καταναλωτής
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a/n: I got several reviews (thank you for them, by the way) saying "Elena can't die" and let me reassure you that once you read through the end of this chapter, you might not be despairing quite so much. I'm flattered that you care so much about my story though. Really, I am. Keep it up, everyone. The fun is just beginning (:
I tried out a different perspective for this chapter. It gets the ball rolling. I hope you don't mind a lack of Delena. The next chapter will make up for it.
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part nine
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"You hate me, huh? That sounds like the beginning of a love story, Stefan, not the end of one."
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"Can you help me?" Bonnie asks quietly from the darkened stairwell. She runs a shaky hand over her tangled hair and tries to smile. "He - um, I can't get him to come out of his room."
Caroline turns slowly from her crouched position on the couch. She is no longer crying, but there is still the residue of makeup on her pale face. Her eyes flicker dimly. "You're asking me for help?" she croaks, fingering the charmed necklace Tyler had taken to wearing while he was off changing one-hundred times in the mountains. Supposedly, it had been spelled by a witch in that district to help Tyler break through Klaus' compulsion, and is now nothing more than a trinket. But it's the closest thing she has to Tyler.
Bonnie's face tightens. "I never claimed to be all-knowing," she mumbles.
"I'm sorry," Caroline apologizes immediately, rising up off the couch and looking around the room. It is far too quiet here without Elena or either of the Salvatore brothers. "I just - he loves you, so I thought -" She stops, takes a deep breath and forces a smile. "Where is he?"
Bonnie echoes her smile. "Upstairs in his room," she says, walking slowly over to the couch and sitting down. Slumping down, she buries her face in her hands and mumbles, "He keeps waiting for Alaric to update him on what's going on. He won't listen to me."
"But Alaric is-" Caroline begins, cutting off. "Oh, right. Ghost stuff." She goes to head up the stairs when she hears the unmistakable sound of crying coming from the couch where Bonnie is sitting. The witch's shoulders are shaking with the force of her sobs, her face burrowed in her palms. "Oh Bonnie," she says gently, hurrying back to her friend's side and pulling the girl into her arms. Bonnie clings tightly to the blonde's shoulders, her nails digging in. "Shh. It's okay. Shh."
"It's my fault," Bonnie whimpers.
"What's your fault?" Caroline asks, rubbing the girl's back.
Bonnie takes a deep breath, lifting her head up as she does. She looks so weary, so defeated, with her eyes edged in tears. "Jeremy is up there bursting into tears every five minutes and I don't know what to say to make him feel better, because I'm the one who did this."
"Hey," Caroline says, "how could this possibly be your fault, Bonnie? This is Elena's choice." She continues to rub Bonnie's back, mumbling reassurances into her ear.
Bonnie shakes her head. "No," she mutters. "No, it is, because I - because I told Elena that if she turned, she would be a monster. I told her that she wouldn't be my best friend anymore, because she'd be one of them. The look she gave me...Caroline, I didn't mean any of that. I was just scared and I've always been told that the vampires are no friends to the witches." She pauses, more tears filling her eyes. Her thin frame shakes. "She's one of my best friends, Care. Im don't want her dead."
"Shh, it's okay," Caroline says, hugging Bonnie tighter. "It's not your fault okay?" she whispers, half to herself. Images of Tyler's broken body fill her mind and it takes everything within her not to fall apart. One day at a time. "It's not your fault. I'm sure Elena doesn't blame you."
"I just...need some time to myself," Bonnie says slowly, her face hollow. "I'll be fine."
"Why don't you go give a few vampires those migraine things," Caroline suggests with one of her bright smiles, trying to be happy for her friend. "You love to do that."
Bonnie laughs slightly. "Maybe," she says, giving Caroline a last hug. "Thank you."
"I'll go talk to Jeremy now," Caroline says, patting Bonnie on the back as she gets up and heads for the stairwell. As she climbs, her fingers dance across the beads on Tyler's necklace. A lump grows in her throat. There's no way you can be dead, she thinks, still feeling quite numb about it all. Come out, come out, wherever you are.
Jeremy is sitting on the right side of his bed, near the headboard, his eyes narrowed in on the open window. A breeze wisps through, sending Caroline's curls flying. It rustles the edge of the covers on the bed and sends a few papers with Alaric's name on them in italic spinning in the middle of the room. "Did Bonnie send you in?" Jeremy asks quietly, giving her a quick look burning with fear and stubbornness.
Caroline nods. "She was a little too upset to try again," she says, moving until she's standing at the foot of the bed. "You're worrying her."
"Me?" Jeremy asks incredulously. "Me? You're seriously going with that?" He laughs, unamused, angry. "Elena's the one out there trying to kill herself, and you're all worried about me. Wow." He shakes his head, eyes darting to check the stairwell, maybe to see if Bonnie's coming back up after all.
"Don't be a jackass," Caroline retorts, pointing her finger at him. Understandably, Jeremy leans back a little bit. "There isn't a way to reach Elena right now, and you're sitting here talking to a frickin' ghost and pushing everyone away, so I'd say you're about all we can handle right now."
He says nothing. Smart boy.
"Now look," Caroline snaps, crouching next to him, her voice dripping with heat and pain. "You've got a living, breathing person down there who cares about you, and you're treating her like dirt. Didn't your parents raise you better?"
"My parents are dead," Jeremy growls.
"So do their memories a favor and act like the young man they raised you to be," Caroline hisses, staring at Jeremy for a long time until finally he jerks his head away, nodding quickly. She sighs. "When is Alaric supposed to be here?"
"He's right there," Jeremy remarks, pointing to the area behind them.
"Oh." Caroline turns around, half expecting to see Rick's familiar crooked grin. All she sees is empty space. "Did he like my rant?" she asks Jeremy with a little smile of her own, determined to make everyone around here stop moping.
Jeremy pauses, apparently listening. Then he smiles. "He says that your passion was good, but your vocabulary could use some work."
She shakes her head. "Always slamming on my vocab," she mumbles under her breath. "Does he have any news on Elena?"
Jeremy listens again, his face draining of color quickly. "He says - he says that Elena's chosen to die." His lower lip wobbles and he flings himself into a standing position, hands in tight fists. "She can't die. She wouldn't - how could she do this to me?"
Caroline takes a step back, still running the words through her head. Even after all this, Elena thinks that we're monsters. It's a poisonous thought, one she dismisses immediately when she sees the expression on Jeremy's face. The boy has crawled into a tiny ball on his bed, his hands hugging his pillow as he cries. Now is not the time to get upset about Elena's decision, though Caroline doesn't understand why Elena couldn't at least call and tell her own brother. Now is the time to comfort Jeremy.
"Still talking to ghosts," a familiar voice sneers from the doorway. "I always knew the Gilberts were crazy. I just didn't think it had gotten this bad."
Caroline whirls around, her hand leaving Jeremy's shoulder. "What do you want?" she growls.
"Now, now, calm down," the person answers, smirking.
"I'm not in the mood to play games," Caroline threatens, the veins beginning to sink under her eyes.
The figure laughs, crossing their arms. "Is that any way to treat the person who wants to help you save Elena's life?"
"Why do you need our help?" Caroline asks, keeping her posture tense as she glares at the person across from them, the person she'd assumed dead. She doesn't believe that they actually want to help Elena, but while they're here, may as well keep them talking.
The person smiles, chilling, powerful. "Because Elena won't listen if I'm the one calling."
"Why would I call Elena?" Caroline wonders, feeling irritatingly idiotic.
The figure's smile widens. Behind Caroline, Jeremy shivers, choking on a sob as he tries to stay brave. If she squints closely enough, Caroline can make out the outline of Bonnie's form hidden in the shadows down the hall, rifling through a spellbook.
"Who else is going to tell Elena that her brother has been murdered?" The figure asks.
Before Caroline can move, there is a blur, a quick gust of air, and the figure plunges a splintered stake into Jeremy's heart. As they laugh, Jeremy's scream echoes around the room. His eyes roll back as blood begins to seep from the wound. The figure bends down, lapping at his blood and humming contentedly. Their fingers brush over his blood stained ring.
"Pity," the person croons, swiping their tongue around their bloody lips. "I was hoping he'd stay dead this time."
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to be continued
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