Author's notes: I'm sorry that I've left a few of y'all confused. I really tried to leave enough hints - and a small flashback along the way (see the middle section of ch. 3 if you'd like a refresher).
Don't worry, we're picking up right where we left off. Remember, this story isn't canon-compliant. It's based off my earlier non-canon ideas about what the Sun and Moon Curse might actually do…so it differs from TVD.
This chapter has a MASSIVE section of flashbacks. I apologize for that. I'd planned to write "Into the Woods" (my take on what the werewolves' plan had been for Elena), but it actually came much too close to what they actually did to Caroline on the show. I decided not to fully develop that story, but scenes from "my" TVD world are vital to this chapter - hence the flashbacks. Please note that while I try to stay somewhat true to canon, I also take a different route here and there. Just like we do in TVD on tv, this chapter hinges on its flashbacks (placed in italics).
Warnings - character deaths, sensitive subject matter, adult content, language, violence
Damon shifted up onto one elbow as he leaned over to turn on the light. "Elena, what's wrong? What do you mean, you know why they're here?" He rubbed his eyes and tried to focus on the picture his wife had dropped onto the bed. "And why am I looking at a picture of Emma? I saw this when the pictures came in last month."
Elena's voice shook even more than her hands. "That's not Emma." Tears pooled in her eyes, and Damon could hear her ragged breathing – the kind he used to hear when she was struggling to hold herself together but losing. "This is Emma." She presented him with a second picture.
He studied the differences between the two photographs, and the absolute lack of contrast was astounding, even to him. But the picture in his hand was of a little girl in a vivid red cheerleading uniform with white trim. The little girl smiling down from the picture Elena just removed from the dresser was in a solid red uniform with a smiling wolf embroidered on the front. The little girls were more similar than identical twins.
Dimple on the right cheek – check.
Tiny freckle next to the left eye – check.
Cow lick in the exact center of the forehead – check.
Slightly off-centered smile – check.
They weren't just similar. The two little girls were the same. Exactly. As in…they were the same person.
"It can't be." Damon's ears were ringing, and he felt his heart pounding in his chest. Bile rose in the back of his throat as he thought back to that night…the night he'd long-since tried to forget. The one he'd always thought had concluded a little too easily. The one he'd always suspected Stefan had lied to him about, and now he was looking at proof his suspicions had been right.
Damn. A string of profanities wanted to pour from his lips, but he was desperately trying to hold it together for Elena, because only one of them was allowed to fall apart at a time.
"You promised." Elena's face was a shade paler than white, settling somewhere near chalk. "I don't remember much about that night, but I remember making one thing abundantly clear. The curse stopped with me."
"I remember." Damon sat up and pulled her against him. "I promise. I remember."
When he and Stefan decided it would be best if Stefan got Elena out of Mystic Falls until after the full moon had passed, they'd never dreamed that the wolves would have known about the lake house. No matter how strong their witch was, they couldn't use the doppleganger to end the curse if they couldn't find her. For once that November, they thought they'd been one step ahead of the wolves.
They'd been wrong.
Damn Tyler.
One minute Elena was pacing uneasily in front of the cold fireplace in the cabin, and the next both brothers had woken up dazed, confused, and missing the woman they both loved. Not even the best locator spell had been able to find her. She was simply gone with each hour ticking away toward the full moon at the end of the week.
Luka and his father said the spell demanded several days of preparation. He meant it.
The first taunting phone call Damon had received had been bad enough. Elena had been missing for two days by then. They'd scoured the woods, but they'd found no sign of her.
When Brady finally called to tell him that he'd expected to have to work a little harder to retrieve what was left of Elena, Damon had to fight against the urge to crush the phone in his hands. He could hear Elena arguing with Jules in the background of the call.
That was before he realized how truly sadistic Brady was. Apparently wanting to make sure Damon paid for his treatment of Mason, he gave them six hours to bring the moonstone to him. Each passing hour brought another phone call. With each phone call, Brady made sure Damon understood one thing - he might not be able to kill Elena, but he could certainly make her wish she was dead.
The witches might be preparing to break the werewolf curse, but the werewolves were adding torture to the plan.
They found Tyler after the fifth phone call. Before they tugged him into the alley, he was sitting in the Mystic Grill as if nothing was wrong. As they stood in the alley behind the Mystic Grill, Damon put the next call on speaker and watched as the color drained out of Tyler's face. With each bone-chilling shriek from the speaker, Alaric looked more and more likely capable of murdering one of his students.
"Tyler, listen to her." Caroline stood inches from Tyler. "Elena's your friend."
"No." Tyler tried to back away, but he was pinned against the brick wall and surrounded by three vampires fighting for control.
"Beg." Brady's voice had an almost-lethal edge.
"No." Elena's words were clipped.
The sounds of a struggle echoed into the night. A scream. Glass broke. A soft moan could only be heard by those with supernatural ears.
"Beg," Brady commanded again.
This time, Elena's reply almost broke all of them. "Please. Please, just kill me."
Damon had his hand around Tyler's throat before he even knew what he was doing. Stefan didn't even try to restrain him. Bonnie stood in the distance at the end of the street, a tear fell from her cheek.
Tyler struggled for breath as he looked at Caroline from the corners of his eyes. "They said they were just going to use her to get them to bring Brady the moonstone. They said they wouldn't hurt her."
"They. Lied." Damon whispered into Tyler's ear.
"No. They promised."
"Where are they?" Damon lifted Tyler's feet off the ground.
"I don't know." Tyler thrashed around. "Really." He tugged desperately at Damon's arm. "I can tell you where they were before...they might still be around there."
"Lead the way."
They piled into Caroline's car with Tyler wedged between the brothers in the back seat. The next few minutes might as well have been hours as they bumped over back roads on the edge of Mystic Falls. Just as everyone in the car had started to wonder if Tyler was leading them on a wild goose chase, they arrived at an abandoned camp ground on the outskirts of the quarry.
"Over there." He pointed to an RV at the edge of the clearing. Caroline parked and they all piled out, but there was no sign of any of the wolves or Elena.
They scoured the area for the rest of the next hour. When Brady called next, they didn't need the phone to hear Elena's screams. That was something the wolves hadn't counted on. They obviously hadn't planned to be betrayed by one of their own.
The brothers left Bonnie standing in a clearing while Caroline stood guard over Tyler as they sped through the tangle of underbrush and found them in an area they'd missed in their earlier search. With each footstep, Elena's screams became shriller. No one was having to ask her to beg for mercy. Damon wasn't sure she was capable of forming words by the end.
Elena gave one final, almost inhuman scream. And then she was quiet. Totally quiet. No tears. No cries. No ragged breathing.
Damon and Stefan burst into the clearing just as Brady was hunched over Elena's still form. He chuckled as he stroked her cheek.
That was all it took.
Jules, Brady, and their friends were no match for the angry vampires. Damon reached Elena first. Her clothes were bloodied and torn. Her jacket and shirt were missing, and she only had her camisole to protect her against the chill of the ground. Her breathing came in halting gasps. He didn't want to stop to decide if her arms were bruised or simply covered by mud.
Whether or not the werewolves intended to kill her before the height of the full moon, she would have been dead before the next phone call ended.
Damon threw his jacket around her and tore open his arm and pressed it against her lips. She didn't even have enough strength to fight. His blood gurgled at the back of her throat as she tried to swallow. Vampire blood had never worked well on her, but right now they needed all the help they could get.
No one was prepared for what awaited them at the boardinghouse. Luka and Lucy sat in the living room, clearly wanting to talk.
Lucy began to speak without any preamble. "We can lift the doppleganger curse. By doing so, we'll keep the curse over the werewolves from lifting."'
"It's too late." Elena's eyes were unfocused as she shook her head from her place behind the couch. It was only then that those in the room noticed the cuts across her palms that could only have come from a blade. "Their witch already did the spell. It'll be over by midnight."
"I think she needs to sit down." Caroline caught Elena as she teetered unsteadily on her feet.
Once everyone was seated in the room, Bonnie gave a steely look at her friend. "Elena, we can do it. We can lift the curse. Luka's dad had the original grimoire. He found it. We just have to reverse it. You'll be alright, even if they already did the spell."
That was one thing none of them had counted on. The witches had been certain that the werewolves would only be able to do the spell at midnight. If Elena was right, and her physical condition hinted she was, then she had mere hours to live.
"Are you sure that will work?" Stefan leaned forward on his elbows - worry etched on his face. The clock marched on too quickly toward midnight.
Lucy stilled him with a look as she resumed her study of the apparently intricate spell. The only sound in the room was breathing.
Elena sat frozen on the couch. For now, she was content to let the others in the room debate their next move. The full moon was almost here.
She was too quiet. Damon could tell she was simply humoring them. In her mind, she was already dead. As usual, his blood had done little to heal her. She was more coherent, but her cuts still oozed and none of the bruising had cleared. More than one impression of a hand was starkly visible against her pale skin.
He should have killed all the wolves when he'd had the chance, but he's been…occupied at the time.
Damon realized she was still trembling, and he reached back to wrap his arm around her shoulders - moderately surprised when she leaned into him and didn't pull away.
"It should work." Lucy sat back and studied the anxious faces around her. "If we lift the doppleganger curse, their spell will break. She'll be alright."
Bonnie tearfully nodded in agreement. "We can take the curse away, Elena."
"What does that mean? You're saying you can take the curse away..." Elena's words drifted into nothingness.
"You won't be the doppleganger anymore." Luka gave Elena a hesitant smile. "You won't be going back on your promise to Elijah to stay in Mystic Falls. He won't hurt Jeremy or Alaric or anyone else you care about. And you'll be safe. Since you won't be the doppleganger, you can't be used to break the curse."
"It can't really be that simple." Damon's eyes showed the intensity of his suspicion.
"Actually, it can." Lucy sat back on the couch. "We remove the curse from Elena, and the vampires and werewolves will just have to wait for the next chance to break the curse."
"But what happens then? No more dopplegangers?" Elena asked. The words "lift the curse" had finally penetrated Elena's thoughts.
"No, reversing this spell will just lift the curse from you. Ending the curse completely is different. We can't upset the balance of nature. At some point, there will be another one." Lucy reached out and took a drink of her water. "Whenever the next one comes along, the three of you can come protect the next Petrova doppleganger."
"Oh no." Damon shook his head. "That one will be on her own."
"We need to hurry." Luka looked out the window. The moon had almost reached its peak.
"What do you need?" Stefan stood and waited for Luka's instructions. "Just tell us, and we'll get it."
"No." Elena's voice stilled all the movement in the room. "I won't do it. I won't make someone else live through this." She looked up and focused on Bonnie. She pushed herself to stand. "The curse stops here...with me. If you can't totally get rid of it, then I won't let you lift it."
"Elena, you have to let them do it." Stefan turned to her, desperation clear in his voice. "You're going to die."
"Elena, the moon will be full in less than an hour." Caroline's face didn't conceal her look of horror.
With strength no one in the room thought she had, she stood and faced them. "I won't let them do it. The Curse. Stops. Here." She folded her arms in front of her for emphasis. "With me. No one else dies in my place."
"Elena, don't do this." Caroline's lip trembled as she looked at her friend. "Please, let them lift it. I don't want to lose you. Don't make me watch you die."
"Then you might want to leave." Elena's voice held no hint of irony. Her eyes pleaded with Caroline.
"Why don't you study the spell a little longer?" Stefan suggested with a pointed look at Bonnie. "Maybe there's a way to do it."
For an instant, Bonnie looked confused. And then Stefan gave an almost imperceptible nod. Elena was focused on Caroline, and she didn't see it. But Damon did.
"Sure. We'll look again." Bonnie nodded, turning her attention to the old book. "There's got to be a way. I know we can do it."
"I promise you. I'll make sure they lift it. No one else will ever have to go through this." Stefan hesitantly stepped closer to Elena.
Something about Stefan's movements spurred Luka into action. He had a knife and a stone bowl in his hand before Damon even realized what he was doing. "We're going to need some blood." He cringed, trying to find an uninjured place to cut. He failed.
"No one else?" Elena tugged her arm away and waited for Bonnie's confirmation.
"No one else." Bonnie repeated. "As soon as you're safe, we'll break the curse completely."
Caroline's phone rang from her pocket. She jumped up and left the room. "That was Tyler. The wolves are on the way."
"Elena?" Lucy leveled her eyes at the girl in the center of the room.
"As long as you break the whole curse."
"We will, Elena. We will." Bonnie assured her friend.
"Alright." Elena reached for the small vial Lucy held out and lifted it to her lips.
Once set in motion, the curse removal actually happened remarkably quickly. The witches and warlock sat in a triangle around Elena inside a circle of candles. Elena stood while they softly chanted. When the lights began to flicker, and the water disappeared from the bowls they'd placed around the room, Elena's eyes rolled back in her head and she dropped to the ground.
"Elena!" Bonnie shouted in horror as she jumped to her friend's side.
"So?" Damon stared at Lucy.
"It worked." Lucy gestured to Elena as she was now unconscious on the floor. "The curse is gone." Lucy stood brushing off her knees. "But she's likely to be out for quite a while."
"Why don't you take her upstairs?" Stefan looked at Damon. "I would do it but - "
Damon stared down at Elena. Her hair was still matted with dried blood and her clothes were stained as well. His brother had gained remarkable control over his bloodlust the past weeks, but they had no reason to test it. He knelt down and carefully lifted Elena from the ground as he carried her upstairs.
"She can't be. They broke the doppleganger curse." Damon stared at the picture, unwilling to believe what his eyes told him. "Stefan promised."
And then he understood.
Even then, he'd questioned the fact that Stefan wanted him to be the one to carry Elena. Stefan wanted Damon to be the one to tend to her. He wanted Damon to be the one who watched over her.
After she completely lost consciousness, he hadn't been able to leave her in the bloodstained clothes. As he'd been tending to her wounds, he could hear them talking downstairs. It sounded like they were chanting. While he was standing guard over the bloodied and half-dead woman he loved, he hadn't been listening to what they were saying.
Bonnie promised they'd lift the curse.
Stefan promised too.
Damon never asked if they'd really done it. Now, he knew that may have been one of the biggest mistakes he'd ever made.
"Did they?" Elena's eyes swam with tears as she picked up Emma's picture. "I know they said they would, but I never asked." Her breathing became quicker. "Damon, what did I do? I didn't want them to lift the curse if it meant it was going to happen to someone else. And now…" Her whole body began to shake. "I never thought...not my own daughter...I can't let this… Oh God."
"Elena, we don't know anything right now." He held her so tightly he was afraid he might hurt her. "We'll call Bonnie. She can tell us." He knew he had to be strong for Elena, but as he looked at the pictures sitting side by side on the bed, he knew what the answer was going to be.
Stefan lied.
No matter what they promised Elena, the whispers when Damon was out of the room should have told him the answer. Stefan was desperate to save Elena that night. He would have done anything to get her to agree to lift the curse…to pass it along to someone else in Elena's family line. All Stefan wanted was to keep Elena safe from the curse that was rapidly sucking the life out of her remaining minutes on earth.
Stefan knew Elena wasn't going to agree to do it. She'd already said it, and used some of her last remaining strength to make the point.
If Damon hadn't been so caught up in counting each breath, in watching her struggle with each passing moment, in listening to the ever-fainter churning of her heart, he would have seen them. Everyone in the room must have been in on it. They must have all agreed at some point. In order to save Elena, they'd have done anything…said anything.
They never lifted the curse.
Elena paced the living room. They'd called Bonnie at 5 am - the earliest Elena could place a call in good conscience. Now almost two more hours had passed.
"Elena, if you won't sleep, at least sit down." Damon took hold of her shoulders and guided her to the couch. He sat next to her and pulled her down to rest her head on his arm.
She'd just begun to relax when she flinched and shifted in her seat.
"Someone awake?" He placed his hand atop her belly.
"And stretching." She rubbed her hand against her side, breathing a long sigh. Thudding footsteps echoed down the stairs behind them. "And, someone else is awake."
"Hey mom and dad!" Brayden's eyes widened in surprise. "Y'all are already up. Whoa. What's for breakfast?"
"That would be my cue." Damon stood and walked in to the kitchen. "Hey, Bud, why don't we go for something simple this morning? How's cereal?"
"Do we have Chocolate Puffs?" Brayden looked to the top of the pantry.
Damon shook his head. Against his better judgment, he nodded.
A blue car pulled into the driveway. "Bonnie's here." Elena stepped up to the window. "I'm going to go meet her on the porch." She pointed a finger at Brayden. "It'll be easier to talk out there."
"I'll bring you two some tea."
"Thanks." Elena took her place on the porch just as Bonnie mounted the first step.
"Why didn't I know about this?" Bonnie stared at Elena's stomach as she reached out to hug her friend.
"I told you."
Bonnie shook her head. "I'm pretty sure I would have remembered this news. You didn't tell me. How far along are you?"
"Twenty-one weeks today." Elena answered, knowing she didn't look happy.
"Is this why I got a call at five in the morning? You wanted to trade morning sickness stories or something? I love you, Elena, but Kasen wasn't thrilled. I've just started being able to sleep without running for the bathroom."
"Sorry. No." Elena walked toward the wicker couch and took a seat. She pulled the photos out of her jacket pocket and placed them on the table in front of her. "I need to talk about this."
"Wow, Emma's gotten so big. I've got to visit more often."
"Bonnie." Elena interrupted. "That's not Emma." She pointed to the picture on the right.
"Of course it is." She leaned over and picked it up. "I mean, I know she has a twin, but that's definitely not Nathan."
"Bonnie, that's my picture."
"It can't be. You've gotten them mixed up. I know you were a cheerleader, but I'd recognize my goddaughter anywhere."
"Look at the back." Elena took a deep breath to steady her voice. "Bonnie, what haven't you told me?"
"No." Bonnie dropped the pictures as if they burned her fingers.
"Bonnie." Elena raised her voice. "Bonnie tell me the truth. What really happened that night?" She didn't need to explain. Bonnie knew what she was talking about.
"You don't know?" Bonnie didn't meet her eyes. "Stefan promised."
"He promised what?"
"He promised he'd tell you. Now I understand. I'd always wondered why…" Bonnie's voice trailed off as she stared at Elena's rounded belly. "I believed him when he said he'd told you."
Stefan followed Bonnie, Lucy, and Luka out the front door. He pulled the heavy door closed behind them. "You're sure she's going to be alright?"
"She'll be fine." Lucy nodded as she exchanged concerned looks with Bonnie.
"But Stefan..." Bonnie shook her head.
Lucy held up a hand to stop Bonnie from speaking. "You should never have said we could break the curse, Stefan. Only one thing breaks the curse – the doppleganger sacrifice. We could lift it from Elena, but we can't end the cycle. There's going to be another one."
"Someday." Stefan cut her off. "And right now, Elena's safe."
Bonnie looked at him hesitantly. "That's not what she wanted."
"Were you really going to stand there and watch her die? You lied to her too." Stefan pointed up at the second story of the boardinghouse. "Because if we didn't lift the curse, that's what was going to happen. She was ready to die to protect the rest of us. Now she's safe."
"We should have told her." Bonnie's face was laden with guilt. "I just lied to my best friend."
"I will. I'll tell her. I promise." Stefan nodded to himself. "When the time is right, I'll make sure she knows."
"Bonnie, I want you to answer my question, what did Stefan promise?" Elena's patience was far beyond wearing thin. If she wasn't so tired - and it wasn't so early - she would have been screaming at her friend by now.
"When he came for my help with Claire, he said he'd told you."
"Told me what?" But the look on Bonnie's face already clearly told Elena the answer.
"We couldn't end the doppleganger cycle." Bonnie's voice was barely louder than a whisper. "Lucy was right the first time. It's not possible. The witches demanded nature be balanced."
"But that wasn't part of the deal." Elena shook her head.
"I know. I'm so sorry." Bonnie flinched. "He was desperate to do whatever it took. He could tell you weren't going to agree to lift the curse."
"So he lied to me..." Her ears began to ring and the world appeared oddly distant. "And you did too."
"We just wanted to protect you."
"It doesn't change anything." The words came out in a desperate sob. Elena squinted her eyes tightly closed as she hesitated to ask the next question. "And Damon?"
"Damon didn't know. Stefan lied to him too."