CHAPTER SIX
❝VISIONS❞

"A stomach bug."

Elektra watched Damon as he watched Sheriff Forbes. He was compact; not as tall as Stefan, but with an indefinable aura of menace that more than made up for it. He was immaculately dressed as always: black jeans, black shirt, black leather jacket, and black boots, which all went with his carelessly windblown dark hair and his soul-piercing pale eyes.

Elektra looked down at her hands, which were still covered in Damon and Stefan's blood, and stared at them in shock. She hadn't been following the conversation between Sheriff Forbes and Damon—actually, she hadn't been aware that either of them were speaking at all. She was so consumed by her thoughts, constantly going over what happened in the Lockwood's old underground cellar. The screams...the blood...the gunshots...the sound of teeth tearing into flesh. It was eating her alive.

"Yeah, it came on fast. I'll definitely be out tomorrow—" the Sheriff looked up sharply when Damon cleared his throat, raising an eyebrow at the woman. "Or longer. I'll text you. Yeah, goodnight."

Caroline's mother walked toward Damon and handed him her phone. "Thank you." He smirked. "It's not exactly the best," he said, referring to her temporary living quarters, which happened to be the dingy cellar in the Salvatore's basement, "but you could thread count and once the vervain has worked its way out of your system, I will compel you and you will forget everything. And then, you'll be a free woman."

A long moment of thick, palpable silence passed between them, but Elektra didn't dare bring herself to break it before the others. Instead, she decided to stay where she was: leaning against the brick wall opposite of the cellar, a few feet behind Damon's back. She couldn't wrap her head around the fact that Caroline's mother had tried to kill Stefan and Damon. And what shook her to the core was that the Sheriff had almost succeeded in killing them. With her own eyes, Elektra watched as the brothers lied on the ground, writhing with encroaching death. When it was all over with, she even offered blood to both Stefan and Damon, having this overwhelming need to nurture them. As though they were injured birds rather than powerful vampires.

     Elektra just couldn't get those tending thoughts out of her head. She felt as if she had to do everything in her power to heal them; to mother them.

"Keep Caroline away from me, please." Elizabeth requested. "I don't want to see her."

Her eyes flashed up with the first small spark of acknowledgement. "But she's your daughter."

"Not anymore. My daughter's gone."

Elektra glowered at the woman. A fire sparked in her chest; flooding her entire body with heat at her words. The Sheriff's statement was way out of line and she knew that. She shot away from the wall, the need to protect the vampires came rushing to the surface, practically stomping toward the entrance of the cell. A pair of arms wrapped around her middle just in time to keep her from entering. She shut her eyes until her breathing slowed.

Damon's eyes were surprisingly soft. "You have no idea how wrong you are about that."

Suddenly, Elektra felt eyes on her. She glanced over at the doorway leading down to the basement, where Caroline stood with sadness in her eyes. The blond was hurt, having heard that her own mother thought that she wasn't her daughter anymore. Elektra pitied the girl, knowing that she never asked for this life. Katherine forced it upon her.

Damon kept his arms around her, incase she decided to do something rash. When the Sheriff shut the cell door, his icy blue eyes were gazing into Elektra's big doe eyes. She could feel her heart pound against her chest. Right now, he made Elektra acutely aware that her body was flush against his. She felt an inward shiver. Damon had promised not to try to use his mental powers on—to use his telepathic powers to cloud or manipulate her mind. Not that it would work, anyway. But sometimes it felt as if he got awfully close to the line.

He was looking down at her with an unnamed emotion in his eyes, those blue on black eyes with such long lashes that they were wasted on a man. Elektra felt as light as if she were dandelion fluff, but also a little light-headed, almost tipsy from the day's events. She suddenly turned her head, stealing her eyes away from his. Untangling herself from his arms, she slowly walked away from him to go and find Caroline before his warmth suffocated her.

Elektra felt his eyes on her back as she walked up with the stair with shaky legs. She could not do anything else. She had to keep moving until she was longer able to feel him. When she made it back to the ground level of the Boarding House, she immediately moved into the study, which was where she found Elena and Caroline sitting on the couch in front of the crackling fireplace.

"We'll take you home, Care."

Caroline shook her head. "I can't go home."

Elena frowned, eyebrows pinched together in the center. "Why not?"

"Because...because I'm scared." Caroline sniffled. Elektra bit the inside of her cheek, knowing that she was referring to Katherine and Beatrice; that the Pierce twins would be waiting for an update on what she was able to find out about Elektra and Stefan. "Katherine and Beatrice are going to be there. And they're going to want me to tell them everything that happened today. They told me I had to spy on you and report back."

"I know." Elektra said swiftly, taking a seat beside the blond on the couch, ignoring the shocked expression that crossed Elena's face. "And I have been so mad at you. And then I tried to put myself in your position so that I could understand why you would do this to me and to Stefan, because he's been such a good friend to you. Who'd they threaten?"

"W-What?" Caroline blanched, eyes wide.

"Who'd she threaten?"

"Matt." Caroline whimpered out. "They threatened Matt and I am so scared of them. I am so scared of them, especially Katherine."

"You have every reason to be, in fact, you should be." Elena told her softly.

Elektra nodded. "We all should be."

"Why are they doing this?" Caroline asked in a whisper. "What do they want?"

✥ ✥ ✥

The next morning, in Elektra's room, rolling around in her bed, Stefan kissed Elektra.

There was a long time of silence, while he felt his undead heart beat faster and faster. Elektra was warm and drowsily heavy in his arms. They were finally alone, and they belonged just like this, and he never wanted anything to change from this moment. Even the quickly growing ache in his upper jaw was something to be enjoyed. The pain of it changed to pleasure with Elektra's warm mouth under his, her lips forming little butterfly kisses, teasing him. He couldn't even bring himself to feel guilty over the fact that just a week ago, he was in a relationship with her sister. He didn't feel guilty in the slightest because Elektra was different than Elena and he felt a pull with her that he hadn't felt with Elena.

He sometimes thought she was more awake when she seemed half-asleep like this. She was always the instigator, something that reminded him of Katherine and Beatrice. The three of them had one thing in common: that they were all impatient. But, he followed helplessly wherever she wanted him to go. Elektra changed the pressure of her lips suddenly and the world rocked and he had to lean back into her bed's headboard. His thoughts fragmented. He could only think that Elektra was with him, leaning on his chest, so excited, so vibrant, until there was a sort of silken explosion inside him and he didn't need to be forced.

Elektra pulled away with a breathy moan. "This is bad of us. What if Jenna or Elena walked in?"

Stefan grinned. "Jenna just opened the fridge and Elena just got into the shower."

"You can hear that?"

"Mhmm." Stefan hummed against her neck, beginning to kiss up and down it, lightly nipping at the skin there. She rolled herself on top of him and pressed her lips against his.

There was no more time or reason to think. Elektra was melting into his arms, her hair under his stroking fingers a liquid softness. The aching in his canines had finally produced the inevitable result, his teeth lengthening, sharpening; the touch of them against Elektra's lower lip causing a bright flicker of pleasure-pain that almost made him gasp.

And then Elektra did something she never had done before. Delicately, with no sense of fear, she took one of Stefan's fangs carefully and captured it between her upper and lower lips. And then, delicately, deliberately, she just held on. The whole world reeled around Stefan. It was only by the sheer force of his will that he didn't bite down and pierce her lip. Ancient vampire urges that could never be tamed out of his blood were screaming at him to do just that.

He was frozen in pleasure. His fangs had never extended so far or become quite so sharp, and without him doing a thing, the razor edge of his tooth had cut into Elektra's full lower lip. Blood was trickling very slowly down his throat. Elektra's blood, which seemed to contain its own magic. It was charged with power that was as different from human blood as human was from animal blood.

Stefan's heart was pounding out of his chest.

If he hadn't known any better, he could've sworn that Elektra felt a strong sense of satisfaction as the pain in her lip turned to pleasure. That she actually enjoyed nurturing a vampire, loved the feeling of feeding him. He mentally pushed away the thoughts, knowing, from experience, that no one enjoyed being fed on unless compelled otherwise.

Hot shivers traveled down his spine, Elektra's blood still making the world spin.

Elektra let go of his fang, sucking on her lower lip. She reached for the sharp pin on her bedside table and jabbed the point of it in the tip of her index finger. Then, she squeezed until a sizable red drop of blood seeped out of the wound.

"Did it hurt?" Stefan asked, eyes locked on the blood on her finger.

"No." Elektra said, truthfully. "A little bit every day to make you stronger, right?"

"I don't need to take a lot—and I shouldn't," Stefan whispered, and she knew he was saying these things while he could say them. "I'm not holding you too hard or hurting you?"

He was always so worried. This time, she kissed him.

And she could see how strange he thought it was, that he wanted kisses more than he wanted her blood. He grabbed Elektra's hand and brought the tip of her finger into his mouth. The indescribable sweetness of Elektra's blood filled Stefan's mouth, and an outpouring of giving swept Elektra into incoherency.

With Stefan still shuddering, Elektra curled herself like a cat. She smiled at him, a smile drugged with a strange sense of pleasure. He thought of grasping her by the arms, pulling her down, and starting all over. That was how insane she'd made him. Because he knew—all too well, from experience—the danger they were flirting with.

But he just couldn't help himself. He shifted onto his side and just gazed, feeling his heart pound just at the sight of her. Her hair, dark brown, fell like silk on the bed and pooled there. Her body, in the sunlight pouring through the windows, seemed to be outlined in gold. She truly seemed to move and sleep in a golden haze. It was terrifying. For a vampire, it was as if he'd brought a living sun into his arms.

"Okay, I need to get in the shower." Elektra announced, trying to pull herself out of her bed.

The side of Stefan's mouth quirked up. "Love it, let's go!"

Elektra chuckled. "No, just me. I'm late. I'm decorating at the Lockwood charity ball."

"What do you know! So am I." Stefan grinned.

Elektra rolled her eyes. "Do you think that's really a good idea to be at their house today? I mean, Mason did try to kill you and Damon, and almost succeeded."

"I don't trust Mason and I want to be there today to keep an eye on him."

"Okay," Elektra sighed, leaning back on her elbows. "Then we can't touch or talk. And no lingering stares, Mr. Intense Eyes."

Stefan chuckled, kissing her nose. "No, none of that."

"What do you think will happen if Katherine and Beatrice find out that we're fake fighting?"

"Who?" Stefan asked blankly before he leaned down and pressed his lips to Elektra's.

A few dozen volunteers were buzzing around the Lockwood Mansion; sorting masquerade masks, hanging up costumes, assorting furniture and Elektra quickly decided that she wanted no part of it. Instead, she chose to follow Aunt Jenna through the house, narrowly trying to avoid all the people. The last thing she wanted was to be roped into another droning conversation. She really hated historical functions.

Elektra walked with her arm looped through Jenna's when Tyler's mother approached them, clipboard in hand. Carol Lockwood's smile widened when she caught sight of Elektra, still holding onto the idea that her son and Elektra were going to get back together. "Jenna, thanks for helping wrangle the volunteers."

Jenna smiled, feeling Elektra's arm tighten around hers. "Of course. It's for a good cause. Plus, I have always been a sucker for the masquerade ball."

"So was Richard. This was always his favorite party of the year."

Elektra felt her heart clench in her chest at the mention of the late mayor, bringing unwanted memories of that fateful night up to the surface. She shook her head, trying to push them back down. Thinking back on that night would only make her day worse. She didn't want to make herself sad while trying to keep her mind off the fact that Beatrice or Katherine could be watching her and Elena at that very moment. Speaking of, where was Elena?

But, before she could investigate there was a crash, then pounding footsteps, and then another crash, much closer. Elektra turned to see that Matt and Tyler were struggling to carry an antique table through the narrow entryway. She tried to suppress her laughter when the heel of Matt's foot got snagged on the edge of the large Persian rug, causing the table to drop ungracefully on the floor.

"Wait, wait, wait. Tyler." Matt cautioned.

Annoyance quickly clouded Carol's features. "Boys! Be careful with that. It's from the 1800s. Excuse me, ladies."

Jenna and Elektra shared a look before they burst out laughing. They continued to laugh as they moved out of the foyer and into the dining room where a bunch of volunteers were laying out placemats and assorted plates and fine silver cutlery. The handcrafted table cloth was white with a simple pattern; the sides of the cloth being so long that they pooled on the floor. Elektra made sure not to step on them.

She gave Jenna a parting smile, deciding that she should at least help the others set the table. Elektra reached out to grab a placemat from the pile, but dropped it as if it had bitten her when a hand touched hers, going to grab the same placemat. Startled, she whirled around, only to cannon into Stefan, who was standing right beside her. Stefan locked eyes with her.

"Oh, um, sorry. Were you going to—? You know what? I've gotta go find Elena." The words spilled out of Elektra's mouth in a single gushing flow, a single breath. She knew that she had an act to keep up with. Before she vacated the dining room, she met Jenna's extremely confused eyes. I'll worry about that later, she thought and left without another word.

When Elektra stepped out of the mansion, she was immediately hit by a strong breeze and let it blow through her, wishing that all of her worries would blow away with it. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Then Elektra opened her eyes, shook herself, and started to make her way down the stairs into the courtyard where the actual masquerade ball would take place. Elena and Bonnie were carrying boxes through the courtyard and Elektra chose to meet them halfway.

"Bonnie," Elektra sighed. "You're here."

Bonnie nodded, her and Elena setting their boxes down on a nearby table. "I'm here."

The witch, not-so-subtly, glanced around the courtyard searching for any sign of their blond friend. "Caroline's not coming, Bonnie. I told you." Elena sighed, pulling the candles out of the box.

"Just making sure." Bonnie replied and began to put the candles in the gold candelabra.

Elektra did the same. "You know, just because you ignore her, doesn't mean she's going to just disappear. You can't avoid her forever, Bonnie."

Elena hummed in agreement, but didn't meet Elektra's eyes. "She's right, Bon. You're gonna have to talk to her eventually."

"Could you two make it less obvious you're on her side?"

"There are no sides, Bonnie."

"Come on." Bonnie scoffed, her green eyes hard. "Since Caroline became a vampire, we barely see each other. Losing Caroline was bad enough. I didn't think I'd lose the two of you, as well."

Elektra turned and instantly locked eyes with Elena. They both knew that it was well-past time for them to let Bonnie in on what had been going on. The poor girl was completely in the dark on the fact that Caroline'd been spying on them ever since she turned into a vampire.

Elena was practically pleading her twin for permission to tell their best friend. Elektra felt defeated, her face falling completely as she let out a deep sigh—Elena had been pestering her about it all ever since Elektra had revealed that she knew about Caroline working with the Pierce twins. She frowned deeply, knowing that it would be so much easier if Bonnie knew.

"All right, Elena." She conceded, pinching the bridge of her nose. "You can tell her. I'm gonna go find a dark closet I can lock myself in."

When Elektra got back inside the chaotic mansion, she started pacing anxiously in front of a large window. She couldn't keep still. Suddenly, a familiar hand grabbed her wrist. Her eyes widened as Damon forcefully stopped her from pacing.

"Damon, what are you doing here?"

His icy eyes gazed out at the courtyard where Stefan was now talking to Bonnie. "Looking for my baby bro. Speaking of, could you tell yours to stop following me around?"

"What's going on?" She asked, confused.

"Why don't you ask him?" He said with a smirk. "It's not my place to tell."

Damon went to walk away, but before he could even take a step, Elektra grabbed his arm. "You can't just walk away after telling me something like that." She insisted, looking around to see if anyone was close enough to eavesdrop. "Now, what's going on, Damon?"

He made a gesture over her shoulder. "Ask eager beaver."

Then, Jeremy approached them.

"Jeremy, what's going on?" Elektra asked, letting go of Damon and crossing her arms over her chest. "Is he making you do something—?" She pointed at Damon's retreating form.

"He's not making me do anything." Jeremy cut her off sharply. "Damon and I—"

She shook her head firmly. "Uh, no. No way. There is no Damon and you. There's Damon and whoever Damon's using and those people end up dead."

"Then why aren't you dead, Elektra?"

Elektra blanched. "W-What's that supposed to mean, Jer? Are you insinuating that Damon's using me? Because he's not. Damon and I, we've dealt with a lot and we've come to sort of trust one another. Whatever him and I are—friends, associates—it's different."

"So, just because he's in love you, that means that it's different and you can get involved?" Jeremy asked with a scoff.

"No." She snapped. "Truth is, Elena and I don't want you involved. It has nothing to do with you helping Damon."

"I don't really care what you and Elena think. It's because of you two that I'm in this mess in the first place. So, I'm sorry, you don't really get to tell me what to do."

Elektra clenched her jaw and went to follow after him, but her path was blocked by Mason Lockwood. He silently excused himself and moved to step around her. Mason's bicep brushed against her shoulder. Snap! Suddenly her thoughts went blank. Time stopped. The area around her was dead silent. In the dark behind her closed lids, Elektra saw a pitch-black clearing, the only source of light was the beam of light shining down from the full moon, medium high, and white and pure as snow. The beam of light was directed on something in the middle of the field. An animal. No. A wolf.

Elektra was shocked. Whatever she was seeing, she knew that it wasn't some sort of metaphor. The images before her were a symbol of the Lockwood bloodline, but in a form that her own mind could understand and interpret, if only she looked at it from the right perspective. Instinctively, though, she knew that she was seeing something important.

Elektra's heart was beating so hard she was afraid her entire body would shake. The air surrounding her body felt different, electrified almost, as if some supernatural energy was flowing through it. She was frightened. The wolf was pulsing with energy, a dark and ugly energy like boiling black tar that stung her fingers. But she could also feel the quivering silver thread that was Mason's presence trapped inside the wolf's body.

At precisely that moment, a figure eased out of the trees, quiet as a shadow, and stalked deliberately toward Mason's wolf-form. It felt like an eternity before the figure finally stepped into the ring of light beside Mason. He was tall and muscular—for a moment, Elektra thought it was Mason—that was until the moonlight reached his face and his identity was revealed.

Tyler Lockwood.

Suddenly, an intense pain erupted in her skull, and it took all her will power not to cry out. It felt as though her brain was being grasped by sharp talons and they cut deep into the soft tissue. Elektra muffled her groans, pressing firmly against her temple, trying to mask her pain because all of the prying eyes around her. Her knees buckled and she fell against the wall beside her.

And just as quickly the pain appeared, it vanished. Whatever that...vision was, it had used up all her energy. She was so sleepy now. Something inside her felt tired. Very old—centuries old—and very tired. Opening her eyes, Elektra found herself looking around at a circle of perplexed observers with wet eyes. Elektra felt a numbness in her body and a fullness in her throat. She couldn't stand to be here for one more second, feeling as if the air in her lungs was suffocating her instead of bringing her life.

By the time Elektra made it out onto the large porch that wrapped around the front of the Lockwood Mansion, the numbness was wearing off and the lump in her throat was trying to dissolve into tears. And she felt as if she kept blacking out every few seconds, becoming extremely lightheaded. Stumbling and tripping as she walked.

Slowly, inside, Elektra could feel something growing. It had sparked when she thought about the vision of Mason and Tyler standing in the bright moonlight. The images appeared after she touched Mason; she began to wonder if it was similar to what Bonnie felt when she touched a vampire. The growing thing surged when she'd thought of it as some sort of warning, premonition of what was to come. That Tyler Lockwood was going to become a werewolf just like Mason.

The sunlight was soaking into Elektra's skin, but she still felt that she was surrounded by an absolute darkness. Squeezing her eyes shut, she leaned against a large marble support beam, trying her hardest to push the migraine out of her skull. It felt as if someone had just slammed her head against a brick wall. Elektra knew that she needed to find her friends; Stefan, Bonnie, Elena, Damon...anyone, because she also knew that she needed help, afraid that she wasn't going to remain conscious much longer.

Elektra was whispering, over and over, clearly oblivious to the world around her: "Please, help me. Stefan—Damon, if you can hear me, I need your help. It hurts. It hurts so bad I could scream. Please, please, please..."

A cool breeze whipped through the air, swaying her hair like something was moving through it. She tensed, pressed herself even more against the marble pillar even though the wind brushed harmlessly past her. The thought of her mother suddenly came to mind. Her mother would be sad if she stopped fighting. But, with the numbness and lightheadedness, Elektra couldn't keep it up.

When Damon finally located Elektra, he half-expected to smell blood and see her experiencing some sort of trauma. She wasn't. She was down on her knees, upper body slumped against a marble pillar, hair curtaining around her face. Panicked, Damon reached down to grab her hand, when he got a shock of his own. He sensed it before he touched her. Her wrist was like ice.

He picked Elektra up as if she were a bit of dandelion fluff and cradled her in his arms. Then he moved away from the organized chaos that was taking place inside the mansion. "What'd you go and get yourself into now, hmm?" Damon whispered against her head, lips moving over her hair.

He decided to take her to edge of the property where he was supposed to meet Stefan. Before Damon could even get half-away through the journey, he almost took part in a collision. Damon and Elektra came around a corner to find Stefan sprinting in their direction.

"What the hell are you doing?" Stefan exclaimed.

"What the hell are you doing?" Damon said, or began to say, when he noticed the tremendous difference in Stefan—and the tremendous power that was the unconscious Elektra. While most of his mind simply reeled in shock, a small part of it immediately began to analyze the situation, to figure out how Stefan had gone from a nothing to a—a—

Damn.

"I heard her calling out to us," Stefan said, frantic. "I was already at the edge of the property when her voice reached me. You must've been closer." He reached out and brushed the hair out of Elektra's face. "Do you know what happened to her?"

Damon shook his head, eyes locked on Elektra's face. Even in unconsciousness, her face was furrowed in agony. He couldn't even think about the difference in Stefan, his mind was solely focused on Elektra. "No, but I suggest that we go somewhere more private so we can figure that out."

Stefan silently agreed, eyes glancing at the open area around them. There were still too many people lurking through that part of the property. He offered to carry Elektra the rest of the way, but Damon didn't even bother to answer, just cradled her closer to his chest and walked ahead of Stefan.

"Hello, little doe." Damon whispered, the edge of the new Lockwood estate only a few yards away. The nickname rolled off his tongue as he thought about her large doe eyes, hiding behind her closed lids. And how he ached to see them; ached for her to okay.

It was one of the worst opening lines of his life, he thought dejectedly. But he wasn't feeling quite himself. Stefan's transformation had startled him—that must be what's wrong, he decided.

"Da...mon." She whispered in her state of unconsciousness. His voice was able to reach her subconscious.

Damon started. Elektra's voice was slow and hesitant...and absolutely beautiful: molasses dripping sweetness, honey falling straight from the comb. It was lower in pitch, he was sure. That should have put him off, but instead it just reminded him that Elektra was someone to take seriously, never lightly

I'd take you seriously or lightly or any way you prefer, Damon thought, if you weren't so stuck on my idiot younger brother.

When they finally arrived at their desired location, a canopy covered patio at the edge of the property by the pond, Damon gently set Elektra down on one of the benches. Stefan said something about going to find Bonnie, but Damon didn't respond. Still supporting Elektra's head, he rolled up his sleeve. He pulled out the pocket knife hidden in his jeans and made a cut on his arm, at the wrist. He followed the vein there until blood was not just dripping but streaming steadily out. Then he put that wrist to Elektra's upturned mouth, adjusting the angle of her head with his other hand. Her lips were parted open and the dark red blood flowed. Periodically she swallowed.

He needed this to work.

Damon changed position slightly to be more comfortable while holding Elektra, feeding her. A minute or so later, there was something like a geyser and Elektra exploded upward from the bench. She spat out a mouthful of blood and cried, "What's going on?" in tones to melt a heart of stone.

Which they did. Contemplating the bedraggled Elektra, who wrapped her arms around herself instinctively, with her dark hair plastered to her head and her big brown eyes blinking between strands, something swelled in Damon. Stefan had yet to return with Bonnie. For a moment, it was just the two of them: Damon and Elektra.

"It tastes awful," Elektra said woefully, spitting out more of his blood.

"I know," Damon said, staring at her. The new thing he was feeling had swollen inside his soul until the pressure was almost too much to stand. When Elektra said, "But I'm alive!" with an abrupt 180-degree turn in mood, her oval-shaped face flushing suddenly with joy, the fierce pride Damon felt in response was intoxicating. He and he alone had brought her back from the edge. Her body had been cured by him; it was his blood that had pulled her out of her traumatic state, his blood—

With something inside him singing, he clutched Elektra to him, feeling her body pressed against his. He clutched at her as if he needed her for blood—as if they were in hurricane-tossed seas and to let go of her would be to lose her.

"Okay. Okay. This is as far as I go." Bonnie said from behind them.

Elektra pushed Damon away. She had surprising strength for someone with such a small build. She pushed herself out of his arms completely. Her expression had changed radically again. She whirled around to face Stefan, a huge smile breaking across her face. Elektra scrambled to her feet and crashed into Stefan's open arms. While Damon knelt by the bench, his face without expression.

"What's going on? What do you want? Why is Elektra here?" Bonnie asked in a single breath. When her eyes locked on Elektra's face she said, "There's blood on your mouth."

Stefan was surprised. But then he realized the reason.

"You gave her some of your blood, didn't you?" Stefan said. Elektra wiped the side of her mouth Bonnie had been looking at and came up with a bloody smear across the pad of her thumb.

"Successful experiment." Damon said, shrugging as he stood up. "As for you—" he looked at Bonnie "—we need a favor."

"Like that's gonna happen." Bonnie snapped.

Damon threw his head back, irritated. "So predictable. That's why I brought him."

Elektra felt her phone buzz in her back pocket, pulling it out she saw that she had a text message from Elena.

TO: ELEKTRA (BACKSTABBER)
FROM: ELENA (IMPERSONATOR)
Where are you, Lek? What's going on?
Is everything OK?

Elektra reread the message several time before deciding on what to reply.

"I know how you feel about helping us out. But, since you're the one that linked Mason with Katherine and Beatrice, we finally have an opportunity to get an upper hand on them. So just hear us out."

"Pretty please," Damon said, pouting.

Elektra blinked, processing Stefan's words. "Wait—what? Mason is working with Katherine and Beatrice? Oh, my God, this day just keeps getting better and better. Firstly, I almost die because I got this freaky-ass vision when I touched Mason—"

Damon's hand suddenly fell upon his shoulder. "Hold on. Did you just say you had a vision when you touched Mason?" His eyes briefly flickered over to Bonnie, whose eyes were wide in shock.

"Yeah, it happened right after I got done talking with Jeremy. Why?"

"What did you see?"

"What do you mean, what did I see?" Elektra asked, confused.

Damon rolled his eyes. "In your vision, Elektra. What did you see in the vision?"

"Oh, yeah. Sorry." She rushed out, suddenly frazzled. "Um, it's kinda cloudy, but I remember seeing a wolf. No, it was Mason in wolf-form. He stood in an open field under the full moon, but what was even weirder, was that Tyler was in there. Standing next to Mason."

Stefan and Damon locked eyes. Stefan had stood silently, watching and listening to Elektra. He heaved a sigh, thinking back to that morning when she fed him her blood: how she seemed to gain pleasure from feeding him, that she hadn't felt drained and showed any signs of discomfort. Something is happening to Elektra and it's changing her. "Do you think it means something? Like, some sort of warning, or premonition that Tyler is going to eventually turn into a werewolf?"

"I-I-I don't know. Maybe."

TO: ELENA (IMPERSONATOR)
FROM: ELEKTRA (BACKSTABBER)
I'm fine. With Damon, Bonnie, and Stefan.
Fill you in later.

She got a reply almost immediately.

TO: ELEKTRA (BACKSTABBER)
FROM: ELENA (IMPERSONATOR)
Damon and Bonnie? Fill me in now.

Elena's picture popped up on Elektra's phone, and she debated whether to answer or not. Stefan noticed her hesitation and gently took her phone into his hands, he turned to Damon and Bonnie.

"I have to fill Elena in on what's going on." Stefan announced. "Damon, can you play nice, please?"

"Yes." Damon replied, seeing Stefan walk toward the edge of the pond. "All you have to do is touch Mason Lockwood again, see if he gave Beatrice and Katherine the moonstone."

Bonnie rolled her bright green eyes. "My visions don't work like that. I don't get to ask questions."

"How inconvenient." Damon bit. "Although, let's talk about that witchy juju thing you do with me...you know, the fun one where my brain bursts into flames. What is that?"

With the mention of causing Damon pain, Bonnie grinned. "That's me giving you an aneurism. Your blood vessels go pop, but you heal quickly, so I do it over and over again."

There was a mischievous glint in Damon's eyes. "Is it vampire-specific?"

"It'd work on anyone with a supernatural healing ability."

Elektra's eyebrows furrowed. "Then why did the Gilbert device have an affect on me the night of the parade? I'm not a vampire nor do I have a supernatural healing ability."

There was a pause; Damon and Elektra looked at each other across a distance of two feet.

"You never told me that the device affected you." He said, sounding sad and somewhat guilty.

Elektra shrugged. "You never asked and it never came up."

"I don't know why the device affect you." Bonnie replied flatly. "But, Damon. I'm not gonna help you hurt him."

"Mason Lockwood's a werewolf. Katherine's evil. Beatrice is annoyingly cunning. They're the bad guys. Really? You're gonna play morality police with me right now? Let me put it to you another way: They're a threat to Elektra and Elena. So you, witch, are gonna get over yourself and help us."

"Damon!" Elektra scowled, and swatted at his arm.

Stefan approached and handed Elektra back her phone. "Yeah, he meant that as a question with a "please" at the end."

"Absolutely."

After Elektra helped Damon, Stefan, and Bonnie with the task of capturing Mason Lockwood, she received a text message from Bonnie instructing her and Stefan to look for the moonstone in the well at the edge of the old Lockwood property. Elektra assumed that Bonnie was successful in having another vision while touching Mason. She shuddered, thinking of how awfully painful her own vision was and how she never wanted to experience something like that again. But somewhere, deep inside, she knew that that pain was only the beginning.

It was hard going through through the woods, even in the daylight. The underbrush was thick, and dead branches reached out to snatch at them. Moths fluttered around them, brushing Elektra's cheek with unseen wings.

Eventually they came to a clearing. The foundations of an old house could be seen, building stones tied to the ground now by weeds and brambles. For the most part, the chimney was still intact, with hollow places where concrete had once held held it together, like a crumbling monument. Flashlights in hand, the two of them quickly made it to the old well. There was a thick metal grate covering it and it appeared as though it hadn't been thought of—let alone used—in years. There was moss covering the chipped bricks and mold around the opening from all the moisture trapped inside.

Elektra couldn't contain her excitement any longer. "This could be it. This must be it. Stefan, if the moonstone is down there, we'll have the upper hand. Woah." Elektra breathed, leaning over the side to try and peer through the grate, but it was too dark and she was too high up.

That was when Elektra's heart began pounding. She could feel it reverberating in her throat and her fingertips.The sound of heavy footsteps surrounded them. She whirled around to see Elena running toward the well. "Seriously, Elena?"

"What's going on?" Elena asked.

"You shouldn't be here." Stefan stated blankly.

Elena sighed, and moved to stand beside Elektra, leaning against the side of the well. "I know, but I am. So, what's going on?"

Looking down into the well, Stefan said, "Bonnie thinks the moonstone is down here."

With a simple flick of his wrist, he broke the lock, tossing it and the metal grate aside like it was nothing. He grabbed one of the flashlights, turned it on, and shined it down inside the well. From their perspective, all they saw was a pretty normal well. All they could see was the water resting at the bottom.

Grunting, Stefan hopped up onto the stone ledge.

Elektra grabbed his hand. "Please, be careful."

He nodded. "I'll only be down there a minute."

With that, Stefan jumped down through that black opening. Elektra and Elena leaned over, looking down into the darkness, hearing only the echoes of the water being disturbed by Stefan's landing. Then, to their horror, there was another sound.

Stefan screamed.

"Elektra! Elena!"

"Stefan!" They shouted, panicked.

"Elektra!"

She leaned over the well further. "Stefan, what's happening?"

"What's going on in there, Stefan?"

"Vervain!"

Franticly, Elektra and Elena tried to figure out what their next move was. They were both talking at the same time. Sometimes voicing possible ways to get Stefan out of the well, sometimes just throwing more questions at each other. But, eventually, the twins moved simultaneously to the large pile of chain on the ground beside the well. They tried their hardest, but the chain was too heavy for them.

"Elena! Elektra!" Caroline's voice suddenly called out, appearing in a blur at their sides.

"Caroline, Stefan's down there. And the chain is rusted. We—" Elena rushed out.

"No, no, no." Elektra exclaimed, grabbing Caroline's shoulders when she began to climb up onto the well's edge. "You can't. It's filled with vervain. But we've got to get him out."

"Well—"

"Now!"

Caroline moved around them to grab the rusted chain and Elektra started to climb onto the well, only to have Elena stop her.

"No, you're not going down there." Elena said firmly. Elektra was about to snap at her when Elena continued. "You're not going down there because I am. Stefan told me about what happened to you after you touched Mason, and the last thing we need is for you to go down there and pass out and drown."

Elektra rolled her eyes. "Oh! So now you care about my well being."

"Don't start this, Elektra. Not right now." Elena sighed, running her hand through her hair, while Caroline tossed one end of the chain over the metal joist above the well.

"No, you started this when you pretended to be me so you could kiss Damon!" Elektra shouted, feeling her blood go hot in her veins.

Elena stepped closer to Elektra, narrowing her eyes. "Well, you kissed Stefan when him and I were still dating. How is that any better than what I did?"

Elektra chuckled despite the situation. "The funny thing is, I didn't kiss Stefan. He kissed me. And I didn't have to pretend to be someone else. He wants me more than he ever wanted you."

"Enough!" Caroline hollered, causing both girls to jump away from one another, having the audacity to at least look ashamed for their ill-timed argument. "You are both horrible people, okay? Can we save Stefan now? Good. Elena, wrap and hook the chain around you and I'll lower you down."

Bonnie then appeared, out of breath from chasing after Caroline. "What's going on? You just took off in a blur."

"I heard Elena and Elektra screaming. Help her. Now."

Bonnie and Elektra helped lower Elena off the ledge and into the well. The next five minutes were awful for Elektra. Caroline finally pulled Stefan out, and Bonnie reached forward to grab him under the shoulders and unhook the chain, they lied him down on the ground. Then Elektra was holding him, her arms locked around his chest. She could tell just how wrong things were by his unnatural stillness, by the limpness of his body.

When she released him enough to look at him, she saw that his skin was badly burned but was so cold to the touch that it frightened her. Her shirt was soaked and she was uncomfortable, but she didn't care.

"Oh, God." She mumbled, grasping around her from something sharp. She found a rock with an eroded edge and sliced the heel of her palm open, placing the oozing cut against his parted lips. Behind her, she could faintly hear Elena crying out that she got the moonstone. "Elena got the stone, Stefan."

His eyes popped open, swallowing her blood with grateful sighs.

"You're gonna be okay. Everything's gonna be okay."

✥ ✥ ✥

"Hmm, it smells amazing in here." Elektra said with a small smile, trying to get rid of her depressing thoughts as she entered the kitchen after changing out of her wet clothes.

Once in the kitchen, she saw that Alaric, Jenna and Elena were all making dinner.

"Thank you, Elektra." Alaric smiled, moving to set the table.

Jenna gripped, pulling a large knife out of the drawer. "Ric here—" she pointed at him "claims that he is a master chief. He planned a gourmet meal for us."

"Yeah, anything cooked in this house that doesn't end with us all getting our stomachs pumped, is considered gourmet." Elektra joked, winking at Jenna. "Where's Jeremy?" She asked, helping Alaric set the table.

"He went straight up to his room. He said he wasn't hungry."

Elektra nodded and looked over at Jenna who was on the phone. "Who is she talking to?"

Alaric shook his head. "I don't know. Everything go okay today?"

She pursed her lips, locking eyes with Elena across the kitchen. "There were a few hiccups, but yeah."

"Of course. I understand." Jenna said, walking over to Elektra. "Elena, Elektra, it's for you...grab the other phone Elena."

Elektra furrowed her brows in confusion. "Who is it, Jenna?"

Jenna didn't reply, she just walked back over to where she was before, and began to cut a freshly baked loaf of french bread. Elena, licked her lips and then grabbed the other house phone before putting it to her ear. They both walked out of the kitchen, into the living room for more privacy.

"Hello?" Elena and Elektra asked together.

"Hello Elektra." Her eyes widened at the voice.

"Hello Elena." She could tell that there were two voices, but they sounded exactly the same. Beatrice and Katherine were speaking at the same time.

"Bitches." Elektra hissed under her breath.

"Did you enjoy your little rendezvous with Stefan this morning Elektra?" That was Beatrice, she could tell by the way she talked about Stefan. How jealous she sounded. Elektra immediately noticed the shocked expression on Elena's face. "We will always know. We will always be one step ahead of you. When are you two going to figure that out?"

There was a pause before they continued.

"Do you know how easy it was to get inside of your house?" Katherine asked almost mockingly."To replace Aunt Jenna's vervain perfume, to convince her to stop drinking her special tea?"

Elektra then turned halfway around to look back at Jenna, to see that she was still slicing the bread. Alaric gave them a "what's going on" look and Elektra held her hand up.

"No." Elena whispered.

"You're lying." Elektra spat.

"Jenna's been our little spy for days now. And unlike you, Jenna actually listens to us. So, when we suggested that the world would be a much better place if she were to just—"

Elena yelled, "Jenna, no!"

Elektra whirled around, the phone still pressed against her ear, just in time to see Aunt Jenna stab herself in the stomach with the knife she was just using. Elektra cried out as Alaric and Elena rushed to Jenna's side.

"How dare you?" She growled at Katherine and Beatrice through the phone.

"Well, you get the idea Elektra." They said with an evil tone laced in their words."The last thing we wanted to do was anger you, Elektra. For we are most amused with you, but your boyfriends took something of mine, so it was my turn to take something of yours."

"You bitch." she hissed.

"Now we're hoping that you will comply with our terms from now on. You won't a second chance. You're a smart girl Elektra, much like us. We still cannot believe that you didn't see this coming. Have the visions started yet?"

"What do you want?" She snapped, my eyes staring at Jenna in concern, ignoring the fact that they knew about the vision. "What is it that you want?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

Then the line went dead.

✥ ✥ ✥

not edited.

whew. this chapter is super looong, clocking at almost 8,000 words. and it took me almost a week to write it bc it ended up being so long. oh well.

so, a lot happened in this chapter. some very important things about elektra were revealed (visions, nurturing vampires, own magic) and elena and elektra finally had some form of communication since elena found out about elektra and stefan. given, their fight couldn't have happened a worse time lol. and i really wanted to add scenes when it's just elektra and damon bc everyone ships them. i still haven't decided who she's going to end up with, i meant even throw an Original into the mix, i dont yet. well, let me know what you thought and what you think is going to happen next and which Original should take an interest in elektra!