Hello everyone!

I am back with the sequel to 'Bloodlines'.

If you haven't read that, then make sure you do, because this won't make sense otherwise.

Alexandra Gilbert life took a turn when one of the original vampires showed up and wanted to sacrifice her younger sister. Now, five years later, she is in love with Elijah Mikaelson and has a life that she never expected. But the peace and normality that Alex and her family have strived for abruptly disappears when Kol Mikaelson vanishes and all signs lead Alex and Elijah back to Mystic Falls. But that isn't all; the Council, the coven that Alex turned her back on seem determined to kill her more than ever, and Alex thinks that there is more to it than simple revenge when she finds information that leads her straight to Esther, the Original Witch.

But we are back, it's five years later and Alex is still the badass witch that I really do love. Her relationship with Elijah just makes me squeal with joy.

There isn't much that I need to say, everything is explained, so just read and enjoy.

Chapter 1

Wednesday afternoons were normally quiet; the lunch rush would die off, and Alex would make her way through Raven's, wiping down tables, collecting the last few bills and dishes, and restocking the alcohol to make sure that they were ready for the end of the day. Customers would generally find their way through the door around five-thirty; the few hours in between Alex used as some spare time to focus on her other job, her witchy duties.

It had been five years since she had broken away from the coven known as the Council. Once a group of witches that Alex had admired and worked under. Their mission was to rid the world of vampires. For many years, Alex had been brainwashed—that's how she looked at it—to believe that every single vampire on the planet was pure evil and deserved to spend eternity suffering for what they had done. It took one very special vampire for Alex to realise just how far she had been misled and had been trying to make up for what she had done by helping those around her; human, witch, werewolf and vampire alike. It was the same thing her grandmother had done; Nadia Ravenwood had turned her back on the very same coven and had helped those in need.

Alex placed the last few dirty glasses into the dishwasher and flicked it shut as the jukebox finished its song. Taking one glance around the empty bar, she grabbed a clean glass and poured herself some water before hopping up onto the bar and summoning her grimoire.

One of the few tasks that she had been focusing on was connecting with her ancestors; Alex wasn't after the additional power boost—not that it wouldn't come in handy—but she craved a connection to her biological family. She was still a Gilbert; Miranda and Grayson had adopted and raised her as their own; Elena and Jeremy were still her younger sister and brother; nothing would ever change that. But Alex had never been given a chance—or allowed to learn—about the Ravenwood family. And ever since she had learned the truth about what had happened to her Grandmother, Nadia, she wanted to find that connection. Communing with magical ancestors required patient and practice. Still, in five years, Alex hadn't been able to get more than a whisper. It was frustrating, but she wouldn't let that stop her.

In between attempts to connect with her dead family members, Alex kept herself busy. Her living family members had managed to stay out of trouble and even live almost normal humans lives. Without the looming threat of psychotic vampires hanging over Elena's head, Alex was able to step back and live her own life without constant worry.

The grimoire had originally been her grandmother's; Elijah had given it to her not long after they met. Alex believed that it was meant to be a peace offering of sorts, his way of trying to tell her that she could trust him. At the time, Alex had been so confused by her own messed up emotions and dealing with Elijah crazy brother that she hadn't realised how big him handing over the book was. It was full of spells that could cause many issues for vampires, but he had given it to her because it was something that Alex should have. The grimoire had grown since Alex had first looked through its pages. She had added her own spells, adjusted old ones, and even Bonnie and Sarah had both added a few pages here and there. It was a lot more than just her grandmother's grimoire now.

Turning to the tracking spell that she had marked a few days prior, Alex looked over her notes. The spell could be used in many different ways; personal items, blood, or even another person could be used to anchor the spell and find whomever or whatever you were looking for. Since Alex had awoken the Mikaelson siblings, she had been using the spell often to give Elijah some peace of mind; after all, Rebekah, Kol and Finn were still relatively new to the twenty-first century.

The siblings had been mostly well behaved; Rebekah hadn't gone far, Kol seemed to come and go, and Finn had well and truly wandered off. The last time she had checked in on him, Finn had been in England. But since Elijah asked her so often to check in on his rambunctious siblings, she had joked just the other day, while lying across the couch in their apartment, that he should just implant them with a tracking device. Her prod at his overprotective nature resulted in Alex now exploring the possibility of creating a magical way to track them without the need for her to cast the spell.

So far, Alex had concluded that it wasn't impossible. To maintain the magic, she would need an object that they would need to carry. Similar to the way a Daylight Ring worked. The spell that allowed vampires to walk in the sun had to be contained with the ring; it was possible she could accomplish the same thing were her tracking spell. But that would only be half of what she actually wanted to achieve, but it was certainly a start.

Alex flipped to the daylight spell and wrote down the ingredients; she would need to do a few tests. But first, she needed to stock up on some herbs.

The bar's door swung open, breaking Alex's concentration on her list and focusing on the patron who strolled casually down towards her. Most customers didn't phase her; it wasn't often that someone would come in during the quiet periods of the day, but with the amount of magic radiating off this man, she knew that he wasn't just any regular customer.

When he stopped by the bar, he smirked in her direction. It was smug and made Alex's skin crawl.

There were plenty of witches that stopped by to ask Alex for help; sometimes, they brought friends. But after turning on the Council, she was always hesitant when they came in alone with no warning. Raven's whole purpose was to have a place where all supernaturals could come and enjoy themselves; it also evolved and became a place where she helped those in need. But she still had instincts, and no matter how many witches, werewolves or vampires walked through her doors, she would always be cautious.

Elijah had also given her an earful about 'helping strays'. He hadn't realised that buying her an old factory and renovating it into a bar would lead to Alex having such dealings.

The man leant against the bar.

Alex said, "Kitchen's closed till five." She broke eye contact with him and looked back down at her notes.

He hummed in acknowledgement. "That's alright, sweetheart."

Alex cringed at the nickname.

"I'll take a beer." The man pulled off his jacket and hung it over the back of the barstool before sitting down on the one next to it.

Alex put her stuff to the side and slid off the bar to serve the man.

"This is a nice place you have here," he said.

The magic buzzing around the man was rubbing Alex the wrong way. While most witches could sense one another from a simple touch, the energy around everyone felt different to her. It seemed to be an ability shared by the witches from her bloodline. "Did you want tap or bottle?" she asked him.

"Tap, thanks." He smiled at her.

Instead of it seeming friendly, the look sent an ice chill down Alex's back. She poured the drink and very quickly waved her hand over the liquid. It had been a trick that Renee, her old mentor, had taught her back when she was still learning. A wordless sedative that could be placed on any sort of consumable or object and activated at any point after it was consumed or touched. Powerful witches could probably sense such a trick. Still, Alex found that when someone acts as comfortable as the man before her, he believed that either Alex was no threat to him, or he was just extremely cocky.

She placed the beer in front of him. "That will be six bucks."

The man nodded and slapped down a few one-dollar bills.

Alex held in the smirk when she could feel the magic coming off the bills. The man had done the same thing to the money that she had done to his drink.

"I'm surprised you don't remember me," the man spoke. He picked up the beer and took a swig.

Alex leant against the bar, crossed her arms and frowned. "I meet a lot of people." And that was true, but she couldn't place his face from anywhere in particular.

He shrugged. "I suppose that is true. I've heard a lot of different things from other witches about you."

"Oh, really?" Alex was annoyed at the idea of this man's small talk.

She wondered if he was sent by the Council. He wouldn't be the first, and he probably wouldn't be the last; what she did wish is that he would just get on with it and not draw out the necessary conversation that these witches seemed to enjoy so much.

"They tell me that you sympathise with vampires, that your friends with them." The man cringed and took another drink. "I found it hard to believe that you of all witches had sunk so low." Another sip. "I prefer to think about the stories from your hunting days; how you hunted vampires ruthlessly, how you destroyed their kind without even a hint of remorse. But you went and got some from an original bloodsucker and turned into a monster sympathiser."

Alex let a chuckle slip from her lips.

In the last few years, since she had turned against the Council and killed Renee, Alex had come face to face with eight different witches. All of them had been sent by the Council; all of them had one goal. Each of them had relayed a similar speech before Alex had smacked them into the ground. She hadn't killed all of them herself, Elijah had torn the hearts from two, and Rebekah had torn one apart after she had attempted to torture her. The first deaths had been hard on Alex; she struggled with the guilt of killing her own kind. It had been Elijah and Elena whose constant reassurance that she was protecting herself and those she loved, and to stop the Council she would most likely have to resort to killing a lot more.

"Do you find me funny?" the man asked. He pushed himself up from the bar and glared at her.

"I find your little speech amusing." Alex tilted her head. "Do the Council tell you to relay that story before they send you down?"

The man huffed.

"And tell me, did they tell you about the others they sent before you? And what happened to them?"

A vein appeared along his forehead. "You are going to pay for the deaths you have caused. Your magic will be stripped, and you will burn."

Alex smirked. "If your goal was to beat me, then maybe you shouldn't have drunk a drink that I poured for you." She pushed off the bar and took a step towards him. "Have a nice nap?"

Snapping her fingers, the spelled liquid that he had consumed took over and made him fall to the floor. Looking down at the now unconscious witch, Alex frowned. What was she supposed to do with him now? If she dumped him somewhere and allowed him to wake up, he would just come back. Witches knew that you didn't go back to the Council empty handed.

Climbing over the bar, she looked at the man and then towards the open door. She twisted her hand, and the door lock clicked; no human needed to walk in on this and cause issues. Alex pulled her phone from her pocket and dialled the closest assistance.

"I haven't heard from you in over a week; where have you been?" Rebekah's voice howled down the line.

Alex couldn't help but smile.

The first meeting hadn't gone exactly to plan; Elijah had removed her dagger minutes after Alex had revived him. The blood bag that was waiting for her apparently was less appetising than the hot blood flowing through Alex's veins, but when Rebekah lunged, Alex forced her to the ground with an overwhelming aneurysm and a smile. There had never been an apology from either of them for their actions, but once the family had time to catch up and Alex explained that Klaus was currently in his own coffin on a time out, Rebekah was her new best friend.

Now Alex couldn't escape her. The two of them had found that there were many things they had in common, taste in music and men, but they also loved a good movie night with popcorn. Elijah had experienced on more than one occasion in the past few years being kicked out of the apartment he shared with Alex, by Rebekah who wanted a girl's night.

It had been odd becoming comfortable with Rebekah, an original vampire, whom once upon a time Alex would have spent her time trying to find a weakness to kill her. Instead, they shared popcorn and gossiped like teenagers.

"Pipe down, I've been busy," said Alex.

Rebekah huffed. "No excuses. Elijah may be knocking boots with you under the covers, but that doesn't mean he can hog you."

Alex sighed and laughed. "I'm not a possession."

"Maybe not, but he needs to learn to share," said Rebekah.

Alex held her phone against her ear with her shoulder and grabbed the man's jacket that was hanging over the back of the chair. "Anyway," she said, "I had a little run-in at Raven's with another witch from the Council…"

"And you need body disposal?"

Alex frowned. "No, if you let me finish."

"Sorry, but if there is a mess to be made, then call Elijah because I am wearing my new Gucci shoes," said Rebekah.

Alex rolled her eyes. "Elijah headed to New York two days ago, so he isn't here. What I need is for you to come and collect the unconscious witch on the floor of my bar and take him back to the loft so I can interrogate him later."

Rebekah huffed.

Before Alex could speak any further, the blonde vampire appeared in front of her.

Alex smiled. "Please," she said.

Ending the call, she slipped her phone back into her pocket and dug into the man's jacket pockets.

Rebekah sighed. "Fine, but you owe me. I was on my way over to suggest we go out tonight but torturing a witch will just have to suffice."

Alex said, "Keep the torture to a minimum. I have ways of getting the information without this ending in cold-blooded murder."

She pulled a key card, from a hotel, out of the jacket and glanced at the name.

Rebekah pouted. "You take the fun out of everything." She grabbed the man's leg and started dragging him towards the back door. "Don't take too long; the longer you make me wait, the more likely I am to start peeling off his skin."

Alex cringed. "That's so gross," she said.

Rebekah paused and smirked over her shoulder. "But effective." With a flash, she was gone.

It still baffled Alex most days that this was now the norm for her.

The hotel key card read 'The Grand'. There was only one hotel that a member of the council could afford that had a name like that; it was a crappy hotel known more for its bed bugs than its award-winning stained sheets. It was the place for a bad guy to hold up while he stalked his target. She slipped the key into her back pocket and checked the other pocket. She pulled out a wallet and flipped it open to see his ID. Roman Sandford, 34. Alex pulled the few bills of cash and dropped the wallet back into the pocket.

"He won't be needing this," she said.

The drive across town had been quiet. The light traffic and soft music allowed Alex to relax and take a breath. It wasn't the first time she'd had tied up a witch who had attempted to capture her, and it wouldn't be the last. The Council had been relentless the past few years, but these last few months, the number of witches showing up seemed to have increased.

They had never had any sort of concern about the witches; Alex's abilities grew stronger every day, and with two Originals around her constantly, she was safe. Bonnie was also a regular visitor along with Sarah. The three of them made some sort of weird unofficial coven.

Sarah had stayed in Mystic Fall's after James, Sarah's older brother and Alex's ex, had died. She had buried him at the Mystic Fall's cemetery to keep him close. Alex's family had welcomed her into the Gilbert family home; she took over Alex's old room and soon found herself feeling more at home than she had been in years. Even though Sarah held nothing against Alex for James' death, Alex found it difficult to not hate herself for it. Sarah and James had lost both of their parents young, had been brought into the Council by Renee, and in less than a few days, Sarah lost her brother and left the Council. Alex felt responsible for her and what had happened.

The past few years had done them both some good. Sarah had decided to go to college and study art; she had always had a natural talent with a brush. Since there wasn't much else she wanted to do, she headed to Whitmore College with Elena, Bonnie and Caroline. It was hard to believe that it was their final year and that in less than twelve months, all four of them would be graduating.

Alex pulled into the parking lot of 'The Grand' motel. As she remembered, it was old, run-down and seriously needed a new paint job. There were only two other cars in the whole parking lot. It was perfect for someone who was looking for a place to lay low and stalk their prey. She had done the same thing back with James when she had first started hunting vampires. It had also been the place where she had admitted that James was more than just a friend. 'The Grand' held memories that were hard to forget, but she needed to focus.

She cut the engine and pulled out the room key; the room number was 23. Grabbing her bag and phone, she hopped out and glanced around. The two other cars were parked on the opposite side of her. The furthest, a green sedan with the paint peeling off the hood, was outside the office, which meant it likely belonged to whoever had the unfortunate job of working there. The other, a blue truck, in much better condition and parked across the lot from her. Alex doubted that Roman had brought a car; it would have been silly to follow her around in a vehicle, and she hadn't found a car key on him.

Alex checked the room numbers in front of her and followed the number's up to the second level. She walked along until she found the room right in front of where the blue truck was parked. She frowned and considered checking the truck once she'd done the room.

The key slid into the lock, and Alex pushed the door open. She paused when she saw the magic pulsing around the threshold with a purple glow. It was almost electric. Stepping inside, Alex stiffened and waited for something to happen. The magic warmed, and the glow brightened before it disappeared. A parameter spell, they were a smart spell, and it hadn't been something she expected from Roman.

Closing the door, she walked into the messy room. The sheets were roughly thrown across the bed; empty containers of takeaway were on every surface, same with Roman's clothes. The only space that had any sort of order was the desk. On the chair sat a duffle bag with a folder on top. There were different folders spread out on the desk, one open to a page that held a brief description of Raven's as well as a list of the few other employees that Alex had hired. All of them apart of the supernatural community, and all of them had been categorised according to their affliction. Well, that was what the note attached to the page stated.

Alex flicked through the paper until she found her own information. The picture, stuck to the front of her folder, was from a few years ago. A couple of months after James had died, Elijah had whisked her away to an island in the Caribbean. They had spent fourteen blissful days enjoying the beach, endless scotch and each other. She had been able to put her grief aside and let the stress of everything that had occurred fade. The picture only showed her; what it had cut out was Elijah.

She remembered the moment they had captured perfectly. They stood at a food stall, buying some sort of local snack, and Elijah had leant down to whisper something incredibly naughty in her ear. She remembered laughing and wrapping her arms around his neck. Seconds after the photo, she had kissed him until she was breathless.

It annoyed her that the Council had followed her and spoiled what was supposed to be a Council free memory.

She flipped open the folder and wanted to laugh at what she found inside. Her name, age, height, hair and eye colour, tattoo's, kill count, power level, family tree, and known associates were all laid out. The kill count is what intrigued her the most. Alex had stopped counting the number of vampires she had burnt after the first year. It had been challenging to keep track. Next to the word vampire sat 283. A few years ago, she would have been impressed and most likely would have bragged. She had been the unstoppable vampire-hunting witch, and now she did what she could to help those who wanted to just live their lives in peace. Beneath vampires, Alex cringed at the word: witches. Most files wouldn't contain a death count for witches; after all, killing your own kind was a big "no-no" to the Council. The number was higher than Alex ever wanted, but she had managed to come to terms with the fact that it was okay to defend those you loved and yourself. All eight of the witches she had killed were a face she would never forget, but Alex was at a point where she could let that guilt go.

The whole file held the information she had seen from the other witches' belongings. And their task was always the same, brought back dead or alive. The alive part was merely a formality, Alex was sure because the Council would not want to deal with her if one of their witches managed to bring her in, still kicking.

Closing the folder about her, she shifted through the others and frowned at the file labelled 'Original Family'. She flipped it open and glared at the photos of the Mikaelson family. The siblings were detailed with pictures and current locations, except Finn, whose photo was missing and location unknown, and Klaus, whose current situation was also unknown. Alex was glad that no one had been able to find him. Keeping him sealed away was for Elena's safety and everyone else. Only she and Elijah knew precisely where he was, and only Alex could get through the layers of spells she had put in place to get to him.

Seeing the amount of information that Roman had on the family concerned Alex. The Council had always been interested in finding ways to kill the Original family. Still, they had never put much effort into finding out what that would be. Alex knew that Renee and a few other witches had been sent to find things here and there, but no weapon or spell had ever been found. All the details and stories laid out before her could only mean that the Council now wanted to kill them more than ever. A chill ran down Alex's back at the possibilities; what had the Council found that would push them more than ever to one, kill her, and two, be confident that they could die.

Alex's phone began to ring, and it startled her. She frowned at her silliness and pulled her phone out of her pocket. Seeing Elijah's name flashing on the screen made her smile. It hadn't been that long since he had left, but she missed him.

She answered, "Hey, you."

Her smile grew larger as his smooth voice hummed.

"It's good to hear your voice," he said.

Alex could hear his smile.

She asked, "Please tell me you will be home soon? I desperately need a good Netflix and chill night."

Elijah chuckled and said, "I couldn't possibly refuse. When I get home, it's a date."

"Does that mean you're coming home?" she asked hopefully.

Elijah sighed. "Sadly, no. Kol is more elusive than ever." Irritation laced his voice. "I tracked him down at a bar in New York; a couple of the locals pointed me in the direction of a pretty blonde witch whom apparently he had been spending a large amount of time with."

Alex smirked and asked, "Pretty blonde witch, huh? Should I be jealous?"

Elijah said, "There is only one blonde witch that I want."

Alex smiled and bit down on her lip. She loved hearing how serious he would get when she would tease him about another woman. It had been a little sad at first when she would poke at him for looking at another woman, but Elijah didn't like his honour being questioned. Alex only prodded at him to get a cheeky reaction; she always loved how he would wrap his arms around her and tell her that she was it for him.

Not wanting to cause any more distress on his end, Alex said, "I know. What did the witch have to say?"

Elijah said, "A lot. She was more than happy to help Kol's brother, up until I requested his location, and she became rather elusive."

Alex asked, "Elusive because she didn't know or wouldn't tell you?"

"I think she made a promise not to tell. I was tempted to threaten her but remembered that I liked my limbs attached and didn't want to return home to an angry witch."

"Good boy," said Alex. While she was open to the possibilities that sometimes violence got more answers that more passive options, innocent witches weren't to be harmed in any way. If they inserted themselves, then all bets were off, but Kol had a thing for witches, and they usually had no idea what he could drag them into.

"It is rather annoying that witches can't be compelled," said Elijah.

Alex shrugged. "Just one of nature's loopholes. After all, witches are the protectors of nature; it makes sense that in return, it would protect us."

"So, you and Miss Bennett have reminded me on many occasions."

Alex giggled. Bonnie did tend to try and puff out her chest and act all tough. I suppose when you have to deal with vampires like Damon Salvatore regularly and also have Kol Mikaelson flirting with you any chance he could, reminding vampires that you were immune to their charm and repulsed by their cockiness was just an automatic reaction.

Alex asked, "Where are you headed next? Is there another lead that you can follow?"

"Perhaps. The blonde witch mentioned something about Kol staying at a hotel not too far away. I was hoping I might be able to find his room. However, the more hotels I check, the more I think he has already left New York," said Elijah. He sighed and then asked, "Do you think you could track him for me?"

Alex hummed in agreement. "Not at this very second, though; I'm not at home."

"Where are you?" he questioned.

"I had a visitor show up at Raven's a few hours ago. He was very forward with his advances, and I had to knock him on his ass," Alex explained.

"Are you okay?"

Alex nodded and smiled. She did appreciate his protective side, even though it was rarely needed. After all, she could take care of herself.

"I'm fine," she said. "He didn't even get a chance; I knocked him out by spelling the beer I served him. All I had to endure was the typical speech that I'm a traitor to my kind and that I should be ashamed. You know, the norm."

"What did you do with him?" Elijah inquired.

"I called Bekah. She dragged him off to tie him up, and I found a room key, so I'm currently raiding his room. Hence why I can't do the spell."

"Find anything?"

"Nothing new about me, same old, same old. I did, however, find a specific folder containing information about you and your family."

"I would have thought that the Council would always be tracking us. Isn't that what they do after all?"

Alex closed the folder in front of her and said, "Yeah, but this is more. The Council have always wanted a way to eliminate you and your family, the whole theory that if one Original dies then so does their whole sire line would be an amazing turning point from them."

"Rather than having to kill hundreds of vampires, they would just need to kill five," said Elijah.

"Exactly," said Alex. "However, they never really pushed for answers regarding that. I don't know if they were too scared to face off against you, or maybe they liked the power they held over everyone. If there is no threat, then the Council would be useless."

"Well, don't be too concerned. The only thing that can kill us is a stake made from the white oak tree, and we burnt that a long time ago. Mikael had the last stake, and that burnt up when Niklaus stabbed him with it," he said.

"I know. It just rubs me the wrong way. I used to know how to think like them, but these last few attacks have seemed more desperate and urgent."

"A desperate person makes mistakes."

"They can also be more dangerous."

Alex didn't need another impossible to beat the enemy. Klaus had been more than enough for her lifetime. She just wanted to enjoy the simple things, not have the Council try and kill the man she loved and his family.

Alex placed one folder on top of another and said, "I'm going to pack this all up and take it back to the apartment. I want to make sure I don't miss anything. Once I get home, I'll do the spell and let you know the location I get. Is his blood still there?"

"Yeah. I left the sample in the mini-fridge in my office," answered Elijah.

"Great. I love you, be safe."

"I love you too, and don't leave the witch alone with Rebekah too long. She gets bored easily," said Elijah.

She said, "Don't I know it, bye."

"Bye."

Alex disconnected the call and popped her phone back in the pocket. She grabbed the duffle bag and packed the folders inside. She checked the rest of the room and made sure she collected everything from the room. A quick spell washed away all traces of her and Roman before she left the door open and the key in the door.

She passed the blue truck and decided that a quick look wouldn't hurt. Alex put the bag into her car before popping the lock on the truck with a flick of her finger. Inside, the car was as dirty as the room had been. Food containers, wrappers, empty drink containers. She also found another folder, except this one was labelled 'Esther'. Alex frowned.

Elijah had told her the story of his family. His mother, Esther, the Original Witch, had been responsible for turning them into vampires. She had been killed by their father, and they had all fled, only to be chased by Mikael for a thousand years. There was still pain that he had never dealt with regarding the loss of his parents and human life, but Alex had never pushed him. He never spoke in detail about his mother, but she was dead. Elijah had seen her body.

So why did the Council have a file all about Esther?

Alex grabbed the file, cleaned the car of any trace of her before getting into her own car and heading to Rebekah. She needed a chance to look over everything she had found, and Alex would make Roman talk if he wanted too or not.