[Paris' outfit once she goes out is at the top.]

꧁ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛʜɪʀᴛʏ-ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ꧂
ᴛᴇᴀʀs & sᴄʀᴇᴀᴍs

❝Oh, don't look so shocked. You had it coming.❞

♠

    FOR CENTURIES, Lucien has never felt great pain. He never felt any emotion other than anger. He was never loved until he found his best friend. He never felt grief and pain, until the day Alexis' heartbeat slowed down and came to a stop.

As Alexis' last breath went, she took Lucien's light with her. He was left in the darkness, unable to see anything bright or good anymore. All was empty and still and cold. As empty as the life in Alexis' eyes. As still as her frail body in his arms. As cold as the pale skin of hers.

His whole body trembled. Not in anger, nor is it of sadness. It was of fear. The fear of being alone. The fear of abandonment. He never had anyone else apart from Alexis. And now that she was gone, that fear took over.

"Lucien." Bonnie muttered.

He almost forgot that Damon, Paris, and Bonnie was still in the room as he stared at the bloodied and tear-stained face of his best friend. He brushes his fingers across her cheeks before he stands up and picks her up.

"Lucien, where are you going?" Paris asked, her face damp as well due to the amount of tears she has shed.

Paris wasn't close to Alexis. But the way Lucien reacted, the way he felt, it made her remember the time she lost Chloe, and she just couldn't help but break down in Damon's arms.

Lucien remained silent. He continues to walk out of the room and down the stairs. The three followed him to the door before Damon called him.

"Castle." He said.

Lucien halted before he could reach the door. He slightly looked at them over his shoulder before finally responding.

"I'm going to take her home. I'll call later." Lucien said rather low.

None of the three dared to reply. Lucien opens the door and makes his way towards his Audi, carefully placing Alexis inside. He looks at her for a moment before closing the door and entering into the driver's seat then drove away.

The three watched as Lucien's Audi drove further away from the Salvatore Boarding House, leaving them devastated and worried.

As soon as Lucien got home, he places Alexis on her bed. He finally had the guts to close her eyes and as he did, he can't help but hold his breath.

He clenched his jaw before turning around and walking out of her room.

The vampire went straight to his dim living room, the only light source coming from the fireplace. He wrapped his hand around the neck of the bottle of liquor as he poured himself a drink.

Lucien brings the rim of the glass to his mouth but stopped before the liquor could even touch his lips. His hand trembled as he gripped the glass before throwing the glass towards the fireplace, causing the flames to grow bigger and hotter for a couple of seconds.

His chest rapidly rises and falls as his fear quickly turned into fury. He brings his hands up to his hair as he tried to calm himself down. But not even five seconds later, his hand flew right through the bottles, causing them to shatter as they made contact with the wall.

In his mind, all he could ever think about is punishing Aurora and Camila. That's exactly what he plans to do, and no one's going to tell him otherwise.

Meanwhile, as Damon, Paris, and Bonnie sat in the living room in tranquility, Damon's phone rang causing both Bonnie and Paris to jump at the sudden noise.

Damon pulls out his phone from the pocket of his jeans and answers it.

"Where've you been, brother?" Damon said, his tone filled with obvious annoyance.

"She has Elena. Aurora has Elena." Stefan said, clearly out of breath.

Damon closes his eyes as his left hand balled into a fist. He stands up and walks around while he continues to talk to his brother.

"Where did they go?"

♠

Paris, Damon, Bonnie, and Stefan have all wondered why people like Klaus and Aurora set their meeting places at none other than the Mystic Falls High School.

Klaus had already kidnapped and taken Paris there as well. Now, Aurora has Elena and decided to meet up there.

The memory of being held captive by Klaus and compelling her to do what she did after Damon and the others had told her about the supernatural world made the hairs at the back of Paris' neck stand up.

"Where's Lucien?" Stefan asked as soon as Bonnie, Damon, and Paris approached him in front of the school.

"He's...not available at the moment." Damon simply replied.

"We don't stand a chance with a thousand-year-old vampire if Lucien's not here." Stefan told him in frustration.

"Bonnie has incredible magic. She can take down Aurora." Paris told Stefan.

Stefan sighs before they all marched inside the school building.

Once they were inside, they can't help but feel alert at how quiet it was. The only sound was their shoes making contact with the polished floor.

Stefan took this opportunity to call for Elena.

"Elena?" His voice echoed in the empty halls.

Suddenly, muffled screams were to be heard coming from one of the classrooms and they immediately went for it.

As soon as they stepped inside the classroom, they were greeted by a tied up Elena, struggling to break free.

"Elena!" Both Stefan and Bonnie said as they quickly move towards Elena.

Elena shakes her head continuously as Stefan and Bonnie unties her. Stefan finally removes the cloth from Elena's mouth and she immediately warned them.

"Aurora's not here. This was a trap!" Elena said.

They all furrow their eyebrows at Elena's words before Damon replied.

"What did Aurora do?" Damon asked rather angrily.

"She just led you here so she could get to Camila. She's freeing Camila!" Elena told them.

Stefan, Bonnie, and Paris widen their eyes at her statement as Damon muttered "Son of a bitch." under his breath.

"What?" Paris said.

"We need to go now." Damon said, his hands balled into fists.

Damon was about to move when Paris held his arm, causing him to glance at his girlfriend.

"I'll get Lucien." She said and Damon nodded.

Paris gives him a quick kiss before running out of the school to get Lucien.

♠

"Lucien? Lucien!" Paris shouted as she continuously knocked on his door loudly.

"Lucien, we need your help!" Paris shouted again, but he didn't answer.

After a few more knocks and shouts, Paris took it upon herself to let herself in. Considering that Alexis was now dead, any vampire can now enter.

♠

Aurora immediately barged in the Salvatore Boarding House, out of breath and frantically looking for Camila.

"Camila?! Camila, where are you?!" Aurora yelled.

Camila's eyes suddenly opened as she heard Aurora's voice above her.

"Aurora!" Camila faintly screamed due to a lack of strength in her body.

Aurora whips her head to the direction where she heard Camila's voice and immediately went towards it.

She found a secret passage that leads to the basement of the house where the cell is located. Aurora went straight towards the cell door and sees Camila lying on the ground with her hands shackled and still in her ballgown.

"Camila!" Exclaimed Aurora.

She forced the door open with her vampire strength and immediately went towards her lover. Camila whimpered as Aurora tried to break the shackles in order to release her.

After a couple more seconds, she succeeded in breaking the shackles, freeing Camila.

Camila instantly felt her magic course through her veins again as soon as she was free of the restraints.

"Come on, love. We need to get out of here." Aurora said, helping Camila stand up since she isn't able to by herself.

Aurora and Camila headed out of the cell and out of the Salvatore Boarding House, but as soon as the two reached the front door, they were greeted by a nonchalant Lucien standing at the doorway.

Aurora widens her eyes and before she knew it, Lucien uses his speed to kick Camila off of Aurora's grasp, causing her to fly across the room and land harshly.

"Camila!" Aurora screamed as she watched Camila land roughly on the ground.

Lucien then grabbed Aurora by the neck, the redhead vampire choked as Lucien lifts her from the ground. Her eyes widened as she tried to break free from his grip.

"Oh, don't look so shocked. You had it coming." Lucien told her.

Lucien summons his inner evil and lets his vampire face show. Her eyes turned dark red and black veins surrounded his eyes. He opens his mouth and allows Aurora to see his fangs grow, making her struggle more in his grip. 

Camila found a shred of strength to lift herself up only to see Lucien holding Aurora by the throat before he bites her neck.

"No!" Camila shrieked.

Lucien lets his venom course through Aurora's veins until Camila used her magic to pull him away from her, causing him to drop Aurora to the ground.

Camila once again uses her magic to break one of the wooden chairs in sight and throw every one of the shards of wood towards Lucien.

He received two shards of wood in the stomach, one in his leg, and one in his chest before he drops to the ground, temporarily dead due to the wooden stake in his heart.

Camila forced herself to stand up and run towards Aurora, who remained lying on the ground, letting out screams of pain.

"Shh. I'm here. I'm here." Camila said.

She placed a hand over Aurora's wound and her hand glowed, indicating that she's siphoning the venom out of her.

However, despite Camila trying siphoning the venom out, Aurora continued to shed tears and let out groans. Camila removes her hand and sees that the wound is still there.

"It's not working. Why is it not working?!" Camila exclaimed, her voice straining.

Camila places both her hands over the wound and tried to siphon it once again but still failed to do so.

"No. No, no. W-Why is it not working?" Camila muttered to herself.

Aurora reached for her hand and she held it tight with her remaining strength. "It's okay. It's okay, my love." She said.

Camila shakes her head as her eyes widen. "No! It's not. I'm gonna fixed this." Camila responded, tears starting to gather in her eyes.

"You can't. There's no cure, remember? You need to finish what you started. You need to get the serum."

"I'm not letting you die!"

"You have no choice!"

Camila looks at her loved with wide eyes as tears streamed down her cheeks. A son leaves her lips as shakes her head.

"I can't do this without you." Camila whispered to her.

"Yes, you can." Aurora whispered back.

Camila's lower lip trembled as she tried to keep herself together.

Aurora suddenly lets out another throaty scream when she felt another painful sensation coming from her neck and spreading across her body.

"Camila, please! Please put me out of my misery." Aurora pleaded.

Camila lets out another few sobs before she glances towards one of the shards of wood that broke off from the chair and reached for it.

Her hands shook as she places the sharper tip above Aurora's chest.

"I-I love you." Aurora managed to say, tears escaping her eyes in the process.

Camila closes her eyes to contain herself. She opens her eyes again and looks at her before saying, "I love you, too."

Camila thrusts the stake into Aurora's heart and a whimper fell off her lips as she felt the wood punch through her heart. She tried to catch her breath, but she wasn't able to do so.

Slowly, Aurora's body started to desiccate starting from her feet up to her face. Her heartbeat slowed until there was nothing left to hear.

Multiple sobs erupt from Camila's lips as she caressed the face of her lover. She hasn't felt pain this great before, and it was eating her up.

Finally, Damon, Bonnie, Stefan, and Elena have arrived.

The four looked at the scene before them with shocked expressions, not expecting to see a desiccated Aurora. The four of them were about to make their move, however, Camila muttered something under her breath.

"Immobilis."

All of them became motionless. They were unable to move. All they could do was look around as they remained still.

Camila stands up and approaches them before flicking her hand, causing Damon and Stefan to get their necks snapped and then drop to the floor.

She then turned to Bonnie and Elena and she chanted "Somnum."

The two lost consciousness and drops next to the vampires.

♠

Paris was about to leave Lucien's mansion when suddenly her phone rang, the caller ID being Damon.

She quickly answers the call and brings her phone to her left ear.

"Damon, Lucien's not here." Paris said.

"Of course he's not there, silly. He's right here with me." Said the voice that obviously does not belong to Damon.

"Camila?" She said. Her heart starts to beat fast in panic as she wondered what happened to Damon.

"In fact, they all are!" Camila said rather cheery even with a hoarse voice after crying.

"I will kill you." Paris said, her teeth gritting as her grip on her phone tightened.

"And I will kill them before you could even take another step." Camila said.

Paris' jaw clenched as her free hand balled into a fist. She didn't know what to do. What is she supposed to do?

When Camila didn't get a response from Paris, she grinned widely.

"So, I'm offering you another deal. Bring me the serum or I'll kill your friends." Camila said.

Paris' lips parted at her statement. If she was to choose between the people that she cares about and a whole lot of other people that are potentially in danger after Camila becomes a heretic, who would she choose?

"Oh, and Paris? You better hurry. I'm bored, and that's not a good thing." Camila said before she ended the call.

A shaky sigh leaves Paris' lips as she contemplated what she should do.

The young vampire went back inside the mansion and turned the place upside down in search for the serum until she reaches what she thinks is Lucien's bedroom.

A safe was placed on the wall which Paris guessed was previously cloaked but since Alexis is dead, the spell wore off.

She forced the safe open and there she saw the cause of everything that is happening in her life right now.

As she stared, her mind was in chaos trying to form a plan on how to save her friends and the people who would be in danger in the future.

After a few more seconds of rapid breathing, she has reached a decision. She knows exactly what she needs to do.

♠

Aaahhhh if my calculations are correct, there's going to be only two chapters left to write for this book. I can't believe it! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!

Please vote, comment, and share!