Chapter Thirty-Six- I Love You, Stupid

Chapter Thirty-Six-I Love You, Stupid.

I sat still as a rock in my seat, paralyzed in fear.
“Damien.” I whispered shakily. Alec gave me a confused look.
“What about Damien?” he asked.
“Behind you.” Alec looked behind him, and, once he saw his old accomplice, his eyes went wide.
“D-Damien?” Alec was obviously panicking.
“Hello Alec, or should I say, Traitor?”
Alec cursed under his breath.
“Kieyra, remember that army of vampire hunters you were supposed to gather?” Alec asked quietly.
“…Yeah.”
“Where are they?”
“Um...Back in Carleton Place…” I flashed him an apologetic look.
“Well. We’re screwed.” Alec said, pressing his lips together in a thin line.
“Yes, yes you are.” Damien snarled. Alec and I exchanged worried glances. I began to get up to jump off of the boat when Damien grabbed both of my wrists.
“Ah ah ah, you’re not going anywhere.”
“Screw you.” I mumbled, struggling to break free of Damien’s strong grip. I looked over and saw that Alec was also being restrained by another one of Damien’s minions. As a last resort, I kicked Tegan awake.
“What?” She groaned. I fought to break free once more.
“Help me.” I cried. Tegan’s eyes widened.
“There’s an evil British guy behind me, isn’t there?”
“Uh huh.” I nodded. Tegan was speechless. But then, out of nowhere, she opened up her mouth really loud and started to scream.
“Fire! Fire!” She wailed. Everyone on the boat started to panic, moving every which way and making the boat rock unsteadily. Tegan then got out of her seat and started jumping on the edge of the boat, sure enough, the boat started to sink, and soon after flipped over.
The first thing I noticed once we were underwater was…well…that I could hold my breath for a really long time. The second thing I noticed was that Damien was no longer holding me, and I had travelled about ten feet away from the boat. The third thing was that Alec was floating just above me, with Tegan by his side. I swam up to the surface.
“What should we do?” I asked, gasping for air.
“Stay hidden until I give you the signal. Then you have to get the hell out of here and find Katherine, okay?”
“But what’s the signal?”
“You’ll know it when you see it.”
“But what about you and Tegan!?”
“We’ll be fine! I’ll take care of her. You have to trust me. Please.” Alec pleaded. I nodded.
“Okay. I’ll do it.”
“I just want you to know…I love you, more than anything.”
“I know that, I love you too, now why did you have to say that?” He sighed.
“Because you’re not going to like what I’m about to do.”
“Alec, what are you-” Before I could finish my question, Alec and Tegan had disappeared. I swam at lightning speed farther down the canal, got out of the water, and hid behind Sweden’s flag. I cut a small hole in the flag with my fingernail and watched as Alec and Tegan slowly climbed onto the platform, Tegan hiding her face in Alec’s jacket. I didn’t understand exactly what was going on, so I listened in to what Alec was saying to her.
“Kieyra, we have to get out of here! We’ll have to head back to the safe house before Damien can figure out where we’re going-But I just want you to know, I love you.” I was now extremely confused. I mean, hadn’t he just told me to go find Katherine? Did he want us to go back to the safe house? I looked closer and realized that Alec was holding Tegan in a rather romantic way. Hadn’t he just said that he loved me?
Then, Alec did something I’d never expected him to do. He took Tegan’s face in his hands and kissed her like there was no tomorrow.
I was immediately outraged, and wanted to run out and punch them both in their faces. But then I remembered what Alec had said.
You’re not going to like what I’m about to do.
That must have been the signal. I figured that Alec was probably pretending that Tegan was me- an excellent diversion, if I must say so myself. So excellent even I believed it. I made a break for the employee exit, which, luckily, was unlocked. After I got out, I ran directly to the front gates, dripping on every single person I passed. Since Katherine wasn’t at the gate, I went to the first place I’d expect her to be- a house of mirrors. Sure enough, she was just standing in front of one of those mirrors that make you look tall and skinny.
“Katherine, I need your help.” I said, making her jump.
“Kieyra! Where did you come from? And why are you soaking wet?”
“Long story short, Damien and his minions are here and they’re trying to get me.” Katherine grimaced.
“God dammit!”
“Yeah, I know, I think Alec and Tegan might be in trouble. Tegan was pretending to be me, so once Damien figures out that I'm not with Alec..."
"We're screwed, aren't we?"
"Yeah, pretty much."
Katherine started pacing around, and it looked like she was having somewhat of a mental breakdown.
“Oh god. I’m dead. I’m going to die. Oh god.”
“Hey, so am I!”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. What are we gonna do!?” Katherine asked, in a panicked voice.
“We have to go back for Alec and Tegan, and the rest of my friends.” I said, thinking aloud.
“What? Are you kidding me? We have to go! We have to get out of here!” Katherine exclaimed.
“No! I’m not leaving without them, and you can’t make me!”
"Like hell I can!" she grabbed my arm and started pulling me towards the exit. I rebelled against her, attempting to free my arm from her tight grasp, but nothing I did would work. Since we were equally as strong as each other, we didn't end up getting far; it was like a game of endless human(or vampire) tug-of-war. Katherine pulled me towards the exit; I pulled her towards the Fantasyland section of the park. This pointless war lasted about thirty seconds, and we stopped and hid behind a hotdog stand when people started to stare.
"Please, Katherine. Please help me." She shook her head.
"No. I can't help you. We need to leave." I knew from the look that she gave me that she was not ever changing her mind. I stood there, just staring into her eyes, begging, for about a minute.
Suddenly, I got an idea.
"Fine. We'll leave. But can you get my necklace from the back pocket of my backpack? I want to leave it here so that Alec knows i'm safe if he makes it out alive. It's a secret code we planned back before we left." I lied. I was immediately grateful for the improv classes my mom made me take when I was little.
"Um...alright." Katherine shot me a confused look, but went into my backpack to get the necklace anyways.
And then, with a loud thud, Katherine crashed to the ground, unconscious.
"Thank you, Mariana Wilkins." I muttered, running straight back to Fantsyland as I tried to look as inconspicuous as possible.
Jade, Elena, Ryan and Sam were sitting outside of the It's A Small World ride with towels wrapped around them, soaking wet. When she spotted me by the entrance to the ride, Jade came running towards me.
"What happened? And why are you wet!?" I asked.
"It was all Sam's idea, actually. We tried to cause a distraction by jumping on Damien and the other guy's backs...But he just ended up flinging us back into the water-which, by the way, is not a good idea to drink."
I tried not to grin.
"Hey, where's Alec? I thought Damien got you two...I assumed that since you were here, you both escaped."
My eyebrows narrowed in confusion.
"What are you talking about? Alec and I never-Oh my god." My eyes widened and my jaw dropped.
"What? What is it?"
"Damien has Alec and Tegan. And since he's most likely  figured out that Tegan is definitely not the doppelganger he is looking for, he has to be looking for me." Even though every part of me knew that I should be forming a plan, I couldn't due to the fact that reality of what was happening was sinking in. Damien would do whatever it took to get his doppelganger, and if it meant holding my best friend and boyfriend hostage, then that's exactly what he'd do. I knew that going to find Tegan and Alec was a death sentence-Damien was far more strong and powerful than I was.
But I loved them. So it was worth it.
"Jade, I have to go back for them." I said.
"No, Kieyra, It's way too dangerous! You'll get caught!"
"I don't care anymore! I always knew that if it came down to it, i'd rather die than have the people I love die for me."
"Please don't do this." Jade was nearly crying.
"Jade, it's the only way." A few seconds passed before she realized that I knew what I was doing, completely understood the consequences, and was going through with it no matter what she said. "Get Elena and the boys; make sure you all get home safely." I said, trying hard to keep my composure. Jade nodded.
"I will." She pulled me into a tight, squeezy hug.
"I'm gonna miss you so much." she cried.
"It'll be alright." I said.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" The soft sound of a familliar woman's voice made me jump. I spun around to find the blonde lady i'd seen earlier at the front of the line for the It's A Small World ride standing right behind us.
With Lukas and Antoine, the first guys i'd seen when I fell into the hole.
Lukas pried Jade off of me and held onto her wrists tightly when she screamed and flailed her arms and legs around.
"Let me go!" She screamed.
"Make one more sound and your sister gets it!" Antoine said, grabbing onto Elena. Elena whimpered, but stayed still.
"Jade, do what he says." Jade sighed in defeat and stopped fighting.
"Let them go!" I growled.
"Sorry, I'm not allowed to do that." The blonde girl smirked.
"Let them go and I'll come willingly." I said, in a more calm voice this time. The blonde rolled her eyes and chuckled.
"Teens these days. So much brooding, angst and self-sacrifice." She said. Damien and the other minion appeared behind her, with Alec and Tegan.
"Well done, Ana." Damien said to the blonde girl, who then smiled.
"Thank you." she giggled. As soon as she saw Alec, she shook her head in dissapointment.
"I would have never expected you to be the one to betray us." She said. "I'm kind of...dissapointed in your lack of correct judgment. You were stupid to think you could take on Damien on your own. Why would you even think of doing such a thing?"
"What can I say? Love makes you do some crazy things." Alec said. Ana let out a series of loud guffaws.
"Love? Honestly? Like, you two are a thing? You and the doppelganger!?" She continued to snicker for another three minutes. Damien was starting to get impatient.
"Would you be quiet already?" He snapped. Ana quickly collected herself.
"Sorry sir." She mumbled.
"That's what I thought." Damien turned to me, and a sly grin spread across his face.
"You thought you could get away, didn't you? Stupid girl." He snarled. I grimaced.
"I'm not fighting. Not anymore. Let them go, and I'll come willingly." Ana rolled her eyes again.
"That's pathetic." she muttered.
"Damien, I will come with you willingly. You can sacrifice me. The only thing I ask in return is that you don't hurt any of my friends."
"Are you negotiating with me?" Damien snorted. I nodded.
"Please."
He chuckled.
 "How about I make you a compromise."
"Depends. What would this compromise be?"
"I'll spare your little boyfriend, that other girl that was with him, and the little girl you helped escape before. But i'll have to keep the little green-eyed friend of yours, and the Wilkins girl."
"What Wilkins girl?"
"The little brown-haired girl...Annabelle, I think." My heart skipped a beat as I realized exactly why Damien wanted Anna and Jade.
Someone from the bloodline of the story teller.
The blood of a witch.
It was all part of the sacrifice. It wasn't just me who was going to be sacrificed-it was my friends too.
I gulped and turned to Jade.
"It's okay, Kieyra. As long as my sister and brother are safe, I'll do this." she said. I shook my head.
"I can't let you do this for me."
"It's not just about you anymore. I have to do this for my family, too. I'd rather me get sacrificed than anyone else in my family."
I turned back to Damien.
"What about Anna? Isn't there any other witch out there you could use? Like maybe Sarah or something?" I know that sacrificing my stepsister probably wasn't the nicest thing to do, but in all honesty, her existence was kind of pointless.
"I might take it into consideration."
"Kieyra, don't do this! Run!" Alec screamed.
"I'm not letting you die." I said. I turned to Damien.
"I'll come. Right now. As long as you let my friends go." Damien nodded.
"Excellent."
"Kieyra, no-"
"Shut up, boy!" Damien threw Alec to the ground.
"Now say your last words to each other. And make it quick." Damien sighed as Alec quickly scrambled to his feet.
"Kieyra, why would you do this?" Alec asked, holding both of my hands loosely.
"Isn't it obvious?"
Alec thought for a moment, and then shook his head.
"It's because I love you, stupid. And I couldn't live with myself if I let you die for me."
"I can't watch you leave. I can't. I refuse to watch you throw away everything like this."
"Then close your eyes." I felt a tear drip down onto my cheek. Alec shook his head.
"I'm not letting you go." he said, his voice cracking.
"You have to." I stroked his cheek with my thumb. My life was flashing before my eyes-this whole year seemed to have gone by in a flash. It seemed as though just yesterday I had been stupid enough to fall down a hole, get turned into a vampire, and become a walking sacrifice. I wasn't saying that good things hadn't happened-in fact, this year was one of the happiest years of my life. I got a new sister, and a new dad to love and cherish. I made a new friend. I fell in love. I made amends with my relatives, and found good qualities in seemingly evil people. Yes, maybe I would die young. But in a way, it didn't matter anymore. I had lived a life worth living for, and would die for someone worth saving.
"Goodbye, Alec." I wiped the tears out of my eyes and prepared myself mentally for what I was about to do as we exchanged our very last kiss.
"I love you. Remember that." Alec nodded, trying hard not to break down.
"I will."
"I need you to one last thing for me, okay?" I asked.
"Of course, anything."
"I need you to close your eyes." Reluctantly, Alec shut his eyes. Damien's other minion released Tegan, and I hugged my friend quickly before Damien took me by the waist, and I was suddenly whisked off into the darkness of the forest.

A/N: So I was hoping to finish this yesterday, on Alec's supposed birthday, but i had to go to sleep :( and even now i shouldn't be typing because my eyes are messed up from getting eyedrops in them and i've been wearing my mom's reading glasses for about an hour now, screwing up my eyes even more. hehe. but i had to get it done!


~Kira~