The Newest Salvatore

Chapter 25

She smiled at him, although she suddenly looked very tired. "I'm okay, Stefan," she said, "I'm so happy to be home!"

Damon saw Ottilie looking suddenly very pale and drawn. "I think the excitement has worn you out, sweetheart. Stefan, can you take her to bed? I'm going to go and collect the prescription. We will wake you up when it's time for food, okay?" Both Stefan and Ottilie nodded, and Damon left.

Later that evening, the brothers were cooking up a storm in the kitchen, excited for Ottilie to eat her first home-cooked meal in a week, when they were interrupted by a scream. Speeding upstairs, they found Ottilie gasping for breath and clutching her chest, tears streaming down her face out of her closed eyes. They raced over to her and Damon lifted her effortlessly into his arms.

"Otti," he urged, shaking her shoulder slightly, "Otti, wake up!" Her eyes shot open and she dragged in a shaky breath as she felt her heart racing. "Deep breaths, sweetheart," encouraged Damon, demonstrating what he wanted her to do. "Come on, you can do it," he coaxed softly as she struggled to match his slower breathing.

Finally, she was calmer and the brothers were relieved to hear that her breathing and heartrate were almost back to normal. "What happened, Otti?" asked Stefan gently, holding her hands.

"I had a bad dream," she whispered tearfully, "I'm sorry for making a fuss," she added, sniffling.

"It's okay, do you want to talk about your dream?" said Damon, kindly.

"I was up on the roof and Elena pushed me and I started to fall," she said, hesitantly, not wanting to upset Stefan by bringing up Elena.

Stefan looked away, deeply upset that the once love of his life could cause his little niece so much pain. He felt her little hand grip his a bit tighter, and looked back at her with his mouth set in a grim line.

"Otti," he said, "I promise you, Elena will never, ever, harm you again. Damon and I took care of it." She nodded at him, and leaned from Damon's arms to give him a hug.

THROWBACK: 3 days after Elena had attacked Ottilie...

Elena had been locked in the cellar for some time now, sitting in miserable silence, refusing to speak to anyone or give reasons for her terrible actions. Klaus had locked her in that night, and Rebekkah brought her food regularly, making sure to provide Elena with all of her least favourites.

The day that Ottilie woke up, the brothers were finally relieved enough to talk about what to do about Elena. Damon was all up for drastic action, but Stefan argued that Ottilie wouldn't want Elena harmed.

The third day that Elena was in the cellar, she was visited by Stefan for the first time, and she went straight to the bars of her cell, trying to get as close to him as she could. "Stefan..." she whispered, longing in her voice and on her face. "Stefan, you've come to see me, I knew you'd let me out."

Stefan ignored her words, asking bluntly and without any show of emotion, "how could you, Elena?" She looked at him, slightly shocked by the lack of warmth in his voice. "How could you hurt her? She's just a child!"

At this, Elena smirked. "Exactly," she spat, "just a child that has consumed your every waking minute."

Stefan shook his head. "you know that's not true," he said. "I loved you, Elena" he said sadly.

"That's why I did it, Stefan!" she cried, "because I love you! We're meant to be together forever, no distractions – just us two!"

"You're crazy!" he said, shocked at her outburst. "If you loved me, you would have known that hurting my niece would hurt me!"

She laughed manically, "your niece?" she sneered, "She's not your niece, she's just some pathetic, broken waste of space that Damon found abandoned in the woods. If you ask me, the woman she lived with before had the right idea kicking her out..."

"That's just it, Elena," said Stefan, in a low voice. "I don't 'ask you', and I never will again." Suddenly taking her by the shoulders, he looked straight into her eyes, starting the compulsion, knowing any vervain she'd had in her system was long gone since she'd been locked up.

"You're going to leave Mystic Falls, and you'll return just once a year to see your family and friends. You did something terrible, but you don't know what. All you know is that you hurt the Salvatore family and that they'll never forgive you. You'll be sad about it, and you'll feel guilt for the rest of your life, but you'll never come anywhere near me, Damon or Ottilie ever again."

He opened the door of her cell and stood back, watching as the effects of the compulsion took over. She looked at him, tears forming in her eyes. "I'm sorry," she said, before running from the cell, never looking back.