Hey guys! I'm sorry for not updating in while, but my brain needed some time to let all of my ideas sink in, so I could make sense of them. Also, I lost my inspiration for a while, probably because my mind was so overwhelmed with this new story. Anyways, my inspiration is back, and I want to thank all of my reviewers!

KickForever99, XoThatCrazyChickoX:

Thank you so much! I'm happy that chapter 3 shocked and surprised you.

ELOVATE:

Haha, me too :)

my unknown guest reviewer:

I'm not going to give away too much, but let's just say that I'm planning on having a flashback to when they were together in a future chapter.

BearKick15, cloudrazor3, EVanvicky, my unknown guest reviewer that reviewed on February 12th:

Thanks!

Dreamcatcher19:

Thank you so much for reviewing on every chapter! Your reviews made me smile!

optimistic girl94:

EVERYONE PLEASE READ AND REVIEW AND FOLLOW AND FAVORITE HER STORIES! SHE GAVE ME THE MOST AMAZING REVIEWS EVER!

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Disclaimer: I do not own Kickin' It, the parts of the story that relate to the Vampire Diaries, or any other brand that shows up in my work. I only own the plot and my OCs Rika and Ash.

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Chapter 4: Where it all Began

Kim slid a spatula under a golden brown pancake and flipped it, while her mind was at a loss for explanation. There had been too many instances lately where she just felt as though time went by in a blur, and to make things worse, that sickness she had yesterday was probably the worst experience of her life.

She sighed and placed her pancake on a plate. What she wouldn't give to know what the hell was going on.

Sloppy footsteps against the kitchen tiles brought her out of her thoughts. As she turned around, she spotted her brother stumbling his way to the counter, his hair a complete mess and sweatpants the only thing he was wearing.

"Morning, sunshine." Kim smiled.

"Morning." Jerry mumbled, running a hand through his disheveled hair and slumping down on a stool beside the counter.

"You look like hell." Kim grabbed another plate of pancakes and placed it in front of Jerry. "Is everything okay?"

Jerry nodded, tore off a piece of one of his pancakes, and lazily stuffed it into his mouth.

"Are you sure? I didn't hear you come back last night."

"Kim, I'm fine."

Kim studied his face. "No, you're not. What's up?"

Jerry shrugged. "Nothing's up." He tried his best to smile.

Kim raised an eyebrow. "Come on, Jerry."

"You're not going to let this go, are you?"

"Nope."

Jerry rolled his eyes and stood up from his seat. "I have to get ready for work."

"Wait," Kim began, holding up his plate. "What about breakfast?"

"I'll just grab something on the way."

"Okay." Kim said slowly, her concern growing.

"Kim," Jerry started, sensing how worried his sister was. "I'm fine, okay?"

Kim nodded reluctantly.

"I'll see you tonight." Jerry said before heading back to his room for a shower.

Kim didn't believe that Jerry was okay for a second. She always knew when something was bothering him. Now, she just needed to know what was messing with his head.

Whatever the problem was, she was going to figure it out.

...

Rika stood among all of the other mystics in a secluded section of the dense forest know as the 'hideout.' Every month, they met there to share any new information on Kim Crawford's location and discuss their plan of action.

Rika hated lying to her people, but she didn't have a choice. Convincing them to let Kim live was out of the question.

And it wasn't like Rika didn't understand why they were so adamant about killing Kim. The story behind Kim's crucial sacrifice began three thousand years ago on the day of Rika's birth.

The first ancestor on Kim's mother's side, Olivia Holt, was born from a volcano. The release of energy during her birth had caused the formation of three other volcanoes around the original. From each newly formed volcano, came the birth of the three supernatural beings: vampires, werewolves, and mystics. Rika was the first mystic.

Ash, the husband of Olivia Holt, was a werewolf who had betrayed her. Him and all of the other werewolves believed in a ritual. The ritual was a sacrifice in which Olivia was thrown into the volcano she had been born from along with a mystic, vampire and werewolf thrown into their respective volcanoes. As a result of the four-being sacrifice, it was believed that a massive amount of energy would be released. Ash and the werewolves, known as the sacrificers, hoped to harness this energy.

Because the mystics were the earth's protectors, they strived to kill Olivia before the sacrificers could throw her into the volcano. However, Rika was the only mystic who did not believe in the necessity to kill her.

So, in order to keep the other mystics from turning against Rika, she went behind their backs and helped Olivia to escape from both the werewolves and the mystics. The vampires, who agreed to stay neutral in the werewolf-mystic feud, had offered to take Olivia somewhere safe.

Rika hoped that the mystics and the werewolves would let the sacrifice go once Olivia was gone. Unfortunately, they didn't.

Over the years, the deep hatred between the two groups only worsened. The mystics managed to kill all Holt-blooded mortals, including Kim's mother, but except for Kim.

Rika hated that she couldn't do anything to stop the death of Kim's mother, however, Kim was her friend, so her focus was on keeping her safe.

Once the plan to kill Kim's mother had been successfully carried out, Rika informed the mystics that Kim had fled. That way, the mystics would look anywhere but Seaford, and the werewolves would follow.

Some of the mystics worried that Kim would return, so Rika offered to be on the look out for her. And because the mystics trusted her, they never visited or looked around Seaford. Like Rika planned, they searched anywhere but where Kim actually was.

Her plan was perfect; nothing had gone wrong since a year earlier when the mystics brutally murdered Kim's mother, and Kim's father went missing.

If only she could convince Jack that he didn't need to let Kim go.

If only she hadn't completely ruined everything with Jerry.

Rika shook her head and smiled sarcastically to herself. She had no idea what she was going to do.

...

"Brody, what I did was wrong, okay? I understand that, and I'm sorry."

Brody smiled, not believing his brother for a second. His sarcastic smile faded before he spoke. "What you did was unforgivable, Jack, but I don't see why that matters to you at all. You don't feel bad about hurting me. You never have."

Jack struggled to find something to say to that. He hated hurting his brother. It wasn't like Brody would believe that though, not now after everything Jack had done.

"I don't think you understand what you did to me, Jack."

Jack averted his eyes away.

"You ruined me. Using my speed, my hearing, my mind control, it brought it all back. It brought everything back."

"Brody-"

"No, you don't get to talk." Brody snapped. "You wanted your brother back, and well, here he is. I'm back to being everything I hated about myself. I can't stop feeling the need for the adrenaline rush of my speed. I can't escape from this damn pounding in my ears. I can't stop thinking about ripping someone's head off." Brody's voice broke and it came out shaky. "I can't stop."

Jack struggled to lift his head from the floor and look at his brother. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. Brody was livid.

"This is what you wanted, Jack, so don't you fucking dare tell me that you're sorry."

Before the tension inside the house grew any more, the door flung open and in came Rika.

"Brody..." Rika was breathing heavily and her eyes were wide. "Ash is back."

Jack and Brody stared at her, their argument long forgotten. The news was like a crushing weight collapsing against Jack's chest. He felt as though he couldn't breath. Having to let Kim go was heart-wrenching enough, and now, the mere possibility of Ash actually finding her was too much.

"What can I do?" Brody spoke up.

"I know it may be hard for you, but could you become Kim's friend today at school? I'd protect her, but she thinks I go to Cyber School, so I can't just show up at Seaford High."

"Of course." Brody replied. "I just need some of your blood substitute since, well you know, so I can actually control myself." Brody turned to face his brother. "Is that okay with you, Jack, or would you rather enjoy the old me?"

Jack didn't respond. He barely heard anything that Brody said. Everything was too overwhelming, and he felt as though he could hear Kim's cries.

"Brody," Rika began. "Leave him alone, okay? There are some things that you don't know."

Brody raised an eyebrow with an almost amused expression on his face. "Leave him alone? After everything he has done, you are defending him? And what exactly is it that I don't know?"

Rika sighed and looked at Jack. "That's not important. Here's the blood sub," She tossed a bag to Brody. "Now, get to school. Kim can't be left alone any longer than she already has."

Brody nodded and left the house. He knew that his main concern was Kim, but the things that he didn't know about according to Rika lingered in his mind. What were they hiding from him?

He pushed the thoughts away and began a brisk jog to Seaford High. If anything happened to Kim, Rika would never forgive him.

...

Back inside the house, Rika's eyes never left Jack. He wouldn't look at her, and he wouldn't say a word.

"Nothing is going to happen to her, Jack."

Jack remained silent.

"I promise."

Jack finally looked up at her. "You can't promise that."

"Well, I am."

...

Kim sat behind a desk in her first period class. The teacher had yet to arrive. The rest of the kids talked and laughed, while Kim just sat there. She couldn't escape from the feeling that something was off.

A boy slipped into the chair of the desk beside her. Kim didn't look at him, but noticed out of the corner of her eye that his gaze was on her. She tried to suppress the smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

With her eyes in front of her, she couldn't see his face very well, yet she knew that she hadn't seen him before. She came to the conclusion that he must be a new kid, and from the little she could make out of his appearance, he was attractive.

So, the attractive, new kid wouldn't stop staring at her. That was something she could get used to.

"Hey," The boy finally said.

Kim hid her smile and turned in her seat to face him. Her eyes instantly fell into his. "Hey." She replied shyly.

"I'm Brody." He smiled.

"Kim. I uh, I'm guessing you're new. I haven't seen you before."

"I'm new to this class, but I've been here all year."

"Oh, why did you switch classes?"

Brody leaned back in his seat. "I don't know. Guess I was just looking for something new." A smile made its way onto his face. "And I think I did."

Kim smiled and was a loss for words. Luckily, the teacher walked in and saved her from making a fool of herself - something she seemed to do a lot around attractive guys.

"Okay, class. Today we are going to..."

...

With Brody gone, Rika decided to stay with Jack for the day. She desperately needed to find a way to mention Kim without hurting him even more.

Every time she opened her mouth to say something, she closed it and reconsidered saying anything at all. For hours they sat in silence.

When Rika finally found the courage to speak up, it was nearly three o'clock.

"She would be safer if she knew, Jack." Rika nearly whispered.

Jack kept his eyes out in front of him and thought about what she said for a moment. After closing his eyes and letting out a deep breath, he responded. "Can we not do this right now?"

"Do what?"

"Talk."

"Jack, I just..." Rika sighed and rubbed her temples. "I understand it, but then again, I don't."

"Rika-"

"I know you don't want to talk about it, Jack, but just listen, okay?"

Still without looking her way, Jack reluctantly agreed by leaning back in his seat.

Rika gathered all of her thoughts and searched for the right words. "I know that you have your reasons, and I understand them. I just don't get how..." Her voice faded and lowered. "How, Jack?"

Jack didn't respond. He didn't want to answer Rika's questions. He didn't want to think about how he was able to let her go. He just wanted to escape from the never-ending ache, the unforgiving pain and regret that seemed to be slowly deteriorating him.

"She would be safer if she remembered, Jack. She would be safer if you were by her side."

"Stop..." Jack finally turned his head to face Rika, his eyes now red and watery. He averted his eyes away before continuing. "It wasn't like I just woke up one day, Rika, and decided to...to make her forget. The more I thought about it, the more it killed me, but I had to. I had to, okay? So, to answer your question, I did what I had to. That's how. There's no other way to explain it."

Riley stayed silent. In the back of her mind, she knew that bringing Kim up was a mistake. It was too late now though.

"She wouldn't be safer with me, Rika. I'd just end up doing something stupid to protect her, and end up hurting her. It's what I do. I fuck everything up, and I drag everyone down with me."

Rika shook her head. "Not when you're with her." Rika argued. "Jack, Kim was good for you, and you were good for her."

"You think I don't know that?" Jack sat up in his seat and turned to face her.

"Jack-"

"What are you trying to do right now? Do you think you can just remind me of when things when were good, and think that I'll just give her back the memory of us! You still don't get it, Rika! I fucking let her go. It was the worst thing I ever had to do, but I did it. I did it for her. So stop questioning what I did for the girl I love, and get the fuck out of my house!"

Rika shot up out of her seat, all of her regard for his feelings gone.

"You act like she's all yours, Jack! And I'm done trying to understand all of this fucking shit!"

Rika paused for a moment, letting her anger diffuse. Jack stood there, a little surprised from Rika's sudden outburst.

"I just want her to be happy, Jack, and when she was with you, she never stopped smiling."

Jack looked away as his eyes watered again.

"She may not remember, Jack, but that girl loves you so damn much." A tear fell down Rika's cheek. "And if she had the choice, I know that she would put up with the fear of being killed to be with you."

Jack reluctantly looked up at her, his eyes glassy.

"Don't take away her right to choose what she wants."

A few seconds after the words left her mouth, Rika's phone buzzed in her pocket. She tore her gaze away from Jack and picked up her phone as Jack rubbed his eyes with shaky hands.

"Hello?" Rika tried her best to steady her heartbeat and bring her voice down to a normal level.

"Hey, Riks." Brody greeted cheerily on the other end of the line, chuckling a little.

Rika almost smiled. Brody was struggling with controlling his powers, so it was relieving to know that he was doing better. "Hey, did you introduce yourself to Kim?"

Brody laughed again before replying, "You could say that."

"Why are you laughing?"

"School just ended, and I'm walking Kim to her house. She cracks me up."

A smile finally made its way onto Rika's face. "I'm glad you're getting along with her, but remember to be on the look out for Ash. He could be anywhere."

"I know, Rika. Don't worry."

"I trust you, but I don't think I'll ever stop worrying."

Brody chuckled.

"Hey, did you tell her that you're a friend of mine?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Tell her that I want to sleepover at her house tonight."

"Rika, she doesn't need to be watched every second. I don't think Ash is even in Seaford. Besides, I was thinking of asking her out."

Rika's eyes widened. "What?"

"She's cute and I think she likes me, so why not?"

"I don't think that's a good idea. You're supposed to protect her not..." Rika lowered her voice. "Date her."

Brody rolled his eyes even though Rika couldn't see him. "Fine. Look, I have to go. I'll let Kim know you want to stay over."

"Okay, see you later."

"See you."

Rika hung up the phone and slowly stuffed her phone into her pocket. She hesitantly looked over at Jack, instantly noticing that he heard every word of the conversation.

"I'm uh, I'm gonna head over to Kim's."

Jack glanced at her for a second, but didn't respond. Rika pursed her lips and left the house.

As she made her way down the street, her mind was too preoccupied for her to notice an attractive yet menacing werewolf walking towards her.

"Rikania Blake?"

Rika froze. That voice, she knew it so well. Her eyes met his and she muttered. "Ashton Orkala."

...

Thanks for reading and please review! Not much to say other than to please check out optimistic girl94!

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