CHAPTER NINE
it's been a crazy sweet 16th!

Before the Hale fire, Iylah used to look forward to her birthday every year. But what she enjoyed the most, was watching Disney movies with her mom and birthday twin, her brother, Dylan. That was a tradition they had came up with together and the siblings kept up to it every year. But then... came the night when her house burned down with her and her family still inside — leaving Iylah as the only survivor.

However, after her move to Mystic Falls, the Hale girl became very grateful for the Bennett's. Rudy her uncle, her grams and Bonnie. Three people she loved ever so dearly, and who managed to start to fill an empty void in her heart after her mother and brother died. Her father on the other hand? A whole different story. And after Iylah came out the hospital, then came another birthday tradition.

On the 30th of November in 2009, Iylah Hale sat on the roof of her home and stared up at the stars that glistened in the night sky. It was around five minutes after midnight, when she looked down to the cupcake resting in her hand. The dessert was topped off with vanilla icing and sprinkles, along with a singular candle in the middle that she had already lit by using her magic. She stared at it for a moment, getting lost in the flame until she took in a deep breath and blew out the candle.

She then lifted her head up, with tears spilling in her beautiful brown eyes as she faced the shining stars once again and finally, she muttered under her breath, three words that she wished to a very special someone that she lost in that place she once called home, "Happy Birthday, Dylan."

Oh, how she missed him being by her side every day.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

"So... I know you said no gifts but—" Jeremy was saying, pausing briefly and passed over a gift bag to his best friend who sat on the bench table next to him. While the two were waiting for their other friend, Quinn, to arrive to school, Jeremy decided to use this time to give Iylah her present, wanting to see her reaction when she looks inside the bag. Ignoring the look she sent him and the mumbled groans, Jeremy shrugged innocently, "you know me. I just couldn't help myself. Jenna and Elena chipped in as well. Happy birthday, Iylah."

"Jer... what did I say about—" Iylah was about to scold her friend for not listening to her, when she stopped herself and a loud gasp escaped her lips once she caught a glimpse of what was inside the gift bag. "Penguin fluffy socks!" She immediately pulled them out the bag, letting them dangle from her hand as she shook them ecstatically, making Jeremy's smile brighten. If you couldn't tell, one of the girl's favourite animals is penguins and she loved to wear fluffy socks — especially around the winter time. There were a couple other bits in the bag as well, but she continued to obsess over that she has a new pair of fluffy socks to wear at night for when it gets colder. And of course: "Gummy bears!" Iylah squealed, flicking her eyes towards the Gilbert boy and tilted her head with a hand to her heart, dramatically saying, "Oh Jer, you treat me so well."

The boy chuckled softly. "Well, you deserve it."

"Thank you." Iylah smiled gently before trapping the gift bag in between her legs, on the bench, so she could wrap her arms around his neck when he turned to her.

"Hey!" Matt called out as he walked outside, and the friends pulled away from their hug to glance back and saw the Donovan boy walking past the two. "Happy birthday!" He grinned at the blonde-haired girl before raising a brow. "Are you up for a game of UNO soon? I think I'm ready to beat you this time."

"Thank you, Matt." Iylah said first before adding, as she called after him, "And keep dreaming!"

Matt laughed at her words, knowing the sixteen-year old was right. The two had this ongoing joke from when they started challenging each other to a game of UNO and Matt lost to Iylah every time. It somehow began when he was dating Elena in Sophomore year and he had grown close with her and Jeremy, who became like a little brother and sister to him.

Matt's face then dropped ever so slightly once he had seen Caroline approaching him, with Quinn and Elena a few steps behind her. "Hey—" It was all he could come up with, suddenly feeling very awkward after what happened when he took her home from the party at the Grill.

Quinn interrupted their awkward tension with a squeal. "Birthday Girl!" She exclaimed, skipping past them and to Jeremy and Iylah who were still waiting for her at the bench. Caroline stopped by Matt, echoing his awkward greeting while Elena followed Quinn, wanting to wish Iylah a happy birthday and make sure Jeremy gave her the gift bag. "This is from me and Caroline." Quinn held out her gift bag after Elena walked away, feeling rather excited to show her what she got her, but a frown appeared on her face as the bell rang.

"I guess I'll have to have a look at it in a bit." The Hale girl smiled lightly, knowing how delighted her friend was to watch her open her gift. Seeing as she didn't have time before class to place her presents in her locker, Iylah was going to have to wait until after class. "I promise you, Quinny, I won't open it without you."

The Henderson-Forbes girl pointed her finger in her direction and pouted. "You better not."

Jeremy got down from the bench, before turning to help Iylah down as well with a snicker. "Come on, girls. Let's get to class." He said, smiling as he walked beside Quinn and Iylah, chatting amongst themselves.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Around lunch time, Iylah was currently sat down on one of the benches outside with Bonnie, Elena and Quinn. "And then I ended up at the remains of old Fell's Church, before I woke up back in the woods." The Bennett girl had finished recapping to the girls all about her dreams that involved her ancestor, Emily Bennett.

Elena raised a brow slightly. "And you always see your ancestor, Emily?" She asked, making Bonnie nod, still looking rather overwhelmed over being a new witch. "Huh."

Iylah tilted her head in concern, when her cousin glanced between them all. "Do any of you believe in ghosts?" Bonnie wondered.

Elena jerked her head, subtly sharing a look with Iylah before responding: "Two weeks ago, I'd say no, but now—"

Bonnie cut Elena off and breathed out. "I think I'm being haunted." She admitted to the girls.

Quinn furrowed her brows. "Wait a sec— I don't get it." A frown etched onto her face, wanting to know: "Why Emily?"

"Grams said she was a powerful witch back in the Civil War days and that this medallion—" Bonnie fiddled with the crystal necklace wrapped around her neck, "was hers. It's a witch's talisman."

"And it all started—" Elena jabbed her finger over to the talisman, "when you got the necklace?"

Iylah took a sip from her water and swallowed it before pointing out: "Bonnie reckons she's using it to communicate with her."

Elena nodded, letting out a breath. "Okay... what does Grams say about it?" She asked Bonnie.

"I can't call her." She sighed. "She's gonna tell me to embrace it. I don't wanna embrace it. I want it to stop."

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

"He's bad news, Elena. He really scared me." The Bennett girl was currently driving, and was in the middle of telling Elena about what had happened earlier when Damon Salvatore caught her on her way to her car after school. Iylah and Quinn were sat in the back, listening to their music on low so they could still hear the girls. Apparently, Damon threatened Bonnie, and was very clear on the fact that nothing was going to stop him from getting the crystal back, even if he had to wait to retrieve it from Emily herself.

Elena stared at her frightened friend. "You need to stay as far away from Damon as possible." She strongly advised.

"I'm trying." She sighed heavily. "He just keeps— showing up."

"I don't want you to be alone." Elena stated. "You and the girls are sleeping at my place tonight. We can make a whole night out of it. " She suggested, thinking that could take her mind off of it all, and Iylah's especially, knowing how hard today must be for her too. "Plus, we can carry on celebrating Iylah's birthday. What do you say, Iylah? Dinner and Disney movies?" She looked back at the Hale girl with a small, soft grin grazed across her lips, noticing how the birthday girl perked up ever so slightly.

Bonnie contemplated, looking down at the crystal that she was holding before slowly swerving off of the road. "Whoa—" Iylah let out when she felt the car turn abruptly, and her and Quinn looked out the car window, glancing at Elena who looked just as puzzled as they did about Bonnie's actions.

As she finally pulled the car to a stop, the Bennett girl took off her seatbelt before opening the door and stepped out of her car. "Where are you going, Bon?" Quinn called out after her, but received no answer and they watched as the dark-haired girl huffed and walked a bit further into the field before throwing the crystal away from her. Once it was out of her hand, Bonnie turned around and made her way back to her car and slipped inside.

"Are you okay?" Elena asked.

Her best friend looked her way, noticing that her cousin and Quinn were now sat forward, leaning on the back of the seats so they could be in their conversation. Bonnie sighed loudly. "Now, I am. All my problems are because of that thing. I can't believe I didn't do that sooner."

Elena's brows knitted, wondering: "What's your Grams gonna say?"

"Grams isn't the one being haunted by a 150-year old ghost, is she?" Bonnie shot back. Well, that's true.

"Okay then." Elena raised her brows at her rapid reply, as did Iylah and Quinn who leaned back in their seats, returning to their music and snacking on gummy bears for the rest of their journey to the Gilbert's.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

After Elena had called Stefan over to her house to share with him how Damon has been threatening Bonnie, desperate to retrieve the crystal talisman after failing to just pull it from her neck, they had invited Caroline over to join the party.

It was awkwardly silent in the kitchen as Caroline pulled their food out of the takeaway bag and the others helped set up the plates and cutlery. Iylah entered the room, fiddling with the flower crown on her head that Caroline had gotten her for her birthday, before shifting her eyes between Bonnie and Caroline with a wince. They still had not yet managed to talk after their argument at the party at the Grill when Caroline failed to get the crystal back for Damon because Bonnie didn't let her.

Elena stared at Caroline like how a disappointed mother would and raised her brows towards the Bennett girl who stood behind her, silently asking Caroline if she could be the first one to break the silence and speak to Bonnie.

Caroline hesitated for a second before complying as she faced Bonnie and breathed out an apology, finally. "I'm sorry. There. I said it. If you want the ugly-ass necklace, keep it. It's yours."

Iylah exhaled deeply and pursed her lips. "Well... it was better than nothing, I guess." She muttered with the shrug of her shoulders, earning a nod off Quinn.

Bonnie stared at the blonde, trying to conceal the wince that wanted to graze her lips, feeling guilty knowing that the necklace they had been fighting over, now resided in the fields. "Will you hate me if I tell you I threw it away?"

Caroline looked at her, exasperated. "You— threw it away?"

"I know it sounds crazy—" Bonnie continued and tried to explain to her friend, "but, the necklace was giving me nightmares. I had to get rid of it."

"You could have just given it back to me."

Elena arched a brow at her words and sent her an incredulous look. "Why? So you could give it back to Damon?" She quickly interjected, knowing the blonde trying to get the necklace back for Damon was what started the whole mess between her and Bonnie in the first place.

Caroline took a second before sighing and rolling her eyes. "Screw Damon." She admitted. "Are we doing manicures or what? Who has their kit?"

"Mine's in my bag." Bonnie told Caroline, letting her friend approach her bag to grab it for her.

With her back facing the four, Caroline called out to the Gilbert girl. "So, Elena—" The girl hummed at her, acknowledging that Caroline was speaking to her and flicked her eyes up, "how long do you think this fight with Stefan's gonna last? Is it like a— permanent thing?" She wondered, while still searching through Bonnie's bag.

Quinn scrunched her brows at her sister, wanting to know where Caroline was going with this when Elena sighed, taking a bite out of a fry before she answered: "I don't know, Caroline."

"Why are you such a little liar, Bonnie?" Caroline snapped, causing the four to flick their eyes over to her, looking puzzled at her sudden outburst.

"What?"

"Caroline." Elena reprimanded, believing that her comment just came out of nowhere, until they all noticed the exact necklace they witnessed Bonnie throwing into the field, in Caroline's hand, and their faces fell almost instantly.

Caroline placed the necklace on the table in front of them and stared at Bonnie accusingly. "I'm not lying to you, Caroline. I swear." The Bennett girl insisted, already feeling overwhelmed about this situation.

"It's true." Quinn came to Bonnie's defence. "We watched her throw it into a field."

"Well, then explain it." Caroline's face remained stern, wanting an explanation on how the crystal necklace could've ended up in Bonnie's bag when the girls claimed that she had thrown it away.

Bonnie glanced between Elena, Iylah and Quinn, looking almost afraid, with the first name coming to mind being: "Emily?"

"Who's Emily?"

Caroline was ignored as Bonnie elaborated to the other girls. "The ghost."

"Oh, the ghost has a name now?" The Forbes girl murmured mockingly, causing Elena to hold her hand up to her and tell her to stop. "Caroline, please."

"I wonder why she won't leave me alone." Bonnie continued, with many questions running through her mind, wanting to know why her ancestor was still haunting her.

"Okay—" Caroline leaned forward and snapped at the girls, interjecting. "what is going on? Why am I not a part of this conversation? You guys do this to me all the time."

Elena immediately shook her head at her. "That's not true."

"Yes it is." Bonnie corrected the girl as Iylah leant forward to grab a fry for her and Quinn while her cousin carried on and faced Caroline. "I can't talk to you. You don't listen."

Of course, Caroline tried to deny it, "That's not true."

Bonnie made sure to take a breath before finally revealing to the blonde what the others — mainly Iylah and Elena, knew. Albeit, Quinn already had an inkling, considering she had been mentioning it since the first day of school. "I'm a witch."

Caroline tilted her head at the girl, believing that she was kidding. "And don't we all know it."

"See?" Bonnie stressed, feeling so frustrated that she was proven right. "That's what I'm talking about. I'm trying to tell you something. You don't even hear it." She shook her head and walked out the room, leaving Iylah with a frown on her face as she followed her.

Caroline gaped, turning her head back to look at Elena and Quinn. "I listen." The blonde quickly contradicted. "When do I not listen?" Though she received no response from the two. Quinn pursed her lips, unsure of what to say. She absolutely loved her sister to bits, but in some ways, Bonnie was right.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Thankfully, it wasn't long before Caroline walked into the living room to try and talk to Bonnie and apologise for what just happened, so Iylah exited the room to leave them alone and her, Quinn and Elena waited in the next room, snacking on their fries as they listened in on the conversation until Bonnie or Caroline called them in.

"Girls, you can come in now. We're done." At the sound of Caroline's call, they popped their heads out and entered the room with shy smiles. "Well, there is just way too much drama in this room. So, what do you guys wanna do?" Elena shrugged her shoulders, though none of them didn't really have an idea on what to do yet. Suddenly, a loud gasp came from Caroline who sat up. "I have an idea. Before we watch a Disney movie, why don't we have a séance?" Her smile widened at her own suggestion.

"Uh..."

"I don't think that's a good idea." Bonnie pointed out nervously. She was hoping to lean away from the topic of ghosts and now Caroline was wanting to do a séance?

"Come on." Caroline sighed, continuing on trying to convince them to agree to the idea while she made her way around the couch. "Let's summon some spirits. This Emily chick has some serious explaining to do."

Once they decided for the séance to take place in Elena's bedroom, the girls all moved upstairs and sat down on the floor in the dark with lit candles in front of them.

The five of them had joined hands as Caroline let out a sigh. She seemed to be the only positive one about this, whether it would work or not, though she was still intrigued to know.

"What are we doing?" Bonnie wondered, glancing between her friends who looked just as befuddled as she did, apart from Caroline.

"I don't know—" Elena replied, her brows raising before she was interrupted as Caroline was quick to shush her, clearly wanting to focus on the task at hand. "Be quiet and concentrate. Okay— now close your eyes." She spoke softly as she gave out instructions for them to follow. "Now take a deep breath. Bonnie, call to her."

Bonnie's eyes remained closed, but by the sound of her voice when she called out to her ancestor, she appeared weary. "Emily, you there?"

The others pulled a face and opened their eyes at the lack of enthusiasm in Bonnie's voice, causing a scoff to escape Caroline's lips. "Really?" The girl arched a brow, "Emily, you there? That's all you got? Come on."

"Fine, jeez." Bonnie gave in, taking a deep breath as she closed her eyes before for the second time that night, she called out to her ancestor. "Emily. I call on you. I know you have a message. I'm here to listen."

It had taken a few seconds before something took the five girls by surprise when they witnessed the candles flare stronger, causing them to flinch and release their hands off the girl next to them. "Did that just—?" Quinn asked, wanting to know if she was seeing things right.

"Yeah, it just happened." Caroline spoke quietly, answering for her sister. It was eerily silent for a moment while the teenagers tried to stay relaxed until Caroline gasped, shuddering after feeling a breeze brush past her.

"It's just the air conditioning." Bonnie tried to tell them, wanting to convince herself that she wasn't crazy before the candle flared once again, making Iylah raise a brow at her cousin.

"Ask her to show you a sign." Caroline rushed out towards Bonnie, appearing frightened about this whole thing ( even though she was the one who suggested it in the first place ). "Ask her." Though it seemed like no one was going to call out to her, so Caroline directed her eyes down to the candles stationed in the middle of their circle and spoke up: "Emily, if you're among us, show us another sign."

They waited again for a sign that Emily was there with them, but nothing happened. "See?" Bonnie shook her head, "It's not working." Three... two... one... Suddenly, the windows burst open, making the girls jump up at the noise. Bonnie scrambled up to her feet, "I can't. I'm done." She admitted, ripping the necklace off and threw it to the floor by the candles, which blew them out. It was pitch black now, which only scared her more. "Get the light. Please, get the light!"

"Bonnie!" Iylah exclaimed.

"Hold on. I got it." Elena shuffled her feet over by her door, managing to find the light switch before turning it back on.

Bonnie looked down at the ground at the candles, her eyes widening in fear. "You guys—" Her voice sounded shaky as she called out to her friends to get their attention. "the necklace. It's gone."

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

"Okay—" Elena sighed heavily, facing Caroline as Iylah helped Bonnie look around for the necklace in Elena's bedroom. I mean, it couldn't have gone far right? But then again, how did the crystal just disappear? And considering how tonight had first gone, Elena was first to assume that Caroline had swiped the necklace without them seeing. "fun's over, Caroline. You made a point and I get it. Now give it back."

"What?" Caroline scoffed, with her arms crossed over her chest. She couldn't believe she was being accused right now. She remembered her previous intentions with that necklace, but now she really hadn't taken it. "Well, I didn't take it." However, before any of them could respond to that, a few of the girls just about managed to notice a shadow figure walk past the door, making Caroline look over her shoulder. "What? What happened?"

"I don't know. Nothing." Elena replied and shook the thought off, hoping it would just be her mind playing tricks on her as she approached the door to check the hallway. "Jeremy, are you home?"

"Yo Jer!" Iylah exclaimed, shuffling her feet over to the door. "Buddy, you there?"

Bonnie's eyes darted around the room, until they stopped when she faced the bathroom, managing to spot a glimpse of the necklace in the middle of the floor. "Umm... guys?" She called out to them, feeling quite apprehensive while her feet slowly began to move towards the bathroom, almost like she was drawn to it. The girls turned their heads to look in her direction, watching as she stepped foot into the bathroom and as soon as she picked the crystal off the floor, the doors slammed shut, closing Bonnie inside, making her scream. "Oh my God!"

"Bonnie—?"

"You guys open the door!" Bonnie screamed once again, pleading for her friends to help her as they started pounding on the bathroom door. "Help me!"

As a terrified Bonnie continued to scream, Iylah whipped her head around to look at Elena before gesturing towards the door. "You and Care, keep trying this door. Me and Quinn will quickly check the hallway." She didn't give her enough time to respond before her and Quinn rushed out of the room to check the other door to the bathroom — which appeared to be locked as well, when they started banging on the door.

"Bonnie! Bonnie—!"

And to think it couldn't get any more eerie, but it did. The girls paused for a second as the lights in the house flickered more than once and Bonnie still sounded like she was in pain. Iylah frowned, fiddling with the door handle, trying to come up with a spell that could fix what was going on, that she didn't hear Quinn shout her name as she ran back in the room. "Come on. Come on—" She was mumbling under her breath, and exhaled deeply when it appeared to be no use, so she made her way back into the room and quickened her pace as soon as she heard Bonnie's screams of terror had finally stopped. "Bonnie!"

The sixteen-year old screamed for her cousin as the bathroom door opened on its own. She gently pushed her way through, stepping inside with the girls following her lead and stared at their friend who was currently hunched over, with her head in her hands.

"What happened? Are you okay?" Elena breathed out, expressing her concerns for the girl who just frightened the hell out of all of them. The four of them watched as Bonnie pulled her hands away from her face and stood up straight to look at her friends.

"I'm fine." Bonnie merely replied. Iylah furrowed her brows slightly, seeming to notice something off about her cousin's body language, along with the tone in her voice.

Caroline shook her head and scoffed lightly at her friend's response. "Unbelievable. You were totally faking it."

"Caroline, come on—"

"No!" She fumed with annoyance, not seeing how Bonnie could react so nonchalantly, considering what just happened. "You scared the hell out of me." She turned away from her friends with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Bonnie?" Elena called out to her best friend who pulled her eyes away from Caroline and towards the Gilbert girl.

"I'm fine." Bonnie repeated her previous answer, but it didn't sound like she was trying to reassure them at all. "Everything's fine." She added before slowly brushing past them, causing Iylah's eyes to narrow as she watched her cousin move towards the door.

"I can't believe I fell for it." Caroline commented as she followed her friend out the door, with her arms still crossed over her chest.

"Are you okay?" Elena wanted to know, however was quickly ignored as Bonnie seemed to dismiss her question and carried on walking ahead.

"I must go." She announced rather formerly, and Caroline followed her footsteps.

"If she's leaving, I'm leaving."

"You guys can't leave." Elena tried to tell the both of them before Caroline turned to the Gilbert girl, not backing down when she pointed out. "Oh— I can. I've had enough freaky fake witch stuff for one night."

"Thank you for having me." Bonnie interjected as she stood at the top of the stairs, currently facing the four girls. "I'll take it from here." She glanced towards Iylah for just a second, managing to spot the curious expression on her face before turning on her heel.

"Where are you going?" Quinn wondered.

"Back to where it all began." Bonnie responded as she started walking down the stairs. Iylah was the first one to start shuffling her feet down the stairs to catch up to Bonnie, with Elena mimicking her actions while trying to call out to her friend.

"Bonnie! Bonnie—!"

"Oh my God." Iylah muttered once she realised who she was really talking to. "Emily!" She called out the name that belonged to the famous dead witch that's been haunting her descendant.

As soon as she heard it, Emily whipped her head back to look up at them. "I won't let him have it. It must be destroyed." She spoke, determined to make sure Damon Salvatore would not get what he wanted, before leaving out the door in a hurry, hearing Iylah and Elena's rapid footsteps behind her, in the middle of trying to chase the ghost but they were unfortunately met with the front door shutting in their faces.

As Iylah and Elena tried fiddling with the door to get it to open after Emily spelled it shut, Caroline and Quinn rushed downstairs, completely filled with bewilderment. "What's happening?"

"I don't know." Elena answered, matching their confusion while she continued helping Iylah with the door. "The door, it's not—"

To their shock, the door finally opened, and they flinched as a scream left their lips until they saw Jeremy step inside and the sounds were quickly cut short, being replaced with breaths of relief to see him. "What the hell?" He furrowed his brows at all of them, pulling a face at his friends while he brushed past the four to make his way to the kitchen.

Caroline turned to Elena with heavy breaths. "I'm outta here." She stated, before directing her eyes back to her sister. "Quinn, are you coming?"

"No. I think I'm gonna stay here." She sighed out, standing by Iylah. "But please let me know when you get home safe!" She called out to the blonde who had ran out the door to get to her car, clearly still freaked out about the events that occurred this evening.

Elena and Iylah shared a brief look, knowing they couldn't say much around Quinn and Iylah could tell she needed to call Stefan for help. "Come on, Quinny. Let's get our jackets. We're going." Iylah said, not giving her a chance to respond when she latched her hand onto Quinn's and dragged her down the hallway, giving Elena the opportunity to speak to Stefan freely about the supernatural, since Quinn didn't know everything about it just yet.

Once Elena had informed Stefan about the whole Bonnie-Emily situation, he didn't hesitate to offer his help to find the Bennett girl who Emily was currently possessing before his brother did. But, it was too late as Damon managed to eavesdrop on their conversation by using his vamp hearing and sped off while Stefan was still distracted.

Elena put her phone down, grabbing her car keys before shouting down the hallway, "Iylah, Quinn, come on!" The sixteen-year olds came rushing in as soon as she said that, with their coats wrapped around them and they ran out the house, making their way to the car so Elena could drive them to the Fell's Church ruins.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

As soon as Stefan arrived at the Church ruins, the vampire rushed over to help his brother and pull him off the tree branch. Damon fell to the ground with a groan, "Oh, that hurts." He grumbled and leant back with a wince. "This is why I feed on people."

Emily stopped what she was doing and looked up to find Stefan standing beside Damon. "Stefan."

He turned his head at the sound of his name and saw the old Bennett witch he knew back in 1864, in Bonnie's body, staring back at him. "Hello, Emily."

"These people don't deserve this." Emily told the brothers. "They should never have to know such evil."

Stefan's brows furrowed at the last word. "What do you mean evil?"

His question went unanswered as Damon chimed in from his spot on the ground that he was trying to get up from. "Emily, I swear to God, I'll make you regret this."

"I won't let you unleash them into this world."

"Them?" Stefan piped up, making Emily pull her eyes away from Damon and watched Stefan turn around and look down at his brother. "What part of the story did you leave out, Damon?"

"What does it matter?"

Seeing as he wasn't getting an answer from him, Stefan turned back to the witch. "Emily, tell me what you did."

"To save her, I had to save them."

Stefan's face dropped at her confession, believing nobody in that church had survived. "You saved everyone in the church?"

"With one, comes all."

"I don't care about them." Damon said, standing up finally before pleading towards Emily. "I just want Katherine."

Stefan held his brother back, refraining him from going anywhere and looked at him, his eyes filled with hurt, regretting how he actually managed to believe him. "I knew I shouldn't have believed a single word that comes out of your mouth. This isn't about love, is it? This is about revenge."

"The two aren't mutually exclusive." Damon said, trying to push Stefan away from him, though his brother kept a grip on his shoulders.

"Damon, you can't do this."

"Why not?" Damon snapped, still fuming with anger. "They killed 27 people and they called it a war battle. They deserve whatever they get."

"27 vampires, Damon. They were vampires. You can't just bring them back." Stefan reminded his older brother.

"This town deserves this." Damon argued.

"You're blaming innocent people for something that happened 145 years ago."

"There is nothing innocent about these people," Damon pushed him away, "and don't think for a second it won't happen again. They already know too much and they'll burn your little grand-witch right next to us when they find out. Trust me."

"Things are different now."

Damon and Stefan directed their eyes over to the Bennett witch before the former shook his head, begging her: "Don't do this."

"I can't free them. I won't." Emily insisted before she raised her arms in the air. "Incendia!" At her chant, the pentagram Emily had carved into the dirt burst up into flames, creating a wall between her and the boys.

Damon watched as Emily pulled the crystal off of her neck and pleaded. "No, no, no. Please."

"Bonnie!" Elena came running past the trees and towards them, with Iylah and Quinn right behind her. Stefan turned his head in the direction they were coming from and rushed over to hold Elena back and away from the fire. As Iylah and Quinn came to a stop beside Elena, Stefan held out his arm in front of them and followed their gazes to see Emily throwing the crystal into the air, which caused it to explode above them.

Once the spell was complete, the fire around her vanished and Emily could finally leave Bonnie's body after succeeding her task. Her eyes opened and Bonnie looked around her, mostly befuddled since she had no idea how she got there, however she had an inkling.

On the other hand, Damon appeared furious, and now the deal he made with Emily Bennett was off and he didn't hesitate to speed towards the witch — now that the flames had disappeared — and he sunk his fangs into Bonnie's neck, causing her to scream.

"No!" The sound of her cousin screaming alerted Iylah, and the young witch didn't waste any time to raise her hand forward and used her magic to throw Damon off Bonnie and far away from her, causing his back to smack against the tree before he fell to the ground, forgetting that Quinn was standing right beside her and had witnessed all of it.

"Oh my God." Quinn whispered, feeling shocked about what just happened as Stefan sped over to Bonnie with Elena following suit. Bonnie laid on the ground and Stefan knelt down next to her to check her pulse.

"She's alive, but barely." Stefan said as Iylah and Quinn approached them. "I can save her." He bit into his wrist before putting it to Bonnie's mouth, letting the blood go down her throat, causing her to groan in disgust at the taste. As soon as Stefan pulled his hand away, the girls stared down at the wound on her neck and watched as it started to heal, due to Stefan's blood now being in Bonnie's system.

"Her neck, it's healing." Elena pointed out.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

"Iylah, what the hell just happened? I— I mean— you just— I don't understand!" Quinn struggled to comprehend what just happened, trying to ask Iylah questions with answers that could explain and help her understand the situation. The best friends were stood away from Bonnie and Elena who were having a similar conversation with one another. "How did you throw Damon away from Bonnie like that— with your mind? And how did Stefan heal Bonnie—? And Damon, he— his eyes were— I— " Iylah gently placed her hands on the girl's shoulders, trying to get her to calm down, and when she did, Quinn soon realised. "Are you— are you a witch like Bonnie?"

Iylah pursed her lips and sighed, deciding to stay silent. "Iylah, please tell me. If you're afraid if I'll tell anyone or what I'll think, you don't have to worry about that. You're my best friend."

"Quinn, that's not why I didn't tell you." The Hale girl finally spoke and Quinn nodded. In a world like the supernatural, of course Iylah was scared, but for a completely different reason. "But, I will explain everything to you... and to Bonnie." She glanced to her left to see Bonnie in the car while Elena and Stefan were having a conversation. "I can't hide it from her anymore and I want her to know that she's not alone. I can help her."

"Come on." Iylah sighed and linked her arm with Quinn's once she saw Stefan walking away from a heartbroken Elena before making their way over to the car.

"What a way to spend your birthday, huh?"

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

author's notes!

i hope you enjoyed reading this chapter! quinn finally knows and yes, iylah and elena explained everything to her and bonnie once they got back home.

i would have made more sense if i published this on the 30th due to this being a birthday chapter but i was still in the middle of writing it by then, but anywayssss, thanks for reading, i love you all!! <33