Cruel Summer • Vampire Diaries

081. know thy enemy

The group entered the house and walked around, though suddenly, Damon was unable to move. He instantly glanced at Lexa, "Whatever witchy prank you're playing, don't. It's not funny." He insisted, as Lexa frowned. "Dude... I'm not doing anything." She replied, causing Damon to look at Bonnie instead. "I'm not doing anything either." The Bennett insisted.

"I can't move." Damon stated, as Lexa just shrugged "Not the worst thing that has happened today." She admitted, happy to continue on with her day and leave Damon, as the Salvatore frowned.

Damon's skin suddenly began to burn, as if his daylight ring wasn't working. "I don't think the witches like you being here." Bonnie stated as Jeremy grinned, "I guess this is the right place." He said. "I'm gonna go wait outside." Damon declared, before suddenly vampire speeding outside.

"Can you hand me the grimoire?" Bonnie asked Lexa, moments later. "Are you sure about this?" Jeremy asked, watching Lexa hand Bonnie the grimoire. "Are you worried about us?" Lexa asked, as Jeremy frowned, "Yeah, of course I am!" He insisted, seeming surprised that his sister would even ask that.

Bonnie and Lexa began to read together from the grimoire, as whispering voices could be heard throughout the witch house. "What is that?" Jeremy asked. "The spirits of the witches who died here. I can feel them." Bonnie explained. "All right. What are they saying?" Jeremy asked. "It's hard to tell." Lexa answered her brother.

Suddenly, Bonnie got up, and began to head down to the basement. Lexa followed her. "Where are you going?" Jeremy asked them, before he followed after them.

"Here. This is it. Help me set the candles." Bonnie insisted, as Lexa and Jeremy helped to set up the candles, as the whispers were getting louder.

"What the hell are they saying?" Jeremy asked as Bonnie concentrated and closed her eyes for a moment, before she reopened them. "What is it?"

"Nothing."

All the candles suddenly lit up at the same time.

Bonnie half smiled, "They're ready."

Moments later, Lexa and Bonnie sat together, their eyes closed and hands linked. The voices around them kept getting louder, and suddenly Bonnie began to cry.

Lexa opened her eyes, feeling disconnected from the witches suddenly, but noticed that Bonnie was suddenly crying. "Bon??" Lexa asked, "Bonnie? You're scaring me here." She confessed. Bonnie then started screaming.

"Bonnie!" Jeremy called out, as he went to race towards Bonnie, whilst Lexa grabbed ahold of her best friend. "Bonnie!? Bon!?"

The Gilberts were suddenly both thrown against a wall by an invisible force, as Bonnie screamed louder. Neither Lexa or Jeremy could move.

The voices then stopped, and Lexa and Jeremy could finally move. They both got to their feet and rushed towards Bonnie, as she was crying. Lexa threw her arms around Bonnie and held her close, as worried filled her brown eyes. "Bon— hey, are you okay?" Lexa asked gently as Bonnie nodded, "I... I did it." She replied.

Lexa pulled away from her best friend, meeting the Bennett's teary eyed face. "It's okay." The Bennett smiled weakly. After some time, Lexa, Bonnie and Jeremy went outside.

"Exactly how much power can you draw from a hundred dead witches?" Damon asked, as he had expected Bonnie and Lexa to both take in the magic, sharing it, but only Bonnie had... which wasn't what they'd expected.

Bonnie closed her eyes and concentrated, as leaves started to fly around them. The sky turned black and there was thunder and lightning.

"Damn... Bon." Lexa confessed, in shock, before Bonnie opened her eyes and looked to Damon. "The answer to your question is a lot."

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Alexia drove to the cemetery, as Elena had messaged her the address and explained that Isobel had taken her there. Neither of the twins could trust their biological mother, even if their lives depended on it.

The Gilbert rushed over to Elena and Isobel, finding them talking. "So you lied. You did find Klaus, didn't you?" Elena asked loudly. "He knows where I am now. Are you taking me to him?"

Isobel doesn't answer, and looked to Alexia. Without a word, Isobel walked to a tombstone and crouched down in front of it.

"What is this?" Lexa asked, as Isobel cleared some leaves from the tombstone. It reads:

In loving memory
Isobel Flemming
Jan 18, 1978 - May 4, 2007

"My parents, your grandparents, they put it here when it became clear that the police weren't gonna find my body. They visit every week, and they bring flowers, even though there's no one buried here. The Isobel they knew is dead. So maybe there's a part of me that's buried here, the... the human part, the part that I abandoned when I-when I choose to become a vampire, the part that used to dream about the day that she'd know her daughters." Isobel trailed off.

"What?" Elena asked. Lexa just crossed her arms, as she looked at Isobel skeptically. "And instead you got to meet the other part...The part that would betray her own flesh and blood."

Isobel's phone rang, and she stepped away to answer it, leaving the twins alone. After a moment, Isobel returned to the girls. "Who the hell was that?" Lexa demanded, still skeptical. Isobel ignored Lexa and said, "I'm so sorry, girls. I was such a disappointment to you both."

Before the twins could even comprehend what their mother had just said, she pulled off her necklace and started to burn in the sunlight. She screamed as she burst into flames, and fell to the ground in front of her grave. Alexia and Elena watched, in complete shock.

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AUTHORS NOTE

I'm curious, who do you guys ship more with Lexa—Caroline or Sienna?

The endgame is obviously already decided, but I can't help but to be curious 🤭