Phew, guys. Here we are. This is actually the end of Singer of the Heart. It's been finished for less than 15 minutes at this point, and I haven't had anyone else read it yet, so it might be a little rough. Let's jump into this together!
The final chapter of Singer of the Heart:
Epilogue:
2 years later - Damon's pov
The giggle bubbling forth from Melody fills my heart with a now well-known feeling of love. It was a feeling I had banished for so long, and then had refound when Elena was born. I hadn't thought I would ever feel that way about anyone else, but from the day Melody was born, I had been wrapped around her finger.
Seeing her now, running around after Stefan and Ric, pretending to be chasing them, while laughing so hard she shouldn't be able to breathe, makes me appreciate my life even more than I already did.
Everything surrounding Melody's birth had been chaos - I didn't remember much of it, since Bonnie had to actually fry my brain with her magic to get me off Elena. She had told me the story after; I had been in a magical coma for so long and suddenly I was attacking her. I remembered the visions too clearly, but there was a big black spot in my brain from my last memory, to being on the other side of the room, seeing Elena's lifeless body lying on the bed, blood everywhere. As soon as I had my bloodlust under control, I had fed Elena my blood, only then noticing the elephant in the room - her stomach. I didn't have time to check whether or not my blood actually went down her throat, before Bonnie had screamed. Her skin was glowing golden, her hair turning golden as well, as she fell to the floor and Elena started lifting from the bed. Her body had been floating in the air, while something bizarre started happening. A baby's head was pressing against her panties, desperately trying to get out. Hoping not to disturb the magic, I quickly snapped the panties, keeping my hands to myself, even though I had wanted to hold Elena, to make sure her pulse was there, but on the inside, I knew it was too late - my heart wasn't beating anymore. I could feel the presence of the overwhelming sadness and rage, pressing on my heart, and in any other normal situation, I would have lashed out, broken down or at least reacted in some way - but it was like my body was put on pause. My cheeks did feel wet, so I knew tears had leaked from my eyes, but it was like the emotional reaction was put safe behind a wall, while magic was happening right in front of my eyes. The baby was completely out of Elena now, and as if it was an instinct, I held out my arms, the baby floating straight into them. She was bloody and screaming and crying, but she was the most gorgeous thing I had ever seen, apart from her mother, and I instantly felt the connection between us. I grabbed the blanket lying at the end of our bed and wrapped her in it, drying the blood off her face and cradling her.
In the background, Elena was drifting slowly towards the bed and I knew I had to do something. I looked to Bonnie, who was slumped on the floor, breathing heavily. I knew that I should check on her first - my heart wasn't beating and Elena's wasn't either, but Bonnie's heart was pumping so hard I would have been able to hear it from across the country. The girl in my arms was screaming, and I was trying to hold her, the way I had held Elena back when she had been born, but to be honest, I was too confused with everything that was going on. I was just about to make a decision, when Caroline stepped into the room and I knew everything would be alright. Her eyes were huge as she looked at the situation in front of her, and I don't think she knew what to ask.
"Check on Bonnie," I said shortly, and then I sat in bed with the little one still in my arms. Elena was deadstill in bed and I felt the pain of my heart tearing into little bits and pieces as I stroked her still warm cheek. I knew all too well how the warmth was going to disappear soon, and before long, she wouldn't be my Elena anymore. And as I let out a cry of pain, I felt Caroline reach over to take the baby from my arms, letting me lean over Elena's body, shedding tears like I never had before. Sobs took over my body, as I screamed out my pain, knowing damn well there was no escaping this. And as I held her close to my body, I was pulled away, away from the apartment and away from Elena.
And suddenly I was at Mystic Falls General. I was holding a baby in my arms, but this time I recognized the big brown eyes. I recognized the smell of baby and I knew it was Elena. And I told her all about the world and how I was going to take her everywhere and show her all the good things in life. I told her how much I loved her and how I would never let her go, but just as I leaned down to kiss her little forehead, she turned cold and lifeless in my arms, and all life disappeared from her brown eyes. I screamed and held her close, but I couldn't do anything, because I was pulled from the memory, into a new one, where Elena was wobbling around on unsteady legs, playing with a doll. And as I took her into my arms and swung her around, she giggled and giggle, until she started crying. And as I stopped swinging her, she turned limp in my arms and the cries died away, as she did. And I fell to the ground, hugging her to my body, as sobs overtook my body and I was pulled into a new memory. It kept on like that for 7 hours. I kept being pulled from one memory to the next, all of them resulting in her dying in my arms. And while I didn't remember the last memory, I remembered the time when I was suddenly back in our bedroom with Elena and her body was limp and still in my arms. But before I had a chance to check my surroundings, she gasped, her eyes opened and she was sitting up. I pulled away from her, terrified this might be another hallucination, another cruel trick to show me I had failed in my attempt to keep her safe, to keep her alive. She looked so afraid and I needed to hold her, but I didn't want to feel her die in my arms again. I didn't want to feel the life drain out of her again and know I had lost her, again, so I let the sobs take over me again, as I pulled away, the furthest away the bed permitted, pulling my knees up under me, hiding my face in my hands and waiting for the hallucination to be over.
"D-Damon?" her voice was unsteady and hoarse, as though she hadn't used it in a while and as though she had been sick.
"I'm so sorry. I'm so fucking sorry," I said, my own voice totally unrecognizable. I didn't want to look at her, to look at the mess I had made. Her blood was all over the bed and I knew she wouldn't look like my Elena, because she wasn't. She was just another cruel trick to make me feel bad enough to kill myself, just like Katherine had. If this had been anything like what she went through, I kind of wanted to know what she had seen at first, making her kill herself so quickly. I knew she had been weak - she was nothing but a mere child at heart, not capable of handling adult things, but still, I wondered what had set her off like that. Of course, I wasn't even sure if she had been seeing the stuff I had - Stefan had vampire blood in his system when he died, so he had transitioned.
Elena hadn't.
"It's so good to see you awake," she said, and I felt her hands on mine, pulling them gently from my face. Her hands were warm - too warm. She was burning up. Maybe in this illusion she would burst into flames or just explode in front of me. Definitely more gory than the other visions, but not surprising.
"Please, make it stop…" I cried, moving away from Elena, "I can't handle more…"
"It's okay, I'm here for you," she said and suddenly I was embraced in her arms and something clicked. This was different. She was hot, yes, but it was familiar. Much more familiar than any of my other hallucinations… could it be?
I opened my eyes and she looked at me and there was no mistaking it. It was Elena. And under her eyes, veins were slightly more prominent than usual.
She was in transition.
From there, everything had been a mess. Elena fed for the first time, off of a stranger on the street I had pulled for her and the sight of her going full on vampire had been the most erotic thing I had seen in ages. Introducing her to Melody had been scary, because I knew so well from personal experience, how baby blood could tempt you to go full on vampire - and I didn't want Elena to have that experience with her own child. I knew she would never ever get over the guilt, so I had made sure it had been under controlled circumstances. Bonnie had been there and Caroline as well, so we were ready to tackle her to the ground, should anything happen. But we had nothing to worry about - I wasn't sure if it had been the bond between Elena and our daughter, but she hadn't had any issues at all. Holding her had made her tear up and she had cooed and cuddled her for hours. We tried breastfeeding, but it was clear that Elena wouldn't be able to do that. No milk came from her breasts, so we had to buy formula instead. We had been a little worried, since Melody seemed to grow up quicker than what a normal child would. She had been ready to be born, after only 6 months and she was making progress a baby her size shouldn't be. Bonnie, Caroline, Elena and I had spent hours crunched over books and all of us were surprised to discover what none of us knew - that apparently, having a baby with your Singer, isn't impossible. And it wasn't even that uncommon. And yet, Melody was different.
All the babies listed in the registry had been born without a heartbeat. They had grown like a normal kid, and showed early signs of being a vampire, but fortunately, the blood lust hadn't kicked in until they either turned 18 or grew to the age their parents had been as humans. Melody had a heartbeat and she was growing faster than we would like, but we took comfort in the thought that when she reached 24 years of age, she should be a vampire, like us and we wouldn't ever get to lose her. That's what we were hoping for, though. In the two years it had been since she was born, she hadn't showed one sign of being a vampire. She was a normal, happy girl, except she seemed to grow quicker than everybody else. So far, we knew it was going to be hard raising her - she would understand that her parents were different and that she was different. But hopefully, through love and magic, we would be able to make her life as amazing as we wanted her to have.
We weren't hiding our supernatural side from her, except from the bloodlust, of course. We never let her see that, but once she was a little older, we would have the talk with her.
For now, she was homeschooled, partially by Elena and I, and partially by Ric. We were keeping it at a pretty low level, but she seemed to be able to follow perfectly, on a higher level than she should be able to following. She was only two years old, but if anyone were to guess, they would think she was 4. She was still a little unsteady on her legs and while she was good at talking, she wasn't where your average 4 year old would be, so I knew there would be things she wouldn't know and be able to do, until she was actually 4 years old. She was a happy kid - she was constantly smiling and giggling, playing around when she got the opportunity. She enjoyed learning and spent a lot of time practicing the skills we taught her. As soon as she was happy with it, though, she turned back to playing around.
Although Elena and I wanted to spend as much time as possible with Melody, we needed to figure out what had happened. So we had spent more time with books and Bonnie, trying to figure out what the hell Nate had been and why his blood had poisoned me the way it had. Elena told me that he hadn't woken up from my last attack and that they'd had to bury him, and I felt horrible. I shouldn't have put her through that, but I hadn't counted on it being a danger for me. After months and months of searching, Bonnie had found it.
Nate had been a nephilim. Yep, you read that right. Some sort of son of the sons of God and apparently, his blood had been so pure, that when it had been "defiled" by me, it should have killed me. But the Singer bond had kept me alive for long enough for Bonnie to put me in a coma. It all sounded very strange and very impossible, but apparently it was true. I didn't tell Elena, but I was happy me drinking his blood had killed him for good this time. I didn't want him to be around and now that I knew he was apparently pure and I wasn't, I didn't want him around Elena at all.
Of course, now she was as impure as I was - because she was a vampire like me. It had been a big bit of adjustment for her in the beginning. She did tell me that turning was what she wanted and that she had planned on staying with me, but actually doing it, was difficult. She was already so emotional, being a new mother and having gone through all the emotions she did, when she thought I wasn't going to wake up in time. Being a new vampire definitely didn't help that. Caroline and I were helping her as much as we could, but truth be told, a lot of it was up to her. She had yet to feed on her own, because she had asked one of us to be around every time she did, so in case of her going crazy on her victim, we would be there to stop her. I was happy I was so much older than her, because even Caroline had issues controlling her sometimes. Elena was stronger than your average new vampire and when it came to Melody, she definitely went crazy.
A guy had looked at Melody when we brought her to the public pool this summer, and Elena had been there in a flash, compelling him and just about to pounce, when I pulled her away. I actually had to use my strength when moving her around, which I shouldn't need to, even though she was stronger than a human.
I had always known that a mother's love was something special and that Elena was bound to be protective of her, but I had no idea it was going to be that bad. And truth be told, I couldn't help but fall even more in love with her, when I saw her freak out like that. I would do the same for her and had done so ever since she had been a baby. Seeing her now, all grown up and a mother, was still amazing to me. And seeing her with our baby in her arms, made me fill up with a warmth only she was able to make me feel.
We had done our best to teach everything we knew to Melody and she was definitely a clever girl. She took after her mom in that department - she even had her own little notebook. She is just learning how to do letters now, and you rarely see her without it. I have a ton of pictures of her and Elena sitting next to each other, both writing/drawing in their books. Every time I look at the two of them together, it's almost as though I can feel my heart beating again, with the love I feel for both of them. To think that only 26 years ago, I hadn't believed in love. I hadn't believed in the Singer Bond and I hadn't believed in Elena. And now, I couldn't imagine my life without them.
Melody and Elena are both wearing party hats - it just so happens to be both of their birthdays today, Melody turning 2 and Elena turning 26. Melody loves sharing her birthday with her mother. We had been a little worried it wold be hard for her to share it, but she loves opening presents together and celebrating.
"Daddy, daddy!" I return to reality when Melody runs to me, reaching her arms up towards me, wanting to be held. I smile to her and pick her up, lifting her as far up as my arms can reach. She laughs and wriggles in my arms, as I pull her to my chest, kissing her forehead.
"Are you having fun, princess?" I ask her, smiling at her, as she reaches her hands out, booping my nose.
"Yes, daddy, look! Mommy got me a teddy bear!" I look at the table she's pointing to and I recognize the teddy bear I gave Elena so many years ago. Elena is sitting on the couch, smiling at me, and I can feel her emotions running as high as my own.
"Did mommy tell you the story of the teddy bear?" I ask and her eyes grow large as she shakes her head. Elena and I have told her a little of our story when she's asked, but we haven't gotten very far. She does enjoy listening to us telling her stories, especially because she gets to lie in between us, in our bed, cuddling with both of us.
"Well, now we know which story you're getting for your bedtime tonight," I say, smiling at her, as I let her back down to the floor. She immediately runs to Stefan, pulling on his pants to get his attention. Stefan turns around and crouches down to her level.
"Uncle Stefan, I want you to do something," she says and I know the devious smile on her lips mean she's up to no good. Stefan raises one eyebrow, knowing that smile just as well as we do.
"Well, what would the birthday girl like?" he ask, smiling at her.
"I want you… to cluck like a chicken!" she says, bursting out in giggles. Stefan laughs as well, but ends up shaking his head.
"Mel, I can't do that. I don't know how," Stefan replies, and Melody pouts.
"I want you to cluck like a chicken, now!" she says, and something changes in her voice. And less than a second later, Stefan is clucking like a chicken.
Elena and I look at each other, both worried, because we both know Stefan wouldn't just do that. Stefan himself isn't looking too happy either, and he looks to us, clearly showing us this isn't something he is doing voluntarily.
Melody is giggling like crazy, while Stefan continues to cluck, entertaining her. Elena moves to me, looking me directly in the eyes.
"Do you understand what's going on here?" she whispers, worry seeping through her brown orbs. I nod, slowly, even though I don't like it.
"She's compelling him."
What? Confused? Oh, did I forget to mention I'm writing a SEQUEL?! Silly me! Yup, there is a sequel coming, where we'll follow up on Melody and what on earth could be going on with her?
Alright, so, as I said, this is literally freshly written and I really want your comments. I hope I followed up on everything and got your questions answered. Please let me know what you think, please let me hear your thoughts, because this is my baby and I want it to be perfect.
See you soon and keep your eyes out for the sequel!