[*Prologue - Part Two*]

"Darcy!" Miranda Gilbert calls upstairs to her eldest daughter, idling by the front door, adorned in her dressing gown and slippers, keys in hand at the ready.

Darcy was in the process of slipping on her leather jacket, about to head out and pick up her sister, Elena, after she missed several calls when her mother called. She throws it on, glancing longingly at her comfy bed and pads out into the hallway, pausing at the top of the staircase and seeing her mother's frazzled appearance.

"Yeah, everything okay?" she asks, raising a plucked eyebrow.

"Elena snuck out and went to the party...after we told her no, she wants us to pick her up...something about Matt and a fight. I couldn't hear over her slurred speech and that awful loud music blasting down my ears," Miranda said, rolling her eyes.

Tonight was a typical game night; every Friday, the Gilberts would set up a few board games, kick up on the Xbox and have a good laugh. But Elena, as usual, was being a whinge bag and moaning about making out with Matt and wanting to go to the end of school party in the forest.

Drunk Elena was not fun to deal with; imagine babysitting a child. Yeah, she turns into a snot-nosed spoilt brat. Darcy skips down the stairs, slipping on her black calf-length combat boots over her skinny black jeans and continues through to the lounge, roughing up her little brother's hair and kissing Aunt Jenna's cheek, who paused the game was playing on the Xbox, tuning into their talk.

Picking up her car keys off the kitchen counter, she rolls her eyes. "What's with that girl and not following instructions? She called me too, wanting to be picked up. Also, they need to call it quits already. I'm getting fed up with being Matt's wing-woman."

Seriously, she's getting fed up being brought into their fights. Just because she's Matt's best friend doesn't mean she has to get dragged into their arguments.

"We can go together. Your Dad's waiting in the car," Miranda said, anxious about the idea of her daughter driving off after her drunk sister.

Jeremy pulls the drapes back from the window, revealing a thick mist hovering over Mystic Falls. "Yeah, I agree with Mum. You can't drive out in that. It's not safe."

Darcy skips over to her baby brother, and a fond grin tugs at her red-stained lips. She pinches his cheeks, causing Jeremy to groan and slap her hands away. "Aw, Jer, it's my job to look out for you, not the other way round."

"Fine, but stay close behind, okay?" Miranda relents, knowing she can't win against Darcy. "Come on, we better go. Your dad's waiting in the car."

"Alright, I'm coming. Wait until I get my hands on the little cow."

"Don't hurt her, Darcy," her mother warns.

"I won't...not much," she smirks, escaping her mother's attempt at smacking her up the head. She pauses at the threshold, shouting out to her aunt, who sneakily made her way into the kitchen, hoping to be undetected.

"Jenna! Don't touch my cookies."

There was a pause before she replied. "... I'm not," Jenna said, voice sound muffled.

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Darcy shoves Elena into the back of their parent's SUV. "Stay there and be a good girl. Can't be hard, right?" Turning to her parents, she tells them she'll follow them home and slams the door, heading to her black Range Rover.

Darcy sings along to the music blaring through the speakers as she cuts across the Wickery Bridge, past the looming presence of the darkened trees. A thick mist over descends, causing her to squint through her windscreen to keep track of the brake lights of her parent's car up ahead. Darcy hits the brakes hard as something big and black flashes in front of her. Her breath catches as the tail end of the car skids across the asphalt. She comes to a sudden halt, glimpsing the back of her parent's car flying into the lake.

"No, no, fuck, shit!" Darcy screams. A choking sound escapes her throbbing throat.

She leaps out of the car, ignoring the shooting pain in her side, darting towards the lake. At the same time, Darcy does not see the person on the other side of the lake diving after the submerged car.

The figure removes Elena from the car, swimming to the surface, dropping her before returning to the parents.

Darcy does not hesitate to gulp in a breath and dive in and swim to the bottom of the lake. She pushes through the growing ache in her lungs as she appears at the bonnet, peering into the cracked windscreen. She already knows Miranda is dead by the pale face and vacant eyes, staring lifelessly into nothingness. Next to her, Darcy's heart beats rapidly, seeing her dad, eyes bulging, fighting to free himself from the confinements of the seat belt. Her lungs clench as her desperate eyes search for her sister. Panic rises upon seeing she's not in the backseat and the lake's current flowing through the smashed window.

No, no, Elena!

Darcy swims over to the driver's door tugging at the handle. The first few tries, she's unsuccessful. Overcome with fierce determination, she drives her elbow into the window, breaking the glass. She winces through gritted teeth and reaches in, unlocking the door from the inside.

She wastes no time unclipping the seat belt, then freezes as a pair of arms push her out of the way- and pulls out Greyson's slumped form. Her pulse rockets before she latches around her father's mid-waist, the heavy weight lifting as the mystery person kicks up, surfing the lake, and drags them over to the bank.

Forgetting her lack of oxygen in her burning lungs, she drops to her knees, peering over Greyson's lifeless pale face and blue-tinged lips. She slaps his face. "No, Dad, come on! We got this far. We're not giving up now."

Tears slide down her face. Darcy knows he's gone, she can feel it in her gut, but that does not stop her from resuscitating her father. She's just seen her mother lose the light in her eyes, and she could not bear it if she lost her best friend. Darcy knows she should check on her sister, but somehow her subconscious tells her she's in safe hands and focuses on crashing her hands on her father's chest, inhaling a deep breath, and starting mouth-to-mouth.

A good ten minutes pass before she feels a hand rest on her shoulder. A gentle, masculine voice whispers through the night air. "He's gone."

She looks up, meeting a handsome face and forest green eyes. "I'm sorry I have to do this, but it has to be done," the ring around the young man's eyes dilate, and she's forced against her will to lock contact. "You will not remember this. Your parents and sister had an accident. You managed to save your sister, but unfortunately not your parents."

"I will not remember this," Darcy repeats in a monotone voice.

She blinks, and he's gone, left staring down at her father's lifeless eyes. A scream bursts free from its restraints, chest hacking with aching loud cries, breathing choppy as she lays her head on his chest, hugging him. "No, no, no! You can't be gone. Dad! Please... I can't do this without you. How am I supposed to protect them without my best friend by my side?" she sniffed, lifting off his chest, and gazed at the opaque, starless sky. She did not care for her soaked clothes plastered to her cold skin. A spark of determination lit up her icy blue eyes, merging with the flame licking at her veins. A robust surge of fierce encouragement aroused in her bones. She stood up tall, gazing down at her best friend.

"But know this, Dad, I will protect them until my last exhaling breath."

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🖤 Let me know your thoughts by voting and commenting. I would love to hear what you think and how I could improve myself! 🖤

Hey, guys! I know it has been a while, but don't worry, Darcy will be back soon! Five more chapters until the end of season one. Whilst I'm also finishing up the book, The Protectress will be going under refurbishment and a severe edit. See that little sticker on the new cover? Nothing drastic will change, just a few tweaks in the plot and fix-up within the grammar xD