(2) Just Magic (D. Salvatore)

Chapter One Hundred and One

In the Quarry, Stefan and Klaus are conversing on the clifftop. Elena and Jenna continue to look up at them, patiently waiting to figure out what's happening. Cassandra brushes her fingers over the back of her knuckles as red marks appear. Not her. But...Damon. He's punched something.

"What's going on?" Jenna asks them.

"I-I don't know" Elena answers and then turns to Jenna. "You can hear them" Jenna looks at her. "You can hear anything. Jus-Just focus on them" Jenna tries to do so. "What are they saying?" Elena asks her.

"I can't-I can't make it out" Jenna answers with a frown, straining to focus on the two vampires.

"You can do this. Just relax. Focus" Elena coaches. Jenna closes her eyes and tries harder to concentrate on the two men.

"I can hear him. I hear Stefan."

"What are they saying?" Elena pushes.

"Oh, my god" Jenna states, alarmed.

"What is it?" Elena asks.

"He wants to take my place" Jenna answers. Elena looks at Jenna, horrified, then looks up at Stefan. "Elena..." She whispers.

"I have to do something. This can't happen. None of it" Cassandra rolls her eyes a little. Seriously? What exactly does Elena think she can do in this situation? Klaus and Stefan vamp-speed down from the clifftop and approach Cassandra, Elena and Jenna.

"Quite the predicament. You know, it's funny, all this talk about preserving family, and here's Stefan, granting your wish"

"Stefan..." Elena whispers sadly.

"It's okay," Stefan tells her.

"Well," Klaus points a stake between Jenna and Stefan. "Who's it going to be, Elena?" Elena shakes her head. "Oh, don't worry. There's actually no choice" Klaus vamp speeds around Stefan and stakes him in the back. Stefan screams in pain and crumbles to the ground.

"No! Stefan! No!" Elena begs. Klaus rips the stake out of Stefan's back, leaving a sizable chunk of wood in his back.

"I have other plans for your boyfriend. I want him alive. But for now..." Klaus snaps Stefan's neck causing Stefan to fall, disgracefully, to the ground. Elena gasps in shock. "Whenever you're ready, Greta" Greta begins chanting the next part of the spell which dispels the ring of fire surrounding Jenna. Jenna looks on, frightened. Cassandra and Elena, teary-eyed, watches with bated breath.

"No"

"Your turn" Klaus states.

"No, Jenna, no!"

"Jenna!" Cassandra attempts to get to Jenna, but the fire around her flares up. Jenna looks over at her.

"It's alright, Cassie. I know what I have to do" After a moment of shared silence between Jenna and Elena, Jenna vamp speeds to Greta and ferociously bites her neck. Greta screams. Klaus vamp speeds over to Jenna and stakes her in the back, pulling her off of Greta, who has fallen to the floor. Jenna gasps and Klaus releases her. Jenna falls to the ground. Elena and Cassandra start to cry.

"Jenna, no!" Jenna looks up at Cassandra, tears in her eyes.

"Just turn it off, Jenna. Turn it off. You won't be scared anymore" Cassandra tells her, her voice breaking. Klaus flips Jenna over onto her back and hunches over her. Jenna seems less frightened when Klaus stakes her in the heart.

"No! Jenna! No! Jenna!" The twins cry in earnest now, utterly devastated by the loss. Jenna's body starts to become grey and decayed. Klaus releases the stake from his grip and stands up. Jenna lays lifeless on the stone with the stake through her heart. Greta begins chanting the next part of the spell. Klaus is by her side. Stefan wakes up and feels the piece of wood in his back. He tries to reach it but is not flexible enough to do so. Stefan looks up at Elena and Cassandra and sees their tear-streaked cheeks. He looks over towards Greta and sees Jenna's dead body with the stake in her chest.

"No" He whispers. Greta pours Jenna's blood into the ceremonial bowl. "I'm so sorry" Elena places her finger to her lips and shushes Stefan.

"Are they going to kill him?" Elena asks Stefan quietly.

"Yes," Stefan whispers to them. Klaus approaches Cassandra. The circle of fire disappears from around her and she takes steps back. Klaus extends his hand towards her, Cassandra glares at it and shakes her head.

"No" She comments. "No way in hell, you dick!" Klaus stares her down but she's about to move. He storms to her and she stumbles back a few steps before he grabs her arm and yanks her closer to him. His eyes lingering on her eyes a moment before he is then dragging her along. Because she is stubborn and she is not going to walk up there to her death. So she yanks, or tries to, he's a vampire with Original strength and she is psychic with no powers. Klaus stops and turns her around on the altar so she is facing Elena, he wants them to watch one another. Cassandra clenches her jaw, trying to remain strong, even as tears stream down her face. She's terrified. This isn't exactly how anyone imagines going out. Elena cries as she watches her sister standing there, waiting for death.

"Cas!" She yells, curling an arm around her middle. Klaus plunges his hand into her chest, then pulls it straight back out, her heart sitting right there in his palm, and Cassandra's body falls to the ground. Blood drips through Klaus' fingers from where her heart rests in his hands. That's it. Done. Over. Just like that. No fireworks. No band. Just....dead.

......

Damon stumbles a little and catches himself on a tree. His hand touching his chest. His eyes sort of emptying, they glow red a moment before it disappears and he blinks. A little bit of life returning to them. His fingers reaching through the buttons of his shirt to touch his chest.

"Damon?" Bonnie asks, he looks at her, and she knows. She can read it in his eyes. She gets upset herself. But she'll use it to fuel her attack against Klaus. They share a look and she nods. He pushes himself up, now filled with determination. He can't save her. But he can avenge her. Go out swinging himself. He strides past Bonnie who takes a deep breath and then follows with Elijah.

...........

Elena's body lays lifeless next to Cassandra's now, the two sisters side by side, Stefan stares at Elena, sadly, and lowers his head to the ground. Klaus breathes heavily and walks down the stone steps.

"I can feel it. It's happening" Klaus looks up at the full moon. Suddenly, his bones begin to crack and he starts to transform. His eyes are yellow like a werewolf's, but he still has the veins under them, like a vampire. "Yes, yes!" Suddenly, Klaus is thrown through the air. The flames in the bowl reignite, startling Greta. Greta hears and sees Bonnie coming down the hillside, chanting a spell. Before Greta can react, Damon sneaks up behind her and snaps her neck before his eyes find Cassandra.

"Buttercup" He whispers sadly as he moves to her. Nothing else matters. Not Bonnie. Not Klaus. Just Cassandra. He kneels next to her, touches her face and lets out a shaky breath, jaw and lip quivering. He brushes her jacket aside to see the fist-sized hole in her chest. He picks her up and looks across at Stefan who nods back at him. Damon then vamp-speeds away with Cassandra's body.

.......

Damon carries Cassandra's body into one of the back rooms and crosses it, moving towards a small couch. He gently lays her down onto it, then drops to his knees at her side and brushes her hair back from her face. A stray tear slides down his cheek but he doesn't care. He doesn't care about anything. He knew it was coming. It's what everything has been leading to. But it hurts. Like someone reaches inside of his chest and tore out his heart. He touches her cheek. Alaric and Jeremy rush into the room and stand in the doorway.

"How is she?" Jeremy asks. Damon continues to stroke Cassandra's hair and does not look up at either of them. "Damon?" Jeremy pushes but still, Damon says nothing.

"What about Jenna?" Alaric asks. Damon finally looks back at them without saying a word. "No" Alaric whispers, realising what it means.

"I'm sorry, Jeremy" Damon offers. Jeremy and Alaric stare blankly at Damon. Alaric walks away from the doorway and into a secluded area of the house. Damon looks back at Cassandra and strokes her hair again.