Well, well. What do we have here? An author returning to a story after 6 years?
I had long thought I abandoned this story if only because life. Honestly things took a very drastic and unplanned and all-around tragic turn for me, and things have not been easy but with that said I never wanted to leave this story unfinished and maybe it's too late to really try to revive it but I've had the next chapter written for 6 years and I don't think Adele's story deserves to be abandoned when things were just going to get good. I have always had big plans for season 4 and I've waited so long to write this chapter just to not publish it? For my own peace of mind, I just can't let it go.
Things will happen and things will get messy after this chapter, and it'll be a wild ride for everyone.
With that said I do want to be transparent. I work and I go to school and there are things in my personal life that take a lot of my time so I can't promise that updates will be quick and painless. I'm on summer break right now and that makes it a little easier for me, but I will promise to try my best.
So, without further delay, the last chapter of season 3. Chapter 22. Enjoy.
Chapter 22: The Departed
Her alarm had already gone off twice but her exhausted body refused to budge from the warmth of her bed covers. She's already missed her morning run with Tyler and her coffee date with Caroline but she doubts they will give her much grief about it, not after the couple days she's had.
Just as her eyes begin to close as she welcomes unconsciousness, a loud obnoxious whirl of muffled noise causes her to jump and she heaves a frustrated sigh as she kicks off her blankets. Marching towards her bedroom wall, she bangs a fist against it. "Turn it down!" She shrieks. "Some people are trying to sleep!"
"It's 6:45 Adele!" Her sister's voice yells back from the other side of the wall. "What are you even still doing here?" It's a pretty valid question but one she's still gonna roll her eyes at.
"Haven't you ever heard of sleeping in?" She responds and she swears she can hear her twin scoff.
"Haven't you ever heard of being late?" And she can just imagine Elena already swirling around in her cheerleading skirt. "Which is what you're going to be if you don't get ready!"
"Will you both stop yelling?" A third voice breaks in sounding more annoyed then the both of them. "Talk in the hall or the kitchen like normal damn people!"
"Jeremy!" An even angry voice yells from further away. "Watch your mouth young man!"
"Sorry mom." You can barely here the younger teen mumbling across the hall as Adele backs away from the wall, towards her bathroom.
"I want all of you down here for breakfast in 10 minutes, no more arguing!" The woman from the bottom of the stairs is yelling as Adele slams her bathroom door closed with a roll of her blue eyes.
15 minutes later and she's strolling into the kitchen in a tight pair of blue jeans and a slightly to big off shade of light pink t-shirt tied into a small knot at the side, her feet slipped into a pair of simple white strapped flip flops and her hair falling over her shoulders in loose beach style waves.
She's greeted with three different pairs of eyes staring directly at her and she clears her throat, squaring her shoulders as she reaches the island, reaching over to grab an apple.
"Um," Elena mutters giving her a quick once over. "Where is your uniform?" Their mother, slightly shorter than her two daughters watches Adele with a thoughtful expression that makes her a bit uneasy.
"Yeah." Adele mutters slowly. "I've been meaning to tell you but uh, I quit the squad." Her mother's thoughtful expression turns into one of surprise.
"When did this happen?" She questions and Adele blinks at her before shrugging.
"Last week, after the last game." She answers. "I told Care I just wasn't feeling it anymore, she was mad but she understood."
"And you just failed to mention this to the rest of us?" Elena frowns, placing slim hands on equally slim hips.
"I told Dad, I figured he'd mention something." Her mother gaps quietly before letting out a soft sigh, her expression twisting back into thoughtfulness.
"Adele, sweetheart." She mutters, coming forward and Adele's eyes widen slightly at her movements, her eyes darting quickly towards the third party in the room who has yet to say a word. Aunt Summer just sends her a small smile in return. "Are you sure you're okay? I know this has to be hard on you…"
"If your referring," Adele quickly cuts her off, taking a small step towards the kitchen's open door way. "To my breakup, then yes, I'm fine. I broke up with him remember?"
"Of course, but" Adele hold up her hands, one still clinching carefully to her apple as her mother tries her best to break through her eldest daughters exterior, one she's been unable to even puncture since she was 14.
"Really, mom." Adele puts on her brightest smile. "I'm totally fine."
….
"I'm totally fine." Adele says into the phone lying against her shoulder, as she reclines in the back seat of the SUV. "I mean all he did was kept me restrained with some pencils to the hands and a vervain gag and tried to make my own sister kill me but I'm totally fine. Vampire healing working at its absolute best really, like nothing ever happened."
"Adele that sounds horrible." Caroline says, the mental imagine enough to make her cringe. "You can't honestly just be okay after something like that."
"No." Adele agrees with a soft sigh. "But, I will be okay. A few nightmares and a lot of bourbon and I will be. Honestly Care, I'll be okay."
"Okay." Her blonde best friend agrees with reluctance. "But where did you say you were going again? To drop Klaus's body off where exactly?"
"Somewhere in the Atlantic, somewhere deep, somewhere nobody will find it. Ever." Adele answers glancing towards the two brothers in the front seats, Stefan driving and Damon staring out the window, probably listening to her every word about the night's events.
"Okay. Just please be careful. I need you back here in once peace." Caroline laughs softly and Adele feels the smallest amount of guilt twist in her gut.
"Yeah, of course." She answers quietly, almost quietly enough for Caroline not to hear if it wasn't due to her over sensitive hearing.
"Okay." Her blonde best friend sighs. "I love you."
"I love you too." Adele says as she listens to Damon's phone vibrate in the cup holder up front. She hangs up with Caroline as he answers it, greeting her brother of all people.
"Elena collapsed." Jeremy says right away, almost no hesitation in his words and they all sit stunned for a minute. "I called 911 before taking her to the hospital. Meredith says she's gonna be okay…"
"You did what?" Damon snaps out before Jeremy can finish and Adele leans forward into the center console.
"I took her to the hospital. When you find your sister unconscious, you call 911." He explains like it's the most natural response and in a normal world it would have been but for them…
"Oh Jeremy…" Adele sighs.
"Not when you have a parade of vampires at your disposal." Damon all but yells.
"Every remaining original is going to want Elena dead to stop Alaric, she's a sitting duck in there." Stefan explains in a much calmer tone of voice.
"Well Meredith wants to keep her here for observation." He tells them and Damon sighs glancing back at her briefly and she shrugs.
"Jeremy, get Elena home. We're on our way." He hangs the phone up practically throwing it down before turning to Stefan. "Have I told you lately how much I appreciate you not being the dumbest brother on earth?"
Stefan barely pays his comment any attention besides a slight quirk to his lips as he glances over. "You know one of us needs to keep moving, right?" He questions quickly causing Damon and Adele to glance at each other. "If Klaus really is the sire of our bloodline, we need to keep his body hidden before Alaric finds him, kills him, and we all end up dead."
"Okay, well why don't you head back then?" Adele mentions to him and his brows furrow in confusion. "Damon and I can keep going." He doesn't respond right away and Adele pulls her phone back out. "I'll text Caroline and Tyler. I'll tell them to head up to the hospital to take her home."
"You can meet them there, I'm sure they can hold the fort down till you get there." Damon chimes in and Stefan nods slowly. He was expecting more of a fight on the matter and if he noticed that they seemed a little too eager to be the ones to continue, he doesn't mention it.
*VD*
"I don't know what your sister was thinking with that pony tail but would it kill her to put a little more effort into it?" Adele practically jumps as Caroline comes up beside her and the blonde holds her hands up in mock surrender. "Geeze, sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."
"No. No." Adele quickly closes her locker turning to her best friend. "It's fine."
"Okay…" Caroline narrows her eyes at her. "Why are you so jumpy?"
"I'm…" Adele laughs, but it's a nervous laugh if Caroline's ever heard one. "I'm not jumpy."
"Adele…" Caroline sighs, hands moving to her thin hips. "What gives?"
Adele sighs, reaching up to push hair back from her face. "Everyone is staring."
Caroline's shoulders sag slightly as she sends her best friend a small smile. "Well yeah." She says. "You made two really big decisions back to back. You've been on the cheerleading squad since middle school and you and Michael were together for like 3 years."
"Yeah, but it doesn't give everyone the right to stare like I'm some kind of zoo animal." Adele snaps and Caroline opens her mouth to agree when the hallway falls almost deathly silent, the only sound being the door at the end of the hall swinging closed.
Caroline watches Adele's blue eyes move over her shoulder before her face pales and it causes her to turn around. Michael stands at the end of the hallway, black eyes regarding the students in the hallway carefully as they stare at him before they turn curious glances in their direction causing him to turn as well and she watches his eyes light up in realization before his brows furrow and his lips pull into a frown. Adele swallows thickly as her eyes meet his before he turns and abruptly walks back out the way he came.
Everyone stares at her, watching for some kind of reaction and before Adele can react, Caroline is moving forward, hooking her thin arm around hers and pulling. "Enough of this." She snaps. "You are not going to sit here a dwell on all this negative energy. Today is a new day and you have a whole new world of being single ahead of you and I know the perfect place to start your new single adventure."
"Caroline…" Adele sighs but Caroline shushes her.
"No. The bonfire! We're going to find you a hot new rebound to get your mind off Michael." Caroline beams at her best friend who merely frowns in her direction.
"I'm not going to the bonfire Care remember?" She states causing the other blonde to frown at her. "My aunt's in town and my parents want to have family night."
"Right…." Caroline nods slowly.
*VD*
"Okay." Adele blinks, her eyes focusing back in as she registers Damon's voice. "So we drop Klaus's body into the deepest part of the ocean we can and then what? Where do you want to go?"
She sits up, adjusting herself back into a sitting position as she glances over to him. "To be honest Damon, I don't really care where we go." She shrugs, letting out a long breath of air. "As long as it's away from Mystic Falls for the time being, I don't care."
"Hmm." He hums, reaching up to tap his fingers on his chin. "So many places, so much time. Where to start, where to start?"
She smiles watching him and he grins back when he catches her. "You know I'm still surprised you agreed to leave so quickly. You've been doing everything in your power to help protect everyone and the town, I was expecting you to put up a fight about leaving everything behind."
He's silent for a few minutes, seeming to be thinking over his words carefully. "You know me better than anyone so there's no point in lying to you and saying I don't care about that town or the people in it." He says and she nods her agreement. "But all of that comes second to you." He glances back over to her, ice blue eyes serious and intense. "I love you and I'll do whatever it takes to make sure you're happy. If you say leave, we leave. Stefan is there, I'm sure he can handle whatever happens next and with Klaus out of the way, I'm sure they will be fine."
"They're going to be so mad when we don't come back." She mutters already cringing at the thought of all the phone calls and texts they are going to have to dodge.
"They'll get over it." Damon reaches out, holding his hand out to her and she slips her smaller hand into his, letting him pull it towards him to kiss her knuckles.
His phone rings and they glance down at it briefly before glancing at each other. Pulling her hand from his, she picks the phone up. "It's Elena." She mutters before answering and placing the phone on speaker. "What's up?"
"Elijah's here." Her sister says quickly. "He apparently wants to offer us a deal for Klaus's body."
"What?" Damon snaps. "No!"
"Damon…" Elena sighs. "We're gonna hear him out, we figured you guys would want to hear this but if not…"
"What is his deal?" Adele cuts her off and Damon sends her a sharp look that she rolls her eyes at.
Elijah jumps into an explanation of how he plans to get the white oak stake from Alaric, get Klaus's body back and have his whole family scatter to different parts of the world where Alaric will follow and Adele blinks before glancing at Damon, who looks about as annoyed as he possibly can.
"You'll just run?" Is Stefan's question.
"We've done it before." Elijah responds. "Klaus and Rebekah spent the better part of a thousand years evading my father. What's another half century while Elena is able to live out the rest of her natural life?"
"Elijah…" Adele speaks up with a sigh. "We've finally stopped him. After everything he's done to us…" Adele shakes her head. "We can't just let you bring him back."
"I give you my word." The original states. "I will not revive Klaus within Elena's nor even within her children's lifetimes." He promises before muttering quietly. "Perhaps that will finally teach him some manners." And Adele almost laughs at that.
"Why should she trust you?" Matt questions and he's been so silent the whole time that Adele didn't even know he was at the house. "All you've done is screw her over."
"And for that, I am deeply ashamed. But know this, she could have been dead the instant I walked through that door tonight," He eyes the three in the room with him before settling on Elena across the table. "So Elena, I leave it to you to make the decision whether to trust me or not."
"Not!" Damon finally snaps. "Did that concussion give you brain damage?" Adele reaches over, smacking him in the chest but he simply ignores her. "His lunatic siblings will kill you the first chance they get!"
"His concern is well placed Elijah." Adele speaks up quickly. "Rebekah isn't exactly Elena's biggest fan. She's tried to kill her on multiple occasions already."
"Rebekah and Kol will honor the terms." He responds and Adele as much as she likes Elijah, as he's always been her favorite original, doesn't know if she really trust what he's saying. "If you return Klaus' body to us, Elena will come to no harm."
Everyone is silent at first, Adele and Damon glancing at each other as Elena and Stefan do the same from the other side of the phone. "Do we have a deal?" Elijah questions carefully.
"No!" Damon yells causing Adele to jump slightly. "No, no, no no! Did I mention no?!"
Stefan clears his throat, leaning back in his chair. "It's up to you, Elena."
"Oh come on!" Damon snaps knowing full well that left up to her they will be turning around.
"Why do you want Klaus's body?" She questions the eldest original who simply shrugs.
"He's my brother." His tone is soft. "We remain together." Adele sighs. A thousand years of loyalty between family wasn't easily broken it seems even despite everything Klaus has done.
Elena nods slowly. "We have a deal."
*VD*
After making a plan to trick Alaric into going to the wrong location so that Elijah can get the stake from him and making plans for a meeting place where Rebekah of all originals will come retrieve Klaus's body from them, they swing through a gas station for gas and snacks.
Damon climbs back into the SUV placing the plastic bag from the gas station on the center console. "Snacks, refreshments and one map of the United States of America." He says causing her to glance over at him with a frown. "Well since you still don't know exactly where you want to go, I figured we'd leave it up to fate to decide." He explains and she raises an eyebrow at him. "You'll close your eyes and point to a place on the map. Where ever your finger lands, is the first stop on our extended vacation."
"Okay…" She nods slowly, it wasn't a terrible idea. "But if it lands on Virginia, Chicago or Florida, were picking again."
"You Kitten, have yourself a deal." He says as he picks her bag of sour patch out of the grocery bag and tosses it to her before taking out of the map and unfolding it carefully. He moves the grocery bag aside laying the map as flat as he can on the center console and Adele spends her few seconds opening her bag of sour patch. "Alright." He states letting her feed him a sour patch before she places the bag to the side turning to face him more fully. "Close your eyes and I'll count to three."
She closes her eyes letting out a breath of air. "One." She lifts her hand, wiggling her fingers over the map. "Two." Damon watches her, watches the way her nose scrunches lightly and her mouth pulls into a slight frown. "Three." Her finger comes down on the map and she opens her eyes, blue meeting blue as they stare across at each other before they glance down and Adele's eyebrows raise. "New York huh?" Damon laughs. "Small town girl moving to the big city. Sounds like every crappy teen drama ever."
"You're forgetting the vampire part." She smiles at him. "Makes for a much more interesting teen drama." Grinning at her, he leans over, brushing his lips against hers. "Small town vampire girl moves to big city with small town vampire boyfriend." She whispers against his lips before giggling. "That does sound like a crappy teen drama actually."
*VD*
She stands with her arms crossed over her chest as she watches Bonnie exit her car. They called Bonnie down for a cloaking spell to hide the location of Klaus's body from Alaric if he so happened to get a witch to do a locater spell.
"Where is he?" Bonnie questions as she stops in front of the blonde vampire who raises a perfectly trimmed eyebrow at her.
"Not even a hello?" She dwells with a slight down tilt to her lip. "Someone has forgotten there manors."
"Come on now Kitten." Damon rounds the corner, moving towards them at his own usual leisurely pace and Bonnie gets the sensation of being surrounded by predators before she shakes it off. They were well past the point in their relationship where she should be worried about the couple from hell turning on her. "She's a witch. They have no manors."
"Will you two cut it out?" She snaps. "We are a little pressed for time."
"Our apologies your highness." Adele states in a fake British accent causing Damon to snicker. "Right this way, your chariot awaits."
And by that she meant the elevator that she brings them to as they enter the building. They move up to the second floor and as the door slides open she lets the two walk out in front of her.
"We're not even half way out of Virginia and Elena is selling our souls to the originals." He complains and Bonnie merely shrugs.
"It was her call." She states and Adele snorts from behind her.
"You know what else was her call?" She calls out. "Everything bad. Ever."
Bonnie sighs. "Where is the body?" She questions again. "As long as it's unspelled, Alaric is one witch away from finding it."
"Hidden." Damon starts. "I was gonna use Unit 666, but figured that would be a little obvious. So…" They come to a stop in front of one of the many storage units. One they picked pretty randomly and for its near emptiness. "1020. Mini fridge, a couple bird cages, a box of old Playboys…" Damon bends down grabbing the handle before yanking the door up to reveal the coffin. "One beef jerkified Original."
Bonnie moves into the unit, bending to the coffin and flipping it open as Damon and Adele come up from behind. "Hmm…" Damon hums before Adele jumps when the original's eyes open. "Oh." Damon frowns. "Creepy." Adele shakes her head before patting Damon on the back and leaving to wait in the hallway.
"I need a minute." Bonnie states causing Damon to roll his eyes.
"Just jam the witch locator or bat signal or whatever and get on with it, Bonnie." He snaps and Bonnie glances at him over her shoulder.
"Elena, Adele and Jeremy lost Jenna and Alaric because of him…" Adele feels of ping of loss at her words before she shoves them down. "Tyler's a hybrid, my mother's a vampire. Could you give me a minute to just appreciate the sight of him like this?"
Damon sighs throwing his hands out and backing away, he backs out of the unit before shutting the door behind him.
He turns to her and she shrugs at him before holding her hand out. "Let's go snooping. I'm sure there has to be something interesting hidden in here."
Damon smirks, reaching forwards to intertwine their fingers. "Your wish is my command."
*VD*
"How long do we have to stay locked away?" Adele sighs, kicking at a rock she found lying in the hallway as she ponders Jasmine's question over.
"I wish I had a solid time frame for you Jazzy but I don't know." She lifts blue eyes towards the ceiling. "Hopefully if Elijah's plan works, Alaric will be gone by tonight and we won't have to ever worry about it again."
Jasmine sighs out. "I'm sorry Adele." She says surprising the young vampire. "I know how hard this has to be on you. You and Alaric were so close, I can only imagine how bad what he did…" She trails off leaving a heavy silence.
"I'll be okay." Adele whispers, throat suddenly tight. "As much as it hurts right now…" She trails off. "Alaric was like a father to me, you know after my dad and John died, he was there. He wasn't perfect but he did everything he could. He looked out for me and he cared about me. He wanted nothing but the best for me and while maybe he didn't really approve of Damon and me, he was always supportive because he knew how much he means to me. He knew he was what made me happy. He was supportive from the very beginning." She swallows, tears threatening to begin as she chokes up. "The only thing that I can tell myself to make this okay, is that's not him. The Alaric we knew died. We mourn him, we deal with his evil doppelgänger and we move on."
"Adele…" Jasmine can hear the hurt in her voice, can feel how not okay she is despite her best efforts at trying to appear so.
"I'll be okay." Adele nods confidently. "I promise."
"Okay." Jasmine lets it go, she doesn't sound convinced but she lets it go. "We'll see you when you get back yeah?"
Adele's stomach twist uncomfortably, guilt heavy. "Yeah." She says after a minute. "Of course. I'll talk to you later okay? Love you."
"Love you too." Jasmine says before Adele hangs up, letting her shoulders drop. She was so tired of pretending she was okay. Everyone expected her to be strong and she hates feeling like she's letting everyone down by being weak.
Something that sounds like a crash comes from behind her and she turns around, looking down the dark corridor. Damon was a few hallways away, at least he should have been.
"Damon…" She calls into the silence, moving forward carefully. "Don't be a jerk…"
She gasps as an arm wraps around her neck, hand covering her mouth, so her screams go muffled and unheard. "I prefer vampire hunter…" Alaric hisses into her hear before he snaps her neck with one quick movement and she falls limp in his arms. He throws her carelessly to the ground before listening carefully for the older Salvatore, who he can hear as clear as day a floor below them.
*VD*
Adele laughs at her aunt's poor attempt at an insult towards her father as she bounces over to answer the front door. Swinging it open, expecting it to be the Chinese food they ordered, her smile drops when the boy on her front porch turns with the sound of the door opening, her blue eyes meeting eyes so dark, you could get lost.
"Mikey…" She breathes. "What are you doing here?" Her heart twist violently at just the sight of him before her.
He opens his mouth but seems to hesitate before sighing and running a hand roughly through messy blonde curls. "I came to talk to you." He finally states.
She glances into the house before stepping onto the porch and closing the door behind her. "Mikey, I don't think…"
"I'm…" He cuts her off with a shake of his head. "I'm not here to try and convince you to get back together. You made your choice and I'll respect it, I'll respect you, you know that."
"Then…" She steps more fully out, coming face to face with the only boy she's ever loved. "Then what could we possibly need to talk about?"
He doesn't answer at first, he takes a deep breath before turning and making his way over to the porch swing with long legged strides. He sits, leaning back and looking towards the porch ceiling before finally looking at her and his answer almost knocks her off her feet. "I'm leaving."
She stares at him for a minute, looking for the joke but when she sees nothing but truth behind his black eyed stare she moves forward to sit next to him, the swing swinging slightly. "What do you mean you're leaving?"
"I'm leaving." He states like its simple and maybe for him it is but she doesn't understand.
"Where?" She questions shaking her head. "You're leaving what? School?"
"Town." He answers and she lets out a sharp breath looking up at him like he physically struck her. He chuckles dryly at her expression. "I know. I just wanted you to be the first one to know."
"Mikey…" She breathes. "Why? You can't be leaving…not because of…"
"No." He shakes his head, turning more towards her. "But I know everyone will think that. Everyone will assume and if I didn't tell you myself, I'm sure you would believe them because you wouldn't exactly know any better and I don't think I could live with myself if you didn't know the truth. I didn't want you to blame yourself."
"I don't understand why…" She searches his face, as young as he was in this moment, he looked tired and worn, like it's been days without a decent night's sleep, and she knows he's always had trouble sleeping anyways.
"My dad." He answers quietly and Adele's eyes widen. "Our CPS worker called, wanted to let me know before I found out on my own that my dad was released from Jail."
"Michael…" She whispers and he nods.
"I know but he won't come back here." She's not sure how he can seem so sure. "Jackie isn't here. He knows that. He knows I would have never been stable enough that young to take care of her. I can't imagine he knows where she is but I'm afraid he'll find her."
"You're going to Jackie?" She questions softly and he nods. "For how long?"
"I don't know." He shrugs. "Until I can locate him and make sure he isn't coming anywhere near her. I have to make sure she's safe Adele…She's the only family I have."
Adele is silent, pondering over his words in her head over and over as her stomach drops. She knows she broke up with him but she didn't want to lose him as selfish as that may be but she knows how important his sister is to him, how he'll move mountains to make sure she's taken care of. She jumps when his finger brushes her check and she's shocked to feel the tears against her cheeks.
"I'm sorry." He whispers. "I needed you to know."
"When do you leave?" She questions after swallowing back the lump in her throat.
"After the school year, maybe a week or so earlier if I can finish everything. We got just a few weeks left." He answers and she breathes a sigh of relief that at least there is some time left before she jumps again, the front door opening suddenly and she wipes at her face as Michael sits up a little straighter as her parents come out onto the porch.
"I'm sorry if we're interrupting." Her mom smiles a warm smile at them, she can read the aura around the two, she knows whatever they were talking about wasn't an easy conversion. Grayson on the other hand narrows his eyes at the young boy. She smacks him on the arm and pushes him forward. "Elena called. She wants us to pick her up because apparently skipping family game night wasn't actually worth it." Her mom teases and Adele cracks a small smile. "Would you like to come with us for the ride? We could stop on the way home for ice cream."
Adele swallows before shaking her head. "No." She whispers. "I'll stay. I'm sure Jenna and Jer are just waiting to try and beat me at Mario Kart again."
"A never ending rivalry between siblings." Her dad jokes before eyeing the Landon boy again. "We'll be back, an hour tops."
"Okay." She nods, sending them a smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes.
"Love you baby." Her mom waves before moving down the steps where her dad lingers briefly.
He sends his daughter an encouraging smile, one full of understanding and adoration. "Love you, Oil Bug."
She blinks before smiling back, a true smile. "Love you too, Dad."
*VD*
She gasps as her body jerks before groaning as the last of the bones in her neck snap back into place. She struggles to remember what happened as she rolls over onto her back, blue eyes staring at the ceiling in a daze.
She sits up suddenly, flashes of what happened hitting her at once. "Damon…" She mutters before scrambling to her feet. "Damon!" She calls to no answer and she pulls her phone out, quickly speed dialing his number.
It rings and she can hear it below her which means he was on the level below her and she doesn't even bother with the elevator as she speeds down there.
It doesn't take her long to spot him, laying crumbled to the floor, probably having suffered the same fate as her when Alaric found him. She drops down behind his head, rolling him over and letting his head fall to rest on her thighs. She has no idea where Alaric is, probably searching for Klaus but there was no way in hell she was going to go chasing after him by herself. He'd caught her once before; she'd be damned to let it happen again.
She sits there probably another 10 minutes, fingers running absentmindedly through Damon's hair before he's gasping and jerking in her lap and she steadies him causing his icy eyes to snap up to her before he relaxes in relief back down into her lap. "Damn…" He groans in discomfort.
"We have to find Alaric." She whispers and Damon lets out a sigh before sitting up. He helps her to her feet and they glance at each other before looking down the hallway. Alaric would be easy to find but almost impossible to defeat and there was a real possibility that somehow Klaus could end up dead, dead meaning they would end up dead. Her, Damon, Stefan, Caroline, Tyler, possibly Nate and Michael and Adele's gut twist painfully in fear.
"He's on the floor below where Klaus is." Damon whispers and she looks back up at him before swallowing and nodding, she reaches for his hand and he intertwines their fingers giving her hand a gentle squeeze and she can see it in his eyes, could see that he's accepted what they'd have to do and her heart rate elevates at the idea. She knows he can hear it. He knows she's afraid. "Are you ready?"
If they could stop him or save Klaus, It would probably result in their deaths because where one goes the other follows and she'd be damned if he left her behind but they'd make sure everyone else is safe. They could save the rest of them.
So she nods. "Lead the way."
*VD*
They are a hallway away from the storage unit, sneaking slowly and quietly and for the most part they can't pinpoint his exact location, just that he's getting closer but he's yet to hear them or catch them. They were off to a good start.
When the elevator door dings, Adele's eyes widen in horror as Damon glances back at her his own eyes wide. There was no way Alaric didn't hear that, which means he'd be on the floor in seconds if he wasn't already. "Damon!" It's Rebekah and Adele almost curses but Damon shushes her, pulling her into a smaller hallway on the side and pressing her against the wall. "Adele!" They can hear her heels coming down the hallway towards them. "I know you're still mad but this isn't funny!"
Damon lets her go, mentioning for her to get behind him and she moves silently to the side watching as he positions himself at the wall, listening closely for her to get closer. He moves out suddenly, grabbing the original by the arm, placing a hand over her mouth as he yanks her into his chest and back into the hallway. Adele quickly moves into her line of sight, shushing her quickly. "It's just us." She whispers so quietly normal ears would never pick it up and Damon slowly removes his hand. "Alaric is here. He's looking for Klaus. We have to get him out of here." Rebekah stares for a second, eyes wide before slowly nodding and Adele glances at Damon when they don't move. "Now."
Damon moves forward, with a little more speed now that their general location was given away. Rebekah follows and behind her Adele as they follow Damon to the storage unit where he manages to get the door up enough for them to slide the coffin out with little noise. "Grab the coffin." He demands and Adele and Rebekah rush under to wheel it out, letting Damon drop the door just as quietly once they pass back into the hall.
"Where is your car?" Adele whispers as Damon moves to help them push the coffin to the elevators quickly.
"East entrance." Rebekah answers and they nod as they make it into the steel elevator.
"You're gonna take Klaus and get the hell out of here." Damon demands as the doors shut.
"Where are you two gonna go? Back to that hell hole town where he'll track you down and kill you?" She questions and Adele glances at Damon causing Rebekah's eyebrows to raise. "You two aren't going back are you?"
"It's none of your business." Adele mutters causing the original to laugh.
"Wow. Gonna abandon your family in their time of desperate need." She smirks towards the blonde. "And here I thought you we're one of the good ones."
"If you and your family weren't the parasites of the earth hell bent on ruining the lives of everyone you meet then maybe my family wouldn't be in desperate need all the time." Adele snaps and Rebekah scoffs before Damon clears his throat.
"Not the time." He mutters and they glare at each other as the doors open and they reposition around the coffin.
Adele can see the SUV at the end of the hall, the light at the end of the tunnel and her heart rate sky rockets. They were actually going to pull this off, they were going to make it. They break into the clear area where the car is and Adele jogs forward to swing the hatch up turning to help them load up when she gasps jerking back but Alaric's hand around her throat cuts her off.
"Adele!" She hears Damon before Alaric tosses her like a doll across the room, she slams into a wall, head bouncing and her vision swims as she crashes down to the pavement. She hears a small struggle before Rebekah is screaming, she turns onto her stomach just in time for Alaric to plunge the white oak stake into Klaus's heart and Adele's expression drops in horror as Damon grabs Rebekah who is screaming as she fights to get to the original whose body has burst into flames.
Alaric pulls the stake out and slams the coffin before turning to Damon and Rebekah and muttering next as he mentions to the female original. "Rebekah run." Damon mutters before shoving her towards the hall. "Run!" Damon puts himself between the two before rushing at Alaric who swats him away almost like a fly, making him roll across the asphalt.
"Damon!" Adele yells as Alaric takes off and she pushes up to half run, half crawl across to him. "Damon." She says frantic as he sits up and looks at her, expression grim. "He killed him. Damon, he killed him." She gasps as she grabs his jacket. "Damon…" He grabs her hands in his. "Everyone is going to die!"
He reaches up to brush hair back from her face causing her to freeze as she looks at him. Her eyes are wild and frantic, her chest heaving in panic but still she's so beautiful that he finds himself chuckling as he looks at her.
"Why…" Her eyebrows furrow in confusion as her pretty lips pull into a frown. "Why are you laughing? Damon, we're going die." She whispers.
"I know." He nods. He's close enough to the SUV that he can lean back against it as he lets out a tired sigh. "Looks like we're going to need a rain check on New York huh?"
She whacks him in the chest, hard and he groans. "This isn't a joke!" Her blue eyes darken and glisten with tears. "What are we going to do?"
"There isn't anything we can do." He whispers. His eyes sweep over her carefully, taking in her pale blonde hair, her freckled face, big blue eyes, and her pouty pink lips. His chest swells with emotion, grief, sadness, confusion and love. A lot of love. Because he was so in love with the girl in front of him and if he was going to die, he can't help but think that that's okay because she was here with him. They'd leave a lot of broken hearts behind but they'd have each other. "I'm sorry." He whispers and she snaps her tear ridden eyes to him.
"I'm so sorry." She shakes her head but he continues before she can interrupt. "I've hurt you. So much. I've done nothing but make mistake after mistake. I'm sorry for killing Jeremy, I'm sorry for compelling you to forgot my confession, I'm sorry for almost making Elena a vampire, I'm sorry for not saving you, I'm sorry for cheating." He reaches up, cupping her cheek in his hand, thumb swiping over her cheekbone and catching the tear rolling down. "I've done enough things to make you hate me, but you don't. You choose time and time again to see the good in me, to see me. You're the only one who knows me better than I even know myself. I don't deserve all the second chances, you've given me."
"I love you." She whispers reaching forward the touch his cheek, fingers running delicately over his cheek. "I will always love you, no matter what you do or what happens. Maybe that makes me crazy but you make me feel alive. You challenge me and you make me feel safer than I've ever felt. With you everything just makes sense and you make me feel like I can finally breathe. I don't care what you've done, you're my best friend and I'll never stop loving. I'm sad for everyone, I'm sad we couldn't save them, I'm sad we'll leave Elena and Jeremy and Bonnie and Jasmine, but this is the only place I could ever think to be, with you to the end." She leans forward, lips brushing his in a feather light kiss and he sucks in a breath before kissing her back, hand still cupping her cheek to pull her closer.
"Adele…" He whispers as he pulls away and she opens blue eyes to meet lighter blue. "Marry me?"
She pulls back in surprise, eye blinking rapidly at him before she snorts a laugh. "Damon…" She cracks a small smile at him. "You're not serious." But one look at his expression and her eyes widen. "No." She shakes her head. "Damon no!" She smacks him on the chest and he flinches with a loud hey. "That's no fair. You can't ask me that while we're dying!"
"I just did." He defends and she lets out an exaggerated sigh before falling down to sit next to him against the SUV. "Is that a yes?" He smirks over to her and she lets out a small laugh.
"That's a no." She states. "Ask me again when we're not going to die."
"That'll be never. Besides the fact that we're dying right now, we almost die at least twice a week." He explains and she merely grins at him before laying her head against his shoulder. He shifts to wrap an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his side. "I love you." He mutters as he kisses her temple.
She closes her eyes as she inhales his comforting scent of leather and soap and something that's purely just Damon. "I love you."
*VD*
Damon was on the phone with Stefan as Adele sits next to him, making phone calls of her own. He had just explained to Stefan how Klaus was dead, how Alaric staked him, and Stefan had asked if he feels okay and if Adele was okay which he replied they were before talking about how it took sage an hour before she got sick or Klaus was lying to them about siring there blood line.
"Either way…" Stefan says carefully. "An hour isn't long enough to get you guys back to Mystic Falls."
"I know…" Damon says. "But that's okay Brother."
"Damon…" Stefan says but Damon cuts him off quickly.
"I'm okay. Really. Honestly. Sucks we won't have our epic goodbye, Stefan but it's okay." He glances at Adele who is once again teary eyed as she talks to a crying Caroline.
"Not us Damon…You and Elena." He mutters and Damon chuckles.
"I guess you'll have to say goodbye for the both of us. Call me if you cough up a lung." He snaps his phone shut just as Adele disconnects with Caroline.
They sit there in silence for a few minutes. Adele's head spinning as Damon leans his back against the tire as he gets a message that Elena wasn't in town, that Jeremy and Matt had been practically smuggling her out and Adele almost laughs at the idea before sobering. "I have to call Jasmine…" She finally says quietly. "I have to tell her…We don't know whose bloodline Michael came from. She'll be devastated with me alone but with both of us…"
"Kitten…" He reaches over, settling his hand over hers. "It'll be okay." She looks up at him before nodding and picking up her phone only for it to ring and she watches Elena's name flash across the screen and feels her heart sink.
"Elena…" She answers.
"How are you feeling?" She demands. "How is Damon?"
"We're fine." She assures. "I'm sure we'll laugh about this when we find out Klaus is a big fat liar." Adele jokes and Elena chuckles softly.
"I'm sure we will." She says before sighs. "Adele, I'm sorry…I…I'm having Matt drive me home." Adele's eyes drop to the floor. She knew her sister and she knew she'd choose to go home. There was so many people back at home that stem from the same blood line.
"It's okay." Adele says. "I understand. Damon and I will be okay." She assures as Damon's hand squeezes at hers. "You'll be okay. You and Jeremy. You guys still have each other. Just remember that I love you guys."
"Adele…" Elena's voice chokes over the phone and Adele closes her eyes.
"You're my sister. I'm sorry I won't be there for you anymore, but I will always love you."
"No." Elena demands. "No, this isn't fair. You're going to be fine." Adele lets out a small laugh. "You're going to be fine and you're going to come home and I'll see you soon."
A shadow looms over them and Adele and Damon glance over to see Alaric standing a few feet away staring at them. "Yeah." Adele smiles as she stares up at the vampire hunter. "Real soon. Goodbye Elena." She hangs up before letting Damon pull her to her feet with him and together they face Alaric.
"I see you're still pissed." Damon sasses because there was no point in running. "I'm guessing goldilocks gave you the slip."
And Adele gasps as she shoved to the ground by Damon or Alaric she's not sure as Alaric rushes forward and punches Damon in the face causing him to fall back. Alaric turns to her suddenly. "I'll deal with you soon." He growls and with one swift kick to the face she falls unconscious.
*VD*
She's not sure how long she sat out on the swing after Michael left, kicking her feet back and forth as she stared at the same dark spot in the white paint of the porch floor.
It isn't till the door opens and Jenna pokes her head out that she finally glances up. "I thought I didn't hear you come back in yet." Jenna says with a small smile as she steps outside and Adele shrugs.
"Nope." She sighs. "I'm still here."
"Michael left almost 30 minutes ago." Jenna states and Adele nods. She figures she's been out here for a while. "Are you okay?"
Adele is silent for a few minutes and Jenna takes those moments to sit beside her niece causing the swing to sway and Adele blinks before looking over. "Do you think I made a mistake?" She finally whispers.
"About Michael?" She questions and Adele nods causing Jenna to sigh. "Listen…I can't tell you yes or no. That answer is gonna have to come in time and you're going to have to figure it out on your own but I can tell you…that you are a lot smarter then you give yourself credit for. You've always known what's best for you, you've always followed in what you've believed is right for you and no one else. That's where you and your sister are very different. You're not a people pleaser and that's a god given gift." Jenna laughs causing Adele to smile. "This choice you made might seem like the worst choice you've ever had to make but I can promise you there will be more and the only thing I can tell you, is to continue to do what's best for you. Do what you think is best for you, whether it ends up being a mistake or not. That's how you learn."
Adele takes a deep breath before letting it out in a sigh, swiping hair from her face as she smiles at her aunt. "You're right." She laughs. "I really needed to hear that. Thank you."
"Of course. What are Aunt's for." Jenna laughs before bouncing up. "Now let's go inside, maybe we can drag Jeremy out of his room and make him play twister with us and drive your mom crazy by moving the couches out of the way."
Adele laughs as she follows her Aunt into the house and Jenna bounces over to the ringing house phone which seems to have been ringing for a minute but leave it to Jeremy to just ignore it being the moody teenager he is.
"Gilbert Residence." Jenna sings before her smile slowly falls. "Yeah this is her." Adele watches as her expression falls, eyes clouding over in disbelief as she listens to whoever it is on the phone. "Y…yeah." She stumbles over her words and Adele frowns at her. "We'll…be right there." She hangs up the phone glancing at her before rounding to the stairs. "Jeremy!" She calls up. "We have to go! Now!" Her voice wavers.
"Aunt Jenna…" Adele steps forward. "What is going on?"
"There's been an accident and they need us down at the hospital." Is all she says and no pushing for more is getting her to talk as Jeremy pads down the stairs in annoyance, glancing between them.
She ushers them into the car, and they ride in silence until they pull onto the road leading to the hospital. "Guys…" Jenna breaks her silence, grip on the steering wheel tight, they've been going at least 50 the whole way through town. "That was Sheriff Forbes on the phone."
"Liz?" Adele questions as her stomach drops suddenly.
"There was an accident." Jenna continues. "On wickery bridge…" She glances at Adele in the seat next to her. "Elena is okay…"
Adele blinks at her, relief flooding through her before her chest suddenly clenches. Her parents. Her parents went to go pick Elena up and if Elena was okay, "What about Mom and Dad?" She questions slowly and Jenna swallows thickly as the hospital comes into few. "Jenna…" Adele's voice is louder. "What about mom and dad?"
"I…" She stumbles over her words as Adele's ears begin to ring.
"Are they okay? Are they hurt?" Jeremy questions from the back.
"Jenna…" Adele breathes. "Are they…"
"I'm sorry guys…" Adele sucks in a harsh breath as she pulls into the parking lot, she barely lets her put the car into park before she's reaching for the door handle and bolting from the car. "Adele…" Jenna calls as she slams the door. "Jeremy! Wait!" Jeremy is close behind her.
She rushes into the waiting room, EMT's and police officers turn as they rush in, and Adele rushes up to the nurse's station. "Melissa and Grayson Gilbert!" She demands. "Where are they?"
"Miss…" The nurse stands.
"Where are they?" Adele yells.
"Adele…" Adele whips around, eyes landing on Liz standing in the middle of the waiting room, looking winded and tired. "Jeremy…"
"Where are they?" Adele rushes forward. "Liz, where are my parents?"
"I'm so sorry guys." She eyes the two teenagers in front of them, sorrow and guilt flooding her.
"No…" Adele shakes her head, backing up a step.
"I'm not sure what happened…But they must have lost control of the car, it swerved off the bridge, into the water below…"
"No." Adele whispers as she places a hand on her stomach, suddenly feeling sick. "No. No."
"I'm so sorry." Liz repeats.
Adele backs away running backwards into Jenna who catches her by the arms. She's saying something but Adele can't hear her through her own rapid heartbeat in her ears. In the span of 30 minutes her whole world crashes around her.
*VD*
Adele groans softly, head shifting against the headrest as she blinks her eyes open. There wasn't much but darkness and the scenery around her rushing past as she tries hard to get her bearings about her. Last she remembers is the storage unit, Klaus being staked, Damon asking her to marry him which almost makes her snort before she remembers her phone call with Elena and Alaric reappearing and knocking her out.
She sits up suddenly, remembering him vowing to take care of her after Damon and a quick glance to the side shows her Damon is driving the SUV, speeding down a familiar looking road. They got away? How?
"Damon…" She croaks before coughing and Damon glances at her, jaw tight and eyes guarded as his fingers tighten on the steering wheel. "What's going on?" She questions. "How did we get away? Where are we?" She glances around before tilting her head in confusion as she sees a sign for Mystic Falls Hospital, 5 miles ahead. "We're back? How long was I out?"
"Almost an hour and a half." He answers stiffy before glancing back at her and she realizes they are going almost 60 in a 35. "Adele…I'm not sure what happened…" His voice shakes and she frowns at him as they get closer to the hospital. "But Alaric…"
"What?" Adele demands when he trails off. "Alaric what?"
"Alaric's dead." He chokes and Adele's expression morphs into confusion.
"What?" She questions. "No. That's not possible." She shakes her head. "That's not possible unless…" She trails off as horror fills her and she whips around to look as the hospital comes into view. "Elena is…" Her heart beat begins to fill her ears and she sucks in a harsh breath. "Elena…"
"Kitten…" Damon slams on the brakes as they make it into the parking lot. "I'm so sorry, Matt was driving, and Rebekah caused them to swerve off Wickery bridge."
"No." She reaches for the handle and Damon is on her side, opening the door before she has a chance to open it. "It's not true!" She yells as she rushes towards the entrance.
"Adele!" Damon yells after her as he follows her into the hospital.
Adele skids to a stop as she pushes in, EMT's and Police litter the waiting room and Adele is struck with so much Déjà vu that she feels sick. She takes a step back as Damon comes barreling in behind her, he sees Meredith just beyond Adele and moves past her as Meredith sees them. She rushes towards them. "Where is she?" Damon demands. "Where is she?"
"Damon!" Adele can't hear them anymore as her ears ring and her chest tightens. She never thought she'd be back here in this same situation. It was like a living nightmare she couldn't escape.
"I can't…" She realizes she's panicking, and she has to leave. She has to get out of there. Damon turns back to her with wide eyes as she shakes her head before turning on her heel and bolting back through the double doors.
"Adele!" He calls and moves to go after her but Meredith grabs him suddenly.
"Damon!" She snaps. "Listen to me. When Jeremy brought Elena in here earlier tonight, her injuries were worse than I let on. It wasn't a concussion, it was a cerebral hemorrhage, bleeding of the brain."
"What are you saying to me?" Damon demands, letting Adele go for the time being.
"He was so worried, I didn't want to tell him, but I – I helped her." Damon stares at her in disbelief. "She needed my help, so I helped her."
*VD*
Adele stumbles into the grass near the tree line. She needed to escape, she needed out. She couldn't be in there, not again, not like this. Her heart pounds in her chest and her breathing comes out in short pants. She knew the signs of a panic attack, but she was helpless to stop it, and no one was around.
She trips, following to her knees as she clinches to her shirt, clawing at the material as it felt like it was suffocating her. She's dead. Elena's dead. Adele spent her whole life protecting her sister and now she was just gone.
How could this even happen? After everything they've been through. To go out like this? To drown the same way her parents…oh god her parents. It was like a wound being torn open, bleeding and jagged as she gasps for breath. She never even got to say goodbye. They were just gone and Alaric…he was gone now too.
Everyone. Everyone was dying on her. It was supposed to be her. She accepted it. Her and Damon, together. But here she is alive while Elena and her parents, Alaric and Jenna and Tony and Justin…they we're all gone. How was she supposed to deal with this? How was she supposed to bury her sister next to her parents and her aunt and her uncle and just go back to acting like everything was okay? Nothing was okay. Nothing was ever going to be okay. She chokes on a sob as she leans down towards the wet grass curling in on herself.
"This choice you made might seem like the worst choice you've ever had to make but I can promise you there will be more and the only thing I can tell you, is to continue to do what's best for you. Do what you think is best for you, whether it ends up being a mistake or not. That's how you learn." Jenna's words filter through her head from so long ago and she lifts teary eyes to the tree line. "Do what you think is best for you…"
What's best for her…
She doesn't want this anymore. This pain, the loss, the grief. It was too much and she was so suck of acting like it was okay. She couldn't even breath, the pain was suffocating her.
"Do what's best for you…" She sits up, swallowing back her tears as she looks up towards the black sky, stars twinkling down at her. "What's best for me…" She whispers into the darkness before closing her eyes and with a slow inhale she sends a silent apology to the man she loves before with a slow exhale; she lets it go.
Like a switch being flipped, the pain, the grief, the loss, it melts away taking with it her guilt and her love, her ability to form a single care and she smiles at the freedom it brings with it, her teary blue eyes opening to the stars above her. "What's best…" She whispers to the sky. "For me."
Leave those reviews to let me know you still care about a story that hasn't been updated in 6 years and thank you in advance.