The Fallen Slayer {1}

Anne

MAY 30th, 2009 | MYSTIC FALLS, VIRGINIA

Two Weeks.

It had only been two weeks since the accident that had killed both Miranda and Grayson Gilbert. The accident that had almost killed the newly orphaned Elena.

Two weeks, yet it felt like just yesterday that she had woken up in the hospital to learn that her parents had perished while she had survived without a scratch.

One week since the funeral. 

The funeral had made it all the more real for Jeremy and Elena.

Jeremy had hidden away in his room, barely showing his face while Elena was desperately trying to keep herself from falling apart.

She had to be strong for her little brother and she wanted to be strong for Jenna. While she had lost her parents she refused to forget that Jenna had also lost her big sister.
They were all broken and needed to support each other right now.

That was the only way they were going to get through it.

Hearing the phone in the kitchen ring, Elena reluctantly placed her book down and headed toward the dreaded piece of technology. It had been two weeks of nothing but condolence calls, pity calls, or lawyers.

Honestly, she wasn't sure which of the three was the worst.

"Hello?"

Suddenly, an unfamiliar English accent piped through the phone as he cleared his throat nervously "This is Rupert Giles, I am calling for Jenna Summers. I'm afraid I have some horrible news-"

The familiar grief and pain in his voice had Elena panicking. This was a death announcement call she could feel it.
While it could be argued that maybe one of their relatives was simply hurt, Elena just knew.

Her entire body was practically vibrating in horror.

"Um..." She stuttered "Just a second."

Pulling the receiver away Elena frantically rushed into the hall "Jenna! Jenna get down here!"

Clearly panicked that something was wrong or one of the kids under her care was hurt, Jenna raced downstairs almost tripping over the last two steps.
Out of breath, the strawberry blonde glanced over at her niece "What's wrong?! Do I need to get my bat?!" 

Just as she started looking around for her bat, the shaken-up Elena just shoved the phone into her hands "Just talk..." 

Confused, Jenna glanced at the phone before her calm demeanor faltered as she spotted her niece's emotional state. Elena's eyes were wide open in fear, her hands shaking violently.

Slowly bringing the phone to her ear, Jenna wrapped one arm around Elena, running her hand up and down her arm to hopefully keep her calm "This is Jenna."

"Miss Summers-" The English voice on the other end of the phone cleared his throat, clearly trying to figure out how to address the youngest of the Summers sisters "I am very sorry to disturb you. My name is Rupert Giles...I wasn't too sure if the hospital had managed to get ahold of you but...I am a..."

There was another pause as Giles tried to work out how to describe his relationship with Joyce and Buffy.

"A friend of your sister Joyce. I am so sorry that I am the one to break the news...earlier this evening... Joyce had an aneurysm... she didn't survive."

Jenna's entire world came crashing down at that moment.

Stepping away from her niece, Jenna grabbed onto the banister desperately clutching onto it. Her nails dug into the wood in an attempt to keep herself upright. It was like all of the air had left her lungs.

She had forgotten how to breathe.

One week ago she had buried her eldest sister and now Joyce was gone. She had just seen her 7 days ago and now she was dead?

This couldn't be real.

There was no way both of her sisters were dead!

The world couldn't truly be that cruel...could it?

"No..." She stuttered out, barely catching the sob in her throat "...I..um...I saw her last week at our sister's funeral, she was fine...she can't..."

This couldn't be happening.

"I am so sorry. Joyce was a lovely woman...I..." Giles had no idea what to say to comfort the woman. How did you comfort someone who had lost both of their sisters in a two-week interval?

Tears flowed rapidly down Jenna's cheeks as her knees finally crumbled. She hit the floor with a loud thud, barely noticing Elena rushing over to help her. She could see Elena's mouth moving followed by the appearance of a very confused Jeremy staring down at her. 

Yet she couldn't speak.

All she could do was think of her sister. The sister who read her bedtime stories. Who taught her how to sneak out of the house without getting caught. The sister whose couch she had crashed on in California after her last break up.

Miranda had been the responsible one.

Joyce was the one who taught her how to drink tequila properly. She was the one that was almost disowned when she showed up 6 months pregnant at barely 21 yet she still never stopped smiling.

Her Joey was gone.

Jenna wanted to scream, yell, shout from the rooftops, and curse the universe for taking her sisters away from her.

It just wasn't fair.

Out of the three Summers girls, she was the only one left.

However, there was still one other Summers girl. Her blonde-haired troubled niece, with a deadbeat dad. Her niece was now all alone in California with no family to guide her.