Brightened Days [Kol Mikaelson]

Bright • EPILOGUE

"I think you and the moon and Neptune got it right.
'Cause now I'm shining bright."

• E p i l o g u e •
Bright

I laughed softly as I was spun around the dance floor of my favorite 18 and up nightclub. Tonight my friends and I were having a last hurrah. It was the last day of Spring Break. I started my sophomore year at Seattle University in three days. Hence, the reason I was out partying at 1AM.

"I'm gonna get myself a water," I told my newest best friend, Liam Hayes.

"Alright," he replied, giving me a nod before sliding behind my other friend, Cassidy, and grabbing her by the hips. I shook my head at the two. They were on and off again friends with benefits. They were crazy and kept my life exciting despite being scholarly, much like the majority of the student body was. I fit right in. I loved it. Our idea of fun was board games or trivia with booze and study sessions late at night on a rooftop. And rarely we went out to the club because Cassidy loved to dance.

I squeezed myself a spot at the small bar, waiting to get the bartender's attention but he was chatting up a busty girl with glittery eyes that matched her blue hair. "Can I buy you a drink?" A silky smooth voice asked, as if confident he knew my answer.

My entire body tensed. Goosebumps spread along my arms as I turned my head to face the guy on my right, the opposite way of the bartender. I gulped as I realized he wasn't facing me. But my eyes studied the familiar black leather jacket and the tussled head of hair. And just like the first time our eyes met, the air left my lungs. A Kingfisher blue, nearly glowing due to the dark lighting and colored strobe flashes. "Damon Salvatore, in the flesh," I noted. "What the hell? How?"

The infamous smirk crossed his lips, "Miss me?"

A soft chuckle of disbelief passed through my lips. I was honestly stunned. Five months ago, he and Bonnie disappeared from the Earth. And I thought all hope was lost. Because they vanished when the other side started falling apart. It was disintegrating, ceasing to exist. A couple of magical beings, travelers apparently got to Mystic Falls at the start of the school year. They had plans to make my hometown a supernatural free zone, no witch magic—meaning no vampires, witches, or werewolves. If they crossed, they became human. Meaning if a vampire went across the city line they would be in the exact same condition they were in before they turned, dying somehow. Bonnie came back to life through magic, that allowed her to be the anchor between the living and the other side. When supernaturals died, they had to walk through her to pass over. The travelers had some blood concoction from the doppelagangers—Elena and Stefan, who was a descendant of Silas who started the fate of people with their faces trying to find each other and fall in love. Once the travelers had their blood, they sacrificed themselves and all the deaths overloaded Bonnie's body and the other side started to eat away. And in an attempt to bring some dead friends back, Damon got himself killed and missed the deadline to come back to the living like Ric and his British friend from the 1950s did as well as Stefan who was murdered a couple days before by a traveler. Then Bonnie and Damon were never seen again after the spell stopped and no one else made it back. Not Damon. And certainly not Kol.

Now Damon was back. That gave me a newfound hope. I didn't give up on my husband. But when the other side collapsed, so did I. Literally, I didn't eat for days. I wouldn't get out of bed. I thought all hope was gone. And then I fainted. Klaus being my emergency contact flew from New Orleans to me to give me a scolding. He reminded me if anyone could break the laws of physics and find a magical loophole it was his family, and Kol especially would find a way. Klaus said if we didn't find a way to bring him back, he'd find his own way to be with me again. He said he would bet his life on it that one day Kol and I would reunite. Yes, he probably said that for my benefit and physical and mental well-being, but it helped me cope and hold onto hope.