Chapter 11
A/N I think Silas' treatment of Klaus is getting more serious and less humorous. The siblings are not finding it funny at all.
In a moment their sister Rebekah walked into the room. She stopped short when she saw Klaus sitting on the parlor floor, drink in hand. She also saw the wheelchair.
"What's going on?"
"Weird things, per usual," Klaus said. "You decided to come home, I see."
"Why the wheelchair?"
"Our brother has a problem with his legs," Elijah said. "One is weak and the other is paralyzed."
Rebekah stared at her blond brother with an open mouth. "Are you joking?"
"Hardly, dear sister. Silas is playing games with me."
"Silas is here?" She didn't like that idea. Just one more problem in jinxed Mystic Falls.
"Unfortunately. One never knows when he will appear because he takes the form of another person. So, beware what you say to others."
"Well, that's just ducky," the blonde girl said. "May I assume you are both really my brothers?"
"Yes, but should we assume you are really our sister?" Klaus said, still on the floor and leaning back against the bar. He waved his glass at her and gave her a crooked smile.
"I am! I was with Elena, as Elijah knows. And with Katherine, Stefan and Damon. Everyone is coming back to town."
"With the addition of Silas," Klaus muttered.
"Are you going to continue to sit on the floor, Nik? Shouldn't you be using the wheelchair?"
Klaus just grunted. Finally he looked up at his brother and asked, "Are you going to put me back in my mode of transport?" He held up an arm for assistance.
"No. I'll show you how to do it. I worked for three years beside a man in a wheelchair and I learned a few things. One is, remember to lock the wheels."
"Lock the damned wheels," Klaus muttered.
Elijah moved the wheelchair over close to his brother and, with Rebekah watching and sometimes commenting, instructed him on how to get back in the chair, without using levitation. It frustrated Klaus, but Elijah lifted him out of the chair after he was seated and made him do it three times. After that, Klaus clutched the hand rims on the wheels and refused to be lifted out again.
"Enough, big brother! I know the procedure now," Klaus insisted. "Besides, I have no intention of being stuck in this situation for long."
"Let us hope that is the case," Elijah agreed. He was tempted to tell his brother what Bonnie planned to do, but he caught himself. Silas could be listening and watching this very moment.
"And I don't intent to put up with the way I have been touched. Maybe Silas is gay." His hand went to his crotch. "At least no one is feeling me up at the moment."
"Someone has been groping you, Nik, and you don't know who?" Rebekah asked, confused.
"Utilizing magic," Klaus said. "I feel hands touch me, but there are no real hands there."
"Maybe Silas is a woman," Elijah said. "Or a woman is working with Silas. Or maybe two different people are tormenting you. According to Miss Bennett, this is the work of a witch."
"Not exactly. According to her, my attacker is using a voodoo doll and a crystal ball, so it still could be Silas who obtained them from a witch," Klaus reasoned. Then to the empty air, he shouted, "I say, Silas, can you hear me? Are you gay, ole boy? Are you particularly interested in me? If so, forget it. And keep your hands off me." He flipped a finger at the empty air, too, just in case Silas really was watching.
"Probably not a smart move, Niklaus," Elijah murmured.
Klaus just looked at him defiantly.
Apparently Silas was watching and was miffed, for Klaus found himself flying off the seat of the wheelchair. Someone was pulling him by his ankles. In a moment, and before his siblings could grab him, Klaus was on the floor. The invisible hands dragged him swiftly across the Italian marble tiles and under a heavy table. With one leg on one side of a carved mahogany leg and the other leg on the other side, Klaus found his crotch slammed against the wood. He swore mightily in fury and pain.
Elijah was quick to grab him under his armpits and haul him backward from the offending leg. The invisible person hauled him right back against the wooden leg. Elijah, who almost fell down, yanked again on his brother. For a moment, Klaus was pulled both ways and his body was lifted right off the floor.
Klaus swore viciously and resorted to moving in a blur, ripping himself away from both Elijah and the supposed Silas. The uncontrolled movement put him into the fireplace, which was not lit. Cold ash and soot puffed up around him and then settled softly. Under him was the metal grate which had held the pieces of logs. He put his hands on the two fancy andirons and sat there trembling in fury. And some fear.
Elijah and Rebekah stared at their brother, sitting there like a king on a very low throne, his expression as dark as the underside of a thunder cloud.
"What the hell did you do to annoy him this much? Other than that last comment," Rebekah asked with alarm. "Why is he doing this to you?" she went to him to try to pull him from the fireplace.
"I'm not sure. Could be a couple of things," Klaus said through gritted teeth. He let Rebekah, joined by Elijah, extract him from the fireplace. They each took one of his arms and lifted him up and carried him to the wheelchair. He was dirty as he slouched there. He saw Della standing in the doorway and he knew she was worried about him. The thought annoyed him, at the moment. In addition, she must be thinking about having to clean the scattered ashes and soot.
"Silas wants the "cure." I want the cure, but not for myself. I don't want just anyone to use it. We certainly don't want Silas bringing the dead over from the other side. Mikael and Mother would come back," Klaus said, answering Rebekah's question. He pretended he didn't care that he was so filthy. He envisioned another bath in his immediate future.
"Perish the thought," Elijah muttered. "We certainly can do without the return of our parents. You know there is only one dose of the cure. Perhaps we should just let Rebekah here use it. You want it, don't you, sister?"
"Yes, I do. Very much. I want to be human."
"Let's not get into that right now," Klaus said. He was more interested in his own problems than in Rebekah's ridiculous wish. He frowned at the girl. How could she possibly want to be human again?
Rebekah frowned right back. She knew Klaus didn't want her to take the cure. She thought it unfair. She turned away, strode from the room and headed up the stairs, careful not to get soot on everything from her hands.
Klaus watched her go and then he said, "If Elena took it, she would become human again and I could use her blood to make more hybrids." This seemed reasonable to him.
Elijah poured a drink for himself and a refill for Klaus. He handed his brother the drink and he watched Klaus down the whole thing. Ignoring Klaus' appearance, the older brother continued the conversation.
"Do you still want to do that? Werewolves lead normal lives, my brother. They have families and jobs that mean a lot to them. If you make them hang around with you, they are going to be resentful. You must have seen that with those you created before."
"I don't care. Why should I care about their little lives elsewhere? All right, you are right. Anyway, between Stefan and Tyler Lockwood, I have no hybrid slaves anymore."
"You don't need them, Niklaus. You still have some family left. Depending on how you treat people, you can make friends easily. The ladies still find you very attractive. You have money. You are often in a position of power and social standing."
"I have all that, but I am not happy. So seldom do I experience happiness," Klaus said with an exasperated huff. He brushed some ash from his sleeve.
"And Caroline?"
"She challenges me, frustrates me, amuses me. I would dearly love to have her willingly in my bed," Klaus admitted and a grin came to his face. It looked odd because he had ashes smeared on his face.
"Have you had her unwillingly?"
"No! I don't want that."
"I see. You have respect for her and admire her."
"I love her. She's so tantalizing. I want to win her over fairly."
"Hm." Elijah saw that Caroline was a challenge for Klaus. He loved challenges. He wanted to win her with charm and cleverness, without using force. He wanted her to come to him of her own free will, to want him because she was really attracted to him. Klaus' longing for this, to win the challenge, might be mistaken for love. Klaus had been "in love" before, several times. If Caroline did come to him, her appeal might quickly wane. Or not.
"Well, let's get you upstairs so you can change and wash," he said.
"Again," Klaus muttered, handing his empty glass to his brother. He made no attempt to propel the wheelchair himself, so Elijah got behind him and pushed him from the parlor, down the hall and into the elevator. Back in the parlor, Della entered and stood there, discouraged. The last thing she wanted to do was to clean up another mess her employer had made. And soot could be hard to clean up.
Once again Elijah took his brother into the bathroom. He started water running into the tub and then the two of them carefully peeled Klaus' clothes off, trying to minimize the spread of ash and soot.
"I must not 'shift place'," Klaus said, lifting himself off the chair seat with his arms while Elijah pulled off his slacks and underwear. He then sat back down. The chair seat was filthy and so his bottom now was. "I don't seem to have control over it. I didn't mean to fly across the room and into the fireplace."
"I'm sure you didn't. Silas may be intensifying any such move you make. Or perhaps your emotions at the time are doing it. Rage. Fear."
"I'm not afraid of that bastard," Klaus grumbled. "Well, maybe I fear my own lack of control over the situation." He didn't want to actually say that the situation really scared him sometimes. He wanted it to end.
"I would also, if it were I," Elijah agreed. "All right, into the tub. Use plenty of soap or the soot will just cling to you." He watched Klaus use his arms to transfer himself from the wheelchair to the edge of the tub and then down into the water. The bruising in his crotch was obvious, but it would fade soon.
Elijah then used a soapy wash cloth to clean the wheelchair. In a couple of minutes he went into the bedroom and returned with clean boxer shorts.
"There is something I need to do. If I leave you, do you think you will be able to do for yourself for a short while?"
"Of course. I can get myself out of the tub, dry off, put on my underwear and get in my wheelchair. Just like a big boy," Klaus said, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
"I know you can. I'm pleased to see that you realize you are not totally handicapped. I'll be back shortly." He headed for the door.
"Where are you going?" Klaus asked, still scrubbing his skin. The water around him had turned murky. He would have to let it drain away and run in fresh water.
"Private business, brother," Elijah said with a smile. He went into the bedroom and out to the hall. Once he was out of the house and in his car, he phoned Bonnie.
"He is alone in his bathroom. He is bathing and will then be in his bedroom for a while. I don't know how long. There is nothing to stop him from using the elevator to go downstairs," he told Bonnie when she answered her phone.
"All right. I'm going to try to put up a barrier shield around his bedroom and bathroom. It would be easier if I was actually there, but I think I remember the layout of the rooms. Are you going to be there?"
"No. I'm in my car heading to the grocery store. I'll be away from the house for at least a half hour. Rebekah is home now, but she probably won't go to Klaus' room. I do hope Silas leaves Klaus alone for a while."
"I'll get started on the shield. But what then? Klaus isn't going to want to be trapped in his room for long."
"We'll work something out, I'm sure," Elijah said. He really was not sure, however.
Bonnie was not at home. She was at Caroline's house.
"Are you sure you can do this?" the blond vampire asked.
"No, but I can try."
"Klaus is going to be furious when he finds out you have put up a barrier again."
"I'll try not to trap him. I just want him to have a safe room where Silas or whoever can't get to him. I want to block both the crystal ball and the voodoo doll," Bonnie said. "Caroline, will you go back to his house and up to his room? Stay with him. If things start to go wrong, call me. All right?"
"Stay with him in his bedroom? Seriously? He may get the wrong idea, Bonnie!" Caroline said.
"I don't think he's physically able to assault you right now. Just chat him up. You can do that. He's so into you he'll love having you there, even just to talk."
Caroline made a face of displeasure. "Oh, all right. After you do this, you call me and tell me I can leave."
"No, I'll go over to the house, too. I'll join you in his room and see how the spell is working. Or not working. I'll wait ten minutes before I start. That'll give you time to get there."
"All right. I sure hope this works."
A/N Thank you to all of you for reading. More comments are welcome.