"Don't think about running," Natasha said. "I've been connected to you for a long time, I'll find you no matter where you go. It's time for you to face me."
"I want an explanation," I demanded. "You owe me that much at least."
She rolled her eyes, taking a seat on the couch, as if we were old friends catching up.
"I guess you want to know what I've been doing all this time?" she asked. When I didn't respond, she kept talking. "I was ready to start again," she said. "I lived my life as a witch, died, and knew that I'd get to restart. I'd get a whole new life where I didn't have to worry about being supernatural. When you died, it was my time to live the life that I deserved. I came out from the other side. And then you woke up, and I was stuck. Cursed to roam the Earth in this body that I didn't recognize."
"I'm sorry about that," I told her. "But that's not my fault. I didn't choose to be a vampire."
"Nothing's ever your fault," she scoffed. "Anyway, I was put into this body, and all I wanted was to die. But I couldn't, because I was tied to a vampire. After a few years of suicide attempts and denial, I settled for making your life hell."
I frowned. "What did you do?"
She smiled, like she was proud of herself. "Remember your boyfriend James? Who do you think it was that convinced him not to turn?"
"You?" I asked. "But... how?"
"With your immortality, I also got your compulsion," she informed me. "Him not turning hurt you for years, and I loved it. So I wanted to replicate that. Don't you think it's weird that the second you came to town, Steve came into your life?"
Realization dawned within me. "Steve said that you told him to talk to the first girl he met."
"It wasn't a coincidence," she said. "I wanted you guys to fall in love, before I ripped him away from you. But you kept sending him away. Luckily, making you rip out your friend's heart worked wonders, it drove you right back into his arms."
Harper. She'd made me kill Harper.
"You bitch!" I erupted.
"I'm not finished," she said calmly, holding a hand up. "I was standing in the shadows, watching your every move. Taking a job with the Avengers seemed like a good idea. If I ever needed to destroy you, no one would ever think twice." Her smile became twisted, her face ugly, angry.
"Every bad decision you've made, from killing Harper, to turning Elena, I was there, watching you, forcing your hand."
"You're the one making me feel confused about Klaus," I said. Part of me was relieved. It was her fault, not mine. I didn't really feel anything for him.
"No," she clarified. "Actually, he's the one person that I couldn't manipulate. I can't compel Originals, and that idiot couldn't seem to let you go. Not that he has a choice now. You made the decision to leave him without any help from me!"
I saw her face, giddy with delight, and anger took over me. She'd been trying to destroy my life, and it made her happy to know that, sometimes, she succeeded.
"You're a monster," I told her.
"You made me that way," she countered. "But anyway, now that you know, it's time. I've been living for too long Serena. Once you die, I can be free from this body, like I always should have been. I can die when I'm supposed to, as a human. You've had over 100 years. But Serena, your time is up."
I was shaking. She had taken my life, there was no way I was going to let her decide my death. Once and for all, I had to be free of her. I needed to live my life for me.
"You know that Klaus's life is connected to mine," I told her. "You've been watching me, you know how much I love the people around me. Do you think I'm just gonna let you kill me?"
"Well, I had hoped that you'd have some sympathy for me," she said. "I mean, I'm like this because of you."
"You're like this because of what you are," I told her. "No matter what you made me do, I'm a good person. I know I am."
Hearing what she'd done to me had assured me of that. Even if she'd been making my decisions, the things that I felt were real. The guilt, the hurt, the love, they were mine. And they mattered way more than what she made me do.
"Serena, this is happening. I'm getting my chance to live, even if it means that I have to take yours."
She vamp ran towards me and pushed me against the wall, knocking me off my feet. She broke a chair leg and held up the wood, which made a makeshift stake.
"You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this." She stood over me, stabbing me in the stomach with the wood. I was surprised to find that it hurt less than it normally would, probably the result of my connection with Klaus. I pulled the wood out.
"Stay away from me!" I shouted angrily. She was thrown into the opposite wall. At first I didn't realize what had happened, but then I knew. My magic. She couldn't have had my new powers, she would have used them against me. I had a strength that she didn't.
I pushed my hand out, and she slammed against the wall again, groaning in pain. She stood up quickly and ran towards me, throwing me into the table, completely smashing it to pieces.
I threw my hand out again, but this time nothing happened. I had no idea what I was doing. She broke another chair leg, this time sticking it into my chest, an inch away from my heart.
"I know how to kill an Original vampire," she said. "This stake."
She reached behind her and pulled out a stake that I'd never seen before, it was fancy, white. It looked ancient, but powerful.
I kicked her, but she wouldn't move. Taking a different piece of wood, she dragged it down my arm, cutting me.
"Oh yeah, can't forget about the vervain, can I?" she pulled a vial of vervain from her back pocket, pouring it down my throat. I coughed and spluttered, feeling like I was going to choke. I couldn't breathe.
Then she held the white stake over her head.
"Well Serena, it's been real. But this ends now!"
All of a sudden, words came to me, words that I didn't understand, but I knew I had to say them. Taking Davina's advice, I thought about my power, about it building from the inside.
"Phasmatos Infero Eseri Gratas, Disasustos Vom, Mas Pro Je Ta Sue Te. Victamas Veras. Phasmatos Tribum, Niha Sue Exilum, Disasustos Vom, Mas Pro Je Ta Sue Te."
When I closed my eyes, I could picture Aunt Emily, Bonnie, her grams, Davina, all the powerful witches I knew. Natasha clutched her head and let out a moan, still holding the stake. I repeated the words again, thinking about all my friends in Mystic Falls, the Mikaelsons, the people that I wanted to stay alive for. She staggered, as if she was about to fall. The lights in the room flickered, papers and books flew around the room. I repeated the words again, and again, and again, as harshly as I could. I thought about Steve, about Klaus. About my brothers. I couldn't leave Stefan and Damon, I just couldn't.
She dropped the stake, falling to the ground, her eyes closed. Her nose was bleeding, pouring onto the ground.
I stopped speaking. It was done, she was dead.
I stood and ripped the piece of wood from my chest. However, the second I took my eyes off of her, she was standing beside me. She grabbed the white stake, and plunged it into my chest. I screamed. My body felt paralyzed, the wood was almost piercing my heart. If she pushed it in a bit further, I knew what my fate would be.
She breathed heavily, her hand over the stake, ready to push it in. Her face was bleeding, and I'd never seen anger like hers.
Suddenly, the front door burst open and a gust of wind blew around the room. She was pulled from me. I braced myself and pulled out the white stake, the pain that it pierced me with instantly evaporating. I looked up to see Klaus holding her back. Holding the stake steadily, I stuck it straight into her heart, pushing it in as much as it would go. Klaus let her go and she fell to the ground, her body, along with the stake, catching fire.
We both watched it in silence, until the flames burnt out. Her body, and the stake, had been completely destroyed.
Immediately, I felt a weight lift from my chest, the weight of her was gone. I was free. I turned to Klaus, overwhelmed. He walked towards me quickly and hugged me, speaking softly into my ear.
"I got your message."
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Thanks so much for reading! There's only two chapters to go until this story finishes!
The demon is dead, but Serena still has a decision to make. Who will she choose?
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