"Buried Secrets 3: Enter The Shadows"
Chapter 1: No Going Back
The truck going off the bridge…
The water rising…
Stefan taking Matt…
Water entering her lungs…
Darkness.
Elena gasped as she sat up in her own bed, her breathing hard.
"Hey take it easy," Stefan came to sit next to her, "Just breathe."
"What happened?" Elena asked confused looking around tense, "I dreamed that Matt and I…we…we crashed…"
Stefan looked over to Damon, who took a very large swig from his flask.
"Elena," Stefan said carefully, "Something happened…"
"You're dead," Damon said bluntly and Stefan shot him a glare, "You're in transition. Congratulations, welcome to the club."
"What?" Elena asked before she started to freak out.
"Calm down," Stefan said, "Bonnie's looking for a way to reverse it."
"There's no reversing it," Damon stood up, "There's no lightly stepping around this. You're dead Elena and now you have two choices, either complete the transition or don't and die again."
Damon walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
"Stefan," Elena sobbed.
"It's okay we're gonna get through this." He said and pulled her into his arms.
.*.*.*.*.*.
"That was really shitty," Caroline hissed as Damon came down the stairs.
"It's the truth," Damon said, "You don't like it, too bad. There are a lot of things in life that I don't like, but they're true."
"You're unbelievable," Caroline growled.
"I know I am," Damon said and walked outside.
"Give him a break," Jeremy said, "He's hurting."
"He's being an ass," Caroline replied.
"Why isn't Bella here?" Matt asked, "I mean she's supposed to be protecting us."
"She is," Jeremy said, "She took Klaus away and has gotten Elijah, Rebekah, and Kol to skip town. They're chasing her now and leaving us alone."
"Elena's dead," Matt said, "Rebekah killed her; Bella should be here helping."
"Matt," Caroline said, "She's probably thousands of miles away and has no idea; if she did I'm sure she'd be here."
"No she wouldn't." Lucy said before she stood up, "B isn't coming back; get that through your heads. No matter what happens she won't come back here, not willingly and Damon's right. Elena only has two choices. There is no loophole for this."
"Shut up Lucy," Bonnie said while looking through the grimoire.
"If you try anything you'll die," Lucy slammed her hands onto the table, "Tell her Angela…make her see."
"Bonnie as much as I hate to say it, Lucy is right," Angela said, "Elena only has two choices…there's no going back…no magic can undo this and if you try anything in your weakened state, you will die."
"I don't care," Bonnie said before throwing the grimoire, "Once he was gone everything was supposed to be okay Bella promised, but it's not…she lied."
"No she didn't," Angela argued, "Bella got the others to chase her to let you all go on…she never could have seen this coming."
"Whose blood is in Elena's system?" Matt asked.
"Bella's," Angela replied, "Meredith Fell took a lot from her." She knelt next to Bonnie and patted her leg, "There's nothing we can do…it's all in Elena's hands now."
.*.*.*.*.*.
Lucy walked outside and grabbed the flask from Damon. She took a long swig from it.
"Where is she?" Damon asked.
"If I knew do you think I would tell you?" Lucy countered.
"No," Damon replied before taking back the flask.
"Just like you I'm in the dark…she's not gonna contact me no matter what." Lucy said. "You have to let her go. She did this for you…all of you. She's giving you a chance at the life she never had, so take it and forget about her."
"I can't do that," Damon shook his head, "You don't get it Lucy…I'm pretty sure Bella is my life. She's someone I can't be without."
"Pretty sure," Lucy said condescendingly.
"No," Damon said and looked her dead in the eye, "I'm damn sure she's my life. I won't stop looking for her."
"Good luck," Lucy said, "She's good at hiding. It'll take a while if you ever find her."
"Guess it's a good thing I have all the time in the world," Damon replied dryly.
"Lucy," Stefan interrupted as he came outside, "Elena wants to talk to you."
Lucy nodded and headed into the house. She walked up the stairs and into Elena's room before she shut the door behind her.
"You wanted to talk to me," Lucy said.
"Can they hear us?" Elena asked while looking at the door.
Lucy whispered a few quick words, "Now they can't…what's up?"
"What would Bella do?" Elena asked.
"What?" Lucy asked confused.
"What would she choose?" Elena replied, "Would she turn or would she die?"
"Elena I don't know," Lucy said with a sigh, "Bella never got that choice."
"She never got a lot of choices at all did she?" Elena mumbled, "What do you think she would have done?"
"Why?" Lucy asked, "This isn't about Bella, it's about you. Bella would want you to make the decision that's best for you. It doesn't matter what everyone else wants, it only matters what you want. That's what she would tell you."
Elena nodded, "If I turned I could help find her."
"Not you too," Lucy groaned, "Look Elena, I'm sick of sugar-coating this for all of you so here it is. Bella's not coming back…she's gone for good unless something happens and Klaus gets loose. If that happens, as payback he would come here and make her watch as he ripped all of you apart. The best thing you can do Elena is live, if that's what you want, and move on. Let go of Bella because she's let go of all of you."
"No she hasn't," Elena said with a glare, "She won't."
"How do you know?" Lucy asked, narrowing her eyes.
"I just do," Elena said angrily and a bit confused.
Lucy grabbed Elena's face and looked deep into her eyes before she stepped back, astonished.
"Just do what's best for you," Lucy said shakily, "That's what she would say."
Lucy quickly left the room and went out the front door. Angela and Bonnie yelled at her, but she didn't stop. She quickly got into her car and sped off while dialing her cellphone.
"Where did the little witch go?" Damon asked.
"I don't know," Bonnie said.
"She'll be back," Angela said and looked behind her, "Elena."
"I want to complete the transition," Elena said, "I want to turn and then I want to find Bella."
"Elena," Bonnie said, "I can fix this."
"Not without killing yourself," Elena said, "No more sacrifices for me…this is my decision and I'm choosing this, with or without your support."
"How do we do this?" Jeremy asked while coming to stand next to Elena.
"She needs to drink straight from the source," Damon said, "Any volunteers?"
The entire room was quiet.
"I will," Matt said, finally stepping forward, "It's the least I could do. I do owe you one."
.*.*.*.*.*.
Rain pounded against the glass of the house as it poured from the sky. Bella looked out as lightning lit up the dark sky.
"This is only temporary," Bella said with a sigh, "At least until I can find a more permanent spot. If they come looking here well as much as it rains our scent will be washed away." She looked towards the open coffin, "You know I think the last few days is the most I've ever spoken to you, but then again you used to always interrupt me and now you can't." She finished before she let the small smile appear on her face.
Bella walked over to the coffin and leaned on it as Klaus shot daggers at her.
"Don't give me that look. You brought this on yourself…I gave you a way out, but you didn't take it." Bella said, "They'll never stop looking for you or at least Elijah won't. You know you betrayed him at every turn and yet he stayed loyal to you."
Klaus narrowed his eyes.
"It's true," Bella said, "He was always trying to find a way to bring back your humanity. You never realized how good you had it…unwavering loyalty and love from family, but that wasn't enough so you pushed them and you pushed them and finally they pushed back which you didn't like so you locked them up in boxes." Bella let out a little laugh, "This is kind of poetic justice wouldn't you say? I mean if they could see what I see, they would stop looking for you. Even Rebekah stood by you after everything." Bella stood up, "Maybe you don't know what real loyalty is and maybe yeah Mikael is at fault, but ultimately you made the choice to become what you are."
Klaus looked at her with contempt.
"You know I was naïve when you first took me. I thought to myself that first week you were showering me with gifts, trying to buy my loyalty, and I thought that maybe I can show him he doesn't need this. Maybe I can make him change," Bella said and let out a harsh laugh, "The stupid ideas of a naïve girl, but you changed all that. You helped make me who I am, you helped with what I decided to become." Bella put her hands on the lid, "Sleep tight Klaus," she said and shut it.
Her cell started buzzing.
"Hello Jane-Anne," Bella greeted into the phone.
"Did you make it alright?" Jane asked.
"Yeah," Bella said, "Anyone been around?"
"Elijah," Jane said, "He's heading to London next."
"Well I'm not there," Bella replied.
"When will you be coming here?" Jane asked.
"I don't know and you know I can't tell you," Bella replied, "What's going on in the Big Easy?"
"A bunch of pain in the ass vamps," Bella heard Sophie mumble.
"What's wrong?" Bella asked.
"Don't worry about it, we can handle it," Jane-Anne replied tensely.
"Our five minutes is about up," Bella said. "What did you need?"
"Just to make sure you were okay," Jane replied, "Keep an eye out Bella and watch your back."
"You know you don't have to do this," Bella said, "I can do it on my own."
"We know you can," Sophie said before Jane-Anne could, "But we owe you and this is how we are choosing to repay you for protecting Melinda, so don't argue."
"Thanks," Bella said a small smile forming on her lips before she shut the phone.
She went back to the window and sighed. Jane-Anne and Sophie were the first witches she met when she escaped Klaus. They contacted Charlie and nursed her back to health. They were her surrogate aunts and she would do anything for them.
When Marcel returned to New Orleans four years ago, Bella was visiting and he started taking over the city. Jane-Anne feared for her daughter's life so Bella snuck her out and found her a home with some relatives. Marcel knew how powerful Jane-Anne was and he would have taken Melinda to control her. Bella herself barely made it out alive. That was the first time she had ever been staked and it hurt like a bitch. Jane-Anne told Bella she owed her a debt and when Bella called Jane the night she left Mystic Falls to say goodbye, Jane wouldn't hear of it. She told Bella she owed her a debt and that this was how she was choosing to pay it…by helping Bella stay ahead of the others.
Bella knew that if Lucy called or went to see Jane-Anne and Sophie that they wouldn't give up any information. She was safe…for the time being. Jane-Anne had warned her to watch her back which meant someone was coming and soon.
Bella decided to make the arrangements to leave tomorrow. For now she just stood there at the window, watching the rain and wondering what was going on in Mystic Falls.
.*.*.*.*.*.
Rain pounding against the window, the wind howling, thunder crashing, lightning lit up the sky. A brown haired woman wearing a leather jacket, tight jeans and boots had her back turned to Elena. She was on the phone, but Elena couldn't hear what she was saying. The girl shut the phone and walked over to the window her back still to Elena.
Elena looked around and saw Klaus' coffin in the corner of the room. She looked back to the woman.
"Bella," Elena said with her eyes widening.
Quickly Bella turned around and looked around the room.
"Oh my god Bella," Elena said happily, "Bella we need you back."
Bella kept looking around the room. Her body was tense, but she didn't seem to see Elena.
Suddenly the door busted in and three hybrids entered the room. They all went to attack Bella, but she easily fought them off before she ripped their hearts out one by one.
She dropped the last heart of the hybrid and walked over to the coffin. She quickly opened it up.
"Time to move," Bella informed the immobile hybrid before she slammed it shut again. She then wheeled it out of the room.
"Bella," Elena screamed.
.*.*.*.*.*.
"Elena," Stefan's voice said and she felt herself being shaken, "Elena wake up!"
Elena sat up quickly, gasping for air.
"Hey are you okay?" Stefan asked while holding her face gently between his hands.
"I saw Bella," Elena said, "She was attacked, I saw her."
"It was just a dream," Stefan said.
"No it wasn't," Elena said before she jumped out of bed.
She ran down the hall to Angela's room, "Angela," she said while banging on the door.
"What is going on?" Damon asked annoyed as he staggered out of his room drunk, "Some of us are trying to wallow in our utter failures."
"Elena," Angela said after opening her door, "What's wrong?"
"I saw Bella," Elena said.
A bottle of jack shattered as it hit the ground.
"She's here?" Damon asked before rushing outside the house as he screamed her name.
"It was just a dream," Stefan said while looking at Angela, "Like she's been having."
"No it's not," Elena hissed and looked at Angela.
"What do you mean been having?" Angela asked.
It had been a month since Elena had turned and ever since then she always dreamed or said she could hear Bella. Stefan explained this and shook his head.
"Angela I know it's her," Elena said, "I swear."
"It's not possible," Angela said sadly. "We all miss her Elena, but you're just dreaming."
"I don't think she is," Bonnie said joining them, "I've been doing some research with Vanessa, looking over Isobel's research mostly, and we might have found something."
"What?" Angela asked, not getting her hopes up.
"She wrote about a sire bond." Bonnie started to say.
"Elena," Damon growled, "Keep your dreams to yourself." He stalked up the stairs, "I don't have time for them."
"Damon shut up," Elena hissed.
"Bonnie we know about the sire bond between Klaus and his hybrids." Angela said, ignoring Damon.
"There's a different sire bond," Bonnie yelled and Damon stopped dead in his tracks, "It's when a vampire turns someone and there's a strong connection between them before they turned. Isobel didn't have much information on it, but what she did have said that there was a possibility that the sired one could see their creator, feel what they felt. The one turned could somehow know what was happening to their creator."
"Are you saying that my dreams are visions of what's going on with Bella?" Elena asked as her eyes lit up with hope.
"It's not possible," Angela said.
"Vanessa thinks so," Bonnie said, "Lucy came by looking for some information on it weeks ago and disappeared with a bunch of books."
Elena furrowed her brows, "When exactly?" she asked.
"Um," Bonnie thought about it for a moment, "The day you turned actually."
"When we were alone in my room that day, she grabbed my face. I guess to tell me something, but all of sudden she just looked bewildered and then she was gone" Elena said, "I think she knows about this."
"You say she took a bunch of books?" Angela asked.
"Three boxes is what Vanessa said," Bonnie replied, "All of them were books Vanessa hadn't had the chance to go through."
"Damn it," Angela hissed.
"What?" Damon asked.
"Ten to one odds are that those books had more information on this sire bond," Angela said, "When she touched Elena she probably saw the connection."
"Why haven't you?" Damon asked, "You've touched her."
"Lucy's blocking me from tracking Bella down or anything related to Bella." Angela argued, "That's probably why. You saw Lucy the night we were willing to give back Klaus. I had to knock her out."
"So where is she?" Elena asked, "We have to find her."
"I'll start looking, but it won't be easy." Angela said.
"What can I do?" Elena asked eagerly.
"Can you describe what you saw?" Angela asked.
"It was just a room," Elena said, "I didn't see anything specific other than the fact that Bella dyed her hair brown."
"Think," Damon said as he grabbed her shoulders.
"I don't know," Elena said after pushing him away from her, "All I could see was the room and all I could hear was the wind and the rain. It sounded like a hurricane."
"Wind and rain?" Angela asked and then her eyes widened, "Clever."
"What?" Damon asked, his eyes snapping hers.
"Elena you narrowed down our search area," Angela said before she hurried into her room. She pulled out her laptop as the others entered.
"What does wind and rain have to do with Bella?" Stefan asked.
"Those two things are the only natural forces that can obscure her scent. It would end up everywhere or washed away and no one could track her." Angela said.
"But someone did," Elena said, "They found her."
"Elijah probably sent Klaus' lackeys all over the place to cover more ground," Angela said dismissively, "It was probably sheer dumb luck." She typed something up and then turned the screen so that everyone could see, "Here's the three areas…this region in Colombia, this one in India, and of course this one in Hawaii."
"I doubt Bella's in Hawaii," Stefan said, "Too many tourists."
"Then that leaves us with India and Colombia." Bonnie said.
"Stefan, Damon, and Elena you take one. Caroline, Tyler, and I can take the other," Angela said, "Start packing."
"Where would you rather go?" Stefan asked, "India or Colombia."
.*.*.*.*.*.
"I need to get somewhere safe now," Bella said as soon as Jane-Anne answered the phone.
"Who found you?" Jane-Anne asked.
"Three hybrids, but they're dead." Bella replied, "No one will find them for a while. The house is paid up and I compelled the land lord."
"How did they find you?" Jane-Anne asked.
"Probably just dumb luck," Bella replied while looking around, "I should have known Elijah would utilize them, but I didn't think they'd be this close."
"What do you need from us?" Jane-Anne asked.
"Start getting things ready for me," Bella said before she snapped her phone shut. "Hurry up I don't have all day," She snapped as the compelled humans loaded Klaus' body onto the plane.
Bella didn't sleep the entire flight; her entire body was riddled with tension. She drank and kept looking around, waiting for someone to pop out. After a very long flight, the plane landed. Bella took Klaus, loaded him up before she drove away after covering her tracks.
As soon as she made it to the safe house she locked everything up and crashed on the bed.
The next morning when she woke up it was late afternoon. She showered, changed, and then she finally opened up Klaus' coffin.
"Know any good places in Sydney to get something to eat?" Bella asked.
Klaus stared at her stoically.
"I wasn't hungry anyways," Bella said, "That was a close one wasn't it. I guess that will teach me to let my guard down."
Bella sighed and shut the coffin.
Two weeks and only one blood bag… that's all she had, had. She couldn't risk showing herself outside especially now that Elijah had enlisted hybrids or what remained of them anyway. She just had to keep going a little longer and then she'd be in New Orleans. She had a plan and it was one that could risk everything. She needed Marcel on her side and to do that she would have to expose herself. If Marcel was anything like Klaus, he would be curious about her, perhaps even attracted to a degree. This was the card she had up her sleeve and she needed to play it.
.*.*.*.*.*.
Six Weeks Later:
Bella and Klaus had moved eight times in the last three weeks. Australia for three days, Germany for five days, France for seven days, Russia for seven days, Estonia for eight, Bulgaria for six days, England for six, and now they were in Romania. She had compelled the entire town surrounding Hunedoara castle, the legendary prison of Vlad Tepes III or Dracula.
After sleeping for a few days, she opened Klaus' coffin.
Bella smirked, "I thought you would enjoy knowing where we are now," Bella said, "Bran castle, the prison of the legendary Dracula. I thought it was appropriate. Kind of fitting, I mean you being somewhat of a bloodthirsty, power hungry, although somehow revered and respected yourself, but you are on the psycho side of the spectrum."
Klaus started to glare at her, but then his eyes turned soft and worried filled them.
Although he, himself had been fading and decaying slowly Bella looked much worse. Bella's cheeks were sunken in, her eyes as well and dark bluish/purple circles were underneath them. Her lips were pale and cracked; her skin white and a bit gray and her clothes had started to hang on her. Her hair had lost its shine and vibrant color along with its thickness, now it hung in brittle straight strands. The light from her eyes was gone as well and now they were dark and almost empty it seemed.
Bella looked down at him, "You've noticed," Bella said, knowing exactly what he was looking at and what he was thinking, "Well you haven't seen me in three weeks and you can thank your brother along with Elena and the others. They've been trying to track me so we had to move more."
Klaus tried to speak; his eyes were pleading as he looked down to his wrist.
Bella let out a weak laugh, "Don't pretend to care," she said, "I know you want me weak so I can't fight them off. Besides your blood wouldn't do a damn bit of good…Bonnie stopped your heart remember? No blood flow; your blood would just poison me." Bella sighed, "Shockingly enough, there's no supernatural beings around here," she said and looked down at him, "I know right, this would really be the best place in the world to hide out."
Klaus tried to move, but couldn't. Although he was angry with her…angry beyond words yet he couldn't help but feel the need to help her. To make his daughter well again…for the first time in a long time he felt a sliver of pain because of what he had seen. Bella was a shell of herself and if she didn't feed soon, she would die or worse. Though his head yelled at him to not care, something in him was pushing that voice further away.
Bella's phone rang and she answered it.
"Hello?" she said, turning her back on Klaus.
"You sound horrible," Jane-Anne said, "What's wrong?"
"Just a little weak," Bella said, "What's going on? You wouldn't call unless it was important."
"Lucy was here a few weeks ago," Sophie said, "We stayed hidden, but yesterday Angela came by…she said she needed to talk to you. She said something had happened in Mystic Falls."
"Not my problem," Bella said, "I've got enough to deal with here."
"Bella you don't sound good, what's wrong?" Jane-Anne asked, "Have you fed?"
Silence…
"Bella," Sophie chastised.
"Haven't really had the time," Bella snapped.
"Where are you?" Jane-Anne asked.
"You know I can't tell you," Bella replied.
"Fine," Jane-Anne said, her frustration was evident, "But you need to feed Bella."
"Don't worry I will," Bella said and shut the phone.
She turned back and looked at Klaus, "I really didn't want to go do this," she said and shut the lid.
.*.*.*.*.*.
"Are we sure this is the place?" Stefan asked as he, Elena, and Damon stepped out of the car.
"It's the last one on the list," Elena said after shutting her door.
"Close enough to town not to be noticed, but right on the coast," Damon commented, "Good breeze too."
They walked up to the door and opened it…immediately the smell of death hit their noses.
"Oh that's not good," Elena gagged.
"It's coming from upstairs," Stefan said.
Damon blurred and followed the scent. He opened the door to a bedroom and immediately found what was causing it.
"We've got three bodies up here," Damon called and the others joined him.
Elena walked into the room and looked around.
"This is the room," Elena said.
"They're hybrids," Stefan said after examining the bodies. He looked at his brother, "They've been here a while."
"About six weeks from what I can see," Rebekah said from behind them.
"What are you doing here?" Elena tensed as she and the boys turned around.
"Following you," Rebekah replied sweetly, "Seems you know more than you've told us."
"We just got a tip is all," Damon said with a growl.
"Look if we work together, we have more of a chance of finding her." Rebekah said enticingly, "All my brothers and I want is Klaus. You can have the little half-breed."
"Pass," Stefan said, "Besides she's obviously long gone."
"Fine," Rebekah said while glaring at them, "Have it your way, but when we find her, and we will, she's dead."
Rebekah walked out of the house and the three of them relaxed a little.
"They never left town," Stefan said, "They've been watching us, expecting us to lead them to Bella."
"How are we supposed to look for her then?" Elena asked.
"Elena did you see anything after this?" Damon asked while looking at her desperately.
Elena shook her head, "No. Maybe Bonnie was wrong." She said defeated.
"No," Stefan said, "Maybe what we need to know is in those books that Lucy took."
"Then maybe we should be looking for her." Damon said.
.*.*.*.*.*.
Lucy trudged through the forest until finally she reached the castle. Lucy walked across the bridge and into the courtyard…it was pitch black. Suddenly she was hit and pinned against the wall. She struggled blindly, unable to see her attacker until they lit a match and brought it to their face.
"Don't you witches know better than to go traipsing around legendary vampire dwellings?" Bella asked while smirking.
A/N: Hey guys here is the first official chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it. I really want to hear your thoughts. Also there is a trailer for this story done by my wonderful beta Dark~Supernatural~Angel and the link is: : / / www . you tube watch ? v = m JTA0XB q4OI
Just take out all of the spaces. Fanfiction seems to cut the links. Please either leave feedback on you tube or message me on here I would really like to know what you think and I know she would too.
My dear beta thank you so much for all your help and your patience with me.
Side note about all my other stories; I have not abandoned them and I do not plan on it, but right now my inspiration is for this story. I am working on Stripped and Never Let Me Go and as soon as a chapter comes together the way it needs to I will post.
Review you guys and have a wonderful Tuesday!