Epilogue

Together

"Drink darling," Miranda urged her only daughter as Elena sat down motionless in her family's living room that she hadn't seen in months. She had a blanket draped over her. "Drink, you look pale."

Elena ignored her mother, her thoughts were all over the place and everything was blurry. She remembered being dragged away while some other men took Damon to god knows where. She remembered Grayson asking her if she was all right then passing her along to her mother, though Miranda was no better. She had been constantly fussing over Elena and giving her tea.

She jolted when she heard a scream. Damon's scream.

"What are you doing to him?" Elena demanded as she stood up, she knew where the screams were coming from. They were coming from the wood shed where she once saw her father torture vampires.

Miranda grasped her arm. "Elena, let your father do his job."

"His job?" Elena snapped. "They are torturing him!" Damon's screams grew louder and Elena could feel the panic rise to her chest, what were they doing to him? What if they killed him?

"Jeremy," Miranda called to her pale, younger son. "Help me, your sister-your sister isn't well."

"What's wrong with her?" Jeremy asked his voice trembling as he grasped Elena's arm and helped Miranda take Elena to her bedroom.

"She's ill-"

"I'm not ill!" Elena snapped her eyes wild as she turned to Jeremy. "Help me Jeremy, you have to help him, you can't let Damon be killed."

"Damon?"

"Enough," Miranda said sharply. "You are ill, you are delusional, vampires are monsters, and he's a monster."

"He's not a monster!" Elena returned back, but she might as well be talking to the wall as Miranda closed the door.

Elena was growing more and more anxious, she could still hear the soft screaming coming from outside and here she was stuck in her room and she couldn't do anything. Even if she tried what could she do, she was a simple human girl against a group of men which included her father. She just couldn't stand idly by.

Her eyes went towards her untouched dinner plate, and then her eyes landed on the knife. A dangerous thought entered her mind. She had vampire blood in her system, therefore if she died she would become a vampire.

She clutch the knife in her hand, but she didn't want to become a vampire. Elena heard Damon's screams again, but she couldn't let him die either. She clutched the knife in her hand, mumbled a quick prayer, and then stabbed the knife on the side of her neck.

"Elena, Elena," Miranda was shaking her awake. Elena's brown eyes flew open as she forced herself to sit right up. She looked around the room, half confused. Had she died? She guessed she must have because Miranda was still clutching the bloody knife that she had used to stab herself.

"I'm fine," she whispered as Elena stared at her mother's neck, the little veins were filled with blood and at this point she wanted nothing less. She heard her mother's voice in the distance, but she ignored her as Elena hungrily sunk her fangs in her mother's neck. She hadn't planned too, but she felt in a way forced too.

Her mother's screams were the only thing that stopped her from draining her. Elena pulled back, she couldn't drink too much or she would kill her. Miranda stared back at her with a frightened expression. "You're one of them!"

Elena lowered her eyes. "I'm sorry, mother."

Elena amazed at her new vampire speed managed to reach the shed that her father used to torture vampires in less than ten seconds. She wiped away some of the blood. She could hear Damon moaning.

She pushed the door open and found Damon strapped down to a table, there was blood all over, but he was alive. "Damon!" she choked out as she started removing the iron grips that Grayson had used to keep him into place.

"Elena," Damon whispered. "How-how did you manage."

"I'm a vampire." She admitted bravely.

Damon shook his head. "No, no, Elena, you didn't-"

"I did," Elena said. "It was the only way to save you, I couldn't let you die."

"Thank you." He whispered.

The door opened and Grayson came in holding a stake, he paled when he saw Elena. "Elena, what are-"

Elena didn't give him time to finish because she pushed him against the wall and knocked his head against the wall until he fell unconscious. "I'm sorry Daddy." She whispered, but even she knew that Grayson would kill her, if he found out that she was a vampire.

She turned to Damon. "We need to go, now!"

"Stop!" said a shadow from the woods as Elena and Damon looked up and saw Jeremy holding a gun at them, his arms trembling. Brave little Jeremy.

"Jer, it's me!" Elena shouted at her brother as he put the gun down. "It's me, your sister!"

"Elena," Jeremy stared from an unconscious Grayson to her and Damon. "Mother said that you attacked her, you're helping him, and he's a vampire!"

"I am too, Jeremy." Elena whispered as she pressed his hands against her cheek so that he could see the veins appeared from the hunger. "Are you going to kill me too?"

Jeremy took a step back, "Why?"

Elena looked back at Damon. "I love him Jeremy. I want to be with him." She gulped. "But I can't be here with him, you understand right?"

Jeremy nodded as he walked towards Damon and handed him the gun. "Take care of my sister."

Damon nodded. "I will, little Gilbert."

Jeremy turned around and hugged Elena. "Take care." He choked out. "And vampire or not I still love you."

"Me too." Elena whispered. "Always."

"Go out the back gate," Jeremy said. "Through the forest, no one will see you there." Without another look he returned back to the main house.

"Come on," Damon said grabbing Elena's hand.

She gave him a small smile. "You don't have to help me anymore, I can handle myself."

Using their vampire speed, they quickly exited the gates and ran through the forest until they were at the edge of town where luckily their carriage was still waiting.

"Where do you want to go?" Damon asked half-jokingly.

Elena closed her eyes and whispered. "Home."

-Elena-

Ten Years Later. . .

I can't believe it's been ten years since I was first bought. Ten years since I became a vampire. Ten years since I attacked my father, fed from my mother, and say goodbye to my brother. I'm not going to lie my transition from human to vampire was a tricky one. I felt the hunger for months.

Thankfully, Damon was a good teacher and very patient all though the memories of my first kills still haunt me even today. A lot has happened in the past ten years. Lexi is dead, the shock came to all of us, especially to Stefan. It was a quick, unexpected death when she fell off her horse and broke her neck, even though that was seven years ago Stefan still seems a bit unsettled, not that I blame him, Lexi was a good companion to him and the house feels lonelier without her.

Katherine and Caroline are now vampires and even that came as a surprise. Katherine got sick with pneumonia and Elijah turned her against her will, it took him months to win back her forgiveness. Caroline willingly turned and she was the fastest of the three to adapt into a vampire.

As for me and Damon things couldn't have been better, we still have our squabbles here and there, but we now share our bedroom and I don't regret my decision of becoming a vampire and being with him.

The only thing I regret and long for is the want of children. Ever since I was a little girl I had wanted children, my own family though I knew that vampires couldn't have children. I confessed this to Damon and like always he became my blue eyed prince.

He located an orphan baby in Atlanta, Georgia, a sweet little girl and he was going to bring her home at any moment, I couldn't wait to have that baby in my arms.

"What is taking him so long?" I tap my foot impatiently as I look out the window, still no sign of the carriage. I sigh as I look back down. "I should have gone with him, but he wanted it to be a surprise!"

With newfound vampire hearing I suddenly heard the wheels of the carriage approaching as I rushed outside. Even though Damon was riding the carriage I could see a small baby blanket peeking from the arms of the maid.

"Damon!" I said as I rushed into his arms, half ignoring Damon's kiss. "You got her! You actually got her!"

Damon gave a little eye roll. "I told you, I did. Now be careful, you don't want to crush her."

I ignored him as I open the carriage door and stared at Maddie the young maid that was carrying my new infant. "Cam I hold her?" I gasp.

Maddie helped me place the baby in my arms, I was so happy that I could cry. The baby was a few weeks old, but to me she was perfect. My own little baby. Now I and Damon could actually start a family.

I couldn't help, but laugh when I saw the baby's features. "She looks just like you, blue eyes and dark hair. Are you sure that she's not your baby?"

"She our baby." Damon kissed me on the cheek and I was glad that he looked somewhat thrilled. It had been exhausting trying to convince him to let us adopt the baby since he wasn't really fond of children.

"Our baby." I whispered as my new daughter fiddled with my necklace. "What shall we name her?"

Damon surprised me by saying. "Penelope. That will be her name."

"Penelope." I looked down at my baby, she seemed to be the symbol of the end of our hardships. "Our little Penny."

Damon wrapped his arms around my waist, his touch was so familiar. "Let's go show her, her nursery."

I looked up and kissed him slowly. "Thank you."

"No, thank you." He corrected.

"For what?"

"For being here," Damon said as he looked at both of us. "For everything. For teaching me how to love again."

The End

We've reached the end of this short story! Thank you so much for reading and reviewing!