The room she wakes in is bare but familiar; the posters and pictures on the walls are gone, the dresser with her make-up and books are missing but it is her old bedroom. She focuses and all the little ephemeral objects that filled up her previous life appear, cluttering the dressing table and shelves, giving it life. But soon the comfort she feels begins to fade into something sad and reproachful. None of these things exist any longer because she destroyed them. They are all ashes. Her house still stands but there really is nothing to salvage. The trinkets start to disappear as her mood changes but then something odd happens, objects that she has never seen before start to appear: a comb beside her brush, cufflinks mixed in with her rings, worn leather bound books on shelves and old, sepia stained photographs. Elena looks at the man beside her and while his eyes are closed a self satisfied smile curls his lips.
"That picture over there, is that the Titanic?"
Elijah opens his eyes and sits up in the bed next to her. His smile falls when he sees the photo and he nods. "Yes. Rebekah, Kol and I were on it. Unbeknownst to us our father was also on board. Let's just say his hunting came to an unprecedented halt," he finishes and for all the lightness of his words there is a haunted quality to his eyes.
"I'm sorry, that must have been awful."
"We were in no danger," he replies breezily and the paintings and old photos vanish.
"Even so I can't imagine it's something you ever forget," she says, touching his arm and he looks at her softly and nods. The troubled look in his eyes fades as he gazes at her and leans over to kiss her cheek and then nuzzle at her neck.
"On to other more pleasant areas…" he says, muffled against her throat and Elena smiles, looking upwards. A giddy, elated feeling swells up inside her like a balloon, one that has never truly left her since they had climbed into bed together. Just the intimacy of having contact, someone to hold her would have been enough but this is beyond anything she could have hoped for. A dark part of her whispers that it is not something she deserves, not after what she has done and she secretly concurs. Her guilt is not something that will fade, possibly ever, but right now she ignores it, gazing happily at Elijah as he leans back over her to stare down at her face.
"There's a part of me that would like to stay here with you, even if it is an illusion," she says.
"I'm afraid we would have to depend on Rebekah to sustain us and I don't quite see that panning out for the best," he jokes, brushing tendrils of hair away from her cheek. Elena cups his face and brings him down for a kiss, one that deepens and intensifies slowly until he is nudging her legs apart again. Elena breaks away with a reluctant smile.
"We really will be here forever if we don't get out of this bed. At least until you leave, I mean," she corrects, face growing sombre. Elijah kisses her softly once on the mouth and sighs, rolls off her and throws back the covers.
"What you're about to do is incredibly dangerous," he says in a tight voice, sitting on the edge of the bed. Elena sits up on her knees, nodding.
"I know but I think you're right, I think I have the most control here," she says and with a sweep of her eyes the room vanishes and they suddenly sit in a wooded grove, the light filtering through branches. Elijah stands, fully dressed and looks at her, clearly impressed.
"Creative."
"I did want to be a writer once upon a time," she deadpans and stands, making the bed disappear. She goes to Elijah and stares into his eyes. "I can do this."
"I know. I'll see soon," he smiles gently and settles a kiss on her forehead before gazing into her eyes intensely. She keeps her gaze locked to his as he fades away, leaving her alone but still surrounded by his reassuring aura. She sighs and turns, seeing the mansion she has been trapped in through the trees. It is actually quite beautiful; something that she can admit now that she is ready to leave.
"Okay, ready or not…SILAS!" She screams and the name echoes everywhere, filling every corner of her mind. She wills herself to think of nothing but him and soon she starts to feel a presence peeking at the edge of her consciousness, as if he is reluctant to come any deeper. Elena imagines herself back in the mansion, in the room where she met Elijah and waits for Silas to come to her.
Elijah moves into the woods, his sister and Vaughn trailing behind. He expected to find a scene of torture or at least a fight when he woke but the two of them were speaking quietly, about what he could not say because they became silent as soon as he entered the room. Watching them reminds him of Alexander, a vampire hunter that Rebekah had been deeply in love with and betrothed to before Klaus killed him. It is unlikely that there is a burgeoning love there and he hopes not for his sister's sake, she loves fiercely and feels that heartbreak just as much when it inevitably comes to an end. Though he would be a fool to say these things to her, his recent exploits have proved him delusional and misguided so he keeps his opinions to himself.
"You know that killing the witch would solve all our problems," Vaughn says casually and Elijah clenches his teeth as he walks ahead.
"It would but I have inflicted enough pain onto the Bennett family, I will not do so again." He comes to a stop at the designated meeting place and in the distance he can hear someone approaching. "Even if I tried I don't think it will be possible. If she is that important to Silas then I think she will prove to be nearly indestructible. She has been using Expression magic and a witch who practises it is not to be trifled with."
"Oh I know, how do you think we Hunters were created?" Vaughn says darkly and Elijah looks back at him. There is a certain weariness to his words.
"What were you before the mark appeared?"
"I was a teacher," he says and looks away, leaving Rebekah to stare at him thoughtfully. But all thought of the enigmatic hunter is gone when Bonnie appears, walking towards them calmly.
"What if Elena fails?" Rebekah hisses quietly.
"She won't, we only need a short time," Elijah says, watching Bonnie carefully. "I have faith." He falls silent when Bonnie stops a few feet across from them. Her face is an impassive mask and there is an odd detached air about her but they can all feel the power radiating off her, it makes the hair stand on end. She takes a step forward and holds out her hand.
"Hand it over please," she says quietly and Elijah hesitates, narrowing his eyes. As the seconds stretch and no one moves Elijah puts his hand into his pocket and in that moment Bonnie gives a loud gasp and falls to her knees, clutching her head. Elijah moves forward.
"Bonnie?"
"What — what's going on?" she asks, looking up at Elijah who offers his hand. She looks at him warily.
"Silas has been controlling you. Please, we only have a short time," Elijah stresses while Bonnie's expression grows thunderous.
"He was inside my head," she says through gritted teeth and gets to her feet, ignoring the offered hand. She starts to walk purposefully deeper into the woods and the others follow.
When Silas finally appears he looks distracted and irritated, his usual politeness gone. Elena stands before him, arms crossed over her chest.
"What do you want?"
"I can't stand this any more, I want out."
"You called me here for that?" he asks, annoyed and Elena looks down, nodding.
"It — it's been so long, so lonely…" she whispers and glances up to see him regarding her more gently.
"I know, all too well. Where is Elijah?"
Elena shakes her head and sits on the lover's couch, dejected. "He tried to get me out of here but he couldn't. I lied to him, I said that it's been a few months but it feels like years."
Silas sighs and sits down beside her and Elena has to stop herself flinching. "I do not make empty threats and yet I could have killed you, tortured you. Instead you've been here."
"Alone and with nothing to fill my time but the most awful things I've ever done?" she retorts angrily and Silas smiles at her sadly.
"Try spending two thousands years doing that. I have had millenniums to go over my sins, to think what I could have done differently and when I finally reached that point of forgiveness there was no salvation in sight. I was trapped with only this for escape," he taps at his temple and Elena blinks at him.
"Your sins must have been heavy."
"I loved a woman and was cursed for it. Is that such a sin? Oh it was easier to believe that I was a monster, that my outside was a reflection of my soul because then all those years of entrapment felt right. I had not been unfairly punished and forced to endure an eternity of extreme despair that did not warrant what I had actually done. Never punish yourself for things that you truly did not do or intend Elena."
"Why do this to me, if you really think that?" Elena asks and her confusion and misery is real.
"I pulled you into this place as your humanity came back. I have seen your life, seen and felt the pain and tragedy that you have endured and I knew that if I did nothing you would be lost. You said that it feels like years, enough time to face the horrors and grieve, enough time to mourn and slowly come to grips with your losses. Has that been the case?"
Elena blinks at him, torn between horror and a strange wonder. "You did this for my benefit?"
"Would you rather spend years, true years where you feel every second and every minute of each day, going through that process or what you have experienced? I have seen into the mind of the Salvatore's, what they planned for you would have been far worse then this. We both know time is strange here, you can imagine an entire life span within a single thought. I think you know, deep down, how much time has truly passed. The mind is a powerful thing that not even magic can touch."
Elena sits staring at him as he looks into the distance, calm but always with that air of pathos. To believe that he is not the villain that has been portrayed through out history or a victim of a fate similar to hers?
But he did this, didn't he? But if I have control over my mind then I sent myself here. He just made me believe that it was him and used that to his advantage.
Maybe he is telling the truth, maybe he is someone to pity but she is not going to hang the fate of the world on that. Her compassion has always been a ruling factor in most of her decisions but being without it came with a certain clear headedness, absent of all moralising and worries. She cares; she even feels sorry for him despite what he has done but as he suddenly gets up to stand she attacks him with a furious show of brutality. Taken by surprise he falls and Elena pins him to the floor, baring her fangs at him and the utter astonishment on his face when he tries to push her away is worth the struggle to come.
"You might be powerful and ancient but you're still a sad sap and this is my mind. You didn't trap me here, I did and if I can do that I can do the same to you!"
Two salt pentagrams are placed opposite each other and lying in one of the circles in Silas. Elijah edges towards him slowly, alert for any movement. The man is thin, his clothes hanging off his body. He appears to be dressed like someone used to hard living on the streets. No one would look twice at him except for the mask over his face. It is a surgical mask that is used on burn victims and Elijah frowns as Bonnie comes to his side.
"Qetsiyah disfigured him after he rejected her."
"You know the more hear about that witch the less I like her," Rebekah says dryly, poking at the salt with her toe.
"Don't break the circle!" Bonnie warns and Rebekah rolls her eyes.
"My mother was a witch, I do know the basics." Even so she moves back and watches Elijah taking the case that contains the cure out of his pocket. Vaughn notes her sad albeit hungry expression.
"I won't have to stop you, will I?"
"I think I've had enough of weapons exploding through my spine thank you." She purses her lips and glares at him and he shrugs.
"I was only doing what I was programmed to, so to speak. Once he's finally dead I'll be free," he finishes and the sardonic look on his face fades away and Rebekah stares at him sadly.
"You'll be human again."
"For what it's worth I'm sorry," he says, surprising her, "it can't be easy for you; otherwise you wouldn't have fought so hard."
Rebekah says nothing, just stares at the ground so she won't have to see her hope of normalcy given to another. Elijah watches his sister, hearing everything and looks down at Silas, deeply conflicted. He came here with one purpose firmly in mind but now he hesitates.
"You said to be quick," Bonnie says at his shoulder and he nods, still looking down at Silas.
"Give him the cure and kill him, remove the risk he poses. He will be trapped on the other side," he muses to himself. "You were the key he needed to bring down the veil before he killed himself, so he could move on."
"Yes and in so doing I'd release a swarm of the dead on us. That is not going to happen," Bonnie says firmly and Elijah looks up at her.
"Do you truly want to spend an eternity in limbo when that time comes?"
"No but what else can we do?"
Elijah shakes his head, "I wish there was a way to bring down the veil but stop the dead from returning. As much as I want the people I have lost here they are not worth the horrors that will also return."
Bonnie nods and narrows her eyes in deep thought. "Maybe…maybe I could do it. I could use Expression, like he showed me. Drop the veil but block the doorway so no one can get through."
"If you can then be quick, he's stirring," Vaughn warns suddenly and they look down to see Silas twitching, as if fighting against invisible bonds. With a determined look Bonnie grabs a bag of salt but her hands shake when she pours a line on the ground, connecting the two pentagrams.
"Stand back, no one cross the line or break it, that is important. If that happens we're screwed."
Inhaling shakily she stands in the other pentagram and closes her eyes, fists balling and with a shudder she throws her head back and her eyes fly open. Her irises and pupils are milky white and inky veins run under her skin as she rides a wave of unlimited power.
The floor under them shifts and changes: from wood, to carpet, to grass and finally to rock. Elena straddles him, hands pinning his arms to the ground and he struggles under her, making the scenery change with a dizzying speed but Elena pours all her concentration into keeping him pinned down, ignoring what is happening around her.
"This is foolish girl; you do not have the willpower to keep me here."
"I don't want to," Elena says through gritted teeth. She does not want to show how much effort she is putting into keeping him trapped. She had boasted that here she is in charge but she had not really anticipated the force of the mind fighting her. He is unbelievably powerful and it is taking everything she has to enforce her will onto him. So when he suddenly grows slack below her and stops fighting Elena almost lets the reins slip from her control.
He sighs and looks thoughtfully into her eyes. "I'm sorry but I have waited far too long for this day and I won't let you stop me. Soon I will be free of my body and at peace." He smiles, tilting his head and Elena blinks as his features change. For a second she sees something grotesque and almost recoils but then his face settles into something handsome, a man with an aquiline nose and warm blue eyes, a classic Roman face. "I think you'll be able to find your way back, I'm just sorry that it has to be like this. Goodbye Elena."
"Like what?"
But he does not reply as the scene shifts around them for a final time and with an odd ear popping noise Elena finds herself buckled to a seat, in a car resting at the bottom of a river. Her shock is so complete that she loses all hold on Silas and he fades away, giving her one last sorrowful look in the water before she is alone. Panic roars through her and she fights to keep control. Being stuck in the mansion is one thing but this is something else entirely. The possibility of being perpetually stuck in a state of drowning flashes through her mind, chilling her.
No, this is not real, this is just a memory, she thinks even as her lungs burn for air. She has drowned twice before and both times she had accepted her death peacefully and she knows that it will be so easy to do that again, to inhale and give in but this time she will not. This is just a drowning of a ghost, this is not her and this will not be her fate again. She has to swim and survive because no one is coming to save her, only she can do that. The mansion is behind her, she needs to go forward, she need to go up. She unbuckles the seat belt, dark hair floating around her as air bubbles escape from her nostrils. She pulls on the handle and there is a resistance at first but with a push the door opens and Elena swims out into open dark waters.
Far above her is a shimmering blue, a blue so vibrant and expansive that Elena can almost feel the sky above her and the warm air on her skin. The air. With one last look at the car she begins to kick upwards, arms pushing against the water and she does not look back, her gaze fixed on the light above. But the depth is deep, far deeper than the Wickery River, this is an ocean to ascend and as she battles to swim to the surface she starts to tire, her lungs burning like fire.
Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, she thinks over and over again, picturing the faces of her friends and loved ones to stop her sinking. She thinks of what she wants to tell them, the sorrow and shame that she has to convey and most importantly the love that she needs to feel and express again. She pictures Elijah's calm and trusting face and the swim to the surface becomes easier and soon she is swimming in clear waters, the murkiness gone and the sun shines through. She gives one hard kick and her face breaks the surface and she inhales.
Over the line a light shines, one that pulses with a double beat, like a heartbeat and grows larger with every second. Bonnie wavers on her feet, head thrown back as she chants, caught up in the power running through her. Elijah keeps back, Rebekah glued to his side as they watch a portal to the other side open.
"Elijah, what if this fails? What if they all come through?"
Elijah looks at his little sister, who he has watched for a thousand years. He has seen the way she gazes at old couples on the street wistfully, seen her play with children and leave rooms to hide her tears and look on from outside at the simple pleasures that only humans can appreciate. He has had to watch and ignore her quite and persistent need to be human because there was nothing he could do about it. Now he can.
"This should be used to give life, not death," he says and turns to Rebekah as the trees around them begin to blow and creak in a gale force wind. Above them dark clouds roll forward, threatening and bleak.
"We have to kill him!" Rebekah shouts as Silas begins to sit up. Elijah grabs his sister's hands and places the cure on her palm before clasping them in his.
"I don't care, this is wrong. I've had no right deciding whether you deserve this or not. You're my sister, that's all that matters," he says earnestly and Rebekah throws her arms around his neck, tears in her eyes. Over her shoulder Elijah sees Silas stagger to his feet and he pulls Rebekah away. "Take it, now."
He watches as she nods and pulls the stopper from the tiny bottle. With a beatific smile she places the bottle to her lips and drinks the red, aerated liquid down.
"NO!" Silas roars and comes forward but as he reaches the edge of the pentagram he jerks back. He looks at Bonnie who stares at him from the other pentagram, her eyes white and eerie.
"The veil is gone, the otherside is no more," she says triumphantly and Silas turns to look at the portal that Bonnie has created. Through the dim light shadows appear, too vague to make out but soon they grow clearer, coming closer. They teem in their billions, like dark stars.
"You did it," Silas says weakly, his failure momentarily forgotten as the first ghosts come into focus and stop at the salt barrier. Silas holds out a hand, halting them.
"I wanted to bring you all back to life again but turn back because you can finally move on. You're trapped no longer."
At his words some of the figures turn and move back into the light until they are lost but others remain and a face Elijah recognises makes him move forward quickly, Rebekah leaning weakly against him.
"Finn?"
"Don't forget about me, will you?" comes a sardonic voice and from behind Finn Kol walks into view. He smiles at his siblings and sighs. "Was I right or was I right?"
"Yes, I think some apologies are in order," Elijah says and cannot stop smiling. His youngest brother has always feared this day and no one paid him any heed. But as he looks at his two brothers the smile falls from his face. "I'm sorry that I was not there, I'm sorry that I could not stop it."
"Elijah you cannot control everything, as much as you would like to," Finn says kindly and Elijah feels a terrible pain. Finn had been stuck in a box for most of his life but before that there was no one Elijah felt closer to. They were the big brothers of the family until Elijah found himself alone with that responsibility.
"I've missed you," he says croakily and Finn smiles sadly at him.
"And I you. Don't fret Elijah, this is what I wanted. My Sage is here and now we have the chance to find peace together," Finn smiles again and turns, taking the hand of a woman Elijah has not noticed and they walk away into the light. Kol remains, looking at Elijah.
"Well I do not share dear Finn's sentiments. I had bloody years left in me and I liked the 20th century. I think I looked quite fetching," Kol says with a grin but it soon fades into a look of something close to remorse.
"What is it?"
"My entire bloodline is here…along with Jeremy Gilbert," he adds disdainfully but there is a lack of maliciousness to his words. Maybe they have reconciled or the other side lends a certain peace, if not the true thing. Kol waves a hand, "I thought about revenge but this place does something to you. Bygones and all that, I've never been one to hold a grudge, far too tiring. Especially when you're a ghost, everyone is dead so what's the point?"
"I wanted us to be united, to be a family again," Elijah says and Kol smiles at him pityingly.
"Elijah, always so idealistic. You always hope for better, that's your problem and your strength. Families old and dysfunctional as ours aren't meant to stay together indefinitely; we would have broken apart in the end."
"Even so I'm sorry that we never really got the chance." Elijah says regretfully.
"But we did, a thousand years ago maybe but we were a family and I have never forgotten that," Kol says gently and looks back. "Mother and father are here, they are going to move on."
"What will you do?"
"Oh I think I'll see what is on the other side of that light. It may prove unwise but what can I say?" he shrugs, "I've always been a creature of impulse. I love you both and maybe one day we'll be together again. Look after her, she's even sillier then I am."
Rebekah stirs against him, waking and Elijah helps her stand straight. She opens her eyes, blinking in the light and groans.
"How do you feel?"
"Bloody awful," she says and licks her lips. "I'm thirsty," she adds offhand and then stills, letting her words sink in. A hesitant, half hopeful smile plays over her face until she beams with a giddy happiness. "Oh god it worked, it worked."
"You're human," Elijah says and pulls her into his arms and then touches her gently, preciously. When she utters a shocked noise he pulls back to see Rebekah staring into the light and turns. Kol is gone but coming towards them is the man his sister had been betrothed to almost a thousand years ago. Rebekah stares at him and her eyes shine with tears. After making sure that she can stand on her own Elijah walks away, giving them some privacy and looks at the clouds gathering overhead. He has experienced many storms during his life and this one looks to be one of the worst. He looks back down, at Silas who has fallen to his knees, too weak to stand and then back at the woods.
Elena lost her hold on Silas and she could be free, stuck or worse. He has faith in her ability to take care of herself but the worry he feels will not abate. He steps in front of Silas who looks up at him warily. The mask has fallen from his face and what Elijah sees causes him to still for a moment. He has seen many types of disfigurement in his life, some of which he has inflicted himself, so the Elephantiasis he sees hardly fazes him.
"She trapped you?"
"She did. Elena is not someone to underestimate but we both know that to our undoing," he utters wryly. He seems to have moved from anger into a weary acceptance. He has lost the cure but the veil has fallen.
"What happened?"
Silas opens his mouth and then pauses, looking past Elijah. He smiles weakly and gestures. "Why don't you ask her yourself?"
Elijah turns to see Elena walking forward, staring at the portal with amazement. The amount of relief that sweeps through him is shocking in its intensity, as is the delight to see her on her feet again. He moves over to her quickly and when Elena sees him she holds out her arms and he pulls her to him roughly.
"You're safe," she whispers, holding him tight and he almost laughs.
"Was that your concern? Not the end of the world?"
"No," she says, leaning back to look into his eyes lovingly. "I thought you had that end covered." She leans towards him, eyes on his lips when something over his shoulder catches her attention and her legs grow weak. "Jeremy."
Her brother smiles at her surrounded by light, holding up a hand in greeting, as if this is the most normal thing in the world. Elena pulls herself away from Elijah and with shaking steps makes her way over to Jeremy.
"Hey Elena."
"Jeremy?"
"Yeah, it's really me. No, don't," he says as Elena tries to move over the salt line to him. "You shouldn't do that."
"But I want to," she replies gutturally, her eyes already filling with tears. "Oh Jer, I'm so sorry. I never wanted you to die and it's my fault that you are."
Jeremy shakes his head. "It's not your fault and you need to stop blaming yourself. It was my choice to complete the mark; I was the one that killed Kol and his bloodline. Don't take on my guilt Elena; those deaths are on me just as the ones that you've caused are yours."
Elena nods, wiping her face with the back of her hand as Elijah stands at her back. She has had time to grieve and mourn and to reach an acceptance but the thing that has really hurt is that she never got to say goodbye. "I just miss you so much and losing you was so, so awful. I wish you were here."
Jeremy smiles softly. "I love you Elena and I always will. You might not be able to see or speak to me but you know I'll be there. You're loved," he says and his eyes flick to Elijah, "and you have friends that will forgive you."
"But you don't deserve this," she says, unable to stop her tears.
"Maybe but it is what it is. Look you know I'm not one for soppy speeches okay," he says and she laughs, "it's just that I've come to terms with my existence or whatever you wanna call it. I was stuck here but now I can move on. I — I can see mom and dad again," he says with some difficulty, as if he feels guilty for admitting his desire.
Elijah takes Elena's hands and she squeezes his fingers. "You can move on," she says and breathes out a shuddering breath and utters the hardest thing she's ever had to say. "Go to them, find them. One day we'll all be together again"
"You bet your ass we will," he says, making her laugh again. "Live a long, long life Elena, I want you to promise me," he says and she nods vigorously. He moves forward despite himself, wanting to hug her but with a soldiering smile he steps back. "At least we got to say goodbye."
"Only goodbye for now," she says firmly. "I love you so much."
"And I love you." He turns away with some effort and Elijah can feel the way her body strains forward but as Jeremy walks further away he is met by a group of people. It is not just their parents that greet him but all of their ancestors and as Elena watches a woman baring her face looks back at her and smiles before disappearing into the light with the rest of her family.
Elena sags against him and Elijah wraps his arms around her and moves them away from the line. They sit on a ruined old brick wall in silence, just taking comfort in each other until Bonnie falls to her knees, crying out in pain as the portal starts to grow smaller.
"What's happening?" Elena asks, looking at Silas who is also slumped on his knees near them. The old vampire shakes his head.
"She is dying."
"What?" Elena says and with a strength she does not know she posses she gets to her feet. She moves closer to Bonnie but stops before crossing into the pentagram.
"I was meant to do this, once I was a witch again. Bonnie is powerful but what she is doing is beyond her. She is using the last of her life to close the door before it ruptures. The balance is being disrupted," he adds and looks up at the storm above.
"Help her!" Elena demands and Silas looks down at her apathetically.
"Why?"
"I think you're a monster," she says and shakes her head when he moves to touch his ruined face. "No, not because of that, because of the things you've done. You've been in all our heads, manipulating us. My brother is dead and I hated you for that but now..." she trails off. She had been so angry with him but confused whether to take his remorse to heart or take it as another manipulation. Now she has reached a decision and it comes with a sense of release, letting go of a burden. Katherine's part in it is a hurt that she has not released and she thinks that it may be years before she does.
"But now?" Silas asks softly.
"I think those stories about you are just that. I think what happened to you was deeply unfair and you didn't deserve it. Prove that. If you can save her then do it, otherwise the things you told me are just words."
Silas stares at her unflinching and beseeching eyes and slowly nods. Elena steps back with Elijah as Silas shuffles around to look at Bonnie who is curled up on the ground.
"Bonnie, listen to me."
"No, you're a snake, getting into my head."
"I'm sorry but it was the only way I could get you to help me. But this has to stop because if you don't you'll die."
"I can do this without you!" she says through gritted teeth and moves back onto her knees. She breathes raggedly and sweat stands out on her skin. Silas smiles proudly.
"I know you can but I don't want you to die for me. You need to close the portal but you need to draw strength as you do. Use Expression, tap into the earth around you, draw that life into you, take it all."
Bonnie stares at him with suspicion, her eyes blazing white but slowly she turns back to the light. She digs her fingers into the grass at her knees and begins chanting, her head thrown back again. As Elena and Elijah watch the grass around them starts to wither and die as the portal slowly starts to shrink, the storm howling around them. With an ear splitting clap of thunder the rain begins to hammer down, a deluge that soaks everyone within seconds. The dying earth around Bonnie spreads and not even the water that hits the ground is spared. Trees, bushes and flowers grow brown and decay before their eyes but still the portal remains and Bonnie pants with the effort. Finally she looks at Silas, tilting her head in consideration and he smiles gently and nods.
"Please," he begs quietly and the grass around him yellows as he throws his hood over his head and lies down. With a gasp Bonnie draws on the life out of him and the oldest vampire on earth disintegrates into dust before their eyes. Just as the light fades Elena sees a handsome man embracing a brown haired woman before the light is gone and the portal closes.
Bonnie collapses and Elena runs into the pentagram to catch her. Bonnie opens her eyes, her irises back to green and blinks at Elena. She stiffens a little and Elena feels a stab of regret at the caution in Bonnie's face. Elena smiles friendly and before she can stop herself she pulls her friend into a hug.
"Are you okay?"
"I — I think so. Elena? Is it you?" She pulls back, still looking slightly suspicious.
"My humanity is back. I'm sorry for everything that happened, I should have been there. I've missed you."
Bonnie frowns in confusion and then pulls a face. "I saw you yesterday."
"I know," she laughs and hugs her again.
Elijah stops before what is left of Silas and sees only ashes and bones that turn into powder. He turns to Bonnie and she gets to her feet with Elena's help and they come to his side and look down grimly.
"How did you kill him? We've all been labouring under the belief that once he was mortal then he could be killed." Elijah looks quizzically at Bonnie who shrugs, eyes still downwards. The rain continues to pour, washing away the dust until only rags remain.
"I didn't really think, it was just instinct. He was made into a vampire by Expression, I just took it away. I took his life, which is what he wanted."
Elijah nods and his lips curl a little. "I told Elena once that anything supernatural can be killed by the servants of nature. He was an imbalance; he had no weakness, no rival to even his existence out."
Elena says nothing and with a sadness that she does not fully understand she walks away, Elijah and Bonnie following behind. She looks up at the sky and sees the storm cloud moving into the west, a black grey bar on the horizon that soon fades away into blue.
a.n:
Ding dong the witch is dead...though I do feel bad for him lol. So I hope this was worth the wait, I've been writing like a mad person for the last two days. I have the next and final chapter finished but I may hold onto it for a bit, I'm still wondering if I should add more to it.
Also that mention of the Titanic is a story I would like to attempt in the future, so look out for that. Thanks for reading and, hopefully, reviewing :)