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"And you want to know more? How I came to be what I aain How could he tell her? He, who had avoided questions for so long, who had beco

There was only one way, and that was to tell the absolute truth, concealing nothing To lay it all before her, what he had never offered to any other soul

And he wanted to do it Even though he kneould make her turn away from him in the end, he needed to show Elena what he was

And so, staring into the darkness outside the here flashes of blue brilliance occasionally lit the sky, he began

He spoke dispassionately, without e his words He told her of his father, that solid Renaissance man, and of his world in Florence and at their country estate He told her of his studies and his ambitions Of his brother, as so different than he, and of the ill feeling between theas I can remember Maybe it was because my mother never really recovered from my birth She died a few years later Da that he blamed irl"

"The one I remind you of?" Elena said softly He nodded "The one," she said, lanced down at the silver ring on his finger, thenhe wore on the chain beneath his shirt and looked at it

"Yes This was her ring," he said "Without such a talisht as if in a fire"

"Then she was like you?"

"She ly, he told her about Katherine About Katherine’s beauty and sweetness, and about his love for her And about Daentle, filled with too ave it to everyone, including my brother But finally, we told her she had to choose between us And then she caht, of that sweet, terrible night ca back She had come to him And he had been so happy, so full of awe and joy He tried to tell Elena about that, to find the words All that night he had been so happy, and even the next one, he had been throned on highest bliss

It ht almost have been a dream, but the two little wounds on his neck were real He was surprised to find that they did not hurt and that they seemed to be partially healed already They were hidden by the high neck of his shirt

Herblood burned in his veins now, he thought, and the very words th to him; she had chosen hinated place that evening Damon had been absent from the house all day, but he showed up in the arden precisely on ti his cuff Katherine was late

"Perhaps she is tired," Stefan suggested, watching the ht blue He tried to keep the shy sness from his voice "Perhaps she needs lanced at hi under the shock of black hair "Perhaps," he said on a rising note, as if he would have said ht step on the path, and Katherine appeared between the box hedges She earing her white gown, and she was as beautiful as an angel

She had a smile for both of the their secret only with his eyes Then he waited

"You askedfirst at him and then at his brother "And now you have come at the hour I appointed, and I will tell you what I have chosen"

She held up her s on it, and Stefan looked at the stone, realizing it was the sa sky It was as if Katherine carried a piece of the night with her, always

"You have both seen this ring," she said quietly "And you know that without it I would die It is not easy to have such talismans made, but fortunately my woman Gudren is clever And there are many silvers without coain, encouragingly

"And so," she said, gazing into his eyes "I have had a presentinto it When he looked he saw that it was a ring in the saht in silver instead of gold

"You do not need it yet to face the sun," she said softly, s "But very soon you will"

Pride and raptureto take her into his arht then, even in front of Da away

"And for you," she said, and Stefan thought his earshim, for surely the warmth, the fondness in Katherine’s voice could not be for his brother, "for you, also You will need ft very soon as well"

Stefan’s eyeshim as impossible, what could not be Into Da just like his own

The silence that folloas absolute, like the silence after the world’s ending

"Katherine-" Stefan could barely force out the words "How can you give that tohim ? After e shared-"

"What you shared?" Damon’s voice was like the crack of a whip, and he turned on Stefan angrily "Last night she came to h collar to shoo tiny wounds in his throat Stefan stared at theht sickness They were identical to his oounds

He shook his head in utter bewilderment "But, Katherine it was not a dream You came tome "

"I came to both of you" Katherine’s voice was tranquil, even pleased, and her eyes were serene She smiled at Damon and then at Stefan in turn "It has weakened lad I did Don’t you see?" she continued as they stared at her, too stunned to speak "This is ive either of you up Noe all three will be together, and be happy"

"Happy-" Stefan choked out

"Yes, happy! The three of us will be companions, joyous coht of a radiant child shone in her eyes "We will be together always, never feeling sickness, never growing old, until the end of time! That is my choice"

"Happy with hi with fury, and Stefan saw that his nore "With thisboy standing between us, this prating, ht of hiain, never hear his voice again!"

"And I wish the sa in his breast This was Damon’s fault; Daer knehat she was doing "And I have half a ely Daet your sword, if you can find it," he hissed back, his eyes black with menace

"Da herself between the Stefan’s arm She looked froht with unshed tears "Think of what you are saying You are brothers"

"By no fault ofthe words a curse

"But can you not make peace? For me, Damon Stefan?Please "

Part of Stefan wanted to melt at Katherine’s desperate look, at her tears But wounded pride and jealousy were too strong, and he knew his face was as hard, as unyielding, as Damon’s

"No," he said "We cannot It must be one or the other, Katherine I will never share you withhim "

Katherine’s hand fell away froreat droplets that splashed onto the white gown She caught her breath in a wrenching sob Then, still weeping, she picked up her skirts and ran

"And then Daiven him and put it on," Stefan said, his voice hoarse with use and emotion "And he said to me, ’I’ll have her yet,brother ’ And then he walked away" He turned, blinking as if he’d coht fro quite still on the bed, watching him with those eyes that were so much like Katherine’s Especially nohen they were filled with sorrow and dread But Elena did not run She spoke to him

"And what happened then?"

Stefan’s hands clenched violently, reflexively, and he jerked away from theNot that memory He could not endure that memory himself, much less try tospeak it How could he do that? How could he take Elena down into that darkness and show her the terrible things lurking there?

"No," he said "I can’t Ican’t "

"You have to tell me," she said softly "Stefan, it’s the end of the story, isn’t it? That’s what’s behind all your walls, that’s what you’re afraid to let me see But you must let me see it Oh, Stefan, you can’t stop now"

He could feel the horror reaching for hi pit he had seen so clearly, felt so clearly that day long ago The day when it had all ended-when it had all begun

He felt his hand taken, and when he looked he saw Elena’s fingers closed about it, giving hith Her eyes were on his "Tell me"

"You want to knohat happened next, what became of Katherine?" he whispered She nodded, her eyes nearly blind but still steady "I’ll tell you, then She died the next day My brother Damon and I, we killed her"