It was quiet and Andreanna was enjoying herself by sitting on the couch and reading, To Kill a Mockingbird, she had read it once before, yet she couldn't help it when she saw the book in Elijah's bookshelf. She calmly devoured every word until Elijah burst into the room. She stopped reading and looked up at him with a question written across her face.

His eyes found hers and informed her. ''Looks like the doppelgänger wants to sacrifice herself, do you want to come with me?''

After Elijah told Adreanna the procedure of the proper ritual, she was slightly disappointed at the lack of choices that each of her friends had. Still, she knew how stubborn they were, and it didn't help that the cursed hybrid had been waiting for centuries to break the curse. She couldn't help but feel that this was going to end badly. ''I didn't expect this, I thought - I don't even know what I thought.''

''You don't have to go...''

''And leave you in it? What are friends for?''

• • • • • • •

''Ahh,'' Adreanna groaned at the sudden pain. She grabbed the nearest thing around her to try and keep herself on her feet, but with another wave of pain she slumped to the ground. A coldness welcomed her and she let hot tears drip from her eyes. Her whole body was slowly exhausting itself and she didn't know why.

She felt herself slowly giving in to the darkness, she wanted to fight it, but soon realized that the darkness held comfort within it.

The pain in her chest increased and her nose started to bleed, her head pulsed with pain. Her whole body felt like it was on fire, like someone was burning her alive. She couldn't see or hear, and all she could feel was endless pain. She didn't even know if her mind was playing tricks on her anymore as she tasted the ashes in her mouth.

Hot blood with salty tears mixed near her head as sobs came out of her and she slowly surrendered to eternity in the darkness. All she wanted was for the pain to stop, even if it meant feeling nothing but coldness.

And though she didn't want to yield, she wasn't strong enough to hold on, so with one last heavy breath she sank into the darkness. The pain stopped and her senses began to leave, seeing shreds of bright moments of a life she didn't recognize.

The coldness of the darkness claimed her, and with each passing second she grew more and more numb. The only comfort was the warm hand that stroked her cheek.

And though she felt the loneliness of the darkness, she couldn't help thinking that someone was watching over her. A smile appeared on the lips of the girl leaving the world before her body was left to its fate.

• • • • • • •

Original vampire buried his hands in their chests and pulled out their hearts. Lifeless, they fell to the ground. He let go of their bloody hearts and let them fall to their bodies, looked at the two supernatural beings before him, watching their movements before running away. His work here was done, he was no longer needed there.

Vampire ran off to find the ginger witch, but before he stepped into the building, he knew something was wrong.

Didn't waste another second trying to find her. He heard nothing, though he could smell her scent and recent presence. But no matter how hard he searched and went through every inch of the building he couldn't find her. All he found was a burnt spot of concrete.

He was worried about her, yet there was no sign of her

A thought flashed through his mind. Someone could have kidnapped and killed her and he would never have seen her. This made him feel uneasy, even though he had met her a few days ago and had only known her for a few hours altogether, this small ginger girl had grown close to his heart. From the start he had noticed the increased protection around her and the concern for her comfort, but he didn't question it. Some things weren't meant to be understood, just to be felt.

But all he felt now was a whiff of fear.

Elijah realized he wouldn't find anything in the building, and if Adreanna was there, she was long gone. If it had been any other person he wouldn't have looked for them, if they left it was their choice, but he knew better himself. Adreanna wasn't someone who left without saying goodbye or leaving people behind, which meant she was in danger.

''I'm sorry Mr. Mikaelson, but I can't find her,'' the witch turned to the old vampire. Her hands trembled slightly, she knew the reputation of the vampire that stood before her and she also knew that she couldn't fulfill his demands.

''Does that mean she's dead?" Elijah kept his calm and asked formally.

The witch glanced up and bit her lip nervously before turning back around. ''It doesn't necessarily mean she's dead, it's more like she's been magically drained. Someone who has a connection with her performed a difficult spell and drew more of her life energy than her magic.''

Elijah shook his head, too calmly. ''Do you know why?

The old witch shrugged, ''You have to understand that this is unusual and also just an assumption, the only known situation where something like this happened was when the magic of the person in question was blocked. So instead of the connection not working, it started taking power from life energy.''

''Well, thank you for your service,'' he said politely, pointing to the door.

''Mr. Mikaelson,'' the witch nodded out of respect for him and left the apartment as quickly as possible. She was glad her life had been spared.

While the old vampire cursed under his breath, the only comfort he could take was the knowledge that she wasn't dead, she couldn't be. He just wished that wherever she wandered, she would find her way back to him. Until then, he would search for her.

• • • • • • •

She walked further and further through the dark forest. Darkness abounded in her ginger hair and honey-gold eyes that glowed. The sounds of nature filled the silence, some might find them eerie or strange, but they would not be allowed to grow up in these woods knowing that nature would not harm until it raged.

The girl wandered among the trees, unaware of her surroundings, just following her instincts and a purpose she didn't know. The only light illuminating the path before her was the moonlight.

Suddenly, she registered screams, breaking bones, and cries of pain. After a loud bang, she saw a blonde girl run out of the metal door, struggled to close the door and keep the wolf at bay. But her strength was not enough and the wolf tried to break through the door.

The door burst open and vampire fell to the ground opposite the door with that unexpected force. The ginger girl realized that even vampire strength had limits as she saw the blonde's strength running out. The wolf approached vampire and lunged at her.

A girl dirty with ash with bare feet stared wide-eyed at the scene before, her senses not yet come, yet her instincts struck. She whispered a spell and let the wolf fall away from the blonde. She got the attention of both when two heads turned to look at her.

''Ann! What are you doing here? You're not supposed to be here-''

But Caroline was interrupted by a wolf growl, an angry wolf stood a few feet in front of them, still coming closer. The blonde didn't waste a second and stood in front of the younger girl. She didn't know what Adreanna was doing here, but she would protect her at all costs.

The ginger girl still out in the real world slowly began to come back to her senses, she blinked. Then her eyes caught the mouth of a wolf, teeth bared and drool flowing. She didn't move an inch, didn't flinch from the growl or retreat from his approaching form, just stood there and looked into his eyes. Was she stupid and brave, or just senseless?

The girls witnessed as the wolf began to hesitate with his movements. Realization flashed through his eyes as he smelled his scent on the blonde, so he did what he thought was appropriate and ran.

Caroline was the first to recover and realise what had just happened in front of them. She looked at the girl who was hiding behind her back and checked her injuries but found nothing. Her mind was filled with a lot of questions that she knew she would need to know the answer to or she would go crazy.

Her eyes blinked a second time and looked into Caroline's. Adreanna let her lungs fill with air as she began to take in the world around her. ''Are you alright?" Caroline asked cautiously, who was confused but even more worried about the ginger girl in front of her. She had seen her a few days ago at the masquerade and since then she had disappeared.

Adreanna didn't answer.

Before Caroline could say anything else, the ginger girl passed out in her arms.

• • • • • • •

''Care?'' Andreanna looked confusedly at the blonde in front of her. She was in her room and sitting in her window, if she hadn't seen her shaking leg she would have looked like she was enjoying the rays of the sun.

The mentioned person quickly looked up and her eyes widened. ''Ann,'' she breathed out before biting her lip and assessing her next question, ''...how are you?

Adreanna knew. She remembered last night, when she had somehow mysteriously appeared at Caroline's place and then fainted when she tried to question her. Likewise, she knew that the blonde was curious if she knew about the supernatural. But she also knew that she was loyal and loved Elena, which for Adreanna would mean that she had two choices before her. Either she would tell Caroline the truth, that she knew what had happened yesterday as well as what had happened over the past few months, which would mean Caroline would accidentally tell the others, even if she asked her not to. So she'd end up in a line of people who protect Elena at all costs. Or the other option, and that's her playing dumb, ignorant like her whole life.

She smiled awkwardly as she chose the second option. ''I have a headache, but otherwise fine.''

''I don't blame you, what's the last thing you remember?'' Caroline asked, trying to hide her nerves. She didn't want to lie to her, she really didn't, but in the end she knew she would anyway.

Adreanna sat up and leaned her back against the headboard, trying to buy time to come up with a story. She didn't want to lie to her, she loved Caroline, but she knew that she wasn't going to be on her side anytime soon. ''Oh, I don't know, I haven't felt well since the masquerade, so I was home.''

''Is that why you haven't been to school?

She bit her lip. ''I've been sick, but I feel fine now,'' she looked up at Caroline. ''What are you doing here anyway? Do you know you can catch a cold from me?''

Caroline's eyes widened for a moment. ''I-I'm...'' she stumbled over her words. ''I came to check on you yesterday, I hadn't seen you in a few days so I brought you my notes from class, but before I left you passed out and bumped your head a bit so I stayed with you,'' she scratched the back of her head. ''So here I am.''

''That's nice of you,'' she smiled at her. And Caroline's heart clenched at that, she knew she wasn't at school and she was worried about her, yet she felt guilty. She had paid more attention to Tyler than finding her friend, if she had only come to see her she would have known she was just sick. Still she couldn't help being protective around her, whatever had happened yesterday she knew it had something to do with the supernatural. By not knowing about it, she couldn't hurt herself, she told herself over and over, defending her lying.

''I'm glad you're okay, but I have to get to school, I'll come see you after school,'' Caroline stood up and put her bag over her shoulder.

''Thanks for taking care of me, but you don't have to babysit me. I'll probably be sleeping or catching up on school anyway,'' Adreanna told her, smiling at her.

''Okay, feel better, Ann,'' she said before giving her one last hug and heading off.

''Bye Care.''

After a moment she heard the car drive off and with that she fell back into her soft bed. She covered her face with her hands and groaned. She knew three things for sure now. One, she wasn't going to spend a second sleeping or studying, not that she needed to. Second, she was sure that no one would be looking for her today. And third, Elijah had to be confused to say the least, and if he cared about her, she'd have to explain it to him.

She let a silent curse escape her lips.

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