✶ ━━━ CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE.
【 33. 】kai parker screwed us.
❝ I'M PRETTY SURE YOU WANTED
TO HURT ME.❞
IT'S BEEN DAYS SINCE Malik's encounter with Alaric. And since then, not much that happened. If you excluded the fact that Alaric sent him to a prison world with Sebastian. And it just so happened to have been the same world Kai Parker— and a few more guests had been.
"Malikai, you've been running in circles." Sebastian groans, rubbing his head. "You're like a bloody hamster. Just sit down."
Malik rolls his eyes. "I know we aren't the school's favorite pair, but why the hell isn't anyone here looking for us! I mean— I would assume Hope or Josie would give a damn."
Sebastian sighs. "I told you, you mustn't get close to those witches. They fooled you, brother. They do not care for y—" he stops mid-sentence. His brows slowly furrowed. He sniffs the air. "Do you smell that?"
Malik's eyes narrowed, he takes a whiff as well. It was a fresh scent of a man he did not expect to see yet again. Before Sebastian even had a chance to tell the boy not to do anything stupid, Malik vamps out the kitchen and stands in front of Alaric. He flashed his fangs at the man, smiling.
"Hey, Ric. Missed me?" Malik throws Alaric into a wooden table.
Alaric groans, he sees that part of the chair had been broken off. He quickly grabs the leg and jumps to his feet. "Malik— I don't want to hurt you."
Malik snorts. "Were you thinking those same thoughts when you drove arrows through my heart and stomach?" he hums. His head tilts. "Because If anything, I'm pretty sure you wanted to hurt me. In fact, I think you even wanted me dead."
"Now, now, let's be nice Malikai." Sebastian walks into the room smiling from ear to ear. "I must say, i'm starving. Aren't you?"
"Famished."
Alaric squeezes his eyes shut, he didn't want to fight back. But as soon as Malik was about to dig his fangs into the man's neck, he was stopped when another voice spoke out to him.
"Malik?"
Malik slowly turns around, his eyes land on Lizzie Saltzman who was standing there shocked. He then sees Josie who had been standing right by here, maybe even more shocked than her twin sister had been. Their faces read off many questions. Questions which Alaric was in no mood to answer.
"You lied to me?" Lizzie says in a voice of rage as she stared her father down. "You told me you didn't see Malik. That you had no clue where he was."
Alaric stays silent.
"Why would you send him here?"
"Hello, I was sent here too, y'know." Sebastian huffs out.
Malik chuckles, he faces the Saltzmans. "He didn't do it alone. Had help from Emma."
"How could you dad!?" Both Lizzie and Josie exclaim.
Alaric's eyes meet Malik's. The hybrid had been smirking. Alaric hated the fact that he had been right about the twins caring for his disappearance.
"You can both yell at me after we arm ourselves." The man says as he begins to walk away.
Josie's brows furrowed. "Dad, why do we need weapons so bad?"
Malik shakes his head. "Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Cmon Jo, you know exactly why. We both have the same names."
That's when it hit her. "This is the prison world uncle Kai's in, isn't it?"
"Bingo." The hybrid smiles. He crosses his arms over his chest. "I actually saw him. He's the one that removed the arrows from my back. Oh, how happy he'll be to see you again, Ric."
Alaric restrains himself from doing anything stupid. He simply inhales sharply and pushes past everyone, readying himself in case he runs into his unwanted enemy.
Josie then turns to face Malik, sending him a look of disappointment.
Malik groans. "He desiccates me and shoves me into a prison world yet you're looking at me like i'm the bad guy? Not nice, Jo."
Josie sighs. "Behave," she warns him before chasing after her father.
Sebastian looks at Lizzie then back at Malik, he lightly chuckles. "I'm going to continue to explore this fun world of ours." with that he vamps away leaving Lizzie and Malik both alone.
The two share a glance.
Malik rolls his neck back. "Why are you guys here if not to bring us back?"
Lizzie seemed taken back by the fact that Malik even said a word to her. But she quickly wipes the look off her face. "Alyssa Chang sent us here... or at least that's what dad told us."
Malik hums.
"Once we find a way out of here, you're coming with us. I promise." The witch reassures him with a soft, warm tone.
Malik nods. "Well... until then, how about I show you around?" he offers. "There's a few shops and places that I stopped by that I'm sure you'd love." he smiles.
"But what about Uncle Kai?"
"I won't let him lay a hand on you, I promise." He holds his hand out for her to take.
Lizzie glances at his hand, she wanted to, but at the same time, she just didn't want to risk taking any chances. But instead of using her brain, she used her heart this once. Without giving it any more thought, she places his hand onto his causing the boy to smile.
"Let's go."
From there the boy leads her out of the house. At first, it felt unusual for the two to be with one another and simply getting along rather than arguing. The boy led her to one of his favorite spots, it was a nice big house. One he was sure that Lizzie would find as breathtaking as she is.
Malik removes the blindfold once they arrived at the house. As she takes in the view, he rests his chin on her shoulder smiling. "Do you like it?" he then backs away, taking a look at her face. Seeing she had been smiling ear to ear, he took that as a yes. "Good. 'Cause, it's yours." he throws keys at her which she catches.
Lizzie grins, she grabs his hand and drags him into the house with her. Once they reached the front the boys opens the door for her and they begin to explore around the house. After checking every inch of the place, Malik reveals that he bought a dress for her and Lizzie instantly fell in love with it.
She was quick to try the dress on— and if he hadn't already been in love before. Malik fell even harder as she walked down the stairs.
The two passed their times doing cheesy things teenagers would do in movies. They danced, laughed, talked, danced some more. Until now, they had been seated on the couch drinking wine and eating. Lizzie had been leaning back resting in his arms, they both sat in silence staring at the fireplace.
And everything just felt right for once. They both felt at peace with one another.
"What if we stay...?" Malik suggests, he breaks the silence.
Lizzie's brows knit together in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, we can stay in the prison world. I mean, this world can belong to only us." The boy says.
Lizzie sighs. "It's not that simple. We both have a family that we love, and you won't age. I wasn't banished to this world, so I will."
"Lizzie I think aging should be the least of your worries." He huffs. "Plus, honestly I don't give a damn about anyone back there—"
"Yeah? What about Jed? Pietro? Hope? Josie? Mom?" Lizzie scolds, she knew he had been lying to her. It warmed her heart to know he wanted a future with her though.
Malik rolls his eyes in defeat. "Okay yeah... but we can visit them whenever." he shrugs. "Me and you can live the life we deserve if you allow me to turn you into a vampire."
Now those words caught Lizzie's attention. The thought of being immortal has crossed her mind countless times.
Lizzie inhales sharply, she sits up so she could take a good look at his face as she spoke. "I've thought about becoming a vampire," she admits. "I've thought about it so many times. If I did, there wouldn't be a merge. And my skin would stay flawless forever."
Malik smiles.
"But I also.. wouldn't be able to have kids."
Malik sits up, slightly confused. "Kids? You want kids?"
Lizzie shrugs. "Yes. No. I'm not sure yet. But that's the point. I don't know yet. And I can't make this decision until I'm sure."
Malik slightly nods understandingly. "It's okay. I understand." he smiles. "It was just an offer. Which will forever be open."
Lizzie stays silent. She could tell he seemed a bit hurt with her decline of the offer.
"We should get back to your sister and Ric," Malik suggests. He sits up and stands. He then takes the hand of the blonde and leads her out of the room. They then walk outside silently.
As they had been walking they luckily found a car which made everything easier.
"I'll drive." Lizzie runs to the driver's seat and gets in.
They silently drove themselves back to the Salvatore house where the headmaster and his daughter should've both been.
All had been going well. Sure it was silent, but it wasn't awkward. If anything it was still peaceful. It didn't bother Malik that Lizzie had chosen to stay human. He was fine with that, but that also meant that he'd have to cherish every moment they'd have together.
Live it like it was their last. But it seems like their last moment had been coming soon.
Malik hears Lizzie's breathing pick up, he then turns to face her, he sees her eyes go pitch black.
"Lizzie!"
Before he knew it, everything went dark.