Hi everyone. I know a lot of you thought me dead, but I am still alive and kicking. I don't know if I mentioned in my last chapter but my dad has been really ill, he was on life support early August and is still recovering from major surgery. Not to mention, I haven't been too well myself. Hence why I have been neglecting my story. I can't promise regular updates until we are both better, but I am going to try and get back on schedule. Anyway here is my never chapter, Jasmine learns about the harvest and is ready to commit mass murder. Enjoy.
Chapter 7: In The Dog House.
Jasmine's ankle boots tapped on the church floor like an eerie tune, attracting the attention of Father Kieran, who was at the altar, performing his fatherly duties.
"Can I help you, miss?" He asked and Jasmine smiled.
"Many have tried, some have failed, but you can give it a go, Father." Jasmine smiled warmly, reaching Kieran and offering a hand. "Jasmine Potter."
He took it and nodded, "Father Kieran O'Connell and I must say, it is a pleasure to meet you."
That caught Jasmine off guard, "You know of me?"
"I may just be a small church priest, but I have my connections. I like to know when a saviour of the Wizarding World comes to my town." He said simply and Jasmine smiled.
"Well, it's nice to meet you too, Father. I'm here about the teenager in your attic."
"Ah, Marcel's little prisoner." He nodded and Jasmine laughed a little.
"Believe me, Father, no one could hold that girl hostage. She's as free as me or you."
"I'd love to believe that, Miss Potter, but New Orlean's itself, has a way of keeping us all prisoner. Head on up. Marcel has just left."
"Thank you, Father. And please. Call me, Jasmine."
After her brief encounter Jasmine was a little putout. She'd never met a human who knew of her. It made her wonder just how far her tale had spread.
As she reached Davina's door, she gave a light knock, followed by the door swinging open.
Davina was sat on her bed, sketching the boy from the night before.
"You really are talented," Jazz said truthfully her voice filling the small, dank, yet homely room. Davina had been living here for months, hardly ever leaving its confines.
"I have one of you!" She said in an excited voice, as she jumped off of the bed and all but ran over to a stack of artwork. After rummaging for a bit, she pulled out a rather large black and white portrait of Jasmine. Jasmine had never been a fan of her crazy hair and other unremarkable features, but even she had to admit it was beautiful. Standing out from the black and the white was her bright green eyes, which Davina had talentedly painted. Jasmine thought they could have been plucked from her head and glued to the picture. "It's how I know who is using magic. I see their faces in my head and then I draw them."
"It's beautiful Davina. Do you mind if I keep it?" She asked and Davina smiled, telling Jazz that it would be her honour.
Soon after they were both sat on Davina's bed, Jasmine had managed to get an unlinking spell straight out of Esther's grimoire and she had laid everything for the spell out in front of Davina.
"You and Marcel seem very close." Jasmine comment, a small smile gracing her face.
"Marcel's my family. I'd do anything for him." Her words rattled with such determination that Jasmine almost didn't want to question it.
"And what of the WItches? Don't get me wrong, so far I've found them rather irritating, but Witches do tend to stick together. Doesn't it bother you that no one has come for you?"
"I'm glad they haven't. They're monsters. They deserve everything that happens to them." Davina frowned and Jasmine felt a motherly urge, hormones and all, she wanted nothing more than to hug the little witch.
"Why?"
"'Cause they're liars. All of them." Davina bit out, her words laced with venom.
"I know the feeling." Jazz sighed. Feeling like she had poked the hornet's nest enough, for now, Jasmine talked Davina through the spell. Though it wasn't her kind of magic, there were enough similarities that Jasmine could understand the spell of a natural witch. Though in New Orlean's, most of the Covens powers came from the dead. It was all in the same ballpark.
"So I just have to undo the knot?" She asked.
"I'm not going to lie to you, Davina. This spell won't just detangle that knot. Yes it is one of the main ways younger witches learn to harness their powers, but that's not all you'll be doing. This spell will unlink my life, and the life of my babies, from Sophie Devereaux." Davina's eyes narrowed and Jasmine smiled weakly. "Your Coven brought me here, to New Orleans, under the guise that someone was out to harm Klaus. And no matter how much of a tosser he can be, I love him. So we came rushing here. Stupid mistake. In true they wanted me. So they could hold my life over his head and make him do their bidding. They wanted him to stop Marcel from controlling the witch. They told us they had no idea how he was doing it, but any Witch caught was being executed."
"Well, they lied!" Davina cried out. "Marcel would never hurt anyone unless they broke his rules and they did. They broke his most important one-!" Davina caught herself. Looking to Jasmine with tears in her eyes.
"What did they do to you, Davina? Because I'd swear on my magic right now that there is so much more to this than Klaus or I know. I hope to God it's the reason he acted like such a dick last night. Please. Help me understand." Jasmine pleaded, taking Davina's hands in her own.
Davina closed her eyes and breathed deeply.
"It all started a few months ago..."
-x-
Jasmine left that little church with an axe to grind. Understatement of the century. A whole fucking arsenal to grind.
She appeared in the hallway of the Plantation mansion. Her feet leaving scorch marks on the marble floor as she stormed towards the smell of Gumbo.
"SOPHIE!?" She shouted.
Said witch appeared from the Kitchen doorway, a bowl in her hand. "Good your home I-" Sophie gasped and dropped the bowl when she saw Jasmine. The anger radiating off of her was potent.
Jasmine flung the witch into the air and pinned her to the wall above the kitchen door.
"I AM DONE BLINDLY LISTENING TO YOU WITCHES!" She snarled. The house vibrating with her power. "A HARVEST? YOU SLAUGHTERED THREE INNOCENT GIRLS. GIVE ME ONE GOOD REASON WHY I SHOULDN'T BEAT YOU INTO A COMA?!"
"NO. Jasmine, please. I tried to stop it. I tried. I'm the one who told the priest! Monique-" Sophie cried pleading. Jasmine was enraged. The story that poor girl had told her, it made her blood boil.
"Jasmine?" A voice from behind her made Jasmine lose her concentration, she turned rapidly to see Elijah, Klaus and Rebekah stood to watch her in horror.
Nik had never seen her this way before. Her hair was stood on end. Almost as though all gravity holding it down had vanished. The magic leaving her body was visible. Leaving every inch of her in waves.
Jasmine's momentary lapse of concentration caused her spell to falter. Sophie Devereaux plummeted to the floor. Two sickening snaps echoed through the mansion, followed by Jasmine and Sophie's screams of agony.
As Sophie landed, her leg gave way under her, breaking instantly.
Klaus was quick, he caught Jasmine as she fell to the floor. The angry witch hadn't given thought to the linking spell when she had attacked Sophie. The two witches were on the floor. Identical broken legs. Sophie was crying as Elijah sat her up and Jasmine just groaned. Anger quickly being replaced by pain and guilt.
"What in the bloody hell were you doing, love?" Klaus demanded as he picked up his girlfriend and rushed her into the sitting room.
"I-I'm sorry I was just so angry I don't even know what came over me." She said, her adrenaline was still pumping, but Jasmine had broken more than just her leg. She could handle the pain.
"You're lucky she just broke her leg!? What if she'd landed on her head, Jasmine?! You need to think about the babies." Nik exclaimed as he paced in front of her.
"THEY'RE ALL I THINK ABOUT, YOU ENTITLED ARSEHOLE!" SHe shouted, the heat in her body rising again. They both locked eyes and Jasmine just sighed, throwing her head into her hands. "I'm so stupid. What if they had been hurt. Stupid Gryffindor impulsiveness."
"Listen, love. I get it. You were upset but-"
"I wasn't upset, Nik. I was murderous. I wanted to fillet their entire Coven for what they had done to that poor girl. All I could think about was what if someone did that to our babies. Then the fire grew and grew. I couldn't control it." She sighed.
"There was definitely fire. You left scorch marks all along my marble floor. I don't know how I'm ever going to get it o-" Klaus stopped himself mid-rant, Jasmine was looking at him like he was insane. "Anyway. That isn't important. It can be fixed. Your leg can be fixed."
"No," Jasmine grumbled, slouching. "Pregnant witches can't take certain potions and I am not drinking any vampire blood. I need to go to a hospital."
"Oh for the love of God."
-x-
"Well, never let it be said that Jasmine Potter cannot rock a cast," Rebekah said as Nik came through the door, pushing his pregnant girlfriend in a wheelchair. She had refused to let him carry her. She had never been a damsel, and she wasn't starting today.
"I've had a lot of them throughout the years. They're my favourite accessory." Jazz rolled her eyes. At least it was only broken in one place and she wasn't currently growing them all back. "Where is Sophie?" Jazz asked with a slight frown. She had felt guilty after what had happened, but she still needed the full story.
"In the lounge. Elijah gave her some of his blood."
"Roll me to the lounge, Nik." She demanded. He hesitated and Jasmine turned to glare holes into his head, not a second later she was moving.
When they entered the room, Elijah and Sophie both turned to stare. Sophie's eyes wide with fear. She never ever wanted to be on the bad side of this woman again.
"Sophie," Jasmine sighed. "I'd like to blame the hormones for my reaction but the truth is, I probably would have reacted the same this time last year. What Davina told me," she took a breath and shut her eyes. Feeling the heat rising again. "It was horrifying. So I'm going to do what I should have done before. What. The. Hell. Is a harvest?"
Sophie's eyes welled up, but she nodded. The vampires in the room made themselves comfortable.
"The Harvest is an age-old tradition. Witches in the coven believe that when the magic in quarter feels weak, that the only way to replenish it is to perform a harvest."
"Are you going to get to the point?" Rebekah asked.
"The Harvest is the ritual our coven does every three centuries," Sophie explained, her pace had sped up significantly since Rebekah's interruption. "So that the bond to our ancestral magic is restored. We appease our ancestors, they keep the ancestral power flowing.
"They had the girls of our community preparing for months. Four would be chosen for the Harvest. They said that it was an honour, that they were special. I thought it was a myth."
"Was it?" Jasmine asked.
"I hope not," The tears in her eyes, now running down her face. "One of the girls, Monique. She was my niece. One of the most brilliant, beautiful people I knew. I tried to stop it. I went to Father Kieran. He called a meeting with the witches. He was outraged, but because I had told Coven secrets to an outsider, the leader of the human faction no less, the witches were vengeful. Agnes placed a nasty cursed on Kieran's nephew to distract him so they could continue with the harvest without his interference."
"The witches condemned Kieran's nephew to death so they could go ahead with this ritual?"
"It's no ordinary ritual, Elijah." Jasmine shook her head. "It's the brutal sacrifice of four young witches in order to restore their magic. Four young witches who weren't told the main event was their throats being cut." She ground out. "So you tried to stop it? What happened next. How did Davina end up with Marcel."
"He saved her. Sadly, I couldn't save Monique." Sophie sniffled and Elijah handed her his hankie. "The Harvest was almost complete. The only thing left to do was to kill the girls. They were told they were going to be put into a peaceful limbo, and be awoken at the reaping as new witches. I got there just before they started, but with the whole coven their to witness it. I was powerless. Once the first girl's lifeless body hit the floor, the girls started to panic. The girls screamed for their mothers, but nobody did anything. Then Marcel came to the rescue. Kieran must have told him what was going on, but he was too late. By the time he got there, two girls were already dead. Monique was killed by Agnes as she tried to escape. Marcel grabbed Davina and took off."
"He saved her." Jasmine muttered smiling.
"That explains her loyalty." Klaus nodded.
"He was the only one their at the time of her need. Even her own mother wouldn't help her." Rebekah said. "I'd be pretty thankful too."
"So the witches want Davina to complete the Harvest?" Elijah asked and Sophie nodded, passing his hankie back in thanks.
"Well that isn't happening," Jasmine said strongly. "No one will ever hurt her again."
"That's the thing, Jasmine," Sophie said in a soft voice. "The witches, they aren't just deranged. The ritual is real. As each girl died, their magic flowed into the next. As the last girl dies, her magic is supposed to return to the earth and to the ancestors. It's coming up to the reaping, the witches are scared. They don't know what will happen if the harvest isn't complete."
"Davina seems to think she does," Jasmine said. "All the magic in New Orleans will cease to exist. She actually seems rather excited about it. I don't think it sounds half bad either."
"The elder witches seem to think that all of New Orleans will cease to exist. Davina's magic is too powerful for her. It'll explode and I have to agree with my crazy coven on this, I don't like the sound of it."
"Well if and when Davina shows signs of nuclear explosion, we'll talk about the options. Until then. If any of your Coven even think about going near her or trying to complete the harvest. Broken leg or not, I will come for each and every one of you." Jasmine used a small cutting cursed on the palm of her hand. Sophie's eyes widened when her own hand didn't hurt. "The spell linking us is broken. You can leave. Make sure the witches of the French Quarter know what I said. They come for Davina, they'll find one angry pregnant witch instead."
"I am sorry, Jasmine," Sophie said as she stood. "I tried my hardest to stop it, but I was only one witch. I'd do anything to have Monique back." She sighed.
"That's what I'm afraid of."
Jasmine watched as the witch left to gather her stuff.
"Now that you're unlinked from that dull witch, can we please return to Mystic Falls?" Rebekah asked, though already knowing the answer.
"I won't leave until I know this city is safe from itself," Jasmine said bluntly. "And until Davina is safe from this city. I'm going for a nap."
Jasmine and her wheelchair disappeared from the lounge, leaving three rather tired Originals. Physically they could slaughter a small village each, mentally, they all wanted to follow in Jasmine's tire marks and go for a nap.
-x-
A small knock on her door roused Jasmine from a particularly gruesome dream, involving the boiling of many quarter witches.
"Jazz?" Nik asked through a small crack in the door and she sat up slowly. "I have a surprise for you."
"I hope it's pizza." She grumbled.
"Actually," he walked in with a small basket. "Your talk of hellhounds the other night made me realise you needed some more company around this house and now that you're bed bound for the next month.."
A small black mop lay in the basket, Jasmine's heart melted.
"I got him from the shelter, he's a couple months old. They think he's a long-haired labrador cross of some kind."
Jasmine reached into the basket and pulled out the shaggy pup. "Nik. He's perfect." She smiled genuinely for the first time in a few days.
"Don't mention it, love, every witch needs a familiar." Nik smiled as he sat on the edge of the bed. Jasmine was playing with the pup. "And don't think this is me trying to buy back your trust, darling. I did this for you. Not to mention I'll sleep better tonight knowing one of us isn't alone."
"Nik," She smiled and took his hand. "These last few months with you, I haven't been blind to your tendencies. I know you go to extreme lengths to protect your family. It's one of the reason's I love you so much and to be honested I doubt very much I wouldn't have acted in a similar way if someone threatened you or the babies. I may not like what you did, but that doesn't mean I don't understand. None of us will be alone tonight. You'll never be alone again."
Nik smirked and pulled her into a hug, making sure he didn't squish the pup. "He needs a name."
Jasmine smiled and pulled away, "Snuffle's."
"Snuffle's?" Nik pulled a face. "Are you a thirteen-year-old girl?"
"I was when I name my last dog, Snuffles. They are remarkably similar." She smiled.
-x-
There we go. Another chapter up. I hope it was worth the REALLY long wait. Jasmine breaking her leg is something I've wanted to do for a while. I want to have a few chapters where she is very human. I'm not too sure when the next chapter will be up, but I am working on it already.
As always, please send me any requests or suggestions for this story. I'm always open to your thoughts and ideas.
Thank you.
Kat xoxo