[MASQUERADE]

If love can fade, then so can pain

   "WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Jeremy Gilbert asked frantically, his eyes scanning over Elena as she screamed in pain, blood pooling from her back. Juliette ran over to her younger sister, putting her hands over the blood spilling from her back, trying everything to stop the bleeding.

Bonnie looked away from her best friend, "Jeremy, it's Katherine. She's linked to Katherine, get them to stop!" She exclaimed, worry all over her face as she switched places with Juliette, who looked down at her hands covered in blood.

"Juli, come on!" Jeremy shouted hastily, grabbing the blonde's arm and running towards the Lockwood mansion. They both desperately tried to run as fast as they could, well Juliette was relying mostly on Jeremy to drag her because she could barely walk in heels, never mind run.

Katherine was a shady bitch, she knew the group was planning to kill her so linking herself to Elena was the only way to save her life. What a coward.

Once the siblings had reached the room where Katherine, Damon and Stefan were trapped, they saw Damon just about to stake her. "Stop! You're hurting Elena!"

"Everything you're doing to her is hurting Elena!" Juliette seethed, her angry gaze fixed on the vampire that was currently on the floor, sending her a smirk back.

The raven-haired vampire froze mid-motion, his gaze snapping up in shock as he slowly rose to his feet, locking eyes with the brunette vampire. A flicker of shock danced across his features, he definitely wasn't expecting this.

The doppelgänger flashed a sly smile as Stefan released her from his grip, gracefully raising from the floor and smoothing her dress out. "You think you two are the only one with a witch on your side?" She teased, her eyes dancing between the four. "Wrong and something tells me that my witch is better than your witch."

"Is this a competition or something?" Juliette interjected sarcastically, rolling her eyes as Katherine shot her a glare.

Katherine casually plucked the stake out of Damon's hands, inspecting it as she paid no attention to what was going on around her. Stefan turned his gaze over to Jeremy and Juliette, "Go check on Elena. Make sure she's okay!" He commanded, a concerned look on his face.

Jeremy darted off, sprinting back to his sister's side, while Juliette remained behind, her glare fixed on the doppelgänger.

Juliette folded her arms, a smirk playing on her lips as she quipped, "Well, well, well, look who's resorting to desperate measures. Linking yourself to Elena? That's a new low, even for you, Katherine."

Katherine might retort with a confident smirk, "Oh, Juliette, always the cynic. But trust me, I have my reasons."

"Alright J, go see if your sister's alright and not try to pick fights tonight. Let the vampires deal with this one." Damon teased, amusement lacing his voice.

Juliette sent him a glare before storming downstairs, elbowing her way through oblivious partygoers as she rushed outside to find Elena.

"El, you doing okay?"

Elena nodded weakly, sobbing quietly as Jeremy said, "You were right; Katherine had a witch to link herself to Elena" Juliette clasped her sister's hands, whispering comforting words in her ear as Jeremy and Bonnie spoke.

The witch looked like she was thinking before she sprinted off, "The girl I saw, the one inside! Stay with her, keep pressure on her back!" Bonnie called out as she ran towards the mansion, a determined look on her face.

"Bonnie, where are you going!" Juliette shouted to her, confused as to why she was leaving when she needed to help Elena from not bleeding out to death. Her sister clung to her arm as she winced in pain, tears streaming down her face as she tried so hard to put a brave face on.

"There's another witch here, I'm gonna find her!" Bonnie replied before running back to the house. Juliette sighed, her eyes looking back to her sister as she mumbled, "Great, it's not like we need you or anything."

Elena sent her a pointed look but all Juliette did was shrug, knowing she was right.

Jeremy gently slipped his ring off his finger and placed it in Elena's palm. "No," she protested softly.

"Take it," he urged.

Elena shook her head, tears welling in her eyes. "No, Jeremy..."

"Elena, please," Jeremy insisted. "You need this more than I do."

Tears streaked down Elena's cheeks as she clutched his hand. "No, Jeremy. What I need is for you to be safe."

"Jer, the ring won't work on her. It's okay, she will be fine." Juliette comforted, taking the ring from Elena's weak hand and placing it back into Jeremy's. "Bonnie will find a way to unlink her, I promise."

The two younger siblings shared a look before nodding, trusting their older sisters' words. Jeremy sat down next to Elena, rubbing her back softly as she whimpered in pain.

Juliette looked over to Lockwood mansion, silently praying that Bonnie was doing something to help.

✧✧✧✧

BONNIE HAD MADE IT back to the Gilbert siblings, informing them that she had found the witch, who also happened to be a Bennett witch, and she unlinked the two doppelgängers.

Elena was healing, slowly but she was getting better. The two sisters stared out at the lake, Juliette watched Elena intently as they stood together.

Before this whole drama, Stefan and Elena broke up because of Katherine. But Juliette knew that getting rid of Katherine didn't change anything between them.

"Elena," Stefan said as he walked up the hill, the two girls looking at him. He still looked worried as he scanned Elena up and down, making sure she was all in one piece.

"I'm gonna go see if there's any food left because I am starving after that fiasco," Juliette announced, patting Stefan on the back as she smiled sadly at Elena, knowing what was about to go down.

Reaching the Lockwood mansion, she saw Damon leaning up against his car. Standing up straight as she approached him. "Hey Juju, drink?" He said as he held out the bottle of bourbon.

The blonde rolled her eyes and took the drink, taking a swig before saying, "What have I said about that nickname? It's weird and cringe Damon. I'm not gonna lie."

The vampire chuckled as he took the drink back, shaking his head as he said "Alright, no need to hurt my feelings." He taunts, his tone light as he hands the bottle back to Juliette.

✧✧✧✧

"YEAH JEREMY, I'VE GOT MY CAR. Tell Bonnie that whatever she did, I'm starting to feel better." Elena said over the phone. Juliette and she were walking to her car, one of the last people to leave the party.

Juliette hummed to herself as Elena continued to speak to Jeremy. "Yeah, you can drive her home. I'm just going to go straight to bed." She mumbled before handing the phone over to Juliette, knowing she wanted to say something.

"Bye-bye, dickhead"

Elena sent her a pointed glare to which Juliette giggled, "You definitely have mom's angry face." She exclaimed, causing her younger sister to chuckle as well.

As the laughing came to a stop they both silently walked towards the car, the memories of their parents filling their minds. "I can't believe it's been a year since they've died." Elena sighed, picking at her fingernails as Juliette realised she was getting upset.

She grabbed her younger sister's arm, pulling her to a stop. "Hey, I know it's tough but I'm here now. We will get through all this vampire drama together alright?"

Elena nodded before widening her eyes at something behind Juliette, the blonde furrowed her brows before everything went dark.

✧✧✧✧

[AUTHOR SPEAKS]

Hello everyone!

Thank you for choosing 'Born to Die' to read, I appreciate all of you!

So this book is named after the song 'Born to Die' by the queen Lana Del Ray so please take a few minutes to listen to that song, if you'd like!

I would love to publish more chapters for this so please make sure to vote and comment!

I hope to see you in the next chapter!

Bye, byeee

10/04/24