Chapter 3

Damon smiled. Not an arrogant smile, or a mocking smile but a genuine smile of gratitude and relief. It was the closest Elijah was going to get to a thank you.

"I'll phone Bonnie" he said, wasting no time.

"No need, your not the only one with a witch" Elijah pulled his phone from his pocket, excusing himself he moved into a room further down the hallway. Damon heard him talking but couldn't make out the full conversation with his human hearing.

Elijah returned minutes later and moved towards the open-plan kitchen, Damon moved towards him watching as he pulled a dagger from the inside of his suit pocket. He held it by its intricately carved handle, putting a glass below his wrist; he moved the sharp point along the inside of his arm. He made the cut deep to keep it open for longer, Damon could already see the edges closing up as the blood trickled down into the glass below.

Elijah repeated the process until the glass was nearly full to the brim; he pushed it closer to the edge where Damon was standing. "You know changing from an original's blood is a bit different than the first time you became a vampire"

Damon raised his eyebrows warily looking suspiciously at the red velvety drink before him, "When you say different?" he prompted.

"I mean you'll be stronger than a new born vampire, much stronger than you were before the wolf bite, faster too. I bet you'll be happy to know your previous sire will be not even half as powerful as you will be." Damon smiled at this, hundreds of different ways he could take advantage of this flooding his thoughts. Stronger than Katherine, huh he liked the sound of that. Somehow though he found himself thinking of how much better he could protect Elena from supernatural threats and obviously how he was going to throw Stefan out of every room he entered, because he was still pissed at Stefan for not allowing him to see Elena. "It has other perks too, but I would only ever turn someone I trust completely."

Elijah looked at him seriously, "Honestly I don't trust you as much as I would like to, but for Elena's sake I will help you out, but don't break my trust Damon, or you will regret it."

Damon resisted the urge of rolling his eyes, swallowed the lump in his throat and uttered quietly, "I'm… grateful for you doing this"

"I'm sorry; I didn't quite hear that, could you repeat it?" Elijah joked, laughing at the murderous glare he received from Damon. There was a knock on the door at that moment; Elijah looked pointedly at the glass, "Drink up, unless you're having second thoughts" he said making his way to open the door.

Damon raised the glass to his lips without hesitation; it didn't smell as appealing as it would have only days previously but he drunk it anyway. The bittersweet taste of what would save Elena's life warmed his body, already making him feel less like the weak human he had become.

Damon slammed the empty glass back down onto the counter as Elijah re-entered followed by a woman who looked so familiar Damon could have sworn she was related to Bonnie. Her eyes held the same calculating look, always measuring each situation carefully only the woman's held a lot more knowledge.

"Damon, this is-" Elijah began.

"No, no names" the witch demanded, moving past Elijah with authority that could only be gained through years of dealing with vampires. "If this doesn't work, I don't want my name to be tarnished"

"Do it right and you'll have nothing to worry about" Damon replied dryly, already not to keen on this witch, another similarity she shared with Bonnie, he noted.

She narrowed her eyes at him, hands moving to rest firmly on her hips. Elijah moved between them, stopping their stare down, "Let's begin, shall we?"

The witch, who Damon had decided to call Witchy the Second, let out a loud sigh, moving to the centre of the room she moved back the heavy wooden coffee table with little effort. She began laying out candles around the floor, as soon as she was done she clicked her fingers smiling in satisfaction as the lights turned off and the candles light immediately.

She pointed towards the middle of the circle of candles she had created; "On the ground" she ordered not looking at Damon. Elijah gave him a threatening look as he made his way towards the centre halting the remark that was seconds from leaving his lips.

Damon lay down on the ground, flat on his back. "This isn't going to work if you're not completing willing. Are you sure you want to do this?" she questioned.

Damon closed his eyes; a small smile graced his lips as the candlelight reflected off his pale skin, "I'm sure"

Without any further questions the witch began to recite the spell, leaning forward slightly while kneeling down on the ground she chanted the memorised spell, her head bowed.

Damon felt it happen gradually, realising this was what Elena must have felt while giving him her soul. Little by little he offered up his soul to her. Images of her were appearing in his mind; the first time he saw her, the first time she smiled at him, her laugh echoed through his mind, the beautiful melody overwhelming his senses. The feel of her soft hand caressed his, images of her in his many dreams appeared, her hair flowing freely as she ran through fields, laughing as she jumped into his arms. She was his free spirit, she was his world.

Her small body wrapped in his arms was the memory he held onto as he felt himself fading away, until finally there was nothing left to give.

…

As the early morning sun began to rise, so did Elena's chest as she inhaled deeply. She sat abruptly upright, pushing herself up onto her elbows, "Damon" she breathed out in a rush.

Stefan was at her side in seconds, his arms enfolding her, "Elena, your awake" Stefan sighed in relief, ignoring the fact it was his brother she had called for.

Bonnie roused from her sleep in the chair beside the bed, the Grimoire that was perched on her lap clamoured to the floor as Bonnie bounded to her feet. Tears of happiness gathering in her eyes, for a few horrible hours she had worried she had done something wrong and that her best friend's eyes would never open again.

"I have to go" Elena announced, attempting to get off the bed suddenly. Stefan grabbed her quickly however, his curious gaze boring down on her.

"Elena, you cant, first you have to feed" he said quietly reaching for the glass of blood he had poured from a blood bag to have prepared for her.

"Something's not right with Damon, I can feel it" She couldn't explain how she knew this but she did.

"We know, he's a human again, remember?" Bonnie asked, as her and Stefan exchanged worried glances.

Elena shook her head, "No he isn't" she protested.

"Elena, look at me" Stefan held her chin to get her to remain still, as she struggled to push him off her. She needed to see Damon. She had to know he was ok. "You're transitioning, if you don't drink you'll die" he emphasised hoping he could bring her out of her delusional state.

"Listen to me" she begged, staring into his eyes in the hopes he would see she was not crazy, "Just listen" she whispered.

"Elen-" Bonnie began but Stefan held up his hand to silence her. Stefan's face transformed into a look of awe as he looked intensely down at Elena. Each thump from her heart pounding through his mind, he held his hand over her chest to make sure he wasn't the one imagining things. A gasp flew from his mouth, before he took a few steps backwards, his forehead creasing wondering in earnest how this could have possibly happened.

Elena took his moment of shock as an opportunity, jumping out of the bed so quickly that she felt faint. She ignored the feeling however, not wasting a second as she ran from the room, quickly running downstairs for the exit, leaving Bonnie and Stefan behind, both so stunned it took them a while to realise they needed to try stop her.

By that time however, she was already pulling out of the driveway, wearing only the pair of pyjama shorts and tank top Bonnie had changed her into as she 'slept'. Her car screeched as she manoeuvred it out through the long driveway. The sun was blocked by dark clouds that were threatening to pour and just as she raced down the road, they did just that. The rain pelted onto her windshield furiously as her window wipers swept back and forth swiftly though not quickly enough as the rain started to lash down harder.

She didn't know exactly where she was going only that she was going in the right direction. He must have done something she reasoned with herself, she should have known he wouldn't just let her save him like that; he would have to be the one to save her. She was furious with him, if he had sacrificed himself in anyway to save her she would never forgive him. At the same time though she hoped so much that he was ok.

She could feel in her soul that something had changed with him; maybe they were connected now after sharing souls.

Her hands trembled suddenly, her whole body tingling and it felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Her heart filled with joy, he was alive he just had to be!

…

Damon gasped for air; jolting upright he looked around to see Elijah in an armchair drinking from a glass of whiskey. He could do with one of them; actually he wouldn't mind the whole bottle, Damon shook of these thoughts when he saw the witch moving around him picking up the candles. He didn't have to ask them, he just knew that it had worked somehow he knew Elena was alive.

The witch stacked the candles on the table moving back towards Damon to knell beside him. Elijah moved closer too, "The blood of a witch is powerful Damon. Don't make me regret this" he warned. The witch extended her arm to Damon, a bitter look on her face. Damon didn't understand why she was going through with this, maybe because she was scared of Elijah if not she must have owed him big time.

Damon looked at Elijah first who nodded. Damon listened to the witch's heartbeat, focusing on the way her heart pumped blood through her veins. His face transformed, the veins under his eyes became prominent, and his fangs sank through his gums.

"Don't worry" he smirked, "This won't hurt" he brought her arm to his lips, "Much" he said before sinking his teeth into her arm. He could taste the power in her blood however it wasn't exactly the most delicious blood he had ever tasted or the most desirable, and it definitely didn't smell as appealing as Elena's.

He pulled back; his face began to return to his usual features with ease. The witch threw him a disgusted look as he licked her blood off his lips and winked at her. She pulled her arm back and stood, moving close to Elijah and asking in a low tone, with a stern expression, "Are we even yet?"

Elijah thought about her question before his lips tightened into a thin line, "Not yet, no"

She nodded not going to protest any further, she grabbed her things and left, the front door closing with more force than it required.

Damon ignored their exchange, getting to his feet; he felt a surge of energy running through him. The clarity of is vision was heightened so much so that he could see every spec of dust that hovered around the room. His head tilted to the side, from the distance he could hear the engine of a car speeding through the roads, getting closer.

Somehow he knew it was her. She was looking for him. She was alive, it worked! He moved towards the door quickly, walking backwards when he got closer to the door, he smirked back at Elijah, "I guess I owe you, right?"

Elijah smiled slightly, hearing the car pull up outside, he was reminded of Katherine and the extent of his love for her at one stage of his existence. Would he have loved her enough to give up his soul, would she have done the same for him? "I'll let this pass as a favour this time"

Damon was gone the second Elijah finished his sentence, but Elijah didn't miss the smile that was spread widely across his face.

…

Elena pulled up outside of an unknown building, just knowing she was at the right place. The rain was unrelenting as she stepped out of her car, her bare feet freezing against the rough ground. Her clothes were soaked through instantly, but she didn't care.

The door of the building opened when she had closed her car door. Her heart leaped as she saw him, her heart had been slowly breaking since she heard of his fatal bite but seeing him now frozen in the doorway as his crystal eyes watched her intensely, she felt her heart slowly mend.

Before she could register what was happening, she was running towards him. She embraced the rain as tears began to run down her face. She ran into his open arms, he lifted her off her feet preventing her feet from touching the cold ground. She wrapped her legs around his waist, burying her chest into the warm leather of his jacket, breathing in his intoxicating scent.

His strong arms held her tightly; a low chuckle emerged from his lips, his warm breath tickling her skin.

"I thought I'd lost you" she whispered, her voice thick with emotion.

"Please, you can't get rid of me that easily" he tightened his hold on her, hoping this moment would never end.

She still had so many questions to ask him, but right now she was just glad he was here.

"How'd you know I was here?" he asked.

"I have no idea" she confessed.

"I do." She pulled back to look at him, his piercing eyes were warm a light smile on his face, "Don't you know what this means?" He smirked, staring down at her possessively, "We're soul mates"

Merry Christmasssss…! I hope you enjoyed my gift to you all, please give me the best present ever and let me know what you thought of this chapter! Oh yeah, …and a Happy new year!