Wow, thank you for the review/favorites/follows. I honestly wasn't expecting anything especially after just a day. It's nice to know that my story is being read and enjoyed! Since I failed to clarify the setting of this story last time, I will do that now. This is post 5x22. Damon was sucked into oblivion with Bonnie and they both came back eventually. Elena did not compell away her memories of Damon, instead they lived happily ever after for 5 years until Damon gets bit by a werewolf again. And that is where my story began.
Now, here is Chapter 2 of Perfect Strangers. Thank you for reading!
After giving Damon one more kiss goodbye, Elena left the note on his bedside table and made her way to the Forbes' residence. Elena had sent out a group text to her best friends, Bonnie and Caroline, to meet her at Care's house. She needed Bonnie to help her figure out a loophole, or anything, to keep Damon alive; Caroline was there for emotional support.
Five minutes later, she had arrived at her best friend's childhood home. She didn't bother knocking as Caroline most likely noticed her presence with her vampire senses. She walked in to see Bonnie already at work with her spells while Caroline was on the phone, frantically walking back and forth and looking distressed.
"Klaus, this is my 127th voicemail. If I hit 150 and you still haven't answered, then you better expect an angry Caroline Forbes in your near future and trust me, you do NOT want that!" Caroline cried out. Her voice began to break as she whispered her next words, "Please, we need you."
Elena truly appreciated her friend's efforts. Despite the fact that their chance of finding Klaus was dwindling every minute that passed, she still continued to fight for Elena and Damon. Elena walked up to her friend and gently rested her hand on Caroline's shoulder. "Hey, Care."
Caroline looked up from her phone to see Elena looking back at her with puffy, red eyes. "Oh, Elena!" she said as she hugged her best friend.
"I'm so sorry," Caroline began. "Klaus just vanished. He left without a trace - no one knows where he is and for some reason Bonnie wasn't able to track him with her locator spell!"
Elena hugged her friend back as she replied, "It's okay. If Klaus can't be our solution, we will find another way. We're going to save Damon. I have a good feeling about this."
Releasing herself from the hug, Caroline looked at her friend with sorrow. "I hope so," she sniffled and gave a small smile. "How am I going to make more Delena couple objects if Damon is gone."
Elena couldn't help but smile back at Caroline's attempt to lighten the mood. As Caroline walked away to make another call to Klaus, Elena went over to Bonnie, who was sitting on the floor of the living room with brightly lit candles surrounding her. She was deeply concentrated on chanting a certain spell over and over again.
"Phesmatos Manex, Un Domo Hax, Fero Adiuvex." Bonnie repeated.
"It's the same spell she used to contact Emily last time Damon was bit," Caroline chipped in from the other room. "She thinks Emily knows a spell that can save Damon."
Elena looked over at Bonnie's face, which was scrunched up in concentration. Although Elena was getting impatient, she knew it would do no good if she interrupted Bonnie now. She sat down close to Bonnie, careful not to touch the flames. Closing her eyes, Elena let her thoughts drift to Damon. Her sexy, impulsive, and passionate Damon with a heart of gold who made her feel like the most special girl in the world. Tears began to sting at her eyes and without realizing it, a tear had fallen down and landed on a page of Bonnie's grimoire.
Emily. I don't know if you can hear me, but I need to save Damon. Elena thought in her head, silently hoping that somehow Emily could hear her desperation. I can't endure losing him again. Please.
Suddenly, the flames around Bonnie grew larger and brighter. The chanting came to a stop as Bonnie's eyes flew open and landed on Elena.
"Elena Gilbert," Bonnie's voice called out. "What you request cannot be easily accomplished."
That was definitely Bonnie's voice but something seemed a little off. Wait, had Emily heard Elena's desperate pleas and was now speaking to her through Bonnie? "Emily..?" Elena asked hesitantly.
"There is a way to save your Damon Salvatore," Bonnie's voice began to explain. "However, what you wish for is a form of dark magic and with dark magic comes great risks."
"The risks don't matter. I will do anything to keep him alive." Elena replied quickly.
"You could very well lose everything dear to you and there will be no going back once this decision is made." Bonnie's voice said. "Are you sure you want this?"
Elena nodded with certainty. "Yes, I'm sure. I need Damon in my life."
"Very well then. Just remember, I warned you."
With that, Bonnie's head snapped up to the ceiling and the fire blazed even brighter than before. Her body began convulsing as her heart rate sky rocketed.
"Bonnie!?" Elena exclaimed before quickly reaching for her best friend. Just as soon as it had begun, it was over. Bonnie's body fell limp into Elena's arm and a trail of blood was trickling down her nose. Caroline rushed into the room when she heard the screaming and immediately noticed the blood on Bonnie's face.
"What happened?" Caroline asked as she knelt down next to Bonnie's body.
"I-I don't know. I think she was possessed by Emily and then she began convulsing and passed out." Elena explained.
All of a sudden, Bonnie's eyes flew open and she looked around as she tried to comprehend what had just happened. She looked up at Elena's worried face and all of these images came rushing back to her head. Images of Damon and Elena appeared. They were laying side by side motionless, then it changed to a different image of Damon and Elena in what seemed to be like the future but they weren't vampires. They were human.
Bonnie sat up and looked into the worried eyes of her two best friends. "I know how to save Damon."
Elena pulled up to the driveway of the Salvatore boarding house. She had just returned from Caroline's house where Bonnie, Caroline, Stefan, Alaric, Matt, and Jeremy (via Skype) had formulated a plan to save Damon with the spell. The girls had called everyone else after Bonnie received her vision from Emily. They discussed the spell itself and the consequences that would result from doing this. There were many objections, especially from Jeremy, but eventually they had all agreed to go with the plan. Elena knew she was hurting those she loved, but she also knew that she would never forgive herself if she didn't at least try. And she wasn't sure she could live with that guilt on top of losing Damon.
Elena used her vampire speed to get to Damon's room, where he was still asleep. His hair was damp from all the sweat and his shirt was off, revealing the effects of the wolf bite that was now spreading down to his arms. Careful not to wake him, Elena slowly laid herself down next to him and wrapped her arms around his body delicately. Seeing him this vulnerable brought tears to her eyes.
"This wasn't supposed to happen," Elena said as she held him tighter. "But it's okay, we've found a way to save you. You're going to be okay, Damon."
She needed to tell Damon about her plan, but not wanting to wake him she did the next best thing. She leaned her head against his, closed her eyes and let herself into his thoughts.
In Damon's head
"Damon," he heard a familiar voice say.
He turned around. "Elena?"
There she was, stunning as usual in the same clothes that she wore on the first day they had met. They were standing on a wide open road, illuminated by the night's shining moon, surrounded by tall trees on both sides.
"What are you doing here?" he asked as he reached for her hands to bring her closer to him.
"I thought it would be sweet to reminisce about the time that we first met on our five year anniversary." she replied with a smile.
He leaned down to give her a small kiss, still holding on to her hands. "How symbolic of you," he said while leaning his forehead against hers. "But we both know the real reason why you're here. It's because I'm dying."
Elena flinched at his bluntness. Just hearing the word "dying" brought shivers down her spine. She squeezed his hands and looked him directly into his mesmerizing eyes. It was time to tell him the truth. With a deep breathe, she began to tell him. "Damon listen to me. You're not going to die. We found a way to save you."
Damon groaned at her words. "Please tell me Stefan isn't selling his soul yet again to the devil, also known as Klaus."
"No. We weren't able to reach Klaus. But Bonnie - she found a way. There's a spell that can save you Damon!" Elena told him excitedly.
Damon felt skeptical. He'd done his research about werewolf bites when Rose had got bitten, but he had never found anything useful. It was a miracle that Klaus's blood could heal the bites, and when he heard that there was a witchy witch spell that could save him? He just couldn't believe it. That was 2 miracles. No one was that lucky enough to get magically saved twice. And considering all the bad things Damon has done in his past he didn't deserve to be saved. Hell, he didn't even deserve to be saved the first time.
"Elena, I don't want you to get your hopes up, but a spell like that probably has bad consequences." Damon said.
She immediately looked down, scared to reveal these next few words. "We'll have to die." Elena reluctantly said.
Damon was shocked and a little bit angry. Not angry at the fact that the spell required him to die, but the fact that Elena had to die as well and she was okay with that. Slipping his hands out of Elena's grip, he replied with indignation, "Last time I checked saving someone does not involve death. In fact, that is the complete opposite of what saving means. And I sure as hell will not allow you to die for me Elena."
Elena was quick to respond. "No Damon, let me finish. We will have to die, but the spell will bind our souls to the earth. After a certain amount of time, our souls will be reborn again. We'll get a second chance."
A second chance. Who would've thought that the selfish, evil Damon Salvatore would get the chance to start over. He must have dwelled in his thoughts for too long because Elena once again spoke up.
"Tell me you wouldn't do the same thing for me if the roles were reversed."
She had me there. If Elena's life was at risk, he would do absolutely anything to keep her alive. Even if that meant endangering his own life. "Elena," he began as he caressed her face in his hands. "You know I would do everything in my power to keep you safe. But this spell? You could potentially lose everyone that you ever loved. Jeremy, Alaric, Bonnie, Car-"
Elena interrupted him as she grabbed onto his hands that were holding her face. "I know what I'm signing up for Damon and I'm all in. I would rather start over and risk losing everything I've ever had in this life than lose you for eternity. Damon you need to understand. If the universe loses you, then it loses me too. I can't live without you." she said as tears rolled down her cheeks. "As long as there's even a small glimmer of chance that you and I can be together, I'm going to take it. Why isn't that good enough for you?"
Damon sighed and wiped the tears staining her cheeks. If he was being honest, he would make the same choice that Elena is making if their roles were switched. He agreed that the small glimmer of chance of them being together was better than losing each other forever. Tucking a strand of her chocolate hair behind her ear, he gently kissed her forehead. "It's good enough for me. I love you, Elena. And if losing everything I have in this life - including vampirism - is what it takes, then I'll do it."
Elena smiled and leaned up to kiss him. When their lips touched, it started a fire inside of them that neither could control. Even after years, Damon and Elena could not get enough of each other. Their lips moved together in perfect synchronization that spent sparks of desire coursing through every part of their bodies. As his hand dove into her soft, brown hair, she moaned into his lips and moved her own hands around his neck, bringing him closer into her.
When their lips broke apart, they were both gasping for breath. The kiss had rendered them breathless, like it always did. "That's how we'll know." Elena whispered into his lips.
"What?" Damon asked, still tingling from their kiss.
"When we start over, that's how we'll know we belong to each other."
Damon smiled and gave her another kiss. "Elena you once told me how you always seem to find your way back to me. This time, I will find my way back to you."
Hearing this from Damon gave Elena hope that this spell would not be done in vain. They will find each other in their next lives and fall deeply in love all over again.
"We will find a way back to each other."
End of Chapter 2. I hope you guys enjoyed it. The spell will be explained more in detail in the next chapter. Stay tuned~
