Hello to you all lovely readers! Here we are with another chapter that was a struggle to write, but I hope I don't mess up or anything, so I will leave it to you guys to determine that.
Also, I am very grateful for the Faves and Follows and reviews you guys have given me, so thank you all and I give you guys my love!
Now, on to the response to your amazing reviews:
-xenocanaan: I am so glad you're enjoying this story! And here I have more for you to read!
-GhostGypsy: Yeeeesss, we're getting into more drama and some clues for future plots and stuff. And I am so glad you're loving it so much, it makes me happy to hear that. The redhead is another clue for a future plot, and she's very important. And Gwen won;t be kidnapped for the Mikael story line, since she will meet him and there will be changes as to how things go down. I will stop here, since I don't want to spoil!
-Love . Fiction . 2020: I wish! But Kol has yet to arrive, but I will try to make it spectacular. I am so eager to write him!
-Guest: Well, Gwen is in for quite an eventful night and Klaus will be none the wiser, since this will be something for Gwen and Rebekah to bond over. Still, love your enthusiasm!
-PrincessMagic: So happy you loved it! And yes, June is just full of emotion she can't and refuses to control. She's just very open and out there, waering her emotions on her sleeve.
-littlemissy3982: Thank you! And you don't have to wait anymore for another chapter!
Disclaimer: I own nothing belonging to the Vampire Diaries and claim no ownership over anything pertaining to it. I only own my characters and whatever else that is not from the show.
ghosts of horrors past
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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
6 years ago
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Sniffling bounced off the warm, cream walls in a cozy bedroom that had the windows' curtains drawn closed to keep the moonlight from filtering into the room where a young girl was curled up in the middle of the bed that was pressed against a corner. Fat tears cascaded down the little girl's medium-skinned cheeks, her big eyes almost shining with small pools of glistening tears. She hissed when she went to wrap herself further into a blanket that was draped over her shoulders but ended up rubbing her bandaged arms marred with painful wounds, all the while keeping a tight grip on the pearl pendant of her necklace. There were also bandages wrapped around her neck and legs, and there were also bruises that littered many areas of her skin that still throbbed and caused more tears to escape her hazel-green orbs.
The small girl buried her face in her arms that rested on her knees that were gathered up to her chest, wishing for the pain in her body to fade away and the memories of the past few days to be erased from her mind.
The bedroom door was cracked open, allowing the light from the hallway to shine into the room. Klaus entered the room with careful steps, his eyes softening when they landed on the trembling figure of the girl sitting on the bed. He stepped forward and approached the bed while carrying a silver tray that had a cup of vanilla tea, a biscuit, and medicine for pain relief on top of it, placing it on the bedside table before taking a seat on the edge of the bed, causing it to dip and groan under his weight.
"Lyn?" whispered Klaus, turning on the lamp on the bedside table to get a better look at the huddled form on the bed. He released a heavy sigh to calm his anger when he saw how thin she looked. "I brought you some tea and a snack," he told her, but she still did not acknowledge him, keeping her face hidden away in her arms. "Sweetheart?" he tried once more.
"I don't want any," was what her muffled voice responded.
"You need to get something in your system if only to take your medicine," Klaus argued gently, not wanting to force her to do anything. "You haven't had a decent meal in days." He exhaled heavily as he stared at Gwen, hoping to see her eyes.
"I'm not hungry," Gwen countered. She wasn't hungry, not when her head wanted to split open due to a headache and the mere thought of food made her stomach churn. And after having gone so many days without having something to eat, she just felt like she could not keep anything down.
Klaus knew that there was nothing he could say that would help the little girl with her emotional trauma that was caused by the three vampires he slaughtered two days ago when he had found Gwen on the brink of death in an abandoned apartment complex. The Original cursed himself for having taken so long to find her, only being able to guess what she had gone through during the three days she spent in the hands of sadistic vampires. He could still remember her disoriented eyes with dry tears mixed with her own blood on her cheeks. He felt even worse when it had all happened under his nose, having lost her when he had taken the ten-year-old to a park.
"I'm fine," Gwen told Klaus, not wanting to keep him watching over her. "I'll try to eat something tomorrow."
"I could do as you ask, but I won't," he said as he made himself more comfortable on the bed by leaning against the headboard beside Gwen, his feet stretched out and crossed at the ankles. "I don't think you want to be alone."
"What makes you say that?" asked Gwen, still refusing to lift her head.
"Well," Klaus began as he fiddled with his fingers on his lap, "you're not exactly sending me away. I can only assume that it's because you want a hug."
Gwen did not even try to fight the small smile that forced itself onto her lips. "Really?"
Klaus hummed with a nod of his head. "Why, it's the best medicine for anything."
Without uttering a single word, Gwen's body uncurled itself and crawled closer to Klaus' side, finding a comfortable position where her tiny body was almost on top of him as she wrapped her arms around his chest with her head placed on top of the spot where she could practically feel every beat of his heart. Klaus coiled an arm around Gwen's back and placed the other on top of the hand she had on his abdomen, his fingers now toying with the charm attached to the bracelet he had gifted her on one of her birthdays. He gave her still-wet hair a chaste kiss before leaning his cheek on her head as he squeezed her close to him.
"So," Klaus began with a hum as he stroked her back, "feeling better?"
Gwen nodded against his warm chest as her tears began to lessen, sniffling. She had not realized how much she needed it until that moment. "Why did they do those things to me?" She was so tired, but she was too afraid to close her eyes, knowing that the darkness would only take her back to that house. "What did I do wrong?"
"You did nothing wrong." Klaus closed his eyes as he tightened his hold on her. "You're just a very special girl, and those…things wanted to take advantage of how special you are."
"I don't want to be special," Gwen almost sobbed.
"No one asks to be, but they are," said Klaus, a corner of his lips slightly twitching into a half-smile. "And you are a really special girl, but I promise you that those people won't ever lay a hand on you again."
The little girl lifted her head to look up at him with big, tearful eyes. "They're gone?"
"Nothing but ashes by now," he reassured her.
"Thank you," Gwen whispered as she placed her head back on his chest, her hand that wasn't gripped by his was holding on to her necklace's pendant. "For coming for me," she added, her eyes drooping as exhaustion finally caught up to her with how safe she felt in his arms.
"I will always be there for you," Klaus told her, his lips brushing against her temple as sleep took hold of her. "Never forget that. And remember, you're stronger than you think."
Gwen had never felt safer as Klaus' warmth embraced her entire being, and she doubted she would ever feel as such anywhere else.
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Mystic Falls, Virginia
Present Day
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A soft groan left Gwen's pink lips, her eyes furrowing due to the pulsing headache that was pounding from within her head as her body slowly worked its way out of the grips of unconsciousness. She took a deep breath, glad that she was not smelling anything sweet that would cause her mind to become fuzzy. She was about to reach up with her right hand to touch her throbbing head but found that it was weighed down by being tied to her left hand. Her eyes fluttered open, her vision trying to adjust since everything was still blurry around her. She realized she was lying down on her side, feeling dirt pressed against her cheek. She managed to push her sluggish body into a sitting position against a rough wall with a grunt, now being able to see that her hands were bound at the wrists with a rope that was rubbing her skin raw. Her wrists felt numb, and a few bones in her body were cracking awake with every movement she made.
Gwen's vision adjusted to the light of the room, finding that there wasn't much, except for some torches in sconces on the walls. She looked around and found that she was in a round chamber. She frowned when she saw an entrance of some sort that led deeper underground and away from the little light there was, but then her attention went to a pentagram that was engraved on the slab of thick stone that was near the dark entrance.
The halfling tried to remember what she was doing before she blacked out since she was unable to recognize where she was. She remembered that Juniper had left town, and then she went to have breakfast with Rebekah before making plans to see the 'Night of Illumination'. She also recalled that they had been in the Mystic Grill, and it was that memory that had Gwen feeling like the air was knocked out of her stomach with a heavy punch when she remembered the smirking redhead in the bathroom and the incident that led to her losing consciousness, which had tears gathering in her eyes. She began to hyperventilate as the words that were whispered into her ears came back to her.
Hello, poppet.
Heavy footsteps echoed around the chamber, catching Gwen's attention. She turned her head to another entrance that she assumed was the one that led out of the place. Her mind was scrambling for answers, but she also knew that she was just trying to keep herself from getting to an absurd conclusion.
"Well, hello," said a sickly-sweet voice that Gwen thought she would never have to hear again, especially the nickname that she so loathed. "Glad to see you're finally awake, poppet."
Gwen's heart practically stopped when her eyes landed on the tall man who was well built, possessing pale skin and dirty blonde hair that reached his nape, which was well kept and slicked back. His eyes were a steely blue that had green flecks. His oval face had not changed throughout the years and was clean-shaven. She tried to blink a few times, hoping that she was dreaming and that she would suddenly be catapulted back into her body to jolt awake, but that didn't happen, and she now wished she was still unconscious.
"It's been a while," said the blonde man as he went to lean against the wall opposite to the one Gwen was leaning against. He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket that were over a dark shirt, which was matched with dark jeans and brown boots.
It was all coming back to her, what Gwen had to endure at the hands of this former vampire and his friends. Cassian and his friends were a group of three who shared twisted personalities and took joy in the pain and killing of others. She could still remember how they bruised her arms and legs to keep her down as they fed on her. She remembered how their fangs plunged into her flesh in many places throughout her body with little care if they tore too much of her skin open. She had cried and pleaded for them to stop, to make the pain that had coursed through her like fire stop. The memories only had her chest tightening painfully, making her feel like she was suffocating. The worst of it all was that they always made sure not to kill her, always taking just enough to take more later and make her last as much as possible. Oh, how she wished she could forget the ghosts of their hands all over her body, greedy for more of her blood and screams and tears.
The man grinned at Gwen, amused that she was not meeting his eyes as her breathing became erratic. "You remember your old friend Cassian, don't you?" he asked with a pout, tilting his head to see if he could catch her eyes. "There's no need to be shy with me. We got along so well the last time we met."
"Y-You…" Gwen began with a stutter and gulped down the lump growing in her throat, "you hurt me." Her throat clamped up, making it difficult for her to talk without her voice wavering.
"You do remember me. I am so happy," Cassian chuckled, his eyes soft with a malicious smile on his lips. "I honestly didn't think you'd remember me, not with how young you were, but I do tend to leave a strong impression on others."
Gwen went to open her mouth but closed it when she knew that her voice would shake. She could barely move, feeling like anything she did or said would set him off. "W-What do you w-want?" she asked as she forced herself to clear her mind, invoking her magic as she thought about how she could use it to escape.
"Straight to business, I see," Cassian sighed, his grin disappearing. He pushed himself away from the wall to take a few steps closer to the trembling teenager, stuffing his hands in the front pockets of his jeans. "We always heard about the blood of faeries, so imagine our delight at having seen you, but then that damn monster slaughtered us just for having some fun when we were just shy of being a century old, still rather young for vampires."
A frown knit itself on Gwen's eyebrows, not understanding how someone could say what Cassian did with such ease and nonchalance, and make it appear like it was her and Klaus' fault that he died when it was his actions that led to where he was now. They hurt her and Klaus did what he always did when someone threatened the ones he cared about. She did not know what had been planned for her, but she knew he had no intention of letting her live and that terrified her.
I will always be there for you.
Klaus' words had provided nothing but comfort for Gwen, but that security was nowhere at the moment. She couldn't depend on him to get her out of this mess, not like she always did. She was reminded of the many warnings Klaus told her on repeat, about how cruel the world was to her kind. Still, she refused to believe that life outside of Klaus' shadow held nothing but pain for her, knowing that she needed to do more than stand by and expect others to help her. Of course, that was easier said than done.
Just then, Gwen heard another pair of footsteps echoing within the walls, causing her tears to fall down her cheeks as she realized that Cassian was not the only nightmare of her past who had somehow returned from the grave to haunt her. Even though she knew that it was better for her frantic heart to simply close her eyes, she couldn't help but glance at the person who entered the room, causing her head to swim as she fights to regain control of her turbulent breathing, her stomach twisting in such a way that it almost made her want to vomit. This person also still looked the same as she remembered; slightly curly, short, dark brown hair and vibrant blue eyes. He also had fair skin with short stubble and the same build as Cassian but shorter by seven inches, since Cassian stood at a towering six feet and four inches.
"And let me tell you that it was not a quick nor was it a painless death," said the newcomer as he smiled at Gwen. An unpleasant feeling went down his back when images of his death flashed in his mind, prompting him to shake his shoulders as if to shrug off the memories. "That was certainly not a good day for me, and I've been itching for some retribution, which is why we're here." His face became impassive. "That man had no right to kill us, not with the blood he has in his hands. It's wasn't like he couldn't get over your death in a few weeks or centuries."
Cassian scoffed as he nodded. "It's only fair that we settle the score somehow, especially when we can't kill the bastard. Simply put, we want revenge, and you're the key to make that possible." The blond turned to his companion. "Isn't that right, Evan?"
"Of course. The great Klaus will finally feel pain like the rest of us," Evan said as he took a deep breath of air that carried Gwen's sweet scent, something he hadn't been able to do on the Other Side, given that his senses were nonexistence in that plane. "I didn't think I'd miss living so much," he chuckled. He had no idea how much he would miss a soft breeze chilling his skin.
Gwen closed her eyes and focused on regulating her breathing and just trying to not think about what had happened to her at the hands of the men in front of her. She cursed herself for being unable to do anything but panic, so she fought to calm down. Klaus was not in town and she had no one else to help her. "How are you here?" she asked after gaining some control of her emotions, managing to at least look up to their chests, still too afraid to look the men in the eyes. "You're," she paused when she felt her heart skip a beat before saying, "supposed to be dead."
"Well, some dead and living witches are messing with the mechanics of the Other Side, so ghosts are now able to materialize," Cassian explained what he had heard being whispered in purgatory. The blond glanced at his brunet companion, who leaned back against a wall with his hands in his jacket's pockets. He returned his attention to Gwen, noticing how her eyes kept straying to the entrance, and he knew why. "Oh, don't worry. Good ol' Al isn't here with us to share in the fun," he explained.
Gwen frowned, having thought that the men would have stuck together.
"Can't believe he's going to miss this," Evan huffed, disappointed that the most flamboyant member of their group was not with them. "Klaus holed us up in that house and burned it to the ground with us inside. We would have looked for his wayward soul, but we didn't want to risk losing sight of you."
"He's," Gwen began and cleared her throat to talk through the lump forming in her windpipe, "n-not here?" She felt such relief knowing that monster was nowhere nearby. Out of the three vampires who had tortured her in the past, the one named Albert had been the true nightmare she wished she could forget, having been the one who enjoyed hurting her more than drinking from her and keeping the other two from draining her dry, but only to be able to inflict more pain.
"We don't know where he ended up, but we'll try to honor him." Cassian's eyes became downcast. "It's incredibly quiet over there, you know." He looked up at Gwen. "No one sees or hears you, but we never stopped watching you, waiting for the perfect opportunity."
While she believed that death was an atrocious way to punish someone, Gwen could not feel any sympathy for the men who had none themselves, so she could not pity them. The two vampires had no respect for life, caring for no one or anything else but themselves and their sadistic pleasures, which was why Gwen needed to figure out how she was going to escape as soon as possible.
"We have no idea how long we have on this side, so let's get started," Evan said as he pushed himself off the wall to stand next to Cassian, both looking down at Gwen. "We would have loved to spend more time with you, poppet. The thing is that we want the scary hybrid to learn his lesson more than anything else."
"And what better way to do that than by having one last drink of that delicious blood of yours before we're sucked back into that damned place," said Cassian.
"Exactly," said Evan.
Cassian's mouth practically watered at Gwen's scent, already on a high as he recalled what her blood tasted like. "We get one last meal with a side of revenge. There's not much else we can ask for, not when we're dead with nothing else to look forward to, except for when he finds your lifeless body that we'll be sure to deliver to his sister," he said as he reached down to grab Gwen by her arms and pull her up to her feet, smiling when she yelped and whimpered.
Gwen still refused to meet Cassian's gaze as her bangs fell over her eyes, remembering Klaus's assurances.
I promise you that those people won't ever lay a hand on you again.
Evan pursed his lips as he stood to Gwen's left and reached up to push her hair aside to reveal her neck, his touch causing her to shiver. "Let's try and make the best of this."
"Stop," she pleaded.
"No can do, poppet," Evan hummed. "We're dead. We need something to keep us going year after year when we can no longer indulge in life's finest things." He laughed, the sound lacking any real mirth. "As vampires, the closest we come to feeling any semblance of self is when we hold the life of someone in our hands. And that hasn't changed."
Cassian nodded as he glanced at Evan. "It's when we feel most alive."
"You're both insane," Gwen mumbled as she tried to get away from the dead vampire with her bound hands trying to shove Cassian away from her by pushing against his chest, trying to at least keep him away from her as he brought her closer to him. "Stop!"
This was the time to act, Gwen knew this. She refused to go back to being that scared little girl from six years ago. She finally overcame the nightmares they caused, and she wasn't going to allow them to interfere with her life again. If she wanted to brave the world without Klaus, she would have to do so with her own hands and the power she had. She raised her head for the first time and saw Cassian's vampiric features manifest in front of her, but everything became silent and still as if time had slowed down for her. Evan leaned into the left side of her neck, whereas Cassian went for her right side. And while she was still frightened, her accelerated heart gave her the push to bring forth her magic that caused the veins under her skin to slightly glow green throughout her body.
You're stronger than you think.
Those words echoed in her mind just as she felt cold breaths kiss the skin of her neck. Gwen closed her eyes and allowed her power to make her body glow with a veil of a fiery green mist surrounding her that had her body brightening like a star for just a second, but it was enough to cause the vampires to hiss and scream in agony. Cassian and Evan used their supernatural speed to get away from Gwen and slam themselves into a dark corner. Both vampires screamed in anguish as they fought against the instinct to reach for their face when every part of their exposed skin stung, their pale complexions now marred with vibrant red patches of wounds that appeared like their skin had been peeled off with a hot iron. This kind of pain had them thinking for a moment that they had exposed themselves to the scorching glares of the sun's rays.
Gwen groaned from where she had been roughly thrown to the ground, her head throbbing after feeling something sharp hit her left temple. Her hands were free after the ropes had been singed enough for her to tear them apart. She was a bit drained due to how exhausted she felt after using such a technique, but she managed to sit on her knees and gather herself before climbing to her feet. She took a few steps and almost doubled over, but she kept herself straight while using a wall for support as a grunt escaped her. She glanced over her shoulder to look at the writhing vampires and didn't waste another second as she bolted for the stairs that led her out of the tomb and into the dark forest with only moonlight to light up her path.
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Rebekah wanted to scream out of frustration as she stood at the doorway of Gwen's room in the Salvatore Boarding House, finding it empty with no sign of a certain hybrid she had been frantically searching for all over town with no luck. It didn't help that Gwen had left behind her purse with her phone in it, so there was no way for the Original vampire to contact her. She had debated on whether she should call Klaus or Juniper on multiple occasions but always opted against it. If Klaus found out that she had lost Gwen, she knew that she would soon find herself stuffed inside a coffin for who knew how long. Also, even if Juniper had grown on her, she couldn't trust the witch not to tell her brother. This only left her with the option of looking for the young half-breed by herself. And she knew that her time was limited, given that they could call at any moment.
"Where the bloody hell are you, pet?" Rebekah huffed as she ran a hand through her blonde tresses while pacing around in the room, thinking about what to do next.
The blonde vampire placed her hands on her hips as she continued to walk around the room, trying to come up with a plan. If she couldn't contact Gwen via phone, then she would need a witch to find the stray teenager. The problem was that she had no witch to do a locating spell.
Rebekah paused her frantic pacing when her enhanced hearing picked up on some voices coming from another room in the house, paying close attention to what was being talked about. She bolted out of Gwen's room and appeared at the doorway of what she recognized was Damon's room, given that his scent was strongly infused in the air. Her sudden arrival had caused the two girls in the ransacked room who were about to leave to freeze on the spot when their eyes landed on the Original. Rebekah's eyes landed on Caroline, but her focus shifted to Bonnie, and she knew she had found her answer. She noticed that they tried to hide their nervousness under what she assumed was confidence.
"What's this I hear about a necklace and ghosts?" Rebekah asked the other blonde and brunette, deciding against opening conversations with a snarky remark. She grew annoyed when the only answer she got was silence as the teenage girls in front of her shared a look. "I know that neither of you is deaf," she said through gritted teeth, knowing that she needed to play her cards right.
"I don't think we owe you anything, so if you'll excuse us…" Caroline said as she grabbed Bonnie's hand to lead them out of the room, but Rebekah stepped in their way with narrowed eyes and thin lips.
"If my intuition is correct, the necklace you're both talking about belongs to me, which means that I have every right to know what you were talking about," Rebekah said, challenging Caroline, who stood in front of Bonnie in a protective stance.
"You mean Elena's necklace," Caroline countered with a bit of attitude that Rebekah didn't appreciate.
"Well, if her mother gave it to her and she's worn the bloody thing for almost a thousand years, she can call it her own," Rebekah fired back since she couldn't help herself from snapping at anything the younger vampire said. "Stefan gave it to her without my blessing, so that falls in the category of stolen items, which means that I am still the rightful owner. Now, I would like to avoid getting into a pointless debate concerning the bloody thing's ownership any further, so please answer my question before I lose my patience."
Bonnie looked between Caroline and Rebekah, watching as the blondes stared one another down. She was not in the mood for this after finding out her boyfriend kissed his dead ex-girlfriend, so she stepped forward in front of Caroline. The young witch found that it was better to diffuse the situation before it escalated, considering that Rebekah was an Original vampire who could kill Caroline with ease and her magic was still faulty. "The necklace is at the center of this situation with the Other Side," she explained to Rebekah, ignoring Caroline's protests.
"That's just great," Rebekah scoffed, now guessing that whatever was going on with the ghosts had something to do with Gwen's disappearance. She looked at Bonnie and took a step closer to her, being only a step away from the witch. "The bloody thing still has juice in it, which means that someone is using it to keep the door open for anyone on the Other Side."
Bonnie nodded, slightly surprised that the thousand-year-old vampire could figure out what was going on with ease. "The ghosts of dead supernatural beings who're within Mystic Falls can materialize as long as they have a foothold, something tethering them to our plane."
"You're the resident witch, correct?" Rebekah didn't wait for Bonnie to answer, since it was more of a rhetorical question. "I need you to do me a favor and perform a locating spell."
Caroline snorted as she crossed her arms over her chest, her brows furrowing as she sneered. "And why would we do that?"
Rebekah glanced at Caroline, who now came to stand next to Bonnie. "There's no 'we', given that you're not the one I'm talking to." The Original nodded at Bonnie. "Last time I checked, everyone is the master of their own lives, so the decision lies with her."
"I still fail to see why she would help you," Caroline countered.
"Why not?" Rebekah asked, her eyes going from one girl to the other. "If you are going to condemn me, at least do it on something I actually did and not because of my brother's actions. Yes, I did help him, but that was his plan to free your," she paused to give Caroline a pointed look, "boyfriend from his curse."
"By killing him," argued Caroline, scowling.
"No, saving him from having his bones rearrange every full moon," said Rebekah, keeping herself from shouting and losing her self-control. All she wanted to do was rip Caroline's head off and force Bonnie to do the spell she needed, but that would take time she was not sure she had. "You're not the one with the curse, so don't pretend to know what he went through and question why he has no problem with what was done to him. I would have thought you'd rejoice at not having to see him suffer for the rest of his life."
Caroline wanted to argue further, but she had nothing when Rebekah's words had some truth to them. She wished she could scream at the Original as to why everything that happened at Prank Night was wrong, feeling nothing but animosity toward the older vampire.
Rebekah looked at Bonnie. "I am not going to tell you that my hands are clean from what happened, but my friend might be in trouble." She noticed how Bonnie perked up at this. "And this is the same friend who helped save Elena the night of the bonfire party when she was almost turned into charcoal." She pleaded to the witch with a softened gaze. "In return and to call it even, I only ask that you do a locator spell so that I can find her and make sure she is safe, nothing else." She took a breath and steeled herself to say, "You can even keep my necklace."
Bonnie glanced at Caroline, recognizing the look in her blonde friend's eyes. If it were up to Caroline, they wouldn't help Rebekah. The witch also found that there was no reason not to help the Original when it was true that Elena had been helped by both Gwen and Juniper from what she had been told about the incident with Vicki Donovan. "Okay," she said to Rebekah, nodding. "I'll help you."
"Bonnie," Caroline began, frowning.
"She's right, Care," Bonnie said to her friend with a shrug of her shoulders. "We do owe her."
"No, we owe the one who actually saved Elena," Caroline corrected, earning a glare from Rebekah. Caroline knew she was being petty, but she couldn't help herself, not after what Klaus had done to them since the first time he came to Mystic Falls. And she just didn't want to help Rebekah in any way, she just didn't want to.
"Caroline," Bonnie chided her friend. "You do know we're in no position to argue."
Caroline glanced at a grinning Rebekah, her blood boiling for a moment before she took a deep breath she exhaled through her nose. "Whatever," she scoffed as she threw her hands in the air, refusing to admit that Bonnie was right. Although she wished she could say that she was capable of handling Rebekah, she wasn't about to find out and risk Bonnie's life.
Bonnie sighed as she turned to Rebekah. "Do you have anything that belongs to your friend?" she asked. "Some hair on a brush, a piece of jewelry or her clothes," she suggested.
Rebekah nodded and sped back to Gwen's room, gathering some of the halfling's clothes before returning to Damon's room. The Original placed the items she had gathered on the bed and looked at Bonnie. "These are some of her things. Is it enough?"
Bonnie nodded and approached the bed, placing her hands on the items Rebekah retrieved for her to use to find the vampire's friend. She closed her eyes and began to chant, "Phasmatos Tribum Nas Ex Veras." The more she chanted the words, the more power grew within her as the spell began to take hold. She frowned when dimmed images flashed through her mind, so she continued to chant as she tried to focus on what she was seeing and get a clue as to where Gwen was. Her brows knitted into a frown when she recognized something she saw in the visions, so she pulled out of the spell and opened her eyes, taking a step back to face Rebekah. "I think I know where she is."
.
Everything was a blur.
There was no path to follow, no light shining from the shadows in the distance. There was no other sound than the crunching of leaves and sticks and anything else that Gwen stepped on as she continued to run through the forest, being careful not to trip on anything. The rushing of her blood was the only thing she could hear as she fought to take large gulps of air to fill her lungs. She could practically feel her heart lodged inside her throat. Her whole body ached as it screamed at her to rest, but her brain was pushing her to keep moving and not take the chance, even when she felt like her legs could buckle. She didn't want to die, not yet.
When the aches got too much, Gwen was forced to slow down and lean her back against a tree that barely hid her figure, her mouth wide open as she took large gulps of the night air. Her hair stuck to her slightly sweaty forehead as she closed her eyes, groaning when she felt the headache that wanted to make her head explode. Her chest rose and fell with her rapid breathing, having run for who knew how long. She reached up to her temple and hissed when her fingers came into contact with a gash from where blood poured down the left side of her face. She stared at the red liquid on her fingertips and groaned, knowing that this would make it even harder for her to escape as it worked as a homing beacon for any vampire or supernatural being with enhanced senses.
Gwen's body froze when a cold feeling swept over her body, alerting her that she was no longer alone. She would have covered her mouth to stifle her breathing, but her heart and blood already gave her away, so there was no point in her trying to hide. As she thought about what her next move should be, she slowly sat at the base of the tree she was leaning against, her hands planted on the ground.
"Come on, poppet!" Cassian called some feet away from the tree Gwen was using to rest. He could see one of her hands that she failed to hide. "You're making this harder than it has to be, but it is entertaining." He sniffled as he wiped his hand over his face, still feeling the unpleasant sensation of having been burned. "I see that you learned a few tricks over the years. Consider me impressed."
"Go to hell," Gwen whispered, knowing that he could hear her.
Cassian laughed. "Already there. Now, do yourself a favor and come out." He took a big whiff and exhaled with a soft moan when the sweet scent of Gwen's blood filled his nostrils. "I've been dying to have a taste of you." He chuckled to himself at his choice of words. "No pun intended."
Gwen stayed quiet, her breathing finally calming down. She hoped that whatever was allowing the ghosts to materialize would be destroyed, so she needed to buy time. It was an irrational plan, but it was the only thing she could come up with, considering that she could not outrun a vampire. The way she used her magic earlier tired her out, given that it was a technique that released her magical power. If she were to use her magic like that again, she would black out, which was something she could not afford to do.
A sudden whoosh to her right startled Gwen, causing her to look up to find Evan grinning down at her.
"Found you," Evan sang as he reached for her. Before he could touch her, Gwen's left hand grasped a fallen branch and slammed it against Evan's head with every bit of strength she could muster, eliciting a groan from him. "You bitch!" he hissed as he reached up to his temple, getting angry with the amount of trouble she was causing them.
Gwen quickly stood up to start running but gasped and came to a stop when Cassian appeared in front of her, so she kept a firm grasp on the thick branch she still held in her hand. She took a few steps back to be able to keep both vampires in her line of vision, her eyes shifting between them.
Cassian chuckled as he gestured to Gwen from head to toe. "Where has this little spitfire been all this time?" He frowned at how she no longer looked away from him, but he chalked it up to the adrenaline coursing through her. "What do you pretend to do with that?" he asked as he pointed at the item Gwen was using as her weapon.
Gwen now held the branch in both of her hands, lifting it in a stance where she could fling it with ease. "Honestly, I don't know." She was well aware that she didn't stand a chance against vampires with a mere stick, but she wasn't about to lay down and die. She just needed to come up with a better plan.
"While I am amused and would have loved to play," Cassian said as he took careful steps towards Gwen, "we're in a time crunch, so stop with the dramatics."
"You're dead," Gwen began with her voice slightly cracking, "because of your own actions." She shook her head at them as she took a deep breath to steady her voice. "You hurt me and who knows how many others, so you got what you deserved."
"Isn't that a bit hypocritical when you say it?" asked Evan, brows furrowed. "There is no amount of paper in this world to write the names of every single soul Klaus has sent to the grave, be it justly so or not. He's killed both guilty and innocent lives, and you think that's all right to do?"
"I know he's no saint. He's a cruel man who has done a lot of terrible things. I also know that I have yet to see what he's capable of," Gwen said, her statement surprising Cassian and Evan since they believed her to be naïve and ignorant of the hybrid's true character. "I know the kind of man he is, but he's my family. He's the only family I have."
"That family is the reason you're about to die," Evan said as he took a step forward, ready to attack.
Gwen saw Cassian was about to charge at her, so she dropped her makeshift weapon and stepped back to place a hand against the bark of a tree behind her. Her eyes glowed as she connected to the tree's life force, which helped her have the tree's vines grow large and break through the ground to wrap around Cassian's legs and bring him crashing to the ground. Before she could turn her attention to Evan, he had already wrapped a hand around her neck before slamming her hard on the ground, which had her gasping after the wind was knocked out of her lungs before she dissolved into pained groans.
"Too slow, poppet," Evan taunted from where he crouched next to her, watching her scratch the wrist of his hand that tightened around her throat. He couldn't help but enjoy himself as she fought to breathe.
Gwen whimpered as her vision began to fade in and out. She couldn't focus as she tried to get Evan's hand off her, his hold on her being too strong. She even tried to focus her power on her hands to burn him, but he wasn't budging, not with her poor strength.
"Now, let's try this again," Evan said as he opened his mouth to reveal his fangs, but he became confused when he was shoved off Gwen by a blurry figure. He fell on his back next to Cassian, who had finally managed to free himself from the vines.
"I dare you to try that again," said the blonde Original as she stared down at the two vampires, grinning down at their widened eyes.
Gwen coughed as she propped herself up on one elbow, massaging her neck with a hand. She smiled at the blonde's back, glad to not be alone. She was so happy that she sighed in relief, "Rebekah."
At her name being called out, Rebekah glanced at the halfling over her shoulders with a smile. "Hello, Weny," she greeted, but her eyes landed on the wound on Gwen's head that was dripping blood. The smell of the halfling's blood was euphoric, so she had to turn away from the young girl and give her attention to Cassian and Evan as they climbed to their feet. "Are these boys giving you trouble?" The question was only a tease.
"Only a lot," Gwen exhaled as she managed to sit up.
"The other Original?" asked Evan, frowning.
Rebekah nodded with a smile. "The best one."
"Dammit," Cassian hissed, his eyes going between Gwen and Rebekah. He was too close, too close to get his justice and find some semblance of peace after his life was snuffed out. "It wasn't supposed to go like this."
Evan growled. "It is, so get over it. We still have time."
"Oh, goodie," said Rebekah, placing her hands on her hips. "I get to beat some manners into you both."
Just as Cassian and Evan lunged at Rebekah, an unseen force pushed them back once more, causing both Gwen and Rebekah to frown before their eyes landed on a woman of slim build and fair complexion who stood in front of Rebekah, fiercely glaring at the men getting back to her feet for a second time. The newcomer was the same height as Rebekah, possessing rich brown hair that was parted on the left side and cascaded down the middle of her back in waves, framing her oval-shaped face and contrasting against her pale greyish-blue eyes. She wore a mauve T-shirt midi dress that featured a V-neckline, cuffed short sleeves and a flowy dolphin hem. For shoes, she wore a pair of cream sneakers.
"Who the bloody hell are you?" Rebekah asked the brunette woman.
The brunette turned her attention away from the arguing vampires some feet away from her, her eyes landing on Gwen. Her lips turned upwards into such a broken but beaming smile that cracked Gwen's heart. The tall brunette opened her mouth, eager to speak to the young halfling, but something shifted for her and for both Cassian and Evan who glanced at each other.
One moment the three ghosts were there and then they were not, leaving behind only a whisper. Their sudden vanishing act had Gwen and Rebekah looking around the forest.
Rebekah approached Gwen and knelt beside her, smiling softly as she wrapped an arm around the halfling's shoulders to get her to stand. "Friends of yours?"
Gwen smiled at Rebekah as she leaned against the Original's side, exhaustion catching up to her. "More like a few ghosts of horrors past."
"And the woman?" asked Rebekah.
Frowning, Gwen muttered, "I don't know." And for some reason, that saddened her.
End of chapter!
Here we are. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. It was quite the struggle to write, but I managed and I hope it's a good read. Remember to share your thoughts and opinions, no matter what they are, since they inspire me to write and give you guys something to enjoy!
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