| meliorism |
chapter twenty-nine
❝ crying wolf ❞
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Everything felt steady, but she still wished that everything would stop once in a while. Time was moving relatively fast, and she was till trying to catch up, but apparently, it wasn't going to let her, not until she ran a few more miles.
Even though the past actions of the days had been crystal clear in her mind, she tried to hold them down. Nothing was better than to try it forget, even though it still made her skin crawl.
Rhena let go of the box she was holding along with the others, back in the storage space. She was glad to be back to work, so she could take her mind off what had happened, her heart still ache at the memories, and she flinched more than usual.
She sighed and turned towards the exited, but before she could do it, Matt came storming in, almost pushing her. She noticed that he was breathing heavily, and he seemed pissed off.
"Matt? Everything okay?" she called gently, not wanting to startle him.
"Did you know that Caroline and Tyler have something going on?" Matt turned to her really quick, speaking with a tone that made her flinched.
She hadn't spoke to Caroline, who was busy with some school stuff. She had tried to talk to Tyler, to see what had happened and if he was alright or at least get an explanation for that night, but he seemed to be avoiding her.
"What?" she furrowed her eyebrows, looking at him puzzled.
"And dont lie, Rhena, I know they're both your best friends, but if you are at least a little of my friend, you would tell me the truth" he pointed his finger at her, he looked extremely hurt and betrayed.
"Matt" she put her hands in his shoulders, calming him down a little "I don't know what's going on between them" she shook her head, she was telling the truth though "if there's something going on between them, I would've have told them to be straight with you, because all that toxic and childish bullshit of cheating and lying hurts, so no, I don't know about them"
Matt nodded at her words, and sighed, closing his eyes to try and get away from his emotions. She let down her hands, exhaling. She remembered that Vicki and her used to be back there eating candies in their break, talking and laughing. Perhaps that's what Matt needed, someone to talk and laugh with.
"Hey, come with me, I have something that might get your mind off things" she smiled gently at him, taking his wrist to guide him to the candy storage most of the coworkers shared. Hoping that maybe her company was enough.
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Rhena passed a hand on top of her dress, trying to smooth it. She looked at herself in the window of a car before exhaling deeply, turning her gaze to the Lockwood residence.
Jenna was hosting a history type party to celebrate the research done, and she had asked her to be there. Jenna had been there for her multiple times, and she was planning on doing the same, the woman was basically her big sister slash mom, so she was there as promised.
Walking to the entrance, she practiced her smile and tried to shake her nerves off. Upon entering the residence, she was greeted with very elegant decorations and a good vibe that soothed her mood.
From her spot, she saw Jenna talking to a couple of people, and she smiled, seeing how happy she looked. Rhena approached, smiling shyly once she was seen. Jenna smiled wide and opened her arms, embracing the teenager.
"I'm so happy you're here, Rhen" Jenna exhaled, ending the hug and looking at her in the eyes.
"I'm happy to be here with you, Jen" Rhena nodded, chuckling softly.
"Come on" Jenna took her hand, guiding her through the people. She didn't recognized most of them, so she hoped she saw someone she knew, or else it was going to be really awkward.
The two arrived in front of a group of people. Once she saw who it was, a weight lift from her shoulders, confident now that she wasn't going to be alone.
"Guess who made it" Jenna smiled, positioning her in front of Alaric, Damon and another woman, who she kinda recognized. Before anyone could say anything, Jenna looked ahead of them, finding someone in the crowd "I'll be right back" she patted her back and walked away, leaving her with the three adults.
Rhena smiled at everyone, waving a little. Alaric nodded and smiled at her as well, and Damon approached her side, putting an arm around her. He turned to the woman next to him, smiling.
"Rheny, I want you to meet my girlfriend, Andie" he pointed at a pretty woman, who was smiling "Andie, meet my lovely niece, Rhena"
Rhena raised her eyebrow, but changed her actions and smiled at the woman. She didn't expect Damon to be having a girlfriend, but she shrugged it off, shaking the woman's hand. She then recognized her from the news because of the name, and it clicked.
"nice to meet you" Rhena smiled at her, admiring how good she looked in her outfit.
Andie smiled back "nice to mee you too, honey"
Not even minutes after, Jenna came back, but not alone. She smiled at the group and pushed the man forward with her. Her eyes widen once she recognized who it was.
"alright, here is the man of the moment, Rhena, I want you to meet—"
"Elijah" Rhena smiled wide, looking up at the man, who immediately returned the smile at her.
"oh" Jenna furrowed her eyebrows, looking between the two "you know each other?"
Next to her, Alaric and Damon frowned, looking at each other in surprised. Neither of them knew the two were acquaintances, or friends even. Everything was getting even more complicated than what they thought.
"Hello, Rhena" Elijah nodded at her, and she got out of Damon's embraced to go into Elijah's arm.
After a quick hug, she smiled "what are you doing here?"
"I'm doing a book about the history of the town" Elijah told her, eyeing a certain pair of people behind her.
Rhena raised her eyebrows in realization "oh, that was the business you were doing then, that's great"
Damon fake chuckled, causing everyone to look back at him. She turned while he looked between her and Elijah "how do you know each other?"
"Family friend" Elijah put a hand on her shoulder, and she nodded, missing how Elijah send a look to Damon of caution. She looked at the two, thinking how good it might be that she two could get along. However, she didn't caught the deathly stares they were sending each other, ones that might break her illusion.
"lovely evening, isn't it?" Alaric raised his eyebrows, taking a big chug from his drink.
"Jenna, hi"
Jenna turned to the woman who called her, smiling as she went to greet more people, Andie going with her as she knew the people as well. That left her with the three men, who were awfully quiet. Rhena looked between the three suspiciously, feeling something might be going on.
"Well, if you'll excuse me, I need to take care of something" Elijah nodded at the two men, then looked at Rhena "I'll be around if you need me, would you be alright if I leave you for a while?"
"I'm not a kid anymore, 'Lijah, I'll be alright" she smiled, nodding for assurance.
"No, you're not" he shook his head and put a hand on her shoulder "be good"
He nodded at the three and left, but she couldn't see in which direction because Damon's mocking voice caused her to look at him. Once he realized she was looking, he stopped and smiled.
"How do you Elijah?" Damon raised his eyebrows, and she shrugged.
"He is friends with my aunt, just like you" she furrowed her eyebrows, and the two shared a look "why? What's going on?"
Alaric was about to tell her, but Damon didn't let him "nothing, it's was just unexpected" he smiled to calm her nerves, but that wasn't going to be an easy task. He didn't want her involve in the mess they were currently in, the lesser she knew, the better. It was always that way "oh, by the way, you can totally trust Ric, he knows about me, and Stefan and Caroline"
Rhena looked at Alaric, who smiled at little. Then, went to look at Damon again, raising his eyebrows.
"Totally fine, I promise" Damon moves his hand, meaning that it was not a big deal "now, why don't we tell Ric about the day you thought you could fly and went to the hospital, just to see your favorite doctor because he was cute?"
"Damon, don't you dare!"
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Rhena was never going to get used it, knowing that she held abilities no normal person had. It was a huge responsibility, she knew it; the question was, was she good enough to hold it?
She watched with precision how her father tried to show her how to use her power with physical strength. The more training she got, the more she liked it. It was liberating, and more helpful than what she thought it was going to be.
After multiple attempts of trying to imitate what he showed her, she had to catch a breath. She needed to be in shape, and if she wanted to use her abilities properly, she needed to use both her body and mind.
As Charles was explaining how to use her arms for creating a strong force shield, she began to wince in pain. It was quick, but strong enough to get his attention. Then, the pain began spread and hurt with more intensity. There were sharp pains all around her neck, like needles punctuating her skin.
"Rhena? What is it?" Charles approached her side, frowning at her movements.
She held one side of her neck, as if that was going to stop the pain "My neck, it hurts"
Charles furrowed his eyebrows, not understanding what was happening, but then realized something and looked at her with wide eyes "someone you care about is in danger"
Rhena looked up at him incredulously, furrowing her eyebrows "what?"
"Have you ever experience unexplicable pain somewhere in your body? You feel like something it's ripping through your skin, but there's nothing there, no matter how much it hurts?" Charles began to question, already knowing what was the cause of her pain.
She nodded with a gesture "Yes, what about it?"
Her father sighed "You're a wire, baby, every time someone you love gets physically hurt, most likely someone supernatural, it wires to you, you feel their pain because you are meant to heal it, it's the protector in you transmitting through others"
She began to groan in pain, and it took so much energy that she had not kneel down in the ground, her father doing the same to be at the same level "so someone I love is getting hurt right now?"
"Yes" he nodded, exhaling deeply. He wondered how many times had she felt the pain through the years, which broke his heart.
Rhena frowned, looking at him "but how do I know who it is?"
"Focus, you can feel their energy and see who it is" he began to explain, moving his hands as support "if they're going though a lot of pain and trauma to their limbs, you have more possibilities to reach out and find them"
Rhena nodded, trying to get in the information. It would have been better if she had known that information months prior instead of thinking she was suffering from something "how do I do that?"
Charles put his hands on her shoulders "Close your eyes, and repeat with me... hjerte til hjerte"
Rhena took a deep breath and closed her eyes "hjerte til hjerte" she whispered. As soon as she said those words, she gasped, feeling being pulled into a void space.
The world in front of her eyes disappeared and was replaced with a black space, surrounded by nothing as far as she could see. For a moment she thought she had become blind, but before freaking out, a small appeared not too far away from her. Curious, she walked towards it, feeling water under her bare feet.
Once she became close to it, she could see a figure and her vision became clearer. There, under the light, sat Damon in a wooden chair with a collar of steel nails around his neck; he was bleeding badly, and seem to be talking to someone, but she couldn't see who it was. The only thing that she recognized was the chair and the carpet, and immediately knew it was his house.
Rhena tried to reached out to Damon, but his figure disappeared as soon as she touched him. She felt someone grabbed her shoulders, and she was able to open to open her eyes. The woods and everything around her became clearer, and if it wasn't because of her father, she would have fallen down.
"Damon" she panted, looking up at him with wide eyes "it's Damon, I need to help him"
Charles sighed "Rhena, I know you want to, but—"
"but? What do you mean? I have to help him" she frowned, analyzing his face, but he didn't seem to have in.
He shook his head "no, Rhena, not right now"
She let out a breath, staring to get angry "what's the point then? I have these abilities, what kind of person would I be if don't help my friends? I can do it, you said it yourself"
"he's a vampire, he'll heal" Charles let go of her shoulders and she sat in ground, looking at him with incredulousness.
"so you knew about him? About other vampires?" she questioned with her eyebrows raised, feeling a little betrayed.
Charles nodded "Yes, that's part of the reason I came back"
"then you know who he is, you know he means a lot to me" Rhena approached her, trying hard to convince him.
Charles furrow his eyebrows "he made you forget"
"but he had reasons to, he would never lied to me" she whispered, and he could see in her eyes that she really thought so, but he remained quiet "let me help him, let me show you that I am capable of doing something else than lay in my pain"
Charles took a deep breath "you are capable, but you're not ready, you haven't trained properly"
Rhena opened her eyes wide "then I'll improvise, I'll do anything, but I can't sit back and pretend the problems are not there, not anymore" she shook her head, speaking low.
Charles sighed "no, Rhena" her face had now a defeated look.
"but dad—" she began again, but he cut her off.
"I said no, and that's final" Rhena frowned and looked away. Charles felt guilty, but it was the best thing for her, he just wanted to protect her "I can call someone to help him, if it makes you feel better" she didn't respond, looking away from him.
He knew she wasn't going to talk for the moment, so he stood up and walked away, putting a little distance between them far enough so she didn't hear the conversation. He took out his phone and began to type a number, after two times, his call was answered.
"What do you want, Bekker?"
Although Charles didn't like Damon by any means, he owed it to Rhena, after all the pain and suffering she had gone through "Damon Salvatore is in trouble"
There was a silence on the other side, until he decided to speak, thinking maybe he had caused it "how do you know that?"
Charles crossed his arms against his chest, looking on the horizon "Rhena sensed it, I'm training her, my ways"
There was a small chuckle "hmm, and does Morgana know that?"
"Don't know, don't care" Charles shook his head "Damon is important to Rhena and John told me about your promise to his daughter, so honor it and help Rhena in the process, I know you care about her"
"watch how you speak to me, Charles, just because I care about your daughter does not mean you can call any favors, you decided the side you were on the day of your awakening"
Charles let out a deep breath "save Damon Salvatore, it's all I'm asking"
"such a shame that she will leave you once her choice comes"
"goodbye, Elijah"
Charles stared at the screen for a couple of seconds, knowing he did the right thing. He then turned to Rhena, who was playing with the grass as some stones levitated in front of her. He smiled lightly, and approached her, each step holding something back. He sat down in front of her, sighing.
"Rhena" he called, but she didn't respond "Rhena, I know you're mad—"
"I'm not" she whispered, still looking down "I know you're doing it because you care about me" she smiled lightly "I want to help, but I don't know how to, I would have messed up and end up getting both of us killed"
He shook his head, smiling lightly "Hey, you'll get there, you just need to practice more and soon, they wont know what hit them"
"dad?" she called, putting down the rocks back into their place.
He raised his eyebrows "yes, sweetheart?"
"is there something you're not telling me?" she looked up at him, tilting her head a little.
He paused and looked at her in the eyes, where a red flash passed through "if I am, just know that it's for the best"
She looked down again, sniffling. She nodded and continued to play with the grass. In her mind, the words of her aunt were printed with silver. But anger and chaos was not going to give her answers, so she stayed back, knowing that in a moment near, she was going to know everything she needed.
And this time, no one was going to take that away from her.
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Sleepless nights were dooming. They were root of many problems, and right now, she felt like it was going to be the start of some of hers. For the tenth time, she turned in her bed, trying to get some rest, but to avail.
It was a rather cold night, but no matter how much she wanted to forget, her mind didn't let her. It was too loud, and her thoughts didn't want to stop, only continuing an endless cycle that she was still not used to.
She let out a frustrated sigh and passed her hands through her face, sighing heavily. In that moment, something collided with her window, causing her to flinch and froze in her place.
Again, something hit her window, which she could only described as a rock. Slowly, she got out of bed to investigate, and peeped at little through the curtain. Under her window, right there in her patio, stood Tyler.
She frowned and moved to the other side, where she could open the curtain a little more without alarming her sister. Something felt wrong, but she couldn't quite place what it was. With confusion, she signal him to wait, and he nodded.
From under her bed, she took out her slippers and took the sweater she was going to wear the next day. Slowly and quietly, she began to make her way downstairs, hoping she wasn't waking up anyone.
As soon as she reached the front door, she opened it quietly and sneak out, and right there, was Tyler in front of her door.
She frowned, approaching him "Tyler, why are you here so late?"
Tyler sighed "I'm sorry, Rhen, but I couldn't do it without seeing you"
"do what? What are you talking about?" she furrowed her eyebrows, her worrying starting to grow.
Tyler approached her, looking at her for a few seconds before going to a tight hug, raising her from the ground as he did so. They stayed like that for a minute before letting her go, putting his hands in her shoulders.
"Tyler?" she called, but she didn't respond. He leaned over and gave her a kiss on the forehead, she was supposed, because he was never one for affection. He stayed like that before sighing and smiling sadly down at her.
"thank you for being my best friend when no one else's really wanted me, Rheny, I love you, but I hurt too many people, too much"
Then it hit her, and she realized his intentions. He wanted to say goodbye, because he was leaving.
"don't" she frowned, and he stayed silent as she closed her eyes "I know what you're about to do, so don't" she whispered, trying to hold back tears "whatever you're going through, we'll get through it, but don't leave, please"
"I have to, it's the only way I can get better" he shook his head, and she's opened her eyes. He had determination in him, and she knew that she could try to convince him to stay but that was his decision. She was no one to try and stop his wishes.
She couldn't hold him back, that would be selfish and hypocritical. If he wanted to leave, she would be supportive and be the friend she was always going to be to him. She wanted to help him, but she had no experience, if he was leaving, that me at he knew of someone who would help him, and that was omg the best things she could ask for.
"I'll be back, better than ever, I promise"
Rhena sighed, looking up at him "do you have a plan? Does your mom know?"
"Yeah" he nodded, smiling slightly.
"a back up for that plan, and another back up for that?" she raised her eyebrows, but his only response was to roll his eyes jokingly.
"You know I don't think that much ahead, Rhen" they chuckle lightly, and she nodded, sniffling.
"promise me to call, at least once a week or two weeks" she pleaded, she just wanted to know that he was safe, wherever he was going to.
"I promise" he nodded, and she smiled sadly, putting her hands in his cheeks for a few seconds, then holding his hands, squeezing them.
"goodbye, Rhena" he exhaled deeply, giving her hands a last squeeze.
"goodbye, Tyler" she whispered, pursuing her lips.
He began to walk away, causing their hands to separate. She watched him go and disappear into the night, where she knew he was strong enough to go through. She slowly turned around and got in the house again, closing the door and putting her forehead against the wood.
Rhena took a deep breath and released it, closing her eyes as she felt a piece of her heart go. Was it for the better? She didn't know. The only thing that she realized was that to be somebody, to feel free and happy, sometimes you needed to escape. Because if home didn't feel as it should be, that was not your place, not the only you were meant to be, anyways.
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