CHAPTER SIXTEEN | WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING
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THEY HAD SUCCESSFULLY EXPELLED KATHERINE FROM ELENA'S BODY, BUT THE DOPPELGÄNGER LEFT BEHIND ONE FINAL PARTING GIFT. Just before Katherine had arrived at to say goodbye to Nadia, she had stuck herself with the same ripper virus that Damon was infected with. Once they had realised what was happening to Elena, Riley had sealed her inside Whitmore whilst the rest of the students were on spring break.
The doppelgänger furrowed her brows once she stepped out from her dorm room, and into the hallway. She saw Stefan and Riley at the end of the hall, and sighed in relief. "Guys, where is everyone?"
"Everyone's gone. The whole school cleared out for spring break. You've been in and out since you first woke up." Stefan explained vaguely as he nodded Elena start to nod.
"Oh, okay. Yeah, that makes sense. I thought I was going crazy." Elena let a sigh of relief escape her lips and then tried to walk toward them, but was instantly stopped by Riley's boundary spell. "What's going on? What—"
"I had to seal you into the building. We've got some explaining to do." Riley awkwardly eyed up the vampire and folded her arms across her chest. "Just before Katherine gave up your body. She injected you with the same virus that's effecting Damon." Elena's eyes widened. "What's the last thing you remember?"
"Uh. I was running through the woods and my head felt like it was being attacked by Katherine's whole life." Elena's eyes shifted toward the Salvatore that stood in front of her. "I saw you. I threw my arms around you, and then nothing."
The Salvatore nodded his head and then gave her an awkward look. "Yeah. That was about three weeks ago."
"Three weeks ago?" The doppelgänger's eyes widened as she looked at the two incredulously, as if it were hard to take in. "Wow. Three weeks, huh? Yet it took just one second for Katherine to infect me with some virus that makes me want to kill all my friends."
"Well, that's Katherine for you." The witch hummed in response.
"Do you really think this whole lock-down is necessary? I mean— I feel fine."
"Look, we shouldn't take any chances. If Damon taught us anything, it's that the virus makes you wanna attack at the mere scent of vampire blood." Stefan explained. "Look. I know this is a lot of process, but just know that Caroline's out looking for the antidote and in the mean time, we've figured out how to ration blood to keep you satiated. We're gonna figure this out, okay?"
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It wasn't long before Stefan left Elena in the company of Riley, who was watching over her to make sure she didn't completely flip out due to the hunger. She watched Elena head off down one of the hallways and, considering she couldn't walk after her because of the barrier spell, Riley decided she would call Damon and see how he was doing.
"Hey, you." Riley beamed once she heard his husky voice on the other end of the line. "How's the hunger?"
"Annoying." Damon deadpanned with a heavy sigh that finally escaped his lips. "But, if this is what I have to go through to make sure you and the people you love are safe, I'd do it again in a heartbeat."
Riley nodded slowly. "I never really got a chance to say thank you, for doing what you did. I mean, it sure as hell pissed me off that you didn't tell me sooner, but—"
"—She's your grandmother, Riley. What'd you think I was gonna do, let Enzo kill her? Of course not." A small chuckle finally escaped Damon's lips. "Though, it's nice to know that someone here doesn't think I'm a monster. Stefan keeps giving me his judgy-eyes because of what I did to Aaron Whitmore."
"Stefan's giving you his judgy-eyes because Aaron was Elena's friend and he's worried about how she might take the news when she actually finds out that not only is he dead, but you're the one that killed him." As Riley explained, she could quite literally feel Damon's guilt through the phone. "She wont be mad forever, relax. It's Elena, she has a tendency to make excuses for everyone's behavior, even yours."
"Oh, Riley. Once I'm out of these chains, you and I have a whole lot of catching up to do." The Salvatore purred seductively down the phone, his voice trailing off whilst Riley gently nibbled at her bottom lip.
"Definitely think that can be arranged. And, we shouldn't have to wait too long for that."
"Oh?" Damon echoed, clearly intrigued by the sudden time scale.
"Yeah. In fact, Caroline's out looking for the antidote to the Ripper virus as we speak. So, you, Mr. Salvatore, will owe me a very long night once you're Ripper-free." Riley carried on, a smirk plastered across her lips until Stefan strolled back into the corridor. "Stefan's here. I'll call you back, okay?"
Once she slid her phone into her pocket, Elena appeared in the hall. As she walked toward the two of them, she began to stumble and used a support beam to hold herself up. "I'm not feeling so good all of a sudden." The doppelgänger gave a light smile as her hand pressed against her forehead.
"It's because you're starving." He stated bluntly before he offered up a water bottle full of his blood. "Here. I got you four ounces of my blood. You won't be scaling any buildings, but it'll curb the cravings."
"Thank you." Elena breathed out a sigh of relief. She opened the slid on the water bottle filled with Stefan's blood and downed it within seconds. It was clear that once she had consumed a drop, she nodded more. "I need more."
"Elena. Four ounces is all you can have. You know this." The witch stepped forward and stood beside her best friend, who eyed the doppelgänger up.
"I feel fine. I just— I just need a little more."
"You're not fine, Elena." Stefan shook his head in protest.
Elena groaned out softly, and threw the water bottle on the floor. "Come on, trust me. I just— I can handle this."
Riley tilted her head to the side and narrowed her eyes at the brunette. "Oh, really?"
Stefan lifted his wrist up to his mouth and bit it. He then held his hand out and Elena's eyes were instantly fixed onto the blood pouring from his wound. She sped straight toward the barrier, hissing and growling with her fangs prominent. "You're not fine, Elena."
"She's turned me into a monster." Elena spoke out finally after she gathered her composure and realized that she was not fine at all. "I'm a Ripper, aren't I?"
"Feeding until you kill is usually the definition, so, yeah." Riley rested her hands against her hips as she watched Elena turn her back on the two of them.
"I hate her." She then spun around and faced them with dark eyes. "No. You know, what? I hate myself. Because I was dumb enough to sit next to her while she was dying and actually forgive her."
Stefan's phone then began to buzz shortly after Elena's emotional outburst. He placed his phone on loud speaker. "Hey."
"Oh, I hope this is good news." The witch groaned out as she sat back down on the staircase.
"Bad news." Caroline spoke loudly, causing everyone to exhale in irritation. "It's not the same virus."
Stefan's eyes widened as he looked over to the witch who furrowed her brows. "What is it?"
"Dr. Creepenstein was working on the next phase of his virus. When Nadia was sick, he was experimenting on her blood, and then he figured out a way to extract werewolf venom from her blood and put it into the virus."
"Werewolf venom means it's fatal to vampires." Riley spoke out from the corner of the room with her head in her hands. "Jesus, Caroline, you got any good news?"
"Oh, my God." Elena anxiously muttered to herself.
"Hello? You don't think I would just drop this on you without a silver lining? There's an antidote." Caroline trailed off slowly. "It just requires you to come meet me. I'll text you the address."
"Or, you can just bring it over here."
"No. You have to go there. And, don't ask me why because I can't tell you."
"Caroline, are you kidding me? He's not gonna anywhere until you tell him where the hell you're sending him." The witch got to her feet once she noticed Elena appear to be losing it as she listened to the conversation.
"The Travelers don't want anyone to know what they're up to. And by anyone, I mean newbie emo witch-types with bad attitudes. Just get there fast, okay?"
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The day had gone from bad to worse after Liv and Bonnie had arrived to keep watch on Elena, giving Riley a moment of peace. Though, shortly after Riley headed to the coffee shop on campus, Bonnie had told her that Elena forced Liv to remove the boundary spell placed on her and she had escaped.
Panic ran through the witch's veins as she abandoned her coffee, and headed out to look for the hallucinating doppelgänger She didn't know where Stefan and Caroline were, so Damon was her only other option. "Damon. Elena's gone."
"Gone?" Damon echoed in disbelief. "What do you mean gone?"
"She almost killed Liv to get the barrier spell down, and now I can't find her, Damon." Riley anxiously spoke, her eyes scanning the streets as she walked. "She's losing it— bad."
"Riley, slow down, okay? I'm on my way."
Once Riley ended the call with Damon, the sound of violent coughing filled the air. The witch turned on her heels and saw Elena in the short distance, hunched over and coughing up blood. "Elena!"
"Aaron!" Elena blinked, a smile across her lips. "Oh, my God. I thought— I thought I killed you. You're here. You're still alive." It was clear the doppelgänger thought that Riley was Aaron, and once her hallucination stopped, the smile on her face faltered. "Riley? No. I thought you were—"
"Aaron? Yeah, I know. You're hallucinating. It's okay." Riley's voice was calm as she spoke toward her best friend who continued to back away from her in fear. Normally, she would have just snapped Elena's neck and put her back under lock and key, but nobody knew how fast the toxin in Elena's veins would let her heal.
"She won. Katherine won." Elena stuttered out in tears as she ran her fingers through her hair.
"Trust me, Katherine's dead. She did not win."
"Look at me, Riley. Look at me. Look at me. The plague of Katherine Pierce lives on. She's turning me into something that I'm not. Look at me, I'm a monster. Liv, the witch, I almost killed her. And, my friends— I wanna kill my friends. I think about killing my friends!"
She continued to cry out just as Damon appeared behind Riley. "Elena, it's okay." The doppelgänger was visibly startled by Damon's sudden appearance.
"No. It's not okay. It's not okay, Damon!" She yelled out in frustration and then moved further away from both Riley and Damon. "I killed Aaron Whitmore. I keep seeing him. He keeps popping up everywhere. I'm hallucinating that Aaron's around here. He's—"
The Salvatore then stepped forward and grabbed the doppelgänger by the arms and forced her to look at him. "—Elena, look at me! Hey, look at me. You did not kill Aaron Whitmore. I did."
"What?" Her eyes glazed over in horror, a look of confusion on her face as she stepped away from him. "Why? Was it because of the virus? Did you need to turn him?"
"It was before the virus, Elena." Riley stepped forward and spoke for her boyfriend who immediately had guilt all over his face. "I'm sorry."
The doppelgänger didn't respond, she just let her eyes fall behind the two of them. "Why is Enzo here?"
"Sorry to interrupt. But, I have the antidote." The British vampire held up the antidote toward the two Rippers. "Although, from the looks of it, you'd both rather be dead."
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