The Departed

I pulled up my Speedo kneeskin swimming togs over my breast, wincing when the strap slapped against my skin. "Ow," I moaned.

I heard a chuckle coming from behind me and spun around. Mom was grinning, leaning against the wall, her arms folded and looking rather amused. My togs were twisted at the back. I squirmed uncomfortably, tugging at the straps and trying to sort my situation out.

"Hey, Mom. Care to lend a hand?" I asked, smiling sheepishly.

She laughed and fixed the swimming togs from the back. She tugged at my left strap and let it slap back onto my skin. "Ow!" I complained whinny. "What was the for?"

Smiling, Mom replied, "It was a display of my affection for my beloved daughter."

I pouted. "It wasn't very nice."

Mom laughed and patted my shoulder gently. "Good luck for today. You'll be the fastest fifty yards swimmer in Virginia, I know it." She smiled kindly and reassuringly.

"I'll do you guys proud, I promise."

She brushed my side-fringe behind my ear. "Oh, honey. You've already done us proud by getting this far and getting on honour roll again. You really had us worried there for a while."

I smiled back at her happily. "I love you, Mom."

"Love you too, sweetie."

"Louise! Louise!" Someone shook me awake.

I jumped up, startled. It was just Jeremy... just Jeremy. I got up and smacked his arm. "Jeremy! You scared me!"

He rubbed his arm and frowned. "Since when did you get so strong?"

I struggled to come up with a response, so I just ignored his question and looked at my alarm clock. My eyes widened when I saw the time. "Two o' clock?" I exclaimed angrily. "Two in the morning? Serious, Jeremy? Did you mistake 'am' for 'pm' or something?"

He shook his head, his mine elsewhere. "No... I, um, Elena's unconscious. I found her in Ric's old room."

I gaped at my idiotic little brother. "What? And you let me rant about the time? Are we even related?" I rushed out of my room and towards Ric's room.

"What are you gonna do?" Jeremy asked. "You can't use magic, so-"

I sighed heavily and told him, "Look, Jer, I'm really sorry you had fine out like this but I'm a vampire."

He stopped walking suddenly. He looked as if I just shot a puppy. "What?"

I shook my head. "We'll talk about it later."

Elena was sprawled out on the floor, blood pouring out of her nose. I knelt down beside her and was about to bite into my wrist when Jeremy said, "Stop!" I twisted around and shot him an inquisitive look. "We'll get her to the hospital. We can't risk having another vampire in the house."

I chewed on my lower lip, hurt. "Alright," I said quietly. I vamped into my room and put on my clothes, even using vampire speed to pick out my clothes. I rushed back and scooped her into my arms. She didn't weigh anything to me anymore, even though I was only a few pounds heavier than her. "Get in the car. You're driving."

Elena woke up groggily in as Meredith, Jeremy and I observed her outside of the room. "She's gonna be fine," the doctor told us. "She got a little banged up today - hit her head - but it was just a slight concussion, nothing to worry about."

"But she collapsed!" Jeremy insisted. "There was blood."

"Honestly, Jeremy, she's okay," Meredith assured the two of us, giving us a reassuring smile. "She's just... she's been through a lot. Is there anyone you want to call?"

I nodded and pulled out my phone. "I'm gonna call Stefan." Jeremy gave me a nod and I walked off. I dialed the vampire's number and called him. "Hey, Stefan."

"Louise. What's up? You sound depressed."

"Jeremy found Elena unconscious in Ric's room."

"What, Louise, is she-"

"She's fine now. We brought her to the hospital."

"You did what?" Stefan and Damon questioned in disbelief.

"We took her to the hospital," I said. "That's what you do when you find your sister unconscious."

"Not when you have super healing vamp blood flowing through your veins!" Damon insisted.

"I knew it." Damon obviously hadn't told Stefan yet.

"Klaus fed me his blood when I was injured, I killed myself... Now I'm a vampire," I tiredly explained. "So much for telling you all at the same time."

Stefan said worriedly, "Every remaining Original is gonna want Elena dead to stop Alaric. She's a sitting duck in there."

"Well, Meredith wants to keep her here for observation," I argued.

He groaned. "Just get Elena home, Louise."

He had a point, so, I brought Elena home with the help of a certain barbie vampire. Caroline had given me about two dozen blood bags when she got to the hospital. As Elena still didn't know I was a vampire, I hid them underneath my coat.

"Couch," Caroline demanded as soon as we went inside.

"I'm fine. I just... I want something to eat first."

I rushed upstairs into my room, flustered and breathing heavily. The whole car ride home from the hospital I had to deal with the temptation, the smell, of blood. I wanted to rip open the blood bags, but, surprisingly, I restrained myself. Maybe I would be a good vampire after all.

The blood bags fell onto my bed as I tore open my coat. I picked up one of the blood bags and smiled ravenously. My nail tore into it and I brought the bag up to my lips, throwing the plastic container upwards as I let the blood pour into my mouth. Klaus was right, blood from the vein tasted so much better, but this was substantial at least.

It was empty quicker than I thought it would be. I pouted childishly. But there was more... so much more blood bags ready to be tore open and emptied. I grabbed another, but hesitated. I needed control. I needed to be able to handle myself.

My stomach churned viciously, as if it wasn't agreeing with the blood. Vomit rushed up my throat and I made a run to the bathroom. I knelt in front of the toilet, vomiting bright red blood into the bowl. The red substance was spattered all around the bathroom, it was even in my hair.

I stood up and looked at myself in the mirror. I was as white as a sheet and there blood dripping from my mouth, trailing onto my blue tank top. I wiped it off and stared at the blood on my hand as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

Why couldn't I digest the blood? Was there something wrong with me?

"Oh my God," Caroline's voice said from behind me. I saw her reflection in the mirror. "Louise, what happened? Are you okay?"

She strided over to me and ripped four sheets of toilet paper from the roll. She dabbed the blood off my chin in a motherly fashion, a worried expression etched on her face. "It was the blood bags... I vomited them back up."

"How is that even possible?" she asked me.

"I don't know," I said quietly.

"Everyone's able to drink from a blood bag," Caroline said, dumbfounded. "Well, not humans, but you know what I mean. Maybe it's your luna bruja blood that's preventing you from drinking blood from a blood bag. Have you drank from the vein yet? Or how did you complete the transition?"

"Klaus compelled some girl and I fed from her." Caroline looked shocked. "Don't worry, I didn't kill her. He stopped me." There was a ghost of a smile on my face as I mentioned Klaus.

Caroline shook me slightly. "Hey, snap out of it!" She snapped two angry fingers in my face. "One good deed doesn't make someone a good person."

I shrugged. "Maybe he's turning a leaf."

Caroline scoffed. "The only thing Klaus turns is my stomach. And best friends." She tossed the toilet paper into the toilet bowl and sighed. "You know, in our little group of friend's there's only three humans left: Jeremy, Elena and Matt. Isn't that sad?"

I nodded. "I hope it stays that way."

"Me too," she replied distractedly. The blonde vampire shook her head and plastered on a smile. "Come on, let me show you my best hiding places!"

"Hey togs!" Bonnie called, dressed in her cheerleading uniform.

"Hey pom-poms," I replied, grinning.

"You know everyone can see the bottom of your swimming togs with those shorts, right?" she asked.

I stretched out my arms in a show-off kind of way. "Why can't I wear my victory suit with pride?"

Bonnie chuckled and linked her arm in mine. We both frowned as we saw Elena kissing Matt. "She's leading him on," I said sadly.

"Yeah," Bonnie agreed. "Poor Matt. He doesn't deserve it. He's really head-over-heels for her."

Caroline popped up beside me. "Hey, guys!" she boomed happily, a large smile on her pretty face. "Oh, Louise! Good luck for today. Everyone's cheering you on. Nobody wants Danielle Roberts to win, by the way, they're all rooting for you. It's not like she's swimming-star material."

"Hey," I said firmly. "She's good. She's gotten to the State Championships, hasn't she?"

"I suppose," Caroline replied. "But even Allison Gardener and Paige Wheloff want you to win. And they lost the last race."

I shrugged. "So?"

"So," Caroline went on, smiling encouragingly. "You have everyone's support. Go for it."

I groggily opened my eyes and propped myself up using my elbows. I must have fell asleep. My timing was simply impeccable. I pushed myself out of bed and walked down the stairs. Elena was sitting up on the couch, drinking coffee.

Matt was in the kitchen, leaning against the counter and looking thoughtful. "Hey," I said to him as I entered the Gilbert family kitchen. Except it wasn't really a 'family' anymore. More like three orphaned kids with no one to take care of them.

"Hey." He looked wary of me. That could only mean one thing. "Jeremy told me about... you know."

"So that only leaves Bonnie and Elena." I scoffed.

"Actually, Caroline already told Bonnie." I shot him an look of complete disbelief. "What? Bonnie deserved to know. So does she." He gestured to Elena. "Come on, Louise. You have to tell her. Unless you want her to find out second-hand like I did."

I ran my hand through my hair and groaned. "You're right. I'm gonna tell her."

He gave me an encouraging nod before I slowly walked over to Elena, making each step take longer than it needed to be. I sat on the coffee table in front of the couch. My doppelganger twin raised a confused eyebrow as she eyed me suspiciously.

"Uh... Louise? Are you okay?" she questioned.

"Well, here's the thing." I smiled sweetly as I struggled to come up with an explanation. 'Hey, Elena, I killed myself so you wouldn't have to die, but turns out, I killed myself for nothing and came back as a vampire. Nice weather we're having, huh?' "When Klaus was draining you of your blood, I was in transition."

The look of confusion didn't leave her oval face until moments later, when my words sank in. "No... you can't mean..."

I nodded and her face fell. "Klaus fed me his blood back at the high school after Ric stabbed me. Then he took me back to his mansion and I killed myself so he wouldn't kill you, but actually, that didn't make a difference. Not that I want you to die or anything..."

I was talking way too fast. "Oh my God," Elena muttered. "Oh my God!" Her tone became louder. "You're a vampire because of me?" As I was about to protest, she continued her rant. "And it was to kill Alaric, but he's still alive because I am! I-I have to kill myself."

She tried to get up, but I pinned her back down with my new vampire-strength. "No, Elena. You don't."

"I do, Louise!" she exclaimed. "You're sacrifice doesn't matter if he's not dead. And the only way for Ric to die is if I die!"

"Then the whole reason why I killed myself is gone," I reminded her, still gripping her arms tightly. "If you die, then I died in vain."

She looked at me for a moment as her body relaxed. She let out a sigh. "You're right. I just feel so guilty. This - all of this - is all my fault! Because I'm the doppelganger!"

It kind of was. If she wasn't the Petrova doppelganger, then Jenna and John would be alive, Alaric wouldn't be an Enhanced Original and I wouldn't be a vampire. I'd still be a lunar witch with no control. I could view vampirism as an escape from that. What was the point of wallowing in self-pity for the next couple of hundred years when I could be enjoying my eternity?

"It's not all your fault," I said, holding her hand. It wasn't a complete lie. "If you weren't the doppelganger, Bonnie'd still be a witch, I'd still be a lunar witch freak with crazy powers and Tyler would still be a werewolf."

She nodded slowly, guilt still etched on her face.

Stefan, Matt and I were cooking in the kitchen. "I'm being over coddled," Elena called from the living room. "I feel completely fine."

"You're under house arrest," Stefan replied. "You're supposed to be coddled."

"Wouldn't it be smarter if we just got you the hell out of town?" Matt suggested.

"And do what? Go on the run for the rest of my life?" Elena asked. "No thank you." She stood up. "And I'm not an invalid. I'm done with the couch."

Wow, fussy much? I laughed at her. "So, you guys are just gonna let her call the shots?"

I shrugged. "I've lived with her all my life. And it's not like we can put her on a leash. She's allowed to make her own decisions."

"Even if they're wrong?" Matt pressed.

Stefan joined in our conversation. "Nothing wrong with free will, Matt. Trust me, you don't realize that til you lose it."

Elena called from the hallway, "Stefan."

We all moved out to the hall. The front door was open and standing on the porch was the self-proclaimed moral Original.

"Elijah," I growled.

He smiled. "Hello again."

The five of us were listening to Elijah's terms in the kitchen. He wanted his brother's body back. "All we need is to take that stake away from him. Once it's been disarmed, the weapon's in my possession, my family will scatter to the ends of the Earth and Alaric will follow us."

Stefan looked shocked that Elijah wasn't going to kill Elena. "And you'll just run?"

He sat down between me and Elena as Elijah said, "We've done it before. Klaus and Rebekah spent the better part of a thousand years evading my father. What's another half century while Elena is able to live out the rest of her natural life?"

"We've finally stopped him, Elijah. After everything that he's done to us, I can't just let you bring him back," Elena said.

"I give you my word, Elena. I will not revive Klaus within yours nor even within your children's lifetimes. Perhaps that will finally teach him some manners," Elijah promised.

"Your 'word' means nothing to us anymore," I snapped at him. "Moral brother my ass, your threats are the reason Abby Bennett is a vampire. And all you've done this year is screw us over."

"And for that, I am deeply ashamed." I scoffed, even though the look on Elijah's face told me that he wasn't lying. "But know this, she could have been dead the instant I walked through that door tonight, so Elena, I leave it to you to make the decision whether to trust me or not."

Damon was on the phone as he drove to wherever he was bringing Klaus' body. "Not! Hello, did that concussion give you brain damage? His lunatic siblings will kill you the first chance they get!"

"Rebekah and Kol will honor the terms. If you return Klaus' body to us, Elena will come to no harm." He turned to me. "Do we have a deal?"

Why was he trusting me with the decision? "Don't get me wrong, I still don't like you one bit, or your sadistic siblings, but maybe we should give you the coffin." Matt, Elena and Stefan gaped at me, even Elijah looked a little shocked.

"No! No, no, no, no. Did I mention 'no'?"

"Klaus is the sire of our bloodline, Damon. Who better than to protect his body than a bunch of Originals?" Elijah nodded. I leaned into the table and looked at him suspiciously. "But why do you want his body? I didn't think you two were all that close."

"He's my brother. We remain together," Elijah simply explained.

I looked at Elena. "You're the one this most affects."

Elena thought about it for a moment before sighing. "We have a deal."

She always did have a soft-spot for Elijah.

Jeremy was calling Ric. "Yes?" I heard Ric's voice with vamp-hearing.

"I know where Klaus' body is."

"Good. Tell me."

"Damon's on his way to bury him in the woods off Route twelve. I'll text you with the specifics."

"Thank you, Jeremy. You're doing the right thing for your sisters." He didn't know I was a vampire, then.

Jeremy was a shockingly good liar. Should I be worried? "I know." He looked over at us as he hung up. The five of us were staring at him expectantly. "He bought it."

Matt and I were talking in the kitchen. "Hey, about what you said earlier, about getting Elena out of town..."

"Jeremy and I have already kind of planned to get her out," he replied guiltily. "I'm sorry, we-"

"But you're right, Matt," I said sadly. "She's not safe here. She has to leave town."

"We're on it," Matt assured me. "You just get some rest. You don't look well."

I nodded. "I know it's bad timing and all, but I feel horrible. Can vampires even get sick?"

Matt shrugged. "I dunno."

So, useful, Matt. So useful.

"Hey, I got coke!" Dad announced, holding up the two litre bottle and grinning. He poured five glasses, one for Jenna, Mom, Dad, Jeremy and me. We all took our glasses and he raised his glass in a toast, as if it was alcohol. "A toast! To my amazing daughter with two gold medals!"

I smiled as every raised their glasses. Was Dad drunk? I kissed him on the cheek. "Love you, Dad."

"Love you too, muffin." He smiled at me. "How about a game of pictionary?"

Jenna groaned. "Ugh... you know how much I hate pictionary, Grayson."

"Because you suck at it," Jeremy pointed out, snorting. He had stoner eyes. Why did he always have stoner eyes? Didn't he learn from his big sister's mistakes?

"Hey!" Jenna protested before sighing heavily. "But, yeah, I do suck at it."

We laughed at Jenna. "Elena's missing out," Mom said. "I was surprised you didn't go to the party, sweetie. I thought you'd like to spend your victory with your friends."

I shrugged, smiling. "Family night always wins."

Jenna wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "And that is why you're my favourite niece right now."

"Hey!" Jeremy protested.

"Wait," Jenna said, holding back laughter. "Are you my niece now?"

Jeremy's face went as red as a tomato. "What? No! I'm not-"

Jenna pinched his cheeks. "Aw... my adorable wickle niece!" I clutched my stomach, engulfed in a fit of laughter. The phone rang. "Better get that." She answered the phone. I heard Elena's voice on the other end. "Your dad is making me play Pictionary. I suck at Pictionary."

Dad snorted. "You do. You're terrible."

"Bite me, Grayson," Jenna said, smirking amusedly. "Oh, having second thoughts about ditching family night?"

"Here," Mom said and Jenna handed her the phone. "Elena, everything okay?... He doesn't really care about that yet, honey, he's just trying to figure out how you feel about him right now.. Yes you do. You're just afraid to say it... You're not gonna lose him, honey. You're setting him free."

"Looks like there's trouble for the it-couple, huh?" I whispered to Jeremy.

"Uh-huh," he agreed. "But even I noticed how she strings him along. Maybe she should just break up with him."

Jenna smacked us on our arms. "Hey!" we both whined.

"Don't talk about your sister's relationships behind her back," she scolded half-heartedly. "At least, not without me."

Mom hung up and shot us a look. "I don't know which one of you three behaves worse. My teenage kids or my sister who's in college."

Jenna smiled innocently. "You know you love me, Miranda."

Mom rolled her eyes. Jer and I laughed at them. "I'm gonna collect Elena."

"I'll come with you," Dad said, he turned to us three before leaving. "Prepare for an epic game of pictionary."

Jenna groaned. "Can't wait," she grumbled.

Dad chuckled before leaving with Mom.

I woke up when my phone rang. I reached over and answered it. It was Damon. "Hey."

"Louise." He sounded sad and... scared. "Klaus, he's... Alaric..."

"No," I whispered. It surprised me how upset I was over his death. I couldn't hurt Damon, not on our last few hours. "We're all gonna die, Damon."

"Unless Klaus was lying and he's not the sire of our bloodline. Which seems like a likely possibility."

"Damon, Klaus sired me. I was turned by his blood. But you're gonna be okay. You, Caroline and Stefan... you'll all be fine. You have to be. I love you, Damon."

"There has to be a way. I can't lose you, Louise!"

His voice was breaking, and so was mine. "You're gonna survive this. And I want you to move on."

I heard things smashing against a wall and breaking. "No! You can't die!"

I was beginning to sob. "I can't say goodbye to you like this," I said, trying to keep my voice under control. "Where are you?"

"Too far for you to drive to. Louise, if this... this is it. I just want you to know that I've loved you more than anything. Every moment I've spent with you has been amazing. I can never forget you."

I smiled. "I love you too, Damon."

He chuckled. "We sound pathetic."

I laughed. "We're saying our final goodbyes, we're allowed to be pathetic."

"See you on the Other Side?"

"In a long, long time on your part, Damon."

"Tyler's dead?" I stated in disbelief, staring at Caroline. We were in the woods.

She nodded, swallowing back tears. "He-he's gone. But... why aren't w-we all dead?"

I narrowed my eyes in thought. "I don't know. Maybe it's going by age and you guys were turned by a different Original?"

Stefan approached the two of us. "Or maybe, somehow, Sage had linked herself to Finn and Troy."

"Why would she do that?" Caroline asked.

Stefan was brooding, as usual. "I don't know, but it's been an hour and we're all alive... what else am I to think?"

An hour later, I was back at home, still alive. Klaus turned me, I should be dead! Unless an Original's bloodline didn't die... but Sage and Troy didn't seem to know what was happening. It was so confusing!

Damon saw Klaus burn with his own eyes. If anyone should be dead, it should be me.

My phone rang. I sighed as I answered it. "Stefan, hey."

"Louise, it's Elena."

I sat up like a shot. "What happened?"

"She's dead."

I rushed into the hospital, tears streaming down my cheeks like there was no tomorrow. Everyone in my family save Jeremy was dead. My twin sister was dead! I was so close to turning it off, and if it wasn't for Jeremy... I would have.

"Where is she?" I demanded.

Meredith noticed me and approached me. "No, Louise, wait."

I choked back a sob. "Where the hell is my sister?"

She grabbed my arm and pulled me into a corner. "You need to know, when you and Jeremy brought Elena in here earlier tonight, her injuries were worse than I let on. It wasn't a concussion, it was a cerebral hemorrhage, bleeding of the brain."

Where was she taking this? "What are you saying?" I asked her.

"You guys were so worried," she said. "I didn't want to tell you, but I... I helped her. She needed my help."

I stepped back when I realised what she talking about. "You did what?"

Oh my God.

My twin sister was a vampire.

A/N: So, that's the last chapter of In the Crossfire! There's definitely going to be a sequel, which I will most likely post today. It's called 'Allure of the Darkness.' The POV is different. It's third point of view which means that the whole chapter won't just be in Louise's POV. I think I prefer it like that. Season Four will feature lots of Damise and Klouise (more Klouise than this story).

Thanks to everyone who followed, favourited and reviewed! It means the world to me that so many people are interested in my story.

Bye for now!