To Love and Die

Dead Man Walking

"So you're saying that we have to find this boy that we threw out because he is the key to saving us all?" a vampire asked from the back of the crowd. The school had gathered at Ric's command and now they were arguing on if we should bring him back to the school. "Mystic Falls has been home to the supernatural for centuries, why not?" Damon asked. "That's easy for you to say old man, you aren't stuck in the same body," a vampire growled. Damon scowled. "How old do I look to you?" he asked. "Twenty-six, maybe thirty," the vampire shot back. Damon shook his head. "And Elena?" he asked. "Twenty," the vampire said. "Since we took the cure, we should have started aging like normal humans. I should be forty-eight and Elena should be forty," Damon said. The gym became quiet. "So you're saying that the cure didn't work," the vampire said coming closer. "It worked, we both have beating hearts. Elena was able to give birth to a daughter. But, the older Artemis has gotten, the stronger we get. The more inhuman we get," Damon said with his eyes darkening. The vampire stepped back. "What's wrong?" Caroline asked looking at the student's face. "Veins came out under his eyes," the vampire said. Caroline whirled to look at Damon's face and caught a trace of veins protruding before they were gone. "What the hell? We have to figure out what is going on..." Caroline stopped as Artemis and Hope entered the gym.

"We know why these things are happening to them," Hope said quietly. Elena frowned and looked at me questioningly. "Mom, dad, it is true. You are becoming more inhuman because of me," I said softly. "Why would you ever think it is because of you?" Elena asked coming toward her daughter. This was not her daughter's fault. "If you and dad wouldn't have had me this wouldn't have been a problem. You would have stayed humans and grew old and died together. Instead, you're going to become vampires again. Except, dad will be a hybrid," I whispered quietly. They all stared at us. "Hope and I called her aunt. She came here as fast as she could. We did a spell. We were right. I was born and when I was born, Hope was two years older than me. We share the same birthday. With everything that happened to her mother and her family on that day, the ability of her birth made mine possible. The spell rebounded off of her birth to mine. It created the ability for you and dad to create me. In turn it had a consequence. That consequence would be that you two would have to turn back. You know how the world likes their doppelgangers," I said quietly. Elena stared at me. "So, we are slowly turning back into vampires?" Elena asked. "Yes. I would say that by this time next month, on their birthday. Both you and Damon will be supernaturals once again," a woman said. Everyone turned to look at the witch that had entered the room. "I am Freya Mikaelson. I am Hope's aunt," she said giving them an introductory nod. "We need to bring the boy back here. They have to break the mating bond and Artemis has to find her second chance mate. I have been speaking with my brother. It seems that since Niklaus broke the curse, our mother had one more surprise in store for us before she disappeared into thin air," Freya said. I frowned. She knew who my second chance was. I gasped. "My wolf bonded to Hope's not because we share the same mate, but because my second chance is her cousin," I whispered. Freya nodded. "Cousin?" Ric asked. Caroline shook her head. "Keelin and I decided we wanted a family. So, after Keelin became a hybrid, I used magic to fuse our eggs together and with a little scientific experiment from Keelin we used a warlock's sperm. From that our son was created. His name is Benjamin," Freya said. A beautiful female entered the room, followed by a man and then a younger man. He was handsome.

"This is Keelin and Vincent and our son, Benjamin," Freya said. I looked him up and down. He was handsome. His jawline was strong and his eyes were a deep hazel. His body was sculpted like a God and his five o'clock shadow made him sexy looking. His skin had a deep tan and his hair was short, the texture soft and small curls. "Hello Artemis," he said stepping forward. "He is a tri-breed as well," Hope said. Ric frowned. "So, now there are three tri-breeds walking this earth that were made this way by birth. Great, leave it up to the Mikaelson family to do this," Ric said throwing his hands in the air. "Ric, they are mates and you know what happened with me," Caroline said softly. The twins stared at their mother in confusion. They had never known that Caroline and Klaus were lovers, or that they were still in love when Klaus died. "That's enough for tonight. The representatives will meet in their usual meeting spot for a vote as to if we will bring him back here to the school or not. As for finding him, I think we have all agreed that is a must," Ric said. The students dispersed, some girls sending vicious looks toward me and others slinking away. 

I turned back to face Benjamin. He radiated alpha power. "You are the alpha of the Malraux bloodline. You were born to be an alpha," I stated. He smiled, showing straight white teeth. "I feel a pull toward you. I know that you don't feel one towards me yet, but we'll get that fixed," he said in a deep voice. He was wrong. I felt a hell of a strong pull towards him. I wouldn't tell him that though. That would mean that we were already breaking the first mating bond. It was what I wanted, but something told me it would have to be at a later time. Right now we needed to find Landon. "I have to go, there is a meeting I have to be at," I said. He nodded and when I turned to follow Hope out toward where the other representatives were meeting, he followed me. Freya, Keelin, Vincent, and the others were left behind to talk.