Heyy guys!
Sorry it took me a while to get this one up. I'm still trying to break through some writer's block.
But I hope you enjoy anyway! And sorry if there are any grammar errors.
I'm finishing this kinda late in the night, lol, and I don't really have the energy right now to do a complete read through to revise everything.
So I'm just gonna trust that auto correct caught any big mistakes, and hopefully ya'll can just forgive me for the small ones, yeah? ;)
Anyway...hope you like it!
None of this was making any sense.
Elena was smiling at him, her chocolate eyes light and teasing, instead of terrified, or resentful.
He narrowed his gaze, as the only possibility for the change became clear.
"What did you do?" he demanded.
She only winked, then gripped the knife she'd taken from him, "Can we just do this, please."
Without waiting for permission, she turned from him, and walked towards the noise of commotion that was his Darklings, prepping for the kill.
Damon shook his head.
There was no way Elena had relinquished the Light…not without some major incentive.
He glared over at Enzo, who after all, had claimed to of talked to her before he'd arrived back at the mansion.
With a huff, he strode over, and caught Elena's arm, before she could reach the other side of the room.
"What are you doing?" she pulled at his grip, but he dragged her over towards the wall.
"What are you doing?" he fired back, "What did you do?"
She smirked, "I let it in... I'm just like you now."
Damon shook his head at her mocking expression, "You wouldn't do that."
"This is what you wanted," she reminded him.
"I wanted you," he corrected, "And yes, maybe I wanted you Dark, but I still wanted you."
"This is me," she insisted.
He set his jaw, "No, it's not. You would be completely against this. You would be tortured over the idea of having to kill an Arc, before succumbing to what I want. You would fight!"
One of her brows rose, "Is that what you wanted then? For this to torture me? For me to break over and over before submitting? A little cruel, don't you think? Especially when I could just cut to the chase."
Damon exhaled deeply, staring down at her.
She had a point, this was what he had wanted, but he hadn't wanted it like this.
Elena succumbing to the Darkness so easily…it felt as if she'd given up.
He'd wanted to win her over.
He'd wanted her to choose him.
He hadn't wanted her defeated, or giving up.
He didn't want this.
Elena was too pure to dive in so straightforward; it would kill her.
"You need to think about this," he warned, tightening his hold on her arm.
She jerked away from him, "I have thought about it. And now, I'm tired of thinking. So let's do what it is you wanted me to do, and be done with it."
He deliberated, then decided that maybe if he went along with this plan of hers, the Darkness would take care of the rest.
It was bound to be weighing on her, hard.
It had taken him weeks to adjust, to accept its presence.
There was no way Elena would be able to handle the backlash that was almost certainly waiting on the horizon for the first sign of weakness.
The Arc in her would reject the decision she'd made, if she wasn't eased into the mindset of the cause.
It was in her nature…in their nature.
"Fine," he decided finally, "If you think you can do this…"
"I can," she asserted.
"Then follow me," he instructed, motioning with his head the direction of the room in which the Darklings would have Lexi strung up and waiting for them.
If the sight of her friend in such a state wouldn't be enough to make her double think this, he wasn't sure what would.
They walked into the room the Darklings had set up for the task, and Damon kept his eyes on Elena.
Lexi was dangling from the ceiling, metal claws digging into her wrists to hold her upright.
Blood was running down her arms, and she appeared weak, but conscious now.
And she recognized Elena.
"Elena!" Lexi called, her head lifting as the first sign of hope entered her eyes, "You're alive! We all thought…"
Her gaze found his then, and darkened, "You traitor. You fucking Darkling!"
He smirked at her, "Is that any way to talk to your superior, Alexa?"
"Fuck you," she spat, "You stopped being our leader the day you walked out on us."
Damon supposed it was true, but to be honest, he didn't really care much what this particular Arc thought of his allegiances.
Elena was all that mattered.
He looked down at her, and was met with utter disconnect.
She stared at the Arc in front of them without even the slightest hint of pity or regret.
He looked around.
Darklings were filling the room now, Enzo with them, all waiting to see the outcome of his plan, to see, once and for all, if his Arc was truly loyal to him.
"Elena," Lexi pleaded with her, "Elena, help me, please. You have to know this is madness! Look at what he's done! He's going to kill me, Elena. Please."
Elena stared at the Arc in front of her.
Lexi's voice was a familiar hum she'd heard a million times, but...she felt nothing.
The Darkness was a physical presence in her body.
She could sense it's control, and embraced it, allowing it to wash out anything else, to enable her to do what had to be done.
The hand holding Damon's knife twitched.
She could feel his eyes on her, all of their eyes on her, waiting to see if she would go through with this.
She took a step forward, and touched Lexi's face.
The Arc's eyes were full of fear.
"Please," she whispered, "Please, he'll listen to you...don't let him kill me."
Elena stroked the female's cheek, "He's not going to kill you."
She held Lexi's gaze, then smiled slightly, "I am."
The blonde's eyes widened, as Elena jerked her hand forward, sinking the dagger into the Arc's heart.
Eyes, that stayed wide, even after the heart stopped, and blood began oozing from the wound, leaking onto Elena's hand.
She pulled the knife out, and watched.
Arcs had died in front of her before, but being this close was a first for her.
Lexi's wings expanded out of her back, as the last of her life force caused a glow to illuminate her body.
The wings shot out, as the blood splurted onto the floor, and Light exploded from the body, so bright that Elena and the others had to look away.
When the echo of the Arc's soul was gone, Elena looked down at what was left.
Lexi, now dead, hung limp from the ceiling chains, her wings hanging lifeless at her sides, graying with each passing second, until large feathers began to flake, floating to the floor.
Her eyes remained open.
"You did it," Damon's voice sounded surprised even to his own ears.
He'd really thought that she would have at least hesitated.
But Lexi was dead, and Elena was staring at her, holding the dripping knife in her hand.
All around the room, a noise of victory broke out, and he turned, looking at his Darklings.
At least they were satisfied.
"I killed her," Elena breathed, her tone tight.
Damon's eyes shot back to her, and he noticed that the hand that held the knife was trembling.
Elena's eyes were hard, unblinking as they held their focus on the dead Arc.
Shit.
He'd known that the backlash would catch her.
He needed to get her alone before she was completely succumbed by it.
Burrowing forward, he grabbed her shoulders, turning her from the door.
Elena didn't fight him, and the Darklings cheered as they passed, simply happy to celebrate the death of an enemy, and the conversion of another.
"Take over here," he hissed to Enzo as he passed the man.
Luckily the Darkling didn't question him, and he was able to maneuver from the room without incident.
Then he materialized them into his bedroom.
Elena was full on shaking, and she had no idea why.
Damon had moved them into his room, and was saying something to her, but she felt as if she were underwater and nothing was making sense.
She shook her head, trying to clear it, but all that pixilated was the image of Lexi's blue eyes staring at her.
I killed her, she thought.
The knowledge invoked two different emotions in her, both as strong as the other.
Pleasure and Pain.
They swirled in her mind, fighting for the domain of her heart, each wanting to claim her.
Lexi was dead.
She had killed an Arc, a friend.
She had killed an enemy of Damon's who was trying to take him away from her.
Lexi deserved to die for that.
I deserve to die for this.
Elena squeezed her eyes shut, her hands flying to her temple.
The knife clattered onto the ground.
"Damon, what's happening to me?" she gasped, as he gripped her.
She had to struggle to hear his answer.
"The Arc is fighting the Darkness in you," he was saying, "They both want you. I told you, you weren't ready to accept the Dark yet. You're blood is too pure to change so quickly."
"Blood," she muttered, feeling sick.
Her head was clearing, and she remembered the Darkness engulfing her body.
What was she doing?
Her legs gave way, and she found herself on her knees, crouching next to the blade she'd used to end Lexi's life.
She picked it up.
"Elena," Damon called out warningly, his hand tightening around her shoulder, but she was already in action.
Swiftly, she brought the blade down on her arm, and waited.
It only took a second for the blood to well up from the cut, and sure enough, it wasn't the bright red of the Arc, but murky, rose red, tainted.
"I can't breathe," she gasped, as the air left her lungs, "I can't…"
She didn't even know what she meant anymore.
"Shhh," Damon's voice coaxed her, and she clung to it like a lifeboat, clung to him.
"I'm here," he whispered, pulling her into his arms, "I'm going to help you."
She wanted to ask him how he planned on doing that, but it became quite obvious when his hand reached out, and touched her head.
A wave of nothing overcame her mind.
Like a numbing balm, her head became clear, and heavy, tired...so tired.
Her eyes squeezed tightly shut, and her head found the crook of Damon's neck.
"You're okay," he assured her, as everything went black, "I'm here."
A little dark, lol, but here it is!
Let me know what you thought! :)
Also, thanks for waiting, and reviewing, and sticking with this story! I really do appreciate it, and I'll try to update sooner next time!