[THE SACRIFICE]

you are complete even in pieces.

    "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Damon questioned the shocked Elena. He had just arrived and was equally as furious as Juliette and Rose. Now, I hate being a snitch, but this time it was needed.

"What are you doing here?" Elena countered with a confused look on her face as she stared at Damon. Rose and Juliette entered the room, the former with a guilty look on her face and the latter with a firm one.

"You called him?" Elena seethed, turning around and staring at the two women angrily. Well, yeah! We aren't just going to stand here while you get yourself killed!

"I'm sorry, Elena," Rose mumbled.

"You said that you understood."

"She lied," Damon argued. Elena turned to look at him disdainfully when Alice wandered over to them, starstruck as she stared at Damon.

"Damon Salvatore!" She exclaimed, an excited look on her face as she stared at the man. Yeah, girl, he's not that special.

"Get rid of her." Damon spat at Rose; the vampire grabbed Alice and pulled her into a room; Juliette followed in suit, not particularly wanting to be with Elena and Damon while they argued.

"Oh my God, I can't believe I've just met The Damon Salvatore!" Alice exclaimed, shaking her head in disbelief as she sat on the bed. Juliette scoffed and rolled her eyes at the woman.

"Trust me, he's not that amazing. He's a real dick." The blonde mumbled.

"I agree," Rose added.

✧✧✧✧

    "TIME TO GO, ALICE is soundly sleeping and won't remember a moment of this horribly stupid day," Damon announced as he walked out of the bedroom. Alice was asleep on the bed as Juliette peaked in.

Just as they were about to go, the front doors burst open, and three men stalked in. Damon protectively stood in front of the three women as one man began to speak.

"We're here to meet the doppelgänger."

Elena's response was measured and quick: "Thank you for coming." She tried to step around Damon, but the vampire stopped her by grabbing her arm.

His voice was low and threatening as he whispered to her, "I will break your arm." His eyes bore into hers, a silent warning to not defy him.

Turning his attention to Cody, Damon's demeanour shifted, his tone dripping with disdain. "There's nothing here for you," he declared, his voice unwavering.

Suddenly, the third man that was by the door dropped to the floor, lifeless, as Elijah dropped his heart from his hand, shocking everyone except Juliette.

How did he know where they were?

The two vampires turned to face Elijah, their expressions firm as they stared at him. They have no clue who he is. Idiots.

With vamp speed, Elijah closed the distance between the two vampires, his gaze asserting as he assessed the vampires. Rose gasped from beside Juliette, fear written all over her face as she sped out of the apartment, still afraid of the man who killed her best friend.

Damon's surprise was evident as he spoke, his voice tinged with disbelief. "I killed you. You were dead."

Yeah, not anymore, buddy...

Elijah's response was calm: "For centuries now." And it was almost like he was trying to make a joke. His eyes met Juliette's, her expression shocked but also calm. His eyes glanced her up and down before he turned his attention back to the two vampires.

"Who are you?" He questioned, his demeanour composed.

"Who are you?" Cody countered, bigging himself up. Big mistake, man.

"I'm Elijah."

Both the vampires looked shocked as Cody regretted his last words. Pathetically spitting out, "We were going to bring her to you. For Klaus. She's the doppelgänger. I don't know how she exists, but she does. Klaus will want to see her."

Juliette felt like she should make popcorn as she watched the drama; her mark was excruciatingly painful, but she couldn't allow herself to look away, not when it was getting good.

Elijah's expression remained impassive as he took in this information. "Does anyone else know that you are here?"

Cody shook her head adamantly. "No."

"Well, then, you have been incredibly helpful," Elijah remarked, his tone betraying no emotion as he swiftly dispatched the two vampires, plunging his arms into their chests and ripping their hearts out. Both of them fell to the floor, lifeless, and Elena and Juliette gasped in shock.

Elijah let their hearts drop from his hands with grim finality as he stared between the three people.

Silence enveloped them as Juliette abruptly cried out in pain, her arm burning, and then her head began to pound, almost like she was having an aneurism as she held her head, screaming in pain as she doubled over.

She couldn't think. Her head felt like it was exploding as the pain continued and her screams got louder. "Juliette!" Elena shouted as she placed her hand on her sister's back, watching as her sister screamed in pain, but she couldn't do anything.

Concern covered Elijah's face as he was about to run over to his Juliette but he couldn't, he couldn't expose himself. Not yet, anyway. So the only thing he could do was speed away, feeling guilty as he did so.

Juliette carried on screaming as tears streamed down her face. Her skull felt like someone was pressing in on it, trying to crush it. It was an overwhelming and excruciating feeling as Damon and Elena crowded around her body lying on the floor.

"Make it stop, please! Make it stop!" She cried out, the pain only worsening as Damon tried to grab a hold of her to stop her from rolling around on the floor.

"Damon, do something!" Elena exclaimed, fear evident on her face as tears began to fall from her eyes. She couldn't bear to see her sister in so much pain.

But then the screams stopped, and so did the pain. Everything went dark, and Damon's and Elena's voices echoed in her mind as Juliette lost consciousness.

✧✧✧✧

    JAZZ MUSIC FILLED HER ears as Juliette opened her eyes. She was back in her dream. She didn't have that excruciating pain in her anymore, and the mark wasn't searing into her skin. Finally, some peace.

Her emerald eyes scan over the crowd of dancing people, who all seem drunk out of their minds as they sway along to the soulful music. She let out a sigh when she couldn't find him. Why wasn't he here yet?

Juliette elbowed her way past people, making a beeline towards the bar. After asking the bartender for a drink, she sat down on one of the stools, her mind reeling as she continued to look around the bar.

Still no sign of him.

Where was he?

Maybe he's somewhere else in the bar. Give it a second, Juliette, you just got here.

The blonde rolled her eyes at her self-consciousness as she sipped at her drink. Her mind reeled as she tried to come up with a plausible explanation as to why she was in so much pain.

Nothing could explain it.

But why did she get it?

Juliette closed her eyes briefly, massaging the side of her head as she thought of anything. Maybe it was just a really bad headache? Oh yeah, a headache can cause me to scream in pain. Nice one.

Come on, think you idiot!

So many things had happened today, and she couldn't focus her mind on just one thing. First, her infinity mark nearly made her want to chop her arm off. Second, Elena announced her suicide mission. Third, Elijah arrived and killed the three vampires that came to take Elena.

And lastly, Juliette got an extremely painful headache. It was a type of pain she had never felt before, it was like someone was grabbing a hold of her skull and crushing it with great force.

What could have caused it?

So many questions remained unanswered.

"My love." Elijah's voice forced her out of her thoughts, making her look up at him as he walked over to her, concern written all over his face. Wow, that was fast.

Little did she know it had been three hours since she passed out.

"Are you okay?" He asked quickly, his voice tinged with worry as he placed his hand on her shoulder. Wow, how would he know what happened if he wasn't real?
Shocker

Juliette scoffed and shrugged his hand off of her shoulder, turning around in her seat so she was fully facing him. "You need to start talking, right now." She snapped, crossing her arms over her chest.

Elijah sighed as he looked away from her, watching the couples dance to the music, and slightly wished that he could just whisk Juliette away and dance with her without having to answer any of her questions. But that wasn't fair on her, and she also looked like she was about to remove his head from his shoulders, so you could say he had no choice.

"How about we go outside and talk? It's a tad bit stuffy in here, don't you think?" A smile graced his lips as he held his hand out, watching as Juliette rolled her eyes while looking at his hand disdainfully.

He loved her attitude.

Juliette sighed as she hesitantly took his hand, allowing him to gently pull her towards the door, dodging the drunk women who frolicked around the dance floor.

This man better start speaking, or I might have to kill him.

Well, not kill him because I physically can't; trust me, I've tried that.

Okay, you're getting off track!

Right.

They stepped out onto the busy streets, they looked so different from 2009, they were more lively. The cobblestone streets are bustling with activity. Men in sharp suits and fedoras tipped their hats to ladies in flapper dresses and cloche hats.

Elijah pulled her over to a nearby bench and sat down, staring off into the distance as Juliette took a seat next to him. The man watched as people passed by, all of them leading completely different lives; no one was the same.

Sometimes, he forgot that he was dreaming. Everything with Juliette felt so real and right, and he just wished that this was how things could be in real life.

"You need to start telling me things, or I might go crazy." Juliette started, growing tired of the silence. She hated to be so pushy, but she needed answers. She couldn't just carry on and believe she was going crazy, she had done that for too long before.

"I know."

The blonde sighed as she turned to face the man, who continued to stare out into the street. "A few days ago, when I asked you whether you got these dreams as well and you said no, were you lying?"

She needed to know that she wasn't going insane.

Elijah remained silent, the pause stretching long enough for Juliette to fear he wouldn't answer. Finally, he spoke, his voice barely above a whisper. "Yes." He sounded like he was ashamed as he continued to stare out into the distance.

Juliette watched him for a moment before opening her mouth again. "Are you the same guy I met last week, in real life?" She mumbled, trying to make sure what was coming out of her mouth made sense.

"Yes."

Despite Juliette already having her suspicions, she was still shocked. Maybe because it was coming from Elijah himself, he was proving that he was the man who came to kidnap her and Elena. But he was only doing that to try and help?

Yeah, cause that makes complete sense.

The blonde took a moment to compose herself as she turned around on the bench, so she too stared into the distance, slightly inching away from the man next to her.

She didn't know why she was, but it was just knowing that he bitchslapped someone's head off and ripped three vampire hearts from their bodies, right in front of her. Juliette was seeing the man who used to bring her comfort and ease in a completely different light.

He was the only one who wasn't wrapped up in all the supernatural drama, he was her safe haven.

Elijah noticed her distance and immediately felt guilt consume him. He knew he wasn't a good man, he had killed so many people for no reason, and he created this image of himself that made everyone cower in fear.

Juliette was the only one who didn't know about his past. She wasn't afraid of him because she believed it wasn't real.

He couldn't stand to see her becoming distant from him.

"I don't want you to be afraid of me, Juliette. I'm trying to help you and Elena." Elijah said, looking over at her side profile as she furrowed her brows.

"You're trying to help Elena?" Juliette asked, shock covering her features as she too turned to look at him. His umber-coloured eyes bore into hers; a wave of nervousness rushed through her, but she ignored it.

He literally just looked at you. Calm down.

Elijah nodded, a smile gracing his lips when Juliette scooted closer to him. "Well, I'm trying to, but she makes it extremely difficult to do so." He joked, watching as Juliette chuckled slightly.

"Yeah, tell me about it."

A moment of silence enveloped them as they watched people pass by, rushing to get into the clubs. Juliette was feeling so much better that she knew she wasn't going crazy.

Well, there's still the mark and that headache ache, but that's something to deal with later.

A weight felt like it had been lifted off of her shoulders as she finally got the answers she needed. But there were still more questions to be asked. "Why do we have these dreams?"

Elijah shook his head. "I don't know, all I know is that we've been having them for months and still there's no explanation."

That's a lie. There is one explanation, but that's for later.

Juliette scoffed lightly, not believing a word that just came out of the man's mouth. "You definitely know something." She responded, rolling her eyes as Elijah furrowed his brows at her.

"I know the same amount of information as you do, Juli."

"Don't call me that."

"Don't call you what?"

"What you just called me!"

"Well, why not? You used to love that nickname." Elijah mumbled, smirking slightly.

"Yeah? That was before all this happened, you're not allowed to call me that anymore."

"I thought we were friends, Juli."

He was infuriating.

"We're not."

"We're not?" Elijah questioned, leaning his elbow on the back of the bench as he stared at Juliette's side profile. She was so beautiful. Ethereal even.

"No, we're not." Juliette snapped, avoiding the urge to look at him, but she could feel his gaze burning into her. "Look, Elijah, you need to start telling me things."

He sighed, the weight of his breath heavy with frustration and regret. "I have, Juliette. I'm just as in the dark as you."

Once again, they were sitting in silence, both lamenting over the situation. Elijah understood why Juliette was upset and pulling away from him; he had lied to her for nearly over a year about who he was.

He made her feel like she was going insane when she met him. Not clarifying who he was when she asked.

But now was the time to make things right. Sure she wouldn't fully forgive him, but maybe she might be more willing to listen if he did right by her.

Before he could open his mouth to talk, Juliette beat him to it. "I can't dream of you anymore, not after everything that's happening."

Elijah's heart sank at her words, but he knew he had to respond honestly. "I would do anything to give you whatever you want, but you can't control whether you see me or not."

Juliette scoffed, muttering, "That's stupid." under her breath.

"Look, Juliette, I know my first impressions haven't been the best, but I'm on your side, I'm trying to help."

"On our side? You tried to kidnap Elena and me!"

"You're both important for the sacrifice, I had to."

He couldn't tell her the real reason—that Klaus, his brother, would take them first. He couldn't let him do the sacrifice.

Juliette looked over at him, fighting the urge to lunge at him. "Okay, 1, you didn't have to kidnap us, that's illegal, in case you didn't know. And I know why Elena's important, but what about me?"

The man shook his head and said, "I can't tell you that, not yet."

"Not yet?" Juliette seethed, anger flowing through her veins as she stared at the man sitting next to her. So he knows why I'm important?

Great, I know how to get information out of people. It's my expertise.

"Yes."

"Then when will you? In real life or in the dreams?" Juliette asks, "Or why not now?"

Elijah doesn't answer, instead, he stares out into the distance, completely ignoring her questions. Hello? Answer me!

"Elijah, I just need answers." The blonde sighed.

"And you'll get them later."

"Elijah-"

"You're waking up now."

✧✧✧✧

This chapter has taken me nearly a week to write and edit for some reason and I lowkey hate it.

But we've found out some stuff in this chapter, important stuff! I also hope that you guys don't think too much has happened in this chapter, idk what happened but I just wrote off the outline 😭

Anyway, I hope you have an amazing day/ night!

I hope to see you in the next chapter!!

Byeee

7/06/24