Verendus

Chapter 23

The time had finally come, and Bonnie did not have any idea what would be happening. Braelyn had sent her to Salem with some members of the family. For a proper induction ritual. Braelyn stood in the shadows, watching as Elena slowly woke and noticed the flames surrounding her.

 Braelyn's barrier was strong. There would be no attempted attack on her mate in this timeline. Elena, now panicking, thought to appeal to the witch. "Greta, witches are supposed to maintain the balance in nature. It's your duty to them to keep this curse sealed."

Greta laughed and glared at Elena. "My duty is to Braelyn and Klaus. The true order." As the witch spoke, Klaus arrived and smirked, "Glad to know that my beloved and I still have our dance partner." Elena watched with a confused expression since when was Braelyn involved with this? And why was Greta deferring to her? Elena felt annoyance ever since the witch had returned everything had gone wrong.

The witch's eyes darkened as the moon passed its apex. Nodding to Klaus, she threw the moonstone into the bowl watching as it was destroyed. Braelyn watched from the shadows as Jules and Elena spoke, nearly laughing when Klaus killed the werewolf. The woman stayed silent as she was waiting for Stefan to appear.

Elena turned to Alaric with tears in her eyes. The man just gave the girl a reassuring smile, accepting his fate. "When I met you, I had no idea that I would come to see you as a daughter. Then I got involved with the Salvatore brothers. I wanted to protect you. It seems I failed." Elena's eyes widened as the tears fell. "Alaric, you didn't fail."

The man laughed. "Look around, Elena. I failed you"

Elena sighed "No, you didn't. You have protected us since you found out the hell you got possessed because of us. Promise me when you get the chance ...Run". 

Alaric gazed at his dead wife's daughter and sighed. He could see the same look Isabel gave others, putting them over herself. It was like seeing a ghost. Reluctantly, he nodded.

Braelyn quickly lost interest in the ritual and was about to sleep when Klaus declared, "Well, well. I don't recall you being on the guest list." That was when Stefan appeared, yet the vampire quickly realised he could not enter the ritual space. Greta smirked at him, knowing that Braelyn's barrier was working.

Panic filled him as he pleaded with Klaus to use him instead of Alaric. That had been Braelyn's idea. She knew what a threat the man would come to be and recommended him to her mate. A sinister grin spread across the woman's face as she stepped out of the shadows. Zion and Zahra stepped out behind their coven leader, each wearing a cocky smirk.

Stefan, seeing the three practitioners sneered, his gaze then fell on the witch doing the ritual: Greta Martin wielded her magic like it was a sacred gift. She lowered the flames and screamed when Alaric rushed over and bit her. Before Alaric knew what was happening, he was pulled off and Klaus staked him.

Elena screamed as she watched the man fall to the floor. To her horror, Klaus walked over and staked the man again. It was time. Braelyn now walked to Klaus's side and took over the spell. Elena glared at the woman as the flames lowered. Klaus watches as Elena goes to the altar and smirks. "Thank you, Elena,"

Elena glares at the man "Go to Hell" Zion scoffs as he and his sister continue the ritual tying Elena's human life to Elijah, stopping her from truly dying. Stefan watches helplessly as the blood is drained from the love of his life. Once Elena drops to the ground dead, Klaus smiles as he feels his curse breaking.

Stefan felt the tears fall as he witnessed Klaus shifting and Braelyn gently rubbing his head. The witch then spoke softly, yet he still heard her "Seren" Stefan watched as a girl Jeremy's age appeared.

 "My Queen," Seren greeted before acknowledging Klaus, "Am I to accompany?" Braelyn nodded, "Protect and Hide" The young witch nodded, and Stefan watched as the girl ran off with Klaus.

He assumed that he was another member of the Bennett coven. Zion calmly walked over to Elena's fallen corpse and picked her up. Braelyn turned to Stefan and smirked. "We shall return her to you when we are done"

Before Stefan could argue, his neck was snapped. Damon picked up his brother without question and left. He knew better than to attack the Bennetts now. After Braelyn's visit, he had called every vampire he was on good terms with to ask questions. He was impulsive and vengeful, but he was not stupid. The Bennett coven had gained immortality and was full of powerful magic practitioners who thought nothing of wiping him off the face of the earth.

He was pretty sure the reason he was allowed to live was because the emerald had seen him in a vision and argued that he needed to live. If not for that, he would be dead. Entering the boarding house, he dropped his little brother on his bed and walked down for a drink.

"You're an incredibly annoying inconvenience, Mr. Salvatore. " Damon spun around to see a young girl lounging on the couch. Her head of wild curls from a halo around her head as dark brown eyes stared into his soul. The Vampire swallowed nervously when he noticed the large hoop earrings and ruby choker that identified her as Shaye Bennett. The girl smirked and tilted her head.

"I bring a message from my sister the lovely emerald of the court of jewels," The girl's gaze suddenly became quite hard as she walked over to him "Andie Starr keep her close and feed her your blood every day eventually you will thank us for sparing your life."

Before Damon could ask any more questions, the girl disappeared, almost as if she had never been there. Damon shuddered and sat down. He now had to make a choice. Gazing at the fire, he thought it over. Was it making a choice? Elena would never be his and did he truly want someone that looked like Katherine? Damon sighed as gulped down his bourbon. It seemed that it truly wasn't a choice at all.

It was time to move on from Kathrine, and possibly distance himself from Stefan as well.