The day of the memorial came around and I was quietly getting ready in Damon's room. He entered looking suave in a black suit and shirt and walked over to me.
"Need some help?" He smirked as I fumbled with the clasp on my necklace.
"Please." He took the necklace from my hands and fastened it quickly. His arms circled me and held me close, placing a kiss to the top of my head he murmured,
"You look beautiful." I flattened down my black Chanel shift dress and smiled at him and turned in his arms.
"You don't look bad yourself Mr Salvatore." He smirked and placed a chaste kiss to my mouth. My phone started ringing and Damon sighed.
"Way to ruin the moment," He picked up my phone and looked at the name on the screen, "Elena." I snatched the phone from his hands and answered.
"I'm here." I reassured her over the phone. "I'm here. Where are you?"
"I'm in the basement. In the bathroom." She cried.
"She's in the basement." I told Damon who nodded. We started to make our way to the basement bathroom, me leading the way and Damon carrying a suitor over his shoulder.
"Is that you at the door?" She asked seeming startled.
"Not yet." I told her as we crossed the grass outside the church's entrance.
"Sorry, there's someone in here." I heard her shout through the door. "Charlotte hurry." She whispered desperately into the phone. Damon heard and we sped up.
We all but ran down the steps to the bathroom until we saw the man from the Grill; Connor Jordan, sitting on the couch practically outside the door. We slowed down.
"You again." Damon said as I knocked the door. "Stalking small town funerals?" He joked.
"Charlotte." Elena breathed as she opened the door, Damon passed me the suitor and I followed Elena into the small room while he stood guard outside.
"She spilt coffee." I heard a muffled Damon explain through the door. "You know women, always want to look presentable."
"What happened?" I asked as I unzipped the clothing bag and glanced around the now crimson bathroom. Her eyes filled with tears. "Don't worry, tell me later." She nodded, and got changed. Damon knocked the door.
"Everything ok in there?"
"Yeah. Just a minute." I shouted back as I placed Elena's soiled dress into the bag and re-zipped it.
She adjusted her hair and helped me clean up the room. Stuffing the blood soaked paper-towels into the bottom of the bag, we stood up, admiring the now clean room and smiled at each-other. Checking our outfits and hair, we left the room.
"I'm so sorry that took so long." Elena apologized to Connor. I handed Damon the suitor and he wrapped an arm around me; his possessiveness kicking in again.
"No problem." He assured us.
"Well, have a nice stay. We love visitors and the scenery is to die for." I gasped. "Sorry, funeral pun." Damon and I smiled at him before ushering Elena back up the stairs and outside.
"Did you bring a blood bag?" Elena asked as we stood by a tree.
"You wanna say that a little louder." I chided her.
"Here." Damon handed her the blood bag. She ripped it open and began to drink it. Damon and I stood hiding her from any passers-by. He looked at me and raised his eye-brows at the rate he was drinking, I shrugged in response. Elena began convulsing and blood ran out of the sides of her mouth as Damon pulled the blood bag away from her.
"Elena?" I asked worriedly.
"I can't." She whimpered. Damon and I exchanged a 'what-the-hell' look. "It tastes like…" I wiped the blood from under her lip with soft eyes. "What's wrong with me?" She was on the verge of crying.
"Nothing." I cooed as I gave her a hug.
"Maybe it's your doppelganger blood. You're rejecting the transition." Damon wondered aloud. I shot him a glare and he shut up.
"I'm dying aren't I?" Elena asked me.
"No." I rolled my eyes at her. "You're not dying; you just need to drink from the vein."
"No." She shook her head at me. "No. I can't risk killing anyone Charlotte. Maybe I'm better off dead." I had to fight the urge to slap her.
"Don't you think like that. Elena, you're going to be fine." I calmed her. She looked up at like a lost child.
The bells of the church started chiming.
"I have to get back inside." Elena told me. I nodded and watched her enter the church.
"You ok?" Damon asked me, moving a stray piece of hair behind my ear.
"Yeah…" I bent down and picked the blood bag up from the grass. Handing it to Damon I noticed Stefan watching us. "Stefan's here." Damon sighed and turned his head to see his younger brother scowling at us.
"Aw great." He said dryly, casually dropping the blood bag into my handbag as Stefan approached us.
"What's in the bag Charlotte?" Stefan asked us tiredly.
"Mid service snack. Church always makes me hungry." I told the younger Salvatore who didn't believe a word I said. He stood the staring at me. "I brought it for Elena." I mumbled.
"Really that intent on having your way?" Stefan said to me. I looked down at my feet, Damon glared at his brother.
"It's not her way, it's the only way!" Damon growled at him.
"If she hurts someone, she'll be desperate to turn the guilt off. Maybe even desperate enough to turn off her humanity." Stefan growled back.
"What, and become a ripper?" Damon taunted. They stared at each other for a couple of seconds.
"I can't let her be anything like me." Stefan told his brother.
"Well god forbids she's anything like me." Damon said, still staring at Stefan. "Cause that's really what you're thinking."
"She's gonna go off the rails eventually anyway Stefan, so the faster we can make it happen, the sooner we can get her back on track." I told the boy I call my brother.
"She is strong! If we help her she can survive!" Stefan shouted at me.
"She's starving Stefan." I whisper shouted, only slightly in control of my anger. "She hasn't been able to keep blood down for days." I spat and I watched his face becoming alarmed.
"What are you talking about? She told me she was fine." I rolled my eyes at the younger Salvatore.
"She lied." I told him.
"Your four legged protein shake was a bust. The juice box is a no go." Damon told him motioning to my handbag.
"She can't even keep my blood down!"
I regretted those words immediately. Stefan's face changed into one of anger and Damon wrapped a protective arm around my waist for support and as a warning for Stefan.
"She drank from you?" He asked, quieter and calmer than I expected. I nodded and Damon pulled me away.
Damon and I entered the church after putting the suitor into the car, just in time to see Elena walking to the podium. I continued walking to a seat while Damon made the sign of the cross with the holy water by the door.
"I don't why that always makes me smile." He mumbled to me with a grin as we sat down next to Stefan.
"She doesn't look so good." I said to Damon, as we watched Elena embrace the Mayor before going to stand at the podium.
"Maybe you should have told me she was rejecting all food sources." Stefan said to me. I raised my eyebrow at him and Damon glared.
"Do I have to kick your ass in front of church full of people?" Damon threatened his brother who ignored him.
"Shut up, the pair of you." I warned them. They looked away from me like scorned children.
"Bite me." The pair mumbled at the same time. I smiled at them while attempting to focus on the remainder of Elena's speech.
"The worst day of loving someone is the day that you lose them." I shifted in my seat and took hold of the boy's hands, thankful that I was in the middle of them. They realised that I was remembering the day that they died and gripped my hands tighter.
No matter what, we are a family.
Suddenly my nose picked up the scent of blood; I felt Stefan and Damon grip my hands even tighter in worry for Elena. I kept my eyes on her and she locked eyes with me. I nodded slightly to her and maintained eye-contact with her for support as the brothers mumbled a plan. All I heard was Damon saying,
"It's a trap."
Elena was unable to concentrate where she was, I let go of their hands and got up. I walked towards her and wrapped my arm around her shoulder, leading her off the small stage, pretending she was emotional. The priest took over the ceremony as I walked her back to the pews where she stood between Stefan and Matt, thanking God for letting us have the end of the pew.
Everyone stood for a hymn, and Elena began freaking out.
"The blood Stefan, I can smell it." She was almost twitching in his arms as Stefan attempted to sooth her. I looked up at Damon and held his hand, while we concentrated on both Elena and the hymn. This was going to end badly.
"What's wrong with her?" Matt asked.
"She's hungry she hasn't fed." Stefan explained.
"So get her out of here." Matt exclaimed as quietly as possible.
"We can't. There's somebody watching us."
"We're gonna go rip his head off now." Damon said and I nodded, still singing quietly.
"You do that, and you risk exposing all of us." Stefan said as we made to move. I stopped singing, he has a point.
"Well, I think the risk would be slightly diminished f I…you know...rip his head off."
"Stefan, I'm losing it." Elena warned us.
"You have 10 seconds before I go old-fashioned on the new guy." I whispered cheerfully.
"Charlotte don't." Stefan warned.
"3," Damon started.
"2," I continued.
"1." We finished together and made to move again,
"Wait." Matt said quickly. We stopped. "Feed from me." My eyes widened. "It's ok; everyone will think you're upset. Just feed from me." Stefan nodded at Elena who hugged Matt, pressing her face into his neck. She turned down his collar and bit into him.
After a few seconds she pulled away and thanked Matt who turned his collar back up with a nod. She turned back to the front and nodded at Stefan. She began wiping her mouth so I passed her a tissue with a wink.
"I know you can still smell it." I told her. "But focus."
"It could be April. We have to help her." I widened my eyes at her as Damon nudged me and out of the corner of my eye I watched Tyler make his way to the podium.
"Elena we can't risk it." Stefan told her.
"Then I'm going to do it." She said. I frowned at Damon as Tyler stood at the podium.
"Excuse me." He began, "I just wanted to say a few words about Pastor Young." Everyone began sitting down. "Back in first grade, I was a brat who couldn't be bothered with team sports. I didn't care much about anything that didn't affect me. But he was the one who made me understand how important it is to be part of a team." I smiled at his words. "A community. Of giving yourself up for," he didn't finish before a shot rang out and he crumpled to the floor.
I felt Damon wrap an arm around me and pull me to the floor, under him for protection. The room had erupted into a mass of screams and was currently being evacuated.
"Come on." He pulled me up and we sped out of the church and into the mass hysteria. "Find him, kill him." He told me, I nodded and we sped off, hand in hand searching for the mad gun-man.
An engine growling to life made Damon and I stop, smile at each other and break off to attack from different angles.
Damon ripped the door off and pulled the man out while I crouched on the roof of the truck, it was Conner. I jumped down to the floor once he had shot Damon in the chest and while he crumpled to the floor, I snatched the gun from his hands and went to shoot him, only to find it out of ammunition.
With a growl I threw it to the floor and lifted him by his shirt to my eye-level about to sink concealed fangs into him however, he had produced another gun and shot me multiple times in the abdomen. I fell to the floor as the he hopped into his truck and sped off.
Stefan ran over to us.
"Couldn't have got here sooner?" I asked, clutching myself. Stefan rolled his eyes but held out his hand for me, I took it and he hauled me up. "Thanks." I coughed out while he helped Damon up but before he was fully standing, Stefan punched him in the nose.
"What the hell was that for?" Damon cried out.
"You know what." Stefan said before he walked away from us.
I rolled my eyes at him and helped Damon up. Together we limped to the car and drove home.
"I. Hate. Hunters!" I exclaimed as I pulled the wooden bullets from where they were lodged in my skin.
"You don't have to tell me." Damon said as he pulled the last mini stake from his body and made his way over to me where he helped deposit the wood into an unused glass.
I watched Damon fill the bath with a smile.
"What are you doing?" I asked him. He turned to face me.
"I thought we could…spend some time together." He said with a smirk. I smiled at him before he flashed in front of me and covered my mouth with his, while his hands wandered to the bottom of my dress.
A small buzzing alerted us to my phone receiving a text. I pushed Damon away and retrieved my phone from its place on the bed.
"Meet me outside the school." I read aloud to Damon from my phone.
"What?" He asked as he turned the tap off.
"I dunno. Stefan texted me."
"Do we have to go?" He pouted at me, motioning to the bath. I shrugged. Putting the phone down I walked towards him.
"We'll just say that my phone was off." He smiled and went to kiss me again when his phone buzzed. With a growl he fished it out of his pocket.
"WHAT?" He growled into the offending object.
"Stop ignoring me and get down here." Stefan told him through the phone. Damon hung up with a sigh.
"Let's go." I said as I pulled him out of the house.
We pulled up outside the school and Damon slammed his door shut. Taking my hand in his, he marched up to the picnic bench where everyone was sat.
"What?" He spat at the group.
"He means; Stefan, what are we doing?" I interpreted for everyone.
"Finishing the memorial we didn't get to have earlier." He explained as he handed out paper lanterns. "We need to start healing Damon." Damon rolled his eyes. "We've all lost so much. Especially recently. I think we're numb to it. We push it away, make a joke out of it, ignore how we feel, never just letting ourselves grieve."
"So you're lighting lanterns?" Damon asked sarcastically.
"Yeah. Yeah we need to do this."
"What we need to do is find out who this hunter is and what he knows about the death of the council. We have more important things to be doing right know than this." He gestured to the lanterns.
"Not tonight we don't." Damon scoffed. Stefan held up a lantern. "This is for my uncle Zach, my friend Lexi, for our parents." He lit the lantern and passed the lighter to Matt.
"This is for Vicki." He passed it to Caroline.
"This is for my dad and Tyler's." She passed it to Jeremy.
"This is for our parents, for Vicki, Anna and Jenna." Elena smiled at him while he passed the lighter to Alaric.
"This is for Isobel and Jenna." I smiled at him. He passed the lighter to Bonnie while Meredith held onto Alaric's arm.
"This is for my Grams." She said after a big sigh. Elena took the lighter from her.
"This umm, is for: my mom, my dad, Jenna, everyone that you've all lost, everyone that this town has lost and for me." She held the lighter out to Damon
"No way. No." Damon held his hands up. "Don't." He walked to the car. I watched him go with sad eyes. I held my hand out for a lantern and a lighter. Stefan and Elena passed them to me respectively.
"This," I began and noticed Damon stop walking and turn to face me. "Is for my mom, my dad, and the human lives of my brothers, their mother; Mary, Giuseppe and anyone else that died along the way." With that I lit the lantern.
Smiling at them all we released the lanterns into the sky and I watched Damon nod to me in the firelight.
TaDa! The last part of the episode. Now to begin working on The Ranger *sigh*