Stefan," I'm trying to justify myself, "we didn't know.... We thought that... I couldn't finish the sentence. Steph is right again: while Damon and I were enjoying each other, he was suffering.
- And I know, Elena," says Salvatore, "so I take revenge. Do you suspect what punishment awaits you? - In his voice, you can hear tenderness mixed with anger and hatred.
I don't have time to understand the meaning of his words - my body pierces with terrible pain. I look down and see a piece of wood sticking out of my stomach. From the pain, I get on the floor. I try to take out the stake.
Understanding how Stephen's revenge comes about is struck by lightning. He takes Jeremy by the skin like a puppy and drags her closer to me so I can enjoy the show. In my brother's neck, he closes his eyes and growls like a hungry animal. I can't stand what's going on, I want to scream desperately. After I had gathered the rest of my strength, I pulled the stake out of my stomach and threw it at Stephen. Apparently Salvatore didn't expect me to do this, so he couldn't fend off the blow. It all happened too quickly: the stake was just in my hand - and then it's sticking out of Stephen's chest. He suffocates, suffocates in Jeremy's blood, settles on the ground and is covered with a blue-grey vein.
There'll be tears on your cheeks if you know what you've done. Thoughts, like bees, sting. I try to justify myself, they say, to protect my brother and can't lose him. But at the same time, the pain of another loss hurts me from within. As if I feel resentful, I see another picture of our first encounter with Stephen. As if everything was just yesterday.
I can't believe I killed him, even though I look at his breathless body. The thought that he is no longer there shakes his body. I feel my hands on my shoulders - someone is trying to turn me around. I have no strength to resist. As soon as I give in, I see my brother's frightened brown eyes in front of me. He's still alive. He's still alive, but that doesn't make it any easier. Thoughts in his head are confused. But the most important thing now is another one. Where is Damon? Why isn't he here when you need him so much? And what should I tell him? Will he ever forgive me for what he did?
It's like the pain's torn apart, even though I don't have a scratch on me. I look into the ice-blue eyes that resemble a thunderstorm, but I take away my eyes, unable to endure the suffering and despair that are reflected in them. I understand that it's all my own fault - I've destroyed everything we've built with my own hands. I want to scream, but I can't. Only bitter tears flow down my cheeks - I can't stop them. I want to explain the madness, beg for forgiveness, say how much I love you - but instead of cherished words from your throat there comes a sobbing sob.
He won't forgive you. He can't. Too often he was betrayed and spit into his soul. Nobody could break him or make him bend over. Everything that happened to him made him stronger. For a long time, he hid his soul from everyone because he didn't want to be seen in the present. He was blocked by a huge wall that protected him like a shield. And it is even more painful because I have seen him now. Without masks of pretension and lies. How long have we done it? How much effort and time have you spent to realize your feelings? And yet fate smiled at us, giving us an attempt that changed us forever....
And now I stand on the axis of my relationship with him.
He won't believe what happened, and neither will I. He looks into his eyes with pain and despair.
- Tell me. Tell me, Elena, that not everything is true, a lies, illusion. Whatever. Tell me, and I'll believe it, - the older Salvatore whispers, looking into my eyes.
He still has a glow of hope in his eyes, which is boring every second.
- Damon.... - I don't have the strength to talk about what happened. I've never seen him so hurt.
Salvatore looks at me carefully, without looking away. He understood everything, accepted what had happened. In his eyes, instead of despair, the cold of the Arctic ice tells me that Damon will never forgive me.
- Go away," says my lover with a hoarse voice.
I can't move.
- Damon..." I'm trying to say something, but I can't figure it out.
- Get out! - angry, with unheard pain, he screams.
And I withdraw. I slowly step over the wreck of the chest of drawers and walk to the front door. I hear the sound of breaking glass. I turn around, look at Damon. His distant gaze is on the flames in the fireplace and on his feet - a broken bottle of whiskey. A glass of amber liquid flew in.
