Adrenaline was the only thing coursing through Elena's veins as her foot stepped harder on the gas pedal. Anxious to follow her heart, she took a shortcut to the boarding house – a wide smile on her face the whole way. Her heart was racing and the butterflies in her stomach were unmistakeable. She could hear her heart in her ear as she approached the familiar driveway to Damon's house. She quickly turned off the ignition and all but barrelled through the door. As she walked through the threshold of the foyer and living room, her heart dropped at the scene before her.
Stefan's hands were around Damon's throat, and he had Damon up against the wall. A stake was hovering over Damon's heart, and even from across the room – Elena could see that he was losing consciousness.
"STEFAN, NO!" Elena shouted, running up behind him and pleading with Stefan to put Damon down.
"Elena, don't you see? It's the only way for us to be together…" he said, his voice cracking. Elena watched in horror as Stefan plunged the stake into Damon's chest, just piercing his lung. Helpless, Elena saw Damon's body sink to the floor, his head lolling side to side from the lack of oxygen and from the pain.
"Stefan, listen to me. Don't do this, please…" Elena pleaded; ready to throw herself between Stefan and Damon if he grabbed the stake again. She watched as Damon tried to open his mouth, but no words came out. Elena's heart broke at the helplessness before her. The desperation in his eyes was heart wrenching.
"I have to kill him…" Stefan whispered, defeat lacing his voice. "The voices…they want me to kill him. They don't want him to have you…" he clarified, piercing the stake through Damon's chest again, just barely grazing his heart – but this was enough for Damon to cry out in sheer agony and cough up some blood. Stefan pulled the stake out of his chest, the blood from the stake dripping onto the floor.
"What voices?" Elena asked, trying to distract him.
"All of the voices…in my head…" Stefan tried to clarify. Elena felt pity as she watched Stefan struggle with the words to describe his pain.
"Whatever the voices are saying, don't listen to them! Stefan, you're stronger than this. You're better than this!" she pleaded, tears running down her face. Stefan turned around to face Elena, and she could see the black and blue veins beneath his regularly olive skin, his eyes a menacing red. Before she could blink, he had her up against the far wall, pinning her there by the throat –but not choking her.
"That's where you're wrong…I'm not better than this…not anymore…"
"Stefan, listen to me…" Stefan tried to look away at the sound of her soft words, but she simply put her hand on his neck, willing him to look at her. "I know you. I know who you are, and this…" she nodded towards Damon, "isn't it."
"He's trying to come between us Elena!" Stefan said, venom lacing his voice. He turned his head to look briefly at Damon, and then turned his gaze back to Elena. Somehow, both a state of shock and numbness were the only thing Elena could and couldn't feel. As Elena tried to peer around Stefan to look at Damon, Stefan grabbed her chin fiercely, forcing her to look at him. "You are mine…Damon can't have you…you used to love me, remember?" when Elena didn't say anything, Stefan slammed her head into the wall. A small cry escaped from Elena's lips, but she forced herself to look at Stefan. "Remember?" he prompted, the venom in his voice menacing. She nodded as best she could.
"If I have to…kill him…I will. I will do anything to prove to you how much I love you. How much I need you…and how much you love and need me too…" Stefan said, sending a growl in Damon's direction. Damon was slowly itching his way up the wall, steadying himself on a nearby chair. Seeing this, Stefan quickly dropped Elena, her weak body sinking onto the floor. Stefan was choking Damon again, and Elena did the only thing she could think of.
"I love you…" she said quickly. Stefan turned around, and the look in Damon's eyes was unmistakeable pain. Taking advantage of his hesitancy, Elena gathered herself up and shuffled over to the brothers. "I came over here to tell Damon that it's always been you…" she whispered, caressing his cheek. "It's only ever going to be you…" she said quietly, putting her free hand on his shoulder. He nestled into her touch before growling at her.
"YOU'RE LYING!" he yelled in her face, startling her. She shook her head fiercely.
"I remember, Stefan. I remember how I loved you, how you loved me…but you don't have to kill your own brother to have me. I'm already yours…" she whispered, gingerly taking his face in her hands and placing a light kiss on his lips.
"What about all that stuff you said in your bedroom? How you loved Damon? How you chose Damon?" he asked, tears running down his cheeks too. Elena shook her head fiercely, and swallowing deeply.
"I'm still only a teenage girl…I'm still human…" she whispered before looking at Stefan with more assertiveness, her eyes pleading him to listen. "But I know now, that there is no other option. No other choice. It's you. It's always been you, and it's always going to be you…"
"Let me get rid of him, then…" Stefan asked, a small smile on his lips. The immediate change in his demeanour scared Elena as she realized he could turn back to the monster he was moments before at any minute. "Let me rid us of this headache forever…"
"No…let's give him the pain and suffering of seeing who the good brother really is…" she pleaded, trying everything in her power to save a seemingly unconscious Damon.
"Elena…" Damon barely coughed, from the corner of the room. Both gazes of Stefan and Elena immediately fell on the hurting body slumped in a large chair in the corner of the living room. At that moment, Elena's heart broke. Her heart broke for both vampires in the room, and prayed for some sort of miracle. The sight of Damon's blue eyes brought the adrenaline back to her body, causing her to do the only thing she could in that moment.
"Let me do it…" she whispered to Stefan, her hand gesturing for him to give her the stake. He looked at her questioningly, his eyes darting between his slowly healing brother and his brave love. "Let me kill him…" she asked again. Stefan bowed his head down and closed his eyes, as if listening to someone. Seconds later, Stefan looked up from his trance – his eyes shooting death.
"You're lying…" he growled, pulling his arm back in the air, about to plunge it into Damon's waiting chest.
Elena's instincts immediately took over, and she did the only thing she could think of. Before Stefan could plunge the stake into Damon's heart, she immediately threw her body on top of Damon's.
It all happened so fast.
Stefan didn't have time to retract the stake as he plunged it directly into Elena's heart.
White hot.
That's the only way to describe the horror and pain. It was worse than death. The room around her began to get hazy, before everything went dark.
"NO!" Damon cried out, catching Elena's dead body.
"No…" Stefan whispered, jumping backwards.
Damon slumped to the floor, a dead Elena in his arms. He quickly bit into his wrist, trying to force the blood down Elena's throat – but her airways were closed off. Her heart had stopped beating, her blood had stopped flowing – her life had stopped living.
"No no no no no no no no, no. Elena! Damn it, no!" Damon yelled, slamming his fist into the floor. He couldn't even bring himself to care about the blood literally pouring out of Elena's body. At that moment, Stefan and Damon stay silent in the room, not even bothering to feed on the blood. The only thing they could think of was the girl they had both loved, was laying lifeless. Just then, the front door of the boarding house came barrelling in. Damon didn't even both to look up from broken body of the girl he loved in his arms.
Before Damon or Stefan could blink, Stefan was on the floor with a stake in his stomach. Damon could hear Alaric's fast heartbeat as he crossed the room and pierced Stefan's skin in two places with two different vervain darts. Getting one good swipe in, Alaric kicked Stefan to the side of the room before turning his gaze towards his best friend – with the dead body of the girl he loved in his arms.
And for the first time – despite everything that they've been through – this is the first time that Damon was broken.
Initially when I was writing this chapter, I had no intentions of Elena dying but once I continued writing, I got the idea and went with it. I'm so happy with all the reviews I've gotten (after this chapter, it'll probably be mostly negative…) but I promise that you will not be disappointed! I would like at least 170 reviews before I continue (200 would be amazing too, but hey, whose counting?). What's a good story without any plot twists or cliff hangers? I've already finished the next chapter, it's just a matter of posting. Thank you so much, I love you all. Remember…170 reviews! (: