CHAPTER XXVI
❝ Are you gonna stay or run away like her? ❞
It was past sunset when Stefan called her.
"Hello, Lucy, are you fine? You aren't hurt, right?"
"I'm completely fit and fine, Stefan. Speak for yourself, you aren't hurt, are you?"
"I'm not hurt, don't worry." sighed Stefan. "But you were bleeding from the head. How- What happened?"
"Uh.. you know I went to school to clean up that room I got decorated, and while doing that I heard a scream. I went to check and found the history teacher. He banged my head in the locker and knocked me out. I was just at the wrong place at the wrong time."
"He did that because you're friends with me, a vampire. It's all my fault."
"No," she said quickly, "don't you dare blame yourself. He had no particular reason to do so. Like I said I was at the wrong place at the wrong time."
"He knows you. He knows why you're here. He knows you're friends with vampires."
"Look, Stefan. It's not your fault. Okay. You get it?" she emphasised. "And there is nothing to worry about now. I'm completely alright now. Bonnie healed me. And now the history teacher is also dessicated, isn't he?"
"Well, about that," he sighed, "he is not."
"What? Then what about the spell Bonnie did?"
"Klaus is dessicated." he explained. "He took Elena from the school with the intention of draining her of all her blood for his hybrids and then she'll die along with Alaric. But we got there in time. And the only way to save Elena was to dessicate him."
"Well, I can't say much about this. But you do know that you need to keep his body safe. 'Cause if he dies, everyone dies. Including you, Tyler, Bonnie's mom, and even Caroline and your brother. All of you."
"I know. I know. But now it's his siblings responsibility. Elijah came over, promising a intrusion-free life to Elena in exchange for Klaus' body."
"You agreed?"
"I left it to her. It was her choice. She agreed."
"Then what now? Where are you?"
"I'm at Elena's place. She got a concussion. Got admitted to the hospital." he said. "Damon's on his way with Klaus' body to give it over to Rebekah."
"I can do a few protection spells. Spell shut the coffin. Not a single soul could manage to open it then." she offered.
"Yeah. That would be nice. But I guess Bonnie will be there. But you guys discuss it among yourselves. I will send you the details. Bye."
"Bye. I'll call her. But-hey, how did you get my this number? The one you have was in the phone that the history teacher broke."
"I took it from Tyler. I figured you would have given him a different number."
"Smarty pants, huh." she chuckled. "But, anyways, you go see Elena. I'll talk to Bonnie. Bye"
"Bye."
"Let's see." Lucy muttered to herself as she scrolled through the contact list. Her eyes fell over the name 'Bonnie Bennett' until they shifted to the contact just below it : 'Carol'.
She hadn't talked to Carol for a long time. Is Carol aware about the possible threats to her son's life? She figured 'no'. Tyler wouldn't have told her. Neither will she. It is Tyler's choice to decide whether he wishes to tell her or not. She shouldn't interfere. But still she found herself dialling her number with the intention of making sure of Carol's son's safety.
"Hi, Carol," she said quickly, "how are you? Where are you right now?"
"I'm alright." Carol sighed. "Just at my home."
Lucy heard the distress in her voice from even a mile away.
"What happened, Carol? You don't sound 'alright'. Is everything okay?"
"It's nothing." she denied.
"Don't lie to me. I've at least known you this much that I can tell when you're fine and when you're not."
"No, don't worry about it, it got nothing related to that-"
"Don't." she said firmly. "Just tell me what happened. I don't care if it involves me or not. I want you to tell me what happened."
"Alright." Carol sighed, finally assenting. "Alaric outed us to the council. The whole council knows what Tyler and Caroline, Liz's daughter, are. He has got them looking for Klaus and he'll come for them as well."
"The whole council knows who is a vampire in the town?" she said disbelievingly.
"Yes. And that's why Tyler and Caroline are leaving the town."
"Where- Where are they going? I'll get everything arranged. House. School. Job. I'll get them properly settled down. Not a single soul would be able to touch them."
"I-I don't know where will they go." Carol sighed. "They're getting out of the town right now."
"Tell them to meet me. Right now."
◇◇◆◇◆◇◇
Tyler and Caroline were called to meet her in the forest away from any prying eye.
"Here. This is where you'll be staying until the council problem is solved." said Lucy as she led them inside a cosy cottage in the middle of the thick forest.
"We'll need time to get our things here." said Tyler.
"Don't worry about that. I'll get it all arranged. Make yourself home." said Lucy as Tyler and Caroline shared a reluctant look. "I'm gonna put some boundary spells. No one would be able to enter the area without your permission. Whether it be a vampire or a human. I'll make the house invisible. No fear of intruders or wild animals. You both are not to leave this house henceforth."
"Wait- no," interrupted Caroline. "We've got to help our friends first. We can't stay here right now."
"I'll make sure nothing happens to any of them. Don't worry." Lucy assured. "But you've got to stay here if you don't wish to end up dead by the hands of the council."
"I'm sorry. I can't." said Caroline, speeding out of the house before either of them could stop her.
"I'm sorry on her behalf." sighed Tyler as Lucy turned back towards him.
"Are you gonna stay or run away like her?"
"Look, I understand you're doing this all to make sure that we don't end up dead. You're trying to help us. But you've got to understand that we need to help our friends. We can't leave them like this. I promise we'll be back here."
"Fine." she sighed. "Anyway, I needed both of your blood for the spell alterations. But seeing you won't be moving in now, I'll do it later only."
"Thank you. Thank you so much." smiled Tyler speeding out of the cottage.
"Well, I'll still get your stuff arranged here."
◇◇◆◇◆◇◇
"I'm still not understanding why did those two left me to tread all the way out of here. Couldn't they have just sped out along with me?" Lucy muttered to herself as another wild insect buzzed past her making her swat her hand to avoid it.
One would expect a witch to love nature, cherish it and what not. But Lucy hated this side of nature. The annoying unhygienic one. She did love endless valleys, clear streams of water, mesmerising rainfalls, green grasslands and all the aesthetic parts of the nature. But she naturally hated the swamps, mud pools, dense forests filled with buzzing weird insects and their wider subtypes.
Her phone rang loudly making her smile in content.
"Finally there is some network here." she muttered to herself.
"Hello" she said, hastily picking up the call not minding to check the caller ID.
"Hello, Lucy Tusy."
"Oh, Demon," she said in fake-cheerfulness, "to what do I owe this highly unpleasant surprise?"
"Thank Stefan later on." he said sarcastically. "But where are you and Bonnie? None of the witches are here."
"I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere. And I don't know where Bonnie is. It's a miracle that I finally got some network here. And the first person I hear from is you. How amazing."
"So be fast before Alaric comes and kill the big bad hybrid and we all die."
"Again, I would like to repeat that Mr. Demon Salvatore, I'm stuck in a damn forest and it would take me nearly an hour or even more to get out of here and reach an inhabitable human settlement."
"Then move your feet fast and reach in fifteen minutes or else send Bonnie."
"Or for god's sake call her yourself," said Lucy. "I'm unable to get a proper network here."
"I don't know-" he began but stopped abruptly. "Wait, Bonnie is here finally. You are no longer needed."
The phone beeped once and the network was gone again.
"'You are no longer needed'. Who the hell does he think he is?" Lucy mocked his voice to herself, increasing her pace as she began weaving her way through the thick forest trees.
It took exactly fifty one minutes and forty seven seconds for Lucy to reach the road where her car was parked and then speed drive to the location Stefan had sent her.
She had run inside at her top speed on sensing the eerie silence to only find a dying Alaric and Damon was nowhere to be seen.
"Damon?" Lucy called out loudly. "Bonnie? Anybody here?"
She sighed as no reply was heard and her eyes shifted towards the greying body of Alaric Saltzman which gave her a clear signal that Elena Gilbert is dead.
Her hand instantly bolted towards her phone which made her automatically dial Stefan's number.
He didn't pick it up. So, she tried again. And even after two to three tries, the call was still going unanswered.
She then tried Bonnie's number which was picked after half a minute or so ringing.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Bonnie, do you know where Stefan is?" she said hurriedly, "Alaric is dead. That means Elena is dead. I don't know if Stefan knows this. Does anyone know this or-"
"We- We know," she said gloomy, "everyone knows. She and Matt had an accident. Stefan was able to save Matt but he couldn't manage to save Elena. She drowned. But she had vampire blood in her system and soon she will be under transition."
"Will she opt to complete it?"
"I don't know. But I've a way to bring her back before she completes her transition. She is neither dead nor living. I could go over to the other side and bring her back."
"No, Bonnie," she laughed bitterly, "it's not as easy as you think. You might be able to go there and you would even find her but you won't be able to bring her back. The spirits will stop you or even worse, they'll punish you, very badly."
It was one of those several times she tried to bring Steve back. And this time she even nearly succeeded, but the spirits interfered because no one, absolutely no one, should change the balance of life and death in the nature.
"Steve" she whispered in shock as her eyes took in the figure standing before her in the dark abyss.
Steve couldn't actually be said to be alive at that time (because he wasn't), his ghost figure was very smokey, looking like a shiny silvery human figure.
She tried to hug him, but failed as her hands crossed across his body, disabling her from even touching him.
"You shouldn't be here, my child." he whispered consolingly as she found herself crying at the prospect of not even giving him a hug.
"I'm here to take you back, Steve. Please come back." she pleaded.
"I wish to, I truly wish to, Lucia." he said with a melancholy smile. "But I can't. You, alone, have to go. The spirits aren't very happy with you. They won't endure the imbalance of life. Go back or they will harm you."
"But- But I'm here for you. I can't go back without you."
"No, Lucia, no," he shook his head, "I'm dead. There is nothing you could do to save me."
"Yes I can." she said firmly, "I've seen so many people bring back their loved ones from the dead. Then, why can't I?"
"Because the spirits won't allow you. I'm someone they've always detested for the imbalance I kept on creating. And now that they have me here, they will never let go of me. I'm trapped. And there is nothing you or anybody could do."
"No, no," she shook her head stubbornly, not moving from her place even an inch, "they will have to. They- They just need a life for a life. I'll sacrifice someone in exchange for you. Then there will be balance and you'll be back."
"Stop trying, my child, stop trying. And ask your father to do the same. You'll both end up being hurt in trying to bring me back. There is nothing either of you could do. Let go of me. Live your life. It's time for you to move on. This life has so much more to offer. Go, explore it. Live to your fullest. Don't limit yourself because of me."
"No," she said stubbornly, tears streaming down her face, "no, I'm not going back without you. The spirits could do nothing to me. I've travelled here without dying. I'm not of their realm. They can't harm me."
"But you're in their realm. They have full control here. Even I'm useless here. I won't be able to help you if you don't return now."
"Come, just come with me. We'll go back." she insisted.
"Lucia-" he stopped short as she dropped down to the dark floor, groaning in pain.
"Lucia, Lucia," he said worriedly, crouching down next to her, "go back Lucia. Or else these spirits won't stop. Go back!"
That day she travelled to the other side without dying by using an extremely dark magic with the support of several other witches who were making sure she doesn't die on her way in or out. But her attempts were futile.
By that time, she had already grown estranged from Richard and she didn't find it necessary to inform him of her encounter with Steve's spirit.
Unfortunately, that day was the only time Lucia managed to talk to Steve's spirit. Still she didn't stop trying, despite what Steve asked her to, and kept on doing dark rituals which only resulted in either getting innocent people sacrificed in vain or Lucy getting hurt herself.
Anyways, jumping back to the present, currently Bonnie Bennett was the one determined to bring Elena Gilbert back to life in human form. And she didn't seem keen on dropping this idea anytime soon.
"But I have to try." Bonnie said firmly. "It's the only way. I have to."
━━━━━━✰━━━━━━
A/n:
So, firstly, idk what was this chapter supposed to be 😂. I just want to jump into season 4.
Secondly,
You want to meet Richard Wright in TVD S4 or TO S1?
Until then,
Ripahhhhhhhhhh.
Word Count : 2440