On My Own (TVD Series)

Far From Home

It had been 18 hours since Enzo had left, Hestia and Selene were buried chest-high in herbs and grimoires, reciting spells in unknown tongues that I had not even heard of. It was nerve-wracking, intensely uneasy as I sat in the living room surrounded by grimoires myself and not finding a single piece of information from my mother's findings. Kai had taken the afternoon to visit his old family home in Seattle but for the last 2 hours hasn't responded to any calls or texts.

"Have you found anything, sweetheart?" Hestia sighed, leaning on the doorframe between the foyer.

"At this point, I'm about to chuck the stone into the burning firewood pit behind me, and hope that whoever is inside this magically combusts."

"Oh, we wouldn't wanna do that...besides, Selene thinks that she might be able to peer inside and see who we're dealing with."

"Scrying? No, that's too dangerous-"

"It's the only thing she can think of...apart from also throwing it into the fire." She smiled gently.

"Hestia, Scrying isn't like astral projecting...if it is Julian, however powerful he is, he'll be able to sense whoever is watching him."

"Then it's a good thing we are already dead...Come on, Selene is prepping the spell."

Taking her hand, I could feel the built-up sweat in her palm as she guided us the short walk into the kitchen.

"Hestia..." I whispered, stopping just before passing the frame.

"What is it?" I asked again, noticing her eyes staring straight ahead.

"...the last time-"

"...Kai?" I mumbled, seeing him come up the driveway.

"Hello, hello everyone." He sighed heavily, entering the foyer with a grin on his face.

"You look happy, did you find anything worth mentioning?"

"I found my old baseball hat and machete..."

Glancing at the bag duffle bag in his hand, Hestia's soon slipped out of mine as she entered the kitchen quietly.

"Don't worry...it's for when Selene figures out how to take Grampa out of the stone. This machete has been with me through thick and thin."

"I'm going to pretend to agree with you, but know that I am not. Okay."

"Got it. But I also wanted to warn you ahead of time, that Damon is-"

"Also here." Damon sighed quietly, standing at the window.

"What are you doing here?"

"It wasn't a coincidence, I promise...but you two were the psychopaths that I was looking for."

"Excuse me?" I mumbled.

"Well, you choose when you want to be but even then...your other half likes to come one sometimes."

"Noted." I groaned.

"Come, I have a road trip that I need to tell you about."

"A road trip, really Damon. I'm trying to figure out how the hell to get Julian out of a sto-"

"I know, but I think you'll find yourself more useful if you help me hunt the one thing I know will get you more answers than questions."

Glancing over at Kai who was also unamused by his choice of words, reluctantly followed Damon back into the living room, leaving his duffle bag near the door as I took a seat on the couch's armrest.

"And what could that be?" I sighed heavily.

"Your golden ticket."

"Excuse me, her what-"