Coming Home (A Klaus Mikaelson Story)

6. The Council

"Do you believe in vampires?"

I jumped up, throwing my hands in the air.

"Oh for fuck sake! Fine... don't tell me what's going on. Just do not take the piss off me." I shouted at him, walking away.

And he was standing in front of me. I blinked, taking a step back. Without saying a word he stepped forward. We were mere inches apart when his face started to change. His eyes had turned yellow and black, and what looked like black veins started to cover the area around his eyes, and his... oh god, his teeth.

I couldn't help it, I started screaming and backing up but in typical horror movie girl fashion I tripped over something and landed on my backside. He went to move closer to me, his hands reaching out but I scooted back.

"Stay away from me... Don't touch me!"

I managed to pull myself up, I was desperately trying to hold onto my sanity. I turned from him and started running back towards my house. Thankfully he too didn't try and stop me.

Nik stood there, staring after her. "Well, that could have gone better."

Finally my house came into view, but I pulled up short when I remembered they were in there. Caroline, Stefan and Damon, and for all I knew, Elena and the others were the same.

I had to think. I mean, if they were all monsters, how come none of them had tried to hurt me. Isn't that what monsters do? I sat on my porch, I could hear the voices inside the house but my mind was racing back to the night before my mother and I left this town. The argument she had with my father. "This town is going to kill us!"

Had she known about vampires? That couldn't be possible, could it? And my father, whose life seemed to centre on the town council. What did he know?

"What if she goes to the council?" As if she had been reading my mind, Elena's voice snapped me back to the present. I quietly snuck around to an open window and sat below it. What did the council have to do with this?

"I doubt that," I heard Damon reply, almost in a bored voice, "First off, she has no idea what we are. Secondly, even if she did, how would she know that the town council is the founding families way of getting rid of the big bad scary vampires."

Stefan spoke up, "Besides, even if she were going to try and tell someone it would be the Sheriff or the Mayor..."

Tyler joined in, "Yeah, and I doubt my mother would let her go to the council and tell them I'm a hybrid, just as the sheriff won't let anything happen to Caroline."

Town Council... my dad had known, so had my mother. Why had they never told me? Probably because I would have thought they were insane. And what about the Mayor and Sheriff, they were covering for their kids.

I shook my head. 'Think about it Jennifer', I thought to myself, 'in a world where vampires are real, if you were one, wouldn't you want your parents to still love you, or would you want them to turn you over to god knows who?'

I mean these people were my friends. I had grown up with them, even after I moved they still came up to New York several times a year to visit me. Just because they were... vampires or hybrids (whatever the hell that was), doesn't mean they're not the same people, did it? I could hear Caroline speak up,

"Look, we need to tell her the truth. She's our friend, she'll understand. I know she will."

Hearing that I decided to do just that, let them explain everything to me, help me understand this madness. I was about to stand up when Bonnie's voice, filled with bitterness, rang out.

"Sure she'll understand. As long as she never finds out what really happened her parents."

My blood turned cold in my veins, I'm also pretty sure my heart stopped beating. My parents... what had... oh god.

All the doubts I had about the supposed car crash came rushing back to me. I couldn't understand my dad swerving and losing control of the car. I had said so a few times.

I wanted to scream, lash out. But I couldn't, I didn't want them to find me here. I could hear Stefan tell Caroline to ring her mother to keep a lookout for me in case I went to her.

"She's at Tyler's house now with the rest of the council," came Caroline's reply, "after what happened with Mr and Mrs Fell the council are on red alert."

I felt hatred burn through my body like I had never before experienced. I hadn't realised I was capable of rage like this. As quietly as possible I got away from my house and as if my body was stuck on auto pilot, I found myself knocking on the door of the Lockwood house.

Mayor Lockwood answered after a moment and I walked past her into the house without waiting for an invitation. There sitting around, drinking tea, were the remaining members of the Town Council. Sheriff Forbes stood when she saw me,

"Jennifer, is everything ok?"

I had never before wanted to physically hurt anyone as much as I did her right now. My parents were dead and she and the Mayor not only knew who did, but were covering it up. Keeping my voice calm I spoke quietly, but clearly. "I'm here to take my father's place on the council."

Everyone looked at eachother uneasily. The mayor came up behind me and put her hand on my shoulder. I wanted to vomit at her touch.

"Jennifer dear, that's not..." she began.

I cut her off with a single glance and moved further into the group. I spoke to them instead. "Let's not pretend that we don't know about the vampires in this town."

I heard the sheriff gasp, but I continued. "I know my parents were not killed in a car crash, and as a founding family member I have every right to be here."

I could see the group nodding to each other. After all I had as much right as any of them. The mayor and sheriff were moving towards me, but my next question made them freeze.

"Since when can vampires walk in the day? Everything I have ever heard about the subject says that's not possible."

This had been annoying me; on the way here I had remembered a few more things from my childhood, including my father begging me to never go out after dark alone. Obviously my brain was putting more and more pieces together of the things I had heard my parents saying growing up. But the sunlight thing, if vampires couldn't go out in the sun, how had Caroline and all the others been out today at the funeral. God was that just today. Seemed like a lifetime ago.

Pastor Young's voice interrupted my train of thought, "What makes you think they can walk in the sun? We've never heard of that."

Of course not, the sheriff and mayor wouldn't want them to have that bit of knowledge. That way their children would be safe. If you only think the monsters come out at night, you never look to the ones walking around in the day. I walked to the bar and poured myself a whiskey. At everybody's reaction I almost laughed. Yeah that was the biggest problem here, underage drinking.

"Relax. I'm 21, today as a matter of fact. Hell of a birthday." I lowered the drink and faced the pastor.

"I had a run in with a vampire today. That's how I know about all this."

Well that was the reaction I wanted. They wanted to know how I had gotten away. I looked at the mayor and sheriff as I answered, "Damon Salvatore just happened to be passing and saved me. I believe you know him."

They both looked guiltily at each other. I continued talking,

"Look, I know I have a lot learn and understand. But know this; I will not stop until I help rid this town of all the blood sucking monsters in it. I don't care if they happen to be someone's son," I looked the mayor directly in the eye as I said this, then swung my gaze to the sheriff, "or someone's daughter." 

When I said this I saw the sheriff take out her phone and leave the room. Two guesses where she was going. I didn't care, I have always loved my friends, but one of them, if not all of them had something to do with my parent's death or at the very least knew who did. I would not out them just yet until I found out exactly what happened and what they were hiding. But I would find out. I guess I was staying in Mystic Falls after all.