Forever Is Not Enough

The Change

1865 - Mystic Falls, Virginia

It had been months since that night. That night being the one where only two Gilberts lived, and the fate of one Salvatore was still very much in question. Jeremy was the man of the house now, although he and Elena were still residing in the now eerily quiet Salvatore house while their own was still nothing more than a pile of wood and brick. He was still so young, as was Elena, and it was only because of their family's great wealth that they were allowed to stay. None of their neighbors who had once been so close to their family had even volunteered to take them in. Not with the scandal surrounding their involvement with vampires. Three men, one woman, and a handmaiden were all missing. Damon's room still evidenced the events of that night. Even with the sheets cleaned and the floors scrubbed, there were still bloodstains soaked into the walls and cracks in the floor. No one entered the room now.

Dinners between the siblings were quiet. Each of them sat on opposite ends of the table, quietly clinking their silverware against their plates and avoiding one another's eyes. They kept to opposite ends of the house. Jeremy buried himself within Giuseppe's office, digging through everything he and John had compiled on vampires. He had been inducted into the Founder's Council only days after the incident. They forced him to drink vervain in order to prove he wasn't a vampire. Elena was forced to drink as well, although she was not told why. She buried herself in thoughts of Damon, always watching out a window in hopes that she would see him walking up the path one day. He had never come back to her, as Katherine had promised.

It was February, and the cold had settled into the ground. It snowed every now and then, but it was always freezing. Even when she sat by the fire, Elena could not escape the chill that made her limbs shake and her teeth chatter. On especially frigid days, she liked to imagine Damon coming back to her in the summer, bringing with him the warmth that evaded her shelter and her heart. Thinking of him pained her, but she knew he was out there somewhere. Katherine had promised.

1864 - The Wilderness, Virginia

When Damon awoke, he was surprised to find himself away from his bed, out of his home, and most distressingly, apart from Elena. It took a moment for him to remember where he was, but it all became clear when he looked down to his torn and bloody shirt. His father's scowling face came to his mind's eye and he remembered the struggle. His father had called him a monster. He had taken a stake to his own son's heart.

Damon stood in a panic, pulling the shirt over his head and throwing it into the quarry. His chest and abdomen were clear of any of the wounds that had previously ailed him. No bruises, no stab wounds or bullet holes, just flesh. He felt quite unlike himself. The sun already hung high in the sky and it made his eyes want to sink back into his skull. There was a pounding in his head and a scratching sensation at the back of his throat. He was hungry. He was also very scared. He didn't remember anything after the altercation with his father. All he knew was that he should be dead.

Perhaps I've gone to heaven, he thought. There were trees surrounding him on each time, the peaceful babble of water in the quarry, but there was no one else. Yet this could not be heaven without Elena, so perhaps I'm in hell.

He was not in an unfamiliar place. This was the quarry by his home. He spent many of his days here with Stefan when he was younger, so he made up his mind to go back. He walked wearily down the path, keeping his eyes down and away from the sun. He only stopped when he thought he heard someone calling his name. Elena?

He turned back, picking up his feet so that they were sprinting over the rock and gravel. He heard her call his name again, only it wasn't her. When he arrived back at the quarry, it was Emily who was waiting for him. She held a horse by the reins. "How do you feel?" she said when he got close enough.