AS I LAY DYING

CHAPTER 5: JUST ANOTHER BODY

It's night and Elena tiptoes her way out of her room. She had another nightmare, but after years they don't affect her as much as they did when she was younger. It's tiring, she thinks. Everytime she wakes up yet again in another life, her mind seems to withdraw its capabilities. It's not like she turns into a true baby, not mentally wise at least － but things are sluggish and it always takes her a few years to make up proper and coherent thoughts.

She strains her arm towards the high cabinet, looking for the special tea she has asked Sheila Bennett to make. She's on her toes when it happens.

The doorbell rings and Miranda isn't home, because she's working a night shift. She started working more after Grayson's death and while a part of Elena misses her, she's also a bit happy to have more freedom. She's twelve now and Miranda doesn't worry much about her being home alone －she still thinks Elena is taking her medicines, the knowledge they go down the drain reserved for Elena and Enzo only.

Enzo is fun to be around. He's like a breath of fresh air to Elena, because he doesn't look at her weirdly like most of the town. He doesn't inquire either, their preferred hang out activity being reading books and watching boring telenovelas on the tv. He has an invite in their house, but he still waits out of the door for Elena to sign him in.

Elena figures it's him, so she takes her time to stroll towards the mahogany door. The bell keeps ringing and Elena is tempted to leave him out, but shrugs it off. He has taken the nasty habit of pouring his heart out to her unfeeling eyes, talking about his thoughts and problems. Elena doesn't care, even if a tiny part of her longs when he says Damon's name.

She opens the door and the little grin disappears. She's drinking her vervain twice a day, even if she can't be compelled, so she's not much worried －because until she's on the other side, the vampire before her can't do much. She figures she should do something, though, because seeing her only friend with a stake in his stomach and his arm grabbed by the other vampire makes her uncomfortable. The scene eerily similar to one of her past deaths for her to ignore it.

Her brown eyes meet the tempestuous blue of the Original and Elena's breath stays the same, her heartbeat still ticking the calm, unperturbed rhythm she was used to.

Elena grins, this time the smile is vicious and calculating; her brown eyes shine for the first time in a while, the anticipation of something different roaring in her blood.

"I suppose even one thousand years old vampires like to read the newspaper." His eyes flesh in curiosity and she's sure he's doubting her. She wonders if he'll want her to prove herself, but it's not like she can't. "I'm Elena Gilbert, nice to meet you, sir. I would like to make a deal with you."

Elena sits on the porch with a now full backpack and Enzo by her side, his form unconscious after Klaus snapped his neck. The two of them, well three if the momentarily dead vampire is to be counted, are waiting for Miranda to come back from work. Elena hasn't slipped her vervain in the morning, so Klaus agreed to compel her.

While Niklaus doesn't really like the peaceful approach, because he would've readily snapped the woman's neck, he decides that he would give the child next to him the benefit of not seeing her mother die. So, when Miranda comes back from work to two grown men sitting with her daughter, she doesn't have time to question them.

Her sweet, little Elena is spending the summer in California with a family friend, after all. So Miranda enters her house and ignores the now cold herbal tea on the kitchen counter. She's working such tiring shifts, she must've forgotten it this morning.

#

When Enzo comes around, he's met with the unflinching stare of his little human. It takes him a few minutes to remember what happened, but when he does he springs on his feet, his eyes looking around the hotel room they're in for the threatening vampire.

His brown eyes settle on Elena when she grabs his hand, her gaze as calm as ever. "He's out feeding, don't worry." She tries to comfort him, but she's aware she's not really good at it. She doesn't like him being here, because that means Klaus has something over her －but she doesn't think about it, her mind trying to conjure what she should and shouldn't say to the one thousand years old vampire.

Elena ignores the inquiring looks Enzo is sending to her, because she doesn't really want to explain the mess she dragged him into. She restrains a chuckle, realizing that this is way less chaotic than the way it happened the first time around.

Enzo seems to pick up something with his hearing, because his body tenses up and his eyes stare unflinchingly at the door. Elena notices the cold sweat gathering at his temples and a part of her screams, because no matter how hard she tried she still couldn't save everyone.

Elena isn't sure her friend will live to see another day, not after she's finished talking with the hybrid. It's just another body, her mind supplies － just one more who's robbed of life because of her.

Elena doesn't flinch when he opens the door, nor when his eyes stare curiously at her. It's been around two days since they left Virginia and the hybrid made sure to constantly snap her friend's neck. She wonders if he'll make him suffer to get a reaction out of her, something he has yet so succeed in. She doesn't feel safe, because the vervain is out of her system and a part of her is still vaguely aware of the past actions of the oldest in the room.

Elena doesn't move her eyes from Enzo's form. She continues watching, as if it was a mere show, as Klaus snaps every bone in the younger vampire's body. She doesn't flinch when her friend screams, his cries desperate. She doesn't yell at Klaus to stop, because he wouldn't listen anyway. She simply sits on the soft sofa of the hotel suite, the mug of hot chamomile she has ordered through room-service in her hands. She doesn't cry, her heartbeat doesn't spike up and her breath doesn't jump.

Elena wonders if her mind associated Enzo with the word 'friend' for convenience, because her thoughts would become too long if it called him 'vampire who's helping me contact the strongest being on Earth for my own agenda'.

She's quiet as she watches the hybrid's hand discend, blood marring the suite's doesn't feel sad, doesn't feel angry.

Elena doesn't feel and so she stares at Klaus, uncaring of the severed head looking at her on the glass table in front of her.

#

HI? I'm alive, kind of. Sorry for the late late late update. Even if I'm stuck at home for the unseeable future and have been for now pretty much a month I still wasn't sure about this chap. (I'm from Italy lol).. I've had this chapter written since the very start, however I'm not sure about this? Like when posting the others I've added a few changes here and there but this one I've just left like. this.
Hope it's enough to be forgiven and I'll make sure to have the next one ready and... better and possibly longer soon :)
Thank you so much for the follows and favorite, I'm really excited to see so many people enjoying this fic.
Please review and lemme know what u think about it 3