Longing ~ Klaus Mikaelson(book 2)

ritual

The air was thick with the scent of earth and blood as I woke, my body trembling, my limbs heavy as if I had been trapped in my own skin. I blinked, disoriented, trying to make sense of where I was. The ritual ground stretched before me, ominous and charged with energy. Esther stood at the center, her hands raised, her eyes burning with ancient power, while my mother and Finn stood nearby, both of them chanting in unison.

Panic surged within me as I realized I wasn't in control of my body. I felt like a passenger, trapped in my own skin, as my lips moved and the incantations of the spell flowed out of me. My hands raised of their own accord, joining Esther's and my mother's in the air. The power of the ancestors thrummed around me, thick and suffocating, filling the space between us.

No matter how hard I fought to break free, it was like trying to swim against an unstoppable current. Every attempt to stop the spell was met with resistance, as though the ancestors themselves had locked me inside, forcing me to play my role in this twisted ritual.

Stefan and Damon appeared in the distance, running toward the circle, their faces twisted in desperation as they tried to stop what was happening. But the barrier Esther had created held them back-there was no breaking through.

"Bonnie!" Stefan's voice echoed through the trees, but I couldn't respond. My mind screamed for help, but my body obeyed the will of the magic.

And then I felt him.

Klaus.

His presence was like a fire through the bond between us, and I could feel the panic radiating off him. He was close-too close. I wanted to warn him, tell him to stay back, but there was nothing I could do. I could only watch through my own eyes as he and the rest of the Mikaelsons arrived at the ritual site, their faces pale with fear and fury.

Klaus came barreling around the corner first, his eyes wild as they found me, hunched over, blood pouring from my eyes and nose as I tried to resist the magic tearing me apart from the inside.

"Bonnie!" His voice was raw, desperate, but he couldn't get to me. None of them could. The threshold of the spell kept them out, locking me in a place they could not reach.

I felt my body convulse, the power of the ancestors pulling me deeper into the spell. The baby-our baby-was at risk, and I knew that if this continued, neither of us would survive. The life force within me flickered like a dying flame, growing weaker with every passing second.

Klaus, unable to cross the boundary, turned to Esther, rage and terror burning in his eyes. "Stop this!" he roared, his voice cracking with emotion. "Stop this spell, or you'll kill her! You'll kill my child!"

But Esther didn't waver, her gaze locked on the ritual as if nothing else mattered. Her power was absolute, and she showed no signs of stopping.

Damon, catching on to the severity of the situation, glanced at me and then at Abby, my mother, standing at Esther's side, chanting as if her own daughter's life wasn't slipping away in front of her. His jaw clenched, and in an instant, he made his decision.

With a swift, brutal motion, Damon ran to my mother and snapped her neck.

The sound of bones breaking ripped through the clearing, and I felt the air rush from my lungs as the connection between us snapped.

The ground beneath me felt like it was crumbling away as I stared at my mother's lifeless body. The world went quiet, all the sounds around me dimming as the reality of what had just happened hit me like a sledgehammer.

Damon snapped her neck.

My heart pounded, and the grief was instant, deep, and all-consuming. My breath came in ragged gasps, and I couldn't even feel the weight of Klaus's eyes on me or the others standing around the ritual site. All I saw was my mother.