This chapter is dedicated to my bestie, Vicky! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, V! I LOVE YOU!


I own nothing but my own words.


Chapter 13: Something's Wrong With Josie


Hope was scared to death.

At Ryan's words, she couldn't help but think of the way darkness had already ruined so much of her family. Eventually she had grown strong enough to fight it and protect her family by putting the darkness completely in herself. Back then she was arrogant and naïve enough that she thought she could hold it at bay and control it. But she couldn't.

Her father and uncle paid the price for that mistake.

And now darkness was overwhelming Lizzie.

She knew it wasn't the same. She knew this wasn't The Hollow. She knew it was the darkness from the twin bond, but they didn't know enough. Was anyone even alive who knew anything that would help?

Lizzie was her best friend. She was family. She cared about her.

Had her caring for her done this?

That's what always happened, didn't it?

The people she cared about didn't just die on her. It was her fault they died, wasn't it?

She cared so much about seeing her dad, she got her mother killed.

She cared so much about removing The Hollow from her family so they could actually be a family, she got her father and uncle killed.

And she cared so much about Lizzie and Josie that when she thought she found a way to save them from the merge, she jumped at it.

She prayed she hadn't gotten them killed too.

Stopping the merge and dissolving the link to the seal, everything should have been fine. Aunt Freya and the witches said it was possible to undo it all. But they, like the rest of them, didn't know for sure what would happen after that.

But Ryan knew.

He warned them all.

However, when the alternative was the certainty that the twins would have to merge versus the potential problems from going ahead with their plan, they all thought it was worth the risk.

Glancing at Lizzie lying passed out in the backseat through the rearview mirror, even though Ryan also said if they were going to do it they should do it now, she wondered if they should have waited. Because the plan had gone wrong, the darkness was proving too strong, and instead of losing Lizzie at twenty-two, there was a very real chance they might lose her now.

"Slow down," Clarke said as he shifted to pull his phone out of his pocket.

Realizing her foot was nearly pressed to the floor, she let up. He was right. They needed to get to the school and she didn't have her license yet. If they got pulled over, they would have a problem.

Clarke dialed the number he was looking for.

"Lizzie's having a psychotic break," he said when Alaric answered. "She'll need to be sedated. Prepare the infirmary."

"Clarke? She's what—what's going on?" the man stumbled over his words.

"Ten minutes. I'm coming in," Clarke finished and hung up. He didn't care what Saltzman said, he was going into that school and not leaving until they figured out how to help Lizzie. If they had to lock the hybrid up while he was there, so be it.

One thing about Ryan, Hope was glad to note, he was always amazing in a crisis. Whereas most people looked to her to save the day, he operated in crisis mode on a daily basis working for Triad. He knew what needed to be done and he took care of it. Today she was grateful for that because her fear was flooding her.

Clarke swiped through his phone and dialed another number.

"I need all available operatives at the spring festival in Mystic Falls immediately," he said.

"Sir, the target is surrounded."

"Leave two on her and send the rest to town square," he commanded.

"Two, sir?"

Hearing the incredulous tone, Clarke knew command post was questioning whether two were enough to bring the target down. She liked to kill in pairs.

"If she leaves, tell them to follow, not engage."

"Mission at town square, sir?"

"Take over and make sure everything goes off without a hitch."

"Sir?"

"The festival runs all weekend, to midday Sunday," he said.

"Mission goal?"

"To make this year's spring festival the best the town has ever known," he bit out. He would've rolled his eyes at his own words if the situation weren't so grim.

He hung up before more could be said. It definitely wasn't an actual mission and his team knew it, but he really didn't care.

"Sending your team to help with the festival is nice and all," Hope said, "But aren't you here to capture Wendy?"

"Lizzie is going to be fine," he said, meeting her gaze in the rearview mirror for a moment, not allowing her to disagree with him. "And when she wakes, she'll be pissed if the festival went to shit while she was out."

"Everyone will understand she had a medical emergency," Hope said.

"It's important to her," he said firmly, leaving it at that.

He scrolled through his phone again.

"Who are you calling now?"

"Headquarters," he replied. "They're trying to stop the darkness, but I need something more."

"What's that?"

"Everything there is to know about the Gemini Coven."


At least Hope thought Ryan was keeping his head during the crisis, but the second he ran out of people to call, he started tapping his foot so hard he would've put a hole in the bottom of the car if he were a werewolf or vampire.

She had never felt anxious energy coming from Ryan, but she did now. She could see him check on Lizzie, then check his phone, then look ahead to see how close they were to the school. She was going at last twenty miles over the speed limit and her anxiety was encouraging her to edge the speedometer higher and higher. He hadn't corrected her again, so he must not care anymore.

Doctor Saltzman was waiting when they arrived. He pulled the backdoor open but was forced to step back when Ryan grabbed Lizzie and got out of the car with her.

"I've got her," Alaric said to the air as Clarke completely ignored him and dashed into the school.

"What happened?" he asked Hope as she raced around to follow.

"She started having hallucinations, screaming about monsters and potatoes," Hope said, rushing inside with Doctor Saltzman keeping up at her side. "I put her to sleep, but I don't know how long before it wears off."

"Caroline and Josie are setting everything up," he said as they jogged down the hall, trying to keep up with Clarke. He got the call two minutes after leaving to drop Josie off at school, so he easily turned back around and waited.

As they reached the infirmary, they were greeted by a loud voice.

"What are you doing here!?" Josie glared.

Clarke completely ignored her too and rushed to lay Lizzie down on the bed Caroline was setting up.

"Hope used magic to knock her out, but I don't know how long it will last," he told Caroline. "Do you have the sedative?"

"Is that really necessary?" Caroline said.

"Yes," he nodded.

Hope went around the other side of the bed. Noting the straps on the side, she winced as she grabbed it and started wrapping it around Lizzie's right arm.

"Is that really necessary?" Alaric asked.

"Restraining her?" Josie asked.

"You didn't see her," Hope said. "I don't want her to hurt herself."

Clarke did the strap on the other side, as Caroline came back with the sedative and administered it to Lizzie's arm.

"Okay, can someone tell me what is going on?" Caroline asked when she was done.

"It's the darkness," Clarke said.

"It's not," Josie argued. "She said she's just naturally getting worse."

"She was in denial," Hope said.

A sudden draft of air greeted them as MG appeared having vamp sped to the room.

"Sorry! I heard students talking. They saw Clarke carrying her," he stepped closer. "What happened?" He left in the middle of his exam. He didn't care if he failed. Lizzie was more important.

"She wasn't in denial," Josie snapped. "She knows herself better than either of you. She increased her medication and she was doing fine!"

"She increased her medication?" Alaric looked at Caroline with a frown.

"Yes," Caroline said, frowning back at Ric. "She's been taking more control of her mental health. She attends the meetings bi-weekly on her own and I get updates afterwards. She recognized increased signs of depression and she took the steps she needed to adjust."

"We," Hope glanced at Ryan, "don't think her symptoms were increasing naturally."

"What does he know anyway?" Josie said.

"I know that her symptoms have increased at least three times overnight, including today," Clarke nearly snapped back at her. "Not gradually, not naturally."

"But she didn't think you were right?" Caroline asked.

"She was scared," MG said, not having taken his eyes off of Lizzie lying prone since he arrived. "She didn't want to admit it could be anything else. Because if it was…"

"Which is why we're looking for a solution," Hope said.

"And where is this solution?" Josie said, glaring at Clarke because every time Hope said 'we' she knew who she meant. "You've been working so hard to find one, and you haven't yet, have you?"

Clarke didn't bother responding to her. His glare his only reply.

"This isn't helping," MG mumbled.

"No, it isn't," Josie said. "Just like he isn't helping. He's not even allowed to be here. Why is he here?" She looked at her father.

"He's not leaving," Caroline said firmly, not allowing any room for argument.

"Why not?" Josie argued anyway. "It's not like he even cares—"

"This is not helping!" MG raised his voice for the first time since most of them had known him.

He turned on Josie, "This isn't a Clarke versus Josie thing! This is Lizzie's in trouble and we all need to figure out how to help her. And if you think Clarke doesn't care about Lizzie, you haven't been paying attention.

"There are six people awake and alert in this room," MG said. "Stop arguing and figure out a way to HELP HER!"

"Well, I know one way to determine if it's natural or not," Caroline said, going to the head of the bed.

They all waited as she put her hands on either side of Lizzie's head, diving into her daughter's mind.

Moments later she pulled back, gasping, her eyes flooded with tears.

"She's… it's… a mess," she said. "Nothing made sense. There's nothing natural about that. It's like her mind is completely fragmented. Shattered," she finished on a sob.

"It's the black magic growing and doing this," Hope said. "So, couldn't we try a spell to purge it? Force the darkness out? Wouldn't that put everything back in place?" If Lizzie had accepted the possibility before now, she could have tried this before… but, as MG said, Lizzie was scared.

"We can try," Josie agreed. Her mother's reaction frightened her. Was Lizzie really that bad? Why didn't she feel it? "I mean, you can try." She almost forgot that she was hiding her powers from everyone still.

Hope exchanged places with Caroline.

After Josie's brush with black magic, Hope made sure she had this spell ready if she ever needed it again. She only hoped it worked.

She focused on the spell, repeating the words.

"Magicae movemur. Recedemus."

"Try again?" she said to Caroline when she finished.

They switched places again.

Caroline pulled back, shaking her head in defeat.

"It didn't work."

Clarke couldn't stop himself, he had to walk. He started pacing around the small room, made even smaller by so many people.

"There's got to be something we're missing," he said to himself but loud enough that everyone heard. "Purging it, having something to feed on it—"

"No hexes, remember?" Hope said softly.

He nodded. He went back to listing possibilities, "With me, the earth magic overcame it—"

"But it didn't," Hope said. "The black magic died with your father. Your father was consumed by it, so when he died, it did."

"She's not dying!" he snapped. He didn't mean to snap at Hope but all the things he was feeling were new to him and he didn't know what they were or how to process any of it.

All he knew was he refused to let Lizzie die.

"Most definitely not," Caroline said, approaching and reaching out to touch his arm reassuringly. "We're in a school for magic, with all kinds of connections to magic. There is always a way. No matter how long it takes, we'll find it."

"We also have an entire secret government organization that knows millions of supernatural secrets researching a way to save her too," Hope said with a small smile, noting the way Caroline was quick to comfort Ryan. Caroline was struggling to remain strong, but she saw the way Ryan was struggling too.

"So, what do we do for now?" Josie interrupted, feeling disgusted when her mother approached him. Everyone else in the room was worried about Lizzie but her mother was soothing Clarke? "We can't just leave her like this until we find something."

Silence reigned throughout the room as everyone thought.

"You said her mind was shattered," Clarke spoke up. "Injured. Hope, can you try to heal her?"

"Heal her?" Alaric asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I've only tried that on injured animals," Hope reminded Ryan. "I've never tried it on a human."

"No time like the present?"

"It's not really an injury though," Hope said.

"Just try?" Clarke said

Nodding because she knew that she too would try anything, she switched places with Caroline again.

"Here goes," she said, hovering her hands over Lizzie's head. She didn't say anything this time, just focused her magic on healing.

When she stepped back, she wasn't sure if she really did anything.

"Did it work?" Josie asked.

"I don't know?" Hope said, looking at Caroline.

Caroline stepped over and dived inside of her mind again.

"No," she breathed out. "It's still the same."

"What about vampire blood—" Clarke started.

"Absolutely not!" Caroline shut that entire idea down.

"If it could heal her—" he tried.

"Trust me," Caroline said tight-lipped. "Vampire blood is not a miracle cure-for-all. It doesn't heal lots of things. Like cancer or tumors and… just no!"

"We won't do that," Alaric was quick to reassure her, knowing she was thinking of her mother.

"Besides," MG said. "She had vampire blood last week. If it healed her mind, it would've done it then."

"Why did she have vampire blood?" Alaric asked.

"Her, uh," MG looked around. "Spell kind of… exploded? She let me heal her burn."

"Hope's blood," Clarke spoke up.

"What?" Hope looked at him.

"Try giving her your blood," Clarke said. He looked at the others to explain. "She's not a vampire yet, but her blood has the properties. And it's powerful. It cures vampires from werewolf bites and turns wolves to hybrids." He knew everyone in the room already knew that.

"We're not giving her any blood without her permission," Alaric said, remembering how scared she was in the prison world. She hadn't wanted to die. She didn't want to be a vampire. And he didn't want that for her either.

"I said no!" Caroline would not be budged on this, even if Alaric had already shut it down. "No vampire blood, no Hope's blood! When my mother was sick, when she was dying, we tried that. I tried it. I gave her my blood because I thought it would heal her. But it didn't! It actually sped up the cancer! I would've lost her that day if we hadn't…"

She stopped, trailing off.

"If you hadn't what?" Clarke asked.

"They got Kai to siphon the magic from her blood stream," Alaric said, dropping his arms in realization.

"We could siphon it out of her," Hope said, standing up straight.

"I know a siphon," Caroline said, lost in thought. "I'm not sure she'll talk to me after the last time I saw her though…"

"Valerie?" Alaric guessed.

"She was the first person I searched for to help with the merge," she said. "She didn't know about Stefan…she wasn't happy to see me at all."

"Triad used one before," Clarke said. "No telling if he's still where he was. Or if he'll help again."

"Aunt Freya might know one," Hope spoke up. "I know Mom had to find one to siphon Aunt Rebekah's hex when I was a child."

"Wait," Alaric looked around. "I thought siphons were only born into the Gemini coven." All Gemini were dead now, with the exception of the twins. Valerie, born a Gemini, was only alive because she was a heretic—a siphon turned into a vampire.

"Guess you were wrong," Clarke shrugged.

"Um, hello!" Josie raised her hand though her mind was reeling a little at learning siphons weren't as rare as she was told by her father. "Siphon, standing right here. I'll go get my powers and take care of this right now?"

"I don't think it's possible to have a worse idea," Clarke said.

"Good thing I don't need your permission," she said.

"We're trying to save her," Clarke said. "They don't have time to save you too." He didn't include himself in that second part on purpose.

"She's my sister," Josie said harshly. "If she needs a siphon to save her, I'll do it!"

"He's right, honey," Caroline said gently. "We don't know what's going on, but you can't be anywhere near black magic. Not after last time."

"If I just take the powers back long enough to siphon it out of her, I'll put them away again right after," Josie said. "I know I can do this."

"And where would you put it?" Clarke said. "Because I recall having to find you a place myself last time and I'm fresh out."

"I'll transfer it," she said, glaring at him for bringing that up. "Lizzie and I did that before, right, Mom?" She looked at her. "For Hope's dad?"

Caroline shook her head because it was the truth but it didn't change anything. Lizzie was in trouble, and Ryan was right. They couldn't risk putting Josie in danger too.

"Transfer it to what?" Hope asked.

"I don't care! Wherever those other siphons would put it!" Josie exclaimed. "I can do this. I can do this for Lizzie."

"Okay," Alaric said.

"What?!" nearly everyone in the room looked at him in disbelief.

Alaric nodded, giving everyone a firm look, telling them not to argue.

"Let's go get your powers," he said to Josie. "Then we'll do this."

"Okay!" she said, smiling for the first time.

"You all… figure out where to put it," Alaric said as he followed Josie out of the room.

"Yeah, maybe we'll find another mora miserium," Clarke called back, disgusted. "Is he out of his mind?"

"I… think he's up to something," Hope murmured. She knew Doctor Saltzman. He wasn't stupid. Allowing Josie anywhere near black magic would be a huge mistake and he knew it.

"I agree," Caroline said. "Wait and see."

"I'll call Aunt Freya while we wait," Hope said, pulling her phone out and walking to the side.

Josie rushed into her room and went to the piggy bank. She broke it when Malivore attacked the school, but she used magic to put it back together before she put her powers away again once Malivore was defeated. She pulled the plug from the bottom and started shaking the coins out. She put on the show for her father, knowing he was right behind her.

She combed through the coins and pretended she was searching for the right one.

"Got it!" she said, turning back to him, holding it up in victory.

"You're sure that's it?" he asked.

"Yes," she said.

"Good," he said before he snatched it out of her hand and stuffed it in his pocket.

"Wait," she said, staring at him in confusion. "What are you doing?"

"Putting your powers away until we get back with a siphon," he said.

"But… Dad? I thought you agreed I could do this?" she sputtered in disbelief.

"Let my daughter with a predilection toward black magic get involved with it again?" Alaric said as if the answer was obvious. "You'll get this back when we get back."

"But, Dad!"

"I'm sorry, Josette," he said, shaking his head. "I can't let you. And I don't trust you to listen to us when we say not to interfere."

He went to leave and she followed after him, "What do you mean, you don't trust me?"

"I know you've been lying," he said as he walked down the steps with her trailing behind. "You lied to your mother's face, and I bet you lied to mine last weekend."

"I didn't—"

"Did you, or did you not have anything to do with the Clarke clone army last week?"

"No! I was right there with you!" she argued. "How could I help send anybody anywhere?"

"I didn't say they went anywhere," he said. "And you knowing what I'm referring to just confirms you were involved somehow. Wendy's powers must be getting stronger. Who did she use for that spell? Do you know where Wendy is? Did you lie about that too?"

"No," she said, trying to swallow past the lump in her throat. "I don't know."

He reached the door to the infirmary and stopped long enough to look at her in disappointment.

"I don't believe you," he said. "Luckily for you, there are more important things going on right now, but when we get back we're going to have a serious talk about your actions."

She followed him into the room, not knowing what to say. Her mind was racing and her stomach hurt. Everything was somehow blowing up in her face. Her father was the one who always took her side when it came to Clarke, but now he was second guessing her and doing what Clarke said. Clarke told him she was involved last week and Dad believed him. Clarke thought letting her siphon the magic out of Lizzie was a bad idea, and Dad took her powers away.

"Alright," Alaric said to everyone. "It's settled. Josie will not be siphoning anyone. Her powers are safe with me."

Caroline looked at Josie who appeared on the verge of tears and incredibly frustrated. She knew what happened.

"It's for the best," Caroline said, reaching for her daughter and putting an arm around her. "You'll get them back."

Hope ended her call, "Aunt Freya doesn't know who mom used."

"Okay," Alaric said. "I'm going with Caroline to search for Valerie. She may not talk to her, but she'll talk to me."

"If she's still where I last saw her," Caroline said, but she agreed.

"I'll head to Columbia," Clarke said, already pulling out his phone to message his assistant to make the travel plans. "Any luck, the contact is still there and willing to listen." He would use a private jet and government resources this time. He would fudge the fact that Lizzie's mental break caused 'suspicious tremors' that civilians noticed and reported—which they hadn't, but the government didn't need to know that. As far as the government was concerned, the tremors were being investigated and Lizzie's name wouldn't be mentioned at all.

"I'm going with you," Hope said to Clarke. "In case your guy needs more persuasion."

"Between us, hopefully we can get one of them to come back with us," Alaric said. "MG and Josie." Alaric looked at both of them. "You two take turns keeping an eye on Lizzie."

"You actually trust me for that?" Josie said sarcastically.

Alaric gave her a warning look but continued, "I'm leaving Dorian in charge. Report to him if there's any change."

"Where we're going there isn't good phone service," Caroline said. "We'll check in whenever we can."

"Oh man, the festival," MG looked up. "Who do we let know she can't do it?"

"I've made arrangements," Clarke said. "It's being taken care of."

"Arrangements?" MG asked.

"His people are handling it," Hope said. "Though there may be a question if no one actually sees her?"

"About that," Clarke said to MG, "come with me."

As they left the room, Caroline tightened her grip around Josie, "We're going to be gone a couple days at most. Hope and Ryan may be back before us. I know you're worried, but everything will be fine."

"Are you guys really leaving her like this for that long?" Josie asked. "We could help her right now, if you'd just let me." She knew they would set up a saline drip to keep her hydrated and comfortable, but still.

"Josie," Alaric said. "We can't take that chance. Deep down I think you know that."

And deep down maybe she did but that didn't change anything. Lizzie still needed help and she needed help now, not when another siphon was tracked down.

"As to the other thing," Alaric said. "I do trust you to keep an eye on Lizzie. I know you would never do anything to hurt her."

"Thanks?" she said with a bit of attitude. Of course, she would never hurt Lizzie. She loved her sister and would do anything for her—including figuring out a way to get the darkness out of her immediately.

Clarke and MG returned to the room, and MG went straight back to Lizzie's bedside. No one noticed the ring the vampire now sported on his finger.

"You guys better get moving," MG said to everyone. "Josie, I'll take first shift. I've got to make an appearance at the festival later."

"We'll be back before you know it," Alaric said.


Since MG was on Lizzie duty, Josie decided now would be the perfect time to work on her own plan. She would talk everything over with Jade too.

She missed having her girlfriend by her side, and she really hoped she was getting better. Thus far with everything going on no one—meaning her parents—had noticed Jade was spending time in the prison beneath the school instead of her own room. She knew that would change when next week started if Jade didn't show up for her classes.

As she walked toward the basement access, her mind ran over everything that just transpired.

She would be the one to save Lizzie. They didn't need Clarke or any other siphon to help.

She just needed a place to transfer the dark magic. Taking it into herself was not an option. She did know that could turn out badly. She agreed with everyone there. She just also believed she could transfer it successfully. It was too bad she couldn't just transfer it to someone else instead of herself…

… Someone like Wendy, maybe? Someone who wouldn't mind having even more power so she could blast her way out of town and disappear forever, no more looking over her shoulder?

She could transfer everything to Wendy!

But, how could she even get Wendy out of her safe house without Triad causing trouble?

"His people are handling it."

Not twenty minutes ago Hope said that. 'His' meaning Clarke's people. And if Clarke's people were handling the festival, did that mean there were less people guarding Wendy?

"Good morning, beautiful," Jade said, sitting up on her cot as Josie appeared before her cell. "A little late this morning. Shouldn't you be in school?"

"Lizzie's in trouble," Josie explained. "The darkness we were worried about by dissolving the link between the twin bond and the seal so we didn't have to merge? It caused a psychotic break. She's being sedated. Everyone's running off trying to find help for her. Trying to find a siphon for her."

"But you're a siphon?"

"That's what I said," Josie huffed. "But it's okay, because I've got a plan. They didn't want me to do it because they thought it would be too much for me. But I don't need to take the magic into myself. I just need a place to transfer it. I want to transfer it to Wendy. I just have to get her here to do it. It'll make her strong enough to get out of town on her own and protect herself until the magic wears off."

"But… what if the magic is too much for her?" Jade asked, frowning. The entire plan worried her, she just didn't know why. In theory it didn't sound bad but...

"I'll only give her what she can handle," Josie said. "She'll tell me when it's too much. It'll give Lizzie some relief at least. Maybe she won't have to remain sedated the entire time."

"What about you though?" Jade asked. "Its dark magic, Jos… and maybe they're right. Maybe you shouldn't be involved in this?"

"I'm just transferring it from one person to another," Josie reiterated her earlier words. "I've done it before with Lizzie. I don't take the magic into myself. Just transfer it, I swear."

"And you're sure you're okay to do this?" Jade asked.

"Yes," Josie insisted.

"Okay… if you manage to get Wendy away from the safe house and bring her here," Jade said because she knew that was a big 'if', "Come and get me. I want to be there for the spell." If she were there, she could make sure nothing went wrong.

And with her mind having something to focus on other than blood, she should be able to complete that one task then get back to her cell immediately afterward.


Hope was worried about Ryan.

When he was in action mode, he got everything done. He drove them straight to the airfield and they were on a private jet within the hour. They hadn't stopped for anything besides her passport, not even to pack. He said they could pick up what they needed on the way. Being on the run with him before, she knew that to be true. He was used to this.

But now that they were in flight, she could feel the same anxious energy from earlier returning to him and hitting her hard.

Now that she had time to think, she realized what was happening with him.

Ryan had never cared about anyone other than himself for years.

Last October, he started learning how to care about others. He learned how to love her. He loved her so much that he refused to lose her, even willing to sacrifice himself to protect her.

Unlike Hope, he didn't know what that kind of loss felt like.

He didn't know what it was like to lose someone he cared about.

And, much like in October, he was learning a whole new set of emotions he never felt before: fear for another, panic that he wouldn't succeed, and confusion about it all.

She teased him about Lizzie being like a sister to him because of his mother's words, but she didn't think he realized he actually started to see Lizzie that way. He wouldn't know because he didn't know. He still had so much to learn.

Caroline must have picked up on that earlier too. The twins' mother had accepted Ryan much the same way her Aunt Freya had. She didn't hold any of his actions against him. She was grateful for his help with the girls, and she always had a smile and kind word for him. Caroline comforted Ryan earlier much the way a mother would. She knew Ryan was upset about Lizzie and barely keeping himself contained.

She wondered if Doctor Saltzman had picked up on it too since he didn't try to kick him out, not even with Josie practically demanding it.

That was a whole other story entirely. The hostility Josie had toward Ryan wouldn't have been unexpected months ago, but she thought Josie got past it all. Since they defeated Malivore, Josie returned to the way she was before. They were all friends again. Josie didn't say much to Ryan, but she didn't speak openly against him either. Was that all an act? But why didn't Josie say anything to her? She knew Ryan had manipulated Josie and used her. She would understand if Josie couldn't forgive him. But why pretend that she had?

The other question though, was all of that why Josie decided to help Wendy? Hope assumed Josie really did want to help the witch, mostly because Wendy was best friends with Jade, but if Josie could hide her animosity toward Ryan what else was she hiding? How far would she take this hatred? Had Hope really been that blind to everything going on with Josie?

In a word, yes.

Hope was so in love, she hadn't paid much attention to Josie if she really thought about it. Her entire life basically revolved around Ryan now. Besides school, she spent all of her time with him. She planned her future around him. He was everything to her.

When she wasn't focused on Ryan, she was usually with Lizzie. Lizzie was the best friend she never knew she needed. She only wished they became friends much sooner. She really could've used her through the years. Hope felt like she was making up for lost time with her. She felt comfortable talking to Lizzie about her relationship with Ryan. And Lizzie always spoke the truth, no matter how much it hurt.

Somehow, between Ryan and Lizzie, Hope had lost sight of everyone else. She still cared about all of her friends, still thought of them as friends, but she wasn't nearly as close with any of them…including Josie. She needed to do something about that when this was over.

Feeling Ryan start his incessant foot tapping again, she decided it was time to take his mind off of all his fears.

"What did you talk to MG about?" she asked.

"You were right," he said. "She needs to put in an appearance at the festival."

"You gave him your ring," she realized.

"Loaned it to him," he corrected her.

"I'm surprised you trusted him with it," she said.

He shrugged, "We have the same goal. And what's he going to do? Disappear with it?"

"Could this actually be the start of that bromance I mentioned before?" she tried to tease to lighten the mood.

"That's a bit of a reach," he said. "Have all the friends you want. I told you, I only need you."

"And Lizzie," she said.

He shrugged again but didn't reply.

In fact, he closed off and started tapping his foot again.

She regretted bringing her up. She would just have to distract him again.

"The siphon we're searching for, what can you tell me about him?" she asked. She figured she should know everything if she was going to convince this guy to come back with them.

He scrolled through his tablet, then held it out to her, "Here's the old mission file. Everything you need to know."

Right, she would've been amused if she wasn't trying so hard to help him.

"You know what you need?" she said.

"Hmm?" he started drumming his fingers on his chair's arm.

"A nap," she said. "We've got a long flight."

"I don't need a nap," he said with a look.

"No, but you need to talk to your mother," she said.

"Why, so she can give me more vague answers?" he asked.

"Just try," she suggested. "She may surprise you."

"Maybe," he said, tilting his head back.

She reached out and gripped his hand tightly.

The tightening of his hand around hers told her that he needed it.

She did too.


"Did we make a mistake, Ric?" Caroline said softly, staring at the ceiling of the plane. "Maybe we shouldn't have let the witches undo the spell."

"We can't change anything now," Alaric said, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. It was a bit cramped for his frame. "And if they didn't undo it, one of them would eventually die."

"I know," Caroline said morosely. "I just can't believe all of this. The universe gave us the gift of those girls. Was it really just so one could kill the other in the merge? For what purpose!? The coven isn't even alive anymore."

"To protect the world," he reminded her.

"But the world is protected now," Caroline said. "Ryan made sure of it… But Josie and Lizzie, they aren't protected. We knew the rules before but now everything has changed. We don't know anything. I'm scared, Ric."

"I am too," he said, knowing there wasn't anything he could say to alleviate his or her fears. He could only pray that Valerie—the only former Gemini member alive—could shed some light.

If not… his girls really may be doomed.


Check windows. How many guards?

Wendy looked at her phone and rolled her eyes. Her frustration was at an all-time-high. She had been stuck in this house for days, with no option but to wait. She craved her freedom so much she could taste it.

She felt like she was never getting out of here. Jade was out of commission, and her only other hope was grounded.

She snickered.

Same as yesterday. Same as everyday.

Did you check?

What's the point?

CHECK.

Wendy cloaked herself then slowly crawled out of bed. She went to the back of the house first since it was closer to the guest room. She had to peak very cautiously through the blinds to observe. If any of those bozos saw her through their nifty crystals, it would be enough to give the local sheriff's department probable cause to enter the house. As long as they didn't see her, she was good.

Huh. There actually were less people on the ground. Still two out back, but it looked like only one of them was Triad. The other was from the sheriff's department.

Practically running to the front of the house, she glanced through the blinds in Garcia's room. Two again. One Triad, one not.

Deciding to check the windows on the sides of the house that she didn't usually check anymore, she didn't see anyone there at all.

2 Triad. 2 Local. Is it a trick?

No. Got a plan. How bout a magical pick-me-up b4 u leave town too?

TELL ME

Josie called, explained her entire plan, and then went to her room.

Grabbing a hoodie out of her closet, she pulled it on and tugged the hood up, pulling the drawstring closed enough to cover her face though she could still see.

Going to the center of the room, she spaced out her supplies, drew a sacred circle, and then struck a match to light a candle as she cast her spell.

"You think they'll fall for this?" Wendy asked when Josie appeared in front of her in Garcia's living room.

"We're nearly the same height," Josie shrugged. "Why wouldn't they?"

"Triad seems smarter than that," Wendy said.

"You're talking about the same people who thought my mother with an umbrella was you," Josie smirked. "Don't worry. Just open the door for me. Wait 'til the coast is clear, then make a run for it. I'll pick you up as soon as I end the spell. Do you have everything?"

Wendy put up her own hood and lifted her duffel bag over head so the strap stretched across her chest securely.

"Ready," she nodded before cloaking herself.

Josie went to stand by the front door. She had never actually attempted a full out run during an astral projection, but she figured it would work long enough to get the job done.

"Open the door," Josie said, reaching out like she was 'pretending' to open the door while Wendy stood behind it.

Wendy pulled it open and Josie stepped out onto the porch. She stayed still long enough to make sure she was actually seen, and then she took off down the few steps, running to the right. She didn't look back as she ran but the footsteps she heard baring down on her told her they were following her.

Without warning, she was suddenly back in her room. The projection must not have liked her moving so far past her original projected target.

Hopefully Wendy was able to get away before she disappeared. Or maybe they thought she used some other kind of spell and was still searching the area.

She blew out the candle, stood up, grabbed her phone, and then looked at Lizzie's side of the room for the car keys.

Wait. She nearly smacked herself. Lizzie drove into town for the festival. Since Hope and Clarke brought her home, the car was still in town.

Looked like she needed to 'borrow' Mom's car to get Wendy—Dad probably took his to the airport.

Luckily, Dad kept her spare keys in his desk.


Clarke found himself staring at a dark sky full of stars once more.

"Third times the charm," he said.

Yes, he used Hope's advice and took a nap.

"Ryan."

"Mother," he said, looking away from the sky. "If you were ever going to tell me how to help her, now would be the time for nothing cryptic or vague."

"Black magic has a mind of its own," she said still staring at the sky.

"Tell me something I don't know," he said.

"The Gemini," she said, "They used black magic to harness the power of the cosmos for a spell unlike any other. And it backfired."

"As black magic does," he agreed.

"They angered the cosmos," she said.

"The night sky," he realized, looking up. "That was some kind of clue."

"Yes."

"You can tell me that now?" he asked. "Why not before?"

"Never anger the cosmos, son," she said. "The consequences are devastating."

"Right," he sighed. "You couldn't tell me before because you didn't want to anger the cosmos. But you can tell me now for some reason."

He felt a sinking inside, a kind of realization that he hated feeling.

"It's because it's too late, isn't it?" he said.

"It's going to be," she said.

"What does that even mean?" he asked. Should they go back to the school? "Are we going to be able to save her or not?"

"I'm not your or—"

"Not my oracle!" he exclaimed in frustration. "I know! I just need to know what's going to happen."

"I cannot tell you what is not up to me," she said.

"And what, is it up to the cosmos?!" he said sarcastically.

"No, my son," she said. "It's up to you. It's up to all of you."

"If it were up to me, she would survive," he said. He felt so aggravated and powerless tears sprang to his eyes.

"Then make sure she survives," she said.

He looked away, angrily brushing at his eyes. Since when did he cry in his dreams?

Since when did he cry over Lizzie Saltzman?

"Why do I feel this way?" he muttered mostly to himself but knew she would hear him.

"She is part of our family," she said with a gentle smile. "She is something you've always had but never knew what it meant to have. Now, you are learning."

"I don't want to feel any of this if she's not going to survive," he said.

"Then make sure she does."

Clarke woke up wishing he never bothered sleeping in the first place.

The cosmos? Really?!

"What'd she say?" Hope asked, clenching his hand tightly still.

She hadn't let go even while he slept. He was grateful for it. He never knew how important touch and connection was until he knew her, until he began to learn what it truly meant to be human. Holding her hand reminded him that he loved most of it… but he didn't love it all.

He knew all about Hope's loss. He felt her emotions when he was stuck in her subconscious. Her mother and father's deaths destroyed her. That kind of loss was why it took her so long to open up to anyone again in the first place.

Is that what was happening to him? He allowed himself to open up to Lizzie? When that Jack guy nearly hurt her, he was ready to punish or kill him for daring to hurt a member of his family. His mother was right. Lizzie was family to him.

Hope was right too.

Lizzie was a sister to him.

And cosmos be damned, he wasn't going to let anyone or anything take his sister away from him.

"That we might be fighting something bigger than we realized," he said.

"What?"

"What do you know about astrology?"


Josie walked into the infirmary, amazed that only a couple hours had passed since everything had been set into motion.

The midday sun was shining brightly through the window, giving Lizzie some much needed sunshine when stuck in such a dreary place.

But not for long!

"Hey," MG said, sitting in the chair next to the bed, holding Lizzie's hand.

It was pretty much the same position she left him in.

"Hey, MG. I came to take a turn," she said. "You need lunch, and probably need to talk to your teachers."

"Doctor Saltzman will talk to them," he said. "I'll be able to make up my exams. But you're right; I need to head to the festival. I'll be back in a few hours?"

"Take your time," Josie said with a reassuring smile. "I've got all day."

"Thanks," he nodded, then let go of Lizzie's hand slowly. He clearly didn't want to leave her.

Josie's heart melted at the care he had for her sister. She wished Lizzie would one day see him in a different light. No other guy had ever loved Lizzie the way he did.

"Everything will be fine, MG," Josie said more confidently than she would have an hour ago. But now that she had someone to transfer the power to, and they were actually here, she knew everything really would be fine.

MG nodded, thanking her for the reassurance even though he wasn't sure if he could really believe it, and then he left. Spending the afternoon pretending to be Lizzie was going to be an awkward situation for him, but he just needed to get it over with so he could get back to Lizzie. Then he would have to do it all over again tomorrow. Sigh.

"He's gone," Wendy said, shedding the cloaking spell on her and Jade.

Jade shut the door.

"Okay," Jade said, going to rest her hands on Josie's shoulders. "Remember, if you feel anything going wrong, you have to stop, Jos."

"I will," Josie nodded, stepping closer to hug her. "I promise."

"So, how are we going to do this?" Wendy asked. She was nearly free! She probably should have headed straight out of town but she couldn't resist gaining more power before she did.

"I'm going to hold her hand and your hand," Josie said, pulling away from Jade and walking up next to the bed. "Then I'll do the spell and transfer it."

"Why do you have to hold hands?" Jade asked, eyes narrowing. "It's a transfer of power. You said you aren't siphoning."

"I'm not going to siphon into myself," Josie said. "It's a spell only a siphon can do. Yes, the magic will technically be 'siphoned' but it'll be redirected to Wendy without me absorbing it. Contact will help everything move along from where it's coming from to where it's going. Last time I did this spell, I did it with Lizzie. I'm just using her as a magical conduit this time."

"Are you sure?" Jade asked. She had such a bad feeling about this, but she knew there was no way she would get them to stop.

"She's sure," Wendy said, taking a step closer to Josie. "Let's just get it over with. The sooner it's done, the sooner I can get out of here."

Jade nodded.

Josie took Lizzie's hand.

"It's gonna be okay, Lizzie," she said. "In a few minutes, you'll feel so much better." She would still be knocked out from the sedative, but her mind should begin to heal.

She took Wendy's hand and began the spell.

"Magia tllo de terras. Solvo."

Long moments passed as Jade watched, wondering what was happening. Josie had gone silent with her eyes closed. Her hand on her sister's glowed red.

Jade looked at Wendy, but Wendy was looking at their combined hands with a little frown.

"What's happening?" Jade whispered to Wendy.

"Nothing yet?" Wendy whispered back. "I don't feel any—THING! Whoa! Whoa!"

She tried to wrench her hand out of Josie's grip, but she couldn't break free.

"Stop! Josie, stop!" Wendy cried out as the red glow shone between Josie and Wendy's hands too. "Jade! Make her stop! She's siphoning me!"

Damn it!

Jade rushed over and tried to separate their hands.

"Josie! Let go!" Jade cried out, wrenching with all her might. Why wasn't this working!? "Josie! Josie!"

Josie wasn't listening at all. Something went wrong. Something inside of her sensed the dark magic being withdrawn and redirected. Something that made her subconsciously desire all the magic for herself.

Instead of transferring it, she began to absorb it. As time went on, she wanted more. Thus, she began siphoning from the other source connected to her.

No way, Jade thought. There was no way the strength of Josie's magic was more powerful than the full strength of a vampire!

Wendy was turning white and struggling.

Jade had to do something! She wrapped her arms around Josie's waist and pulled as hard as she could.

Josie's hands finally dislodged from Lizzie's and Wendy's.

Jade had little time for relief because Josie's hands sought out another source of power to siphon from.

Josie grabbed Jade's hands that were wrapped around her middle.

"Let go!" Jade cried out when she realized Josie was siphoning from her now. "Josie, stop it!"

She tried to pull away. The siphoning and loss of power was slowing her down.

Wendy could barely stand after Josie drained her, but she still tried to get up to help Jade.

But no one could help Jade.

Especially not when Josie, who was holding Jade's hands, siphoned the one thing she really shouldn't have.

Jade's daylight ring.

The burning sensation caught Jade unexpectedly.

What—?

Jade started screaming as the ring lost its power and the sunlight streaming through the window hit her all at once.

"Josie, no!" Wendy screamed at her.

The warmth from the fire finally penetrated Josie's senses as her back overheated.

Josie sprang away from the heat and turned around, realizing with horrifying clarity what happened as the screaming finally stopped.

No!

Jade… she wasn't Jade anymore.

She was just gone.

She was dead.

And Josie had killed her.

No!

Josie shrank back in horror, holding her hand over her mouth.

"What did you do?! What did you do?!" Wendy cried out in disbelief. Her best friend was dead.

Josie choked on her own tears, fumbling for words, gripping her stomach tightly now, "I—I—I didn't mean to."

"It doesn't matter what you meant to do!" Wendy screamed. "You killed her!"

Josie moved her hands up to cover her ears as a silent internal scream rang throughout her mind.

"You killed her!"

With every word, Josie was consumed by more and more horror, terror, and panic.

No, no, this wasn't supposed to happen! How could this have happened!?

"You killed her! You killed her!"

Wendy was in shock and couldn't seem to get past that part as she repeated it over and over again!.

"No, stop it!" Josie cried out at Wendy, clenching her hands harder against her ears. "No!"

"You killed her! Oh my God, you killed her! You killed Jade!"

The more Josie's mind raced and the more her panic consumed her, she felt this deep dark abyss opening inside of her that needed to escape from the truth of what she had done.

She couldn't take Wendy's words.

And Wendy just wouldn't shut up.

Subconsciously, without thinking, she lashed out.

"Incendia."

As Wendy's own screams of pain filled the small room, Josie backed up and sat stiffly on the edge of Lizzie's bed, sitting perfectly still, feeling completely numb, until the fire and screams stopped again.

She looked at Lizzie, lying sedated, completely oblivious to her surroundings.

She hadn't gotten all of the dark magic out of Lizzie, but she knew she got enough.

Her sister would be okay.

"You'll be okay," she finally said, patting Lizzie's leg as she spoke her words.

"You'll be okay. You'll be okay. You'll be okay," she repeated over and over again.

She wasn't sure if she was saying it to Lizzie or to herself.


It was no use. The siphon wasn't there.

"Everyone I talked to said he moved a year ago," Hope said, meeting up with Ryan. "And there were no clues to keep tracking him."

"Much of the same for me," Clarke said, feeling frustrated once more. "Though I have someone attempting to trace his financial records. If they turn up anything, we'll follow the lead."

"So, to the hotel for now?" she asked. She was distracted by the buzzing of her phone.

"It's Dorian," she said. She glanced at Ryan in alarm before she answered.

"Dorian?"

Clarke watched her as she listened. He grew concerned when she paled. Her fingers were shaking by the time she ended the call, only giving Dorian a few short replies.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"We have to go back now," she said, her face stone serious.

"We can't fly back 'til morning," he said. As much as he wanted a private jet to be available at all times, international private flights didn't always work that way.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Lizzie's okay. Much better even," she said. "It's Josie. Dorian can't reach Doctor Saltzman and Caroline. It's bad, Ryan. So bad."

"Is she alive?" he asked, though he was honestly mostly just relieved to hear nothing was wrong with Lizzie.

"Yes," she said, eyes glistening with unshed tears. "But I have a feeling she wishes she wasn't."


Josie walked in a daze through the school corridors.

Everyone gave her a sympathetic look as she passed.

That's what they gave you—sympathy—when your girlfriend was killed by her best friend right in front of you.

At least, that's what Josie told Dorian and Emma when they showed up to Lizzie's infirmary room following the screams and the burning stench.

She told them she killed Wendy while trying to defend Jade.

She had to tell them she had her powers back, as well as some of her plan—she didn't see a way around that—but she told them the magic was too much for Wendy causing her to lash out at Jade.

She told them she couldn't save Jade, but she was able to stop Wendy.

She lied.

She was still numb.

Dorian did everything he could to help her before leading her to Emma's office.

There, Emma consoled her. She knew it was too soon for Josie to talk about how she was feeling; that Josie wasn't feeling much of anything at the moment. She knew Josie was still in shock and needed time.

She asked Josie if she could call someone to stay with her for the rest of the day and evening, or if she wanted Emma to stay with her. There was no one. Lizzie was passed out, her parents were gone, and Hope was gone. She didn't want to be around Emma, but she didn't have anyone else.

In some ways, she was grateful for that. With no one around, she would be able to keep her secret that much longer. Her natural instinct was to hide the truth. She didn't know how long she could hide something this big though.

It was easier that she felt numb. If she couldn't feel anything, she could keep up the façade.

She spent hours sitting in Emma's office in silence.

Dorian took care of the bodies, moved Lizzie's bed to a different room, cleaned up the old room, and was staying by Lizzie's bed side until MG got back.

Unaware of the passage of time, she eventually grew restless. She didn't want to be in that office anymore. She had to go somewhere else.

Gossip always spread like wildfire at the Salvatore School, so Jade and Wendy's deaths had clearly made the rounds by the time she left the office.

Surprised at the darkness coming through the windows, she realized she was there much longer than she thought.

As students streamed through the front doors, she realized day one of the festival was over. Everyone was returning to the news.

Turning sharply on her heel, she hurried to the cafeteria. Emma brought her dinner, but she only picked at it. She wasn't hungry now either, but she needed to go somewhere to escape the tide.

Feeling nothing was good. She wanted to keep feeling nothing.

But life wasn't that nice to her right now.

With the students returning, her numbness was ebbing and her thoughts began returning as well. Wendy's words vibrated through her mind.

"You killed her! You killed her!"

Slamming a fridge door shut, water bottle clenched tightly in her hand, she tried to push all the guilt away.

She didn't mean to kill Jade. She was trying to help Lizzie and Wendy. This was all because of the dark magic. The dark magic took over and did it all!

Walking out of the kitchens, she decided to return to her room but as she approached the main stairway, Ethan came to her.

His face was covered in that sympathy she wished never to see again.

She stopped.

"I just heard," he said. "I'm so sorry."

She nodded. She hadn't spoken a word to anyone since Dorian and Emma. She couldn't bring herself to now.

"Do you need anything?" he asked. "To talk or just sit? I know it's hard. When I found out about Dennis…I just mean to say… I know what you're going through, and I'm here."

Ethan. The one boy who wanted to be her friend—or more—since he first met her. The one boy she always steered clear from because she could never bring herself to tell him the truth.

That she used black magic to destroy his future in football.

It seemed almost pointless now since he triggered his curse and discovered he was a werewolf.

But it didn't change what she did.

One more thing that occurred because of the cursed darkness that flooded her.

Of course, that particular spell came from a certain someone who had become the bane of her existence. The flash of rage she felt for a brief moment towards Clarke was the best thing she had felt in hours.

"Josie?" Ethan asked softly, concern evident on his face.

"I want to be alone," she finally forced the words past her lips. Pushing him away was her only option because as soon as the rage left, the guilt made its way back. His being another source of guilt just made everything worse.

"I understand," he nodded. "If you change your mind…"

"Thanks," she managed to say.

She left, heading in the completely opposite direction from the stairs. She wanted to go to her room, but Ethan was ascending the stairs and she wanted to get away from him.

Wondering into the game room, she swallowed when she saw Wade sitting quietly off to the side. Usually he was working on some kind of project or reading through a comic while watching the others play. Mostly while watching Jade play.

Not today though. Today he sat quietly, staring ahead, ignoring the other students.

Josie decided to take her guilt and turn it into something good. She couldn't let Ethan be there for her, but maybe she could be there for Wade. He looked like he could really use a friend right now.

"Wade," she said, settling into the seat next to him.

"Hi, Josie," he said sadly.

"Do you know?" she asked.

He nodded, looking down. "I heard."

"If you need anything, I'm here."

He shook his head.

"She was the only person here who really understood me," he said. "Who took the time to understand me. She was my best friend. I never had one of those before. The only thing I need is her back."

She got the feeling he wasn't really seeing her.

But she heard his words loud and clear.

Funny how hearing how lost he was made her own emotions burst forth, threatening to overwhelm her.

Tears clogged her throat, making her unable to speak. She left, dashing away, desperately needing a place to hide from everything.

Running past all the students and all their sympathetic faces, she fled up the stairs.

She ran mostly by instinct now, not by sight, which was why she accidentally ran into a firm chest standing in her path.

Gasping, she pulled away and looked up.

Jed.

"J," he said. His eyes were red rimmed.

For once, someone's face wasn't filled with sympathy. He didn't feel sorry for her. He knew what she was feeling. He shared in the same pain. He didn't know what she had done, but he could be there for her in ways no one else could right now.

"J," she whispered, sinking against him.

When he wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly, she could almost believe he could make all the horror go away.

He needed comfort as much as she did. Unlike Wade, he was willing to accept her comfort. As for her, she didn't feel guilty about accepting comfort from him like she would have with Ethan.

They could be there for each other, and maybe she would be able to get through the night.

"Stay with me?" she asked, her face still pressed into his chest.

He didn't respond so much as nod and follow her when she made her way to her room.

As the evening turned to night, she felt like she was comforting him more than he was comforting her. They both cried, but she wasn't sure he would ever stop. He spent most of the time with his head buried in her shoulder, and she ran her hand over his back, trying to soothe him.

Eventually his silent sobs stopped.

She almost wished they hadn't because the moment she didn't have to focus on comforting him anymore, the guilt returned with a vengeance. She never felt more alone as she was trapped in her own thoughts—thoughts she couldn't share.

"I didn't mean to!"

"It doesn't matter! You did it! You killed her!"

"You killed her! You killed her!"

She covered her ears suddenly, clenching her eyes shut and gritting her teeth. Make it stop! Oh God, someone make it stop!

"I'm here, J," Jed said, feeling the change in her. He lifted his tear stained face and worry for her shone on his. "I'm here. What do you need?"

"I need to forget," she sobbed out as tears spilled again. "I just need to forget for a while." She couldn't fall asleep; she had tried that numerous times since they lay down. She was also worried it would chase her into her dreams.

Flinging her arms around him, desperate to escape the hell that was her own mind and feel anything besides the guilt, she kissed him without thinking.

He didn't pull away, just waited for her to pull back on her own, but when she did he wasn't sure how to respond. He was so lost right now and nothing made sense, least of all this.

"Help me?" she begged. "Please, help me forget?"

"What do you want me to do?" he asked.

She kissed him again.

So, he kissed her back, following her lead. He didn't know how any of this would help, but the pain he was feeling didn't hurt as much as it did before. He would do anything to comfort her, and he needed comfort too. If this was her forgetting what had happened, then maybe this was him escaping his own sadness for a while.

She felt him relax against her, felt his silent agreement as he continued kissing her, and she welcomed the new escape. She gave into it, feeling something other than regret and horror.

She gave herself over to him completely, just like he did the same for her.

And, this time, she had a condom.


Knowing what he did of supernaturals, Ethan would have expected there to be more tales of death and mayhem once he started at the Salvatore school.

Surprisingly—and fortunately—there weren't. The students here didn't want to hurt anyone. They were there to learn to control their powers.

But that didn't change the fact that every single werewolf was there because they triggered their curse by killing someone. Each of them knew what it was like to take a life, and they never wanted to do it again. A lot of them struggled with their actions. They felt like the changing on the full moon was their monthly punishment for what they did.

Ethan felt the same way too. Even knowing what he did was an accident he would never forgive himself for not being able to save Dennis. He lived with that guilt every day. He didn't have to change on the full moon, but he did it anyway. He wanted to join his pack in solidarity. He also wanted to face the consequences for his actions and take his monthly 'punishment' like the rest of them.

Hearing that Josie had killed Wendy while protecting Jade, he couldn't help but wonder what the school would do to help her. He also couldn't help but think she needed friends to help her too. He knew enough to know the coven wasn't like his pack. He wasn't sure they would give her what she needed to get past it.

And since her parents were gone, and rumor had it Lizzie wasn't doing well, he decided to step up that morning to be there for her.

Last night, she told him she wanted to be alone, and he understood that. Sometimes processing harsh realities needed alone time. But that was then, this was now. He would try again, just like he would keep trying until he knew she was getting the help she needed.

Turning the corner on the way to her room and seeing Jed leaving it, however, was the last thing he expected.

Jed closed the door behind him and started down the hall, pausing when he saw Ethan.

"I was just heading to meet the bus?" Jed said, running a hand through his messy hair. "I won't be late, if that's what you're worried about."

"I came to check on Josie," Ethan said. "What are you doing?"

"Same thing," Jed shrugged, not meeting Ethan's eyes. "Checking on my friend."

"Figured she might want to go. Take her mind off everything," Ethan said. "Or I'll stay here with her."

"Don't," Jed reached out as if to stop him. "I mean, don't wake her up."

"But didn't you just wake her?" Ethan asked, raising an eyebrow.

Jed wasn't sure how to answer, so he didn't.

"Just let her sleep," Jed said. "She needs it."

Ethan didn't like what he was hearing. Jed was standing in front of him with bed head, rumpled clothes, and if he came there that morning to check on Josie she would still be awake. Which meant Jed hadn't just arrived before Ethan did. And if he wasn't mistaken weren't those the same clothes Jed was wearing yesterday?

"Were you with her all night?" Ethan couldn't stop himself from asking.

Jed shrugged, "I gotta go. I'll see you on the bus."

"I asked you a question," Ethan's face grew hard. He would understand if Jed stayed with Josie because she needed someone. He would've stayed with her if she wanted him to too. But Jed was dodging his questions and wouldn't meet his eyes, and something about that didn't sit right with him. Jed was hiding something.

"You may be my alpha," Jed glared. "But not everything is your business."

Nothing about this smelled right—literally. Ethan didn't like the conclusion he was drawing, but…

Ethan looked around to make sure no one else was about.

"Did you sleep with her?" he hissed in a whisper, his eyes flashing as he stepped closer to Jed in anger.

Jed gritted his teeth, his eyes flashing at Ethan in return.

"Did you take advantage of her?" Ethan was ready to beat the hell out of Jed.

"No!" Jed lost it and pushed Ethan. "I would never do that!"

"Because if you did," Ethan threatened. He didn't like this at all. Josie lost her girlfriend and killed someone all in the same night. She was at her most vulnerable. He would've never thought Jed would take advantage of that but the proof was pretty much right in front of his face.

"I wouldn't," Jed hissed. "Now stay the hell away from me!"

Jed didn't allow Ethan to say anything else to him, he had to leave.

Pissed didn't even begin to describe the way he felt at Ethan's accusations.

He was pissed though, and he was also pissed at himself because he did it again.

He slept with a girl who didn't want anything more from him than sex. At least this time there weren't any feelings involved other than friendship but with morning came his own guilt.

Jade hadn't even been dead for a day and he slept with her girlfriend? What kind of person did that make him?

He knew he wasn't thinking clearly last night. He just wanted to be there for Josie, just like he wanted her to be there for him. He just hadn't anticipated her wanting more than he wanted to give. But he gave it anyway because she asked. That was what she needed.

And here was Ethan, accusing him of taking advantage of her.

Wasn't it kind of the other way around?

But no, that wasn't really the truth either.

Why couldn't Ethan see it was just two friends comforting each other? That Jed hadn't done anything wrong? Why did it have to be Ethan who saw him leave Josie's room? He was wrestling with so many thoughts as far as Ethan was concerned already, having his alpha think something so badly of him really hurt.

Bursting into his own room, he went through his dresser for clean clothes to toss on.

It had taken Josie hours to finally fall asleep, and he barely slept himself. He didn't want to leave her that morning, but he knew he would get too attached if he didn't and she didn't want that. Before she fell asleep, she also mentioned being glad he had the festival to distract him.

He would have to get through the festival today, including two time slots for the dunk tank.

He would go, but he wasn't too sure any of it would help distract him.

After leaving Josie and escaping Ethan, thoughts of Jade came flooding back.

Gripping the drawer handle, he yanked it off in a fit of grief.

How could Jade really be gone? She was just there. She was keeping herself in the cells because she was worried about hurting someone. So how did she end up being the one hurt?

She was one of the Js, one of his own private pack that kept him sane when everything else around him was falling apart. He could go to her with anything, for help with his parents or even bubbles.

He didn't want to go to the stupid festival.

But he didn't have anything else to do either.

From what he understood, Jade's funeral wouldn't be an open casket. They had to wait for Doctor Saltzman to get back before all the arrangements could commence.

He didn't think it really mattered when the funeral was.

It was going to take a long time before the grief stopped hurting so much.


"This is getting old, Caroline."

"How is it getting old?" Caroline asked, exasperated. "I haven't been here in two years."

"Not nearly long enough time has past," Valerie said in her haughty forever-annoyed tone. "Ric, I would say to what do I owe the pleasure, but I think I already know."

"Valerie," Alaric nodded. "It's about the girls."

"As I told Caroline over two years ago," Valerie said, swirling a pot on the table in front of her. "There's no getting around the merge."

"That's just it," Alaric said. "We found a way… kind of."

"That's not possible," Valerie sat up sharply.

"We found new information," Caroline said. "We know the twin bond was linked to a seal that protected the dimensional gateway from this world to another. The world the Gemini originally came from. The seal had to last forever to keep the darkness of that world out, so they linked it to the twin bond since that, too, would last forever."

Valerie stared at her in dead silence.

Attempting to read her former rival, Caroline continued, "The Gemini Coven protected that information, so not many were told the truth of their roots. I wouldn't be surprised if this is all news to you."

Valerie finally shook her head, "I told you not to mess with the merge."

"No," Caroline said pointedly. "You told me it wasn't possible to stop the merge."

Valerie stood. "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"I think we're learning about that now," Alaric said. "Lizzie had a psychotic break because the darkness from the twin bond is overwhelming her. We left her sedated while we searched for a siphon to remove it—you."

"The merge isn't just tied to some seal!" Valerie said fiercely. "It's more than that or Kai killing himself wouldn't have killed the entire coven! The twins must merge, and if you took away the spell that forced them to, you've unleashed the same force that created the death to all Gemini clause in the first place! Who undid the spell? Who messed with the merge?"

"The witches of New Orleans," Caroline supplied, looking at Alaric, both of them worried even more now.

"They're all in grave danger," Valerie warned. "The original spell, the Gemini did try to undo it once. They didn't want to continue to force the twins to merge. It only made things worse. They had to put the spell back in place, but that was when the entire coven became linked to the Gemini leader. That was why your wedding became a blood bath, Ric. And now a whole new group of witches have been brought into it! I can't believe you did this!"

"Did you really expect us to sit around and do nothing to save our girls!?" Caroline asked. "You really should've taken the time to explain things better!"

"You had just informed me of Stefan's demise, over ten years after the fact, I might add," Valerie said. "Letting you know the merge couldn't be undone was sufficient and as much as you were going to get at the time."

"Really not sufficient," Caroline huffed.

"Back to the witches who helped," Alaric stepped forward. "Tell me more."

"What else can I say? Whichever of you," she eyed them accusingly, "had the grand idea to have those witches undo the merge, they involved them in something they never should have. This could very well be their downfall."

Alaric closed his eyes, "Hope."

"So, what?" Caroline asked, flinging out a hand. "They're just all going to die because the girls don't have to merge? And if so, when is this going to happen?"

"No, I'm saying the girls will still have to merge," Valerie said. "The seal has to be recreated and linked to the twin bond again. We can only hope the curse extends to the witches of New Orleans alone. There's no telling what the added consequences will be."

"But what about right now?" Alaric asked, trying to focus on the current crisis before figuring out the next one. "The darkness that's overwhelming Lizzie."

"Only Lizzie?" Valerie asked.

"Yes," Alaric nodded.

"When did this happen?"

"Yesterday," Caroline provided. "Friday. But, it didn't happen all at once. It's been building up?" She looked to Alaric.

He nodded, "Clarke said there were at least three different times she got worse overnight including this one."

"Friday?" Valerie mumbled, walking to a calendar.

"Yeah, why is that important?" Caroline joined her.

"That was the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere," Valerie said.

"Hence, the annual Mystic Falls spring festival, yes," Caroline agreed.

"The spring equinox is a very powerful celestial event," Valerie said. "When was the spell undone?"

"At the end of December," Alaric said.

"There've been two full moons since then," Valerie said. "Two other very powerful celestial events."

"She's been getting worse after each one," Caroline breathed out in realization.

"Yes," Valerie nodded. "And I could go with you to siphon the darkness from her, but I fear it will keep returning worse than before with each major celestial event."

She looked at the other two.

"And there's a full moon next week."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Caroline asked.

"Try putting her in a deep sleep until the spell is put back in place?" Valerie suggested.

"But that means…" Caroline looked at Alaric.

"They'll still have to merge," Alaric said solemnly.

"What about Josie?" Caroline asked. "The darkness hasn't affected her the same as Lizzie."

"Probably because she put her magic away," Alaric said. He looked at Valerie to give more clarification. "She struggled with black magic at the beginning of the year. She was overwhelmed by a mora miserium. Once she was purged of all the darkness, she put her powers in a coin. She only took them out twice since then. To defeat a monster, and for unbinding the twin bond. Besides some… misbehaving lately, there hasn't been any side-effects like Lizzie is experiencing."

"Putting her powers away probably protected her from the effects of the cosmos, yes," Valerie agreed.

"But, what about her actual powers?" Caroline asked. "Were they affected even if she didn't have them?"

"I don't know," Valerie said.

"The coin," Caroline said. "Would you be able to sense the magic and tell if it's good or bad if you held it?"

"Yes," Valerie nodded.

Alaric had kept it with him at all times. He knew how important it was. Pulling it out of his pocket, he held it out for her to touch.

"There's no magic in this," Valerie said, raising an eyebrow.

"Do you have the wrong coin?" Caroline asked Alaric.

"No…" Alaric held up the coin to stare at closely, knowing he didn't have any other change in his pocket. "She picked it up. She told me it was the one. She was preparing to take the powers back."

"Did she?" Caroline asked.

"No, not then…" Alaric trailed off.

"She must have taken them back before then," Valerie said. "Because there's nothing here."

Alaric looked at Caroline as cold dread grew in his gut mixed with betrayal and fear.

If Josie had her magic when the spring equinox hit…

They both knew Josie wasn't strong enough to overcome the darkness.

Even if the powers hadn't been affected with each celestial event, Josie had been hell bent on saving her sister herself… taking that darkness into herself.

There was no telling what was happening back home.

"We need to call the school," Caroline said.


"Citizens of Mystic Falls," Matt spoke loudly into the microphone. "Thank you for joining me in celebrating another spring in our beautiful town. I grew up here, and some of my favorite memories come from community events just like this one. Gathering together as a community has always been second nature to us. Supporting each other, it's a way of life here. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

"I'd like to thank Elizabeth Saltzman from the Salvatore school for all her hard work, as well as the Salvatore School students for assisting her in making this year's spring festival the best one yet.

"I'd also like to extend a word of appreciation to three other members of our community. My new teacher appreciation initiative's goal is to recognize three assets of our community each spring. This year, I'd like to introduce you to Diana Garcia, Paul Jennings, and Tara Brooks."

All three of the teachers stepped forward proudly next to the mayor as applause rang out.

"Thank you all for your dedication," he addressed them.

He waited for the applause to die down before he turned to the crowd again.

"Enjoy the rest of the events planned for you all today. I see some of you have already tried your hand at the dunk tank," he paused at the laughter. "And the three legged race will be starting soon! Play, eat, drink, and make memories to last a lifetime!"

Relieved that part of his job was over, he left the stage as quickly as possible, shaking hands of teachers and well wishers.

He didn't get far, however, before Sheriff Machado dogged his steps.

"You and I need to talk, Mr. Mayor," Mac said with a pointed look.

"Let me guess," he said with a wry smile that didn't meet his eyes. "My intern?"

"My teenage daughter, yes."

"As I'm sure you know, Sheriff, there are many dangers lurking everywhere in this town. She needs to be prepared," he said. "Especially since she's a part of that world now."

"I don't want her involved," she said.

"Her job isn't to get involved. Just report it," he was quick to correct her. "Nothing dangerous about that."

"She hates being the narc," Mac said, knowing how much Maya hated speaking up against Jade. She didn't want her daughter to continuously be put in that position.

"Then why did she report it?" he asked.

"Because she didn't want anyone to get hurt," she sighed, knowing that if she hadn't said anything, more trouble could've happen. She still wasn't clear on what happened at Diana Garcia's house yesterday, but her deputies had given chase to someone leaving the teacher's home. That person had disappeared without a trace. The Triad agents at the house couldn't tell her much more, and she hadn't been able to reach Ryan Clarke yet either.

"Definitely a good girl you've got there," he said because it was true. Not many teenagers would put their own struggles and drama aside to worry about someone they didn't know. "An asset to the town."

"Just don't involve her in anything dangerous," she warned, softening slightly. In truth, she was glad Maya was focused on something more important. She did know about the horrors that lurked in the shadows. She also knew she couldn't protect her children from them all as she wasn't beside them every moment of every day. If the mayor was willing to help her child learn to protect herself, train her in a way that no other self defense class could because they didn't know of the dangers she needed to be protected from, then she would let Maya continue.

For now.

Matt nodded, "That's the last thing I want to do."


All this time, Ethan had been trying to do whatever he could to reach Jed. He knew something wasn't right, and he wanted to help him. He wanted his best friend back.

Moving as they did a year ago, he had to leave a lot of his friends behind. He made friends easily at Mystic Falls High, just as he always made friends easily wherever he lived and went. But Jed was different because he was right there with him when he found out about his curse. Jed helped him through his first transformation back from a werewolf. He showed him around his new school, introduced him to the world he was now apart of. He was a good friend.

Ethan always figured he would be able to get to the bottom of what went wrong and fix it.

He just never figured he would ever get to the point where he didn't want to fix it.

Jed denied taking advantage of Josie, and Ethan wanted to believe him, but that didn't change the fact he was pretty sure Jed had slept with Josie last night and it wasn't just to sleep.

It made him angry, and not because he once wanted to be more than friends with Josie. He wasn't jealous. He accepted the numerous times she friend zoned him. He got the message, she wasn't interested. He was cool with that.

No, he was angry because no matter how much Jed denied it, she was still vulnerable. And as her friend, Jed shouldn't have done that.

For the first time since finding out he was a wolf, he understood the uncontrollable rage that came with his curse. No matter how many times he tried to talk himself down, he was on the verge of losing his temper.

Finally, in a bid to alleviate some of that anger, he left the other werewolves and vampires in charge of the Ninja Warrior area early and went to visit the dunk tank knowing who was on the chopping block.

He needed to prove a point. The point being that he was pissed.

Jed wouldn't talk to him, Jed blew him off, and now Jed had taken advantage of Josie. He wasn't even sure if he knew who Jed was at all.

When it was his turn to give the vendor his tickets for his three balls, he took great pleasure in throwing and slamming each of those balls against the target, and then watching Jed fall with a giant splash again and again.

The third time, he could tell he was getting to him. His eyes glowed before he turned away so the crowd wouldn't see as he climbed the ladder back to his perch.

Ethan went to give the vendor more tickets for another set, but was met with a head shake, "Give someone else a turn."

Wanting to get back in line, Ethan restrained himself and stepped away, but he still watched, glaring the entire time.

"And I thought I was the only one angry about the dunk tank," Willa said, joining him.

Ethan didn't reply.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked. She was new, but from what she heard, Ethan was always very easygoing,he most laidback of wolves in fact, and a very good alpha to boot.

"Don't you have something else to do?" he asked. It was bad enough that most of the time he saw her, he had to reprimand her, but now he wanted to stew in his anger in silence.

"Nope," Willa said. "Lizpain didn't give me a job. I think it had something to do with the flying office supplies."

Ethan grunted in satisfaction when someone else hit the target and Jed dropped into the pool with a splash.

"So, I don't really get along well with the other she-wolves," she began.

He nearly smiled at that. There were only two others, and they didn't like the new girl yet. He could've worked on them to accept her, but he figure it had something to do with her not going through her first transformation yet. Once that was done, then she would officially be accepted into the pack.

"But there is one other," she said. "Isn't Hope Mikaelson a she-wolf too?"

"Amongst other things," he said.

"Maybe she'll like me?" she said hopefully.

"If you stop throwing things at her best friend's head, yeah, maybe," he said.

"Couldn't hurt to try," she shrugged. "Have you seen her?"

"She signed up for a slot later," he said. Though, now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen her all day yesterday or today… and a community volunteer was at her face painting station and Ryan's M&M and Lollipop station. Huh.

"What time is it?" he asked, realizing suddenly that he left his phone in his truck.

"Almost three," she said.

"It's my turn then," he said, nodding to the dunk tank.

"Are you for real?" Willa said, brows furrowed in disgust. "You're alpha! Why are you lowering yourself to that?"

"It's for charity, Willa. And being alpha doesn't make me better than anyone else," he said, shaking his head at her. He wasn't worried that Jed would take a turn slamming balls at his target. Jed would do the same thing he had done for the past few months—get as far away from Ethan as possible.

Willa watched him walk toward the back end of the dunk tank where the entrance was located.

He stayed back until Jed finished and left, ignoring Ethan on his way. Ethan pulled his t-shirt up and off, preparing to go in for his turn.

She was about to turn away when she saw something she wasn't expecting.

How did he have the birthmark!?

Something wasn't right.

She knew Hope would have it but not this guy. She had already heard a lot about Hope, and she was pretty sure there was nothing to worry about. But knowing what she did about Ethan, it was really bad that he had the mark.

Walking to the edge of the festival grounds, she quickly found a number in her phone.

"Dad, there's a problem. There are two of them."

"That's not possible."

"We know she is, but he has the mark too. I just saw it! He's one of them."

"Tell me everything."


Lizzie wasn't sure the last time she felt so sluggish.

Waking up was almost a chore, and she honestly didn't want to do it.

But something wasn't right, and the longer she lay there doing nothing, the longer things would feel wrong.

Opening her eyes to slits, she looked around.

This isn't my room.

It was the infirmary. The last time she was there, Hope had nearly died and was struggling to recover. But now she was the one lying in the bed.

When her arms wouldn't move, she struggled to move her head to look at them.

Why am I strapped down?

It was like her very own worst nightmare, minus the straight jacket and sealed shut door.

"What's going on?" she managed to mumble.

"Oh, thank God you're awake," Josie said, leaning over her. "How are you feeling? Are you okay?"

"I don't know," Lizzie managed to say. "Why am I locked up?"

"You had a psychotic break," Josie said, reaching for the straps. "Clarke made us put them on you. And Hope. But you're okay now, right?"

"I… guess?" Lizzie closed her eyes, listening to the sound of Josie undoing the straps. "Wait…what time is it? The festival?"

"It's being taken care of," Josie said with distaste.

"What do you mean?" Lizzie asked.

"It's Saturday," Josie explained. "You've been out since yesterday."

"Oh my God, the festival," Lizzie tried to sit up, realizing everything must be a mess.

"Stop thinking about the festival," Josie said. "It went on. Don't worry. Something else happened."

Lizzie noted the somber look on her sister's face and immediately stopped worrying about the festival. She was worried about her.

"What happened, Jos?" Lizzie asked. "I remember…not feeling that great, but not much else."

"You had a psychotic break," Josie repeated, knowing Lizzie probably didn't follow her words very well earlier.

Lizzie laughed mockingly at herself, "Of course I did. Always gotta go big with the dramatics, don't I?" Her laughter was humorless. She knew this wasn't good.

"It was the darkness, wasn't it?" she asked, her worst fears confirmed.

"We figured out we could siphon it out of you, so I did," Josie said, her voice monotonous.

Lizzie didn't like the way the light had gone completely out of Josie's eyes. Something terrible must have happened. She could feel it now. Josie was in pain.

"What happened?" Lizzie asked.

"I did the spell. I transferred it to Wendy… and it did something," Josie said. "She… she… the darkness killed Jade." She couldn't admit to anyone that she had done it, but she couldn't bring herself to lie to Lizzie about Wendy either. So she told a twisted version of the truth.

The darkness did kill Jade.

It just wasn't using Wendy to do it.

Now Lizzie understood why Josie looked so bad.

She reached out for Josie instantly and her sister fell into her arms.

"I'm so sorry, so sorry," Lizzie mumbled into Josie's hair, holding her tightly, at a loss for words.

"I… had to stop her," Josie had to tell her the rest. "She's… Wendy's dead too."

Gasping, Lizzie rushed to reassure her, her mind was a mess trying to process everything that had happened in her absence.

"It's okay," Lizzie held her, stroking her hair. "You did what you had to do."

"I know," Josie said, trying to hold back her tears. If she got started again, she might not stop. "It's just hard."

"Join me?" Lizzie scooted over for Josie to lay down with her.

"No," Josie shook her head, pulling away. "I can't lay around thinking about it anymore. I need to keep busy. What about a late lunch? It's too early for dinner, but you haven't eaten all day or yesterday. They decided to keep you sedated. Are you hungry?"

"Yes," Lizzie said even though she wasn't sure keeping busy was really what Josie needed. "Starving."

"I'll go get it for you," Josie volunteered, pulling away from the bed and standing.

"Bring it to our room?" Lizzie looked around. "Now that I'm awake, I really want to get out of here. This place gives me the heebeejeebees." And once there, she could talk with Josie some more about what happened. There were so many things she still didn't know. Like, where were her parents?

"Want me to walk you up first?" Josie asked.

"No, go, I need food," Lizzie said, sitting up. "I can handle it. Feeling better already."


"We need to see Dorian," Hope said when Clarke stopped the car in front of the school. "Then I need to find Josie."

Clarke was too impatient to see Lizzie after her meddlesome sister messed with everything. He wanted to see for himself that she was okay. But he followed Hope anyway, knowing it wouldn't be long before he could see her.

Bursting into Doctor Saltzman's office without knocking, they found Dorian on his phone, speaking loudly as it was obviously a bad connection.

"Hope," Dorian said with some relief. "Caroline and Ric finally called the school. They're trying to get a flight back. Phone service is sketchy. They know Josie has her powers. They keep trying to tell me something I can't make out. I heard your name, though."

Hearing a scratching on the line, he turned his attention back to the cell phone in his hand, "Hope's here."

Hope stepped forward as Clarke circled around the room.

He was restless as he remembered his mother's words.

"Then make sure she survives."

Josie may have siphoned the darkness out of Lizzie, but he had a feeling trouble was far from over. He had to try everything to save her.

"I'll try mine," Hope said, pulling out her phone to call them.

Dorian told the headmasters, hoping they could understand, before he hung up.

Clarke watched Dorian walk around the desk to join Hope.

With no one paying attention to him, he walked closer to the desk. He was told not to give Lizzie Hope's blood without her permission. He still wanted to see if it would work.

He just needed her permission.

"I still can't hear them," Hope looked around. "I'm going outside. Service may be better. It's usually best down by the dock."

Dorian walked her out, and Clarke took the chance to pull open one of the familiar desk drawers. It had, after all, once been his desk. A couple werewolf cures were exactly where Alaric always kept them in case of an emergency.

Grabbing one, he slammed the drawer closed.

He was acting on instinct now. He could've just asked Hope, but she was busy and he was impatient. He knew she would agree anyway.

Now, if only Lizzie would.

Leaving the office, he made his way to the infirmary…

And he promptly crossed paths with Josie who just left from there.

While there were a million things he wanted to say to her, he bit back all the words and resolved to ignore her until he could see Lizzie.

She didn't have the same resolve.

"Sure, keep ignoring me," she snapped. Seeing him brought back the rage, and it felt just as good as it did yesterday.

He couldn't resist.

"That was the plan," he returned. "But if you want my attention so badly, there are other ways besides murder."

"I didn't kill anyone," she glared. She had no problem lying to him.

"No, you were only hiding a thief and a murderer," he said. "You brought that here, got your girlfriend killed and took a life. There's no telling what you did to Lizzie."

"I saved her," she defended, trying to push past the pangs of regret that hit her with his words. The rage. She needed to focus on that. "No thanks to you."

"Did you though?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

"She's awake!" she said, pointing her hand back at the room. "She's alive, and the darkness is gone!"

"From one into the other," he said, nonplussed. "So now everyone has to save you. Count me out."

"I am fine," she snapped. "I don't need any help, and I definitely wouldn't need it from you if I did. You did this to me. You started all of this!"

"Is that what this is about?" he laughed mockingly. "You were a means to an end. You want to keep blaming me for your fall into darkness? You and I both know you would've gotten there eventually all by yourself."

"This is all your fault!" she yelled. Because it was. She would've never involved herself in hiding Wendy if it weren't for him. She wouldn't have been done everything she did to help Wendy if it weren't for him.

She wouldn't have killed Jade if it weren't for him.

"Doubtful," he said. "I did what I needed to survive. What's your excuse? Revenge? Tell that to the two Triad agents I had to bury last week burnt to a crisp by Wendy. Those deaths are on you too."

Learning that her actions caused even more death was the very last thing she wanted to hear.

"You did this to me!" she yelled. "You made me like this!"

He scoffed, "I didn't make you do anything. I gave you a choice, and you took the darkest path. I don't know why you put your magic away in the first place. The magic wasn't the problem, it was you."

"I hate you!"

"I don't care," he shrugged. "Deny everything and blame me all you want, but I can sleep well at night. Can you say the same?"

She gripped her fists in front of her, the rage igniting inside of her to a fiery inferno that she just wanted to release.

"The truth hurts," he smirked, but then he looked around and remembered his mission. He started backing away towards the infirmary. He wasn't stupid enough to show Josie his back when he knew how angry she was. "And the truth is, I have no more time for you."

She watched, the rage still burning, as he disappeared into the room.

Lashing out at him, setting him on fire, would be so satisfying but it would only be temporary. He couldn't die. He would heal.

Never before had she hated someone so much.

The person she was right now? That was never the person she wanted to be.

She wanted to be selfless, kind, understanding—the good twin. She had always been the good twin until he came along

And now, somehow in the span of twenty four hours everything had changed.

Death, lies, loss of control…

She even slept with Jed.

If he ever found out the truth about Jade's death, he would never forgive her.

Would any of them ever forgive her?

…Would she ever forgive herself?

No. No.

She didn't do it! She didn't do it!

"You killed her! You killed her!"

It was the darkness! The darkness that only existed because of Clarke!

He started this. He started all of this.

And now he was acting like he did nothing.

That he wasn't to blame for her misery.

He could just waltz around with his new perfect existence with his new perfect girlfriend and live happily ever after.

And she would have to live with her horror for the rest of her life.

Turning, she stalked down the hall.

She didn't know what she was going to do. She had no plan, but she felt like she needed one. She needed to do something to win this war.

It wasn't a game anymore.

It was full out war, and she wouldn't stop until she destroyed him.

"Josie?" Dorian caught her attention. He aimed a thumb behind him toward the front doors he just came through. "Hope's looking for you. She's down at the dock trying to get service. She mentioned finding you after."

"I'll go to her," she said, nodding.

And now she had a glimmer of a plan.


He found Lizzie sitting on the edge of the bed. She was awake, alive and looked much better than the last time he saw her.

"That's a good look for you," he said, pausing in the doorway.

"Yesterday's gross clothes I'm still wearing a day later?" Lizzie said, looking up. She tried to stand up a moment ago but felt dizzy so she sat back down. "Gee, thanks."

"Alive and lucid," he corrected.

She looked around the room.

"You know, I think this is the first time we've talked without anyone else around," she said. "Weird."

He shrugged, "Hope'll be here soon. Couldn't wait."

"Huh," she said. "Well, now you've seen me, so… hey, do you know where MG is? I thought he might be here…"

"He's at the festival," he said. He didn't need to confirm that to know it was true. The only way Milton Greasley would leave Lizzie Saltzman's side while she was injured was if he was at that festival helping her in another way.

"Oh," she shrugged like it didn't matter, but it kind of did. "Guess that is more important."

"He's pretending to be you," he said with amusement. "He has my ring."

"Seriously?" she laughed. "Lizzie Saltzman went pacifist over night. God, I hope he doesn't let everyone walk all over him."

"My team is there to help," he said, letting her know MG wasn't being overwhelmed. "He'll be back soon. Because you're wrong, the festival isn't more important than you."

"Wow, Shrek, I knew you cared, but… wait, your team?" she asked.

He shrugged, "Can't win that contest if the festival is less than stellar. Call them insurance."

"You sent your team to help run my festival so I could win Miss Mystic Falls?" she asked incredulously, her eyes wide. "Why?"

"Like I said," he said, walking forward and pulling the vial out of his pocket. "You're important."

"What's that?" she asked, though she was still confused. He thought she was important? He did all of those things for her? She already knew everything he was doing for her—having Triad working around the clock to find a way to stop the darkness he thought was growing inside of her from severing the link to the seal—but now he was doing more?

"Hope's blood," he said, holding it out to her.

"Why…" she dragged out the word, eyeing it.

"You had a psychotic break."

"So I heard."

"They wouldn't let you have this without your permission," he said. "So I'm getting your permission."

"But I don't need that now," Lizzie said, rearing away from it. "Josie siphoned the darkness out of me."

"Who's to say it won't come back," he said smoothly. He needed to convince her. He knew this wasn't over just like that. His mother wouldn't have given him such a firm warning if it were.

"I guess there's no way of knowing," she said. "But I don't see the point when I'm fine now, and Josie can just siphon me again if it happens."

"Giving your sister more black magic won't help anyone," he said. It certainly hadn't helped Jade or Wendy.

"Then I'll just cross that bridge when I come to it," she said, still refusing to take the blood. "I'm starving, but I'm not that hungry. Speaking of, I need to get up to my room. Josie's bringing me lunch."

"Take this," he insisted, pressing the vial closer to her. "Please."

"Please?" Lizzie said. "Look, I get that you were worried about me, and thanks… but I'm not taking vampire blood."

"It's not vampire blood," he argued. "It's Hope's blood, and it has healing properties like nothing else. Just take it. Try it. Just try. Please." Yes, he was actually begging Lizzie Saltzman to do something.

Correction.

He was begging his sister to let him save her.

"But, I'm okay," she said again, though his pleading was getting to her. Why was he so desperate?

"And if Hope's blood stops the darkness from spreading ever again? If it prevents your mind from shattering ever again? Don't you want to just try it? Do you really want to take the chance that it could come back? What if it's worse than this time?"

She pursed her lips weakly.

He did have a point.

"I'm pretty sure you were a vampire."

Hope's dream… or premonition.

If she took it, she was once more tempting fate.

If she took it, it could help her in the long run.

If she took it and died, then…

She would be a vampire-witch hybrid. A heretic.

She would be immortal, never aging, never having children, forced to survive on a blood diet for the rest of her life.

Of course, if she didn't take it and she died, then she wouldn't age nor have children either.

She could also take it and nothing might happen at all.

"If I take this and I end up dying, you're stuck with me forever, you know that right?" she finally said.

"Works for me," he shrugged, but he was feeling hopeful. Was she actually going to do it?

"Get me a ginger ale out of that mini-fridge," she said, grabbing it out of his hand. "Hope may be sweet, but I'm sure this isn't."

He grinned and fetched the drink for her, even grabbing a straw.

She swallowed it quickly and immediately grabbed for the soda.

"Ugh," she said. "Happy now?"

"Yes," he nodded.

"You said Hope was coming?" she asked.

"Yeah…" he glanced at the door with a frown. Was she still trying to get a signal?

"What's wrong?"

"Thought she'd be here by now."

"Then let's go find her," she stood up slowly, pleased when she didn't feel dizzy again. "Oh look, good as new already."


"Hope."

Hearing the voice behind her as she finally ended the call without any success, Hope spun around with a wide relieved smile.

"Josie!"

Hope rushed the few steps to hug her.

"I'm here! Whatever you need," she said, her arms tight around her friend, her chin resting on her shoulder as she spoke meaningfully into her ear. "I am so sorry about Jade! And for what you had to do to Wendy. I know you had to do it. I wish I could be here sooner. I wish I could've stopped it—"

Josie, with her arms around Hope already full of power, decided a small addition to help with her plan wouldn't hurt.

She siphoned from Hope.

Hope pulled back slightly, her hands still resting on Josie's arms.

"Did you just…?"

"I'm sorry…" Josie began.

"It's okay," Hope was quick to interrupt and reassure her.

"…But he doesn't deserve to be happy," Josie finished.

"Wha—" Hope's face filled with confusion as Josie pulled away and stepped back from her suddenly.

In the blink of an eye, Josie conjured a fireball and flung it right at Hope's face before the tribrid had time to process what was happening.

Hitting Hope with a fiery magical burst made her fly backwards and lose consciousness as she fell into the lake behind her.

It was only the second day of spring, but the water was still way too chilled for swimming.

The cold water woke Hope only for her to find herself under water and searching for air.

The water grew impossibly colder as she tried to get her bearings and kick towards the surface. Looking around, she struggled to see.

Ice.

Looking up, she saw with frightening clarity that the lake above her head had been iced over. She looked around frantically. She didn't know how far the ice covered the lake and she was already freezing.

Ice. Water.

She knew this spell.

She could melt the ice.

Except every time she tried that spell, she made the ice turn to boiling water.

Focus, she told herself. You've got to focus. Melt the ice!

She was fading fast. Her lungs were burning, lacking the oxygen that she never had a chance to gasp for.

If she didn't do something in the next few moments…

She was going to drown.


"Josie!" Lizzie called out, seeing her sister on the dock. "Where's Hope? I decided we're all going to have a late lunch together. I guess you forgot about bringing lunch to my room?"

Clarke stayed a few steps back, not wishing to repeat anymore of his earlier argument with Josie in front of Lizzie or Hope.

Josie didn't turn around.

Lizzie noticed the lake was covered in ice. What?

"Josie? Josie!"

Clarke approached closer at her words, frowning at the ice too.

"Isn't it spring? Why is it frozen over?" he asked no one in particular.

"Josie? Where is Hope?" Lizzie said suddenly, getting a bad feeling.

Josie didn't turn or say anything. She was completely focused on the ice.

Call it the twin bond, or just a gut feeling, but Lizzie somehow realized what was happening.

"Josie, stop!" Lizzie went to grab her sister's arm, yelling back at Ryan. "I think Hope's under the ice!"

Josie pulled away from Lizzie, pushing her away to focus her magic on the ice again until something hard hit her.

Clarke ran into her, knocking her down and landing on the ground with her.

"I got her, melt the ice!" he yelled back at Lizzie as Josie started struggling against him.

He kept trying to pin her while she squirmed and screamed at him.

Lizzie couldn't understand why Josie would do this, but she knew Hope didn't have much time left, if she had any at all. She started working on the ice, using the spell from class. At least this one she had never gotten wrong. She just never melted this much ice at once before.

"You're going to kill her!" Clarke yelled at Josie, struggling to keep her contained so she didn't interrupt Lizzie's progress.

"Good!" Josie cried out and grabbed his arm to siphon.

He pulled back and grabbed the hand on his arm. Using the powers from his father that he despised, he forced the mud to move out of him, feeling it as it snaked around her hand to move up her arm.

She screamed and used her other hand to send out a magical pulse.

He flew off of her, though he dragged her with him.

Suddenly they were on the grass instead of the dock.

He was dislodged from her with the force of her spell, so he scrambled to right himself and attack her again.

She was faster than him, already up before he was.

"She's your friend!" he reminded her, jumping forward still on the ground to grab her around the ankle before she could start running.

"And she'll live again with one small difference," she sneered, sending another magical burst at him, making him sprawl back on the ground.

"She never wanted your kids anyway!" she smirked with a victorious grin before she went after Lizzie.

His anger swelled and the ground started rumbling before she could reach the dock again.

She had to stop to keep her balance, holding her arms out.

"What the hell?" she said, looking down. But she wouldn't let it stop her. She conjured another fireball and prepared to send it flying at Lizzie.

That was when the shaking ground beneath her feet cracked opened and she screamed as she fell straight down into the earth.

The shaking and scream made Lizzie look over her shoulder right in time to see what happened.

"Ryan! No!" Lizzie screamed. She had no idea how the earth had split open like that, but it must be him.

Not knowing where the instinct came from, especially since he was perfectly intent on letting Josie Saltzman fall to her death—maybe it had something to do with Lizzie calling him Ryan for the first time—he managed to open a black pool at the base of the gorge right before she hit bottom.

Running around the crater, he reached Lizzie in the next instant.

"Hope's trapped under there! Break the ice!" he told her. He knew she wouldn't remember.

But before Lizzie could start again, an explosive sound rang out. The sheet of ice burst apart and flew up, blowing off the lake, leaving him to shield Lizzie until it stopped.

Hope burst straight up out of the water long enough to gulp in a deep breath, and then sank back down, clearly struggling.

She had managed to use her power to break the ice, tapping into everything she had ever held back to make it happen.

Sucking down the glorious oxygen, she fumbled at staying afloat.

Ignoring a shard of ice that stabbed him in the side, Clarke jumped into the freezing water and grabbed at her.

He swam to the pier, pulling her with him.

Lizzie was there to help drag her out as Clarke pulled himself up, shivering and pulling the ice shard out now that Hope was safe.

"Josie," Hope gasped out, coughing up water as she tried to catch her breath. "Something's wrong with Josie. Where is she?"

"Gone," he said.

"Gone?" she coughed again. "Gone where?"

"Who's Josie?" Lizzie asked.

Oh.

My.

God.

"No," Hope breathed out in disbelief, staring at Ryan. "Please tell me you didn't?"

"She tried to kill you," he said, looking her over to make sure she was really okay.

"I'm alive though!" Hope said, closing her eyes, still panting slightly. "You know the pit can't hold her. Where did you put her out? I'll go get her."

"Her, who?" Lizzie asked, still trying to understand. "What's going on? Who trapped you under the ice?"

"You can't," Clarke said, ignoring Lizzie's question.

"Yes, I can," Hope glared at him, making sure he understood there was no stopping her from finding Josie and bringing her home.

He shook his head.

"I didn't put her out here. I put her out on the other side of the seal," he said. "When I said she's gone, I meant it."

Hope stared at him in complete shock and growing horror.

Ryan sent Josie out on the other side of the dimensional gateway… meaning, he put her in that other world. The one the Gemini originally came from. The one that had been over run with black magic and monsters created from that magic.

Her boyfriend just basically kicked one of her best friends off the planet.

"What have you done?!"


From the terrifying descent that felt like dropping off the side of a cliff, to a sea of blackness where she landed abruptly but surprisingly alive, she was less worried when a cyclone opened and swept her off her feet.

She knew where she was.

That asshole dropped her into Malivore.

And now, of course, the hell dimension couldn't hold her because she was a witch. So she waited to be spit out.

Clarke won that round, but he hadn't won the war.

As soon as she got back to earth, she would find her way home and do whatever it took to take him down once and for all.

The wind tunnel finally stopped and she was pushed through another blob of dark goo…

Into water.

With barely a chance to hold her breath, she found herself under water. She didn't know which way was up. She turned around and saw the portal. She tried to push her way back into it, but it wouldn't give.

Trying to remain calm, she looked around. Noting how dark it was, she wondered if she was way too deep… she had to do something though or her oxygen supply would run out.

She hoped she was making the right choice and pushed off the portal, swimming upwards. She needed to survive this.

If that jerk thought he could drown her…

He probably thought it would be poetic justice for what she did to Hope.

As she kept swimming, she grew to regret that more and more.

She didn't really want to hurt Hope. She just wanted to hurt him.

Something brushed against her leg and she jerked away, trying to see.

What was that!?

She couldn't see, but she did notice the water above her was getting lighter. She was nearly to something. Hopefully she would break the surface soon.

Only thirty seconds or so had passed since she was spit out into her watery abyss, but it felt like thirty minutes.

The thing brushed against her leg again and she kicked out—hoping to kick whatever it was away and give herself an extra push upwards.

As she rose, the face of some kind of creature with a giant mouth for a head, sporting thousands of teeth, came out of the darkness in front of her and headed straight for her face.

And she screamed.


To be continued…