CHAPTER NINE

Death Keeps Knocking On My Door

____________

     RYAN MOANED, pushing himself up from the hard surface he landed on. He blinked to adjust his eyes to the darkness that surrounded him. He momentarily forgot where he ended up, until the image of a staircase to nowhere popped into his mind.

     Stupid Necromancer.

     "Ow!" Ryan called out to the emptiness. "Was that really necessary?" he questioned, gaining the echo of his own voice in response. He looked around to be met with darkness. No Necromancer, and no Hope. "Hope? Hello?" No one answered. "Okay. This isn't funny."

     Ryan continued to search the area that was completely void of anything. Speckles glittered in his eyes, but they disappeared in an instant. "Seriously? I climbed your staircase to nowhere and found your subconscious. Whatever the hell this place is. You can come out now and tell me what happened to my sister." His words only proceeded to echo back into his ears.

     Ryan rolled his eyes. "Alright, Almighty Necromancer. You win. You're far superior to my puny hybrid, tribrid, abilities." More silence. "MG! MG, get us out of here!" Nothing. He growled, raising his hands to form two balls of fire on his palms. "Okay, enough of this. Let me out of here, or I'm frying your brain from the inside."

     When no one appeared, Ryan launched the flames out in front of him. He watched as they both soared through the air, growing smaller and dimmer until they were no longer in sight. Ryan sighed. "Oh, my God. Now I see why Malivore erased you from existence." He shook his head and shouted, "I get it! You want me to admit that I want to know what happened to my uncle. I do, so what? Is that wrong of me to want to know if Elijah is happy in peace like Hayley, or floating in some hellhole like this? He might have messed up in life, but he doesn't deserve an afterlife of nothing. You hear me? Now, let me out!"

     Ryan froze when he heard footsteps. He turned, jumping back at the sight of Hope. "Oh, thank God." He rushed forward and wrapped his arms around the girl.

     Hope reciprocated the embrace, before she pulled away and asked, "you alright? This stupid Necromancer is messing with us."

     Ryan scoffed. "Yeah, tell me about it."

     "Oh, hey," the voice of the Necromancer exclaimed, causing both siblings to turn to where he stood with his arms held out to his sides.

     Hope glared toward the creature. "Don't 'hey' us. Get us out of here," she yelled, stomping in his direction.

     "With pleasure," the Necromancer said and raised his hand to snap.

     Ryan gasped as his eyes snapped open. He stumbled back and released his hold on the being's shoulders. He glanced around to find himself in the transitional cells. Hope stood next to him, breathing heavily from their experience in the Necromancer's head. Ryan shifted his gaze to the front of the cell and expected to see MG, but his stomach dropped at the sight of Alaric.

     "Oops," the Necromancer voiced from where he remained seated in his chair. "Daddy's home."

     Ryan pressed his lips together and diverted his gaze from Alaric's. The man stared through the cell's bars with a heated scowl on his face. They were in some deep trouble.

     _______

     "I mean, how could you two be so reckless," Alaric raised his voice as they entered his office.

     The three of them were relatively silent on their way through the halls. Alaric took back his keys and relocked the Necromancer into the cell, giving the siblings pointed stares, but he saved his anger for when they were away from prying ears. Or, at least where no one could see them.

     "You weren't getting anywhere," Hope countered, shutting the door behind them.

     "And you took it upon yourself?" Alaric questioned, looking between the Mikaelsons. "And how did that go?"

     "Not the best," Ryan grumbled as he crossed his arms.

     "Yeah? Well, I have it under control, Ryan."

     "Oh, really?" Hope voiced, drawing the man's stare away from her brother. She moved across the room to Alaric's desk and reached down to where a nearly empty bottle of bourbon sat next to it on the floor. "Then you want to explain this?" she asked, holding it up for Alaric to see. Hope slammed it onto the desk, ripping open the bottom drawer where more bottles were found. "Or this?" She pulled out another. "Or anything else that would explain your uttere lack of progress?"

     "I am grieving, Hope," Alaric hissed. "And maybe the two of you should try that sometime, instead of pushing everyone away."

     Ryan ground his teeth together and clenched his fists. He shook his head, while Hope released a bitter laugh.

     "Look, I am trying to protect the both of you. That thing is a master manipulator. It resurrected my fiancée – it raised a cemetery of zombies, and it brought back Rafael's dead girlfriend, so let's just talk about the way in which it could torment you two," Alaric said, setting his sights on Hope first, "starting with your dead mother," he then glanced at Ryan," ending with your dead uncle, and how about all the ghosts of all the people that you both killed in between huh? I can't believe you'd do this."

     Ryan snapped. "Don't talk about our family like that!" He dropped his arms and sneered at the man. "Or us, for that matter. We killed people to save lives. Your old best friend, Damon Salvatore, used to kill people for the hell of it! You're nothing but a hypocrite, Mr. Former Original!"

     "And don't patronize us!" Hope yelled, storming toward Alaric with her finger pointed toward him. "You don't like that we broke your rules as a headmaster? Fine. Punish us. But don't you dare play disappointed dad, because you are not our father." Hope spun on her heel and stomped to the door.

     Ryan huffed. "Yeah, why don't you try being a father to your actual children." He turned to follow his sister.

     "And where are you going?" Alaric questioned them.

     "To finish what we started," Hope stated.

     "Like hell you are," Alaric said, starting after them.

     Ryan turned around and held up his hand to hold the man back. Alaric tried to move, but his body could not move.

     "Ryan!"

     Ryan maintained his magical hold as he exited the room.

     "Claudo te!" Hope cast to force the door closed and sealed with a containment spell.

     Ryan dropped his hand and began to head in the direction of the transitional cells, ignoring Alaric's shouts from behind them. "You know, we're probably gonna be under dorm arrest until we graduate."

     Hope shrugged. "Yeah, but I don't care."

     _______

     The Mikaelson siblings reentered the building that housed the cells. Ryan could not shove his fury aside when they entered the room, despite the bright sun shining in the sky. The Necromancer still sat in his seat, staring at them in slight surprise at their return.

     "Back for more?" he asked in amusement.

     "Enough!" Ryan exclaimed as he stopped mere inches from the bars. "Tell me where our uncle is."

     "I will tell you everything you want to know, but wouldn't you like to hear about what I've just learned of Malivore first?" They were silent and let him talk. "After I left the two of you, I returned to the scene of my death. I saw a shadow. I felt a searing pain. And when I looked down, there was a knife in my heart and emptiness all around me."

     "A knife?" Hope questioned.

     "The knife," the Necromancer voiced, standing to his feet to roam the cell. "Interestingly enough, that which I seek is that which did me in. You've got to understand to be killed by such a trifle of an object – I was curious as to its power, so I jumped out of my subconscious and summoned the spirit of the man who forged the knife in the first place.

     Ryan anger rose. "You left us in your head on purpose?"

     "Oh, I had work to do, and you had lessons to learn." Ryan rolled his eyes. "From this man, I head the remarkable story of Malivore. Created to wipe the scourge of the supernatural off the face of this Earth," the Necromancer explained and stepped across the cell to approach the siblings. "Malivore consumed us, erased us. It was permanent death. And it was in Malivore that we were left to perish. Until recently, when the knife started beckoning us to bring it home."

     Hope's brows furrowed. "But why a knife?"

     "Decades ago, Malivore was contained. Three locks created to seal Malivore shut. The knife is one of those locks. When all three locks return home, Malivore is free to open its jaws of death, once again."

     Ryan blinked. "Are you saying if Malivore gets these three locks, it'll start running around killing the supernatural again?"

     "Oh, my dear." The Necromancer reached out and wrapped his hands around the bars. "Let's just hope you're not still alive to find out."

     "So, let me get this straight," Hope began. "You left us inside your freaky, twisted mindscape so you could what –stall us?"

     "My apologies for the melodrama. I needed to by myself some time."

     "To talk to a dead blacksmith?" Ryan quipped.

     "That, and to retrieve the knife your friend Dorian had hidden behind the stacks in the library."

     Ryan's heart nearly stopped in his chest. "You what?"

     The Necromancer moved away from the bars and reclaimed his seat in the sole chair. "Because while you two were trapped in just a small – semblance of the blackness I suffered, experiencing just an ounce of my agony, I was busy doing what I do best. Controlling the dead."

     Ryan paled. Cassie. He used her to get the knife.

     "I don't understand," Hope muttered.

     "The answer, my darlings, is yes. I was stalling you." The Necromancer laughed. "Just as I'm stalling you now." He stood to his feet and approached the bars, again. "Did you know that there's a lot of Bennett witches buried in the local cemetery that excel in the art of mystical transportation?" the Necromancer asked. "I summoned a little help to ensure the knife returned to Malivore quickly and without incident."

     Hope stared at the creature in shock. "Oh, my God."

     "Come on, look on the bright side. You can get back to the daily grind of your young lives. And in moments, when the knife is returned to Malivore, I will be free to find peace," the Necromancer said, leaning against the bars to face the siblings. "As for your uncle," Ryan stared at the being as he continued, "he watches over the two of you every day. He did die with love in his heart, and he doesn't regret his choice."

     A small smile tugged at Ryan's lips.

     The Necromancer stepped back from the bars. "And he found peace, with your mother," he stated with his eyes on Hope. He glanced between them and moved to the center of the cell.

     Ryan had been too stunned by the knowledge to care when the building around them shook and rumbled. Dust fell through the pipes that ran along the ceiling, raining down on the Necromancer, who proceeded to smile.

     "The knife is destroyed," he voiced, forcing a knot to form in Ryan's stomach. "One lock is released." The Necromancer held out his arms and bowed. "And with it, so am I." He raised back up and blinked out of existence.

     Ryan's breathing grew more rapid as he came to terms with what he and Hope had just done.

     Hope panted beside him. Tears in her eyes. "We messed up."

     Ryan nodded, gapping at the empty cell before them. "Yeah. We did."

     What did they do?

     _______

     Dear Uncle Elijah,

     I didn't think that I was going to write this, but here it goes.

     I'm no stranger to death. Lately, I'm reminded of it everywhere. As Hope likes to say, death keeps knocking on our door. Despite the familiarity, I don't want to talk about it. It's too hard. Too draining. But once a year, Remembrance Day rears its ugly head and makes it impossible to ignore. We're supposed to write letters to lost loved ones and scatter them throughout the cemetery.

     Years ago, the dead would have been able to read these letters. See us writing them. The supernatural dead. At least, that's what I'm told. Now, we can only wonder what happened to the people who have crossed over. Are they at peace, or tumbling through darkness?

     I guess I got lucky in that department. Mom told me all about how Aunt Hayley was at peace with her pack, Jackson, and Grandma Mary. She's happy and watching us from her slice of peace. And now, I know that you joined her.

     If you were here, if you both were here, I think you guys would be so disappointed in Hope and I. We messed up – big time. I don't know if we can fix it. But we're going to try. Really try to make things right. To be better.

     I wish that you and Aunt Hayley were here.

     Always and forever.

     -Ryan

     _______

     Night fell across the Mystic Falls Cemetery as Ryan and Hope trekked through the aged tombstones. Their letters were folded up, Hope's into a flower and Ryan's into a bird, and were ready to be placed in their final resting place. Dozens had already been left on tombstones, crypts, and benches, filling the darkness with little specks of color.

     Ryan walked alongside Hope to where a stump toward the edge of the cemetery. Other letters covered the circular surface and glowed by the flickering candles set around them. Hope set her flower into the center of the folded shapes, and Ryan placed his bird next to it.

     When they turned, Alaric could be spotted through the trees. He loomed over a grave, most likely the one meant for his dead fiancée. Ryan did not know if he should be sympathetic or angry at the sight of him. Hope departed from the transitional cells once the Necromancer disappeared to inform Alaric of their colossal mistake, while Ryan took to the gym to beat his frustrations out on a punching bag.

     He could not face the man. Would not. Alaric may have wanted to protect them from the mistake they made, but he had no right to do it the way he did. To bring up their dead family members, the people they killed to save others' lives, that was out of line.

     Ryan lost a lot of respect for Alaric, and he did not think the man could ever earn it back.

     Ryan immediately shifted his gaze away and found Rafael walking in their direction.

     "Hey," Rafael voiced with his hands shoved into his pockets. His wore a solemn expression, which Ryan expected. After the Necromancer vanished, so did Cassie.

     "Hey," Ryan replied in his own downcast mood.

     Hope nodded in greeting and then said, "I'm sorry I didn't have your back today." She glanced toward her brother. "That we didn't have your back. Apparently, we were too busy launching Phase One of Mali-pocalypse."

     Rafael pressed his lips together and nodded. "It's okay. Dr. Saltzman, he – he had my back."

     Ryan remained quiet, looking to where Alaric remained in front of his fiancée's grave.

     Rafael noticed and followed his gaze. "Oh. He still made at you two, huh?"

     Ryan released a long breath. "Understatement of the year."

     "He's probably gonna be mad at us for a while," Hope added with a sigh.

     The three of them turned away from the man and the cemetery.

     "Yeah, well, at least with the knife gone, maybe we can finally get some quiet around here," Rafael said.

     Hope scoffed. "I wonder if that's possible."

     Ryan paused when Hope came to a sudden stop. "What wrong?" he asked, until his eyes landed on something glowing around his sister's wrist. The bracelet connected to Landon's. In the event of trouble, the Kirby boy was supposed to press his and it would lead Hope to him.

     "Landon's in trouble."

<January 9, 2019>

Let me just say this. I have hated Alaric since Season 7 of The Vampire Diaries. And after 1x07, I hate him even more. 

You guys can preach all you want about him trying to protect Hope, but I don't give a shit. You do not bring up a child's parents, who are dead, to them at all. I don't care if they are five, fifteen, or fifty. YOU DON'T DO IT! PERIOD! You have to be the scum of the earth to do that, especially to a seventeen year old who lost her mother, father, and uncle in the span of a few weeks. 

Seriously, Alaric is an asshole. Don't try to change my mind.

Anyway, my classes start up again tomorrow. This means I won't be able to update much, but you guys should know that by now.

Don't forget to vote and comment.

-Jordan

P.S. Unedited chapter.