𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐑
and you've only just begun

ECHO WOKE UP in damon's arms, smiling almost immediately. She took in a deep breath and looked up at him through her eyelashes to find him already staring down at her. "Good morning, gorgeous," she complimented with a sly smirk on her lips.

"I love you," he said with a fond smile, pulling her into a kiss. Ever since she had first told him that she loved him, he's been making sure he told her those three words everyday.

"I love you too." She patted his chest and sat up, stretching. "I have school today and I don't feel like leaving Elena on her lonesome today. Especially today..." She stared out at he window, sadness appearing on her features.

Damon gulped and nodded. "It's the first day back since..."

She nodded with a harsh swallow. "Yeah. So, i'm gonna have to get there early to talk myself to walk into that classroom." She turned around and gave him a quick peck on the lips before walking towards his closet which had some of her clothes in it.

AFTER MEETING UP with Elena and giving her a much needed bloodbag, they headed down the hall to their first period, and froze outside of Alaric's classroom.

Both of their eyes stung with tears, but Echo forced them back with a heavy sigh, her heart feeling like it was falling apart all over again. She grabbed Elena's hand, sent her a small smile, and they held their heads high before walking through the threshold. They took their seats right beside each other.

Stefan entered the room and sat down behind Elena who was ignoring him. He had yelled at her last nigh because of the fact that he didn't like the idea of her drinking human blood, even if it was from blood bags, and she threw a stake at him which embedded itself in his hand. They haven't really spoke since then, but Echo didn't care, she was proud of Elena.

Echo then froze all of a sudden upon looking at the chalkboard which had Alaric's handwritten notes on it. She swallowed thickly and reached over to Elena who was also saddened by it.

Stefan sighed. "It's the first time we've been back in Alaric's classroom..."

"First period, and I'm ready to bawl my eyes out," Elena cut him off in a sad, but snarky tone. Her emotions are all over the place and he wasn't helping.

Suddenly, Rebekah entered the classroom with flyers in her hands. "Morning, everyone." She smiled at everyone, excluding the Scooby Gang.

"Morning, Bekah," a student across the room greeted her happily.

"Just like that, I'm no longer feeling sentimental," Elena muttered lowly in irritation at the sight of the annoying blonde.

"Why is she even still alive?" Echo asked angrily, remembering the fact that she was the one who killed both Elena and her. The only thing was, Elena didn't get to come back and stay human.

"So, I'm throwing a little anti-curfew party at my new house," Rebekah stated with a smirk. "Starts at fifth period and goes 'til whenever. Spread the word." She handed out a couple of the flyers to the other students and then turned to Elena. "You're welcome to join, Elena, if you'd like to bury the hatchet." She handed Elena a flyer to which she took.

"It's a pretty enormous hatchet," the older twin mused in anger.

The Original rolled her blue eyes. "Well, I'm feeling generous of spirit."

Elena looked down at the flyer. "New house, huh? Did your brother finally kick you out?"

Echo snorted and sent a smirk to the blonde who glared at her. "I see he's gotten tired of your whiny voice."

"He didn't kick me out, I left," Rebekah corrected sternly with attitude to which both twins rolled their eyes at.

"So, you left the only person on earth that actually likes you?" The newbie vampire questioned incredulously.

Rebekah looked over at Stefan and smiled. "Well, your boyfriend liked me once." Stefan looked up at her, clearly not happy being dragged into the drama. "Actually, a lot more than once." She smirked at Elena.

The older twin simply rolled her eyes. "Well, he doesn't seem that much interested in you now... and plus, I wouldn't care." She then angrily asked, "Why are you still in town, Rebekah? Don't you have anywhere else to go?"

"Well, history's my favorite class. Actually, where is Mr. Saltzman...?" Rebekah questioned then paused dramatically, causing Elena's rage to intensify and Echo to tense up. The blonde smiled due to their reactions. "Oh, that's right, I killed him."

Losing her temper, Elena threw her pencil at Rebekah's face, but Rebekah grabbed it and threw it back at Elena, which impaled her in the shoulder. They glared at each other as Elena removed the pencil from her chest. She stood up before anyone else in class noticed what had happened, and left, Stefan following right after her.

Echo slammed her hands down on the desk and leaned dangerously close to the original, a heated glare on her features. "I took down your brother and I will take you down, too. I mean, you killed both me and my sister, and my father figure, it'll only be right when I drag your death out."

She shoved the blonde so hard that she stumbled back and fell down onto a desk. Echo grinned sinisterly and lowered her face so their faces were only inches from another. "I'll shove my shoe straight down your throat, then rip out your intestines and strangle you with it until you pass out!" She flicked the blonde in the nose before angrily storming out of the classroom, not caring as everyone whispered behind her.

She made her way outside to see Elena pacing back and forth in front of Stefan and Caroline.

"It was a valiant first day effort. No one will judge you if you want to go home." Caroline assured Elena gently and then perked up upon seeing Echo. "And you, too, O." She grabbed her best friends hand, and squeezed it in reassurance.

"I don't want to go home!" Elena exclaimed angrily and Echo nodded along side her. "I want to take the white oak stake and kill her. That's how mad I am. She made me murderous!" She roared in anger, her vampire face showing slightly before disappearing.

"How about we just leave the murdering to Damon?" Stefan questioned uneasily.

"No!" Elena shouted and pointed her finger at Stefan who was about to approach her. "I am tired of you controlling me! You have been trying to change my mind about animal blood even though you know it makes me sick and weak! You have been trying to turn me into you, but understand this, Stefan..." She snarked out, "I am not you! I am not a ripper. I am my own person who can make her own damn decisions without your constant disproval!"

Echo started clapping loudly with a proud smirk. "About time you've told him off." She whirled around to face Stefan who was frowning deeply, probably about to apologize. "Run along now. I think I can take care of my sister without your constant presence that just makes us both angry. Not like you were much help in there, you weren't even trying to defend your girlfriend. Well, not that she needs your help, anyway." She grabbed his arm and shoved him back towards the school.

Echo turned to Caroline who was watching the scene with wide eyes. "You should go and have a nice, wonderful school day. I know how much you like to impress people with your new outfits. So, you go do that, and then us three will have a girls night tonight, and eat every sweet in the house."

Caroline grinned happily and jumped up and down in her spot. "I love you." She kissed Echo on the cheek before running into the school with a kick in her step.

Echo smiled after her blonde best friend before turning to Elena. "And us two..." She trialed off as she grabbed her sister's shoulders. "We're going to get you cleaned up, and then we'll go crash her party after school."

Elena smirked happily and said, "Have I told you how much I appreciate and love you?"

Echo grinned. "Maybe once or twice."

Elena pulled her sister into a much needed hug and sighed heavily. "I'm so glad that I have you by my side."

Echo hugged her back tightly and said, "me too." She then pulled back and grabbed her twins face gently. "Let's go raise hell!"

"Hell yeah!"

ECHO AND ELENA arrived at Rebekah's party, dressed up, and ready to cause mischief.

As they walked inside the house, they realized it was pretty simple on the inside even though it was a pretty good size house. The walls were ranging between eggshell white and a tan color which made the atmosphere feel calm. But, the owner was anything but calm.

"Wow," Echo mused as she walked in trough the threshold, Elena by her side. "You didn't even have to be invited in. I wonder who used to live here." 

They both looked around the house; people were dancing, drinking, and listening to the music blasting through the room's and even outside.

"Or who died here," Elena retorted and that's when she saw Rebekah talking to a boy. "I hate her with a burning passion." She grabbed her sister's hand. "I want to be the bigger person, let the anger go, but she had tried to kill us multiple times, and succeeded this time with Alaric and I." When she saw Echo tense up, she said. "I wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for the fact that Meredith gave me Damon's blood."

Echo nodded and when a girl walked past them with two drinks in her hands, she grabbed them from her, and glared at the girl who was about to protest. She smirked in satisfaction and handed on to Elena. "Remember why we came here."

Elena nodded and took a sip from the solo cup full of alcohol. "To ruin Rebekah's party." Her brown eyes then found April Young in the kitchen, looking around, seeming out of place. "Let's go say hi to her before we decide to throw this party in the trash where is belongs."

Echo nodded and they walked towards the slightly younger girl who had the most beautiful blue eyes and big smile. She honestly looked like the girl version of Damon. "Hey, April!"

"Echo!" April smiled and pulled the younger twin into a hug before doing the same to Elena. "Thank god I know someone here," she commented as she looked between them.

"I'm glad you came. Are you thirsty?" Elena asked, handing her a cup of alcohol.

"You know, you and Echo used to read me bedtime stories," April retorted as she took the cup, looking between them with amused eyes.

Echo chuckled lightly. "And now, here we are, giving you alcohol."

April laughed and looked down at the swishing alcohol in the cup. "If my dad could see me now.." She took a drink, the cold liquid running down her throat.

"How are you... doing with everything?" Elena asked, leaving against the counter with a soft smile, totally forgetting about Rebekah right now.

"I'm trudging through my denial phase. Dreaming up conspiracy theories. My first weekend home from boarding school, my dad smelt cigarettes on my clothes before I even walked in the door. He would have noticed a gas leak in the house," she explained and the twins looked at each other with wide eyes before looking back to the younger girl.

"So... you don't think it was an accident?" Elena asked, sighing.

"I know there's no investigation, that everyone's calling it an accident, but the shooting at the church, if just feels like..."

"Like something wicked this way comes," came Rebekah's voice which angered both twins as they turned to face the blonde. "I know, right? It's like this towns cursed or something."

Elena grabbed April's shoulder gently and compelled her, "Hey, April, why don't you go look around the house, and I'll find you in a little bit?"

"Okay," April nodded, smiling. And with one last look at them, she left.

"Did I forget to un invite you both?" Rebekah snarkily asked with narrowed eyes.

Echo snarled as she asked, "Did you blow up her dads house to get revenge on the council?"

The blonde scoffed. "I don't give a damn about some doggy middle-aged council. You come into my house, throw around false accusations, and then you have the nerve to drink my beer?" She spat and took Elena's drink from her hand, downing it one go.

Elena was burning in anger and then began to feel her actual skin start to burn. She looked down at her hand to see her daylight ring gone. "My ring." 

Rebekah smiled as Elena's face started burning from the sun coming through the kitchen window.

Echo was quick to run at Rebekah who threw Elena's ring up in the air, the little thing going down the drain of the sink. "No!" She shouted and grabbed Rebekah's blonde hair and slammed her head down onto the counter, really glad that everyone seemed to be gathering outside at the moment. "You bitch!" She kicked her in the stomach and sent the vampire skidding back in surprise.

"You're a real bitch, Echo!" Rebekah exclaimed as she grabbed the humans hair and slammed her into a cupboard, her head going through the wood. The blonde tsked and walked out of the kitchen.

"Echo!" Elena shouted as she hid in the corner of the room, hiding from the sun.

Echo slumped to the floor, grabbing her head which seemed to be bleeding pretty badly, but she didn't care about that as she grabbed the counter, and pushed herself up into a standing position. She reached into the sink and pulled out Elena's ring, and tossed it to the vampire before collapsing to her knees.

"O!" Elena shouted, quickly putting her ring on, and flashing towards her sister. She cradled Echo's head, bit into her wrist, and fed her blood.

The wound on Echo's head healed quickly and she smiled up at Elena before narrowing her eyes. "I'm going to kill that bubblegum bitch!" She grabbed Elena's purse and pulled out the white oak stake. "Some bitch is going to die today!"

"Hey!" Stefan suddenly appeared in front of them, grabbing Echo's wrists as she went to storm out of the kitchen.

"Let her go, Stefan!" Elena snapped as she pulled her sister away from him. "What even are you doing here? You're following us now?!"

"Yes." He nodded, narrowing his eyes at them. "I knew you two were going to do something stupid."

"How about you let us choose what to do instead of controlling every little thing we do! We're our own people!" Elena snapped angrily, glaring at him.

"Well, if you want to kill her I'm not gonna stop you," he said as he looked between them. "But, see, here's what'll happen. It'll feel really good for about ten seconds, and then after that, tens and thousands of vampires all over the world will start to die. Every vampire she ever turned will die. See—"

"Fine, we won't kill her, then!" Echo snapped and then a sinister smirk appeared on her features. "We'll just torture her then."

"You're so infuriating," Stefan said as he looked at the younger twin with obvious annoyance and irritation. "Just give it a break for once! You're always going for revenge."

"Because everyone keeps killing me!" Echo snapped, her voice cracking slightly. "Do you have any idea how tiring it is to die multiple times?! No, you don't!" She angrily shoved him back. "Rebekah killed Elena, Stefan and you don't even seem to fucking care! She killed Alaric and she killed me! It was all in the same night! She even tried to set us on fire last year, did you forget about that? Because apparently, from where I stand, and from where Elena stands, you don't care about her as much as you like to claim!"

She shoved him again so harshly that he hit the corner of the counter and cried out in pain. "You gave into Klaus so quickly and then attacked us! You killed me! You have killed me multiple times and the only reason I haven't killed you is because Elena was in love with you. But now, now... she is seeing the real you and she's falling out of love with you! Either continue to act like the hero you want to be or fuck off!" She grabbed Elena's hand and shoved past him. "Lets just leave. I can't stand staying in the same room with him anymore."

Just as they stormed outside, Rebekah saw them and asked, "Leaving so soon?"

Elena stopped to turn around to face the annoying blonde. "No. Not just yet. I never got a drink." She gave her bag to Echo and looked directly up at Rebekah as Stefan walked out onto the porch. She went over to one of the keg stands and flipped up on it so she was upside down, holding the sides of it. Echo helped her drink, and she kept on chuffing from the keg.

When she was finished, Echo couldn't help but to let a sly smirk play on her face, and she looked up at Rebekah.

Everyone cheered for Elena which made Rebekah even more pissed.

Elena looked down, wiping her mouth with her sleeve before heading over to Echo with a smirk of her own on her features. "Now I'm ready to go."

ECHO WAS PACING back in forth in Elena's room, her sister was turning grey and had veins growing up her body. Stefan was on the phone with someone, trying to get ahold of someone.

"What is happening?!" Echo was panicking, running her hands through her hair over and over again, practically pulling her hair out. Tears were in her eyes as she kept a close eye on her sister.

"I don't know," Stefan shook his head and then looked at the bedroom's door. "You came."

When Echo looked, she gasped when Klaus walked in. "What the hell are you doing here? What is going on?" She angrily asked and turned to Stefan who had a guilty look on his features. She scoffed and flogged him in the mouth. "You're fucking stupid."

"I did," Klaus said as he grinned amusedly at Echo. "And for future reference, once voicemail is just as effective as nine."

"I still don't know what's going on but someone better explain what the hell is happening with my twin!" Echo exclaimed, clenching her jaw tightly.

"What's wrong, love?" Klaus asked, looking at Elena.

"She has werewolf venom in her system. You know you're the only one who can heal her Klaus, please," Stefan pleaded with puppy eyes.

Echo sucked in a breath as she remembered the short call that she had gotten from Damon a few hours earlier, someone about alcohol poisoning, but she could barley hear him over a siren. She face-palmed and spat out, "of course!"

"And what would you have done if I were no longer here? Hmm?" Klaus smirked as he looked between the three of them. "If you and your friends have succeeded in riding the world for me? Let's play the game for a moment, shall we?"

"Whatever you want from me..." Stefan trailed which made Echo roll her eyes.

"I don't want anything from you. Her, on the other hand." He sat next to Elena and Echo went to stop him, but Stefan grabbed her wrist.

She shook his hand off of her and flogged him in the mouth again. "Don't touch me."

Klaus ignored them as he said, "If you had told me a few hours ago, I wouldn't have cared a lick about her dying. But as it turns out... you may be of use to me after all." He bit into his wrist and fed it to her.

"Now, get out before I bring you down again!" Echo snapped as she pointed towards the bedroom door with a glare set on her features.

Klaus stood up and loomed over her, smirking. "Now, that's no way to thank me."

"How about I just not stab you right now. How is that for thanking you?!" She snapped and smirked in satisfaction as he zoomed out of the room. She then turned to Stefan. "Same goes to you, asshat!"

Stefan sighed and did the same as Klaus; disappeared from her view before she killed them.

Echo sighed and laid down on the bed beside Elena, pulling her into her chest. "This is all my fault. I shouldn't have took you to that stupid party."

Elena smiled and leaned into her sister. "It's fine. You've had my back all day, I couldn't ask for anything better."

Echo petted her hair and smiled lightly. "You had my back today, too." They both closed their eyes and fell asleep in each other's arms.