THESE VIOLENT DESIRES

Chapter twenty-three | Another small death

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KALLIOPE'S LOVE KNEW NO BOUNDS. As she and Elijah pulled up to the Old Witch House, Kalliope was set on a mission. She wanted to save the girl who was to die far too young. There was some guilt within her. If it hadn't been for Kalli, maybe the doppelganger wouldn't have been found.

Maybe Jenna wouldn't have to lose her niece and Jeremy his cousin.

Kalli thought there was something she could do. Instead of waiting around for remedies to appear, she would force fate's hand to do her will. By whatever means necessary.

"I believe Bonnie is inside," Kalli sighed.

Glancing at Elijah, she noticed the perturbed expression marring his features. And it was not because reading Elijah was incredibly obvious. However, Kalliope had found where to look when accessing him. The tightness of his lips. The stiffness in his posture. The veining in his large hands. How he fiddles with his cufflinks or buttons.

The Genie raised her hand to place over his own. She felt a sudden sting first in her fingertips and then journeying up her arm. It was brash and all-consuming, leaving an after-effect of warmth and numbness. Elijah's brown eyes met hers with intense understanding. Both of them were to be making sacrifice plays today.

She stared into his eyes, grounding herself in the reality of their situation. Their cause. "Whatever it is you may choose tonight... as long as it's from your heart, I will understand it," Kalli spoke the words low, slow, and tenderly, as if afraid if said any louder would be punishable by death.

Elijah released a heavy breath through his nose. A resounding hum accompanied the sound. It drew goose flesh all over her body. She was drowning in his sighs, seeking no sign of rescue."Niklaus does not make it easy, you of few people know first hand..."

Elijah rubbed at his chin in earnest, as if his stubble hand had begun to grow. He glanced at their hands on the center console, taking in the sting, taking in the warmth. Her palm was so much smaller than his yet so very soft and comforting. His eyebrows furrowed, previous reservations working to shield his heart from such sentiments. The battle between heart and mind chipped away at him until his thumb raised to caress the back of her hand in slow sweeps.

"But he has my family," Elijah swallowed. "And I will not abandon them, not again."

He let go of her hand then as if his reservations only granted him a brief lapse in judgment. A clench in his jaw as he worked his teeth.

Kalliope watched the internal fight within him with a wariness. Never mind that her heart fluttered at the caress of his thumb or that her breath was stolen with every baritone whisper he allowed her to hear. Fear crippled her now more than ever and none of it had to do with potentially sacrificing everything to save Elena.

Clearing her throat, Kalli averted her gaze to the Old Witches House through the window shield. "Even still, Klaus however horrid, is your family as well. The world can be so cruel to make you choose between them. And although I have never faced such a feat, I do hope you know that in whatever you decide, there is someone who understands."

Elijah's lips parted and for the first time, he had nothing to say. Instead, he grasped Kalliope's wrist slowly, as if giving her any chance to slip it out of his grasp. They held eye contact as he silently brought it up to his lips. Kalli's breath was stolen and his lips rested there. She wasn't sure when she started breathing again or if she ever did. However, the beat or two in which his warm, firm lips descended upon the sensitive skin of her outer wrist felt like eons.

"I thank you for your kindness," He spoke over her skin and the wisps of his words brushed over her in kind.

Another lapse in his perfectly subdued persona.

"I suppose it is what friends are for," Kalliope spoke with her cheeks warmed to a rosy hue.

"Oh how far we've come," He echoed, straightening in his seat with his walls effortlessly intact. "Come, we must converse with the witches if we are to find an alternative."

Shaking herself out of the daze, she unconsciously agreed. Her skin was hot until she opened the car door and breathed in the fresh air. Kalli's sense returned to her as well as her determination.

The pair walked into the house together. It was dark, shrouded in sheets, and smelled deeply of death. The floorboards creaked with every step she took. A hallow hum resounding through the walls. Kalliope felt that wherever she stood was holy ground. The mystical energy of a hundred witches dying in one place licked at her veins, testing her, getting to know her. She felt their gaze in kind but it was nothing less of onimous.

"Bonnie, are you here?" Kalli called out as they stopped at some descending stairs. "It's... Kalliope and Elijah."

The sound of footfalls met her ears as she strained. The eerie silence of the house helped attune her senses. The first person she saw was Jeremy as he went up the stairs. He eyed Elijah warily but met Kalliope with a sure nod. "Uh, Bonnie wasn't expecting you guys to be here so early. Did something happen?"

Kalli's lips downturned at the memory of Elena weeping with blood dripping from her lips. "Elena has been forced to ingest vampire blood, rendering Elijah's elixir useless..." Kalli sighed as she squeezed her own hand. "We are here hoping I can prove myself useful. Connect with the ancestors for a solution."

"Where is that prick?" Jeremy gripped in agitation, fists clenching.

"Most likely sulking," Elijah added knowingly, adjusting his suit jacket.

Bonnie appeared behind Jeremy on the steps, peering around him as she took Kalliope in. The Genie felt a shift in the house and a sudden press on her back like she was being ushered forward. Bonnie seemed to sense it too because she locked eyes on Kalli and beckoned her further. "I don't know what they have in mind but come on, we can take all the help we can get."

"How much do you know about magic, Bonnie?" Kalli questioned as she and Elijah were led down the rickety stairs.

"My Nan Shelia taught me most of what I know but the rest has been pure self-study." Bonnie looked unsure, glancing at Jeremy as they made their way into a room surrounded by candles.

In the middle sat a makeshift tarp made of newspapers. Drops of melted wax puddled on the floor as Kalliope walked in the circle of a circle drawn with a red marker. She eyed it with a shaky breath, biting her lip. "Do you know anything about channeling?"

Bonnie perked at that, nodding in agreement. "Yes, uh- Luka showed me how to do that. I just need a talisman of sorts." The witch briefly watched Elijah as she mentioned the Martin witches they betrayed. An indifferent expression marred his face but Kalli saw a frown in the middle of his forehead.

"Not necessarily... you can use a body as well." Kalliope brushed a hand through her lengthy brown tresses, her shoulders heavy despite picking them up to feign confidence. "We're going to use mine."

Bonnie furrowed her brow, looking apprehensive. "Kalli, I don't - I don't know what that will do to you."

"I cannot be killed as long as Jenna has her wish," The Genie argued.

"But it will hurt you, won't it?" Jeremy worried, padding closer. He was like her own little brother, it was sweet. Kalli smiled but it didn't meet her eyes.

She wrung her hands together before taking off her jacket and exposing her arms. She then took off her shoes, allowing the pads of her feet to chill against the cement ground. "The gravity of this is not lost to me. I've endured far worse than you can imagine. Don't worry about me, you can do this Bonnie."

They all shared silent looks before Bonnie released a consoling breath, nodding to herself. "Alright, let's make space for her. Kalli, I need a little bit of your blood."

The Genie agreed, offering Bonnie her wrist immediately. The young witch was handed a pocket knife from Jeremy. Bonnie flicked it open and the room swirled with enough mystical energy to bring back the dead. Kalliope held Elijah's eye contact as Bonnie made the slice. Only a small wince was seen from her before she and Bonnie kneeled in the circle.

The flames burned brighter around them as Bonnie rubbed her fingertips in the Genie's blood. The droplets of red mingled against both palms, before Bonnie grasped her wrist once more. "Who are we contacting?" Bonnie inquired, tightening her grip on the Genie.

Releasing a shaky breath, Kalliope shuddered. "The witch who made me like this. Surely there must be an alternative to death or maybe my wishes. If I could be made into a Genie or Katherine a vampire there's something we're not aware of."

The room rumbled at Kalliope's train of thought. The very foundations of the room trembled as Elijah and Jeremy looked on with varying levels of concern. A wind suddenly surrounded them. Strands of their hair lifted as Bonnie held on tighter. "What was the name," The Bennett witch called out louder so Kalli could hear her over the roar of power.

Kalliope thought back to her very first memories of a woman who raised her. Her blatant disdain for Kalliope, then Florence, was not lost on her. Even as a child, she felt the burning rage beneath the surface. A dislike that would never allow the woman to be a true nurturing mother to her.

The Genie's lips parted, a pain resurfacing as a prick of tears slipped from one eye. "Qetsiyah..."

As if a thousand screams had suddenly unleashed, Kalliope leaned away from the electrifying torment that struck her veins and constricted her heart in an iron grip. Bonnie screamed as she fought to hold onto Kalli. Such power she had never felt before consumed her senses. Her hands grew clammy but she persisted, muttering under her breath the ancient spells.

"Bonnie! What's happening!?" Jeremy shouted as the girls shrieked in pain. He looked around for a solution in the room only to find Elijah at odds with himself. He stopped the younger boy with a steady palm, averting his eyes from the violent contorting of such a constant joy.

"There is nothing we can do but to let the moment pass on its own," Elijah unhelpfully warned.

Suddenly, blood began to pour from Kalliope's eyes. Her gasps became deeper, agonized, and sorrowful. Delicate lines of red slipped down her cheeks and dipped into the cold cement, mingling with the melted wax, creating something... new.

"It's too strong, it won't let me in. Something or someone is blocking me," Bonnie gritted her teeth, pressing forward as her posture righted itself.

Kalliope fought her own demons. The pain was excruciating but she trudged onward. She fought the back arching posture she was currently holding. Clenching her fingers together she thought of the people she was fighting for and the love they were trying to keep. Stefan and his innocent, epic love for Elena. Jenna and her pain-stricken grief, desperately trying to protect what was left of her family. Jeremy and his last ties to normalcy... Even Damon and his denial of truly being content with something good. She wouldn't let others control what she wanted or who she wanted to love anymore.

She wouldn't let others control her ever again.

If she wanted to weep for a man who never truly knew what love was to give it away so frivolously, then so be it. If she thought a young girl with the face of her enemy deserved another chance at life, then who was anyone to get in her way? If she was infatuated with a man who had once been her warden, who were others to tell her otherwise? Kalliope was taking what was hers. Her emotions. Her feelings. Her power.

She possessed the ability to give wishes or take them. She had the world in the palm of her hand and who was anyone to tell her if she would not let it burn? Who would stop the cinders? Who would blow out the flame?

All of these things festered in her chest and she channeled all her energy into that, into the love she had for others. It was the power that had been stolen by countless, greedy thieves.

A sob wracked her frame as the flames of a candle ignited unnaturally high before extinguishing altogether. "I-I have it," Bonnie shouted.

In the next second, Kalliope was released from the leash of mysticism and fell backward in a heap. Something broke within her. Kalli would say it was metaphorical but she physically felt it in her chest. An incredibly heavy weight cracked open over her diaphragm. When she took her next inhale, the world seemed to spin and her body was suddenly on fire. Kalli convulsed, alarming those around her. The only thing behind her closed eyes was a flash of the woman she had known to call Ahma and a golden glint of something hauntingly familiar.

In the disquiet, her limp body was lifted before she began to sway. The repetitive motion driving her into the depths of unconsciousness.

...

When Kalliope awoke, she was placed on a bench in the upstairs of the Old Witch House. Her head ached powerfully as she raised her palm, clutching at her hair with a sigh. "You're awake," Elijah spoke in a low voice, drawing her further into consciousness.

"Roughly," Kalli shuddered. She delicately touched her face and found it wiped clean of its violent red streams. Her brown almond eyes finally fluttered open to view Elijah beside her. She felt... different, brand new even. Her limbs were heavy from strain but otherwise, she felt a lightness she couldn't remember feeling her entire existence.

She took a moment to take him in fully. He sat rod straight, one leg artfully placed over the other. His soulful brown eyes had darkened with the day. A dark shadow over his face that forcefully sent a shiver down her spine. He appeared absolutely unhinged. Suit ruffled. A button was undone on his undershirt.

Her gaze softened at the sight, a small smile curling the corner of her supple cheek. The ache in her skull did not wane but only strengthened as she focused on Elijah. "Did I worry you?"

Elijah didn't find humor in her question because he stood abruptly and physically fought the urge to pace the room. "You were reckless," He murmured harshly in reprimand.

Kalliope slowly sat up, swaying slightly, brushing her wild hair away from her rounded face. She shrugged, wincing at the soreness of contorting. "So I was," She threw back nonchalantly.

"Are you mocking me? Laughing at me?" He arched a singular brow, lips downturned in a glare. His expression had emoted the most in this moment than she'd ever seen. The anger was clear in his clipped tone as he loomed over her like an irate parent.

Kalli broke her blank stare, lips flattening as she giggled. "I wouldn't dare Mr. Mikealson."

"Florence," He resounded and the baritone in which he spoke vibrated around the room in an echo. The smile slipped from her face as she quietly observed him. Finally, she took his reaction seriously. His pocket hanky tainted with her blood stains stood out more than anything else.

Standing to her feet, Florence -because she couldn't imagine being called anything other than that after he spoke it so boisterously - padded towards him. Her eyes implored him behind full lashes, slicing through his center. Her skull blarred at the sight of him, starting behind her eye and spreading. The effects of being channeled she supposed.

Her gentle hand lightly fiddled with his pocket hanky. The stains made the once-cream fabric a new maroon. She bit her bottom lip, leaving it there as she peered up at him and his stifled, disquiet anger.

"Just as you will battle your brother at the helm, so will I by any means necessary. When people need my help I don't turn my back on them... no matter how deep your duty of care is for me."

"Even in this new century, you are still as vigilant as the last." He spoke the words in equal irritation and admiration, ticking his jaw.

"You'd think a nobleman such as yourself would see my actions as honorable."

"I do," He breathed in exasperation, stealing her frame of thought. "But this duty of care you speak of is-"

"-all-consuming," She finished, swallowing. "Its frightening, admittedly."

Elijah laughed, truly laughed and the sound caught her completely off guard. She couldn't help but grin with her entire face, dimples appearing and all. How could a man take the reigns of her attention so quickly from a recent heartbreak? Flore was never known for falling quickly or being swept up in such a short span between lovers. It truly frightened her how keen she was in his presence. And yet, here she was, feeling her stomach drop at the sight of such a refined man smiling down at her.

"Exactly that," He responded on a sigh. Something in the depths of her chest fluttered at the admission. That he, such a being of great significance who barely showed any outward attachment, felt the same as she did.

Maybe it was because he only showed it to her that it felt so intimate, so uniquely special. She wanted to bottle it.

"This was found where you laid earlier." Elijah reached inside his suit pocket and procured a golden dagger. It was crooked in nature. The stem held waves to the very end and the handle was slim.

Flore grasped the dagger at the hilt and was almost instantly mentally transported to a time she hadn't thought about in centuries. The dagger, whose point she tested against her finger, was the last seen raised above her in an attempt on her life. Simply remembering that far made her head split terribly.

She sighed, giving up on it momentarily as the memory wiped away.

Nevertheless, Florence knew the blade was now hers. The weight was effortless in her hand, fitting temptingly. She was awed at its treacherous nature and the blood she suddenly craved to draw with it was unexplainable.

"Is it yours?" Elijah inquired, leaning over to see it as it reflected candlelight.

Flore twirled it this way and that, growing in fluidity. "I believe it is. At least, I believe it should be."

Torn from her stupor, Alaric rushed into the Old Witch House to see his friend awake and moving. Relief washed over his face but a tiredness rested on his shoulders. "Kalli, I'm glad you're okay. We were all worried about you."

Alaric's words drew a smile to her lips. Being cared after wasn't necessarily new since meeting Jenna but she didn't think she'd ever get used to it from others. However, as she took a moment to observe Ric's expression, the smile waned. "What's happened?" Flore spoke slowly, concerned.

Alaric glanced over her shoulder to Elijah before meeting her eyes. "Damon screwed up."

"Yes, tell me something new, Alaric."

"No, no. I mean, not what he did earlier... He saved Caroline and Tyler from the tomb. Meaning Klaus doesn't have anyone to sacrifice in the ritual."

"Niklaus won't take kindly to that. He will likely have an alternative," Elijah revealed, clenching his fist around air, wishing it held a certain genie's for once.

"Alternative... W-Wait, where's Jenna?" It was at this moment that Flore realized that she couldn't feel her tether to Jenna anymore. She clutched at her chest for an invisible object. That intricate thread that held them together had snapped and only the hollow lack remained. "No, no! What happened? Where is she!?"

"Florence," Elijah consoles, subtly reaching for her.

"No," She exclaimed in panic. "I need to find her. Wherever Klaus is, Jenna must be too."

Flore walked out to the Old Witch House with much effort. Her head blarring as the men tried to stop her. Just then, Stefan breeched the tree line, looking worse for wear than usual. Flore furrowed her brow, lower lip wobbling in anticipation.

"He took Elena," Stefan spoke in a ghostly way. His eyes full of despair as he confessed to his closest friend.

Flore, momentarily distracted from her quest, rushed up to him despite her pain and wrapped her arms around him in an embrace meant to be consoling. Stefan buried his face in her hair, inhaling the calming scent of something familiar. She rubbed her hand up and down his face, squeezing him with the entirety of her compassion. "All will be well, Steffy. I'll fix everything, I will."

"You cannot promise that," Elijah informed.

The Brunette turned to him over Stefan's shoulder and glared. "With everything in me, I will try."

"What are our next steps?" Stefan sighed as he parted from the Genie.

"The sacrifice is completed in stages as the full moon sets. First the werewolf is killed, then the vampire. Finally the doppelgänger. Once Elena dies, the curse will be broken. Klaus will become hybrid." Elijah finally peeled his gaze away from the Genie, addressing Stefan and Alaric.

Alaric parted his lips, "So when do we attack?"

"Elena's death will activate his dormant werewolf side. He'll be vulnerable during the transformation. That's when Bonnie comes in." Florence frowned at Elijah's words, averting her eyes.

"Are we sure Bonnie will survive this?" Stefam broached. He wasn't going to let another one of his friends die for this Hybrid.

"I will help her, she won't be alone." Florence added committedly, crossing her arms over her chest. She was antsy. She hadn't heard any news of Jenna since she awoken and she had a sinking feeling everything was going to shit.

"If Bonnie can deliver him to the brink of death, I'll finish the job myself." Elijah contridicted her, jaw clenched as he met her fiery brown eyes in reprimand. He didn't want her anywhere near his bloodthirsty brother and the fact that she was so adament on this matter induced sheer terror within him. Such fear he hadn't felt in a very long time.

To break the tension between the two ancient beings, Stefan's cell rung. He walked away a few steps to answer it, leaving Elijah, Alaric and Florence in the clearing. Sensing a charge in the air, Ric met eyes with Flore and decided to leave them to speak alone.

As soon as he was out of ear shot, the Genie drew closer to Elijah with furrowed brows. "You cannot stop me Elijah, no matter how hard you try. We both have our purposes here."

Elijah subtly stretched his neck muscles like this very conversation was inducing enough stress to lock up his mobility. His large hand raised in between them as if to convey his concern through hand gestures. "Niklaus will not pity anyone that stands in the way of breaking the curse. You will be a martyr for an unworthy cause."

"By who's standards? 'Lijah, we had an understanding... we are the same." Florence stared between his smoldering brown eyes for reassurance. Her volume lowered to a whisper, a secret between the two floating in the wind. "I will help them by any means -"

"Florence," He interrupted and she sent him a look, grasping the hand that wasn't swallowed by his pant pocket.

"By any means," She repeated to get her point across. "And you, you will find your siblings and finally get to exist with them. Free of worry or strain. This is how it is meant to be. There are things that are given, things that are wished for, and then there are things we must fight for. I hope you will be on my side when the white flag is raised."

Florence arched a convincing, inquisitive brow. He was not happy with her resolve but her words remedied some of the turmoil within him. Flore spoke in coupled phrases filled with sentiment. Elijah didn't know to be wary of such a relation or to follow his heart into her arms. He squeezed her hand, bringing it briefly to his warm lips, jaw clenching before resigning to her wills.

She shivered at the contrast between the cold night and his kiss. Cheeks heating before she lowered her hand as Stefan returned from his phone call. This was the second time his lips had descended upon her flesh in a manner that was anything but platonic. Everything simmered to life within. She would have been in a daze from such a sudden touch hadn't the expression the younger Salvatore's face been so disconcerning.

"Klaus... He has Jenna."

It was then that Florence felt her world shift unnaturally on its axis. Her fears once imaginative now realized. The hollow ache within suddenly made sense. Her friend... her friend... her only friend was gone.

...

Florence left with Stefan for Steven's Quarry where the sacrifice was taking place. Elijah didn't dare deny her mission after the horroring expression on the Genie's face. As Bonnie spelled Jeremy and Alaric in the Old Witch House to prevent them from going on a suicide mission, Flore vowed to have Stefan's back. At the very least, those with powers and strength to defend themselves against Klaus made more sense than a very human vampire hunter.

The Genie was in a state of perpetual madness as they trekked through the brush. Branches swiped at her supple face and clothes, yet she was numb to the slices. Her determination anchored on getting to Jenna or, to her ample denial, her corpse.

The clearing came into view and Florence could see the pillars of flame circling the three chosen sacrifices from the hill. The wind picked up from their spot, whipping Flore's hair wildly around her head. With her eyes squinted, she could see Klaus approaching a female figure within a fiery ring. Her heart skipped a beat with hope that it was Jenna. That she still had time to stop this.

Stefan spun on the Genie, gripping her forearm. "Go and I'll distract Klaus." She wanted to argue with him, lips posed with irrate words, but she stopped just before. There wasn't time for such fights. So, in exasperation, sadness shiny in her almond shaped eyes, she nodded.

"I do love you, Stefan." She murmured, reaching down to squeeze his hand the best she could with such a size difference. "Truly."

Stefan smiled a bittersweet little thing, squeezing her hand back. "And I you, Kalli."

Swallowing, the Genie gathered as much will power to leave him there, her friend, her brother. A heaviness settling in her chest as she disappeared in the darkness of the trees, trying to find a closer way to get to Jenna.

It was on her journey around the Quarry that she heard Stefan call out to Klaus. Her heart clenched as she fought tears yet her feet did not dare stop. She pushed through the brush below the hill and was so close to the sacrifice, she could feel the heat of the fiery dividers.

Flore waited until Greta was preoccupied with the spell, her head turned to focus on Stefan and Klaus above the hill. Choosing to steal this very risky moment, Florence neared Jenna's circle with measured steps. The Ginger could hear her coming before she got a foot away. Her sensitive ears picking up the rustle of tall grass in the pitch black night.

"Ren," Jenna whispered first. Flore jumped as Jenna spun on her, wide eyes taking in the Genie she thought she'd never see again. A watery, tearful smile wrangled its way on the Ginger's lips. Sweat covered her brow. Purple shadows colored her under eyes. A pale sheen coated every expose patch of skin the moon illuminated. Florence felt her heart drop into her gut. She knew this look, had seen it before. The foe of her great existence was ever present in her dearest friend.

Jenna was in transition. Her friend had died. The invisible string had been broken in two and Kalli had not been there like she promised.

A wave of guilt and shame shrouded her shoulders like a cloak, dragging her head down as tears slipped down her ashen cheeks. "Oh, my Jenna. My Jenna I'm sorry."

"D-don't cry for me, Ren. There was nothing you could have done." The two friends stared at each other, separated by flames and Flore knew it was a white lie. A lie to ease her conscience but it was unsuccessful. Nothing could erase her guilt.

"I should have been there," The Genie voiced in anguish. Hot rain droplets began to fall from the sky, coating them in water yet the flames never diminished. "I let you down and I-"

Jenna shushed the Genie with a wobbly pucker of her lips. "I... before he took me, I made my wish." Flore's eyes widened, frown deepening. The Ginger raised her hand nearly touching the barrier only to feel its heat. A wistful last hope she could touch her friend before time was up. "I really thought about it. For me, well... It's just a small death, we'll see each other again. But for you... oh, Ren you deserve so much better than you were dealt."

Florence shook her head, tresses soaked through and sticky against her face. Denial panged against her mind and her headache returned with a vengeance as if echoing Jenna's words in real time. Something she felt the moment she awoke but had unconsciously ignored for hope that it didn't mean what she feared had happened. Jenna cried, nose sniffling as she fought to get the words out. "No, you do. Don't fight me, please. You deserve so much more... So I gave it to you. Kalliope Florence Debonair, my Genie, you are free. And I wish you everything that has been stolen from you - every hearts desire. Because you're my best friend and I want to see you smiling on the other side, where ever I am."

Florence sobbed to herself, catching the attention of those around her. She slumped to the wet grass behind her, face borrowing into her shaking hands. Her breath sputtering as she fought to understand how someone could do this for her. How someone could sacrifice their one chance to escape.

Every wish had a catch. Flore was free but at cost: She would have no one to experience it with.

"Jenna," Elena made herself known, overhearing the confession. The Gilbert felt heartbreak. Knowing her aunt had given up her chance to live for a immortal Genie who had lived over a thousand lifetimes. "H-how could you?"

"Elena, I've made my decision. I can't and I won't take it back." Jenna nodded to herself, wiping her face as she sat in turmoil.

Nodding, Elena sniffled and turned to where Stefan and Klaus were conversing. She couldn't very well do anything about Jenna's decision and being cross with the Genie wouldn't do anything but make the Ginger upset. So she focused on something she could try to help. Keeping Stefan from making his own sacrifice in Jenna's place.

Greta, Klaus and Stefan returned to the circle not much later. When Greta spotted the Genie near the sacrifice, she hissed, raising her hand to enact an aneurysm but Klaus stopped her short. His eyes taking in the crying women crowded around with a smirk on his lips.

"Well, well quite the predicament. You know, it's funny, all this talk about preserving family, and here's Stefan, granting your wish. Sort of familiar, wouldn't you say Genie?"

"You cannot kill her Klaus, we had a deal. You gave me your word." Flore snapped back, ignoring his quips.

"See, I thought about it. Maybe I don't want you around anymore, seeing as you're powerless now. Bit useless." He grinned, pulling out a stake from his pocket and playfully pointing between the two vampires in false indecision. "Well, whose it gonna be, Elena?"

"W-what?" Elena stuttered, face red, throat sore from screaming. "No."

"Oh, don't worry. There's actually no choice." Klaus vamp-sped to Stefan, shoving the stake into his back, breaking of the wood to keep him pinned. Stefan shouted in pain, bowing low to the ground as Florence lunged for the Hybrid.

In her hasty attack, she pulled out her golden dagger, intent on drawing blood from the Hybrid. Florence stabbed into Klaus's thigh from her vantage point, elicting a shout of pain as the incision sizzled, boiling his flowing blood. She then jerked it out before twisting on her heel, catching Klaus' chin to the top of his cheek in a jagged line. Said line steamed as it burned, causing them to stagger away from each other a few paces. Fierce fire crackled in Flore's brown eyes that could not be reviled but as she went to attack him once more, she was shoved across the field with a 'Motus that knocked the air from her lungs.

Her body slid against the muddy terrain. A fury built within that had reached new heights. Flore raised to her feet, still feeling the invisible pressure from Greta's magic pushing her stance backward. Her boots slid against the ground but Flore felt a bubbling power within as she resisted. Her magic remained but she didn't have time to dwell on it. Her teeth grit as she screamed in frustration.

During their power struggle, Klaus chuckled in false hilarity, wiping at his face as it tried to heal. If one looked long enough, they'd see him wince as he touched the cut, the blackness of his eyes all consuming. "Seems you still have some fight in you yet. Never mind, I have other plans for your boyfriend. I want him alive... for now. As for you... Genie. I may have an idea. Greta?"

The witch struggled, breaking out in a sweat as Flore pushed back, brows furrowed. "Greta, handle it." Klaus reprimanded. In her desperation, Greta abruptly released the pressure and in the absence of it, Florence stumbled in the rain and mud. It was only when she got her wits back that she was knocked out from the back of her head by the Hybrid. His backhand sharp as Florence hit the ground in a slump. All those who cared for her cried out aghast.

Their friend, a Genie no longer.

The last sight Florence caught was the fire around Jenna disappearing and her friend succumbing to the wills of a bloodthirsty hybrid.

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Unedited. 01 Dec 2024

This took everything from me, fyi. Yes, I killed Jenna but I have a purpose! Kalli/Flore has never had anybody sacrifice themselves for her except her husband all those years ago. This is big, this is intent, this is a changing point for our Genie.

She is now free but what does that mean!?

Hope you enjoyed! Xx

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