T h e S a c r i f i c e

Bonnie and Luka were walking together across the schoolyard behind them a pouting Malik who refused to even acknowledge their conversation.

"So your Grams waited until you were in high school to tell you that you're a witch?"

"Well, she brought it up before but I just thought she was drunk... In my defence, she was."

"So, then, you two are like, new?"

"Sort of. I still have some growing pains... Malik gained control of his powers and has more experience but still has side effects."

"Like?"

"Physically, it's become a lot harder, like nose bleeds and I pass out sometimes."

Bonnie and Luka stopped walking and faced each other while Malik stopped and turned to the side found himself a bench, sitting on top of it pulled out a book and began to read.

"You're trying to do too much on your own. You need help from nature and the elements. Just things that you can draw extra power from. Have you ever channelled another witch before?"

"What is that?"

"Say we put our energy together. We can double our strength, and if your brother has as much magic as you are telling me, perhaps you channelling his magic would solve his problem as well. I'll show you, watch. Let me see that bracelet."

Luka took his backpack off his shoulder but Malik was watching them now. Bonnie removed her bracelet while Luka removed the tags from around his neck. The witch sceptically held out her bracelet to him, Luka took it and placed his tags in her hand.

"Take this. Now, I want you to stand very still and concentrate."

"What are we doing?"

"We're channelling. The personal items will act as a talisman. Now concentrate."

Bonnie held the tags tightly between her hands and shut her eyes. Luka looked at her, smiling as their magic began to manifest. Bonnie heard a noise around her and opening her eyes, looked at Luka.

"What is that?"

He smiled without saying a word and shut his eyes. Bonnie continued to look at him, Malik watched but he noticed as the wind started to blow the leaves up. Bonnie gasped and shut her eyes as the wind continued to blow, sending student's papers flying about and tousling Bonnie's hair. Luka and Bonnie smiled broadly as the wind dissipated gradually.

"Pretty cool, huh?"

Bonnie just laughed gleefully while Malik put away his book not noticing how Jeremy just walked past him until he approached the two of them.

"What's with that weather, huh?"

"It's global warming, man. I don't know. I got to go. See you later, Bonnie."

"Bye, Luka."

"Bye" responded Luka with a smile and after he picked up his bag he walked away from them.

"The guy is weird, huh?"

"No, he's not" defended Bonnie immediately but the moment he said that Malik countered.

"Yeah, he is."

Bonnie just ignored her brother and looked down at her hands and saw that she still had Luka's tags. She was about to yell after him when her cell phone went off. She took it out of her pocket and looked at the message.

"What is it?" asked Jeremy intrigued by seeing Bonnie's confused face.

"It's Damon."

"And that is my cue to leave" announced Malik with a big smile. "Bye guys!"

Malik walked away from them, not even waiting for any answer or anything. Walking on the grass he ran into Caroline who seemed nervous just standing gin front of him.

"Mal... I need your help."

The boy was confused for a moment. This was the first time Caroline actually seemed worried and in need of help.

"What is it?

"It's about a friend of mine who's having a little problem. Soon..."

"Alright Caroline... is this about Tyler?"

"Yes I wasn't sure if you knew... any idea?"

"I actually do" smiled the boy. "Is he okay with me knowing? Or did you come to me behind his back."

Caroline bit her lips and smiled innocently making Malik sigh and rubbing his eyes spoke gently.

"Caroline... this is a sensitive matter. Especially near the first full moon."

"See? You know more about that stuff then I do... Can you help him?"

"I can try, Care... let me pick up some stuff and I'll meet you two in a bit."

By the time he managed to catch up with them he witnessed Matt leaving Caroline while Tyler just turned to her.

"You two still on the outs?"

"Looks like it. You realise there's almost a full moon?"

"Vampires don't have enough problems, you want to take on mine?"

"Only the nosey ones" spoke Malik making his presence known which scared Tyler and he looked at Caroline.

"You told him?"

"No, Tyler" spoke Malik gently. "I knew about you for a while now. And of course I knew about Caroline as well. It's all part of the witches' job."

"You're a witch?" asked Tyler surprised and the boy just smiled and nodded, allowing Caroline to push forward with her conversation.

"Have you even thought about it? The whole... wolf thing? Do you know what you're gonna do?"

"I have a plan."

"Well?" asked the two in chorus waiting for him to reveal it.

"Kind of private."

"I'm student council vice president, head of the prom committee, not to mention I single-handedly organized this town's clean up campaign. And you're really gonna turn down my help?"

Tyler just let out a defeated sigh and looked at Malik who just gave them a big grin and they all began to walk away together. They all got into Caroline's car and she began driving while Tyler gave her some instructions.

Malik was sitting there quietly when he felt a weird sensation in the air, something was happening. He closed his eyes for a moment but as he opened them again everything was different, slightly blurry but he noticed someone walk closer and as they got closer he noticed it was Stefan.

"This belonged to Katherine. Found it with her things after I thought she was dead, but it was hers."

Stefan held out the portrait of Katherine and Bonnie took it then placed it in a ceramic bowl. She dipped her fingers in a glass of water and let the water droplets drip from her fingertips into the bowl. Flames sprout from the bowl and she shut her eyes and began to chant a spell.

"What will this do?" came the voice of Damon from a small distance but Malik only saw Bonnie's face.

"I can turn the metal into ash. Blow the ashes on her, and it'll incapacitate her for a minute or two. Long enough for you to get the stone and get out."

He blinked a few and he was back in the car, but looking at his reflection in the mirror saw that his right eye was glowing golden again but slowly faded away.

"What happened?" asked Tyler intrigued.

"He sees what's happening in the present, right?" asked Caroline to which Malik just nodded and looked out the window.

Once they got out they began walking through the woods towards the Lockwood Ruins Cellar.

"Matt's bumming pretty hard."

"I know. It's better this way."

"I get it."

"You do?"

"Yeah. You can't be honest with him."

Caroline stopped and looked at Tyler who stopped as well, seeing this Malik just spoke gently towards Caroline.

"It's not really fair to be with someone and not really let them know who you are. Jus think of the consequences that would bring with it."

"Is that why you and Eric..." asked Caroline very carefully but Malik just let out a sigh and shook his head.

"That was a bit more complicated than you and Matt. Shall we?" he indicated towards the entrance, Tyler started to walk again and the other two just followed after him.

"Right over here. There's a cellar that goes to our old property."

"I know" spoke Caroline absentmindedly.

"You do?"

"I know that this is the old Lockwood property" answered Caroline trying to save herself but Tyler looked at her sceptically but instead of saying anything he just headed down the steps of the Cellar.

"Watch your step" warned Tyler after a bit while the other two followed down the stairs.

Caroline and Malik followed behind Tyler, he turned on a flashlight as they entered the Cellar and moved the beam of light around the room.

"I'm guessing this is where Mason was headed the night he turned. It's this way."

Tyler headed deeper into the Cellar with the other two cautiously entering behind him, looking at their surroundings carefully.

Getting into the cellar they looked around as much as they could Malik had a harder time than Caroline but soon enough he began to sense something familiar. He walked in ahead and raised his hands slowly. A gentle smile appeared on his face as the sensation ran through him.

"Did Mason tell you about this place?" asked the blonde carefully while also looking around.

"No, he disappeared before I triggered the curse, although I found these."

Tyler shined the beam of light at a part of the cave, Malik walked into the Cellar and looked at where the beam of light has landed. Three deep scratches run across the wall. He recognised it immediately.

"They look old" commented the girl and Tyler shined the light further down the wall at a pair of rusty chains.

"And these bolts and chains. I need new chains, but the bolts could still hold" Tyler grabbed the ring around the bolt and pulled it hard, showing the two of them how resistant they were." I think that's what this place was used for. Full moons."

Malik was slightly confused, the things he heard from Eric and all the others seemed to all clash with each other. He started to pull the pieces together but the confusion was still strong. It was a curse, but was it only a curse if you believed it to be one? He wasn't sure.

Caroline and Tyler proceeded to glance around the cave till the blonde walked forward and spotted something in a nook.

"What's this?" asked Caroline and grabbed an item wrapped in a piece of cloth and walked back over to Tyler."

"I have no idea."

Caroline unwrapped the cloth around what appeared to be a journal. She took it out of the cloth and handed it to Tyler.

"Did this belong to Mason?" asked Malik with an intrigued tone.

Tyler took the journal from her and flipped through the pages. He stopped at a page and began to read out loud from it.

"August 31 -- My body is changing. I'm edgy, angry, impatient. I get so mad, I black out and forget what I say or do. I'm not myself, not since Jimmy's death. What's happening to me?" Tyler flipped further back into the journal and glanced up at the other two. "He chronicled everything. 'The full moon is tonight'."

"Well, does he say what happened?"

Tyler flipped the page and saw a memory stick taped to the page of the journal. He slid it out of its place and held it in his hand, looking at it and then up at the two of them Tyler and Caroline looked puzzled while Malik took a step back and spoke gently.

"That contains information that you might not be ready for..."

"What do you mean?" asked Tyler both curious and slightly worried.

"The first transformation is not easy, no matter what. For you might be just as bad as his... perhaps ignorance would be a bliss in this case..."

Tyler looked puzzled but then just shrugged and began walking out. Caroline and Malik followed after him. The ride back was quiet, Malik refused to say a word while Caroline wasn't sure how to approach it.

Caroline took them back to her place, since Liz wasn't at home they could all go to the living room and sitting there Caroline got her laptop out. They've inserted the memory card into the flash-drive. A video started to play... Caroline and Tyler were looking at it wide eyed while Malik just turned away... too many memories surfaced just by seeing it, he had to make sure he did not get carried away.

"'It's September 15 -- 2 hours from the first full moon since I triggered the curse'. He taped his first transformation."

Tyler paused the video and looked at Malik but seeing his face Tyler realised on thing immediately... he has seen something like this before. Caroline, who had Mason's journal, flipped through the pages looking for information.

"Um... There's nothing" she continued to look until she managed to find something and held the journal towards Tyler, pointing at the page. "September 16th, he -- he wrote about everything the next day. 'I chose the garage. I could deadbolt the door. It was far from the street so no one could hear. I bolted hooks to the floor for the carabiners'"

Tyler slowed down the tape to a part where Mason was drinking a golden liquid from a water bottle. Mason sputtered and coughed,, kneeling on the ground.

"What's he doing?"

"Drinking wolfsbane" spoke Malik and getting up began pacing around while Caroline continued to read aloud.

"I diluted wolfsbane with water to weaken myself, but I could barely get it down without puking. It felt like I was drinking battery acid. Over an hour passed and nothing happened. It got so quiet I could hear my own blood pumping. That's when..."

Suddenly she was interrupted by Mason's painful scream coming from the video, pulling at the cables holding him. Caroline put a hand up to her mouth in shock, but continued reading as Tyler watches the video play out.

"I kept thinking I'd black out and not feel it. But I did. I felt all of it"."

On the video, Mason has fallen to the floor due to the pain he was experiencing, he let out heart breaking cries and yells for help making them all tear up and nervous.

"How long is it?"

"We're three hours in" spoke Tyler in a shaky voice. "Four hours... Five hours. How long does this last?"

Caroline flipped through the pages again, but did not respond. Tyler continued to watch the video, but as the screams and noises of Mason's body began to contort, then he yelled even louder. Seeing a Tyler's face, the panic and distress Malik snapped his fingers and the laptop closed down. The werewolf immediately got up, his eyes filled with tears.

"I can't -- I can't do that. Caroline, whatever that was, I can't go through that. Malik there must be a way to undo this... Please..."

"Tyler..." started Malik but suddenly he got a sudden pain rushing through his head and with a painful shout fell in his knees. His eyes became blurry and as he got pulled he suddenly stood in front of his sister again.

Bonnie was chanting a spell and the flames around her flared up.

"Ohhh, something's happening" came the voice of Elena behind him... was it Elena?

"Bonnie, no!" echoed Jeremy's voice around him. "You have to stop her, she's not strong enough!"

"Maybe she is."

Malik shook his head and got up grunting, but seeing Tyler he walked closer and grabbing his hands spoke gently.

"Tyler... there have been werewolves before you and there will be after you... the curse is far too powerful to break."

Caroline suddenly closed Mason's journal and placed it on a table.

"You know what? I don't think we should read this anymore."

"Why? What did you read?" asked Tyler suddenly and turned towards the blonde.

"There's a... a reason it's called a "curse", Tyler."

Tyler took the journal from off the table, opened it up, and he was about to read it when Malik began talking while leaning against the wall.

"Unimaginable pain. He thought it would never end. It was the worst night of his life".

Tyler laughed humourlessly, shut the diary, slammed it down on the table, and sat back down on the couch. Caroline looked Malik with a worried look, he just nudged gently towards the boy, making her slowly approaches him.

"But... he did say that the transformation speeds up over time... So, if you can just get through this first time, then..."

"Why are you helping me?"

"What do you mean?" asked Caroline confused.

"Why do you care? We've never been friends before... Malik is sympathetic because of his past but I don't get you."

"That's not true. I've known you my entire life, Tyler. I- "

"We've never been close. Not like this" argued Tyler looking at the blonde.

"I don't know. You just seem like you need it" responded the blonde and sat down next to Tyler. "I was alone when I turned. I had no control over my body or my... urges. And... I killed somebody. I don't want that to happen to you. I don't want you to be alone."

Tyler nodded in understanding when suddenly the doorbell rang. They all glanced at the door, but it was Caroline who got up to answer it.

"I better..."

Caroline left the room while Malik took a deep breath and since it seemed Tyler didn't want to talk he closed his eyes and reached out with his magic, he let out an invisible wave of energy, the moment he detected Bonnie's - however weak it was -  he let out a relieved sigh.

As he began walking out he noticed Matt leave while Tyler was standing there with Caroline but Malik just rubbed his temples and saying goodbye to them left the house.

As he began walking on the quiet streets, he got a text message from Bonnie. It was sweet and short but seeing what happened he stopped on the street and putting his phone away looked up at the sky.

Jeremy got hurt.

Bonnie almost died trying to rescue him.

Stefan was stuck in the tomb.

Elena tried to give herself over as a sacrifice.

So much happened yet it felt like the beginning, and he was going to be involved with his hands tied behind his back.

Looking at his bracelet he began thinking... perhaps it was time to begin learning to control the immense power to make sure he could keep everyone safe.