The doorbell sounded, and Elena hurried down the stairs. She knew it had to be Elijah after he texted her yesterday about needing her present tonight, the night they would murder his mother for the final time. She was nervous, and the last twenty four hours had dragged which only added to her anxiety. She spent a good deal of that time wondering if she might not see him again for a while, after this. Would his presence in her life dwindle? Would he force himself to stay away? She hoped he didn't still intend to leave Mystic Falls with Finn.
She had just skidded to a stop, smoothing out her clothes and hair, when Ric grabbed hold of the doorknob. Elena looked up at him warily, but his face was grim.
"I told you I wasn't letting you do this alone," he reminded her.
She glanced down at his hand - the ring was still there. The security blanket that gave her no room to protest. She met his eyes again. "Thanks."
He opened the door and initially Elijah appeared surprised that the history teacher was the one to greet him. But then his expression changed to one of subtle respect. "Are you accompanying us?"
"Do you really think I'd let Elena run off alone to face down your mother? I lost my girlfriend the last time I missed out on one of your rituals."
Elijah grimaced at the reminder of Jenna's death before his aloof demeanor was back in place. "Fair enough. If you'll both follow me, then."
Elena took a deep breath as they locked the door and stepped out onto the porch. She wasn't sure she was ready for this. Alaric sensed her anxiety and squeezed at her shoulder. "It will be fine," he whispered.
She nodded, appreciating the reassurance despite the fact that it sounded hollow to her. She didn't know how he could be so sure. He knew how many times their plans took a wrong turn and someone suffered. She only hoped it wasn't one of the three of them tonight, or Bonnie.
Elijah opened the passenger side door, gesturing her inside. She had just settled into the seat when a familiar voice greeted her. Her voice.
"Hello, Elena."
She twisted around to face Katherine. "What….? Why are you here? I thought you were on the run from Klaus."
"Well," she said with a smirk, "things change. Mutual favors and all that. We were able to strike a deal, since they need both doppelgangers for the ritual, and now I have my freedom. Or at least I will, once Esther is taken care of."
Elena turned to Elijah, ignoring the mischievous glint in Katherine's eyes now that she'd gotten under the younger duplicate's skin. "You didn't tell me she would be here."
"I'm aware that there's no loss of love between you, but her participation is necessary. However, she's agreed to act on best behavior, lest the deal be broken." He cast a warning glance in Katherine's direction, who pouted at the subtle dressing down. "And I didn't feel it was worth riling you over until I was sure Katerina would actually grace us with her presence. You've suffered through enough stress as of late."
His gaze showed his sincerity, and she relented with a sigh, though she still crossed her arms. "Fine."
"So," Alaric said from the backseat, breaking into the heavy mood. "How is this going down?"
"With magic, of course, as it's the most effective way to fight magic." Elijah's eyebrow rose with a hint of amusement. "Namely, Grigore and Bonnie, who are now by the Salvatore tomb with my mother and Finn, practicing to take us down. Or so my mother thinks. My remaining siblings should be arriving as we do. You'll join us off on the sidelines, but basically the witches, including Rebekah, will draw on the strength of the doppelgangers to weaken my mother until she dies."
"And Elena won't get hurt," Alaric stated pointedly.
"Never, Ric. She will be safe and sound."
Alaric didn't reply but there was an air of grudging acceptance in his expression now that showed he was satisfied with the Original's declaration, and Elena felt a twinge of nervous anticipation in her stomach when Elijah's dark eyes caught hers again. Her fingers found the medal around her neck, the one she hadn't removed since he'd clasped it upon her. The corners of his mouth gave the slightest hint of a smile, as though he were pleased that she silently acknowledged he would protect her. She longed to take his hand but it wasn't appropriate in their current company. Instead, she would talk to him later. Once the night was over and the immediate threat was gone. When they could all breathe a little easier.
It didn't take long to reach the graveyard. Kol, Klaus, and Rebekah were waiting for them at the gates. The blonde vampire crossed her arms as her elder brother approached with the two doppelgangers.
"The sight of them makes me sick," she hissed.
"Oh, it's nice to finally meet you too," Katherine replied, saccharinely sweet, to which Kol chuckled. She smirked as she sauntered past them, and Klaus drew in a deep breath, bracing himself for his sister's apoplectic reaction.
"You should be more polite, Bekah," Elijah chided. "I know it brings back memories of a tense time for our family-"
"And Stefan Salvatore," Klaus muttered under his breath.
"But," Elijah continued, over his brother, "they will be the ones to save our lives. Have a little respect."
"Fine. I'm sorry," she said to Elena, with a dull tone and an expression that was anything but apologetic. "Let's get this show on the road. I have places I'd rather be."
"Have you memorized the spells?" Elijah asked her.
"Of course she has – it's all we listened to on the way over," Klaus answered with a roll of his eyes, which earned him a jab in the ribs from his little sister. "She's just nervous."
"As I'm sure we all are," Elijah murmured, setting one hand in his pocket. He gently rested the other upon Elena's back, looking at her with a faint smile. "Ready?"
"Yes," she answered, returning the smile with one that was far more forced. She glanced to Alaric over her shoulder and he gave a determined nod as he followed them inside the cemetery.
They covered the ground between the gates and the tomb quietly, and there was a fire illuminating Esther's spot on the hill above them.
"Follow Rebekah," Elijah whispered into her ear as his sister made her way through the grass. "Niklaus and I will be behind in case my mother tries to escape." She nodded, and he caught her hand with a squeeze, his eyes blazing into hers. "I won't let anything happen to you."
Then he pressed a kiss against her hand, and her skin turned scarlet at the gesture. She hadn't expected him to be so forward, especially with his siblings and Alaric present. But Katherine was pulling her forward before she even had time to blink.
"Careful," she whispered in Elena's ear. "Don't want to break another leftover vampire's heart."
She was ready to deliver a cutting retort but Katherine placed a finger over her lips. Rebekah was heading over the crest, with them close behind, and Elena could see Esther standing between Bonnie and Grigore at the center of a fiery pentagram, Finn to the side. The witches had their eyes closed until Rebekah cleared her throat, and Esther's eyes shot open wide.
"Rebekah! And –and Katerina? Elena?" she stuttered in shock as they came over the crest.
"Yes, and I'm sure if she weren't long dead, Tatiana would have been more than happy to have joined us three after your torture of her," Rebekah scorned. "But we will carry on in her spirit."
"You tricked me," Esther bit out with a scathing glance to Finn. "You set me up! Your own mother –"
Finn's expression was calm, reserved, and he spoke softly but with conviction. "You lied, Mother. You promised the world would be a better place without our kind… you never spoke of the chaos it would suffer after you eradicated it of vampires' existences. The innocent lives that would be taken."
Having heard enough, Esther extinguished the fire and raced forward. But she didn't make it more than a few yards from her original spot. Rebekah had joined Grigore and Bonnie in chanting and she was effectively frozen in place by their words. Katherine gripped Elena's hand now and bowed her head, closing her eyes. Elena followed suit, though it was hard to tear hereyes from the Original matriarch as she wailed for help from her Wiccan sisters in the great beyond.
The chanting stopped after a few minutes, but the cries did not, and Elena looked up. Five roots had wrapped around Esther's form, tying her to the earth and ensuring that she could not escape. Elena walked forward with Katherine and Rebekah, and the Original moved to stand in front of her mother, her hand holding Bonnie's to one side and Grigore's to the other. Elena took Bonnie's other hand and squeezed as they formed a circle around the trapped witch. Her best friend glanced to her with a melancholy smile on her face, and Elena felt tears come to her eyes.
Rebekah looked up at Esther. "I'm sorry it has to end this way, Mother. But it's not your choice to end our race. Nature has said so."
"Please, Rebekah – you cannot banish me back to that hell-"
Rebekah looked down, and Elena could see tears glistening under her lashes as she started to chant with the others. Elena closed her eyes again, the words and language of the spell lulling her into a trancelike state. She didn't open them again until there was warmth upon her face and new shrieking pierced her ears.
Esther was engulfed in flames now, and it was a horrific sight. The acrid smell of flesh filled the air as it peeled away from her body, followed by muscle and tendon, all devoured by the fire that started at the base of the roots. The screams became hoarse and died out as the soft tissue of her larynx disintegrated. The skeletal form that was left dropped into ash as the fire went out, leaving them in silence.
A creaking, slithering sound came up from the earth soon after, and Elena looked down to see additional roots pushing through the soil and grass. They wound together, doubling and tripling upon themselves until they twisted into a great trunk, and the circle's hands separated as each of them stepped back to give the growing tree room. The vampires and humans watched as a cypress formed at the site of Esther's final demise, a peaceful reminder of the devastation they conquered tonight.
They all stared in awe, so moved by its creation that no one said a word. Elena wondered if it was something the witches had planned for or if it was a surprise offering of Nature herself, relieved at the battle they'd won.
When she looked around at the other faces, she wasn't surprised to see Katherine had already left them behind. It was typical. As long as she'd saved her hide, not much else mattered. Rebekah was the next to step away, hiding the tears from the others. She walked back down the hill, and her three brothers formed a protective shield around her. But she shrugged off their comforting gestures as they left the others behind. Elena remained next to Bonnie. And then Elijah came forward, dropping to one knee before the cypress in a silent prayer for his mother's soul.
He was as orphaned by the world as she had been, and she could only watch him.
"I'm… going to go," Bonnie said after a few minutes, and Elena saw that Grigore was waiting next to her.
"Of course," Elena said. "Maybe…" She glanced to Alaric at her other side. "Do you think you can catch a ride with them? I… need to stay for a little bit."
He nodded. "Just be careful."
"I promise."
Bonnie looked between them, and then her eyes lit with understanding when her gaze came to rest upon Elijah. "I'll call you tomorrow."
Elena only nodded, knowing now wasn't the time to try to offer any kind of explanation. She pulled Bonnie into a tight hug of relief.
"Thank you," she whispered. "For everything."
And then, it was only them.
She took a ginger step in his direction, not wanting to interrupt the solemn moment. He looked up at her. "I thought you would have left with the others," he said quietly, his voice tinged with sadness.
"I couldn't leave you."
Elijah's gaze was back upon the tree, and there was a long silence before the confession began.
"I didn't feel much for Esther in her current incarnation," he said. "The mother we knew as children wasn't in there. But once… she was the woman we loved, would have given our lives for because of how fiercely she protected us and comforted our sorrows. She loved us, as only a mother could. And to see her die at our mutual hand…" He shook his head, throwing the twig he'd held to the ground. "I am no better than Niklaus now. Not one of us is. We collectively murdered her."
"But she would have killed you," Elena said, trying to deflect his blame from himself. "And then destroyed everything."
"I know." His voice was so soft that she barely heard him, and he stood, facing her now, taking her face in his hands. "I couldn't have bore that guilt on my soul. Undead or dead. But the tragedy of this night will haunt me."
Witnessing the pain in his eyes made her feel as though her lungs might collapse under its weight, and she wanted desperately to console him of everything that troubled him. But centuries of guilt and remorse laid behind the newest grief, and it would be an eternal – if not impossible - task. Still, she leaned forward, closing her eyes as she allowed her lips to brush over his gently. Itwas a brief, tentative gesture, one that she wasn't sure would be received well, and she pulled away after a few seconds. She didn't want him to think she would push things any further.
But then he pulled her back, his mouth bruising against hers with the fervor of a man broken, a man trying to forget. A man who had given in to his innermost demon. She shuddered in his embrace. His lips found her neck, and she struggled with her conscience. She couldn't let him take her here, as much as she wanted him. Not in the graveyard, not surrounded by the memory of his mother's final moments. It was far too morbid.
"Elijah," she breathed out, contorting herself so her face was level with his again. "We can't…"
"I don't care," he said raggedly, and there was the defeat in his eyes. He'd given up, and it scared her. "I don't want to remember anymore. I don't want to feel anything else tonight, Elena… just give me that."
His fingers dug into her flesh, just under the hem of her shirt, an indication of what he needed from her. She closed her eyes as she breathed in… as much as she wanted to protect her heart, as certain as she was that it would destroy her, she couldn't deny him. The words were falling from her lips before she could stop herself.
"Take me home, with you."
