CHAPTER 36.5: Little Athens
WARNINGS: forced admission, murder, threats

"WE ONLY HAVE, LIKE, AN hour or two before my mom gets home," Caroline said to Bonnie and Jeremy who were surrounding Luca. Lorelei followed after Caroline, holding a bunch of candles in her arms.

She and Caroline began spreading them out with Jeremy's help. "These are all we could find," Lorelei told Bonnie.

"Place these evenly around the room," Bonnie said.

Lorelei rolled her eyes slightly. "I am a witch, thank you," she said.

"How does this work?" Jeremy asked, shooting Lorelei a glare.

"Um, I'll put him in a trance and ask him questions," Bonnie replied with a shrug.

"Are you sure you're strong enough for this?" Jeremy inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"That's what the candles are for," Lorelei said, raising a candle and shaking it before setting it down. "She'll draw power from the flames."

Lorelei couldn't imagine having to draw power from somewhere. She already had so much magic in her that it made her feel like she'd combust.

"I'll get matches," Caroline said.

"I got it," Bonnie argued. She closed her eyes and the candles all lit up.

Jeremy looked around, shrugging her shoulders. "Never gonna get used to that," he admitted.

"Oh, come on," Caroline said, looking over at the boy as she placed her hands on her hips, "it's pretty hot."

Jeremy agreed, smiling.

"I need a bowl of water," Bonnie said quickly, smiling up at Jeremy.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll—I'll go get it," he nodded, walking out of the room.

Lorelei raised an eyebrow. "He is so whipped," she muttered, rolling her eyes.

Caroline shot Lorelei a dry look. "You really should not be talking," she pointed at the girl. Lorelei frowned back at her, confused. "Shall I go over every interaction you've ever had with Elena?" Caroline challenged, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow at the girl.

Lorelei didn't say anything, her frown deepening. She quickly looked away and Caroline hummed, satisfied.

Her eyes went to her friend as she smiled brightly at Bonnie. "Okay. What was that?" Bonnie asked, looking up at the blonde and shaking her head, "'it's hot'?"

"He is so crushing on you!" Caroline whisper-exclaimed, quickly moving to squat in front of her friend. She looked so excited about the concept that Lorelei had to smile.

"So?" Bonnie asked, confused.

"So..." Caroline gave her friend a look, "what, you'd rather be with traitor warlock over here?" She gestured to the unconscious boy on the ground.

"I'm not into Luka," Bonnie mumbled unconvincingly, "it's just, you know, he understood me and he was new... different."

"And you've known Jeremy since forever and you only see him one way, as Elena's brother," Caroline finished, raising her eyebrows at her friend, "but you're a witch and I'm a vampire. You know, it's not like we're in any position—"

"To be picky," Bonnie filled in.

"No," Caroline laughed, "to... judge. If I had judged Athena and Hayley off of what they were and done, I wouldn't have been who I am now." She shrugged, her eyes going to Jeremy as he walked back in.

Bonnie's attention was instantly taken with him. He smiled down at her, handing her the bowl.

"Time to go," Lorelei said, kneeling beside Caroline.

"Looks like he's waking up," Jeremy said as Luka slowly moved his head, blinking. Bonnie put her hands in the bowl, flicking the water off her fingers. Then she placed them on either side of Luka's face, closing her eyes.

The flames climbed higher and all of them knew the spell was in action. 

┍ ∞ ○ ∘ ɹǝʌǝɹoɟ puɐ sʎɐʍlɐ ∘ ○ ∞ ┙

ELENA PULLED A journal off the shelf, unwrapping it. "These must be the other Jonathan Gilbert journals," she said, "Jeremy had the one, but John said that there were others."

"Hmm. That makes sense. Your grandfather used to come here, right?" Elena nodded. "You're family has been hoarding these since then. It makes sense that they'd be here."

"His whole life's in here," Elena muttered in awe, looking around at all the weapons.

Katherine rubbed her hands together. "I'll let you have your moment. I'ma go get firewood. Don't touch the weapons," she said seriously before disappearing.

Elena stared down at the sharpened wooden bullets in her hands. 

┍ ∞ ○ ∘ ɹǝʌǝɹoɟ puɐ sʎɐʍlɐ ∘ ○ ∞ ┙

JENNA WALKED DOWNSTAIRS, heading into the kitchen. She paused when she saw John standing at the counter pouring a glass of wine. She sighed, annoyed.

He looked up, staring at her for a moment. "Where's Elena?" He asked.

"At the lake house for the weekend," she replied.

"With Stefan?"

"Nope," Jenna said, crossing her arms.

"With that girl?"

Jenna rolled her eyes. "No. She's with someone else."

"And who gave her permission for that?" John asked, leaning against the counter.

Jenna cocked an eyebrow back at him. "I did," she replied, smirking sarcastically at him, "until you get a lawyer, file for guardianship. It's my call and there's nothing you can do about it."

"I always knew you were lax with them but I didn't think you were negligent," he said, staring down at her like she was a speck of dirt underneath his shoe. Like he was superior compared to her.

Jenna stared back at him, stony. "She wanted to get away from you, okay? Besides, I stepped up when their parents died. I was the one who helped them grieve. I was the one here. You do not get to breeze in here and act like you have a say in either of their lives—especially Elena's. She is almost 18 and Jeremy is a big boy. They are both great kids and can take care of themselves. Do not come into my home and disrespect me, Jonathan. I will lay you out before you can even blink."

John scowled at her, taking a sip of his drink.

"You're fine to stay," Jenna said, "but I'll be leaving. I'm going to stay with Bianca."

"Because she's such a great girl, right?"

Jenna spun back around, her eyes ablaze with rage. "You are on dangerous ground," she warned, her jaw clenched and fingers clenched into fists.

"She's a liar, Jenna," John said seriously, "And she's laid some sort of claim over you... she called you her wife—"

"That's what I am!" Jenna exploded, hands shaking, "her and I have been married for years! Of course, she has a claim to me. I have a claim on her too. She's mine and I am hers. And she's not a liar."

John blinked, shocked by the information. Married? Since when? "Did she ever tell you? What she is? Who she is?"

"Yes, actually," Jenna said seriously, crossing her arms, "I know everything. You will not wedge us apart, John. No matter how hard you try. Our love is older than you. And I will put you down if you even think about touching my wife," she spat, glaring at the man.

She spun on her heel, "have a great night."

┍ ∞ ○ ∘ ɹǝʌǝɹoɟ puɐ sʎɐʍlɐ ∘ ○ ∞ ┙

"HOW LONG IS this going to take?" Caroline asked uneasily, glancing over at Bonnie.

"He's fighting me," Bonnie explained.

"Please stop. Please," Luka pleaded breathily. Bonnie did something and his eyes rolled to the back of his head, his head landing on the ground.

"There we go," Bonnie muttered, "why are you working with Elijah?" She asked.

"Klaus," Luka replied, "we both want him dead."

Lorelei paled, her face dropping. Caroline stared down at the boy in shock before quickly looking over at Lorelei.

"You want to kill Klaus too, why?" Lorelei demanded.

"Because he has her," Luka breathed out, "we have to get her away from him."

Lorelei tilted her head, eyes blazing with anger. It unnerved Jeremy and Bonnie, and made them uneasy. Caroline set a hand on Lorelei's back gently.

"Who? Who are you talking about?" Bonnie asked.

"My sister."

"His sister?" Jeremy repeated, confused.

"Why does he have her?" Bonnie wondered, frowning down at her friend.

"He's searching for a way to undo the curse without the doppelganger," Luka breathed. Lorelei's brows furrowed. So not only was her mother looking for ways to not use Elena or to save Elena, but so was her uncle? "He's forced generations of witches to help him for centuries."

"What has Elijah promised you?" Lorelei asked, her frown deepening.

"If we help Elijah kill Klaus... he's promised to return her to us," Luka says back.

Caroline frowned, rubbing Lorelei's back.

"And how do you kill Klaus?" Bonnie asked. Luka

"Bonnie," Caroline hissed as Lorelei's anger flared.

"How do you kill an Original vampire?" Bonnie ignored the warning, not even opening her eyes. Luka tries to shift away, his powers trying to wake him from his trance when he feels a familiar presence.

His eyes shoot open, terror in his eyes as he breathes heavily. "They'll kill me if I tell you," he rasps out, his heart pounding, "don't make me."

Caroline knows who Luka's referring to when he says 'they'. She had no doubt that the Originals' survived as long as they did because of people's lack of knowledge on how to kill them.

"It's okay, Bonnie. We can find another way," Jeremy cut in.

"No," Bonnie dismissed, closing her eyes tighter and pulling Luka back under the trance. "How will you kill Klaus?"

"After the sacrifice, they will be vulnerable, weak. It's our only chance," Luka says and Lorelei feels her heart drop. Caroline pales. "You kill one, the other will follow."

"After the sacrifice?" Caroline whispers, her heart in her throat. Her girlfriend's brother wants to kill Athena. He wants to take Athena away from Lorelei, from Davina, from her, from Hayley, from Jenna and Bianca. He wants to rip their family apart.

Lorelei puts a hand on her chest. After centuries of trying to find a cure, after centuries of her uncle and mother searching for ways to break the curse to keep her mother from dying... after centuries of Elijah begging for forgiveness... he's going to betray them? Right when they were about to free her mother?

"What do you mean, after?" Bonnie asked.

"They will be vulnerable," Luka mutters.

"'They'? Who is 'they'?" Bonnie demanded.

"Klaus and his sister. He wants to break it for her," Luka said, Athena's magic overpowering Bonnie's and keeping him from saying her name.

"Who is his sister?"

Luka doesn't reply. Caroline and Lorelei share a look, swallowing hard.

Bonnie frowned but left it. "Elena will be dead."

"Yes," Luka whispers, "Elena has to die."

Jeremy shakes his head in denial. Bonnie opens her eyes, glossy and sad as she looks over at Jeremy.

Luka jerks awake with a gasp, sweat beading on his forehead and down his face. He whips around, crawling backward with wide, terrified eyes. "I—I didn't—Elijah—I can explain, please!" He pleaded, trembling from pure fear as he stared into the dark blue eyes.

All of them turn, finding Athena standing in the doorway. Lorelei frowned when she noticed that her mother didn't look the least bit surprised at all the information. She doesn't even look hurt. Like she knew.

The redhead moves closer to him, stepping past Bonnie. She squats down in front of the warlock who curls into himself, trying to squeeze into the wall. He closes his eyes, breathing heavily and quickly.

Athena tilts her head a bit and sets her hand on his back. He calms instantly, his whole body sagging against the wall. His eyes open slightly, meeting her gaze. It's not angry, not anything really. It's kind of blank. "Niklaus has your sister?" She asked, tilting her head. She does remember her brother saying something to her about a witch helping him out.

Luka nods slowly, still terrified.

"And Elijah promised you that he'd return her?"

Luka nods once more.

Athena hums, looking sympathetic toward him. "He lied to you," she says bluntly.

Luka frowns, confused. "No... no, he gave us his word."

Athena scowls and he flinches a bit. "His word means nothing. Your sister won't survive if Niklaus gets wind of what he's doing. She probably won't even survive the ritual."

Luka's eyes tear up at the prospect of his sister dying. "But... but Elijah's the noble one..."

Athena hums, "he's far from noble, little one. Shall I show you?" She asked, raising her hand toward his head.

Luka flinches once more, shaking his head. "I believe you," he whispers, looking down.

Athena nods. "You will continue with your plan. Help Elijah, keep his trust—"

"Mom," Lorelei protested, looking annoyed at the prospect.

"You will report everything to me," Athena continues without glancing back at her daughter.

Luka swallows, "but he'll kill me."

Athena holds out a ring. Luka stares at it in awe, telling her the stories of the immortality ring. His fingers shake as he reaches for it. Athena lets him take it. "We have a deal?" She asked.

Luka looks at her and nods firmly. "I... I'm sorry... I didn't want to, but my dad—my sister—"

"I understand," Athena says with a nod, "trust me, I understand." 

┍ ∞ ○ ∘ ɹǝʌǝɹoɟ puɐ sʎɐʍlɐ ∘ ○ ∞ ┙

KATHERINE WALKS INTO the shed, flicking on the light. She wonders if she should be doing more to comfort Elena. She wonders if she should just come clean. She frowned, walking over to the wood and reaching down to pick some up.

She paused when she sensed somebody. She turned, finding one of the wolves from the fight the other day. She's shot in the chest before she could really register what was happening. She hisses, frowning in annoyance.

"Gonna need more than that, dog," she sneered, shooting toward him. She disarms him easily, shoving him into the wall. He punches her but it doesn't faze her. Her hand wraps around his neck, annoyed. "You werewolves... Athena shouldn't have kept so many of you alive."

The gun goes off again and she growls at the pain erupting from her back. She turns and is shot in the head. She collapsed into a heap on the ground, pain radiating from her head. She whines softly, annoyed.

"Fucking should've killed you," she mutters under her breath. Tyler stands over her, watching her hesitantly.

Franklin, the older werewolf, takes the gun and shoots her in the back again. She groaned. Her fingers begin to dig for the bullet in her head.

"Keep her down," Franklin tells Tyler seriously, holding out the gun to him again, "if she moves... kill her." He hands Tyler the stake that the woman made him drop.

Tyler looks down at the woman who shares the same face with his friend.

"Don't move," Tyler says, pointing the gun at her as she shakily drops the bullet on the ground.

"Just let me get the bullets out," she said, "it punctured my heart. I need to get it out." She was lying, but whatever. She needed to get to Elena before those stupid wolves did.

"I don't think so," Tyler says, looking outside for a moment before looking back at her.

"Ugh, why are you doing this?" Katherine asked, rolling onto her back with a huff, "I thought Elena was your friend."

"I can't let you break the curse," Tyler replied and Katherine groaned a bit, annoyed. Of course, it was about that stupid curse.

"You know about that?" She asked, sighing.

"You're liars, all of you. Especially Elena. Caroline. Lorelei. All of them," he said.

Katherine rolled her eyes. "You boys, so dramatic. You try living in a town where there's a council wanting vampires dead. Caroline, Elena, Lorelei... they were protecting themselves and their family. You didn't earn their trust enough to be clued in. Had you waited, perhaps they would've let you in. Especially Athena. She liked you..." She coughed a bit, the bullets shifting uncomfortably under her skin, "now... now she probably wishes you were older so she could rip you to pieces." She laughed a bit.

Tyler shoots her in the leg and Katherine grimaces, her face pulling in annoyance as she glares up at the wolf.

"I don't wanna break the curse," Katherine tried then, needing a different tactic, "I just wanna protect Elena."

"I wanna break the curse!" Tyler spat, "I can't be like this forever!" Katherine rolled her eyes a bit. "Elena will be fine!"

Katherine raised an eyebrow, smirking sarcastically at the boy. "They didn't tell you that part, did they?" She laughed mockingly, "who are the liars now?"

"Tell me what?" Tyler demanded, uneasy.

"In order to break the curse," Katherine drawls, looking up at him with dead eyes, "Elena has to die."

Tyler's arms lower slightly, his heart dropping. 

┍ ∞ ○ ∘ ɹǝʌǝɹoɟ puɐ sʎɐʍlɐ ∘ ○ ∞ ┙

INSIDE, ELENA SHIVERS as she walks back into the main part of the house. She frowns a bit when she sees the entrance open. "Are you growing the trees out there?" Elena called sarcastically, smiling at her own joke as she crossed her arms.

When there was silence, Elena's brows furrowed uneasily. She looked around, rubbing her hands over her arms. She took a step toward the door. "Katherine?" She called worriedly.

Elena's fingers grip the handle of a knife, silently pulling it off the counter and advancing toward the door with quiet steps. She walks out of the house, looking toward the shed.

"Katherine, what are you doing out there?" She called, tilting her head. She whips around when she senses somebody, shoving the knife through their stomach. He growls in pain, falling to his knees. She runs inside, slamming the door behind her and locking it.

She sprints upstairs, making sure to keep her steps silent. A loud crash comes from downstairs and she knows that door did nothing to deter the man.

"I can smell you," he calls.

She breathes shakily for a moment, thinking. Then she pulls off her sweater, leaving it in the first bedroom. She pulls off her shirt next, leaving it in one of the other rooms and closing the door. She quickly runs into another room, closing the door behind her and leaning against the wall. She puts a hand over her mouth to keep herself quiet.

When she hears him go into one of the other rooms, she quickly slips out of the room, rushing downstairs silently. She notices the door slightly open and slams it closed before running into her parent's old room.

She smirks and goes into the closet. She quickly grabs a stake and hides. She watches as the man enters the room, heading for the closet. She hears him move around in there before shoving open the secret room.

She comes up behind him, stabbing the stake into his shoulder. He cries out in pain, falling to the ground. She picks up the knife and runs out of the house.

She hears the man make a noise, like something squishy. She spins around, her eyes wide as she watches an unknown blonde man rip out the werewolf's heart and shove him to the ground, looking bored.

Katherine stumbles into the car, frowning annoyedly at the man. She was slowly healing from what Elena could tell, her clothes ripped in a couple of places. Elena glances around, her chest seizing when she notices the bodies.

The hairs on the back of Elena's neck rise and she cries out as something embeds itself into her side. The knife falls from her hand as Katherine yanks her down and out of the way.

A roar is heard from behind them and it makes Elena shudder in fright. Katherine is blocking Elena's view of what is happening to her attacker but from the screams and sounds... she knows it's not something she probably wants to see.

Katherine pulled the piece of wood out of Elena's side, watching as it healed. She had a feeling Athena and Elena had linked. The vampire scoops Elena up, zipping into the house.

Elena gasps, stumbling a little and grabbing onto Katherine's arm.

The blonde man appears out of the shadows, his mouth dripping with blood. He smirks at them in greeting, walking up the stairs with a casual confidence and swagger. "Your friend... the little werewolf..." the man says, British accent curling around his words, pointing to the shed, "he's knocked out in the shed. Breathing."

Elena frowns, her head turning to Katherine in confusion. The woman holds onto her, staring at the blonde man with half fear, and half annoyance at his presence. "Tyler," she explains, glancing at Elena before focusing back on the man.

Elena blinks but isn't really surprised he'd be here. After what Caroline and Lorelei said about him almost not helping them when they were trapped, about when Tyler ambushed that morning. The werewolves had gotten to him.

The man crosses his hands in front of himself, eyeing the two.

Elena studies him. He was tall, probably the same height as Athena. His hair was short and dark blonde. His eyes were a beautiful shade of dark blue-green. He looked extremely similar to Athena.

The same smirk, the same nose, and the same look in their eyes. The same accent.

"You're Klaus," Elena said and Katherine's grip on her tightened a bit.

The man raised an eyebrow, his smirk deepening. "And you're Elena Gilbert," he says, "my ticket to saving my dearest sister."

Elena frowned in confusion, brows furrowing. "What do you mean?"

Klaus tilts his head, watching her closely. His eyes move to Katherine, deciding not to answer the doppelganger's question. The vampire seems to understand what he's doing and takes it in stride. "How did you find us?" She asked, not having had time to conversate when he knocked Tyler out and told her to handle some of Claire's goons.

He hadn't tried to kill her yet so she supposes he's being civil tonight.

Klaus turns his head just as Athena appears. Elena rushes out of Katherine's arms and past Klaus, into Athena's arms. The redhead grunts a bit, surprised, but hugs her back. "Are you alright? You got hurt," Athena said, frowning a bit as she looked the girl over.

Elena nodded. "He handled it," she muttered, sighing.

Athena frowns a bit and looks up. She blinks when she sees her twin staring back at her with a smirk and Katherine looking less than thrilled at his presence.

"Hello, Little Athenas. Missed me?" Klaus says his smirk widening.

Athena's eyes light up, looking unbelievably happy at seeing him. Elena steps back and the redhead quickly meets her twin halfway, the two Originals crashing together in a hug.

Athena clutches onto him, her hands fisting his shirt as she buries her face in his shoulder. She breathes him in, so happy to be able to see him and talk to him and hug him. It had been so long. Too long.

Klaus holds her against him tightly, one hand behind her head. His eyes are so soft—filled with love and admiration. His smile was gentle and timid.

Elena thinks he doesn't look so scary like that, holding his sister and looking at her like she is his entire world.

"How—what are you doing here, Niky?" Athena asked as she pulled away, her hands resting on his shoulders.

"I have my ways, little sister. You think I'd let Elijah be in the same town as you without precautions?" He asked, raising an eyebrow in the same way that Athena would. Their resemblance was uncanny. They may not be identical, but they were no doubt twins.

Athena rolled her eyes, squeezing his chin gently. "I can handle myself," she tells him as she pulls away.

"I know that," he frowns, looking offended that she would think him believing her incapable.

Elena thinks his expression's a little funny, smiling in amusement.

Athena waves her hand and the dead bodies all come together in a heap near the car. Her hand lights up in a flame and she throws the ball of fire onto the collection.

Elena steps away a bit when the flames grow at an alarming rate.

"What happened?" Athena asked, turning to Katherine who was leaning against the doorway.

"Oh, just some werewolves showing up blabbering about not wanting us to undo the curse first because they want to undo the curse so they can stop living like they are," Katherine drawls, waving her hand around with a roll of her eyes, "then Claire's goons showing up to try and kill Elena blah, blah."

Klaus' face pulls back in disgust at the mention of the familiar name. "Ew. That wench is still alive?" He asked and Elena almost laughed. He looks over at Katherine, frowning a bit, "I thought you killed her."

Katherine groaned, "so did I."

Athena shrugged. "It doesn't matter. She's alive and we need her dead now. Permanently," she said, crossing her arms.

Elena nodded, shivering a bit and crossing her arms. She rubs them with her hands trying to keep warm. "I'd love to talk about how to kill the many people trying to kill me. Inside. Where I can be warm. Not all of us can't feel cold," she grumbles, walking past the two Originals and the 500+-year-old vampire to get into the house.

"Well, she's certainly a Petrova," Klaus said with a scrunched face.

Athena rolled her eyes, knowing how he felt about Petrova doppelgangers. After two, he's overseeing another. She moved to enter the house but paused when she realized she wasn't invited in.

"Elena!" She called, annoyed, as she heard the girl laughing from somewhere in the house. 

┍ ∞ ○ ∘ ɹǝʌǝɹoɟ puɐ sʎɐʍlɐ ∘ ○ ∞ ┙

ELENA SITS BY the fire, the three vampires talking quietly in the kitchen. Klaus had made it clear that he wasn't going to do anything to Katherine, that he wasn't here for her. Yet. There would come a time when he would, but for now, they were being civil with each other.

Well, when they weren't throwing things at each other or arguing. Athena hadn't been impressed with either of them, tossing them both in the lake when they got too aggressive.

Elena glanced over at the door as it opened slowly. Klaus disappeared before any of them could blink. Athena frowned over at Tyler as he slowly entered. He glanced between them all hesitantly, his heart beating wildly. His eyes focused on Elena.

"Tyler?" Elena asked, not surprised since Klaus had told her he was here, but curious as to why he was still here.

He swallowed hard, his eyes a little red. "I didn't know what they were gonna do to you," he said, his voice tight as though he was about to cry, "I didn't." Elena glanced over at Katherine and Athena. "I just... I didn't want to be like this anymore."

Elena gave him a sympathetic look. She got up, making her way over to her old friend. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

He hugged her back, closing his eyes. "I'm sorry, Elena," he said sincerely, his voice shaking.

"I know," Elena whispered, rubbing his back a bit and resting her cheek against his shoulder. She knew how hard this could be on a person. She had time to slowly adjust, but Tyler had been thrust into their world by a man who was now dead because of them. "I can forgive you... as long as you don't try to kiss Lorelei again," she said seriously into his ear, her grip around his shoulders tightening, "or I'm going to cut off your dick."

Tyler pales a little at the threat. "No—noted," he coughs, nodding against her shoulder, "I—it was a mistake. It won't ever happen again. Promise."

Elena smiled, "good."

Katherine slaps a five-dollar bill into Athena's hand much to her chagrin, frowning at the scene. Athena smirked, stuffing the bill into her pocket. 

┍ ∞ ○ ∘ ɹǝʌǝɹoɟ puɐ sʎɐʍlɐ ∘ ○ ∞ ┙

"LOOKING FOR THIS?" All the wolves turn toward the new voice. Elijah leans against the pillar as he holds up the moonstone. Damon looks over at him, confused and curious but smirks at the sight of him.

Stefan's brows furrow in confusion as he watches the Original. He's lying on the ground, a bullet in his chest rendering him weak. Damon is sitting in a chair with a chain around his neck that has wooden nails in it.

Elijah takes his hand out of his pocket, steps down the stairs, and holds it up. He smirks as he sets it on the book. He gestures to it, stepping back. "Go ahead. Take it," he waves off, looking down.

One of the werewolves run toward it. He meets them in the middle, yanking his heart out with ease. The wolf drops onto the couch and Elijah sets the heart down. Two more wolves run toward him, but he easily rips their hearts out as well.

Damon watches him with an impressed look, smirking. Jules disappears while the man holding Damon's torture device squats down into a ball, pulling his jacket over his head.

Elijah walks toward him leisurely. "What about you, sweetheart, huh?" He asked, watching as the man popped back up. He's taller than Elijah, though the Original is much more intimidating. He looks up at him, placing a hand on his cheek. "You want to take a shot?" The man shakes his head quickly. "No? Yes? No?" He looks away toward where Jules disappeared, "where's the girl?"

Damon looks around, brows furrowed. "I don't know," he admits.

Elijah looks back at the werewolf and then at Damon, his hand dropping to the wolf's shoulder. "It doesn't really matter," he said, looking back at the man. He bashes his elbow into the wolf's face, his neck snapping and his body collapsing onto the ground.

Elijah walks over to Damon, grabs the chain on his wrist, and yanks it off with ease. He continues to rip the chains apart to free the young vampire while Damon stares up at him, a small smirk on his lips.

Elijah stares at him for a moment, holding the chains that previously surrounded Damon's torso up. He drops it, stepping back and jerking his head a bit to get the hair out of his face. He doesn't even acknowledge Stefan who was digging the bullet out and watching them with a confused expression.

"You realize this is the third time I've saved your life now?" Elijah asked with a mocking smirk.

Damon leaned his head back in the chair, "if you weren't so pretty I'd probably be upset," he replied.

Elijah smirked a little though it wiped from his face quickly when he realized that this man was in Athena's circle. He was already going to hurt her terribly, he didn't want to add to it.

He turns away from Damon, walking over to the moonstone and plucking it from its place. "Do try to stay out of trouble," Elijah said, glancing between the two brothers before walking out of the house.

┍ ∞ ○ ∘ ɹǝʌǝɹoɟ puɐ sʎɐʍlɐ ∘ ○ ∞ ┙

KLAUS DROPS HIS jacket over Elena's sleeping form, watching her closely for a moment. She was so young. He turns from her, going back to his sister and Katherine.

"You haven't told her?" He asked his sister, sitting down at the table.

Athena shrugged, leaning back in her chair. "Katherine hasn't told her either," she replied.

Klaus frowned a bit, looking over at Katherine. "Seriously? I thought that'd be the first thing you'd do. Besides trying to get her to run," he said, crossing his arms.

Katherine frowned back at him. "Would you tell Marcel?" She shot back.

"He doesn't like me," Klaus shrugged, "and no, I probably wouldn't."

Katherine rolled her eyes at the man.

Athena tapped her fingers in a rhythm on the table. "You have Greta Martin?" She asked her brother, raising an eyebrow at the blonde man.

Klaus raised an eyebrow back but nodded.

"You'll have to release her soon," she said.

Klaus' brows furrowed, "I will not be doing that. What could you possibly want her released for?"

"I have a deal with Luka Martin. Elijah is... well, not being particularly honest with me. He has no control over you either and I know that you'd kill the witch as soon as you were finished with her," she waved her hand around with a bored expression, speaking casually about her brother betraying her like it happened every day.

"Pardon you. I've grown fond of witches," he frowned at her, "I wouldn't've killed her. Probably just had you wipe her memories and send her on her way. She has been a help even if she's found nothing to help me."

Athena and Katherine glanced at each other, scrunching their noses. "Keep your sexscapades to yourself," Katherine muttered, "nobody wishes to hear about that."

Klaus shrugged. "If I release this witch, per your request, who would complete the ritual? I believe you will be the one participating—can't really do both."

"You wound me," Athena deadpanned, but gestured to Katherine, "but your bestie here has gracefully extended her services."

Klaus groaned a bit. "This means I can't kill her though," he whined, pouting at his sister.

"Oh, if you wanted me dead I'd be dead," Katherine said, rolling her eyes.

"Yes," Klaus agreed.

"But I'm not."

"Yet."

Katherine gave him a dry look, not looking afraid at all. Klaus had half a mind to smack her head off right then but one look from Athena had him sinking into his chair with a huff.

Athena's phone rang a second later and she looked over at it. She frowned when she saw Damon calling her. She picked it up, answered it, and put the phone to her ear. "Make it quick," she said.

"Rude. Also, Jeremy called me. He said that the witch said that Elijah was planning on sacrificing Elena the whole time. Hoping you could pass that along to our resident princess."

Athena hummed, rubbing her eyebrow. "Elijah is very careful with his words, Damon. Elena knew the deal she made with him," she said, running a hand over her hair as she listened to said girl shift a bit on the couch, "he promised to protect all of us. He never said a word about her."

"You knew about this?" Came Stefan's outraged voice.

Klaus shifted a bit, uncomfortably. Katherine raised an eyebrow at him, confused by his behavior.

Athena sighed heavily, leaning back. "I did. She talked with me about it," she admits.

"What the fuck, Athena? You're just going to let Elena die? God, all this talk about you being so much better than both of us, but you're really just a piece of shit."

"Stefan, shut the fuck up. You're acting like a child," Damon cut in, sounding annoyed, "you have a plan, right, Athena?"

Athena met Klaus and Katherine's eyes. "Yes. Yes, I do." It just wasn't one either of them would like.

"See? Cool. We'll talk later. Bye, Athena." The call disconnected. Athena set her phone on the table.

All of them were silent for a moment, unsure of what to say. Then Klaus spoke up, "why are you here, Katerina? I expected Elena to want to have one last romantic weekend with her boyfriend."

"Ex-boyfriend," Elena corrected as she slowly sat up. The couch was very comfortable, but she'd rather be sleeping in a bed. She rubbed her eyes, glancing at the three vampires.

"Hmm," Klaus nodded, "good for you." All three women stared at him and he raised his hands in surrender. "Or not. Bloody hell."

Athena rolled her eyes, patting his cheek gently. Elena scoffed through her nose, getting up and heading to her parent's old room. Katherine just shook her head.

Elena frowned when she saw an envelope on the bed with her name on it. She got ready for bed before she sat down and opened it.

Dear Elena,
I'm leaving. I can't stay in Mystic Falls with what I am. Thank you for being so forgiving with me, it means more than you could ever know. Lorelei has been there for me and I know that I screwed it up. She, Caroline, and Hayley have been there for me more than anybody has been there for me my entire life. I kinda fell for her. I don't know how anyone wouldn't because she's pretty incredible. But she never wanted me. She talked about you, and her eyes lit up when you called her that night. She loves you and she needs you and to be honest, she deserves someone like you.

So you be good to her, okay? I'll have to kick your ass if you're not. (That was a joke, I have a feeling you'd hand me my heart on a platter if I tried.) (But seriously, be good to her.)

See you around, 'Lena.

—Ty

Elena smiled slightly. She hoped that wherever he went, he found himself and accepted what he was. Her eyes ran over the last two sentences of the first paragraph, her heart swelling a bit.

It was too bad she was going to die.

AN: thank you for reading!! i hope you enjoyed.

edited:
finished: 02/03/24
wc: 6202