Chapter 9: History Repeating
November 30, 2009
Dear Diary,
Everything has been… weird. Elena is acting weird, still, and Jeremy is acting weirdly normal. Not that I'm complaining about that. Jeremy being completely clean from drugs and alcohol has been the best news I've gotten lately, but Elena's keeping something from me. Bonnie's been confiding in me a lot about what she's doing with Grams, but still I haven't told her about me. I'm not sure why I'm really putting it off so much but… a problem for a later date. I don't think Bonnie's been sleeping well. She seems exhausted like all the time. I need to talk to her about it.
Ellie walked between Elena and Caroline as they walked through the parking lot. "Have you even talked to Bonnie?" Elena asked the blonde.
"No. I'm mad at her. She needs to make the first move." Caroline informed them.
"Be the bigger person." Elena suggested.
"Impossible in her presence." Caroline scoffed.
"Why are you so pissed at her, anyway?" Elena questioned.
"She's a thief. That's why." Caroline told her.
"Technically, you did give it to her and said you wanted to get rid of it. So she didn't really steal it." Ellie reminded her.
"Yeah I gave her my necklace and she refuses to give it back." Caroline added.
"But giving something to someone is different than letting them borrow it. You told her you wanted it gone, which implied that you didn't want it back. Just because you changed your mind, or because Shithead Salvatore decided he wanted it doesn't change that fact that you gave it to her to keep." Ellie explained.
"But it's a matter of principle. If I said I wanted it back she should have just given it back. Who's side are you on anyways?" Caroline questioned.
"No sides, just my opinion. She shouldn't have been rude to you about it, but you shouldn't have tried to rip it from her neck either, Care." Ellie admitted.
"I… fine. Whatever." Caroline huffed.
"All right. Well, I tried." Elena said as she let the subject drop. "I'm officially out of it."
"Good. Your turn." Caroline told the younger twin. "Where's Stefan? Have you talked to him?"
"He's avoiding me." Elena confessed.
"Why?"
"It's complicated." Elena sighed.
"Your whole relationship seems kinda complicated honestly." Ellie said. "But did you meet his friend Lexi? We hung out at The Grill while she was waiting for Stefan to get there. She was really cool. Haven't seen her since though." Elena tensed up at the mention of the other girl. "What? Did you not like her?"
"No, no, I liked her, she just had to leave really quickly after the party. I'm not sure when she'll be back." Elena said.
"Oh she said that Stefan's birthdays are her days, so we'll probably see her again next year." Ellie replied as the school bell rang.
"Yeah maybe." Elena said although she seemed doubtful. "I'll see you later."
"Bye." The girls chimed as Elena walked off.
Matt was walking past and paused slightly and said, "Hey." to Caroline.
"Hey." She replied and Ellie felt her skin crawl at the awkwardness.
When Matt kept on walking, Caroline let out a disappointed huff. "That was literally the most awkward thing I have ever seen you do." Ellie commented.
"Shut up."
"What happened with you two? You've been like… funky ever since he took you home from The Grill." Ellie inquired.
"Oh, you know, just normal ole pathetically needy Caroline." The blonde told her. "I was super wasted and I basically begged him to stay with me because I didn't want to be alone and we fell asleep together and it's been weird ever since."
"Caroline Forbes! Do you have a crush on Matt?" Ellie nearly screeched as Caroline hushed her frantically.
"Would you shut the hell up?" Caroline hissed. "Oh my god I don't know Ellie but I don't need you announcing it to the whole world."
Ellie was positively beaming. "Ok. Ok. I'm sorry. It's just, Care, Matt's one of the best guys I know. Someone that's good like him is exactly who you should be with." Ellie told her. Caroline's glare softened. "Really, I think a guy like him would be really good for you."
"Yeah. Me too. The polar opposite of Damon is precisely what I need." Caroline said with a firm nod. "I gotta go."
"Bye, Future Mrs. Donovan." Ellie teased and just smiled as Caroline shot her a vicious glare. The classes flew by and Ellie was somewhat dreading going to history. They still hadn't replaced Tanner which meant that while it was great to not really having to learn anything, some of the substitutes were really quite awful. If they had Mrs. Lewis as a substitute one more time Ellie swore she was going to bash her head against the wall. "You ready for this?" Ellie asked softly when she noticed Elena's hesitancy.
"Could be worse." Elena said as they took their seats.
Ellie noticed Bonnie rushing into the room as the bell rang and looking quite flustered before an unfamiliar man walked in after her and called, "Good morning, everyone." At least he wasn't Mrs. Lewis. Both Elena and Ellie eyed Bonnie as the witch kept her head down and took her seat. "Alrighty." He said as he picked up a piece of chalk and started to write. Ellie could see Elena mouthing to Bonnie, asking her if she was ok, but the other girl just shrugged. "Alaric Saltzman. It's a mouthful. I know." He said with a bright grin. "Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. Saltzman is of German origins. My family emigrated here in 1755 to Texas. I, however, was born and raised in Boston. Now, the name Alaric belongs to a very dead great-grandfather I will never be able to thank enough. You'll probably want to pronounce it 'Ala-ric', but it's 'A-lar-ic', ok? So you can call me Ric. I'm your new history teacher."
The man was young and definitely friendlier than Tanner. Something about him gave Ellie a good feeling. He was going to end up being one of her favorite teachers; she just knew it. The lesson went smoothly and she actually ended up with magnificent notes, but that didn't stop her from looking over to Bonnie every other minute to watch her in concern. Once their classes had ended, Ellie found herself sitting at a picnic table with Elena and Bonnie as the other witch described the dreams that had been haunting her. Bonnie had explained that in the dream, Emily was appearing to her in school and following her around. "And then I ended up at the remains of Old Fell's Church before I woke up back in the woods." Bonnie told them.
"And you always see your ancestor Emily?" Elena questioned.
Bonnie nodded before asking them, "Do you guys believe in ghosts?"
"Two weeks ago, I'd say no, but now…" Elena trailed off.
"Bon, if we can believe you're a witch, know you're a witch, then yeah, ghosts don't surprise me." Ellie replied with a shrug.
"I think I'm being haunted." Bonnie confessed.
"I don't get it. Why Emily?" Elena inquired.
"Grams said she was a powerful witch back in the Civil War days and that this medallion was hers, a witch's talisman." Bonnie told them.
"And it all started when you got the necklace?" Elena asked.
"I think she's using it to communicate with me." Bonnie confirmed.
Ellie thought about it for a second, before saying, "It makes sense. Anything ghost related you ever see on like tv and in books and stuff always talks about using personal items to communicate with the deceased as well as saying that using a relative makes it easier. If Emily's haunting you, there's probably a reason."
Elena nodded along before asking, "Ok, what does Grams say about it?"
"I can't call her. She's gonna tell me to embrace it. I don't want to embrace it. I want it to stop." Bonnie said helplessly.
"Listen, we will figure it out ok? We can ride with you, there's just something I need to do first." Elena promised as she moved to get up and leave. "I'll be back really soon ok?"
"Wait, why don't we just meet at your car Bonnie, there's just something I need to do as well." Ellie said as she glanced down at the text from Jeremy. Bonnie and Elena both nodded before the twins stood and left the girl alone at the table. She made her way through the halls and found that for the first time she wasn't dreading entering the history classroom. She knocked on the door lightly and smiled at the man sitting at the desk. "Hi Mr. Saltzman." He looked up from eating his sandwich and returned her smile. "I'm uh, I'm Ellie Gilbert."
He motioned for her to come in as he said, "I'm assuming in relation to Jeremy Gilbert?"
"Yes. He's my younger brother." She confirmed.
"I'm also assuming that he might be part of the reason that you're here?" He suggested.
"Also yes. He texted me and told me that you were giving him a clean slate, and a chance to save his grade. We've been through some stuff that's made it hard for him, so someone finally cutting him a break like this is really what he needed." Ellie said gratefully. "Tanner, he really hated us, I don't know why. He hardly cut us any slack and Jeremy really took the brunt of that hate."
"I'm not surprised with that opus that he had for Jeremy. If you don't mind me asking, what happened? I see your grades from last year as well and while yours and your sister Elena's stayed pretty consistent, Jeremy just kind of took a nosedive." Mr. Saltzman asked softly.
Ellie propped against the desk near his and nodded. "Our parents died in a car crash back in May. Elena and I were in the car with them. Elena and I got out somehow, our parents weren't so lucky. Really Elena was the luckiest of us. She wasn't hurt, but I was in the hospital for a couple days. Jeremy didn't handle it well. He kind of got into drugs and alcohol for a while. Tanner was really harsh on us the moment we started back this year, as if the summer was enough time for us to be back in perfect form. So Jeremy's grades just… went down and stayed down."
Mr. Saltzman looked sympathetic. "He must have had a severe misunderstanding of what it's like to lose someone suddenly. So, you and your siblings, completely blank slate with me. " He told her before adding a moment later, "If you ever have something going on and you need someone to talk to, I know I'm your teacher, but I'm here if you need me."
She grinned brightly at him. "Thank you very much. I appreciate it. I've got to get back to my sister, but I just really wanted to say thank you for giving Jeremy a chance."
"See you tomorrow, Miss Gilbert." He replied and she practically skipped out of the classroom.
"You're in a good mood." Elena commented when she spotted her sister.
"And you're not." Ellie replied.
"Stefan drama. Why are you in a good mood?" Elena said, clearly trying to change the conversation and Ellie let her.
"Mr. Saltzman is giving Jeremy a chance to save his grade, a clean slate. I went to say thanks." Ellie informed her happily.
Elena's jaw practically dropped in shock. "What? Really? That's amazing! Thank you, I needed something good like that." Their happiness faded when they got in the car and saw how visibly shook Bonnie was. "Bonnie, what's wrong?"
"Bonnie?" Ellie repeated softly.
"Let's just get out of here first." Bonnie told them and the moment the girls had their seatbelts on, she was pulling out of the parking lot as quickly as she could. "Damon was here." She admitted and the twins straightened up. "He wanted the necklace. He's bad news, Elena. He really scared me."
"You need to stay as far away from Damon as possible." Elena insisted.
"I'm trying. He just keeps showing up." Bonnie told her.
"I don't want you to be alone." Elena insisted. "You're sleeping at our place tonight."
"Seconded. You're coming over. You have no choice." Ellie confirmed. "We can make a whole night out of it." She watched as Bonnie fiddled with the necklace before they were suddenly off the road. "Whoa, um Bonnie?"
Bonnie threw the car in park before pulling out the keys as Elena called, "Where are you going?" They both watched as Bonnie walked into the grass and jumped up before throwing the necklace as far as she could. She turned on her heel and strode back to the car, dropping down into her seat with a huff. "Are you ok?"
"Now I am." Bonnie told her. "All my problems were because of that thing. Can't believe I didn't do that sooner."
"What's your Grams gonna say?" Elena asked skeptically.
"Grams isn't the one being haunted by a hundred fifty year old ghost, is she?" Bonnie retorted.
"Ok then." Elena said with a nod. The ride fell silent as Bonnie drove them to her house to get her things for a sleepover. With the promise of being quick, the twins remained in the car as Bonnie rushed into her house to gather her things.
"Was it just me or did she seem a little…"
"Not just you." Elena told her. After a moment, Ellie could see an idea forming in the gleam of her sister's eyes. "Hey, why don't you call Caroline to come over? We can do manicures and pedicures."
Ellie gave her sister a knowing look. "What happened to 'I'm officially out of it'?" She questioned.
"Shut up. I just want them to fix it." Elena told her. "Call Caroline, before Bonnie gets back."
"Fine pushy pushy, but when awkward tension ensues, you have no one but yourself to blame." Ellie informed her before dialing the number of her favorite blonde. Caroline picked up by the second ring. "Oh Caroline, my beautiful blonde." She sang into the phone.
"Hello to you too Miss Good Mood. What's up?" Caroline replied.
"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to come over to my place and hang out with me and Elena. We're doing manicures and pedicures." Ellie told her.
"Ohhh, you really know how to bait a girl don't you?" Caroline asked her with a laugh. "Ok, ok. I'll come. I just have some stuff to do first so I'll probably get there not long after dark. Oh I can bring food!"
"That sounds like a good idea." Ellie agreed as she let herself relax into the seat of the car. "I'm assuming you mean from The Grill."
"Mmhmm, they really do have some amazing chicken."
"That they do. Just make sure you get four meals." Ellie informed her.
"Four? For who?"
"Bonnie's gonna be there." Ellie admitted and the moment she heard Caroline begin to protest she cut her off. "You already said you were gonna come over and you can't back out now. This is a chance for you and Bonnie to make up. Besides little miss 'I'm officially out of it' is the one who cooked up this plan. So, if it goes to shit, I give you full permission to blame her."
With Elena's offended shout, Caroline couldn't help but laugh. "Ok, ok, ok, I'll come but I reserve the right to ditch at any time."
"Fair enough. Make sure to bring extra sauce. See you soon." Ellie said and hung up as Bonnie made her way out of her house, bags in hand. "Make your escape from Daddy Dearest?" She asked as Bonnie put her bags in next to Ellie.
The other witch snorted as she slipped into the driver's seat. "He's not home, thank god. I made it out unscathed." Bonnie told them as she pulled out of the drive and onto the road. "But I grabbed my kit for us to use."
"Perfect. Elena always loses parts of my kit." Ellie told her.
"I do not!"
"Then why is it that I've had at least three sets of clippers disappear along with at least four nail files? I always put them back in the kit as soon as I'm done with them. And I highly doubt Jeremy's stealing them and Jenna has her own." Ellie reminded her. At her guilty expression the teen witches just laughed.
True to her word, Caroline rang the doorbell just a touch after dark and bearing food from The Grill. "I'm here." She grinned as Ellie opened up the door for her. "Don't tell Bonnie and Elena, but I got you a brownie too." She whispered as she stepped through the door.
"God you're the best." Ellie told her as she shut the door behind the blonde.
"I know." Caroline confirmed as they made their way to the kitchen so she could set the bag down on the counter. "Hey." She greeted Elena with a warm smile as the Gilbert pulled out plates and napkins.
"Hey, thanks for bringing food. Jenna forgot to go to the store and so we probably don't have anything good." Elena replied.
"Elena's glad you brought food because she's a horrific cook." Ellie faux-whispered to the blonde.
"Oh shut up." Elena scoffed but grinned at her sister.
They fell into an awkward silence as Bonnie entered the room. Caroline bit her lip and continued to unpack the food but Elena gave her a meaningful stare as she cocked up her eyebrows. When it was clear that Elena wasn't going to give in Caroline turned to Bonnie and said, "I'm sorry. There, I said it. If you want the ugly ass necklace, keep it. It's yours."
Ellie gave a small proud smile to her blonde friend. Bonnie looked conflicted before asking, "Will you hate me if I tell you that I threw it away?"
Caroline's demeanor changed instantly. "You threw it away?" She asked in disbelief.
"I know it sounds crazy but the necklace was giving me nightmares." Bonnie admitted. "I had to get rid of it."
"You could have just given it back to me." Caroline snipped.
"Why? So you could give it back to Damon?" Elena questioned sarcastically.
Caroline just sighed and said, "Screw Damon. Are we doing manicures or what? Who has their kit?"
"Mine's in my bag." Bonnie told her and Caroline smiled as she moved to get the kit.
"So, Elena…" Caroline called. "How long do you think this fight with Stefan's gonna last? Is it like a permanent thing?"
"I don't know Caroline." Elena told her as she gave Bonnie a look.
Ellie could just barely hear Caroline scoff. "Why are you such a little liar, Bonnie?"
The accusation caught all three of the other girls off guard. "What?"
"Caroline!" Elena scolded but the girls fell silent as Caroline accusingly held up the necklace they had watched Bonnie throw into the field.
"I'm not lying to you, Caroline." Bonnie snapped after Caroline tossed the necklace on the counter. "I swear."
"It's true. I watched her throw it into a field." Elena confirmed.
"Ellie?" Caroline questioned.
"They're being honest, Care. I watched her throw it as far as she could." Ellie assured her.
"Well, then explain it." Caroline told them.
"Emily." Bonnie said fearfully.
"Who's Emily?" Caroline asked softly.
"The ghost."
"Oh, the ghost has a name now." Caroline sassed.
"Caroline, please." Elena said as she held a hand up to shush the girl.
"I wonder why she won't leave me alone." Bonnie said.
"Ok, what is going on?" Caroline jumped in, obviously displeased with being left out. "Why am I not a part of this conversation? You guys do this to me all the time."
"That's not true." Elena denied.
"Yes, it is." Bonnie scoffed. "I can't talk to you. You don't listen."
"That's not true." Caroline said defensively.
"I'm a witch." Bonnie confessed.
Caroline's retort didn't miss a beat. "And don't we all know it?"
"See? That's what I'm talking about. I'm trying to tell you something. You don't even hear it." Bonnie turned and walked off in frustration.
"I listen." Caroline insisted. "When do I not listen?"
"You know what you should do, Care." Ellie told her and the blonde groaned a little but nodded and headed for the living room as the twins crept behind her. They could see Bonnie sitting on the couch and watched as Caroline went to sit beside her.
"Bonnie." Caroline said as she walked in. "Look, it's just not me, ok? I don't believe in the… whoo whoo." Bonnie didn't seem impressed. "But, if you do, then ok. I'm in. That's all it takes for me to jump onboard, because I consider you to be my best friend. And I'm saying this knowing that Ellie and Elena are in the kitchen listening to my every word." The twins grinned at each other because of that. "Look, I didn't know how real this was for you, but I'm listening now." There was a moment of silence and something muttered before Caroline called, "Ellie, Elena, you guys can come in now. We're done." Elena and Ellie slid into the room with pleased smiles. "Well, there is just way too much drama in this room. So what do you guys wanna do?" Elena hardly had time to shrug before Caroline bolted up with a gasp. "I have an idea. Why don't we have a seance?" Caroline suggested.
"I don't think that's a good idea." Bonnie said skeptically. Privately, Ellie agreed. They had no idea if Emily was a ghost with malicious intent or not and if there were two witches performing the seance, especially with one being blood related, there was no way that it wouldn't work.
"Come on. Let's summon some spirits. This Emily chick has some serious explaining to do." Caroline said. "Let's do this. I wanna see what this Emily chick has to say for herself." It seemed that Caroline's decision was final and the four girls found themselves seated in a slightly squared looking circle in Elena's dark room, the only light coming from the candles they sat around.
The girls held the hands of the ones that sat next to them and Bonnie asked, "What are we doing?"
"I don't know." Elena replied, her tone making it clear that she was unimpressed.
"Shh." Caroline hushed. "Be quiet and concentrate." She informed them. "Ok, close your eyes. Ok, now take a deep breath. Bonnie, call to her." For all of her denial when it came to believing in this stuff, Caroline really did have an idea of what to do.
"Emily… you there?" Bonnie's tone was blunt.
"Really? 'Emily, you there?' That's all you got?" Caroline asked sarcastically as the girls opened their eyes. "Come on."
"Fine. Jeez." Bonnie replied as the girls closed their eyes again. Ellie could hear the difference in how Bonnie spoke this time. "Emily… I call on you. I know you have a message. I'm here to listen." Ellie could almost feel the magic as it gathered.
The flames shot high and the girls yanked their hands away in fear. "Did that just-"
"Yeah, that just happened." Ellie confirmed her sister's fear as Caroline shivered fearfully.
"It's just the air conditioning." Bonnie insisted. But Ellie knew that if she'd even felt a touch of what Ellie had felt, the other witch knew that it wasn't just air conditioning.
The candles shot up in defiance, as if Emily was confirming that, no, it wasn't the air conditioning and she was there. "Ask her to show you a sign. Ask her." Caroline insisted. Bonnie shook her head in refusal, so Caroline did it herself. "Emily, if you're among us, show us another sign."
Elena was shaking in fear, but nothing happened. "See? It's not working." Bonnie told her. A moment passed and then Elena's windows, that had been closed and locked, flew open. The girls scrambled away from the candles as Bonnie stood and yanked the necklace from her neck. "No, I can't. I'm done." The necklace was tossed next to the candles that went out suddenly. "Get the light. Please get the light." Bonnie begged.
"Hold on. Hold on. I got it." Elena said and Ellie could just barely see the figure of her sister standing and flipping on the light.
Bonnie and Ellie both made a realization at the same time and the former told them in a shaking voice, "You guys, the necklace, it's gone." But something told Ellie that Emily was not. There was an odd feeling creeping down her spine, like someone was reaching out to her but they couldn't quite touch.
"Ok, fun's over, Caroline." Elena accused. "You made a point, and I get it. Now give it back."
"What?" Caroline asked in disbelief. "Well, I didn't take it."
Ellie spotted movement from behind Caroline and felt her stomach lurch. "Elena did you…"
As Elena nodded, Caroline spun around asking, "What? What happened?"
"I don't know, nothing." Elena insisted.
"That wasn't nothing. Jeremy, are you home?" Ellie called as she stood just inside Elena's bedroom door.
"Um… guys?" Bonnie called softly and Ellie walked back into the room to see Bonnie slowly walking into the bathroom, almost as if she was in a trance. Ellie watched as Bonnie picked up what could only be the necklace, before the door slammed shut and Bonnie started to scream. "Oh my god!"
"Bonnie?" Elena called as the three of them rushed to the door.
"You guys open the door!" Bonnie screamed.
"Bonnie! What's going on?" Caroline called.
As Bonnie's screams continued, the voices of the three girls melded into one, all screaming Bonnie's name. Caroline was screaming trying to find out what was happening and Elena was screaming for Bonnie to try the other door as Ellie told them, "I'll check the hallway." Bonnie just kept screaming in terror as Ellie rushed to the hallway door. She could hear Caroline begging for Bonnie to unlock the door. "Bonnie!" Ellie screamed and she could feel that sensation on her spine again, stronger than before. The electricity went wild, lights flashing and electricity sizzling and Bonnie's panicked screams became horrified shrieks of desperation. She could hear Bonnie begging for someone to get her out and Ellie screamed in desperation, "Emily, stop it! Emily, please stop! Let her go! Emily stop!"
All at once, everything went silent and as the tell-tale sound of the bathroom door opening rang out, Ellie rushed back into the room. From where she stood behind Elena and Caroline, she could see Bonnie standing perfectly still, hands covering her face and shaking. "What happened? Are you ok?" The creepy crawly sensation was stronger than ever as Bonnie's shaking stopped.
"I'm fine." Bonnie told them, but something felt wrong. The way she sounded was wrong. There was no way she was just fine after screaming like she was getting murdered.
"Unbelievable. You were totally faking it." Caroline accused.
"Caroline, come on." Elena tried.
"No, you scared the hell out of me." Caroline shouted before walking off.
But all Ellie could see was the way Bonnie was holding herself, an unfamiliar poise for the teenage girl, holding her arms delicately in front of her. "Bonnie?" Ellie asked hesitantly.
"I'm fine." Bonnie insisted. "Everything's fine." But Bonnie had the amulet clasped securely around her neck. Bonnie would have never put that back on. Elena and Ellie both watched their friend in concern as she walked past.
"I can't believe I fell for it." Caroline scoffed as Bonnie strode past them, hands clasped in front of her.
"I must go." Bonnie said and the longer she spoke, the less she seemed alright.
"She's leaving. I'm leaving." Caroline told the Gilberts.
"You guys can't leave." Elena insisted.
"Oh, I can. I've had enough freaky fake witch stuff for one night." Caroline was ranting to Elena as Ellie kept a close eye on Bonnie.
"Thank you for having me." Bonnie said politely. "I'll take it from here."
"Where are you going?" Ellie asked.
"Back to where it all began." She replied as she started to rush down the stairs.
Ellie rushed down after her. "Bonnie! Bonnie!" The other witch gave no response. "Oh god. Emily!"
The witch spun on her heel. "I won't let him have it. It must be destroyed." She insisted.
She could hear Elena yell at Bonnie or Emily or whoever the hell it was to wait, but Ellie took off running after the other witch. She just barely made it out of the door before it slammed shut. She could hear Elena screaming on the other side, but she kept running after Emily. "Emily wait!"
The ghost witch didn't stop, but she did slow enough for Ellie to catch up. "I can not stop until this amulet is destroyed." She said.
"Why? What the hell is happening? Why are you doing this to Bonnie?" Ellie was desperate for answers.
"I mean Bonnie no harm. She is my descendant. My family. I only wish to keep her safe, but this is a promise made that I can not keep." Emily informed her.
"What promise? To who? Damon? How the hell do you even know him?" Ellie questioned.
They were in the woods by the time that Emily stopped to answer. "There are things my dear girl, that you remain blissfully unaware of. It is a blessing. You must go. What I intend to do might become a situation of danger. I do not wish to cause you harm. Please, return to the safety of your home."
"Emily, no, I get you're already dead and all but Bonnie's not. If the situation is dangerous, I can't just leave her!" Ellie protested.
The witch possessing her friend smiled an unfamiliar smile. "You are quite loyal. That is a very honorable trait. You wish to help Bonnie?" Emily asked her.
"Of course I do. That shouldn't even be a question." Ellie shot back.
"Sheila will be proud of how dedicated you are to the craft and to Bonnie. Help me destroy the amulet, and I'll set Bonnie free." Emily promised.
"How? What do you want me to do?" Ellie asked.
"Your bracelet, give it to me." Emily said and Ellie handed it over without hesitation. "You can trust me, I promise."
"You are quite literally in the process of breaking one of your promises. Right now that doesn't mean jack to me. Just protect Bonnie, please."
"I will do everything I can to protect her and you." Emily said as she slid the bracelet onto her wrist. She muttered something under her breath and then Ellie felt her body fall before she realized it was happening. Everything had faded to black. She didn't know how much time had passed when things started to come in the way a broken radio signal did.
"...hurts…. On people…"
"Stefan." That Bonnie… wait no Emily. Why was Stefan there? "These people don't deserve this… never have to know such evil."
"What do… mean evil?"
"Emily! I swear… god… you regret this." What the hell was happening? Was that Stefan and Damon? God her head hurt.
"I won't let you unleash them into this world."
"Them? What…. Leave out…"
"...it matter?"
"Emily, tell me what you did."
"Save her… save them."
"...everyone in… church?"
"...one comes all." Why couldn't Ellie focus? What church?
"...don't care… want ka…"
"I knew… believed… word… out of your mouth. This…. Love… revenge."
"...mutually exclusive."
"You can't do this!"
"Why not? They… people… called it… deserve..."
"... they were… can't just… back…. You're blaming innocent people for something that happened…" Was everything slowly coming back into focus or were they just yelling?
"There is nothing innocent… don't think for…. Happen again. They already know too much…. Burn… grandwitch… find out. Trust me."
"Things are different now…. Can't free them. I won't. Incendia!" Ellie could see the brightness of what had to be fire. She knew that spell, but everything was getting dark again and fast. She heard a scream. Was that Elena? God no. There was an explosion and sparks rained down. The heat of the fire disappeared, replaced by the sounds of Bonnie's screams, but Ellie couldn't move.
It was silent for a while, until the night was filled with Elena's scream. "Ellie!" She was just barely hanging on to the last piece of her consciousness that she could grab, but it wasn't enough to open her eyes or assure her sister. "Stefan help! Oh god is she dead?" Elena's voice was shaking and she felt a trembling hand reach out for her neck.
"She's alive, just unconscious. We need to get her to your car." Someone was picking her up with ease. It couldn't have been Elena then. Everything was all messed up and she felt like she was fading. The next thing she could focus on was the feel of the familiar seats of Elena's car.
"I don't understand, Elena, what happened to me? He… his face..."
"How do you feel? Are you ok?" Elena's voice seemed to come into focus.
"I'm fine. It's… it's just this blood. I don't…"
There was a painful silence until, "I'm not gonna hurt you." Stefan?
"What's going on, Elena?"
"I'll explain everything, Bonnie, ok? Let's just get out of here. Bonnie. Bonnie, look at me. Trust me. He's not going to hurt you. Come on. Come on. Shh, get in." Elena's voice became muffled after the car door shut and pain blossomed behind Ellie's closed eyes and maybe Stefan's voice. She couldn't tell. After a while, Elena's voice was clearer. "You're just gonna walk away? Don't walk away, Stefan! Stefan!" Not long after, Elena got in the car and as they started to drive away, Ellie's grip on her consciousness wavered and she fell into oblivion.
Author's Note:
Happy April Fool's Day you guys! I hope you all are doing well. Please leave a review and let me know what you guys think. I can't even explain how much I love seeing what you guys are thinking. It makes my day. Honestly, when you guys give me the really long paragraphs it makes me so happy to see it. But I really am thankful for all of you. We've now hit over 3000 views!
To Livebloodlove: Thanks for your review! I haven't written the fallout yet but she's definitely going to be more than a little upset. Especially when it comes to what they did to Jeremy. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
To Guest: Your comment is so well thought out. Really it should be obvious by now that Ellie is gonna get pissed with some of the things Elena has done. I definitely don't think she'd be ok with Bonnie suffering like she did in the show. I can very easily see Ellie doing everything she can to protect Bonnie from getting hurt. I know they haven't interacted as much as Ellie and Bonnie have but I'm definitely going to try and work more Ellie/Bonnie scenes in. As for Jeremy, he's probably the easiest for him to side with Ellie over Elena. It really was intentional for them to have a better relationship than what he has with Elena. I'm glad that it's easy to tell. With Caroline I also agree, she loves Ellie so much and Ellie loves her. I definitely don't see her doing anything that would risk hurting Ellie. Caroline/OC brotp's really are superior. It is frustrating to see the way Elena risked Matt's safety, so I'll really think about it. Thank you so much for taking the time to write that out.
To Mimi: Ellie would do anything for Caroline. She would definitely be there whenever Caroline needed her.
To Only reviewer: He really was god awful right now. It made me so mad to see the way Elena would kind of flirt and mess around with him when she was dating Stefan and she knew about the awful stuff he'd done. I'm actually leaning more towards them being identical, which is why people like Damon and Lexi and Anna would do a double take when they saw her.
To Guest (2): Honestly, you're right.
To RiRi: In all truth, it was supposed to. Especially with Caroline. I love the moments of real vulnerability I can have with Caroline. Like back in the first episode where Caroline told Bonnie that it was a competition and Ellie understood what she meant. There's a reason she and Ellie are so close.
To Aryabloodlust: Thank you so so much! I'm so glad you're enjoying this story. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
-Madame Magic
Posted: 4/1/20
