OKAY! OKAY, I GIVE UP. I can't hold this chapter back from you guys knowing I'll definitely forget to upload it for some weeks while I try to keep up with my college classes and writing.

ALSO I AM SICK :D yay. we can all collectively blame my two little sisters. they got me and my mom sick so now my throat is being stabbed by imaginary midget men with samurai swords or something...

I dunno. just know it hurts so bad.

also here's my cat for no reason :}

she's in the sink with the toilet paper she destroyed while I was at school :')

I'm... probably gonna be posting more cat pics.. most of them are of her sleeping. name's Alora btw :3

Hope followed after Melori some time after talking with her in study hall. She couldn't stop carrying the frozen cup of water around, tossing it from hand to hand as she was truly fascinated by it.

It showed that Mel retained her abilities, and somehow now that she's become a vampire as well, her powers are showing exponential signs of growth. It hasn't even been 48 hours yet.

Hope reached their room, only to find that Melori wasn't there. There were two other places Hope could think of that the girl would go to; her secret thinking spot and the dungeons where her brother was being held. Before Hope decided to run off into the woods in attempt to find Mel, she decided it was best to check with Mark first.

It was good that she did, because Mel was indeed sitting down with her brother, making light conversion with one another.

Mark was the first to notice Hope, and Mel soon followed his gaze. She sighed heavily, slightly rolling her green eyes.

"Jesus, Hope, you really know no boundaries."

Hope held her hands up. "I... didn't come to argue."

"Then what do you want? I'm trying to talk with my brother, in case you haven't noticed."

"I noticed. I just need you know that I'm aware of the pressure I put you under when-"

"Ah," Mel nodded. "You're trying to apologize. Again. You're not getting it, are you?"

"I get that this isn't easy for you, and you maybe needed more time-"

"Maybe?!"

"-but could you seriously sit there and tell me you wouldn't have done the exact same thing if I were in your position?" Mel smacked her teeth, resting her head against the brick wall. Mark pursed his lips as he awkwardly looked between the girls.

"Of course you pull that card. And let's not forget those that word you dropped yesterday, right?"

"Well, neither of those things are bs, so yeah, I pulled those cards. And while I am sorry that maybe you'll have to suffer the bloodlust, I am not sorry that you're alive right now, sitting and talking with your long lost brother." Hope inhaled and exhaled slowly. "If you want space, I'll give it to you. But I'm not going anywhere. Neither is Dr. Saltzman, Jack, or the rest of the squad. Hell, not even Landon."

Melori didn't respond, or even return Hope's gaze. She just quietly waited for her to leave so she could return to her conversation with her brother.

When Hope did leave, and was walking up the stairs out of the basement, Mel sighed heavily. Mark shook his head.

"You two are something else," he said with a laugh.

Mel looked over at her brother. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Mark shook his head again. "Nothing, nothing, it's not important right now."

"No, tell me, Bailey, what's that supposed to freaking mean?"

"Maybe I'll tell you later if your oblivious ass doesn't figure it out." His lips twitched into a smile as he settled back into the wall. "Anyway, sis, you were gonna ask me something?"

Mel rolled her eyes, knowing of how stubborn Mark is. "I just... I wanted to know if you've ever thought about what happened all those years ago."

"Our village?"

"Yeah. Have you thought about finding the rest of the vampires? I mean, Marcel and Klaus, they got the leader and killed him, but..."

"More are still at large, hiding from Marcel." Both of them nodded; one in understanding and the other in agreement. Mark pulled his legs closer to his chest. "I haven't given it much thought, honestly. At least not after my humanity flip. Beforehand, I always thought about it. About you. Mom, Dad, Mason. Even that creepy old fisherman by the docks. Jesus, what was his name? What did we call him?"

"Old Man Jenkins," they said in unison, then erupted into a fit of comfortable laughter.

"He really did remind us of that strange old fish."

"He creeped the hell out of us, but that man did keep an entire village fed, for nothing in return."

Mark nodded. "True, but thank goodness for the other stuff Hayley had sent over. Too much fish is too much fish."

Mel hummed lightly as their laughter died down. "I've never stopped thinking about tracking them. To understand why they did what they did."

"You ever get any leads?"

"Not even one. I haven't really looked, honestly, it just... I can't do it alone."

"Well, you have me. Maybe Alaric Saltzman will let me out so I can be of real use."

"He should. There's no reason not to trust you."

"You mean besides me snapping your neck?" Melori's hands dropped to her side as her entire body sank. Before she could say anything about how she didn't want any apologies and how she didn't want to hear him blaming himself, Mark stopped her in her tracks. "I know what you're gonna say but it's not gonna stop me from feeling the guilt."

"Look, I'm tired. I don't- I can't keep doing this with you or...or Hope." She shook her head, fighting the urge to bite her nails; a thing she's been good at not doing for years now. "I have to get out of here."

"You want to go back to New Orleans?"

"I don't want to be there either. I'm feeling way too much pressure and anxiety right now. I need to get away, do something fun, maybe, or..."

"Get some closure for at least one of your traumas," Mark suggested.

It was a really good idea, honestly. In fact, it was like music to his sister's ears. Only, going after those vampires while there's some crazy mud monster chick and her psychotic mud monster father is after her. And Hope. Who she still cares for, and wants to protect.

Plus, it's reckless. Dr. Saltzman would not like the idea... It's perfect.

"I'll go talk to Ric. And I won't be accepting a no on letting us go," she said, grunting as she stood up.

"'Us?'"

"You're coming with me, a-hole. Duh. You're owed some answers as well, and again, I can't do this alone." Melori started for the exit, sending a wave over her shoulder. "Be back in a few, Bai."

Melori practically jogged her way to Alaric's office, not really bothering to knock as she entered. Instead of just Ric, she found majority of the team sitting around the office; Kaleb, Raf, Josie, and of course, Hope.

Normally Mel would care about whatever they were talking about, but as of now, there was one thing on her mind. She shook her head as if yo rid herself of curiosity, then turned her attention to Ric.

"I'm taking a leave of absence. For how long? I don't know, but I thought it'd be best to let you know."

Dr. Saltzman and the others glanced among themselves before he stood from his seat. "You can't-"

"Well, I'm not asking. I'm going, and I'm gonna figure some things out for myself. I'm gonna get answers that I've waited too long for and whether you approve of me leaving or not isn't a factor in this decision."

"What about Alice? Malivore? We need all the help we can get."

"You have Hope. You don't need me."

"Yeah we do," Rafael scoffed. "Manpower aside, your good spirits and smarts are much needed."

"You've got MG for that too," she sighed.

"Not to mention, you're our friend? We're all stronger together, it... won't be the same with you gone," Kaleb added.

"As your friend, I'm asking you to understand why I need to do this."

Ric shook his head. "But going after murderous vampires? That's what this is, right?"

"In some cases."

"You can't go alone. It's too dangerous."

"My brother will be with me. He deserves answers as much as I do, and if anything happens, we'll be there for each other."

"But he-"

"-Is held up in a cell, waiting for me to come back? I know. Speaking of...the key?" Mel held a hand out expectantly, raising her eyebrows at Alaric.

He looked between her and the others, most especially Hope. He'd hoped for feedback or any indication that he shouldn't hand over the key. But Hope didn't say anything. In fact, she barely looked his way we she held her head down while crossing her arms over her chest.

With a huge sigh, Ric opened the top left drawer of his desk, grabbing the skeleton key sitting in the very back of it. He then tossed it to Melori. She held a hand out, allowing the key to fall in her palm with ease.

"Thanks..." She nodded briefly then turned to leave the office. But before she could do so, Kaleb called her name. She turned to find him walking closer, pulling something out of his pocket.

"You're gonna need a ride." He took one of her hands and placed the keys into it. "Every epic road trip deserves an epic car. Just don't mess her up, or I'll mess you up. Okay?"

Melori chuckled lightly, shaking her head. "I promise I won't."

Kaleb nodded. "I still think we need you...but you need to spend time with your bro, I get that. Just be careful. And don't come back til you both get those answers, okay?"

Mel finally headed out of the office with what she came for, plus the awesome bonus that is access to Kaleb's car.

Upon returning to the cell, Melori found her brother already standing at the door, having heard her coming before she arrived. He waited patiently for her to unlock and open the door. As he exited, Mark watched the girl smile triumphant as she held up the keys to that beautiful red Corvette.

"Please tell me I get to drive," Mark gushed.

"Absolutely not. You're underaged."

"...you're an asshole."

"Meh. Now, I've gotta go pack some stuff. Come on."

She marched her way to her room, rushing to her side of the open closet. She grabbed her favorite brown leather jacket, previously belonging to her father. It was one of the few clothing pieces she remembered to grab back when visiting her old apartment. Melori then proceeded to grab her suit case to fill it with some other clothes. Mark stood in the center of the room, checking his surroundings while waiting patiently for his sister.

"You share this room with Hope, right?"

"Yeah. Why?" Mel glanced at him as she tossed some underwear in the case.

Mark shook his head. "No reason..."

Mel stopped in her tracks with one of her bras in hand. She at stared Mark, an eyebrow raised as she became suspicious of him. "Your voice just raised a whole octave, Bailey."

"I think you should worry more about storing your bra, dear sister."

She glanced at her hand then dropped the undergarment in with the rest of her clothes. Shaking her head, she bent down to reach under her bed, grabbing the metal box with her more valuable items inside.

Mark raised his eyebrows as he watched her pack the box and close the suit case. "What's in that thing?" he asked curiously.

"I'll show you later, Bai. Whenever we reach wherever it is we need to go."

"Speaking of, I'm going to assume you don't know much. What're we even going to do?"

"Find those vampires. Haven't you ever wondered why they attacked us in the first place? We're going to find out. Maybe... maybe, somehow it's all connected or something..."

"What's connected?"

"I don't know, I'm theorizing, okay?"

"Okay. Well," he shrugged. "Where do we start?"

"Well I don't know anything about anything."

"You know more about the massacre. That's where we're starting, right?" Mel nodded. "Okay, so, what happened after Mason and I bit the dust? What'd you see?"

Melori shook her head, standing her suit case upright on the floor. "That night? Not much... I killed the witch that helped them get through the bayou's wards... Hayley came and drove the last of the vamps off and... I mean, that's about it."

"What about the other time? Anything stood out?'

"I suppose. I mean everything happened almost the exact same. They came and burned stuff, killed, got chased off. The only differentiating variables between both events were Klaus and Elijah Mikaelson... and the witches they used."

"Who was the second witch?" Mark inquired, tilting his head to the side.

Melori shrugged. "I don't know. I think Dad knew her. I remember him feeling... betrayed. They must've been closed, somehow."

"And their name?"

"Octavia, I think."

Mark straightened at the mentioning of the name. "You're sure it was Octavia?"

At this, Mel straightened at the tone of recognition in Mark's voice. "How do you know her?"

"That's who Allison forced to bring me back!"

"You—" Mel's hands shook violently in the air. "You're telling me that conniving bitch might be the same bitch that ordered the attack that killed our family?!" He nodded frantically in return. "That bitch, I— I'm gonna kill her."

"That makes two of us. But that's a task for another day," Mark sighed heavily. "I think we need to find Octavia first. Allison could be well on her way to finding her."

"Then what the hell are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Mark rolled his eyes, grabbing the suit case Melori had forgotten to grab, being in such a rush to get going. However, upon leaving, both siblings noticed someone standing at the door. Hope, of course, wanting to wish them luck... but it was hard, recent events considered.

She and Melori both sighed internally, both knowing they couldn't help but worry for the other.

Hope inhaled sharply, stepping off to the side. "Good luck," she said, managing to get the words out. Mel nodded stiffly. She walked past Hope, sparing a thankful glance. Mark followed close behind. "And please be careful."

Mel closed her eyes as she stopped walking, mentally kicking herself because of how much she wants to turn around and hug the girl. It really baffled Melori how she can never not feel some way about Hope, even when she's supposed to be highly upset with her. Just... why's it so hard to stay that way?

Mel, annoyed with herself, scratched at an eyebrow and turned to walk towards Hope. Mark announced his departure to Kaleb's car to give the two some space.

Melori drummed the side of her thigh. "I'm surprised you aren't trying to stop me."

"I... took one too many choices from you recently, so by all means..."

"Mm," Mel nodded. "Well, we'll be careful. Long as you promise you will be careful while protecting this place."

"I promise." Hope smiled to herself as she held out a pinky finger. "We don't break these, right?"

Mel squinted her eyes. "That's a power move. I hate that you've pulled this card as well," she said, still locking her pinky with Hope's.

"Don't forget to call me at some point, too."

"I will. But I've really got to go. Give this back to Dr. Saltzman for me, please." She retrieved the cell key from her pocket and gave it to Hope. While taking the key, Hope stepped forward and placed a small, delicate kiss on Mel's cheek, then retreated into the room she knows will feel empty while Melori's gone.

Confused, Melori shook her head and turned to leave the school.

Upon exiting the front door, Mel found her brother talking with the other set of twins. They grew silent as she stopped in front of them. "What's this about?"

"Nothing important," Mark sighed. "It's just that Lizzie doesn't trust me to uphold my promise." He stared at the blonde, raising his eyebrows at her.

"What promise?"

"To keep you safe," Lizzie answered. It wasn't the true promise he had made to the twins, but it was that Mel needed to believe. Luckily, she thought nothing of the prolonged glares they gave each other.

"Well, I'm a big girl. While I appreciate the sentiment, I'll be fine. We should go now, Bai."

Mark nodded and got into the passenger seat as Mel got into the driver's. She waved goodbye to the girls at the entrance as she cranked up the car. Without too much of a thought about anything other than the mission ahead, she drove off through the gates of the Salvatore School.

EL GATOOOOO

pff- I'm sorry but this is my favorite right now lmao