Chapter 1: Ordinary People
Elena and Alaric enter the Old Lockwood Cellar. It was cold and dark, with only a little light coming from the end of two flashlights, one held by Elena, the other by Alaric. Elena felt a little out of her comfort zone, even by her standards.
"So the Lockwood's really have no idea that these tunnels are underneath their property?" Elena questioned.
"Careful where you shine that thing." Ric said, pointing to Elena's flashlight. "Bats hate the light." Elena stopped dead in her tracks and her eyes bulged.
"Wait, what?" Elena didn't notice that something was coming up behind her. Damon. Damon crept up behind the doppelganger and scared Elena by whispering her name in a low voice, sending chills down the girls spine, and making her jump in fear.
"Ah! God Damon!" Elena said, slapping the older Salvatore.
Damon let out a low chuckle and said "Scaredy-cat."
Alaric sent Damon an angry look and looked at Elena "Just ignore him. That's what I do."
"So you really can't get in?" Elena asked Damon.
"No. Seems to me like the ancient Lockwood's were anti-vampire."
"What do you mean, ancient?"
"See for yourself." Damon said, pointing in the cave.
Ric Damon and Elena walked further into the tunnels, to the caves with the writings. Damon stopped dead.
"Well this is as far as I get to go."
"What is all this?" Elena said as she looked at the ancient writings on the wall. She had no idea what they meant.
"Well, as far as I can tell, it's a story. In simple, archaeological terms, it's a really, really old story. That right there, is the moon cycle. A man, a wolf."
"A werewolf?"
"Yeah, it's the Lockwood diaries. Pictionary style." Damon said sarcastically.
"I don't understand. I thought the Lockwood's came here with the original founders in the 1860s."
"I don't know. Maybe the Lockwood's did, but according to this wall, these werewolves have been here a lot longer than that." Ric said.
Elena looked at her teacher "How long?"
"Long. It gets better. Show her, Ric."
"Names. They're not native. They're written in Runic, a Viking script."
"Vikings?" Elena said in disbelief. Vikings in Mystic Falls? Well that was different.
"This name here," Alaric pointed to one of the markings "I translated it and it reads Niklaus." Ric said knowingly.
"Klaus?" Ric nodded and pointed to another one.
"And Elijah…" Pointing to a third. "And Rebekah.
*Flashback to an ancient time, Rebekah, stood there in a dark green/brown dress, her hair long and hanging, scratched her name on the cave wall with a knife, she was being watched carefully by her older brother, Klaus, who was standing in old clothes, obviously hand-me-downs and his hair long and straggly, who was standing next to her. "Rebekah, let me have at it!"
"Quiet, Niklaus!" Rebekah snapped. "Ought to have more concentration if I'm not to slice off a finger."
"Father will not like you handling the blade."
Rebekah laughed and looked at her brother, "If I want to wield a blade, I shall wield a blade! Father need not know."
"He will find out. He always does."
Rebekah laughed again. "That is because you always tell him."
"I cannot help it, he frightens me."
"He frightens us all. That is why we stick together as one, always and forever. Right, traitor?" Rebekah said, jokingly to her brother.
Klaus nodded his head. "Right."
"Here." Rebekah began "You finish it and I'll help mother with the meal."
"Yes. Go tend to dinner, leave the blades to the men, little sister." Klaus said, knowing comments like that enraged his younger sibling. Rebekah smirked, and gave him the blade, and not too gently either, she slammed it into his palm, leaving a cut. Klaus winced in pain. "That girl infuriates me" Klaus thought to himself but didn't say. Instead he just growled out "Rebekah!"
"It's just a little blood Niklaus." She smirked again "Be a man about it." She said as she left the cave.
*Back to present time*
Elena was still looking at the names on the wall "These are the names of the original family?"
Alaric nodded his head "Carved into a cave that's been here since way before the founding of Mystic Falls. Or even the entire New World for that matter."
"Okay, this has gotta be one of Klaus's fakes."
"That's what I said." Damon chimed in from outside the entrance.
"That could be true, except the last name up here made us think otherwise."
"What's the name?"
"Mikael."
Elena's eyes went wide as they could have gone without her looking like a Disney character. "Mikael. Mikael as in the vampire hunter who knows how to kill Klaus?"
"Yep. And I like to call him "papa original"." Damon said sarcastically again.
Alaric began to take photos of the drawings, so that he could better study them.
Later that day, at Alaric's Apartment, Alaric was looking at the photos, while Damon and Elena were training for vampire combat.
"These images tell a story... To learn the story, I have to decipher these images." Damon easily disarms Elena, who tries to stake him, without any effort.
"Sloppy!"
Elena grabbed the stake and said "Shut up! I'm new at this."
""Ghost of Christmas Past" Mason Lockwood set up the cave and lead us to a weapon that can kill Klaus." Damon said.
Elena nodded and said "Yeah, but doesn't Mikael have a weapon?
"Yes. Which probably means the wall will lead us to Mikael, who we have already found and lost." Damon overwhelmed Elena again. "Bang! You're dead!" Damon pretended to bite her neck. But Elena pushed him off of her.
"These images at the very least might tell us what that weapon is."
Elena walked over to the table "Then all we have to do is find out what they mean."
"Fine! Fine! If I am being irritatingly optimistic like you two. How do we supposed to do that?"
Elena ignoring Damon's sarcasm, looks at Alaric and speaks "Well, if the story is about the original family living here... then we go straight to the source."
At Mystic Falls High School, Rebekah was at cheerleading practice. She was doing back-flips galore when Elena showed up and motioned to get Rebekah to come over to her.
Rebekah sighed and rolled her eyes, "You! Goody!"
Elena took a deep breath and began "I was hoping we could talk."
Rebekah became very suspicious "About what? Stefan? Don't worry - I'm off him until he starts treating me better. In fact, you should probably take a page out of my book, if I'm being honest."
Elena smirked, "Actually, I'd rather talk about this." Elena puts her hand into her coat and pulls out the photo of Rebekah's name written in runic. "I'm curious why you and Klaus have spent a thousand years running from your father."
Rebekah became nervous. "I should get back to the girls. Homecoming's right around the corner." Rebekah turned and began walking quickly back to her girls.
Elena, not wanting to give up, said "Well then maybe I'll ask Mikael when we wake him." Rebekah froze and turned around.
"You're bluffing! You don't know where he is. No one does."
"So then who's rotting in that old cemetery in Charlotte?"
"If you wake Mikael we are all doomed!" Elena could tell the vampire was scared, which was funny considering Rebekah is over a thousand years old. Fear should be laughable to her by now.
"So then tell me."
"W-Why do you want to know?"
"Why don't you want me to wake him?" Rebekah's eyes blazed with hatred and anger. She took a deep breath and said;
"I need to get back to the girls." Rebekah turned and left Elena standing there, not knowing anymore than she did before their little confrontation.
*Flashback to ancient times*
Rebekah turned around to two males, both with long, dark hair, however one looked older than Rebekah whilst the other looked around the age of 12 or 13. "Come on, Kol, Henrik, our brothers are fighting again."
Klaus and Elijah were in the middle of a sword fight, both looked evenly matched for one another.
Elijah smirked when he heard his sister's voice "Oh look, our sister has arrived." He turned and looked at his siblings standing there watching the battle "Watch my fast approaching victory."
Klaus scoffed "On the contrary, Elijah" He said as he cut Elijah's belt in two "Just come to laugh at you."
Esther and Mikael walked out of their home and watched "Relax Mikael. Niklaus means well."
Mikael shook his head "That is precisely my problem." He walked over and took Elijah's sword from his hands and turned to Klaus "So, why don't you teach me that trick, young warrior?" He began to fight with Klaus.
"Father, we were just amusing ourselves." Klaus said, not wanting to fight a great warrior like Mikael.
Mikael scoffed again "We fight for our survival! And you find time for amusement?! I want to be amused! Teach me! Come on!"
"Father it was nothing…"
Mikael quickly disarmed Klaus without effort and brought him down; he set the sword on Klaus's throat, all of the family running forward slightly.
"You are foolish and impulsive, my boy." He paused to see if Niklaus would answer him "What? No more laughter?"
"You've made your point, Mikael!" Esther yelled.
Mikael dropped the sword into the ground, next to Klaus' head. Mikael began to walk away from his son "Some days it's a miracle you're still alive, boy."
Alaric is looking at the photos. He writes "vampire" on a post-it note and places it on one of the pictures. He picks up another picture and compares it to the one he just stuck the post-it note "vampire" on. He sees that the other picture looks more like a sun, so he switches the "vampire" post it to the other picture and writes "werewolf" on another post it and places it on the other picture.)
Back at Alaric's Apartment, Elena was on the phone to Damon. She walked up the stairs to Alaric's place.
"She's going to tell me. She is scared of him, Damon. I saw her face. I just have to engage in a little mean girl power struggle first."
"Make sure she doesn't power struggle you into a wheelchair." Damon said dryly.
Elena sighed "I've got this, Damon. If we can figure out a way to kill Klaus, Stefan will be free of his compulsion. So, how does he look?"
Damon was down in the cellar, looking into Stefan's cell. His brother was still tied to the chair that Lexi had tied him to. He didn't look very good at all. "Hmm- pasty and pouty."
"He'll have to get over. Call me later." She hung up the phone "Rebekah will come 'round." Elena said to Alaric.
"You're sure about that? I mean a thousand year old vampire, I'm sure, is not in the art of patience." while Alaric spoke, Elena received a message saying: "Come over for a chat. Rebekah"
"She's a thousand year old vampire, who's joined the cheerleader squad... There is a whole different set of rules that play here, Ric. I got this" Elena showed Ric the message. They exchanged a look.
Damon entered Stefan's cell, Stefan, aware of Damon's arrival, didn't look up at his brother when he spoke.
"You know, if you two are gonna keep me locked in here for the next decade. I think we can skip the routine visits."
"You know I'm not a big champion in this whole Lexi-recovery-plan. When Elena thinks this place is gonna weaken you out, break you down and make you feel again…"
"We should all listen to Elena, right? I mean her plans always work out so well, don't they? Why are you here?" Stefan said sarcastically.
Damon put on a childish voice as he patronized his brother, "What are you talking about? It's family day out of vampire rehab. So I'm paying visit to my baby brother."
Stefan shook his head and looked at Damon "Go away."
Damon shook his head too. "Naah- Thought we could hang out, old brother bonding. How've you been Stef?"
" You know, Klaus may wanna keep Elena alive, but that doesn't mean she's safe with Rebekah."
"Liar, Liar pants on fire, brother. Klaus compelled you to protect Elena and if you thought for even a second that she was in danger you'd be working a lot harder."
"Got me."
"Yep."
"Ya got me. You're good. Congratulations! You can go now." Stefan said with no expression on his face whatsoever.
"You really have given up."
"Actually, this is my happy face…" Damon snapped the restraints that held his brother, freeing Stefan from the chains. "What are you doing?"
"Screw this Lexi-plan. Think we could both use a drink."
At the Salvatore Boarding House, Elena walked through the house, looking for the blonde original who had invited her over. Elena walked into the living room, spotting Rebekah standing there. Elena cleared her throat.
Rebekah turned around holding champagne glasses "Hey! What's up?"
Elena raised an eyebrow, "You invited me over? To talk?"
Rebekah nodded then turned away from the doppelganger "All right girls, have at it!" Girls in homecoming dresses appeared. "Okay, now twirl please."
"You compelled your own private runway show?" Elena said in disbelief.
Rebekah nodded "I need a Homecoming dress. So, what do you think? Pick one."
"I'm not here to help you shop. I'm here to talk about why you don't want me to wake up Mikael." Rebekah rushed to one of the girls, grabbing her neck and her fangs lengthened and her eyes became blood red.
"I said "pick one", Elena."
Elena looked at the dresses in distress, she spotted a pretty, red one, "The... red one."
"There. It wasn't so hard, was it?" Elena shook her head as the Original turned and looked at her models "Go away. Remember nothing." The girls left and Rebekah turned to Elena, again "You do not threaten me. You'll learn what I allow you to learn. Is that clear?" Elena nodded in fear. She might not want to admit it, but Elena was scared of the Vampire. Rebekah walked past her and Elena watched her.
Over Alaric's Apartment, somebody knocked on Alaric's door; The door opened and in walked Bonnie. Alaric turned and looked at the witch.
"Hey there!" Bonnie said as she walked in the apartment.
"Bonnie! Come on in!"
"Got your message."
"Yeah, great! I'm sorry the place is such a mess. I'm obsessed…"
Bonnie held up Elena's necklace, showing it to Alaric "Brought you the necklace that wouldn't die."
"Ahh- that's great. You okay?" Ric said, obviously referring to Bonnie's recently failed relationship with Jeremy Gilbert.
"Been better…"
"Listen, Jeremy is an idiot. I know this with certainty, because I was once a Jeremy. Trust me, he'll learn...Eventually…" Alaric held up one of the photos, "So, I've been staring at this image all day, wondering why it looked so familiar. I was right." He held up the necklace next to the photo. Bonnie's eyes went wide.
"It is the same design."
"So, your grandmother said this necklace belonged to the witch that put the hybrid curse on Klaus, right?" Bonnie nodded. "Well, this symbol is repeated all across the wall. I've been trying to figure out what it meant. And now I know…" He wrote something on a post-it, stuck it to the photo and showed Bonnie: the post-it said "witch.".
Back at the Salvatore Boarding House Rebekah and Elena entered Stefan's room.
"How fun is this...?" Rebekah said as she started opening the drawers.
"We shouldn't be here…"
"Course we should! Come on, like you've never wanted to snoop. Boxer briefs. A lot has changed from the twenties."
Elena was beginning to come to the end of her tether with Rebekah's procrastinating "Are you gonna root through his stuff all night or are you gonna start to tell me your story?"
Rebekah rolled her eyes and sighed "Ah... you really are no fun. What do you want to know?"
"Well, Elijah said that your father was a landowner in Europe. How did you guys end up here?"
Rebekah was still going through Stefan's stuff "My parents had just started a family, when a plague struck their homeland. They lost a child to it. They wanted to escape and protect their future family from the same fate."
"So, how did you end up here? This part of the world hadn't even been discovered yet."
"Not by anyone in your history books. But my mother knew the witch Ayanna, who heard from the spirits of a mystical land where everyone was healthy. Blessed by the gifts of speed and strength; that lead my family here, where we lived amongst those people."
Elena raised her brows "The werewolves?"
Rebekah nodded "To us they were just our neighboures. My family lived in peace with them for over 20 years, during which time my family had more children, including me."
"You make it sound so normal."
"It was." Rebekah said, her voice full of sorrow. "Once a month our family retreated into the caves beneath our village. The wolves would howl through the night and by morning we'd return home…"
Flashback to ancient times, Rebekah was looking at different sorts of necklaces/talismans hanging on a rope in Ayanna 's home; she touched one, Esther's necklace, and burned her fingers.
Rebekah groaned in pain. "Ayanna, it burned me!" A tall African woman walked into the room.
Ayanna smirked "That is not yours to touch." Rebekah opened her mouth to speak when she was cut off by a loud scream coming from outside the hut.
"Mother!" Klaus screamed, in terror.
Rebekah looked at Ayanna. "Is that Niklaus? Something is wrong."
Rebekah ran out of the hut seeing Klaus carrying the dead body of their little brother Henrik.
Rebekah's eyes went wide as could be as tears began pouring from her ducts. "Henrik!"
"Mother!" Klaus screamed again. *back to the present, Rebekah was sitting on Stefan's bed.
"One full moon, Klaus and my youngest brother Henrik snuck out to watch the men turn into beasts. That was forbidden. Henrik payed the price…" *Flashback to ancient times, Esther, Kol and Finn ran from their hut outside, to where the others were.
"No, no! What happened?"
Klaus sobbed out "The wolves! I am sorry, I'm so sorry!"
Esther wiped her eyes "We must save him. Please, there must be a way!"
Ayanna shook her head "The spirits will not give us a way, Esther. Your boy is gone."
"No! No!" Esther screamed, falling into the arms of her son, Finn. Kol looked at Niklaus and Rebekah, eyes full of tears threatening to fall.
*Back to Stefan's room, "And that was the beginning of the end of peace with our neighbours…And one of the last moments my family had together as humans." Elena's phone began to ring loudly. "You better get that. That'll be Damon checking up on you." Elena nodded as she answered her phone.
"Hello?"
"Hey!"
"Damon, where are you?"
Damon was in a bar; the music playing loudly in the background.
"No idea," Damon said as he turned around, seeing a girl walking around the bar in a skimpy outfit, that barely covered anything "but I'm pretty sure, I'm overdressed...Still standing?"
"Yes, I'm fine, but I can't talk right now."
"I'll be at the bar." Stefan said to Damon, and Elena's eyes went incredibly wide.
"Is that Stefan?"
"Yeah, I kinda went off a bit. Don't worry - I know what I'm doing."
"Damon! How could you let him out?"
"I got his back, Elena." Damon said as he hung up on Elena "What are we drinking?"
"For me something a little bit warmer, a little blonder…" Stefan said, nodding to the blonde barmaid.
"Hi!" Said the barmaid, Callie.
"Hello…" Damon said, looking at her nametag: "Callie. I would love a shot of your best whiskey and my brother here would love…" Damon began to compel her "…a shot of you."
"What's the catch, Damon?" Stefan said, his voice full of accusation.
Damon shook his head "No catch, brother. Drink up. It's on me." motioning to Callie. Stefan grabbed Callie's wrist and bit her. Hard.
"Hi Callie." Later on, Damon and Stefan were playing quarters; Callie was sitting on Damon's lap.
Stefan flipped a coin into the glass "Drink up brother!"
Damon held up an empty whiskey bottle to Callie. "You get us a bottle of this?"
Callie nodded "Yes, sir." she left the brothers.
"You been on this "bunny diet" for a better part of 50 years. So, how is it that "Saint Stefan" of all people is good at a drinking game?"
"Oh "bunny diet" gave me a lot of time to practice."
"Hmm…" Damon nodded, not completely knowing what Stefan meant.
"Wallow in despair," Stefan flipped a coin, "drowning guilt," he flipped another coin, "regret my existence" he flipped a third coin "it's precision born out of tragic boredom. Drink up, brother!"
Damon smirked "All that effort wasted to try to tell you how boring you were and now you finally agree with me?"
Stefan sighed "Damon, you are worse than Elena. Getting me drunk, brotherly bonding - what do you think: I'll break down and you can call me back from the edge, is that it?"
"I happen to like the edge, Stefan. Your problem is your inability to resist falling over it. All or nothing, man. Can't just be." Callie came back with another bottle of whiskey, she sat down on Damon's lap again. "Although, who am I to judge?" he flipped a coin, "Drink up brother!"
At the Salvatore Boarding House, Rebekah was lying on the bed, going through one of Stefan's diaries.
"Did you get your fill of snooping yet? Can we get on with the story?" Elena said, boredom evident in her voice. Rebekah got up; she picked up a photo of Elena and Stefan from a table.
Rebekah turned to Elena. "Honestly, I don't get you two as a couple."
"Why would you? You don't know anything about who he really is."
Rebekah nodded with a smirk "I know exactly who he is. He's a vampire. We're a predatory species. We don't have time to care about humans and their silly little lives."
"Is that why you did that runway show earlier? 'Cause you don't care about the Homecoming Dance…" Elena said, but Rebekah just looked at her. "You know what, I'm just gonna go."
"You haven't even heard half the story."
"And you are not going to tell it. You're just bored and looking for someone to push around. Find someone else to play with! Maybe you can compel yourself a friend." Elena started to leave.
"The necklace wasn't Stefan's to give. It belonged to the original witch."
"The one who put the hybrid curse on Klaus?" Elena said turning around to Rebekah.
"Not just the hybrid curse." Rebekah started. "She's the one who turned us into vampires."
*Flashback to ancient times; Mikael; Esther and Ayanna were standing in a room lit by a fire and torches. It was evident that Esther had been crying, her eyes were puffy and red.
"Please, Ayanna! I implore you! You must call upon the spirits before the next full moon." Mikael begged.
"I will not! It is a crime against nature."
"Ayanna, we have already lost too much. We cannot lose any more... The spirits can help us find a way to protect our children." Esther said, her voice trembling as she spoke. Rebakah was eavesdropping from the next room, with her brother Kol standing behind her listening too.
*Back in Stefan's room , Rebekah looked at Elena "I'm thirsty. Do you want a drink?"
She walked down to the library with Elena closely behind her.
"So, vampirism was a form of protection?"
"What else would it be?"
"A curse." Elena said in a matter-of-factly.
"My parents only saw a way of keeping their children alive."
"Yeah, but why stay if they were so afraid of the werewolves? Why not... Leave?"
Rebekah shook her head "Pride... My father didn't want to run anymore. He wanted to fight and be superior to the wolves. Where they could bite we had to bite harder. Where they had speed we had to be faster. Agility, strength, senses…"
*Back to ancient times; in the hut again.
"Everything could be heightened. Our family could live forever…" Mikael said as though he knew what to do, even though he knew very little of magic.
"That would cost. This magic you speak of breeds consequence. This is the makings of a plague, Esther. The spirits will turn on you." Ayanna warned.
"Please, Ayanna."
"I will have no part in it." Ayanna said as she left the hut, leaving Esther and Mikael standing.
Mikael turned to Esther "As she will not protect our family, then it is in your hands alone, my love."
*Back to Elena and Rebekah at the Boarding House.
"In her hands? How could she do anything?"
"Because my mother was also a witch." Rebekah said dryly.
"What?"
"The witch of the original family. The original witch." Rebekah said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. They entered the library. Rebekah turned to Elena "Where do they keep their best vintage?"
"But if your mother was a witch, then…"
" Am I? No, a witch is nature's servant, a vampire is an abomination of nature. You can either be one or the other, never both. My mother did this for us. She did not turn."
"How did you turn?"
"She called upon the sun for life and the ancient white oak tree, one of nature's eternal objects, for immortality. That night my father offered us wine laced with blood. And then he drove his sword through our hearts."
"He killed you?"
"And he wasn't delicate about it either." Rebekah proclaimed as she took a bottle of wine, broke its neck and threw it into the fireplace.
*Back to ancient times; the night when Mikael turned his family; Finn, Kol, Klaus and Rebekah were on the floor, blood on their clothes where their hearts are located; all were in the process of turning into vampires.
"Rebekah…" Klaus moaned in pain, noticing his sister hadn't regained consciousness yet. He looked to Kol and Finn.
"She'll awaken soon brother" Finn said, in deep pain as he spoke. It hurt him to simply breathe.
"What if she doesn't?" Kol asked as Rebekah shot up in agony, she gasped loudly.
"Blood! What happened?"
"You will be alright! We will be alright."
Mikael entered with a girl. "What are you doing? We must finish what we started! You have to drink if you want to live." He cut the girl's wrists open.
*Back to the present, the Salvatore boarding house was quiet. Except for Rebekah and Elena in the library.
"We had to drink more blood to complete the ritual." *flashback to ancient times.
Mikael grabbed the girl towards Rebekah "Drink!" Rebekah hesitated "Drink!" Mikael yelled. Klaus tried to stop him, but Mikael pushed him aside; Rebekah started to drink the girl's blood"
Rebekah in the future continued telling her story, imagining everything she said as she said it. "It was euphoric! The feeling of power was indescribable. But the witch Ayanna was right about the consequences. The spirits turned on us and nature fought back... For every strength there would be a weakness…" She imagined herself in ancient times getting burned by sunlight. "The sun became our enemy. It kept us indoors for weeks…" Rebekah imagined herself walking around outside during the day. "Until my mother found a solution. There were other problems" she remembered people hurrying into their houses when seeing her. "Neighbours who had opened their homes to us could now keep us out." Rebekah remembered touching a vervain plant and getting burned by it. "Flowers at the base of the white oak burned and prevented compulsion. "And the spell decreed that the tree that gave us life could also take it away. So we burned it to the ground" she remembered the tree burning; Kol, Finn, Klaus, Elijah and Rebekah were watching it. "But the darkest consequence was something my parents never anticipated" she said as she remembered villagers carrying a slaughtered still bleeding pig. "The hunger. Blood... had made us reborn and it was blood that we craved above all else. We could not control it…" She remembered looking after the villagers; she gasped; then hurried to them and killed them by drinking their blood. "And with that the predatory species was born…"
Back at the bar where Stefan and Damon were. Damon was dancing on a table with two girls. Stefan was drinking from a woman. Another woman stopped and sees what Stefan was doing. Damon showed up and compelled the woman.
"Nothing to see here!" The woman nodded and left "Just run along, okay?" Damon turned to Stefan "Hey, hey ease up! Ease up." He dragged Stefan away. "She is giving us her employee discount." he looked at Callie and compelled her "And now, just run along."
They went to the bar and sat down and ordered drinks.
"Alright! Tell me what's up. What's the point of the jailbreak, hm?"
"I thought you could use a hug, Stefan." Damon said with a faux pout.
"Come on, Damon. You know Elena is gonna hate you for letting me out. And we both know that you care about what she thinks…"
"Maybe I wanted to remind you what freedom was like before Klaus took it from you."
"As long as Klaus is alive, I do what he says."
"That's my point, Stefan. You've given up. Now you could sit around and be his little bitch. Or you get mad enough and you can do something about it."
"Damon, he can't be killed." Stefan yelled as a man came up behind them.
"Maybe I can help with that. The Salvatore boys, I presume?"
"Mikael?" Stefan said, not knowing fully what the answer might be.
At the Salvatore Boarding House, Elena and Rebekah were sitting in the living room.
"Why did Mikael start hunting Klaus?"
"When Nik made his first human kill, it triggered his werewolf gene. With that he became my father's greatest shame."
"Yeah - Elijah told me this part of the story. Your mother had had an affair with one of the werewolf villagers. Klaus wasn't his son."
"She tried to make it right. She put the hybrid curse on Nik to suppress his werewolf side and then she turned her back on him. But Mikael's greatest weakness as a human was his pride. As a vampire that was magnified. He went on a rampage and killed half the village. Then he came home and killed her."
"Mikael killed your mother?"
"He said she broke his heart so he would break hers. He tore it from her chest as Nik watched." Rebekah remembers that she, Kol and Klaus buried their mother. "Afterwards my father took off in a rage and the rest of my family scattered. My brother Kol and Nik stayed so they could help me bury her. He knew I had to say goodbye to my mother."
*flashback to Esther's funeral, Kol, Rebekah and Klaus were standing at the grave.
"I know you think she hated you, Niklaus. But she did not. She was just afraid. I'm sorry she turned her back on you. I will never do that."
"Nor will I." Kol said sadly.
"Nor will I" A voice came from behind them, Rebekah turned around, seeing her eldest brother, Elijah walking towards them.
"We stick together as one. Always and forever." Rebekah said, teary-eyed.
Rebekah, Klaus, Kol and Elijah all hold hands as Rebekah spoke.
*Back to the Salvatore house.
"Always and forever. Even though he locked you in a coffin for 90 years?"
"We're vampires. Our emotions are heightened. I'm stubborn, Kol unstable, Elijah moral, and Nik... Nik has no tolerance for those who disappoint him. Over a thousand years as a family we've all made that mistake at least once. I've made it several times."
"But you still love him?"
"He's my brother. And I'm immortal. Should I spend an eternity alone instead? You've heard the story, it's time to go. I said leave, Elena! I don't know what you're up to but I'm no longer playing along."
"I'm just looking for one good reason why we shouldn't wake Mikael."
"And I've given you a thousand! But you will anyway. I know you want him to help you kill my brother, I'm not stupid."
"It's no secret that I want Klaus dead. He has a hold over Stefan's life and over mine."
"Do what you need. Wake Mikael at your own peril. But make no mistake, if you come after my brother I will rip you apart. And I get my temper from my father. Now leave!"
Back in the bar; Mikael was interrogating Stefan whilst Damon watched on. "Is Klaus out of the country?"
"Can't tell you."
"Has he spoken to you since he left?"
"I can't tell you."
"All right. Can you tell me the last time you spoke to Niklaus?"
"I'm compelled to do what he says and he says to keep my damn mouth shut."
"I really hope this game of 20 questions isn't your secret weapon."
"You see, Damon" Mikael said as he put his hand on Damon's shoulder, "I've been a vampire hunter longer than you've been alive. It's why I found you here. It's why I'm gonna find Niklaus."
"Well, Klaus has been running for about thousand years, so if you think you can get a work around here?"
Mikael eyes narrow in anger as he slammed his fist into Damon's chest.
"Careful, Stefan. One move - and his heart's gone. Now, where is Klaus? What's the trick question, Stefan? One twist and he's dead. Unless you don't care of course."
"His emotions have been shut off. He can't care."
"Really? His link to Klaus is so strong that he will let his own brother die? No ideas, hmm?" Stefan wanted to tell Mikael the truth, but Klaus' compulsion was too strong. "Think, Stefan! I guess you're right. He's a dead end. And so are you, Damon."
Stefan grabbed Mikael's arm "Wait. I can bring him back. I can lure Klaus back to Mystic Falls." Mikael removes his hand from Damon's chest.
"And there is our loophole. Just had to rile him up a bit. Get Klaus back to Mystic Falls and I will gladly drive a stake through his heart. Fail, I'll drive it through yours."
Alaric, Bonnie and Elena were in the cave with the drawings.
"We filled in what we could." He began to stick post-its to the different symbols "a Vampire, werewolf, slaughter, mayhem etc."
"That's the white oak tree that was used in the spell to create the vampires, which means that was when they burned down the tree, destroying the only way that they could be killed."
"Ok. so tree equals weapon, sort of. We already knew that. What we are not sure about is this: we've got the witch symbol and what looks like a bleeding heart. Upside down figures usually signified death, of some kind."
"Mikael killed the witch by ripping out her heart. But... why is that one connected to the witch's death?" pointing to one symbol.
"We don't know. We haven't gotten that far." Bonnie said as Elena's eyes went wide.
"Oh my god. Rebekah doesn't know the real story."
Later that night, at the Salvatore Boarding House, Rebekah was pouring herself a glass of scotch. Elena walked in the room with photos of the cave drawings.
"I thought I told you to leave. Twice."
"How do you know that Mikael killed your mother?" Elena asked angrily.
"Nik was there. He told me." Rebekah said dryly.
"He lied to you."
"And how do you know that?" Rebekah said in a patronizing voice.
"The cave where you carved your family's names is covered in symbols." Elena said as she showed Rebekah the photos "The story of your family: how your parents arrived, how they made peace, the spell that turned them into vampires, and this. This is the symbol for hybrid. It's a combination of the werewolf and the vampire symbol. And this is the one for your mother."
"Her necklace?"
"And this is the story of her death. The hybrid killed the original witch. Not Mikael. Klaus."
Rebekah's eyes went wide and she began to vamp out. "No! No, he wouldn't."
"She put the curse on him. Made it so that he would be the only one of his kind. And then she rejected him. With the werewolf gene comes aggression and violence. When he turned, all of that was heightened. He killed her, Rebekah. And then he made up this entire lie about your father, so that he wouldn't lose you."
"These mean nothing! They're just stupid drawings, done by stupid people who had no idea who my family was!"
Rebekah grabbed the photos and threw them into the open fire. Her eyes beginning to water.
"Then why are you so upset?"
Rebekah began to sob "Why are you doing this to me? I've done nothing to you!"
"Klaus killed your mother. He has a hold on you, on me, on everyone. He has for a thousand years. We have to make it stop!"
Rebekah growled and used her vampire speed and grabbed Elena by the throat, choking her. "Shut up! Shut up! Don't talk anymore! Nothing!" She let go of Elena, falling on her knees and started crying uncontrollably.
Outside the bar, Damon and Stefan were walking out.
"I'll give you 10 points for flair." Damon said sarcastically.
"At least, now we know where Klaus and Elijah learned their tricks from." Stefan said back at his brother.
"Don't think you had to wait till the last second to have your breakthrough, though."
"I didn't have a break through, Damon."
"Uuuuh, uuuh- my brother is about to die and I just had to save his life for the bajillionith time. Careful Stefan, your humanity is showing."
"So you know what? You're right, Damon. You're right. You reminded me what my freedom felt like. And when we kill Klaus, I'll be free. Free to leave. See, I didn't do this for you, Damon. I did it for myself."
"Sure, Stefan. Whatever you say…"
"Why are you doing this, huh? What do you want from me? Why is everybody trying to save me?"
"Because I have to, Stefan! Because you are in this mess with Klaus, because you saved my life. Because I owe you. And I can't just leave you in a cell to rot."
"Aw, better be careful, brother. Your humanity is showing." Stefan said to Damon, repeating Damon's own words. Smirking, Damon punched Stefan on the face and left.
At Salvatore Boarding House, Rebekah was still crying bitterly. At the Gilbert House, Elena came out of the bathroom in her pyjamas ; she saw Damon lying on her bed.
"Uh- Damon! Seriously?"
"We got Mikael."
"What? How?"
"No idea. I guess Katherine came through. Plan's in motion. See, I told you I had it. Go ahead. Kick, yell, scream. Sure you've been planning your rant all day."
"I'm not gonna yell at you."
"Why not? I went behind you back. Freed Stefan. And you know what: it backfired. He's an even bigger dick than ever. Just now he's a dick that's on our side."
"I'm not mad. I'm tired. I just- I want to go to bed."
"You know, I think Mikael's weapon is a stake, 'cause he mentioned something about it."
Elena got into her bed. Damon was still laying there with her.
"Well, they must have carved it from the white oak tree before they burned it down."
"So I was right. After all that, the wall lead us to Mikael."
"Lead us to more than just that. I think I got Rebekah on our side, too."
"Really? What 'd you learn from her?"
"I learned, that she's just a girl. That she lost her mom too young and she loves blindly and recklessly, even if it consumes her. And when it's all said and done there's nothing more important than the bond of family."
Damon turned to face her.
"Well, you should tell that to my brother."
"I'm not mad at you for letting him out, Damon. I think that you're gonna be the one to save him from himself. It won't be because he loves me, it'll be because he loves you. Can I tell you the rest tomorrow?"
"Sure." Elena closed her eyes. Damon looked at her, lovingly.
Somewhere outside Mystic Falls, A large truck pulled up and the doors opened as the driver climbed out and walked out to the back. He opened the shutter and saw a man sitting there. Klaus.
"You know, it's been a while since I've seen him, it'll be interesting." Said Niklaus.
"What do you mean?" Asked the man.
"You'll find out in a few minutes." Klaus said, looking down at his hands, where he was holding a silver dagger. He suddenly heard a gasp, and looked over to one of his 4 coffins. Klaus got up and walked over to the coffin, pulling up the lid. "Hello Brother!" Klaus said with a smile.
"Niklaus?" A voice said, hoarse and pained.
"Yes, it's me. Kol…" Klaus smirked as his brother began to get his breathe for the first time in a century.
