So, I know it's been too long since my last update (again) but I REALLY had my problems with this chapter. BUT, it's here now and I hope you all like it! Now, as always I thank my readers and reviewers AND my lovely beta AVECIA. You are AWESOME!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything 'bout TVD, I'm just messing with them for fun!
On with it!
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The last three days seem to have gone by in some sort of haze. All they did was eat, sleep (or, at least spend time in bed…) and research. They called in sick to their respective jobs, told friends that weren't part of… all this crazy, that there had been a family emergency… all in all, they were AWOL from the whole world, barricaded up in the Boarding House.
At least, until Isobel all but smashed in the door on her way in, looking drawn, tired, excited and glad at the same time. She spared not a glance at anyone else, and instead simply made a beeline for her daughter, grabbed her wrist and pulled her upstairs.
"Damon, Bennett, move your asses, I need to talk to you." She didn't even look at them, just went on, up the stairs.
Bonnie and Damon looked at each other, then shrugged their shoulder and did what they were told. It's not that they would usually just jump to follow anyone's orders, but they could use at least a little chance of pace.
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Isobel closed the door to Damon's bedroom impatiently, then strode over to the windows, closed them too, and drew the curtains shut for good measure. She hesitated a few moments before she turned to face them again, but then she straightened her shoulders and leaned against the desk standing right in front of the windows.
She was silent for another moment, and then she looked Elena straight in the eyes.
"So, I found out how to send Emilie back where she belongs. Or, I found more than one way, although… not all of them I would suggest."
Elena blinked in surprise. She had known that Isobel was supposed to be good at finding out stuff no one else did, but really? They had been searching for days now, and had not even a hint of what to do.
"Well then, tell us about it, stop beating around the bush already."
Surprised or not, she wasn't about to let it get the best of her. The sooner this was over, the sooner she could start to live her life with Damon.
"Right, first you need a few explanations, otherwise this won't make sense. So, the only thing that makes it even possible for Emilie to stay on this… mortal plain, is that she is bound to Bonnies magic, and the life-force of both Elena and Damon. I don't believe that she even knows that herself, otherwise she wouldn't have tried to get Damon killed. That being said… the first option to get rid of her, is to rid her of her magic. Because she needs that magic to even cling to your life-force. I wouldn't recommend that though, because it might just turn out to wipe any sign of life out in a 100 mile radius. That's the problem with magic – when it's settled somewhere, it doesn't like to leave again. Also, ripping the magic out of her would also mean that little-Miss-raise-the-dead here would lose hers. Because of the family line."
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Ten minutes later
"The last possibility is quite simple, actually. Just go and kill her. Rip her head off, or her heart out; stake her, run her over with a damn car. It doesn't really matter, because she should be able to die like everyone else. The only problem with that is that you have to be able to get close to her first."
Elena stared at Isobel for a moment, and then turned around to look at Damon and Bonnie.
As she started to discuss the options with them, Isobel left her place in front of the desk, to leave the room. As she passed Elena, she laid her hand on the shoulder of her daughter for just a moment, squeezing before she went out.
Downstairs, the others still had their noses buried in various books, researching. Or at least, they pretended to. If someone looked a little closer, they would see the eyes, not quite trained on the pages, or that someone stared at a text in a language too old to be known anymore or – in Jeremys case- held the book upside down.
Shaking her head, she stood still halfway to the door.
"You can stop with your useless attempt at getting any smarter. I have figured out what to do about the not-as-dead-as-she-should-be-witch. Just wait for Elena and her two puppies up there, she will explain everything. All you have left to do, is actually do it… I guess that's just how this world works though. Some people think, some people do the handiwork."
With that, she left the Boarding House again, nearly as dramatic as she entered.
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A few hours later, everything was explained, and plans were made. Everyone had been thrilled beyond believe that it actually was possible to kill Emilie. It had been a wild goose chase up until this point. Not knowing if it would be possible to send her back where she belonged to or if, how.
But now all they had to do was fight; something they knew how to do with closed eyes by now - some more than others (the bloody images of Elena ripping that Kitsune apart still fresh in everyone's mind).
Right now, they were sitting in the parlor, all eyes trained on Bonnie. She was sitting on the floor, a lit candle in front of her, and a piece of paper clutched in her hand.
She was mumbling something under her breath, and the flame danced around as though someone was trying to blow it out. As her chanting got louder, she took a short, sharp dagger and made a little cut in her hand and let the blood drop onto the paper. It was not something of Emilie's but as they had the same blood – the same magic - flowing through their veins, it would do the trick to get the message written on the paper to her ancestor. Then she held the paper over the flame and let it burn down, till nothing but ashes remained. Her chanting died down again and finally she stopped entirely. She looked at the others and gave them a slightly bitter smile.
"It's done. She got the message."
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It's been a bad day for Emilie. First, she woke up still in a bad mood because of the lack of fear coming from the Salvatore Boarding House. Then she realized that all the nice creatures that had been coming… well, stopped coming. In fact, they started to leave again. Some out of fear of her, some out of boredom. As if it was her fault that she had to wait for the next full moon for her plans to fall into place. And now, not even that might work out, because if more of her creatures started to leave, she wouldn't have enough left for the sacrifice.
But right now, nothing of that mattered. Finally, finally something happened that made her day more bearable. In her hands, she held a slightly singed piece of paper, covered in nice, cursive handwriting.
As I am not a person who likes to make things more complicated than they already are, I will keep this short. With this, I challenge you to a duel, just us two. You might bring witnesses or not, I don't care. Meet me in two days time from today at nightfall. I will wait for you on Wickery Bridge near the old Cemetery.
Elena
So, the little girl wanted to challenge her? Well, then so be it.
With a laugh that chased goosebumps down the backs of the few creatures remaining in her house, she twirled around once, before she went back into her bedroom.
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The next two days were spent like they lived in some kind of bubble, unaware of the outside world. Watching movies, eating together and generally behaving like nothing in the world could touch them. As soon as it started to get dark outside, they disappeared into their own rooms, spending quality time with their significant other, or just using the time to relax if there was none.
Now though, they had to stop playing the pretending game, as the time to leave drew nearer and nearer. Elena wandered from room to room, burning the memory of this house and the hours spent together into her brain, not wanting to forget a single moment. She had been gone for such a long time, and still she had been welcomed back with open arms and no hard words. Deep down, a feeling of regret started to bloom. Regret that she had herself been led by feelings of anger and disappointment and just left back then. Maybe if she had stayed all of this could've been prevented. She would have learned of Emilie sooner, before she grew to be strong enough to be a threat.
Shaking her head, she tried to get rid of those thoughts. It's not as if they would help her right now. She should concentrate on the matter at hand, and not on should-have-beens and would-have-beens. It would only cloud her thoughts and that wouldn't do. So instead she went in search of the others, making sure that there were ready. Or at least, as ready as they could ever be.
She found Alaric and Jenna in one of the rooms in the cellar. Sometime during the last six years, this room had been made into a weapon chamber of sorts – she could see wooden stakes, weird mechanisms, darts full of vervain and a collection of other sorted weapons. Her aunt and ex-teacher worked hand in hand, preparing everything, making sure it worked without problems. It was a testament on how close those two were, that Jenna didn't even make a grimace at handling the weapons.
A few rooms over, she could hear the voices of Stefan, Katherine and Damon. She didn't need to go there to know that there were helping themselves to a few blood bags, needing to fuel their strength. Well, Stefan and Katherine did, anyway. Damon, most likely, just was there to keep his brother company, and try to get a rise out of Katherine.
Smiling to herself, she went upstairs again. In the kitchen, she stumbled over Tyler and Jeremy, making faces at each other and eating. Across from them were Caroline and Matt, preparing a few pistols; loading them with wooden, vervain-soaked bullets. She was pretty sure that Caroline had liberated those things from the police station. It was one of the strangest sights she'd ever seen. And she had seen a lot. But Caroline – fashionable, sometimes shallow, naïve Caroline – and sweet, sweet Matt, sitting at a kitchen table and loading up pistols… not something she would have expected to happen. Ever.
That left only one person unaccounted for. And just as she had thought, she found Bonnie in the parlor, studying her Grimoir. She could see that her friend was nervous, but at the same time, she radiated confidence and self-awareness. It was obvious that, over the past years, she had grown into her powers, was sure of them and of her. She knew what she could and could not do.
She crossed the room slowly and finally let herself sink into the couch right across from Bonnie, not interrupting her, but just taking in the sight of the young witch. There wasn't anything left to do for her, anyway. She was dressed, her sword waited for her by the door, and there was nothing that was left unsaid. Now all she had to do was wait for the others to get ready, and the time to go to arrive.
She knew she should probably be a little more worried about the outcome, but for some reason wasn't. Whatever might happen today, she would make sure that her friends and family stayed alive and well. There was not one reason to waste any thought about a not-so-happy outcome, not when nothing was set in stone yet.
Slowly but steadily the parlor got fuller again. First Alaric and Jenna, both of them depositing a load of weapons on the couch-table. Shortly after them, they were joined by Stefan, Katherine and Damon – Katherine taking the place right beside Elena and sticking her tongue out to Damon. Damon, in turn, just rolled his eyes, pulled Elena to her feet, sank down onto the couch and placed her on his lap. One eyebrow raised, he challenged the vampires to say something, but she kept her mouth shut. 1:0 for him.
The last to arrive were Jeremy, Tyler, Caroline and Matt.
They all were silent for a few minutes, basking in the feeling of together and family. And then, nearly as one, they came to their feet and made their way to the door, most of them grabbing one or two of the assorted weapons on their way out. Elena and Damon were the last ones in the room, and as she took up her sword she looked around again, not sure if she would ever be here again.
Then she turned off the light, tugged on Damon's hand and followed the others. Time to get this over with, time to get the last obstacle to a good life out of the way.
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Aaaand here we go again. Now, there's only two or three chapters left – and that includes the epilogue. Depending on how long I'm going to draw out the fight, it will take up one or two chapters, and then I'm done with this story. I also have already decided if this is going to have a happy end or not (I'm NOT telling you, FYI), but you can still vote for whichever you'd prefer. Who knows, maybe I change my mind^^. So, all YOU have left to do, is click on the little button below to let me know what you think of that chapter! Reviews are love, people!
So long,
Zora