A Heart Worth Loving

The old crypts sat at the back of Mystic Falls cemetery, long forgotten and perfect for what they were needed for. Although old, the structures had remained solid through the years and Layla was certain that they were strong enough to hold against her magic.

Planting several crystals around the room, she pushed a little magic into each one and headed to school. Sat in her history class, Layla closed her eyes as the room began to spin and snapped back to reality when the bell rang for lunch.

“Layla,” Ric called as she reached the door.

“Yeah?”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Layla told him with a small smile, although her chest felt as though it was about to burst open and every small movement hurt.

Reaching her locker, she rested her head against the cool metal and took a few deep breaths. She knew that Sheila’s spell was still in place, but it was as if her mom’s spell was fighting it and winning.

Joining her friends outside at their table, Layla took a seat and tried to focus on the conversation going on around her. It was almost impossible to focus on anything with the constant pain, but she managed to make it through the rest of the school day and headed straight home to get ready.

It was already dark by the time she arrived at the cemetery, immediately spotting Seth and the other coven members gathered outside the crypts.

“Do you have everything you need?” Seth asked as soon as he spotted her, earning a nod from Layla and following her inside.

“I already set up the crystals,” Layla informed him, placing her bag on the ground and retrieving an amulet from it, “I’m going to use the amulet as a center and channel the magic through it, which should make the spell stronger.”

“You really did listen at our coven meetings,” Seth stated with a smile, “Your mom would always make you wear headphones to block out the conversations we had about spell casting, but it seems that it didn’t exactly go to plan... you were always a sneaky one.”

“Generally, if you tell a child not to listen, they’re going to get curious and do the complete opposite,” Layla added with a shrug, “I’m still like that now actually.”

The full moon was soon hanging high in the sky, bathing the cemetery in an eerie glow and Layla positioned the coven in a circle around the amulet. The amulet was a fake, something she had picked up a few years before and never used.

“It’s time,” Seth announced, motioning for the circle to hold hands and looking over at Layla to show that they were ready.

Walking around the outside of the circle, Layla mumbled the incantation under her breath and felt as her magic connected to each of the crystals. Stepping out of the crypt, she imagined strands of electricity in her head and brought them together to form a force field that covered the crypt.

The sound of movement soon caught her attention and she looked over her shoulder, relieved to see the others with Davis in tow. Feeling something warm trickle onto her lip, she wiped it away with her hand and frowned at the blood that she saw.

“Layla,” Damon said, stepping forward concerned and pausing when Layla held her hand up.

“Don’t,” she warned, grimacing as the pain in her chest intensified and the spell faltered slightly, “I’ve got this.”

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and refocused her attention on completing the spell. It took everything in her not to crumble to the floor in pain, but eventually, the spell locked and the barrier was holding.

“Is it done?” Davis inquired.

“It’s done,” Layla confirmed, groaning as she fell to the ground and darkness took hold.