[ BOOK TWO ]
Erin Gilbert's life had become one supernatural catastrophe after another, not that she should've expected any different when her sister's boyfriend and his brother turned out to be vampires.
The years of chaos that followed should have...
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A SERIES OF CLICKS sounded throughout Erin Gilbert's bedroom as she swiped hanger after hanger across the rod within her closet. She would glance over an article of clothing, give it a bored look, and move onto the next. The repetitive action had gone on for a long while, and she found herself becoming more and more annoyed.
Why did she have so many hoodies and not a single sweatshirt? She just wanted something thin enough to wear on her drive without having to worry about turning off her air-conditioning.
Just when she was about to give up, Erin shoved an old Mystic Falls cheer hoodie aside and laid her eyes on a recently bought Tulane sweatshirt. Not too heavy and not too light. Just perfect.
Erin snatched it off the hanger and turned to face the rest of her room. It looked the same as it had the last nine months, but somehow it seemed different. Maybe it had more to do with the fact she hadn't truly stayed within its walls since her and Hope's near sacrifice. With the witches most likely still out for blood, Elijah thought it would be safer for her to remain at the Mikaelson Compound for the time being and she agreed.
After all, it wouldn't take much for even one witch to break into her apartment and kill her. But a fortified home with two Originals and a newly turned hybrid, that would take a whole army.
Safe to say, it didn't take much convincing.
Erin moved over to her bed where two suitcases were laid out across the comforter. Both were filled with clothes and other necessities. Smaller bags held toiletries, a soft case held her laptop and charger, and items like her wallet and phone were already placed in a crossbody bag also set on the thick blanket. All of the things she would need for the next few months.
"Are you sure this is what you want to do?" Elijah Mikaelson questioned from where he stood within the open doorway of the bedroom.
Erin slipped her arms inside the sweatshirt and pulled it over her head, before she moved toward the bed. Her gaze fell to the luggage as she replied, "it's not that I want to, it's that I need to. I need to be there for Elena and Jeremy."
The pain Erin felt at Damon and Bonnie's deaths paled in comparison to her brother and sister's. She lost two best friends, but Elena and Jeremy lost the loves of their life. The one person who consumed their entire heart and soul. And while her own grief mattered, theirs transcended to a level she couldn't begin to understand. She hoped she never would.
"And I need to go for myself," Erin added, reaching out to pull the zipper around one suitcase and then the other to seal them closed.
