Fighter { Book 3 }

Chapter 20 - The Last Day

I wake up to my bed dipping and someone settling beside me. I shift and open my eyes to see it's Ares. "Hey." I greet him, my voice heavily laced with sleep. "Hey. Sorry, I couldn't sleep." Ares says. "Hmm, is everything okay?" I ask him. "Noah left, I'm just worried." Ares says. "Oh. I thought he would leave before the ritual." I say a little confused. I sit up to see that it's only 6. "He was going to but then he got a call from Klaus and said something about stopping him from doing something stupid and left." Ares explains. "That's a good idea." I say and Ares hums in agreement. I lay back down and sigh. "I'm worried." Ares says. "Why? Noah can handle himself." I tell him and he sighs. "It's just... your friends and family seem to have a plan. They'll hurt him, if it means getting to Klaus, they'll do it gladly." Ares says worriedly and I internally agree but since he's already worried it's better to assure him. "I know but he's what? a thousand years old. He's probably faced worse enemies than a bunch of teens and a few dumb vampires." I assure him and he laughs lightly. "True. It's natural to be worried though, right?" Ares asks. "Of course, it's natural after all he is your husband." I tell him and he nods. "Breakfast?" I ask him after a few minutes and he sits up before nodding.

We both go downstairs and I make some coffee and we both sit down at the table. I try not to let my thoughts drift off towards anything about the ritual. "Are you going to go home?" Ares asks suddenly. "Yeah, I need to make sure Elena drinks the stupid potion." I tell him and he nods. "Hmm. Sounds easy." Ares says sarcastically. "Yup, everything about Elena is easy." I agree with him. We both finish our coffees and go to our own room. I go back to my room and get ready. After I'm done, I take the potion with me and go back downstairs. I see that everyone's up already and having breakfast. "Good morning." I greet them and they greet back. "Are you going somewhere?" Felix asks. "Yeah, I'm going home. Need to make sure my sister doesn't die." I tell him and he nods. "I'll see you guys later." I tell them. "You'll be here right?" Arya asks. "When I turn, you'll be here?" Arya questions when I look at her confused. "Yeah, of course. Don't worry too much." I assure and she gives me a smile. I smile back before saying bye and leaving.

I get in the car and my phone rings indicating I have a message. I read it to see it's from Caroline asking me to come to the Boarding House. I sigh and start driving towards the Boarding House. Once there, I actually contemplate just leaving. I groan out loud before getting out of the car and going into the house. I walk into the living room and see everyone there and I mean everyone; Jenna, Jer, Care, Matt, Tyler, Mason, the Martins, Elijah, the Bennetts, Lee, Lexi and obviously the Salvatores and my sister. What are they forming a club or something? It's like they want everyone to know the problems. Idiots. "Oh, finally. The smart one is here." Damon says filling a glass with Bourbon and holding it out for me. "Thanks." I say taking the glass. Definitely gonna need it. "You finally decided show up. Thanks for giving us the time." Elena says a little aggressively. "You're welcome." I reply sarcastically. I sit down next to Jer. "Hey. Miss me?" I ask him mockingly. "So much." Jer says sincerely. I give him smile and he does the same. "Here." I say, taking the potion and giving it to Elena. "You think it will work?" Damon asks. "I know it will. Don't do anything stupid, I know it's basic part of your personalities but please, refrain from idiocy for today." I tell them and Damon smiles sarcastically. "What is your plan anyway?" I ask them. "Why would we tell you? For all we know you..... " Bonnie starts but I cut her off. "Okay, don't tell me. I don't really care. Have fun." I tell her and she glares at me.

Damon laughs and I can see Ty and Matt want to too. "Go ahead, I want to make sure you drink it." I tell Elena. "Why wouldn't I?" Elena asks glaring a little. "Because you're spiteful and an idiot." I inform and she seems about ready to burst. "What are you going to be doing anyway?" Bonnie asks angrily. "Eat, watch TV, read and sleep. Seems like a great plan to me." I tell her. "How can you not care?" Mr.Martin asks. "I do care, just not in the way you think I should. I have my own opinions so I don't really need yours." I inform him and he frowns. "Do you think that staying out of this will make it better? That it will cause less damage?" Elijah asks. "Yeah, I do. It won't make me stand against my friend and it won't make me feel like I'm ruling someones life or well.... death. I thought you understood." I tell Elijah. "I do, I was merely curious if it had anything to with Henrik." Elijah states and I'm confused for a few moments before remembering that it's Noah's real name. "Of course it does. He's my friend, he helped me when I was at the worst point in my life. This is the least I can do. Your brother is an amazing person Elijah which makes it harder to believe that someone he grew up with is all evil." I explain and he nods seeming to be a little surprised. "You always surprise me Arielle. I wish I could have your believes." Elijah says. "It's not that difficult, you are just not willing to give it, to give him a chance. It's not about wishing it's about taking a risk." I clarify and he smiles a little. "Are you done?" Elena's voice rings out and I sigh in annoyance. "Yeah. Are you?" I ask her and she gives me a sarcastic smile before pouring the potion in her coffee. She stares at it a few seconds before downing it in one go. Everyone stares as though waiting for some transformation or magic like when fairy godmother magically changes Cinderella's dress and she is surrounded by blue light. "Great. Hope your plan doesn't get you killed, otherwise it was nice knowing you." I say sarcastically before getting up.

I leave the boarding house after bidding Jer goodbye since they didn't want me to know their very secret plan. I don't really get why think I was even interested. Idiots. I drive home to get the grimoire for tonight's spell. I reach home and go in. I go to my room and get the grimoire and the extra wolfsbane I have before getting back in the car and going back to Ares and Noah's house. I reach soon and go in. Everyone is in the living room doing homework. I greet everyone getting replies before I sit down next to Ares who is working on new designs. "Here." I say handing him the grimoire. "The spell's in this?" Ares asks taking the grimoire. "Yeah. It's pretty simple too. Just tiring." I tell him and he nods as he takes the book and starts flipping through it. Ezra comes up and sits next to us. "I want to help too." Ezra says. "Of course. We can do it together." Ares agrees.

As Ares and Ezra go through the spell, I go to the kitchen and make myself another coffee. As soon as it's ready I put it in a mug and take it back to the living room. "We need wolfsbane." Ares says as I sit back next to him. "Yeah, I have some." "I have it." I say at the same time Arya does. "You know,just in case." Arya explains when Ares stares at her. Ares doesn't seem to like the answer and in all honestly neither do I, I mean wolfsbane is pretty painful for wolves and poisonous. The thought of Arya using wolfsbane during transitions is not very comforting. "We also need to find an open field away from wherever the ritual is taking place." I tell Ares and he nods. "Any ideas?" Ares asks. "Yeah actually. I know a place." I assure him. "Will this actually work?" Arya asks. "It will. I've already done it once already, relax. This will definitely work." I tell her and she nods, giving me a small smile. I spend the next few hours reading Harry Potter and The Order Of The Phoenix. I finally got time to read it. I read Goblet Of Fire before leaving for New York but I didn't have the time to start the next one. I only leave the book for lunch before going back to reading. "You've been reading that the whole day, aren't you tired?" Natalie asks coming to sit next to me. "Nope. I'm almost done, besides I rarely get time these days. It's wise to make the most of it." I tell her not taking my eyes off. She sighs before putting her phone in front of my face. I focus on the phone to see it's past 7. "Don't you think we should start preparing?" Natalie asks and I groan but put the book aside and get up. "Fine, let's prepare." I say and she smiles satisfied.

Natalie and I go to Arya's room since she hasn't come out yet while the others go to get food. We reach her room and Natalie knocks on Arya's door. After a few seconds she opens the room looking tired but also like she's ready to take on whatever is to come. Does that make sense? "Hey guys." Arya greets. "Hey. It's almost time." Natalie says. "Yeah, I know. I'm just worried." Arya says walking in and sits on her bed. "I know it's very painful and I really wish I could help but this is the best I can do." I tell her. "I know. At least I won't hurt anyone." Arya says. "And we'll be there with you." Natalie says trying to cheer her up. Not that it would help but still it's worth a try. "Yeah, at least I won't be alone." Arya agrees. I pack extra clothes for Arya while Natalie tries to help her feel a little better. "Let's go. The others are probably back with food." I say after finishing packing. They both nod and we go to dining room. Everyone else is already there and we eat with a few jokes and light conversations. After eating we get in two different cars and I lead them towards the woods near the outskirts of the town. Once there; me, Natalie, Adam and Felix bury wolfsbane at four corners while Ezra draws the symbol. Arya is sitting in the middle of the four invisible walls while Ares is helping her calm down and doing a spell. It won't reduce the pain of the transition but will help her not lash out and be a bit calmer throughout the turning.

After all the preparations are done, Ares and Ezra stand on opposite ends of the symbol and start the spell. The rest of us stand a little behind the invisible line. As soon as the spell is over the four walls light up before turning into fire like it did that night. Everyone stares amazed including Arya and Ares. "Is this supposed to happen?" Adam asks. "Yeah, don't worry it'll disappear in a few seconds." I clarify and the walls soon disappear. "Don't worry Arya, it won't let you pass but won't hurt you either." I assure Arya who seems worried after the initial amazement fades. I gesture her towards the wall and she walks over. She stops where the fire was before raising her hand and trying to reach forward. Her hand stops where the barrier is supposed to be and she smiles slightly. There's still some time to the full moon so we all sit down near the barrier and Arya does the same. After a few minutes Adam starts talking to Arya, trying to distract her. I'm pretty sure he likes Arya. They would work well together. Arya needs safety and Adam needs someone to fight for. He's already lost his family and in his mind there's no going back. A few minutes later my phone rings and I take it to see a message from Jer saying that Klaus took Jenna and the others have no solid plan to help her. I get up trying not to disturb the sonewhat calm atmosphere but Ares notices and follows me. "What is it?" Ares asks once we are at a safe distance. "Klaus has Jenna. He's going to use her as the vampire for the ritual." I tell him reading the second message I got from Jer.