Whispers in the Dark

Fade

When Kol came to, he was in a hospital bed.

How had he gotten there?

Ah, yes. He'd been taken to that other place. What had happened there?

Right. Eve and Luke had been there, too. Oh, and Martin and Nikita!

Where were they all?

He looked around, and noted he was the only one in the white room. It was nighttime. Why was he alone? Shouldn't the others be here?

He got up and started heading out the door. The hallway was empty, too. Kol kept walking, and walked up to a flight of stairs. Heading down, he walked up to the receptionist's office. The woman behind the desk looked surprised.

"Oh, you're awake already." As soon as she said that, she started to panic. She picked up the phone on the counter, then dialed furiously. When the person picked up, she spoke to them really fast, which Kol couldn't understand.

Deciding not to waste more time, he spoke over the person on the other side. "Who else came here with me? Where are my clothes?"

"J-Just a second," the woman pleaded, and then the unseen speaker started yelling at her. She replied timidly.

"I'm not gonna wait forever," Kol stated. "Where are my friends?"

Sighing, the receptionist hung up. "I don't know how to tell you this."

The woman kept talking. The more she spoke, the more Kol's facade dropped. He wouldn't be able to keep his mask on much longer.

The woman informed him that, aside from his missing eye, there was no major damage done to his body. He left as soon as he was allowed to, and immediately headed to the airport via cab. There was no point in trying to recover his things from the burned remains of Natasha's house.

As the cab passed the part of the forest where one would enter to reach the site of Oliver's memorial, Kol thought he saw two people standing there. The blond one waved at him, at which point the black-haired one turned around and smiled. The two locked hands, then disappeared. A young woman joined them in the last second, throwing her hands around the black-haired man's neck.

They were all gone.

Leaving Starigrad behind, Kol finally reached an airport. He purchased a single ticket, then silently waited for the take-off time. What was he going to do now?

"You'll be okay," Patrick said, suddenly sitting next to Kol. "You've done that before."

Kol looked down. "I wasn't okay."

The two looked at each other. "My mom's waiting for me," Patrick said. "I'll be going now."

"I guess this is goodbye."

"Not forever, though."

With a smile, Patrick disappeared. Kol continued to sit there alone. He sat there for over a day. When the plane finally arrived, he immediately got on, then waited a bit for it to take off.

He was awake throughout the flight, trying to still his thoughts the entire time. When it landed, he called another cab, which took him home. Struggling to move his feet, Kol entered his house, then just stood in the doorway.

No one was there to greet him. No one said hi from the kitchen. No one clumsily stomped downstairs. No one was there; No one but him.

He just stood there for several hours, tired and confused. What was he supposed to do now? Was he supposed to just make lunch? Was he supposed to sleep? Was he supposed to keep working?

"Kol," someone finally said from the kitchen. He knew that voice. Walking over to it, he saw Luke leaning back against the table. Kol nodded at him calmly, then sat down.

"What are we having?"

Kol looked down at him sadly.

Loud footsteps were coming from the hallway. When Kol raised his head, he saw Eve. She didn't look happy.

"We won't be having anything," Luke told him. "You know what happened, Kol."

Said man looked at the table. "Did the food go bad? I told you to-"

"We're dead!" Eve screamed, not letting him finish. Kol didn't dare look at her. He couldn't. "We died in that place, Kol, so we're dead for real."

Kol's mask was crumbling apart even faster. "What are you talking about? You're right there."

Luke reached out to touch him, hesitated for a moment, then put his hand back down. "We're here because of you."

"Let go," Eve added. "You need to let go, Kol. I saw them there. I saw my family. Please."

"No!" he yelled, slamming his head down on the table. "No, I can't. I-I can't do that."

"Yes, you can," she urged him. "You're strong, Kol - stronger than anyone I've ever met. You'll be okay."

"Quit saying that!"

Luke and Eve exchanged glances.

Kol sobbed into the table. "I don't wanna be alone again."

This time, Luke did touch him. He put his large hand on his best friend's head gently, then left it there. "You're not gonna be alone. I'm still not ready to move on, so I'll be sticking around. You need to let Eve go."

Kol forced his head up. "R-Really?"

"Come on," Eve said. "You don't want the last thing I remember of you to be you crying like a baby, do you? Just take my hand, Kol. We'll see each other again someday."

"You don't know that," he replied. "You don't know what's over there."

"I know I heard my family call to me. It was like someone whispering to you when you're asleep, trying not to wake you up. I'm gonna be that whisper one day, so please." She smiled. "Let me go."

She extended her hand.

Kol looked up at Luke, who was clearly struggling not to cry. The big guy nodded, and Kol knew what had to be done.

He looked at Eve - really looked at her - for one last time, and then he took her hand. He saw her whole life story in that instant, from the fire that had killed her family, to something warm had she felt for him and Luke. That one was strange to him. He hadn't felt that one before.

"Love, you dummy," Luke told him, then gestured toward the phone. "Someone was calling earlier. New job must be coming in."

Nothing of the sort was on Kol's mind. He hadn't even gone over to the mayor to accept the payment for the most recent one.

Noticing the look on his face, Luke shrugged. "Or we can take it easy for a while. We've got all the time in the world, right?"

Kol nodded. That sounded good.