It took me several seconds to realise that everyone around me was dying. Their breathing was short and raspy, their hearts beating too fast until they just stopped. There was chaos all around me, and I didn't know what to do. I already died once, before I managed to pull the shard of glass from my neck and throw it halfway across the room. I didn't want to die again. Not partially, not fully.

   "There you are, gorgeous," a soft voice said. 

   I looked up to see someone I didn't even expect to see st the wedding. "Enzo?" I glanced around before I turned to look back at him. "What are you doing here?"

   "What do you think I'm doing here? I'm obviously saving everyone's ass." He crouched in front of me and extended his hand. "Now, come on. I already got Caroline and Stefan in the car, all that's missing is you."

   I grabbed his hand and followed him out the barn. Even though he used his speed, the scent of blood was strong and fresh. Kai must have done more damage, not only with Jo but with... I turned to Enzo with wide eyes. "Wait, where's Damon?"

   "With Elena at the hospital," he said, continuing to march to his car. "You know, she's human and all right now. She's not waking up."

   I nodded and began to walk besides him. From the inside of the barn I could hear Kai taunting Alaric, the fake empathy making my hands close into fists at my side.  I stopped. "I need to go back," I said as I turned my head to the barn. "I need to go back and..."

   "If you go back, you're going to get killed," Enzo finished for me. He crossed his arms and pursed his lips lightly. "But, I keep forgetting that your specialities is helping others and taking faults that are not yours."

   "I need to go back there and help Alaric." I didn't want to say the reason why out loud, to confess in front of Enzo and anybody else who would hear me. But, I needed to be there for Alaric. It was his cries that were the loudest, even though he tried to hold them in. It was his heart that beat the fastest, but it was because he held the body of the woman he loved the most. He had been there for me in the four months that I thought Damon died and Stefan disappeared; I needed to be there for him. 

   I didn't wait for Enzo to respond, to give his opinion on the matter. Instead, I sped back to the barn and took a stance in front of Alaric. I glared at the psychotic witch, my head tilting slightly to the side in anger. The veins bulged from beneath my eyes, my fangs protruded from my teeth, and the white of my eyes turned the same shade as the blood on my skin. Kai Parker was my prey, my victim. I wouldn't hesitate to kill him.

   "Don't touch them." My voice was low and threatening, deep. It rang perfectly thought the room, combining with the loud sound of electricity buzzing through the broken lights. 

   Kai tilted his head to the side and smiled. "Sorry, sweetheart. This is a family matter now..." His words ended slow, as if he had come up with something as he said them. The smile on his lips turned bigger, into that shit-eating grin he wore as good as the suit. He pointed at me. "You know, you just gave me a great idea." He took a step forward. 

   I low growl came from my chest as I shook my head.. "I will rip out your heart if you come any closer." The sound of the witches chanting got louder with each step closer that they took towards Kai. But their voices shook as they spoke, unsure. Their voices combined with the sound of electricity, the glass they stepped on.

   Kai raised his hands in front of him in defence, that shit-eating grin was still there. He looked over me, straight to the man that held his beloved's body. "Hey, I'm sorry about your twinsies. I just don't feel like competing for leadership with future Gemini twins." There was fake sympathy in his words. He knelt down and grabbed a large piece of glass from the floor, and stared at it. "See, when your family decides that you're nothing but an irredeemable piece of trash, well... I guess the best thing is to prove them right, right?" He stood and turned around to face the man that was closest.

   The man was the same one that walked Jo down the aisle at the beginning of the wedding. He must be the father, the infamous Joshua Parker that almost tried to kill his eldest daughter and trapped Damon at their house during Thanksgiving. There was a certain similarity that he had with the Psychotic Witch and Jo. 

   "This ought to do it." Kai wiggled his brows once and grinned, then stabbed himself in the neck with the piece of glass. He fell to the floor and gagged intensely, bleeding all over the ground. 

   I stared at his squirming figure until he stopped. There was a sense of relief in watching him die, but at the same time it felt strange. He worked hard in not to die in the past, so why the hell would he kill himself? I let those thoughts be pushed to the back of my mind and turned to face Alaric. He held onto Jo as tight as he could. I knelt in front of him and stared at Jo's body. "Let me help," I said as I looked up at him. "I can give her my blood!" I lifted my arm and prepared to bite into my wrist.

   "No!" He grabbed my wrist, his fingers closing tightly. Jo's blood stained my skin, and I couldn't help but stare at it. "Clara, no... She's a Gemini witch. It doesn't matter if you give her your blood to heal, she will still die."

   I opened my mouth to say something, but the words were stuck in my throat. Around us, the Gemini Coven slowly died. One by one, they fell. The scent of blood was strong in the room, just as loud as the screams. I looked over at Alaric. His eyes and nose were red, cheeks stained with tears and blood. His heartbeat was steady, as if he came to accept Jo's death and the thought that he'd never be happy again. He said nothing as he stood with her on his arms, as he began to walk out of the barn.

   I stared after the broken man. His shoulders were slumped as he moved, as if he was in a trance. In a way, Alaric and I were alike. The people we loved were taken away from us. His first wife turned into a vampire and disappeared for years. Jenna Sommers was killed by Klaus to complete a spell that didn't work. And now Jo, whom he had the deepest connection with, had died all due to her twin brother wanting power and control. 

   We had both watched the people we loved leave us alone in the world.

   I followed after Alaric. He stood by the SUV, eyes cast inside the open trunk. As I got closer, I saw Jo's body. She looked asleep, but we both knew better. The scent of her blood combined perfectly with the mayhem that had occurred. I stopped a few feet away from the car, from Alaric. It was only his heartbeat that I could, that beat in a steady rhythm of suffering. 

   He covered her face with a blanket and stared down at her. Even in that moment, I could see him breaking. He sniffed and closed the trunk, then stumbled to the driver's side of the car. The door was left open, but I could hear his intakes of breath. 

   I took a step back, but kept my eyes on him. He wanted to be alone, to contemplate his thoughts. I would leave him alone, but I intended to keep close so that he would have someone. So that he wouldn't feel lonely.

   I turned and faced the barn. From the outside, it still looked like a dream. Flowers and lights, the remnants of what would have been a happy ending. But, in the inside, it was broken lights, blood, flowers petals strewn about, dead bodies—a terrible reality. It was a small war zone,  I could still hear the cries from the witches

   "There you are." The voice was familiar. One I hated the most. I turned to see Kai walk towards me, that shit-eating grin plastered on his lips. He raised a hand in the air and said, "Conminuo."

   My leg snapped. I fell to the ground and let out a scream, the pain intensifying with each moment. At first it was the pain of the bone, but then it felt like thousands of needles pricking my skin over and over again. The needles dug deep into my skin, reaching my muscles and pinching as much as they could.  

   A figure stepped in front of me at that moment. The pain deluded into a stinging sensation. I took deep breaths and dug my nails on the ground as I looked up. It was Alaric that had stepped in front of me, a gun in his hand.

   "Bad time?" Kai sarcastically asked.

   Alaric raised the gun and shot multiple times at the witch. He budged when each bullet hit his chest, but he didn't fall. After a moment, Kai pulled a bullet from his chest and stared at it. "Freaky, right? I turned myself into one of Lily's Heretics. It's really incredible, actually. I can literally siphon the magic of my vampirism and convert it into more magic."

   I looked up at Alaric. He looked exhausted, both physically and emotionally. I wondered if he only stood because of sheer will power, not because he wanted. With a sigh escaping his lips, he pointed the gun to his head.

   "Alaric, no!" I screamed. 

   He pulled the trigger. The gun clicked. I let out a sigh of relief and looked down at the ground, exhausted to the point where I could lie down and sleep right there. But, I couldn't. My prey was in front of me and I needed to end it. I pushed myself up and stumbled closer to Alaric, laying a hand on his arm to give him a small sense of comfort. The gun dropped to the ground, but there was still a sense of defeat coming from him.

   I gave his arm a squeeze and looked over at Kai. He opened his mouth to say something, but a figure tackled him to the ground. The figure moved with speed, growling as it held down the witch. A louder growl came from its mouth as it leaned down and chomped down on Kai's neck. The witch did a spell that pushed whomever it was away, but the figure managed to rip a piece of skin.

   The figure hit the car, breaking a window. As I stared at them, I saw that it was a partially-transformed Tyler Lockwood. There was blood all over his chest and mouth. He slowly stood, growling, and glared us. His eyes were golden, the unmistakable colour of a werewolf that was transforming. Tyler's glare softened as he stared at Alaric, and then he left. He ran away, jumped over a car and towards the woods.

   Kai stood from the ground and laughed softly. "Bad doggie." He turned and began to walk away.

   I glared at his retrieving figure, my hands closing into fists at my side. There was some satisfaction in knowing that the bite was lethal to a vampire, to him. But, he could siphon magic. A werewolf's bite was technically magic. He could probably siphon it and cure himself, become stronger than he already was.

   "Get out of here," I said to Alaric, turning back to look at him.

   He looked over at me and blinked, furrowing his brows. "What?"

   "You need to get out of here," I said as I shook my head. "You need to get the hell out of here. I'll take care of Kai."

   "Clara, you can't..."

   "I'm going to do this!" I took a deep breath and looked away from him. "You have been there for me ever since we met, even when you didn't like me that much because I'm vampire. You helped me figure out who were my doppelgängers; you were there for me when I first arrived and thought my relationship with the Salvatore's would return to the way it was when we were human; you were there for me the four months we thought Damon was dead and Stefan disappeared. We drank almost every night, and you gave me advice, and we laughed and joked and... We acted as if we were college friends, bonding over alcohol, cheese fries, and blood." I pressed on my thumb to crack my knuckle. "You were there for me, Alaric, now I'm going to be there for you."

   For Jo, I wanted to add. For your twins. For what you could have had.

   "I'm going to kill Kai." The words felt like a sense of relief as they left my mouth, almost like a promise. "I'm going to give him the most excruciating death he can have, so he can know how you and everyone else feels." I didn't wait for him to respond.

   The scent of Kai's blood was fresh, combined with the scent of gun powder and werewolf. He stumbled side to side as he moved, his breathing coming in ragged. There was a sort of pleasure in seeing him weak, dying.

    I crossed my arms. "There you are." I imitated the tone he used on me. If I had magic, he would have been on his knees.

   Kai turned and glared. "Clara," he groaned. It wasn't out of annoyance, but from the werewolf bite. I glanced at it, to see that it was a bright red and still bleeding. "What is happening to me?"

   "You should have gone through Vampire 101 before going through with the transition," I said in a nonchalant tone, with a shrug of my shoulders. "Lesson one, a werewolf's bite is lethal to us. Trust me, I've gotten bitten before. The pain is a bitch to deal with." From the bite, I looked up at his face.

   "How do I get cured?" he asked. He breathed hard, eyes half-closed from the venom that moved through his system.

   "I would help you, but I don't really like you." I shrugged my shoulders and took a step closer to him. I wanted to kill him right there, to make him feel the pain he made Alaric go through. There was some kind of wicked pleasure in seeing him slowly wither away. 

   Kai let out another groan, but a corner of his mouth lifted. That shit eating-grin appeared on his lips as he took a step closer to me. "Do you want to know why Elena didn't wake up? Why she's not currently waking up?" 

   The question took me by surprise, because I wasn't even aware that Elena didn't wake up. I took a deep breath and clenched my jar as I tried to hold my head higher. Emphasised on the tried. I knew that I looked confused, and scared.

   "That obvious confused look that you have is telling me that no one has gotten you up to date." He laughed. "Huh, I guess you don't really matter here because it's all about Elena. Lucky for you, and me of course, I came up with a grand plan! As soon as I came back from that Prison World, my plan was to bleed Bonnie out one painful ounce at a time. I mean, that's what she deserves for leaving me behind in 1903, which I did not appreciate. But, she forgot about that old Canadian rock filled with Bennett blood. Anyway, I got out, but I wanted to make Bonnie suffer in a new and—if I may say so myself—totally inspired ways. So, I linked her life to Elena's."

   I blinked. "What?" 

   "Are you deaf or were just you ignoring that amazing speech I just gave?" He half-rolled his eyes as his shoulders slumped. "I linked Bonnie's life to Elena's. The rule is—as long as she's alive, Elena will remain asleep." He let out a gleeful laugh and clapped his hand once, then pointed at me with both his index fingers. "This is the moment where you thank me, Clara. I mean, I'm basically giving you sixty to seventy years free of Elena Gilbert. You can toss between the sheets with Damon as much as you like, with little to no guilt. Of course, that's if he doesn't kill Bonnie."

   My mouth fell open at his words. There was a part of me, although small, that focused on the last of what he said, the sixty to seventy years without Elena. I pushed those thoughts behind the red door Elijah taught me and focused on the rest. He had done a spell that connected Bonnie's life to Elena. As long as the witch lived, the vampire-turned-human slept. It was a strange and wicked Sleeping Beauty curse, with a terrible problem. 

   Damon loved Elena more than anything. He had proved that several times, over and over again. If he found out about the spell, about the link between them, he wouldn't hesitate to kill Bonnie. To him, Elena meant everything. Even though him and Bonnie had spent months in the 1994 Prison World, he wouldn't hesitate if it meant Elena would be back with his life. For a moment, I imagined him covered in the witches' blood, a satisfied smile on his lips as the love of his life woke up.

   As I thought those things, my chest began to ache.

   Kai let out a gleeful laugh. "Wow, you seriously are blind if you think no one's noticed the way you two stare at each other. And the way he spoke about you back in the Prison World! I mean, are you all deaf or just ignore each other's feelings?" He waved a hand and let out a sigh. "Anyway, I already taunted you—which was fun. Now, I want to see how Damon's doing now that one of the love's of his life turned into Sleeping Beauty."

   I sped towards him to attack, but his hand went around my neck before I could even get close enough. His hold was strong, fingers tightening as I tried to breath. He had a smile as he choked me, that shit-eating grin. 

   He tsk'd. "Did you really think you could attack me? Have we forgotten that I'm one of Lily's Heretics, because I'm pretty sure I mentioned it." That grin got wider as he leaned his head closer to mine. "Huh, you really do have nice green eyes." He shrugged his shoulders and snapped my neck.

  When I woke up, I was rather wet from the night's dew. There were several bugs crawling on me, but I flicked them off as I turned on my back. The night sky was brilliant, with thousands of stars twinkling and the bit moon shinning bright. Through the soft chirps of crickets and croaks of frogs I could hear the sobs of what was left of the Gemini. They were frightened; I could tell by their cries and the speed of their heartbeats. And then I heard Kai speak. He taunted someone with a hard and sarcastic tone. A female answered. 

   It took me a moment to realise that the voice belonged to Bonnie Bennett, the same girl that could be hunted down by Damon. She taunted the witch, used her magic to break his bones and toss him around the room. I could only hear it, but I imagined the bastard being tossed around like a doll. With a deep breath, I stood and sped to the barn. I leaned against the outside wall as I felt out of breath, weak. Considering that I was a vampire with a steady heartbeat and no reason to be our of breath, it all felt strange. 

   For a moment, I felt human.

   The piece of glass on my neck had bled me out. The blood decorated my side as if it were part of the dress. It didn't help that I witnessed Alaric trying to kill himself. It had taken an effect on me, I knew. The reminder of everything that had happened caused a shiver to run up my spine, to swallow hard. To try and forget.

   "No, no!"

   Bonnie's scream brought me back to reality. I sped inside the barn to see her hung in the air with wide eyes, terrified. Kai stood to the other side of the room, the werewolf bite cured and his hand pointed towards Bonnie. He flicked his hand forward, causing Bonnie to be thrown in the same direction. I used my speed to try and grab her before she could land against the wall. The force Kai had used to throw her was inhuman, to the point where I was thrown against the wall as well.

   As soon as my back hit the wall, several of my bones snapped like twigs. My back ached, my shoulders burned, and the taste of blood was fresh on my tongue as if I had just fed. I shut my eyes as tight as I could, all of my focus on the pain. Even though I wanted to push it back and focus on Bonnie, it was all I could think about. With each moment that passed, the pain got worse. A combined sound of a gasp and a cry escaped my mouth as I opened my eyes. 

   Bonnie had moved from my lap and now laid on her side besides me. She appeared like a doll, arms in ways that were humanly impossible to be in. Even though she had several broken bones and her breath came in rasp, she stared at me with wide eyes.

   "Clara..." she rasped.

   I wanted to respond to her, but when I opened my mouth blood came out. It fell over my lips as if I was throwing it up, as if I were human. The pain was there, broken bits and all. I had gone through torture in the hands of werewolves, in the hands of a person I thought to be my friend, and I had died and gone to the Other Side; I should be used to every kind of pain. I should be used to every kind of physical pain there could be, but it seemed that I was still surprised when my bones broke and I screamed in pain. That was all, though. It was all pain. I could barely feel my chest or my fingers, and it hurt when I tried to keep my head up.

   I breathed deeply, even though it pained me to do so. "I'm not healing," I said through clenched teeth. It took all of my strength to lean my head back against the wood, to close my eyes.

   "Clara!" 

   A soft touch of a hand on my cheek made me flinch. I opened my eyes to see the familiar sky coloured eyes staring back at me. Once, I had considered them my own personal sky. Once, I thought I'd be able to get lost in them and never return to reality. 

   "Damon," I breathed. Even to say one word hurt. It began right at my chest, up my neck, into the pooled blood in my mouth. But, even though it hurt, I needed to tell him. "Bonnie... You can't—you can't kill..."

   Damon's fingers brushed down my cheek and onto my neck as he nodded. "I know," he said, softly. He turned to look at the broken girl that laid besides me, and gave her a small smile.

   "How dumb are you?" Kai's voice rang through the barn. He appeared from the shadows, slow and steady like a cat. "I deliver you a dying Bonnie Bennett on a silver platter and—whoosh—right over your head."

   "Damon?" Bonnie gasped.

   He looked at her. "You're okay."

   Again, she gasped his name.

   "Uh, translation: she's going to croak."

   His name fell from her mouth again, this time full of fright. I tried to reach towards her, to tell her that it would all be okay. But I couldn't move. My bones were still broken, I was still weak. I wished I was the one dying in her place, because she didn't deserve it. Out of everyone in the world who deserved happiness, it was Bonnie Bennett.

   Kai walked closer. "Of course, you don't have to help her. You could just walk away. She dies of a collapsed lung, no blood on your hands, and you and Elena get to live the life you always dreamed of." He took another step closer. "Second choice is that you save Bonnie and spend the next sixty years with Clara, no guilt whatsoever as you two roll between the cheats." He wiggled his brows once and pointed at him with a grin. "See what I did there?"

   Damon rolled his eyes, but there was a conflicted look in his eyes. I had known him long enough to know that he was considering one of the things Kai had said, and it wasn't the second one. 

   My eyes widened. "Damon, no..." I rasped.

   "Either way, you better act quick," Kai said.

   "I'm so sorry, Bonnie..." Damon knelt in front of her and leaned in to kiss her forehead. He let go of her hand as she rolled to the side, facing me. She looked horrified and confused, lips quivering.

   I used whatever strength I had left to look at Damon's figure. "Damon!" I called out his name with as much power as I could, but it all came out like a rasped breath. "Damon!"

   "That's it?" Kai yelled and threw his arms to the side in exasperation. "He just left you? The whole point of this was that this would torture him for a while. I mean, you'd think he'd at least flip a coin—heads he pick you, tails he picks—"

   Damon appeared behind him and swiped his hand clear through his neck. "Heads it is." The head rolled far from the body, its wide eyes and open mouth a clear indication of the confusion his mind must have gone through right before dying. A sense of relief flooded me, not just because Kai was dead, but because Damon had chosen to help Bonnie live.

   He sped towards her and smiled. "You think I was gonna leave you all alone, huh?" He bit into his wrist and pushed it towards her mouth. She grabbed his hand and drank in desperation. "No way. I'm not out of nicknames for you yet." He picked her up and sped out of the barn. After a few seconds, he was in front of me. His hand hand went to my cheek again. "Can you move?"

   I wanted to say yes, but even opening my mouth hurt. I wanted to be strong, to not show pain, but at that moment I couldn't. The pain was too much. "No," I breathed. "I'm not healing, Damon..."

   "You're not dying in front of me again, Clara." His voice was stern, but there was a hint of pain. At that moment, I remembered the night I had died in front of him. It was when the Other Side was deteriorating, and the spirits could contact the world of the living, and Helen Otto managed to kill me. I had died right in front of him, in his arms. 

   He bit into his wrist and then pushed it towards my mouth. The blood of a vampire tasted different then human blood. Although it was just as sweet, there was some euphoric feeling to it. It was an intimate thing for vampires to share blood. Strange to some and taboo to others.

   As I drank from Damon's wrist, I began to slowly heal. It was a slow process, where my bones were still broken and the pain still lingered. Slowly, I looked up at him. He was staring down at me with his brows slightly creased, a clear look of confusion in his eyes. It reminded me of the time I let him drink my blood in Nova Scotia, when we were searching for the cure to vampirism and thought it'd be possible for all of us to be human.

   I pushed my head from his wrist and gulped down a breath. There was only a minor pain in my chest, in the rest of my extremities, but I was tired. I breathed in deeply and looked at him through hooded eyes. "Thanks."

   "You don't have to thank me," he said as he lifted me into his arms. He did so slowly, as if I would break if he did it any other way.

   I laid my head on his shoulder and breathed deep again. "I do... I have to thank you because you saved Bonnie."

   He stopped. "She's one of my best friends."

   "But that means you won't see Elena for along time."

   He turned his head towards me, lips pressed lightly to my temple. His fingers squeezed my skin gently, his pinky tracing a shape. "I know," he breathed. It felt as if he were going to say something else, but decided against it. Instead, he kissed my temple and began to walk. "Go to sleep, Clara. You've done enough saving today."

   "Damon, I..." I wasn't even able to finish my sentence as the tiredness overtook my very being.

   When I woke up, the sun was high in the sky and there was soft murmuring from downstairs. The murmuring were tears from the Save Elena Squad, who this time weren't able to save her. I remembered what had happened the night before, the horrors we had all experienced. Jo had died in Alaric's arms, as well as the children he could have had. Kai died twice, one for becoming a vampire and the second for the terrible person he was. And Elena Gilbert, the person who I envied the most in this godforsaken world, wouldn't wake up until Bonnie Bennett died. 

   I got up from the bed and pulled on fresh clothes, then slowly went downstairs. The parlour was eerily quiet, with everybody sitting together but in silence. They all held looks of solemn. I looked at the coffin that was in front of the windows, seeing Elena peacefully sleeping inside. Stefan was besides the coffin, his hand tightly holding hers. Everyone had arrived early to say goodbye, especially those that were human.

   Stefan let go of her hand and looked at me with a small smile. "It's your turn," he said as he walked over to me. "You should say goodbye." He laid his hand on the small of my back and gave me a gentle push towards the coffin.

   I stared down at her, my hands pressed together and a frown on my face. If I was honest with myself, I didn't want to say goodbye to Elena Gilbert. It felt strange to say goodbye to her, because I had known her all these years but never felt as close as everyone else in the room. Although we did get along those four miserable months, we were never that close. Even though, there was still a terrible sadness inside of me as I stared down at her sleeping figure. I hesitated, but I grabbed her hand.

   The coffin disappeared and was replaced with The Mystic Grill before it was renovated. Unlike the many times I had been there, the restaurant was empty. Even though, I imagined people. There was the usual bartender behind the bar, the waitress with three pens holding up her bun, the elderly couple that sat in the table right by the window, the people always crowding the pool tables, the teens that hung out every afternoon after school. I blinked and they were all gone. 

   Elena walked out of the kitchens with a smile on her lips. She had her hands in the pockets of her jacket, her hair long and straight, and the smile wide. At that moment, even though I was in her mind, she looked so human. I guessed that it was what she saw herself as always—human.

   "Clara," she breathed as she stopped in front of me, "we were never the best of friends, but I always considered you someone close. Even though I knew part of you hated me because I looked like Katherine, you always managed to be there for me. And, I figured that out the night you came into that clearing and asked Klaus to take Jenna's place in the ritual." She grinned and shrugged her shoulders as a soft laugh escaped her mouth. "The second time I knew was when you left for Puerto Rico. Damon told you that I died, and you worried about how I would feel because even you knew that I didn't want to be a vampire."

   I crossed my arms and shrugged my shoulders, swallowing hard so I could stop myself from letting out tears. "I never hated you, Elena," I confessed as I looked everywhere but her. "In fact, I envied you. I envied you because you had everything I had always wanted: family and friends that loved you unconditionally, a life filled with happiness even though there had been dark times. I envied all of that, I guess that made me a bit angry with you as well. But, no, I never hated you."

   "I guess I was too stuck in my own world back then," she said with a laugh.

   "You had every right to be," I told her with a soft smile, reassuring her. "I don't blame you for that."

   Elena took a step forward and grabbed my hands with hers. "Clara, I want you to be happy." She gave my hands a squeeze. "Stop trying to save everyone, okay? You may be a vampire with strength and speed and healing abilities, but you're not Superman. You're just Clara Forbes, a girl that didn't deserve to die the way she did; a girl that deserves happiness. I know you think you don't, but you do. So much. I want you to search for it." She let go of my hands and picked up a journal from the table, then handed it to me. The journal was simple, bound in a bright yellow leather with a monogrammed C on the bottom right corner. "I want you to write down everything you accomplish in life, because I want to read all about it when I wake up."

   I stared down at the journal with my brows furrowed. There were words that I wanted to say, but nothing came out. So, I tightened my grip on the journal until the edges bent a bit, and took a deep breath. "Elena, I can't..."

   "You can," she cut me off. "Clara, you need to stop saying that you can't because you can. You're just afraid. You've lived in this darkness for so long that you haven't been able to see that you're able to be happy. Clara, you're allowed to be happy. The only one stopping you is yourself." She laid her hand on my arm and gave it a squeeze, then moved her hand up and down in a comforting way. "It's going to be hard, but you're going to be happy. And you're going to write all about it in that journal. And I'm going to read it when I wake up. And we're going to laugh and smile. And I might probably say that I told you so."

   I laughed and half-rolled my eyes. As the laugh ended, I began to cry. It surprised me that I had tears, because I never felt that I would be emotional when I said goodbye to her. But, there I was. With shaking hands and tears falling down my cheeks. Elena hugged me, and I hugged her back, and it felt as if I were saying goodbye to a good friend.

   "I want you to take care of the others while I'm gone," she said as she rubbed her hand on my back. She pulled away but kept her hands on my shoulders. "Especially Damon; you're the only one that can handle him."

   I wiped away the tears and sniffed, nodding with a soft smile. "I'll do my best."

   "Before you go, I should tell you..." Her lips spread into a wide smile. "Before the wedding, Damon and I talked."

   "I know. He planned on taking the cure with you."

   She shook her head and continued to smile. "Actually, he wasn't." The smile was sad, but it was still there.

   I blinked and took a step back from the surprise of her words. "What?"

   "It's not my place to tell," she said. "Ask him. If he doesn't tell you, keep pushing. And if anything happens, I want you to know that I'm completely okay, all right? 

   "Wait." I blinked again as her words only confused me more. "What?"

   "I'll see you soon, Clara."

   I opened my mouth to ask her about what again, but stopped myself. Our last words couldn't be about what Damon said to her. So, I gave her a smile and a last hug. "I'll see you soon, Elena."

   When I opened my eyes, I was back in the parlour. Elena laid in the coffin, opposite of what she looked like in her mind. I let go of her hand and took a step back, but continued to stare at her. Her words ran in my mind, over and over again. Curiosity bit at me. I wanted to know what was she talking about, about Damon. Other than wanting me to be happy, which was something I couldn't promise her. What I could promise was that I would look over the others, because that was what I was mediocre at. I wasn't even good at it. And that ate at me, because no matter how much I tried to protect them, I always seemed to fail.

   After everyone had said their goodbyes to Elena, Stefan and Damon lifted the coffin to take to the Salvatore crypt. That would be Elena's home for the next sixty to seventy years, until Bonnie died. The crypt would be sealed shut with a spell. According to Bonnie, it wouldn't open until she died. As she explained, I watched her. I knew that even though Kai said that both of them would die if they even tried to break the spell, she would look through the grimoires she collected. The witch was too selfless. 

   Bonnie Bennett was the strongest witch I had ever met. Even more than the merciless Helen Otto and the damned Esther Mikaelson.

   After Elena was sealed in the coffin, the house was eerily quiet. Jeremy Gilbert, who had planned to come for the wedding and luckily missed it, stayed around to be with Alaric. They went out with Tyler, Matt, and Stefan to the Grill. Caroline and Bonnie invited me out for a day where we could all try to forget that someone we cared about was locked in a crypt, asleep for many years. I told them that I would meet them in an hour, because I wanted to freshen up a bit.

   Instead, I stood in front of my dresser with the yellow journal in my hand. I stared down at it and wondered how did Elena have so many journals. She had given one to each of us, told us to write down everything about our lives while she slept. It seemed that she had wanted to gift us journals sometime in the future. They were all personalised, perfect for each. I wondered why the hell was mine yellow, because in no way was the colour a signification of me. Yellow meant happiness; maybe it was why she chose that colour for me, because that is what she wanted me to find—happiness.

   Someone cleared their throat. I jumped from the sound and looked up at the mirror to see Damon stand behind me. He held a glass of bourbon and blood in one hand, his other pushed into the pocket of his jeans. He forced a smile on his lips and nodded as a sign of greeting.

   I set the journal down and turned around to face him. "How are you?" It was the first thing I could say to him. 

   He shrugged his shoulders and drank a bit of the bourbon. After he swallowed, he smacked his lips together and stared down at the liquid. "It seems that every time I'm happy, it all gets taken away."

   "Yeah, it happens to the best of us," I muttered under my breath. Even though the words were said soft, almost inaudible, I knew he had heard. But, those were the only words that left my mouth. I wanted to say more. I felt like I needed to say more, but nothing left my mouth. The words had disappeared. Gone. They struggled in my head, fought on my tongue.

   Damon let out a huff and wiggled his brows once as a response.

   "Elena mentioned that you two talked before the wedding," I finally said. I swallowed and looked out the window, biting the corner of my lip as I thought of a way to continue. "What did you two talk about?"

   He frowned and let out a laugh with no emotion and finished the rest of his bourbon. "You, for one." Those three words left his mouth so nonchalant, as if he were saying 'tomorrow' or 'I don't care'. "Secondly, if I should take the cure or not."

   "What did you say?"

   "No."

   "No what?"

   "No, I wasn't going to take the cure."

   "Why not?"

   He looked up at me and frowned, the look of his face as if I had said something terrible. "Because I can't imagine a world where you're not in it, Clara."

   My breath got caught in my throat. 

   He took one step closer to me and moved his hands as he spoke. "I had lived without you for over a hundred years. I found your body, I attended your funeral, I mourned you—I made peace with you. I could do it again. I could have drank the cure from Elena and lived happily ever after, but I couldn't!" His voice got louder as the words left his mouth, as if he were angry. Not at me. Himself. "I could't, Clara, and you know why?"

   My voice broke as I said, "Why?"

   "Because of you," he spat, closing the distance between us. "Because I can't imagine a life without you. I tried it once—twice, if you want to add the four months I was stuck in that Prison World—and I don't want to do that again."

   Damon was so close to me. His chest pressed against mine, lips nearly brushing against mine. If I moved an inch, just a bit, we would kiss. And I wanted to move. I wanted to push myself forward and kiss him hard, just like before. I wanted to wrap my arms around his neck and pull him to me, have him make my mind go all fuzzy with the fury of his kiss. 

   Instead, I stared at him with hooded eyes. Our lips were just a breath apart, the size smaller than one finger. I could feel his breath on my lips, cool with the scent of bourbon and blood.

   "But I have to," he breathed, his lips nearly brushing against mine. It was a missed touch. A gentle reminder of the past. "I have to live a life without you because you deserve someone better than me, Clara. You deserve Stefan."

   I reached for his hand, but stopped myself. "Damon..."

   He pulled away and let out a laugh filled with no emotion. "I'm drunk..." He said as he stepped back, towards the piano to grab the empty glass. "Can you believe it's only eleven in the morning and I'm drunk?"

   "Damon..." The only response I could give him was his name, because I didn't know what to say or do. Elena, the person he loved, was in a coffin at the Salvatore crypt, sleeping. He had lost her so suddenly, just when they had found happiness. And now he was bringing me into it? It made my chest ache. It made my hands close into fists. 

   Damon looked down at me and gave me a crooked smile that was barely there. "I guess I'm trying to understand what would have happened if neither of us died in 1864. Or if I didn't push you away when I found you again." He turned and walked out the room.

   My bedroom turned silent. I laid my hand on my stomach and took steady breaths, but ended up with tears falling down my cheeks. My hands shook as his words rang in my head, as they made home in the crevices of my brain. His words hurt, as if I had been stabbed with a wooden stake. As if Helen Otto was torturing me again. 

   My mind, my heart, my feelings were all jumbled together like tangled Christmas lights. I didn't know what to say, or what to do. All I knew is that I had to protect him from himself and what he might do, because he was more important to me than my own self. 

   I had to protect everyone.

a/n: end of book two!!! book three will be published soon, so please keep a look out for darkling!!!