Dark Moon | Klaus Mikaelson

Chapter 9

Esmeray spent the entire day preparing.

She was woken up early and driven by Greta and Maddox to the site where the spell would take place. They gave her all the materials and instructed her to get the grounds ready.

After several spells and moving around the different herbs, rocks, and pieces of wood needed, Esmeray prepared the altar. She had set up a passageway of fire and three circles as needed for the sacrifices. The altar was lined with jagged rocks to hold a torch and a bowl for the blood that would be part of the ritual. In order to set herself up as the presiding witch, she cut into her hand with a blade and dripped some of the blood onto the ground, chanting quietly and marking the land for the spell she'd be performing.

Greta arrived as evening was already settling in. "Drink this," she told her, giving her a foul smelling concoction that had herbs Esmeray hadn't ever used in spells. The hybrid drank it, gagging and forcing it down her throat. It burned, and as soon as she finished it, Greta put her hands on her forehead and began to hum before chanting lowly, preparing to slow down her transformation enough for the ritual to be done.

"Perfect," the woman said. "I'll return with the vampire first. We need to turn her and you can use a spell to speed up the transition. She'll need to drink your blood."

Esmeray frowned. "I was under the impression that you were sacrificing Katherine."

"We were going to, but Klaus has different plans. Unfortunately, the vampire and wolf we had ready were rescued. Maddox is dead. We had to resort to our backups."

The hybrid could not ask anymore questions, because Greta walked off without another word to her, walking between the flames on the ground and disappearing through the trees.

When she returned, she had with her Jenna Sommers, who looked incredibly afraid. Esmeray immediately felt guilty when Jenna turned to face her. "Victoria," she said shakily. "What's going on?"

"She's ingested the blood," said Greta, shoving Jenna forward. "Kill her."

Esmeray knew this was a test. She looked at the innocent face of Elena's aunt and a pang in her heart made her entire body ache as she gulped, reached her hand up, and flicked it, snapping the woman's neck and sending her to the ground.

Greta smirked. "You hardly hesitated. Klaus will be pleased."

"I'll speed up her transition," she mumbled quietly. "Where are you off to now?"

"To get the doppelgänger," said Greta. "I'll be back in fifteen minutes. Make sure she's waking up by then."

Esmeray nodded, and went to Jenna, kneeling beside her. She put her hand on her forehead, guilt flooding through her. "I'm sorry," the hybrid whispered as soon as Greta was out of earshot. "I didn't know they were going to go for you. You were kind to me."

Closing her eyes, she began to whisper, trying to lessen the time that Jenna was dead. By the time Elena showed up, she would be awake again, though it would not last long. She'd be a vampire for less than a few hours before dying permanently.

It was completely dark by the time Greta came up, dragging Elena with her. The young girl instantly fixated on the two figures ahead of her. "Jenna?" she gasped, seeing her aunt on the floor and running toward her. "Jenna!" She snapped her head up to look at Esmeray, who was sitting on the floor beside the woman. "What did you do to her?"

"She's in transition," she said simply. She flicked both of her wrists, and Jenna gasped, sitting up and clutching her temples in pain.

"Oh, my head," she groaned, looking at Elena in shock. "What's wrong with me?"