I'm back! :D
Sorry for the delay in updating, I may have gotten stuck on the last part of this chapter. I've wrote it and rewrote it about a million an one times but never felt like it was quite right but I think I got it now, so here you go!
Shout outs to all those who reviewed last chapter! Once again I'm really sorry about the delay! I wanted to have this out by Christmas but I suck so…opps! :p
Chapter 21: Before Sunset
Her vision tunnels, every breath she takes is agonizing and her whole body is beginning to feel numb. "Don't pass out on me now." A taunting voice makes her blink slowly; pushing back the tunnel vision to refocus on the desk she's trapped at. "The fun is just about to start."
She doesn't understand what he means until she hears it the soft distant sound of footsteps coming down the hall and she curses in her mind. It's Elena. She knows it is. He comes up beside her but she refuses to spare him even a glance as he grips the pencil stabbed into her left hand, keeping her at this desk and begins twisting until she's groaning and whimpering in agony. The footsteps grow louder and closer before they seize and a soft gasp takes there place.
"Adele." Elena whispers in horror at the sight before her. Her sister is gaged, with a white cloth that looks soaked with vervain. It drips down her chin and neck, leaving blistering burns in its wake. Her hands are stabbed through with pencils that keep them firmly held onto the desk top. She looks exhausted and her bloodshot eyes are full of pain.
She tears her dark eyes away from her sister to stare up at the man behind all this. "Alaric!" She snaps. "Let her go!"
A couple hours earlier –
"I had to leave to get some more garbage bags, I'll be back soon I promise. Thanks for coming to help me again, Tyler bailed on my last second cause Klaus is ordering him to pack up his house." Caroline rambles as she's walking into the school.
"Its fine Care, not like I had anything better to do anyways." She laughs. "I don't know what happened to Damon; he didn't come back last night, so I figured he might just be having a hard time."
"Yeah." Caroline sighs. "How are you though? I mean I know it must be hard…"
"I'm fine." She answers sharply before closing her eyes briefly. She didn't mean to sound so harsh but she didn't very much want to think about it, let alone talk about it.
"Okay." Caroline answers slowly before deciding to drop it for now. "Well, I'll be back in just a bit. I'm sure with the three of us, we'll get done in no time." She's back to her cheery self as she hangs up the phone and Adele just rolls her eyes pocketing the device and pushing through the doors to the cafeteria.
She halts right away, her lips turning into a snarl and her mind clouding over in annoyance. Rebekah freezes as well, staring over towards her with a wide eyed stare. "Where's Matt?" Adele snaps out and Rebekah glances around as if checking to make sure there was absolutely no one around.
"He bailed." She answers. "Got called into work last minute."
"Great." Adele snarls. "So it's just us?"
"Until Barbie gets back. You're late anyways. Clean up committee starts at 8." She responds, getting back to what she was doing when Adele walked in.
"I'm not even on the committee." Adele sneers as she moves further into the cafeteria.
"Whatever." Rebekah sighs grabbing her trash bag and moving past her. "You stay here and I'm going to get started on the gym." She wanted to put as much space between her and the overly emotional vampire. She didn't need or fancy another broken nose.
Adele watches her leave before sighing. This was shaping out to be another horrible day for her. She wished at the very least Damon would call her or something. Let her know where he's been. She moves towards the table closest to her to grab the last trash bag when a noise catches her attention. The sounds of a struggle right outside the doors to the cafeteria.
She pushes open the door and steps out into the hallway, looking over where she freezes for a split second.
Alaric.
But he's supposed to be dead.
But yet there he is, very much alive.
Which could only mean one thing.
She rushes forward, despite her burning hatred for the original something in her, couldn't watch her be killed so she grabs Alaric by the back of the shirt and swings him around to slam against the locker beside Rebekah and tries her best to hold him there. Taking the chance, Rebekah picks up the stake he dropped and stabs him with it. They back way slowly watching him look from the stake back up to them with a mild look of annoyance.
The two vampires glance at each other briefly before taking off towards the doors to the school, Adele digging her phone out of her pocket to call someone, anyone. She makes it to her car and tries to fumble around with her keys while dialing Damon's number.
Alaric's reflection in the trucks door startles her, making her drop both the keys and her phone but she barely has a chance to turn around before he snaps her neck and she falls back lifeless into his arms.
Rebekah watches in silent horror from across the lot as he drags the temporally dead vampire back into the school by her arm, the flesh on his exposed skin bubbling and burning in the sun. It was like something straight out of a horror movie, one that chilled her to the very core.
She woke up not long after that with the sensation of a thousand raver blades being poured down her throat as he gaged her with a cloth soaked in vervain and when she tried to fight, she was met with the agonizing pain of wooden pencils being stabbed into the center of her hands, successfully pinning her to the desk she was at.
He took a few minutes to admire his handy work as she could do nothing but stare up at him in disbelief and horror. She thought he was dead, she thought they weren't going to have to deal with this. What happened?
He called her sister threatening her life if she didn't come to the school alone and Adele begged her to not do it. To tell someone what was going on but as Elena shows up in the doorway demanding she be let free, Adele knows she's alone and has the overwhelming gut feeling that they are both doomed.
*VD*
The doorbell rings and Jeremy is the first one to reach it with a confused frown. Who would be coming over now of all times? He really hopes its not some kind of sorry for your loss type stuff. He wasn't even sure Alaric's death was made public yet.
When he opens the door, he has the strong urge to slam it. "What the hell do you want?" He goes with that instead, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"Now is that any way to treat a guest?" The original hybrid mocks the young Gilbert boy before his gaze shifts to the Salvatore brothers coming up from behind and he's not at all surprised to see them there.
"What are you doing here Klaus?" Stefan questions with little interest.
"Well for starters Little Jeremy could show some manners and invite me inside." Klaus offers even though he knows well enough that nothing could be that easy with the Salvatore's around.
"Why don't you go to your room Jeremy?" Stefan suggests much to Jeremy's annoyance. This was his house and his sister's safety. He had every right to stay exactly where he was.
"Now." Damon snarls at him and Jeremy glances at him before sighing and giving in. He didn't need Damon getting all snippy with him. He didn't feel like dying today.
"Poor lad. Loses one questionable father figure only to be replaced by the likes of the two of you." Klaus grins as the Gilbert boy disappears up the stairs.
"Yeah, about that." Damon speaks up with a deep sigh. "Something happened."
"Oh, I know all about my mother's invulnerable little creation and that's why I'm here." He finally tells them. "I'm leaving town, just need to pick up a few road trip necessities. Spare tire, flashlight, doppelgänger."
"Well, can't help you there." Damon smiles brightly at the Hybrid before clasping a hand onto his brothers shoulder to pull him back into the house before shutting the door in his face. Stefan turns automatically, rushing up the stairs as Damon turns away from the door pulling his phone from his back pocket.
He dials her number as he steps away from the door and it rings and rings before finally hitting voicemail. "Adele." He says quickly. "I really need you to call me back, as soon as you get this. Super important, like nothing is more important than this so CALL ME."
He hangs up and with a huff of annoyance is about to redial before Stefan stops him. "She's not here." He says causing Damon's eyes to snap up in surprise.
"What do you mean she's not here?" He snaps. "Where did she go?" She was just up there, painting away in the master bedroom. How did she have the time to sneak past them? How did she have the ability to sneak past them?
Forgetting his phone, hoping she'll call when she gets the message he moves over to the blinds to peek out of them as Bonnie stumbles her way into the room looking around at all of their worried expressions. "What's going on?" She questions.
"Klaus wants in." Damon says. "We have to keep him out." Damon watches Klaus stand at the sidewalk directly in front of the window and pull his arm back, a newspaper clenched tight in his hand. He makes a noise before yelling at everyone to duck and throwing himself to the ground watching Jeremy fly to the ground as Stefan pushes Bonnie down in time for glass to shatter across them, the newspaper landing with a hard thud against the ground.
*VD*
"Let her go Alaric." She demands and Alaric merely glances in her direction before waving a hand at the immobile vampire.
"Free her yourself." He tells her and Elena stares for a second before rushing forward dropping down in front of Adele who tries to tell her to stop. It was just a trap, he was baiting her but Elena rubs her arm and mutters a soft "hey" before gripping the pencil in her right hand with two fingers and begins trying to ease it out and Adele bites back a groan before she lets out a scream when Alaric comes around, slamming his hand down on it to send it back in.
Elena jumps up, stumbling back as she looks up at him with wide dark eyes. "You said that you would let her go!" She yells.
"How many times do I have to tell you Elena?" He yells back. "Stop trusting vampires!"
"She's my sister!" Elena cries glancing down at her but Alaric steps over to block her view.
"Not anymore she's not! She's a vampire! Your previous relation means nothing now!" He takes what they assume to be a calming breath before mentioning to the desk beside Adele and Elena quickly slides into it. "I have to make a phone call, I'd advise you to not make any stupid mistakes."
Elena watches him leave the room before sliding out of her seat and back in front of Adele. She reaches forward pulling the soaked cloth from her mouth as Adele hisses in pain. "What are you doing here?" She demands through a raspy voice.
"What do you mean what am I doing here?" Elena stares at her in disbelief. "You're my sister I came to save you. I wasn't just going to let him kill you."
"You need to stop thinking you can save everyone Elena." Adele gasps softly. "You just put yourself in more danger then you're already in. You can't do anything to help besides get hurt."
"I can try. I would think you of all people would understand that. You try to do so much to protect everyone else, why isn't it okay for me to want to protect everyone?" Elena questions with a deep frown.
"I don't try to protect everyone. I protect those I love and if It comes down to letting someone die or killing someone or even letting myself die to protect someone I love then so be it. Which is why you shouldn't be here." Adele explains but Elena shakes her head.
"He was going to kill you." She tells her but Adele merely grins at her sister.
"He's going to kill me no matter what. He said what he knew would get you here. It was a trap Elena and I was never meant to survive it." Elena looks shocked by her words, like the idea that Alaric would ever kill her was unbelievable but this wasn't Alaric, not anymore and even Adele wasn't going to try and believe that it was. "You need to get out of here while you can."
"I'm not leaving you here." Elena snaps. "We can find a way out of this; this is Alaric I mean…"
"That isn't Alaric anymore Elena. Alaric is gone." Adele cuts her off. "He's dead and at this point so am I. If you don't run, you might as well be too."
Elena wants to protest again, wants to demand why her sister was so accepting of her death, why she was so ready for it but she's left to rush back into her seat as Alaric re-enters the room, tsking at her obvious sympathy towards her vampire sister.
*VD*
"I think you're probably going to want to let me in!" Klaus yells from the porch as they gather in the kitchen to discuss the looming problems over their heads, like Klaus's appearance and Elena's disappearance.
"Elena's cars gone." Stefan tells them as he glances out the kitchen window.
"Why wouldn't she tell anyone where she was going?" Bonnie demands just as a soccer ball is sent flying through the front door and Damon braces himself as it collides with his side before turning back. Klaus is at the front door holding wooden white boards from what looks like a picket fence.
He hurls one and Damon ducks just in time for it to soar over his head and impale into the wall behind him. "Missed me!" He yells at the original who is more than happy to try again. "Missed me again!"
Through the commotion Stefan pulls his ringing phone from his jacket pocket. "Alaric." He answers as Klaus is retreating from the door more than likely to find something else to throw so Damon takes the time to rush over to Stefan's side, to listen in on the conversion and what he hears turns his blood to ice and gives him the automatic urge to rip out someone's throat.
*VD*
"Put it out." Stefan demands to the original as he steps up the porch steps with a propane tank and a lit newspaper.
"Come outside and make me." Klaus snips but is actually slightly surprised when Stefan steps out onto the porch.
"Elena's not here." He's quick to inform before Klaus gets any bright ideas. "Alaric has her and Adele and he's going to kill them both unless you turn yourself over to him."
In a show of annoyance Klaus throws the newspaper to the side and drops the propane tank at his side. "Now I know you're not asking me to walk into certain death."
"I really wish we could." Stefan says in a sorrowful tone. "But unfortunately, if Alaric kills you there's a one in four chance that we die too."
Damon emerges from the house as well, after having calmed himself enough to where he doesn't think he'll try to murder anyone but he keeps a piece of the picket fence swung up onto his shoulder just in case. "I'll take those odds." He snaps.
"And hundred percent chance that Tyler dies." Stefan reminds him but Damon merely shrugs.
"I'm good with that too." He says.
"Why don't we just figure out a way to put Alaric down?" Stefan suggests to the both of them and knowing he has no choice and it's the only way he knows they have of getting both Adele and Elena back in one piece he agrees and they begin the process of brain storming.
"Okay," Klaus finally speaks up turning around with a grin. "How about Damon sneaks in and distracts Alaric, while Stefan grabs Elena and carries her to safety?"
"Huh." Damon scoffs. "That's a great idea. What's to stop me from getting killed instantly?"
"Nothing." Klaus answers, grin widening.
"Adele is in there too." Damon mentions with a sneer and it causes Klaus's grin to fall. "Don't you have a thing for her? Or did she turn you down for me one to many times?" It's Damon's turn to grin and Klaus's to sneer before Stefan slides in to keep them separated.
"This isn't really helping much." He adds. Damon shrugs his shoulders and goes back to standing there rigid and silently worried.
"I might have an idea." Bonnie rushes out of the house, eyes wide. "My mom used a desiccation spell on Mikael that immobilized him for over 15 years. If I can get it, I might be able to use it on Alaric."
"If and might." Klaus growls. "Your words inspire much confidence."
"I'll get it. But even with the spell, we'll need a lot of vampire muscle to take him down." Bonnie tells him. "Including yours."
Klaus thinks it over for a split second before turning around. "Just so we're clear, the sun sets in about eight hours. If we don't succeed before then, Elena will be dead, I'll be gone, and the rest of you will be left to fend for yourselves."
Damon gets that and if they could pull this off, that would be great but if by some reason something goes wrong and they can't pull it off –which is more likely to happen then he'd really like to attempt, and Alaric gets away, he'll save Adele and they will be gone as well. He's not sure where they will go but he will be damn sure they are as far from this town as he feels they need to be, he doesn't care if he has to kidnap her, if he has to bind her and stick her in the god damn trunk of his car, they are leaving town and not looking back.
*VD*
Alaric dips the clothe into a glass full of liquid vervain and Adele knows it's coming and she clenches her jaw, staring straight ahead at the black board because she refuses to make a sound, refuses to beg and plead for him to stop, to have some kind of freaking mercy because she knows her effort would mean nothing.
But Elena is watching her expression twist in fear and pain already, Elena watches that single tear fall from the corner of her eye, watches her sister slowly falling apart inside as she tries to hold it together, tries to not show weakness that can be exposed and fed off of. Alaric moves towards them and Elena can't stop herself.
"Alaric stop!" She yells shooting up from her seat, not sure what she's going to do but knowing she's going to try something until he merely pushes her back down telling her to sit like some kind of dog.
"This keeps the vervain in her system. It's like inhaling razorblades with every breath." He explains and Elena is forced to watch as he places the cloth back into her mouth, her sister's whole form tensing up, fingernails digging and scratching against the surfaces of the desk, eyes screwing shut as the skin bubbles and burns around her mouth and she screams. Every breath feels like she wishes he'd just kill her already, it would hurt less.
"Why are you doing this?" Elena demands to know, why was it so important to keep her so weak if he was so strong?
"To make it easier for you to put her out of her misery." His answer sends a shockwave through Elena's system as he's picking up the white oak stake from his desk and turning back towards her.
Kill her own sister? Is he freaking crazy?" "What? No!"
"Isn't this what you wanted, Elena?" He questions. "For me to teach you how to kill a vampire?" He holds out the stake to her but she merely stares at it in disbelief. "Well, here's a vampire Elena. Kill her."
"This isn't what I want." She whispers the only thing she can actually muster out through her completely blank mind. Out of all the ways she thought this could go, this was never one of the ways she thought of. Why would she? Whoever thinks about killing their own sister?
"Of course it is." Alaric insists. "All those hours you spent training, getting stronger, you could be a hunter, Elena. But you've never actually staked a vampire through the heart." He pushes the stake out further, willing her to take it but still all she can do is stare at it.
*VD*
"I just got this." Bonnie says holding up her phone to Damon who looks down at the small screen. "It connects Adele, Elena and I through our phones." She explains as she taps a few buttons to show a map. "They're in Alaric's classroom, you should go in through the south entrance."
"Digital locater spell." Damon says, impressed by the small device. "Why the hell do we need you then?" He questions as he walks away towards the youngest Gilbert sitting on the picnic table. Unfortunately he was once again apart of their plan, a special ingredient in a special spell.
After Abby actually showed up she informed them with a little bit of a fight everything they'd need to do for the desiccation spell and to say it wouldn't be easy is a complete understatement. "Hand it over." Damon demands after noticing the small ring he's fumbling around with.
"I'm not giving you my ring." Jeremy tells him. "Let me do this."
"By my math, you've already bit it once, this will be twice, wearing that thing and if for some reason, Bonnie can't restart your heart and you do indeed die, then before you know it, we have another psycho alter ego case on our hands, which is bad so give me the ring." Damon explains as he holds out his hand but Jeremy refuses with a shake of his head.
"This is my ring, they are my sisters. No one's gonna fight harder for them than me." He tells the vampire who narrows his eyes before scoffing.
"Fine. Be stubborn." He turns to Bonnie. "Try not to kill him, will you?" That was the last thing he needed right now.
"Look at this." Klaus mocks as he walks up with Stefan right behind him. "One big happy family."
Bonnie rolls her eyes before holding out a small bottle full of blood to the three vampires. "Drink this." She tells them. "It's my blood. It bridges us all together so that when I stop Jeremy's heart, you'll have the power to stop Alaric's. You need to make a physical connection to his bloodstream; a vein, artery, something connected to his heart."
They pass it around, each taking a small swig from it. "If one of us gets a clean shot, take it. The other two hold him down." Stefan explains as the bottle is emptied and discarded.
"Before we all walk through these doors, let's get on the same page, shall we?" Klaus mentions drawing their attention. "I was the one who created your vampire bloodline, therefore I am responsible for your lives and Tyler's life, Caroline's life, Adele's life and of course, Abby's life, should anything go wrong."
"Or you're just lying to save your ass." Damon sneers as he really hopes that's more the case.
"I'm not lying." He insures. "But go ahead, call my bluff, let the teacher kill me. You'll all be dead soon thereafter."
"Let's get this over with, shall we?" Stefan mumbles turning back towards the school.
*VD*
"Why are you doing this?" Elena whispers fully aware that it's the second time she's asked that question.
"Because you need me." Alaric snaps. "Because you're an eighteen-year-old girl without parents or guidance or any sense of right and wrong anymore, It's already too late for her but at least I can still help you!"
"Look at her! How is this right? She's…" Elena is cut off but Alaric pointing the stake towards Adele, the point dangerously close to her right eye.
"She's a murderer!" He yells. "Or at the very least she will be! Listen Elena, your guys parents led the council. It was their life's mission to keep this town safe. They weren't dead six months before you undid it all. They weren't dead six weeks before she undid it all."
"You don't know anything about our parents." Elena sneers, voice finally rising to above a whisper.
"Why, am I wrong? Do you actually think that they'd be proud of you?" He bends down, to be eye level with her. "You think they'd be proud of your sister being the one thing they hated the most in this world? You think your father would be able to even stand looking at his little girl like this? The very monster that he hated so much?" His words are like a knife twisting deeper and deeper into Adele's chest as she tries to force her eyes to stay open. "If you don't side with the humans, you're just as bad as them. Now kill her. Do your parents a favor, do your father a favor and kill her or I'll do it for you and I'll make it hurt. Get up!" He grabs her by the arm and yanks her to her feet in front of Adele who at this point is barely able to keep herself conscious, the vervain slowly poisoning her system.
He pulls away from her standing beside her and watching her as she stares wide eyed down at her sister who manages to lift her blue eyes up to look at her and Elena can't be sure but it looks as if the look in her sisters eyes is just telling her to do it.
But that's crazy because Adele wouldn't just give up like that and Elena wasn't about to give up on her, so with all her might she swings her arm backwards watching Alaric catch her wrist effortlessly.
"I thought I taught you better than that." He sighs, voice full of disappointment.
"You did." Elena whispers before striking out to the side, hand grabbing the glass beaker full of vervain and smashing it into the side of Alaric's face. He screams and lets her go and she turns, as quick as she can she yanks the pencils out from Adele's hands and unties the cloth from her head letting it all fall to the ground.
Elena helps her pull herself up before pushing her forward yelling to run and get help and without much of second thought Adele takes off, out of the classroom and down the hall until her senses come back to her and she freezes.
She turns back, each breath she takes is still agonizing, her chest is on fire and her stomach is turning, her wounds have healed already but the vervain is still kicking hard in her system, still making her vision swim.
But still Elena isn't behind her which means Alaric caught her and that only means she has to go back. She has to go back but even has her mind screams at her to go back, her body won't obey and she's so torn, so torn between saving her sister and running for safety.
She's never run from anything in her life, never fled, never left her sister behind to fend for herself, never left her behind for dead but this was so far beyond her control, so far beyond anything she could handle and she's in so much pain. Conflicted, scared and helpless, she stands there staring back towards the way she came, hot tears falling free down her cheeks.
Something brushes her back but before she can react a hand is covering her mouth muffling her scream of terror and pulling her back into the shadows, back against a hard, warm body. "Shhh!" A voice hushes her frantic whimpering. "It's okay. It's okay." She calms almost instantly when she finally recognizes the voice in her ear and he lets up a little even taking his hand away from her mouth. "It's me." She sags back in utter relief. "It's okay. You're save now." She lifts up and turns, bloodshot blue eyes meeting another set of blue eyes that reassure her she that she is safe.
"Klaus…" She whispers, voice rough cracking under the weight of emotion in her chest.
"Sh, love." He reaches forward taking her face gently into his hands bending down a bit to be eye to eye with her. "We'll save Elena." He assures her quietly. "You go straight home. You stay inside. Do you understand?" Her blue eyes leave his to glance back down the way she had come but he pulls her back to look at him. "Adele…Do you understand me?"
Her bottom lip begins to tremble as she stares at him, she's never felt more useless then she did right now and she hated it so much but she knew when she couldn't be helpful and she nods quickly. "Yes." She whispers. "Thank you."
Klaus doesn't want to let her go. Suddenly standing there with her, watching her shake and cry there, weak and helpless nothing like the girl he knew, suddenly this mission seemed unimportant, like he could do without the hybrids as long as he got this trembling blonde out of here and somewhere safe, far far away from this demotic town but he needed those hybrids and she needed to get out of here. "Go. Now." He rushes away leaving her standing there watching after him for a few seconds before turning away and running away.
*VD*
Elena squirms pushing up against Alaric's wrist trying to pull more breath into her lungs as his fingers tighten against her throat. The cooled steel from the lockers bites into her back through her thin clothing. "I should kill you!" Alaric sneers, lips curling in disgust. "I should gut you like Brian Walters and Bill Forbes and all the other cowards I plan on ripping apart! You're the worst offender of them all, Elena. You don't deserve to live."
Elena refuses to let his words get to her, refuses to let the chill that they bring to her show. Instead she balls up her fear into the back of her mind and she puts on her brave face, she knows what Adele would do and she tries to mimic her actions.
"So then why am I still alive?" She questions cursing the crack in her voice because as much as she would like to fool herself, she's terrified. "There's obviously no humanity left in you, so what's stopping you, Alaric? If you want me dead then kill me." She watches his eyes change, the veins pulsing beneath them as he bares his fangs at her. "Do it!" She demands, heart pounding. "Kill me!"
She watches him debate with himself before his eyes return to normal and he completely releases her with a growl of annoyance and all her suspensions are confirmed as she glances back towards the classroom, an idea forming in her head.
She's only a bit surprised when Stefan and Damon appear each grabbing Alaric by an arm as Damon yells to do it now and she takes the distraction to slip into the classroom next to her. It's a biology lab and she begins to dig through the drawers around the room looking for something, anything sharp and pointy as she listens to the commotion from the hall.
When she finds a drawer full of scalpels she grabs one and rushes back into the hall, eyes widening as she eyes Damon and Stefan lying dead on the floor and Alaric hovering over Klaus, struggling to push the white oak stake down into his chest.
A part of her thinks about just walking away, pulling the brothers to safety and letting him kill Klaus to finally be rid of him but the other part of her remembers that there is a large chance if Klaus dies so does everyone else.
"Stop!" She finally yells bringing the scalpel up to her neck. "Let him go or I'll kill myself!" Alaric spares her a quick glance, looking between her and the metal scalpel posed at her neck.
"Put it down, Elena." He tells her as he goes back to struggling with the original hybrid to busy glancing between Alaric and Elena.
"Why?" She demands. "Because you still need me alive? There's a reason why Esther used me to make you, isn't there? She didn't want you to be immortal, so she tied your life to a human one. Mine. That way you have only one life span to kill all vampires and then you'll be gone. So, when I die, you die too. That's it, it has to be!" She explains voice frantic. The stake was getting closer and closer to Klaus despite his struggles.
"You're wrong." He merely states without glancing back.
"Am I?" Elena breaths before taking a deep breath and pressing the scalpel into the skin of her neck as Alaric freezes looking back at her in horror as she begins to drag the scalpel across her neck, wincing in pain as she does.
"Stop!" He demands. "Stop! Stop! Stop!" In his brief moment of panic Klaus is able to overpower him, throwing him to the side. When Alaric regains his wits and pushes up, he looks back. Klaus is gone and not to his surprise so is Elena and he curses.
*VD*
She slams the door to her room, flipping the lock as well before rushing off into the bathroom throwing herself to her knees in front of the toilet as her stomach launches and for the 3rd time since breaking into the parking lot of the school, she vomits.
Her system was rejecting the poison, trying to flush it out as it battles to tare her up from the inside. She's not sure how much vervain she had ended up drinking in the end but it was enough for her to puke up blood as her body tries to fight it off.
She flushes the toilet when she's done before reaching up to switch on the shower, the water runs down clear and scolding hot as she slides into the tub, clothes and all, letting the water rain down on her to wash away the blood and tears as she curls up knees to her chest as the sobs wreck through her body.
It's the pain, the never ending lost and despair that seems to be catching up to her, the fear of losing yet another loved one and the fear of death that is a consist threat over her head.
She squeezes her eyes shut, screaming for an answer to her problems, screaming for some kind of help but there is nothing. No matter where she turned, there was some kind of threat, some kind of danger that put everyone she loved at risk and the more they were at risk the more she fought to protect them and the closer she came to her own death and that almost scared her more than anything.
"This small town will be the death of you, if not physically then mentally." She lifts her head, eyes opening as Klaus's words ring in her head like a broken record.
Oh god. Was he right? Was it this town? Was this town the center of all their problems? She loves this town. It's her home town, it's where she grew up and it's where everyone she loves is but…it's where it all started, with her parent's death. Was he right? Was this town slowly destroying her? Destroying everything she loved?
*VD*
She groans quietly, her head feels foggy and she can't quite recall exactly what happened. The last thing she remembers is standing in the school hallway, Alaric yelling at her to stop as she threatens to cut her own throat but now…where is she?
Something pricks her arm and she jerks with a gasp, head swinging over to look up at…a nurse? "Be careful." The nurse warns in a soothing type voice. "Moving only makes it hurt worse." Elena watches with wide eyes as she tapes off a needle in her arm that begins the slow process of draining her blood.
"What are you doing?" She demands as she yanks at the robes she now notices are holding her to a chair. What the hell was happening here? Where exactly was here?
"Draining you of all your blood." A quiet answer comes from the original hybrid across the room and she narrows her eyes in on him. Is that where she was? The Mikaelson mansion? Wait…what did he just say? Draining her? Of all her blood?
Before she can open her mouth to even utter a response, movement in the doorway catches both their attention and they both look over to see Tyler walking through with a box. He completely freezes when he looks up to see her there, bound and helpless. "Elena?" He discards the box to the side and starts towards her, with the intention to help her.
"Tyler, help me." She urges but Klaus's voice from the other end of the room makes him stop.
"He can't." Klaus says, watching Tyler turn to regard him with what could only be disbelief and disgust. "He needs to go fetch me more empty blood bags. About three liters worth, please Tyler."
"Tyler please!" Elena pleads. He's not sired anymore, she knows it and he knows she knows it. "Get Stefan! Please!"
"No, Tyler." Klaus's voice is stern with no room for argument. "Get the bags."
Tyler stands there completely unsure of what to do. He can't disobey Klaus without him figuring out he's not sired anymore can he? If he does find out, he's as good as dead but this was Elena and she needed his help, he couldn't just turn his back on his friend. He makes a rash decision to at least try to free her but he is of course stopped by Klaus who intercepts him with ease. "Forget the girl and go get the bags." Tyler stares at the hybrid for several long seconds, still debating. "Now." He almost growls in annoyance. He can't very much do anything if he's dead, so his best bet would be to leave and try to figure it out that way. He gives one last lingering glance to Elena before leaving the room.
"So that's it? You're just going to bleed me dry?" Elena questions as she looks up at him watching him turn around to regard her carefully before shrugging and circling around her.
"Yes, but don't worry." He practically sings. "It'll be completely painless. As the last drop is drawn, you'll simply fall asleep."
*VD*
"What about your hybrids?" Her voice cracks as she takes a deep breath. She's becoming increasingly weaker and weaker with every drop of blood that's taken and she fights the drowsiness, refusing to close her eyes for even a second. "You'll need more than this to create your army."
She watches him with half lidded eyes as he takes a pint of her blood from the nurse changing out the bags, he stares at it, moving it around in his hand carefully. "These last few liters will have to suffice." He finally answers. "You see, by attempting to kill us, my mother strengthened the bond between my siblings and I. I don't need hybrids. I have my family." He informs her with a slight grin thrown in her direction for good measure.
"If you believe that," Elena tries to push herself further up into the chair but she's so weak and so tired that she ends up sliding back down unable to hold herself up for longer than a few seconds. "Then why take my blood at all? You want a backup family. You know that your siblings will never trust you again."
Klaus stays quiet for a minute mewling over her words before almost laughing as he turns back to look down on her. "You know Stefan blames me for trying to tear him from his brother," He begins. "But I think we both know who really came between them. You." This time he does laugh. "Which is funny to because I think the obvious hostility was completely one sided at one point. Stefan started hating his brother all over again probably much to Damon's confusion considering he could never see why? What did he do? He has no idea that you are secretly in love with him does he? He is after all your sister's boyfriend, why should he suspect such a thing? That's why you won't choose. You know once you pick a Salvatore, you'll destroy their bond and possibly your own relationship with your own sister as well."
Klaus is grinning, all to amused by the inner family drama that was bound to unfold due to Elena's feelings for both the Salvatore's. He leans over, placing his hands on the arm rest of the chair. "Consider this me doing you a favor." He says and she tries her best to lean as far away from him as possible. "Once you're dead, you won't have to choose. No broken hearts. Their family stays intact, your sister doesn't end up hating you but between us girls…Who would you have picked?" He eyes her like for some reason he already knows her answer even when she herself doesn't.
Not that she would say anything to him even if she did but how was she even supposed to know the answer? She was torn. Completely torn in half by her love for Stefan who she thought was her soul mate and by feelings for Damon, that she's not even sure is love at all but maybe just a manifestation of love pulled from her gratefulness for all his help and protection when she needed it most.
She's not sure, her feelings feel true. Her heart beats that much faster when he looks at her and her palms sweat and her stomach does flips at his touch but how could she possibly be in love with her sister's boyfriend? How could she possibly betray her sister in that way? She couldn't that's how and she refuses to believe or dive any deeper into what her feelings could really mean or so she likes to make herself believe but that didn't stop Damon from being on her mind almost 24/7.
With a new found shortness of breath, she meets Klaus's smug expression and presses her lips together in annoyance. "Rot in hell." She sneers with all the energy she could muster up.
The hybrid merely laughs as he straightens up. "You're welcome." He turns away from her. "If it makes any kind of deference, I would say that Damon and you would make a much better couple seeing as," He turns back for a second to glance at her before sighing. "Your sister deserves so much better than the both of you. Sweet dreams Elena." He walks past her, brushing his fingers through her hair as he goes. "It's been fun."
*VD*
She isn't sure how long he's been gone before she can feel her eyes beginning to shut and it urges her to at least try and fight as futile as it might be. The ropes are too strong, too tight for her to break out of though she struggles anyways, hoping for a miracle maybe?
A noise draws her attention towards the opening in front of her and her lips part in surprise at her visitor. He rushes right up to her, untying the ropes from behind her at super human speed before moving to untangle them from her wrist.
"Tyler…" She croaks. "What are you doing?"
"Shh." He practically rips the ropes from her wrist before moving over to the other side and slipping them off the rest of the way and removing the needle from her arm carefully and she glances up briefly before her eyes widen. "Tyler…" The hybrid glances up at her before following her gaze.
He jerks up as his dark eyes fall upon Klaus in the shadows of the room, watching him with some kind of twisted curiosity. Elena is gripping to the hem of his shirt as she watches for any sudden movements. "So much for that sire bond." Klaus finally speaks after a moment of tense silence.
"I'm not your little bitch anymore!" Tyler snaps back, though his whole body is wired, ready for a losing fight.
Klaus merely hums in response before moving forward, out of the shadows to stand in front of his hybrid. "How did you break the sire bond?" He questions.
"By breaking every bone in my body a hundred times for the girl I love." Tyler responds and Klaus narrows his eyes on him, looking for some kind of bluff.
"That's impossible." He sneers.
"Is it?" Tyler walks forward causing Elena's grip to break and she watches in horror as he moves closer to the angry original. Did he have some kind of death wish or something? "Or maybe real love is stronger than fake loyalty. But what would you know about that?"
"You know…" Klaus glances back towards Elena before narrowing his eyes into slits as he looks down at Tyler. "You should be thanking me. I gave you a gift. I took away your misery."
"You didn't give a crap about me!" Tyler yells backing away from Klaus, back towards Elena. "You just didn't want to be alone." Tyler reaches down carefully to help Elena stand. "Come on." He urges but Klaus wonders briefly what made him think he would just let him go now as he watches them.
With a sigh of annoyance, he rushes forward completely knocking Elena out of the way, sending her down to the ground to knock her head against the fireplace as he pins Tyler up against the wall by his throat but he was too cocky, to sloppy and it allows Tyler to surprise him, allows him to reach down and twist his wrist completely around, the bones cracking and dislodging as he yells at the pain as Tyler continues to squeeze it, giving it no chance to reform and heal. Instead he's joined by the eldest Salvatore who grabs him by the other arm and Stefan who shoves a hand to his chest, fingers digging into the skin above his heart and he knows what's happening here but why was so powerless at this point to stop it.
They watch, feel as his struggles grow weaker and weaker and his eyes grow wider. They can hear the beating of his heart weaken as Bonnie somewhere off in the woods, chants and yells. The minute he's weak enough to not fight them anymore, to merely stare up at Stefan in completely baffled disbelief, is when Damon lets go and moves over to Elena who is just beginning to regain consciousness as she blinks and with the help of Damon, sits up reaching up to feel the blood trickling down her forehead.
"Hey, are you okay?" Damon's voice seems far away though he's right next to her, helping her to stand up as she nods. She's completely disoriented but otherwise she's fine as she looks over, watching Klaus's skin fade to grey as veins crawl across his throat and face before he's completely immobile and Stefan lets him fall carefully to the ground.
The four of them stare for a minute, unsure if they should believe or not that this actually worked before Stefan turns to Damon. "We should get her home before the sun sets."
*VD*
Elena glances back at the brothers as they walk across the street towards the house. "You two are really going to follow me to the door?" She questions.
"You lost a lot of blood today." Stefan mentions quickly.
"Yeah but I told you I'm fine." She assures them. "I just have a little headache."
"Yeah, but the sun's about to go down and Ric's gonna be able to terrorize the streets any minute." Damon reminds her though she rolls her eyes. They know that he won't be able to get her as long as she stays inside.
"Yeah, but he can't hurt me. It's you two that we should be worrying about." She mentions as she unlocks the front door.
"Nah, he won't be able to find us." Stefan says with a shrug of his shoulders. Elena nods slowly before stepping into the house.
"I'm just going to grab Adele and we can get out of here." Damon pushes past Elena into the house.
"You're bringing Adele?" Elena questions softly causing him to freeze at the bottom of the stairs.
"Are you crazy? Of course I am. I'm not going to leave her here, she was the first one he went after and I doubt he'd be so nice as to let her get away a second time." He explains before rushing up the stairs. He moves quickly down the hall to her closed bedroom door.
He knocks softly before turning the door handle to find the door unlocked much to his relief. He has no idea what happened to her today and he couldn't get any straight answer out of Elena. All she would give him was a cryptic "it was horrible" which did nothing to soothe his worries.
"Adele?" He calls out softly as he swings the door open and catches no sight of her.
"Yeah." Her small voice calls in response and it's only then he notices her closet door cracked open and he closes the bedroom door behind him as he moves into the room.
His brows furrow slightly when he notices something else, something out of place about her room. As he glances around his worries only grow as he notices the small things. The missing pictures on her wall, on her mirror, her jewelry box is picked threw and disorganized, clothes stuck out of drawers and littered the floor where once her room was completely clean, neat.
She has yet to emerge from her closet so he decides to go over there himself, now curious to see what she's up to. He slips a hand into the crack of the door and pushes it open, letting the light flood over him.
Inside, she's bent over, digging throw a pile of shoes and he notices the duffle bag immediately at her side. "Adele," he speaks out softly and she freezes for half a second. "What are you doing?"
"I'm glad your here." She says after a second as she straightens up. "I need to talk to you about something."
Damon frowns, his ice blue eyes narrowing on his girlfriend's back before she turns, blue eyes moving up to look at him. "Okay." He says moving back away from the closet to let her exit and she follows him out kicking the door shut behind her. "What is it?"
"So remember when summer started and you said we should go somewhere?" She questions and he thinks back before nodding slowly.
"Yeah." He says slowly. "What about it?"
"Well I've been thinking a lot and I think your right." She beams at him but her eyes scream in pain and he can't help but frown at her. "We should go somewhere. Far away."
"Adele..."
"Not forever or anything but just for a little while. Like a long vacation. Just the two of us. We could go anywhere as long as it's far far away from here." She rambles and he reaches out placing a hand on top of her head that shuts her up right away.
"Adele," He says again, his voice is stern but his eyes are confused. He has no idea what's going on here. "You turned me down on that because you said you couldn't leave everyone to fend for themselves. Nothing was even really happening then but now that it is you're ready to up and leave? What happened?"
Adele's smile falls not that it was believable in first place and she takes a minute to consider her words before she mutters a quick, "everything."
Damon straightens up, dropping his hands back to his sides as he stares at her. "Everything?" What does that even mean?
"Yes." Her answer is stern but her eyes are watery, her bottom lip trembles. "Everything. Ever since my parents died there's been so little happiness in world full of death and despair. So much pain, Damon. This town, it's cursed. I've done nothing but watch my family and friends die one by one and I can't do it anymore."
"Adele..." He whispers as he watches her break down in front of him. His strong willed girlfriend was left a crying, shaking mess in front of him and he realizes now that the signs of this breakdown have been there. This has been coming for a while now and he had been so caught up in trying to save the town that he missed all the signs.
"I can't stay here." She cries her blue eyes are wide as she stares up at him. "I just need a break, Damon. We need to leave, we need to just go. Please."
He reaches a steady hand toward her, brushing his thumb across her cheek to swipe a tear off before cupping her face in his hand. "Adele..." His brows furrow once again before he nods slowly. "Okay."
She swallows, blinking in surprise. "Okay?" She breaths. "You're not...you're not going to try to fight me on this?"
He steps forward pressing close to her and she can feel the heat of his body and it helps soothe the chill that's settled over her. "Of course not. Adele if you want to go, we'll go, and we'll go where ever you want to go. I'll follow you to the end of the world."
She cracks a smile. His words bring relief and a sense of safety she's been yearning for. She migrates into his arms, letting his warmth develop around her as he holds her to him, his arms secured tight around her. "I love you." She whispers into his shoulder and he bares his nose in her freshly washed hair, inhaling deeply.
"I love you too."
Next chapter of Lose Myself:
Small flashbacks to the past,
Stefan, Damon and Adele try to get rid of Klaus,
And
Even more tragedy strikes.