(CHAPTER NINETEEN :
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER)

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SOME THINGS JUST GO together; some things just don't. For example, Klaus Mikaelson, Damon Salvatore, Jeremy Gilbert and Matt Donovan uniting forces as one ultimate, all powerful vampire hunting team fell into the latter category. When I arrived at the Boarding House after my phone conversation with Damon, I needed ten minutes to repress my laughter once I was told we were role-playing some twisted 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' fantasy to find the cure. Although I made it explicitly clear I didn't want to a part of the race to the cure anymore, I didn't trust Klaus — or Damon for that matter — with Jeremy and Matt. Technically, I wasn't meant to be around Jeremy anymore, but what Kol didn't know couldn't hurt him. It wasn't in my blood to let my friends walk into certain death — as entertaining their deaths may be given the sheer ridiculousness of their scheme.

Left. Right. I snapped my neck back and forth, observing a frantic Matt run for his life, darting through the foliage in a desperate effort to lose the vampire that was chasing him. According to Damon, the goal of this absurd activity was to help the hunter kill moving targets — Matt being an additional push of motivation. Naturally, I was concerned for the poor human but watched with folded arms, refusing to step in because I had faith in Jeremy.

I patted the boy on the back when an arrow pierced the chest of the newly turned vampire. "You didn't fail per see, but your aim could be improved." I critiqued my ex, my eyes drifting to the discarded arrows that didn't reach the target on his first try. In those cases, Damon or I had to step in and rip out a heart or two.

"Shut up!" He barked, squaring his shoulders as he turned to face me. "If you think you can do it better, go ahead. I didn't even want to do this." Jeremy spat, tossing the arrows to the ground and shoving his bow into my chest.

I raised an eyebrow at him in curiosity before shrugging, accepting his challenge. "I don't think, I know." I corrected confidently, plucking a red tipped arrow from the heap on the ground. Once I adjusted its position, I aimed, held a widened stance and waited until the next vampire emerged from the bar. "I practiced archery for a couple of decades. Father thought it wasn't lady-like, so I took it up as a vampire." I explained, my eyes locked on the target . . . Poof. Within seconds, he was dead, an arrow through the heart — not the chest — for a quicker dusting. "Oh come on, don't look so shocked. After a century, a girl has to have some hobbies." I claimed, feigning offence with an agape mouth.

Recomposing himself, Jeremy snorted. "Fine, you do this instead because I never asked to be a hunter." He raised his arms in surrender.

"I'm not a huntress, I wasn't chosen — deal with it!" I demanded, my tone brash in an attempt to show a little tough love before Klaus intervened with more extreme measures. "Look, try again. Focus, block out all the white noise and be confident in the kill. You were supernaturally designed to be a hunter and it's in your DNA, all of us know you can do this but the only time you seem to speak or react is when I condemn you." I offered my advice, my voice unknowingly softening as I ignored the daggers he glared at me. Since I arrived, I'd been receiving withering looks and I was unsure if he was still sour over the break up or it was stemmed from his hunter instinct.

"No way. I'm not doing this." As I extended a new arrow to him, Jeremy pushed it away.

Klaus narrowed his eyes, stepping in front of me to address the teenager. "What makes you think you have a choice?" He inquired, the coldness in his question not amiss by any of us.

"Alpha Male is too Twilight, Klaus. Back off." I ordered, feeling responsible to step in given Damon wouldn't and it would be foolish for Matt to challenge the hybrid. "Instead, let's find a compromise because I don't want a teenage temper tantrum from him or for you to compel Jeremy to kill himself out of spite." I snarled, the comments aimed at the pair with a malicious intent.

Klaus rolled his eyes. "Don't be silly, love. The Five can't be compelled." He announced.

Damon dragged me back a few steps. "Let's not milk that anymore — he compelled you to kill yourself and you pushed him front of the White Oak. You're even." The Salvatore settled with a half-smile, his features hardened when he switched his attention to the Gilbert. "You have to kill vampires to complete the hunter's mark. Mark equals cure. You're in a bar full of almost vampires, so get your hunt on." In the most blunt, Damon-esque manner, the vampire commanded the hunter to grow his mystical mark.

"It's either the strangers the bar or the people you love." I explained to him, scratching my arm. "You can fight us, but you can't fight your instinct to kill." I warned lowly.

The younger boy glanced upwards, blinking in disbelief. "Screw you." He scoffed. "You said I wouldn't have to kill any innocent people." Jeremy claimed, an immense anger bubbling under the surface.

"Jeremy, they're not people." Damon's arms flailed, pointing at the people who were waking up as vampires in the bar.

"Enough!" Klaus exclaimed, his initial amusement having dwindled after their petty disagreement grew to be tedious. "Have at it, or else." He terrorised, a nefarious glint reflecting in the Original's eye as he approached the hunter, close enough that they almost bumped chests.

Jeremy laughed — a dry, humourless laugh. "I don't take orders from you, dick." He retorted, throwing a wooden stake to the ground with a vicious 'clank.' "Hunters can't be compelled." He taunted his elder further and I wildly mouthed for him to 'stop,' sensing the oncoming danger of Klaus' wrath.

Klaus mimicked the boy's chuckle. "You're right. I can't compel you. But if your conscience is getting in the way, then allow me to make this easy for you." For dramatic purposes, he paused, the glacier blue of his irises landing on one of the waking vampires. "Because, I can compel them." He deadpanned.

"No." I stood our ground. "I don't care about the cure, I'm here to protect my friends. You send those vampires on them, Klaus, and I'll start to care about the cure if not to only make you choke on it." I threatened, tugging at the ends of my jumper sleeve in exhilaration. Although I appeared courageous, I spared a nervous glance to the mass amount of vampires who needed to complete their transition.

"Yes." Klaus mocked me. "I'm gonna give you a two-minute head start. Then I'm gonna send every vampire in here after you." He spoke directly to Jeremy, his lips curving upwards into a sadistic smirk. "You kill them, or they kill your friend . . . Matt." He adjured with the impassiveness of a sociopath.

"Wait a second!" Matt's heartbeat spiked as he registered what the Mikaelson had said.

"No, no." Damon shook his head rapidly. "You turn them, he kills them. That was the deal, Klaus." He reminded the man, thinking about the impact Matt's death would have on his relationship. If Matt died and he didn't stop it, the blame would be put on him and Elena wouldn't forgive him.

In an indifferent and unfazed manner, Klaus tilted his head. "I'm taking artistic license." He coyly stated.

Miffed, I scrunched my eyebrows together. "It doesn't work like that." I bit back.

"You know he can't take them all on at the same time." Damon pointed out, edging closer to me. Instantly, I took that as a hint to be on guard and prepared for a fight. Both of us knew how thirsty vampires were in transition — we had to help Jeremy to prevent a blood bath and a burial.

"With you two as his coaches he'll be fine." Klaus chided, the way his lips twitched informing me he was relishing in the way the four of us were squirming. "It's Matt I'm worried about." The Original added with faux sympathy, nodding in the direction of the town's favourite human.

Reassuringly, I gave Damon's shoulder a squeeze and that prompted him to spit out orders, refusing to hesitate any longer. "Lottie, I need as much vamp muscle as we can get, stay with me. Jeremy, go get the weapons out of the car. We'll be right behind you." He instructed, the hunter complying immediately. Maybe it was his fear that finally forced him into obedience. "Both of you." The Salvatore added after a reflective pause. Damon had such a pinched, refined look on his face that Matt didn't dare question him, scurrying after Jeremy.

Satisfied, Klaus grinned watching the pair flee the scene, expectantly facing us, eager to know our next move. "If I hear an engine start, I'll kill Matt myself!" He called out to the boys, the innocence on his angelic features juxtaposing his devilish attitude.

I craned my head to monitor the two as they exited my view, elbowing the Salvatore roughly once Jeremy and Matt were out of sight. "Two teenagers armed with stakes and a couple of arrows are useless against over fifty vampires. You just sent them to certain death!" I hissed, digging my nails into my arm in irritation. I had to hold myself back and remember this was my best friend, he must have had some method in his madness. "I don't even know the plan yet and know it is terrible. It might even top the one where you got my neck snapped an hour ago." I ridiculed, cynical of what he could be plotting.

Damon did a double take, incredulous. "I hate to tell you this, but we have bigger problems right now than your unresolved feelings for the Original dick." He threw his hands in the air with an overwhelming sense of disbelief.

Bemused, Klaus watched the way ping ponged back and forth. "As much as you both entertain me, I give the human and the hunter a few minutes before my new friends get to them." His eyes came alive with a familiar mischief, his hands rubbing together as he expected the baby vampires to cause chaos soon.

"Shit, we're in trouble."

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Utilising our supernatural speed, Damon and I ran in the same direction the boys had went a few minutes prior, listening out for their voices as we searched for them amongst the trees. Faintly, I could hear the soft thumping of a human heart and as I opened my mouth to speak, an arrow whizzed towards me. If it wasn't for Damon tackling me to the ground, I would have had a vervain tipped arrow lodged into my abdomen.

"I knew you were bitter about the break up, but . . ." I teased, recognising my attacker to have been Jeremy Gilbert. It was safe to say his archery skills had improved since the start of the day.

"Ignore her, she's being difficult because I ruined things between Kol and her." Damon stated, noting the unimpressed expression on the hunter's face. "Yes, I heard all about your romantic declarations from my big mouthed baby bro." He elucidated upon spotting my pout. The development in my relationship wasn't a secret necessarily, but I knew Damon wouldn't exactly be a cheerleader for an Original vampire.

Jeremy shifted. "Oh." And I thought back to the late night conversation we had about how I wasn't meant to give up on him.

Damon didn't acknowledge the teenager's change in attitude, instead addressing how he executed the (almost) kill. "Don't hesitate." He guided. "You're lucky it was us. Otherwise you two'd be dead." The vampire continued, the underlying warning in his tone crystal clear.

The brunette hunter scowled. "You set us up." He realised, what happened finally registering in his mind.

"I was trying to get this thing over with." Damon supplied. "You're the one that pissed off Klaus. Now you have to fight your way out of it." He shrugged with such nonchalance I almost shivered. However, I knew he was being deliberately cold to push for that passion in Jeremy.

"From my encounters with Klaus over the years, I learnt his favourite thing is a game. He loves games, but you won't ever win because he won't tell you the rules." I started to pace, itching my arm out of discomfort. "Right now, the four of us are on his game board. If you want to win, change the game, Jeremy." I finalised, knowing that to take the crown from the King, one had to overthrow him first.

"I can't change the game, I don't know how. I can't even control myself, Lottie." He complained. "I have this undeniable urge to rip out not your throat but Damon's and Klaus' too." Jeremy pursued, heat flushing his face as he listed off names.

Matt cleated his throat. "Uh, guys . . ." There was a wobble in the human's voice that made me more alert, tuning into the noises of our surroundings. Newbie vampire's tended to be followed by the distinctive sound of stupidity and being burned alive. "All right, where are the other vampires?" He implored, failing to hide the nerves in his voice.

Carefully, Damon surveyed the area and searched for any sign of unwanted company. "They're newbies. They're still trying to figure out how to track, which means you have two seconds to get ready to fight." He responded with a sense of finality.

Jeremy faced Matt. "The lake house is this way." He remembered, pointing North towards where the house was located. "If we can get there, they won't be able to get inside." As Elena Gilbert's brother, the boy was well-versed in his vampire lore, recalling vampires needed to be invited into a home owned by a human.

"Wait, you want to run?" Damon reiterated Jeremy's plan, appalled by the idea.

Jeremy nodded. "They're going to kill Matt." He established.

"Running is not a plan." I countered. "I've ran before and it's only works until you eventually have to turn around and look what's trying to kill you in the eyes." I declared, serious in my approach. This wasn't a training session anymore, it was a battle.

Frustrated, Jeremy screwed his eyes shut, awaiting Damon's confirmation that they could run. All they needed was one of us to support them. "Fine. Get out of here." He surrendered after a painful pause. "We'll slow them down." My friend vowed and I sighed in agreement.

The two boys dashed to the lake house, Damon and I trailing them to fend off any vampires they couldn't. At one point, a vampire charged at the humans — or semi human in Jeremy's case — with their fangs bared, only for Damon to puncture his chest and rip out the man's heart. In another incident, I had to stab a different attacker with my make shift stake — better known as a tree branch. Both Damon and I continued like this until we all reached safety.

"I see another one coming." I signalled, spotting a vampire lurking in the shadows by the trees — a rookie attempt at camouflage, if anything.

Spinning around in a circle, Damon pressed his back against mine so we could have eyes on the lookout from all angles. "You know I didn't mean to take it too far earlier. I'm . . . sorry." He managed to force out, apologies never being his strong suit. "I missed this, us against the world. We're a team again, Lottie." He riled me up, energetic and encouraging. I felt a little guilty we hadn't been as close as we used to be because of Elena and Kol.

"We were never not a team." I amended, my stance defensive as I prepared for the next attack. "You're my partner in crime, Blue-Eyes. Always." I told him, the raw honesty prominent in my voice.

He didn't turn to look at me. "Always."

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A.N: I won't make any promises but I'd love to finish this book before the new year! There's going to be twenty-four chapters in total once again. Also, even as I align with the episodes, my storyline is still omnipresent. In fact, I hinted at something big in this chapter on a few occasions, so see if you can spot it.

The edit is high key terrible because I can't find a high quality screen caps of Sasha for the life of me smh.

Who would be your fictional best friend? It doesn't have be a character from the TVD universe.