Wayward Hearts- Book 4

Part 35

 "How is Emma?" Stefan asked Damon upstairs just outside of Damon's room.

"Sleeping," Stefan had never seen his brother look so worried, "for now. She doesn't break like this Stef. Wes did a number on her."

Stefan nodded, his lips pressed together, "I should have made her stay with me instead of letting her follow you."

"Yeah, you should have," Damon tried to keep his anger under control, "Wes is dead."

"You killed him?"

"No. Emma did. I don't even know how she did it. It was like some crazy explosion of fire. I can't believe she had that much power in her."

"How is your...hunger?" Stefan was almost nervous to ask.

"Under control," Damon looked frustrated, "we have to figure this thing out. Hopefully he didn't have anything useful in that warehouse."

Stefan nodded, "Katherine should be here any minute. We kidnapped Nadia and used her to lure Katherine here."

Damon turned to walk back into his room, "I'll be down there in a minute."

He closed the door behind him and stepped over to his bed where Emma was curled up in a ball, sleeping. He gently placed a hand on her arm and closed his eyes, forcing his way into her mind.

He was only seeing flashes of Wes's face, he winced as he heard Emma's screams of pain. Damon concentrated and forced those images away from Emma's mind, at least for the time being, he replaced them with images of her parents and her sister. He did his best to replicate her sixteenth birthday party, including Alaric.

Damon pulled himself back out of her mind, feeling slightly weaker. He would need to feed sooner rather than later, but it was worth it to him if it gave Emma even a second of peaceful sleep.

Downstairs he heard Katherine's voice as she walked into the foyer. For a moment he was hesitant to leave Emma's side, but he needed to see for himself that Katherine was going to be truly gone from their lives. He stood up and headed down to join everyone.

Just as he was about to the foyer, he saw Katherine about to try and escape. He sped in front of her and blocked her path with a smirk on his face.

"Hello Katherine," he smiled down at her, "you didn't think I'd miss this, did you?"

"Okay. So...who's got the knife? Which one of you is gonna get to kill the elusive Katherine Pierce once and for all?" Katherine waited for someone to speak up, but everyone was silent, "What? Suddenly everyone's speechless? When I was on my deathbed you all had plenty to say."

Katherine looked around again, as if she were disappointed.

She stepped over to Tyler, "Is it you, Tyler? Because I triggered the werewolf curse? Gave you an identity and made you matter?"

"You've done nothing for me," Tyler held back his anger.

"Oh please, Tyler. If I hadn't walked into your life you just be a wasted nobody with a boozy mom and a temper problem," Katherine smirked as she pointed out Tyler's flaws.

Tyler started to take an angry step towards her, ready to defend himself and fight her, but Caroline stopped him.

"Don't," Caroline warned him.

Katherine turned her attention to Caroline, "And you. I'm not worried about you offing me. Because we both know I made you better by making you a vampire."

Although she was right, Caroline refused to give her the satisfaction, "Good bye Katherine."

Katherine continued on to Matt, "The one girl here who actually appreciates how beautiful you are, besides maybe Emma. You wouldn't stab me in the heart, would you, Matty Blue? No, I don't think so. You will definitely go down as the best night I never had. Oh, well."

Matt shrugged, unbothered by Katherine's attempts to gain sympathy, "Oh well."

"Well, little Gilbert, it was nice to have a brother for a second there...when you weren't being so damn annoying," Katherine rolled her eyes at Jeremy before turning to Bonnie, "Bon Bon, no need for goodbyes. I'll see you on the flip side."

Katherine strode through the room and over to where Damon was standing. He stood, mildly amused by her antics, but more annoyed because he was ready for this to be over with.

"Damon," Katherine looked up at him, "you'd love nothing more than to drive that blade right through me."

Damon crossed his arms, "We've already done this Kitty Kat, I have nothing left to say to you."

"I know but I never got to say what I needed to say to you," Katherine mirrored Damon's defensive posture, "I'm sorry. You blame me for who you are. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I turned you. I'm sorry that you didn't get to die as a forgotten nobody on a bloody battlefield, and your father didn't get to live another day to be disgraced by you. Damon, I'm sorry that I gave you a life purpose. Passion, drive, desire. I'm sorry that you are who you are, because I'm the one that taught you how to love. Tell that girl of yours I said, you're welcome."

Damon was unforgiving and unmoved by Katherine's speech, "I'll see you in hell Katherine."

Katherine winked at him before she stepped over to the person she had saved for last. Stefan.

"Stefan. You know, I've always wondered how it would be like to be loved by you. You've gotta admit, for that one fleeting moment your feelings were real. It's truly has been the role of a lifetime. Stefan, I love you," Katherine searched his eyes for one glimpse of returned love, "and I've always loved you."

Stefan had been the one holding the knife. He grabbed Katherine's shoulder, holding her in place, as he stabbed her with the Traveller's blade, expelling her spirt from Elena's body.

"I guess this is how our love story end," Katherine whispered.

She began to fall to the floor, but Matt caught her just before she did. He leaned Elena's body against the couch. Elena's eyes opened for a minute, flashing black, before they closed again.

Everyone collectively breathed a sigh of relief as one of the main villains in their lives was finally gone.