So I'm sure a lot of you (VD) books fans have already heard, but just in case you were oblivious, L J Smith was fired from writing her own books. Just because she wanted Delena and other amazing ideas.
Wanting to prove this, I searched the web and found an email from her to a fan, addressing all her fans. She talked about her ideas - which were amazing! - and how now a ghostwriter will be continuing her books. The truth is, Alloy Entertainment always owned the idea, but L J Smith wrote every single word of the Vampire Diaries.
Her email nearly made me cry. It's so sad and unfair that a great writer like herself should be stopped from writing her own series. I've found the email of Alloy Entertainment's Publicist and I will be emailing them shortly to give them a piece of my mind.
If any of you want to, here's the email I found on their website :
Sorry for the long A/N, enjoy the chapter!
Chapter Ten
Elena froze.
She stopped breathing and sat as still as possible, her eyes wide.
Klaus... All this time she had been preparing for him, worrying about his arrival – and now she was with him.
I guess all this time I've come to believe that Klaus wasn't real, she thought. At least...At least my friends and family are safe. Elena felt a tear in her eye and held it back, promising herself not to cry. But she wanted to – so badly. She never even got to say goodbye. And now I'm going to die here, she thought miserably. But surely her friends had noticed her absence by now? All she could do was hope.
But if they do come to save you, in a battle against Klaus, not everyone will survive. Elena countered.
"It seems that I have frightened you..." Klaus murmured. He laughed bitterly. "Good. I'm glad you have the sense to be afraid."
Elena didn't reply, but stayed completely still, now taking slow, quiet breaths. She didn't want to say anything – she had nothing to say.
"Fine then," Klaus laughed. "Don't speak." There was silence. Elena had never been so helpless. That was the only word she could come up with to describe where she was. Elena felt blind, deaf, and helpless.
Finally, her strange exhaustion caught up to her and she allowed herself to close her heavy eyelids.
Just for a minute...Just a minute...she thought, before drifting off to a deep sleep.
. . .
"We're coming." Bonnie said stubbornly. Jeremy nodded in the back seat behind her, folding his arms across his chest.
"No, you're not. You'll get in the way, and I won't be able to protect you both." Damon snapped, stopping the Ferrari.
"I have my ring!" Jeremy protested, waving his right hand.
"And I can take care of myself." Bonnie glared, reminding Damon of her little aneurism trick.
"Firstly, do you know how easy it is for a vampire to take that ring off?" he said to Jeremy. With a quick, blurred movement he slid the ring off of Jeremy's finger and held it up.
"And secondly, your powers are no match for the Originals." He pointed to Bonnie before tossing the ring back to Jeremy, who barely caught it.
"Well you can't go alone!" Bonnie complained. "You'll die trying to save Elena – then who will we have to help us?" Damon raised an eyebrow, and she blushed quickly, looking away.
"I'm not going alone." He said, gesturing to the apartment block he had stopped in front of. "Jeremy, go run inside and get your favourite uncle Johnny. Bonnie, call Alaric." The two nodded, Jeremy hopping out of the car and Bonnie pulling out her cell phone.
"'Ric?"She said. "Hey, we need help..." she explained their situation, telling him where to meet them. Within a few minutes Alaric Saltzman had pulled up in his old pickup truck next to them.
"Where are we heading?" he called out his window.
"Elena's just outside of Mystic Falls – follow us." Damon said loudly. He grimaced as John and Jeremy approached.
"John, you can ride with Alaric." He smirked as Ric glared at him. John nodded, getting into the passenger seat of Alaric's truck, dumping his large duffel bag in the back seat. As soon as Jeremy's door was closed, Damon sped off.
. . .
"Bonnie, I swear, if that spell was wrong..." Damon grumbled, pacing the large field angrily.
Bonnie's spell had led them to a huge, grassy field a few miles away from Mystic Falls. There was no sign of anyone around – except a few grazing cows. There was no sign of any buildings or houses, and Elena didn't seem to be hiding in the trees. After Jeremy's loud calling, Damon was fed up.
"No, it wasn't." Bonnie insisted confidently.
"Is there any way that it could have been wrong?" Alaric said softly. "Maybe you said the wrong words, or..."
"It wasn't wrong, okay?" Bonnie yelled. "Elena is somewhere here!" Everyone was silent for a moment, no one wanting to upset her more.
Except John – Jackass – Gilbert.
"Well she doesn't seem to be sitting on clouds," he said sarcastically. "And I don't see any caves around here... Got any ideas? You are the physic one."
"Look," Bonnie fumed. "I -"
"Looking." John interrupted, miming searching around.
"The spell worked, okay? Maybe she's...underground." Bonnie said. Jeremy automatically looked around, but spotted no cavern entrances. He didn't think there were caves in a place like this: farmland.
"The entrance could be miles away." Alaric said quietly.
"Does anyone know the area?" Damon asked, looking around at everyone. Not a single head nodded.
"Well I guess -" Jeremy cut off, stopping his slow walk. His eyes widened and he brought his foot down, testing the ground below him.
"What is it?" Alaric asked, walking over to him. Jeremy was now on his knees feeling around the spot.
"It's hollow!" he grinned triumphantly. He banged his fist against the grass and smiled wider.
"Get that open." Damon ordered, signalling for Alaric to follow him. They hurried over to Ric's truck and pulled out the black duffel bag, unzipping it.
"Wow..." Damon breathed, taking in the many, many vampire-killing weapons Alaric had in the bag. Alaric took his own weapon from the front seat – a tall pointy stick. Really, it was a long, pointed spear with a very sharp point made of what looked like wood and iron. There were two hand-sized grooves and a silver point at the other end. Along the length of the spear there were strange carvings in the wood and a few Chinese characters.
Alaric noticed him staring and held it out for him to see.
"The points are covered in vervain." He said, lightly touching the top point. "And wolfspane." He pointed to the silver end. Damon nodded in admiration, picking up the black duffel bag and carrying it over to where Jeremy and John were fumbling with the hollow patch.
"Take your pick." Damon smiled, pulling out his own weapon. It was a black teak-wood dagger with a thin, dangerously sharp point and a strong handle. It was attached to a leather wrist strap that Damon used to conceal the dagger under his sleeve.
"I can't open it." Jeremy sighed in defeat. Alaric quickly stepped forward and positioned his spear over the hollow patch before bringing it down on the ground. The sound of wood snapping filled their ears as Ric's spear pierced the wooden layer and went down into a space underneath. He did this again and again until Jeremy and John could break off large pieces and clear a way in.
Bonnie had been standing away from it all, eyeing the bag of weapons. Damon noticed this and smirked.
"You can take one, you know." He said, pulling out a few random little knives. Bonnie nodded slowly and reached in, pulling out something at random. Damon stifled a laugh – it was the smallest weapon in there. A simple, short wooden knife. Her cheeks reddening, Bonnie quickly walked away and waited for everyone else to take theirs.
"Alright. So who wants to go first?" John asked. Everyone automatically looked to Damon, the vampire.
"Okay, fine." He said, putting his hands up. He went over to the wide hole in the ground and stared down into darkness. Without another word he stepped into it, falling for only a second. After another second, his eyes adjusted and he managed to barely see the outline of the tunnel he stood in. The walls were rocky and the ground dusty – as they suspected, it was a cave.
"You guys can come down!" Damon called up to the humans standing above.
The next to jump down was Alaric, followed by John, then Jeremy, and finally Bonnie.
"I can't see anything!" she yelled – earning a loud shh from everyone around her. "Sorry." She murmured. A light flicked on, and everyone looked to Alaric, who held a large industrial flashlight.
"Let's get going." Damon said quietly, starting to walk down the tunnel. Everyone quickly followed, not wanting to get separated in the darkness.
. . .
In her dream, Elena saw Damon.
He was walking down a dark cave, followed by familiar faces. She recognised Alaric, Jeremy, Bonnie, and – her uncle John? Why was she dreaming about him?
The five walked slowly, Alaric holding a large light. Elena felt as if she were floating above them. "Hey, do we even know if we're going the right way?" Bonnie asked.
"Yes. I can sense her." Damon replied quietly. Her...Oh no. No, no, no! They were coming after Elena! As much as she wanted to see them, they couldn't come rescue her – Klaus would kill them!
In a surge of panic, Elena tried to find some way to contact them through her dream-self. She tried yelling and waving madly, but they couldn't see her.
Maybe it's just a dream. She thought. Maybe they're not really coming to rescue you. She should have felt happy that they weren't endangering themselves, but sadness remained in her. She was terrified – she wanted to be rescued.
No, she snapped at herself. That's selfish. Then, Elena had an idea. If what she was seeing was real, she would still be able to telepathically communicate with Damon, right? Weren't vampires telepathic? She decided to give it a shot, and concentrated on Damon.
Damon! She mentally yelled. To her surprise, he stopped walking, causing Bonnie to walk right into him.
Elena? He thought back. Elena smiled widely – it had worked!
Yes! She replied.
Where are you? Damon asked, ignoring John asking why he'd stopped.
I'm – Oh no. Damon, you can't come find me! You have to go back! Elena cried – mentally.
What? No way. Now tell me where you are – do you know?
No, but that's not important – you have to go back! Klaus is here! She insisted. Damon's expression darkened and worry flashed on his handsome features.
"Damon, what is it?" Bonnie demanded.
Elena don't worry, we're coming. I promise we'll get you out of here.
"Elena." Damon said quietly. "She just – spoke to me. Through her mind. I have no idea how she did it, but she told me..." he stopped, looking at everyone.
"What?" John snapped.
"She's with Klaus."
. . .
"Klaus?" John cried. "We're not prepared to fight an Original!"
"We have to." Damon said quietly.
"We can't! It's impossible!" John yelled. Damon glared at him furiously. How could he not want to save his own daughter? He thought.
"When I staked Elijah a few weeks ago, he stayed dead for a while. Maybe Klaus will stay dead long enough for us to get Elena out of here." Damon suggested, continuing to walk. John stopped him by putting a hand on his arm, but Damon easily shook him off.
"It's suicide." John snapped.
"So you wouldn't risk your own life for your daughter?" Damon said, his voice shaking slightly.
"I want to." John's tone softened. "But we can't. Not now. We aren't prepared."
"Well I'm going." Jeremy declared, followed by Bonnie's quick agreement.
"So am I." Alaric mumbled. Damon nodded in acknowledgement – it was clear that he was going.
"John?" Everyone looked at Elena's father, who stood his ground for a moment before sighing and shaking his head.
"You're crazy," he said. "But I guess we can still try." He smiled lightly and nodded, following Damon down through the cave.
. . .
When Elena awoke, she was in darkness yet again.
She hoped that her dream wasn't real – if Damon came to save her, Klaus would kill him. Alaric – he was tough and experienced, but Elena wouldn't let him die for her. Jeremy and Bonnie: No. Elena loved them too much for them to die on her.
She couldn't even think about Damon dying. It hurt to even mention it in her mind.
Elena began to shiver. She hadn't noticed it before in her sleepy state, but the cave she sat in was quite cold. As she managed to stand again, she noticed that her neck hurt from sleeping while sitting up. This time, she decided to be brave. Elena hated this cave – she wanted to see the light again. Taking a deep breath, she took a step forward, her arms out in front of her. She didn't bang into anyone, but was now not against any walls. Calmly, she took another step – and another. Her pace quickened and she kept walking before she hit something. She jumped in surprise but relaxed when she realised that it was another wall.
Elena took in another deep breath, inhaling through her nose and out through her mouth. She remembered something about that being calming. Maybe it was the other way...Never mind, she thought. She faced another direction and started walking again, her steps starting slow and quickening. She felt like a zombie with her aching arms outstretched and so she dropped them, walking confidently.
Then, she hit something else.
This 'something' definitely wasn't a wall. She tripped over something that she assumed was a rock and went tumbling into someone. She swore she heard a chuckle, but wasn't sure. As soon as she hit the person she leapt back, landing on her back on the hard ground. She winced from the pain, scrambling back. This time she was sure she heard a laugh.
"Quite the little explorer, aren't you?" Klaus' voice came from where she'd just been. Elena didn't reply, but instead kept backing up quietly until she felt the wall against her back.
"So you don't feel like talking anymore," Klaus stated. "I suppose that's fair. You're probably terrified."
"I'm not afraid of you." Elena mumbled.
"What? I didn't quite catch that." Klaus said.
"I'm not afraid of you!" Elena yelled, her voice echoing through the cave. When Klaus replied, his voice seemed to be in her ear and she felt his warm breath on her face. She could hear his breaths.
"Aren't you?" he whispered. Elena sat completely still, trying to be brave. "You see, I think you're lying. Let's see what a little light will do for you..." Suddenly, Elena's vision was filled with light. She closed her eyes and covered them quickly to avoid being blinded by the sudden light and waited for a few seconds before uncovering her eyes and squinting against the light. Her eyes adjusted slowly, but she managed to see what she expected: a cave.
A large lantern illuminated the large space, and she looked around, not seeing any sign of Klaus. Sighing, she looked back to the space beside her – and someone was there. Elena gasped and jumped, her heart racing. This had to be Klaus.
He had long arms and legs and was quite handsome in total, with pronounced features and sunken cheeks. He had short, close-cropped platinum blonde hair matching pale skin. His eyes were almost unreal electric blue eyes that seemed to change colour in quick flashes –blue to silver. He wore a long, dusty tan coat and dark jeans underneath. He was smirking at Elena's terrified expression, and to scare her more he opened his mouth slightly, letting his razor sharp, long fangs descend.
Elena couldn't hold back a scream, and let it out, only managing a second of noise before Klaus bit her neck.
I could barely finish that...After reading the email I didn't want to. But I did! :D Alerts, but no reviews on the last chapter.
Please Review! If not, Chapter Eleven might be too sad to come out... :)