After the nonsense that happened with Max, and Stefan.
Elena quickly followed Bonnie, tears streaming down her face. Bonnie stopped opening her car door when she saw Elena and then walked toward her.
Without speaking, Elena leapt into Bonnie's arms. "I… I was… I did… and Stefan was looking at me with… and I…!" Elena gasped sharply, trying to speak in coherent sentences.
I hated this.
I hated all this drama and weakness. She hadn't even gotten past her parents' death, and now she was placed in such embarrassing and horrifying situations.
"I… I… ahhh wooahhh!" Elena broke down crying again on Bonnie's shoulder. Bonnie hugged her, then slowly guided her into the car. Bonnie opened the car door and helped Elena inside, then went to the driver's seat, started the engine, and drove toward Elena's house.
At that moment, Max rushed out of the restaurant but couldn't catch up and watched helplessly as Bonnie drove away.
Max sighed, ready to return to the restaurant, but found Caroline standing in front of him with a sharp look.
"Look, Max, I don't know what's going on between you and Elena and Stefan, and Elena's romantic relationships are not something I can interfere with. But I know exploitation and wrongdoing when I see it. If I find out that you are forcing yourself on Elena, using power or coercion…" Caroline stepped a little closer and continued in a dark, warning tone, "…you'll wish you never met Elena, because then I will report you to my mother, The Sheriff."
Max looked at Caroline expressionlessly and said, "I'm not forcing myself on Elena. We've been dating for over four years now. She loves me."
Caroline narrowed her eyes at Max and said coldly, "It didn't seem that way from what I saw just now."
Max's eyes trembled when Caroline said that, a glimmer of… fear appearing in them. But it faded quickly, and he said in a flat voice and raised his arms, "Do whatever you want. Give me your best shot, report me to your mother for forcing myself or even sexual assault on Elena, I don't care."
He then lowered his arms, stepped closer to Caroline, and said, "Because I simply don't… care." Then he passed the stunned Caroline and went inside the restaurant to talk to his siblings.
Caroline watched Max's back with suspicion, and for the first time in all the years she had known him, he seemed like a completely strange person to her. Something was very wrong with Max. She wanted to convince Elena to stay away from him, she thought worriedly, and then headed home.
Max approached Matt and Vicki and was immediately met with Vicki's commanding look and Matt's proud smile.
Max sat down near them and said, "So, what's the news?"
"The news? Really, that's all you've got to say after all that wonderful nonsense you did just now?" Matt said with a cheerful smile, then playfully slapped Max on the back. "Man, that was great! I mean, you put that flower boy in his place! Hahaha!"
Matt laughed loudly but stopped when he noticed Max not responding. His smile froze and turned to frustration. For a moment, he thought his brother had come out of his shell and overcome his depression, but he was wrong. Max was still the same shy, introverted, depressed, closed-off boy he had been since morning. Here, Matt realized that what had just happened was only an act by Max to keep Stefan away from Elena.
Vicki looked at Max and said, "Max, I need to talk to you alone for a moment. Can you?"
Max nodded slightly and followed Vicki to the kitchen of the Restaurant.
Matt sighed, then simply stood and headed toward the gym, needing to hit some sandbags to release his frustration.
Max looked at Vicki and asked, "What's the matter?"
Vicki looked at him hesitantly and said, "Look, Max… I know things have been hard for you lately. I mean, Mom leaving us suddenly was a huge shock, then Elena distancing herself from you over the summer, and…"
"Elena didn't distance herself from me!!" Max interrupted sharply.
Vicki stopped speaking, looked at Max, and saw pain, denial, and anger on his face. Her heart broke for her brother, and she changed her approach.
"I mean her temporary distance and saying she needs some time and space and…"
"I gaved her the time and space!!." Max interrupted again sharply.
Vicki shivered and said, "I know you did, Max. I know. But sometimes in life, we don't get everything we wish for. Take me, for example. I was supposed to graduate last year from high school. My life was perfect. I had top grades that could get me a full scholarship, and I aspired to present my degree at Grossman Medical College, study there, find friends at the university, discover myself in life, and become a doctor, then settle down and marry a handsome guy there and build a family.
But look at me now. I had to repeat the year. I failed at my studies—the only thing I was really good at—lost the chance for a scholarship or studying at a prestigious college forever, became your guardian and Matt's, and my life turned upside down. I became a waitress at a restaurant that pays its workers very little, barely making enough money for us to eat and pay bills. You know this because you live with me. But I didn't cling to the past; I resisted, fought, and smiled, and carried on with life. Because this is life, Max. Not everything you wish for comes true, not everything you plan for happens. Sometimes we don't know where fate will take us."
Vicki stepped closer to Max, put her hand on his shoulder, and looked into his eyes gently. "Elena is not in love with you anymore, Max. But she didn't tell you that to protect your feelings. She's a good, kind girl who considers others' feelings even at the expense of her own. She certainly doesn't deserve what happened to her today. That's why I'm telling you the truth on her behalf. You have to move on from Elena and continue your life."
Max looked at Vicki in shock, his expression flashing through disbelief, fear, sadness, despair, then anger.
"No!!" Max screamed, stepping back. "No, Vicki, you're wrong!! Elena still loves me!! She told me she just needs some time alone because of her parents' death!! She didn't tell me she's no longer in love with me!!" Max trembled violently, looking at his sister angrily.
Vicki looked at him sadly. "It's the truth, Max. The sooner you accept it, the better. You must…"
"No!! Don't tell me what I should or shouldn't do!! You're not my mom!! So stop trying to replace her!!! Because you will never be like her!!" Max screamed furiously, tears filling his eyes.
Vicki shivered, her eyes wide as Max shouted at her.
"Max, I'm not trying to…"
"I don't want to hear you anymore!! Be quiet!! Elena is MINE!! Only mine!! Not Stefan, not Jackson!! Not anyone else!! She belongs only to me!!, Maxwell Donovan!!!"
SLAP!!
A slap echoed through the kitchen, and silence fell.
Max held his cheek, looking at Vicki shocked. "You… you hit me?" he asked in a trembling voice. It was the first time Vicki had ever struck him in his life.
Vicki looked at Max with intense anger and said, "Alright, listen to me carefully, boy. I'm tired of your nonsense!! You've completely lost your mind!! Do you hear yourself?!! This isn't love, Max!! It's obsession!! Possessiveness!! Elena doesn't belong to anyone!! Not Stefan!! Not Jackson!!, and Absolutely not to you either!!.
She is an independent being with the freedom to be in love with anyone she likes! You can't force yourself on other people's girls!! Imagine if someone did to me what you just did to Elena!! Would you accept it?!!"
Max opened his mouth, but Vicki cut him off firmly. "No!!, you will not!!. So why would you do things to other people's daughters, and sisters that you wouldn't accept for your own sisters or daughters in the future!!.
What you did earlier was rude, irresponsible, and sick!! You must control yourself, Max!! You're destroying yourself!! I mean, do you even see yourself in the mirror?!! You're literally a walking skeleton!!"
Max's body trembled, unable to respond to his sister.
Vicki softened, then grabbed his shoulders and said, "I know losing Mom is hard, Max, I really do. She's my mother too. But you can't keep drowning in sorrow forever! You're still very young, and a whole amazing life awaits outside!.
There are so many things you can do! So many places to see and visit!. And definitely billions of beautiful girls to meet!! So please, don't be this person in front of me! Just… be my brother."
Max's body shivered violently from his sister's words, but he closed his eyes and turned away. "I don't want other girls besides Elena. I don't want other places where Elena isn't. And I certainly don't want to do anything else complicated without Elena. You will never understand what I am going through, Vicki. So please… leave me alone."
Max's words trailed off, tears streaming down his face as he headed toward the kitchen door. But he stopped when he heard Vicki say, "Wait, Max."
He turned to her. She said seriously and firmly, "This obsession with Elena is unhealthy and harmful to you, and what you did earlier infront of her friends, and Stefan? You'll regret it in the future, trust me." She stepped closer to him. " Because Action have consequences."
Max looked at Vicki. "I don't care if my actions have consequences, Vicki, as long as Elena is by my side and doesn't leave me." Then he turned and left the kitchen.
Vicki looked at the closed door with deep concern. Max's mental and physical state was worse than she had thought.
She sighed, then took out her phone and dialed the number of the most famous psychologist in West Virginia, Dr. Martin Dysart.
---
[Meanwhile, with Bonnie and Elena]
The car was silent as Bonnie drove toward her house because Elena had told her she didn't want to go home like this. Since her house was on the other side of town, the drive took some time, and they still hadn't arrived.
Bonnie glanced sideways at Elena and found her lost in thought. She opened her mouth to break the silence. "Well, my grandmother says I have supernatural abilities. Our ancestors were from Salem, witches, all that stuff. I know, crazy—but she never stops talking about it. I think, put this woman in a nursing home! But then I started thinking—I predicted Obama, predicted Heath Ledger, and I still believe Florida will split and become small island resorts… Elena!" Bonnie shouted the last part when she saw Elena not paying attention.
Elena blinked and said, smiling, "I did it again, didn't i? I… I'm sorry, Bonnie. You were telling me about this…"
Bonnie replied, "I now have supernatural powers."
"Oh, really?" Elena smiled warmly and said, "Alright. Then predict something about me."
Bonnie started, "I see…"
But a loud thud interrupted her.
BANG!!
"Oh my God! What was that?!" Elena screamed in fear as she saw a strange black object hit the windshield, though she didn't know what it was.
Bonnie screamed in shock. "What is it?! Oh my God! Elena, are you okay?!"
Elena looked at her friend. "I'm fine. Really, I'm fine."
Bonnie apologized quickly. "It was probably a bird or something. It had appeared out of nowhere ".
Elena reassured her. "I'm fine, Bonnie, really. I can't be afraid of cars for the rest of my life."
Bonnie looked at Elena sadly as she finished speaking because Elena suffered from a fear of cars since the accident on the Wickery Bridge with her parents.
Bonnie gently patted Elena's shoulder and said, "I expect this year to be amazing. I expect all the sad and dark times are over, and you'll be incredibly happy."
Elena smiled happily and said, "Thank you, Bonnie. You're the best friend anyone could ever have."
Bonnie smiled warmly. "You're welcome, Elena, anytime." Then she started the engine again and headed home.
"Caw!!" The crow that had hit Bonnie's car let out a loud caw and landed on the hand of a man with mysterious features.
The man looked at his crow and gently patted it. "Well done, little Christopher." He then looked toward where Elena and Bonnie had gone, smiling mischievously. "Ah, what a lovely surprise here. So, little Stefan is interested in a human teenage girl and decided to play the high school student. How interesting indeed."
He smiled at his crow. "What do you say we ruin his fun, Christopher?"
"Caw!!" Christopher responded loudly.
The man's smile widened. "Yes, you're right, but not yet. I must enjoy a little first before killing the beloved Elena, after all, I promised my dear brother an eternity of misery."
The character smiled cruelly, then disappeared into the shadows of the forest as if he had never been there.
---
[Later that night]
Elena looked at her diary and began to write slowly:
I don't even know where to start.
Max is here. Close. Always present. Familiar. Comfortable. I should feel safe.
But I don't. Not really.
Because there is Stefan.
He's… different. Calm. Controlled. Silent. Watching without judgment, without needing to. Strange, unsettling, but… I can't stop noticing.
I just met him for half day, but yet je still managed to get through my head, and make a strong impression, he make feel like.... i am alive again.
And Max… he's changed so much since last summer. He's extreme, cold, possessive, scary.
I can't keep doing this forever. I have to tell him the truth. I can't keep avoiding it, especially after what happened at Mystic Grill in front of my friends… and Stefan.
I can't.
I don't want to make him feel inadequate. I don't want to hurt Max. He is… trustworthy. Safe. Familiar. Comfortable. Or at least, he was…
Stefan… unknown. A mystery. A storm beneath calm waters. And I know he cannot be ignored.
I've been torn. Between safety and… something frightening, something alive, like it could wake me from this… numbness.
But not anymore. I can't go on like this, not anymore.
I always thought if I made a mistake… someone would get hurt. But now I know, in trying to protect everyone, I would only hurt myself more.
I have to break up with Max, and set him free, he deserves to know the truth, that i have no longer have romantic feelings for him anymore.
Elena closed her diary with a sigh of surrender and went to her bed to sleep.
---
[Meanwhile, with Max]
Max stood alone in his room, looking out the window, thinking about Vicki's words today. He sighed wearily and went to his drawer.
He opened it and found a small red box. Inside was a ring with a beautiful blue diamond. This was the ring he had planned to propose to Elena with right after finishing high school. It had cost him countless dirty jobs, selling drugs, even risking his life and joining criminal gangs to pay for it.
But now the question remained: would Elena accept it? Would she even let him have the chance to propose? Does Elena even love him? Or has Elena replaced him with Stefan like… spare parts?
Max sighed again, closed the box, and returned it to its place. He went to his bed, but before he could sleep, something strange happened.
BOOM!!!
The space around Max exploded. His vision changed, and the world flipped upside down.
"What's happening?!" Max shouted in fear, looking around. He found himself on the same bloody mountain he had seen that morning, facing a massive, terrifying creature. Its body was enormous, muscular, covered with red and green dragon scales, with a green dragon head.
Smoke came from the creature's nostrils.
"You!! Wretched mortal!! Who holds the Twelve Spells?! Give them to me! This power must be mine… ME!!"
The creature roared in anger, extending its massive hand toward Max.
"What the hell is this?!! Somebody! Help!!" Max screamed, trying to escape, but found himself unable to move. He watched helplessly as the creature's hand approached.
"No!! I don't want to die, please!!" Max shouted loudly and painfully, but in vain. The creature's hand continued descending toward him.
Max closed his eyes and braced for the inevitable, but felt nothing. Slowly, he opened his eyes and saw the creature's hand stopped mid-air.
"Step back, Dakichi!! You will not take the Twelve Spells' power!!"
The creature named Dakichi roared angrily.
"Jackie Chan, you wretch!! How dare you insult me, I am Dakichi!! Ruler of the earth and everything on it!!"
"I told you to step back!!"
Jackie Chan shouted angrily. Then, a giant katana appeared and instantly cut Dakichi's hand.
"AAAHHHH!!!! Jackie Chan, you cursed!! One day I will break free and destroy this world and your lineage in revenge!! Remember my words well, you will regret this!!"
Dakichi screamed in pain and rage as his hand fell to the ground with a massive thud, blood gushing like a fountain. The rain of blood couldn't cover Max, who was encased in a strange blue barrier.
"Be quiet!!".
Jackie Chan shouted. Then the katana reappeared and cut Dakichi's chest with force.
"AAAHHHHH!!! Damn you, Jackie Chan!!!"
Dakichi roared again as the blood rain intensified.
Suddenly, Max's vision changed. Twelve strange symbols floated around him in a circle. Directly in front of him, a symbol in the shape of a rabbit glowed faintly.
"You must awaken me before it's too late!! You must activate the Twelve Spells!! You are the chosen one!! Use the doppelganger's blood!! Her blood is one of the strongest sources of magic in existence!! You must hurry!!"
Max heard a third strange voice—the same voice he had heard that morning at school.
"AAAHHHH!!! What is happening!!! Somebody help me!!!" Max shouted in pain, then collapsed unconscious.
Vicki and Matt rushed into the room and found Max unconscious, his nose and ears bleeding profusely.
"Max!!" his siblings shouted in unison, then ran to their little brother and carried him to the hospital, tears streaming down their faces.