𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐋𝐔𝐒𝐓 𐦟 𝐓𝐕𝐃𝐔

Chapter 4

"Leave them alone Katherine, you have been leading them on for months, it's getting to be pathetic, pick one or leave!" Cassie chased down Katherine as she kept trying to walk away, Katherine turned around to come face to face with Cassie, "I'm not going to, I love them both so if I want them both, I'll take them both." Cassie grabbed her wrist, "Not under my watch you here me? You're not going to lay a hand on either one of them, if I have to compel you I will, but I won't because long ago you were once my friend. I helped you escape from Niklaus all those years, don't forget that." Katherine tried to pry her wrist from Cassie's grip but she was too strong, "Fine, you win this time, but I'm not going to give up until I get what I want." Cassie scoffed, "Whatever you say darling, just know that if you hurt either one of them. I swear I will rip your heart straight from
your chest." With that she let go of her wrist, watching Katherine walk away.

***

A few hours after their interaction Cassie sat, drinking tea and reading a poetry book. The house was quiet, she heard a thud upstairs and the running of Giuseppe Salvatore and a few men, Cassie quickly stood up and made her way upstairs following the 3 men. Katherine laid on the ground, choking on something, Stefan stood there, hand covering his neck which was dripping in blood. Giuseppe dragged Katherine out of the room, muttering something about her being one of them. Cassie quickly came to Stefan's rescue, she knelt down next to him. "Stefan what happened? Are you alright?" Stefan groaned and looked up at her, "You have to get out of here, they've got people stocked up on vervain and the Gilbert compass. It'll show them straight towards you." Cassie rubbed his shoulder, "I'll be fine, the witch part of me throws off the compass, everything will be alright I promise."

Cassie brought her wrist to her mouth, she pricked a small opening in her wrist, "Here, this will heal the wound." Stefan swatted her hand away, "I'll be fine Cass." Cassie scoffed, "No you won't be, it's an open wound and if she fed on you enough you'll most likely be dizzy, just drink." She held her wrist out, it took him a minute but Stefan carefully drank the blood, she let him drink until the wound was healed. "We have to go, we need to get Damon and the others. We have to save the vampires left." Cassie stood up but Stefan grabbed her wrist, "We have to get Katherine." Cassie rolled her eyes and kneeled back down, "That tramp is the least of my worries, let's save the ones we know we can save."

Cassie ran out of the room and down the hallway, she made her way down the stairs, she turned the corner and there was Anna, she was shaking, eyes wide and panicked. "Anna where is your mother?" Anna tan her hands through her hair, "I don't know, she went off this afternoon, please don't let them find me." Cassie pulled her into a hug and rubbed her back, "It's ok, I won't let them find you but we need to find your mother, they've taken Katherine, we can use her as a distraction." Anna pulled away slightly and looked up at Cassie, "What do you mean distraction?" Cassie bit her lip, "Don't worry about that, find Damon and get him and Stefan together, I'll let you know what to do from there." Anna nodded and ran off.

Cassie made her way back up the stairs to Stefan's room, when she got in the door he was gone. Cassie groaned, those boys never made anything easy. Cassie got out of the house, she saw carriages going down the path, she could hear muffled noises coming from the back of them. The vampires were trapped, men were scattered across the front lawn keeping watch. Cassie looked to her left, there stood Johnathan Gilbert and Pearl, her face was shocked, she turned her attention to Cassie, the words were barely above a whisper, her lips barely moved, "Help me." Cassie didn't move. She stood there and watched, Johnathan Gilbert yelled out they had one of them, he dragged Pearl off and got them into a carriage, the rest of the men left.

     She heard some rustling in the bush and out came Anna and Damon, Anna came up and shoved her, "How could you do that? How could you just stand there? She needed your help and you did nothing!" Cassie grabbed Anna's arm, "We needed your mother, she was our bait and now we might actually be able to save her and the rest of the vampires." The words coming out of Cassie's mouth were all a lie, she didn't really want to save them. She barely knew them and to be honest, her life would be easier if they all died. Anna ran off, she ran until she was out of Damon and Cassie's sight. Cassie turned back around to look at Damon, he had a black eye and was holding his rib cage, "What happened?" Damon scoffed, "Got into an altercation with my father." He coughed and blood came out, "Oh my, Damon we need to get you help. Here drink." Cassie punctured her arm with a fang and held it out to Damon, "You can't save Katherine and your brother with internal problems and a broken rib cage." Damon reluctantly drank, his black eye slowly faded and he stretched out his newly healed torso. "Thanks for that." Cassie smiled, "You're welcome, now we've got vampires to save."

     She never did save them. Things went sideways and her priorities turned to saving the boys. Cassie taught Stefan and Damon how to be vampires, the monster part of them was created by her. That was her doing, after a thousand years Cassie stopped caring, she let go of trying to save everyone. There was a time where all she thought about was turning her humanity off, just letting herself slip down the rabbit hole of no emotions. Cassie had seen multiple vampires who had done it, they were all so numb, so set on getting revenge, even if it wasn't needed. It's the only thing that kept her from turning that switch. Cassie thought about all of this as she was driving down the backroads of Mystic Falls, she didn't have a destination, she was just driving.

     Her and Elijah loved to do this, whether it was in a buggy, a big fancy carriage, or a nice sports car. They would sit in silence, not saying a word and soaking in the company of the other. She missed Elijah, though it had only been a few days. They had gone years without seeing each other, the most was 10, they had gotten into a pathetic argument. Elijah was the first to break when he went to visit her at her home in Venezuela. The memories of it all came flooding back.

     The year was 1972, she had a small little cottage in the middle of no where, when you looked out the window you could see the beach and hear the waves crashing against the shore. Cassie was cutting up some fruit for her new dish, she heard some footsteps not far from her door, she picked her head up and looked at it. Nothing. Then, there was a small but forceful knock on the door. Cassie put the knife behind her back and approached the door. When she opened there stood a familiar face. Elijah's face was rugged, his beard seemed more prominent than usual, there were dark circles underneath his eyes and his hair seemed to be sticking up in all directions. "What are you doing here?" Elijah looked down in shame and sighed, "Would you believe me if I said I missed you?" Cassie chuckled, "No, last time we spoke you threw my feelings out the window and sided with Nik on a matter that is unforgivable. So no, I don't believe you." Cassie took a deep breath when the smell of alcohol flooded her nose, "You smell terrible." Elijah smirked, "Seems you haven't lost your sarcasm." Cassie opened the door a little wider, "Come in."

     Elijah walked in, admiring the intricate details of the home. Cassie went back to chopping up her fruit, as much as she wanted to shut the door in his face, she couldn't. She still cared for him, no matter how much his words hurt her. "The place is beautiful, you seem to have made yourself a home here." She put the fruit remains into a bowl, "I did, what's your point?" Elijah got up, coming up behind Cassie, his large frame pressing her up against the counter top, "I'm saying I'm happy for you." Cassie put the knife down and turned her head slightly, "Why are you here? Don't lie to me." Elijah took a step back, "I've been a wreck since you left, I've killed many people, I don't recognize myself anymore." Cassie turned around and stared at the floor, she felt bad but she wasn't going to give in, not yet anyway. "You said you didn't need me, now you show up at my door step 10 years later begging for me back, you look pathetic."

     Elijah stepped closer to her once again, he looked down at her and raised an eyebrow, "Is that what you call begging?" Cassie smirked, "In a way, yes." Elijah leaned in closer to her face, "Let me show you how you really beg," Elijah got down on his knees in front of Cassie, he grabbed her hands and gave them a firm squeeze, "Cassandra May Salvatore, I love you. You are the only one I've ever loved, and for the past 10 years I've been an absolute disaster. What I did wasn't fair, not to you. You mean the world to me Cassandra, and I'm begging you to forgive me." Cassie bit down on her lip, god the things this man did to her. "It will do for the time being." Cassie grabbed onto Elijah's hands and helped him stand up, he brushed himself off and looked Cassie deep in the eye, he had a mischievous grin on his face, "Don't think I'm forgiving you this soon, you're going to have to work for it." Elijah looked down and then back up again, "You always were a stubborn one."

     "Oh you have no idea." Cassie turned back to her cutting board and knife before Elijah's arms slipped around her waist, he slowly began planting little kisses down her neck. Cassie didn't dare to protest, she tilted her head to the side giving him more room. Elijah's grip on her waist tightened as he started softly biting down on her neck, leaving little bite marks. She sighed contently, Cassie missed these moments, the ones that felt like they were coming straight out of a movie. His hand slowly slipped under blouse and began to caress the skin underneath it, Cassie reached down and stopped him, "If you want to go any farther you're going to shower, you still smell horrid." Her words were barely above a whisper but it made Elijah chuckle, "Whatever you say madam. You know, you could always join me." Cassie smirked, she grabbed his hand leading him into the bathroom, shutting the door behind them.