Without another word, Elena walks outside to the car, leaving Stefan to Elijah's mercies. Elijah joins her a few minutes later, looking as immaculate as ever.
Elena knows that means nothing.
"Is Stefan still alive?" she whispers, as Elijah sits in the driver's seat.
"He is," Elijah tells her, unbuttoning his suit jacket as he sits in the driver's seat. "Would you like me to change that?" His tone is casual, though his words are deadly serious.
Elena shakes her head, not even having to think about it. She can't have the death of another loved one on her conscience. Even if she does hate Stefan just as much as she loves him right now.
"Are you aware that he has his brother imprisoned in the basement?" Elijah questions, putting the keys in the ignition but not yet starting the car.
"Yes," Elena replies tersely. She can't help but break out in a cold sweat at just the ithought/i of Damon.
Elijah studies her for a moment, before commenting gently: "This upsets you."
"Damon murdered Jeremy," Elena tells him, ducking her head so she doesn't have to meet his eyes. Her grief for Jeremy is a living thing: it's a parasite burrowed in her heart. (Her entire body is a raw, exposed nerve, loving and missing him in equal measure, and even gentle sympathy brings more pain.)
"It would be no trouble to remove his heart from his chest," Elijah tells her, almost gently. It is the same tone that another may use to say "I'm sorry for your loss." But instead of his sympathies, Elijah offers Damon's death – like it's nothing to him.
She imagines that it iwould be/i nothing to him, remembering how quickly and easily he killed Trevor.
"In return for?" Elena asks, looking up. She could fall into that dark gaze, if she let herself. (She doesn't.)
"I do enjoy our negotiations," Elijah assures her, with a twinkle in his eye. "But for this, I would require nothing in return."
Elena seriously thinks about it. Before, she didn't push for Damon's death because she didn't want to hurt Stefan. She doesn't really care about that anymore.
(She remembers begging Lexi's boyfriend to spare Damon's life. She remembers convincing Bonnie to squash the flames so Stefan could pull Damon from the fire. She wonders, briefly, if the Elena of even a few months ago would even recognize the person she is today. She decides it doesn't matter. The Elena of a few months ago hadn't yet watched Damon snap Jeremy's neck like it was nothing, like Jeremy meant nothing at all.
Elena forces herself to focus on Elijah's offer. Bonnie would of course need to raise the boundary spell, so Elijah wouldn't get stuck in the basement. But Elena knows that Bonnie could and would do that for her. Happily, even.
Elena thinks she would feel a lot better, if she knew there was absolutely no chance that Damon could escape and hurt anyone else. He probably wants revenge against Bonnie, for helping Stefan catch him, and then for reinforcing his prison with magic.
Except…
"Katherine told me that the ritual requires that a vampire be sacrificed as well," Elena tells Elijah. He confirms it. "Use Damon."
Elijah needs a vampire to sacrifice, and Elena has a vampire she wants dead. (And if Damon is dead, Elena will be able to go to her death with the comfort of knowing that any threat that Damon poses to Bonnie has been removed – permanently.)
"A practical solution," Elijah replies approvingly. Then he drives away from the Salvatore Boarding School.
"Where are we going now?" Elena asks, as Elijah pulls out of the driveway.
The Lockwood Mansion. They're going to the Lockwood Mansion. Elena is a bit apprehensive, because if it's true that the ritual requires a vampire sacrifice, Elena imagines that it is also true that the ritual requires a werewolf sacrifice. And they're going to meet two werewolves – which are not so easily obtained as vampires.
If she's honest with herself, Elena also feels a little betrayed that Mason and Tyler ran away from the clearing last night. Even after Elena helped Tyler and made a deal with Elijah for his safety, they ran away and left her alone with iKatherine/i.
Elena knows, rationally, that Mason and Tyler probably wouldn't stand a chance in a direct fight against Katherine, outside of the night of a full moon. But she's seventeen years old, and her life is a mess – she's allowed to be a little irrational.
Even still, Elena has known Tyler her entire life. As much as Damon's death would be a comfort before her sacrifice, Tyler's would be a horror. "What would you want, in return for your word that Tyler won't be used as the werewolf sacrifice?" Elena asks Elijah, a few minutes out from the Lockwood Mansion.
Unfortunately, Elena doesn't think she has anything left that Elijah would want. She's already given him the information he needed to get the moonstone, agreed to help lure Klaus to Mystic Falls, and given her word that she'll walk to her death without protest.
But she has to try – for Tyler.
"You ask for immunity only for Tyler?" Elijah questions back, seemingly a little surprised.
"I'd rather you not use Mason either," Elena admits. It's the truth. He was Aunt Jenna's friend, and he sided with them against Katherine. But if Elena can save only one of them, she chooses Tyler.
She hopes Mason would understand.
"The werewolf population is not what it once was," Elijah tells her. "But werewolves still tend to run in packs. If it is possible, I will select a werewolf who is unknown to you."
"But you can't guarantee that," Elena points out, reading between the lines. Mason has never mentioned a pack before. It's possible he doesn't have one.
"No, I cannot guarantee that another werewolf will be available," he agrees. Elena isn't surprised.
"But can you give me your word that Tyler won't be the werewolf used, if you can't find another werewolf?" she asks him. Elijah pulls onto the shoulder, still a decent distance from the Lockwood Mansion. Elena wonders if perhaps he doesn't want to have this conversation too close to werewolf ears.
"I could give you my word that Tyler Lockwood will not be the werewolf sacrificed for the ritual," Elijah tells her, staring at her with those fathomless eyes.
"iWill/i you?" Elena asks. Elijah smiles, like she passed some sort of test.
"I will," he responds. "If you agree to assist me with two small matters."
He wants an introduction to Mayor Lockwood, and access to the Gilbert journals. It's such a small price to pay, for Tyler's life. (She may be signing Mason's death warrant...)
Elena agrees.
When they shake on it, she wonders if Elijah's skin is always so warm to the touch, and why she didn't notice earlier.
Elena follows Tyler into the kitchen, leaving Elijah with Mayor Lockwood and Mason in the foyer. Mayor Lockwood seems thrilled by the introduction. Apparently, Elijah has established a cover as a historian researching Mystic Falls and other small towns. It's a good cover, if his intent is to ingratiate himself with Mayor Lockwood.
Elena accepts the water bottle Tyler offers her, and they sit down at the table. "I'm glad you're okay," Tyler tells her, a bit awkwardly. She thinks he feels at least a little guilty for abandoning her to Katherine, but she doesn't expect him to vocalize that. (Tyler has never been the type to apologize.)
"You too," Elena replies, deciding to let it go. She's just glad that Tyler seems fine, at least physically. She can't see any visible evidence of Katherine's torture, or the fight with Stefan that Elijah told her about.
"My mom told me about Matt," he whispers, staring down at his hands, his voice choked up. Elena feels tears brimming yet again, at the reminder of Matt's death. "Was it Katherine?"
Elena nods, barely even hesitating. It's true enough, and she doesn't want Tyler to confront Stefan. She doesn't want Tyler to endanger himself that way, when Stefan is stronger and doesn't have his bloodlust under control. (And maybe, there is a still a very little part of her that wants to protect Stefan.)
"They're having his funeral in a few days, to give his mom time to get back to town," Tyler says.
Elena nods again. She doesn't know how she will possibly face Mrs. Donovan, who has now lost both of her children to the Salvatores, and who can never, ever know that.
"Uncle Mason and I are leaving tonight for Florida," Tyler blurts, as if he can't hold the words back anymore. Elena looks at him with wide eyes, unsure how to react. She can't imagine Mystic Falls without Tyler; they haven't always been the greatest of friends, but he's always been ithere/i. "I told my mom it's too hard here, after losing Dad and now Matt. But really, it's because Mason's Alpha in Florida wants us there for the full moon."
"Mason's Alpha?" Elena asks, remembering Elijah's comment that werewolves tend to run in packs.
"Her name is Jules. Mason told me that she's essentially the leader of the pack, and what she says, goes," Tyler replies, shrugging. Tyler continues talking – about how this Alpha is going to help him with his shift, and Mason told him that the full moon is easier with the pack, and much more. But Elena only listens with half an ear, because…
There iis/i a pack of werewolves.
Which means that perhaps a werewolf won't be as hard to obtain as Katherine suggested. Maybe Elijah won't have to use either Tyler or Mason – maybe he can use another werewolf.
Elena ignores her nagging conscience; the ritual is happening, and a werewolf will need to be sacrificed alongside Elena and Damon. There's no reason why that werewolf should be someone that Elena knows, someone she cares about.
Mason eventually joins them in the kitchen, telling them that Mayor Lockwood is still speaking with Elijah.
"Last night, your friend stopped by – iafter/i he took the moonstone and left us in the woods, I mean," Mason tells her. Elijah isn't her friend, but Elena doesn't bother to correct him. She isn't sure what label she would apply to Elijah. Ally, maybe. Protector, temporarily. (Killer, eventually.)
It doesn't matter.
"He told me that the Sun and Moon Curse is fake," Mason continues. "That there's another curse, on his brother, and they made up the Sun and Moon Curse to locate the moonstone and the doppelganger. That werewolves have shifted with the full moon for thousands of years, and he doesn't know of a way to stop it – to control it." He sounds skeptical.
"Elijah told me the same thing," Elena responds. "And so did Katherine."
"I know that they were planning to use her to break the curse, back when she was human," Mason says. His dark eyes meet hers, and Elena realizes that he knows the doppelganger has to die to break the curse. She shakes her head subtly, hoping he understands that she doesn't want Tyler to know.
There isn't anything Tyler can do about it.
There isn't anything iany/i of them can do about it.
Mason seems to understand, because he changes the subject. "I'm sorry about Jenna," Mason tells her. She looks down, finding his sympathy unbearable. She doesn't want to think about Aunt Jenna right now. (She can't stop thinking about Aunt Jenna, and Jeremy, and her mom and dad, and everyone else she grieves. Constantly.) "And I'm sorry that we won't be able to make her funeral tomorrow. She was a good person, and a great friend. But Ty and I should get on the road tonight. I don't want to cut it too close and get stuck somewhere unfamiliar during the full moon."
Elena nods. She wonders if Elijah is really going to let them leave Mystic Falls, but she understands why they want to leave.
"I'm sure you have to pack," she tells Tyler with a weak smile, as she stands to go. "Maybe we can talk, from time to time?" Tyler agrees, and she puts his number into her new phone. Then he walks with her to the foyer, where Elijah is saying his goodbyes to Mayor Lockwood.
Elena realizes that, though Elijah gave her the illusion of privacy in her conversation with Tyler, she has to assume that he heard every word. She waits to ask him about it until they are far enough to be out of range of werewolf hearing.
"At least for now, there's no harm in allowing them to return to their pack," Elijah tells her. "I have several things to prepare before I will be ready to lure Klaus here."
Elena nods in understanding. "If there's a whole pack, maybe – maybe you can use one of the other werewolves?" she says, trying to feel him out.
Elijah smiles wryly as he pulls into Bonnie's driveway. "Where may I find the journals written by your Gilbert ancestors?" he asks, reminding her of their prior deal.
"I think most of them are in boxes at the house," Elena tells him. "Some of them might be at my family's lake house. Are you looking for something in particular?"
"Any accounts from the 18th and 19th centuries regarding the supernatural in Mystic Falls," Elijah responds. It isn't a very specific answer, and Elena has a feeling that he's looking for something specific; but if he doesn't want her to know the details, she doesn't see the point in pushing. Elena tells him that describes many of the journals, and he's welcome to any of them. He seems satisfied with her response.
Before she gets out of the car, Elijah gives her his word that he won't select either Tyler or Mason for the werewolf sacrifice. (She pushes away any stirrings of guilt at essentially agreeing to sacrifice a stranger – one who has never done anything to harm her or her loved ones. Elena is just doing what she can to contain the coming destruction.)
Bonnie opens the front door for her, and they talk about their days. Bonnie tells her about meeting Luka, and Elena can already see the hint of a crush in her eyes. Elena doesn't discourage her from accepting Dr. Martin's offer of training – but she reminds herself to tell Dr. Martin and Luka that they shouldn't mention anything about the sacrifice to Bonnie.
Elena needs Bonnie to stay out of it.
Somehow, Elena gets through Aunt Jenna's funeral the next day without completely breaking down again. She sits in the row reserved for families, with no one but Bonnie at her side.
Aunt Jenna doesn't have any other surviving family members.
iElena/i doesn't have any surviving family members.
She refuses to think about that today, the day reserved for mourning Aunt Jenna. She reaches down to clutch Bonnie's hand for extra support from time to time, as she accepts sympathies from what feels like the entire town of Mystic Falls.
Aunt Jenna may not have been born to a Founding Family, but she grew up in Mystic Falls, and she was well known and well loved.
She was a good person, and an amazing aunt, and Elena will never, ever forget the way Aunt Jenna stepped up to take care of her and Jeremy. She will never forget the way that Aunt Jenna supported her in the wake of her parents' deaths. And then again with Uncle John, and Jeremy, and Caroline. Aunt Jenna was her lifejacket when Elena was drowning in grief.
Now, Elena has to learn to tread water by herself.
Bonnie squeezes her hand, pulling Elena out of her thoughts and reminding her that she isn't ientirely/i alone. That reminder gives Elena the strength to stand up and give Aunt Jenna the eulogy she deserves.
Elena can break down again later.
The day after Aunt Jenna's funeral, Elena goes with Elijah to her house. As they walk up the steps to the front porch, she stares straight ahead, trying not to think about Katherine walking these same steps...
True to Elijah's word, the door has been replaced. He opens it with a key that Elena refuses to take. (She wasn't expecting to come back here again, and she doesn't imagine that she'll return without him any time soon.)
Elena shows Elijah the boxes of journals in the closet under the stairs, and the additional boxes in the attic. When she goes to lift one, Elijah stops her and tells her that he will send someone to collect them.
Before they make their way back downstairs, she pauses in front of Jeremy's closed door.
"I don't know if he had any journals in his room," Elena says aloud, only a little for Elijah's benefit. Mostly, she is trying to convince herself that she should open the door and check.
Elijah presses a gentle touch to her shoulder, and Elena turns away from Jeremy's door to give him her attention. (She's glad for the distraction. She hasn't been in Jeremy's room since he died, and she isn't sure she can bear to open that door.)
"I will have many other journals to occupy my time," Elijah tells her. "Any one of them may contain the information I seek." He touches her back, lightly guiding her away from Jeremy's door and towards the stairs.
Elena is so unbearably grateful for the reprieve, she can barely choke out a "thank you" through her tears.
"No thanks are necessary," Elijah tells her, as he hands her his handkerchief.
And then the next day is Matt's funeral, and somehow Elena makes it through that, too. (Elena doesn't meet Mrs. Donovan's eyes when she murmurs that she's sorry for her loss.)
The moon is full that night, and Elena thinks of Tyler, thousands of miles away, building a new life with Mason and his pack. She hopes that he's settling in well, even if she can't help but miss him. (She hopes that it doesn't completely destroy Tyler's new life, when it comes time to select a pack member to sacrifice.)
The day after Matt's funeral, Bonnie's dad sits her down and tells her that she's welcome to stay there indefinitely. She offers to pay rent, but he tells her that all he wants is for her to go back and graduate high school.
Elena doesn't have the heart to tell him – or Bonnie – that she isn't going to live to see senior year, let alone graduation.
So she agrees to go back.
When Elena tells Elijah, he confirms that it is her decision. Apparently, the "accommodations" he lined up are Luka and Stefan; at least one of them is now in each of her classes, and all of Elena's teachers assign them a desk next to hers. (Elena doesn't ask Elijah how many people he had to compel to make that happen; it's irrelevant, in the grand scheme of things.)
Occasionally, Stefan tries to talk to her, but he always stops when Elena tells him to. They're over for good, and she doesn't see the point in rehashing all the reasons they won't work, especially when she'll be dead soon enough. She doesn't mention that part, of course. She wonders if Stefan will be relieved to be freed from his guard duties.
Luka becomes something like a friend, though she doesn't trust him entirely. She knows that his loyalty is not to her.
He and Bonnie would be cute together, though.
(Elena does her best not to speculate, but she knows there's a story with the Martins that Elena hasn't been told. Elena isn't sure they are here because they are loyal to Elijah. Rather, they seem to hate Klaus in a way that is personal. She sees her grief reflected in their eyes, and wonders who it was that they lost.)
Elena sees Elijah at least once a day. She and Bonnie drive to school together, but Elijah is always waiting after the last bell to pick her up, when Bonnie goes to the Martins for training.
Usually, Elijah takes her to the Grill and encourages her to eat something. He ialways/i asks her about her day, and Elena tells him if she's noticed anyone or anything unusual. She knows that Elijah is concerned that Klaus will send a scout ahead, or else bribe, or threaten, or compel someone to spy on Mystic Falls and report back. They haven't caught anyone yet, but that doesn't mean they can relax.
After their discussions, he drives her to Bonnie's house, and walks her to the front door. Elijah keeps his word, and he has never once asked for an invitation inside. But he always reminds Elena to call him if she has need of him, especially if she senses anything amiss.
A few weeks pass this way, until one day, Elijah tells her that the journals she lent him do not contain the information he needs. Her mind immediately goes to Jeremy's closed door. Before she can even start panicking, Elijah gently touches her hand, drawing her attention back to their conversation.
"You mentioned that there may be some journals at your family's lake house," he reminds her, eyes dark and fixed on her face. The weight of his regard is heavy, and keeps her mind from wandering. "I would go alone, but I am not invited," Elijah says with a small smile.
Elena offers him a smile in return – small, but sincere. "We can drive up together tomorrow," she suggests. The next day is Saturday, and she won't even have to miss school.
It should be a quick trip.
