Disclaimer : I Own Nothing
these 2 chaps were for giving background and context the next one also will pull everything till the kidnap of the girls then the fight will start
this is the bonus chap I counted the stones just now it definitely met the 100 stones milestone
hence quota fulfilled posting the next chap immediately
this week powerstones 1/100
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Mystic Falls High School – Classroom
Caroline paced near the window, resisting the urge to break something. Every second they wasted stuck here was another second closer to disaster.
Bonnie hunched over the desk, her chanting a steady rhythm, the dim glow from the lamp throwing sharp shadows across her face. The moment the blood hit the map, it should have moved. It had to move.
But it didn't.
"Esther is fighting me."
Of course, she was. The woman had cheated death once—why stop now?
Klaus stood nearby, infuriatingly unreadable. No panic. No urgency. Just that cold, calculating stillness of a predator waiting to strike.
"Esther couldn't possibly have this much power. Unless she's channeling something."
Caroline folded her arms, forcing down the creeping sense of helplessness. If Esther had tapped into something, then they were officially screwed.
Klaus seemed to realize it first. "Get the humans ready. I know where she is."
Oh great. Another suicide mission.
The gym was too quiet. Too still. The kind of quiet that came right before everything exploded.
Stefan's face was tight, his gaze darting between his phone and the door like either one could magically fix this mess.
"They're at the old cemetery," he said, voice clipped. "Jeremy and Matt are headed there right now."
Caroline's stomach dropped. "You let them go?! They're gonna get themselves killed!"
Of course, they had gone. Because that's what people in this town did. They threw themselves into the fire, over and over, and for some reason, they always expected her to do the same. Just Caroline Forbes, ready to charge headfirst into another impossible fight because that's what good people did.
Because that's what she did.
But she was tired. No one ever stopped to ask if she wanted to. If she was okay. If she was scared.
Stefan exhaled, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I didn't have a choice, Caroline. We're useless right now, stuck in here."
Useless. Right. Like she wasn't always made to feel that way when she wasn't actively bleeding for the cause.
She crossed her arms, shoving down the creeping helplessness. "Hey, she'll be fine. Elena always manages to get through this stuff." It sounded like reassurance, but really, it was just blind hope.
Stefan didn't look convinced. "Yeah, well, I'm just as worried about what Esther is up to. She led Klaus here for a reason. If she succeeds in whatever she's doing—"
Tyler cut in, his voice edged with something sharp and dark. "—Klaus could get killed. And I die along with him."
Stefan's jaw clenched. "No one is gonna die, okay? Bonnie is still looking for a way around the boundary spell. It's not too late."
He turned and left, taking all his nervous energy with him.
Tyler stood beside her, arms folded tight. The weight of what he'd said pressed down on her.
"So, best-case scenario: Bonnie gets us out, Klaus hauls ass to Timbuktu, and you and I? We're home free."
That was the plan, right? The right one? But the words felt empty.
Tyler's expression hardened. "Or we let Esther come and kill him."
Caroline went rigid. "That's not a best-case scenario. That's not even a remotely acceptable scenario."
Why did it feel like she was the only one who saw it? The weight of what Klaus had done. The pull of something she couldn't name. She should have agreed with Tyler. She should have wanted Klaus dead.
But the thought made her stomach twist.
His eyes flashed. "It would be an option if we knew he wasn't the one who turned your bloodline. You'd be safe. At least he'd be gone."
Safe. Right. That was all that mattered. Except… it wasn't.
"How could you say that?" she whispered.
"Because I'm angry," Tyler snapped. "Because I hate him! I should have never let him dance with you!"
Caroline let out a breathless laugh, shaking her head. "What were you supposed to do? He can't know you're not sired anymore. Tyler, it doesn't matter how many times I dance with him."
She stepped closer, pressing her hand against his chest. "I love you."
And she did. She always had. But it was different now.
Tyler was a boy. Love that was familiar, that made sense. Safe. Strong. Predictable.
But Klaus…
Klaus was something else entirely. Something more. Something that had no end, no boundaries, no rules.
Eternal.
And that terrified her.
Tyler's anger cracked, his hands framing her face as he kissed her, fierce and desperate, like he needed to hold onto something real.
And she kissed him back, because if she let go, she wasn't sure what she'd be reaching for.
Cemetery
Blood. It always came down to blood.
Caroline hovered at the tomb's edge, unseen but painfully aware of what was happening inside. Candlelight flickered against the cold stone walls, casting twisted shadows over Esther's ritual. The air reeked of wax and something metallic—Elena's blood.
She wanted to rush in, to rip Esther away from her friend, to do something—but she was powerless, stuck on the sidelines as another nightmare unfolded. Her fists clenched, nails biting into her palms. Think, Caroline, think. Running in blindly would only get her killed, and she refused to be another casualty in this endless war.
Alaric's voice sliced through the tomb, sharp and bitter.
"You don't know who I am, Elena. You only know the weakest parts of me, the man who lost his way befriending vampires instead of killing them."
A chill slid down her spine. This wasn't the man who had protected them, who had been their friend. This was someone stripped down to his worst instincts, molded into a weapon by the very woman who had birthed Klaus. And now, Esther was playing him like a pawn, positioning him to take out the people Caroline loved.
"Drink. And let it be done."
Her breath hitched as the blood slipped past Alaric's lips, sealing his fate. No, no, no. This was spiraling too fast. Elena's desperate cries were drowned out by the crackling magic in the air, the inevitable hammer of doom crashing down when Esther rammed the White Oak Stake into Alaric's chest.
A gasp clawed at Caroline's throat, but she slapped a hand over her mouth before it could escape. She had to get out of here. She had to warn the others.
Alaric was gone. But something worse was about to take his place.
The air was thick with death. Not the kind that came quickly, with fangs in your throat or a stake to the heart. No, this was the slow kind. The kind that settled in the bones, stretched time thin, made every second feel like it was scraping against your skin.
Alaric lay still inside the Salvatore tomb. He looked almost peaceful, but I knew better. Peace didn't exist in Mystic Falls, not for people like us. Elena's hands were tight around the white oak stake as she pulled it out of him, her face torn between grief and fury.
Esther watched with the same detached coldness she always had, like we were pieces on a chessboard she was so close to wiping clean. "He'll wake soon," she said, as if this was some mercy. "When he does, he may for a time be his old self. If so, you can say your goodbyes before his transition is complete."
Elena's voice cracked. "You said you wanted to undo the evil that you created, but this… this is just as evil!"
Wasn't that the way it always was? Someone deciding what was best for everyone else. Someone playing god. Someone picking who deserved to live and who was just collateral damage.
Esther didn't blink. "Alaric will never be what my children became. I have granted him enough power to complete his task. Then, when the time is right, he will die."
Die. That word shouldn't have felt inevitable, but it did. It always did.
Elena shook her head, desperate. "How, if he's immortal?"
"All you need to know," Esther said, her voice patient like she was explaining something obvious, "is that when this is over, we will have rid the earth of vampires once and for all."
I felt my stomach twist. I hated Klaus. I hated what he had done to me, to Tyler, to everyone. But the way Esther spoke, the way she grouped us all together—good, bad, didn't matter—made my skin crawl. Like we were all just stains on the world that needed to be erased.
Elena's voice rose. "Yeah, but you'll be killing the good along with the bad! You're no better than Klaus!"
Esther tilted her head. "Am I not? I desire a world where you and your loved ones will not suffer at the hands of vampires, like your Aunt Jenna did."
Jenna. I saw it hit Elena like a punch to the gut. She sucked in a breath, her entire body trembling. "Don't you dare use Jenna as an excuse for what you've done."
Esther's gaze softened, like she thought she was offering comfort. "You may draw comfort knowing that your aunt is not in the place that I was. She doesn't know the torment of The Other Side. Though made a vampire, she remained pure. She knows peace. Which is all any of us can hope for."
I heard the crunch of footsteps outside. Esther's head snapped up, her expression sharpening. She turned and stepped outside, and I followed just in time to see Matt and Jeremy, standing in the clearing, weapons raised.
Matt's rifle. Jeremy's crossbow. Two humans facing down something ancient and merciless. My breath caught.
"Don't move!" Matt barked.
Jeremy's eyes darted past Esther. "Where's Elena?"
Elena rushed out behind Esther, breathless. "Jeremy!"
Jeremy's grip tightened on his crossbow. "Let her go."
Esther exhaled, like she was disappointed. "How foolish of you, to risk your lives in defense of those who will kill you. But if that is your choice…"
Suddenly, Matt and Jeremy twisted, their own hands betraying them. Jeremy's crossbow aimed straight at Matt. Matt's rifle lifted to Jeremy's chest. Horror flashed across both their faces.
Jeremy's voice was raw. "Matt! Matt, drop your gun!"
"I can't! I'm not controlling it!"
"Esther, stop it!" Elena screamed, stepping forward.
But then, a blur. A flash of movement behind Esther, and the sickening sound of a blade sinking into flesh. Esther stiffened, her mouth opening in a soundless gasp. The magic snapped, and Matt and Jeremy staggered apart, free.
Alaric stood behind her, hand clenched around the hilt of the dagger buried in her back. His breath came fast, his eyes wild with confusion. "Oh my god." His fingers twitched. "Where's my ring? Tell me what happened."
—
Later, at the cemetery, we all stood outside the tomb, the weight of what was coming pressing down on us. The candles flickered in the night, casting everything in a soft, wavering glow. It should have felt peaceful, but it didn't. Nothing about this was peaceful.
Jeremy's voice was thick with disbelief. "So what? We're just gonna lock you in here and let you die?"
Alaric didn't answer. And that silence was worse than anything he could have said.
Jeremy's head shook, frantic. "No, no, we can't!"
Alaric's voice was calm. Too calm. "Listen, Jeremy, it's the right thing to do, okay? After everything that's happened, after all that I have done. Maybe I had it coming."
Jeremy turned away, his shoulders stiff, his hands clenched. Elena moved toward him. "Hey, wait, Jer—"
Alaric looked at her, and I saw it then. The understanding. The finality. The love. "Please, you guys, let's not make this any harder than it already is. You two should go. Damon's here. He'll make sure it all goes down the right way."
Jeremy let out a breath that sounded like it hurt. "Don't." His voice cracked. "Don't give me some crap speech about how I need to be the man of the house."
Alaric gave a weak smile. "Okay, I won't."
And then he hugged him. Jeremy held on like if he let go, everything would break apart. But then he did, and he walked away, shoulders hunched like the weight was too much.
Elena was shaking. "This is all my fault. You moved out, you gave me your ring back, you didn't want any part of this and I—I forced you to stay and take care of us."
Alaric reached out, rested a hand on her cheek. "Don't do that, okay? Taking care of you and Jeremy has been—has been the closest I've ever come to the life I always wanted."
Elena broke. She collapsed into him, sobbing, and he held her tight. Like a father. Like a friend. Like something we were about to lose forever.
And then he let go. And he turned back into the tomb. And the gate closed between us.
I swallowed hard, my throat tight. Alaric wasn't perfect. He had been angry, reckless, lost. But he had loved us. He had protected us. And now we were losing him, and I hated how helpless I felt.
The candles flickered. The night stretched on.
And Mystic Falls lost another piece of itself.
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Word Count - 2326
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