Intro to Occult

I'm bound and incapacitated by my blood. Unable to do anything about it. Such is family and the people who you call your own, they tether you down. But what can I do except to wait and see how it will come to pass and what I'll have to deal with in the end.

My hand holds a glass filled with spirits wondering how did it all come to pass and a small chuckle left me. Remembering is all I'm good for. But still the reality of today would have seemed fiction to me back then. I wondered how she would have reacted when she saw me like this. I raised the glass to my lips and tasted the bitter liquor and it went down smoothly.

"You started early." I turned to see and it was Jeremy. I smiled and said, "Just catching up…" He sat down and asked, "Is everything alright?" 

I shrugged my shoulders, "Can't complain… what about you?"

He sighed and said, "Kinda the same." I nodded and took a sip. He looked at the guy behind the bar and asked, "Did Vicki came for her shift?" The guy shook his head and Jeremy looked down and dejected.

"Where is she?" He questioned himself. I looked at him and asked, "Everything alright with you?"

"I'm fine… Vicki and I had a fight and now she's not picking up my calls. I'm just worried." Jeremy explained.

I cleared my throat and said, "I'm sure she'll eventually come around… but when she does, just apologize to her, everything will sort itself out."

"But I didn't even do anything. I was just trying to."

"Doesn't matter Jerry… What you said or did isn't important. What's important is how you said it and the meaning behind it… I think it's not even that it's what they interpret it as… you know what I'm saying?"

"So I have to know what she's thinking about what I'm saying and how it will affect her?"

"It's confusing right?"

"Kinda."

"And besides, it's not like you'll be together for long so just try and enjoy the ride."

He looked confused and asked, "What do you mean?"

I raised my eyebrows and asked, "Am I the only one who's said this?"

He nodded and I sighed, "Oh boy."

"What do you think that I'm better than her or something?"

"No… no one can quantify that but what I can and many other can see is that she's not going to change… she's stuck in her own ways and you'll down deep with her just so that you'll be together and that's not good for you."

"Wow… I thought at least you'll be different but you're just the same…" He got up 

"If everyone's saying it then it might be worth thinking about Jerry…" He just shook his head and walked away.

I saw Caroline walking towards me and she asked, "What did Jeremy want?"

"Not my advice that's for sure… and sorry for standing you up Caroline I know it must have hurt."

Her face dulled by my comment and I felt bad and said, "I'm sorry… I thought it was funny."

She shook her head and said, "No, no… it's fine. I'm sorry… I'm just having a bad day."

I ushered her to sit and she did and I asked, "Everything alright?"

"Yeah… I'm fine…" She saw the glass lying on the counter and she looked at me and said, "How much did you drink?"

I squinted and said, "Not enough."

"You should stop, really… and why are you drinking?"

"This is the reason why I do my belligerent drinking at home."

"Why can't you do it at home?"

I sighed and said, "Stefan and I had a disagreement." She didn't say anything and just looked at me softly and I asked, "So, you said something about Damon. He gave you something."

She remembered it and she looked at me and said, "Yes… and if you want you can come and take it from me."

I nodded and shrugged my shoulders, "Yeah… let's go."

She stood up and asked, "Can you drive? Or maybe I should?"

I shook my head and said, "No one drives my car."

We reached her home and it was in the suburbs there was a nice porch out in the front there were some plants on the railings. "You got a nice house."

"Thanks." She smiled and entered the threshold and I paced myself so that it might not look odd, "So where is this thing?" I was looking at the plants with my back turned and she said, "It's in my room… come in. I'll give it to you."

I nodded and walked into her house and she asked, "So why did you and Stefan get in a fight?"

"It was something stupid." I started climbing the stairs with him.

"I didn't take you for someone who fought over something stupid." She smiled.

"I'm just trying to look out for him… he doesn't know how to deal with things like this."

"So why don't you just talk with him."

"I tried but… he just can't see it the other way… my little brother is very naive sometimes. He thinks with his heart to much."

She stopped and turned around to ask, "Is thinking with the heart a wrong thing?"

I shrugged and said, "Being rational would be the best thing… for everyone. Decision made in the heat of the moment and passion are often regretted."

We stopped in front of a room and she said, "Well, you said Stefan was naive don't you think you were being emotional?"

"That maybe true, however my decision is rational."

"So, thinking with your heart is not wrong but making decisions based on your emotions is?"

"Correct."

She opened the door of her room and she walked inside. I took a look around the room and it was fairly a typical room. She saw me looking and asked with a smile, "What?"

"Nothing I just expected everything to be… very girly."

She looked upset or something and her eyes rolled and she scoffed and said, "What did you expect? Unicorns and rainbows and sparkle farts?"

I laughed a little and said, "Not the sparkle farts but yes." She walked towards her dresser and she took a necklace off a coat rack and I saw it and it seemed familiar to me. She walked towards me with it and said, "This is it. Seems a bit creepy doesn't it?"

I sighed and remembered whose it was and I nodded, "Yeah." 

She gave it to me and I looked at it and said, "Where did Damon got it from?"

She sighed and sat down on her bed, "I don't know… that whole night is like in pieces. It's scary to not even know what happened to you…" I looked at her and she looked up at me and said, "You were right… I could have done better."

I put the necklace in my pocket and said, "You shouldn't feel guilty or ashamed about it. Damon is very persuasive, it's hard to deny him."

Her face was bitter sweet to take someone's free will is reducing them to lower than animals, "Do you have a locket or something?"

She looked confused but she got up and walked to her dresser and I followed her there and she got one small chain with an oval shaped pendant that had a picture of her and her mother. "That's all I have." 

I smiled, "It'll work fine." I took the necklace and I opened it and there was baby Caroline and I smiled, "You were a cute kid… pudgy arms and everything." 

She looked at me and rolled her eyes and asked, "What are you doing?"

I reached around in my jacket and got a small ziplock bag out and she looked at it and asked, "Is that weed?"

"No… that's in my right pocket." I opened it and placed the small amount of herb in the pendant and closed it and said, "This will work for now." 

I turned her around facing the mirror. I gathered her hair to the side and placed the necklace around her neck and said, "Wear it for now… I'll get you something more permanent later…" I also handed her the little ziplock bag and said, "Also take small amounts of this with your drinks."

She looked at me weirdly and I said, "I drink it as well… it calms your nerves. Kinda like camomile. It's called vervain."

She turned around and she said, "Then why did you gave me this?"

I looked at her and said, "Yeah I'm a bit paranoid and a whole lot superstitious… but trust me it works. It will help you."

She looked at me and then took the necklace in her hand and said, "Thanks…"

"Why did you call me to give the necklace? You didn't have to."

She looked at me and said, "I don't know… I just felt like talking to you. Like you'll be able to help me."

I smiled and said, "Well, thank you for putting your trust in me."

She smiled and said, "Yeah."

Suddenly my phone rang and I looked at it and Caroline asked me, "Who is it?"

"Stefan." I was confused shouldn't he be handling Damon? Did he finally agree to my way? I picked it up and he sounded worried and tensed, "Come to Elena's house now… I need your help."