(Warning for the next few chapters: quite a bit of triggers. So if you can't handle it, you don't have to read it.)
Alyson stared at the fire in front of her. Her parents and the rest of the council had returned. Everyone was happy and celebrating. So why was she not participating? Before she could answer that question herself, Viktorya was sitting beside her.
"Why aren't you celebrating, sister? We must have fun. That's what Father says." Alyson stared at the blonde in disgust.
"Have you been drinking the ale they've been serving?" Viktorya shrugged.
"What if I did? Are you going to stop me?"
Alyson rolled her gray eyes, "I suppose it's too late now." Viktorya shrugged and stood.
"Well, I'll be off." Alyson frowned as her sister stumbled around in her drunken stupor. At least she didn't get like their father when she was drunk. Speaking of their father, that's when Alyson noticed him walking towards her.
~ Alyson ~
Viktorya laughed into Elijah's neck as he told another joke. She knew she was drunk, but she needed to get rid of the bad feeling she had.
"Where's Alyson?" Elijah asked. "No idea," she answered, suddenly getting the bad feeling back.
She quickly sobered up when she heard her little sister's scream. Both Elijah and Viktorya broke out into a sprint towards the noise. "ALY!" Viktorya got a scream of pain in response.
They came upon the clearing they had been in the night of Alyson's birthday. Alyson and Erik were there. The back of Alyson's dress had been ripped off and fresh cuts covered her back. Elijah pulled his sword out of his scabbard and pointed it at Erik's neck while Viktorya pulled Alyson away.
"If you ever hurt my family again, I, and my father, will kill you." Viktorya examined Alyson's back while they both cried. "Leave, and never touch her again."
Erik scoffed and left. That's when Viktorya noticed all of the other scars. "Sister, why didn't you tell me?"
Elijah shook his head, "That does not matter. We need my mother. I'll stay here and make sure he doesn't come back. Viktorya, please go and get her."
Alyson lied on her chest while Viktorya ran off and Elijah knelt beside her. "It hurts, 'Lijah." There was a pain in his chest at the sight of Alyson hurting. "It'll be alright, Aly."
~ Alyson ~
Klaus and Elijah carefully carried Alyson into their family's hut. Kol gasped at the sight of her back while Mikael picked his sword up. Esther grabbed his wrist and whispered, "Later."
They quickly cleared off the table so they could lay Alyson down. She lied on her chest and groaned when Esther ran her fingers over her back. Viktorya appeared before her eyes and grabbed her hand.
"I'm still here, little one. Always and forever." Alyson nodded slowly while Klaus grabbed her other hand.
"I won't be able to heal them all the way through, just like the others," Esther told Alyson. Alyson nodded. Viktorya frowned.
"Others?" Alyson spoke in a strained voice, "We'll talk later, big sister."
"Are you ready?" Esther asked. Alyson met Klaus' gaze and nodded. The searing pain started and she tried to hold in her screams. Yet, she just couldn't. Everything went black after a few minutes.
~ Alyson ~
"Others?" Viktorya asked Elijah as they stood outside.
"She made me promise not to tell, Tory," he replied. Viktorya grabbed the wall for support.
"How could I not know? How could I not tell my sister was in pain?" she sobbed. Elijah frowned.
"Because you were focused on me."
"What are you saying?" she narrowed her eyes.
"We can't continue this, Tory. You need to protect our sister. You need to focus on only her." With that, he walked back inside.
Viktorya stared in front of her for a few moments before running into the woods. She stopped when she was in the clearing she had found Alyson in the night before. Suddenly, the sky darkened and the wind picked up.
A laugh escaped her lips at the electric feeling shooting through her body. She could feel the rain start and hit her skin.
Out of the blue, Esther's friend, Ayana, and Esther herself were by her. "Viktorya, calm down. Your sister is alright. She is alive." Viktorya shook her head. Ayana grabbed her hand.
"Now, you can protect her, so calm down." Viktorya took a deep breath and the weather calmed down. She fell into Ayana's embrace.
~ Alyson ~
Alyson stared ahead as Kol sat beside her. "Sister, are you alright?" She didn't answer while Klaus held out a bowl of water for her. Her hands shot out to push it away.
"Alyson, you need to drink this. You look sick." She shook her head. Kol squeezed her hand.
"Please, Aly. It'll be alright." Elijah, Finn, and Mikael walked in.
"What's the problem?" Klaus turned to Mikael, "She won't drink the water." Mikael stepped forward and grabbed the bowl.
"Alyson, if you don't drink this, the cuts will get infected."
"I need to find Tory," she mumbled. She quickly drank the water and walked to the entrance of the hut. The door flung open and Viktorya was standing in front of her.
They both have a sigh of relief and flew into each other's embrace. "We need to have a long talk." "A very long talk."
~ Alyson ~
"Why didn't you tell me?" Viktorya asked offendedly. Alyson shook her head.
"It does not matter, sister. What matters is what happens next. Now, what's going on with you and Elijah?" Alyson asked suggestively.
"Nothing at the moment. He told me that we couldn't continue. He said that I needed to focus more on you." Alyson's eyes almost popped out of her head.
"No, no, no! You're supposed to love him. You supposed to wed him and have children."
Viktorya smiled sadly at the brunette. "It's simply not many to be."
"Don't give me that. You're a witch, you're meant to believe in fate."
"Calm down."
"No, if you and Elijah aren't meant to be, then we aren't either." Alyson stood angrily.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Viktorya questioned.
"It means that our being sisters isn't true. Mikael's and Esther's marriage isn't true. Rebekah isn't true. Niklaus and I aren't true. My relationship with him isn't true!"
"You are in love with him," Viktorya gasped excitedly. Alyson rolled her eyes.
"That's not the point! The point is that if you and Elijah aren't meant to be, then no one else is either."
Viktorya squealed, "You're in love with him."
"Is that all you got from the conversation?" Alyson asked. Viktorya shrugged. Alyson pushed her off the tree stump.
~ Alyson ~
Klaus picked up the bucket of laundry and turned to walk out the door. Instead, he bumped into Alyson. "Alyson." She smiled awkwardly.
"Hello. Um, I'm here to speak to Esther." He nodded and moved one way. She moved the same way. Nervous laughter escaped the both of them as he moved out of the way. She smiled and walked past him.
He stared at her back as she stepped into Rebekah's room to speak to Esther. Why had she been so awkward? They used to moved freely around each other, and now it seemed as if she was calculating every move he made. He brushed it off and made his way to the swimming hole.