Impossible, Ch 9: Twisted
Impossible
A/N: Been so long, sorry about that. Anyway, here's a long update and I hope you enjoy. Looking forward to getting this story back on track :)
Disclaimer: The characters and other things from The Vampire Diaries don't belong to me. Credit goes to the rightful owners.
Chapter 9: Twisted
Elena slammed the door, her heart pounding loudly in her chest as the walls reverberated with the force. She needed Klaus to think she was angry-at least enough to be afforded a few minutes alone.
She placed her palm flat on her chest, willing her heart to calm down as she strained to listen for approaching footsteps. She exhaled with relief when all she heard was the click on the lock of the front door downstairs. She blocked out the curiosity that sprang to her mind about the new arrival but she had not the luxury of time to waste, not if she wanted to get through this.
"Listen carefully," Anna said through Bonnie, "The ring that Damon wears, the one that protects him from the sun, you need it if you hope to save him."
The words flitted through her mind as she shakily opened her palm to reveal the ring, wondering if Klaus noticed its absence. For a fleeting second, she was relieved that Klaus was in Damon's body. He still seemed uncomfortable in the new skin he wore, making him less aware of the smaller things. At least, Elena hoped he didn't notice.
"Do you still have the necklace? The one that the other brother gave you?" Anna asked with a wistful note in her voice when Elena pulled out the pendant Stefan gave her from under her shirt, "Alexander gave that to me. I always meant to return it to him but I never did. I could not part with it, even in death. Part of me resides in that necklace, Elena, and it always finds it way to the doppelganger. It found you."
With her free hand, Elena yanked the pendant from her neck, allowing the clasp to break. Both objects felt cold and heavy in her hands, though deceptively small and harmless. She took a deep breath and sat down on the floor, her back to the door as she began chanting, words that felt foreign on her tongue but felt home to her soul, calling to whatever was left of Damon's essence.
"Bind him to you, Elena," Anna said, continuing only once Elena nodded, "If he succeeds in destroying Klaus, then he will live if he is tied to your existence. Do not take it lightly. It will only work if you love each other enough to forge such a connection. But it means means he cannot exist without you or away from you. From that point on, he will only cease to exist when you perish …and the other way around."
"You're saying if he fails," Elena said quietly, "I will die. We both will."
"Yes."
"Tell me how it can be done," Elena said resolutely ignoring the doubts that slowly began to creep through her mind.
"Elena, listen to me, this cannot be undone," Anna said, "There is no spell or magic that can unravel this. So I ask you, are you willing to risk being with Damon even if he's done unspeakable things, whether as Klaus or as himself. You may not even recognize him anymore. And it is not only a question of whether you can forgive him for it to have him by your side but if he can do the same for himself if he makes it through. Will you still want him if he's no longer the same man? He will be broken, Elena. If Damon never recovers from all of this, can you still honestly say you're willing to face an eternity with him?"
"I'll take my chances," Elena said with steely determination, "It's better than nothing. I have to try, Anna. Please."
"I admire you, Elena," Anna said softly, "for fighting. I always wrote it off as impossible and moved on. I guess I never really did and my curse made sure no one else did."
Elena smiled sadly, "Damon is impossible. He defies reason and any rule he comes across. I just learned from the best. He would do the same for me. He already did. Letting Klaus use him, believing it will kill him, banished any doubt I had about his love for me. There is no moving on from that, from him."
After a beat, Anna continued, "I will tell you how to do the binding but a word of caution- you cannot tell Damon you are doing this. Even if by some miracle you get through to him, you cannot trust that information to be so close to the enemy. You will have to risk Damon not knowing that he needs to fight for this to work. Because if Klaus finds out…"
The door opened with a loud bang, making Elena jump up, barely able to conceal the necklace and the ring in her pocket.
"Jumpy, aren't we?" Klaus said calmly, his eyes betraying his suspicion as he surveyed the room with narrowed eyes, "I can hardly believe that you've been meditating all this time. Not your style, Elena. Is there something you would like to tell me?"
Elena shook her head, not trusting to herself to speak, hoping that Klaus wouldn't notice the tiny bump the necklace made on the pocket of her jeans. She kept both her hands balled into fists, the ring secure in the left one.
Klaus stepped closer to Elena and bent towards her, close enough for their foreheads to be short of an inch apart. "You lie."
He trailed a finger down her left arm with a touch so light that her body shivered instinctively. Klaus stopped at her wrist and closed his own hand over hers, breaking eye contact when he finally pried open her palm, Damon's ring squarely in the middle.
"I expected more from you, Elena," Klaus said, his tone menacingly calm, "Did you think defeating me will be as simple as leaving me unprotected from the sun in this weak body? Your flaw, my love, is that you assume this curse will hold me until sunrise. Although, I do applaud the small victory in stealing this in the first place, I'm afraid it does little to help your cause. Now, go downstairs, be a good doppelganger and make sure Jules doesn't get carried away and bleed Tyler to death before it's time. We do need him alive at midnight for this to work you know. Run along now."
Elena's veins turned to ice at the mention of Tyler, knowing with finality that things have begun. She shook her head and moved to leave, turning around at the last second, "How can you be so heartless? It means nothing to you whether people live or die as long as you win. It's all just a game, getting inside our heads, controlling us. What for, Klaus? After this, then what? Immortality, power, invincibility? It will mean nothing, Klaus, if there's no one left but you."
Klaus threw ring at her, growling as he fought the impulse to reach out for Elena and hold her to him. Elena flinched expecting it to hit but the ring landed harmlessly on the floor next to her feet. She blinked in mild surprise, searching for Damon but the blue eyes held only fury and the malice of Klaus. Shaking her head in disappointment she ran down the steps in search of Tyler, hoping Klaus was bluffing.
Klaus closed his eyes briefly, pinching the bridge of his nose, which did little to ease his headache. He played back the scene in his mind, noting how she reacted to his mild weakness. Klaus did not miss. He was incapable of such a flaw. No. So the only logical conclusion was that he aimed to miss. He couldn't hurt her and yet in a matter of hours, he was supposed to bleed her to death.
"You're not the only one trying to save something, Elena," Klaus said to the empty room, "And that is not nothing."
He walked over to the door and picked up the ring, "It will mean everything because if it plays out as I intended, I won't be alone. I never will be again."
Turning off emotions was something humans could do to a certain extent, and for vampires they simply did it better, longer. But it was impossible to do it forever. Slowly, with time, it would creep up on them. Anna made sure of that. She wanted misery to find them, guilt to run after them, until every face of those the killed was burned into their minds and turned them into muted versions of the greatness they were meant to be.
Klaus resented weakness. Of his family, he was the one who reveled most in being a vampire. He viewed it as a priceless legacy that his father chose to gift his children with-strength beyond imagining and power over even death. But then it was also his father that turned all of it into a curse. Tainting everything with a sense of humanity that struggled with the perfect monster that lived inside him. It was for this reason that he murdered Alexander and Dimitri, along with any other who opposed him. He hunted down the wolves through the centuries, driving them to hide from his mad rampage. Even his own family was not spared. Any misstep was punished with death until only Elijah was left.
Together they went in search of answers. For decades, they found nothing, not even a whisper of what could break the curse. He searched for witches, shaman, anyone who had any idea of what kind of magic Anna summoned. He tortured them or lavished them with gifts but it all ended the same way- death. It was dealt swiftly the moment Klaus would realize that they did not have what he sought.
In despair, he drove even Elijah away, the only family he ever really trusted. Frustrated, he told his brother to leave and not come back without any answers or the price will be his life. Klaus lived as a recluse in that period, plotting, always plotting his way out of his cursed existence.
By some twist of fate, it was when he stopped looking that he found his answer-the first doppelganger.
Klaus relived the memory in his mind, watching his former body stalk towards the incessant pounding on his front door, determined to kill whoever stood behind it.
He pulled open the door, just as the woman was about to knock again, making her lose her balance and fall straight into Klaus. Fuming, he took her roughly by the shoulders and held her away. His eyes widened in alarm, wondering why Anna, his father's former love, had come to haunt him. He wondered briefly if he had completely lost his sanity until the woman spoke.
"Please, sir, you must help me," the woman said, trembling in his grip, her fear clear in her brown eyes, "I…I'm being chased….these men…they…please, sir. Help me."
It was then that Klaus finally took a good look at her. Beyond the resemblance, he saw that her face showed the early signs of bruising and that her wrists were swollen, marred by angry red rings, a finger twisted at an odd angle. Most importantly, he heard a heartbeat. This…whoever she was…she was human. She was not Anna.
"Of course," Klaus said, hiding his surprise at the sincerity he heard in his voice, something he never believed himself capable of unless he was threatening someone, "Come in. You're safe here."
He guided her to the chair by the fire, letting go only to search for a blanket and water. Klaus waited for her to calm down, drinking in her features, part of him waiting for the other shoe to drop. It had to be some form of sorcery, he was sure but that thought was obliterated the second she spoke again.
"Thank you," she murmured softly, staring into the fire, watching the flames dance as if they were the most mesmerizing sight in the world. "If it's alright, kind sir, I seek shelter until daybreak. I should be in a better position to….to outrun them and find my family…if they are still alive."
Klaus moved to kneel before her, "What is your name?"
"Elena."
Klaus' undead heart twisted inside him as a shot of pure pain coursed through him as continued to watch the scene unfold, the name echoing through every part of him, consuming his memories and every other conscious thought. He listened as the name was spoken aloud by the man he used to be, the name held with reverence on his lips as if it were a secret he would like to keep close.
"Elena, these men…they did this to you?" Klaus said reaching out to touch her face but letting his hand drop when he saw her stiffen at the gesture.
She nodded mutely, looking away once more, "I slipped away…that is what matters. They didn't…they weren't able to…touch me."
The assurance fell on deaf ears. Rage filled Klaus, a familiar companion to him through the years and yet he sensed something different with it this time. It came from a different place, strange and unsettling. Without thinking he wiped a tear from her face, and a wave of protectiveness washed over him when she looked at him, utterly defenseless. It was the first time since he was turned that he looked at a human and didn't think of blood. Elena was a stranger with a familiar face but only saw someone who needed him.
He stood up and made his decision then to avenge her, wanting to channel his wrath into some form of destruction. "Which direction did you come from? Do you know where they might search for you? Anything that will tell us where they are now?"
"No!" Elena gasped, her fragile hand finding his, clutching it with desperation, "Please sir, there is no need. There are too many of them…you…you have much to allow me in your home. Please. You may get hurt or worse…please, sir. It is safer if we let them go."
The lines on his face relaxed with every second she held onto his hand, somehow calming him until the desire to leave her dissipated completely. His mind eventually agreed with her logic, accepting that it was unwise to leave her unprotected.
"Klaus," he said, "Call me Klaus."
Klaus punched the wall, a shower of plaster and wood falling to the floor. He stared at the hole he created, then at the hand that was now adorned by the ring that Elena had stolen earlier.
Elena.
He howled angrily, hitting the wall again before turning around and slamming his entire body against it, shaking the entire panel. He slid down and sat with his head in his hands, frustrated with the emotions that swirled through him. He couldn't decipher anymore if they were remnants of what Damon's body felt for Elena or if his past was finally catching up to him.
The moment he got wind of the latest doppelganger's name, Klaus knew this was his last chance to succeed or lose everything, all or nothing. He laughed bitterly as her name ran through his mind, the same face that haunted his undead existence, and that somehow in a thousand years he found himself wanting to believe that his Elena came back to him.
But he knew that was impossible because he still remembered how she died in his arms and whispered words that tormented him every second since.
"I thought you loved me. I was wrong."
Damon watched as Klaus stood flipping through memories like pages of a book. His face was drawn and ashen with anguish written all over him as he watched his past self with a version of Elena. Damon listened as a duet of laughter filled the air, uncorrupted by any evil, washed clean somehow by whatever it was that connected the young couple before them. Apart they stood, letting the recollection play out to its conclusion.
They watched as a younger Klaus finally caught up with a breathless Elena, both of them tumbling to the ground when he wrapped his arms on her waist, causing another round of laughter. Minutes passed before they both calmed down, a comfortable silence settling between them with Elena pressing her ears to his chest as they lay beneath the sun watching clouds pass by.
"Still looking for a heartbeat?" Klaus said cautiously, a hint of a challenge in the question.
"Yes," Elena said smiling to herself, "It still surprises me you do not have one."
"Do you think less of me for not having one? Do you think me a monster?"
"It matters not, Klaus," Elena said pulling herself up, tilting her head at him, the mood shifting subtly to a territory they have not yet breached till that moment.
Elena took a deep breath and placed her hand on his chest, "The men…those who hurt...those who chased me…I heard their rapid heartbeats, how it fueled them with such malice. It is not a sound that comforts me, Klaus, and it does not prove the goodness of a man. The silence of yours will not decide who you are to me. Saving my life that day, caring for me every day since…" Elena used her free hand to place his over her own heart, "I fell in love with a man not a monster, Klaus."
Damon felt everything that Klaus was feeling, both the agony of the man he knew as the most feared vampire in the world and the one that held the woman that could have been his redemption. If not for that, he would have laughed at anyone who dared tell him that Klaus was capable of love. But it was there, pure and overwhelming, somehow allowing him to reconcile both versions of the Klaus he knew.
The scene transformed before Damon could make anything of what he saw, but he felt sensed the beginnings of a theory on Klaus' true intentions. Silently, he watched a messenger knock on the door to Klaus' home in a pattern that appeared to be a designated signal. The door flew open a second after the messenger had left the folded piece of parchment nailed to the door with a dagger.
"Who is it, Klaus?" Elena asked, her voice a faint echo coming from somewhere inside the house.
"Just a traveller passing through, asking for directions," Klaus lied easily, "I will just step out for a while and get some wood."
Without waiting for an answer he closed the door behind him and wedged the dagger on the handle, bolting it from the outside. He took five steps before ripping apart the seal and reading the contents of the letter. Klaus read the contents over and over, completely absorbed that he didn't even realize that he was standing still in the middle of a field, angry tears streaming down his face.
His brother was returning but as he needed to arrange for some things, he sent a letter, as his news could not wait. Elijah had found what Anna had concealed from them for so long.
Klaus tore up the paper hoping the act would placate his anger. But the contents were already burned in his brain. He could not unlearn what needed to be done for him to accomplish what he made to be his purpose in his life. They key to his freedom, it appeared, walked right into his life and if the full moon above him had a say, she had perfect timing as well.
He walked home at a human's pace, agonizingly slow for him but it bought him time to wrestle with his emotions. Away from her, he began to rationalize that the few months with her could not stack up against his desire for true immortality. He could replace her with a more worthy queen once he ascended to his full power.
Klaus reached his destination and took the dagger that held it door closed just as Elena stepped towards him, her face filled with worry as she took in his rigid frame.
"What has happened?" Elena said reaching out for him, surprised when he stepped past her and walked into the house without a word. She followed him but pressed no further, judging it best to let him be for a while. Elena sat beside him until the fire burned out, the room drowned in total darkness, save for the moonlight that filtered through the window. It was only then that he spoke.
"I love you."
It was the first time he said it to her. Possibly because it was only at that moment that he recognized it for what it was.
"And that is the problem." Elena said quietly.
A frustrated sigh escaped his lips, confirming her statement. She took his hand, her fingers almost as cold as his touch, "It is something to do with…what you are, isn't it?"
Klaus could not bring himself to answer, his mind somehow running through possibilities. Running away with her before Elijah caught up with them, killing his brother and anyone else who knew about the doppelganger, what she meant to the vampires and werewolves. But his mind always kept going back to ending her life and reclaiming what he always believed was his birthright.
"Will it make you happy?" Elena asked, interrupting his thoughts.
"What will?"
"Letting me go."
Klaus finally turned to look at her, the moonlight illuminating her face, and how her eyes showed him that she would break her own heart to give him what would make him whole.
"No," he answered, "no, it won't. Elena, pack your things. We must leave at once. It is not safe here."
In less than an hour they were trudging through the forest with only the bare essentials. Klaus pulled on Elena, urging her forward, faster even if he knew it hurt her. Elena did not complain, trusting him completely.
They did not make it far when a piercing howl cut through the silence of the night, the most terrifying sound Elena heard in her life. Klaus swore under his breath and threw away anything they were holding, anything that could slow them down and pulled them both into a run.
But it took only a few minutes for the wolf to catch up and circle them, eyes bright with the hunt, the need to kill. Klaus tensed, letting the bloodlust takeover him, pushing the savage warrior to the surface.
"Elena, when I tell you to run, you go and do not look back." Klaus said pushing her behind him.
The wolf bared its teeth at him, almost in a threatening smile as its thoughts somehow became clear to Klaus. Their pack had intercepted the message and they have come to claim the doppelganger for their own. Suddenly, five more wolves arrived, trapping them cleanly.
Klaus knew he could take them easily but he could not risk leaving Elena's side. She would be unable to fight and these wolves will not show her mercy. He was put on the defensive, something he had only experienced a handful of times before. But he had no choice but to let her hand go when they attacked all at once.
He snarled as he punched one wolf in the gut, pulling out whatever organs he could grab, incapacitating them as best he could, before moving on to the next. One wolf landed a blow to his head, its jaws coming close enough to his neck before Elena whacked it on the muzzle, then to its head, giving Klaus the space to maneuver to snap its spine. He whirled like a man possessed, slashing through the air with precision, his hits quick and clean until there was one left. It lunged in his direction, and he watched in slow motion, readying himself to block it but the impact never came. The wolf went straight for Elena and bit her, drinking her blood, then ran away once it realized Klaus was still in play, its survival instinct kicking in.
Klaus rushed to Elena's side, cradling her as he assessed the extent of her injuries. He watched the blood pool beneath her, momentarily tempting him, the hunger inside him screaming to be satiated.
"Klaus," Elena coughed, "I'm cold."
He could save her, with his blood, he could heal her but he didn't know what the wolf's bite meant for a doppelganger. He did not know if she would turn or if she could walk away from it. He stared at the torn flesh on her neck and then at the dagger that was forgotten by her side. She was dying and part of him didn't want to save her.
Klaus decided the risk of having her become his enemy was not worth it. It would be kinder to spare her from the chaos, for now at least. Until he made sure his enemies no longer existed, then he would find a way to bring her back. Anna's spell made sure part of her lived on, he trusted that magic meant part of Elena can still reclaimed.
He clenched his jaw and picked up the dagger, "I will find your family, your daughter, even if it takes me to the ends of the earth. I will find them. I will make the wolves pay for what they did to you and the First that cursed us all. If I have to summon her myself to bring you back to me, I will. But for now, you need to die, my love."
Without warning, he plunged the dagger straight into her human heart. Her eyes widened in shock, betrayal lining her face as she spoke her final words, "I thought you loved me. I was wrong."
"So that's your plan?" Damon said stepping next to Klaus as the image faded and they were the only ones left in the darkness, "Kill a wolf, a vampire and the doppelganger, somehow screw the wolves in the process and bring back your old girlfriend. Is that why you've been perfecting this body snatchers routine so you can stuff someone into Elena?"
"I wondered how many of my memories I needed to show you before you caught on," Klaus said, "Oh come on, Damon, did you really think I didn't notice you lurking about. Give me some credit and some gratitude, while you're at it. Before today, no one, not even Elijah knew about her. And it will stay that way."
"Alright, since this film festival seems to be a long-winded introduction to your diabolical plan, I'm guessing you want me to find out what that is exactly, so why don't we stop wasting time and you just spell it out for me." Damon said
"Patience, Damon," Klaus said, "In time, you will understand. But for now, it is enough for you to know that you're not the only one capable of doing the impossible out of love. I will break this curse, Damon, and I will get her back. If not, then this ring will ensure that I'll have even the smallest bit that's left of her in Elena Gilbert for all eternity. Even if that means I'll have to become you."
"I'm weak, I get that," Damon said, "given how easily you shoved me aside in my own body. But Elena, my Elena, isn't. You can't twist her spell and somehow make her believe I am you. For one thing, I don't end every conversation with cryptic statements. She's bound to notice the change. She loves me. She knows me. She's called me out on so much crap I pulled. She's the only one who believed in the few good things I did in my life. Besides, what makes you think your Elena even wants to come back? She doesn't believe you loved her. She said it herself. And to be honest, I'm pretty sure you didn't."
With a powerful blow, Klaus knocked Damon unconscious. He flexed his hand, then pushed the ring down securely on his finger.
"Good night, Damon, I'll wake you up when it's time to say goodbye."
Klaus opened his eyes, his gaze straying to the clock by Elena's bedside. It read an hour before midnight, right on schedule.
He stood up and brushed himself off, boxing up the memories and pushing them to the farthest corner in his mind, sweeping them past Damon who lay silent in his mind.
He went downstairs and found Elena holding Tyler, whispering assurances to him as he tried to stay awake. Klaus watched as her eyes immediately went to his hand, relief flashing in her eyes.
"You're wearing the ring," she pointed out for forced casualness that Klaus almost rolled his eyes, a habit he could not break this body out of.
"Of course, Elena," Klaus said, "I've decided that you returned it to me for a reason. I intend to discover why."
"It's Damon's ring, not yours." Elena said, her eyes not leaving his.
"Then it's mine," Klaus replied, pulling the front door open, "I am him, Elena. Everything of his, I will take. Everything he is, I will be. Get used to it. At least, for the next hour…after that, well, it's irrelevant for you, since you'll be dead. Now, run along to the car and take Tyler with you. Greta, be a dear and help her out."
Elena glared at him as she placed Tyler's arm around her shoulders and hobbled with him out the door, with Greta stomping behind them, ignoring Klaus' orders.
"Enough with the dramatic speeches, Klaus," Jules called out as she approached Klaus, "It's useless and I'm tired of listening to you. So let's just get this over with."
"You're right," Klaus said, "Let's do away with the useless things."
Before she had time to blink, he was beside her and in one fluid motion he snapped her neck.
"I only need one werewolf, Jules," Klaus said as he kicked her body to the side, "It's a shame it's not you."
With a final glance around the house, he closed the door behind him, walked towards Elena Gilbert and didn't look back.