a/n: I just loved this episode! I knew what I wanted to do the minute it ended which is why I got it done as fast as I used to. All I'm going to say is that there's still a few more episodes left and let you interpret the rest...
TWENTY-THREE
Damon had sworn that he wouldn't fall asleep until Elena was safely beside him, but his body had other ideas. Their physical marathon the day before combined with his lack of blood had allowed him to fall asleep easily. When he woke up, he cursed out loud. He reached out to the other side of the bed and froze at the emptiness he felt. The sheets were still cold which meant...
"Elena?" he called out. He listened for her, but heard nothing. Not even a heartbeat. "Fuck," he mumbled and sped across the hall to Stefan's room. He pounded on the door until his brother answered. "Have you seen Elena?"
"No."
A slew of curses in every language came out of his mouth as he rushed downstairs. "Elena!" he yelled as he searched the house. The more he looked, the more he was ready to tear it apart.
"Damon," Stefan said sternly, drawing his attention. He sped over to the younger Salvatore and felt his blood run cold at the sight of the basement door slightly ajar.
"She didn't," he hissed.
"I didn't look," Stefan answered, stepping back so that Damon could take the lead down the stairs.
Damon already knew what he would find; an empty cell. Elijah and the dagger were long gone and all he needed was one guess as to where Elena would be. He balled his fists at his side, fighting the urge to lash out at his brother. "Call her," he bit out.
Stefan could tell by his tone and his stance that Damon wouldn't be able to speak to her. He was angry. In all the years he had known Damon, he had never seen him this angry before. It scared him. He shuddered and went upstairs wordlessly to retrieve his phone. He stood in the parlor and dialed for Elena. After the third attempt, she answered. "Stefan?"
"Where the hell are you?" he asked.
Damon was in front of him in an instant, wanting to hear everything she said.
"I'm with Elijah."
"Elena-"
"I'm safe," she assured him. "If he were going to kill me, he would have done it already."
"That's not the point."
From the hesitation he heard on her end, he could tell that she knew exactly what he meant. "Tell him I'm sorry," she whispered.
Damon's eyes narrowed and Stefan could see the sheer fury in his now dark blue eyes. He chose his next words carefully. "Look, whatever you're doing, don't. Just come home and-"
"I can't. Stefan, I'm sorry, but this is for the best," she explained. "Just let me do this. All I'm asking is that you keep Damon from doing anything irrational."
Stefan eyed his brother wearily. "I'll do my best."
"Thank you," she said. There was silence for a moment before the line simply went dead. He knew she had just hung up without saying goodbye. He pocketed the phone and looked at Damon.
"I'm going after her."
"No," Stefan said, blocking his path to the door. "She's right. If Elijah was going to hurt her, he would have done it already. Just let her do this and she'll be back before you know it."
Damon shoved him backwards with enough force to make him stumble. Yet, he remained in his place instead of running out the door.
"I know you're angry, I can see that, but try and calm yourself down. When you do, I'll be more than happy to help you look for her. In this state, you're only going to make things worse."
Damon met his gaze and Stefan could see the pain under the fury. "I want to know the minute she calls," he said and sped upstairs to his room.
Damon paced his room trying to calm down, but it only seemed to agitate him more. He was beyond furious. He was angry to the point where he wasn't sure whether he was going to kiss Elena or kill her himself the next time he saw her. As of right now, he was leaning more towards killing her. That way, she could never run off with an Original and scare him like this ever again.
It wasn't until he heard Stefan's phone ring from downstairs that he left his room. "Jenna?"
"Is Elena there? Or Jeremy? Neither one of them is answering their phone."
Damon narrowed his eyes, wondering why she had called Stefan when she knew Elena wasn't seeing him anymore. Needing somewhat of a distraction, he moved to the liquor cart and poured himself a drink before tuning back into the conversation.
"No, she's not here. Neither is Jeremy. Is everything okay? Are you alright?"
"I don't know. I turned my phone on and there was all these messages from Elena telling me to stay away from Ric, but I didn't recognize the number. Now he's calling me, saying he wants to meet at the Grill to explain himself."
Damon tossed back his drink and shook his head, but Stefan wasn't about to let her go anyway. "Just do me a favor and stay put. Where are you?"
"I came back to the house this morning. What's going on?"
"Just sit tight and we'll explain everything soon," he promised and hung up.
"So that means Alaric has Katherine in his apartment," Damon said, his voice rough from all the pent up anger.
"He's probably been compelling her."
"Is that even possible?" He shook his head and set his empty glass on the cart. "You know what, it probably is. Why don't you go check on Katherine? I'll go talk to Jenna."
"Are you sure you can handle it?" Stefan asked. He was worried about what Damon might do. His anger towards Elena had put him in a very bad emotional place.
Damon nodded. "As long as I don't see Elijah or Elena, I'll be completely fine. I won't kill Alaric either if that's what you're really worried about."
"And Jenna?"
"I'll probably bring her back here. What are you going to do about Katherine?"
Stefan thought about it before he answered. "I don't really know yet," he answered, although it wasn't the truth. He was already thinking of the liquid vervain he had steadily been ingesting to build up a tolerance to it just as Katherine had done. He would give some to her so that the compulsion wouldn't work and hopefully she would feel indebted to him for when they really needed it.
Damon inclined his head, "Let me know if Elena calls you."
"Why wouldn't she call you?"
"The same reason she called you earlier," he said and took off before Stefan could reply.
Damon stood outside the Gilbert house as he reached out with his senses to see if anything was off before he made his presence known. When everything seemed okay, he walked up to the door and knocked. Jenna answered looking surprised. "I thought Stefan was coming?"
"Does it matter?" Damon snapped. "I thought you knew I was dating her."
She nodded. "I know that, it's just I was talking to Stefan." She shook her head and he saw the confusion in her eyes. "It's just been a strange few days."
Damon snorted. "You haven't talked to Ric yet have you?"
"Actually..." her voice tapered off at the same time Damon heard footsteps coming down the stairs. His jaw locked at the sight of Alaric wearing a smug grin.
"Damon. I didn't expect to see you today. Where's Elena?"
"Out."
He shrugged and walked to the kitchen acting as if he owned the place. "I was just about to fix us some lunch. Would you care to join us?"
Damon said nothing. Jenna studied his tense face for awhile before she turned her attention to Alaric who had already started making lunch. "What the hell is going on?" she asked.
"What do you mean?" Alaric replied, giving her a sickly sweet smile.
"You still need to tell me about Isobel. You said you would explain yourself."
"Ah yes," he said, holding the knife loosely in his hands. "The reason I've been acting so strangely, keeping things to myself and all, is because I'm obsessed with vampires. It's something I shared with my wife. Late wife? She's really dead now isn't she?" he asked, looking straight at Damon.
Damon forced himself not to speak. He was picturing the look on Elena's face that night, holding Isobel's necklace. She had gone from having no parents, to two, and now she was back to one.
"You like vampires don't you Damon?"
"Does it matter?"
"Why wouldn't it?"
"Alaric, what the hell are you talking about?" Jenna snapped.
"Vampires," he said again, making him sound truly insane. "They're real."
"What?"
"They exist. They're not just figments of our imagination or creatures from legends and myths. They walk among us just like the werewolves and witches."
"Werewolves..." Jenna breathed. She turned around and ran her hand through her hair. "Now I know you're just fucking crazy."
"I can show you," Alaric said before coming at Damon with the knife. Damon wasted no time in ramming him up against the wall. He took the knife and pressed it to Alaric's throat, cutting him enough so that some blood began to flow.
"Damon!" Jenna shrieked having seen him move faster than she thought was possible. "What is going on?"
"Jenna, I need you to leave. I need you to start running out of here and keep going until you can't anymore."
"But-"
He looked at her over his shoulder, letting her see his vampire face. "Now!" he demanded.
She wasted no time before fleeing from the house. "That's no fun," Alaric said, causing Damon to apply more pressure to the knife. "You can kill this body if you want, but what would your precious Elena say then?"
Damon growled and used his other hand to punch Alaric. He went down and Damon tossed the knife away. When he was sure that the Alaric was going to stay down, he took off after Jenna. He found her at the end of the block, doubled over, panting and crying at the same time. Her heart beat was erratic and her breathing was sketchy. "Jenna-"
"Stay away from me!" she hissed and tried to move away. Instead, she stumbled, but Damon caught her before she fell.
He lifted her up and held her close. "I'm going to take you to the boarding house. You'll be safe there. We'll explain everything, okay?"
Despite how much she wanted to run and never look back, she knew her body was done. "Okay," she whispered and clung to Damon in order to keep from falling.
"Hold on as tight as you can," he advised and then he was running as fast as he could to the boarding house with her in his arms. After depositing her on the couch, he went to the kitchen to get her some water. While he was there, he pulled out his phone and stared at it. Giving in, he dialed Elena's number.
"Damon?" she answered, uncertainty in her voice.
"Jenna's here. Alaric went after her," he said, knowing that was all he needed to say to get her to come back. And the worst part was, it proved that he wasn't a good enough reason alone to make her come back.
Elena stood there, trying to wrap her mind around the information Elijah had given her. She didn't know what was more shocking; the fact that he and Klaus were brothers or that the Aztec sun and moon curse was a fake. Instead, there was a curse on Klaus himself, one that still required the sacrifice of the doppelganger. Elijah had been kind enough to give her some time to absorb this before he continued when her phone rang. Her heart sank as Damon's picture appeared on the screen.
"Damon?"
"Jenna's here. Alaric went after her."
"What? Is she okay?"
"I was there. She's fine."
"I-I'll be there soon," she said and hung up. She looked at Elijah and he simply stared back. "I have to go."
"That was not part of today's arrangement."
"I know that, but Jenna's my family. I promise I will come back, but she needs me and I need to see that she's okay. You have my word. I'll come back." Her heart was racing in fear for Jenna and for what would happen when she saw Damon again.
"Your word means nothing until you prove that it does," he said, but inclined his head. "Hopefully you really do mean it this time around."
"Thank you," she said and immediately started running for her car.
Instead of sitting in the car outside of the boarding house, thinking about the worst, Elena practically jumped from the car and ran into the mansion. She found Jenna sitting on the couch, staring off into space with a dazed expression. "Jenna? Oh thank god," she breathed once she could see that there was no physical damage.
She moved to hug her, but Jenna jumped back. "Is it true?"
Elena nodded, her heart breaking at the tears in her aunt's eyes. "I didn't want to tell you because I wanted to keep you safe. I thought that the less you knew about it, the better, but one thing led to another and... I'm so sorry."
"Sorry is not going to cut it for this Elena," she said, glaring at her niece. "I'm supposed to be protecting you."
"I know."
She gave Elena a hard stare. "How many others know?" Elena could only stare back at her, her lips quivering. "Jeremy?" The pause gave her her answer and Jenna said the next name with bitterness. "John?"
"They were all involved and-"
"I think you better start from the beginning," Jenna interrupted.
Elena nodded. "As long as you promise to just listen." When Jenna agreed, Elena began to tell her everything.
Stefan paced on the other side of the wall as he listened to Elena speak. He could hear the pain in her voice and it killed him that he had put her in this position. He was surprised that Damon hadn't come downstairs yet, but the more he thought about it, he realized it was for the best. The last thing Elena needed right now was a fight. Just as he pulled himself out of his thoughts, he heard Jenna say that it was time for her to call it a night. "Would you like a ride home?" he offered, stepping out from his hiding spot.
He realized it was a mistake after it was too late. He saw Jenna take a half step backwards. She might know what he was, but she was definitely not ready to face it. "I'll take her on my way to the Lockwood's."
"You're going back?"
"I promised Elijah I would," she said as she reached in her pocket for her car keys. "I'll be right out," she said to Jenna who took the keys and practically bolted out of the mansion.
"She could stay here. It's safer that way."
"I know, but that would be too much for her." Her eyes darted to look behind him at the staircase before she looked down and cleared her throat. "I'll see you later."
As she turned to leave, she felt the air around her stir and Damon was standing before her, blocking her way and holding her so tight she thought her bones would snap. "Just where the hell do you think you're going?"
"I'm going back to Elijah. I promised him that-"
"I don't give a damn what you said to him. You're not leaving this house."
"Damon-"
"Do you even realize what you just did?"
Unable to stand around and watch, Stefan surged forward and forced Damon to let go. He knew he was still the weaker of the two, even with his recent change of diet, but he was capable of holding his own for a short while. "Let her go. He hasn't hurt her yet. I take that as a sign that he isn't going to."
Damon was glaring at Elena who was glaring right back. "We'll talk about this when I come home."
"Oh yes we will," Damon said, watching as she turned her back on him and left for a second time. When she was gone, he turned to Stefan, giving him a look that terrified the younger sibling. "You stopped me from going after her twice now. I strongly advise that it doesn't happen a third time," he warned and disappeared back up to his room where he was determined to wait until Elena came home. If she came home.
Elena felt awful the entire ride back to Elijah. She had seen the look in Damon's eyes and it nearly killed her. She had to keep reminding herself that she was doing this for him and everyone else. No one was going to die to save her life. Not if she could help it. If that meant Damon being mad at her, she would have to deal with it. She took a minute to compose herself in the car before getting out and meeting Elijah in the backyard. A shiver cascaded down her spine as she found him at the spot where she had kissed Damon after they had taken down Katherine the first time. She closed her eyes and raised a hand to her lips as she felt the ghost of his kiss.
"I'm surprised you returned."
"I told you I would."
"You also killed me."
Elena inclined her head. She was no longer interested in his story telling about Katherine and their apparent love story. She wanted to get the information that he was willing to share and go home to face the inevitable fight with Damon. "You had just finished telling me that the Aztec curse isn't real. That the curse is actually on Klaus himself?"
"My father found out that my mother had had an affair and Klaus was not really his child. He went wild and killed her lover, only to discover something he never thought was possible."
"Which was...?"
"His biological father was a werewolf. Actually, he was the the werewolf."
Elena's eyes went wide as her heart nearly skipped several beats. "What does that make Klaus?"
"A hybrid. He is both a werewolf and a vampire."
"How is that even possible?"
Elijah shrugged. He had never questioned if could be possible because it was true and there was nothing that could change it. "But my father had a curse put on him that kept the wolf in him dormant. The curse still requires the sacrifice of the doppelganger, but everything else was part of the one Klaus made up."
Elena's heart sank for a split second she thought she was free. "But we have the dagger. We can still kill him before he gets that far, right?"
Elijah shook his head slowly. "Werewolves are not hurt by silver. That was a legend they started a long time ago. The dagger would only wound him for a moment, but he would heal."
She frowned. "I thought you said everything had a weakness. That was nature's way of balancing things."
"I didn't say he was all powerful. Klaus can be stopped, but it must be by the most raw sense of natural power."
"A witch," Elena breathed in understanding.
"A witch," he repeated. "If there's a witch out there with enough power and the know how to use it, Klaus can be stopped. But it has to be on the night of the full moon while he is in transition. That is when he is at his weakest."
"What if I told you I knew a witch with that much power?"
Elijah thought it over for a moment and then smirked. "I would tell you that I know of a way to keep you alive from the sacrifice."
Elena's heart stopped and her knees threatened to give out. "What?"
"I did the research while Klaus prepared for Katerina's sacrifice. But she took matters into her own hands and well, you know how that goes."
"So does this mean we have a deal? We help each other and you keep everyone I love safe?"
"We help each other and I can promise that no one you love will die by my own hands. I cannot promise to protect them fully from others, but I will do my absolute best." He paused and put a hand on her shoulder. "I'll even throw in the part where I save you from the sacrifice for free."
Tears of joy sprang to her eyes. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me until all of this is over," he said and stepped away from her. "Shall we return to the Salvatore's?"
She nodded slowly. "Just tell me one thing."
Elijah's brow rose as he waited to hear what she was going to say.
"Were you in love with Katherine?"
"Wasn't everyone?" he countered before turning and walking to the car. Elena sighed and followed him.
Elena was sure she broke a few laws on the way to the boarding house because she got there in record time. The happiness that she was feeling seemed to dissipate the moment she opened the door and heard fighting. She ran to the parlor and sure enough, Stefan and Damon were attacking one another. "Stop it!" she yelled.
Immediately, both brothers stopped and looked up at her.
"What the hell are you fighting over?"
Damon was glaring at his brother, trying his best to ignore Elena. He had let his emotions get the better of him and he had taken it out on Stefan. They had disagreed about whether or not letting Elena go had been the right thing to do. Which had led to an argument about who was better for Elena. Things had spiraled from there and now the parlor looked like it had been torn apart by a hurricane.
His eyes moved to Elijah as he sauntered into the room and stood beside Elena. "You invited him in?" he asked, his voice hard.
"He's on our side," she said, trying to get him to look at her. "He agreed to help us take down Klaus if we work with him. And he has a way to keep me alive through the sacrifice." Damon's eyes met hers at that. "All he wants is an apology."
Her eyes never left Damon's as Stefan stepped forward. "I'm sorry for the part I played in your death. It won't happen again."
"Damon?" Elena said softly, still staring at him.
"The three of you can go to hell," he spat before leaving the room.
"He'll come around. Right now he's just...angry," Stefan explained.
"I'll go talk to him," Elena said, knowing that they were going to have to talk at some point. It might as well be now. She found him in his room, pacing in front of the bed. "Damon-"
"Don't even start with me Elena. Do you realize what you've done?"
"I did what I had to."
He turned to look at her and shook his head. "You lied to me."
"Like you've never done that to me?"
"I told you why I didn't say anything about Bonnie. We needed you to believe it."
"That's exactly why I brought Elijah back. I'm not letting anyone die for me. Not Bonnie and especially not you." She closed her eyes to force the tears away as she took a step closer to him. "I'm the only one that has to be involved and I will not let anyone risk their life for me. That's my choice. I would rather sacrifice myself then live with the knowledge that people died for me. I couldn't do it."
"And how do you think we would feel if we had to live without you?"
Elena knew he was right, but she was determined for her to see her point. "It doesn't matter. Elijah found a way to keep me alive. If this works, none of us has to die."
"See that's just it. You said 'if' this works. I'm not prepared to trust him with your life based on an if. Did he tell you exactly how he plans to keep you alive?"
"No."
Damon snorted and raked a hand through his hair. "Maybe he doesn't really have a plan to keep you alive. Did that ever cross your mind?" he asked. She cast her eyes to the ground, giving him her answer. "Of fucking course it crossed your mind, but you don't care, do you?"
"I told you Damon, no one is dying because of me. I'm no better than anyone else. I'm not special. People have no right to die for me. I won't let it happen."
Damon crossed the distance between them and gripped her biceps. "What if I told you I had a way to end this? Right here, right now?"
Elena had a feeling she knew what was coming next, but she nodded anyway.
"I could turn you."
"No," she said, trying to step away from him, but he only tightened his grip.
"No?" he questioned and shook his head, giving a slightly hysterical laugh. "Let me get this straight. You broke up with Stefan because he wouldn't turn you and now you're saying you don't want to?"
"Not now. Not like this," Elena said as tears dripped down her cheeks. "Klaus killed Katherine's entire family because she turned to escape her fate. If I did that, I would be no better than her and it would defeat the purpose of me trying to save everyone."
He turned her in his arms and used one hand to tilt her head to the side, the other arm looped around her waist, pinning her arms to her side, as he bent his head to her neck. "What if I don't give you a choice?"
Elena swallowed hard and blinked against her tears. "Then I would hate you forever and nothing would change that."
His lips dropped to her skin and Elena squeezed her eyes closed as she felt the scrape of his fangs. After what seemed like a long time, Damon withdrew, retreating to the other side of the room. "Then we're at an impasse."
"I'm trying to keep everyone safe. Including you. Why won't you let me?" she asked, forcing herself not to shake.
"My life isn't worth saving, Elena."
"It is to me."
"Well, you're wrong."
Elena stared at him as she wrapped her arms around herself, unsure of what to do next. "Damon..." she started, but the lump in her throat prevented her from saying anything more. Instead, she shut her eyes as the tears began to flow freely down her cheeks.
In an instant, Damon was in front of her again. This time, he cupped her face gently and tilted it up so that he could see her. She opened her eyes and saw those icy blue orbs staring back at her. This time, she knew what was going to happen next and it only made new tears spring to her eyes. "I can't sit back and do nothing while you hand yourself over to Klaus. I love you and I am not ready to give you up." He stroked her face with the pads of his thumbs, wiping away her tears in the process. "And if my actions cause you to hate me, then so be it, because I cannot lose you."
"Damon-"
He cut her off by pressing his lips to hers. They both knew it was a goodbye kiss. They could taste it.
Damon leaned his forehead against hers the moment he broke the contact between their lips. He let his arms slide down so that he could pull her close as human possible. Elena lifted her arms to do the same, knowing that when they broke apart, that would signal the end of their relationship. By trying to save it, she had ruined it.
Slowly, she felt Damon pulling away from her. The moment their bodies were no longer touching, he was gone from her sight. Elena closed her eyes and tilted her head up. She had made her choice and she was determined to prove that it was the right one.