Setting Things Right
DG32173

Sarah: and Founder's Day has arrived. Here it is at long last, after more than six years of waiting. The last chapter of Setting Things Right is finally upon us. Don't worry, my lovelies. After the conclusion of this story and The Woman I Love, the sequel set will be upon us soon. Enjoy.

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Given how closely I'm updating this chapter after last, there are no reviews to reply to. I hope everyone enjoys.

Chapter 17
Founder's Day

A horrendous scream shatters through the dream Damon was giving me in place of my nightmare, causing both of us to jerk awake. I clasp my hands over my ears to try to muffle the ongoing shriek. A quick glance at Damon shows that he's doing the same thing with just as much success, which is none. The scream ends just as suddenly as it had started.

"What was that awful noise?" I demand.

"It sounded like a woman getting murdered quite painfully," Damon's responds with a wince. I feel all the blood leaving my face at that. Only one thing comes to mind of what it could be. "What?" Damon demands upon noticing my pallor.

"Banshee," I whisper.

"You believe in banshees?" Damon asks dubiously.

"Well, do you have any other ideas for the source of the scream?" I demand. "Cause I'd seriously love to hear it. Banshee screams signal a death is coming to one who hears it. There are only three of us here. If that really was a banshee screaming, then one of us is going to die today. So, please, give me any other source that could have come from."

I can tell Damon's seriously wracking his brain for any other plausible explanation and is coming up empty. "I don't know what it could be," he finally confesses.

I close my eyes. "I really hope that doesn't spell disaster for my mission," I whisper.

"What?" Damon asks, confused.

"It's Founder's Day, Damon. The deadline for my mission is this evening when the fireworks go off," I reply softly.

Damon freezes, apparently having forgotten that my mission ends today. "What is this mission?" he demands.

"I can't tell you yet!" I exclaim. "Just do me a favor."

"What favor?" Damon asks, confused.

"Damon, that was a banshee scream. I'm sure of it. Which means either you, me, or Stefan is going to die today. If it's me, I want to be sure that I'll come back," I say. "Please, Damon."

Damon sighs, completely unable to refuse me anything. He raises his wrist to his mouth and bites down before holding his bleeding wrist to my mouth. I place one hand in his and the other on his forearm before latching onto the wound and drinking deeply. Damon raises his free hand to gently stroke my hair. Considering how long it will be before the fireworks go off, Damon lets me have quite a bit of his blood, roughly a pint's worth of it, before pulling his wrist away from me. "I won't let anything happen to you," he promises.

"Take care of yourself first," I say softly.

He frowns. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asks.

"I can't explain until after this is all over," I say. "Stefan, stay away from the festival tonight," I say to Stefan, knowing that banshee scream woke him up just like it did us.

Damon gets a 'listening' look for a moment. "He was already planning on staying away," he passes on the message.

"Where's my phone? I need to text Anna and get her and Pearl to stay away, too," I say, turning towards our nightstand.

"Elena what's going on?" Damon demands upon realizing he's the only vampire in our circle I'm not asking to stay away. "What aren't you telling me?"

"Damon, the only reason I can't ask you to stay away is because you were my escort at Miss Mystic Falls and we need to be on the Founder's Court float in the parade," I sigh. "What happens after that will determine the success or failure of my mission. That's all I can say right now. If I succeed, I will tell you everything tomorrow. If I don't… well, I'd rather focus on the 'if I succeed' part."

I grab my phone off the nightstand and open a new text to Anna. Damon watches over my shoulder as I proceed to send my message to Anna.

Anna, u and Pearl need 2 stay away from festival tonight. - E

Y? - A

Just trust me on this. I'll explain everything tomorrow if I can. It has to do with my mission. D, S, & I heard a banshee scream. - E

! That's a very bad omen. U & D b careful out there. – A

We'll try. Just stay inside tonight. It will b bad if u don't. – E

Mother agrees that if u 3 heard a banshee, we should stay in. 2 of u r vampires. – A

Wish me luck with final stage of mission. – E

Best of luck, from both of us. – A

Thx – E

I sigh an return my phone to the nightstand. "Well, apparently banshees are very real," I say. "Anna and Pearl believe in them."

Damon groans. "Great. So it's a Russian Roulette on the three of us," he grumbles.

"Actually, I think the Roulette is only for the two of us," I mutter. "Because of what I know, I'm certain the death will happen during the fireworks display. I just hope I succeed in my mission."

"Okay, so, we leave before the fireworks," he suggests.

I shake my head. "Banshees only scream when the death is unavoidable. That's why they are so rarely heard. Most of the deaths that happen in this world can be avoided but aren't. Banshees scream to predict a death that the Fates decree will happen in such-and-such a way within twenty-four hours of the scream. We won't be able to avoid this. Something will happen that will force us to stay until the fireworks." I sigh as I remember something I had noted in the other timeline. "One good thing coming out of this is I believe we will have to find a new Mayor."

"Well, there's a good bit of news," Damon chuckles. "I don't like the guy. Something about him rubs me the wrong way."

"His temper is nearly a match for yours," I point out. "You can't handle the competition for being the town hothead."

I look at the clock on the nightstand. "It's too late to try to get back to sleep. We have to be in period clothes and meet at start of the parade in just two hours for Mrs. Lockwood to go over some things before the parade starts. And I know damn well that corset is going to be hell to get on," I say.

"I'll help you," Damon offers with a wry grin.

I grin back at him. "I'll take you up on that gladly," I say.

Four hours later

Even with Damon's expert help, it still took me over an hour to get dressed in the period outfit I had picked out of the selection that had stored in the boarding house attic since the house was built. Damon had told me that the dresses and other things had actually belonged to his mother. I felt privileged that he would allow me to wear her clothes.

It had Damon only ten minutes to put on the old outfit he had dug out on the same day to air out. While he was dressing, I had done my makeup and brushed my hair. I had refused to curl my hair because I now know what seeing me looking even more remarkably like his sire does to him.

We managed to get to the Founder's Float just minutes before Mrs. Lockwood came to the float to talk with the Founder's Court about what we should and should not do while in the parade. Damon told me in an undertone that she had given the same spiel to all the other participants in the parade.

Now it's nearly time for the parade to start and I feel my anxiety ratcheting up as the time seems to fly forward inexorably towards my mission's deadline. Damon wraps an arm possessively around my waist and gives me an encouraging grin, sensing my worry and trying to get my mind off of my mission however briefly. But I can barely even work up a fake smile for the parade. Thankfully, only Damon will be close enough to realize it is a fake.

Suddenly, something catches Damon's attention further up the parade line. It's still a few minutes before the parade starts, so I don't know what caught his attention. Then he whispers in my ear what he had seen. I frown in confusion. Why would Mrs. Lockwood be making her way down the parade line?

Finally, she makes it to our float. "I'm sorry to say this, everyone, but the parade is being delayed," she says once she has the attention of everyone on board and the driver.

"What? Why?" Caroline asks.

"A fire had broken out along the parade route and the parade officials have to decide on the best route around it before we can let the parade progress. Don't worry. It shouldn't take too long before everyone's in agreement on what route we should take," she says.

As Mrs. Lockwood moves on to the next float, I mutter under my breath, "Shouldn't take too long so long as someone gags Mayor Lockwood and doesn't let him participate in the decision. He'll want to wait for the fire to be contained before continuing along the normal route because of 'tradition'."

Damon nods his agreement, having been the only one to hear what I said. He knows as well as I do that this town, particularly older members of the Founding Families, has a thing for the way things are 'traditionally' done. My prediction is soon proven true. The parade is delayed nearly three hours because Mayor Lockwood insisted on waiting for the fire to be contained enough that the parade can follow it's regular route.

With every minute of delay, my anxiety ratchets higher and higher. I didn't realize how prophetic my words this morning would be when I told Damon that something would cause us to stick around for the fireworks and for the banshee's screamed prediction to be unavoidable. By the time the parade starts, the participants will have barely any time to change into street clothes before the fireworks display. I decide I'm going to have to stick close to Damon after the parade so that I can save him when the time comes.

I didn't expect for Damon to decide to take off and search for John while I was still changing clothes, however. Despite sensing my fear and hearing my protests, he takes off while I'm still putting my street clothes on. I rush to put my clothes on, not caring that they're a mess when I get done. I leave the clothes I wore for the parade in a pile in the girl's locker room of the school gym and take off as fast as I can run after him.

I race as fast as I can to the building where Damon is facing down John. I have to stop John from killing him! If I lose Damon this time, I will literally die from heartbreak! I reach the building in time to see John advancing on Damon, who's crippled by the noise from the machine. I manage to leap between the stake in John's hand and Damon at the last second. Instead of plunging into Damon's heart, the stake is imbedded in my stomach.

John reels back in shock as I cough up blood, collapsing back against Damon. Seconds later, Damon is no longer crippled by the noise I can't hear. He glares fiercely at John before turning to me. I know he would love to kill John right this instant for injuring me, but I also know his first concern is taking care of me. He carefully pulls the stake from my stomach and then gently uses his fingers to examine the wound. I drank a lot of his blood this morning, but I can tell just by the look on his face that it won't be enough to save my life. I cough up more blood and wince when his fingers touch an organ that is apparently ruptured.

"Dammit, Elena, what the hell were you thinking?" he demands.

"Had to save you," I manage to get out around the blood bubbling up my throat.

He turns a ferocious glare at John. "You do realize that now she's going to become the very thing you hate most, right?' he snarls.

John pales. "What are you talking about?" he demands.

"You're daughter sacrificed her humanity to save my life, John. She has my blood in her system, but it's not going to heal her from this mess. That stake ripped open a number of her organs, several of them vital. She's going to die. Then she's going to come back a vampire. And it will be your fault this happened," Damon snaps.

My vision starts quickly going dark and my hearing rapidly becomes muddied. "So dark," I whisper. At least, I think I do. I feel strong arms lift me up, holding me close to a firm chest. I know it's Damon. I close my eyes, giving in to the darkness that's waiting to swallow me. Damon will take care of me. And I'll come back. I have his blood in my system, after all.

Sarah: and that's it. That's the final chapter of Setting Things Right. I left ya'll with a cliffhanger, didn't I? If you want to know more about what happens with Damon and Elena in this universe, be on the lookout for Our Eternity Begins, which will be the sequel to this one. As with this one, Our Eternity Begins will be written from Elena's viewpoint. If you want the sequel for The Woman I Love, look for New Beginnings, Damon's view on what happens with Our Eternity Begins. Take care now. Thanks to everyone who has stayed with me along the six year journey it had taken to complete this story. And thanks to all three of the remarkable betas who had helped me along the way. Also, if you haven't already, go check out The Woman I Love. It's Damon's viewpoint on this storyline. Enjoy.