BLOODLINE
xxxi. alaric

FEW CLOTHES WERE placed inside the unzipped duffel bag placed atop Erin's bedspread. After all, she wouldn't need many. An outfit or two, possibly even less with how she would wear pajamas day and night if the opportunity presented itself. And it certainly would.

     The rest of the duffel held items to keep Erin occupied. Her laptop, a few books, homework she needed to complete, and new wifi router. The one at the lake house needed to be replaced, and she wasn't about to spend the the rest of the week there without internet.

     Erin came to the decision for her impromptu trip shortly after she learned of what happened with Bonnie's mother. When Bonnie made her way back to the woman's home, she arrived to find her nowhere to be found. Caroline, who had stayed behind with the newly turned vampire, relayed that Abby left. Again.

     Bonnie was devastated, being forced to deal with her mother abandoning her for the second time in her life. Erin wanted to comfort her in some way, but she knew it was still too fresh to even mention Abby, let alone help her process the woman's disappearing act. Bonnie needed her space, and so did she.

     A few days at the lake house would do Erin some good. At least, she hoped.

     When her bedroom door opened later that morning, Erin moved around her room to collect some last minute things. Her phone and its charge bring two of them. She left it plugged up beside her bed as she packed, ignoring the various texts and calls that chimed through the past hour.

     "Where have you been?" Elena exclaimed as she strode into the room without so much as a knock. They never really did when it came to each other. "I called you, like - five times."

     Erin sighed, reaching out to grab her phone from her comforter. Sure enough, Elena has called. So did Caroline, and Stefan. But that was to be expected. Damon had warned her the night before.

     "Yeah, sorry. I was busy," Erin replied, shoving her phone into the back pocket of her jeans.

     "Busy with what?" Elena questioned until her gaze fell to the duffel bag on the bed. "What're you doing?"

     Erin turned to face her sister and said, "I'm going to the lake house for a few days."

     Elena blinked in response. "What? You can't. Not right now. I have to tell you what happened. Damon and Stefan found some..."

     "White Oak, I know," Erin interjected, finishing the sentence for her.

     Right before she planned to turn in for the night, Erin received a phone call from Damon. He explained that he discovered a White Oak tree had survived over the last thousand years. The only thing in the world that could kill an Original. He somehow managed to get his hands on enough of it to create about a dozen stakes, more than plenty to kill the Mikaelsons twice over.

     Damon also not-so subtly suggested that Erin take a break for a little while. She didn't need much convincing after that.

     Elena's brows furrowed. "Then you know why you can't leave. We can end this. Klaus will be dead, and Jeremy can come home."

     "And you guys will be perfectly capable of doing it without me," Erin stated, which only deepened her sister's confusion. She pressed her lips together and shook her head. "I can't do this, Elena. I'm not - it's not right."

     Elena stepped toward her and asked, "what're you talking about? Klaus has terrorized us for months. He killed Jenna, he forced Stefan to turn off his humanity, he took our blood to make hybrids. He needs to be stopped."

     "I'm not saying he doesn't," Erin countered and met her sister's narrowed stare. "But the way everyone's going about it..." she trailed off and turned back to her duffel to pull the zipper closed. "I can't be here when it goes down, okay?"

     Elena remained silent for a long moment, before she said, "I get it, you know? Elijah doesn't deserve this, but if it's the only way to kill Klaus..."

     "Yeah, I know." Erin grabbed the long strap of her bag and slipped it onto her shoulder. With a deep breath, she moved from her bed to look at her sister. "I just - I need a break. And, I can't do that here. Please, tell me you understand that?"

     Erin didn't particularly need Elena's approval or even a shred of understanding, but she wanted it. Her sister had always been the one person who got her since the day they were born. The one person she could count on for anything.

     And despite the chaos of the supernatural world, that relationship still stood. Erin and Elena were each other's halves, and they couldn't lose that.

     Elena released a short breath. "Yeah, Erin, I get it. Probably more than you think I do," she told her with a light smile.

     Erin gave her a small smile of her own and headed for her bedroom door. "I'll be back Friday for the Decade Dance. God knows Caroline will drag me here by my hair if I don't," she quipped.

     Elena chuckled a bit and shrugged. "You're not wrong."

     A beat of silence passed between them until Erin decided to break it. "Just - be careful, okay?"

     Elena's smile remained as she nodded. "Yeah, I will."

     And with that, Erin strode through the open doorway to leave their home. If only for a little while.

__________

     Time away from the supernaturally driven town of Mystic Falls included the physical aspect of distance and nothing more. It would've been too much for everyone in Erin's life to withhold contact for a few days. Not that she despised it. Occasional phone calls were fine, especially when they kept her in the loop.

     The day she left for the lake house, Erin learned that Finn Mikaelson had waltzed back into town. He was spotted in Town Square with an old girlfriend, a nine hundred year old vampire named Sage. His sighting gave Erin's friends the perfect opportunity to take out the Originals once and for all.

     And they did, at least when it came to Finn. They managed to corner him and stake him with one of their White Oak stakes, causing his body to burst into flames and kill him within seconds.

     But in a shocking turn of events, Klaus and his remaining siblings were still alive. Bonnie had been threatened into helping sever the link between them, saving their lives mere moments before Finn lost his.

     Erin wished she could say the entire ordeal came as a surprise. But in truth, she learned that the Original Family were experts in cheating death. Every plot against them would ultimately fail, and they would just have to live with that.

     And as long as Klaus didn't try to murder anyone else or steal Elena's blood for more hybrids, Erin really didn't care if he lived or died.

     Not that they had much of a choice, seeing as how the death of an Original led every vampire they turned and so on died along with them. If they killed Klaus, there was a one and four chance Erin's friends would follow him soon after.

     Sadly, Erin's reprieve from the craziness came to an end. She packed up her things and headed back toward Mystic Falls, ready to partake in another Decade Dance. And if the last ones were anything to go by, they were all in for one hell of a night.

     The entirety of the gym had been decked out for the festivities. Instead of the original theme that surrounded the seventies. Rebekah commandeered the preparations and set them on the course for the twenties. Erin would never say a word to Caroline, but the switch was for the better. They already did the seventies back in freshman year, and it wasn't her favorite.

     "So, Alaric is trying to pull himself together. Why is that a bad thing?" Caroline questioned, striding across the gym with a clipboard held in her hand.

     Over the last few days, Alaric's alter-ego had made things a little difficult to say the least. He hid the last remaining White Oak, the others were given to Klaus in exchange for Damon who had been taken by Rebekah and tortured, and he refused to tell them where it was. When he eventually did, Rebekah went with him to collect the weapon and subsequently rid the world of White Oak.

     Elena sighed, following her toward one of the many tables placed around the gym. "I just - I wish there was something we could do," she stated.

     Erin's gaze fell to a metal chandelier set atop the flat surface. Fake crystals hung from the curved candle holders, which were electricity driven and they certainly looked like it. Her nose scrunched as she reached out to pick it up. "Uh, what is this?"

     Caroline turned to her, mirroring Erin's disgusted expression as she took it from her hand. "You know what, if Rebekah wanted to hang this monstrosity, she should've shown up to do it herself." She stopped someone who walked passed and handed it off to them. "Just, no." Her attention shifted across the gym, and she called out, "what're you doing? You can't just hang them! They're supposed to trickle down."

     Erin chuckled lightly when she noticed Matt and Jeremy stood on a ladder, hanging metallic colored stars from the ceiling. The sight of her brother smiling and joking around as he helped decorate for the dance made her happier than she had been in weeks.

     When Elena brought up the prospect of going to get Jeremy, Erin was a little worried. After all, Klaus made it clear that he knew exactly where their brother stayed. They didn't know if someone waited in the shadows, ready to swoop in and stop them.

     Because while they wanted to bring Jeremy home, they also needed his abilities to see ghosts. They wanted to contact Rose and ask who turned her, trying to discover which Original they descended from. A failed endeavor, but one that revealed Kol to be right under Jeremy's nose and he didn't even know.

     "Look at them all bromancy," Caroline voiced, watching Matt playfully slap Jeremy on the arm. They laughed.

     "Yeah, we asked Matt to help Jeremy readjust," Elena said, removing more candle holders from a box in the table. "He got him his old job back at The Grill."

     Caroline's expression faltered the tiniest bit as she glanced back toward Matt. "That was nice of him."

     Erin busied herself with a box of twenties accessories available for anyone to use for their costumes. "All this stuff with Ric has got him really stressed out. Hopefully, it'll get his mind off of it," she stated.

      Caroline turned back to them and quipped, "you sure it has nothing to do with witnessing Elena and Damon getting hot and heavy in a skeevy hotel?"

     Erin looked up from the box and snorted, noticing her sister's cheeks turn pink as she produced a slight grin of embarrassment.

     If someone were to ask Erin a year ago about the prospect of Elena developing feelings for Damon, she would've laughed straight to their face. It seemed impossible. Elena was so in love with Stefan that the mere thought never crossed her mind. But like all things in their life, they could never count anything truly out.

     Elena shook her head, but the pink tinge of her cheeks remained. "I didn't tell you that so you could torture me with it."

     Caroline grinned in response. "Aww, what're friends for?"

     "Well, as your sister," Erin spoke and pulled out a black feather boa in her hands, "I reserve the right to torture you whenever I want." She gave her sister a teasing smile.

     Elena scoffed with her own smile present as she snatched the boa from Erin's hands.

     "So, who are you guys bringing to the dance?" Caroline questioned, glancing between them with a stack of napkins in her arms.

     "What did you mean? I thought you, Erin, Bonnie, and I were going as girl dates?" Elena replied, lifting the feather boa up to wrap around her neck.

     "Bonnie has a date."

     Erin snapped to her with a quirked brow. "Really?"

     Caroline nodded. "Jamie called and wanted to see her, so she asked him."

     Right, Abby Bennett's somewhat adopted son.

     Elena hummed, removing the boa to drop back into the plastic box.

     "So, here's a thought. Why don't you ask Stefan?" Caroline supplied, causing Elena to look at her with wide eyes.

     "I can't ask him on a date. I just made out with his brother," Elena hissed lowly.

     "All the more reason," Caroline said and set the napoleons on her hands down onto the table. "Look, you're supposed to be figuring out what you want, That's what Stefan wanted you to do, right?"

     "Yes, but..."

     "But nothing," Caroline cut Elena off. "I've watched The Bachelor, okay? Fair is fair. It's Stefan's turn."

     Elena gave her a flat look. "Yeah, and you're not biased or anything."

     "I'm sorry, but Stefan is your epic love, and I'm not going down without a fight," Caroline shot back.

     In all honesty, Erin didn't care who Elena ended up with. It was her choice and hers alone. If her sister wanted to rekindle her relationship with Stefan, she would accept it. As long as he treated her right and ended his crusade against Klaus, she wouldn't mind the levelheaded and kind Stefan back in their lives.

     And if Elena wanted to try being with Damon, Erin didn't have any objections. He already did everything to protect and care for her sister, and she knew that would only grow stronger if they were to get together.

     Ultimately, it was Elena's decision, and no one, other than Damon and Stefan, had a say in who she chose.

     Erin cleared her throat, shifting the conversation away from her sister's complicated love life. "Well, I don't have a date," she voiced and looked toward Caroline. "You wanna go to the dance with me?"

     Caroline smiled brightly. "I would love to."

__________

     An upbeat toon played throughout the gym, prompting those in attendance to try their best at the popular dance moves of the Roaring Twenties. Streamers and metallic stars and a glass disco-ball hung from the ceiling, covering every inch of the open room. If the Dance Committee was good at one thing, it had to be putting their heart and soul into the decorations.

     Erin plundered through the Salvatore storage to find a suitable outfit that fell into the decade. She chose a blue sleeveless flapper dress with fringe that stopped at her knee and swished with every step. Elena helped pin her long hair up to resemble a short style and placed blue feathers around her headpiece. Erin did the same for her in return.

     The court turned dancefloor held dozens of their classmates, bopping and jiving to the older song. Erin stood beside the refreshments table, sipping on a small cup of pinch surprisingly not mixed with alcohol. "Is it bad that I'm actually disappointed no one decided to spike the punch bowl?" she voiced loud enough to be heard over the music.

     Matt chuckled, pouring a bucket of ice into the bin of sealed beverages. Water bottles, juice, and other drinks of that nature. "Give it half an hour, and it'll be more vodka than punch," he replied.

     Erin smiled and nodded in agreement. "Probably for the best that I miss that. My track record with Decade Dances sucks."

     The last thing Erin wanted was to get drunk. She needed to anticipate the worst, because the worst always tended to happen.

     Matt's lips pursed, and he glanced away from the ice and said, "yeah, you should probably stay away from the punch after this."

     Erik snorted and took another sip of the tart drink.

     Right then, Caroline skipped over to them. "Have I told you how amazingly awesome you are?" she quipped with her stare on Matt.

     "Yeah, I'm one of the good ones. I know," Matt retorted, setting the empty ice bucket down to grin toward her. "Why the compliments? What else do you want?"

     Caroline's expression took a more serious appearance. "I know that you and Elena have been getting closer lately..."

     "And your point is?" Matt countered.

     Caroline sighed, shooting Erin a quick glance, before her attention returned to him. "One way or the other, she's pretty much spoken for."

     Matt gave her a placid look. "Elena is my friend, Caroline. I'm just looking out for her. Looking out for Erin," he stated and gestured in Erin's direction.

     "And I'm just looking out for you," Caroline countered. "Because sometimes the people who love her get caught in the crossfire."

     Erin paused when the statement registered. Did all of their friends have that mentality? That loving her sister put them in danger? And if so, did that mean her as well? Were she and Elena destined to bring harm to everyone in their lives simply by being associated with them?

     Her train of thought derailed when Matt and Caroline snapped to a spot across the gym. Erin followed their eye-lines to where Tyler Lockwood strode into the dance, greeting people with high-fives and smiles. She thought he had gone back into hiding.

     When he lost control and almost killed Caroline's dad, Tyler left to regain what power he could over his mind. To shift into a wolf until it no longer hurt, until the sire-bond between him and Klaus was broken. And it worked, which meant he needed to keep that a secret. He couldn't do that out in the open where Klaus could see him.

     Caroline's eyes widened and she stormed over to him. They spoke for a few moments, before Tyler lifted her into his arms and carried her off onto the dancefloor.

     Erin remained beside Matt and released a long breath. "And there goes my date," she voiced, watching their friends disappear through the mass of their classmates.

     "Well, I'm also date-less," Matt replied and moved away from the table. He then stopped, turning back to her with his hand extended. "Wanna dance?"

     Erin smiled brightly and set her punch down, before she gripped his hand with her own and allowed him to pull her into the crowd.

__________

     Four minutes. Erin and Matt didn't last more than four minutes on the dancefloor before Damon appeared and whisked her away. She hoped whatever he intended to say wasn't horrible. That whatever it was wouldn't cause their world to come crashing down.

     If only luck had been on their side.

     Erin's heart shattered when Damon pulled her, Elena, and Stefan out into the vacant halls of the school. Where he relayed the devastating news that Alaric wasn't Alaric anymore. That his dark alter-ego had taken over, forgoing the herbs Bonnie said would help preserve his mind. That the man they knew was gone.

     "If Alaric is sick, then we need to find a cure," Elena exclaimed when Damon finished telling them of his discovery. "Something."

     "We tried medicine. We tried magic," Damon replied.

     "Why don't we get him off vervain - compel him?" Stefan offered up as an option.

     Damon's brows creased. "What? To pretend to be Alaric? The guy that we know is gone. We're talking about someone who not only hates vampires, but vampire sympathizers. Which makes two of his most obvious targets, I don't know, the both of you!" He pointed between Erin and Elena.

     Stefan blinked, shifting his stare from them to his brother. "What, you think he'll go after them?"

     "So, wait," Elena spoke and set her gaze on Damon. "What're you suggesting we do?"

     "I'm suggesting we put him out of his misery."

     Erin's eyes widened and her stomach dropped. "What? No!" They were not going to kill Alaric. Not when he could still be saved.

     "No," Jeremy nearly shouted as he strode up behind them in the hallway. "No way in hell."

     "Oh, come on. It's what he would want," Damon countered in response. "It's a mercy killing."

     Jeremy scoffed. "You're out of your mind."

     Elena sighed and looked at him. "Jeremy..."

     Jeremy simply held up a hand to cut her off, before he turned abruptly and stomped away from them.

     Erin gave Damon a sharp glare, before she spun on her heel and hurried after her brother. Her footsteps clicked loudly throughout the halls, but she didn't care as she followed Jeremy out the front entrance of the school. "Jer! Jeremy, wait!" she called out to him.

     "Jer, stop!" Elena yelled as she ran up beside them.

     Jeremy whirled toward them and exclaimed, "this is Alaric we're talking about. You know, he looked out for us, and we need to do the same for him."

     "And we will," Erin stressed, meeting his furrowed stare. "No one's gonna touch him."

     Jeremy moved to leave, but Elena rushed forward and grabbed ahold of his arm to pull him to a stop. "Hey. Hey, look at me." He huffed, lowering his eyes to hers. "I promise."

     "Elena."

     Erin snapped to where the accented voice originated. Her heart nearly seized when she spotted the blonde woman standing before them. Esther.

     There had been no sign of the Original Witch since her failed ritual to kill her children. Erin hoped that she fled to some far off country to die a lonely death, but she knew they would never be that lucky. Each member of the Mikaelson family was relentless, and Esther seemed to be the worst offender. At least, aside from Klaus.

     "If you wish to help your friend, Alaric, I suggest you come with me," Esther relayed with her sole attention on Elena.

     Erin swallowed, reaching out to set a hand in her brother's arm. "Jer, go inside and get Damon and Stefan." When he didn't move, she shoved at him. "Jer, now!"

     Jeremy kicked off the concrete sidewalk and raced back into the school.

     Esther kept her stare on Elena and said, "I mean you no harm. But willingly or not, you will come."

     Erin scoffed, drawing the woman's eyes her way. "She's not going anywhere with you," she hissed.

     "Rest assured, Erin. Your sister will be perfectly safe," Esther stated in a calm manner, but her underlying tone insinuated that anything but. "You have my word."

     Erin scowled. "Your word means nothing to me."

     "Erin, it's okay," Elena interjected as she turned to face her. "Tell Stefan and Damon what happened." Her expression was pointed and stern.

     Elena didn't want Erin to provoke Esther. Alaric's life hung in the balance. One wrong move and the witch killed him, possibly even worse.

     Erin took a deep breath, forcing herself to remain silent. She nodded stiffly, having to physically keep her feet planted as she watched her sister walk away with Esther.

     Erin should've ran after them. She should've gone with them, but she was not about to risk Elena or Alaric to do so. They would find them. They always would. She just hoped they weren't too late when they did.

__________

     Esther had been one step ahead of them. Before she approached Elena and whisked her away, the witch encircled the entire school in a spelled salt ring. A barrier spell that prevented them from stepping foot outside of it. Her assurance that no one could follow her to stop whatever she had planned.

     Once Bonnie was brought up to speed on the situation, she got to work on trying to break through the spell. So far, she was unsuccessful.

     Erin stood beside one of the many tables in the cafeteria, watching Bonnie chant over a handful of lit candles. Away from prying eyes and ears of their classmates. They didn't need to deal with eavesdroppers on top of everything else.

     "She does this all the time, right?" Jamie, Bonnie's date and Abby's surrogate son, questioned as he observed the sight.

     Erin couldn't be bothered to answer. Bonnie needed to concentrate on the barrier spell so they could find Elena. There was no way to know how much time they had before Esther accomplished her goal.

     "What's taking so long?" Klaus voiced in an inpatient manner. "All boundary spells have a loophole."

     Erin rolled her eyes. Why was he even there in the first place? She suspected stalking Caroline, again.

     Right then, the double doors of the room were shoved open and Matt rushed inside. "People are walking right out of the dance past the barrier," he declared.

     "Matt and I can leave," Jeremy exclaimed to them all. "We can stop Esther ourselves. We just gotta find out where she is."

     Erin's eyes widened as she snapped to her brother. "Are you crazy? No way! You'll get yourselves killed!"

     In the next instance, Klaus sped across the room to snatch a hold of Jamie's throat. He lifted the boy slightly off his feet, causing him to struggle for a breath. "Getting killed would be disappointing to me," he taunted and set his gaze on Bonnie. "Now, work your magic, witch, or I'll start killing people you fancy."

     Bonnie glared heatedly toward the hybrid. "Let him go."

     "Not until you get us out of here," Klaus shot back, tightening his grip on Jaime's neck. The boy gasped, trying to pry his hands away. Klaus didn't budge.

     "Ah, don't be stupid, Klaus," Stefan called out, moving forward to stop beside the hybrid. "Bonnie doesn't give a damn about us. The only reason she's helping us right now is to save Caroline and Tyler. You start killing the people she cares about, she'll tell us all to go to hell."

     Erin stared toward them, practically able to see the debate inside Klaus's mind. An interesting collision of thoughts, she imagined. He held firm to Jamie's neck for a few more moments, before he harshly let the boy go to gasp for air.

__________

     The next part of their impromptu plan involved a change of scenery. Bonnie needed a map of Mystic Falls to perform a locator spell on Elena, which would in turn find Esther. And the one place they could find such a thing on short notice was Alaric's classroom.

     Erin hated the plan. Hated it so much her chest burned, but she didn't have much of a choice. Someone needed to reach Elena, and no one of the supernatural species could leave. Jeremy and Matt were the only ones who could get to her.

     Obviously Erin too, but that option had been squashed by almost everyone in attendance.

     When Bonnie spread the chosen map across Alaric's desk, Erin took one of the knives hidden in the closet and sliced into her finger. She hissed, wincing as her skin split and blood bubbled to the surface.

     "You're already getting to the twin blood donation, I see," Damon voiced as he strode back into the room, having gifted Jeremy and Matt the weapons Alaric kept in case of emergencies.

     Erin guessed the current situation counted.

     Bonnie looked up from the map, eyes narrowed as the vampire grew closer. "I have to do this with you two lurking over me," she retorted, glancing to where Klaus entered the room and leaned against the wall.

     Damon sighed. "You're still mad at me for what happened to Abby. Let me apologize. I'm sorry Elijah forced us to turn your mother into a vampire to save Erin's life. Didn't exactly have a choice."

     Erin tensed, keeping her attention on the new wound on her finger, as she set the knife down into the desk. While she might've accepted that her part in what happened to Bonnie's mother wasn't her fault, she still felt horrible.

     A part of that came from the fact Erin neglected to tell anyone about her agreement with Elijah. Damon thought it would be best to keep the information between them, and she believed the same. It wasn't like everyone needed to know she voluntarily let herself become a hostage. The outcome wouldn't have changed. That was clear to her now more than ever.

     "There's always a choice," Bonnie countered, facing him head on. "Whenever you make one, someone else suffers."

     "Let's cut the dramatics and begin, shall we?" Klaus interjected, moving across the room to stop beside the desk.

     Erin sighed. "Hate to say I agree, but this hurts," she spoke and held out her bleeding finger for them all to see.

     Bonnie turned to Erin and gently took her hand, flipping it over for the blood to drip onto the map. When enough accumulated, Erin pulled back and grabbed a tissue to press onto the wound.

     "Phasmatos tribum nas ex veras, sequita saguines, ementas asten mihan ega petous," Bonnie chanted, forcing the small puddle of blood to form a tighter circle and shift slightly. Her expression scrunched when it failed to move any further. "Esther's fighting me."

     Klaus leaned onto the desk and said, "Esther couldn't possibly have this much power. Unless she's channeling something."

     "A hotspot," Bonnie supplied.

     That must've registered something in his mind, because Klaus raised up and exclaimed, "get the humans ready. I know where she is."

__________

     And know Klaus did. But unfortunately, they were too late.

     Elena explained what happened after Esther stole her away from the Decade Dance when they arrived at the Mystic Falls Cemetery. The witch wanted to turn Alaric into a vampire, an Original strong enough to kill each and every one of her children. To do so, she needed Elena's blood and the remaining White Oak stake stolen from Klaus.

     The spell ended up being successful, at least in part. Esther had Alaric's alter-ego drink Elena's blood and drove the White Oak stake into his heart. So when he wike and eventually turned, he would become a bloodthirsty, psychopathic killer with the abilities of an Original vampire.

     But that could only happen if he completed the transition.

     Erin pressed her lips together tightly as her throat burned. She didn't want to cry. Not now. She couldn't. Alaric needed her to be strong, and she wasn't going to let him down.

     "Damon's here," Jeremy voiced as he entered the open gate of the Salvatore crypt. Where Esther performed her spell mere minutes earlier. "And Klaus took Esther's body."

     At least one good thing came out of the night. They would never have to deal with Esther again.

     "Does he know about the stake?" Alaric asked in return.

     So much information spun within Erin's head that the new indestructible White Oak stake neglected to cross her radar. She supposed they didn't have to worry about the fate of the Gilbert ring either, seeing as how it had been molded to the weapon to aid in its upgraded form.

     Jeremy shook his head. "No, only that she tried to turn you into a weapon and failed."

     Erin's gaze lowered to the floor of the crypt. She couldn't look her brother in the eye and tell him the truth. Her heart would tear in two, much faster than it already began to do.

     Jeremy must've noticed and questioned, "what's going on?"

     "Listen, Jeremy," Alaric spoke, meeting the boy's gaze as he sniffed. "I'm not gonna complete the transition. My dark side was dangerous enough as a human. I can't be a vampire."

     Jeremy's brows furrowed. "So, what? We're just gonna lock you in here and let you die?" No one said a word. That was answer enough. "No. No, we can't!"

     "Listen, Jeremy, it's the right thing to do, okay?" Alaric stated from where he leaned against the crypt wall. "After everything that's happened, after all that I've done, maybe I had it coming."

     Jeremy whirled around and made a move to leave.

     "Hey, Jer, stop," Erin called out, staring forward to grab him until he halted at the threshold. With a long breath, she turned back to Alaric. "Don't say that, Ric. This - this wasn't your fault."

     Alaric's lips pursed for a moment, before he glanced between them and said, "please, you guys, let's not make this any harder than it already is. You guys should go. Damon's here. He'll make sure it'll all go down the right way."

     Jeremy nodded stiffly and turned to go until Alaric forced him to stop. "Don't. Don't give me some crap speech about how I need to be the man of the house."

     Alaric pushed off the wall to approach him. "Okay. I won't." He reached out and wrapped his arms around Jeremy, squeezing him tightly as the boy did the same.

     When they let go, Jeremy quickly spun on his heel and stormed out of the crypt.

     Erin blinked furiously to keep her tears at bay, but they began to spill from her eyes and down her cheeks. She didn't want to do this. She didn't want to lose someone else she loved.

     "This is all my fault," Elena said as she fought her own tears. A losing battle. "You moved out, you gave Erin your ring back, you didn't want any part of this, and we - I forced you to stay and take care of us."

     "Don't do that, okay?" Alaric replied, moving toward them with a light smile on his lips. "Taking care of you girls and Jeremy has been - has been the closest I've ever come to the life I always wanted."

     Tears fell from Elena's eyes as wrapped her arms around Alaric. They held each other for what seemed like a lifetime, before they separated.

     Erin didn't give Alaric a second of freedom and barreled into his arms, holding him as if the sheer force of her will would drive Esther spell away. That their Alaric could live to see another day.

     "We love you, too, you know?" Erin muttered as she pressed her cheek into his shoulder.

     Alaric's grip on her tightened.

     All too soon, they were forced to let one another go. Alaric sniffed and looked between them. "You guys should go."

     And that time, neither one of them argued. Erin headed for the open gate of the crypt with Elena, knowing that Alaric was right behind them. Ready to seal the tomb up tight and let his life end.

     But when they hit the cold night air, Erin paused at the sight before them. Every one of their friends had ventured out to the cemetery, standing between the gravestones to see Alaric for one last time. Stefan and Damon,  Caroline and Tyler, Matt, Bonnie, Jeremy, and Meredith Fell. All of them there for the man who helped them in one way or another since he entered their lives.

     Erin sucked in a large breath and made her way toward Jeremy. She stood at his side, ignoring the cold wind that nipped at her exposed arms and legs. Her stare fell to Alaric, who stood at the entrance of the Salvatore crypt and took the sight of them in.

     Jeremy wrapped an arm around Erin's shoulders as they remained still, saying a final goodbye to the stranger who became their family.

     Alaric gave them all one more glance, before he turned back into the crypt and pulled the gate closed behind him.

<April 30, 2022>

Writing that last scene and watching it at the same time was an all new form of soul-crushing hell.

Two more chapters left of Season 3 and then we're off to Season 4. You know, speaking of hell...

Don't forget to vote and comment.

- Jordan

P.S. Unedited chapter.