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┊        ┊       ┊   ┊    ┊        ┊ ˚✧
┊        ┊       ┊   ┊   ˚➶ ｡˚   ☁︎
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✧

❝CRUEL SUMMER❞

━━━━━ ⋆⋅♥︎⋅⋆ ━━━━━

Darkness had been all that surrounded Hope, and for the first time in many years she felt like she could actually think straight. That was until Clarke made his presence known and followed her around.

The Mikealson had finally had enough when a bright light had tried to take her and Ryan had grabbed hold of her. She felt like she was getting somewhere, and then this waste of space and the reason she was here in the first place, grabbed hold of her and the light vanished.

"What the hell are you doing?" Hope finally snapped at Clarke who responded with, "Saving your life, obviously." To which Hope frowned. "No. I'm supposed to be in peace— okay! You are not peace! Infact you're the opposite of peace!" Hope snapped, infuriated by Clarke.

"Should I point out that your romantic heroics were for nada? Your Romeo and Juliet sacrifice was for nothing? That the big bad lives to see another day and your sister and all of your friends have forgotten you ever existed?" Clarke spoke cockily, making Hope's blood boil.

Hope groaned, "Can you stop talking?!" Clarke just shrugged in response, "If I were you, I'd make peace with that." Hope rolled her eyes and stormed off, simply wanting to be free of him.

"Hope! Wait! I can help you!" Clarke spoke up, rushing to keep up with the tribrid. She turned to look at him, "Really? Because you're the whole reason I'm in this mess. You're the asshole who decided to activate Malivore."

Hope tried to walk away again, unfortunately for Clarke to keep following. "I've spent years inside of this place, and while you canonballing into the belly of Malivore didn't seem to destroy him, it has changed things. So stop being a dick to me and maybe I'll elaborate." Clarke suggested to her as Hope frowned, "I'm partially listening."

"I wouldn't waste your time." A voice spoke up, causing Hope to look majorly confused as it sounded like herself. "Excuse me?" Hope asked, as an auburn haired girl stepped into view causing Hope's jaw to drop. "Faith?" She asked, hoping Malivore hadn't just created some carbon copy of her to be a dick.

Faith Mikaelson gave an uncomfortable smile, at did feel weird to see somebody who looked exactly like her. Somebody who she was supposed to be inseparable with, but instead had been separated at birth.

Hope felt tears sting her eyes, as she had been waiting for the day to meet her stolen twin, but as she approached Faith to hug her, the other tribrid pulled back. Hope's eyes shone hurt, but when she looked at Faith, the other Mikealson looked just as hurt, if not more.

Before Hope could question her twin, Ezra Zhang also stepped into view, offering the auburn haired girl a warm smile as Hope's eyes widened. "Ezra?? What are you doing here?" She blurted out. "It's a long story, but it's nice to see you Hope." Ezra spoke.

Ezra had been a long time family friend of the Mikealson's. He'd watched Hope and Tori grow up, though it seemed when he disappeared from New Orleans after the sisters went back to Mystic Falls, he'd sought out Faith and helped to rescue her from Dahlia... something the Mikealsons hadn't tried.

Faith remained quiet, which didn't go unnoticed from Hope. She'd been looking forward to the day she'd meet her stolen sister, but now that it was actually here it felt underwhelming and a little uncomfortable.

"I've been looking forward to the day we'd meet." Hope spoke up, with a slight smile. Faith glanced at her, with a faux smile before she laughed humorouslessly. Hope's face fell, as she wasn't understanding her reaction.

"I haven't." Faith admitted, offering a cold expression. "At least, I stopped looking forward to it." She added as Ezra looked slightly uncomfortable, as though he knew what was coming. Hope on the other hand, was clueless.

"Ever since I could remember, I was pleading for the day you and our parents would come searching for me. I dreamed that Dahlia would be taken down, and that I'd finally be free of her. But it never came." Faith began to explain, "Ezra saved me, and I soon realised after some incessant poking that you all had moved on. Even had another daughter." The tribrid continued.

"And then things changed because Ezra and I got thrown into Malivore and became forgotten by everybody in the entire world... except for you." Faith narrowed her eyes at Hope. "I'm not sure how many years we've been trapped here for, my concept of time has become warped but... I kept hoping against all odds, that my supposed sweet twin sister would come and save me." She trailed off before she took a step towards Hope.

Hope looked a little wary, seeing the hurt and angry expression on Faith's face, as she reached out and poked the girl harshly on the shoulder. "And now you are here, and I can tell by the look on your face that your agenda wasn't to save me. So no, I'm not excited to see you at all."

Hope didn't know what to say, "I'm so sorry... my Mum and I wanted to find you but... we thought you were dead. Aunt Freya and Davina kept doing magical spells to locate you and they never worked." Hope explained as Faith deadpanned Hope again. "Do you really think a dark witch like Dahlia would allow anybody to locate me with magic?" She asked rhetorically.

Hope again, had nothing to say. She only felt empathetic towards her twin.

A light then shone on Hope again, as Clarke (who'd been staying awkwardly quiet) asked, "Is this family drama over? Because the light is back." He admitted reaching out to grab Hope so she couldn't leave, but Ezra quickly sped towards him using his vampire speed and shoved him out of the way.

"That light is our ticket out of here." The Zhang spoke before he looked to Faith, who gave him a knowing nod. The tribrid then used her vampire speed to approach Hope with a lot of force, to shove her out of the light.

Miraculously, the light didn't diminish when it shone on Faith, potentially confusing the twins. At least, that's what they assumed because this light had never shone on Faith before.

Quickly the angrier of the tribrids held her hands out to Ezra, as the vampire-sorcerer took them and the pair began to float upwards, leaving Hope and Clarke behind.

Hope watched, her jaw dropped as she hadn't expected to be left behind. "So long, sister." Faith called out, before herself and Ezra suddenly disappeared, being sent back to the normal world.

━━━━━ ⋆⋅♥︎⋅⋆ ━━━━━

In a much more upbeat atmosphere, Rachel had the Diamond mansion to herself after killing her mother and convincing her father to leave. After Adrian lost his wife, he was inconsolable... though he had no idea that Rachel had been the cause of her death.

Rachel insisted he packed his bags and spent some time in a mental health ward since he was struggling so much with Leanne's death... but what he didn't know is that Rachel basically sent him to the equivalent of Eichen house.

"I'm a fucking free woman!" Rachel called out as she danced in her living room. Lights were basically on in every room, she had music pumping and bodies were scattered throughout the mansion. The Diamond was waiting for any of her neighbours to make a noise complaint so that they could make her next victim.

"I've found another." A voice entered the room, belonging to Rachel's latest boy toy, Kevin Corvin. The blonde's face lit up, as her eyes landed on the unconscious body Kevin was dragging towards her. "Thanks baby!" Rachel spoke chipperly before she sped over to her boyfriend using her vampire speed and clutched the body in her arms before ripping her fangs into him.

After killing Leanne, Rachel decided to use her mother's credit card and go on a bit of a roadtrip where she eventually ran into Kevin. He had been a beaten werewolf struggling in an alley after the night of a full moon, and assuming she would get something in return, Rachel had decided to help him.

Well, that all changed when he'd had a nice hot shower and Rachel suddenly realised she had helped a guy she deemed really hot. Now she wanted to keep him around, and with nowhere to go Kevin didn't seem opposed to the idea.

The new couple found themselves back in Mystic Falls, and as Rachel was living what seemed like an endless party, Kevin was providing the food.

The Corvin was used to stealing to survive, so it had been a nice change to shack up with some blonde diva who was incredibly rich. For the first time in his life, he wasn't struggling to eat either as Rachel didn't hesitate to keep the fridge and pantry full for him.

Once the body Rachel fed from was basically demolished, she tossed it aside to join the rest of the bodies, before she faced Kevin with a bloodied smile. "I totally need to call housekeeping tomorrow..." She admitted, as the tiles of the pristine home were quite bloodied.

"That might be a good idea." Kevin confessed, before he approached a trolley full of liquor, and helped himself, though he also poured the Diamond a glass.

Turning around, the werewolf handed Rachel a glass of whiskey. "Thanks." Rachel hummed, taking the glass. She was incredibly drunk, and seemed almost high from the insane amount of blood intake she had.

Kevin thought Rachel was beautiful, but she was a hot mess. She'd already bragged once drunk about her successful plan of setting off the Gilbert watch to kill her mother, which resulted in many other deaths.

He didn't think what they had was ever going to be love, but he was at least grateful that she helped him... and if she was going to use him for her status, he was going to use her for her money.

━━━━━ ⋆⋅♥︎⋅⋆ ━━━━━

"Charlie! Charlie!" A voice called out, as the Salvatore boy turned around to notice a girl with long auburn hair, rushing towards him.

The girl enveloped Charlie into a tight hug, making the vampire chuckle slightly before hugging her back. "Happy first day of T!" The stranger said, pulling away from Charlie as she handed him an envelope.

After a shit-fight, Caroline had finally been able to get testosterone injections for Charlie. Though the Salvatore had already started going by he/him pronouns, cut his hair short and dressed differently, getting testosterone sorted had been nothing short of a disaster— but it was finally happening and Charlie was over the moon about it.

"What is this?" Charlie asked genuinely as he opened the envelope to read the card. "Happy Testosterone day!" Charlie read aloud, amusedly though he couldn't deny that he thought it was a sweet gesture.

"Thank you! This is so kind." The Salvatore smiled, before he realised there was a voucher inside the envelope, for a clothing store that the vampire adored.

"I remember you pointed out this jacket hanging in the window of this store, so I went in to see if they sell vouchers." The girl rambled on as Charlie couldn't contain his smile.

"You're actually the best." Charlie admitted, as the auburn haired girl smiled back at him.

Charlie stirred in his sleep, opening his eyes eventually as he seemed confused by the dream he'd just had. The memory in his dream was a very personal, happy memory but for some reason he couldn't remember who he'd shared it with.

The Salvatore realised he'd fallen asleep in Glen's arms, and turned to face the Forde as he was snoring lightly. Getting comfortable again, Charlie tried to clear his mind so he could fall back to sleep.

Meanwhile, out in the corridor were three very stressed students, who were rushing around in search of Victoria.

Carice halted as she met Beau and Lucas again in the corridor, after the Bailey had initially asked them if they'd seen Tori. "I can't find her anywhere." Clary confessed, as she'd been searching the dormitory area. "She's not in the common room or library." Lucas spoke before Beau added, "Nor was she in the kitchen."

"Victoria wouldn't just disappear. Let's try a locator spell." Carice suggested as the boys agreed, before she scurried off to find a map.

Now in the common room, Lucas lit some candles before the trio all met at the small table where Clary had placed a map of Mystic Falls down. The Bailey then placed her Mikealson necklace down— something Tori was almost never seen without.

Cairce, Beau and Lucas joined hands, before they chanted together a spell to locate Tori, but after minutes of chanting nothing had happened. Beau frowned, "Why don't we grab a map of the US." He suggested.

Moments later the trio were chanting a locator spell again, to no avail. "It makes no sense... she wouldn't have just fled the country." Lucas mumbled, before he walked off to find a world map.

Carice inhaled sharply, realising that if Tori had fled the country, she was probably in danger because it wasn't something Tori would suddenly do. The group then rejoined hands and chanted the spell only to be met with the same result.

Beau frowned, letting go of Lucas and Carice's hands to cross his arms, "This is rigged or something. How is she not being located?" The Lazuli asked as Lucas and Clary didn't know the answer.

"She must be cloaked in magic..." Clary suggested with a frown. "I don't understand how... she isn't a witch. And none of us obviously casted a spell on her." Lucas pointed out as the worried trio couldn't figure it out.

Clary pulled her knees closer to her, into a triangle shape as she sighed anxiously. "I really hope wherever she is, that she isn't in any danger."

━━━━━ ⋆⋅♥︎⋅⋆ ━━━━━

Days had passed since Laura's funeral, and Maya had questions. The Machado left her home after hardly convincing Nina to stay behind (since Maya and Finch were on good terms again, Nina wanted to see Finch.)... but this conversation could be dangerous and Maya didn't want her beloved sister to have any part in it.

Approaching the front door to Finch and Stella's shared home, Maya reached out to knock. Inside the home, Finch and Stella were making breakfast— Finch was frying some eggs while Stella was making the toast.

Upon hearing the knock, the pair shared confused looks as they hadn't been expecting any visitors. Since Stella had already toasted and buttered the bread, she decided to leave Finch to cook, and answer the door instead.

The Lewis was surprised to see Maya at her door, of course she only realised that when she'd swung the door open. In a way, the heretic knew what was coming... they had been lowkey avoiding Maya as they knew she would have questions, and they didn't want to involve her in the supernatural. Stella mentally cursed, wishing they had a peephole in the door so she could have pretended that nobody was home upon seeing the Machado.

"Hey Ella." Maya greeted, "Can I come in?" She asked, with a determined look in her eyes. Stella bit her lip, and sighed before she stepped aside to let the Machado enter their home. Closing the door behind them, Stella walked beside Maya. "We're just making breakfast... would you like some?"

"Sure... it smells good." Maya confessed, as they entered the kitchen. Finch turned to the pair, with an expression of oh fuck on her face before she put on a smile. "Maya— hey! How are you?" The Tarrayo asked.

"I'm good... I just got back from Ethan's football game." Maya answered, taking a seat at the marble bench as Stella did also. "Oh, how did it go?" Finch asked, placing the eggs atop the toast before sliding the plates towards Maya and Stella, as she went to make herself a plate.

"It um... it went great until a fight started. This guy was harassing Casper all game and at the end he pushed him over... Wylan went to defend his twin and started a fight and of course Ethan and Aaron had his back." Maya trailed off as Finch frowned, "Football is so violent..." She responded.

"Yeah... Nina, Ashley and I were pretty surprised. The boys do well to keep their cool usually because a fight can cost them games... but it looks like Casper might have a fracture in his arm so I can see why the other boys wanted to fight." Maya realised that she was rambling now, and began to eat her breakfast.

Once Finch had finished cooking herself an egg on toast, she turned to join Stella and Maya as they ate at the countertop. "Thank you for breakfast." The Machado said to the sisters once they'd finished eating.

"I'm sure you guys are avoiding it... but I have questions. What happened at the funeral was weird and I can tell that you both know something." Maya insisted as Finch averted her eyes away from the Machado uncomfortably.

"If we're about to have this conversation, we need to move somewhere more comfortable." Stella decided, getting up to motion to the living room. "Yeah... that's a great idea." Finch replied as the ex girlfriends followed the Lewis.

Now on the comfier couch in their living room, the trio faced eachother. "Well... why don't you start by asking questions?" Stella suggested, thinking that was a better approach than to info dump on the human.

"Well... that girl— Ashley and Aaron's cousin... is she some sort of witch or something?" Maya asked, feeling silly for asking such a thing. "Well... your guess is almost as good as ours, but we think so." Finch admitted, as they had sorta stayed out of the Supernatural circle at the Salvatore school.

"So... you think witches are real?" Maya asked as the pair nodded before Stella held out her hand, alighting a small flame from her fingertips. "Witches are real. I am half witch." The Lewis answered.

"Oh god... do I want to know what the other half is?" Maya replied as Stella decided to open her mouth and bare her fangs, all the while veins popped out from under her eyes.

"A vampire... great so you're a fucking witch-vampire and you're dating my sister— I shouldn't have asked." Maya admitted, seeming to panic. "Ella would never hurt Nina." Finch quickly blurted out as the Machado turned her attention to her ex. "And what are you, Fi? A ninja turtle?"

Finch couldn't help but to snort in amusement at that. "A werewolf actually." She answered, her eyes shining their yellow colour as Maya's eyes widened. "But I promise we mean no harm— I'm sure you can believe me." The Tarrayo almost pleaded, hoping Maya could at least remember their time together as girlfriends... Finch never hurt her, and she never would.

"I don't understand... we were once everything to eachother, yet I had no idea about your real identity." Maya confessed. "No. Because you lived a human life, clueless to the supernatural and I didn't want to taint that." Finch answered as Maya eventually nodded. "So what is the deal with the Salvatore school?"

"We... we don't actually know. We have theories that they're a school of supernatural creatures but... we're trying to stay out of it." Finch explained as the Machado seemed intrigued. "Why?"

"Because we've lost too much already." Stella spoke up, thinking about her parents. Eric and Alora Lewis had been shunned from the Gemini coven along with Stella, though a hex had been placed on her parents which resulted in their deaths. Finch reached out and placed her hand atop Stella's, as she offered a sympathetic look.

Maya decided not to ask any questions about that particular comment, since she put the pieces together on her own. She knew Finch's story, that she had been neglected and abused by her own parents which caused her to be taken away from them by her grandparents, who cared for her until their very last breath... so she could only imagine Stella and Finch had been living together because they were truly alone.

But they weren't alone anymore. They had eachother, and to anybody who asked they were sisters. Sisters until the very end.

"I... I can't believe that vampires, werewolves and witches are real... what is next, mermaids?" Maya asked as Finch and Stella let out awkward laughs. "Fuck... maybe someday." Stella responded.

Maya chuckled lightly before she looked at the sisters. "Your secrets are safe with me, I promise." She insisted, as Finch and Stella offered her relieved smiles. "But you both have to promise me something." The Machado demanded, as the blonde and ravenette both looked to her. "Promise me that Nina and Ethan won't get involved in any supernatural business."

Stella nodded, "I would never involve Nina. She knows nothing and I intend to keep it that way." She responded as Finch agreed.

━━━━━ ⋆⋅♥︎⋅⋆ ━━━━━

After many attempted search parties, Tori hadn't been found. Her disappearance had really confused the school, and with no context it hadn't been clear whether she was taken or had left willingly.

On top of the fact that her girlfriend was missing, Clary was in quite a state as she recalled being the one to fix the Gilbert watch Rachel had gotten her hands on. Although she had been asked to fix it several months ago, when they were Auclair students and Rachel and Carice were still best friends, Clary still heavily blamed herself.

If she hadn't blindly fixed the watch, nobody would have died on Founder's day. Laura would still be alive.

The Bailey laid in her bed, feeling unmotivated to do anything. No matter what she tried to do, her mind just kept going back to the same thing... the same cycle of her blaming herself for Rachel's actions.

She longed for Tori in this moment, knowing the bubbly blonde always knew how to make her feel better, even if the Bailey hated to admit it. But Tori was nowhere to be seen, and she hadn't contacted anybody at the school either.

The door to Carice's room slowly opened, as a voice piped up. "Hey Clarissa." Clary frowned, pulling the covers tighter in annoyance, "That's not my fucking name."

"Heh, I know. I like to annoy you sometimes." Ashley admitted shamelessly as she stepped into the room, closing Clary's door behind her. The Bennett-St.John peered around the room, noticing an absence of a roommate since Rachel left the school.

"Are you gonna stay in bed all day?" Ashley asked her cousin, as she approached the bed. "Yes." Clary responded, her back still to the witch. "Fine. At least move over so I can join you." Ashley suggested as Clary grumbled, making room for the other Bennett witch.

"You've always been such a bed-hog." Ashley teased, moving to lay under the covers as Clary rolled over to face her cousin. "And you've always been such a whiny bitch." The Bailey responded, though Ashley took no offence, knowing Carice was only lashing out since she was in a miserable mood.

"Are you going to keep hurling insults, or are you going to tell me why you're so sour?" Ashley suggested, though her voice was soft. "Neither." Clary decided, staying firm on her decision for now. "Okay, well I have a question. Where did your blonde bitchy roommate go?"

Carice frowned, "She was taken out of the school. Good riddance." The Bailey confessed though Ashley had an excited smile. "What?" Clary asked. "Well... Aaron and I are transferring here after the summer... what if I move into this room with you?" The Bennett suggested.

Clary couldn't help but to smile weakly, as the idea of sharing a dorm with somebody who actually supported her sounded great. Rachel had always been one to critique the Bailey, and although they had been best friends there wasn't any love there... it was always about their status as popular, mean girls.

"That would be really nice." Carice confessed as Ashley flashed her cousin a warm smile. The Bailey loved her cousins, but as much as she loved them she couldn't shake the envy she felt for them.

They'd grown up in a family full of love. Though Enzo unfortunately couldn't be there, Bonnie was a mother who had nothing but love for her children. Granted, Bonnie had a much better upbringing than her half sister Eliana.

Eliana was raised by her single alcoholic father in an apartment in New York, Abby basically abandoned her there as she'd similarly abandoned Bonnie in Mystic Falls. Fortunately, Eliana broke the cycle and made a name for herself, eventually moving to Mystic Falls... but regardless of the influential person she'd become, she had been a terrible mother to Carice.

It had been fairly evident that Eliana never wanted to be a mother, and wanted to remain a rich Aunt to Bonnie's future children... but actions have consequences and Carice seemed to be the consequence of her mother's unprotected boinking with Thomas Bailey.

The Bennett cared about her status and money, and while she bought her daughter everything she wanted, she had never shown love or affection to Carice. In a way, Clary was happy to be distanced from her mother since being at the Salvatore school, but she wished overall that she had been as lucky as Ashley and Aaron in the mother department.

Carice glanced at her cousin, as the pair were now laying in a comfortable silence. The Bailey scrunched up her face, not wanting to come clean about what was bothering her, but for the most part she told Ashley everything and the silence was killing her.

"I fucked up, Ash." Clary exhaled. "Months ago Rachel asked me to fix this watch of hers... and I did it. She used the very watch on Founder's day to aid in killing her mother and so many people died... including a student from this school." The Bailey explained.

"The girl was so kind... I don't think she ever did anything to bother anybody... and now she's dead." Carice continued, as tears filled her eyes. "She would still be here if I didn't fix that stupid watch."

Ashley reached out to take Clary's hand, giving in a gentle squeeze. "I'm sorry for your loss." She began, "But Clar, there's no way you knew Rachel was going to do something so malicious. It's Rachel's fault, not yours."

"I can't believe otherwise, Ash. I just can't... I have tried already to find somebody to blame but I can only blame myself." The Bailey added. "And now the one person I wish was here to comfort me has literally disappeared and..." Clary stopped for a moment to breathe, realising that she was working herself up.

Ashley let go of Clary's hand, and reached her hand to the Bailey's face, to wipe away her tears gently. "You're not this big bad villain you claim to be, Clary." Ashley assured her. "I promise you."

Clary couldn't find the words to speak, instead she burst into tears, as she'd been holding back her tears for days, refusing to cry. Ashley's face fell, as her cousin cried. The Bennett took Clary's hand again, letting her squeeze it as she cried.

━━━━━ ⋆⋅♥︎⋅⋆ ━━━━━

Sitting outside were a group of students, all talking amongst themselves about Niko. The Shiratori had hardly left his room in days, and everyone had been trying their hardest to convince him to. "I have tried to get him to leave his room to go out for lunch with Landon and I and they won't budge." Lucas admitted, as the Kirby who was seated beside the Saltzman and holding his hand, agreed.

"Glen and I invited him to the movies with us and he declined also." Charlie admitted, also standing beside his boyfriend who had an arm around him. "We were going to watch Blue Beetle... and I know he was hyped to see it when the trailer came out." Glen added.

"Aphie and I managed to get him to eat breakfast with us." Lizzie pointed out, "We cooked up some pancakes and bacon... so he has eaten today but he did retreat back to his room shortly after." Aphrodite added.

"Okay, good at least we know he has eaten today. We need to make sure he eats dinner though." Myrical added before she looked to Olivia. "Why don't we try and make his favourite meal." She suggested as Liv nodded, liking that idea. "That sounds great! I have heard that his favourite is Chicken Parmigiana."

"Ooh, maybe you could cook my favourite meal also." A figure approached them, being Jade Salvatore, the half sister of Charlie. Charlie's expression lit up, "Jade!" He blurted, rushing over to hug the blonde, who laughed as she had just about been bowled over with his force.

The vampire daughter of Valerie Tulle and Stefan Salvatore had been travelling lately, what Charlie and his siblings didn't know is that Jade had been helping Caroline in trying to find a cure for the merge. Jade considered the Saltzman's to be like her extended family, so she wanted so desperately to find something.

"It's nice to see you again." Lizzie said, as herself and Lucas approached the older Salvatore, once Charlie let go of her. Jade reached forward to hug Lizzie and Lucas, "You guys look well! I've missed you." Jade admitted before she looked over at Josie, who offered her a warm smile.

It was a little awkward, because Josie used to have a crush on Jade... but that all changed when Jade announced that she considered the triplets to be like siblings to her, even though the only one related to her by blood was Charlie.

"It's nice to see you Jade." Josie spoke, though she decided not to hug her. "I'm gonna check on Niko. I'll be back soon." The ravenette excused herself, leaving the group be.

"Oh man... poor Niko. I can't imagine he wants her company." Lucas sassed as Beau laughed. "Hey, don't be so rude." Jade playfully punched Lucas in the shoulder before the Saltzman faced her. "Oh J, you have missed so much." He admitted, prepared to unleash the drama about the triplets.

"I don't want to hear any sibling drama. I just wanna hang out with my siblings." Jade insisted as Lucas groaned while Lizzie and Charlie laughed. Beau looked to Jade, "Girl you are missing out. It's pretty juicy." The Lazuli tried to encourage the drama though Lizzie placed her hand on Beaumont's shoulder, "Give it a rest."

Meanwhile Josie approached Niko and Charlie's dorm, as she reached out to knock on the door. The door opened quickly, as Niko stood there, looking to be in a state. The psychic had dark eye bags, indicating that he hadn't been sleeping, not to mention he reeked of alcohol. Peering over his shoulder the Saltzman could see that Niko had raided her father's alcohol collection, as he had some spirit bottles laying about.

"You don't look well." Josie blurted out, as the psychic deadpanned the witch, "No shit. What do you want?" He asked, seeming bitter. "It's 11:30 on a Monday. I don't think you should be drinking." Josie spoke as Niko was visibly drunk. The psychic, whose abilities were practically useless while drunk, rolled their eyes and went to close the door.

The Saltman rushed forward to push the door open, stopping it from closing. "My sister is the queen of self harm— I know it when I see it." She blurted out, as Niko faced her with a look of surprise and disgust. "That sentence you just said... it's not the flex you think it is." The Shiratori responded.

"God... no wonder your siblings hate you." Niko mumbled under his breath as he went to close the door again, only angering Josie. "Can't you see that I'm trying to help you? Everyone is worried about you, and you're just sitting here drinking! It's selfish!"

Now Niko was mad.

"I know you don't seem to care about your siblings, so you probably can't relate but... my sister just died! I want to be left the fuck alone. Tell the others that too." Niko snapped, as Josie opened her mouth to either apologise or argue that she cared for her siblings, but before she could she was met with a slammed door.

Niko grumbled to himself as he went back to his bedside table to grab the open bottle of rum he was currently drinking. They kicked the other bottles under the bed, not wanting Charlie to see them.

The Shiratori grabbed a small bag, containing hallucinative witch herbs, and opened it to eat some. Once he had, he placed the herbs in his bedside drawer for safe keeping. He then took a seat on his bed.

"You know... this isn't a great coping mechanism." A familiar voice spoke, as Niko turned to see Laura standing in the middle of the room, her arms crossed. Except it wasn't really Laura, Niko was hallucinating.

"There you are." Niko said with a relieved expression, before he took another swig of rum. "How long are you going to keep shutting everybody out?" Laura asked, moving to approach her cousin slash brother figure. "As long as it takes. Eventually they'll leave me alone... and I can keep seeing you."

Laura frowned, before she let her arms fall to her side. "You're annoyed." Niko noticed, though not through any psychic ability but instead basic observation. "Of course I'm annoyed. You're getting drunk and high to deal with the fact that the real me is gone— I'm not the real Laura, Neeks. I'm your memory of her."

"Then can you please just pretend... because right now I can't deal with the truth— that you're gone." Niko pleaded, before taking another drink. "Fine." Laura decided, moving to sit beside Niko, as she leant her head on his shoulder.

"I miss you." Niko spoke as Laura had a weak smile, "I miss you too." She said, and suddenly Niko felt as though he was talking to the real Laura.

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The group had dispersed soon after Jade's arrival, and Beau had grown curious about what was underneath the school. He couldn't continue to sit around and wait for news about Tori, so he thought he'd stay busy and explore.

The Lazuli approached his shared dorm with Lucas, hoping his best friend could accompany him on his adventures... though he wasn't really expecting the sight he saw upon opening the doors.

Over on Lucas' bed, Landon had straddled Lucas as the pair locked lips, clearly in the middle of heated make out session. Neither of the boys had shirts on either, which made it pretty obvious to Beau what was going on.

"Oh my god." Beau blurted out, though his surprised expression turned into a proud smile. "Lucie, we haven't had the talk of the birds and the bees yet." He teased.

"Aah— Dude what the fuck?!" Lucas hissed, as Landon just about fell off the bed as Beau had swung the door open. "Have you ever heard of knocking?" Landon asked, his face red with embarrassment. "Have you ever heard of locking the door?" Beau responded to the Kirby without a beat.

"What do you want?" Lucas bluntly asked, visibly pissed off with his best friend. "Oh no, it's fine. You guy go back to your one way trip to pound town, I'll go pester someone else." Beau decided, still wearing a proud expression that made Lucas embarrassed and mad.

"You've already killed the mood." Lucas grumbled, getting up to take the shirts off of the ground, handing Landon his shirt before he pulled on his own. "Well for future reference the bathroom has a great lock, you guys should try shower sex." The Lazuli suggested as Landon sighed with embarrassment, "Please stop talking."

"Cunt, just tell me why you interrupted us?" Lucas demanded as Beau had a bashful look. "I wanted to see if you wanna come exploring with me." The witch admitted as Lucas looked to Landon, who seemed interested. "Fine. Where are we going?" Luca asked.

"Underneath the school." Beau tried to speak in a spooky tone. "That could be cool... we might need some flashlights though." Landon suggested before Lucas stepped forward to press a kiss on the Kirby's cheek, siphoning magic as he did. The Saltzman then said aloud a spell as he twisted his fingers, allowing a ball of light to appear.

"Or not." Landon replied as Luca chuckled at the raven haired boy before as he took his boyfriend's hand in his own before he turned to face Beau. "Okay, lead the way."

With that, the trio left the dorm and started to head towards the stairs heading to the basement but not before MG approached them. "Hey guys! Where are you going?" The chipper vampire asked, hoping to hang out with them.

"No where of your concern, Milton." Beau insisted as MG walked alongside the Lazuli. "Aw, can I come?" The Greasley asked as Beau sighed with frustration before he answered, "No cunt, you're still on my shitlist."

Landon seemed somehow surprised by Beau's language, but Luca was trying to stifle a laugh before he glanced at MG. "Actually MG, you can come with us." He decided, as Beau flashed him an annoyed look. Lucas grinned before he mouthed the words, that's karma bro.

"Thank you— so where are you going?" MG asked as Beau again groaned before he answered, "Into the basement. I feel like exploring."

"I'm starting to think allowing MG to come was a bad idea." Landon spoke quietly to his boyfriend. Lucas just grinned before he replied, "I know."

With that, the four went down into the school's underground, which was unfortunately dusty. Lucas shone the ball of light that was in his hand, so they could see.

"There's really not a lot down here." Lucas admitted boredly as Beau sighed. "I know... I thought for sure it would be more exciting than this." The Lazuli admitted before he stubbed his toe on something hard. "Motherfucker—" The witch grimaced while Lucas, Landon and MG looked down at the object he had just kicked.

"What the hell is that?" Landon asked as Lucas and MG approached it. "It's fucking heavy, that's what." Beau grumbled. "Deadass... this looks like a coffin." Lucas admitted as Landon couldn't help but to chuckle, "Heheh... dead-ass." He pointed out the pun which Lucas hadn't intended to make, causing him to laugh also.

"I wanna see what handsome hunk is trapped in here." Beaumont decided as he reached to open the coffin as Lucas, Landon and MG all jolted back and closed their eyes, not wanting to see a dead body.

"Relax, it's not opening." Beau admitted, seeming disappointed. "Why don't we take it upstairs and try to open it. Perhaps it's sealed by magic or something." The Lazuli suggested. "There's not much light down here even with Luca's orb."

"Dude... why do you want to see a dead body so badly?" Lucas asked as Landon and MG agreed. "What if it's actually a live person that Alaric has just trapped in here?" Beau asked, as Lucas didn't argue, thinking that was a legitimate possibility.

"Dr Saltzman would never do that." MG assured Beau, though the Lazuli laughed humourlessly. "Man how much of a kiss ass are you— you really think your headmaster is so innocent?" Beau argued as MG frowned, "Not every headmaster is like Kiara Auclair!" He insisted.

"If we carry this stupid coffin upstairs, will you two stop arguing like some old married couple?" Lucas demanded as Beau nodded at him. "Yes actually and then you can go back to boning your boyfriend."

"Wait... what?" MG couldn't help but to blurt as Lucas and Landon both seemed embarrassed. "You're actually fucking pissing me off today." Lucas grumbled at his best friend before the four worked together to pick up the coffin.

With that, the four students took the dusty coffin upstairs, though Beau insisted on them placing it in his shared dorm with Lucas so he could figure out how to open it without Alaric or Caroline trying to stop him.

"There's no way we're having sex with that fucking thing in here." Lucas grumbled to Landon quietly, once the coffin was placed smack in the middle of the room. "Yeah... that's definitely not my thing either." The Kirby admitted as Beau placed his hands on the coffin and began to siphon it, as his hands flashed red.

The coffin made a clunk sound, indicating that it was able to be opened. "Wh... wHY COULDN'T YOU DO THAT IN THE BASEMENT?" Lucas finally snapped, as the four of them really didn't have to lug the coffin upstairs.

"There was almost no lighting down there, I don't want whatever is inside this box to chase us around in the dark like fucking Slenderman, bro." Beau retorted, raising his voice to match Lucas'.

"God damn are they always like this?" MG asked Landon though as the Kirby went to answer, Beau and Lucas turned to the vampire and snapped, "Shut up MG!"

Beau then decided to open the coffin, as the others were now just as curious to see what was inside, but waited to see Beau's reaction before looking for themselves incase it was actually a dead body. "Okay I was right— it is a handsome hunk... but he looks pretty dead." The Lazuli admitted as the trio approached the coffin and peered inside to see a desiccated vampire with dark brown hair and a sharp jawline.

Beau walked over to his bookshelf which contained all of his grimoires and magic equipment, before he took a small knife. "What are you doing?" MG asked, as Beau sliced into his hand before raising the bloodied wound to the mouth of the desiccated vampire.

"He needs blood to feel alive again." Beau responded, as if it was obvious, though he soon grit his teeth in pain as he felt the vampire bite into his hand now. "Okay... that fucking hurts." The Lazuli spoke, hoping the vampire would realise and ease up.

Beau eventually retracted his hand as the vampire's eyes shot open, to reveal bright blue eyes. "Where... where am I?" The vampire eventually asked, before he sat up in the coffin.

"You're at the Salvatore school." MG answered, as they only seemed more puzzled. "What's your name?" Landon cautiously asked, as the vampire seemed as though he'd woken up from a fiercely long nap. "Sebastian." He answered.

"Who are you people?" Sebastian then asked, feeling as though this was a lot to take in. While Lucas and MG both answered, Beau made sure they were in the background while he had all of this pirate looking guy's attention.

"I'm Beau, hopefully your new future boyfriend." He said with a wink, as Sebastian seemed taken back by that. "B.. Boyfriend?" He asked confusedly, as he lived in an era where same sex couples were either unheard of or very well hidden.

"Oh matey, we have a lot to teach you it seems." Beau declared, throwing in a pirate pun which made Lucas and MG laugh, though MG tried to stifle it.

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In the kitchen, sizzling could be heard as Olivia was frying some crumbed chicken in a pan. Meanwhile, Myrical was slicing some cheese. In another pot beside Liv, some vegetables were boiling.

"It smells fantastic in here." Glen admitted, helping himself to a glass of Pepsi from the fridge, though he also poured one for his boyfriend who decided to make himself comfortable at the countertop.

"Why thank you." Liv responded, placing the last of the cooked crumbed chicken on an oven tray, before Myrical came over and started to add a red sauce atop each chicken.

"I made some extras... would you guys like some?" Liv asked as Glen and Charlie both eagerly nodded, causing Liv and Myrical to laugh.

"I'd like some too... if that's okay. It smells amazing." Josie's voice piped up, as she entered the kitchen. "Oh and maybe one for Lizzie too." The Saltzman added, as the sisters had decided to eat dinner together. Lucas decided that if Josie were there, he'd rather eat with Beau and his new pirate (boy)friend.

"Sure." Olivia decided, sharing a look with the ravenette. The pair were open to being friends again, but it was a little weird. Liv didn't have any ill feelings towards Josie anymore, and vice versa, but for some reason it was still a little uncomfortable.

Lizzie then entered the kitchen, "You're right, Jo. It does smell amazing." The blonde confessed as Liv smiled at her. The Auclair had noticed that since Josie had been going to therapy, Lizzie had been starting to hang out with her again. Their relationship was still different... they weren't attached at the hip like they once were, and now they had different circles of friends, but they seemed closer than they had been for months.

Lucas on the other hand, still wanted nothing to do with Josie. The male Saltzman was great at holding grudges, so it would probably be a long time until he could stand being around Josie again. In his opinion, it was good that Josie was going to therapy but until he saw a change in her actions he wanted to stay far away from her.

"Did you guys end up watching Blue Beetle?" Myrical asked Charlie and Glen, once she had finished adding toppings to the chickens and placed the tray in the oven. "We did." Charlie spoke, taking Glen's hand in his own as the Forde intertwined their fingers.

"Ooh, is it any good?" Liv asked curiously as Myrical seemed just as curious. "I'm usually more of a Marvel person, but I really liked it." Glen admitted as Charlie agreed. "Yeah it was good! Though the beetle fusing into Jamie's body was super gross." The Salvatore cringed, causing Glen to chuckle.

"Maybe we should go to the movies, Livvy." Myrical suggested excitedly to her best friend, while the Auclair had taken the chicken out of the oven now that the cheese had melted. She then began to serve up the food. "That would be fun! I haven't been to the movies in a long time." Liv admitted, as she tried to recall the last movie she had seen.

"Yeah... I think the last time we went to the movies was when Aphie took us to see the new Guardians of the Galaxy movie with Lizzie and Lucas." Myrical admitted as Liv faced her, "That movie made me cry so much." The Auclair admitted as Glen and Charlie agreed, having seen it also.

"I'm gonna go get Niko." Myrical then decided, before she turned to leave. Liv gave a plate of food each to Charlie, Glen, Josie and Lizzie before realising there was a lot more left over. She pulled out her phone to text Aphrodite, to see if she was hungry.

"Woah, it smells awesome in here." A new voice entered the kitchen, belonging to a familiar Salvatore. "Lexi!" Liv and Josie both blurted out, though while Josie sounded disgusted Liv sounded very excited. Meanwhile Charlie was still pissed at the girl and couldn't meet her eye.

"Hey princess." Lexi greeted, offering Liv a wink as the tribrid blushed. "Hey, are you hungry?" Liv asked, motioning to the leftover food. "Yes actually." Lexi responded with a toothy smile.

Moments later, Liv and Lexi each had a plate of food and left the kitchen, deciding to hang out alone as there was too much tension in the air with Josie and Lexi's usual dislike for one another, and Charlie's current dislike for his cousin.

Now sitting at the Old Mill, Olivia switched on the radio that had been left there, as she tried to find a good channel. Inevitably giving up, she sat down beside Lexi as the pair started to eat.

"So where have you been?" Olivia asked, once she had swallowed her food. "On a roadtrip. I barely had reception the entire time." Lexi answered. "It was very spontaneous. Mum was lucky she managed to get her shifts covered."

Liv continued to eat, realising that Lexi didn't want to talk about it. It made the Auclair assume She didn't have a good time. And she didn't... Lexi had eventually snapped at Damon, asking for him to take them home because she felt guilty being away from the girl she had literally just turned into a vampire instead of helping her through it, meanwhile Elena had ended up on her manager's shitlist for taking a lot of time off so suddenly.

After they ate, they stacked their dirty dishes together before Lexi asked the question Olivia had expected her to, and had been dreading. "How are you coping with being a vampire?"

Liv furrowed her eyebrows before she looked at the heretic. "Trying to drink blood is so disgusting." She admitted. "It makes me feel better... but it tastes so yuck." The ravenette added as Lexi seemed surprised.

"As gross as it sounds... you do get used to it." Lexi admitted with an awkward look. "Somehow with time you get over how gross it is and it weirdly seems to taste better." The Salvatore explained as Liv looked as though she wanted to vomit.

"What about everything else... the heightened senses and emotions?" Lexi asked as Olivia paused as she thought about it. "It's... a lot. I'm trying my best to manage it all but it is hard." The Auclair trailed off.

Speaking of heightened emotions... she couldn't really describe how she was feeling as she sat next to Lexi. If her heart was beating, it would be beating very quickly right now.

"I'm really sorry Liv... for all of this." Lexi admitted, facing the tribrid with a guilty expression. "I... I should have used my magic and I... I wasn't thinking— I thought you were going to die." Lexi blurted out now.

"I did this to you... and I want to make it right. I turned you, so it's only fair that I help you adjust to being a vampire." The Salvatore insisted before she met Olivia's eye again. "Would you... be okay if I transferred here?"

Olivia's eyes widened momentarily before she smiled brightly, which was followed by an eager nod. "I'd love for you to transfer here... but what about your friends at Mystic Falls high?"

Lexi shrugged, "I... don't feel as settled there as I make it out to be. And my friends there... I think they may eventually follow in my footsteps. A lot of my friendgroup aren't human." The Salvatore confessed as Liv seemed surprised.

"Oh... I mean. I had my theories but I wasn't exactly sure." Olivia admitted as Lexi laughed lightly. "So... you'll start here after the summer?" She asked, as Lexi nodded. "Yeah. I'll talk to Aunt Caroline and my parents.. I'm sure they won't mind."

"That would be great." Liv said with a smile, which caused Lexi to smile back... though now she had to figure out how she was going to tell her very involved parents that she wanted to move to the supernatural boarding school.

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Tori's found herself finally regaining consciousness as her senses went crazy. The smells and sounds were of a place unfamiliar to her, and when her eyes quickly opened it basically confirmed it to her. She was not at the Salvatore school anymore.

The hybrid looked around, realising she was alone in some sort of hotel. "What the fuck..." She blurted out to herself, as she got to her feet. The Mikealson made a beeline for the door, and opened it to see it was awfully sunny outside and the hotel was near a busy road with lots of traffic.

Victoria questioned how she had gotten there, before she pulled her phone out of her pocket and tried to call Beau while she quickly walked around, looking for an exit to the premises.

"This is Beau. Don't leave a voicemail because I won't answer it. It's not the 80s." Beau's voice message could be heard, which caused Tori to sigh before she tried to call Clary next, deciding to call Lucas last since he was the one out of the trio who used his phone least.

"Please pick up Clary..." Tori exhaled nervously, though she felt a sense of relief when she heard Clary pick up. "Hello?" The Bailey asked as Tori began to answer, "Hey babe—"

Before Tori could continue, with a swift action she had been shoved against a wall, as a hand wrapped around her throat. The phone fell out of her hand, though she hadn't realised as she stared at the stranger in shock.

Faith stood there, with veins popping out from under her eyes as her fangs were elongated as her hand was wrapped around her half sister's neck. Victoria looked at the Mikealson with a confused expression that showed slight fear.

"Who the fuck are you?" Tori snapped, as even with her humanity she resorted to anger when frightened. Faith's eyes returned to her normal state as her fangs shortened back to their standard size, and she removed her hand from the blonde. The older Mikealson felt somewhat relieved that Victoria didn't recognise her, because it meant she wouldn't recognise Hope either.

"Tori?! Tori are you okay?!" Clary's voice could be heard through the phone, sounding worried by all the commotion. Faith frowned as she picked up the device and ended the call, before placing the phone into her own pocket.

"You don't recognise your older sister?" Faith then asked slyly as she brought her attention back to the blonde. Tori raised as eyebrow, as she thought about it. Thinking hard, she remembered a page of a book she'd seen in the Salvatore library. "Faith Mikealson: The Young and Evil."

"Faith?" Tori blurted out, as the tribrid's lips curved into a smile. "Hey baby sister. It's nice to finally meet you." Faith said, putting on what seemed like a warm smile. Victoria returned a warm smile although she still seemed stunned and a little confused.

Faith then pulled Victoria in for a hug, seeming genuine though behind her back she flashed a wicked smile, as her plan was finally beginning. Tori hugged back, still surprised by the fact that she wasn't an only child.

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AUTHORS NOTE

Lucas and Beau's banter actually killed me this chapter 😭 They need Tori back bc otherwise they're at eachother's throats

Okay, okay I have an important question... do you call the meal in this chapter chicken parmigiana or chicken parmesan? Because where I live it's parmigiana and I didn't realise it goes by a different name in other parts of the world.

We finally meet the following characters:
Faith Mikealson
Ezra Zhang (Trix_Forever)
Kevin Corvin (KishoutheWriter)
Who will be apart of the villain group that forms later in the act 😌