And it continues...

Chapter 25

Alaric lost faith a long time ago. Possibly after the death of his wife, Isobel. At least she kind of died as she became a vampire. And as it turned out she even had a daughter, none other than Elena Gilbert, a girl he became a guardian of alongside her brother/ cousin Jeremy after their aunt Jenna died. Replaying the constellations caused him headache. Things were far beyond what messed up could even begin to describe properly, he decided, and maybe, just maybe, when he opened his eyes everything would turn out to be an extreme nightmare. And with this thought in mind he opened his eyes.

'Nah, maybe not.' he said to himself upon seeing the mess they were in now. He didn't even question himself how he had been tied up. To him, there was no use for that now. After arriving in Mystic Falls things had turned from bad to worse. He reached the point where he asked himself what the worth for all of this has been. And upon seeing the faces of his companions he didn't seem to be the only one to ask himself this.

"If we make it out of this alive don't come looking for me the next week or so. I want to properly drink myself into oblivion with some good full bourbon." he said out loud. Jeremy chuckled to that a little but no one said a thing. He looked at Damon who had his lips pressed into a thin line while looking down, his eyes giving his angry state of mind away. But Damon being Damon he was probably more angry at himself than at anyone else. Jeremy looked spent but brave. Matt did the same. Lucy sent him a small smile, trying to make up her state of uncertainty. And Tyler just looked empty.

"Tyler!" he called out to him. "What happened? Did Carol make it out?"

"Carol is here?" Damon asked next to him to which Alaric nodded at him. "Where is she?" Damon asked as well.

"She is gone." Tyler spoke up then. "The vampires brought her away as soon as you all went unconscious. Due to being a werwolf I could hold myself up a little longer but it was without any success. I don't know where she is or if she's even still..." he left the sentence unfinished, too afraid to spell out his suspicions.

"I'm so sorry..." Elena more than whispered to them. "You didn't deserve this. None of you."

He took a goo look at Elena and saw her hunched up across from them, chained to a wall. She looked like a broken doll, shaken up beyond repair, and his heart went out for her. Although she was more or less the cause for all of this she wasn't responsible for it per se. And he knew that. Elena didn't deserve this. So many people died up to now in order to change her seemingly inevitable destiny of dying. Even John sacrificed his life for her. Jenna did, too.

'Jenna...' He remembered how she told him of the time and the circumstances of her becoming their legal guardian. At first she was overcome with all the pain of losing family members and the responsibility of raising two teenagers on her own. But she did it beyond questioning. As well as she died beyond questioning even once. She loved both of them, Elena and Jeremy. And Alaric knew that Elena loaded herself with guilt concerning Jenna's decision as well.

"Elena!" Jeremy began.

"No, Jer, Damon was right. If I'd just have died none of you would be in this mess. It's all my fault."

"Elena, listen. I overreacted when I said that." Damon told her instantly and sighed. "It's just... I feel so powerless. I don't know what to do next. And I took it out on you without any kind of justification." he spoke with a small voice not once lifting his eyes in her direction.

'Is Damon actually trying to apologizing? Wow, it must be the end of days...' Alaric thought jokingly to himself.

"Elena, you didn't put us in this situation. None of your actions did. It was all Klaus. He is our enemy not you. And we all know that." Matt chimed in.

"But the things Stefan and Caroline told me earlier that..." she began but was interrupted by Jeremy. "Stefan and Caroline aren't in their right minds. They both love you dearly and you know that."
"But how can you be so sure about that, Jer?" Elena tried again.

"Well." Tyler spoke up again, a small smile appearing on his face. "I don't know about you but I got beat up pretty badly by Caroline today. And even though in any kind of other circumstance and maybe a little bit less abusive I'd have found that kind of kinky, I know that it would never even come remotely close to this under normal conditions. This person wasn't Caroline at all. And it is so obvious that I have no problems in not blaming her but blaming the one person being responsible for it, namely Klaus."

"Ty is right, Elena." Matt spoke up again. "It is Klaus responsible for all of this. Not you. You blaming yourself is exactly what he wants.

Tears sprang to Elena's eyes as she was clearly overwhelmed by the kind exclamations from them. "Guys, if we won't make it out of here alive I want you to know that I love you. All of you." A heavy sob followed that coming from Elena.

"And we love you, too." Jeremy said her, an encouraging smile on his face. "And I for one actually plan to get out of this alive."

"Me, too." Matt agreed with him. "Rule No. 27 of 'How to survive in Mystic Falls': If you think death is coming for you, don't open the door!"

"What?" Alaric yelped jokingly.

"Matt, that doesn't make sense." Tyler told him, even laughing a little.

"It does! Okay, normally this rule applies to the case in which a vampire knocks at your door but the message stays the same! Come on, Ty, you get me right?"

"Sorry, buddy, I don't. You're not making any sense at all!" he told them, again a little laugh coming from his lips. And the laugh was contagious as it spread from person to person and kind of lifted the depressed undertone which lingered all around them. Even Damon couldn't help but shaking his head while chuckling a little.
It distracted them so much from everything that they didn't even registered the entrance of three other persons followed by a large entourage.

"Well, look what we've got there. Even our hostages seem to get the circumstances that a celebration is about to take place. I'm delighted you enjoyed the stay so far. But I'm afraid your friends couldn't make it. After they found their amusing little try of breaking and entering unsuccessful they fled into all imaginable directions. Some traitors, so flake, don't you think? But don't worry, I promise to all of you that they won't make it far after leaving all of you to your destiny." Klaus spoke out loud, startling all of them.

There he stood in the center of the room, even wearing a suit. Next to him Stefan and Caroline looked as if they were about to attend a festival and not their near funeral. But what shook them all to the core was the winning smile and the stern look in Klaus eyes as he looked upon all of them and said in a threatening voice "Let the party begin."

End of Chapter 25

I know it's rather short, but I thought such a sequence could stand for itself. Did I catch the personal character traits good enough or was it too sentimental in some point? Tell me your opinion!

Only one more chapter to come! What do you think will happen? Was it worth the wait till now? Do you even wanna read it? Tell me! :)

Love & hugs!