11:00 A.M.
Bonnie's Apartment
"I agreed to change her."
"How dare you?" Damon hissed. His anger had reached a fever pitch, but he did not strain against Bonnie's hands. His eyes however, the beautiful eyes that had been praised only moments before, bore into Elisabeth with a searing hatred. Bonnie gulped as she looked up into his rigid face.
"Damon, please," she murmured.
"How dare you?" he repeated, ignoring Bonnie's plea. "How dare you presume to have known my mother like this?"
Elisabeth sighed and stood up to face the seething Italian. Her blue eyes were tired. "Search my mind Damon. You know I'm not lying."
He shook his head forcefully. "My mother would never-"
"Yes she would!" Elisabeth snapped. "And she did. She told me quite plainly that she did not want to die. She wanted to watch you and Stefan grow up and become men. She did not want to leave her husband, or lose me. She wanted to live."
"What a life," Stefan mumbled darkly, still seated on the couch.
"I don't understand," came Alaric's voice. He and Meredith had both vacated the loveseat and had come around the coffee table. Stefan remained the only one seated. Alaric ran a hand through his sandy hair and pushed up the sleeves of his sweatshirt again. He fixed his serious gaze on Elisabeth.
"If you made Isabella into a vampire, where did she go? We all know that Damon and Stefan grew up without a mother, so what happened to her? And what happened to Sebastian?"
Elisabeth rolled her eyes and moved away from them all, going to look out the window. "I was getting to that," she said as she threw an exasperated look over her shoulder. "But someone had to throw a fit."
Damon growled, but Bonnie pushed him until he was sitting next to his brother on the couch. Then she perched on the arm to make sure he didn't go anywhere. *Calm down,* she urged him mentally. She received no response.
Meanwhile, Elisabeth had turned back to the window. "I told Isabella I would change her. I explained everything she would have to face. The information I'd given her before was only a fraction of what she needed to know in order to survive as a vampire. She listened well. . .even in her weakened state, she was very alert. I decided that I would need help, because I knew that the process would take hours, and I wouldn't be able to keep everyone out of the sick room for that long. So, we took Isabella's maid, Flora, into our confidence. She was frightened, but she loved her mistress. I sent her to tell Giuseppe that his wife was resting comfortably, and should not be disturbed. She returned to say that he was unhappy, but appeared compliant. That was good enough for me. I needed no interruptions."
The vampire stopped, and they all waited patiently for her to begin again. When she didn't, Bonnie said hesitantly, "Elisabeth?"
She turned around to face them, her eyes filled with tears. "When I began to take her blood, I was filled with awe. It was something I'd wanted to do from the moment I met her. I had been tortured night and day by the thought of Isabella Salvatore. I wanted her blood more than I'd ever wanted anything. And to finally get it. . ." Wetness spilled down her cheeks. "The reality was better than the dream."
Both Damon and Stefan stiffened on the couch. Alarmed, Bonnie moved so that she was sitting between them, reaching out with her mind to try and calm them both. Elisabeth continued, openly crying now.
"Of course, that was nothing compared to what I felt when she began to take my blood in return. It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever experienced." She wiped at the tears on her cheeks. "I had just finished the initial exchange when I heard a soft stirring from across the room. It was coming from the bassinet. Flora rushed over, and gasped. She brought the little bundle of blankets over to me and I was astonished to find Sebastian staring at me, with eyes as black as Damon's. He didn't cry, but instead looked at me with a quiet wonder. I was so happy to see him alive, I showed him to Isabella immediately. She was quickly losing consciousness, dying actually, but I explained about the second birth. She was thrilled. It was at that moment that everything fell apart."
"Giuseppe?" Meredith asked.
Elisabeth nodded. "He just walked in, and there I sat, holding his supposedly dead son, and hovering over his dying wife, her blood on my mouth and mine on hers. You can imagine what happened next. 'Witch!' was the first word he uttered. He started to call for his guards, and Isabella frantically urged me to go. 'Take the child!' she said. 'Raise him well, and live for me!' I did not want to go; I didn't care what happened to me. But, as I saw Flora trying to hold Giuseppe back, I realized that I was responsible for another life now--the baby in my arms. So, I ran as fast as I could with Sebastian huddled against me. I didn't stop until I had arrived back at my villa, forgetting my horse in the Salvatore's stables."
"Wow," Alaric murmured.
"Sebastian showed no signs of distress or illness. I put him in the care of one of my maids and immediately they got him milk and put him to bed. He was perfectly content. I, however, was far from it. I knew I would have to leave Florence as soon as possible, for Giuseppe would be after me." She sighed. "Yet I also knew I could not go without trying to see Isabella one more time. I didn't know if she was still alive, a vampire, or what.
"Early the next morning, I rode quietly to the Salvatore estate, and approached from the back gardens, hoping to gather information from one of the servants. Instead, I found Damon, playing by the marble fountain."
All glances turned toward Damon momentarily. His eyes were as hard as stone.
Elisabeth appeared unaffected by his anger, still too caught up in her memories. But she addressed him quietly. "My heart caught in my throat when I saw you," she said. "You were so small, but so dark and solemn. I asked you where your father was and you pointed to the house and said 'Papa is angry. He yells too loud, so I play outside.'"
Bonnie stifled a grin at the thought of Damon as a toddler. He didn't appear amused at all. In fact, he seemed to be growing angrier by the moment.
"What happened to my mother?" he demanded in a cold voice. Bonnie didn't miss the use of "my" instead of "our". Apparently, neither did Stefan. Bonnie heard a small sigh escape his lips.
Elisabeth cleared her throat. "I asked you that, but you didn't know. You just said, 'Mama had a baby.' I knew that things could not be good, so that's when I influenced you to forget me. I didn't want you to be scarred by what was happening. I still needed information about Isabella though, and was about to approach the house, when Flora appeared, looking for you. She was startled when she saw me, and snatched you up. Apparently, her opinion of me had changed overnight. 'Get back Witch!' she whispered as she crossed herself.
"'Flora,' I pleaded. 'I am not a witch. Please, tell me, what happened to your mistress!'
"'She is dead!' Flora spat at me. 'You murdered her! And the Conte has already notified the magistrate!'"
Elisabeth's mouth drew into a hard line. "With that, she drug Damon back to the house and I realized that I needed to get out of there. I left and made immediate arrangements to return to England. I was gone, with Sebastian, in a matter of a few hours."
Meredith let out a deep breath. "I need some more coffee." She headed toward the kitchen.
"Me too," Alaric mumbled. He went after her.
There was silence left in their wake. Bonnie felt strange, sitting between two vampires who'd just had their past completely rewritten. Both were silent, Damon in anger, Stefan in sad contemplation. Elisabeth approached the couch slowly, and knelt in front of Stefan.
"I am sorry that you had to receive the story in this way," she said, addressing both he and Damon.
"She really is dead?" Stefan questioned. His voice was strained and shaky.
Elisabeth nodded. "Yes darling, I'm afraid she is. I was not given adequate time to complete the transformation. Apparently she didn't have enough of my blood to change. So when she died. . .she just died."
Stefan glanced over at his brother. "Are you okay Damon?"
Damon smiled grimly, his head leaned against one of his palms. "Peachy," he murmured.
Bonnie frowned. She was worried about Damon. As discreetly as possible, she moved her knee so that it came into contact with his. When their minds merged, she gave him a mental hug that he accepted hesitantly. She breathed a sigh of relief as she felt him calming.
Meredith and Alaric returned a moment later, steaming mugs in hand. Meredith handed one to Bonnie as well. The redhead smiled gratefully.
Elisabeth pivoted in her crouch as Meredith and Alaric resumed their seats. "So," she began lightly. "Do you guys want the rest of the story now?"
Alaric promptly spit out a mouthful of coffee.
* * * * *
Same Time
Benetio's Bakery
*Deja vu,* Matt thought as he walked through the door of the small bakery Cecily had asked him to meet her at. Only this time, she was the one waiting for him.
He spotted her immediately, her pale golden hair gleaming in the sunlight filtering through the windows. It was swept up in a loose ponytail. He didn't fail to notice how pale she looked, much paler than usual. Her blue eyes were luminescent, but drawn and tired. All this aside, she was still stunningly beautiful. Matt felt his breath catch as she looked up at him and smiled. His heart swelled.
*God, I've been fooling myself.* How could he have thought he wasn't in love with this girl? It had only become apparent to him that morning as he defended her to the people he was closest to in the world. The memory of Bonnie's harsh accusations burned in his mind. He'd never seen her that angry with him, not even when she found out about Cecily the first time. Matt was surprised to further realize that he felt no regret. He wouldn't take back anything he'd said to Bonnie. He was tired of the way she dismissed everyone's grief but her own. He ached with every mention of Elena's name. And with each ache, returned her words.
*"It will be okay. . .but only after it gets much worse."*
He sat down opposite Cecily, Elena's chilling prophecy echoing in his head. He forced himself to smile back at her, dreading the conversation that was coming. How could he ask her if she was responsible for Elena's death?
"I was sad when I woke up this morning," she said lightly, making the initiation.
"Why?"
"Because you weren't there. Why did you leave so early?"
Matt cleared his throat. "I had to be somewhere-"
"You had to be at Bonnie's."
Her statement was clearly an accusation. He was speechless for a moment.
Cecily leaned forward and sighed wearily. "Please don't waste the energy dredging up a lie for me Matt. I know you've been spending a lot of time at Bonnie's apartment lately. In fact, I'm pretty sure that whenever you're not with me, you're with her."
Matt began to shake his head emphatically. This wasn't going the way he expected at all. "It's not what you think," he said. Then he reached up to the cheek Bonnie had slapped and added, "So incredibly not what you think."
Cecily rolled her eyes. "Cliche, Matt." She paused. "However, I believe you."
He looked at her in disbelief, but didn't get a chance to respond. She went on.
"I know about Caroline Forbes. I know that you and Bonnie were both close to her."
*Oh. Caroline.* Christ, in the last day or so, he'd almost completely forgotten about Caroline. Guilt washed over him as he remembered the beautiful girl.
Cecily was still talking. "And I can't forget the conversation we had the other day Matt."
He swallowed painfully. "What conversation?"
Cecily gave him a pained look. "The one we had here? About-" She looked around then lowered her voice dramatically. "About Elena."
"Cecily-"
"I saw her Matt! You can't make me forget that. I saw her, and I saw you, and Bonnie with a lot of other people I've never seen in Fell's Church before. But you all seemed to know each other really well."
He sighed. "I went to high school with them, well, some of them. They're in town because of Caroline." There. That wasn't a lie.
Cecily looked taken aback. "Oh." Then she recovered. "But what about Elena?"
Matt stared at her. He wanted her to be innocent. She had to be. *She's talking about Elena as though she's alive. And why would she want to kill her?* There had to be a logical explanation. . .
"Why are you so interested in Elena anyway?" he demanded suddenly.
She frowned. "I thought it would be obvious why. She's supposed to be dead, Matt, but I saw you talking to her. Now, if you witnessed a dead girl talking to people, wouldn't your interest be slightly piqued?"
*Yes.* There was the logic he'd been hoping for. And there was no malice radiating from Cecily at all. She couldn't be a killer. . .how could he love her if she was? And he said he trusted her. . .
Taking a deep breath, he looked into her eyes and stated seriously. "That was Elena you saw us with."
Cecily smiled triumphantly. "I knew it! I-"
Matt squeezed her hand and she fell silent. He continued. "A lot of awful things happened to my friends and I a few years ago, and Elena was believed to have been killed." He paused, choosing his words carefully. "She kind of beat the system though, and is alive." His stomach clenched. "Was alive."
Cecily looked confused. "What do you mean?"
A solid lump was quickly making its way up Matt's throat. "You heard about the hotel fire last night?"
She nodded, eyes wide.
He kept his gaze trained on her face for any sign of guilt. "Elena died in the fire."
Her mouth opened and closed several times, without making a sound. She was genuinely shocked. Unless she was the greatest actress to ever walk the earth, there was no faking the look of surprise and horror on her face.
"Oh, God," she whispered, squeezing his hand. "I'm so sorry."
This was not what he wanted to hear. Those beautiful blue eyes were dragging him under. The only thing he wanted to do was grab her and bury his face in her hair-to sob until not a tear was left in his body. But he was going to hurt her instead. He had to ask her--the thought of Stefan's grief and wounded eyes was too much for him. He'd promised Stefan he would find out if Cecily killed Elena, and he would. Even if it tore his heart out to do it. But he had to avoid her gaze. . .
"It was arson," he mumbled, looking resolutely down at the table.
Cecily squeezed his hands tighter. "Jesus, who would do such a thing?"
Matt felt his chest constricting painfully. He ignored her question. "Do you want to know why I really left this morning Cecily?" Every fiber of his being wanted to look up and meet her eyes, but he wouldn't let himself. If he did, it was all over.
He felt her pause in her confusion. Her breath caught. "Yes," she replied finally.
"I was angry. . .and scared."
"Why?"
He took a deep breath. "Because I found something in your bathtub. A pile of clothes."
Her frustration was growing, he could feel it. "What are you talking about Matt? Why are you concerned about my clothes?"
He chanced a quick look up, just long enough to see the puzzled frown on her lovely face. "They were covered in gasoline," he answered stonily.
She was silent. He looked up again. The hurt on her face was like a knife in his heart.
"I don't understand," she whispered.
Matt clenched his jaw, willing himself to go on. Through his teeth, he added, "The hotel was soaked in gasoline Cecily."
Her eyes widened and she drew her hands out of his immediately. Tears began collecting in her eyes. He felt his resolve crumbling. "I have to know-"
"You think I killed Elena? Is that what this is all about?" Her voice was wavering.
*I am such an ass.*
He tried to grab her hand again, but she yanked it out of his reach. "Cecily, I don't know what to think-"
"You do! You think I did it!" Tears flowed freely down her face. "Did Bonnie put you up to this? Jesus, she must be ready to lynch me!" She started to get up.
This was getting out of hand. Matt latched onto her wrist and kept her from getting up. "Just wait one minute, please."
She shook her head, but he met her gaze squarely. "Cecily please."
She sighed, but sank back down into her chair. "One minute."
He nodded and dived right in. "You have to understand that this has happened to me before. A lot of people I've cared about have turned out to be very 'different' from what I thought them to be. And I mean 'different' in a not very good kind of way." He paused, but the look of disbelief on her face propelled him on. "You didn't know Elena, and you really had no reason to kill her, but Cecily, there is something about you I can't place. You're always disappearing on me. I didn't see you for months, then you show up all of a sudden at Elena's grave right after Caroline was murdered and start asking me all these questions about my past. And you keep hounding me about Elena."
"I was just curious-" Cecily began to protest, but Matt cut her off.
"Then there are the clothes."
Cecily's face crumpled. "I don't know what happened to them, Matt! That's the truth!"
He frowned. "How could you not know?"
She shrugged in frustration. "I just don't know! I do know that I didn't kill Elena; I could never hurt anyone you cared about." Her hands came up to wipe the wetness off of her cheeks. Her blurry eyes held his. "I love you, you know."
He swallowed a lump in his throat. His heart was thumping painfully, but he never looked away from Cecily. He did know. He knew it every time she looked at him, or touched him, he felt her love. And yet it was only this morning that he realized how he felt in return. Vaguely, he registered that Cecily was continuing.
"I've loved you for a long time, Matt. And I had hoped that you'd get over Bonnie eventually and that you would love me too. I guess I was wrong." She grabbed her purse and started to rise again.
Matt knew he had to stop her. "I love you," he whispered.
She sat. "What?"
He felt tears collecting in his own eyes. "I do love you," he said clearly. "That's why this is so hard. I wouldn't ever hurt you like this if I could control it. But I had to know!"
Cecily was trembling. "How can you love me and believe that I would kill your friend?"
Matt began to shake with quiet sobs. "I don't know," he replied. "I don't even know what I believe anymore."
"You could try believing me," Cecily told him softly. "I don't know what's happening with me, Matt. Or what's happening with you. . .but I believe in this love. You should too."
He looked at her, still crying. Her eyes were earnest, but still guarded. "What are you hiding from me Cecily?" he asked.
She was taken aback, but only for a moment. "I'm not the only one who's hiding things," she answered. "I thought you trusted me?"
He drew in a shaky breath. "I trust what I feel. And I feel that you're hiding something, Cecily. Something I need to know."
Her eyes narrowed. Her sorrow was beginning to turn to anger. "You can't love me," she murmured. "You can't even accept the concept of me. You can't think beyond Elena, Bonnie, and Fell's Church. What's here that you can't get past?"
Matt felt his anger rising in response. "Everything!" he exclaimed. "That's why I do love you! Because you're not of this place, this goddamned hellhole!"
She took in his response quietly, then stood up. "Love me for a different reason," she stated. Then, she was gone, out the door before he could form a reply.
Matt let his head sink into his hands. A hard pounding had begun behind his eyes.
*What have I done?*
* * * * *
Aurora watched as Matt's companion rushed by her, a blur of tears. Cecily took no notice of the dark-haired vampire. Aurora was actually cloaking her presence. She hadn't wanted Matt to see her.
Now she melted out of the shadow under the awning and kept her eyes trained on the girl hurrying down the sidewalk. She frowned. Was she getting the right feeling from this girl? Could she possibly be. . .
Aurora turned to look back into the bakery. Matt had his head bowed. She could feel his sorrow from outside the shop. The boy was clearly in misery.
*Rightfully so,* Aurora thought to herself. She'd heard his declaration of love to Cecily. She'd followed their conversation carefully in fact, not wanting to miss anything, in case Matt decided to give an edited version later.
She'd been especially interested when Matt began asking what Cecily was hiding. Aurora was confused because, like Matt, she suspected something about the girl, but also believed she was telling the truth about Elena. She had definitely not known Elena was dead.
Aurora glanced down the street again after Cecily. She had not been forthcoming with Matt, but she couldn't hide from Aurora.
"I know the secret you're protecting, petite fille*," she murmured to herself. Then she turned back to look at the blond boy at the table inside the bakery.
Now, how was she going to tell Matt that he was in love with a vampire?
* * * * *
*petite fille: little girl
