Chapter 20: Blood Brothers
February 15, 2010
Dear Diary,
Things seem to be weird again, but at this point I wonder if things had ever gone back to normal in the first place. Ever since Stefan bailed on Elena at the Miss Mystic Falls competition, well I haven't seen him at all. He seems to miss an insane amount of school honestly. Maybe he gets sick a bunch? Elena has also been spending her nights somewhere else, but she won't tell me where she's going. I wonder if Jenna even knows. Jeremy seems to be happier than ever, but I think that's because he's been spending a lot of time with Anna.
On the less pleasant side, Uncle John is still here. I have no idea why. Things between Elena and Bonnie also still seem to not be right. It's kind of making me doubt Stefan's whole suggestion of it being because Elena was the last person she'd seen. Surely she would have readjusted to hanging out with Elena if that had been the case.
After school, Ellie met up with Caroline and Bonnie at the blonde's car. "Come on, you guys. We are having a slightly late best friend Valentine's party." Caroline told them as they all got into her car. "It's gonna be so much fun!"
"By a late best friend Valentine's party, do you mean eating at The Grill and then going back to your place and crying over Titanic and The Notebook?" Ellie joked. Caroline shot her a dirty look as Bonnie laughed.
"I'm not gonna cry." Caroline scoffed.
"You have literally cried every time we have ever watched either of those movies Caroline. You can't lie to me." Ellie shot back.
"It's true." Bonnie nodded. "You cry every time."
Caroline scowled at being called out. "Ok, listen, they're sad ok." She huffed as she pulled out of the parking lot. "Anyways, Ellie do you have any clue what is up with Elena? I asked her if she wanted to hang out with us and she was just all like 'uh, I have something I have to do, sorry.' Like that is so totally vague! She's been sketchy lately." Caroline complained.
"Yeah, I've noticed it too, but I have no clue what's going on with her." Ellie confessed. "I don't know if it's like Stefan drama or whatever but she's not really talked to me about anything. So I'm as clueless as you." Bonnie seemed a little uncomfortable, though Ellie had no clue why. Despite not knowing, Ellie changed the subject. "So, Bonnie, how's all your make up work going?"
Bonnie shrugged. "It's a bit more than I expected it to be, honestly. I mean it's not like it's really hard, it's just a lot."
"Math?" Caroline asked.
"Math." Bonnie confirmed. "Why does Mr. Jones always have to assign a million problems for homework? And then he takes forever and a day to grade! Like if you can't get them all graded quickly, then why do you expect me to do thirty problems in a night? I have other classes y'know."
"I guess you're lucky that I kept a copy of all of my work." Ellie told her.
Bonnie whipped around in her seat, eyes wide and hopeful. "Please tell me you're not messing with me. Like don't joke about that." She said seriously.
Caroline was trying hard not to laugh at Bonnie. "I'm a saint, I know." Ellie said after she let Bonnie panic for a moment. "I knew you were gonna be up to your eyeballs in homework, and it's not like it was hard to make sure I had a copy for you to use."
"I love you." Bonnie said gratefully before she relaxed back into her seat. They had a good time at The Grill, laughing and gossiping about everything that had happened while Bonnie was away. At least, that's what they were doing until Matt showed up for work. It wasn't long before Caroline was walking around with him and talking while he cleaned tables. "They're adorable." Bonnie commented as Matt and Caroline laughed at something Matt had said.
"He's good for her. She deserves someone like him." Ellie agreed as she swirled her straw around her cup. "Hey, Bon. Can I ask you something?"
"What's up?" Bonnie replied as she turned her focus back to Ellie.
"How are you?" Ellie asked her. Bonnie tensed at the question. "And I'm not asking so you can lie and say 'I'm fine' and that be the end of it. I really want to know."
Bonnie pulled at the napkin she was holding, and Ellie watched as the other witch struggled to figure out what to say. "It's been hard." Bonnie finally confessed. "Sometimes, I'm totally fine, and then other times it's like all I wanna do is scream and I'm so mad. I didn't want to come back."
Ellie reached over to hold Bonnie's hand. "I get it. When my mom and dad died, it was like I couldn't decide on what I felt. Sometimes I didn't feel anything. Other times I was so, so angry. I was angry at Elena for making us go home. I was angry at myself for not stopping her from going in the first place. And then other times I was so sad that it felt like I was drowning all over again." Ellie confessed.
"How did you survive it?" Bonnie asked softly. "It's like I can't get my emotions under control sometimes."
"It's not easy." Ellie told her. "And I don't have an easy answer. You saw how differently Jeremy, Elena, and I reacted. Jeremy went heavy on the drugs and Elena liked to pretend that everything was fine when it wasn't."
"What about you?"
Ellie shrugged. "I was kind of numb for a while, but after that I just tried to push it out of my head. The less I thought about it the better." She admitted. "It might not have been the healthiest method, but it could have been worse. How have you been coping?"
"Kind of the way you did I guess. While I was gone I did everything I could to just not think about it. Not to think about her or Mystic Falls." Bonnie explained.
"Can I ask, what exactly happened to her? She didn't seem like she was sick." Ellie asked softly. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
Bonnie opened her mouth to speak before stopping. It was clear that she wasn't sure whether or not she should tell Ellie anything. The way Miss Sheila had died had bothered Ellie since she found out that the older witch had passed away. She'd never said anything to Ellie about being sick. "Ok, but you have to keep it a secret. You can't tell anyone I told you this. Not even Elena." Bonnie said seriously.
Ellie sat up straighter as her mind started throwing out a million possible things that could have happened. Bonnie always told Elena everything, so what was so bad that Bonnie didn't want her best friend to know. The Bennett witch leaned forward so that they wouldn't be heard. "I'll keep it a secret." Ellie assured her.
"The night when Grams died… something happened." Bonnie confessed quietly. "We had done a spell, like a really big spell. It didn't go the way it was supposed to. With magic, there's only so much you can do before it takes a toll on your body." Bonnie stopped suddenly as her eyes started to water. "It did more damage to her than me." Ellie grabbed Bonnie's shaking hands to try and give the witch comfort. "I don't know why it was worse for her. I thought she was just weak after the spell. I thought that she would be fine after she rested for a bit." Her voice was shaking and Ellie could see the guilt written all over Bonnie's face. "When I went to check on her… she was gone."
Bonnie looked so fragile. It made sense now why Bonnie didn't want to come back, especially if Bonnie blamed herself for Miss Sheila's death. "Bon, hey Bonnie look at me." Ellie insisted. When Bonnie looked at her, Ellie told her, "It was not your fault. Ok? You know that right?"
"Yes it was. If I had been better then maybe I could have kept her alive." Bonnie told her.
"Stop that. Bonnie Bennett if you had known that doing that spell was going to do that to her, you never would have done it. I know it. You know it. She knew it too. Whatever spell you did, I'm sure she knew there was always a risk of something going wrong. And I'm sure she wouldn't let you beat yourself up like this." Ellie said sharply. "You are a good person and you better not forget it."
"I'm not so sure anymore."
"Well I am. I'm sure enough for the both of us." Ellie told her. She had absolutely no doubts on whether or not Bonnie was a good person. "And if you still want to doubt yourself, I'll let you know one thing that absolutely proves you're a good person."
Bonnie scoffed. "Yeah? What's that?"
"I'm sitting here and I'm watching you as guilt eats you from the inside out. A bad person wouldn't be so upset." Ellie told her. After a moment, Ellie asked, "If I can ask… what was the spell anyways? What were you guys doing? I somehow doubt that a little spell would have done that to her."
"I don't think that's a good idea." Bonnie responded immediately as she pulled back from Ellie. "I'm sorry."
"No, no. it's ok. I'm sorry if I upset you by asking." Ellie apologized. The memory of collapsing at that party the day Miss Sheila died pushed to the forefront of her mind. As soon as it did, Ellie glanced down and spotted her bracelet wrapped around Bonnie's wrist. Had Bonnie been wearing the bracelet when they performed the spell? Miss Sheila had once told her that if she tried to do too much and overwhelmed herself, that she could get nose bleeds or pass out.
When Emily had possessed Bonnie, she'd asked for Ellie's bracelet. Ellie passed out shortly after she'd given it to the dead witch. If Ellie could use items of importance to do locator spells or channel ghosts, and if she could channel things like fire and water for strength, was it really that much of a stretch to assume that Bonnie and Emily could somehow use Ellie's bracelet to channel her? Was that why Emily had wanted her bracelet in the first place? Could witches really use other witches to make themselves stronger? "Ellie?" Bonnie asked.
"Huh?"
"Are you ok? You got this really far away look just now." Bonnie told her.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just got lost in thought for a second there." It wasn't entirely a lie. But suddenly Ellie had questions that she really needed answers for. If Bonnie had channeled her, surely the other girl didn't realize. Bonnie had never shown any indication that she was aware that Ellie was a witch. Miss Sheila had never said anything about telling Bonnie either. If Bonnie had channeled her, was it an accident? Was Bonnie channelling Ellie the reason why Bonnie hadn't gotten hurt? Ellie's phone ringing pulled her out of her thoughts. "Hello?" She asked as she answered the call.
"Hey! Can you do me a favor?" Jenna asked her.
"What's up?"
"I really need some supplies for the presentation I have to do, but I'm stuck at campus right now. Do you think you could go to the store and get them for me? I know you're hanging out with Caroline and Bonnie and I'm really sorry to interrupt, but Jeremy and Elena won't answer their phones."
Ellie could hear the desperation in her aunt's voice. It wouldn't surprise her if her thesis advisor was stressing her out again. "Yeah, of course. It's not a problem, Jen. Just send me a list of what you need. Do I need to bring it to you on campus?"
"Oh my god, would you? You would literally be saving my life!"
"I'll bring it to you. Just send me a list and I'll get to the store as soon as I can." Ellie assured her.
"Thank you so much! You're the best niece ever! I love you!"
"I'm gonna tell Elena you said." Ellie laughed. "I love you too!" As she hung up the phone, she gave Bonnie a regretful look. "Jenna needs presentation supplies." She explained. Bonnie nodded in understanding as Ellie called over to Caroline. "Care! Stop flirting with Matt for a second and come here."
The blonde gave her a dirty look as Matt laughed. "What do you want?" Caroline said with a fake glare.
"Jenna needs me to run errands for her. I need you to take me home so I can get my car." Ellie explained.
Caroline's expression turned into an unhappy one. "But The Notebook! Titanic! You've gotta be the Jack to my Rose!" She groaned.
"I know, I know the world is ending." Ellie replied with a laugh. "But Jenna needs stuff for her presentation and she's stuck at campus and Elena and Jeremy are being lame and not answering their phones. Bonnie can be your Jack for today."
"You better never let go, Jack." Caroline told Bonnie as she tried to keep her expression serious. Bonnie and Ellie tried to not laugh, really, they did. But when Caroline's expression didn't waver, they couldn't help the way they dissolved into giggles.
After Ellie had delivered the supplies to Jenna, she found that she couldn't think about anything other than the questions about Miss Sheila's death. She found herself driving to the house and moved quickly to the room she always went to. "Hello Ellie." Emily said in greeting as the flames of the candles shot to life. "You seem troubled."
"I am troubled." Ellie confessed as she paced around the room. "I talked to Bonnie, but I feel like now I have more questions than I do answers. And I can't ask more questions to try and get answers when Bonnie is still completely clueless to the fact that I'm a witch."
"So you came to me to see if I could provide some insight." Emily supplied. It wasn't a question.
"Why did you ask for my bracelet when we first spoke? Back when you had possessed Bonnie." Ellie asked. "Why did you want it? She's still wearing it."
"The ability to channel another witch to increase your power can be very handy in times of need." Emily told her. "I could not risk your safety for what I had planned to do, but channeling you made things much easier."
"So you can channel witches." Ellie said in surprise as she stopped pacing.
"You would be surprised by the things you can channel." Emily said vaguely.
"Bonnie told me that when Miss Sheila died, they had done a spell, clearly a big one. If Bonnie was still wearing my bracelet when they did it, could she have accidentally channeled me?" Ellie asked.
There was a pause before Emily replied, "If she was under too much strain, it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility for her to accidentally channel you. Especially if she was trying to draw in as much power as possible."
"What would have happened if she hadn't channeled me?" Ellie asked quietly. She wasn't sure she really wanted to hear the answer to that.
"She most likely would have felt the effects more than she did. She wouldn't have recovered so easily." Emily admitted. "The spell they performed required a great deal of magical strength, more than they had to give."
Ellie looked up sharply, even though she couldn't see Emily in a physical form. "Wait, you know what spell they did? Bonnie wouldn't tell me." At Emily's silence, Ellie asked, "Emily, what spell was it?"
"There are some things that you need not know of. Not yet." Emily replied.
"But I could have helped!"
"Sheila did not want to get you involved. That was not a decision she made lightly. She was trying to protect you and Bonnie." Emily said calmly. "Sometimes, ignorance really can be bliss."
"Not when it costs people their lives." Ellie argued. "If I had been there to help, maybe the three of us together could have been enough."
"It does you no good to dwell on the possibilities now. What's done is done." Emily reminded her.
Ellie just sighed in defeat. "You can't even tell me what the spell was?" She questioned.
"It's best that you don't know." Emily told her. "It is unlikely that you will remain in the dark forever. There are things that you don't yet know. You should enjoy that freedom while it lasts." It almost sounded like a warning, but Ellie had no clue how the spell could be that bad. Unless Emily wasn't just talking about the spell.
"Is there a way for me to talk to Miss Sheila? Like how I talk to you?" Ellie questioned. She missed the older witch terribly.
"It is not wise." Emily told her.
"Why not?" Ellie asked. Even though she wouldn't admit it, the question came out like a whine.
"You need to be able to grieve properly. You need to heal. Seeing her as a ghost wouldn't do you any good." Emily explained. "But know that she is watching over you. She watches over you and Bonnie and the rest of your friends."
She couldn't decide if that put her at ease or not. "Is she… is she ok?" Ellie asked softly. "I didn't get to say goodbye."
"She's alright, Ellie." Emily assured her.
"Wait… did she know there was a chance she was going to die?" Ellie asked as she thought back to the last moment she'd had with Miss Sheila when the older woman had made sure to tell her that she'd been proud of Ellie.
Emily didn't speak straight away. When she did, she chose her words carefully. "When it comes to large and complex spells, there is always a chance something terrible may happen. It would not surprise me if she was aware of the danger and wanted to make sure you knew how she felt without raising your suspicions."
"I can't…" Ellie said softly. Her voice was shaky and she felt like there was so much energy building inside of her. Had Miss Sheila thought that Ellie wouldn't be of use? Even if it wasn't intentional, Ellie felt like a failure. She should have done something to protect Bonnie and her grams. There was a pain in her chest that she couldn't explain. She couldn't stop the scream of frustration that tore from her throat nor could she stop the scream of panic when the mirrors in the room shattered.
"Ellie." She could hear Emily but the ghost sounded so far away. "Ellie." The witch repeated. "You need to breathe." Emily instructed. Ellie stared in shock at the shards of the broken mirrors. It felt like someone had splashed cold water on the teenager and she stumbled back in surprise. "Ellie, focus." Emily insisted.
"Did I do that?" Ellie whispered. There were pieces of the mirrors all around her as she looked at the damage.
"Yes." Emily told her honestly. "Sometimes, when your emotions run too high, it can cause reactions like this. You have done nothing that can't be undone."
That was good at least. She didn't want to cause damage that couldn't be repaired. "I didn't mean to."
"It's alright. You are not the first witch to do something like this nor will you be the last." Emily reminded her.
"How do I fix it?" Ellie questioned.
"To repair broken objects, focus on what is broken and say Venez très connu cendre." Emily said.
Ellie carefully walked over to the first mirror and began to chant, "Venez très connu cendre. Venez très connu cendre. Venez très connu cendre." As she chanted, she watched the pieces return to the mirror as the cracks repaired themselves. Once the first one was repaired, she moved onto the next. She let herself find a kind of comfort in the repetition of fixing them. By the time the last mirror was repaired, her breathing had slowed and the energy that had built up inside her no longer felt like a balloon that was on the verge of popping.
"Are you alright?" Emily asked after a while.
She shook her head. "No." Ellie told her truthfully. "No, I'm not ok. But I don't know how to fix it." She hesitated before finally sighing and saying, "I think I'm just gonna go home. I'm tired." If Emily tried to stop her, Ellie wasn't aware. The young witch just tried to drown everything out as she tried to get home.
Author's Note:
Sorry for this chapter being a little bit shorter! Also, please leave a review and let me know what you thought or if you have any questions. We're almost to season 2! I can't wait for you guys to read it!
To Guest: I'm glad you think she's a good person! Also yes, we're so close to season two and I'm so excited.
To Oz: Honestly, she could still be his anchor, it doesn't have to be romantic feelings for her to be important enough to him to keep him grounded. I'm going to do my best to protect their friendship once Klaus arrives, but I do have plans for Ellie and Klaus. Caroline will definitely have a friendship with Stefan. She's going to be turned before Ellie ever really meets Katherine, so Caroline will need Stefan to help her. As for Stefan and Damon wanting Ellie sacrificed instead of Elena, I could see Damon being more for that than Stefan, but it's not out of the realm of possibility. Caroline would definitely be against it though. And agreed, the older you get and you look back at what Elena did you realize how stupid some of the things she did were. Honestly, Klaus should have killed Elena for what she did to Kol and if she'd been anyone else he would have.
To Mimi: Part of the reason she hasn't found out yet is because vampires being real isn't something she's thinking about at all. There's no real thing to push her to that conclusion, which helps to keep her in the dark. As far as she's aware, the only supernatural things that exist are witches and ghosts. And it will blow up, but not immediately and there's a reason for that.
To RiRi: She's definitely going to be captain of the Klaroline ship. It is one of the superior ships after all. Also, if you think of a ship name for them let me know! I haven't even really thought about it.
-Madame Magic
Posted: 6/21/20
