Back in Time

20

When I woke up, I didn't open my eyes. I didn't want to. I just lay there with my eyes shut, curled up.

After a moment, I registered a familiar smell. It was Damon's smell, reminding me of the bed we had shared after our wedding. Opening my eyes, I realised that I was in Damon's room in the boarding house. Someone had put me here.

Sitting up in the middle of his huge double bed, I pushed the thick fluffy blanket off my body and looked around. His room was so familiar, and so strange. From the god knows how many years since Damon had lived here, it still smelt like him.

Someone had plugged my phone in to charge and left it on the bedside table. I grabbed it and clicked on the message that I had sent to myself from Klaus' phone. Hoping that no one was listening in on me, I clicked on the number and rang it. It rang for ages, and then finally, it picked up.

"Hello Elena." Her soft lilting voice greeted me.

"How did you know it was me?" I asked. Esther gave a tinkling laugh.

"I'm the original witch sweetheart. Give me some credit." She paused for a moment. "What do you need?"
"I figured, since you're the original witch, that you could track someone even if they were hidden with magic."

"You want me to find Damon."
Obviously, Klaus or someone else had told her the general of what had happened. That spared me the trouble of explaining.
"Can you?"
"Yes. But I want something in return."
"Name it." I would do almost anything to get Damon back. Esther dragged out the silence for a moment, either thinking or trying to put me on edge. Either way, it worked.

"I'm going to need to turn you into a hybrid. And by that I mean a vampire/witch."

I was silent for a moment. Esther was quiet, waiting for me to eventually respond. I opened my mouth a few times but then shut it again. Then, I spoke.

"As long as I can wait until after my babies are born. And I'm unsired." I didn't know if sire bonds worked with witches, but since I had a vampire side, I should be careful.

"Then we have a deal." Esther sounded pleased. "Just so we're clear, I track down Damon for you and you will turn into an unsired hybrid after your babies are born."

"Yes." I swallowed. I didn't know why Esther wanted me to become a hybrid, but I didn't care.

"I will call you momentarily, when I have Damon's location." Esther said. Caroline and Klaus appeared in my doorway and I smiled weakly at them. "Take care Elena."

She hung up, and I let my arm drop. Caroline was by my side in a flash, Klaus right behind her. I refused to look at either of them.
"Who was that Elena?" Caroline asked. "What have you done?"

"That was my mother." Klaus said quietly. "Elena, what did you promise her?" Caroline straightened up, and I finally looked up at her. She searched my eyes.

"I called in a favour." I lied. "I helped her at the Mickaelson ball." I hoped that the ball happened in this timeline too. It hadn't actually worked, but Caroline seemed to buy it for now. Klaus on the other hand, we both knew I was lying. But to my surprise, he didn't say anything. He just nodded, his piercing eyes seeing right through me.

The three of us were silent for a moment. None of us really knew what to day, and then Caroline turned to Klaus. They seemed to have a full conversation with just their eyes, and then Klaus was gone. Caroline sat down on the bed next to me.

"What happened to me?" I asked.

"I don't know. Klaus just said you tried to walk and then passed out. I think it was just all the stress, and you're pregnant. We all know this is hard for you Elena, and we're going to help." Caroline took one of my hands. "Even if we don't find Damon soon, your baby is going to be so loved."
"Babies." I corrected her, rubbing tears away that had welled up in my eyes. Caroline blinked. "There's more than one baby in there Care."

"Oh my god!" Caroline threw her arms around my neck and hugged me tightly. "That's amazing." I nodded against her hair.

Caroline pulled back and smiled widely at me. She rolled over onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. I stayed sitting, one of my hands absentmindedly stroking one of Damon's pillows. I missed him so much after only a few hours, and I couldn't imagine how he would feel. I disappeared into thin air in his arms. I know I would be confused to say the least.

"I know that the last few years are different from what you remember." Caroline said. "Tell me how it really happened."

"In the world where I didn't go back in time?" I asked, and Care nodded. "Well, I actually dated Stefan first. We all hated Katherine, you dated Matt and Tyler. You still hooked up with Klaus then too." Caroline burst out laughing at that, and I waited for her to stop before continuing. "Damon actually..." I trailed off and hoped she hadn't heard me.

"Damon actually what?" Caroline prompted. I was about to tell her that he had used her as a human blood bag and compelled her, but that was a very bad idea.

"I forgot what I was going to say." I played it off, laughing. Caroline shook her head at me.

My phone rang, and I looked down to see Esther's number. I quickly answered it and held it to my ear, waiting for her to talk first.

"I couldn't find exactly where he was, it was just a lot of trees and ground." Esther began. My heart sank. "But I managed to get you a phone number. I saw him check it, and I wrote it down for you." She recited a number, and Caroline scrambled for a piece of paper and a pen to copy it down. It was different from what everyone else had as Damon's number. This must be his real one, the one he'd answer on.

She gave me a small nod and pressed a piece of paper into my hand. I mouthed a silent thank you, grateful for her vampire hearing that she could hear Esther, since I couldn't remember the number with everything that was spinning through my mind.

"Thank you." I said. "I guess I'll see you in a few months." Esther chuckled and hung up.

"You did promise her something." Caroline accused. "Elena."

"Caroline." I said. "It's not important. Right now, I have to find Damon. I'll talk to everyone about it later, okay?" She sighed and nodded.

"I'll leave you alone to call Damon." Caroline patted my shoulder and clambered off the bed. "I would offer to drive you to him, but I don't think I want to watch you guys making out."

I threw a pillow at her and she dodged it, laughing as she ran out of the room. Smiling to myself, I turned to my phone and the paper that held Damon's number. Taking a deep breath, I dialled the number with nervous fingers and held the phone to my ear.