CHAPTER TEN

Nyx has been staying with Meredith in order to be with the twins and avoid the drama that is her friend circle. So far, she's been successful in keeping herself out of all of it.

Rebekah had Elena, Stefan, and Caroline hostage in the school library to play a game of catch up. Then she compelled Tyler to turn so that he'd try to kill them all. Luckily, that plan was a complete failure.

Klaus had some ridiculous plan to make Jeremy's Hunter mark grow — it's a mark that's supposed to lead to a cure for vampirism or immortality, something to that degree. While Nyx is definitely all for being human again, she refuses to put any faith in something like that. Getting her hopes up would be somewhat disastrous.

It turns out Bonnie's new mentor, Professor Shane, can't be trusted. He's been lying to and manipulating her to get what he wants. But that isn't even the worst of it.

Kol compelled Damon to kill Jeremy, so to undo the compulsion, Elena came up with a plan to kill Kol. And Jeremy managed to do it, which completed his Hunter's mark — and put a target on all of their backs. Though they're temporarily safe because Bonnie did a spell that locked Klaus in the Gilbert living room.

Now Elena, Jeremy, Bonnie, Carter, Stefan, Damon, and Shane are all on an island two hundred miles off the coast of Nova Scotia. At least, she thinks that's where they are. Nyx has hated this whole Jeremy-being-a-Hunter thing from the very beginning and has refused to include herself in letting him put himself in danger just so that she and Elena can possibly, maybe be human again.

Meanwhile, Dean and Sam have continued hunting. They were in Rhode Island, where a ghost was telling people to kill those that he found unholy. He apparently thought he was an angel...or something to that effect.

But now Sam's missing, and Dean's been looking for him. Nyx told him that she would meet him, but he insisted that it was safer if he looked for his brother on his own. She wanted to argue, but she has the twins, and they both know that he would've won that argument in the end.

However, Nyx refused to stay in Mystic Falls because it's obviously not safe for the twins and she won't put them in danger. And there's someone that she thinks might be able to give her some unbiased advice. And that means, she's now walking down Bourbon Street with the twins in a double stroller that she recently bought.

"Well, look at you." Nyx hears a familiar voice and she turns around with a smile on her face. "I'm starting to feel like we're old friends at this point."

"I was hoping you'd find me if I walked around here long enough." She says, and Marcel smiles.

"Let me buy you some lunch." He says, and they make their way to a small restaurant.

The twins are still in the stroller and luckily they're asleep. Nyx has the hood of the stroller​ halfway down so that she can see them. A waitress walks over and takes their order before quickly leaving again.

"So, is it safe to assume that they're Dean's?" Marcel asks, and she smiles.

"That obvious?" She asks.

"From the first time I saw you two together."

"This is Alex and Everly." She tells him.

"How old are they?" He asks as he looks from them to her.

"Four months on the tenth."

"And where's Dad?"

"Looking for Uncle Sammy." She sighs. "We don't know where Dean's brother is. He just disappeared, and we have no idea why."

He just nods as he looks at Nycole for a few seconds​. "And can I ask what happened to you?"

"Uh... It's complicated. Long story short, a bitch of a vampire compelled a man to kill me, and he did. I happened​ to have vampire blood in my system — the friend that I mentioned before healed me from...another long story." She tells him, and he nods.

"While I have to admit, I am happy to see you... I don't think you showed up just to let me see that I was right about you and your boyfriend." He says, and she shakes her head.

"The problem is that he's not my boyfriend, not anymore." She says. "I had to break up with him after I turned. Being around him was suddenly very difficult for me. I can't sleep in the same bed as him or even hold his hand. Honestly, there are times it's hard just looking at him."

"The hunger." He says, and she nods. "I thought you had friends like you."

"I do. One can't drink human blood—" She whispers. "—without completely spiraling out of control. His brother is semi-new to practicing self-control, and not because he can't, but because he doesn't​ particularly want to. The third is a little too good at it. She makes me feel a little ridiculous for struggling."

"So, you thought you'd get some advice elsewhere." He says, and she shrugs.

"I didn't really know where else to go."

"Well, my door will always be open to you and the world's most adorable set of twins." He says, and she smiles. "But I can't give you what you're lookin' for, Nycole. There is no right or wrong answer for how long it should take before you're in complete control over the hunger. It's different for everyone. But you're tough, you'll be okay."

"I used to think I could take on anything and make it out the other side just fine. Dean was the one who'd put me in my place. Even knowing that my parents had just died, he had no problem being brutally honest with me." She says. "Most people would walk on eggshells, but that's never really been him."

"Tell me about him." He says, and she smiles.

"Oh, I loved to argue with him, push his buttons." She scoffs. "And he'd push right back. He was always right too — that was what I hated." She says, and he chuckles.

"I'm ready for a hunt." Nyx continues to argue with Dean.

"No, you're not." He insists. "You'll be ready​ when I say you're ready."

"How can you possibly be so sure that I won't do well?" She questions.

"I'm the expert here, stop arguing with me." He says, and she shakes her head.

"You said yourself that I've come a long way in combat training and that you've never seen someone pick up on shooting the way that I have. Your exact words were that I'm a damn good shot and I've barely picked up a gun." She reminds him.

"I know what I said."

"Then why can't we go on a hunt?"

"Because good enough isn't good enough. Not in this job." He says as he looks down at her. "It's my job to keep you alive out there, so we're not going out until I'm confident in what I see."

"And what's stopping me from going out without you?" She questions.

"I have the car keys, and you're never allowed to drive my car."

"Never's a long time."

"And it is exactly how long you'll hunt if you don't stop hounding me on this. I don't want to have to take care of another one of your injuries like I did after that vampire tried to kill you." He tells her. "You already have one scar on your neck. How many do you want?"

"I guess I don't have to worry about scars anymore." Nyx says as she twists the daylight ring on her right ring finger. "I thought never was a long time, and now I'm facing down forever."

"You're worried about the day you'll lose him." He says, and she nods.

"Constantly. We're hunters and that's dangerous enough as it is. Even worse is that the FBI is trying to catch him for a few crimes that he didn't commit." She tells him. "One way or another, I'm gonna lose him. And I'll be all alone again... Forever."

"You can compel people now."

"Are you suggesting that I compel an entire agency to stop looking for him?" She asks, and he chuckles.

"Yeah​, I guess that would be kind of difficult." He nods. "Well, when that unfortunate day comes... There'll be a place right here for you. All you have to do is show up."

"Who knows? Maybe one day I'll take you up on that offer."

"Let's hope it isn't any time soon."

"You know, the hardest part of all this vampirism stuff...is the heightened emotions." She tells him. "I can hardly be near him, and I pull away when he reaches for me. Then I see the look on his face — hurt and maybe even a little betrayed, definitely heartbroken... And then I feel guilty for hurting him."

"Have you tried talking to him about how you feel?" He asks, and she shrugs.

"How do you explain this in a way that makes sense to a human?" She shakes her head. "Besides, if I admit to the guilt, I have to admit to the shame, and that's... That's a thousand times worse."

"Shame?" Marcel's eyebrows furrow as she looks away from him. "Nyx, what are you ashamed of?"

"I turned not long after the twins were born, and I knew that I couldn't leave them without a mother. So, Dean gave me his blood so that I could complete the transition." She tells him, and he nods. "I lost control, and I tried to attack him. My friend had to pull me away from him, while I was fighting to get back to feed on him... Now, I am one of the monsters that we hunt...and when I smell his blood..." She squeezes her eyes shut as her head hangs.

"You're ashamed of the hunger." He sighs when she nods.

"I'm ashamed of what I am... And it's not something that'll ever go away, even after I finally — eventually — get it under control... The hunger will always be there, reminding me what I am, and how badly I could've hurt him." She wipes tears from her face.

Before he can say anything else, Nyx's phone starts vibrating,​ and she quickly pulls it out of her pocket. "Hey, did you find him?" She asks Dean.

"Yeah, but then I lost him again." He tells her. "I don't​ know what's going on. We found a home security video of him killing a hunter. He doesn't remember any of it, none of this makes any sense."

Marcel's eyebrows furrow as Nyx's eyes widen. "Oh my God, what if... Remember when I told you about the night that Esther turned Ric? The night of the dance, and Matt?"

"Meg." She can hear the venom in his voice.

"It makes sense. I mean, Sam would never do something like that." She says. "And Bonnie didn't exorcise Meg, she just used a spell to expel her from Matt's body."

"I'll call you back when I've got Sam back." He hangs up the phone.

"You two really do have your hands full, don't you​?" Marcel asks, and she sighs as she looks back at him.

"You have no idea."