Chapter Forty-Two

Damon had backed away from Ella as far as he could, his back now pressed against a wall. Still she advanced on him; her eyes were black and devoid of emotion. She was the most terrifying creature that Damon had ever seen, this young woman who he loved in a way that he had never thought possible and with an intensity that made him think his heart would explode from the sheer immensity of it.

"Ella," he whispered. "You don't want to hurt me, think about this. You're my best friend; I did what I did to protect you."

"LIES!" Ella screeched in a voice that no longer sounded like her. "I see you Damon, I see you for what you truly are…a monster. The only person you care about is yourself; you did what you did for yourself and no one else. Why? Why did you kill him when he was about to tell me everything?"

"He was a liar, how could you trust anything he said?"

"Because for the first time in my life he was telling me the TRUTH!"

Stefan shot at Ella then, trying to restrain her, but she didn't miss a beat. As Stefan's hand fell onto her shoulder, Ella grabbed him and using his own weight against him she tossed him aside. He landed with a crash into the bookcase across the room, crumbling unconscious to the floor.

"Stefan!" Elena exclaimed, rushing over to her fallen boyfriend.

"Ella, that's enough," Caroline tried. "You can't kill Damon, you love him."

"Shut up Caroline," Ella snarled, never once taking her dark eyes off of Damon. "For once in your life just shut up."

"Caroline's right Ella," Bonnie reasoned. "Damon's one of your best friends, you love him."

"Not anymore," Ella shook her head. "Not now that I can see the real him. Selfish, self centred, egotistical, evil. He's a monster and monsters can't be allowed to live. Don't you see, to keep you all safe I have to get rid of him? He's been in plague to all of us and plagues have to be eradicated. It's the right thing to do."

"Ella," Jeremy spoke softly, taking a step forward.

"Careful," Alaric warned, placing a hand on Jeremy's shoulder to keep him back. "I'm not sure she can be reasoned with now Jer."

"I have to try," Jeremy whispered, his pained eyes locked on his girlfriend. "Ella baby, please don't do this. You can't kill him, you know you can't, it's not you. Please, just come back to me ok?"

For a second Ella froze, her body stiff. "I'm sorry Jeremy," she finally whispered. "But you're wrong. I can kill him, and I'm going to. Please don't try to stop me, you'll just get hurt."

Ella acted then, she looked intently into Damon's arms and he began screaming in agony. It was like nothing he'd ever felt before, as if every nerve in his body was screaming in intense pain. Not even Bonnie popping the blood vessels in his head was this painful. Damon knew that if he'd been human his heart would have given out from the pain. Part of him wanted to die just the make the pain end.

"Hurts doesn't it?" Ella asked coldly over Damon's screaming. "Of course you're not actually in pain, but its amazing what the brain can trick someone into feeling. Of course my being a Fae means that I have empathic ability, but did you know that I don't just feel what others are feeling? I can alter their feelings too, I can make you feel anything I want you to feel, pain, remorse, guilt, anything. I'm just giving you what you deserve Damon, I'm sure you can understand that."

"Stop it!" Elena screamed from the corner where she was cradling a still unconscious Stefan.

"SILENCE!" Ella said in a commanding voice.

"No!" Caroline yelled. "This is ridiculous Ella, you threatened to kill Marcus yourself, how can you be mad at Damon? He was protecting you!"

"I may have threatened him Caroline, but I wouldn't have killed him. Killing two Vampires has haunted me these past few days, like there was a darkness settling inside me, trying consume me. I took two lives and yes they weren't innocent and it was my blood that killed the first one, but still. I caused two deaths, there was no way I'd cause a third if I could help it."

"But that's what you're doing, you're causing another death! Killing Damon won't fix things, it won't bring Marcus back."

"Maybe not," Ella shrugged. Her gaze was still locked on Damon as he screamed and thrashed on the floor. "But it feels good. Think about what he did to you Caroline? He made you lie and steal and he used you as a human blood bag. He abused you and tormented you. He tried to kill you, is that really someone you want to save?"

"Damon and I have had our issues," Caroline agreed. "But that doesn't mean I want to see him dead, or see you be the one to kill him. Ella you have to stop this, please."

"I can't," Ella shook her head.

"I won't let you do this Ella!" Jeremy burst out. He shook of Alaric's hand and moved forward, stopping beside her. "I made you a promise that I would let you become a killer."

"You've already broken that promise though, haven't you Jeremy?" Ella asked, with a cold smile. "Your promises aren't really worth anything, are they? Now get out of my way."

"No," Jeremy shook her head, standing his ground. He reached out a hand hoping to calm her; she had once told him that his touch always made her feel calm and safe. "Please Ella…"

His hand was barely an inch away from Ella's face when her own hand shot out, grabbing his wrist, she tossed him across the room. There was a sickening crack as Jeremy's head connected with the corner of the fireplace and he fell to the ground in a heap.

"JEREMY!" Elena screamed. She scrambled to her feet, away from Stefan and over to her brother. "Jeremy? Jer are you all right? Oh my God! He's not breathing!"

This snapped Ella out of her revenge crazed daze, her head shot up and she looked over at her unmoving boyfriend. Damon's yelling stopped and he doubled over on the floor, his breathing hard.

"What? Jeremy?" Ella breathed, she began moving toward him. Her face had lost its vicious edge and she looked like Ella again. "Is he all right?"

"No!" Elena screamed at her friend. Holding a staying hand out to Ella and clutching Jeremy with her other hand. "Don't you come anywhere near him! You…you killed him! You're just lucky he's wearing his ring."

"What? No," Ella shook her head disbelieving. "I…can't…I couldn't…"

"You blamed Damon, but the truth is that everything that's happened is your fault! My brother would have been fine if you'd never come to Mystic Falls! Don't you come near him again."

"Elena…" Ella begged, her eyes filling with tears.

"I don't want to hear it Ella," Elena snapped, holding her brother close.

Tears were streaming down Ella's face, but she didn't argue. Instead she turned on her heel and in a blink of an eye she was gone and no one tried to stop her.

TBC…

A/N: Only one more chapter to go!