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This chapter is dedicated to boothishot, who was my first reviewer. Thank you so much!
Chapter 2
Stefan and Elena ran over to where Bonnie was standing up near Damon, who was thrashing around once more. Bonnie's eyebrows were furrowed as she looked at the two, not really sure how to explain things.
"The witches are angry with Damon," she began to explain, looking at Damon and trying to recite word by word what the spirits of her ancestors had said. "He turned a witch into a vampire, thereby disrupting the balance of nature and exceeded the tolerance of the witches. If he can't fix what he's done…" she trailed off, looking into the eyes of Stefan, then Elena. "If he can't fix what he's done, they are going to torture him until he… until…" Bonnie trailed off, not sure how to put it delicately, but sure that the two before her understood what she was trying to say.
Elena and Stefan looked at each other, fear in both of their eyes.
"How can he fix it?" Stefan asked.
Bonnie hesitated. "They didn't say. I don't really know how he can even do that. The balance of witches in the world is off; the only way to fix it is to somehow make another witch."
"I thought witches were born, not made," Elena stated, looking at Bonnie inquisitively.
"They are. I don't know what they're expecting-"
"I don't either! It's not like he's capable of doing anything! All he's doing is screaming in pain and passing out because of pain! They're not even giving him a chance!" Elena shouted, first at her friend, then at the old abandoned house.
Stefan put a hand on Elena's shoulder to calm her down, but she jerked away, walking over to Damon's ever-twisting form.
"Bonnie…is there any way to…Do you think in the Grimoire…there's a way to…"
Bonnie looked at the vampire before her, and it was the first time she had seen any emotion from him for months. He looked defeated, and even though Bonnie said she would leave after deducing what was wrong with Damon, she found she couldn't. She sighed.
"I'll check the Grimoire, Stefan, but I don't know. It seems like a long shot," she admitted. Stefan nodded his head a little more than necessary, and Bonnie saw what she had missed; the brown eyes that had been so emotionless, so stoic for months, were wet, forming tears their owner didn't wish to shed. Without thinking, she reached out and placed a reassuring hand on his forearm. "I'm gonna try, Stefan. I know how much he means to you."
Stefan nodded in thanks. "I'm going to put him in the car," he managed to say before walking over to his now silent brother, leaving Bonnie to fetch the Grimoire from the house.
Every now and then Stefan would look in the rearview mirror to make sure Bonnie was still following them on the way to the Salvatore house. Then his eyes would fall on the back seat, where Elena sat, cradling his unconscious brother. Sometimes when he looked back, she's be looking out the window, other times her eyes would be on the face of the older Salvatore, worry and compassion etched into her features.
"He does love you, you know," he found himself saying one time he looked at the two. It was when her eyes were on Damon, her hand brushing some hair off of his sweaty forehead. Elena looked up, surprised at Stefan's confession. Something unrecognizable passed over her features and she looked out the window once more.
"We're not having this discussion, Stefan."
Elena knew how Damon felt. And she knew how she felt about Damon. That was the part that scared her the most; knowing that she loved both the brothers, just as Katherine did. She was turning into the one person she swore to herself she'd never become, and she couldn't stop it. Her love for Damon was different than her love for Stefan. She couldn't describe how or why it was different, but it was something that she felt. She knew Stefan still loved her, but if he seemed so insistent on keeping the switch of his emotions off, was there really a point in pining over him?
That's not to say Damon was her second choice. It wasn't about first or second. It was like comparing an apple to an orange. Two completely different types of people, two completely different types of love. She was just confused as to which one was the right love for her? Which one did she need?
She felt Damon tense up in her lap and she took his hand, ready for him to start screaming again. What she didn't expect was for Damon to squeeze her hand in return.
"Elena?"
Stefan almost crashed the car as he looked back in disbelief. Elena looked at Stefan, matching his look, before looking down at the vampire whose head was in her lap.
"I'm here Damon," she said softly, rubbing circles on the back of his hand with her thumb.
"The witches are really pissed off at me," he said, trying to crack a smile, eyes still closed. Elena couldn't help but smile along. He still had his spirit, he wasn't broken.
"We're working on it, Damon. We're going to fix the mess you got yourself into this time," Elena teased lightly, hoping to take his mind off the pain.
"Oh great. My life is in the hands of you, Mr. Frowns-a-Lot, and the witch whose mother I turned into a vampire. That's reassuring." His ice blue eyes opened slowly, and he was able to look at Elena for the first time in weeks without feeling sorrow. She was taking care of him, she wouldn't leave him.
He was able to see her smile at him weakly before he felt the pain come on once more. His grip on her hand tightened, her features transforming from happiness to fear instantaneously. Not knowing when he'd actually be able to speak to her next aside from screaming curses at the witches, he was able to muster out the one thing he feared more than whatever was happening to him right now.
"Elena, no matter what is happening, don't do something stupid!"
Elena unlocked the door as Stefan carried his thrashing brother indoors and Bonnie walked in, head in the Grimoire, furiously reading.
Bonnie plopped herself down on the couch as Stefan entered the room, Damon audible in the distance. Elena was pacing the living room, hoping Bonnie could find an answer.
Stefan came up to the pacing girl and cautiously took her in his arm, needing her comfort more than she needed his. She allowed him to embrace her for about half a minute before pulling away to sit next to Bonnie.
What felt so right now felt to wrong, it seemed. As much as she wanted to believe Stefan would return to his old self, she began to wonder if things would be the same. She just didn't feel as comfortable around him as she used to.
Bonnie had paused on a page, reading a passage over and over, heart pounding in her chest. Was this the one? It eerily fit the situation almost perfectly, and it was much easier than somehow making a witch.
Elena noticed a change in Bonnie's demeanor. As Bonnie looked up from the Grimoire, she found Elena's eyes filled with hope, looking at her for confirmation.
"I think I found it," Bonnie smiled nervously. Stefan rushed over to the girls, hopeful that the witch could save his brother.
"It's…drastic," Bonnie started. "You're not going to like it," she said, looking Stefan in the eye. She took a deep breathe, delving back into the passage. "'Should a vampire attack a witch, and order be disrupted, a vampire must die, a witch must be created," she paused before continuing, "or the afflicting vampirism must be transferred to another.' And then it has the spell."
Elena and Stefan were silent as the reality of the information soaked in. Stefan seemed to be speechless as Elena shakily spoke.
"So…I have to become a vampire."
Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I actually wasn't planning on updating today, but your response was just so great, I wanted to give you something in return! Please PLEASE review!
