Chapter 16

Aside from the creaking of the flags and a few bird songs the sunny Mystic Falls high school courtyard was quiet, affirming Alaric's suspicions as soon as he closed the car door loudly, scanning the stuffed parking lot. He was sure now, they have come.

He took his time on his way to the door, allowing the-for the time being-still cold morning summer breeze to enter his lungs calmingly, trying to burn the feeling into his still free mind. Calmness. He will have to show it today even if he knew it is going to be false, as well as a bit of worry. It would seem odd if it wouldn't be noticeable, suspicious, and he couldn't afford that. There were too many lives at stake.

He bend his toes inside of his freshly refined shoes, feeling the old raspy vervain stem glued to his sole with nothing but silver sellotape against his skin to make sure it was still there. It was his only lifeline. One of the few their great grandparents have left for them, probably worth more than all of his possessions at the moment. The liquid stuff was far chipper. He could only hope that is what they are going to be looking for.

His hand shook as he grabbed a door handle, taking a deep breath before entering. This is it.

He was met with six of them immediately: three of the vampires at the door, the other three at the nearby table taking blood samples. He was ordered there instantly, gritting his teeth as the needle broke his skin, before a small paper was pressed over the wound. The vervain tester, negative as expected.

"Wait in front of the room fifteen, please." The woman's voice was lifeless, giving him yet another proof that she was dead, causing him to shiver. This was wrong. The whole species shouldn't have existed.

His steeps echoed through the hallways. There were lines in front of several classrooms he passed, yet none of the usually loud students spoke. It was like the fear froze them. One of the creatures glued himself to his back, probably making sure he wouldn't do anything stupid and try to leave. Like anyone would. There was no doubt that everyone was here today. It was still better to come and be questioned in school than in your family's home, risking lives of the people you love the most. No one would be this stupid.

There was a lonely figure that caused him to stop, thought. Matt Donavan stood still in the middle of the hall, his hands shaking visibly, his face too pale as his body dangerously leaned forward. He ran towards him, catching him before he hit the ground, tapping his cheeks and holding his legs in the air until he was pulled into consciousness again. Elena's boyfriend. How could he forget? They probably made him tell everything. He frowned at the idea. The kids were too young for this. The vampire was becoming impatient, but he refused to leave the boy alone, waving for the first person he saw to come closer. Caroline Forbes, Bill's daughter. She looked older now, more herself, agreeing to take the boy home without complaining. She whispered a quiet "Thank you," that he returned with a nod and then he was on his way again, the vampire urging him to move. He was getting closer and closer to his goal, not being able to stop himself from worrying as he entered the classroom, immediately being checked for weapons and tensing as they asked him to take his shoes off.


The smell than awoke her grew stronger with every step she took towards the kitchen, causing her empty stomach to rumble. She didn't know how the breakdown helped her, but it did. She felt lighter now, her mind clearer, more productive.

Damon's back was turned towards her when she entered the room, cutting the lasagne in a tray before him carefully, growling slightly as nothing went as he wanted, causing a small smile to appear on her lips, but fade fast. Sure, he was nice earlier, but his silence was still bothering her. He still hasn't told her what he was planning to do with her and she would lie if she would say that didn't scare her.

"Hey." He was looking at her now, scanning her face carefully. "You hungry? I know it's nothing compared to what you normally eat, but I tried to make it good."

She nodded, sitting at the already prepared table, but not being able to stop herself from wondering when the last time he cooked was. One, two, three hundred years ago? She wouldn't know, nor asked.

He sat at the chair across the table, causing the awkwardness after what happened this morning to grow as well as the heat on her cheeks while he played with his plate. Of course she was happy that he was there for her; he just wasn't supposed to see her like that. She wanted to believe she was stronger.

"It's good." She broke the silence after it grew unbearable.

"Well, that's certainly good to know." He smiled at her, yet all she did was bow her head and his face turned serious again. "We need to talk."

He has spent the whole night thinking about how to do this, needing her trust, just like she needed her freedom.

"We need to talk about what we are going to do next. I know you probably just want your family back but it's not that easy, especially when we don't know where they are."

Her eyes filled with sudden panic as she scanned his face. "What do you mean?"

He sighed, putting the fork down to grab her hands over the table. "They were on TV, Elena, they must have been warned that the police was coming, because the house was empty when vampires came."

The angel's palms were shaking in his now. "Why… Why would they do that?"

"I don't know."

….

What did they do? Elena's thoughts were spinning in circles again. There was no way Jenna would risk their lives without a reason. What did they do?

"A friend who helped me to get you out gave me this." Damon noticed her worries, handing her a small piece of paper with a phone number written on it in a scrappy handwriting, which she was now playing with, nervously turning it over and over.

"It seems like there was someone else that wanted to get you out. Humans. You know they wouldn't run for nothing. They had to know something."

"You mean… You think they joined them? Why not just let them get me out then? I would have been with them by now." She heard the anger in her voice clearly, but couldn't help herself. Was he preventing her from meting her family again on purpose? Was this some kind of a sick plan of his, having her only to himself? She couldn't deny it any longer. She was afraid.

His face fell at her statement, his voice careful. "I didn't even assume they could be with them. I don't know what they want with you and even if I would back then… They would be too late. This was my only option. Even if they would be able to get to you on time, I wouldn't allow them to take you. They would use you, Elena."

"And that isn't what you are going to do, huh?" Her body was shaking now, from fear of from anger, she didn't know, her eyes filling with tears. "You can tell me, you know. What they told you to do with me, how much will you get out of it? I won't try anything, I promise. I just… I c-can't take this nice act anymore."

….

Damon raised his hands in the air as he took slow small steps towards her, every word that left his mouth carefully thought through, in a hope that it won't scare her more.

"No, no, no, no, no. You got it all wrong, Elena. As soon as you got in the rumours started to spread among humans. They think you were sent here to end their war, they would force you to do things you don't want to do without even asking you for opinion. You are a weapon in their eyes, nothing more. I needed to protect you from that. I want you to have your voice at all times."

Tears were running down her face freely, her breath quickening as he stood by her side, stroking her hair, her face turned away from him, hidden.

"Elena… Look at me." He waited until she did so, her fear turning into confusion at his broken expression. "I would never hurt you. I won't. I know I have nothing to prove this right now, but I… I will do anything you want me to do so that you will be able to believe me someday. I will be there for you, I will give you space if you want me to... I will help you find your family. I will help you get your freedom back… Just give me this one time. Let me hold you this time and then I will never want anything from you again. Just this once… I need to fix this."

He wrapped his arms slowly around her, tenderly, whispering words of comfort in her ear over and over, until her hold on the chair softened enough for him to remove her fingers, feeling her tremble as he pressed her against his chest, running a thumb down her check, wiping her tears away.

"Shhh, it's OK. You are safe with me, I promise."

She gripped his shirt in her fist, searching for his attention while she rested her head right over his heart silently pleading him to bow his own closer to her lips, probably forgetting that he would be able to catch her words even if he would be standing on the other side of the room.

"I am scared."

"I know," he planted a kiss on the top of her hair, preparing to let go of the feeling of having her in his arms, yet she gripped his shirt tighter as he started to unwrap his hands that were holding her to him, filling him with hope.

And when she spoke again her voice was muted by his shirt. "What I said earlier… I am sorry."

"Don't be." He smiled slightly at her words, brushing his hand through her hair. He knew he deserved it better that she will ever know. There has been another reason behind his actions, she must have had sensed it too, she was just too polite to say anything or too scared. His true angel. The one that will save him.

….

His heartbeat was what calmed her, the too slow beats steady, reassuring. She could have this. She needed this. She needed someone to hold on to. Someone she will feel safe with. She could do it, she knew she could.

It was hard for her to remember that he was a vampire, that this now strong heart failed him once, wondering how it happened. All her life people were telling her that these creatures are soulless monsters, driven mostly by their instinct to kill, yet his arms were so soft around her, his eyes so caring. They weren't all like this. It wasn't the truth. She felt a pain similar to this morning's press on her chest again. Her parents died for nothing.

….

They stayed like this for what seemed like ages, before he broke the silence again.

"Hey, Elena?"

"Mhm?"She was so relaxed now that she sounded almost sleepy, causing him to smile.

"We still need to talk about what we are going to do next…"

"I know."

"…And I want you to choose, but you need to know many things before you will be able to do so. We can't be sure if your brother and aunt are with the group, until we meet them, there are many ways how they could fool us through the telephone since they want you to come to them desperately. The vervain we have is only going to last for a week, even if we keep it to the minimum for you to drink. We can stay here for as long as we want and if you don't want to meet these guys, we can still find your family ourselves."

"Maybe, but if they hid so well that even police couldn't find them… They are not stupid, you know? Jenna would never let something happen to them. If they really did something and are not with those men they probably found their way to Europe already."

"Is that where you want to go?"

"Well, it would be the safest place to hide, but I don't know yet. I need to figure out why all this happened to me, and I don't want to go anywhere without knowing that Jeremy is safe."

He just nodded, thinking her words trough.

"So… We can call them and find out if your family is with them and what this people want with you, or run around without a goal in mind."

"They won't be able to find out where we are through the telephone if you call them, will they?"

"No."

"Then I guess we have nothing to lose."

He nodded, watching a smile appear on her lips, causing his world to brighten. He did it, he really did it. She was trusting him.

"No, we don't."


Jeremy's palms were still burning from all the dishwashing he did with Jenna when the sound of the cars rolling onto the houses front yard caused him to look through the window.

Jonas and Ethan were smiling, yelling something indistinctly while showing Alaric around so that he staggered towards the front door, laughing. Kylan and Lynn stood only a few meters away leaning against each other, happily taking in the view while the white dog ran circles around them.

Watching them the boy couldn't help but cringe. No more than an hour ago they heard about his uncle being questioned. He never really liked the guy, that much is true; but he never, ever wanted this to happen to him. Not ever. He could die. And there was still no word about Elena, yet they were joking around, having fun?!

"You made it! You made it!"

The front door opened loudly, causing Ethan's and Jonas's voice to echo through the hallway, not stopping until they reached the kitchen where he was standing, Ric's smile fading faster than ever and he was able to see the remorse in the teachers eyes as they landed on him, asking the others to give them a second so they could talk. This was certainly going to be interesting.


She ran outside, the soft grass under her bare feet causing her to giggle as she twirled, the new book Damon gave her stored safely in her palm. The last time she felt this happy was months ago. This was what she has been dreaming of, what she needed. This was freedom.

She admitted her head a win as the vertigo forced her to stop, the unknown yet beautiful surroundings spinning in front of her eyes, until she sat down and closed them for a few seconds. It seemed like a fairy tale, the way planted flowers were spread in front of her all the way to the forest border, blurring it. A work of a fine gardener, she was sure.

The soft breeze grew stronger now, causing a small shiver that she didn't even notice to ran down her back, her attention elsewhere. The lake. The waves on the surface, the rebound of the sun… The small wooden pier stood proudly, hidden by a bunch of spruce threes almost completely, the sight painting a smile on her face, her feet following the path filled with bark immediately. Her reading place, she has found it.

She stood on the edge in no time, breathing in the amazingly fresh air brushing her wings until she wasn't able to withstand the temptation anymore, sitting down and dipping her toes into the water.

The pain shoot through her chest, immediately preventing her from breathing as the liquid pulled her into its depths, and all she could do was stare at the figures on the front sits, not trying to escape the belts that held them down, not moving, their open eyes empty.

Her own yelp was what brought her back to reality, as she stumbled backwards, curling into a ball. Every thought she had was holding the same meaning. It was her fault, the accident. She caused it; she should be the one to take the price. She knew she died, she remembered the fear before it happened, the darkness. Why couldn't they just let her go?

"Are you OK?" An unknown voice asked from behind her, the male trapping her between him and the piers end, the one thing she feared more than going back into the CRS her only possible escape. The water. She has stood up without knowing, her heartbeat quickening, until she felt the strong flapping on her wings at her back. She couldn't go back. They couldn't get them. Not now.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down!" The tall blond haired male, took a step back immediately, freeing her. "I am Gabe, I live here, I am letting you and Damon stay here," his words surprised her enough to calm her panic and she blinked for a few times before scanning him.

The man looked in his late twenties, the edge of the grey hoodie he wore hanging way over his dark jeans, the green eyes staring back at her warmly as he offered her his hand. "I didn't mean to scare you."

She grabbed it, shaking it rather hesitantly, yet it was better than nothing. She needed to learn how to live normally again. How to overcome her fears, how to trust. "I am Elena."

"Oh I know, believe me. It is nice to meet you thought; I was beginning to worry that you would be stuck in a room with Damon taking care of you till the end of time." He said, his words causing her to laugh.

"It is not like that, don't worry. His closet is much more comfortable than you would think."

He smiled at her, scanning her expression carefully, probably still searching for fear, before motioning towards the patch of wood beside her. "May I?" She nodded, but made sure that she was as far away from the water as possible before following his moves and sitting down, his voice stopping her thoughts again, his words surprising her. "And don't worry, I won't fangirl over those wings of yours. Damon made it very clear that is not allowed."

"He compelled you?" She didn't even care to hide the indignation in her voice, making sure to observe his response carefully. Was she actually just talking to Damon controlling another body?

"No, at least not on that matter."

Damon would never give her a response like that, not after he saw her disgust. "I thought you were friends."

He laughed, surprising her again. "Well, the last time he saw me I was seven. If he considers that a friendship this is his problem."

She decided not to push it for now. It wasn't about her anyway. They sat in silence for a few moments, every thought broken by the wave hitting the shore causing the pain to appear again, not letting her forget for even a second where she was supposed to be.


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