Forever Original | Alaric Saltzman

Chapter 69

Hilda staggered back, finding herself cornered.

"So those are my little nieces," mused Kai, smirking down and waving even though they had their eyes closed. "Aw... that one looks just like Jo."

He took one step forward, and Hilda tensed. "Get any closer and I will rip your head off!" she spat.

"Don't be so rude, Hilly Homewrecker," he said, winking at her. "I just want to say hi. I mean, your side of the family is a lot worse and I bet they'll meet them soon... if they manage to get out of that coma they're in."

Hilda didn't know what to do. Should she risk attacking him? He could easily retaliate with magic and kill the twins if she stepped out of line. Reasoning with him sounded like a lost cause. Giving in to whatever he wanted was out of the question. The girls were whimpering fearfully, and Kai was delighted.

"Here's how this is going to work," he said, holding up his hands, making Hilda start to tremble as she tried to resist the Pain-Infliction Spell he was casting. She couldn't let herself breakdown. "You're going to get us all back to that new home of yours and you're going to write a spell to make sure I can stay in this world. Thanks to your other Heretic friend, I got a slight foothold here that's been growing for the past three months, but I'm not fully out of Hell. Bonnie can do the honors of performing the spell. If you try to fight, I'll snap your twinsies' necks and kill you, then by the time you wake up, your blood will have been used for a Locator Spell, and your siblings would be dead too, along with that shabby dude that was going to marry my sister."

There was no way she could trust him. She wanted to fight, it was her natural response, but he flicked his fingers forward, and the pain became overwhelming. She held onto the twins protectively as her legs shook and she forced herself not to sink to the ground and scream. It felt like a thousand explosions were going off in her head and she couldn't see clearly anymore.

"F-Fine," she gasped, making him let up the spell. She needed to bide her time and figure out when to strike. She knew that if the twins weren't here, she might've lasted against his magical influence and easily killed him, but placing her children at risk would have been reckless.

"Good girl," he said, taking her hand and siphoning a bit, making her flinch in discomfort. "You know, before we get there, I gotta ask— how did Alaric manage to get in your pants? I thought you'd have higher standards."

She didn't answer, and sped them all to the doorstep of the Armory, feeling her heart ready to explode. She could hear the twins' hearts were beating faster than normal— they clearly understood that someone was threatening their mother and they were scared, but they weren't about to disobey her and open their eyes, either.

They stopped at the entrance, and Hilda let out a gasp. "Let them go in first," she demanded. "Let them go somewhere safe and I'll do whatever you want."

"Fair enough," said Kai with a shrug before yelling out, "Yoo-hoo! Someone want to come out here?"

The doors opened, and Kai's hand moved to grip Hilda's throat in a threatening gesture as Alaric, Damon, Bonnie, and Enzo stared in horror at the scene before them.

"Kai," said Alaric, his face pale. Hilda stifled an anxious and fearful sob, and squeezed the girls hands. "Don't look back," she told them shakily. Run straight ahead to your Papa, and listen to whatever he says."

The twins were clearly curious, but they listened, and ran to Alaric. To Hilda's relief, Kai did nothing but watch, and Alaric quickly pulled them inside and out of sight.

"Isn't this a cozy reunion?" said Kai pleasantly, looking over at Damon and Bonnie. "It's been a long time. Nice to see that not much has changed. Elena's still snoozing and you're both still lame. Though, I don't know you."