Chapter twenty four

Confessions Are Good For the Soul

As she waited on the street corner in front of the creepy warehouse, pulling her coat tighter around her body more out of habit than because she was cold, Kassandra thought that Elijah needed to get new meeting places. She was tired of going to run down, rat infested, abandoned warehouses in the slums of New York.

Amy had yet to crack, even with the torturing of her mother and brother. It had been two weeks since they abducted her family, but she was still holding strong. Ever since then, she and Elijah had been tracking down any witches they could find. Any witches that even knew what the spell they were looking for was. Kassandra couldn't find anything that even hinted at the eradication of vampires spell in any of the Grimoires she had managed to track down. She was still looking, though.

Letting out an impatient sigh, Kassandra pulled her cell phone out of her jacket pocket. Dialing the number she had practically memorized, she tapped her foot as she waited for him to pick up. It went straight to voice mail.

"Elijah, I've been waiting for you for over forty minutes. I'm bored, and if you don't show up in the next twenty minutes, I'm going to flag down a cab and go home and watch The Walking Dead. Call me back."

Kassandra gnawed on her lip as she looked around the empty street. She didn't like the neighborhood she was in. It was a sketchy place, completely abandoned. The only signs of life were the cockroaches on the sidewalk and the rustling of rats in turned over garbage cans.

She still didn't understand why Elijah couldn't meet with witches at a Starbucks or something.

"Kassandra Patrikson?"

She turned instinctively towards the sound of her name. All she saw was a pair of shockingly pale gray eyes before her head erupted in pain.

Kassandra clutched helplessly at her head, feeling as if it was about to explode. She fell to her knees, gasps of pain falling from her lips breathlessly. "What the hell?" she tried to fight the pain, but it was hard to think straight when it felt like someone was repeatedly stabbing her brain with an ice pick.

"Just give in to it," the voice, surprisingly soft, urged her. "Don't fight it. Just give into the pain."

Kassandra didn't understand what the voice meant. How could you give into pain? How couldn't she fight? Fighting was all Kassandra ever did. She was a fighter, a survivor.

But then everything started to go fuzzy, and with that came numbness. Sweet, welcoming numbness. She gave herself to that numbness, wanting the pain to be over. And then everything went black and nothing hurt anymore.

~SYH~

When Kassandra finally joined the world of the conscious, her head was aching, her eyes were bleary, and she was trapped in a cage like some wild animal.

Gritting her teeth, Kassandra shook the bars of the cell she was locked in angrily. She didn't bother to think about who she was up against, where she was, or where Elijah was in all of this. All she knew was that someone had attacked her and locked her up in a fucking cage and she was pissed.

"Wanna show your face so that I can rip it off with my bare hands?" she snarled out, gripping the bars tightly in her fists. She went to rip the bars out so that she could make her escape, but she found that the steel bars wouldn't budge.

"The cell's enchanted; not even an original vampire could so much as scratch the bars," the quiet voice so very familiar called out.

With a huff, Kassandra pushed away and angrily brushed her blonde hair out of her face. "Who are you and what do you want?"

She thought she saw movement in the dark corners of the room. "Let's just say I'm an upset friend of the people you and the Mikaelsons took."

Kassandra's mouth twisted into a bitter smile. "A witch with a vendetta- that's new," she muttered sarcastically. "Fine then, riddle me this. What do you want from me?"

"Elijah."

Kassandra scoffed. "Of course. Let me guess, this is all some very clever trap to lure Elijah in, featuring the very lovely me as the bait."

Silence met her. Kassandra narrowed her eyes angrily. "Well, I wouldn't get my hopes up too much, okay Witchy? Elijah's smarter than this. He'll realize that it's a trap a mile away and you won't stand a chance."

"We'll just see about that," the voice answered calmly. "Love tends to strip even the wisest people of their senses."

Kassandra froze. "Wha- what do you mean?" Had she misheard her? She must have.

The voice didn't elaborate. "Just sit tight, Kassandra. It'll be over before you know it."

The witch started to walk away, but Kassandra promptly stopped her. No, she wouldn't go down like this. Kassandra needed answers that only the voice could provide.

"Not so fast, Witchy. If you're gonna use me as Elijah bait, at least feed me some information first," Kassandra demanded.

The witch paused. "What do you want to know?" she asked slowly.

"How one little witch could take down a vampire as old as me," Kassandra asked seriously. "I'm not an original, but I'm almost as old as one. I'm almost as powerful as one. And you managed to make me pass out. How? How do you feel so confident taking on an original all by yourself?"

It took the voice so long to answer Kassandra almost thought she wouldn't.

"One finds that anything is possible when you're a part of one of the oldest, strongest covens in the country- maybe even the world."

Coven. That was the answer to everything. The witch had the powers of dozens of others at her disposal. She was seeking justice for Amy because she must have been a junior member of her coven.

"What'd you do to Elijah?" She asked suddenly, eyes flashing dangerously as she searched the shadows for the mysterious witch. "Why was he late? He's never late."

"He got a text message telling him that I wanted to meet in a different location, and that if he didn't come alone I wouldn't tell him where his mother was hiding. I assume he didn't want to take the chance and risk losing such valuable information. By now he'll have realized something was wrong and is most likely realizing you were taken. It'll only take him about an hour- if even- to find us. Then he'll see you and be so distracted by his relief that you are alive and well that he won't notice when I incapacitate him and deliver him to his mother. Then, when that's done, I'll dispose of you," the voice said, spilling out her entire evil plan.

"Aw, Witchy, don't you watch movies? The villain is never supposed to expose her plan," Kassandra mocked, eyes glinting, already planning her great escape.

She chuckled darkly. "I am hardly the villain, Kassandra. I'm doing a great service to this world, to humans, to nature."

Kassandra narrowed her eyes. "That's another thing; how do you know who I am?"

Another pause. When the witch spoke again, her voice was even quieter. "She speaks of you, the witch who turned her back on others. The witch who could have done great things but was too selfish to. The witch who holds one of the most dangerous vampire's heart in her hand and doesn't even realize. Kassandra Patrikson, the disgrace of witches everywhere."

"Well, that's a little harsh," Kassandra said, frowning. "Jesus, why are witches so dramatic? I hardly believe I'm the disgrace of witches everywhere."

"That's where you're wrong, Kassandra," the voice breathed. "Betrayal is the worst kind of defense."

Kassandra just shrugged. "That's where we differ in opinion."

It was quiet for so long Kassandra thought she had left. But then she spoke one last, final time. "Esther is redeeming herself, Kassandra. She is doing what is good and right and ridding the world of all vampires."

Kassandra wasn't the least bit surprised that Esther had the entire coven on her side, but the witch's last words surprised her. "You mean just her children," she corrected with a frown.

"No, I mean all the vampires."

Kassandra's jaw dropped, and she vaguely registered the voice walking out of the room. But she was too busy contemplating what she meant.

How was that even possible?

~SYH~

Kassandra didn't know how long she sat there, counting the bricks in the wall. Hours, maybe. Days. It might have even been minutes. She wasn't sure. All she knew was that time only seemed to really start when she heard that all too familiar voice.

"Kassandra?"

Instantly, she was standing, her hands pressed against the bars of the cell. "Elijah, leave! It's a trap!" she exclaimed, eyes searching frantically for him in the dark.

"I figured as much."

She found him, finally. Only so much light made it through the dingy windows, but she could just make out his face. "Then why did you show?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow.

He shrugged. "I couldn't leave you all here by yourself."

Kassandra scoffed. "You always have to be the knight in shining armor, don't you?"

She thought she saw him smile. "Apparently I do."

And then she witnessed his face contort. It was as if he was facing something unpleasant, a light headache, a wave of nausea. It was one thing to take down Kassandra; it was a whole other thing to tackle an original vampire.

"You can't take me, you're not strong enough," he mused to the witch standing behind him.

Almost instantly, the pain left Elijah's face. Kassandra watched intently, hungrily.

"Maybe not," the voice replied, almost casually. "But I can easily hurt her. And I do think that hurts you more than any physical pain would."

And, just like that, Kassandra's head felt like it was on fire.

She gasped out, trying to force out the pain, trying not to let it harm her. But it was easier said than done. She tried not to show it, knowing that's what the witch wanted. She wanted Elijah to know how much pain she was in. She wanted him to turn himself over to Esther. She tried, so hard, to keep the pain in, but it just burst out of her. She let out a cry and fell to the floor.

The pain wasn't like before. It was deeper, sharper, even worse than before, if that was possible. Kassandra looked up at Elijah, meeting his eyes. He looked miserable, like her pain was his pain. And she tried to smile, to ease his guilt, tried to reflect the pain. But the smile came out as a grimace and another gasp of pain fell from her lips.

"I wonder if I could turn her brain to mush," the witch mused.

"Stop," Elijah demanded, the only things giving away his composure were the hint of a frantic tone in his voice, and his eyes that were currently glued to Kassandra. "She's not involved in this. Kassandra is-"

"Innocent?" The witch let out a bark like laugh. "She's just as wrapped up in this as the rest of us. Kassandra chose her side; she chose you. And now she will have to pay for that choice."

"Sweet lord, you are the most self-righteous asshole I have ever met," Kassandra moaned.

They both ignored her. "What do you want from me? To give myself up? Turn myself into my mother? Sit idly by as she murders my siblings along with me? Is that what you want?" Elijah asked, voice as sharp as a sword.

"Would you? Just to save this one irrelevant vampire?" the witch asked, sound curious.

"Excuse you," Kassandra grunted.

Again, she was ignored. "You would turn your back on your family, all for her?"

And Elijah looked down at Kassandra with pained eyes. She shook her head slowly at him. No. She wasn't worth it. Just walk away. Just leave her here. She wasn't worth it.

"Oh, wait, how rude of me, making you choose between the two things you cherish most. Your family and her. You couldn't possibly choose, couldn't possibly make the other suffer. But, then again, what does that say? That you couldn't choose your family over a vampire you've known for a few months?" the witch was mocking him.

"I'll tell you, Elijah Mikaelson. It says you're a pathetic boy head over heels in lo-"

She was cut off when Elijah sunk his hand into the witch's chest and ripped her heart out.

And, finally, the pain was gone. It was sweet, and almost too good to be true. Her head felt brutally sore, but still, the pain was gone.

"Well, it's about time," Kassandra complained, slowly standing up. "You should have done that minutes ago."

"I know," Elijah admitted. "But I- I couldn't think straight. Not with- and what she was-" he cut himself off, and it was quite a sight, seeing Elijah Mikaelson speechless.

Kassandra just shrugged. "Well, better late than never. And now down to the real question- how are we getting me out of this fucking cage?"

~SYH~

In the end, it was easy for Kassandra to get out of her cell. The enchantment had broken when the witch had died.

Kassandra was rubbing her temples as she and Elijah walked out of the shady neighborhood and back towards actual life. "How are feeling?" Elijah asked her quietly, staring straight ahead at the sidewalk.

She shrugged. "I'm still a little tender, but I'll pull through."

She kept eying Elijah strangely, and he could feel it. "Is there something you want to ask, Kassandra?" he asked after a few silent moments.

Kassandra sighed and dropped her fingers from her head. "It's just- I'm confused, that's all."

He raised an eyebrow. "About what?"

"The witch was saying stuff, even before you got there," Kassandra asked slowly, carefully, as if she was afraid of his answer.

"Like what?"

He knew what she was saying, but he wanted to answer her as much as she wanted to ask him.

"Like- I don't know, okay? Like-" like you were in love with me or something.

They had stopped walking, and Kassandra was staring up at Elijah, eyebrows furrowed. "Tell me what she meant, Elijah. About everything she said about us," she asked quietly. "Confessions are good for the soul," she joked weakly.

He closed his eyes. This wasn't how he was supposed to tell her. Not right after she had almost died because of him. She wasn't supposed to find out like this. Not like this.

But Elijah had no other option.

Opening his eyes, Elijah breathed in deeply, and met her questioning hazel gaze.

Then he uttered those six words that damned him.

"I'm in love with you, Kassandra."

~SYH~

A/N: wow, it's been way too long! I'm so sorry, guys! Thank you for your feedback and keep it coming!

~Abby :)