Deathly Love
DG32173

Sarah: here's Chapter 3. Pretty much this entire chapter was written out in a notebook by the time I finished typing up the last chapter so hopefully I don't get distracted in typing it up. Review replies then the story. Please enjoy. The chapter starts in Damon's viewpoint.

REVIEW REPLIES

shnicky87: (laughs) glad I made your day. Elena won't think about using the bond against Damon for a few more chapters, but I am definitely considering what I should do to cause her to 'force' him to obey her. I hope you enjoy what I have in store for this chapter.

TVD-DELENA1786: yeah, Elena won't be using the bond on him unless he gets out of hand but this is Damon we're talking about here. He's bound to get out of hand at some point. And I agree, a more prominent bond would make for a better story.

HoneySexy: I'm bored because I can't go for my typical three-mile walks whenever I want anymore, but doing fine otherwise. Thanks for the concern. And I personally think Elena would only use the bond on Damon if he gets out of hand, though I'm trying to think of a situation where she would consider him to be getting too out of hand at the time that would still be in character for him. She might make him do something silly to get revenge, however.

MultiMom: I'm glad you are enjoying this. Here's more.

Leann Nickerson: I'm getting all these votes for a bossy Elena and just one vote for her to be bossy only if he gets out of hand. Glad everyone seems to agree that the bond should be played out more prominently. I agree that vague overshadowing isn't always the best case, especially not here. Anyways, here's the next chapter. Enjoy.

Chapter 3
Witchy Meet & Greet

It's a good surprise to find out that Elena isn't a complete homebody. In the three weeks since Emily came to answer our questions, she's gone out at least once a week to run errands and acquaint herself with the town. It's surprising to see just how much Mystic Falls has changed since my final death. For a town big on traditions, it's grown and changed drastically in just forty years.

One thing that hasn't changed is that my favorite bar in town is still the primary hangout and is still run by the matriarch of the Fells, a tiny woman now in her late seventies who goes by the name "Mama Bear". The Mystic Grill, known to locals simply as The Grill, is still one of the best places to get juicy gossip about town residents. And they sill run the town betting board. Elena got a kick out of that.

Currently, Elena is on her way to finally introduce herself to an old friend of mine and her granddaughter, who are local witches descended from Emily. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to actually meet Sheila's granddaughter because she was born nineteen years after I died and had never visited the boarding house. I only know about the granddaughter because every birth in this town is announced in the newspaper and the living side of the family had kept up a newspaper subscription until Stefan had finally kicked them out just before he sold the house to Elena.

I wonder if Sheila would be able to sense me. She's a witch and I know witches can sense ghosts and spirits, even the ones who aren't mediums. I'll find out when we get there. As it is, the town has grown and changed so much that I can't direct Elena to Sheila's house; she has to use GPS, something that had come into existence since I died.

When we arrive, I can see that Sheila's home hasn't changed much in the years since I was last over this way. Elena takes a deep breath to steady her nerves. She had told me before we left the boarding house that few normal witches are tolerant of mediums because of the vast differences of what the spirits allow them to do. But whenever Elena moves to a new town and discovers there are witches already living there, she makes a point to introduce herself.

When Elena gets out of the Camaro, I ghost through the door and follow her up the porch stairs. Elena shudders slightly when I ghost through the door. She told me the first time I did it in her presence that it freaks her out more than most when a ghost does that because it's so difficult for her to tell the difference between ghosts and the living. So I've made it a point to do it as much as possible, just to tease her.

Elena rings the doorbell and we wait. It doesn't take long before Sheila answers the door, accompanied by her granddaughter. I'm momentarily startled by the remarkable resemblance between the granddaughter and her ancestor, Emily. Elena extends her hand to Sheila. "Hello, my name's Elena Gilbert. I'm a medium and I thought I'd introduce myself to you," she says softly.

Sheila takes Elena's hand. "Sheila Bennett. This is my granddaughter, Bonnie," she says. I feel a brief flare of magical power when Sheila and Elena shake hands, as if the two witches are showing the other how strong and experienced they are. The move is repeated when Bonnie and Elena shake hands, though Bonnie's eyes widen in surprise when she gets a sense of a medium's power and experience at about the same age as herself.

"I feel a familiar presence I haven't felt in forty years. Is Damon Salvatore's spirit accompanying you?" Sheila asks.

"He is," Elena replies. "It's a long story, but he's magically bound to a ten-foot radius around my spirit."

"Come in. This sounds like a magical mishap worth the telling," Sheila says, stepping back.

"I don't know the full details as he won't share his part of it with me, but I do know we've ended up with some pretty severe consequences," Elena says, following Sheila and Bonnie into the living room while I follow her. This is probably the only way I can get inside Sheila's house. Ghost vampires don't need an invite like undead vampires to enter occupied homes, I've discovered in the last few weeks. It takes time, but Elena shares the details she knows of our predicament. I still refuse to confide in her exactly what I was thinking about during the spell-casting.

"I thought that spell was strictly forbidden," Bonnie says in surprise when Elena names the spell she used.

"Mediums, because of our capacity working with ghosts and spirits, are allowed far more leniency on what spells we are allowed to cast, but we still have to follow a strict rule set of what we can and can't do. In fact, in many ways, we're under a far stricter set of rules than a normal witch or warlock because of the leniency we're allowed in the spells we can use to help ghosts and spirits reach peace. We're actually trained by the spirit of a witch or warlock who's gone before and, from what I understand, go through a stricter training regime than normal witches that is vastly accelerated from the normal way of training. My mentor, who Damon tells me is an ancestor of yours, Emily Bennett, came to me when I was sixteen to start my official training and deemed my training complete shortly after my eighteenth birthday. It's been nearly three years since then."

After some more social niceties play out and Elena finishes telling the Bennett witches about the situation we've found ourselves in, Sheila turns in my general direction. "It grieved me when I found out about your death, Damon. You've been a great friend to our family from the day you were turned. But I have had a bit of hope to hold onto for the past ten years. I've foreseen the day you will return to the undead in my lifetime. That time is fast approaching, I can sense. But precisely when or how is beyond my ability to See."

Next to me, Elena stiffens slightly. I raise an eyebrow at her. Has she been hiding something from me? I know she has the power to bring ghosts to the state of being they were in before death. She told me so herself on the first day we met. Why would she stiffen in response to Sheila's prophecy, though? I'll have to confront her about her reaction later.

"Sheila, Bonnie, before I leave, I want to say thank you for being so accepting of me. Many normal witches and warlocks have been far less accommodating when they discovered I had moved to what they thought of as their town. They don't really accept mediums as true witches and warlocks because of the extreme differences in our capabilities with magic."

Sheila chuckles. "They'll learn eventually that we all work towards the same goal: the balance of the natural and the supernatural. It may take until they're spirits themselves, but they'll learn. My own mentor was actually a medium," she replies. "She did the best she could to train me properly with the help of her mentor in the proper training of a non-medium witch."

Elena chuckles. "That explains it. If ever either of you needs anything, I bought the Salvatore Boarding House and live there. Just let me know if you need my help with anything," she says.

"And you do the same, Elena," Sheila says.

As we're heading for the door, Bonnie catches up to us. "Hey, I was wondering if you'd like to hang out with my best friend and me sometime. I don't have a lot of friends in this town and you're so new I don't think you've had time to make many friends. We're about the same age. So I was hoping we could be friends," she says in a rush to Elena.

Elena hesitates briefly. "If you're sure you don't mind a ghostly tag-along on anything we do, I'd like that," she says slowly. "As I explained, Damon can't go more than ten feet from me in any direction. That will hold true even when your grandmother's prophecy for him comes to pass, as our spirits are magically bound together."

"So long as he doesn't try any spooky ghost tricks, I can accept him tagging along. I've experienced some of the things ghosts can do to make their presence felt," Bonnie replies.

"Oh? You've encountered ghosts before?" Elena asks.

"Yeah. There's this old house in the woods where supposedly a hundred witches and warlocks were burned at the stake on the property long before the house was built. Grams took me there during my lessons about the spirits. You can tell as soon as you set foot on the property that it's haunted by powerful entities. Maybe you could check it out, being a medium and all. Maybe you can help at least a few of them move on."

"Maybe," Elena says noncommittally. "I can only help a spirit move on if that's the right thing for them, though. Not all spirits are meant to move on. Even with those that are, that particular option is only available to the spirit when it's their time to move on. Just because someone dies doesn't mean it was actually time for them to die or that they will be allowed to move on immediately, even if it was."

"Oh," Bonnie says, surprised. "Anyways, of my few friends in town, only my best friend, Caroline Forbes, knows the truth about what I am. You can trust her with the fact that you're a medium. In the four years she's known my secret, she never once told anyone. Do you want to meet her tonight?"

"I can't tonight. I'm a writer and I have a deadline coming up on my latest book. I need to get some more work done on it tonight. How about Saturday? If I work hard, I can probably free up Saturday to hang out."

"Can we come over to your place? We've always wanted to see the inside of the Salvatore Boarding house but were always too nervous when it actually belonged to the Salvatores to go there," Bonnie asks. Then she seems to have what I call a light bulb moment. "Wait, you said you're a writer? You wouldn't by chance happen to use the penname E. Gilbert, would you?"

Elena grimaces. "Guilty. I did write the series Tales of a Modern Medium," she says.

"You wouldn't by chance be working on the fourth book would you? Do you base the stories on your own experiences? Did you get dumped three times because of being a medium?"

Elena grimaces at the rapid-fire interrogation. "In order, yes, I'm working on the next book. Ella Jane's experiences are loosely based on my life. No, I've only had one boyfriend who tried to make it work with me but a ghost dog that got attached to me ruined the relationship in the end. Also, you and your friend can come over around ten Saturday morning. Skylark, the ghost dog I spoke of, might drop by to say 'hi' and you know Damon will be in attendance. So there will be at least one ghost, possibly two, around. Now I really should get going so I can get a few more chapters down if we want to hang out on Saturday."

"Okay, see you later. We're going to be great friends, the three of us. I can sense it," Bonnie says, wrapping Elena in a hug.

I chuckle at Elena's grimace. In the past month, I have learned she's not a big fan of being touched, even if it's just a ghost touching her. She's grown to tolerate me touching her whenever the mood strikes, but she's never the one to initiate it unless I'm in her way. She says she's been that way for a while, ever since an experience in her past she won't talk about occurred.

Elena reluctantly returns the hug before quickly extricating herself from the other witch's grasp. "See you Saturday," she says

"We'll be there at ten," Bonnie says.

When we're back in the Camaro, I chuckle again. "Sure you want to hang out with her and her friend?" I tease. "You're likely to have a lot of hugs in your future."

Elena scowls and puts the car in gear. "I'll just have to get used to it," she says, pulling out of Sheila's driveway and turning towards the boarding house. "I get the distinct feeling I'm destined to be friends with Bonnie and her friend Caroline. I got the weirdest sense that I had known her in another time, another place; one where we'd been friends all our lives though we had just met today."

"And they say ghosts are spooky," I say, shuddering. "You witches and your 'feelings' are the spooky ones." I decide to change the subject. "So, Miss Gilbert, care to share why Sheila's prophecy for me made you grimace?" I ask.

She's silent for a while, obviously having an internal debate with herself. If she chooses not to answer, I can't change her mind. She's the 'leader' in this bond, not me. I have no choice but to abide by her choices, whether I want to or not. Finally, she sighs. "I think the dreams we share are slightly prophetic," she finally admits.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Like a normal witch, mediums can have prophecies. Personally, my own prophecies come in dream form. I've yet to have a prophecy while I'm awake. For the past few weeks, I've been getting hints that the dreams we are sharing could be prophetic, but nothing that says for sure one way or the other. Then when Sheila spoke her prophecy today, I realized I have been seeing glimpses of the future and dragging you with me on it. That's not to say the entirety of the dreams will come true, just that they are a foreshadowing of what's to come," she says. "I never dream exactly what will happen when I have prophetic dreams, but they always line up similar to what they foretell."

I smirk. This means Elena will definitely become my lover eventually. "So, what were the clues that they were prophetic dreams rather than normal erotic dreams?" I ask curiously.

"My thoughts towards the end of the dreams, for one thing," she replies, turning into the boarding house driveway. "For another, the act that they're so very vivid, as if they're actually occurring rather than having that dreamlike blurring of minor details. Third, remembering them completely clearly upon waking. These are the main things that pointed at them being prophecies rather than mere dreams."

"So…," I drawl, casting a victorious smirk at her. "Do we become lovers before or after I return from the dead?"

She blushes but doesn't so much as fumble as she unlocks the front door. "I don't know," she admits. "All the dreams have us as long-term lovers, but I've already brought you back to 'life', as it were. I don't know how long before the dreams take place that I performed the ritual."

"Not yet willing to act on the prophecy, huh?" I ask hopefully. She scowls at me. "Didn't think so," I sigh.

"You haven't won me over just yet, Casanova," she says, heading into the kitchen while I focus to shut the door.

The only time I allow myself to interact with the physical world is within the privacy of the boarding house. It would be too freaky for the living to see me interacting with objects and they can't see me. I follow her into the kitchen and watch as she fixes herself a grilled cheese sandwich and some Greek yogurt. I snatch a bite of her sandwich when she's done. Even though I'm a ghost and have no physical body, I can still eat food and taste it.

"Get your own," she grumbles.

"But yours is so good," I retort.

"You just don't want to expend the energy it would take a ghost to fix food," she points out.

"True enough. There are better things to spend that energy on," I reply tugging gently on her hair as an example. I've learned over the years of being a ghost that every interaction with the physical world drains a bit of energy from me. There are ways to recover that energy, but I'd rather not spend energy when I don't have to. Being dead, I don't need any form of nourishment, but still having a sense of taste makes me want food or blood from time-to-time, just for the taste. I haven't had blood since the day I died, at least not outside of these dreams I've been sharing with Elena. But I have swiped bites of food from my living relatives' plates when they weren't paying attention. And I frequently swipe a bite of Elena's meals. She's a much better cook than any of my living relatives ever were.

Take this grilled cheese, for example. My human relatives, even the supposedly 'creative' ones, only ever put a single slice of American cheese between two slices of white bread with margarine on the outside. Elena's sandwich, on the other hand, has Texas Toast for the bread, real butter on the outside, and several types of cheese, none of which are American and all of which are gotten from the deli. The varieties of cheese go surprisingly well together on a toasted sandwich. And that's her idea of a 'simple' lunch.

The kitchen I had painstakingly designed hasn't been this well-stocked since I was undead and staying here last. That was the first thing that made me glad Elena had been the one to by the boarding house. Make that the second thing, since the true first thing to make me glad she bought the boarding house was finding out she's a medium and can converse with me.

As Elena settles down to her writing, I decide to read a book I had gotten from the library. I've read Call of the Wild many times since it was published and it's become my favorite book, though Gone with the Wind is a close second. I might have a chance to get halfway through this book before I have to remind Elena to eat dinner. With this thought, I settle down with my book with the clacking of Elena typing on her keyboard as a background noise.

Sarah: and that was much longer on paper but came out halfway decent typed up, which is unusual for me. Please review and tell me what you think.