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"All the things that we are, but are not saying"
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PERHAPS the saddest thing about betrayal is that it never comes from your enemies.
It's a feeling I've experienced once too many times in my lifetime, and now once again. I can't say I don't deserve it, seeing as I did compel one of my friends. They say enemies show that you've stood up for what you believe in, and that is the only thing keeping me sane right now.
I don't want to consider Alaric one of my enemies, but seeing as he's got me locked up in some dark room, I can't exactly call him my friend. We're both two edges on the same knife, fighting with the same enemy with different sides. He wants to save Jo and kill Kai, while I want to save Theo, and kill Kai. However, both of them will never work out without the other one suffering some sort of loss. I can only hope Alaric will hear me out, as it's the last chance I have at redeeming myself of this expiration date Kai placed on me not twelve hours ago.
"ALARIC!" I scream at the top of my lungs, once again.
My hands are tied in vervain soaked ropes, several chains tied against my legs, securing me to the concrete wall. The fact that I don't know where I am makes everything that much worse, my whole mind spinning at an uncontrollable rate. However, for a split second I'm able to focus, my eyes staying trained on several cave drawings across from me.
Then it all clicks in: I'm in the lockwood cellar, the same cellar connected to the caves the Mikaelsons carved their names in. The same cellar I was held hostage for Klaus's hybrid ceremony. The same cellar that looks identical to the tomb.
I haven't thought about that scarring place for over two years, as I had thought my mind had gotten over it. I had thought I had gotten past the post traumatic stress of that place, assuming my mind had finally found some peace with my dark past. But I guess it hasn't, as suddenly I feel my whole chest caving in, my vision turning black. I close my eyes out of panic, quickly realizing that was a mistake as the visions of fire, scream and pain take over. I haven't experienced these sort of treacherous flashbacks since the first few days of awakening from the tomb.
Before I had James to comfort me, I had Theo by my side and I had a whole life to distract me, healing me from my flashbacks. I had thought they were permanently erased from my mind, but deep down I should have known better. An event like that will never be erased from your mind, only hidden, subsided by the environment around you. But now I have no one, nothing but my own screams and tears.
"ALARIC!" I scream again. "LET ME OUT!"
I have hot, salty tears flowing down my face, my hair sticking to my head from a mixture of blood, sweat and tears. Everything physically pains me at this moment, both fear and horror slapped across my face. I'm shaking, terrified to the bone in ways I've never been so scared in my life. I feel as if I'm going to pass out until I hear the rusty creak of a door opening, the sound of footsteps rounding down the steps into the cellar.
I stay cradled up against the wall of the cellar, gripping onto the chains that bound me so tightly that my knuckles turn white like snow. I watch with tear filled eyes as none other than Alaric rounds the corner, dropping a backpack to the ground.
"W-where am I?" I manage to say sternly, gulping down the lump in my throat that threatens to force me back into a sob.
"Take a guess," Alaric says nonchalantly. He acts with such robotic moves, his voice seemingly monotone as if he's wired. He's a man on a mission, willing to do anything to save Jo who he supposedly loves. And that is a dreadful combination, dangerous even.
"Alaric, listen to me," I begin, but I stop mid-sentence as he pulls a wooden stake from his bag. "What are you doing?" I gasp, staring at the stake in fear.
"Kai is linked to you Blair, and I don't want to kill you," Alaric says, turning to me. "So I need you to tell me where he is, and where the knife and ascendent are."
"Where's Theo?" I gasp, suddenly remembering he was at the boarding house with me before Alaric and Jo knocked me out.
"Safe," Alaric replies succinctly. "Now tell me where Kai is, and where Jo's knife and ascendent are," he presses, stepping closer to me.
I purse my lips, panic taking over as I know I have two choices. Lie and risk Jo's life, or tell him the truth and risk getting myself killed. "I gave them to Kai," I admit quietly.
At this Alaric's eyes widen, fury clearly written in them as he rushes towards me with the stake gripped tightly in his hands. "Alaric wait! I'm not linked to Kai!" I yell frantically, wincing as he stops in his steps, inches away from me.
As I look into his eyes, I know this isn't Alaric. No, this is a dangerous man willing to kill his best friend's sister in order to eliminate the sociopath of a brother from his lover's life. I refuse to blame him, as I know I've done worse. This is only called karma.
"What?" he growls.
"Kai, he unlinked us yesterday," I tell him, finding the strength to sit up against my cradled position.
"Why?" Alaric snaps.
"Because he couldn't have his life linked to mine with the spell he placed on me," I tell him, trying to get away with the meaning behind the spell. The intention of the spell is to ensure I bring Jo to Kai, but I can't tell Alaric that.
"What kind of spell?" Alaric questions, interrogating me.
"That doesn't matter!" I stammer. "But I need to find my brothers and James-"
"What kind of spell?" Alaric snaps aggressively.
I take a deep breath, forcing myself to speak calmly and carefully. "It's a spell with a timeline, and if I don't do what Kai wants me to do, then I die," I explain.
"Why should I believe you?" Alaric scoffs, standing up.
"Why would I lie Alaric?" I raise my voice. "He held Theo hostage, and I did the only thing I could do to save his life! I offered myself!" I shout in anger. "I had Kai place this spell on me, giving me a timeline of my death instead of Theo."
Alaric goes quiet, clearing having a battle with himself. "Listen, I'm sorry I compelled you, and I'm sorry I took Kai and Jo's things, but I was only trying to save Theo! I never wanted Jo to get hurt, and I'm trying everything I can to ensure no one gets hurt!" I bargain with him, hoping he's listening.
"So let me go, and we can work on a way to save Jo together. If we take this to my brothers and everyone else, they'll know what to do. They don't have to know what happened here, they don't have to know that you did this to me. It will be our secret," I offer him, hoping he's understanding me.
He takes a long pause, staring at the stake gripped in his hand. I watch carefully, watching for any movement of the stake out of fear he'l throw it my way. My breath catches in my throat as he brings his hand up, the stake within his grip. For a second I brace myself for pain, but watch in surprise as Alaric throws the stake into his backpack.
Then, he silently walks over to me and unlocks the chains bound to my feet and unties the ropes strapped around my wrists. I look up at him in shock, not knowing what to say. "Let's go," he says quietly, holding out his hand.
I stare at it for a few seconds, before taking it and allowing him to pull me to my feet.
∆ ∆ ∆
Alaric drives us back to Whitmore Collage where everyone else is at, still trying to locate me and Kai. As I walk down the hallway and into the study room filled with everybody, I feel a great overwhelming amount of happiness in the gut of my stomach, like there's butterflies swarming about. Somehow this feels like sort of a reunion, but deep down it's also a confession of how I have ten days to live.
I turn the corner, my footsteps heard by all the vampires in the room. James is the first to look over, his state clearly resembling how he's feeling. His hair is ruffled and knotted, his eyes tired and red, and his clothes the same as the ones he was wearing the night I snuck out. I can already tell he hasn't slept in the days since I left.
"Thank god," he murmurs under his breath, as he gets up and rushes over to me. I immediately break out into a teary smile, the kind you make when you try and stop yourself from breaking out into tears of joy.
He wraps his arms around my body, pulling me close as I wrap my arms around his neck, burying my face into the crook of his neck. "I was so worried," he says into my hair, his grip on my body tight as if he's afraid if he lets go, I'll disappear again.
"I'm sorry," I croak, genuinely sorry for the pain I've caused him.
"Mommy!" Theo exclaims, escaping Caroline's hold and running over to me. He wraps his arms around my legs causing me to laugh and break apart from James.
"Hey Tee." I smile, bending down to cup my hand on his cheek.
"Why the hell did you leave Blair? We had a plan!" Damon exclaims bitterly. I don't take his tone offensively of course, as his love for me is often expressed through anger that I would put myself in harms way. He will never admit it, but he loves playing the older brother role.
I glance over at Stefan to see even he isn't fazed by Damon's anger, as he instead sends me a small smile, thankful that I'm okay.
"It was never going to work. Our plan relied on Kai staying behind the anti-magic border. It was too risky, so I found another way," I explain, some of them nodding in understanding while others are completely quiet, extremely fatigued.
"Where have you been all this time then? We've been doing locator spells all night and morning, but we couldn't find you anywhere!" Damon questions.
I glance over at Alaric who sends me a guilty look, his gaze returning to the ground as he waits for me to spill the truth. But I promised him that what he did to me would stay a secret. "Kai took me, had me locked up in some cell inside Mystic Falls right after he left Theo alone at the boarding house. That's when Alaric found Theo and realized I was missing. By the time Alaric found me, Kai had disappeared," I say.
"Wait, did you say inside Mystic Falls? As in inside the anti-magic border?" Caroline asks with a raised brow.
I nod my head, biting my lips as I try to conjure up the right words to say. "Kai, he figured out the Travellers put up that border, and sucked all the magic out."
Jo freezes, as do Liv and Luke, clearly scared. "Great, so now Kai is a walking time bomb. That amount of magic will last him a while," Liv speaks sarcastically, glaring at me.
I force myself to bite my tongue, knowing that if I say anything out of instinct, I will reveal what Alaric truly did to me, as Liv was there to help him knock me out.
"Why did he let you go?" Stefan asks, from where he's been silently listening in the corner.
I lick my lips, staring down at the floor. I grab hold of James's hand and grip it tight, closing my eyes as he rubs his thumb in small circles on the back of my hand, calming me down and allowing me to think. I take a deep breath and open my eyes, looking up at everyone.
"He put a spell on Theo, a curse really that would end his life if we didn't give Kai what he wants. But I couldn't have that, I- so I made a trade," I speak slowly, everyone waiting for me to continue.
"What kind of trade?" James asks warily, his tired hazel blue eyes desperately looking into mine.
"If I don't deliver Jo to Kai before ten days are up, I'm going to die."
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[completed & edited: 10/14/2021]