✓ | 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐂, Stefan and Damon

Chapter 30

The woman let out a gasp as my mate fell to the floor, his legs not being able to hold him. A rush of different emotions filled the bond. Sadness, anger, love, and worst of all abandonment. He felt abandoned. He thought that his mother had died. In actuality, she became a vampire, adopted a new family, and had just left him and his brother in the dust.

The way that she had called these heretics her family stung me the most. Yes, the heretics deserved love, but they were not her true family. You can't trade children. What she had done hit me like a truck as I took a step towards my mate, who had fallen to the floor. Damon's eyes brimmed with tears as his vampire called out to me. I took him in my arms as the woman looked at the scene.

"I didn't know you had turned," Lily informs. Damon looks up at his mother and just whimpers, his vampire flaring in his chest.

"You survived," Damon realizes, "You didn't come back. You never came back. You left us with him. You left us alone. Why? Were Stefan and I not good enough for you?" I try to console Damon and his vampire, cuddling up to him on the floor. "You abandoned your family."

"I couldn't go back to him. I had become a vampire. He would have killed me. You boys were better off without me anyways," Lily tries to defend her actions. "I became a ripper. I would have killed you if I came home."

Damon looks devastated, letting out emotions he had sealed off for over a hundred years. He could barely breath as he whispers, "Who are these people then? The legend calls you all a family."

"They are my family," Lily informs. Damon shuddered, almost ready to pounce on the woman. "You don't know what it was like for me, Damon, living at home. He was merciless with me. I tried to save you. Those tickets to New York, I bought them. I wanted to leave with you and your brother. The heretics have become my family."

"How dare you, Lily Salvatore! You can't just leave your old family! You don't abandon children. You know what, not even my own mother would do this to her children. She never left Mikael when he would hit her. She stuck around because she knew that she had to protect her children as best as she could against him. I grew up with an abusive father. You know what, it would suck to have an abusive husband, but what about the kids that grow up getting hit and beaten? Your sons needed their mother! My mates grew up scared! Damon's vampire is scared of being left alone because of you," I yell at the woman. I turned to the young heretics around the room, all desiccated. I finish with, "These aren't your children! Your children are my mates."

"I was a ripper, Astrid-" I cut her off with a growl.

"So is Stefan! He would still never abandon a child to be raised by abusive parents! I never left Stefan for being a ripper! You stand by your family, your actual one, through thick and thin! No matter how bad, you stay for the people that can be saved, the ones that still have so much love left to give," I snapped. "I'm getting the heretics out, but you are going to leave when they come out. They will be loyal to you no longer. You are not their mother. You aren't even a heretic, you aren't invited to the damn Mikaelson-Salvatore house."

"They will follow me. They will always be loyal," I laugh at her words.

"These kids have never known love. They only look to you because you loved them like some fanatical surrogate. Your love is dependent on loyalty and obedience. That isn't love. You've created a cult," I claim. Lily looks upset at my words. "You're lucky I'm letting you live after what you put the loves of my life through. Damon and Stefan are the best men I have ever met. They have their flaws, but they will never leave me. They love me and I love them. My love will never be dependent on obedience."

Damon clung on to me as I finished my rant. I used my magic to put the woman out. She was alive, but would be asleep for at least a week. "Damon, I promise that it's going to be okay. You'll be okay. I'm here," I soothed him, rubbing his back. He started to sob into my chest.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. I shook my head and kissed his cheek.

"Don't be. That woman is awful. She may be your mother, but she has not acted like family. I have no clue why she would abandon you. You're the best," I compliment. Damon rubs his eyes and groans, looking at the heretics. "We should get them out of here while we can, shouldn't we?"

"I'll get the blonde one."

___________________________________________

When Damon and I came out with the last Heretics, the questions started.

"Okay, someone needs to explain to me what the hell just happened in there!" Stefan grabs his older brother and hugs him. Right, Stefan can feel Damon's emotions through me. He must have felt everything bad that just happened in that world.

"It-" Damon couldn't get the words out. He held onto his little brother, trying to stay calm. Nik walked over and patted my mate on the back, attempting to help calm the poor vampire who looked like he had gotten hit by a train.

"Damon, what did you find in there? Wait, which one of these guys is the leader?" We had elected to leave Lily behind after all. She would cause too much of an uproar if Stefan had found her body in his living room. After all, he did think that she was long gone, dead and had made peace after all of these years. She did die human.

"We left the leader inside," Damon admitted, "I don't want to see her right now."

"Why did you leave this Lily woman, Damon?" Henrik questions. "Was she awake?"

"Look, Lily is not just some woman named Lily," Damon looks to me and nods. The wound was still much too fresh for him. "This woman, Lily, we found out her last name. It's bad, Stefan. When I came inside, I found her. She introduced herself."

"And?" Nik pushes on, clearly annoyed that he could not figure out who we were talking about.

"She said her name was Lily. Lily Salvatore is the leader of the heretics."

At that moment, everything changed. This was no longer about the heretics. This had become a family matter. Lily Salvatore, mother of Stefan and Damon Salvatore, was alive and kicking. It was a travesty.