Jeremy was eating breakfast at Bonnie's aunt's house wondering what he would do that day. He'd done everything in Greensboro that he had any interest in doing. Aunt Susan was definitely thinking he was weird or crazy or both. This was his twelfth day here and he had all he could take. The idea of staying another two days let alone 16 was incomprehensible. 'Screw this,' he thought, 'I'm going back to Mystic Falls. If Gaia doesn't like it well she can go ahead and zap me with a lightning bolt. Everything else has happened to me.'
By the time Jeremy's resolve had increased to the point where he was ready to take action, he became aware of Bonnie's presence. "Elena and Damon are on their way here," Bonnie exclaimed.
"That's great," exclaimed Jeremy. "That means I can avoid them by going back to Mystic Falls!"
"No, you need to stay here. Emily says that Elena is ready to learn the truth about me and the truth about other things. They'll be in Greensboro after lunch. Give her a call, Jeremy, and arrange a place here to meet."
"What will I tell Elena about how I know they're coming? How do you know they're coming?"
Bonnie shrugged, "Emily knew and she told me. Don't worry about what you tell Elena, the time for keeping secrets is over."
Jeremy was ready to leave right now, but he supposed he could stick it out for a few more hours. At least he wouldn't have to worry about what he could mention and not mention. He took out his cell and called Elena.
"Hi Elena, where are you guys?"
"Believe it or not, we're on our way to Greensboro to see you. You're not going anywhere are you, Jeremy? You're not going to let us drive all that way and find that you've ducked out and gone someplace else?"
"Why would I do that?" replied Jeremy, tongue in cheek. "It will be good to see you. What time do you think you'll be here?"
Jeremy heard Damon say about one in the background but Elena replied, "Oh I think we'll be there around three. Do you have an idea where we can meet?"
Jeremy thought for a second and said, "There's a coffee shop in the downtown area called The Green Bean, on Elm Street. It should be quiet about that time. Do you think you can find it?"
"We should be able to, if we have any problem will you answer your phone?"
"Of course, I always answer when you call."
"Yeah, right," Elena replied sarcastically. "It will be good to see you Jeremy. We have a lot to talk about, especially what makes you think you can just leave town without saying anything to Damon or myself."
Jeremy sighed. He supposed he wasn't going to be able to avoid that conversation. He really hoped Bonnie was telling the truth when she said the time for secrets was over. "I know Elena. I'll try to explain everything. You may not like all the answers though."
Elena chuckled warily, "I expect nothing less, Jeremy. See you."
When Jeremy hung up, Bonnie asked, "So? How'd it go?"
"Ok I guess, we're meeting at three at the Green Bean. Strange though."
"What was strange?"
"Well, I heard Damon say they'd be here around one but Elena set the three o'clock time. For someone anxious to chew me out for leaving town, why the two hour delay?"
Bonnie simply shrugged her shoulders. She was happier than Jeremy was to get the truth out between her and Elena. She missed her friend deeply. "She must have a reason."
Coincidentally, Damon asked Elena the same question after she disconnected from Jeremy.
"Because we are going hunting," Elena replied grimly. "I'm certain Bonnie will be there as well. I want to be in top form when we meet. There is something going on and I want to be as prepared as possible."
"You sound as if you're expecting Bonnie to be an adversary."
"You said it yourself, witches tend to have their own agenda."
"You said you trusted her."
"I do, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to be prepared."
"So hunting helps you feel prepared, interesting. You're sure you'll find someone suitable in time?"
Elena nodded. "Greensboro is a good size city. I won't have any trouble finding someone who wants to victimize innocent people. All I want is one."
Damon marveled at this complex woman he had fallen in love with. She reminded him of himself back in his days as a sharpshooter in the Civil War. He had been like this, laughing and joking with friends and comrades and then changing to a deadly killing machine taking aim at some unknown victim across the field of battle. He had coped by placing the two situations in different boxes. Elena didn't do that. He wondered how she coped.
Elena picked up on his mood. "What are you thinking, Damon? You're troubled."
"I was just recalling what it was like for me during the war. I coped because I never knew anything about the men I killed. Even then, they haunted me. I worry what will happen to you since you insist on knowing the men you kill."
Elena considered his question carefully. She realized that it was important to their relationship for him to understand. "As they die I see the evil in the world. When they die, I feel some evil leaving the world. It makes what you and I have together so much more precious. If I didn't have you, Damon, I couldn't bear living, let alone doing what I do. Our happiness helps to put their evil in perspective, and I use their evil so that I don't take for granted our happiness. The two gives me balance, Damon."
Damon shook his head uncomprehendingly. "I guess I just have to trust you on this Elena. I can't know what you are experiencing when this is happening. I accept that everything we've done together tells me that this is working for you."
Elena hugged him, "That's all I want Damon, for you to trust me."
Elena was finding it increasingly easy now to find prey. It almost seemed as if these men were seeking her out. She had developed the ability to project the idea that she was a victim. By doing so, her prey developed an image of her to fit whatever target they were seeking out. If there was a child molester nearby, he saw her as a child alone and vulnerable. If there was a rapist, she was his type. If there was a serial killer, she was his next victim.
Elena also discovered that if she didn't want to be seen then nobody could see her. She also learned to switch off her ability to compel with specific people. She had done so with Damon. She no longer worried that she might accidently compel him like she had before. She was sure now, that the time he had almost stabbed himself was because of her. This frightened her, and led her to experiment with others to determine the depth of her ability. After her experiment with Klaus, she knew she could compel vampires as well as humans. Did that make her an equal of an Original, or was she stronger? Elena decided she hoped to never have to find out.
She never wanted to be tempted to manipulate her friends, vampire or human. She had switched off her ability to compel Caroline and Katherine (yes she was beginning to consider Katherine a friend) and she vowed to herself to do the same with Jeremy and Bonnie when she saw them. No matter what the provocation, she didn't want to ever compel her friends or family.
She had become skilled at controlling her ability to compel in that she could send general instructions to anyone she was aware of, or specific direction to an individual she selected. All could be done simply with her thought. She realized that when she actually spoke it was a very powerful compulsion altogether. As she practiced, she fine-tuned her ability, so that she could selectively compel some, and not compel others. The only limitation she could find was she had to be actually aware of the person in order to compel them.
Damon had found Elena's increasing ability useful, although she was reluctant to reveal how much she could actually do. Together they had penetrated several government buildings in Washington and in several colleges to create a number of alternate identities. Now Elena and Damon never travelled using their actual names. It would be very difficult for anyone to trace any of her kills back to them in Mystic Falls.
After they arrived in Greensboro, as Elena had predicted, they had not had any difficulty finding the prey she had been looking for. As they were approaching the Green Bean, Elena considered what word to describe what she experienced immediately after her kill. She had used the word exhilarating with Katherine, but she realized that wasn't accurate. She realized clarity was the word that captures the experience. As she had tried to describe with Damon, with the need to find the balance of evil and good that defined her life now, the experience gave her clarity.
When they entered the Green Bean, they spotted Jeremy immediately. Elena was shocked to realize that Bonnie was not there. She had been so certain that Bonnie would be that she was at a loss momentarily how to proceed. Damon didn't hesitate, however, and walked over to Jeremy to greet him.
"Jeremy, have you had a nice holiday here? If I were to strike out on my own, I think I'd find a more entertaining place than Greensboro," greeted Damon sarcastically.
"Hey Damon, good to see you too," replied Jeremy with equal sarcasm.
"Stop it, both of you," pleaded Elena. "Jeremy, how could you just leave like that? I know I don't qualify as a parent or guardian, but you can at least talk to me. What possessed you to leave like that? Why have you been running away from me?"
Jeremy suddenly realized with guilt how unfair he had been to Elena. She was right, no matter how much he cared for Bonnie, he should have talked with Elena. Then he heard Bonnie speak to him, "She's right Jeremy. We should have talked with her, I should have seen it earlier. I allowed being able to talk to Emily sway me away from trusting my friend. Tell her I'm here, Jeremy."
"Elena, Bonnie is here with me too."
"I know she is, Jeremy, you told me you came here to visit with her. Where is she now? I expected you both to be here together."
"No, you don't understand, Bonnie is here with me, right now."
"What are you talking about?" asked Damon. "There's just the three of us. Look, Elena is very patient. I'm not. I don't appreciate the games you've been playing. Where is the witch, right now?"
"Here," Jeremy replied impatiently. "She's right here. When she brought me back, she died herself. She's no longer in the physical world, but she's connected to me. I can see her and talk to her, but no one else can."
Elena paled and covered her mouth with her hand in shock. "You mean she's dead?"
"Not exactly," replied Jeremy. "But right now she's not really alive either. She's sort of in limbo."
"What can we do? Why haven't you told me this before?" asked Elena.
"Bonnie says there is nothing you can do about it, but there is hope," Jeremy said, knowing that he wasn't telling the complete truth. "I didn't tell you before because Bonnie didn't want you to know. You see, she's been in contact with her ancestor Emily Bennett. Apparently, there is some plan going on that meant nobody could know that she was not in this world."
Damon snorted, "Of course, some plan. I told you Elena, witches have always got some other agenda in the works. Jeremy, get your stuff, we're taking you back home."
As Damon was starting to stand up, Bonnie urgently told Jeremy, "Jeremy, tell Elena that Emily can answer her questions."
When Jeremy complied with Bonnie's instructions, Elena reached out a hand and stayed Damon from getting up. "Is Bonnie really here with us?"
Jeremy nodded.
"Can she hear us, or can she hear only you?"
"She can see and hear the world around wherever I am. She can't just roam around at will, it's like we're tethered together."
Elena's eyes filled with tears, "Bonnie, I've missed you so much."
"Bonnie is crying as well, Elena. She's said she's sorry. She shouldn't have so blindly obeyed Emily's direction."
A hint of anger crept into Elena's demeanor. "What's Emily got to do with me?"
"Jeremy," Bonnie spoke urgently. "There's something I haven't told you, that you need to know."
"What!" cried Jeremy exasperated. Elena and Damon exchanged glances of confusion wondering if he was talking to them or to Bonnie.
"It's about why you and I are here," replied Bonnie.
To Elena and Damon, Jeremy explained, "You'll have to excuse me for a minute. Apparently, Bonnie has just now decided to explain something to me. I'm going to be talking to her for a few minutes. It may look like I'm losing it, but I'm not."
Then, looking at Bonnie, although to Damon and Elena, it appeared he was staring into space, Jeremy said, "Why are you and I here, Bonnie?"
"We're to provide the means for Emily to talk directly to Elena," explained Bonnie. "Emily connects to me, I connect to you, and you connect to Elena."
"Ok," replied Jeremy. "Where is she, what does she want me to tell Elena?"
"That's just the thing, Jeremy. She's not going to relay information through us, she wants to talk directly to Elena."
It took a few minutes for Jeremy to process this. Then as the light dawned he protested, "You mean, Emily wants to occupy my body, so she can talk to Elena? I don't think so!"
Elena and Damon both began talking at once. "This is totally freaky! Everything I said about witches is doubly true," cried Damon.
"Why am I so important to Emily? What has all this to do with me?" cried Elena.
Bonnie spoke sharply to Jeremy, "Tell them this doesn't concern them right now. This is between you and me. Tell Elena that her questions will be answered soon and tell Damon he just needs to but out."
Elena and Damon quieted momentarily as Jeremy relayed these instructions.
"Jeremy, you asked me not to make you choose between Elena and myself and I'm not, but I am asking you to trust me. I will not be able to return unless we allow this to happen."
Defeated, Jeremy asked, "How is this supposed to work?"
"Simply don't fight it. It will feel much like when a vampire compels you. If you fight it, it will be painful for both of us."
"Painful and it will happen anyway, right?" Jeremy asked.
Bonnie nodded. "Probably, although the outcome would not be certain. It would not be certain that Emily would be successful and it would not be certain we would come out at the end unscathed."
Jeremy sighed. "I guess this is the world I live in now. So when do we do this?"
"Right now, warn Elena that Emily Bennett will be talking to her, and then relax."
"Easy for you," muttered Jeremy. As required, he carried out his instructions to Elena and then tried to relax. He noticed that Bonnie's eyes were closed and she already seemed to have gone to sleep. He then began to feel a foreign presence. To say he felt it in his mind was inadequate. It seemed to envelop his entire sense of being. He instinctively tried to push back at the invasion but the pain in his mind reminded him of Bonnie's warning and he chose to trust her and relaxed. He quickly realized he had no control, that he was simply a spectator over his own body.
"Elena, child, I'm very proud of you." Elena looked warily at Jeremy. The voice speaking was his voice, but more than his words indicated that it was not him speaking. The tone, the authority in the voice clearly showed that another intelligence was speaking to her.
"If you're Emily, then Damon knew you. Can you prove who you are to him?"
Jeremy/Emily smiled, "Of course. Damon, I was always fond of you. It grieved me badly to see you come back from the war so badly damaged. I encouraged Katherine in her pursuit of you as I saw that her way was the only way to bring you back. I didn't know that it wouldn't be Katherine but her doppelganger that would do that."
"So far you haven't proven anything," growled Damon.
"Did you ever tell anyone, that your father tried to rape me and that you stopped him? That the rift between you and your father from that day never healed?"
Damon paled as Jeremy's voice spoke calmly of a bitter memory. He recalled how ashamed he had been of his father that day. "Elena, that is something only Emily and I knew. We agreed not to tell anyone of what happened. I believe it is her talking to us."
Elena nodded then to Jeremy/Emily. "Why are you interested in me?"
Jeremy/Emily replied, "First there are things you want to know about yourself, isn't that right?"
Elena nodded, "Very well, do you know what Damon and I have been doing? Are you going to tell us to stop? Is it too late to stop?"
"Yes I know what you've doing, no, I'm not going to tell you to stop, and no it is not too late to stop, although it soon will be. Frankly, there are many who want you to stop and many who don't. 'She' the one Bonnie and Jeremy have taken to calling Gaia, does not want you to stop. She's counting on you not stopping."
"The changes that have been happening to me, it's because of that, isn't it? Can you explain why?"
"Yes the changes that have taken place are because of what you and Damon have begun. You must understand, when a vampire drinks blood, they are not consuming food like Jeremy eats a steak. It's a spiritual, not a physical, experience. To become a vampire the human body had to die. To sustain the spirit it needs to draw off of the spirit of others. The spirit is contained in the blood. This is the reason religions around the world place such importance on blood. The closer the blood is to the human's life the more of the human's spirit it contains. The most potent moment is when the spirit of the human departs, since it is no longer bound to the physical world, it is then that the vampire can receive the most spiritual energy. However, vampires don't take advantage of this because it is at that moment that they know their victim, not the facts of the victim's life, but the victim's essence of his life. The remorse for taking a victim's life at that point is inescapable and it would ultimately destroy the vampire. Because you have found a way that makes taking the life an act of protection, you have been able to drink fully of the victim's life and you have given peace to an otherwise tortured soul. Because of this, your vampire abilities have progressed beyond any precedent."
"Why does Gaia want me to continue?" questioned Elena.
"That is not something I can tell you. Whether you continue or not must be entirely your choice. We cannot risk influencing you in any way."
Elena nodded. She preferred it this way. She had always suspected that there were other interests involved in her life, but she preferred to act as though her destiny was her own to command.
"I don't intend to stop," she replied. "I am worried though."
"What worries you, child?"
"I know how selfish I really am. I am worried that over time, I'll distort what I'm doing to suit my own purposes. I'm worried I'll find a reason to kill someone because I want to, not to protect others. I'm worried that ultimately I'll simply become another murderer. Mostly, I'm worried I'll drag Damon down with me."
"That is why I'm here, child," Emily replied softly. "I can build a hedge around you and Damon that you won't be able to cross. I can do that for you, if you'd like."
"Yeah, here we go," warned Damon. "Never trust a witch, Elena."
Jeremy/Emily smiled at Damon, "When did you become so cynical?"
"I'm a lot older now, Emily."
"You're not so old, Damon. You're really not so cynical." she replied. "There are agendas at play here that you two do not understand," she conceded. "You're right to question our motivations. But you must also consider that Elena's concerns are legitimate. In fact, they are a certainty. You two will be alive and active for centuries. How important is it that you stay the course, or do you wish to simply be like all the others?"
"Can you tell us what you intend to do?" asked Elena.
"I can tell you some, but not all. I can construct an oath that has a curse if you violate it. The curse will bind the two of you together. If one breaks the oath then you both will die."
"Damon and I will need to talk it over."
"Of course. If you decide to proceed, we will meet again at your home in Mystic Falls, Bonnie, Jeremy, Damon and yourself. You will need to hunt before then, but instead of making the kill, you must keep him alive and bring him as well, as he will be part of creating the oath and the curse."
"What if we decide to take our chances on our own?"
"Then continue as you are and hope for the best. Once you err, the path I offer will only lead to your death. If you choose it now, it can lead to a long productive life."
"A productive life of killing," replied Elena.
Jeremy/Emily shrugged. "As a vampire, you cannot avoid a life of killing. You know this. There are other ways to be productive that may be open to you as well. I am releasing Jeremy and Bonnie now, until we meet again."
Jeremy immediately felt the return of control of his body. He flexed his muscles in relief. "That's a relief, I wasn't totally sure I'd be allowed back. Bonnie, are you ok?"
"Fine," was Bonnie's reply, "Since I'm a spirit, the invasion was not nearly as much a violation as it was for you."
"I'm glad you realize it was a violation," complained Jeremy. "I gather I'll have to experience it again if you guys decide to go through with this?"
"I'm afraid so," replied Bonnie.
Then privately, only to Bonnie, Jeremy asked, "And I guess that Elena and Damon agreeing to this is the condition for you to come back to this world?"
"Yes it is, but Jeremy you can't say anything to Elena. They must be able to make this decision on their own. They can't make it for anybody else, otherwise it won't be able to happen. If you tell Elena, it will be the same as condemning me to be here for eternity, and it wouldn't be fair to her."
"I understand," sighed Jeremy. Then he brightened at a thought and announced to everyone present, "We're going back to Mystic Falls now, right?" They all laughed in agreement.