Chapter 21:

Broken Ties and Shattered Hearts

Everything was fast – almost as fast as the night of the killings at the park. It was the same for Taylor, who watched for a few seconds afraid of what was going to occur next. There was the familiar feeling of being out of her own body, followed by the slow return of her senses and her reasoning. By the time she gained control of her body once again, Jace was about to do it.

The harsh whip of the wind crashed around Taylor as she sprinted forward as hard as her body could handle. Jace came in clearly as he leaned forward, holding Katherine by the neck. For the first time in her life, Taylor saw Katherine weak and limp. Her black curls hung freely, blowing violently with the wind. Jace had only one emotion on his face – pure anger. It was like he had some grudge he'd held against her for years – but he hadn't known her that long.

"Jace!"

The words left her lips desperate and afraid, but it didn't stop him. He paused and flicked his eyes in Taylor's direction long enough to know he had to act quickly.

With striking need to finish what he'd gone there to do, something that Taylor couldn't and didn't have the time to understand, Jace raised the sharpened piece of wood high into the air, quickly plunging it down right above Katherine's heart. Just as his hand began to fall, Katherine turned her head to look at the advancing vampire. She offered a soft smile, though her eyes showed the fear she really felt and the wanting to be saved.

"No!"

She didn't have time.

Taylor wasn't going to make it.

Jace's hand fell so quickly.

The situation seemed helpless. Katherine was going to be killed by Jace – and Taylor would kill Jace. The two people who were a major part of her life would be gone. Just like that. Why was Jace doing this? How could he do it? He was human! There was no way a human could overpower Katherine.

After what seemed like an eternity, Taylor reached Jace and Katherine, just as the wooden stake neared her heart. In a frenzy she rushed into him, putting all of the force of her body onto him, knocking him to the ground. They landed in a thump, Taylor on top of Jace and Katherine on the ground next to them, limp. Taylor heard the sound of the others running closer, and she turned to smile at Katherine, whose eyes reflected gratefulness and something else.

"Taylor," Elena cried.

It was only when she tried to move that Taylor realized something had her stuck there, on top of Jace. She pushed herself up as much as she could go to look down. Jace stared up at her with pain written all over his face, but he said nothing. Looking further and more closely, she found the trail of blood, the blood that was coming from her.

Confused, Taylor looked back to Jace, who stared up her with eyes filled of the same emotion she'd seen the night he'd come back to her.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"Sorry for…? What's going on?"

"I had to kill her. I was supposed to kill her."

Biting through the pain, the young vampire harshly pushed away from the boy she loved, gasping as the pain finally hit her. Sticking out of her chest was the stake that had been for Katherine.

"Taylor!"

Elena and the others had reached them. It was strange that everything had happened within a matter of seconds when it felt like an eternity had passed.

"Elena…"

Tears were falling from the vampire's eyes. Confusion engulfed her, so much so that the stake in her chest hardly crossed her mind.

That is until Elena screamed at Stefan to do something about it.

"Taylor, you have to take that out."

"I know. I'm just trying to register everything."

Slowly, she raised her hand to the wood. She took a deep breath, yanking the entire piece out in one stroke. The vampire collapsed to the floor in a painful heap, as she cried out into the night. Damon rushed to her side, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close to him, blood soaking his shirt.

"Damon, I-"

"Don't."

The young vampire dared to turn her gaze to his face – surprised to see the depth of the sadness she saw in his eyes. Why was Damon sad? Surely it wasn't for her, no, not after what she'd said to him on their way home and the way she'd treated him. Even though she hadn't meant to be cruel. She was just thinking of Katherine and Jace – Katherine!

The pain from the wound had vanished, as did the wound, and Taylor made her way quickly to Katherine, ignoring Jace, who sat idly with a dumbfounded look plastered on his face.

"Katherine… are you okay? What happened?"

The vampire nodded, but no words left her mouth. Taylor was confused. If it were vervain Jace had put into her system, she would have been coming back to normal. But she still couldn't manage to talk? Taylor whipped her head around, a glare hardened onto Jace, tears falling down her face.

"What did you do?"

The boy she used to love, the human she used to love, he didn't seem to be there anymore. Instead, Jace was someone she didn't know. Someone who would lie to her, go behind her back, betray her. Slowly, he stood, saying nothing. Damon and the others watched carefully, ready to intervene if it became necessary. But Taylor planned on taking care of him herself.

"Answer me!"

"I tried to kill her."

"I know that! Why can't she talk?"

"Because there's a spell on her."

"A spell?" Taylor glanced back at Damon and Stefan, unsure of what was going to happen to Katherine now. Stefan wore his familiar look of worry and Damon looked like he would kill Jace in a matter of seconds. And Taylor wasn't to far from that feeling, either.

"Get your witch to take it off. Now."

The tone in Taylor's voice was serious. Even with the tears that fell from her eyes, the sadness in her face, it was clear to the Salvatore's that Jace may not be leaving tonight.

Jace was defiant. He stood with his arms limply at his side, the bright green eyes she'd once thought were beautiful searching her face for something, so close to her but so distant. "I can't."

"Yes you can. Just tell me where your witch is and I'll gladly make him take it off."

"You can't."

"And why not," she snapped, irritated with the game of charades they were playing.

"Because I won't take the spell off."

"You?"

The confusion hit Taylor like a demolition ball. Jace was a witch? He'd been a witch the entire time? From the first day they'd met in Chicago, he'd known she was a vampire. And he knew that she knew Katherine. Jace had lied to her over and over again; tricked her over and over again.

"You lied to me."

"Yes, but only because I had to Taylor –"

"Everything was a lie!"

"Not everything! Listen to me, please," Jace tried to beg, stepping closer only for Taylor to step back, her eyes widened with hurt and betrayal.

"You pretended to – you said you loved me – that was a lie. You knew what I was from the second we met and you used it against me!"

The tears that were falling so softly earlier where gushing down her face like a waterfall, blurring her vision so much she felt the need to reach her hand up and wipe away the tears.

Jace shook his head. His eyes held a hint of pain in them, but Taylor refused to believe they were real. They couldn't be. Not after what he'd done.

"Just let me explain, please."

"No!" Taylor screamed, backing away from the encroaching boy. "There's nothing to explain. You lied to me. You used me. I was nothing more than some stupid pawn in your game to get Katherine."

She'd had enough. It was all too much for one night. Almost loosing Katherine? Loosing Jace? Finding out he was what he truly was? Maybe the stake had missed her heart on accident. Maybe it would have been better if it had hit her right through the heart. At least she'd be free. The vampire turned away from the boy who managed to shatter her heart, walking towards her sister and the Salvatore's.

"Taylor, wait." Jace cried, reaching forward and grabbing her arm. The vampire froze, her muscles tensing. "I did love you. None of that was a lie. That was real. You were – are – my life."

The lies had built up – the anger had risen to a point that she couldn't take. With a swift motion, Taylor turned, her hand raising up, clenching itself tightly around his neck. Her soft blue eyes stared into his sad green eyes, reflecting the pain, the hurt, the aching she felt.

"Stop lying to me. If you're trying to break me, you won. Congratulations."

With an anger that felt eternal, she threw him across the remaining space of the open field, letting him slam harshly against a large tree on the far end. After one last hurt look cast in his direction, she turned and walked towards the Salvatore house.

Taylor stopped by the group. "Can you carry Katherine back to the house, Stefan? Please. I can't take anything else right now."

Like the good friend that he was, Stefan nodded, moving to grab the vampire he thought should be dead.

Instinctively, Taylor turned to Damon. "Leave him alone Damon."

The anger on Damon's face matched her perfectly. "Are you kidding me? He doesn't deserve to be alive, Taylor."

"Please, Damon."

The elder vampire glanced down at the girl who'd manage to get so deeply under his skin. It went against everything he knew – he felt – to leave Jace alive that night, but he silently agreed, nodding his head.

"For you."

"Thank you."

With no more words, no more glances back toward the boy she thought she'd spend forever with, Taylor walked off, wrapped in Elena's comforting arms.

Hey there, readers!

Sorry for such a long wait for this chapter. To tell you the truth, life has been seriously getting in the way. But I finally got to writing this chapter and I hope you like it. Puts a little more drama into the story. Let me know what you think! Do you think Katherine will be okay? Taylor? What do you think Jace will do?

Thanks for reading!