as we pass through arrangements of shadows

[shreds]

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[shreds]

( There is no sign of Nadia. like Elena, Katherine is no stranger to negative feelings when it comes to Elena Gilbert. but, she's lived with them for a long time and overcome them, living a life of her own (19). )

Natalie?

( Natalie makes it to the middle of the parking lot before she stops walking.

"This isn't going to work. I'm wasting my time. She's already dead," she says, caught in a spiral (6) )

[braveandstupid]

We don't know that. No one is dead until we're looking at the body.

[Even then, they might not be dead. She would know from personal experience.

She moves past the car and starts to head towards the diner.]

Let's at least go across the street and look.

[Because Elena Gilbert will fight through even the most profound hopelessness (19). It's just who she is.]

[shreds]

Elena.

( Natalie hasn't moved (11), still on her knees, shaking her head.

But, if Elena turns, she'll see past Katherine who's looking back at the stairwell.

Nadia clutches her phone, sitting on the bottom stair and Phil whom she'll remember, crouches behind her, whispering. )

[braveandstupid]

[Elena's head snaps around, eyes landing on the girl in question. Eyes narrowing, she steps forward, moving to bridge the gap between them.]

Nadia?

[She'll try and get close enough to touch her, provided he doesn't stop her beforehand.]

[shreds]

( Nadia doesn't answer.

Phil finishes his sweet nothings, smiles and then looks at Elena directly, standing up straight.

"Nadia thinks she's alone and that she'll always be. She can't see or hear you." )

Most of us rely on the things we tell ourselves to bring us down, what makes you so special?

( "I am special. I was chosen. I was God's." )

[braveandstupid]

Yeah, and God abandoned you his brand new toys in another world. Guess that means you're not so special anymore. Especially since you have to muck around in the mud like the rest of us.

[But after that parting jab, Elena reaches forward, placing her hands over hers that are clutching the phone so tightly.]

Nadia? Nadia, can you hear me? I'm right here. You're not alone.

[The emotional speech will come in the next tag, but there's the start.]

[shreds]

( "Says the former doppelganger," he quips back.

Katherine knows they need more firepower - more than Elena's compassion, so she turns to Natalie and drops down. )

Natalie. Get it together. Nadia is alive. She's over there frozen with fear. That's not you. You push through life. I do, too. It's why I am where I am.

( a (6) gets Natalie's attention, but her silence isn't broken, the despair creeping along her brows. )

[braveandstupid]

[She ignores the quip, keeping her focus on the woman in front of her, curling her fingers over hers.]

Nadia, I know how it feels to be alone in the world. To lose all of your family and have nothing to anchor you to the ground. It's a big dark hole that tries to swallow you whole but that doesn't mean you deserve to be alone.

[She swallows, unsure if she's even getting through.]

I lost my parents too, and so many of my friends. But there's a reason you're still here, and you can't let him take this from you. All he wants to do is make you feel small, but you're not.

[shreds]

( "Yeah, the heartfelt declaration's not doing it for me," Phil says, snapping his fingers.

Nadia lunges forward, with a snarl, trying to send Elena down.(3)

At the same time, something snaps Natalie back into place as she locks eyes with Katherine.

"We push," she says. )

[braveandstupid]

[Elena wasn't expecting Nadia to turn on her like that, and she goes down hard, the concrete of the sidewalk knocking the wind out of her (1). She manages to recover somewhat, trying to scramble her hands up to get around Nadia's wrists and keep her hands away from something vital (12).]

Nadia, this isn't you. Wake up!

[shreds]

( Nadia misses everything vital and fatal, not even managing to scratch at her.

"Elena," Natalie says, trying to scramble over to her, but she and Katherine are both still crouched down and too close to the ground.

Nadia in her stupor tries to get her hands around Elena's throat (17) )

[braveandstupid]

[Elena's on her game now. She wasn't prepared before, but she's aware of where the stakes are. She pushes back, getting her hands around her wrists and using whatever strength she has to push her upward (19).]

Don't worry about me. Deal with him.

[She can handle tangling with Nadia for now.]

[shreds]

( Elena pushes Nadia back (2). Nadia is only human and influenced and loses her balance.

Katherine echoes Elena, but only because it is a one person job. )

Go. Get what you need.

( She sends Natalie off to her car before getting to her feet. She tries to grab Nadia by the arm to drag her back but Nadia is too hysterical (8, 11). Nadia tries sending an elbow back at Katherine but she misses, too, (4, 13). She's basically flailing.

As Natalie makes it to the car, Phil appears. She sees his reflection in the window as she unlocks the car. He tries to grab her to send her head into the car, but she gets out of the way in time (11, 18). She tries opening the door onto him and it slams in (19, 11) )

[braveandstupid]

[Elena glances between the two, and since Katherine seems to have Nadia in hand, she tries to back Natalie up with Phil. Glancing around, she reaches for something with some heft to it and attempts to swing it at the back of his head (19).]

[shreds]

( It lands (16), and drops him to his knees, giving Nadia the chance to climb into her car.

She successfully reaches for iron chains, first, while Phil misses the chance to grab her ankle (4, 8).

Katherine tries to take Nadia by the neck, but her erratic behavior has her slipping out of grasp. (15, 16). She then crawls for something substantial to swing it at Katherine, who catches it (19, 19!) )

[braveandstupid]

[Elena swings her weapon of choice around, trying to brace it against Phil's chest (8), before calling after Katherine.]

You good?

[shreds]

( Phil jumps back. (10) )

I'm fine.

( She struggles, before forcing what Nadia has a grip on against herself. (5, 1). Natalie swings backward, head hitting the step with an audible crack.

Natalie twists the top off of a flask full of holy water, dousing the chains. Phil tries to wrestle the object that has heft away from Elena (9). )

[braveandstupid]

[Elena manages to keep hold of her weapon of choice (18), but she can't help the way her gaze snaps to the side as Nadia falls. That sound is not a good sound, and the doctor in her knows she needs to act fast.

She swings her weapon at Phil one last time (15), and then regardless if it hits or not, will pass off her weapon to Katherine as she goes to try and assess if Nadia is okay (12).]

[shreds]

( Phil escapes the weapon's wingspan just in time for Natalie to emerge and swing her iron chains around his neck, but he catches them, hand starting to sizzle. He holds onto the chains wrapped around his hand, though.

Nadia... is dead. Blood pools underneath the step. As a doctor, there was probably instant brain swelling.

It's tragic.

Katherine flashes back to the possessed girl, taking a step behind her. )

She was fighting me.

[braveandstupid]

I know.

[There's no blame in her tone. This isn't an instance of Katherine Pierce doing terrible things to get what she wants. She was there long enough to see that it was an accident, but that doesn't stop her from trying to help. From being unable to let go of the lost cause, even if she knows it's lost.

So she'll keep trying, until it's clear that she can't do anything else.]

Just help Natalie.

[shreds]

( Natalie tugs on the chains to try and slam his head into the car (9, 6). He lets go of the chain. Katherine tries to, again, slam the car door on him next (7, but he drops flat 16.) )

[braveandstupid]

[Eventually Elena hits the point when she knows there's nothing else she can do. She closing her eyes in acceptance, before glancing over and picking up Nadia's abandoned weapon to head back into the fight, taking a swing at his head (18). All that she has left now is rage, so she does her best to channel it into the blow.]

[shreds]

( That lands, too, (14) with pain and prejudice. Katherine tries to send a heel through his chest (11, 3) and she does with a cry of pain from Phil. Natalie slides to the edge of the seat, seeing Nadia behind them. She climbs out and over Phil's body, standing above him with the other women.

"You're cornered." )

[braveandstupid]

[Elena is still angry, fingers gripping tightly around her chosen weapon.]

You didn't have to make her suffer like that.

[shreds]

( "She made herself suffer," he says. "I only feed on the lies people tell themselves. Until that's all that consumes them." If they didn't, he wouldn't have any sway.

Natalie crouches, making her chain into a garrote, his neck sizzling underneath them. )