Hello, my lovely readers. I am exhausted. Writing till my head spins off. Anyway, so I'm trying to write the rest of this story sometime in the next two to three weeks so I can go back and finish a few neglected stories. So, if you would like to tell me about something that you would like to see in this story I will try to get it in here. On with the show…
Chapter 4: Lost and Found
Klaus was furious as he watched yet another failed attempt at creating hybrids die at his feet. Shoving the body away in disgust, he walked out of the wooded area to find Elijah leaning against Klaus' SUV. "How did it go?" His brother asked impassively as Klaus scowled and walked around to the driver's side.
"Great. Splendid. My hybrid army is in full bloom. May be you would like to invite them over for tea?" Klaus slammed the door and started the vehicle's engine before Elijah had climbed inside.
"Now, brother," Elijah began as he hopped in while Klaus began to drive. Pulling the door closed as Klaus floored the gas pedal, Elijah sighed inwardly. "There is no reason to be so cross. There must be a solution to this problem. And you will find it. I have faith in you."
"Why don't you walk home?" Klaus was about to shove Elijah out of the truck when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Reaching into his pocket. He pulled it out. Seeing Caroline's number, his heart began to race. She must have added it to her contacts after finding it on Kol's phone. "Hello? Caroline?" He called into the phone.
"No, Niklaus. It is not Caroline. Although she is here. I need to thank her properly for the use of her phone. Would you like to talk to her?" Mikael's voice echoed down the line and Klaus had to stop himself from crushing the phone in his hand.
Elijah stared at his younger brother. They were quite aware that their father had been chasing them for the better part of the summer. However, that did not prepare them for the news that the young slayer, who had made such a delightful addition to their home for some time, would fall into his lethal grip.
"Caroline, come here, and say hello to your boyfriend, will you, dear?" Mikael asked. To someone who didn't know him they would think he sounded friendly. When there was no answer, Mikael chuckled. "Well, I see I'm not the only one who is not happy with your faking your death, boy."
"I fairly believe you take me for a fool, father. Caroline is far too intelligent to be caught by you," Klaus ground out into the phone which caused Mikael to chuckle once again.
"Have it your way," Mikael retorted before there was the sound of a long drawn out scream of pain. Both Mikaelson brothers recognized Caroline's voice. "Stop!" She wailed as Mikael tortured her.
"I swear to God if you do not stop this instant I will make your trip to hell a long and brutal one," Klaus bellowed into the phone as he heard the screaming die down.
"Klaus?" Caroline's voice came over the phone line, weakly. "Klaus, please, come. He's going to kill me. Please. I don't want to die!" She wailed into the phone and Klaus felt like he was going mad.
"That's enough for now. If you want her back I suggest you come to this little farm house we're staying at just outside Alanta. We will see you then. Oh, and do bring your siblings. I look forward to a family reunion." Mikael hung up as Klaus threw his phone onto the backseat.
Klaus pulled the car over and jumped out. Beginning to pace, he ran his hands through his hair. He had spent the part of his life running from his father. Now, his father had found him. And it seemed like he had leverage this time. Klaus had never had a weakness like Caroline that Mikael had been able to attain.
Slamming his fist into the driver's side door, he made a sizeable dent. Growling in frustration, he resumed pacing. He should have never spent time with Caroline. If he had just left her alone this would not be happening. He should just leave her with Mikael. When his father decided that he did not care for her he would let her go.
Laughing at his own thoughts, Klaus shook his head. No. Mikael would kill Caroline like he had killed his horse. He would wake up one day with her lying beside him, her throat cut. No, he could not allow the light to fade from her eyes because he did not want her to die. He had lived for a thousand years. Caroline was a mere babe, who had lived a millisecond compared to his years roaming the planet.
Making up his mind, Klaus pulled the door to the vehicle back open and hopped inside. "He couldn't have been more specific about the location, could he?" Elijah asked as he peered out at the woods as if he already knew what Klaus' final decision was.
"No, he couldn't, brother," Klaus muttered, staring angrily through the windshield of the vehicle.
"Well, I suppose that we might search every little farm house in Atlanta," Elijah murmured with a grin that made Klaus begin to lose his temper.
"Yes, I do believe that would be a wonderful idea. And remember that he wants all of us. Not just me," Klaus reminded his brother his eyes glinting with malice.
"Yes, that was an interesting part of the conversation. Why do you suppose he wants all of us in the same place? Wouldn't it be easier to pick us off one by one," Elijah said thoughtfully.
"Unless he believes that he can kill us all at the same time," Klaus replied, scowling at the thought. He still wanted to know why Kol was so stupid as to allow Caroline to access his phone. His brother was slipping. Maybe another hundred years in a box would serve to remind him to be more careful.
"Are we to stop by Mystic Falls and pick Rebekah and Kol up?" Elijah asked when they had to stop at a light. If Klaus had been driving he would have sped right through it. They were taking too long as it was. He would be damned if he would waste the time taking a detour to "pick up" Rebekah and Kol.
Pulling out his phone Klaus texted his younger brother and sister that they were to meet him and Elijah in Atlanta. When Rebekah asked why and Kol asked where he was he simply sat back and growled before tossing his phone at Elijah. "Niklaus, you know that I refuse to talk on the phone and drive," Elijah objected.
"Stop the bloody vehicle," Klaus demanded. When Elijah carefully pulled over to the side of the road, Klaus hopped out and raced around to driver's side. "Move," he demanded. "Now, you can talk to your heart's content," he muttered as he climbed into the driver's side and began to drive far over the speed limit.
"Slow down," Elijah snapped as Klaus sped around a school bus. The driver began to honk furiously and Klaus gave the other driver the finger that he felt best described his mood. "Kol, this is Elijah. Yes, I am on Nik's phone. Yes, he knows. No, I did not text you. Yes, Klaus is with me. No, he did not take your witch. No, I have no idea."
Klaus' gaze flicked to Elijah as Kol ranted on about his witch had gone missing along with Caroline. "They probably left together," Klaus surmised looking back to the road just in time to swerve past a duck. "Damn poultry," he muttered.
"Yes, I will let him know," Elijah said hanging up and looking at Klaus. "Did you hear that, brother?"
"I could care about what happens to the witch," Klaus growled.
"Maybe you should," Elijah replied as he called Rebekah. "Rebekah, yes, Niklaus did text you. Where are you? We need you, sister. Apparently Father has Caroline and perhaps Bonnie Bennett. No, I do not believe that you should involve anyone else. Just come to the town limits. We will pick you up there."
When Elijah got done with his little phone calls, Klaus was trying to lose his temper even more. They had been on the road for an hour. It was taking far too long. He could almost hear Caroline. He knew just how horrible his Father could be. Not only would he kill her he would also torture her horribly before she was dead. He should have turned her. Although the fact that she was a human and a vampire hunter were probably the only reasons that she was still alive.
Staring at his phone on the dashboard, Klaus wished it would ring. He wished that his Father would call again. Maybe he could give them more clues as to where they could possibly be. Maybe he could give the phone to Caroline and she would give him a clue as to where she was. If he had just stayed away from her maybe she would be alright.
"Niklaus, you could not keep her safe forever," Elijah murmured as he began to hit keys on the phone.
"What are you doing?" Klaus asked his brother absently, trying to not think too much about what his brother had just said.
Elijah kept typing before he spoke. "I'm texting our witches to have them gather where we will meet Rebekah and Kol. It is my hope that they might be able to do a locater spell on Father. Or at the very least Caroline or Bonnie. My thoughts are that it would be easier to find the Bennett witch if she happens to be with the slayer as Kol believes."
"Thank you, Elijah," Klaus whispered and tried to not notice the smile that curved his brother's lips.
"You're welcome," Elijah replied. "Once we get there do you have any particular thoughts on what to do," he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"End this," Klaus told his brother. "Once and for all, Elijah. We cannot keep running from him. We must end this."
"I agree, brother," Elijah retorted. "However, I am not sure that we will be able to stop him. We have tried before and failed."
"Not as a united front. He has always taken us by surprise, Elijah. But this time we have something that he is not counting on," Klaus replied with a smile.
"Oh, and that would be?" Elijah was quite curious to know where his brother's train of thought was going.
"We have a slayer on our side, brother," Klaus retorted his smile widening.
"I am not sure that you can believe that Caroline will help you," Elijah replied quietly. He was afraid that Niklaus would go into a rage and begin to rant. Instead he simply continued to drive calmly.
"I was not referring to the lovely Miss Forbes," Klaus replied.
"Oh," Elijah felt genuinely confused. Who could his brother be referring to?
Klaus titled his head to the side to peer at his brother. "Actually, I was referring to Alaric Saltzman, brother," he smirked at the look of confusion on Elijah's face.
"Oh, come, brother, did you think that I would not have backup plan?" Klaus shook his head. "I switched out the older Slayer's vervain some time ago. He has been under my control most of the summer. I simply had no idea when I would need to use him. He will also be meeting us in Georgia. When he arrives at the farm house ahead of us it will look like a rescue mission. He will prove to be quite the distraction for our Father."
Elijah smiled. "Ah, Niklaus, I should have known that you would be prepared. But what will happen if Caroline finds out that her mentor is under your control? Do you not think that you will be further provoking her anger?"
"My concern is not whether Caroline is angry with me or not. My concern is that she lives through this experience," Klaus snapped, allowing some of the anger he had been feeling since the unfortunate phone call earlier in the day.
"Niklaus, we will find her," Elijah replied, placing his hand on his brother's shoulder. It had been sometime since he had seen his brother show any emotion at all. "I promise you that I will do everything to help you."
Klaus nodded while he drove along. He was relieved when they arrived in the parking lot of a restaurant that Rebekah had texted them the address of. The moment that Klaus opened the door to the truck Rebekah appeared. "Nik. Splendid," Rebekah's facial expression said that it was anything but. "I am so happy that it did not take you five hours to get here." Looking pointedly at her watch Rebekah heaved a sigh.
"Come now, sister, they're here now," Kol called as he stepped forward. "Nik, does this belong to you?" Kol asked, jerking Alaric forward and shoving him toward Klaus.
"We're sorry it took so long," Elijah said as he buttoned his suit jacket. "If Niklaus had driven any faster he would have had to trade vehicles for something faster."
Rebekah's eyebrows rose. "Why are we here?"
"Father has captured Caroline," Klaus informed her and then turned to Kol. "You did not tell her."
Kol shrugged. "I thought that Elijah did."
"No one informed me that I needed to," Elijah snapped and his younger siblings turned to stare at him. "I did not believe that she would come if she knew why she was here."
"I wouldn't be and I'm not sure that I should be," Rebekah looked nervously around the parking lot as if she expected their Father to appear with a white oak stake in hand.
"She's your friend, Rebekah. I know that you have a limited supply of those so you may want to try to keep the few you have alive," Klaus murmured, watching Rebekah stiffen as she glared at him.
Opening her mouth, Rebekah was about to snap back at Klaus when Kol inserted himself. "Nik, do you have any idea where Father might have taken the girls?"
"We have no idea," Elijah replied. "That is why I have sent for our witches. They shall perform a spell to try to locate that pair. Otherwise the information we have is to look for a farm house."
"Oh, that is wonderful," Rebekah sneered as she spoke. "So, shall we go traipsing about the bloody country asking the locals have you seen two teenage girls and a man who may be trying to kill vampires?"
"Yeah, that sounds like it would work," Alaric said, folding his arms over his chest.
"Alaric, why don't you go inside and get us all coffees?" Klaus suggested.
"What is he even doing here?" Rebekah demanded, pointing in the direction of the departed vampire hunter.
"I have no idea, sister," Kol replied. "Would you like to add your two cents, Nik?"
Klaus rolled his eyes and stared at the road. "I do not need to explain myself to the two of you."
"But you would like us to walk into an almost certain death to help save the life of your ex-girlfriend who may try to kill us herself one day?" Rebekah snarled.
"Says the woman who is bedding down with a potential slayer herself," Klaus snarled back.
"Enough," Elijah called to them. "Arguing with each other will not help us find the girls. Now, Rebekah, if you wish to go back home no one is stopping you. However, if you do stay then your help would be greatly appreciated."
Groaning dramatically, Rebekah stared at Elijah and then Klaus. "We had better get through this alive."
Klaus clapped his hands together happily. "This is going to be like old times."
"Yeah," Kol said sarcastically. "Go team Nik."
Thank you to everyone who is reading this story because it means so much to me that any of you take my crazed scribblings seriously. When I finally I get a book published I will have to give a huge shoutout to everyone on the fanfic site who have been so supportive. So, thank you.
Special thanks go out to redrosebud, Jeremy Shane, Whatever58, WeasleysGroupie and .
Peace and I will see you next week,
LL