a/n
hi !
just here to make sure you've all read chapter seventy seven before you read this one. i had another publishing issue so a lot of ppl never for the notification for that one. just make sure ur caught up before reading on so ur not confused!
enjoy!

CHAPTER SEVENTY EIGHT
[78]
song: the answer (trentemøller remix) by unkle

IT WAS THE SILENCE THAT BROUGHT BACK THE MEMORIES. Memories that Daisy had thought she'd long buried away, all ripped from the depths of her brain with the addition of new, worse explanations.

Although she was thankful that those pained recollections have become more of a blur, the permanence they left on her skin was a constant reminder of what they'd done to her.

She ran her thumb over palms, examining what was left of the scar Kai couldn't fully heal away. She tried not to think about what caused each individual wound, but it was hard when you remembered who did it, what they used- did they say anything first? Did they look regretful, or were they doing this to satisfy some inhuman need?

She remembered that you could tell. You could tell when one of the Algeans walked into the church, whether they were there as part of their practice- or if they were there simply just to harm. Unfortunately, they both hurt just the same.

"What's wrong?" Kai says. Daisy snaps her head up, not realizing Kai had returned. He stood a few feet away, a concerned, worried look on his face.

"Nothing." Daisy says, putting her hands back down to her side.

Kai looked at her suspiciously, trying to gage what she was upset about. Not whether or not she was or wasn't- because that was clear. "What'd she say?" He asks, after glancing at the Mausoleum.

Daisy shook her head. "I'm fine, seriously." She spoke. "Olivia's in there with her. I heard a few sobs but other than that I'm not sure what's going on. I've really gotten used to tuning Parkers out."

Kai scoffed. Although he didn't believe that she was fine- he figured she'd let something slip eventually. "Funny." He says sarcastically. "Hopefully this'll be quick." He says, rolling his eyes and holding up the bandage he'd retrieved, before heading towards the mausoleum doors.

Daisy lingered outside, not sure she wanted to go in there and see her again. See the woman who'd knowingly sent an entire coven of blood thirsty witches to the same prison world her so called friend was also in.

If she could send people there, couldn't she had taken people out- it's all the same magic, right? She had the tools. Why didn't she save her?

Daisy's mind was flooding with thousands of questions and accusations- most of which will go unanswered when Kai wins the merge and kills Josette. Maybe that was for the best, as she couldn't stand to hate the girl anymore than she did right now.

As Daisy began to make her way inside after Kai- she stopped mid-step as she heard a twig snap behind her. Quickly spinning around, her eyes darted through the heavily wooded forest- searching for a figure that would inevitably come with the sound.

And as soon as she began to consider that it might've just been an animal, she saw someone come out from behind a tree.

That overwhelming feeling of panic at the sight of a gun being pointed in your direction filled Daisy's body, as she stared straight into the barrel.

The man holding it was unfamiliar, he just looked like some average middle aged man she'd see on the street. He looked at her sternly. "What'd you do to her?" He asks, barely flinching.

"Do to who?" She responded, tilting her head to the side and narrowing her eyes at the man. Although she knew full and well who he was referring to, her initial response was to play dumb, until she thought of a way to weasel out of this without getting shot.

"Jo." The man says angrily, readjusting his grip on the gun that was still being aimed right at her.

"Josette?" Daisy said.

The man looked irritated. "Yes. Josette."

She nodded, glancing to the Mausoleum. "She's a little busy right now." She turned back to face the man. "You can come back later though." Daisy suggests.

The man cocked the gun, and Daisy's breath hitched. Why she was purposely aggravating the man with the gun, she didn't know. Maybe Kai's ways were finally rubbing off on her.

Daisy cleared her throat, lifting her hands up just a little bit in surrender before speaking. "Kai..." She spoke, raising her voice. Daisy kept her eyes on the man, as his eyes slowly trailed over to the mausoleum doors as Kai stepped outside.

Although the gun was still pointed at her, it looked like Kai was the only he wanted to kill.

"Now!" A familiar voice came out of nowhere.

Within seconds, action erupted in the air. Daisy felt strong hands grip onto her arm and shoulder, spinning her around. Then an arm was held around her throat, and she felt the cold metal of a gun barrel against her temple.

Damon was after Kai, wherever he came from- Daisy didn't know. He sped towards him, but was lifted into the air as Kai quickly brought a hand up towards him.

As Damon slammed into the trunk of a tree, Kai's attention was only on Daisy. He lifted his arms up towards the man who held her at gunpoint.

"Try anything and she's dead." The man spoke, pushing the barrel deeper against her temple.

Daisy's head moved to the side at the pressure, and she struggled to swallow due to the tight grip of the arm around her neck.

Kai's terrified eyes slowly lifted from Daisy and back to the man. "She didn't do anything." Kai spoke, trying to remain as calm as possible. Although his frantic glances and slow movements said otherwise.

"You think I care?" The man said, his voice was shaky and angry.

"Alaric, kill her." Damon says weakly, as he struggled to get back on his feet.

The words were what really made her nervous. The fact that this was just a simple choice for the guy. He was the one with a gun to her head— he could choose whether or not to pull the trigger.

"I'm the one you want." Kai responded, swallowing harshly. "Let her go."

Damon let's out a loud laugh. "Sweet." He says sarcastically. "Kill her." He reinstates.

Alaric adjusted his grip on the gun, and Daisy squeezed her eyes shut in reflex.

"I'll kill Josette." Kai threatens, quickly glancing at Daisy and back to Alaric. "I have her. You know I do. If she dies, Josette dies." He clenches his jaw. "Your choice."

Daisy could sense the change in stature from Alaric. His grip loosened around her neck- just slightly- enough for her to have a little bit more breathing room.

"Ric." Damon says.

Before Daisy could even begin to have a say in all this- she felt the barrel of the gun lift off her temple, only for the butt of the gun to come slamming back down on the side of her head.

—

She wasn't sure what woke her up- the throbbing pain that came from her head, or the gusting wind that shook the trees so much- she could barely hear her own thoughts.

As her eyes readjusted to the sunlight, she got a good look around. She wasn't anywhere unfamiliar- still in the same woods from earlier.

Earlier. She quickly brought a hand up to where the pain stemmed from, only for her arms to be yanked back down due to the chains on her wrist.

She quickly glanced down, frantically beginning to pull at them. The restricting feeling made her want to vomit. She was bound to a headstone. Swallowing harshly, she continued to pull. Even though she knew it would get her no where, the thought of sitting here in this position- fully vulnerable to whatever pain might come- was enough to send her spiraling into a frenzy of panic.

And it did. She dug the heels of her boots into the dirt, creating mud tracks through the dead leaves as she pulled against the chain. She squeezed her eyes shut at the pain the chains caused as they dug into her skin.

She let out a deep frustrated groan as she realized she was getting nowhere. She swallowed the knot that was growing in her throat, the one that was telling her that this would be a good time to start fully freaking out.

Daisy glanced around the woods quickly, the trees were blowing around so hard that they looked like they'd topple over on her at any second. The less than peaceful sound the wind caused wasn't helping to calm her nerves.

She yanked against the chains again. "Hey!" She yelled, although she felt like she was choking on her words. "Let me go!" She yelled again, desperately fighting the terror that filled her lungs.

She pulled again, so hard that she wouldn't be surprised if she broke her wrists. She let out a scream. "Let me go!" She yelled over the wind, although she wasn't sure anyone was here to listen. She took a quick inhale of what felt like her last breath before yelling again. "Please!"

Panicked, adrenaline takes over as she attempts to break free. But it only made it worse. She didn't know where she was now. She didn't know who she was or why she was. She was only pain.

All she knew is that she wanted to die. She couldn't die, but this hurt was so raw— she wanted nothing more.

The sound of hysterical sobs overthrew the screaming. Marzia slowly stepped forward, frowning at the sound of Daisy's cries and pleads. She held something in her hands as she walked towards her. A crown. A crown of thorns.

Daisy, trembling, choking on her own breath and tears, she stared at the woman with wide, terrified eyes. "Please stop!" She cried out.

All she could do was anticipate pain- why else was she here? Her hands bound and her body vulnerable to whatever she had coming. The wind kept picking up— and yelling for help was useless as there was no chance anyone could hear her.

She gasped for breath, digging her nails into her palms where nails were once plunged through.

Daisy couldn't focus on anything, could barely focus her brain enough to speak. "What's going on—"

In unison, the bodyguards hammered two stakes into each of Daisy's palms— onto the cross she was now bound to.

Daisy let out a blood curdling scream that racked the entire building, bouncing off each wall and back to the crowd that stood and watched with admiration.

She was immediately brought out of her sickness, as her brain could only focus on the gut wrenching pain that surged from her palms and into her entire body.

She breathed in and out so fast she choked multiple times on her own breath, letting out more and more screams that ran her throat dry.

The wind stopped- like someone was controlling it with a TV remote and suddenly pressed pause on the most intense part. She was gasping for air as she glanced down to her palms, which she slowly opened up to reveal small, crescent moon shape cuts from her fingernails. She could see the bruises from pulling against the chains already forming on her wrists. Her teeth chattered as she fought not to cry.

She's been fine, for years. Why now was her past coming back to haunt her?

She heard the crunch of leaves coming from behind her. She took no time to think rationally, her only response was that someone was coming to hurt her and she had to get free.

She yanked against the chains again, her entire body lifting up at the force. "It's me! It's me!" A reassuring voice spoke.

Kai came around the headstone she was bound to, getting in front of her so she knew she was okay. He looked at her frantically, before waving a quick hand at the chains- to which they shattered and fell off her wrists. 

Daisy was embarrassed. She could feel her face getting more red by the second. She knew she was fine, but she was still trembling. She swallowed harshly, before beginning to stand up.

Kai immediately knew why she was so freaked out. He gently grabbed onto her arms, examining the bruises and metal burns on her skin. He turned her hands over, opening her fingers to reveal the fresh cuts.

Daisy shook her head quickly. "I'm fine." She pulled her hands away, petrified that she was so weak that this was her reaction.

"Daisy." Kai says, looking at concernedly. He narrowed his eyes at her, trying to gage her reaction. "What did Josette say to you?"

Daisy glanced up at him quickly, shocked at how easily he could tell that she was part of this. Before she could respond, Kai had snapped his head to the side, where Damon was speeding towards them.

There was a split second of brightness, a brightness that came with a split second of warmth, too. All of which were gone when they reappeared in an alleyway.

Daisy looked around, gathering her surroundings. People were passing by both sides of the alleys, continuing on with their normal days. She looked back up at Kai who hadn't taken his eyes off her the whole time.

"What'd she say?" Kai asked again. This wasn't curiosity, this was real, genuine concern. He knew he had to have said something to remind her of— them.

Daisy rubbed her sore wrists, swallowing harshly before speaking. "The Algeans. Back in the prison world. When I brought them up— she knew what I was talking about." She took a breath, not sure she should be telling him this. "Because she was the one who put them all there."

Kai's expression slowly changed from concerned to cold. It was minimal, but you could catch it if you were looking hard enough. He was infuriated, somehow angrier than Daisy was.

He flexed his jaw, then let out a small scoff. "And somehow she's still the good twin." He says, then refocuses back on Daisy. "I'm winning the merge." He reassures her. Then takes a breath before speaking. "Everyone gets what's coming for them."

a/n
hi this is once again not edited or reread so ignore the typos and ugly sentences fhdhfhfjk