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XXV

"Noooooooooo!" the painful scream could be heard miles away, from where Rebekah fell onto her knees beside what was still left of her brothers' bodies.

"Rebekah…" Elijah tried to comfort his sister, but his own heart was breaking. As much as he hated Klaus sometimes, he was still his brother and he loved him. Then there was also Kol, who he hadn't been with for nine hundred years, but that he still missed. The time they had as a family – even if Finn wasn't with them – has been precious although too short. Far too short. Even though they had many disagreements, they were still the most feared creatures in the world, and that caused each of them to have a strange relationship with power, but they were still above all siblings. A broken family that now was more broken than ever.

"How did we let it happen, Eli? How?" Rebekah turned to her brother, who had his arms open to embrace his sister. Try to take her pain away and distracting him from his own unbearable pain.

"I don't know Bex. I don't know what we could have done, but unfortunately, there's nothing else we can do now," he tried to offer her comfort, but he knew his words were far from providing it. What was the point in even looking for the right words? There weren't any right words when the only things left from their brothers were ashes. They couldn't even say what was Klaus' and what was Kol's. It was just a huge pile of ashes that the wind, which the soft breeze slowly carried away. They couldn't even stop it, in a question of minutes, hours maybe, there would be nothing left of his younger brothers.

"This is her fault!" Rebekah yelled, detaching her body from her brother's and trying to prevent the ashes from flying away with the breeze.

"Rebekah…" Elijah tried, but Rebekah had lost it.

"Go find a vase or something, I'm not going to let the rest of my brothers to just blow away. Move Elijah!" she demanded as she tried to gather the ashes under the hem of her top. Elijah didn't know what hurt more at the moment, the siblings he lost to death or the sibling he lost to pain, but he walked away as she demanded, towards one of the neighbor's houses where he hoped to find a box, a vase, anything that would help his sister. He would compel even kill if he needed to, but he would give Rebekah what she needed at the moment. To the hell with his morality. He was grieving, as much as his sister, and they were entitled to be wrecked, more than they had been for a thousand years.

n the meanwhile, Damon ran towards the boarding house, where he knew Stefan had taken Elena to. There was a feeling of finality in his chest though he knew he should feel relieved, happy even.

It was over. It was finally over. Klaus was dead and even though only Kol was killed with him Damon didn't think that Elijah and Rebekah would cause them any trouble. The blond surely had it in her to make their lives a living hell, but he still had one of their brothers in his possession and the other coffin nobody could open or know what was inside.

But watching Sage's video brought painful memories to Damon. He really liked the Ancient and he wasn't over the pain yet. Not even close and now with all their problems gone – or at least the major ones – he knew said memories would occupy his mind more often than he wanted. More often than they already had the past weeks.

"Kol… According to this incredible device known as TV cable, today is January, 17th of 2010. This is my favorite show, and for someone who will live forever, I really have a bad time dealing with TV shows hiatuses, even if they only last four or five months, but today is the first episode back since the winter hiatus, so I'm lucky. I sound pretty pathetic now, don't I? But that's the way I found to cope with being separate from you forever. Well, let me see what I should start with… Damon Salvatore, he's someone very important to me, and he's the reason why you're awake, and why you're watching this. I'd like you to spare his life and the ones of those he loves. Do it for me. He woke you up for me, but I can't bring you here. This is hell on earth, and I love you too much to be so selfish. I love you, I never stopped even for one day during the 986 years I've been living, and I won't ever stop. I have to admit I was once infatuated with someone else, but it didn't last, it wasn't supposed to. You're my soul mate; there isn't anyone that could ever replace you in my heart, so please forgive me for my moment of weakness. I guess loneliness and heartbreak took their toll on me after eight centuries…" she said, she then stopped to hold back the tears that threatened to fall. She offered a small smile to the phone and took a deep breath before she continued, "I don't have an option here, but you do, Kol, and I want you to take it. I compelled Damon to forget where this place is and I believe he's the only one who knew it. Don't look for me, look for some new love, you deserve it. I can't leave, I was locked here by witches shortly after Niklaus daggered you. There's so much brutality here that I actually compelled Damon to forget he ever saw it. I don't wish you to witness the same, love. For 986 years I didn't know what happiness was, but now I remember it. I had a glimpse of it, exactly a century ago, but it was nothing compared to what I feel now. And the exhilarating feeling that I feel comes from knowing you're free, from knowing I had a chance to say how much I love you, even if for the last time. If I had a chance to hear you say it back, I would die out of ecstasy. But that's a risk I can't take, my dear Kol, and I know despite my request, you won't respect my wish. It makes me sad, but I forgive you, love. I just hope you can forgive me too. I love you, Kol, always and forever," she said as a single tear fell from her eyes and wetted her porcelain skin for the first time in many centuries.

Reaching for something under her dress, she finally brought a stake, and realization finally hit Damon. He wanted to throw the phone away and stop her, but he was compelled to continue recording. Elena brought her hands to her mouth, but before she could react further than that, Sage brought the White Oak stake to her heart, and just like that she died, in front of Damon, while a tear also fell from his eye.

He didn't realize the couple of tears rolling down his face, or the fact that he was already entering his house's den, but soon Elena's body collided with his, distracting him from his emotional disarray.

"Thank God, you're okay, I was so worried," she cried holding him with all her human strength, that wasn't even that much after being held captive for two days.

"It's done, he's dead," Damon weakly answered, meeting his brother's inquiring gaze.

"Klaus?" Elena stepped away for a second, looking for the confirmation she needed more than anything.

Damon simply nodded and it was Stefan who spoke next.

"How?"

"Kol…" Damon simply answered.

"So is he dead too?" Elena asked and once again she was only met with the quiet, but still noticeable, movement of her boyfriend's head.

She knew why he wasn't jumping, or drinking, or simply smugly smirking. She turned back and looked briefly to Stefan who understood the two of them needed a moment.

"You really cared about her, didn't you?" she asked, taking his hand and moving them towards the couch.

"I still can't believe she killed herself," Damon admitted, and Elena knew it was breaking his heart all over again. It was still fresh in her mind how he had barely talked to her in their trip back to Mystic Falls and silence would always be a bad indication of Damon's frame of mind. He couldn't help himself and he definitely couldn't stop his sharp tongue. Not from sarcasm, wit or simply his extreme opinion.

And there it was again. The telling silence of Damon Salvatore. There weren't any words exchanged between the couple as they sat on the couch, her hand holding his, their gazes lost in painful memories.

"There's one thing I don't understand," he said and she had a feeling what it was about, but still she asked.

"What is it?"

"I had the stake, I was right in front of him, I could have done it, but I just couldn't. It wasn't like I was having second thoughts, I simply couldn't move. It was like trying to entering a house I wasn't invited into," he explained, frowning slightly, as he put into words the weirdest sensation he had ever had.

"That's the feeling of compulsion, Damon," she said and it was her turn to let her mind travel through what she had asked Sage to do for her.

"Damon Salvatore, first and foremost I order you to never try to stake any Original. You won't try to kill Klaus, Elijah, Finn, Kol or Rebekah, no matter what. You won't lose your life doing so. You will also forget everything about this place, you'll forget what you saw here, how to come back here, and you'll never come back here, not even by chance. No matter who asks you, the Dark Zone is place you won't remember and won't ever come back. I compel you to forget all the gory you saw here, but I'll allow you to remember me and the time we spent. You'll forget everyone else you met here, and you won't remember there's a White Oak tree standing in the middle of the city because that information is too dangerous and I don't trust you not to do something heroic, but also absolutely stupid about it. You'll just believe I kept stakes from the Original White Oak and the moment you come back to the hotel you'll get rid of the branches Elena collected, and you'll only keep the stakes I made for you," Sage said, and then she remembered she forgot to say the same to Elena. She ordered Damon to stay where he was before she looked to Elena and repeated the same speech about the White Oak tree and the stakes they had.

"As soon as I finish recording my message, you'll take Elena, and everything I gave to both of you, as well as your cell phone, and you'll leave, without looking back, you'll leave for good," Sage turned back to Damon and finally finished her compulsion.

"I'm sorry, but I knew you wouldn't let it pass if you had a chance," Elena apologized after she admitted her request to Sage.

"And did you think it was okay to compel me?!" Damon asked, clearly angry at her betrayal.

"Don't be a hypocrite, Damon, you would have done the same to me if you could," she answered just as loudly as his last words.

"Do you think that low of me?" he grimaced. He thought they had left that behind them. He thought everything had changed since the day she saved him from himself. He thought she saw him with different eyes, different from everyone else except maybe his brother, as Sage and Rose didn't live anymore. There was Alaric, and for a nanosecond he remembered his friend, who he needed to check later. But soon his mind was fully back at her betrayal.

"No, I think that high of your love for me. Can you honestly tell me you wouldn't do anything in your power to prevent my death? Even if you had to take my free will from me? I remember a time when you forced your blood through my throat and another time when you actually compelled me," she challenged and even though it killed her to have to address those events, she didn't have any other option. She had to show him he had done the same for her. Actually if anything, he went farther than she did.

"And I lost count of how many times I apologized for that. Two wrongs don't make a right, Elena," his tone of voice decreased several decibels. He still felt guilty and sorry for some of his actions towards her in the past.

"This has nothing to do with wrongs and rights, Damon. I couldn't let you die and I knew your word would lose the battle to your feelings," her voice was also softer, as she reached for his hand again, fearing he wouldn't accept the touch, but relieved when he didn't pull his hand away.

"I know," he admitted, simply.

"But I do owe you an apology. Will you forgive me?" she asked, and he could see in her eyes that she meant those words. That she felt terrible for taking his free will away from him, but at the same time he could also see she would do it all over again if she needed to. He couldn't blame her.

"Of course I do. I love you," he confessed, before pulling her body against his, embracing her with everything he had.

But their moment was called short when Stefan entered the room.

"Bonnie has been trying to contact both of you, but I told her your phone was totaled and Elena's probably in her house," Stefan said, clearly uncomfortable of interrupting their embrace, not only because he knew they needed it, but especially because it was still hard for him to see them that close to each other, even more emotionally than physically.

"What does the witch want?" Damon asked, showing how unhappy he was to be interrupted.

"She asked both of you to go to Elena's house as soon as possible. Alaric seems to have worsened," Stefan explained, before he turned around.

"It doesn't seem like we will ever have a break, does it?" he sighed, holding her closer again.

"Actually I feel like the storm is finally dissipating. I don't know where this feeling is coming from, but I can't brush it away," she offered, snuggling her head against his chest.

"I hope you're right," his grip on her body increased slightly.

"Let's go, it must be really important if Bonnie called us," she said, and while he nodded, he still didn't let her go of him.

"What happened?" Damon immediately asked when he entered Jenna's old bedroom, to find a pale and visibly worn out Alaric resting, as if he was holding his last breath.

The teacher was covered in sweat and he couldn't stop his body from shaking constantly, while his tired expression carried a lot of pain. Bonnie was holding his hand, and having known the witch since the sandbox, Elena knew something was wrong, but not as Damon would expect it to be. Bonnie wasn't looking only hurt and sad. There was a tad of guilt in her eyes and when she realized Elena noticed, she looked away.

"What happened?" Damon repeated his question.

"I'd like to talk alone with them," it was all the teacher said, while Bonnie nodded quietly, walking away from the room and getting inside the closest bathroom as soon as she left. She didn't want to use it, but she knew Elena noticed something was wrong and she knew she was going to be bombarded with questions if the brunette had a chance to ask her. The witch had a feeling soon Alaric would want to talk to Damon separately. The hazel eyed girl didn't want to have that conversation with her friend because she wasn't totally convinced she did the right thing by granting Alaric his wish. Probably his last.

"I'm dying," Alaric informed the couple in front of him, after stopping to cough harshly. Why death had to be so painful even if it involved supernatural reasons, the teacher thought.

"Elena, bring the witch back, there's something she could do. There's something she should do!" Damon exclaimed the last part with anger.

"There isn't Damon, this has been my choice. This thing is killing me while it keeps me absolutely alive. I can't take it anymore. I've made my decision, and I thought the least I could do was tell you both myself," Alaric said weakly after he recovered from his coughing fit.

"Why am I surrounded by suicidal people? Actually, I can only care about people with suicidal wishes?" Damon asked and Elena knew he meant herself and Sage. She was happy she didn't die when she handed herself over to Klaus to be sacrificed, but one of the few friends he ever had committed a suicide only a few weeks ago, and now he was facing the same fate with yet another person important to him. There was nothing she could do to make his pain go away. He had had enough and her heart, her broken, shattered heart, felt even more destroyed by his hurt voice.

"Elena, could I talk to him in private?" Alaric asked, and she simply nodded, moving from her position by Damon's side, to the bed, pulling a stray wet hair from his face. "Fight, it's all I ask, he's been through too much pain and loss," she asked, before she kissed his sweat soaked cheek, and repeating the gesture on Damon's, she left the room.

"I called Jeremy, I let him know what was happening to me and I said he could come back tomorrow. Bonnie told me about what happened to Klaus," Alaric used all of his remaining strength to speak those words.

"I'm going to look for a more powerful witch," Damon said, still ignoring his friend's words.

"Damon, this is my decision. I'm not myself anymore and I can't live with this new version," the teacher's voice was lower and lower, but with Damon's refined hearing, he could still make out his voice clearly.

"So what? You'll kill yourself? News flash, Ric, a lot of us have to actually live with versions of ourselves we hate and despise, but still we're brave enough not to give up," Damon didn't try to cover the pain in his voice. Alaric knew he was talking about himself more than everyone else. He knew Damon hated being a vampire, which was why he had to do it.

"Jeremy is coming; I think you should let him stay. Elena needs her brother and I don't want to be arrogant, but I think he won't deal very well with my death, so he'll probably need her as well," Alaric asked, although he knew it wouldn't make a difference.

"How can he be coming if I compelled him not to come back?" Damon asked.

"It'll be dealt with, don't worry," Alaric cryptically answered, and Damon had the final proof something else was going on. He could feel it in the air.

"What are you not telling me?" he demanded, raising one of his eyebrows as he usually did when he was intrigued.

"I don't have much time, and I still need to talk to Elena. I just wanted to be the one to tell you. In time you will understand and before you feel guilty, undeserving or any other stupid things your mind seems to be so sharp to produce, know that it was the best decision I've ever made in my life. I don't know how it happened, as I had every reason in the book to hate you, but you've become my best friend, Damon, and I know if you had a chance, you'd probably do the same for me," Alaric concluded his speech, but Damon was still reluctant and hurting.

"Yeah, I would certainly commit suicide because I hurt someone you cared about and would still hurt them a lot more. Tell me, Ric, is that a natural death or did the witch do a spell? She looked like she couldn't leave the room fast enough. Maybe if it's an elixir she still has some to share with me, I'm sure giving it to me will make her feel much less guilty than giving it to you," he answered with sarcasm, but Alaric could catch the pain behind his anger.

"Ask Elena to come here, Damon, I don't have much more time in me and she doesn't have special hearing abilities," Alaric said before starting a new coughing fit.

Damon didn't want to leave, but he knew there was nothing he could do at this point. But the witch would meet his rage, he would make sure of it. Even if she killed him in the process.

It didn't take her even a minute and finally Elena was standing in front of him.

Alaric pointed the nightstand opposed to the side of the bed he was laying and Elena's eyes finally noticed the object she missed the first time she entered the room. She recognized the tissue from the cover as soon as she spotted it under the ancient book.

"I came across with it nearly after you and Damon came back. I had no idea it was something Sage gave to you," the teacher explained, his voice horse and even lower than before, but somehow Elena understood it.

"She said nobody should read it except for me," Elena said moving towards the objects.

"Because she didn't want you to show the letter to Damon, he would never agree with what is written there," Alaric said, and Elena noticed the small folded paper over the book.

"Read it, I don't have much longer, Elena," he said, coughing hard again.

She looked at him confused, but she knew she could trust his judgment and she had been curious to know what was it that Sage gave to her. It took her a while to read the letter, because tears kept blurring her vision. She still remembered how Sage killed herself to make sure Kol wouldn't come to such a terrible place because of her. She set him free and that still touched Elena a lot. But she finally moved to the main subject of the letter and as she read the words, she looked up to Alaric and back to the letter, not believing what her eyes were seeing.

"Oh my God!" she said, as thicker tears streamed down her face.

"I'm this person, Elena," he said, and for a moment, she just couldn't say anything, but then when she looked back at him once again she noticed his eyes weren't opened anymore.

"Ric! Ric!" she yelled, shaking his shoulders much harsher than she should if she had any hopes he would still be alive.

"Damon! Bonnie!" she yelled next when she confirmed her teacher's body was in fact lifeless.

"Elena!" she heard Bonnie's scared voice from downstairs and she knew something must have happened for the witch to sound like that.

Knowing there was nothing she could do for Alaric, she flew downstairs only to be met with a scene she would never be able to erase from her mind.

There, lying on the floor of her living room, was Damon's body, completely motionless.

The witch was facing the two vampires standing on the doorway, actually one of them was between the outside and the inside of the house, but it was the one outside that finally voiced something when everyone else seemed to have lost their voices.

"I do hope he wasn't the only one to know where Finn is," Rebekah said, behind Elijah, looking at Damon's gray body, with protuberant veins all over his skin.

AN: good thing none of my readers live in the neighborhood, I feel like some of you would at least punch me in the gut.

Next chapter is the last one, the epilogue. It's worth a read. I wrote some of it already, but it's been outlined for a while. You may not be disappointed (much).

In complete different news, I started a klaroline story and I need a beta for it. Please, if any of you are KC fans and have time to be a beta for me, I'd love. It's a medical AH story.

For those whose eyes are not red with hate, thank you! Also thanks for the reviews and a special thanks to my beta, Daniela.

xoxo,

Babi