HELLOOOOOO EVERYONENENEEEE! I AM BACK AND READY TO DO SEASON 3! If you can't already tell, I am so excited to end season 2 and go into season 3 where I am going to have THE GREATEST THINGS FOR YOU ALL I PROMISE! I'm going to make it up to you for the wait, I swear! I have finally decided to pull my act together and start updating my stories again! So, I hope you all like it, there is definitely more to come soon! And without further ado, I present As I Lay Dying!
Erin watched her brother sleep from the doorway, a million thoughts running through her brain. The most prominent one was, this is my fault. The doppelgänger blamed herself for her Aunt Jenna's and her own father's deaths. She needed to separate her family from all the supernatural drama going on; she needed to protect them.
The brunette shut her brother's door quietly and walked towards her Aunt Jenna's room. Erin stared inside it for a moment, thinking she should start packing up the room. However, Erin couldn't even step in the room nevertheless go through her deceased aunt's things. She needed to give it time.
As Erin closed Jenna's door, she heard Damon's voice in the hallway, "It'll get easier, but you know that." He was referring to how she coped with her parent's death, but in reality, Damon didn't know that Erin still wasn't over them. She never really would be.
"What are you doing here, Damon? I just- I really want to be alone right now." Erin spoke, and the vampire could see the despair in her eyes. The girl was a true orphan now, having lost both sets of parents and her only living relative.
Erin was about to walk away from the man, but he put out his hand to stop her, "Please, Erin. Feeding you my blood- I was wrong. And I know that I don't deserved your forgiveness, but I need it."
What the girl didn't know was that Damon was dying from a fatal werewolf bite as she replied that she needed a lot of time. The vampire nodded and replied, "Sure, take all the time you need."
Erin then walked into her own room and shut the door behind her. She just wanted to scream. After losing both sets of parents, her aunt, and dying and coming back to life, it was safe to say that Erin wanted to sleep. Or have a drink. Or both, but she couldn't. Deep down inside of her, Erin wished Elijah was there to talk with her. He was the only one who ever wanted to really know how or what she was feeling.
And even after everything he did to them, to her, she missed his company. If this was what losing your family was like, Erin never wanted to know what it would be like to lose Stefan.
Later that day, Erin, Elena, and Jeremy walked into the town square to see Gone With The Wind. The town, for whatever reason, always seemed to have something going on every weekend from now to the end of time, which was perfect for Erin because she needed structure and stability at this point in time. Jeremy was complaining about how it was a girl movie, and Elena replied that this was their three hour distraction.
Jeremy scoffed in return, so Erin clarified, "Look, we need this, okay? Wake up, eat, breathe, sleep and do it all over again until one day it's not as hard anymore."
The siblings laid out their blanket as Caroline came over with the food. Once again, Jeremy groaned. Caroline then put on her big speech of the day, "We are going to take a page from Scarlet. We made it through the war, and you guys went through hell and my mom now knows I'm a vampire. So now, it's like Atlanta has burned and yet, despite everything, we preserve!"
Jeremy sighed before sitting down, Elena passing him some chips. Caroline turned to Erin and asked, "How was it?" The brunette shrugged and replied, "A little corny with the parallel but overall very fitting and encouraging."
Elena laughed a bit at that as she watched Caroline make a mental note in her head. The girl watched her siblings and Caroline interact, paying close attention to Erin. The twin could see how her sister tried to fake a smile, and she wasn't buying it. Elena understood how attached Erin got to their Uncle John, and how she considered Aunt Jenna to be more of a friend than an aunt. She loved them both too.
But, Elena also recognized the guilt and shame in her sister's eyes. I mean, she wasn't an idiot. Elena knew that her two surviving elders died because of the sacrifice that hinged on Erin's cooperation and participation. But, Elena didn't blame her sister. Erin wasn't a murderer, she never forced Klaus' hand. She never asked for any of it, never wanted this life for herself.
So, in that moment, Elena Gilbert promised herself that her siblings would come out of the supernatural drama with their lives. And, together, the three would leave this town and never look back.
A little while later, Stefan came up to the group and asked if Erin would take a walk with him. The brunette knew immediately that something was wrong, she knew Stefan too well. The couple moved away from the crowd, so Erin questioned, "So, what's wrong?"
At Stefan's obvious hesitance, Erin continued, "Look, I know that you wanted me to have a distraction after everything that happened, but something is obviously bothering you. Let me help you." The vampire sighed before nodding.
"Listen, the other night, when Damon was helping Tyler, something happened. Tyler was starting to transform and Damon was bitten. He's gonna…" Stefan trailed off as Erin put a hand over her mouth, shocked. She felt horrible for Stefan, not wanting to imagine one of her own siblings surely dying without some way to fix it. And, selfishly, Erin absolutely could not lose one more person she loved. She wouldn't let that happen.
"Oh my God, he came to the house this morning and tried to apologize. I practically slammed the door in his face. There has to be a way we can fix this." Erin spoke, determined to find a way to help.
The blonde vampire told his girlfriend, "There might be a cure, but I need to find Klaus in order to get it." Erin started to shake her head at him, not liking the plan at all. But, she had to admit that, for whatever reason, Klaus chose not to kill Stefan. He said he didn't want to.
"Whatever Damon's done, whatever has led him here, I'm the one who made him become a vampire in the first place. So, if there's a chance for a cure, I owe it to him to find it. What you can do is talk to him, please. Just tell him that there's still hope." Stefan said, and Erin wrapped her arms around him.
The brunette nodded, causing Stefan to break out of her hold and start to walk away. Erin called his name, forcing him to halt, "I love you, Stefan. Be safe."
After telling her friends what was going on, Erin took the car and drove to the Boarding House. She got out of the car and started walking to the door until she heard a noise. As her back was turned, Sheriff Forbes and a few deputies came up behind Erin, and the woman put a hand over Erin's mouth.
When Caroline's mother took her hand away from the girl's mouth, Erin grumbled, "Am I getting kidnapped again?" The girl was then handcuffed and brought to the police station. Liz Forbes' deputies forced Erin into the Sheriff's office to wait the night out.
As Erin saw her friend's mother walk through the doors, she rushed out question after question, "Where's Damon? What have you done with him? What about Alaric?"
Liz looked disgusted as she asked the girl, "Why do you even care? You know what they are and what they do. They are murderers, Erin. End of story." The brunette shook her head and stated, "You're wrong and if you kill him, you're the murderer."
The older woman looked stunned but snapped out of it as one of her lackeys knocked on the door, "Damon Salvatore was just spotted walking through the doors of The Grill." Liz started to walk to the door, but Erin tried to reason with her, "Please, you have to take me with you. He-He's sick and he's not himself. He'll listen to me."
Liz kept walking, telling the deputy to keep Erin in the room.
Erin paced around the room, but after hearing a loud bang come from The Grill the girl muttered, "Screw it". She sprang into action, taking the Sheriff's chair and smashing the window with it. Liz deserved it after Erin warned her to take her with them.
The doppelganger cut through the square in order to get to The Grill and noticed how oblivious the entire town was. They were all living in their own little bubble while she had to face the cruel, harsh reality. It was unfair. It was torture for Erin as she yearned for the days where that was her, watching the movie instead of looking for vampires. She wanted it back, but Erin knew she couldn't.
Erin stopped short to look around, but she jumped when Damon came up behind her. She tried to get him to move, the brunette needed to hide him from everyone. "Where are we going?" Damon asked, and Erin supplied, "The Boarding House."
On their way to the car, Damon tripped and Erin helped him up. The girl noticed something in his eyes, he was looking right through her. He was hallucinating. Erin mumbled to herself, "Crap, we need to get you out of here."
Damon sped Erin to the light post, pinning her against it. "I choose you, Katherine." The vampire stated, causing Erin to understand. She shook him and spoke, "Damon, it's me. It's Erin, not Katherine. Erin." The girl could see Damon staring at her neck, and she froze with her eyes widened. For the first time in her life, Erin was afraid of Damon Salvatore. In this state, he was manic and uncontrollable. He wasn't himself.
As he started to lean in, Erin pleaded, "No, Damon. No!" He ignored her as he drank her blood, but Erin continued, "Damon, please stop. You're hurting me, and you need to snap out of it!" The vampire stopped then, looking utterly defeated as Erin held her neck in front of him.
Damon, ashamed at what he did, cried Erin's name. Erin put together that he was now back to his true self, and she embraced him. Damon rested his head in the crook of her neck as she looked to see if anyone had spotted them. Once again, the entire town was oblivious.
On the way to the Boarding House, Erin picked up Elena. She really needed her twin sister at a moment like this, and Elena offered to help take care of Damon. So, the twins laid Damon down on his bed and waited for him to wake up.
Once Damon rose, Elena asked him how he was doing. "That's a stupid question considering I'm DYING." He replied, and the girl seemed unfazed by Damon's snark. Elena had never admitted it to herself, but she really did enjoy the banter between her and Damon.
The vampire whispered Erin's name, and Erin supplied, "Damon, I'm right here, okay?" The raven haired man shook his head and gritted, "Get out of here, I could hurt you." Erin refused to leave, though. She was here till the very end.
As Damon groaned in agony, the twins looked at each other, unsure of what to do. Erin then took one for the team and held onto the vampire, "Hey shhh, it's okay. You're okay." She cooed, rubbing his arms and blotting the rag over his head.
"No, it's not okay. I always blamed Stefan, but no one forced me to love her. It was my choice; I made the wrong choice." Damon told the girls, who pitied the man. He definitely regretted falling in love with Katherine, which was clear to them both.
Damon then looked up at Erin and whispered, "Tell Stefan I'm sorry, will you." The girl couldn't find words and just nodded. The vampire then stared at Elena, who moved to his other side and stated, "We promise."
Looking over to see the blood bag empty and the wet rag all disgusting, Erin told her sister and Damon, "I'm gonna get some more rags and blood. Yell if you need anything, okay?" Elena smiled sadly as Damon opened his mouth to say, "Erin, I-"
The vampire was interrupted by the doppelganger, "No, Damon you don't get to say goodbye because there's still hope. Now, I'll see you in a few minutes with blood and rags." Damon nodded in reply, and Erin went to grab blood from the basement.
"I deserve to die." Damon stated, earning a no from Elena, who took up Erin's spot. The vampire continued, "Yes I do, Elena. And it's okay because if I had chosen differently, I wouldn't have met her. I'm so sorry, I've done so many things to hurt Erin and you, too."
Elena, with tears in her eyes, whispered, "It's okay, I forgive you. I mean, who else would throw back all of my stupid antics in my face. You helped me understand that the world didn't revolve around me, that it wasn't always so black and white. You changed me, you changed my sister, too. You opened up our eyes to a new world."
As Erin walked through the Boarding House on the way to collecting rags, she heard a noise. Not again. Turning around, Erin came face to face with Katherine, "Surprise, mini me. Glad to see you're not dead or un-dead for that matter."
Rolling her eyes, Erin asked, "What do you want, Katherine?" The vampire smiled and showed off a bottle of blood, "Just wanted to give one of my boys the cure to a werewolf bite, but I see he's a little busy. Should I come back later?"
The human's eyes widened and she dragged Katherine with her to get rags. "Jeez, little miss pushy. No wonder everyone mistakes you for me."
"I know she loves Stefan, and it will always be Stefan. But I love her, can you tell Erin that for me? Please, I need her to know that I have loved her since the moment I laid eyes on her." Damon poured his heart out to the girl he never really saw as a friend.
Elena cried onto Damon's chest and promised, "I will." Damon laughed, catching Elena's attention, "You should have met me in 1864. I wasn't such an insufferable ass, maybe then we would have liked each other."
"I like you now, just the way you are." Elena spoke and went in to kiss Damon softly on the lips. The vampire thanked her for staying with him, and the brunette smiled before stating, "You're welcome."
Katherine made herself known then, Erin right beside her, "Well, it's me you should be thanking. I mean, I'm the one who brought the cure." The vampire started to strut her way towards Damon, but Elena grumbled 'Bitch' under her breath.
The vampire smirked before countering, "Slut." Katherine then poured the blood in Damon's mouth as she explained, "I'm free, finally. I owed you one."
Erin then walked to Katherine and asked, "Where's Stefan?" The vampire visibly winced, feeling slightly bad for her doppelganger. She knew what it was like to not be chosen first. "He's paying for this. Gave him over to Klaus, I wouldn't expect him anytime soon. Or never, probably never."
Elena, seeing the devastated look on Erin's face demanded, "What do you mean he gave himself over?" Her sister was the one to answer the question, "He sacrificed everything to save his brother. Stefan did what was right, I just- I have to go."
Erin then ran out of the room, leaving Katherine to stare at Damon and Elena. The vampire smirked at the pair, who were as far away as possible. She turned to her ex and stated, "It's okay to love them both, I did the same with you two."
Katherine then disappeared and reappeared next to Erin, who was heading to her car. "Hey, Erin wait." Erin halted in her tracks but refused to face her look alike. The elder girl sped right in front of Erin and looked at her.
The human had tears running down her face. Katherine sighed before taking the phone from the girl's pocket, putting her phone number in. "If you need anything, call this number. And I meant what I said before. If you wanna ditch this stupid old town, I'm just a phone call away. Goodbye Erin."
Erin stared at the phone in her hands and immediately tried to reach Stefan. After driving home and getting into bed, she received no reply. The girl felt like her heart shattered into pieces. Stefan, the love of her life, was gone and she didn't know when or if he was ever coming back.