chapter three

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CHAPTER THREE

"Ugh, I am so embarrassed, Emilia!" Jenna groaned from where she was lying on the coach, "I'm officially the clumsiest person I know."

"Mistakes happen, Aunt Jen." I said as I handed her a glass of water, "I was humiliated after my accident too."

"I just can't believe that I walked into a knife!" She huffed, looking down at her injured stomach.

"I tripped on air." I said, trying to make her feel better. I was currently looking after her whilst my siblings were out, forcing me to converse with her. Don't get me wrong, I love Jenna, but I'm too messed up in the head to have the deep conversations she usually tries to have with me.

"Well when you put it that way, your injury is more embarrassing!" Jenna said with a small chuckle before taking a sip of her drink as gasping, "Is this tequila?"

"Oops, sorry, that one's mine!" I said with a grimace, handing her the correct glass. I tried to take the tequila from her but she kept a firm grip and took another sip.

"You're underage! Why are you trying to drink tequila at 10am?" Jenna chastised me.

"Aunt Jen, I've been drinking longer than you've been parenting." I said, retreating to the kitchen to grab the bottle.

"You're under my roof, young lady!" Jenna shouted playfully.

"You're just as bad as I am!" I said, re-entering the room and pointing to the glass I'd mistakenly given her, which she was happily sipping, "Should you even be drinking on whatever medication you're on?"

"A little alcohol never hurt anyone!" Jenna murmured.

I snorted, "Tell that to Angelina Bell, she fell off the stage and landed on the teacher."

"I think I can hold my liquor better than your ballet friends." Jenna chuckled, "You keeping in contact with them?"

"I wasn't overly close with anyone but a couple of them have checked in to see if I'm okay." I shrugged.

"What about that boyfriend of yours?"

"Ex-boyfriend." I corrected her, "And yes, he's called a few times but I haven't picked up."

"I don't understand what happened? You sounded so smitten when you called me at Christmas!" Jenna said with a frown.

"Yeah, well, things ultimately didn't work out." I said, hoping to put an end to her line of questioning but knowing it was futile.

"You could try and work things out! Why don't you call Ni-"

"I'm not calling him, Jenna!" I cut her off, "Can you please drop it?"

"I'm sorry, Emilia." My aunt said with a sad smile, "I just want you to be happy."

"I am happy." I said weakly.

Jenna snorted before taking another tip of tequila, "That wasn't very convincing."

I let out an exasperated sigh, "I'm fine, now, can we talk about literally anything else?"

"Fine!" Jenna huffed, "Are you going to the Masquerade at the Lockwoods tonight?"

"God, no!" I said with a chuckle, "The last place I want to be is at a dance where I can't dance."

Jenna cringed, "That was insensitive of me, I didn't think."

"It's alright, it's not my scene anyway."

"I was really looking forward to it!" Jenna groaned dramatically, "I picked out a dress, bought a mask and everything."

"I'm sorry you have to miss it." I frowned.

"It's not the end of the world, I'm sure there'll be many more dances in my future!" She said with a small smile.

"I'm sure there will be!" I nodded encouragingly.

"I think you should go!" Jenna told me, "I know that you can't dance but I think it would be good for you to get out of the house. You've spent nearly every waking second watching TV so I think you desperately need to socialise and get drunk! Maybe you'll meet someone to rebound with?"

"Are you trying to encourage me to have sex?" I asked with an amused look.

"No!" Jenna said, her eyes wide with horror, "But if you do, make sure to use protection! Are you on birth control?"

I groaned, "Aunt Jen, I am not having that conversation with you!"

"I just want to be safe! I don't want you to end up pregnant, that would definitely ruin your chances at ballet once your foot heals."

"I think I'm going to take this away from you!" I sighed, stealing the glass away from her and taking it back to the kitchen.

"I still think that you should go to the masquerade! There will be free food!" Shouted after me.

"I don't even have anything to wear!" I argued.

"You can wear the outfit I was going to wear. The dress might be a little big on you but it has a tie so it should look fine!"

"I have a feeling that I'm going to regret this."

***

I did, in fact, regret it.

I was bored out of my mind and not even the free food was cheering me up. I spent my time there standing off to the side, wondering when I could either politely leave or escape. The only people I'd talked to were my brother and Bonnie. One thing was going in my favour however because with my blonde hair and mask, nobody had mistaken me as Elena. There was no mistaking that I looked absolutely stunning in Jenna's dark green dress but that didn't stop how miserable I was feeling.

My foot was slightly throbbing from the brief amount of walking I had done since I had arrived. Wincing, I slowly limped outside, making my way past the people until they were somewhat in the distance. Taking a seat on a low wall, I sighed and buried my head in my hands. I used to be the life and soul of the party and now I have reverted to the person I was before I left Mystic Falls. I couldn't even leave this damn party because Jeremy drove me here because I still can't drive.

I could wait to get the hell out of Mystic Falls. This town was my worst nightmare. I entertained myself of all the places I could go once my foot healed. If I were hired by a global dance company, I could travel all around the world, although I would love anywhere other than where I currently am.

At the sound of a familiar voice, I looked up to see my twin sister wearing her casual clothes, an odd choice for a Masquerade.

"Elena, I thought you weren't coming?" I asked before my eyes widened at her top, "Is that blood?" I hopped off the wall and hobbled over to my sister to examine her stomach. "What on earth happened?"

"I'm fine, Emilia." Elena said, shrugging me off.

"You're clearly not fine." I said decidedly, "I still can't drive because of my foot but I can go find Jeremy and he can drive you to the hospital."

"I was just on the phone with him, he's dropping Bonnie off at home. Don't worry though, Emilia, I'm all healed up." Elena said.

"They gave you vampire blood?" I asked, raising my eyebrows and my twin nodded, "What on earth have you guys been up to recently?"

Before she could reply, a hand covered her mouth. I darted forward to help her but I was firmly pulled back by someone else, who quickly held a hand to my mouth. I struggled in his hold as they dragged me and my sister to a car but it was no use.

I was no match for these two attackers.





A/N: We all know what's coming next!

Originally published: April 15th 2024

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