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CHAPTER 05: A MOTHER AND A DAUGHTER

❝ he was an asshole and I am surprised he lasted this long. ❞

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TYLER LOCKWOOD WAS DEAD. Enola was just surprised Tyler had lasted this long. She hadn't seen him since he attempted to kill her and her unborn child. He was never in town when she came to visit. Which he was lucky for because she probably would have killed him then.

Damon had been the fortunate one who killed Tyler after Sybil and Enzo were captured. Enola now stood in the cemetery with Hope and Finn holding on to each hand. She had been spending enough time away from them since they had arrived in the town of Mystic Falls. She was just trying to help her friends. But the threat was currently withering away in a cell. She decided that she wouldn't be letting her children out of her sight any time soon. Not that they minded. They had fun with Lizzie and Josie, but their place would always be beside their mother. Even if that meant attending a boring funeral such as this one.

A mother and a daughter—what a terrible combination of feelings and confusion and destruction. Everything is possible and everything is done in the name of love and solicitude. The mother's injuries are to be handed down to the daughter, the mother's disappointments are to be paid for by the daughter, the mother's unhappiness will drift off to the daughter. It is almost as if the umbilical cord had never been cut.

Enola was twenty when this lesson was learned. She swore right then and there that her daughters would not suffer the same fate that she once had. She loved her mother but even she had moments where it felt as if she was destined for the same misery. Perhaps she deserved it though. Staring down at the grave she was reminded of how justified Tyler's anger had been. She had gotten his mother killed after all. If hell was real, that is where she would go.

"I was wondering when you guys would show up," Enola—along with Matt, Caroline, Alaric, and Stefan—whipped around to find Damon standing there with a large smile. "The body is probably starting to smell a little bit. Tried to keep it as intact as I could. But I got to admit, I got a little carried away about the whole ripping the throat out thing. My apologies to Donovan I'm sure you cleaned him up real nice." Stefan yanked the shovel out of the ground. "What are you gonna do with that? Stake me? Go ahead. Try it. But first . . . " Damon pointed towards the five freshly dug graves in the distance that they all had somehow failed to notice earlier. "Take your pick. Because I'm gonna bury every one of you."

"Mom," Hope muttered in fear, holding onto Finn.

"It's okay, baby." Enola promised, standing protectively in front of her daughters.

"It will be. But you don't have to worry, kids! I can bury you with your mother. That way you can be one big happy family. In hell." Damon threatened. Stefan protectively stepped forward. "Easy. Underestimating me is what got Tyler killed."

Matt reached for the pistol in the waistband of his pants. He never had the chance to draw it seeing as Damon remained one step ahead. He used his enhanced speed to capture him in a tight chokehold. But he surprisingly didn't kill him. He just held him there in an attempt to make him feel as useless as he was.

Finn had always been more sensitive and anxious than Hope. Enola immediately lifted Finn into her arms and pulled Hope into her side. She made sure to cover their eyes just in case Damon decided it would be a good idea to kill someone. She didn't want her daughters to see that sort of thing regardless of what their family was known for.

"Matt Donovan—the only living boy in Mystic Falls." Damon hummed. "It is shocking that you managed to stay alive this long. Maybe I should fix that."

"Is that why you came home, Damon?" Stefan badgered. "To make empty threats?"

"Not empty, brother." Damon chuckled. He bit into his wrist and force fed Matt his vampire blood. Everyone stood alarmed as Caroline went to intervene. "Move or I snap his neck. Give Matt here a non-transferrable invitation to our supernatural breakfast club."

"Damon, enough." Caroline warned.

"Sweet Caroline—how many innocent people did you kill on your no humanity bender, hmm?" Damon inquired. "Doesn't matter what you say or don't. The devil knows what you did."

"If you believe in that sort of thing," Enola scoffed.

"Enola Gilbert everyone!" Damon clapped sarcastically. "Forever the pessimist. Forever the savior."

"Just go, Damon." Alaric demanded. "Nobody wants you here."

"You all despise me, right? Just so we're clear? I killed Tyler, you hate my guts, our ties are severed? Great." Damon nodded, more so to himself. "If you thought there was any remaining opportunity to rescue me, let this prove you wrong."

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Enola sat in the Mystic Grill with Hope and Finn on either side. They were both too preoccupied with the coloring books she laid out in front of them to listen to the very adult conversation going on around them. They were both drawn to art like their mother and father. However, as time went on, they began to grow into their own individual people. She wished her husband was around to see it.

"Remember—it is not Damon." Alaric reminded. "This is Damon under the control of the she-devil. We have to find a way to break her control. And we will. I have got my interns working on it."

"And in the meantime let him run wild and kill another one of our friends?" Caroline scoffed.

"I am trying to prevent that," Alaric huffed in frustration.

"Even if we break the hold Sybil has on Damon, he won't recover once he realizes what he has done." Enola muttered absentmindedly.

"What are you suggesting?" Caroline inquired.

"While we figure out how to save Damon from Sybil, we have to figure out how to save Damon from himself." Enola continued.

"And how do we do that?" Caroline quizzed.

"We have to," Enola paused, eyes flickering to Hope and Finn briefly. "Put him down."

"What?" Caroline gasped in surprise, looking to Stefan.

Stefan had remained quiet for the entirety of this conversation. And no one could blame him. This was his brother they were talking about. Of course he would always want to find a solution without being the bad guy. But sometimes you have no choice. Enola learned that the hard way. If being the bad guy will help you get things done, then so be it.

"Enola is right," Stefan finally spoke.

"For how long?" Alaric asked in slight surprise.

"As long as we need to." Stefan told them.

"Are you sure?" Alaric questioned.

"It's for his own good," Stefan decided. "And it's the only way that we can protect ourselves."

No wonder we cannot appreciate the really central Kafka joke; that the horrific struggle to establish a human self results in a self whose humanity is inseparable from the horrific struggle. That our endless and impossible journey toward home is in fact our home.

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Enola tucked Hope and Finn in for bed that night. It had been a good day for all of them. Even if all they did was mourn. Though the whole mourning aspect was lost on them all. Their day was mostly spent touring the town of Mystic Falls. Hope and Finn hadn't had the opportunity to see much since they arrived, so Enola took it upon herself to show them around after everything that happened. They were exhausted by the time that they returned to the Salvatore Boarding House.

Enola descended the stairs with sunken eyes. She was just about ready to head to bed when she heard the distant arguing from down the hall. We have long since discovered her nosiness so it was no surprise when she followed the sound towards the living room where Stefan and Caroline stood in a disagreement. She didn't want to get involved, but she was curious as she stood on the stairs and watched like a child watching their parents fight on the cusp of divorce. They weren't married yet and they were already disagreeing. She had always wondered how their relationship worked with Stefan's hero complex and Caroline's obsessiveness.

"You cannot be serious," Caroline scoffed. "No!"

"Damon wants to meet up at the carnival," Stefan said, tucking a dart gun into the waistband of his jeans. "So I am going to meet him."

"Why?" Caroline scoffed. "This is obviously a trap!"

"This is my only chance," Stefan continued. "I don't know if I will get another, so I have to take it."

"You are going to need some back up." Caroline said sternly. "At least let me come."

"No," Stefan said sternly, tugging the coat over his shoulders. "I am not putting you in any more danger, Caroline."

"Two vampires are better than one," Caroline said, eyes shifting over to the stairs. "Tell him, Nola."

"Caroline is right," Enola nodded.

"Thank you!" Caroline pointed at Enola with a frantic nod.

"Even so, I have to do this on my own." Stefan sighed.

"No—you want to do this on your own." Enola corrected, stepping down the rest of the stairs. "You think that you deserve this. You think that this is your karma."

"Maybe it is—or maybe it is him." Stefan shrugged. "He might not forgive me after this and I might lose him forever."

"You already lost him," Caroline spoke softly.

Stefan gave Caroline a chaste kiss on the lips before disappearing out the door. Enola and Caroline were left watching Stefan leaving with matching frowns. He was always trying to play hero and it would eventually get him killed. But not today, they decided.

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Stefan followed the blinking lights all the way up to the carnival entrance. There was only one problem. Everyone appeared to be evacuating. His mind naturally jumped to the worst possible conclusion. Maybe his brother was only there to make him watch some sort of massacre. It wouldn't be that far fetched now that he thought about it.

"What is going on?" Stefan asked no one in particular.

"Gas leak. We are being evacuated." Some random passerby answered.

Stefan continued further into the carnival. He was the hero after all. And the hero never walked away. Even when the odds clearly weren't in their favor. The odds never were. He knew that the moment he had arrived that this entire altercation was doomed to end in disaster.

"Hello, brother." Stefan hummed, slowly turning around to face the man of the hour.

"Stefan," Damon breathed out carefully. "I need your help."

"I gotta say—I am surprised." Stefan confessed. "Last time I saw you, you seemed pretty hell-bent on severing ties.

"Yeah, in hindsight, that might have been a bit dramatic." Damon shrugged simply.

"Well, it's a little late to take it back." Stefan warned. "Even if Sybil made you do it."

"Yeah, see, this is where it gets tricky," Damon sighed. "I want to serve her, Stefan—I mean, I have to. Serving her keeps me away from the big bad devil himself and I want to stay away from hell as long as humanly possible."

"By turning off your humanity?" Stefan scoffed in absolute disbelief.

"There are worse fates," Damon defended.

"You know I can help you," Stefan promised. "If you let me."

"You're going to make me turn it back on." Damon realized. "No. I—I don't want to do that, Stefan."

"You have to," Stefan tried. "You can't keep doing what you're doing."

"Why not? Isn't this easier?" Damon shot back. "There are no amends to be made, Stefan. I can't munch on bunnies and save people and work my way back to peace. I'm hell-bound." His rant was cut short by a deep inhale of breath. "So why? Tell me. Knowing what I know, why would I ever want to feel again?"

"Because if we can't feel, then what is the point of being alive?" Stefan questioned.

"Exactly, brother." Damon whispered so quietly they would've missed it if not for their vampire hearing. "What is the point?"

"No. I'm not buying it." Stefan decided. "I can see your humanity trying to break through, Damon. Come home with me. I can help you be happy again."

"How?" Damon inquired.

"It will take time and work," Stefan answered honestly. "But I'll be there for you."

"I—I . . . I can't." Damon whispered. "I ruined everything."

"I am your brother and I love you," Stefan continued. "Just come home with me."

"No. I can't." Damon said with finality.

Stefan didn't hesitate to raise the dart gun. Damon was able to catch the dart before it broke the skin. They stared at one another in complete silence before lunging at each other. The dart gun dropped to the ground as each brother fought for control. Damon was currently beating Stefan to smithereens when a shadow appeared out of nowhere. That shadow just so happened to be Enola Mikaelson with the loaded gun.

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Enola and Stefan sat on a bench in the middle of the empty carnival grounds until they were finally joined. Caroline was the first to arrive with not only Lizzie and Josie but Hope and Finn as well. Alaric met them there with Matt who had only just arrived in town for the shitstorm that was the funeral. Bonnie was the last to show up with Enzo who had just recently turned the humanity switch back on. All in all, it had been a really successful day after weeks of chaos.

"Welcome back," Caroline smiled, pulling Bonnie into a much needed hug.

"We missed you," Enola continued, joining the hug from behind Caroline.

"I missed you guys too," Bonnie confessed before looking down at the four little girls nearby. "And I missed my favorite nieces!"

"We missed you too, Aunt Bonnie!" The four girls chorused.

"Thank you all for coming. I thought we could give the funeral another shot." Stefan confessed. "We are here to honor Tyler."

It was silent for a long moment. No one really knew how to continue. Especially not Enola. She wasn't exactly his friend after he attempted to off her and her daughter. They never spoke or apologized to each other because there was no point. The relationship between them had always been a tad bit fractured.

"He was strong." Alaric spoke up. "In the face of so much loss."

"He fought the darkness inside himself and won," Enzo agreed. "I respect the hell out of him."

"Tyler was willing to sacrifice everything for us," Bonnie nodded.

"He cared about all of us," Matt muttered. "And he was my best friend."

"He was so much more than a small town kid and he lived so much more than a small town life," Caroline whispered. "I loved him. We all did."

"I didn't," Enola blurted. "He was an asshole and I am surprised he lasted this long." Her proclamation was met with looks of disbelief. "But good for him. A true fighter. I can respect that."

"Look—we don't know what will happen next to any of us, but we can't let that haunt us and we can't let that make us forget what we mean to one another." Stefan continued. He turned to look up at the ferris wheel with a distant look in his eye. "A few years ago, I sat on top of that ferris wheel with Elena and I told her how important it was to appreciate these moments because moments are all we have." He made his way over to the lever on the side. "So in honor of Tyler and Elena, we need to keep creating moments like these. We need to remember to live."

Stefan pulled the lever up and the carnival sparked to life immediately. Enola was suddenly reminded that life was meant to be lived. The sound of her daughter's laughter reminded her of all the life she had been missing out on these past three years. She decided then and there that things would be different. Not only for herself, but for her children too.

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AUTHORS NOTE.
tyler and enola obviously have a very complicated history. so his death didn't really affect her. not like it did everyone else. i hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. until next time, my loves!!!