CHAPTER SEVENTEEN | THE DEPARTED 

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SINCE KLAUS HAD BEEN DESICCATED, EDEN HADN'T RETURNED HOME— SHE COULDN'T. Returning home would mean she would have to face the fact that her friends had planned to do that without even speaking to her first. She couldn't understand why they would do it, he was planning to leave town. Eden knew she could've talked him down from whatever he was planning to do, but they didn't even let her try. If she were being completely honest, it felt like she was alone now. 

So, Eden Gilbert had decided to do what it was that she did best— feed until she blacked out. 

As the music reverberated through the club, there were so many people that filled the dance floor. So many people to feed on. The Gilbert girl turned on her feet and smirked as she saw a blonde woman behind her, she licked her lips and began to dance with the woman. Or, as she preferred to call her— food. 

"Don't scream." Eden compelled innocently as she sank her teeth into he woman's neck. From an outside perspective, it just looked like the pair were aggressively making out, but in actual fact, Eden was on a perpetual high she would never come down from. As the crimson liquid started to slip down the corners of her mouth, she innocently pulled away from the woman. "Oh! You taste amazing!"

"Uh, thanks?!" The woman yelled awkwardly in an attempt to get heard over the music. "You're really hot, you know."

"I know!" Eden spoke back before she plunged her lips onto the blonde's. She didn't even care that this woman was basically tasting her own blood, Eden just wanted to feel her lips on someone other than him. Suddenly, she felt an arm forcefully tug her away from the woman's lips. "Hey! I was—"

"Eden Gilbert." Elijah Mikaelson locked eyes with Eden as she began to wipe the remaining blood from her lips. The moment she saw him, the fun stopped. "I think you and I are overdue a chat, don't you?"

Eden had found herself following Elijah Mikaelson's lead out of the sleazy nightclub and down a few blocks where they eventually reached a park bench. He motioned for the brunette vampire to sit, which she did, and then he sat down beside her. 

"I understand my brother had a run-in with your friends." Elijah immediately spoke as a soft chuckle escaped her lips. "What's so funny?"

"The word friends." Eden hummed back. She simply shrugged, as she looked at him. "What're you here for? Giving me pre-warning before you slaughter them all in the name of family?"

"Truthfully, Niklaus cares for you. And, it appears, you for him. So, I would not be doing the honourable thing if I did not confess that I have a plan to ensure Niklaus can be revived. However, the longer that Alaric Saltzman is roaming around Mystic Falls with a white oak stake, the more at risk my brother appears to be."

Eden nodded slowly as he tucked her hair behind her ear. "So, you want my help?" 

"Precisely." The Original confirmed. "You see, my brother's body is in the possession of your friends and it seems foolish of me to assume they would give up the location without a little bargaining and persuading. Klaus has caused so many problems for them, they will not give him back without the assurance he won't bring them harm."

"If they agree to giving us Klaus, I can make sure he doesn't hurt anyone." Eden nodded, confidently. "He won't go after them. I'll make sure of it." 

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When Eden and Elijah arrived at the Gilbert residence, it was tense. Stefan and Matt eyed the two up suspiciously from the moment they took a seat at the dining table. Elena, however, seemed a little more interested in what they were proposing. 

"All we need is to take that stake away from Alaric." Elijah simply stated. "Once he's been disarmed, the weapons in my possession, my family will disappear and Alaric will follow us."

Stefan skeptically looked at Elijah. "And, you'll just run?"

"We've done it before. Klaus and Rebekah spent the better part of a thousand years evading my father. What's another half-century while Elena's able to live out the rest of her natural life?"

Elena's eyes flickered to her sister, who was sat comfortably beside Elijah. "And, what about you? You'll just let them go? Klaus, too." 

"No. No, I'm leaving Mystic Falls, too." As the words left Eden's lips, she swore she heard Elena's heart stop. She knew her twin sister was visibly hurt by Eden's decision to leave with them.  

"Why should Elena trust you?" Matt spoke up immediately. Eden was almost taken aback at the level of aggression in his voice. "All you've done is screw her over."

Elijah nodded. "And for that, I'm deeply ashamed. But, know this. She could've been dead the instant I walked through that door tonight. So, Elena, I leave it to you to make the decision whether to trust me or not."  

"Not!" Damon's voice echoed sarcastically through the speakerphone. "Hello? Did that concussion give you brain damage? His lunatic siblings will kill you the first change they get!"

"No, Damon, they won't. They've agreed to put this to bed, and Klaus... well, he wouldn't touch you, Elena. I promise." Eden butted in with a confident nod. 

"Do we have a deal?" Elijah asked.

"No! No, no, no. Did I mention? No!" The older of the two Salvatore's continued to rant through the phone, despite clearly being ignored.

Stefan took a deep breath. "Elena, it's up to you."

A shaky sigh left Elena's lips as her gaze flickered between Eden and Elijah. Finally, she nodded. "We have a deal."

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After the location had been handed over, Eden and Rebekah headed to the warehouse that Damon had instructed them to meet him in order to retrieve Klaus' body. The storage lock-up was creepy, and if Eden were being honest, she felt off. 

"Does this feel weird to you?" The Gilbert vampire cautiously asked as she and Rebekah strolled through the walkway. 

"No weirder than anything else I've encountered these last few days." Rebekah huffed. "Damon! Damon, where are you?" When Damon failed to respond to Rebekah's calls to him, she grunted. "Damon, this isn't funny."

As they ventured further into the lock-up, both girls were on high alert given the noises around them. Then, within seconds both Rebekah and Eden were tugged out of the walk way and pulled behind a bigger storage container. It was Damon. He held his finger over his lips to indicate that needed to be quiet.

"What the hell is going on?" The brunette vampire whispered.

"Come on." Damon nodded his head in the direction of the container just a short walk from them. Number 1020. As he lifted the shutter, they saw a coffin on wheels which was presumably Klaus' casket. 

Rebekah wasted absolutely no time gripping one end as she started to push it out, whilst Damon held onto the other end. Eden was in charge of making sure the coast was clear and that Alaric wasn't hot on their trail. They wheeled Klaus' casket out to Rebekah's car but as they reached the trunk, Alaric sprung into view. 

He sped in front of them and grabbed Rebekah's head, slamming it into the side of the car a few times before he tossed her aside. Eden then took it upon herself to challenge Alaric. The brunette vampire darted toward him, slamming his entire bodyweight against the car as she kicked him. A grunt left his lips until he reached upward and grabbed her throat.

"Leave her!" Damon roared as he threw Eden away from Alaric's hold and tried to intervene. Instead, Alaric only darkened his gaze to the Salvatore, twisted Damon's hand behind his back and threw him off. 

Within seconds, it all happened so quick. As Eden was lifting herself up from the ground, her eyes darted to the casket. Alaric had opened it and the white oak stake was immediately plunged into Klaus' heart. Everything around her went silent. She saw Rebekah was screaming and crying as Damon held her back. But, Eden just wanted in horror as the flames began to engulf Klaus Mikaelson's body.

"I— No..." Eden trailed off. She couldn't quite believed what she had witnessed. She scrambled up to her feet and the silence became louder. Alaric turned around after he slammed the casket shut and glared at Rebekah. 

"Rebekah, Eden, you need to get out of here." Damon ordered them, his eyes darted between the two girls who were sobbing their hearts out. "Eden!" He yelled again. In one split second, Eden tugged Rebekah from the ground and sped out of the warehouse with her.

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Death. That was all that surrounded Eden Gilbert it seemed lately. Klaus Mikaelson was dead, and he was taking his entire sire line down with him. Klaus was taking Eden down with him. It was ironic really, the two were messy and complicated and Eden knew that having feelings for Klaus would probably kill her eventually— Oh, how right she was.

They remained in the woods where Rebekah had arranged to meet Elijah after they had retrieved Klaus' body. Of course, the Original vampire was expecting to see Eden, Rebekah and Klaus. And, when she saw the two girls, his eyes widened fearfully. "Where is he?"

Rebekah shook her head as the tears brimmed in her eyes. "He's gone, Elijah. There was nothing we could do to stop it."

Elijah was speechless. He just strode forward and pulled his baby sister in for a hug as she sobbed quietly within his hold. After a few seconds, they parted and his eyes met Eden's. "Eden, I mean no disrespect, but you should be dead, too. Tyler Lockwood is dead, but you and the rest have survived. Niklaus is the sire of your bloodline, yes?"

"Uh— I think so." Eden shrugged as she brushed the tears from her eyes and tugged her jacket over her for warmth. "Damon's blood turned me so..."

"It wasn't me. It wasn't Kol." Elijah trailed off as his eyes met Rebekah's. 

"It wasn't me, Elijah. It was Niklaus, I'm sure of it."

Elijah furrowed his brows in utter confusion. "Then how is his line still intact?" The Original vampire took a breath. "We need to leave Mystic Falls. We can work out what went wrong on the way."

"Wait. Elijah, are you saying there's a chance?" Eden asked quietly with nothing but hope in her eyes. "There's a chance he's alive. That— that he didn't die?"

"We know nothing for certain. But, if Klaus is indeed the sire of your line, then you should have perished along with him. But, I made a deal with your sister and we need to disappear." Elijah turned his attention to Rebekah, who nodded and sped away. "What about you, Eden?"

"If Klaus is really dead, then so am I. If he's alive..." She trailed off. If he was alive, then she would tell him everything. Every single thing she never got the chance to say because she was too afraid to feel. "But, for right now, there's nothing left for me here. If he ever comes back, please—"

"—You will be the first I call." Elijah nodded with a smile. "Good bye, Eden."

"Bye, Elijah."

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She was just outside the borders of Mystic Falls when she got the call. The call that completely wrecked every single plan she had, every intention of starting again. She couldn't just leave Jeremy behind after she learned what happened. As much as Eden wanted to leave Mystic Falls and be her own person, sometimes it felt like she was meant to stay. 

Elena was dead... or so they thought.

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