I sit on my bed painting my nails black when Stefan calls. Sighing, I reach over to answer the call, putting it on speaker so I can continue with my nails. We're still not on the best of terms. I've hardly said anything to him since that day at the Boarding House outside by his motorcycle. I bared my soul and then did what I always do. I ran away. I told him my truth and I know that one day we'll have to talk about it. I just hope it's not today. "Hey," I greet him, nervous about what he might say.
"Hi," he replies, the same discomfort I hold reflected in his tone.
"Did you get the cure?" He releases a long breath over the phone, telling me all I need to know. "What happened?"
"We ran into a little complication."
"Complication?" I echo.
"Katherine. She used Jeremy to wake up Silas and get the cure and now Jeremy's..."
"Dead?" I guess. It wasn't hard to connect the dots. Whenever Katherine is involved someone always ends up injured or dead. It's a shame though. I kind of liked Little Gilbert. He had balls. Capping the nail polish and letting my nails dry, I lean back. My head hits my pillow as I stare at the ceiling. "How's Doppelbitch taking it?"
He groans lightly, "I really wish you wouldn't call her that. But, she's not taking it well. She's in denial and thinks the Gilbert ring will revive him." I scrunch my forehead, thinking over his words. He's right. Jeremy became one of The Five, marking him supernatural. The ring only saves humans. "And now his corpse is rotting upstairs. I, uh, I'm not sure what to do."
"Well, have you explained to her that he's not coming back?"
"We're talking about Elena here. She feels grief more powerfully than anyone else. I think her denial is the one thing protecting her from letting it all in. And I don't want to be the one to break her out of it..."
I consider this for a moment. "And Damon? Where's he?" I've hardly talked to my older brother these last few days. So many things have happened that we've just been split up lately. Sometimes I feel bad. Sometimes I feel as though my relationship with Damon gets neglected, but it's not as though he's reaching out either. But I should still work on that. Even if he did pick Elena over me.
"Still on the island to find Bonnie and hopefully Katherine too."
I process this information. "Let me guess, you're waiting for his return so he can use the sire bond to make Elena feel better."
Stefan sighs. He sounds so tired. I wonder when the last time he really rested was. "That's the hope." He pauses. It's a long one. Our breaths the only sound between us. "Do you think you could come over here? Caroline's working with her mom to sort out a cover story and calling Meredith. And Lils, I'm not sure where we stand. If you hate me or I'm supposed to be mad at you, but honestly, I could really just use my sister right now."
His words pierce me in the heart. What am I supposed to say to that? I mean, I can't say no. Not after he said that. But he's right, I'm not sure where we stand. We've both done and said some nasty things, and I'm not sure that makes us even. Though, maybe it's time we figure it out. As kids, Stefan and I hardly fought. Sure trivial matters brought some disagreement, but in the end, we always stood together. I sigh into the phone, "I'll be there in five."
...
When I arrive, Stefan greets me at the door. It's awkward to say the least. I don't even know what to do around him anymore. He knows the truth about me now. "Meredith's up checking on Jeremy's body. She's going to see what she can do to help Elena understand." I nod, following him upstairs to Jeremy's room. Inside, Meredith stands by Jeremy's bed as Elena rambles. My eyes find Little Gilbert's body and a wave of sorrow washes over me. So young. He was so young. And just like my brothers, Katherine took away that youth.
I blink, peeling my eyes away from the corpse. That makes the second corpse I've seen in less than a week. Tuning back into the room, I listen to Elena ramble. "...so we'll have to keep an eye on him because I don't want him to go crazy just like Ric did." Meredith glances at my brother. He nods.
The doctor sighs. "Elena...it looks like Jeremy died of extreme blood loss. His neck also appears to be broken. The lack of blood explains why there's no lividity, but his muscles have tightened past the point of rigor mortis."
Elena starts shaking her head. "No."
"If he's left unattended to, soon he'll start to bloat. Within a few hours, his skin will discolor, and-"
"No. He's...Stop, okay?" Elena raises a hand for Meredith to stop, shaking her head as she moves to Jeremy's side. "Just stop. He's not dead."
Meredith's voice is soft and gentle, the practiced tone of a doctor used to giving bad news. "I need you to release the body to me. We'll get him to a funeral home and prepare him for a viewing," Elena's head starts to shake again, "where you and his friends can say goodbye to him."
Elena's face tightens as she rushes at Meredith, pushing her against the opposite wall. "He's not dead, okay?"
Stefan vamps to her, pulling her off as he calls her name. "Elena, stop it."
Elena struggles against him as she keeps yelling at Meredith. "Where was your science when you used vampire blood to save my life, huh? There is no science here. It's just magic. We need magic. We have to find Bonnie. Bonnie can fix this." The sight is pitiful. And even though I don't necessarily care for the doppelgänger, the pain I see in her makes my gut twist uncomfortably. Will my siblings care this much when I die? "Somebody just get me Bonnie!"
"Elena." The new voice has me turning my head. Matt shows up beside me. His eyes going from the distressed vampire in Stefan's arms to the body on the bed. Elena's eyes follow his. I watch as Matt's face twists with realization. It seems no one informed the boy what had happened. I part my mouth to offer some form of comfort but Elena beats me to it.
"No. No. No, Matt. It's fine." Stefan releases her as Elena walks to Matt, pulling him into a hug. "It's okay. It's okay." His eyes tear up as he wraps his arms around her. "Bonnie will be here soon, and she'll fix everything, and it'll be all fine. Everything's gonna be fine. It'll be fine. It'll be fine."
After a few moments, once they've both calmed down, Matt and Elena head downstairs. Stefan slips into the upstairs hallway. I follow as Meredith stays with Jeremy. Stefan sighs, running a hand down his face. Turning around, he glances to me. His eyes filled with so much emotion. I can tell he's trying to stay strong right now for Elena, but this, seeing her in so much pain, it's hurting him.
Without a word, I walk to him, pulling him into a hug. He holds me, leaning his head against mine. I don't say anything and neither does he. At this moment, words aren't enough.
Meredith stepping into the hall, her heels clicking on the floor has us pulling away. She blushes, noting the moment she interrupted before turning to the thermostat. "I'm bumping the A/C. We're not gonna be able to leave him in there for much longer." She faces us. Stefan nods in response.
Meredith shoots us a sympathetic smile. "I've got a few things to do at the office, but I'll keep my phone on me. Send me updates."
"Okay, we will," I reply. "Thank you."
She nods, heading down the stairs. After a few seconds, I listen to hear her shut the front door and walk down the porch steps. Stefan takes a seat at the top of the stairs. I follow suit, sitting next to him. "I've been alive for almost two centuries now. You'd think with the amount of people that I've seen die, it would hurt less each time. Never does."
I sigh, "No, it doesn't. Each time is a new wound to the heart," I glance at my brother, "but it'll heal and become a scar. And eventually we'll figure out how to live with that scar."
Stefan's eyes flick over my face. "Spoken like someone whose had to learn how to grieve."
Deciding the moment was getting too heavy, I smirk at him. "Yeah, well I did have two older brothers who got themselves killed over a girl who turns out was manipulating them the whole time." I playfully bump my shoulder into his. "I did try to warn you both."
Stefan rolls his eyes and smiles slightly, but it doesn't reach his eyes. The topic is still kind of a sore spot for us all...so maybe not my best move to bring it up. As I go to fix it, his phone rings, stopping me before I even start. I glance at the name on the screen: Damon.
Stefan accepts the call in a rush. "Did you find her?" He stands.
I follow suit, listening to Damon speak on the other side. "I'm still looking. How is she?"
Stefan shoves, a hand in his pocket as I watch and listen from the stairs. "She's losing it, Damon. We can do what we can to delay things here, but we've got to get Jeremy to the morgue before it gets ugly."
"Damn it. I can't-I can't just leave her behind. I can't-I can't show up without Bonnie."
"I think you have to. At this point, the sire bond is probably the only thing that's gonna keep Elena together. I can go back to find Bonnie."
"I'm on my way," Damon whispers before hanging up.
...
It was only a few minutes later when Damon calls up back, telling us he found Bonnie and they're on their way back. Relief evident on Stefan's features, he ended the call with our brother to let Elena know. Now, it's night time. Bonnie and Damon are due to arrive any moment. As the door opens, I glance over and watch Caroline enter the house, Bonnie in tow. Elena and Matt rise from the dining table to greet her. Care's eyes find Stefan and I, tilting her head in the direction of the door. Confusion matching my own wrinkles Stefan's forehead. Nevertheless, I follow him outside to find Damon standing at the bottom of the driveway.
I pick up on the tension in his body right away. "What's up?" I ask. His face holds a graveness I'm not used to seeing.
"She's out of her mind. The nutty professor's got her totally brainwashed." I frown at Damon's words.
"What?"
"What do you mean?"
Stefan and I ask the questions at the same time. "Turns out, Shane didn't die like we thought Stefan. He found her in the tomb and saved her. And now he has her spewing insanity. I mean, the whole flight back home, all she could talk about was how she's the one that can drop the veil between this side and the Other Side." It doesn't take me long to realize he's talking about Bonnie.
"Drop the veil? What does that even mean?" Stefan copies my frown. I watch as concern slithers into his eyes.
"What it means is, the myth about Silas being able to raise the dead is not just one, or some. It's every supernatural being over there. Three massacres, three hot spots, and the witch spell of the century, and every supernatural being over there is back with a vengeance. All Bonnie has to do is complete the last massacre." The last massacre? It takes me a second before the answer comes to mind. Of course...first 12 councilmen and then Klaus's 12 hybrids.
"Wait," I stop Damon, trying to understand. "So you're saying that Shane told Bonnie that if she kills 12 people, she can bring down the other side?"
Damon nods his head. "Exactly." A trail of silence follows my brother's confirmation. Bonnie can't kill 12 people. That's insane. And for what? Lowering the veil to the other side? That can't happen!
A rush of fear travels down my spine. "We can't let her do this. The other side can't come down." Because if it does, I fear who will greet me at my door. I'm afraid of just who will want to act on their own vengeance.
"We won't." Stefan looks at me. By the pinching of his face, I can tell my fear is obvious. I bite my lip, blinking, in attempt to rein it in.
"C'mon," Damon whispers, placing a hand on my elbow. Giving it a slight squeeze before he lets go, he leads us back into the Gilbert house. As we enter, I hear Elena on the phone. "Jeremy can't come to the phone right now. He's not-" she pauses, "I'm sorry. He's dead." Hanging up, she rushes past us, heading up stairs. A moment later Damon follows.
In the silence, Stefan looks to Matt. "Why don't you take Bonnie home? It's been a long day." Matt nods and Bonnie stands up. The two leave the house.
Upstairs, voices rise before Elena comes stomping down the stairs. "Where's Bonnie?" She asks as she enters the kitchen.
Caroline, Stefan, and I all turn to watch her. "We told Matt to take her home. We thought it'd be best," Stefan answers her. The distress on Elena's face is clear. Again, I can't help put feel bad for her.
"Okay. I guess we're gonna have to do this the old-fashioned way," Elena says half-way to herself.
"Do what?" Caroline questions, glancing at Stefan and I. Damon comes down the stairs with Jeremy's corpse wrapped up in the blanket from his room.
"Put his body on the couch," Elena instructs Damon. Then, she brushes past the three of us and into the kitchen.
"Elena?" Caroline calls her name. Elena ignores her, beginning to open and shut her kitchen cabinets. "Elena, you need help finding something?"
Elena bends down to a cabinet, grabbing something, before standing back up. "Got it." She raises a bottle of lighter fluid above her as she starts pouring its contents onto the counter. My eyes widen as I watch her. What the-
"What are you doing?" Stefan asks her as she moves on to dousing the kitchen table.
She doesn't stop as she answers, moving into the living room. "We need a cover story, right? You think I didn't hear you guys talking earlier? Well, what are we gonna say...animal attack, "tumbled down the stairs"? No. We burn the house down with him inside of it."
"Elena, stop it!" Stefan demands as she reaches the couch.
"Why?" She pauses, staring up at Stefan with eyes crazed by grief. "Because you want me to not be in denial? You want me to face the truth? This is the truth, Stefan. I don't want to live here anymore. I don't want these sketches." She continues squirting the lighter fluid among things scattered around the room. "I don't want this Xbox." Kicking the Xbox, I watch as Caroline flinches at Elena's actions. Elena empties the bottle and throws it to the ground. Next, she opens another cabinet and pulls out a bottle of bourbon. She raises the hand holding it in the air. "Not gonna need this bourbon anymore. Alaric's not here to drink it, I mean, unless you guys are willing to bring back every supernatural creature on the Other Side to get him back." She turns to Damon. "Would you? I know you want your drinking buddy back." She walks toward him. "Would you, Damon? Because I wouldn't." She passes him and walks to the other couch where Jeremy's body lies. Pouring the bourbon on him, she continues talking. "I don't know, I mean, does that make me a bad person? I-I have no idea." She pauses for a moment, slipping the Gilbert ring off of Jeremy's finger, tossing it to Damon. He catches it. "He's not gonna need that anymore."
"Elena, stop it. You're scaring me!" Caroline yells at her.
Elena paces to the fireplace, picking up a picture frame. "What else are we supposed to do with the body, Caroline?" She screams back. "I mean, there's no-there's no room in the Gilbert family plot." She throws the picture to the floor. It shatters. "Jenna and-and John took the last spots." The bourbon is tossed the ground as well, and just like the picture, it breaks. She grabs a match from a box next to a candle on the mantle of the fireplace, lighting it.
"No, no, Elena. Stop," Stefan steps to her.
The flame burns bright in her hand as she cries. My gut twists at the sight. "There's nothing here for me anymore, Stefan. Every inch of this house is filled with memories of the people that I love that have died--my mom, my dad, Jeremy, and Jenna and Alaric, John, even John. I mean, they're all dead. Everyone is dead. So what am I supposed to...I mean, how am I gonna...I can't even...there's nothing left for me...aah!" Elena exclaims as the flame that had burned down the match and burns her finger. She drops it and Damon rushes forward to catch it before it can reach the ground and ignite the fire Elena has been building.
"Elena, I need you to calm down." Damon's tone is gentle but firm as Elena begins to sob, even more than before.
"No, no, no, I can't." She protests. "I can't. I can't. I..." she falls to her knees. My eyes flick around the room, watching her loved ones flinch at the pain she's in. Her hands grip the sides of her head. "No. It hurts. It hurts. Just make it stop. Please make it stop. It hurts."
"Damon." He turns to look at Stefan. "Help her." Damon's forehead creases in concern as he turns his gaze back to the girl he loves. She's cracked...Elena Gilbert has cracked...as she sobs and falls apart at our feet. Damon drops to her side, pulling her into his chest.
"I can help you. I want you to let me help you." He strokes her hair as she steadies her breathing. Moving her body to face him, she shivers as his fingers stroke her cheeks. "I can help you."
"How?" She whispers.
Damon licks his lips as he stares at her intently. "Turn it off."
"What?" Stefan tenses beside me. "No. No." Damon holds up a hand, stopping Stefan.
"Just turn it off," he repeats, "and everything will go away." His voice is so quiet and so soothing. It's the tone he used to comfort me when I would scrape a knee as a child or when I would get upset over Father yelling at us. It's a tone I haven't heard him use in a long time. So long, that the nostalgia along with this emotionally charged moment has me fighting back the urge to cry. "That's what you have to do. It's what I want you to do. Just turn it off."
And just like that, a few moments later, Elena's face goes blank. There's nothing in her eyes. No emotion. Just nothing...
...
I walk through Mystic Falls, thoughts racing back and forth in my head. After Damon convinced Elena to turn her humanity off I knew I had to get out of there. I didn't want to be around for the fight that would inevitably happen between my two brothers. And I didn't want to bear witness to Elena humanity-less. I have no doubt that this will only backfire. When we turn our humanity off, we are nothing like we are with it on. No way those who love Elena will allow her to stay like that for very long.
Knowing that there's only one place to go to fully distract myself, I head there. As I knock on the door, I have no doubt I'll regret this decision later. But for the time being I just need to forget. And he...he can make me forget.
"Lily?" His voice is full of surprise as he opens the door. "What are you doing here?"
I don't allow him to utter another word as I push him into the house, kicking the door shut behind me. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I force my lips onto his. He's shocked to say the least as he tenses underneath me. But it's only a split second later before he returns the kiss. "I need you to help me forget," I whisper against his lips.
He doesn't reply, merely kissing me back harder.
I need to forget about the look on Elena's face as she cracked. I need to forget about Jeremy's Kol's corpses. And I need to forget about Silas. I need to forget that if we don't stop Bonnie there's a chance the veil between us and the Other Side will come down. I need to forget that there's a chance I might see him again...
Shoving Klaus against the wall of the foyer, reminiscent of our position from the other day, I put all of my emotions into the kiss. I use him to make the thoughts in my head disappear. My nails dig into the back of his neck as his hands squeeze my hips. The heat between us is almost unbearable as he flips our positions. My back slams against the wall as he smirks at me. Trailing his lips down my neck, he nips my skin here and there. I moan, tugging on his hair as his lips go lower and lower.
Klaus's hands find my thighs, squeezing the back of them, signaling me to jump. I do, wrapping my legs around him as he palms my ass. Still attacking my neck and chest with kisses, Klaus carries me up the stairs. In the process, I manage to rid him of his shirt, running my hands up and down his toned chest.
When we reach his bedroom, he lies me down on his bed before shutting the door. Shamelessly, I drink him in. By now all the thoughts are gone. The only thing I can think of is him and how he's making me feel right now. Klaus stares at me with the same lust I am sure are in my eyes. "Like what you see?" He asks, his voice low and deep. It sends heat rushing through me as he shoots me a teasing smile.
I lick my lips, "Something like that." Klaus grins wickedly, crawling on top of me. Our lips meet again and his hands travel to my t-shirt. As they trace the hem, he stops suddenly. I blink up at him as he looks at me mischievously. "What?" His eyes twinkle, but instead of replying he grips my shirt and tears it apart. "Hey!" I protest. "I liked that shirt."
Klaus shrugs. "It was in my way."
But with the way he stares at me, I can't find it in me to be mad. All I know is that I want him right now, and it's not long before the rest of our clothing disappears.