Can't believe I agreed to go to school with Elena. What was I thinking? I begrudgingly made my way up the steps to the Salvatore boarding house and swung open the door. Elena and Damon jumped apart startled, then Damon grinned. "Sorry Elena, Dani's all yours now."
Elena smiled up at his with hearts in her eyes as my blood ran cold. "Elena?" I questioned my tone flat. "Really Damon?"
Damon took me in from head to toe his face paling as he shook his head furiously. "No! No your Elena! She said- She said- She's you! She has to be you!" His whole body shook as he stared at me in horror and then back to Elena in anger. "You said you were her! I just-".
"You just had sex with my sister." I spat out.
"Dani, please just let me explain! Elena tell her!" He cried out trying to reach for me and I jerked back. "Please Dani! I love you." I flinched as did Elena.
I couldn't even look at him. "All the signs were there." Dee sung. "You just chose to ignore them. You have no one to blame but yourself."
"I'll wait in the car." I said turning on my heel and walking out. Elena quickly followed and I heard something smash as we left. Once we were settled in the car, I asked. "Did you pretend to be me to sleep with him?"
"No, I never told him I was you. He never asked. But you never told me how long I should pretend to be you." She replied her voice tight. "I thought you'd be happy, you wanted Damon to move on and for someone to love him… I love him Dani." I froze. "He told me how happy he was this morning, I thought that would make you happy."
"Happy because he thought you were me."
"I'm sorry." She whispered. "Please don't be mad."
I pulled up outside the school but I couldn't force myself to get out of the car. "Go to school Elena, we'll talk later."
"But you were supposed to come with me."
"I can't. Not today. I promise we'll talk later." She nodded and then I watched as she headed over to Bonnie and Caroline. No I definitely couldn't face that today.
Pulling away from the school I floored it. My whole body was running hot and cold. I could see it running over and over in my bed, him holding her as he used to hold me. Telling her how much he loves her. The world blurred past me as the speedometer sped up. It hurt. Why did it hurt so much? I ended it with him. It shouldn't hurt like this should it? Green blurs of trees swirled past me and without thinking I swerved into them. The impact threw me forward crashing through the windscreen as the car crumpled up. My whole body burned from the pain. Pain I could understand. The glass scratched up my skin as I pulled my body through the window. My clothes were shredded and blood soaked through everything.
"Feel better." Dee questioned, leaning against a tree.
"It's pain I can manage." I replied.
"Well next time, make sure one or both of them are in the car so they feel it to."
When I made it back to the boarding house I expected a showdown between Damon and I but Stefan called us in for a meeting. He eyed me and said. "Are you okay?" Damon glanced at me as I nodded. "Is everyone else okay?" Again I nodded.
I stood against the wall as far away from Damon as I could get while he just stared at me in pain. "We need to talk about Elena." Stefan started. I snorted as Damon tensed but neither of us made a comment allowing Stefan to continue. "Caroline and I have been talking and we believe Elena may be sired."
"Sired?" I questioned.
"Like Klaus' hybrids. Remember how Tyler would do anything Klaus asked."
"Sired? Really Stefan? That is the most pathetic nonsense I've ever heard come out of your mouth, and you've said some crap in your day." Damon replied.
"It was your blood that turned her, right? I mean, she's been different from day one because of you. You can't deny that."
Except it wasn't Damon's blood.
Sired.
Thoughts started running rampant through my head.
Elena said blue dress, I said red, Elena said red.
You need human blood to survive, animal blood is useless – Elena couldn't drink animal blood
You never told me how long I should pretend to be you
All I want is for Damon to be happy. Someone loving him and finding the happiness he deserves will make me the happiest person in the world.
He told me how happy he was this morning, I thought that would make you happy.
"Sure I can. I finally got Elena to a good place about being a vampire. You and Caroline just can't stand that she's happy because of Dani and I. Back me up here Dani." The pain in his voice had changed slightly. Tilting my head to the side I observed him.
"All right. You know what? Prove me wrong. Tell her it's OK to drink from a blood bag."
"She can't. Her weird doppelgänger body rejected the blood from the bag."
"Right, because you told her to. You said she had to drink warm human blood straight from the vein. She almost died to make you happy. Look, just ask her to drink from a blood bag. Make sure you tell her how happy you'll be if it works, and if I'm wrong, I'll be the first to apologize." Stefan replied
"When her body rejects this blood, which it will, your apology better be epic."
And then it clicked.
Damon didn't want the reason Elena slept with him to be because of the sire bond.
"You didn't have to come." Damon said as we walked down the empty halls of the school.
"Lets just get this over with."
"Can we please talk about this? I swear I didn't know it was her, I never would have-"
"Just stop!" I whisper yelled. "I can't deal with this right now Damon. One crisis at a time." He nodded dejectedly. Thankfully we were right by the empty classroom where Caroline had told Elena to wait.
"Hey!" Elena greeted hugging my tightly. She tried to do the same with Damon but he pushed her back before she could.
"You forgot your lunch, we thought we'd bring it to you." I said as Damon held out the human blood bag.
"I can't. You know I can't." She replied shaking her head.
"Well, last time you tried it, the circumstances were less optimal and I think maybe you should just give it another try, see if it works. I really think it will. Please...for me?" Damon pleaded handing it over to her.
"For us." I echoed nodding to Elena who watched me carefully.
Elena ripped open the bag and took a cautious sip she paused for a moment before continuing.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"Mm, I'm fine. It tastes like blood. Last time, it was like hot garbage." She smiled finishing off the bag.
"You sure you're okay?" Damon pressed.
"I'm better than OK. I mean, maybe last time, it was a bad batch or something. I can't believe this, Damon. I don't have to hurt people anymore. I have to get to class. Thank you." Damon was a statue he couldn't even move as Elena jumped up pecked his lips and running off.
Damon didn't say anything on the way back to boarding house. When we walked through the door Damon went straight to the library and started rummaging through books. "What happened?" Stefan asked coming in to the room with us.
"Elena is sired. You were right, I was wrong. Happy?"
"No, I'm not happy. But what are we gonna do about it?"
"Well, I'm working on it. Here." He passed Stefan a picture, I glanced at it but it meant nothing to me. "Do you remember that?"
"New Orleans." Stefan observed.
"1942, to be exact."
"What was in New Orleans in 1942?" I asked.
"Other than bourbon and beads... Stefan and I."
"Oh yeah." Stefan agreed. "What was the name of that girl you used to hang out with?"
"That was no ordinary girl. That was Charlotte." Damon smirked. "She was sired to me."
I raised my eyebrows. "She was sired to you, and I can only assume you took full advantage of that until you got bored of her, right?"
"More like when she went all 'Fatal Attraction' on me, then I had to make a clean break."
"How'd you do that?" I asked.
Damon found another piece of paper. "Ah, phew, here." He hands it to Stefan and I
'Valerie LaMarche, 920 Dauphine St'
"Who's Valerie LaMarche?" Stefan asked.
"The witch that I found to help me break little Charlotte's sire bond. Pack your bags boys and girls. We're going back to Bourbon Street."
Music plays from who knows where as people dance up and down the street.
"Well, the city is the same. Just brighter." Stefan commented.
"Have you been back here since '42?"
"Nope, not since I shipped off to join the war effort and you didn't."
"Somebody had to entertain the ladies who had been left by their menfolk." Damon grinned.
"Hey, good news. Elena is at the house with the girls where she can't get in trouble. Bad news - I think they got into the Dom. Told her to make herself at home."
"Yeah, you told her so she does, right?" I deadpanned.
Damon's step faltered. A Sire bond is not that literal."
"Really?" Stefan scoffed. "Name one thing that you've asked her to do that you haven't gotten, huh?
"You know what I haven't gotten? Blame, guilt. I get it Stefan. I get that your pissed that Elena dumped you because she has feelings for me. Bet you blame the sire bond for that, too. But what matters the most is that I don't have feelings for Elena!" He looked at me as he said that but something in my gut twisted. I just didn't believe it.
Stefan looked ready to say something so I intervened. "Enough! We're not going to get anywhere if we're constantly fighting."
"I apologize, all right? As much as I hate this sire bond thing, I shouldn't take it out on you. It's not really your fault." Stefan conceded.
"Well, dont get all warm and fuzzy on me yet." Damon pulled us to a stop in front of an apartment." "It's where the witch lived."
"What, you weren't expecting to find the same exact witch in the same place?" I questioned.
"No, but since I couldn't remember where the store was, figured it'd give us a start."
Stefan asked.
"Yeah, maybe." Damon shrugged.
"Where was the last place you saw her?" I asked. "Although, why she'd still be here I have no idea."
"Corner of Bourbon and Dumaine. Kind of told her to count every brick in every building in New Orleans, and I'd meet her at the corner. I was gone by morning."
"Classy." I remarked as Stefan started walking. Although a memory came back to me of asking Elena to count flowers.
"Where you going?"
" Corner of Bourbon and Dumaine. Let's see how literal the sire bond is."
"There's no way she's gonna be in the same spot after seventy years."
Stefan ignored him. "So, what are we gonna tell Elena?"
"I was hoping we wouldn't have to tell her anything." Damon admitted quietly.
"Well, we can't just lie to her."
"It's not a lie. It's an omission for the greater good. You don't understand how bad she's going to feel if she finds out about this. About the things she's done." He tried to look at me but I couldn't meet his gaze.
"Oh, I see. I see. That's Damon speak for 'Let's not do the right thing, let's just do what's right for me'."
"Oh, what about you, O selfless one? Are you doing what's best for Elena or what's best for you? Because it looks to me like the only reason you want to break Elena's sire bond is to restore her original factory "Team Stefan" settings."
I sighed as they both stared at each other. "I'm going to get a drink. Come hunt me down when you both stop being dicks."
As I waked away I heard a bang before me. "Really? You can't keep your hands to yourselves for five minutes." I questioned turning around just in time to see Stefan throw whoever had tackled Damon away. "What the hell just happened?" I rushed towards them and should in front of them protectively as the person pulled themselves to their feet.
"She kissed me." Damon breathed out in astonishment.
The woman stepped under a streetlight making her brunette hair glow like a halo around her. "Damon, I always knew you'd come back for me. I must have counted literally every brick on every building in all of New Orleans."
Stefan, Damon and I all stared at her in horror. "Literally every brick?" Stefan questioned.
Damon looked away in shame, but Charlotte didn't seem to notice. She rushed at him wrapping her arms around him. "Uh, Charlotte, uh. Ha." Damon pulled away from her and held her out at arm length. "Please tell me you had a full life and that you've done something other than counting bricks."
"Of course I have, I'm not crazy." She giggled.
"Then why are you still here?" I asked.
"You know when someone breaks up with you and there's a song that reminds you of them? First, you hate it." She places her hand on Damon's shoulder caressing it as she smiled up at him. "But then it brings back all the good memories of them. Counting the bricks is my song and I've been playing it for decades."
"That's a really long time stuck listening to the same song." Stefan replied dryly.
"So I'm curious." I said sliding up to Stefan and watching Charlotte continue to snuggle up against Damon. "Exactly how many bricks are we talking about?"
"Five hundred and Sixty Eight Million, nine Hundred and Twenty Three." She grinned proud of herself.
"And how many times would you say you counted them?" Stefan inquired.
"At least once a month, sometimes more."
"Yeah, heh.." Damon coughed. "Well you know, in the plus column, you know New Orleans better than anyone in the world. Which is really nice, because we need your help finding someone."
We entered the shop where Charlotte told us to go. A middle aged woman came from out the back when the bell above us tolled. "Can I help you?" She greeted.
"Hi. We're looking for a witch. Sorry, no time for pleasantries." Damon smiled.
"I'm sorry. I don't understand." The woman replied.
"Look.." Damon looked up at the board behind her where "Nandi's Special" was written on a blackboard. "Nandi, is it? Let's skip the part where you pretend like you don't know what we're talking about. We need a spell that could break a vampire sire bond. Now, there was a witch here named Val. Ring any bells?"
"She was my great-grandmother."
"She had a grimoire and it had a spell to break a vampire sire bond. It required the sacrifice of twelve human souls."
"A sacrifice?" Stefan questioned outraged. "You brought me here knowing that the spell required a human sacrifice."
"Well, I was hoping the recipe had changed." Damon shrugged.
"Human sacrifice? Did you really think I would go for this?" Stefan questioned angrily.
"Oh please Stefan, Damon and I will be doing the sacrificing and your hands will still be squeaky clean. Honestly, I'm looking forward to it, there may not be anyone left for Damon to have." I smirked.
"Look, there's no magic like that here. I sell herbs and homeopathic remedies and dress it up with a little witchy-woo-woo for the tourists, but I don't practice." Nandi replied.
"Okay, fine, listen, just tell us where we can find someone like your great-grandma who can break the sire bond and won't flake out on us like old Val did."
"There's no one. All of her stuff is gone - the grimoires, her journals. We lost it all during Katrina. If a spell like that ever existed, it's gone for good."
"You're lying." I stated. "Your heart just skipped a beat and your rate is rising by the second. You're panicking."
"No I'm not. I think you should leave. I can't help you."
Damon stared at her for a moment and then laughed. "I'm calling you out. You're not Val's great-granddaughter. You're her daughter." He stepped closer to her. "You're 80 years old. You don't look a day over 50. You're a practicing witch."
"Get out of my store!" She ordered.
"Give me what I want!" Damon countered, advancing on her.
Damon dropped to his knees crying out in pain clutching his head. "I gave you the chance to leave with your life."
I took a menacing step towards her but Stefan stepped in front stopping me. "Wait, wait, wait, wait. We don't want any trouble okay? We just - we just need your help. That's all."
"I told you there's no one here who can help you. The kind of magic my mother practiced, it's unnatural. Witches don't even call it magic. We call it expression." She broke her trance on Damon and he stopped screaming.
"Is that like black magic?" I asked.
"Worse. Channeling the power of human sacrifices calls on darkness that can't exist on this plane without swallowing it whole. She sold you a bill of goods about breaking the sire bond because she wanted access to that power and you gave it to her when you killed those twelve people." She explained.
"Are you saying there's no spell?" Damon whispered.
"The bond can't be broken with magic. A vampire only bonds to her sire when she has feelings for them before she turns, human feelings. Vampirism only heightens those emotions. You want her free? You have to set her free. Tell her to live her life without you and never think of you again, to stop caring about you, and then leave her. That's the only way around the sire bond."
"I need a drink." I stated before I stormed off leaving them with the witch.
Finding the nearest bar I ordered a bottle of Bourbon and quickly sat down at an empty table. Taking a quick swig from the bottle I passed it over to Stefan and Damon who sat down opposite me. "Guess we just have to get used to Elena being sired then huh?"
"No we don't" Damon sighed. "I'll set her free ill tell her I don't want anything to do with her and that I want her to go on and live the rest of her life. I can stay away from her, if she's coming to the house I'll make myself scarce." He looked at me and then added. "If that doesn't work, then I'll leave. I'll do it tonight as soon as we're back."
"Won't work." I started taking another drink from the bottle.
"You just heard the witch, its the only way."
"It would be if you'd sired her."
"I did sire her, it was my blood that turned her."
"No, it wasn't." They both looked at me in confusion. "Dr Fell ran out of your blood, i gave her mine. I sired Elena. I told her animal blood was no good. I told her that April was better in the red dress. I told her to pretend to be me. I told her I wanted someone to love you and for you to be happy."
Damon took a few long gulps from the bottle as Stefan stared at me in shock. "Why would you let me believe it was me?"
"Because it hurt you to think that. And i really wanted you to hurt." I answered honestly. "But my point is, I have no intention of cutting ties with Elena. And honestly the idea of having someone around who will literally beg me to do my bidding that doesn't sound so bad." I grinned as I locked eyes with Dee.
"Why won't you let us help you with that." Stefan asked. "Were in witch capital, it'd be easy to find a witch that could fix your soul and make her go away."
"Why?" I questioned. "I'm happy the way I am. I'm still me. I still have feelings. I feel sad, happy, desire, love. I love Jeremy, I love Elena, I love you two. The only difference is that now when someone does something that's wrong, i don't feel guilty about hurting them because they deserve it. And Klaus I dont feel sorry for him, I dont love him anymore. So why would I want to go back to feeling sorry about every little thing that goes wrong in other peoples lives. And besides Dee has saved my ass so many times Shes the one who told me about Connor, told me to mention his tattoos, not to shake his hand. Wed probably all be dead if it wasn't for her. If the onky downside is that I kill a few humans along the way, im okay with that."
Damon and Stefan shared a glance. We passed the bottle back and forth for a few minutes before Stefan stood up. "My phone died, do you mind if I borrow yours?" He asked me. Passing it to him he thanked me and walked off outside.
"Can we ever come back from this?" Damon asked softly reaching across and gripping my hand tightly in his.
"I don't know." I answered honestly. "Do you even want to?"
"What kind of question is that?! Of course I do Dani! I love you!"
"I believe that you love me." I replied. "But when you found out about the sire bond I saw your face Damon. It crushed you that Elena only slept with you because of it. Maybe you did believe it was me. Or maybe deep down you knew exactly who you were with."
"That's not true! I want you Dani!"
"Whether you want to admit it or not Damon, just remember you fell in love with her first. You fell in love with her before you even knew me. Maybe those feelings are just making themselves known again."
Damon went to reply but Stefan reappeared. "Klaus okay with your road trip." I smirked as he handed me back my phone. He gave me a look but didn't answer just shared another look with Damon.
"I'm going to go find Charlotte." Then Damon was off.
"Why do you want Elena to have the cure so much?" I asked.
"We both know that being a vampire isn't something that Elena would ever have chosen. She deserves the choice to change it."
"Except she's said she doesn't want the cure."
"She doesn't want the cure because you don't want the cure. I know Elena, if she wasn't sired to you she'd want to be human again."
"Is vampire Elena really that hard for you to love?" I smirked.
He shook his head. "It's not about loving Elena. Elena and I are over, whether she's human or a vampire. I meant it when I said I was okay with that."
"Then why are you so hell bent on ruining your life to get the cure for her?!"
"I owe her!" He finally yelled, then lowered his voice as he glanced around at the few patrons watching us. "I'm the reason she's a vampire. I chose you over her and then she died. I have to make it right."
"Saint Stefan at it again." I mocked. "Your moral compass is honestly astounding."
"I can't change who I am."
Locking eyes with him I admitted. "I wouldn't want you to even if you could."
"You could tell him about Damon and Elena." Dee whispered. "He'd be all yours."
I tell him now and it won't have the maximum impact.
Dee laughed. "Soon you'll be even worse than me."
"Dani." Stefan breathed out reaching for me.
"Found her." Damon spoke sitting back down in his seat as Stefan retracted his hands, looking down into his lap. Charlotte said beside me opposite Damon clinging to his hands much to Damon's chagrin.
"I was so scared you'd abandoned me again." She gushed. "But you came back. Promise me you'll always come back.
Damon grimaced as he glanced at Stefan and I. "I'm sorry Charlotte. I'm leaving New Orleans tonight. And I'm not coming back. And you can't come with me."
Her face dropped as tears pooled in her eyes. "So, you're just leaving me again?"
"No," He said softly. "I need to get on with my life and so do you."
"But I don't want to live without you." She cried clutching his hand tightly.
"If you want to make me happy you will. You just forget about me. You'll never think of me again, and you'll find someone new, and you'll be happier than ever." Charlotte just cried harder. "Please, stop crying."
"I'm never going to be able to forget you!" She sobbed.
Then an idea struck me. Before Damon could reply I grabbed Charlotte chin gently and pulled her gaze to mine. "I want you to break your sire bond to Damon." I compelled.
Her pupils dilated at my command and then she blinked slowly her face scrunched up in confusion. She looked at Damon in a daze as she slowly stood up and started to walk away. "Well that was easy." I grinned. "Another round boys?"
We went back to drinking for all of five minutes before we smelt it. The unmistakable stench of gasoline. All three of us looked up as Charlotte came back, her clothes dripping wet. "I'll always love you Damon." She promised and then she lit the match. Her body was engulfed in milliseconds as horrifying screams tore from her mouth.
While other customers left screaming Damon and Stefan rushed forward to help ripping off their jackets and trying to wrap them around her to stop the flames. While I sipped my bourbon and watched the human torch. She was quite pretty in a way.
A few moments passed and they finally realised how useless it was. She was gone. Their horrified gazes met mine. "So?" I questioned. "Should I, or should I not ask Elena to do that?"
"I love New Orleans." I stated as we walked down the street. Three in the morning and everything was still alive and buzzing. "I think I might stay a few days."
"We need to go home." Stefan stated his tone hollow.
"You need to go home." I responded with a grin. "Me staying is probably the best thing that could happen to you. Think about it, Elena will be free." I stopped walking and frowned. The guy walking just off to the side of us looked way too familiar. Before anyone could react I had my hand wrapped around his throat and pressed up against the nearest wall. "Are you following me?" I asked my amber eyes glowing.
An invisible force threw me backwards. "Why would I want to follow you?" Nathan laughed, the witch who was sent to help Alaric. "I'd just call this a happy coincidence." He glanced at Stefan and my stomach dropped. Something didn't feel right.
"RUN NOW!" Dee screamed but it was too late. While I was distracted with Nathan, Damon snapped my neck
My head was pounding as I slowly came to. "Hey, you okay?" Stefan asked softly, pushing my hair out of my face.
"What happened?" I questioned groggily. My body felt like I'd been hit by a truck.
"I just saved your life is what happened." I looked over at Nathan leaning against the wall. Looking around we must have been in some sort of a hotel room.
"I don't understand."
"Your boy toy called me." He explained gesturing to Stefan. So Stefan didn't check in with Klaus, he called Nathan. "He asked me for the help you refused."
"Help?" My brain was so foggy nothing seemed to e making sense.
"I got rid of your psycho alter ego." He smirked.
"He fixed you." Damon added.
"Thank you." I breathed out. "I can't feel her at all." Locking eyes with Dee just behind Nathan I added. "She's gone."
'
Hope you enjoy!