Deep down into the darkest depths of the bayou, Elijah had followed his nose with a guy wrenching feeling right in his stomach.

The connection he shared with Cassandra told him something was wrong, and he couldn't ignore this, it wasn't even a feeling, it was a pain followed with the feeling that he was drowning. Elijah knew something had happened to her, and for the love of what is holy, he hoped that he had not lost her.

What would he do if he had to bury yet another person he cared for? Usually with the vampires he'd put them on a pyre and burn them all together to save time. But he wanted a proper ceremony for Cassie, she was always different.

But what was he thinking? Elijah was too busy planning funerals to even think about the direction he was going in. At this rate, if he followed the planned route correctly, he wasn't too far from the secret prison underneath, maybe he was stood on top of one of the cells.

A piercing scream filled the air, echoing both in Elijah's head and in the environment around him. He was in a blind panic, he couldn't decipher if it was Cassie's scream or not, but either way he needed to go. He could save her from this.

Elijah grasped onto every tree he could, pushing off and making his speed the smallest of bits quicker. But even the smallest thing makes a bigger difference, in the seconds he could have wasted, she could be dead. It was a matter of life and death and this time Elijah was sure as hell going to make sure that life was the only option.

Not for the creature anyway. Cassandra was coming out of this alive, he had non-verbally given is word on that. Even from the moment he set eyes on her, he promised that no harm would come to her, not from his family, not from anyone. She looked so young, it was so tragic how a girl that she had been pushed from her coven for her differences, for not being apart of a cult they had created.

But the girl had a fire, something inside of her that lit the fire inside of Elijah too, something that wouldn't die out. Elijah was certain Cassandra wouldn't go out without a fight, and she would put up a hell of a good one, whether it be with her fists, physical fighting, or siphoning power and incapacitating her attacker. She was smart, she'd think of something.

Another scream bellowed, this time it was longer. Elijah still didn't stop to see if he could recognise the scream, it was a girls and that was enough for him to carry on.

Though he hated the sound of it, and the feeling that crept up on him after the scream ended, it allowed Elijah to get a more precise location and direction. There was always going to be that chance that as soon as a scream ends and the deafening silence comes, she would be dead. Optimism was always key but pessimism allowed Elijah to either be correct, or have the feeling of a happy surprise or relief.

Out of breath, he stopped at where he knew the scream emanated from. His hand grasped the tree as he doubled over, he had never used that much power in a run before, and she was so far away.

"Cassandra" Elijah shouted, his vision had begun to blur so all he could see were two silhouettes.

One girl lay on the ground, he wasn't sure if it was him hallucinating but he could see a black liquid pour around her. Maybe it was blood, the lighting wasn't the best at this time of the night. Elijah breathed in and took a smell, yes, definitely blood.

"Cassandra" he cried again, knowing that if the girl on the ground was his love, then she was definitely dead. He could only hear a pulse, no heartbeat. Which means the creature he was about to come face to face with was dead.

Elijah fought the urge to fall to his knees as he came to the realisation that Cassandra was dead. She had been murdered in cold blood, and for what reason? Because she was a siphoner? Because she refused the witches? Or was she just easy prey?

Elijah gritted his teeth in anger, not expecting what was about to happen next.

"Cassie" he said quietly to himself, stopping himself from crying, wishing the body would sit up and answer his calls. But it was never going to sit up again.

But the girl on the floor would never answer to that name. Instead the feature huddled over the corpse snapped it's head back to look at Elijah.

Elijah stepped forwards, finally wanting to see the identity of this beast, this murderer, this monster. His eyes squinted as he focussed, and when he did, Elijah thought he was dreaming.

Cassandra was alive, and her mouth dripped with the blood of the witch, the blood of vampires and werewolves. She had been on a rampage, killing everything and everyone in her path.

"No" Elijah stepped back "no"

Cassie used the palm of her hand to try and wipe the blood off but it didn't work. "Elijah-" she rasped

"It was you all along"