┊        ┊       ┊   ┊    ┊        ┊  ┊.⋆˚
┊        ┊       ┊   ┊    ┊        ┊ ˚✧
┊        ┊       ┊   ┊   ˚➶ ｡˚   ☁︎
┊        ┊       ┊   ☁︎
┊        ┊        ☪︎.
┊          ✱
┊
✧

❝FOUNDER'S DAY❞

━━━━━ ⋆⋅♥︎⋅⋆ ━━━━━

"Good morning Mr Mayor." Rachel chimed, as Matt regained consciousness, before looking around in shock. "Rachel?! What did you do to me?!" The Donovan demanded as Rachel just laughed.

"It's just a bit of chloroform, Matty. You're fine." Rachel declared, as Matt looked around to realise that he was in the Lockwood cellar, except since the Diamonds have inherited it, Rachel had made a lot of changes to make the cellar more sturdy.

"This is kidnapping... you're holding me hostage— you could get charged and arrested for this, Rachel." Matt insisted, hoping to talk some sense into this, "Is this really what you want?"

"Oh... that won't be happening. Actually, I don't intend for you to remember any of this." Rachel said, moving her pointed finger in a circle as she spoke. "You're only being chained up so the vervain will wear off."

"My team will find me before that happens... you don't think they won't come searching when they realise that I'm gone?" Matt asked as Rachel placed her hands on her hips. "Actually no, because thanks to an email I sent on your behalf on your unlocked computer, your team think you're taking a couple days off for mental health because you're sad about little Penny Ares." The Diamond explained.

"Okay... so you thought this through....But why? What can you gain from stealing me from my office?" Matt asked, still not understanding. Rachel nodded, pulling the Gilbert watch from her pocket, "I need you to do something for me." She stated, holding it as Matt shook his head, "No, god no— besides, it's broken."

"Actually it's not... my former best friend is a witch, I had her fix it for me." Rachel announced before she opened the watch, revealing that it was good as new. "And I need my Mum gone. She's like a storm cloud constantly hovering over my head." The Diamond continued.

"You realise that this watch won't just affect your Mum, but every vampire in the area." Matt explained, hoping Rachel may have a change of heart. "That doesn't bother me, all I care for is that my bitch of a mother is dead!" The blonde haired vampire growled back in response.

"Anyway, I'll leave you be. You've still got vervain in your system so you'll need a few more hours. Yell as much as you want, nobody can hear you from outside the cellar." The Diamond declared, before she turned and left a panicked Matt.

━━━━━ ⋆⋅♥︎⋅⋆ ━━━━━

Hope rushed through the hallways, looking like a woman on a mission. She placed a map down on a table, as Niko followed. The tribrid cut open her hand, allowing blood to trickle onto the map, which made Niko cringe.

"Do you need help? I can grab the triplets?" Niko suggested, though Hope shook her head. "I'm fine." She spoke quickly before she began to do a locator spell, on her own.

Alaric and Dorian watched, although Dorian seemed a little worried that she was doing the spell on her own. The pool of blood on the map began to move, stopping at a place very unfamiliar to the group, and far away.

"What the hell is Tori doing there?" Hope asked, once she finished the spell. "I... have no idea." Niko confessed, seeming just as surprised as everyone else.

"It must be Malivore." Alaric said, only assuming since they'd never actually found it, and only learnt about it from the tree nymph.

"I'll gather some things and then we can head out." Alaric said, quickly leaving with Dorian in suit. Hope then looked to Niko, "We're leaving without them." She decided as Niko seemed surprised by this.

"I'm not opposed to that idea... but are you sure?" The Shiratori asked, as Hope nodded. "I feel like whatever is going on here will be dangerous... and Alaric's human so he'll only get hurt." The Mikealson decided.

"If Tori is in trouble, we want in on her rescue mission." Beau spoke, entering the room with Lucas and Landon. Hope looked at them before reluctantly nodding, "Okay. But we leave now." She insisted, not wanting to waste any time.

━━━━━ ⋆⋅♥︎⋅⋆ ━━━━━

The next day had arrived, being Founder's day. Hope, Niko, Lucas, Beau and Landon disappeared in the night, taking Alaric's car and driving to Malivore... the headmaster was not impressed.

Olivia carried a tray of food to a table, which sat Myrical, Charlie, Lizzie and Aphrodite. "Good morning guys." Liv greeted, as Aphrodite was the first to speak, "Good morning, love."

Liv sat next to Myrical and across from Aphie and Charlie. "It looks like a lot of students aren't here this morning." The werewitch confessed, as Charlie nodded, "Hope went on this rescue mission this morning to save Tori. I have no idea where they are but she said not to worry." The Salvatore explained.

"Luca, Beau and Landon went along too... though I'm not really sure how Landon could help." Charlie trailed off as Myrical faced him, "Isn't a he a Phoenix?" She asked, as the vampire nodded, "I'm sure he could hold his own." The Benning added, though nobody was sure of what powers Landon possessed. Landon didn't even know, himself.

"So," Lizzie began, "Today is Founder's day. Will you guys be coming to see the parade?" She asked, as the others looked at her. "I will be." Charlie piped up, as he always liked the parade because he knew his Dad was involved in a lot of the history and in a way, it made him feel closer to Stefan.

"I've never seen the Founder's day parade, it could be fun." Olivia admitted as Myrical didn't seem to agree. In her defence, she had no real connection to Mystic Falls.

"I think I'm gonna hang out with Val and the wolves today." Myrical decided, as Liv gave her a small smile, proud to see her shyer friend putting herself out there.

"That sounds great, Riri." Aphrodite spoke up, looking very "proud mother" at the Benning. The redhead then turned back to her girlfriend, "I'll definitely be coming." She began, "I know how important this is to you." The De Martel added as Lizzie gave her girlfriend a loving smile back in response. It was important to Lizzie since she was a member of a founding family, being the Forbes.

Liv smiled at the girls before she went back to eating her food.

━━━━━ ⋆⋅♥︎⋅⋆ ━━━━━

Meanwhile in the town square, Stella and Finch were seated on a bench, drinking their favourite milkshakes... Strawberry shortcake for Stella and Oreo storm for Finch. Stella had also bought a vanilla swirl shake for Nina.

"Are you excited for the parade?" Stella asked after slurping on her milkshake. Finch turned to face her, "Yeah, I am. I don't think I've ever seen it before." The Tarrayo confessed.

"Neither have I." Stella responded, trying to recall which of the several founder's events her parents had taken her to as a child. She couldn't really recall, since there were so many.

"When is Nina joining us?" Finch asked as Stella peered at her watch. "She should be here soon." The Lewis answered, before noticing MG and Alyssa nearby, arguing.

The heretic decided to listen in with her supernatural hearing for a moment, but stopped as she realised that Alyssa was breaking up with MG.

"What's that look for?" Finch asked curiously, noticing as though Stella looked as if she'd heard something she wasn't supposed to. "That couple over there, those Salvatore students.. they're breaking up." Stella explained as Finch's eyes widened.

"Damn, you get all the gossip with your heightened hearing!" The Tarrayo confessed as Stella tried to stifle a laugh.

"What's so funny?" Nina asked, as the bubbly brunette approached them. "I do love your smile." The Machado added, placing a kiss on Stella's check. "Oh, Finch just said a really funny joke." The Lewis quickly lied, passing the vanilla milkshake to her girlfriend.

"Thanks babe." Nina spoke with excitement before she turned to Finch, "What was the joke?" She asked curiously as Finch paused, and looked to Stella with an expression of what the fuck, dude?

"Um..." Finch looked around, trying to think of something as Stella had put her on the spot. Upon glancing at her milkshake she thought of something.

"What do you call a cow in an earthquake?" Finch asked, as Nina responded, "I don't know, what?" The Tarrayo quickly answered, "A milk-shake!"

There was a moment of silence while
Finch glared at Stella briefly while the blonde mouthed the words "I'm sorry.", but fortunately for Finch, Nina did laugh. "That's so dumb." The Machado admitted.

"You're telling me." Finch responded a little too quickly, though she eyed her sister as she said it. Stella tried not to laugh, feeling bad for embarrassing Finch.

The ravenette then noticed Olivia nearby, and excused herself to go talk to her friend. "Liv— hey!" Finch greeted, quickly approaching the werewitch.

"Hey Finch." Liv offered her friend a smile in response, before she patted the empty spot on the bench beside her. The Tarrayo happily sat down.

"Are you here for the parade?" Finch asked, as Liv nodded. "I'm watching it with Lexi, she's supposed to be here soon." The Auclair responded, causing Finch to grin slightly.

"What?" Liv asked, blushing a little. "I just... think you guys would make a cute couple." Finch shrugged before she glanced at Olivia with a knowing look.

"I do like Lexi. People keep telling me bad things about her but... I don't want to believe them." Liv confessed, "I've been told that she'll break my heart but... she's one of the nicest people I've met." She added.

"I've known Lexi for years now... and admittedly we weren't always friends." Finch began, "I had family drama this one time and was stressed out at school. She found me sitting alone in the corridor, as I was supposed to be in class... honestly so was she but..." The Tarrayo trailed off for a moment. "She sat beside me, pulled out this flask of bourbon and let me talk out my feelings."

Liv smiled before she admitted, "I mean... I don't think the drinking is great but..." She trailed off as Finch laughed, "It wasn't... but the gesture was kind. We've been friends ever since."

"My point is... I always thought Lexi was this rough girl that could sometimes be intimidating but when you get to know her, you realise that she's got a big heart. So fuck what all those people tell you Liv, because they don't know Lexi like we do." Finch insisted as Olivia was glad someone understood, before she smiled again.

Unbeknownst to them, Lexi had heard everything as she approached the bench where the two girls were seated. "Hey guys." The Salvatore greeted, causing Liv and Finch's heads to snap towards her.

"Hey Lexi!" The friends said in unison, before Finch got to her feet. "I'm gonna watch the parade with Stella and Nina. I'll see you guys later." She said, but not before Lexi insisted they fistbumped.

"Bye Finch!" Liv called out as the Tarrayo walked back to the girlfriends who were still drinking their milkshakes.

"Hey! How are you?" Liv asked, looking to Lexi with a kind smile. "I'm better now that I'm here." Lexi said, giving Olivia a wink. "How about you?"

Liv blushed, "I'm good... I think I need some coffee though." The Auclair confessed, before looking over at Mainline coffee. She had planned to get coffee earlier, but the line had been very long.

"Oh, me too. Why don't we go get coffee... the parade will probably start by the time we get them." Lexi smiled, as Liv nodded, following the Salvatore.

"I can't wait for the parade— you know I helped make a float this year for the school?" The heretic said as Liv seemed surprised. "Really?"

"Mhm! For history class we made a float. I mostly did the painting." Lexi explained, as they reached Mainline coffee. Fortunately for them, there was no longer a line.

━━━━━ ⋆⋅♥︎⋅⋆ ━━━━━

Harshly parking the car, Hope took no time in throwing open the driver side door to exit and rush towards the building. Niko, Lucas, Beau and Landon all followed, though Landon suddenly had an overwhelming feeling of anxiety.

"We have no idea what we're walking into." The Kirby stated, halting as the others looked at him. "We don't, but it doesn't matter to me. All that matters is I save my sister and retrieve the urn." Hope spoke harshly, as Landon held out his arms, "That's the problem... we could be walking into a trap!"

"A trap that my sister could be stuck in. If it was Rafael in there, you'd feel the same way." Hope insisted to Landon, as he couldn't deny it.

The group entered the headquarters, to find Tori fighting off Ryan Clarke, a person they'd all met before.

"Hey asswipe, leave our best friend alone!" Beau snapped, as himself and Lucas went to charge at Ryan, while Hope thrusted her hand out as she used magic to throw him back.

Tori glanced over at the group, a look of relief on her face, though it fell when she saw Landon. "You shouldn't be here!" She insisted, as Landon looked confused, "What? Why?" He asked as Tori sighed, "I don't know why, but Clarke was counting on you coming here."

"What?! What do you want with Landon?" Lucas asked, moving to stand protectively by his boyfriend. Tori moved to stand with the group, as Hope made sure to stand by her side, but not before examining the younger girl for any injuries (even though she has healing blood).

Clarke approached the group, his eyes looking to Landon. "Hello, brother." He said, as everyone looked confused now, especially Landon. "What do you mean, brother? There's no way I'm your..." The Kirby trailed off, as Clarke had a menacing expression on his face.

"It seems I have a lot to fill you in on. Why don't you guys relax a little, then we can talk?" Ryan asked, looking to Hope and Tori before glancing as Lucas and Beau. The group all looked prepared to fight him, except for Landon who clearly wanted answers.

"I'll tell you all a story." Ryan began, as Tori and Hope both frowned at him, seeming impatient but understandably Landon needed to hear this.

"Around a millennia ago, in certain parts of the world, there were monsters. And in one region... there was no monster more terrifying than dragons." He began, taking steps towards the group as he spoke.

"On their own, no faction was any match for dragons. So an unholy alliance was formed—"

"A witch, a werewolf and a vampire... Walked into a bar. I think I've heard this one before." Landon admitted as Tori seemed a little amused.

Ryan deadpanned the group for interrupting, before he continued. "The Triad combined their blood, using black magic to create a golem capable of consuming the dragons. They spelled the creature to have an insatiable hunger. But their spell also made it unable to harm witches, werewolves, or vampires." He paused, to gage that the group were listening. They were.

"They named it Eater of the Dark. When the dragons, in human form, returned to collect the treasure from all the villages they had attacked, it was waiting for them. It took them, consumed them. To their surprise, the creature was more effective than they could have dreamed. After the dragons were gone, it kept eating every monster it could, swallowing them into an endless space inside itself." Ryan spoke as Landon seemed itching to ask a question. Meanwhile Beau seemed a little disgusted that this entity was eating monsters.

"You're saying that the golem ate my dad?" Landon suddenly blurted as Clarke shook his head, "No, Landon. Your father is the golem. The Eater of the Dark." He replied as everyone looked unconvinced. "That's cap." Beau interjected, as Luca placed a hand on Landon's shoulder and was about to tell him that Ryan was clearly lying, but the Kirby spoke up before he could.

"How can something that's basically a mud robot be my father?" Landon demanded. "Because it didn't stay a golem. With each monster's DNA it absorbed... it evolved." Clarke stated, as Luca and Beau still seemed skeptical of this story, while Hope and Tori didn't... they'd heard of so many crazy prophecies and stories before, and many of them turned out to be true.

"Eventually, it became sentient... aware. He was truly alive. And when the region was cleared of all the monsters, the Triad wanted to return him back to mud. Since they were the ones who created him, only they could destroy him." Clarke continued, slightly pacing as he spoke.

"All they needed to do was wipe away the symbol on his forehead. But he betrayed his creators. He made a deal with all the humans he'd saved. They could not let their new god be taken from them. The humans set him free to wander the earth and continue consuming, erasing all memory that the monsters ever existed. But over time... like Adam in the Garden of Eden, he realized he was alone." Ryan stopped, standing in front of Landon again as Lucas shot him daggers.

"So he did what all creations eventually do. Create. He fashioned beings like him. His children. A lineage that could..." Clarke was cut off, as Landon interrupted him. "Man... You were doing so good up until that part. I was almost into it, as far as origin stories go, but you're asking me to believe that I'm a magical mud man with implanted memories?" The Kirby asked, as Luca seemed relieved that his boyfriend wasn't falling for these lies.

"Quite the opposite. You see... all the children he fashioned were imperfect. Flawed. None of them had his powers. All of them had weaknesses and all were sterile, unable to reproduce and continue his legacy. He was created to be the only one of his kind. He was never intended to be a species or have a bloodline of his own. But... he found a way to reproduce biologically. To have a son who was part human. A son who was perfect. A son who could live forever and continue the species. You are what he's been trying to create his entire life." Clarke continued, hoping that Landon would believe his origin story now.

"You know, I've told my fair share of lies, and the best lie is one that someone already wants to believe. And you're asking me to believe that the father that I've been looking for for years has actually been searching for me?" Landon asked before Lucas added, "Why should he believe you?"

"Because I was there." Ryan responded. "Over the years, his attempts at children became more refined, indistinguishable from humans. Our father is a very gifted artist."

━━━━━ ⋆⋅♥︎⋅⋆ ━━━━━

Laura couldn't contain her excitement as she approached Maya, Ethan and Casper. The shyer of the Olmo twins stood beside Ethan, a blush on his face as the male Machado had accidentally blushed his hand against Casper's.

"Hey Maya." Laura smiled brightly, her cheeks tinted pink as she approached the other ravenette. "Hey Laur." Maya responded, stepping forward to cup Laura's cheeks gently before the pair kissed. Ethan looked away, his face scrunched up. "I don't need to see that." He insisted dramatically, causing Casper to laugh. "Sorry." Maya said, once pulling away from Laura. "I've just... been really looking forward to seeing my cherry blossom." The Machado said, smiling at Laura.

"Well.. Cas and I are going to get burgers. I'll see you later, Maya." Ethan spoke up, causing the lovebirds to face Ethan and Casper. Laura had a small smile on her lips, "Are you two going on a date?" She awkwardly asked as Casper's face turned bright red at the mention of a date. "Casper and I?" Ethan asked, completely oblivious. "No, we're just getting food together... like two best friends." The boy said before he started to walk towards the Grill, as Casper followed.

"Wow. I totally misread that." Laura confessed, not realising that she had taken Maya's hand in her own. "Oh, no. You totally see it too. Casper has a massive crush on Ethan, but my brother is too oblivious to realise." Maya hummed, watching the boys leave before she turned her full attention to the Shiratori.

"The parade is starting soon... but before it does... I may have prepared us something." Maya said, motioning to a bench and a table nearby, that had been set up for a picnic. A checkered tablecloth was laid out, obviously taken from Sheriff Mac's linen cupboard. Atop the tablecloth laid a small basket containing rice balls— which Maya had watched a tutorial on how to make them, so she could impress Laura, as well as some sliced apples, a bottle of lemon iced tea, a small container of macaroons, and other snacks.

"Oh my god... this is so cute." Laura admitted, covering her mouth with a gasp. Maya looked to Laura with a loving smile, as though the smile on Laura's face had made her smile as well. The ravenettes approached the picnic table, as Maya pulled the riceballs from the basket.

"I may have talked to Niko... they told me that you guys used to eat riceballs a lot as kids, and that it was one of your favourite things to eat." Maya confessed, as Laura smiled. "It is. Oh, this is so so cute." Laura said, beaming from ear to ear. "This one is a tuna riceball, and this one is an avocado riceball. I didn't know if you were vegetarian or not." The Machado responded as Laura nodded, "I'm not vegetarian, but the gesture is cute." The ravenette spoke.

Maya smiled back, before she unwrapped the plastic she had kept the riceballs in and offered one to Laura. The Shiratori gratefully thanked Maya before taking one.

━━━━━ ⋆⋅♥︎⋅⋆ ━━━━━

The parade was over, and night was beginning to fall. Elena looked at her phone, reading the same message from Matt over and over. "Hey Elena, I can't provide context but you need to keep Lexi and any other vampire out of the town square tonight."

Her breathing was shaky, as even without context her mind drifted off to Founder's day, in 2010. Damon had been dragged into a burning church before being saved by Stefan. Anna Zhu and Richard Lockwood died that night.

The Salvatore tried to call her husband, hoping he could aid her in the search for their daughter, to no avail. Elena huffed in annoyance to herself as her phone went to Damon's voicemail, before she shoved it in her pocket.

Continuing to scramble around the square, a look of relief washed over her as she saw Lexi hanging out with Olivia nearby Mainline Coffee. "Lexi!" Elena called, rushing over to her daughter.

Lexi and Liv's heads snapped in Elena's direction, as the Salvatore responded to her mother surprisedly, "Hey Mum?"

"Sweetie, I need you and Liv to go home." Elena blurted, before she took her car keys from her pocket. "Why?" Lexi asked, as Liv looked just as confused about this.

"I'll explain later, okay?" Elena decided, placing her car keys into Lexi's hands before she noticed Stella, Nina and Finch standing nearby.

"Take my car, and take your friends with you." Elena insisted as Lexi gave a confused nod. "Uh, sure Mum.. where are you going though?" The heretic asked.

"I need to help your Aunt Caroline with something, then I'll meet you at home." The older Salvatore decided. Upon receiving Matt's message, Elena had warned Caroline of it. With Caroline being a vampire herself, Elena assured her that she would find any of the students she recognised from the Salvatore school and demand they to back to campus. Thoughtof course Caroline was going to risk it anyway, to save her students.

Liv watched as the older Salvatore rushed away, leaving herself and Lexi alone. "That was... kind of weird, right?" The heretic asked as Liv nodded. "Yeah... I guess we should go."

With that, the duo approached Stella, Nina and Finch, before Lexi told them what her mother had said. "That seems weird." Stella confessed, not really wanting to leave. "It does... but she spoke with a lot of urgency, so it must be serious." Liv responded as Stella and Finch shared a look. Neither girls knew what it was like to have parents who were to look out for them, so this situation was very foreign to them. "Okay, you guys go. I need to look for Maya and Ethan." Nina decided, as Stella seemed reluctant to leave the Machado alone.

"I'll be fine, I'll message you when we're all home, safe." Nina assured her girlfriend before placing a chaste kiss on her lips. Once Nina pulled away and left, Stella was reluctant in staying put and watched longingly for her girlfriend before turning back to Finch, her sister figure. "Let's go, before I change my mind." The heretic insisted.

Lexi lead the trio to her mother's car. She unlocked it and got into the driver seat, while Liv got into the passenger seat. Looking into the rear view mirror, Lexi made eye contact with Finch and Stella as they clipped in their seatbelts.

"Put on whatever music you like." Lexi insisted, passing the aux cord to Olivia as the Salvatore started the car. "Ooh, thanks." Liv chirped, plugging it into her phone before she played Snow on the beach by Taylor Swift.

"Good choice!" Stella spoke up, as Liv shared a smile with her before the duo sung, as Lexi and Finch joined in.

"It's like snow at the beach, weird but fucking beautiful. Flying in a dream, stars by the pocketful—"

Before they could continue, an ear piercing screech could be heard in Lexi's ears. "Aah!! Ahhhh!!" The Salvatore cried out in pain, as Stella cried out also.

"Lexi? Lexi, are you okay?!" Liv asked in a panic, before she realised that Stella was also crying in pain. "Ella!!" Finch blurted in panic, "What's going on?"

It was then, Liv could notice the piercing noise, except for a werewolf it wasn't as excruciating... it was simply annoying. "Can you hear that noise?" Liv asked Finch, as the Tarrayo nodded. "Yeah, I can. Its really annoying." The ravenette admitted.

Liv looked back to Lexi, who lifted her hands to cover her ears, as the sound felt as though it was piercing her skull. "Lexi— no!" Olivia cried out and went to correct the steering.

It was too late.

Everything happened so fast. The car was upside down after hitting a barrier. Lexi was laying metres away on the road as the sound still destroyed her ears.

Lexi pushed herself off of the ground and forced her eyes open. The first thing she saw was Finch helping Stella, the pair were covered in cuts and gushes, but Stella's wounds healed fast.

"Liv... where's Liv?!" Lexi demanded, as she looked around in a panic before only seeing Liv's legs, as she was on the road by the other side of the vehicle.

Lexi dragged herself over to Liv, feeling the extent of her injuries though fortunately it was only brief as they healed quickly. This meant her movements also quickened and she got to her feet.

Liv was in bad shape, taking the worst of it. Blood gushed from her forehead, as there was a large cut from the glass. Scratches and cut covered her body, and Lexi had to guess that she had fractured some of her ribs from the impact.

"Liv!" Lexi finally got to her side, as she could hear her shallow breaths. "That... really hurt." Olivia spoke, grimacing in pain as it hurt to speak.

Without thinking, Lexi bit into her wrist harshly before holding it up to Olivia's mouth. Liv shook her head at first, "You're in really bad shape... this will help you to feel better." Lexi assured her as Liv reluctantly drank the Salvatore's blood.

━━━━━ ⋆⋅♥︎⋅⋆ ━━━━━

Maya poured the lemon iced tea into two glasses, before handing one to Laura. "Thanks." Laura spoke, taking it into her hands. The two continued their picnic date, unaware that Mayor Matt had walked past them minutes earlier, holding the Gilbert watch in his hands. With the vervain out of his system, Rachel compelled the Donovan to use the watch.

Sheriff Mac and her team had been ordered to kill the vampires (whom would react to the watch). Unfortunately with the Sheriff being unaware of the supernatural and how they weren't all terrible, along with Matt previously telling her horrible things about vampires, she had reason to believe they were doing the right thing by eliminating them.

"You know... I've had so much fun with you, over these past couple of days." Laura said, her eyes on Maya. The other ravenette smiled back. "I've had a lot of fun too." Maya responded before she took a sip of the tea.

It was then, Laura could hear the air piercing noise, causing her to drop her iced tea. "Laura?" Maya blurted out confusedly, as the Shiratori tried to cover her ears.

"Laura? What is going on?" Maya asked, getting to her feet to rush over to her date. Meanwhile, a member of Sheriff Mac's team approached Laura and stabbed a syringe filled with vervain into the vampire's shoulder.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing!"  Maya demanded, as the police officer grabbed Laura in their arms and began taking her away. As Maya went to reach for Laura, an officer grabbed hold of her to keep her away.

"Let go of me! You can't take her!" Maya screamed, as she struggled in the officer's arms. "Laura!!" The Machado cried out, as the other officer took Laura away.

Nearby, another officer had grabbed hold of Leanne, who was the intended target for this entire operation. "This way!" They ordered the officer with Laura as their captor, leading them to a church where they planned to burn the vampires.

━━━━━ ⋆⋅♥︎⋅⋆ ━━━━━

Aphrodite had been looking for Liv, when the Gilbert watch had been activated. Caroline had received Elena's message and put the school on lockdown and ordered for her students in the square to go back to the school, but Aphrodite wasn't going to rest until her daughter was safe in her arms.

The redhead hadn't expected for the piercing sound of death turned into audio to stop her in her tracks. "Aaah!" The De Martel cried out, covering her ears as she felt as though the sound was going to make her head explode.

"Aphie?? Aphrodite? What's happening?" Lizzie asked her girlfriend, as she'd been on the search for Olivia, alongside Aphrodite. "I... I don't know. The sound, it hurts!" The heretic spoke helplessly through gritted teeth.

Seeing Aphrodite with tears in her eyes was enough to make Lizzie want to cry. She threw her arms around Aphrodite, feeling helpless because she couldn't siphon away the pain.

"It's gonna be okay. Let's get you out of here." Lizzie insisted, pulling away from Aphie but keeping the girl in her arms. "Not.. without Liv." Aphrodite managed to say.

Before Lizzie could suggest anything else, Aphrodite was ripped out of Lizzie's arms and injected with a vervain syringe.

"Hey! What the fuck—" Lizzie blurted, though before the De Martel was completely out of reach, the blonde siphoned from her fingertips.

"Incendia." Lizzie yelled, setting the officer's sleeve on fire to distract them from Aphrodite. Once they released Aphie, she let the flames go out.

The Saltzman then rushed forward and grabbed ahold of her girlfriend, siphoning her before she cast another spell, "Invisique."

With the girlfriends disappearing to the naked eye, Lizzie's main priority was getting Aphrodite to safety. She knew the heretic would be annoyed that they left without Liv, but Lizzie didn't want to risk somebody trying to take Aphrodite again... plus, werewolves fortunately weren't the target for the operation.

━━━━━ ⋆⋅♥︎⋅⋆ ━━━━━

Preparing to turn for the full moon, Myrical took herself into the werewolf cellar, with some spare clothes. Worry was written all over her face, as Liv was supposed to be turning with them after the parade, but she hadn't shown her face yet.

Placing her spare clothes down, she looked around at the other werewolves, noticing that Glen was also absent.

"Hey... Val?" Myrical's soft voice spoke, as the purple haired werewolf turned to face the Benning. "Yeah Myri?" The Harlowe answered.

"Have you... seen Liv or Glen?" Myrical asked with concern. Valerie glanced at the pack, who were preparing for the full moon, before she looked back at the werewitch. "I haven't seen Liv." She began, knowing that Liv was who Myrical mostly worried about in this moment.

"I saw Glen just before... after hearing about Ms Salvatore's lockdown, he said he had to go into town... which is very much the opposite of locking down." Valerie explained as Myrical blinked in surprise, wondering why Glen would go into Mystic Falls then.

The answer was simple. Glen was worried about Charlie. He knew the Salvatore was at the parade and hadn't returned to the school yet.

Charlie had been getting takeaway food from the Grill with plans to have a movie night with Niko when he returned from his adventure. Unfortunately for the vampire, his plans were halted as he'd heard the horrific noise made by the Gilbert watch.

In the arms of an officer, the Salvatore was being taken to the church to be burnt alongside Leanne and the other kidnapped vampires.

Glen trailed behind, feeling the urge to turn as he tried to catch up to the officer and Charlie. He looked ahead, realising that the vampire was being taken to a church.

Matt stood by the church with small barrels of petrol, which gave Glen the idea that Charlie was definitely in danger. So he decided to stop fighting his urge to turn.

As the officer got closer, a large grey wolf rushed to stand in their way. The animal, with piercing hazel eyes, snarled at the officer and went to snap at them.

Stepping back in fear, the officer dropped Charlie's unconscious body. As they went to grab Charlie, the wolf lunged at the officer, in a protective manner.

Sheriff Mac's team member grumbled, realising that this werewolf was not going to give up, and by choosing to prioritise their own safety, they left the wolf alone. Glen kept a glare on the officer as they walked away and let out a growl as if to warn them not to try grab Charlie again.

"Huh?" Charlie's croaky voice could be heard, as the vampire had regained consciousness at last. To his relief, the noise from the Gilbert watch could no longer be heard.

The wolf's ears pricked up, and Glen turned to face Charlie. "Glen?" Charlie asked, as he could remember the last thing that had happened before he lost consciousness... and now he was here, being protected by a werewolf.

"You.. you saved me." Charlie realised, as he pulled himself up, onto his knees. Glen moved forehead, licking the vampire's forehead as Charlie patted him on the head. "Your wolf form is beautiful." The Salvatore confessed, looking amazed as he'd never seen it before.

Glen then took a step back. Charlie could tell that Glen wanted to run free, but not until he knew the Salvatore was safe. So Charlie got to his feet, and began to move towards the school as Glen stayed closeby, not wanting any more harm to come to the boy.

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"My father saw himself in me. I was clay pretending to be something it wasn't. He despised me for it. He threw me away like all the other failures who came before." Clarke began to explain as Landon empathised with him, "I know what that's like."

"Then you'll understand why I betrayed him." Ryan responded, as the others seemed surprised by this information. "Our father consumed every creature he could. And when his supply ran out, he grew weak... vulnerable. And that's when the humans came back. The descendants of his original worshippers, a secret society. I told them of his attempts to create a lineage, how he was violating nature, trying to birth a new species. I led them to him. And they did what humans do. They rebelled against their god. They paid witches who used black magic to trap him... and dissolve him, returning him to his natural state." Clarke paused for dramatic effect.

"The black pit." Ryan then motioned to the pit below. "The endless darkness where the monsters are. It's not just a place. It's what remains of our father. The Eater of the Dark. His name is... Malivore." He stated, waiting for Landon to look surprised, but he looked rather unconvinced. Hope, Tori, Nico, Lucas and Beau all looked unconvinced as well.

"You don't believe me." Clarke realised as Beau piped up, "Man, would you believe you?"

Ryan shook his head, "Probably not. Then again, I've never stolen an artifact without even knowing why I did it. The knife and the urn were both part of the spell that dissolved him. But since he was immortal..."

"Nothing's immortal." Victoria insisted, truly believing it after the death of her father. "There's always a loophole. Nature creates a balance." Hope added, agreeing with her sister. "That's Intro to Magical History. I've been taking it for, like, a couple months." Landon added bashfully.

"Very good. But until that loophole could be found, they bound him with three locks. Created three decoys. It can only be unlocked by Malivore's blood, so they hid them far away. I've been able to track down where the last four artifacts are." Ryan began to explain before her motioned to Landon. "Now I need you to tell me which is the real lock so we can set him free."

"How... would I know?" Landon asked, feeling as though his brother was trying to accuse him of something. "Why don't you check your pockets." Ryan suggested.

Landon placed his hand into his pocket, his eyes widening when he gripped something. "Oh bitch, no you didn't." Beau broke the uncomfortable silence as Landon pulled a dagger out of his pocket.

"God damn it, Landon." Tori huffed, as that was exactly what Clarke was after. Hope grumbled to herself, feeling as though this was just becoming more disastrous. Niko remained quiet, sensing how angry everyone was with Landon, and how much guilt the Kirby felt.

Landon looked surprised, not realising he had taken the object before a look of shame was all over his face. "Why... did you take it?" Lucas asked his boyfriend, trying to keep a calm tone. "I... I don't remember taking it!" Landon blurted out in a panic.

"Well, it doesn't matter why Landon took it. All that matters is that it's here." Ryan decided before he charged at Landon, shoving him backwards as Lucas quickly caught him. As Landon had been shoved, the dagger fell out of his hands. Clarke grabbed hold of it, shooting the group a smirk.

"No!" Tori vampire sped after Ryan, but as he sidestepped the O'Connell-Mikealson ran straight into the metal barrier. Worried Tori was going to fall over the edge Hope cried out, "Tori!!"

As the hybrid balanced herself, Ryan threw the dagger. The group watched helplessly as it fell into the pit below and began to bubble. "No!" Everyone cried out in unison, as the pit bubbled violently giving away that it had been activated.

"What the fuck are we supposed to do?" Beau blurted, as Tori stared at the pit with worry. She knew everyone would be quick to blame Landon for bringing the dagger, but she blamed herself as she'd brought the urn.

The Mikealson looked into the pit, as she remembered the voice who had been calling for her while she was asleep. It had come from the bubbling pit, she just knew it.

"You... you fucking asshole!" Lucas snapped, as he went to charge at Ryan but Landon and Tori tried to stop him. "Stop Lu, we need to stop wasting time on that jerk. We need to think of a plan." Tori spoke, before her eyes darted to Hope.

"You've always been more of the hero out of us sisters, any brilliant ideas?" Victoria asked her older sister, as the tribrid looked to her. "Just one... but I don't think you guys are going to like it." Hope admitted.

"Why?" Tori asked, before Hope looked to Niko. She then found her feet moving for themselves as the approached the Shiratori.

"I've been wanting to do this for a while." Hope said, as she cupped Niko's cheeks gently with her hands. "Hope?" Niko asked, before realising how close she was standing to him.

It was then Niko looked into Hope's mind and realised, she felt the same. He had been pining for this girl, who had pretty much become his partner in crime, for weeks. Her feelings had always seemed unclear even in her mind... but now he realised it was mutual.

With the realisation on his face, Hope couldn't help but to smile, before she closed the gap between them and kissed Niko. Niko closed his eyes and kissed back, as he threw their arms around Hope's waist.

Tori tried not to let out a squeal, excited to see that the pair were finally being honest with eachother. Beau had a little smile on his face too, being proud of both of them.

Hope pulled away, and looked at Niko lovingly, but the psychic could tell that she felt guilty too. "Hope.. why are yo—"

"Ad somnum." Hope spoke, as Niko, Victoria, Lucas, Beau and Landon all became unconscious, falling victim to Hope's sleep spell.

She moved from Niko to Tori, tears filling her eyes as she knew this plan she had was going to involve going into the unknown, and the tribrid didn't know if she'd see her little sister again.

"I'm sorry Tori." Hope spoke, placing a kiss on her forehead. "I love you so much." She added, before she got to her feet and faced Ryan with a glare.

"Imitantor Pupulus." Hope casted a spell, as Ryan looked confused. When she began to move towards the edge and Clarke followed, he realised what Hope had done.

"No.. no, no no!" Clarke yelled out in a scared yet pleading tone, as Hope jumped into the pit, and Ryan followed suit.

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With Finch calling an ambulance once learning of Olivia's state, the werewitch now found herself laying in a hospital bed. The monitors beeped, as the groggy girl laid awake in her bed. The vampire blood that Lexi fed her had healed her injuries, but she was still sore and exhausted.

Liv tried to get comfortable, knowing that Aphrodite was going to be here any minute, as a nurse had come in to let the Auclair know.

Olivia couldn't help but to wonder how Lexi was. The brunette hadn't left her side after feeding her blood. Fortunately for the group, the Gilbert watch had been deactivated by the time anybody else had reached the scene of the crash.

The Auclair had been totally unaware to what had happened in the square, and how many of her friends had been affected by Rachel's awful plan.

Finally, footsteps entered the hospital room and Liv looked over to see a shadow of a woman. "Aphie?" Olivia asked softly, relief and excitement in her voice.

"Not quite." The figure responded, as she stepped closer to Liv's bed side. With the lights of the monitors shining on the woman, Olivia could determine that she'd never seen this person before.

"Who are you?" Liv asked confusedly, as she went to sit up but the woman shoved her elbows so she would fall onto her back again.

Liv had an expression of fear on her face, as the one staring down at her looked angry and vengeful. Olivia inhaled to cast a spell, but the woman was quick as she used her vampire speed to remove the pillow from underneath Liv's head and try to smother her with it.

"My name is Salem Drusilla Pierce." Salem, the brunette vampire spoke as Liv struggled underneath the pillow. "And I'm here to get my revenge on Violetta fucking Auclair, by putting an end to your wretched bloodline."

Liv's hands tried to change into their wolf claws, as the Auclair tried to shift. Salem just shifted her weight so that it was harder for Olivia to move. The Pierce was just lucky, that the medication Liv was connected to through the IV drip was making her drowsy and unable to fight back as strongly as she usually would.

Eventually, Olivia couldn't fight anymore and her arms fell limp to her side. A smile crept onto Salem's face, and she removed the pillow so she could look at the lifeless face of the Auclair.

Next came the flatlining monitors, which told Salem she had to leave. Tossing the pillow aside, the Pierce used her vampire speed to leave the hospital room and escape.

Nurses were quick to approach the hospital room, having not seen Salem. Aphrodite, who had just entered the corridor, heard the flatline noise and rushed to the room.

Her face paled, and a terrified, heartbreaking scream ripped through the redhead's throat, as she saw her daughter laying dead in the hospital bed, while nurses tended to her.

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Upon waking up at Malivore with absolutely zero recollection of what had happened and why they were there, Tori, Niko, Beaumont, Lucas and Landon all were sitting in the vehicle. Niko drove, keeping their eyes on the road while everybody had been quiet.

In the back seat sat Landon, Lucas and Beau. The trio were all asleep, as Lucas had his head rested on Landon's shoulder, and Beau had his head rested on Lucas' shoulder.

Tori, who was in the passenger seat, had been sleeping on and off for the trip, and at one point offered to drive but Niko shut down the idea.

Now arriving back at the Salvatore school, the Shiratori parked the car, preparing himself for the world of trouble they were going to get in by Dr Saltzman for stealing his car and driving hours away. The worst part was, they couldn't even explain themselves.

"Good morning sunshines." Tori spoke, looking over her shoulder at the trio who were waking up. "Ew, we're back here already?" Beau groaned, not wanting to deal with Alaric's annoying lectures or seeing MG.

"Come on. We may as well get this confrontation over with." Niko insisted, sensing that everyone wanted to stay in the car. He understood, but they couldn't.

Eventually, the group made their way inside, passing the entrance that Aphrodite had left out of only minutes earlier to go to the hospital. Each member tried to think of something in their head to say to Alaric.

They were inevitably met with Alaric and Caroline, who stood nearby the entrance. Victoria decided to speak up, "Dr Saltzman, Ms Salvatore... I know you guys are probably really mad at us, but we can explain." The Mikealson began.

"Can we?" Lucas asked as Beau had to agree with the siphon on this one. "Okay... we can't explain but—" Tori was cut off as Niko decided to speak up. "Why are you guys feeling sad?" The psychic asked, reading their emotions but not their thoughts.

Caroline looked sadly to the raven haired boy before saying, "Niko, there's something we need to tell you."

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AUTHORS NOTE

That's a wrap on Act 1! I can't believe it's over 🤯 Man this chapter made me feel things, and I'm the damn writer!!

I'll be taking a break to work on the plot for Act 2 and making sure there's no plotholes etc before I start writing. A warning though, there'll be lots of angst and death in Act 2... it'll be very TVD-like. I'm really looking forward to writing the evil trio of Faith Mikealson, Salem Pierce and Ezra Hyun 🫢

Thank you guys so much for all of your support on the story so far 🩷