The burdens of family

21

Arkyn tested the boundary spell again. He tried to walk through the barrier. It was like walking through a cement sludge. Moving to the other side of the room he ran to the door, not stopping at the boundary. It took him a while to get through but he knew he couldn't stop. Blood started flowing out of his nose, and then his eyes. Once he was on the other side, he could feel the boundary pulling him back, and knew the moment he stopped resisting, he'd snap right back into the room. He wiped away the blood and noted his surroundings. He was in Mystic Falls, not far from his home. He found his way back and walked in.
"Ark?" Xavier noticed him. "Oh, God. What the hell happened to you?"
"Boundary spell."
"What the hell?"
"Elijah had me in a boundary spell. I told you that. No time for science lessons. Can you release me from the spell?"
"Yeah, I can try." Arkyn walked forward and laid down on the sofa.
"Where's Lex?"
"I dropped her off at school in the morning. She's not back yet."
"Okay. Good. I don't want her to see me like this."
"I can't imagine the resolve it would take to overcome a boundary spell. It's like walking through eight layers of brick wall."
"It's not really so bad. An original perk. It can't kill me so it's bearable."
"It's fatal?" Xavier asked.
"Not for me. You find the spell yet?"
"Still looking. How long can you hold on?"
"However long necessary. What happened after I sped Lex out?"
"We waited for Elena, before leaving. The Salvatore brothers caught up to us halfway. Said you killed Elijah?"
"I staked him. Figured we needed to talk in private. So I told them I'd take care of him. Then I took him to an abandoned warehouse. And we fought. He had his warlock put me in a boundary spell."
"So you just walked out?"
"I had to use my speed to pass the boundary spell."
"So your solution to getting past a, let's say heavy wall, was to run through it?"
"A boundary spell is like a wall with an elastic band around it. I can get through it, but until I can break it, I'm always going to be pulled back."
"Are you sure you're not in agony? Sounds painful."
"I'm fine, Xave. Promise. Like I said perks of being an original." Arkyn shrugged.
"Yeah, whatever." Xavier flicked through a grimoire. "Found a spell. Have you done this before? Gone through a boundary spell?"
"Once." Xavier started walking around the room, to get the ingredients he needed.
"So that's why it's in my mom's grimoire?"
"Yeah." Arkyn smiled. "She was always taking care of me."
"How'd you get stuck with a boundary spell back then?"
"Your grandmother, actually. She found out your mom was friends with me. This was a when she was about seventeen. We had a secret friendship for years. Anyways, so your grandmother looked at me and saw only a vampire. She hated vampires with a passion. So she kept me away in a boundary spell until she could get your mother away from me. Then I got a call from your mother. She got into an argument with her mom about me and tried to go for a drive to clear her head, but it was raining and she was upset and she'd been in a crash. She was terrified and hurt. I couldn't let her just die."
"You saved her."
"She saved me, Xave." Arkyn smiled. He looked up and saw that Xavier was crushing ingredients together.
"Okay, stay quiet. I'm going to need to concentrate for this bit." Arkyn nodded and laid back down. Xavier handed him a potion. "Drink this." Arkyn took the bowl and downed it. Xavier started chanting, his hands hovering over Arkyn's body. A few minutes later, he stopped. "Done."
"Thanks." Arkyn let out a sigh.
"Arkyn." Xavier started.
"Yeah?"
"This time you gotta fight back. Lex and I will be right beside you."
"You guys come first, Xavier. I don't want you to get hurt or worse because of me."
"We'll be okay. We'll keep ourselves safe. Just as long as you keep yourself safe too."
"My siblings... they're complicated."
"Give us a chance. Give yourself a chance. If it gets more dangerous, then we'll... revisit the idea of moving. Deal?"
"That's the best I'll get isn't it?" Arkyn sighed.
"Pretty much, yeah." Xavier nodded.
"You and your sister are gonna be the death of me." Arkyn sat up.
"So you gonna let the Salvatores know Elijah's alive?"
"That is if they don't already know. It's been two days I think."
"Since we last saw you? Yeah, it has."
"Elijah's probably made his move by now." Arkyn got his phone out.
"Calling your girlfriend?"
"Yeah." He put his phone to his ear, as it rang. She didn't pick up. "I'll try her again later."
"Lex should be back by now." Xavier frowned. Arkyn nodded and dialled her. She didn't pick up either.
"She's not picking up either."
"Do you think she's..?" Xavier trailed off.
"Locator spell." Arkyn said. Xavier nodded and got to work flicking through the grimoire he already had in his hands. It took him a couple minutes.
"She's down in some caves. With Bonnie. And Elena. Wait, no, Katherine. The younger Salvatore. And a boy next to Katherine. Ark, she's doing a spell. Something to do with a powerful boundary spell." Xavier said, frantically. "Ark- you know Lex isn't good with boundary spells."
"I know where that is." Arkyn grabbed Xavier and sped down to the caves, but he was a little late. Alexis and Bonnie lay passed out on the floor. Arkyn rushed to Alexis. "Lex!" He said, before noticing Bonnie on the other side of him. "Bonnie!"
"What happened?" Xavier asked.
"We needed the moonstone. Jeremy tried to get it out from Katherine, but she got him." Stefan explained. "Lex and Bonnie tried to open the barrier but it didn't work."
"She's a vampire. Why would you let him?" Xavier said furiously and Alexis and Bonnie sat up gasping.
"Ark." Alexis smiled. "You're back."
"And you're grounded." He sighed in relief.
"What?"
"Are you okay, Bonnie?" He said, touching her shoulder.
"It didn't work." She said. "I'm not strong enough. Even with help, I can't do it."
"Ahhh, that's too bad," Katherine taunted. "I'm still hungry." She grabbed Jeremy's shirt and pushed him up against the wall. She got ready to bite his neck. Arkyn sped into the tomb, and pushed Jeremy out, holding Katherine against a wall. It seemed as though Stefan had the same idea, only he was a little late. Jeremy fell onto the ground and Alexis knelt down and wrapped her arms around him.
"Ark!" Xavier yelled, following after him.
"Xavier, get out of here."
"What the hell?!" Xavier said. "You just-?"
"I know. I'll be fine."
"I used my strength up earlier. I can't lift the spell."
"I know. Just take your sister and Bonnie home."
"I'll be back tomorrow."
"Not for a week, at the very least, Xavier." Arkyn said sternly. He looked at Bonnie. "Give us a couple seconds, please?"
"Fine." Xavier said.
"Thanks." He heard Alexis whisper. He gave her a small smile. Arkyn watched as Xavier, Alexis and Jeremy walked out.
"Why would you do that?" Stefan asked.
"Why would you?" He countered. "I can survive in here a lot easier than Jeremy. For one, I cannot be killed. My brother's not dead."
"What?"
"Elijah. I staked him, but we're originals. A simple stake to the heart kills us temporarily. We revive."
"How?"
"An original has all sorts of special skills." He said. "Like a vampire with a broken neck."
"So what can kill you?"
"Nothing."
"Werewolf bite?"
"As if. How do you think he survived Mason's bite?" Katherine scoffed and Arkyn snapped her neck annoyed with her.
"Stefan. Could you... go deeper in the caves for a sec?"
"Sure." Stefan nodded at Bonnie's request.
"He bit you?" She asked and Arkyn nodded. "You lied."
"I didn't want you to ask questions about what other perks an original has." He admitted.
"Why not?" She crosses her arms.
"Because you would have asked so many questions. Questions that would have led to you finding out about Klaus. Your grams didn't want you to know, and I figured the less people who know about Elena's doppelgänger properties, the less likely Klaus or Elijah would find this town."
"Grams knew?"
"Yeah." Arkyn nodded.
"How many more things did you lie about?"
"I've omitted a few truths. And I'll tell you all about it, as soon as we're out of here."
"I'm holding you to that." He went as far forward as the boundary spell would allow him.
"And where does that leave us?"
"You haven't completely screwed up your chances yet." She said.