Chapter Twelve: "That Sounds Like a Terrible Gameshow"

I literally have no excuses for myself in the late chapter. School sucks. Whataya gonna do. *insert shrug here* You people are still beautiful and all the OCs are beautiful. Almost supernaturally so. I expect nothing less with CW origins.

Cliffhanger last chapter, I know, I'm sorry! Well, sorta. I'm sorta sorry. It seems that Sabrina isn't as in control as she thinks she is. But Reyna though? BAMF alert

Anyway, enjoy! Leave a comment if ya like. I am already working on plotting out the next chapters. :)

Songs:

"The Wire" by HAIM

"Song to a Moonlit Mermaid" by Aenima

"Strange Times" by The Black Keys

-O-

Sabrina whirled around, her teeth bared in an animalistic snarl. Her clawed hand wrapped around a throat, shoving the person against the nearest wall. Her viciousness receded when she saw Reyna staring back at her.

Reyna pried Sabrina's fingers from her throat, looking between her friend and the body lying behind them. Sabrina released her immediately, stepping back on wobbly legs. She couldn't recall Reyna ever looking afraid of anything until now. Fear glazed over her eyes, but she knew Reyna wasn't afraid of her. No, not her exactly but of something that Reyna had not considered yet before this.

Her eyes wide, Reyna demanded, brushing around her to gawk and point at the prone form, "What— Sabrina! How—," she threaded her fingers through her dark hair, tugging on the strands. "What. The. Hell?!"

Cold satisfaction melted away with slow dawning horror taking its place. Her green eyes suddenly became cognizant, watering, "Reyna, I—?"

Reyna lifted up Sabrina's arms, inspecting red splatters on cream fabric. "Sabrina? What did he do to you? Did you do this? What happened?"

Fat, hot tears streaked down her face. The mascara burned her eyes. She could only violently shake her head, blubbering, "He was hurting her, Rey…"

"Hurting who? Did he try to do something to you?" She demanded.

"He was hurting her, he was hurting her!" She wrapped her arms around herself, tucking her head. Blunt nails raked up and down her arms. Reyna grabbed her arms, jerking Sabrina into a desperate embrace. Reyna stood on her toes so that Sabrina could rest her head on her shoulder.

"It's ok, it's ok. I'm here. It's gonna be ok." Sabrina thought she heard Reyna's voice catch. "We're gonna get through this, ok? Ok?"

Sabrina nodded her head, wrapping her arms just as tightly around Reyna.

"What's wrong with me?"

"I don't know,"

"She told me I had to kill him," Sabrina whispered.

"What— who told you that?" When she didn't answer, Reyna released her, grasping her upper arms, her eyes searching her face. "Ok, we need to call Car—"

Sabrina grabbed Reyna's hand before she could reach for her cell phone. Sabrina shook her head. "Please, don't. She can't know. Promise me, Reyna,"

With reluctance, Reyna nodded. She craned her neck, scanning their surroundings. "We can't stay here. Someone will be by soon." Reyna shrugged her leather jacket off, leaving her in a heather grey tank top. Black tattoos lined her arms, weaving around her toned biceps onto her shoulders and back, leading to the two scroll inkings Sabrina knew lay on her shoulder blades. Reyna threw the jacket around Sabrina's shoulders, covering the red splotches as best she could.

"Alright, look," Reyna said. "Go home and change,"

"But-," Sabrina's eyes turned toward the expensive leather shoes the man wore, unable to look further up where she may glimpse the hole in the man's chest.

"Yeah, now is not the time for 'buts' unless you have a good story to tell auntie sheriff about how you're suddenly able to tear hearts out, ok?"

Sabrina nodded, saying quietly. "Ok,"

Her expression softened slightly. "I'll call Caroline and tell her to meet you at the house. Just run home and change. Shower. They'll be able to smell it on you otherwise,"

Sabrina scoffed, "When did our lives get so…"

"Screwed?"

"I might have been going to use stronger language, but yeah,"

"You use stronger language?" Reyna quirked a brow.

Sabrina wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "I'm having an off day,"

"That seems to be going around." She propped her hands on her hips, the silver on her rings catching a sunray. "Go. Go now. Run as fast as you can and don't stop for anything, alright?"

Sabrina vanished in a blur in the next instant.

Reyna's shoulders drooped when she disappeared. She let her eyes shut for a brief moment before she bent down, grabbing the man by the ankles and beginning to drag.

-O-

The next fifteen minutes passed in a blur for Sabrina. She stripped off her clothes, tossing them into a trash bag. She would burn them later. She ran to her shower. She wished she had unpacked more. She was left with some rose-scented soap and a few towels. She made do.

She showered quickly, letting the water scald her skin. A harsh weight pressed against her chest. She wanted to curl into a ball on the shower floor even as she turned the water off. She refused to look at the cuff on her arm as she got dressed in an old William and Mary sweatshirt and jeans. She pulled her hair into a tight French braid. She sighed shakily, swallowing the tears tightening her throat. She opened the door, locking it behind her.

She nearly ran into Caroline who stood in the center of the porch. Caroline whirled around, her mouth pinched in irritation.

"Whoa, what're you doing?"

"Care," she breathed. "I thought I was picking you up at school,"

Caroline cocked a hip, arching a well-drawn brow, her blue eyeshadow glimmering as her head turned. "Yeah, I thought so too until your pitbull called me huffing and puffing that I needed to get over here, like yesterday." She rolled her eyes. "What crawled up her ass, you know?"

"Uhh," her hand tightened around Reyna's jacket that she held by her side.

"Anyway,," Caroline carried on without much care to what Sabrina had to say. "So like Elena is going with Damon and Ric to Duke to find out more about her birth mom or whatever." Her eyes widened while she blew out a harsh breath. "Yeah, it sounds like four different kinds of drama that I sooo do not need right now. But!" Caroline gasped, grabbing Sabrina's hands, vibrating in excitement. "But Matt caught up with me today and invited me to go with him swimming up at the falls,"

Sabrina hesitated. "Oh, I don't know, Care. Are you sure that's a good—?"

Caroline's dreaminess morphed into sharp-edged determination. "Uh, yeah. I'm totally going, dude,"

Sabrina waved a hand, placating, "I didn't say you couldn't go. Just that we should think about it." She refused to meet Caroline's suddenly inquisitive gaze. "I don't think we're—," she paused, swallowing, her stomach rolling. "I don't believe either of us has been thinking or processing very clearly these past few days." She said, rubbing irritated red eyes. She knew Caroline would notice the puffiness. She shook her head, smiling. "Besides, people be crazy, man. I just don't want—,"

Caroline lifted a playful brow, "People to go crazy on me?"

"The vice versa of that would probably be more likely,"

Caroline bumped her shoulder against Sabrina's. "Whatever,"

Sabrina chuckled, the hard guilt weighing against her chest lessening. She stumbled when Caroline suddenly shoved her, her mood changing with the breeze apparently.

"What. Are. You. Wearing?!" She demanded with a slap punctuating her demands. Sabrina dodged badly. "You looked so cute when I left this morning." She pointed an accusatory finger. "I made you look so cute! What even, Sabrina?"

Sabrina jumped when Reyna's heavy boots clomped against the porch.

"What?" Reyna frowned, moving to Sabrina's side.

"I'm trying to determine Sabrina's sudden aversion to actually looking reasonably attractive,"

"Aww, you think I can be attractive?"

Caroline squinted, "Reasonably,"

Sabrina wrapped herself around Caroline who immediately tried pushing her cousin away with a groan. Sabrina said, "Nope. Too late." She wiggled her eyebrows at Reyna. "She thinks I'm cool,"

Their responses were simultaneous.

"Ugh, as if,"

"Hold me while I weep,"

Caroline finally pushed Sabrina away, straightening her hair, "So why did you?"

"Why what?" Sabrina replied as she handed Reyna's jacket back. She shrugged the leather jacket back on as Sabrina pulled her hair from the collar, arranging her friend's hair about as well as she dodged Caroline's question.

"Why'd you change?" Caroline stomped her foot, picking away imaginary dust from her jean capris. "You looked so cute before,"

Sabrina blanked, and her face showed it. Reyna's elbow jabbed into her side. She answered for Sabrina.

"What? She didn't tell you?"

Caroline crossed her arms, pasting on a smile. "Well, obviously not,"

"Yeah, dumbass here spilled her can of spaghetti-o's all over herself. She made me sneak her out while I took care of all the other—," Reyna grunted when Sabrina pinched her side. "stuff. All the other stuff,"

Caroline leaned her weight back onto her back foot. "I thought you hated spaghetti-o's,"

"Yeah." Sabrina nodded. "That's why I spilled them." Sabrina hooked her arm through Reyna's to keep her from jabbing her with her bony elbow. Reyna glared. "I remembered I didn't like them,"

"Yeah, that totally sounds like a lie but whatever. We need to go,"

Reyna watched as Caroline dragged Sabrina down the stairs before following at her own leisured pace.

Their steps to Sabrina's sedan were filled with Caroline's chatter, that they needed to get vampire 101 lessons over with ASAP because her social rank would not be dipping due to a slight bump in the road.

Sabrina's brow rose, "You call death a slight bump in the road?"

Caroline flipped her hair to the opposite shoulder. Her mouth puckered in faux sympathy. "What? Like it wasn't for you?"

Sabrina shook her head, "Don't be annoying,"

Caroline flung the back door open, jumping inside and answering her trilling cell phone. Sabrina's fingers wrapped around the door handle as Reyna said,

"Hey,"

"Yeah?"

"You ok? No, wait. That's a— that's a stupid question. Just—," Reyna leaned over the top of the car, whispering, "You're just freaking me out, like a little bit, slightly, ok? We need to talk about this later,"

Sabrina dipped her head once, "Yeah, ok." She said softly. "You're definitely not the only one who's freaked out about this,"

Sabrina jumped at the sudden noise of a car horn. She peered inside the car as Caroline flopped back,

"What is wrong with you!"

Caroline interrupted, "Let's goooo. We're going to be late,"

Sabrina shared an exasperated look with Reyna before sliding into the driver's seat while Reyna followed on the opposite side. Sabrina started the car, backing out of the drive. Reyna turned in her seat, saying,

"So, yeah, if I have to go with you guys to Team Salvatore central, someone needs to be on bitch-slap patrol to keep me from bitch-slapping people, namely Damon Salvatore. Caroline, you're it."

Caroline's mouth dropped open. "Me? What— why do I have to be it?"

Reyna picked at her fingernails, ignoring Sabrina's sudden cutting gaze. She leaned up, adjusting the A/C to her liking. Caroline's mouth curved into disgust but not fear, Sabrina noticed gratefully.

"Because we all know that while you're on bitch-slap patrol, I'll be on murder patrol to keep Miss Purple Scales over here from turning this into a new 'Show-your-fangs-and-claws-while-ripping-out-their-guts' gameshow,"

Caroline's nose wrinkled. "Ew. That would be a horrible game show,"

"I know that's why we're trying to prevent that. Keep up, Marilyn,"

"You two know that I can hear you up here, right?" Sabrina twisted in her seat briefly as she drove down east Cummings Street. "And also, Caroline, that's your only problem with what she just said?"

Her eyes flared in annoyance as she caught Reyna's gaze.

Caroline bumped Sabrina's arm. "Turn left here,"

Reyna's voice mocked, "Yeah, mom. Turn left here,"

Sabrina's eyes flashed iridescent in the sunlight, "I will hurt you,"

Reyna relished in eliciting a reaction, Sabrina knew. She was just feeding her what she wanted.

"Would you really?" Reyna's knees suddenly knocked into the dash as Sabrina hit the brake a little too suddenly at the next stop sign. "Hey!" She yelled before she deadpanned, "You're an animal,"

Sabrina smirked before accelerating the car to a comfortable speed as she turned onto a back road that she knew lead to the Salvator boarding house. She remembered sneaking over to the abandoned boarding house while she was in high school, just walking the grounds, absorbing every piece of history she saw. She used to love that house. But that was a very long time ago. Her mouth drew into a severe frown. That lulling voice inside her stirred.

'You would bring her to our enemy,'

'I won't take her choice. She has enough people trying to do that as it is.'

'When she drowns in this current—,'

"Sabrina!" Reyna grabbed her arm.

Sabrina slammed the brakes as a herd of white-tailed deer crossed the old road. She exhaled heavily, forcing her grip on the steering wheel to relax. "Stupid deer," she muttered.

Caroline rose in the backseat. "Don't say that." Her eyes sharpened as she watched the herd pass onto the other side of the woods. She cleared her throat. "They'll hear you,"

"Considering the fact that you're going to a probably vegan vampire school to learn how to kill and eat Bambi instead of people, I don't think that hurting their feelings should be your first priority right now,"

Caroline appeared so stricken that Sabrina had to chuckle. "You're not going to be eating Bambi," Sabrina said, smiling faintly.

"Now, Bambi's cousin on the other hand—," Reyna moved her hand in the so-so back and forth.

Caroline kicked the back of Reyna's seat. "Seriously, stop! There is no way. Literally, there is no way that I will ever be able to—," Caroline leaned forward, squinting as the Boarding House came into view. She flopped back with a scoff. "Ugh, they said he wouldn't be here,"

Out of the corner of her eye, Sabrina saw Caroline's nails dig into the flesh of her arm. Sabrina's stomach dropped. She knew who she meant, but still, she asked, "Who wouldn't be here?"

"Damon,"