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"All that you rely on and all that you can fake will leave you in the morning, but find you in the day."

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MY BRAIN  is fuzzy, my heart is pounding, my forehead is sweaty and my fingers are shaky. It all feels so surreal. This wasn't supposed to happen. This never should have happened. Why can't people just stay dead? 

"Oh my god," Caroline gasps, presumably reading her text messages as well. I assume Stefan told her, and that Damon told Elena, and that Alaric told Jo and Liv. 

"How is it possible?" Elena whispers in shock. Bonnie sits beside Elena, her fingers shaking as she stares at the ground in shock. I can only imagine the terror she must be feeling at the moment. Kai, is after all the one who left her for dead, the one who tormented her in the prison world. 

"He's supposed to be dead!" Caroline begins to panic, dried mascara all down her face. It's incredibly hard to take her seriously right now, and if it weren't for the fear laced within me, poisoning my veins I would have laughed at her. 

"What do we do?" Elena asks fearfully, all of them that are awake looking to me. 

I clench my jaw and gulp, balling my hands into fists so tight, my knuckles begin to turn white. "We need to go. We need to get out of here," I say monotone, moving robotically in quick, efficient movements as I pack all my stuff up. 

"What do you mean? What? Why?" Elena questions me, her arms crossed. 

"Because Elena, if Kai was able to find his way to the guys Bachelor party, what makes you think he won't find his way here? In fact, I'm surprised he isn't already here," I state, my voice laced with a bitter tone as I glare sideways at the brunette. 

"How can you say that?" Elena gasps, eyes wide with both fear and anger. She's frightened, spilling her anger on me when in reality I'm just as scared as her, if not more. It just so happens that I'm better at hiding it. 

"Because it's the truth!" I shout, loud enough that the rest of the girls wake up. "Now everybody pack, we're moving out in five minutes!" I shout, locking the front door just in case. 

∆ ∆ ∆ 

I'm slightly embarrassed that we left the loft in such a mess, but we have no time to waste. I don't feel comfortable here, not until I get back home to Mystic Falls, back to James. All of us girls speed down the stairs, our bags in hand and our hair a mess. All of us except Jo are extremely hung over, which means Jo looks the best at the moment. My hair is knotted into a birds nest, so I quickly shoved it into a bun on the top of my head. Caroline and Elena do the same while Bonnie leaves hers the way it is, probably still too in shock. 

"Jo are you okay to drive with Liv?" I ask, as Liv hops in her own car. 

"Yes. Drive safe," she breathes deeply, parting ways. We have about an hour's ride back to home, but I know it's going to seem longer than that. 

"Will somebody please tell me what's going on?" Christina pleads, as we shove our bags into the trunk of Caroline's SUV. 

"Not now Tina. We just need to focus on getting out of here." I say, glancing around cautiously before hopping into the passenger seat of the car. Caroline takes the wheel, with Christina, Bonnie and Elena hopping in the back. 

"Do you see him? Has he found us?" Caroline rambles, her voice shaking. 

"No, I don't see him. I think we're clear for now," I say, my eyes glued to the side mirror to my right. 

"Has who found us? Who the hell are we running from Blair?" Christina freaks, demanding answers. 

"His name is Kai!" I shout, closing my eyes before speaking again. "His name is Kai Parker, and he is the biggest, most dangerous sociopath you will ever meet. His own parents put him in an isolated prison world to keep him from becoming the leader of this witch coven," I explain. "He escaped the prison world and came here, and merged with Luke in a fight for leadership of the coven. Luke beat him, and Kai died. We sent his body off on a truck destined for Texas, hoping to rid of his body but apparently he didn't die." 

"Now he's back, probably angrier than ever and most likely wants to kill us all for what we did to him," Elena gasps, not helping the situation much. 

"Jeez, what kind of enemy did you guys make?" Christina gapes, shaking her head in astonishment. 

"The wrong one," I sigh deeply, trying to rid myself of all the fear built up inside of me. 

"I'm surprised he didn't hurt any of the guys last night." Elena scoffs. "He just showed up at the Bachelor party and didn't say anything?" 

"Nope," I say. "He just showed up for a few minutes, made an appearance, watched the fear spread across their face and then left." 

"That must've damped their party," Caroline frowns. "Are they all okay?" 

"Yes, I spoke to James this morning. He said they're all quite hung over, but alright none the less," I reply, relieved. 

"Is Kyle okay?" Christina asks suddenly, leaning forwards into the front seat of the car. 

"Who's Kyle?" Bonnie scrunches her brow up in confusion. 

"He's my boyfriend," Christina explains before looking back at me for answers. 

"His name is Kyle?" I ask, narrowing my eyes. 

"Yes...." She pouts her lower lip in confusion, cocking her head to the side. "Why?" 

"How much do you know about him?" I question, ignoring her question. 

"I've been dating him for a good two weeks. I know the basics, and stuff. He hasn't stayed over or anything-" 

"Do you have a picture of him?" I ask, cutting her off. 

She looks at me with a baffled expression, her eyes angry. "Yes," she snaps, pulling out her phone. I wait as she scrolls through her photos, picking out one that contains both her and this Kyle boyfriend of hers. "Here he is. This was taken on our second date." She smiles, showing me the screen of her phone. 

As she shows me the picture, I immediately snatch it out of her hands to get a closer look, my whole body tensing as I focus my sight on the man beside Christina; the man with the crooked psychotic smile, and the raven black hair. That man is Kai. 

"Oh my god," I say, zooming in on his face. "That's him. That's Kai." I gape, showing the phone to Caroline, Bonnie and Elena. 

"What?" Christina whispers, her face looking like she's about to cry. "My boyfriend is a murderer?" she gasps. 

"Your boyfriend is a psychopath." 

∆ ∆ ∆ 

We make it back to Mystic Falls in record time, all of us storming into the boarding house with fear and anxiety. They guy's cars are parked out front, meaning they're already here, and judging by the amount of toys all over the place, Theo is back too which is a great relief. 

"Hello?" A male voice calls through the house. They must all be in the living room, sleeping their hangover away. However, I feel as if this event has pushed away the effects of the hangover significantly. We're all forced to focus now. 

"It's just us," I call out, closing the door. 

Damon is the first to round the corner, immediately wrapping Elena in a hug. Stefan follows and heads straight to Caroline, as does Alaric to Jo. Bonnie and I stay glued to the front door, both of us the most terrified out of the group. I don't even notice that James has embraced me in a hug until he's whispering in my ear, his voice dragging me back to reality. "Are you okay?" he whispers in my ear, squeezing his arms around my body. 

"Not really," I admit as he lets go, a frown on his face. 

"Mommy!" Theo shouts, jumping out of Logan's arms and stomping down the hall towards me. I smile and pick him up, squeezing him tight as I breathe in his scent. I'm just so grateful that we're all okay...for now. 

"Everybody in the living room now," Damon orders, directing us all to have a seat where we will figure out what to do next. 

Once we all take a seat, Damon takes the floor. "So, I guess you've all heard that we have a problem." 

"How can you guys be sure it was Kai? You must've all been pretty hammered," Liv laughs lightly.

"When all eight guys see the same dead guy, it's not a coincidence sweetheart," Damon sasses, running a hand through his greasy hair. It's quite obvious that he is hungover, as is Stefan. James on the other hand looks surprisingly pulled together, but then again he always looks ravishingly handsome. 

"I'm more than positive I killed him," Luke shakes his head, obviously in shock as well.  "I don't know how it's possible he's alive." 

"Guys," Christina clears her throat. "There's probably something you all should know," she says, pausing once she knows she has our attention. "Kyle- sorry- Kai is a vampire." 

The room goes quiet, everyone glancing over at Christina with a mixed array of expressions. "You didn't think that was important information to share earlier?" Damon growls, obviously irritated. 

"Shut up Damon," I mutter, as James squeezes my shoulder. 

"So at some point before the merge, Kai must've drank vampire blood, as a back up plan in case he died?" Elena puts the pieces together. 

"It would appear so." I nod. "It was most likely my blood, since he held me hostage. He could've easily taken a sample then." 

"But he's a witch, or was a witch. That means he isn't anymore right?" Caroline raises a brow. 

"No, but he's a siphon," Jo speaks up, all our eyes trained on her. "He's a siphon, which means he draws power. Usually when a witch becomes a vampire, they loose all magic abilities, but siphons are different. Since a vampire is a magical creature..." 

"It can be used as an endless source of magic," James says, cluing in on what Jo's saying. "Now Kai has an unlimited power source for all his magic." 

"Well that's unfortunate," Joel blurts out, shaking his head. "Really fucking unfortunate." 

Just as the room goes silent again, our hearts reaching a normal rhythm, the doorbell rings causing us all to freeze. We all glance over at the door, spotting a muscular shadow appearing behind the window. 

"Nobody move a bloody inch," Joel whispers. 

*Dinggggg-donggggg*

It sounds again, the erie sound dragging out. I think at this point we all know who it is. 

None of us move for a solid two minutes, each of us glancing at one another while a sociopath stands outside our door. James stands up slowly, his eyes trained to the front door, and I already know what he's going to do. 

"James, no-" I call out, but he ignores me as he continues towards the door, preparing to open it.  I can already picture out how this is going to play out; James will open the door to a revengeful Kai, only to have his heart ripped out of his chest once again. I will not sit by once again to watch something terrible like that unfold. 

To beat him, I jump out of my seat and sprint with vamp speed towards the door, jumping over the coffee table in the process. I reach the door just seconds away from James, and twist the knob before anyone can protest anything further. 

James grabs my arm to pull me away, but it's too late. The door is already wide open, revealing a very much alive Kai, leaning casually against the door fame. He wears the same old cocky smirk, a smug look. He doesn't even say anything for a few seconds the door is open, as he only stares inside, locking eyes with everyone as if he's feeding off their fear. 

"Hello Blair," Kai finally says, meeting eyes with me. "Long time no see. I don't think I've seen you since you and your ass of a brother stuffed me in the back of a transport truck." 

"In our defence, we thought you were dead!" Joel shouts from the living room, causing Kai to glare at him. 

"Kai, you'd be best if you left now," James growls, his arm still latched onto mine. 

"I think I'll stay for a bit. I have some information to share," Kai replies sassily, casually picking at his fingernail. 

"We don't want to hear it. Now leave," James presses again, more forcibly this time. 

Suddenly Kai forces his hand into my chest, cracking his way through my ribs and wrapping his pesky little fingers around my heart. I let out a gasp, struggling for breath as he squeezes tighter, causing me to let out a cry of pain. It burns as if he's set my chest on fire, and is quite uncomfortable. 

"Let her go!" James bellows, stepping closer to Kai as if he's about to throw a punch, but Kai squeezes harder on my rapidly breathing heart, causing me to let out another cry of pain. 

"I suggest you think twice about that mate," Kai snickers, mocking James. "You better let me in, or else I will rip out your fiancé's heart." 

"Kai, stop this," Damon growls, appearing at James's side. 

"We'll do whatever you want. Please, let Blair go!" Caroline pleads, panic in her voice. 

"What I want is for you all to listen. Now if you would please let me by," Kai says firmly. 

After hesitating, James and Damon finally let him through, having no choice but to do as he says. Kai nods as a thank you before continuing forwards, keeping me in front of him with his hand still in my chest. 

"Hello Chrissy, you look lovely today." Kai smirks, winking at Christina who shifts uncomfortably in her seat. 

"You bastard," she snaps, tears of fury in her eyes. 

"Ah ah ah, you better watch it or else your dear friend here will loose her heart." Kai shakes his head. "Now everybody sit," he demands. Everyone takes a seat while Kai and I stand at the front of the living room. 

My eyes scan the room, frantically looking for Theo but he's not here. Soon I realize Joel is missing too, which means he's probably hiding somewhere with Theo. 

"It's so lovely to have you all here. I honestly thought I would never see any of you again," Kai begins. "I was so heartbroken when I lost the merge- congratulations by the way Luke, you deserve it," he says sarcastically. "But, I did have a backup plan. Thanks to Blair here, I was able to gather a vile of her blood from our previous interaction at the school where I held her hostage- oops- and I drank the whole thing before the merge. I was surprised none the less when I woke up in the back of a transport truck, but the driver did make for a good snack," he chuckles deviously. "That is where I discovered my transition, and stopped at the nearest city which happened to be Atlanta." 

"Since then I was able to work my way through the city, getting use to my new found abilities. It was Christina actually who helped me with the vampire stuff- thanks for that honey." He winks. "It wasn't until a week later I found out who Christina was, and what she new. When she mentioned going to a bachelorette party in Mystic Falls, I just couldn't refuse!" 

"Don't worry little brother, I'm not here to steal your throne." Kai rolls his eyes, speaking to Luke who hasn't flinched once. 

"Then why are you here?" Stefan asks the question that is on all our minds. 

"I wanted to say hello of course!" Kai retorts with a wide, creepy grin. 

"Just tell us what you want, Kai," Damon snaps bitterly, his arms crossed stubbornly across his chest. 

"Although I do want to kill you all, I can't do that quite yet because you have something I need," he says, licking his lips. "Since I have unlimited power, because I can siphon magic from my vampire self, I am perhaps one of the strongest supernatural creatures on this planet." 

"But, there is only so much magic I can siphon from myself. I want to create my own coven, and expand my power that will be far greater than you will ever see, but to do that I will need another source to draw power from," he pauses, glancing around, looking for someone in particular. "That source would be your dear Theo. Where is he?" 

"Why the hell to you need Theo? He is just a kid!" Caroline shouts angrily. 

"Because blondie, he has connections to both traveller magic, and witch magic which means even greater magic for me. Plus, since he's young I'll be able to siphon magic from him years to come. Now I ask that you please hand him over," Kai growls, glaring at everyone. 

"Never going to happen." Damon shakes his head, standing close to Kai as if trying to intimidate him. 

"You have four days to deliver Theo to me, or else you all die," Kai states, before releasing his grip around my heart, and speeds out of the house, vanishing like he wasn't even here. 

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[completed & edited: 09/01/2022]