Try {One | Alaric Saltzman}

Run

Abigail had no idea what she was thinking when she walked into Mystic Falls High School. She should have stayed home, she should have gone out to search for the Hunter with Damon, she should have been doing anything else. She was not prepared for this; she was not prepared to put on the brave face she had been forced to perfect.

The chalkboard was still covered in his handwritten notes, his favorite jacket was draped over the chair, and the baseball paper weight she got him for Christmas was still on the corner of his desk. She stared at it all, unable to catch her breath, biting the inside of her cheek, gripping the straps of her bag.

"Morning, everyone." Rebekah entered the classroom with a stack of flyers. "So, I'm throwing a little anti-curfew party at my new house. Starts at fifth period and goes 'til whenever. Spread the word."

"Why are you still in town, Rebekah?" Stefan asked. "Don't you have anywhere else to go?"

"Well, history's my favorite class. Actually, where is Mr. Saltzman?" She paused dramatically as her face twisted up into a smile. "Oh, that's right, I killed him."

Abigail threw a pencil off Alaric's desk at Rebekah without much regard for the fact that students were trickling into the room. Rebekah scoffed as she caught it, turning it back on her before she could move away. Staring right at her, she pulled the pencil from her arm. She broke it almost as soon as she was healed, letting it fall to the floor one piece after the next.

Stefan and Elena ushered her out into the hallway, blocking her way back into the classroom. She was visibly furious, fighting against Stefan's gentle hold as something inside of her kicked and screamed its way out.

"Just breathe," he said, "just breathe."

"I hate her! I hate her." Abigail pointed at the classroom door. "She is so lucky that I haven't flipped the switch."

Elena gasped. "The switch? Abigail, are you-"

"I can't take a lecture from you right now." She turned to leave, but Connor was just down the hall, talking to an administrator. "That's the Hunter."

Stefan grabbed her wrist, holding her in place. "What the hell is he doing here?"

He walked toward Jeremy.

"No." Abigail took a step forward. "We-"

"Hey, hey, let me get this. Okay?" He showed her bloody hand to her. "You and Elena take care of that."

She took off her sweater, throwing it at her sister as she walked through the restroom door. Her vision came back into focus as she rinsed her blood-soaked hand, but her breathing didn't even out until she looked into the mirror. And even then, she was only steps away from the edge.

"Elena, I-"

"No, no." Elena wiped the blood from her shoulder. "It's okay."

She focused on one wall tile, just one, but it looked like three. "It's not. I-it's not okay, Elena. I-"

"Look at me." Elena gently took her face in her hands. Her movements were graceful, nowhere near what Abigail could manage when she was in her shoes. Movements that she wasn't sure she'd ever have again. "Abigail-"

Rebekah entered the restroom. "What's wrong, girls? Wake up on the wrong side of the bed?"

Elena whipped around. "Get away from us!"

Before she even had the chance to respond, Abigail slammed her against the wall. The tiles she had focused on became a target. Her arm a bow. Rebekah's head an arrow. Bullseye. "You shouldn't be here."

"What are you going to do about it?" She released herself from her grasp. "What are you going to do?"

"You have no idea what you took from us." Elena took Abigail's hand and pulled her back to stand next to her. "This is our school. These are our lives. And I'm not gonna let you ruin them!"