𝟏• 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐂 | 𝐓𝐕𝐃 ✓

𝐓𝐖𝐎

"I REMEMBER HER SAYING, 'ESTHER'," Caroline narrated with furrowed eyebrows and tired eyes, her voice slightly hoarse from the previous night. "Just before she hit the ground and passed out." A worried sigh left her as she closed her eyes and placed her head in her hands. "It all happened so quickly..."

Damon and Stefan exchanged glances, sharing the same expression of perplexation as they failed to figure out what exactly it was that caused a vampire to pass out like Aurelia had. "Well we know she's not dead." Damon summarized. "She's not dry and grey like we are once we die, so we can cross that off our list."

"List of what?" Stefan was exasperated. "We don't even have anything to start with, Damon. We don't know what made her black out like that, so we can't conclude anything or cross it off your apparent list until we're sure she's not going to die."

"I said she wasn't dead; I didn't guarantee that she won't later!" Damon hissed at his brother's irritated form.

"Stop talking like that!" Caroline exclaimed, shutting the brothers up entirely. "She's not gonna die, okay?! I just met her, and Damon, come on! You had that whole nostalgic, drunk moment about how fun it was with a friend in your life for once, one that didn't judge you or anything like you dad did! How are you talking about her death like that when she's seemingly so close to you?" Her face was contorted in rage. "And you!" She pointed at Stefan. "I get that we don't have the best luck, and that you had a whole phase, but wouldn't it be a little nice to have some amount of hope for her?"

As she kept silent, Stefan let out a soft breath and walked over to her, before kneeling down in front of the chair she was seated on. "Caroline, you're worried, I understand—"

"You don't!" Caroline cut him off. "She's our friend, and more or less my sister, Stefan! I haven't even gotten to know her properly, but what I know is that she can't die. She has so many people that care for her." Her lip began to quiver slightly, as she looked at from him. "And not to mention, Klaus and his tragic family are going to unleash hell here if she dies. They've been with her since she was a child, don't you think they'd be a bit more upset?"

"She-She's not going to die." A timid voice spoke up from behind Damon, making him turn around to face a shorter brunette. "Her ring, Damon; she told you how she survived then, didn't she?" Damon blinked several times at Elena's words and looked back at Caroline with a lit up expression.

"What ring?" Caroline had to ask.

"I'm sure you two newbies know of how Aurelia was killed in a riot that hunted for vampires back in 1864, don't you?" Damon rhetorically asked, glancing between the two girls in the room. "She came back with her ring, Caroline. The one that looks like a rose, I think; she wears too many and I don't care enough to remember which one is which."

"It's supposed to protect her from any sort of death." Elena added from behind Damon, and Stefan hummed; an idea hitting him.

"I did die, I just came back with the help of a little trinket that I keep close at all time, even in the modern day."

"So she's not going to die." Caroline concluded. "Are we sure?" She then asked, causing Damon press his lips together and sneak a glance at Elena from the corner of his eye. "Well, then tell me how she even blacked out last night, and still hasn't woken up."

Elena sucked in a breath, trying to hide her knowledge of the previous night's events. However, she only found three of three vampires in the room turning around to stare at her and it was then when she realized that her sudden intake of air was audible to vampire ears. "You know something." Damon said. "Spit it out."

"I...uh," Elena bit her lip and looked at her feet, causing Damon to roll his eyes. "Last night, I gave Esther my blood..." Stefan nodded slowly, having heard that part from her. "But after I gave it to her she revealed that getting rid of Aurelia was a part of the plan..." Caroline's eyes bulged out of her skull as Stefan suddenly sped to Elena at that unnatural speed, glaring down at her. "I-I had no choice."