thirty. i alone
Malachai Parker's Apartment, Virginia
Now that he has made it to the real present world of 2012, he is in the middle of setting up a simple dinner on the small dining table, rethinking his plan to get back at his twin sister, Jo, and more specifically, to get back at his own coven for trapping him in the prison world for eighteen years; from 1994 to 2012, because he murdered four of his own siblings in the very first place at their own childhood home. Why would he miss those kids?
"Knock knock." Minerva comes into the dining room from a bedroom where Kai left her when she was still unconscious to rest, her caramel hair is tied up in a bun and she is still clothed in her 1994 outfit without her shoes on, a lazy though adorable smile plastered on her lovely though sleepy face.
"Hey. Come on in. I made dinner." The young man invited her suggestively with a cute smile in return, preparing the lavish luxuries just for her alone.
"Wow. After an exhausting time travel, can't you just order some, Chinese food or something?" The Devon girl walks over to the table for four people.
"It's not really my taste. And anyway, I knocked you out, so to make up for it, I brought you into my home and cooked you your favourite." The siphoner chuckles, "Pasta. I know, I'm a great cook. You're welcome."
The young banshee sarcastically smiles at him, "Perfect." Not really, considering she should probably leave, save herself, and try to warn and save everyone from the serial killer who have made it back to the real world.
"That's what I said." Kai holds up a glass bottle of wine and she takes it.
"I'm bringing this as a return home present." To her beloved mother.
"Very funny. So before I change my mind and make you leave with an empty stomach, you should just sit and eat." Now, he snatches the bottle back.
"Look, I appreciate it, okay? But you left my friend trapped in that prison. Could you be any more predictable?" She almost snapped at him angrily.
"And you're a tiny temper who's getting on my last nerve. Eat."
"I'm not hungry. But thanks anyway." Minerva fakes a smile.
"I've been on my own for eighteen years." The ex-prisoner stated out.
"I've been in prison for four months. Clearly, we're different and I'm really sorry in your part. But I have to go see someone." The smart teen spoke.
"Aww. Mini muffin's missing Mommy already? Of course she does."
Minerva rolls her big hazel eyes playfully out of annoyance, "I added my number in your phone. So just give me a call. You're welcome, I guess."
"Sounds cool." Very cool, considering they remain in contact.
After a short and simple goodbye, Minerva leaves the place on her own.
****
Devon Residence, Mystic Falls
Once she makes it to her destination — her official residence in her magically-purified hometown, Minerva finds the main front door unlocked to which she walks in quietly and closes it behind her in relief. She can hear voices from the kitchen, which seems that Cassie is speaking with someone who sounds extremely familiar-- being April Young, hence Minerva looks around the two parlor rooms for a while to see that nothing has changed. Not for long, as she remains standing in the foyer silently, Cassie walks out of the kitchen, trailed after slowly by April herself, the cell phone that was cupped at the young woman's right ear drops to the floor, not believing who she is seeing and she shakes her head a little, thinking this is just an illusion; her daughter smiles, though both Cassie and April remain in disbelief.
"Oh my God." Were the only three simple words uttered from April's mouth.
A light gasp escapes Minerva at the sight of them as well, "Mom. It's me."
"No, no, no. I swear I'm seeing things again--"
"Mommy, it's really me." Minerva laughs slightly at her mother's reaction.
"Oh my God." Cassie gasped when her one and only daughter embraces her and she returns the gesture with adoration after four months of being apart, Oh God. She's real, "Oh God, oh God, she's back. Are you okay, baby?"
"Yeah." The younger Devon nods a little and slowly pulls away to face her properly, "I'm sure Damon already filled you guys in about where we were--"
"Don't ever do that insane stunt ever again. Please. We thought Kai killed you." The extremely relieved woman hugs her child again, this time tighter, "Until we found your Teddy bear sitting at the crypt in the cemetery."
The equally relieved teen's smile widens, "Bonnie kept her magic in her."
"We know. It's absolutely useful to break a cloaking spell."
The nineteen-year-old frowns cluelessly, "What do you mean?"
Cassie slowly pulls away, honestly not wanting to let her go, protectively from her daughter, "Let's just say, you missed a lot. But we'll talk about it in the morning, yeah? We'll go to Whitmore, where Isaac probably is--"
"Wait, wait, wait. Did you just mention Isaac? He's still here?" Her cousin.
"Four months ago, he was the only family I thought I had left, besides your Uncle Louis, that is. He told me about what happened, and I came straight back here from Duke to keep him company. He's not going to be in Vancouver for quite a while, especially now that Caroline's available."
"On the plus side, your mom decided to take me in. So..." April trailed off with only a smile plastered on her lovely face, which surprises the banshee.
A cute giggle escapes Minerva, "Mom! You actually have me replaced!"
Cassie laughs along with her own daughter, "Don't take it that way. Now you two can be sisters. Minerva, I'd like you to meet your brand new sister — April. Honestly, she can't wait for this day-- evening to come meet you."
"Aww. Well, speaking of Isaac, he's a vampire. How can he--" Minerva remains to smile, "You stayed in Grove Hill, didn't you?" The young woman only smiles as a response, confirming that it's a yes, "So what's the--"
"You need to take a bath and be by your bear's side who's waiting for you on the bed, awaiting for your arrival. I'll make you some tea--"
"You don't have to be so busy, Mom. What were you doing anyway? Grading papers again?" The resurrected teen glances at the main kitchen entry.
"You don't have to worry about me. It's just work. I'm grading papers, yes. And you need to go upstairs. Wash up. Get ready for bed--"
"Alright. You don't have to tell me twice." The adorable caramel brunette laughs slightly as she starts to climb the main steps of the staircase.
A tired sigh leaves Cassandra, "Are you sure you don't want any tea?"
"Nope. I'm good." She smiles sheepishly at the thought that she's actually homesick for the real world rather than the one from eighteen years ago.
"When I get up there, you better be asleep." Cassie turns to her own step-daughter with the exact smile, "You too, sweetheart. Get up there."
A giggle escapes April in well-pursuit, "Okay. Good night, Mom." With a sweet smile given just for her, the underaged girl walks up the stairs.
Once Minerva has already showered, leaving her hair flow as waves and she is in her white see-through nightgown, she is sitting on her big queen-sized bed, feeling fresh that the sheets have been changed to a new one with her favourite colour — light blue. She is in the middle of a phone call with a surprised Stefan while she is holding Miss Cuddles, which is on her lap.
"So if you're here right now, where the hell is Bonnie?" Her vampire friend is in his and his own girlfriend's shared bedroom with a drink in his hand.
"Long story short. Kai brought me back here after he stole Bonnie's blood after we had Thanksgiving dinner together in Portland--"
"Wait. What do you mean he stole?" He frowns at the possibility of Bonnie's death just as his hybrid girlfriend comes into the room in her nightgown.
Rosie frowns, concern plastering her lovely features, in pursuit and shuts the room door silently; they are now staying at an apartment near Whitmore.
"I mean, he left Bonnie in Portland, and I couldn't stop him — he knocked me out. So I'm sorry, for being so vulnerable--"
"It's not your fault. Damon and Isaac are trying to get Bonnie back anyway, and I mean compelling Alaric to do whatever it takes, and considering the ascendant is the key to Kai's prison world. Damon's words, not mine."
"Wait. What does Ric have to do with this?" The clueless junior asked.
"His, girlfriend is surprisingly Kai's sister." Her own friend informed her.
"Jo. And you hesitated." The observant caramel brunette guessed his tone.
"You know her. Great. You got the whole life story?" The vampire asked.
"I heard. He murdered his siblings at their own home. And when I say siblings, I mean Liv and Luke, as in my roommates." She reminded him.
"Alaric's going to kill him when he finds out what he did to him." He said.
His tired banshee friend sighs, "Anything else I should know about?"
"Well, we went to Portland too." The green-eyed vampire pointed out.
"Oh, you had Thanksgiving with Josh, huh?" The banshee teased him.
"He tried to kill Damon, and Jo. There's nothing to be grateful about him, except maybe when he locked his psychotic son into a weird prison world. And then he just banished us from that creepy place." He reported.
"I'm sure it wasn't creepy back then, until your son brutally murders the rest of your children. So, you think Jo just ran, huh?" The young banshee said.
"No, she said they let her go. They made a deal. Betray her brother and get her freedom. But they didn't know she had the ascendant. By the time they found out, she was gone." He smiles warmly at his adorable girlfriend.
"Of course she did." His smart friend scoffs, "It makes her feel safe, like she's in control. As long as she has it, then no one can use it to get Kai out. Kai can't get her. Heck, that's not labeled embarrassing or anything."
Her vampire friend laughs slightly, "I can't see you tonight, can I?" He smiles in a cute manner when he earns a look of confusion from his own lover.
"Nope. Mommy's orders, sorry." The banshee doppelgänger replied.
"Listen, uh, four months ago, when I died, and you died to save your friend. I should've kicked Damon's ass for making you go on a suicide mission." Stefan, as the constant gentleman, told her with genuine admiration.
Minerva laughs slightly, "It's not his fault I decided to do it. Insane, that is."
"Insane or not, I would say that's the bravest thing you've ever done."
His banshee friend's cute smile remains on her beautiful face, "Thanks."
****
Whitmore College Courtyard
The next day around the main campus courtyard, Minerva and Stefan are walking side by side together, talking about Damon and Elena, and basically all the events Minerva have missed when she was away. She is now freshly clothed in her white gap peplum top, denim jeans, white Danzey ballet flats, silver diamond curve bar bracelet around her pale right wrist and her princess-cut white sapphire three stone ring around her right ring finger, leaving her shiny caramel brown locks styled in a cute flower braid. Also, never going anywhere without the extraordinary ruby pendant necklace which was given to her by Liv and Luke regarding the possession spell.
"Seriously, I don't think I need to know much more about them." Minerva commented, annoyed, "I just need you to keep an eye out for Liam." Davis.
"Out of many problems I have now, you expect me to care about an ex-boyfriend of yours?" Her own mischievous friend earns a serious look.
"He ended us on his own. That's sad. But seriously, I'm not ready to face him yet. Funny how I'm desperate to see him when I was over there--"
"Well, I think he's pretty much over you." Considering he already broke up with Elena Gilbert recently during the Thanksgiving dinner at her own dorm.
"Why? And I know you're enjoying this. Don't fake it." She snapped.
"And I know you absolutely don't care, about the fact that he was with Elena for a while before they broke up on Friends-giving." He purposely recalled.
Minerva forces a slight laugh, "The unexplainable happened, of course."
"Jo's dad tried to kill her, actually, with magic. He would've succeeded if it wasn't for a hidden knife filled with her magic for safekeeping can break the cloaking spell her dad casted on...well, everything." Her close friend spoke.
The duo slowly stop in their tracks when they meet Elena and Jeremy sitting at a picnic table together, when the former's dark brown eyes widen in disbelief and uncertainty as she stands up, followed by her genuinely surprised brother, their exact gaze fixed on Minerva, who smiles at them.
"Oh my God." The hopeful chestnut brunette gasped, "Minerva?" Devon.
"Gilberts." The formerly deceased banshee doppelgänger mentioned.
Elena laughs slightly, followed by Minerva as the two embrace in a hug.
The eighteen-year-old hunter piped in, "How do we know you're not Rosie?" He says this as he gets up from his seat with his muscular arms folded.
The girls slowly pull away from their reunion hug.
"How can you not tell the difference?" The offended nineteen-year-old said.
The Gilbert boy simply shrugs, "I'm just saying. Who knows?"
"Rosie's at home with Damon to keep the ascendant safe." Stefan stated.
The Gilbert girl looks up at him, "And you're okay with them being alone?"
Her vampire ex-boyfriend nods a little, "I'm secure enough in my relationship, thank you. I trust her, she knows that I'm the love of her life."
"Mmm...so adorable." Their close banshee friend commented, smiling.
"Where's Bonnie?" His ex's brother suddenly brought up, hopefully, as he maintains his grave gaze on his sister's best friend, "Damon said she found peace, with you. That's obviously not true. We thought Kai killed you--"
"Well, we're alive, but the problem is..." The Devon girl trailed off.
"What?" Her hesitant twenty-year-old vampire close friend asked.
"Bonnie's still trapped over there." Stefan stated the news eventually.
Elena sighs, "I knew it. And Damon's doing everything he can to--"
"So you're back to defending him. Wow! And all it took was one hollow promise to bring Bonnie back." The sophomore's brother interrupted her.
"No. No, no, no, Jer. It's not hollow. Liv's looking for a way to send us over there so that we can find Bonnie and bring her back." His sister reported.
"Liv. Where is she?" The mentioned blonde girl's roommate, with a deeply concerned frown, asked her much older vampire friend, who only shrugs.
"And if you can't?" Jeremy asked.
"Jer, this is good news." His step-sister assured him to add solace.
"You're right, Elena. This is good news. Tonight, I'm going to see Bonnie again, and everything is going to go back to the way it was because I have never heard that before." The teen then leaves to continue his early jog.
Elena and Minerva sigh in a tired manner as they watch him go hopelessly.
"You know he was miserable when Bonnie's not here." The former stated.
"Well, it looks like he canceled her cell phone, cried until there was nothing left, and got all the grief out of his system. He is ready to move on." Minerva said that both Stefan and Elena have a strange look, "Sounds familiar?"
Elena and Stefan share a relatable look that the former sighs, "You know."
"Know what? The fact that you were with my ex who you had to eliminate from your life due to unexplainable reasons? I know nothing." She spat.
"Look, he was over you and he's a pre-med just like me--"
"Which gives you the perfect opportunity to just be with him. Right, I can technically hear the snake hissing in the distance." Minerva sneered.
"The one time you two started arguing again." Stefan said sarcastically.
The youngest one fixes her gaze on the younger vampire, "Where's Liv?"
"She's at Tyler's back in Mystic Falls." Elena answered, "Shocker how she's coming for one of your exes too." She earns a warning look from Stefan, and she sighs, "I'm sorry. The thing is, Tyler brought her to Mystic Falls to keep her safe from her family, or should I say her dysfunctional witch family."
"So he won't let her leave to do the spell for you and Damon." Her ex said.
"Okay, so why can't Luke do it?" The brilliant junior banshee asked them.
"Because he is busy enjoying his last few weeks as a singular twin with his sugar daddy radiologist, and I'm sure Liv would like to enjoy hers." The insecure chestnut brunette responded, "I'm just, glad you're back, Minerva."
"Yeah, and she's staying by my side for today." Her vampire ex-lover said.
The younger vampire frowns in confusion, a little envious, "Seriously?"
"Rosie gave us a free pass for today. Trust is everything." He informed them.
"Wow. Okay. Well, I'm going to go. I'm meeting Damon at the cemetery later where Liv will be waiting for us. While you both, and Rosie too, need to stay here in the real world. I mean it." The Gilbert girl then walks away alone.
"So, Liv has been under Tyler's protection while I was gone." Minerva predicted, not feeling any slight of envy at all between the mentioned pair.
"Since Friends-giving, AKA when we were told about the Gemini coven. But of course she'll come back sooner or later." Her understanding friend said.
"They'll make her merge with her brother, I know." The young banshee takes a seat at the picnic table, followed by Stefan, "Which sounds bad."
"Very bad." The vampire emphasized on the risk they're going to face.
"This merge isn't a joke to me, okay? And don't even get me started on their own serial killer of a brother trying to kill them since they were four."
"We'll find a way." He nods in reassurance and comfort for his close friend.
"One that doesn't involve running away from her loved ones?" She added.
"Yeah. Because I know you will fall apart without her." Her own friend.
They smile at each other comfortingly, remaining sincerely close friends.
****
Restaurant
Matt sits at a table for four people with Sarah after the pair came from the Lockwood mansion, where they have been staying with Liv and Tyler as well. After Tripp's death, Sarah has helped Matt to officially end the volunteer community program, which means now Matt is helping her to find her family — the Salvatores, in which she will be meeting up with Stefan.
"Relax."
"I'm about to meet one of my only living relatives." Who's a vampire.
Enzo comes in through the main front door and joins them, "Uh, technically, he's not living. So Stefan has extended family. I'm intrigued." Officially.
The blonde looks up at him, "Enzo, what the hell are you doing here?"
The vampire maintains his genuinely curious gaze on the girl, "Apparently rescuing this one from the world's most dreadful lunch. Matt and Stefan? Sweetheart, you can do so much better. Me for example. I'm Enzo."
Sarah starts to reach up and accept Enzo's handshake in a polite manner when Matt suddenly revealed, "The guy who killed Tripp." She recoils.
"Oh my God."
"For the record, Isaac told me to, and he did try and kill him first." The charming Brit-Italian looks at Matt, "You are the most terrible wingman."
"Enzo, leave. Now." The nineteen-year-old bus boy demanded sternly.
"Or what?" The vampire steps forward in a challenging, daring manner.
"Or maybe I'll pick up where Tripp left off." The Donovan boy replied.
"Go on then."
Stefan comes in through the main front door with Minerva when he intervened, "Hey. I really wouldn't do that if I were you. You hurt him, and, uh, I hurt you, and really don't feel like cleaning up two corpses today."
"Minerva?" Matt mentioned in shock and disbelief as he gets up from his seat, a puzzled frown plastered on his face and his baby blue eyes widen.
"Surprise." Minerva Devon simply uttered with a smile for her friend.
"Oh my God. Does that mean--"
"Making threats in front of impressionable family. How brutish." The former ripper's brother's best friend turns to Minerva, "I'm glad you're back, love."
The Devon girl sarcastically laughs slightly, "Uh, do I know you?" Enzo?
"What are you talking about?" Stefan steps in between her and Enzo sternly.
"Me. He's, uh, talking about me. I'm Zach and Gail's daughter, Sarah Salvatore." Sarah gets up as Stefan and Minerva are staring at her.
Stefan sits at the table for four people with Sarah alone while Enzo then 'eavesdrops' on them from the main bar, sitting next to Matt and Minerva. Matt is trying to distract himself from keeping his curious baby blue eyes on Stefan and Sarah while Minerva is now on her cell phone, to find that Liam and Luke have sent her the most voicemails. She dials Luke's number and cups the device to her left ear, avoiding both Enzo and Matt's curious gaze.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" Probably; Luke answered in surprise.
His younger roommate smiles in relief and joy of finally hearing her friend's voice again after the unbearable four months of being apart, "Hey, it's me."
"I would say I'm going crazy for hearing your voice right now, but I really want to know the whole story of how you fell from heaven." He spoke.
Minerva laughs slightly, "I never found peace, sadly. I still have unfinished business with the world, remember?" She rolls her big hazel eyes playfully.
"And how did you get back? Where are you right now?" He asked, desperate.
"It's a long story which I sadly can't tell over the phone especially at a time like this. Sorry. But I know you have something to tell me every time you called my number for the past four months, leading you to voicemail 'cause you need to let your midlife crisis out somewhere." Her sweet smile stays.
Luke sighs and smiles in relief to hear his friend, "Yeah, not anymore now that you're back, somewhere, wherever you are, I can still find you."
"I'm with Stefan. He's extra protective of me from now on. But hey, I can still listen to whatever struck you, so let it out, Lucas." The girl offered nicely.
"It, doesn't matter. I'm just glad you're back, and I know I've been saying this to your voicemail for like a thousand times over the summer, but I really am so sorry that you didn't get to come back from the other side--"
"Ah, here it comes. Guilt, your best companion." Minerva recognised.
The twin scoffs, "I'm serious. I mean, you or Liv should've told me you went on a suicide mission. Otherwise, I could've waited for you, you know."
"You had a lot on your plate with the whole traveler thing going on."
"Yeah, but, it's over now." The dirty blonde shrugs.
"Well let me give you a refill; okay, Bonnie didn't get to come home with me, which really sucks. Hopefully, she will with Damon and Elena who are now over there, thanks to Liv." The well-informed young banshee listed out.
"Wait. What? Liv is staying at Tyler's. There's no way she can--"
"Actually, she can leave the house without a key, unlike that prison world."
Luke frowns anxiously in horror by the mention of the two familiar words, "Prison world? Repeating the same day thing?" In which Kai Parker is?
"Yes. Where do you think I've been? Did no one ever tell you that?"
"So, how did you get out?" He desperately questioned her as he mentally recalls the requirements: the ascendant, Bennett blood and the eclipse.
Minerva slowly shakes her head, "I told you, it's a long story--"
"Well, shorten it 'cause my coven has something to do with that place, alright?" The young witch slightly panics as he tries to calm himself down.
"Yeah, I know. I heard the whole life story, too, literally." Of the Parkers.
"Minerva, what did you do?" He considers the dangerous possibility of his sociopathic eldest brother's escape with his closest friend from the prison.
"I had Thanksgiving dinner at your house in world 1994. And thanks to your brother and sister who are surprisingly twins too, he found the knife she kept her magic in, stole Bonnie's blood, knocked me out, and kidnapped me to get home since he had the ascendant the whole time. Basically."
Enzo and Matt share a look, surprised by the information as well.
"Oh my God." Kai Parker is back, hence he's coming for him and Liv.
"So yes, your beloved brother is already out." His roommate finished.
"So where the hell is he?"
"I haven't checked. Little does he know, I tracked his phone to my account."
"This isn't funny, okay? Kai is a psychopath, you need to stay away--"
"Sociopath, to be exact. And before you say anything else, I want you to know that I love you, and I don't want you to do the merge." She retorted.
The twin shakes his head in denial and horror, "You don't understand."
"I do. Coven comes before family, right?" The banshee quoted sarcastically.
Before Luke can reply, Minerva already hangs up and checks Kai's location on her cell phone to see that he is around Whitmore campus. Enzo watches her curiously and glances at Stefan, who remains speaking to Sarah.
"What was that?" Matt asked her, desperate to know more about the coven.
"Dysfunctional family, basically. Familiar?" Minerva dials Kai, who answers, "Hey, where are you?" She looks away from both Enzo and Matt once more.
"That's a simple question, curious tone. But what if I want you to find me yourself? Since it doesn't bode well for me when you turned down my dinner last night. But no worries. I kind of dealt with it by picking on my driver earlier. You should've seen him." Kai laughs slightly at the mental image of him strangling his taxi cab driver to death with his earpieces.
"Haha. Yeah, laugh it out until somebody finds him. That'll leave you untrackable." Minerva sarcastically spoke, "Look, I'm sorry about last night. But you do understand why I had to leave as soon as I woke up, don't you?"
Enzo shares another odd look with Matt.
"You're asking me- where are you right now?" Kai asked her curiously.
"I'm with a friend. You shouldn't even be going out--"
"I'm not going to stay trapped. Not anymore. To be fair, if you're giving me the advice to stay home and sit around all day with nothing to do, shouldn't you do the same too? It makes us even. Or you can come over at my place. There's still wine. I'll order some Chinese food, and we'll both spend a good time together. Which sounds really good, if you ask me." He chuckles.
The girl tightly smiles at the mental image, "That's really sweet, but not enough to tempt me. And to be fair, I downloaded Twitter for you to scroll the screen all day long. All you have to do is sign up. It's a piece of cake."
"Or you're only doing this to distract me."
The caramel brunette frowns, "From what?"
"Who knows? I want to see you." The young man demanded.
"Only if there's champagne." Minerva teased him.
"Ooh. And don't forget pasta." Kai played along.
"I can't promise to see you today, okay?"
Kai says nothing that she called out to him until he replied, "Okay."
The phone call ends and Minerva smiles at the clear screen which shows Kai's contact, attracting Enzo's genuine curiosity and interest even more, who mentioned, "Sounds too friendly." Perhaps they're intimates?
"Yeah, what's up with you and Kai?" Matt, concerned, sided with him.
Minerva receives a text message from Stefan that Sarah is a fake; 'She's not her. This girl is a fake', followed by the plan to make their exit later on without Matt or Enzo's awareness, to which Minerva replied with a simple okay, beginning to apply her acting skills until she made it out of there.
"So she's saying you're stupid, and Stefan is agreeing. Ooh. Now she's saying you're good for nothing, and Stefan is disagreeing. He says you're a great punch line to a joke." The Brit-Italian begun mocking the bus boy.
"Wow. Didn't know how insecure you really are, Enzo." The banshee said.
"Everyone hates you." The nineteen-year-old blonde spat at him, annoyed.
The smug vampire scoffs at them, "Don't be jealous you two can't vamp hear because one is a big blond bowl of mush and one is a small fragile banshee of a brunette. Just be thankful I don't fancy mush and fragile."
Minerva sees Stefan flags down a young waitress, according to plan, "Hey. Excuse me. Can we get two chocolate milk shakes, please?" He turns to the con artist in front of him, "It's a, uh, Salvatore family tradition." As if.
"I'm all for family traditions."
The waitress starts the milk shake blender, which is loud enough to mask Stefan's words from Enzo's hearing as Minerva sighs while getting up.
"Where are you going?" Her close human friend asked.
"Out. I'm going to make a call." Minerva walks out to wait by Stefan's car for him and 'Sarah' to trail after her and takes her cell phone out once more.
She watches through the big restaurant glass window that Stefan is speaking to her while Enzo tries to listen, but he can't hear anything over the machine. Once Stefan changes his demeanor back to cordial, it indicates that the blender has stopped. 'Sarah' barely fakes a smile and they both rise; Matt gets up when he sees them leaving as well, asking of where they are going, giving Minerva a look from inside as the caramel brunette pretends to be distressed from someone not picking up her phone call.
****
Stefan's Porsche, Road
The young con artist is in the back seat of the moving car while Minerva is sitting quietly in the front passenger seat, who's looking out the window since her banshee-hearing picks up on Kai and Liv's voices from the Whitmore Skull bar, concentrating on them in concern and rising anxiety.
"Oh. Hang on, hang on. I'm going to get a real drink. No bourbon. I'm secure enough in my masculinity. Vodka's boring, rum's too tropical. Ooh. Tequila. You do not want to see me on tequila. What about gin? Is that weird?"
"Not if you're a fifty-year-old, but seeing as you look nineteen, I'm going to need to see some ID." The young bartender spoke and Minerva gulps.
"Oh. Of course. Of course." The young man takes out his ID from his wallet and hands it to his oblivious youngest sister, who reads the birthdate.
"1972. Nice try." The blonde twin smiles sarcastically at him.
"No. True story, but that's not the most interesting thing on that ID. Here. Look again. Name, address..." He urged her and Minerva shuts her big eyes.
"Malachai Parker. Oh my God." The young witch starts to try to get away, but Kai restrains her with magic, siphoning her, causing her to be in great pain.
"Last time I saw you...I was trying to kill you. Why don't we pick up where we left off?" The vengeful sociopath smiles sadistically at his victim.
"I don't think so." Liv stabs his left forearm with something, which Minerva gasps at and the blonde tries to escape, but Kai locks the door with magic.
"You okay?" Stefan asked her with deep concern.
"Life is so much easier with magic." Kai remarked.
"Y-Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." Minerva claimed, nodding a little.
Although Stefan can effortlessly read her expression; doesn't believe her.
Every door Liv runs to, Kai closes and locks with magic which he stole temporarily from his own sister, "Feels kind of like cheating. I'm sad you didn't recognize me. That means Dad erased all trace of my existence-- family pictures, movies, little handprint turkey I made. What a dick."
Liv runs up the stairs; Kai follows her, "You stay the hell away from me." The twenty-one-year-old magicks some tables toward him to block his way.
"You were always so bad at hide-and-seek. I mean, you were four, but still, find a better hiding spot." Kai magicks the tables out of the way, but suddenly Tyler appears and shoves him over the balcony edge.
"I think she did just fine." Tyler turns to the girl, "Let's get out of here."
"I need to go to Whitmore." Minerva blurted out desperately.
Her friend turns to her with a puzzled expression, "What? No, you said--"
"I know what I said. Just, drive me there."
"This is about Kai." The intuitive vampire figured, "Why? Why would you--"
"Because I care about him, care about Liv and Luke." The girl admitted.
"Look, I can't promise you that I'll drive you there, but one thing we agreed to do together is helping me with this impostor right here." He snapped.
The mentioned impostor piped in defensively from the back, "I told you Zach Salvatore is my father, Gail is my mother. I have these pictures."
"Yeah, please shut up. We know those are just stolen pictures." She hissed.
"Yeah, that's your big evidence?" Her ex-boyfriend added on in disbelief and ridicule, "You gave yourself up the second you got in the car."
"Why don't you guys believe me?" She glances between the pair in front.
The knowledgeable driver stops the car and turns to 'Sarah', followed by his equally knowing close banshee friend, "Because right now, Sarah Salvatore is in her dorm room at Duke university, where she studies as an art major, and she didn't bounce from group home to group home."
"She was adopted right out of the hospital by a great family. Stefan made sure of it. I literally time traveled back when Sarah Salvatore is born to know the real story." The Devon girl enunciated to prove their point.
"You know her." The con artist remarked in true surprise.
"She's his family. Even though she doesn't know him, he's looked out for her for her entire life." The caramel brunette spoke for her ex defensively.
"Now who the hell are you?" Stefan asked strictly.
The girl immediately gets out of the car and starts to run, but Stefan vamp-speeds over to block her way while Minerva gets out of the vehicle as well on the side of the road, on the concrete pavement.
"Monique. My name is Monique. I met Sarah at sleep-away camp, or as my foster family liked to call it, get the hell out of my house camp. Sarah had a great life. Me? Not so much. So when I found out that she had no desire to find her real family--"
"You decided to find them for her." Minerva finished in true annoyance.
"Couldn't be any worse than what I had." Monique replied casually.
"Well, considering the fact that my brother killed her mom while she was pregnant, I don't know about that. I let him believe that the baby died. I wanted to protect her. Even though my brother's not the same person he was before, it's safer if he doesn't know. I know that may be a little bit extreme, but I want her to have a normal life no matter what."
"See, the problem is with you around, there's a threat now, someone who knows her other than me and Stefan." The young banshee begun.
Stefan moves toward her, and Monique backs away in fear and self-defense, "We're not going to hurt you. I just need you to take off your vervain." Monique takes off her vervain necklace and hands it to Minerva before he compels her, "You've never met or heard of Sarah Salvatore. Forget everything that happened here, leave Virginia, and never come back."
Monique starts to walk away when a car honks behind them; both Minerva and Stefan turn quickly at the sound and see that it's Matt's moving truck.
"Hey! You okay?" The Donovan boy called out.
"Who are you?" The clueless Monique asked.
He looks at the former ripper in confusion, "You compelled her? Why?"
The nineteen-year-old girl rolls her big hazel eyes in more annoyance, "She's not his family, she's a con artist, and we're just trying to get rid of her."
"Get out of here." Stefan told the unknown girl.
Monique starts to leave obediently under his compulsion when Enzo vamp-speeds right up to her, who shouted in surprise, "What the hell?!"
"No screaming, love, and don't move." Enzo compelled her.
"Enzo, what are you doing?" The protective blonde bus boy asked, tired.
Enzo grabs Monique and pulls her back against him roughly, "I want the whole story, the one not obscured by the dulcet tones of a blender."
"Don't you have like, supernatural hearing? I told you she's a con artist. There is no Sarah Salvatore. That baby died when Damon killed her mom." Minerva snapped as she tries to remain calm to maintain her charm.
"Then why listen to this one babble on for twenty minutes, why whisk her away to speak privately, hmm? Why wipe her memory, Stefan? She knows something." The ex-ripper's brother's vampire best friend retorted, curious.
"Come on. Don't do this. Just let her go." Stefan told him.
"See? He's digging in. Can always spot a liar. How about a countdown? That's fair for everyone, right? Five seconds. Four...three..."
"Enzo, I swear, if you--"
"If I what?" Enzo interrupted the adorable banshee.
"Let her go." Minerva asserted.
"Sorry, love. But Stefan's five seconds are up." Enzo breaks Monique's neck; Matt starts toward him when Stefan restrains him by his arms.
"Don't be stupid. Don't be stupid." Stefan advised.
"Just think. All of this could have been avoided if you'd have just told the truth. No matter. I'll find out sooner or later." Enzo then vamp-speeds away.
"Great job, mushy." The Devon girl spat.
The blonde teen scoffs at her, "You think it's my fault?"
"She wouldn't be dead if you and Enzo could just--"
"Alright, that's enough. Both of you." Her moral ex-boyfriend cuts in.
"Just, put her in the truck." Matt speed-walks over to his truck while Stefan carries Monique's lifeless body, making his way over to the parked vehicle.
Minerva takes out her cell phone to check that Kai is now at their hometown cemetery and she shakes her head in horror, "Oh God, no."
"Wait. Are you guys talking about Bonnie Bennett? Because honestly, I didn't think she was all that great." Kai magicks the ascendant out of Elena's hands; the necessary relic smashes against a tree and breaks.
Minerva winces that she shuts her big hazel eyes as she can hear Elena scrambling to collect the pieces desperately.
"I am going to enjoy the hell out of this." Damon moves toward Kai, who disables him with excruciating pain in his head by the stolen magic.
"Oh, hey. Me, too. Oh, yeah. Damon, I, uh, I stole some of Liv's magic when I tried to kill her. Think some of it might still be in my system, so pardon me." Kai telekinetically slides Damon away, then walks toward Elena; he picks up a piece of the ascendant, "Uh-uh-uh. You missed one. Phesmatos incendia."
He drops it into Elena's right hand with the rest of the broken pieces, and it bursts into flame; the fire spreads up Elena's arm. Damon, revived, vamp-speeds toward Kai, who suddenly disappears. Damon picks up a large tree branch and swings it, hitting Kai, who becomes visible again and gets pelted over the anti-magic border. The fire on Elena's right arm goes away.
Minerva opens her big eyes when Stefan asked her, "You okay?"
"Yeah." Minerva nods to see that he is finished putting the body into the bed of the truck and she earns a look of disapproval that he doesn't believe her.
He turns to the blonde teen, "Look. I'm sorry that Enzo killed her. He's--"
"A monster. Yeah, I know, but you two could have stopped him, and neither of you did." Matt interrupted him bitterly over Monique's avoidable death.
"What, you think that was easy for us, watching an innocent girl die?" Stefan snapped at him defensively, for both him and his ex-girlfriend.
"I don't know, actually. You two aren't exactly the sharing type besides when it comes to each other. Or you're just switching doppelgängers today."
The vampire scoffs, "This has absolutely nothing to do with Rosie."
The banshee sighs in a tired manner, "Matt, everything Stefan and I do, we have thought out over and over, making sure it's the right thing to do."
"So we're just supposed to trust that you two know best?" Matt scoffs.
"No. You're supposed to trust that Stefan and I are nothing like Enzo." His nineteen-year-old close friend enunciated defensively as a well-reminder.
"The problem is you both are, especially you." Matt referred to Stefan, "And your girlfriend. Because no matter how close vampires get to humans, our lives will always mean less, so when push comes to shove, we'll be on opposite sides, which is what Tripp knew and I didn't." With an upsetting frown, he gets into his parked truck and drives away from them.
"He's right--"
"Yeah, and the next time we see him, he's armed with vampire hunter weapons. Heck, with a hunter by his side. Shocker." Minerva earns a grave look, "He's not going to be drunk and miserable, Stefan. He's furious and miserable. He's going to channel his rage like it's the better option--"
"Don't say it--"
"No? Why? The fact that he want to kill Enzo--"
"I said, don't." Stefan asserted his close friend.
"I don't care about them, Stefan. The grief, the rage. I don't care. The thing is, Bonnie's not with them." The banshee-witness sighs once again tiredly.
The vampire looks at her with thick furrowed eyebrows, "What?"
"Something went wrong, and it didn't work. Liv brought them back because Kai tried to kill her. She had to run." Minerva reported the predicament.