hello. I back, we're all okay :) still expect slow updates because I keep getting book ideas and I'm likely gonna start playing with around with them. cause I have almost 10 book ideas sitting in the back of my head and they are all pretty decent. and I finally bought my own laptop that isn't as slow or stupid as my pc so thats awesome. I get to tippy tap on an actual keyboard now... anyway, enjoy :D

Octavia took cover on the fire escape she climbed up. The grenades went off in unison as she intended. However, she wasn't quite sure if they did their jobs, or even if Melori and Ivan survived. If they didn't, she's gonna have one pissed off Collins boy to deal with. Plus her own son.

Blind faith is one hell of a drug.

The explosions were over, and all Octavia could see through the hole was thick smoke. She rushed to climb down the fire escape, plus the ladder she set up, and ran around the building back to the front entrance.

She ditched her bag at the door and wrapped her scarf around her nose and mouth, then tightly secured it in the back.

The smoke was still too thick to see through, so Octavia just went in blind, for the sake of finding Mel, alive. After all, she owes that girl everything. After what she's been through, the least Octavia could do was make sure Mel got back to her brother.

Octavia paused for a second and took a moment to recall some old spells she was taught. With a quick mental incantation, she released a small gust of wind, blowing away most of the remaining smoke.

She could almost laugh at the sight before her.

In the middle of the burned bodies, both mortal and otherwise, there was a dome casing made of none other than crystalized ice. Octavia figured this is the power Mel told her about.

-cue another flashback aha~ -

Beau and Mark went down to the car with everything they needed. Mel stayed behind as Octavia made sure she had enough explosives for the rescue mission.

Once she was sure she was fully prepared, she zipped her bag up and put it on. She headed for the door, but was stopped by Melori stepping in front of her.

"Hold on a second," she sighed, scratching at her head. Octavia squinted at the strange look on the girl's face.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I just need a favor."

"Of course," Octavia nodded.

Mel leaned against the nearest wall. "This could go to shit, okay? The whole plan, or even part of it. Either someone gets caught or killed or almost killed-"

"What the hell are you trying to ask me, Melori?"

"Look, I can't risk anyone being left behind, dead or alive... I need you to make sure no one tries to stop me from lagging back to help."

Octavia closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. "You- you're asking me to leave you to fend off vampires and witches who have no problems with killing?"

"No, I'm asking you to trust me."

"Trust you with getting yourself killed? Absolutely not, I'm not letting another Bennett-slash-Collins die, especially not on my watch."

Mel sighed, shaking her head. "If I'm left behind, I need you to leave me," she continued, and cut Octavia off when she tried to speak again. "-and if I'm surrounded, throw a grenade. You know... 'kaboom boom' for everybody."

For a second, Mel thought the woman would have an aneurysm or something. Her face had turned red and it looked like she wanted to scream.

Instead, Octavia took a deep breath. "Do you know how badly your parents would haunt me from beyond the grave if I did that?"

Melori stood upright, dragging a hand over her face. "Okay, look, I have this... power. I haven't learned how to fully control it, yet, but I'm sure it'll keep me safe. Can you please just trust me?"

Octavia shook her head, "I don't like this, Melori."

"Come on..." Mel smiled. "I survived two massacres, three years of hell, and a handful of monsters I'm sure you haven't even heard of. Do you really think I'm gonna let one little explosion take me out?" The woman sighed in defeat, shaking her head. Mel extended a pinky towards Octavia, who pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows. "I promise I'll be fine. And I take these very seriously."

Smiling, Octavia locked her pinky with Mel's, sealing the deal.

-End Flashback-

Octavia stepped over a few burned bodies. She counted them as she circled the ice dome; all the people surrounding Ivan and Mel were accounted for. She brought a leg up and kicked the dome with as much force as she could.

Of course it's completely solid. How else would it be able to survive two grenades like that? There were even scorch marks on the dome where the grenades landed. Octavia banged on the dome, hoping that'd let Mel know it's safe to come out.

After a few seconds, the ice started to melt away, water dripping down in its place as it slowly revealed Mel and Ivan holding onto one another. Their clothes and hair had gotten wet, but it seemed like they didn't care. They were alive, thanks to Mel's ability to panic at the right time.

"Whoo! That was scary." Octavia reached over and thumped the back of Mel's head. "Hey!"

"That's for nearly giving me a heart attack."

"But I told you I had a-"

"It still almost happened! Jesus fuck, Melori."

Mel smirked, then turned to Ivan. "You good to walk?" Ivan nodded and helped himself to stand. His legs were a little wobbly, but he still managed fine on his own. "We should get going. I don't know how long Mark will stay under... he's gonna be pretty pissed at both of us."

"Oh, I know. I'm gonna message Beau and get their location."

Mel

Octavia led me and Ivan to an old country house in the city. It was abandoned, surprise, surprise, and it even had a large attic space with a window large enough to light up the whole room. But it was covered for now as Zane sat in a chair in the middle of the room, bound and gagged and unconscious.

Beau was talking with Amir next to Mark's unconscious body. They hopped up as we joined them in the room.

"General, you're okay!"

"Of course I am," I said, cringing at the name Beau gave me. I raised my eyebrows at the two. "Are you guys okay?"

They both nodded and Amir rushed over to his mother. They hugged each other so tight, finally reunited after months of being apart. Octavia repeatedly kissed his forehead, mumbling apologies after apologies. I smiled to myself. I couldn't be reunited with my own mom, but it felt pretty damn good to help Amir be reunited with his.

I genuinely hope it'll last this time.

"I told you I'd help you get outta there. Didn't I, Ivan?" Beau smirked at Ivan. His hands made signs I obviously didn't understand, but Beau did, and a smile appeared on both their faces. "True, true. But I get most of the credit, right?" Ivan shook his head slowly. "Damn. I tried."

Octavia finally pulled away from her son, her hand lingering on his face. "We shouldn't waste time. You still need to know why they did what they did, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Well, I know they were looking for something; Dad's grimoire. Or one of them."

"Really?" Octavia furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "What'd he have in there that Alice wanted?"

"That's what this asshole's gonna tell us." I jumped slightly at the sound of my brother's voice. He rubbed the back of his neck, glaring at Octavia and me. "And after we torture and kill him, you two are next."

We looked at each other, fully expecting this threat. I cracked my fingers and stretched my arms over my head. "Ready when you guys are."

Beau removed Zane's daylight ring, as well as the cloth in his mouth and any other jewelry he had, just in case he was smart enough to do what Ivan did for Beau. After stretching some more, Mark went over to the large curtain to control sunlight in the room. Ivan, although still a little wobbly, manned the door of the attic. Amir stood as close to the wall behind me and Octavia as we stood in front of the vampire.

"Ooh, wait. Can I slap the life into him? Please say yes," Beau clapped. I blinked, but backed away so they can have their fun. They moved in front of me, rubbing their hands together to create friction. They wound up the shot, then slammed their palm onto the side of Zane's face.

His eyes shot open long enough to see himself falling on his side, still attached to the chair.

I snorted because he genuinely looked absolutely winded.

"Whoo! One point for Beauster, zero for Z-boy! Take that, fuck face," they celebrated, chucking up both their middle fingers.

As much as I'd like to flip him off myself, I grabbed Beau's hands and put them down to their side. "That's enough for now, okay? Okay." I patted their back and gently pushed them aside. Beau looked genuinely proud. I had to keep myself from smiling.

I towered over Zane as he scowled at me. He struggled against the ropes heavily laced in vervain. If Beau had to tie him up themself, I knew it hurt like a bitch just by how much of the liquid substance dripped to the floor.

"You'll let me go, if you know what's good for you," he spat.

"Or what?" Octavia spat back. "Are your friends going to come for you? Let them. It's not like we can't completely obliterate them too."

His eyes widened as he looked around. He spotted Beau smiling in the corner Amir stood in. "Fucking traitor! I knew I should've let you starve..."

"Hey," I said, placing the base of my foot on his head. "Let's focus, yeah? I have questions, and you're going to answer them."

"Or what?"

"Or my brother pulls the curtains," I told him, using the same foot to kick the chair around so he could see Mark holding the black sheet, ready to draw it back. I could tell he was restraining himself from doing some unspeakable things to Zane. I understood more than anyone; I watched the guy snap my dad's neck, rip my mother's heart out of her chest. I remember it still beating in his hand.

"And if it wasn't obvious, we took your ring," Octavia said.

"If you want to avoid the smell of your own burning flesh, tell us what Alice wanted from our father's grimoire," I prompted, stepping on his face again.

Zane didn't say anything. My jaw clenched in anger as I stepped down harder. I wonder what a dislocated jaw looks like. How much would it hurt?

He's lucky I need him talking.

I lessened the pressure on his face and turned to Octavia. "Mind taking his shoes and socks?" She used her magic to do so, slightly cringing. I wouldn't want to touch them either, I don't blame her. Octavia also used her magic to tear off a good portion of his jeans. "Last chance."

When Zane didn't say anything, again, I sighed internally and looked up at my brother. He stepped to the side, pulling the sheet just enough to let the sun in, instantly burning Zane's feet and ankles. His screams filled the room as it sizzled, threatening to combust into flames at any second. Mark released the sheet just before it could.

Zane hit his head against the floor as his cries died down. It genuinely smelled like burned, rotten flesh in here now.

"I'll tell you, just don't- don't do that again," he panted.

"It's like in the movies, they always wait until after torture starts to talk," I scoffed, shaking my head. "It's like they want to be tortured."

"Whether he likes it or not, he'd better start talking or we burn his baby maker next," Mark smirked, tugging the sheet a little.

I raised my foot and looked at Zane expectantly. He huffed, "Look, I didn't ask many questions... I saw the opportunity to undermine Marcel, and took it, okay? But Alice, she... I think she said something about killing her father. That book was the best way to do it."

I nodded slowly, backing away from him and the others. He only confirmed one suspicion I had, but it still didn't tell me how Dad knew about Malivore to begin with. How did he figure out how to kill him, if he did so in the first place?

"How'd you betray her?" I thought aloud, staring at a wall. "What made her so mad at you all that she started consuming you? Hunting you?"

I turned and rounded Zane to look him in the eye. "He... we weren't supposed to kill him. She wanted him alive."

I closed my eyes, sighing heavily. I unintentionally withdrew my claws and dug them in the palms of my hands. I absolutely refuse to lose my temper, even with as much as he deserves it.

I heard a squelching sound, followed by a shriek. My eyes shot open, and when I looked down I saw Mark's wooden dagger sticking out of Zane's chest. I watched as his skin slowly turned gray.

I spun around, glaring at Mark. "What the hell did you just do?!"

"He got what was coming to him!"

"We still needed him," I shouted.

"For what?"

"So he could tell us where to find the rest of his crew, Markus! Now we're fucked; they're gonna find out about us and soon enough z they'll strike us before we know it."

He pointed behind me. "That's why we have Beau. We didn't need his ass."

"Actually, I don't know where one of the locations are," Beau said from behind me. "I only know the one I was stationed at."

I grabbed a handful of my hair, but resisted the urge to pull it out. I glared at my brother once more, dropping my hands to my sides. "You better hope they don't come for us or I'll kill you my damn self."

"Feeling's mutual for snapping my neck," he snarked.

I shook my head and turned to go downstairs to wait in the car. I was soon joined by Beau and Ivan, with Beai claiming the passenger seat. We sat in silence that was only a little awkward, but somehow not uncomfortable. I assumed the others were cleaning up or something. Or not, you know, it wouldn't be such a bad idea to leave Zane's body for his followers to find. Either way, I don't care much. All I want to do now is go back to the Salvatore school and find out what's in my dad's grimoire. I want to see Hope and check their progress on helping that demon child. And hopefully soon we can rid ourselves of Mud Man and his evil spawn.

"I don't think it was such a bad idea to kill Zane," Beau shrugged. "He's the big brains. The rest are idiots."

"They could still come for us."

"True. But guess what? We have smart, powerful people on our side. Including a mom with scary death gadgets who's highly innovative with spells." I hummed, smiling a little at the truth. Octavia, despite all flaws, is an amazing ally to have. With her, Ivan, and Mark's magic, we're not gonna be taken down easily. Not to mention our next stop will be going back home where Hope and the twins are.

We're fine. What's to worry about?

I looked past Beau as Octavia, Mark, and Amir walked out. There was no body in sight, so I assumed they took care of the body somehow. I cranked the car and rolled down the passenger window. Mark leaned against the door while the other two got into Octavia's car. "What are we doing next, sis? Going after the lackies before they can come after us?"

"No," I sighed. "If they wanna try it, they'll have to do it on our turf. We're going to the school."

"School?" Beau questioned.

I nodded, "yeah, the Salvatore school. That's where I'm staying."

"Really?! I've heard about the place but I could never go there," they said dreamily.

"Well, now you're gonna. I can't just leave you guys by your lonesome. You're traitors now, I can't just leave you guys to be on the run forever."

"I love your compassion."

Mark scratched at his chin in thought. "It's a good defense if someone were to hunt us. Plus, the grimoire... but do we have all the information we need?"

I shrugged, not knowing that answer. "It's all the information we'll get. It's not like Dad can tell us what business he had with Malivore."

Mark nodded and drummed on the car door. "I'm gonna ride with the Sheffields."

"Okay. Let's regroup at the hotel to get our stuff. Then we can help Octavia get hers, then we can go get something to eat on the road."

"Sounds like a plan to me."

Mark jogged off to join Octavia, and we were soon on our way back home.

p.s. this took wayy too long to finish lol