Book: Kindred Spirits
Chapter 14 (2x20)
Word Count: 1726
Cassidy lay flat on her back on her temporary bed in the Gilbert spare room. She'd came by the night before after her fight with Klaus, asking Jenna if she could spend the night, but way too many things were clouding her mind.
Her fight with Klaus, the ritual happening tonight, Jenna being in such an awful state.
Jenna... the best friend who hadn't said a word to Cassidy all morning. Only a vague 'hey' when they saw each other in the kitchen to get coffee and breakfast.
Jenna... the best friend who finally realised how different the world had been. And on the day of the ritual, too.
Flashback - The night before
"Jen?" Cassidy repeatedly knocked on the door, a bag slung over her shoulder. "You home? Jenna, I know you're here! Your bedroom light is on. Come on, please open up!"
But it took another few minutes. Cassidy was about to walk away until the door swung open. Jenna stood there, mascara slightly runny, eyes red, face puffy, cheeks damp with tears, hair tousled. Concern washed over the blonde siphoner.
"Hey, what happened? Are you alright?!"
"Please go away... I want to be alone."
"What? Why?"
"You're all liars! All of you!"
"Jen..." Cassidy frowned in confusion. "Please talk to me. I..." She sighed. "I have no where to sleep tonight. I was hoping I could spend it here."
"Go back to your own house!"
"Caroline is constantly inviting Matt over since our mom is always at work nowadays. It'll be awkward for me. Why won't you let me in?" Cassidy wondered with a frown.
"Elena told me everything, Cassidy! She... she told me about Damon, and Stefan, and Klaus, and Caroline, and Elijah, and Bonnie, and you--"
"I get it. I get it..." Cassidy whispered, her whole body deflating in defeat. She always wished she'd be the one to tell Jenna about what she was. They'd been best friends since Cassidy was ten and Jenna was sixteen. It started off as a babysitter relationship, but grew into a strong friendship once Cassidy got old enough. "Jenna, you were never meant to find out this way--"
"Are you sure you were ever going to tell me?!" Jenna yelled, still peaking out from behind the door nervously. "You're a witch, Cassidy! A literal witch, and you never thought to mention it?! Ever?!"
"There was never a good time!"
"You had all the time in the world! You've had nine years to at least hint at it, but you never did. You just thought we could go on as best friends like normal, as if you weren't a bloody witch!"
"Please keep your voice down..." Cassidy advised, glancing nervously at the houses nearby. "Can we please just go inside and talk? I'll explain everything, I promise."
"I don't want an explanation. I want you to go away." Jenna went to slam the door in her face but Cassidy was quick to stop her.
"I'm not a full witch, Jenna!" She tried to stop herself from cringing after she called herself a witch. She had bigger things to worry about. "I only get magic when I borrow it from other magical species. Right now, I have no magic. Until I siphon some from someone else, I am basically just an ordinary human."
"You... you have no magic... right now?" Jenna faltered at that, opening the door a few inches wider so she could peer further around it.
"No, nothing. I promise. I only siphon magic when it's absolutely necessary..." Cassidy reassured. She tried to fight a smile when she saw Jenna visibly calm down and open the door a little wider.
"You can sleep in the guest room. You know where it is." That was all she said before turning and hurrying up the stairs into her own room, locking the door. Cassidy released a sigh and entered the house, closing the door behind her.
End of Flashback
Jenna probably hated her, but she had other things to think about. She had always been able to get Jenna to forgive her by doing the smallest of gestures, so Cassidy only hoped Jenna's forgiving heart was still in place.
But for now... Cassidy had a mate to go confront. She was not letting Klaus sacrifice Jenna only for Jenna's last memory of Cassidy to be a really bad one...
---
Cassidy had caught onto something else on her trip to Klaus' place. It was faint, but the screams were obvious. It took a few minutes to track the sound, wandering aimlessly through the woods, but then it clicked. The screams grew closer and closer as Cassidy grew closer and closer to the tomb. And when she arrived, what a sight she saw.
"Oh, my God!" She rushed forward, her eyes falling on Caroline and Tyler, both chained to opposite sides of the tomb wall. Thankfully, the seal was down. She did not need her sister to be stuck in there. "Who did this to you?!"
"Klaus..." Caroline groaned out weakly, fighting against the chains that pinned her to the rocky wall.
"May I?" Cassidy held her hand out, and at Caroline's nod, the older sister siphoned from her vampire little sister, and then held out a hand towards the chains. "Dimitte." As the chains unlocked and fell from Caroline's wrists, Cassidy repeated the same spell to Tyler's chains and helped her sister up. "Can you walk?"
"I'm fine." Caroline nodded reassuringly, rushing to make sure Tyler was alright.
"You two better get out of here." Cassidy advised. "Because there is about to be a blood bath."
---
"What the hell is wrong with you, you absolute bloody--"
"Finally come to pay me a little visit?" Klaus murmured, his back facing her as he painted carelessly with detail.
"What do you want from me?! My best friend or my sister?! Because if you take either one of them, I swear you will lose me for good." Cassidy promised furiously. Klaus finally stood up, placing his paint brush down and turned towards her.
"Yes... my witch did tell me that you'd released that girl and the wolf."
"Of course I did." Cassidy snapped. "She is my sister, Klaus! And to think I thought you couldn't sink any lower." She took multiple steps towards him until their chests were just about to touch. Klaus stared at her for a long few minutes until lowering his head slightly so their noses brushed against each other's.
"The sacrifice happens tonight, love. You know this. I have a werewolf back-up, but no vampire. That has to change before the moon has reached its apex, and the only vampires in town are your friends. I was going to turn Jenna just to get a dig at the doppelgänger, but your friends have not been very friendly. You should know what I do to people who are rude to me of all people."
"So, you're just going to let one of my friends die? Just like that?"
"Just like that. I really am sorry, love... but it's the only way."
"No." Cassidy snapped, hardly aware that she spoke aloud. "I won't let you." And she pulled his mouth down to hers.
For a moment, there was no response, and then he shuddered, and the kiss became searing. His fingers tangled in her hair, and the universe shrank around Cassidy. To Klaus, nothing else existed but Cassidy, and the feel of holding her in his arms, and the fire of her lips on his.
A few minutes — or a few centuries — later, they seperated, both shaking. But their gaze remained connected, and Cassidy saw that Klaus' eyes were too dilated for even the dim light; there was only a thin band of blue around the dark pupils. He looked dazed.
"You know I'll do anything to see you happy, love." He said softly. "I won't use any of your loved ones in the sacrifice... I promise. I'll find another way."
Cassidy, still panting, dazed from what just took place, nodded gratefully, her voice soft.
"Thank you..."
But they were interrupted by Katherine's voice butting in as she leant against the wall.
"Keep it PG, please, guys."
---
As night fell and the ritual drew nearer and nearer, Klaus announced that he was going to go collect Elena so that they could prepare. He asked if Cassidy wished to join him in fetching her but she declined. Sure, she didn't like Elena... they weren't enemies, but they weren't friends, and Elena's death wouldn't really affect Cassidy in the slightest... but the doppelgänger still had family and loved ones. She was so important to both of Cassidy's best friends, and after tonight and Elena is inevitably sacrificed, the blonde had to be there to comfort both Jenna and Damon...
Glancing out of the window, Cassidy noticed the moon beginning to peak out from beyond the trees and realised that the sacrifice would be happening soon. She grabbed a coat and made for the door.
"I'll be back in a few hours!" She called to Katherine, who shouted back an 'okay, bye!', and Cassidy left, hurrying to where she remembered Klaus telling her the ritual would take place. And, sure enough, by the time she got there, the moon was already high in the sky and the place was a supernatural disaster.
Klaus stood there with a witch that would help do the spell, while Elena, Jules, and a complete stranger stood in three seperate rings of fire, preventing them from escape. If Jules was the werewolf, then Klaus really had listened to her... he'd got a complete stranger for the vampire. But Cassidy still felt twinges of guilt. The girl was shaking, terrified. Her hair was a deep black, with dyed strands of red here and there, and her eyes were a piercing emerald green. She was truly beautiful, and Cassidy felt really awful that she was about to die.
Klaus noticed her presence and smirked over at his mate whom he'd loved at first sight.
"I was beginning to think you wouldn't come."
"Yeah, yeah. Just do it, it's cold." Cassidy shivered, even if she was right beside three rings of fire. Klaus' smirk widened in amusement and he nodded, glancing up at the moon.
"Well, you're in luck. It's time."