I would just like to say upfront how incredibly apologetic I am for this chapter. This is probably the most pivotal one in the story and yet my entire writing brain just shut down this week. I can literally only stand about two paragraphs in this chapter, the rest I hate. So yes I'm sorry that my writing this chapter doesn't meet the high expectations of the plot line. Speaking of plot line, I got incredibly stuck writing this week as I realized I'd made a mistake in an earlier chapter. I won't point it out just in case, but most of you all have probably spotted it. I tried to fix it in this chapter, but I didn't really care for it. Goodness, this is the worst introduction for a chapter ever hahaha.

Now, I know for sure that there will be only one more chapter in this story unless you guys want to make it an unlucky number 13 with an epilogue. I would like to warn you that the final chapter may not be posted next Sunday. I'm still working out some kinks of the next one and may not be able to get it up in a week. BUT because you guys are so fabulous, I will instead be sure to post the first chapter of my new story instead to at least give you something. So please please please make sure you've subscribed to my author alert rather than just the story alert so that you can see the new one! I'm really looking forward to writing this one so I hope you guys are looking forward to reading it! Well, on to the chapter!

Chapter 11: Dead and Gone and Passed

Elena's breath caught in her throat as she approached the plantation. Every bit of glory and wonder it had once held was now long gone. It was almost unrecognizable. The house was torn apart as though it hadn't been maintained in decades and was completely silent. Not even a bird dared to land close.

Klaus had decided about half a mile back that he had come close enough for the moment. "Stefan will be able to hear you once you get a few more feet. I'll give you the proper amount of time to begin distracting him. I want to enter undetected." Klaus then came only a few inches away from Elena's face and glared at her. "Don't make me regret saving your life, Elena," Klaus whispered.

Elena didn't even blink. "I'm the one who has to trust that you won't use me as a sacrificial pawn. I don't believe you need to be concerned about your trust in me." Klaus raised his hands in surrender and backed away, leaning against a tree.

Elena took a deep breath and started to continue down the road until a sudden thought made her heart stop. She slowly turned around towards the vampire behind her. "How did you know about her?"

Klaus looked at Elena with a confused expression. "Pardon me?"

"Neither Damon or I mentioned Mary. How did you know about her when I spoke to you in the lobby?"

Klaus sighed. "You were discussing her when you arrived, Elena. Remember that fantastic vampire hearing?"

Elena slowly nodded, accepting his answer. Before she turned again, she spoke softly, "Good luck, Klaus"

Elena began to walk up the drive when she remembered what Klaus had called after her.

"Elena!" He paused as though questioning if he should speak. "Don't look down once you get there. You'll be sorry if you do."

Although she had a sneaking suspicion that he was right, her curious nature required her to glance at the ground. Elena didn't see anything in her immediate path but suddenly her peripheral vision caught something that made her want to run as far away as possible. Bodies. She felt the bile rise up in her throat. She shot her head up so she wouldn't recognize any of her neighbors but she caught a quick glimpse of the same Parker boy that she'd threatened to run away with.

Once she arrived at the door, she didn't bother to knock. She simply turned the handle and walked inside. The moment she entered, she felt a lump form in her throat. The house was a bleak shell of what it once had been. She was glad that Klaus hadn't let her get as far as the house earlier. She most likely would have killed herself purely out of despair.

The only thing that kept her going was the reminder that her sister was near. She chose to imagine away the ruined house and move forward. But she stopped when her ears caught wind of something that sounded eerily like… music. She didn't dare make a sound, but she held her breath, trying to determine the origin of the notes. It was a familiar tune and her mind placed it quickly: a lullaby. And not just any lullaby but the same one she'd heard every night going to sleep… from her music box.

Elena gulped and slowly headed up the creaking staircase towards the sound. As the music got louder, every fiber of her being began to tense in anticipation for what she was about to find. When the music stopped suddenly, so did Elena. But she heard a winding motion and then the tune started again. Now she knew for sure she was headed towards someone.

She walked into the room that had once been Mary's. She wouldn't have been able to tell if not for the rocking chair Stefan was now reclining in. He was smirking, staring at the ornate box in his lap.

"Such a shame," he laughed. "It's so beautiful… probably the only beautiful thing left in this house." He looked at her, grinning. "But now that you're here…"

Before Elena could blink, Stefan had slammed the box into the ground at supernatural speed. It shattered into a hundred different pieces, littering the floor along with the other remnants of the house. She knew that he was just trying to scare her, but Elena had a feeling that it was working.

"I was never a fan of lullabies," Stefan began calmly as though his rage hadn't just broken through. "My mother died when I was born so my father always had to be the one to put me to sleep. He was… a horrible singer." He laughed. "But I did always have a fondness for that prayer… what was it?" He stared at her, as though remembering the words was a challenge she was required to take.

Elena shuddered, having trouble finding her voice for a few moments. "Now I lay me down to sleep… I p-pray the Lord my soul to keep…" She gulped. "If I shall die before I wake-"

"I pray the Lord my soul to take," Stefan finished it off, a hint of sarcasm in his tone. "Well, I guess that dream didn't work so well for me, now did it?" He laughed again, cruelly. "… Or for all those people out in the yard."

Elena took a deep breath. She'd played enough games to last a lifetime in the past few days. "Enough, Stefan: Where's Mary?"

Stefan completely ignored her question and instead began to walk towards her. "You know, I apologize for the mess, darling. I'm just terrible at cleaning." He was close enough now to touch her cheek. "That is one of the things I missed about having a woman around."

Elena winced under his words and his touch. "I forgot how traditional your values were, Stefan. You always wanted a pet for a wife."

Stefan laughed. "Oh, I could have easily gotten a dog, Lena. But you had something very special that a dog just… couldn't offer." His eyes scanned up and down her body and then locked on the pulse point at her neck. "Well, make that two things."

Elena wanted to kill him in that moment, but she knew she couldn't have even if she tried. "I never thought I'd be thankful that you turned into a monster."

"But your life was so boring, sweetheart. I'm just helping you to have some fun."

"Fun?" Elena spat. "Killing everyone I've ever loved is supposed to make my life more fun?"

Stefan laughed. "You're looking at it the wrong way, Elena. In fact, I'm offering you a whole new way of life."

"Excuse me?"

Stefan's eyes abruptly changed from their dark coldness to the green compassion she'd grown accustomed to. He spoke delicately and deliberately. "Let me turn you."

Elena cocked her head in confusion for a moment until she realized exactly what he was proposing. "Are you insane?" She moved out from under his hands to distance herself from him.

"I'm trying to help you, Lena," Stefan began.

"No!" Elena finally found her voice, one loud enough to scream. "First of all, you need to stop calling me Lena. You no longer have the right to call me by that name. And secondly, you've taken everything from me and now you want to take my life too?"

"Being a vampire is so much more than death. It's-"

"I know what it is," Elena interjected harshly still completely dazed by his request.

"You have so many more opportunities," Stefan continued in his pitch.

"Like killing people?" Elena shouted. "Is that what you had planned from the very beginning? To marry me and then kill me so we could live forever as vampires? Well then, I guess I should also thank you for ruining that chance by killing my mother!"

Stefan was silent, but there was no show of remorse or emotion at all in his eyes. Elena remembered Damon's mention of Stefan turning off his humanity. She hadn't realized how quick it could really be.

Once Elena had calmed down a bit and the room had filled with the silence, she continued. "Did you really think you could lure me here with my sister and turn me? Is it some odd fear of being alone? Because you are, if you haven't realized. Your father left you. Your brother left you. You killed your sister."

"Don't worry, he won't be alone." The voice appeared out of thin air, somewhere from behind Stefan. Stefan turned around, long enough to recognize him before Klaus had a rag over Stefan's mouth. Stefan struggled for only a moment before he collapsed on the ground. He was still awake, but he couldn't move. Klaus kicked him in the stomach with a wide grin on his face. "He'll have me."

Klaus then turned to acknowledge the trembling woman on the other side of the room. "Thank you darling, for the distraction. Who knew a man could still hold on to that much humanity that he couldn't even kill his former fiancée the moment she walked in?"

Elena gulped, realizing the risk she'd been taking that Klaus had been fully aware of. But a small sense of calm began to fill her bones as she realized it was almost over. Almost. "You're welcome."

"What did you do to me?" Stefan coughed out, still distorted on the floor.

"Just the impeccable combination of vervain and a spell to keep you conscious but paralyzed with an exorbitant amount of pain, my dear friend," Klaus replied cheerfully. "Oh, how rude of me." Klaus bent down to Stefan's level and patted him on the back. "We haven't officially met. I'm Klaus."

Stefan groaned as though a new wave of pain had shot through him. "I know who you are."

"As do I, Stef, but I was just trying to be polite," Klaus smirked. He came back up to Elena's level and began digging through his pockets. "You, love, are free to go." He pulled out a matchbox and ran the small wooden object across so that it lit up in flame. Elena quickly realized exactly what he was doing.

"Klaus, no!" Elena yelled.

"We need to destroy the evidence," Klaus replied nonchalantly. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but the home you once knew is long gone. It would be better for everybody if this place burned to the ground."

"I don't care about the house," Elena quickly replied, although a twinge in her stomach told her otherwise. "But Mary is still in here!" Elena saw out of the corner of her eye Stefan smirking as though he'd won.

"Elena, how cruel do you think I am?" Klaus spoke calmly, blowing out the match that had been rapidly burning. "Mary's been at the hotel since I arrived. She's been knocked out for a while, but I alerted Damon to her presence while you were busy distracting so she's in good hands."

Elena was shocked that she'd been that close to her sister, but more than anything confused. "Then why did you involve me in all of this?"

Klaus sidled up to the girl. "Like you said earlier, I was bored. Besides," Klaus suddenly had a tone of compassion just as Stefan had had earlier. "You remind me of someone I used to know very well. I was just curious to see how much you too were really alike."

The rage Elena had been building up for days was finally released as she slapped Klaus square across the face. She watched for his reaction, but after a moment, he simply began to laugh and turned back to Stefan. "I guess I deserved that. Not that it hurt, mind you. Well, moving on; let's start a fire, shall we?" Klaus lit another match but Elena stopped him again.

"Wait, are you going to let me leave?"

Klaus sighed, as though he was talking to a child. "Yes, Elena, feel free to leave. I'm not planning on causing that much damage tonight."

Elena cautiously passed by both men and reached the door frame, but turned back around. Klaus, frustrated, blew out the second match while Stefan continued to groan. "What is it now, Elena?"

Elena gulped, obviously overstaying her welcome. "You said Mary's with Damon?"

"Yes?"

"Is she… is she safe with him?"

Klaus looked confused for a moment then began to laugh loudly. "Oh Elena, I am so sorry. I forgot I didn't let you in on the other part of the game. Damon overlooked telling you about the fact that an Original can compel a vampire."

"Excuse me?" Elena said, all of the information she'd been learning in the past few weeks now muddled together in her brain.

"Don't you recall my having 'special instructions' for Damon?"

"Petulant girl, that one," Klaus said, smiling. He began to pace the floor. "Oh, Damon, Damon, Damon. Don't you know better than to not wear vervain? You don't know when a pesky Original could come by with a desire to mess with your mind."

Damon growled. He wanted to chase after Elena, but Klaus had already thrown "no movement" into the mix. "My apologies. It's been a bit difficult to ingest vervain with all of this moving around."

"Oh, don't apologize to me," Klaus smiled. "I'm delighted in your forgetfulness. It makes things much more fun for me." Klaus cocked his head towards the stairs that Elena has just ascended. "Does she know?" Damon gritted his teeth and shook his head back and forth. Klaus clapped his hands together, as though he were a giddy boy told he could pick any candy he wanted. "This is just getting too easy. Oh and by the way, you're not allowed to tell her." Damon cursed under his breath, as that compulsion had been locked in as well.

"Now, let's get to those 'instructions,' shall we?" Klaus made sure to grab Damon's shoulders, forcing him to pay attention. "As much as I love this burgeoning romance I'm sensing here, I don't care to have it get in the way of our plans. Too much protect me, save me, for my taste. So, tonight, I want you to start a little quarrel. Forget all of the gentlemanly etiquette you've been taught. In fact, I want you to feed on her. You're incredibly thirsty and tonight that sweet, delicious blood is going to sound even better than it already does pumping through her veins. You will not heal her afterwards, either. And remember, our rule: no tattle tales allowed."

Klaus was almost done, but he left one final demand. "Tomorrow, if Stefan does anything to hurt her, which I suspect he will, you won't take a step inside that house. No matter how much she screams your name, begging for your help, you will stay put outside." Klaus patted his hands on Damon's shoulders and headed towards the door. "Goodnight. Well, as good a night as you'll be able to have." Damon heard Klaus' faint laughter as he walked out.

"Why would you do that?" Elena was appalled by his blatant disregard for her safety.

"Because I felt like it, Elena," Klaus replied coldly. "And if you haven't figured it out yet, I do whatever I want whenever I want to because I have that kind of power."

"You're disgusting," Elena spoke bitterly. "I can't believe you would do that to him!"

"He seemed more than open to it the last time."

Elena paused. "The last time?"

"Oh yes, love," Klaus smirked. "Actually, thank you for bringing this up. I thought this might help to rile up some of that eternal guilt I'm dying for Stefan to feel. When Stef decided he wanted to be a ripper a few decades ago, I was around, following him, tracking his moves. You were much harder to catch back then."

"Now Damon heard about my plans to eradicate his baby brother and suddenly became very sacrificial. Offered himself to me as a… friend of sorts. He was required to do exactly as I say for years. He asked me to compel him so that he wouldn't have to deal with that annoying conscience and I agreed, but I threw a new clause into the agreement. I compelled him so that he couldn't tell anyone. He couldn't tell his family why he left them, which is why I assume they disowned him. When Lexi accidentally found out, I gave the same order to her."

Klaus knelt down to his prisoner's level. "But now that you're back on the ripper track and I'm bored of your older brother, I decided it was time you actually live out your sentence. I'm glad I could clear the air on the whole neglectful brother situation though."

Elena couldn't even find any words harsh enough for Klaus in that moment. His mission might have been right, but his ways of following through were all wrong. Before she left the plantation for one last time, she glanced at the man she had once loved, lying on the floor and she noticed that there were a few tears falling down his face. Apparently his humanity hadn't been that far underneath the surface. As she left, she whispered a goodbye she knew only a vampire could hear.

As she walked out of her old home, the tears began to spill down her own face as the reality of everything hit her. She was done. Well, as done as she could be. Stefan was no longer a threat and she had her sister back. But a vast new world lay before her. She still had nothing.

Once she reached the street, she paused for a moment and turned back to the house. It had engulfed into flames much faster than she thought it would. It was both dishearteningly horrific and beautifully enthralling. Hundreds of flashes of memory passed through her brain as she realized that the old Lena Marie Gilbert was dead. She was burning right along with the estate.

But she understood as she walked down the dirt road that she had gained through this experience. She'd learned of another realm that had been right under her nose this entire time: a supernatural one. A realm filled with vampires and witches and compulsion and strengths and immorality. A realm she wasn't even close to done learning about.

She'd also never felt stronger in her entire life. She'd faced almost every single horrible thing a person could face and she hadn't fallen. Instead, she'd stayed strong, facing every fear and anxiety head on. She'd lived and she'd survived. She'd done far more than any woman would ever do. She knew that although not every day in her new life would be great or even good, she would never again experience anything as terrible as this. The thought brought the smallest of smiles to her face.

But the smile quickly faded when she thought back on the man that was waiting for her at the hotel. Damon Salvatore. She thought of their fight at the lake where she hadn't realized he physically couldn't tell her where he'd gone for all those years. She thought of his actions the night before, the ones that had almost killed her, that he'd had no control over. She remembered how angry and hurt she'd been, and realized she no longer had to be. The man at that hotel was still Damon Salvatore. The same one that had rescued her and taken her and her sister to that small house in the woods. The same one that had taken care of Mary when Elena had been bedridden. The same one that had kissed her in the water. The same one that had held her when she cried in the street.

Elena's footsteps quickened to a full run as she realized she hadn't lost everything. She hadn't lost Damon.

I remember tears streaming down your face

When I said, "I'll never let you go"

When all those shadows almost killed your light

I remember you said, "Don't leave me here alone"

But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight

Don't you dare look out your window darling

Everything's on fire

The war outside our door keeps raging on

Hold onto this lullaby

Even when the music's gone

Well, how bad was it? Gosh, I was just not a fan of this chapter. I know I left you guys with some really obvious cliffhangers last chapter that the majority of you all guessed in the reviews.

I would like to thank you all for your wonderful support with this story. I know that I would have never never never continued this story past the first chapter without the fabulous reviews and alerts you've provided me with. You will all be getting the reward you've been so desperately seeking next chapter (I think you all know what I mean ;P). I heard through the grapevine there were some issues with FF this week and you guys got like 3 different emails from me so I apologize.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE subscribe to my author alerts so that you can see my new story just in case I don't upload the last chapter of this story next Sunday. And also, as always, reviews are 100 percent appreciated.

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