Cassie's eyes flickered as she looked at him, her eyes were red, it was like she was holding them open when they wanted to close "is Hayley safe?" She asked, knowing She wasn't Lucien's priority but given the opportunity, he'd surely ascend upon her.

"Cassie..."

"... is Hayley safe?" She urged, her voice cracking as she just didn't want to mention the abomination on her arm.

"I think so, I stopped the car and got out" he said, holding her arm "but right now I think we need them"

Elijah took out his phone and dialled Freya, it rang a few times before she answered. "Elijah where the hell are you?"

"I'm at the compound" he stood up not wanting Cassie to hear how worried he was "Freya, you need to turn around right now!"

Freya fell silent. "Put her on"

"She can't talk..."

"Put her on the phone, Elijah, now!"

Elijah handed the phone to the dilapidated heretic who took it and held it to her ear "he didn't want Hayley" she sniffed "it was all a ruse, he just wanted to kill me" Cassie told Freya what she really wanted to know "I've been bitten, and by the looks of it, I don't have long left"

Elijah took the phone back "Freya I need you" Elijah whispered "please, I know she's not been the kindest of souls but... but I love her despite it"

"I'm on my way"

Elijah hung up the phone and slid it back into his pocket. "That's what he wanted" she said, "to bring everyone back in, call them back, tell them to get as far as they can, and you go with them"

"Not until we get you fixed" Elijah said optimistically when deep down he knew that there was no coming back from this. It happened to Camille, there was no other way around it. "Now let's get you on the sofa"

He lifted her up and laid her gently on the sofa, Cassandra took his hand and pulled him back "I love you too"

He turned to her. "What?" He mouthed, his heart skipping a beat as she uttered those words as her eyes closed. He leant down and slightly shook her back awake.

"I heard you tell Freya you loved me. I just wanted you to know, before I die, I love you too" she crowned "sit with me for a minute"

Elijah gently lifted her head and sat down, placing her head on his chest. All he did was stare ahead of him, he could feel her pulse weakening by the second. She had always been so strong.

"You did this for me" Elijah whispered "to make sure my family got away safely, when we have been nothing but awful to you"

"Please" she said "I'm going to die, aren't I?"

"Not if I can help it" he re assured her

She saw through him though "I can tell when you're lying Elijah" she taunted, smirking slightly at his attempts. She was convinced that she needed to fill every bit of silence with something, so she recalled a story she had been told when she was a child, it was kind of relevant to her situation.

"When I was younger, my mother told me stories about a wicked witch, she fell in love with a sweet prince, but there was another, who sought the downfall of the king and his children, the witch risked her life and defeated this evil force, therefore saving the one she loved, it didn't have a happy ending, she died. I just wish I could have defeated Lucien before I... kicked the bucket"

"You've done plenty" Elijah shuffled and kissed her on the head.

"I'm finally going to be free" the idea made Cassandra slightly smile to herself, for centuries she had been locked in a cage, a few years before she was shunned and classed as a monster. And now there would be no complications, nothing, she'd be free to be who she wants to be. "Do you think I'll find peace?"

Elijah wanted to ignore that question. If he was to be truthful? No, if she fell into the hands of the ancestors she'd either be eternally tortured or dragged down to hell for the malicious acts she's committed. He wanted to think otherwise, but he couldn't. "Of course" he squeezed her into a hug "how unfair"

"We were real, we really were, just a little bit out of touch. I wouldn't ever give it up for the world" she laughed.

"Elijah, we're here" Freya ran over to the couple and saw Cassandra looking a little worse for wear. Her skin was a porcelain white colour verging on blue.

It didn't look good.

"Can't you absorb the magic from the bite?" She asked, kneeling down in a hurry and looking at it. By the looks of Cassandra, they had no time to figure out a cure.

"I could from a normal wolf bite" she groaned "but with this one, it can't just disappear, it has to go somewhere. I'm stuck with it"

"Just throw me a nice funeral, and whatever you do, do not consecrate me!" She urged. But it was time to say her goodbyes, though it would be quick, there wasn't much to say to the rest of the family, or was there?

"Rebekah, Niklaus" she choked "I know you haven't been my number one fans since the day we met, and you were right about me. But I did change when I fell in love with Elijah, and that I will argue. I just hoped you got to see my redemption" Cassandra explained "you can hate me for all eternity, but please, say you forgive me for all I have done to you"

Rebekah would have replied with something witty, but for the first time in her life she saw Cassandra as another version of herself. Sharp tongued, compulsive, would do anything for love, been betrayed by her own parents, she'd suffered in similar ways to what Rebekah had. And now looking at that beautiful creature lowered to this, it made her feel bad for the times she had put her down. Cassie had helped her family, maybe she deserved forgiveness.

"I forgive you" Rebekah spoke out to Elijah surprise. His heart broke when Cassandra asked for forgiveness because he knew Rebekah wouldn't agree. But she did "if you can accept mine. We're alike, I think at the time we met I really didn't like it."

"Freya, thanks for making me open up to you, I wasn't really going to make good on my promise to harm you if you spoke of it. But I'm glad you didn't. You're loyal, the Mikaelson's are lucky to have you. You saw right through me, you saw good in me when nobody else did. Thank you"

"And Elijah. I'm glad we finally got over our differences, and admitted our feelings for each other. I mean, it took us long enough" she laughed and then regretted it because her bones ached and she could feel the venom spread through her veins. "I love you. I wish we had more time, but I know this is finally going to be my end. If only it was a bit more spectacular, if only I didn't look like death itself"

Cassandra shuffled a little and made herself comfortable. Her hand took Elijah's and squoze it tightly. For both her comfort and his. They needed each other.

And then she simply shut her eyes. After a few minutes Elijah convinced himself that the pulse in her wrist was just his imagination and that he had missed the moment she left the land of the living.

But then, her eyes just opened, like she had awoken from a sleep, her eyebrows furrowed as she lay there, the wound still on her arm, still growing. She took a deep breath in and after a few minutes she finally relayed the information that had been given to her "They've given me extra time"