Chapter 58: Break On Through
October 27, 2010
The last couple of days had been overwhelmingly stressful. Ellie was having to balance her research trying to find where the last of the white oak was on top of trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with Alaric. Dr. Fell had explained that she thought that it was Alaric killing people, though she didn't think he was aware that he was doing it. Apparently, Alaric had been having blackouts and instances of lost time.
She also reminded them that the weapons used to kill the members of the founders council had been from the Gilbert stash and Alaric's personal stash, both of which he'd had complete access to. It wouldn't have been hard for him to get into the house to get a weapon since Jenna and Ellie were rarely there anymore. With his ring, Dr. Fell had been unable to tell anything about his wounds which led her to believe there was a chance that it was entirely self-inflicted.
It was the ring that Dr. Fell seemed particularly worried about. She had apparently had access to an old Gilbert journal, though no one knew how or why she had it and she hadn't been inclined to share that bit of information. The journal had belonged to someone named Samantha Gilbert who had ended up so insane that she ended up in an insane asylum. Elena had shown Ellie the journal after she'd gone through it and saw how Samantha's sanity had declined throughout her writings.
Even if the words alone hadn't been enough, the change in penmanship definitely was. The beginning of the diary had been filled with a penmanship that was absolutely beautiful. It was soft and feminine and beautifully neat. By the end of the journal, the writing was so hard and cramped together that it was barely legible. Some of it was impossible to read. But Samantha Gilbert had also been in possession of one of the Gilbert rings.
Dr. Fell's working theory was that whatever magic the rings held in them, there was a price for cheating death so many times. It made sense, which had led to Ellie agreeing to do whatever Dr. Fell needed her to do so that she could help. It wasn't just Alaric that was at risk with whatever was going on. Jeremy had one of those rings too and she would do whatever it took to keep him safe.
That led Ellie to where she was now. Currently, she, Elena, and Dr. Fell were standing behind an observation window and Ric was on the other side of the glass and laying on the table of an MRI machine. "What are you looking for?" Elena asked as Dr. Fell clicked away at the computer.
"I don't know." Dr. Fell confessed. A male nurse was helping make sure that Alaric was in place as she added, "A tumor, vascular anomalies. Anything physical that might explain his behavior. If it's medical, I can treat it."
"And if it's not?"
"Well… then we'll deal with that too." Dr. Fell assured her.
Ellie nodded. "She's right. If it's not medical, then it's magical. Between me and Bonnie as well as the old Bennett grimoires and Gilbert diaries, we should be able to figure something out."
Dr. Fell nodded in agreement. "Exactly. Whatever it is, we'll figure it out."
The nurse pushed the table into the machine as Elena asked, "When did you suspect him? That it was Alaric who was killing all of those people?"
"It was after he told me about his ring. I remembered a story my grandmother had told me about Samantha Gilbert and her secret journal. I don't know if you know this, but we Fells are notorious busybodies."
The twins chuckled slightly at her joke before Elena asked, "Then why did you protect him?"
Dr. Fell hesitated before she confessed, "Because I'm a doctor. I don't like to see someone hurt by something they have no control over. And, because when he and I first met, I felt like, I don't know, I… I just kind of want to help him."
They could just barely see Alaric from where he was in the machine, but Ellie spotted the way he started to fidget around. "Is he ok?" She asked worriedly as she pointed to his odd movements.
"I don't know." Dr. Fell admitted. She leaned down to the small microphone on the desk. There was a beeping sound before she asked, "Everything all right in there?"
He stilled for a moment before he replied, "Yeah, yeah everything's ok." They watched as Dr. Fell did whatever it was she was doing.
It didn't take as long to do the MRI as Ellie had expected, and soon enough, Dr. Fell was leaning back into the microphone and telling Alaric, "You can head on back to your room and change back into your regular clothing. I'll look over the results now and let you know what we find." The nurse pulled the bed back out of the machine and Alaric left the room as Dr. Fell sat to read the results. "Normally, it can take a couple of weeks to get regular MRI results read, but we don't have that kind of time." Dr. Fell explained to them.
Both Ellie and Elena stood just behind Dr. Fell as they waited anxiously. In all honesty, Ellie wasn't sure if she'd rather Dr. Fell found something or not. Was it better for whatever was happening to Alaric to an actual medical problem? Or was it better if it was a magical problem? When Dr. Fell sighed heavily, Ellie leaned forward slightly to try and get a better look even though she couldn't exactly read an MRI. "What is it? What's wrong? Did you find something?"
Dr. Fell pushed her chair away from the table and stood to face them. "Everything in the scan reads normally." She told them. "I don't know what else to try to explain it medically, but I'll keep looking. Medical problem or not I won't stop until I figure out a way to help him."
Elena had an odd expression on her face as she nodded. "Thank you. Ellie and I can go give him the news. I'm sure you've got other patients you've got to attend to."
"Thank you." Dr. Fell replied.
The two girls made their way out of the room to head for Alaric. By the time they reached him, he'd already changed clothes and the door was open. "Meredith says that everything is normal." Elena told him with a smile.
"Yeah, well everything is normal." Alaric replied. "Because there is nothing wrong with me. I didn't kill Brian Walters. I didn't kill Bill Forbes. And I sure as hell didn't shove a hunting knife into my stomach." Elena's smile fell at his defensive, nearly angry tone. Alaric looked down at the ring and hesitated. "Or I did, and I've gone insane, just like your ancestor, who wore that ring."
"Look, I'm going to call Bonnie. The rings were made by a Bennett witch. So maybe a witch can reverse the damage." Elena told him.
Alaric slid the ring towards them. "Take it. I don't want it anymore."
"Ready to ditch this house of horrors?" Damon asked Alaric as he leaned against the doorframe. "Oof, you look terrible."
Alaric laughed softly. "Yeah. Let me… let me check out of here."
Elena glared at Damon before walking off angrily. Damon and Ellie followed behind her and Ellie just knew this was going to end badly. They'd made it to the exit as Damon told Elena, "Don't worry about him. We'll take him out for chicken soup. We'll get him a martini, make sure he doesn't kill anybody."
"What is wrong with you?" Elena asked angrily. "How could you just go out feeding with Stefan like some vampire pub crawl?"
"Oh, right. I thought we were talking about Alaric. But of course we're talking about Stefan."
Elena turned back to face him. "You stood there and let him feed on an innocent girl!"
"I didn't let him do anything." Damon told her. "If you want to get nit picky about it, I made him."
She fumbled for her words before asking, "Why would you do that?"
"Because we're vampires, Elena." Damon said as he lowered his voice on the word vampire so that they wouldn't be overheard. "We need human blood to survive. We're predators, not puppies."
"Well, Stefan found a way around it before."
"Stefan has built himself a delusional wagon which he has repeatedly fallen off of." Damon informed her bluntly. "What he needs to learn is control."
"He was able to manage it when he was drinking my blood. Small amounts every single day." Elena shot back.
"Ah, yes, back when you two were in love and it was all rainbows and unicorns." Damon said sarcastically.
Elena made a face as she replied, "I'm just saying maybe you're not the right person to be teaching Stefan about self control."
"Jesus Christ Elena." Ellie groaned. "Pray tell, who then would be the one to teach Stefan self control? You sure as hell don't know what it's like to be a vampire."
Elena looked surprised before she frowned. "You don't either."
"No, I don't but I did watch Stefan struggle the entire summer with the shit Klaus was making him do. I also watched as he desperately tried to keep Klaus from finding out about you while you were stupid enough to come after us repeatedly. Trust me, I was aware that you were in that apartment in Chicago. And what exactly is your issue with Stefan drinking human blood anyways?" Ellie asked.
"What are you talking about?"
"You single out Stefan specifically. I've never seen you say anything about Caroline drinking human blood and you especially never complained about Damon drinking human blood. So why is it that you have this ridiculous expectation of what kind of vampire Stefan is supposed to be?" Ellie explained.
"I don't do that." Elena said defensively.
"Yes, yes you do." Ellie shot back. "Of literally all the bad things Stefan could do, feeding on a girl and not killing her is incredibly low on the list. And if you think so lowly of Damon, why is it that you were making out with him in the first place?" Elena looked dumbfoundedly at Ellie. "You don't exactly have a moral high ground to stand on Elena. So maybe stop being so damn judgy, it's getting old."
Instead of answering Ellie's questions, Elena deflected just like she always did. "You're siding with Damon now? I thought you hated him?"
"I do." Ellie replied immediately. "For a multitude of reasons. But Jesus Elena despite me kind of hating him, I'm not so oblivious to not realize that he loves Stefan. He's trying to help him because Stefan desperately needs it. You're making it way more difficult than it needs to be with shaming Stefan for acting like a normal vampire."
"I am not shaming him!" Elena huffed. She opened her mouth to say something else, but seemed to think better of it. Instead, she got into her car and drove off.
Once she was gone, Damon gave Ellie a surprised look. "Defending me now Sabrina? What has the world come to?" He asked sarcastically.
Ellie, for once, wasn't annoyed with him. "There's a lot about you I don't like. I'm not shy about making that known. There's a lot of things you've done that kind of make me want to kill you. But you love Stefan, Damon. You love him as much as I love Elena and Jeremy, even when she makes me want to kill her. You wouldn't repeatedly risk your life trying to free him from Klaus if you didn't."
"The only reason he was in the mess was to save my life." Damon replied.
"True, but I won't be forgetting what you told him at the boarding house anytime soon." She said. "I've never seen you look so guilty Damon. If there is anything you've ever done in your entire life that you actually regret, I'd be willing to bet that it was letting Stefan go over the edge. But I care about Stefan. He's important to me, whether he's Elena's boyfriend or not. I want to help him and the way to do that is for him to learn control. Actual control and not the wacked out feeding on Bambi and Thumper plan he's been trying."
"I agree." Damon nodded. "But you've also been up the Mikaelson's asses since you got back to Mystic Falls."
"I actually like Rebekah, believe it or not. And Elijah has never done anything bad to us." She told him. "Don't even think about trying to say that he didn't kill Klaus when he promised he would. If you don't have the ability to kill Stefan, you don't get to judge. But Elena hasn't exactly made being back easy and she's repeatedly kept things from me." She sighed heavily and shifted the topic back with a wave of her hand. "Either way, I think we can at least agree to put our differences aside to help Stefan, yes?"
Damon gave her a skeptical look. "You really want to help him, don't you?"
"Yes, I do."
"You're not going to judge the plan to get him to where he can moderate himself?"
"As long as you don't kill anyone. If it's snatch, eat, erase, then I'm fine with it."
To her surprise, Damon held out a hand. "You've got yourself a deal, Sabrina."
At Rebekah's insistence, Ellie allowed herself to be dragged out to the Restoration of the Wickery Bridge event. It felt weird being there, though Ellie kept it to herself. As Rebekah chatted away with Mayor Lockwood, Ellie watched the workers with mild interest. A good group of people had turned out for the event, though Ellie and Rebekah seemed to be the only teens present. Ellie hadn't paid even the slightest bit of attention to the conversation at hand, and only just managed to catch Mayor Lockwood saying, "Well girls, if you'll excuse me, I need to go speak with Alaric."
"Of course, Mayor Lockwood. Thank you for chatting with me." Rebekah said politely as Mayor Lockwood walked away. Alaric had indeed arrived with Dr. Fell and Damon. Though Alaric looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there.
"Did you get anything useful from that?" Ellie asked curiously as they walked aimlessly through the crowd.
"More than you'd expect. Plus, it helps to be on the Mayor's good side. It might make her more hospitable to my family." Rebekah replied.
Mayor Lockwood had walked up onto the small stage and greeted the group. "Welcome everyone to the Wickery Bridge Fundraiser. Wickery Bridge is one of the original bridges of Mystic Falls. Construction has begun replacing the original wooden support structure to meet modern safety standards. And, our beautification phase will begin in the spring. So give yourselves a hand."
The girls dutifully clapped along with the rest of the group. Ellie noticed Damon making his way through the crowd and frowned as he stopped in front of an unfamiliar girl. "Who the hell is that?" Ellie asked. Anyone Damon knew was likely bad news.
Rebekah turned and then scoffed. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me. Come on." Rebekah headed straight for them and said, "Well, look what the cat dragged in."
"Easy there, Rebekah." Damon warned. "You know, she used to beat men for sport."
"She always was quite common." Rebekah replied.
"Rebekah, what a happy surprise." The woman said, though it was clear that this was anything but.
"What are you doing here, Sage?" Rebekah asked.
"Well, I heard Finn was finally freed from that casket your rageaholic brother Klaus carted him around in." Sage replied.
Rebekah nodded before telling Sage, "Oh, Finn. you just missed him. He left town and didn't tell a soul where he was going."
"Oh, he probably went looking for me." Sage said confidently.
Rebekah laughed at that. "Or, quite possibly, he forgot all about you."
"I doubt that." Sage replied.
"Oh? Because he didn't seem to mention you. Sorry you came all this way for nothing. Have a nice life." Rebekah gave Sage a fake smile before walking away.
Ellie followed Rebekah over to where the snacks were. "So, who exactly was that?" She asked curiously.
"Sage." Rebekah said the name like it was a curse. "She was a whimpering puppy dog, all attached to Finn nine hundred years ago. He turned her. She was annoying then and she's annoying now. I never thought she was good enough for Finn in all honesty."
"Oh." Ellie replied, not knowing what else to say.
Her attention was drawn to the truck driving over the bridge. "Ellie, are you ok?" Rebekah asked as she touched Ellie's arm softly. "Ellie?"
"What?"
"What just happened? What were you looking at?" Rebekah asked, concern written all over her face. Ellie faltered, and that seemed to concern Rebekah even more. "Ellie you look like you've seen a ghost."
"This is the bridge my parents died on." Ellie finally confessed. "My parents, Elena, and I were in the car. It was slick from the rain, they lost control and we went over. Stefan heard the crash and dived in to help. Our dad made him get us first. By the time he'd gotten us out, it was too late for our parents. And then when Stefan and Klaus were going at it, he almost drove Elena off this bridge after he fed her his blood."
Rebekah too had lost her color. "Ellie, I am so sorry, I didn't know. Do we need to leave?"
"No, no, it's ok. It's been way over a year now. I just… I didn't expect it to get to me. I've driven over this bridge since then and it was fine. I don't know what happened that it's affecting me now." Ellie replied. "I just need a second."
"Come on, let's get a snack and a drink. Maybe it'll help you feel better." Rebekah suggested.
Ellie gave her a grateful smile as she allowed Rebekah to pass her a handful of snacks. "Thanks." In truth, eating something did make her feel a bit better and helped her ease her unsettled stomach.
They'd been going through the snack line again when Damon approached from behind. "Anyone ever tell you you're sexy when you're bitchy?"
Ellie rolled her eyes at how close Damon got to Rebekah as she asked, "We're talking now, are we? Because you were quite rude the other day. Using me to help you with Stefan and then shooing me away like a stray dog."
"Ah, but that was brother business. You can't hold that against me." Damon replied. "Besides, I really did appreciate your help. Even if I didn't show it."
"You were mean."
"You like mean."
"No, I don't." Rebekah replied immediately as she turned to face Damon.
Damon raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "No? You didn't get a thrill back there pushing Sage down, crushing her dreams of true love?"
"Maybe a little."
"See? Mean." Damon told her. "Can Sage and I interest you in a drink back at my house?"
"Not a chance in hell."
"Well, you know what they say. Two's company, three is a party." Damon and Rebekah just stared at each other for a long moment before Damon nodded. "Fine. Enjoy the rest of your day." He had leaned far into Rebekah's personal space, his hand running along her hip until he moved away.
Ellie frowned at his retreating form until he was out of sight. "God I need to bleach my eyes and maybe my brain if it means getting that image out of my head." She huffed. Rebekah laughed along with her, but her eyes remained glued to the spot where Damon had walked away. "Bekah… don't tell me you're actually thinking about it?"
Rebekah turned to face Ellie and shrugged. "What's the worst that could come of it?" She asked.
"I thought you hated Sage?"
"Well, I'm not Damon's biggest fan either, but at least the sex was good." Rebekah replied.
Ellie gagged a little on instinct. "Bleaching my ears has now been added to the list of things that I need to do today." Rebekah gave her a look and Ellie just sighed. "Fine, fine go have a weird threesome with two people that you kind of hate. Far be it from me to stop you."
"Are you going to be alright all by your lonesome?" Rebekah teased.
"I think I'll manage." Ellie laughed. "But, I'm probably going to actually go home. Ric is probably going to be there and he needs help."
"I thought the teacher and your aunt broke up. Why would he be at your house?" Rebekah asked as they walked towards Ellie's car.
"They did break up. But our house is closer to the hospital than his apartment and Dr. Fell has been keeping an eye on him. Plus, we're trying to figure out what exactly is wrong with him, and Elena's been hovering."
Rebekah's eyebrow quirked up instantly. "Well, someone said Elena's name with distaste." She commented. "What did she do?"
Ellie groaned at the thought. "Elena and I got into it again."
"About?"
"Her being so damn judgy of Stefan drinking human blood. He needs to learn control, you agree, yes?" Ellie asked.
"Mmhmm." Rebekah replied.
"I think so too. I agree with it to the point that I'm willing to work with Damon, so that should tell you something." Ellie told her. "But Elena got into it with Damon basically judging him and saying he probably shouldn't be the one to teach Stefan about self control and it's just been hectic lately with everything happening, so I'm not exactly in the best of moods. So I kind of told her off."
"And I missed it?" Rebekah whined. "Damn it. Next time gives me a heads up will you? I'll bring popcorn."
Ellie rolled her eyes. "Of course, how inconsiderate of me to not inform you before fighting with my sister."
"It really is."
"My apologies." Ellie replied.
Rebekah leaned against the car and gave Ellie a look. "How about this, after I'm done with Damon and Sage, I'll stop by your house and save you from the pain that is Elena. Does that sound like a deal?" She was grinning at Ellie expectantly. "Afterwards we can get stuff to decorate your room. Oh, we could have a movie night! We could watch that movie you were telling me about. The one about the boat!"
"Do you mean Titanic?" Ellie asked with a laugh.
"Mmm, yes, that one. That's the one about the boat and the necklace yes?" Rebekah asked.
"Yeah, that'd be the one. But fair warning, it'll probably make you cry."
The blonde looked unimpressed. "Oh, I doubt it. I'm a big girl."
"We'll see. Go, have your weird ass threesome that I'm always gonna be a little grossed out by."
By the time Ellie had gotten to the house, Elena was already there. Alaric and Dr. Fell were there too. Elena had called someone multiple times, though they didn't seem to be answering. "Who are you trying to call?" Ellie asked.
Dr. Fell and Alaric were seated at the kitchen table as Elena and Ellie stood in the living room. "I'm trying to call Bonnie." Elena replied quietly, so that they weren't overheard. "We need her help, sooner rather than later."
"Elena, her mom is still adjusting. Are you really surprised she's not answering?" Ellie questioned.
"No, but we still need her help."
Ellie just stared at her before sighing. "If you want someone to answer, call Caroline. But it's not guaranteed that Bonnie's going to help and you're not going to force her."
"I wouldn't force her!" Elena shot back, clearly offended.
"I'll look for something as well. I have some grimoires and I'll see if I can kind anything." Ellie told her.
"But the rings were made by a Bennett witch. Where did you get grimoires?"
"Elena, they're Bennett grimoires. You do remember that Bonnie's Grams was teaching me how to control my magic before she died right? She gave me some of the grimoires before she died." Ellie replied.
Elena straightened slightly in response. "Oh. Well, ok, but I'm gonna go call Caroline to tell her we need Bonnie's help. I'll be back soon." Elena said. "I'll be right back guys, I need to run up to the bathroom really quick."
"Alright." Dr. Fell nodded as she picked up a bottle of alcohol. Once Elena was gone, Dr. Fell brought the bottle over to Alaric. "You know, I really don't think you should be looking through that stuff."
"Ah, it's the truth." Alaric replied. "Restraining orders and all. My life in a series of police reports."
"You don't strike me as an angry guy." Dr. Fell confessed. "Which sounds weird given everything. But, you don't."
Ellie watched the two of them with interest. "Yeah, well, I was stupid when I was younger. But listen, it's not like these guys didn't have it coming. I mean, this guy here broke a beer bottle over a bartender's head. And this guy… hit his girlfriend. And this guy... ok this guy was just a douche." They both laughed lightly at that. "Everyone needs to find a way to deal with their dark side. Some people meditate. I became a vampire hunter."
"Mmm, semi-retired."
"Listen, there's something that's not in these reports that I need to tell you about." Alaric said seriously.
Dr. Fell looked a little wary as she said, "Ok… ominous. Shoot."
"Your cousin, Logan Fell, the one who was vampire slayed? I did the slaying." Alaric confessed.
She tensed at his admission and Ellie felt her heart go out for her. She hadn't liked Logan because of how he'd been with Jenna, but she still felt bad that Dr. Fell had lost her cousin. "The vampire thing… it's not my fight. I use their blood for what I need and leave the judgement to everyone else. Although, I have kind of been wondering why you never drove a stake through Damon's heart."
"I tried once." Alaric replied. "He killed me. Yeah, yeah, figures. The thing that started all this ring stuff was me being angry enough to think I could take on a vampire in the first place."
When Dr. Fell took his hand, Ellie suddenly felt like she was intruding and made her way up to her room quietly. When she shut the door behind her, it was unsettling to realize that it felt odd to be in her own bedroom. She'd spent the majority of her life growing up in this room and now it didn't feel like hers anymore.
She pushed the feeling aside in favor of hunting down the grimoires that she'd hidden. They were exactly where she'd left them and she curled up in her bed and got to work. Like always, she lost herself in the grimoires. She'd managed to find mentions of the ring and how they were created, but so far there was no mention of why they were driving their wearers insane or how to fix it. Caroline had texted a few times to see if she'd found anything, but once again, Ellie didn't. "Hello?" She asked once her phone started to ring.
"Hey, have you found anything?"
"Unfortunately not." Ellie admitted.
"Really? In all the grimoires you have, there's nothing?" Caroline asked.
"There's talk of the rings, but there's nothing on how to fix our current problem." Ellie replied. "How are Bonnie and Abby?"
"Not too great at the moment. Abby was hungry and kind of fed on Jamie a little bit and freaked out. Really it wasn't that bad, and it wasn't anything a bit of my blood couldn't fix. But she's a little panicked either way."
Ellie winced. "Do you think you can calm her down?"
"Well, I'm gonna try. But since you can't find anything, which totally isn't your fault so don't try and find a way to blame yourself or I will fight you, I'm going to ask them to see if there's anything in the grimoire that Abby still has that might help."
"You know me so well." Ellie joked. In truth, she probably would have blamed herself for not being able to keep Bonnie and her mom out of it.
"It's my superpower. I'll keep you and Elena updated as soon as I know something."
"Thanks, Care."
"It's what best friends are for."
As she hung up, Elena let herself into the bedroom. "Hey. Alaric wants to talk to us."
Ellie closed the grimoire and followed Elena down. At this point, it really shouldn't have surprised her to realize that the sun had gone down already. "Hey, guys." Alaric greeted them as they walked into the kitchen. "Can you guys take a seat?" When they complied, he pushed a notepad towards them. "Listen, I want you guys to have this. This is a list of my bank accounts, passwords, where to find my will and how to contact my family. Just in case this doesn't go my way."
"No, no, don't even think like that." Elena replied as she pushed the pad back towards him.
"Elena, I need to know that you and Ellie and Jeremy are gonna be ok. Just because Jenna and I broke up, that doesn't mean that I stopped caring about you guys. I think it's what Isobel would want me to do. You're her kids, and I want to make sure that you guys are ok." Alaric explained.
"We're all going to be fine." Elena insisted. Her phone started to ring and she quickly answered. "Caroline?"
As Elena stood so that she could talk with Caroline, Ellie looked over at Alaric. "We're gonna get through this Ric."
He looked almost defeated as he pushed the pad back towards her. "Maybe we will, but Ellie, please, please just take this so that if it doesn't, I know things will be taken care of. I know I messed up royally for agreeing with Elena's plan of compelling Jeremy. I know that I did and I know that Jenna's never going to forgive me for that, but I owe it to her and to Isobel to do my part for you guys. You guys became my family when I didn't think I had one anymore. I'll never be able to repay you for that."
"Ric…" She reached out and squeezed his hand. "I promise." She finally agreed. "But you are going to be ok. We won't stop until you are."
"Bonnie, I'm so sorry for everything. Thank you for doing this." Ellie turned at the sound of Bonnie's name. She was honestly surprised that Bonnie was speaking to Elena.
"Good news? Bad news?" Alaric asked.
"Bonnie thinks that she can help you with a spell." Elena explained.
"Well, it's worth a try." Alaric agreed.
Elena leaned forward slightly to brace her weight on the table. "But she needs something that you wore before you put on the ring. Something personal."
"Well, there's uh… my wedding ring. It's at the loft."
"Ok, yeah. Um that's, a good idea."
Alaric started to stand, but Dr. Fell reached out and kept him from moving. "Ah, I think it's better if you stay here with me." She advised.
"Oh, you and your tranquilizers." Alaric replied.
Ellie gave Elena a look. "Dr. Fell is right. He should stay here just in case. I'll stay too, just as a precaution."
Alaric and Elena both nodded before Alaric said, "It's in the dresser by the kitchen. It's in uh, an aspirin bottle. Probably covered in cobwebs."
"Ok. I'll be back soon." Elena rushed out of the house as Ellie texted Jenna an update on what was happening.
Dr. Fell had put away the police files on Alaric as he made his way over to the living room to idly watch tv. No one had expected for the doorbell to ring. Dr. Fell, unsurprisingly, looked a little tense. "Don't worry, it's only Stefan. I'll get it." Dr. Fell looked incredibly confused. "It's a witch thing."
"Ok, then." Dr. Fell just nodded along.
"Stefan." Ellie greeted as she opened the door.
"Hey. I was looking for Elena. Is she here?" Stefan asked as he shifted back and forth.
"Sorry, you just missed her. She's headed over to Ric's apartment to get his wedding ring. Apparently, Bonnie or her mom, not sure which, but they know how to help him." Ellie explained.
Stefan hummed. "Thanks, I'll probably swing by and talk to her."
"Wanna tell me what's up?" Ellie asked curiously.
"Nothing, really, I was a dick earlier and wanted to apologize. That's all, really." Stefan assured her. "Ellie, I promise."
"Alright, alright. I believe you. Help her find the ring and then get back here, yeah?"
"I'll see you soon." Stefan was gone in an instant and Ellie closed the door before locking it.
Dr. Fell was pulling out the stuff to make coffee when Ellie walked back into the kitchen. "Is everything ok?" She asked as she poured water into the coffee maker.
"Yeah, that's just… Elena and Stefan relationship drama." Ellie replied. "You know, Dr. Fell, I just wanted to say thank you again for everything that you're doing for Ric."
The other girl turned to give Ellie a bright smile. "Really, it's nothing to thank me over. All I ever wanted to do was help people. I'm just doing what I can. And you know, you can call me Meredith if you want to."
"Thanks." Ellie told her, "I'd add an extra scoop of coffee in there. I'm pretty sure Alaric's half asleep on the couch."
"Will do." Meredith agreed. "Still with us?"
"Yeah." Alaric called back, but Ellie could hear the sleep in his voice. "Yeah, I'm still with you."
"I'm half dead, too." Meredith assured him. "Neither one of us has slept in two days. Don't worry. I've got coffee on." When he didn't reply the two girls laughed softly. "I guess you're right. He is about to pass out. Hey, would it be ok if I made us some sandwiches? I'm starving."
Ellie nodded. "Help yourself. The bread is in that cabinet over there. I think we have white bread or wheat if you'd prefer that."
"Thank you."
"Hey, I'll be right back, I'm going to run this trash out." Ellie said as she tied the garbage bag. She'd gotten halfway to the garbage can when she felt a weird tug on the bag and the contents came spilling out. "Oh come on, are you kidding me?" She tossed the remaining contents of the bag into the trash can before staring scornfully at the spilled items. She spared a glance at her surroundings before using her magic to move the spilled garbage to where it was supposed to be. "Like hell I was touching all that." She huffed to herself.
When her phone started to ring, Ellie answered it without looking to see who it was. "My favorite witch, you're never going to guess what's going on!" Rebekah said excitedly.
"Rebekah, hey what's up? You sound chipper. Did your kinda gross threesome go that well?" Ellie asked as she moved the last of the trash into the garbage can.
"Oh, it went so much better than I could have hoped. Turns out Sage holding a candle for Finn after all this time has it's uses. She found out where the white oak was. I'm burning it all now. Klaus is going to love this."
"That's amazing Rebekah! Great work!" Ellie replied.
"Yes, it is if I do say so myself. I'm sure Damon will be here soon. So I intend to gloat and then I'll come by your house so that we can go and celebrate. Ok?" Rebekah asked.
"That sounds like a plan. Bonnie's figured something out to help Alaric, so I'm not needed here."
"Perfect! Oh, I think I hear Damon's car. See you soon, love."
Alaric's shout followed by the sound of something shattering caught Ellie's attention, though she could barely hear it from where she was outside. When he shouted again, Ellie took off in a sprint for the kitchen. "Alaric?" Ellie called as she ran inside. A coffee cup was shattered on the kitchen floor. "Alaric? Meredith?" She called.
A knife was dropped at the base of the stairs, and Ellie felt chills race up her spine. She moved slowly up the stairs, her magic on alert. She couldn't see where they had gone. Ellie carefully stepped into Elena's room and hesitated when she saw a smear of blood on the wall. "You know, for a witch, you think you'd be more observant."
She spun on her heel to see Alaric holding the knife that had been at the base of the stairs. "Ric… what did you do?"
"Meredith is a disgrace. She uses vampire blood on unsuspecting people because she's a failure of a doctor. But you? You cling to a vampire family that has a man that killed your mother and your sister and your friend, and yet you pretend he isn't some monster. After everything vampires have done to your family and your friends, I thought if anyone would have some common sense it would be you. But no, you're even worse than Elena. I'm disgusted by you."
"Ric… you aren't yourself. Please, what did you do to Meredith?"
"Are you sorry?" He asked as he tilted the knife in her direction.
"For what?"
"For being such a pathetic excuse of a person. Only the most disgusting, lowest type of person would enjoy being associated with vampires. Especially the type you seem so fond of. It's funny how you hate Damon when the Mikaelsons are so much worse. I'm sure your parents are glad that they're dead so that they didn't have to witness how pathetic you've become."
His words had so much impact that she actually stumbled back. "Alaric, no, you don't mean that. It's the ring talking. It's not you." She denied.
He tilted his head to the side and gave her a cold smile. "Don't worry. It doesn't matter either way. You're not going to be alive much longer. So you're not going to have to worry about it."
Before she realized what was happening, he lunged forward and the knife sunk deep into her gut. "Ellie!" Meredith screamed from inside the bathroom, obviously hearing what was happening outside. He ripped the knife out as her vision danced. All she could feel was pain. Her hand connected to his chest and a burst of magic had him flying into Elena's wall before dropping to the ground in an unconscious heat. "Ellie get out of here, go!" Meredith cried.
Ellie nodded and stumbled towards the door. Her vision was going back and forth and her muscle memory took over to get her down the stairs. The blood on her hands made it impossible to get a solid grip on the railing and she almost fell down the stairs at the end. She let out a choked gurgling sound as she desperately tried to get the front door unlocked and opened with her blood soaked hands. She got the door open, but she couldn't control her feet anymore and then gave out underneath her. The last thing she registered was the pain that came with her head slamming into the ground before there was just nothing.
Rebekah was positively gleeful as she walked along Ellie's street. The white oak was gone and her family was safe. At least, safer than they'd been before. All they needed to do now was get rid of Esther and then they'd finally be free. She'd been immensely satisfied to one up Damon, especially since the son of a bitch had tricked her into bed with him to steal information from her head. At least the sex had been good.
She was a few houses away from Ellie's when she froze. The smell of blood was strong and practically attacked her with how hard it hit her. "What in the bloody hell?" She muttered to herself. Rebekah looked up and noticed that the door to the Gilbert house was wide open. She broke into a sprint as she ran towards it. "Oh my god!" Blood was pooled around Ellie's body where she had collapsed in front of the front door. She rushed forward to help, but cursed loudly when the magic barrier stopped her. "Bloody hell!" She cursed.
For the first time in a long time, Rebekah truly felt frantic. She pulled out her phone and prayed that he would answer quickly. "What can I do for you, Rebekah?" Elijah asked calmly.
"Help, Elijah, please, Ellie's hurt! She's in her house! I'm not invited in. I can't get to her!" Rebekah begged.
The shift in his voice was immediate. "What are you talking about? What happened?"
"I don't know! I don't know! I was coming to meet her but the door is wide open and she's right there Elijah and there's so much blood." Rebekah explained.
"I'm on my way. Is she still alive?" Elijah asked. When Rebekah didn't respond fast enough, Elijah snapped, "Rebekah is she breathing or not?"
She winced at the sharpness of his voice as she listened in on Ellie's heartbeat. "She's still alive, but her heart isn't nearly as strong as it should be. Elijah, she's lost a lot of blood." She could hear the sound of the wind hitting the microphone of Elijah's phone as he ran, but all she could focus on was how pale and still Ellie was.
"My god." Klaus said as he stopped next to Rebekah.
Elijah, on the other hand, all but threw himself inside the Gilbert home. Rebekah had been right. It was a lot of blood and Ellie was still bleeding from a stab wound in her gut. "Drink, Eleanor." He said softly as he bit into his wrist and pressed it to her lips. For a long moment, there was nothing. "Eleanor, please, please drink." He begged as he pressed his wrist more firmly to her mouth.
Rebekah reached out for Klaus, holding his hand tightly. Elijah was practically sitting in a pool of Ellie's blood, begging her to drink, but she didn't move. Her heart was still beating, but it was fainter than before. "Ellie, please, come on. Come on." Rebekah begged as her eyes watered. Elijah looked broken as he pressed his wrist to Ellie's mouth. Rebekah couldn't remember the last time she'd seen him so distraught.
"Eleanor, please." His voice was soft, so soft that it was barely a whisper.
Everything was so quiet that they heard it the first time she swallowed his blood. "Oh my god." Rebekah gasped, her hand tightening around Klaus' as Ellie finally started to respond and she began to actively drink from Elijah's wrist. When Ellie's hand came up to take a hold of Elijah's more firmly, Rebekah felt hot tears roll down her cheeks.
Ellie drank heavily for a moment before she moved Elijah's wrist away. "Elijah?" Ellie asked as she stared up at him. His eyes were wide and panicked and he looked more pale than she'd ever seen. "I'm ok. I'm ok." She whispered.
"I thought I…" Elijah faltered on the words as he helped her sit up. She was cradled in his lap as he held onto her. When Rebekah had called and he'd heard the fear in her voice, his heart had dropped. He felt for Ellie far more than he'd ever intended to and he'd almost just lost her. His hand rested on her throat and even the now steady thrum of her pulse did little to ease his panic. Both Rebekah and Klaus watched as their brother seemed to fight with something in himself before he swore softly, "Oh to hell with it."
Ellie thought she was still disoriented when she felt Elijah kiss her. Shock and surprise ran through her before her mind tried to tell her that she was unconscious or hallucinating. Elijah had no interest in her like that. At least, she hadn't thought that he did. Rebekah's small squeal of excitement was what made it register that this was actually happening and not something that she was dreaming. It only then occurred to her that she hadn't responded and he was starting to pull away.
On instinct, her hand shot out, wrapping around the back of his head and pulling him back towards her. The kiss was soft and slow, and the closest thing she could describe it as was that it was like relief. It felt safe and warm and it made her heart beat violently in her chest. For a moment, she forgot that Klaus and Rebekah were just a few feet away and watching. She forgot about the mess with Alaric and Meredith and for once let herself enjoy the moment the way she wanted to. She'd almost died. It was fair to cut herself some slack.
When they broke the kiss, her lips were tingling and her skin felt like it was on fire. Elijah's hand moved away from her throat in favor of brushing her hair away from her face. He pressed a gentle kiss on her forehead and let it linger before he rested his forehead against hers. "Are you alright?" Elijah asked softly.
"Well, I'm great now." She shot back.
He smiled at her fondly as both Rebekah and Klaus chuckled at her joke. "I'm glad I could be of service." He replied.
As she came down from the rush of kissing Elijah and almost dying, she seemed to come back to her senses and realized that they were both sitting in her blood. "That's a lot of blood." She commented as she looked down around them.
"You were very lucky that Rebekah got here when she did, little witch." Klaus informed her. "You might not have lasted much longer."
She knew he didn't say it to scare her, and nodded tiredly in agreement. "I owe you Bekah. You saved my life."
"What are friends for if it's not to save each other's lives?" Rebekah asked, though she still looked a bit shaken from the whole ordeal.
"Ellie?" Elena's shout caught their attention. They'd not been paying enough attention to hear her car pulling up in the drive. "What did you do?" Elena accused as she rushed up to the Mikaelsons with Stefan hot on her heels.
"She would be dead without Rebekah. Show a little respect." Klaus warned, glaring darkly at the other Gilbert girl.
"Oh my god. Meredith." Ellie said as she tried to push herself into more of a sitting position. "He did something to Meredith."
Stefan seemed to understand what was going on. "Where is he?"
"I think I knocked him out before I came down here. I think Meredith is in Jeremy and Elena's bathroom." Ellie said slowly as the adrenaline wore off.
Stefan looked over to Elena. "Come on, I'm gonna need your help."
"Is she ok?" Elena asked as she looked over Ellie and all the blood.
"I've fed her my blood. She'll be fine." Elijah assured her. The two rushed up the stairs after that confirmation.
"That's gonna be such a pain to clean." Ellie groaned as her head dropped onto Elijah's shoulders. "I should get started so the stains don't set."
Rebekah gave her a look of disbelief. "You almost just died and you're worried about the floor getting stained?"
Ellie nodded as she tried to stand. "No, you're not cleaning it. I'll have some men handle it." Klaus replied as he pulled out his phone. Ellie looked like she was going to protest before he held up a finger. "They're human and will be compelled and paid. Nothing bad, and no funny business. You need to recover. Vampire blood or not, you still lost a lot of your own blood and need time."
"Just let him do this for you, Eleanor." Elijah instructed gently.
"Ok." Ellie replied. It seemed that everything had finally caught up to the young witch and as Elijah stood up and pulled her into his arms, she dozed back off again.
The Mikaelsons just stared at her for a moment. "We're going to keep her safe, right?" Rebekah asked her brothers.
Klaus shared a significant look with Elijah. "Of course we are."
Author's Note:
There's literally no words for how nervous I've been about this chapter. I really hope that their first kiss was something that you guys enjoyed. I needed something that would push one of them over the edge and to say to hell with it since they're both so cautious. I figured almost losing her without telling her how he felt would get the job done. As always, please leave a review and let me know your thoughts!
To brigitm28: I know what you mean lol, but yes, definitely just a disagreement. Yeah, I think the biggest problem when it comes to her being left out is Elena thinking that that's what's best. I'd definitely say she's fully team Mikaelson now. Not that she would let them hurt her friends and family, but she definitely won't let anyone hurt the Mikaelsons if she can stop it. Jenna being mad at Elena was so therapeutic to write. I'd agree that Stefan really did need someone. There's always some... alternative ways to watch if you know what I mean. So if you can find a way I highly recommend it! I've actually got a WW2 nurse book that I'm reading and its actually fascinating! It's really neat to read. I mostly read MCU fics, though it's mostly BuckyxOC or StevexOC.
To xenocanaan: I love Jenna so much. I'll never forgive Plec for killing her. Would it make you feel better to know that any time I write Ellie and Kol together I just really, really want them together too? I really hope you liked this chapter.
TO flawsome4ever: Ellie and Rebekah are fun together. I really enjoyed writing Damon wanting to take care of Stefan, especially enough to set aside his tension with Ellie.
To sumaiyahc06: Thank you so so much! Honestly, Stefan really just needed someone that understood where he was coming from and how he was struggling and Elena never did that.
To Oz: Rebekah wouldn't be the baby sister if she didn't give her brothers grief. Listen if I could actually work it so that they could be a big brotp I would love it so much. I'm hoping that in season four I can really start brining Katherine in more. Jenna's scene was so good oof I loved it. I'd agree though, Elena always refused to see where Stefan was coming from. I hope to get more Bonnie in there. She deserved better.
To AdiraBraelynn: And we're here? Did it live up to what you were hoping for? I was so so nervous about this chapter. The fluff scenes as everything kind of hits them were so much fun. I also really want someone like Ellie or Care, they're so pure with how much they love each other. It is really ironic, but at least Ellie and Elijah had a plan in place and didn't just go in blind. You're absolutely right. The trauma that happened during the summer has tied them together in a way they'd never planned on. Elena really did just throw him away didn't she? Damon and Ellie together once again without a fight! How bizarre! Thank you so much! Love you guys too!
-Madame Magic
Posted: 2/27/21