Chapter 20

“What are we going to do? Remember what they did to Stefan? That can’t happen again,” I babbled, pacing round the room like the energizer bunny on crack.

“We’ll have to move, change our names, and join the witness protection programme. Or we’ll have to get plastic surgery, change our names and move to Guam!” I cried, throwing myself into the middle of the floor.

“And now children,” Damon said, acting all teacher-like. “You can see the effects of an immense amount of coffee on the stressed mind of a vampire.”

“You gave her coffee? She wasn’t allowed it when she was human. She goes wild!” Meredith exclaimed.

“She got like addicted to it in sixth grade. She screamed at Mr Tanner when he tried to take her flask away from her in class.” Bonnie said.

Lexi was just in stitches, while I got up and jogged round the room twice, before spinning around in circles.

“You might as well have just given her a hallucinogenic. Oh dear lord…” Meredith sighed, as I tried to play pat-a-cake with Stefan. He just stared at me, half-amused, half-freaked out.

“No, Stefan,” I said, raising his hands and forcing them to connect with mine. “Like this.”

Everyone burst out laughing at me.

“Meredith, is there a miracle cure for this insanity?” Stefan begged, as I kept moving his hands so he’d play with me. It’s not too much to ask is it…what the hell is that purple leprechaun doing staring at me?

“Who let a purple leprechaun into the house?” I asked, pointing at it. He was standing behind Damon, thinking I couldn’t see him, but boy was he wrong!

Everyone turned to look, and kept looking, before turning back to me.

“Well I’m sure I speak on the behalf of everyone when I say…good job Damon! She’s finally lost the plot.” Stefan snapped.

“What plot? Are we doing a play? Did I lose my script?” I questioned, slapping my hands to my face in shame. I’m such a terrible person.

“No, Elena, honey. There is no play.” Lexi said, barely containing her laughter.

“Then why are you all talking about plots? It’s snowing outside!” I squealed, before racing off, shooting out the door, and into the forest. I threw myself onto the ground, and started making snow angels. Damon, obviously, took after me, followed by Lexi and Stefan.

“Aw, look at her, she’s as happy as Augustus Gloop in Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.” Lexi remarked, grinning from ear to ear. I jumped up, rugby tackled Lexi, and pushed her into the snow.

“Make a snow angel.” I ordered, sitting beside her, pointing at her with my finger gun. She looked at Stefan, who just grinned at her.

“Do as she says, she’s armed and dangerous.” He said, shrugging, ignoring her silent pleas. In the end, she glared at him, realising he would do nothing to help her…and then the devilish grin appeared.

She leant down, made her snow angel, got the seal of approval from me and Pat the purple leprechaun, and then attacked Stefan…in a friendly way. She did a replay of me, jumped up from the ground, launched herself at him, and they collapsed onto the snow. Then Lexi and I pointed our finger guns at him.

“Make a snow angel, Salvatore. Do as we say, we’re armed and dangerous.” Lexi mimicked him.

“Plus, Pat’s got a machine gun.” I added. Pat did have a machine gun, he said he didn’t want to have to use it but he will if Stefan doesn’t do as we tell him to.

“Tell Pat he doesn’t need to use it.”

“Tell him yourself, he’s not deaf, Stefan.” I replied, using a ‘duh’ tone of voice. “Just because he’s got small Leprechaun ears does not mean he can’t hear you!”

“Okay, I’m debating whether or not to strap her down to a bed, then go sort out the mess we’re in.” Damon said.

“Stefan has to make a snow angel, then you can tie me up.”

“It would be my pleasure.” Damon grinned, waggling his eyebrows, most likely thinking something dirty. I tossed some snow at him, and it smacked him right in the face. Everything was now quiet. Damon reached up and wiped off the snow that was reluctant to leave. He glared at me, before bending down to scoop some snow into his hands.

“Uh oh, Pat, he’s after us. RUN!” I screamed, bolting further into the forest. I heard him chasing after me, and I squealed as I heard his snowball whistling through the air. Then I came to a stop. An abrupt, painful stop. What I had thought was his snowball, was in fact a bullet cutting through the air. I can practically hear you thinking…wouldn’t she have heard the gun being fired?

I should have, but it appears that this one was silent.

I dropped to my knees, and put a hand to my stomach. The wound was clean, and tidy, and it hadn’t gone in deep. I lifted my hands to my face, and saw red. Dark, oozing blood covered my hands, seeping through my dress, sliding down my arm.

Damon was now at my side, but I couldn’t hear a word he was saying. I fell back as another bullet pierced my chest, narrowly avoiding my heart. I did the only thing I could do, push Damon away. I threw him back into a tree, telling him with a quieting mental voice to run.

I won’t leave you.

Do as I say, I’m armed and dangerous.

I joked. I was glad I was talking to him in my head, as opposed to out loud because I’m scared that my voice would give away how much pain I’m in. It would be different if these bullets were the normal kind. They weren’t. They were wood tipped.

As my attacker moved into view, I tried to get to my feet, but failed.

“Your Aunt was right then. I thought she was going mad, after all she’s been through. I thought it was all taking it’s toll on her. But,” He said, raising the gun and trying to look threatening. “You are here, and you’re one of them.”

“You know, Robert, you could always say hello,” My voice was heavy, and I was panting. The pain was coursing through me, and I was finding it hard to breathe.

“The gun was a bit theatrical.”

“You’re a vampire, Elena.”

“How do you know? Shooting me with freaking bullets isn’t going to prove anything. Those fancy wood tipped things can kill a human too, dipshit!” I cried out in pain as another bullet entered me, this time my shoulder.

“Language, Elena. You may be a member of the undead, but that’s no excuse for bad behaviour.”

“What’s your excuse, jerk-off? Do you get your kicks from repeatedly shooting your niece-in-law, Uncle Robert? If I survive this, I’m so repaying the favour!” I moan, trying to get to my feet. I moved back until I was in line with a tree, and I placed a hand against the bark, to help brace myself.

Stupid thing to do, when your trigger happy uncle-in-law wants to hurt you. I screamed, as the bullet went right through my hand, and into the old oak tree.

“You don’t know what you put them through, Elena. What you put the town through.”

“I do actually, I went to one of my funerals,” I answered, leaning heavily against the tree, and cradling my bloody hand to my bloody chest.

“But think, Robert, what you’re doing to yourself. If you kill me, that will weigh down on your conscious. You’ll get distant to Aunt Judith, you won’t be able to look at Margaret, because of how much she looks like me. You’ll rip my family apart, and I’ll come after you.”

“How will you be able to do anything, you’ll be dead?” He said, moving in closer to me.

“My parents died, because of me. Vampires, witches and werewolves aren’t the only supernatural beings. There’s this place called the Celestial Court, and these p-people called…the Guardians. They cause little accidents to kill off the people they want to join them. It was supposed to be me that died that day…it was supposed to have been me,” I growled, as I straightened up, just as he shot me in the leg. I hissed through clenched teeth, and fought to stay upright, a battle I won.

“If it had been me, then I wouldn’t have met Stefan Salvatore, I wouldn’t have met Damon Salvatore, and I wouldn’t be getting married next weekend. I’m going to survive this, and so are you.”

“You’re going to die, Elena.” Robert said, insistently. He was right in front of my face, the barrel of his .9mm silencer brushing up against my abdomen.

“No, Robert, because here’s what you’re going to do. You’re going to forget this little exchange happened, forget you saw me, and forget everything about vampires, and the supernatural. You’re going to go to the secret council, and tell them that ever since I died, Aunt Judith has hallucinated me and a guy named Damon Smith. You’re going to say that she’s been under a lot of stress, and that she’s slightly coming of her hinges. You’ll get them to take the police tape off of my house, and kick out whatever pathetic scum you’ve got staking out in there,” I compelled him. I knew it had worked, because his eyes dilated, and he started shaking, and the dazed, confused look came on his face.

“You’re going to turn around now, and wipe the blood off your hands. Get rid of the gun, and look after my family.”

“Forget everything, I’ll tell the council. I’ll get rid of…gun and look after your family.” He repeated. He turned around, and left.

Damon hadn’t left, but I ignored his offer of help. I stumbled back through the snow, leaving a trail of blood behind me, occasionally stumbling and falling to the ground. As soon as I broke through the forest, Lexi, Stefan, Bonnie and Matt flew through the back door. They all rushed at me.

“Hey guys, how are you doing?” I smiled, which turned into a grimace of pain.

“What the hell happened?” Lexi questioned, her eyes darting all over my body at each and every wound.

“Oh you know the usual; ran away from Damon, got attacked by Robert- my uncle-in-law, lost a lot of blood, compelled him to do a whole lot of things, refused help from Damon, and stumbled, tripped and crawled my way back through the forest. No biggie.”

“You need some blood.” Stefan said.

“No. I need a pair of tweezers, some booze, and to sit down. I’m going to get these fricking wood tipped bullets out of me, then the blood I had at lunch should repair everything.” I winced, as Matt slid his arm under mine, ignoring my protests that I could walk fine on my own. Bonnie ran up ahead, tears in her eyes, probably sobbing in Meredith’s t-shirt by now.

Somehow I managed to knock every solid piece of furniture as we made our way in. Damon and Stefan exchanged a look, and then simultaneously lifted me up on to the replacement maple wood dining table. Matt handed Damon a pair of tweezers, Lexi had gotten from her room, and Damon smirked at me, before taking them to my leg wound.

In my defence, of course I hit him.

“Where’s my alcohol? You are not doing anything to my body without me being mind-numbingly drunk!”

“That’s what she said.” I heard Stefan say, under his breath. I couldn’t help but laugh, which made me hiss with pain.

“Salvatore, don’t start being funny when you know it will only cause me pain.” I scolded him, taking my attention away from my pain to smirk slightly at him.

Then I yelped as Damon decided to pour vodka on my leg, making my leg hurt ten times more. I dug my fingers into his leather jacket, then snatched the tweezers out of his hand.

“I think I’ll do it myself. You’re far too mean.” I said, swinging my stinging wounded right leg up onto the table. The bullet had entered my lower thigh, but hadn’t exited, which would have been bloody lovely if it had. The wound on my hand was healing fast, but where the bullets hadn’t come out of my body in all my other wounds they weren’t healing at all.

I held my breath, and gritted my teeth, as I tried to dig out the lodged bullet, holding in the yelps, and cries. Until, Lexi took the tweezers off me, and toiled over it herself, because my hands started to shake. I just laid down on my back, staring at the ceiling and draining the left over vodka that my fiancé had so lovingly saved for me.

I felt Damon take my hand, and gripped it tight. I sat up, making sure I didn’t shake my leg.

“Look at me, and tell me the honest truth…how messed up do I look?” I ask, genuine concern in my face. I probably look like a horror movie extra. I realise that he probably had seen me looking worse, but still.

“You look like a warrior goddess.” He smirked, obviously taking the mick. I snarled at him.

“Your supposed to tell the truth, jerk.” I snapped.

“Okay! Does she or does she not, look like a warrior goddess?” He asked everyone, but looking at Stefan. I saw Stefan’s hands clench, and unclench, but he didn’t answer.

“I think she looks like she’s been through hell and back,” Lexi said. I grinned at her, and she continued with her specialist analysis.

“She’s covered with blood, bullet holes, and snow. Her hair has gone wild, she’s had scratches everywhere, and her dress is in tatters. The miraculous thing about all this…is she’s managed to not only hold on to her hat, but keep it in one perfect piece.”

“When she was refusing to let me help her walk, and falling over her own feet, that’s all she was doing. Her good hand holding her hat, and the other hand pushing her forward.” Damon laughed. I glared at him, before laughing myself. It was exactly what had happened.

“It’s my favourite hat!” I said, gently stroking it.

“I’m just glad that the caffeine buzz has gone.” Meredith sighed.

“Hmmm…I fancy some coffee,” I said, smiling widely. Everyone groaned, and Meredith actually put her head into her hands.

“I miss Pat.”

“Oh, so he and his machine gun have gone, have they?” Stefan asked, smiling.

“Yeah…but you still have to make a snow angel! It’s fun, until you throw snow in Damon’s face, then get shot by an semi-evil clown that goes by the name of Robert.”

“Which reminds me, we have to have our movie night.” Lexi said, as she finally pulled the bullet out which resulted in a tear rolling down my cheek. She ordered the boys, other than Damon, to leave because I had to take off my dress so she could get to my stomach wound. She dabbed vodka on it, ignoring the sound effects that came with it.

“Did I ever tell you what I wanted to be when I left college?” I asked Damon, trying to get my mind off the pain. Lexi yanked the next bullet out, making my whole body convulse for a second.

“No. Tell me.”

“I wanted to be a journalist or a writer. I write in my journal all the time, but I was going to build it from there, like start writing a novel in between jobs, or get a reporters job for a newspaper or a news channel or something,” I say. “Does that sound like a stupid life dream?”

“No. I think whatever makes you happy is what you should go for. But maybe you can still do that, you know, in a few decades or something.” Damon answered.

“Yeah, when the town forgets Elena Gilbert, and you’re happy and safe somewhere.” Meredith added in.

“I don’t think it’s possible for this town to forget people. It’s far too small. Not until our parents, and our friends, and the younger generation have passed will I be able to walk around freely in Fells Church.” I said, sighing.

“I know, but it’s a small price to pay for who and what you are, Elena.” Damon reminded me.

“I know that, but it doesn’t mean I have to enjoy it, does it? I can still be who I am and be what I am, and hate that small aspect of it. It doesn’t mean I regret the choice I made-Holy Mother of God!” I shouted as Lexi accidentally touched a muscle. She gave me an apologetic smile, but held up the wood-tipped devil from my chest in triumph.

“I should have been a surgeon.” She grinned, attacking the one in my shoulder. I could feel all the other wounds starting to close, and I instantly felt slightly better, apart from the shivers down my body that happened each time Lexi put the tweezers in or near my body.

“Yeah…Surgeon to the Vampires. It would be like lunch time at the zoo, if your patients were humans.” Damon joked.

“What did you want to be…you know, way back when?” I asked, curiously. We’d never talked much about his past. Just what I’d seen and heard from my encounters with the child in the deepest corner of his mind.

“My ‘ambition’ was to get through as many women as possible, and to annoy the life out of my father. It wasn’t much of a hard job for either of those aspects.” He smirked.

He had to wait for any sort of response, because I yelled out as Lexi pulled out the bullet, and then all that was heard was a plunk as it hit the bowl.

“All done. Wasn’t so bad now was it?” Lexi asked. I love this girl sometimes, I really do.

“I feel like I’m having a conversation post-check-up with my dentist. How about I shoot you several times with small pieces of wood-tipped torture, and then slowly remove each one? Sounds like a party, huh?” I reply, obvious sarcasm dripping through each word. Lexi just laughs, and helps me off the table, throwing me an old shirt that I wore when painting the awning for Meredith’s wedding.

I pulled it on, wincing slightly as it brushed over my tender skin. I think it’s one of Matt’s old shirts, because it covers my butt, and half of my thighs. Which means I can decently walk up the stairs without embarrassing myself and anyone else. I sighed, hopping off the table, and walking into the next room. Matt averted his eyes, and Alaric just looked at my face. Stefan…his eyes roamed everywhere, which annoyed me slightly. Only slightly.

“Well, I’m all healed up. I’ll take a shower, and get changed and we’ll watch those films.” I told them, before turning my back on Stefan, still feeling his gaze burning into my back.

I took little time in the shower, just washing away the feel of blood against my skin, and hair. Then I pulled a brush threw my hair, unsuccessfully pulling out the knots. I was yanking the hairbrush through my hair, when a hand reached out and took it from me. I half-expected it to be Damon or Lexi, but Stefan’s face appeared in the mirror.

“Allow me.” He said.

I sighed, but gave in. He was gentle with it, slowly pulling the brush through the tangles, getting rid of them with ease. I even forgot that I was standing in nothing, but a towel. It was all done in a couple of minutes.

“Thank you.” I said, turning to look at him. His face was all too close to mine, but I felt myself unable to move. My breath hitched, and I got a hold of myself and leaned back, but Stefan was too quick, and his lips soon caressed mine. I stood frozen, unable to think, unable to move. Then when I felt myself about to crumble, I shoved him away.

He stumbled back, and then his face looked shocked.

“Elena, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean-“ He started. He was cut off by the figure standing in the doorway, arms crossed over his tight black t-shirt. He looked pissed. I immediately took a step away from him as though that might help distance myself from him.

“Didn’t mean to what, Stefan?” Damon questioned, his eyes darting between the two of us.

Stefan remained quiet. I knew he was truly sorry for forcing himself on me. Stefan wasn’t like that, he was a gentleman, and I probably gave him the wrong impression…but I wasn’t going to keep it a secret from Damon. I’ve seen what lies do to a relationship, and that’s not happening here.

“It was a misunderstanding. I was struggling with the knots in my hair, you know how useless I am. Stefan obviously heard my frustration and came to help me. I thanked him, and he simply misread the situation and…kissed me.” I whispered the last part. I didn’t have anything to feel guilty for, I hadn’t kissed him back. Yet I knew why I did feel the smallest traces of guilt…when he had kissed me…I had wanted to kiss him back for the smallest fraction of a second.

Damon eyes darkened, and his hands clenched and unclenched. I couldn’t stop him as he threw himself at his younger brother, fists connecting with Stefan’s face.

Oh dear lord.

………………………………........................................................................................................

Well Stefan was a bit naughty and kissed Elena at the end there, and she told Damon, who is now repeatedly beating the snot out of Stefan on replay in the back of my mind. Oh, and who liked the whole Robert appearance? What with all the drama, and Elena being hyper and seeing imaginary purple leprechauns named Pat (who is my real friend who is an actual purple leprechaun, only my Pat is half-giant, and is terribly afraid of Sundays), making snow angels, threatening Stefan with finger guns (equally the most dangerous kind of gun!), throwing snow into Damon’s perfect face…who saw the whole trigger-happy Robert thing happening?

Shout out for Ari_001 for the new chapters of Death Couldn’t Part Us she posted recently. Have you guys read them? They are awesome, no? I think they are total coolness, and Ari is seriously the most awesome person ever!

Also a shout out for GabbyJaz who is a very good friend of mine, who writes pretty much non-stop. Each time I sign into my email account, it always says she’s uploaded, which makes me smile.

Oh and I’d just like a quick second to say hello to scenequeenskittlez…HEY!

So…Comment, Vote, Like, Fan and Tweet!!! Please share the love and show your friends and people you know would be interested in this story, because I need some comments!

Love,

Sophie xx