New Orleans
Freya jolted upright in her bed, sweat ran down her face and her bed sheets stuck to her. Even awake the screams still rung in her ears, her vision obscured with blood, hearts and dismembered bodies.
She took a few calming breaths before getting out of bed and making her way to the bathroom. She turned the tap and splashed cold water onto her face.
It was just a dream.
Her gut said otherwise, she could still feel the magic coursing through her body, no, this wasn't a dream, this was a preminition of what was to come. She looked up into the mirror but she wasn't looking at herself, in her place was a young woman, with curly brown hair and soft features like her aunts, she was beautiful. This was Hope but not the innocent baby sleeping peacefully in her nursery a few doors down, this was the Hope from her vision. As she continued to look at the figure before her a darkness began to chill Freya's bones, the blue eyes staring back at her began to change into a deep yellow with veins crawling up her face and below her eyes, her sunshine smile and dimples turned into a sickening smirk as her fangs descended. Freya could feel the magic surrounding the young witch, power that should be too much for any witch to handle was manipulated easily by the Tribrid. The darkness became thicker and surrounded them both and it took all the power Freya had to keep standing under the weight of all the power. Before she could let out a scream the image in the mirror changed once again, Hybrid eyes and features still stared at Freya except now it wasn't Hope, it was her Father. Klaus wore the same smirk as what his daughter had but the darkness had subsided a little. Freya's heart was beating frantically as she looked into her brothers eye's, she knew she was being sent a message but her brain was still paralysed in fear from the earlier dream that she couldn't decipher it just yet.
She gripped her eyes shut willing the figure in the mirror to disappear, willing the grousome corpses from her mind to stop haunting her. She opened her eyes to see a familliar set looking back at her, she let out a sigh of relief at seeing her own reflection.
The compound was shrouded in darkness as Freya made her way down the stairs and through the many doors that led to the kitchen, she knew sleep would now evade her so a hot cup of coffee was more than welcome. She noticed a light on in the kitchen and found Elijah leaning against some cupboards sipping on a blood bag.
"Hello brother, didn't fancy something a little more fresh?"
"I'm afraid i'm too tired for hunting so this will have to do." Freya could see hesitation in Elijah's brown eyes, he looked exhausted, he was still wearing his suit from that day but had abandoned the jacket and tie, the sleeves of his shirt were rolled up and his hair was in dissaray,
"What troubles you 'Lijah?" She turned on the coffee machine before sitting at the breakfast bar and waiting for a reply.
"I must confess, after all the innocent blood thats has been shed lately I didn't have the heart to feed on a human, to see the fear and pain in their eyes, so..." He waved the bloodbag in the air instead of finishing his sentence.
"I understand," Freya wasn't sure what else to say, her brother had been through a lot and it was all caused by her other brother, Klaus.
Elijah sat next to her at the bar and handed her a steaming cup of coffee, "And what is preventing you from sleep on this fine night, sister?" It was now Freya's turn to look troubled, she knew Elijah would be the best out of all her siblings to speak too but lately he had become distant, the only reason he stayed was to protect Hope.
"If I speak of this with you, you must promise me it will stay between us until I can figure out what it all means and how to fix it."
"I give you my word," Elijah promised instantly, his eyes now clouded in concern as he looked at his sister.
"I had a prophetic dream, it was about Hope."
"Is she in danger?" Elijah interupted.
"Yes, well, no. Elijah i think she is the danger." She took a deep unsteady breath as a chill ran through her bones confirming what she had just said, she could always rely on her magical instinct to be correct and this time was no different.
"What do you mean?" He asked confused.
Freya spent the next ten minutes telling him about the dream, where an adult Hope was out of control, not just a danger to New Orleans or the humans but to the whole supernatural community and the world, how she would aimlessly slaughter innocents including covens of witches, vampires and werewolves alike, how she used her magic to torture humans and manipulate the weather causing hurricanes, earthquakes and tsunamis, destroying anything and anyone in her path. She then told Elijah what happened after she had woken up, how she had seen the evil in Hope morph into the features of Klaus.
Elijah had remained expressionless throughout the whole story and remained quiet as Freya had finished, before she could ask him any questions he lowered his head slightly and let out a dark laugh, something Freya had never heard escape his lips before. His eyes were cold as he looked back into her blue ones. "I failed." Was all he said before letting out a strangled sigh. Freya raised an eyebrow at him beckoning him to explain.
"I promised Hayley I would protect her, protect her from Klaus. I failed. Can't you see? The darkness that is our brother, that corrupts everything he touches will also destroy the one thing I thought could save him. Hope. She will be even more evil and damaged as her father but with more power and will truly be indestructible. Klaus destroys everything, he has broken this family beyond repair and he will do the same to his daughter." Elijag stood abruptly and headed towards the doorway.
"You must help me, brother. Help me repair this family before it's too late."
"I'm afraid you are 1000 years too late, sister," he whispered before flashing away with vampire speed.
Mystic Falls
Caroline got out of bed with a sigh and looked out of the window, she waited for the usual happiness at seeing the sun shine but there was nothing. No warmth. Nothing. Ever since her mum died she could no longer feel happiness at the simple things of life, it was all pointless. She walked out of her bedroom and into the open-planned living space, she could already smell the coffee brewing. She prepared the two cups as she did every morning and turned on the stove to start making omelettes.
"Morning gorgeous," Enzo smirked at her as he took one of the cups and let the hot liquid burn down his throat. He was wearing nothing more than a towel dangerously low around his hips, drops of water still running down his torso and dripping from his hair.
"Seriously? Don't you own any clothes?" Caroline cried as she mixed the eggs with some milk before pouring it onto the frying pan.
"I feel they're over-rated," Enzo smiled as he took his cup and walked over to the couch and plopped himself onto it. "Of course you do," Caroline couldn't help the small smile that crept onto her face.
Caroline had moved into her own apartment not long after regaining her humanity, she couldn't bare to live in her mum's house after her death and it was just suffocating at the Salvatore's, Enzo had turned up at her door a couple of weeks after she'd moved and he was a wreck. They were both now outcasts and so she had taken him. The Heretics had destroyed Mystic Falls, the Salvatore's were hell bent on killing their mother, Lilly and as usual Bonnie had been roped in for magical assistance plus the witch's friendship with Damon had become a lot stronger. Her and Stefan were a dead end, after getting her head screwed on straight she realised any attraction towards him mainly stemmed from loneliness and she didn't want that to destroy their friendship. Matt was a cop now and busy protectiong the humans from all the supernatural terror, so basically no one had time for Caroline Forbes anymore.
Enzo had been given a choice when everything kicked off, either he was with Lilly, his sire and the Heretics or he was with Damon, his once best friend. Enzo didn't want to choose sides and was fed up with all the fighting and drama, all he'd ever wanted was a family, to feel part of a community and have loyal friends around him, so he'd turned to the most honest person he knew: Caroline Forbes.
They'd been living together for a couple of months now and had formed a true friendship.
There was a knock on the door and Caroline hissed at Enzo, "Go put some clothes on!" He flashed away with vampire speed as she opened the door, "Hey Stefan," she pulled the door wider so he could come in.
"Hey Care, how have you been?"
"Cut the pleasantries Salvatore, what are you doing here?" Enzo had walked out of his room fully dressed and was glaring at Stefan. "I came to talk to my friend, this doesn't concern you," he growled before turning to Caroline. Enzo scoffed at him "Friend? When was the last time you stopped by? Or answered the phone? You don't deserve her as a friend," he hissed back at the youngest Salvatore, before things could escalate Caroline stepped between them, "It's fine, could we have some privacy?" She smiled at Enzo reassuringly, her eyes pleading with him to not cause another fight between the two.
"Fine," he huffed, "Call me if you need anything." Enzo placed a quick kiss on Caroline's cheek before barging Stefan's shoulder and heading out the front door. Stefan smiled triumphantly as he turned back to Caroline, she had her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised, her foot tapped on the floor as she waited for him to lose the smile.
"He has a point you know. What do you want Stefan?" She returned to the oven and continued making breakfast although her appetite had now gone.
"Look, we finally have a plan to take down the Heretics and Lilly but we need more man power, I came here to ask if you could help us, please." Caroline slammed the spatula down on the counter and whirled to face him, "Are you serious? None of you have spoken to me in months, Damon called me a traiterous bimbo for taking Enzo in and now you come to me? Because you need man power?"
"Care it's not like that, I know Damon shouldn't have reacted the way he did but he was hurt. We've just been busy with all this."
"So busy that none of you could bother picking up the phone now and then? Don't make excuses Stefan, I know my place in this disfunctional group of 'friends' i'm the back-up, the distraction, the one who had to just drop what they were doing to go and help with everyone else and yet no one even bothers checking to see if I'm ok, for all you knew I could have been kidnapped or killed." Caroline took a deep steadying breath after her rant willing herself to calm down, she could feel her gums aching where her fangs were, itching to come out and bite the male doppleganger, but she couldn't let herself lose control, not again.
"You know that's not true Care,"
"Oh really?" She interrupted, "Do you want to know what i've been up to the last couple of months whiles you've been busy ignoring me?"
"Look maybe we could go for a drink sometime and catch up?" Stefan offered looking hopeful but Caroline just laughed loudly, "And what's wrong with right now?"
"Damon's waiting downstairs for me." At least he has the nerve to look sheepish, Caroline thought to herself.
"Get out," she spat at him.
"Please Care, we need you!" He cried desperately.
"Get out of here now!" Her fangs elongated and she could feel the veins creeping underneath her skin, she vamped to the door and flew it open before grabbing Stefan by the throat and chucking him out of her apartment, slamming the door behind him.
She then slid down the door and began crying, letting all the pain and loneliness engulf her.
