Chapter 69: We'll Always Have Reidsville
"None of this proves anything," said Elijah. "Mere coincidences, in which you're all trying to make connect in some pattern."
"That's why we need you to test it, by telling her she can drink blood that isn't from a live human," said Stefan.
"Do you realize how exceedingly rare it is for a vampire to be sired to another vampire? I'm over a thousand years old, and I've only seen it maybe a dozen or so times."
"We know how it sounds, and if we're wrong, then we're wrong. But what if we're not, and she is sired to you?" Hayley posed.
"We need to know, Elijah," said Jenna. "I need to know if my niece is going to blindly do whatever it is you tell her to do."
Elijah looked around at all three of their faces, thinking over their words.
Elena had wanted to be there, too, but Jenna convinced her to go to school. She still needed to graduate – something Stefan had already done – and it would do no good for her to sit around the house and wait for news.
So it was just up to Hayley, Stefan, and Jenna to convince Elijah that he needed to test their theory to know for sure. Something he normally wouldn't have done for them – he didn't believe it was true – but this was Phoebe, and what Jenna had said about her blindly doing whatever he told her to do...he'd seen that get vampires into trouble, even die, because they couldn't deny what their sire had told them to do, without even knowing what was happening. He couldn't let the same happen to Phoebe.
Elijah poured a fresh bag of blood into an over-priced crystal glass. He stared at the crimson liquid, thinking to himself.
Part of him hoped this didn't work, mostly because of the complications that would come with her being sired to him; but he couldn't deny that there was another part of him that hoped she was sired to him. Not because he wanted her to do whatever he said or to have her blindly devoted to him, but because of what it meant when one vampire was sired to another – what it would mean for Phoebe to be sired to him.
"There you are." Phoebe smiled at him, as she entered the room. "Where did you disappear to so early?"
Elijah returned her smile, and held out the glass to her. "To get you breakfast."
Phoebe's eyes darted to the blood bag and back to the glass. "But I can't eat that. Last time I tried a blood bag, it tasted like...garbage, just like you said it would."
"I know, and I stand by what I said. When you're a new vampire, there's only one thing that will taste right." He moved closer to her, glass still in hand. "But you've had ample time to adjust to your new senses and tastes. A blood bag should suite you fine now."
Phoebe looked deep into his brown eyes. She could see how important it was to him for her to try this, though she didn't know why. But if it meant this much to him, then she'd do it.
Elijah held his breath in anticipation, as he watched her drink the entire glass. They both paused for a moment, waiting to see if she was going to become ill, but she never did.
"Well?"
"It tastes…good." Phoebe smiled. "I can drink blood bags now!"
Elijah smiled in kind, as she threw her arms around him and thanked him for helping her get through this. He was happy to have helped her, even if it wasn't in the way he'd thought he was.
And now they knew. Phoebe Gilbert was sired to Elijah.
"So hybrids are sired to Phoebe and Klaus out of gratitude, because they saved them from having to turn every month," Jenna thought out loud. They had all been brainstorming and pacing, as they waited for news from Elijah.
"Right."
"So what's the vampire equivalent?" she asked.
Jenna and Hayley both looked to Stefan.
"I don't know. I've never known a sired vampire," he replied.
"Well, Phoebe's death was pretty painful, more than any of you know. The months building up to it were some of the worst for her," said Hayley. "Maybe she's grateful to Elijah for saving her from all of that."
"The vampire sirebond is formed from one thing alone," said Elijah, reappearing in the house. He hesitated to say it, but their faces demanded an answer. "Love."
"Love?"
"Yes," he confirmed. "You see, when a human loves a vampire so completely and unconditionally, being turned by that vampire's blood will result in a sirebond. This is due to the love they felt as a human being amplified by the transition."
"But Tyler and the other hybrids hate Klaus, and they're still loyal to him," said Hayley.
"The bond doesn't create the feelings, but rather the feelings create the bond," said Elijah.
"The sirebond doesn't affect how you feel, just how you act," said Jenna. "The hybrids are grateful, so they do what they're asked to do. A sired vampire will do whatever makes her sire happy, because she loves him."
"Precisely."
Stefan furrowed his brow in confusion. "Wait, wait...you're saying that Phoebe was in love with you when she was a human, and that being turned by your blood has made her sired to you?"
"Yes."
"You'll forgive me, if I find that hard to believe," said Stefan.
"And what exactly makes it so difficult to believe?" Elijah asked. It was subtle, but there was definitely a level of annoyance in his tone.
"Oh, I don't know, how about the fact that Phoebe never expressed any kind of feelings, like the ones you're describing. Or maybe because what you're describing sounds more like something you feel for her, and learning she's blindly devoted to you is the best news you've heard in centuries."
Elijah's eyes narrowed slightly. "Are you implying that I would take advantage -"
"I'm not implying."
"Stefan, stop. Elijah's telling the truth," said Hayley. She hated to do this to Stefan, but if it would get them to stop fighting over Phoebe and fight for her, then it needed to be said. "Before Phoebe died, she did finally admit that she had feelings for Elijah. And when she'd forgotten who Elijah even was, she still remembered a dream she'd had weeks ago with him in it. It's why she trusted him enough to let him turn her."
Stefan hated hearing it. And if he hated it, he could only imagine how Damon would react. Or worse, Klaus.
"How do we break it?" Jenna asked.
"I've only heard of a couple of ways. One way would be to simply fall out of love with one's sire."
"That's it?"
"Well, the sirebond is based on emotion, so without the feelings to back it up, it makes sense that the bond will go with them," said Hayley.
"But you have no idea if that would work," said Stefan.
"Not likely, no," he admitted. "The second solution, however, I have personally witnessed, and heard works, without a doubt."
"Let's hear it."
"Like with the first suggestion, the sirebond can't exist without the emotions that created it. Therefore, if the vampire in question were to switch off their humanity…"
Stefan gawked at Elijah. "That's your suggestion? To make Phoebe flip off her humanity?"
"Well, I suppose we could always compel her to—Oh, that's right. Phoebe can't be compelled." Elijah gave a sassy smirk.
"Is this a joke to you?" Stefan asked in irritation.
"I can assure you, I find no part of this the slightest bit amusing."
"Alright, enough! This isn't helping," said Jenna. "Phoebe can't be compelled, and we can't force her to fall out of love with Elijah, so those options are out."
"And we can't make her turn off her humanity. Phoebe without emotions would be…"
"Agreed."
Stefan continued to stare down Elijah. "You could always use that sirebond of yours to let her go."
"Go where?"
"Release her. Tell her to forget about you. Tell her to stop loving you."
"Now, why would I want to do a thing like that?"
Stefan finally looked away in frustration.
"If what you've told me is true, then her being sired to me has helped her in ways none of us can possibly imagine. If I take that away from her, it will leave her devastated. I won't do that to her," said Elijah.
"He's right, Stefan," Hayley agreed. "Even as a human she was pretty upset when Klaus daggered him and took him away. If we have him reject her with her heightened vampire emotions-"
"Then what do we do, Hayley?" Stefan snapped.
"We can't tell her." Jenna looked at Elijah. "I've been rooting for you two since before I knew that vampires, and werewolves, and every other supernatural thing were real; but Phoebe can't know that she's sired to you because of feelings she doesn't seem to want to admit having for you. I know, technically the feelings are still there, otherwise there would be no sirebond, but she's clearly not ready to be open about them. Phoebe is the smartest person we all know."
"She should have figured out about the sirebond before we did."
"Exactly. But she didn't, which means she isn't ready to admit how she feels about Elijah. And we can't force her to," Jenna finished.
"So what do we tell her?" Stefan asked. "We can't just keep blaming everything on the fact that she's the Anomaly."
"We tell her that she's sired. But we tell her it's out of gratitude for saving her, not love."
Phoebe was in the library, when Elijah returned to his family's mansion that afternoon. It had taken him some time to get home from speaking with Phoebe's family, because he needed to think. Putting aside his own feelings on the matter was one thing, and something he could do. But lying to Phoebe was something that didn't come so easily to him.
Jenna had made perfect sense on why he shouldn't tell Phoebe the truth, but that didn't mean that it was the right choice to make. It should be Phoebe's decision to hide her feelings for him, or to accept them, and just because she hadn't said anything about a sirebond to anyone yet, didn't mean that she was in denial about her love for him.
"Hey," Phoebe greeted him. "Where do you keep running off to, today?"
"We need to talk." Elijah unbuttoned his suit jacket, and sat across the coffee table from Phoebe.
Phoebe wanted to make a joke of some kind, but she could tell this was something serious that was weighing heavily on his mind.
Elijah took a deep breath, and told Phoebe about his day. He told her about her family calling him over to discuss their theory of Phoebe being sired, why he suddenly wanted her to try blood that wasn't straight from a living person. When it was all said, he sat there silently, giving her time to process and ask any questions she had. But her response was not what he was expecting.
Phoebe looked him dead in the eye, and smiled. "I know. I knew it after you were able to calm me down at the memorial service. No new, starving vampire is going to be able to back down like that, no matter what."
"And yet you said nothing. Why?"
Phoebe shrugged. "It didn't seem to matter. You weren't using me as a slave, the way Klaus does the hybrids. And I'd have listened to your guidance, even without the bond. All that time training me with my elemental powers should've taught you that."
Elijah smiled.
"Speaking of hybrids, though." Now came the part that Elijah wasn't going to like. "There have been too many vampires who were turned because they were dying, or in pain, or in some situation to be grateful to the one that turned them; so the vampire sirebond can't be for the same reason as hybrids, or there'd be a lot more sired vampires in the world."
Elijah's stomach twisted into knots.
"How are vampires sired?"
Elijah stood up, and waved a hand. "There are different ways."
"Such as?" Phoebe asked suspicious of his sudden change in behavior.
Elijah hesitated to answer.
"You're hiding something from me. What is it?"
"Phoebe..." was all he could manage to say.
"Elijah." Her tone commanded his attention.
He looked at her. "You're family would have me lie to you – to give you a way out of forcing you to admit something that they feel you aren't ready to admit..."
Phoebe's brow furrowed in confusion. "What are you talking about?"
"The vampire sirebond is created by only one thing," he said. "The feelings you had for your sire as a human being amplified with the heightened emotions of becoming a vampire. It creates a sort of blind devotion to your sire...You would do anything for them."
Phoebe stood up and walked over to him. She took his hand in hers, and looked him in the eye. "It's love, isn't it?"
"Yes," he whispered.
Phoebe laughed lightly. "And here, I thought fairy tales weren't real..."
Elijah looked confused.
"I knew I loved you, but I had no idea it was so strong that it would create something so strong, you only hear about it in fairy tales," she explained. "...And then I always thought there was no such thing as love at first sight, but...I'm pretty sure I loved you the moment I met you."
Phoebe could hear his heart skip a beat, and his breathing change. He was happy. But now came the hard part.
"Elijah, I do wanna be with you."
Elijah's face fell, though he tried to hide it. "Why do I sense a 'but' coming?"
"But, now isn't the time for a romantic relationship, it's a time for transition and learning. I need a sire, not a boyfriend."
"I can understand that," he said, with a mild, genuine smile. It was painful to have something you wanted so tantalizingly close, yet still out of reach; but he did understand that it wasn't what she needed right now, and he would respect it.
Hayley retook her seat at the bar stool next to Stefan in the Grill. "That was Phoebe. Elijah told her the truth."
Stefan laughed sarcastically into his drink. Of course he did.
"Stefan, she already knew it. She said she's known she was sired since the memorial, but she never thought it was worth mentioning."
Now Stefan laughed for real. Of course she did.
He reached over to pour Hayley another drink. "Here's what I don't understand, if Phoebe's sired to do whatever makes Elijah happy, then why isn't she already with him?"
"Elijah's never really been open about his feelings for Phoebe, he isn't selfish enough. So maybe the signs aren't clear enough for her. Or maybe he isn't putting out the signal that he wants her to be with him, because he doesn't want to be with her right now. He knows she needs guidance right now, not a..."
Hayley noticed Stefan's grip on his glass tightening, so she didn't say what she was going to say.
"Or maybe it has something to do with her resistance to compulsion."
Stefan shook his head. "If that were the case, then she wouldn't be sired to do what he said."
"Not true. When it comes to compulsion, it can take if she wants it to. But when she wants to remember what she was compelled to forget, or doesn't want to do it in the first place, then she can ignore it." Stefan still looked like she was only making his point for him. "Maybe the subtle hints or signs are noticed, but she has the ability to ignore them. Maybe she needs direct instructions or commands in order to obey."
Stefan moved uncomfortably. "Can we stop referring to her as some kind of dog?"
"I'm sorry," said Hayley. "The truth is, we don't know why she does what he tells her, but not what he doesn't tell her. All we know is that Phoebe is just as unique and special as she's always been."
"Yes she is..."
I'm sorry this chapter wasn't all that long or well-rounded. It was just too much to squeeze into another chapter, and I couldn't really write out the parts with Tyler having issues with his hybrids. If they took Caroline, Phoebe would go in swinging, if she did, she'd know they were unsired, then she'd tell Klaus, then there'd be no slaughtering of 12 hybrids, etc etc.
Anyway, I know some of you were hoping there wouldn't be a sirebond, but I really wanted to do it. And I don't feel Phoebe's sirebond to Elijah is going to be nearly as dramatic as Elena's sirebond to Damon in the show. This was is more out of helping her and to help their future relationship come to light, instead of both constantly trying to hide it and taking forever to get there. But, as keeping with their natures, I'm also not going to have them just jump right in, and say 'screw it' to everyone else's feelings, like Elena and Damon did. That moved way too fast in my opinion.
So the new schedule, that I'm going to really try to stick to, is one new chapter a week. Keeping with one a month wouldn't even get us out of season 4 by the end of the year, which was just...no. I want to get this story finished for us all, before we all start losing interest, or forgetting what's happened, or whatever. So one new chapter a week is my goal for you guys.
I hope you all had a happy holidays, despite all this pandemic craziness, and I hope you've had a happy new year.
