Alan and Caroline moved with a hurried pace, parting the crowd as they arrived at the forefront. Caroline's expression morphed into pure shock, horror, and fright as she spotted a bloodied Vicki lying on the ground. Her neck was almost ripped apart and blood was continuously oozing out of it. She had already lost consciousness. And from the first glance the wound was appearing quite deep and threatening. Jeremy and Matt were crouching next to her trying to close her wound.
Elena and Bonnie were standing close to them, both of them having the same expression of anxiety, nervousness, and horror.
And Tyler, the man whom Vicki wanted, was standing in the background. Though appearing a bit shocked, he did not seem as shaken as Jeremy or even Elena or Bonnie.
"Elena!" Caroline rushed toward the duo, her voice crackling with tears. "What happened? What happened to Vicki?"
"I... I do not know," Elena replied with a stammer in her voice. She was disoriented and terrified because of the shock because of the turn of events.
"Me and Jeremy were going in that direction," she said, pointing toward the woods. "And… and then, we found her lying down there. I do not know what has happened."
"Did you call for an ambulance?" Alan interjected with a fake worried expression.
"Yes," she replied. "They should be here shortly."
No one said anything further as they continued to stand in silence. Shortly after, the ambulance arrived and the medics took charge of the situation.
They were relieved that though badly injured, Vicki was not in life threatening danger. The medics provided her with some immediate first aid treatment before carrying her away to the hospital. Only after their reassurance that Vicki would be fine in a few days, did the people feel relief.
With the incident, the party came to an abrupt end. A shocking end. And the participants of the party started to depart one after another.
"Where is Stefan?" Alan questioned Elena as they too were preparing to leave the woods.
"I do not know," Elena replied with an uncertain tone, her voice saddening a bit.
She was surely not happy at being left alone in that situation. Alan simply nodded but did not say anything further. It was fun to poke about a few things but he did not do anything more than necessary.
"Would you like me to drop you to your house?" he offered.
"It is fine," Elena shook her head. "I have arrived with Bonnie. She will drop me."
He then looked toward Bonnie, who nodded in response. "I will drop her."
"Be careful on the way," Alan added, and both of them nodded back.
"Let us go, Caroline," he said, turning toward her.
She nodded before wishing bye to her friends and followed Alan back to his car. They did not dwell any further.
Caroline was still in a state of shock, and even their drive was mostly in silence. Perhaps the passionate deed they had just done was also on her mind, and she was not sure how to react to it. It was all a mixture of chaos and confusion in her mind.
"Afraid?" Alan asked, midway.
"No… not really," Caroline mumbled. "It is just that I had never seen anything like that."
"We have always heard about wild animals in the forest but had never thought that one of them would attack a human so close to the town."
Alan nodded and did not say much more. In a short few minutes, they had arrived outside the Forbes house. Both of them stepped out of the car as Caroline looked at him with a little longing expression.
"See you tomorrow, Alan," she mumbled, waving her hand.
Alan smiled before he moved. His hand wrapped around her waist and pulled her into his embrace wrapping his arms tightly around her.
"Yes," he said, leaning close to her face. "See you tomorrow."
He pecked her lips, just a little, brushing his lips against hers before letting her go. A smile blossomed on her face. She did not say anything in response as her mind had almost short circuited. She just practically skipped to her house.
Alan only sat back in his car after Caroline had disappeared into her house. He pressed the pedal on the accelerator and his car raced forward. But his destination was not his house. It was someplace else.
He knew that Stefan would have just reached the Salvatore house, where he would encounter Damon and the two of them would break into a small quarrel.
He was not interested in their fight. He was only interested in the fact that both of them were going to be busy, which reduced the chance of encountering them coincidentally while doing whatever he was about to do.
Not that he was afraid of them. It was easy for him to snap their neck or rip their heart out but he did not want to engage with them so soon. Before revealing himself to everyone, he wanted to prepare a few of his cards beforehand.
The car cut across the silent streets of Mystic Falls. Though it was late in the night, it was still emptier than usual. Probably the news of an animal attack had sent most of the people of the city packing into their houses.
Alan parked his car on one of the main streets before he jumped out. He opened the trunk of his car, pulled out a shovel, and moved swiftly. His speed, thanks to his Wolverine power, was perhaps a bit faster than a vampire's, and in a very short time, he arrived at his destination. The crypts of Mystic Falls. Yes, the same place where Giuseppe Salvatore had been buried. And the very same grave in which Emily Bennett's grimoire was hidden.
Quick on his feet, Alan moved very easily through the crypts, searching for the particular grave he was looking for. A few moments later, Alan was standing before the grave of Giuseppe Salvatore. He did not waste any time as he started to dig into the grave. The grimoire of Emily Bennett was waiting for him.
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