Alaric's apartment was the same as the last time I had been there, and every other time, too. The only lights that were turned on were the lamps, and the soft scent of laundry detergent wafted through every room along with the scent of dust. It was a combination of extreme tidiness and forgot, the things that held more emotion hidden gently underneath a small layer of dust that accumulated through the few weeks he busied himself working.

   It had been months since the wedding, months since Jo had died in his arms. When I looked at him I could still see the pain in his eyes. It was as fresh as the laundry that rested on top of the bed.

   Caroline paced back and forth in front of me, arms crossed in front of her. She held a look of disdain and confusion as she thought deeply to herself. The only time she had looked at me was when I walked in. She had grabbed me by the hand and pushed me towards the sofa, then began to pace around.

   To the corner, by the bed, stood Valerie. It was uncomfortable to see her there, standing so carelessly with her arms crossed and a bored expression on her face. I wanted to hit her, or do something I would regret later on. Whenever my eyes fell on her, my mind would go back to the pages I had read of her on Stefan's journal. The infamous Valerie Tulle, a girl who had made Stefan more happy in one day than I could in years.

   My stomach sank when I glanced at her again.

   By the small bar to the corner by the bedroom door was Damon, arms crossed and a confused expression as he followed Caroline with his eyes. There was a glass of bourbon in his hand, one perfectly squared ice cube in it. His finger moved with the condensation, catching the few drops that appeared on the bottom then smearing them against the side of the glass.

   To his side, Alaric. Out of everyone in the room, he appeared more out of it. His eyes focused on the floor, arms lazily crossed in front of him, heartbeat going wild in his chest. I could tell that he was thinking too much, a wild race in his mind that I couldn't decipher what about. It confused me, too.

   Everyone in the apartment was confused.

   "Anyone mind telling me what is going on?" My voice resonated all around the apartment, like an echo in a cave. It was strong, full of worry and confusion and want. I needed to know what the hell was happening.

   Caroline stopped pacing in front of me. "I don't know how to say it..." she trailed off as she stared down at me.

   "Just open your mouth and talk," Damon said with a shrug of his shoulders. "You're good at that, Blondie."

   Caroline's lip moved upward and she threw him a look, before glancing back down at me with a look full of pity. It was the same way Bonnie had looked at me long ago, the same way Elena looked at me when she first heard my story of how I became a vampire.

    I sighed and stood, walking over to the bar to serve me a glass of whatever Alaric had on there. It would calm my nerves. The three of them, Caroline and Alaric and Valerie, tip-toed around their words as if I would explode when they told me what was going on. They were uncomfortable, and at the same time their eyes were full of pity. I wondered if I did anything wrong.

   Alaric grabbed the glass from my hand when I was about to drink it. "I don't think that's a good idea."

   "What?" I raised a brow and tilted my head slightly to the side.

   He looked away with a solemn expression, downing the drink that I had served for myself.

   I sighed and threw my hands to the air. "Can anyone tell me what the hell is going on?" My voice rose as I glanced around the room. "Caroline, you called me because it was important, so why don't you just tell—"

   "You're pregnant!" Caroline interrupted. She stayed silent for a moment, then quietly added, "with Alaric's twins."

   I couldn't finish my sentence. I couldn't even think. The words fell from my mouth and decided to slide down my throat to choke me. My ears began to ring and my stomach began to fall as if I had just jumped from a cliff. Caroline's words rang in my head

   And then I laughed. It was a full-on laugh, as if I had just heard the most hilarious joke. "What kind of joke is this?" I asked as I turned around, shaking hands preparing myself a glass of alcohol. I needed it now. I wanted it to calm me.

   My voice was a combination of laughter and horror. "Seriously, Care, why would you make this sort of joke..." I trailed off as I raised the glass to my lips. I needed the goddamn drink.

   Alaric's hand on my arm stopped me. He shook his head when I looked at him, taking the glass away from me. There it was, the same look of lament he held when I walked in.

   "It's a lie," I asserted. My voice broke, an I audible whisper in the silence of the apartment. "It's a lie, Alaric."

   He shook his head again. "It's not..."

   I pulled away and glares at Caroline. "I'm a vampire!" I yelled. "I have been for over a hundred and something years, what the hell do you mean I'm..." I couldn't finish the sentence. The words fell empty. It was a word that I had become distant with ever since Helen told me that I had been that when I died. It was a dream that became distant when I died.

   Unconsciously, I reached for my stomach.

   "The coven did a spell," Valerie spoke up from besides the dining table. She crossed her arm and stared at me, pity in her eyes. "During the wedding that kid, Kai, thought they were sending him to another prison world."

   I remembered the wedding. It began with Alaric standing with the widest smile I had ever seen him have, and Damon stood besides him. I glanced at Damon for a moment as I recalled the way he smiled, the way he told me he wanted to be human with Elena. I quickly looked back at Alaric as I remembered seeing another wide smile as the woman he loved walked towards him in a beautiful white dress, the thought of a family just a grasp away. It had been a happy day. It was supposed to continue to be happy.

   I remembered Jo's scream, the contrast of white and red that became her dress. I remembered the horror in Alaric's eyes, the panic as he caught the woman he loved as she fell over. I remembered the soft heartbeat on her chest and counted how they slowed down with every shallow breath she took. I wanted to protect them from Kai, from losing each other. And I had failed.

   "They weren't sending him away," Valerie continued. "They were trying to save the next generation of Gemini twins."

   "Where is this stupid idea coming from?" I spat, glancing around the room. My eyes landed on Valerie. "Is it some kind of payback?"

   The hurt in her eyes was real as she glanced down, at her own stomach, and then at mine. She swallowed and stood straight, her head tall. "I did a spell."

   "And that makes it possible?" I scoffed and shook my head, glancing around the dozen candles around the room. They had been lit at some point during the night, the familiar smokey scent after one blows them out lingered. I took a deep breath and looked at Valerie. "Do it again."

   She blinked. "What?"

   "Are you dead?" I snapped. "Do it again. I want to see for myself what kind of bullshit you're pulling."

   "Clara..." Alaric sighed from behind me. I looked at his face to see a small glimmer of hope in his eyes, the small bit of him that wanted a part of Jo to be alive. His desire of a family were so strong that he wanted this to be true. I knew right there that he wanted a piece of Jo to be with him forever, something stronger than a photograph—an actual person.

   And when I thought back to Caroline's words, I almost yelled at him that it was impossible. I had been dead for a long time; I had been pregnant when I died. If there was, at any point, any chance that I could have been pregnant...

   My hand unconsciously landed on my stomach. A familiar movement I had done so many times that I lost count. It had been a fantasy, a dream that was neither good or bad; a thought of pure humanity. I had wanted a child as a human, dreamer of a large family and the man of my dreams to be their father.

   "Do the spell," Damon said. He held the glass of alcohol tightly in a hand, his face serious. "Now."

   Valerie sighed and began to move around the apartment. She lit every candle once again, the scent of vanilla becoming too strong in the small room. A map of the world laid on top of the coffee table, a small droplet of blood splattered in the corner. She spoke as she continued to light the candles, "Twins are the lifeblood of the Gemini coven," she said with a bored tone. "If a pregnant mother is in danger, then the transfer is our magical fail-safe. It's rarely used, but used nonetheless."

   I crossed my arms in front of me as I watched her, face set into a blank. There were so many things that ran through my mind that I couldn't place one down. My head began to pound as I watched the fire on the wick of the candle, as I focused solely on that. If I looked at anything else, at anyone else, I would surely break.

   Alaric stepped towards the map with a knife in hand. He held up one hand and sliced his palm, letting the blood drip on top of the dried circle on the map. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

   Valerie took a stand on the other side of the table, closed her eyes, and began to chant.

   I looked down at the map, at the blood that shone red on top of it. There was no desire for me to attack anyone and sink my teeth into their neck, just a numbness that I felt deep within my chest.

   Alaric's blood travelled through India, Pakistan, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. It crossed through Africa, on its way to North America. It entered through the Gulf of Mexico and continued its way through the southern parts of the US, and crossed towards the Pacific Ocean.

   I sighed and looked at the witch. "You can stop now," I said. "Your spell is obviously not working. The blood's in..." I watched as the drop fell from the table and onto the floor, and continue its path in my direction. The puddle stopped in front of my feet. I scoffed. "Great magic trick, Valerie. All you did was ruin a good floor with blood."

   The blood at my feet touched my shoe, and then burst on fire. I jumped back as the map caught on fire as well, the candles flaring up. I had seen Bonnie use candles many times to draw power, and I had felt that power as if it were syrup. The room was full of power, like heavy hands holding my shoulders down so I wouldn't move.

   In a few seconds, the blood disappeared and the map burned, the candles went back to their formal fire, and every eye in the room was focused on me. I kept my eyes on the burned map on the table, focusing on the small bits that were salvaged from the flames. It was the only thing that allowed me to keep myself up straight, that allowed me not to fall down on my knees and my emotions burst out of my chest like a nuclear bomb.

   "It wasn't like this the first time..." Caroline mumbled, her hand grabbing mine. She gave it a harsh squeeze and pulled herself closer to me, laying her head on top of my shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Clara."

   I pulled myself away from her and shook my head, pushing my hair away from my face. "No!" It sounded like a gasp, as if the words had been troubling to say. And they were. "This isn't true. I'm sorry, Alaric, but this is impossible. I can't be..." The words fell short on my mouth. I couldn't say them. "It's impossible! I'm dead. I have been dead for so long that this is absolutely impossible."

    Alaric took a step forward, a white box in hand with bold, pink letters. "It's not impossible," he softly said as he pushed the box in my direction. I glared at the box before glaring up at him. "I became an Original vampire and spent months in the Spirit World, watching over all of you. Now, I'm human. This is not impossible, Clara."

   I swallowed as I took the box. "I'm dead," I muttered, staring down at the white box. It's corners were bent inward, a sign that it had been sitting somewhere around the apartment after so long. There were bubbly, pink bold letters that read: PREGNANCY TEST. It must have belonged to Jo.

   "Your body functions normally," he said. It sounded so casual, like we were talking about the weather. "Your heart beats. You breathe. I mean, is it so far outside the realm of possibility that your body could support a baby, or two?"

   "Yes!" I pushed the box back to his hand and took a step back, shaking my head. There was a smile of disbelief that formed on my lips. "I am dead, and I have been dead for so long that I cannot have children. I know I can't!"

   Damon stepped forward, in front of Alaric. "I think that's enough," he said in a low voice.

   Alaric stares at him for a brief moment before he brushed past him, towards me. He pushed the box to my hands. "Keep that," he said, softly and carefully. "Take it whenever you feel like it. I just need to make sure." He took a deep breath and straightened his shoulders. "We need to make sure."

   I grabbed his hand and slammed the box on top of his palm. "I don't," I hissed and walked away. 

   I hurried down the stairs of the building, my breathing causing my chest to cave into itself. The noises all around me jumbled into one: the voices of the people in the apartments, their televisions, the passing cars, the people on the streets, the animals. I stopped at the last step and knelt down, covering my ears with my hands. Everything became too much.

   A hand touched my shoulder.

   I stood up and caught their throat with my hand, pushing them against the wall.

   Damon stood against the wall, my hand around his throat and his eyes starring right into mine. "Okay, Honey, I'm gonna need you to calm down."

   "Calm down?" I scoffed and stepped away, dropping my hand to my side. "I was just told that I'm a pregnant vampire, and you want me to be calm?" My anger wasn't only because of the obscene news, but because of what happened during the night.

   I remembered the words Damon had said to the elderly couple at the party Lily threw in our home, how he spoke of a love triangle between him and his brother. It was obviously about Elena. And the fact that he said those words in front of me pained me, angered me. 

   My emotions swarmed me like a hive of hornets, stinging at every piece of flesh they could find. 

   "And you believe that?"

   I stopped moving at the question. Part of me did not believe a word they said. I thought that it was stupid. How could I be pregnant when I have been a live for almost two-hundred years? How could I have become pregnant by some stupid spell that some weird coven of witches did because they wanted a loophole for their coven not to die? That was the part of me that didn't believe their words. 

   The other part, that one that clung to hope so much, believed every word. That part of me wanted it to be true. A chance at motherhood, like I had desired oh so much, even if they wouldn't be my own children.

   I inhaled through my nose and straightened my shoulders, swallowing hard. "No."

   I didn't sleep that night. Instead, I sat at the edge of the bed and stared at the floor. I tried to make sense of everything, from my feelings about the Salvatore brothers to the news that were sprung on me. It all felt like to much. My head pounded with every small movement, and my chest caved in, and I felt myself beginning to cry at the smallest thing. 

   It was afternoon when I was able to finally leave the room. I held on to the banister as I made my way down the stairs when the strong scent of food wafted around me. 

   "Thanksgiving tomorrow," I heard Damon say.

   "Well, pre-Thanksgiving," Stefan answered, the sound of glass hitting something following. 

   I entered the study to see the brothers. "Why does it smell like cornbread?" I asked, crossing my arms. 

   "Stefan's cooking," Damon answered with a slight purse of his lips. "He decided that we should host Thanksgiving. Well, pre-Thanksgiving, considering that Thanksgiving is tomorrow."

   I looked at Stefan. "And who are we hosting Thanksgiving to?"

   "An ally," he responded, an almost invisible smile on his lips. "Someone that will help us kill Julian."

   The doorbell rang. 

   I furrowed my brows as my eyes followed the brothers towards the entrance. My first thought was that it could be Matt Donovan, a boy who hated vampires so much that I know he wouldn't hesitate to kill any of us if the opportunity rose. Although he was human, he had lived whenever it came to vampires. Even though I had killed him once, when Elena had her humanity turned off, he was alive. He probably hates me because of that, and because of the many people I had killed while I was on a binge drinking. 

   I stood by Stefan as Damon opened the door. With a Tupperware container in hand, Lily Salvatore stood behind the door. 

   She smiled awkwardly as she held the container up. "I brought cranberries!"

   "You've got to be kidding me," I mumbled, crossing my arms in front of me. My blood began to boil at the sight of her. I wanted nothing more but to push that container to the floor, grab her by the throat, and torture her the same way Mary Louise and Nora tortured me. 

   Stefan gave me a tight-lipped smile. "Let's play nice."

   "I'll play nice when her family of crazies leave town," I hissed. My blood boiled as she stepped in, as she gave me a small smile, and continued on her way inside the house.

   Damon closed the door behind him and turned around to stare at Stefan, his arms spread a bit. "What the hell?"

   Stefan didn't say anything as he turned, following his mother inside the house. 

   We ended up back at the study. Lily sat on the armchair, back straight and hands held tightly on top of her lap. For a small moment, she reminded me of the same person the brothers used to show me on paintings of photographs. It was the Lily Salvatore I had looked up to, the woman I wanted to meet so badly and thank her for giving birth to Damon and Stefan. But as she sat in front of me, a small smile on her lips, all that was inside of me was hate.

   "I invited you over here because we can't keep doing this," Stefan began. "I mean, I... I want us all to start over."

   Lily's smile widened. "Well, uh, if the Pilgrim and Indians could do it, I'm sure there's hope for us."

   "We call them Native Americans now," Damon said. He sat at the corner of the sofa, right next to Stefan, with his arms crossed and a pout on his face as if he were a child. "But we didn't bring you here to correct your outdated racial slurs. Did we, Stefan?"

   The youngest Salvatore ignored his brother and continued to look at his mother. "I wanna convince you of all the reasons that you need to help us get rid of Julian."

   Lily's smile faltered. She kept her eyes on her youngest child. "I'm sorry, is this some kind of a set-up?"

   "Just her me out for a second." It sounded like a plead, the way it came out so carefully from Stefan's mouth. He took a breath and clasped his hands together in front of him, leaning a bit forward towards her. "In 1863, I got Valerie pregnant."

   I stared at his hands as those words left his mouth. They clasped together tightly. It was a feeling I knew too well, devastation and worry. The devastation came from the news, the way they formed in your brain and the way it felt when they left your mouth. The worry was not knowing how the other person would act when they heard the news. And sometimes, the combination of both came from the knowing that the moment would not be able to be lived again. 

   Stefan continued, "She kept it a secret from me, from you, from everyone. And Julian found out about it somehow, and he felt threatened by it. He beat her until the baby was no longer alive." The way his voice resonated with the room made it noticeable that it was painful to say those words. "Her child—your grandchild—was murdered by Julian. She swore me to secrecy, but the truth is too important. You need to know what kind of man he is."

   "What I think Stefan is trying to say is, you have a really crappy taste." Damon added.

   Lily paused for a moment, the small smile frozen in time. It was the same smile that one had when one was confused. She then looked straight into Stefan's eyes. "My son, Valerie lied to me for over a century about you. Then she tried to kill a member of my family in cold blood and tried to incinerate the love of my life. Do yourself a favour: don't lose any more sleep over a word that comes out of that poor girl's mouth."

   I scoffed and rolled my eyes. "Of course you would say that," I mumbled, shaking my head. 

   The look of disappointment that crossed Stefan's face was harsh. "I guess the joke's on me then, right?" His voice became deeper, dangerous. "I mean, I was the idiot who believed her." He picked up the decanter and began to pour its liquid in the four glasses that rested by it. 

   "I did, too, about many things," Lily added. "But I will not make the same mistake again."

   "Here's to moving on then, right?" Stefan stood to his feet and rose the glass. 

   Lily quickly grabbed one of the glasses and smiled widely, raising the glass. 

   Damon followed after, a look of annoyance on his face as he rose the glass to meet that of his brother's and mother's. 

   I stayed seated, tapping my fingers against the leather of the chair. There was no way in Hell that I would move on from anything Lily and her family of Heretics had done.

   Images of Mary Louise and Nora laughing as my blood decorated their hands flashed through my mind, the distant feeling of something pricking at my skin. I dug my nails on the armrest as the Salvatore's clinked their glasses together. Someone moved closer to me, dark jeans touching my legs with a bit of pressure.

   Lily fell to the floor. 

   "Concentrated vervain," Stefan announced, laying his glass on the table. "I had a feeling we were gonna have to do this the hard way..."

   The afternoon passed with Lily Salvatore strapped to a chair with vervain-soaked ropes. Her sons tried to make her see that her current lover was a monster, just like her first husband. A pattern, they called it.

   As Damon told the story of his father making him kill his pet turkey, then eat her, all I could do was stare at him. He was a child back then, a human that showed his emotion even if back then men were told that emotions were not allowed to be shown. And as he grew, he showed them little. In private. When our audience was only each other. 

   "This is pointless. Pointless with pumpkin pie—" Damon slammed his plate of food down on the side table. "—but pointless."

   I sighed and rubbed my temple with my finger, the scent of the food he was eating wafting over me. It felt strange. My head pounding and my stomach hurt, as if something were squeezing it. I covered my mouth as a strange feeling came over me, hurrying towards the trash in the corner of the room. The moment I leaned over it, I threw up. 

   I held on to the trash as another wave of the strange feeling came over me, and I threw up again. Blood decorated the inside of the trash, the only meals I've had for the last couple of days. 

   I sat up and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, noticing the blood. Caroline's words flashed through my mind; Alaric's look as he handed me the box; the fire from Valerie's spell. My breathing came in rapid.

   "Clara..." It was Damon's voice that came from behind me, followed by his hand touching my back.

   "I'm fine!" I insisted, sitting up. I kept my mouth covered with the back of my hand. "I'm fine."

   Damon laid his hands on my cheeks and made me look at him. His eyes showed something I had not seen for a very long time—fear. There was a hint of fear in his eyes as his thumb rubbed circles on my cheek. "Go clean yourself up," he softly said.

   I stared up at him, shaking. My stomach churned and my throat felt clogged, as if I were choking. I felt Katherine's teeth on my neck like the night she fed on me and left me for dead; I felt the many things Mary Louise and Nora had stabbed me with; I felt Helen Otto torture me the night the spirit world was open; I felt the way Kai broke my bones. In all those happenings I had felt one things—fear. It was prominent in my very being, like my own blood.

   I shook my head. "I'm—I'm not..."

   Damon nodded. "I know," he softly said. "I know. You're okay, so just go get cleaned up."

   I hurried up the stairs, towards the bedroom I claimed as mine, and to the bathroom. I leaned against the sink and took several deep breaths, focusing on that. When I looked at the mirror, I saw the blood decorating my mouth and cheek. 

   In all the years I had been a vampire, I had never felt like that. Never had I felt my stomach in such pain, or had thrown up. The thought of it was far behind, with my human memories. It felt strange, otherworldly. I gripped the sink tightly, the porcelain cracking beneath my fingers. 

   I marched into the bedroom and searched the bed for my cellphone. The noises from downstairs became one long ring, even the way the blankets moved became one long ring. As soon as my hand touched my phone, I dialled Caroline's phone number. 

   She answered on the second ring. "Clara?"

   "I need to check." My voice shook as each word left my mouth.

   "Do you want me to bring a test over?" She answered quickly, as if she knew I would call at any moment. "I'm still in Mystic Falls, so I can come over right now!"

   "Not here," I softly said, glancing at the open door as I tried to hear what was happening downstairs.

   Caroline inhaled. "Okay, so... I'll pick you up," she said. After a moment of silence, she said, "We'll go to  Whitmore, okay? We'll have the OB/GYN test it out. It'll be easier that way and the wait will not be so dreadful!"

   Caroline talked the whole way to Whitmore, telling me about how Matt and she found about a dozen people at the Mystic Grill with IV bags hooked to them. She knew the Heretics had done that, but didn't know exactly why. Her guess was for an obvious meal. Valerie had helped her with the people, siphoning the compulsion and allowing Caroline to compel them to leave. The former sat in the back of the car, arms crossed in front of her and an unreadable expression on her face.

   "Stop the car!" I yelled, covering my mouth with my hand. As soon as she stopped the car I got out and leaned over, throwing up. Blood decorated the grass, my stomach squeezing just like it had done in the study. 

   Caroline stood over me, her hand on my back as I threw up. "It's going to be okay," she softly said. "It's all going to be okay!"

   Her positivity was admirable, but I didn't believe her. The way I felt didn't allow me to believe her. I knew, at that moment, that something was wrong.

   Caroline sped back to Whitmore, where Alaric waited for us right in front of the hospital. He had made an appointment while Caroline picked me up, with a friend of Jo's who was an OB/GYN. 

   The doctor took me in as soon as I walked in through the doors, introducing herself with a smile and shake of the hand. My ears rang, so I didn't even hear her name.

   The room where she would perform the ultrasound was dark, the only light being a small lamp in the corner and the monitor. I felt weird as I laid on the small bed, as she poured the cold gel on my stomach. 

   I had dreamed of this once: in my dream I was a human, and I was married, and I had some successful job, and everything was as ordinary as a mortal life could be. In my dream, it had been happy news that I was with child. I remember that I cried, happy tears as I smiled widely and looked at my husband. He had been a tall man, with dark hair and dark clothing. Someone too familiar. 

   "How far along are you?" the doctor asked. 

   I blinked several times and looked at her. "Uh..."

   She let out a small chuckle as she shook her head. "Okay. Well, let's have a look." She smeared the gel over my stomach with the ultrasound wand, staring at the black and blue monitor. 

   I kept my eyes on the ceiling, gripping Caroline's hand tightly. A bit more and I would have probably broken her fingers.

   "Are you sure you're pregnant?"

   I immediately looked over at the screen. "Why?" It was that small part of me that was full of hope that answered. "What's wrong?"

   "Well..." the doctor hesitated. "I'm not seeing one baby, let alone two."

   A breath of relief escaped my lips. "You're absolutely sure?"

   The doctor gave me a gentle smile as she continued to move the wand around my stomach. "Twins would be hard to miss," she said. "I don't hear any heartbeats either." She laid the wand down on a small table and gave me another small smile, before looking over at Alaric. "I'm sorry if you were informed otherwise. I'll give you some time alone."

   I glanced over at Alaric as soon as the doctor left the room. He held a face of disdain as he stared at the monitor, arms crossed in front of him. 

   "I'm sorry."

   He shook his head, eyes cast down to his shoes. "No, I'm sorry. I've been do desperate to believe this was actually true... I, uh... Er... I'm really sorry that I put you through this."

   I stayed quiet as I continued to stare at him. The Alaric I knew had always been a broken man, but the one that stood by my side was completely broken. His face was solemn, with dark spots beneath his eyes and a bit of his skin sticking to his bones. The stench of alcohol came from his clothes strong, a sign that he had been drinking before he was called.

   He was just like me. We both knew the world was after us, preventing us from happiness. 

   The door to the room opened, and Valerie came in. She took careful steps in, stopping right by the bed with an awkward stance. "I, um, saw the doctor leave."

   "She told us you were wrong," Caroline said, her hand rubbing my shoulder. 

   A small smile appeared on Valerie's lips. "Are you sure about that?" She laid her hand over my stomach, her hands beginning to glow red. 

   I sat up and pulled away from her. "What are you doing?"

   "Trust me," Valerie softly said. She laid her hands over my stomach again, the glow becoming a brighter red.

   It took me a moment to remember that other than being a Heretic, she was a Siphoner. She could siphon magic from anything with just the touch of her hand. It was what she was doing at the moment, with her hand over my stomach.

   "Oh, my God!" Caroline gasped from besides me. She moved around the bed and grabbed the wand, immediately laying it over my stomach.

   "The spell pointed directly at you, Clara," Valerie said as the same small smile decorated her lips. "This afternoon, while I was helping Caroline, I cloaked her from Beau to protect her. Alaric's babies are the future of the coven. They would have protected them any way they could."

   I blinked and stared at the monitor as Caroline moved the wand around. My heart began to quicken as I gripped the bedding tight between my hands, eyes watering from the light of the monitor. 

   "The babies were cloaked."

   Caroline stopped the wand, a soft gasp escaping her mouth. The loud sound of heartbeats began to echo in the room. On the monitor, two small figures appeared. 

   My hands let go of the bedding as the heartbeats became the only sound I could hear. The light of the monitor blinded me as I stared at the two small figures, small arms moving around. A tear fell down my cheek as I stared, and all I could do was shake. I felt numb.

a/n: sorry it took me too long to update. and sorry for the shitty chapter.