The Vampire Diaries: Elizabeth Returns

Chapter 16

Elizabeth punched the pillow beneath her head into another shape. After much persuasion from Stefan, Damon and Elena, Elizabeth had agreed to sleep in the boarding house. But, instead of taking up one of the bedrooms, she insisted upon staying on the couch.

Everything seemed so quiet. When she stretched her senses, she could hear the sound of Stefan, Jeremy, Damon and Elena sleeping upstairs. She could hear the sound of the wind in the trees outside.

She could hear footsteps.

Elizabeth stood up, groaning, and stepped out of the doorway. There Katherine stood, waiting for her.

'Still here?' Said Katherine, raising an eyebrow.

'Why wouldn't I be?' Said Elizabeth.

'What's tying you to this place? In the sixties, you went to every single hippie camp you could find, you even met half of the famous musicians! In the eighties, you were enjoying the style and music, travelling to every festival and exhibition you could find. Throughout the nineties, you stayed in Rio for the festivals and culture. And then you travelled everywhere, not stopping for longer than a week in most places. The only reason you stayed longer was because you wanted to do something - or someone. So what's tying you here?'

'Where else am I going to go?' Said Elizabeth.

'There's no point in chasing Damon or Stefan,' said Katherine, 'believe me. I've tried. They belong to Elena now.'

'Nobody belongs to anyone,' said Elizabeth, 'and that's not the point. Sure, Damon and I have history. But that doesn't mean I don't know that he loves Elena now, and it doesn't mean that I'm still in love with him.'

Elena just raised her eyebrows skeptically.

'Katherine, all my life, before we met Stefan and Damon, you may as well have owned me. I was more like a slave than a person,' said Elizabeth, her tone harsh and cold. 'You kept me beneath you at all times, you wouldn't even let me hunt alone, most of the time. Damon - that handsome, charming, dangerous soldier - gave me strength. The difference between you and I is that I am capable of human emotion. People can change me, for better or for worse, but either way, I end up stronger. Damon made me stronger. Mystic Falls gave me the strength to escape you, and if am glad that I took it. If I'd never met Damon, or Stefan, or if you had been locked in a church anywhere but here, I probably would have come to save you. But I didn't, because I was stronger without you. So there - there's your reason.'

Katherine said nothing, but fixed her eyes on Elizabeth, as if her look could burn straying through her.

'I'm going to sleep,' said Elizabeth. 'разкарай се.'