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Chapter 1
From the Diary of Elena Gilbert
April 14th
Monday, (really Tuesday) half past midnight
Dear Diary,
My life seems to have gathered some sense of normalcy
now. It’s been six months since I came back from the dead. My reward for
waving my home town from disaster. I still don’t understand it even now. One
minute I’m fading off into the distance, desperately reaching out for
Stefan, the next…I’m in the forest and not a ghost anymore. My friends were
all so happy But for me, the experience was a little too overwhelming. Too
much for me to deal with. I love my friends dearly and don’t know what I’d
do without them, but I wanted time away. Time to get myself together. I also
wanted to finish high school. Then I could go to college with my friends in
a new place where nobody knows me. But obviously I couldn’t stay in Fell’s
Church because everyone, including Margaret and Aunt Judith think I'm dead
and buried. I wish I could see them, tell them how much I miss them. Then
Bonnie remembered a family tree project we did in our junior year history
class and suggested that I could find a remote branch of the family. I
remembered I had cousins in San Francisco from my mother’s side. They were
my mother’s sister’s daughters. So I went to see if I could stay there. I
remember only meeting my aunt once, her daughters, (there are three of them)
are older than me, I think the youngest, Phoebe, is about twenty-one, maybe
twenty-two now.
Anyway, I found the house, told them who I was. (Obviously they hadn’t heard the news about me.) I said my parents had died in a car crash and I needed somewhere to stay. Only Phoebe remembered me, and was quite happy to let me stay. So I’ve been living there with my cousins. The other two, Piper and Prue, are both workaholics. Piper is a chef at a fancy restaurant called Quake, and Prue works at an auction house. Piper’s okay, Phoebe’s cool. She’s fun. Prue’s kind of up tight. The smart one. She reminds me a little of Meredith. There’s something a little weird about the house, and especially the way they won’t let anyone in the attic. It makes me think they’re hiding something. I always thought it was just paranoia, but I’m now certain it’s not. I don’t know why. I’ll find out, though.
Meredith and Bonnie are coming to visit for a few days next week. I can’t wait to see them. Of course, I haven’t told any of my cousins the real reason I’m here, or how I acquired the sleek black Italian Ferrari I drive. (The one Damon abandoned. I found a spare set of keys. Stefan said he probably won’t mind me using it.) I can just see the looks on their faces if they learned my boyfriend is a vampire and one of my best friends is a witch. Since they left for college, Bonnie’s been writing, telling me she’s really starting to get into all this witchy stuff now. Her natural powers make her a big hit at a Wiccan group she joined.
I'm not a vampire anymore. I’m just an ordinary girl. I like it here. The city is fun, has lots of cool things to do, interesting places to go. Wonderful shopping. The high school I go to here is a lot bigger than the one in Fell’s Church. I'm not queen of the school here, and I’m not really sorry I’m not. I have a number of new friends, but not a new boyfriend. I won’t be unfaithful to Stefan. Stefan hasn’t come with me. He knows how much he means to me, how much I love him, but I said I needed some time alone. He’s promised to wait for me. He says he’ll know when I’m ready to see him again.
But somewhere deep inside me, I feel different. I can’t describe the feeling. It’s like a compulsion., something that drive me to do things I would never ordinary do. Sometimes I feel possessed, like something is trying to take over my mind. It wants me to hurt people. It makes me feel wild and reckless, like I can do anything I want. I can’t control this feeling when I have it. And when it makes me do things, I don’t remember. I think that soon, the feeling is going to take over my life completely. I’m going to do something dark and mean and unforgivable. But when I feel out of control I don’t think about the consequences. I think of the thrill of the moment. The ultimate high it gives me. And you know what? I like this feeling. And when I’m going to do something bad…I’m going to enjoy it.
* * *
Chapter 2
Elena stopped writing. She put the diary under her mattress and slipped out of bed. The wild feeling had slipped over her. She needed to be outside, in the dark night in the busy city where she could do something. What, she had no idea.
She dressed quickly, in black, leaving her pale gold hair loose and gleaming in the dim lighting from outside the curtains. She paused and listened. Not a sound came from upstairs of people moving, only the creaking and groaning of pipes in the old house. She slipped on black boots and left the house, tip-toeing downstairs as quietly as she could. She peered around, making sure no-one was there. No one was.
She put her house keys into her pocket and slipped out. Instead of getting in her own car, she got in Prue’s sleek little car instead. Someone might recognise her own car. Then again, someone might recognise this one too. But that didn’t bother her.
For a while, Elena just drove aimlessly, not sure what to do, or where to go. She pulled up outside a night club in a bad area she'd always been warned against. Without thinking about what she was doing, she parked the car and walked through the club door.
Lights flashed all around and music pounded. Smells of alcohol and cigarette smoke filled her nose. Elena began to push her way through the crowd, looking for people she knew. She recognised a crowd from school in a corner, hazy with smoke. These were people she avoided at school, tough people, who’d smash your face in if you looked at them the wrong way. The guys who wore dingy, dark clothing, the girls in black leather, high heels and tight tops.
Yet somehow, she knew exactly how to act around them, how to talk to them. They seemed to think it was fun to have her here.
Something was talking to her, something not outside from one of the people in the group, but from someone who appeared to be in her head.
Okay, I’m hearing voices? Elena thought. I’ve had way to much to drink.
But she listened to the voices and found herself doing what it said. She leaned close to the boy hanging over her shoulder and whispered in his ear. He grinned and Elena led him out into the alley round the back.
She looked around and pulled something out her purse. She heard the voice whispering, telling her what to do. She drew the knife across the surprised boy’s throat and laughed as the blood splurted. He reeled backwards and she struck again. And again. Repeatedly she stabbed him, laughing and laughing at his screams, unheard by the idiots inside the club.
Still grinning psychotically, Elena put the knife back in her purse and walked back to her car. She tossed the purse into the backseat and drove away, still chuckling to herself.
* * *
Chapter 3
The next morning Elena woke, realising she was late, and she felt terrible. Se also realised she stank. What had she been doing last night? All she remembered was writing in her diary and then blacking out for a while. She assumed she'd fallen asleep.
She had a quick shower and dressed in bright clothes, hoping that might make her feel better. When she looked in the mirror she didn’t recognise the girl who looked back. The girl in a brightly coloured top and denim shorts had lank gold hair, skin that was too pale and blood-shot, red rimmed eyes. What’s happening to me? Elena thought, grabbing her books and hurrying downstairs.
Her cousins were in the kitchen, watching the morning news. Phoebe greeted Elena with “God, you look awful.”
“Thanks a lot,” Elena muttered, not bothering to mention she felt awful too.
Prue looked up from the morning paper. “Elena are you sick?”
“I just feel groggy. I’ll be okay once I get to school.” She glanced at the TV, and saw police cars and an ambulance at a popular club people from school went to. “What happened there?” she asked.
“Some guy got beat up and stabbed repeatedly, and slashed - ”
“Can it would you Phoebe?” Piper looked a little green. “Not what I want to hear first thing in the morning. Why can’t they have nice news early on, and save the horrible stuff for when everyone’s woken up?”
“News isn’t nice,” Prue said, picking up several manila folders and her purse. She was looking around, for car keys, Elena guessed. “And why aren’t my keys where I left them? Phoebe?”
Phoebe looked affronted. “Just because something’s out of place doesn’t mean I did it.”
“Generally you do,” Piper put in.
“Thanks for the support,” Phoebe said dryly.
“Elena have you seen my keys?” Elena shook her head, sipping on a cup of coffee. “Can I have a lift? Or else I’m going to be really late.”
“Sure, providing I find my keys,” Prue muttered, lifting the paper, getting more and more annoyed. “Phoebe are you sure you didn’t borrow my car last night?”
“No. I was actually home last night.” Phoebe looked annoyed.
“This is ridiculous. Where the hell are they?”
“How are we supposed to know?” Piper said, getting her own keys.
“Well you could help me look instead of sitting round doing nothing.”
Piper, Phoebe and Elena stopped what they were doing and began to turn the house over, hunting for Prue’s car keys. It was Elena who found them, on the table by the front door. She reached out for them, then recoiled back in horror. They were covered in blood.
“Oh my God.”
“What?” Phoebe pushed her out the way to look. “Hey Prue! We’ve got them!” she yelled.
“About damn time too,” Prue muttered, pushing a wisp of dark hair out her eyes. She grabbed a jacket and was about to reach for them when she noticed Elena shaking. “Elena?” Elena pointed to the keys, her hand shaking. Phoebe and Prue leaned forward, trying to see what Elena was pointing at. And then they saw. “Ooohh, that’s not right,” Phoebe said.
“You think?” said Prue.
“Have you found them yet? Cause I’m going to be late too and my new boss in gonna kill me.” Piper hurried into the hall, trying to get past and out the door, then she saw the blood-covered keys. “Uh-oh.”
“Why should my keys be covered in blood?” Prue asked.
No one answered. “Maybe you cut yourself and never realised,” Phoebe suggested.
“If there’s that much blood I should have noticed.” Prue inspected her hands, but saw no cuts or scrapes that could have caused the blood.
“Maybe we should wipe it off,” Elena suggested.
No one really wanted to touch the blood covered car keys. They stood there, not moving. Did this mean something? Was something going on? Elena saw the three sisters exchange glances. It was a look she’d seen before, one that made her wonder what they were hiding. “Well somebody should do something or nobody’s going to get anyway,” Elena said finally.
“I think I’ll use the spare set today.” Prue hurried into the kitchen and came back with a spare set of keys. She handed them to Elena. “Wait in the car for a minute.”
Elena took the keys and walked outside into the bright San Francisco morning. She paused for a minute by the front door, trying to listen to what was going on inside. But this was a reasonable neighbourhood. If someone saw her leaning close to a door, listening, they might think it was something suspicious so she went and got in the car.
* * *
The first thing Prue saw as she and Elena approached the high school was a police car out front and several TV news vans and reports milling about, talking to the kids. “Did you know that guy?” she asked Elena.
Elena shook her head. “No. I’ve seen him around, he’s one of the tough crowd, that’s probably why this is such a big deal. I hate that crowd, so you don’t have to worry about me getting in trouble with the police. Thanks for the ride.” Elena opened the door and slid out the car, shutting the door behind her. Prue watched the police car for a minute, vaguely wondering if it was Andy. She couldn’t help wondering what he thought of her, always being at the scene of the crime. She really should tell him the truth one day. They'd discussed telling Elena, but had decided not to, until they felt sure she could be trusted. She was nice enough, not loud and hyper, having parties in the house all the time like a certain sister had once done in high school…but recently it seemed like there was something off.
Elena had been acting very strange. She would fall into a trance and just sit and stare for hours…or she'd suddenly become mean and spiteful. And whenever her behaviour radically changed, no matter for how short a time…she never remembered. She’d mentioned to Phoebe that she’d been through a tough time at her old school and with her family, but wouldn’t say what. After six months Elena should have had time to adjust. She was getting on fine with her school work, there were no major problems with classes or grades. Her friends were okay…
So what was the problem?
Piper had mentioned the possibility of possession after one of Elena's bitchy fits. They’d decided not to talk about it to Elena, they'd wait for Elena to come to them. Or, maybe they should look out for signs of demonic possession or do a little homework on Elena. Whenever they asked her about her past, Elena didn’t want to talk. Prue glanced at the clock and cursed silently. She’d been sitting here for five minutes speculating. Morning traffic was going to be terrible now. She’d better call the auction house and let them know she'd be late before she got in trouble. She reached into the back seat for her purse with her cell phone. But her reaching fingers found something else. A smaller purse with long straps. She pulled it out. The purse looked unfamiliar. Not one of hers. She opened the gold clasps that held it together and peered inside, looking for something that would give her a clue as to which sister it belonged to, or if it was one of Elena’s. Then she got a surprise. The store tag, price attached was still inside. And that wasn’t all. Something wide and black was sticking out. Like a handle. Prue pulled it out and stared in horror. A knife. A butcher knife from the kitchen, covered in blood in a stolen purse in her car. From what it looked like, someone was trying to frame her.
* * *
Chapter 4
Elena walked through the hallway to her first class of the morning. People everywhere were talking about the murder last night. Cops were there, talking to students, media crews were there too. Of course, lots of students were acting up, doing anything they could to get into the camera. “I take it you heard,” Elena's friend Cindy said as Elena slid into her seat.
“Who hasn’t?” Elena said. “I saw it on the news this morning. Who would be strong enough - and stupid enough to do something like that?”
“I can’t believe nobody saw anything,” Naomi Miles said, shaking her head of garish green-black bangs of hair. “A crowded place like that and nobody even heard him screaming?”
“I say it serves him right,” Tom Locke said gloomily. Tom was another new comer, moved from Vista Grande, California at the beginning of the senior year. Elena didn’t like him. He was too moody for her. And too little-boyish as well. And bossy. She had no idea what Naomi saw in him. They’d been going out for about three weeks now.
“There weren’t any witnesses?” Elena asked.
“I heard someone saw a black Porsche drive away, kind of weaving, as if the driver was drunk or something,” Cindy said. Cindy was the gossip hound of the group, a little like Bonnie.
“Maybe he just pissed somebody off and they killed him in a drunken rage,” Elena suggested. Before they could talk anymore the teacher entered and class started. Elena couldn’t really concentrate on the psychology lecture. Something was stirring inside her. Something that was disagreeing with what the teacher was saying about the mind of killers, something about how victim’s screams deaden their pain, how they have to do it again and again to get it right. It wasn’t even an original lecture. They were lines from a movie about serial killers called Copycat. Elena had seen it a dozen times. Finally, she couldn’t take anymore. The need to say something was pressing in on her.
“Oh that's a load of bullshit,” she snorted. The teacher stopped talking. Everyone in the class turned to look at her, shocked. “Killer’s don’t feel pain. They feel wild and high. The thrill of planning, stalking and terror…it’s the ultimate. We do it again and again because it’s *fun*. We love to hear them scream and beg for mercy, just to see the looks on their faces. And when it’s someone you particularly hate…it’s all the more enjoyable. Everyone always talks about the poor little victim…boo hoo hoo. Who gives a fuck about them? They probably deserved to die. And the ultimate thrill, the best thing about killing…is doing it and getting away with it, laughing in the cops faces. How many killers have they caught after the first murder? It takes them weeks, months, sometimes even years to catch a killer. I bet there are hundred out there that have killed and killed and never been caught. And that, as I've said, is the best thing about being a killer. You assholes know nothing.” And with that, Elena picked up her books and walked out of the class room, head held high, leaving everyone staring in disbelief.
* * *
In the hallway, police officer Andy Mooney, an ex boyfriend of Prue’s, and his partner Daryl Morris had been listened to the girl’s psycho speech. About to enter the class room to talk to the students they’d heard the girl interrupt and listened.
“Handy things, cassette recorders,” Morris said. “Isn’t she Prue’s little cousin?”
Andy nodded, a frown tightening his features. “Umm-hmm.” Prue’s family involved in a crime again. What a surprise. And Elena had seemed so sweet too.
“Think we’ve got our killer?” Morris asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe we should wait a few day, ask around, see what we can find on her. She looks too…innocent.”
“They all do.”
* * *
Chapter Five
Idiots, Elena thought as she stomped through the empty halls of the high school. Yet again, the wild reckless feeling had taken hold of her. She thought she could do anything.
She wished she had a baseball bat. She felt like smashing things. She headed out to the gym. She knew where all the equipment was kept. Before she went in the gym she spent a few minutes walking around in mud from rain sometime in the night and then took great pleasure in walking muddy foot prints on the shiny, hardwood floor. The athletics coach was going to have a fit when he saw this. She felt sorry for the poor suckers who took gym or some out door sport.
She found the sports equipment closet open and reached for a baseball bat. She took several practice swings, pretending she was smashing someone’s head in. That’d be fun.
“Elena!” someone shouted her name. She turned around to see Tom hurrying towards her, looking concerned.
She was annoyed. “I don’t like you,” she said as he came running up to her.
“Everyone’s worried about you. You’ve gone completely psycho. What’s wrong?”
Without thinking about it, Elena swung the bat like someone hitting a home run and connected with Tom’s head. There was a sickening sound of wood hitting flesh and a spray of blood and brain tissue hit Elena in the face. She laughed as Tom cried out and fell down to his knees, dazed and bleeding from an ugly head wound. She hit him again, and again, loving the sick thumpy sound of hitting flesh and spraying blood and brain tissue.
When the strength ebbed out of her she looked down at the mess of what had been Tom’s head. Eeuww, she thought. What a mess. I’d hate to have to clean that up.
She took the baseball bat with her and walked into the girl’s room to clean up. She carefully wiped the blood off her face and the blood off the bat, and then went into the locker room, using the bat to break a locker open. Inside she found a pair of nice white sneakers. She pulled her own dirty ones off and the other ones on. She shoved the dirty ones in the broken into locker. Then she went back into the bathroom and cleaned her fingerprints from the bat. Then she tossed the bat back into the cupboard and headed out the gym.
* * *
Chapter six
From the Diary of Elena Gilbert
Tuesday 15th 11:30 AM
Dear Diary,
I just killed that idiot Tom Locke, and I thoroughly
enjoyed it. I bashed his stupid too big head in with a baseball bat. At
school, in the gym. He’s still there, I think, oozing mess all over Coach’s
clean hardwood floor. I’m getting really good at this. Last night’s kill was
just reckless, spur-of-the-moment. The voice I hear is telling me what to
do, how to cover up.
It gives me all the right advice on what to say and how to act. I feel so good. It’s been a long time since I’ve had so much fun. I wish this was a subject they taught in school. I could do that. I’d pass that class with flying colours.
The question is, what to do next. I’ve already killed two people, I feel like doing something else. Maybe blowing up a building or something. I don’t know. Is that a little too much?
I want to feel better. I want more power. Like the power I had as a vampire. But I’ve been a vampire, I want to be something else now.
Maybe when Bonnie comes next week I’ll get her to teach me witch craft. Then I can put curses on people. That’d be fun.
I hope I can come up with something soon. I feel wretched and I don’t like it. Now that I’m sitting down and really thinking about it, no matter how much I hated that jerk Tom, killing him here in school in broad daylight was a really stupid thing to do. Anyone could have seen me leaving the gym or something. And anyone could have followed me and could be talking to the cops right now.
I think I’m just going to go home. I can’t stand this dull, lifeless place right now.
And next time I’m thinking of killing someone, I guess I’ll have to be more careful.
* * *
Chapter 7
Elena put her diary back into her purse. She heard excited whispers and suddenly people were running out of the library. She followed curiously.
“What’s going on?” she asked somebody passing her.
“Someone’s just been found dead in the gym,” the girl said. “He got his head bashed in apparently.”
“Any idea who did it?”
“Nobody’s got a clue. But it can’t have been done long ago. He’s still bleeding.”
Elena followed the crowd of curious students to the gym. Paramedics had already been called and were putting the body in a body bag. The cops were there, trying to shoo the students away. Elena felt a sudden surge of panic when Prue’s boyfriend Andy, one of the cops, suddenly looked directly at her, a suspicious expression on his face.
Elena turned around and walked back to the school’s entrance. There was an announcement over the loud speaker saying classes had been cancelled.
Elena heard somebody calling her name, but ignored them and walked on. She seemed to have lost any sense of what was going on as she walked home. Her mind was a humming blank.
She opened the front door and found the house was silent. Being the middle of the day, no one was home, not even Phoebe. Good, I’ll have the house to myself for a while, she thought.
She headed upstairs to her room, and then spotted the stairs that led to the attic. She’d never been up there before, the door was always locked, and she’d never found the key. But today, the door hung open. Someone had forgotten to lock it.
The attic was large ands gloomy, lit only by one large window in the rear end, full of old things. And something else. There was a book on a stand by the window. Curious, Elena dropped her purse and went to the book.
In calligraphy-like handwriting, the words *Book Of Shadows* was written on the front in gold lettering. Elena flipped through the pages. Spells, charms, rituals, ceremonies. It’s a spell book, Elena realised. They’re witches? I knew they were hiding *something*. But this? This is unbelievable. She picked up the book and took it back to her room, where she sat there reading the spells, charms and rituals. Power raising, protection, all sorts of things. A power raising spell caught her eye. It seemed simple enough…
She cleared the hardwood floor of her room, and moved around the house, collecting things she needed. She was headed back upstairs when she heard voices.
“…dead for six months.” That was Prue.
“That’s impossible. Are you sure?” Piper.
“Of course I’m sure. Look at these.”
There was a pause, and Elena heard in-drawn breaths.
“Where did you find these?” Phoebe.
“In the back of my car. “ Prue again. “I was reaching for my phone to tell work I’d be late and I found these. And that knife inside.”
“You think there’s a connection to the keys?” Phoebe.
“Yes. It couldn’t be a coincidence.”
“At least we know it wasn’t me.” Phoebe. “But what does this have to do with Elena being dead for six months?”
“We don’t really know anything about her. Am I the only one who’s noticed her mood swings?”
There was a pause. Elena didn’t know where they were, but she didn’t want to get any closer so she stayed put. Listening.
“Well I decided to do a little snooping. I searched for police records on the ‘Net, and found no file on Elena, no record. Then I contacted her high school in Fell’s Church, and apparently, she supposedly died in a freak accident but then something else happened, it turned out she wasn't dead but died, supposedly for real with causes of death unexplained.”
“Again I return to what’s this got to do with bloody knives and keys?” Phoebe.
“I don’t know. But I think there's definitely a connection between this and Elena.” “How do we prove it?” Piper.
“Her friends are supposed to be coming next week, so maybe they can tell us.” Phoebe.
“Actually, I called and told them something was wrong with Elena and they’re on their way here right now.”
The phone was ringing.
“Hello?” Prue had answered it. “Oh, Hi Andy.” A pause. “What? Where’s Elena?” Another pause. “I don’t know. We’ll keep an eye out for her. Bye.”
“Well?” Phoebe.
“Andy just called. There’s been a murder at Elena's high school. One of her friends.”
“Where’s Elena?”
“She’s not at school. Something happened in her psychology class. She made this weird speech about serial killers, as if she were speaking from the point of view of a serial killer. Then she stormed out. No one’s seen her since. One of her friends ran after her…half an hour later he’s found dead, his head bashed in with a baseball bat.”
Elena couldn’t help the involuntary little giggle that escaped. The glow of triumph at getting rid of Tom spread all over her again, warm and nice. She began to rock back and forth as she sat on the stairs, giggling to herself. This was so much fun, getting away, playing dodge with the cops. They’d never catch her, she was too smart for that.
“Did you guys hear that?” Piper, sounding confused. Footsteps coming closer. Elena jumped up and hid in her closet in her room, an insane smile still plastered across her lips. Can’t catch me, she thought gleefully. They might suspect something, but who in their right minds would believe them. Everyone would think craziness ran in the family.
She didn’t have to stay here, of course. All she needed to do was go somewhere else. Kill different people in different places.
God, this is getting obsessive, she thought, trying hard to stop laughing.
* * *
Chapter Eight
The doorbell was ringing. It was annoying. Elena groaned, feeling awful and foggy, not sure why she was home in the middle of the afternoon and why she was in the closet. She didn’t remember anything from that morning.
She pushed open the door and stumbled out, looking in confusion at the pentagram drawn in chalk on her floor, the black candles set out, incense and a few herbs. Even more confusing was the big brown book lying on the floor just outside the circle of the pentagram. It looked like one of Bonnie’s spell books…what did she call them? Books of Shadows? This one wasn’t Bonnie’s. It wasn’t hers either. Where did it come from?
She had a vague memory of finding it in the attic upstairs. She’d better get it back before someone noticed it was missing.
The door bell was still ringing. Whoever it was wouldn’t go away. Annoyed, she hurried down the stairs and opened the door, a little surprised to find Bonnie and Meredith standing there…with Stefan. He looked anxious and worried. His face brightened when he saw Elena.
“Elena…I missed you.” He started to move forward.
Elena stared back, a sullen expression on her face. “I thought I said I didn’t want to see you until I was ready to. I’m not so go away.” She started to shut the door, but Meredith pushed it open.
“And a big nice to see you too, Elena,” she said dryly. “Your cousins called us. They thought you were sick.”
“I’m not sick. I’m fine.”
“You don’t look it,” Bonnie offered. “Do you want to see a doctor or something?”
“I don’t want to see anyone,” Elena said crossly. “Go away.” She turned and wandered off, heading for the stairs, leaving the door open.
She sighed, she thought she'd made it clear to these people how she felt about everything that had happened. She didn’t know what was wrong with her, or why she’d say such mean things. But she couldn’t help herself, It was that thing inside her again. Making her feel out of control. She dreaded to think what she'd done this time.
* * *
Chapter Nine
Bonnie and Meredith exchanged glances. Stefan looked as if Elena had slapped him. He looked stricken and miserable. “That was not Elena,” he said in a stunned voice.
“No kidding,” said Meredith, walking into the house. Bonnie followed. Stefan was hesitating.
“Come on Stefan,” Bonnie said impatiently. “Elena’s probably just in a bad mood. You know how she feels about you. Stop hesitating.”
Meredith cast a glance heavenwards. “Come in Stefan,” she said with a sigh.
“Oh,” Bonnie said. She'd forgotten vampires had to be invited in. Stefan came in and she closed the door. “Nice place,” she said, looking around the large living room.
“So where are her cousins?”
“Right here.” A girl about Bonnie’s height with short brown hair was coming into the room. She stopped, her eyes widening as she focused on Stefan with his classic Italian features and amazing leaf green eyes. She gave him a bright smile. “Hi, I’m Phoebe.”
He smiled wryly. “I’m Stefan. Elena's boyfriend.”
“Oh.” Phoebe looked a little disappointed. Then shrugged. “Can’t blame me for trying.”
Meredith grinned at Bonnie. “I think you've met your match.”
“Oh ha, ha,” Bonnie said.
Two other girls were coming into the room. One was tall dressed in a business suit, the other was only a little taller than Phoebe, dressed in a black and white uniform like a caterer, with a chef’s hat on. Anyone could tell the three girls were sisters from he first look.
There were a few brief minutes of introductions while everyone got themselves comfortable. Prue explained Elena’s behaviour, the two dead bodies, the bloody car keys, the knife in the stolen purse.
“What we need to know is what happened before, why Elena’s…” Prue trailed off and shrugged, not sure how to finish the sentence.
“Gone completely psycho,” Phoebe finished for her.
Bonnie, Meredith and Stefan exchanged glances. Finally Bonnie sighed. “This is going to sound a little crazy, but it’s all true. It all started the beginning of the senior year at school. Elena had been away over the summer, and she was a little different when she came back. And then Stefan came. And Elena was sort of…” Bonnie looked to Meredith.
“Obsessed,” Meredith supplied. “She wanted Stefan and would stop at nothing to get him.”
“I didn’t know that,” Stefan put in.
“You weren’t meant to,” Meredith said. “For months she thought of nothing but you. Then, there was the Homecoming dance.”
“What happened at the Homecoming dace?” Piper asked.
“Nothing much,” Stefan said. “Elena went off with some drunk idiots, I followed and stopped one of them from hurting her.”
“And it was the beginning of their relationship,” Bonnie added. “But this other girl Caroline got really jealous, and stole Elena’s diary and almost read it in front of the whole school but we foiled her and - ”
“You’re leaving something out,” Prue interrupted. “I can understand why it’s embarrassing to have your personal thoughts read out to a bunch of strangers, but you keep looking at Stefan.”
Bonnie stopped, and glanced from him to Meredith and back to Stefan. Stefan sighed. “Go ahead Bonnie. You’d better tell them.”
Bonnie sighed and shrugged. “Okay. Fine. This is going to sound a little weird. But well, I’m descended from the Druids and I have psychic powers…and Stefan’s a vampire.”
There was a silence as eyebrows went up. The three sisters exchanged glances. “It’s not actually all that surprising,” Piper said. “After all the things we’ve seen, what does one more weird thing matter?”
“And on the subjects of secrets,” Bonnie interrupted. “Elena said she felt sure *you* guys were hiding something.”
The sisters exchanged glances again. Prue looked uncomfortable. “Oh come on,” Phoebe said impatiently. “They’ve told us theirs.”
Prue sighed. “Oh all right. We’re witches. Phoebe has premonitions of the future, Piper freezes time, I can move objects with my mind.”
“I hate premonitions,” Bonnie muttered. “The feeling of someone taking over your mind...” She shuddered.
“The story?” Piper asked.
“Oh, right. Well there were a few strange attacks from September onwards, the school thought it was Stefan - which it wasn’t - we thought it was his brother Damon.”
“Brother?” Phoebe looked interested. It was Prue’s turn to look heavenwards.
“Anyway, we thought it was Damon, but it turned out it wasn't. After the Founder’s Day ceremony - the underground plot we foiled, Elena had an argument with her aunt, she ran off in someone’s car and there was an accident on the bridge. We all thought she was dead then, but she wasn’t.”
“They never found a body,” Meredith said, picking up the story. “Because Elena had exchanged enough blood with both Stefan and Damon that she woke up a vampire. It turned out that there was another Power attacking us. An old force from Stefan’s past.” Meredith looked at Stefan. “Do you want to tell this bit or shall I?”
“I’ll tell,” Stefan said. He walked away from the group a little. “I lived in fifteenth century Florence. Both Damon and I were in love with a girl named Katherine. A vampire in her German village had changed her into a vampire to save her from dying when she was ill. Damon and I hated each other, and we hated having to share her and told her she had to choose between us. So she made us both vampires. Only then we hated each other even more. Katherine pretended to expose herself to sunlight and left a note for us, saying she was selfish wanting to have both of us and hoped we wouldn’t hate each other if she wasn’t there anymore, but it didn’t work and we fought and killed each other. We woke up in our tombs and avoided each other ever since until we both wanted Elena. Katherine had faked the whole thing and became evil and hated us and hated Elena as well, when she found out we both wanted her. She lured us into an underground crypt and tried to kill us. Elena died again stopping her.” “And now, she’s alive again, for a third time,” Piper said, sounding a little confused.
“Six months later, the vampire who had made Katherine came back and attacked us. He killed a few of our friends. Elena’s spirit talked to us, tried to warn us about him,” Bonnie explained. “His name was Klaus. He was going to destroy our town. He had issues with Stefan. We forgave Caroline eventually, and Klaus kidnapped her, telling Stefan to come alone to a woods were he’d let Caroline go if he went there alone. So he went and we followed in secret. There was a big fight. It was the summer solstice, a day when the line between the living and dead is thinnest. We called for Elena’s held, and she brought back a whole army of ghosts that had fought in the Civil War. It’s a little complicated to explain the whole story of how that happened, but Klaus was defeated. Elena was going to go away, to be at peace. But she didn’t want to go, Stefan shouted her name as she disappeared, something happened, there was some weird sort of energy flash and Elena came back to us. Alive. Human.”
“At first she was thrilled to see us all and everyone was really happy,” Meredith said softly. “Then Elena said she was really completely overwhelmed by the experience.”
“After dying twice and coming back twice, who can blame her?” said Phoebe.
“She said she wanted to finish high school, then she could come to college with us, go away with Stefan or whatever she wanted to do,” Meredith went on. “She couldn’t stay at home because everyone still thinks she's dead and buried. So…she came here.”
“And now she’s changed completely,” Piper finished. “Something’s wrong with her and we don’t know what.”
“It could be that all that’s happened to her has had some negative effect on her…she can’t deal with it and it’s made her crazy,” Bonnie suggested.
“The question is…how do we get her back?” Stefan said.
“The question is, should we? Or should we find some way to send her back where she came from?” Prue said.
“What do you mean? Make her dead again?” Bonnie said, her pixieish face angry.
“I think you’re right about the effect this is having on her. Maybe there’s another solution, I don’t know. She's already hurt two people. We have to find some way to stop her before she kills again. Or before she hurts herself without meaning to.”
* * *
Chapter Ten
Elena sat on the stairs listening to the conversation below. Her supposed best friends and her boyfriend were blurting out her secrets. The story of her life. If she had wanted to tell her cousins, she would have told them herself.
How dare they betray her like this. She stood up and went into her room. She picked up the Book of Shadows on the floor. Maybe she could put a curse on them or something. There was something here about stealing other people’s powers…
She picked up a few things from the floor and stuffed them in her sock draw. Something silver and shiny caught her eye. She pushed the socks aside and pulled it out.
It was a gun. A small, neat little gun. She checked the holder. There were bullets inside. She didn’t remember buying this…or stealing it. She didn’t really remember anything about the last few months. She certainly didn’t remember killing anybody.
But something inside her was talking, whispering, telling her she could end this. End this now. Make them pay for betraying her. She also pulled out a piece of sharpened wood.
A wooden stake. Surely Stefan and Damon weren't the only vampires in the world. And in a big city like this there were bound to be plenty, so it wouldn’t hurt to arm herself against them.
Holding the loaded gun in one hand, and the stake in the other, and the Book of Shadows under her arm, she made her way down the stairs.
* * *
In the San Francisco PD Morris dropped a manila folder on Andy’s desk.
“It seems our sweet little Elena isn’t so sweet after all. Check this out.”
Andy opened the folder, and the first thing he saw was a form labelled Coroner’s Report. “What? That’s impossible. According to this she's dead.”
“And we have witnesses to the dead boy at high school. After the girl stormed out he went after her. Several people saw her heading for the gym. One person saw her with a baseball bat.”
Two girls were approaching the desk. They both looked worried. “We’re worried about our friend Elena Gilbert,” one said. “We think she has something to do with the murder of Tom Locke. And we think she’s going to do something she shouldn’t. She's been acting really crazy lately.”
“Where is she?” Andy asked.
The girls shrugged. “We don’t know,” the other said. “We can’t find her at school. They sent everybody home, so we think that’s where she is.”
“I called her house and Prue said she wasn't there.” Andy frowned. Then looked at Morris. “I think we’d better get over there. Someone’s going to get hurt.”
* * *
Chapter Eleven
“If you’re going to say something about me, say it to my face.”
The group in the lounge stopped talking and stared in shock at Elena, who stood there quite calmly, gun and stake at the ready. She looked terrible. Her normally shining pale gold hair was limp, her skin was sickly pale and there were dark smudges under her eyes. Her eyes, usually soft and happy, were glassy, doll-like. They seemed to stare without really focusing on anything. She seemed capable of anything.
Everyone was on their feet.
“Elena…this isn’t you,” Stefan said, starting towards her. “Put the weapons down. No one’s going to hurt you.”
“Really?” She sounded distant. Flat. She didn’t even sound like herself. It wasn't even her. She obviously didn’t believe them. “I heard you before. Saying you were going to make me dead again. Is that not hurting me?”
“Elena…just put the gun down,” Meredith said slowly. “We can talk about this.”
Elena didn’t even seem to hear her. “Witches huh?” she said to her cousins. “I knew you guys were hiding something. What are you going to do? Turn me into a frog?”
“Green isn’t really your colour,” Phoebe offered, trying to advance a step.
“Am I missing something here? I’m holding a gun, I could blow your heads off at any minute, and you’re all still moving?” She let out a crazy giggle. “I think you guys are the fucked up ones, not me.”
“Come on Elena,” Bonnie insisted. “Fight it. There’s something inside that’s telling you - ”
“Oh shut up you useless bimbo!” Elena snapped suddenly whirling on Bonnie. Bonnie shut up and sat down again. Stefan was moving now, trying to get behind him, but filled with insane rage and strength, she whirled round, faster than he did, firing the gun to take him by surprise, and then plunging the wooden stake into his heart.
“Elena?” he whispered, shocked. There was a moment of stillness, before Stefan burst into a fine cloud of dust and ash and crumbled to the floor.
Bonnie screamed. Prue focused her powers on Elena, knocking her back, sending her flying, the gun falling from her hand, along with the Book of Shadows that had been tucked under her arm. Elena landed on her back, stunned hitting her head on the hardwood floor. Meredith made a dive for the gun before Elena’s head could clear.
Elena sat up, looking dazed, not sure where she was. “Bonnie?” she said in a small voice. “Where am I? What’s going on?”
Nobody moved. Was this really Elena? Or was this the other side of her trying to fool them, trick them? It was impossible to tell.
“Meredith?” Elena appealed, looking to her friend. Her eyebrow raised. “Why are you pointing a gun at me? You’re my best friend.”
Meredith’s hands on the gun were shaking. She didn’t know what to do. She looked over at Bonnie, who was shaking and crying. She glanced at Prue, and Elena’s other cousins. They just looked back at her.
“Oh come on! Shoot me you dumb bitch!” Elena snarled suddenly, her face twisting in anger and hatred. “Shoot me! You scared? Of course you are! You’re nothing”! You act so cool and together, you’re really just a complete, useless waste of space!”
Meredith’s eyes closed. She didn’t know what to do. Elena’s other personality was pushing through, overriding the Elena she knew. Even if Elena did win this time, was there any help for her? She’d killed two people already. She could snap again. If she was mentally unbalanced like she was now, who was to say this wouldn’t happen again in another six months time?
“Meredith?” Elena again. She was crying now. Her voice was pleading. “Meredith please…” she sobbed. “I…I can’t control myself. I don’t know what to do. Please…just shoot me!”
“I…I don’t think I can.” Meredith couldn’t control the wobble in her voice, couldn’t stop the tears flowing down her cheeks now. Everything was going completely to hell. But she just couldn’t bring herself to use the gun on Elena.
Suddenly Elena’s face twisted again. rage and anger and hatred all twisting together in an ugly mask. She sprang forward, reaching for the gun. In a panic Meredith shut her eyes and fired blindly. Not aiming, just shooting.
There was a scream.
Suddenly it was cut off. There was a sickening thud of flesh hitting wood.
Meredith opened her eyes. Elena lay on the floor, blood pouring from a wound in her head. It was over. Bonnie crawled over and reached for her and they sobbed together.
Prue knelt down and felt Elena's pulse. She shook her head sadly, and closed the open eyes.
* *
*
By the time Andy had arrived, they’d cleaned up. Elena’s body was in the
basement, the blood wiped away. “There were gun shots,” Andy said flatly. “I
heard them a mile away.”
“Elena’s gone,” Prue said. “She ran before we could stop her. She shot at us and ran. We don’t know where she’s gone.”
Why did this always happen? Every time Prue and her sisters were involved with something everything was all tidied up nice and neat by the time he got there. She was obviously hiding something from him. But what? And why wouldn’t she talk?
He could only imagine what it would be.
* *
Chapter Twelve
They buried Elena in backyard, along with Stefan’s ashes. They could now be together forever.
Bonnie stood alone at the grave sight. She and Meredith were leaving in a minute. She just wanted to say one final goodbye to Elena. No one would really know what had been going through her mind these last few months.
Maybe Prue had been right. Elena just hadn’t been able to deal with all her traumatic experiences. She’d been so happy that night in the clearing. They had all been. Now, nothing would ever be the same again.
Bonnie remembered how unhappy she’d been the first time, this was the third time Elena had been buried and it never got easier to say good bye to your best friend. Part of her had died along with Elena now. It was going to be hard to accept she was finally gone for good this time. At least now, Elena was at peace.
Bonnie knelt down and placed a single rose on the grave sight, covered up by fresh grass so no one would get suspicious.
“I’ll never forget you,” Bonnie whispered.
She turned and walked away, and for a moment, it seemed a ray of sun was shining on the site.
“Wherever you are Elena,” Bonnie said softly, “I hope you’re happy.”
And that ray of sun seemed to brighten, as if to say Bonnie was right.
The End
