21

I felt my phone vibrating beside me. I picked it up and opened my eyes. I turned my alarm off. After a few minutes of recollecting my memories, I sat up.

Ryan, Ric, Damon, and Stefan are all passed out on palettes of blankets on the floor of the living room. I slept on the couch after a unanimous vote from the four of them.

I grabbed my phone and walked to the kitchen quietly. I made coffee and then poured myself a cup. I took a drink as I walked to the table. I leaned back against the wall and sat criss-cross on the bench of the table. I looked at my phone to realize it was on, and the contacts were open. Kai's name made my chest tighten.

I stared at his name for a few minutes. I pressed the call button and put the phone to my ear. It rang for as long as it could. I called again. There wasn't an answer. I turned my phone off and sat it on the table.

"Why are you in my house? And why was I asleep on the living room floor?"

I looked up at Damon. "You don't remember?" He shook his head. "You called me at two o'clock this morning wanting me to come over and drink with you. I didn't. You guys wanted to have a sleepover in the living room, and then you voted for me to sleep on the couch. It was too late for me to argue so I stayed."

He shook his head slowly. "Too many words."

I pointed to the coffee, and he walked over. I looked at my phone again.

"Expecting a call?"

I looked at Ryan. I shook my head. I looked back down at my phone. I was expecting an answer. He sat down in front of me and grabbed my coffee. I grabbed my phone. I stood up and looked at Ric. "I'm going home. Make sure Ric's awake in an hour and dressed by ten. If you're late, I will kill all of you." I looked at Ryan, "starting with you."

He looked offended. "What did I do?"

"You called a stripper."

"How do you know about that?"

I rolled my eyes as I walked out. I grabbed my coat before leaving.

...

The music started up again as the doors opened. I stood along with everyone else. We all turned to watch Jo walk down the aisle. She stared at Ric, who was smiling at her. Her dress was stunningly white and matched her personality. She made it to the altar, and we all took our seats.

The minister spoke for a few minutes. "Josette and Alaric have prepared their own vows."

After a moment of Jo passing her bouquet to Elena and then turning back to Alaric, he started speaking. "Neither one of us should be here right now. We've spent our lives dodging fate, beating the odds, but because we did, I got to meet you, the most beautiful, hilarious, and intimidatingly brilliant woman I have ever known. You inspire me... You've shown me that happiness is something that I can have in my life."

A tear rolled down my cheek as Ric slid the ring onto Jo's finger.

Jo wiped the tear off her cheek as she giggled nervously, "Oh, God." There was a collective chuckle from the crowd. "That's a tough act to follow." The smile on her face remained as she gazed starry-eyed at her love across from her. "Here it goes." She took a small breath. "Alaric Saltzman. You are -" She abruptly cut herself off. The smile slowly faded from her face.

I felt my stomach sink as I sat up further along with everyone else.

"Jo? What is it? Jo, oh my God. Jo?"

She groans out in pain, and her hands move to her stomach, making Damon move towards her, and Alaric grabs her as she tumbles over and screams out in pain.

The sound of gasps and screams of panic fill my ears as blood soaks her dress. There's a flurry of panic. My ears start to ring. My eyes are glued to the dying woman until I notice that there's now a person standing behind where Jo would've been standing. My eyes move to find him. Only to realize the "him" is Kai.

The air in my lungs is gone, and I'm dizzy. I feel Ryan's hands on me.

"I was gonna wait til the 'death do us part' bit, but it seemed a little on the nose. Am I right?"

I felt sick to my stomach. How could he do this? Why?

In the next few seconds, he does a spell, filling everyone's, including my head with a sharp ringing sound. I collapse to the ground, clutching my hands over my ears. I yell out in pain, wishing for it to stop. The blinding pain continues as the church windows are shattered, and the glass crashes inward. There's a sudden sharp pain in my side. I'm still covering my ears, unable to reach for it.

At that moment, I can only think of Jo. "She's bleeding out." The words leave my lips in a whisper.

I pull my hands from my ears and look up at the altar to see Ric covering Jo's body with his. I watch her hand twitch, and her chest moves slowly. The ringing sound died down slowly. I moved my hands to the floor. I was disoriented, and my vision was blurry until I blinked a few times.

I pulled myself to the altar. I grabbed Elena's arm and a shard of glass. I cut her skin and pushed Ric back. I pushed an unconscious Elena's arm to the open mouth of a dying Jo. Jo slowly drank.

I pulled myself away. I blinked slowly, my eyes barely opening again. I looked over to see Kai facing away from me. He was surrounded by people. I squinted to see the person talking. Joshua. I tried to speak, but I couldn't. I felt like I was being suffocated by confusion and fear.

"... kill me?" Kai laughed. "You'll kill the entire coven."

More people emerged from around the church. I watched Kai step back, laughing as Joshua raised his hand.

No. No. No. No. No. "No..." I pulled myself to my feet. I felt tears running down my face.

Joshua's attention wasn't drawn from Kai. He twisted his wrist, and I stopped completely. I gasped, causing a pain to shoot through my lungs, going into my side. When I reached for my side, I was met with a pain in my hand. I looked down to see my hand cut open and stained with blood that was now accompanied with fresh, flowing blood. I looked at my side to see a shard of glass lodged in my body. I stumbled back a step, nearly losing my balance.

I looked around to see unconscious people and dead people. I could hear crying. Once I realized it was me, I remembered what had happened. I looked over where Kai was standing to see his lifeless body. I made my way over to him as quickly as possible. I dropped to the ground to be closer to him. I grabbed his face in my hands to make him look at me.

Anytime I tried to speak, only cries came out. I lifted my hand to see my blood on his face. I moved my hand to his chest, sliding under his suit jacket to feel for a heartbeat. I sobbed, not feeling his heart. I could only cry harder.

I leaned down, wincing at the pain it caused. I pressed my lips to his. I rested my forehead against his, taking a deep breath. I squeezed his hand tightly. I sat up and stared down at him. I closed my eyes, breathing out slowly.

I turned and leaned back against his body, pulling his arm onto my lap. I slid my fingers between his and held his hand. I opened my eyes and looked in front of me. Everyone is breathing, but they're not awake. I look over at Jo to see her barely breathing. Ric's sobbing over her body, clutching her tightly.

"Ric, she's alive. Get her to the hospital."

He lifted his head slowly. He eventually gets his eyes to mine. I watch as he carefully picks her up and carries her out of the church.

They started to wake up. First, it's Stefan. He gets Caroline up. Ryan wakes up a few minutes later. Then Damon. He makes his way over to Elena. Bonnie's the last to wake up.

I can feel myself fading slowly. Hopefully, it will go faster soon.

"Evelyn."

I carefully reach to my side. I hold my hand over the glass, covering it. Hiding it. "I- I called him this morning." I looked up at Caroline. "He didn't answer."

"Where's Jo? And Ric? What happened?"

I looked at Stefan. "I gave her Elena's blood and..." I blinked. My eyes stayed closed. "Ric took her to the hospital and..." I breathed out shakily. "I think she'll be okay... or something."

"Is that your blood?" The voice was closer. I opened my eyes to see Stefan.

I looked at Kai's face, then back at Stefan. "... I don't know." I looked at mine and Kai's hands. "There's a lot... There was a lot of blood." I inhaled sharply. The pain on my side worsened. More blood covered my hand, dripping to the ground. "A lot of everything... feelings." My eyes fell shut.

I attempted to protest as I was pulled to my feet, away from Kai. The glass in my side shifted, causing blood to fill my throat.

"Your hand is..." Ryan started out, but he stopped once he realized it wasn't just my hand.

I felt light-headed. Everything blurred together. Voices buzzed around me. I leaned into Ryan as the weight of the world weighed me down. I tried to breathe but could only feel the blood in my throat.

He's dead. How is he dead? He knew he would die if he did this, or at least he should have. He wouldn't be dumb enough to pull something like this. He didn't want to die.