Try {One | Alaric Saltzman}

A View to Kill

"You sound just like Stefan."

"Well, he's right."

They'd been in the woods since well before the sun rose. And now, as it reached its peak, they were surrounded by broken cinder blocks. There were only two left, one for each of them, so Abigail picked up the one closest to her.

Elena punched through it, narrowly missing her face. "Again, nothing."

"Again, not the point."

"Yeah, yeah. 'Let it in, let it go,' I get it." She picked up the last block. "Your turn."

Instead of punching her target, Abigail kicked it. "We're not doing it."

"I'm not letting this go." They took off at vampire speed through the woods; racing, they decided, was just as important as sparring. "Help me find her, Abigail."

She crossed the invisible finish line first. "No."

"Why not?" There was an intensity to her voice, just as there had been to her movements, that wasn't human. It was only natural, or as natural as being a vampire could be, but Abigail was still adjusting to seeing her that way. "You want me to let it in? I can't. Not yet. So, this is what I am focusing on."

"You focused on unwavering hatred for a ruthless vampire that's fine hundred years older than you." Grabbing her shoulders, she said, "Elena, I focused on you. I am still focusing on you."

"Does that mean you don't think I can do it?"

"I don't think you really want to do it." She took a step back. It was short and quick, almost involuntary. "Because I want to feel the warmth of her chest cavity as I take her heart in my hand. I want to see the look on her face as she realizes I'm going to let her live. I want her to have to live with knowing what she took."

"Well..." She motioned around them. "I just want to kill her."

"Look, I know you didn't mean what you said when you told me it was my fault Jeremy was dead. But the rest of what you said, that's true. And it is killing me." She held her eye contact, even as tears gathered in her eyes. "It's killing me because none of this is about her. It's about Jeremy. Killing her won't take the pain away."

"But beating up cinder blocks and running through the woods will?"

"No!" She looked up at the clear sky, allowing her tears to fall. "That's what I'm trying to tell you. Nothing is going to help this feeling. Nothing. So, we have to face it. Together."

Outside of the Grill, Caroline, Elena, and Abigail were gathered around a table working on their graduation announcements. They passed stamps back and forth, exchanging pleasantries in an attempt to ease Elena back into humanity. It was easy to see through, especially when they refused to talk about anything that revolved around Katherine.

Elena sighed, leaning back in her chair. "I know this is just a ploy to keep me distracted."

"You guys are done?" The stack of envelopes in front of them was smaller than the one on Caroline's side of the table even though it was for the two of them. "I'm only on my second batch."

"Yeah," Abigail sighed. "We have our family friends in Denver and a few of our parents' friends from Whitmore, but that's it."

"No one cares that we're graduating," Elena added. "And, to be honest, neither do I."

Reaching out for her seemed possible again, so Abigail did. "That's how you feel now. I know it's hard not to, but once you get through this Katherine-"

"Do you know where she is?"

"No."

She pulled back so fast that her chair moved away from the table. "If you know where Katherine is then you have to tell me."