Chapter 25

"Dead..." She almost stammered. Elena was staring straight at Elly when she heard the news. Klaus' wife had just informed her that Klaus had killed Elijah.

She felt her entire body trembling. No...It wasn't possible. Elijah couldn't possibly be dead. He's an Original. He was just probably put to sleep. She needed to know where he was. She would do it again. She would take that silver blade out of his heart. Damn the consequences. Elijah meant too much to her. Wait a minute...Why is she suddenly reacting this way? Why did she care about Elijah so much? What is happening?

"You feel it too..." Elly suddenly spoke and stared at Elena. "The loss. You feel it. The loss and the pain." She looked at Elena gently. "You're in love with him..."

"I'm not..." Elena protested and shook her head. "I couldn't be. I barely know him."

"You've always loved him. You only remember this now." Elly spoke and looked deeply at her. "Karina..." She called her.

"My name is Elena Gilbert." Elena said and stood up, glaring at Elly. "I'm not Karina. I'm not your sister."

Elly sighed and stared at horizon. "You said you'll recognize me anywhere...and you do." She turned and looked at Elena again. "You just need some time. I guess it takes a while to get used to."

Elena only kept quiet. She did not want to think about. It didn't made sense to her. She couldn't possibly be Elly's long dead sister or Elijah's long dead wife. She was Elena Gilbert just an eighteen year old high school senior whose vampire boyfriend had recently broke up with. That was it. The split was just taking its toll on her, and that could explain the overemotional tendencies and nightmares she had been experiencing.

"You should go," Elly told her. "Klaus is coming home soon."

"I'm not afraid of him," Elena told her sharply. "He killed me once and I'm still here. So Klaus doesn't scare me."

"That's what they all say..." Elly said in a far away voice and sipped her iced tea. "And yet I'm the only one left standing."

"Where is he?" Elena asked Elly. "Where is Elijah's body?"

Elly only gave a soft laugh. "I can't tell you that Elena. Klaus will kill you and the next time you'll be really dead."

"What happened to her?" Elena asked Elly. "To Karina?"

"She died," Elly told her in a matter of fact tone. "She lived and then she died. She was only nineteen."

"Did she have a child?" Elena asked Elly. She subconsciously touched her tummy. She remembered the bulge that was there during one of her flashbacks. She had felt the tiny stirrings of life that was growing inside her. She had felt the kick. She had a child. She knew it. Hers and Elijah's.

"It'll come back to you soon..." Elly spoke and gave a knowing smile. "I know you don't believe it yet but soon it will be too overwhelming for even you to deny"

Elena kept quiet and turned. Guess she should go then. The sun was setting soon and she promised Jeremy and Alaric that she would be home for dinner.

"Elena." She heard Elly called her name and she turned around. Elly smiled at her. "I hope you'll come to Alexander's party. It'll mean a lot to me."

Elena thought about it for a while. She really wasn't sure. Attending a birthday party right in Klaus' mansion for his eighteen year old son. A party filled with drunk and horny teenagers. It just seemed like a free for all buffet, for Klaus and his gang of vampires.

"I'll think about it," Elena replied honestly and gave Elly a smile. "I'll see you around Elly." Elena smiled and waved at her.

"You're back," Jeremy smiled when Elena walked into the kitchen. She gave a shrug and looked at the pot of pasta that was simmering on the stove.

"Where were you anyway?" Jeremy asked. "I thought you'd say that you'd be at home studying?"

Elena smiled and sighed. "Thought I'd take a quick drive and clear my head for a while."

"Really?"

Elena turned when she heard the all too familiar, sardonic tone. Damon...Why must he always be hanging around the house? She shook her head. Damon Salvatore was never going to leave her alone. Elena gave Damon a quick insincere smile. One he had returned right back.

"And you didn't happen to drive by the Smith's mansion this afternoon?" Damon asked her, his blue eyes flashing.

"No." Elena said firmly and frowned. She hated it when Damon just seemed to be in the know.

"The Smiths mansion?" Jeremy asked as his brows furrowed. "What the hell would you be doing there anyway?" Jeremy gave his sister a close look and his brown eyes went wide. "Elena!"

"I didn't go there." She denied.

"She's lying!" Jeremy cried to Damon who nodded in agreement. "Definitely lying."

"I am not lying." Elena protested in vain. Damon shook his head. "Face it Gilbert. You are an open book that can be easily read."

"Plus you're a horrible liar." Jeremy quipped and drained the water from the pasta. He then stirred the Bolognese sauce on the stove. "Don't tell me you went there to see Stefan..." Jeremy sighed.

"What?" Elena retorted sharply. "You're spying on me now?"

"Says my brother's crazy ex girlfriend who's stalking him outside Klaus' home..." Damon said in his usual dry humor. "Did I mention that it's Klaus as in Big Bad Daddy Original Klaus?" Damon emphasized as his blue eyes widened. Jeremy only laughed. Typical Damon and his tendency to exaggerate.

Damon went to the fridge and took out the wine that he had left to chill there. He closed the door and saw the party invite that Jeremy had stuck on the fridge door with a magnetic mini milk carton.

"What the hell..." Damon muttered and took the card, reading it. "Are you guys seriously going?"

"Why not?" Jeremy asked and Elena only stared at him in shock. "Jer..."

"I heard it's going to be wild. They're gonna have a live band and all the booze you can drink. I figured we could use the distraction."

"This is insane..." Elena shook her head and set the table. "It's going to be crime scene. All the warm bloodied bodies for Klaus and gang to drink."

'"Sounds like my kind of party," Damon grinned. Elena only took a kitchen towel and hit him with it. "Ow Honey..." He yelped and Elena rolled her eyes at that. "I was just kidding," Damon grinned and gave Elena a wink.

One Elena ignored. She did not want to lead Damon on. She knew the strong feelings that the hundred and fifty year old, gorgeous blue eyed vampire had for her. Feelings Elena could not return. It was very obvious and Elena had known it for a long time. She cared about Damon. He was a good friend and sometimes he felt more like a friend to her. And maybe she was just too in love with Stefan then to give Damon a chance. But now, now with memories of some past life she had that kept flooding in. She kept thinking about a different vampire. One with soulful brown eyes that had always looked at her with such exquisite tenderness.

Elena found herself lost again in an old, long ago, forgotten memory. She was in a forest somewhere dressed in the same type of medieval period clothes and Elijah was standing right in front of her. He tried to move but he couldn't and he held his palm out and she held her palm out as well barely touching his. She had tiptoed and kissed his forehead. She remembered the pain and how her heart had ached. She knew that she was never going to see him again. She just knew it. I love you Elijah...That was what she wanted to tell him but she didn't. I will always love you. In this life and the next...

"Elena..." Damon had called her and she just stared ahead. "Elena.." He shook her and she gasped almost as if she couldn't breathe.

"Elena what's wrong?" Jeremy rushed to her. "We have to find him..." She suddenly said and stared at both Damon and Jeremy.

"Find who?" Both of them asked her in unison. Damon and Jeremy stared at each other and then looked at Elena wondering who she was referring to.

"Elena what is going on?" Jeremy asked. He sounded worried and anxious. He hated it when his sister starts getting all cryptic and mysterious.

"I have to go to Bonnie." She said and took her bag heading to the back door, only to have Damon standing in front of her, blocking her way. "Uh uh..." Damon shook his head. "I'm not letting you go this easily."

"Stop it Damon." Elena warned in an irritated tone, hating how possessive and overprotective he could be.

"You're going to tell me what is going on Elena. If I have to tie you up right here in the kitchen I will." His tone had gotten serious and Elena only stared defiantly back at him.

"You're not my father Damon. And you're not my boyfriend. So let me go..." Elena said coldly and she saw the hurt and fury that flashed in his blue eyes.

"Damon..." Jeremy called him and looked at his sister. "Just let her go. She's just going to see Bonnie that's it."

"You better not be lying Gilbert..." Damon whispered as he leaned close to Elena's ear. "Because if you are, you're going to find how upset I can really be..." Elena glared at him before opening the door and slamming it behind her.

Damon just watched as she got into the Prius. "She's hiding something..." He said and turned and looked at Jeremy. "I'm going to find out what it is."

"Damon No." Jeremy told him. He knew that Elena would be angry if he interfered in something private.

"Come on..." Damon cried and gave Jeremy a look. "It's Elena. She's gonna get into trouble...and someone has to go and be the hero. Might as well be us..."

"Bonnie..." Elena spoke when she walked into her bestfriend's living room. She had rushed to Bonnie's place. Driving pass all the red lights and stop signs, but Elena did not care. It was urgent.

"Elena what is it?" Bonnie asked, she looked worried and hugged Elena. "I need your help..." Elena said when she pulled away.

"Anything..." Bonnie said and gave a nod. Elena only smiled and hugged her bestfriend tightly again.

"What do you need Elena?" Bonnie asked her. Elena breathed and then looked at Bonnie a little unsure. "Elena..." Bonnie urged.

"I need you to do a locator spell..." She finally said.

"For who?" Bonnie looked at her closely. "Who are we locating?"

"Elijah..." Elena said and looked deeply into her friend's eyes. "I have to find him Bonnie. I have to bring him back."

Bonnie sat in a circle one surrounded with candles and Elena was inside it with her. There was a big map of Mystic Falls and the surrounding county area and a small crystal pendant on top. Bonnie breathed and looked at her bestfriend. "I don't know if this will work Elena. I need something of his to bind the spell. Something that can connect me to him..."

"Use me..." Elena said and Bonnie just stared at her bestfriend in surprise. "Elena what is really going on?"

"Do you believe in past lives Bonnie?" Elena asked and Bonnie only looked at her curiously. "Where are you going with this?"

Elena sighed and decided to let her bestfriend know. "I think I was his wife in a past life..."

"Seriously?" Bonnie just stared at Elena incredulously. "Just trust me Bonnie..." Elena said softly. "I didn't believe it myself but now I have to find him. Like there's this bond I didn't think I could ever have with anyone I suddenly felt it with him. With Elijah. It's hard to explain..."

"So it's like a soulmate thing?" Bonnie asked.

"I don't know..." Elena said and she started thinking of Elijah and the first time she had seen him in that old abandoned house with Rose and Trevor. How he had just stared at her. "Maybe..." She sighed.

"Wow...Damon has some serious competition..." Bonnie quipped. Elena only frowned. "You are sounding more and more like my brother..."

"It's a soulmate thing," Bonnie grinned and took both of Elena's hands.

Bonnie closed her eyes and started to chant softly, harnessing whatever power she could of the elements. The crystal started swirling and moving on the map. The candles glowed and flickered. Bonnie saw visions flashing through her. Of a young woman who looked like Elena wearing an old period gown and then there was Elijah. They were happy, in love. She had given birth to a boy who looked so much like his father, she named him after Elijah. Then tragedy struck she died. Her throat slid by a witch in hooded cloak. Bonnie saw the circles of fire and Klaus lying on the ground.

"Oh My God..." She cried out and looked at Elena. "The Original sacrifice. You were the original sacrifice..."

Elena looked at Bonnie and nodded. "So it's true..." She uttered. She was Karina Petrova, wife of Elijah, sister of Eleanna.

"Where is he Bonnie?" Elena asked her friend desperately. She needed to go to Elijah and get him out of Klaus' hands. Bonnie then looked down at the map where the crystal had stopped. "He's inside the mansion Elena. I think that's where Klaus kept him."

"Who's inside the mansion?"

Both girls turned and stared at Damon who was standing at the doorway. Elena frowned and glared at him and Damon only gave a nonchalant shrug back. "Just making sure you weren't lying when you said you'd be here."

Bonnie only groaned and stood up. "I should uninvite you Salvatore..." She said to Damon and stared daggers into his eyes.

"Now be nice Witch..." Damon gave a toothy grin. "I did help you find your ancestor's burial ground after all."

"So who is inside the mansion?" Damon asked and looked at Elena who only gave an irritated look at him and groaned. "Are we going to have Operation Save Stefan for Good this time?" He asked Elena and looked at Bonnie.

"Jeremy come in..." Bonnie sighed. "I know you're out there..."

Jeremy came out from the corridor and into Bonnie's room. He gave a sheepish grin and went to hug his girlfriend. Bonnie shook her head and kissed him. "You are so obvious sometimes..."

"So what's the plan?" Damon asked Elena and Bonnie.

"I can't do this. Not with everyone smothering me." Elena said, almost exasperated by all of it, especially Damon. She took her bag and hugged Bonnie. "Thanks Bon..." She whispered. "Couldn't do this without you..." Elena then took off and walked down the stairs.

"Where is she going now?" Damon grumbled and stared at Bonnie and Jeremy. He was getting confused and frankly pissed off by Elena's actions lately. The girl was driving him crazy and not in a good way.

"Somewhere far away from you..." Bonnie said pointedly to Damon and pursed her lips.

.