21. Requiem for a Dream

Aria gasped and sat up on the bed, only to see herself surrounded by Damon, Klaus, Caroline and the five kids.

"Aria? Hey" Damon greeted, quickly sitting by the very confused tribrid, "Take it easy Aria, nice and slow".

"Hey, how you feeling?" Caroline asked, sitting on the other side of Aria and rubbing her back.

"Mommy, are you okay?" a concerned Mia, crawling on to the bed and stopping near Aria's legs, infront of Caroline.

Aria looked at everyone around, "I feel different" she whispered, "Something isn't right with me".

"Everything's alright, that's just the after effects of beating death" Klaus assured.

"I need some air" Aria said, quickly getting out of bed, and before anyone could stop her she had used her vampire speed to rush out of the room.

"What just happened?" a confused Caroline asked.

"I have no idea" an equally confused Damon said, "You two stay here with the kids, I'll go check on Aria".

Caroline and Klaus nodded their heads and Damon quickly rushed downstairs where he saw Aria pouring herself a glass of bourbon and then downing it in one go.

"Aria, are you okay?" Damon asked, walking up to the tribrid.

Aria looked at Damon and gave him a small smile, "Of course I'm okay, why wouldn't I be okay?".

Damon smiled back at Aria, he opened his mouth to say something else but before he could, Aria stuck her hand into his chest and ripped his heart out.

"Oh my god" a shocked Caroline said, walking into the living room and seeing Damon's dead body, "Oh my god, Damon, no".

Aria suddenly speeded behind Caroline and using her bare hands ripped her head off.

***

In reality, Kol entered Damon and Aria's old room, only to see Aria still laying on the bed, still unconscious, "What's going on?" he asked.

Alec quickly ran over to Kol, "Dad, something is wrong with mom, she's not waking up" he informed, hugging Kol's leg.

Klaus looked at his brother, who was looking at Aria's body with a knowing look, "You know why Ari's not waking up" he realised.

Kol looked between Caroline and Klaus, Damon refusing to move his eyes from Aria, "She's not waking up because she's trying to protect us".

"What?" a confused Caroline asked.

"Passing Rayna's life to Ri, also passed on her hunter instincts to her" Kol informed, shocking everyone, "If Ri wakes up, then just like Rayna, she's going to be out for all of our blood".

***

Damon and Kol stood in the Salvatore library.

"Rayna screwed us" Kol informed, pouring himself a drink while Damon stared at the fireplace infront of him, "She failed to mention that by giving Ri her life, she was actually giving Ri her lifestyle, so now, when she wakes up, she's gonna be Rayna 2.0".

"Did Rayna happen to mention if this gift includes another long nap for Aria?" a frustrated Damon asked.

"I couldn't ask her, she bursted into flames before I could even get one word out" Kol replied, "And her stupid shaman friend vanished the same time Rayna died so I couldn't torture the answers out of him either".

"Kol, did the spell work or not?!" an angry Damon asked.

"I don't know" an equally angry Kol replied, "I don't know if the spell worked or not, I don't know why Ri won't open her beautiful eyes and just let us know if she wants to kill us or not, I don't know anything Damon!".

While a frustrated Kol downed his drink, realisation suddenly drew on Damon, he finally figured out why Aria wasn't waking up.

"You gotta be kidding me" Damon whispered.

"I wish I was" Kol said, pouring himself another a drink.

Damon looked at Kol, "She figured it out before us".

"Figured what out?" a confused Kol asked.

"That when she wakes up, she will want to kill us, the reason Aria isn't waking up is because she is Aria freaking Connor, who will never put all our lives in danger" Damon informed, "Aria isn't waking up because she doesn't want to hurt us".

***

"I have an idea" Klaus announced to Kol and Damon, after they revealed to him why Aria wasn't waking up.

"Which is what?" Damon asked.

"It better be a good one" Kol told Klaus.

"While Damon was on the run from Rayna, Ari spent hours researching Rayna, and she told me quiet a bit about her" Klaus started.

"Why will she tell you and not me?" Kol asked confused.

"Oh geez Kol, I wonder why Aria didn't tell her current fiance that she's been trying to figure out how to get rid of the scar of her ex fiance" Damon said sarcastically, he then looked at Klaus, "Continue" he said, while Kol went into thinking mode.

"According to Ari, some of the vampires that Rayna marked she didn't really want to kill them but she had to" Klaus continued, "She could sense their humanity through some sort of physic link between her and the vampires she marked, if Ari is fighting the same war in her head, then we need to give her a reason to wake, someone needs to go into her head and help her".

"So one of us need to convince Aria's hunter brain that not all vampires are selfish, vicious monsters" Damon realised.

Klaus looked between Kol and Damon, "So, which one of you is going into Ari's head and bringing her back?".

Both Damon and Kol looked at each other, both of them wanted to be the one who brought Aria back to the land of the living, however before any of them could say anything, Caroline entered the room.

"None of them are going in Aria's head, I am" Caroline stated, "I'm her sister, I've been with her since the moment we both were born, I can show her the difference between good and bad vampire".

Klaus looked at his wife, then at Damon and Kol, "If she can't do this, then we are all in trouble".

Everyone in the room knew how much Aria loved her sister, they all knew if Caroline failed to bring her sister back, then there was a high chance none of them will be able to bring Aria back.

***

Caroline sat by Aria's bed, she looked at her sister with a sad look on her face.

"Mommy, what are you doing?" a curious Hope asked, standing behind Caroline with Mia, both best friends holding hands and looking at their respective mothers.

"I'm bringing little Mia's mother back to her" Caroline said, giving Mia a small smile, who gladly smiled back at her godmother.

Caroline then turned back to her sister, she put her hands on either side of head and went inside Aria's head.

Aria opened her eyes and immediately she was met with Alaric's voice.

"And now, for our favorite subject, anyone?" Alaric asked, as a confused Aria started looking around and realised she was in one of Alaric's lecture rooms, "Anyone? Vampires, real or myth? Aria?".

Aria let out a small chuckle, "Myth" she said.

"Wrong" Alaric said, turning his projector on, "Vampires are as common today as mosquitoes, they can walk in the daylight, kill from the shadows, hell, some of your best friends or even family members might be vampires, so, what do we do when we meet a vampire? Anyone?".

"Invite them to a party" one girl said, immediately causing Aria to roll her eyes, she looked at the girl and she was shocked seeing the girl's bloody mouth, she looked around and saw various vampires feeding on humans, "Very funny, anyone else?", Alaric suddenly came infront of Aria, "What about you Aria? What would you do, huh? Just sit there? Or would you run?", suddenly Alaric started chocking Aria, "Or would you fight back? Show me how you kill a vampire, Aria?".

Aria glared at Alaric, "You aren't real" she snapped, shoving her adoptive father away from her and then quickly rushing out the door, the herd of vampires running after her.

Aria quickly ran into her dorm room and closed the door behind her, she leaned against the door as the vampires rapidly started pounding on the door, trying to get to her, when suddenly they disappeared and Caroline appeared infront of Aria.

"This is what you've been going through?" a shocked Caroline asked.

Aria shook her head, "You're not real" she whispered, "Go away, you're not my sister!".

"You're both right and wrong, I'm in your head but I am your sister" Caroline clarified, "Your body is safe in Damon's bedroom, this isn't real, and you just need to stay focused on me Aria, your best friend, your sister".

Aria looked at Caroline with teary tears, "If it's really you, then you should have never come here Care" she cried, "I'm not the same Aria right now, somethings wrong with me, every single good memory of me with you guys is being twisted into a horrible nightmare, I can't tell the difference between real and fake".

"It's your brain rewiring itself to hate vampires" Caroline informed, kneeling infront of an emotional Aria, "To become the hunter, you have to resist".

"What do you think I've been doing this whole time?" Aria snapped, "The last thing I want to do is hurt you or anyone else that I care about but it's so damn hard".

"You just have to concentrate on who I am" Caroline said, as Aria stood up and walked to the other side of the room, "Not what I am, I have kids now Aria, thanks to you, I have a family, gosh, you should see Hope and Jayden, they are just getting so big, you have to fight the voices in your head, open your eyes, and just come and have dinner with us, god, we miss you so much".

Aria looked at Caroline, her brain too foggy to understand anything she said, "I want to believe so badly that you're my sister" she whispered, "But something in me just refuses to believe that you're the person I grew up, I mean if whatever is happening to me can make me see horrible visions of myself, then why can't it make me see a fake you".

"Aria, listen to me, please" Caroline pleaded, tears in her eyes seeing her sister look so confused.

"No!" Aria yelled, ripping a plank from her the wall, "You're not her, you're a monster!" she yelled, stabbing Caroline in the chest.

In the real world, Caroline gasped and quickly stepped away from Aria's body.

"Care Bear, is mom back?" Mia asked.

Caroline didn't say anything to Mia, instead she ran to the bathroom, removing her shirt, she realised she was now marked.

"Caroline?" Klaus said, entering the bathroom.

Caroline looked at her husband, "She stabbed me in her dream and now I'm marked" she whispered, "She couldn't tell the difference between real and fake, she thought I wasn't real so she stabbed me".

Klaus looked at Caroline's mark, "Get the twins, we need to leave now, as soon as Ari wakes up, the first persons she will want to kill is you".

"I can't just leave her" Caroline protested.

"Caroline, save Ari the guilt of killing her own sister, she doesn't need that in her life" Klaus said.

Caroline looked at her sister, and after a moment, she turned back to Klaus, "Only because I don't want her to feel guilty" she said, ready to run with Klaus.

***

Damon stood by the bed, looking down at an unconscious Aria.

"All right Aria, I really need this to work" Damon said, "Look, I admit, I hate the idea of you and Kol, like really hate", Damon sat by Aria, "But if he can't get through to you, and I'm your last lifeline? We're screwed", Damon held Aria's hand in his and then brought it to his mouth to drop a light kiss, he then stood up and looked towards the door where Kol stood, Damon stepped away from Aria and gestured for Kol to come.

Kol sat on the bed, he then placed his hand on top of Aria's and went into her head.

Aria stepped out of the back door of Mystic Falls High School, wearing her cheerleading uniform.

"Hey" one of the stoners whistled, "Short skirt, you wanna join us?".

"No thank you" Aria stated, walking away, when suddenly the stoner used his vamp speed to appear infront of Aria.

"What about now?" he asked, his vampire face coming out, but before he could bite Aria, she shoved her hand into his chest and pulled out his heart, another vampire tried to attack Aria, but she quickly grabbed a wooden plank from the floor and shoved it into his heart, killing him as well.

Aria turned around when she heard someone clapping, turning around a smile formed on her face seeing Kol.

"You have no idea how much I've missed that smile" Kol said.

Aria let out a chuckle, she then ran over to Kol and hugged him, who gladly hugged her back.

"So right now, we're in my head?" Aria asked, as her and Kol walked the empty hallways of the school, "You're controlling everything I can see right now?".

"Pretty much yeah" Kol replied.

"So let me guess this straight, out of all the places you could've taken me, you decided to take me here?" Aria asked, "To my old high school?".

"Hey, I didn't bring you here, you were already here when I entered your head" Kol reminded.

Aria sighed, "I think I'm trying to hold on to something, something that has no relation to vampires, but so far it's not working because that stoner out there, Chad Carpenter, he used to annoy me every single day after cheerleading practice, he was a bully but he wasn't a vampire, this stupid spell is overwriting who I was, who I am and I don't know how to stop it".

"Maybe you've just been looking in the wrong places, darling" Kol said, opening a classroom door.

Aria walked into the classroom and looked around in confusion, "What are we doing here?" she asked.

"You're doing it all wrong Ri" Kol said, closing the door and walking over to Aria, "You keep trying to remember the time vampires hadn't infiltrated your life, instead of doing that, why don't you remember me and you, hell even Damon and you", Kol placed his hand on Aria's waist and pulled her towards him, "Not to toot my own horn but the fact is that you have only loved vampires".

"I loved Jeremy once" Aria reminded.

Kol scoffed, "I wouldn't call that love, that was more attraction" he said, "You loved me before, then you loved Damon, two vampires, remember the love Ri, hold on to that feeling".

Tears started to well in Aria's eyes, "I am probably the most luckiest girl in the world, to be loved the way I am loved, that is every girl's dream, I would rather live with the past memories of love then wake up and watch as I destroy all the love in my life".

"But you have to wake up Ri, there's no other option" Kol said, wiping the tears that had fallen, "If you don't wake up and take Rayna's life, you will--".

"Die" Aria finished, "I will die and you know what, call me selfish, call me an idiot, but I'd rather die then hurt you or Caroline, or even Damon, I would rather die right now then wake up and watch my kids realise that their mother is a monster".

"You dying is not an option Ri" Kol snapped.

Aria cupped Kol's face in her hands, she placed her lips on to his, "I love you Kol Mikaelson" she whispered, after breaking the kiss, "I made my peace with death, I'm ready to die if it means I will not harm the people I love, now it's time for you to go and let me live my few moments in peace".

Kol shook his head, "I can't do that, I can't let you give up on yourself like this".

"It's either me or the people I care about Kol, and I choose you guys" Aria stated, before turning around and grabbing a table and smashing it on Kol, she then grabbed a wooden piece of the broken table and stabbed it in Kol's chest, pushing him out of her head.

In reality, Kol gasped and stumbled back in shock.

"What the hell happened?" a confused Damon asked, Kol removed his shirt from his shoulder and showed Damon his mark, "Perfect, well I hope you got some quality time with her because when she wakes up, your relationship is officially on the rocks".

"She can't kill me without the white oak stake" Kol reminded, "And right now, her killing me is the last thing I'm worried about Damon, Ri is fighting this thing, but not in the way we want her to, she knows that waking up means killing her friends which is why she would rather die then open her eyes again".

***

Once Kol had walked out the room to check on the triplets, Damon walked over to Aria, an idea forming in his head.

"I couldn't reach your good side but I can sure as hell reach your bad side" Damon said, looking at Aria's body, "No more trying to wake you up by being the Damon I am whenever I am with you, now I'm going to be the Damon I am whenever I'm with everyone else, the horrible Damon, this is definitely not going to help our already on the rocks relationship but it will wake you up, I know it will, and then after that I promise to be your Damon and I promise to make it up to you".

Damon placed his hands on Aria's head and entered her subconscious.

Aria was walking a dark road, looking around a small smile formed on her face realising this was the road her and Damon had first met at.

"Damon?" Aria called out, knowing he was around.

"You're not the imaginary pizza guy" Damon teased, appearing behind Aria.

Aria turned around, "Did Kol not give you my message?".

"He did, which is why I'm here" Damon said, "I wanted to thank you Aria".

Aria looked at Damon in confusion, "What exactly are you thanking me for?".

"For fighting the good fight" Damon replied, "Going gently into that good night, and a whole slew of other sappy cliches, bottom line, you're gonna die Aria, and as much as I hate to admit it, it's gonna make me a very happy man, which is why, I figured the least I could do was dive into your brain and say goodbye".

"My death will make you happy?" Aria asked, a hurt expression on her face.

"Oh yeah" Damon said, "I will finally be free from the burden of loving you, god it has been an exhausting ride and honestly I'm ready to be done with you forever, that's why we are here on this road, this is where our story started and I want to end our story right here, I'm finally going to be free from you Aria, my kids are going to be free from you, now I can have the life I dreamed of with my kids, without you always interfering in our lives, just go Aria and leave my kids and me to a blissful life without you in it".

Aria glared at Damon, tears felling her eyes but rage shown on her face, "My kids, not yours, only mine".

Before Damon could say anything, Aria stuck her hand into Damon's chest and ripped his heart out.

In the real world, Aria gasped and sat up on the bed.

"Sorry Aria" Damon said, standing at the door, "I had to get you to wake up somehow".

Aria glared at Damon, realising everything he said in her head was just a lie to wake her up and she like an idiot fell for it,  "Because of you everyone is going to die!".

Damon smirked, "Catch me if you can" he taunted, speeding away.

***

Aria sat on the floor, her back leaning against the bed, she grabbed her phone and dialed her sister.

"Aria?" Caroline answered, currently sitting outside a motel with Klaus, their kids sleeping.

"I can see you, Caroline" Aria said, getting straight to the point, "I can feel you, I marked you and that mark allows me to know exactly where you are right now".

"It's okay, you're alive" a happy Caroline stated, not caring about her life but more concerned about her sister.

"None of this is okay Caroline" Aria snapped, "I'm not me, I am not controlling me anymore, whatever is in me, it's forcing me to come for you, so I need you to run and don't stop running, don't let me hurt my own sister because I won't be able to live with that".

***

"How does it feel to be alive?" Damon asked, walking in the woods while on the phone with Aria.

"You are an idiot Damon Salvatore!" Aria snapped, grabbing a bag full of weapons and putting it on the kitchen counter, "The non-huntress me loved you with everything she had, but now that you've woken me up, all that love has changed into hatred, do you even realise how much hatred that is?!".

"Too much for anyone to comprehend" Damon replied, "On the bright side, your skin's never looked better".

"You're a dead man Damon, telling jokes is the last thing you should be doing right now" Aria snapped.

"Oh come on Aria, you know everything I said was just a ploy to make you wake up, right?" Damon said.

"I know" Aria said, "Which is why I need you to stop running in the woods and run somewhere I can't find you".

"You can see me?" Damon asked.

"I can see you and I can feel you, which I could before as well but now it's times a hundred" Aria replied, "That's how I know you meant nothing you said on that road, everything you said you feel the opposite, so run".

"Aria, think about our children, how are you going to tell them that you killed their father?" Damon asked.

"Which is why I'm telling you to run, just like you did before Damon, run as far away as you can" Aria replied, "Don't let me catch up to you and if I do, then kill me before I kill you".

Before Damon could say anything, Aria hanged up on him.

***

"What part of run, did you not understand?" a furious Aria asked, walking over to Damon in the woods.

Damon looked at Aria, "I've been running for the past five years, I don't want to run anymore".

"Well, you have no choice" Aria snapped, throwing a dagger towards Damon but he easily dodged it and it stuck to the tree.

"Nice toss, Aria" Damon praised, "This hunter thing might be your best look yet".

Aria threw another dagger at Damon but he quickly used his speed and came on the other side of Aria.

"Truth is, I don't have to run from you" Damon said.

"And why is that?" Aria asked.

"Because Aria can never kill Damon" Damon replied.

Aria pulled out a wooden stake from her back pocket, "You might want to rethink that".

Aria started swinging at Damon but he easily dodged her, but Aria stuck the stake in his arm, causing him to yell in pain and then suddenly run off.

Aria took out another stake from her back pocket and clutched it tightly in her hands, "Please don't make me do this" she whispered to herself, "Don't make me kill my everything".

Aria closed her eyes to fight the huntress in her but it was too damn hard for her, the next time she opened her eyes, they were full of rage and determined to kill Damon.

***

Damon hid behind a tree and watched as Aria walked around looking for him, a shotgun in her hand, suddenly Aria looked in his direction and shot, causing Damon to fall to the ground, Aria quickly rushed towards and kicked him into a tree, she then shot Damon in the shoulder.

"Fight me, Damon!" Aria yelled, struggling to stop herself from killing the man she loves, "If you don't fight me, then I'm going to kill you".

Damon removed the shotgun bullet from his shoulder, "I'd rather die then fight you, Ria".

Before Aria could say anything, Damon used his vampire to speed away and Aria quickly followed, Damon ended up leading Aria to a road, the road they both first met at.

"You can't give up, Damon" Aria snapped, not realising where Damon had led her.

"On the contrary" Damon said, "You're actually walking into my carefully laid trap".

Aria looked at Damon in confusion, not knowing what he was talking about, she then looked around and realisation crossed her face, "This road" she whispered.

"This isn't an ordinary road, Ria" Damon reminded.

"It's the road we first met at" Aria whispered.

"This is where the epic love story of Damon Salvatore and Aria Connor begun" Damon said.

"Why did you bring me here?" a confused Aria asked.

"To remind you of all the things you've gone through since me and Stefan entered your life, all the things you survived" Damon replied, "I brought you here to let you know that you will get through this".

"It's not that easy, Damon" Aria said, clutching a wooden stake in her hand, trying her level best not to hurt Damon.

"Yet here you are, stopping yourself from attacking me" Damon observed, taking small steps towards Aria.

"Don't come any closer" Aria warned, but Damon didn't listen, instead he kept walking and stood right infront of Aria.

"If you really want to kill me, then do it, if I have to die I want it to be here Ria, the place I met my life" Damon said, cupping Aria's face in his hands.

"I don't want to kill you Damon" Aria whispered, tears welling in her eyes.

"I know" Damon whispered back, "But dying in your hands, seems to be the best way a man can die, if this is my last moment with you Aria Connor, I need you to hear me when I say that I love you, so much that at times it even surprises me, the five years we were apart, you were in my every thought, and if you kill me right now, it's not your fault, I don't blame you, but before you do kill me, forgive me for the past five years, everything I did was for you to live, please forgive me Aria".

Aria looked into Damon's eyes, tears were streaming down her face, suddenly she pushed Damon away from her and with the stake in her hand, stabbed herself right below her heart.

"Ria!" Damon yelled, rushing to Aria just as she fell to the ground.

"Fix me" Aria grunted out in pain, "Only you can fix me Damon, so fix me, but till you do, you must keep me unconscious, because if you don't, then next time I won't be able to stop myself".

Damon nodded his head in understanding, "I will bring you back, I will bring my Ria back to me".

"I believe in you" Aria whispered, giving Damon a small smile, who smiled back at her and the next second, snapped her neck, rendering her unconscious.

***

Kol entered the Salvatore's living room, walking in he saw Damon staring at the rain trickling down the window with a glass of bourbon in his hand.

"I would like a drink as well" Kol said, announcing his presence.

"Help yourself" Damon simply said, "I'm celebrating".

"Celebrating what exactly?" a confused Kol asked.

"I managed to get through to Ria, granted it was briefly, but I did get through to her" Damon said, before turning around and facing Kol, "What I don't get is, why did you tell me to go after her, why didn't you try to get through to her, I mean you are her fiance after all".

Kol gave Damon a small smile, "Because Ri might love me, but my love would have never given her the strength to fight the huntress in her, not like yours did".

"What you and her have is different from what she and I have" Damon reminded, "You could've gotten through to her if you tried".

Kol shook his head, "That's a lie and we both know it, now enough of this, I have some important news for you".

"Which is what exactly?" Damon asked.

"Me and Enzo tracked down the shaman that helped Rayna turn Aria into Rayna 2.0" Kol revealed, "Turns out, when you rip out a person's spleen, they are quite willing to talk".

"Tell me you have a way to help her" Damon said.

"About that, I know how to help her, I just don't know how to get there" Kol said.

"Get where?" Damon asked confused.

"Ri's life is linked to the final everlasting" Kol informed, "In order to sever the curse we need to sever the link, the problem is that the everlasting happens to be in the very armory that Ri shut herself".

"Yeah, in a coffin" Damon remembered, "In a forever nap, piece of cake".

"Except it's not a piece of cake because of two reasons" Kol said, "Reason number one, Ri sealed that building with her magic, she's a Connor witch meaning no witch will be able to fight her magic, and say somehow we do manage to break the seal, don't forget that the evil in the vault in the basement, is now out, and could be anywhere in that bloody maze".

"Well, evil, be damned" Damon said, "We're gonna open the place back up, for Ria".

***

Presenting 7x21 of Cold Hearted!

How was the chapter?

Thoughts on Aria dreaming about killing Damon and Caroline?

Thoughts on Aria accidentally marking Caroline?

Thoughts on Kol in Aria's head?

Thoughts on Damon in Aria's head?

Thoughts on Damon managing to keep Aria's huntress side away for a moment?