A/N: Hey guys! I know it's been such a long time but I've recently got back from my holiday! Now there should be many updates especially since I've got back into the flow of this story! Hope you guys enjoy it as it's an extra long one so apologies!
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'Come on, come on, come on!' I was panicked. Not only did the break in my voice alert me to my feelings but the constant pacing around the kitchen seemed to be another piece of evidence. I was alone, trapped in what was supposed to be a secure bubble with a coven of witches surrounding me. The letter on Kol's bed was an indication of how truly screwed I was. Not only for the fact that Kol was no longer in the house protecting me, but the fact that the witches had gotten in and were no doubt still inside.
There was only so much an almost 18 year old Elemental could do. Yes, I could use my powers but they would only be at their full potential in less than 4 hours. I didn't know how long I could wait before I could go after Kol, or even if he was alive to go after.
'Andy. Pleasant surprise. Kind of bad timing-'
'They've got Kol.'
Damon's silence on the other end of the line showed that the news was as much a surprise as my call. 'What do you mean they've got-'
'I mean that they were in the house, wrote a cryptic letter and took him.'
Damon groaned in annoyance. 'You're sure he's not just screwing someone in his room?'
'Damon, he's gone!'
There was a rustle over the line, a lot of cursing too, before someone spoke. Someone who wasn't Damon. 'Cassandra, my dear. Why don't you explain everything that happened.'
I recounted the day to Klaus, only missing out the details like the kisses and the argument. I didn't feel that they would have had any help in the matter.
I could feel the tension over the line. Klaus had lost two of his brothers and was no doubt losing his temper with his allegiance with Damon. 'How did you let this happen?'
'Me?! You're brother was meant to be the one making sure that I didn't get taken!'
'Stop arguing! This is no one's fault!' Ric's voice broke a smile across my face. It didn't stop the pacing though. 'Andy; was there any way to get in and out of the house that was through a tunnel?'
I sighed, dragging a hand through my hair. I remembered a conversation that Kol and I had had about an escape route but I had never used it nor had I ever seen it.
'Yes,' Rebekah answered for me. Obviously the Scooby Gang were all in the same place and I was on speakerphone. 'Downstairs in the library.'
'Let me guess; you pull out the book labelled 'secret passages'?'
The sound of a hand against skin drew a picture in my mind, something along the lines of Rebekah slapping Damon for his unhelpful comment. Knowing him, he was probably grinning like an idiot.
'Candlestick on the bottom shelf. Didn't want anyone who had been spending too much time watching crappy TV shows to be able to find it.'
'You think that the witches got through using the tunnel?' I asked.
'Could they get through the bubble that way?' Ric asked.
'I didn't think they could. But I don't know how the shield worked,' said Bonnie; a tone of sadness in her voice. Perhaps she thought that it was her fault that Kol was taken.
'Great, so we've figured out how they got in. Can we now talk about how we're going to get Elijah and Kol back?' I asked; my temper slowly going.
'Well; we can't jump right into anything. We don't even really know how powerful these witches are. We're just going to have to wait until midnight.'
I gave a bark of laughter; a sound almost foreign to myself. 'Not going to happen. I can't wait for something to happen to him. To either of them!'
'You can't just go barging in! You can barely protect yourself from a persistent original!' Damon laughed. Despite not having vampire hearing, I could tell that the entire room went silent.
'I can't wait.'
'We don't even know where they are! You can't do anything till we find that out, at least.'
'They left an address on the back of the note.'
'Andy...' Ric's warning tone almost made me want to hide away under my bedcovers and never leave the house again. But I couldn't just leave Elijah after everything he had done for me. And Kol...Well...I couldn't leave him.
'Ric; you can't stop me. Lydia wants me. If that's all it takes to get them back, then I'll go.'
'Andy; just think about this-'
'There's nothing to think about. I'm going.'
My phone was tucked easily into my jean pocket and I'd had enough food to sustain me for whatever I was about to get myself into. In hindsight, I really should have listened to the others. Going out on my own was both stupid and dangerous. Something an idiot teenage girl would do at the start of a horror film before they got murdered. Kol and Elijah had gotten into this mess because of me. I'd be damned if I let them get hurt because of me too.
*
Finding the candlestick which Rebekah was talking about wasn't difficult; especially considering it was the only one in the room. It was all well making that the switch to the tunnel but when it was the only candlestick in the room, anyone with a brain would be inclined to try it after they couldn't find a book titled 'hidden switches to tunnels'.
After walking through the tunnel for all of thirty seconds, I wanted to turn around, hide in my closet and wait for Ric and the rest of the gang to come and save me. Yet, something sparked the courage in me, making me feel that I could do anything, should do anything to get my friends back. After all, it's not like I didn't have the power to save them. I just hoped that my powers, even not at their full potential, could do something.
All I had to do was get there and save the boys. I'd left a clue and a message as to where I was going but the letter left on Kol's bed stating to 'come alone' made the situation even more difficult. So, thinking about it, all I had to do was survive. Not like that would be hard.
*
The back of the note led me to a crypt. At this rate, considering it was about an hour and forty minutes before midnight, it really felt like I was in the start if a horror film. I just hoped I wasn't the girl that dies in the first five minutes of meeting the enemy.
It wasn't the setting that made me want to run away screaming. It was the creepy coven witches hiding in the shadows that made my blood run cold. They didn't do anything. They simply stood there, only the silhouettes of their figures visible in the night in between the trees...Standing there just watching and waiting.
As I walked through the trees, my eyes gliding across each figure as though waiting for them to move or attack, I moved and flexed my fingers; the feeling of my magic buzzing just under the skin as though my powers were waiting to be used.
The large building was only a few feet away; its shadow bringing a sense of fear with each step I took. A lone figure moved away from the stone walls; their teeth glistening in the full moon above. I stopped a couple of feet away, waiting for them to make a move.
'She's inside. As is your lover.'
I raised my head high, trying not to show an ounce of fear even though it was probably too dark to see my shaking legs. The faint sound of leaves breaking underneath boots made me turn my head slightly. The witches were all slowly closing in on me, standing far away so as to look like they weren't a threat but close enough to remind me that I was on their turf.
The magic itched inside me. I had to stretch and clench my fingers in order to shake the feeling yet it still didn't go.
Knowing that the feeling wouldn't go, I took a step towards the open crypt doors. 'Better watch your step. It gets pretty steep down there,' whispered the man who spoke to me before. Thinking it as a form of relief, I snapped my fingers, bringing a flame to my hand. I gave a tight smile to the witch before descending the steep, stone steps into the crypt; the little ball of fire lighting my path.
After watching countless films and shows like Buffy and Supernatural, my idea of crypts were pretty horrifying. Safe to say, the shows had got one thing right.
The inside was big, filled with cobwebs and beyond creepy. Pillars were dotted around the room, holding up the low ceiling. Large black squares littered the walls; a rather crappy place to be spending the rest of eternity, especially when your home of rest was being used as a sacrificial mark for a coven of witches.
The inside was relatively dark, aside from the candles that lit the altar right at the other end of the crypt. I tried to ignore the handful of witches dotted around the room and instead focused on the two original vampires that were hanging from the ceiling.
Both Kol and Elijah looked unconscious by the way they were hanging from the ropes which I assumed were doused in vervain. Their feet were barely touching the floor, despite the height of the ceiling, and their tops were bare; blood dripping from the large gashes on their chests.
'And finally the Elemental arrives.' The female's voice boomed through the stone room, digging itself into my bones. 'I must admit though, I expected you a little sooner.'
'Yeah, well, I like to be unpredictable,' I replied to the room, not knowing where the voice was coming from.
'Something we have in common.'
I heard the crack more than I felt it. I was down on my face, tears falling from my eyes in pain as I tried to focus on something. The ache in the back of my head began to pound as a pair of heeled boots came into my vision.
My head was yanked upwards by my hair, making me cry out in pain. Lydia's face broke out into a sadistic grin as she trailed a long, red nailed finger across my cheek. 'I'm glad you came. At least now we can prepare for the ritual.'
'Wonderful,' I coughed, feeling the warm trickle of liquid fall down my cheek from the path her nail had left.
'You're lucky,' she started as she dropped my head to the floor. Unfortunately, I wasn't thinking quickly enough for my head connected with the ground with another sickening crack. 'You've got two originals pining over you. Had I known that I might not have taken the first one when I did.'
Strong, vice like hands wrapped themselves around my upper arms, dragging me up. Luckily, they supported my weight otherwise I would have fallen back to the ground.
'Why did you take Elijah?' I asked, though it came out more as a cough than actual words.
'Boredom,' Lydia replied with a smirk as she dragged her hand along his chest, not caring about her skin mixing with the blood. 'That and he killed at least 7 of my coven.'
'I think he deserves more than being tied up for that. Like a medal.' A kick to my stomach made me wince in pain, despite the cause obviously being from a magical source and not a real one.
'You really like being purposefully difficult, don't you?' Lydia asked from beside the altar.
'My mission in life.'
She made a sound of agreement before gesturing to the man holding me. He slowly dragged me across the floor before dropping me at her feet. 'So, now what? You kill me in a sacrificial ritual and kill the others for compensation of your stupid deceased coven members?' That earned another kick to the stomach, though this time, magic wasn't used.
'I was thinking more along the lines of use one for sacrifice, let the other go.'
'How charitable of you.'
'Though you get to pick which one goes free.'
I couldn't help but roll my eyes. 'Where have I heard that before? Oh yeah. In every horror film ever.' All I had to do was bide time until my friends got there. Though at that time, it seemed like I was biding time for my own life.
'Let me make something very clear to you, Cassandra,' Lydia whispered in my ear; a fist full of my hair in her grip once again. 'You can bide your time all you want. Your little Bennett friend won't get past our charms. Unless I want her to.'
She released my hair before standing up. Picking up a dagger from the altar; she slowly dragged it across Kol's chest. 'Here's the little thing about this ritual; in order for it to work, and by work I mean consume your powers, we have to kill you at midnight, on your eighteenth birthday under a full moon. The blood of an original vampire helps to...pass along your powers. Whatever powers the head of the coven consumes, the rest of the coven receives.'
'I thought you guys only killed Elementals for hierarchy reasons.'
Lydia released a shrill laugh. 'It used to be that way. Before we learned what we could really do with your magic.'
My vision started to blur. I didn't realise how bad that whack on the head was until then. I kept seeing double of Lydia and that Kol and Elijah were trying to talk to me. Turns out what I was seeing was a hallucination. At least, the parts concerning Lydia.
'Good. You boys woke at the right time.' I felt myself being lifted onto the stone altar with magic; my head dropping hard onto the stone.
'Touch her again and I swear I'll-'
'You'll what? Sweetheart, you can't do anything from your position,' Lydia laughed. 'By the way, how are the vervain ropes?'
I didn't have to look at Kol to see that he was imagining ripping open Lydia's throat. No doubt Elijah was doing the same. I was too focused on the two witches ripping open my top before dripping hot wax onto my skin.
I could feel the magic inside me itching to get out but when I tried to use it, like sending a fire ball towards Lydia's head, nothing happened. She could obviously sense my frustration for she started to laugh.
'I told you our magic was powerful. More powerful than yours, at least, until you gain their full potential. Means that you can't do anything,' she sang, giving me a sickly sweet smile before she began to sharpen her dagger.
'So you mean I have to sit here and wait for you to gut me? Wonderful.'
'You're surprisingly talkative considering your position.'
'It happens.'
'Cassandra, please,' Elijah begged. I couldn't see his face but I could tell by his voice he wasn't happy with my attitude.
'You should listen to him, Cassie. You're talking is annoying everyone. Besides, you'll want to save your energy for your final words.'
Time seemed to fly past as the witches prepared everything for the ritual. Every other minute, Kol was threatening them all, saying that when he got free, their blood would be littering the walls. Elijah just kept silent, probably plotting.
When it came to 11:50, all the witches started to filter into the crypt. Whilst Lydia spoke to her coven, Elijah tried to whisper to me. 'You must try and break through her wall.'
'Little difficult when I'm being held to an altar by magic.'
'Then you must try at the right time.'
'I thought I said that I can't.'
'Cassandra. You must try.'
'Yes, Cassandra, you must,' mimicked Lydia as she walked closer to the altar. 'It would definitely make things more interesting if you did.'
'I'm going to kill you, you know.'
'So confident for someone who's about to die.' She walked beside me, dragging the dagger slowly across my stomach, hard enough to draw a line of blood but not deep enough to hurt a lot.
'Aren't you going to walk me through what you're planning to do to me?'
'And spoil the surprise?'
'Only five minutes left, Lydia,' said one of the coven members.
'Well. This truly has been a pleasure, Miss Nightingale.'
Lydia moved to cut four marks on my skin; two at my wrists, two at my ankles. She then moved to draw a circle around my belly button whilst the coven of witches chanted something in Latin. Despite my struggles, I couldn't must any magic nor could I even move. The sounds of Elijah and Kol's struggles mixed with the chanting of the witches.
I could feel my magic trying to burst from within me. My body even convulsed when Lydia pressed her wrists to mine; our blood mixing together. 'Not long now,' she breathed, closing her eyes like it actually helped the process.
Somewhere in the distance, a clock chimed midnight. The second the first chime sounded, I felt my body begin to feel drained as the chanting continued; my magic filtering out of me and into Lydia.
'Once all of your magic is consumed, we will drink the blood of an original and kill you both.'
I didn't have time to come up with a witty retort. The sound of rocks falling to the floor would have made me jump if I had the energy. I barely had the energy to note that blood was dripping from the cuts to the ground.
Obviously the sound didn't mean anything good for the witches stopped chanting and started to make a commotion. 'Keep chanting! We must not break the connection!'
The room suddenly filled with screams. That made Lydia look up in horror. Before I knew what was happening, Lydia was pulled away from me, screeching before being slammed into a wall.
Elijah was by my side in a heartbeat, pulling me from the table. I almost wished he didn't. The scene before me was horrific. Bloodied bodies littered the floor. No one was alive except from Kol and Lydia who were in a standoff.
Lydia had thrown Kol against the wall and was stalking towards him as Elijah set me on my feet. 'Lydia!' I shouted.
She slowly turned; dagger held in her hand as she turned towards me. 'Look at what you've done! You've destroyed everything!'
I couldn't help but smile. 'Whoops.'
My heart stopped cold as a grin appeared on her lips. 'Whoops indeed.'
I didn't have time to react. Elijah was thrown behind me against the altar leading me to fall to the ground in pain. Once I was looking up, I saw Lydia plunge the dagger into Kol's heart. A scream formed on my lips before I realised that he couldn't die without the white oak stake. Yet, I couldn't help but shake the horrible feeling that Lydia's smile was giving me.
'You think he'll be okay?' she asked as she pushed Kol to the floor. 'I guess you really don't know your history of my coven. Did you know that the dagger of my people is just as effective as the white oak stake?'
My face fell as I looked into Kol's eyes. His eyes were expectant, as though he knew exactly what was going to happen.
The whole scene was quick. His body burst into flames yet there was no scream. My mouth fell open in shock as his body fell to the ground. 'No!'
I dragged myself up, stumbling over to Kol whilst completely ignoring Lydia who herself was struggling to stay standing up. 'Don't you see? Nothing good ever comes from having that much power. You brought this on yourself. And though most of my coven is dead, we will still keep coming after you. For years and years until the day we-'
Vines burst from the stone to wrap themselves tightly around her body. Lydia screamed out in pain and shock yet I remained emotionless. Slowly, I stood up, trying to ignore the burnt form that was Kol on the ground as I turned around to face the witch. Her face was full of horror, knowing that her time to win had been and gone. All that was left was her.
'You think you can scare me?' I asked calmly as I walked towards her; stopping only a few feet away. 'I have been to hell and back in these past few years, surviving death and destruction. I've met and survived horrors you couldn't even dream of and you're trying to make me scared? I should just break your neck and be done with it all.'
Lydia released a cold laugh. 'But you won't. You can't. You're not a killer.'
This time, it was my turn to give a sadistic smile. 'I'm not. But you killed someone I cared about. So, you're right. I won't break your neck. I'll just let you suffer the way he did.'
I didn't have to focus hard on the woman before she burst into flames. Unlike Kol, Lydia screamed her lungs out until they were burnt to a crisp. I showed no emotion as I turned away to walk towards Elijah who was watching beside the altar. I thought he would make some comment about how I let my powers get the best of me yet he, surprisingly, remained silent. Perhaps we should have taken her back to Klaus but she wasn't Klaus' to fight. She was mine.
Elijah picked up his discarded shirt from the floor before walking out of the crypt beside me. I didn't want to look at Kol again. I think I was in denial about his death. It all happened so fast. One minute he was trying to get out of his bonds, threatening everyone if they so much as looked at me. The next minute he had killed a whole coven of witches, or at least the majority of them, and died. It wasn't heroic like in the films, or even slow. It was fast and painful and seemed almost unrealistic.
'Cassandra, I know what happened in there must-'
'I don't want to talk about it.' My words were harsh but clear. I didn't want, nor did I need, to talk about what happened. I was 18. I had my powers. The guy I had learned to care for was dead as was the leader of a coven of witches. There was nothing else to talk about.
'Cassandra, please look at me.' Elijah was standing before me. He looked a little different to his usual suit and calm demeanour. This time he looked more rugged and a little bit more human. His eyes were sad and understanding but I didn't want to see them. There he was having just been tortured and lost his brother and yet I was the one having a tantrum. It was hardly fair yet it didn't change my attitude.
'What?' I asked bluntly.
'I want to say that you can talk to me. About whatever you're feeling.' I nodded in understanding before moving around him. I was never good at dealing with my emotions. Just because a load of crap happened in a short amount of time didn't mean I would get a better grip on them.
'Cassandra, you must promise me one thing.'
'Elijah, I just want to go home. It's been a long day,' I sighed as I continued to walk away yet Elijah with his vampire powers was right by my side in a flash.
'I want you to promise me that you won't try to find a way to bring him back.'
I stopped in my path; my head whipping in his direction. 'What kind of promise is that?'
Elijah sighed like a father trying to deal with his teenage daughter. 'I understand what you're feeling-'
'No you really don't. I'm an Elemental. We're wired differently,' I spat.
'I still understand grief. And heartbreak.'
I gave a bark of laughter. 'That implies that I cared.'
'Anyone could see that you cared very much for my brother. Despite his usual attitudes towards women, I'd say that he held the same fondness that you did for you.'
I rolled my eyes. 'It doesn't really matter now, does it?'
'Either way. You must promise me that you won't go looking for a way to bring him back. There is dark magic in this world and I...It would kill me if you got yourself involved with it.'
'Don't worry, Elijah. I'm not a dog you need to look after.'
With those final words, I walked away. Elijah was big on promises and loyalty. There was no way I was going to promise him that I wouldn't look for a way to get Kol back. I was already trying to figure out a way the second I left the crypt. I just needed to bide my time. I couldn't go running off straight away. Everyone would be expecting it. I just had to wait. Do some research and then find a way to bring Kol back. After all, I was the Elemental. There was nothing that could get in my way. For now, at least.