No Good Deed | Hale - TVD/TO/TW [3]

7 | Breaking the Curse

Owls hoot in the distance as fire crackles in her ear. The dizziness of her mind slows her reaction as she blinks awake, staring at the stars and the trees painting the sky black. Letting her gaze roam, she sees the still water of a lake behind a stone altar with a dark bowl.

When the smoke reaches her nose, Lexi jerks up, her eyes flying wide open as she covers her face with her hand. Flames circle around her, heat bombarding her face; everywhere she looks, fire lashes out at her.

A scream rips through her throat as the memories flood her mind. She covers her ears as their last breaths echo in the wind. The taste of ash sits on her tongue, and the crackle of fire consumes her.

She can hear her name, but she does not reply. Terror fills her gut as her rapidly beating heart throws itself against her ribs cage, begging to be let out. Nothing but the flames get through her panic, sending her spiraling down into the darkness of her mind.

"Alexis!"

Lexi opens her eyes. Klaus—in his own body—stands before her, his expression full of concern as he tears her hands away from her head. Without the flames screaming at her, Lexi finally feels her heart begin to calm as she stares into his identical eyes. "What happened?" She whispers, too afraid to raise her voice.

"I should be asking you that," Klaus replies. Slowly and gently, he presses a finger to the side of Lexi's head. 

When she winces, she clamps her hand over the new wound as Klaus shows her the blood coating his finger. As her claws sink back into her skin, Lexi yelps, shoving her hands down. "I-I didn't know," she says. "I did not realize I—"

She looks down as Klaus takes a step back. "Greta, no more fire for my sister, understand?"

Frowning, Lexi lets her gaze wander over the area: four women surround the siblings. Greta the witch stands at the stone altar with a wide smirk on her face. Elena and Jenna Sommers, both terrified out of their minds, stand in their respective circles of fire, staring at her. The last woman writhes in her cage, unable to fathom anyone's presence beside her own pain.

"Jules!" Lexi jumps forward, but an invisible force propels her into the cold stone behind her. Jagged pieces cut into her skin, but Lexi just gets back up and rushes towards the screaming werewolf again. "Jules!"

"Enough, sister," Klaus says. "I know you did not want to be here for this, but it has been a thousand years, and I'd very much like for you to see it."

"What do you mean?" Lexi's panic returns tenfold.

"Your little spell?" The grin on Klaus' face holds no humor, no compassion—only fury.

Lexi looks away. "How did you know?"

"Dearest Elena was quite talkative."

The glare that morphs on Lexi's face when she turns to Elena is downright deadly. If she had her magic, if she could wrap her hands around Elena's tiny neck, the girl would be wishing she were dead.

"So this is how you chose to punish me?" Lexi shouts, her anger covering the fear. "Killing my beta for the spell?"

Klaus shrugs as he walks over to the wolf. "Yes."

Running to the edge of her cage, Lexi attempts to catch the werewolf's eye. "Jules, listen to the sound of my voice," she says, carefully crafting her voice to reveal nothing. "Focus on your humanity. Focus on what makes you happy to be alive. Focus on what makes you furious beyond belief. Focus on what makes you human, Jules."

The woman looks up with pain clouding her vision. "I'm sorry, Lexi," she gasps. "I was just trying to help."

"I know." Tears slip down Lexi's cheeks. "and I know you're scared." Kneeling down, failing to ignore the fire between them, Lexi looks into Jules' eyes. "Don't be."