(1) Just Magic (D. Salvatore)

Chapter Sixty-Four

Damon and Cassandra are down in the tomb, searching for Katherine. They hear whispers throughout the tomb. Cassandra shrinks into herself a little.

"What is that?!" She asks Damon.

"They can sense you" He answers and then looks around. "Now, where is she?" Damon walks away, leaving Cassandra behind.

"Damon" She hisses after him and then sighs. This is just great.

..........

Anna descends the stairs into the tomb. Bonnie looks over at her.

"Hey, you're not going in there!" Bonnie scolds.

"You think you can stop me?" Anna asks.

"Bonnie..." Sheila stops Bonnie, Bonnie steps aside. Anna grabs a flashlight from the ground and runs into the tomb. Bonnie turns and looks at Sheila, angered.

"Why did you let her go in?" Bonnie asks.

"Because she isn't coming out, baby. None of them are" Sheila warns her.

.........

Back in the tomb, Cassandra is still searching for Damon, her heart pounding in her ear, her breath rapid with her fear. What was she thinking? This is a stupid thing to do, even for a friend.

"Damon? Damon!" Cassandra continues to hear the whispering around her. Startled, she falls but quickly gets back up. Her flashlight beam lands on one of the mummified vampires. As she walks around the room, she sees more and more vampires. Panicked, Cassandra falls down next to one of the mummified vampires, her beam lands on him and she gasps in shock. The vampire's eyes open and are bloodshot with hunger. Cassandra gasps loudly and gets up, looking around for an exit. Her beam of light lands on Anna who is standing right behind her.

........

Stefan walks back down into the tomb and looks around, moving to where Elena is stood, chewing on her thumb nail with worry.

"Where's Cassandra?" Stefan asks Elena.

"Damon took her inside," Elena asks, her worry and panic clear in her voice.

"What?" She looks up at him, her eyes threatening to cry.

"He took her in" She repeats. "What if she doesn't come out?" Stefan touches the small of her back and then heads towards the tomb entrance. Sheila grabs his arm.

"Stefan! If you go in there, you won't come out" She warns him.

"What did you do?"

"Opening the door didn't remove the seal, it just opened the door" Sheila argues.

"What's the seal?"

"Some seals keep vampires from entering. This one keeps them from coming out"

"Cassandra's human. A psychic. She can leave. Anna and Katherine can't. Damon can't. You were never planning on breaking the spell, were you?"

"I told you. I will protect my own. Cassandra can get out. That's all that matters" Sheila points out.

.............

Anna steps towards Cassandra, shining her flashlight on her, Cassandra holds out her hand at her side, manifesting red energy in her palm. Anna's eyes flicker to it and then back to Cassandra.

"You must have a taste for it" Anna offers. Cassandra walks backwards and bumps into Pearl. Anna sees her mother and kneels down next to her, caressing her arm."Mother! Mother" Anna calls to her mother. "Your boyfriend did this, you know," Anna tells Cassandra who cocks her head.

"His father did" Cassandra argues. Anna stands up and faces Cassandra.

"And Johnathan Gilbert. I made a choice a long time ago that it would be Gilbert blood that brought her back to life. I had Jeremy all ready to go but...." Cassandra figures it out, goes to use her powers to throw Anna back, but Anna vamp-runs in front of her, grabs Cassandra by the wrist, and bites down. Cassandra screams loudly, a burst of red mist flinging out of her, knocking Anna back from her and seeping deeper into the tomb.

...........

In the ante-chamber, Stefan and Elena hear Cassandra's screams echo through the tomb followed by a gust of red energy that throws them all back from the door. Bonnie helps her grandmother up back to her feet as Stefan aids Elena, her worried eyes on the tomb entrance.

"Cas!" She shouts in alarm, Stefan glances at Elena and then back at the tomb. He has to make a choice. He knows he has to help Cassandra. Stefan dashes into the tomb. Elena chases after him. "Stefan!" Sheila blocks Elena from entering the tomb. Bonnie moves closer to her grandmother.

"You can't just leave him in there, Grams!" Bonnie scolds.

"He made his choice!"

"No. Here" Bonnie picks up the grimoire and looks desperately at Sheila. "Just show me what to do. I'll do it."

"We are not strong enough. Even if we were able to bring the seal down, there's no guarantee that we could get it back up again" Sheila warns.

"You said it yourself, many things can fuel a witches power. Help me or I'll do it alone" Bonnie warns her grandmother.

............

Anna pushes Cassandra down on the ground, across Pearl's lap, and holds Cassandra's wrist up to her mouth. Cassandra struggles, but Pearl, smelling the blood, begins to drink.

"No, please don't!" Cassandra complains. Anna ignores her in favour of her mother.

"I'm gonna get you out" Stefan vamp-speeds into the chamber.

"Let her go!" Stefan snaps, grabs Anna and pushes her aside.

"No!" Anna shouts. Stefan grabs Cassandra and pulls her up, pushing her towards the exit.

"Go. Go. I'm right behind you" Stefan blocks Anna from chasing down Cassandra.

"Anna" Peal whispers. Anna rushes to her mother's side, caressing her face in her hands and crying happily. "Annabelle."

................

Elena paces a little as she waits, Bonnie and Sheila are looking through the grimoire when Cassandra exits the tomb.

"Elena" Cassandra lets out and moves closer to her sister who looks upset.

"Stefan?" Elena asks her.

"He's right behind me" Cassandra assures her. Elena, Bonnie and Sheila look at the entrance to the tomb. Cassandra turns around and sees Stefan standing in the doorway. Elena walks up to him, worried.

"Stefan, what are you doing?"

"It's gonna be okay. We'll fix it" Bonnie assures Elena, Cassandra frowns and looks between them all.

"What is it?" She asks and then settles on Stefan.

"I can't." He tells her.

"Can't? Can't what?"

"The spell's still up. We can't get them out yet" Bonnie answers instead.

"You went in there not knowing if you could come back out? Why would you do that?" She asks him, he shrugs and looks at Elena. Cassandra looks at her sister who is crying and she realises that Stefan went in there to save her because he knew Elena couldn't live without her twin. Cassandra looks back at Stefan. "You're an idiot. I would have been fine" She scolds, he nods and gives her a small smile, she smiles back at him, a little bit of their hostility disappearing. She then realises that with the spell still up, Damon isn't getting out, she moves closer to Stefan. "We can't leave him in there. I promised him"

"I know" Stefan whispers.

"Even if we're able to break through the seal, we won't be able to hold it for long" Sheila warns them. Stefan and Cassandra share a look, he nods and then goes back into the tomb to find Damon.