Thank you all so much for the reviews! I have the next three chapters figured out for sure, but I could definitely use some help coming up with future ideas… As always, if you have any ideas, feel free to pm them to me :)
On to the next chapter now…
Chapter 7: The Transition
Elena's eyes shot open and she gasped violently for air. She was disoriented, confused, and hungry—why was she so damn hungry? Her throat burned and her body ached, but she couldn't remember why. And then suddenly it hit her like ton of bricks being catapulted right into her chest.
The accident.
But none of it made sense. She looked around her, and saw Stefan silently watching her with sorrowful eyes. She couldn't figure out where she was—or more importantly, where Matt was. Surely he was alright.
So then, how was she still alive? She was certain she had drifted off into an endless sleep shortly after Stefan had pulled Matt from the truck. There was no possible way he had been able to return soon enough to save her from those watery depths as well. Then again, maybe he had.
"Stefan… where am I?" She turned to him, her body trembled and she shivered. Not only was she cold and wet, but she had a very bad feeling about whatever else happened after Stefan pulled Matt from the water.
He hesitated as he thought about a less frightening response, but ultimately opted for the truth. "Elena…We're in the morgue…"
She gave him a quizzical look. "The morgue…but, that means that everyone else thinks I'm dead. We have to tell them! Let them know that I'm alright!" She panicked and hastened to slide off the table but Damon's sudden burst through the door stopped her short. She stared up at him, thankful beyond all thankfulness that he was alive—that she was able to see him again. "Damon…" She allowed a huge breath of relief flow from her lungs.
"I don't think it would be a good idea for you to see anyone at the moment, Elena." He also held a sorrowful expression in his eyes, and she unmistakably wondered why no one else seemed as happy as she was that she was indeed alive. The look on her face was crestfallen, and tears began to brim her lower eyelashes.
"What's wrong? You two should be overjoyed that I'm okay, yet here you both are looking like you've seen a ghost!"
It was Stefan that spoke this time, while Damon approached the table she was sitting on and comfortingly took her hand in his. "Believe me when I say that we are grateful that you're…alive. But, I don't think it's the kind of 'alive' you're hoping for…"
Realization dawned on her as she looked back and forth between the two brothers. "No. No, no, no, no, no. NO! This can't be happening!" She tore her hand from Damon's firm grasp and began pacing the room. Tears spilled down her cheeks, and she crossed her arms over her chest as if trying to hold herself together. "How could this happen? I didn't drink anyone's blood…"
"Elena…when Jeremy brought you to the hospital earlier, you had experienced a cerebral hemorrhage. Dr. Fell gave you vampire blood to heal you…"
She stopped dead in her tracks and turned to face the two of them. "SHE DID WHAT? After everything that we have been through and all the times I could have died or become a vampire, it's because a damn doctor decided she needed to save my life? Well isn't that just ironic…" She resumed her pacing, and then made a dash for the door. "I'm going to kill her!" In a flash Damon and Stefan were there, holding her back.
"Elena, stop this madness!" She fought hard against Stefan's grip around her torso and Damon's hold on her wrists.
"It's going to be alright!" Damon cautiously removed his hands from her wrists and placed them upon either side of her face. "Elena look at me. You are going to get through this. We will help you through this. No matter what it takes, okay?"
She stopped fighting and gazed up into his icy blue orbs, then flung her arms wildly around him, sobbing uncontrollably against his chest. Stefan released her and left the room, allowing them their moment. Damon gently wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to him.
"I don't want to be a vampire Damon! I never wanted this…" She couldn't stop the tears, no matter how hard she tried. "It's not fair!" she exclaimed as she gripped the folds of his shirt tightly in her hands.
"Shhh, shhh. I know it's not fair." He pulled back slightly to look her in the eyes, and wiped the tears from her cheeks. "For most of us it's not fair. But whether you like it or not you're in transition… and now you have to make a choice: become a vampire or die."
"It's not that simple, Damon!" She backed away from him, feeling her anger flare up once again at the whole fucked up situation.
"Yes it is. If you don't go through with it you will die."
"I'm already dead! What difference does it matter?"
"What difference, Elena?" Now it was his turn to be angry. He heard Stefan re-enter the room, but it didn't matter. "The difference Elena, is that I thought I had lost you forever when Ric died back there! Do you even understand the torment I was going through as I rushed as fast as I could back to Mystic Falls—the whole time thinking you were dead! And then I get here…and I find out that you had vampire blood in your system. You have another chance at life now!Sure, it may not be what you wanted it to be, but at least the people who love you won't have to suffer this way! But no, you don't think that matters do you?"
He was breathing heavily, all the while glaring daggers at her, and slowly she felt her anger melting under the intensity of his gaze.
"Brother, she has the right to choose death over an eternity of blood lust. It isn't fair that it had to happen like this…at least let her make this decision on her own."
"Shut up Stefan. What would you know about letting others make this decision on their own? If I recall it was your fault I became a vampire in the first place. And I never even wanted it!" His previous Elena induced anger was now being directed at Stefan, who was equally as angry. They were all angry.
"If you never even wanted it, then why would you force it on her?" Stefan yelled back, pointing a finger in Elena's direction.
"BOTH OF YOU JUST SHUT UP AND STOP FIGHTING! This is my decision. Not yours." That got their attention, as they both turned to face her. "Look, both of you are right…but I've made my decision."
They looked at her hopefully, all anger fading from their features.
She sighed, wishing that it hadn't happened like this. But they were right. She had to make a decision. "I'll do it. For you. For everyone. As much as I hate it, I can't put you all through the pain…so I'll become a vampire." That was it, she thought. No turning back now.
WOOO! I just cranked that one out in a little over an hour, and I must say I am particularly pleased with it :) Yay, for work induced exhaustion.
Hope you enjoyed it!
