They say there are five stages of grief.
After spending the night near the Gilbert Lakehouse in denial, She haggardly picked herself, face marred with dirt, and clothes caked with mud.
2)Anger-
Being a vampire, her first instinct was to jump to rage.
Tw:graphic violence
She marched inside her house and threw the first thing that she saw at the wall. A beautiful vase clattered into pieces, becoming an unfortunate victim of her anger.She smashed a 30 year old sauvignon blanc on the floor, the bottle breaking and glass scattering everywhere. She had kicked off her shoes at the entrance and thus, the glass shards ripped into her skin. Blood oozed out of her skin as the pieces dug further into her body, embedding themselves in the tissue. Her skin started healing with the glass still inside. She bit her lip to muffle a scream as she dug her nails into her skin to remove the pieces, her fingers shifting around in the wound.
Tw:over
3)Bargaining-
She briefly contemplated marching up to the Salvatores and slicing their throats off. Slaughter them all,his killers so that he could return.But she couldn't do that and she knew it. She blamed herself to a certain extent, it was her who had suggested retribution against them and look, where that led her. The Salvatores may have been dumb and moronic but lady luck seemed to always favor them and how could she ever fight fate.
4)Depression-
Avra wailed into her pillow, tears soaking the sheets as she clutched a fistful of the bedspread in the hand. Her hair was ruffled and her appearance unkept as she tried picking herself up from the mattress to take care of herself for the first time in days.
5)Acceptance-
She returned to the cemetery she had visited earlier and sat down near her grave. She looked longingly at where Elijah had been with her,mere days before and sighed.
She traced her hand over the carvings on the epitaph and read aloud the etchings the Mikaelsons had provided for her years ago.
"Always and Forever."
"Before, after and in Death."
Revisiting the cemetry had reminded her that there was infact, a lot that she could do to bring Elijah back to the land of the living. She had promised to fight tooth and nail for their always and forever and she would. Her grief would now be directed at the Salvatores to accomplish her goal.
She sauntered up to the Boarding House, adamant to be looped in after her temporary hiatus from their proceedings.She threw open the door and walked in like she owned the place. The Salvatores would dare not reprimand her after all that had happened.Damon was the first to notice her. His eyes shifted around, briefly contemplating his words but then settled on ignoring the past.
He had the audacity to address her like a concerned friend, "There you are, the next time you decide to take off suddenly, try to remember this nifty little device called a cellphone." He waved his own mobile phone around.
"Yes.. I had to deal with some personal matters." Avra responded concisely.
"You have a life beside me? I am hurt," He said dramatically, placing a hand over his heart for added effect.
She rolled her eyes and took a seat beside him. "What happened to John?"
"Who cares?" Damon responded casually, "For all his faults, Elijah did us a favor. Guy must be dying in a ditch somewhere."
She hummed slightly in agreement. "And what of Elena?"
"Brooding and drowning in self pity with Saint Stefan over the fact that the oldest vampire in the history of time wants her head on a pike." Damon answered, "too whiny, if you ask me," He whispered the last part like a gossip queen.
She rolled her eyes again and tried to extract information from him, "Any recent developments with Klaus?"
"Yes, apparently he compelled someone at her school to ask her out for a dance. It was really creepy,anywho, the deed to the house is soon going to be under Elena's name.."
He trailed off.
"I would need to be invited in." She finished.
"Aren't you a smart cookie?" He mocked, getting up to grab a glass of bourbon from the minibar. He doubled back and said, "Also Isobel is back in town."
"Who's that?"
"Elena's bio mom," He responded nonchalantly while pouring himself a drink, "Never would've met you without her. So, I have that to thank her for." He said derisively, seeing the slightly confused expression on her face, he clarified, "She was the one trying to burn me to death when you rescued me, my knight in shining armour." He did a mock bow at that.
"Oh..yes" She clicked her tongue in understanding and chuckled lightly.
He offered her the entire bottle of bourbon. She laughed at his behaviour and snatched it from his hand, pouring out only a glass. He sat down on the couch and drank it.
They sipped the alcohol, drowning their sorrows, a perfect match,two fools in love, one with his brother's girl and another mourning hers, six feet under.
***
That night as Avra laid in bed, contemplating, a thought crossed her mind.
"They say there are five stages of grief, so why did her heart still hurt like hell?"