Follow-up to Mystic Falls: Homecoming. Hope and Jacob must face the repercussions of their actions as Jos and Sandy embark on a mission to keep their town safe. Their friends find love and heartbreak at the same time that old enemies of their parents return, with vengeance on their minds.
Disclaimer: I do not own Legacies, that would be Julie Plec, Warner Brothers and the usual suspects.
Hello, my lovely readers. Welcome back to the Mystic Falls Series. As you know, we left on a cliffhanger, let's see how things are going. On with the show…
Chapter 1: Arrival or Departure?
Li
"Someone's coming," Elizabeth Saltzman mumbled in her sleep. She turned onto her back; feeling restless. Her eyelids popped open and she stared at the ceiling. She felt the darkness clinging to her. She could hear the screams. The fire licked its tongue at the tips of her toes and she shivered. She tugged a pillow to her and hugged it. She wanted to cry out—for her mother—but she couldn't. Li feared that whatever was coming for them would hear her, and it would be over.
"Li!" a shout from outside her door made her sit up. "Li!" Jos shouted, again. The door swung open and Jos came into her room.
Jos' long blonde hair hung around her shoulders. Li could tell her sister had just woken up. She hadn't bothered to comb her hair, she wore no makeup and still wore her outfit from last night, a pair of jeans and a loose tank top. "Li, get up!"
"What's going on?" Li asked, pushing her long brown hair over her shoulders and climbing off the bed.
"Sam's missing," Jos said, wrapping her arms around herself.
Li frowned. "What?"
"Come on," Jos said, her famous impatience getting the best of her. She walked away from Li's room.
Li got to her feet and headed out of her room—wishing she had the time to fix her hair, makeup and dress. She had a feeling they had company and did not want to look like this. When she arrived in the living, she found her mother, Caroline Forbes, her mom's boyfriend, Klaus Mikaelson, her step-sister, Hope Mikaelson, and her sister's boyfriend, Jacob Salvatore, Jos, and her girlfriend, Sandy Bennett-Gilbert, huddled there.
"What's going on?" Li asked, wrapping her arms around herself.
"I just told you; Sam is missing!" Jos snapped, running a hand through her hair. "Could you try remembering a single word I say for the space of a millisecond?"
"Jos!" Caroline snapped, frowning at Jos, who glowered at the floor.
Sandy wrapped an arm around Jos' shoulders, pressing her nose into Jos' shoulder blade. Li could tell that Sandy was miserable. Her eyes were glassy and her nose red-tipped as she pushed her glasses up her nose with her free hand. Sam Salvatore was Sandy's cousin.
"Elena's coming with Damon and Fanny," Caroline told them.
Klaus looked to Hope and Jacob. A frown on his face, but he said nothing. "I will do everything I can to help them locate their son."
Caroline's eyebrows rose. Her lips quirked into a smile. "Turning over a new leaf?" she quipped.
A smirk appeared on Klaus' lips. "Perhaps. You inspire me to be better."
Shaking her head, Caroline's gaze moved to the door when someone rang the bell. Li's hand went to her hair. Her mother opened the door to reveal Artemis and Theo Gerard. Artemis and Sam had just become a couple. Artemis' body was rigid as she looked inside the house; her eyes meeting Li's. "Ms. Forbes. You've heard nothing about Sam, have you? His mother ran into my parents, in the Town's Square this morning and was asking if I'd seen him since last night. I'm visiting his friends; trying to find anyone who's seen him."
Klaus came to join Caroline. "We were on our way out, to join the search party."
"We are?" Li questioned Klaus. The Original turned to give Li a look and Li closed her mouth.
Jos gave Li a withering look. "Don't bother coming, Li. We'd hate for you to get lost—chasing a guy—and then we'd have one more person to search for." Jos strode to the door and past the Gerard siblings. Sandy followed her.
Li felt her lower lip wobble, but she held her head up high. "I'm going to grab a jacket. It's supposed to be chilly this morning," she told anyone who bothered to listen to her.
Running up to her room, Li opened her closet, and grabbed her brand-new, leather jacket. Just because you were going out with a search party; didn't mean you couldn't look cute doing it. Jerking the jacket on, she hurried back downstairs. Damon, Elena and Fanny Salvatore stood in the middle of the living room when she came back down.
"Where is he?" Damon shouted at Jacob
"I have no idea what you're trying to accuse me of," Jacob replied.
"Bullshit!" Damon shouted back. "What did you do to my son!" Damon's eyes were round and his lips were spread back from his teeth.
"I did not do anything to Sam," Jacob replied.
Klaus' eyes shifted to Jacob. Li watched the Original; watching Jacob. She thought that Klaus thought that Jacob was lying, but she didn't interrupt to point this out. Everyone was so focused on Jacob; they didn't seem to notice Klaus. However, Klaus seemed to feel Li's eyes on him and he glanced at her. Again, he gave her a look that made her jaw stay shut.
Elena placed a hand on Damon's shoulder. "This isn't helping. We need to go," she urged her husband.
Damon let out a growl before he spun on his heel and walked out the front door. Elena followed him. Fanny looked from her parents, to the other teens in the room. "Fanny," Li called. "You should come with us." She looked at Caroline and Klaus. "In the TV shows, they say it's better to split up. To cover more ground. Right?" She didn't know if she was saying the right thing, or not.
Klaus nodded. "Yes. Elizabeth is correct. Caroline, come with me. Hope, go with your sister, and the Salvatore girl. Artemis and Theo, keep close to your cousin. She knows this town better than you do. Jacob, try to stay out of trouble, or you will be dealing with me." The look that Klaus gave Jacob made Li shiver.
Jacob grinned. "Of course."
Klaus and Caroline left the house; leaving the teens by themselves.
Hope walked out of the house, with the other teens following her. Li moved to walk alongside her sister. Hope seemed to know exactly where they were going. Jacob had become disturbingly quiet. Artemis and Theo strode behind them and Fanny moved to catch up with Li. They weren't friends, but Li was the only one in the group Fanny seemed to be comfortable with.
"Does this mean that we're getting the day off from school?" Li asked the group. She couldn't help herself.
Hope gave Li a long look. "I don't think that anyone cares if we go to school, when Sam's missing, Li."
"School is over-rated," Theo added. Hope smirked at him before turning a corner.
"Can you smell him?" Fanny asked, causing Hope to look at Fanny.
Hope nodded. "Yes."
"That's odd. Because I can't," Artemis added. She frowned at Hope.
Hope looked back at Artemis; her lips pursing. "That's probably because you just met him. I've known Sam for a long time. I'd know his smell anywhere."
"Really?" Artemis' eyes narrowed and she glared a hole into Hope's back.
"Where are we going?" Theo asked.
"I don't know," Hope replied. "I'm following the scent."
"To the quarry," Fanny muttered. Then she stopped, glaring at Jacob. "Are we going to the quarry, Jacob?"
Jacob rolled his eyes. "Why does everyone insist on asking me if I did something to Sam?"
"Probably because you did!" Fanny accused him.
"Hey, guys!" Todd's voice stopped the argument as he came jogging toward them. Freddy was with him.
"Todd!" Fanny cried and Todd walked over to her. He lifted her off her feet and held her close.
Hope gave Todd a dirty look. They'd been together, until Hope found out that Todd had been cheating on her with Fanny, during the summer. Now, Hope could barely stand be in the same space as Todd. "Great," she muttered under her breath.
"Perhaps it would be better if we split up again," Jacob suggested. "Fanny, you should go with Todd, and the Lockwolf. Hope, Artemis and I will continue our search."
"What about me?" Li asked Jacob.
Jacob looked at Li like he had just realized she was there. "You can go with Theo. He'll need some company, right, mate?" Jacob winked at Theo. Theo gave Jacob a look like he thought that Jacob was a jackass, which Li was beginning to think he might be. "Now, that is settled," Jacob began to lead the way down the sidewalk; with Hope at his side. Artemis followed them.
"Hey!" Freddy called after them. "What if something happened, because of your little spell last night, and someone came back, and took Sam? Wouldn't it be better if we went together?"
Li hadn't thought about that when she'd come up with the idea to split up. "Oh!"
Everyone ignored her. "Let's take my car. I parked just down the street." Todd hooked a thumb in the direction of his car.
"Yes. Why don't all…eight of us ride in the same car?" Jacob shook his head at Todd.
"You can run along, the side of the car," Todd retorted.
"We can fit," Fanny snapped. "We'll get there faster."
"Where is there?" Freddy asked her as they moved toward Todd's car.
"The quarry," Fanny retorted, giving Jacob a death glare.
"Great," Todd groaned. They climbed into his car. Li watched Jacob get into the back, with Hope, who sat on his lap. Artemis sat beside her cousin. Theo climbed into the back, and Li crawled in, taking a seat on Theo's long legs. Fanny squeezed in beside Theo, and closed the door, while Freddy sat in the passenger seat.
Todd drove them to the quarry, and Fanny was the first one out of the backseat. She ran forward, with Todd chasing after her. Jacob sped off with Hope. Artemis was right behind them. Freddy moved far too quickly to be human. Li and Theo had to walk at regular, human speed.
When they got to the edge of the quarry, Fanny was screaming as she looked into the water's depths. Li let out a gasp, running into Theo as Jacob surfaced with Sam. He was dead. "No!" Jacob said, dragging Sam over to the shore. He took Sam's face in his hands, shaking his head, and his gaze moved to Hope.
Hope's hand had moved to her mouth; tears began to run down her cheeks. "What did you do?" she gasped.
"I fed him my blood!" Jacob yelled at them. His panic made him seem a lot less scary. "I did everything right. Why isn't he a vampire?"
Fanny jerked away from Todd, who had been holding her back. "Get away from my brother!" she shrieked, her wide brown eyes, huge as she shoved Jacob away from Sam. "Sammy!" she cried, pressing her cheek to her brother's chest, her long black hair falling over his face. "Sammy!"
"I did everything right," Jacob repeated, shaking his head, his eyes on Sam's body.
"You idiot!" Artemis screamed, and she ran at Jacob. Her little hands had balled into fists and she began to hit Jacob, again and again. "You bloody, impulsive fool! You killed my boyfriend!" She knocked Jacob onto his back and began to pummel him.
Theo stood by, watching his sister beat Jacob. His eyes moved from Artemis to Sam and then to the sky. He shook his head. "I thought this would better for us," he said before he walked over and jerked Artemis away from Jacob, who had blood running down his chin and his left eye had swollen shut.
A gurgling sound made Li turn her head. She didn't know where it came from and then Fanny let out a cry. "Sam?" she shouted. "Oh, my God! Help! Help!" she shouted at the others.
Hope ran over, turning Sam onto his stomach and smacked him on the back while he spat out water. It looked like he'd drunk half the quarry as water continued to come out of him.
"He's alive?" Jacob whispered.
"No thanks to you," Fanny spat at Jacob.
Fanny
Fanny could not believe that her older brother had survived a vampire killing him. How was that even possible? Were they special? Un-killable? Her head fell on Todd's shoulder as they sat in the ICU.
Freddy sat across from her, a cup of coffee trembling between his fingers. "You okay, Fanny?"
Fanny shook her head. Sandy, her cousin, and best friend, came into the waiting room with Jos. "Fan!" she cried, running to Fanny.
Getting up, Fanny held out her arms and they began to cry. "I heard they found Sam, at the quarry. He's alive?"
"Uh-huh," Fanny nodded, wiping her cheeks. "His doctor said he's going to be okay, but mom's checking on him. Dad's in there, too. They won't let me see him yet."
"Where's Jacob?" Jos asked, looking around for Fanny's psychotic cousin.
"I don't know, and I don't care," Fanny seethed, moving to sit back down beside Todd.
Li had to move over, so that Sandy and Jos could sit close to Fanny. Li moved to sit between Freddy, and the new guy…Theo? She couldn't keep up with all these new people in town. Artemis kept looking toward Sam's room. "Do you think I can see him when you do?" she asked Fanny.
Fanny shrugged. "I don't know. You'll have to ask my mom. She's a doctor."
"I know. Sam told me…last night," Artemis' eyes moved to the floor. "If I had stayed with him… I'm sorry, Stefanie. This is really my fault."
"It's your fault that my cousin is a crazy, homicidal maniac?" Fanny snapped.
Artemis' lips pursed as more people entered the ICU. "Mum? Daddy!" she cried, getting to her feet.
A blonde woman and a tall man walked over to Artemis; hugging her. "How is he?" the woman asked.
"Rebekah," Elena called, coming out of Sam's room. Fanny stood up, her eyes on her mother. Her mom looked tired, her skin pale. She walked over to the blonde woman and hugged her. "Thank you for helping."
"Yeah. That was a big shocker," Damon said, coming to join them. His eyes on the new-comers. "The only bigger shocker was Klaus trying to help out."
"Damon, I am happy that your son is doing well." Rebekah's words were clipped and a bit frosty.
Fanny had a feeling that her parents did not always get along with Rebekah Mikaelson. "Mom? Dad?" she called, gaining their attention. "Can I see Sam?"
Elena turned to Fanny. "Yes, honey, come on."
"May I?" Artemis called after them.
Elena stopped. She looked at Artemis, then she looked at Damon. Damon rolled his eyes. "She might cheer him up," he said, waving a hand for Artemis to come with them.
Fanny stepped into the room, behind her mother. She felt her stomach flip-flop. The last time she'd come to an ICU room had been when Jacob tossed Todd into the quarry and she went in after him. That had been the night that they decided to make their thing official. She hated hospitals.
Sam lay on his bed, looking small and paler than their mother as monitors went off around him. "Are you sure he'll be alright?" Artemis whispered, going to stand by Sam's other side. She took his hand and looked at Elena and Damon as Fanny went to take his other hand.
Elena moved to stand at the end of the bed and placed a hand on Sam's foot. "He'll be okay," she said softly. Her eyes moved to the ugly ring that Sam had on his left hand. Fanny looked down at the hand she held and then at her mother. Elena's eyes moved to hers. There was something in her mother's gaze that told Fanny that something was up.
Artemis' eyes were on Sam. She did not seem to see the looks exchanged between mother and daughter. "Sam, I'm here," she whispered, pressing a kiss to his cheek and stroking his hair. "You're safe now. I won't allow anyone to touch you."
Damon gave Elena a look. His eyes moved to Fanny, who looked at her dad and shrugged. He looked at Artemis, his arms folded across his chest, but he remained silent.
"I think we should let Sam sleep," Elena suggested.
Artemis' head rose. "Could I stay with him? I can protect him better than anyone here."
Damon's mouth opened, but Elena jumped in. "Artemis, thank you for wanting to protect him, but the best thing for Sam is sleep." She waved a hand and Artemis looked back at her. Fanny could tell the other girl wanted to argue. Instead, she leaned down and whispered something to Sam before walking past Elena and Damon.
Fanny followed her parents out of the room. She stopped just outside of the door; looking around. "What's with the ugly ring on Sam's finger?" she asked them.
Elena looked at Damon before replying. "That's the Gilbert ring—" she began when Damon interrupted.
"Wondered where that thing went to," Damon added.
Elena coughed, giving Damon a look. "We thought we lost it, after Matt gave it back."
"Must have been in the garage," Damon said, shaking his head. "Or the basement. The attic?" He looked confused, his eyes on the ceiling. "Plus, it used to make people crazy and homicidal; so we didn't know whether to keep it."
"Damon!" Elena snapped at Damon, smacking his chest.
Damon rolled his eyes, rubbing his chest. "The point is: It protects people from dying, so we have Sam back. That's the important part. Unless he loses it, and tries to kill us all in the night." Elena groaned and smacked Damon on the arm. "Ow," Damon cried, rubbing his arm.
Fanny had no idea whether she should be relieved or horrified. "Okay."
"There's more," Elena added, looking at Damon.
"What?" Fanny felt nervous.
"I was studying your blood, over the summer, and discovered something…" Elena trailed off.
"What, mom!" Fanny cried.
"You're the cure to vampirism. Don't tell your friends," Damon told her.
"What?" Fanny felt her eyes widening.
Virginia
Virginia liked babysitting. She babysit for most of the neighborhood kids. She knew the Bennett-Gilberts' oldest boy, J. J., had a huge crush on her. He was cute and funny, but too young for her. Still, she liked to hang out with him. They'd play a video game tonight, and eat pizza, talk about what they wanted to be when they were adults.
"Gina!" a voice called to her and Virginia turned around. She peered into the shadows of the darkened street.
"I have Mace!" Virginia yelled, opening her bag. She found the little can, turning it around, so she would spray her would-be assailant and not herself.
"Gina. It's me!" a figure emerged from the shadows and she let out a laugh.
"Oh, my God! You scared me," Virginia told her friend, Madison Thompson. "Geez!" Tossing her red hair over her shoulder; Virginia grinned at Madison.
Madison sighed. "So, I just met the most gorgeous man in my entire life. And," Her blue eyes lit up. "He's got a friend."
"Mad, I'm not really seeing anyone right now," Virginia moaned, scuffing the sidewalk with her shoe.
"Come on. Just meet them. They're so cute. And cool. And they're older guys. They can buy us beer," Madison cried, her blonde hair flying as she did a cartwheel.
Virginia rolled her eyes. "Fine. But if they turn out to be creeps, I'm going to kill you." They linked arms and walked down to Madison's car.
Madison drove them to the high school, playing a Rick Harlow song at full volume. Rick sang about being young and not giving a damn about the end of the world. "You and me, girl, we're living, 'til we die, die, die!"
"Live, 'til we die!" Madison sang along, grinning at Virginia.
Madison got out first and led the way to the football field. A pair of guys stood, waiting for them. Virginia felt her stomach do a nervous flip. She did not like the set-up. The glowing candles, the way the two men stared at her. "Mad, let's go," she said, tugging on Madison's arm.
Madison pulled away. "Be lame," she said, walking to the men.
"Madison!" Virginia followed her friend, pulling out her Mace and aiming at the two guys. "I don't want trouble. My friend and I, we're leaving here. Alive!" she snapped at them, her gaze defiant.
The taller man grinned at his friend. "Afraid not," he said, and the he stalked over to her, Madison sprayed the Mace at him, but he sent it flying with a lift of his hand. Virginia let out a scream and tried to run.
The man wrapped an arm around her waist, dragging her as she kicked, clawed and screamed in his face. "She is coming. You should feel honored to bring her back to this plane."
"Let us go!" Virginia yelled, biting the man's arm. He did not seem to feel it. "Madison, run!" Virginia screamed at her friend who seemed to be in a trance.
"It's okay, Gina. It will all be okay," the man who held her said, and she watched his friend cut Madison's throat. Her friend's blood sprayed over her and Madison let out a long scream.
"For her, we sacrifice. In her name," the man who killed Madison said and then he cut his own throat.
Virginia wept as she felt cold steel bite into her neck. "For her, you will die, and she will return." His knife slid across her skin and Virginia felt like she was drowning. She sank to the ground. She saw her killer lift the knife to his own neck, repeating the refrain, and slitting his own neck before dropping to the ground.
Darkness took over and Virginia woke up. She felt cold and alone. A woman came toward her with a smirk on her face. "Hello, Gina, thank you for your help."
"Who are you?" Virginia asked the woman who examined her.
"That's for me to know, and for you to dot, dot, dot," the woman said and then she chuckled.
Gina felt warmth consuming her, and then she let out a scream as awful pain consumed her. "Why?" she screamed.
"Why not?" the woman replied, patting her on the arm and walking away.
And we're back with new drama, a new villain, new romances and plenty of twists to come.
Answers to reviews from MysticFalls: Homecoming:
GothicRay: Happy birthday! I hope you liked the chapter!
Emma Salvatore: Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy this new fic, too.
Thank you for reading, faving, following and reviewing.
Peace,
J