Redamancy | Elena Gilbert

Chapter 15

They went to Alaric's apartment.

His printer was probably furious when he ordered the pictures on large color paper. But nevertheless, it did the job. Rosalind suggested taping them onto the walls, because Alaric's idea of spreading them on his desk was just a disaster waiting to happen.

They arranged them according to how they'd been in the cave. Alaric prepared a stack of post-it notes, and crossed his arms as he stared up at the photographs. "These images tell a story," he muttered. "To learn the story, you have to decipher these images."

"Maybe translating the simplest symbols can be a start," suggested Rosalind. "Some of them look like combinations of other symbols."

"Shouldn't Mikael have this weapon to kill Klaus?" asked Elena.

Damon huffed. "Yes... which probably means the wall will lead us to Mikael, who we have already found... and lost."

"Your fault for trusting Katherine with anything," said Rosalind. "There has to be more to this, right?"

Alaric hummed. "These images at the very least might tell us what that weapon is. I just have to... look through about a billion books before I can say for certain what this all means. I already called in a sub for my class."

"I can't miss work," said Rosalind. "But I can try to end the practice early to come back and help you. You know, lighten the load."

"How about this?" piped up Elena. "If the story is about the Original Family living here, then we can go straight to the source. I'll talk to Rebekah."

Damon let out a dry laugh. "And what makes you think Rebekah will tell you anything? Have Rosalind interrogate her, they slept together."

"Doesn't mean Rebekah will be any more willing to tell me her backstory," said Rosalind. "Besides... work. Something you clearly haven't done in a while."

"Is there really no way to get out of that?"

"I just started the job and I'd like to keep it."

"Why do you feel the need to work anyway?"

"Guys," interrupted Elena. "I'll talk to Rebekah, it's okay. It'll be just fine. I'm not completely useless, you know."

"No one's saying that," noted Damon. "I just think you're not going to be as effective as the Original Whisperer here."

Rosalind cast him a cheeky smile. "I'm sure Elena can manage it. Just be genuine in your approach, she'll know if you're faking interest. She's got a lot of reasons to hate her brother, so she will likely reveal a lot... but if she knows the identity of the weapon, she probably won't say it outright. She's bitter he left her behind. Use that to your advantage."

The entire time that she was working, she couldn't help but worry about Elena. She let her athletes go half an hour early, which made some sense because one of her girls had thrown up. Technically she couldn't be accused of ditching her job.

She drove to Alaric's apartment, and found Elena had just driven up in her own car.

"Hi," said Rosalind. "I'm assuming it went well if you're still in one piece?"

"It did," said Elena. "I'll update you all in the apartment."

Bonnie was inside helping Alaric, having aided him in labeling several symbols. Elena sat on the couch, and told them everything Rebekah had mentioned in their meeting.

"The first thing I noticed was her fear," began Elena. "Even just mentioning Mikael's name... she was afraid. Her voice cracked when she mentioned him and she insisted we're doomed if we wake him. She tried to brush it all aside, and didn't want to talk, but then she ended up inviting me to the Boarding House. First, she made me pick a homecoming dress for her. But then she got to talking.