̚t̴͕͖͓̀h̶̯̰̝̻̿̓͢ę̷̵̧̖̫̗̆̊r̶̷̲͍̭͐̾̀͟ ă̶̸̝ͦ͊̿͋͞n̷̶̯͉̊̽̐ͦ͘d̸̡̩͍̔ͥ͜ s̩͙͖̋͛͟i̵͓͙̱͚̎͟s̩͙͖̋͛͟t̴͕͖͓̀ę̷̵̧̖̫̗̆̊r̶̷̲͍̭͐̾̀͟ «•'º'••[•

Matt placed a mig of tea down for Elena, having offered to get one for Jensen, but he declined.

"Just say it," Elena says as Matt sits down.

"I just don't get it. Your thing with them." Matt spoke.

"I know it doesn't make sense, but at the beginning, after my parents died, there was something about being with Stefan that just felt safe."

"Safe? Elena, he's a vampire."

"I know, believe me, just saying it out loud it sounds crazy, but it's like I knew that he would never stop loving me. Like he would never..."

"What?"

"Die. Like he would never die."

"Like your parents did." Matt hesitated.

Jensen didn't. "And Damon?"

"Damon just sort of snuck up on me. He got under my skin and no matter what I do I just...I can't shake him."

"Once you fall in love with someone," Matt speaks again. "I don't know if...I don't know if you can ever shake them."

"I'm sorry. This...this is weird. Talking about them with you." Elena says.

Ever weirded that I'm here, Jensen thought.

"No. Not really. I got you something,"  Matt pulls out the Gilbert journal out of his jacket pocket and hands it to Elena.

"How did you manage to get  that?" Jensen questioned before he could stop himself.

"It's your family's, you should have it," Matt looked back and forth at the twins. "Meredith and that idiot deputy were too busy questioning you to give a damn about me. Sometimes it pays to be the only normal one in a town of vampires. I'm practically invisible."

"Oh, come on, how can you be invisible to anyone?" Jensen smiled.

Suddenly, the front door opens, in walking Alaric. Elena gets up and walks over to him.  "Are you okay?"

Jensen quickly got up as well.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm alright," Alaric replied.

Elena hugs Alaric.
•]••'º'•» b̵̸͙̅̽͡ͅr̶̷̲͍̭͐̾̀͟ȍ̸̢̢̮͚̐̚t̴͕͖͓̀h̶̯̰̝̻̿̓͢ę̷̵̧̖̫̗̆̊r̶̷̲͍̭͐̾̀͟ ă̶̸̝ͦ͊̿͋͞n̷̶̯͉̊̽̐ͦ͘d̸̡̩͍̔ͥ͜ s̩͙͖̋͛͟i̵͓͙̱͚̎͟s̩͙͖̋͛͟t̴͕͖͓̀ę̷̵̧̖̫̗̆̊r̶̷̲͍̭͐̾̀͟ «•'º'••[•

Jensen sat next to Elena, who turned her back and rested her head against his forearm, holding the Gilbert notebook at an angle that the two could read.  Alaric walk downstairs. "Hey, I was gonna make some coffee."

"I'm good. Gonna head to bed in a few," Elena says.

"Yeah. I had to much coffee today," Jensen tells him.

"Hey, listen, Elena, Jensen," Alaric walks over to the two. "the uh- the Sheriff told me about everything you did today and while I appreciate it, I don't want you getting in trouble because of me. Okay?"

"If not for you, for who?" Elena asked.

"Well, still, I'm the one who's supposed to look after you, even if I suck at it."

"How about, we all agree to look after each other," Jensen speaks.

"Deal. What are you reading there?" Alaric asked.

"Old family journal." Elena answered.

"Any juicy family secrets?"

"It's hard to tell. I mean, at first I thought it was Johnathan Gilbert's journal, but it ended up being his granddaughter's, who apparently went just as crazy as he did. So, great genes, huh?" Elena gets up from the couch.

"Well, at least you have something to look forward to," Alaric says.

"Good night, Ric. Good night, Jen," Elena says.

"Good night." Ric replied.

"Good night, El," Jensen replied. Jensen turned to Alaric. "Good night, Al."

Alaric made a face at the nickname.

•]••'º'•» b̵̸͙̅̽͡ͅr̶̷̲͍̭͐̾̀͟ȍ̸̢̢̮͚̐̚t̴͕͖͓̀h̶̯̰̝̻̿̓͢ę̷̵̧̖̫̗̆̊r̶̷̲͍̭͐̾̀͟ ă̶̸̝ͦ͊̿͋͞n̷̶̯͉̊̽̐ͦ͘d̸̡̩͍̔ͥ͜ s̩͙͖̋͛͟i̵͓͙̱͚̎͟s̩͙͖̋͛͟t̴͕͖͓̀ę̷̵̧̖̫̗̆̊r̶̷̲͍̭͐̾̀͟ «•'º'••[•

Jensen stared at Elijah's number, debating on calling Elijah.

Jensen's head snapped up, throwing his phone in a reflex at the edge of his bed. Elena didn't seem to notice, pulling him up and putting the book in his hand. "We need to talk to Alaric."

"No, but I think you might be." Meredith's voice comes when the two walk downstairs. Jensen reads the section Elena had pointed out to him, stopping when hearing her voice. "You wear a ring that lets you cheat death, Ric. How many times can you die before it changes you?"

Alaric sits down. Meredith sits down with him. "I think you're sick and I want to help you. This has happened before, almost 100 years ago."

"Holy shit," Jensen cursed as he and Elena stood in the doorway.

"Elena. Jensen." Alaric says, shocked.

"Ric, I think she's right." Elena gently takes the book from Jensen, holding it up.

•]••'º'•» b̵̸͙̅̽͡ͅr̶̷̲͍̭͐̾̀͟ȍ̸̢̢̮͚̐̚t̴͕͖͓̀h̶̯̰̝̻̿̓͢ę̷̵̧̖̫̗̆̊r̶̷̲͍̭͐̾̀͟ ă̶̸̝ͦ͊̿͋͞n̷̶̯͉̊̽̐ͦ͘d̸̡̩͍̔ͥ͜ s̩͙͖̋͛͟i̵͓͙̱͚̎͟s̩͙͖̋͛͟t̴͕͖͓̀ę̷̵̧̖̫̗̆̊r̶̷̲͍̭͐̾̀͟ «•'º'••[•

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