CHAPTER TWENTY: Betrayal of the century
WARNINGS: character death, murder, stefan, mentions of battery, mentions of dead character

MYSTIC FALLS, 1864
"ARE YOU READY, MS. SALVATORE?" EMILY BENNETT asks from where the two are hidden in the shadows of the trees. Emily had enlisted Athena's help weeks ahead of the time the people of Mystic Falls found out about vampires. The plan was to entrap the vampires in the church, make sure they couldn't escape, and then Athena would kill them.

Athena had agreed after what Katherine had done to her and her brothers. Not only that, but the way people have been disappearing—killed by the vampires that were being hoarded into the church as they speak. Emily wanted to kill all the vampires and knowing Athena had a streak of revenge running through her, she knew she was the best possible candidate along with the powerful magic running through her bones.

"I've been ready for days now, Emily," Athena said, her voice void of emotion and her eyes red and puffy from the tears she had spilled after watching Stefan and Damon be shot trying to save Katherine. She was supposed to join them, but her broken heart could not bear to see the vampire again. Not now, not ever. "Killing them is the only way to be free and protect the people of this town."

Emily smiles, "remember what you need to do?" Athena nods. "Go."

Athena quickly runs over to where the guards and the rest of the men are loading the vampires into the church. "Jonathan!" She shouts when she sees the familiar man. Jonathan Gilbert. He had been like her cool uncle growing up—they'd work together on inventions, and she'd show him her magic.

The man turns to look at her, his eyes widening, "Athena!" He pushes past some of the other men and jogs over to her, "what are you doing here? You are supposed to be inside. It isn't safe," he says, putting his hands on her shoulders.

Athena releases a heavy, shaky breath, "I know, but I couldn't leave you to fend for yourself." She gulps and turns to look over her shoulder, "I saw one. Down that way," she points down the trail, "it tried to get me, but it got scared when it heard some of the other men. They didn't listen to me and continued on," she explains.

Jonathan looks angry at that and gives her a nod, "me and some of the other men will go check it out. You stay here and wait for me to come back," he orders, and she gives him a firm nod. Jonathan turns to the others, "men, there's another one. Down that way!" He points and they all rush down the pathway.

That gives them a little bit. Athena uses her magic to move the last of the vampires inside of the church and then quickly rushes in and counts how many. There were only a certain number of vampires who were in town and because of Pearl, she knew how many. The vampire had felt bad for Athena when he saw how Giuseppe treated her and what Katherine had done to her.

Athena searches for Pearl, trying to find her. She didn't want Anna alone. Not in this cruel world and if she had her mother, they'd be better off. Maybe Athena could join them, see the world or at least have them help her leave this place.

"A-Athena," came a choked gasp. She turns her head at the familiar voice, finding Katherine lying on the ground with a muzzle over her face. She reaches out weakly for the redhead, her eyelashes fluttering. Athena stares at her for a moment and almost takes a step toward her—almost lets her free, but another voice gets her attention.

"Athena..." It's whispered and extremely weak. She turns quickly and runs over to Pearl's side. The vampire grabs her hand as soon as Athena gives it to her. The witch slides an arm underneath Pearl and sits her up a bit. "Athena—"

"Shh, it's okay. I'm gonna get you out of here. I'm gonna get you to Anna," she says, putting an arm underneath the woman's legs. Before she picks her up, Pearl grabs at Athena's shirt, yanking her down with what little strength she has. "Ms. Pearl—"

"Emily is not on your side!" She hisses, her voice a rasp as she stares into Athena's eyes with a crazed, panicked look. "You need to get out of here while you still can. Take Anna and leave."

Athena's brows furrow and she shakes her head in denial, "no. No, Emily and I have created a plan—it's going to be finished as soon as I get you out—"

"Athena," Pearl whispers with force. Athena looks at her. "Run!"

Suddenly, Athena's feet are knocked out from underneath her and she lands on her front, Pearl falling onto the ground once again in the same position she was before. Athena's eyes widen as an invisible force yanks her away from the vampire and flips her onto her back. She tries and fails to grab onto anything solid to keep her from being pulled out of the church.

She flies out of the church doors, being propelled into the air, doing a couple of flips and then falling to the ground, rolling along the dirt and leaves. She finally stops when her back hits a tree. She spits out the blood that had pooled in her mouth, trying to regain her breath that had been knocked out of her.

She pushes herself up onto her arms, her whole body shaking and quivering in pain. She's almost on her knees when a force pushes down on her back making her fall flat once more. She inhales sharply, the wind knocked out of her lungs once again. She almost chokes on the blood that comes up her throat and coughs it up.

She has some internal damage and if she can't pin-point it soon, she is going to die.

Her head turns a bit as she hears footsteps and finds Emily slowly walking toward her with a calm expression. "Pearl was right, you know," the Bennett witch says as she comes to a stop a couple of paces away from the redhead.

Athena shakes her head a bit, looking up at her with dazed eyes, "w-why?" She asked, "I haven't been anything, but kind to you."

Emily tilts her head higher, acting as if she's superior to her. Athena would kill her if she didn't feel so fucking weak at the moment. "You wouldn't understand. You're far too young in this life to remember. This is revenge on your mother," the witch says, her voice firm and filled to the brim with venom.

Athena gives her a confused look, "my mother? She's been gone for years now. She's probably dead," she speaks. Her mother had abandoned her and her brothers long ago.

"Not her," Emily waves her off with a roll of her eyes, "your real mother." What the hell did that mean? Athena thinks. Emily then raises a hand and Athena suddenly feels herself growing weaker and weaker with each passing second.

She can feel her heart slowing and her breathing become shallower and shallower. She begins to panic, looking up at her in fear, "w-what are you doing?" She asks through a gasp.

"I'm taking your power and using it to save the vampires," Emily explains with a shrug, as if she wasn't killing Athena to do so.

Athena digs her fingers into the ground and tries to push herself up, but she is far too weak. She can't put up a fight, not like this. Now that she thinks about it, she believes that Emily has been slowly taking her power every day since the beginning of their plan. It makes her angry and sad all at once—she has been used again.

She turns her head toward the church and sees a figure stumble out. Their dress is tattered and there are splashes of blood on it. Her brown hair is curled like it had been earlier today before all this went down. The muzzle is off.

It's Katherine Pierce.

Athena's eyes close right as Katherine turns toward them.

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CAROLINE WOKE UP next to Athena. That was somewhat of a rarity these days considering how early her girlfriend wakes up. Or if she even gets any sleep. Caroline was lying beside her girlfriend who was lying on her stomach, head turned toward the blonde and arms underneath the pillows.

Caroline likes seeing Athena in these moments. Where her girlfriend is vulnerable. Where she doesn't have the world on her shoulders. When she isn't the leader of a powerful pack and a group of people. Where she doesn't have a grudge against Stefan for something Caroline is dying to know but won't push for 'cause she has seen how worked up Athena gets. Where her girlfriend is just that... her girlfriend.

She can pretend that Athena and she are a normal couple. They are just two girls in love trying to battle their way through the world.

But Caroline knows they aren't. It comes back to her like a bucket of cold water. It wasn't necessarily bad. She loved Athena for who she was. She had seen how caring and amazing she was before they started 'dating' and before Caroline had found out she was a vampire-witch.

She always knew Athena was different. She had a passion and love for soccer and found antiques interesting. She didn't exactly like going swimming, but she would if Caroline had asked—and she has before. She was snarky and funny. She was loving and soft. Athena was hard on the outside, but warm and gooey on the inside.

She had a darkness that was honestly very appealing to Caroline. It shouldn't be, but it is. It makes Athena more attractive, especially when the darkness surfaces to protect or show authority. It's terrifying, yet Caroline can't seem to turn away from it.

Caroline thinks back to what Matt said at the Grill the night of the decade dance before Hayley had to come and save her. Again—she really didn't want to have to depend on someone else to save her.

"You were in love with her even then."

Caroline thinks back to all the times she had interacted with Athena from the very beginning. There was always tension and somehow, Athena had always been there when she needed help. She remembers being insanely jealous when she saw Elena and Athena interact. She remembers acting snotty and bitchy toward Athena just to see those blue eyes burn with something that was made just for Caroline—to have Athena's attention fully on her.

She had denied it when Matt first told her. She had refused to even believe that possibility because she was scared to death.

Her father had claimed to love her mother, but he had turned out to be gay and left not only Liz, but Caroline too. She was afraid she had done the same to Matt. And now that she thinks about it, she did.

And she doesn't regret doing it.

No matter how fucked up it may sound, Caroline understands why her father had chosen to leave her mother. Leave this town of small-minded people.

Her dad was afraid of the stares he'd get. The backlash, the rude remarks, the homophobes that lived in the town of Mystic Falls.

But Caroline wasn't gonna be afraid. Athena had brought a new side of her out. The real side of her that she had buried when her father left. She brought out the real Caroline.

Caroline was not gonna stand around and let people talk shit about her. She was going to stand tall. She was going to live her life and love who she wanted—She was going to love Athena. The vampire-witch that needed over a century and half of therapy.

Athena was beautiful—gorgeous. No matter what her girlfriend said, Athena was the most gorgeous woman that Caroline had ever seen.

Even when she was covered in blood and her eyes were black. Even when she was teary-eyed and looked broken. And Caroline has no doubt she'd look gorgeous when she was crying if Athena would ever let her see.

Caroline loves Athena.

She has for a long time.

She just took forever to realize it.

"You're giving me real Hayley vibes by staring at me as I sleep right now," Athena's raspy morning voice—that Caroline dies internally about every damn time she hears it—reaches her ears.

Caroline looks at Athena's face. Her eyes are still closed, and her lips are pulled into a soft grin. Her cheeks are flushed a light pink that Caroline finds absolutely endearing. "If you saw the same thing I was seeing right now, you would be too," Caroline replies softly and the flush on Athena's cheeks darken as her eyes flutter open.

The redhead smiles just a little wider, "I do. Every time I wake up next to you," Athena murmurs and Caroline blushes too. "Now, come here. I want some Carebear cuddles before you have to go to school," the redhead whines a bit, turning over and holding open her arms.

Caroline smiles and slides into the woman's warm embrace, feeling safe and entirely at home. She places a kiss on Athena's temple before resting her head in the redhead's neck.

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MYSTIC FALLS, 1864
ATHENA AWAKENS WITH a startle. She stares out in front of her for a moment, her heart racing in her chest. She's in a daze, still trapped in the memory of last night where Emily had drained her of her magic. Her hand reaches up to her throat at the thought of the witch, her hand grasping the necklace around her neck.

The pendant, Emily had told her, was to protect her from the vampires.

She ripped the necklace off, having a feeling that's where Emily had begun to drain her magic. She drops it next to her and feels grass underneath her touch.

She looks down and finds herself in the flower field that she used to go to with Anna and create flower crowns with her. The sun was shining on her, beating down with unforgiving heat. It hurts her eyes now that she was in tune with her body once again.

"You're awake," says a familiar voice. She turns her head over her shoulder to see Anna coming toward her. Her dress has blood on it, and she looks weak. Her eyes are red and puffy, there are tear marks on her cheeks as if she's been crying.

"Anna," she breathes and slowly gets up, her body aching. Her mouth is dry now that she speaks, and her tongue is like sandpaper. It hurts and it's uncomfortable. Her body feels heavy and even her head is hard to pick up, but she does it for the vampire's sake. Anna slips into her arms the second Athena opens them, and the in-transition witch holds her close.

"I was too late to get to you. Katherine stopped me before I could kill Emily. She was weaker and I managed to shake her quickly, but it was too late. Your heart had stopped," Anna said, almost squeezing what little life was still in her out. Athena didn't mind, the girl had just lost her mother and she thought she lost her friend as well.

The redhead pulls back and cups the girl's face, "what's happening? How am I still here?" She asked quietly, trying to make sense of all of this.

Anna gives her a sad look, "you're in transition, Athena. You died with vampire blood in your system," she explains softly.

Athena releases a heavy breath as an overwhelming hunger takes over her. Even the blood that's pumping through Anna's veins is appealing to her. She turned away and looked around the flower field. "Nobody has come here?" She asked.

"No," Anna sighed with a shake of her head, "Johnathan has been hunting me since he saw me take you earlier this morning, but I managed to shake him."

Athena nodded, "thank you... for getting me away from Emily," she said sincerely.

Anna nodded with a smile, "it was the least I could do for your kindness. Now, let's go find you a human to feed on and then we can leave this horrid town," she said, looking up at the sun to see how much time Athena had left. They had the whole day pretty much.

Athena doesn't speak, she just stares ahead. Anna looks at her, her brows drawing together and a frown working its way onto her lips.

"You aren't gonna feed," the vampire whispers, her voice laced with sadness and certainty.

Athena looks over at her, her eyes showing her exhaustion—mentally, physically, and emotionally. "I just want it to end... I want to stop the pain. I can join my brothers," she says with a small shrug, "I've never wanted to live forever. Not even when I was with Katherine."

Anna's eyes are wet again, but she smiles, nonetheless. "You're smart," she said.

Athena gives her a smirk, "so I've been told." Anna rolled her eyes and fell into the woman once again who held her close.

"There's something you should know..." Athena hums and looks down at the vampire who sighs, "your brothers are in transition as well."

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CAROLINE PULLS HER hair up into a ponytail as she walks down the stairs with her backpack slung over her shoulder. She is in no mood for school after yesterday and what happened to Leah, but Athena needed the older kids out of the house so they could start searching for the bastards that had killed her. Caroline gave herself the task of getting all the teenagers minds off of it and getting them to school.

She felt an odd connection to the group that Akemi had told her was called The Vultures. Akemi had also said that they went by a different name, but to keep everyone safe Athena had them going by that name since 1960. She didn't know why, and she would rather not dive into the supernatural component that probably played a part in it just yet. She just wanted to get to know everyone that Athena had called family. That she had vowed to protect.

She wanted to know everything about Athena. She wanted to be a part of Athena's life. She'd do it anyway there was.

When she gets to the living room, she sees that Camren, Tony, and Olivia are the only ones up and ready, eating the breakfast that Raquelle and Patty had made a bit earlier.

"There are 13 teens in this house," Caroline says as she crosses her arms. Camren looks up at her with tired eyes, the two sharing a sad look. There used to be 14 teens.

"We suck at waking up. Especially for school," Camren says, trying to lighten the mood.

"So am I, hun. So am I," Caroline mutters. She gives Olivia, the witch of the three, a look and the girl smirks excitedly, casting the spell. Caroline smiles and turns around, "I NEED TEN TEENS DOWNSTAIRS IN THE NEXT TEN MINUTES OR WE'RE LEAVING WITHOUT BREAKFAST!" She yells into the house. The spell Olivia had casted was one that only let certain people—the ten teens—in the house to hear Caroline yell.

She hears thuds and a couple of loud yelps from the rooms and nods, satisfied. She turns around as Camren, Olivia, and Tony double over in laughter.

One after the other rushes past Caroline, dressed and ready to go, to get some breakfast from the kitchen. The blonde leaves her bag on the table and then goes to the library to grab the textbook she had left in there a while ago. She, unfortunately, needed that today.

Caroline is walking down the hallway where the library is. She can see the doors in front of her, but her attention gets pulled away when she hears a faint buzzing sound. Like electricity.

She slows to a stop, her brows furrowing as she pulls her bottom lip into her mouth. The buzzing is kind of loud and obnoxious, but Caroline finds herself drawn to it. She slowly walks toward it, the wall is just that. A wall. She stops in front of it—the buzzing is much louder.

Caroline, a voice whispers. It sounds like a woman's voice. She has never heard it before. Caroline, come closer, it whispers again.

The blonde finds herself stepping closer, the world fading around her and the only thing she is able to see is the wall. The only thing she can hear is the buzzing.

It rings loudly in her ears and knocks around her brain like an echo.

It's like tunnel vision.

Come in, the voice whispers.

Caroline raises her hand, reaching out to touch the wall when a voice cuts through her trance, "Caroline?"

The blonde turns her head to the side, the buzzing gone. The chatter of the teens as they eat breakfast and get their bags ready fill the hallway. Caroline blinks and suddenly, Violet is standing next to her with the textbook she needed.

"You alright?" Violet asked, concerned, raising an eyebrow.

Caroline clears her throat and shakes her head to get rid of the slight fogginess in her brain. She gives Violet a grateful smile, "thanks. I was looking for that," she takes the textbook.

"You're welcome," Violet said with a small smile.

Caroline nods and turns on her heel, casting one last glance at the wall, before walking back to the living room to grab her bag. "Alright, are we ready?"

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MYSTIC FALLS, 1864
"STAY RIGHT HERE," Athena tells Anna seriously. The vampire nods and hides behind a tree, keeping out of sight from Damon and Stefan. She walks over to her brothers, smiling a bit. "Boys," she breathes in relief, but she stops dead in her tracks at the sight before her.

Stefan was grinning from ear to ear. There was a girl sitting on a log, blood dripping from her neck. Damon was standing a bit away, blood on his lips and dripping down his chin. They had fed. They weren't in transition anymore. They were vampires.

She didn't think they would do it. They had their flaws, but becoming vampires—creatures that had to survive on blood and hurt people to survive? She didn't think her brothers would become that.

They both turned toward her, their eyes widening in surprise.

"Athena?" Damon asked, trying to wipe the blood away from his mouth and turning his head away from her in a last-ditch effort to hide what he had done.

"We thought you were dead," Stefan says, standing up from the wooden structure.

Athena slowly shook her head and got extremely lightheaded from the simple movement. She blew out a breath, closing her eyes for a second before opening them.

Stefan's eyes widen as a smile breaks out on his lips once again. "You need to feed!" He says, tapping his temple and rolling his eyes as if he was an idiot for not thinking that. "Right, here," he stands the girl up and brushes her hair from the girl's neck.

The girl looked drained and seconds away from death. Athena couldn't kill her; she wouldn't be able to live with herself.

"No, Stefan," she murmurs with a sigh, "I came to say goodbye. I'm not feeding," she explains. Damon looks over at her, a sad and pained expression on his face, but he nods. He appears in front of her, scooping her up in his arms. Athena wraps her arms around him, tangling her fingers in his hair and pressing a kiss against his temple. "I love you, kid," she mutters into his ear.

She feels something wet hit her neck and closes her eyes to stop her tears from falling. "I love you too, Athena," he whispers, gently setting her back on the ground.

Athena pulls away and gives him a watery smile, caressing his face before turning to Stefan. He looks slightly distraught and in denial. Athena gives him a look and shrugs a bit, "I don't want to live forever," she tells him softly. "I'll still be with you both. In here," she taps her heart.

Damon scoffs through his nose, amused even though his tears are falling.

Athena opens her arms from Stefan, "now, come here. I don't have long, and I want one last hug from my baby brother," she said.

Stefan's head is ducked. He had released the girl a minute before when Athena and Damon had embraced. He took a slight step forward and Athena relaxed, ready to have him in her arms.

It happened too fast for even Anna to comprehend.

Stefan had ripped the woman's neck open and cupped a puddle of blood in his hand before speeding over and opening Athena's mouth, forcing the blood down his sister's throat.

Athena swallowed before coughing the rest of it up, stumbling away from Stefan. Power coursed through her veins, and it was addictive, yes, but she hated it. Her eyes glowed as a golden hue appeared around her before she went back to normal.

She raised a hand, grasping her throat which felt moist once more. It wasn't dry and her tongue wasn't like sandpaper. She felt 30 times better than she had before. She felt alive.

She slowly looked at Stefan as blood dripped down her chin. Damon's eyes were wide, and he looked horrified at what his brother had just done. Athena dragged her thumb along her lower lip, her digit being covered in the girl's blood. The girl who was now lying dead on the ground.

"No..." She whispered, her throat constricting as she stared at the blood, "no..." Anna wanted to go to her, but she was weak, and the Salvatore brothers could end her easily. Athena looked at Stefan with anger, "what did you do? WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

"I saved you! You were being stupid!" Stefan said loudly, shaking his head with a malicious grin, "you were blinded by Katherine just like Damon. Now, we're together forever. And we're stronger and faster."

"I don't care about Katherine," Athena said, shaking her head, "I told you I didn't want to live forever. I don't. I was a monster before, but now I'm a vampire?" Tears fill Athena's eyes, "I'm an abomination."

"No," Damon says, looking panicked. He quickly goes to her, setting his hands on her shoulders, "no. You weren't a monster, and you certainly aren't an abomination. You were different. A good kind of different! I loved that you were a witch." He takes her in his arms and Athena slumps against him, "I'm so sorry, Atty," he whispered, his tears falling once more, "I'm so sorry."

Athena wraps her arms around him slowly as she slowly looks at Stefan, "it's not your fault," she murmurs. It's his, goes without saying.

Stefan stands tall, not regretting his decision at all. 

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CAROLINE IS LEANING against a picnic table, looking over Anna and Rodrigo's—the two newest students at MFHS—schedules. Ace is sitting on the table with Mateo. Camren is lying on one of the benches, her back pressed up against Olivia's side as she plays a game on her phone. Olivia is trying to study. Tony and Anzel hang around, never straying far from Caroline or the group. Anna is leaning beside Caroline, arm resting on her shoulder as she talks to Rodrigo who is standing a bit in front of them geeking out about being at an actual school. Jane, Lana, and Gray are talking about the cute people who walk past and make bets on who can get the most dates. Ben and Henderson are sitting on the ground, sharing a cigarette even though Caroline had told them to put it out before they got caught.

13 teenagers and one Caroline Forbes. It was quite the sight to see to anyone who had known Caroline for a very long time. Usually, Caroline wouldn't go for the kids in this type of 'crowd'. Especially Ben and Henderson since the blonde doesn't smoke.

"We're a lovely sight," Gray says as she sits down next to Olivia, giving the witch a flirtatious wink. Olivia rolls her eyes but has a small blush on her cheeks. "I mean, thirteen new kids and the Queen Bee who is acting like our mother," the vampire gives Caroline a dry look.

Caroline turns her head to look at the girl who is sitting right beside her. "You know why I'm keeping you guys close," she says. Gray nods and turns back to Olivia, leaning over her textbook to get a good look at what she is studying. Caroline clears her throat and looks back at the schedule. "Alright, Mateo you will take Anna to APUSH, Algebra 2—" She gives the girl a confused look.

"Athena taught me a long time ago," Anna explains and Caroline nods.

"—and Computer Science. Anzel, you will take her to English and French 2. Then I will take you both to Health Care 2 because it is right next to my Public Speaking class," Caroline finishes for Anna's schedule.

"Public Speaking?" Tony asked curiously, tilting his head.

Caroline nods and opens her mouth to tell him why when Ace beats her to it. "She wants to be a Broadcast Journalist," he explains. Caroline points to him and looks down at Rodrigo's schedule. Tony nods, looking impressed.

"Camren, you'll take him to Honors English. Jane, you'll take him to Geometry and Entrepreneurship. Uh, I will take him to Health Care... hmm... Ace, you'll take him to World History and Chemistry," Caroline finishes Rodrigo's schedule, handing them back to the two.

The other kids nod. Anna sits down on the bench in front of Mateo and leans back against the table. He drapes an arm over her shoulder as he plucks an apple slice from Ace.

Caroline ruffles Rodrigo's hair as he walks past to go to Henderson and Ben. Ben holds out the cigarette to Rodrigo who reaches out to take it. "No," Caroline scolds, leaning over and plucking it from Ben's grasp. The boy groans. Caroline puts it in her mouth, taking a drag, and then blowing it out, creating a circle before throwing it on the ground and putting it out.

The whole group is in shock.

Gray grins, "oh, yeah. She's cool." She and Camren high-fived. Caroline rolls her eyes but has a smile on her lips. 

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"SHE WAS STANDING in front of the wall, Athena," Violet says as Athena searches for a specific book in the library. She needed to freshen up on the facts about Claire and her evil little henchmen.

"Of course, she was standing in front of a wall! It's a house, Violet," Athena deadpans, giving her a look before plucking one of the many history books she has written out of the shelf.

The earth witch looks ready to strangle her boyfriend's grandmother. Athena walks down the stairs and goes to the table, setting the book down and then walking over to the glass of whiskey.

"The wall, Athena!" Violet almost shrieks, "the one that mysteriously appears filled with the weapons and ancient artifacts that the Original Wolf Pack had found and been given to by the Gods! That room where you found your sword! The room where your mother found her staff!" The brunette seems like she is gonna pull the hair out of her head.

Athena pours herself a drink and throws it back before refilling the glass. She sits down in front of the book and sets the glass on the table. "I know," she said with a grimace, "I just didn't want it to be real."

Violet sighed heavily and sat down next to her grandmother, "you... you need to tell her everything before she stumbles across something before, she's ready. And according to the Gods and the Original Wolf Pack, I'm guessing they've already picked her." The brunette sounds a bit bitter about it since she's been here way longer than Caroline and has yet to get her weapon.

Athena glances over at her, "you'll get yours. Not yet, but you will. The Gods obviously don't think you need it quite yet," she said reassuringly. The weapon only calls out to the wielder if they are in need of it. Athena had got it back about a hundred years after her mother turned her into a vampire and sealed away her wolf side when—

"Then what the hell is Caroline gonna need it for, Athena?" Violet now looks worried for the blonde, "she was in a trance. A trance I saw Esther in, in your memories. I called her name multiple times and even shook her once. She didn't snap out of it until the tenth try. They are reaching out to her." Violet twiddles with her thumbs, biting her lip.

Athena sighs heavily and puts her head in her hands, "I don't know, Violet. We just have to be careful and make sure we keep an eye on that room," she says. She knew she couldn't stop Caroline from getting the weapon, but she could postpone it for just a little while until she could tell her everything.

She wasn't ready to though. Caroline might not find her a monster now, but after finding out that she is over 1000-years-old, has killed probably twice as many people, was married, and has kids? What the fuck is she gonna think then? It won't be all sunshine and rainbows. No, Athena is sure that the girl will turn and run away.

Athena decides to change the subject, "did you get in any contact with Crystal, Lorelei, or Davina?" She asked her granddaughter. Crystal was Cassidy's mother and the girls' grandmother. If anyone knew where her daughters were, it was Crystal.

Violet shakes her head with a frown, "cloaking spells. Crystal's house phone is disconnected. The phone number I had was unavailable. I visited Crystal's old house, but it's packed up and empty. They're untraceable. And you can't step back into New Orleans quite yet."

Athena frowns deeply, frustrated. She reaches for her drink and takes a sip. She sets the glass back on the table and stands up, "call a meeting. We need to find this bitch, kill her, and then we can focus on getting everyone back here," she ordered.

Violet nodded and quickly walked out of the room to get the other representatives.

┍ ∞ ○ ∘ ɹǝʌǝɹoɟ puɐ sʎɐʍlɐ ∘ ○ ∞ ┙

CAROLINE WAS SITTING at a lunch table with Olivia. They were both waiting for the others. Olivia was once again looking through her textbook and taking notes in her journal. The textbook was for her Mythology class. Caroline, on the other hand, was reading one of the many articles she needed to look at before Thursday on her laptop—well, it was one of Athena's that she was letting Caroline use until she could save up to buy her own.

"Oh, my God, you're studying again?" Gray was the first to appear out of the other twelve teenagers. Caroline glanced up from her notebooks where she was writing down notes on what she was reading. Gray was sitting beside Olivia, giving the textbook a clear look of disdain. Caroline shook her head softly and went back to reading.

Olivia's hand clenches around her pencil, frowning. "Fuck off," she mutters. Caroline's eyes instantly snap toward the girl at the hurt in her voice. Caroline had been there—people making comments about how much she studied and focused on school. That's why she only studied at home nowadays.

Gray glanced at Caroline who was giving her a stern, scolding look. The blonde nudged her head in Olivia's direction, mouthing 'fix it'. Gray looked a little flustered and awkward now, different from her cocky and confident persona she usually has on.

"That's not what I meant..." Gracie begins, looking back at Olivia, gulping.

"Yes, it is," Olivia scoffed, "you're always on my ass about it. Trust me, I know how you feel. Can you just lay the fuck off?" She snapped, giving Gray a side glare before scooting a bit away and hunching over her books once again.

Gray looked over at Caroline helplessly and the blonde tapped her fingers against her notebook. She flipped to another blank page and wrote something down then showed Gracie.

Take a deep breath and apologize. Actually apologize

Gray grimaced a little at the thought of apologizing. She hated it. Gray gave Caroline a look and slightly shook her head. Caroline scowled, looking exasperated. She scribbled another thing down and showed it to the vampire.

You have to make sacrifices. Including your damn pride

Gray scowls. Caroline raises her eyebrows and gives a sharp nod, putting the notebook back down. The vampire sighed and turned toward Olivia. Caroline focused back on her work. Gray nudged the witch's knee with her own gently.

Olivia just shifted away, hiding her face behind her hair. "Liv," the vampire murmurs, poking her softly in the rib. Olivia jumps a bit, but otherwise doesn't acknowledge Gray. The vampire bit her lip in annoyance and took a deep breath, "Livvy..." She dragged out, gently reaching out and turning her head with a finger and thumb on her chin. "Hey, I'm—What the fuck!"

Caroline jumped, startled at the shout and looked at the two as Gray took Olivia's face in her hands, eyes filled with nothing but rage. Caroline quickly got up and moved around the table to see what Gray was looking at and saw Olivia's bruised face staring back at her. Her eyes widened and she brushed some hair out of the witch's face, taking in the black eye, bruised bridge of her nose, and cut lip. How had she not noticed this before?!

"Olivia, honey, what happened?" Caroline asked, worry and panic in her voice. Olivia pulled away, almost falling off the edge of the bench, but Gracie grabbed her, pulling her against her chest.

"Let go," Olivia said, trying to push Gray off and get out of her arms.

"No," Gray muttered, loosening her grip, but not fully letting the girl go. Caroline took a slight step back to let the vampire handle it. One thing she noticed about the two's dynamic throughout the day and from small scenes she's seen at the house, they were always the ones to pull each other back. To be there for one another. Athena had mentioned that they came in around the same time and that, despite how much they argue and mock each other, they cared deeply for one another.

Olivia tried to shove her one more time, pushing her chest with some force. She was weaker than most merely because she doesn't train very often. She had some muscle, but not enough to fend off a vampire or a werewolf for that matter.

Gray grabbed her arms in a firm grip, mouth in a firm line and eyes narrowed. "Enough," she said, and Olivia let out a small breath, ducking her head with a pout. "What happened, Olivia?" Gray asked, pulling her closer and taking her face in her hands again, "how did this happen?"

Olivia shook her head, "it's fine. I just—I just tripped, okay! It's nothing to worry about," the witch said, trying and failing to remove her face from the vampire's grip.

"Not buying it," Gray said, her voice strangely calm—a contrast to the fury in her eyes.

Caroline stepped forward again, curling her hands around Olivia's shoulders gently so as to not startle the girl. "Sweetheart, please, tell us what happened. These weren't there this morning," Caroline said, combing her fingers lightly through Olivia's hair to get the young girl to relax.

Olivia's lip trembled and she finally pulled away from Gray, wiping gently at her wounded eye. "It was actually," she sniffled, wiping her nose with her sleeve, "I had a glamor spell on—usually witches of my age use it to hide hickeys." The witch laughs wetly. "I didn't realize it wore off."

Gray looks pale now. Paler than Caroline has ever seen her. Caroline put a hand to her forehead, exhaling deeply. Gray stares with wide, scared eyes as she puts her hands on Olivia's collarbones. "Olivia," she says breathily as if the air had been knocked out of her lungs, "how long...?"

Olivia doesn't meet Caroline or Gracie's eyes as she says, "since yesterday." Caroline continues to lightly scratch her fingers against Olivia's scalp, a million possibilities running through her mind. Gracie is staring blankly at Olivia's face, not really registering anything, far too lost in her mind. The witch notices the others finally walking over and quickly mutters the glamor spell again, shaking the two off and going back to her studying.

Caroline retracts her hand and glances at the other kids, takes a look at Gracie who snaps out of her daze, and then sits back down. Gracie turns back forwards so she's facing Caroline again and presses into Olivia's side without a second thought, one arm slipping around her and resting on the small spot of bench left next to the witch's hip. Olivia blushes and discreetly wipes away another tear as the others appear.

"No, I swear to you, Mr. Cline was totally out to get me!" Henderson said and he got some laughs.

"Hey, Grace!" Jane said with a grin, sliding in next to her friend. Lana slips in across from them. "You totally missed it—this girl was totally asking me for your number."

Caroline closed her laptop, subtly glancing at Olivia who was writing something down with far too much force and an intense look in her eye. Gracie turned to look at Jane, raising an eyebrow, "really?" She asked.

Caroline kicked her in the shin and the vampire jumped a bit. Olivia and Jane startled at the sudden movement, giving her a weird look. Gracie just smiled and cleared her throat.

"That's cool... but I'm not interested," the vampire said, looking at Olivia who was, once again, in her own little world.

Anna, from the place next to Lana, looked up at the vampire and witch duo through her lashes in surprise before turning her head to Caroline. The blonde just shook her head and got out her food. 

AN: it's been forever. i'm so sorry 😭 school starts tomorrow for me and i was like 'holy crap i haven't updated in forever'. MY BAD!! this chapter is actually so long that i have to cut it up. thank you for reading!! you guys are amazing <3

p.s. check the cast list which i updated with new characters

Finished: August 15th, 2022
Edited: 
Word Count: 7190