I don't own anything related to "The Vampire Diaries" which they belong to the LJ Smith and The CW.
I only own Eva Gilbert, Danielle Pierce, Thora Petrova and Cassandra.
I'm sorry for the delay guys, but my personal life has been completely occupied and I didn't have the time to write. So I'm sorry guys.
~~~Eternal~~~Flame~~~
Chapter XXI
The Sun Also Rises
At the Lockwood cellar, Tyler, in his werewolf form, growled and snarled at Caroline and Matt who were on the other side of the iron gate. Caroline was holding the gate shut.
"Caroline, let me help!" Matt pleaded with Caroline.
"Get back, I got it!" Caroline shouted at him when Tyler started to attack, fitting his snout through the bars of the gate while snapping and snarling. Caroline flinched but held the gate steady. Matt aimed the riffle at Tyler and he backed up and attacked one second time.
"Caroline, the door's not going to hold." Matt said to her and backed away from the door while continuing pointing the gun at Tyler. "Come on!" He shouted at Caroline.
"Tyler, please!" Caroline pleaded with Tyler while he didn't let it up his attack against them. Matt shot at him, who yelped in pain and backed away and Matt shot him once again. "Matt! No, hey, no! It's Tyler!" Caroline shouted at Matt.
"It's trying to kill us!" Matt shouted at Caroline.
"Wait!" Caroline shouted at him because she looked back and saw that Tyler was laying on the ground, panting heavily. "He's wounded." Caroline said to Matt.
"Caroline, stay back." Matt said to her when she started to unlock the gate.
"We can go around him." Caroline said to him.
"Are you nuts?" Matt asked her worried.
"You're not going to shoot him again, okay? Okay. Matt, take my hand." Caroline said to him and extended her hand towards Matt as she opened the gate and walked out. He continued to point the gun at Tyler.
"I got it." Matt said to her not wanting to grab her hand.
"Matt, take my hand." Caroline said looking back to him. Matt finally complied and placed the rifle over his shoulder. He took Caroline's hand and she used her vampire speed and the two of them left the cellar.
~~~Eternal~~Flame~~~
At Alaric's apartment, Damon was sitting down at the bar, observing the werewolf bite on his inner forearm. Katherine and Danielle were standing over him, also observing the same bite.
"So that's what a werewolf bite looks like." Katherine commented to him and to her sister.
"Yep." Damon said popping the 'p'.
"It's not that bad." Danielle said to him.
"Will be." Damon said and stood up and rolled his sleeve down, covering the bite. Now, how he was going to tell Eva that he was going to die and their plans were destroyed.
"So that's it? You're just... going to die?" Katherine asked surprised.
"Well, that depends. You know anything about a cure?" Damon asked them and both girls shock their heads. "Me, either." He said and grabbed his jacket off the couch and putted it on.
"145 years and no last good-bye?" Danielle asked him with a purr on her voice.
"You don't get a good-bye." Damon stated and turned away from her. Danielle used her vampire speed in front of him and placed her hand on his chest.
"No. Don't leave mad." Danielle said to him.
"Us ending up on good terms isn't exactly on my bucket list, Danielle." Damon said and attempted to leave again but Danielle persisted once again.
"Klaus made Danielle call Jenna to lure her out of the house. There was nothing that we could do. We didn't have a choice." Katherine said defending herself and Danielle.
"That's why I gave you both the vervain. So you had a choice." Damon stated to them.
"It was her or us. I chose her." Danielle defended herself.
"I helped you. You owed me. Now when Klaus dies, you're going to walk out of here without a scratch and Eva and Elena's aunt dies. Somehow you're the only one that wins. How'd that happen?" Damon asked them.
"I didn't let love get in the way." Danielle said to him.
"Just like me…" Katherine said to him too.
"Enjoy an eternity alone, girls." Damon said and walked past them.
"What are you going to do?" Katherine asked him.
"I'm going to offer myself as a replacement to Klaus." Damon said turning to Katherine.
"He won't take you. He saw your bite, he said that your blood is impure. I'm sorry, Damon. But Jenna's dead, there's nothing you can do about it." Danielle stated to him.
"He wants someone with pure blood." Katherine said to him.
"I will take my chances." Damon said and walked out of the door.
~~~Eternal~~~Flame~~~
In a quarry, Jenna and the twins were sitting on the ground looking at each other. Eva and Elena were worried with their aunt.
"Oh, my head. What's wrong with me?" Jenna asked while she grabbed her head.
"Do you remember what happened?" Elena asked her aunt.
"Eva called me. She was so scared. Oh, ah, I should have realized that it wasn't none of you. The second I walked out of the house, someone grabbed me. A vampire." Jenna explained to the girls.
"Yeah, Jenna. It was a vampire." Eva said nodding to her aunt.
"Klaus. It was Klaus." Elena said to her aunt.
"He made me drink his blood. And I don't... I don't remember anything after that." She explained and looked around with an anxious and nervous look. "Where are we? What happened?" Jenna asked them while Elena took her hands into her own.
"We're at the quarry. He brought us here." Elena stated to her aunt.
"Why don't I remember anything?" Jenna asked them.
"Jenna, do you remember... When we told you how someone becomes a vampire?" Eva asked her aunt.
"Yeah, if you die with vampire blood in your system, it's..." Jenna started and then paused when she realized what happened to her. "Oh, god. He killed me." Jenna said with a worried look.
"Jenna, listen to me. Listen to me; everything's going to be okay. We are going to get you out of here." Elena said pointing to her sister and herself.
"I'm a vampire?" Jenna asked to the girls.
~~~Eternal~~~Flame~~~
"And I bet you're hungry." Greta said approaching them, making Jenna and the girls look up at her from the ground. Elena saw a sharp rock nearby and rushed to grab it, but, with a wave of her hand, Greta sent Elena flying backwards.
"LENA!" Eva shouted for her sister and run to help her when Elena landed painfully in the dirt and once again Greta waved her hand again, creating a circle of fire around the girls. Elena stood up with her sister's help and both rushed towards the flames, but both of them found that they couldn't escape.
"Don't bother trying to get through. I spelled the circle. You're trapped. No matter what you do." Greta said to them with a smirk.
"Greta... Please, just… just let her go." Elena pleaded with Greta.
"Please… just choose another person. Not her. Our brother needs someone to take care of him while we are not here. Please." Eva pleaded too.
"Klaus chose her." Greta said while she sliced her wrist open with a sharp rock and with the blood dripping from her wound, Jenna was looking at it with hungry eyes.
"No." Elena shock her head.
"Drink it." Greta said lowering her wrist towards Jenna.
"Jenna, don't!" Elena shouted at her aunt.
"Please, Jenna, don't." Eva pleaded too.
"I can't." Jenna told to the girls.
"Let her go. Hey!" Elena shouted at Greta while she and Eva watch their aunt stare at the witch's bloody wrist and finally sank her teeth in.
"No! No." Eva shouted with tears on her eyes. While Jenna was feeding, she closed her eyes as the warm blood entered her mouth. After a few moments, Greta pulled her wrist out of Jenna's grip and made Jenna fall to the ground.
"That's enough." Greta said and stood up.
"Jenna. It's going to be okay." Elena said to her aunt.
"Jenna, you are going to get out of this. I promise." Eva said to her while Greta flicked her wrist and another circle of fire surrounded Jenna and the Gilbert's aunt retreated from the flames with fear on her face.
"Look at me. Hey, look at me." Elena called her aunt and Jenna turned her head to the girls with the blood still running down her chin.
"It's gonna be okay. It's gonna be okay." Eva tried to sooth her aunt too when Jenna said silently No as the dark veins of hunger creeped towards her eyes.
~~~Eternal~~~Flame~~~
At the abandoned witch house, Bonnie and Jeremy were down in the basement, still flipping through the pages of old Grimoires, trying to find answers.
"This is useless. All these Grimoires. There has to be something in here to keep Elena and Eva from becoming vampires." Jeremy said to Bonnie.
"And we'll keep looking. Until the last minute." Bonnie said to Jeremy with a soothing voice.
"But Eva accepted to be one. Why she would do that?" Jeremy asked to himself.
"She has her reasons and we need to respect that." Bonnie said and continued to look through the Grimoires.
~~~Eternal~~~Flame~~~
Outside, of the witches Elijah, Alaric, and Stefan arrived and walked across the yard towards the house. Elijah was explaining his plan to kill Klaus.
"The sacrifice is completed in stages as the full moon sets. First the werewolf is killed, then the vampire. Finally the doppelgängers. Once Elena and Eva are dead, the curse will be broken. Klaus will become hybrid." Elijah was explaining the steps of the ritual.
"So when do we attack?" Alaric asked Elijah.
"Eva's and Elena's deaths will activate his dormant werewolf side. He'll be vulnerable during the transformation. That's when Bonnie comes in." Elijah continued to explain to them.
"And you're sure Bonnie will survive this?" Stefan asked him.
"If she can deliver him to the brink of death, I'll finish the job myself." Elijah stated looking up at them when Stefan's phone rang.
~~~Eternal~~~Flame~~~
Stefan answered it and walked away from Elijah and Alaric to talk with Damon more privately. Damon was at the Boarding House.
"Damon." Stefan said to his brother into greeting.
"You're not going to like what I'm about to say." Damon said to his brother.
"Cut to the chase. Is the sacrifice happening or not?" Stefan asked to Damon not liking what he was telling him.
"It's happening. I tried to stop it, but it got... Complicated." Damon said frustrated with the situation.
"We're sticking with the original plan. We're meeting Bonnie right now." Stefan said to his brother.
"He's got Jenna, Stefan." Damon stated to his brother again.
"What?" Stefan shouted into the phone making Elijah and Alaric look at him.
"He got Katherine or Danielle to lure her out of the house." Damon explained to his brother and Stefan looked back at Alaric worried.
"What is it? What's wrong?" Alaric asked approaching Stefan with a worried look.
"He's going to use her as the vampire in the ritual." Damon finally said to his brother.
"Oh, my god." Stefan said with a shocked face.
~~~Eternal~~~Flame~~~
At the quarry, the place where the sacrifice was taking place, Elena and Eva were pacing back and forth in their circle of fire. Both girls were worried about their aunt while Jenna was kneeling in hers.
"How are you feeling?" Elena asked her aunt with a worried voice.
"I feel like myself... Only not. Everything is brighter. The fire's hotter. Part of me is terrified, but there's another part of me that doesn't want to feel anything." Jenna tried to explain to them.
"Vampires can turn off the part that's human. That's the part that hurts." Eva explained to Jenna because Damon told her everything.
"I'm gonna die, aren't I?" Jenna asked with tears on her eyes.
"No! Jenna, I'm not going to let that happen. I don't care what I have to do." Elena stated to her.
"Me too! You are not going to die!" Eva stated to her aunt when Jenna heard on the distance some sounds of twigs snapping and a woman groaning in pains is heard by the three which made Jenna's head snap towards the sound.
"Who's that?" Jenna asked to the girls.
"That must be the werewolf." Elena simply stated while the girls watched Greta pushing the woman, that it was Jules down on the ground.
"What's happening to me?" Jules asked grabbing her body groaning in pain.
"I cast a spell to slow down your transformation. Your insides are trying to tear themselves free." Greta said and moved away while she flicked her wrist and a third ring of fire encircled Jules.
"Greta, witches are supposed to maintain the balance in nature. It's your duty to them to keep this curse sealed." Eva said to the tanned witch.
"My duty is to Klaus! The new order." Greta shouted at the girls.
"Glad to know I still have a dance partner." Klaus said when he arrived at the site and looked at Elena, Eva, Jenna and Jules. "Hello, my lovelies. Are we ready?" He asked them.
~~~Eternal~~~Flame~~~
At the Lockwood mansion, Matt and Caroline rushed into the house, and Caroline closed the doors and locked them.
"Come on. Get in here!" Caroline said to Matt while she breathed out and leaned against the front doors and Matt peered out into one of the front windows. "Do you see anything?" She asked him.
"We're not safe here. If that thing wants in, it's getting in." Matt said to her while opening the chamber of the rifle and reloaded it.
"How did you even know what I was? I compelled you to forget!" Caroline asked him surprised.
"I was on vervain. I faked forgetting so I could spy on you. It was your mom's idea." He explained to her while he walked out of the room to peer out another window and the blonde vampire shocked, followed him.
"Wait, my mom knows?! Oh my God! You told her. Well, what'd she say?" Caroline asked him still surprised.
"Your mom hates vampires. She grew up hating vampires. She'll probably always hate vampires." Matt said to her turning around to look at her.
"Well, what about you?" Caroline asked him.
"What about me?" Matt asked her not understanding her question.
"Where does this leave us?" Caroline asked him still waiting for his answer.
"Stuck in this house. Trying not to get mauled to death by our friend." Matt told her and left the room leaving behind an Caroline distressed.
~~~Eternal~~~Love~~~
At the Salvatore Boarding House, someone was persistently knocking on the front door of the house and Damon walked down the stairs and into the front hall.
"Heard ya." Damon said saying and the knocking continued. When Damon was approaching the door, he stumbled and when he regained his composure, he rolled up his sleeve and saw the werewolf bite had gotten worse. When Damon proceeded towards the front door and opened it. It was John Gilbert that was standing in the doorway. "Great. I was just thinking about getting a bite to eat." Damon said with sarcasm.
"Elena and Eva haven't returned any of my calls for days. I need to see them." John said and walked into the house while Damon closed the door and turned to look at him.
"Well, you're a day late and two daughters short, John." Damon said once again with sarcasm on his voice.
"What are you talking about?" John asked Damon still confused.
"Klaus has them. Sacrifice goes down tonight." Damon said with a emotional voice because Eva was going to die but then become a vampire to be with him.
"How could you let that happen? You were supposed to keep them safe. Wasn't that the sum total of your plan; to keep them safe?" John asked Damon angry.
"Eva is safe. I fed her my blood." Damon started to say to him. "And Eva and I feed her sister my blood." He finished.
"You what?!" John shouted surprised.
"When Klaus kills Elena and Eva in the sacrifice, they will come back to life. Granted, as the thing you hate most in the world, but no one really cares what you think." Damon said and walked into the parlor when John attempted to grab him but Damon used his vampire speed and slammed John against a wall. "You do not want to mess with me right now." Damon said with a threaten voice.
"You ruined their lives. You know that, right?" John said to Damon.
"I know, John. I took Elena's choice, destroyed her future. Trust me, I get it. It actually gets worse." Damon said and started to walk away and then turned around. "But it was my girl's choice. Eva wants to be with me. She wants to be a vampire to be with me and that you can say anything about it." He said and finally walked away.
"How could it possibly get any worse?" John asked him.
"Eva loose her twin sister and switch off her humanity." Damon stated and left once again to the quarry to meet his brother there.
~~~Eternal~~~Flame~~~
In the quarry, Jules, Elena, Eva and Jenna were still contained in the rings of fire. Jules was continuing to moan in pain. Up on a nearby hill, Klaus retrieved the moonstone from his pocket.
"I've got the moonstone. I spent 500 years looking for this. I hate to part with it." Klaus said and handed the moonstone to Greta, whose took it and looked up at the sky.
"The moon has passed its apex. Remember everything you need to do?" Greta asked looking at him.
"I remember." Klaus said and Greta dropped the moonstone into a stone bowl filled with flames. Then sparks flied as the moonstone was destroyed. Greta began chanting a spell in latin while Klaus approached the rings of fire. Jules was still lying on the ground, moaning in pain, but looked up at Elena and Eva.
"Everything I did... I was just trying to help Tyler." Jules said to the girls.
"Are you Jules?" Elena asked her.
"I didn't want him to be alone!" Jules shouted at them.
"Shall we?" Klaus asked her while he looked up at her. The ring of fire around Jules dispersed. With that Jules eyes turned yellow and she used her werewolf speed to rush at Klaus, to defend herself. Alas, Klaus got the upper hand and pinned Jules to the ground, plunging his hand into her chest and ripping out her heart. Jules took a final breath, tears streaming down her face, and died. Klaus breathed heavily as he held the bloody heart in his hands. Eva, Elena and Jenna looked on, horrified.
~~~Eternal~~~Flame~~~
Still at the abandoned witch house, Jeremy was still looking through a Grimoire while the younger Bennett witch looked over his shoulder.
"Which one are you reading?" Bonnie asked him still looking at the Grimoire.
"Emily Bennett's, there is a section on spells she did for my crazy ancestor, Johnathan Gilbert." Jeremy explained to her.
"Yeah, I think she had a thing for him." Bonnie said smiling.
"There's something on a resuscitative spell she was working on." Jeremy said looking up at her making Bonnie smile.
"I saw that, too. She just didn't explain what it did, exactly." Bonnie said to Jeremy.
"Well, maybe Johnathan wrote about it in his journals. You know, I can have Stefan bring them." Jeremy said while they heard the basement door creaking open.
"Someone's here." Bonnie said when they saw Alaric walking down the stairs and into the basement.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" Jeremy asked Alaric when he was inside.
"Elijah and Stefan are upstairs." Alaric said to him and then turned to Bonnie. "You mind if I have a second with Jeremy?" He asked her.
"Sure, yeah. Of course." Bonnie said to him and got up from the floor and left the basement.
"What's the matter?" Jeremy asked him worried.
"Jeremy... Something's happened to Jenna." Alaric stated and Jeremy looked at him with a blank face.
~~~Eternal~~~Flame~~~
Outside, Bonnie was talking with Stefan and Elijah.
"Why did he take Jenna?" Bonnie asked Elijah.
"A punishment for meddling." Elijah said to them like it obvious.
"Klaus was going to use Tyler and Caroline. But Damon rescued them." Stefan explained to Bonnie.
"Then we need to go right now. Now. Before Jenna's been sacrificed. I can kill Klaus myself." She stated to the other too.
"Bonnie… If you use that much power, you'll be dead. We've already been through this. It's not an option." Stefan said to her.
"Neither is letting Jenna die." Bonnie said to them.
"Well, Stefan would agree with you." Elijah said while Bonnie looked confused and the younger vampire walked closer towards Bonnie.
"We're going to offer another vampire. One that he'll want more. Me." Stefan stated to the young witch.
~~~Eternal~~~Flame~~~
At the quarry, Greta continued chanting a spell while Klaus held Jules's heart over the ceremonial bowl, squeezing the blood into the flames.
"Does that mean it's working?" Klaus asked her with hope on his voice.
"It's working." Greta said to Klaus smiling satisfied and over the rings of fire, Eva and Elena were watching Klaus and Greta doing the ritual. Then Jenna looked up at her, eyes glistening with tears.
"The day that the lawyers called to tell me that I was going to become your guardian, you know what my first thought was?" Jenna asked to her nieces and both girls looked at each other and then shocked their heads with some tears on their eyes. "Isn't there someone else who can do this?" Jenna said to them.
"Jenna, there was no one else who could have gotten me, Eva and Jeremy through all of that." Elena said to her.
"It's just the thought that I almost passed up taking care of you." Jenna said to them.
"But you didn't." Eva said and then kneeled down. "You put your entire life on hold to help us." She continued to tell her aunt.
"Look around, girls. I failed you." Jenna said to them with tears on her eyes.
"No. You didn't. We failed you." Elena said pointing to her and to Eva.
"I'm so sorry. Listen. Being a vampire, it intensifies your guilt. But it also makes you stronger and faster. You can fight back." Eva started to explain to Jenna because she could get away from there.
"We are gonna get through this. We will be okay. I need you to believe that. Promise me, when you get the chance…" Elena said and placed a finger to her lips and whispered the next word. "Run."
"Okay." Jenna said in a whisper and nodded her head.
~~~Eternal~~~Flame~~~
At the Lockwood mansion, Matt and Caroline were still inside worried and looking through the windows.
"You don't think I killed him, do you?" Matt asked her looking through a window.
"No. No. It takes a lot more than wooden bullets to kill a werewolf. He's still out there somewhere." Caroline said to him while sitting on a couch in the parlor. "Do you think my mom wants to kill me?" She asked him worried.
"I don't think your mom knows what to do with you." Matt said to her with a sad voice.
"Yeah, well, I don't really know what to do with me, either." Caroline said to him which made Matt look at her. Then Caroline became more alert when she heard a noise on the front porch.
"What is it?" Matt asked and began to walk towards the front door.
"Wait." Caroline said and listening intently while she continued to hear more shuffling on the front door. Matt pointed the gun to the door.
"Don't. Don't shoot." Caroline said putting her hand on the barrel of the gun and then rushed over to the front door.
"What the hell are you doing?" Matt shouted at her and she opened peered through the glass in the front door and saw Tyler laying, naked, on the front porch.
"Give me your jacket." Caroline said extending her hand after walking towards him.
"What?" Matt asked not understanding.
"Your jacket, take it off." Caroline said again and Matt frantically took off his jacket and handed it to Caroline. Then she grabbed it and opened the front door. Matt followed right behind her. Caroline kneeled down next to Tyler and placed the jacket around his naked body.
"Hey." Caroline said to him and Tyler looked up at her.
"Caroline?" Tyler asked gasping.
"Hey. It's okay. It's okay." Caroline said petting Tyler's head.
~~~Eternal~~~Flame~~~
At the abandoned house, Stefan was standing outside the house and watching the landscape lost in his thoughts when Elijah approached him.
"Bonnie did the locator spell. They're at Steven's Quarry." Elijah said to Stefan.
"I'll head over there first and you'll follow with Bonnie when it's time." Stefan stated to the Original.
"Just as the moon hits its final phase. She's to stay hidden until then. He cannot know that she's alive." Elijah informed Stefan while he nodded and started to get walking away. "You're very honorable." Elijah said to him.
"Are you, Elijah? Because this whole plan was created, um, in contingent upon your honor, Elijah." Stefan said while he turned around, looked at Elijah and walked back towards him.
"I won't fail you." Elijah stated to him.
"Klaus is your brother. I know I've wanted to kill my brother a thousand times. I've never been able to." Stefan said to him because brotherly love was stronger just like the love for a woman.
"Well, Klaus was not my only brother. I had siblings; parents. I had a family. Over the centuries, Klaus hunted them down one by one and he took them from me. He scattered them across the seas where their bodies could not be found." Elijah explained to the youngest Salvatore.
"You want revenge." Stefan said finally understanding Elijah's plans.
"Sometimes there's honor in revenge, Stefan. I won't fail you." Elijah stated once again.
"Please end this." Stefan pleaded and left the house.
~~~Eternal~~Flame~~~
Inside the house, John walked down into the basement, holding a cardboard box and the other two, Jeremy and Bonnie approached him as he puts the box down on a table.
"I brought the Gilbert journals. I think I know the spell you're talking about." John said to Bonnie and Jeremy.
"Where's Damon?" Bonnie asked John.
"Upstairs. Alaric wanted to talk to him." John said while they began to take the journals out of the box and flip through them.
~~~Eternal~~~Flame~~~
Meanwhile upstairs, Damon and Alaric were talking about Stefan's idea.
"He did what?!" Damon shouted surprised.
"He wasn't going to let Jenna die." Alaric stated to Damon.
"We have a witch. She kills Klaus. No one has to die!" Damon stated to his friend frustrated.
"Except for Bonnie." Alaric concluded for Damon.
"God, Stefan, damn it!" Damon said and punched a wall using his vampire speed, which caused his whole arm to go into the wall.
"Hey, are you okay?" Alaric asked Damon when he saw him take his arm out of the wall.
"I'm fine." Damon said finally calming down. "Well, that's my brother for you. Always cleaning up my messes." Damon said and left the house as he says the last sentence while Alaric watched him leave concerned.
~~~Eternal~~~Flame~~~
At the quarry, Klaus approached the ring of fire that containing Jenna.
"Hello, Jenna." Klaus said while both twins and Jenna got up and looked at him.
"Let her go. I understand that I and my sister have to die, but she doesn't!" Elena pleaded with him while walked closer to the flames, which caused them to flare up and her sister pushed closer to her.
"Careful." Klaus said to Elena and then eyed Eva.
"Girls, don't." Jenna said to them.
"No, Jenna! We can't leave Jeremy without a family." Elena said to Jenna.
"We followed your rules; we did everything that you asked. We didn't run. Please." Eva said pleading with Klaus.
"Well, well." Klaus said looking up at the top of the quarry. "I don't recall you being on the guest list." He said and both three women looked up as well, which made Elena gasp. It was Stefan that was on the top of the cliff.
"I'm here to talk." Stefan said to Klaus.
"Very well, then." Klaus said and then looked at Jenna, briefly, then used his vampire speed to the top of the cliff and walked calmly towards Stefan. "What can I do for you, Mr. Salvatore?" He asked Stefan.
~~Eternal~~~Flame~~~
At the abandonment house, in the basement, John, Bonnie, and Jeremy were speaking with Damon about some spell.
"We found something in the Gilbert journals." Bonnie said to John.
"Johnathan wrote on his journal the story of a mother who had called on Emily's services. The woman's baby was sick; dying. Emily cast a spell that would bind the woman's life force with her child." John explained to Damon.
"Skip to the save Elena and Eva part." Damon said to them.
"Well, the child died, but the mother's life force flowed through her, restoring her to life." John finished saying to Damon.
"We already know Eva and Elena are going to come back to life. But they will be a vampires." Jeremy said to John.
"Not if their souls remains intact." John said to Jeremy.
"Their souls, really? You are going to put your faith in some act of god mumbo jumbo?" Damon asked a little skeptically.
"I refuse to let Eva and Elena become the thing I've spent my life protecting them against." John said walking forward, closing the gap between Damon and himself. "And you can call that God or mystical energy, whatever you want, but yes... I'm putting my faith in it." John said turning around and walking back towards Bonnie.
~~~Eternal~~~Flame~~~
At the quarry, Stefan and Klaus were still talking on the cliff top while Eva, Elena and Jenna continued to look up at the them, patiently waiting to figure out what was happening or what they were talking.
"What's going on?" Jenna asked to the girls.
"I… I don't know." Elena said and then Eva to Jenna.
"You can hear them." Eva said to her.
"You can hear anything. Jus-Just focus on them." Elena said remembering the vampire hearing.
"You don't need to kill Jenna. I'll take her place." Stefan said to Klaus.
"Oh, I don't know. I rather appreciate the symmetry of four women." Klaus said and started to walk around Stefan. "The four goddesses. Sacrificed at nature's altar." He said smirking.
"What are they saying?" Elena asked whispering to Jenna.
"I can't… I can't make it out." Jenna said to the girls.
"You can do this. Just relax. Focus." Eva said to Jenna.
"Don't play games with me. You'll get what you want either way." Stefan said and turned around to face Klaus.
"I can hear him. I hear Stefan." Jenna said to them surprised.
"What are they saying?" Elena asked once again.
"You're quite the hero, aren't you? I've heard that about you." Klaus said to Stefan.
"Just make the trade. Me for Jenna." Stefan stated to Klaus.
"Oh, my god." Jenna said after hearing the last few lines of the conversation with her vampire hearing.
"What is it?" Eva asked her aunt.
"He wants to take my place." Jenna said to them and Elena looked at Stefan horrified.
"I'm so sorry, Lena." Eva said to her sister grabbing her hand.
~~~Eternal~~~Flame~~~
At the Lockwood mansion, Matt was sitting in the parlor, staring blankly at the fire that was on the fireplace when Caroline entered the room. She shut the door behind her and Matt looked up at her.
"How's Tyler doing?" Matt asked her with some worry on his voice.
"Sleeping. He should be better by morning. He just... He needs some rest." Caroline said to him.
"Good." Matt said and paused to think about something when he finally asked. "So this is your life now, huh?" He asked with a little smile.
"Never a dull moment." Caroline said smiling while Matt stood up and walked over to her smiling too.
"You know, these last few days with you have been so great, and fun." Matt said making her smile and Caroline walked over towards him and placed her hands on his chest with the same smile. "So Caroline. I thought that I might be able to get past this whole vampire thing." He said with a smile too.
"But you can. Matt..." Caroline started to say.
"I don't… I don't know if I can, Caroline." Matt said and walked past Caroline and she turned around with a look of desperation plastered on her face.
"Matt!" Caroline shouted and Matt turned around to look at her.
"I get it. This is your life now. You know what my life is, Care? My life is an absentee mom. And a bunch of bills to pay, and school, and a job, and it sucks sometimes. But it's my life. And... I think that I just want to live it without all of this." Matt said with a sigh which made Caroline look at him, sadly, but nodded her head understanding what he really wanted and she was going to give him that.
~~~Eternal~~~Flame~~~
At the abandoned witch house, down in the basement, Bonnie had her hands placed on either side of John's head and was chanting a spell. Jeremy and Damon stood by, watching. Damon, becoming impatient, snapped his fingers.
"Come on, Bonnie, we got a hybrid to kill." Damon said with a annoyed voice making the younger boy look at him, signaling with his hand for him to be tolerant with the situation on hand. After a few minutes, Bonnie opened her eyes.
"It's done." Bonnie stated to them.
"That's it? Let's go." Damon asked and walked out of the room. When John opened his eyes Bonnie was walking past him. Then, Bonnie turned to Jeremy and gently touched his arm.
"I'll be back soon." Bonnie said to him smiling.
"Wait, what do you mean? No, I'm coming. I need to be there. I need to make sure you guys are okay." Jeremy said grabbing her arm.
"And who's going to make sure you're okay?" Bonnie asked looking at him.
"I've got my own ring. Look, I'm not taking no for an answer." Jeremy said once again and Bonnie kissed Jeremy goodbye. When she pulled away, Jeremy smiled at her. All of the sudden, he looked at her, confused, and fell on the floor. John that it was watching, grabbed him and leaded him to a chair.
"Easy, easy." John said and then turned to Bonnie. "Just go. I'll stay with him." John said and Bonnie looked at Jeremy one last time before exiting the basement with the oldest Salvatore brother.
~~~Eternal~~~Flame~~~
Meanwhile, upstairs, Alaric and Elijah were waiting until they heard footsteps, that belonged to Damon and Bonnie. They were walking upstairs.
"It's time." Elijah said to them while Damon and Bonnie exited the house without glancing at Alaric or Elijah, making both men follow them.
"All right. I got the weapons in the car." Alaric said to them.
"Bonnie's the only weapon we need." Elijah said and walked out of the house and when the hunter followed behind him he couldn't exit the house because a invisible barrier was blocking him.
"Bonnie! What is this?" Alaric shouted at Bonnie.
"I can't put anyone else at risk." Bonnie said when stopped to look at him.
"I can't stay here with Jenna out there!" Alaric shouted at her again.
"I'm sorry." Bonnie apologized to Alaric.
"You can't do this! Damon?" Alaric said before turning to Damon for support.
"Sorry, buddy. She's right." Damon said agreeing with Bonnie and then they started to walk way.
"No! You can't do this. Bonnie! Bonnie!" Alaric shouted at them and angrily hit the doorframe.
~~~Eternal~~~Flame~~~
"Girls…" Jenna started to say.
"I have to do something. This can't happen. None of it." Elena said to Jenna when she saw that Klaus and Stefan came down the cliff and approached the girls.
"Quite the predicament. You know, it's funny, all this talk about preserving family, and here's Stefan, granting your wish." Klaus said to the girls.
"Stefan…" Elena said with a sad voice.
"Stefan… you shouldn't be doing this." Eva said because Stefan was like a brother to her and that way her sister would lose someone important to her.
"It's okay." Stefan said looking at them.
"Well." Klaus said and pointed a stake, that he had on his hands, between the girls aunt and the youngest Salvatore. "Who's it going to be, girls?" He asked again.
"No." Elena said shaking her head.
"Please, don't." Eva pleaded too.
"Oh, don't worry. There's actually no choice." Klaus said using his vampire speed around Stefan and staked him in the back. Stefan screamed in pain and crumbled to the ground.
"No! Stefan! No!" Elena shouted seeing her boyfriend on the floor and Klaus ripped the stake out of Stefan's back, leaving a sizable chunk of wood on his back.
"I have other plans for your boyfriend. I want him alive. But for now..." Klaus said snapping Stefan's neck, making him to fall, disgracefully, to the ground. The girls watching gasped in shock. "Whenever you're ready, Greta." Klaus said turning to the witch and then Greta began chanting the next part of the spell which dispelled the ring of fire, surrounding Jenna. The young woman looked to the girls with fear on her eyes while Elena and Eva had tears on their eyes.
"No." Elena said shaking her head.
"Please, not her… I will do anything." Eva pleaded with Klaus.
"Your turn." Klaus said smirking at Jenna.
"No, Jenna, no!" Elena shouted and attempted to get Jenna, but the fire around her and her sister flared up. Jenna then looked at the girls.
"It's alright, Elena. I know what I have to do." Jenna said to the girls with some fear on her eyes. Then after a moment shared of silence between Jenna and the girls, Jenna used her recent vampire speed to escape from the quarry but before bite Greta, making the witch scream. Then she got away from there. But Klaus simply smirked and they saw another two men coming to the quarry.
"Don't worry my darling, I have another vampire with me." Klaus said when one of his vampires gave him the new vampire to him. Klaus then plunged stake into his heart and then his skin started to grey.
~~~Eternal~~~Flame~~~
When Jenna started to run using her vampire speed, she found the others coming to meet them. Damon was surprised to see her.
"How did you escape Jenna?" Damon asked surprised to see her.
"I got away. The girls told me to run." Jenna said surprised to Damon.
"So, Stefan is on your place." Elijah said to Jenna.
"No. Klaus was going to use me but I ran." Jenna said again to them.
"So, this means that my brother had another vampire with him. Which is good." Elijah said to them.
"Jenna, this is a daylight ring. Used it." Bonnie said giving her a lapiz lazuli ring.
"Thank you. Where is Jeremy and Alaric?" Jenna asked her.
"Go in that direction. Alaric, John and Jeremy are there." Damon said to her and before she ran again he turned to her again. "Jenna fight the bloodlust. I and Stefan will help you with everything, okay?" Damon said to her smiling to her.
"Thank you." Jenna said and ran again with her vampire speed and the others continued their way to the quarry.
~~~Eternal~~~Flame~~~
After Klaus, killed the vampire, Greta began chanting the next part of the spell. Klaus was by her side. When Stefan woke up and felt the piece of wood in his back, and tried to reach it but was not flexible enough to do so. Stefan looked up at Elena and Eva and saw them shocked and a hint of smile. He looked over towards Greta and saw a man's dead body.
"My God." Stefan said when he saw Greta pouring the man's blood into the ceremonial bowl. "I'm so sorry." Stefan started but Elena placed her finger to her lips and shushed him.
"Are they going to kill him?" Elena whispered to him.
"Yes." Stefan said whispering to Elena.
"It's time." Klaus approaching Elena and Eva.
~~~Eternal~~~Flame~~~
When Jenna arrived to an abandoned house, she found Alaric banging on the invisible wall trying to get out but he couldn't. When he saw Jenna he was surprised.
"Jenna? How are you alive?" He asked surprised.
"I ran but he didn't came after me. When I was running, I found Stefan and Bonnie, and she gave me this." Jenna said showing her ring.
"My God! You survived!" John said when he joined them at the doorway.
"Shut up, John!" Jenna shouted at him. "Right now, Elena and Eva are in danger." She said with a nervous voice.
"Don't worry. The Salvatores and Bonnie will take care of everything." John said to the new vampire.
"What do you mean?" Jenna asked him.
"Don't worry. Trust me." John said and looked at Alaric too.
"Jenna, they need your strength of vampire. Go to them. Please." Alaric said to Jenna.
"How?" Jenna asked Alaric.
"They are going to kill Klaus and bring the girls back to life. They need help." Alaric said and Jenna nodded before running to the quarry with her vampire speed.
~~~Eternal~~~Flame~~~
At the quarry, Klaus was in the front of the girls when the circle of fire disappeared from around Elena and Eva. Both girls looked up at him and Klaus extended his hand towards them. Both girls had their hands around each other, they got up from the ground and walked past Klaus, ignoring him. They made their way to the altar and looked down at the vampire's body. Klaus followed them up to the altar and grabbed both their faces with each his hands. Below them, Stefan struggled to get up from the ground while he watched Klaus turn Elena's face so she is looking at him.
"Thank you, Elena." Klaus said to Elena.
"Go to hell." Elena said to him with hate on her voice.
"Next is going to be you, my dear." Klaus said to Eva while she looked at him with so much hate on her face. Below, Stefan continued to struggle up, but fell back to the ground, too weak to move. Elena continued to stare out, blankly, but then looked at her sister with love. They would see each other soon. Then Klaus sank his fangs into her neck and started to drain Elena out of her blood. Stefan continued to watch, helplessly, because Elena was his life. Klaus held Elena tightly as his eyes starts to sprout more veins. Elena's eyelids fluttered, her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she finally died. When Klaus released her, she fell to the ground. Eva watched blood dripping from Klaus' mouth and the flame in the bowl was flared up. Stefan saw Elena's body laying lifeless on the ground while Eva was crying over her sister's body.
"Now it is your turn, my darling." Klaus said grabbing Eva's arm and pulled against his chest. "I'm sorry for doing this but you have vampire's blood on you… so when he wakes up you are going to be a vampire. See you soon, sister." Klaus said again and then sank his fangs on Eva's neck while Stefan was watching. Both him and his brother were going to lose the only women that loved them. When Eva was dead, Klaus did the same thing with her blood, but this time the fire extinguished. Klaus, all of sudden, breathed heavily and walked down the stone steps. "I can feel it. It's happening." He finally said and looked up at the full moon. Then his bones began to crack and he started to transform. His eyes were yellow like a werewolf's, but he still had the veins under them, like a vampire. "Yes, yes!" Klaus shouted happily when he suddenly, was thrown through the air and the flames on the bowl reignite, startling Greta.
~~~Eternal~~~Flame~~~
When that happened Greta heard and saw Bonnie coming down the hillside, chanting a spell. Before Greta could react and help Klaus, Damon sneaked up behind her and snapped her neck. Damon kneels down and picked up Eva's body when Jenna came behind him and picked Elena's body and nodded her head at Damon. He understood that she came to help them.
"No! You were dead!" Klaus said surprised while Bonnie continued to chant her spell and Klaus body started to contorted into painful shapes as he screamed. Meanwhile, Damon carried Eva and Jenna carried Elena's bodies towards Stefan and they both laid them down next to him. Stefan gently grabbed Elena's arm while his brother was smoothing Eva's hair.
"Elena." Stefan said with a sad sigh and Damon put Eva's body beside Elena's and knelt down beside to his brother to rip the remainder of the stake out of Stefan's back making him grunt in pain. Damon grabbed Stefan's shoulder, as if to help him up, but he turned around to look at him, grabbing a hold of his jacket.
"I need you to get them out of here!" Stefan shouted at his brother.
"What about you?" Damon asked him worried.
"I'm not leaving until he's dead. Go!" Stefan shouted again and picked up Eva's body while Jenna's picked up Elena's body and both of them carried both girls away. Then the youngest Salvatore sat up while he watched Bonnie chant the spell which was so powerful that caused the trees fall. Klaus continued scream in pain, lying against some rocks when he saw Elijah approaching him and Bonnie stopped chanting her spell.
~~~Eternal~~~Flame~~~
"Elijah?" Klaus asked surprised to see his big brother.
"Hello, brother." Elijah greeted his brother while Stefan gotten up and walked over to the young witch and then they both saw Elijah punching his arm into Klaus' chest, grabbing a hold of his heart. "In the name of our family, Niklaus..." Elijah said while he was twisting Klaus' heart.
"I didn't bury them at sea!" Klaus shouted at him.
"What?" Elijah asked surprised.
"Their bodies are safe. If you kill me, you'll never find them." Klaus said to his brother.
"Elijah! Don't listen to him." Stefan pleaded with Elijah.
"Elijah. I can take you to them. I give you my word... Brother." Klaus said using a voice with emotion and Elijah appeared to be having second thoughts about killing him.
"Do it and I'll take you both out." Bonnie said with a menace voice.
"You'll die." Elijah stated to Bonnie.
"I don't care." Bonnie stated to him and then Elijah looked at Klaus and the to Bonnie and to Stefan.
"I'm sorry." Elijah apologized to them.
"No!" Stefan shouted and ran to Elijah and Klaus.
"No." Bonnie said and did the same thing that Stefan did but neither of them could stop the two originals.
~~~Eternal~~~Flame~~~
At the abandoned witch house, down in the basement, John was busy writing a letter while Alaric was leaning against the doorframe, patiently waiting for the others to come back with the girls. It was daylight outside, indicating that much time has passed since Jenna left to help Damon, Bonnie and Stefan.
"We should have heard from them by now." Alaric said with a sigh while he saw that Jeremy was sitting in a corner, reading one of the Gilbert journals when he saw Jeremy looking over at John.
"Did you read all this?" Jeremy asked to his uncle.
"I did." John said glancing at him.
"So you understand what happened to the child's mother after the baby was brought back to life?" Jeremy asked him trying to make him understand what he was doing.
"She saved her daughter. She found peace." John simply stated to Jeremy.
"John..." Jeremy started but John got up and folded the letters in his hands while Jeremy stood up from the floor and John handed the letters to him.
"I need you to give this to Elena and Eva for me. And also this." John said and took his magic ring off and handed it to Jeremy as well and Alaric looked on, confused.
"Oh, hey, what's going on?" Alaric asked confused.
"Take care of each other." John said looking at them with a sigh and then looked at his nephew. "Please." He pleaded to him.
"I think they're here!" Alaric said when he heard a door opening. Alaric rushed up the stairs while Jeremy looked at John for a moment longer, then followed his aunt boyfriend while John turned back to the basement.
~~~Eternal~~~Flame~~~
Upstairs, Damon was carrying Eva's body and Jenna was carrying Elena's body into the parlor room.
"If you come back as a vampire, Elena, I'll stake you myself. So don't." Damon said looking at his girlfriend sister because he didn't want Elena hating Eva and him. She was his little sister he never had. Then he laid Eva body's down on a couch and Jenna did the same with Elena's body. "Because I can't stand the idea of you hating us forever, little sister." Damon said then turned to Eva. "Baby I'm sorry but you are not ready to be a vampire yet. So you better wake up and be human with your sister." He said while Alaric and Jeremy rushed into the room and stood in the doorway.
"How are they?" Jeremy asked Damon, while he watched Damon continuously stroking his girlfriend hair and Jenna only kissed Elena's head.
"I don't know yet." Damon said not looking at them.
"What about Jenna?" Alaric asked him because he didn't see her yet. He knew she was a vampire but he wanted to know if she survived when she went to help them.
"I'm here." Jenna said and both men sighed in relief. Behind them, John came up from the basement and walked out the front door into the yard. Alaric walked away from the doorway and hugged Jenna. Outside, John looked back in the house. Suddenly, Elena and Eva gasped back to life.
"Elena!" Jeremy and Jenna shouted worried.
"Eva!" Damon shouted seeing his girl alive.
"What happened?" Elena asked them surprised to see them.
"How do you feel?" Damon asked both girls.
"I feel fine." Elena said to them.
"Me too." Eva said and both boys sighed in relief while John watched them from outside the house. He seemed at peace, as he looked out into the woods, shut his eyes, and fell to the ground, dead.
~~~Eternal~~~Flame~~~
At the Lockwood mansion, Tyler was wrapped up in a blanket, sleeping on the couch in his dad's study. Caroline was sitting down next to him and sighed when Tyler woke up.
"Hey." Caroline said to him and Tyler pulled the blanket down and groaned and he examined the rifle wound. "Ooh, yeah, you got shot. But it's healing." Caroline said while he sat up, grimacing as he did so, because it was hurting a little.
"You were right. I shouldn't have come home." Tyler said agreeing with her.
"No, you just... should have never left. And you shouldn't leave again." Caroline said to him with a sigh.
"You're kidding, right? This is the second time I've tried to kill you." Tyler said to his only friend that could understand what was happening with him.
"Well, no friendship is perfect." Caroline said making them both chuckle. "Matt broke up with me." She said to him with a sad voice.
"I'm sorry." Tyler apologized to her.
"Yeah, well, you know, instead of just bailing on me again, you could just say... Thank you, Caroline, for taking care of me. And I'm sorry that I tried to chow down on you again." Caroline said and both laugh again but Caroline's laughter turned into tears.
"Hey. Hey. Come here." Tyler said and shared his blanket with her and let her lean into his chest to cry because of her break up. "Oh, easy." Tyler said wrapping his arms around Caroline as she laid her head on his chest again. "Thank you, Caroline. For taking care of me." He thanked her.
"You're welcome." She said to him smiling again.
~~~Eternal~~~Flame~~~
It was morning and Damon and Stefan, were at the Gilbert House, and they were waiting downstairs in funeral attire for the girls and Jeremy.
"We all set?" Stefan asked to his brother.
"Yeah. Plenty of room with the Gilbert family plot and I compelled two of the grave diggers to do the dirty work. How's Elena doing?" Damon asked his brother.
"She lost the only parents she had. She's in shock." Stefan said to him and then looked at him. "How is Eva?" He asked him.
"The same as Elena." Damon said to him and both of them looked at the stairs.
~~~Eternal~~~Flame~~~
Upstairs, Elena was placing her earrings in as she looked at the pictures surrounding the frame of her mirror, which included one of her parents and one of John and then her aunt Jenna. Jeremy walked into the doorway and rapped his knuckles against the wall of her room. He entered the room as Elena finished putting her earrings in.
"I'm almost ready." Elena said to her brother.
"Yeah, take your time." Jeremy said when he saw that Eva was coming to meet her twin sister. "John wanted me to give you this." Jeremy said with a sigh and handed both girls a letter and Eva took it. "And this." He said retrieving the magical ring and handed it to the other twin. Elena hesitantly took it and looked up at Jeremy as he started to leave the room.
"Jeremy..." Elena started to say to him and he turned back to look at his sisters. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry that you've lost so many people." Elena apologized to him.
"I still have you two." Jeremy said and the girls smiled at him. Both girls hugged him and placed their heads in each shoulder. He wrapped his arms around them in a warm embrace. They pulled apart and looked at each other for a moment before Jeremy left the room and went downstairs. Eva tried to maintain her composure as she walked over to Elena's window seat and sat down. Elena breathed out and went to join her while her sister opened up the letter and started to read it out loud for both of them.
"Elena and Eva... it's no easy task being an ordinary parent of two extraordinary children. I failed in that task." Eva said while she read John's letter for them.
~~~Eternal~~~Flame~~~
At the Mystic Falls Cemetery, Stefan, Elena, Eva, Damon, Bonnie, Caroline, Alaric, Jenna and Jeremy walked across the graveyard. They were burying John and that unknown vampire that Klaus had killed.
"And because of my prejudices, I failed you. I'm haunted by how things might have played out differently. If I'd been more willing to hear your side of things." John's voice said into the letter that he wrote to the girls. Stefan had his hand in the small of Elena's back and leaded her to the gravesite of John. Damon had his arm around Eva's waist and both girls, had three roses clutched in their hands. Both girls knelt down at the same time and placed one roses in the gravestone in front of them. "For me, it is the end. For you, a chance to grow old and someday do better with your own child than I did with mine. It's for that child that I give you my ring. I know that you are two girls but I know that both of you will know who is gonna have the ring." John continued to say on his letter to the girls. Teary-eyed, Elena approached her parent's graves. She looked down at the tombstone, knelt, and placed the remaining two roses on their graves. Next, it was her twin sister that placed her last two roses on her parent's graves. "I don't ask for your forgiveness or for you to forget. I ask only that you believe this. Whether you are now reading this as humans or as vampires, I love you all the same as I've always loved you, and always will. John." John finished is letter. Both girls started openly crying because they lost the remaining family they had. Damon watched and then started to walk away because he knew that Eva needed to be alone with her sister. Elena looked up at him and stood up, still crying. Eva, then looked at him and nodded, knowing that she needed to be with Elena that day. Alaric walked over towards Jenna and gave her a hug and then placed two roses on the Gilbert's graves. He stared down at their graves, sadly, before walking away with Jenna. They stopped and squeezed Jeremy's arm gently and walked to the back of the group. Caroline and Bonnie went to graves and put their roses on the graves and then both gave hugs to the twins because now they were really crying for their lost family.
~~Eternal~~~Flame~~~
Damon was standing some distance away from the rest of the group while he watched his girl and Elena saying their last goodbyes as Stefan approached him.
"We're going to head back to the house." Stefan informed his brother.
"I think I'll skip the coffee and tea cakes." Damon said with sarcasm.
"Damon, they needs us right now. All of us." Stefan said to him.
"And then what's the plan, Stefan? The curse is broken. How does one go about killing an all-powerful wolf vamp and his two-faced older brother?" Damon asked him with some sarcasm.
"I have no idea." Stefan said with a sigh.
"We need to get an idea. Fast." Damon said turning around to look at his brother.
"I'm not going to let the girls lose anybody else." Stefan said to him.
"I wouldn't make any promises, brother." Damon said to his brother remembering about the wolf's bite.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Stefan asked to his brother confused.
"Tyler Lockwood bit me." Damon said pulling his sleeve and showed to his brother the bite, which had gotten even worse. Stefan walked over to him with a look of anguish on his face. "It's actually more of a nip, really, but there it is." Damon said to his brother looking at the bite.
"We'll find something. A cure." Stefan said taking Damon's arm to examine the bite.
"There's no cure, Stefan." Damon said and both of them looked to the graveyard, towards the girls, Eva and Elena.
"We kept Elena and Eva human, right? We found the way when there was no other way in that. Hey." Stefan said and Damon turned his head to look at Stefan, which had a look of worry. "I will do this." Stefan promised to his brother.
"You want to do something for me? Keep this from Eva. Last thing she needs is another grave to mourn." Damon said gripping his brother shoulder, and then walked away while Stefan watched him as he left. The look on Stefan's face was of torment.