The Mystic Falls football field. It was completely void of people, but was full of chairs, stages, and graduation decorations. Then someone came walking towards the stage. Kol. He walked straight onto the podium that was center stage. He was standing in front of the microphone, tapping it see if it worked, when a large crowd of people arrived in the seats. Every hybrid and witch that was sacrificed for the Expression triangle sat and listened. "Welcome back. It was our deaths that allowed this day to come to pass–massacres performed in the name of resurrecting the immortal, Silas. Twelve hybrids, twelve witches, the slaughter of innocents by the so-called hero protectors of Mystic Falls. They risked unleashing hell on earth for their own selfish gains. And today that's exactly what they're going to get."
Lexi was dancing in the living room to an old Bon Jovi song, while Stefan took a long swig of bourbon from the bottle. "Damon!" Stefan screamed when he saw his brother enter. "Help me celebrate my 17th high school graduation," Stefan cheered, but Damon ignored his cheer and turned off the music. "Hey, you remember my friend, Lexi, of course?" "Lexi, back from the dead. Goody." Lexi smirked at Damon and then vamped at him, pushing him against the wall with her hand on his neck. "What's up, buzzkill?" "So you are just gonna sit there and let her enact her ghostly revenge?" Damon asked. Stefan thought for a very brief moment and then shrugged. "You reap what you sow, brother."
Damon rolled his eyes, but Lexi was angry. "Let's be very clear," she said squeezing his throat, "Whatever time I have left here, I sure as hell don't plan to waste on you. You got me?" "Yeah. Got ya." With a smirk, Lexi let go of Damon, and he dropped to his feet gasping for air. "So if you and Ric and little Gilbert are all flesh-like and real-seeming, that means something went horribly wrong when Bonnie tried to put that veil up. But here you two are having dance party USA." "How selfish of me to be indulging in these precious moments with my formerly dead best friend. I should be sacrificing my own happiness for the good of others, right? I should be upstairs grooming my hero-hair."
"Are you drunk?" Damon's face was full of anger. "I don't know, mom, am I?" Stefan asked, and Lexi chuckled as she took the bottle away from Stefan, but Damon took the bottle from her. "Well, I guess that's one way to celebrate our supernatural apocalypse." Instead of stomping away like most would think, he took a long swig from the bottle.
I was still in the boiler room of the school. Bonnie's spirit had come back to life, and I didn't know what to do. But right now, she was on the phone with Caroline about this whole mess. "I hit kind of a snag," she said over the phone. "A snag? A snag is a bad yearbook picture. You hit a tsunami. Where are you?" "I'm trying to fix it, but I'm running into some trouble. I need to wait until the full moon tonight to have enough power to put the veil back up." "Are you crazy?! Ask Gene to help you!" Bonnie's eyes went to mine, and we both turned to look at her lifeless body. "Maybe we should just cancel." "No!" Caroline said determinedly, "We are not going to cancel. Graduation is the most important event of our lives, the last ceremony of our youth. It is our rite of freaking passage! Hell will freeze over before I let anyone cancel graduation."
"Can you not make jokes about hell freezing over? We're not that far off from that already," Bonnie said with an exasperated voice. "Just promise me that today is a friend day." Bonnie let out a small sigh, and her eyes fell to the floor. "Okay, I promise. I love you." "I love you, too." Bonnie quickly hung up the phone, and I let out a frustrated sigh. "Go." Her eyes shot to mine, and they were filled with shock. "I'll make sure no one finds you body. But Bonnie-" "I know, okay? I know I need to tell them, I just can't. They've been through too much already." "Don't you think I know that?" I almost snapped at her.
She flinched at the sharp tone in my voice, and I had to shut my eyes to keep from getting angrier. "I know, Bonnie. This whole time I've been bitchy? I was just trying to make sure that no one else got hurt. Just… make sure you say goodbye." Bonnie gave me a sad smile, then left.
Alaric and Jeremy were eating while Elena watched with a smile. It was silent for a moment, they were all chewing their food, when Alaric spoke through a full mouth, "Mm. Oh, my God." Elena let out a hearty laugh as she watched Jeremy and Alaric eat. "No grease on the Other Side, huh?" "You have no idea how much I've missed this," Alaric agreed and then held up a bottle of bourbon, "And this." Elena frowned at his recurring alcoholic tendencies, and took the bottle away from him. His face filled with shock, "No, hey. Hey!" Elena smirked and took a swig from the bottle. "She just got her humanity back," Jeremy shrugged. "Let her live a little." Jeremy reached for the bottle as well, but Elena frowned and pulled it away. "Hey, you wish." "I'm dead-what are they gonna do, throw me in Juvie?" "Well, at least you'd have a place to live," Alaric joked, but looked at Elena with a blaming face.
Elena's face filled with a large smile as she let out a few chuckles. "You both suck!" she shouted as she threw food at them. "Hey! Now there it is–that smile. I wasn't sure we were gonna see that again," Alaric said with a smile of genuine happiness. Elena's smile fell slightly and filled with a small amount of sadness as her eyes began to glisten with tears. "I did some pretty terrible things," she said with a heavy sigh. "Hey, no tears," Jeremy said with a frown. "If Caroline was right, we only have until tonight. We need a no-crying rule." "But the crying's good. It means that I'm finally feeling something, and right now I…" she left off and grabbed Alaric and Jeremy's hands, "I feel happy." They both smiled at her, but Elena's phone went off, ruining their small moment. She quickly pulled out her phone and checked the caller ID. "It's the Grill-it must be Matt," she said answering the phone. "Hey, you went AWOL this morning-what happened?" Elena said with a small smile. But it immediately fell when she heard the voice of a previously dead Hunter on the other line. "Hello, Elena. It's your dead friend, Connor. You remember me?"
Matt and Rebekah both watched in horror as the previously dead Hunter/lover of Rebekah, Alexander, unloaded Connor's trailer of weapons. "A hidden compartment filled with advanced weaponry. Man has evolved from his days of throwing stones," he smirked. "There is nothing we can do for you Alexander. Please, let us go," Rebekah begged, more for Matt's life then her own. "I'm not holding you here. Although, I have a feeling that exploding contraption will have a hard time parting with your handsome friend intact." Rebekah's face filled with worry and fear as she looked at the weight sensitive bomb that Matt was standing on. "Just go, Rebekah. I'll be fine," Matt urged, but she shook her head. "I'm not leaving you." Alexander ignored their small romantic moment as he examined a bottle of werewolf venom. His face was filled with awe. "The soldier, Connor, found a way to siphon venom from a werewolf." "What do you want from us?" Rebekah asked with an exasperated frown. "To fulfill my destiny. The brotherhood of hunters was created for one reason, and one reason alone."
Damon was about to walk out of the Boarding House. He was opening the front door when he stopped in his tracks. Someone was blocking his way. "Vaughn?" he asked with a shocked and confused face. Vaughn aimed a gun at Damon and shot him in the shoulder. Damon stepped back from the blow in his shoulder and groaned in pain. "Got a little message for you, laddie. Straight from the mouth of the witch Qetsiyah."
Elena was still on the phone with Connor. Her brows were furrowed with anger and fear as she listened to what the Hunter said. "We want Silas, and we want the cure." "I don't know where they are, so I guess I can't help you," she said flatly, making Connor chuckle. "Huh. Well, you know who's gonna need some help? Grandma and Grandpa Jones, in town for the big high school graduation, along with Auntie Sue and Uncle Mark…" Alaric gestured at Elena, meaning he was going to go do something. She nodded her head silently, and he disappeared. "Matter of fact, everybody here at the Mystic Grill for graduation brunch. You either give me what I want, or they die."
Damon was standing in the living room groaning in pain as he pulled the bullet out of his shoulder. Vaughn had a pleased smirk on his face as he stared at the gun in appreciation. "Yeah, borrowed it from my jarhead friend, Connor. Shoots wood like lead." "Come on, man," Damon said in exasperation, "I didn't kill you." "No," Vaughn agreed, "but you left me in that well on that island, where I starved to death. There I was, all alone on the Other Side, till Qetsiyah found me and reminded me of my supernatural destiny to cure Silas, and then kill Silas. End of story–" Vaughn was cut off. He began to gag and choke, then silently fell to the floor. Damon stared at Vaughn's dead body in shock, then looked at his brother in surprise. Stefan was standing behind Vaughn's body, holding his heart in his hands.
"Please, don't hurt anyone," Elena said over the phone. "I'll find Silas and I'll get the cure." "Good. Get it done," Connor smirked then hung up. He turned around and his smirk fell. "So, you get off on terrorizing innocent people?" Alaric asked with a frown. "And who might you be?" "The guy responsible for the 18-year-old you just threatened." "Well, that 18-year-old snapped my neck with her bare hands." Alaric let out a loud laugh, then nodded his head with a smirk, "And I'm also the guy who showed her how to do that." Connor chuckled, "That's ironic. You must not know a damn thing about fighting if you're trying to intimidate a dead guy packing C4." Connor opened his large jacket, revealing over 20 lbs of C4 lining the inside. "This is my bar, pal. Nobody's gonna blow it up."
Connor grinned and held up the detonator. He slowly pushed the button, and with a vampire's speed, Alaric grabbed him and pulled him out of the Grill. The bomb exploded outside, but caused slight damage to the front edge of the restaurant.
Matt is standing very still on the explosive plate, Rebekah right beside him, while Alexander sat on the edge of the trailer. "Go ahead, sweet Rebekah. Use your vampire powers to whisk him away. I'm sure you can survive the blast of six of these... automobiles. Can he?" Alexander teased. Rebekah was conflicted. She wanted to run Matt away from the explosion, but she wasn't willing to risk it. "Just ignore him," Matt said with a serious face. "Alright? Let's think about something else. Like graduation. What are your plans–college? Travel? Just because I'm never getting out of this town doesn't mean you shouldn't see the world." Rebekah's eyes were glued to the bombing plate, but hesitantly looked up at him to answer. "It's just been settled. I'm gonna show you life as you've only dreamt it. We'll start in Italy. There's a lovely little church-" she broke off then glared at Alexander, "outside San Vittore in Brienno." "Romantic spot," he agreed. "Popular for weddings."
Rebekah glared then turned back to Matt. "And then I'll show you the Northern Lights in the springtime, the Simatai Gorge from atop the Great Wall of China, every inch of the Louvre," she said determinedly with teary eyes. Matt gave her a small smile, "China, Paris, the Northern Lights... It's a date." "We'll see it all when we're done here because we can. We're alive," she scorned at Alexander. "We're not gonna be stuck as ghosts in misery on the Other Side." Alexander let out an angry growl, then stood up. "Alright, you're done now." Without another word, Alexander threw a dagger at Matt. Rebekah instantly caught it, but accidentally bumped into Matt. Without anything to grab onto, he began to teeter on the bomb plate. But Rebekah caught him. He immediately let out a relieved sigh as Rebekah held onto him, "I've got you."
I was walking down the empty Mystic Falls High hallways.
Link: (polyvore) dotcom(/) genes(_) outfit(_) chapter(_) 10(/) set(?) id(=) 133125187
My cap and gown were both in my hand, I was wearing a dress, I was ready to graduate for the millionth time. I had just passed the cafeteria when Katherine walked up next to me. "I don't think red's really your color, Gene." "And here I was hoping the ghost of anyone would've ran you out of town by now." "Funny, but I'm here to collect that immortality you've promised me." I let out a forced chuckle, "Funny you still think you're going to get it. I told you, Qetsiyah's the only witch who knows the immortality spell. If she was a no-show, you're out of luck." Katherine stepped in front of me to block my way, and the only reason I didn't plow right through her is because I couldn't get dirty.
"See, here's the thing, Gene I can't disagree with you, because I have been feeling out of luck lately. But you know who has been getting all of my luck? My beloved doppelgänger, Elena. My shadow-self is living a better life than I am, so if I don't get that immortality, I may just have to get rid of her altogether." Hearing her words and seeing the seriousness on her face made me laugh. And she was not expecting that. The look on her face was priceless, because she thought I actually might care. "Do you think I care if you threaten her? News flash, I don't." "But you forgave her, I saw you." "I did it for Jeremy," I glared at her. She didn't say anything else, so I rolled my eyes and pushed past her.
Damon was sitting in his room rubbing his sore shoulder. Although he had already pulled the bullet out, it still hurt. He was looking in the mirror when Elena knocked on his doorframe. "Hey," she said with a small smile when he turned around. "Hey." "So I think there's some stuff you and I need to talk about," she said as she walked inside. "Yes, we do. But first," he agreed then walked to his bedside drawer, and pulled out the small box with the cure, "Consider it a graduation present." Elena's eyes widened in shock. The one thing everyone is searching for, and it's sitting in Damon's drawer? She hesitantly reached her hand out to it, but pulled it back. "Damon, I can't take that." "Sure you can. Looks like it might be cherry-flavored," he said with a smirk. She let out a small laugh, "I'm not saying I don't want it–obviously I want it. But... that's the only one. There's only one cure. And the hunters have made it pretty clear that they're willing to kill everyone in Mystic Falls until they get it."
Damon let out a sigh, then got serious. "Elena–" he said placing the small box in her hands, "take the damn thing. I want you to take it." Elena looked at him with hesitant eyes for a moment, and it seemed as if she might. But at the last minute she pulled her hand back and shook her head. "I can't." "Well, I guess that answers the sire bond question," Damon mumbled. Behind them both, the floor creaked, and Damon looked up to see little Gilbert. "You gonna help a brother out, or are you just gonna lurk?" At his comment, Elena turned around and smiled at him. "Look, Elena. You're my sister and I love you, no matter what you choose." Elena smiled, happy that her brother was okay with her decision. Damon, however, rolled his eyes and let out a frustrated sigh. "How is it even when you're dead, you're the bane of my existence?"
Downstairs in the living room Lexi was crouched down next to Vaughn's dead body while Stefan poured them both a glass of blood. "So, the veil's down until tonight, he dies and goes to the Other Side, and what? Comes back all over again? How long does that take?" Stefan shrugged his shoulders and handed her her glass. "What, they don't give you a rulebook over there?" he joked, making Lexi laugh. "You know, you're missing your chance to weigh in on the Great Elena Gilbert Cure Debate." "What am I supposed to do, tell her it's her choice? Gene was right, it's pointless. You know, it's funny, those two are in there arguing about how to protect the world, and they have yet to address their biggest issue." "Enlighten me," Lexi mused as she took a sip.
"The sire bond's gone. Elena's emotions are back. She finally knows exactly how she feels." Lexi's face grew serious, and she looked at Stefan with a sad smile. "And what if whatever she feels is for you?" Stefan stayed silent in thought. After a few minutes he let out a sigh, and shook his head. "She's the love of my life. I'd go back to her in a heartbeat. But, if that's not how she feels, then maybe that's exactly what I need to hear to get my ass out the door. Maybe I will move to Australia. I can live in a yurt." Lexi laughed at his foolish comment. Not really because it was funny, but more to make him feel better. "Cheers to that," she said holding her glass up. They both clinked right as Vaughn finally woke up.
Elena and Damon were still arguing, while Jeremy watched. "Come on, we don't need the cure for Silas–he's a calcified statue," Damon argued, then let out a low groan of pain. "What was that?" Elena asked with a worried face. Damon immediately answered, "Nothing." "Take off your shirt," Elena demanded. "Elena, there are children present." Jeremy rolled his eyes at the comment, while Elena shrugged and walked over to him. "Fine." She pulled his collar down, and there was a bad wound on his shoulder. When her fingers skimmed the surrounding areas he cringed in pain. "Damon, why isn't this healed?" "Because the bullet was laced with werewolf venom, okay? The hunters are dicks." Elena's eyes immediately widened in horror, and she began to pace as she thought of a plan. "We need Klaus. We need his blood." "Klaus would rather see me die. He's not going to save me twice, Elena." "That wound will kill you!" she snapped.
Damon looked at her in a surprise when Jeremy spoke up, "What about the cure?" They both looked at him in shock for a moment, but eventually Elena nodded her head. "Jeremy's right. If you're human, the werewolf venom won't hurt you." "And here I was, so moved by your speech to save mankind," he said sarcastically. Downstairs, they could hear the sounds of Vaughn gasping for air. "Sounds like Vaughn's awake," Damon said then walked right out of the room. "Damon, wait."
Vaughn was glaring angrily at Stefan and Lexi when Damon walked in. When Vaughn turned around, Damon tossed him the cure. "Here." "The hell are you doing?" Stefan asked angrily. "Digging up Silas," he said over his shoulder as he walked towards the door. "You coming, Vaughn, or not?" Vaughn eagerly ran after him, and Elena appeared downstairs as the door slammed behind him. Her face was filled with confusion, so she turned to Stefan and Lexi for an explanation, but they both were just as confused as her.
Damon and Vaughn had both arrived at the edge of the quarry. It was a large cliff that fell down to a large mass of water. "Here we are," Damon said with a smirk. Vaughn's face was full of confusion, and just the sight made Damon want to laugh. "What is it?" "It's where I dumped Silas. Closed off to hikers, no food for animals, endlessly deep water." "I'm not following you, Damon," Vaughn continued in confusion, "Where exactly did you put the body?" Damon made a fake wincing sound as he pursed his lips in 'thought'. With a large smirk, and a very sarcastic tone, he began to explain the 'steps' of how he got rid of Silas. "Well, um… well, let me see. So I dragged his stone ass through here, I flung him in that general direction," he cut off as he gestured with his hand. "Then he tumbled down into those weeds… I kind of lost him in the rocks." Vaughn watched Damon with a look of pure shock. "Wait, what is it? It's, ah, distance equals velocity times time?" Damon shrugged his shoulders and then turned to Vaughn with a fake exasperated face, "Guess I should've told you to bring some scuba gear, huh?"
Rebekah and Matt were still desperately holding onto each other as they stood on the pressure plated bomb. As they tried to remain balanced, Alexander circled them with an annoyed smirk. "Don't you two look cozy?" he grunted, then walked into the trailer to get something. "So… he seems nice," Matt commented awkwardly. Rebekah let out a few giggles and almost lost her balance. She quickly fixed herself, then frowned at Matt. "Don't make jokes-I'll laugh and you'll fall." Matt shrugged lightly, then suddenly became serious. "I'm wearing the Gilbert ring. I can't be killed by anything supernatural, so maybe if you're the one who detonates the bomb, then I won't die." "Absolutely not," Rebekah said almost instantly. "You'll blow into a billion pieces, the ring with it." "There's only one way to find out," he shrugged again.
Rebekah hesitantly nodded her head in agreement. "Fine, okay. The first rule of truly living: do the thing you're most afraid of." Matt looked confused for a moment, then realization hit him when he saw Rebekah leaning in to his lips. They kissed, all the passion she had been containing, all the passion Matt had been keeping himself from showing, exploding into it. When they finally broke apart, Matt had a small smile on his face. It quickly disappeared when he realized what she had done. He was no longer standing on the bomb plate. "What are you doing?" he asked in horror. "I can't be killed and you can't miss graduation. Please, go." "No," Matt said stubbornly. "Run!" Rebekah yelled at him. He had no time to try and be the hero, and Rebekah would not let him die.
He hesitated, but Rebekah's eyes glared hard at him, begging him to run. And he did. As soon as he disappeared into the woods, Alexander emerged from the trailer. His annoyed and angry smirk immediately fell in shock. "What have you done?" "I finally chose one of the good ones," Rebekah smiled, then ran as fast as her legs could carry her, away from the bomb.
"We have to do something," Elena growled out as she paced through the living room. "If those hunters give the cure to Silas-" "They're not giving it to Silas. Wherever Damon is taking Vaughn right now, it's to stall, because Damon hasn't had time to bury Silas' body yet." As Elena stopped pacing, I walked in. I mean, was I the only one ready for graduation? "What up, losers?" I asked with a smirk as I entered. Stefan, Jeremy, and Lexi looked at me with a small smile, but Elena glared at me. I didn't care. I just ignored her. "Damon is off with Vaughn somewhere, and he has werewolf venom in his system. You need to get Klaus' blood." "Well someone is sure set on pissing me off," I glared at Elena. "Elena, calm down. It was one bullet, and it was only laced. We still have time."
"Then it's settled," Jeremy cheered with a smile. Just seeing his smile made me smile, and I instantly jumped to his side and hugged him. He wrapped one arm around my waist to hug me, and with the other he extended Elena's cap and gown to her. "Gradua-no, Jer, I never even sent in my college applications." "Don't care," he shrugged, "Mom and dad would kill you if there wasn't a photo of you in your graduation getup." "Jer, no. Not if you can't be there." This time I shrugged. "Lexi will keep him company." Jeremy and Lexi both nodded their heads in agreement, and Jeremy's sweet smile changed into a serious face. "You're going." With a hesitant sigh, Elena nodded her head and grabbed her cap and gown. "Let's go graduate." Stefan, Elena and I all smiled at each other. Genuine smiles. Because this was going to be our moment to forget the supernatural drama and act like normal teenagers.
Well… sort of.
We were driving to the school, Stefan, Elena and I, while I called Nik. He was angry with me for doing what I did. When I went home to change he was yelling about me 'putting my life in danger' and 'I could have died'. I guess he's still angry? Because he isn't answering, and I keep getting his voicemail. We had finally gotten to the football field when I was leaving my 4th voicemail, and I just told Stefan and Elena to go in before me. "Niklaus, now is not the time to be ignoring me. I'm going to call you every 10 minutes until you answer!" I shouted into the phone, then let out a sigh. "Nik, please, I can't lose Damon." With another sigh, I hung up the phone and let out deep breaths to keep myself from crying.
I waited around a little bit longer, hoping that Nik listened to the 4 voicemails I left him and would call me back. But after 5 minutes I gave up hope. I was about to walk into the field when I heard the whooshing sound of something being flung at me. I nonchalantly turned to see a small ball of fire flying at me. With a small smirk, I raised my hand and the ball stopped, burned out, then fell harmlessly to the floor. "Attacking an opponent while their back is turned. That's not very honorable of you, Aja." The angry witch glared at me as her coven surrounded me. "I'm glad you remember us, Arabella." A wave of anger and disgust rushed through my body, causing a low growl to rumble out of my throat. "Do NOT call me that." Aja let out a dark chuckle and was about to cast a spell when something went flying towards her and cut off her head.
My mouth widened in shock, and so did the rest of the coven's mouths. When I turned around my shocked face filled with relief. "Bonjour Mademoiselle Salvatore." I completely forgot about the angry coven of witches around me and ran to Kol and hugged him. "I missed you, you crazy idiot!" "Likewise, darling, but don't you think we should deal with the rest of these angry witches?" "Oh, right," I said finally remembering about them. I nonchalantly flicked my wrist in their general direction, and they all were incinerated by a wave of flames. It was quick. No pain, no screams. "Well that was easy," he frowned at me. He stayed that way, frowning at me for a moment, probably lost in thought. On a whim, I reached my hand up and ran my fingers through his hair. "If you're ever lonely over there you know you can come see me." His eyes finally locked on mine, and I saw slight fear run through them. "Thank you, Genevieve." I nodded my head with smile as Kol hugged me. Without saying a word, he kissed my cheek and left.
Right after he disappeared I heard footsteps approaching behind me, and the sound of a voice I knew all too well. "It seems you started without me. Pity, I was hoping to let off a little steam." "Sorry to disappoint you again," I frowned at my love. His eyes were a bit angry, but they held a deep sadness. Just seeing them made my heart tighten with guilt. "Darling, I'm sorry. I will spend forever making it up to you. I will do anything. But please don't look at me like that," I choked out as I walked to stand in front of him. Letting out a heavy sigh, I prepared myself for another argument, but before I could even say a word, Nik pulled me into his arms and kissed me. A kiss that held every emotion I knew he was feeling. Anger that I didn't tell him the truth, sadness because I didn't trust him, fear that he could have lost me, love, lust. Our hearts were molding together as our lips clashed. My hands were desperately gripping on his curls, and his hands were holding tightly on my hips. If the world was going to end, I wish this would be my last moment. Every inch of my mind was being embedded with his emotions, touch and love.
When Nik pulled away, he leaned his forehead against mine and had a small smile on his face. "I don't know what I'd do without you," he whispered. My heart fluttered at his words, but there was still something we had to talk about. "Nik, my brother," I sighed out and looked at him with hesitant eyes. His eyes were closed as he kept his forehead against mine, but his smile never faltered. "I know. He's still a thorn in my side," he grumbled out, making me chuckle. "Alright, drink," he said leaning his head to the side. It had honestly been so long since I've drank his blood, that at the mere thought of it, my fangs extracted. Without a moment's hesitation, I grabbed Nik and pulled him close to me. "I love you, Niklaus Mikaelson," I whispered through my fangs. As I got on my tip toes to sink my fangs into his neck, he whispered back, "I love you too, Genevieve Salvatore."
"Welcome parents, family, and friends. What a beautiful day for a graduation. Thank you for joining us today on this special day, as we celebrate our graduates. So let's get started," Bonnie's dad announced as we all sat in the plastic chairs in front of the stage. We were all seated by last name, so we were all scattered, but I got to sit next to Stefan. There was a giant smile on my face. I was engaged to the man I love, my brothers aren't trying to kill each other, and I was graduating for the millionth time. Looking over at my big brother, I saw that he had a small smile of his own. Mayor Hopkins had continued speaking, now announcing the graduates in order by last name. "John Albrecht. David Bance. Sarah Beasley. Um, not to play favorites, but I am especially proud of this next graduate, my lovely daughter: Bonnie Bennett!" he announced. The second her name was said, I started screaming and cheering for her. Somewhere in the sea of gowned students I could hear Caroline, Matt and Elena screaming along with me. "Congratulations. I'm so proud of you, sweetie," he said then continued announcing, "Savannah Davis. Matt Donovan." Another uproar of cheers from my friends and I. "William Duncan. Caroline Forbes." An even louder uproar. As Caroline walked up the stage she sent us all looks that said 'if you don't scream I'll kill you'. "Matt Freeman. Elena Gilbert." I didn't cheer. I know she noticed, and I didn't do it to be a bitch. But when I heard her name being called I reflexively looked over at Stefan. There was a smile on my face that immediately fell when I saw his. His eyes were so happy and sad that I wanted to cry. He loved her so much, and now he's so heartbroken that he doesn't know what to do with himself.
Vaughn and Damon were still standing over the quarry, and Vaughn had finally grasped the situation that Damon was explaining to him. "What's wrong, laddie?" Damon teased in a fake Scottish accent as Vaughn held a gun to his chest. "Can't swim?" Vaughn glared at Damon, but the anger changed to curiosity when he saw a sickness on Damon's neck. "The hell happened to you?" Damon looked down to where Vaughn was looking. When he saw the poisoned veins that were steadily creeping through his body he let out a small sigh. "Oh, well, would you look at that. That is nasty." "Connor…" Vaughn laughed then looked appreciatively at the gun he was holding. "He must've laced these bullets with werewolf venom." "Ding-ding-ding," Damon said with a smirk, "Not as dumb as you sound."
Vaughn glared at Damon and shot him in the leg. Damon let out a loud groan of pain, then grabbed at his newly wounded leg. "This was all a lie, eh? You knew you were a dead man." Vaughn let out a slight sigh and pulled the cure from around his neck. "Well, you don't get this back. Where'd you put Silas?" Damon let out a small laugh through the pain of his wound, and Vaughn shot him again in the chest.
The blow caused him to fall onto his knees, and he wasn't sure if he could take anymore pain. "One more jolt of werewolf toxin, and you'll be dead within minutes." Damon didn't respond to Vaughn's threats, and he got pissed off. "Where's Silas?" he shouted as he pointed the gun at Damon's head. He still didn't say anything. Vaughn was about to pull the trigger of the gun when Alaric appeared and snapped his neck. Without a struggle, Alaric picked up the body and threw it into the quarry. "Oops." "One slight problem," Damon wheezed out, but Alaric held up the cure to shut him up." "Yes, that."
"I would love nothing more than to get out of here before Vaughn comes back to life, but Damon won't take the cure. He wants it for Elena," Ric said over the phone as he talked to Stefan. "Okay, just hang on a little longer. Gene hasn't had luck calling Klaus," Stefan replied, but I quickly grabbed his arm to get his attention. "I have Klaus' blood in my system. Damon needs to drink my blood." Stefan looked at me with wide eyes, partially disgusted and partially relieved, but Ric heard and agreed to meet at the Boarding House.
I had just finished healing Damon. Stefan, Alaric, Lexi, and I were all sitting downstairs drinking. Upstairs, we heard Elena walking into Damon's room. "Hi." "Are you feeling better?" she asked. Ric and I both looked at each other knowingly, but Damon didn't pick up on the tone of her voice. "Yeah." "So it's all healed up?" "Fresh as a daisy." "Good," she said then came the loud sound of her hand slapping Damon's cheek. "Ouch," Lexi winced, but Ric and I laughed. "Yeah, I taught her that swing," Ric smirked. "You know it's not polite to eavesdrop, right?" Stefan chastised, but we all rolled our eyes. "Hey, I'm short on time here. Don't rob me of what little joy I have," Lexi commented, and I nodded my head in agreement with her. "We're going on a road trip soon. I need to laugh as much as I can." "Anyone seen Jeremy?" Elena asked as she walked in the room. "Oh, he went to see Bonnie. He'll be back later. You know, before... well, you know." "Yeah. Stefan, can I, um... can I have a moment?" My eyes immediately went to his, and I saw the fear in them, but I gave him an encouraging smile anyways. He smiled back at me, then nodded his head, "Sure."
"This could get interesting," I mumbled. "Usually does," Alaric laughed. "So, the Other Side... Not exactly a party, is it?" "I've lived... better," Ric said awkwardly while trying to avoid my eyes. I still felt terrible for what happened. I mean I killed him, and then I killed Jeremy. Just the thought caused a wave of sadness to take over my emotions. "You know there's something else out there, right? There has to be. Silas' whole agenda was to find peace with his one true love, and whatever 'peace' is... it's out there. I figure once we've served our time for all the bad things we've done, then it's just about letting go, moving on." "And how are we supposed to do that when the knuckleheads we care about can't seem to keep their lives straight?" Ric joked then wrapped an arm around my shoulder. The light tone of his voice made me chuckle a bit, and although I was still sad, I wanted to enjoy the time I had left with him.
"So, what's up?" Stefan asked as they walked outside. "Honestly, Stefan, I just wanted to thank you. For sticking by me when I was at my worst, for believing that I was still in there. Even after everything I put you through, you... you never gave up on me." "I, ah... I kind of owed you one," Stefan sighed out. The two smiled at each other in silence for a moment, until Elena held out her hand to him. "Here." Stefan held out his hand to her, and she put something in her hand. When he looked down at it his face filled with shock, and he let out an involuntary gasp. "It's yours. I want you to have it." "No, Elena, I'm not gonna-" "Stefan. The only person worse at being a vampire than me is you. Human blood is your downfall. You got the raw end of the vampire deal. The rest of us will be fine, we'll survive. I mean, you taught us. You deserve whatever you want out of life. You deserve this."
"Niklaus!" I shouted into the mansion. "In my office!" I quickly walked towards Nik's office and saw him sitting at his desk. He had a pencil in his hand and was sketching away like the wind. I silently walked behind me to see what he was drawing. Me. It was amazing, as usual, and it made the pain of what I was about to say even worse. "You're amazing," I whispered into his ear as I leaned on his back. "You obviously don't know what amazing is. You're piano skills. Now that's amazing." I let out a light chuckle as I peppered small kisses on his neck. "Thank you for that very modest, and very generous compliment." Nik let out a hearty laugh, then set down his pencil. "Finished." I admired the drawing.
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It was flawless, and it just made me happier.
"I know what you came to tell me…" he mumbled out with a sigh. "Niklaus, I'm s-" "No, it's alright. I know you have a duty to your brothers. But please… play me a song before you leave?" My heart fluttered at the innocent look in his eyes, and I instantly nodded my head.
We were in the music room.
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Yeah, we actually have one that I never use. I walked straight towards the piano bench and relished in uncovering the keys. "Wow," I giggled out wistfully. "It's been so long since I've played." "Riding a bike, my little vie," Nik said sitting next to me. "Okay, what shall I play?" "Surprise me," he smiled as he leaned his head on my shoulder and kissed my cheek. A song immediately popped in my mind, and I began to sing. My heart melted into the song, singing with all my love, letting my fingers work their magic. When I finished, I looked over at Nik, and his face was astounded. "Amazing," he whispered to me with a sad smile. Now that the song was over, I realized that I would be leaving this man for weeks. I'm not sure that I'm ready for this, but for my brother I would do it. "I love you," he whispered in my ear. "I love you too, darling."
We stayed that way for a moment. Him leaning on my shoulder, me playing with his fingers. "I guess you best be off, then." I slowly nodded my head. "Guess so." With a sigh, I grabbed his face and gave him one last kiss. It was long, and passionate, and what I needed to get myself moving. When we broke apart I quickly got up and traced his jawline with my fingers, then left.
Damon was standing in front of the fireplace, as usual, staring into the flames. Elena walked in. She had a determined pace, and stopped right behind Damon. When he turned around he saw her glaring at him with crossed arms, and he sighed. "I wanted to apologize…" "Good," she interrupted, but he held up his hand to stop her. "Let me finish. I said I wanted to. And then I realized, I'm not sorry." Elena's serious face filled with an angry confusion as she uncrossed her arms. "You would rather die than be human, and you expect me to be okay with that?" "I didn't say you were supposed to be okay with it, I just said I'm not sorry. But you know what I really am? Selfish, because I make bad choices that hurt you. Yes, I would rather have died than be human. I'd rather die right now than spend a handful of years with you, only to lose you when I'm too old and sick and miserable and you're still you. I'd rather die right now than spend my last final years remembering how good I had it and how happy I was, because that's who I am, Elena, and I'm not gonna change. And there's no apology in the world that encompasses all the reasons that I'm wrong for you." Elena's eyes widened in shock at his heartfelt confession. Damon watched her intently, waiting for her reaction, and shocked when she finally did react. She simply shrugged her shoulders, "Fine, then I'm not sorry either. I'm not sorry that I met you. I'm not sorry that knowing you has made me question everything, that in death you're the one that made me feel most alive. You've been a terrible person, you've made all the wrong choices, and of all the choices that I've made this will prove to be the worst one. But I am not sorry that I'm in love with you. I love you, Damon. I love y–" He quickly closed the space between them and pulled her lips to his. Everything that he had been holding back since she turned her humanity back on poured into the kiss. And every ounce of love, that Elena finally was able to prove to Damon was real, did too.
Stefan was standing right in front of the door. He was frozen in place by the heartbreaking sounds of our brother and the girl he loved kissing with an intense passion. "Steffie?" I asked in a small voice.
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Hearing me call him shocked him out of his frozen state, and he turned to me with teary eyes. With a heavy sigh, I grabbed his arm and led him out of the house and to the edge of the driveway where we could no longer hear them. "We should go," I said to him in a serious tone. He didn't reply, but instead, weakly nodded.
Stefan and I were loading up my car with Silas' stone body. We had finally squeezed him inside when Damon came out. "Hey." "Think the quarry will be deep enough to bury Silas?" "Yeah," I immediately answered with a smile. Damon looked at me with sorry eyes before turning to Stefan and nodding his head. "I don't think anyone's gonna stumble on him there." Stefan nodded his head, then closed the trunk. "You want me to, ah–" Damon started to ask, but Stefan shook his head to cut him off. "No, it's all right. I got Gene and Lexi coming with me." Damon's eyes fell as he looked down at the ground for a moment. "Yeah," he mumbled disheartedly.
Damon was about to walk inside when Stefan called out to him. "Hey, Damon." "Yeah?" "I'm not happy about Elena…" Stefan started with a low voice, then cleared his throat to speak more evenly, "but I'm not not-happy for you, either. I just want you to know that." My heart fluttered at the sight of my brothers getting along for a moment, and a giant smile lit up my face. "Thanks, brother," Damon smiled then walked inside.
Damon and Alaric were now alone in the living room. Alaric was gazing out the window while Damon filled up two glasses of bourbon. "Moon's full," Alaric commented, but Damon didn't need to look outside to know. "Yeah." "Where's Elena?" "She's trying to find Bonnie and Jeremy. She's worried about the time," Damon said as he turned to glance over at Ric. He froze when he saw a pleased smile on his face. "What?" "You got the girl, man." Damon gave the slightest of smiles, and mumbled out, "I got the girl." "Now don't screw it up." Damon chuckled at Ric's teasing tone as he bent down to pick up their glasses. "Well, with you looking over my shoulder, how can I?" When he looked back up Ric was gone.
Lexi, Stefan, and I were all squeezed in my car and driving down the road. "New York?" Lexi suggested, but I shook my head. "That's too close." Silence. "What about Vegas?!" This time Stefan shook his head. "Ugh, no. Too touristy." That made me laugh, but Lexi was getting irritated. "Look, I know you think I'm joking, but you are leaving. You just graduated for the millionth time. It's time to start living your life." "What if Elena was... the one?" "She wasn't," I immediately answered. Lexi smacked my arm and gave me a look that said 'he's heartbroken, ease up.' With a sigh, I continued. "She was an epic love, but that's all it was." Lexi smiled at my way of trying to cheer him up. I thought it was fine being left as it was, but she had to add to it and ruin my message. "Contrary to popular belief, there are actually multiple ones – especially for a vampire. The only way to find another is to let go, and move on." Stefan didn't say anything for a while. He was lost in thought as he stared at the road, but after two minutes he let out an airy chuckle and nodded his head. "I've never been to Portland." "Me neither," I agreed absentmindedly. When Lexi didn't say anything Stefan and I both turned around to look at her, but she was gone. "See ya, Lexi."
Elena was walking down the Mystic Falls High School hallways in search of Jeremy and Bonnie. Everything was silent until she heard a noise behind her. She instantly shot around to see... no one. She let out a small chuckle at her jumpiness and turned to continue walking, but froze. "Happy graduation, cupcake," Katherine smirked. Before she could reply, Katherine vamped forward and slammed her against a wall. She was about to jump to her feet to retaliate, but Katherine grabbed her and threw her across the hall and into a door. "What are you doing?" Elena growled out. "Would you believe I'm having a bad day?" Katherine smirked as she picked up Elena and threw her against a wall of lockers. Elena jumped to her feet, allowing Katherine to pin her to the lockers by the neck, using her foot.
"It started when Gene denied me my Silas-like immortality." "Of course," Elena choked out, "because Katherine Pierce can't be happy with good old vampire-caliber immortality." Elena quickly grabbed Katherine's foot and used it as leverage to slam Katherine into the ground. Without a second to catch her breath, Katherine jumped up and slammed Elena's back into the opposite wall. Elena was done with being attacked, so she grabbed the handle of a locker door and swung it at Katherine's face, but she caught it. "I deserved it. I never had a graduation, or a prom, or, you know, a life. But you did." Katherine slammed the locker door into Elena's face. "You have everything, and it's not because you're a good little girl who deserves happiness, it's because you stole mine." Katherine threw the door at Elena, but she ducked. The sheer force of the throw caused it to stab into the other lockers. "I stole your happiness? You killed my brother!" Katherine ran at Elena, but she blocked and threw Katherine down the hall. "I'll admit," Katherine said in a windy tone, "that was nasty."
The sound of Katherine's nonchalant tone infuriated Elena. Moving on pure anger, she ran at Katherine. But Katherine used Elena's blind rage to grab her arm and twist it behind her back. Using her arm, she slammed Elena into a fire extinguisher case, the glass shattering into Elena's skin and face. Katherine let go of Elena, and she collapsed to the floor. Her breathing was ragged, and it looked like she was losing her spark of anger, but Katherine was still as calm as ever. "I have nothing," Katherine said as she grabbed a broom with a wooden handle and smacked Elena with it. "But I'm about to change that." Elena was lying tiredly on the floor as Katherine smacked and kicked her. "Kicking someone while they're down… classy till the end, Katherine." Katherine let out a devious laugh, "Your end." Without another word, she broke the stick in half and stabbed it in Elena's throat. Blood began gushing out of her neck and mouth.
Katherine smirked, then pulled the stick out of Elena's throat. She quickly threw it aside, then thrusted her hand into Elena's chest. Elena let out a loud scream of pain as she desperately grabbed Katherine's hands to pull them out. But in a sudden moment of realization she let go and stumbled to grab something from her pocket. "Bye-bye, little girl." Elena finally pulled out a small tube of liquid from her pocket. The cure. Before Katherine knew what she was doing, Elena stuck it in her mouth, then slammed her jaw closed. The liquid of the cure instantly dissolved into her body, and Katherine collapsed onto the floor next to Elena. "Have a nice human life, Katherine."
Stefan and I had finally made it to the quarry and were unloading Silas' body. As I helped him pull it out of the trunk, my hand slipped and the bag with his stone body crashed to the floor. Instead of one loud thud, however, it sounded like various small pieces. Stefan gave me a curious look, but when he saw that I was just as confused as him, he bent down and opened the bag. As soon as it opened, I let out a loud gasp of shock. It was full of plain, ordinary rocks. "Don't bother. I'm not there," Elena's voice said. I immediately turned and jumped in front of Stefan to defend him. "Silas. How are you alive? The spell, it turned you to stone." "That's the funny thing about spells–they're bound by Nature. Nature demands balance, so every spell has a loophole. The spell that turned me into stone was bound by a witch–a living witch. So when that witch died, the spell broke." My angry face filled with shock and sadness at the reminder of my dead friend, but Stefan was hearing it for the first time. "Bonnie's dead?"
"It doesn't matter, does it? And here's where the mystery of me comes full circle. I created the immortality spell two thousand years ago. I can never die, so Nature needed to find a balance–a version of me that could die. A shadow-self–a doppelgänger." My eyes widened in shock. "So, this is finally your real face?" Stefan asked with wonder. "You're another one of them?" I spat out in disgust, but Silas chuckled at my reaction and shook his head. "Not exactly." Stefan and I looked at each other in confusion for a moment, but when we looked back at Silas, he looked like Stefan. I was stunned into silence. "Hello, my shadow-self."
In the blink of an eye, Silas vamped in front of me and threw me into the forest. I felt myself flying through the trees, various small branches and twigs piercing my skin, until I caught myself on a tree bow. Without a moment of rest, I ran back to the quarry in time to see Silas throw Stefan into the safe and into the quarry. "No!" I shouted as I ran even faster, my mind racing 'Get there. Get there. Stop him. Stefan!' But it was too late. I collapsed into tears at the edge of the quarry, staring down at the large mass of body below. "Don't worry about him, Arabella. You should worry about yourself." I turned to him with all of my anger and went to punch him. With each hit I threw he dodged, and with each step forward I took, he took two back. After a while of running at him in anger, I collapsed into tears.
"Why? Why do you keep doing this to me?" I sobbed out. "Because you're like me," he said as he knelt down in front of me. "Do you know why Stefan is my doppelganger?" I shook my head. "Because you, Damon, and Stefan are all my descendants. Yet, there have never, not once, been any witches amongst my blood line." My mind filled with confusion for a moment, but I didn't say anything. "All of my magic was passed on to my bloodline when I became a vampire, but there has never been any witches among them? That's where you got your magic from. That's why I am so fixated on you." "Why are you telling me this?" I sniffled out. Silas shrugged his shoulders, then gave me a small smile as he wiped my tears from my cheeks. "I feel a paternal bond with you. Yet, at the same time, I feel possessive over you." He was silent for a moment, and slowly his smile fell. "It's a shame." "What is?" "It's a shame that I've finally told you the truth, and now I'll have to make you forget it all."
My eyes widened in shock and fear, and I quickly jumped up and ran away. I couldn't hear the sound of him chasing me, so I thought I was in the clear. But when I got a few miles into the woods, I saw him in front of me. "It's useless to run, Arabella. I'm faster than you," he said as he ran at my speed. I instantly changed course, running towards home. I had ran a few minutes when I felt his iron grip on my wrist, and I instantly was pulled into his chest. The arms that I had once believed felt comforting were now a cage. This voice, the voice I grew up with, the voice that comforted my worst nightmares was now a chill down my spine. Arabella. The haze began to swarm my mind. You must forget. 'NO!' Let go of the memories. 'PLEASE, NO!' Sleep, now. Sleep. My eyes began to grow heavy, closing against my will. My tongue felt like lead, and I couldn't speak. When you wake up, you will remember nothing. And then the darkness consumed me.
Goodnight, my sweet, Arabella.
