I don't know exactly what was happening to me, but I was sure as hell it wasn't normal. It felt like wherever I went, freaky things were happening. Plants randomly started coming back to life around the house from where all three of us had failed to keep them alive, seeing as neither me nor my parents had green thumbs. They grew alive and healthy right before my eyes, as if life was being breathed back into them as I stood there staring at them. Other times it would be a sudden burst of wind, a strange breeze which would come out of nowhere whenever I got annoyed or pissed off at something.
Other times things would spontaneously catch fire, making me shriek and hurriedly try to put them out and once, I actually somehow managed to set my hands on fire without actually burning them. I felt like I was being driven insane by some kind of malicious ghost who had made it his death's mission to make my life a living hell. The closer it came to my birthday, it just got worse and worse. The incidents grew more intense until there was a constant storm thundering overhead, covering the entirety of Mystic Falls without ever raining. It caused several blackouts, and each time lightning struck I could literally feel the thrilling rush of overwhelming power.
It scared the hell out of me, and I didn't have anyone I could turn to. There was no way I could tell my parents, they would just think I was losing my mind and have me sent for a head scan, maybe even hand me over to be evaluated for insanity. I felt dangerous, so I kept myself inside as much as possible without drawing attention to myself. I just told my parents I was studying more which they accepted, and to make it true that's what I did. Sometimes I could actually play around with…whatever it was I was able to do. Magic? Was it magic? It seemed impossible, but when I had the evidence right before my eyes, I couldn't deny it.
With just a wave of my hand I could light a flame on the wick of a candle then douse it, turning it on and off like a light switch. One time I even accidentally froze the water in my bathtub, having greatly anticipated a long hot soak only for me to touch the water and it froze up into a solid block of ice. I was more pissed than scared that time, and it took me forever to somehow figure out how to unfreeze the water and make it piping hot again. Although it was more than a little terrifying, I continued to keep it a secret, like I had been compelled to do so and continued to wait for something, or someone.
It felt like I knew that they would come for me, help me make sense of everything like they had promised, but when the day of my birthday came, I was disappointed. Thankfully whatever messed up thing was happening with my body, it stopped on my birthday and everything became suspiciously quiet and normal. My parents surprised me in the morning, waking me up with balloons and confetti for the big number eighteen. I was treated like a queen, getting pancakes in bed for breakfast with smiley faces whilst they sang happy birthday in multiple different languages. It was a thing my mom started the first birthday I came to live with them as their daughter, it was a nice touch and I always looked forward to it.
We spent the entire day together, dad even subjecting himself to hours of shopping after we drove out to one of the bigger cities for better shops and more variety on clothes. It was an amazing day, and when we got back we unpacked our stuff then I enjoyed present opening, my mom acting just as excited as I was so I let her open one of the presents for me from my aunt on her side of the family. I didn't get to see them all that often since they lived seven hours away in New York, but I appreciated they thought of me every year.
Everything was perfect, and with no signs of anything inexplicable or freaky happening, I allowed myself to fully enjoy my day. We went out to dinner at the Grill where Matt served our table where he congratulated me on the big one eight. "Drinks are on me, think of it as an extra birthday gift." He said to me so I smiled with a puzzled expression.
"Extra?" I asked so Matt then reached into his pocket and showed me a special coupon for deals and offers at the Grill just for me, including one free shake of my choice per day for a week. I laughed, knowing that Matt must have persuaded his manager somehow to give me so many luxuries. "Oh my god, wow! Thank you Mattie, definitely one of the best gifts ever." I laughed, taking it from him as I stood up to give him a hug and kissed his cheek. He hugged me back, smiling warmly before getting all our orders. My parents persuaded him to sit down with us for a while whilst it was still quiet, my dad assuring him that if his boss gave him any trouble, my dad would have a word.
Matt was glad for the chance to get off his feet, and he naturally seemed to slot into my family as my parents quizzed him on how he'd been recently and my mom was particularly interested in his love life. It seemed like he and Caroline had hit a rough patch, so I quickly moved the conversation onto something else so that it didn't have to get awkward for him. We had fun, laughing and joking as Matt flit back and forth whenever he got a moment spare. We stayed for a while after dessert, a merry party of very few before we all decided to go home.
We ended the day with a movie and popcorn, all three of us cuddled up on the one sofa which logistically speaking, wasn't really meant for three but we made it work as otherwise we'd have to spread out and today, we all wanted to be as close together as possible. By the end of the second movie, dad was asleep and I was fading fast, mom brushing through my hair as I leaned against her shoulder. "Happy birthday sweetheart." She whispered to me, making me smile and shift a little closer.
"Thanks mom. I love you guys so much, thank you for such a great day." And I meant it. I know strictly speaking, most people would throw a massive party and celebrate becoming an adult until the early hours of the morning, but that wasn't really my style. Besides, it's not like I had dozens of friends to invite anywhere. My folks were more than enough for me. So after a great birthday I went to bed and soon found myself fast asleep, thinking that everything was finally over and that my life would go back to normal.
Sadly, I was greatly mistaken. Drifting in and out of consciousness, I found myself walking through the woods under the light of the moon. I found myself being drawn towards a clearing and it took me a moment to recognise that I had somehow managed to sleepwalk all the way to the cemetery, locked in a trance like state until all at once, a rush of energy overcame me with such fierce intensity that it made me scream. It hurt like hell, as if my blood was being forced to flow backwards through my body, setting everything on fire until I collapsed from the weight of it all, barely able to breathe as I stared upwards at the glistening night sky.
The cool air was my only salvation, lessening the heat of whatever it was that was happening to me as I cried, whimpering in hurt and confusion. I don't understand any of this, nothing at all made any sense. I felt both more alive and nearest to death in that singular moment where an eternity seemed to pass before me, my vision swimming with swirling starlight until a bright flash completely overcame me and I was lost into an intense blackness. It seemed to clutch at me, pulling me through body and soul until all at once, I woke up.
My body ached but I could move and there was no longer any pain, making me blink as snowflakes fell around me, already settling on my hair and lashes. It was everywhere, the pale white flakes adorning a pine forest which I immediately recognised as the one from my dream, only it didn't feel like a dream anymore. It felt wholly and terrifyingly real. My breath hitched in my throat as I began to scramble to my feet, my body leaving imprints in the snow where it had fallen around me. In the wintry forest, I staggered as I turned around, looking around me for any signs of life but found nothing and saw no one, just a white bleakness of winter.
Shivering, I began to feel the effects of the cold since I was still wearing sleeping shorts and a top, barefoot as the snow crunched underneath me. Gradually I began to recognise the place where I was standing as the starting point of every single dream of mine, so I gingerly made my way over to one of the trees, hesitated, then used my hand to brush away the snow and frost in order to reveal a rune scratched into the bark, one that I already knew would be there. This was crazy, this literally can't be possible, but even as I tried to argue with myself that this wasn't real, I could already feel the pull towards the clearing I knew was just through those trees over there.
Even if I wanted to run away from this, where would I go? I was in an unknown forest in the middle of nowhere wearing pretty much the least amount of clothing physically possible whilst freezing my ass off. Despite every sensible nerve in my body screaming to get out of there, it was like I couldn't even fight it. My feet started moving before I could even try to reason with myself that this was a terrible idea, and before I knew it I was walking through the trees. Everything was exactly as I had envisioned it in my dream, from every snow laden branch to the runes and symbols carved into the bark of the tree, pointing the way.
When I came through to the clearing, I held my breath for a moment and froze when I saw the same hooded figures standing there, waiting for me. They were so silent and still they could have passed for statues, snow gathering upon their shoulders from where they had not moved in seemingly forever. Cautiously I stepped closer, trying to get a better look at their faces but their heads were bowed, as if they were praying. A though occurred to me so I turned and looked back, expecting there to be the five figures behind me from my dream surrounded in mist but they weren't there, just trees and snow.
Slightly disappointed, I looked back to the figures and the alter only to find that one of the seemingly unmoving figures had moved soundlessly like a shadow and now stood right behind me. I cried out in alarm and stumbled backwards, starting to feel deadly afraid and my instincts were now kicked into overdrive, preparing to run for my life and get the hell out of there when the figure actually moved and spoke. "Please, Ophelia. Do not be afraid." I was shocked, staring with wide eyes as the figure pulled back their hood to reveal a woman, her face painted with what looked like charcoal and ash to create lines and symbols upon her face. "You are one of us."
"Who are you?" My voice barely came out any louder than a shivering gasp, wanting nothing more than to wake up from this nightmare. With cerulean blue eyes, the woman smiled at me before moving closer slowly, as if not to frighten me before she wove her hands around me behind my back with a flourishing motion and before I knew it, a cloak akin to the one she was wearing settled upon my shoulders. I looked down and found myself wearing a medieval looking dress with boots on my feet, the fur cloak weighing down on my shoulders but I felt warm, like the chill had been banished in an instant from my body.
"I am like you, Ophelia. We are your people. Be with us, and let us teach you, for you are Awakened and it is time you learned of your heritage." She invited me, offering me her hands and I looked down at them suspiciously before searching her face. Strangely, I felt like I knew this woman. That I knew all of them, as one by one they had all stepped forwards and lowered their hoods. They all had long hair and the men had shaggy beards adorned with various braids and clasps. The paint on their faces was different for every person, some having blue and others red, black, grey or white. They ranged from young to old, the youngest looking like she was only twelve or thirteen years old. They felt…familiar, like a part of me had always known them and with each passing second, I became less afraid.
Lifting my hands I gradually lay them to rest upon the palms of the woman before me and she smiled invitingly, giving me a reassuring nod before she closed her eyes. With a rush of energy I felt everything come alive around me all at once. I could feel the magic of the world, like it was one giant spirit connected to every living thing as the woman before me showed me what I had been missing my entire life. One by one the others joined her, placing their hands on her shoulders and creating a link through each and every one of us which directed everything they had straight for me. It was overwhelming, it hurt, but I didn't want it to stop. Even as I was crying out in agony from the rush of information that came pouring into my mind, I wanted to know more.
They taught me centuries of history and culture within just a few brief moments, teaching me the art of their magic and how I was a part of all this and as I learned, I also started to remember. Moments of my life which had been taken from me, made to forget everything I had seen and learned ever since becoming closer to the supernatural without even knowing it. I remembered that Stefan attacked me after revealing he was a vampire, how he had almost killed me before I had been rescued. I remembered all the times I had accidentally walked in on Bonnie doing magic and I had been made to forget I had ever seen anything.
I remember the night of the party when Tyler killed Sarah accidentally, how my powers had started to awaken of their own accord and the subsequent confrontation at the Grill where I'd made the lights explode when they had tried to take my sketchbook away. I remembered Elijah, and every first meeting we had had from the moment we met and each time he made me forget our conversation only to start over again the next day. I remembered everything, and for a few blissful moments, I understood.
Until it all hit me like an avalanche and I realised that my reality was nothing like I thought, and that Mystic Falls was literally overrun with vampires and supernatural creatures who had been lying to me this entire time, keeping me in the dark and playing with my memories like it was nothing. That pissed me off, astronomically, but then it became overcome by the knowledge of the people who I had unknowingly been descended from and inherited the last of their powers which existed in this world. Druids.
More than that, I was something of a rarity even among our kind, a seer, an oracle, whatever you wanted to call it. As everything came flowing into my mind, I saw centuries of my ancestors sharing in this exact same ritual as the knowledge of the past became a gift to those of the present, and being the very last one of the druids to walk upon the earth, I got everything. Sometimes it felt like my mind would burst and crack under the pressure of this knowledge, but just before it would become all too much a sense of peace and serenity would flow through, granting me momentary relief as I was gifted with powers beyond my wildest imagination. With the understanding of those who came before me, I learned about vampires and witches, and the entire past that had been experienced by others before me until finally, it ended.
The moment it was over I collapsed into the snow, unable to handle everything coming in at once and I blacked out, expecting somewhere in the back of my mind that I would wake up back home again in my own bed, but when I opened my eyes to more snow, I groaned with disappointment. "It is done." The woman said to me, making me blink as she helped me back up onto my feet and held onto my arms to keep me upright as I swayed unsteadily. "You are Awakened and the Ascension ritual is complete. You are one of us, Ophelia, and we grant you our wisdom."
"You…I…this can't be possible." Whispering in disbelief as I gripped my head, thousands of thoughts, memories, emotions and facts came flooding through without any indication of stopping. I'd learned everything about what we were, and it scared the hell out of me. There were no magic books or history about us because we never wrote anything down. Knowledge was passed down from generation to generation by the elders, connected through the bloodline until we began to die as a species, and I was the last. If my siblings had lived, they would have been like me, but without them I was truly and utterly alone.
"You are not alone, dear Ophelia." My ancestors murmured to me warmly and I felt the hands of the woman before me come to frame my face. "We are with you, now and always."
"But…what am I supposed to do with all this? I don't understand. Am I meant to do something? What do you want from me?"
"Nothing, dearest. We have long since accepted that our people no longer have a place in this world. The magic of the earth is depleting with every passing century, and now it is only you who can access it in its entirety. Do what you will with this power you have inherited, ravage the world and create chaos, or use it to heal and make good in a world steadily unravelling. The choice is yours to live your life as you will. We are fading and no longer have any right to be a part of the world you live in today." Her voice was so melancholy that I couldn't help but feel saddened by her words, my heart quivering under the weight of realisation.
"What if I were to have children? Wouldn't they someday become like us?"
"It is not just the bloodline that is required for a new druid to be born, but the soul. Your soul has reawakened, but you have already lived countless lifetimes before. After you, all of us have chosen to pass into the breath of the world and become one with it, never again to reawaken." She explained to me, touching my hair and brushing it back as I just stared at her. "When you leave this place, everything will be clear to you. With the power you possess and a connection to all the elements, you are easily one of the greatest of our kind ever to exist." I still didn't exactly understand how or why it was that I had this power, but deep within, I could already feel it manifesting.
That warmth which allowed me to feel the presence of all living things around me, and as I looked around at the wintery forest, I became acutely aware of how full of life it actually was instead of being frozen and barren. It were as if it actually breathed, and that breath gave me strength and a sense of nostalgic comfort. Opening my eyes after having bathed in the sense of spiritual magic, I looked at each of the druids around me, my ancestors. "We were the first. The first ones to ever be able to possess magic." I recounted, the information rising to the surface of my mind. "The witches learned from us, but they have limitations. We don't."
"Precisely, dearest." Just then the sky above us began to darken, indicating that this pocket of space that we were currently existing in was beginning to fade. "Our time is nearing its end, Ophelia. Go now, with the blessings of your people. May you live a long, happy life." The druids around me began to murmur in several different languages, all of them ancient and unused in today's society. I recognised them through the knowledge they had granted me, entire languages filling my mind as slowly, the world around me began to fade away and one by one, the figures vanished into the wind.
I turned around, wanting one last look at everyone but when I saw the alter made from twisted bark and roots, the breath caught in my throat. Four people were standing there, causing my heart to twist and ache whilst a resounding joy and elation simultaneously. It was my family. My birth family. They were all smiling at me lovingly, Juliet waving excitedly as mom held Ferdinand in her arms, my dad standing with his arm about her waist and his hand on Juliet's head. Tears began to overflow and I forgot about everything else other than the fact that I was seeing them there, peaceful and together.
Even as the wintery world around me began to fade into a blinding white flash, I ran towards them and just as I rushed into their awaiting arms, the connection to that place ended and I was pulled back to my own reality. I opened my eyes to see a pale sky above me, trees climbing upwards with the moist earth under my back, damp from the early morning dew. I awoke still crying silently, tears rolling down my face as I stared upwards and couldn't help but smile. They were alright. My family. Their souls were at peace and now they had finally moved on. I didn't realise how much I had needed to know that they were okay until this moment, and as I lay there processing everything that I had learned and coming to terms with what I had become, I lay there on the ground watching as the sky continued to lighten into the morning of a new day.
Everything I could have possibly needed to know was there already waiting for me in my mind, tucked away ready for me to open and access whenever I needed, like a box or door in the corner of my mind. Every breath I took was so full of life that it was surreal, like I was breathing in the earth, the sky, the wind and water of nature all around me. Elijah had told me that my people used to be aligned with a particular element, usually only one or two, yet here I was able to feel the power of all of them ready at my fingertips.
The combination of all my ancestors gave me that power, making me stronger than any ordinary witch. All the basic elements, as well as their sub-elements, were mine to manipulate and I could also feel the strong pull of magic within me. Magic of light and dark, something that the witches were able to tap into for their own use, yet here I was able to access it all without restraint. I had power. Almost too much power, and it was terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. I had no idea what I was supposed to do with it, or even if I had any control over it. At the moment it felt somewhat unstable, different forces beginning to clash against each other, fighting for dominance so I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.
I focused on the different energies within me, tempering them into a calmness which allowed me to concentrate on getting them under control. Using what my ancestors had taught me during my Awakening and Ascension, I followed their wisdom and learned how to keep myself in full control of the power I had inside me, tucking it away for the time being. Once I had learned how to manage my powers, I opened my eyes again to see the sky above me, now a light shade of azure blue. My parents would probably be waking up soon, let's just hope they don't realise I wasn't in my room before I could get back, though seeing as I was in my pyjamas with no shoes and no cell, I figured that it was going to be a real bitch walking home. Just perfect.