I worked extra hard perfecting this chapter and I really hope you all like where I take things. I am truly sorry if this isn't how you hoped things would turn out for Elena but if I'm going to continue on with these characters, this is the best way I could think of to do it.
xoxo
Chapter 10
If the moment was a blur for Elena, it had happened in slow motion for the rest of them. Damon was a fraction of a second too late to stop Grayson's hand as the back of it smashed into the side of Elena's face with such force her head spun. The stake fell from his hands, and he watched in horror as Elena's neck twisted with a sickening snap. He heard Caroline scream and Bonnie's sharp intake of breath. Damon listened for her heartbeat but heard no sound coming from the lifeless form sprawled across the floor. She was dead.
Pure hatred burned white hot in his brain and he let the demon in him take over. He didn't even remember pinning Grayson to the wall by his throat, fangs bared and ready to rip him to shreds.
"Damon, don't!" Caroline shrieked at him through her tears.
He stared at her in disbelief "He killed her" he growled furiously.
"She's going to wake up" Bonnie said quietly.
The realization hit him like a ton of bricks as a vision of her lips covered in his blood flashed before his eyes. Turning back to Grayson, who was clawing uselessly at Damon's arm, he roared in frustration.
"You have no idea what you've done" he hissed, yanking Grayson back by his neck and slamming him back against the wall hard enough to knock him unconscious. He dropped him and watched him slide to the floor.
Bonnie carefully picked up the stake and examined it.
"You should take her upstairs, Damon. Caroline, help Klaus get Mr. Gilbert to the basement. I'm going to wake Stefan up" Bonnie directed them so calmly it was almost unnerving and then turned to go back to the parlor.
Damon went to crouch next to Elena's body and gently brushed the hair off of her still warm face. He'd tried so hard to do the right thing, to give her everything she deserved. Now she was going to have to choose between death and eternity, a choice he'd never wanted her to have to make. Carefully, he picked her up in his arms and cradled her to his chest.
"I'm so sorry" he whispered against her cheek.
He took her to his room and tucked her into his bed. It would be a couple of hours before she woke up and he had some unfinished business with Grayson Gilbert.
"I won't kill him, but only because I know it would piss you off" he told her and kissed her forehead.
Before he went to the basement, he stopped to check on Bonnie. She was standing over Stefan with the stake, Elena's blood soaked into the tip. He'd been listening to Bennett witches chant and cast spells for decades and he'd never understood a single word they said. Today was no different but he stood and listened to her for a few minutes. She finished the incantation and looked up at him.
"Are you ok?" she asked, sounding genuinely concerned.
"No" he said bluntly and stared at Stefan's body "is he going to be awake soon?"
"Yes but you should be waiting with Elena."
"I will but I'm going to have a little chat with her uncle first."
"Damon…" she warned
"Don't 'Damon' me. I'm just going to talk to him." he was still gazing at his brother when a light-bulb went off "Could you do the same thing to Grayson? Use the stake to give him his mind back?"
Bonnie wrinkled her brows and thought for a moment "Yes, I think I could do that but why would you do that for him?"
"I wouldn't. I'd do it for Elena and I'd do it so he can hate himself for doing this to her."
She nodded "Let me finish here and I'll come downstairs."
"Where's Caroline? I should be back before she wakes up but I don't want her to be alone"
"I'm right here" she appeared next to him, her face red and streaked with tears "I'll go sit with her"
"And I'm coming downstairs with you" Klaus materialized at his other side "I owe Mr. Gilbert a broken nose."
Damon gave him a curt nod and they walked together to the basement. It had been Klaus's idea to have a cell installed in the house as a 'precaution'.
"One never knows who might come to visit" he'd said. His friend rarely steered him wrong. Damon halted in front of the oversized steel door and took the key off the ring next to it.
"We can't kill him" he reminded Klaus.
"Whatever you say, mate"
Damon pried the door open and found Grayson Gilbert chained securely to a chair at the center of the dank cell. Without hesitation, he approached the unconscious man and slapped him across the face.
"Wake up"
Nothing.
He slapped him again.
"Wake up you piece of shit" he demanded.
Grayson groaned and his eyes opened sluggishly. They focused in on Damon and he started to struggle.
Damon smiled viciously and put his face in front of Grayson's "Stop moving and listen to me" he compelled him and the other man's movement ceased immediately.
"No vervain? God, you really are an idiot aren't you?"
Grayson made a snarling sound and Klaus chuckled behind them.
Damon stood up straight and stared down at the madman before him.
"I'd give anything to suck the life out of you right now but then she'd be mad at me instead of you and I can't have that"
"What are you talking about? Elena is dead" the complete lack of remorse in Grayson's voice made Damon wish all the more that he could just kill him and be done with it. Only the knowledge that the real Grayson, the one who actually cared that he accidently snapped his niece's neck, was still in there somewhere prevented him from tearing into his artery.
"Technically, yes but she should be waking up any time now."
"What have you done?" Grayson's eyes went wide.
Damon shook his finger in the air "Oh no, no, no Gilbert, this one's on you" he reconsidered for a moment "Ok maybe I gave her my blood but turning Elena was never part of the plan. I didn't want this for her. I was going to give her back to you, free and clear. She deserved a shot at a normal life. Even when she begged me to let her stay, I told her no. Now you've practically handed her to me on a silver platter. You Gilbert men and that goddamn stake. You never learn."
"No…it can't be" Grayson whispered
"Yes it can be and it is." Damon replied matter-of-factly "She had my blood in her system when she died."
"You forced her…"
Damon cut him off "Wrong again! I let her go yesterday, told her she could leave whenever she wanted, but she stayed. She was going to help me get Stefan back, go home to you, and live a nice long human life. As for my blood...I'll spare you the steamy details but I can assure you it was the opposite of forced."
"You're lying!" Grayson shouted.
Damon grinned evilly down at him "I get why you might think that but no, I'm really not. So now that you've royally fucked everything up, here's what's going to happen. Once Glenda the Good Witch is done with my baby bro, she's going to come down here and give you your sanity back so you can feel every ounce of self-loathing over what you've done to her. If Elena wants to transition when she wakes up, I'm going to give her a bag of O-negative."
He dropped back down to Grayson's level so he could look him in the eye.
"Then she's mine. She can stay here for as long as she wants and there's not a damn thing you can do about it."
"NO!" the man shrieked and his eyes bulged. He started screaming wildly at Damon.
Klaus stepped forward and punched Grayson in the face. He stopped screaming and fell back into unconsciousness.
"He screams like a woman" Klaus remarked and left the cell with Damon close behind. They met Bonnie halfway as she walked down the stairs with the stake tucked under her arm and the little copper bowl in her hands.
"He's all yours" Damon waved his hand dismissively at the cell door.
"Stefan's color is starting to come back. He should be awake in a few hours." she started to walk away but stopped and turned back to Damon "Whatever your reasons are for asking me to help him it's the right thing to do and I'm glad you thought of it."
"Don't go getting all mushy on me, Witchy. I'm still the big bad vampire" he winked at her and she gave him a sideways smile before they went their separate ways.
Damon stopped at the cooler and grabbed a blood bag for Elena. He was about to go back to his room when he opted to pour the contents into a glass for her, thinking it might be slightly less weird for her than the bag. Part of him was terrified she wouldn't want to make the change, that she would rather die than be a vampire. He replayed the scene on the stairs over and over again in his head, hoping she loved him enough to want to be with him, literally, forever. He knew, whatever her choice, he would never love anyone the way he loved Elena Gilbert. If there was such a thing as a soul-mate, he'd found his.
There was a dull throbbing in her brain and every time she tried to open her eyes, the sun seemed to scorch her retinas. She let the blackness take over her again for a while before she vaguely heard someone softly calling her name.
"Come on Elena, open your eyes. I closed the curtains for you" a man's low, husky voice coaxed. She knew she liked the voice, trusted it, but everything felt so strange and she just wanted to sleep. Then there was this smell invading her nostrils and it was like no other scent she'd ever experienced. It was sweet but subtly metallic and she wanted whatever it was more than she'd ever wanted anything. She groaned and tried again to force her eyes open.
"That's it, you're okay" Damon's voice was clearer now and she knew it was him.
Elena blinked a few times, trying to focus on the fuzzy outline of Damon sitting in a chair next to the bed.
"There you are" he said, sounding relieved when her eyes were fully open. She could just barely make out the unreadable expression on his face. She blinked several more times before things started to come into focus. They were in his room and she was in his bed. That was ok, she liked being in his bed, but she didn't know how she'd gotten there.
"What happened?" she rasped.
A choked sob came from the other side of the room and she saw Caroline standing by the fire place with tears in her eyes.
"Not helping, Blondie" Damon said through his teeth.
She tried sitting up but the room spun around her.
"Whoa there let's take it slow, ok?"
"Damon? What happened? Where's Uncle Grayson?"
"He's….in time out."
She could tell he was avoiding telling her what was wrong with her and she was suddenly very upset
"What happened?" her voice cracked and she could feel tears forming in her eyes. Why am I crying? She thought, feeling ridiculous. She had never been a girl who cried for no apparent reason.
"Try to stay calm, ok? Deep breaths" he told her.
She met his cool blue gaze and allowed it to sooth her before slowly inhaling and exhaling.
He let her take a few more long breaths before he spoke.
"You died, Elena" he said softly.
"I…what?" her mind whirled. That didn't make any sense. How could she be dead? She was breathing and she felt alive.
"You died with my blood in your system. Do you remember what I told you about that?"
Shock rolled through her "Am I…am I a vampire?"
"Not yet" he said. There was a glass in his hands she hadn't noticed until he swirled the liquid around and that smell hit her again. She wanted to snatch it from his hands and gulp it down but he was sitting too far away and she didn't feel like she could stand yet.
"Elena?" he asked, drawing her attention back to his face "You don't have to change if you don't' want to."
"What happens if I don't?" she asked, even though she was pretty sure she already knew the answer.
"You'll die" Caroline said gently and inched closer to the bed.
More tears came into her eyes "I'm not ready to die"
"Then this is your only option" Damon said sadly and held the glass out to her. She stared at it confused. She wanted it so badly but the idea of drinking human blood was strange and slightly gross.
"Damon, I'm scared" she said and felt her voice quake.
He set the glass down on the nightstand and sat down on the other side of the bed next to her
"I know and you don't have to do anything you don't want to, but Caroline is right, if you don't drink it you'll die."
She glanced over at the tumbler and sighed before carefully picking it up. The closer it got to her face, the better it smelled and the more she wanted it. Bringing the glass to her lips, she took a tiny sip. It was amazing, better than anything she'd ever tasted, and her body seemed to sigh in relief as the rich liquid slid down her throat. The moment she felt the blood start to course through her veins, her gums started to ache. The ache quickly turned to real pain and she cried out, grabbing at her mouth.
"Yeah that part sucks but it only lasts for a second" Damon told her with a pitying look.
Elena reached up and touched her upper canine. She felt the sharp tip prick her finger but when she looked at it, the injury was already gone.
"Finish it, you'll feel better" he insisted.
She nodded and stared at the glass in her hands. This is so weird she thought before gathering her resolve and swallowing the rest of the contents down. He was right, she felt instantly better. More than better, she felt fantastic. When she looked over at Damon's face, it was like she was really seeing him for the first time and it took her breath away. The hard edge of his jaw was more defined somehow and it perfectly accentuated curve of his lips. His eyes seemed to reflect every tiny sliver of light in the dim room and she could finally identify all the different shades of blue in them.
"You're beautiful" she muttered awe.
"So are you" he told her, her favorite little smirk playing at the corners of his mouth.
Coming out of her trance, she sobered as a troubling question popped into her brain.
"How did I die?" she asked.
"You…" he trailed off and looked helplessly at the unusually quiet Caroline.
She moved slowly to the foot of the bed "What's the last thing you remember?"
Elena thought for a moment and tried to piece together her memories.
"Uncle Grayson was here. He was acting crazy and I was trying to talk to him. He called me a traitor and….that other thing… and then…nothing. Everything goes black after that."
Caroline cleared her throat and wrung her hands "I can't say this for sure, but I think with the supernatural boost from the stake, your uncle didn't know his own strength and he hit you really hard, like really, really hard, and it sort of broke your neck."
Of all the things Caroline could have said, that was last thing she had anticipated.
"Are you trying to tell me my uncle killed me? That…that can't be true"
Her friend's expression turned worried "I really don't think he meant to. He wasn't himself but Bonnie is going to help him and…"
She stopped her with a raised hand "What do you mean Bonnie is going to help him?"
"Damon asked if Bonnie could do the same thing for your uncle that she did for Stefan, give back what the stake took, and she thinks she can so he should be better in a few hours" Caroline tried for a little smile but it didn't last.
"Will he remember what happened?" she asked, not sure of what she wanted the answer to be.
Bonnie appeared at the door and knocked on the frame before entering.
"Yes, he knows. He's already coming back to himself" she sat down at Elena's feet, her eyes serious "How are you feeling?"
"I don't know. Physically I feel great but it's taking everything I have not to break down and cry"
Bonnie grasped her hand sympathetically "I have something for you." She reached into her sweater pocket with her other hand and produced a silver ring with a dark blue stone at the center.
"It's a daylight ring. I made it a while ago and I guess it was for you" Bonnie held it out to her.
"You made it for me before you knew me?" Elena took it from Bonnie's palm and pushed it onto the ring finger of her left hand. It was pretty, with the center stone a long oval and tiny diamonds at each corner.
Bonnie shrugged "I had the strange urge to make one a few weeks ago and Gram's told me to go with it, so I did"
"Thank you" she said, feeling a little bewildered "and thank you for helping my uncle."
Bonnie gave her a small smile "Of course."
Damon's arm slid around her shoulder as her lip started to tremble. It was like she was experiencing every single emotion all at once and the stupid tears just wouldn't stop.
"Why do I keep crying?"
"Everything is going to be a kind of intense for a while. It's going to be ok" he told her.
"How? How is it going to be ok when I can't even control my emotions?"
"You're going to stay here with us and we're going to help you" Caroline said and came around to stand next to her "I mean, if you still want to stay here."
For a moment her heart soared I can stay! Then she remembered Damon said something about her uncle and time out.
"What about my uncle? Where is he?"
Bonnie gave Damon a pointed look "He should be fine now. You should go get him so he can talk to Elena."
"Are you out of your mind? He killed her! He's lucky to be alive" Damon scoffed.
Elena turned her best doe eyes on him "Please, I need to talk to him. If Bonnie says it's safe then it is, right?"
He glared at the witch "If anything happens to her…"
"It won't" Bonnie promised "I took what was left of Elena's blood and sealed the stake in a box with a spell. You need her blood to open it but since she's technically dead, there's actually no way to get inside it."
"And I suppose said box is indestructible?" he asked.
"Obviously" she said and rolled her eyes.
"I knew I kept you around for a reason" he quipped and turned to Elena "He has ten minutes"
"Damon…" Elena warned.
"Fine, thirty minutes."
She raised her eyebrows at him and gave him a long look.
"Ok, ok as long as you need" he kissed the top of her head and disappeared in a flash of movement.
The moment he was gone she peered up at Caroline with a hint of a smile.
"I can stay" she whispered happily.
Her friend gave a little squeak of delight and beamed at her.
Truthfully, she'd never really even thought about being a vampire. Even when she knew she was in love with Damon, it wasn't something she'd considered. Now everything had changed and she still wasn't sure how she felt about it. The only thing she knew for certain was that Damon wasn't going to send her away, she could stay with him here forever and as long as she focused on that, the future didn't seem quite so scary.
"They're coming up." Caroline said with her head tilted toward the door "Do you want us to give you guys a minute?"
Elena listened carefully and sure enough, she could hear the two men climbing up the stairs. She could even distinguish between Damon's steady footsteps and her uncle's heavy plodding.
"Maybe just wait outside the door?" she said, feeling a bubble of fear rise in her belly. She wasn't sure what to expect. Her uncle had never even raised his voice to her and the way he'd looked, the things he'd said today, frightened her.
Bonnie reached up and squeezed her hand again "We'll be right outside, ok?"
Elena nodded and they got up to leave just as Uncle Grayson appeared at the door with Damon standing behind him, arms crossed over his chest, glowering at her uncle's back.
Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she stood up "I'll be fine" she said to Damon.
He gave her a speculative glance before he sighed and followed the girls down the hall. Their footsteps stopped at the top of the stairs and she heard them sit down together. She felt better knowing they were right there waiting for her.
Uncle Grayson was standing in the doorway looking disheveled and exhausted. When he finally met her gaze, her fear dissipated. His eyes were no longer crazed and his expression was devastated. He seemed to be struggling so she took a tentative step towards him.
"Uncle Grayson?"
He held very still and stared at her with a sadness that made her want to cry "Elena I….I can't even begin to apologize…Are you…are you alright?"
"I'm fine, really" she said, realizing that despite everything she still wanted to comfort him.
"You've transitioned then?" he asked
"Yes" she replied nervously.
He nodded "Then let's go home. I can help you."
"No, I'm sorry Uncle Grayson but I'm going to stay here. This is where I belong."
"You belong at home with me, Elena" he insisted.
She shook her head "I can't go back to the way it was before. Bonnie and Caroline are my friends and Damon…Damon and I have grown very close."
She was afraid he would react badly if she told him she was in love with a hundred and seventy year old vampire.
"It's too dangerous here. He's dangerous" her uncle's voice was starting to sound frantic.
"You don't know him like I do. You don't know any of them. I can't explain it but being here with them feels right and I'm not going anywhere."
"Well I'm not leaving without you" he said resolutely.
"You have to" she told him "Everyone in this house understands what I'm going through and you never will" she didn't want to sound harsh but he needed to hear it "and it's not like you're never going to see me again. I'll come visit you soon" she promised.
He shook his head "No, I won't accept that."
"Mr. Gilbert, Elena is right. We can help her in ways that you can't" Bonnie said as she reappeared in the room "You need to find your family and try to make things right with your son."
She was about to agree when Bonnie's words sank in "Your son? You have a son? I have a cousin and an aunt?" she asked him, stunned. He'd never so much as mentioned a family to her.
"Yes, his name is Jeremy and my ex-wife is Miranda" he told her carefully.
Anger filled her and she narrowed her eyes at him "Have you ever told me the truth about anything? I'm not going anywhere with you. I don't even want to look at you. Get out" she pointed at the door and turned away from him.
"Please let me explain…" Grayson reached out to her.
"I said, GET OUT!" she screamed at him and felt her face change as the rage scorched through her.
"I'm so sorry, Elena. I just assumed you knew…." Bonnie said meekly and backed slowly out of the room.
Damon was at her side in a second, his strong embrace pulling her against his chest.
"Shhh, it's ok. No one is going to lie to you anymore" he calmed her.
Her fangs and the veins disappeared as she buried her face in the safety of his shoulder "Get him out of here, please" she whispered.
"Gladly"
"We can do this one of two ways, Grayson" Damon told the pathetic looking man across the room "I can drag you out of here and leave you in the woods or you can let my pretty blonde friend out there drive you home."
He silently hoped he'd get to toss him into the trees.
"Elena, please come with me and I'll tell you everything" Grayson pleaded with the back of her head.
She curled her fingers tightly into Damon's shirt and he could feel her fighting the urge to attack. His Warrior Princess never ceased to amaze him. Most new vampires wouldn't have been able to control the bloodlust that came with the vampire temper, but she was managing to keep it at bay. Damon held her snugly against him just in case. He was reasonably sure she wasn't going to lose it but the last thing she needed was a dead family member on her conscience.
"No, I don't believe you. All you do is lie and I'm sick of it. Just go" she said bitterly, refusing to look at her uncle.
A defeated look came over Grayson's face "If that's what you really want…"
"It is" she said decisively.
He nodded and walked slowly out of the room. Damon listened as Caroline walked with him and was less than surprised to hear her trying to reassure him. The girl epitomized the phrase "eternal optimist".
"Don't worry, she'll come around. She's just hyper-sensitive right now, give her some time."
"He'll never let me see her again"
"Damon will do whatever makes Elena happy. If she wants to see you, he won't stop her."
"What's going on between them?"
"Are you sure you want to know?"
"No, but I need to know she's safe"
"He loves her. He would die before he let anything happen to her."
"Does she love him?"
"Yes"
He heard the front door creak open.
"I don't need a ride home. Just promise me she'll be ok."
"I promise you, she's going to be fine. I've never met anyone as strong and smart and kind as Elena. You should be proud of her. Any other girl wouldn't have survived ten minutes in this house."
"You wrote me that note all those years ago, didn't you?"
"Yes and I'm sorry if it upset you. I thought you would want to know what happened to them."
"What's your name?"
"I'm Caroline"
"Thank you, Caroline."
"You're welcome, Mr. Gilbert."
The door clicked closed and Damon heard Grayson walk away from the property.
"He's gone" he told Elena.
She clung to him and started to cry.
"Let it out, I've got you" he told her, running his hand up and down her back.
Huge wracking sobs tore through her and he felt her shake in his arms. He held her like that for a long time until eventually he felt her relax and the tears stopped. She wiped her face with her hand and pulled back to look up at him.
"What about Stefan?" she asked, still sniffling.
"Shit" he'd nearly forgotten about his brother. He focused in on the sounds coming from the rest of the house but only heard Caroline and Bonnie's voices. "I don't hear him yet. Will you come downstairs and wait with me?"
"Of course" she said.
She threaded her fingers through his and he pulled her hand up to kiss her knuckles.
"I love you, Elena"
"I love you too, Damon" she replied as though it were the most natural thing in the world for her to love him, and for the first time in his exceptionally long life he felt whole.
The five of them milled around the parlor and watched as the color ever so slowly returned to Stefan's skin. Damon was sitting on the couch next to Elena, trying to think of what to say to his brother when he finally opened his eyes but he kept coming up empty. What do you say to a guy who's been dead for almost two decades? And how the hell was he supposed to explain the whole Elena/doppelgänger thing? Frustrated, he dragged his fingers through his hair and tilted his head all the way back until his neck rested on the back of the couch.
"This is taking for-fucking-ever" he told Bonnie, his head lolled to the side to look at her.
"I'm waking the dead, Damon, not pulling a rabbit out of a hat. Be patient" Bonnie chided him.
"Yeah because you know how well I do patient" he said dryly.
Elena squeezed his hand and gave him a reassuring smile. He clutched her fingers tightly, finding the contact comforting.
"Not to nit-pick but you're actually waking the un-dead" Klaus pointed out and Caroline poked him in the side.
She was perched on the edge of the couch, her gaze trained on the coffin at the center of the room. Damon hadn't seen Caroline take her eyes off of Stefan since he'd entered the room. She was leaned forward with her elbows on her knees and she was chewing nervously at her thumbnail.
"The color is reaching his face" she said excitedly.
Damon got up to stand next to the coffin and peer inside. Sure enough, the eerie gray on Stefan's neck was turning flesh toned. Any moment now he would wake up and Damon would have his brother back. They'd had their rivalries, arguments, and had even threatened to kill one another on several occasions, but he'd been miserable the last sixteen years without his little brother. He did a good job of hiding it, but on the inside he felt like Caroline looked; a bundle of nerves and excitement. Just when Damon thought the anticipation would kill him, Stefan's eyes started to flutter and his chest began to rise and fall slowly. Damon held his breath and repressed the desire to shake Stefan awake. It was another excruciating minute before his brother's forest green eyes flicked open to meet his ocean blue ones.
"Damon?" Stefan croaked.
He smirked down at him "Hello, brother."
To be continued….
Ok boys and girls, that's it for Heart of Darkness. For everyone who has followed/fav'd/reviewed this story, I can't begin to thank you enough for your support. It really does mean the world to me! Writing this story has been so liberating for me and I hope you found the ending to your satisfaction.
I will be continuing the journey with these characters in another story to come (hopefully) very soon. It's tentatively been named Do Not Go Gentle (Yes, I'm stealing the names of my favorite TVD eps for my story titles but I'll always try to find ones that suit the plotlines). I'm toying with the idea of bringing some more of your favorite TVD characters into the mix but it's all very abstract at this point.
As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the story and/or my writing in general!
xoxo