Note: Hey, all! Well, here's another long one. I hope ya'll don't mind those. So, you'll get a bit of Damon, Elena and Lily in this one, though they're not actually together at this point. There's a lot going on so I hope it's not too confusing. For Damon, I focused on what he's been doing rather than his feelings so that the groundwork for Originals part of this could really be laid. His feelings will definitely be addressed though with Elena. Also, I know everyone's anxious for the DE reunion. It should be in the next chapter (at least that's the plan)! So please bear with me just an itty bit longer. :) :) :)
Thank you, thank you, thank you for the feedback and support! You have no idea how much all of your kind words mean to moi. :) Happy reading and I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!
Hugs,
M
Chapter 11
One week later
For the past five weeks Damon Salvatore had been buried in books.
Stack and stacks of endless journals and diaries and historical accounts from obscure sources. While he'd managed to gather a lot of useful - and useless - information on vampires in general, the answers to his most asked questions still eluded him. Even an impromptu trip to Slater's apartment to confiscate his computer files hadn't landed him much more than he already knew.
The ritual was outlined. The Originals were referenced. The ongoing war between vampires and werewolves was catalogued.
There had been at least one promising lead. A key he found along with an address in one of Isobel's desk drawers.
Isobel.
She'd been one helluva researcher, that was for sure. And that she'd handed all that knowledge over to be perused, and used, by a vampire hunter was quite a testament to her unresolved feelings for a husband she abandoned for eternity.
He'd have to remember that insight to Ric when he returned.
The address had taken him on a long and twisted journey from one place to another, where both obvious and obscure, clever and simple, clues awaited scrutiny. Finally, they led him to a place that was so remote and beautiful, so familiar, that he'd momentarily been caught up in the wonder of it.
In a clearing surrounded by a babbling brook and a wall of trees nestled against the Blue Ridge Mountain range sat a little stone cottage with a faded blue door. Once someone's beloved home, it was now a hut of crumbling stone. He'd never been there. He was sure of it. And yet, it called to him as if beckoning to an old friend.
The treasure trove of information he'd been seeking was inside.
Hidden beneath the cobblestone flooring was a cellar. And inside the cellar a secret door. The key fit the lock and opened up to him the world of the Originals.
Because inside was their 'Bible'. Their historical index. Every birth, every marriage, each death, all lands and holdings, accounts and debts were listed. And then came the volumes. Each Original had their own. They were named, pictured, and their stories detailed. Their powers listed.
Their first sire was registered like a badge of honor, marking the beginning of their full transition to vampirehood. Because each had a choice. Much as the werewolves, though they carried the vampire gene, it remain dormant until they chose their first victim. Until they tasted their first drop of blood.
And then there was the volume of most interest. One that focused not on one Original only, but three. The three, it seemed, that changed everything.
Damon piled the volumes into his car and headed back to his base of operations at Isobel's knowing he'd hit the jackpot. And he was right. As Damon read, he drank in every word, realizing what he'd always known: history, it seemed, really did repeat itself...
Klaus. Elijah. Evelyn. Julianne.
One woman. Two brothers. Four names, and a story so familiar it soaked hundreds of pages in irony. Yet, so different, so unique, it could only be the beginning of it all.
Elijah was the eldest of the Originals. Passionate. Daring. Loyal. A brother to be proud of. A brother to put faith in. Because of his noble nature, he was not his father's first choice for pioneering the family dynasty. No, that honor fell to Klaus, the younger brother who had an intense desire for power, a need for control and a skill in manipulation that cannot be taught. Julianne was the sister that worshipped them both. Betrayed them both. And somehow lived to tell the tale.
And Evelyn? Evelyn was the exquisite, delicate human caught between them all.
Her attraction to Klaus came first. She was flattered by his attentions, drawn to him by the strength of his ambitions and susceptible to his twisted influence. They were, in fact, on the verge of a marriage ceremony. But that was only until Elijah returned from a quest for truth that he'd been sent on by their domineering father.
One look in Elijah's eyes and Eve, as became his endearment for her, was captured. Lost. Found.
She barely remembered Klaus' name.
Which, ultimately, set up the ultimate conflict: two brothers vying for the heart of one woman. There would have been no contest if it hadn't been for the war.
Sent to lead a battle he didn't want to wage against werewolves he didn't hate, Elijah left his precious Eve in Julianne's care. And that's when it all went wrong. Julianne, the relative black sheep of the family, was desperate for her father's approval. And her father approved of Klaus very much.
She soon became a weapon in the battle for Eve's heart. At first unwilling, she discovered a darker side of herself that enjoyed influencing her human friend a little too much. As this dark side emerged, she finally found a place in the family's inner circle and delighted in it.
But years of paternal rejection had built a foundation of devotion and loyalty to a brother that has rescued her too many times from the wrath of their father. A brother that had singled her out early on for special attention, for instruction, for acceptance. He was the one person in the world that truly loved her, cherished her. Maybe that's why she'd been jealous of Eve. Had been willing to undercut their love. Because when Eve was around, no one else existed for Elijah. Not even Julianne.
She was torn.
Between darkness and light. Between good and evil. Between Klaus and Elijah.
Then came the news of Elijah's death.
Eve was devastated. Julianne even more so. In their mutual grief, a bond was formed that transcended petty jealousies and desires for acceptance. Julianne knew herself in those moments of shared grief and discovered a truth that reverberated through the centuries. Though she was her father's daughter and had been Klaus' confidant, above all, she was and would forever be Elijah's devoted sister.
No longer able to use Julianne in his quest for Eve's heart, Klaus took matters with Evelyn into his own hands and moved swiftly to put plans in motion. Turning to a witch for guidance, a spell was cast over the unwitting girl. Klaus' wishes became her command. He appealed to her, won her, then he bed her. And just when, only two days later, he led her once again to the marriage altar, the tale turned again.
Because Elijah wasn't dead.
And with one look in his eyes, Eve was captured. Lost. Found.
And the spell was broken.
But it was too late. The marriage had been declared complete and Elijah's own Eve was no longer free. It didn't matter that she denounced Klaus and the marriage. It didn't matter that her love for Elijah was declared with unequivocating tears. Or that she made a rash decision in the heat of the moment and escaped with her true love to hide in the darkening night.
The damage had been done.
Elijah and Eve's reunion was short-lived and bittersweet. As they lay tangled together that night in sheets and moonlight, passion gave way to reflection and reflection to realization. The events during Elijah's absence began to slowly emerge through a fog of confusion, though the magical reason for them never surfaced.
And that's when she remembered the night she'd let Klaus into her room, into her bed. Horrified by her betrayal and afraid of Elijah's reaction, she kept the secret buried deep in her heart. Until, only a few short months later, the impossible secret won out.
Evelyn was carrying the child of an Original.
She just didn't know which Original.
And that's when she disappeared.
At first, Elijah thought Klaus had taken her, hidden her, in an act of revenge. But the brutal and physical confrontation between the two brothers ended in the realization that she had abandoned them both. This knowledge bonded them. And though together they sought for her, high and low, it wasn't until several days later that they found her broken, lifeless body on a cliff ledge with a note confessing her sin and praying forgiveness for her weakness.
They blamed each other and themselves for pushing her over the edge. Then they buried her together. They mourned her together. And after an uneasy reconciliation, they moved on, their own stories incomplete...
Yes, history did repeat. Yet, like Eve's image - identical to her two doppelgangers, yet so very different - history was also subject to variations.
And change.
Snapping the book in his hands shut, he glanced first at the clock then at the moon outside the window.
And shivered.
Damon had never been so cold in his life. Not even when death had claimed him and released his undead self back into the world of the living.
He should be used to this by now. The sun had set. The moon had slipped into view. And Damon's body was reacting, preparing itself for the night to come.
It all started with his elongated fangs. They began to tingle and cool into two sharp sickles of ice. The feeling soon spread through his body, chilling him to the bone. The dull, penetrating ache that was his constant companion seemed to sense his vulnerability and attacked without mercy till the longing threatened to overwhelm him.
He didn't know exactly what was happening to him. And frankly, he'd stopped caring a while ago. Because over the past five weeks he realized that all of this led to one thing.
Elena.
It was the only time of day that he allowed himself to really feel. And as excruciatingly painful as those feelings sometimes were, he was grateful for them. Because they were tangible proof that he was still alive. That a part of him was still human.
Though he no longer flipped the switch on his emotions, he didn't let them fully register either. Or control him. It was the challenge he faced every morning, the test he passed every moment of the day and the achievement he prided himself on every night.
And as a reward, he allowed himself the luxury of Elena. Though in truth, allowed wasn't quite the right word. Because every night she invaded his thoughts with a vengeance. And he gave up without a fight. He drowned himself in her. Her eyes, her voice, her touch. He relived the moments that belonged to them and them alone.
The conversations. The looks. The instinctive understanding.
The connection between them that at once united and separated them.
He left for a reason. And a good one, at that. But now he was growing weary. Of the silence and distance. Of the ache and the longing. Of the emptiness filling his soul. He needed a break from the trials he was putting himself through. A very long break. More than that, he needed to test his new found control in the real world.
And he could only do that one way.
So, he packed his bag, gathered his books, shrugged into his jacket and turned his car in the direction of Mystic Falls.
Of home.
And Elena.
The very reason he had a home to go back to.
The window pane was refreshingly cool against her heated skin.
She should be used to this by now. The sun had set. The moon had slipped into view. And Elena's body was reacting, preparing itself for the night to come.
It all started with the still visible wound on her wrist. It began to tingle and burn. The feeling soon spread through her body, like warm syrup. A sweet, pleasant haze of sleepiness embraced her like a fluffy blanket that'd just taken out of the dryer. She snuggled into it, just like she used to when she was a little girl cradled in her father's strong, safe arms.
She didn't know exactly what was happening to her. And frankly, she'd stopped caring a while ago. Because over the past five weeks she realized that all of this led to one thing.
Damon.
And those beautifully elusive dreams where she could lose herself for hours and feel as if somehow she'd been once and forever found. Because awake, she was as lost as she'd ever been.
The dreams had changed everything.
Her outlook. Her feelings. Her relationships.
News of the break up with Stefan had spread through the group like wildfire. At first, there was shock from most, disappointment from some and one well-meaning, but ill-advised "You and Stefan belong together. I'm sure you'll see things differently in time," from Bonnie. Caroline and Jeremy's support had been invaluable in moving the issue along and giving her a much needed reprieve.
Surprisingly, Stefan hadn't put up much of a fight. It was as if he knew it was coming. They parted as friends, knowing that they'd shared a beautiful moment, but that moment was now gone. All in all, things had died down since then and Elena had been able to slip back into her life with little interruption.
Only she wasn't sure what that life was now.
She wondered if she ever would.
Elena pulled out the journal with its blue cover that had one purpose and one purpose only. She turned to the opening entry...
I am Elena Gilbert. Three weeks ago I died and came back to life. Two days later, for one brief moment, I felt what it was like to really live.
This journal is dedicated to the one who gave me that moment - to Damon Salvatore. To the Damon that was, the Damon that could be, the Damon I'm beginning to know.
This is his story.
I will tell it as faithfully as I can.
She flipped past memories of a little boy with dancing blue eyes mischievously moving food from his plate into a napkin that he slipped to a starving slave boy hidden under the table. Past a eight year old taking the blame for the loss of a valuable vase that a pair of younger Salvatore hands had broken. Beyond the painful loss of a beloved mother, to the sweetness of a first kiss, and the pride of a bloody lip in defiant defense of a brother he adored.
Now, with an unsettled heart, it was time to add a new entry that had just surfaced. This time, sleep had eluded her, though the memory had not. She found the last entry, picked up her pen and began to write...
Fingers linked together, her tinkling laughter followed him into the forest as he pulled her along a hidden path.
"D, slow down! Where are you taking me?"
A knowing chuckle and a tug on her hand was her only answer.
They moved deeper into the safety of the trees and didn't slow until they rounded a wide bend of jagged rock only to pull up short in a familiar spot. He had purposely brought her a different, round about way to confuse her sense of direction.
Just for this moment.
She did not disappoint.
"Oh! Oh, Damon!" She pulled up short and stared in awe at the sight before her.
In a clearing surrounded by a babbling brook and a wall of trees sat a little stone cottage nestled in the crook of a wide, expansive mountain range. Her dream cottage. Once a hut of crumbling stone, now a place to call home.
He turned to her in time to see a wide smile spread across her exotic features. She was luminous standing there in the shade of the trees and his heart expanded beyond anything he'd felt before. Her flashing, dark gaze took in every detail. From the newly hung door painted haint blue - a superstitious tradition to ward off evil sprits - to the curtained windows at each side. Crumbled stones had been replaced and given a fresh scrubbing. And the flowers planted along the make-shift stone path were her favorite. He'd planted them himself.
"Well?" He squeezed her hand and inclined his head almost shyly. "Do you like it?"
"Like it?" She beamed, her lightly accented voice filled with awe. "D, it's...it's..."
"It's ours." Damon's voice sounded low in her ear as he stepped behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.
She spun to face him, her eyes wide with surprise. "What? Damon, what have you done?"
"I bought it."
"But...how did you..."
"What this? Did you think I would not put a roof over my bride's head once we are married?" He teased, his blue eyes dancing with mischief.
"No, I just...I did not even..."
"Oh, I see." His teasing increased. He adored her when she was flummoxed. "You've been listening to my father's complaints, haven't you? About how his worthless son intends to squander his family inheritance on cheap wine and even more worthless women."
"You are not worthless." She corrected, then gently reminded him with a coy glance. "But that was your intention when I met you."
He gasped in mock horror. "How dare you speak the truth." A smirk appeared. "To clarify, it was
only my intention because Father expected it and I truly hated to disappoint. In truth there were more words than actions put to those particular rumors. I'm more of a one woman man, for all that."
"I would not be marrying you if you were any other." She quipped knowingly. "So which do you think will disappoint Giuseppe Salvatore more? Squandering your fortune on this little cottage or marrying far beneath your station to a social outcast who has never had a home?"
"I do not care." Damon shrugged nonchalantly. "His disappointment, his approval...I don't need either anymore. As long as you are not disappointed with me..."
"How could I be? You've turned a run-down old cott that no one loved into a place that we can call our own. A place to dream and love and raise a family."
Damon glanced with pride at his handiwork. "Well, after all the times I have heard you wax poetic about how this place should be situated for just such a thing, it was surprisingly easy to recreate your dream on my own."
"You. Did this. On your own." A speculative eyebrow rose.
Damon rolled his eyes in quick defeat. "Ok, so maybe I had a little help."
"More like a lot of help, I'd wager." She corrected with a chuckle, as she slapped him lightly on the chest before her hands gently rested above his heart.
"Well, I am not sure Stefan can be described as 'a lot'."
"Oh." She lost a hint of enthusiasm at the mention of his brother. A button on his shirt suddenly earned the intense interest of her gaze and her fingers. Her gold and garnet engagement ring, a Salvatore heirloom, sparkled delicately in the sunlight. "So, Stefan knows about our place."
"Come on, Lily. Do not say it like that." Damon chided, with a tiny pout on his lips and a plea in his eyes. "I really wish you would try to like him. He is my brother and not nearly as bad as you think."
"I do not think he is bad." Her chastised gaze met his.
"But..."
"But...he lacks a certain...something. And if given a choice..." She answered slowly, choosing her words carefully. "...I would not choose him."
"Well, that would be a first." Damon quipped, an edge of bitterness entering the moment. His gaze shifted in thought. "Actually, that is a first."
A gentle hand on his cheek brought his gaze back to her face. "It will not be the last."
"As long as you are my last, the rest of the world can go jump in an incredibly large lake."
"I believe, my sweetest D, those are usually called 'oceans'." The mood instantly lightened as the full force of her smile returned and chased away any shadows.
Damon shrugged. "Oceans, lakes, edge of the world...they're all the same to me. Because you and I will be here, in our new home, which just happens to be in your most favored spot in the world." He teased, his eyes growing warm as the smile on her face spread. He captured her face in his hands and readied himself for a confession. "It's mine too, you know. The first time I ever laid eyes on you was here." His smile deepened as he pushed wild strands of dark hair behind her delicate ears. "My wild gypsy girl, dancing with the stars in the moonlight."
"You...saw that?"
"Oh, yes. I saw that." He whispered breathlessly as his admiring gaze caressed her exquisite features. "Fell in love on this very spot."
If possible, the shy blush on her cheeks made her even more lovely. "Why did you not tell me our first meeting was not our first?"
"What? And make you think I was stalking you?" He winked, chuckled then grew serious. "Besides we didn't meet that night. I was merely lost and happened on what I thought was a once in a lifetime miracle that disappeared before I could say a word. I honestly never thought I'd see you again. I even thought I'd imagined it all. But then when you showed up in town, I knew it had been real and Destiny had other plans."
She sighed happily and turned in his arms, leaning back against his chest as she gazed at their future. "D?"
"Hmmm?"
"Do you think what we have is forever?"
A chuckle rumbled through his chest. "You are the fortune teller. Do you not know?"
Without seeing her face, he could feel the weight of the frown at her lips pulling her shoulders down. "There is so much against us. Our families. The war. The darkness..."
"The darkness only needs light." Damon reassured gently. "When I resign my post in two weeks time, the war will no longer have anything to do with us unless we so choose. And as for our families...I will gladly renounce mine and join yours if need be."
Her sudden giggle brought a smile to his face. "I would like to see you try."
"What? You think I couldn't roam the highways and byways or learn to dance a jig for a penny?"
"I think your father will not be the only one disappointed with this union."
"Then we shan't tell either." Damon whispered in her ear. "We'll run away together and be deliriously happy. What do you say?"
"I say..." She turned to face him and wrapped her arms around his neck before answering with a disarming smile. "...you can do anything your heart tells you to do. And if deliriously happy is what your heart wants, that's what we will be."
"Well, then..." His piercing blue eyes warmed with emotion. "...my heart tells me it wants one more thing. To remember everything about this moment. Everything about you. And so, my love, I always shall..."
His lips lowered to capture hers in a sweet kiss of deep devotion.
As Elena Gilbert laid her pen down, she couldn't deny her confusion over what she'd seen or the heaviness in her heart and the tears filling her eyes.
Lily absently fingered the delicate gold and garnet ring hanging on a simple chain around her neck. She often did. When she was feeling unsettled. Or thinking of Damon.
Right now, she was doing both.
A door at the far end of the stately room opened and Lily immediately turned to face her mentor, her benefactress, her friend.
"Liliana, my dear, come." A woman of perpetual youth with warm brown eyes and long blonde hair held out her arms for a hug as she met Lily half way. "Had I known you were waiting, I would have come to you at once."
"Julianne." The smile that lit Lily's face was instant and full. She hugged her friend and released her with a satisfied nod. "It is so good to see you."
"And you as well." Julianne answered with a responding grin, though there was a knowing suspicion in her eyes. "It has been too long. Please. Do not stand on ceremony. You are like a daughter to me. Let us go...lounge."
Leading Lily into her inner sanctuary, Julianne did exactly as she suggested. She gracefully folded herself onto her divan and indicated that Lily should do the same. Instead, Lily chose to lower herself into a nearby arm chair and immediately came to the reason for her call. "Julianne, I am not here for a social call. I'm here because..."
"I know why you are here." Julianne stopped Lily with an upraised hand. "I have heard the reports. I was hoping they were not true, but..." Her sad gaze met Lily's. "...your visit only confirms what I already know."
"I'm sorry."
"For what? That Klaus has finally achieved his goal?" Her brown eyes glinted with wariness. "Or are you here on the unsavory task of playing mediator to Elijah and myself?"
Having expected the well-informed and usually astute Julianne to quickly put two and two together, Lily saw no point in asking how she knew Elijah even knew of her existence or location. "He just wants a chance to see you again. To explain his actions."
"And what does my brother have over you that you are willing to bring this request to me, knowing what you know?"
"Damon's life was in danger. Elijah helped me save him." Lily explained.
"I see." The suspicion in Julianne's eyes dissipated as she took in the young woman across from her. "Well, then, that earns him at the very least my gratitude."
"And at the most?"
"We'll see." Julianne leaned back against her pillows and readied herself for a tale. "But for now, I want to hear your story. So, tell me, Lily...how long have you known the prophecy was close at hand?"
tbc...
p.s. The blip about Stefan accepting things with him and Elena...well, we'll see. ;)