A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews and alerts. I apologize for the delay in posting this chapter. Real life seemed reared its head this week causing some writers block and little time for sitting in front of the computer. Hope you enjoy this chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own the Vampire Diaries, characters or story lines.
Chapter 7
My feet move with no real destination in mind and after walking for a while I find myself in the basement of the hospital parking garage. The anger boiling inside of me after seeing someone touch Elena may eat me alive. Before I know it, there is a huge hole in the cement wall of the garage. The pain in my now broken hand is a welcome distraction from the mental pain consuming me from the inside out. I start to pummel the wall as if it was the perpetrator that hurt Elena. Both hands are broken and bleeding but I continue to pound away as my hands heal and brake over and over.
The urge to go on a killing spree like the good old days is right there, but Elena's voice is in my head reminding me to be the better man. After all she has been through I can't make her hate me for giving into the monster she so desperately wants me to turn my back on. How did I let this happen to her? Elena is the only thing allowing me to keep a hold on my humanity and I let someone hurt her.
"Are you done with your temper tantrum?" Using my vampire speed I blur to the angry voice and find I've pinned Stefan to the wall.
"This isn't the time to push me, brother." I want to snap his neck, but I know it's wrong. So I decide to throw him against a pillar instead. I'm trying to be the better man, not a saint.
"Stefan don't be an asshat by provoking Damon. Now is not the time for some sibling rivalry bullshit." Alaric turns to me. "Damon, taking whatever you saw out on Stefan isn't going to help either." At least he reprimanded Stefan first.
"Tell us what really happened. The story the girls told about a slumber party gone awry is a lie. If you saw a memory like that you would be smirking for days."
All I can do is shake my head not looking either of them in the eye. How do I tell them what I saw? Suddenly Stefan pins me to the wall. "You saw something you did to her. This is the same reaction you had with the memory about Jeremy. What did you do to her? How many more times can you hurt her?" Stefan growls in my face.
"STEFAN. BACK. OFF. Do you think this is easy for Damon? Look at him. This isn't guilt. This is anger and pain." Alaric pushes Stefan back and Stefan puts his hands in the air in surrender. I just slide to the ground my head in my hands.
"He hurt her, Ric. She was petrified. He threatened to….he wanted to…he didn't…but he still touched her. He fed off of her in the fucking cemetery near her parents graves." I say through clenched teeth.
"Oh, God." Alaric's heart rate speeds up and I hear him take a few quick breaths. "Focus Damon. You need to look past the pain, look past Elena's fear. What did you see and hear? He compelled her to forget for a reason." Alaric squatted next to me.
I took a few deep breathes. I need to flip the switch. These emotions are weighing me down threatening to make me not able to function. I can turn them back on when I am able to better handle this and no one is around to kill. NO! I can't. Elena felt this pain, and I need to feel it with her. "The compulsion was stronger. I could see what was happening but the person was entirely enshrouded in shadow. Somehow he locked away what he looked like separate from the memory itself. It takes someone older and more skilled than those hybrids I saw in the other memories to do that."
"So the hybrids are working for someone else." Stefan offers shoving his hands in his pockets.
"What else?" Alaric encourages.
"There was a car horn in the distance. He wanted to, ya know with her, but said he would wait until there were no distractions. He also said he wanted to wait until she was his" I remember the words from the thing that I despise more than anything else in this world.
"Great, some other bad-ass vamp is in league with hybrids and is after Elena. Seriously, does she wear a supernatural danger magnet?" Alaric sighs in frustration.
"Let's get back up there before Caroline sends out a search party." Alaric says offering me a hand to help me to my feet.
"You two going to be okay?" Alaric asks looking at each of us.
Stefan looks at me a bit sheepishly and I just shrug my shoulders at him. "Damon…."
"Don't worry about it little brother. I'm a dick. It was the right conclusion to draw." I know he is just stressed over Elena and lashing out at each is how we as brothers deal with life's ups and downs. Brotherly moment over.
After walking for a few minutes, Alaric pipes up, "Caroline will deal with Matt and Jeremy. They don't need to know what happened unless Elena decides to tell them."
Once back in Elena's room I wash the blood off my hands and recall the memory of Elena and Jeremy on the porch. Emerging from the bathroom I decide to break the news. "I know why Elena was attacked and put in the coma." All eyes turn towards me.
My gaze falls to Jeremy. "When did you and Elena discuss her leaving Mystic Falls?" I ask.
"What?" Caroline exclaims jumping up.
"She wanted to leave?" Bonnie asks eyes wide.
"Everyone settle down" Alaric motions with his hands for everyone to settle and be quiet. He turns to Jeremy. "Well?"
"Shit. It was the day before the attack." Jeremy groans and runs his hands through his hair. "She wasn't going away for good, just until the summer or fall at the latest. She just wanted to leave for a while and travel. Clear her head and figure out her future. She planned to talk to everyone about it and say good-bye." He looks at Elena with sadness in his eyes. "She just never got the chance."
"So whoever is behind all of this needs Elena for something. They need her in Mystic Falls and whatever they need her for must be time sensitive if they couldn't wait a few months for her to come back." Stefan reasons.
"But we still don't know who wants her and for what purpose" Bonnie says. "I'll look through the grimoires and Isobel's research to see what I can find on doppelgangers to see what else she could be used for."
"Great, can't we have peace for five minutes" Caroline says in exasperation.
Something has been bothering me since we realized Elena had been compelled. I blur next to Jeremy putting my hands on either side of his chair pinning him in place. Before he can protest I stare into his eyes.
"You will throw a single punch at me" I say as I compel him.
Jeremy immediately stands and takes a swing at me which I easily dodge. He then looks around the room and blinks his eyes.
"Did you just compel him?" Bonnie gasps.
"Yes, but the real question is, why aren't the Gilberts drinking vervain like obedient children" I cross my arms and glare at Jeremy.
"I am drinking vervain. Elena has been on my ass to make sure I drink it daily since the thing with Klaus and the SUV even after I got back from Denver. She puts it in our coffee every morning. I have been putting it in the coffee that I get here at the hospital." He pulls out a vial of clear liquid from his pocket shaking it in the air. "Everyone happy."
"Toss me that Jeremy." Jeremy tosses the vial to Stefan who removes the cap and sticks a finger in. He barely flinches at touching the liquid that should scald him.
"It's been diluted." Stefan says tossing the vial to me.
Stefan and I still drink vervain regularly to keep our tolerance up. I catch the vial and take a sip; I barely feel it going down. "That wouldn't last more than an hour. We now have to assume someone got in the house and tampered with the vervain. Barbie, call Barbie number two and see if she will watch the house. Rebekah can help make sure no one else ends up in the hospital." Caroline nods and heads out into the hall to call Rebekah.
"Now we just need to wait for our red head nurse frenemy and see if we can get some more answers before I kill her" I smirk.
Caroline reenters the room. "Oh, I almost forgot." Caroline reaches into her purse and pulls out two pieces of paper. "Are these the hybrids from Elena's memory?"
I take the offered papers and study them. "Yep" I pop the p sound. "This is Griffin" I hold up the first picture. "This is the yet to be named dead hybrid." I point at the second picture. The pictures make the rounds so everyone can study the images and be on the lookout for them.
We sat in silence the rest of the afternoon and evening. Eventually Alaric pulled Bonnie and Jeremy out of their chairs to take them home. Matt had to go to work and Stefan had left earlier to give him a ride before going hunting.
Caroline pulls a chair up across the bed from me. "You don't have to stay Caroline. You're mom probably misses you."
"You've been by yourself most nights for the three weeks she's been here, Damon. I thought you could use some company" she smiles. "So….have you encountered any fun memories while you're traipsing around in that big brain of hers."
"I don't traipse Caroline. I'm a guy."
"Right, anyway, any fun drunken nights or fun moments." She leans back in her chair.
"Nope, I mostly get to witness the first class dick that is Damon Salvatore." I wiggle my eyebrows at her.
Caroline laughs. "Well, you can be a real douche at times. We all know that. But Elena sees more. I've seen glimpses of it a time or two myself. You defended me to my mom. Even your misguided attempt with my father was partially due to him wanting to hurt me. It was actually kind of sweet."
"Watch out Barbie, I may actually think you care." My half smirk is aimed at her and she smiles in return. "Don't go spreading rumors that I'm a nice guy. Bad ass evil brother, remember?" I wink at her.
"Girls always do fall for the bad boy." She giggles.
"But they stay with the good guy for life after a tumble in the hay with the bad boy that breaks their heart." I kick my feet up resting them on the side of the bed and slide down in my chair avoiding Caroline's gaze.
"Well, I'll support team bad boy any day." She winks at me.
My head whips in her direction in surprise but I try to hide it with a sneer. "Remind me why I wanted to stake you at one point?"
"Because you couldn't handle having a vampire around that is even more awesome than you." Caroline crosses her arms across her chest.
"You can't compete with the eternal stud blondie." I snicker and we sit the rest of the night in a comfortable silence.
A few days pass with no sign of our little nurse friend. Slouched in the corner I close my eyes to catch a few minutes of sleep when my phone starts vibrating in my pocket. I pull it out and check the caller ID seeing its Liz. "To what do I owe the please Sheriff?"
"Damon, I'm sorry but we found her. The red head you were looking for. We found her body drained in the woods this morning."
"Shit! She was our only lead." I stand up kicking my chair.
"There's more."
I groan. "What?"
"There is a trail of bodies from Mystic Falls to California over the past few weeks. All females, late teens to early twenties, with brown hair and brown eyes. The trail now seems to be heading back east."
"Whoever is behind this is coming back for her" I growl. "Thanks Liz." I hang up and kick the chair again.
"I take it mom didn't have good news" Caroline quips.
"Our little red-headed nurse is dead and the evil baddie seems to have gone on a road trip to California and now seems to heading back this way. She's been in a coma for over three weeks. We need to get her awake as soon as possible before whatever is coming gets here. Hoping the vampire that did this will reverse the compulsion is no longer an option. He gets nowhere near her."
I turn to Bonnie. "Let's go witchy, get your ju-ju going and send me back in." I stride to Elena's bedside.
"Okay" she answers scrambling to get the grimoire from her bag. Once I see her settle in with the book open in her lap I grab Elena's hand and close my eyes. Come on Elena, you need to listen to me and wake up. You're life now really depends on it.
I open my eyes to find myself in the parlor of the Boarding House. I'm not sure if this is good or bad that I am dumped directly into a memory instead of starting in the usual blackness. Looking around I see myself walking toward Elena drink in hand. Elena is curled up in an armchair a blanket around her shoulders.
"Here, have some bourbon. It'll help you forget" the memory version of me hands Elena the glass and sits down in front of her. She takes a swallow and makes a face.
I can't feel any emotions form her and from the look on her face she must be in shock.
"Yeah, it's strong. You know I can help you forget, too. At least the memories you don't want to keep."
"No. No compulsion. I need to remember. All of it." I have to remember what I saw. Remember what Klaus did to Stefan. Remember that what attacked me was a creation of Klaus and not the real Stefan.
The memory version of me holds up the necklace that Stefan had given to Elena. "I stole it back for you." I set it on the table next to Elena.
Her sadness slams into me. "He's really gone this time. I watched it happen. After everything that we went through to get... to help him. Now he's just... Gone."
Disappointment mixes in with the sadness stabbing at me like hot needles. "Where were you, Damon?" I was alone. I was scared. I shouldn't have said the things I did to drive him away. I know he's not Stefan and I shouldn't have expected him to act like Stefan. Stefan left me and I can't have Damon leave me too. Somewhere along the way he's become my best friend and he's the only one I feel safe with. I need him. I need Damon to be Damon and I need him more than I should.
The memory version of me puts a hand on Elena's knee. "I shouldn't have left. I promise you... I will never leave you again."
I was so stupid to leave with Katherine that night. Between Ric bugging me to back off Elena so as not to confuse her feelings and Elena bugging me about my impulse control I was beyond pissed. But that is what I do. I get mad and do stupid things and someone gets hurt.
Relief descends around me. I see Elena open her mouth to respond to my promise, but we are interrupted by Stefan who wanders into the room. "Well, isn't this cozy?" The warmth of Elena's relief is immediately replaced by a cold wave of fear. Stupid ripper Stefan.
"What are you doing here, brother?" I see myself ask the douchebag version of Stefan.
"Last I checked, I lived here. Klaus is gone, but he's asked me to keep watch on you until he returns. From now on, you're under my protection." No, no, no! What does that mean, 'under his protection?' I can't be around him like this every day.
That night was a nightmare. Finding Elena in the hospital minutes away from Klaus taking her on his hybrid world tour was the second worst night of my life behind the night Klaus killed Elena in the sacrifice. Knowing she feels safe with me makes my guilt even worse for leaving her that night and making her suffer with Klaus and Stefan alone. Elena's my best friend too. If someone would have told me two years ago that my best friend would be a human teenage girl that I also happened to love and my next best friend would be a vampire hunter, I would have killed them on the spot. It's been a long time since I have been able to say I have a friend, friends even. I just want Elena to be safe and happy. I can only hope I have been there for her like she needs. God, I really am whipped!
The Boarding House fades away and Elena's bedroom forms around me. I see myself lounging on the bed as Elena emerges from the bathroom.
"Ugh, Damon! Seriously?" Not that I mind being around Damon, but I'm exhausted and seeing him in my bed does not help with the confusion in my head for the Salvatore brothers.
"We got Mikael." I had a very smug look on my face.
"What? How?" Elena walks over to the bed.
"No idea. I guess Katherine came through. Plan's in motion! See, I told you I had it." I wiggle my eyebrows at her.
"Go ahead! Kick, yell, scream. I'm sure you have been planning your rant all day." I give her a small smirk. Elena shifts her weight and gives me an incensed glare that quickly softens.
I should be mad but I'm not getting through to Stefan my way. Maybe we need to do things Damon's way for once.
"I'm not going to yell at you." She says softly. Looking at her now, I didn't realize how tired she looked at the time. Stefan and I coming into her life really fucked up her whole existence.
"Why not? I went behind you back. Freed Stefan. And you know what….it backfired. He's an even bigger dick than ever. Just now he's a dick that's on our side." Elena is desperately trying to get me to move so she can pull the covers down. Her frustration is pretty funny to watch.
"I'm not mad. I'm tired. I just want to go to bed" she continues her tug of war with the covers.
"You know, I think Mikael's weapon is a stake, 'cause he mentioned something about it." I see myself staring up at the ceiling.
"Well, they must have carved it from the white oak tree before they burned it down."
"So I was right." I say, my ego dripping off of each word. Elena final gives up getting me to move and just throws the covers on top of me so she can crawl into bed.
"After aaaall that, the wall lead us to Mikael." I muse.
"Led us to more than just that. I think we got Rebekah on our side, too." Elena climbs into bed and pulls the covers up around her.
"Really? What'd you learn from her?" I remember being shocked that Elena had managed to get through to Rebecca.
"I learned that she's just a girl. That she lost her mom too young and she loves blindly and recklessly, even if it consumes her." Elena turned to look at the memory version of me. It's scary how much I have in common with a 1,000 year old original vampire. Why does love have to be so hard and confusing? Why can't my feelings be clear? Stop thinking about your feelings Gilbert before you hurt them both. Focus. Free Stefan, give Damon back his brother. Kill Klaus and protect your family and friends.
I hate that Elena hasn't had a normal teenage experience. First the death of her parents then all of this supernatural doppelganger shit. She shouldn't be worried about saving a blood-aholic boyfriend so said boyfriend's psychotic brother doesn't lose the only family he has; all the while worried that the definition of evil may slaughter everyone she knows and cares about.
Elena rolls to her side to face me. "And when it's all said and done there's nothing more important than the bond of family."
I see myself roll my eyes at her. "Well, you should tell that to my brother!" I was so pissed at him after he almost let Mikael rip my heart out at the bar. Mikael ruined a perfectly good shirt.
We're now side by side facing each other. There is a bit of sadness coming to the top of her emotions that are all over the place making them hard to decipher. "I'm not mad at you for letting him out, Damon." Elena reaches over and turns off her bedside lamp. "I think that you're going to be the one to save him from himself. It won't be because he loves me, it'll be because he loves you." Damon needs his brother. Damon deserves his family back after the turmoil that Katherine caused. Getting Stefan back for us to be together may never be possible, but if I can help save him for Damon then all of the pain and struggle will be worth it.
Damn, Elena has a big heart. She never lost faith that there was a chance to save Stefan. I'm his big brother and I doubted he could be saved but never her. Elena could have just said screw you Stefan. She could have relegated him to ex-boyfriend status and never looked back seeking out a normal guy. Not Elena. She stuck it out for Stefan, for me. To save the brother I promised to torment for eternity.
"Can I tell you the rest tomorrow?" Elena says quietly snuggling deeper in the covers closing her eyes. Wow, Damon smells really good. Why does it not seem weird to be falling asleep next to him?
"Sure" I quietly answer.
I seem to recall that I watched her for a while after she fell asleep that night. I had been shocked she didn't kick me out before she fell asleep. I almost stayed the night, but I left not wanting to jeopardize the step forward in the intimacy we had made. Of course I made us take ten steps back when I kissed her a month later and she got very weird about it.
The room falls away and the blackness that is starting to become too familiar surrounds me. Looking around there's nothing. No subconscious Elena trying to kill me. No hallway. No memory. Unsure what else to do I just start walking my senses on high alert.
After walking through the blackness for a while I can suddenly sense Elena. I stop waiting for the attack. Something flashes in front of me, but I hold my ground. As I hear a rustle behind me I sidestep and manage to grab Elena by the arm as she tries to tackle me pulling her flush against my body her back against my chest wrapping my arms tightly around her.
"Elena, its Damon" I whisper in her ear as she struggles to free herself. "Wake up Elena." Somehow she hooks her leg around mine knocking me off balance and we go tumbling to the ground, but I manage to keep her beneath me. I roll her over so we are face to face.
"Leave. This is where I belong. Alone in the dark where I can't hurt anyone else." She says with conviction.
"You're not along Elena. We're all waiting for you to wake up. Jeremy needs you. Alaric needs you. Stefan needs you."
"Let me stay in the darkness. Leave. Leave me." Elena starts thrashing her head side to side.
"Elena" I shout and she stops thrashing to look at me. "It's not safe for you stay like this. You need to wake up."
"Leave or I will make it so there is no one left to save" Elena growls.
"Elena, we're trying to help you. Please wake up."
Elena closes her eyes and a ring of fire erupts around us. "I don't scare that easily Elena. Try again."
She opens her eyes and just stares at me. The fire burns higher and higher but I don't budge from my position and keep her pinned to the ground. The heat intensifies and I feel beads of sweat form on my face. We just stare at each other neither one of us conceding defeat by looking away.
A voice seems to descend from the blackness. "Damon" the voice floats through the air. I listen closer never taking my eyes off Elena. "Damon get out." The voice sounds like Stefan. Why am I hearing Stefan's voice? Is another memory starting? Breaking eye contact I search through the flames and see only blackness.
"Leave me to the blackness. No one else dies for me if I'm already dead." Elena whispers.
"Damon out now." Her words mixed with Stefan's voice have me in a panic. I reach up and grab the talisman. "BONNIE!" I shout.
Landing back in my chair I see Elena's body arching up in a seizure. Seconds later a team of doctors and nurses charge into the room. Stefan puts his hand on my shoulder pulling me away from the bed. We are all ushered into the hall.
"What the hell happened?" I demand as we all stand around as the medical team stabilizes Elena.
"Her heart rate started to get eradicate then she started to have a seizure. The spell to pull you out didn't work as you didn't request to come out. Stefan started calling your name in hopes you might hear us and want out." Bonnie answered shoving her grimoire into her bag.
We all waited in the hall for what seemed like an eternity when the doctor finally emerged. "How is she?" Alaric asked.
"She seems to have spiked a very fever which is what caused the seizures. We gave her medicine to counteract the seizures and have started her on antibiotics for an infection. We'll need to keep a closer eye on her for the next few days but assuming we can keep the fever under control she should make it through this speed bump."
"Thanks doctor." Alaric says sadly and reenters Elena's room and the rest of us follow him. Everyone settles back into their seats.
"Elena caused the fever" I blurt out.
A/N: Please review!