After leaving Josie's room, Valerie was walking down the hallway alone, off to find a way a obtain some human blood to drink instead of the animal blood the school provided for the vampires.
On the way down the hallway, Valerie ended up bumping into one of the vampires, who was hanging with his friends, drinking an animal blood bag, "Watch it. Half breed." He snapped at her, causing Valerie to turn to him, not looking happy whatsoever.
"What did you just say to me?" Valerie asked the male vampire, gritting her teeth as she took a threatening step toward him.
"I said watch it, half-breed," He repeated himself, him and Valerie now standing head to head, glaring at each other, "Or should I say abomination? I mean, that is what you are."
Valerie growled, the veins under her eyes and her hybrids eyes now on full display. A fight clearly on the verge of starting, more vampires vamp-sped over to back their fellow vampire up while the werewolves did the same for Valerie.
"You wanna call me that again and see what happens?" Valerie threatened the vampire, lowly growing at him as she took a step forward, her face almost touching his.
The vampire flashed his veins, showing no fear toward Valerie even though he should have.
Seeing a fight about to occur between Valerie and the unknown vampire, Alaric rushed over, quick to break it, "Hey, hey, hey," He spoke up in warning, grabbing both teenagers by their shoulders before pulling them away from each other, "Stand down."
Clearly not in her right mind, Valerie turned to Alaric, growling at him, "Get off me!" She yelled at him, using her magic to throw him across the hall and into a chair, which immediately broke upon impact.
Seeing what had happened and how ballistic Valerie was being, which was unlike her, Jed rushed over, grabbing her by the arm, "Hey, wolves, stand down!" He demanded and Valerie turned to him, clearly angry that he was trying to break it up as well, "Now!" He repeated, roughly pushing Valerie back since there seemed to be no other way to stop her.
Unlike Valerie, the male vampire didn't obey Jed's order and got ready to step toward. Knowing if the boy continued to pick a fight, there would be no stopping Valerie until the vampire was dead, Roman sped over, roughly pushing him back, "Enough!" He shouted out in a stern tone.
The unnamed vampire eyed Roman up and down, almost as if he wanted to challenge. Finally coming to the realization that Roman was nearly a century old, he knew for a fact it would be like signing his own death sentence. The boy scoffed, just before turning and leaving the scene. Valerie decided to ignore Jed's request and turned to face the vampire, taking a step toward him.
Soon enough, the rest of the group left, leaving Valerie alone with Jed and Roman. Roman started at Valerie intently, causing her to roll her eyes in annoyance, "What?" She snapped at the male vampire, who continued to give her a concerned look.
"Are you okay?" He questioned in concern, leading Valerie to letting out a large scoff.
"Don't act like you care about me," She growled at him, "Hope's not around for you to have to act like you actually care about my wellbeing so why don't you leave me the hell alone?"
Valerie glared at Roman before storming off with Jed following after her. Roman sighed, running a hand through his hair before he turned to see Ophelia walking down the hallway, only to see an injured Alaric laying on the ground.
Ophelia's eyes widened in shock, just before she rushed over to Alaric, "Oh, my God!" She gasped in shock, cupping Alaric's face in her hands as she examined the wound on his forehead, "Are you okay? What happened?"
"It's nothing," Alaric lied, his fingers wrapped around Ophelia's wrist as her hands remained cupping his face. She sat in a kneeling position in front of him, giving him a concerned look. "Just some out of control vampire."
Ophelia stared at Alaric closely, clearly seeing right through. She knew by the look on his face that he was lying, "It was Valerie, wasn't it?" She suddenly asked, causing Alaric to avoid eye contact, which immediately gave Ophelia her answer, "I'm so sorry. She's out of control and I know she needs to be stopped, but--"
"It's fine," Alaric assured her in a calm tone, staring intently into her eyes, "I get it. I understand why you allowed Hope to do what she did and turn Valerie. You didn't want to lose your daughter, I probably would have done the same thing. But we need to help her learn how to keep in control and to contain her anger."
"You'll help me?" Ophelia asked Alaric quietly as she helped him stand up.
"Of course," Alaric replied, chuckling softly as he smiled at her, "I mean, we're partners, are we not?"
Ophelia smiled back at Alaric, nodding her head closely. The duo stared intently into each other's eyes, continuing to smile. The look being shared between them was clearly one that was not something two "Partners" would have. It was clearly more them that.
Knowing it was time to look away, Ophelia awkwardly looked away and cleared her throat, "Uh, yeah, I better find Valerie before she causes any more trouble." She told Alaric, who nodded his head, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Yeah, yeah, you, uh...do that," He awkwardly responded, looking away from Ophelia as well, "I guess I'll, uh, see you later."
Ophelia smiled at Alaric, nodding her head. She gave him a small pat on the arm before walking away, continuing to smile.
_______
At the abandoned mill in the woods that the Salvatore School students always went to party, Valerie sat on the second floor, her feet dangling off the railing, "You need to get some help," A voice suddenly said, causing Valerie to turn her head to see Jed standing there.
It shocked her a bit. She had been in such deep thought that she hadn't even seen him enter. Jed tossed Valerie a blood bag and she was shocked to see that it had come from Mystic Falls Hospital, not the Salvatore School, which meant it continued human blood.
She quickly caught the blood bag, just before Jed took a seat next to her, "Don't pretend that you care about me." She snapped at him with an attitude.
Valerie glared at him, ripping open the blood bag before she began to drink from it. It was clear at that moment she was trying her hardest to stop herself from scarfing the whole thing down within seconds in front of Jed.
"Well, I do," Jed responded in a calm tone, causing Valerie to stop drinking and turned to look at them, "But I also care about the pack. They follow their alpha. And having an alpha who can't control herself means the pack gets hurt."
"But I'm not their alpha," Valerie reminded Jed, a confused look on her face as she stared at him, "Raf is."
"As much as Rafael is said to be the leader, I know that the werewolves look up to you more. They always have. You know that and you want to be alpha, you just don't want to admit it out loud," Jed informed her and Valerie immediately eye contact with him, knowing that he was right, "Your mother is legendary in the supernatural world. She was Queen of New Orleans for over three centuries and she was one of the best alphas packs across the country have ever seen. And the wolves at school? They know that you're as great a leader as she was. And just like her, you might be a tribrid now, but your wolf side is the one you embrace the most. That's all they need to hear before they view you as their alpha, Val. That you'll put the pack before any of your other factions," He paused, letting out a large sigh, "Look, I was a dick as a leader. So take it from someone who lost what you have. The pack is everything. And if you care about them, you won't let your pride get in the way like I did."
Valerie kept quiet, finally turning to look him in the eye. She smiled slightly, nodding her head in agreement to what he had said. She knew he was right, and she also knew that she was going to go through with his advice.
Later on, after leaving the mills, Valerie was walking through the woods when she heard Hope's voice with her vampire hearing. Not being close enough to hear exactly what Hope was saying, Valerie walked closer in the direction she had heard Hope's voice. She kept hidden behind a tree as she spotted Hope sitting on a bench near the lake that was on the Salvatore School's property.
She immediately noticed the crystal object resting on the table near Hope. It was a magical object that lets you have a fake conversation with anyone you want as if they were sitting right next to you.
"What I said before about keeping the thing about Rafael from you to protect you, it was true. It was also because I didn't want you to leave. And I knew you would," Hope confessed to the imaginary Valerie, "Yeah, I hate it when people leave. I hate it. You know that better than anyone. I thought I was over losing my parents, but I don't know, after the last couple of days...and after you removed me from your life...Every time I lose someone, this, uh, voice in my head, it tells me, 'It's your fault.' That I shouldn't even technically exist. That I'm a cosmic mistake. I guess I just wanted someone to think that I'm worth staying for. You were always that for me, Valerie. You have been for my entire life. I'm sorry for lying to you. I truly am. It's been hell knowing that you hate me. And you seemed fine without me so I tried to do the same. Whenever you were looking, I tried my best to act like I was fine, but when you weren't, I was breaking down in my room, knowing that I lost my sister, the person I care for most in this world. When Ophelia told me that you were dying, I was distraught. I felt like I was going to die. Because the whole time you were being a bitch to everyone, I thought it was because of Rafael, when in reality, it was because you were dying and everyone was mad at you. And most of all, Valerie, I'm sorry for turning you into a vampire. It was selfish of me. Even more selfish than the time I had Henry kidnap my mother just so that my dad would come home. I turned you, knowing that it meant you would be plagued with bloodlust and would never age. And I knew you didn't want to be a vampire, but I still did it because I refuse to lose anyone else that I love. Especially when that someone is you. You're the most important person in my life, Valerie, and I refused to just let you die. And even though I know you don't need me, I need you. You were right. I'm dependent on you. More than you are dependent on me. I can't function without you because you were always my only constant throughout my whole life. Anyways, I'm sorry. I know you'll never forgive me and even though it kills me, I know it's what I deserve."
Valerie sighed, closing her eyes as she tried her hardest not to step out of the shadows and forgive Hope.
"Fuck it," She muttered under her breath before making herself known.
Hope turned when she heard the crumpling of leaves. Her eyes immediately widened when she saw that it was Valerie, "Valerie?" She called out in shock, "How--What--Did you hear that?"
Valerie kept a straight look on her face as she nodded her head, "All of it?" Hope questioned concerned.
"Yup," Valerie replied and Hope sighed in defeat as she turned away from Valerie, expecting the girl to start shouting at her, "I forgive you."
Hope's eyes widened as her head whipped around so that she could look Valerie directly in the eye, "What?"
"I forgive you," Valerie repeated her statement, walking closer to Hope with a sad look on her face, "I'm still pissed that you turned me into a vampire, but now that I realize it, maybe it's not as bad as I thought it would be. I mean, there's bad things like heightened emotions, the not-aging thing, and the uncontrollable hungry, but hey, at least I'm not dead."
Hope raised a brow at Valerie, clearly not expecting Valerie to forgive herself so quickly. Especially not like that.
"Stop giving me that look and forgive me for telling Landon about you lying to him," Valerie demanded, causing Hope to frown in confusion.
"That was you?" Hope asked in disbelief, clearly not knowing the information as Valerie expected to her.
"Fuck," Valerie muttered, letting out a large sigh, "You know what, Hope? You killed me and turned me into a hybrid. Me spilling the tea to your boyfriend is nothing to compared to what you did to me so grow up."
Hope stopped frowning and a straight look grew on Valerie's face, trying her hardest not to admit that the girl was right.
She stood up, walking over to Valerie. Valerie continuing to stand in place, expecting Hope to hit her and do something to her as payback.
Instead, Hope suddenly wrapped her arms around Valerie's torso, hugging her tightly as she began to cry, clearly getting all of the emotions out that she was holding in until she could finally be in the comforting arms of her sister.
It took Valerie a long while until she finally felt comfortable and forgiving enough to hug Hope back. As she hugged Hope, it was as if a weight was lifted from her. One that she had been for a while since her and Hope stopped talking.
________
After Hope finally pieced together that something was wrong with Landon, she and Valerie met Roman in Alaric's office so that he could help them listen to the voicemail Landon left Alaric to see if there was anything that they had missed the first time they listened to it.
"Hey, Ric, sorry to take off like that, but I just needed a little time, so I'm going camping for a while. Hopefully, I can catch up on classwork later." Landon told the Alaric on the voicemail and both Roman and Valerie used their vampire hearing to try and hear anything else in the background.
"I can hear....shoes on a tile floor," Roman informed Hope before Valerie spoke up.
"An air conditioner running." Valerie added in as she heard the machine over the phone.
"Tell Raf and Jed hi for me." Landon's voicemail continued.
"Keycards being swiped." Roman told Hope in a calm tone before the voicemail ended.
"Mm, Triad," Hope spoke up in a tone that made it clear she was trying her hardest not to become overwhelmed, "I mean, it has to be them. They've already tried to come for him once."
"What are you gonna do?" Roman asked, glancing between Hope and Valerie.
He found it a bit odd that the two girls were in the same room with each other without Valerie trying to rip Hope's head off, but he figured it was just like their last big fight, which happened to be about him and the unknowing part he played in Hope's mother's death. That time, the two girls didn't speak for a few days until Hayley's death. Hope was so wracked with grief that Valerie found no other choice than forgive her, knowing that Hope needed her. He assumed Valerie was the one to cave in first like last time, but only after something bad happening to Hope that made her feel guilty.
"We're gonna go full Black Widow and Captain Marvel, that's what," Valerie spoke up in a confident tone, "I mean, I'm partly the reason he left."
"Do you need any help?" He asked the two girls, who both shook their heads.
"No. Val and I've already got our Super Squad," Hope replied without hesitation, sharing a look with Valerie before looking over at Roman, "but thank you for everything."
Valerie sent Roman a small smile, about to walk away with Hope when Roman spoke up, "Hey, uh, Ric said I should probably head back out into the field, and I was actually coming to find you and Valerie and say goodbye earlier, but, uh, then I heard you on the dock, Hope," He explained to the two girls, who awkwardly shared a glance, "Can't turn off my vamp hearing. I wasn't trying to spy or anything. You're not a mistake, okay? The cosmos is lucky to have you. So is Landon. He'll figure that out."
Hope smiled, taking a step toward Roman. She placed a kiss on the boy's cheek before walking away, leaving Valerie alone with Roman.
"I forgive you, Roman," Valerie spoke up awkwardly, finally looking in the eye, "For everything that's happened in the place. You have finally proven that you're someone that I want to forgive and that's what I'll do."
She sent him a small smile, about to walk away, "I did like you, you know," Roman suddenly spoke up, causing Valerie's eyes to widen in shock as she turned to face him once more, "My mom forced me to get close to Hope and to forget about you. And I did that, which was hard, but I knew I had to."
Valerie nodded her head in agreement, taking a step toward Roman. She hugged the boy and Roman immediately hugged him back, "Good luck, Roman. Maybe I'll see you soon," She told the boy, placing a kiss to his cheek as Hope did before pulling back. She turned away from him, heading out the room.
________
After moving her belongings back into Hope's room, Valerie began to pack up the things needed on her mission, "I'm coming," Rafael suddenly spoke up as he entered the room, causing Valerie to roll her eyes before turning to him.
"And hello to you, too, Rafael," She sarcastically greeted the boy, "Oh, and, uh, no, you're not."
"Look, last time y'all did this without me, it was a disaster," Rafael reminded Valerie, clearly intent on going.
"Except Hope and I aren't gonna go alone this time," Valerie replied without hesitation, "I'm helping Hope draft the twins, MG, Kaleb. We're going before Dr. Saltzman and my mother back. It'll be like a Super Squad Assemble," She paused, thinking about what she had said, "Well, at least, that's what Hope said. Is that a thing?" She asked Rafael, who shook his head, "Ugh, I don't know. I'll ask MG."
"Yeah, I'll ask him myself." Rafael continued on, causing Valerie to let out a large sigh.
"Raf, my mother told me about the side effects. I'm sorry, but I can't let you come," She paused as Rafael sighed, "How do you feel now?"
Rafael sighed once more, taking a seat on the bed, "Like my brain's split down the middle, Val. I keep having these flashes like..." He trailed off, just before Valerie answered for him.
"Like you aren't yourself?" Valerie questioned and Rafael nodded his head response, "Yeah, and that's why you're not coming on the mission," She paused, taking a seat on the bed next to him, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
Rafael was quiet for a long moment, avoiding contact with her, "I think you know why," He admitted quietly, referring to both their breakup and the feeling he had for Hope.
"Raf--" Valerie started, but Rafael soon cut her off.
"I don't know how to be around you, Valerie. I care for you I do, but all I do is feel is guilt when I'm around you, knowing that I care for her, too," Rafael confessed to her, "I don't want to feel this way, so I just push it down, and that just makes the split in my brain even worse, which makes it harder to hide. And the only person that I want to talk about it with is the only person I can't."
Valerie sighed, knowing that Rafael was referring to Landon, which he couldn't since Landon's girlfriend was the one Rafael had feelings for. Hope.
"Raf, you're a good brother. There's no denying that," Valerie told Rafael, placing a hand on his shoulder, "But for once, you need to put yourself first. Just like I told Josie to do and the same I myself did with Hope. Do what you need to get better."
"If things get really bad," Valerie paused, getting up to retrieve the thing given to her and Hope a day after they needed it for Valerie, "Use this." She handed Rafael the ring that was attached to a necklace, "It's kind of a super long story, but, um, it was a gift from a family friend. But basically, it's like a reverse kyanite ring. When you use it, you can turn yourself at will. In your wolf mind, things are less complicated. Trust me. It'll buy you time to heal. Only catch is, um, you can't turn yourself back, so, if you do use it, all you have to do is come find me or Hope when you're ready to be yourself again."
Rafael couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face as he finally looked Valerie in the eyes, "I am really glad I know you, Valerie Rose."
Valerie slightly chuckled, smiling back at Rafael, "I could say the same to you, Rafael Waithe." She replied, just before standing up.
She patted the boy on the back, sending him one last smile before leaving the room.