⭒❃.✮:▹
"He's late." Stefan sighed, annoyed. If only his brother could get his ass downstairs they could have already been back from the old witch house by now.
"Call down, darling. We don't want your hair falling out now do we?"
Stefan grinned, stepping closer to her. "I think that we'll have to worry more about your hair then mine."
Arabella gasped dramatically. "You did not."
"I did, though."
"Hmm." Arabella hummed, before standing up on the tip of her feet so she could kiss him.
When Damon finally arrived downstairs, the two pulled away from each other.
"Would you hurry up? We have work to do. You know, Klaus isn't gonna easily self-destructive. Why are you all cheaper?" Stefan asked his brother, who just ignored him and walked out of the front door. The same smile still plastered on his face.
"Can I come?" Riley's voice came from the kitchen. The werewolf was clearly eating something.
"You have to anyway, love." Arabella answered, before turning to Stefan. "We have to go to school later, anyway."
⭒❃.✮:▹
The witch house
Bonnie was trying to break the coffin open with a spell, talking in Latin. Until she stopped chanting and tried to open the coffin again, but still the coffin's door wouldn't budge.
"Why won't you open?" Bonnie yelled frustrated, closing her eyes in frustration. But when the Bennett witch opened her eyes again, the coffins were all gone.
She looked up when she hear footsteps coming from the stairs, signalling her that there was someone in the house with her.
When she asked if someone was there, the witch did not get an answer.
Outside the house
Damon, Stefan, Arabella and Riley were walking towards the house, while Stefan was shooting questions at his brother, still not fully trusting the older Salvatore to have not said anything to the doppelgänger.
"You didn't say anything to Elena about the coffins, right?"
Damon shook his head. "No, I said I wouldn't."
"I know what you said."
"Then why are you asking?" Damon asked.
"Because protecting the location of Klaus's family is my number one priority right now. And the fewer people will know, the better." Suddenly Damon held them all back, and Stefan turned to him, confused. "What?"
But Damon didn't answer as he looked at the house in front of them. Until Damon goes into the house, leaving the other three on the porch.
A hybrid got out of the house and bumped into Stefan, teeth and yellow eyes appearing and Arabella shielded Riley away the scene as Damon ripped the heart of the Hybrid out.
"These hybrids, they are bringing the neighborhood down." He dropped the Hybrid's heart next to its body.
As Bonnie made her way out of the house, she looked down at the body, shook her head and walked over to the car as fast as possible. Arabella and Riley quickly followed her, sitting down at the passenger seat and the backseat.
⭒❃.✮:▹
Mystic fall's high school
Elena was preparing Caroline's locker for the girls birthday as Bonnie, Riley and Arabella came walking up to her.
"Hey, sorry we're late, we were held up." Bonnie apologized to Elena.
"It's okay." Elena shrugged. "I just got here too."
Arabella however was doubting that. By the way the blonde's locker looked, Elena had to be here already ten minutes at least.
"Could you pass me the balloons?" Arabella handed Elena the balloons and the Gilbert taped them to the locker. "What got you all running late?"
"We were working on some new spells. You?" Arabella asked.
"Working out with Alaric."
Arabella looked at the locker and thought about the present she had bought for Caroline. She hoped the Forbes would like it.
Bonnie held up the sign with 'happy birthday, Caroline' as she gave Elena a tight smile. Elena took the sign and pressed it on the locker before turning back to Bonnie. "So, I have something I need to tell you, and you're not gonna like it."
"What happened?" Bonnie asked, worriedly.
"Jeremy is gonna be living town for a while. He will stay with old family friend in Denver, until Klaus will blow over." Elena answered.
"Jeremy world just leave you deal with Klaus on your own." Bonnie said, confused.
"I know, I asked Damon to compel him."
Arabella got that. Elena just wanted to protect her family, even if it meant compelling your brother to get out of town.
"You what?" Bonnie asked, sounding hurt.
"I know, Bonnie. But it's not safe here for him anymore. Leaving will give him a better life. The only reason I'm telling you is because I know that you two haven't really walked out on your stuff. And I thought maybe you'd wanna say goodbye."
⭒❃.✮:▹
Witch house
Damon was hitting the coffin with a shovel, hard and repeatedly. But the coffin still did not open as Damon threw the shovel on the ground in anger. Stefan walked into the basement.
"You're wasting your time. It won't open. Did you bury the body?" Stefan asked, referring to the hybrid from an hour ago.
"Any sign of our little hybrid buddies?" Damon asked.
"Nope, just the dead one."
"Alright, Klaus has 6 siblings. Rebekah is now with Klaus. There was one dead kid in the old world, one dead kid in the new world, which leaves Elijah and two others. Three sleeping originals, four coffins." Damon summed up. "So who is in the locked box?"
"I have no idea. But whatever is in here, Bonnie and Arabella seem to think will help us kill Klaus."
So the sooner they can get this open, the sooner we will know if they're right. The only damn problem was. The stupid wooden coffin wouldn't freaking open.
"Oh you think, spirits from a band of dead witches that can make the coffins invisible wouldn't figure out how to open one." He spoke louder but to his disappointment, the witches didn't give a sign that they would help. "Fine, don't help."
"You know that none of this is gonna do any good if Klaus's hybrid friend find our hiding place, right? They need to go away." Stefan noted. If these Hybrids were gone, they could work in peace, trying to get the coffin to open.
"Oh yeah, that's great idea Stefan. Why don't you ask them just to pack a bag and take a long rest while you're are on it. How about to keep the peace? Don't attend to the real thing we are trying to hide." Damon asked.
"Well I'm not gonna play defense when I have what Klaus wants. He does what I say or I dumb his family to the bottom of the ocean."
But would that really be a good idea? Arabella seemed to really think one of the two guys in one of the coffins could help them trying to get Klaus away from them.
"And he kills you and everyone you know like, I don't know, me!" Damon pointed towards himself.
"No, he is bluffing. His family means more than anything else." Stefan answered, knowing he was right.
"You're sure about that?"
"Well I don't know Damon. I mean, I guess there's only one way to find out, right? Call his bluff."
"The only way to know if someone bluffs, Stefan, is to be ready to loose everything if you're wrong." Damon said, but Stefan was already walking away from the room, out of the house.
⭒❃.✮:▹
Klaus's property
Klaus closed the lid of Rebekah's coffin. A glass with wine in his hand. "Sweet dreams Rebekah."
Mindy walked into the room.
"Show her to her room, would you, love?"
"Sure."
When Mindy had rolled away Rebekah's coffin, Klaus noticed Stefan leaning against the door in the other room.
"I'm surprise you're still in town. I gave you your freedom, you could go anywhere."
"I live here Klaus." Stefan answered, simply.
"Well if we're playing this game, then, I was here first." He set down his glass, opening the bottle of red wine and refilling the glass.
"You know, I don't like your hybrids friends. They are everywhere, kind of like flies. I want them gone."
"Yeah, well I kind of like having them around. You know, I'm hurt. I hoped that when I free you, we pick where we left off. But here you are, guzzling vervain like the rest of them, I'm sure. So, how much for friendship."
"Friends don't strip friends from their free will." Stefan said, hate visible in his eyes as he stopped leaning on the door and walked over to Klaus.
"Okay, granted, that was a little extreme, but I get a little moody. Just ask my siblings. Speaking of whom, isn't it time you handed them over?"
"Klaus, get your hybrids out of Mystic falls or I will remove them myself." Stefan threatened.
"You see, if you continue to threaten me, I'm gonna be forced to retaliate. kill people. And it will get messy again."
"Do whatever you want, I don't really care. Or you know what? Maybe I do. Maybe I care so much, that I'll drop Elijah in the Arctic."
"Well, maybe I'll be willing to loose one brother if it means killing yours."
"Try me, let's find out."Stefan decided to try something else. "And I believe someone wouldn't be very happy with you killing people."
"Is everything okay?" Mindy asked when she joined them.
"Everything is fine, Mindy. Stefan was just leaving after failing to make his point." But before Stefan left, he picked a saw up from the table beside them and removed Mindy's head from her body.
"Well, one down. You may want send the rest of them away before it gets messy. Again." He dropped the saw to the floor and smiled at Klaus, before leaving.
⭒❃.✮:▹
Caroline's home
Caroline had finally arrived home from the fight with Tyler, deciding to skip school as she was not feeling it.
But when she entered she was not alone. Jumping up when Elena, Bonnie, Arabella and Matt arise from the kitchen, surprising Caroline.
"Happy birthday!" Matt said as first.
"What are you guys doing here?" She asked, surprised.
"Well you blew of school and miss our work of birthday art, so-" Elena said as Arabella placed the plastic crown on the blonde's head.
"Change into warmer clothes, we are going to the falls. Smores, camp fire.
"Cake, like when we were little."
"Except for the Tequila!" Matt added.
"Thanks, guys. Really, but, I just no feeling my birthday this year.
"I'm sorry, what? You already claimed your birthday as everyone's favorite day of the year." Bonnie laughed.
"Yeah, and now, it's just reminded me that technically, I'm dead. Look, I'm not even seventeen. And the only point to seventeen is to get to eighteen, it's a failure year, I'm stuck in a failure year.
"You're not stuck, Caroline." Arabella said.
"Yeah I am, but it's okay. It's all good, I will be fine. But I just need some time to get used to wallow in it."
"Okay, well I think I have another idea." Elena said.
A quarter later Caroline, Elena, Bonnie and Matt enter the Fell tomb.
"This is creepy, even for us." Bonnie entered first, than Elena, Arabella, Caroline and lastly Matt.
"No, Caroline was right. Technically, she's dead. Sorry. But you don't need a birthday. You need a funeral. You need to say goodbye to your old life so then you can move on with your new one." Elena said as she sat down the white box with Caroline's birthday cake.
"Okay, here lies Caroline Forbes.
"Cheerleader, Miss Mystic Falls." Arabella started as she and Elena put the sparkler candles on the cake.
"Third grade hopscotch champion, perfectionist." Elena continued.
"Friend, daughter. Over achiever." Bonnie said then.
"Mean girl, sometimes, no offense.
"Ah, no taken." Caroline said, while shrugging.
"She was 17, and she had a really good life. So rest in peace, so that she can move forward. That's what you really need. What we all really need. Amen, or cheers or whatever."
They all laughed and Arabella put the candles on with her mind.
"Nice." Elena said, turning to Caroline, holding out the cake to her. "Okay, make a wish."
They all set down, already a bit more drunk than they had been at Caroline's house, seeing as they had drank during their way here.
Matt wanted to grab the bottle Tequila but Elena stopped him.
"I need it more than you do, trust me." Matt moved out of the way and Caroline became visible to Elena. "Caroline, what are you doing?"
Caroline looked up. "What? Nothing." She stopped texting and put her phone away.
"Okay, you're a bad sober liar, and even worse drunk liar." Arabella said.
"I might have texted Tyler.
"Caroline." Elena said.
"What? I'm frail."
"Give her a break." Bonnie said. "You can't control what everyone does all the time."
Matt looked up surprised from Bonnie to Elena and Arabella had a feeling this was about Jeremy.
"Wow."
"Sorry, I know it's Caroline birthday, funeral or whatever but, I just feel it's really wrong to compel Jeremy to leave town."
"I'm doing it to protect him, Bonnie. I want to give him a chance to have a quiet normal life."
"He should be able to choose how he wants to live it, you're taking his choices away."
"Bonnie, you can't tell him."
"Why? Are you gonna compel me not to?"
"You know, you guys are ruining a perfect funeral." Arabella said, trying to get them to stop their arguing. She got that Elena wanted to protect Jeremy and Bonnie was mad that Elena had let Damon compel him to do so, but this moment was not about them. It was about Caroline.
"I'm sorry. I just go sleep it off or something. Happy birthday." Bonnie excused herself.
⭒❃.✮:▹
When Tyler arrived at the Fell tomb, Caroline's head was laying on Arabella's lap, Arabella was sitting next to Elena and Matt opposite them. All of them were laughing at past memories, all quite new to Arabella.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to crash the party." Tyler said.
"So don't." Matt said.
"No, it's, it's okay."
"Can I talk to you for a sec?" Tyler asked. "It's kind of important."
"Are you okay?" Elena asked Matt when Caroline and Tyler stepped out of the tomb.
"Yeah, I want her to be happy you know. It's what I want for all of you guys, in the middle of this crazy life we gotta stuck in."
"Is that how you see it? That we are stuck?"
"I'd say it's attached itself to all of you pretty tight, yeah."
"Bonnie is right, you know I had no business messing onto Jeremy's head. I just don't know what else to do. He is in danger here. I can't loose anyone else that I love." Elena explained.
Suddenly Arabella heard Caroline scream.
"Caroline." She said before vamping out of the tomb to find Caroline. She saw somebody walking away but she saw Caroline crouched down to a tree, blood on her neck.
"Caroline, what happened?" She asked, but the girl didn't respond. Arabella got a better look at the place where blood was dripping down and saw the werewolf bite. "Shit."
Matt came walking over. "I think Stefan just kidnapped Elena."
But Arabella was not paying attention and Matt realized why as he picked Caroline up from the ground and the two ran to the Forbes' house.
At the Forbes's house, Matt saw the Sheriff standing in front of the card Bonnie had made for Caroline. "Sheriff Forbes!"
"What happened?" Liz asked, eyes full of worry as she looked at Caroline.
"Tyler bit her." Arabella explained as they took Caroline to her bedroom. Arabella had been busy on her way trying to call Klaus over and over again. But the Hybrid didn't pick up.
"Oh my god, sweetheart. Be careful. Caroline, honey, can you hear me?"
"I'm sorry mom."
"She is hallucinating." Arabella said, dailling the number again. Again nobody picked up on the other side.
"It's alright sweet heart."
"And?" Matt asked Arabella.
"He's not picking up."
"Keep trying." He said.
After ten minutes of Arabella calling him, he finally picked up.
"Hello, love."
"Look I don't care what you did or where you are. You are going to get your ass to Caroline's house and give her your goddamn blood. I know it was you. Tyler would've never bitten Caroline and, oh, well he is sired to you. So please, Nik. Give me some blood because I can't lose her too." She yelled through the phone, anger and sadness mixed in her voice.
"Look outside, my angel." He said, before ending the call.
Arabella put her phone away again and walked over to the door. At first she saw nothing but then she looked down at the door mat to see a vial with something red.
She picked it up and went back to Caroline's room, handing Caroline who immediately drank it all, the bite disappearing.
"Excuse me for my yelling." Arabella said to the sheriff, who just gave her a smile as a thank you.
"You really do know how to win your case, don't you?" Caroline asked.
⭒❃.✮:▹
Words: 2812
Posted: February 4, 2024
Be sure to comment. I love reading them and it keeps me motivated!
x Kat