[CRYING WOLF]

do it for the plot.

HARLEE'S AND JULIETTE'S REUNION was cut short when Damon dragged her away and walked over to Elijah, asking him to talk. Juliette reluctantly followed as they entered the Lockwood's study.

Juliette sat against the table, messing with the end of her black dress as she looked up. Elijah's eyes were pinned on her while he spoke, "What can I do for you, Damon?"

His intense gaze made her shiver, her heart was beating against her chest. She felt the weight of his attention and couldn't help but feel self-conscious under his scrutiny.

"I was hoping we could have a word." Damon began, standing next to Juliette.

"Where's Elena?" Elijah countered, finally looking away from the blonde.

Juliette felt a mixture of relief and disappointment as his gaze left her. Her heart seemed to slow down to a normal pace and she could finally breathe again as she watched Elijah stand behind the couch, staring out the window in front of him. "Safe with Stefan," Juliette replied, crossing her arms over her chest as she watched Elijah carefully.

She knew that she wasn't supposed to, but she couldn't tear her eyes off of him. It was like he was a magnet, and Juliette was drawing closer and closer to him.

The blonde lifted her hand and brushed it against her lips, still feeling the ghost of his lips on hers. She suddenly wished that she hadn't pulled away last night, that she gave him to her temptations because maybe then, being in the same room as him would be easier.

"They're laying low, you know, bit of a werewolf problem." Damon continued, sarcasm dripping from each word.

"Oh, yeah, I heard about that." Elijah marched his energy, smirking as he finished his sentence. Juliette rolled her eyes as she could practically feel the electric hatred the two men shared.

Can they please stop trying to one-up each other? It's getting boring.

"I'm sure you did since it was your witch who saved the day." Damon rolled his eyes, his sarcasm not missing a beat.

"You are welcome," Elijah replied, finally turning to look at the two. This time, Juliette didn't look away, her mind telling her to but she physically couldn't pull away.

She didn't know what it was but she felt herself drawn to him, as if there was an invisible thread connecting them.

Juliette didn't look away when Damon sat next to her on the desk, "Which adds to my confusion on exactly why you're here."

The blonde once again rolled her eyes, looking at Damon as he tried to make himself look big and bad.

"Why don't you just stay focused on keeping Elena safe?" Elijah countered. "And leave the rest to me." He finished, smugly, a smirk on his lips as he turned around to walk out the door.

Damon looks over to Juliette who knew what he was going to do, she shook her head repeatedly, trying desperately to convince her not to challenge Elijah because he will get his ass beat.

Nevertheless, Damon's vamp speeds in front of him, blocking the way out.

"Not good enough," Damon said, his eyes burning with defiance.

Juliette stood up from the desk, "Damon, knock it off." She sighed, frustration evident in her voice.

But they carried on, without a moment's hesitation, Elijah grabbed Damon by the throat and vamp-speeded him into a wall. The impact was fierce, the sound echoing through the room. Damon, in retaliation, grabbed Elijah's throat, his grip tight and desperate.

Elijah, with effortless strength, grabbed Damon's hand and easily pulled it off his neck, making sure to crush Damon's hand as he did so. Damon groaned in pain, the sound harsh and guttural.

Juliette's eyes widened slightly as she watched Elijah hold Damon against the wall by his throat. "Oh great, macho vampire showdown," she muttered sarcastically, stepping closer. "Can you guys not?"

Elijah's gaze never left Damon's as he spoke, his voice cold and commanding. "You young vampires, so arrogant." He dropped Damon's hand from his own but continued to pin him to the wall by his throat. "How dare you come in here and challenge me?"

Why's that kinda hot? NO STOP.

Damon struggled against Elijah's grip, his voice strayed but defiant. "You can't kill me, man. It's not part of the deal."

Elijah's eyes narrowed, his grip tightening. "Silence." He grabbed a pencil from the desk behind him and stabbed it through the Salvatore's neck, blood splattering everywhere. Damon clutched at the pencil, yelling in pain.

Elijah let go of Damon, who fell against the desk and painfully removed the pencil, clapping his hand over the bloody wound.

Elijah straightened his jacket, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the blood off his hands. "I'm an original. Show a little respect." He spat out. Juliette scoffed as she watched the two men in disbelief.

He dangled the handkerchief in front of Damon, who hastily grabbed it and placed it on the wound, trying to stop the bleeding.

Elijah's eyes were icy as he leaned closer to Damon. "The moment you cease to be of use to me, you're dead. So you should do as I say. Keep Elena safe."

He turned away from Damon and walked a few steps before stopping in front of an annoyed Juliette, "There was just no need for that, was there?" She said, frustration evident in her voice as she raised her brow.

Elijah smiled at her as his eyes flickered from her eyes to her lips, desperately fighting the urge to kiss her once again. "Keep your friend in check, yes?" He mumbled, inching closer to the blonde.

Juliette scoffed as he smirked at her before leaving the room, his hand brushing over hers gently, sending shivers down her spine as she looked at Damon.

"He's a dick," Damon mumbled as he stood up straight, removing the handkerchief from his neck before throwing it on the floor.

"You're both dicks." Juliette countered before walking out of the room, slamming the door behind her as her eyes scanned the room before spotting Harlee.

Finally, a normal person.

Juliette pushed through the crowd of women standing in the middle of the hall, gossiping and made her way over to Harlee.

"Hey, there you are. Where did you go off to?" The brunette asked as Juliette walked over to her, sighing as she leaned against the wall.

"Supernatural drama as usual. You remember me telling you about that Original vampire being in town?"

Harlee nodded, "Elijah? The incredibly handsome one?" She smirked at Juliette, wiggling her eyebrows at her.

"Yeah- What? No! I didn't say that to you!" Juliette's cheeks burned as out of the corner of her eye, she could see Elijah standing with Carol and a few other women but his gaze was on Juliette.

Great, he definitely heard that.

"You did when you called me—" Harlee began, but Juliette quickly cut her off.

"Okay, Harlee, in case you forgot, he's a vampire and can hear you," Juliette interjected, covering her face in embarrassment.

The brunette giggled, realising her mistake. "Right, I forgot about that."

Juliette peeked through her fingers, sighing "Yeah, great thanks."

This is the second he's caught me saying he's good-looking, his ego must be huge.

Elijah smirked as he watched Juliette continue talking with her friend. Her angelic laugh made his nonexistent heart skip a beat.

How he wished he could walk over there and kiss her but he couldn't. Not yet anyway.

✧✧✧✧

"TODAY WAS A BUST." Damon groaned as he, Alaric and Juliette sat on the couches in the Salvatore boarding house, everyone feeling slightly defeated.

"Yeah. How's the throat?" Alaric asked, taking a sip of his bourbon.

"Sore," Damon replied.

"That's what you get for being an ass," Juliette replied as she lay down on the couch, sighing in content as her entire body seemed to relax.

"That Elijah's one scary dude but with nice hair," Alaric mumbled, Juliette, humming in agreement as she stood up from the couch.

"I'm raiding your fridge, I'm starving."

"Don't break anything," Damon commented as she passed by. Juliette rolled her eyes and slapped the back of his head causing him to groan in pain.

"You're a dick, you know that, right?" Damon called out to her as Juliette just chuckled, walking out of the room and into the kitchen.

She was starving, since she was at the Lockwood's most of the day and dealing with Damon and Elijah's idiocy, she forgot to eat. Which was something she often did, she would be so busy dealing with whatever was going on in the day, that when she was done, she realised she hadn't eaten.

Juliette first checked the cupboards, finding them nearly empty. As she walked toward the fridge, her phone vibrated. She paused to read a message from Harlee, then put her phone back in her pocket.

When she moved her hand toward the fridge, the door opened by itself, without her even touching it. Juliette froze in her spot as she stared at the door swinging back and forth slightly, her mind trying to make sense of what had just happened.

Did I do that?

But how-?

The blonde slammed the refrigerator door shut, running her hands through her hair as she spiralled. That was the second time that had happened to her in the past few weeks and she didn't understand why.

She didn't understand a lot of things that were happening to her lately.

The voices, the moving things with her hands. Juliette was quite literally going insane and nobody had noticed.

She stared down at her hands for a moment before looking back up at the fridge, an idea crossing her mind as she took a step closer.

Maybe the door was broken or maybe it was a one-off thing. If it was either of those then surely the door wouldn't open if she tried again.

Juliette brought her hand in front of her, feeling slightly embarrassed she was doing this, and flicked her wrist and the fridge door slowly opened once again.

"What the hell?" She mumbled under her breath as her chest suddenly felt tighter. Juliette couldn't understand what was going on, why she had just opened the door with just a flick of her wrist.

No, No. It was just a mistake! The door-

Juliette's thoughts came to a halt when a loud crash interrupted her. She spun around on her heels and glanced through the kitchen door before walking out cautiously.

She found Alaric on the floor and Damon nearby, "What the hell happened guys-" she began, but her words were cut off by a sudden sharp pain in her stomach. She screamed as she looked down to see a stake protruding from her abdomen.

Panic surged through her as she stumbled backwards, trying to process the excruciating pain. Her vision blurred, as she collapsed to the floor, struggling to breathe.

As darkness closed in, her consciousness faded, leaving her in a haze of agony.

✧✧✧✧

Whoops

I struggled to write this chapter and I don't know why, I think it's because I have been writing every day for a while so I think I'm burnt out but oh well.

I know everything might seem strange at the moment but I promise you, everything will be explained soon enough and I'm so excited for that to happen!

I hope to see you in the next chapter!

Byeeee

25/07/24