A/N: Hii, thanks for the lovely reviews and now that my winter break has started, then I'll try updating this story a little faster ;)

Enjoy!

xoxo Ascha

Chapter 25:

"Do you have a minute?" I asked, taking a seat next to Damon.

"No." Damon answered without even looking at me.

I sighed heavily and decided to buy a drink. I really didn't want to have this talk with Damon yet again, but I missed him and Stefan so much.

"Will it take that I break up with Klaus before you stop hating me this much?"

Damon finally turned his gaze to me, looking conflicted and sad. "You won't break up with Klaus for my sake. I've seen how you look at him. Besides… I already have made you do that once and it didn't work for long."

"Then what do you want me to do? Because I'm so tired of being hated by my own brothers. I love you and Stefan more than you can imagine and would do anything for you. You're the only family I have left… I don't want to be alone."

He wrapped his arm around me and placed a kiss on my temple. "I don't hate you, Althea. I'm pissed off, yes, but I don't hate you. I just wish that you hadn't fallen for Klaus too. He's nothing but trouble to all of us."

Unfortunately, I had to agree with the last part, but that didn't change the fact that he did have a big role in my life and that he'd done so many wonderful things for me.

"What do we do then?"

He wiped away a tear from my cheek that I hadn't realized I'd shed. "There's something I have to tell you first. It's about Klaus and his siblings."

I frowned and took a quick peek around to make sure that none of them were here. "What about them?"

"At the night of the ball, Esther cast a spell on all of her children that links them together, so if one die…"

"Then they all die… Oh God… does Elijah know this?"

Damon shook his head. "And I don't want them to know. Althea, I know you love him and Klaus, but they have to die. I could easily have kept this from you, but you're my sister and I trust that you won't ruin our only shot at killing Klaus."

"How do you expect me not to say or do anything about it? I can't let them die! What about Kol, Finn and Rebekah? They'll die too."

"Well, Finn is the one who wants it to happen. He's working with his mother to undo what she did 1000 years ago."

I couldn't believe it.

If one of Klaus' siblings died, then so did he. I couldn't let that happen, but I also knew that it might be what I was supposed to do – let it happen.

If I did that then I could be with my brothers without having to constantly worry about who I loved the most, but it just didn't feel right of me to do that to them – especially not Elijah.

"Please Althea. I beg you. Don't tell them anything."

I sighed heavily and felt like my heart was going to break. "I don't know, Damon. I want to keep it a secret, but it hurts too much to even think about doing it."

Damon placed his hand on mine. "Trust me. I know. But if we don't do this Klaus will take his revenge on Stefan, I will go after him and then you'll suddenly be alone anyway. So… do you love us or them the most?"

It wasn't fair of him to ask a question like that, because I had no idea of whether I could choose between them or not.

"I… okay. I'll… do it."

I felt the tears trickling down my cheeks as I said it, but when Damon went to wipe them away, I turned around and left the Grill, hurrying out to the alley where I could let the tears out.

Oh God, was I really doing this?

Was I really letting them both… die?

"You are doing the right thing, Althea." a familiar voice said.

I snorted and turned around, facing Esther who stood only a few feet away from me. "No, I'm not. I'm doing the easiest thing. There's nothing right about letting two men you love die." I said.

"They are abominations! A disgrace to our family! Are you aware of how many innocent humans they have killed the last 1000 years? How they have hurt each other?"

"I can't believe you! You're ready to kill your own children just to make up for a mistake you and your husband made many years ago! They shouldn't have to pay the price for you mistake!"

"I turned them into vampires – not murderers, Althea. They did that to themselves. And since I cannot have you interfering with my plans tonight, I have to stop you know."

I was about to flee, but Finn caught up with me and broke my neck before I could get away. The last thing I sensed was the sound of my neck breaking and the feeling of my body falling into someone's arms.

Perhaps Esther was right, though. Perhaps this was the right thing to do.

When I woke up again I found myself lying on the ground inside a flaming circle. My hands had been tied behind my back with vervain soaked ropes and a few feet away I could see Finn trying to guard his mother from Elijah, Kol and Klaus.

"Really, Mother? You're going to kill the one other woman we've ever loved and us too?" Klaus said.

What? I tried standing up, but that only made the flames around me flare up. "Stay still, Althea!" Elijah quickly said.

I stayed still, but I was scared and feared that I was going to witness Esther killing the only two men I'd ever loved in my life.

"Yes, Niklaus, and you know why? It is because of you that this woman has to choose between her brothers and something that's not even worth fighting for." Esther said.

"You would do that to me too?" I looked at Elijah and could see that he was shivering slightly.

He was scared like me. The always calm and composed Elijah Mikaelson was scared of losing me. I looked at Klaus too and noticed that he was calmer – as if he was ready to risk letting me die.

Maybe I chose the wrong brother?

"I'm sorry Elijah, but you too have disappointed me greatly. You say you are a man of honor and still you helped Klaus for all those years – killed innocent people without feeling remorse."

We waited in silence for a moment, but then we suddenly heard the sound of someone screaming and the flames began flaring up once more. I felt my flesh burning and screamed too, drowning the sound of Esther begging the dead witches not to leave her.

Both Elijah and Klaus tried getting to me, but the flames were too high and warm. The flames, however, suddenly died out and both Esther and Finn disappeared.

Damon, who'd been inside the witch house with Stefan, ran outside to me before Klaus or Elijah could and held my burned body in his arms.

"Althea, no, no, no! Heal up…" he pleaded.

I tried, but it was like my power to heal had disappeared. I felt… different – almost like I'd lost more than just my ability to heal.

"Wha-what's happening to me?" I asked hoarsely.

Damon bit his wrist open and pressed it to my mouth, but the blood only helped a little. Stefan hurried out to us too and his eyes turned wide when he saw what had happened to me.

"It must be a spell. She tricked us! She said wouldn't hurt you, but– Damon, we have to get her to a hospital now!" he said.

Damon nodded and picked me up carefully, running as fast as he could with me to the hospital. I didn't know if the doctors could even help me, but right now I was in so much pain that I was ready to just about anything.

I was taken to a room and Damon compelled a doctor to take a look at me, but from the look of the doctor's facial expression it didn't look good.

"It's lucky she's still alive," he said. "With burn marks like these she should be unconscious."

Damon rolled his eyes. "I know that! Isn't there anything you can do about it?"

The doctor nodded. "I can start the treatment we do on all burn victims, but it'll take time for her to recover."

"Great! If Klaus doesn't kill that witch, then I sure as hell will!"

"Damon now isn't the time to get pissed off! We need to find a witch who can help us undo whatever Esther did to her." Stefan said.

"And how are we going to do that? We just killed Bonnie's mom, so I hardly believe that she'll help us and we don't know other witches besides her."

As much as I hated to say it, then Damon was right and until they did find another strong witch, I had to endure the pain I was in.

"Move away, you idiots!" Klaus hissed, pushing my brothers out of his way.

Damon snorted. "You think your blood will make a difference just because it can heal a werewolf bite?" he asked.

Klaus flashed his hybrid fangs at him. "As a matter of fact, I do. Now move away or your sister might die."

Damon and Stefan reluctantly moved away and we all watched as Klaus bit his wrist open, connecting the open wound to my IV, so his blood would go directly into my veins. We all waited patiently for something to happen, but his blood too only healed me a little bit.

"I'm sorry, Althea… This is all my fault." Klaus said quietly.

I wanted to say that that wasn't true, but I couldn't focus on saying anything when it hurt so much to move even a few inches.

Klaus placed a soft kiss on my forehead and left, but he wasn't the only one who'd come. Elijah had too and it pained me to see him look so sad. He was such a good man… a man I loved perhaps more than his younger brother.

"Start the treatment," Stefan said to the doctor, then turned his gaze to me. "Hold on, Althea. We promise we'll find a way to help you."

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