Ayana sat in the kitchen with Esther as they discussed something Elena couldn't quite make out.
Elena swallowed hard as she attempted to ignore Ayana's presence. She had officially given up magic 3 years ago, and she couldn't bring herself to face Ayana.
It had been 5 years since she had lost her ability to do magic.
Ayana seemed to believe that Elena could get her magic back, and yet Elena had a hard time believing.
At least that's what she told herself...
In truth, Elena was afraid of her magic, not that she would admit it to anybody. The very thought of her fear brings her back to that snowy night 5 years ago.
The night that she had ended someone's life.
"If that is all..." Ayana said before standing up.
Elena quickly turned her head towards the wall, feeling uneasy when she felt their eyes on her.
"Yes, that is all. Thank you, Ayana,"
Once the door closed, Elena's eyes fell to her golden bracelet. She was thankful that her mother had created it.
If Esther had not made it, Elena couldn't imagine the amount of destruction that she would have caused.
"You can not spend the rest of your life hiding,"
Elena looked up at her mother.
"What are you talking about, Mother?"
"You are afraid of something,"
"That is not-"
"Elena, do not lie to your mother. If you were not afraid, you would not be wearing that bracelet,"
Elena instinctively moved her hand towards the golden bracelet.
"Mother, I-"
"We all make mistakes, but it is our duty to fix those mistakes in any way we can,"
"What if this mistake can not be fixed?"
"Then you must try to make up for it,"
"Thank you, Mother,"
Esther only smiled at her before Henrik came running inside, with Niklaus right behind him.
Henrik was always at Niklaus and Rebekah's side. Elena was close with Henrik, but she knew Rebekah and Niklaus were closer.
"Sister!" Henrik exclaimed as he ran towards Elena.
"No running in the house!" Esther scolded.
"Yes, Mother," Henrik sighs as he quickly walks towards Elena.
As soon as he reaches Elena, he pulls her into a hug.
"Guess what me and Niklaus just found!" Henrik instructed excitedly.
She couldn't believe he was already 12 years old, it was just yesterday when he had climbed into her bed unable to sleep due to nightmares.
"A pond?"
Henrik shakes his head, eagerly awaiting her next guess.
"An animal?"
Again Henrik shakes his head.
"A tree to climb? I know you love climbing trees,"
Henrik giggled before pulling out a beautiful black rose and placing it in her hands. Elena smiles at him before putting it in her hair.
"Me and Nik thought it would look beautiful on you," Henrik informs her before leaning in.
"We were correct," Henrik whispers before running off.
Elena watched as Niklaus approached her.
"Alone again, Sister?"
Elena gave him a grim smile.
"And here I thought you would be chasing Tatia again. Tell me, Brother, is it tiring to fight a battle you know you could never win?"
"Lilith is always an option,"
Niklaus pauses as he takes in Elena's reaction. Elena didn't like talking about Lilith, and Niklaus was curious to find out why.
"Lilith is a thousand miles away, brother,"
"Tatia says she is coming home soon,"
Tatia was Lilith's cousin, she had come to the village two years ago after her husband had died in battle. Although Tatia had a child, whom she had left with her parents, many men in the village tended to like her.
The only time Elena had spoken to her was when she had mistaken her for Lilith. Tatia looked similar to Lilith, but the differences were easy to spot. Tatia's eyes were much lighter, her eyelashes were longer, and her mouth was significantly smaller than Lilith's.
Tatia seemed like the complete opposite of Lilith, but Elena knew better than to befriend another Petrova.
She hadn't fully recovered from Lilith.
One thing remained constant with both of them, they both had boys chasing them.
Elena wasn't happy that her brothers were among those men, but there was nothing she could do. She had already warned them against it.
"Well, Tatia is a liar,"
"So are you, little sister,"
"And why is that?"
"You told Henrik you would sneak out to watch the wolves with us 3 months ago, and you never did,"
"Because it is dangerous,"
Niklaus shakes his head and begins to walk off.
"Nik, tell me you aren't going out there tonight,"
"We aren't,"
"Good, because I have a bad feeling about tonight,"
"You and your bad feelings," Kol chides jokingly, leaning on a wall.
"Hello to you too, Kol," Elena responds.
"What is it this time?" Kol asks.
"None of your concern, right sister?" Rebekah asked as she brushed against Kol.
"Right," Elena responds.
"Mother is asking if you all are ready to go to the caves," Finn informs.
"Tell Mother that we are ready," Elena says ignoring the groans of her other siblings.
"Where is Elijah?" Finn asks.
"Perhaps he is somewhere with Tatia," Rebekah suspects.
"His lover," Kol adds with a laugh.
Klaus quickly storms out of the room.
"Someone find Elijah, I will tell Mother that we are ready," Finn instructs.
Although Finn was talking to everyone, his eyes were on Elena.
"Fine, I'll go," Elena announced with a sigh.
A small smile appeared on Finn's face before he nodded and walked towards their Mother's room.
Elena found herself wandering the village with no idea where to go.
She ignores the glares from Nora, who knows of what she did on that snowy night, as she continued to search for Elijah. She wished that Nora would disappear from the village as the others had.
When she had finally found Elijah, he was lost in a passionate kiss with Tatia.
Elena cleared her throat, only to be ignored. With a sigh, she ripped the two off of each other. Tatia quickly hides her face before mumbling something Elena couldn't hear.
"Elijah, have you lost your mind? The sun has gone down!" Elena exclaimed.
Elijah looked up at the sky before looking back at Elena.
"Mother must be worried," Elijah said.
"Let us go, brother," Elena urged.
"We will meet later, Tatia," Elijah promised.
"Yes, of course," Tatia responded, her voice full of joy.
"Goodbye, Tatia," Elena says rudely as she drags Elijah away.
"What is the matter with you?" Elijah asks while they walk towards the cave.
"With me? You are in competition with our brother to see who can win, Tatia,"
"It is not a competition for me, I love her. I thought you of all people would understand,"
Elena flinches at the indirect mention of Marcus.
That was all it took for that snowy night to come back to her. Flashes of memories flood her mind. Blood splattered across the snow-filled ground, Marcus's dead body lying in front of her, and Lilith's stunned yet broken face.
"Elena!" Elijah called out.
Elena snaps back into reality, where Elijah is in front of her with his hands on her shoulders.
"Are you okay? You were shaking and crying," Elijah asks.
"I'm fine,"
Elijah watches as Elena quickly wipes her face and enters the cave.
"Where have you been!" Mikael yells.
"I went to find Elijah. We are fine, Father," Elena says calmly.
Mikael relaxes slightly at Elena's words.
The night quickly approaches them, and one by one they all fall asleep.
Elena's eyes snap open, a feeling of wrongness fills her body.
Her eyes quickly roamed the cave, only to discover that Niklaus and Henrik were not there. Panic filled her mind as she stood up and rushed out of the cave.
She finds herself being led right to them. It was as if a path had been lit up and all she had to do was follow it.
She wasn't sure if it was the work of her magic or something else entirely.
Right now, it didn't matter what it was.
As soon as she reaches a place where she gets a good view of Niklaus and Henrik, she realizes she was panicking for no good reason.
Niklaus and Henrik sat behind bushes with a smile on their face as they watched the werewolves change.
Still, they were far too close for Elena's liking.
Just as Elena was about to turn around a wolf launched itself towards Henrik.
She quickly steps forward to help, but it felt like something took over her body.
Slowly she turns around and begins to walk in the other direction.
Everything in her is screaming at her to go back, but her body wouldn't obey.
She walks towards a forest.
She realizes that it's the forest that she had been found in when she was a baby.
A man in a red cloak appeared in front of her.
She knows him, but how?
"It has been a while, Elliana," the man greets as his hand caresses her face.
Elena tried to back away from his touch, but her body would not move.
Then something in her brain clicked, it was the boy who had been in her dreams.
He was even more beautiful now.
"Forgive me, but I could not allow you to interfere with our plans," he says, his hands trailing down her arm stopping at the gold bracelet.
A frown appeared on his face.
"You shouldn't fear your gifts Elliana," he informs.
She heard a scream from the distance, something in her knew it belonged to Henrik.
Tears began to flow from Elena's eyes, fearing the worst.
"Shhhh shhh do not cry, my love," he hushes her as he wipes her tears away.
"For it is all part of the plan,"
This doesn't stop her tears and her small shaky breaths.
"I am sorry, my sweet Elliana," he says, taking a step back as chants fill the forest.
Suddenly her vision begins to blur, and her body feels extremely weak.
"What is this? I feel..."
She feels herself drop to the ground before she can get another word out.
A moment later someone turns her on her back before whispering, "If you had kept that bracelet off, things would not have turned out this way for you,".
Her eyes close as liquid drops on her face, she would've thought it had begun to rain had an arm not touched her lips.
A coppery flavor filled her mouth, making her stomach churn.
The arm is removed from her mouth, only to be replaced by a finger that trailed across her lips.
The chanting only becomes louder from here.
A symbol is traced against her cheek, leaving a burning sensation in its wake.
Suddenly everything stops.
The chanting goes quiet, the screams in the background stop and all that's left is the quiet sound of her shaky breath.
Something was coming, she felt it in every fiber of her being.
Whatever it was, she knew it was inevitable.
Finally, a growl breaks the uneasy silence.
A smile grew on her face.
Even as it growled at her, even as she knew what it was going to do to her.
She smiled and welcomed it because some part of it reminded her of the one she loved.