Welp, it's me. I'm back!
I just want to make it known this literally the seventeenth draft of this story, and it's the one where I think Val's actions feel the most thought out and make the most sense. Hopefully you guys think so too.
Anyway, enjoy the story, and I hope you're all having a happy holiday!
"So, how is he?"
Val was standing in the dining room of Abby's farmhouse, gazing out a window at Bonnie and Alejandra with her cellphone pressed to her ear. The teen was showing the four-year-old how to revive a dying flower, just a small one, out in her mother's garden.
"He keeps telling us he's fine; I'm not sure he's accepted what's going on." Elena responded and Val snorted.
"Yeah, well, Rick has always been a little prideful and stubborn. It's a hunter thing."
Elena sighed on the other end, and she heard the sound of dishes clanking together. "Except this isn't admitting a drinking problem or trying to control your temper. This is him admitting he's a murderer who blacks out and takes his frustration out on whoever is closest."
"Not whoever is closest," Val corrected as she walked outside, "but whoever threatened the object of his affection."
"Ah, so we're dealing with Prince Charming on crack." Elena sighed, and the huntress chuckled. But she paused on the porch, frowning.
"Hey, I need to talk to Bonnie about Ally, so I have to go, ok?"
Elena was silent on the other end, a long pause stifling the air. "Do you think she'll talk to me again soon? I want to know if she knew what was going on with Rick."
"Lena, you know she has nothing against Rick." Val told the girl, "But she does have something against you, and Stefan, and especially Damon. She's dealing with enough already, try to find answers somewhere else." She nodded at Bonnie, who was beckoning her off the porch. "I have to go. Keep me posted, ok? And tell Rick to answer his phone occasionally."
"You got it, Val."
Ally looked up as footsteps neared them, smiling brightly at her big sister. "Tina, look, look, look!" She held up a dead leaf in her hands and closed her eyes, little face drawn tight in concentration. Soon, the leaf straightened, a soft crackling emitting as green engulfed it. Soon, the little girl was a holding a full and healthy leaf.
Val's eyes flickered to Bonnie, who nodded. Turning back to her sister, she crouched down, tugging on Ally's braids.
"That's amazing, baby. Have you been good for Bonnie?"
Ally nodded sincerely, and Bonnie smiled and nodded as well. Val leaned forward and kissed her sisters head, noting how she felt a little warm. "Ok, well, I think that might be enough for today. How about you go inside with Caroline while I talk to Bonnie."
The pig-tailed child skipped off, yelling for the blonde vampire to look at her leaf. The two waited until she was safely inside the house, then turned back to each other.
"So, what can you tell me?"
"Val," Bonnie started, her gaze somber, "I've never met a witch who shows powers like that so early. I mean, setting a fire? Reviving plants? And it's not accidental either, she did it on purpose. She's powerful; I can feel it coming off her."
"What do you mean?" Val's eyes narrowed in confusion, "You've been around her a hundred times before, Bon, why is she suddenly so strong?"
"Well, if the story you told me is true, it might mean she has a connection-"
"Don't."
Val's voice was sharp, cutting the suggestion down like the swinging blade of an ax. It fell flat, and Val buried it in the back of her mind. She refused to acknowledge its presence, and maybe if she suffocated it long enough, it would die out on its own.
What a childish, foolish hope it was.
"Come on, Val, it's not a coincidence that after the blood connection of the Mikaelsons that suddenly your sister's powers start going haywire. For her safety and wellbeing, you should be looking for answers."
"Well how could she even be connected to them?" Val practically demanded, a frustrated edge to her tone. "They have no descendants, and it's not like any of them can have kids!"
"Have you considered asking Elijah?"
The older girl had to roll her eyes at that question. "There's no way. If my 'betrayal of his affection' or whatever didn't piss him off, the things I said that night sure did. That bridge is ashes, we have no other way of knowing."
"I seriously doubt he'd hurt a kid."
"Maybe he wouldn't, but I trust Klaus, Rebekah, and Kol about as much as I trust my dog around peanut butter." Val paused in her words, then her eyes fell shut, a defeated sigh leaving her nose as she realized her next move.
"I have to take them away."
Bonnie turned to her, eyes wide. "Val-"
"I know, Bon, ok? But I don't have any other choice. Mystic Falls isn't safe for them, it never was. And what kind of sister would I be, leaving them? I don't want to be my mother; I can't do that. I need to get them out, lay low, figure out my next move."
"Will you go back to Texas?"
Val hesitated. "I want to; that's where I told Damon I was going. But I think I should go somewhere no one knows about, settle down in an area that no one would think to look. Northwest, maybe."
They stood in silence, watching the nature around them. Feeling the cool breeze on their faces, looking over the large selection of foliage that surrounded. Butterfly's bounced around, the few brave enough to brave the chilling weather.
"Here." Val turned to see Bonnie was holding something out to her. It was a bracelet, a little one. Just a plain silver chain with a single charm dangling from it; a lily. "It's for Ally. I've spelled it to the best of my abilities, but since we still don't know the extent of her powers, I can't be too sure how long it will work. It will suppress her powers, especially the destructive ones."
"Will it hurt her?" Val asked warily, taking the bracelet in her hand to inspect it. Bonnie shook her head.
"No; she might feel a little frustrated, like she's lost the use of her thumb or something, but at least we know she won't be in any serious danger."
"How long do you think it can hold out?"
"Um, I can't be certain; a year, maybe two? Just make sure you keep an eye on her, I don't know how she'll respond."
For just one second, Val envied the witch. Her connection with nature, her ability to heal and to help instead of killing and destroying. She could neutralize an attacker, but only with damage. A witch could take someone out, could restore life, could health the sick and even the dead. All with barely the lift of their finger.
And that thought made her happy; because it was something she preferred for her sister than the life of a huntress.
It always startled Val to see Abby from behind; the similarities between she and Bonnie were almost scary. But she could tell by the tense shoulders, the unsteady hands, the less confident aura around her that this was not the little witch. The older woman didn't even acknowledge her as she entered, but Val saw her neck tense when she walked in, grabbing a glass from the cabinet.
"How's the garden? Is your sister doing well?"
Val grimaced as she filled the glass with water from the sink. "About as well as a five-year-old witch would. Of course, all she can see is her ability to heal flowers and brag to her brother about her abilities. That's the thing about being a kid; when something good comes along, you're not jaded enough yet to wondering what bad thing will follow it."
An awkward silence hung in the air, and Val stared out the window at Bonnie, who was bent over the garden with Ally and Hector, Caroline and Jamie watching from a few feet away and laughing as the children shrieked and ran around each other in a game of tag.
"Has Bonnie ever mentioned my mother to you?"
Even without looking at the woman, Val knew the question had caught her off guard.
"Um, no, I-I don't think so."
"Yeah, she's not great." Val continued; her voice was casual, innocent, but the burning in her amber eyes was filling the room with a sense of foreboding. "And I say that in present tense because, as far as I know, she hasn't killed herself or OD'd yet. But here I am, raising my siblings and waiting on that fateful call at one in the morning to let me know that she decided to up her usual dose of heroin and mix it with cocaine. Maybe even some booze. And I know that after that, I'll be explaining what death is to the kids. They'll be sad, of course, but I'm sure they'll get over it. I mean, hell, she's just their mom, right?"
As the huntress suspected, Abby's eyebrows drew in, looking both offended and confused. "That's-that's not how it works-"
"You're damn right that's not how it works." Val's words were so cold and threatening that Abby actually shut up right then and there, lips pressed into a thin line as the younger girl walked around the table to brace her hands against it, staring down at the woman with an expression that was painfully close to disgust. "So why don't you tell me why you're planning on abandoning your child for a second time?"
"You-" Abby's eyes were wide, and she looked pathetically shocked. Val could barely look at her, the fury running through her veins was making her chest feel completely empty of any possible compassion. "How did you know?"
"I've been on the receiving end of abandonment, Abby, and not just from my mother. I know the signs."
"Look, I'm- I'm not leaving her, ok? I'm just really upset and confused and I don't know how to do this. She'd be so much better off without me-"
"Bullshit." Val hissed, the amount of venom in her voice enough to make a cobra look weak, her fingers tightening on the back of the chair so harshly her knuckles were turning white. "This isn't about Bonnie; not in your mind, anyway. The same way it wasn't about her when you left the first time. Just like then, you're looking out for yourself."
"No, I'm trying to keep my children safe!" Abby shot back, an indignant expression taking hold of her face. "I don't know how to be a vampire-"
"And what's Caroline doing here?" Val's soft question shut down the older woman's argument so fast, it was like it hadn't existed at all. "Why are you up here, if you're not willing to learn? Why are you leaving? I'll tell you why: cause you don't know how to be a parent. And you don't love your children enough to learn how."
"You listen to me-"
"No, you listen!" Val suddenly thundered, back going ramrod straight. "That girl out there?" She jammed a finger to the window, towards Bonnie's laughing face. "She is everything I wish I could have been, everything I would have been if I hadn't let my anger get a hold of me. She is intelligent, and beautiful, and so full of life. She has been there for her friends, time and time again. She has lost her loved ones, she has been beaten down and targeted, and yet she is still here. She didn't run off when things got hard, she hasn't even completely abandoned her best friend back in Virginia, even though everyone would completely understand if she did."
A heavy, ringing silence hung in the air. Val's chest was heaving, her face contorted in rage.
"You know where I was when I was sixteen after my mother abandoned me?" She asked quietly. "I was skipping fifth period, out behind the school dumpsters with my twenty-year-old boyfriend doing crystal meth." Her voice caught at the end, almost unwilling to leave her chest. It had been so long since she'd even acknowledged that it had happened. "And yet Bonnie is here; forgiving you and doing so well in life." She glared down at Abby, then scoffed and turned on her heel, storming towards the door. Then, she thought better of it, and turned around.
"If you leave her, if you walk out now, then don't you ever come back. That girl does not deserve to have her heart shattered a third time."
The road was bumpy, uneven. It made her car shudder and her heart jump in her chest, which didn't help her anxiety.
They'd stayed with Bonnie for a few days, nearly a week, before Val decided on a semi-decent plan. Drive to San Antonio, enjoy some family goodness with Liza and Gil, then start apartment hunting somewhere North. Montana, maybe. She didn't know a single person from there; it sounded perfect to disappear.
It wasn't too long after she started on the road that she got a call from Bonnie. Abby had left, despite Val's constant prayers that her intuition had been wrong. She had no idea what to say to the teen, so she'd simply allowed her to cry, to rant, to be angry.
Hector and Ally were out cold in the back, their toys laying forgotten in their laps and on the seat between them. Honestly, Val couldn't have been happier that they were getting some rest. They were in Arkansas, still over twelve hours away from San Antonio. Liza and Gil were expecting them, with the kid's rooms still ready, the foldout couch waiting for Val, and a list full of family-fun plans for the whole group. It was everything she wanted.
So why did she keep feeling like she wanted nothing more than to turn around and drive back to Virginia?
They eventually pulled up to an old motel. Val's eyes were drooping, and she was losing the fight to stay awake.
An hour later, Hector was washed, smelling fresh with wet hair and sitting on a towel on one of the queen beds, eyes glued to the screen as Little Einstein's flashed across the screen.
"Ow, Tina, my hair!"
Ally's protesting squeal made Val's movements pause, and she sighed, loosening her fingers from the wet, soapy black strands.
She had been a little rough.
"I'm sorry, Alex. Here, let's rinse." She grabbed a large cup, tilting her sisters head back and pouring the warm bathwater over her head. She could see the little silver bracelet glimmering out of the corner of her eye in the water, however hard she tried to ignore it. But the stormy look on her face didn't let up, and Ally watched her with a look curiosity and confusion.
"Why are you sad?"
The question startled her, and she looked down at Ally, eyes narrowing. "What?"
"I can tell when you're sad. Ever since my bad dream and learning in the garden with Bonnie. I just… can."
A sigh pushed its way past Val's lips. Great, a five-year-old empath will be just as fine as a tiny witch-in-training.
"It's complicated."
"Why?"
"It just is, Alejandra. Now, come on, let's get your pj's on. I'm tired and we have a long day of driving ahead of us tomorrow."
As she pulled on the pink and white flannels over her sister's head, she could still feel Ally's eyes trained on her, head cocked. Her jaw was clenched, and her mind was going a million miles an hour.
"You miss your friends."
Val stopped dead, amber eyes moving to meet much darker ones as her one of her eyebrows raised to her hairline. "Yes," she answered carefully, continuing to readjust the pajama top on her sister, "I do miss some of my friends."
"No, you miss all of them." Ally responded simply, as if she was telling the older girl that the sky was blue. "And you miss Rick and Damon the mostest."
"No." Val's voice was sharp, slicing through the conversation, trying to kill it before it could continue. "I don't miss Damon. And 'mostest' isn't a word."
"Why?"
"Cause he did some very bad things. He hurt someone I cared about."
"But you still miss him."
"Ally-"
"You're scared that he's gonna get killed."
"I'm not having this conversation-"
"Why did we leave Mystic Falls?"
"Because I'm terrified, Ally!"
It was the first time Val had ever raised her voice at her sister, and unsurprisingly, the little girl took a step back in both surprise and fear. Val bit her lip, immediately regretting losing her temper. Her eyes began to burn, and she closed them, tilting her head towards the ceiling.
"Come here. I need to talk to you and Hector."
"So, you guys know how Ally can do really cool stuff, and how Bonnie said it was because she was magic?"
Both children nodded eagerly. Because what child wouldn't be excited by the thought of magic existing? Val took a deep breath, unsure how to approach the follow up statement she was about to make.
"Well, magic isn't the only thing that exists. There's werewolves, and vampires, and lots of witches."
"Just like me!" Ally chimed in excitedly, and Val nodded tiredly.
"Yes, mi hija. Just like you."
"Is that why we left?" Hector suddenly asked, looking confused and sad.
"Yeah, it is." She answered quietly. "It was so irresponsible and selfish of me to bring you there. I can't watch over you there, I can't give you the life I always wanted you to have if we live there. So, I'm going to take us some place new, some place you guys can go to school and I can get a good job. And it'll just be the three of us."
"But what about Damon? And Rick? And Caroline?"
"Damon's a big boy." The words came out much harsher than she intended. "He can take care of himself. He's been doing it for a very, very long time. And the same goes for Caroline and Rick."
"But you're sad, Tina." Ally responded again, this time sounding much more downtrodden than she had before. "I don't want to move if it means you're sad."
"No, Ally, this isn't about me-" Val started, but Hector cut her off.
"What if they get hurt, Tina? You always save people from getting hurt; you're a superhero."
Her eyes began to burn, and she pressed her lips together, elbows propped on her knees as she lowered her head onto her hands. "It's just not that simple, mi hijo." She told him, unable to stop her voice from cracking. "I can't take you back there. I know you don't understand, but it's too dangerous. I- I can't… I can't risk my family like that."
"But they're our family."
Her head raised, slowly, to look at the two kids. Her two angels, the reasons she had decided to enter rehab after her senior year instead of putting a bullet in her mouth like she'd been originally planning. They were her everything, and for the longest time, they were the only family she had.
So why did Hector's words make so much sense?
Kansas sucked; there were no two ways about it. It was pretty dreary, especially in the winter, and she automatically missed Texas. And Virginia.
Scratch moving North, I need foliage.
Val could feel herself getting antsy again, and she snatched her phone from the cupholder, hitting the speed dial button of her first choice. It rang several times before the voice on the end made her breathe a sigh of relief.
"Val?"
"Oh, thank God, Rick. Wait, you are still Rick, right?"
She heard a breathy chuckle, "Yeah. For now, anyway. Are you in Kansas, yet?"
"Yep. Had to break a few rules of the road to get here, but I'm in." She paused. "Any luck with getting your sociopathic mind friend to talk?"
"No, he's smart. No way he'll come out willingly. But I think we've got a way to trap him."
"Why do I feel like what you're about to do is risking your life?"
"Val, you're my best friend, but I feel like you of all people can't judge me on impulsive decisions."
She pursed her lips at his attempted humor, "Is Stefan still there?"
"Yeah, he is."
"Put him on, please."
Shuffling noises, then her former best friends voice. "What's up, Val?"
"Look, Stef. I'm not going to beat around the bush here and beg you to do something for me, especially since I was just threatening to kill you not two weeks ago. But…" she cut herself off, biting her lip and continuing, "but please, Stefan. Please don't let him die."
It was silent on the other end of the phone, and for just one second, Val thought for sure he was going to hang up, but then he spoke. "You have my word, Val. I swear."
They hung up without saying goodbye, but then again, that felt too weird. The huntress didn't even have too long to dwell on the subject or her fears before she was turning onto the last stretch of road, the sun now fully set behind the vast prairie.
She parked her car a way's away, not wanting to alert any unfriendly vamps. She'd come well-stocked; 9mm, her dagger, a set of three stakes, and several vervain grenades were all strategically strapped to her person. But she'd been out of training for almost two weeks now; she was bound to be just a little rusty.
As she started up the path, gun in her hand, a familiar voice made her turn and nearly shoot the person speaking.
"Woah, geez, Val, it's me!"
Jeremy sat in a familiar black car, hands over his face when she pointed the muzzle his way. She dropped the gun, running forward, scanning him as she did. He looked fine. Very healthy, in fact. Val couldn't help but feel just a little happy that he was living a somewhat normal life.
Or had been.
"Jeremy!" She whispered, crouching by the window. "Jeremy, where are they? Are you ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Elena made me wait in the car." He rolled his eyes, "Older sisters."
A pang hit Val's chest, but she shoved it down, schooling her face as he turned back to her. "They're inside, trying to find Mary. They just went in a few minutes ago, maybe they're talking."
"Ok, stay here."
She silently thanked the heavens that she hadn't worn heels; her sneakers nearly gave her away about six times. The house was painfully old, and very dark. It also would appear Mary was a hoarder; then again, she'd been alive for a very long time, so Val couldn't really fault her for that.
Some voices were coming from a room at the end of the hall and to the right, and she could see light, with shadows moving. As she got closer, though, a British accent and several thuds made her freeze.
Fuck. Kol.
She slowed down, holding her breath as she moved into position just outside the door. Luckily for her, the Original was so occupied with beating the hell out of Damon with a baseball bat to notice her.
"You snapped my neck, killed my brother, and then you humiliated me." The incredibly annoying vampire was saying, standing over a groaning Damon. Elena was standing up the from the bed, looking like she'd been thrown from the disarray of her hair. Upon seeing Val, her eyes widened, but the huntress pressed a finger to her lips. The most shocking sight was the vampire impale into the wall, clad in a now-bloody white dress with long, golden hair.
Ok, so there goes their final lead.
Without warning, Kol reared the bat up and cracked it harshly against Damon's spine. Once, twice, three times. Elena flinched with each hit as Damon shouted and groaned from the pain. Val readied herself, stepping into the doorway and raising her gun.
"Now we're even."
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three shots, rapid succession, straight into the Originals back. He shouted, dropping the bat in pain and stumbling forward. Val stopped at three shots but didn't lower her gun.
"So, I guess that just leaves me."
The vampire growled, reaching back to rip out each bullet before turning to face the huntress. "Well, well, well." He dropped the bullets onto the ground. "Thought you disappeared off the grid, darling. Nobody could find you."
"I like to keep it that way sometimes."
He chuckled, then bent down, grabbing the aluminum bat. "You know, I'm not here to kill you. Though, I have to admit, your rejection really hurt my feelings."
"You're thinking of the dagger in your chest."
Kol shrugged. "Yeah, maybe. But," he ran his fingers over the bat, then raised his eyes back to hers and smirked deviously, "I do hate to leave unresolved tension in a relationship."
And then he was lunging, swinging the bat. Either he was slower than she thought or she was faster than either of them suspected, but she had jumped to the side and shoved Elena out of the way in the process. Reaching into her jacket, she yanked out a stake and swung it, aiming for his face. He dodged, of course, and came back around with the bat. This time Val jumped back, and actually felt the air from the instrument brush her stomach as it narrowly missed her. Grabbing the tool, she lunged forward and went to shove the stake right into Kol's eye.
But his hand caught her wrist, and then they were standing there, staring at each other. The vampire smirked.
"Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you look when you fight?"
"No, I tend to kill them faster when they talk too much."
They both shoved back simultaneously, Val raising her stake in preparation. But the Original scowled and looked at his watch.
"As fun as this has been, I'm afraid I'm needed elsewhere." He winked at Val. "Till next time, sweetheart."
And then he was gone.
Elena rushed forward, helping Damon off the ground as the vampire was slowly resetting his bones. Val walked closer to the dead vamp in the wall, a broken wooden pole impaling her on the wall. The sight reminded Val of the very first time they'd killed Elijah. Or, tried to.
Where was Elijah? Was he in on this plan? Probably, it was his family.
"Are you ok?" Elena was asking, and Damon snapped his arm back into place before answer.
"Yeah, I'm good." His eyes raised to a cut in Elena's forehead, eyes narrowing. "You're bleeding."
He raised his hand to brush his finger across it, and the tenderness in the movement surprised Val. No, that wasn't it. It was Elena letting him touch that really shocked her.
Damn, what did I miss?
"Val-" Damon started, but she raised a hand, cutting him off.
"Don't. I'm not here for you. There's two little ones a couple hundred miles away that were very concerned. I told them I wouldn't let you die."
Even talking about her siblings made her throat close up, and she averted her eyes, staring at the floor. "Um, I'll meet you guys back in Virginia, ok? Gotta go do some damage control over there, too."
She didn't wait for them to speak, simply turning around and walking out of the house.
"How many times have they asked about me?"
Val was standing in front of her opened suitcase, unpacking her clothes into the guest bedroom of the Gilbert house. She'd jumped ship on the lease of apartment, no way she was going to stay with the Salvatore's, and Rick's loft was also out of the question. She'd also quit both her jobs.
That left her dead best friend's bedroom for the time being.
"Quite a few times; Ally just keeps telling me you have 'something very important to do'." Liza chuckled on the other end. "She's been spending too much time with you, using all these big words."
It was probably supposed to make her feel better, but it didn't. All she could think about were the kids' big, doe eyes, shiny with tears as she kissed them good-bye. She wanted to say she'd stayed strong and never shed a single tear as she drove away from them, but that would be a bold-faced lie. And she was trying to be more truthful with herself.
"Kiss them goodnight for me, ok? I've got to go talk with an old friend."
"I will. Please be safe, Val."
After hanging up, the huntress grabbed her trusty leather jacket and pulled on her heeled booties, mind whirring with possibilities. Damon had told her Rick was claiming to do some soul searching with the herbs Bonnie had given him. But try as she might, she couldn't shake the heavy feeling in her chest, the one that told her something was wrong.
Once at Rick's loft, she started up the steps, the feeling of nostalgia bringing a small smile to her face. It was so hard to believe it was less than two years ago she'd been living here, her biggest worry getting a higher paying job.
A part of her missed that.
Her feet had just hit the top step when she saw the door, and it stopped her in her tracks.
Why was it open?
The floorboards creaked under her feet; not very loudly, but each noise sounded like a clap of thunder. She raised a hand, pulling out the stake from the inside of her jacket and slipping in through the cracked door.
Nothing was out of place. It seemed Rick had been there just this morning, with his clothes all over and a half-empty liquor bottle on the counter. His wallet was gone, though, and so were his keys and cellphone. Her eyes narrowed.
Why would he leave his door open-?
Creak.
Val whirled, stake speeding forward for the chest of the figure behind her. But a familiar, large hand grabbed onto her wrist right when the point of the stake brushed against the fabric of their shirt. An annoyingly familiar smirk and bright blue eyes were watching her in amusement.
"You're much faster than I remember." Damon told her, dropping her wrist when she tugged it away.
Val rolled her eyes. "I've been gone for two weeks, Damon, not two months. When did you get here?"
"I've actually been here; I came by just a minute before you did." He nodded at the state of the loft. "So, I'm guessing you also have a weird feeling?"
"Well, Rick is my best friend-"
"Our best friend…"
"-so I trust my instincts on him." She finished, ignoring his interruption. "Why would he suddenly dip out? We just handed over the one thing that could free us from the fucking Mikaelsons; he should be livid."
"Well, maybe Rick is feeling a little spiritual. You know, got some Eat, Pray, Love thing going." As Damon was speaking, Val looked around the apartment again. But as she surveyed the kitchen, her eyes fell on a glass jar peeking out from behind the pasta container, and her heart sunk.
"What is it?" Damon asked as she strode towards the kitchen, but she ignored him and grabbed the jar, brining it into the light. It was full of herbs, and it was pretty obvious they hadn't been used in a while.
"I think it's something a little more complicated than that." She announced grimly, and Damon's mouth pressed into a thin line.
"No way would our Rick refuse to take the herbs."
"No, he wouldn't. And who knows how long he's gone without taking them."
It was like the hunter had completely ghosted the town. Val and Damon had split up, (after Val refused to be in the same car as him) and searched high and low. But every lead they had that he could possibly be always came up empty, and by the time the sun had begun to set, Val was tearing her hair out. All she could think of was accidentally stumbling over his body, and it was making her nauseous.
Why do my friends keep dying?
Eventually, they had to call it quits. Whatever Serial Killer Rick was planning, he was doing it well. Searching in the dark was a little stupid since he had a weapon that could kill any living (or undead) thing on Earth. So, with a heavy heart, Val returned home.
She sat in some sweats and a t-shirt in the living room, an almond milk latte she'd made nestled in her hands. Elena was upstairs preparing for the decade dance, and for some reason, a part of Val's chest ached when she thought about all her old soccer players that would be there. Were they angry at her for suddenly cutting and leaving?
The knock at the door was telling, as Stefan always knocked three times, paused, then finished with two more knocks. Setting the mug on the coffee table, she padded over to open the front door.
The youngest Salvatore was clad in an incredibly fancy-looking suit that didn't quiet match his ridiculous looking tie. They both stared at each other, the vampire looking noticeably more uncomfortable.
"Um, hey Val."
"Hi, Stef." She returned softly, then nodded at the stairs. "She'll be down soon."
"Thanks." They sat in awkward silence for a few more seconds.
"Val, I-" Stefan's voice was soaked with guilt as he spoke, his big brown puppy dog eyes making it harder and harder to stay angry. "I'm so sorry."
"Stefan, don't-"
"No, I mean it. I'm so sorry for everything. I know the reason you left wasn't just because of what we did to Bonnie and Abby, but because you felt like you'd lost the last two vampires you thought could be trusted. You left with Alex and Hector because you thought they were in danger, and you had to do what you had to do. I just…" He trailed off, then shook his head. "I don't ever want to be the reason you feel unsafe, Val. You and I have been in this together from the beginning, and I just want you to know that I'm so sorry I betrayed your trust."
She wanted to keep being angry. She wanted to smack him across the face and scream at him for scaring her so badly, for making her feel so stupid that vampires could be trusted. But as she stood there in that doorway, all she could think of was how exhausted she was. From all the hunting, all the stress, all the worry.
Val didn't have the energy to be upset anymore.
Heels on wood interrupted them, and they both looked up to see Elena descending the stairs. Val smiled at the girl, then quietly excused herself upstairs.
Once in her room, she closed the door behind her and pressed her back against it, sliding down to the floor. Now felt like the appropriate time to cry. For her siblings, for Rick, for the happy life she'd been taunted with before being reminded that she just couldn't have it; that she couldn't go too long without being self-destructive.
But as she stared into the room that her best friend had used to live in not too long ago, her chest felt startlingly empty.
It wasn't too long after Elena and Stefan had left that she got hungry. Standing, Val shuffled down the stairs towards the kitchen, craving some leftover nachos.
It was silent in the house. The floorboards didn't even creak under her weight. The lack of noise disturbed her, and she began to hum an ACDC song under her breath to fill the dead air as she extracted the plate from the fridge.
Wait.
Hadn't that backdoor been locked? Val's eyes narrowed, head tilting in confusion. She and Elena were two young women living alone in a house; they were sticklers for locked doors-
Val heard the woosh of the blade and the rustle of the fabric just in time; she lunged to the side as the knife stabbed into the wall where she'd originally been standing. Rick stumbled as she backed up, grabbing the cast-iron skillet that was sitting in the sink.
"Rick…" she breathed, not wanting to accept the thing she saw before her.
It was her best friend, but it wasn't. It was so much worse than when Klaus overtook his body. This time, the deranged light in his eyes seemed more prominent, his muscles tensed and hungry like a predator's. His fingers were twitching, curling around the knife and yanking it from the wall, tightening and loosening on the handle. Like he couldn't wait to sink it into her flesh.
"Hey there, Val." He greeted casually, nodding at her. "I'm surprised you're here. Don't you have two brats that need you?"
"Yeah, well," she twirled the skillet in her hand, moving a few steps around the island. He followed her, matching her every step. "It feels like everyone needs me tonight. Including you." She cocked a taunting eyebrow. "Gotta say, Rick, sociopath just doesn't suit you. You look too much like a puppy."
"I'm pretty sure I remember you being so hard on not underestimating your enemies."
"I'm not." She brought the skillet down hard towards the hand on the island, but he moved it just in time, slashing at her chest. She bobbed and weaved, reaching up and grabbing the back of his head to smack his face into the island. He groaned when it made contact, allowing her to slip easily over the surface and come to stand a few feet away from him, still brandishing her weapon.
"I think you've forgotten how much I used to kick your ass when we trained." With that, she reached her foot up and directed all her force into his kidneys. He blocked with his bicep, though, and twirled around to latch onto her leg. He reared the knife back, but Val reached up and threw the skillet with all her might, knocking both weapons to the side. Using the hold on her leg to anchor her, she sprung forward, grabbed his shirt, and threw the both of them through the glass French doors into the living room.
It shattered under the weight, and tiny lacerations bit into her skin as she landed with a loud oof! Standing, she ignored the pain, bringing her hands up into the ready position again as Rick rose, as well. But to her surprise, he merely winced and chuckled mirthlessly, shaking his head.
"That's because I always used to be so scared of hurting you, Val. And would you like to know a secret?"
He jabbed at her jaw, and she dodged, but unintentionally opened up her left side. His foot came up and cracked against her rib, sending her back into the wall. She shouted but pushed past the pain and rolled out of the way, missing the fist that went right through the wall where her head had been. Rolling to her feet, she delivered a harsh elbow to his face, right into his eyebrow. The force sent his head sideways, but as she advanced, he recovered much quicker than she'd been expecting. His hand came up and caught her fist, twisting it hard enough to the side that a snapping sensation sent fire flaring up her arm.
A scream pushed its way past her lips, and he used the distraction to pick her up and throw her into the coffee table with everything he had.
The wood broke underneath her, but she was already breathless. Pain was running up and down her forearm, and her back and neck were aching from the impact of the table. She struggled to suck air back into her body, shifting as her muscles screamed in protest.
"You don't want to hurt me, Val." Rick came to stand over her, smirking. "Which makes this so easy."
His boot came down towards her face, and that was the last thing she recalled.
Next chapter we learn a little bit more about Val's connection with Mikael, so stay tuned!
