Vampire Diaries Blood Brothers

~Chapter Fourteen~

The mouth watering smell of waffles and bacon greeted me as I opened my bedroom door, ready to get to school and get to the bottom of Bonnie and Stefan's disappearance. Jogging down the steps, I saw Logan stationed at the oven, turning a piece of crispy bacon in the frying pan. "Well well well, if it isn't the same guy who cheated on my Aunt in high school and forced her to leave Mystic Falls."
   Grinning, Logan turned and shook his head. "Good morning to you too Elena." My heart sank as I stopped at the bottom of the staircase, my hand hovering above the railing. "Elena?"
   "Um..." I flashed a fake smile. "It's, uh... It's Eva. Elena was my twin sister. She's the one who suffered the animal attack. Not me."
   "Oh," he sighed, placing the frying pan back on the ring. "Eva. I'm sorry. I wasn't even thinking, I'm sorry."
   "It's OK." I avoided eye contact as I ducked past, boiling the jug. "You know, Jenna's not really a morning person. That'll probably be cold by the time she gets up."
   "Um, well this is awkward," he stifled a laugh. "This was actually for you," he offered, sliding it onto a plate from the cupboard.
   "Oh..." I murmured, unsure of how to react.
   "I've actually been up for hours," he admitted. "I was called away for an emergency report early this morning. Very early actually, before the sun came up," he shook his head. "Another animal attack. It's on the news, if you want to take a look," he nodded towards the tv.
   Making myself a coffee, I turned the volume up and perched on the edge of the couch, hoping it wasn't Vicki, Bonnie or Stefan. Relief washed over me as Mr Tanner's picture popped up on screen. It was tragic what happened to him, and I felt guilty for feeling relieved, but honestly, I was glad. Bonnie and Stefan still hadn't made any contact and Matt called me last night. As far as we knew Vicki was still MIA.
   "How did it happen?" My voice shook as I tied the laces of my shoes. "Mr Tanner wasn't really one to be hanging out in the forest."
   "He wasn't, was he?" He chuckled. "His body was found around the back of the high school," he informed me.
   "Was he covered in blood?" I whispered, thinking back to Elena's body in the woods.
   "No, actually, quite the opposite."
   "What do you mean?" I frowned.
   "The animal was quite creative. Mr Tanner's body was found drained of blood. Just a pile of organs and bones. Quite a gruesome death I would imagine."
   "Are they sure it was an animal?" I asked, sipping my coffee. 
   "Are you suggesting somebody in Mystic Falls did this?" He raised his eyebrows. "Because I can't think of a single person who would do something so violent and cruel."
   "I don't know," I shrugged.
   "You are," he smiled, tilting his head in fascination.
   "Well, I'm just saying, don't animals eat flesh or meat or whatever? I mean, what animal drains its prey of blood?"
   "Vampires," he joked, grinning.
   Shaking my head, I took another sip of my coffee. "Oh sorry, I meant what real animal drains its prey of blood. Is the Sheriff investigating other possibilities?" I queried.
   "I'm not at liberty to discuss that," he pursed his lips. "But just between us, stay alert," he leaned close, his voice serious. "I suspect foul play, and I don't want to see Jenna, or you for that matter, lose any more family."

~~~

Sitting in History, I glanced around anxiously. All of my classmates were chatting amongst one another, gossiping about Mr Tanner's death. A lot of them were guessing who our new teacher would be, but I was too worried to think about that. I still hadn't seen Bonnie and Stefan since the incident at the car wash yesterday and though nothing more had been reported, I knew I wouldn't be satisfied until I held them both in my arms. 
   "Good morning!" The seat beside me and the one behind it remained empty as a man carrying a laptop stacked with files stood before the class.
   He turned his back to us and wrote ALARIC SALTZMAN on the blackboard in large capital letters. As he finished, the door flew open and Bonnie ducked past our new teacher and slid into the empty seat behind Stefan's. Turning in my seat, I mouthed 'are you OK?' but she only shrugged. I desperately wanted to pull her into a hug and demand to know what happened and where she had gone yesterday, but I had no idea how stern or relaxed our new teacher was and I knew better than to make a bad impression on the first day.
   "My name is Alaric Saltzman and I'm your new History teacher. Now I know hearing about Mr Tanner's sudden death is probably on your minds right now so instead of jumping right back in I am going to tell you all a little bit about myself."
   Mr Saltzman continued to tell us about his life in Boston and how he had already been thinking about moving to Mystic Falls before he received the job offer and all of that stuff, but I couldn't focus. Bonnie was safe, and that settled my nerves, but only a little. Something was wrong and Stefan still hadn't shown up for class. As fun and as chilled out our new teacher seemed to be, I couldn't help but count down the seconds until I could talk to Bonnie and find out what was going on.