THIS IS DARK.
Author's notes: No idea how long this will be. I'm just figuring it out as I go along. I'll give you a warning as to when we're getting to the end.
Warnings: Mature, character death, violence, language, alcohol use, adult content
This is the prologue. For those familiar with my writing, my prologues are always short. Later chapters will be longer.
Damon and Elena.
Elena and Damon.
They'd been together.
And then apart.
And then together.
But even when they were apart…he was still with her. Filling her thoughts and every waking breath.
Because she knew how wrong they were for each other. Toxic. Snake's venom. What they did. What they were doing. What she wanted to do with him.
Was totally…and utterly…and completely wrong.
But they were just even more right.
Light and dark. Hot and cold.
Passion. For life…and for each other.
Even when they fought.
Which was often.
She always knew it would work out. They would work out. They would be together again. Her hand would lie against his bare chest, feeling the sheer joy in knowing he was alive and with her.
Because they weren't just together. They were part of each other. Neither fully complete without the other.
And she'd never worried that he'd leave her. Not really leave her. Not totally gone.
Because he'd promised.
On that cold night. The night when everything had gone so horribly wrong. The night Stefan showed just how gone he was. And she thought she was entirely alone.
He'd still come.
He whispered her name, not knowing she could hear him. Then he'd reached down and wrapped his arms around her. Carried her out of the hospital to safety. Because he was her safety.
And then, he knelt down, looked into her eyes, and promised.
Promised to never leave her again.
Promised.
Until he was gone.
And so was she.
Caroline Forbes ran a hand over the slightly dampened curls in her hair, not sure exactly who she'd meet when she went inside. Not that she really wanted to go inside. The half-falling-down house in front of her didn't exactly inspire a welcoming feeling.
In fact, she wondered if they could have found a more broken-down-looking place to live. Shutters falling off. One window boarded over. The house used to be blue. Or at least the trim was. The walls looked to have once been painted the color of spoiled milk.
Appropriate.
If it rained, the hole in the roof would almost certainly ensure that the people inside the house knew it. Of course, that mean it had to rain. Which it hadn't.
Not in over two months.
Not since that night.
Caroline didn't want to think about what that might mean. Even as the grass around them withered and died around them. Impossibly dry.
Unnaturally dry.
A hot wind howled past, and one of the shingles that always seemed to be just on the verge of escape found its freedom and skidded down the roof, launching itself into the air where a gutter probably used to be.
Not for the first time, part of her wondered if there was a reason Elena and Alaric had chosen this godforsaken place.
No one would find them here. That much was certain.
Few people would dare wading through the waist-high grass. But she had a delivery to make.
Caroline closed her eyes, tried not to think about what might be making the noises in the grass, and ran just a little too quickly to the front door. It was open before she got there.
One benefit of being a vampire. No one really needed to knock. And here, the door was always open. Literally. At least a little bit, since the latch didn't work.
Caroline surveyed the room. Marginally better than outside. The couch was decent. And somehow Jeremy had managed to make sure that the two people he cared most about…who couldn't live with him…had electricity.
That was probably so he'd have something to do when he came over. He had a new Xbox sitting next to the television in the corner of the room. She doubted he came over often, though.
Most people didn't visit a funeral parlor by choice.
"Didn't expect to see you today." Alaric stood next to the cold fireplace. His shirt was wrinkled, and he reeked of bourbon. But his eyes were clear. Definitely an improvement over the last time she visited.
Caroline forced a cheerfulness she didn't feel. "Got a fresh delivery." She patted the cooler at her side. "Mom had to confiscate it. Improper labeling, you know."
Alaric reached out and took the bag with a barely restrained enthusiasm. He hadn't mastered the art of snatch, eat, erase yet. But the one who likely would have been his best teacher was gone.
Caroline hesitated in the foyer, hoping she wouldn't have to ask. That the real reason she'd come would simply walk through the door and save her the discomfort of asking…
"Is Elena here?" Caroline looked at the door in the far corner of the room. Only blackness leaked from inside the room.
"Define here." Alaric answered simply. And confusingly. He looked away from her and stared at the door.
"Is she here?" Caroline pointed to the floor. She really didn't need to ask the question. As far as she knew, Elena hadn't left the house since they'd found it. Which is the real reason Caroline provided the delivery.
"Mentally or physically?" Jeremy came from down the single hall in the house. She didn't know he'd been coming over today or she would have sent the blood bags with him.
"You know what I meant." Caroline was tired of word games.
She was tired of this. Living but not living. Walking on eggshells. Trying to pretend that everything was the same. That everything would be alright. Trying to still be Mystic Falls' biggest cheerleader.
Because her home was gone. Or at least she couldn't get there. Not if she wanted to stay un-dead.
But her friends were even farther away. She'd leave…but she was the only reason Stefan was even marginally holding himself together. Her two best friends had blinked into non-existence in the wink of an eye.
Bonnie physically.
But Elena even more painfully. Because she was still here. But everything inside her was gone.
"Is she any better?" Caroline eyed the door like it contained a plague.
"Why don't you check? Maybe you can do something."
Something.
Right.
She'd been here every day for the past few months. She sat with an unmoving Elena. Not talking. Barely breathing. Not even showing signs that she'd take the blood bag Caroline delivered.
But each morning, Ric found it empty. So at least she was alive. At least barely.
"Alright." Caroline took a breath. "Hey, Elena. We need to start thinking about your birthday. What kind of party do you want this year. It's next week. I was thinking cookout…" She pushed the door open and froze mid-step.
"What is it?" Jeremy called out from the doorway, taking advantage of Caroline being here to vamp-sit.
Caroline's eyes roamed the room. The bed was made. The clothes were put away. The trash was emptied. The torn lace curtains waved with a ghostly unquiet from the open window.
"Elena's gone."