descent | 𝐊𝐋𝐀𝐔𝐒 [HIATUS]

𝟎𝟕

𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐓
﹙ 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 ﹚
࿐ ࿔ ✧˖*°
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    She's drowning again. She doesn't know how, but when she peels her eyes open she feels the water rushing into her lungs and she feels her chest caving in on her. Rory turns her head and she sees a flash of silver—her father's old watch, strapped around his wrist. He's struggling, trying to get the door open. Her mother's body is floating. Miranda's already dead, Grayson's halfway there. Rory turns to her left and she sees Elena's body. She doesn't know if her sister is alive or dead, because her eyes are half open but she can't tell if they're aware or not.

    "Dad?" Rory wants to say, but all that comes out of her mouth is bubbles. She can't swim. She's drowning, losing consciousness rapidly. Her arms spread out, bracing herself against the gravity pulling her down. She's sinking with the car, and she's sinking fast. "Mom, dad!" Again, no sound comes out of her mouth.

    Blackness overcomes her eyesight and she stops struggling, just for a second. Her chest hurts so much; the liquid enveloping her lungs and every fibre of her being. All she can taste is the water under Wickery Bridge. The door is tugged open on her left—on Elena's side—but Rory doesn't have energy to be relieved. She's fading, quickly.

    She doesn't even manage to register the arm circling around her waist. Her hair is in her face, blocking her eyesight. She doesn't know who it is, but she doesn't get to feel relieved that she's being saved. No, she doesn't, because her hair whips out of the way just in time to see her father's dead body floating in the car alongside her mother.

    She isn't grateful that she's being saved. As soon as her head breaks past the water, she wants to sink right back into the shallows. She doesn't know which is worse; to be the one that dies or to be the one that survives.

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    Her body shoots up from the bed like she's been shocked awake. Rory's lips part, a gasp leaving her lips. Her fingers curl around the fabric of the blanket that she's sprawled under, her hands trembling. "Rory," a voice speaks, but she can't register who it is. Somehow, she's still blinking the black dots out of her eyes. Her chest feels like it's still being squeezed tight, clutched in the grips of the water that pulled her parents under.

    "Rory, breathe," it's that voice again, but this time it's accompanied by touch. Hands hold her shoulders, attempting to bring her back to the real world. Mom! Dad! This time, when she speaks, actual words come out of her mouth. She hears the sound of her own voice. She doesn't see bubbles floating up to the surface.

    "Move," another voice speaks and she knows who it is—Klaus. It's Klaus. The unfamiliar hands are removed from her shoulder, and his own replace them. She feels a hair being removed from her face. "Rory, can you hear me?" he asks. Rory's eyes are still unfocused when they dance around the room, trying to make sense of where she is. "Lovely, it's me. You're alright."