Chapter 18 — Emotional Rollercoaster

Johann rushed to the Underworld as fast as he could. Salvatore saw him first, or actually sensed his approaching aura, they were brothers after all, and then informed the others of his brother's arrival.

"Finally. I already thought that he would stay on the surface forever." Chris sighed.

"Hope he found something useful." Marco added hopefully.

At that moment Johann entered the cave, smiling broadly.

"So, how it went, brother? Do you have something interesting for us?" Salvatore asked, watching his unusual joy carefully. He knew his brother, who was usually gloomy like the undertaker.

"Of course, as always." Johann replied, and Chris smiled dismissively at that, but he ignored it and just continued. "Damon broke the law of the demons. He fell in love with the sorceress, and on top of that with the "chosen one" he is supposed to kill. So, in total, Damon also broke another law, to strictly follow the superior's orders." he announced.

"Are you sure?" Chris asked, unable to believe what he heard, nearly falling off his chair at this incredibly beneficial information for them.

"It is impossible that we are so lucky." commented Marco with a face full of skepticism.

"Of course I'm sure. Thanks to my extraordinary gift, I felt the love connecting him with her. I couldn't confuse such a strong feeling with any other." Johann assured.

"My brother is saying the truth. That's what I was counting on." Salvatore spoke up. "When I was talking to Damon a while ago, I sensed that something was wrong with him. That's why I sent Johann, because he can sense emotions and feelings. And I was right, because it confirmed my suspicions." he explained, smiling triumphantly.

"You're a genius!" Chris praised his friend, looking at him with great admiration.

"Thank you very much. But now we have to share the good news with Alistair." Salvatore replied, and a malicious smile appeared on his lips.

~~~~~~

That afternoon, the Monroe home was visited by Isabelle, Johnathan, Eleazar, and Deborah. When Selene saw Eleazar, she wanted to talk to him right away.

"Can we talk, please?" Selene asked as she walked over to him.

"Sure, I'm listening." Eleazar replied as they entered the kitchen to talk quietly.

"Listen, I don't want you to be angry with me... Let's be friends." Selene said, looking at him pleadingly.

"You know it's not enough for me. How could I be friendly to you? I love you Selene. I can't just be your friend, forgive me." answered Eleazar and started walking towards the door.

"Eleazar, wait..." Selene got up and walked over to him.

"You know what? I regret that I have come here today. It all just gives me unnecessary pain." Eleazar said, sadness flashed in his eyes.

"But you are still here..." replied Selene, looking at him with sad eyes.

"I'm only here because I wanted to see my sister. She hasn't been visiting me recently so I came, but regret it now. I should have invite her to our house instead." that said, Eleazar walked past her and left the kitchen.

Tears streamed from Selene's eyes. She didn't want to lose Eleazar, since liked him very much, and didn't understand why he treated her so badly. True, Selene might have hurt him with her refusal, but what could she do if didn't feel the same way about him? Maybe it was selfish of her to want them to be friends, but she really wanted to be able to talk to him at least once in a while.

"Why are you crying?" suddenly Selene heard Rita's voice above. She didn't answer, just looked at her.

"It's because of Eleazar, right? I saw him leave the kitchen with an angry face. How could he..." Rita hugged her tightly. "I feel how much you suffer. Wait a minute, I will help you..." she whispered in her ear. After a while, Selene felt the pain in her heart lessen considerably, but for a change it was Rita's eyes glazed with tears.

"Don't do this, don't take over all my suffering." asked Selene, seeing her pained face.

"Don't worry about me, silly. I felt much greater suffering from others. Sometimes I even felt that my gift was a curse, but thanks to empathy I understood human nature and stopped thinking only about myself. Empathy made the memories of Alistair less painful because I was able to drown them out with the suffering of others. Besides, I found out that what I experienced is nothing compared to what happens to some. I am now thankful to God that He did not make me suffer more." Rita replied, stroking Selene's hair. Then she hugged her again, wiped tears, and left the kitchen, leaving her alone so she could calm down in peace.

~~~~~~

Salvatore and Johann stood in front of Alistair, with Chris and Marco standing to the side.

"Well, what kind of sad news are you bringing me?" asked Alistair, sitting on the throne with a bored expression on his face.

"Such, my lord, that Damon broke our law and betrayed the Underworld." Salvatore replied, stepping slightly forward.

Alistair straightened up sharply and scowled at him.

"These are serious accusations. Why should I believe you, cousin? I know how you hate my successor." he said, frowning.

"I have proof of his guilt, it is my brother. The last conversation with Damon raised my suspicions, so I sent Johann to the surface to follow him." Salvatore answered, pointing to the brother standing next to him.

"Ah, is that so? Then you tell me, Johann, what have you learned while following Damon?" Alistair turned to him.

"I saw Damon in the garden of the Monroe house with the "chosen one." They both exuded such a strong emotional bond that it could not be mistaken for any other feeling. I would like to point out that our law prohibits such relationships. In addition, I can assure you that Damon will certainly not fulfill his mission, as he will not be able to kill his beloved." Johann said, ending his speech with a broad smile.

"So you say you felt love... I'm sure you are right." replied Alistair with a slight sadness. "But in my opinion Damon is not a traitor, but a victim of this sorceress's charm. After all, she comes from a powerful bloodline, right?" he added hastily.

Salvatore's, Johann's, Chris's, and Marco's faces were instantly grimacing.

"So two of your friends, Salvatore, will go to the surface and bring Damon here. Then we will immerse him in the waters of the Lake of Darkness and the charm will disappear. Damon will come back, immune to its effects for 24 hours, and he will certainly manage to complete his mission during this time," Alistair decided, rising from the throne and strolling around the room. "Of course, I leave you the choice of ones who will go to the surface." he added, staring straight at Salvatore's eyes.

"Thank you, my lord, I will not let you down." he replied, and walked towards the exit.

Johann, Chris and finally Marco followed him. Each of them looked clearly disgruntled, but no wonder, their plan didn't quite go their way. They did not expect Alistair to trust Damon so much, and they forgot that the "chosen one", like every sorceress from a powerful family, has a charm which works on demons and feels deceptively similar to love. Johann was sure, however, that what he was feeling between Damon and this girl could not be only a charm, but did not even dare to express his opinion, seeing Alistair's firm gaze.

~~~~~~

As Selene sat in the kitchen, the door suddenly opened and Isabelle appeared, but seeing that would not be alone here, she wanted to leave.

"Wait..." Selene got up from the chair and walked over to her. She was feeling much better now, and wanted to take the opportunity to help Isabelle open up. "Aunt Meredith said you could create illusions. Could I see any of them?" she asked and smiled kindly at her.

"Yes, of course..." Isabelle replied softly, smiling shyly. "Stand in front of me and don't close your eyes. When you have them open, the effect will be better." she said and took a deep breath.

"Okay." Selene stepped across from her and looked at Isabelle's face.

Isabelle closed her eyes and frowned slightly for more concentration, then her face vanished from Selene's eyes. Instead, she saw a beautiful meadow, then a huge white house, covered with ivy. Suddenly Selene was inside of it, in a spacious dining room. The family sat at the long table: parents, two grandmothers, one grandfather, three young children and three older ones. Among the elders, Selene recognized Isabelle right away, even though she looked younger. Family members talked to each other and laughed merrily. Suddenly, some people broke into the house, but after a short while Selene realized that those were demons. There were twelve of them and they immediately started attacking the entire family, killing each one in turn. At this point, the illusion broke and Selene returned to reality again.

"Forgive me. Sometimes when I show illusions to someone, my own memories get out of hand and thus I show them to others... So far, it's only happened to me with Rita and Johnathan. I'm really sorry you had to watch this." Isabelle said apologetically.

"It's okay, don't worry about me. Only now did I realize that you had a terrible experience." Selene replied and hugged her gently. "I know how you feel because I lost my parents too. Except that I practically did not know them, did not see my father in front of me because he was killed five months before my birth, my mother shortly after I was born. Your situation is definitely worse." she said, stroking her hair.

"No, you're wrong, Selene." Isabelle said suddenly.

"How is that?" she looked at her in surprise.

"So far, that was what I thought. All those years I thought that I was terribly punished by fate, but I was wrong. I was very lucky to meet my parents. They gave me so much love, I spend so much time with them... Believe me, your situation is way worse. You haven't even met your parents. Yes, you've experienced love thanks to your aunt, but it will never replace the love of mother and father." she sighed. "Thank you for helping me understand it, the pain in my heart eased immediately. I haven't talked to anyone like that before... You have some kind of magical influence on me." Isabelle smiled broadly, like never before. It seemed as if her shell had finally cracked.

"I'm glad I could help you." Selene replied. She felt really lucky to be able to reach this girl, but had not expected that her own experiences would have had such a good effect on someone.

"I should go to Rita and apologize to her for those years of silence." Isabelle said and walked to the door. "Take care, Selene. You're a real miracle to all of us, and I strongly believe you can defeat Alistair." she added with a smile and left.