elemental • n. m.

26. where it gets good

There was darkness.

There was darkness for a long time, before I looked into two ocean eyes in a deep familiarity and gasped myself awake into reality.

There was one person in the room, hunched over an armchair, and I noticed his familiar brown hair as he leaned over, no doubt passed out.

"Zale?" I whispered, frantically pulling the heavy blanket off my body.

He shot awake, exclaiming, "Aunt Aella, you're awake!"

I ran over, ignoring the cold wood of the floor as it made contact with my feet, and hugged him as if it had been a life time.

More or less.

I breathed in his fresh familiar scent as tears trickled down my cheek. "It's been so long."

"I know," my nephew rubbed my back, pulling away slowly. "Mom came to me in a dream, and I knew I had to find you."

"Remind me to thank her," I joke, "sometimes her over involvement is appreciated."

I sniffed from the tears, and used my long sleeve to wipe at my eyes. "Where are the others? Did they try to hurt you?"

Zale chuckled, "I'm not a kid anymore, aunty." He handed me my black boots from next to the bed frame, "they were a little bit suspicious of me, but once I told them you were family and they could tell I was telling the truth, they let me hang with you. Well, mostly the blonde one... That Saint Nik was in charge. The other was kind of a mindless vampire."

As I pull my second boot on, I scoff. "Don't say those things in front of him, I don't want your head to roll." I brush the matted hair at the top of my head with my fingers, "Can you take me where they are, I'm kinda trying to prevent deaths from happening..."

Zale smiles slowly, "Yeah, I figured you'd ask as much."

He proceeded to hold onto my forearm and my stomach drops at the familiarity of the old activity. My eyes stay shut as to not make myself even more nauseous.

.

"Hot damn." Is the first thing I say as my feet planted back onto solid ground.

We were standing inside the high school. Outside the gym in fact.

"What the actual hell?" Said Zale, and I peered out into the windows of the doors to see a girl struggling to stay on one foot.

I heard Niklaus' voice faintly mocking, "Keep it up."

I pushed the tan double doors open with force.

"What are you doing, Niklaus?!"

I could faintly see Niklaus' gaze soften before he said, "Glad to see your energy has replenished."

"Humans are not puppets, damn it!" I sighed and stomped my foot down, with enough force to make a tiny earthquake out of pure frustration.

Elena said to the original, "Where's Stefan? What did you do to him?"

Nik chuckled, "Stefan's on a time out."

The doors open once again, Bonnie and Matt, probably the only human bar the girl and boy bait, entering.

Elena shouts, "Bonnie, get out of here!"

I roll my eyes, she obviously came for a reason.

Niklaus rushes over to Bonnie, "Ah, I was wondering when you'd show up." He chuckled, "Now we can get started."

He looks over at the human girl, who is still struggling and I gulp my nervousness.

"Ah, Dana, why don't you relax? You and Chad sit tight."