The drive to Sheila Bennett's house was silent. The kind of silence that clung to the skin. It was thick and unsettled, breathing in time with the three of us. Outside, the streets of Mystic Falls stretched endless and dark, painted in streaks of yellow from passing lamps. The faint hum of the car engine filled the air. It was the only heartbeat that dared to exist between us.
Elena sat in the passenger seat. Her hands clenched around each other. I could smell the metallic tang of blood drying on her wrist. It was not much but enough to remind me of what almost happened.
Bonnie sat behind me. She was pressed against the corner of the seat. Her eyes fixed on the window as if she could disappear into the passing shadows. The reflection of her face flickered in the glass. It was fear, confussion and something else. Recognition, maybe. Witches always felt it, even when they didn't understand it yet.
I could feel her watching me through the rareview mirror. Quietly. Cautiously.
Her aura pulsed like a storm in its infancy. It was untamed and raw. She didn't trust me, not yet. And I didn't blame her.
The smell of smoke from the alley still clung to my clothes. Anna and Noah may not be dead, but they'd remember. Fear was a far better lesson than death.
I gripped the steering wheel tighter, feeling the hum of my own pulse through the leather. I hadn't planned to intervene tonight. I never did plane to expose myself to them. I never did. But something about Elena's scream and Bonnie frozen in place with panic had cut through my restraint.
The car's headlights washed over familiar trees and the road that led to the Bennett house. The further we drove, the heavier the air grew, charged, like the world itself knew we were approaching something sacred. By the time the porch light came into view, I could already feel the hum of Sheila Bennett's magic bleeding into the night. It was ancient, patient and powerful.
My fingers itched against the wheel. It had been centuries since I stood at a witch's doorstep. Centuries since I allowed myself this close to the kind of power that once haunted me.
"Thank you for saving us, but you didn't have to risk your life for us. Bonnie is a witch. She can handle them." Elena broke the silence first. Her voice was quiet. It was trembling just enough to betray the weight of what she wasn't saying. I can sense gratitude and suspicion, both were tangled togetherr.
"I did. And Bonnie may be a witch, but she is still new with her powers. She cant handle both of them." I said but I didn't look at her.
"Why did you save us?" Elena asked with a frown, glancing at me.
'Because I saw a part of myself in you. Because I couldn't stand to watch another innocent die in a town that never learns.' But I didn't say it out loud.
"Because I don't like seeing good people bleed." I said instead.
"And you two seemed to have a habit of walking into trouble that you don't understand." I added and Bonnie scoffed softly as she heard my words, with her arms crossed.
"And you do?" She said. I met her gaze in the mirror.
"I have spent more lifetimes than you have drawn breaths, Miss Bennett. Trouble and I are well acquainted." I said. Bonnie's eyes narrowed, but she said nothing. I could sense the skepticism pulsing off her. It was the kind that came from knowing I wasn't lying and wishing I was.
We pulled up to the house. Light poured through the windows. It was the kind of warm, living glow that only existed in places filled with love and lineage. Candles burned in nearly every corner. The air thrummed with energy, a sign for a spell in motion. I could taste the herbs from here.
"She's doing a locator spell." I murmured.
"For us?" Elena asked as she turned to me and I nodded.
"She will find you before we even step out." I added.
We got out of the car. Gravel cunched under my boots, the night air biting against my skin, not that I minded. Cold never bothered me. It reminded me I was still here, still in control.
"My grandmother going to...she is not going to like this." Bonnie said as she hesitated at the base of the steps.
"She's going to be relieved you are alive." I said when I could sense the worry and mention from Bonnie.
"What she feels about me comes second." I added as I climbed the stairs.
I stood at the front of the door, and the door swung open before I could knock. Perhaps she could sense my presence the moment I climb the first step.
Sheila Bennett stood in the doorway. The candlelight catching on her eyes. Her eyes shows wise, and they were sharp and deeply unsettled. The spell she'd been casting still lingering in her aura, shimmering faintly around her fingers. I could see the moment her gaze fell on me. I could see recognition flaring like lightning behind her composure.
'She know who I am.'
For a heartbeat, no one dare to moved.
Then her eyes shifted to Bonnie, and the tension in her shoulders softened.
"Bonnie." Her voice trembled, part relief, part disbelief. She pulled her granddaughter into her arms, holding her tightly.
"Thank God, you are safe." She said, and Bonnie melted into her, exhaling a sob she'd been holding since the alley. That was the moment that I realize that what had happened in the alley shake her more then I imagine.
Elena was next. She was pulled swiftly into Stefan's waiting arms as he appeared from the hallway. His eyes was burning with worry.
"Are you alright?" His hands skimmed her shoulders, checking her wounds. His movement stops when he sees the injuries on Elena's wrist.
"Elena, what happened?" He asked.
"I am fine Stefan. Natalia saved me and Bonnie from Anna and Noah. She-" Elena didn't finish her sentence as her gaze flickered toward me. Stefan followed it and his eyes narrowed at me.
"I remember you." He said slowly.
"You were in town a few weeks ago. You gave Elena that bracelet. You said it would mask her scent from who want to harm her." Stefan said as he defensively pulled Elena to stand to his side, shielding her.
"I did." I tilted my head slightly.
"It didn't work. Anna still found her." His tone sharpened.
It would have, if she'd worn it." I said with a faint smile, before my eyes landed on Elena's. Elena blinked, startled as she looking down at her bare wrist.
"I... I took it off." She said.
"Of course you did. Humans never keep what they don't understand." I said and my voice carried no malice, only resignation.
"We don't know you. We have to be careful." Stefan said.
"You don't need to explain more Stefan. I am not a teenager who gets offended easily." I added, but before Stefan could respond, another voice cut through the air. It was low and calm, but edged like a blade.
"It is wise for you to not trust her Stefan. She is not someone who have a great history." Sheila said.
"Her name is Natalia Petrova." Sheila added, her gaze fixed on me. My eyes landed on her, emotionless.
"I know you recognize me, Ms.Bennett." I said and the room went still. bonnie stiffened in her grandmother's arms. Stefan's eyes widened, confusion and disbelief flashing across his face.
"Petrova?" He repeated.
"Like Katherine?" He continued.
"Exactly like Katherine. Only older, and far more dangerous." Sheila said.
"She is a witch and a vampire. Two creature that are not meant to be one. She defy nature. She-"
"And yet I was created by nature itself." I said.
"Which was a mistake." Sheila answered, but I didn't give a respond to her. I only look at her with a calm face.
The air thickened around us, charged with a tension that hummed through the wooden floorboards. I could feel their fear, the way it crawled through the air. It was slow and hesitant. Like prey trying not to draw the predator's eye.
I didn't move. Didn't need to. My stillness said enough.
"May I come in?" I asked finally, breaking the silent. My tone was smooth, almost polite and Sheila didn't answer.
I smiled faintly, not out of arrogance, but the inevitability of it and I stepped forward. The threshold gave way beneath my foot without resistance.
Elena gasped. Stefan's eyes widened. Bonnie's breath caught.
"How did you-" I can sense that Sheila was surprised that I can enter her house without an invitation.
"I guess your ancestor's journals and grimoires didn't tell you about my gifts?" I said.
"I don't need an invitation. One of the perks of being what I am." I said softly as my gaze sweeping the room.
"Abominations don't need permission to trespass." Sheila said and her jaw tightened. I turned to her, my face was still calm and showed that I was unbothered with her words.
"Careful Ms.Bennett. words carry power, especially in a house like this." I said.
Her magic flared. It was faint but defensive. I felt it brush against my aura and dissipate, like wind against stone. She understood then, what I truly was. I was not just a mere vampire, not just a raw witch, but something forged from both cursed and consequences, and the power that runs in my veins, are not something that she has seen or read.
"Why are you here?" Stefan asked, trying to break the silent battle between me and Sheila. He stepped slightly in front of the three woman, protective by instinct.
"To make sure that tomb stays sealed." I said as I lowering myself into the nearest armchair with measured grace.
"And to ensure none of the creatures inside ever see daylight again." I added. Hearing my words, Sheila folded her arms, studying me with eyes that had seen generations rise and fall.
"And why would that concern you?" She asked.
"Because if that tomb opens, Katherine Pierce walks free." I said quietly.
"And?" Stefan's face hardened.
"And she should never walk this earth again." I said.
"Back in 1848, I worked hard to capture her. the plan was simple. Burn every vampire inside that church and end it for good. That was my justice and my mercy." I said.
"But your father, Giuseppe, he couldn't go through with it. Losing you and your brother to something that he have devoted his life to hunt broke him. And in his gried, he went against me, against everything we agreed on."
"Instead of fire, he choose to lock them in that tomb. Said he wanted to suffer slowly. He wanted them to feel what it was like to rot away piece by piece. And now, after all these years, all I want is for that mistake to stay buried. Those vampires were meant to die, not to be freed. They belong in that tomb forever. And that includes Katherine." I said and a silence fell. It was heavy and sharp. The candle flames flickered.
"You know my father?" Stefan asked. I could sense something heavy from his question.
"We have cross path. I was the mastermind to the vampire's massacre in 1848. The church was my idea, the tomb was your father's."
"Katherine, she destroyed families. Ruined lives. She is chaos in silk. You think Damon is a problem now? Wait until Katherine gets her freedom. You will have problems that you cannot handle." I said and Stefan flinched at Damon's name. I could see guilt flashing across his features.
"I know your brother. He won't stop until that tomb opens. He thinks Katherine truly loves him. He is wrong. Katherine doesn't know what love is. He is chasing a ghost that never existed." I said, reading his thoughts easily.
"But if free Katherine, Damon will stop. No more killings. No more blood." Elena finally spoke, her voice quiet but firm.
"What guarantee do you have that is what will happen? Damon love Katherine. He will do what she wants. What make you think that Katherine will not want more blood?" I said and Elena didn't answer me. She seemed to be finding the right thing to say. I look at her, really looked. The human optimism in her eyes, the fragile hope that things could be fixed.
"You think you can negotiate with monsters, Elena. But once you open that tomb, you are not freeing one. You are freeing twenty seven. You will drown this town in blood." I said and her chin lifted slightly. Defiance flickering through her fear.
"Then help us find another way." Elena said and I almost smiled, almost.
"Another way doesn't exist." I said and there were silence again.
"You could kill Damon." I said, breaking the silence. My voice was calm and factual.
"End his obsession. End this chaos before it begins." I added.
"No. He's my brother. As much as he is lost, I won't let you kill him." Stefan's voice was sharp, his eyes cold.
"Then perhaps you should decide what matters more. Family or survival." I said softly. Bonnie flinched at my tone. Sheila's glare sharpened. Her magic flaring faintly.
"You speak of survival, and yet you have slaughtered thousands. You talk about righteousness, but your hands are soaked in blood." Sheila said and I met her eyes steadily.
"And I have spent six hundred years washing them clean." My words hung in the air, quiet but unyielding. For a long moment, no one spoke. The only sound was the crackled of a candle.
"If you have reallyt changed, then prove it." Elena said as she stepped forward. Her voice was gentle and careful. Her words struck deeper than I expected.
Compassion. I'd learned was a weapon humans wielded far better than steel. I used to wield it too. When I was human.
I held her gaze, every instinct in me screaming to walk away. But the girl had fire in her. The kind that burned quietly, but long enough to scar the soul. My judgement was right. Elena is nothing like Katherine.
"Fine. But I will do it my way." I said at last. My voice was soft, almost reluctant. Elena nodded, relief washing over her face.
"And we will need a Bennett witch to open the tomb. It was Emily, a Bennett witch that sealed the tomb. It will require someone from her bloodline to unsealed the tomb. That is why Anna need you Bonnie." I said.
"I will do it. Bonnie is not strong enough for that kind of magic." Sheila said.
"But grams, I can help." Bonnie said.
"I know you want to help but you are still new with your powers. This will be too much for you." Sheila added.
"Well. As much as I am touch with this moment, but you cant do this alone Sheila. I am not trying to be rude, but you are old. You wont survive if you do the spell alone." I said.
"You don't know how strong I am."
"With all due respect Sheila. You have been trying to sent aneurysm towards me since the moment I enter your house, and it didn't work. If you cant do that, how can you amange to unsealed the tomb alone. We will need both of you." I said.
"I will talk to Damon." Elena said.
"Good luck with that." I said as I rose and straightening my coat.
As she walk to Stefan's car, I felt Stefan's eyes linger on me. He followed me outside to my car. The night had grown colder. The air was heavy with unspoken things.
"Can I trust you?" He askedf quietly.
I turned to him, meeting his gaze head on. His caution was palpable. His curiosity stronger still. There was something about him. Not the same kind of arrogance I'd seen in Damon, but it was a gentleness he tried too hard to hide.
"No matter what I say, you will doubt me. The only way to know is to let me show you." I told him and he didn't answer. He just nodded once, reluctantly. I nodded at him back before I got into my car, starting the engine.
As I drove away, Mystic Falls disappeared behind me. A town full of ghosts, both living and dead. My reflection flickered faintly in the window. It was the face of someone who'd lived too long and felt too much.
By the time I reached my mansion, the sky and turned indigo. The heavy doors opened with a soft creak and the marble floors echoing beneath my boots. The place was silent. It was my sanctuary and my prison.
I walked straight to the library, past portraits older than this country, past relics of lives I no longer remembered. My fingers brushed along the shelves until they found the old grimoire, bound in cracked black leather.
The magic inside pulsed like a heartbeat.
I flipped through the pages slowly, eyes tracing the inked runes. Then I found it. The spell that I needed. One that would make sure to unseal the tomb long enough for me to let Damon and Katherine walk out, and once they are out, I will kill Katherine.
I pressed my palm flat against the page. The symbols pulsed faintly beneath my hand, responding to the echo of my power.
"Forgive me." I murmured, though I wasn't sure to whom I spoke.
Perhaps to the girl I used to be.
Or to the promise that I made with Elena in helping them to let Damon have what he wanted.
Either way, I meant it.
Tomorrow night, the real war would begin.
I flipped through the pages slowly, eyes tracing the inked ruined. Then I found it. The spell I needed.poelel pell I needed. One that would make sure to unsela
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