I wake with a gasp, shooting straight up. Sweat clings to my forehead as my chest pumps in and out frantically. What the hell just happened? What the hell did I just dream? My breath comes out in gasps as I rub my hands over my face. I try to clear my mind from the dream, blinking as I start to take in my surroundings. And that's when I notice I'm in my car...on the side of the road...
What the...
Shifting in the driver's seat, I look out the car windows around me, trying to determine where the hell I am. All that meets my sight, however, is trees. Confused and dazed from the dream, I reach for my phone, dialing Stefan. When he picks up, his voice is frantic. "Lils? What's going on? Where are you?"
I frown at his words. "What do you mean?"
Stefan's voice is filled with confusion. "What do you mean what do I mean? Where are you? We were expecting you two days ago."
A small gasp falls from my lips as my muddled mind tries to keep up. "Two days? What? I saw you last night? You and Damon."
There's a long pause on Stefan's end. "Lily...neither Damon or I saw you last night. I haven't seen you since Damon and Bonnie disappeared. Two days ago, Damon came back. We called you. You said you were coming, and then, you never did. We've been calling and calling, but you haven't been answering."
My grip on my phone loosens a bit as I start shaking my head, squeezing my eyes shut. "No. No. We talked last night, and I was in Mystic Falls last night. We all reunited at the Boarding House."
"Lily," Stefan says, gently as worry fills his words. "Mystic Falls is an anti-magic zone. The Traveler's cast their spell, remember? We couldn't have met at the Boarding House because crossing into Mystic Falls would have killed us all."
"Then..." I start before stopping as I try to piece together my brother's words. If it's been two days...and seeing them wasn't real...then, what's happening to me? Fear like I haven't felt in a while suddenly swells in my chest. "Stefan," I whisper, "what's happening?"
"I-I don't know, Lils, but we'll figure it out together. Where are you? I'll come get you." Glancing outside the car windows again, I urge myself to keep calm as I answer.
"I don't know, Stefan. I'm surrounded by trees."
Seeming to sense the panic welling up in me, Stefan's voice drops to a low reassuring tone. "It's okay, Lils. I'll start driving toward New Orleans, and I'll find you. Are you able to drive? To find the nearest town?" He asks.
I nod to myself, straightening in my seat. "Yeah, yeah. I can do that."
"Okay, text me when you have a town name, and I'll meet you there."
"Okay, I will."
A moment of silence passes between us, neither of us wanting to hang up quite yet. "Everything will be okay, Lily. I'll find you, and everything will be okay. We'll figure it out. Okay?"
"Yeah," I whisper. "Okay."
Stefan and I hang up, and I take a moment to try to gather myself. Then, with a determined breath, I start the engine and drive. I have no idea what happened to me, nor why I'm missing two days, but I can figure that out once I'm with my brothers. For now, all I can manage is driving, concentrating on nothing else expect figuring out where I am.
After a few miles, I pull into a gas station in a small town I typically pass on my way to Mystic Falls. So, I was on my way here whenever whatever happened to me happened two days ago. I was just stopped amidst my journey by that bizarre dream. I text Stefan the town, and he asks me to stay put, so for once, I decide to comply. I don't know if I trust myself right now to even continue if I wanted to.
With time to spare and my sanity still questionable, I dial Jess. She picks up and confirms that our conversation happened, but that I was driving while we were talking. Like Stefan, she tells me the last time we talked was two days ago. When she asks me what's happening, I have no idea what to tell her, but I promise to keep her updated when I find out. After we hang up, I find myself staring at my phone screen which carries missed calls and unanswered texts from Klaus. Frowning, I clear them away, and start a new text. I tell him everything's good and that I'm just busy, but we can talk soon. I know it's terrible to lie to him, but I don't even know what's happening with me, and with everything happening New Orleans, I just need the time to figure this out before dragging him into it.
Trying to ease my racing heart and worried mind, I take a few deep breaths, closing my eyes for a few moments.
...
The shuffling of feet outside my door has me peeking my eyes open. In the darkness of the bedroom, I don't see anything, but I wait. Then, like clockwork, another moment passes before the door opens, letting in a crack of light, and closes gently. The sound of small feet pattering across the carpet gets closer, and I reach out a hand for my son.
He finds it in the dark and squeezes it with sniffles echoing from his figure in the dark. My heart cracks at the sound, knowing tears are flowing from his eyes too. Slipping out of bed, my son and I walk toward the bathroom to find light and not disturb his dad. Once the bathroom door is closed behind us, I pick him up and set him on the vanity counter, stepping close to him. His eyes are bloodshot as tears streak down his cheeks and snot bubbles from his nose. I reach over for a tissue and press it to his nose. He follows my cue and blows. Once the snot is gone, he reaches out for a hug, and I squeeze him tight. He clings on to me and cries more. I let him get it all out.
As he calms, I pull away from him, reaching my fingers to his face to wipe the stray tears away. "Was it another nightmare?" I ask him. He nods, his fingers twisting into his pajama shirt. This is his fourth nightmare in the last week. He's never had this many before until now, and I'm starting to get worried. "Do you want to tell me about it?"
His lips press together, a nervous habit he picked up from his dad, as his four-year-old frame hunches. "The monsters were back, Mommy." My fingers run through his hair as I try to soothe his terror away. I hate to see my baby so upset. "They were scary. Their teeth..." his eyes well as with new tears, so I press a kiss to his head, running a hand up and down his back.
"It's okay, baby. You're safe."
He nods, reaching out for another hug. Holding him close, I keep whispering to him, reminding him that he's safe and protected here. "Their teeth were really sharp, Mommy. And they were trying to steal my blood," he mumbles into my shoulder. My hand continues to rub along his back as I take in this information. Another vampire dream. Although he's been dreaming of all sorts of monsters lately, the vampires have been the worse. He's petrified of them. And the worse part is that I don't even know where this is all coming from. He doesn't watch any scary T.V. shows or movies. We're careful to monitor that.
He tells me a bit more about his dream and I continue my reassurances. When a yawn finally slips his lips, I bend down to be at eye-level with him. "Are you sleepy, baby?" He nods. "Do you want to try your room again?" He shakes his head furiously. I knew that would be his answer, but I still had to try. "Do you want to stay with me and dad?" He nods his head yes. After pressing another kiss to his head, I help him off the counter and onto the floor. When I move to open the bathroom door, I find the bedroom lit up with light from Klaus's bedside lamp. Our eyes meet across the room, and we share a knowing glance.
Shutting off the bathroom lights, my son and I walk across the room to the bed. I help him into it, and he's quick to crawl to Klaus's side where Klaus wraps him into his arms. After the hug, our son settles in between Klaus and I. In a couple of minutes, he's asleep. Klaus and I lock gazes over his head, and I sigh. Klaus reaches out and grazes the back of his hand down my cheek. "Don't worry, Love. It's just a phase."
I frown. "Maybe so, but I hate seeing him this way, Nik," I whisper back to him. "And I don't understand where any of this is coming from?" Running a hand over my face, I shake my head. "It was vampires again, Nik. He doesn't watch anything with vampires. Where is he getting all these nightmares from?"
Klaus's gaze shares my concerns as he grasps my hand in his. "I'm not sure. It could be a preschool thing, or maybe it's something Hope's watched that he's happened to see. But we'll figure it out, okay. Tomorrow. For now, we should try to get some sleep."
I nod my head, knowing Klaus is right. It's the middle of the night, trying to solve the mystery of our son's dreams isn't practical right now when I desperately need sleep. So, we both curl up around our son, and Klaus reaches over to turn the light off.
Vampires. How horrid.
...
A knocking sound brings me back to reality. Dazed, I rub my eyes before looking out the driver's side of my car to find Stefan watching me with concern. Sitting up in my seat, I gesture for Stefan to move back before I open the car door and step out. Stefan stands there waiting for me, and I'm quick to jump into his arms. I don't understand what is going on, what's happening with these dreams. Stefan squeezes me tightly before we pull away. Then, with a sweep of his arms, he steps back, causing me to look at where he gestured to find Damon and Alaric. My eyes widen, and even though our reunion already happened in my head, I still go running into my oldest brother's arm. "Damon," I breathe, hugging him tight. His embrace is just as enthusiastic as presses me against him.
"I missed you, Lilybug."
When we pull away, I stare at him for a second before frowning. "Wait, what about Bonnie? She's still there, right? She sacrificed herself to get you out."
Damon mirrors my frown. "Yes, but...how did you know that? Did Stefan tell you?"
I shake my head. "No, you did...while I guess you really didn't, but I thought you did."
"Creepy," my brother whispers. I nod in agreement.
Taking in the car behind my brother and Alaric, who waves hello, I raise my eyebrow at my brothers, "Am I missing something?"
Stefan steps up to my side with a sigh. "Yeah, so about that. We were already on our way to Portland, Oregon when you called, so we made a quick detour to pick you up."
"And what's in Portland?" I ask, although I already have a sneaky suspicion.
"The Gemini Coven," Damon replies.
"But Stefan followed that lead already. It was a dead end."
"Ahh, but you don't know what I know, Lilybug." Damon spends the next few minutes explaining the Prison World he was in, the guy Kai he met, Bonnie's sacrifice, and how he thought she was dead until he found her teddy bear, Ms. Cuddles, the other day. Thus, Damon thinks this means Bonnie is still alive, so we're headed to Portland to track down some ascendant thing from the Gemini Coven with the hopes of saving Bonnie. It seems like a bit of a long shot, but I welcome the distraction from my current problems and decide to join the boys on their adventure.
The long drive to Portland is filled with information as Stefan, Alaric, and Damon fill me in on the happenings of Mystic Falls, like how Elena had Alaric erase her memories of Damon, and Caroline's pissed at Stefan for starting a new life without telling anymore. Damon, especially, was excited to fill me in on our brother's epic failure with Caroline.
"Can we stop talking about this now?" Stefan groans from the backseat next to me.
"No," Damon replies from the driver's seat. "It's funny."
I roll my eyes at my brothers' antics, turning my head to look out the window while the two continue to bicker. Watching the landscape pass by, I sigh.
...
I stand in a great big yard, pushing a little girl on a swing. Her giggles fill my ears when she gets higher up in the air. "I can touch the sun, Mommy!" She squeals, her legs kicking in the air. She swings down again, and I push her up again. I continue to push her on the swings for an insignificant amount of time until a figure opens the screen door from the house and steps outside. The little girl, our daughter, gasps. "Daddy!"
She barely lets me stop the swing before she's off of it, running toward Klaus, who stands with his arms open wide. She jumps into them, and he catches her. "Hi, sweetie." They embrace, pulling away as I make it to them. Klaus wraps an arm around my waist, pulling me in for a kiss.
"Ew!" Our daughter protests. Klaus and I part, laughing at our little girl as the three of us enter the house. We send our daughter off to finish her reading for first grade as Klaus steps into the kitchen to start dinner. I press another kiss to his cheek before I leave him in the kitchen to check on the laundry. As I walk down the hall of our home, I pause, looking over at our family picture. The four of us are all clustered together with smiles on our faces. Hope stands proudly, embracing the fact that she's braces-free as she got them off a week before the picture was taken. Klaus stands behind her with me next to his side and our daughter in front of me. As I look closer at our daughter, I realize that-
...
"Lily!" Stefan shakes my shoulder, getting my attention. So quickly, it might've given me whiplash if I was human, I turn and look at him. My eyes wide. "Are you okay?" He asks, concern in his tone and eyes as he leans closer. "It's like you were in a trance or something. One moment you were here and another you were gone."
Running a hand across my face, I shake my head. "I-I have no idea what just happened, Stef. I-it happened again."
"What did?" Damon asks from in front of me, straightening in his seat as he tries to catch my gaze in the rearview mirror.
"The dreams. I had another one." Ducking my head, I try to calm my racing heart as I run my hands through my hair. I don't understand why this is happening. At first, I could have written it off as just dreams, but now, something else seems up. "I keep having these weird dreams."
"About what?" Stefan asks, placing his hand on my shoulder to provide a comforting touch.
Lifting my head, I frown at him. "I don't even know how to describe it. It's...I'm...I'm human in them, with a family. Kids." Damon frowns in the mirror as Alaric tilts his head to the side, looking back at me. Stefan mimics my frown. Reading their looks, I shake my head, making Stefan's hand fall away. "Look, I know that sounds normal, but I've never dreamt anything like that before and with how the dreams are coming...it's just not normal."
The boys remain silent for a moment. Then, Damon, always the bravest, asks, "Do you want to be human, Lily? Do you want kids? Is that why you're having these dreams?"
Dropping my gaze to my lap, I shake my head. After thinking about it, I know my answer. I think I always did even while I entertained Esther's offer for a few moments. "No. No, I don't."
...
Arriving in Portland, the four of us get out of the car to stretch our legs. As Damon gathers his backpack and Bonnie's bear from the trunk, I look around the forest we pulled into while Alaric answers a call. "Hi Elena." I frown at her name. She rattles on about the boys missing some dinner Caroline is planning, leaving Stefan to look at Damon. "Did you get invited to dinner tonight?"
Damon looks up from the trunk. "Of course."
"Huh," Stefan mutters. I face him at this with my brow raised high and amusement in my tone.
"Wait, were you not invited?"
Stefan shakes his head, and Damon smirks. "Ooh, you messed with the wrong girl's feelings." He laughs to himself, and I smirk. Having Caroline pissed at me is the last thing I would ever want. I pat my twin's arm.
"Yeah, I side with Damon. Good luck with that." I warned him months ago that lying about starting a new life would make it bad, but he didn't listen to me, and now, he's paying for it.
As we start walking through the forest, Alaric smirks at Stefan. "So is that the reason why Caroline told me to bring a dish and dessert, because Stefan wasn't invited?"
Damon shakes his head. "See what you did?" He looks to Stefan, readjusting the backpack that holds Bonnie's bear on his shoulder. "Now we're pulling your weight. I really hope you figure this out before Christmas."
I smile at Alaric and Damon's teasing. It's taking my mind off the fact that I'm currently experiencing weird dreams at random intervals and lying to my boyfriend about it. "Yeah. Well, I'm glad you're both finding amusement in this," Stefan mutters.
"Why don't you just date her, put us all out of our misery?" Damon says.
"Because I don't think about her that way. She's my friend." Stefan replies.
I scoff. "Whatever you say, brother." Stefan shoots me a look of betrayal, but I shrug.
"C'mon Stefan, she would make a great girlfriend. Look. One, she's hot, objectively."
"Two, she puts up with you," Alaric adds.
"Three, she's incredibly compassionate and loyal," I pipe up.
"Big pluses," Damon nods at Alaric and I. "Four, very, very well organized."
Stefan gives Damon a look, his forehead crinkling. "Organizational skills?"
"There are no drawbacks to this woman, Stefan," Damon emphasizes.
Alaric pauses at this, looking back at Damon. "Eh, she did sleep with you."
"Ew," I proclaim.
Damon smirks. "See? Another plus."
Stefan shakes his head at all of us before his phone pings, letting us know we reached our destination. We step out of the forest and stop in between two brick posts, staring out at a field of nothing. "Oh! Look. We're here. Behold the Gemini Coven exactly how it looked four months ago."
We all stare at the field dumbfounded, but Damon pushes us ahead while Stefan still grumbles bitterly. "Like I said, 3,000 miles ago. It's not here. Can we go home now, please?"
"You know what? Check the GPS again. Just because we don't see anything doesn't mean it doesn't exist," Alaric tells Stefan.
"Not unlike Caroline's feelings for Stefan," Damon quips.
Stefan rolls his eyes. "Hilarious. Keep them coming."
Slipping the backpack off his shoulder, Damon pulls Bonnie's bear out of the bag and holds it up. Moving the bear's arm, Damon speaks in a high-pitched tone. "Oh, no. Is Stefan feeling sensitive about ruining his friendship with Caroline?"
"Even though his sister warned him this would happen," I say, crossing my arms.
Damon makes the bear nod in my direction. "Caroline really liked him, and he broke her heart."
"See, Stefan? Even the bear knew." Alaric adds, straight-faced.
Damon raises the bear higher, still miming its voice. "I saw that from a mile away, and my brain's made of cotton." I can't help it, I break out in laughter which annoys Stefan more.
"Give me this." Stefan rips the bear from Damon's arms and dropkicks it toward the field in front of us. As the bear flies through the air, something ripples in front of us, and then all of a sudden, a house appears in front of us. Stefan, Alaric, and I stare dumbfounded at the house while Damon chases after the bear, picking it up from the porch of the house.
"Ms. Cuddles, one. Invisible creepy mansion, zero."
Stefan, Alaric, and I follow Damon onto the house porch, still confused by the house that appeared right in front of our eyes while Damon rings the doorbell. "Anybody want to take at stab at how Bonnie's Teddy Bear undid whatever was cloaking this place?"
"He said without laughing," Damon murmurs while staring into the house through the front door.
Alaric examines the bear in his hands. "Jo told me she got rid of her magic by putting it away for safekeeping." Jo, I was told on the way here, is Alaric's girlfriend and a witch and doctor who works at Whitmore Hospital. She saved Alaric's life when he crossed the border in Mystic Falls while dealing with this whole vampire hunter fiasco, making him human again. "Maybe Bonnie put her magic away in this," he gestures to the bear.
"Why would Bonnie put her magic in Ms. Cuddles?" Stefan asks.
Damon stares at the bear for a moment. "To keep Kai from using her to get out." Then, he moves to the front door and opens it, but is stopped when he tries to enter.
Alaric sends Damon a small smile. "Can't say I missed that."
"It's all yours, brother." Damon nods toward the door. Alaric hands the bear to Damon, and we watch as he enters the house and starts walking up the stairs hesitantly.
When Alaric comes back outside, he has a bunch of pictures and papers in hand. We move to the front yard to crowd around them. "Jo lived here," Alaric says, sifting through the pictures for us. "There's a drawer inside full of stuff, newspaper articles about Jo's medical clamp, pictures of her as a kid, pictures of her as a teenager."
"Hold, please." Damon says, taking a picture from Alaric's hands. The picture is of a boy and a girl in ugly, red sweaters. "That's Kai from planet 1994."
"Wait," I take the picture from Damon. "Your girlfriend," I look at Alaric, "is his sister?"
"Either that, or they both have a thing for Cosby sweaters."
"I didn't know I had guests," a voice says behind us. We all turn to find an older man walking towards us, slipping gloves off his hand. "You've met Kai?"
Damon frowns at this unknown man. "Met him? Watched him die, watched him come back to life. Why? You know him?"
The older man sighs, "Yeah. He's my son. I'm Joshua Parker." He reaches out his hand. Damon shakes it.
"Damon Salvatore."
The man smiles. "Invisique." And then they and the house disappear, and suddenly, Stefan, Alaric, and I are staring at a field of nothing again.
"What the hell just happened?" Stefan asks.
Alaric shakes his head. "I don't know. Let me make a call." Picking up his phone, Alaric starts pacing as he presumably calls his girlfriend, Jo, to figure out what is happening.
Stefan and I wait for an answer, starting off at barren field our brother disappeared into. I sigh, why is everything never easy for us? Why does something always have to go wrong?
"Jo?" Alaric says into the phone, his voice louder and panicked. Stefan and I turn around, finding him coming to a still from his earlier pacing. "Jo. Jo, answer the phone." We move to Ric's side, as he puts the phone on speaker. "Elena, what the hell's going on?"
"Something's happening to Jo. You have to find her dad and stop him from whatever he's doing to her," Elena cries over the phone. Stefan tenses besides me as I stare up at where the house once was.
"Well, that's gonna be problem because even if we could see the house we haven't been invited in."
"Invite them in," Elena says, presumably to Jo.
"You can come in!" Jo yells in the background.
I shake my head. "Thanks, but we can't even see your house."
"They need magic!" Jo screams, gasping and coughing. Alaric's shoulders tense even more as he listens to his girlfriend struggle. "Crap!"
"Elena, we have to do something. Definite signs of hemoptysis," a new male's voice says in the background of the call.
"Shut up, Liam!" Jo exclaims. "Ask them if they see an old tree stump in the front yard?"
The three of us start to look around, and when we find it, Stefan speaks up. "Yeah, I see it."
"Go there now!"
We run for the tree stump, and dig around the old leaves on top of it, coming across a knife. "What the hell are we gonna do with a knife?" Stefan mumbles.
I grab it from him. "My guess is it's Jo's magic, her version of Ms. Cuddles." I turn around and throw the knife in the direction of the house. A second later, the house reappears with the knife stuck in one of the front porch pillars."
"Nice shot," Alaric says. I shoot him a grin before the three of us take off toward the house. Stefan and I get there first, just in time to prevent Joshua from staking our older brother as Stefan shoves Joshua aside, but the man whispers "Invisique," disappearing before we can confront him.
Stefan's gaze shoots from mine to Damon's, who stands up from the floor. "Well, I guess the, uh, disappearing act's their shtick."
After collecting ourselves and a quick call to Elena, we find out that she saved Jo with her blood, and it turns out that the ascendant thing the boys came looking for was with Jo this whole time..back at Whitmore College. I definitely gave my brothers some shit for that one.
...
Walking into the Whitmore Campus bar--if I had known colleges had bars, I would have gone to school way sooner--I make my way to the bar counter, finding Tyler Lockwood sat at a barstool and some girl behind the bar. "Lockwood," I greet. "It's been a while."
He nods his head in my direction, sending me a smile in greeting. "Lily, I didn't know you were back in town."
I return his smile, leaning against the bar top. "Yeah, well when your brother magically comes back from a witchy prison world, you make it a priority to drive his direction."
"So, what are you doing here then?"
I wave a hand in Tyler's direction. "Oh, I had enough reunion time with both my brothers during our trip to Portland and back. I'm here to meet Caroline," I pause and look around the mostly empty bar, "though it appears she's late. Most likely my brother's doing. I think he said he was going to try to apologize again."
Tyler chuckles at this, sharing an amused look with the girl. "Hmm, I'm sure he will have good luck with that," Tyler remarks sarcastically. I huff a laugh at this before looking at the girl behind the counter. She has a very 'I don't care and don't fuck with me attitude.' I like it!
"I'm Lily Salvatore," I stick my hand out towards her.
She nods, "Yeah, I know." Her hand reaches out for mine, and when our skin comes into contact, she gasps, quickly yanking her hand away.
I wish I could say her reaction surprises me, but it doesn't. "Funny, I always seem to get that reaction from people. Let me guess, you're a witch."
The girl nods. "Yeah, I am. And you have a lot of dark magic surrounding you." So that confirms what I've been thinking all day. The weird dreams, they're from magic, a spell, and I already know who my prime suspect is.
I sigh at her words, pulling out the barstool next to Lockwood's and sitting down on it. "How bad is it?"
The girl sends me a look full of attitude. "It's strong. Who did you piss off?"
I snort, ignoring Tyler's concerned look as he leans in. "I don't think it's so much as pissed off as it is that the witch who did this wanted to use me as a pawn in her plans. Is there a way to break the spell?"
The girl behind the bar seems to consider this for a moment, shrugging non-committedly. "Probably, but I'd have to know what spell was used first. Got any ideas?"
Leaning my arms against the counter of the bar, I nod. "Yeah, I've been having weird dreams. Dreams that aren't mine. I think the spell is planting them there, and it's making me lose track of time. I lost the last two days, and my memories were replaced by false ones."
The girl hums at this. "It sounds like it might be some kind of somnique spell, but those spells require a lot of dark magic. You certainly have a very strong witch as your enemy."
"Oh, tell me about it," I groan. The girl, noting my lack of enthusiasm, grabs a glance behind the counter.
"Bourbon," Tyler tells her, and she moves to fill the glass. I send Tyler a surprised look. "Sounds like you need one." I hum to myself at this. He's certainly not wrong.
Once the girl sets my glass of bourbon on the counter, I take it and drain it. Then, I look back to her. "Tell me about this somi-thing."
She takes my glass back and refills it while she speaks. "Somnique spells can be used as similar to vampire compulsion, but the witch version of it, if the witch is strong and skilled enough to pull off the spell." The girl sets the newly refilled glass down in front of me. "The magic affects the target of the spell's mind, making them dream dreams centered on beliefs the witch wants them to believe." When the girl seems to tell that I'm not quite following, she sighs exaggeratingly. "Basically, the witch can implant ideas into the target's mind through dreams and make the target believe that the ideas are they own without the target knowing." I frown at her words.
"But I do know."
"Yeah," the girl says as if she is speaking to a child, "because somnique spells require proximity. They're too difficult to maintain, so the target has to be close by. My guess is that your witch wasn't planning on you leaving. So because you're not close to her, you're feeling the effects of the spell, and subsequently, losing track of time. The false memories are probably the spell trying to patch itself together from the strain of having you far away from its caster."
Nodding, I try to absorb this new information. So Esther spelled me, and seems to be trying to convince me that I want to be human and have kids, most likely as a ploy to get Klaus to agree to her body jumping into a mortal plan.
Tyler's frown is even deeper than mine as he looks between me and the girl. "Well, that's seriously fucked up. Is there anything that can be done to break the spell?"
The girl sighs, leaning against the counter. "Not unless you know where the witch is doing the spell and can physically break the link." My curious gaze prompts her to continue. "A spell like this requires serious connection to the target. The witch would need something of yours," she looks at me pointedly, "representing your mind, body, and soul and something else representing you as whole, like a picture. To break the spell, you would have to disrupt all the items." The girl grabs a napkin and pen, drawing a triangle with weird symbols in and around it. "The spell set up would look something like this, with each thing representing your body, mind, and soul here," she points at the three points of the triangle, "and the part that represents your whole self here," she points at the center of the triangle.
Leaning over her sketch, my mind starts to spin. "So, you're telling me that all I have to do is find her spell setup and take the objects." The girl nods. I grin, looking between her and Tyler. "Sounds easy enough."
The girl scoffs at this. "Maybe, but if your witch is dedicated to performing a spell this powerful, she most likely has another spell over it for protection. Also, not to mention that it's a proximity spell. So the closer you get to her-"
"The more the spell will effect me, and I won't know that the dreams are from the spell. Instead, I'll start believing that I actually want to be human and have children." The girl nods. Tyler almost spits out his drink at my mention of humanity and children.
"What?" He exclaims.
"Two words," I tell him, "Esther Mikaelson."
Tyler shakes his head at this. "No, thank you. Wow, yeah, you're fucked Lily."
I roll my eyes. "Thanks for the encouragement, Lockwood," I mumble dryly. "Before you start doubting me though, let's not forget the time that I saved your dumb werewolf ass." Tyler's face twists into acknowledge, a you-got-me-there look shifting his expression. "Yeah, that's what I thought." I look back to the girl. "Thanks for your help in figuring this all out..." I trail off, waiting for her name.
"Liv."
And then it sets back in. This is the witch who helped bring me back from the other side. The one who Caroline convinced to do the spell to bring us back by killing her twin brother. A girl I now know is Jo and this Kai guy's little sister. A girl who will soon be forced to merge with her twin brother because of the creepy Gemini Coven traditions. I knew she was instrumental in helping get me back, but I never saw her, only heard her name.
"Thank you," I say with absolute sincerity. Liv seems to be taken back by it, but I can tell from the gleam in her eye that she knows what I am referring to. "I know it wasn't your choice. I know that my friends gave you no choice, but still, thank you." Our eyes meet and some understanding seems to pass between us. She nods. I send her a small smile, and then, after downing my drink again, I step away to make a call. Now that I have the answers to the questions I've been pondering all day, it's time to tell Klaus.
Dialing Klaus's number, it rings a few times before he finally picks up. "Nik!" I exclaim, excited to hear his voice after the confusion of everything of late.
"Lily!"
"Nik, I'm sorry I've been MIA, but there's so much I need to tell you. I-"
"I'm sorry, Love, but things are in a bit of a mess over here," he cuts me off. His voice is rushed and full of many emotions, anger and fear are the two I pick out the quickest.
"What?" I ask as the worry and panic I've carried around all day flairs.
"Mikael is free and hellbent on killing me. I'm tracking him now. And my brother appears to be missing." Elijah! And that's when it all clicks for me. The worry and panic I have been consumed with all day wasn't about my situation and this spell Esther cast on me. No, if it was, it would be gone. I have my answers, I have a working plan forming in my mind. Rather, the gnawing feeling in my gut is because Elijah never reached out. Whenever I leave, for a single day or multiple, Elijah always checks in on me. He always sends me messages, updating me on the status of things. And now, when I think of the texts I've received today, I realize his name is missing.
"Nik," I say, distress in my voice.
"I need you, Love! I need you here."
I nod, even though he can't see it. "Of course. I'm on my way."
We both hang up and I look back at Tyler and Liv at the bar. They notice my tense stance and the anguish in my gaze. "Tell Caroline I'll explain everything later. I need to go."
And with that, I'm out of the door and off to New Orleans to save my family.