30: Who Do You Love, When You've Come Undone?

Thunder boomed loudly outside suddenly, prompting the two to separate without letting go of one another. Their attention jumped out through the shattered windows where the sky was darkening ominously. A chill crept up Zarya's spine in a way that felt like frozen razor blades. Her pupils dilated to the max, taking away almost all of the color to her irises. She twitched subtly, finally earning the archangel's attention from the sudden storm brewing outside.

"Odnauk een euk-zaabu fre'aazh Urshtoeth Shenesh zahomblar. Odnauk een amad en Nebratron sproshkata ratsni wosser khur terei ointso. Etsoo latwen ibibgordak en bezhdirfi yak esee roidakh euk-erahu mebaaken. Etsi hunak non kareenkhe dünasse. Ye eni. Ye enis…"

"Rya!" Lucifer shouted, grabbing her face gently. He knew those words clear as day. It had to be Nova's doing, but how and why? He tried to break Zarya from the trance with no success as the storm grew violent outside. "Dammit, Nova! What you've done is too dangerous! Come on, Rya…"

Zarya's pupils constricted rapidly and she let out a loud cry of pain, her hands flying to her skull. She could feel her heart beating so hard she feared it might actually crack a couple of bones or explode. It started off faintly, but the sounds of people screaming and bones snapping were creeping into her hearing. She could still feel Lucifer's hands on hers as her head throbbed. It felt as if she was being sucked back into reality through a woodchipper. She gasped when her inner elbows cut open and suddenly began to bleed.

"Nova made a call," Lucifer told her while she could focus. "I don't know how she knew to or why she made the attempt in your state, but it's forcing you to merge back into your body. Looks like Nova just tore IVs out of both of your arms."

"Come on, it's time to wake up. Zarya! Zarya listen to me and wake the hell up!"

Zarya groaned when she heard Nova's voice echo around her. "Nova, get the hell out of my head!" She shouted before another surge of pain. Wind howled violently outside, shattering whatever was left for windows.

"This is the part where you go home, Rya," Lucifer half smiled at her, trying to talk louder than the storm. "Go home and survive."

The wind tried to pull her towards the open window but she found herself unable to let go of his hands, feet still planted firmly on the floor. "I don't know how much longer I can keep doing this…" She admitted.

"A lot longer than you think, Rya. Let go." His brows raised when he felt her grip tighten instead.

"I don't think I can…"

With one final, harsh pull, Zarya was ripped out of the window into the storm with a loud shriek. Before the remainder of the crevice in her mind crumbled, Lucifer took one last look around. His gaze ended on the open window Zarya had been sucked through, watching the buildings fall to pieces. A sly, devilish smirk made its way to his face before he vanished, leaving everything to shatter.

Sam looked curiously at the unknown number calling him before answering. "Hello?" Dean arched a brow from the driver's seat of the Impala.

"It's Elena Gilbert," the doe eyed vampire started hesitantly. "Damon gave me your brother's number but he kind of… well, he's a bit intimidating. So I called Lethia and she found me your number instead."

The younger brother suppressed the chuckle as best as he could. Glancing over he noticed Dean frowning, still able to hear. "You have an update then, Elena?"

"Yeah, and it's not a very good one… there was a giant 'accident' at Whitmore House. Dozens of bodies are being wheeled out. Some labeled an 'accidental drowning' when one of the evidently freezing water mains exploded, and others an 'animal attack'. But Zarya's car… it's still in the lot surrounding Whitmore House."

The brothers were silent for a minute before Sam finally found his voice again. "Thanks, Elena. We're headed towards Virginia now." He hung up, not entirely caring if the vampire had more to say or not. "You think that was Clarke and Nova's doing?"

"Zero tact and bodies dropped? Oh yeah, definitely."

"What do we do then? They're out there somewhere after dealing with who knows what. That leaves them both vulnerable to Remiel, Lucifer, that Silas guy, and who knows who else."

"And Nova still has her humanity in the dark," Dean added with his eyes focused on the road ahead. "We do exactly what we always do when we get separated, Sammy. You said it yourself - she's out there somewhere."

Sam scoffed lightly as they pulled into a gas station. "First motel in the phone book? Really? You honestly think Clarke's still gonna do that?"

"We're gonna find out."

Zarya was barely conscious as she was dragged into the woods. She realized Nova was supporting her on her right, and who was probably another Vasile judging by her features supporting her on her left. When she could finally feel her legs she tried her hardest to walk so the two would have a bit less to do. They had to be halfway into the woods when they finally all collapsed against trees. She was realizing how difficult it still was to breathe.

"What the hell happened?" Her scratchy voice finally broke the silence. "And where's Katia?"

Nova's brows furrowed. "Katia was with you?"

"She was supposed to get you while I distracted the guards. When they caught me I told her to bail and as far as I saw she did." Zarya then turned to their mystery survivor. "And you are…?"

The girl smiled softly with her knees to her chest. "Clara Vasile. Augustine took me in 1907 after my sister tried to kill me and I returned."

"Do you by chance know who your sire is?" The Romanian asked.

Clara blinked a couple of times. "Oh, you misunderstand. I'm… I'm not a full blood. I'm only a dhampir."

The hunter's eyes widened and blinked a few times. "You… you're a dhampir?" She spoke first with a shakiness in her breathy tone. "A dhampir born just carrying the gene until you died?"

Clara stared at her with uncertainty in her onyx eyes, but the longer she took in the girl's features the more she began to realize. Zarya was seeming to recuperate faster than Nova was, though Clara figured Zarya may have endured less as well. "You bear the curse as well, is that why you ask?"

"Yeah," Nova answered with a slight groan. "One of our latest plot twists. This whole family has got to be the biggest secret filled with lies." She rolled her eyes. "We can play catch up and Two Truths One Lie later if you ladies would really like, but how about we try and get the hell out of the forest that's probably about to be swarming with Augustine creeps just itching to drag us back?"

"Point taken," Zarya muttered. "What are we supposed to do then? We're in the middle of who the fuck knows where with no means of communication and no idea who we can trust with Silas running around."

"Who is Silas…?" Clara asked quietly.

"That's for catch up, kid." Nova replied before trying to pull herself to her feet. "Silas screws with you using psychic power, right? We can trust anyone with a higher psychic power than him. High enough to keep him out of their mind. And since you don't know where Katia fucked off to…"

"Zina?" The hunter figured. She gave a small shrug. "Okay, I guess that's reasonable… but how do we find her or contact her? You aren't running anywhere anytime soon and if anyone so much as sees us we're open bait for Augustine or Silas."

"I just need to find someone who isn't full of vervain and I'll be good to go." Slowly, Zarya's hand began to raise. Nova rolled her eyes again. "First of all, not a chance. If I sent you back to those Winchesters with fang marks anywhere on your body, I'm getting a stake to the chest. Second, your blood is still full of-"

"Devil's trumpet," Zarya sighed. "I know. It put me in this dream-like state. Everything was fake and quiet until…" Oh, God, she didn't want to say it. A hand on her shoulder made her jump and look up to see Nova kneeling beside her.

"Try not to think about it or allow it to hinder you." She gave Zarya's shoulder a small squeeze before rising again.

Are you starting to find your humanity somewhere, Nova…? The hunter wondered.

"If there is a river nearby," came Clara's soft and melodic voice, "we can follow the current and it will take us to the next town."

Zarya looked up to Nova. "What about when the sun eventually rises…?"

Nova's eyes widened, hand flying to her neck and chest. Her daylight necklace was gone. That Maxfield bastard had taken it. "I guess we're just going to have to hope the nightshade didn't entirely ruin my adapted protection from burning."

The mostly human sweatdropped. "Yeah, real comforting."

"You are late," Saskia hissed as she tapped one of her long, pointed black nails on a wood table.

"Well I had to wait for Damon to take off with the doppelgangers," came Auriel Cressida's voice as she emerged through the darkness. As she emerged into the candlelight, brunette waves went tumbling down her shoulders, her honey colored irises beaming in the delicate light. Light freckles danced across her cheeks and nose. "You know how miserable Qetsiyah has always been in her planning. I could have given the doppelgangers such a simple dream hours prior. Were you able to acquire what I asked for?"

Saskia took the vial from her sleeve that Wes Maxfield had given her in exchange for Nova. "From their test work on what must be little Clara Vasile. And my daughter?"

"Currently en route with Zina to retrieve Nova, Zarya, and Clara." She held her slender hand out for the vial. "Now she knows it was her darling Elijah to find a faction of my former coven willing to put her under the same curse daddy dearest once asked me to." She smirked.

The old Vasile nodded as she slowly handed off the vial. "Should this spell activate little Zarya's dhampir gene buried within?"

"You know," the witch snatched the vial away swiftly, "I've been wondering the same myself. I look so forward to finding out."

Zarya loathed having to sit in between Nova and Clara in the back of the Mustang. She was forced to stare forward out the windshield as best as she could see. After a while she tuned out the meek conversations her ancestors were trying to pass around. Her brain kept trying bounce Dean and Lucifer back and forth like a terrible tennis game. The mirrored Mark singed beneath the sleeve of Nova's blouse she was still wearing. Her eyes caught a sign saying there was a gas station coming up.

"Can we make a stop?" She jumped in suddenly.

"What for?" Nova practically groaned.

Zarya frowned directly at the vampire to her right. "Still a human for now, you know. It's not like creepy doctor Maxfield had me hooked up to a catheter too."

Zina and Clara chuckled. Daciana smiled playfully when she glanced at the hunter in her mirror again. When the car stopped Clara was kind enough to step out so Zarya could head inside. She did make a pit stop at the bathroom, but as soon as she was out she grabbed a thick, yellow phone book. Before she even opened it she saw Nova exit the Mustang and sighed a little. They had to be a safe enough distance away and she had been stuck in a car of vampires. Before she could ask the cashier if she could use a phone, Nova waltzed in with a napkin to her lips. Zarya sweatdropped.

"You need anything, kid?" The Romanian asked after she compelled herself a pack of cigarettes. She glanced down at the yellow book in Zarya's hands. "Phone call?" She smirked and leaned back over the counter to compel the clerk to hand over a phone. "Just do me a solid and don't try bringing those kill first, questions later hunter boys of yours out here."

Zarya made a face up at her. Jeeze, even without heels you're a freaking giant, she thought. "I'm looking to get my car towed off of Whitmore's lot before they do it and the car is theirs."

"Wise idea. Tell them to send it to the Salvatore Boarding House in Mystic Falls."

Her face paled. "W-why…?"

Nova looked down at her slightly dumbfounded. "Because that's where we're going for now, kid. Is it going to be an issue?"

Yes, because I have to make sure our driver's father didn't brutally murder Sam and Dean and walk off with the First friggen Blade! She screamed in her head. Oh good God would that make Dean a-

"Nope," she faked a small smile. "Not as long as I get my car. It was my mom's originally."

The Romanian vampire smirked. "Sentimental. How cute. Just don't take too long; we're still about half an hour away from town."

Once Nova was out of the store, Zarya did dial a towing company for her coup deVille, but she made a second call immediately after. She flipped the pages all the way to the first couple where she found the number for the first motel listed. Thankfully it was only about another half an hour out of Mystic Falls.

"Yes, hello, my name is Maxine Deighton and I was wondering if I could reserve a room for sometime tomorrow?"

The Impala rolled up into the motel parking lot early in the afternoon. "Are you sure she would come here?" Sam asked skeptically as they got out of the car.

"The book was for basically all of Virginia," Dean answered, leading the way into the lobby. "This is the first motel listed." He shrugged and walked up to the clerk with a smile. "My brother and I are supposed to meeting our sister in town, but she wasn't very specific about which motel she was crashing at. I was wondering if there was a uh… Maxine Deighton here?"

Sam's brow raised curiously. As the woman typed, he nudged his brother who merely shrugged. "It says here she's not due in until later today but she does have a room reserved. Would you like for me to leave her a message so she can contact you when she arrives?"

The brothers couldn't believe Dean had been correct in which alias Zarya would use or that she even found the first motel in the phone book. Dean stuttered for a moment until an idea struck him. "Uh, yes, actually," his smile returned. "When she checks in, can you tell her to meet us at the Boulevard Burger and Brew?"

The woman smiled back up at him after writing it down on a sticky note. "I'll pass the message along. Have a nice day."

As they walked back to the car, Sam was baffled. "Are we seriously about to go sit at some burger place for who knows how long in the hope that Clarke will show up?"

"She will, Sammy," Dean grinned as he got back into the driver's seat. "I'm pretty sure I'm on a roll right now, so I'm gonna say she shows up in like… two hours tops. I saw a sign for this place on the way through and I have a hunch she will have too."

"Okay, but how could you have guessed which alias she would use? She could have used one of her FBI names."

"Yeah, but not a damn person is looking for anyone in the Deighton family anymore. Zare's a full blown Vasile on the radar now."

"Fine, but Maxine?"

He shrugged. "It's her first middle name." His lips twitched towards a playful smirk. "And the one she used when she was a stripper."

Sam rubbed his face. "You two are ridiculous."

Zarya waited impatiently at the boarding house for her car to be dropped off. Nova had already been sure to take care of any charges when it did before returning to the memoryless Stefan situation. Patiently Zarya waited until everyone was up in arms about Auriel going missing from her room. She started to plot her own escape when Clara let out a brutal cry of pain. She jumped up from the bed she had been sitting on to rush to the scene unfolding in Clara's room.

"What's going on?" She inquired when she caught up to Zina and Daciana. The Original was holding Clara down while Zina tried to look in her head.

"Somebody is trying to fry her brain worse than Qetsiyah tried on Silas," Zina answered hastily. "Except… I think…" Her eyes widened, then Zarya began screaming.

"Oh, God!" She groaned with her hands clutching her skull tightly. "What the fuck is this?!"

Blood dripped slowly from Clara's nose and ears as she wailed. "I can hear them!" She sobbed. "They are killing us!"

"Who's killing who now?" Nova shouted when she walked in the room.

Zarya's back slammed into a wall, her eyes desperately trying to focus on at least the ceiling of the bedroom. No matter how hard she tried it was becoming increasingly difficult to breathe. Her heart was beating rapidly inside of her chest. Nova stormed over to her and tried to get a better look at her when Zarya started to choke on a lack of air. The three vampires then smelled blood. Zarya's green-blue eyes met Nova's emerald ones and her bottom lip trembled as tears welled in her eyes. Her side was bleeding through the plain, grey long sleeve Nova had given her to change into. The only upside to the scars on her ribs bleeding was that it seemed to be sucking the pain away from her head.