07 The Return_ Midnight - L. J. Smith

Elena knew, as perhaps this child did not, what would happen if she stopped badgering
him and let him sleep. But she couldn’t stand to see him suffering any longer, and nothing was real
again, and there was no one else in the world for her, and she didn’t even care if doing it this way
meant she would follow him into death.
Carefully steadying her voice, she said, “Maybe…we can both shut our eyes. Not for a
long time—no! But…just for a moment.”
She kept rocking the small body in her arms. She could still feel a faint pulse of life…not
a heartbeat, but still, a pulsing. She knew that he hadn’t shut his eyes yet; that he was still fighting the
torture.
For her. Not for anything else. For her sake only.
Putting her lips close to his ear, she whispered, “Let’s close our eyes together, all right?
Let’s close them…at the count of three. Is that all right?”
There was such relief in his voice and such love. “Yes. Together. I’m ready. You can
count now.”
“One.” Nothing mattered except holding him and keeping herself steady. “Two. And…”
“Elena?”
She was startled. Had the child ever said her name before?
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“Elena…I…love you. Not just because of him. I love you too.”
Elena had to hide her face in his hair. “I love you, too, little one. You’ve always known
that, haven’t you?”
“Yes—always.”
“Yes. You’ve always known that. And now…we’ll close our eyes—for a moment.
Three.”
She waited until the last faint movement stopped, and his head fell back, and his eyes
were shut and the shadow of suffering was gone. He looked, not peaceful, but simply gentle—and
kind, and Elena could see in his face what an adult with Damon’s features and that expression would
look like.
But now even the small body was evaporating right out of Elena’s arms. Oh, she was
stupid. She’d forgotten to close her eyes with him. She was so dizzy, even though Stefan had stopped
the bleeding from her neck. Closing her eyes…maybe she would look as he had. Elena was so glad
that he’d gone gently at the end.
Maybe the darkness would be kind to her, too.
Everything was quiet now. Time to put away her toys and draw the curtains. Time now to
get in bed. One last embrace…and now her arms were empty.
Nothing left to do, nothing left to fight. She’d done her best. And, at least, the child had
not been frightened.
Time to turn off the light now. Time to shut her own eyes.
The darkness was very kind to her, and she went into it gently.