"Twisted"

Chapter 31

Damon and the others turned as they heard the lock to the door click and open.

"Isa," Damon said, coming to her and examining every inch of her.

"It's over," Bella said, "The pack and the Cullen's are leaving."

"Armand?" Finn asked.

Bella stepped aside and revealed the room where on the floor was a charred outline of a body.

"We should get back to the party don't you think?" Bella asked before she walked past the stunned group.

"What about the other hunters?" Elijah asked.

"Being taken care of as we speak," Bella replied as she grabbed a flute of champagne. She smiled, "I think I'm in the mood to celebrate."

Bella breezed into the party as if nothing had happen.

"How does she do it?" Elena asked.

"Do what?" Rebecca asked.

"Turn things on and off." Elena explained, "She's not even processing his death or Arthur's; does she not care?"

Finn became angry, "Don't ever think my sister does not care…in fact according to our father, it was her weakness. Bella just knows that if we act any other way, suspicion will befall us." Finn said before he followed Bella's lead.

"Bella has a heart compared to most of us," Kol said, "It's what makes her different from us. From the time we turned, she never let go or turned her emotions off. Everything that has ever happened, she has allowed herself to feel it. She does not run away like we tend to do."

"I think I'm going to claim the first dance with her," Klaus said before he walked over.

Klaus bowed and Bella accepted his extended hand.

"You handled everything calmly," Klaus said as they danced.

"One must keep their heads in situations like these," Bella replied.

"You were always level-headed." Klaus said.

"I have a feeling you wish to speak to me about something," Bella said, "Shall we go out to the veranda?"

Klaus nodded and he led the way.

"It was stupid," Klaus said once the doors shut, "Taking on Armand."

"I did what was necessary," Bella replied, "There's something else you want to talk to me about."

"Are you reading my mind?" Klaus asked.

"No," Bella said offended, "I do that only if it's warranted, so tell me is it warranted?"

"You know it's not over," Klaus replied.

"I know," Bella said, "I suppose I was stupid for believing you might change your mind especially since Armand is dead. You really don't trust us not to leave you do you?"

"You always leave," Klaus said quietly.

"Because you give us reasons to," Bella said, "Actually I take that back, you force us away because you know we have our own minds. You're so scared of free will that instead of talking with us, you push us away and leave us with no option but to leave you."

"The sacrifice will go as planned," Klaus said seriously.

"Then you should know there is one more aspect to lifting the curse," Bella said.

"What's that?" Klaus asked tensely.

"Me," Bella said, "You see I knew the moment everything happened that you would never stop, so I had mother add one more part of the curse…my blood. I was still human when she did the curse you remember of course and it was after that I changed."

"What are you saying," Klaus asked, fear evident in his voice.

"You want to become what you once were then you have to kill me," Bella said and grabbed a box off the table, "Here's a present for you; the last remaining white oak stake. You want to lift your curse Klaus then you must drive that through my heart."

"No," Klaus said backing away, "You wouldn't."

"Come now brother you know me, of course I would do something like this." Bella replied, "I protected you when I was human. I watched you turn into a monster and I allowed the only justice for my inability to stop you was for my death to be only other part to end your curse."

"How could you do this?" Klaus asked. "Place yourself right in the middle of this."

"Because I love you and I trust you to do what you think is best." Bella said as she handed Klaus the box, "You say you can't trust us, that you fear that we will leave you well here is my olive branch, allowing you to know that all the aspects of lifting the curse and placing the decision is now in your hands. Tell me Klaus, you were willing to place Elijah, Rebecca, Kol, and Finn in those boxes, are you willing to place what is left of me in one as well? Are you willing to kill me?"

"You can't expect me to choose." Klaus said, stepping away.

"The only way you will ever become a full hybrid is if you kill me along with Elena, a werewolf, and a vampire." Bella said, "I know you fear us leaving you, but I make this promise to you," Bella took a knife and cut her hand before she cut Klaus' hand, "My blood, your blood, our blood. I will never leave you again Klaus, my life is in your hands. I hope you will show the same trust in me that I am showing in you."

Bella walked back inside to the party and Klaus stayed outside, contemplating his options. Could he trust his family or was it merely a temporary arrangement? Bella obviously trusted him, but the question was did he actually love her enough to let go of his thousand year pursuit or was he really as selfish as he made himself believe?

.*.*.*.*.*.

"Is everything alright?" Rebecca asked as Bella came in.

"Only time will tell," Bella said before she grabbed a flute of champagne.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I wish to steal your sister away for a few moments," Damon said, coming up to the two women.

Rebecca smiled, "Of course, I believe you both have lots to talk about."

Damon pulled Bella outside and they started walking.

"You shouldn't have done what you did tonight," Damon said.

"Tell me Damon, if you were in my position would you have done what I did?" Bella questioned. Damon was silent and Bella smiled, "We all do stupid things for those we love."

"So you do still love me," Damon said.

"I never stopped," Bella said, "But let's not go down this road."

"What do you mean?" Damon asked.

"The curse Damon," Bella said, "There's more to it than you know. I was human when my mother did the spell and I knew that one day he would come close to completing the ceremony so I made a sacrifice. I bounded myself to the curse."

"You mean…" Damon said, growing fearful.

"If Klaus wishes to be released from his chains, he must kill me along with the others." Bella said.

"How could you do that?" Damon asked.

"My mother didn't think he could be saved," Bella said, "She said that he had to die so I made her a deal, I would play a part in the ritual if she would just suppress his werewolf side."

"Klaus doesn't care," Damon hissed, "He wants what he wants and won't let anything stop him. You can't trust him."

"But I do," Bella said, "I know my brother who I grew up with is in there somewhere and I am willing to risk my life to bring him back. I trust Klaus, I always have."

"What happens when he kills you…which he will." Damon said.

"Then I will accept his decision and let him go," Bella said, "You know what it is like to love a brother who is lost. You never gave up on Stefan and I will never give up on Klaus."

"What about us?" Damon asked, "Have you thought what this means for us?"

"Damon we ended a long time ago," Bella said softly.

"No we didn't," Damon said and grasped Bella's arms, "look at me…you left me once, I refuse to let you go again."

"The decision is not yours," Bella replied.

"I can't let you go again," Damon said before he pulled something from his jacket pocket.

"Damon don't," Bella said, realizing what he was reaching for, "Please."

"I asked you this a long time ago and you accepted. I knew there was mystery to you then and I was willing to take whatever baggage you had. I'm willing to do it again," Damon said and got down on one knee, "Isabella Mickelson, I love you and once again I didn't want to do this like this." Bella laughed and Damon smiled, "But I love you with every part of my being. Please don't deny me this…don't run away from me again. I'm willing to face whatever's coming next as long as I know that forever you will be mine."

A tear escaped Bella's eye, "Yes," She whispered and Damon slipped the ring onto Bella's finger.

In the distance Klaus watched the scene unfold before him. For the first time in his thousand years, he saw his sister clearly. She was selfless, placing others before herself. She trusted him completely and she still believed that he was good. Now he was seeing his sister happy…truly happy for the first time. She was in the arms of someone that loved her, would do anything for her, do anything to protect her, and would love her completely. How could he take her away from this happiness?

"You see it don't you," Elijah said.

"Hard to miss," Klaus replied. "You overheard."

"We all did, save for our new acquaintances here. Can you do that Klaus?" Elijah questioned; he was reserved.

"Of course not," Klaus said, "I cannot harm her when she trusts me so completely. She believes in me and I don't know why."

"Because she is the only pure one of us," Rebecca said, coming to stand with her brothers.

"She is everything we never were," Kol added.

"She's also the only one of us that kept her humanity and believed in the goodness of this world." Finn said as well.

"Are you going to kill me?" Klaus asked.

"No," Kol said while looking at his sister as she and Damon held one another.

"We have spent too many years being angry Klaus," Rebecca said.

"Perhaps it is time for us to be the example and not our little sister," Elijah said agreeing.

Klaus looked down at the stake in his hand and threw it on the ground.

"I don't need an army," Klaus said as he lit a match, "I have my family." He said as the match dropped.

.*.*.*.*.*.

A Few Months Later:

"I can't believe this," Caroline said, "Who would have thought that we would all be here graduating."

"I definitely didn't think we would." Elena said happily as she fixed her hat, "Any word from Bella and the others?"

"I think Damon talked to her a few days ago," Stefan said, "They are still in Volterra handling things there."

"I still can't believe they thought they could overthrow the Original family," Bonnie said.

"I don't think I have ever seen Bella so mad." Matt added.

The past few months since the night of the ball, things had changed so much. The Mickelson's had become a family once more and slowly the Mystic Falls crew had become part of their extended family. The Volturi had decided that the Originals seemed to be getting soft and decided to officially take over. The Mikelson's had quickly squashed that little rebellion, but now they were set with the task of finding replacements.

"I hope they find some soon," Elena said, "Damon's been pretty lonely."

"Do you think they will ever set a date?" Caroline asked.

"Bella wants to be married somewhere special and she hasn't found that yet." Elena said.

"Doesn't matter, I mean she does have all the time in the world," Jeremy said. "Come on guys we gotta get to the ceremony."

.*.*.*.*.*.

They arrived at the school and one by one they promenaded in to their graduation. Damon sat in the bleachers with Jeremy, Alaric and Jenna.

"Elena's parents would be so proud," Jenna said, teary-eyed.

"I couldn't agree more," A soft voice said, sitting down next to Damon.

Damon smiled and turned to look, "You're back," he said.

Bella smiled in return and kissed him lightly on the lips, "We found the replacements."

"Who?" Alaric asked.

"The Cullen's," Elijah said, coming to join his sister along with the others.

"Yes they aren't exactly off the hook, but Bella believes they will rule well," Finn said.

"The Cullen's hold humanity close to their hearts," Bella explained, "I couldn't think of anyone else who is better to rule the Cold Ones than them."

"Was Edward there?" Damon asked, tensely.

Bella smiled, "Do I detect jealousy Mr. Salvatore?" She asked.

Damon grabbed her left hand and kissed the diamond ring that was on her delicate finger, "You're my fiancée, I'm allowed to be jealous of ex-boyfriends."

"There's no reason to be and to answer your question, no he wasn't there," Bella said reassuring Damon, "There's only ever been you."

"Glad to hear it," Damon replied before he gave her a kiss.

The graduation ceremony went wonderful; Elena, Bonnie, and Stefan all graduated with honors. Matt had landed a Football scholarship with Virginia Tech and was headed to spring training next week. Jeremy himself was going away for the summer to Italy for a drawing program he had applied to. Caroline had decided to travel the world for a bit and Tyler was going with her. Elena and Stefan were heading to the university in New York; Elena wants to study writing and Stefan was going for history. Bonnie was going to the school Jenna was going and studying under Vanessa; Isobel's prodigy.

Everyone was moving forward with their lives including the Mikelson's; Elijah had decided to stay in Mystic Falls to help Carol run the council. Finn and Sage had eloped a month after Armand had died and were looking to settle in Romania for a bit. Kol was just enjoying having fun while Rebecca had decided to try her hand at college. Klaus had found his passion for drawing again and decided to open up a gallery.

As Bella looked around at all the happy people around her, she realized for the first time she actually felt free. There was no more running, no more fighting, and no more heartache. This is what she had always dreamed of having; her family at peace and they were.

"What are you thinking?" Damon asked, wrapping his arms around her.

"How lucky I am," Bella replied, "I have my family at peace, friends, and you. I have never felt this before."

"Felt what?" Damon asked.

"At home," Bella replied, "This is what life is all about." Bella said as she pointed to all the happy people she now called family, "Love, laughter, and finding a place you can call home."

"Home," Damon mused as he kissed her neck, "That sounds nice. I think I would like to take you home right now."

"Damon, the party," Bella said as Damon started to pull her away from everyone.

"Can wait," Damon said, "Right now I want to be home with you."

Bella smiled and stroked Damon's cheek, "I love you." She whispered.

Damon returned the smile and gently kissed her lips. "I love you too Isa…always and forever."

"Forever is a long time," Bella said.

"That's the best thing though," Damon said, "I won't ever lose you."

"You never lost me to begin with," Bella replied as they drove away.

A/N: There you are my lovely readers…the last chapter of this story. I hope you all enjoyed it and I really enjoyed writing it. Don't be too upset with every ending there is always another beginning ;)

Thank you Dark~Supernatural~Angel for going on this crazy and fun ride with me. This girl is truly amazing and you guys ought to check out her writing it is awesome.

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Love you guys a lot and thank you for your reviews, your kind words and encouragement, and I hope you enjoyed the story.