𝖻𝗋𝗈𝗄𝖾𝗇 𝗉𝗋𝗈𝗆𝗂𝗌𝖾𝗌 | 𝗌𝖾𝗊𝗎𝖾𝗅 𝗍𝗈 𝖺𝗅𝗐𝖺𝗒𝗌&𝖿𝗈𝗋𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗋 {𝗈𝗇 𝗁𝗈𝗅𝖽}

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐱

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐱
𝐤𝐚𝐢 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐬
{𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝}

"You lied to me?" Lizzie asked, "You told me that Sebastian chose to leave the school."

"I said he made his choice. He refused to respect our rules." Alaric told them, "So you sent him here?" Lizzie asked in exasperation.

"He had help. There was a witch who did the spell." Sebastian spoke up, sitting in a chair in the corner of the room as Evelyn stood beside him, him fiddling with her hand. "Dark hair, kind eyes. Amazing accent."

Josie looked back at her father, "Emma."

"How could you, Dad?" Lizzie asked angrily. "You can yell at me after we arm ourselves." Alaric told them.

"Dad, why do we need weapons so bad?" Josie asked, Alaric turning back towards her. "All you need to know is that we're in danger, and we need to find a way out now."

Sebastian vamp sped towards Alaric, pulling Evelyn along with him. "We're in a new world now. Perhaps you are no longer the one in charge." Alaric suddenly shoved a stake in Sebastian's gut as both Lizzie and Evelyn gasped in horror, Evelyn kneeling down beside him. "Oh, my god, Sebastian."

"To be clear, my daughters, Evelyn, and I are leaving, you are staying behind and yes, I am in charge." Alaric said, looking back at the three girls briefly before leaving the room.

Josie grabbed Evelyn by the arm and pulled her along to follow after her father. "Dad, this is about Uncle Kai, isn't it?" Evelyn took a deep breath in at the man's name. "That's why you're so worried? I know this has to be hard for you, but you said he was desiccated."

"You don't know what he's capable of." Alaric told them, "And until I'm positive no one's set him free, I'm not taking any chances."

"Alaric, who could have possibly set him free?" Evelyn asked as he grabbed a crossbow from under the table.

"I'll explain all that later." Alaric replied, "Right now, I need the two of you to go to the meadow, get the Sandclock before anyone else finds it. Then I need you to come back here and hide. And stay hidden."

He grabbed the bag of weapons and went to walk out, pausing when Josie spoke again. "Dad, this is all my fault. If I hadn't done black magic in the first place, we'd of never been in this mess."

"We all make mistakes." Alaric said simply before walking out, knowing the girl was right.

"This is really, really bad." Josie whispered, "I can't believe I caused all of this."

"Hey, hey no." Evelyn said, grabbing the girl by the shoulders and forcing her to face her. "This was Alyssa's fault, alright? You made a few bad choices but we will get out of this, okay?"

"Yeah." Josie nodded, "Come on." She grabbed a jacket, the two walking through the house and back around to the entrance, her calling out. "Lizzie? Sebastian? Where are you guys?"

"Quick question?" The spun around quickly, seeing a blonde girl standing behind them with her hands on her hips. "Who the hell are you two?"

"Jade?" Josie asked in shock. "Little Josie Saltzman all grown up." Jade said. "I'll be damned. Is Lizzie here too?"

"Uh, no." Josie responded slowly. "Jade, what are you doing here?"

"If it's okay with you, can we have this conversation after I eat?" Jade asked, stepping closer to the two girls. "Because I'm starving, and you look delicious."

Evelyn immediately stepped in front of Josie, her own eyes glowing in warning when a stake was shove into Jade's chest from behind, her body dropping to the ground. "Come with me if you want to live."

༄༄༄

The man led them to a more worn out version of the old mill. "Welcome. I call it Fort Parker. It's a...it's a hit moldy but also rent-controlled, so I try not to complain. Flavored vodka? It's, uh, it's no zima, but then again, nothing is."

He tossed Josie a bottle, her catching it. "You're Kai Parker." Josie said, Evelyn's eyes widening.

Kai gasped, "I am. And you are one of the Saltzman twins. I can smell the Gemini on you. The real question is, are you Linda, or, or Joanie? I can never tell you two apart. And I have no idea who you are."

"I'm Evelyn." Evelyn told him, "Evelyn Mikaelson."

"And I'm Josie. Named after my mom, who you killed." Josie told him, "Okay, here we go. Look, technically, I was trying to kill you and your sister. Uh, but that's all over now, so I say we just move on."

"Move on?" Josie asked, "You're a monster."

"A monster would have let you die. That vampire who tried to turn you into her own person Capri Sun? She's the real monster." Kai told them, "She and her cronies run this world. They revived me from desiccation just so they could have a little plaything. Every day, like clockwork, they hunt me down and kill me. But s..since I'm magically bound to this world...I can't actually die. So I pop back up only to be hunted and killed all over again every day. Welcome to the supernatural hunger games."

"That's sounds horrible." Evelyn muttered, but was ignored as Josie spoke. "That girl used to go to our school. Why is she here?"

Kai imitated a buzzer, "No answers for free. Information for information. What are you two doing here?"

"I, um...I used a Mora Miserium." Josie told him, "Sandclock?" Kai asked, "Oh, don't tell me. It degraded, and you just decided to drop it over here without a thought for my safety."

"I tried to create a new world, but a witch tricked us, and we got pulled into this one instead." Josie told him, "Classic double cross. And, uh, who else is a part of "we"?"

"She answered your question. Now you answer hers." Evelyn spoke up, having been unusually silent through this as she narrowed her eyes at the man. "Why is Jade here?"

"Yeah. I'm not the one you should be asking." Kai told them.

༄༄༄

"Dad!" Josie said as the two girls rushed into the room, spotting Kai's desiccated body.

"Girls. Oh, god." Alaric said, hugging Josie before pulling away and looking at her, Evelyn, and Kai then back at them. "What are you doing with him? He could've killed you."

"He saved our life, actually." Josie said. "I don't care. He's a liar. You can't trust him. You hear me?"

"Was he lying when he told us you sent a bunch of your old students here to punish them?" Evelyn asked, narrowing her eyes at the man.

"I told you, we all make mistakes." Alaric sighed, turning around. "I'm not about to make the same one twice."

"Dad, you can't kill him in this world." Josie said quickly, "Well, I'm sure as hell gonna try."

Josie looked over at Evelyn and nodded, the girl holding up her hand and chanting. "Ad somnum."

They dragged Alaric's body up on the stage and tied him to a chair as Kai slowly woke up. "Oh, I should've seen that coming. Okay. First death's free, Ric, but I'm warning you, if you think that I'm..." He stopped as he spotted Evelyn and Josie. "Well, I definitely didn't see this coming."

"We didn't want him trying to stop us." Evelyn told him, "Stop you from doing what?" Kai asked.

"Getting us all out of here...even if that means partnering up with you." Josie responded.

༄༄༄

"So, we need three things, the apex of the celestial event that trapped me here, some Bennett blood, and the duplicate ascendant, which is the first thing I went looking for when those burnouts woke me up." Kai told them.

"Do you find it?" Josie asked, "No answers for free. I assume you come carrying the Bennett blood."

Josie looked over at Evelyn with a silent question, but she shook her head, wordlessly telling her to stay quiet as Kai looked back at them. "I-how is it possible that you came to a prison world without the one thing you need to escape it?"

"Well, it's not exactly like this trip was planned." Josie defended. "Okay, so then what exactly are you bringing to this partnership?" Kai asked, "Because from where I stand, I'm the only one of us who is not useless."

"No answer for free, remember?" Evelyn shrugged, using Kai's words against him. "What's the celestial event?"

"That I actually don't know, but, uh...there's only so many minutes in a day, so I'll figure it out." Kai informed them.

"That's your plan?" Josie asked, "Process of elimination?"

"I like a challenge." Kai said simply. "And to be honest, I've got nothing but time."

"Could the Sandclock be strong enough to power the ascendant without a celestial event?" Josie asked, Kai pausing in his tracks before turning back towards them slowly. "Maybe. Why? Where is it?"

"Somewhere in this clearing." Josie told him, Kai looking around before asking. "Then why don't I see it?"

"Because I put a spell on it. You wouldn't even know that you were looking at it." Josie responded.

"You know, that-that actually happened to me with a teddy bear once." Kai told them, "You, uh, you really don't trust me, do you?" He reached into his pocket and slowly pulled out the ascendant, setting it down on the ground in front of the two girls. "Consider it a show of good faith."

Evelyn nodded at Josie, the girl bending down and taking her back pack off her shoulders, unzipping it and pulling out the sandclock. "You were lying." Kai gave a mock gasp. "You're definitely learning."

༄༄༄

Kai pushed open the doors to the hospital as the two girls followed him, Josie questioning. "Are you sure this is gonna work? Why are we here?"

"Oh. Information for Information." Kai responded. "Tell me more about this Malivore pit and those monsters you've been dealing with. And for the record, I never lost faith in Santa being real."

"Basically, Malivore is a pocket dimension, like this one." Josie explained. "There is a portal into our world. We closed it, but the monsters keep coming."

"Fascinating." Kai said, "Now, to answer your question, we're here because I spent years studying genealogical records while being hunted and killed for sport. I recently found someone who donated blood under the name Smithfield, which was her married name. Maiden name: Bennett." Kai gave a mock gasp as he pointed to the sign that said blood storage. "Bennett blood. Ta-da."

Kai pushed open the door only for the two girls to gasp as Jade spun around in a chair, blood bag in hand. "Thank god you're here. I'm still hungry." Kai held up his hand, flinging the door shut.

"I thought you killed her." Evelyn said, "Yeah, I totally did. But they're banished to this world, like me, so they just keep...coming back. We should go."

They walked away from the room and down the halls hurriedly as Josie said, "We need to find my dad before that werewolf wakes up."

"Well, then go." Kai threw his hands up, "Save daddy. I'm rooting for you. Although you three aren't bound to this place, so at some point, be it today, tomorrow or the next, they'll kill all three of you. Sorry, kiddos, the Bennett blood's gone. We're trapped here. Nothing matters."

"What if there was another way to get Bennett blood?" Josie asked. "Would you help us then?"

"Yeah, nice try at manipulation, but I'm not gonna believe anything yo..." Kai cut himself off when Josie pulled a vial out of her pocket, holding it up. "It's Alexandra's from when we sent the Sandclock here."

"I knew you were holding out on me." Kai smiled, "We didn't know if we could trust you."

Kai was suddenly slammed against the wall by Jade, faking an expression of fear. "Oh...oh, goodness. Oh, perfect timing, baby."

The two girls turned to run but Kai held up his hand. "Immobilus. Hey, thanks for your help." Kai walked toward them. "Your instincts were right. There is no trusting me. So, while the two of you have been playing checkers...I've been playing chess." He took the vial of blood from Josie's hand. "Checkmate."

He walked around her and began searching through Josie's bag. "Yeah, I guess I forgot to mention one thing about the whole Hunger Games, I'm kinda into it. Keeps the monotony interesting. Once they woke me up, they quickly realized my superior leadership qualities. They're kind of like my followers, I guess you could say. You can keep your lousy Sandclock. I'll be gone before it breaks. Oh, chin up. You're new at conning people. You'll get better at it. Take them to Ric. Don't kill then yet. Make all three of them suffer."

Kai took Evelyn's face in his hands. "I couldn't have done it without you, kid. Sorry I'm not father of the year though, I'm sure you wanted me to be." Evelyn's eyes widened at the fact that he knew as he chuckled slightly. "Aw, you thought I didn't know? Cute." He leaned forward, kissing her forehead gently before turning and walking away.

"Oh, this is gonna be fun." Jade said from behind the two girls.

༄༄༄

"If you're planning on torturing me, you're gonna be disappointed." Alaric said. "I can handle the torture."

"How about..." Jade dragged both girls in. "Seeing your daughter be tortured?"

"Josie. Evelyn." Alaric said, sitting up in alarm as Jade forced Josie into a chair and threw Evelyn into Diegos arms. "Girls, are you okay?"

"For now, but what happens next is up to you." Jade told him. "So talk. 'Cause I've waited ten years for an explanation for what you did to us."

"What other choice did you leave me?" Alaric asked, "I knew what I had to do. Five people were dead, brutally murdered. Fed on, ripped apart, dismembered, burned to cover it up. And not one of you showed any remorse or even admitted what you had done. I couldn't let you stay at the school. I wasn't gonna unleash you into the world."

"So you sent us here forever?" Diego asked, "Is that how you help your students?"

"No." Alaric responded, "I made a mistake. I should have killed you."

Jade laughed at his words, "Ooh, doubling down in the face of imminent death. Ballsy."

"I knew you were killers, that you wouldn't change. It was Caroline that talked me into showing your mercy." Alaric told them.

"Enough talk. Let's kill him." Diego said, moving forwards but Jade stopped him. "No, I want him to suffer first, you two go check on Kai. He has all the pieces to get us out now. Make sure he doesn't leave us behind. But Evelyn here is too powerful, she needs a little...subduing."

Diego smirked at the girls words before biting Evelyn's neck as she cried out in pain, fighting desperately against his hold while Josie and Alaric both yelled in protest. After a moment, he took his fangs from her neck and threw her to the ground, unconscious.

༄༄༄

Evelyn was shaken awake slowly as a worried Josie kneeled beside her, "Evie? Thank god."

"Josie?" Evelyn asked groggily. "What the hell happened?"

"Diego bit you, hard." Josie responded, running her fingers across Evelyn's neck. "It seems to have healed."

Before Evelyn could respond, the phone began ringing as Josie helped Evelyn stand before walking over and answering it. "Who is this?"

"Thank god you're still alive. I was worried sick." Kai said, laughing. "Hey, I got to say, I'm not even mad about the whole blood con. Borderline proud, even. Okay, I'm-I'm always mad. But in a fun, completely unpredictable sort of way. It keeps you on your toes."

"I hate you." Josie said, "Yeah. That's such a Ric thing to say. Hey, how is the old man nowadays?"

"I hate you for everything that you've done to my family, and I am never helping you get out of here." Josie said hatefully. "You're a liar, and nothing you ever say will matter to me."

"Actually, I called to help you get out. There is another way. Does what I say matter now?" Kai asked. "I don't believe you." Josie said.

"Yeah, okay, that's totally understandable. But you still got Darth Vader's alarm clock, right?" Kai questioned, Josie glancing over to it. "Maybe."

"Good. Cause you're gonna need every last bit of its power to pull this off." Kai told them, "I should probably get going. You're not gonna believe this, but I found my own way out of here."

"What? How?" Josie asked, "Oh, no answers for "fwee," little Josette." Kai replied, "You know, you remind me of her. Your bio-mom thought she was smarter than me, too. But I punished her just like I'm about to punish you. Because...you ready for it? In order to use that Sandclock, you have to break it. And when you get hit with all that black magic, if it doesn't kill you, it's gonna turn you into something dark and evil. But you'll also be powerful enough to make your own door out of here, so, what a predicament, right? To save daddy, to get yourself home, you have to become a monster. Like...me."

"The only catch is, you won't remember I told you any of this, because you won't remember me at all." Kai told her, Evelyn's face falling in realization. "My god. I know where you are."

"Hey, thanks for all the stories about Malivore. A portal to another dimension sounds pretty good to me right about now." Kai told them.

"No, you don't understand, Malivore is a hell dimension. It's complete and utter darkness. You'll be trapped and alone, forever." Evelyn told him frantically.

"Yeah, I've been trapped and alone for most of my life. I could use the change of scenery." Kai said back. "So, I'd smash that Sandclock in the next few seconds if I were you, cause I'm about to take a swan dive into oblivion, and I'd hate for you to forget the only thing that can save you. Good luck, kiddo."

Josie dropped the phone and walked towards the Sandclock, picking it up and smashing it on the ground with a silent scream, the two girls flying backwards as the dark magic enveloped them both.