(2) Just Magic (D. Salvatore)

Chapter Ninty-Eight

At Alaric's Residence, Katherine is looking for a blood bag in the fridge. She hears the key in the lock. She gets up and goes to the door. It's Alaric. He stands outside his apartment without entering.

"Look who's dumb enough to come back" She comments.

"Well, somebody had to invite him in. Damon. Would you like to, uh, come in?" Damon comes in and she rushes over to him.

"Are you trying to get me killed?" Katherine scolds him. Damon pushes her against the wall.

"I gave you vervain, now I'm here to collect" Damon looks across at Alaric. "I got it from here, Ric"

"You sure?" Alaric asks.

"Yeah, only one of us needs to get blamed for this. Get back in the house. Keep Cas.....Just keep her in the house"

"Okay," Alaric agrees and then leaves. Katherine frowns slightly.

"Get blamed for what?" She asks.

"I need to know where Klaus is keeping his werewolf" Damon admits.

"Why? What are you going to do?"

"Dead werewolf equals no ritual"

"No. You can't interfere, Damon. Klaus will kill you and everyone you've ever met"

"I just need to delay this thing"

"No. No way" Katherine argues.

"You should like this. It's going to buy another month of your pathetic life" Damon points out.

"Right" Katherine states and then cocks her head. "Except that I'm not the vampire he's planning on sacrificing"

"What?"

"Yeah. He's got Caroline Forbes and Tyler Lockwood. Therefore, I'm in the clear"

"And where'd he get that idea from?" He asks and then moves toward her. She holds her hands up in innocence.

"Hey! Hey, hey, hey, I'm just trying to stay alive long enough to get myself out of here" Katherine backs up a little. Because she's never seen that look in his eyes before. Not that intensity. "The tomb. He's got them in the tomb" She admits.

"Thank you" He offers and then leaves.

..........

Cassandra sits at a table with a pile of papers. It's rather hard actually, writing out how she feels about people. Find the right words to tell people how much she loves them. How much they mean to her. But Elena is proving to be pretty difficult to write to. Whilst she meant what she said to Elena, she does love her. She always will but she is still very angry with her. She can't just let that go even on the verge of death. But she doesn't want her lasting words to be nasty. And then Damon's letter. What can she say to him to make any of this better? Nothing. There is nothing she can say. She lets out a breath and stares down at the blank page. Nothing she can write will ever be enough.

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

Cassandra sits on the step outside of the Boarding House. Her phone gripped tightly in her hand. It's dark now. This isn't exactly the day she imagined she'd get. She supposes no one really thinks about their last day on Earth. She at least thought Damon would be around to see it out with her. Instead of being stuck in the house. Alone and scared. She wanted to spend it with him. And he wasn't here. Stefan's car pulls up the drive before he and Elena climb out.

"Cas" Elena states approaching her. "You okay?" Cassandra shrugs a little and taps the pile of letters in her hand on her knee.

"Well, considering..." She starts and then lets out a breath. "Yeah" She whispers and then looks up, looking straight across at where Klaus is standing. "Guess this is it" She pushes herself to her feet as Stefan puts himself in front of the two of them.