Golden → Stefan Salvatore [1]

The Sacrifice

Chapter 24: The Sacrifice

-

"Well, would you look at that? Sleeping beauty awakes from her slumber at last." Alessandra Schultz stayed in her position at the stove, scrambling the eggs she was preparing for her family as she watched her daughter walk into the kitchen.

"Hilarious." Amalia walked over to her mother, quickly kissing her cheek as a way of saying 'good morning'. "Eggs again. Are you qualified enough to make anything else?"

"I have work in an hour and mouths to feed before I go." Her mother explained why she had a tendency to make something as simple as scrambled eggs more often than not. "Quick and easy's how I roll. Love it or leave it."

"Eggs it is then." Amalia nodded vastly, moving it straight up and down as if she was a cadet receiving orders from her superior.

"That's my girl." Her mother looked up from the pan, sending her the sweetest smile possible, just as always.

Something about Alessandra Schultz was so bright. She never once shed a tear or even complained about anything she was going through. She was ill, yet she continued to carry on with her life as if everything was normal. She was brave through all of it— And as scared as she may have been, there was never a time that she showed it.

Amalia opened her eyes the next morning as the sound of her alarm clock rang throughout the room, bringing a groan to her lips. Her hazel eyes couldn't help but squint as they adjusted to the bright light that shined throughout her bedroom, giving her quite a wake up call.

Her dad barged through the bedroom, adjusting his tie so his appearance wouldn't be anything less than perfect when he arrived at work. "Angel, I'm about to head to work. Do you need anything before I leave?"

"No, I'm okay." She sat up in her bed, forcing a grin on her face. Her voice was raspy as she had just woken up, accompanying the dry feeling in her throat from dehydration. "Are you?"

He sighed, releasing his hands from his suit and bringing them back down to the side of his frame. He walked over to her bed and took a seat, sitting right in front of her. "I hope so."

"Me, too." She agreed with him.

The two of them sat there in silence, unsure of what else either of them had to say to one another. Usually, he would have just walked into the room to make sure she was awake and wouldn't be late for school, but that day in particular was one he couldn't let go unnoticed— It was Alessandra Schultz's birthday. And every 365 days that it would come, both of them needed the other more than ever.

✰✰✰

Amalia slammed her locker door shut, instantly running into Lydia Schultz, who apparently had decided to take a field trip to Mystic Falls High School. Though Amalia wasn't exactly speaking to her new sister, that hadn't stopped Lydia from trying to start conversations with her at a constant rate, annoying as she knew it was.