Impossible
Disclaimer: The characters and other things from The Vampire Diaries don't belong to me. Credit goes to the rightful owners.
Chapter 5: Haunted
A/N: Picked up some parts from 2x19 but this is still generally AU after 2x18 :) Hope you enjoy this update!
Elijah stepped out into the night and breathed in the cool air. He closed his eyes as he tried to forget the face that haunted him for centuries, the one that had a place in every generation, taunting him even in the darkest places of this earth. There was no peace for him even when his company was only his mind.
He turned around and took a look at the Salvatore house, surveying it, wondering how fate could be so cruel to keep repeating history until it ended in a fiery disaster. With a thousand secrets, he walked away thinking of how much he saw of himself in Damon Salvatore, how much they stand to lose and how much they still have yet to sacrifice, all for different sides of the same woman. The only difference is that Damon will die knowing the woman he loved would have gladly done the same for him. He will not die unloved while Elijah has eternity to live out not knowing what it feels to have loved returned.
He was on the road to nowhere, walking without direction but he kept going, knowing he had to keep moving for the sake of something to do. Elijah needed to focus on anything but the name that his thoughts turned to the second he awoke, the one name that made madness seem like a welcome escape.
Katerina.
A low growl escaped him, almost wild and feral, quite uncharacteristic of him and more like his brother, the elusive, enigmatic and almost mythical Klaus.
Few knew about this connection and Elijah wasn't surprised because this was part of what his entire family had worked for over centuries. They buried the truths about their origins, doing everything in their power to obscure fact and turn fiction into reality. They misled humans into believing the worst and giving them reason to fear creatures like them. They weaved lie after lie about what they were and for Klaus the mystery only added to the ease of being a predator. They never saw him coming and if they did, it would always be too late.
But Klaus didn't really need that advantage. He could still get what he wanted in other means that did not involve any panic or fear. He could mingle with the best of them and he earned trust so easily. The humans in his circle never suspected, never dreamed that the beguiling young man could be anything but good. He always had a smile on his face that teased of a secret everyone was dying to know but they didn't know it was merely prelude to a fatal game. They only find out so near the end that they only have time to scream once before there is nothing but the dark.
Centuries unfolded as the Originals moved in and out of history and Klaus continued to excite and enthrall, drawing in both humans and vampires to him. His charisma was legendary and people would fall at his feet for just his smile. Klaus thrived on the thrill, riding his own emotions from happiness to fury and completely immersed in his power. He was the golden boy and everyone loved him. But it wasn't enough. It would never be enough. Not until the curse was broken would he be satisfied, and until Elijah knew the real stakes, he stood by Klaus as he murdered for that very cause.
Elijah was very much as lethal as his brother, but with a stillness about him that drew him more as an enigma than a force like Klaus. He was loyal to his family, his younger brother Klaus most of all. Elijah saw in Klaus the parts of himself that he wanted to become, the potential to be something great. But he was content with the shadows to watch over his little brother and play second-fiddle…even when it came to Katerina.
He sighed inwardly for the hundredth time that day, wishing the stars would fall on him instead of bearing witness to his failed attempt at maintaining his composure as he stood alone. Elijah stopped suddenly in the middle of the road, the black pavement stretching out in front of him like an endless black sea and even in the darkness the only thing he could see was Katerina and how she looked when he saw her last—fallen so far from grace but with the beauty of an avenging angel.
Elijah kept walking as his mind wandered to the first time he met Katerina. Already past his natural life, he was already numb from his existence and saw the world in shades of gray, colored only slightly by the world of magic that surrounded his family. His only purpose then was to find the one who could break the curse and then she came along, the sea of people fading into the background as their eyes met. She was unlike any other that Elijah met before, so much like a breath of fresh air that he no longer needed as a vampire but found that it still amazed him.
Katerina was not striking at first, with her plain long hair and brown eyes. However, the opinion changed when he saw the smile on her face that was so captivating, cunning and full of untold stories that begged to be told. But what endeared her to Elijah was that she could handle Klaus in a way that nobody did before, albeit with unladylike responses and unexpected wit and grace. They clashed as often as they agreed, Elijah acting as arbiter or spectator most of the time. He never read into it and that was his mistake. Elijah was merely content to pick up any pieces Klaus left Katerina shattered in, waiting, always waiting for him.
But his friendship with Katerina, or whatever it was, paled in comparison to what passions Klaus brought out in her. What are smiles and polite words compared to laughter and heated exchanges? Elijah felt her fading from his life as time passed. He knew it was a matter of time before he lost her completely and he did not mind, for he understood what it was to be a brother. Elijah stepped aside, letting Klaus plan out her death for his cause, thinking he was defying the part of the curse they all believed was insignificant. Katerina would never come between them. The doppelganger will not be able to prevent them from breaking the curse when she did not even know that was her purpose for existing. They will win and they will no longer be bound to that ancient curse.
"True love is not real unless it is returned. Do you agree?" Katerina said her voice clear but everything else of her seemingly far away.
"I do not believe in love, Katerina," Elijah answered, a lie but one he wished were true.
"That is too sad for me to accept, my lord. Life is too cruel. If we cease to believe in love, why would we want to live?" Katerina replied passionately, making Elijah afraid of his own heart.
Elijah remembered the lost words from lifetimes ago. It made him work to save her, find ways to break the curse without taking her life. It was then that the blinders came off and he started to see what his brother had become, what slave Klaus was to his own power. He labored to find a means to honor his brother's desires and still spare Katerina but in the end she betrayed them all and took matters in her own hands. With her actions, Katerina made family, life and love impossible for Elijah, setting him against his own blood. And after centuries of searching for her, wanting to exact revenge to end his agony, he finally found her only to realize he still answers to the call of saving her. Elijah knew then that he never stopped loving Katerina.
Elijah compelled her to remain in that tomb, hidden and a danger only to herself. It was a place that Klaus would never look and the sacrifice could take place without her taking any part of it. He could deal with Klaus without needing to think of her in the line of fire. But as this was no longer their story to play out, everything slipped out of his control and now Katerina is in Klaus' hands. As much as he didn't want to, he needed trust Elena, Damon and Stefan to play this out to its conclusion. This is their ending to make, and their love to put on the line to break the curse or seal it completely forever.
He found himself in front of a rundown mansion, something that possibly was grand and beautiful in its day. But now it stood a few ways away from complete ruin, an ugly reminder of what it used to be. Elijah took a deep breath and listened for signs of life. The entire place pulsated with powers so dark, he could smell the violent deaths that caused blood to spill and taint the land.
Blood. It began with blood. It fueled the darkest, most powerful magic the world had ever seen and created the most fearsome beings to ever walk the earth. Elijah's father Alexander and his brother Dimitri thought of their creations, what they had done to their families and themselves as their triumph and the ultimate defiance to nature. But their greed turned blood against them, against each other as it answered a higher power—love, one that they were foolish enough to think they could control. Blood became the curse that bound them to an insatiable thirst, slaves to the emptiness that could never be satisfied. The hunger, oh the hunger, it drove them to their knees and it kept them bound to this world like the filthy humans they toyed with. And most of all, it kept them trapped in a body that still knew how to feel, to care and to love but somehow in way that was larger than life that it consumed them. Thus, though difficult to kill, they still were weak.
This was the curse Klaus wanted to break. He wanted to no longer need blood to sustain himself. He no longer wanted emotions or anything that seemed remotely human. He wanted to be invincible that no ash, dagger or power can kill; the being that their father's magic intended them to be. Klaus saw it as his destiny to rule the world and this was the last obstacle on that path. It drove Klaus insane that it was the thing that disgusted him the most that created that hindrance.
"Leave."
The voices of the dead witches whispered harshly to Elijah, the force of witch was almost tangible enough to push him back, farther away from the house.
"I mean no harm," Elijah said to the empty air before him, "I only wish to speak with the Bennett witch. There are things she needs to know if she is to carry out what she is set to do."
"There is no need. Anna is among us. It is her tale to tell. They will all know in time. Leave, cursed one, you are not welcome here."
The voices were sharp and Elijah could feel that they did not back down even after he nodded in acquiescence, "Then she knows the curse has run its course and it will come to an end, either it is broken or sealed forever."
It was a single voice that replied, so much like Katerina's and Elena's that Elijah knew for certain it was Anna, the mold from which all doppelgangers were created from. The woman who died for the brothers she loved and damned them to an eternity of misery by the light of the moon.
"That remains to be seen. They have found each other but they are yet to make a choice that will define how this will end. You know what is needed and I can see your doubts. Their love may not be enough."
Bonnie felt the power stir even as if she was already in the Salvatore house. Her hand found Jeremy's, seeking comfort and strength as she strained to understand what was happening. Even if she anchored the power of the dead witches to her, she still knew it was wild and largely untamed. She will never be able to fully master it and she will have to give some control with them. Bonnie understood this but it was something she kept to herself, showing everyone else only the brave face she put up for their sake. There was no room for her fears when so many lives were on the line.
"Bonnie? Are you okay?" Elena asked, a concerned look on her face, picking up on her friend's unease, "You look…"
"I'm fine, Elena," Bonnie interrupted, "I'm just still a little tired from everything."
"Isn't fake death supposed to be restful?" Damon said with a smirk on his face, earning him an elbow from Elena.
Bonnie glared at Damon but ignored him for the most part, "I don't understand what happened here and I don't want to but let's get one thing straight—no matter what you do, you will be nothing more to me than a loathsome, psychotic, evil vampire. I'm only working with you to save Elena but we are not friends."
"Sheesh, it was a joke, Bonnie. Lighten up. You're not the one doomed ala Romeo and Juliet, I am." Damon said, rolling his eyes.
"Can you two just please behave?" Elena scolded them, "We don't have time for this."
"Bonnie, is it possible that the witches in that house know about what Elijah was talking about? What he means by Elena being the last doppelganger?" Stefan interjected, trying to redirect the conversation and diffuse the situation
Elena mouthed a silent thanks to Stefan before turning to Bonnie, "Elijah said something about the story of the origin of the doppelganger and how it mirrors what's happening now."
In that same instant, a gust of wind swept through them and the lights flickered until the room was left in a dimmed state. Elena gasped as she watched Bonnie's eyes turn completely black and expressionless, her voice not her own as she spoke to them.
"You must not ask questions," Bonnie said in a harsh voice, "when you are not ready for the answers."
"Bonnie? What's going on?" Elena said, her heart thudding out of her chest even as Damon squeezed her hand in his.
"I am Anna. Bonnie will return to you, there is no need to be alarmed." Bonnie's voice spoke to them.
"Who are you?" Elena asked.
Bonnie's face twisted into a knowing smile that sent shivers up Elena's spine, "You are my doppelganger, Elena. I am the First."
There was a collective gasp in the room. Elena paled as she struggled to find her voice, desperate to ask everything that was going on in her mind but Damon beat her to it.
"Then you can start by telling us how to save Elena," Damon said getting straight to the point.
Bonnie turned slowly to him, transforming as she took him in, pain and longing plainly written on her face. Her voice was broken when she finally spoke, "Your eyes are blue."
"I know that, in fact, everyone can see that. You didn't answer my question. How do we save Elena?" Damon asked irritated
But Anna ignored him and turned to Stefan before she continued, "I'm sorry. It would have been kinder to have been honest if I had made my choice. It would never have gone this far if I had the courage to truly love. But I couldn't break one heart for the sake of the other and I ended up damning us all."
"Please, Anna," Stefan said calmly, even as Damon made low rumbling sounds, "we need your help to understand all of this so we can fight what's coming."
Bonnie smiled wistfully as she looked at both brothers, "I was young when I met them, Alexander and Dimitri. They were brothers like you. They were the best and the brightest, and nothing the world could throw at them could keep them from becoming great. Together they dreamed and conquered and I was the only thing to come between them."
She turned to Stefan, "I met Alexander first. He found me one day as I limped my way home, bleeding from injuries of my own carelessness. It started an easy friendship; one I thought was something that could turn into something like what I saw with my own mother and father. It was stable and safe. We both knew about the powers that lay dormant in us and our dreams were the same."
"But Dimitri, his brother," she continued, turning to Damon, "blew into our lives like a storm, throwing everything off balance and the power that we were so careful with. I found myself staring into something I've never seen before, challenging everything I ever knew. I hated him for being such a nuisance in my relationship with his brother, for needing me so much and for making me feel like I mattered. Dimitri tore me apart so many times I couldn't recognize myself anymore but he put me back together in ways that made me a better version than I used to be."
"I loved them both." Anna said simply, smiling wanly at Elena, "And I was selfish enough not to choose, thinking I was doing right by them. But I was only saving myself and I left them. I married someone else, had a family and there were days that missing them didn't hurt so much. I believed they moved on as well but still I hid. I thought it was over."
"I was wrong," she said in a broken voice, "I never knew the extent of the enmity I created between the brothers. By the time I bore my last child, they had already transformed into immortals, equally powerful and vengeful but distinctly different predators that were fully at war with each other even if I was only a memory to them."
She took a deep breath before continuing, "They found my family, murdered them in cold blood. They were merely humans and they had no chance of surviving. I was almost lost to the grief when I heard my daughter cry, only a few months old at the time. It was the most beautiful and agonizing sound that my ears were ever blessed with…and the last I ever heard of her. I gave her away and then I set out to find Alexander and Dimitri."
"I found them locked in combat with each other," Anna said, "their respective families watching, itching to join the fight. Alexander's sons, including Klaus and Elijah, were there facing off with Dimitri's wolf pack. My anger and despair fueled me to come between them one last time. I looked them and saw almost nothing of the men I loved before. I wanted to save what little was left so badly."
"I killed myself in front of them," she said softly, almost a whisper, "I let them watch my life slowly empty from my body, binding them to my blood that tainted their own, cursing them to the darkness they had turned our lives into. I made them weak and slaves to the humanity that I had once loved them for. I took from them their greatest dream and made it a nightmare. But in the process I cursed my own daughter as I did to their own descendants. Her bloodline will follow my broken path, forced to face the impossible choices of love and the mistakes I made once before."
"The blood that bound them all will be the same blood that will free them," Anna said, "Yours Elena, your life as I gave mine before. As long as you live, they will never be free of that part of them that is good. They are not lost, not completely…not yet. But Elijah did not lie. Because the doppelganger has finally made the choice I was afraid to make before, you have forced the hand of destiny to rule. It must end with you. Even if you die by your own hand or by any other means, you will break the curse and they will have exactly what they want."
"That's great but we're not looking to break the curse," Damon said sarcastically, "We're here to save Elena not make Klaus king of the world."
"Even after the death of my family, the repayment for a past love, I still wanted to save them from themselves and the evil they created inside. I gave up my blood, my life for them because I loved them still," Anna said turning to Damon, "It is a deep magic that no witch or warlock can ever recreate because it is what everything is made from, it is why my spell endures. It is in your hands, Damon, whether she lives or dies…not mine. If you love her enough to make the same sacrifice, to fully accept the curse as a fact of your existence and die for that, then she lives. If not, then you know how that will end. Decide by the full moon, Damon. The debt will be collected then. One of you will die. The choice is yours."
Before anyone could move, Bonnie had collapsed in Jeremy's arms and they were bathed in a blinding light before everything returned to normal. Stefan ran to Bonnie's side, shaking her awake, occupying himself with anything but having to consider the inevitable loss of someone he loved when it all goes down.
Damon nodded to no one in particular, his jaw set firmly, refusing to look at Elena as he made his decision. He knew without turning that she was shaking her head in horror, silently pleading with him to not act on what he's thinking of.
"Damon," Elena said placing a hand on his arm, "No, you're not going to go and sacrifice yourself—"
"What's with the double-standard, Elena?" Damon said casually, pulling off her hand, inching away, placing distance between them no matter how small, "When you wanted to kill yourself in the name of the people you love, you were stubborn about it being the only way and didn't want to be saved…now you're saying I can't do the same for you? It's my chance to play hero, Elena, give me this."
"No!" Elena shouted, "I can't…not when I just…there has to be another way…"
"There isn't," Bonnie said softly as she came to, "Everything she said was true. The alternative is a lifelong struggle to fight off anyone who comes after you, starting with Klaus."
"Who cannot be killed by means we know, and I'm pretty sure decades of battle, where innocent lives will be lost, is not okay with Elena. Better to cut clean with the option dead witch doppelganger original gave us," Damon said nonchalantly, "Besides, I'm the one people will miss the least, with possibly Elena as the only exception. It's the lesser evil, Elena."
"He's right," Stefan said steadily, meeting Damon's eyes, nodding in agreement, "This is our best bet."
Elena stared hard at Stefan and slapped him before he could react.
"I trusted you. I loved you." Elena said, her voice cracking as she spoke, her breathing ragged as she struggled with her words, "He is your brother. Does that mean nothing to you?"
"It means everything to me, Elena," Stefan said evenly as he looked at her, remorse in his eyes, "Even if it kills me to watch I will let it happen because I won't be able to deal with how broken he will be if you die in his place."
Elena shook her head at all of them before running out of the room, her tears streaming down her face freely, blurring her vision completely. She kept moving until she found herself outside and she fell to her knees, hugging herself as she screamed at the sky until her lungs burned. She kept screaming even as Damon's arms went around her, holding her tightly against him, reminding her how cruel fate was to them. Elena screamed and hit his chest until her anger subsided into sobs that Damon tried to calm as she rocked in his arms, shocked to the core that only one of them was meant to survive this.
"Are you done?" Damon said after innumerable minutes later, his hands brushing the hair away from her face.
"I won't let you, Damon," Elena said hoarsely, "I will always fight to save you."
"I know," Damon said with a smile, "I was there every single time you did just that. You're going to try because that's what you do. I'm just expecting a different result this time."
Elena shook her head, "Why…why are you so calm? Why aren't you angry? Why aren't you afraid?"
Damon kissed the top of her head slowly before pulling back so he could look at her properly, "I am. I wanted to rip out her throat, even if she wasn't really there and it was actually Bonnie. I wanted to hurt her. I still do. I want to fall apart and just switch it all off. But I love you, so I'm keeping it together. I told you—I will always choose you. And that includes over my own life."
"I can't accept that," Elena said as she buried her face in his chest, "I will never be okay with that."
"I know," Damon said as he tilted his head to the sky, "Look up, Elena. We're a day away from the full moon."
He took a deep breath and continued, "Give me tomorrow. Just give me that last day with you. No questions, no curse, nothing. Just us. One day to live in the present. I just want to walk beside you for once and know you want to be there with me. I just want to know what it's like to love you on a normal day."
Elena nodded, forcing the tears down, "And then what?"
Damon just gave her a pained smile and shrugged, "And then nothing."