A/N: Hurray, a quick update! Don't get used to it. Thank you for your kind reviews in the last chapter, special shout-out to Steroccola for leaving a sweet comment on my tumblr as well as clairegleek and the Guest commenter for leaving a review in my last chapter.

"Another dimension," Caroline repeated Kane's words back to him, her tongue carefully running over each vowel as she tried to understand what that meant. "like another reality?" It sounded more like a statement than question, but her eyes still questioned his.

"I could stand here and explain parallel universes and shifts in reality to you, but then we'd miss the rising and would have to wait for the next midnight to come around." He gestured to the people in the room. "As you can see, we planned for tonight."

"You're summoning some creature from another dimension!? That's what this is about?"

"You still don't get it, little girl." Kane grunted in frustration, running his callous fingers over his scruffy facial hair in thought. "Everyone in this room, other than you two, is from another dimension, another planet called 'KreiLoa'." He looked away from her confusion, lost in his own memories as he explained.

Stefan exchanged glances with the blonde, matching astonishment captured in both sets of eyes.

"Many years ago there was a war among two planets in that dimension. One of those planets was the one we fare from, KreiLoa, and this war ended with a…a bomb. It caused a collapse of civilization and a rift in time, a hole in the universe. Many of our people were thrown through these rips, these portals because of the paranormal surge caused by the bomb… And we ended up here in your dimension, on your planet. The king of our planet, our master Priestley is looking to rebuild the society we once were but he cannot do it in our home dimension and he needs our help."

"What does any of that have to do with Caroline?" Stefan snapped, eager for Kane to get to the point. He had hoped by explaining his story, Kane would have answered any and all questions regarding this ritual and the purpose of Caroline marrying some thing from some other universe. Instead, he found himself further slipping out of his sanity and any logic he previously thought he knew about the world was sucked in a drain. He had never even considered the possibility of other dimensions, other creatures and beings he didn't understand. They were supposed to be myths. Just like werewolves, Stefan grumbled to himself, remembering a time where he didn't believe those were real either.

"Do you know what a prophecy is?" Kane skewered Stefan with a harsh stare, angry with him for his sharp interruption. "It's a foretelling, a prediction of something that's to come. But it isn't uncertain, it's definite. It's something that was written into destiny and meant to take place, something ordered to come to be by something much higher and more powerful than you and I." He glanced upwards to emphasize his point.

"You're just a religious fanatic, for all we know none of this is even real!" Kane was offended by Caroline's remark, clenching his fists instinctively. "If you're from another universe why are you and your people vampires?"

"We were bound to the physical laws of this plane. This human form that we took on would be unable to contain the power we harness in our own world. We're much stronger in our own world." He smirked, a glint of smugness in his sharp eyes. Everything he said came out as smooth as a sugar coated lie, making it almost impossible to distinguish his deception from the truth. "The witches that worship Priestley are also meant to have more magic, but as it is for us it is for them."

"Kane," Magdalen called. "It's time."

"Prep her," Kane waved his hand toward Caroline.

"Whoa," Stefan made a quick move to stand in front of his shackled friend, "for what?"

Kane sighed gruffly, "What language am I speaking here?" He adjusted his coat, flattening his large hands over the leathery surface. "I told you, Caroline is destined, prophesied, and meant to wed Priestley. Because she carries his mark, his claim…her blood can be used to bring him to this dimension, where he can arise as the king once more. We will take this world with force."

"I'm sorry, you want to use me to take over the world?" Caroline squeaked, disbelief written across her face. She didn't believe it, couldn't believe it. There was no way they held that much power, and there was no way any of this was true. She didn't have to worry about marrying some disgusting creature from another universe because it wasn't going to happen. "I get that you people are clearly way way into your religion and all that, but don't you think you're taking it a bit too far? Honoring what you believe in, sure that's cool. Sacrificing an innocent vampire to a make believe king by throwing her in a pit of sand? Too far."

Stefan squinted his eyes tightly, anticipating the backlash Kane would send by throwing a fist at him and tossing Caroline headfirst into the sandpit. Instead of reacting with violence, Kane sucked his lower lip into his mouth and chuckled under his breath.

"I'm going to enjoy watching my king violate you."

Much to Caroline's surprise, Stefan was the first to react using his clenched hand. He lunged at Kane with a growl, veins flattening and swirling beneath his eyes in a way that could only be achieved through vampirism.

The red mist of anger settled the moment Kane's words left his mouth, and Stefan couldn't help himself. Logically, he knew he couldn't take him. He knew that in just a couple of seconds he'd be writhing on the floor in agony because of Kane's witch friend who had no choice but to protect the man in charge of bringing back their master. In that second, that small seemingly meaningless second, Stefan didn't even care. If he was going to threaten Caroline, to suggest anything that might harm her, he was going to end it now.

Stefan landed backwards on his ass, the witch telekinetically sending him flying away from Kane before he was able to land more than a couple of blows to his midsection. He briefly heard the sound of Caroline shouting his name, her voice echoing in his ears as the pain radiated through his chest and sprouted outwards to ring in his ears. "Stefan!" She parroted in his ear.

Magdalen curled her fingertips, the magical energy flowering through her arm and connecting with Stefan. Once Kane was back on his feet, she temporarily released him from her compulsion.

"We're running out of time!" Kane roared at his servants, eyes lingering on Stefan. "Get her in the pit NOW!"

The vampires were quick to oblige, unsnapping her shackles from the upturned table and tossing it aside, leaving her wrists bound behind her. That didn't stop her from struggling, tossing herself against the woman on her right. The vampire twisted her upper arm and tugged tightly. "Stop moving or I'll break your arm, you little bitch." As Caroline was walked to the pit of sunken in wet sand, the vampire whispered one last thing into her ear, "You don't deserve this gift."

Caroline wanted to scoff at her, to plunge a stake in her heart and walk away. Instead she stood quietly, biting her tongue until she tasted blood in her mouth. This wasn't a gift.

"Step down," instructed the other vampire, shoving her in the direction of the pit.

Caroline sighed, offering one last glance to Stefan, who was lying on his stomach with his arms outstretched to her, as if he could almost reach her. There was worry in his eyes, in the way he parted his lips, the wrinkle in his forehead as his brows lowered. Praying she was right to think them crazy, to think this was all a lie, she took her first step into the gook. The sand melted in around her right foot, sticking to her instantly and squishing up her leg as it swallowed it whole. The vampires pushed at her shoulders, forcing her to take another step at their persistent prodding.

Her once beautiful gown was covered in sticky brown sand as she finished entering the deep pit, now waist deep. Panic took over as she realized what was happening, feeling herself sink deeper.

"Is this quick sand?" A quiver shook her in her question, a lump in her throat.

"I think some people call it that," Kane said with a shrug, an evil smile upturning his lips. "Just don't struggle and you'll be fine long enough for us to finish the ritual. Then we'll pull you out."

Two witches approached quietly, each grabbing for one of Caroline's chained hands, leaving her no choice but to comply. They both held small blades, inscriptions of snakes molded into the bolster.

"Blood of the destined, blood of the marked," they chanted in unison, each girl collectively cutting into Caroline's wrists with their knives.

Caroline howled in pain, tears springing to her eyes at the sudden cutting of nerves and extreme loss of blood that came with it. She felt her wrists be leaned against the wooden bowls beside the pit, the blood dripping into the empty pockets.

"Caroline!" Stefan struggled against Magdalen's magic, wriggling to free himself of the spell that bound him to his spot on the floor. "Leave her alone!" Sweat dripped from his hairline, anguish drawn in his expression as he gritted his teeth together, feeling her pain as he watched the blood gather by her fingertips and fall hopelessly into the bowl. He knew her blood loss wouldn't kill her, but it sure as hell hurt her, and anything that hurt her hurt him. No, he thought as he watched her suffer. This was killing him.

"Blood of the destined, blood of the marked," they chanted, following up their words with verses in Latin, words Caroline didn't understand. She didn't know if she wanted to. Even if she knew Latin, it wasn't possible to focus on anything other than the cutting pain in her arms. It sounded shrill in her ears, the scraping of sharp metal against sensitive skin, like the razor she took to her own skin the time she was compelled.

Eventually, when she felt she could take no more of their persistent tearing into the same spots again and again, they pulled away, allowing her wounds to heal. Together, the witches poured the blood into the sand in front of Caroline.

It melted and swirled, twisting together in a way only magic could provide. One streak of red blood met another, curling and circling until a small whirlpool of blood was swishing before their eyes, tossing Caroline's hair in the wind that was suddenly created by the quick motions of flipping sand and blood. The chandelier hanging in the middle of the room's lights flickered, a shiver running up Caroline's arms and back down her spine, prickled goose bumps causing her hair to stand on end.

"Caroline!" Stefan was somehow still able to shout her name, focused on the swirling rush of sand before his eyes.

In the midst of it all, a head submerged from the sinking sand, completely covered in it, hiding his face and body from their view. Slowly he rose, higher and higher until he was entirely freed from the substance, pulling himself out of the pit of sand and collapsing on the carpet in exhaustion. The dirt stuck to the fibers, his hands pressed to the floor as he heaved, spitting large amounts of mud and dirt from his lungs and onto the floor.

Kane held a hand up, keeping everyone silent and several steps back. Priestley needed his space, he needed to adjust after being tossed through dimensions as he just was. His hair was sopping wet and dirty, his face still unseen because of the brush of sand and blood obscuring it from truly being seen. His nails dug into the carpet, and his head lifted upwards to observe the crowd, all eyes on him.

"Isn't someone going to help me up?" He rasped dryly, a sarcastic twinge lacing through his very normal sounding voice. A wide grin overtook his face, similar to one of the Cheshire cat, exposing pearly white teeth and less than welcoming pair of black eyes.

"Master…" The room bowed.

A/N: Okay, so this chapter was largely just explaining Kane's situation and who Priestley is. I know it isn't very action-packed and I'm sorry for that, but I felt like it was important to establish the who's and the why's. If you have any questions feel free to ask, but not everything has been entirely explained just yet.

I know this update was fast, but don't expect every chapter to keep coming in like this, as I'm usually a pretty slow updater. The comments I got from the last chapter inspired me to finish this one quickly, and there's a storm raging outside right now which is a large part of what gets me writing. Unfortunately, storms don't happen every day.