ASHES
- MADI DIAZ
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"should have used me. why didn't he use me?"
"he couldn't, damon. he said you were as good as dead."
katherine's features were void of emotion as she spoke to the man. anger was all she felt towards the salvatore after this moves against jocelyn. the thought of the siphoner caused the worry she felt to become unbearable. there was no telling what would come to jocelyn during the ritual. katherine knew how dangerous it was for klaus to have jocelyn by his side, for it was nearly inevitable for the girl to be used as leverage against the original.
"what does that even mean? i tried to kill jocelyn. i messed up his plan. why didn't he use me?" damon let his questions run wild as he paced. katherine grabbed the man's shoulder, pushing him against the wall.
"what does it mean?" katherine mocked, taking a grasp on his arm with much force before motioning towards the wound. "what is this, damon?"
"it's a werewolf bite." damon replied, his gaze flickering towards the bite as katherine let go of her grip on his arm.
"that's why klaus didn't use you. he decided he'd let you suffer for your attempts at ruining the ritual— at your attempts to killing jocelyn."
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"klaus made me call jenna to lure her out. there was nothing i could do. i didn't have a choice."
"that's why i gave you the vervain. so, you had a choice."
"it was her or me." katherine shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly towards the salvatore. "i chose her."
"i helped you. you owed me. now when klaus dies, you're going to walk out of here without a scratch and elena's aunt dies. somehow, you're the only one that wins." damon stared towards the woman, disbelief evident on his features. "how'd that happen?"
"i didn't let love get in the way." katherine met damon's gaze, void of any trace of emotion.
jocelyn easily found her way into the mind of the petrova. memories seemed to flood katherine, too many to simply ignore. there was an obvious sense of guilt sitting on her shoulders as she thought of her actions against the siphoner.
nearly leaving the girl behind with the original she'd spent 500 years running from. a part of katherine questioned whether jocelyn would ever forgive her for the act.
"and what about your precious jocelyn? never allowed your feelings for her cloud your sense of self preservation?" damon was trying to get under katherine's skin, his anger towards the woman clear as day. "but now, jocelyn's by the side of another monster. you truly think she'll run back into your arms once klaus is dead?"
katherine didn't utter a response to the taunting words that tumbled from the salvatore's lips, the woman simply staring blankly towards the man.
"enjoy eternity alone, katherine."
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"penny for your thoughts?"
jocelyn let out a hum in recognition, yet allowed her gaze to remain on the full moon above their heads. "i was just thinking about your brother."
"which one?" klaus quirked an eyebrow, sending the siphoner a playful smirk. the look of confusion that contorted on jocelyn's features was enough to cause the man to chuckle. "i know, oh' noble elijah. i will make due that he's collected before we leave."
"and your other brothers?" jocelyn questioned curiously, glancing around to the trees surrounding the two as they made their way further into the woods.
"kol and finn." klaus easily replied, his tone falling to a whisper with the last name spoken. "and henrik."
"where are they now?" jocelyn didn't miss the falter in klaus' demeanor before he quickly dusted the feelings to the side, a smirk forming on his lips.
"you're a curious little thing, aren't you?" klaus' hand skimmed the siphoner's to the slightest, the act causing jocelyn's gaze to fall. "you remind me of kol."
jocelyn was quick to forget the fact that he'd ignored her initial question, her interest now being in how she reminded him of his brother. "how?"
"curious, rebellious, reckless, wild." klaus listed off, memories of his younger brother flooding his mind for a moment.
jocelyn couldn't help the laugh that tumbled from her lips at the description.
"when kol was younger, before our family was turned, he had this light in him that shined quite brightly. he always did everything to try and get someone to notice. truth be told, i was jealous of him."
klaus knew they were near the area where the ritual would take place, this leading the original to halt in his step. he took a a gentle grasp on jocelyn's hand causing her to follow suit.
"once we were turned, the darkness he carried quickly became evident, especially with the bloodlust that haunted us. i see you as the same, odessa. your loyalty to the ones you love runs deeply. despite your disbelief, you have a light inside you as well, even if it's been dimmed due to the pain you've endured. i want you to leave with me and i want to show you a world outside of this small town that's only broken your heart."
jocelyn's eyes widen to the slightest at the words that left the man. she stayed silent, but the look on her features was enough for klaus. his gaze roamed with pure admiration, something the girl wasn't used to seeing. the sound of her racing heart was enough to cause his grin to grow, the man pulling her into his chest with ease.
jocelyn felt a gentle kiss be pressed to her forehead, his lips hovering for a moment before he took a short step away from the siphoner.
klaus knew it'd take time to receive any heartfelt words from the girl. she had to completely trust him before she allowed herself to feel the vulnerability that came with it, but he understood, for jocelyn was one of the only people who had ever gotten the privilege of seeing that side of him.
jocelyn let out a shallow breath, nearly missed by the original before her infamous smirk formed on her lips once again. "ready to become the original hybrid?"
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"my duty is to klaus!" greta's voice seemed to echo through the clearing in the woods. "the new order."
"glad to know i still have a dance partner."
jocelyn nudged the man with her elbow with ease, a teasing look on her features. "i've got to say your words hurt."
klaus redirected his gaze to the siphoner by his side, his dimples showing promptly as his grin only grew. "oh, odessa, you know you come first."
jocelyn returned the grin before her own eyes were redirected towards the three rings of fire, the women inside staring in their direction. jocelyn's gaze lingered on jenna, a sense of guilt pooling in her gut.
there'd been multiple occasions when jenna had simply been there for her girl, but the memories that seemed to be set on a loop surrounded the moments after her gram's passing.
despite it, jocelyn actively ignored the betrayal etched on both jenna and elena's features as she made her way towards greta. the siphoner despised the feelings that only grew the longer she thought of the fact that jenna would fall victim for no reason but to prove a point.
"hello, my lovelies." klaus stepped towards the rings of fire, his grin sending shivers through the women. "are we ready?"
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"jocelyn has the moonstone."
klaus' hand was outstretched towards the girl, watching her patiently as a pout formed on her lips. jocelyn pulled the stone from where it resided in the side of her bra before dropping it in his palm.
a chuckle tumbled from klaus at the sight. "i spent 500 years looking for this."
"the moon has passed its apex." greta glanced to the moon shining above, jocelyn mirroring the actions. "remember everything you need to do."
"i remember." klaus sent the witch a short nod.
jocelyn and klaus watched as greta dropped the stone into the make-shift bowl. the moonstone exploded as it made contact with the bottom, the sound catching jocelyn off guard.
"so jumpy, miss odessa."
jocelyn rolled her eyes playfully before she followed in toe with the man. her eyes went to the werewolf, jules, who was speaking to elena. the siphoner didn't care enough to listen in.
"shall we?" klaus spoke as the fire diminished, his hand outstretched towards the woman.
jules eyes turned yellow with ease. the werewolf took her chance to run at the hybrid, but klaus was quick to take her down, his hand imbedded in her chest. within a second, his hand was ripped out, her heart in his grasp.
jocelyn let out a dramatic sigh, her hands crossing over her chest as she ignored the utterly shocked looks elena and jenna sported. "such a shame, a girl so pretty caught in the crossfires."
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"hello, jenna."
jocelyn was only inches behind klaus, her guilt going into overdrive with the knowledge of jenna's death being just around the corner.
"let her go. i understand that i have to die, but she doesn't." elena went to step towards the fire surrounding herself, but quickly cowered when the flames grew.
"careful, 'lena, don't wanna get burned, do we?" jocelyn tilted her head tauntingly. the guilt she felt wasn't visible to anyone, not even klaus himself.
"elena, don't." jenna told her niece, trying to ignore the betrayal she felt from the sight of the young siphoner.
"no, jenna! we can't leave jeremy without a family." elena's gaze fell onto the original, her tone desperate as she tried to bargain the life of her aunt. "i followed your rules. i did everything you asked. i didn't run! please."
"well, well." klaus kept his eyes on jenna, but jocelyn easily noticed his words were directed elsewhere. "i don't recall you being on the guest list. very well then."
jocelyn followed klaus line of sight, easily finding the salvatore residing on the hill looking over the cleared ground. jocelyn furrowed her eyebrows, desperately wishing she had supernatural hearing when she saw stefan's lips move as if he was speaking.
jocelyn felt the wind hit her face as klaus disappeared within a blink of an eye, appearing inches away from stefan. the siphoner eyed the two for only a moment before her gaze fell back onto the two surrounded by fire. jocelyn's throat tightened to the slightest at the hurt expression jenna never allowed to falter.
"jocelyn, you can change this. you can save jenna. please," elena began begging the bennett instead, tears building in her eyes as she spoke. "don't make us leave jeremy alone. no one deserves to be left without famil—"
"funny that you say that, elena." jocelyn shook her head in disbelief, a sarcastic laugh falling from her lips. "you were the reason i lost the last of my family, the reason i lost my only family."
elena felt weak under the siphoner's glare. "i'm sorry about grams, jocelyn. from the bottom of my heart, but you were never left alone. you have bonnie, you have your dad, you have caroline and jeremy and me and jenna. please, help her, jocelyn. do the right thing."
jocelyn tilted her head, seemingly deep in thought before she clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. "bonnie always was a sneaky one."
elena realized her mistake of mentioning the witch, her mouth dropping slightly at the fact that jocelyn had so quickly caught onto her slip up.
"but you should know by now, 'lena. i don't do the right thing."
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"when is this going to get exciting?"
greta chuckled at the siphoner's words, shaking her head at the bored expression being sent her way. "soon, jocelyn, very soon."
"you know all this talk about preserving family and here's stefan," klaus motioned towards the vampire. "granting your wish."
"stefan." elena mumbled, barely audible to the siphoner's ears.
"it's okay." stefan nodded reassuringly towards the girl he loved, no trace of fear on his features.
"well, who's it going to be, elena?" klaus questioned the doppelgänger, waving the stake in hand between stefan and jenna.
jocelyn pushed off her position against a rock, standing to her feet before making her way to klaus' side. jocelyn easily caught the hesitation dancing in elena's eyes.
"no." elena shook her head, her voice surprisingly dripping with authority.
"you're pathetic." jocelyn let out a scoff of disbelief. "you truly can't choose between a ripper vampire boyfriend who's been alive for a hundred plus years and the innocent aunt who put her entire life on pause to watch over you and jeremy?"
no one uttered a word in response, the fact leading jocelyn to continue speaking.
"you have people falling at your feet to protect you. to put their life in danger to conserve yours and you let them! i've never come across someone as selfish as you, elena, and i was friends with katherine pierce."
"don't worry, actually. there is no choice." klaus easily stabbed the stake in stefan's back, groans falling from the salvatore as elena screamed out. "i have other plans for your boyfriend. i want him alive, but for now, jocelyn, mind taking the honors?"
the siphoner let out a dramatic sigh before she snapped her finger, stefan's neck snapping along with it. jocelyn wanted all ties to mystic falls to be eliminated, but she knew with stefan being brought along, there wasn't a way for her wish to be fulfilled.
"whenever you're ready, greta." klaus nodded towards the witch, his evil smirk gracing his features once again.
greta began mumbling the spell as the ring of fire around jenna began to diminish. jocelyn bit the side of her cheek at the sight. no matter how heartless jocelyn seemed to act, she did care, but jocelyn's greatest flaw was always allowing her temper to overrule her love for people.
"your turn."
"its alright, elena. i know what i have to do." jenna nodded towards her niece residing in the opposite ring of fire.
jocelyn quirked her eyebrow at jenna's words. the siphoner stepped forwards to stop jenna from making any impulsive moves, but was stopped when she felt the wind hit her skin harshly.
greta's screams seemed to echo through the woods, jocelyn's quickly using her magic to rip jenna from the witch. klaus used his vampire speed to appear in front of the woman, seconds from staking her.
"klaus, wait!"
klaus halted in his movement at the sound of jocelyn's broken words. klaus and jenna finally caught sight of the guilt the girl allowed to gleam in her eyes. all jocelyn wanted was for elena to feel the pain she felt when she lost her grams. she only wished someone she loved as well wasn't the answer.
"turn it off." jocelyn nodded multiple times towards the woman. "turn it off, jenna. it won't be scary anymore."
jenna nodded as well in response to the young girl, a sad smile appearing on her lips before she closed her eyes to do as jocelyn had said.
an involuntary gasp left jocelyn's lips when the stake was imbedded into jenna's heart. the siphoner fought every fiber in her body to refrain from allowing the sob to tumble from her lips.
at the sight of jenna's now dead body, one memory of the woman was forced to the front of the siphoner's mind.
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"jocelyn, it's me, jenna." jenna knocked on the door of the bennett household, hoping the girl was near. "listen, i'm not here to overstep my boundaries. i just— i wanted to let you know you're not alone. i'm here if you ever need to talk. please, don't shut us all out. don't go through this alone."
jocelyn's back was pressed against the closed door, her knees pulled tightly to her chest. she let the tears fall freely down her cheeks as a sigh was heard from outside.
"i love you, jocelyn. we all do. please, remember that." jenna set down the box in hand onto the porch mat. "i'm leaving a box out here for you, hopefully it brings you some comfort."
jocelyn waited until jenna's car was heard pulling out of her driveway before she wiped the tears away with the back of her hand. the girl stood up from her spot on the floor, opening the front door to see the box the woman left behind. jocelyn stepped onto the front porch, the lingering feeling of eyes piercing her skin being the only thing she could think of in the moment.
jocelyn peered into the distance, her doe eyes catching sight of the frames of two men only for them to disappear within a blink of an eye.
the box was semi heavy, but brought no trouble to the girl as she dragged it inside. she opened the cardboard box, her eyes finding different dark objects and a book that were completely unknown to her.
jocelyn picked up an object that seemed like a replica of emily bennett's necklace. she felt herself uncontrollably siphon the magic from the necklace causing her to drop it back into the box abruptly.
the book seemed like a grimore of some type. jocelyn traced her fingers over the imprints on the cover of the brown book before she opened the book, watching a letter fall freely from the pages.
dear miss odessa,
we wish nothing more than to give you some type of comfort during this time of grief. it's a different kind of pain to lose someone so dear to your heart. we can't be there to keep you from spiraling, but we do hope these objects and this grimore can bring you comfort in your darkest times. let them become a distraction from the hurt, even if it's simply for a few minutes. the pain you're going to endure from losing her is going to strip away your innocence. anger and betrayal will set in and you'll do whatever you can to get your revenge, no matter the person who ends up in the crossfire. we just hope you don't lose the light inside your eyes, but if you do, we'll travel to the ends of the world to ignite it once again. you, miss jocelyn odessa bennett, have our word.
- n. m. & e. m.
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klaus eyed the bennett curiously, the siphoner simply staring up towards the stars with a sense of admiration dancing across her features.
klaus knew as soon as they left behind the small town, he'd have to go out and beyond to make up the time to her. his eyes then wondered to greta who was mumbling the spell as she poured the blood from the werewolf and vampire into the bowl. greta sent klaus a nod, giving him the sign he needed to know it was time to break the curse.
"it's time." klaus said softly, catching everyone's attention.
elena eyes were gleamed over with tears that she refused to let fall. stefan laid on the ground lifeless, a piece of wood still lodged in his back. jocelyn looked to the original, her eyebrows raised.
the ring of fire surrounding the doppelgänger diminished, klaus outstretching his hand towards the girl. elena denied the action, walking past the man towards the altar. jocelyn watched with an amused look, her eyebrow quirked at the expression the doppelgänger was sending their way.
jocelyn stood from her spot on the altar, taking a few steps away as she watched klaus caress elena's features. an unknown feeling bloomed in her chest at the way his eyes wandered over the doppelgänger. the anger she had kept concealed towards elena seemed to overpower the feeling as klaus thanked the girl.
"go to hell."
jocelyn let out another dramatic sigh, shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly. "maybe we'll see you there, 'lena."
klaus simply grinned at jocelyn's words as elena glared in response. no one had a chance to say anything else before klaus was pulling elena into his chest, pressing his lips against her neck to begin feeding from her. jocelyn watched the life fade from elena's eyes, klaus dropping the girl as she died in his arms. the girl felt the weight on her shoulder fall slightly, but no where near how she had imagined it to feel whenever she thought of the moment.
klaus let out deep breath as he walked off the altar towards where the siphoner stood. "i can feel it. it's happening."
jocelyn smiled brightly at the excitement in klaus' voice, excitement also finding itself blooming in her chest for what was to come. klaus then began to turn, the sound of his bones breaking echoing through the clearing.
in any other situation, the noise would've disgusted the girl, but this one was another story. jocelyn's eyes widened at the sight of klaus' eyes turning a yellow shade, his fangs showing promptly.
suddenly, the fires ignited once again. the sound of a neck snapping echoed from behind the two. the siphoner only caught a glimpse of greta's body dropping on the altar. jocelyn didn't have time to respond to the sight before she quickly used her own magic to stop the spell bonnie was casting.
"jocelyn, i will take you out too if you intervene with this. i'll have no choice!"
"guess you'll just have to take me out then, bon bon." jocelyn smirked evilly, not bothered by the threat. she wasn't surprised by the sight of her not-so-dead sister due to elena's slip up earlier in the night.
jocelyn's eyes went to the salvatore brothers who were in the mist of a conversation before stefan took elena's body, disappearing a second later. the raven-haired salvatore was left behind alongside the bennett witch.
jocelyn was so preoccupied in the fact that both bonnie and damon were making their way closer, she missed the sight of elijah appearing by klaus' side. jocelyn didn't get to blink before damon was only a mere inch from her frame. klaus' yells echoed through the clearing in the woods as jocelyn caught sight of elijah's hand imbedded in the newly turned hybrid's chest.
the siphoner mirrored klaus' action, a choked out scream tumbling from her lips as damon took a harsh grasp of her throat. elijah didn't hesitate to halt in his movements, peering to the salvatore in time to catch sight of the man snapping the siphoner's neck with much more force than was necessary.
klaus let out his own choked out gasp as jocelyn's body hit the ground in a heap. elijah felt every fiber in his body ignite in anger.
"do it and i'll take you both out." bonnie quickly realized the hesitation in elijah's eyes.
elijah saw the humanity still left in klaus as he watched jocelyn's now dead body hit the ground. the pain that overcame him was evident on his features. elijah abruptly ripped his hand from of his brother's chest, giving him a simple nod before klaus used his vampire speed to disappear into the night.
elijah used his own supernatural abilities to grab jocelyn's body before following in suit with his brother.
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