Hope and Valerie were no stranger to death, but that didn't mean they ever wanted to talk about it. Once a year for Remembrance Day, the students of the Salvatore School were asked to write letters to their lost loved ones. They signed their names, folded them up, and scattered them throughout the cemetery.
While everyone in the Stefan Salvatore memorial library was writing letters, Valerie sat with Hope as she sketched a drawing of the Necromancer, the school's newest threat.
Hope and Valerie never saw the point in writing a letter. Why write to the dead? They were dead. They'd rather not think about it all. Except lately for them...Death kept knocking on their door.
Valerie turned her head, glancing over at Rafael, who was in the middle of writing a letter to Cassie, his deceased girlfriend. He noticed her eyes on him and looked up, sending her a small smile before continuing to write his letter.
Once finishing his letter and putting it with the rest of them, Rafael walked over to Valerie and Hope, who were just getting ready to leave, "Did writing the letter feel good?" Valerie awkwardly asked Rafael, causing Hope to give her a weird look while Rafael simply shrugged.
"I don't really know honestly," He admitted as they walked down the hallway, "It felt good to get it all out, but it's still there. Did you two write one?"
Hope and Valerie shared a look, both of them letting out a large scoff, "Nah," Valerie answered for the both of them, "My mother does it for the three of us. She writes one to Hope's dad, Hope's mother, Elijah, Cami, Josh, and Jackson," She explained and Rafael's eyes widened in shock.
"That's a lot of people," Rafael replied, her face filled with shock.
Valerie frowned when her eyes locked a frail-looking girl standing at the front door, "Who the hell is that?" She spoke up, causing both Hope and Rafael to turn their heads.
Rafael's eyes widened in disbelief once more, "Cassie?" He called out, causing the girl to turn her head to look at him.
"Raf," Cassie sighed in relief, causing Valerie to frown when she realized who the girl was.
"Cassie?" Hope spoke up with a frown on her face, "Isn't that your..." She trailed off.
"My girlfriend," Rafael finished her sentence for her as he rushed over to Cassie, dropping his bag down on the floor.
Cassie gasped out as Rafael engulfed her in a hug, Cassie gradually beginning to hug back. Valerie watched the two from afar, a somewhat sad look on her face. She was happy for Rafael, but she also pitied him, knowing that Cassie was only there because the Necromancer was trying to mess with them. There was also another part of Valerie; a small part that was upset that Cassie was alive because it ruined her chances with Rafael. She knew she shouldn't have felt that way, but she did and she couldn't help it.
Hope sighed, wrapping her arm around Valerie, "Be happy for him," She whispered to her best friend, "It's not like it's going to last long."
"I know," Valerie replied quietly, keeping her eyes locked on Rafael and Cassie as they hugged.
____
Ophelia screamed out as she embedded the blade of a cleaver into the Necromancer's head. She frowned when it had no effect, both her and Alaric crouching down in front of him, "Was that really necessary?" He asked the two adults unamused.
"We told you we need answers," Alaric told the Necromancer sternly.
"Why would I help you?" He questioned them, "You have me in chains. This indignity will not go unpunished."
"We've been at this for days," Alaric reminded him, "Answer my questions, or Ophelia's going to peel your skin off like a grape and shower you with battery acid."
"I wouldn't go that far--" Ophelia began to say, but was cut off by the Necromancer's groan.
"A rather grotesque effort," He told them as he ripped the cleaver out of the top of his head, "Considering it will feel like the delicate tickle of a feather."
He smiled slightly, holding out the cleaver for Ophelia to take. Ophelia lowly growled, snatching it from his hands before walking over to the table in the cell where she held the rest of the objects she was using to torture the Necromancer.
Ophelia sighed out, picking up a blow torch, "All right," She spoke up, turning to face him as she held the object out, "Let's see how you react to fire." She smirked slightly, igniting the fire on the blow torch.
Before she could start torturing him, Valerie and Hope suddenly entered, "Dr. Saltzman. Mom," Valerie called out, causing Ophelia to sigh in defeat before she and Alaric turned to face the two girls.
"Oh, there you are, lovely girls," The Necromancer spoke up, "I was wondering if the two of you would come visit me again. How's your friend? The one I saw you with earlier, trying to steal an illicit peek at me?"
"As we speak, he's having an emotional reunion with his dead girlfriend," Hope replied before Valerie continued on for her.
"I assume that was your doing?" She questioned him curiously.
"Poor dear," The Necromancer began to tell them, referring to Cassie, "Her spirit was clinging to him like a vine in winter. It took barely any effort. Just a little winkle of the nose, and poof. Young love reborn."
Ophelia sighed out in frustration, beginning to pack up her torture object, "Your ramblings of a mad man are worse than Klaus'," She muttered to herself, referring to the Necromancer.
"You're lucky that's all I did," He continued on and Ophelia rolled her eyes, walking out of the cell alongside Alaric, "The way you've treated a man of my stature, you should be ashamed."
"Literally nobody knows who the hell you are!" Ophelia complained, growing beyond irritated with the man before she and Alaric began to leave.
The necromancer scoffed at what Ophelia had said about him, "That's impossible."
Ophelia and Alaric turned to the two girls, "We'll check on Raf," Alaric told them and then left.
Before leaving, Ophelia turned to Hope and Valerie, pointing a finger at them, "Don't do anything stupid," She warned Hope and Valerie before finally leaving.
"I-If you want an end to this misery, simply bring me the knife and I'll be on my way..." The necromancer tried to reason with them.
"Val! Hope!" Alaric called out, telling them to come with him.
Hope kept her eyes fixed on the Necromancer, causing Valerie to give her a concerned look, "Let's go, Hope," She whispered to her, grabbing Hope by the arm before bringing with her out of the room.
Alaric, Ophelia, Hope, and Valerie walked down the hallway on the first floor together after leaving the basement, "I take it things aren't going well?" Hope questioned Alaric and Ophelia.
"He's a diva," Alaric complained to her.
"So what's the plan?" Valerie asked the two adults curiously, "We know you don't want to give over the knife, but we can't really have home going around, raising the lost loved ones of everyone in this school. Everyone has a long list of them, which makes matters even worse."
"Alaric and I will handle it," Ophelia told the two girls, "We have questions that need answers."
"Okay, well, we're not sure your methods are the most effective," Hope commented, both her and Valerie trying their hardest to keep up with Ophelia and Alaric's fast paced walking.
Ophelia sighed as she stopped walking, turning to face both girls, "Hope," She warned in a stern tone, "We said we will handle it. Stay out of it, okay? Stay away from him."
The group of four remained silent as they turned to Rafael sitting with Cassie on the couch. Hope and Valerie remained standing there while Alaric and Ophelia walked over to Rafael and his girlfriend.
"Cassie, is it?" Ophelia asked as she and Alaric took a beside each other in front of the two teenagers while Hope and Valerie walked off.
Cassie turned to glance at Rafael, clearly confused. Alaric and Ophelia shared a glance with each other before Alaric spoke up, "Cassie, I'm Dr. Saltzman," He introduced himself before gesturing his hand toward Ophelia, "And this is Ophelia."
"We're here to help you," Ophelia informed the girl, a small smile on her face.
Cassie turned to glance at Rafael before looking back at Alaric and Ophelia, "I...I don't understand what's happening," She told them, clearly confused out of her mind, "Why am I here?"
Ophelia turned her head to look at Rafael, giving him a questioning look. Rafael stared at her with wide eyes, "I didn't know what to tell her," He whispered to her, worry in his eyes.
"Uh, well, Cassie, do you, uh, mind telling us the last few things you remember?" Ophelia asked Cassie curiously, all eyes on Cassie after hearing the question.
"Um..." Cassie trailed off, "Raf and I were driving home from a track meet. The roads were bad, it was wet, and then dark, and I heard this voice telling me to open up my eyes, and then I was here."
"Okay. Well, listen, this is going to be really hard for you to understand, but..." Alaric trailed off, letting out a sigh, "Those memories you have, those were from two months ago. You were in a car accident. You didn't survive. And tonight, you were resurrected from the dead." He informed her, causing Cassie to quietly gasp as she turned to Rafael.
AN: For the episode I am writing currently, I will be adding more Ophelia scenes than usual since I haven't been adding her as much lately and she's a big part of this book.