8

Everything's quiet. Everything's still. Yesterday was filled with tension and awkwardness between my sister, my mom, and I. I locked myself in my room to avoid them. They knocked on my door and talked to me through it, but I was deaf and they were sirens. In no world would I hear them out.

Even though my exhaustion is keeping me pinned to the bed, I can't fall asleep. I opened my eyes and turned on my phone, looking at the time. 4:27. I dropped my phone and put my hands over my face, groaning. There's a few ways I can force myself to fall asleep, and none of them seem enticing.

Staying awake seems like the better option. I force myself to sit up. As I stand up, there's banging on the front door. I step back, aware of how odd it is for someone to be here at four in the morning.

I slowly made my way downstairs. I stared at the person through the window. It seemed like a very tall man, who's hunched over. They're leaning against the door. I can hear him groan loudly, then cough. I feel uneasy and scared.

"Who is it?" I hear Caroline asked drowsily from behind me. I don't acknowledge her.

She sighed and walked to the door. "You're going to have to get over it, Evelyn," She muttered as she pulled the door open. She's taken aback by the man.

My suspicions were all correct. He's coughing up blood. He looked from me to Caroline. His intake of breath is interrupted when he starts coughing again, this time with blood spotting his hand. He looked up at Caroline.

"What did you do to me?" His eyes closed a few seconds before he collapsed to the ground.

I gasped as I stumbled back a step. "Do you know this guy?" I'm staring at Caroline as she checks for a pulse on the man.

She nodded frantically, "He's the cancer guy."

I raise my eyebrows. "Oh my God." The realization reaches my brain, and my breathing becomes shallow. "Oh my..." I can't think of anything other than how my mom is going to die. Soon. Very soon.

My vision is spotted with black dots as my body loses the ground beneath me.

-

"Evelyn." My name is softly spoken by Stefan.

I can feel his hand resting on my hip. I opened my eyes to see him staring down at me. He's sitting beside me. I looked around as I sat up. My eyes find him after my brain registers that I'm at Stefan's.

His eyes bore into mine as he speaks. "Do you feel okay?"

I close my eyes, trying to remember what happened. "I guess." I opened my eyes and looked at him again. I looked behind me at the door the led out of his room. My heart rate picked up as I remembered. I looked at Stefan again. "Where's Caroline?"

He slid his hand to my thigh, "It's okay. She's with your mom."

I was scared to ask the next question. "Where are they, Stefan?"

He looked at his hand, then at me. "The hospital. Your mom... She passed out."

The tears in my eyes weren't willfully going away. "What happened to..."

"Colin." He got a sad look on his face. "Caroline's blood sped up the cancer. Last night, when he showed up here, he was in transition."

I felt nauseous. "How is that possible?" If I spoke above a whisper, I would cry.

I couldn't really hear him over the ringing in my ears, but I understood it had something to do with the magic.

"Can't we find some way to undo it?"

He stared at me, hopeless. "Bonnie looked, Evelyn, but there's no spell to take away the magic."

"Wait," I furrowed my brows, "What would taking away the magic do?"

He opened his mouth to speak but paused. "It could possibly slow it down again."

I thought of ways to take away magic. Magic cancels out magic, except in this case, apparently. But there's always a way. "Damon mentioned something about Kai being a siphon a while ago. He could take the magic away."

He tilted his head. "I don't think Kai is willing to help us."

"So, you found him?"

He started to speak, "Evelyn -"

"Where is he?"

"It's too dangerous. And it's pointless. He won't do it unless we give him what he wants. That's how it works."

"And there's no way in hell you're going anywhere near him," Damon added. I looked over at him, standing in the doorway. He walked further into the room. "He'll kill you without a second thought."

I looked at Stefan. "I can't let her die."

He stared at me. There was a debate in his mind, and it was showing on his face.

"Stefan." Damon interrupted Stefan's train of thought.

I looked at Damon. "What's wrong with you?"

"If the psychopath does this for us, he'll pull something. Or he won't do it, and he'll try to kill you and all the rest of us. I'm not letting you put everyone in danger just because you want to make a bad decision." He looked at his brother. "We need to go."

I felt anger flood my body. I looked at Stefan. He looked up from the floor to my eyes. He shook his head slowly. "I'm sorry, Evelyn."

Tears flooded my eyes. My breath caught in my throat. My heart chipped away, hearing those words leave his mouth. I watched them leave the room. I looked at the bed. Stefan's bed. It was comfortably holding my hurt.

There was screaming in my mind, motivating me to get up and go after them and beg them to tell me. Then there was my pride telling me to never beg a man for anything. Especially not the Salvatores. However, under certain circumstances, begging is necessary.

Finding out where he is on my own will be frustrating and time-consuming, but it will be worth it.

I forced myself out of the bed and wiped the tears off of my face. I looked around Stefan's room for answers. After thirty minutes of searching, I found his journal. The page that was bookmarked held what I needed. He's in an apartment complex near Whitmore.

I took a picture of the address on my phone and put my phone in my pocket. I rushed out of Stefan's room, then made my way out of the house. I was surprised to see my car in the driveway. I ran to it and got in. I buckled up and started driving. I rushed home.

After getting my mom's gun and changing into jeans and a long sleeve shirt, I sped over to Kai's complex. Rushing in without thinking may be a bad idea, but who cares?

My unsteady breathing is making matters way worse than I'm comfortable with. Knocking on the door seems odd, but it would be illegal for me to just break in. I step back as I wait for him to open the door.

I watched as the door opened, revealing Kai. He looked me up and down as a grin appeared on his face. He's wearing a tightly fitted t-shirt and jeans. There are rings on his fingers and bracelets on his wrists. My breath hitched in my throat, seeing how he's staring at me.

"Well, hello." He pulled the door open wider and let go of it. The gun tucked into the back of my jeans feels cold and heavy. I don't say anything to him. "What are you here for?" I can practically see the thoughts in his mind as his smile grows wider.

"We need to talk." My pride is still intact. And so is my anger.

His gaze traveled down my body as he took a few steps back, letting me in. I stepped inside, walking further into the apartment. I turned to face him, not taking in much more than the layout. You're greeted with the living room when you enter. The couch is facing the wall with the front door. The kitchen is to the right, guarded by a counter connected to the wall. There are stools for people to sit on. The door at the end of the hallway presumably leads to his bedroom.

"What can I do for you?"

I tilted my head. "I need something from you."

The excitement on his face was just as I imagined. "And what might that be?"

"You're a siphon, right? You take away magic."

He nodded as he crossed his arms. His shirt rose just slightly as he did so, making the air thinner. "So, do you know everything about me?"

"You're a murderous psychopath. That's all I need to know."

There was amusement on his face. He was silent for a minute. "Go on."

I stepped closer. "I need you to siphon magic out of someone I know. No questions, and no one gets hurt."

He furrowed his brows. "What do I get out of this?"

"What do you want?"

A smile tugged at his lips. He uncrossed his arms and stepped closer. "As you know, I was in a prison world for 18 years. This was a very, very long 18 years. And a very lonely 18 years." His eyes looked down my body, taking their time to make their way back up to mine.

"So..."

He hummed, amused. I was growing impatient. "I want you to have sex with me. Whenever I want. For as long as I want."

I furrowed my brows. "Seriously?"

He stepped closer, our bodies dangerously close to one another. "Seriously." He tilted his head. "A non-committal, strictly sexual relationship." His eyes were trained on my lips. "Fuck buddies." His eyes found mine again.

I reached behind me slowly for the gun. "I haven't even had sex with you, how do I know if you're good or not?"

He leaned down, his lips ghosting over mine. My breath was stuck in my throat. "Why don't we find out?"

My eyes closed as his lips pressed against mine. His hands found my waist, pulling me against him. He was firm and hot. I moaned softly. I put my hand on his shoulder. He walked me back against the wall. I pulled the gun out slowly. I raised it to his chin and cocked it. He stopped kissing me. I opened my eyes.

Our breathing mixed together, heavy and fast. His body was still against mine. His eyes moved from my wrist to my eyes. "Kinky."

"Do we have a deal?"

He smiled wider as he stepped back, holding up his hands. "As long as you hold up your end of it."

I lowered the gun and uncocked it. I didn't bother putting it back. "If you hurt anyone, I have no problem shooting you."

He nodded and lowered his hands. "Wouldn't dream of it."

I rolled my eyes and pushed off the wall. "Let's go."