Apparently, much to do meant standing around while Klaus and Claudia talked over the details of the ritual about a hundred times. Elena might as well have stood there with fingers in her ears, for she did not care to hear the details of her own death multiple times over. Unfortunately, she didn't have that luxury.
Claudia, a witch, as Elena had learned through her fantastic deductive reasoning skills (and by watching her enchant items and set up protection spells for nearly two hours), stood in the center of a large circle she'd painstakingly drawn in the dirt with a stick. Klaus had disappeared moments before, leaving Elena in the care of his two menacing bodyguards.
Tonight, a night when the moon would be high and full, was the perfect night for a sacrifice, as she'd learned. It was difficult to sit in the grass and watch as the witch set up the altar upon which she'd die. The fact that her death was imminent and impending hadn't fully sunk in yet. Maybe if it had, she'd be a bit more emotional. But now, she only sat with knees pulled tight against her chest.
She didn't think about running, despite how little Klaus and Claudia looked in her direction. If it wouldn't have resulted in her brother's (and likely her own) immediate death, she would have taken off into the woods without a second thought. It was hard to believe, however, that all of this would finally be coming to an end. Since she'd arrived, Harmon's Great Minds had been her goal, her focus. Once that turned into a puzzle of the supernatural kind, she'd unwound it all to this very moment. It didn't feel like a satisfying conclusion to her research, to die. After all that, all she'd learned? All the moments she'd gotten to experience with Caroline and with Damon, she just had to die?
When Damon intruded in her mind, she dropped her head into her hands, rubbing at closed eyes. Trying to make sense of her own feelings felt like a losing battle, because how could someone she'd once loathed, someone who seemed to loath her in equal measure—how had he become some important to her that she thought of him in what might be her final moments?
That stupid kiss lingered in her brain without permission. It would have been more productive to think about Caroline and Jeremy or even her father, but her mind kept tracing back to him and everything they'd left unfinished. No conversation, no declaration. If she'd been able to declare anything, what would it have been? For this was certainly not love, between them. It would be silly of her to call it that. Perhaps situational lust, at most, or maybe a base-level understanding of one another psyche's. An I see you, and I'm here.
She should have thought about Jeremy, and the fact that they'd never get to spend another moment together, never get to sit in the garden of that old house they only sometimes called a home and complain about their woes. She should have thought about Caroline, and how much she'd let the blonde down over the summer. How much they could have done together if she hadn't been so focused on the secret society if she hadn't been slowly walking toward her own death.
But no, her thoughts were mostly consumed by blue eyes and messy black hair, and the most annoying smirk she'd ever seen in her life.
After hours of sitting in the dirt with her arms wrapped around her knees, hugged close to her chest, one of Klaus' guards pulled her upward roughly by the arm. She didn't resist, letting the burly man drag her into the center of a circle Claudia had drawn.
For the most part, Elena had kept her eyes cast downward, trying to avoid looking at whatever Claudia and Klaus had been up to throughout the day. But now that she was up close and personal, she noted interlocking circles and a multitude of different ingredients. Somewhere along the way, the sun had gone down, and the moon began its climb, full and bright.
What happened next was a blur. Claudia, standing in the center of the interlocking circles, pressed her hands into the dirt. Out of the ground, a pedestal grew with a bowl perched atop it, made from earth, dirt and leaves, vines and flowers. Then, Claudia looked over at Klaus and offered a firm nod. "Are you ready?"
Klaus returned the nod and joined Claudia in the center. Elena looked up with wide, curious eyes, unable to keep them downcast any longer. Klaus drew a blade and sliced his palm, letting blood trickle into the bowl. Then, he wrapped a hand around Elena's wrist and dragged her upward by it. He didn't hesitate, making the same slice across her palm, letting her blood drip into the bowl alongside his. Their blood looked no different, despite how dissimilar they were.
He dropped her wrist and Elena stepped back. She hit a firm wall and turned, but there was nothing behind her, only endless forest. Raising a hand she slowly moved it forward. Sure enough, it hit the same invisible wall.
"Containment spell," Claudia muttered in her direction. "So we don't lose you."
It sunk in only then. Elena Gilbert would die here. She would be another case file ruled an animal attack. Or maybe her death wouldn't be reported at all. She wasn't sure which was worse.
Everything faded into noise around her. Claudia's hands rose up and flame shot to greet them, encircling Elena. She barely noticed in her downward spiral. She did notice, however, when the flames dropped abruptly and Claudia whipped around to face the sound of approaching footsteps.
She hadn't dared get her hopes up. She hadn't dared think about the idea of them coming to save her. Half because she wasn't certain they'd come and half because she wasn't certain she wanted them to. Only one person had to die tonight, and if they got involved, weren't all of their lives at risk? Elena couldn't stomach any of them dying for her.
Damon and Stefan's forms came into view. Damon had a wild look in his eye, and Stefan looked even worse, blood caked down his chin and neck. She couldn't see it in the darkness, but his hands were just as stained.
She didn't need to wonder whose blood it was, for Damon answered without prompting. "For someone with an evil mastermind plan, you should really get better guards."
Klaus had him by the throat in an instant and without conscious thought, Elena's feet carried her to the other side of the containment circle, as close as she could get to him but still too far away to do anything. Not that Damon would particularly benefit from her help anyway.
They were too far away, and Klaus spoke in a hushed voice, but she could have sworn she heard something along the lines of, "Let her go," from the original vampire and, "Not without a fight," from the elder Salvatore brother—which might have made her swoon in other circumstances.
Damon caught her eyes, past Klaus, past Claudia, past the flames encircling her. She shook her head. What was she trying to convey to him? Not to try and save her? Clearly it was too late for that. His lips parted and his gaze softened when he looked at her, but then Klaus mumbled something she couldn't hear and Damon's gaze turned cruel once more—furrowed brows and a snarl.
Klaus pushed him, hard, throwing him a few feet away into the dirt. Stefan charged him this time, but Klaus was faster, darting out of the way with ease.
Claudia turned around to face Elena, looking through her as if sensing something off in the distance. Elena turned too, out of pure curiosity, having to drag her eyes away from the Salvatore brothers and their losing fight. Her eyes met Caroline's just as her friend's eyes froze in pain. Elena stepped forward again, forgetting about the barrier in her worry and colliding with it all the same.
Caroline stood as still as a statue. Claudia only laughed, stepping into Elena's view. "Silly girl," she said, twisting her hand in a way that elicited pain from the vampire, pain only visible in the girl's eyes.
Around her, everything dissolved into chaos. She'd never felt more helpless in her life. Caroline frozen before her, the Salvatores fighting a losing battle and Claudia with a twisted smile on her lips that turned into something else she couldn't place. "You look familiar," the witch said.
The fighting behind them stopped, and Klaus walked slowly forward through the circles. Damon and Stefan moved in a blur. In seconds they stood next to Caroline and the six of them faced off. Damon and Stefan flanking the frozen Caroline and Claudia and Klaus looking back at them, Elena off to the side praying for the worst for her captors and the best for her friends, trying to think of anything she could do to help.
"Caroline?" Klaus asked, looking at her with a clarity Elena had never seen from him like all the madness melted away to reveal a normal man. He shot a glare at Claudia, which was enough for her to drop whatever spell she held. Caroline would have dropped to the ground if the Salvatores hadn't been there to hold her up. Quickly, she recovered, shaking off their grasp.
"You don't have to do this," Caroline said, a softness to her voice.
In seeing the way that Caroline looked at Klaus, the way that Klaus paused, hesitated, Elena connected the dots. The realization caught her off guard. Klaus was the man that Caroline had once loved, the one she'd spoken about on drunken nights, a combination of insults and compliments, a complication to her feelings. Elena saw now what that complication was. A truly unforgivable one. She couldn't imagine being in love with someone like Klaus, someone who had killed their friend, Katherine. Her ancestor. Her doppelganger. Someone who'd turned them all into monsters alongside him. His betrayal of her best friend only made her hate him more if that were even possible.
"I do," Klaus said. "You know how much I do."
Caroline shook her head. Damon and Stefan stood still as if waiting to see how the conversation would play out. Was this their only hope, convincing him with Caroline, with her kindness? Elena feared for its success.
"I'm doing this for you," he continued. "All of it. It's always been for you."
The worst part was the genuine love in his voice. He believed that his words were true. That his actions were out of love. It reminded Elena of the gods and their misplaced actions. Of them turning their lovers into animals and trees and flowers, of thinking themselves so just for their wrongdoings. Did Klaus see himself in those stories, too? Did he think himself a god?
"I don't want this," Caroline said, and Klaus reared back like he'd been slapped. "I never did. I only wanted you."
"Unfortunate," Klaus said, all the feelings that had been present only moments ago drained away. "I've already begun, and this time, I won't fail." He smirked, looking at Caroline like no one else existed around them. "I can still fix us, I know it. Just trust me."
Caroline shook her head. "I stopped trusting you two hundred years ago."
Klaus didn't respond. He only turned around, nodded at Claudia, and moved to the center of the circle once more. The three vampires on the outside walked around the circle, trying to find a weak point, a place to enter. They were unsuccessful.
"It's time," Claudia said, eyes flicking up to the moon high in the sky above them.
He clapped his hands together. "Shall we?" and Claudia nodded.
Damon got as close as he could to the barrier that separated him from Elena. She took a step closer to him. "It's going to be okay," he said, eyes locked with hers. But those eyes betrayed him. They were laced with sadness. They had no plan. This was truly the end.
Maybe she should have had something to say, some grand declaration of love or something. But she could only look into his defeated eyes and force a smile, repeating his words back to him. "It's going to be okay."
"If you're done with your goodbyes?" Klaus said, extending a hand to Elena, beckoning her forward. She had no other choice. She turned away from her friends and walked toward the monster. Once she was close enough, he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her close, her back pressed against his chest. Claudia began to chant words she could not understand, and the fire blared brighter around them. Even the glow of the moon intensified.
The fire turned a bright, false blue. There wasn't enough time to admire it, to think about anything at all, because Klaus' fangs pierced her neck sharp and fast. With one arm barred around her chest, keeping her steady, he drank. Maybe she should have been freaking out, panicking in one way or another. When faced with certain death, why was she so numb? The idea of dying had always been terrifying, but now that it was actually happening, it felt impossible to fight against it. So she stayed stoic and strong, thinking of her brother and her friends, even though she could not see them.
He continued to drink from her, the flames growing higher and higher, smokeless and brilliant. Damon had skirted around the edge of the circle, and she met his eyes through it all, flames flickering between them, her lids growing heavy. But his glance never wavered, and as long as she looked at him, everything felt okay.
Darkness crept in, blurring the edges of her vision before it pulled her under completely.
A Few Days Prior
Elena paced back and forth in the country house living room, wringing her hands together in front of her stomach, which turned endlessly with stress.
"This isn't a good idea," Caroline said, looking at her friend with all the care in the world, but still thinking that she was absolutely insane for even suggesting such a thing.
She chewed on her lip, stopping her frantic pacing to meet Caroline's eyes. "I know," she said, pausing to think over her plan. "I know." The same words again, but they didn't make anything easier, didn't make this decision less difficult.
"I don't want this for you," she said, soft, reaching out to grip Elena's hand. "We'll find another way."
The brunette sighed. She'd turned this over in her mind for days, for hours, and it was the only conclusion she could come to. "I don't either," she said finally, raking a hand through her hair. "But I don't want to die, either." And the way things were looking, death seemed imminent. Even if it wasn't, it was good to be prepared, right? "There's too much left to do," she said. "I just—I just started living. Really living."
It wasn't fair. None of this was fair. But this was the only loophole she could think of, the only failsafe that made sense. Even if she didn't want it, it was better than death, wasn't it? She'd had a taste of freedom, a taste of living for herself, and she wasn't quite ready to give that up.
Caroline picked the syringe up off the table. The two exchanged a long glance. Caroline asking, 'Are you sure?' with her eyes, and Elena nodding, the affirmation in her eyes. With a sigh, the blonde carefully slipped the syringe into the crook of her arm, finding the vein easily, like she'd done it before.
Elena watched the blood fill the glass body of the syringe with rapt attention. Then, Caroline slipped the needle out of her arm and into the top of the vial. She filled the container, withdrew the needle, and capped it.
"Are you sure this is what you want?" Caroline asked again, holding the vial tight in her hand.
"No," Elena said, simply. "But it might be the only option."
Caroline grabbed Elena's hand, slipping the vial into it. "Like we agreed," she said. "Emergencies only."
Elena awoke with a gasp and a coldness in her veins that couldn't be comprehended. Her eyes opened, but her body ached. She lay in the center of the circle, no flames around her, the moon no longer in the center of the sky. Her eyes fell on dull stars, trying to find constellations while voices argued in the background.
"You need to calm down," a female spoke. Caroline. Her sharp voice could be recognized anywhere, even in death. "It's going to be fine. Everything is going to be fine."
"She's dead," he said. Damon. Voice panicked, cracking in anger or sadness or both. "How can everything be fine?" He snapped.
Caroline did not speak, but the silence answered his questions. There was movement, but Elena didn't turn her neck to see, could hardly move. He said, "What did you do?"
"It's not Katherine. She's not Katherine," Caroline said, tone piercing. She had to be missing pieces of the conversation, fading in and out while they argued feet away from her, thinking her lost. She couldn't move to tell them otherwise.
"Stop," another male voice. It took her brain a moment to remember. Stefan. "It's not her you're mad at."
Commotion, like someone being shoved, feet sliding through dirt, grunts of pain. Finally, Caroline, voice sadder than Elena had ever heard it, said, "It's what she wanted."
Elena groaned, a stabbing pain shooting through her throat like it tried to tear her apart from the inside. All of the voices stopped then and she moved, turning her head just enough to see the scene beside her. Damon sweaty and wild, like he was about to do something he'd regret. Caroline with her arms wrapped around her stomach, like she was going to be sick, and Stefan. Stefan met her eyes first.
"She's awake," he said, and Damon looked at her. She only caught his eyes for a moment before he crossed the clearing in a blur to close the distance between them. Before she could react, he'd scooped her up into his arms.
He dropped his forehead against hers. Everything hurt, and she could barely process what was going on, but having him close felt right. She didn't miss the pain in his eyes as he said, "How do you feel?"
She said the first word that came to mind. "Hungry."
A/N: Thanks so much for reading. Updates to come quickly until the end. About 10 more chapters to go. Hope you're enjoying the ride. Also WOW, cannot believe this story hit 100k. I originally planned for it to only be about 40k. Oh how things change. Much love as always.
Oh also, I'm really enjoying Not a Trope in Hell by Wattskerrylou. SO hilarious and fun to read.