Civil Twilight

By:Megan

Chapter 4: Dream and Discovery

Elena knew that she was slipping. The world was spinning around her, and the chain link that had caught hold tightly of her waist just fastened its grip in an even more threatening fashion as the entire weight of her body tilted downwards. Her white shirt, ripped and caked with her own dried blood, stuck to her sweaty and pale skin like a bathing suit that she would have worn on a hot, summer's day. A groan escaped her lips, and several tears made their way from her lids and onto her ruddy cheeks.

It was then that she saw him, Damon, coming up to her from the distance. He became larger and larger as he drew closer, though he walked as if he were a mortal being. For, he was not moving swiftly towards her. He was wounded, and he was limping. He scuffled towards the pit from which Elena hung, the magnetic pull of it threatening to swallow her into its nasty, digestive track. And as Damon knelt before her, with the soundless shuffle and movement of his loose and gracefully spilling clothes, which draped his monumentally solid frame, he appeared to be shaking. He was just as frightened as she was, if not more so.

"I'm getting you out!" His face was flushed with a radiant red color.

"Grab hold of my hand!"

Elena looked up at him, trying with all of her might to shift herself a little to her left, so her hand could swing up and grasp his. Damon grabbed hold of her small fingers, squeezing them tightly, and straining to lift her from over the ledge from which she hung.

Elena could see Stefan behind him, with a rather small and pale girl.

"Damon, it is going to blow!"

That was the moment. The moment of realization that hit Elena like an icy storm. One that had been shrouded in mystery her whole life. It was the moment in which she knew that she would die.

"Elena, hold on. I'm pulling you up. You're making it out of here."

And, as Elena stared up at Damon in the harsh light, she could not ignore how miraculously beautiful he was. And with much fervor, Elena shook her head at him, smiling. And she saw in that shimmering instant his face contort in such immense pain as if he had been hit with a mound of bricks.

"Don't you let go!"

Elena's throat constricted, chocked with sobs, as her body trembled violently.

"Don't you dare let go!"

"I love you! I love you so much!"

With those words Damon turned hysterical, tears flooding his eyes.

And then Elena let go of his hand.

With a sharp intake of breath, Elena jolted herself awake as her alarm clock vibrated on he dresser by the bed. The merciless buzzing noise stopped as she pressed her thumb to the red button on the top of the device, letting out a sigh of relief and lounging back into the comfort of her many pillows.

It was Saturday, she should be sleeping in and an alarm should not be waking her up. Although it hadn't really disturbed a peaceful rest, with the nightmare Elena had just been having. For the past few days she had been having the same dream, not knowing exactly why those forlorn and tragic images kept repeating themselves in her brain.

Elena kept telling herself that is was probably Damon's surprising act of kindness several weeks back, saving her in the abandoned parking lot and returning her home. His intentions were still muddled to Elena, as well as the reasoning behind them. The story of Iscariot had turned out to indeed be true, however, as Stefan had confirmed her fears and Damon's suspicions. But, they had not attacked ever since that fateful evening.

The most disturbing aspect of Elena's dream, though, was that she appeared to be in love with Damon, and he the same. The very thought of that seemed absolutely ridiculous and completely absurd.

With that, the door to Elena's room opened, and Jenna came prancing in.

"Well, what is up with you? You look very happy this morning."

"Well, Logan just asked me on a date again and everything is going perfectly until he…"

"…Screws it up."

The two girls laughed as Jenna sat alongside Elena on the bed, clearly hiding something behind her back.

"What is that, Aunt Jenna? And don't tell me it is the leftovers from my candy stash in the kitchen."

"Hey, I didn't know you had a stash in the kitchen!"

Elena giggled, having betrayed her secret.

"Oops."

Jenna shook he head, taking her hands out from behind her back to reveal a small and neatly folded golden envelope, handing it too Elena.

"What is this?"

"A ticket to Mystic Falls Annual Ball! Logan invited me and gave me an extra ticket for you!"

"Oh, Jenna I don't think I can go…"

"Why not? Stefan can be your plus one…"

"Actually Stefan and I broke up."

"Oh."

A look of confusion broke over Jenna's face, and one that also said, am I a good enough parental figure for my niece and nephew to actually tell me important things that are happening in their life?

"Well why did it happen?"

Elena buried her head into the nearest pillow.

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"Well, then it can be the perfect break-up cure. Your coming, hun. No ifs, ands, or buts about it."

History class could not nearly get more boring. With their last teacher killed by "an animal attack" (now Elena knew better), all they did was sit in their desks, with every random and awkward substitute after another, showing them different Disney movies, and, maybe once in awhile, one actually relating to historic events.

The hardest part was being in the same room with Stefan, after everything that had happened. Feeling his gaze on hers, she would flashback to the sweet first kiss, the car wash, the playful banter, and then the shocking revelation and painful break-up. It was too much, and she would replay that tape over and over in her head whenever her eyes simply landed on his face.

She had always tried to avoid talking to him within the past several days, but it just wasn't an option anymore.

"Stefan, what happens now? My brother is out there searching for Vikki with the rest f the town."

"I am trying to track her, Elena. But it will take some time. Surprisingly, she covered her steps pretty thoroughly. But when I find her, you have my word that I will call you."

Elena nodded, and reached for his hands as of to caress them, but he folded his arms and walked away in the opposite direction down the hall.

3 Hours Later

1 New Text:

I have found Vikki. Come over.

Upon opening the strangely unlocked door to the Salvatore mansion, Elena was put in a position to yet again be taken aback in wonder. Inside, there rose magnificent and ornate arches adjacent to the spirally mahogany staircase, which stood tall, winding its way all the way up to the third floor of the house.

For the first time, walking into the living room, Elena noticed the rather gaunt and demonic fanged demons carved in marble and standing on their token pedestals rising in between the narrow windows, and everywhere the glint from the soft light of many tiny candles made them gleam. The drapes were drawn closed.

"Stefan?"

Elena called the name through the hollow house, her voice echoing alongside its borders, yet no one answered. Staring down at the coffee table in front of the antique red sofa, something caught Elena's eye. Picking it up, a small flurry of butterflies entered her stomach, and a warm stinging sensation invaded her throat.

It was a photograph. And it was entitled, "Katherine, 1864."

"Well, I guess the cat it out of the bag, isn't it?"

Turning around, Elena saw Damon enter the room from behind her, a casual smirk gracing his familiar features.

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