Elena's abrupt departure ended the impromptu gathering, Caroline left to go home, and Alaric went to join Jenna at a restaurant for their date. This left only Bonnie and Damon with Elena, Bonnie went up to talk to her, but when she knocked on the door Elena was sitting on her bed looking calm and composed, Bonnie looked at her cautiously.
"You want to tell me what that was all about?" Elena looked up indifferently, "I am not sure, I just knew all of the sudden that I had to get away, out of the kitchen. Don't read too much into it, I'm fine." She smiled reassuringly at Bonnie. Bonnie looked uncertainly at her, but had no grounds to push her further. She changed the subject.
"I think I may have something to help you get over your cold, can I try it?"
Elena gave her a 'Duh!' look, and then said,"Sure, I'm up for anything that will help me feel better."
Bonnie smiled at her uncertainly, "Ok, well, here goes, I can't promise anything." Elena threw herself back on her bed with a groan. "As long as I don't have to dance around naked I'll try it."
"Did I hear something about people dancing around naked? I think I want in on that!"
Bonnie rolled her eyes at Damon as he strolled in.
"Gee, Damon, ever heard of knocking?"
But Elena's reaction was the one Damon was focused on. In a moment she was on her feet and took one stride towards him, her face was contorted with fury. Then out of nowhere she threw a round house punch directly at his sculpted jaw. Damon never even stepped back; he simply blocked the hit by grabbing her arm below the wrist with all the concern of brushing off a fly.
He stared down at her with his dark eyebrows raised in more perplexity than anger, "Want to tell me what that was all about?"His tone was cool and unruffled.
Bonnie was on her feet beside Elena, her hand supporting her under her elbow, squinting at the vampire, ready to take Damon down at the slightest wrong move. She was not sure what her friend was responding to, but she was ready to join in the fight. Never the less, she was concerned and perplexed at Elena's bizarre behavior. She switched her gaze to look at her friend anxiously.
Elena was furious, How dare he come in as if he had the right to enter her room whenever he so wished? It infuriated her; it felt like, like an invasion of her privacy. It was also very threatening, causing her words to have almost as much fear as anger in them.
"How much of a pig are you Damon Salvatore? Does your mind ever get out of the gutter? Who said that you could just waltz in my room at any time with no-never-mind about whose room it actually is? You can't just walk in and out whenever you feel like it! There are such things as boundaries."
Damon raised his eyebrows a fraction more, he knew there was something more to Elena's actions beside him walking in and making his standard off hand, semi-flirtatious comment. Why would she object so strongly? That was his thing, the off hand, sly, flirts. She had rolled her eyes at him almost every time he did it with her, but never before had he seen a reaction of this strength out of her.
She was still glaring at him, as if she had not made up her mind if she was going to throw another punch. Whatever was going on it was probably better figured out away from the witch who was looking very ready to take him on, and he already had a headache, thank you very much.
"Well. I can take a hint, since you ladies prefer to be left alone, I shall oblige." He turned on his heel and walked out of the room, not sparing another glance at his erst-while attacker. He went down to the study, threw himself on the sofa and started to think back over the past few days.
Despite his rage at Elena putting herself out in harm's way, he was very concerned for her. And, he was well aware that if he had not been so worried for her, his mental diatribe about her earlier would not have been as harsh. But then, it was so much better to just be angry all the time, it helped push the annoying, weakening emotions out of its way. He did angry well. Had done it for, well, a very long time with notable success. But now, fear, worry, unease, and concern, all these were crowding on him at once, and it became easier to deal with if he shut down and only exhibited anger.
Damon's form slumped, but it was no use really, he knew it now, all the pretence, the inflaming rhetoric that he used when thinking about Elena. No matter the barriers he would throw up, how angry he tried to make himself be with her, the truth still lay plain and uncompromising. He loved her. He cared for her well-being with a ferocity that surprised him. He wanted to be as close to her as he could, to sit by her bedside and make sure nothing evil approached. To be her last image in the night and the first thing she smiled upon in the day. To be so in love was not something he had every prepared himself for. He had never considered that another beside Katherine could invade him so completely with their very nearness.
And that had not turned out well for him last time. And now, to further conflict mattered he was keeping her safe, not for himself, but for his brother.
Yes, life was a bitch sometimes.
And with that ironic thought, he tossed back some scotch and stretched out on the leather sofa.
Upstairs Bonnie was lighting a candle and preparing for the spell that would help Elena's cold. She might not have found the right spell to unlock her memory of the missing day, but she could at least help to feel better. Everything having been prepared, she beckoned Elena to come sit beside her on the floor.
Elena obeyed, sitting down across from Bonnie, her nose red and face pale, looking quite miserable indeed. Then Bonnie reached out and took her hands, her grip firm and cool. She closed her eyes and began muttering in Latin, the candle flickered then flared to an unnatural brightness. Elena gave a little gasp as she felt a searing heat shoot up her arms and over her body. She instinctively tried to pull away from Bonnie's grip, but Bonnie tightened her hands and continued chanting. Then, suddenly the pressure in her head was gone, her muscles no longer in pain. She opened her eyes and saw Bonnie looking at her with a small satisfied smile.
"Feeling better?"
"Oh my God, Bonnie, you fixed me! I almost feel normal! Thank you! Thank you so much!"
Bonnie smiled broader, "You are welcome, glad it worked. You still need to get a lot of rest and stay hydrated though. I did not cure you, just took most of the symptoms away. It will probably be tomorrow before you are one hundred percent."
Elena nodded as she got off the floor.
"Ok, I will nap before dinner time. Are you staying to eat with us? Please don't leave me here with Damon alone!"
Bonnie shook her head.
"Sorry, I have to get home. But Jeremy will be here soon, so you won't have to be alone, do you want me to stay till he gets home?"
Elena considered a moment, and then shook her head. "No, you go on, I will be fine. I am just going to sleep anyway. Thanks again!"
Bonnie smiled and left the room. On her way out she stopped to tell Damon that Elena was going to take a nap.
He did not even bother looking at her. Or opening his eyes for that matter.
"Uh huh, heard the whole thing. I DO have super hearing you know." He grunted.
"Whatever." Bonnie snapped. Then she left, trying to not slam the door, despite her irritation with Damon.
On the couch, Damon snickered. What would ever become of the teen vocabulary without that one word, 'whatever'? it was so delightfully ubiquitous. His mind wandered for a while as he killed time.
Then, from Elena's room came a sound that made his heart stop. Well, If he had one that is. He bounded up the stairs three at a time.
It was dark and she was consumed with a feeling of complete horror. There was something out there, something evil and it was coming for her, yet she could not run, as desperately as she tried she remained in the same place, her legs thrashing uselessly, almost as if she were suspended in the air.
The blackness was palpable, thick with evil, it was hard to breathe.
The terror grew in intensity, till it overwhelmed her. Shrieks burst from her, great sobbing, shuddering cries that somehow did not sound human. In response the darkness contracted closer to her, she could not see it, but she knew it, she could almost feel the darkness touch her. Then came a chitnous sound, like millions and millions of bugs, climbing over each other, their legs rustling and scraping over their hard carapaces as they swarmed. She knew she must not let them touch her. Must not at any cost let them make contact with her skin. Her cries redoubled in intensity.
Elena's prone figure on the bed did not move, there was no thrashing or tossing of her head side to side on the pillow, like one would expect from one locked in such a dream. Her form was ridged, completely immobile, except for the sobbing shrieks, then there was a faint indication of motion from her bed, deep shudders gripped her frame, she shook till her bed was almost vibrating. Her eyes were still closed, but her face was frozen in a rictus of horror.
Her breath came shorter and shorter as the darkness/evil, pressed ever closer to her. There was the realization that this was not going to end, there was not escape for her. A freezing paralysis of fear took hold of her then in her despair.
Then, there was another element in the thick fear and evil. One that could cut through the scrabbling roaches, the closing dark, the irrational fear. A thin silken thread wafted into the dream, light and ethereal, it was defiantly not belonging to the dream. Elena was vaguely aware of it, but it came closer and closer, the silken threads brushing against her body, twining around her wrist, brushing across her face, whisper light. Then the threads seemed to grow brighter, pushing at the pulsating evil that surrounded them. Then, from a distance, Elena heard it, she heard what the silken threads were, it was words, someone was softly whispering to her, reaching her in her dream state.
She tried to focus in on them, but it was too fragmented still by her terror. She decided to follow the spun silk. The closer she got to hear the words the more at peace she felt.
"Come on, Elena, you can come out of this. Elena, listen to me, it's not real, not real. Nothing can hurt you in there; it's just your mind. Come on Elena, listen to the sound of my voice, and listen to me. You are ok; you need to wake up now. Please, sweet Elena, come to me."
The soft gentle words swirled around her, and as the soft whispering continued, she was able to at last feel as if she could wake up out of
the bad dream. She would have to thank the whispers for pulling her out of the dark abyss of horror.
Her eyes blinked, and then stayed open. She was in her bed and Damon was kneeling on the floor next to her, his eyes locked on her, his hands clasping her against his warm chest.
"What..?" Elena asked. She knew that she had a bad dream, but now she was awake it was vanishing like tendrils of mist in a brisk wind. She inhaled. "Why are you here Damon?" Her eyes were questioning.
"I heard you crying, you were having a bad dream. Are you ok now?"
She nodded.
"What was the dream about?" quirked Damon. Elena shook her head, "I can't really get a grasp on it, it was dark, and there were bugs, and my legs wouldn't work." She stopped, knowing full well that she would never be able to accurately impart the horror of the dream by mere words.
"You were terrified." Damon stated. "I couldn't get you to wake up for a while."
Elena nodded, then in a rare moment of vulnerability she sank down on the floor beside him and wrapped her arms around him, desperate for comfort. Damon did not resist, he pulled her in close and tried to project peace and security to the girl in his arms. He was not sure how well it would work, or if it would, but he was going to do what he could to help.