[THE SACRAFICE]

let me go, see who stays.

SO SLATER WASN'T GOING TO be much help, considering he's desiccated in his bathroom. So this whole trip was for nothing, Juliette thought as she sighed, watching as Rose dragged her friend's body further into the room.

Elena had walked over to the desk, where four computers were set up, she rummaged through a bunch of papers before speaking. "Looks like whoever blew up the coffee shop found him and killed him for his information."

Juliette hummed as Rose walked out of the bathroom, the blonde sending her smile to which the vampire returned. They both walked over to Elena, "Yeah, probably to stop him from helping people like us. The guy was a vampire almanac."

"Knowing too much information just bit him in the ass." Juliette finished, looking over the amount of papers on the desk. Rose hummed in agreement as she walked over to the window, pulling back the curtain.

The hot sun filtered through the curtains, hitting all the surfaces. "What are you..." Elena gasped, looking over at Juliette, both startled as they knew Rose didn't have a daylight ring.

"Tempered glass. U.V rays can't penetrate."

Juliette's heart slowed down before she winced in pain, the mark was burning again. She turned away from the two as they began to speak.

Walking over to the bathroom, she slammed the doors behind her as she grabbed a cloth and soaked it with cold water. The mark was still searing into her skin while she rolled her sleeve up, gasping at its condition.

The redness was far worse than before. Blood covered her arm as if someone had carved into it. Juliette pressed the cold cloth against the burning mark, biting her lip to stifle a cry. Her reflection in the mirror showed eyes wide in fear and confusion. What was happening to her?

The pain subsided slightly, but the mark remained vivid and angry. She couldn't ignore it any longer. Taking a deep breath, she tried to steady herself, thinking about what to do next.

She needed answers. Fast. But who could she get it from? The man who was trying to kill them? The man that Elena doesn't know is alive? She couldn't trust him, but she had only received the mark when she met him, it scorched when he got close to her.

Whenever he was around her it charred her skin.

But why?

She couldn't tell anyone either, they couldn't know he was alive. And they most definitely cannot know about the mark. What would they even say anyway? It would be a waste of time running to the Salvatore brothers to help her, they were useless.

Steeling herself, Juliette decided to leave the bathroom. Before she went, she splashed her face with water, cooling her hot skin down. With a trembling hand, she opened the door.

Stepping out, Juliette immediately saw Rose hugging a crying woman, while Elena watched her intently. Elena's eyes narrowed as they met Juliette's, a flicker of concern and curiosity evident.

"Are you okay?" She asked, her voice steady but her gaze piercing. Juliette's scared expression must have sent alarm bells off in her head. Come on, sort yourself out.

Juliette immediately smiled, removing any evidence of fear on her face as she pulled her sleeve down, hoping her younger sister didn't see the mark on her arm. "Yeah, of course." She smiled, before jerking her head over to the woman, mouthing "Who the hell is that?"

Elena silently gestured for Juliette to follow her into the kitchen, telling Rose that she was going to make tea for her and the sobbing woman.

Juliette was close behind her, watching as Elena grabbed the kettle and filled it with hot water, "That's Alice, Slater's girlfriend." She informed, looking over at Juliette.

The blonde nodded, leaning up against the counter as she looked through the door at Rose and Alice, now both sat on the couch as she comfortingly rubbed her hand.

Rose stood up and walked into the kitchen, standing next to Juliette as she spoke, "She found him a few minutes before we did." She mumbled, shaking her head slightly.

"How is she?" Elena asked, concern evident on her face as she poured the water into two teacups.

"Overreacting. Big time." Rose mumbled.

"Yeah, It's all fake." Juliette agreed.

Elena snapped her head toward the two women, "Her boyfriend just died. There's no such thing as overreacting. And how do you know she's faking it?" She defended, looking between the two.

"Those tears are for her. She didn't care about Slater." Rose replied causing Elena to look at her curiously as she carried on. "She was only dating him long enough to see if he'd turn her."

"And I practically invented fake crying, I think I can tell," Juliette added, feeling slightly bad for the dead vampire. Some people are crazy to want to be a vampire, using someone in hopes they would change them is wild.

Being a vampire wasn't just about living forever, there's the uncontrollable bloodlust, watching everyone you love die while you stay young forever. Well, that's what Stefan had told her, so it didn't seem all great as some people think it is.

Elena sighs and turns around, glancing at Alice before picking up the cup of tea. She walks into the living room and hands it to her. "Thank you," Alice mumbled before she looked back up at Elena with an air of familiarity.

"You look really familiar. Did you know Slater?" She asked, her demeanor shifting as she seemed to recover quickly from her fake crying. Juliette and Rose shared knowing glances, chuckling before turning their attention back to the attention.

"Not personally, no. I just knew that he kept detailed records of all of his vampire contacts and I was hoping that he could point me toward Klaus."

Alice scoffed, taking a sip of her drink as she spoke, "Doubtful. Klaus doesn't want to be pointed at." Yeah, but that won't stop my little sister from trying to learn more information about him, she is relentless.

Elena leaned forward, her expression earnest. "Do you know Slater's computer password?"

Alice's eyes widen in disbelief. "Are you seriously asking me that right now? I just saw my boyfriend with a stake through his heart." She snapped, her voice shaking.

"I understand that," Elena said calmly, meeting Alice's gaze. "Do you know his password?"

Alice glared at Elena, her eyes filled with a mixture of anger and sorrow. She hesitated for a moment before responding. "Who do you think you are?"

The doppelgänger sighed, looking defeated as she glanced over to Juliette and Rose—there was that flicker in her eyes again—then she turned to Alice, "What if I could convince Rose to turn you?"

Rose glared disdainfully at Elena as Alice seemed to perk up, smiling as she nodded her head. Rose throws her arms in her hair, scoffing as she turns away from Elena, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Will you show us his files then?"

"I don't know how you put up with her. I've been here, what, two days and she's already getting on my nerves." Rose complains.

Juliette hummed, looking over at Alice and Elena now at the computer. "She's my sister, so of course she has gotten on my nerves throughout the years." She joked, sharing a laugh with Rose as they slowly walked over to Elena.

"But she's scared about this whole thing. She'll never admit it, but she is. So she seems to resort to anything to get what she wants. She's just 17, Rose." Juliette finished, earning a little smile from Rose before they both turned their attention to the computer.

Juliette zoned out however as all three of them began to talk. She thought back to what she had just said, Elena was petrified that Klaus would inevitably come after her. I mean who wouldn't?

But she had to stop putting herself in dangerous situations, she needed to just stop and slow down. The Salvatore brothers, albeit I think are idiots, would do anything to make she is safe.

She would be okay with them.

"What about that one?" Rose interrupted the blonde from her thoughts as she pointed to the computer, "Cody Webber. They exchanged dozens of emails about Elijah."

"I could call him?" Alice asked, pointing toward the phone.

Elena picked it up and handed it to her, "Tell her that we're trying to send a message to Klaus," She sighed, looking over her shoulder at her confused sister. "The doppelgänger is alive and she is ready to surrender."

"What?!" Both Rose and Juliette shout at the same time. Juliette couldn't believe what she was saying, her little sister orchestrated this whole trip just to hand herself over. Just like that.

How could she?

"Oh, my God, I know I recognised you."

"Get him the message, please."

And then Elena walked out of the room and a furious Juliette followed after her. She stared at her sister as she placed her hands on a table, exhaling heavily.

"What are you doing?" Juliette snapped, clenching her fists to stop herself from lunging at her idiotic sister and strangling her.

"I'm getting Klaus's attention," Elena argued, scarily calm as she avoided Juliette's burning gaze. She wouldn't dare looking up at her, she knew all too well what that look meant.

The look that said, "I'm so going to kill you."

"If Klaus knows that you're alive, he'll find you and kill you," Rose added, equally as angry as she was tricked into bringing Elena here.

The brunette didn't say anything, instead just staring at Rose. Juliette shook her head, a laughing escaping her mouth but she did not find this amusing. She was fuming with rage. "Which is exactly what you wanted all along. What is wrong with you Elena?!"

"It's either me or our family."

"So this whole trip is some suicide mission so you could sacrifice yourself and save everyone else?" Juliette narrowed her eyes at her sister, her anger flowing through her veins.

"You think sacrificing yourself is the answer? Do you have any idea what that will do to us? To me? You're not just some pawn in some game, Elena!" Juliette's voice spoke with a mix of fury and despair as she spoke, "You're my sister! We can find another way. There had to be another way!"

Elena finally makes eye contact with her, her eyes filled with determination and a hint of sadness. "I know it's hard to understand and I am sorry I involved you Rose, but this is the only way to keep everyone safe."

"Safe? You call this safe?" Juliette's voice broke, her anger bubbling over. "You're throwing your life away, Elena! You're not thinking about what it will do to the people who love you."

The blonde didn't like to get angry at her siblings, but there were times when she had to, but that still didn't mean she liked it.

Rose stepped forward, looking between the two sisters. "Juliette's right. We can't let you do this. We will find another way."

Elena shook her head, a single tear rolling down her cheek. "I've made up my mind. This is my choice."

Juliette was about to tear her sister a new one, tell her that she was being stupid and there had to be another way and that she shouldn't give up, not so early. But before she could, Alice walked into the kitchen, "Cody is on his way and he really wants to meet you."

Kill me now.

✧✧✧✧

    AFTER A FEW MINUTES, Juliette had calmed down and regretted ever shouting at Elena. Her anger dissipated, replaced by a heavy weight of concern and guilt.  She knew her sister was scared and desperate, driven to make impossible decisions. But Juliette couldn't let her just hand herself over to Klaus, not that easily anyway.

So that's why she told Rose to call Damon, telling him he better get his ass to Richmond quick and fast. He was the only person who could convince her, well not really convince her but force her out of the apartment and home.

Juliette looked over at Elena, she was staring blankly out the window, almost like her decision had just hit her, she was handing herself over to die. But Elena would do it in a heartbeat, she would do anything to keep her family safe even if it meant doing stupid things.

The blonde ran her hand through her hair, trying to steady her breathing as she got up from the couch, and walked over to her sister. The Gilbert didn't turn around, instead, just staring at her sister in the reflection.

"I'm sorry for shouting at you, Lena. You know I don't like it." Juliette started off, her voice wavering slightly as she sighed, continuing, "But I can't bear to watch you act so stupid."

"I can't bear losing you, Elena. We've lost so much already and I cannot lose you too, I refuse to. We're all in this together, you are surrounded by people who would do everything and anything to protect you and you need to realise that this plan is ridiculous."

Elena still didn't look at her, but she blinked slowly, her eyes reflecting a turmoil of emotions. Juliette stepped closer, gently placing her hand on her sister's shoulder.

"I know you're scared, we're all scared, you're aren't alone in feeling that way. But this isn't the way and you know it." Juliette finished off, quite impressed with herself. I should give speeches to people because good damn!

Focus!

Right.

Before Elena could speak, a sudden gasp escaped both of the Gilbert sisters as Elijah's face appeared in the window. They spun around, hearts racing, but there was no one there. Elijah wasn't there. Confusion and unease settled over them as they exchanged puzzled glances. Why did they see him?

Juliette was about to speak but Elena just turned her back to her, again, looking out the window. She didn't want to talk. She didn't want to change her mind.

Damn it, Elena.

✧✧✧✧

hey queens, how are we?

I'm not feeling the best because I go back to school tomorrow after a well off and I am not excited.

So that means, updates might slow down a bit as I am way too busy to write all the time. I hope you guys understand!

Anyway, It's 1:30 AM so I should probably go to sleep! I hope to see you in the next chapter!!!!

Byeeeee

3/06/24