CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT
×im in love with him×

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SPENDING THE LAST TWENTY MINUTES YELLING AT ELIJAH STILL DIDNT SEEM LONG ENOUGH FOR CASSANDRA. She was made aware that Elijah closed a deal with the Salvatore's and Elena. A deal he had no right to accept. She was livid that he would even consider it. The people who killed Klaus were to come to no harm and they weren't even allowed to bring Klaus back for at least Elenas life span, even longer. Cassandra was trying to make Elijah take it back but he wasn't budging. "I can't believe you made that deal with them." She hissed at him, her arms crossed against her chest as she shakes her head. Elijah avoids the girls deadly glare, not feeling like she had a say in anything. I mean, she wasn't technically together with either of them.

"I had to, Cassandra. They wouldn't give him back otherwise." Elijah says with a groan, trying to explain to the girl but she wasn't listening. She wouldn't. Because that would mean giving into this ridiculous deal.

"We could've just stolen him back." Cassandra states with a snappy tone, glaring at the man who sighs, rubbing his face. Rebekah had been standing to the side quietly, not wanting to interfere in their argument but she decided to stand up for her brother who was getting his ass handed to him.

"We got him back though." She says optimistically, with an assuring smile. Rebekah didn't like it either but it was better to have him back and be able to see him then to never be able to see him again.

"But we can't revive him for almost over hundred years." Cassandra points out bluntly as she didn't see the bigger picture. To her, not having Klaus in the present was the issue. She didn't want to wait years and years to see him again.

"It's a difficult choice, but it's the right one." Elijah replies, realizing the girl was angry but there was nothing he could do about it now. Cassandra scoffs, glaring at him as she did not think it was the right choice at all.

"At least we're getting him back." Rebekah tries to say but Cassandra only rolls her eyes and storms out of the room. The blonde shares a look with her brother before following after the girl. Cassandra didn't stop though until she got far enough away that Elijah knew not to try and listen in. Rebekah sighs as she stops behind the girl who runs her hands through her hair. She just couldn't believe that she would have to spend the next century without Klaus. It was different this time, she actually wanted him in her life.

"Elijah had no right to make that decision." Cassandra sneers as she shakes her head, hating how he agreed to it without even consulting her. This was Klaus they were talking about and Elijah didnt even think she had a right to know.

"Don't take it all out on Elijah. Kol and I agreed to it."  She tells the girl who only clenches her jaw. Rebekah knew she was upset and had a right to be but Klaus was their brother. They got a say more than she did at what happens to him. "Does this make your decision easier though?" Rebekah asks as she raises an eyebrow at the raven haired vampire. It wasn't like she wanted to force the girl to make a choice, it was just putting a strain on her family. She needed to make it sooner or later.

"I can't think about that right now. Especially since Nik is practically dead." She says as she shakes her head, closing her eyes for a moment. Cassandra couldnt just pick Elijah now that Klaus was out of the equation for the better half of a century. That wouldn't be fair on the original when he finally awakens after decades to see Cassandra with his brother after not even getting a chance.

"But if they were both still here, and one day they will be. You can't jump from one to the other for the rest of eternity." Rebekah states as she crosses her arms over her lap. Cassandra takes a deep breath, nodding as she knew it was fair to either Klaus or Elijah when she was jumping back and forth. They both loved her so much and she couldn't figure out what she truly wanted. "They would both die for you, Cassie. You have to make a choice." She says with a sigh, giving the girl a sympathetic expression. It wasn't fair on the girl for having to choose, especially since Klaus and Elijah were brothers. But they were the ones that ultimately put this choice on her.

"I know. But I'm afraid that if I chose one, I'll lose the other and I don't want lose either of them." Cassandra admits as a frown takes over her features. She couldn't imagine her life now without either of them so she was terrified to actually choose. Would the other just leave her life and never come back? "Times were so much easier when I thought Klaus just used me."  She muttered to herself, turning away from Rebekah who continues to stare at her like her mind would suddenly be made up in the matter of seconds. Truthfully she didn't know who she wanted more. But her mind wasn't on having one of them, it was the thought of losing the other that truly made her heart drop.

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REBEKAH AND CASSANDRA MADE THEIR WAY THROUGH THE STORAGE FACILITY, trying to find Damon who had texted them where to meet him In order to retrieve Klaus's body. Cassandra wasn't all too thrilled to be tagging along but the blonde made her. Although, Damon didn't seem to be anywhere that they could see which only pissed the two girls off more. "Damon?" Rebekah calls out with a frustrated sigh, turning a corner as she practically dragged Cassandra with her. "Damon, where are you?" She tries again but gets no answer as it didn't seem that the man was even here. Cassandra rolls her eyes, crossing her arms as she was about ready to leave. "Damon, this isn't funny." Rebekah admits as she too was getting annoyed that the Salvatore was most likely setting them up or just being a dick and playing them.

"Yeah, if you don't show yourself soon I might take my revenge on you after all." Cassandra sings with a smirk on her lips but it falls after noticing the stern look Rebekah was sending her. "Im kidding." She muttered with a sigh before rolling her eyes. They make it a couple more steps before getting pushed against a wall, hands covering both of their mouths. Their eyes were wide as they were met with Damon who gives them both looks to be quiet as he glances around.

Damon didn't have much time to explain, he couldn't even talk to them as he didn't want Alaric hearing and figuring out their whereabouts. So he only lead them to the coffin that had Klaus's body in and helped them take it to the car that was waiting in the main space for them. Before reaching it, Alaric shows up out of nowhere, grabbing Rebekah and bashing her head against the car before throwing her to the side.

Cassandra growls, rushing towards the man and attacking him. Alaric only breaks her arm, twisting her body and tossing her at the wall with a sickening crack. She groans as she hits the floor, her eyes lifting up to see Alaric opening the coffin and raising the white oak stake. "No!" Rebekah screams as she gets up from the floor. Cassandra didn't think of the pain in her body as she sprints up, her eyes widening as she sees Klaus staring back at Alaric.

"Don't!" Damon begs but Alaric only stabs the stake into Klaus's heart earning a loud gasp from the man. Cassandra could not make out what was going on around her a as she watches the man erupt in flames. She could feel the tears falling down her cheeks. It was like everything happened in slow motion.

"No, Nik!" Rebekah yells, trying to get past Damon who wasn't allowing either girls to get past him as Klaus was too far gone. There was no saving him. Cassandra could feel her body shaking, she didn't know if it was rage or sadness but it only pushed her to start charging at Alaric.

"No!" She could barely hear herself as she rushes towards the coffin only for a pair of arms to embrace her. Damon was keeping her back, not wanting Alaric to get anywhere near her. "Get off of me!" Cassandra screams at the Salvatore but he only holds her back, not allowing herself to voluntarily get murdered. Alaric slams the coffin shut, turning to the group with a smirk playing on his lips

"Next." Alaric says as he points at the other original who was crying to herself. Damon clenches his jaw, not going to allow Alaric to kill everyone. He didn't even recognize the man at all. Esther had ruined him.

"Run." He tells them as he helps Rebekah stand up properly as she was still balling her eyes out over her brothers death. Cassandra still had a death grip on him, not being able to bring herself to let go."Run!" Damon yells at both of them, Rebekah not wasting a second to leave. Cassandra only stood in shock though, staring at the coffin as she couldn't believe what she just witnessed. The Salvatore notices this, his eyes widening as he shakes her trying to gain her attention. Alaric rushed towards the girl but Damon only blocked him, taking the hit instead. Cassandra seemed to snap out of it, her eyes meeting the raven haired man's, he gave her a stern expression and she nodded. Taking one last look at the coffin, she speeds off not glancing back.

Rebekah and Cassandra had found Elijah In the woods where he had been waiting for them. He was looking around for a couple seconds before his eyes landed on the two girls. They looked distraught, Cassandra didn't seem to be all there. She was staring voidly into the cool air. Elijah furrows his eyebrows, glancing at them curiously. Rebekah was trying to bring herself to tell him, tears soaking her face. "He's gone, Elijah." She states, the words not even sounding real. Cassandra leant against a tree, trying to unsee the picture of Klaus's body going up in flames. "There was nothing we could do to stop it." Rebekah admits as she cries, shaking her head. Elijah stumbles back a little bit, his face showing pain and misery. He didn't know what to do. He never imagined his brother actually dying. It just didn't seem real.

Cassandra felt numb. Her brain was trying to convince her that it was all fake. That none of it happened but she knew it had. There was no covering it up. There was no running from it. Klaus was dead and he wasn't coming back. That realization hits her like a truck, feeling sick at the thought. Before she could even think, before she could even let her mind picture Klaus again, she says words that she never thought she'd admit to again. "I am in love with him." She says breathlessly, catching the attention of the two originals. Elijah meets her eyes, he knew that she didn't want to admit that in front of him but she couldn't help it. "I'm sorry." Cassandra says, moving towards him but her body was rigged. Elijah shakes his head, not wanting to upset the girl anymore. Besides, it was her decision and he couldn't change it.

"You don't need to apologize, Cassandra. I know." Elijah tells her, wanting to make he girl feel a little bit better. Part of him knew she would always choose Klaus, he just never wanted to let that part in. At least not when they were together.

"He just.. he makes me feel like I can do anything. He pushes my limits and makes me fall on my knees. Nik is my oxygen, I need him to breathe... I need him in order to live. And those years I was running... I wasn't living." Cassandra admits, feeling a weight lifting off of her shoulders. Finally making this decision made her feel whole. It made her feel okay again. "I want to travel the world with him. See everything it has to offer me like he once promised." She adds with a smile taking over her features. Just dreaming about being with him all around the world was like heaven to Cassandra. "I met him at a time where I was all alone. I had no one. I thought no one would ever love me again but he got me to fall for him." The words were like bricks hitting Elijah all at once. He didn't want to hear this but he knew he needed it. He needed it in able to move on. "He makes me complete, Elijah. Nik... He makes me feel--Human." Cassandra could see the obvious shock on both of their faces. Klaus had never been the one to want to be human again, in fact he was always saying being human made you weak. Yet here Cassandra was saying that's how he made her feel. "And I know that sounds crazy and believe me, I realize that but it's true." Cassandra states surprising herself as she didn't think anyone, let alone Klaus, would ever be able to make her feel that way again. "He is my life, who else could it be?" The words leave her lips before she could even process them. Elijah falters, his whole body deflating as he finally realizes he never truly had any chance of a life with her. Even with his brother dead, it was always going to be him. "I can't live without him. Even after all these years.. I keep on finding my way back to him." She admits as she clutched her stomach. Cassandra didn't want to live without him, she couldn't. Elijah was staying silent, not wanting to say anything. He didnt know what to say. "You're a good man, Elijah. Probably even the right man." Cassandra tells him with a soft smile, lifting her hand up to his cheek to stroke it. Elijah tenses, his eyes moving to the ground for a second. "But you deserve someone who loves you unconditionally. Who wants you, and only you. I want you to find that happiness Elijah. And I know that I am breaking your heart but I truly believe that there is someone right around the corner to glue it back together. And I really want us to still be close. I just..." She trails off, tears now flooding down her cheeks as she stares back at the man who looked absolutely heartbroken. But he knew it was the inevitable. Elijah had been lucky to get even the years he had been given with her. He knew of the risk when admitting his feelings. But he'd rather of had a chance then to never give it a shot.

"But you choose him." Elijah finishes for her almost inaudible. This was what she was trying to avoid. The look on his face made her want to take it all back but she couldn't. Because that would mean she was lying and she couldnt do that to him.

"I do." Cassandra says, her fingers fiddling with each other as she looks at the man. "I choose him." She finally says after what seemed like an eternity of trying to figure out what she wanted. Elijah nods, almost like he understood why she had to choose his brother. "I choose him and he's dead." Cassandra states, her eyes widening as it suddenly hits her that she couldn't have anything with him. She made her choice and she couldn't even tell the man because he was dead. "He's dead, Elijah." She says again, almost trying to convince herself of the fact. Elijah frowns, seeing now that the girl was broken. She needed his brother and Elijah wished he could give that to her but he couldn't. "And it's their fault." Her voice was full of anger, her eyes glaring into the ground as she thought of the Salvatore's and the little wench Elena. "I am not running. None of us are."  She muttered almost to herself because the others didn't seem to be listening to her. Cassandra wasn't going to let Elena and the others get their perfect little ending. Not after what they had caused.

"Tyler Lockwood is dead. But the rest survived. You told me Niklaus turned their bloodline." Elijah says as he looks at Rebekah who was just as confused as him.

"I thought he did." Rebekah admits truthfully as she sniffles. She didn't understand it either. They all should be dead right now but they weren't. They were mostly glad that Cassandra hadn't died though, meaning she wasn't from Klaus's bloodline.

"It wasn't me. It wasn't Kol." Elijah says almost to himself as he was trying to figure it all out. Cassandra was barely listening to the conversation, in her own little world as she stared into the emptyness of the night.

"It wasn't me, Elijah. It was Niklaus I'm sure of it." His sister responds as she shakes her head, wiping her tears from her face. Elijah's face hardens as he squints his eyes at the girl.

"Then how are they still alive?" He asks as there was no way they could survive with Klaus being dead. They knew they were descended from their brothers bloodline but nothing happened to them.

"I don't plan on sticking around to find out." Cassandra suddenly says gaining their attention. Elijah stares at her, confusion filling him as he steps closer to her. "After Alaric is dead, I'm leaving." She tells them as she flickers her eyes between the siblings. Rebekah and Elijah share a look, both trying to figure out what she meant. The obvious message not quite hitting them.

"But you can't kill Alaric. Not without killing.." Elijah stops himself, his eyes snapping to to Cassandra who gives him a wicked smirk. Her eyes were dark. He had never seen the girl in such a way before. But suddenly she was gone from his vision making him look towards his sister who was equally shocked.

Cassandra found herself standing in the middle of Wickory Bridge, awaiting the arrival of the brunette doppleganger who was on the top of her kill list. Deciding to add a little spice, she calls Stefan who picks up after the second ring. "You're alive. Congratulations." She says sarcastically, wanting to kill him herself after what he did. Stefan was confused on why Cassandra was calling him, thinking he'd be the last one she wanted to talk to.

"Cassandra." He says, curiousity in his tone as he turns around in his room, furrowing his eyebrows. Cassandra could feel herself breaking but she couldn't allow it. Not until she took the one person's life who caused all of this.

"Elijah spoke to Elena. Her and Matt should be arriving back in town any minute." Cassandra says in a monotone voice, clenching her jaw. Stefan didn't seem to put together what she was calling him about but she was being pretty vague about it.

"Yeah, he told me that. He also said that you guys would be long out of town right night." He replies to her, wondering why they hadn't left yet. He thought that Klaus's death would've made them want to get out of mystic falls faster.

"That's what Elijah said, that we have to run, that the hunter will keep chasing after us. I don't want to run anymore, Stefan. I've spent my entire life running." Cassandra admits as a sigh leaves her lips. She didn't want to run, not anymore. Cassandra never really got to live because of the time she spent trying to get away from Klaus. She wasn't about to spend the rest of it running from Alaric.

"What are you talking about? We had a deal." Stefan states as his eyebrows furrow, not liking how Cassandra was breaking it. Elijah had promised that they would hold up their end and he would get Cassandra to as well.

"I'm sorry but Nik is dead. There is no deal." She tells the man whos eyes widen. She had found a loop hole and there was no way in hell she was going to lose it.

"Cassandra. Please. Think about this." Stefan pleads, he knew it was no use though. She would never trust them again and why should she do anything for them after what they caused. If they never temporarily killed Klaus, Alaric would never have gotten to him.

"If Rebekah and her brothers are gonna survive, we have to get rid of Alaric and the only way to get rid of Alaric.." Cassandra trails off, thinking it was quite obvious where she was going. She couldn't let them get their happy ever after, not after hers was ripped away from her.

"Cassandra, no." Stefan tries to reason but she only hangs up the phone. Her eyes meet the darkness of the night void of emotion. Hearing the sound of a truck approaching, she moves her gaze to the oncoming vehicle. A smirk takes over Cassandra's features as she watches the truck near, seeing the doppleganger sitting in the passenger seat. Tires squealing was like music to her ears as Matt turns the vehicle, it running off of the bridge and into the water. Cassandra only watches it go. Not one ounce of guilt in her body. Elena finally got what she deserved. Cassandra found her death poetic. A full circle. One that this time, no Salvatore was going to break.

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ahhh it was a short final chapter but it is over now. first book is complete! but Cassandra finally choice Klaus. Poor Elijah. hopefully you've enjoyed reading the first book. the amount of support has been insane. this chapter was merely to find out who Cassandra choice and to tie season 3 off. but comment your thoughts!