[ROSE]

your patience is your power.

DEATH WAS A USUAL thing for the Gilberts; they were practically drowning in it. Juliette found death fascinating, in a weird way. Something about someone being born into a cruel world filled with war, tragedy, sickness, and misery, to just die.

Juliette couldn't wait till the day she popped her clogs; she didn't particularly like living. Ever since her parents died, her mental health had only deteriorated, and none of her siblings had noticed.

The only person who had was Jenna; she had tried her best to be a support system for the blonde, but in the end, nothing could fix her.

Juliette never bothered to get help after the first time she went to therapy, and the therapist just found other ways to talk to her about her siblings, so she just thought that she would forever feel like this.

The numbness and the agony always seemed to linger, no matter how hard she tried to get better.

Juliette had accepted the fact that she would forever be ill.

She hadn't wanted that for herself, but what else was there to do?

She and Elena were still in a room with Rose as Trevor frantically entered, panic evident all over his features. The vampires had informed the Gilbert sisters why they were on the run from Elijah.

Believe it or not, it was Katherine's fault, as per usual.

They also knew that Damon and Stefan were on the way, as Bon Bon had magically sent them a letter. Juliette has always been jealous of the fact that Bonnie's a witch.

Why couldn't she be one?

She just had to be a boring human.

"He's here! This was a mistake!" Trevor announced as he anxiously paced around the room. Juliette felt her heart beat against her chest violently, and then suddenly her arm began to burn, almost like someone had placed a lighter near her skin.

Hissing in pain as Rose tried to comfort Trevor, Juliette rolled up the sleeves of her cardigan, her eyes widening when she saw an infinity symbol burnt into her skin. Around the mark, it was red and inflamed.

The blonde furrowed her brows; she was so confused about why she had that. Deciding that the mysterious mark was a matter for another time, Juliette rolled down her sleeve, crossing her arms over her chest, as she looked up at the scene before her.

"Hey! What are we?"

Trevor breathed in and out as his panicked eyes stayed set on Rose. Sympathy filled Juliette as she watched what was happening. These two just wanted to be free; they both just wanted each other to be safe. "We're family, forever."

"You're scared," Elena mumbled, realising the same thing her sister did. Her face was filled with fear and sadness as Rose looked over her shoulder at the sisters.

"Stay here with them and don't make a noise." She demanded before she left the room, leaving the three on their own. And were they all petrified.

Even Juliette, who had put on a facade before, was terrified to meet this man, and she didn't know why. Her mind drifted back to the mark on her forearm.

Why did she only seem to notice it when Elijah arrived?

Juliette faced away from the stairs, so her back was turned to her sister and Trevor as she once again lifted her sleeve. As soon as the mark was exposed, it began to burn once again, causing the blonde to whimper in pain.

Suddenly, she felt a whoosh of air behind her as she turned around, her eyes landing on the man who stared at only Elena. Juliette couldn't see his face as he mumbled, "Human. It's impossible."

But then, when he lifted his head and looked over Elena's shoulder, Juliette gasped as she held onto her arm. She couldn't believe what she was seeing; this all had to be a joke.

The Elijah from her dream was the same man who stood right before her, but now he was wearing a sophisticated suit and his hair was a lot shorter and styled.

A smirk pulled at his lips as he stepped away from Elena and moved closer to Juliette. "Hello there." He breathed out as he almost looked amused at Juliette's shocked face.

She wanted to speak, but she couldn't. Her mind was telling her what to say, but it was like her mouth was refusing to open for her.

The two just stood and stared at each other. Juliette had a confused look on her face, and Elijah, well, he looked happy; he had a glint in his eyes and a big grin on his lips.

He was exactly like Elijah in her dream.

But this couldn't be him.

It couldn't be.

As they stared at each other, the burning pain from the mark only seemed to intensify. She winced, her eyes clamping shut as she gripped onto her exposed arm, finally breaking eye contact with the man who stood a mere inches away from her.

She wanted to cry from the pain.

Elijah's eyes glanced down at Juliette's arm, a knowing look on his face as he too was getting the same pain from the same spot. But he couldn't tell her that, not yet.

Finally, he turned away from the blonde, looking towards the three other people in the room that he had honestly forgotten about. "We have a long journey ahead of us. We should be going."

Elena let out a sob as she looked at Juliette, who too had looked up. "You aren't taking us anywhere." She found her voice finally, pulling her sleeve down and standing up straight as she felt a little bit of confidence take over her body.

Elijah's head snapped over to the blonde's direction, a raised brow as his eyes draped down her body, taking in the dress she was wearing before meeting her eyes. "And why's that?"

Juliette held his gaze, crossing her arms over her chest as she raised her brow. "Because we're not some dogs that you can drag around whenever you want, and we don't even know who you are."

Elijah smirked as he realised what she was getting at; she was trying to figure out if he was the one in her dreams, and he in fact was. "Oh, but I think you already do, my dear Juliette," he simpered, watching the girl fall apart as she furrowed her brows, confused by everything that was going on.

The original decided to leave her to deal with the crisis she must be going through, as he walked across the room, getting closer to Trevor. "One last piece of business, and we're done," he said as he glided over the petrified vampire, standing inches away from him.

Juliette watched as Trevor practically fell to his knees as he begged for forgiveness from Elijah, who looked uninterested. She knew what was going to happen, so she stared at her battered heels, deciding that they were a much prettier sight than what she was about to witness if she kept her eyes up.

And that's when she heard Elena's gasp and Rose's gut-wrenching scream, but her eyes stayed pinned to the floor. "You...!" Rose barely made out as she sobbed, clinging to the railing as she stared angrily at Elijah.

"Don't, Rose, now that you are free," Elijah warned as he wiped the blood off his hands with a handkerchief. Trevor's dead body sprawled on the floor, and his head lay inches away from him. He looked over to Elena and Juliette, who now had looked up, a disgusted look on her face as she stared at him. "Come."

"No." Elena shook her head. "What about the moonstone?"

He looked like his interest was piqued by what she said. "What do you know about the moonstone?"

Elena took a deep breath before she responded, moving closer to Juliette as Elijah took a step towards her. "I know that you need it." She had a very evident shake in her voice. "I know where it is. I can help you."

"Yes?"

"I can help you get it."

"Tell me where it is," Elijah demanded. Juliette furrowed her brows, realising that he was very different from the man in her dreams, but she couldn't explain why they looked the same.

Juliette was just confused by this whole situation.

"It doesn't work that way."

The blonde's head snapped to her sister, who had suddenly had a newfound confidence as she spoke to Elijah. She hated to admit it, but Juliette was impressed, but she valued her life more so she was hoping Elena had a plan. "Elena, let's not do that. You know, because I do want to get out of here alive." She repeated her sister's work from a couple of hours ago.

Elijah looked between the Gilbert sisters as he cocked his head to the side. "Are you negotiating with me?" He asked, turning his attention to a hysterical Rose, almost like he thought that she knew.

"It's the first I've heard of it." She managed to spit out, anger evident on her face as Elijah looked away from her before suddenly vamp speeding directly in front of Elena.

The brunette jumped as the original stared into her eyes before looking down at the necklace lying on her chest. "What is this vervain doing around your neck?" He questioned her, ripping the necklace from her neck and throwing it across the room.

"Tell me where the moonstone is," Elijah demanded as he gripped Elena's head. Juliette sighed as Elena began to talk. "In the tomb, underneath the church ruins." The blonde shook her head as she made a mental note to get Elena to take vervain; her necklace wasn't the best.

Juliette never understood why she didn't take the herb in the first place. As soon as Juliette found out that Vervain could stop a vampire from compelling someone, she immediately began putting it in her drinks.

"What is it doing down there?" He intrigued.

"It's with Katherine." Elena drawled out.

"Interesting," Elijah said before making eye contact with Juliette, who was very bored by this whole thing. Her fear had slowly diminished after a few minutes; she just wanted to get this over and done with.

"What?" She spat out as Elijah made his way over to her, but his eyes looked softer while he stared into hers, and a smile graced his lips. Juliette pulled a face as she awaited his answer.

"Do you have anything you want to tell me about the moonstone?" He asked.

Juliette furrowed her brows before shaking her head. "No? It's just a stupid rock that you are all obsessed with. And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you." She expelled, rolling her eyes as she was a mere inches away from Elijah's face.

The original vampire smirked. He was quite enjoying Juliette's attitude; she was the one who wouldn't take any shit from anyone. The most important thing is that she doesn't know, Elijah thought to himself.

Juliette huffed as Elijah had a big grin on his face, and he wouldn't stop staring at her; she was getting annoyed with him. Why was he acting like this with someone he had never met before?

A loud crash abruptly made Elijah turn away from Juliette, causing her to sigh in relief. Finally, Stefan and Damon decided to make an appearance.

"What is that?" He tensed.

Rose shook her head in confusion, wiping the tears away. "I don't know."

Elijah's voice grew more demanding as yet another noise was heard. "Who else is in this house?"

"I don't know," Rose said more firmly, clearly clueless as to what was going on.

Juliette watched as Elijah didn't ask again, instead grabbing Elena's arm roughly, and Juliette, held his hand out for her to take. Hesitantly and with a sigh, Juliette willingly took his hand and allowed him to pull her out of the room.

✧✧✧✧

    THE ORIGINAL VAMPIRE dragged the Gilbert girls towards the entrance of the abandoned house, the blonde pulling a face as she took the house in. Damn, I really couldn't have been held hostage in a nicer house?

Rose followed behind them as they came to a halt at the bottom of the stairs. Juliette had desperately tried to break free from Elijah's iron grip, but he wouldn't let go as he scanned the room around them. Suddenly, figures flashed past them in blurs, causing Elijah to finally let go of the girls and push them into Rose's arms.

"Rose." He mumbled, his voice dangerously calm, as he looked around carefully, trying to figure out what was going on.

"I don't know who it is."

"Up here." A voice echoed from the top of the stairs. Juliette and Elena share a look as they both realise that it was Stefan's voice they could hear. Elijah sped to the top of the stairs.

"Down here." Damon's voice called out, causing Elijah to vamp speed back down the stairs, glaring at Juliette, who had giggled at him for failing to find the Salvatore brothers.

A loud sound of a shot rang in the air, and then Juliette felt herself being pressed up against a wall with a hand over her mouth. She half expected it to be Elijah, but when she opened her eyes, Damon was staring at her. Juliette sighed in relief as she moved his hand away from her mouth, assuring him that he wouldn't scream at him for taking ages to come get them.

Juliette also realised that Rose was there too.

"Excuse me," Elijah called out from the main foyer. "To whom it may concern, you're making a great mistake if you think you can beat me. You can't. Do you hear that?" He cautioned, breaking a coat rack over his leg so it made a stake. "I repeat, you can't beat me. So I want Juliette and the girl. I'm going to count to three or heads will roll. Do we understand each other?"

The blonde rolled her eyes at the fact that he used her name, which confused her as Rose and Trevor didn't even know their names, so how could Elijah?

Elena suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs and said, "I'll come with you; just please don't hurt my friends. They just wanted to help me out."

Juliette sighed as she watched Elijah speed at the top, eyeing the brunette up before saying, "Where's Juliette?" He demanded. "What game are you playing with me?"

Elena doesn't reply, instead pulling out a vervain bomb from behind her back and throwing it in his face. She fell back to the floor as it exploded right in Elijah's face. He bent over in agony as he held his face, the vervain violently burning his face.

He looks up, and his face immediately begins to heal, going towards Elena. Juliette knew she had to do something; she couldn't let Elena get hurt. Ripping her arm from Damon's grip, she ran towards the body of the stairs. "Hey!" she called out to get his attention.

Elijah spun quickly around, grinning as he realised that it was Juliette. "I'm right here; take me, but leave her." Juliette tried to reason. Before the original could even move down one step, Stefan emerged from behind a wall, a shotgun in his hand, firing a round of wooden bullets into Elijah, who seemed to reject the bullets as he carried on walking.

As Stefan realised that a shotgun wouldn't do anything, he threw it across the floor and lunged at Elijah, tackling him down the stairs as Juliette listlessly stepped out of the way to avoid getting flattened by the two fighting vampires.

Elijah growled as he got to his feet before Stefan could but before he had the chance to do anything, Damon flashed behind him, picking up the dagger Elijah made and stabbing through his heart. Damon twisted the stake in further, pinning his body to the door as he slowly desiccated.

Juliette couldn't move as she just stared at Elijah's lifeless body. Her arm burned once more, but she didn't even flinch, like she was used to the pain. She stepped closer to the dead vampire and felt her heart begin to hurt, but she didn't know why.

"Hey Juju, you alright?" Damon's voice caused her to snap her head away, Juliette saw Stefan and Elena hugging before looking at Damon again, "You took your sweet down coming to get us, Demon."

"You're welcome, Juliette." Damon rolled his eyes sarcastically as Juliette walked over to Elena, who had stopped hugging Stefan and immediately engulfed Juliette who melted into the hug.

At least Elena was safe, and that's all that mattered to Juliette.

✧✧✧✧

Thank you for reading and I hope you have a great day!!!

Byeeee

28/05/24