Chapter Thirty-One

"Jeremy."

Ella was frozen to the spot, she couldn't move, she couldn't breathe and she couldn't look away from Jeremy's blank, unseeing gaze. A pain like nothing she'd ever felt before was radiating from her heart, spreading through her veins and threatening to drag her under into the darkness.

She wanted to go, wanted to let the sweet relief of oblivion take her so that she wouldn't have to stare at the lifeless form of the man she loved. There was something she had to do first and then she would let the numbness have her.

Finally tearing her gaze away from Jeremy, Ella scanned the street. It took only seconds to locate him, watching her, leaning against a car a few houses away. He smiled at her gleefully before giving her a little finger wave and speeding away in the opposite direction.

Her pain had now given way to fury at the sight of his face, looking as if Christmas had come early. She launched herself forward like a bullet, leaving Jeremy lying on the path. She didn't stop to think about him, couldn't think about him. All she could do now was focus on her prey.

They raced through the streets of Mystic Falls, Ella keeping her prey in sight with ease. The rage and pain that she felt fuelling the fire and pushing her forward. A red mist had descended over her vision and she could taste copper on her tongue as the rage burned white hot in her veins.

Ella had never hated anyone before, never wanted to cause pain…until now. Now she wanted to tear the creature who took Jeremy from her limb from limb. She wanted to skin them alive, keeping him conscious so that he could witness every strip of flesh being torn from his body. Then when he begged for his life she would immerse him in vervain before finally driving a stake through his heart, if the vervain didn't kill him first.

It was an odd feeling, hatred. She'd never hated anyone, not even Jamie for his ridiculous bet. It felt like it was going to consume her and if she let it she'd have more power than she'd ever believed possible. Power over enough to do to him what she wanted…what she needed to do. She was going to make him pay.

The sound of maniacal laughter brought Ella out of her almost trance like state and for the first time since leaving her house she realised where she was. They were in the woods, the same ones she had seen so many times in her dreams. Ella knew this was finally it; her vision was going to come true.

Damon would fight the one she was pursuing now, but she wouldn't worry about Damon, he could take care of himself. She should have been worried about herself because there was a second vampire hidden somewhere in these woods, one who would bite her and likely kill her. Kill her because, now that the pain was taking over again, she had no intention of fighting her attacker.

Jeremy was gone and he could never return to her and she'd be damned if she was going to live without him. She would do what she could to make sure that Damon won and killed the vampire, who murdered Jeremy, but she wouldn't kill the other one, she'd allow herself to be taken into the sweet release of death.

With all of her plans to let herself be killed, Ella didn't realise when the vampire she'd been chasing disappeared at first. It took a few moments for her brain to process the fact that the forest in front of her was empty apart from the trees. Stopping in her tracks, Ella looked around but couldn't see anything. Her heart was hammering loudly in her chest, so loud in fact that it was all Ella could hear.

Taking a deep breath she works to calm her heartbeat so that she could listen for sounds of anyone approaching. Finally it slowed and Ella was able to listen to her surroundings. There was no sound of movement, but she heard and very distinct laugh, one that she recognised immediately as her vampire stalker and it was coming from behind her.

Ella was running again in an instant, she knew she needed to get to the graveyard where Damon was surely waiting. She crashed through the trees, this time with the vampire chasing after her instead. Her blood ran cold as she felt him gaining on her and fear suddenly spiked in her veins sending her heart pounding again. She was afraid that he might catch her before she reached her destination.

If that were to happen Damon wouldn't be able to kill the vampires, she knew her friends would still want to avenge her and Jeremy's murders, but it would take longer if they killers got away. The thought of Jeremy felt like a knife plunging straight into her heart and she stumbled slightly, almost careening head first into a nearby tree. The brief distraction cost Ella precious distance and she could almost feel him in her personal space, he was almost close enough to touch and Ella felt sick.

Pushing as hard as she could Ella continued on until, finally, she crashed through a thick patch of branches and into the cold moonlight. The now familiar gravestones surrounded her, but she ignored everything, her eyes going straight to the man cloaked in shadow not 20 feet from where she stood. Ella's breath came out in a whoosh and she felt her shoulders relax slightly, she had made it and soon it would all be over.

TBC…

A/N: Ella's dream seems set to come true, but will she really let herself die? Or does her abilities have more surprises in store for the young Fae? How did Damon know to be in the graveyard? Did he just happen to be walking through?

A/A/N: I am currently working on an illustration of Ella, we all know what the other characters looked like, but I decided for myself I'd like to see her too. It's a slow process because I am new with digital drawing on a tablet and I'm still getting used to it, but I'd be happy to share the end result for any who wish to see her too. I can't promise it will be good, but might give you an idea. I'd also like to thank all who read this fic, review it and have added it to their favourites and alerts. I hope you continue to enjoy it and give your feedback. Thank you.