Better late than never right?

The End Of Forever

Chapter 29

Connie sighed, flicking her thumb over the brightly colored candy pieces on her phone. Then promptly cursed when she realized that she'd run out of turns and she was only one move away from her win. She could hear Meri snort next to her and she looked over at her with a pout. "It's not funny. I'm a failure. That was my last life for the next twenty minutes." She pulled her feet up so she could adjust herself and sit indian style on the bench, trying to curl up as much as possible. The sun was starting to go down and it was getting a little chilly.

Meri sent a quick smile over in Connie's direction, but didn't keep her eyes off the hospital parking lot entrance for more than a moment. "If we're lucky we won't have to wait that long."

Dropping her phone into her lap, Connie crossed her arms and shrugged. "Do you think I should call again? I didn't even think to find out where they were coming from. If they're far, we could actually go and get some food!"

Just as she made the suggestion she could feel her stomach rumble and was about to insist on getting something to eat (Maybe they could at LEAST go into the hospital cafeteria) she noticed Meri perk up. Connie followed her gaze to the guest parking lot and noticed a black SUV pulling in. Taking a deep breath, she pushed her curly red hair behind and ear and planted her feet back on the ground.

Time to meet the mysterious Bonnie, that she'd been sort of hearing about for so long.

They had parked behind a larger SUV, so she couldn't see them getting out, but her first glimpse of the man that stepped around the side made her heart flutter. Her eyebrows raised and she muttered a soft "Oh…"

Meri used her elbow to nudge her shoulder. "Um, you could possibly be ogling Elena's new boy toy you know?"

Connie realized that there was another man and a woman following behind him, but she couldn't seem to shift her attention away from him. Tall, slim and pale, he seemed to just OOZE mystery, especially because she couldn't see his eyes behind his dark sunglasses.

"Connie… you're drooling."

Connie swatted Meri's arm. "Oh please, Elena never minded us looking before. If anything, she enjoyed it. That meant she picked a winner. And besides… It doesn't matter anyway, that's not Damon."

Meri looked over at Connie critically. "What makes you say that."

Not knowing exactly how to explain the feelings she had, she shrugged. "When I touched Elena and I SAW" she used air quotes "Damon… it didn't give me the same feeling as it does when I look at this guy."

Meri raised her eyebrows, but didn't say anything as she too watched the trio approach. Connie was right of course, the guy leading the three was very attractive, but she also thought the boy behind him was pretty cute too, Elena always did know how to find the good ones. Though she had a feeling that his hand on the pretty girls back was a clue that he was taken.

Stefan stepped up onto the curb to meet them, trying not to smirk. Being a vampire did have SOME perks. It had been a while since he'd met people that he didn't know and he always forgot what type of reaction they had to him. Hell, he remembered the first day he'd stepped into Mystic Falls High School and had heard Bonnie and Caroline talking about how hot he was.

Back in the good old days, when everyone had a crush on him and now it seemed like he was the only one who didn't have a significant other.

He lifted the sunglasses off his face and folded them, tucking them into the front pocket of his leather jacket. "I assume you ladies are the ones we're here to meet?' He asked, knowing full well who they were.

At the sound of his voice, Connie's cheeks heated up bright pink and he watched, amused, as she seemed to sputter for a second. "Um, yeah, I called about Elena."

Meri rolled her eyes and held out her hand. "My name is Meredith."

Bonnie stepped forward, a gentle smile on her face in greeting, and shook Meredith's hand. "I'm Bonnie." She gestured behind her. "That's Jeremy."

"And I'm Stefan. Damon's brother." Stefan added, laying on the charm a little thick. He didn't miss the raised eyebrow Bonnie shot in his direction.

Connie nodded up at him. "That makes sense." She muttered to herself. "Well, I'm glad that you're here. I doubt that we'll be able to get you in to actually SEE Elena, she had a little, um… mishap, right before we left. But I could probably get you upstairs to talk to my sister Mary. She's a nurse and has been with Elena for the last few days." She gestured for them to follow her as she spun around, glad to be looking away from Stefan.

It felt like under his gaze, she couldn't breathe.

Or think straight.

And she REALLY didn't want to look like an idiot and make a complete fool out of herself, as she sometime was prone to do.

"So… how do you all know Elena?" Meri asked, hoping to break the awkward silence as they all made their way up the front steps and into the hospital. Something didn't sit right with her, with this group. And even though Stefan WAS good looking, something about him was making her feel on edge.

Yes, Elena had sometimes mentioned the name Bonnie, but it's not like she ever spoke directly to them about her FRIEND named Bonnie. And she'd had so many problems over the last few years, that she just couldn't imagine the girl going out and having another set of friends. Elena, before the accident, had been a complete social butterfly and knew everyone. She could understand if they'd all met before then, but after three years, wouldn't she have mentioned going out with them at least once?

Bonnie glanced over at Stefan, a slightly panicked look on her face. Thankfully the pair was in front of them and couldn't see it though.

Stefan cleared his throat. "Well, we met her through Damon. Not sure how they met." He said, keeping it short and simple. Would it be completely wrong of him to just compel them to not ask any questions?

Meri stopped in her tracks and turned to look at Stefan, standing up straight and analyzing him, as if she could see straight through his lie. "And how long has Damon known Elena?"

Deciding to just suck it up and compel the girl to stop her from talking, Stefan took a quick step toward her but was stopped by a loud ping from Bonnie's cell phone.

Glad for the distraction, Bonnie reached into her back pocket and pulled out her phone, flicking the screen on to see an incoming text from an unfamiliar number.

Elena not in hospital. Missing. On our way there now.

She frowned down at the text, realizing that it must be Damon texting from Klaus's phone, and deeply disturbed by the fact that she now had Klaus's number stored in her phone.

"Elena's missing?" Jeremy panicked, glancing over Bonnie's shoulder and seeing the text.

"That's impossible." Connie said, shaking her head, her curls bouncing around her face. "We just saw her like… two hours ago. She's upstairs."

Bonnie glanced up and their eyes met. "Damon was on his way to Elena's house when you called, so it's possible he knows something we don't. But he said that he's coming here so… I guess we just have to wait."

Connie shook her head again, refusing to believe it. "We would have heard something, we were here the whole time!"

Placing a hand on Connie's shoulder, Meri hoped that she could calm her friend down. "No, we left for a while. Anything is possible." She glanced up at Bonnie. "You wait here for your friends and meet us upstairs when they get here. We'll go up and see if we can find out some information."

They all nodded in silent agreement and Bonnie watched as they rushed over to an elevator. As soon as the doors closed, she spun to face Stefan. "This doesn't make sense."

Stefan ran his hand through his already messed up hair. "Nothing makes sense anymore. Did Damon say anything else?" Bonnie shook her head no. "Do you think it's possible when she showed up at the boarding house, her whole body showed up and that's how she disappeared?"

"If that's the case then shouldn't she have wound up back in the hospital when she vanished?" Jeremy asked, shoving his hands into his pocket and trying his best to remain calm.

Stefan let out a little laugh. "Who's to say what should have happened? We don't know anything about traveling or what kind of thing could happen when a doppelganger vampire travels. We have NO information, no CLUE on how to figure this shit out. We have NOTHING." He seethed, his frustration growing.

Bonnie rushed forward and grabbed him by the arms. "Stefan you have GOT to calm down. Your eyes…" She said, trailing off, and watched relieved when the dark veins disappeared from beneath his eyes and the red faded. "All we can do right now is wait."


What used to be just small golden flecks in Mylea's blue eyes had now completely taken over as they almost glowed as night began to fall. She stared Elena down and though she was scared, her intention was to not show it at all.

Elena didn't know what Mylea was, or why she was doing this, but she'd faced down things just as terrifying as her in the past and dammit, she wasn't going to let herself be taken without a fight.

"Elena." Mylea started, her gaze intense. "I HAD to get you out of there. It was for your own protection."

Snorting, Elena desperately wished she could cross her arms. The ridiculous words that had come out of Mylea's mouth had made her a bit more brave. "Oh? You tied me up and kidnapped me for my PROTECTION?"

Mylea sighed, rolling her eyes heavenward as if asking for patience. "Elena. If you TRULY do not remember then you must know that you are in terrible danger. I had to get you out of the hospital because there are people that are after you. I recognized two of them in the lobby yesterday and I was struggling to figure out a way to get you out of there as quickly as possible. Dr. Verbodanin sedating you and locking you in the room was the perfect opportunity."

Elena narrowed her eyes. "So what you're saying is that Elena WASN'T crazy and paranoid? And you didn't feel the need to let her know anything about it." She asked angrily.

Gripping her hands tightly on the back of the driver seat, Mylea leaned closer to Elena, analyzing her. "Why are you talking of yourself in third person?"

Elena shook her head. "You're going to explain what's going on and then I'll decide what to tell you."

"You're not exactly in a position to negotiate." Mylea retorted, her expression turning cold.

Throwing back her head, Elena laughed. "I really don't have anything to lose at this point, do I?"

Mylea glanced up and down the street, making sure no one was in the vicinity. There wasn't, to Elena's dismay. The road they were on was usually empty except for Saturday nights and Sunday mornings during church hours. Unless she was lucky enough to see someone visiting at the graveyard, she wasn't going to get any help from a passer-by.

She watched as Mylea's perfectly manicured nails dug even further into the fabric of the seat.

The woman was obviously stressed.

Or just as crazy as she was.

"Elena, you are something called a Guardian. I do not have nearly enough time to explain to you exactly what that means, but you have the power to take down some very VERY bad creatures. That is what you were born to do. Once I can get you to safety I promise you that I'll explain everything."

Elena could tell that Mylea was trying to be calm to make her feel more at ease, but it just wasn't working. "I'm not who you think I am. I'm not some kind of chosen guardian that is going to save the world."

Mylea smiled gently and reached over to put her hand on Elena's shoulder. "Oh, but yes, you are. Your mother was a Guardian as well. It was always planned for you to join us. YOU are the one that will save this world."

Elena shrugged her hand off, it was the best she could do with her hands tied in front of her. "No, you aren't understanding. Even if Elena IS some kind of supernatural all powerful being, I'm NOT Elena."

Sighing, Mylea shook her head. "I understand that you are having problems with your memory, but you must believe me. Yesterday I saw two vampires that were clearly looking for you-"

"The dark haired man, that you were trying to ask me about this morning? You saw Damon?" Elena asked.

Mylea nodded, thinking she'd gotten through to the girl. "I don't know what that man has made you believe Elena, but he is only trying to use you. I have information that he and his brother Stefan Salvatore have worked with one of the Original vampires and the Original are just one of the many evil's that you were born to put an end to. They can compel you to do things… FEEL things, that you don't really want to do or feel. They are DANGEROUS-"

"NO!" Elena insisted, shaking her head. "They aren't dangerous and they would never hurt me. Damon was only at the hospital yesterday with his brother because he broke his HAND. Something that VAMPIRE'S can't do. He's human. His brother is not but he's not a bad person-"

It was Mylea's turn to cut her off. "Stefan Salvatore has killed VILLAGES of people."

"I don't care. I'm not the Elena you're looking for. She is DEAD. She killed herself the other day. Yes… my name is Elena, but I'm a traveler and I accidentally jumped into HER body after she tried to overdose. I'm the doppelganger." Elena insisted, it sounded ridiculous, even to her own ears. But if there was a small chance that Mylea would let her go, then she would try anything.

They stared at each other in silence, Mylea looking her up and down before finally speaking.

"That would explain a lot." She said, tilting her head. A small smile spread across her face "It doesn't matter who you are, or what soul is inside the body you are using right now. The power is in that body. No matter what Elena you are, you will do this for us, for the WORLD." Her eyes became half crazed. "Your parents were in agreement you know. You were supposed to come to us when you were of age. That was the deal."

Elena could feel a drip of sweat slowly making it's way down the back of her neck. "You killed her parent's didn't you?" She asked, disbelievingly. "They reneged on that agreement. They weren't going to let you take her."

Mylea closed her eyes and reached up to pinch the bridge of her nose. "We are Guardian's. We do not kill our own. We were there the day of the accident, but we did not kill them. I can promise you that." She shook her head. "That doesn't matter though, does it? If you're not her, why would you care what happened to her parents?"

"DOESN'T matter? The girl lost her parents? Why WOULDN'T I care?" Elena fumed, struggling to get her hands free from the tape that was wrapped around them. She didn't care if Mylea saw, she needed to get out.

Mylea reached over the seat and grabbed a fist of her hair. "It does NOT matter. What DOES matter, is that you are in her body and you WILL do what you were always meant to do." She hissed, her eyes glowing even more brightly than before, almost blinding Elena.

Thinking quickly, realizing that her only hope was to get back to Damon and warn him, Elena did the only thing that she could and spit right into Mylea's face.

Her wish was granted as Mylea's other fist came up and smashed into the side of head, turning her world black almost instantly.


Sad to report that they are selling The Gilbert House, so I guess my reservations for the series finale don't really matter anymore. Unless, of course, the new owners decide that they are going to rent the rooms out. Whoever they are, I really hope that they're friendly toward any fans that show up.

When I heard I had this horrible moment of regret. Yeah, I've been on the porch with my husband, I've sat on those stairs with my husband, we kissed. But I always thought I would be going back and standing there again. Sitting on the porch, watching the sun rise... I took it for granted that I would just be able to go back and do it again.

I guess I kinda feel like Elena LOL

And...The joke. I'll just put the name Dr. Verbodanin right here and you guys can guess until next chapter lol

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