┏━━━ ━━━┓

𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐒𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 - 𝐂𝐡. 11
"𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬."

┗━━━                                             ━━━┛

— SKYLER WOKE TO THE BEDROOM DOOR BEING OPENED SWIFTLY,
a call from Klaus echoing through the bare room, "Oh lovebirds!" Skyler didn't need to open her eyes to see the smirk that was sure to be on her best friend's face, and she didn't dare open her eyes now. She didn't want to wake, to be forced back into reality in which she would have to disentangle herself from her husband to go back to the Salvatore boarding house, her apparent home.

Kol seemed to feel the same, however, he has no qualms about opening his eyes, getting out of bed, and running at Klaus like he was ready to attack. Klaus narrowly avoided the knife thrown at him — where Kol found the knife, who knows.

"If you dare wake her, Klaus, I will make what our father has done to us seem like child's play." Kol growled lowly to his brother once he was closer to him. Klaus, who wasn't often scared of his siblings, backed away until he was out of the room and then promptly turn and walked swiftly — yes, walked swiftly, he did not run!

With a pleased smirk, Kol returned to the bed, getting himself under the covers before pulling Skyler close with a sigh. "Good morning love." He mumbled into her hair. Of course, he knew she was awake.

"Mornin'" she greeted sleepily, a slight southern draw to her voice that only comes out in the mornings, she groaned, "What time is it?"

Kol didn't bother checking the clock, instead, he pulled her closer, and closed his eyes, "Too early." He answered.

Reluctantly, she opened her eyes and peered over him to see the clock that sat on his nightstand. Upon seeing the time, she groaned, "I have to get up."

"Says who?" Kol asked stubbornly even as he loosened his grip. In protest, he did not let her out of his arms until she pulled herself out of them, nor did he sit up until she did. Once they're both sat up, he pulls her into a sweet, sleepy kiss. "Do you have to go?" He breathes the words onto her lips as they separate from the kiss. Skyler nods softly before she pulled him in for one more kiss.

"I love you, mon cœur." She whispered to him, a bitter tone to her words that he knew was not pointed at him, but rather the goodbye that was coming.

"And I love you, ástin min."

Reluctantly, she pulled herself away and stood, they shared a few more sweet moments together before she dressed and made her way downstairs to say goodbye to Klaus, where the man apologized for yesterday, and pulled her into a hesitant hug when he found Kol still upstairs. Finally, Skyler left the newest Mikaelson house, driving away in her car with bitterness in her heart.

ೃ⁀➷

"Long night?" Damon teased as she entered the Salvatore boarding house, she glared at him which only seemed to egg him on as he lets out a dramatic gasp, "Did you get laid?"

"Shut up, Damon."

Once again, he lets out a dramatic gasp, "You did! Not so innocent anymore, are you, sister?" He put on a smirk and approached her, "So who did you spend the night with?"

"None of your business." She snapped, god she already needed a drink. She grabbed a bag of blood from the fridge.

"Ooh not a human then, or at least not one you fed on. Does my sister have a boyfriend?"

"Damon, if you don't shut your mouth I will rip your heart out with my teeth and bury you somewhere no one will ever find you." She threatened, her voice sounding animal-like with a growl. She mentally thanked Klaus, who taught her all of it.

Damon raised his hands in surrender just as Stefan made his way downstairs, "Who's killing Damon?"

"Me." Skyler deadpanned, to which her twin only nodded in understanding.

Stefan made his way into the kitchen to join his siblings as he told Skyler, "We were looking for you this morning."

"For what?" She asked feigning curiosity if only to make the whole conversation go faster.

"The Founders Day parade is tonight, and I thought it'd be a good chance for all of us to get out." Stefan explained.

Skyler raised a single brow in question, "And what? Relive our past, reminisce on the good ol' times? Oh yes, so lovely when our father, one of the founders, killed us!"

"Skyler..." he said with a sigh.

She shook her head, "No, I'm not going. Founders Day is an excuse to honor the people who hunted us down like we were monsters, the only good thing they did was put Katherine underground."

"We grew up with those people, Skyler!"

"They didn't seem to care much for that when they hunted us down!" She retorted with a huff.

He sighed, "Just think about it, okay? It's not about honoring the founders, it's about getting out of this house and celebrating us being back together again."

Skyler opened her lips and then closed them, words on the tip of her tongue that she fought back. She did not want to go to some parade for the great Founders, but she did need to gain her brother's trust. So, she sighed in defeat, "If it'll get you to shut up, fine." She threw the empty bag of blood into the trash can and walked past her brothers to get upstairs. It seemed she has a parade to get ready for.

ೃ⁀➷

"I can't believe you actually made me come to this." Skyler huffed as she walked beside Stefan at the parade location.

"I didn't make you." Stefan retorted she raised an eyebrow causing him to concede, "Okay, maybe I did."

Skyler glared at him, but didn't get a chance to say anything in response because Damon approached, "Look at you, all retro." He said to Stefan. He wore his regular clothes like Skyler and unlike Stefan, who was dressed in, as Damon put it, more "retro" clothes.

"What are you doing here?" Skyler asked, wondering if he had been dragged along too or if he'd actually chosen to come to this parade.

"Why wouldn't I be here?" He responded as he began to walk with them. The Salvatore's paused as Stefan looked at Damon almost knowingly. "Bonnie deactivated the Gilbert invention, Isobel's gone, heh and it's founders day."

"Isobel was here?" Stefan asked while Skyler asked with her nose scrunched in confusion, "Who's Isobel?"

Damon did not respond, instead saying, "I'm here to eat cotton candy and steal your girl." Skyler let out a snort of amusement but decided to stay out of the conversation and merely watch while her brothers have their little catfight over Elena.

Stefan looked at him sternly, "Don't start with me, Damon."

"Huh? What?" Damon asked in fake confusion, pressing his hand to his ear as though he couldn't hear, he looked to Skyler, "Did you hear something?" Skyler shook her head innocently, "you have no sense of humor, Stefan." Damon told his brother.

"Actually I just have no sense of Damon's humor." Stefan replied before he turned and walked away.

Skyler shook her head in disappointment, "That wasn't even a good retort."

"Damon humor?" He repeated, "Hey, look, I get it. I get it." Damon said, following Stefan. Skyler rolled her eyes and let out a sigh, but followed them nonetheless. She was curious to see what chaos would unfold. "I'm the better, hotter, superior choice and you're scared now that Katherine's out of the picture that I'm gonna turn all my attention to Elena." He told Stefan, continuing once they stopped, "But don't worry, Elena is not Katherine."

"You're right she's not." Stefan responded while Skyler let out an "ehhh" of uncertainty.

Crossing her arms, she rolled her eyes as they got closer to each other as though preparing to fight. This was getting boring, she thought, and then caught sight of Katherine — no, Elena coming towards them.

Her hair was done in curls, some pushed over her shoulder and a single strand of hair in front of her face while another lay on her chest. She wore a green vintage dress that seemed all too familiar and fit her perfectly.

She looked just like Katherine, Skyler let out a shaky breath and turned away.

Damon seemed to see her too as his teasing expression turned to one of shock. Stefan followed his gaze, seeming shocked as well when he laid his eyes on Elena.
Elena caught their eyes, faltering in her steps when she saw Skyler and Damon beside Stefan. Composing herself quickly, she smiled and curtsied. Skyler struggled to separate Elena from Katherine as her mind flashed to the past in which she'd seen Katherine do all this before, looking the same as Elena did now, right down to the dress.

Stefan glanced at his siblings once more before he approached Elena, leaving his siblings behind.

ೃ⁀➷

Later that day, Stefan and Elena stood on the Miss Mystic Falls float alongside Caroline and Matt while Skyler stood in the crowd, watching with her arms crossed. She hated this. Not just the way Elena looked just like Katherine, but just being here. Surrounded by the past. Even more, she hated how Stefan acts with Elena, like he didn't see just how alike she is to Katherine.

Damon approached Skyler at the front of the crowd and waved to Elena and Stefan on the float with a smirk. Elena ignored him, continuing to wave at everyone else in the crowd. Skyler couldn't help but glare at the doppelgänger as Damon turned back to find Bonnie watching him with a disapproving look.

"What do you want?" Bonnie asked as both the Salvatores turned to face her.

Skyler studied her, while Damon crossed his arms, "Just watching the parade." With a roll of her eyes, Bonnie began to walk away but Damon swiftly followed, "Where are you going?"

"Away from you."

"I want to talk to you." Damon told her sternly as Skyler watched from the sidelines with subtle curiosity.

"Just leave me alone." Bonnie snapped in frustration.

"Thank you." Damon said, surprising both the girls, "The device that Emily spelled could have killed me. I don't take what you did lightly, so... thank you."

Skyler blinked in surprise, subconsciously stepping forward, gravitating closer to her brother as she wondered what happened in Mystic Falls before her arrival.

"I did it for Elena." Bonnie told him stubbornly.

Damon clearly expected that he didn't falter as he replied, "I know that. But I'm still very grateful, and I owe you." Bonnie didn't respond, a cold look crossing her face. "Enjoy the parade." He told her before walking back.

Skyler stepped back into place with him at the front of the crowd. "What the hell happened?" She asked sternly, "When did you almost die?"

"It was before you came." He brushed it off casually, "I'm fine!" He told her, gesturing to his uninjured body and his beating heart.

"Why did nobody tell me?" She hissed in outrage, she glared at him. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You didn't need to know."

She frowned, he seemed to regret his choice of words but Skyler didn't give him a chance to voice it as she shook her head. "I'll see you later, Damon." She told him, walking away.

ೃ⁀➷

Fireworks shot off in the sky, the noise from them all too similar to that of a gunshot, a noise that paralyzed Skyler even today. After all, a gunshot is what killed her. She tried to tell herself that it wasn't that, as she stared at the fireworks in the sky. It had been over a hundred years, and she still hasn't gotten over that fear.

Suddenly, a throbbing pain that was just as paralyzing as the sound of the fireworks hit her head. She resisted the urge to cower and hold her head in her hands, but she could not suppress the sound of pain. As the crowd began to cheer, she made her escape. The noises of the crowd and the fireworks only worsened her sudden headache. She wandered, uncertain of where she was going as the throbbing pain made her almost delirious. And then she found Stefan, her twin brother, on the ground, screaming in pain, with Elena by his side.

"Stefan what's wrong?" She heard Elena ask in concern as she jogged over. "Stefan!" She called, wincing at the pain in her head.

"Ahh!!" She screamed as the pain increased tenfold. She collapsed on the ground beside Stefan, who despite the pain, reached out to her.

Alaric, Damon's drinking buddy and local hunter, rushed over, helping Elena get Stefan up. "C'mon, get up." He urged Stefan worriedly, steadying the vampire. Elena moved to help Skyler up but she shook her head and stood on her own with a wince of pain.

"I don't know what happened, they just dropped." Elena told Alaric in a panic as they started to guide Stefan away, behind them, Skyler stumbled after, too stubborn to ask for help.

"Yeah, he's not the only one." Alaric stated gruffly, "Cops are grabbing everyone who's gone down. Injecting them with vervain."

"What?" Skyler asked in shock. Memories of the townsfolk she grew up with hunting down the vampires of the town came to mind but she refused to let the memories take over.

Alaric guided Stefan down into a downstairs alley that was in the dark, somewhere they'd be safe. Behind the boys, Elena attempts to help Skyler down the stairs only to receive a glare, the veins under her eyes shocking Elena into submission. Skyler stumbled down the stairs and goes to Stefan's side, Elena followed, the conclusion they'd all made from Alaric's words slipped off her tongue, "They're rounding up vampires."

ೃ⁀➷

Skyler frowned in confusion as the pain disappeared without a trace, she winced at the sudden contrast from the searing pain earlier.

"Are you okay?" Elena asked the twins. Skyler didn't have enough energy to hate the doppelgänger, let alone respond. Luckily, Stefan was able to form a response for both of them.

"It felt like needles were piercing my skull and then it just stopped." He explained as Alaric came back down the stairs. Skyler hadn't even realized he had left, and it made her wonder when he did. She must've really been out of it.

"I saw at least five vampires go down." Alaric informed as he joined the group, "They were taking them to your family's old building." He told Elena.

"It's the Gilbert device, it has to be." Stefan declared, Skyler frowned, not knowing what the Gilbert device even is. She remembered Damon mentioning it earlier... the thing that almost killed him.

"But how did he get it to work?" Elena questioned in confusion, "Bonnie unspelled it."

Alaric shrugged, "Maybe she didn't."

"She did. We saw her do it." Elena argued.

"No, no, no." Stefan interjected, "He's right. Think about it. We asked Bonnie to deactivate a device that could protect people against vampires."

"So we could protect you." Elena stated sternly.

"And Damon... vampires."

Skyler finally composed herself enough to form some semblance of words as she looked at Alaric, "Where is Damon?"

"I don't know." The man admitted, "I haven't seen him since this started."

"We have to find him." She looked at Stefan, hoping to find some sort of understanding on his face. She didn't. "Stefan?" He looked away as Elena spoke.

"Can you get my brother? Take him home?" She asked Alaric, who agreed without hesitation.

"Let's go." Elena then told Stefan who stood up alongside Skyler.

As they walked out of the dark alley, Skyler couldn't help but wonder out loud, "Seriously, what the hell happened in this town before I came?"

ೃ⁀➷
2,648 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔

Extra long chapter this time! The next chapter might be just as long, and will be finishing off the first act. I'm hoping to get the next chapter out sometime this weekend.
Updates are going to be posted as written from now on for an indefinite time. I also start school next week so they may start to take longer. Either way I hope y'all enjoy and have a wonderful day!

— xoxo, Malakhai