"Goddammit!"
Damon fell to his knees, tearing at his hair. He had just let her walk right out of the door, with him. And as much as he knew it was wrong, it was as if his mind wasn't his own - he was torn in half, between trying to tell her what was really going on and doing what he was compelled to do.
Who the hell ever thought that a vampire could compel another vampire?
Except Elijah was old. A nuclear aftershock was probably more subtle than the waves of age and power radiating off of the elder vamp. Damon knew from Katherine's stories that a long existence brought more and more power than newborns could dream about. But she never warned him about this.
And even with him out of the immediate area, Damon couldn't disobey. His common sense was telling him to call Stefan, to tell him and Bonnie that he needed their help in finding Elena, but another voice insisted that he wouldn't tell anyone. And that was the voice that his body, his entire being was listening to.
You have to leave now.
His body straightened itself until he stood, and he pulled his cell phone off of the table. He felt for his keys in his pocket and then turned to take one last look at the interior. His gaze lingered over the mussed bed linens and dirty dishes in the sink.
You don't have time right now.
And he knew he didn't. He hated to leave the space any less than immaculate since he didn't know when - or if - he would be back. But he couldn't argue with the voice, especially knowing it was right. He locked the door and closed it behind him, his eyes adjusting to the painfully bright sunlight.
He settled behind the wheel of his car and was soon flying west along Route 6, speed limits be damned. But he wasn't following Elena, as much as he wanted her right next to him under his protective eye, as much as he didn't trust Elijah.
No, he had to head north first to take care of some business. To Salem.
"Elena."
She jumped, her eyelids blinking furiously as she reoriented herself. In Elijah's car, she thought, noticing that they were traveling over an enormous bridge toward the mainland.
"H-how long?" she croaked out.
"We're still only in Massachusetts, so several hours till we're back in Mystic Falls," he answered, with an eyebrow raised.
"No, I meant - how long was I out?"
"Ah." Elijah chuckled. "Maybe twenty minutes? Your brain needed to reboot."
She gave a sharp nod in response before staring down at the choppy water in the bay below.
"I'm not out to harm you, Elena."
She closed her eyes briefly to steel herself for what she was sure she wouldn't want to hear. Life over the last week had been a nightmare and then amazing before plunging back into nightmare territory again. And she was sure it was only going to get worse.
"Why did you take me?" she finally asked.
"Because you need to be protected."
"So you're not bringing me to Katherine to be sacrificed?"
"God, no." He almost looked insulted.
"But why not leave me with Damon?" She tried to ignore the ache in her heart as she said his name. "He's more than capable of keeping me safe."
The bemused smirk returned to his face. "For about 99% of whatever supernatural entities you could encounter - yes, Damon is smart and resourceful enough to protect you. But what you're facing is much bigger than Katerina. You'd be lucky if she was the only one after you."
Dread consumed Elena, but it was almost as if she knew this before Elijah confirmed it for her. As though somewhere deep in her psyche, she knew there had to be a reason they were identical, and that it wasn't good. It couldn't be - not after hearing how much turmoil Katherine caused in the Salvatores' lives. And she could only imagine how much other havoc her elder twin had wrought in her time upon the planet. But Elena wanted to know more - she couldn't blindly trust everyone else to keep her safe without knowing what she was being kept safe from. She needed the whole story.
And she was nearly willing to bet her own life that it was a tale Elijah was quite familiar with, likely on a firsthand basis.
"So are you planning on telling me?" she asked after a few minutes of quiet contemplation. "I mean, we do have at least eight hours of silence to fill."
"Very true." Elijah smiled wryly, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.
Elena gave him a small smile in return. As much as she wanted to be angry that he'd taken her right out from under Damon's nose - she had enough on her plate to worry about. She didn't need to expend the rest of her energy on a futile exercise in holding a grudge when there was no changing the situation. And she couldn't be sure but it seemed that maybe this Original held a tiny bit of warmth toward her. It was still too early to tell or to trust, but maybe she would be grateful to him in the end. Maybe they would end up friends...
"I should start at the beginning."
She nodded and curled her legs up next to her, burrowing into the seat while she waited for him to continue.
Bonnie didn't even have a chance to yawn as she woke. She gasped at the unexpected presence of the vampire seated at the end of her bed.
"Sorry," Stefan smiled sheepishly. "I didn't mean to scare you."
"It's okay." Her heart was pounding but she managed to keep the edge out of her voice. "What are you doing here so early?"
"Well, I made some phone calls to excuse you from school for the rest of the week... family emergency. I figured I would meet you here since we have a lot to go over in the grimoire."
She nodded as she sat up and rubbed at her eyes.
"Katherine's on her way."
"I thought she would already be here?"
"No, she said she got delayed. I'm expecting her late tonight," he answered.
"And Elena?"
"Damon's not sure. He's going to call me when they're leaving."
She looked at him suspiciously, as she thought they were already supposed to be back in Mystic Falls as well. But she could tell by his grimace that something was up, and that he knew he didn't have any choice but to tell her.
"She tried to turn herself, Bonnie."
"What?"
He nodded gloomily. "She should be alright, but he's keeping an eye on her to make sure his blood is out of her system."
Bonnie remained quiet, still stunned and attempting to process that her best friend - practically her sister - tried to kill herself to become a vampire. She couldn't lie and say she didn't feel a little disappointed that Elena didn't reach out to her. After all, Bonnie had gone to great lengths to make herself available whenever Elena might need her, what with the crystal. However, given the situation, she knew she needed to be the bigger person and not hold it against her - not with everything going on. But she also knew the more likely scenario. Elena didn't want her anti-vampire best friend to try to talk her out of it.
Bonnie sighed and out of the corner of her eye, she could see Stefan run his hands over his face anxiously. "It's my fault... if I hadn't come here, if I never bothered with Katherine again-"
"Stefan, don't say that." She tentatively reached out, resting her hand on his arm. "If you weren't here, Elena would be dead - she would have drowned. And even if she miraculously survived the accident, Katherine would still be a threat - except we would have no idea."
He didn't raise his head from his hands, and his voice was muffled when he did speak. "I came here to kill her. How could I have expected her to react any differently? She thought I was a good man, Bonnie. But I'm not, and after this is over..."
His haunted eyes finally met hers, brimming with barely contained distress. She saw his fingers twisting at his ring and her stomach was twisting right along with it. A flash of panic coursed through her at what he was insinuating. Bonnie tightened her grip on his arm.
"No, don't even say that - you can't."
He tried to look back to the floor but she took his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her.
"Stefan - please. Yes, you had bad intentions when you came here - but you turned it around! Isn't that what matters? We all make mistakes, but you need to stop blaming yourself. You know better than anyone that nothing in this world is black and white."
He shook his head, defeat in his eyes, and her voice trembled as she hurried on.
"You have to promise me you won't do it - even after this is over, regardless of what happens, you're not going to kill yourself. Damon and Elena are just upset. But you and I both know they wouldn't be able to live with themselves if you were gone forever! They'll forgive you eventually, okay? Just trust me."
They sat in silence for more than a minute, and Bonnie held her breath, watching for a sign that her words had reached him, an agreement on his part. But his face remained desolate and with a heavy sigh he pulled away from her grasp to stand.
"I'll be waiting for you downstairs."
He was out of the room before she could say another word. A few stray tears escaped her tired eyes as she gathered the volumes of the grimoire.
Damn you, Katherine, she raged inside her head as she surrendered to the hot tears of despair and frustration. Damn you and all your destruction... all the good people you've destroyed and all innocent lives you've ruined.
She didn't know if there would be anything left to any of them after this was all over.