𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐒 𝐌𝐘𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐂 𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐒
on a fundamental level, what the hell is wrong with you
"DO you think she hates us?" Elena asked Echo as they walked outside of the school grounds.
"I don't know what to think," Echo said, shrugging.
"Bonnie!" Elena suddenly shouted, making Echo wince and then frown as she saw the Bennett witch.
"Hey," Bonnie said, not giving the girls a real smile, but a fake one.
"Bon, we missed you so much." Elena pulled her in a hug, and Bonnie quickly hugged her, and then pulled back. "Hey, I tried to grab you after class but you've already taken off. How are you? How's your family?"
Her lips were in a thin line. "We're dealing, it's been hard."
"Yeah, it was hard when our parents passed too, but you were there for us," Elena admitted, frowning. "You wouldn't let us be there for you."
Bonnie frowned. "It's hard to explain."
"There's nothing to explain, Bonnie. You're our best friend." Elena gave her a small smile. "Everyone here really missed you."
"Yeah, I just had so much to deal with after Gram's funeral and honestly, after you told me the tomb spell failed I just really didn't want to come back." She explained.
Before anything else could be said, a voice shouting, "Bonnie! Thank god you are here!" Caroline Forbes shoved past the twins, and embraced the witch in a hug, hugging her tightly.
Bonnie smiled, glad to see the blonde. Echo and Elena stood there silently, none of the girls saying anything.
"I know we talked everyday but I missed you," Caroline stated, smiling.
Echo furrowed her brows at those words and glanced at Elena who had a hurt expression on her face. She clenched her jaw and stared at the witch in anger.
"How are you doing?"
"Better. You know, glad to be back and trying to keep myself busy."
"Well, I can help you with that. Major wardrobe problem. You need to help me pick the perfect dress for the founder's court."
"The founder's court?" Echo asked. "Did we miss something?"
"The founder's court!" Caroline exclaimed. "You know, Miss Mystic Falls? They announced it today. Echo, Elena, we're all three on it.
"Oh, my god!" Elena exclaimed. "We signed up for this so long ago... I completely forgot."
"So, are you dropping out then?" Caroline asked, frowning.
"We can't," Elena stated.
"No?" Caroline questioned.
"They're mom is the one who wanted them both to do this."
SINCE she wasn't prepared to go do the stupid dance thing that apparently her mom signed her up for, she didn't have a date. So, she chose the only person who she slightly trusted, and that was Damon Salvatore.
"I seriously can't believe we have to do this," she groaned, as her and Damon walked down the halls of Mystic Falls.
"Don't sound too excited, Echo," he said, grinning at the girl.
"Oh, I'm so excited. This will be the best moment of my life." She snorted.
The two made their way to the room all the participants were practicing to dance for the founder's court.
Elena was with Stefan, of course, and all of the other girls had their dates with them.
They then began, and Echo was somewhat enjoying it, but didn't show it.
"Stay focus, stay right hand around. Flirt with your eyes."
Echo and Damon put their hands up, and she made a funny face which made Damon snort in amusement.
"Left hand around," Carol Lockwood said, eyeing Echo as she danced with Damon.
"This is ridiculous," Echo muttered.
"Oh, come on. You love it," Damon stated, smirked.
She shrugged.
"No! No! There's no touching during this part. It's about simple intimacy of the near touch," Carol snapped at Elena and Stefan.
When there was a few minutes break, Elena and Echo were walking down the hall, and they ran into Bonnie, the girl who the old Echo once considered a friend.
"Hey," Elena said.
"Hey, Bonnie, How are you?" Stefan asked, walking up to Elena. When Bonnie didn't answer him, Echo folded her arms.
"I begged Bonnie to have filled in for Matt, he had to work today," Caroline said as she walked up behind Bonnie.
Elena looked at Bonnie. "Bonnie, do you have a minute?"
She nodded, once again not saying anything. And the three of them walked away from Stefan and Caroline.
"We only have a 30 minute rehearsal," Bonnie said, not wanting to talk to the girls.
"It'll only take a minute, please?" Elena begged. "Bonnie, you have to tell us what's wrong."
"It's not worth talking about," she said, shrugging.
"Bonnie! You've been ignoring the both of us since you got home, and since you left town. What the hell is going on with you?" Echo snapped. She didn't care about the fact Bonnie wasn't talking about her, it's the fact that she was being a bitch to Elena.
"Echo's right. What do you mean it's not worth it? You barely said ten words to us and didn't even say hi to Stefan. Is that what it is? Is it Stefan?" Elena asked, crossing her arms. She loves Bonnie like a second sister and would do anything for her.
"Look, guys, I can't just pretend that everything's okay. Everything my Gram's did was to protect us from those vampires out of the tomb. And now they're out which means she died for nothing."
Elena frowned. "I'm sorry, Bonnie. What can I do to make it better?"
"That's just it, there's nothing you can do. I blame him, Elena, him and Damon, and I'm not gonna put you in a situation where you have to choose sides. I'm just having a hard time with it, okay?"
"We're all having a hard time with it, Bonnie. Okay?" Elena snapped, tears in her eyes. "We're still having a hard time, we know what you're going through. I hate that you're shutting us out."
ECHO walked down the stairs holding her garment bag as Elena followed, struggling to hold her own. Echo sighed and turned to her twin. "Hand it over."
Elena gave her a grateful smile before handing her the bag. "Thank you."
Echo nodded and smirked. "You need to work out," she said which made Elena playfully shove her.
Elena opened the door to see Alaric when he knocked on it. He turned to Echo, raising an eyebrow.
She asked, "So you're driving?"
Alaric chuckled softly. "Yeah, I am. Let me help you so you're no longer the human luggage machine."
Echo shook her head but he was already grabbing one of the bags, so she allowed him to take it.
Once the door is closed, both girls started to head for the kitchen but Alaric's voice stopped them. "Um, how, uh-how is Stefan?"
Echo turned to Elena. "That is an Elena question, so I'm gonna go."
LATER, Echo and Elena were getting ready with Jenna's help. While Echo had Caroline do her makeup, Jenna was curling Elena's hair.
"Thanks for helping me," Elena said to Jenna.
Jenna chuckled. "Don't thank me until you're sure your hair isn't going to burn off. Echo was smart enough to not let me near it."
Echo looked over at them and shrugged. "Caroline made it clear she wanted to play with my hair and makeup, so I allowed her."
"Hold still," Caroline snapped, forcing Echo's head back to face her.
Elena and Jenna both laughed as Echo mouthed, "Help." into the mirror.
Elena looks over at Jenna. "I remember when our mom and us were first applying for this. She was so excited."
Echo smiled at Elena, then looked over at Jenna who was speaking, "If I recall, you were also excited. You both were."
Elena sighed. "We were. She just made it sound like so much fun. Echo and I stayed up one night talking a our dresses and hairstyles." She glanced at Echo who was frowning in thought. "A lot's changed."
Jenna looked at the two of them, raising an eyebrow. "Well, I hate to break it to the two of you, but it's a little late for cold feet."
Elena shook her head. "I don't have cold feet. I just... I think... we would both enjoy it a lot more if they were here with us."
The three of them looked down sadly, so Jenna tried to brighten the mood, "I'll tell you one thing — your hair would have a better chance if they were."
Caroline smiled as she finished Echo's makeup. "Done!" She exclaimed, nodding in approval of her work. "You look so hot!"
Echo smiled at the blonde. "Thanks." She then turned to Eelna and said, "We should go get ready before I back out." She smirke at Jenna. "Be careful with that thing." She gestured to the curling iron. "Don't hurt anybody."
ECHO and Elena headed into the changing room to see Amber panicking.
"Are you okay, Amber?" Elena asked.
Amber continued to pace around the room. "I hate being the centre of attention. I get panic attacks."
"Do you need some privacy so you can change?"
"Actually, I'm just - I'm just going to go get some air." The two watched her leave before turning to their dresses.
While Elena turned to the blue dress by the mirror, Echo turned to the black satin and silk dress hanging on the door.
Looking in the mirror, she raised an eyebrow. "Damon, enough with the creepy stalker stuff."
Elena turned around to see Damon. "You can't be back here."
Damon rolled his eyes then turned to face them both. "We need to talk." They nodded for him to continue. "So.. normally I would have a completely different outlook on what I'm about to tell you, but since it could really inconvenience me, I'll squeal."
Elena sighed. "What is it, Damon?"
"Stefan's still drinking human blood."
Echo's eyes widened. "You have got to be kidding me - You're not joking are you?"
Damon shook his head. "Nope. A month ago, I would have rejoiced, but with the council back on the alert, it is not a good time for Stefan to fly off the handle."
Echo ran her fingers through her hair. "I knew it. I knew something was up I should have followed my gut." She looked up at him. How bad is it?"
"He has a fridge full of stolen blood bank contraband in the house. He has no idea what normal is. You know that his entire existence isn't normal."
Echo nodded. "Normal to a vampire is drinking human blood, yeah I know."
Damon nodded in agreement. "He's spent all this time fighting it when he should have been learning how to control it. And now it's controlling him instead."
Echo sighed. "If I hadn't seen everything that I have, I wouldn't believe it. But I know that there can be a completely different person inside someone buried deep underneath denial and grief. And I'm guessing that Stefan's other person appears when he's on human blood."
"Your right." Damon nodded and took a step closer to them. "Look Stefan on human blood, Echo. He'll do anything, he'll say anything, because he's not going to want to stop. Trust me."
Before either twin could respond, the door opened to reveal Stefan. "Uh...what's going on in here?"
Damon turned to his brother. "Just filling Elena and Echo in on your extracurricular activities."
Stefan scoffed. "What are you talking about?"
Elena sighed. "Really denial? Stefan, I know about the blood. If I think back, the signs are all there."
Damon looked at her. "I'm gonna - I'll be downstairs, drinking."
Echo quickly grabbed Damon's hand. "I'm joining you."
ECHO, Elena and Caroline stood at the top of the stairs watching as Tina Fell walked down the.
"Has anyone seen Amber?" Mrs Lockwood asked as she walked into the hall. The girls shook their her head and Elena looked down at the escorts.
"Hey, where's Stefan? Have you guys seen him down there?"
Echo frowned and looked down at the crowd. "No."
Caroline said, "Just my boring fill-in escort and Damon."
Elena turned to her. "What happened to Matt?"
Caroline sighed. "They wouldn't let him out of work." She looked at Elena. "What happened to Stefan?
Elena shrugged. "We got into an argument. He yelled, I yelled, it was a whole big yelling thing. Then poof he disappeared."
Echo thought it over and turned to her sister. "I can't do this. I'm not this person, never was." She grabbed Elena's shoulders. "This isn't me, but it is you. You deserve this more than anyone right now. Take Damon and dont complain because — even though this pains me to say this — he isn't that bad of a dancer, and he's here, unlike Stefan."
She gave them a small smile and walked away to grab a drink.
When she sat down at the small bar, she slumped in the seat and let out a loud sigh. It was true, this whole dress-up thing isn't her. And it will never be. Her life is violence and pain, she doesn't do things like this. The apple-pie life isn't for her, she needs to fight because that is all she has ever known.
And even though, deep down, she was kinda excited to try out this whole Miss Mystic Falls things, it just isn't right for her to steal something that isn't her's. She isn't the real Echo Gilbert, hell, she's not even from this universe. To do something that was planned for someone else by their mother -- adopted or otherwise -- just left a bad taste in her mouth. And, though she kills for a living, she does have morals, and doing that would've made her feel bad.
AFTER the winner was announced, Echo quickly walked back over to Damon. "What happened? You have a 'something happened' look."
Damon pulled her into a corner, out of earshot from the other guests. "I'm kinda mad that you ditched me, but this isn't that. There were signs of a struggle in the upstairs bathroom. There was blood. And that Amber girl is missing."
Echo clenched her jaw. "We need to find him before—"
Damon nodded. "I know. Come on we're gonna find him let's grab your coat."
As the two quickly headed out, they didn't notice Bonnie follow them or Elena follow Bonnie.
"STEFAN!"
Echo shouted as she saw him trying to bite Amber. Stefan let the girl go and turned to face Echo and Damon.
Damon walked closer hesitantly trying not to anger his brother. "Come on. Get control of it. Come on. It's okay. Breathe through it man." When Damon tried to touch him, Stefan threw him into the tree.
Echo ran over and shoved him in a tree, but he was angered, and she should've known better than to approach a rapid animal. He growled and threw her across the little field, and she hit a tree harshly, making her cry out in pain, and slump to the ground.
"Echo!" Elena yelled as she ran over to her sister to check if she was okay.
Suddenly, Stefan fell to the ground and started to groan in pain, and everyone turned to Bonnie who was looking at Stefan intently.
A few minutes later, Stefan seemed to calm down, he looked down at Echo who was groaning, trying to sit up.
"It's okay," Damon said as he tried to move closer, but Stefan shook his head and ran off.
After he ran, Damon sighed before running over to Echo whose head had been cut when she was thrown at the tree. He picked her up and moved her away from the scene.