BORN TO DIE, stefan salvatore [1]

40 - AS I LAY DYING

BORN TO DIE
AS I LAY DYING

MADELEINE GENTLY KICKED THEO'S LIFELESS BODY. The boy stirred, rolling in pain before he fully regained consciousness. Theo squinted from the sun beaming down on him. He didn't expect to see Madeleine again, much less with blood trickled down her shirt and across her mouth.

"I know you don't trust me, and honestly, I don't trust you, but if either of us want a chance at surviving, we're going to have to get through this together." Madeleine declared. She lowered her hand to him. "Can you help me?"

Theo gingerly accepted his cousin's hand. He stood to his feet and dusted off his clothes. He looked Madeleine up and down. "What's wrong with you?"

Before Madeleine could even answer, she released another cough of blood. "It's Helene and your grandmother. I can sense them. They're trying to kill me from wherever they are."

"The distance is probably what's weakening the spell. I say you have about an hour before you cough up a lung." That was no comfort at all. 

"Do you have a plan or just bad news?" The blonde asked exasperatedly.

Theo reached forward and wrapped his hand around her necklace. "Aperta"

A glow emitted through the cracks of his fingers. It died down as he let go. Madeleine touched the crystal protectively. "What did you do?"

"I noticed that your necklace was dormant when we met. I've activated its protection charm, it should buy us some time." The blonde was baffled. She had no idea that her necklace had any magical power whatsoever. The necklace that was her mother's. She couldn't help but wonder if she was meant to find it. It gave her a small comfort.

Madeleine cleared her throat. "So what do we do now?"

"They're most likely heading back to San Francisco. They'll want the support of the coven, especially if Elijah comes knocking on their door. We should head towards Illinois. We have a cousin out there. He might be willing to help us."

Madeleine coughed again. "I don't know if I can make it that far."

"The crystal is blocking what it can, for the spell to work it needs to be in constant progress. My mom and grandma aren't going to hold on that long. They'll give up, but they might try again when they have more power."

"And if you're wrong?"

"Then feel free to leave me out of the will."

☆☆☆

Despite every reason that told Madeleine this was a bad idea, she got in the car with Theo. Madeleine wanted to go home. She missed her dad and her friends. But this wasn't over. Going to Mystic Falls was only going to put everyone in danger. They were already dealing with enough threats to their lives without Madeleine inviting another one. She would deal with this, and then she would go home. God knows how they were going to manage that though.