2 DAYS LATER
Grabbing a handful of blue paint in my hands, I carried it gently as I smeared it across the white canvas. In all directions, I waved my arms around swirling and smearing it until it faded off my fingers. With buckets surrounding me, my clothes had stained from the splatters, seeping through my fingers and toes as I stepped on wet paint.
I had been locked up in the attic for the last few days, hiding from Stefan and Damon. My parents came in and out, leaving plates of food or cups of O-neg near the door for me. James and Sebastian had stayed in the room, helping wrap up all of the overdue paintings I had ignored the last few months and sent them off to be shipped.
"Lauren?" Elizabeth said knocking on the door.
"It's open."
Peaking her head inside, she held the phone up showing me some messages from Stefan.
"What is it?"
"It's about Elena..." She whispered.
"What does it say?"
"...he said she turned it back on, I don't know what that means." She added.
"It means she's back to normal..."
"Is that what this is?"
Letting the fist-full of paint drain through my fingers as I held the bucket close to me, I rose up from the ground.
"No...this is...therapy. I'm a still ruthless bitch, but these past few days I needed something to distract and feeding on people is getting a little boring." I sighed.
"What about practicing? Mom said there're some spells that you wrote, we can go give them a try."
"All I feel is anger, Liz. I'll blow up the house with one of the spells."
"Well, you need some air...fresh air. The paint thinner is getting to your head and mom tastes it in her soup. So...come on. I'll meet you in the back."
"But-"
"In the back! And change your clothes!" She hissed.
Slipping my phone in my back pocket, she headed out of the room leaving the door open for the smell to air out. Throwing the lid on the paint thinner, I washed my hands on the sink before I headed to my room and take a quick shower.
With my hair wrapped up in a towel, I scrambled to grab some shots and a gray t-shirt before shaking my hair out and tying on my shoes.
"Oh, hey...I was just gonna ask you something." James gasped passing my bedroom.
"What is it?"
"I was wondering if you know anything about a full moon tomorrow?"
"No...I haven't talked to anyone since I arrived." I added, heading down the foyer stairs.
"Why do you ask?"
"I was wandering around in the cemetery, Mom wanted to know about the witches...and I saw that friend of yours, Bonnie...she was doing some kind of seance. I just thought you knew something." He asked, turning to head for the living room.
Walking to the back door of the house, Liz stood near the pond in the back of the house along with candles and a grimoire.
"Don't you think we could've done this inside, Mom hid most of the candles up in the attic."
"I told you, you need air...what better way to practice your new spell than an entire field where you can't hurt anyone." She smiled, handing me the book.
"Fine...what should we try first."
Flipping through the pages, I took a seat on the ground quickly reading the new spells I had written a while back until the pages had suddenly flipped on their own.
"Woah..."
"What about that one?" Liz asked glancing down at a time spell.
"A time-traveling spell...have you been talking to Stefan?"
"No...I...James told me about the witch...I just thought that since you know her-"
"I am not going to get into this, Liz. She's gonna kill herself tomorrow and I can go on with my life...Silas doesn't even know about my relationship to Qetsiyah, so...I'm good, thanks."
Closing the book, I start heading for the backdoor of the house when suddenly a huge gush of wind comes out of nowhere almost knocking me down to the ground. With trees being pulled from all sides, as well as dirt and leaves floating in the air, I had turned back to see Liz standing in this bubble-like cloak, untouched by the wind.
"You might not care about what happens to her...but I'm pretty sure you have some enemies on the other side that you would like to keep there. We both know that you're the only one that could stop Silas." Liz yelled out.
Looking at all directions, I slowly started heading back to Liz, lifting my hand up and creating this shield as I entered the little bubble she created.
"...that Bennett witch...I saw her leaving the Young Farmhouse a few hours ago with Katherine, James saw her at the cemetery where the 12 witches were murdered...I think Katherine told her something, I just need you to find out what that is."
"I don't think time traveling is one of my powers?"
"It's not, but your ability to put anything into people's heads is. Bonnie's power comes from the earth if you can tap into that, you can see what she's been doing."
"And what if I can't? I've killed too many people to be able to tap into nature." I added.
"You took a vampire's life for a witch...you balanced nature. You can do it again."
"Even if that costs the life of another witch?" I questioned.
"If that's the only way, yes."
Taking in a deep breath, I reached my hand back out for the book before I kneeled down in the middle of the ground surrounded by the candles.
"Dig your fingers into the ground." Liz guided me as I closed my eyes.
Feeling the cold layers of the dirt engulf my hands fully, there was a prickling feeling around my wrists and arms as the grass wrapped itself around deepening my connection to Bonnie.
"What do you see?"
"...Trees...dirt."
"Who do you hear around you?" Liz whispered
"...I smell Katherine...she's angry, annoyed really...and freaked out by Bonnie."
"Okay, concentrate on what she's telling Katherine..."
"She's...asking her for Silas' tombstone. Something about breaking it to get blood..."
"Whose blood?" She asked again.
"I don't...wait...Qetsiyah. She wants her blood."
Snapping myself out of the trance, I gasp out a breath of air as the grass slowly started to seep back into the ground.
"What happened?"
"Bonnie isn't going to wait until the full moon, she's gonna break the tombstone to take Qetsiyah's blood and lower the veil whenever she wants." I blurted out.
"Where are they right now?"
"The school? I remembered one of the posters on the bulletin boards about Jeremy."
"Okay, you need to get there right now and stop her, I'm gonna go find that tombstone-"
"Wait, Liz-"
"Stop her, Lauren! Whatever it takes!" She yelled, running into the woods.
Flashing back inside of the house, I burst into my room grabbing my jacket and keys before sprinting up to the attic and rambling out some paintbrushes I had stored in a paint can, pulling out the white box, Katherine had given me.
"Lauren, what's going-...what is that?" James whispered, standing at the door.
"...the cure..."
"Are...are you sure you want to take that with you?"
"If I can't make it to Bonnie, I can at least stop Silas..." I mumbled.
"And then what? Tell him about Qetsiyah...he'll use you, Lauren!"
"Liz said whatever it takes...I don't want to see people I have killed coming back to haunt me. So, this is the plan."
Stuffing the cure inside of my jacket, I brushed past James and down the stairs to my car when I get a phone call from Stefan.
"Aren't you gonna answer that?" Sebastian asked, throwing a towel over his shoulder.
"Um...no, it's just a random number. I'll be back."
"Alright? Bring back some food while you're at it." He blurted out closing the front door me while I raced down the driveway.
Taking the backroads to the school, I kept checking up on Liz in between the stops I took. It had been a few minutes since she texted me she had arrived at Katherine's old apartment, and I was already driving up the school parking lot when I get another text.
'It's gone. Find it!' -Liz.
Slamming my car door shut, I ran through the double doors of the school, the piles of leaves from outside had found their way in, filling the halls with dirt and twigs from the wind outside. With an abrupt silence in the hall, there was an eerie feeling the air. Every step I took I could hear myself getting closer to the sound of heartbeats, getting faster as I made my way to the boiler room outside of the cafeteria doors.
Noticing the thick chains dangling on one of the doors handles, I carefully pulled the door, stepping inside of boiler room when I overhear the grunting and snarling of Bonnie echoing through the metal walls.
'Bonnie, are you okay?' I heard Caroline's voice.
'Yeah, now that I unlinked her.'
Calculating my steps carefully so that Caroline wouldn't be able to hear me, I started to notice the change in the walls. Starting off as metal and them slowly turning into large rocks creating tunnels going deeper underneath the school.
'What are you doing here?' Caroline whispered.
'Waiting for Qetsiyah.'
'You might be waiting a while.'
Hearing the tone in Caroline's voice change, almost roguish, sinister-like even, I stopped myself in the middle of the tunnels before hearing another voice that was not Caroline's nor Bonnie's.
'Qetsiyah's not coming, Bonnie.'
'Silas...but-...I saw Caroline. I thought you couldn't get inside my head.' Bonnie snarled.
'That's what I wanted you to think. I can make you see whatever I want you to see. Am I a disfigured monster?'
'Of course not. A monster is what I wanted you to see.' Suddenly changing to Stefan's voice.
Hiding deep between the tunnels, I found a long way through continuing to hear their conversation.
'That's the beauty in all of this.' Caroline's voice echoed.
'You have no idea who I am,'
'Or what I look like,' Stefan's voice came again.
'Or how deep I am inside of your head.'
'You thought that you were more powerful than me? That you could take down the veil all by your lonesome?' Silas' voice echoed.
'Professor Shane lied...you're not Qetsiyah's descendant, why do you think she's not coming for you.'
Placing myself in between this small cave-like nook in the rocks, I had sat there for a few minutes as I heard Silas's voice change back and forth from Stefan's to Caroline when I suddenly felt a breeze come up behind me.
"Hello?" I whispered, looking over my shoulder.
"Stefan?"
Turning my body to the inside, I pulled out my phone slowly lighting up the cave when suddenly Qetsiyah's hand covers my mouth and the last thing I see is the small opening of the cave.
Dragging me across the tunnels, she laid me up against a pile of rocks as she moved her hands across the entry of the cave, creating this invisible shield.
"What the hell? What are you doing?" I blurted out.
"I'm protecting you from Silas...I don't have much time."
Scrambling up to my feet, I held myself up with the help of the rocks before Qetsiyah turned to face me. And suddenly, it felt like I was staring back at my mother. The dark hair, tan skin, it was everything I had seen in the bowl a few weeks ago.
"You're in shock...I should've gotten to you sooner but your mother has done a great job at hiding you. I'm Qetsiyah." She smiled nervously, extending her hand.
"Lauren...or Scarlett, whatever you've heard."
"Oh, yeah...I've definitely heard a lot from your mom. It's great to finally meet you, and to see that our families magic is in good hands." She whispered.
"Yeah...me too. Was the cave really necessary?"
"You need to let Bonnie die...I have to keep you here to let it happen." She blurted out.
"And that's exactly what I came here to do...but he knows Bonnie isn't your descendant, I am. He's gonna come find me...especially after that little stunt I pulled."
"What stunt?" She asked.
"I had...stopped him from using magic on me. When he saw that, I noticed it freaked him out a little...then I did a binding spell and made him walk to the ends of the cemetery until I could get out without him following me."
Mouth wide open and eye peeled back in shock, I coughed gently trying to get past the silence.
"You compelled him...wow...and here I thought I needed to help you."
"You came to help me?" I asked.
"Yeah. Warn you, really."
"About what?"
"About me."
Hearing a soft voice come from behind me, I slowly stepped forward, turning around to see Sheila standing in the cave with us.
"Sheila?" I gasped.
"It's good to see you again...I was right, you are her daughter."
"I figured you'd be with-"
"Bonnie? I thought it would be best if I stopped here first...Silas is holding her life in his hands until he figures out another way." She mumbled.
"You mean me."
"I know you've been hearing people telling you that you have to let Bonnie die, and I know that somewhere inside of you, you don't want to do that. But...my grandbaby is too far gone. That professor took a part of her...you've seen it."
"Sheila-"
"I know...you kept your promise, you tried to protect her as much as you can, the only way you knew how. But you can't keep wasting your breath on her. I'm just here to say thank you, and let you know that we're not angry with you." Hearing the faint cracks in Sheila's voice, I could feel Qetsiyah's hand rest on my shoulder.
"Be with her, Sheila. She doesn't have much time left." Qetsiyah whispered, opening the cave entrance.
Brushing past me, Sheila had strode out of the cave, calling out to Bonnie as soon as she turned the corner.
"So what now?" I asked.
"We need to get to the cemetery, your mother had an old mausoleum built for your family. You'll be safer there but we need to go now."
"Can't we at least get Bonnie out of the-"
"I'm sorry...you can't...the longer I stay here and along with every supernatural creature from the other side, we drain her. Let's go."
Grabbing my hand I whisked us out of the school's boiler room and through the thick forest trees until we finally reach the entrance of the cemetery where I followed the same path I did to the witch's sacrifice before coming to a complete stop near the Blackwell Mausoleum.
"Here we are," Qetsiyah whispered.
Letting go of her hand, I stood in front of the gray cementer mausoleum, standing at about a story high with the name 'Blackwell' inscribed on the front. Long moss-like vines grew from the dirt, climbing up the stone for the last hundred years, covering or wrapping themselves between the doors and windows.
"What now?" I asked.
"Well...you're the only one that can open it. It's magically sealed."
"...of course it is," I mumbled, stepping up to the door.
Ripping the moss off the handles, I gripped them tightly just staring at my hands until suddenly there was a lock turning, clicking afterward.
"Woah..."
Letting the handles slipping out of my grip, the inside of the mausoleum lit up by the hundreds of candles dripping and burning along the windows, floors, and even the tombstones cemented on the wall.
"I know this isn't the warm homecoming that you were hoping for, but...here they are." Qetsiyah smiled, heading straight for the wall.
"Is this all of them?" I asked, glancing at the eight names inscribed on the walls.
"Sadly, yes."
"But there's only 8...where are you?" I asked.
"I'm buried in Greece...but my daughter isn't."
Watching her as she ran her hands over the tomb at the top of my mothers, the candles in the room burn brighter.
"Cassandra Vlahos," I mumbled.
"That's your grandfather...Elias Petridis."
Pointing to the tomb next to her, I ran my hand over the spiderwebs.
"Did your mother ever mention them?" She asked.
"No...I didn't even know we were Greek."
"Half-Greek...your father is English, Wales Province."
Taking a step back, I slowly start to wipe down all of the spiderwebs, revealing James, Sebastian, and my tombstone, along with Amelia's.
"They buried her here?" I asked, reading Amelia's tombstone.
Glancing at everyone in the room, there was this nervous overwhelming feeling inside me.
"Crap...you didn't meet them, did you?" She sighed.
"No...their spirits are in my world, except for Elizabeth. I just...this makes it so real, their death, I mean."
"Well...with the veil down, their alive..."
"As long as Bonnie is still breathing," I added.
"Yeah. It won't be long now."
With my eyes still glued on my tombstone, I somehow felt pulled to it. But not just because of my name, it was something further inside. Gliding my hands across the edge, I gripped it tightly before pulling it with everything I had.
"Jesus."
Stumbling back a bit, I rested the block against the wall as I tried to get a clear view of what was inside through the dust and spider web.
"What is that?" I asked, crouching inside.
Seeing whatever was inside glowing brighter and brighter until my hand was right above it, I ran my thumb over, picking at the dirt until I was staring back at a pendant.
"What did you find?"
"A pendant?"
Crawling back outside, I held the necklace in my hand when the light beaming from inside the necklace stopped and faded slowly until the stone changed to a foggy white color.
"That's weird? Why would it do that?" I asked Qetsiyah, who just stared at the pendant.
"I gave one to Cassandra...when she was born. All witches do, especially to their daughters."
"For what?"
"It's like a safe, for your powers. In case one day, maybe you or someone wants to bind them...they can use your pendant."
"Isn't that a bad thing? Why would my mother keep it there?" I asked.
"She had it made before you were born, and then she lost you...probably left it there just in case you were to come back. Keep it safe, it's dangerous to wear it, especially if someone knows who you are. Binding powers is like a death sentence for a witch, they have no way to protect themselves."
Holding the pendant close to my chest, I quickly put back to tombstone when I take one last look at everyone's name.
"So...If I'm part Greek, then why are Grimoirs in Latin...I thought they were made specifically for the witch."
"They are...the books your mother has are all in Greek, but over the last thousand years witches have been translating them in hopes to be able to cast the spells inside, which ultimately end in their death."
"Melodramtic...got it," I whispered to myself.
Then suddenly, I could hear several heartbeats palpitating at a high speed followed by steep and heavy breaths as Sebastian had barged into the Mausoleum.
"Woah, easy bullseye."
"Did you drop it?" He blurted out, gasping for a while to catch his breath."
"Drop what?"
"The veil...did you drop the veil?"
"No, I-"
"Oh, good...you're still-"
Stepping further into the room, there was this warm energy radiating from my mother as she froze at the step, staring back at Qetsiyah.
"Oh, my god...Qetsiyah." She gasped.
"Aurora..."
Running into her arms, the rest of us watched them as they took a moment to themselves. Grabbing each other and kissing their cheeks until they turned to us with bright smiles.
"What are you guys doing here? I thought you couldn't get out of the house?" I asked my dad.
"Before we couldn't...now...with the veil dropped. We're here..."
"Like-"
"Literally, here...you can feel our heart beating, look," James said excitingly, grabbing my hand to press it against his chest.
"But, it won't last long once Bonnie dies?"
"We know that that's why we came...your mom's going to teach you the spell on how to bring us back."
Turning my head back to Qetsiyah, she slowly let go of my mom.
"They'll be human...they won't be able to rely on your powers anymore." She whispered.
"I waited 163 years to see you again...and you're telling me all I had to do was bring down a veil?"
"Scarlett, we can be with you for many years to come...we can finally be a real family. You won't need to keep our secret anymore...you'll have everything you've ever wanted as a child."
"A mother...a father..." My dad whispered.
"Siblings..." Elizabeth mumbled, taking our dads side.
"A dog if you want."
Looking around at everyone in the room, I couldn't help but see it. My life alongside them, watching them live a normal life without the need for powers or spells. It was a dream I've always wanted, yet...I knew it wouldn't exist.
"You can't fool me, Silas." I hissed, waving my hand over everyone in the room, watching as my family disappeared like dust.
"...Wait, what?" Qetsiyah blurted out, snapping out of the trance.
"He's close...he wouldn't be able to do that with them near."
Blowing all of the candles out, Qetsiyah and I stepped outside looking in all directions for anything that moved, when suddenly the ringtone of my phone cut through the tension.
"Hello?"
'Lauren...it's Stefan.' He said sternly.
"...if this is another one of your games-"
'It's not a game, Lauren...we're here at the last sacrifice.'
"We? Stefan, who's there?" I blurted out.
Hearing the phone rub up against something, I pulled it away when another voice comes through the call.
'Say your names!' Silas yelled.
'Caroline.'
'Elena.'
'Damon.'
'Stefan.'
'Matt.'
'...James.'
'Elizabeth...'
'Sebastian.'
And then silence, before the sound of a loud smack comes through the phone.
'...Edward.'
'Aurora...'
'Come now...or I will kill each and every one of them and have you listen to their screams.' Silas snarled, hanging up the phone.
"What did he say?" Qetsiyah asked.
"...we've run out of time."
Sliding my phone back into my pocket, I desperately closed and sealed the door to the Mausoleum when Qetsiyah ran in front of me.
"We need a plan...he could be making them all of those voices up. I mean, how do you know it's even them?" She blurted out.
"Because you said it yourself...my mother did a good job hiding me, I was in the old estate...blocked away by a protection spell I had made for all of us so that supernatural creatures like Silas couldn't get in...it's them."
Pushing past her, I had made my way a few yards about before he called out to me again.
"Does that mean your humanity is back?" She yelled.
"Not even close."
Stefan's POV
Standing in what looked like a pentagram engraved into the soil, we were all scattered around like posts separated by Silas who divided Aurora and her family from us. With the moon slowly peaking above the trees, I could feel the air thicken as Silas paced back and forth dragging his feet in the middle for all of us to see.
"Where is she!" He yelled, staring at the open field to my right.
"If you had told her 20 minutes ago that you were on your way here, she would arrive on time," Damon added, causing all of us to glare at him.
"Damon."
"No...let him continue on with his jokes...let's see if he finds it funny once I've removed his sisters head from her shoulders." Silas hissed, standing inches away from Damon.
"If you can catch her, grandpa."
Smacking Damon across the face, it sends a loud echo through the trees going on for miles until the cracks and snap of twigs come up from behind me.
"Lauren?" I whispered, trying to look behind me.
"Lauren are you there?"
"What did I say about the noise!"
Levitating across the ground, Silas slammed his boots in front of mine.
"...sorry...I thought she was here." I whispered.
"She's not...but I'm sure she's around. My patience runs thin, Lauren! Or should I say Scarlett...you fooled me with your little binding spell? But then the thought came to me...who else would be able to control an immortal witch if not the original witch's descendant herself." He yelled out into the woods, just before the sound of leaves ruffling pick up.
"Here she is! Now...will you reveal your face first or shall I?"
Catching the scent of fire behind me, I noticed a light growing and reflecting at my feet and before I know it, Silas' face is burning alive in the middle of the pentagram just as Lauren emerges through Matt and Caroline.
"Oh, thank god..." I sighed, relieved that she came through.
"Sorry...the invitation came late."
Extinguishing the fire off of him, Silas slowly stood from the ground flaring his nose as he finally came face to face with Lauren.
"I guess I won." Lauren smiled.
"...would you count letting your friend die as a win?"
"What?" Caroline blurted out.
"Caroline," I pleaded to her.
"Oops...did I forgot to mention that while we waited...Bonnie's dead. But that's what you wanted, wasn't it?"
Standing calmly, Lauren just stared back at Silas as he continued on.
"You had told her time and time again that this kind of magic is only for the big leagues...well, I guess some people don't listen. Now...Scarlett Blackwell, descendent of Qetsiyah, daughter of Aurora Blackwell...I meet you at last."
"Sweetheart." Aurora whimpered, calling for Lauren.
"Now, mother...please don't interrupt. I am in the middle of an adult conversation with your daughter."
"I have all the time in the world, Silas...even then I'm still not dropping the veil."
"Oh, but you are...see...I have everyone you care for. Your brothers, your friends...your dead family...even your ex-boyfriend over there." Silas said, pointing at Matt.
"...I'm not here to fight you, Scarlett. I'm merely here to settle an agreement...one that you only have to answer. Shall we?"
"Enlighten me."
"I let you live if you hand me the cure. Once I take the cure, I will be human and pass on to the other side...that's where your powers come in. You will drop the veil for me to cross over, therefore allowing everyone you've ever lost to roam the earth. How does that sound?" He smiled.
"...do I look like I'm five to you?"
Losing his frown, the trees and wind around us picked up causing everyone to get cut by twigs and stones as we continued to stand there and watch.
Reaching his hand out, he had somehow gotten a grasp on Lauren's neck, levitating her up in the air as she still kept her eyes on him.
"...you know what the problem is with old witches like you." Lauren hissed.
"You never seem to remember that us modern witches...are a lot clever."
Breaking through his hold, Lauren had somehow vanished in thin air and appeared behind Silas, wrapping her arms around his neck before flinging him across the woods taking large tree trunks with him.
With all of us as martyrs for Silas and Lauren to use, I couldn't help fight the trembling feeling in my body as at any moment anything could happen.
"I see...two can play at the game." I heard Silas say, coming out of nowhere as he attacked Lauren.
With fists flying, Silas' speed was nowhere near Lauren's. Her body moved along with the wind, her hands hitting places where blood spilled and bone cracks. Silas, on the other hand, was more than lucky. His strength as an immortal was his ability to read minds. He knew every move coming, stopping and dodging every hit and kick Lauren gave him.
With the moon just fully peaking out from the trees, Lauren continued to fight through the pain, spitting out the blood in her mouth as Silas kicked her chest, pinning her down to the ground.
"Well...what do we have here?"
Gasping for air, Lauren's body laid there in the dirt with her arms spread out revealing a silver locket she had hidden in her pocket.
"...a pendant, I see." Silas sighed, holding it up to the light before he noticed the stone inside start to glow.
"I wonder what it does."
Then out of nowhere, Silas' body flew backward, leaving behind the pendant as it fell beside Lauren's hands.
"Get up, Lauren!" Elizabeth yelled, staring at Silas as he kept getting attacked by these random bursts of energy.
"Get Up!" Damon yelled, trying to break through the invisible barrier.
Rolling off to her side, she crawled her way to the pendant and in an instant Silas' boot stomped down onto her wrist, cracking loudly for all of us to here.
"AAH!"
"Where do you think you're going? I'm not done with you."
Slamming his hand onto her back, I forced her to kneel as his knee hit the back of her spine causing her to stare up at the sky.
"I wonder...have you ever felt what actual helplessness feels like? Or how pain can affect the human body?"
"...does disappointment count?" She mumbled.
"Funny...for someone who can't seem to answer a simple question."
"Heh...I thought I did...hell no."
Grabbing a handful of her hair, he placed his hand on her head, tilting her up to stare at the moon which was perfectly placed above them.
"...let's see if you laugh after this."
Staring up at the sky, I could barely see the whites of their eyes as the reflection from the moon was slowly pouring down from the sky onto the two of them, but it wasn't until I saw the veins on Lauren's neck turn black that I realized he was going to force her to turn.
"NO!"
Screaming to the fullest of my ability, I had knocked Silas out of the trance he was under, letting go of her head.
"There's another witch!" I ordered.
"Stefan!"
"Qetsiyah has another descendant in New Orleans-"
"Do you think I'm stupid? The witches only mentioned a sharp-tongued girl with a very significant ring on her finger." Silas snarled, lifting up Lauren's right hand.
"Give him the cure, Lauren!" I pleaded, taking one step forward before he placed his hand out in front of me.
"Stefan, stop!" Aurora yelled.
"What did you say?"
"In her pocket...she has to have it" I yelled, glancing back and forth at Lauren as she reached into her pocket, hiding the cure into the wet dirt.
Snapping his head at Lauren, he again pulled her up by her hair, walking straight into a trap which ended up with her hand deep into his chest.
"Uhh..."
"An eye for an eye, Silas..." She hissed.
Swiftly, with a single pull, she held onto his heart as he sunk to the ground, watching as his chest bled profusely.
"Let's see what'll happen when you're without your heart."
Letting the bloody heart roll of her palm, the bruises on Lauren's body started to disappear leaving the bloodstains on her mouth and nose. With his heart sitting in front of him, he kneeled there in silence as Lauren had walked around him, bending down near his ear.
"I'll lower the veil...but it's nowhere compared to where you're going." She hissed, slowly flaring her fangs.
"I wonder...did your mother ever find peace after killing her own child," Silas mumbled, just seconds before Lauren bit him.
"What?"
"Mother, what is he talking about?" James said, turning to his mom.
"Nonsense...he's lying to you! Lauren do it now!"
Gripping onto his neck, there was a millisecond window of hesitation for Lauren when unexpectedly, Silas had grabbed the back of her head, flipping her over so that she laid in between his legs.
"Tell them the truth, Aurora! Or I'll kill her, right here!"
"No!"
"TELL THEM!" Silas roared.
"Mom, don't-"
"I will end your family in front of you!"
Fear spread all around us, you could smell it. The brief glances, the worried looks, I could feel the back of my neck begin to sweat from the tension in the room. And yet, here we were helpless as Lauren and Silas went back and forth with each other, torturing and tormenting her as we all watched, but she continued with it.
"I killed her...alright. Is that what you want Silas!" Aurora yelled with tears collecting in her eyes.
"How did you do it?"
"...I...I for-"
"LOUDER!" Silas yelled, chuckling afterward as he watched how painful it was for Aurora to speak.
"I forced her inside of a pentagram...against her will, I recited a spell that would end the life of a witch continuing on the line of power in my family."
"Now...was that so hard?" He mimicked, struggling to get up with Lauren wrapped close to him.
"Screw you." James hissed, turning back to look at Silas.
"I'm sorry...I just had your mother tell you a big family secret. You have a sister, you should be thanking me!"
"I'll thank you when you burn in hell."
"...not if I see you there first."
And in what would've been a storm of powers being used to get what the other wanted, silence followed after. The trees were still, even the air around us became hard to breathe that our bodies refused to exhale what air we had left in our lungs.
Tears had filled my eyes, blurring everything I saw in front of me. But I could still see their shadows. All five bodies falling to the ground, starting from their knees as they all fell in different directions.
Lauren, on the other hand, was standing on her own as Silas had wandered to where their bodies laid. He watched and laughed as he saw what he had done. Kneeled at the feet by the most powerful coven of witches, who were now dead.
"So, sweetheart...who's next." He hissed, glaring at Lauren as our eyes were on her as well.
"Lauren..." Damon stuttered staring at her in fear.
"Here...I'll make it fun."
Feeling the release of my knees as the invisible hold on all of us was taken by Silas, I immediately ran to Lauren, who was in a trance as I watched her eyes stare at Silas.
"What did you do?" I yelled.
"...Oops...I think I might've snapped something inside her. Let's see if she-"
Then just when we all thought that it was over, Lauren took off, slamming herself and Silas up against a tree. There were no words. No mumbling. Nothing. Just the sound of Silas' jagged breath as Lauren's hands were tightened around his throat so tight that the nerves in his spine exploded from the pressure.
"Stefan." Caroline sighed, pointing at Lauren's hands.
As I slowly made it to Elizabeth's body, I could see what Caroline saw. This odd gray color was emerging from her hands, slowly traveling the length of Silas' body covering himself with his face with his hands as he finally stood there. Pinned up to a tree, as a stone ornament.
"Lauren..." I sighed, reaching out my hand for her.
Hesitantly, I could make out the parts of her face as she looked over her shoulder and at my hand covered in dirt and blood. Her eyes blinked quickly, fighting the tears as she had finally seen what he had done. Standing in the middle of all the chaos, every noise, every creek, and snap of a branch was now heard. The air around us was now breathable, but so cold at the touch in our throats.
She was back. And broken.
Her body fell to the ground, slumping every inch of her body as her mother and father stared back her. Their eyes, still in shock and in pain gave one last farewell as a tear that had formed in her mothers' eyes, ran down her cheek, moistening the dirt beneath her. Finally, with a single gasp of air, she wept. Screaming in agony, she slowly curled herself up, crawling her way over to her mother.
"Mom!"
Hearing the sound of Caroline's voice gasping, she held her mouth closed with her hands as Matt comforted her. Elena and Damon stood back along with me as we watching her cradling her mother back and forth, brushing her hair to see her face one last time.
"Mommy...I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..."
With all of her bottled-up emotions sprinting through her body, she reached further grabbing a hold of her father and brothers, surrounding herself with everyone.
"Please...please...don't leave me. I can't..."Gasping her air, her chest shaking profusely following by another screeching cry that was so hard for me to even watch anymore.
"Lauren...come on, we need to go," I said to her reaching her shoulder.
"No! I can't leave them...I can't-"
"Lauren, we need to go...the noise will draw people," Elena called out, helping me get her away from her family.
"NO! Let me go!"
Looking over at Matt, I signal him to give me the vervain injection from his pocket.
"Liz...oh my, God...I'm sorry. I'm sorry I never..."
Pulling the syringe out from her neck, Damon came in, cradling her in his arms.
"Go...take her back home," I whispered.
Sniffling to myself, I took a quick moment to collect everything that had happened before Caroline and I started to clean everything up.
"This isn't the way I wanted to bring her back," Caroline whispered.
"...none of us did."
"So, what now? She's still gonna remember all of this. Bonnie...I mean, we don't even know where she is."
"We'll figure that out, I promise." I sighed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
UPDATE!
I know that in the last few chapters I've put in how old Lauren is, and it's probably confusing now but she is 163 years old. And if you want to know how, I got you:
After some heavy and intense research on TVD wiki fan pages, I noticed that the writers included Stefan and Damon's age at the time of their death which was really weird since I thought that their Vampire age started once they died...hence their date of death, but whatever. So Lauren is born in 1848, she's two years younger than Stefan, who is 17/165 years old, while Damon who is 25/171, at this point in the story which is 2011. By the end of the series they've already aged about 8 years or so, I don't remember. There's the clarification.
Now on to the story.
I hope you enjoyed it!