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One month later
Emma walked around, taking in her surroundings. Being back here was worse than death. A low shriek cut the air. She ran towards the direction of the sound. Then she saw it. Her brother. Laying on the ground. Screaming. Trashing. Crying out her name.
She couldn't bring her legs to move. Couldn't help as he looked up and said," Please." Couldn't do anything as his powers were stripped off. Her legs gave away and she fell on the hard ground. She crawled towards her brother but he'd stopped moving. Emma saw crimson liquid trailing down his mouth and then she screamed.
Emma woke up panting, covered in sweat. She shot for the bathroom and threw up her guts. Her nightmares had started the day after she'd escaped from the prison world. It was hard for her to sleep without fearing what or who would try to kill her in her sleep. Every night she would wake up covered in sweat and throw up her entire days food.
" Emma, are you....are you alright?" asked Ian, entering the bathroom.
" I'm probably a little sick but I'm fine."
He hesitated. Probably debating if he should leave or stay.
" I could make you soup," he said.
Emma nodded." That would be great."
She had grown to like Ian more than she'd admit. When she'd told him about her brother she was certain he was going to cry so she had to change the topic. She told him about Kai. His expressions were a mixture of horror and admiration.
He was so fascinated and overjoyed with the piece of information she'd shared with him.
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Emma sat in the Whitmore bar waiting for Ian. She hated it here. It always seemed as if someone were watching over her. Ian had already informed here that he was going to be late.
The waitress arrived with the beer she had ordered. She set in down in front of her and Emma thanked her. The waitress had extremely pretty eyes, Emma noticed. Deep blue. Exactly like Kai's.
Kai.
He still hadn't showed up. Maybe he'd really left her.She sighed and pushed away the thoughts.
Ian had left his phone with her. She cursed under her breath at what she was about to do. It was a bad idea. She shouldn't do it. But she had already dialed the number. Please pick up. Pick up. Pick up.
" Hello?" The voice that answered was laced with irritation. " Who is this?"
Emma sighed in relief at the sound of that familiar voice. Just as she'd remembered. She hadn't even realized that tears had slipped from her eyes.
" If you're not gonna answer then-"
" Klaus," said Emma. There was a long silence on the other end of the line. "Klaus," she said again.
" Emmaline? Dear god, we thought you died." She could hear the relief in his voice. " We went back but the house wasn't- Where are you? I'm coming to get you."
" Klaus, I'm fine. Kol, is he...is he alright? I heard-"
"He's fine. Changed, but...fine." Emma let out a sigh of relief. It had been eating at her since Damon had mentioned it. "Darling, where are you?" Asked Klaus.
Emma explained to him in short about how she was stuck in the prison world. She mentioned Kai but didn't tell him the details. She told him where she was staying.
" I really do want you to come back but you have worked for us for far too long. I suppose it is up to you. If you want to return to us."
"I will. I have to finish something first but then I will return."
" That's good to know." Emma heard a loud crash in the phone. Klaus swore.
"Is everything alright?"
" Uh- yes. Nothing to worry about. I have to go now but uh..." she could hear the muffled screams of someone. Was he really torturing someone while casually talking on the phone with her? "Call me if you need anything."
" Yeah. Okay." She hung up. And then laughed. If this wasn't the highlight of the day, she was met with a bone crushing hug from behind and Ian came into view, excitement radiating off him.
" What? He said yes?"
Ian nodded happily as he took a seat across from her. " He said yes!"
Ian had been talking about some boy he liked so Emma had encouraged him to go talk to the guy.
" We're going out tomorrow!"
Emma smiled at him. "Let's celebrate. Order whatever you want. My treat."
The waitress arrived again to take their order. " Hey Liv," said Ian.
" Hey," she replied dryly. " What do you want?" She was a witch too, Emma realized. She sensed the magic wildly flowing through her body. It was different than Ian's. His power was more stable and conserved.
" Fries," said Ian. "And a coke. Emma do you want something?"
" No, I'm good."
Ian's order arrived some time later. Emma realized she still had his phone.
" Oh, your phone!" As he leaned across the table to take it, something moved in his t shirt. It was a book by the looks of it.
" Ian, what is that?"
He looked around before taking out the book. It was hardcover. On the cover was a compass of gold. A journal. The spine, Emma saw, was damaged and the pages rusted.
" It was my Grandma's. She wrote it. About her work with maximoffs."
" Barbara," said Emma under her breath.
" What- you knew her?"
A slight nod.
She opened the book. It was filled with short poems in black ink. Some were faded and couldn't be read. She recited the first one.
Blood red magic will flow
So, don't let her go.
Want to survive? Don't disrespect her pride.
People will die but don't
Let her cry.
" Wow," she said. " Barbara wrote that."
" There's one more, where you kill people just by looking at them."
" That's not right." Emma jumped into a big explanation and Ian listened attentively. " So, we draw energy from what you feel which results in weakening you and then attack you with your own emotions which results in your death. We can draw energy from ourselves too but most of the time we choose not to." Ian nodded, letting the knowledge sink in.
They talked more and then Ian had somewhere to be.
" Don't stay out too late," Emma warned.
" Yes ma'am." He gave a salute and left.
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Kai was furious. He was supposed to be somewhere right now but he couldn't stop thinking about Emma. He had to see her. Make sure she was alright.
He'd figured she would check into one of the two hotels in Whitmore. With the money they'd carried from the prison world she could easily rent a room for a month. But she hadn't.
Did she....leave?
Kai shook his head, clearly disappointed in himself. He turned around a corner and ran into a red - headed boy. Though it was Kai's fault for not paying attention, the boy apologized. Weird, Kai thought. The youth is weird. Didn't even pick a fight. Should've punched him for apologizing.
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Night had fallen. The bar had started to fill with loud obnoxious people. She felt eyes on her as she sat alone flipping through the pages of an old book. She sensed the emotions of people eyeing her– Lust. Drunk bastards.
She got up to leave and made a vulgar gesture before walking out of the door. The cold air kissed her face as she slowly made her way to the dorm.
Apparently there was a college festival nearby. To avoid more drunk teenagers Emma decided to take the long route.
She was about to knock on the door but it was already open. She pushed it open and her heart dropped. A man held Ian by the neck. His other hand was fixed near his stomach, blood seeping out as he dug his hand in deeper. Ian whimpered and his eyes found Emma standing in the doorway.
He made a sound that Emma didn't want to hear ever again.
" Emma," Ian choked. The man turned to face her.
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