Stefan, Damon, Enzo and I were at the Lockwood mansion, talking about Julian in the study.
"What's the plan?" I asked.
"Julian needs to die today," Stefan told us. "Everything has to appear to be normal. Julian's not an idiot. If he finds out that Lily turned on him, we're all dead."
Enzo was not at all pleased with what he had heard so far. "So, you... embed her with a psychopath? Sounds logical."
"Hey, don't look at me," I told him.
"I voted to drive a stake through her heart and get rid of this Julian-mama drama once and for all," Damon told us. "But, hey, complicated Plan A sounds like a happy compromise."
"It's not complicated," Stefan told him in annoyance. "We get Julian's blood, and then, Nora, Beau, or Mary Louise use it to unlink him from Lily, and we kill the bastard."
"Uh, you glossed over the important bit," Enzo told him skeptically. "Do you really think that Beau, Mary Louise or Nora are going to help?"
~~~~~~~
We continued to plan for the day.
"Julian treats Lily's Heretics like they're his own royal children," Enzo told us. "And they worship him right back. They'll never turn on him."
Damon smirked. "This old stake through the heart's looking like a pretty good alternative right now. Just saying."
"Well, I guess the only way we're gonna be able to pull this off is to deploy the nuclear option," I told them.
Enzo scoffed. "Which is?"
Valerie the Heretic walked in. "Me. I know how to win them over to our side."
Enzo rolled his eyes, looking at Stefan, Damon and me. "Oh, great. Yeah. Last I checked, she was the black sheep of the family." He looked at Valerie. "What are you gonna tell them to make them feel otherwise?"
"The truth," Valerie answered.
Enzo still seemed skeptical about the entire plan.
~~~~~~~
Stefan was the first one to head out the door. "Damon! Nikki! Lily just texted me their location. Let's do this!" He walked outside. "Oh, hi."
Caroline was outside, smiling awkwardly. "Hi."
"I, uh, thought you were studying," Stefan told her.
"I was, but I'm here now," Caroline told him. "Surprise."
Damon and I walked down the stairs toward them.
Damon rolled his eyes. "Ah. Stefan-distraction machine. Please tell me you're not coming."
Caroline frowned in confusion. "Coming where?"
Valerie walked toward us.
"Nora and Mary Louise's anniversary," I answered.
Caroline seemed overwhelmed with confusion by this point, looking at Valerie. "Great. You're here, too. That's... perfect. Um..."
Caroline trailed off, clearly losing her nerve.
Stefan looked at her in confusion. "Uh, what are... what are you doing here?"
Caroline struggled to find the words to answer the question. "I'm... um..."
"Spit it out, Blondie," Damon told her in annoyance.
Valerie realized what was going on, deciding to cover for her. "You know what? Damon, Nicola and I will go together. Stefan can follow behind."
I scoffed. "What? No."
"Valerie told us. "Let's go."
Valerie grabbed Damon and me by the arms, pulling us out of the house, leaving.
~~~~~~~
We got to the party.
Everyone was dancing to an upbeat modern song on the dance floor.
Julian led Lily back into the party, pulling her toward the crowd to dance.
Lily looked uncomfortable. "I have no idea how to dance to this kind of music."
"No, no, no, fear not," Julian told her. "I bribed the DJ to play us a slow song." A more old-fashioned orchestral piece started to play. Julian and Lily began to slow dance together. "Do you recognize it?"
"Should I?" Lily asked.
"Not the arrangement, but perhaps the vocals," Julian answered.
Lily listened to the song for a moment, recognizing it.
Julian and Lily looked toward where Beau was standing.
Beau was standing at the bar, listening to the song, overcome with emotion at the sound of the male voice singing, tears in his eyes.
Lily looked from Beau to Julian. "I'll never forget that voice. He used to sing so beautifully."
"To think of everything we've endured as a family... and now we're together, at lost last," Julian told her.
Lily was still nervous to be around Julian, given what she was planning with us, trying her best to act normal, faking a smile."Just like old times."
"Well, almost like old times," Julian told her. "You haven't been indulging in any of the real fun."
Lily shook her head. "No, I'm perfectly content with blood bags."
Julian shook his head. "No. No, you're afraid."
Lily frowned in confusion. "Afraid of what?"
"Going all in," Julian answered. "And rejoining our family completely." Lily became even more uncomfortable at the fact that Julian seemed to be seeing her hesitance. "You keep holding onto the hope that Stefan and Damon will love you again, that you'll bring Nicola in from the cold, that we'll be one big happy family. But we can't. Hmm? And that hope is causing unwanted friction." Julian gestured around at the crowd of people surrounding the room. "Take a look around. You have all the love that you need right here. All you have to do is accept it." He stopped dancing, gently taking the wrist of a female party guest dancing nearby to lead her over to Lily. Her neck had already been bitten into, bleeding. Lily was visibly tempted by the blood in front of her. "Come back to us, Lily. Let go and allow yourself to be the woman that I fought through hell for."
Julian nodded in encouragement.
Lily looked at the girl in front of her, faking a smile, allowing herself to transforming, biting into her neck, feeding.
Damon was furious to see her feeding on the girl, walking closer.
Lily saw us. She immediately pulled away, looking at Damon and me in alarm.
I turned to look at Damon.
Damon turned around, walking away.
Lily looked horrified, quickly licking the blood from her lips.
Damon walked out, leaving.
I watched him go.
~~~~~~~
Damon and Lily were arguing outside.
I could hear them.
"Looks like someone's having fun," Damon told her.
"I had to feed," Lily told him. "I have to convince them that I'm on their side."
"Plan's postponed till further notice."
"No, no, no, no. Look, Valerie will get through to them. The plan must go forward. I can't spend another minute with that man."
"Fine. Julian dies tonight, but it's not skin off my back if you're still linked to the guy when I shove a stake through his heart. I'm only here because Stefan's a mommy's boy, and I don't want the silent treatment for the next century."
"I am your mother. How can you be so cavalier about my life?"
"Because you're already dead to me, Lily. I was 17. You went away. I cried. I grew up. You being here doesn't change any of that. If I had to do it all over again, I'd have left you in that damn prison world so that I didn't have to see your face again."
~~~~~~~
Lily and Valerie were in the process of telling the other Heretics about what had happened between Stefan, Valerie and Julian in order to turn them against him.
Stefan, Damon and I walked into the parlor off of the ballroom of the party.
Julian was viciously feeding on one of the guests.
"Hell of a party," I told him.
Julian was startled by our arrival, quickly pulling away from the woman, glaring at us, recovering from his shock, smiling cruelly, pushing the woman off of the chaise lounge chair and onto the floor. "Well, Lily would agree. There's a kindergarten teacher in the powder room to prove it."
Stefan sighed mockingly, grabbing a nearby bottle of scotch off of the end table to fix himself a drink. "Oh, good old Mom. Bet she made you think she enjoyed it, too, huh?"
Julian looked on edge, loudly licking the blood from his lips.
~~~~~~~
Julian glared at us menacingly. "What are you three doing here?"
"It's an anniversary party," I told him. "Guess we figured we'd come support the pretty one and her mean girlfriend. Hmm?"
~~~~~~~
Damon was throwing darts at a dartboard.
Stefan received a text, pulling out his phone.
~~~~~~~
Stefan had been given the signal from Lily via text message, nodding to Damon and me.
I nodded in understanding.
Damon smirked, raising his arm as if he was about to throw another dart at the dart board, but instead throwing it at Julian, embedding it into his neck.
~~~~~~~
Julian pulled the dart from his neck, groaning in pain. He rushed toward Damon, grabbing him, pushing him against the wall, pinning him, aiming the dart at his eye. Damon struggled to get out of his grip, but Julian was too strong.
I grabbed a wooden coat rack, using it to hit Julian hard in the small of his back, making him groan in pain.
Julian let go of Damon, turning to face me angrily, tranforming, lunging toward as if he was going to kill me.
Stefan grabbed Julian from behind, restraining him for as long as he could.
I broke the coat rack over my knee, driving one piece of the makeshift stake into Julian's stomach, making him groan a scream of pain, twisting the makeshift stake in his gut.
Stefan tightened the grip he had on Julian's head in a headlock until he snapped Julian's neck.
I pulled the makeshift stake out of his stomach.
Stefan let Julian fall to the floor.
Damon walked closer to us, watching us, smirking in approval, impressed.
Stefan smiled a small smile. "Let's tie him up."
~~~~~~~
Damon had been tying up Julian.
Night had finally fallen.
I was walking along the estate the party was on, seeing that Stefan and Lily were talking across the estate in an illuminated patio.
"Damon's tying up Julian right now," Stefan told her. "I, uh, got his blood."
"Good," Lily told him. "They're waiting for it in the greenhouse."
"Caroline's pregnant. Yeah, I didn't really know what to say, either."
"Do I even want to know how this happened?"
"Gemini spell. Twins. Not mine, obviously."
"Wow. You must be overwhelmed."
"Well, I didn't exactly, um, handle things the right way. Any advice?"
"Tell her you love her. Never forget what she must be going through. And then, one day... be prepared for her to sacrifice everything for them. Not that I'm one to give advice. I chose Julian over everything."
"Yeah, but now he's gonna die, and you can start over without him."
"It's too late, and so much has already been lost."
"You haven't lost me."
"Really?"
"Uh... I guess, uh, willingness to forgive the unforgivable is in my genetics. It's a gene that Nikki gets from me, I guess. No matter what we've done to her, she'll be angry for a time, and maybe a long time, but she'll always forgive us. Even when she shouldn't."
"Mm-hmm. And unfortunately, Damon... doesn't feel the same way about forgiveness."
"Look, you were the first woman to break his heart. He's put up a wall ever since, but... you can take it down."
"No. He's gone. I saw it in his eyes. He... he wishes me dead."
"Do you think I haven't seen that look before? Damon has been practicing that look on me for the last 150 years. And then it was Nicola's turn to give him that look when he killed her dad and turned her into a vampire, but she perfected it for the both of us when Kai put her under that hex."
"Well, then maybe you could offer your mother a little advice in return. How do I get Damon back?"
"Time."
I was content with the fact that Stefan was reconnecting with Lily.
~~~~~~~
Nora had been frantically trying to find Stefan and me to tell us that Mary Louise had helped Julian tie up Valerie and Damon, and that Mary Louise had broken the link between Julian and Lily.
And that Julian was making Lily choose between who had to die tonight. Valerie or Damon.
We were looking for them desperately, listening for the sounds of their voices to help lead the way.
We heard Lily. "This isn't you. This is not the man that I fell in love with. You use to be kind, gentle, funny. No, no. You--you're still in shock from the hell that you've been trapped in for so long."
"Hell didn't turn him evil, Lily," Valerie told her. "He was born this way."
"Okay, this vervain stings like a bitch, and your family drama makes the prospect of hell look like Disneyland," Damon told them. "So, please, one swift stab straight through the heart. Let's get this over with. You chose your Heretics over your family every chance you got. Why stop now?"
"Lily, please," Valerie told her.
"You are such a strong girl," Lily told her. "I am so sorry I didn't see it sooner. My son... please forgive me."
"Kill me!" Damon told her. "Come on. Do it, Lily."
There was a long silence before Lily spoke again. "You're wrong about so many things. I never had the courage to tell you before... but I do now. You are wrong, Julian. I can choose them both."
We heard Julian's devastated voice. "No! Lily! Lily, Lily. My sweet, foolish girl. I've already unlinked us."
Stefan, Nora and I found the room that they were in, rushing inside.
Lily had staked herself in the heart to try to kill Julian, but it was too late.
Stefan looked devastated. "No!"
"Lily!" Nora told her.
Julian rushed out, leaving.
We all were too overwhelmed by Lily's condition to follow after him.
Stefan knelt net to Lily, looking at her with sadness.
Lily was not yet dead, but beginning to desiccate, starting to cry in fear of her death.
~~~~~~~
Lily had been moved to the chaise lounge in the parlor.
Nora was frantically trying to save her life.
Valerie and Beau sat behind her, watching fearfully.
Stefan and I stood across the room, watching in wait to see what happened.
Damon was standing in the doorway, scowling, drinking bourbon from the bottle, trying to look unaffected by what was happening.
Nora looked at Lily in fear and horror. "The splinters must be inside your heart. I can't... I can't get them out."
"Nora, it's all right," Lily told her.
Nora looked at Valerie and Beau behind her, at a loss for how to help. "What do I do? Tell me what to do?"
I was somber by what he knew was coming, taking a deep breath. "You can say goodbye."
Lily looked scared, though she seemed to have accepted her impending death.
Nora looked at Lily in devastation, starting to cry. "We wouldn't be a family without you, Lily. I love you. I am so sorry this happened." Lily smiled weakly. Nora was unable to bear to watch Lily die, standing. "Goodbye."
Nora rushed away in tears.
Lily looked up at Beau.
Beau had tears in his eyes, starting to cry.
Lily and Beau nodded to each other in silent understanding.
Beau leaned closer to kiss Lily on the forehead, walking out, leaving.
Lily looked at Stefan.
Stefan walked closer to say goodbye, holding her hand comfortingly.
Lily breathed heavily in silent breaths. "I guess... only one of us gets the luxury of time. Promise me you'll use yours to the fullest."
Stefan looked at down, not knowing how to feel, but knowing that he did not want Lily to die.
I looked at him sadly in understanding, looking over my shoulder toward Damon.
Damon continued to scowl, taking a large drink of bourbon from the bottle.
~~~~~~~
Valerie covered Lily up with a blanket, sitting net to her on the chaise lounge.
Lily's time was running out, starting to desiccate even further.
Lily and Valerie both cried fearfully.
"I forgive you for loving him, Lily," Valerie told him. "You just wanted to love us all. There's no sin in that." She leaned closer to kiss Lily on the head, standing, walking toward the door. She stopped, looking at Damon sympathetically. "She only has moments left. Make the most of them."
Valerie walked out, leaving.
Lily looked at me. "Nicola..." I was surprised that she wanted to speak to me, walking closer. "Despite everything you have been through with my sons, you always seem to pull through. Please, take care of them the way that I've never been there to."
I took a deep breath, nodding. "Of course."
Lily smiled a small, weak, warm smile in relief. She looked toward Damon.
Damon walked closer, seeming to be stone cold.
Lily looked at Damon pleadingly. "Damon... I'm truly sorry."
Damon remained silent, simply glaring at Lily, not sure how to respond.
Stefan gave Damon a stern look. "Say something."
Damon sighed, taking a drink of bourbon, handing the bottle to Stefan, leaning closer to Lily to look her in the eyes.
Lily's body slowly continued to desiccate from the small wooden fragments in her heart, making its way up her arms toward her shoulders and neck.
Damon looked at her for a long moment, looking as if he he was finally going to forgive her, whispering quietly to her. "You made your bed." Stefan and I were surprised and appalled that Damon was being so cruel in Lily's last moments. Damon had still not forgiven her for abandoning him and Stefan and taking Elena away from him. "Have a nice nap."
Damon stood, walking out, leaving.
Stefan was horrified.
Stefan and I looked at Lily, watching.
Lily's body was in the process of finishing its desiccation. She let a single tear fall down her cheek in the process. The life left her eyes. Her face still had a hurt and disappointed expression even in death.
Stefan started to cry when he realized that his mother was gone for good.
I was in shock, not knowing how to react, and definitely not knowing how to feel.