Slowly, my eyes open to a dark ceiling, the feeling of leather pressing against my back. I groan quietly, placing a hand against my forehead while my current situation finally begins to register.
I sit up immediately, gasping, and realize I'm in Damon's car. My head snaps to the left, finding Kai driving us down an unfamiliar road. It confuses me further when I notice the night sky blanketing us, rather than the sunshine that I remembered before going unconscious.
"How did I get here?" I demand, causing his eyes to meet mine through the mirror. The corners crinkle as a smile takes the form of his lips.
"Oh, hello," He winks, "It's about time you woke up, I was starting to get lonely."
"We were just in Bonnie's house," I say through clenched teeth, "How did I end up asleep in the backseat?"
"You were being difficult, so I used a little sleeping spell on you. No harm done," He shrugs.
I blink, shaking my head slightly as I attempt to remember the events that occurred before he rendered me unconscious. Slowly, the blurry memories surface and I replay them in my mind, trying to make sense of why the hell Kai brought us here and where exactly he's going.
I stormed after him, stepping harshly down the stairs to find the front door ajar.
"Kai!" I shouted, my anger being fueled by my panic as I ran out the front door to find him.
There he was, standing with his back to me next to Damon's car. I advanced towards him, until I was only inches away. Kai turned around, looking down at me due to our proximity. His icy, blue eyes regarded me coldly, lips pinched into a tight line.
"What, Charlie?" He hissed at me, his hot breath hitting my face.
"Why the hell are you out here, instead of in there, trying to find another way to get out of this place?" I demanded cocking my head at him.
"A prisoner of the prison world itself can't use the Ascendant from the outside world," He retorted, turning to walk away from me.
"Hey, wait," I huffed, my hand reaching out to grip his elbow. Instinctively, Kai jerked it away and spun around to scowl at me.
"Aren't your witchy friends coming to save you, anyway?" He snaps. "Don't worry, princess, I'm sure you won't be inconvenienced much longer."
My anger faded, along with my panic and is quickly replaced with irritation. "Have you forgotten that you stole the Ascendant from Liv? There's no way for them to come back here! As much as I hate to say it, you're my only hope!"
"Well, I officially have no way out of this damned place, so you won't be hitching a ride with me," He snorted.
I run my hands through my tangled ringlets in frustration. Kai seemed to be giving up already and it was tearing down my spirits even more, if that were possible. There had to be another way, at least that's the belief I had to cling to, or the panic would rush in again. I refused to allow him, the one who dragged me into this, to back out so quickly.
"Kai, come on," I sigh. "You can't seriously believe there's no other way. There's almost always a loophole."
"All that stupid book said was that the only way the prisoner could get him or herself out is if someone else did the Ascendant spell, or if there were an Ascendant placed in the prison world that didn't come from the outside. And I'm pretty sure there is no Ascendant in this hell, so we're out of luck," He said, slowly turning away again and walking away.
"You're pretty sure?" I called after him, causing him to stop in his tracks, without turning around. "So you admit there's a possibility that there's another Ascendant in this place."
"My family wanted me gone," He whispered through his teeth, still not facing me. "Why would they leave a key for me to get out?"
"Well, you siphon magic, don't you?" I reminded him. "You don't have any of your own, not to mention you didn't even know the spell until recently. As far as your family knew, the Ascendant would've been useless to you anyway. It was never a threat to them. Maybe it was hidden here, as a precaution. For people like Bonnie and Damon."
He remained silent and I knew he was considering the possibility of this. It was too late to remind myself not to allow my hopes to get up in case there was no Ascendant here; they were already soaring.
Cautiously, Kai turned around and a smirk graced his lips. "We're going to Portland."
That wasn't quite what I had expected.
"Excuse me?" I narrowed my eyes at him. "Why would the Ascendant be there?"
"Because that's where my family lives," He replied in annoyance, as if this were so obvious. I suddenly recalled the newspaper article I'd read about Kai's murders, having taken place in Portland, Oregon.
"And you're sure that it's there?" I ask him, slowly.
He shrugs, waving his hand. "Like, ninety-nine percent."
"Wouldn't that be too obvious?" I point out, suspiciously.
Of course I wanted to get out of here as soon as possible, but I wasn't sure I was willing to go all the way to Portland with Kai when he could easily be lying to me. I didn't know why he would, but it was best to take precautions with a sociopath.
"Well, I'm positive my parents didn't just leave one on top of the dresser in their room," He rolled his eyes, sighing. "Of course, it's well hidden. We just have to find it."
"How do I know you won't just leave-"
I stopped, noticing he was holding his palm out towards me and whispering words inaudible to me.
Before I could act, my eyes were drooping and I felt myself sinking down into his arms, blackness quickly pulling me away from consciousness.
"I'd hardly call that being difficult," I scoff, swinging my legs over the seat to lean over center console.
"Well, you were asking too many questions with too little time to answer them," Kai replies simply.
I don't bother making a comment to this, propping my elbow up on the console and resting my chin in my palm.
We sit in silence for a while, but it isn't uncomfortable, at least not to me. Kai, on the other hand, allows his talkative nature to take over again and breaks it.
"Wanna play a game?" He suggests. "Road trips are so much better with games. Not that I ever got to play any, since my family would kind of just exclude me, but-"
"Is it too much to ask for you to stop talking every once in a while?" I cut him off, shooting him a look.
He sighs dramatically, throwing his head back. "God, you Virginians are so lacking in the fun department."
"We've been over this," I groan. "It's not so much the fact that I'm from Virginia, and more the fact that you're a sociopath who killed his own siblings."
"You're friends with a bunch of vampires and I don't judge you," He says in a mock-innocent tone.
"So not the same thing," I mumble, looking out at the dark road ahead and praying for us to reach Portland soon.
"How?" He glances at me with raised eyebrows. "Last I checked, Damon has got quite a bit of blood on his hands. I'm sure I haven't even killed a quarter of the people he has. Yet, he's your best friend."
"Damon isn't that person anymore," I sit up straight, my chin no longer in my palm. "He actually feels remorse for his actions. I can't say the same for you."
"So, let me get this straight, he kills all these people but he starts to feel kind of bad one day and poof, he's the good guy?" Kai laughs, shaking his head.
"I don't have to explain anything to you," I mutter and he exhales through his nose, before falling into silence.
After a few minutes, my stomach tightens and loudly growls. My eyes dart down towards it and back up to Kai's in the mirror. He's raising his eyebrows, signaling that he'd heard it too.
It's only now that I realize that I'm starving. The only thing I ate today was a few bites of pancake, the rest of which Kai likely finished. Ironically, it's Thanksgiving; I should feel pleasantly full, not painfully empty.
"Hey, could we at least stop somewhere for food?" I sigh, my stomach twisting again. "I barely ate anything all day."
"Well, I was planning on cooking you a proper Thanksgiving dinner when we reach Portland," He admits, shooting me a mischievous smile and a wink.
"Really?" I ask suspiciously.
"Yup, but seeing as it's," Kai raises one arm to look at his watch, "four in the morning, Thanksgiving is technically over and we'll have to postpone our date."
"Date?" I repeat, raising my eyebrows. "Yeah, that'll happen."
"Well, fair warning, you're missing out on a great offer. I'm an excellent cook," He smirks.
Ignoring this, I ask in disbelief, "Did you just say it's four in the morning? How long have we been driving?"
"Thirteen hours," Kai replies.
My lips part in shock. Had it really been that long?
"How much longer until we get to Portland?"
"Usually, it's about a two day drive from Virginia to Portland," He begins, causing my shoulders to slump in disappointment.
"But," He continues, catching my attention. "Considering we're the only two people in this prison world, there are no rules. So, with the speed I've been going at, we should reach Portland in about eight hours."
I sigh in relief. Eight more hours was nothing compared to over a whole other day stuck in the car with Kai. But, unfortunately, my hunger wouldn't make it a very comfortable ride.
"I'm still hungry, you know," I remind him. "Can't we stop somewhere and raid a super market?"
"Luckily for you," He reaches between his legs to grab a plastic bag off the floor, tossing it onto the center console. "I thought ahead and stopped at the market while you were still unconscious."
I snatch the bag, digging into the contents for a minute before deciding on a bag of chocolate covered pretzels and a bottle of water.
"Throw me those pork rinds, would you? The ones that are already opened," He says, as I tear open the blue plastic bag and pop a pretzel in my mouth.
I reach inside the bag next to me and take out the half-eaten bag of pork rinds, handing them to him.
"Thanks, Kai," I sigh in content, twisting off the cap of my water bottle and taking a large sip.
A genuine look of surprise flashes across his face, his eyes darting back to mine in the mirror. "Did you, Charlotte, actually just thank the great, evil Malachai Parker?"
"Don't make me take it back," I roll my eyes.
He smiles, returning his attention to the road ahead. The dark sky was starting to show slight signs of light that would soon emerge in about an hour or so. I slump back in my seat, able to admire the view with the peaceful knowledge that if all went well, I could be home sometime tomorrow. Surely, despite Kai's plan to use me as leverage, he would bring me to reunite with the people I love.
"Hey," I speak up and he hums in response. "If we find the Ascendant and make it back to the real world, you are going to take me to my friends and family, right?"
He blinks, flicking his eyebrows up. "Are you forgetting the part where I need you for leverage, in order to merge with Jo?"
I slowly sit up, frowning at him. "You said you'd threaten to kill me if anyone tried to stop you from doing the merge. What does that have to do with me seeing my friends again?"
Kai releases a breath of air, shaking his head. "If I let you go back to them, they'd just find a way to protect you and I'd have nothing to justify this merge. So, you're going to have to stick with me for a while, Charlie."
The smirk on his face causes anger to bubble up inside of me, threatening to erupt.
"So after this, you're going to basically kidnap me again? I know you may not understand the concept of family, Kai, but I have one waiting for me back in Mystic Falls and they're probably worried sick. I'm not going to let you-"
"Okay, look," He cuts me off, pausing to toss a pork rind in his mouth before continuing. "If everything goes as planned, and I don't see why it shouldn't, Jo and I will merge within the next few days after we get back to the present world. I'm sure you'll survive waiting an extra few days."
I let out a huff in frustration, running my fingers through my hair and deciding to drop the argument, at least for now. But my mood dropped considerably with the newfound information that I wouldn't be reuniting with Elena and Jeremy the second my feet hit real-world soil. I miss my brother and sister, so much, and the safe feeling of home I get in the pit of my stomach when it's just the three of us, together.
My thoughts are interrupted abruptly when the car lurches forward and I'm thrown back against the leather seats, a gasp forced out of my throat.
"What the hell, Kai?" I snap, my voice shaky.
"Sorry about that," Kai chuckles. "But we're gonna have to move faster than this if we want to reach Portland soon."
His foot hits the pedal harder and I'm practically incapable of leaning forward without being pushed right back.
I rub my temples, attempting to have some patience before I jump across the center console and strangle him.
It's going to be a long eight hours.