Book Four: Solitude (A. Saltzman)

Chapter Forty-Four

Diana glances up from where she sits on the porch to the boarding house. The last four or so weeks have been tough. She found the monolith, that was easy, what isn't easy is how she is going to get in the encasing box around it. Angel, or Penelope, must have added it as a security measure. Only Diana has no idea how to get into the thing. She was hoping that finding and killing Silas would be easy and that she would already be back in Greece with the twins. She'll be the ones comforting through the early stages of teething, instead of stuck in this dump still trying to figure out how to get into some stupid box for a stupid giant rock. Stefan shifts at her side.

"It's not working" Stefan admits to Diana as he sits next to her on the porch of the boarding house, she hums a little.

"Shocker" She mumbles as she flicks through Penelope's journal, he motions to the book.

"What is that?" he asks.

"My birth mother's journal" She answers. "It's not really all that interesting, I thought it might have some insights into how the twins are going to be growing up but..." She closes it and sighs. "Nothing" she shrugs and looks at him. "So starving her isn't working?" she asks, he shakes his head. "Have you tried actual pain...?" She adds. "Like....burning her?" He frowns at her. "Hurt her enough and her body will shock itself into readjusting, you have to really scare her, Stefan...." He sighs and nods.

................

Damon noisily sets down a fire extinguisher and Elena startles awake, groggily finding herself strapped down in a chair by Golden Promise, on the main level of the house before a closed curtain. Stefan walks around the room, which is dimly lit. Diana lingers on the fringes of the room watching.

"Good, you're awake," Damon tells Stefan. "Thought you could use a little sunshine." Stefan pulls the curtain back a little, allowing a ray of light to creep closer to Elena. She looks down at her hand. "Looking for this?" Damon holds up her daylight ring in front of her. She reaches for it as much as the bonds around her will allow, but Damon pulls it away. "Oh, you know the rules: bad girls don't get nice jewellery." Stefan lets go of the curtain, shutting out the sun again. Elena speaks impassively.

"You took my ring. I'm devastated. And bored. Can I go back to solitary now?" Elena asks them.

"No. I kinda like you in the hot seat. Whenever you're ready, brother." Damon answers, Stefan reaches for the curtain again.

"Am I supposed to be scared?"

"You will be. And when you are, focus on that fear. It's the key to getting your humanity back." Stefan answers her.

"You're not gonna burn me."

"You don't think so?" Damon asks her.

"No. And even if you do manage to get my emotions back, I'll remember all this, and I'll hate both of you for it." Damon and Stefan share a look.

"Tsk. Worth the risk." Damon counters. Stefan pulls the curtain wide and the sunlight starts to burn Elena's hand. She yells in pain, struggling in her chair. Her arm ignites into flames for a few seconds before Damon puts it out with the fire extinguisher and Stefan lets go of the curtain. "Bet that feels better, huh? How about a little gratitude, or any human emotion whatsoever, and we can stop this?" Elena, still gasping and straining against her bonds, mumbles something. "I didn't quite catch that."

"I said, I'm gonna kill you," Elena growls at him.

"Bingo! See? There's a little rage. I should've figured that'd be the first emotion that came out of you. I tend to pull that out of people." Damon offers and glances at Diana who rolls her eyes. This isn't working either. Stefan crouches down in front of Elena.

"Elena, look at me. We don't wanna do this, okay? You can stop this right now. It's your choice." Elena laughs.

"It's kind of funny, actually-- you being the one to pull back the curtain. I bet part of you enjoys it, since, you know, I dumped you and all." Damon crouches next to Stefan in front of her.

"Wow. That was downright vindictive. See? I think now we're breaking through that tough candy shell and getting into the ooey-gooey rich centre of your humanity. This is good." Damon then looks at Stefan. "I think we should shine some light on the subject." Stefan gets up and goes to the curtain.

"Let me guess...this is gonna hurt you a lot more than it hurts me?" Elena asks them.

"Look, I know what you're going through. After all you've done, you're afraid to face the guilt you'll feel if you turn your emotions back on. Only way we can help you is to make the alternative hurt even worse." Stefan tells her. Elena laughs at him softly and closes her eyes. Stefan wrenches back the curtain, Elena's face starts to burn and she screams in pain. Stefan leaves the curtain open for a few seconds longer then closes them. Elena gasps in relief as her wounds heal.

"You're gonna thank me for this. After you turn it back on, you'll realize life with no emotions blew." Damon points out.

"You know what else blew? Being sired to you...going every day believing that I was in love with you. I remember every horrible moment of it, and you, so scared that it wasn't real. Well, guess what-- it wasn't. You were right. So go ahead, keep trying to get the old me back. Who knows? Maybe Stefan and I will give it another go." The brothers take this in for a moment, brushing off her cruelty with indulgent though perhaps hurt expressions. Suddenly Elena breaks free of the bonds on her wrists, vamp-runs toward the window and pulls one of the curtains off of the rod, exposing her to the sunlight. She immediately bursts into flames and starts screaming. Damon grabs the fire extinguisher and puts her out while Stefan pats her down frantically. Elena lies on the floor, coughing and laughing while her skin heals.

"I am the girl that you love. You wouldn't do anything to actually hurt me-- you just proved that. So what do I really have to be afraid of?" Elena asks them with smugness. The brothers share a look. Diana sighs and steps forward ready to leave.

"I would have let her burn" She comments, Elena looks at her, Diana smirks a little and then leaves.