CHAPTER 24:
"You're alive," Elena breathed, shaking immensely. Kol Mikaelson stood in front of her, alive and in the flesh. Elena's nerves stood up on high alert. How was he even alive? She had thought that he'd bled to death from the knife wound. Who helped him out.
"It would appear so," Kol sighed as he held the gun in her face. "Anything else that you're not understanding?"
"How?"
"I have my ways, Elena." Kol said softly, and Elena swallowed.
"Did you like the gift?" he smirked. "Your brother's blood?"
Elena's own blood ran cold at the mention of that.
"How did you get it?" Elena snapped. Surely Kol wasn't working alone. Those emails alone proved it. And the very fact that he was even alive.
"Oh I have many ways of getting what I want. And many people who do them for me." Kol sneered. "Your brother Jeremy hangs out with the wrong crowd, Elena. "
Jeremy.
"Where's my brother?" Elena hissed. If anything happened to Jeremy.
"Oh, come now," Kol scoffed. "He's taken care of,"
A creek came from somewhere, and Kol turned around. Elena took the opportunity to run. She ran as fast and as quiet as she possibly could, ducking behind a hidden stage door.
"Elena!" Kol's voice roared, and a gunshot sounded.
"I know you're in here," Kol said, his voice arctic. "If you want to see your brother again, then I suggest that you come out here by the count of three." Jeremy's alive?
Elena's stomach churned as she heard Kol begin to count down. Her hand flew to her mouth, and she had prayed that she wouldn't throw up. She couldn't afford to. Not when her life and Jeremy's were at this much risk.
"Two," Kol hissed, and Elena slowly raised her hands in the air as she climbed out of the stage.
"Ah, wonderful," Kol smirked, and Elena saw him raise the gun once more.
"P-Please, d-don't d-d-o this," she begged, her face sticky with tears.
"Oh, darling. It's already done," Kol chuckled darkly as he circled Elena. She whipped around the second that he was out of her sight.
"Why are you d-doing this?" she asked. She needed to know why Kol had betrayed her.
"Oh, there are many a reasons as good as any to enlist in the Project Eliminate Elena Gilbert," he deadpanned, and Elena swallowed. "But mine, however, is a lot more complicated."
"The second that I found out who you really were, I didn't know what to make of it. You were a dirty little slut, getting raped and pregnant after your junior prom." Kol tusked. "What a pity. For you,"
"However, I soon came to realize that you would never return my feelings, and I thought, 'you know what? Screw it.'" Kol shrugged nonchalantly. "At least he'd be happy knowing that I was the one to end Elena Gilbert."
"Who are you working for?" Elena whispered.
Kol raised the gun. "You don't get to ask questions!" he barked, and Elena swallowed as she felt tears spring anew. She would just have to sit here, waiting for Kol to pull the trigger.
"Kol," Elena swallowed. "Listen to me, please. I don't know what he's offering you, but if you really cared about me, at all, and it wasn't just some big lie, then please, don't pull the trigger."
Kol's eyes flashed with hesitation, and Elena thought that he was considering her offer. However, when Kol shook his head, Elena's breath caught in her throat.
"See, that's why I did this. You think that it's all about you, Elena. But it's not. Other people have feelings, and you don't give a damn about them. That's why I've gotten over you, and that's why I don't care when I do this,"
A shot rang again, and Elena fell to her knees, howling in agony. The bullet hit right into her lower calf. She couldn't believe that Kol had actually pulled the trigger. She knew that if he actually were going to, that he wouldn't have killed her.
"Don't think that you have any hold on me, Elena." Kol hissed, and Elena felt her ribs ache as Kol's foot swiftly kicked it. Fuck! It hurt like a bitch, and Elena choked on her breath. She began to fade out as she heard Kol's sinister laugh.
"Say goodbye, Elena Gilbert." he said as Elena heard another clicking sound.
She closed her eyes, tears sliding down her face for the last time.
Everyone that Elena loved popped into her mind, and she squeezed her eyes even tighter. I love you all, so much... Ryan, Jeremy, Damon, Jenna, Caroline, Bonnie, everyone heard it. She knew that they had.
Goodbye, she whispered.
Elena heard the gun being knocked to the ground, and she slowly rolled over on her side despite the pain. Elena slowly opened her tired eyes, and saw Damon on top of Kol, hitting him and punching him. Kol's shouts of pain resonated throughout the auditorium, and Elena smiled.
"Damon," she breathed. He's was there. He saved her.
Blue eyes pierced her own, and suddenly, Kol was on top of Damon.
"No!" Elena cried, and she tried to reach for the gun, but her arm wasn't long enough. She scooted closer, and when she gripped the gun, she let out her held breath. Damon yelled something to her, but when she turned back toward him, she tossed him the gun, and everything faded to black.
"Elena," Damon breathed. He was standing beside her, in a field of roses.
"What?" She giggled. Damon wore a bright grin, and he looked at her as if she were his entire world.
At least, that's what she'd hoped.
"I wanna show you something," Damon said, and Elena nodded.
"What?"
"Close your eyes," Damon said softly, and Elena sighed contently as she closed her eyes.
She felt Damon's hand slid in hers, and Elena's stomach fluttered. She felt right with the world whenever she was around Damon, but when he held her hand... she felt like she was on top of the world.
"Damon-"
"No talking," Elena could hear his smirk. Damon and his secrets.
"Alright, open your eyes,"
Elena blinked, and when she saw what was in front of her, she gasped.
The backyard at Damon's house was unrecognizable as she looked around. Bright white lights hung from a string along the trees, and lanterns were lit up everywhere, pastel colors illuminating the night sky. The floor was covered in rose petals, blood red, beautiful.
"Oh, my god, Damon," She breathed, tears clouding her eyes as she turned to look back at Damon.
"How did you-?"
"Jeremy helped," Damon shrugged as he smirked. "I figured I owed you an apology after everything," he said, and Elena bawled her eyes out.
"I love you, so much," she whispered in his ear. Damon's arms wrapped around Elena's waist, and she felt his arousal at her belly.
"I know," he told her. "Because I love you more than you could ever know,"
Elena fell on top of Damon, and she hungrily kissed him. He only returned her passion as he reached behind her to unzip her dress.
"Elena,"
Jeremy's alive!
Jeremy's voice called from afar, and Elena wanted to respond But she couldn't.
"Elena, I'm so sorry, that this happened to you," his voice cracked, and Elena wanted so desperately to reach out and hold his hand. She couldn't stand to hear his anguished voice. It wasn't his fault. He had to know that!
But sleep pulled her under.
"How did this happen?" Elena heard Caroline hiss.
"Jeremy texted her to pick him up at the Park Square Theatre, and it was a trap. Kol was waiting for her." Damon's voice snarled.
"She's alright, Damon, she's alive," Caroline said softly, and Elena heard her smile.
"I know. I was so worried about her."
"When will she wake up?"
"Well, Mr. Salvatore, Elena needs as much rest as possible. I cannot give you an exact answer yet."
Elena wanted to wake up to Damon, wake up and tell him that she's alright, that she's alive.
"It's been four days." Damon hissed.
"How's she doing?" Jenna's voice rang, concern laced inside of her words.
"She's still out, Jenna," Damon's voice told Jenna.
"God, what was she thinking?" Jenna scoffed.
"She wasn't. She thought she was helping Jeremy."
"Damn, if I got a message from her telling me to go to some abandoned building, I wouldn't have just walked right in there, alone. Especially after knowing that-"
"She doesn't know, Jenna." Damon snapped.
Know what?
"Jeremy told us that she was in the hospital." Ben's voice said softly. "We just wanted to stop by and see her,"
"Well, she's clearly not conscious," Damon snapped.
"Damon," Caroline's voice was razor-sharp.
"Well, could you tell her we stopped by?" Anna asked.
Elena's eyes fluttered open, and she's blinded by the sun. A monitor beeps in the background, and she moves her arm to turn the sound off. She's been wanting to smash the thing since she heard it four days ago and counting.
"Thank god," she sighed, and when she moved her legs, she felt something heavy on them.
"Elena," Damon's gasp startled Elena, and she smiled.
"Hi," she croaked.
"Thank Christ," Damon sighed with relief, gratitude in his blue eyes. "I never thought that you'd wake up," his voice cracked, and Elena wanted to kiss his worry away. She was not able to sit up, unfortunately.
"I'm so sorry I worried you," Elena burst into tears. Damon immediately grabbed her hand in his, and he brought it to his lips.
"It's alright," he smiled. "You're safe, you're alive, and you're-"
Damon's eyes darkened, and Elena swallowed.
What was up with him?
"What is it?" Elena asked, frowning as she scanned Damon's face for any sign or recognition.
"Elena, there's something that you should know-"
A knock sounded at the door, and Elena and Damon looked up to see a male doctor enter the room. Elena recognized him as the same man who took care of Meredith.
"Good, you're awake," he sighed, and Elena nodded.
Obviously.
"Send him up," the doctor said, and Elena frowned.
Send who up? He who?
"Damon, what's g-?" Elena turned to Damon, worry blooming in her stomach. What the hell was all of the commotion. The only thing Damon did was squeeze her hand.
"Miss Gilbert, do you know where you are?"
"Richmond Hospital,"
"And do you remember what happened that brought you in?"
Elena frowned. Kol, the gun, the shot, the fight.
"Yes," She nodded.
"Could you tell me what year it is?" the doctor asked as he paced around the room.
"2012. October," she said.
"What's your name?"
"Elena Marie Gilbert," she sighed.
"She's clear." the doctor murmured to a nurse, who nodded and left.
"What's going on?" Elena asked, nervous.
"Miss Gilbert, you've been in the hospital for nearly a week and a half." The doctor said. "You suffered a brain concussion and severe bleeding in your left leg. Also, you're ribs were bruised. Not broken."
"O-okay," Elena said.
"However, while we examined your body, we found some...startling news that you might want to know-"
"Robert's outside, sir." A woman came up to notify the doctor, who nodded.
What had happened? What did they find? And Who the hell was Robert?
"Excellent. Send him in."
Elena braced herself for this mysterious person to walk into her room, and when she saw who walked into her room, her mouth fell open. Nothing could've prepared her for this.
"Ah, Miss Gilbert."
Elena looked up to see Dr. Ottavi, and her brain fuzzed. Robert Ottavi. She should've known.
What the hell was he doing here?
"Dr. Ottavi," she breathed. "What are you doing here?"
Dr. Ottavi's face frowned, and he turned to the other doctor. "She doesn't know?"
"We were just about to tell her," the doctor hissed.
"Ah, Well," Dr. Ottavi cleared his throat as he smiled warmly at Elena.
"What's going on?" Elena snapped, getting sick with anxiety and impatience.
"Congratulations, Miss Gilbert." Dr. Ottavi attempts a smile. "You're pregnant."
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