Chapter 79: Bring It On

February 12, 2011

Things had been… hard since Jeremy died, but that felt like the understatement of the century in Jenna's opinion. After Ellie had thrown Elena out of the house, the young witch had set to work carefully getting rid of all of the flammable liquid that Elena had poured. It had been a fascinating sight to see, even in Jenna's grief. The young witch had closed her eyes and chanted under her breath and the lighter fluid and alcohol had risen up and suspended itself in the air. It had looked like a scene from a movie before Ellie had pulled all the liquid into a large bucket.

They'd ended up deep cleaning the entire house after they took Jeremy to the funeral home. With the help of Klaus and Elijah, they staged a car crash with the death certificate forged by Dr. Fell. The funeral was a private affair, but still painful. Everyone, save for Elena, was in attendance. With the help of Ellie's preservation spell, which had been redone for maximum efficiency, Jeremy's body was still in decent condition for the burial.

Rebekah had made it back in time for the funeral, and had held Ellie's hand tightly to try and comfort the girl. She knew that it would never be enough to heal the loss of a brother that she'd loved as much as she had, but it was what Ellie had done for Rebekah and she deserved the same support. Ellie had ended up having a panic attack as they lowered the casket into the ground. Elijah had held her as she worked her way through it, but after it passed it was like something had shifted in the witch. She was angry, angrier than anyone had ever seen her. Which led them to where she was now.

In their attempt to help Ellie, both Elijah and Rebekah had brought Ellie to the woods to work out her rage. Or to at least try and work out her rage. When they'd realized how bad off the girl actually was, Rebekah had put a pause in her search for the cure and for Katherine. Currently Ellie was going to town on a dummy that they'd brought out and she was managing to surprise both Mikaelsons with the sheer strength of her hits. "Ellie, would you like to spar with me?" Rebekah asked carefully.

Ellie pulled back from her assault on the dummy instantly as she looked over to them. In truth, she had kind of forgotten that they were even there. "Are you sure?" She asked hesitantly.

"It'll be good for you to have someone to spar with." Rebekah encouraged.

She waited for Rebekah to get closer and watched the way the blonde paced herself. It was clear that Rebekah didn't want to hurt her, but that's not what Ellie wanted. At least if she felt physical pain, she wouldn't have to think about what she'd lost. Rebekah held herself at attention, obviously expecting Ellie to strike first. It wasn't a stupid assumption. Ellie was angry and looking for a fight, but she wasn't that easy.

They paced around one another in a circle for a while, looking for weaknesses. Finally, Rebekah seemed to tire of waiting and moved to strike first. She shot out her fist, not as fast as she could have though. Her holding back irritated Ellie even more than she already was as she ducked under the blonde's punch. She used Rebekah's momentum against her and grabbed her wrist before swinging a leg under hers. Rebekah hit the ground hard. She hadn't expected Ellie to be so aggressive, or so fast.

Rebekah flipped to her feet and cracked her neck as she reevaluated the girl in front of her. Ellie switched tactics, lunging first this time. She started to throw a punch before pulling back and her foot landing solidly in Rebekah's gut. Rebekah gasped slightly at the force of impact. Ellie had a solid kick that was for sure. It was her turn to lunge forward, catching Ellie around the waist and forcing the girl into a tree. "Son of a bitch." Ellie hissed as the bark of the tree bit into her back.

Without hesitation, she slammed her head forward, catching Rebekah's nose and breaking it. "Bloody hell!" Rebekah yelped as her hand shot to her nose as it bled. As her grip loosened, Ellie forced the other girl back before moving to her side and using her leg to yank Rebekah's forward. As her leg went forward, her body tried to balance her out by her leaning back. Ellie used it to her advantage to push on her chest, slamming her into the ground.

Elijah was watching with concern. He and Ellie had sparred often, but he'd never seen this type of rage from her. She was… ruthless. Rebekah threw a punch that caused Ellie's lip to split. Her tongue darted out to lick at the blood but otherwise she remained unfazed. Finally, Rebekah seemed to give up her attempt to fight Ellie without using her vampire speed and strength. The blonde moved so quickly that it was almost impossible to see her. But Ellie didn't need to see her. She could feel her.

There was a small part of Ellie's brain that reminded her that she shouldn't rely on her magic in a fight all the time. That if her magic was suppressed then she wouldn't be able to sense the way she did now. But her rage refused to listen. As Rebekah circled her once more Ellie shot out her arm, catching Rebekah's throat. Rebekah growled in frustration. She landed two blows to Ellie, one of them getting Ellie's face again before the other hit her gut. Ellie doubled over for a moment before she used her magic to slam Rebekah into a tree.

As the girls began to turn more violent, Elijah tensed in case he needed to intervene. Rebekah was beginning to get angry. Both girls were bleeding, though Rebekah's wounds had healed. Ellie seemed unaffected by everything that Rebekah was throwing at her and as she started to bleed more, Elijah moved between the two. He'd stepped in right as Ellie jolted forward and he caught her around the waist with ease. "Enough, Rebekah." He instructed.

Despite how frustrated she'd gotten during the fight, all it took was one look at Ellie and Elijah for her to back down. He released Ellie carefully and the girl stayed tense, clearly waiting for him to fight her instead. Elijah carefully removed his button up and put it aside. Her eyes didn't stray toward his chest like they normally did.

When he and Ellie sparred, there was always a sexual energy that was buzzing just below the surface. While the lessons were necessary, they always had a playfulness between them and she lived for pulling pranks. She would use her magic to be able to get on top of him, laughing madly while he tried to stay serious. There was no amusement here. No sexual energy. Just rage. He was faster than Rebekah and had Ellie pinned to a tree with ease. His hand was wrapped around her throat tightly, but her anger didn't let up. If there was anything that should have snapped her out of it, it should have been this.

During their sparring when everything was a bit more normal, she often had a sarcastic quip to throw at him. Even when she was entirely focused, her eyes always lit up a bit when he was so close. They were dark now. She was closed off and cold. Ellie's hand shot up, grabbing at the thumb that was wrapped around her throat and pulled as hard as she could. It cracked audibly, but she used the shock and pain to her advantage. She went forward with her whole body weight, shoving against his shoulder until she could duck out from his hold.

"Eleanor." He said gently, trying to bring her back to herself. The wind kicked up as she squared her shoulders, preparing for her next move. "Eleanor." She didn't respond.

She ran forward, but to his confusion, she went past him. Ellie jumped up and kicked off against the tree. The years of cheerleading and gymnastics came in handy as she managed to get up high enough to wrap her leg over his shoulder. Using her own momentum, she spun them both around, dropping him to the ground with ease. Her knee dug into his stomach as the breath was knocked out of him. A small stick was pointed directly above his heart. "Dead." Her voice was flat and devoid of emotion.

Her expression changed suddenly. She looked much more vulnerable as she practically flung herself off of him. "Eleanor?" Elijah asked as he sat up. The witch wasn't looking at either of them as she used a low hanging tree branch to hold herself up.

"Ellie?" Rebekah called. "Are you alright?"

The wind was howling now, whipping around them violently. With her back to them, she looked like a thing of legend. The witch in a child's fairytale that they're warned to stay away from. Elijah walked over toward her and he'd barely touched her before she jolted away. When she faced him, he could see the tears in her eyes. His heart twisted violently to see her in such pain. "My love, please talk to me." He begged.

"I can't." She told him. "I can't." Jeremy's body, cold and stiff, appeared in her mind and the pain crept back in. She'd tried so hard to push it away. It was easier if she just pushed it away. Sometimes, forgetting, or at least pretending to, was the only way to survive. How many deaths did she have to endure? Could she survive it if Stefan was right? Could she survive if it really never got easier?

Bodies got tangled together in her mind. How many dead bodies had she seen? Fifty? A hundred? More? The bodies of people she'd loved mixed with the bodies of people she'd barely known. She could hear victims begging and the car crashing and it was just too much. All she wanted was for it to stop. How many people had died? Finn's sire line and Kol's were gone and they didn't even know why. Everything just hurt and it wouldn't stop.

"You can't hold in all of your emotions like that, Ellie." Rebekah said. "It's not good for you."

"Then what do I do?" Ellie asked.

Rebekah wanted to reach out to the girl to comfort her. "Let it out." She replied.

They both watched as Ellie started to breathe faster. Elijah thought she was going to give herself a panic attack, but instead, she screamed. It was an ear piercing sound and nature responded to her cry. Tree branches cracked from the wind and Rebekah had to brace herself to keep from getting knocked down. Stefan had been right. Ellie had been the one behind the absolutely horrendous storm that had come down on Mystic Falls.

Elijah shared a look with Rebekah. It was rare for witches to possess such a strong control over the elements. All witches were naturally tuned into nature since they were the ones meant to keep balance. He moved forward and caught Ellie's as her knees gave out. It began to rain as he held her. After the funeral, Ellie had held herself together almost concerningly well. She'd gone through all the right motions. She'd comforted Jenna and scrubbed their house clean and she'd gone to school like she was supposed to. But it was like she was on autopilot. The motions were there but the heart wasn't. He knew it was leading to a breaking point and he could admit to himself that he was grateful that it was out in the woods where no one would get hurt.

"It's alright, I've got you, love." Elijah whispered. Ellie hadn't been sleeping much for the past few days. He would go to bed with her and wake up in the middle of the night to her side of bed being cold before he would find her curled up in the window seat pouring over a grimoire. She had refused to tell him what she'd been researching so adamantly. Truth be told, he wasn't sure how she was managing to function as long as she'd stayed awake. "It's ok. I'm right here." Elijah told her.

Ellie clung to him as closely as she could. "Please just make it stop." Elijah couldn't compel the pain away. Even if he could, it wouldn't be a good idea. The only way for her to heal was for her to go through it. It wasn't long before she wore herself out and he watched as she passed out.

"How long do you think it'll be before she's ok again?" Rebekah asked worriedly.

"I don't know." He admitted. "Let's just get her home." He scooped her up with ease and ignored the pouring rain. Since the others had returned from the island, there were a few things that Elijah had noticed that had seemed odd. He remembered her reaction when Stefan had explained that Katherine had killed Jeremy. It was a near violent reaction and she adamantly refused that Katherine would have had anything to do with Jeremy's death.

Jenna also seemed to be in disbelief. He didn't know why though. As far as he was aware, their only real interactions with Katherine had been when she'd been attacking Mystic Falls, which included her having Jenna stab herself in the stomach. With that being the history between them, he didn't understand why they would doubt Katherine's capability. "She's powerful." Rebekah commented as they carefully placed Ellie in the backseat of the car.

"That she is." Elijah confirmed. "Even now, I don't think she's reached her fullest potential with how strong she'll become. She's still a new witch after all."

"But isn't it strange? For her to be so powerful but so new to all of this? I thought it took longer to get that kind of control. I don't remember Kol ever displaying something like that." Rebekah replied.

"But she's not in control. I'm not even sure she's aware that she's even doing it." Elijah corrected.

Rebekah glanced at the girl in the backseat. "Why do I feel like that might be even more dangerous?"

"It might be." He replied with a shrug. He only knew so much when it came to magic and that was out of his range of knowledge.

"She's also a formidable fighter." Despite her injury being healed she could still feel where her nose ached. "You've taught her well."

"Honestly, I'm not sure where she learned some of what she used against us both. There were things that she did that I know I haven't taught her. Even when we sparred for the first time, she made a joke about it. Someone else has definitely taught her. I'm just not sure who."

"Maybe the teacher." Rebekah suggested.

"Maybe." He agreed. "If not him then I have no idea who."


By the time she was awake, she'd had missed calls from Jenna. She refused to talk to any of the Mikaelsons about her breakdown. She didn't even acknowledge that it had happened. If nothing else, she wasn't sure she could handle talking about it. Ellie got dressed and headed back home to meet Jenna. The house felt cold and empty without Jeremy's bright presence. It had been different after his hunter's mark had been triggered, but even then it had been warm when he was there.

"Jenna?" Ellie called as she walked through the house. The blonde was sitting at the kitchen table looking over papers in concentration. "Jenna what's going on?"

"Elena has no humanity." Jenna told her. "She has no humanity and I don't trust Damon. There's too many people that have been invited in our house. It doesn't feel safe anymore."

"I know, but what are we supposed to do about it?" Ellie asked.

Jenna pushed the papers towards Ellie. "I want to sign the house over to you. It will lock any vampires out again. It'll make it safe for us." Jenna explained. "You sign it and no one can come in without your permission."

She didn't need to say anything more before Ellie was sitting down and signing the papers. "Listen, if you want, I can add extra protection to the house if you want. Make it hurt them to even try to enter." Ellie suggested. Truth be told, the thought of bringing pain to vampires brought her a strange sense of satisfaction.

After the last of the papers had been signed Ellie could practically feel the shift in the energy of the house. "How have you been, Ellie?" Jenna asked as she reached over to hold her hand. "I know you've been with Elijah and the others a lot, but I wanted to check in on you."

Ellie rolled her shoulders back as she tensed up. "I'm fine." It was a lie that she was hoping Jenna wouldn't call her out on. "I've been more worried about you." That, at the very least, was the truth. With as much as Elijah and Rebekah had done their best to keep her distracted, she hadn't really had any time to worry about Jenna and how she was handling the death of Jeremy and basically losing Elena.

"I've been alright. Klaus has actually been hanging around a lot. He likes talking to me about art, but as a psychology student I'm starting to think that he sees art as a metaphor for control. Especially when he can't control everything that's going on in his life, so he paints instead. I wonder if there's a reason that he tends to paint the most rather than like pencil drawings." Jenna commented. "There's probably a reason for it but I don't know what it is."

The duo ended up talking for a while before Ellie felt Stefan's presence outside. "What the hell?" He questioned as the barrier blocked his entry. Obviously, putting the deed in her name had worked after all. "What's going on?"

"Jenna was tired of certain vampires being in the house so we put the deed in my name." Ellie replied simply. She shared a look with Jenna and when the other woman nodded she said, "You can come in Stefan."

He carefully tried to enter again and passed through the front door with ease. "It's smart I guess. There have been quite a few people invited in." He replied.

"Is something wrong?" Ellie asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Nothing's wrong, at least I don't think so. I went to Klaus' mansion but Rebekah said that you'd come here. Sheriff Forbes asked to see me and I was wondering if you wanted to come with me." He replied.

Ellie glanced over at Jenna and when she didn't object Ellie nodded. "Yeah, that'll be fine. I haven't seen Sheriff Forbes in a while." She gave Jenna a small smile and said, "I'll see you later." Stefan had opted for riding his bike and she gave him a half smile. It reminded her of the summer when they'd had a bit of free time.

They had ridden a motorcycle through a storm and he'd driven so fast that Ellie felt like they were flying. She could practically feel her hair whipping around her and the both of them and the two of them laughing. It had been the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere and they'd been soaked to the bone. She had nearly gotten sick from how cold it had been with the wind and rain. Klaus had looked at them like they were insane. She and Stefan had practically passed out after showering. The two of them tangled up in sheets and practically fell off the bed in the morning. It had been one of their really good days. "Helmet." Stefan said as he passed her the spare helmet.

She gave him a small half smile as she took it and secured it before getting on behind him. When they arrived, they headed inside to find the sheriff. They found her in her office and Ellie watched as her eyes widened at the sight of Ellie. She recovered quickly and said, "I'm glad that you guys came as quickly as you did."

"What's going on? You said it was urgent." Stefan asked.

She passed them a stack of papers. "The hospital called. Something happened to the blood. The entire supply of blood from the hospital, all of the reserves, gone, just vanished."

Stefan frowned at the news. "I don't understand. Are you accusing us?"

"No. I'm not accusing you, but this town is at a tipping point. Any more unexplained car crashes, and things are gonna boil over." Sheriff Forbes said quickly. "Ellie, I'm sorry." She apologized immediately. "I'm sorry. I know it's not your fault, Stefan. It's been a rough week." She stepped around her desk and explained, "Ellie, your mom was one of my best friends in high school. To see what's happened to your family… it's just..."

Stefan's hand found Ellie's, wordlessly trying to ground her just like he always did. "Look, Liz… if there's anything I can do to help, I promise I will." He assured her.

"Good. You need to. Whoever stole that blood put a lot of lives in danger and risks exposing all of you, my daughter included. So who can you think of who wants blood that bad? Who would be so careless?"

"We'll find out." Ellie assured her. "You're right. They did put them in a lot of danger." She and Stefan made their way out of the police department as she asked, "Do you think it was Elena?"

"I think it's possible. She doesn't really care who lives or dies right now." Stefan suggested. "I talked to Caroline earlier. Apparently Elena had Caroline give her her old position on the cheerleading squad back. So they should be at the competition right now."

"Then let's go. If Elena is that far gone, we need to get to her sooner rather than later before she really gets someone killed and gets all of you caught." Ellie replied as she moved over to his bike to grab the helmet.

Stefan tilted his head slightly in surprise. "You want to go to the cheer competition?" He asked.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Honestly, I just figured you wouldn't want to be anywhere near Elena right now." Stefan admitted.

She gave him a look. "I don't." She told him honestly. "Just the thought of her makes me think of Jeremy and that makes me want to scream. But my dad was a doctor and even if he wasn't, I wouldn't want to risk that many lives just because I didn't want to be around my sister. Enough people have died. I won't be responsible for the deaths of any more people. So let's go."

He just nodded before they got on and headed for the competition. It was at the school, so luckily it didn't take very long to find them. Dozens of buses from other schools filled the parking lot on top of the cars from all the people coming to support their schools. When they walked inside, Ellie felt a rush of longing. She was supposed to be here with Caroline and Elena and Bonnie. They were supposed to kick Grove Hill's ass and their senior year was supposed to be the best year of their lives. Instead, everything had gone to shit.

As they walked around, Ellie stuck close to Stefan. She used to be so comfortable in situations like this, but now it felt like too many people. Despite these people not being magical, there was so much energy in the room. It felt like she was listening to an old tv on a bad channel. It felt like static was buzzing around her head. "They're over there." Ellie told him as she pointed toward where Caroline and Elena were talking. "Why is Elena wearing a blue ribbon? That's not our colors at all."

Stefan shrugged, but he noticed the tension between the two cheerleaders. They were clearly arguing, but there was so much noise from everyone else in the room he couldn't really hear them. "Everything all right?" Stefan asked curiously.

"Yeah, as soon as the queen backs off, everything will be fine." Elena replied as she walked off.

Elena walked over to the other girls to start practicing. "Remember how Damon sired her to behave? It didn't really work."

"What?" Ellie asked in surprise.

"She said that she didn't care what he told her to do." Caroline replied. "She fed on one of the girls that came in for competition. She didn't even heal her afterward the girl is wearing a scarf, like that's not noticeable."

"After everything all it took to break the fucking sire bond was for Elena to turn it off?" Ellie scoffed.

Stefan watched Elena carefully. "We should tell Damon. He's trying to find Katherine right now."

"Wait, what are you guys doing here in the first place?" Caroline asked curiously.

"Your mom called Stefan. Apparently someone stole the entire blood supply reserves of the hospital. We're trying to find out who did it." Ellie explained.

Caroline's eyes shot wide. "The entire blood supply?" She repeated. "Who the hell would need that much blood?"

"I don't know, but keep an eye on her while we go to call Damon." Ellie instructed.

The two of them walked off to try and find somewhere quiet and ended up in an empty classroom. "I'm a little busy right now, brother. What do you want?" Damon asked as he answered.

"We have a problem." Stefan told him. "Elena didn't listen to the sire bond and she fed on one of the other cheerleaders from out of town."

"What do you mean, she fed?" Damon asked in disbelief. "I specifically told her, no feeding. The sire bond should make her listen."

"Right. That's what I'm saying. The sire bond isn't working." Stefan explained.

"That's impossible." Damon replied.

"Think about it. Elena's sire bond stems from her feelings for you, right? With her humanity off, she has no feelings." Stefan told him.

"She wouldn't feel the need to do as you told her when she just doesn't care about anything." Ellie added.

"Sabrina's with you?" Damon asked in surprise. He recovered quickly and said, "All I wanted was to break that damn bond. The two of you are telling me now this whole time all she had to do was turn it off? What happens if she turns it back on?"

"I don't know, but more importantly, where are you right now?"

"The middle of fucking nowhere looking for a vampire that's been able to hide from Klaus the friendly psychopath for five hundred years. Clearly, this isn't going well. Look, just grab her and get her home. I'll be there when I can."

Stefan sighed as he hung up. "Let's go talk to Elena, see if we can find out if she's the one that took the blood from the hospital." Truthfully, she didn't want to be anywhere near her sister. "If you don't want to, that's fine."

"No, you'll probably need the backup if Elena decides she's gonna act up. Let's just go and get this over with." She didn't tell him that she was half tempted to knock Elena out again. He didn't question her, thankfully. It wasn't hard to find Elena, even through all of the energy from everyone else. "She's this way, come on."

They found Elena at the lockers and Ellie had to force down the urge to hurt her. "Hey, we need to talk." Stefan told the vampire as they walked over to her.

"So talk. You can help me stretch." Elena said as she lifted her leg up to hook onto Stefan's shoulder.

He laughed slightly, but Ellie knew he wasn't particularly comfortable. The urge to hurt Elena only got stronger. Not only was she acting like a bitch, now she was trying to make Stefan uncomfortable by putting him in a kind of intimate position? Violence danced in her mind. "Ok. Did you feed on that cheerleader?" Stefan asked.

"Maybe." Elena replied smugly as she stretched.

"I see." Stefan replied. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about the hospital's missing blood supply, would you?" He questioned.

As she moved her leg off of his shoulder, she informed him, "Trust me. I'm sick of blood bags. I prefer something a little warmer."

Despite her anger, Ellie knew that Elena was telling the truth. "Look, Elena, I know what you're going through. I was having the time of my life when I first turned, too. I didn't start ripping people's heads off until 1912. The next thing I knew, I was killing an entire village." Stefan explained.

Ellie didn't see the point though. Elena didn't have her humanity. She couldn't care less if she killed a bunch of people. That was kind of the whole point about having her humanity off. She didn't care about anything. Elena turned to face him as she asked, "Am I supposed to be scared of becoming you?"

"Yeah, you are." He confirmed. "Because I know how deep down you can fall, and I know how difficult it is to climb back out." Elena looked amused as he pleaded, "Come on, you're better than this."

Elena tilted her head in amusement. "I don't know. Maybe this is the better version of me." She suggested instead.

The intercom came on as a man announced, "Up next, Mystic Falls' very own Lady Timberwolves."

The vampire gave them a grin and started to walk away, only to be blocked by Caroline. "No way, you are not cheering." Caroline told her.

"Let's see you try and stop me." Elena taunted.

Ellie sighed as she followed after Stefan and Caroline. This was going to end badly. There was no way that it wouldn't. As the girls got into position, the announcer called out, "Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for your very own Lady Timberwolves."

She and Stefan took a spot in the crowd and she couldn't help but smile slightly at how excited Caroline looked. "Ready!" Caroline called before they all started to cheer. "L-O-L, O-M-G, you're looking at Mystic Falls Varsity! B-E-A-T, beat those Caps. B-E-A-T, beat those Caps. B-E-A-T, beat those Caps!"

Whatever was going to happen… it was coming quickly. As the cheerleaders launched Caroline up into the air, everything seemed to be going fine. At least it was until Caroline slammed into the ground. Elena had clearly moved back, letting the other girl get hurt intentionally. "Son of a bitch." Ellie hissed as the rest of the squad rushed to Caroline's aid. Elena shared a look with Stefan and when her lips quirked up slightly, Ellie saw red. "I'm going to kill her."

"You can't kill her." Stefan replied.

"After everything that's happened because of her, now she's going to try and hurt Caroline? All Caroline wanted was for this to go well and Elena knew that. I'm very quickly starting to get sick of her without her humanity. Damon said himself to get her home." Ellie told him. "So let's get her and get out of here before she feeds on someone else."

Stefan led Ellie outside. "Fine, but if she sees you coming, she'll be on her guard."

"That's fine. I'll come from behind. Come on, follow me. I can feel her." Ellie instructed. "Go that way. I'll come from behind." Stefan watched as Ellie disappeared before his eyes. As he got into position, Ellie watched as Elena walked outside, typing away on her phone.

"Nice move." Stefan called as he blocked Elena's path. "What do you do for an encore?"

"I'm pretty sure it doesn't involve another condescending lecture." Elena retorted.

"No. I was impressed." Stefan corrected. "Getting yourself on the cheerleading squad. Plenty of vervain free victims bused in for the competition. You played us all really well." He praised.

Elena shrugged. "It wasn't that hard. You want me to be ok so badly that you hear whatever I want you to." Another wave of violence washed over Ellie.

"Right. Well, you know, the problem with the gymnasium is, too many witnesses. You gotta go somewhere a little more private for some real fun." Stefan told her.

This caught Elena's attention. She grinned as she asked, "Oh yeah? Where?"

"Well, I know this little dive bar off the beaten path. Come on." He offered as he grabbed the helmet that Ellie had been wearing.

"You're bluffing." Elena replied.

"You're forgetting that I had my switch flipped in this town, too. I know where to take someone to have a good time." Stefan explained as he tossed the helmet to Elena before lunging forward, plunging a needle filled with vervain into her side. "But first, a little vervain, just to take the edge off." As Elena sagged into him, Ellie twisted her hand sharply and Stefan flinched at the sound of Elena's neck snapping. She reappeared in front of him with a small grin. "Was that necessary?" He asked curiously.

"Not in the slightest." She replied easily. "I just wanted to. Honestly, I'm surprised I didn't do that sooner. She was getting on my nerves." As he adjusted his hold on Elena, she told him, "I'm going to go find Caroline. We'll need her car to get Elena back to your place. Just… just put Elena in one of our school's buses. That way no one will get suspicious."

"Alright." Stefan agreed.

She walked back into the school and she could see people bustling about. She found Caroline in the dressing room. "Hey." Ellie greeted. Caroline had an ice pack on her shoulder, though they both knew it was just for show. "Are you ok?"

"Just a banged up shoulder, but other than that I'm ok." Caroline replied as the other girls gave them some space. Once the others were gone, she told Ellie, "I'm going to kill Elena."

"Get in line." Ellie shot back. "Listen, speaking of Elena, Stefan vervained her and I kind of snapped her neck for good measure. But we came here on Stefan's motorcycle, so we need your car to get her back to the boarding house."

"Yeah, ok. Just let me grab my stuff and we can take her." Caroline replied. Once she was ready, Ellie led her out to the school bus where Stefan had stashed Elena. "That is a bit satisfying, I have to admit." Caroline admitted.

Ellie snorted slightly. "I know. Why don't you bring your car around so no one sees her?" Ellie suggested.

"Yeah, give me just a second. I'll go get it." Caroline rushed off to get her car.

She could still feel the red rage dancing around in her thoughts. It was the worst it had ever been and she couldn't make it stop. "Are you ok?" Stefan asked gently.

"I'm fine." She replied immediately. "Just annoyed."


Ellie had stuck around for support for Stefan because she knew it was hard for him to be around Elena right now. It felt satisfying to see Elena unconscious. It pleased the violence in her brain, even if only slightly. She and Stefan had been playing a card game when Elena jolted back to life. "What did you do to me?" Elena asked.

"Brought you home before you can cause anymore trouble." Stefan replied.

"With the help of a bit of vervain and a fun little snap of the neck." Ellie said cheerily.

"So you're grounding me because I dropped Caroline on her thick head?" Elena questioned.

The rage came back violently. "No, because you fed on someone… in public." Stefan corrected.

"So? I was hungry." Elena told him as she stood up and started to strip.

"You're really gonna keep stripping in front of me?" Stefan questioned. "It's real mature."

"I'm done cheering. So I'm gonna change." Elena replied.

Stefan leaned against the pole of the bed. "Sure. When in doubt, manipulate people with sex. You know, that's the same trick Katherine used to pull."

"Don't compare me to Katherine." Elena warned. "She's been running so long, she's afraid of her own shadow. I am not afraid of anything. I've shut it all off, all of it, including my feelings for you. But don't get me wrong. I mean, I see you standing there, and you look good. I remember our sex and it was good sex. I just don't feel anything about it anymore." She said as she typed away on her phone. "Though you clearly do."

"She's right. You really shouldn't compare her to Katherine." Ellie agreed. When they both gave her a curious look, Ellie added, "It's an insult to Katherine. At least Katherine was never so weak that she had to turn it all off because she couldn't handle it like a big girl. I guess that kind of makes you pathetic."

Elena was quick to get in her face. "I'd watch what I say if I were you." Elena threatened.

"Why? What are you gonna do? Try and kill me? As if Stefan would let you, but even without him, you're not that hard to take down. I knocked you out pretty easily before." Ellie taunted. "You're kind of weak if you ask me. I mean, I've gone through more than you have, lost more than you and yet here I am, still with my emotions and still standing. You're the one that couldn't deal." Ellie stepped closer, feeling nothing but rage as she repeated. "Pathetic."

Before Elena could try and attack her, Stefan got between the two sisters and pushed Elena away. "You're not gonna hurt her." He told her.

"Please, she's asking for it." Elena shot back. "Besides, why do you care what I do and who I kill?"

"Because it's my fault that you're like this. I brought this into your life." Stefan explained. Elena just looked amused as she continued to type away on her phone. "Look, I've killed hundreds of people, and I have to live with that, but I'm not gonna live with the people that you kill or what that'll do to you." Elena's phone kept going off and he tired of it, snatching her phone out of her hand. "Who are you texting?" He demanded.

"Look at you. Your whole world revolves around me. Maybe you're the one that needs to turn it all off." Elena sassed.

When a thud came from downstairs, Stefan asked, "What is that?" He and Ellie headed downstairs to find all kinds of people filling into the house as music started blasting. "So that's what all this texting was about?" Stefan asked as he turned to face Elena. "You invited all these people over here."

"You were trying to keep me from going to the party, so I brought the party here." Elena said proudly.

"Great." Stefan scoffed. "That's great."

Elena quickly left them to go and party but Ellie and Stefan stuck together as they tried to make sure that nothing went to shit. She wasn't sure how long they had been watching the party when Caroline arrived. "I got here as soon as I could. This is insane."

"Yeah. It won't last. They'll either drink all the booze and get bored, or Damon will come home and kill everyone." Stefan suggested.

"We can't compel them to leave. The locals are all on vervain from the town water supply." Caroline explained.

"Yeah."

"So, what do we do?" Caroline asked.

"I don't know. Enjoy the party, keep Elena from butchering Grove Hill's cheerleading squad." Stefan suggested as he drank from one of the liquor bottles.

As he passed it to Ellie, Caroline asked, "Great. And where is she?"

"Where do you think?" Stefan asked as he pointed to Elena who was dancing up on the table with one of the cheerleaders.

Caroline gave her a look before she said, "I almost forgot what that was like."

"What? Elena smiling?"

"No. Fun." Caroline replied. "No, look at her. Yes, this is all very bad, but doesn't she make you just want to let go?"

She made Ellie angry, but she kept that to herself. "Well, unfortunately, I have this little problem when I, uh, party too hard. I end up killing people."

"Well, one of your sober coaches is giving you the green light." Caroline said as she took the bottle from Ellie. "I mean, come on. You are at a kegger full of hot girls, and you're single, and you're, well, you."

"So what am I supposed to do? Just grab some girl, throw her over my shoulder, take her out onto the dance floor?" Stefan asked.

Caroline gave him a fond look. "Just take your own advice. Have fun, you know? We deserve a little bit of fun."

He nodded before he ducked down and picked both of them off. "Whoa! I didn't mean me!" Caroline said but she was laughing.

Despite her horrible mood, Ellie couldn't help her breathless laugh as he carried them through the house. "Stefan!"

With the amount of alcohol that they'd consumed, Ellie was actually starting to have fun. That was Stefan's goal though. When he'd talked to Rebekah, she'd explained how bad off Ellie actually was and if he could just give her five minutes where she wasn't drowning in grief, then that would be enough. "Look who finally joined the party."

"Yeah. Why? Are you jealous or something?" He asked.

"No. That would imply emotions, and we've already established that those are useless." Elena replied.

Caroline tried to give the other girl a chance. "Come on, Elena. Just dance with us."

"No, you guys look good together. Though I shouldn't be surprised that Ellie would go for Stefan. Elijah not enough in bed for you? Stefan is pretty good at that. You always were jealous of me." Elena sassed. "But I mean, by all all means, you two should both take him out for a spin. He could use it."

Just like that, the good mood was gone and Ellie's rage returned. They were walking through the house when Caroline tensed up. "What the hell is she doing?" Ellie and Stefan looked up to see Elena with a death grip on Sheriff Forbes' arm. When Elena slammed her into a wall, Caroline rushed forward and called, "Mom!"

"I'm fine." Sheriff Forbes said shakily.

Caroline growled as she tried to lunge forward, but Stefan stopped her. "Caroline, calm down."

"Calm down? I'm gonna wring her skinny little neck!" Caroline shouted.

Elena took the opportunity to disappear. "Sheriff Forbes, are you alright?" Ellie asked softly.

The older woman nodded, but Ellie raised a hand to her neck and muttered a soft spell and she watched as the tension and pain drained out of her. "Thank you."

"It's no problem." Ellie assured her. "But we should go find Elena." Once they were sure the sheriff was alright, they took off into the woods. "Follow me."

"Elena!" Caroline called as they walked through the woods. "Where the hell is she?"

"Right where she wants to be. This is completely calculated. She drew all those people to the house, waited for an opportunity to distract us, and now she's free." Stefan explained.

"When we get her back, if you don't throw her bitchy ass right into the basement dungeon of yours, I'll do it myself." Ellie warned.

"I can't believe she's doing this." Caroline said. "I mean, she hurt my mom, Stefan."

Stefan understood where she was coming from as he said, "All right, listen. You two search the woods. I'll check the road. Ellie if you get a lock on her, just go and we can keep up. If you see her, don't hesitate. Just snap her neck, got it?"

Ellie grinned. "A chance to snap her neck twice in one day, that sounds like fun." Once they separated, she and Caroline headed further into the woods. It wasn't long before she got a lock on her sister. "Listen, I'm going to cloak myself ok? Like I did earlier with Stefan. She's going to think you're an easier target and if she can't see my coming, she won't run as quickly. A witch can do a lot more damage from a distance than a vampire."

"Ok, but how will I know which way to go?"

"I'll lead you. Just trust me." Ellie assured her.

Once she vanished, Caroline jumped slightly at the feel of Ellie's hand on her back. "I've got to admit, that's freaky." She couldn't hear Ellie, but she was sure she laughed. "Elena! Don't make me fight you, Elena!" Caroline called when Ellie tapped on her back. The pressure of Ellie's hand disappeared as she said, "I'm stronger than you, and I don't want to hurt you."

Elena appeared out of nowhere, slamming her into a tree and then tackling her to the ground. "Who's gonna get hurt?" She questioned. Ellie waited, despite her rage, she knew Caroline deserved the chance to fight Elena after she hurt her mom. Caroline threw her off, and when the two vampires stood, Elena taunted, "Not bad. Not technically good, but then again, Alaric didn't train you. You were probably too busy butting into people's business."

She got a few hits in before Caroline demanded, "God, just stop! God, this isn't you and you know it! You hurt my mom, Elena! How far are you gonna take this?"

"Are you trying to make me feel bad for hurting your mom? Don't you get it? I don't care. I mean, maybe you should try to turn it all off. Who knows? You might stop whining about how Tyler left you." She taunted as they circled one another. "Added bonus: you won't have to feel guilty about all the dirty thoughts you have about Klaus."

"Shut up."

"Make me." Caroline lunged and got a few hits in before Elena caught her fist. "You fight like a girl."

When Elena pulled off a branch and plunged it into Caroline's stomach, Ellie had had enough. As she appeared, she grabbed Elena by the hair and slammed her face into the tree. Her magic made the hit much stronger than it would have been otherwise. "How pathetic are you that you didn't even know I was here?" Ellie taunted as she slammed Elena's face into the tree again.

"I should have known." Elena hissed as she pulled out of Ellie's hold.

"You really should have. But I figured I'd let Caroline have a go at you first. She deserved it." Ellie shot back as blood poured from her nose.

"And you'll lose, just like she did." Elena lunged at her, but Ellie was faster.

She ducked under the punch, pulling her knife from her pocket and dragging it across Elena's hip. Elena let out a pained cry and Ellie sarcastically asked, "Like I lost last time? Oh wait, no that was you unconscious on the bedroom floor." Elena tried to use her vampire speed but she couldn't fight the pain of her head splitting open from Ellie's magic. "Maybe Alaric should have taught you to know when you were outmatched."

Elena found a sharp rock on the ground, and lunged forward despite her pain, digging it into Ellie's thigh. "Oh, no, he always taught me to take out the bigger bitch." She pinned Ellie to the ground, but the witch just laughed.

"You think that's enough to stun me?" Ellie questioned. "Please, I've hurt myself worse just for learning purposes." She flipped them over, pinning Elena down. "I've learned that the pain is my friend." She said darkly. "All the pain, it only makes me stronger. And I will always be stronger than you." She slammed her knife into Elena's shoulder and pulled it down. Elena's screams echoed through the woods. "How much pain do I have to cause before you realize what you've put the rest of us through? No worries though, we've got plenty of time."

"Get off of me!" Elena screamed as the pain of the blade mixed with the pain in her head. "You stupid bitch!"

Ellie yanked the knife out of Elena's chest and slammed it into the side of her neck. "I don't think I want to." Ellie replied. "I'm kind of having fun."

The knife was ripped out once more as Stefan appeared, pulling her off of Elena. Damon latched onto Elena as she tried to rush Ellie. "Let go of me!" Elena screamed through the blood in her throat.

"I admit, under any other circumstances, this would be a major turn on." Damon confessed as Elena struggled against him.

"Get her out of here." Stefan insisted.

Ellie snapped Elena's neck with ease despite Stefan holding her in place. As she went limp against Damon, Ellie said, "There, now you can get her home without her being a bitch the whole time."

Damon looked shocked. Ellie was covered in blood and was practically glowing with rage. For the first time since he'd met her, she looked as ruthless as Katherine. "I'll get her home." He told her and then they were gone.

It left her with Stefan and Caroline, who were both in stunned silence. "Ellie…" Caroline said softly.

"What?"

"Ellie, you could have killed her."

"Oh please, it's a metal knife. She deserved it." Ellie scoffed. Ellie had never been one for violence, and yet here she was, dripping in blood and entirely satisfied with herself.

Stefan looked her over and asked, "What happened to just snapping her neck?"

"It was too easy." Ellie replied. "Besides, I did snap her neck." Neither Stefan nor Caroline knew what to say. Ellie had always been the one to pull people back. Whether it was Klaus or Stefan, she tried to keep people from losing control. But since she lost Jeremy, it was like a part of her died. The Petrova in her was stronger than ever, filling her with violence and vengeance and she couldn't bring herself to mind it. She'd put up with the bullshit that was Elena for long enough. Anything that happened to Elena now would be justice and it would be because she deserved it. And if it was Ellie that delivered that justice, then that would just be a bonus.


Author's Note:

I am SO sorry for this being a bit late. We had a weird power outage and I couldn't post it. But, Ellie is dealing with a lot of rage and distress right now and it's leading her to her more violent side. As always, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Please leave a review and let me know your thoughts!

To Guest: Yeah, Ellie is very aware that Elena isn't facing the consequences of her actions and she's getting kind of sick of it. I hope Elena this chapter continues to live up to your expectations of not taking Elena's crap. We've yet to get back to Katherine, but we will soon hopefully! Ellie and Bonnie having a showdown would be fascinating. We did get Rebekah back this chapter though! I think Ellie would definitely help bring Kol back!

To Guest(2): You might be onto something, but I guess we'll have to wait and see!

To BecomingFearless1F: Jenna and Klaus' friendship is honestly everything to me. Platonic soulmates for sure. Exactly! Stefan and Ellie's relationship is so precious. He really does love her. I believe in you! I'm sure your fic will be great!

To LucifersAlleyCat: I also have a hard time believing that she would hurt Jeremy. Stefan is just confused about a lot lol.

To smilin steph: It also annoyed me as well.

To Blu3b3rryT3a: Jenna and Ellie are definitely going through it. Kat is hiding out currently, but she should be back soon.

To Guest(3): She might not have been the one to kick Elena out, but it was her idea to change who owned the house to lock her out. She's definitely going to put her foot down. There's only so much she can take. And Elena is definitely spoiled. Damon does deserve to suffer but I feel like he wouldn't be nearly as annoying if he wasn't with Elena. Like human Damon was a good person, but Elena brings out the worst in him.

To Chusii: I really can't wait for the NOLA arc either just because it means we get to get away from Elena lol. Um, I'm not sure at the moment which kind of magic she uses because I can't currently remember the difference but I'll look it up later and let you know next week. I think Davina wouldn't be able to sense her either way because she wouldn't be using NOLA ancestral magic.

To Guest(4): Having Klaus compel her to turn it back on is actually an appealing idea. But when she does I hope she suffers like hell for it.

To Mia: I know, Ellie is definitely a bit of expression of myself and my own reactions, because sometimes the MF Gang just doesn't react well. I hope her getting beaten again this chapter was pleasing for you lol.

To Guest(5): Jenna might not have kicked her out, but she was the one to lock her out permanently. I feel a bit bad because I feel he was manipulated by Elena, but he also made stupid decisions on his own. Stefan is also definitely realizing that Ellie is the better twin. Delena more than likely won't get a happy ending lol don't worry. Because that was BS. She definitely wouldn't hurt Ellie and Jenna like that. Ellie Pierce is actually really satisfying. Her leaving her old name behind in MF would be really nice. Yesss Ellie/Katherine twins.

To FreakingLEM: I'm so glad it's your favorite lol. I don't think Katherine did it either honestly. I don't think Kol would, because I mean he reached out for her when he was dying, I don't think he thinks that she ever betrayed him. A Kol POV would definitely be possible in the one shots, I just haven't had time to work on them. Yeah, I'm trying to keep a balance it's just hard sometimes lol.

To Gucciisoverrated: Yeah, Ellie is definitely over no humanity Elena already lol. Jenna will get sick of it too I'm sure. I don't think Katherine did it either. But I guess we'll just have to wait and see what actually happened later. I'm honored to be one of the best TVD fanfics in your opinion. That means a lot lol. And thank you, I've always tried to make them three dimensional characters.

To Qewbix: Yes, we just have to get them to graduate before we can get to NOLA, but did you like Ellie snapping in this chapter as well? I'm also excited to be away from Group Dumbass don't worry.

To skyellebaby: I'll go ahead and tell you, he dies originally but he does come back, I wouldn't kill him off permanently and hurt Ellie and Jenna like that. It's an honor to be able to make it like a show in your head and I'm also excited to get them to NOLA. Kat in canon does feed him to Silas, but there's no guarantee that that's what happened this time. But we'll have to wait to find out how and why Jeremy died.

To brigitm28: Speaking of, did you like her throwing hands this chapter as well? They definitely need a break. And I love Stefan and Ellie's relationship. Elena definitely takes the easy way out, but I feel like there will be consequences for it this time. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

-Madame Magic

Posted: 7/24/21