April 7th.

Cherith grunts slightly as she rapidly hits a punching bag with her wrapped fists, moving back a bit while ignoring her sweaty self and huffing.

With a focused look on the bag, she lets out a small shout, doing a roundhouse kick and the punching bag moves back a bit and Cherith smiles as she hears a small grunt, standing back up straight.

"Damn. You sure do put a lot of power into your punches and kicks."

The guy who has been holding the punching bag for her steps out from behind it with a small smile, wearing a black armless tank and sweatpants, slightly sweaty and well muscled.

Cherith smirks as she drops her hands.

"It's because I'm just that awesome."

He shakes his head as he lets out a small chuckle.

"Alright, take a break."

"Ugh! Finally!"

Cherith groans out as she slouches over to grab her bottled water on the ground with h relief, taking huge gulps and he shook his head amused.

"Don't worry. You'll get used to the body strain in no time."

She lets out a noncommittal grunt at that.

No need for him to know about her healing abilities.

It had been 3 days since her whole venture to Amherst County.

2 days earlier, Monday, she'd signed up to a gym a few streets from her home, upping her exercise time to 5 to 6am.

She'd decided on stopping her morning jog for the time being and focusing more on gym work, choosing to do so early in the morning before heading back home and getting ready for school.

"Do some stretches before heading out. It'll help you loosen up a bit. Good Job Gilbert, I'll see you tomorrow yeah?"

She gives her a small smile as he walks off and she stares at him walking off with a wistful look.

Her trainer was a 24 year old with wavy blonde hair, a ruggedly handsome face and sinful dark blue eyes.

He was tall at 6'2 or so and her eyes followed his ass and she sighed playfully.

"If only I could tap that…"

She shook her head as she grabbed her gym bag and put her bottled water in it.

"I really need to loose the v card soon or I'm going to go crazy in no time!"

As she walked out, she waved the owner of the gym who was a lady in her late 30s or so.

It had been 3 days since her trip and her little discussion with Bill as well as seeing her mother through a very strange looking fire.

If Cherith's trip to Wales didn't seems all that important before… it sure as hell did now.

In fact, if she was being truthful to herself… school didn't seem so important to her anymore.

Before, she had been rather interested in business… in changing the world… but now, it just felt more like an hassle to her, what with the things happening to and around her.

Of course, Archaeology was still her love though… and it was probably what stopped her from doing something as stupid as not going to college.

As she drove back home, she idly thought about everyone around her.

It seemed like they were all rather busy or just about in their feels.

Sacrifices and Vampires and Werewolves and Witches and Warlocks.

Oh, and there was her and the Title of Scarlet Witch.

Cherith sighed forlornly, as she thought of happier times, when everything hadn't been as complicated as it was not.

Flashback.

"CHERRY!!!!!!!"

A 13 year old Cherith Gilbert snickers to herself as she sits down opposite her father at the dining table, her adoptive mum placing a bowl of meatballs on the table, looking at her youngest with a wry smile on her face.

"What did you do now?"

"Me?... Whatever do you think I've done now mother?"

Cherith says with a rather cute look on her face, giving her a rather porcelain and innocent look.

Grayson chuckles as he turns a page of a medical textbook.

"That shout told us all we needed to know, honey."

And it did, as in that moment, Jeremy stomps down the stairs with an angry look on his face as he marched towards them.

But that wasn't what caused the slight silence or the gasp that came from Miranda.

Jeremy had haphazardly thrown on clothes over his slightly wet body but his hair, while still wet, was now a bubblegum neon like pink color, with pink hair dye water streaming down his hair slightly and down his skin.

Grayson covers a snicker and Jeremy points at Cherith who tried to look as innocent as she could.

"You! You little shit!"

"Jeremy Gilbert! Language!"

Miranda snaps out of her head, glaring at her son before slapping him over the head lightly, wrinkling her nose slightly at her wet and now slightly light pink hand as the 14 year old teen whines at his mother.

"But mummmm!! Look what she did to my hair!"

He turns to his smirking sister and glared at her.

"I'll get you back for this… oh yes I will!"

He vowed and Cherith giggles slightly.

"Oh but come now brother… at least now you look punky enough for Vicki Donovan to notice you."

She ends, doing a kissy face as her brother's face turns red from embarrassment and anger.

"You brat!"

He lunges for her but Cherith dives under the table as Grayson chuckles, dropping his book on the table as Cherith crawls out from under the table to sit by his side.

Jeremy spots her and lunges again but Grayson stops him with a small chuckle.

"Now don't be too hasty son."

"Now I can't go to the game tomorrow!"

He groans angrily and Miranda snorts.

"Come on… if we wash it out quickly, it'll come off in no time."

She wraps her arm around her slightly taller son as she tries to direct him back out.

"And Grayson, talk to your youngest."

"Of course!"

Grayson turns to Cherith and they exchange grins.

"Good job darling."

"I heard that!"

Miranda turns slightly to her husband as they walk out, a warning look in her tone and he quickly adds…

"And you're grounded!"

He then winks at his daughter who snorts.

In that moment, a 15 year old Elena rushes into the house in her cheerleading outfit, a rather harried look on her face.

"Sorry I'm late! The cheer captain was being a real slave driver! She wanted the routine for tomorrow to be totally perfect and—what happened to your hair?"

She paused, a snicker escaping her as her mother and Jeremy passed her by the front door as they moved towards the stairs and Jeremy ignores her, throwing a middle finger at her when their mother wasn't looking.

Elena smirks as she rats him out.

"Mum, Jeremy just gave me the middle finger!"

"I did not!"

But Miranda ignores him, throwing him a glare that said 'she knew exactly who her child was'

"I really need to wash you mouth with soap too. Honestly! I should really talk to Jenna about how she talks around you guys!"

She rants as they go up the stairs and Elena bounds over to the dining, placing a kiss on Grayson's cheek.

"Hey dad! Hey genius!"

She ruffles Cherith's hair and the ruby haired girl slaps her hand off her hair, throwing her an half hearted glare.

"Hey normal average person."

Grayson chuckles.

"Hey honey."

"Ugh! I'm so hungry!"

Elena groans as she moves to grab a meatball and Cherith slaps her hand again.

"Wait for mum and Jemmie."

Elena throws an offended look at her before she brings out her tongue at her which Cherith reciprocated until it ended with the two throwing ugly looking faces at each other with Grayson shaking his head.

A few minutes after, the 5 were all seated, having dinner together while chattering about how their day had been as well as some sibling ribbing here and there and the occasional curse words much to the consternation of their mother.

All in all, a normal day in the Gilbert household.

End Flashback.

Cherith sighs with a wistful smile playing on her lips as she gets out of her car, walking into the Gilbert home and closing the door.

"Is that you, Cherry?"

Cherith hears her aunt's slightly dry voice in the kitchen and she walked over.

"Yeah, I just got back from—Good God!"

Cherith jumps slightly as her aunt turns towards her.

"You look like Frankenstein had sex with a zombie and they birthed… you!"

She points at her unamused aunt.

Jenna's skin was place with dark bags underneath her eyes, slouching shoulders, her unruly and uncombed hair in something that could have been a ponytail… hours ago.

She was wrapped in a fluffy blanket and wearing pajama pants, a white tank and barefoot while holding a plate of ice cream in one hand and a hot cup of coffee in the other.

"Uhh…"

Cherith stares at her aunt and Jenna snorts.

"Gee, thanks for making my already low self esteem even more lower, niece of mine."

Cherith sighs as she rests by the side of the kitchen island as Jenna sits on an island stool, taking a sip of her coffee and finding relish in it.

"Still the Alaric thing?"

Jenna shakes her head.

"Please… don't even mention his name."

Apparently, the day Cherith had gone to Amherst, some really crazy things had happened. Apart from Bonnie loosing her freaking powers because of that asshole Jonas Martin, Jenna and Alaric had fought which involved her aunt ending things with Alaric or something like that.

Cherith hadn't exactly hounded her for the full story especially with her aunt seeming like she was at her exact breaking point.

She well and truly wished she could do something to make Jenna feel better but she had no idea what she could do about that.

"Want me to run him over for you?... I mean, I could do it incognito and stuff…"

Cherith shrugs and a small smile appears on Jenna's face as she snorts.

"No… I don't know how I could convince Liz to release you for murder or attempted murder… but thank you for your assistance though."

Cherith grinned before back hugging Jenna who pats her hand slightly and places a kiss on it.

"Thanks Cherith."

"You're welcome. Love you."

She places a kiss on Jenna's head before wrinkling her nose a bit.

"I'd probably love you even more once you wash your hair auntie."

Cherith jumps out of the way of Jenna's fist with a laugh as she walks away.

"Brat!... Love you too…"

Cherith smiles as she climbs up the stairs.

Relationships.

It really was a complicated thing.

It could be all sunshine, peaches and daises… until the sun sets and reality crashes on them.

It definitely made Cherith wary of relationships in general.

Cherith knew the kind of person she was.

She was bold, unfiltered, she could be rash, fool headed sometimes, brash, mouthy, she could be rude… she could be, all sorts of things… she knew she wasn't perfect. She knew she had issues… even without adding the whole Scarlet Witch issues to the list.

It would take a very patient person to understand who she really was and what she was capable of.

But patience was rare in people. Even herself.

It would honestly be the grace of God for someone to stay by her without regret.

She'd seen a lot of crazy relationships around her ever since she could understand things… Elena and Matt had been the cute and stereotypical cheerleader and quarterback, popular couple that everyone wanted to be.

Everyone thought they'd end up getting married and sprouting out at least 3 to 5 kids… but it wasn't to happen.

Now, he was in some sort of relationship with Caroline while Elena was in lover's paradise with Stefan.

Come to think of it, her sister would be arriving late evening from Dunham as well.

Relationships can be perfect sometimes… two people might fit each other because of their characters and how it seems to mesh together… or it might crash, what with how it seems like their interest are too similar.

At the end of the day… there really is something called 'opposites attract.'

Jenna and Alaric had meshed rather well… they seemed to have a lot in common, even though a lot of secrets had seemingly come between them… but maybe they just hadn't been meant for each other after all… maybe there was someone out there for her aunt… maybe Jenna and Alaric would end up back together again… but Cherith didn't know whether to believe that or not.

Jenna was an unbeliever.

That much was true.

Cherith had always known that.

She hadn't exactly been a fan of most supernatural movies, always finding faults in the characters.

If she ever found out just how steeped in darkness this whole town was… it definitely wouldn't surprise the ruby haired girl if her aunt packed her things and got the hell out of town forever. Heck, Cherith would help her pack her things…

This town was just so unsafe… for anyone. It was one of the reasons even Cherith wanted to stay the hell away from it. And she would be happy if her family would too.

But Elena was caught between a vampiric and sacrificial net and Jeremy seems to have found an obsession with the supernatural world.

Cherith idly played with the idea of revealing her powers to her aunt.

While Jenna was an unbeliever… she still found some things rather interesting, and even though Cherith knew Jenna might end up getting scarred for life when she revealed it… at least it would be better for her to be introduced to the supernatural world this way than running into a vampire or werewolf or something as equally bad.

One thing Cherith knew though was… Jenna's life would probably never be the same after that confession.


Mystic Falls High.

Prom.

That was what the seniors were all excitedly discussing.

Prom was in a few weeks.

The end of April thereabout to be precise.

And as Prom came, so would their little trip to New York as well.

All in all, Cherith was just looking forward to the end of High School.

But, as it was coming to an end… Cherith kept having this cold feeling in her chest as well…

And she didn't like that feeling, as it had started with her venture to Amherst.

She knew it concerned her… but how, she had no idea.

It just felt cold.

Cold and dead.

"So! Any idea who you'll be going to prom with?"

Leslie asked Cherith as they walked to class that morning.

Said girl had been less lively for some days now and Cherith couldn't even blame her… or even bother to find out why.

Everyone seemed to have things they were going through…

Cherith had hers… she wasn't so sure she cared enough to carry any other person's burdens.

"Um, no… I don't think I'm going with anyone anyways…"

Leslie gave her a look.

"You're part of the prom court. You can't just go alone."

Cherith shrugged with a side smile.

"I'd stand out even more that way. Fit in and stand out."

She winked and Leslie chuckled slightly, letting out a sigh.

"Prom… wow, it's finally almost here… I can't wait for it. With all the rush and crazies that comes with graduation… I guess it makes me fell… normal."

She added with a sad and wistful look on her face before snapping out of it.

"I honestly couldn't believe it when Chad asked me to be his date. Granted it's just as a friend, especially since he finally broke up with Mallory. I swear she's been giving me the evil eyes ever since she heard Chad asked me to be his date or something."

Cherith snickers slightly.

"Well, whatever were you expecting? The bitch obviously didn't think someone would snap him up that fast. Granted you didn't, but…"

Leslie playfully elbowed Cherith who swiftly blocked it with her own elbow as she smirks.

"Anyways, maybe Timmy will ask you."

Cherith wrinkles her nose at that thought.

"Yeah, no. He's handsome, yeah. And funny too. But he'd spend the night trying to get into my pants and while I wouldn't have minded that too much, he's a grade A asshole when it comes to girls, especially the ones he ends up sleeping with… making fun of them with his friends and all. Nah… I'll have more fun going alone."

She winked at her friend who shakes her head with a smile.

Cherith internally played with the thought of asking Vampire 2.0 to accompany her just to see what Jenna would think of her going with an older man.

Speaking of, she hadn't seen him in town since she got back either.

And even John too.

Ever since the whole 'Elena, I am your father' shit storm… probably trying to play some mysterious nonsense on them.

Cherith rolled her eyes as she entered her class.

The people she knew were really disturbing… herself included.


After School.

Cherith waved Leslie as she drove off, idly wondering what to do that afternoon.

A thought then came to her as she realized she hadn't been to visit her adoptive parents in months!

Guilt settles in her at that as she made a side turn to a flower shop before heading towards the cemetery for a short visit.

She wasn't exactly a fan of such a place.

It was always quiet with the occasional creepy sound and it was a place where, just beneath her, hundreds of bodies lay.

While she understood what a 'resting ground' was… she was also privy to the supernatural world and believed in the possibility of ghosts being 100% real!

Her birth parents were not buried here.

Instead, at the request of her mother, had been buried in Wales, in the Cadwallader family catacombs.

She'd never been there before, but she truly hoped to visit them when the time for her to head home to Wales came.

As she approached the grave where they had both been buried together, she crouches, laying a pair of blue irises on the grave and patting the tombstone slightly.

"Hey mum and dad… it's been a while hunh?"

She whispered slightly as she stared at the fingers, still in a crouch.

"Yeah… I've been super busy… and, a lot of things have been happening. And I got accepted into Oxford too! I'll be leaving in a few months for Wales. I think it's time I go see my other branch, don't you think?"

There was no answer.

Not that she was expecting any.

"Well… I'm fine… so is Jeremy and Elena, even though we're not as close anymore. Things are… changing, between the three of us. And honestly… I'm not so sure I don't mind some… I think it's better this way anyways… but I'll be fine. I'm not fine now, and I don't know when I will be… but I will be fine."

She smiles a bit.

"Thanks for looking out for me up there… and say hi to mum and dad for me while at it?"

She kisses her finger and places it on the tombstone, fighting the sting of tears in her eyes as she stands up and walks off.


Gilbert Residence.

Cherith packs her car and walks into her home quietly, slightly morose.

Jenna's car was not in the driveway so probably she was the only one home… but the door was open so either Elena was back or Jeremy was up in her room.

With a small stretch, she slowly walked up the stairs, moving towards Jeremy's room as his door was slightly ajar.

As she pushed the door wider, a loud gasp escaped her as her face twisted into one of horror.

"Bloody freaking hell!"

She shouted out as the two in the room jumped apart from each other but it was already too late as she'd just seen Jeremy locking lips with Bonnie, his hand having being straying to parts unknown.

Her face turned green.

"C-cherry! You're back!"

Jeremy stuttered out in shock as Bonnie looked like her whole world had tumbled down her feet.

"Nope. No, no, no, no, no."

Cherith mumbled as she turned… well, more like stumbled down the stairs and towards the kitchen.

"Cherry! Hold up!"

Bonnie's rather weak call was ignored, even as the mocha skinned beauty turned to glare slightly at Jeremy as they rushed out after the ruby haired girl.

"I thought you said she wouldn't be home!"

"Well, she's rarely ever home nowadays!"

He argued back as they entered the kitchen to see Cherith turning on the tap and sprinkling water on her face as if making up for 'holy water'.

Jeremy rolled his eyes.

"Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus… Deliver us from all evil! Father I have seen something devilish!"

She cried out, Bonnie sighing with an unsure look on her face while Jeremy stepped towards his sister.

"Cherry, you can't tell anyone yet—"

He moved to touch her but Cherry shimmied out of his way with a disgusted look on her wet face.

"Woah player! Don't touch me… I don't know which depths those hands have reached boy!"

"CHERITH!"

Bonnie shrieked out, and Cherith knew that if the mocha skinned beauty was capable of sinking into the ground in embarrassment, she would have done that minutes ago.

Jeremy sighed.

"Come on Cherry!"

"Fine! Fine, whatever! It's just weird okay?!"

She waved her hand around.

"I mean… I knew you had the hots for her and shit, and I even told you to pursue her, but you're my brother and I've always seen Bonnie as a sort of big sis. In my books well…"

She gave them a look and the two of them exchanged slightly sick looks at that as Bonnie stepped forward.

"Sorry for not telling, Cherry… it's just… with everything thing that has been happening… and then also loosing my magic... I wasn't sure what you and Elena would feel about this."

"And your reaction is answer enough."

Jeremy mumbles and Cherith rolls her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah… whatever. I'll get over the… sickness, in my belly… still though…"

She spoke slowly as she edged past them with a weird look in her eyes.

"Sweet home Alabama…"

She sang lowly but the couple obviously heard her as Jeremy screamed out at her.

"Shut the hell up!"

And Bonnie sighed as she knew the ruby haired just wouldn't let her live it down.

Cherith snickered slightly as she jogged back up the stairs.

"Just keep your lip locking behind closed doors and I'll get over it!... Hopefully…"

As Cherith entered her room, her mind was still on Jeremy and Bonnie.

Oh she'd known just how moony eyed Jeremy was over Bonnie… but, she never thought anything would come out of it!

She'd never even thought Bonnie saw Jeremy that way!

It was just… too weird!

Maybe she'd get over it… but for now… nope!

Alabama seemed super close to Virginia now more than ever!


April 8th.

"Hmpf!"

Cherith grunts as muscular arms tighten around her, holding her arms as well hostage, her back pressed tightly against chiseled chest.

All in all, their position could have been taken different ways but it was strictly professional.

"Try moving faster."

Her trainer speaks out, his voice resonating just above her head what with how tall he was.

"I could think of many ways I could be fast for you…"

She mutters out and he chuckles, letting her go and as she turns to him, he playfully knocks her forehead.

"You're way too flirty for someone getting a beat down."

He then settles in a fighting stance, Cherith doing the same.

"Again!"

Cherith rewards him with a focused look as she lunges a fist towards him.


Some minutes after, Cherith has him pinned to the floor, legs wrapped around his right hand as she grabbed it and he winces slightly and taps out.

She lets go with a tired sigh and he sits up.

"Good job. That's enough for today."

He says as he stands up to his feet and Cherith lay there, breathing slightly heavily.

"I think I'll just stay like this… for a little while."

He chuckles as he turns to walk off.

"See you later then."

Cherith watches him walk off and calls out.

"Nice ass!"

He laughs out in amusement and Cherith finally finds the strength stand up to her feet again, grabbing her bag and leaving for the day so she could get ready for school that Thursday.

As of yesterday evening/night, Elena had returned to Mystic Falls, but she had spent the night Stefan's.

Cherith snorted.

Their little honeymoon at Dunham not enough for them?

As she walks into her home, heading into the kitchen, she sees Jenna and Jeremy already dressed for their day and eating breakfast.

"Morning two J's."

She greeted them, ruffling Jeremy's hair and he slaps her hand away.

"Hey squirt. Back from the gym?"

Cherith nods.

"Yup. I'm trying to seduce someone there but I don't think it's working."

Jeremy snorts while Jenna shook her head.

"Can't help you there, niece of mine. I'm not exactly in the dating scene at the moment."

"Not like you can help her anyways Jenna. Romance is a weird concept for someone like Cherry."

Jeremy snarks at her, still offended at her reaction to his relationship the previous day and Cherith smirks at him before humming 'sweet home Alabama' and he rewards her with another glare as she snickers uncontrollably.


Mystic Falls High.

Cherith walks towards the school building dressed in a white wooly spaghetti crop top with black waist high leggings, a white wooly sweater covering her from the Cold and white snickers.

She idly waved those who greeted her as she enters the school where she almost bumps into Matt who had a slightly sad look on his face, a poster in his hand.

"Hey Cherry… sorry, wasn't looking were I was going."

Cherith shrugged.

"It's okay Matthew."

Matt gives her an amused look.

"Matthew?"

Cherith shrugged as she looked at the 'Live music Tonight At The Grill' poster in Matt's arms.

"It's your name, isn't it? What's with the live band thing?"

She gestured to his hand and he looked down at it.

"Oh yeah, business is sort of slow at the Grill and this idea came up from nowhere. It'll be fun anyways. Will you be coming?"

Cherith wrinkled her nose in thought.

"I don't know. I think I'll be busy."

Matt Gave her an amused smile.

"You're always busy. I mean, you've already gotten into Oxford Uni for Christ's sake. Do you have any idea how many people are freaking jealous of you?! Why are you always so busy anyways… Miss Busy bee?"

Cherith shrugged as she strung her bag higher.

"Busy with glorious purpose, young Matthew… Busy with glorious purpose."

With a small wink, she waves him off and continues her journey to her locker.

Looking around, she doesn't spot anyone she's overly close with as she opens her locker and arranges her things.

She idly thinks about the live music at the grill and ponders on whether or not to go before deciding not to.

She had rather more important things to do, like practice.

Magical Practice, to be precise.

Oh, how she wished she had some sort of grimoire or book to access other spells.

She knew she was a chaos magic user apparently, but she was also a nature witch too.

So spells that Bonnie and the Martins could use, Cherith herself should be capable of wielding it… maybe even easier.

But she had no idea where to start with that one. Also, with how Bonnie always seemed to describe nature magic, it reminded her of what Sheila Bennett had told her about it.

Accessing the more powerful part of that magic always required a price, unlike Chaos magic.

So was it even important enough to bother herself with?

Well, now was not the time to think on that, especially when she didn't even know how to start on it. Her focus would be on chaos magic for now.

"Cherry, hey!"

Cherith closed her locker only to find her smiling sister with Stefan behind her, a small smile on his face too.

Cherith rolled her eyes.

"Ugh! No need to announce to the world you've been having sex all week!"

"Cherry!"

Elena gave her a look, though a smile played on her lips as she moved to hug her sister who rolled her eyes before patting her back in a sort of sympathetic way, making Stefan chuckle and Cherith turn to him with a glare.

"Stefanie. I see you're back too."

Stefan nods at her.

"Good to see you again Cherith."

It idly reminded her that Stefan knew her big secret.

She just hoped he hadn't snitched to Elena… for his own good.

After all, if anyone else would be finding out, it would be on her terms and nothing else!

"Hey, Cherith… um, there's something you should know."

The ruby haired girl turned to her sister.

"Are you pregnant?... Is vampire-human procreation as possible as Twilight led us to believe?"

Elena blushed as Stefan chuckled.

"No! It's not about me… it's about Katherine."

"Ah…"

Cherith's face blanks a bit at the mention of Elena's ancestor with better hair.

"What about her?"

This time, Stefan took over.

"She's out and about now. What with Elijah being daggered and all, we had no idea it would cancel the compulsion."

Cherith blinked at that.

"Daggered? Vampire 2.0 has been daggered?"

Elena and Stefan exchanged looks.

"Wait… you, don't know?... Alaric daggered him some days back."

Cherith tilted her head a bit as if in thought.

Probably the time she left for Amherst.

"Hunh… daggered hunh?... At least Alaric doesn't seem to be useless. But what did Elijah even do to you guys?... Apart from the whole 'Elena must die in order for us to get to the Boogeyman' and all that?"

"We don't want Elena dead Cherith, and I know you don't too. So we're looking for another way. Maybe, you know something?"

Stefan gave her a significant look in relation to her Scarlet Witch powers and she turns a glare at him.

"Zip it Stefanie. And good luck with your searching."

She then pats her sisters head in a sort of human-pet way.

"Don't worry big sis… if anyone's getting to you, it's probably going to be me."

Elena gave her a wry look.

"I thought you were going to say something like 'they'd have to go through me first' you know, like a normal person?"

She joked and Cherith shrugs as she turns to walk away.

"Tough love sister dearest."


Mystic Grill.

After School.

Luka and Jonas walk into the Grill that early afternoon, spotting Stefan and Bonnie and going over to sit with them.

"Thank you for coming."

Stefan nods at the older Martin who raised his hand to stop him, a blank look on his face.

"I didn't want to but my son made a case to hear you out."

Luka nods and speaks up.

"Bonnie said that you have information about Elijah."

Stefan looks at Bonnie who nods at him to talk.

"Elijah's dead. I'm sorry."

As soon as Stefan said that, Jonas and Luka look at Bonnie with slight anger at her deceiving them in order for them to show up and as Jonas gets to leave, Stefan grabs his shoulder.

"Please wait. Just, hear me out. We can help you."

"We know that Klaus has your daughter."

Bonnie cut in, before turning apologetically towards Luka.

"I'm so sorry about the way I had to get that information, but it's good that we know. We can all work together to get her back."

Luka throws her a suspicious look.

"How?"

"I suspect that you and Elijah had a plan to kill Klaus. Let us help you carry it out. You can trust us. I give you my word. We all do."

The blonde haired vampire looked at the two warlocks imploringly.


Woods.

Cherith flies through the air and high up in the trees just in case, as she finally settles somewhere in the forests, setting her bag down as she looks around while removing her wooly sweater and placing it on top of her bag.

The breeze blew against the trees that afternoon as the skies were a dark blue shade, the sun nowhere to be seen.

Perfect.

Cherith was learning to fight, not just for learning purposes, but also to incorporate it into her magic as well, so it would become a sort of combat style for her.

Lighting up her hands, she releases some chaos magic into the air above her, willing it to form a circle of pulsing red magic.

Closing her eyes, she focuses on something she had been thinking of for a while.

Apparently, her powers were nexus like, making her some form of a nexus being. That alone, should give her some leeway with creation.

With a slightly twist of her wrists, she opens her eyes, focusing on the red ball of magic and watches as it twists form for an inconsequential time and forms into throw knives.

6 throw knives to be precise.

Cherith's eyes widen in surprise as they levitate in the air, looking as real as could be.

A thought forms in her head as with a determined look as she lifts her hand and with a sharp throw of her hands and a small shout, the knives impale themselves into a tree, embedding it deeply and Cherith grinned.

Energy constructs.

She'd just created something with her magic.

"Awesome…"

She beams.

In fact, if she was able to create knives… she wondered what else she would be able to create just with her mind and absolute focus as well.

Something simple of course. She wasn't going to jump into creating houses or cars or some such thing.

After all, she was just learning.

"Starting small…"

She said to herself.

"I can do that…"

She forms her hands into fists and with a determined look on her face, she lit her hands again, settling into a fighting stance before throwing a hex bolt at a tree with a mighty wave and shout.


Martin Residence.

Jonas Martin paced around his living room as soon as he and his son got back from their little talk with the Salvatore Vampire and the Bennett witch.

His little thought out plans were getting held up and diverted. It was slowly making him do things on autopilot, and that was not something that would result in good news.

He was getting desperate.

"What if they can find the burial ground?"

Luka asked as he watched his father deep in thought but Jonas huffed.

"They won't. We tried, Luka, for weeks. And we found absolutely nothing."

"Dad… We don't have a back-up plan, and we need to be doing everything we can to save Greta."

Jonas nodded distractedly, waving his son off.

"We will save her, but Elijah is the answer, not Stefan and his brother."

He turns to his son with a serious look on his face.

"Those people… they're our enemies. They need to be dealt with."

Luka watched his father pace with an unsure look on his face.

"You're going to kill them?"

"No. I'm going to let Elijah do it."

Jonas smirked slightly at the thought.

His plans had to go exactly how he'd planned it to.

He had spoken to The Scarlet Witch already. Made her know of what she was and what she was capable of.

He pondered slightly.

Oh, he hadn't expected to find her in such a small town.

Jonas Martin had been a scholar for what he could describe as all his life.

He had met his wife, Hannah Matthews at college and they had both bonded.

She had been so surprised to find out he was a warlock, though she had been a believer even before they met.

And she had been so fascinated with the stories and Mythologies of the supernatural world that had a facet of truth to them.

And then began his latest search a few years back, when they travelled to Wales… The Scarlet Witch Mythos.

His travels, not only to find new things based on the supernatural world, but to preserve the histories of his people, had occasionally been dangerous, but he had been rather excited about the new information a source of his had pulled out for him.

The Cadwallader family was somehow involved in the Scarlet Witch myth.

And the UK itself has a lot of magical leylines that led to a number of lost tombs of places of holiness of his people and gods.

And it was on one of those travels that…

Jonas blinked slightly.

It was a painful thing to think of.

Even up till now, he could see her in his dreams, her body broken on the floor, and her head, twisted to an impossible side.

But he could bring her back!

He knew he could have her back!

Not by sacrificing a thousand virgins or something as bad, no!

When he'd met them, they'd told him how it could be possible.

With just a slight thought… with just a small wave of a hand.

And he'd found the source… in this small town!

Ha!

He should have told them… let them know, but no… not now. Not when he could convince her to help him out first, before notifying them.

But things weren't going as fast as he'd hoped.

And it was all because of those Vampires who had entered town before he had… and not to forget her doppelganger adoptive sister as well.

It was no matter though… those three didn't matter… only she did.

And Elijah would take care of them.

He just had to find a way to help the Original… and he had an idea of how to do just that.

He turned to his son.


Woods.

Cherith breathed in and out as she laid on the ground, tired and feeling too lazy to get up.

Her surroundings looked like it had been hit by a vicious tornado and while she knew destroying the trees were not good, the trees she was destroying were dying or dead trees.

Mystic Falls forest in general had issues to be honest, and if they aren't taken care of… whatever sickness was eating up the forest would spread until the woods was dead.

All around her, a number of throw knives were scattered around with the occasional long staff she'd tried to practice with and realize she didn't have the prodigious talent to learn on her own.

But knife throwing… especially with her magic…

Cherith grinned to herself.

She was marvelous at it!

But she still needed moving practice though… maybe Damon would be kind enough to volunteer of she asked nicely.

Forcing herself to sit up, she grunted a bit as she looked up at the sky. It was beginning to darken out already.

Taking a deep breath in, she sat straight, closing her eyes and crossing her fingers deep in thought.

She idly remembered focusing so seriously back in Amherst that she'd… seen into the fire!

She didn't know how that happened, just that it had been thought confusing, but something she wanted to see if she could do.

But she didn't have any fire around her, and she wasn't so sure she wanted to start a fire in the forest anytime soon. Chaos followed her after all… lord knew what would happen if she turned her eyes from it for even a second.

No one was there for her to put the blame on anyways.

Minutes passed and Cherith suddenly felt herself so relaxed, so calm… it was like she was asleep.

And to anyone who wondered into the clearing she was, they would indeed think she was asleep, as no matter how much she is poked and called, she wouldn't answer, except she listened.

Cherith took a deep breath and felt herself suddenly fall which startled her as it felt like she was falling from a great height.

With a panicked shout, she opened her eyes, only to stare at the skies upwards.

They sky had a sort of… glow, to it.

Oh it still looked normal, everywhere did… but everywhere glowed too!

With a startled look around, she let out a small curse, scrambling back when just in front of her was… her!

There was no denying it.

Her body was sat in a meditative stance still, her ruby red hair pooling down to the ground.

Cherith scrambled to her feet, rushing to the front of her… body?

She looked to still be in deep meditation.

"Oh fuck!"

She mumbled to herself as she looked at her hands.

She looked a bit transparent!

Oh no!

"Did I just… die?!"

She shouted out in shock as fear gripped her.

"I just meditated and I freaking died?!? What the hell?!"

She gripped at her hair in panic as she looked around her.

The forest was getting darker but with it's glow… it honestly seemed so beautiful!

But this was so creepy!

Something felt… odd!

She wasn't comfortable…

With a disturbed look around, she crouched beside her physical form, hesitantly moving to tap her shoulder, curious to see what would happen, and with a loud yelp, she was dragged back into her body, as if falling into a well.

And when her physical body opened it's eyes, Cherith fell to her back with a startled shriek, blinking at the sky as it looked normal and not glowing, just darker.

She quickly brought her hands up and let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh thank God! I thought I was dead or something…"

She whispered to herself as she stood up in confusion, wariness still filling her.

With a look around the forest, she grabbed her bag and sweater, and without wasting anymore time, lit her hands and took to the air, not wanting to stay around for any other craziness.

Cherith though, had no idea that, in whatever plane of existence she had taken herself into earlier, something powerful had sensed her… had sensed the chaos in her… and had watched her, for the little seconds she had spent there, before the ruby haired girl had vanished.


Martin Residence.

Father and son sit at a table, with Jonas holding a grimoire.

Candles are all around the table, lit up.

"Are you sure about this?"

Jonas looks at his son slightly worried.

If he could, he wouldn't be including his son in this, but with the situation they were in, this was their only chance.

"I mean, I would go if I could."

Luka shook his head.

"No. I'm not strong enough to send you. I can do this."

Jonas nods.

"I'll stay anchored. Use all my energy. But if you so much as start to feel weak…"

He'd already lost his wife… and his daughter had been kidnapped by that vile original.

"Dad. I want this just as much as you."

Jonas gives his son a soft look before nodding.

"Okay. Concentrate on Elijah. Picture him in your mind."

Luka closes his eyes, focusing deep in himself.

Suddenly, he nods.

"I got it."

With that, Jonas begins to cast a spell and Luka finds himself somewhere in the Salvatore Boarding House.


Salvatore Boarding House.

Katherine walks away from the Salvatore brothers as they discuss trying to find the house where the witches had been massacred and goes in the cellar where Elijah's body was being kept.

She stares at it with a rather disinterested look on her face, not knowing that Luka was there in astral form as he crouches down by Elijah's side.

He watches who he thinks is Elena warily and as she turns to walk out, he immediately grasps the dagger, and as he slowly begins to remove it, Katherine hears the sound, turning immediately to see the dagger half out and slowly being removed from the Original's chest.

Fear rushes through her for a moment as she freezes at the sight before she snaps out of it, blurring over to the Original's body and pressing her hand right on the dagger in order to hold it down.

It felt like someone was actively struggling with her to undagger Elijah and she suspected either a witch or a warlock was behind it.

Suddenly, the resistance on the dagger lessons which makes the dagger settle back in Elijah and she stands up straight with a suspicious look at the cellar.

"Damon!!"

She screams out as a wooden chair is broken and a piece ends up in her stomach, making her fall to the floor with a pained grunt, holding onto the wood as Damon blurs into the cellar as well.

His eyes widen in surprise as he crouches down next to the female vampire, helping her remove the wood from her body.

"What the hell happened?"

Katherine gritted her teeth in slight pain as her wound healed up before she froze as she saw the dagger in Elijah's chest lifting again.

"Damon! Look!"

She points at the body and Damon follows her hand, quickly standing up, wariness in his eyes as he grabs the flame gun he'd been using earlier to try and destroy Elijah's body, focusing it around the dagger, and letting loose flames.


Martin Residence.

Luka lets out screams of pain as his whole body bursts into flames as he stands up in the room, trying to pat himself down much to the shock and fear of his father.

"No!!! LUKA!"

He runs after his son and in a moment of panic, forgetting even his access to spells, throws a blanket over his son so as to at least stop the flames and they fall to the ground together.

As the flames die down, Jonas starts to unwrap his son, fear gripping him.

"Luka?... Son, are you ok—"

He pauses in horrified shock at the unresponsive and burnt body of his son and a startled cry escapes his mouth.

"No… no, no, no! Luka!"

He cries out, grabbing at his son as tears fall down his eyes.

"Son! Please answer me…. Luka! Victas Phesmatis Ex Eleto. Revertas Phesmatis Ut Victas. Victas Phesmatis Ex Eleto…"

But nothing worked.

Luka was already dead.

A defeated Jonas sits on the floor, his eyes on his son as he stares dully at his body.

His son was dead.


Gilbert Residence.

Cherith enters her home that evening, her mind still on the whole out of body experience she'd had a while back and it had definitely freaked her out.

It was so weird!

Her body had been right in front of her!

Was that how comatose patients looked at the world??

Or even dead people?!

And why had the world seemed so different to her??

Was there a reason she could do that… and could she do it again??

Not that she wanted to even try it again anytime soon.

She'd watched so many horror movies… what if some body stealer ended up hijacking her physical body and using it as it saw fit?!

She shuddered at the thought.

Yeahhhh… no way!

"My body's a freaking temple!"

She muttered to herself before wrinkling her nose as she looked down at herself as she went up the stairs.

Patches of dirt were all around her, not just her clothes, but her skin as well and she could see some leafy parts on her hair and some dirt underneath her nails.

"Well… maybe not a temple at the moment."

She decided to take a bath.

Thankfully she'd have some peace and quiet to herself for a few hours since it looked like everyone had probably gone to the Grill for the live band music.


Martin Residence.

Jonas continues to stare at his dead son's body for a few minutes as his body becomes numb with not just tiredness… but he felt like giving up as well.

The world had taken everything from him.

First his wife, then his daughter, and now him.

Oh Hannah… what she would say to him at the moment.

Was he giving up so easily?

It definitely seemed like it.

He could still find a solution to everything!

These people… they took everything from him!

He would make sure they knew how it felt!

He would go after Elena Gilbert himself! And then return Bonnie Bennett's powers to her. That way, she could take care of Klaus on her own.

But after though… after, he'd go for Cherith Gilbert.

She had no idea what she was capable of.

What she could do… with all that power… all that chaos.

She was a fool. And she was too weak to embrace it.

He would take it from her.

He would take it and use it to bring his family back together.

He would take it and then raise him.

A determined look appeared on his raging face as he stands up, using Elena's picture and hairbrush that he had taken from her home a while back to cast a locator spell.

Once he'd pinpointed her to be at the Grill, he was about walking towards his door when Stefan walked in, spotting Luka's burnt body and a look of guilt and pity filtered across his face which enraged Jonas even more as he raised his hand.

"You people killed him."

Just like that, Stefan felt his veins being popped in his head over and over again and he dropped to the floor, holding his head and groaning out in pain.

"No…"

"I have no one now… but you will soon know how that feels. And when I'm done, I'll go after the Scarlet Witch, and I will take what I deserve."

Jonas looks at the writhing Vampire on the floor, stepping over him as he walked out, leaving Stefan to slowly recover, and not far from him, he sees the picture of Elena, and fear mixed with panic settles down in his stomach.


Mystic Grill.

Elena excuses herself from her table, heading towards the bathroom with a smile on her face as she remembered Caroline singing for Matt some minutes before and he'd kissed her in front of everyone.

Granted he'd never done that for her and she had never thought him capable of doing such, she thought it was really cute of him to do so.

They were nice for each other.

As she walked into the bathroom, the objects of her thoughts stepped back from kissing each other, sheepish looks on their faces.

"Oh! Sorry… I'll just…"

Elena pointed behind her as she back walked out and Caroline giggled slightly.

"Sorry Elena!"

Elena waved her off with a small and amused smile, winking at Bonnie who was also heading towards the bathroom.

"Yeah, I wouldn't go in there if I were you?"

"What?"

"Caroline and Matt are…"

She gave a small smile and Bonnie's eyes bulged slightly.

"In the bathroom?!"

Elena laughed with a shrug.

"Hey, I mean if they're happy, I'm happy."

Bonnie shook her head amused, before another thought popped up in her head and she turned to her best friend with a determined yet wary look in her eyes.

"Um… so… speaking of happy, would it freak you out if I started dating your brother?"

As soon as she said that, Elena balked slightly, a look of shock in her eyes.

"Wait… You're into my brother?"

Bonnie shrugged with a sheepish look, her heartbeat banging in her chest rather rapidly.

"I know it's weird, but he's been so good and strong. He's been super considerate of my feelings too, what with everything that has been going on. He just… makes me happy and I really can't tell what you're thinking…Right now."

A small smile grew on her face as she heard Bonnie talk.

It did seem weird but… with everything that had been happening amongst them all… Jeremy and Bonnie at least deserved to be happy.

"I'm thinking that…My brother has had more pain in his life than a hundred people's worth of pain, and…He deserves to be with someone as amazing as you."

Bonnie's face lightened up at that.

"Really?"

"Really."

The mocha skinned beauty let out a small sound of happiness as she hugged her laughing friend before stepping back and sighing in relief.

"I'm so glad you agree! Also… I'm super glad it went better with you than it did Cherith…"

Elena blinked at that.

"What?"

As Bonnie opened her mouth to expatiate though, Elena's phone rings and she quickly brings it out from her pocket.

It was Stefan.

"Hey, Stefan, I'm at the Grill."

His voice comes out low and due to the loudness of the Grill, she doesn't hear him well and she turns to Bonnie.

"Sorry Bonnie, I'll be right back. Hey Stefan—"

As Elena moves somewhere less rowdy and noisy, Bonnie spots someone walk into the Grill, a look on his face she was sure didn't bode well for… well, anyone!

With a deep breath, she walks up to him, regardless of the fact that his face screamed of anger and pain and she didn't exactly have her powers to make her feel good at the moment.

"Dr. Martin. Are you okay?"

She asked him as he looked around rapidly, trying to find Elena.

"Where is she?"

He demanded and Bonnie blinked startled, making her stutter a bit.

"I-I don't understand."

Jonas sniffs and turns hateful eyes at her, vengeance in his gaze.

"My son is dead!"

Bonnie's eyes widen at that at apprehension grows deep in her as she realizes this just might not end well.

"Whatever it is you think you need to do, there's a better way… We can—"

Jonas huffs, still looking around.

"They killed Elijah! My one shot at getting my daughter back! And then they killed Luka as well! I'll get him back, one way or the other, but my only shot at getting my daughter back is if I have Elena!"

Bonnie states at him as he rants unexpectedly, especially when he mentions getting Luka back, but that wasn't the main thing in her mind.

She had to calm him at least.

"Dr. Martin—"

Jonas ignores her, immediately focusing on the stage lights and breaking with his powers, making it explode in lights and currents and people scream out in shock and surprise.

He then turns back to Bonnie.

"Where is she?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen her."

"Liar."

He breaks the rest of the lights in the Grill, darkening the place and holding the door to the Grill telekinetically.

I assure you, no one's getting out of here until I have her."

"Don't do this. Please don't do this."

Jonas ignores her as he breaks all the bottles with his powers and sets fire to the bartop.

His mind raging, with anger and pain mixed in.

Bonnie moves to hold him but he puts his hand on her forehead, passing her back her magic and the immediate influx of it is too much for her to handle as she falls on the floor, unconscious.

With Jonas focusing on something else, and his mind slightly scattered up, his telekinesis stops working on the door and immediately, the strain of people that had been pushing against it made it fall open, and as people rushed to run out, they injured themselves slightly, either stepping or falling on broken glass, some getting some light burns on them or just about getting trampled on.

As Jonas continues walking around the Grill, destroying things in his path, he spots Elena and Stefan who spot him as well, and Elena softly yanks her hand from Stefan's and walks up to the rampaging man.

"Dr. Martin! I'm so sorry about Luka. I never wanted that to happen, but…at least let us help you get your daughter back."

Jonas scoffs.

"Only Elijah can do that."

Elena shakes her head.

"You don't need Elijah!"

Jonas scoffed at that.

"You have no idea who Elijah is and just why he can get me my daughter back. You have no idea what you're playing with girl!"

He raises his hand at her but Stefan pushes her out of the way, and the Vampire is thrown a few feet in the air and he lands with a pained grunt as Elena let's out a gasp.

"Now, for you…"

As Jonas moves to grab Elena, Caroline blurs over to him, pushing him back and giving Elena the opportunity to rush over to Stefan and for the two to sneak off.

Caroline tries to bite Jonas on his neck but he gives her a migraine and she falls to the floor with a pained scream, alerting Matt to the sound of her voice and he spots her with Jonas standing over her with a vicious look on his face.

"Caroline!"

He rushes over to Jonas and pushes him against the wall.

"Get away from her!"

Caroline looks up in fear as Jonas breaks a bottle.

"Matt, no! Get away!"

But it's too late as Jonas grabs Matt by the neck and stabs the broken bottle in Matt's neck and leaves.

Matt falls on the floor as Caroline cries and rushes over to him, watching as he bleeds rapidly by the neck and he struggles to breathe while in pain.

"Matt! Matt! Oh! Oh, my God!"

She breathes out heavily, her hands shaking as she tries to steel herself.

"Okay… Just breathe Caroline…just breathe."

After taking in some breathes, Her vampiric face sets in and she bites her wrist and puts it to Matt's mouth.

"Matt… Please, you have to drink. Please, please…"

And thankfully he does drink… but the look he kept giving Caroline… she knew he'd seen her face.

And to him… it had looked terrifying!


Gilbert Residence.

Cherith walks out of her room that night, groaning a bit as she stretched, heading towards the bathroom.

She heard some movements down the stairs and put it to her siblings or aunt already back from the Grill.

As she closed the door to the bathroom though, she suddenly felt something… off, about her surroundings. Like her magic wanted her to be wary and it in turn made her wary as she turned around but saw nothing.

With a small shrug, she turns on the tap, moving to rinse her hands.

As soon as she looks up at the mirror though, a small shout of surprise overtakes her as right behind her, she sees Jonas Martin with a determined look on his face.

As she moves to turn, he immediately grabs her shoulders and suddenly she locks up as she feels cold, like something was flowing out of her.

"W-what…"

She grunted as her legs shake beneath her and Jonas grins.

"Finally! Since you won't listen to me Scarlet Witch, I will take it from you instead!"

Cherith grunts out as she feels even more cold and something flowing out and she immediately grips his hands in anger.

"Let. Go. Of. Me."

She grits at him but he doesn't budge and she immediately headbutts him and he grunts out as his nose crunches and he steps back in a fit of pain.

Cherith then lights up her hand but he grips her body telekinetically, making her unable to move as he holds his bloody nose.

"I have decades of magical practice over you, little girl… now, give it to me!"

He holds her head this time and Cherith let's out a small shout as a migraine overtakes her and blood seeps out of her nose.

Suddenly though, her body starts to take a reddish golden aura and right before Jonas Martin's eyes, a crimson headpiece starts to glow across her head.

Jonas Martin had made a mistake.

One thing he should have known.

It wasn't easy to control Chaos.

Cherith Gilbert had lived with her magic, both Nature and Chaotic, all her life, even before she was born.

Her whole body had been ingrained with it.

Chaos magic was an unending well.

Cherith herself, was like a chaotic void.

There was no taking her powers except you had something to back you up.

She was her powers in human form.

He let out a pained gasp as his hands begin to dry up before his very eyes.

And his telekinesis drops, making her gain movement again, and this time, she holds him down, watching with horrified fascination as not only his skin becoming an husk of itself, but she felt something enter her.

It wasn't just her magic she was taking back though…

She was taking his magic for herself as well.

"Ah… n-no!"

But it was too late, and as Jonas Martin knew he wouldn't survive past this confrontation, he grabs her elbow, and something washes over Cherith.

It was like scenes from different pages in time.

In Jonas Martin's life.

But the one that stuck, was a scene in the middle of a forest, where many unseen individuals in shadowy black cloaks were gathered in a circle by a mountain, and they knelt… and they bowed.

With a last breath, Jonas fell to the ground, a husk of what he used to be, and Cherith fell to her knees, weak yet strong, eyes on the husk opposite her.

Her forehead was a red color from headbutting Jonas, she also had blood seeping out from her nose.

But her aura still sang in harmony around her.

She was like queen… or better yet, a god.

Suddenly, the bathroom door burst open, and in came Stefan, Elena, Katherine, Damon, Jeremy and Bonnie.

"Cherry?! Oh my God!"

Elena shouts out as she stares at her sister who sat on the bathroom floor a bit bloodied up.

As she moves to run to her, Stefan holds her and she turns to glare at him.

"Wh—"

"Look at her…"

He tells her and Elena gulps as she stares at her glowing sister.

She wasn't just glowing though… there was a crimson golden headpiece on her head, not physical, no it looked like mist, just more easy to spot than the… thing, that surrounded her.

Bonnie gasps behind as she and the others spot the almost unrecognizable body of Jonas Martin and Katherine smirks, placing a hand on her hip.

"Well then… I guess my help was all for naught."

Suddenly, the glow around Cherith dies down and she slumps into herself, Elena running to her sister and Jeremy right behind her as the ruby haired girl blinks drowsily.

"Well! Matilda strikes again hunh?"

Damon snarks, though a look of awe still shone in his eyes at how Cherith had looked not too long ago.

"We should probably carry that mummy out of here before Jenna gets home."

He gestures to Jonas' body before snapping Stefan out of his mind.

"Oh! Yeah… yeah, you're right."

But he had a lot on his mind as he helped his brother with the very light body as Katherine zoomed back to the Salvatore Boarding House.

It was the same headpiece as before, but now, it seemed to look even more real than before. It was getting more bold, like it was going to be forming and becoming tangible in the future.

As he left the bathroom with his brother, leaving the Gilbert siblings and Bonnie behind, he idly wondered if Cherith was indeed changing.

Changing into something else… and if she herself knew she was undergoing a change indeed.

"Cherry??... Are you okay??"

Jeremy asks his sister, voice slightly shaky as he cradles her head in his arms but she doesn't answer, her face still looking as drowsy and dull as before.

Elena's hands shake in fear for her sister as she grabs a wet towel to clean the blood around Cherith's nose as Bonnie crouches next to the ruby haired girl as well.

"Bonnie? Is she okay?"

Elena anxiously asks her friend who looks at a loss of what to say.

"I… I don't know…"

And it was indeed the truth.

But Bonnie herself had questions.

After Jonas had given her back her powers, he had also put something in her head too.

He'd shown her a way to kill Klaus.

But he'd also shown her a picture.

A picture of a being that she couldn't see as it was all golden, but around the being, there had been red swirls of magic… like Cherith's.

She'd always known Cherith wasn't a normal witch.

She was very powerful.

Heck, it made her jealous of the girl which churned her tummy and made her a bit guilty at some of her rather negative thoughts.

It was too be expected in a way.

Bonnie was after all human.

It also reminded her of what Jonas had said back at the Grill when he had been searching Elena out.

He had been so sure of himself, that he'd get his son back.

A son that was already dead.

Bonnie Bennett was confused.

Just like the rest of them… she needed answers.

"Let's get her to her room first."

Jeremy mumbles, carrying his sister bridal style, carefully to her room, laying her on her bed, even as she stares at nothing in particular, just the ceiling.

It made Elena even more worried.

"What's wrong with her?"

Jeremy turns to his sister who shrugs, concern filling her.

"I don't know… should we… should we take her to the hospital?"

"Maybe?... I don't… she's not responding."

Jeremy mumbles, brushing a strand of hair from his sisters forehead.

"Jeremy?! Elena?! Are you guys safe?!"

Jenna's voice sounds from down the stairs and Elena, Jeremy and Bonnie exchange wary looks.

"Maybe I should head on home… just in case."

Bonnie says awkwardly as Jenna walks into the room as she hears her voice.

"Hey! Are you guys ok—"

She pauses as she sees their rather grim faces.

"What's going on this time… did someone d—"

She pauses as she sees Cherith on her bed, paler than ever.

"Oh my God!"

Jenna drops her bag as she rushes to Cherith on the bed, moving to place a hand on her forehead but stopping when she sees it's redness.

"What the hell happened?"

Jeremy and Elena exchange looks before Elena steps forward.

"We think she had a concussion… we met her on the floor of the bathroom. We were wondering if we should take her to the hospital when you walked in."

"Well of course we're taking her! Jeremy pick her up! Of course we're taking her, what kind of a question is that?!"

She quickly moves to grab her bag as Jeremy rushes to his now unconscious sister and Elena rushes to her room to grab her bag and Bonnie waves Elena, telling her to give her a call when they had news.


The little family waste no time arriving at the hospital and soon enough, Cherith is checked in and it was found that she indeed did have a mild concussion and slight nosebleed but she should be awake.

The fact that she was unconscious baffled the doctors but she was also placed on a drip at the moment.

They had no idea what else was wrong with her, only that, if she didn't wake before the week was out, then they'd have to fly in someone who could help them understand why she wasn't responding to stimuli. Even when they shone a torch in her eyes, her pupils hadn't dilated.

It worried them quite a bit.

Jeremy decided to stay with his sister, urging Elena and Jenna to head home so they could bring some things for Cherith come the next day.

The two agreed albeit hesitantly.


"This day has just been the weirdest!"

Jenna ran her hand through her hair as she comes out of her car with Elena who nods, though she was deep in thought.

Worry for her sister, and curiosity at the glow that had earlier encased her.

What had that even been??

Her sister was different… that she knew.

Special, if she was to be honest. But Elena had no idea just how special she was.

She hadn't met that many witches and warlocks before. She had no idea if the more powerful ones were like Cherith, and so she hadn't thought to really question her sister's ease at performing magic.

Until now, that is.

"Wh—"

The sound of Jenna stopping in front of their porch made her stop as well as she turns to her aunt who had a look of curiosity on her face.

With a frown, Elena turns to look at the front door, only for her to let out a small gasp, as right there, stood Isobel.

Isobel… looking as nonchalant as ever.

The brunette vampire let out a coy smile as she sauntered down the porch and stood in front of Jenna.

"Well hello there. You must be Jenna."

She held out a hand for Jenna who shook it.

"Uh, hi… I don't know you?"

Isobel laughed amused.

"Oh? Elena dear, you haven't told?... I'm Isobel. Elena's mother."

Then she turned to stare at the doppelganger with a shit eating grin.

"It's nice to see you again honey."

Jenna felt her whole world do a 360 on her.


Mystic Falls General.

Jeremy doses off on a chair next to Cherith's bed that midnight, and as the ruby haired girl continued to be unresponsive outside, on the inside… she dreamed.

It was a clearing.

A clearing in the forest.

The moon shone bright in the sky as a group in black cloaks gathered around each other, and in their circle was a man, tied up, looking fearful.

"Please! Tell me what you want! Is it money?! I have money! I'll give you! Millions!"

The politician looking man cried out but none answered, until one of the cloaked individuals stepped forward, reaching out for the man but not going towards him.

A gnarled finger coming out from the cloak.

"Do not worry yourself for money. We have that in abundance. No. We need something more. Something better. Your blood."

The politician whimpered as fear took him, and the leader of the cloaked individuals gestured to another who in turn hands him a ceremonial looking dagger.

"Today, on another full moon, when the veil between dimensions are thinner… when the veil between worlds are more weaker… we will make it even more weak for you master. As we prepare for your welcome home."

The man tightens his hands into a fist, and immediately, the tied up politician rises up in the air, crying out for help and the others chuckled.

"There's no use crying out you pitiful worm. No one is out there for miles!"

A female voice cackled out, making the others laugh out as well.

As the politician floats in front of the man with the dagger, he raises his hand, and without a thought, stabs the man in his left eye, and the politician let's out a loud and pained scream as he's dropped to the ground, writhing and screaming.

The cloaked individuals began chanting as blood pours out of the man's eyes, and the leader crouches, holding the dagger and twisting and turning it with vicious glee in the politician's eye, leaving the politician to scream and shout, until he quietens, and more blood seeps out of the hole where his eyes were supposed to be.

As the other cloaked beings continue to chant, the leader stands up, bloody dagger in hand, arms spread apart as he looks into the full moon with a revered look on his cloaked face.

"Master! The blood spilled and sanctified is yours! Soon, we will welcome you back into this world! We will destroy the veil that keeps you from us! Soon, your name will be called upon with awe and your might and power shall rule the land once more!"

The dead body starts to degenerate before their eyes, until a large body of blood is left, and the blood raises up into the sky and seems to burn in crimson red color, a strong gust of wind blowing in the air.

And together, they all say.

"Our Dark Majesty! Demon amongst Demons! Almighty Chthon! God of Chaos!"

In the hospital, Cherith turns in her bed as if disturbed.


Hi guys!

Been a while hunh?!

Been going through some things… not too bad, but I do have anxiety issues every once in a while. But I'm here now! Getting comments and likes and follows of my stories gives me a lot of joy and makes me keep writing. And now, here we are!

As you can see, Just like Wanda Maximoff, Cherith doesn't know much about 'normal magic.' Wanda uses chaos magic for the things she does and when she was faced with magic from Agatha Harkness in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, especially the runes, that stopped her from using magic. She was basically powerless.

Until Wanda learnt, that is… and so yes, Cherith might learn Nature magic, but she wouldn't exactly use it because of all the negativities that it entails, what with it always having a price or balance being restored and whatever, but she does learn it for a reason though.

Also, yes. Cherith accidentally stumbled on Astral projection!

Bonnie is starting to wonder Cherith too… but not just her… the whole Scooby gang!

And that scene with Jonas… pretty wild right?

He does have decades over her so he definitely caught her unawares. But Cherith isn't some harmless little girl. Even when she can't use her magic, she has will, guts… and a forehead to hit with, lol.

And Matt!

It's definitely time for him to know the secret too. Too bad Cherith wasn't there for that damage control right?

And that last scene… yikes…

There really are vicious people in this world.

Poor Cherith though... Wonder what's wrong with her...

Please continue to comment and like! It gives me joy and makes me happy!

Love you guys!!!!