CHAPTER EIGHTY FOUR
[84]
song: bad things by cults

"NOVA SCOTIA. GOT IT." Jeremy says, examining the map he held in his hands.

Kai couldn't muster anything to say in response due to the sudden pain that erupted in his stomach. It was sharp, and despite not seeing what had caused it he could tell it had entered through his back- and almost made it through out his stomach.

"What—" Jeremy says, confusedly, as the map he was previously holding in his hands falls to the ground. He bent down quickly to pick it back up, but his hands were going through it- no longer able to make physical contact.

Kai could feel the connection slipping, his brain felt like it could explode. Not from the obvious stab wound, but from the amount of magic he was forcing into this spell. Jeremy looked up at Kai with wide eyes, noticing the blood that seeped through his white shirt. It was then when Kai's focused slipped, and the connection gave out completely.

As a short bright light filled his eyes, he could feel whatever had stabbed him being yanked out, and as soon as he returned to the real world- he toppled forward with a loud groan as the pain really got a chance to sink in.

Jeremy's eyes shot open, looking at the assailant with confusion and surprise. "What are you doing?!" He shouts, charging towards them- but didn't make it far as both Kai and Jeremy were pushed across the room at the hand of magic.

Kai could hear glass shattering, tables skid across the hard wood floors as he drug away with him. There wasn't much you could do as you felt magic physically push you away, but close your eyes for a moment and wait for it to be done.

When the momentum slowed, he forced himself to turn over and face whoever had come after them. He held his stomach, where blood seeped through his fingers as he focused his gaze on Olivia, where she stood a few feet away.

Immediately, he knew she was here to kill him. He could see it in her eyes. There was a hint of total disparity to her stature that made it all seem very rational, too.

He chuckled, against his own will, which really reminded him of the fresh stab wound. "Dang sis," he scoffed, using his free hand to help him to his feet. "That was harsh."

"Shut up." Liv says with a forced confidence that was deemed forced by the slight tremor in her voice.

She lifted a hand and immediately Kai braced for the overwhelming ringing that shot through his ears, only to be followed by the pain that pushed into his brain. It felt like swimming too far down, that pressure that just kept adding and adding on to your body until it felt like your head might burst open. Only, the magic that it took to do this made it about a thousand times more painful.

He kept his eyes open, despite the feeling like they might pop out of his head. With the strength he had left, he flung his hand out towards a fork that had somehow ended up on the floor with all the other broken items. His magic latched onto it, before he flung it out towards his sister.

He knew it must've hit her too as her spell immediately stopped. Kai smiled, watching as Liv stumbled back with squeezed shut eyes, holding onto the fork that had successfully plunged into her neck.

But in the moments where Liv weakly began to fall down to the ground, Kai's eyes faltered to the left, where Daisy's lifeless body sat near a far wall.

Blood pooled from her head, gathering in her hair and staining her new clothes. It was the sight of her eyes remaining open- glossed over, and completely still- that was what really threw him.

He knew she'd be fine. He knew that. However, it was the explaining to other parties how she was fine— that's where the trouble really stirred.

Kai refocused as a bottle of alcohol that still remained intact came into view. He grabbed it, before fully getting to his feet, although his body fought against it. His mind immediately knew what he wanted to do, and it felt nice. And familiar.

"It's all coming back to me, Livie-poo." He spoke, opening the bottle and flinging the alcohol out onto her. "You know the charge..."

Liv yanks the fork out of her neck, her lips trembling in anger. "Stop it, Kai!" She yells.

"...that races through your bones at the prospect of watching someone burn to death?" He sighs, glancing next to him where a lit candle conveniently sat. He threw the now empty bottle onto the ground with a crash before grabbing the candle. "I really miss that feeling." He smiles.

But as soon as he held out that flame towards her, and saw the panic turned hopelessness in her eyes. He caught glance of what he was doing. He stood above her, covered in his own blood, about to light his little sister on fire- because she was here to get revenge on him for killing their brother.

"Just kill me, Kai." Liv spoke, her voice tired.

He was frozen, too afraid to tear his eyes away from her like it would break this split second of connection he felt. He was in the wrong. He should just let her kill him. He thought.

"You already killed my best friend." Her voice cracked. "So just do it."

Kai felt his throat tighten, and his eyebrows stitched together as he readjusted his grip on the candle- trying to force his body to step forward and complete her request.

"Get it over with." Liv said.

He saw his sister, begging to be killed because of something he had done. He had killed Luke. He had caused this pain and- he had the nerve to try and cause more? He wanted to do this— but Luke wasn't letting him.

"Why can't I do this?" Kai muttered, his voice cracking as his hands began to shake. Liv sat there defenseless, awaiting her demise that they both knew wasn't arriving today. Kai's lips trembled as he spoke. "I don't care about you." He let out.

He didn't. He didn't even know her. She was just always there. They barely even spoke to each other growing up- she was nothing more than a stranger to him. Just like any other random person he'd kill so why couldn't he?

"Come on, Kai." He spoke, not realizing the words weren't staying in his head. "Kill her." He tried to drop the candle, but his fingers wouldn't release. "Come on!" He raised his voice, losing patience. "Kill her!" He hit the side of his head, as if to beat himself up back into reality— but to no avail.

He fell back, both from the sudden force and the pain that followed of something sharp being flung into your shoulder. He didn't even realize it had happened until he was on the ground. He caught glance of Liv as she charged towards him for another round— but she was pushed back as Jeremy threw a knife into her stomach.

Kai looked up in surprise, which was then replaced with terror as Jeremy yanked out whatever Liv had previously plunged into Kai's shoulder. "Come on." Jeremy mutters, grabbing onto Kai's arms and helping him up.

Kai was losing blood, a lot of it, and on top of that, he had used so much magic in the past few minutes that he felt like he'd ran one hundred miles non stop. His body was weak, but he held onto Jeremy for support as he was dragged into the next room. Kai fell out of Jeremy's grip, toppling onto the counter for support before sliding down onto the ground.

"Send me back, please." Jeremy says with a sense of urgency.

"Jeremy look at me." Kai scoffs. "I'm half dead."

Jeremy looks at Kai with wide, desperate eyes. "I need to stop Bonnie."

Bonnie. Kai was soon reminded of what they were doing before all of this went down, trying to stop the poor girl from giving up and killing herself. He took a breath, before nodding. It felt against his well, he felt like as he nodded and complied that he wasn't actually doing that at all— like he was being controlled from within by some other driving force he wasn't familiar with. Something that was telling him this was the right thing to do. It was annoying, and frankly, doing the right thing has gotten him stabbed one too many times today.

"Okay," Kai spoke breathlessly, closing his eyes and beginning the spell once again.

Kai wasn't sure if he was ever there with Jeremy, he couldn't see much of anything- though he heard it all- and he felt the connection in place, he didn't have enough magic to force them both there. It was like a full pause in time- being in between two worlds where the fate of the magic holding them together was in his hands.

Before he knew it, he tasted an unsettling familiar feeling of blood in his mouth— and his eyes shot open. As he came to, his eyes slowly faltered around the room to where they previously were- Damon leaned down beside Kai, using his blood to heal him. Kai's initial reaction was to squirm and say ew. Daisy's quirky responses, genuine or not, had rubbed off on him. However, he felt more grateful that Damon had even taken a second to help Kai- whether it was because they needed him or not, it was a strange feeling.

Kai's eyes faltered over to Jeremy, where Elena sat next to him and spoke. "I saw her." He said. "She's gonna be okay."

She's gonna be okay. Kai hated that he felt relief.

As Elena turned to give Damon a smile, Kai got glance of the blood that trickled down from her scalp and onto her forehead. It was in her hair, and dry blood lingered in small spots on her arms where previously unhealed cuts must've lied.

Kai got to his feet as fast as he could, struggling against the pain that grew inside of him. He had to get to her, she had to come back and fix this.

Damon and Elena shared almost sorrowful glances, as the wounds Elena experienced obviously came from Daisy. Kai held onto the counter for support. "Try." Elena spoke to Damon quietly.

Damon huffed, standing up and beating Kai to the door to the other room. Kai didn't process what was happening yet, but as he clutched onto his stomach and forced himself to trudge forward he began to catch on.

Shaking his head quickly, he walked into the other room behind Damon. "No," he muttered quietly as he watched Damon bend down towards Daisy's unmoved body.

Damon bit into his wrist and Kai's eyes widened, he sprung forward quickly, tearing further one of the wound's in his stomach. "No!" He raised his voice despite the pain, Damon turned around with a confused look on his face. "No blood." He shook his head quickly, trying to stay composed as if to not raise any suspicion.

Damon gestures towards Daisy, although it was clearly useless at this point. "I'm trying—"

"Just don't." Kai said, continuing to walk towards her. "She's fine." He muttered, only so he himself could hear it.

Damon got out of the way as Kai bent down to Daisy's body, steering clear of the growing pool of blood. Elena brings a hand up to where her skull had cracked too, but healed soon after.

Kai takes a breath, as he lifted a hand to begin the healing process, it appeared premature as Daisy inhaled so sharply that it sent everyone back with a slight jump.

Her eyes darted around quickly at first, as she slowly shifted over to the right position to let the pool of blood in her mouth fall out onto the ground. Kai let out a deep, relieved sigh.

"What the hell?" Elena mumbled quietly.

Damon looks at Elena and then back to Kai, his eyebrows stitched together in confusion. "That should've killed her." He says. "It almost killed Elena—"

Kai shot a quick glance at him, cutting him off. "It didn't." He said, a little more sternly than intended.

"Ow." Daisy mutters, still coming to. Her lips trembled as her eyes slowly fell open and closed.

"Don't move." Kai spoke softly towards her, examining the bloodied crack on her scalp.

"You need to get her to a hospital." Elena recommends, concerned.

Kai shakes his head, swallowing. "I can heal her myself." He lets out. He then turns and glances at Elena. "It's an all powerful leader of The Gemini Coven thing." He says, mocking her from earlier.

As he returns his focus to Daisy, he hoped they believed that to be the truth. There was only so long he could uphold this front.

—

"I thought we were done with almost getting killed." Daisy says, rubbing the top of her head that still lingered with pain despite being fully healed. "I though that's what the whole Elena link was for—" she scoffs, as she walks into the hotel room, Kai behind her. "But apparently Liv didn't really care for her too much." She tries to joke, but Kai didn't give her much of a reaction in response.

She glances behind her as Kai shuts the door, gaging his silence. He scratches the back of his head before walking past her into the room, barely looking at her.

Daisy lingered dumbfounded in the short hallway the suite provided. "Kai, are you okay?" Daisy asks, turning and following him. He stood in the bathroom mirror, examining the wounds he'd received himself. She stood behind him, with concerned eyes. "They're not healing very fast." She spoke her thoughts allowed.

"Thank you, Daisy." Kai sighs, wincing in pain as he moved to get better looks. "I'm aware."

Daisy shot him a look through the mirror. "Don't be a dick." She said sternly.

Kai clenched his jaw, not really hearing her comment but glancing up at her in the mirror. He inspected her for a second, he didn't admire, he inspected her, like she was a broken machine of some sort. He then turned around, gently brushing her hair out of the way and examining what was left of her wound.

Daisy pushed his hand out of the way, still not over the sudden attitude. "It's healed." She snapped.

Kai ran his tongue over his bottom teeth, before letting out a slight huff. "I was just checking." He says, before turning of the bathroom lights and walking back into the bedroom.

Daisy quickly followed him out, not wanting to stay in the dark any longer than she had been. "Why are you acting so weird?" She says, watching as he lifted off his shirt and tried to heal himself further.

He closed his eyes, holding a hand over the halfway healed gash in his stomach. He struggled to steady his breathing, and he kept flexing his shoulders like that in someway would help him relax. Daisy stood and watched, hating that he was blatantly ignoring her but still having the decency to wait until the spell was over to continue prying.

When he moved his hand out of the way, the wound was almost fully gone. As he grabbed his shirt to put back on, Daisy stitched her eyebrows together confusedly. "It's not healed all the—"

Kai dropped the shirt, looking at her with wide eyes. "I know!" He raised his voice, snapping at her.

Daisy let out a surprised scoff, taken aback. "I'm gonna go." She says, clenching her jaw as if to fight back the urge to scream back, before turning to leave through the door she just walked in through. She hadn't even taken off her blood stained coat as she'd literally just arrived.

"Daisy," Kai says as she stormed towards the door. She could hear the regret in his voice but it wasn't enough. He quickly got up, latching onto her arm before she could leave. "I'm just shaken up." He pleads.

Daisy gives him a blank look. "I've never yelled at you when I've been shaken up. Have I?" She questioned.

Kai let out a sigh. "No." He says. "But you're better than me."

She gently brought her hand up to his as it held onto her arm, she pulled it off but kept it held in hers. "I know you feel different." She says. "I get it. But I'm here to help you."

Kai clenched his jaw, listening to her words as they sounded a bit more literal than she knew. He felt his hands in hers, and the immediate warmth it brought his body. "I'm sorry." He apologized, a guilty knot growing in his throat. He was sorry. Genuinely. And he felt it too deeply in his core.

Daisy took a breath, she opened her mouth to speak, but you could see her initial thought had left as she took notice of something else. "Look, you're all healed up." She noted, gesturing towards his stomach.

Kai pulled away quickly, before walking back over to the bed and putting his shirt back on. He took a deep breath, "We're leaving in the morning." He says, changing the subject.

Daisy tilts her head to the side, confused. "Where are we going?" She asks.

Kai came out from the other side of the bed. "I got us a house in San Diego." He says, "A lot of the Coven lives there so it'll be convenient for meetings and- it's warm. Like you wanted."

Daisy widened her eyes slightly, surprised. "You got us a house?"

"Well, technically the Coven did- but it's in our name." He responds. He wasn't matching her excited energy, he was too exhausted.

"We own it? We own a house?" Daisy's mouth was gapped open in complete shock and surprise, but it slowly upturned into a bright smile.

Kai nods.

Daisy felt like she could burst with excitement, which was physically impossible but she did the next best thing as she jumped forward and wrapped Kai in a hug. She let out a scoff, still in shock that she'd actually have a place to call home after all this time.

"I'm so excited." She let out on accident, immediately feeling a bit embarrassed she was this overjoyed by the thought of a house.

She'd lived in several houses over the past decades- big ones and small ones, all over the country. Yet none of them were really hers, none of them felt like a home- more of a convenient place to stay at for a few weeks until she got bored and moved on.

Kai pulled away, giving her a faint smile. "It's right by the beach, too." He added with a shrug, knowing he was bragging a little.

Daisy's smile somehow widened, and she gave him a quick kiss on his cheek. "I'm gonna go pack!" She didn't give him another chance to speak as she'd already turned to gather her things.

Kai lingered in the spot he stood in, his eyes focused on the floor as Daisy scrambled around him for her things. There was a sense of relief he felt knowing that he wouldn't have to see any of these people again- they can start a new life and live without chaos and harm. They'd be safe, and normal.

Though deep down he knew that relief came from the fact that they'd be miles and miles away from Josette- the only other person who knows what Daisy really is.

And the only person who would tell her.