If We Had Met First

Chapter Forty Eight

            This was her final goodbye to him. It seemed impossible to think that she would never see his smile again or never fish off the dock at the lake house with him ever again. There was no way he could just be gone, his existence completely erased. Memories of him from throughout her life flashed through her mind but this only made it worse as she knew all too well that she wouldn’t be able to make any more new ones.

            After that night Damon had tried to figure out exactly who Isobel was. He had tried to get Elena to help but she hadn’t been interested in doing much. However even after all his research the only things they knew about her were the things Alaric told them.

            “It’s okay, he has his ring so he will come back. He’s gonna wake up any minute now.” Elena said not moving from her spot beside the couch.

            She was too busy staring at her dad waiting for some sort of a sign of life to appear that she didn’t see Alaric look at the body on the couch. But Damon did. He saw the recognition flood into Alaric’s eyes when he saw the face of the man lying there dead. He saw the guilt that followed as soon as he realized the same thing Damon had when he had first heard who killed him.

            “Who was Isobel?” Damon asked. He was filled with guilt so even though he hated Damon and under normal circumstances would be trying to kill him right now he was sure that he would get some answers.

            “She was my wife. We met at Duke, fell in love and married young. Her degree was in folklore and parapsychology, once she graduated she became a paranormal researcher. Everything I know about vampires and everything else supernatural I learned from her.”

            For a moment Elena just stood there and looked down into the grave. Only a few metres away was her mom’s grave. By the time this day was over both of her parents would be lying buried in the ground.

            Finally the tears came, in the movies a single tear would run down the actors face but reality wasn’t like the movies. Suddenly her vision was blurred and she could taste the salty tears as they ran into her mouth. Her entire body began to shake as she tried to hold back the sobs that threatened to escape her lips.

            It was like the tears had unblocked something in her mind that had been holding back the grief. Because even though she knew that her dad had died that night she never really knew.

            Elena was only dimly aware of Damon getting Alaric to explain who Isobel was. She knew it was important, especially since she had given him a ring that would essentially let him cheat death but she didn’t care. Alaric had died after her dad, granted only seconds after but later nonetheless. If he was breathing, talking and one hundred percent alive why was her dad still lying on the couch dead.

            She turned to look at Damon as he crouched down beside her. His pale blue eyes were looking at her sadly and his mouth was slightly open, ready to speak.

            “Elena, the ring, they only protect the wearer from a supernatural death. Alaric killed him, and he’s human. The ring won’t work. He’s not going to wake up Elena.”

            Surprise filled his eyes when Elena smiled at him, “he can’t be dead Damon,” she said in a clear steady voice, “because if he’s dead that means that I don’t have parents. He’s going to wake up because he can’t leave me all alone like this.”

            Her legs gave way but before she could hit the ground she felt two strong arms catch her. She blinked away the tears that were clouding her vision and looked up to see Damon looking down at her with concern.