9

—9. Rose

ALWAYS AND FOREVER

Damon parked the car off the road, not far from the house Elena was supposedly being kept in.

"The house should be just beyond those trees. Wait, I got a lot more experience than you two with those sorts of things." Damon said, stopping the twins from leaving.

"What is your point?" Stefan asked with irritation in his voice.

"My point is, whoever has Elena is probably who was after Katherine in 1864 and before that."

"Try one thousand" Aurora thought.

Stefan shrugged, "And?"

"And it puts them at 500 years old and strong. Are you sure you want to do this?" Damon questioned.

"Yeah, I'm certain I want to do it."

"Because if we go in that house, we may not come back out." Damon mentioned.

"Alright, then I won't come out." Stefan retorted.

"So noble, Stefan." Damon cooed

"I can't think of a better reason to die, but if you want to stay here, I'll totally understand." Stefan said before walking towards the house.

"Come on, Dames. Stop acting like your not going to go in that house and save that girl anyways." Aurora said, patting his shoulder before following after Stefan.

Damon groaned and rolled his eyes before following after his siblings.

"Tell me where the moonstone is." A voice said, causing Aurora's eyes to widen. She knew that voice and she had hoped she wouldn't have to face him for a long time.

"In the tomb, underneath the church ruins." Katherine's voice flowed through Aurora's ears, but obviously it wasn't Katherine.

"What is it doing there?"

"It's with Katherine."

"Interesting." The sophisticated man said before they hear breaking glass from upstairs.

"What is that?"

"I don't know." Came another unfamiliar voice.

"Who else is in this house?"

"I don't know."

He grabs Elena, pulling her in another part of the house. Stefan, Damon and Aurora moved around them with their super speed and Elijah throws Elena in Rose's arms.

"Rose."

"I don't know who it is."

"Up here." Stefan taunted.

Elijah goes up the stairs with his super speed.

"Down here." Damon taunted

Elijah receives in stake in his hand and he quickly removes it. Elena and Rose have disappeared. Elena is with Stefan. He tells her to be quiet. Damon is with Rose. He has his hand on her mouth and gestures to be quiet.

"Excuse me. To whom it may concern, you're making a great mistake if you think that you can beat me. You can't. Do you hear that?" He said as he breaks a wooden coat rack into a stake.

"I repeat, you cannot beat me. So I want the girl, I'm gonna count to three or heads will roll. Do we understand each other?" Elijah said before Elena suddenly appears at the top of the stairs.

"I'll come with you, just please don't my friends, they just wanted to help me out." Elena lied.

Elijah goes up the stairs with his super speed. The stake in his hand.

"What game are you playing with me?" He asked with suspicion.

She threw the vervain bomb in his face, It explodes. His skin burns but he heals immediately.

He goes toward Elena but Stefan arrives and shoots him with the compressed air weapon. It doesn't hurt him so Stefan throws the weapon and rushes at Elijah and tackles him. They fall down the stairs.

Elijah gets up immediately but Stefan stays on the floor. He goes toward Stefan but Damon appears and attempts to stake Elijah but Elijah is faster and broke Damon's arm, causing him to fall to the ground in pain.

While Elijah was distracted Aurora snuck behind him and sped him at him pushing him against the door, "Forgive me, Elijah." She whispered to him before quickly staking him in the heart with the coat rack -pining him against the wall.

Rose sees it and leaves and Damon tries to follow her but Elena's voice stops him, "Just let her go." He smiled at her and she smiled too before running down the stairs into Stefan's arms.

"Hey come here. Are you hurt? Are you okay?"

Aurora walked away from Elijah's desiccated body and towards Damon -announcing her presence to Elena.

Elena pulled away from Stefan and took cautious steps towards Aurora, "You must be Aurora. Thank you."

Aurora smiled softly, "Oh, it was nothing."

"Okay, introductions later. Let's get out of here." Damon said, causing everyone to follow him out the door.

Aurora paused for a moment -staring at Elijah's body. If Elijah was here, there was no doubt he would be here soon as well.

Aurora and Damon were sat on the couch of the boarding house, silently sipping on their bourbon when Stefan arrives.

"Where's Elena?" Damon asked, not looking at his brother.

"She's home."

"And you're here why?" Damon asked.

"Because she wanted to be with Jeremy." Stefan informed.

"Here." Damon said, handing him a glass of bourbon.

"Thanks. Listen, um, what Rose told Elena about the curse..." Stefan started.

"I know, we'll keep her safe." Damon cut him off.

"You know, the only way we're gonna be able to do that is if we're not fighting each other. We let Katherine come between us. If we let that happen with Elena, we're not gonna be able to protect her."

"Yes Stefan, I heard it all before." Damon said, making his way towards the stairs.

"Hey." Stefan called after him.

"What?"

"I'm sorry." Stefan apologized, causing both Aurora and Damon to give him a confused look.

"About what?" Damon asked.

"For being the guy who made both of you turn 145 years ago."

"Stef, it's late. Don't need to rehash that." Damon brushed him off.

"You know what? I've never said it out loud. I guess I just need to say it and you both need to hear it. I'm sorry. What I did was selfish. I didn't want to be alone. I guess I just needed my siblings."

Damon looked at him for a moment before silently making his way upstairs to his room, causing Stefan to sigh.

"I've already forgiven you, Stef." Aurora mentioned, "I probably would have done the same thing."

"This is why you're my favourite." Stefan said, throwing an arm around Aurora's shoulders -pulling her closer.

Aurora laughed, "I'm your twin, of course I'm your favourite."

The twins stayed silent for a while, relishing in the peace each one brought the other, before Aurora spoke, "I'm gonna get ready for bed. Goodnight, Stef." She said, kissing his cheek.

"Night, Rory."

WORD COUNT : 1097