BLOODLINE
xliii. hunter in full bloom

THE THEORETICAL STATISTICS of Murphy's Law continued to ring true when it came to their lives. With Jeremy's mark completed and Klaus temporarily confined within their home, it was time to proceed with the search for the cure.

     And within the first day on a tiny island off the coast of Nova Scotia, everything had gone wrong.

     Or so Erin heard. Being a human meant she held no reasonable contribution. She would've been more of a hindrance than help, so she chose to stay behind and look after Klaus. After all, they couldn't very well leave the hybrid unattended.

     However, the task took a turn when Tyler Lockwood decided to antagonize Klaus. Retaliation came in the form of the hybrid managing to drag Caroline over the invisible barrier within the living room and bite her on the neck. The next few hours devolved into her suffering from the werewolf venom coursing through her veins. At least, until Klaus caved and healed Caroline with his blood.

     Since then, they did their best to ignore Klaus's presence and deal with the matter at hand. The failure that became the cure's search.

     Jeremy seemed to have inexplicably gone missing, prompting them to put everything in hold to find him. In the process, Bonnie and Professor Shane vanished, and Damon had seemingly been taken by someone else on the island.

     Apparently, they weren't the only ones looking for the cure.

     Now, Elena, Stefan, and Rebekah needed help finding the cure's location. They assumed the others would be on their way to find it as well. But for that to happen, Erin, Caroline, and Tyler had to translate the Hunter's Mark.

     Erin claimed a place on the couch within the joined living room of her home. A laptop sat before her on the coffee table with Google Translate open and ready. She left the device long enough to get a glass of sweet tea and returned to see Caroline and Tyler stride through the front door. The Brotherhood of the Five's sword was held in the young hybrid's hands.

     "Well, if it isn't little orphan Lockwood," Klaus voiced from where he perched on the coffee table in the adjoined room. "Come to show how laughably impotent you are against me?"

     Erin rolled her eyes and moved to set her glass down beside her laptop. They were in for a long day.

     Tyler stopped just beyond the invisible barrier and replied, "I'm just trying to help my friends find the cure. Found this in your attic." He pulled a thin blanket-like cloth from the sword to show the hybrid across from him.

     Klaus eyed the weapon and rose to his feet. "And you think finding the sword brings you closer to the cure?" he prodded curiously.

     "You tell me. I was playing around with the handle on the ride over, and I found this," Tyler said, reaching up to unwrap the hilt of the sword. A small leather patch came off in his hand to reveal what lay beneath.

     Erin stepped closer to see a cylindrical piece slide around the hilt with different shapes carved out of it. Symbols were seen between them, and more joined when Tyler spun the piece.

     "And what do you think this is?" Klaus questioned in a condescending tone.

     "It's a cryptex," Caroline exclaimed from where she stood beside the couch. She shrugged when their eyes turned toward her. "What? Erin's made me see The Da Vinci Code."

     Erin smiled when Caroline glanced her way. She then set her attention on the cryptex and explained, "it's pretty simple, actually. You spin the circular piece to reveal different words or letters and translate them into any language you want."

     Caroline nodded and stepped back toward the coffee table. "And with the magic of the internet, Elena sent these." She picked up a stack of pictures taken of Jeremy's Mark on the island, which Elena emailed to them. "So now, all we do is cryptex away." She set the pictures down and dropped onto the couch, her expression fell placid as she looked at the hybrid. "If you happened to wanna help, we wouldn't stop you."

     Erin doubted he would ever do that. He enjoyed the way they squirmed and struggled too much.

     Klaus's lips pursed as he turned away from them. "Right. Well, might I suggest using the magic of the internet to purchase an Aramaic to English dictionary from your nearest realtor," he quipped with a sly smirk.

     Erin's eyes fell closed for a moment when the use of the language's name registered in their mind. They truly couldn't catch a break, could they?

     Tyler's brows furrowed as he glanced from Erin to Caroline. "What's Aramaic?" he asked.

     Erin sighed and looked toward them. "It's a dead language. Hasn't been used since Biblical times, like when 'BC turned into AD' times."

     "Qetsiyah's native tongue, I'm guessing," Klaus added and moved for the coffee table behind him. "You know, even if you had the best dictionary in the world, it could take days to translate. Perhaps weeks." He sat on to the wooden surface and released a long breath as if he were exasperated. He then muttered lowly in what could only be another language.

     And from what Erin understood when it came to him, it could've only been Aramaic.

     "What does that mean?" Caroline questioned.

     Klaus simply smiled and said, "if only you spoke Aramaic."

__________

     The actual search for an Aramaic to English translation took longer to find than the actual translations themselves. Something that should've tipped them off that their work would turn out to be futile, but they were optimistic the final product would help ease them in the right direction.

     Erin grabbed a stack of unused index cards from her room and wrote down each symbol that encompassed the sword's hilt onto their surface. She and Caroline then used the discovered dictionary online to put the symbols with the correct translation. Or, what they believed was the right translation.

     "Okay, this is it. We've translated all the symbols on the tattoo," Caroline voiced as she grabbed all the index cards and lifted them up to read. "'Passage inside - requires a young senator, and a pretty flower.'" She groaned and tossed them back into the coffee table. "Okay, none of this makes sense!"

     Erin sighed and leaned back in the armchair beneath her. "The first part seems right. We just need to figure out the last bit," she said, hoping to reassure her friends.

     From her experience in translating etchings into English, there were always some discrepancies. Changes that made a word-for-word translation difficult to achieve. Languages evolved a lot faster than dictionaries and databases could catch up with, making a perfect match nearly impossible.

     They just needed more time to decipher what they had already figured out, but they didn't have any to spare on a game of translation roulette. Jeremy, Bonnie, and Damon were missing on some island, and the only way to find them was to pinpoint the location of the cure. If they didn't learn where it was and soon, something terrible might happen.

     When the dead language filled the air, Erin turned to where Klaus stood near the invisible barrier. He spoke a few lines of Aramaic, before he relayed them in English.

     "'Requires a powerful witch and a hunter in full bloom.'"

     Erin pressed her lips together and hummed. Now that made sense.

    Tyler looked toward the hybrid with creased brows. "What're you doing?"

     Klaus gave him a flat stare in return. "I don't need to tell you my reasons." His gaze shifted to the lone vampire in the room. "Caroline, bring my sword over here."

     Caroline glanced toward Erim, who simply shrugged. They didn't have much of a choice. She sighed, grabbing the sword from where it leaned against the coffee table and carried it to where Klaus remained.

     When Caroline twisted the cryptex, Klaus began to read out the translation. "'Silas rests on the far side. The means of destruction at hand.'" He looked at the images of Jeremy's mark on the laptop's  screen and said, "turn the cryptex to the right. Stop" Caroline did as told. He continued, "'the top of the hilt reveals a key to a nautical map.' Turn it to the left." She did. "Now turn the other piece." Klaus's eyes narrowed toward the sword. "There's something else."

     Erin turned in her chair to see the hybrid's expression lighten, almost seeming amused. He found something they wouldn't like.

     Klaus spoke another few sentences in Aramaic, before a smile formed on his lips.

     "What does it mean?" Caroline questioned, but his features never faltered. "Klaus, what does it mean?"

     Klaus continued to smile as he shifted his gaze to Erin. "Call Rebekah, love. It's time to find the cure."

     Erin's brows furrowed as skepticism flooded her stomach. He knew something, but he wouldn't say it aloud. At least, not until Rebekah was in earshot. She just hoped it wasn't anything detrimental that would get her family and friends killed.

     Caroline sat back down on the couch beside Tyler and grabbed the printed images of Jeremy's mark. She scribbled out the instructions Klaus relayed.

     Once Caroline finished, Erin grabbed them and took pictures of them with her phone. She placed them in an email and hit send, before she dialed Rebekah's number.

     The dialtone rang until the Original answered. "Hello."

     Erin placed the call speaker and set her phone into the armrest of her chair. "Hey, it's Erin. We translated the tattoo. I just sent you pictures of the map with instructions."

     There was a beat and then Rebekah said, "got it. Thanks."

     "Actually, it was me," Klaus called out from where he began to pace the length of the living room.

     "Nik, you helped?" Rebekah asked, sounding confused.

     "You sound surprised, little sister," Klaus quipped.

     "Shouldn't I be?" Rebekah countered. "I mean, you don't want me to be human. You don't want any of us to be human. Why would you help us find the cure?"

     Klaus shrugged and continued to pace. "Maybe I finally realized the longer I stand in the way of what you want, the longer you'll continue to hate me. Perhaps I want my sister to finally know happiness."

     Erin didn't fully believe that. And as it seemed, neither did Rebekah.

     "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me a hundred times..."

     "Not more fooling. No more games," Klaus replied. "I hope you get to live and die as you wish."

     "As do I."

     Klaus paused in his steps and moved back toward the invisible barrier. "There is one more thing, Rebekah."

     Erin braced herself for what was to come.

     "There is only one dose of the cure."

     Erin's eyes widened as Klaus rambled off rapidly.

     "You need to find it first and take it. It's the only way you'll..."

     Erin swiped her phone off the armrest and ended the call, cutting Klaus off and stopping Rebekah from hearing anymore. But she knew that she was already too late.

     Erin snapped to him and exclaimed, "what the hell?"

     Klaus merely raised his arms, before he stepped back further into the living room.

     With a huff, Erin turned back and glanced between Caroline and Tyler. Their expressions were equally as wide-eyed and shocked as her own.

     Klaus couldn't be right, could he? No, he had to be messing with them. But why would he? The best way to get to them all wasn't through lies and deceit. It was with the truth. A terrible truth that brought all of their future days to a grinding halt.

     If there was only one cure, those who wanted to be human again never could. One person and one person alone would have the chance to take the single cure for immortality in existence. And because of Klaus, he all but ensured that Rebekah would get to it before anyone else.

     In other words, everyone one on that island was completely screwed.

__________

     Something happened. Erin knew it with every fiber of her being. It started as a tight knot in her stomach, twisting and growing every passing second. And when Klaus walked out of her home without a shred of resistance, the feeling blossomed into a soul-crushing weight that threatened to drag her into the depths of the earth.

     For hours, Erin tried to call everyone on that godforsaken island. No one answered. Not Elena, not Damon, not Stefan, not even Rebekah picked up to calm her worries. There was radio silence.

     And after Tyler was forced to go on the run from Klaus, lest he wanted to end up dead, Erin's anxiety climbed to new heights. Caroline was devastated and retreated to Elena's room to drown in her sorrows, leaving her alone to think of the worst.

     Erin blasted music through a pair of headphones and tried to keep her mind occupied with a book, but it didn't help in the slightest. Eventually, her exhaustion won and she passed out for the night. Maybe when she woke, there would be some news as to what happened.

     But when the sun rose, Erin still heard nothing. That was, until she emerged from her shower and heard voices in the hallway.

     Erin hurried to get dressed and ripped open the bathroom door to see Stefan step out of Jeremy's bedroom with a downcast expression. And when his gaze met hers, it fell even further.

     "Hey, finally. Can no one pick up a phone?" Erin exclaimed as she strode toward him. She paused when his solemn features registered. "What's going on? What happened?"

     Stefan released a long breath and pointed toward her open bedroom door. "Come on. I'll explain everything," he stated.

     Erin's brows furrowed, but she allowed him to usher her inside. When they were a reasonable distance into her room, she whirled to him and asked, "okay? What is it? You're starting to freak me out."

     Stefan sighed heavily and said, "Damon's still on the island. He's looking for Bonnie."

     Erin's confusion deepened. "Looking for her? Where is she?"

     "When we made it to the cave where the cure was supposed to be, we couldn't find her," Stefan explained. "She was gone, and the cavern was empty. If there was anything in there at all, it's all gone."

     Erin scoffed. Great. After everything they had gone through over the last few months, they had nothing to show for it. No cure, and now Bonnie was missing.

     But before Erin could comment on that fact, she noticed a flicker of something flash across Stefan's face. There was something he didn't say. Something worse than what already took place.

     "What else, Stefan?" Erin questioned as a heavy feeling began to pool in her gut.

     Stefan seemed to swallow, before he began in a slow  and calm manner, "it seems that Katherine was following us when we made it to the island. She somehow reached the cave first, and when she did - Jeremy was already inside."

    Erin's stomach started to roll. Stefan wasn't about to say what she thought he was. Was he? No. No, it wasn't possible. It wasn't.

     Her heart pounded harshly against her chest as she met his hollow gaze. Erin didn't want to hear anymore. She couldn't. But she had to.

     "By the time I got there, Elena was already inside and Jeremy," Stefan paused and shook his head. "There wasn't anything we could do."

     Erin's stomach dropped so hard and bile rose into her throat. Her chest began to rise and fall faster and faster as tears burned behind her eyes. "What're you saying?" she hissed out.

     But she knew.

     Stefan gave her a saddened look and said, "Jeremy's dead, Erin. He died."

     Erin couldn't move. She couldn't breathe. It was as if all of the life had been leached from her body. She felt as if she were floating, no longer tethered to the floor beneath her barefeet. A cold wave had washed over her, and felt as though she were drowning.

     The next few moments were a blur. Erin shoved Stefan aside and raced out of her room. She darted across the hallway, skidding to a halt inside Jeremy's bedroom.

     The dark blue walls were the same as they had been days prior when she forced her brother to wake up for his early shift at The Grill. The various posters and sketches drawn by Jeremy were still tacked into place, hovering over his dresser and desk that lined the soave fit for a teenage boy. But somehow, the space seemed duller, colder than it ever had.

     And when Erin's eyes fell to the bed, the remaining life within her vanished without a trace.

     Elena sat beside the bed with her hand grasping their brother's. No, what used to be their brother's. Erin could tell from a glance that the body laid across the navy blue sheets was no longer the boy they loved. His skin had faded to a dull grey and his chest failed to shift with a breath. Even when he died in the place, his face held a pinkish hue. Now, there wasn't a speck of color to be found.

     At her presence, Elena turned and looked her way. "Erin, no, it's okay. He's gonna wake up," she exclaimed as she released Jeremy's hand from where she perched on the side of the bed. "He was wearing his ring. It's just - taking longer. It always does after a few times."

     Erin didn't believe her. How could she? Jeremy was a member of the Brotherhood of the Five. He was considered supernatural, just like Elena had been when she was a human doppelgänger. The Gilbert ring wouldn't work on him. Not anymore.

     Erin couldn't take it. She couldn't be in there any longer. She couldn't take the hopeful look on her sister's face, the greyish pallor of her brother's skin, or the room that held Jeremy's entire life. A life he wouldn't get the chance to live again.

     Without a second glance, Erin spun on her heel and ran for her room. She slammed the door closed behind her, flipping the lock into place as she turned and leaned against the white surface. A shrill buzz erupted in her ears while she remained planted against the door. Even when a knock sounded, she stayed standing in case someone tried to break their way inside.

     But after a while when Stefan's voice faded and then Caroline's after she attempted to coax her out, Erin didn't move. She remained frozen in place as time ticked on. And as tears filled her eyes, falling down her cheeks in hot streams, did she finally fall onto the floor. Her back still against the door when her chest seized and jagged sobs racked her body.

     Jeremy was gone. He was dead, and Erin didn't know if she would ever be able to live again.

__________

     At the announcement of Bonnie's safe return, Erin didn't know how long she sat on her bedroom floor. Her body had grown cold and felt as though it weighed a thousand pounds. She found it difficult to move, to breathe.

     In all honesty, Erin didn't even want to move at all. But when Elena stood outside and said Bonnie found a way to bring Jeremy back, she forced herself to get up and hear the girl out. Bonnie had managed to bring their brother back from the dead once before. Maybe she could do it again.

     Erin claimed a seat at the kitchen table with Elena, Bonnie, Caroline, and Matt. So far into the explanation, the hope for Jeremy's resurrection began to dwindle faster than hope surfaced.

     Bonnie began to explain what she would have to do to bring Jeremy back. It all started with Silas. Apparently, Professor Shane had begun a ritual known as the Expression Triangle. A shape that would be made by three separate sacrifices. Massacres of twelve people. Two of them had already taken place. The Young farm and Klaus's hybrids.

     The next step required Bonnie to harness the power of the sacrifices to lower the veil between their world and the Other Side. The supernatural purgatory had been created by Qetsiyah, meaning only a descendant of hers could destroy it. And Bonnie just so happened to be one. Once it was gone, every creature on the Other Side would have the ability to walk freely as if they were alive again.

     "Bonnie, you're talking like a crazy person. You're not killing twelve people. And you sure as hell can't invite every monster who had ever died back into the world," Caroline nearly shouted across the table toward the witch.

     "Caroline, I think she knows that," Matt added from her side.

     Bonnie's stern expression never faltered. "I can do it. I have the power. We can bring everyone back. Jeremy, Alaric, Vicki."

     "Bonnie, stop it," Caroline shot back. "You can't just say these things."

     "It's gonna be fine."

     Erin hadn't said a word the entire conversation. What was there to say? Bonnie couldn't possibly think taking down the Other Side and letting every supernatural creature who had ever died roam free was a good idea. And as much as she loved Jeremy, she couldn't let her do it. He wouldn't have wanted her to.

     The house phone rang, causing Erin to jump. She sighed heavily, drawing in a deep breath as she leaned back in her chair.

     "I'll get it," Elena stated, pushing back from the table to stand.

     Erin noticed her sister's hopeful demeanor fade during Bonnie's explanation. She was slowly coming to the realization that nothing could be done. They would have to deal with the fact that their brother was dead and he wasn't coming back. Not this time.

     "Elena, I'll get it," Matt offered and moved to stand, but Elena cut him off.

     "I said, 'I'll get it.'"

     Elena snatched up the phone and answered, holding it to her ear. Erin couldn't hear who spoke on the other end, but she knew it wasn't good by the way her sister tensed.

     "Jeremy can't come to the phone right now. He's not," Elena paused, before her expression fell slack. "I'm sorry. He's dead." She ended the call and slammed the phone onto the counter.

     Erin sighed, resting her head on the back of her chair as Elena stormed out of the room. She closed her eyes, ignoring Caroline as she told Bonnie and Matt that they should head out for the night.

     The room lapsed into silence until Caroline's voice sounded closeby. "Erin, do you want me to get you some tea?" she asked in a timid tone, almost as if she were afraid to scare her away.

     Erin's eyes opened and she leaned up to see Caroline near the table with Stefan. She sighed, shaking her head. "No, I just - I don't know," she muttered out.

     When steps were heard on the staircase, Erin looked to see Elena stride into the room with tears streaming down her cheeks.

     "Where's Bonnie?" Elena questioned as she entered the kitchen.

     Stefan turned to her and said, "we told Matt to take her home. We thought it'd be best."

     Elena sniffed. "Okay, I guess we're gonna have to do this the old fashioned way."

     Erin's brows furrowed toward her sister. "Do what?"

     Elena didn't answer her and turned to where Damon entered the living room with Jeremy's body in his arms. "Put his body on the couch," she told him and then moved to plunder through the cabinets.

     "Elena?" Caroline called out to her. "Elena, you need help finding something?"

     Elena leaned down and pulled open a bottom cabinet, raising up with a bottle of lighter fluid in her hand. "Got it." She turned it upside down and squirted the contents across the counter.

     Erin shot up from her chair with wide eyes. "Elena, what're you doing?" she shouted as her sister continued to spray the lighter fluid over the kitchen and trial it into the living room.

     "We need a cover story, right?" Elena voiced, glancing between Stefan and Caroline. "You think I didn't hear you guys talking earlier? Well, what're we gonna say - animal attack? Tumbled down the stairs? No. We burn the house down with him inside it."

     Burn the house down? Elena had completely lost her mind. They couldn't burn down their house. The plane where they lived with their parents. Where Jenna came to look after them after they died. Where Alaric stayed with them when they were all left alone in the world. Where Jeremy had lived and grown within its walls.

     "Elena, stop it," Stefan snapped back, but Elena simply stared at him with watery eyes.

     "Why? Because you want me to not be in denial? You want me to face the truth? This is the truth, Stefan. I don't wanna live here anymore. I don't want these sketches." Elena sprayed the lighter fluid across Jeremy's sketchbook splayed across the coffee table. "I don't want this Xbox." She turned and kicked at the gaming console on the floor, causing Erin to flinch. Elena poured the remainder of the fluid onto it and then tossed the bottle aside. She moved for a nearby cabinet and grabbed a bottle of bourbon. "Not gonna need this bourbon anymore. Alaric's not here to drink it. I mean, unless you guys are willing to bring back every supernatural creature on the Other Side to get him back." Her stare fell to Damon as she walked toward him.. "Would you? I know you want your drinking buddy back. Would you, Damon? Because I wouldn't." Elena shook her head and stormed over to Jeremy, pouring the bourbon onto his body. "I don't know. I mean, does that make me a bad person? I - I have no idea." She reached down and slid the Gilbert ring from Jeremy's finger, throwing it toward Damon. He caught it. "He's not gonna need that anymore."

     "Elena, stop it. You're scaring me!" Caroline yelled toward her.

     Erin didn't know how she felt as her sister moved through their home and rambled on, dousing the place in lighter fluid and their dead guardian's old liquor. Because as much as she didn't want to admit it, Elena was right. They couldn't risk bringing back every supernatural creature who resided in the Other Side just to bring back Jeremy, maybe even Alaric.

     And without them, their home wasn't their home anymore. It was just a house where they slept. A place that held too many memories. Everywhere they looked was a reminder of someone they lost. Someone who died. Their entire family gone.

     Erin and Elena were the only ones left.

     Elena snatched a picture frame off the fireplace mantle and poured bourbon onto it. "What else are we supposed to do with the body, Caroline? I mean, there's no - there's no more room in the Gilbert family plot." She smashed the glass frame across the wall and did the same with the bourbon bottle. The glass and liquor covered the floor. "Jenna and John took the last spots." She grabbed a match for the fireplace and struck it on the mantle. A flame flared as she turned with it in hand.

     Stefan stepped forward to stop her. "No, no, Elena, stop."

     "There's nothing here for us anymore, Stefan!" Elena shouted, before her gaze fell to Erin. "Every inch of this house is filled with memories of the people that we love that have died. Our mom, our dad, Jeremy," she glanced toward their brother's body, "and Jenna. Alaric. John, even John!" She ran a hand over her hair as more and more tears fell.

     Erin's own tears pooled, rolling down her cheeks as she watched her sister crumble before her eyes. She didn't know what to do. What could she do? Her soul had felt like it had been torn from her body and released to the wind. What could she possibly say to help her sister when she couldn't even help herself?

     "I mean, they're all dead. Everyone is dead!" Elena shouted, shaking her head. "So what're we supposed to - I mean, how're we gonna - I can't even - there's nothing left for us - ahh!" She yelped, dropping the match as it burned her hand.

     Damon sped forward and caught it before the flame could hit the lighter fluid that coated the floor. He looked at her and said lowly, "Elena, I need you to calm down."

     Elena continued to shake her head and cried, "no, no, no, I can't! I can't!" She dropped to the floor on her knees, gasping as sobs seized her chest. She grabbed at her head as more tears dripped off her chin. "No, it hurts. It hurts. Just make it stop. Please, make it stop! It hurts."

     Erin couldn't watch any longer. She turned away and raised a hand to her mouth, trying to stop her own sobs from escaping. She knew the unimaginable pain that consumed Elena, tearing at her chest and gripping her heart so tight she thought it might burst.

     But even then, Erin knew it paled in comparison to what a vampire could feel. Everything was magnified. Grief wasn't just grief. It was agony. She wanted to help Elena. She wanted to help ease her pain, but she couldn't. She didn't know how.

     "Damon, help her," Stefan told his brother.

     Erin couldn't see him, but she heard Damon  speak softly to Elena as she continued to cry loudly.

     "I can help you. I want you to let me help you," Damon said, causing her sobs to lessen. "I can help you."

     "How?" Elena choked out.

     "Turn it off."

     Erin whirled back around and stared at him with wide eyes. "What? Damon, no!" she exclaimed.

     Damon couldn't actually mean for Elena to turn off her humanity. To shut off any and all emotion. Everything that made her who she was. Without it, Elena wouldn't be Elena. She would be someone else, something else.

     Erin would essentially lose Jeremy and Elena in one fell swoop.

     Damon raised a hand to her, but he kept his attention on Elena. "Just turn it off, and everything will go away," he told her as he cupped her face. "That's what you have to do. It's what I want you to do. Just - turn it off."

     With the sire-bond invoked, Elena didn't truly have a choice to ignore Damon's wish. Erin looked on in horror as her sister's expression slacked. All emotion slid from her features when the switch inside her flipped. Her humanity left, as did the last semblance of family Erin had left.

__________

     A suitcase sat open across Erin's bed filled to the brim with clothes and other items she wished to keep. Two more sat on the floor beside her, bursting at the seams with everything she could think to bring with her to the Boarding House. To her new home.

     Erin hadn't wanted to follow through with Elena's proposed plan of a cover story. That a fire had broken out and killed Jeremy while they were away. But with her brother dead and her sister for all intents and purposes gone, she had no reason to stay. The house stood more as a memorial for the dead than it did for the living anymore. It needed to be put to rest.

     As Erin placed the last bit of her wanted belongings in the suitcase, Stefan entered her room. He and Damon stayed behind to make sure everything went according to plan, and to look after her and Elena. She might not have been able to voice it, but she appreciated them more than words could describe.

     "I'm almost done," Erin stated, pulling the zipper around to seal the suitcase closed. She grabbed it by the handle and held it at her side, turning to face the vampire.

     Stefan moved to grab the other suitcases, having done the same with Elena's things Erin packed earlier. Even if her sister didn't care for her belongings, the real Elena did and Erin wouldn't let her down.

     "You don't have to do this," Stefan reminded her for what seemed like the hundredth time. "We can find another cover story."

     Erin knew that they could, but she already made up her mind. "Maybe, but this one means no one's gonna ask questions."

     Stefan sighed. "Look, if you and Elena burn down the house, it'll be gone. What if one day when you're not so consumed with grief and Elena's humanity comes back, you want to come home again?"

     It was a valid question, but Erin couldn't think about that right then. The future was too far away. She didn't want to deal with it. She didn't want to deal with anything.

     Erin met his concerned gaze and shook her head. "I don't think I will," she said flatly, before she stepped around him and exited her bedroom for the last time.

     They ignored Elena and Damon in the living room and headed outside, placing her bags onto the back of her car. Alaric's car. When the back hatch closed, Stefan turned and went back inside. Erin let him go, climbing into the driver's seat. She stayed for a long moment, staring toward her house until flames began to flicker inside the front windows.

     With a deep breath, Erin twisted the ignition and shifted the car into drive. She slowly pulled away from the Gilbert home as every memory that remained inside burned until it was all reduced to ashes.

<June 13, 2022>

Elena went through the most shit in TVD and people dare call her a crybaby. Like, I couldn't even imagine going to through half the things she did. I would've broken long before she did.

And now I'm making Erin go through it. I seriously torture my OCs too much.

Don't forget to vote and comment.

- Jordan

P.S. Unedited chapter.