𝐀𝐒 𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 ༄ 𝗦. 𝗦𝗔𝗟𝗩𝗔𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗘 ²︎

𝘧𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯

Madeline had moved Pietro out of the cave, not wanting his girly screams to echo, especially when she already had super hearing. She never took her eyes off him, but her other senses were alert. Upon thoroughly examining his facial features, she realized the similarities between them.

Her eyes were red-rimmed, gleaming with an emotion so powerful that she could barely restrain herself from storming into the cave and getting her hands around Katherine's neck. The longer she waited, the more she feared his eyes wouldn't open.

Diminishing her trepidations, he squinted his eyes because of his new sensitivity to sunlight.

Madeline broke, shattering into pieces and struggling to put them back together. She never felt relief so suffocating as the what-ifs churned in her mind. "Madeline?" He felt a lingering ache in his neck as he lifted her upper body.

She couldn't get a word out, hating the choice her brother now faced. Become a vampire — one of the most destructive creatures on earth — or die and spare the pain and guilt that came along with it. Not remembering what happened, Pietro furrowed his brows. "Hey, hey, what's wrong?"

Realizing his most recent memories hadn't returned, Madeline noticed as his eyes looked at her with a new sense of dread. "Katherine." That was enough to send a realization storming into his brain like an earthquake, nearly splitting it in two.

"Katherine," Pietro repeated, cocooned in shock.

"Yeah, what a bitch, huh?" Madeline said, wiping the semi-dried tears off her face. She fought the urge to beg him to complete the transition, but she knew it was his choice.

"The worst." Pietro nodded, noticing the way the sun hurt his eyes. She helped him up, unable to believe how lucky she was to have him still standing.

She couldn't restrain herself anymore, throwing her arms around him. He was alive — sort of — and she would not miss another opportunity to keep her brother close. His arms stiffened for a moment as perplexity passed through him, but he soon smiled and welcomed the embrace. "I'm sorry."

"You're an idiot for saying sorry. It wasn't your fault." Pietro muttered. He cradled her head, his protectiveness over her multiplying by a million.

She whispered, "Never, ever do that to me. Almost shit my pants."

Pietro chuckled. "No promises." She tightened her grip around him. "Ow, ow, ow, okay! Promise. I promise, Mads, I promise."

✧︎

Whatever relief Madeline acquired from her twin brother opening his eyes disappeared just as quickly as it emerged. Grief and blame attacked her heart. Being erased from existence seemed to be the only way to ease it. She wanted her brain empty.

Placing her head on Jeremy's cheek, she felt her lip quiver. Elena had assured her he would wake up. After all, he had been wearing the Gilbert ring when Katherine snapped his neck, but she knew the truth. Unlike Elena, she knew the piece of jewelry wouldn't rescue Jeremy. He was supernatural, one of the five hunters roaming the Earth.

She could feel his warmth slowly being drained, along with who he was. Whoever he was going to become was gone. Whatever dreams he hoped to accomplish were gone.

He was gone.

"I love you, Jer," she whispered, fighting tears. A pain so powerful encouraged her to scream out in both rage and sorrow. "So, so much."

Flipping the switch was the first thing that came to mind, but she knew Jeremy wouldn't want that. She had Pietro to take care of, not to mention her sister, Elena. She had to step up and clean up the mess. Until her siblings were taken care of, she wouldn't cry. Pressing a kiss onto his forehead, Madeline could feel her power threatening to bounce from her fingertips.