𝑻𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆 ; 𝑲𝒂𝒊 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒓

01

Alyssa

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

I turn round to meet a pair of concerned eyes, belonging to Elena Gilbert. Her head is tilted to one side, her hands loosely on her hips and her face portraying an expression of worry.

"Elena," I say slowly, taking her hands in mine "I will be fine, I promise. And besides, if anything goes wrong, Liv will fix it."

"I'm not your dancing monkey" Liv grumbles from the far side of the room.

"But Ali this something  that could go wrong, is you getting trapped in another dimension!" Elena says "And the whole point of this rescue mission is to get Bonnie and Damon back, not to get you stuck there too."

"I know, Elena" I nod "but I need to do this. She's my sister and she'd do anything for me. So now I need to repay the favour, okay?" 

"Yeah," Elena sighs "I would just feel a whole lot better if I was coming too."

"Me too," I admit, squeezing her hand "but you need to stay here to keep Liv motivated to help us. And I suck at blackmail."

 Elena laughs, then pulls me in for a tight hug. "Be safe." She whispers into the embrace. 

"You too." I give her one last squeeze, before letting go and walking over to Liv.

"You ready?" She asks me, without meeting my eyes.

I nod, then pause as I feel Liv's anger practically coating the air around her. "Look," I sigh "Liv I'm sorry about Luke, but you know you wouldn't have done this for us otherwise. And we need you."

"Yeah whatever," she says roughly, snatching my hands into hers "let's just get this over with, so I can get my brother out your basement and get the hell away from here." Her palms fold over mine as she begins to chant. "Sangiema meam et nos mundo carcerema."

I look over to Elena and catch a final glimpse of her worried face before I'm swallowed in light. The sensation is unlike anything I've ever experienced before: I feel weightless, light a bird soaring through the sky. Except I have no clear direction, and the only tangible company I have is Liv's hands, which are still clasped in mine. 

Then suddenly, I fall.

Liv's hands begin to slip away and I cry out, my eyes squeezing shut as I feel myself being yanked downwards. I desperately flail my arms around, attempting to grab onto anything to stop this deadly rollercoaster..

 But then I feel my feet land on something solid. Carpet.

I cautiously open my left eye, surveying my surroundings. I'm stood in the Salvatore Boarding house again, but the wallpaper is different and there's a long dining counter adjacent to me, rather than Damon's pool table. Does this mean we made it? 

Liv stands across from me, casually brushing something off her jacket. I let out a shaky breath that I didn't even know I was holding in.

"Never portal jumped before I take it?" 

The familiar drawl of the eldest Salvatore makes me turn around slowly, cautiously, as if I can't believe what I'm hearing. But my eyes tell me to believe, as I see Damon's broad figure stood before me, arms crossed and his signature lazy smirk fixed on his face. 

"No way," I smile "it worked. It's really you?"

"Ali, if either of us is hallucinating I'd place all bets on myself," Damon shrugs "I mean, considering your sister has likely driven me to insanity with her constant yammering and-"