A/N Another long chapter for you all. This one was originally something completely different and this chapter is actually what I originally intended to be the introduction to the main chapter but it was about 1700 words to long XD Enjoy the chapter!

A year later and Elena was sixteen and there was no reason for the ritual not to take place. The moonstone had been stolen from Damon's soap dish by Klaus himself when they had gone over to their living space, some hovel on the edge of the town. Klaus had been surprised by the lack of grandeur but didn't mention it- he was glad to see them living poorly, miserably even. The brothers were stuck with each other after all.

Elena had grown albeit not much. She was still shorter than Klaus but that didn't stop her from opposing order on the household. She had grown into herself and was confident in who she was. She hadn't regretted her decision to go through the ritual and as Klaus drew further away, Elijah grew closer to the girl. The searched extensively for a cure but, so far, had come up with nothing.

It was clear the Klaus was jealous of the pair but he never made a move to change the situation. Klaus had his tantrums but he also had his sulks. It was surprising that even after a thousand years, a man could still act like a toddler.

Elena still had school but she worked around her schedule and had even gone so far as to invite Chloe and Nicole to her house to make sure she wasn't only working. The two girls had loved the house and despite being timid of the three adults, they soon grew close too. Rebekah was in love with Nicole as they shared an enjoyment in fashion and makeup- Nicole would learn a lot from Rebekah. And it was clear the Chloe had peaked Elijah's interest when she had loved sport. She surely didn't look like it. She was short with a thin frame and wasn't exactly packed with muscle yet you could say she was the best at many of the school sports. Elijah was curious as to how her body managed to even do it and there was nothing that could deter Elijah from his course if he wanted to know something, no matter how mundane. Elena, as her friends talked to the now teenage-like adults, went to Klaus who was looking down at them on the balcony.

'This is Klaus!' She had called out, just to draw attention to Klaus- to annoy him.

'Really, Elena. You need to stop.' Elijah had sighed, quietly but the whole room heard.

'I did nothing wrong!' She had replied, calling for Nicole and Chloe to follow her to her room.

A day later and the house was quiet and preparations for the ritual were in place. Elijah had a phial that could save Elena but the chances were slim and they were still searching for a cure, thinking that the phial was almost no better than having nothing.

Klaus had remained in the shadows of the whole scenario. He was pulling away from Elena and everyone was letting it happen, knowing there was a very high chance that Elena could die. Although, Rebekah and Elijah were, if anything, becoming closer to Elena to compensate that.

Rebekah had begun helping them search for a cure and despite Klaus' distance, he did give his input on specific occasions.

'It's the full moon tonight.' Elijah sighed, cleaning his fists that rested on the table. Elena turned to him, the room empty apart for the two of them, and gave him a curious look. 'That means the ritual must happen tonight.' Elena's head turned sharply back to the phial on the table.

'Is this my only hope?' She asked, her body shaking slightly in fear. Elijah nodded solemnly and said nothing more.

'We have everything else for the ritual. The vampire and werewolf, per your request, are even willing. Although, I hardly see how that's any better.' Elena shrugged the comment off and left the room, her body still shaking.

She ended up in the basement where the two 'willing' creatures waited. It was clear why they were willing at first sight. The two girls were different in many ways. One, the vampire, was tall in slim with short blonde hair- she looked formal yet something set her away from the rest. I was the fact that her eyes had no colour. She was a vampire but she had been turned after being born blind and even vampirism hadn't solved it. The girl, Jemima, had lived an eternity of blindness and she had finally found something that she could die for. She could die for someone else's gain- despite that person being a cruel monster. She was desperate, now, and had told herself it was okay to do this.

The other girl, on the other hand, was short, her chestnut hair still falling to her waist in gentle waves. There was no doubt that she was a werewolf from her flickering eyes...and the large scratch across her mouth that forbid her from speaking. The girl, Megan, was in the same boat as Jemima and the girls may have been two different species but they had gotten along well together in the short period of time they had been there.

Megan was buzzing at this rate. She was an excitable person and although she was afraid to end her life tonight, she still had a smile on her face- she was just that type of optimistic person. Elena could see her back when she had speech blathering on about this and that her everyone listened just to hear the excitement in her voice.

Once again, Jemima was different. Jemima wasn't afraid and she was calm. It made sense, Megan was most likely in her early twenties and Jemima was most like in her two hundred and twenties. Elena couldn't understand how Megan was willing to do this at such a young age but she had learnt later that Megan held hope of being born again and although she didn't believe in it herself, she was glad to see someone in the household with some beliefs- it gave her hope too.

'Hi!' Elena smiled weakly and joined the two girls in the oddly luxurious room for one in the basement. Both Jemima and Megan were under house arrest by Klaus' request- he did not want anyone leaving- but so was Elena and the rest of the household so it made no difference in the long run. 'How are you doing?' Elena's smiled turned dark as she saw the glimmer of hope in Megan's eyes fade. They both looked scared but Jemima had done well to keep her façade of calm on her face. Jemima wasn't afraid of death but no one could not be afraid of pain. It was every species instinct to avoid pain. Pain can only be described as pain yet there is something so unnaturally terrifying at the thought that every single soul on this earth is scared of not. It only shows that pain is as powerful as any other feeling.

'We're okay.' Jemima said. It looked as though Megan wanted to talk but the stitches holding her skin in place stopped her. They ran right through the middle of her lips and the most she could do was smile and no more. Sometimes, she even failed to do that for the pain it caused her. That is probably what had caused her to enter this. As said before, pain is stronger and although the thought of not speaking for the rest of your life is scary, it doesn't drive someone to sacrifice them self. But, the pain caused by just trying to laugh, to talk or even to smile explains it all.

'That's good.' The conversation ended there, none of them having much to say but, Elena gave them a few words of hope before they went. She couldn't leave them with nothing: 'Don't give up hope. Elijah and I are trying to make it so no one dies...even if you want to.' Elena sighed and walked out of the room, leaving an awkward tension.

The spiral staircase dizzied her already muddled mind and by the time she had reached the parlour, she wanted to hurl. 'The sun will be setting soon, get some rest.' Elijah ordered, walking up to him, one hand tucked away in his pocket. Elena nodded weakly and made it up the next flight of stairs before her vision began to blur and her mind spin. 'Elijah.' She murmured what was meant to be a shout but with Elijah's hearing, he had heard it just as quickly.

In less than a second, Elijah was by her side. He brought her into his arms and brought her to her bedroom. The room was now a lot more mature than it had once been. The pink had been replaced by a delicate cream and the white had been replaced with some blood red curtains and a rug of the same colour. The room was beautiful, if not a bit grand, and Elena was glad at the comfort it brought her as Elijah lay her on the bed.

'What's happening?' He asked, taking her temperature. He would find nothing. It wasn't an illness that Elena had caught. It was fear. Reality had set in and she was afraid. Afraid of the pain. Afraid of what Klaus might be. And, most of all, afraid of death.

'Nothing.' She wheezed, her chest tightening. She felt the urge to run but she couldn't. She had heard Klaus' fears of her running and she would stay, for him. They weren't on good terms but she would do anything for him and she knew why. She had grown to accept, over the years, that her feelings were more than they once were. She had once seen him as a father, then a brother and now a friend. But, she wanted more. She could see the look on his face when she got her first boyfriend and she could only assume he saw hers when he brought one of his 'friends' home from a night out drinking. Even with a child, Klaus was irresponsible.

'Elena, you can tell me.' He smiled, barely visible to just anyone but Elena had become accustomed to Elijah's emotions and although he hid behind that red door, she knew what he was thinking a lot of the time. Still, she couldn't read him fully just quite but she didn't think she ever could, that would be another woman's job because there was no doubt that he would find someone someday.

Before Elena could say anything, Klaus had entered the room, looking solemn. 'It's time.' He stated, his voice strong but his body language weak. He had grown too close to Elena, he knew that but he had known this whole time that no matter how close they were, he always came first and he had done for a thousand years. Elena nodded, her face just as fallen as Klaus'. Neither of them were ready to do this but Elena was of age now. Klaus would never harm a child and he had name sixteen as the age he would do it. Elena had never understood his lack of cruelty to children but she had seen glimmers of pain in his eyes when he talked of children and it had all clicked not long before the ritual. His father. His father had beaten him as a child and he would never do that to another. Elena could see the silent vow he had made.

Elena followed Klaus outside, Elijah following behind. The place of the ritual had been found in America and Elena had already packed for the trip- she had packed nothing. She almost didn't expect to come back. Jemima and Megan, who were now at her side, where the same. They had a long plane journey ahead but when they reached the destination, it would be an hour before midnight and all preparations could be made. It almost felt impossible that they had managed to do this so easily. There had been no war for the stone and Elena had withheld the truth from Stefan so there was no fight there, either. They had found two willing volunteers for the ritual and there was only one flaw in the whole plan.

Elena might not make it out alive.

word count: 2101

published: 14.03.17