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Disclaimer: TVD belongs to L.J. Smith & CW.
Chapter 17
Damon stood in front of Elena's house for a few more moments after Abby had went back home. He was shaken out of his reverie only when his eyes were hit by the headlights of a car. He squinted and upon recognizing the car took a breath, trying to keep himself from rolling his eyes.
"How long has Elena been here?" Stefan asked, getting out of the car.
"Well, if you guessed that she's here, maybe you can also guess for how long," Damon said with a wry smile.
"I didn't need to guess," Stefan said shooting him a pointed look when he walked passed him. "She called me."
Damon blinked.
"Bonnie." Abby tried again, watching Bonnie pace around the room glancing left to right with unseeing eyes.
"I should've known I wouldn't be able to keep it under control," Bonnie muttered angrily to herself.
"Don't say that. You are keeping it under control," Abby said with quiet firmness that reminded Bonnie of her grandmother's voice. She stopped in her tracks, momentarily overwhelmed by the memories. "Better than anyone would."
"But not good enough," Bonnie insisted, shaking her head and shooting her mother an incredulous look. "You were the one who was saying I shouldn't be doing this." Abby stood up and opened her mouth to speak, but Bonnie cut her off. "You were right. What happened with Elena... it's my fault," Bonnie said, biting her lip to prevent it from quivering. "I didn't even know he did something to the ring."
Wordlessly, Abby shook her head and moved to stand in front of Bonnie. "You knew you wouldn't be able to know everything. But you know more than enough to make it work. You know what he's planning, and you know how to stop him. It's sad what happened to Elena. It's sad that someone died. But you can't give up now. I know it may sound harsh but," Abby sighed, "don't think about lives already lost. Think about all the lives you're going to save. Klaus must be stopped. You can stop him."
Bonnie crossed her arms over her chest, her eyes dim with skepticism, although a part of her was listening intently, wishing to believe.
"Now it's too late to give up, Bonnie," Abby continued, trying to catch Bonnie's gaze, look her in the eyes and extinguish that glimmer of uncertainty in them with her words. "There always comes that moment – and that moment is now - that no matter how everything is going, no matter how you feel, it's too late to give up. You have to keep going. You have to see it through," she smiled faintly and Bonnie returned the smile, although her eyes remained solemn. "And I know I don't have a right to say it…" Abby trailed off, taking a slow breath, "and that you have no reason to care to hear it, but…" She looked away, and then back at Bonnie. "I'm proud of you. I'm proud that you decided to do it."
Bonnie stared at her, and then her eyes brightened with tears and she reached out for Abby's hand. "I'm proud of you too," she said quietly, a small smile flitting across her face. "I'm proud that you stayed."
It felt very much like an alternate reality, entering the house after Stefan, following him up the stairs. Or he might have just been time traveling into the past. Damon stopped on top of the stairs, looking toward Elena's room with a small frown on his face, for a moment fearing making a few more steps and seeing something he didn't want to see. He recalled what Abby had said about the ring's possible aftereffects, however the thought wasn't comforting enough. But then the sound of Elena's voice drifted to him, bringing back all of her words, all of her smiles and he smiled briefly to himself wondering how he could even consider the possibility of anything coming between them.
When he walked into Elena's room, Stefan was standing in front of Elena, asking what had happened and if she was OK. Jeremy shifted his eyes between them in mild confusion. He glanced at Damon when he entered the room. Elena's eyes darted to him as well. Something flashed in Elena's eyes when she saw him and she made an immediate step toward him, but then stopped and looked as if she forgot why she had made the step.
"Elena?" Stefan prompted, but her eyes wandered between everyone.
"What happened to you?" Elena asked, looking at Damon. The wounds were mostly healed thanks to the blood bag Jeremy had given him, but his clothes were still muddy and bloodied, and he suddenly realized he hadn't even got his shoes back on.
"You said you remember everything," Jeremy broke into the conversation, giving Elena a questioning look.
She looked at him. "I do… I just…" She brought her hand to her head and Stefan gently grasped her arm.
"You should sit down," he said.
"I feel a bit dizzy," Elena admitted.
Damon suffered through the exchange for a few moments longer, but then without saying a word approached Elena and unceremoniously swept her into his arms. She instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck, her lips accidentally brushing against his chin when he turned his head to look at her.
"You broke my neck," she whispered the words with a mixture of surprise and confusion in her voice, but nothing more than that. She sounded mildly astonished by either forgetting about it or remembering it right now.
"You what?" Stefan asked the inevitable question, but Damon ignored him, carrying Elena out of the room and down the stairs.
"You were right. It was Klaus," Damon said in a low voice, slightly amused by Elena keeping her eyes fixed on his lips when he spoke. "He did something to that ring from Bonnie," he added, watching Elena's face for the reaction to his words.
She didn't seem clueless as to what he was talking about, but she didn't seem particularly receptive either. She lifted her gaze and looked into his eyes with some kind of wonder. He gave her a small smile that she returned. The only thing that worried him was that her arms around his neck were draped rather loosely, as if she wasn't sure if she should be keeping them there at all.
"The ring," she echoed with a small frown, slightly twisting her hand to look at the heart-shaped gem of her diamond ring.
"Not this one," Damon whispered, somewhat saddened by the gesture, but the feeling dispersed when Elena gave him a pointed look.
"I know."
Their eyes locked for a second, but then once again he had the impression that the intensity of her gaze that contained everything she knew, everything she felt and remembered, wavered into confusion.
Heading for the kitchen, Damon sat Elena on the counter, and placed one of his hands on her jeans-clad thigh. He opened the freezer with his other hand and grabbed a blood bag from there. When he popped the bag open with his teeth and handed it to her she was still looking at his hand on her thigh. Her eyes flickered to his and he held her gaze.
"For now this will have to do," Damon said, handing her the blood bag.
Elena's forehead creased for a moment, but then her eyes flew to his neck and then back to his face and she seemed to choke on her breath.
"Could you perhaps just leave her alone for a few moments?" Stefan said, walking into the kitchen with Jeremy following close behind. "She didn't even have time to collect her thoughts," he added, giving Damon a serious stern look.
Damon rolled his eyes without turning away from Elena, who slowly took the blood bag from his hands, her fingers lingering over his for longer than necessary and Damon's heart skipped a beat at the message conveyed by the gesture.
"I'm fine, Stefan," Elena said, glancing at Stefan before bringing the bag to her lips. "My head is beginning to clear up," she added, shifting her eyes to Damon who smiled a little. "Everything is falling back into place," she said, giving Jeremy a reassuring look.
"That's too bad," Damon thought with the intention of Elena hearing the words and from the way her eyes darted to him he was sure she did. "I was hoping I could help with that by kissing you senseless."
Elena kept on drinking but her eyes were sparkling with laughter.
Stefan's mouth twitched slightly when for the first time he saw the veins appear under Elena's eyes. Jeremy stiffened, and averted his eyes for a second before looking at Elena again. He had thought he would've found it bizarre or appalling, but now that he was seeing her like that it just made him sad because it reminded him of the moment when he had realized she was dead.
"I don't remember how I got dressed," Elena said, throwing the empty blood bag into the sink, and wiping off the remnants of blood with the back of her hand. She then looked at her hand as if she didn't know what to do next.
Damon took her hand and wiped the blood off against his shirt. "How do you feel?" he asked, keeping her hand clasped in his.
Stefan's eyes flickered to their hands before returning to their faces.
"Drowsy. Tired." Elena shook her head with a sigh. "There are these... thoughts, images piling up in my head. They were blurred at first but now they're becoming clearer." She drew a breath, frowning a little. "When I woke up all my memories felt... compressed," she said with a shrug. "And I remembered the most recent ones last."
"Elena," Stefan interrupted her, placing a steadying hand on her arm. "You just need to get some rest," he said with a small smile.
After committing a minute trying convincing himself to ignore the gesture and not act childishly, Damon swatted Stefan's hand off Elena's shoulder.
"I'm sorry if I bother you," Stefan said levelly, shooting Damon a glare. "But I'm here because Elena called me, so if you don't mind I'm not leaving until Elena tells me to leave." He said and shifted his eyes to Elena. "Do you want me to leave?" He asked in a low, serious voice, the glimmer of anger in his eyes turning into a glimmer of hope.
Before Elena had a chance to answer, Caroline marched into the kitchen and went straight to Elena, closing her in a hug.
Jeremy blinked and then went to the hallway to lock the front door that someone had apparently left open.
"Careful," Stefan said, squinting into the distance. "You should probably ask Damon for permission first."
"Permission to what?" Caroline asked, confused, releasing Elena from the embrace. "I brought you these," she added with a small, gleeful smile, showing Elena the shopping bags from Pennsylvania that had been left in her trunk.
Elena tilted her head to the side with a smile.
"Alright," Jeremy said in a loud voice, attracting everyone's attention. "It's been a very long day for Elena and I think you should all go home and give her a break until tomorrow."
No one moved.
"Is that safe? Leaving you here all alone?" Caroline asked dubiously after a pause, crossing her arms over her chest, looking between Elena and Jeremy. She then wrinkled her forehead, feeling something peaking from her jacket pocket. She pulled a red envelope out of it.
"We'll be fine," Jeremy said decidedly.
"What's that?" Damon asked, giving Caroline a questioning look.
"I don't know," Caroline said, her forehead wrinkled in confusion as she tried to remember where the envelope had come from. "I-"
Damon snatched the envelope out of her hands. Caroline narrowed her eyes at him.
Elena straightened up, peering over Damon's shoulder at the black card that he had slid out of the envelope. When she inhaled, she shuddered inwardly at the scent that was spiced with blood staining his shirt, but underneath the blood there was something else, something familiar and exhilarating, a scent in which she wanted to get lost. She closed her eyes, imagining kissing him. Imagining it wasn't good enough, but hopefully it was enough to stop her from really kissing him right now, regardless of everyone's presence.
"I don't even remember when, where, how I got this!" Caroline exclaimed in indignation, glaring daggers at the envelope.
"He must've compelled you to forget," Jeremy offered, causing Caroline's face to drain of all color.
"Today's Thursday," Stefan said grimly. "So we have two days until Sunday."
"Anyone else wishing to state something obvious?" Damon cut in with mock-cheerfulness, his eyes on the card.
"We knew we had seven days," Caroline said, annoyed. "What's the purpose of the stupid invitation?"
Damon looked at Elena, who took a sharp intake of breath. "Are you OK?" he asked concernedly, propping her chin with his hand.
Her eyes snapped open. "Yes," she gasped. "I just… I just feel a bit dizzy, that's all," she said, blinking quickly. Damon looked at her for a moment longer and she wondered if he suspected what she was thinking about.
"Listen, I really think you should go," Jeremy repeated his former plea. "Nothing's gonna happen. If Klaus' planning his big showdown on Sunday, then we have a couple of days off."
"You actually trust him that much?" Caroline asked sardonically.
Jeremy sighed. "I just want Elena to finally get some rest and some sleep. You can come here tomorrow," he added to pacify Caroline who looked very reluctant to go.
It took a few more minutes of convincing, reassuring and explaining that Klaus had somehow added a spell to the daylight ring that Bonnie had made for Elena, so without it she was safe, and that all of them needed to rest, before Jeremy with Elena's help managed to get everyone out.
When they were left alone they looked at each other, simultaneously realizing that it was the first time they had actually seen each other since Elena's transition. Elena grimaced, blinking back the tears that welled up in her eyes and Jeremy pulled her into a hug.
"I'm so glad that you're alive," he whispered, drawing back and looking at her with a weak, both happy and sad smile.
"That's not an entirely correct assessment," Elena said, smiling back at him.
"Would you want to be human again?" Jeremy asked on an impulse, and Elena's expression became pensive. "I'm sorry," Jeremy said with a humorless snort. "I wanted everyone to go, so you could clear your head, and now I'm bothering you with questions."
Elena shook her head. "No, Jeremy, you don't. I'm just..." She subconsciously laced her fingers together, twirling the diamond ring around her finger. "I need time to-" She broke off in the middle of the sentence and looked at her hand, momentarily stunned into silence.
"What is it?" Jeremy asked, regarding her worriedly.
Elena looked up at him, her eyes wide. "Everything just…" She shook her head, not knowing what to make of it. "Everything just calmed down," she said wondrously, quickly going through her thoughts and memories that suddenly felt perfectly clear and intense in her head. She didn't even feel particularly tired or drowsy anymore. Then a shadow of fear passed through her face. "Oh my God, I-"
"What?" Jeremy looked at her, terrified by how pale she became.
"I attacked Damon, I bit him, I-"
"That was you?" Jeremy blurted out before he managed to stop himself. Elena's eyes darted to him. "He looked pretty horrible when you got here," Jeremy said cautiously. "Well, in fact you didn't look too good either." Elena looked at him with unseeing eyes, recalling what had happened in the forest.
"I know that's probably not the best time to ask, but…" Jeremy trailed off, and Elena made an effort to break away from her thoughts, and look at him, prompting him to continue. "Damon said that you're… engaged to him?" he slightly grimaced to indicate his willingness to discard the idea as ridiculous, but the look on Elena's face answered his question better than any words could. The expressions that passed over her face were exactly the same as the expressions that had swept across Damon's face when he had told him about the engagement.
Damon slammed the door to his room shut and with a grim, thoughtful expression began to undress, throwing the torn and bloodied clothes away.
He stepped into the shower and for almost half an hour just stood under the rush of water, going through everything that had happened in the last few days. Then he thought about Klaus, and how it so wasn't going to work to rely on secret shenanigans of the Bennett witches. They couldn't just go to Klaus' 'farewell party' without a plan that would be better than that.
Grabbing a towel, and wrapping it around his waist, he walked out of the bathroom, eyes fixed on the floor as he was trying to think of a two-fold plan that would ensure-
"Cute… towel."
Damon stopped abruptly in his tracks, his eyes darting toward the window, where leaning against the sill was Elena, a soft smile glimmering in her eyes, the wind brushing her hair against her face.
He had imagined her coming here like that, on that very night after he had told that he loved her. He had been lying in bed, dreaming that the compulsion hadn't worked, that his words had changed something, awakened something.
And for a second he thought it was only an apparition that he was seeing now, but the way she was looking at him convinced him otherwise. No dream could conjure up that unmistakable light in her eyes.
Fighting a smile, Damon did his best to mimic her tone from that night. "I'm tired, Elena."
She laughed briefly under her breath, but quickly regained her composure. "I brought you..." she said, pushing herself away from the sill, flashing toward him and pressing a kiss to his lips, "this."
"I thought that was gone," he whispered without opening his eyes. "Thank you." He opened his eyes, a smile flickering across his lips.
She kissed him again. "I just have to say something," she said, unfolding a tiny piece of paper that she had in her hand.
"Why do you have to say it with... " He squinted, "a note that you found in your bra?"
Elena stifled a smile, straightening the slip of paper that read: 'Elena. I love you. Marry me. XOXO. XOXO. XOXO. Damon. RSVP.'
"Well," Elena said, biting her lip, "because what I'm about to say is probably the most overdue thing I've ever said in my life."
"Elena," Damon said, trying to duplicate the hint of warning that had echoed in her voice then, "are you sure you want to go there?" he asked in a low voice with a small smirk, but also a sincerely curious look in his eyes.
"I just have to say it once, you just need to hear it," Elena said, narrowing her eyes at him. For a moment she just looked at him, amusement slowly fading into seriousness. She cupped his face in her hands and said in a warm whisper. "I love you, Damon, and it's because I love you that… I will marry you." She smiled against his lips. "Don't you ever forget this," she muttered between the kisses in a mock-threatening tone.
Damon pulled her toward him and closed her in his embrace, smiling into her hair.
Elena was very proud of jumping up from the ground and straight into her room, but she didn't have time to rejoice in that achievement, because as soon as her feet touched the floor, the light in her room went on and she flinched in surprise.
Jeremy narrowed his eyes at her.
"You scared me!" Elena said, letting go of a breath. "Why did you do that?"
"Why did I do that?" Jeremy widened his eyes at her. "After everything that had happened you disappear from your room a moment after telling me that you're going to sleep and you wonder why I'm not cool with that?"
"I'm sorry," Elena said with a small smile. "I just…" She sat down on the bed, tugging off her shoes. "It was a spur of a moment," she said, tucking her hair behind her ears, sliding her feet into the slippers and standing up. "I just… had to say goodnight to Damon," she explained in a soft voice, glancing at Jeremy who rolled his eyes.
"You could've called him."
"I had to see him."
Jeremy sighed, shaking his head in amusement. "Yeah, that's what I thought," he said with a snort. "And that's why I didn't raise an alarm," he added pointedly.
Elena smiled, but then gave him a questioning look. "How did you know where I went?"
"I figured you wouldn't have tried on so many clothes," Jeremy said, glancing meaningfully at the closet and then at the heap of clothes laying all over the bed "if you'd just gone a killing spree," he said lightly, but then his expression changed immediately. "Elena, I'm sorry," he said, taking a few steps toward her. "That was the stupidest thing to say. I'm sorry," he repeated earnestly.
Despite having actually blanched at his words, Elena quickly shook her head. "No, Jeremy. You're probably right anyway," she added, trying to smile but failing.
"I really didn't want to bring that up. I'm sorry," Jeremy looked at her worriedly, angry at himself for ruining the moment of her looking genuinely happy. "But you know it wasn't your fault, right?" he added quickly. "It was the ring-"
"Jeremy…" Elena cut in with a grimace. "Yes, I know the ring had something to do with it, but I doubt it was only its fault. I don't think blaming the ring's going to help. I think that if I'm to learn how to keep, how to be…" she glanced around the room frustrated, unable to find the right words. "I know what can drive me to that… breaking point, and even if what happened didn't happen only because of that, it was a part of it. And regardless of everything… I did it," she said in a whisper, her mouth twitching. "Nothing's going to change that."
Jeremy closed his eyes for a second and then looked at her with a grim but understanding expression on his face. "What about the re-transition?" he asked after a pause. "Are you going to go through with it?"
Elena swallowed. "No," she said in a firm, low voice.
"I know you don't want to… hurt anyone again. But if Klaus somehow leaves you no choice… maybe it wouldn't be that bad. I mean," Jeremy quickly shook his head at the look on Elena's face. "I know it'd be horrible if you had to… But maybe that's what Bonnie is trying to figure. How to turn you back into a human without anyone dying to make the spell work. And if that would be possible-"
Elena took a deep breath, slowly rising to her feet. "Jeremy, I want you to know that even if this happens, even if I become human again…" she trailed off, and glanced around the room before shifting her eyes back to Jeremy. "It won't stay that way," she said in a quiet voice.
Jeremy's forehead wrinkled in confusion. "What do you mean? I thought you didn't want to be a vampire," he said hesitantly.
Elena gave him a faint, rueful smile. "I didn't. But everything is different now."
"It's not really different," Jeremy observed tentatively, squinting. Elena gave him a questioning look. "Damon's a vampire," he said, and from the way Elena's eyes fluttered he knew he had guessed her motivation correctly. "But so was Stefan, and you never wanted to be a vampire before."
"It's different," Elena said evasively, crossing her arms over her chest.
"How is it different?" Jeremy pressed, even though it was clear Elena would rather avoid answering the question.
"It's too strong," she said at last in a strained whisper. "It's like… a tidal wave," she smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "And I feel like I'm drowning in it, but I know I won't drown. It's this constant feeling of exhilaration," she said, not sure if it was even remotely possible to describe what she was feeling, but she thought she needed to at least try in order to make her brother understand. "It's like that moment on a rollercoaster, when it goes up or down so fast and so steeply, and for a split second you think you're going to die, but at the same time it just feels-"
"Alright," Jeremy broke in, trying very hard not to laugh. "I think I get the idea." Elena blinked. "Besides, I wasn't asking about that."
Elena looked at him in confusion for a moment, but then blushed, grabbing a pillow from the bed and hitting him on the head with it. "I wasn't talking about that either," she said with half-hearted indignation, swatting him with the pillow until she pushed him out of the room.
Stefan shut the freezer and for a moment just stood motionlessly, lost in thought. The basement was dark and cold, like a grave. At least that's how a grave ought to look like, he mused. Instead, the entire world was a grave in which blood and daylight rings created the illusion of life.
The sound of footsteps and Damon's voice shook Stefan out of his reverie.
"Well, I'm calling because I forgot to ask you if you'd like to go on a date with me tomorrow, Elena," Damon said in the most official tone he could muster, a smirk flickering across his lips, as he reached the bottom of the stairs. "I can't tell you. It's a surprise." He produced a key out of his pocket and opened a small door. "Of course it's a pleasant surprise," he said with mock-indignation. "It has me in it," he smiled. "Can I pick you up at five?" He slightly lowered his head, sniffed the vervain and grimaced. "No, Elena. Five a.m." He grabbed one of the vervain boxes, and carried it out of the small compartment. "Why would I be joking?" he said firmly, smirking to himself. "Alright. Seven?" He sighed. "Nine. OK. But you're going to miss full four hours of my presence, just so know." He closed the door shut with his foot, and leaned against the frame, his expression changing from amused to serious, happy, tranquil. "I love you too." He smiled. "Goodnight, Elena."
Slipping the phone into his pocket, Damon was about to mount the stairs when he noticed Stefan standing a few feet away.
"If you really cared about her you'd leave her alone," Stefan said, looking him straight in the eye.
Damon suppressed a half-grimace, half-smile. "I was going to say 'nice try,' but to be honest, it was kind of lame," he said, turning away.
"She may be a vampire, but she still wants to live," Stefan continued, and Damon stopped in his tracks. "You can kill for her or die for her. But you have no idea how to live for her."
"Oh and of course you do," Damon said through his teeth, turning around.
Stefan snorted mirthlessly, looking away before shifting his eyes back to Damon. "Let's say I'm capable of trying."
Damon squinted in mock-curiosity. "What the hell does that mean?"
"It means that I want to be a part of her life," Stefan said in a low, serious voice. "I understand that she has a family, I don't antagonize every single one of her friends and I don't make her choices for her."
"And let me guess," Damon cut in, raising his hand. "Your greatest wish is world peace."
Stefan shook his head. "See? That's exactly what I'm talking about. You don't even try to see past this illusion that you've created for yourself and now you're trying to fit Elena into it and the only reason why she's falling for it is because everything she knew, everything she loved and believed in fell apart." Stefan took a few steps toward Damon. "She wanted to hold on to something, so she's thrown herself into this gilded fairy tale of yours. What happened at that station only proves it. You make her believe things that aren't true, aren't real. Being a vampire is about blood and death, not about moving at light-speed, puffing fog, soaring above the clouds. All of these are only possible because of blood and death. There's nothing fun about that. Nothing good."
"Do you really think I don't know that?" Damon asked, irritated, tilting his head to the side and narrowing his eyes at Stefan. "Do you really think I like being a vampire?" he said through his teeth. "Do you really think you're the only vampire on the planet who misses being human?" He glared, but Stefan noticed a flash of a different emotion in his eyes.
"I've never tried to convince Elena that this is the best thing that's happened to her," Damon continued, resuming the stern tone, "but it doesn't mean I'm going to help her get a degree in self-loathing." He fell silent for a moment before he made to leave. But then he stopped and turned around. "You know what your biggest problem is?" Stefan raised his eyebrows, giving him a questioning look. "That you actually consider any of this relevant to the fact that she loves me," he said in a voice that almost faltered at the end of the sentence, the last words spoken with so much emotion, so much effort, they were hardly audible. They left a bittersweet taste in his mouth. He felt like saying them out loud made it sound like some hopeless kind of assertion and the look in Stefan's eyes only strengthened the impression.
"This may work," Stefan said when Damon was already half-way up the stairs. "There is a big chance Klaus will die of laughter when you start throwing vervain grenades on him."
Damon mounted the remaining steps and shut the door leading to the basement with a loud thud.
Bonnie stood up and looked down at the table, scanning the cards with a wary expression on her face. Nine candles flickered, a wind coming through a half-open window tugging lightly on their orange flames. Bonnie reached out toward a small plate with herbs, flowers petals and leaves in it and narrowed her eyes, watching the ingredients burn until all that was left was a red stone that glimmered too brightly in the candlelight.
"One more session tomorrow and we'll be all done," Abby said in a low voice, giving Bonnie a small smile.
Bonnie looked at her from under her eyelashes, slightly nodding her head. "I wish Grams was here," she said in a hollow voice, watching Abby's face fell as well.
"Well," Abby said, drawing a shaky breath, her eyes drifting to the family pictures hanging on the wall, draped in the midnight shadows. "You'll have to do it on your own," she said, looking back at Bonnie who sighed.
"Yes," Bonnie whispered, moving one of the cards on the table aside. "One witch." She moved another card. "One hybrid." She took a small stash of cards and put them in two rows. "Five vampires," she said thoughtfully, running her fingertips across the five cards in the lower row. "Two humans." She adjusted the two cards in the upper row. She then covered all of the cards with her open palms, glowing, colorful lights peering from underneath her hands until the colors faded away and Bonnie, very slowly lifted her hands, her eyes resting on the two rows of cards – each row consisting of four cards.
"Maintaining the balance is our duty," Abby said, coming closer toward the table. "But it's also our strength and our hope."
Bonnie shifted her eyes to her and then surveyed the cards once again. "By the end of this, there will be four vampires and four humans," she said firmly, her eyes boring into each candle in turn with determination. "Klaus is right," she added with a ghost of a smirk flitting across her face. Abby stepped to stand next to her, lightly squeezing her shoulder in a reassuring gesture. Bonnie took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, exchanging a faint smile with her mother before becoming utterly serious again. "This Sunday is not one to be missed."