Chapter 34: The Dinner Party

April 3, 2010

When she woke, Ellie still felt exhausted from the events of yesterday. She'd intended to tell Jenna everything about what had happened with the werewolves and Alaric, but it didn't seem that she was going to get the chance. "Hey, Ellie." Jenna greeted as she opened the door to Ellie's room where the young witch was still curled in bed reading a book. "Wanna come with me to show Elijah around Mystic Falls?"

She knew Jenna offered in part because she thought Ellie's reaction was funny, Ellie knew she needed to ask Elijah about whether it was ok to tell Jenna about her involvement with Elijah or not since Damon already knew. "Sure. After we're done with Elijah, I'll fill you in on everything that happened yesterday." Ellie agreed as she pulled herself out of bed.

They joked around as they got ready and Jenna sighed as she forced several large rolls of maps into a sack to carry it. "Your mom had so much stuff for the historical society." Jenna huffed as she pulled the large sack onto her shoulders. "Can you grab those folders for me?"

"Yeah. Are we ready to go?" Ellie asked as she double checked that they had everything.

Jenna nodded as they walked downstairs to leave. "Yeah, let's go."

As they got into the car, Ellie questioned, "So where exactly is Elena?"

"She went to the lakehouse with Stefan. She wanted to get away from John, and I couldn't blame her for it, so I let her go." Jenna explained but Ellie rolled her eyes.

"Don't know why she felt the need to get away from him. She was the only one of us that already knew that he was our biological father." Ellie huffed.

Jenna felt bad for her niece. She could never imagine Miranda lying to her about something like that. Was it worse for Ellie? It was annoying to know that her teenage niece had been lying to her, but Ellie and Elena had been so close growing up. Jenna could remember when the twins had been little, they loved switching with each other. Miranda had blamed it on The Parent Trap. When had they stopped being so close? Had it been after the crash? Or before? "How have you been dealing with everything?" Jenna couldn't help but pry.

"With what?" Ellie asked.

"Everything with Elena. The whole, her keeping secrets from you thing." Jenna explained.

The young witch groaned, but she knew it was better to answer honestly. Jenna was just concerned. "I've been upset with her for a while now, but until she knew that I knew, it wasn't like I could say anything. I just don't know how I'm supposed to talk to her when I know she's not gonna listen. She's just gonna think that she was making the right decision and that I'm overreacting or whatever."

"Hopefully you guys can talk it out. You two have always been so close." Jenna said as she tried to be positive.

They left it at that and before long they pulled into the parking lot where they were supposed to meet Elijah and he was already there, leaning against his car. She couldn't help but grin, out of everyone she was currently associated with, he was one of the only ones she had no secrets with and one of the only ones she hadn't fought with. "Hey Elijah!" Ellie greeted brightly as she walked towards him.

"It's good to see you Ellie." He replied. "I didn't realize you'd be joining us today."

"Well, I didn't see why not." Ellie told him. "I thought it could be fun. Maybe I'll learn something new."

He laughed. "Well it is always good to learn new things about where you come from." Elijah agreed. "Well then, let's get started." Elijah walked between the two of them as Jenna led the group, explaining everything they came across. Some of it were things that Ellie already knew, others she'd not had a clue.

They'd been walking for a while when Jenna added, "The old Fell property actually starts just beyond that fence." She pointed to the fence to their right.

"Ah, the Fells. One of 'Founding Families'." Elijah remarked as he picked at a thin branch that he'd picked up.

"Why do you say it like that?" Jenna asked curiously.

He looked entirely amused as he informed them, "My research showed me that this area was actually settled almost two full centuries earlier. It was a migration of townsfolk from the northeast, um, it was Salem, to be precise."

"Massachusetts? As in the Witch Trials?" Jenna questioned.

"Which means the ever lauded Founding Families didn't actually found anything." Elijah said as he tossed his stick away.

"So you're telling me that everyone was just full of crap and made a big deal over something that didn't actually happen?" Ellie asked in disbelief.

"I believe it and I bet it was the men who made a big deal about being founders back in 1860. Men are very territorial." Jenna said.

Elijah was looking off in the distance as he replied, "Yes, they are." Ellie couldn't help but grin as Alaric approached them.

"Uh, Elijah, this is my friend, Alaric Saltzman." Jenna introduced and Ellie winced at him being referenced to as just her friend. Hopefully, after she spoke with Elijah, she'd get to tell Jenna about what was happening with Alaric and maybe mend their relationship a bit.

"He's also my history teacher." Ellie added.

Alaric looked a bit awkward, and a bit intimidated by Elijah as he told them, "Yeah, I got your message about walking Elijah here through the old property lines. I thought I would tag along. You know being a history buff and all. Where to next?"

"I'm pretty curious about the freed slave property owners." Elijah explained before adding, "Some say, you know, the descendants of the slaves are the true keepers of American history."

"Well, I only brought the surveys. I got that list in the car, just give me a sec." Jenna said as she walked off.

Once Jenna was out of hearing range, Elijah said, "Alaric Saltzman. So you're one of those people on Ellie and Elena's list of loved ones to protect."

"So is Jenna."

"You don't have to be jealous. I don't really pursue younger women." Elijah said and after Alaric tensed slightly, Elijah grinned and said, "It's a joke Ric, lighten up."

"Right." Alaric replied.

Elijah patted Alaric on the shoulder as he passed him and Ellie couldn't help but laugh. "Do you enjoy making people uncomfortable?" She laughed lightly as they walked towards Jenna.

He was grinning as he replied, "Only when they're so easy to rile up. They should know better than to doubt my word when I said no harm would come to anyone on your list or Elena's of loved ones to protect."

"Speaking of Jenna, I need to talk to you about some stuff when we get the chance." Ellie told him, but she didn't have the opportunity to explain as Jenna and Alaric approached them.

"Alright, I've got that list of freed slaves property owners, there aren't that many but let's get started." Jenna said.

After a while, Alaric eventually left and the awkward tension finally lessened. It had been a great surprise to Ellie to find out that the house where Emily and all the other witches were happened to be one of the houses that were owned by freed slaves. When they had been walking back, Jenna was cut off mid sentence by the ringing of her phone. She gave them a long suffering sigh as she said, "It's my advisor."

"Ew. Do they seriously not have anything better to do?" Ellie asked as she scrunched up her nose in distaste.

"Apparently not. I'm sorry Elijah, I'll try to make this quick." Jenna apologized.

"It's fine. Take your time." Elijah assured her. Jenna answered her phone as she walked away from them. "Now what did you want to speak with me about?"

"I want to tell Jenna about you, and my involvement with you." Ellie replied. "And if you were ok with it, and I explained everything to her and why I had to keep this from her, she'd understand where I'm coming from."

"Do you think it's wise?" Elijah inquired as they strolled through the old property close to where they were parked.

"If Elena and the others tell her before I do, they'll turn you into the bad guy for her. The big scary Original to be afraid of. If I get to tell her first, then I can make her understand that you are our best shot at keeping me and Elena and everyone else alive. She'll be grateful that you're trying to protect us." Ellie told him. Out of everything that she had questions about, this wasn't one of them.

Elijah contemplated her request. Thus far, she hadn't been wrong about any of her assumptions on how her aunt would react. He had no reason to doubt her instincts now. Plus, if anything were to go wrong, he could always compel her aunt to forget it. "Alright. She might as well given that the others know now." He agreed.

"Thank you!" She said brightly as she grinned. "On that note, when I am inevitably confronted by them, what am I allowed to tell them?"

"I suppose whatever you need to tell them, but no specific details. The last thing we need is them taking our plan and using it against us somehow." Elijah told her. She nodded in agreement. She didn't trust them to not do something stupid, Damon especially.

"You got it. I'm just glad I get to tell Jenna." She said honestly as they walked back.

Jenna looked annoyed as she replied to her advisor. "Yes, I am making the changes that you reminded me of. Yes, I will have the newest revision sent to you by next week. Thank you for everything." She looked anything but grateful. "Alright, bye." She sent them a smile as she finally hung up her phone. "I can't wait to graduate."

"Me neither. At least once you graduate you'll not have to deal with them again." Ellie reminded her.

Jenna looped her arm through Ellie's. "You're absolutely right. How about we go to The Grill?"

"It's where everyone goes to eat in Mystic Falls." Ellie explained as they started walking towards it.

"So, Elijah, did you find any of this helpful today?" Jenna asked curiously.

"I did, as a matter of fact. Thank you very much for taking the time to show me around today." Elijah replied. The three of them fell into an easy conversation and he held the door open for them as they walked into The Grill.

She had been in a good mood until she heard Damon call out to them in greeting. "Hey, guys." Jenna replied as she walked over towards them.

"Ew." Ellie groaned as she shot Elijah a look.

"So I hear you two had quite a meeting of historical minds today." Damon said and it was easy to hear the suggestion in his tone. Was he trying to mess with Alaric?

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." Jenna agreed as she smiled at Elijah and Ellie.

Alaric looked just as awkward as he had earlier. "Well, as much as I'd love to continue this, I've got papers to grade."

"No, you know what, we should continue this." Andie suggested. "Let's have a dinner party."

Damon smiled at her. "Ooh, my girl. Full of good ideas. I'll be happy to host. Say tonight, maybe?"

Andie nodded in agreement. "It's good for me. Jenna?"

"Oh, I don't know if tonight works." Alaric started to say.

At the same time, Jenna replied, "I'm free."

"It'd be a pleasure." Elijah agreed.

"Great." Damon told him.

It was clear that Damon had something planned, but she couldn't figure out what. "Ok, well, if that's all settled, I'm gonna go. I'm not particularly hungry anymore." Ellie replied.


Jenna, despite not being very fond of Damon at the moment, had somehow managed to convince Ellie to go over to the Boarding House early to help set everything up. With everything basically ready food wise, Ellie found herself in a ridiculously fancy dining room setting up the table with Jenna and Andie. "So what's… what's going on with you and Alaric?" Andie questioned. "I feel like there's some tension."

"I don't know." Jenna replied. "I really like him. It's more than like." She laughed at her confession and Ellie grinned at . "And I want it to work, but I can't help but feel that he's hiding something from me. And then I've got John whispering things in my ear about him."

"Like what?" Andie asked.

"Jen, you know better than to listen to John. he's an asshole." Ellie reminded him.

"Things I don't want to believe. Things I don't believe, not if they're coming from John's mouth." Jenna corrected as she smiled.

Andie smiled back at her. "Oh, well, there you go then. Trust is the key to any relationship. I mean, I am so grateful that Damon tells me everything." Ellie couldn't help but make a face. If she were honest, something seemed weird about Damon and Andie's relationship. "What about you Ellie?"

"What about me?" Ellie asked as she placed down the last of the plates.

"I mean, I know Elena has had boyfriends, but what about you?" Andie asked as she set down the cups in the correct places.

Ellie thought about it for a moment before finally saying, "Guess I just haven't found the right person."

Jenna, the wonderful woman she was, picked up on Ellie's discomfort and said, "Why don't we go get some wine?"

"Oh yeah! Ok, follow me." Andie said as she led them downstairs into the basement. As they headed to the wine cellar, because apparently Stefan and Damon had one of those, Ellie spotted a deep freezer randomly placed in a room filled with junk. She managed to lag behind without being noticed and opened it silently. It was only somewhat surprising to see it was filled to the brim with blood bags.

That could come in handy for future reference, in particular for Katherine. But for now, she closed the lid and rushed after Jenna and Andie. When she made her way into the cellar, she wouldn't have denied that she was quite shocked to see the amount of wine they actually had. "Hey, where'd you disappear to?" Jenna asked as she approached her niece.

"Oh, I got a text, the signal down here is a little bit wonky." Ellie lied easily. "Find any good wine?"

"I've found lots of good wine. I just don't know which one to choose." Jenna said a bit helplessly. "Andie, do you think you could go get Alaric for assistance?"

"Sure! I'll go get him." Andie agreed.

Once the news reporter was out of sight, Jenna gave her a look. "What were you really doing?"

"Snooping." Ellie confessed. "They have a freezer filled to the brim with blood bags. Which, honestly, is a little bit reckless of them to have it to where anyone could get into it."

"Gross." Jenna responded as her nose crinkled. "I just hope Andie doesn't get hurt." Ellie nodded in agreement before Jenna asked, "Is everything ok? You look like something's bothering you."

"Yeah, everything's fine. There's just some stuff I need to talk to you about." Ellie admitted.

Jenna gave her a soft smile as they moved along the room. "Ok, we'll talk after this dinner is over."

Alaric appeared as they turned the corner, nearly startling both of the girls. "Andie said you needed my help picking wine."

"Yes! We don't have nearly enough expertise to know how to pick between this much wine." Ellie informed him as they moved through the cellar. "Also, is it really necessary to have this much wine?"

Alaric looked incredibly amused at the question. "The Salvatores have always had an eye for the finer things I guess." He said as he reached up to pull down a bottle. The girls watched as he inspected the label and informed them, "This should go well with everything. We'll probably need a couple though."

"Most likely." Jenna agreed as she took the bottle from Alaric so that he could pull a couple more down. "That should do it. Let's get back up there then." They had just put down the wine when the doorbell rang. It was surprising to hear that it actually sounded like a little bell as opposed to the regular sound of a doorbell. Jenna opened the door with a smile, expecting it to be Elijah, only to roll her eyes when she saw John standing there. "Who invited him?"

"John. Surprise. Leave." Damon said and Ellie snorted in amusement. She didn't like him, but he was a little more tolerable when he was irritated with John as well.

Unfortunately, John wasn't fazed. "When Jenna told me she was coming to a dinner party for Elijah, I decided I couldn't miss out on all the fun and games."

Jenna walked off as John gave her a smug smile. "There's not going to be any games tonight, John. it's just a family friendly dinner party."

"Right." John said disbelievingly and Ellie groaned as she walked away.

She went and looped her arms around Jenna's shoulders as she sighed dramatically. "Murder's a bad thing right?"

"I think we could make an exception." Jenna huffed as she glared at the back of John's head. "Do you think if I glared hard enough, I could make him burst into flames?"

"If you can't, I can." Ellie reminded her.

Jenna's eyes went wide at the reminder. "That may come in handy. Hopefully Elijah gets here soon. The sooner this dinner party is over, the sooner we can get away from John."

They continued to set everything up as they waited for the guest of honor to arrive. Someone must have felt pity for Jenna and Ellie, because the doorbell rang once more. "I'll get it." Ellie said as she went to the door. When she opened it, she grinned at the sight of Elijah. "Good evening, Elijah."

"Good evening, Eleanor." Elijah replied just as warmly. "Damon." The tone of his voice shifted to something that was much cooler than what it had been before.

"Thank you for coming. Please, come in." Damon greeted.

Elijah made no move to come inside. "Just one moment." Elijah informed him and Ellie stepped closer towards the Original on instinct. "Can I just say that if you have less than honorable intentions about how this evening is going to proceed, I suggest you reconsider."

"No, nothing. Nothing dishonorable. Just getting to know you." Damon insisted.

"Hmm. Well, that's good." Elijah replied with a small smile as he stepped inside. "Because, you know, although Elena and I have this deal, if you so much as make a move to cross me, I'll kill you and I'll kill everyone in this house. Are we clear?"

He was incredibly serious, and both Damon and Ellie knew it. "Crystal." Damon agreed.

Elijah's focus shifted towards the living room and Ellie watched as he smiled. "Jenna. Wonderful to see you again. How are you?"

"Nice to see you." Jenna replied.

"You look incredible." He complimented. "You both do." Ellie felt heat rise to her cheeks when she realized he was also speaking to her. "Beauty clearly runs in the family."

"Thank you." Jenna and Ellie replied as they headed towards the table. Thankfully, everything went well so far. The food had turned out perfectly, the wine went with the food, and everyone seemed to have a good time. As Jenna poured more wine, she said, "I hate to break it to you, Damon, but according to Elijah, your family is so not a founder of this town.

"Hmm, do tell." Damon encouraged.

"Well, as I mentioned to Jenna and Ellie earlier, a faction of settlers migrated from Salem after the witch trials in the 1690s. Over the next hundred years they developed this community where they could feel safe from persecution." Elijah explained as he cut his food.

"Because they were witches." Jenna added and Ellie grinned at the sight of her slightly tipsy aunt. She was still definitely in her right mind, but she'd had just enough alcohol to be in a feel good mood.

Andie replied, "Yeah, but there's no tangible proof there were witches in Salem."

"Andie's a journalist. Big on facts." Damon told them, and if Ellie didn't know any better, she'd say he actually sounded kind of proud.

Damon gave Andie a proud smile as Elijah responded, "Well, the lore says that there was this wave of anti-witch hysteria. It broke out in the neighboring settlement. So these witches were rounded up. They were tied to stakes in a field together and, uh, burned." Ellie winced at the thought. It was a terrible fate to imagine. "Some say you could hear the screams from miles around us. They were consumed by the fire. Could you pass the uh…"

Ellie passed him the salt he nodded at. "I wouldn't repeat this to the historical society." Jenna advised as they all laughed.

"It's starting to sound a little like a ghost story to me." John commented.

"So why do you want to know the location of these alleged massacres?" Damon inquired.

"You know… a healthy historian's curiosity, of course." Elijah replied.

"Of course." Damon repeated. She could tell he was trying to get a read on Elijah, but he should have known that it wouldn't work. The silence didn't last but a moment or so before Damon asked, "Would anyone care for some Cognac? I have a bottle that I've been saving for ages."

Alaric was the first to respond as Damon stood. "None for me thanks. Nine bottles of wine is my limit."

Everyone else began to stand as Andie suggested, "The gentlemen should take their drinks in the study."

"I have to say the food was almost as wonderful as the company." Elijah complimented and Ellie, along with Jenna and Andie, grinned in response.

"I like you." Andie commented before Elijah went to follow Damon.

"Jen, I'll be right back. I'm going to the bathroom." Ellie called as she walked after the two vampires. She'd intended to go into the room with them, at least, that was the plan before her phone started to ring. Luka's name was displayed on the front and she answered quickly. "Luka, hey, what's up?"

"Did you know?" Luka asked her sharply. His anger took her by surprise.

"What?"

"Did you know?" He repeated. "What they did to me! They did something to me and I don't know what they did!"

Ellie was more than a bit confused. "Luka I don't know what you're talking about. Who? Who did what to you?"

She could hear him suck in a shaky breath. "Bonnie. I was at The Grill yesterday and she asked if I wanted to play pool and gave me a drink and then it's just nothing. I don't remember anything except waking up unconscious in a bathroom stall."

"What?" Ellie asked in shock. "Look, where are you? I'll come to you and help you figure it out. Luka I swear I don't know what they did to you."

"I'm at home. My dad's not here yet." Luka told her.

"Ok, ok, give me just a second and I'll be on my way." She promised before she hung up. She found the room Elijah and Damon were in easily enough. "Elijah I have to go." She told him.

Her tone of voice must have given away that something was wrong by the way he immediately shifted to stand even straighter than he already was. "Is everything alright?"

"I don't know." She told him honestly. "But I gotta go." He nodded and she didn't waste a moment longer before she rushed out of the room. As she walked out of the room, she passed Alaric who was headed for it. "Jenna I gotta go! Friend emergency!"

"Ok! Let me know if you need anything!" Jenna called back and Ellie all but flew to her car. What the hell could Bonnie have done to him to have Luka that upset? She drummed an anxious beat onto her steering wheel as she drove. What if Bonnie had done something that could have hurt him?

Her thoughts were spinning as she arrived. Luka was her friend and so was Bonnie. What was she to do if Bonnie had done something bad? "Luka?" Ellie knocked loudly on the door of the Martins apartment.

"Hey." He greeted as he pulled the door open. He didn't seem so angry anymore. Honestly he seemed more freaked out than anything. "Please, come in."

"Ok, walk me through what happened." She told him as they sat on the couch.

Luka wrung his hands together as he explained, "I was at The Grill and Bonnie came up to me and asked if I wanted to play pool. She said we were cool because she knew what my dad did for Caroline. She gave me this drink, a coffee, and I remember drinking it and then starting to play and then that's it. A big blank after that. I confronted her and this dude Jeremy and they basically denied anything happening."

"Wait, Jeremy?" Ellie questioned. "My brother, Jeremy?"

"I didn't know he was your brother. But he got all defensive about it and she was playing dumb. When I called her out for lying, he pushed me away from her and told me to back off." Luka told her.

It sounded suspicious, that much was clear. "Let's look through the grimoires to see if we can find a spell or something to see if they've messed with your memory or something." Ellie suggested.

They were so focused on finding the right spell that they didn't even hear Dr. Martin when he came in. "What's got the two of you so focused?" He asked curiously. They shared a look, contemplating on whether to tell him or not. "What's going on?" He asked again, this time more insistent than before.

"Luka thinks that Bonnie did something to him because he can't remember what happened yesterday after she gave him a drink." Ellie said it so fast he almost couldn't understand her. "We were looking for a spell to try and check his memories to see if we could find anything."

"If they did anything, we can find it. Ellie, would you light a circle of candles on the table?" Dr. Martin asked as he pulled off his coat. "Luka, come sit down." The teens did as instructed. "Ellie, take a seat as well. Depending on if anything happened, a lot of power can be needed to search his mind." The three joined hands as he told them, "Close your eyes and focus on the last thing you remember Luka."

Ellie could feel the flickering of the flames on the table as she focused onto Luka and seeing his memories. For a moment nothing happened, and then she could see him at The Grill playing pool. She could see him drinking the coffee she gave him and then watched from his perspective as everything became blurry and he lost consciousness. The last thing she could hear in the memory was the voice of her own brother asking what kind of witch roofie Bonnie had given Luka, and Bonnie smugly telling him one that was strong. Everything after that was shaky and blurry and Bonnie chanting above him. When the connection broke Ellie gasped at the force of it. "What the hell."

"That will be the last time she ever does something like that." The threat in Dr. Martin's voice was enough to send a chill down her spine.

Luka looked exhausted, concerningly so. "Luka, are you ok?"

He shook his head slightly. "I don't feel too great."

"Spells like these typically exhaust the person who has their mind invaded. He'll be fine with some sleep." Dr. Martin explained and his rage was put on the back burner as he carefully helped his son stand. "Come on, let's get you to bed."

Ellie looped Luka's other arm around her neck as she helped Dr. Martin get Luka to the bed. Once he was situated, Ellie followed Dr. Martin back into the living room. "Dr. Martin, what are you gonna do?" Bonnie was her friend, she didn't want something bad to happen to her, but she'd drugged Luka.

"She was out of line. She needs to learn that there are consequences of their actions." Dr. Martin said darkly. The front door swung open and Elijah stood there with a blood stained shirt. "What happened?"

"What did he do?" Ellie asked worriedly as she touched where the shirt was stained.

He was looking past her to Dr. Martin. "I need you to find Elena. Now." Damon must have seriously fucked up.

"She's at the lake house." Ellie supplied. "She went up there with Stefan. Elijah what's going on? Do I need to go get her?"

"Where is the lake house?" Elijah asked. She gave him the address and before she could ask what was happening again, he took a hold of her arm and said, "Go home, pack a bag for you and Elena. We're leaving."

Damon must have really fucked up. "How much do I need to bring?" It wouldn't have been smart for her to try and tell him no at the moment.

"A bagful. Whatever else you need we can get it later." Elijah told her. "Go home and pack now."

He was gone as fast as he arrived. "What the hell did Damon do?" Ellie asked. Dr. Martin also looked deadly as he pulled on his jacket. "Dr. Martin?"

"Do as Elijah says. I have a Bennett witch to take care of." Dr. Martin was out the door before she could protest. How did he even know where Bonnie was? It didn't take long to remember that they had things to track her friends.

"Fucking hell." She cursed under her breath as she turned back to check on Luka one more time before leaving. He looked exhausted, but his breathing was steady. She locked the doorknob on her way out before she rushed to the parking lot. There was a small part of her that wondered whether Damon was even still alive or not. That thought led to worrying if Jenna and Alaric were alright. When she made her way up the steps of the porch, the sound of sobbing caught her attention. "Bonnie? What the hell happened?"

"That son of a bitch Martin took her magic away." Jeremy said angrily. His tone so sharp Ellie actually flinched back. "What the hell are you doing working with them Ellie! They're trying to kill you and Elena!"

"No, they're not." Ellie replied as she watched Bonnie try and get a grip on herself.

Jeremy looked at her like she'd lost her mind. "They want to complete the ritual! That means either you or Elena have to die!"

"Jeremy you're working with someone that literally killed you!" Ellie shouted. "I know what Elijah's plan is. I know he is dangerous. But how the hell is he any worse than someone that killed you because he was having a fucking temper tantrum?"

That obviously wasn't what the two of them were expecting her to say. "You know about that?" Bonnie questioned.

"I know about everything, Bonnie. I'm not the bad guy here." Ellie lowered her voice. She'd never meant to shout in the first place.

"But they took her magic away." Jeremy protested.

"Because you all thought it was a brilliant idea to drug his son. Would you react well if someone did that to me or Elena?" Ellie shot back.

Bonnie was shaking somewhat as she asked, "You've been a witch this whole time? Why didn't you tell me?"

She sounded so betrayed and Ellie felt a rush of guilt. "Miss Sheila told me it wasn't safe. That I needed to get better control of my powers before I said anything. After she died, I didn't know what to do." Ellie confessed. "Bonnie, I wanted to tell you. But when I started working with Elijah, I couldn't tell you guys. It was part of our deal. Listen, I'll tell you everything, but I'd rather just tell everyone at once. Jeremy, do you trust me?" His hesitation hurt more than she'd like to admit. "Do you trust me?"

"Yeah, yeah, I trust you." Jeremy finally confirmed as he moved away from Bonnie to hug Ellie tightly. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you everything sooner. I should have."

The tension released as she hugged him back fiercely. "I wanted to tell you too, but I couldn't break my end of the deal with Elijah. He promised to keep everyone safe." Ellie explained. "Part of our deal was me not telling anyone anything until he gave the go ahead."

"So why are you telling us now?" Bonnie asked.

"Because Damon found out." Ellie told them.

Jeremy looked between the witches before saying, "Look, why don't we just call everyone over here or something and just get this out of the way." He suggested before calling someone. "Elena! Hey, listen can you guys come home or something so we can talk with Ellie about everything?" Jeremy was nodding along to whatever Elena was saying. "Ok. We'll see you soon." Once he hung up the phone, he informed them, "They have something to take care of, but they'll be here soon."

A pit of worry for Elijah started to build in the pit of her gut. If he hadn't taken Elena must have meant that something happened to him. Surely they didn't know how to kill him. But it felt like it had been so long since she'd really spent time with any of them. "Bonnie, are we ok?"

"Did you know what Dr. Martin was going to do?"

"No. I didn't know. He didn't tell me anything, but I knew he was mad." Ellie confessed. "I didn't even know he could take your powers."

Bonnie nodded as she wiped away her tears. "I should have told you about everything." Bonnie told her.

The guilt was still digging at her. "I should have told you I was a witch a long time ago." Ellie replied. "I'm so sorry that I didn't." The Bennett witch took her by surprise by pulling her into a hug. "You don't hate me?"

"I could never hate you, Ellie." Bonnie assured her. "I'll never hate you."

"I love you."

"I love you too." Bonnie replied. The two of them sat on the floor, curled up in a hug as they waited for the others to arrive. "So we're ok?"

"Mmhmm, we're ok." Ellie assured her.

Caroline was the first to arrive. Without question, she dropped into the hug with Bonnie and Ellie. "I'm so glad we can talk about this now." Caroline breathed. "God, do you have any idea how hard it was to not tell you everything as soon as it happened? It was awful!"

"Why did you?" Ellie asked curiously.

"It was Elena's idea." Caroline told her. "She said it would be safer for you."

She didn't reply, that would be a conversation that she needed to have with Elena. It wasn't a question on whether or not she and Caroline were ok or not. They were best friends for a reason and it would take more than a secret or two to break that bond. Elena arrived not long after with Damon and Stefan in tow. "What's going on?" Elena asked. Something definitely happened to Elijah.

"Figured it was time to talk about everything." Ellie told her, but she refused to break the hug with Caroline and Bonnie.

"Alright then, how exactly did you find out?" Damon didn't hesitate to jump right in.

She rolled her eyes. "Well being left behind with a murderous Original is one way to find out."

Stefan winced at the same time Elena did. To Ellie's surprise, even Damon looked like he felt a bit bad. "It wasn't intentional. By the time we realized what we'd done and gone back, you were gone. We came home to get Bonnie to do a locator spell. You got home before Bonnie got here." Elena explained.

"Doesn't really make me feel any better about being left behind, but it was for the best I guess. Elijah explained the basics and your diary did the rest." Ellie replied.

"You read my diary?" Elena asked in shock.

Ellie gave her a look. "I don't wanna hear it Elena. You had Damon compel away Jeremy's memories, which you had no right to do by the way."

"He was hurting, I just wanted to help him." Elena tried to excuse her actions.

"Because Vicki got murdered because Damon felt like turning her just because he could." Ellie reminded her. "Even if your intentions were good, it doesn't mean that you have the right to make that kind of decision. Speaking of your decisions, how are you even ok with being around Damon when he murdered Jeremy like it was nothing or when was compelling and feeding on Caroline and using her as his little minion?"

"This isn't about that."

"It absolutely is. You don't seem to care that he hurt the people we care about. Even if he's this super amazing person now, did he ever have to actually answer for the shit he did?" Ellie questioned. "Was there ever any consequence of what he did? It's a simple yes or no answer."

Elena didn't say anything at first before finally saying, "No. But that doesn't make you working with Elijah make sense."

"Because he made the deal with me to keep everyone that we care about alive and to keep the both of us alive to the best of his ability." Ellie explained.

"But to kill Klaus, Elijah planned on completing the ritual?" Caroline asked in confusion.

"I know that." Ellie informed her. "But that doesn't mean that whoever was sacrificed had to stay dead. Elijah has a plan for that and I've been researching alternative methods to bring us back. If there hadn't been a way to make sure that whoever it was that was in the ritual survived, I would have made sure that it was me."

The frustration that had been all over Elena's face disappeared. "Ellie, no."

"Yes. I'm the oldest. It's my job to take care of you. When I made my deal with Elijah I knew that it sounded too good to be true, and I knew what I was doing was dangerous, but that was a price I was willing to pay." Ellie explained. "I was the one to suggest making a deal with you in the first place. I knew the deal you made with him would be more or less the same deal I made."

Damon almost looked impressed. "So you managed to keep all of this from us without an issue?"

"Maybe you're just not as smart as you think you are." Ellie shot back.

Stefan cut Damon off before he had the chance to start a fight. "You said that there was a plan to keep whoever was sacrificed alive?" He asked hopefully.

"Yeah. Elijah had this potion thing to bring us back and I've found a few spells for basically resurrection." Ellie told him. "I would have never let anything happen to my family."

"Does this mean that you're gonna work with us to kill Klaus?" Stefan asked her.

"I was always on your side Stefan, but yes I'll work with you." Ellie agreed.

"I just can't believe you were working with Elijah." Elena said under her breath as she gave Ellie that same look of disappointment as she did to Jeremy when he was constantly getting high.

"Are you serious right now, Elena?" Ellie asked as she shifted away from Bonnie and Caroline. "You left me. You left me! In a house with a vampire that had his head ripped off and an Original with a coat rack through his chest after you spent ages lying to me and not telling me about the vampires that come into this house like it's nothing after they've killed and hurt people we care about. You are not the one to be little miss judgy right now. How could you just leave me behind like it was nothing?"

The silence was painfully tense as Ellie stared down her twin as she waited for an answer. "It was an accident." Elena finally said.

"An accident?" Ellie scoffed in disbelief. "I was there with you all day, you ignored my questioning when I was confused. You sat there with me when you got the message that Stefan and Damon were coming. And when it was all said and done and you thought Elijah was gone you didn't think twice about me? I spent that entire day scared to death that something was going to happen to you and you just left. Stefan and Damon I get, I'm not the priority to them. But I'm your sister and you should have at least cared enough to come back for me."

"We did!"

"How long did it take Elena? How long did it take for you to notice you'd left me behind? It was a five fucking hour drive from where we were back home! How far into that five hour drive were you before you thought 'hmm, someone's missing'?" Ellie was shouting now. "And when you couldn't find me you came home? Like Bonnie needed you here to do a locator spell? What if I'd been in the woods and hurt? What if some random person had found me in that house and taken me? What if I had died Elena?"

The hurt that Ellie felt was trying to claw its way to the surface. She had been suppressing her frustration towards Elena for a while now. It was a bit satisfying to see how guilty Stefan looked. It was also a bit of a relief. At least he felt bad about it. "Ellie, I'm sorry." Elena apologized, but it didn't do anything to relieve the betrayal. "You're right. I should have realized you weren't with me sooner."

"But you didn't." Ellie said as her voice dropped back down to a regular level. "And yet you still act like you're so smart and that you haven't made mistakes." Elena just looked defeated, but Ellie couldn't bring herself to care. "Care, can I stay with you tonight?" Ellie asked softly as she moved back to sit between her friends. "I don't wanna be here."

Caroline looked back and forth between the twins before nodding. "Yeah, yeah of course you can." She agreed. It was sad to think about how shot to hell Ellie's trust was in Elena. But that broken trust could be addressed another day.


Author's Note:

I hope you guys are enjoying this story, and as always, leave a review and let me know what you guys thought!

To RiRi: Writing that scene was so satisfying honestly. There's definitely going to be more scenes where Ellie and Damon butt heads, and she's gonna get real tired of putting up with his crap. With Alaric, I feel like he was mostly in shock that Ellie was a witch and so he didn't react the way he might've had he not been so startled. But he does need to get better about being the parent figure, and not Elena always have her way. I genuinely don't get how they continued to be friends with him, especially right after he did some awful stuff.

To Daynesky: I'm glad you love the Ellie and Elijah interactions! And it was fun to knock Damon down a bit.

To Guest: You're not wrong. She makes a lot of mistakes that she never owns up to or even has to answer for. Honestly she's really selfish, and I kinda feel like she's worse than Katherine because she pretends that she's innocent when she isn't.

To Aryabloodlust: OMG I'm so excited that I got that kind of reaction from you! I'm glad you think Ellie's awesome lol. The countdown starts once again lol. Thank you! I felt like if I'd done it in a way where Ellie figured everything out all on her own when she had no reason to make that assumption, that kinda would have been making her too perfect and I wanted to make it so that she wasn't some superhuman that's omnipotent. Yeah I agree with the Jenna thing too, if it's not spelled out in front of your face, you can still miss stuff. And the witches had tried to keep it from her intentionally, which is also why she didn't know sooner.

To Guest(2): All three sounds like a great plan. There's a very good chance you're gonna get to see all three.

To Oz: Lmao I could see Caroline taking one look at them and going, a winter wedding sounds nice. Trust me, if Elijah were to find out that Damon put his hands on her, there would be hell to pay. If someone had killed my brother in a temper tantrum, I would have killed them. So I don't see how Elena just let it go. Part of Alaric's reaction, or lack there of is, because he was in shock over her being a witch. But I do wonder how Damon and Alaric's relationship will shift if Alaric had taken on a more parental role for the kids. You're definitely going to get to see more of Ellie vs Damon. My plans for Bonnie aren't set in stone, but I think she deserved better so we'll see how it goes.

To Bronzelove: Right! She hurt a lot of people and then pretended that it never happened. Like Damon seriously fucked with Caroline and that was just never addressed? What? Bonnie got screwed over so many times by them.

To Guest(3): Here's my opinion on the 'was it rape' thing, while the first time they slept together was consensual, after she found out what he was, she was terrified and wanted to be as far away from him as possible and he compelled her fear away and make her into his little minion. If Damon slept with her while she was under the influence of his compulsion and wasn't in her right mind, how is that any different than sleeping with her when she was drugged. She didn't want to be near him when she found out, and she wouldn't have slept with him again of her own free will, so wouldn't that count as rape. To be fair, he's not the only one to have compelled away fear and I don't think he's a total villain, but she wasn't in her right mind to give him consent after she was compelled. But there's a lot of awful things that Damon has done that was forgiven even if it might not have been in real life, like killing Jeremy.

To afralmazouei: Well someone has to call her out on her stupidity. I don't know if I would have gone a romantic route, given that they're related, but I can understand why you see it. It literally means the world to hear you say this is your favorite fanfic, I teared up to be honest. This fic is going to be going on for a good long while, so I hope you're ready to be in for the long haul.

To FreakingLEM: I also think that he's what she needs. And you may or may not get to see that hug of relief sometime in this season... we'll have to wait and see. When I rewatched the show now that I'm older, I honestly never understood why she was always in charge. So it may end up changing in this story lol. Someone needs to remind her that she's not the queen of the world.

-Madame Magic

Posted: 10/3/20