reforget | 𝐊𝐋𝐀𝐔𝐒 ✓

𝟎𝟔

"Dunno," Alaric shrugs. He turns to Elena, "Everything go okay today?"

"There were a few hiccups, but yeah," Elena says.

Rory narrows her eyes again. There it was—more secrets. This time, between Alaric and Elena. She lets out a slightly frustrated breath; she was tired of people keeping things from her. It's bad enough that Mystic Falls felt different, now it was proven that it was, too.

"Of course, I understand," Jenna speaks into the receiver. She turns to face Rory, "Rory, it's for you."

"Me?" Rory points to herself. Jenna nods, holding the mobile phone out insistently. Rory takes it from her grasp but holds her palm over the receiver so that the person on the other end can't hear her question, "Who is it?" she asks. Jenna simply shrugs. Rory holds the phone to her ear, "Hello?"

"Hello, Rory," to Rory's complete and utter confusion, the voice on the other end of the phone mirrors both hers and Elena's perfectly. A carbon copy, in fact.

Rory's eyebrows pull together, eyes flickering to Elena that's still setting the table with Alaric, "Who is this?"

"I know you must be a little confused by now, considering your shady little friends have been compelling you since the day you got into town. I feel sorry for you, little me," the voice on the other end says, "My name is Katherine, Rory, and I need to tell you something. Your friends have been lying to you."

Rory exits the kitchen, lowering her voice to speak, "Is this some kind of joke?"

"Notice how our voices are exactly the same, but your darling little twin sister is in the kitchen with you? That's because we're exactly alike, you, Elena, and I. We're three sides of the same coin, putting it simply. Your friends don't want you to know about me because I'm a vampire, and so is your best friend, Caroline. Your friend Bonnie? She's a witch. Stefan, Damon, they're all vampires. And you know what vampires can do, Rory? They can compel you to forget things—they can compel you to do things you don't want to do,"

"You're crazy," Rory whispers viciously, "If this is some kind of prank, it's not funny—"

"You don't believe me, baby Rory?" Katherine mocks, "How's your aunt Jenna doing?"

Just as she says so, a loud scream tears from Elena's throat. Rory rushes to the kitchen, and her jaw drops at the sight of her aunt Jenna on the floor, bleeding profusely from her stomach. A knife sticks out of her gut, her twin sister and Alaric urgently falling to the ground next to her to stop the bleeding.

Rory's shaking hands lift the phone back to her ears, "Do you believe me now, Rory?" a dark chuckle comes through the phone, "I made Jenna do exactly what I wanted her to, even when she didn't want it. This is because it's real. You get the idea, don't you?"

Rory doesn't even get to reply before the call ends, and all that she hears is the dial tone.

｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ

Rory's hands tremble as she hastily pulls a cigarette out of the pack she picks from her hoodie. She places the stick between her lips. Blood stains her fingers—Jenna's blood, from when she tried to stop the bleeding. She struggles to light her cigarette with how bad she's shaking, but she manages. She inhales deeply, letting the smoke calm her as she leans the back of her head against the wall.

"Rory?" Jeremy voices from beside her. Rory doesn't even bother trying to throw the cigarette away—her brother can see it, anyway. The cancer stick hanging between her fingers, lit up. "You said you stopped."