𝟚.𝟙𝟛: 𝕐𝕠𝕦 ℂ𝕒𝕟'𝕥 𝕊𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕞 𝔸𝕝𝕝

—Narrator's perspective—

Arabella frantically sped her way to the cop car on the side of he road. She heard footsteps behind her where Alaric was also alarmed on seeing it from where it was.

"Lizzie? Liz, Hey." She called, holding her neck in place when she opened the door, her figure fell. "Ric!" She yelled and he came running to them.

"Ara... dad... Something's wrong. It feels like my mind is breaking." She gasped out, breathing heavily as a shard of metal was on her stomach.

Arabella sighed in worry, pulling the Blonde outside while she held a firm grip on her, carrying the girl who looked half unconscious.

"Easy does it." Ric said, holding the back of the head of Lizzie while Arabella was carrying her gently. They stood up, Ric looking at his daughter in worry. "We need to get you in the hospital. Everything's gonna be just fine." He said, looking at Arabella and gave her a sign to go and hurry up.

Lizzie shook her head. "Wait! I-I drank vampire blood. Please don't let me die." She said and Arabella breathed in, fear overcoming her judgment.

"You're not gonna die. Go, now. I'll be there as fast as I can." Alaric said and Arabella didn't hesitate to do what she was told, running off the scene with Lizzie in her arms.

She felt overridden guilt and fear inside the bottom of her stomach. Guilt for not protecting Lizzie like she should be, Fear that she'll be cursed of being a Vampire for all eternity in life. Both frightened her and it was painfully getting in her chest as she expected.

Arabella kicked open the doors to the Hospital, having the barely unconscious girl on her arms while she panted in tiresome from running. She went inside the nearest room where they can tend to Lizzie's wounds.

"Okay, Lizzie. You're not suppose to go out like this." She breathed out, laying the girl on the table like she was about to get operated on. "I can give you my blood—"

"—No! No, please, Ara. Just help me, please." She breathed out, also wincing by the pain on her stomach.

Arabella closed her eyes, smelling the blood in front of her and realised that she hasn't fed since she got here. In order to distract her and Lizzie Herself, she held the Siphoner's hand. "Here... Let me take your mind off it." She said, pulling up a stool from the side and sitting while she rested her elbow on the metal that was holding Lizzie.

Before she could, Arabella stood up, trashing the drawers near them and grabbed a couple of bandages in it. She ripped them open, gently placing it on Lizzie's stomach whom winced but didn't mind.

"This is not how I wanted to die." Lizzie grumbled, closing her eyes when Arabella held her hand tightly while they drifted into a place.

Lizzie Fluttered her eyes open, the pain was gone and she looked around. She was in the hospital room, looking at her figure which was sweating and in pain on the table.

"I thought you were bringing me to somewhere cool like the beach." She complained, her old self coming back.

"Is that where you want to be?" Arabella asked, a grin on her face as she appeared out of no where. "You can just say whatever and I'll transport us there." She shrugged, feeling a sense of normalcy errupt between them.

"No. How about Paris? I visited the Eiffel Tower a few years ago and it was absolute—"

"—Ara! How is she?" Ric busted in the room, seeing the two by the table.

Arabella looked up, letting go of Lizzie's hand as the familiar scent was hitting her like a flood. She shook her head, stepping back to let Ric handle this as she couldn't. Not without feeding first.

When Lizzie woke up again, she was groaning in pain and Alaric placed a few more bandages on her wound to stop the bleeding. "You're gonna be okay, Lizzie. It's all right, It's All right." He cooed but also panicking for his daughter.

"The Black magic is making her worse. She won't make it with it inside her." Josie informed, emotionless of their situation.

"Well, Josie, can you do something?" He asked and Lizzie was crying from the pain. "Josie. Please." He pleaded once more.

"I'll be unconscious for a little while. Don't be scared." She tilted her head sideways as her eyes shifted to black. Josie held her sister's arm, siphoning the black magic off of her.

And when she did, Josie inhaled deeply while the black veins corrupted her neck. Lizzie stopped struggling and exhaled in relief but closed her eyes.

Before Josie could collapse on the ground, Arabella sped to catch her and pulled her figure to the wall, letting her back rest on the wall. She exhaled in relief, looking up to Ric then her eyes landed to Lizzie.

"You haven't fed." He said in realisation, before Arabella could remark at his words, Jade came inside the room.

"I can help." She gasped, seeing blood making her hungry. Arabella sped to her, gripping on her throat while they both tried on controlling their thirst. "It's me. I-I don't know how, but Josie turned my humanity back on." Jade explained, breathing in when Arabella let go of her. "Look, you can still kill me if you want to, all right? I know that I deserve it. But I was training as an EMT when I was 16, and I've spent the last ten years learning how to patch people up after a fight, All right? I can help her. But I can't be near the blood. So you're just gonna have to do exactly what I tell you."

Ric glanced at their way, looking to Arabella who exhaled and nodded. The part original turned her back and slammed her palm on the wall in anger, making a dent as she released her anger and hunger.

While Jade was instructing Alaric on what to do, Arabella rested the back of her head on the wall just in front of Jade. She wanted to kill her but Alaric needed the help so it will have to wait.

"Okay, now you're gonna need to stop the bleeding. There's a Laughlin clamp on the tray. It kind of looks like—"

"—Yeah, I know what it looks like. Her mom invented it." He said, grabbing the clamp with his bloody hands. As he did his work smoothly, both the Vampires listened to Lizzie's heartbeat slowly go back to its natural rythm.

"Okay..." Jade exhaled in relief. "Vessel's sealed. Her pulse is steady." She informed, Arabella giving her a thankful look which she nodded in response.

"Thank you." Ric said wholeheartedly.

Jade looked back to him, giving him a simple smile in return. She immediately frowned when Josie stood up in front of her with her veins showing on her face.

"Hello again." Josie greeted in a villain type of monologue, walking towards the two of them who was just outside.

"What happened to you?" The ripper Vampire asked, confused on the sudden change of behaviour and look.

"She did something dangerous with black magic." Ric informed.

Arabella walked inside the room, feeling more in control of herself than the last time. "And she doesn't remember why." She said in annoyance which Josie simply clicked her tongue.

"I must have had a reason." She looked at Arabella who shrugged, leaning on the wall. "But it's blank. There's something's missing from my memory. Or someone"

"Uh... same." She pulled a paper out of her back pocket and handed it to Josie. "I don't know what this is but I found it in my pocket."

Josie took it, opening and reading the letter before showing it to Alaric and Arabella who could only frown in confusion of the letter.

"Who the hell's Kai?" Arabella questioned, crossing her arms while she looked at Josie who was trying to figure something out.

"The person who's missing from our memory." She closed her eyes, digging inside her head. "There's a spell affecting my mind. I've felt it before. Malivore." Josie said and when she opened her eyes back, it was black for a few seconds.

Alaric and Arabella sighed in frustration, mostly Arabella who sat on the floor, gripping on her shirt, getting ready for whatever heartbreak she'll be experiencing today.

"Harae-tamai kioku yomigaerashi-tamae." The witch flipped her right hand over and all of them collapsed, reliving the memories of Kai Parker.

While the rest were fast asleep, Arabella breathed heavily, the pain of losing her bestfriend, Josette Laughlin, and how she died was back inside her mind. She lets out a shaky sigh before falling unconscious herself.

She remembered all of it. How she was sobbing while holding a dead Jo on her arms, besides her was Alaric who was weeping in pain as well. Despite her injuries on glass, she did her best to reach her bestfriend and tried to give her blood but Alaric stopped her seeing as she was pregnant and didn't know what it could do.

It didn't stop her from biting into her wrist, forcefully slamming her wrist to Jo's mouth but was no use. She was dead. Everything was too painful— and she didn't know how to operate in that particular moment. All she could think about was that Jo was gone. Arabella didn't even care about Kai who was the culprit.

Finally, Arabella gasped for air, sitting upwards and saw that they were in a much more different place. Besides her, Ric also woke up in fright.

"That little—" Before Arabella could even curse him using every curse word she could think of, she exhaled shakily, holding onto her chest in pain.

"Where's Lizzie?" Ric asked in panic, looking over to the Vampire who held her hand up making him back away.

"Sleeping upstairs." She informed and Alaric stood up, remembering what happened and who Kai is. "Try to control your emotions. I remember what Kai said. There's still a way for us to get out. This whole place is just another spell. It's made of magic. Magic can be siphoned. I can make holes in this world. Doors." She shrugged while holding a book.

Arabella closed her eyes for a second before standing up, not as good as earlier but she managed to pull through. Footsteps were approaching them and the blonde looked at the trio who was stuck here for 10 years.

"So, does this mean you can get us back into the real world?" Jade asked, more sane from their last encounter. When Arabella shifted her eyes to red when she saw them, Jade spoke up. "It's all right. I talked to them."

"We just want to go home." Wendy said, seeing light from their situation.

"Well, we can't all go. The magic I siphoned here can't travel to the real world. The energy needs to go somewhere, which means someone needs to stay behind to be the anchor." Josie nonchalantly explained and her gaze went to the werewolf in the room. "It should be Diego. No offense but you bit my bestfriend." She said emotionless.

"No. We're not leaving anyone here." Ric said, looking at the three. "We're all getting back."

Josie's eyes turned black, sensing someone. "Shh. Someone's coming." She announced and someone did come.

"Josie?" Hope questioned in mostly relief. Her gaze then landed to Arabella who was looking around confused. "Bella..." She whispered in relief but noticed that Arabella wasn't exactly seeing her.

"Only I can see you." Josie said as she noticed as well.

"What happened to you?" She asked in concern, seeing black magic infiltrated her naure.

"I broke the Sandclock." Josie informed like it was no big deal.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry."

Alaric and Arabella looked at each other in confusion. "Honey, who are you talking to?" Ric asked in concern.

"Hope— She's astral-projecting." She informed and Arabella's eyes widen. By the simple name drop, her heart rate decreased normally and she sighed, closing her eyes to calm herself down more.

"Listen, you have to warn her about Kai." He said, looking at his daughter.

"Why? What happened?"

"Kai went into the Malivore pit, and we think he's trying to get to the real world." She explained to the Tribrid who suppressed her needs to send Arabella a message.

"Actually, I think he's already here, pretending to be someone else." She informed nervously, still locking her gaze to Arabella who was just out of another mental breakdown. Hope exhaled, looking at her girl with a sympathetic look.

"Kai's at the school." Josie sent the message to both of them.

Alaric sighed. "Oh. Hope? Listen to me, Kai's incredibly dangerous. You have to get him away from the school now." He said blind but knew Hope got it.

"Good luck, Hope." Josie said and flung her fingers away and the Tribrid was gone. Arabella sighed, slumping her shoulders down as she wanted to see the girl again. "We need to do whatever it takes to get out of here."

"Fine. We do the spell." He looked to the three students he banished in this world. "And I'll stay behind. You were all my students once. It has to be me."

☘︎︎

"We need to work together. Place the spires in a circle to create a boundary spell. As I begin to siphon, doors will open beneath them. Each door can only transport one person. Once I begin the spell, I cannot stop until it is done." Josie explained while the rest were listening intently. "So, when you see the door, you have to go.

The all spread, planting a staff on the ground. Arabella stuck hers just closely by Ric and Lizzie. The blonde Saltzman was holding onto her father tight.

They turned around, watching Josie slash the palm of her hand with a blade and letting her blood drip on the book. She placed both of her hands on the ground beneath them and wind began to harshly immense.

"Dad, don't do this. We'll find another way." Lizzie said and Arabella closed her eyes before glancing to Josie's direction.

"Lizzie, there's no time. Kai got out. He's at the school. Hope's trying to stop him, but if she can't, you and Josie have to." He explained and handed her a relic. "You got to go now."

Surrounding Josie like a circle, a bright light brimmed its way to their world as the harsh winds flew against their faces.

"But, dad, Sebastian is still here. He'll come after you." She informed, wanting her father to stay.

"I'll be fine. Besides, you'll find a way to get me back in no time." As he said that, the same light of circle surrounded the staff that was on the ground.

Arabella sighed, clenching her fist into a ball as she waited for an opportunity to take Ric's place. When it finally did, Diego lunged himself forward and attacked Alaric just as Lizzie stepped into the door.

Angry, Arabella sped to their way and slammed her hand sideways making the werewolf's head fly from across the woods. She didn't let Alaric speak and grabbed his wrist, pulling him to the door where Diego was suppose to be. "Sorry, Ric. Your daughter needs you." She said and Ric's eyes widen and before he can protest, he got pushed in the door.

With much pain in her heart, she looked behind her and walked towards Josie who was kneeling on the ground, still holding holes to the world.

"This the part where I say goodbye?" She croaked out, kneeling besides Josie, just outside the circle.

Before the two can speak further, A Vampire from out of no where showed up and grabbed Arabella's waist and placed her just on her door. "Hello, Bella-Luna." Sebastian greeted, placing her in the circle. "I'm sorry." He said genuinely.

"Sebastian no!" She shouted but was already gone, back into her world.

Arabella stumbled backwards, looking around in worry. Which all got flushed down the drain when she saw Hope in front of her. "Bella..." Hope whispered and practically ran to hug her which the other returned desperately.

With a feeling of happiness rush through her system, she burried her face in Hope's neck. She didn't mind her thirst for blood because all she needed was Hope's warmth. That was all.

"Oh you have no idea how I missed you." Arabella whispered wholeheartedly, brushing her fingers in Hope's hair.

☘︎︎

"Well, Landon's officially a bird so that's that." Arabella cracked a joke earning Hope who was sitting on the edge of her bed to chuckle.

The Vampire sipped on her blood bag some more, having to travel to a hospital for real blood, not animal blood. It was definitely worth it seeing as her skin was going back to its natural tone. She showered, fixed herself and even talked to Jade who apologised for her behaviour before.

She felt a warm pair of arms slip from each sides of her waist, hugging her from behind while they just stood there. "I didn't mean it. I'm sorry for what I said." She whispered in an apologetic voice.

"I know you don't." Arabella sighed, holding Hope's hand that was wrapped around her waist. "I love you, Hope." She said simply, turning around to meet her eyes but Hope's arms was still on her waist, holding her in place.

"I love you." She smiled warmly, both of them standing in Arabella's room in silence, enjoying each other's presence as simply as that. Soon, Hope hugged the girl, resting the side of her head on the Salvatore's chest.

Arabella exhaled, closing her eyes while she held the girl to her closely. Both Hope and Arabella just stood there in the dark, in front of the window while they embraced each other in the cold night.

When Arabella said she will never let Hope go, she meant it. It's a promise she'll never regret on making, a promise she will never break in a million years.

☘︎︎