"No. No, this... this is a nightmare. Tell me it's a nightmare," 

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

Clarissa opened her eyes to the low lighting of a hospital room. 

The bed under her was uncomfortable, and the steady beep of a monitor by her head told her all she needed to know about where she was.

A quiet sniffling caught her attention, and she glanced to the side to see Caroline in a chair beside the bed.

The blonde did her best to remain strong, but her silent tears gave her away.

Clarissa's expression fell, recognizing what was happening, tears gathering in her eyes. 

Stars, why did she have to see this again? Why did she have to remember it?

Faith and Harmony looked at their mother, their eyes sad. 

They hated that she had to see it, but they had no other choice. 

It was important for them to know.

Seeing Clarissa awake caused her tears to flow even quicker, and she reached to wipe them away, taking the brunette's hand, squeezing it tightly in hers. 

"Thank god you're awake," the Forbes girl breathed out, her voice thick with unshed tears. "I was so worried,"

Confusion and worry filled Clarissa's expression as she glanced down at herself, taking in the tubes and wires connected to her body. "What... what happened?"

It was a horrifying sight.

Caroline took a deep, shaky breath, trying to compose herself before she started speaking. "You were in a car accident. Elena's okay, but your parents... they didn't make it,"

The mention of her parents caused a sharp pain to shoot through her entire body. The memories rushed in as did the feeling of water filling her lungs.

"No. No, this... this is a nightmare. Tell me it's a nightmare," Clarissa begged her best friend, tears starting to sting in her eyes.

But Caroline couldn't do that. She wouldn't do that to her. "I'm sorry,"

Her parents were gone.

Elena was hurt.

The weight of it was too much to bear for her.

"What about me?" Clarissa asked quietly, her voice hoarse. "What happened to me?"

The blonde took a deep breath, her eyes filled with sadness. "Clary, your... your heart stopped beating for a few minutes but the doctors were able to revive you. You've been in a coma for a few days,"

Clarissa's eyes widened in shock and disbelief.

She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"I...I died?" she asked, her voice barely more than a whisper.

The thought was too strange, too surreal to fully comprehend.

Caroline nodded, her own eyes welling up with fresh tears.

"Yes," the blonde whispered, her words choked with emotions. "You died, but they brought you back. You're here, that's all that matters right now,"

Clarissa coughed, holding back the urge to vomit as she woke abruptly. 

She slid off the bed, choking on sobs, tears streaming down her face, pain and sorrow filling her heart.

Reaching to turn on her bedside lamp, she flinched when she accidentally touched the light bulb and it burst. 

"That's not normal," Caroline observed, earning shakes of heads in confirmation. 

"No, it definitely isn't," Clarissa replied, confused as to what happened.

As the door quietly creaked open, the brunette girl stealthily entered the room and slipped into bed.

"What's wrong, Clee?" Jenna drowsily inquired, enveloping her in a tender embrace.

Without uttering a word, she cuddled closer to Jenna's chest, her breath quivering with suppressed emotion.

Jenna, sensing her troubled state, only held her tighter, silently providing solace as they both fell asleep.

Clarissa leaned her head on Jenna's shoulder, the latter wrapping her arms around her niece.

Clarissa was not usually the one who left without informing anyone of her whereabouts, but on that particular day, something had changed.

The nightmare had caused a sense of dread within her, which had led to a feeling of desperation. And this desperation had ignited her determination to find answers to her burning questions.

Katherine lifted her head, a subtle smirk playing at the corners of her lips. "Hello, Izzy," she greeted, her gaze fixated on the figure before her.

"Seriously? Her," Damon said, turning to the doppelganger who only shrugged, smiling.

Clarissa tossed a bag across the boundary, her back resting against the stone wall, keeping a distance from the other side. "There's blood, clothes for four days, depending on how often you change them, and a book about the Petrova history," she explained, her gaze fixed on Katherine.

Katherine raised an eyebrow, but couldn't help herself and reached for the bag, retrieving a bloodbag. "There's something you want from me,"

"That's true. But I don't need to offer you anything in return for it," Clarissa nodded, a low hum of confirmation escaping her lips. "Why did you try to warn Damon that we were in danger?"

Katherine paused, her expression thoughtful before responding, "Believe it or not, you're less naive and irritating than Elena. So I thought I'd give you a heads up,"

"Gee, that's a huge compliment, especially coming from you," Clarissa chuckled, glancing at Katherine for a moment before returning to the screen.

Clarissa couldn't help but scoff at Katherine's response. "You have such a way with words, Katherine. Your sentiment and kindness really warms my heart," she remarked sarcastically.

The vampire merely smirked, continuing to gulp down the bloodbag.

"But seriously, why go through the trouble?" the younger brunette inquired, her curiosity piqued as she crossed her arms.

Katherine set the now empty bloodbag down. "It's not because I care about you, and it's not because I want something from you," she stated bluntly.

"That told me absolutely nothing," Clarissa mused before sighing. "Fine, I won't press the issue,"

Katherine chuckled lightly, amused by Clarissa's resignation. "Wise choice," she replied, her tone laced with a hint of tease. There was a brief moment of silence, the air thick with unspoken words and tension.

"So, I suppose you have questions for me?" Katherine finally broke the silence, an eyebrow raising expectantly.

"Can't handle the silence, Kitty Kat?" Clarissa questioned, tilting her head slightly, her voice teasing.

Katherine rolled her eyes at the nickname, but a smirk played at her lips. "I can handle silence just fine. And I don't need a childish nickname," she retorted, unable to mask the hint of amusement in her voice.

Clarissa chuckled, shaking her head. "Yet you gave me a nickname," the brunette replied, smiling slightly. "But you get points for originality,"

Katherine smirked at the response, her eyes gleaming mischievously. "That's because 'Clarissa' is such a mouthful," she retorted, her tone laced with a hint of mockery.

Clarissa hummed in response, completely calm and unfazed by the teasing. "Well, I guess I'll get going. You'd only talk in circles and waste my time anywat," she mused, turning around to walk away.

Katherine watched as Clarissa started to leave, a mix of emotions briefly flickering across her face before she sighed. "Wait," 

The doppelganger stopped in her tracks, a small smile tugging on her lips. 

Gotcha 

Clarissa turned around, her expression schooled into a calm one. 

Katherine let out a huff before taking a moment to compose herself, her gaze hardening. "Sit. You're not going anywhere yet," she ordered, her tone leaving no room for argument. "What do you want to know?"

"What can you tell me about the Originals?"

Faith and Grace smiled at their mother's cleverness.

No wonder their father had fallen for her the way he had.

She was perfect.

Clarissa sighed, closing her eyes, and running her fingers through her hair.

"So, we are bonding over both surviving death?" Caroline asked, trying to remain positive.

Clarissa had came to her after her talk with Katherine and came clean about having a nightmare, which meant the two were having quality time.

"No, we are bonding because we are best friends," Claire replied before she paused. "And because we cheated death,"

"On the other hand, what do we want to watch? We have The Notebook, Clueless, Legally Blonde," she continued, looking through the movies, a thoughtful expression on her face. "Princess Diaries, Devil Wears Prada, or, my personal favorite, 10 Things I Hate About You. But I'm biased, so you pick,"

"10 Things I hate About You," Caroline said, speeding forward to grab the movie, earning a laugh from the brunette. "This is your day, so we're watching your favorite,"

"I love you,"

"I love you too,"

Clarissa and Caroline smiled at each other, their hands intertwined.

The Gilbert girl stood outside, the rain drenching her to the bone.

But then, a strange sensation washed over her, and suddenly she was bombarded with flashes of fragmented conversations.

She clutched her head, overwhelmed by the intensity of the voices that seemed to invade her mind.

"It's down my elbow and across my collarbone,"

"And so I shall,"

"We're supposed to be a family,"

"You've heard of us, fantastic,"

"Time to wake up, little sister," 

The voices continued to swirl together, snippets of words blending into an even more confusing mess.

"Will you stop throwing things at me?"

"Hello, my sweet girl,"

"Time for a speech,"

"Hello, darling,"

With each passing second she felt as if she was losing her grip on reality, the voices growing louder and more insistent. 

She tried to make sense of it, struggling to comprehend the barrage of words flooding her mind.

"How could you do this to me?"

"You almost killed me,"

Clarissa was consumed by the overwhelming emotions that accompanied each phrase, each sentence a sharp knife slicing through her already fragile state of mind.

"No!"

"Come back, please come back,"

Then, she felt a tug at her consciousness, a pull back to reality. But just as the sounds were dying down, one voiced echoed through her mind.

"Find me,"

A familiar yet unfamiliar voice, a command, a plea.

The rain continued to fall, and the brunette stood there, drenched and shivering, as the strange voices haunted her mind.

"Who?" Clarissa whispered, her eyes scanning the surroundings for any sense of direction.

But there was only rain, rain, and more rain.

"Find me," it repeated.

Clarissa watched the screen in confusion, her brows furrowing. 

Who was she supposed to find?