[THE LAST DANCE]

war is sweet for those who never fought.

  "SO, YOU THINK YOU'RE a witch?" Spencer questioned as he sat on Juliette's bed. The blonde had called the only two people she could trust with this information. She needed to talk to someone about this.

"No not think, I know I am. I showed you when you came over." Juliette replied, referring to when she showed Harlee and Spencer that she in fact did have magic. She brushed her hair back, feeling stressed and worn out from everything that's been happening.

"That's crazy. Is anyone in your bloodline a witch?" Harlee asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Nope. Except Seraphina."

"Right, the psycho witch who's haunting you for apparently 'stealing her powers'." Spencer scoffed. "How are you by the way?"

Juliette sighed and shrugged, leaning against the dresser. "Not great. I feel like I'm being crushed by all this. I have no clue what's going on and I definitely don't know how to handle it all." She replied, her voice low. She looked up at Harlee and Spencer, seeing their sympathetic faces.

"Look, this is crazy, insane even. But we're here for you." Harlee spoke, standing in front of Juliette and placing her hand on Juliette's shoulders. "I can help you with magic. I'll help you with basic spells, anything you need."

"Really?"

"Yes, of course. I'll always help you." The pixie-haired girl pulls her into a hug, instantly making Juliette feel ten times better. She sighed and smiled, her entire body relaxing.

"And I'll be here for emotional support!" Spencer calls from the bed, already tucked in under the blonde's bed sheets, looking cosy as he closes his eyes with a sigh.

Harlee and Juliette glance at each other and laugh, shaking their heads at his antics before Harlee begins to help Juliette with some basic spells.

✧✧✧✧

APPARENTLY, ISOBEL KIDNAPPED ELENA and took her daylight ring off and died right in front of Elena. Juliette didn't know why Elena didn't tell her sooner about this, but she's used to it now.

She was always last to know everything that happened.

Oh, and Bonnie also got loads of power from dead witches so she has enough to kill Klaus with.

Also, the last to know about that.

But whatever.

Harlee had spent all morning helping Juliette practise basic spells, whilst Spencer napped, and the blonde picked up everything quite quickly.

So she felt a little bit better about her being a witch. But it still scared her. She was petrified, she didn't know how to handle all this stress.

A 1000-year-old witch is haunting her for apparently stealing her powers. Seraphina was tormenting her, making her go insane all because she had her powers. Powers that Juliette didn't ask for.

Juliette didn't ask for any of this.

But it's happened, and she needs to handle it.

She just needs to find out how.

The blonde arrived at the Salvatore's just in time as Alaric did. "Hey, Ric." The blonde at the man who looked her up and down oddly before smiling, causing the blonde to furrow her brow. "You okay?" She questioned, standing in front of him.

"Uh yeah, yeah, sorry. Hard day at work, you know?" He seemed to snap out of whatever was wrong with him as Juliette chuckled and patted his shoulder, however, she instantly got a bad feeling as soon as she touched him. She brushed it off though. "I get what you mean, some Klaus drama to deal with again. This guy is annoying."

Alaric smirked and chuckled, raising a brow before nodding, "Yeah, he sure is." He replied before knocking on the Salvatore's door, waiting for it to open.

Damon opened it, moving to the side as he let the two in. "There you both are. Finally Juju." He ruffled the blonde's hair. "Where were you yesterday, you said you were coming with me and Bonnie to the witch's house." He questioned as she fixed her hair with a scowl.

Oh yeah, I got haunted by a 1000-year-old witch!

"I had a nap and overslept," Juliette replied, smoothing her hair out as all three walked into the study where Elena, Bonnie and Stefan were. "What happened now?" The blonde sighed.

"Klaus left Elena a message at school," Stefan answered, his normal stoic, worried brooding expression on his face as he glanced at Elena and Bonnie. Juliette scoffed and shook her head, this Klaus guy already was a pain in the ass.

"I need you to put me and Juliette down as chaperones at the dance tonight." Damon turned to the history teacher, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Do I really have to-"

"Do you even care that Klaus is here and after me?" Elena snapped at her, her tone cold as she stepped closer to the blonde.

Juliette furrowed her brows in confusion with her outburst, "Obviously I do, Elena. What is your issue?"

"My issue is that you're complaining about going to a dance where my life is on the line."

"No, not just your life. Everyone's life is on the line tonight, everyone who is protecting you from Klaus. All I'm saying is what use am I?" Juliette countered, frustration filling her from this random attack from her sister.

"Alright, alright. She's just stressed, Juliette." Stefan stepped in between the two sisters before hugging Elena, comforting her as if it was Juliette's fault.

She scoffed as she shook her head, "Everyone's stressed but no one is going around arguing with people." she muttered, trying to ease her frustration a little bit.

"Wait... Doesn't Klaus want Juliette too? So he's coming for both of you actually." Alaric added as he smiled softly at Juliette, standing next to her before patting her shoulder.

"Exactly." The blonde muttered as she cast a glance at Elena who just rolled her eyes.

"Whatever Juliette," She scoffed as she turned away slightly from the blonde. Juliette clenched her fist and took a deep breath, trying to hold herself back from slapping Elena right in the face.

Or using her new witchy powers to throw her into a bookcase.

Tempting...

"We find him and then what, hmm? What's our plan of attack?" Elena asked, looking at the group, avoiding eye contact with the blonde. Juliette understood she was scared but that doesn't make it okay for her to be hostile to everyone, her life isn't the only one on the line.

Bonnie stepped forward, "Me. I'm the plan." she pressed her lips together, "He has no idea how much power I can channel. If you can find him, I can kill him." She spoke, her voice filled with determination.

Juliette smiled slightly at the Bennet witch, she really was resolute on helping with the Klaus situation. However, Juliette feared what would happen, because she knows that Bonnie pushes herself too hard.

"That's not going to be easy," Alaric argued, glancing around at all of them. "I mean, he is the biggest, baddest vampire around." Juliette furrowed her brows at Alaric, he seemed off, but maybe it was because he worked with a bunch of annoying and hormonal teenagers like Elena all day.

Damon nodded, "Alaric has a point. I mean, what if he...." he cut himself off before he sped at Bonnie, who counterattacked and threw him on the other side of the room, making him fly right into the bookshelf and onto the floor, a few books falling out of their places.

Juliette laughed loudly, before covering her mouth and trying to stifle it when she earned a glare from a butt-hurt Damon.

"It doesn't matter if he's an original. I can take down anyone who comes at me." Bonnie said, stepping closer to Elena, smiling softly. "I can kill him, Elena. I know I can."

Elena nodded whilst Damon sighed and groaned "Fine, let's trust Miss Bennet witch."

✧✧✧✧

JULIETTE RELUCTANTLY WALKED INTO the school gymnasium where the party was being held. Happy teenagers danced and laughed around her as she made her way over to the group.

"Wow, you definitely are the definition of the 80s," Damon said sarcastically as he scanned her jeans and jumped up at down. "I told you we needed to blend in, Juju." he elbowed her softly.

Juliette chuckled as she shook her head, "You don't think this is stylish?" She replied before speaking again, "I couldn't be bothered dressing up, I'm probably going to end up leaving if Klaus doesn't make a move."

Everyone stopped dancing as a girl, Juliette recognised her as Dana, went up to the stage and started speaking into the microphone. "Thanks for being here, everybody!" she exclaimed as the hall erupted his cheers. "We have a special shout-out tonight. This is to Elena from Klaus!"

A song started playing as Elena's eyes widened and Stefan pulled her closer. "That was a lame, cheap shot. He's trying to bait us." Damon shook his head, scoffing.

Elena glanced around the hall, her eyes going over the sweaty dancing teenagers, "I know everyone here."

"It's a party, people. Blend. Let him come to us." Damon spoke as he looked at the group, "There's Ric, come on Juju. I snuck some bourbon in my flask, we can share." he grabbed her arm and pulled her towards Alaric.

"Yes, well done for being responsible for once." Juliette beamed at the mention of alcohol. If she was going to survive tonight, she needed it. Especially if she had to deal with Elena.

"Special dedication, Huh?" Alaric spoke as the pair got closer, "This guy's a little twisted." he chuckled slightly as he leaned against the drinks table, his arms crossed.

Damon scoffed, "I'm not impressed." He said as he sneakily handed the flask to Juliette who took a big swig, "Not all of it you idiot," He muttered as he took the flask back before putting it back in his pocket.

"No? Not impressed?" Alaric stood up straight as he gave Damon a questioning look.

The vampire just shook his head, "Let me know if you see anything out of whack." He said to both of them before walking off towards the dance floor.

"What about you?" Alaric turned to Juliette.

Juliette shrugged, "I mean he's a, what, a thousand-year-old vampire and he used a song dedicated to scare Elena? Seems a bit lame to me. Could've done ten times better than that." She replied, picking up a cup that was filled with juice before drinking it.

"Really, Lame? hm." The history teacher said thoughtfully for a moment, Juliette furrowed her brows but didn't question it, knowing he'd been weird all day. "Hey, are you okay? You know, with Elena coming at you like that earlier."

The blonde scoffed and shrugged, pursing her lips. "It came out of nowhere and she did it for no reason." She ran her fingers through her hair as she looked at Alaric who nodded.

"Yeah I know, it was a bit unfair on you."

"All I was saying was what was the point in me being here? I'm human, I'm basically useless. Just another liability." Juliette continued, the earlier frustrations resurfacing as she ranted to Alaric.

"Oh, you're very useful."

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing. Just ignore her, hormonal teenagers, am I right?"

Juliette gazed intently at the history teacher before nodding, what was with this man? "Very hormonal clearly." She muttered as she continued to drink her juice as she cast a glance at Elena who was dancing happily with Stefan on the dance floor.

"That, uh, Elijah guy has been daggered for ages hasn't he?" Alaric suddenly said, causing the blonde to tilt her head confusedly at him, before nodding.

Why was he talking about Elijah?

No one has mentioned him in weeks.

Except Juliette.

She constantly thought of him, he always lingered in her mind.

Not like she liked him or anything...

Definitely not that.

"Uhm yeah, yeah. He has. A few weeks I think. he's just chilling daggered in the Salvatore basement." Juliette responded, still confused as to why he suddenly brought the original up.

Not like she minded or anything...

Alaric nodded, "Weren't you two quite closer or something?" he faced her, a brow raised as he waited for her to answer.

Juliette got a bad feeling.

She placed her cup into the bin, "Yeah, sure. I think I'm going to head home. You guys seem to be able to handle this. I'll.... see you later." She said before waving bye to the history teacher before heading towards the exit.

Pushing through the groups of teenagers dancing and enjoying their time, Juliette finally reached the exit, accidentally swinging it open with her magic. She winced as she glanced around her surroundings, noticing that no one was even paying attention to her, they were all too busy having fun to even notice the door.

She breathed a breath of relief before going through the opened door and the cold air hit her skin as she walked home.

✧✧✧✧

THE BLONDE WAS RIGHT, something was wrong with Alaric. Because it actually wasn't Alaric, it was Klaus who somehow, body swapped with him and tried to get Elena tonight at the party.

Juliette knew he was being off.

However, Bonnie paid the price. She tried her hardest to defeat Klaus, harnessing so much power was too much, and she couldn't handle it.

And she died.

Juliette rushed into the Salvatores living room just as Damon was explaining. "You need to listen to me." He grabbed Elena's arms as she fought against him, tears staining her cheeks. "Bonnie had to die. Klaus hiding Alaric's body was a total surprise. She wasn't prepared for that. And he wasn't going to stop, and we were going to able to stop him until he knew she was dead. He had to believe it."

"Bonnie's alive...?" Juliette shakily asked.

Damon nodded as he kept his eyes on Elena as shock and relief filled her face. "Bonnie cast a spell. She's okay.... and alive." He muttered before letting go of Elena and turning around and leaving the living room, Stefan following after him.

Elena covered her face as she sniffled, Juliette stepped forward. "Thank God." She mumbled, wiping a stray tear that fell down her cheek. Elena just nodded as she wiped her face.

"Where were you?" She suddenly asked, glaring at Juliette. "Why did you leave? Bonnie nearly got killed and you just left."

Juliette's eyes widened in disbelief and exasperation. "Are you actually kidding me, Elena? What is your actual issue today?" She scoffed, running her fingers through her hair. "Is today just the hate Juliette club for you?!"

"No! Maybe you should just stop acting like everything is fine!"

"When have I done—you know what?" Juliette roughly grabbed her jacket from the couch "I'm going to bed, I'm not in the mood for you accusing me of things." She said bitterly before stomping upstairs, going into the room that she had claimed as hers last year.

Juliette leaned against the door as she sighed, running her hands down her face. She was so frustrated with Elena today, she had no reason to be this way towards Juliette. She was just coming at her for no reason.

Juliette felt guilty for not being there when Bonnie "Died." But really what could she have done? She was a human—well a new witch who barely knew how to light a candle— but to the rest, she was just human.

What could she have provided? Nothing.

There was no point in a 23-year-old being at a party where she was useless. That's why she left because she thought Bonnie and the Salvatore brothers could easily handle Klaus tonight, considering they made it out like they could.

The blonde stood up straight and opened her bag, opening the grimoire Harlee gave her, it had simple spells in there.

She had nothing to do so she might as well try and make these spells stick.

✧✧✧✧

SHE HAD BEEN PRACTISING for ages, finally getting the basics spells down, she was fully confident with what she's done. She was now trying to control moving things, considering she definitely needed this the most.

"Phasmatos motus." She muttered as raised her hand to the book on the table. It slightly lifted shakily before eventually dropping back on the table. Juliette sighed as she read the paragraph again from the grimoire.

Then, she tried again, "Phasmatos Motus." she said, the books successfully, albeit a bit shaky, lifted into the hair as she controlled it with her hand. She grinned excitedly as she watched the book.

Suddenly, the door opened as Elena walked into the room, "Hey, I should apologise—" She froze as she stared at Juliette controlling the levitating book with her hand before she instantly stopped, moving her hand away as she stood up.

"What are you doing?" She asked, confusion filling her face as she glanced at the grimoire in Juliette's hand. "What..."

"Do you not know how to knock?!" Juliette replied, clearly annoyed to be interrupted but also scared that Elena just caught her using magic.

"You.... you were using magic... What...."

Juliette sighed. She needed to tell Elena everything.

Juliette told Elena about Seraphina, a witch from the Gilbert bloodline, and how she was haunting her for "stealing her power." and how scared she was.

She felt vulnerable telling her sister this. But she needed to know.

"So... instead of coming to me... you kept this to yourself?!" Elena glared at the blonde, her face contorted into... anger.

"What? Why are you mad at me?!"

Elena scoffed as she stepped forward, "You hid this from all of us! Why? You could have helped us with Klaus!" She yelled, crossing her arms over her chest.

Juliette clenched her jaw, anger filling her. "Are you—- I can't believe you! I just explained to you that I only found out about a week ago! I barely know how to handle this all myself and you think I could've helped you! How selfish are you?!"

"Selfish?!" She exclaimed, "You could've came to me and told me! I would've helped and you could've helped with everything! You could've helped tonight with Bonnie, but no you kept this to yourself for weeks!"

"Even if I did tell you, I would've been able to help because I barely know what I'm doing!" The blonde countered, her voice rising. "I didn't tell you because you had so much going on! I didn't want to worry you and I want you to focus only on your issues and everything that is going on! I hid this for you!"

"Right. Oh yeah, you're getting haunted by a thousand-year-old witch, right, sure." The brunette rolled her eyes as she brushed her hair back.

"Are you calling me a liar?!" Juliette stepped closer, her blood bubbling with anger. She couldn't believe that her sister was accusing her of lying.

"Yes! This whole Seraphina thing doesn't make sense!" Elena argued.

Juliette clenched her fists as she bitterly laughed. "Your boyfriend is a vampire, Damon, and Caroline are also vampires. Bonnie is a witch. You are a supernatural doppelgänger, Jeremy has a ring that brings him back to life. A 1000-year-old vampire is after you for a ritual and you think a witch haunting me makes no sense?!" Juliette ranted, her anger hitting a boiling point with her sister.

She just couldn't believe it.

"You better be kidding me. Elena really?"

"No im not."

"Wow, when something isn't connected to you or even about you, you refuse to believe it?" The blonde spoke, "I'm your sister, Elena. You really don't believe me?" She whispered softly, her anger turning to sadness as realisation set in.

Elena really didn't believe her.

"I'm telling Damon and Stefan." Was all the brunette said before she turned and left the blonde stunned.

✧✧✧✧

    "THE BASEMENT? REALLY? You're putting me in the basement!" Juliette protested as Damon held onto her arm tightly as he dragged her towards the basement downstairs. Elena and Stefan followed.

"We don't know what to do, Juliette. We don't know what you are." Elena replied, trying to act like this was the right thing as she watched Damon roughly push Juliette into the basement before quickly shutting and locking the door.

"I already told you what I am!"

"But you're lying about the Seraphina thing Juliette," Stefan added as he comforted Elena. "This is just temporary until we figure out what to do." He muttered before pulling Elena away.

Damon cast one glance at her before walking away.

Juliette shook and kicked the door, "You are all dickheads! I hope you know that I'm never forgiving you for this!" She yelled as she gave the door one last frustrated kick.

She sniffled as she slumped onto the floor, tears blurring her vision as she sat on the cold hard floor. How could they do this to her? How could they just throw her into the basement like this?

How could they think she was lying?

After a few minutes, Juliette composed herself as she looked up, jumping slightly at the sight of the daggered Elijah lying in the middle of the room. The sight frightened her slightly.

"Oh. Forgot you were here." She shook her head as she shifted closer to the body, slightly brushing his hair away from his face. "Guess we're roommates for a bit."

✧✧✧✧

two chapters in one month?

Le gasp!

gcses start in 20 days so fun.

22/04/25