♤ [1] An Everlasting Death - The Vampire Diaries

ı 26 ı Nine Lives

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"We will fly like smoke darkin' the skies"

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"WE'RE NOT GOING to tell Damon he's not really dead, are we?" I ask James as we stand in the dining room.

"No, we should keep it between us for now," James replies.

"Won't he kill Damon?" I ask, slightly concerned for my brother despite my anger.

"No. I know exactly where Elijah will go once he wakes up," James says.

"And where is that?" I ask, crossing my arms.

"He'll go to the one person he believed put him in this position."

"He's going to Elena at the lake house," I sigh.

James nods, grabbing his coat.

"Where are you going?" I ask.

"We need to get to the lake house before he does." James says, grabbing his keys.

"He's still down in the basement isn't he? We can talk to him."

"It's been half and hour, Blair. I bet if you go down there, you'll find the cell empty. He's probably already snuck out."

Sighing in frustration, I hurry out of the house and into James's truck all while still in my little royal blue dress.

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James and I have been driving for an hour now, entering cottage country as the scenery becomes filled with trees, a small cabin up ahead.

The conversation between James and I is light, nothing serious as we had both know we've had a rough night. Now it's time to chase down an original vampire who is super strong all because my brothers managed to piss him off while trying to save a girl that looks like Katherine. It all sounds incredibly stupid.

"How am I ever going to forgive Damon?" I ask James. "I thought he had my back. I never in a million years would've thought he would sit by while someone held a knife to my throat. I mean, when we were kids he would beat up anyone who looked at me the wrong way, literally."

James doesn't say anything at first. I look over at him and watch as he sits there, one hand on the wheel with a small crinkle in his forehead that he gets when he's concentrating. I can't help but wonder when I started to notice the small things about him.

"I know you aren't able to see it, but the Damon you knew in 1864 is not the same Damon now," James says, choosing his words cautiously.

"I think I'm finally starting to see why everyone in Mystic Falls hates him," I say quietly.

"Yeah," James sighs. "It's not your fault Blair, it's just who he is. The world has changed him."

"No, Katherine Pierce changed him," I mutter, my anger to Katherine intensifying each time her actions relate back to my family.

"Yeah, she helped change him," James says grimly. "Quite literally she changed him into a vampire, but there are many things that have happened since then that have shaped him into who he is."

I turn to look out the window, spotting a deer that stands on the side of the road. A part of me envies that deer, as it's alive and free. I feel like I'm trapped. I had been trapped for 145 years, but now in the real world I don't feel any more free. I still feel like I'm fighting for my life.

"Has this world changed me? Like it's changed Damon?" I ask.

"No," James says. "This world hasn't changed you in a bad way, Blair. As far as I can tell you are the same Blair Salvatore from 1863 when I first met you."