"I don't understand.. vampires don't suddenly just collapse!" Lizzie spoke with worry and panic, now that the group had moved Monica into a bed in the infirmary. "Her vitals are fine..." Jordan said, "Obviously there's no heartbeat.. but no vampire has a heartbeat." He added.

"Then what the hell is going on with her?" Ruby asked worriedly. "Maybe we should get Dr Saltzman." Rafael suggested, before looking to his twin. "Good idea..." Ruby admitted, before grabbing onto her brother and zooming out of the infirmary, so they could find Alaric together.

"She seems to be perfectly healthy..." Hope frowned, her eyes on Monica's face, as it looked like she was just sleeping peacefully. "It doesn't make any sense.." She sighed as she looked puzzled.

Alaric entered the room, followed by the Waithe twins. "Oh my god—" Alaric blurted out, as his eyes landed on Monica's unconscious body. "You guys, explain everything." He then ordered as he turned to the other students. "The thing is... we don't even know what happened! One minute we were all hugging, and the next minute, Monica just fell to the ground!" Josie confessed as everyone still seemed upset and confused.

"She seems to be healthy too, Dad!" Lizzie piped up as Alaric looked down at Monica's body, processing everything. "I've seen this before..." The older Saltzman began. "My step-daughter... Elena... she... had this spell cast on her, that put her to sleep until her best friend was supposed to die." He explained to them. "What if someone... set this spell on Monica..." The man aired his thought. Ruby frowned, "Well... we'll find a way to fix this. We have to." She declared, as everyone agreed with the pinkette.

Alaric stepped forward, and placed a hand on Monica's shoulder, before he was suddenly let into her mind, into a space where the pair could talk.

"Ric?" Monica span on her heels as she turned to face him. It looked like they were in the Salvatore school. "Monica!" Alaric sighed with relief before he rushed over to her. "What happened, are you okay?" He asked, worriedly.

Monica sighed, "I remember now.. I don't know why I couldn't before.." She trailed off before she looked up, to meet Alaric's eyes. "The Luna coven... well the ones Cynthia killed... they cast a spell on me— I don't know how though because Jordy absorbed all of their power." She began to explain.. "A spell that will keep me in a deep sleep, until the day Jordan dies." Monica concluded, sounding quite upset.

Alaric blinked in surprise, realising that his fears were true. "This can't be... he's your brother— that's just plain cruel!" Alaric's face fell. Monica nodded sadly, as tears fill her eyes. "Witches... have their contacts. They may have no magic in the afterlife themselves, but that's not to say they don't know somebody that does."

"Hey, hey... it's okay, we're gonna find a way to help you!" Alaric assured the blonde, before he stepped forward to embrace the girl he considered like another daughter to him, while she tried to blink away her tears. "I'm gonna get the witches to work together, and we're gonna find a solution, okay?" He insisted as Monica nodded sadly, before they broke apart.

"In case this doesn't work.. I want to say goodbye to everyone." Monica suddenly decided as Alaric nodded, "Of course." He said with a sad smile. The Saltzman pulled away from Monica, ejecting himself out of her head now, before he turned to face everybody and explain what was going on.

❤︎

In the basement of the school, Ruby, Lizzie, Hope, Jordan, Josie and Rafael all peered into a coffin which Monica laid in, asleep. "Alright, Raf and Josie, you guys are up first." Lizzie said, before her eyes darted over to her girlfriend's body.

"It's easy, Raf. You just take her hand... close your eyes... and let her bring you into her mind." Josie explained, as Rafael nodded and obeyed. After a few minutes, he pulled away as he gave the group a sad smile. "Life without the Queen Bee is gonna be weird as hell." Rafael stated, before stepping away, to give Josie time to say goodbye.

Soon enough, it was Ruby's turn, and she was devastated about having to say goodbye, even though being immortal meant that they'd eventually see eachother again.

The pinkette stepped forward and placed her hand on Monica's, as the Montgomery let her best friend into her mind. When Ruby opened her eyes, they were both in her and Monica's shared dorm. Ruby smiled sadly before she rushed over to hug Monica.

"Hey... hey... I'm not gone forever, little wolf." Monica giggled as she hugged her best friend back. "We're gonna find a way around this, I'm sure of it." Ruby added as she pulled away from the vampire. "But if you don't, it's okay... I don't want anything to harm Jordan. He has one mortal life. I'm immortal." Monica insisted.

Ruby nodded, "Yeah... okay. You're... you're weirdly calm about all of this." The Waithe admitted, finding it unusual. Monica shrugged, "I'm trying to hold it together... but overall, this isn't the worst thing that has happened to me." She admitted honestly, as she was trying to blink away tears.

The pair fell silent for a moment. "You know... I never thanked you... to your conscious body." The blonde began as Ruby looked confused, "For what?" Ruby asked curiously. "For helping me.. to become a better person." Monica smiled say. "Before I met you... I guess I didn't know what it was like to have a real friendship... you showed me that it was okay to be vulnerable and kind... and to love. So thank you." She explained, as Ruby smiled back sadly, tears filling her eyes again. "And thank you... for teaching me that it's okay to be relaxed... I was a total stresshead before I started hanging out with you." Ruby admitted as Monica laughed, "Oh, I know."

"Look after everyone for me, okay?" Monica asked as she placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder. The hybrid nodded, "Yeah of course." The pinkette smiled weakly, as tears filled her eyes again. Monica embraced her best friend again. "We will meet again, my little wolf. I love you so much." Monica spoke as Ruby sniffled as she hugged the vampire back. "I love you so much too, Mon."

Ruby pulled away from the vampire's body, as tears were rolling down her cheeks. She stepped away, as Hope placed an arm around her the Waithe to comfort her.

After a moment Hope took a step forward, and placed her hand on Monica's, as the vampire let the tribrid into her mind. They were suddenly in Mystic Falls highschool.

"Ah yes. My favourite place." Hope said sarcastically, before she turned to Monica. "Hey." She replied, offering a weak smile. "Hey Mikealson." Monica responded as she walked over to the tribrid.

"You know... we're going to do everything we can to wake you up, right?" Hope assured Monica, who nodeed. "I know... but its okay if you don't. I'll wake up one day, and you, Ruby and Lizzie will still be here." She said with a sad smile. Hope nodded, "Yeah... Yeah of course." She replied, blinking away tears.

"You know," The tribrid began. "When I first met you, I thought you were a real bitch." She confessed, causing Monica to roll her eyes playfully and laugh before she asked, "Well, what changed?" Hope smirked before she admitted, "I still think you're a bitch. I've just grown to like that about you."

The pair both laughed, before Monica smiled, "Take care of yourself, Hope." Hope smiled back and the pair hugged before Hope was let out of Monica's mind. The Mikaelson pulled away from the girls unconscious body.

A teary eyed Jordan walked over and placed his hand on Monica's, as he was let into her mind now. When he was let in, he noticed that they were in Arizona, at Cynthia's home.

"You know... I kinda envied your home. It looked quite cosy." Monica piped up, as Jordan span around. "Mon—" He blurted out, unsure of what to even say, as tears filled his eyes. "It's okay... it's okay. Don't blame yourself, okay?" The older Montgomery insisted, as she movef forward to hug him.

For the first time since this had all happened, she was now crying... because she realised that she may never see Jordan again.

"You know... I'd always wanted a brother." Monica admitted as she pulled away from Jordan. "When my Mum told me that I had a brother out there... I was so.... so excited." The blonde said, with a teary smile.

"I know that our time together has been short, and we can blame Titus for that.. but thank you Jordan, for being my family." Monica choked out, as tears rolled down Jordan's cheeks. "Monica... I will fix this. I can't live with the fact that... I may never get to see you again." Jordan exhaled shakily, "And all because of some witchy drama I dragged you in to."

Monica frowned, "You didn't.. I offered help, when your mother asked." She assured him. "I want you to live your life, Jordan Montgomery. You only have one mortal life... when I wake up, I'll have an eternity." Monica continued. "So please, if you guys can't find any non life threatening way to wake me up, please, just live."

Jordan sadly nodded, before he reached forward to hug Monica, for what he feared would be the last time. The blonde hugged her brother back, before letting him out of her mind.

Jordan took a step back from the coffin, as tears rolled down his cheeks. Ruby walked forward and placed a hand on his shoulder as an attempt to be comforting, before they moved away from the coffin.

Lizzie sighed sadly, before walking towards Monica. The Saltzman gently took her hand, interlacing their fingers. When she was let into Monica's mind, they were in the gymnasium, except this time there was actually a boxing bag intact.

"How poetic." Lizzie spoke dryly, which caused Monica to laugh. The Saltzman couldn't keep a straight face and laughed before she approached her girlfriend. "This is going to be the longest eighty years of my life." The heretic sighed as she gently took Monica's hands in her own. "If we don't, find a way to save you, that is— which we will!"

Monica just gave her girlfriend a warm smile, though emotionally she was starting to feel quite drained. "You know Lizzie... when I first met you, I didn't even think we'd ever become properly acquainted... let alone friends. Now look at us." She paused to smile lovingly at the Saltzman. "I'm so head over heels in love with you... and I can't imagine life without you." Lizzie then smiled brightly, "I don't think I could imagine life without you either, Mon." She replied.

"When you died... I thought my life was over." Monica began, "It was then that I realised... that all I want, is a future with you." She explained as Lizzie couldn't help but to smile again, "Is... marriage on the cards one day?" She asked lightheartedly as Monica giggled before she nodded eagerly. "When we meet again, one day.. whether it's soon or in, who knows— eighty years, I want us to get married... that is, if you will still feel the same."

Lizzie smiled smugly, "I don't think I'll ever be able to stop loving you, Monica." She confessed, glancing down at their joined hands for a moment before she looker back up at the taller blonde. "And I promise, when we meet again, whether it's tomorrow or in a few years... or even seventy or eighty years from now... I will ask you, to marry me."

A teary eyed Monica nodded, before she kissed her girlfriend softly. Lizzie closed her eyes and kisses back, as she held her arms around Monica's waist. Once they broke apart, they leant their foreheads together, not wanting to let go of one another as they'd have no idea when they'd next meet again.

"I love you, Lizzie." Monica, as tears filled her eyes again. "I love you too." Lizzie felt herself tear up also as she smiled back lovingly.

＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

AUTHORS NOTE

This is the last official chapter of Heart of Darkness!

Though I will be posting an Epilogue, including a time jump, sometime in the next couple of days.