A/N I hope you all had a wonderful new year ;) For those who it's still the start of the day…Happy New Year! ;) We survived 2012 like bosses, and when I'll have children I'll make them watch that crappy movie and tell them that I fought against the earthquakes and survived :P
Anyway enough babbling. Enjoy the update and please review!
Check out my oneshot "Memory Lane", and the story I'm co-writing with Cdaye8184, "What Lies Beneath". For those waiting for an update for My last chance in saving my humanity it should be updated soon.
Thanks Courtney for beta-ing and for being my number one supporter :') I love you! Xxxx
This chapter starts a few hours earlier, and it's going to show you how Damon woke up.
A couple of hours earlier…
"I need your help, Victoria," Kol demanded when the young woman opened the door.
"What's wrong?" Victoria asked, concerned.
"I'll explain everything to you. It's regarding Elena," He said dismissively.
"Give me a minute," Victoria said, "I'll call someone to keep an eye on Elle for a minute."
"So that is why you're helping Elena…" Victoria said, biting her perfect lip. Kol had just finished talking, and Victoria seemed lost and concerned.
"Yes," Kol confirmed. "This can't go on, and the moment Klaus figures out what Elena is he'll kill her. I'm surprised he hasn't found out yet." His voice was merely a whisper, you always had to be cautious with regards to what you said.
"But Klaus needs Elena to make his hybrids, right?" Victoria asked, not really understanding where this was going.
"That's what the girl thinks. But I know better than that-Klaus needs her for much more than that, I'm sure
"And what about Damon?" Victoria asked yet again another question.
"Damon and Elena are meant to be. Without Damon, Elena can't perform her task." Kol shrugged his shoulders. There was no other way to put it.
Victoria looked at Kol, and hesitantly reached for his hand. "Do you think that…that this might finally be over? That this place might be peaceful again?"
"I hope so," He said. "I'm not a good man, Victoria. I killed humans. Hell, I even owned slaves here but that's not me anymore. This nonsense has to stop. Klaus is risking all our lives and there's not much longer we're going to be able to stand around and not do anything about it before it comes back and bites our asses. And as much as I hate to say it, I also care about the too many innocent human lives he's risking. Tell me, Victoria, do you think this is a nice place for Elle to grow up in? Do you even think about what she must go through when she grows up?"
"I try not to," Victoria said, flinching. The poor little girl. Whenever Victoria would try to picture how Elle's life would turn up... she came up blank. That was cause she knew that this place was nowhere for a child. She had no future here.
"Then we have to end this tonight. I know how to get them out, I just need your assistance. My witch is waiting to bring Damon back, and then we can grab Elena and leave."
"What about Elle? I can't bear to leave her here, now that the gate is going to be opened…" She protested, fearing how safe she would be.
"No," Kol said firmly. "Not yet. We'll start with Damon and Elena. Don't worry, everyone will be free once they know what they have to do."
"What about Elena? Should I tell her the truth about Elle?"
Kol sighed. "She should know. But not yet. Elena's gifts are based on her feelings. If Elena makes this matter personal, it will have terrible effects for her. It can unleash darkness inside Elena that no one can handle. Elena needs a teacher, a guide, and I'm going to be the one who does that job."
"Whatever you think is right, Kol," Victoria nodded her head, and he smiled at her.
"You've done an awesome job, you know, keeping Elle safe all these years."
"I've grown to love her like she was my own daughter," Victoria said. "I didn't know that Elle would end up like the rest of the humans here, otherwise I wouldn't have chosen this place to keep her safe."
"You didn't know," Kol sighed. "Klaus deceived us all."
They walked in silence until they reached a corridor. A young, olive-skinned woman was waiting for them next to the banister.
"What do you want me to do?" The young woman asked.
"I need your assistance," Kol explained calmly. "I need you to open a casket. It is sealed in magical writing."
She nodded her head. "I can do that." Her voice was confident and she turned on her heels, ready to head towards wherever she needed to perform but the vampire's next words stopped her dead in her tracks.
"Also, I need you to help me to set a human girl free tonight."
"Kol, you know I can't do that. This place is sealed with magic, and humans are unable to leave unless they are set free by Klaus every month, on a full moon."
She cleared her throat. "The light of the full moon helps me to unseal this place. Without the full moon, I can't help you. The witch that casted the spell, my ancestor, made sure that the full moon's light will seal and unseal the place. You know that, Kol."
"But I also know that you share the same bloodline, the same one as the powerful Greta," Kol said firmly. "There has to be something you can do about it, to lift it up for a few seconds." He knew she had the potential. Hell, all witches could do it if they put their mind to it. If a witch said she couldn't perform a spell... it was pure bullshit.
"Even if I do lift it, they still need Klaus's mark. I can't help you, Kol, I'm sorry."
"What happens if Klaus doesn't put his mark on them?"
"Once they are out, they'll die," She stated. "I will try to find a loophole. But I can't promise anything, however I can unlock the casket." At least she could do what he needed most of out her.
"Very well then," Kol said, "Let's go."
"Omnidus, adistm!" The young witch called out, and there was a sudden silence until a gasp of air was taken. Kol and Victoria immediately helped Damon get up, and they could see that the latter was ashen.
Victoria immediately handed him a blood bag, which he drank in a big gulp.
"Elena," He said, "I remember Elena. I need to get Elena out of here."
"Wait," Kol placed a hand on Damon's chest to stop him. "This isn't how it's going to work. Your senses might be a little lacking right now, and we can't put Elena's life in danger. We have to work together."
"I remember you," Damon said, his eyebrows furrowed. "Aren't you Klaus's brother? I know each one of you. I had multiple out of body experiences…I heard Elena scream my name, screaming for me to help her…"
"And you're going to help her, Damon," Victoria said firmly. "If you listen to us. There's so much you've been left out on... so much about Elena and everything else that we need to tell you. But you have to believe us and trust whatever we say to be true."
"Very well then."
"Her room's this way," Kol whispered, and glanced at his watch. "She must have finished her last chore by now, so she's most probably returning to her room."
"What about Stefan?" Damon said through gritted teeth. He knew what his brother did to his 'slaves' nowadays... He couldn't bear the thought that he had done some of that to his Elena.
"Stefan's usually with Klaus at this time," Kol replied, but then his and Victoria's faces met.
"What's wrong?" Damon asked, sensing their sudden change. "I can't hear anything, I still feel weak…"
"I think Elena's with Klaus and Stefan," Kol breathed, "And they don't seem happy."
"Listen to me, Kol. I'm going in there for Elena, no matter what plan you think you have-" Damon remembered their words from earlier but he didn't care about them. All he cared for was Elena and he needed to see her again. Right now.
"Damon, unless you want Elena to die because of some silly mistake, let me handle this," Kol snapped. "You are weak at the moment. You couldn't even hear her scream. I think it is best if you leave this up to Victoria and me, because we are losing precious time. They could be doing anything to her in there."
Present Time
"You have hurt her enough, brother," Kol said, his eyes narrowed. Klaus shrugged and looked at Elena like she was a piece of disgusting meat.
"Let's go, Stefan. I think princess here has learnt her lesson." Klaus eyes his brother carefully before glancing at Elena once last time. He shot her a devilish grin before spinning on his heels and leaving. His other slave-Stefan, following closely behind.
When Kol and Victoria leaned against Elena they found the girl cold as ice. Her hands were still chained, but her head was hanging freely as If she was a helpless, one week old child.
"Kol, I think something's wrong," Victoria panicked, "She's not breathing properly…"
Kol immediately supported Elena's head so that she could examine Elena. "Elena, can you hear me?"
But he didn't get a response.
"What's going on?" Victoria asked in horror as Elena laid frozen.
"She got severe head injuries," Kol said in a few minutes. "She…Victoria, Elena's in a coma."
Quiet footsteps were suddenly heard. "Is it safe for her to see me now?" A familiar voice asked gently.
Victoria raised and turned to Damon, who was now still, his face panicked. "Damon, I'm so sorry…" She tried to tell him.
"What's going on?" Emotion clogged his throat as he spoke. "Why is Elena...?"
"She…We weren't quick enough. She tried to escape, and they beat her. She has severe head traumas, Damon, she's in a coma…" Victoria tried to say as much as she could. It was just enough for him to understand what had happened but he'd get filled in on the details later. His non-beating heart had metaphorically stopped at the sight of his lover.
He didn't really understand where he'd been but he knew he needed to see his Elena. And now he was helpless. "We have to do something, please…"
He let silent tears stream down his face as he realized that the harsh reality had forbidden them to be with each other yet again. God wouldn't give them a break. Fate wouldn't give them a break. They were apart way to long and under too hard of circumstances. He wouldn't be able to deal with much more-vampire or not.
He sank on his knees, cradling Elena's head in his lap, peppering kisses all over her face. "I'm so sorry, Elena. I wasn't here for you…"
"Damon, we have to move," Victoria said as she placed an arm on Damon's shoulder, "Kol has a safe room you two can stay in, and we can help her. But we have to move before Klaus finds you both."
"He can find me for all I care," Damon said with tears in his eyes. "I don't want to live without Elena."
"But she's not dead, Damon! There is a possibility that she wakes up. You just have to believe in her." Victoria's voice was stern but full of feelings. She knew what he was going through, he just needed faith. And she knew all too well it was hard to search for faith in a hopeless place.
"No one knows this room exists," Kol explained once they put Elena on a bed. "I made sure that I built this safe room when we first invented this place. She'll be safe here."
"I can keep her heart beating," Bertha spoke softly. "Unfortunately, she'll still be in a comatose state. Magic has its limits. However, my magic can do the work doctors do in the hospital, so I can keep her body functioning without the use of the usual machinery."
"So you can't bring her back?"
"No. It's up to her, Damon," Bertha said gently. "You just have to have faith."
His eyes were swollen. He simply nodded his head, and everyone left, leaving him alone with the girl he had fallen in love with. Over the past few months when he had been possessed, his love for her had grown. He flinched remembering the times he had to watch her go through pain and he couldn't do anything to stop it. He remembered when he saw Stefan smack her, when he saw him rape her… And he couldn't do anything to help her. She had screamed for him, yet he was so weak, so vulnerable that he couldn't even comfort and soothe her.
He stroked her cheek and fell on his knees next to her bed, holding her hand tightly. "I'm so sorry, Elena," He cried, his hands stroking her hair away. "I'm so sorry." His eyes looked at her body, torn and bruised, and he found himself surging up with fury and hate, and pity. When they had found her, they found her chained, and Damon could only imagine the pain this little, fragile human girl must have felt when they smacked her to a coma.
He was going to kill his brother for this. Flesh and blood? Please, he couldn't give a fuck right about now. Not after this. Stefan deserved to die. This was not what vampirism was about and he'd be damned if he let him get away with it.
"I'll kill him, Elena," He swore, placing a kiss on her temple. "I love you. Please come back to me, angel. I need you."
She was so cold that it frightened him, and she was thin, way too thin. But he was going to make it up to her now, because he would set her free. Yes, he'd set her free, free to make her own choices. He loved her and he let to let her go.
He was nothing except pain for her, and even nature knew it because it made sure that it separated them every chance it got. This tragic fate was all nature's doing, because such bad, such darkness shouldn't have been able to come this close to purity. Elena was pure and kind, and he was a monster. This shouldn't have happened in the first place.
But it did. And now it was up to him to fix it.