12 May, 2028

Kaitlyn's POV

It has been 4 days since we had returned from Paris. Four sleepless nights for everyone as we scourged through all kinds of possible solutions to avoiding the merge. Lizzie was getting weaker every day and mostly put on bedrest with me, Caroline or Elena watching over her. Rebekah and Marcel had offered to overlook Stefanie and Oreo while we worked on our problems. If this was any other time when I'd see the Mikaelsons and my Scooby Gang together, I'd call myself the happiest person ever. But right now, I'd call myself the luckiest person ever. All my friends and family were here, working day and night trying to protect my girls. Sometimes I wonder what I ever did to deserve such amazing people in my life. With that thought, I turn around the bed and come face to face with my fiancé.

"Good morning, love" he says as he places a small kiss on the side of my head.

"Morning, Nik," I greet back with a raspy voice. And then my eyes land on the book in his hands. It was a copy of his mother's grimoire.

"Find anything?" I ask as I sit up against the headboard.

"Nothing we can use," he says as he rests his head on my lap and my hands subconsciously reach out to play with his hair.

"Nik," I say.

"No, not happening," he cuts in before I can even finish speaking.

"You didn't even let me finish," I complain and he turns his head to look up at me.

"I know what you're going to say and no, it's too big a risk," he says and I frown.

"It's been four days, Nik. Four days we've had to keep Josie down every time she wakes up because even Freya's potion can't keep the darkness away. Lizzie is so weak already and Hope and Ryan are mentally tired now. They're all kids. My kids. I have to do this, it's the only way," I state and Klaus raises his head from my lap, probably getting ready to argue but just then, his phone starts to ring.

"Yes Elijah," he says as he answers the call.

"Niklaus, you need to come to Italy. I was looking for help like you asked me to and I found this old witch coven, they said they might have a solution," my ears perk up at this and my eyes light up with newfound hope, "but they will only speak to you," he finishes and I frown.

"Why me?" Klaus asks.

"They won't tell me. They just said they have something to tell you...warn you about and only you can know."

"I'll be there as soon as I can, brother. Thank you for all the help," he says before hanging up.

"Warn you about what?" I ask and he shrugs.

"I have no idea but I guess, I should go and hear them out," he says and I nod.

"Come back soon, okay?" I say as I cup his face in my hands and he places a small kiss on the palm of my hand.

"I'll always come back to you, love. Don't worry, we'll find a way to save the twins and then... we'll get married," he says and I smile.

"That's going to be another war in itself with Care and Bekah fighting over who gets to plan the wedding and Kol and Damon fighting over who gets to officiate," I say and he chuckles.

"You chose whoever and whatever you like. I just need you to say 'I do' and be mine forever. I don't care about anything else," he says and pulls me into a long, passionate kiss. Almost too passionate to the point where it was turning into something more.

"Nik, you need to go and so do I," I say, breaking the kiss and he sighs.

"I'll see you soon," he says, kissing my forehead. He then gets dressed and speeds out of the room in a flash.

Slowly, I too get out of bed, freshen up and head downstairs.

Downstairs, I am greeted to a sight of my friends scrambled all across the living room and the kitchen counter. I set the coffee machine on and turn place a pan on the stove to scramble some eggs and bacon.

"Oh hey," Alaric greets groggily as he wakes up from his spot on the kitchen stool, head rested on the kitchen counter.

"Good morning," I greet back and just then, Kol, Davina and Freya walk in the kitchen, followed by Damon and Caroline.

"Elena's with the kids today," Damon says as he takes a seat next to me and I nod, resting my head on his shoulder.

"Where's Nik?" Kol asks as he pours out coffee for everyone and sits on the other end of the counter.

"He got a call from Elijah this morning. Some witch coven who might have a solution but they'll only talk to Nik about it. Said they had something to warn him about. So he's on his way to Italy now," I say in a nonchalant manner and they nod.

"We already tried Italy multiple times, why didn't we find them?" Caroline asks curiously and I shrug.

"I don't know, Care. Elijah is a thousand year old vampire. Probably has way better contacts than us. We just need the help now, doesn't matter where it's coming from."

"And what if there's no help there too?" Freya asks and I sigh.

"Then we're going with my plan," I say and everyone starts to protest, all at once. No one was a fan of the plan I had come up with but even now, I feel like that was the most valid option left for us.

"You guys, calm down. I said if there's no other lead," I say and turn to Alaric, "Ric, they're your daughters. Wouldn't you do anything for them? Then let me do this if nothing else is working. The kids are our priority, nothing else," I say and now it's his turn to sigh.

"I know, Bee but this is too risky. It's a totally unknown dimension and if something happened to you, the kids would never forgive themselves. I would never forgive myself," he says and he holds onto my hands.

"Look, it's not happening, Lyn. That's it! We'll find some other way," Kol complains and I roll my eyes at him.

"I'm going to see the kids. Anyone wanna join?" I ask as I get up to leave.

"What about breakfast?" Kol asks as he points at the plates Davina was putting out for everyone.

"I'm not hungry," I say as I walk out and Damon follows behind.

"Buttercup, wait up," he says and I turn to look at him but continue to walk, "talk to me, how're you holding up?" he asks as he holds onto my arm and stops me.

"I don't know, Damon. How would you be holding up if Stefanie was in danger?" I say and gasp as soon as I realize what I had said, "oh my god, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to say that I don't know why I said that," I start to rant and Damon shushes me.

"Hey hey, it's okay. It was a dumb question on my part too. I just...want you to know I'm here for you always, Buttercup. We all are, the twins will be fine. I won't let anything happen to my nieces," he says with a reassuring smile and I nod before he lets go of me and walks back into the kitchen as I head towards the twins' room.

I walk into the twins' room to see Josie lying on the bed and Lizzie sitting by the bedside, crying.

I immediately rush to her, "Lizzie, what's wrong?" I ask as I wrap my arms around her.

"Mom?" she asks as she looks up at me and I nod as she begins to cry hysterically.

"I...I had a dream. It looked and felt so real I...I was here but none of you were here, it was just me and Josie and it was like the prison world you had for Kai and...and I saw us merge and I won. Josie...she was begging me to stop the spell but I kept chanting and after a while, I woke up but she didn't. I...I killed her," Lizzie stutters and I shush her in a comforting manner.

"It's alright, sweety it was just a bad dream. It's not real. Josie is fine," I tell her and she wraps her arms around me, crying into my lap. I sit there with her for a while before I see Hope, Ryan and Madeline walk into the room. Ryan gives me a concerned look and I return it with a reassuring smile, trying to tell him she's alright.

"Liz, you alright?" Hope asks as she settles down on the floor, on the other side of Lizzie.

"I had a nightmare. I...killed Josie," she says and Hope gasps.

"It was just a bad dream, Liz. You're alright, we're all here for you," Ryan says as he walks up to her. I get up from beside Lizzie and Ryan takes my spot next to her, half-hugging her in a comforting manner.

"You kids watch each other, I need to go back downstairs and don't worry, Freya will be here in time for Josie to wake up," I tell them as I walk out of the room and back into the kitchen.

By now, the kitchen is almost empty with only Davina, Kol and Caroline here. I settle down on a kitchen stool and dial Klaus' number but it reaches the voicemail.

"It's Klaus Mikaleson. Leave a message," I hear the prerecorded message play.

"Hey Nik, it's me. Just checking to see how you're doing and if you have any updates or not. Also, say 'hi' to Elijah for me. Love you," I speak into the voicemail message before hanging up.

"How're the kids?" Davina asks as she places a plate of food before me and I give her a thankful smile.

"They're...holding on. Lizzie had a nightmare where she saw they merged and Josie didn't wake up, she's pretty shaken up. The other kids are with her now," I tell them and Caroline speaks up next, "I'll go check on them. Stefanie was throwing a tantrum so I sent Elena to the Mikaelson mansion," she says and I nod.

"Sunshine, you want anything else?" Kol asks but I ignore him. I have been somewhat pissed at him for the past few days because he was the one who convinced everyone it was 'unsafe and stupid' of them to even consider my 'absurd plan'.

"Okay, how much longer are you going to give me the silent treatment?" he asks and I ignore again.

"Until you apologize,' I say and Kol sighs loudly before sitting down next to me.

"I'm sorry for thinking your life was too important to risk in such a reckless way, okay?" he says and I roll my eyes.

"That's the best you're going to get," Davina jokes and I huff.

"Not good enough for me," I say and Kol groans in frustration.

"Look Sunshine, I know they're your kids and you love them more than anything but you need to understand how risky this is. What if you get lost there and no one finds you? No Jo, no Christopher, no Catherine, then what? How do you even know she found peace? You were the one who told me how scared you were there, even when Chris was with you and now you want to go back to that?"

"If I have to, then yes. Kol, last time I was scared because I didn't know what was happening or where I was, I thought someone was messing with my mind and showing me images of Chris and I was scared because I thought I'd never see my kids again. But this time, I'm going in prepared, I know my mom will be there, I don't know how but I just do. And she said we come from a line of very powerful witches, so maybe if I go and ask for help, the other ancient witches there might just agree to help me. Kol, you of all people know how much the twins mean to me and how long I've been trying to avoid this very outcome for. You were there to witness all of it. I didn't tell any of my other friends but I told you from the beginning. You saw us scourge the world for a solution but at least then we had time to work on it, but not anymore. We've been injecting Josie with that potion every time she wakes up so the dark magic doesn't consume her and Lizzie is so weak and paranoid right now, she can barely get up from her bed anymore. Look at us, all of us here are some of the most powerful supernatural entities to ever exist and yet, we have nothing to work with. So you tell me if you can think of a more logical plan than mine because it might be risky but it's practical and it's the only way now," I tell him and speed out of the house, headed to the school library where the others were.

༆☼︎☾︎ꨄ︎☽︎☼︎༆
Upon reaching the library, I see Bonnie and Freya sitting in a circle of candles, chanting a new spell that they had formulated to keep down Josie's dark side as after a while, even the potion wouldn't work on her when the magic familiarizes itself with the potions effects. I sit there and watch them work when I notice my phone buzzing.

'New voicemail from Nik' it read on the screen. I get up and walk out of the library to listen to the voicemail.

"Love, it's me. Me and Elijah are here at the witch location but they refuse to talk any time other than the perfect ratio between sunrise and sunset around here and we're guessing it's around 8-10 hours away, so we're waiting as of now. Don't worry, we'll find a solution and the twins will be fine. Elijah says 'hi'. I'll call you back later. I love you, Rose," the voicemail ends with a beep and I sigh in frustration. 8-10 more hours.

Later into the evening, we were still at the library with Freya, Bonnie, Enzo, Damon and Marcel. Alaric, Caroline, Kol and Davina were still at home with the kids while Rebekah and Elena were at the Mikaelson mansion.

Suddenly, my phone starts to ring to a call from Caroline, "Lyn, you need to get Freya and Bonnie and get here right now! Josie woke up and the potion didn't work on her, she...she snapped Ryan's neck and tried to attack Lizzie. Davina cast a spell and locked her in her room but you need to get here right now!" she screams into the call before hanging up. I look around to see an alarmed look on everyone's faces and a confused one on Bonnie's.

"Keep working on the spell," I say as Freya and Bonnie get back to work and the rest of us rush out of the school, back to the Lockwood mansion.

༆☼︎☾︎ꨄ︎☽︎☼︎༆
Upon walking into the mansion, all that could be heard was screaming. I rush upstairs to see Davina and Hope forming a shield around themselves while Dark Josie chants some kind of spell.

"What is going on?" Ryan asks groggily as he wakes up from the neck snap.

"Oh good, the adopted brother is up," Dark Josie says with a cynical smile.

"Josie, this isn't you!" Hope screams across the barrier and Dark Josie lets out an evil laugh.

"Oh please, Hope. You've known me for what, a few months and you think you know me? Even my own sister doesn't know me. She never tried to and as soon as you came around, it's like I didn't exist for her anymore. You might know her but you never knew me, none of you did!" Dark Josie yells as she places her hand on the barrier and it starts to burn her hand. Her hand, however, starts to glow red as if she was siphoning the magic from the spell.

"Oh god, you guys need to leave right now," I tell them and they look at me confused.

"She's siphoning the spell's magic. You know, like Kai siphoned all the magic from around Mystic Falls once?" I tell them and it's as if a lightbulb goes off in the heads of the Scooby Gang members, "I'll hold her off. You guys need to get out," I tell them.

"Bee, you can't hold her off alone," Alaric protests.

"If our Josie is still in there, she won't hurt me. And it's time I start to use my own magic again. You guys need to leave, please take the kids away," I practically beg as Davina and Caroline drag Lizzie and Hope away quickly and Kol helps Ryan. When everyone is gone, I turn around just in time to see Dark Josie walk out of the barrier.

"That was very hero-like of you," she says, "or maybe just stupid."

"Josie, I know you're in there. Just hold on," I say as I start to chant a spell to myself. Just then, Dark Josie sends a blast of fire towards me that I manage to block, but barely as it sends me stumbling down the stairs.

"Get out of my daughter!" I yell in fury and Dark Josie laughs again.

"But is she your daughter? I don't think so," she says, "she never was, she never will be. Look at your luck, even your own daughter was taken away from you and these other kids that you 'took in' to fill the void of never being able to have your own kids, look where that got you."

"It got me everything I've ever wanted."

"Is that you trying to convince me or yourself?" she retorts and I feel myself get angrier by the second.

"What do want?" I yell again.

"A lot. But first, you're a vampire, right?" she asks and when I stay silent, she laughs again.

"Well, good. Because now, I'm going to ignite the fire that will be the doom of you all," she says as she sets the entire mansion on fire and shields herself with a barrier, casually strutting out of the burning mansion. As I try to protect myself from the fire with my magic, I find myself struggling when I hear a voice in my head chant a spell and say, 'you can do this, sweety."

I start to repeat the spell and within a minute, the fire has died down and all is calm again as I see Kol, Alaric and Caroline rush into the mansion.

"What the hell happened here? Are you okay?" Alaric asks in an exasperated manner.

"Josie...Dark Josie set the house on fire and left me to burn. Oh my god, where did she go?" I yell back in horror, "we can't let her roam around Mystic Falls like this!" I warn them as Kol and Alaric rush out of the house and Caroline helps me stand up.

"Oh god, what now?" I whisper to myself.