They landed in the middle of the forest.

No more snow. There was light from a campfire nearby, and the sound of several young voices talking.

"Well," said Kai happily, "looks like there's a meal waiting for all of you, courtesy of the modern world. Follow me."

The group walked closer to the light source, and found a group of seven teenagers laughing and drinking booze, not bothering to conceal it in any way. Clearly, they had no fears of being caught.

Even better for the Heretics.

"Good evening," said Kai dramatically as they came upon the teenagers. They glanced up toward the Heretics, who had on their 1903 attire, which likely looked quite strange. Kai then extended his arms toward the group. "Bon appetit, or whatever."

The teenagers didn't stand a chance. Malcolm had been the first to launch forward, seizing the two nearest males by their shirts and baring his fangs, digging them into each of their necks, killing them almost instantly as he tore through their throats. Mary Louise had followed, snatching up one of the girls and devouring into her neck without hesitation, holding the trembling body until it ceased moving, and even then, continuing to drink all the blood she could muster up. Nora had launched herself toward one of the boys who'd tried to run away, and she'd snapped his neck quickly, laying him down before beginning to drink.

Valerie and Beau had each taken the girls nearest them, being much more gentle in their feeding, but each draining them until there was nothing left to give, leaving their bodies all pale and weak in death. Oscar had been the only one who had waited until Malcolm was done to take into his leftovers, feeding so little that it wouldn't have seemed like he was drinking at all, were it not for the smallest of slurping noises.

Beatrix had indulged, too. Typically, she didn't like the idea of indulging, but all the blood was making her too hungry. She had looked at the last boy, who was scrambling to likely dial 911 on his phone. She sped toward him and snatched the phone up, snapping it in half before grabbing his face and looking into his eyes. "Stay calm," she purred. "I don't seek to kill you." She'd let the veins rise under her eyes, and the instant her fangs protruded, she sank them into the boy's neck, moaning quietly as she began to drink, holding him steady as he trembled beneath her.

"Well, yours is the only one who's still alive," said Kai behind her after a few minutes, when she was still steadily drinking. It struck him as slightly odd that Beatrix was still feeding— usually she took her drinks fast and lasted at least two days before asking for blood again. She typically exercised a great deal of self control. "Woah— woah— Trixter, I think he's actually dying now..."

Not that Kai had anything against all the carnage. But he'd never seen Beatrix kill someone, and it was more surprising because she was being so gentle about it, feeling the boy's life slipping away without being overly violent. It was, perhaps, more unnerving that she was slowly and steadily killing him, rather than acting like a Ripper and tearing through quickly.

He watched as the boy's eyes rolled back, and Beatrix finally dropped the body, panting heavily as she wiped her mouth. "Sorry," she said quietly, realizing how much she'd let herself go. The voice in her head was really nagging... it was telling her how proud it was that she succumbed to her impulses...

"Don't apologize," said Kai indifferently. "Nothing like a good drink before we crash a wedding. Besides, I'll be doing that too, within twenty-four hours. Speaking of that—" He glanced around as the other Heretics began to clean their clothes off, removing any blood stains. "Time to get you all to your waiting place for Lily. Ready?"

None of them objected. They stole the car that the teenagers had had— a minivan likely borrowed from one of their parents to fit them all in. Kai drove, and Beatrix rode shotgun, with the Heretics comfortably in the seats, marveling at the car and speaking amongst themselves about it.

The entire ride just brought feelings of guilt and remorse for Beatrix. She was thinking about how out of it she'd been. All of those teenagers likely had parents who may not have even known that they were out camping with friends. Or perhaps, they did know, and were waiting up for them to come back.

They'd never make it home.

She felt herself wanting to cry. She could feel a change in herself and she didn't like it. She wanted to suppress it, but it was like another being was fighting against her. She couldn't control it. It was as though she slipped in and out of dissociative states, losing track of what she was doing in the moment and only remembering it in the aftermath.

"Here we are," said Kai happily when they reached a lot with several containers— the kind carried on trailers and brought in by massive ships. He put the car in park in an empty space of the lot, and beckoned for everyone to follow him out.

They headed to the only building amidst the containers, a beige-vanilla structure that was like a container in terms of texture, but longer, and without bars and logos on it. There was a door to get in, and Kai opened it, seeing it was empty.

"Perfect, this will do." He stood outside and held the door open. "You're all nice and fed. I'll make sure to give Lily the address. As soon as we get to her, we'll let her know how to find you. Just wait patiently."

"Thank you for bringing us with you," said Valerie cordially as Nora pulled Mary Louise inside. "Really, Beau and I sincerely appreciate it."

Beau nodded in agreement, casting Kai and Beatrix a smile as they went in, followed by Oscar, who was now fiddling with a Rubix cube that he must have found in the backseat of the minivan. Malcolm cast them a grudging look and a stiff nod, being the last to enter before Kai closed the door. He put his palm over the door, humming lowly before closing his eyes. "Celo abscondo praetexo, dissimulo domus aedificium letus mortem, medeis codex."

The building promptly disappeared, and Kai turned on his heel to take Beatrix's hand. "Time to go find mama Salvatore. Should we risk just going to the Salvatore house or should we do a locator spell first, to be safe?"

"Let's be safe," said Beatrix as they walked back to the car. "Who knows what her and Damon's relationship is like. I don't doubt he probably kicked her out if she posed a threat to his lovely Elena."

Kai smirked. "Oh, well, Lily won't be the one Elena needs to be wary of. Which... is funny because Elena won't see it coming when we put her to sleep."

He moved his arm to be around Beatrix as he opened the door for her and beckoned her in. He trotted to the driver's side and started the car, beginning to drive away from the warehouse district and into Mystic Falls. "You doing okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," said Beatrix out of habit, casting him a small smile. "Tired, is all. I can start the spell now, if you'd like."

"Sure," he said, taking his hands off the wheel to bring out one of the old 1903 maps. He handed it to Beatrix, who extracted a bottle of perfume that they'd found to be Lily's, and used it to start the spell, keeping the map and bottle on her lap.

"She's at the Salvatore House," said the Heretic after a short while. "That's good."

Kai grinned. "Perfect. Let's go meet Damon's mommy formally."

It quite late by the time they made it to the Salvatore Boarding House. They parked the minivan down the street, cloaking it to not draw suspicion. Beatrix went into the car's settings, thankful for modern technology that could save details regarding the time and the date. "Assuming this is correct, it's now eleven o'clock at night, on June 22nd, 2013."

"Hmm, let's try and get into the house, maybe someone wrote the wedding date on their calendar," he said, unbuckling his seat belt.

Cloaked once more, to make no noise and remain invisible, the two crept closer to the house, and carefully opened the front door, stepping in and seeing that it was mostly deserted. Beatrix paused in the front hall to listen in— they were mostly certainly home. She could hear two heartbeats upstairs, possibly Damon and his brother. There was another weaker heartbeat downstairs. All three were the barely discernible beats of vampire hearts— the kind of beats that humans couldn't feel or hear.

"She's probably the one downstairs in the basement," said Beatrix as they went into the kitchen, looking for any sort of calendar. They found a stack of post-its instead, next to an invitation for the wedding.

Kai held it up triumphantly. "This is even better. Join us for Alaric Saltzman and Josette Laughlin's wedding... blah... blah... blah— ooh! June 23rd, 2013. It's in the afternoon— perfect. We got here just on time." He went over to where someone had left their phone out. "Even better! It is June 22nd. We're good. Tomorrow, all action." He offered her his hand. "Shall we go to our room?"

She smiled. "Yes, we shall. It's funny how we call it our room when really, it's not, because we don't own the house. But it's nice to pretend."

They hadn't slept much that night. Albeit tired, they'd not hesitated to crawl into each other's arms and celebrate being back in the real world. There was a moment that Beatrix found herself wondering how it'd be once Kai was a Heretic. For a human, his stamina was impressive, and she couldn't imagine what it might be like once he had strength and emotion like never before.

They'd woken up early in the morning, listening to the sounds of many voices downstairs. Beatrix had pressed her ear to the ground. Damon and Stefan were not home. But there were four women talking at one point, and she beckoned for Kai to follow her out the door quickly, creeping down to the wine cellar, where they found Lily in her cell, crouched down.

"Lily," said Beatrix quietly as she let down her and Kai's concealment spell. The vampire looked up in shock as they opened the door and stepped in with her quickly, going against the far corner so anyone who passed by wouldn't see them.

"I remember you," she said, a crazed look on her face. "You both got left behind."

"Yeah, that fucking sucked," said Kai, leaning back against the wall. "But, we got out. And guess what? We brought your Heretics with us."

Lily straightened up, eyes wide. "What? You— you brought my family back?"

"Yes," said Beatrix, watching Lily's eyes light up, her face almost flushed with color. "They're at 1702 route 12. Keep that memorized. We'll help you get out and see them. But... we require some information first."

"Anything," said Lily immediately, coming closer to them, and ceasing to speak for a few moments as she ran her tongue rapidly over her chapped lips. "I just want my family back. That's all I've ever wanted, to have my family back, with me, where they belong."

Beatrix did not answer. She brought her finger to her lips, taking Kai's hand to cloak them again as she heard nearing footsteps.

"What?" she heard Bonnie's familiar voice call. She sensed her nearing the door to the cellar, and looking into the bars. While Lily was not concealed, Bonnie couldn't see her due to the angle where she was.

Lily sneered at the sound of her voice, and sped to the door, seizing Bonnie's throat the instant she turned around. Both Kai and Beatrix watched gleefully as Bonnie slammed herself back into the door and shoved Lily back before sprinting upstairs.

"Close call," said Lily, venom laced in her tone. "She destroyed the Ascendant when I wanted to get back into the prison world to get all of you out. I want her to suffer."

Kai smirked as he and Beatrix made themselves visible again. "Well, we want her to suffer too. We need any information you can give us about this... impending wedding."

Lily thought for a moment. "I heard them speaking just before you came in— Stefan and Damon won't be back until much later— Damon is wanting to become a human with Elena. She took the cure."

Beatrix found herself grinning maliciously. "Oh, is that so? That'll make our plan so much more interesting..."

"Yes. The bride is upstairs getting ready— Elena and Bonnie were helping her, and the blonde called Caroline was here earlier as well, but she left to set the venue up because the wedding planner called in sick. The bride is very... anxious, it seems. I overheard her discussing that she was feeling a tad unwell, because of the twins."

Kai went rigid. "Excuse me?"

Lily glanced at him in a motherly way. "Oh, yes. I found out not too long ago that she was having twins. I was the one who told her."

There was a look of pure glee in Kai's eyes, followed with a wicked sort of smile. "So... Jo's having twins," he said, rubbing his hands together. "How perfect. Well, I'll have to make sure we kill those little brats before we get underway with killing the Gemini Coven. That shouldn't be too hard."

"You've been quite helpful with this information, Lily," said Beatrix with a smile. "Kai, let's go on upstairs. I have an idea that might help us clear the house out..."

They left Lily in her cell for the time being, and still cloaked, moved up to find Elena helping Bonnie to cover up the bruises on her neck with makeup. Bonnie looked distressed, which clearly left both Kai and Beatrix looking pleased.

"What happens when the crazy stage is over?" Bonnie was murmuring, presumably regarding Lily.

"Well, Stefan said that he has a plan," said Elena. "You know, to get her back on track."

"Does that plan involve letting her out?" said Bonnie worriedly. "Because if he thnks she's giing up on her family...."

Elena frowned. "She has to. Bonnie, you already destroyed the Ascendant."

"What if there's a loophole?" Bonnie murmured, which made Kai stifle a laugh. Thankfully, the silencing spell was still around them. "Oh, if only she knew..." he murmured as the bride-to-be stepped into the room.

"I'm dreading it, but I guess I should think about putting the dress on," said Jo, wringing her hands together. However, she saw the worried looks on Bonnie and Elena's faces, and her face went pale. "Something's wrong. It's not the dress, is it? Please tell me it's not the dress."

Elena shook her head quickly. "We were just discussing the fact that there's a desiccating vampire locked in a cell less than fifty feet from where we're getting ready."

Jo raised an eyebrow. "Did she do something to the dress?"

"The dress is fine," said Bonnie, standing up. "I'm just being paranoid."

The door opened behind them, and a blond boy came in. "Okay, truck's here, who's coming?" When none of the women answered immediately, he elaborated. "Caroline suggested in a semi-threatening way that I pick up the centerpieces, which sounds like a Donovan screw-up waiting to happen."

"I'll come," said Bonnie eagerly as the boy shot her a thumbs-up. They both left the room, and Jo sighed. "I need to use the restroom. Again." She left the room, looking quite anxious.

"Aw, poor Josette," said Kai rather mockingly. "Guess carrying twins sucks."

"You would not believe how many of the mothers I treated before would say how they really wished that they weren't having twins," Beatrix snorted, the two observing Elena downing a full glass of champagne.

"We need to get them out of the house, right?" murmured Kai as he leaned on Beatrix. "I think maybe, you should try something that might make Jo need to go to the hospital, or something. Don't kill the twins just yet. Any ideas?"

"Er— I can send her into a panic attack. She might pass out, considering how stressed she already looks."

"Perfect," he said, popping the 'p.' "Do that when she comes back."

The two then went silent as Elena's phone began to ring. "I'm on my third glass, so speak slowly," she said to the person on the other line.

"You know how you and I were both worried that he didn't think this through?" said an unfamiliar voice— maybe Stefan. "He thought it through."

Elena let out a laugh. "It's Damon. He didn't."

"He's ready to do this, Elena. He's got your perfect little life all planned out."

"I want the perfect human life with him, too, Stefan! Trust me. But life isn't perfect. Okay, look— you have a few more hours, so push him. Make him see that."

Stefan hung up, and Elena sighed, starting to fill herself another cup.

"Hey, remember when you were pacing yourself?" said Jo as she came back into the room.

"Heh, I do," Elena responded. "Right before I told my ex-boyfriend how to get my current boyfriend to give up hope for our relationship. What if I made a huge mistake by taking the cure?"

Jo plucked the glass out of Elena's hands before she could drink it. "The only mistake you made was that last glass of champagne. I'm gonna go make some coffee before you spiral through the earth to China."

"Yeah, okay," chuckled Elena. Beatrix took this as her opportunity. When Jo started to walk away, she waved her hands, murmuring a spell quietly and flicking her wrist in a circular motion before pointing at Jo.

She stumbled, and leaned onto the piano beside her, letting the glass of champagne fall to the floor and shatter.

"Jo, are you okay?" said Elena immediately, turning to face her.

"Nescius," whispered Beatrix.

Jo crumpled down, hitting her head onto the piano as she fell, completely unconscious. "Hey— Jo! Jo— Jo— Jo!" cried Elena, sprinting over to check on her. She looked conflicted, like she wasn't sure what to do. But after a few seconds, she dug her phone out of her pocket and dialed 911. "Hello? I need an ambulance— Salvatore Boarding House. I have a woman pregnant with twins who just collapsed, and she's unresponsive."

"Paramedics are on their way," said the male dispatcher's voice. "Stay on the line with me, alright? Is she breathing?"

"Boring!" said Kai as Elena started to respond. "Nice touch, Beatrix, that was fun to watch."

But she wasn't really listening to him. More guilt had washed over her. This was absurd. She, a previous OB/Gyn, had just made a pregnant woman pass out for no good reason. It was cruel, and it was so unlike her that it made her sway a bit.

"Let's go find what to wear for the wedding," said Kai, not noticing anything as he pulled her toward the stairs. "I'll raid Damon's closet, see what I find. Maybe that Elena chick left a dress or something behind, you know? You could probably fit into one of her dresses."

"Yeah, sure," said Beatrix blankly as she followed him upstairs.

She found a dress in one of the closets. It would need adjustment, but it was fancy enough for a wedding, a gorgeous forest green that fell to her ankles and rose in a halter to fashion, which she liked.

It wasn't long after that they heard the ambulance arrive, and within minutes, the house was completely silent.

Kai started to whistle from the other room, and came in as Beatrix finished getting dressed. He hadn't chosen to wear a tie, but he looked perfectly fine with a dress shirt and suit. "Voila, I look amazing, and so do you," he said, making a motion as if he was taking a picture of her. "Once you get yourself some shoes, meet me downstairs. I'm going to let Lily out."

"Sure," she replied with a small smile.

But her hands were shaking as she spoke. When he left, she had to stumble back a bit to sit down on the nearest surface, holding her head in her hands. She glanced up at the mirror across the room, and almost didn't recognize herself, even though her face was unchanged.

"I'm fine," she murmured to herself. "Perfectly fine. Just need... sleep... or something. I'm being paranoid and dramatic..."

She stood and walked toward the vanity, and looked at herself properly, waving her hand to adorn her face with makeup and do her hair. A simple illusion spell so that she wouldn't look trashy. She found shoes in the closet and went down the stairs, trying to focus on her breathing.

By then, Kai was on the sofa, holding a camcorder. "Lily left rather quickly. Guess she really is eager to see those Heretics. Look what I found?" he held the device up and wiggled it in the air. "Care to leave a message for Bonnie?"

And just like that, the sadistic smile was back on Beatrix's face. "Hell yeah."