Chapter Three
– 2009 –
breathe in and breathe out, tell me all of your doubt
DAMON'S POV
I could hear her. She was just a few feet and a staircase away, reminiscing with Stefan. She looked exactly the same, deep green eyes, wavy brunette hair, and a face sweet-looking face. But time had seemed to have washed her constant kindness away.
She was mean, she was spiteful, and she was almost another Katherine. Eleanor's memory was the only one I had, had left that wasn't screwed over or contorted. If I found myself thinking of her, it was always the same: childish wonder, humor and kind with a pretty face to match. Not to forget that wonderful night before I left to war.
Now that she was here, all that seemed to be gone from her. That was a memory I had clung onto to keep me sane when everything else went wrong. But now even that seemed dark.
I took another swig of whiskey and debated going downstairs. I'd thought she'd been dead for a century and a half, I should be furious, and I was. But I was anxious to go downstairs. I finally decide to get over myself and join them.
"Elle, it's been what – forty years? What brings you to find us now?"
"I'm not here for you two exactly," She says as I come down the stairs and it peaks my attention and I continue to walk up the two. "I'm here on other matters. Things I need to finish."
Finally I'm standing right behind her and its still surreal. She shouldn't be here or at least I had thought so. The last time I had been in contact with her was through a letter, and one I didn't like in the least. It was the one where she told me about her marriage, I had been so pissed off and jealous at the time, I hadn't even replied. But when I got home, I wish I would have…
Stefan's brow creases, creating his oh-so-many frown lines. "What matters?"
She sighed, "You guys know her well. A Katherine Pierce happens to be the reason I'm here."
I glare at her back. "Katherine? How do you know her? You were out of Mystic Falls by the time she had arrived."
She scoffed and turned her head to shoot me a disgusted look. "Katherine had been in Mystic Falls, scoping it out if you will, and well, it led to my death."
Stefan's face changed into an expression of confusion. "Elle, you died in a fire. Your house was up in flames. A few lanterns tipped over."
She rolled her eyes. "That was all staged."
Eleanor sighed, and I could see in her eyes she was debating whether or not to continue. "Sebastian wasn't who he said he was. He was a vampire, and he came to Mystic Falls, alongside Katherine, who stayed hidden. She scoped out the town from the shadows; she took a particular interest in you two boy, that's were Sebastian comes in. He was her puppet, he sot after me because she wanted me out of the picture. She knew back in those days Damon was in love with me."
She looked at me and gave me a sad smile, like she was remembering our old times. "That of course, wouldn't do. Her plan backfired a bit though, Sebastian actually fell for me."
"I never liked Sebastian," Stefan said and Elle laughed. "He was always shady."
"Shut up, Stef. You just wanted me to wait for Damon like the hopeless romantic you are. Sebastian was sweet."
I scoffed and let my eyes do a slight roll. "Please just continue with your cliché story, Elle."
She just nodded; no saucy remark or eye roll this time. Good. "The plan was for him to set the estate on fire and leave me there to burn. But he loved me now, so he turned me and we ran. Katherine figured it out when Sebastian didn't come report back to her hadn't been seen by anyone. She wasn't pleased. She found us and said she wouldn't kill me but if I came back to Mystic Falls and ruined her "fun" she'd kill me. So I didn't."
"Until now." I said.
"Until now," She nodded. "I was scared back then. I'm not now; I haven't been for a while. But Katherine is one hard bitch to find."
"What about Sebastian? What happened to him?"
Eleanor frowned and replied choppily. "Killed. Older Vampire. 1898."
I noticed a shiny wedding band still hung from her neck on gold chain. She must of really loved him, I felt a bit of foolish jealousy rise in me, I couldn't be jealous. I fell in love again, too, with Katherine. Plus I was mad at her for ignoring my existence for forty years. Bitch.
"Katherine's the reason I'm like this. A blood-sucking, monster. And technically, she caused Sebastians too. So not only did she ruin my life as a human. She made my vampire life miserable too."
I was still getting used to Katherine being the bad guy. I had spent one hundred and forty five years trying to get her back, to try and save her and she turned out to be free. And a cold-hearted whore. Last night, Katherine had told him she never loved him, it was always Stefan. Elena told him that afternoon that she couldn't believe he'd think she'd kiss him back and it would also always be Stefan. Now Elle was here – and she had moved on too and changed so much. He wanted his last good memory to stay just like that, good. Eleanor and him, at the Mayor's goodbye party, in the spare room. But that was now corrupted too. It was like someone was trying to throw him off the deep end.
"Stefan! Stefan, I gotta talk to you…" Elena walked into the room and didn't pass up the chance to give me a nasty glare. I returned it.
Eleanor saw Elena and instantly stood up from her spot on the couch and charged at her. Fangs out.
Elena was pushed roughly against the wall. "Listen here you pathetic bi- your heart," Elle let go of Elena's throat and took a step back. "It's beating. Who are you?"
"I'm Elena Gilbert," She said, rubbing her neck with a wary smile. "You must have mistaken me for Katherine."
Elle stared at her, wide-eyed and curious. Like when we were teens. "You look just like her… its uncanny."
"I get that a lot now." Elena laughed.
"I'm so sorry! I just thought you were her and let me tell you I hate her. So you're pretty lucky I heard your heartbeat in my state of rage." Elle stuck out her hand, "I'm Eleanor Whitlock, by the way."
"I would say nice to meet you but…"
Eleanor smiled and nodded her head in understanding. She plopped back down on the couch and poured herself some whiskey. When I had loved her, she never drank anything but champagne. And she liked to drink it a lot. Way more than our society found acceptable, but she never cared about what others thought or being disowned. She just wanted to be herself.
"You're prettier and funnier, Elena," Elle told her as Elena sat down on the couch next to her. "Katherine's just horrible anybody who fell for her without compulsion is just stupid."
Even though Elena was mad at me for killing her brother, which she needed to get over because he lived, out of the corner of my eye I saw her give me a look of pity. We all knew Eleanor was hinting at me obsessing over Katherine for so long and actually loving her. I knew it was stupid. Now.
"What did you want to talk about, Elena?" Stefan finally asked her.
"Oh, yeah that, can we talk about it while you give me a ride to school?" He agreed and grabbed his keys. Then they both left. Elena shooting me another death glare. I chuckled and sipped my bourbon. It was just me and Elle now.
She sat on the couch staring off into the distance. She was wearing high-waisted jeans, and a tight top that showed a bit of her stomach. She had a cardigan on top of that and top of that and on her feet were some lace up combat boots and a glass of whiskey in hand. She looked nice but I imagined her in a big, red dress with a corset and pearl coloured heels, sipping on a nice glass of champagne. I still wasn't used to her being in modern day. Her hair was the same though, wavy, black and untamed.
"Quit staring at me, I know I'm good looking and you like to pine over women for centuries but some respect please." She smirked and I internally groaned. I chugged down the last of my whiskey and went up the stairs. That's enough dealing with crazy girls of the past and present.
I AM SO SORRY I JUST TOTALLY FORGOT ABOUT THIS STORY AND I FORGOT MY PASSWORD UGH. Its been so long, but I hope you guys will still read and enjoy! Reviews are welcomed :)