Beautiful madness, Ch.10: The history of the truth
Beautiful madness
Disclaimer: The characters and other things from The Vampire Diaries don't belong to me. Credit goes to the rightful owners.
A/N: longer update this time...since it took so long for me to update :) Hope you enjoy this.
Chapter 10: The history of the truth
"Why is he still dead?" Damon said, kicking Elijah's body repeatedly willing it to rise.
"I don't know," Elena said, dagger still in hand, as she circled Damon and Elijah, "The note seemed fairly clear that pulling out the dagger meant Elijah would come back…right?"
"Or maybe there's a hidden camera here and Klaus is laughing his head off watching how gullible we are," Damon said kneeling down to slap Elijah awake, "Should I pour ice cold water on him?"
"Damon, he's a dead vampire not a stubborn person who doesn't want to wake up," Elena said rolling her eyes at him, "I think we should call Bonnie…"
"Nope," Damon answered, straightening up to face her, "She has her own assignment and this is not it. Give me the dagger."
"What will you do with it?" Elena said instinctively pulling the weapon back, her fingers tightening around it.
"I'll put it back in," Damon said calmly, extending his palm to her, "I don't want any surprises. If he's going to wake up, it will be when I'm ready and not with my back turned to him. Give it to me, Elena."
"No!" Elena said stepping back, clutching the dagger tightly, feeling unusually possessive.
Damon's head snapped back in surprise. Frowning he took a step towards her, "Elena, are you feeling suicidal again? I swear if you stab yourself, I will force you to drink my blood before you take your last breath and turn you."
"No! It's not that," Elena said, her eyes darting around as she backed up against the wall still holding onto the dagger, "I…I can't…I can't explain it, Damon. I can't let it go."
"I don't need to understand, Elena," Damon said taking a cautious step towards her, "You don't even have to give it to me…just drop it on the floor and we'll get out of here. How's that?"
Elena closed her eyes, taking a calming breath after another, each one more hurried than the last until she was practically hyperventilating. Damon closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her, the cold metal hard against his chest as he whispered to her.
"Shhh, you're okay, I've got you," Damon said over and over until he felt Elena's pulse slow to a normal rhythm and her breathing evened out. "I'm right here. You're safe. I won't let anything happen to you."
Elena drowned out everything except his voice, trying to find the will to open her hand to let the object in it fall. But she couldn't. There was something about it that kept her from relinquishing her hold. Then she felt the tug, towards Elijah's body. The pull was like a soft command that propelled her to move, insistently calling out to her.
"I think," Elena said as she pulled away from Damon, "I'm supposed to be the one to put it back."
Damon looked at her with raised eyebrows in a silent question, prompting her to continue.
"I can't control it, Damon," Elena said already walking as if in a trance, her voice frantic as if it were protesting the movements of her body, "I don't understand what's happening."
In a flash, Damon was blocking her way, his hands firmly gripping her by shoulders, "Elena, look at me. Focus. Don't let it control you, whatever this is. I need you to fight this, okay?"
Elena nodded numbly even as her body struggled against Damon's hold as he tried to get her out of the room. They only managed to take two steps when Elena suddenly relaxed and her fist fell open, the dagger clattering noisily to the ground as Elijah's eyes flew open and his cold hands wrapped tightly around their ankles.
Damon felt horror wash over him as he heard Elena's earth-shattering scream, haunting him only for a brief moment before he succumbed to the darkness.
Elena kept her eyes shut, patches of light breaking through as she felt the world spin around her and it took her a few seconds to realize it was because er feet were moving, twirling about on their own volition.
Dancing. Elena realized she was dancing. Involuntarily, her eyes opened and she heard her own laughter, mocking her. She had no control over the body she seemed to inhabit.
Her gaze finally landed on her partner's-startlingly blue and unfailingly familiar.
'Damon,' Elena whispered in her mind, hoping she was right yet at the same time knowing how wrong she was.
The man, as if he knew what she was thinking, looked at her with such intensity that she felt the need to look away, but a gentle touch on her chin turned her face back towards him.
"Katerina…" he whispered in a voice that was a contradiction of longing and disapproval.
"Yes," Elena heard herself respond without intending to, as she felt the fear that came with that single syllable. She felt Katerina's growing anxiety blossom in her chest but there was also the flicker of something she couldn't place.
"Why do you resist?" he said with false patience, the hard lines of his jaw clear even in the dim light of the room.
"I do not, Klaus," Elena heard Katerina respond, as she continued to look on from the inside, "I am yours."
Klaus rewarded her with the hint of a smile, the thin line of his lips sharp and even more menacing than bared fangs, "You turn away from me, not from distraction but from fear, when there is no reason to be so. I would never hurt you, my Katerina, I love you."
Elena found herself enveloped in the warm glow of that declaration only to be incensed with anger soon after. Katerina glared at Klaus, courage and fear pulsing in her as she spoke, "Then why do you insist I am not worthy of eternity?"
"Ask anything of me but that." Klaus answered firmly but without losing the vulnerability that was slowly undoing his bravado.
"The moonstone, give it to me," Katerina demanded harshly, expecting that they would be bargaining.
"You will not be safe with it," Klaus said calmly, but his eyes had already begun to darken, "Do not forget, Katerina, you are a doppelganger. With the moonstone in your possession, you only make it easier for others to spill your blood over it. Then where will we be?"
"You do not love me," Katerina said coldly, "You withhold from me the one thing that can change my life. Do not think me a fool, Klaus. I know it is worthless to you and keeping it from me is only a source of entertainment for you."
"What makes you believe it is worthless to me?" Klaus said as he held her in place as the dance continued around them, unaware that they had already slipped into their world.
"You walk in the sun. You ally yourselves with wolves. You don't need the curse broken to do any of that, so why else will you keep it from me if not to keep me from realizing the magic it holds-my eternal existence?" Katerina hissed back.
"Precisely, Katerina, it will merely be an existence. The pain it will cause me to watch you wither and die will be great, and I fear it even now. But it is a far greater comfort to know that you will not be subjected to wander this earth endlessly until it loses meaning and purpose," Klaus said with an unruffled yet murderous demeanor, "It will eat at you, Katerina, that you will do the most unspeakable of acts if only to feel. The emptiness is haunting and it echoes in your mind until you believe that madness is reality. I am the monster that history will someday make me out to be. It is true. It was true…until you pulled me back. I won't let that happen to you. I won't allow you to become a monster."
Elena felt her breath catch, her face softening as she struggled to speak, her voice breaking as she tried, "Then it seems we are at an impasse because I refuse to lose you and you will not love me unless I remain as I am."
"When you die, my love," Klaus said gently, his hands falling away from her, "I will hurt but it will not be the end. I will mourn your loss forever. But if you insist on cursing yourself with an unnatural existence, our love will die with you and I will no longer know you. Even if you continue to exist, you will no longer be the Katerina I fell in love with. The second you breathe your last, you will be my enemy, the murderer of my love."
Darkness filled Elena once more, helplessness and fear clawing at her as a drowning sensation overtook her. But it only took seconds until she felt strong arms holding her, moving her yet again in a dance. Elena opened her eyes to find that she was back to the day of the Miss Mystic Falls pageant, dancing with Damon.
"Damon," Elena said, surprised that she was able to speak, disturbing the memory she had of that moment, "What is going on?"
"Well, we're dancing apparently," Damon said, his face still carefully blank, "and barreling through time. At least we're in our own bodies for this one. I did not appreciate being in Klaus' head…although I sympathize with the fool…also taken in by Katherine. Imagine that. He really believed he loved her."
Elena gasped and instinctively stepped closer to Damon, forgetting the distance and formality of the dance, "It wasn't just me."
Damon shook his head, "No, I was there and I'm here now. Hey, Elena, look at me. You look like you're going to vomit. Don't. Dream or whatever this is, this is a very expensive suit. I would like to keep it in good condition."
"She loved him," Elena said slowly, traces of Katerina's emotions still lingering in her mind, "I felt it. She was desperate and afraid that they would be separated. But more than that, Katherine was terrified he didn't really love her."
"She didn't love him," Damon argued, "Obsessed maybe but love? I don't think so. I saw her look at me, well Klaus, I mean. It wasn't love. She just wanted something she knew at one point she wouldn't have anymore. It gave her a thrill but it wasn't real. It was bound to fade."
"No," Elena said forcefully, "I was inside her head, Damon. I could feel every reaction she had to what Klaus was saying. In that moment, I loved Klaus because she did."
"Then she's an incredible liar," Damon said in a low voice, "because she can deceive herself."
"How astute, Damon," Elijah said, walking calmly towards them as the world went still around them, leaving the three of them the only things moving as the rest were held in suspended animation.
"You did this," Damon said pulling Elena behind him protectively, "When you touched us after we pulled the dagger out. What the hell is this?"
"I don't know," Elijah said with a shrug, "The magic was not specific on that but on one thing alone, and that is to show you what weapon you need to prevent the cataclysmic events that will follow."
"Is that weapon killer dance moves?" Damon said with false pep in his voice, "I hardly doubt Klaus warned us not to pull out the dagger for fear that you'll tell us we can save the world with a twirl and a few moves."
"He told you not to pull it out because it would have allowed me to come back to life and he expected I would kill you, which he does not want to happen doting father that he is," Elijah said patiently, "But he did not foresee the warlock having enough wit about him to transform that event into something infinitely more useful in defeating Klaus."
"Which is…?" Damon said tilting this head, prompting Elijah to continue.
"A chance for you to go through my memories, step through those pages and find the truths among the lies you have been fed," Elijah said with a wave of his hands, as if it should have been simply obvious, "Of course, in exchange would be my irreversible death but my hatred for Klaus runs much deeper and this is my sacrifice for the cause."
"What?" Damon exclaimed, "That's completely ridiculous."
"No," Elena countered, stepping to stand beside Damon, "It makes perfect sense."
"Katherine," Elena said, glancing at Elijah for confirmation, proceeding when he nodded, "is our weapon against Klaus. She is his weakness."
"It is true," Elijah confirmed, "Klaus ordered her to be tracked down not because Katerina stole the moonstone, but because he knew what she would do with it. Pressed for time and fearing that Klaus will catch her before she could do something. She deceived Rose and Trevor so that somehow she could turn herself. Katerina didn't become useless to Klaus as a doppelganger, he saw her as something more than that. His anger stemmed from betrayal and he seeks revenge for a broken heart. In a way, Katherine, as you call her, murdered the one woman he ever loved. Klaus never wanted her dead. Those are all Katerina's lies."
"In turn, Katherine hates him because he proved every fear she had-that he would stop loving her…that in the end, it was all a lie," Elena said, a note of sadness in her voice, sympathy flooding her where anger was supposed to be for the people who put them in this situation, "And Damon…the fact that he's here means Klaus was with another woman, that somehow he forgot her…"
"Elaborate how this relates to the problem at hand because," Damon said edgily, "I'm failing to see how all this will help us solve this conundrum and save everyone."
"That is your problem, Damon," Elijah answered, "You are trying to save everyone. You cannot. Accept that so you can start to make the choices that will define how this will end. Ask yourself, Damon, do you really love Elena?"
"Yes." Damon said without missing a beat.
"Then you have to accept that sacrifices will need to be made, in the name of that love." Elijah said, "Answer this then, whose death will you be able to live with?"
Everything faded around them once more, a roaring sound filling their ears until it was almost painful. And then as quickly as the chaos came, silence took its place and with a gasp, as if breaking the surface after being underwater for so long, Elena opened her eyes and found she was back in the basement, secure in Damon's arm.
"So I take it, she lied, just like every other time," Damon said.
Elena nodded but kept silent, her breathing still erratic, partly from the insanity they just went through but mostly out of fear.
"Katherine will sacrifice me, not Klaus. She just wants him to watch as she gains immortality using my blood." Damon said steadily, "And we're going to let her."
Katherine looked out the window, a benign smile playing on her lips as she watched the clouds glide across the sky.
She smoothed her skirt as she went over her plan once more in silence, reminding herself to remain composed when she faced Damon, the son of the man who broke her, the very proof that he had lied to her.
Katherine closed her eyes, forcing herself to maintain a semblance of serenity so as not to begin on the wrong foot. She focused on the rattling of her carriage, the uneven road and even the breathing of her maid, Emily.
"Ms. Katherine," Emily said, as if on cue, "we are nearly there."
"Hmm," Katherine murmured noncommittally, "Do you know of the sun and moon curse?"
Emily shook her head and Katherine continued, "A man I met, long ago, back when I was human, inadvertently told me of it, and how to break it…as he toyed with the idea himself for lack of anything to do. It's all about blood, you see, Emily. More than the magic, the spell or whatever else ingredient there is, it all comes back to the blood. My blood and his, to be exact, and well, I suppose one of the lycanthropes. A witch will summon the power, through this moonstone, and drain the sacrifice of blood, then purify it using the magic. Whosoever drinks that blood, will be freed from the curse. Should the wolf drink the blood of the doppelganger and the vampire, he shall be free from the moon. Should the vampire drink the blood of the wolf and the woman, he shall bask in the sunlight without fear. And should the doppelganger be spared, the blood will repay the debt once taken from her lineage-a life, an immortal life."
"Is that why we are here?" Emily asked
Katherine nodded, "Yes. Mystic Falls is an interesting place. It brings together a most unusual sort of people and magic."
"Ms. Katherine," Emily said hesitantly, "Why would this man tell you such a thing? Did he not intend to sacrifice you?"
"No," Katherine answered languidly, "He meant to undo the makings of the curse, destroy it in a way that none could benefit from it so that I would never be in danger of being sacrificed."
"Is that not good then? Saving you?" Emily asked curiously
Katherine faced Emily, "Not when it broke my heart in the process. I meant to use it so we could spend eternity together and he wanted to keep me from it. And when I found another way, one that does not involve that curse, he shunned me."
"But then what use is there for you to break it now?"
A smile tugged on the corners of Katherine's mouth, teasing and devious, "There is always use for power, Emily. One need only know how to understand it, bend it and wield it. Immortality requires invincibility, and that my dear Emily is the most important thing of all."
"Does it also heal a broken heart out for revenge?" Emily said softly, reading between the lines.
Katherine's eyes blazed with anger but she held her tongue and looked sharply away, "We're here."
She stepped out of the carriage, schooling her features to look coy and every bit a lady, prepared to play a part. Katherine prepared herself to meet the man she will use to make Klaus pay, his own son.
But well-laid plans had a way of unraveling before the unexpected. And as Katherine lifted her head to look at her host, she knew that something inside had come undone. She looked into those shining, kind, green eyes and she knew that Stefan Salvatore had changed everything.
Katherine shook the memory out of her head, focusing on what was right before her and the ache that gnawed at her ever since she found out Stefan was dying.
"I have a heart you know," Katherine said as she sat by Stefan's bedside, watching him sleep, "Impossible as that may be to believe, I do love you."
"I'm immune to your lies, Katherine," Stefan said hoarsely, unmoving with his eyes still tightly shut.
"I don't need you to believe me." Katherine answered. With a sigh she continued, "You really are dying, aren't you?"
Stefan lay completely still, and the only sign that he even heard her was the tiniest of nods, followed by a wince and a suppressed groan.
Uncharacteristically hesitant, Katherine reached out and smoothed the lines on his face, relaxing when he did not push her away. She traced a line along the side of his face, watching Stefan slowly relax as the pain subsided. Her fingers stopped when she reached where the lethal bite hidden under his shirt.
"This is the first time I've wished I never turned you," Katherine continued, pulling back and settling once again in her seat, "It would have been easier to bear…to watch you die as a human, than like this."
"What difference does it make?" Stefan asked, finally opening his eyes, watching her carefully as she searched for the words to answer him.
"Because this is my fault," Katherine said with a bitter laugh, "If I had left you alone, nature would have had its way and I will only mourn your inevitable loss. But this…all of this is on me. You're going through all this pain because I made you vulnerable to a werewolf bite and whatever weakness that comes with being a vampire. I did this. And if I could…I'd take it all back."
"Too little, too late," Stefan said staring at her, forcing her to meet his eyes, "But it isn't your fault. You think too highly of yourself. Life isn't all about you, Katherine."
"Maybe not but undeniably things always come back to me and to you… to us." Katherine said meeting his gaze head on until Stefan looked away.
"There is no us," Stefan countered, "There never was because everything was a lie."
"Lies always come from truth, Stefan. You know that. Even the world's biggest lies started from a shred of honesty." Katherine argued.
Stefan closed his eyes and didn't respond. For a few minutes, silence reigned until Katherine stood up, looking down on him with a lifetime of regret in her eyes.
"Tell her, Stefan," Katherine said softly, "Don't be selfish like me."
"It will be real when I tell Elena," Stefan said, his voice lined with hurt, "It won't be a nightmare I'll wake up from. I will die, she will move on and I'll be nothing but a memory."
Katherine's mouth turned up at the corners, "You sound like Damon. You'd rather pain and lies if it means being able to keep Elena around for a moment longer."
"I wish I were Damon," Stefan said with a small smile, "If only for a second, I want to know what it's like to be the one Elena really loves."
Katherine tilted her head, her face set in a frown. "You know." Katherine said-a statement rather than a question.
"Unlike you, Elena is a horrible liar. I've known for a while now," Stefan said quietly. "You don't forgive someone over and over for unspeakable things if you don't love that person. Damon has done so many unredeemable things and yet she can't cut him out of her life," Stefan pointed out, taking a deep breath before continuing, "I was there for her. I saved her from the accident that killed her parents and from losing herself in the grief. I kept saving her but I wasn't the one who reminded her there was more to life than staying away from danger. Damon…he pushed her to feel things, to hate, to let go and be passionate, be pushed to the limit…to truly live. I may have kept her from dying a hundred times but my brother is the one who makes her feel alive."
Stefan closed his eyes again, defeated, "Death isn't the only inevitable thing. Losing Elena…it was always only a matter of time."
"We put broken hearts to shame," Katherine said shaking her head, "Just among the four of us, we've managed to make a truly happy ending impossible. But I'll take any kind of ending where you are alive."
Stefan didn't respond, surrendering to dreamless sleep. Katherine looked back one last time before she left, "I'll be back, Stefan. Wait for me."
Stefan tossed around in bed fitfully, rebelling against the pain that was tearing through him. Even sleep was not enough to numb him and he was helpless against it. He heard arguing, Damon and Elena, and the words grated against his ears, intensifying the agony. He made out a few sentences-something about Katherine, how Elena refused to let Damon go through with his plan, he could be wrong about the gift of immortality, it might just be for the Petrova line…and how there should be another way to save Stefan.
With the mention of his name, Stefan screamed until he was sitting upright, oblivious to the hands that tried to wrap around him, attempting to comfort him. He was blinded by the white hot pain that made him want to sever his limbs if it would ease the pressure. He couldn't see anything and the one face he recognized was the one he hated-Katherine.
Adrenaline surged through him and he flung her away, barely registering the loud crash that followed it and just feeling the one second of triumph that it brought relief to him.
"Elena!" Damon shouted, running towards her, "Are you okay?"
Elena nodded, trying to get up, holding onto Damon as she did, "It's the dementia, Damon. He doesn't know what's happening anymore."
In a blur of movements, Stefan rushed towards her, wanting to silence her completely but Damon was faster and blocked him, holding him by the neck, practically crushing his windpipe.
"Get a grip, Stefan," Damon said through gritted teeth, "Elena, get out of here. NOW."
"I can't…" Elena said.
"You can't help by being here. It's obviously agitating him to see you or just hear you. Go. Now. I'll deal with this. We'll finish talking later." Damon said forcefully, not taking his eyes off Stefan, who continued to struggle against him.
"Let me go!" Stefan rasped out.
"Not until I see you behave," Damon said backing up as he held his brother, locking the door after Elena ran out, "I never thought I'd see the day I'd be the one protecting Elena from you. But here we are, Stefan. Snap out of it."
"No, Katherine must die. This…all this is her doing. She lied to us, Damon. She manipulated us," Stefan growled.
"I agree with you wholeheartedly on all those points but that was, Elena, Stefan," Damon said calmly, "I don't know where the hell Katherine is and right now, I don't care."
Stefan's eyes widened in horror, reality crashing on him hard and fast. Damon saw the change and let him go, but still keeping a wary eye on him and the door.
"I can't…I didn't mean to…Elena…" Stefan muttered, "I need to apologize…but I can't be near her…I can't…"
"Okay, slow down cowboy," Damon said leading his brother to the bed, forcing him to sit down, "It's not your fault. I'm pretty sure she understands that. The best thing you can do for her now is to keep trying to fight this and stay alive long enough for us to figure out what to do. Can you do that?"
Stefan nodded mutely, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the side of the bed, "Please, I need to be alone."
Damon took a long hard took at him before standing up and walking out silently. Stefan sat completely still for a long time, replaying the bits he could remember in his mind, punishing himself by reliving the horror of what he did.
The soft caw of a crow disturbed his peace. The black bird stared at him thoughtfully, unnerving him. Stefan watched as it suddenly flew towards him and away just as quickly, leaving him once more as if it never came. It took a while for him to register the tiny slip of paper in his palm and read what it said.
Stefan crumpled it in his fist and closed his eyes as he made his decision. With a final glance, he took a deep breath and jumped gracefully out his window without a sound.
"I'm glad you came, Stefan."
"I'm not." Stefan answered, "But I'm desperate and I'm hurting people I care about. I didn't have much of a choice."
Klaus nodded to him, "I am not asking for your loyalty, merely your assistance. In turn, I will save your life. It's fair enough. We do not need to go into the reasons we have for our actions."
"I don't want to be saved…I just don't want to hurt Elena. I just want to save her," Stefan said in a wounded voice, "Nothing else matters."
Klaus smiled, "I can only give you the cure to the bite but everything else is up to you. Need I remind you that there are infinitely more horrible things in this world than death? But if you still choose her life, a word of caution, you may find that to save her, you will need to cause her the greatest pain she has ever known. Are you ready for that?"
"Yes," Stefan said resolutely.
"Really?" Klaus said with mild amusement, "You're willing to kill your own brother and take the love of her life away from her, if it means making sure her heart keeps beating?"
Stefan frowned and hesitated, "It's an impossible choice, Klaus."
"But one you must make," Klaus said with finality, "That is my offer-I cure you and help you save Elena, at the expense of your brother, or you go back, lose your mind and find yourself mad enough to kill her."
Klaus watched Stefan's internal struggle mirrored on his face plain as day, "I need an answer, Stefan. If it helps, think about it, what would Damon do if he were in your place?"
After what seemed like infinity, Stefan looked straight into Klaus' eyes and nodded.
"Okay, you have a deal."