AN: Okay guys, I decided to give you a little something for the holidays. It's a lot shorter than the last chapter, but I won't be able to write for the next week or so and didn't want to leave you guys with nothing. And be good readers and review! Please! Sorry for any errors; I'll go back and edit it when I have more time.
Jack: Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you liked the last chapter and took the time to leave some feedback! It made me happy.
Karen: Thanks for reviewing. I'm glad you're finding the story interesting so far and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.
Jipop: Thanks so much! Loved your review! I'm really glad you like Sophia as much as I do. I too like her little interactions between Greta; they're fun to write because I never know if they're going to escalate into something more or not. I'm really glad you liked the last chapter and I hope you like this one as well.
Guest: Thank you for taking the time to leave a review! It means a lot to a writer when they get feedback. I hope you like this chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Chapter 11:
"You're mother?" Klaus's question breaks Sophia out of her stunned state. Turning doe eyes frontwards, the teen gets her first real look at the woman that birthed her and Elena.
Isobel, while several inches shorter than her, was certainly pretty and Sophia had to wonder what her and Elena would have looked like if they hadn't been doppelgängers. Would they have shared their mother's nose? Her hands?
But as it was, there was no resemblance between mother and daughter. They were complete strangers in every aspect of their lives. This knowledge just had Sophia clinging to the memory of her real mother all the more, desperate to remember every facial feature and characteristic of her personality.
"My biological mother. My real mom died last May." Sophia replied, a little unnerved by the complete lack of emotions she had for Isobel. For her mother.
Shouldn't there by some type of connection? Everyone always spoke of the unbreakable bond between mother and child, but the girl felt nothing. No love; no longing. Not even hate or bitterness. Just…nothing.
"Ah." Klaus uttered before he was suddenly in front of the female vamp, whose shocked gaze had remained glued to her daughter. Lifting her chin up with a finger, Klaus made Isobel meet his gaze.
"Tell me any information you have about Katerina and why you're here." Sophia watched as Klaus easily compelled her, the fear from earlier returning. Why was she here?
"Katherine wants to make a deal with you. She has everything you need for the ritual waiting in Mystic Falls, Virginia. She wants you to allow her her freedom from your continued perusal in exchange for it." Isobel replied, the compulsion making the words spill from her mouth with no filtration. So much for keeping her cards close to her chest.
"You lie! How can she have everything when I have the doppelgänger? Why game is Katerina trying to play?" Klaus bit out, his irritation with the lost Petrova reaching a new high. So the hunted woman thought she could fool him, did she?
"You have a doppelganger." Isobel muttered before her eyes darted over to meet Sophia's, as it was clear that she'd have to reveal the girl's secret.
Sophia clenched her eyes shut as her heart pounded like a jack hammer inside her chest, the beat the only thing she could hear. Isobel was about to expose Elena and there wasn't anything she could do about it.
The lack of emotion quickly vanished, as hate filled her lithe frame. It was obvious Isobel had come here with the intention of betraying her twin, no matter if Sophia was already here or not. The woman was literally handing over her daughter to be killed to save the life of a selfish vampire ho-bag that couldn't give a crap about anyone but herself. What a bitch!
Klaus glanced back at Sophia, the increase in her heart rate telling him she knew exactly what the woman spoke of. At her pained expression, the Original had the gut feeling that she'd been lying about something. That she'd once more betrayed him somehow.
"What do you mean?" He ground out, his glare still focused on the witch.
"There is another doppelgänger in Mystic Falls."
"Another one? How is that possible?" Klaus thundered, his grip bruising on Isobel's face.
"I have birth to twins. Identical twins." Pushing her away roughly, Klaus spun around to face Sophia with a snarl.
"You never mentioned having a twin!" Klaus yelled, vamping until he had her pushed roughly up against a wall. Sophia returned his glare, not even phased by his vampire face anymore.
"I didn't think it was important." She was not going to back down, no matter how angry the vampire became.
"How could you possibly think it was of no importance?!" Klaus exclaimed, fury filling him to the brim.
"Maddox said my blood should still work as the doppelgänger sacrifice, so there was no reason to tell you." The Original released her with another snarl, turning to look at Maddox, whose eyes were still wide with surprise.
"What does this mean?" Glancing over at the equally shocked Greta, Maddox gave a small shrug as he looked back at his boss.
"I don't know. With there being two, they both might need to be in the ritual for it to actually work. I don't know if using only one would be successful or not." Maddox said, sending a pitying look at Sophia.
"You can't use my sister, Nik!" Sophia pulled on his sleeve, trying to get him to look at her. Klaus just shrugged her off with an angry glower.
"The ritual calls for the sacrifice of the doppelgänger and I will not leave anything to chance."
"I won't let you kill my sister! I haven't fought you on anything to do with the ritual, Klaus, but I won't sit by and let you kill Elena."
"You don't have a choice, sweetheart. Since you've betrayed me again, I have no reason to even hesitate in sacrificing you both." The Original bit out, ignoring the flash of hurt that streaked across her face.
"I didn't betray you, Niklaus! I was protecting my sister, my family. You should understand that, since you've been doing the same for your own siblings for centuries!" Sophia yelled, trying to push her hurt at his callous words away.
"I killed my siblings for betraying me." Sophia shuddered at the coldness of his tone, images of him daggering Finn, Kol, and Rebekah flashing behind her eyes.
"Yes, but you've kept them safe ever since, have you not? You've kept them away from Mikael." The Original tensed at the name, hating any reminder of his desiccated step-father.
"Do not speak of him!" Rolling her eyes at the little boy who glared at her, Sophia squared her shoulders and met his scowl head on.
"Well it's the truth! So how you can be mad at me for keeping my twin a secret to keep her from dying, I don't understand. I didn't know you would need us both for the ritual, so I never brought her up for her own safety."
"That doesn't erase the fact that you've been deceiving me! After your last bout of punishment, I thought you would have learned."
"Get over it, Nik! You would have done the same for Rebekah, and you know it!" The three on lookers were shocked by the exchange, especially when Klaus seemed to deflate a little.
"I still have to use you both." Hands shaking, as the reality of their oncoming deaths sunk in, Sophia gripped on his large hand, meeting his cooled gaze.
"Can…can we get her the elixir too?" It was amazing how fast they went from yelling and screaming to talking quietly, as if the room hadn't just been put in peril of being demolished by their emotions.
Turning to look at Maddox and Greta, Klaus arched a brow in question while Isobel just looked on in horror. It was obvious to her that Sophia, her lost little baby, was involved with Klaus. There was no way they were that familiar with each other that they could work through an argument so quickly without them being an item or something along those lines. Lovers. They're lovers.
"The coven's power was diminished greatly from the first potion. They won't be up to making another one for several months, at the earliest." Maddox replied, hating how Sophia's face fell and tears filled her pretty eyes. Greta had to bite back her grin, knowing the girl would soon be out of her life and away from Klaus. Good riddance.
"Then she'll have mine." Sophia whispered, wrapping her arms around herself to try and comfort herself. Klaus glanced down at her, seeing the watery eyes and trembling lip; he pulled her into his arms, his earlier anger completely forgotten. How she could calm him down, when he had a terrifying temper, was beyond him.
"Nonsense. We'll simply wait until the coven has enough power. Or we'll find someone else who can do it." Sophia's eyes widened at his words and she pulled back slightly to peer up at him, shocked at the serious look on his face.
"You…you'd actually wait, even though you have everything you need? Really?" Klaus swallowed, trying to dislodge the frog that'd jumped up into his throat. No one, not even Bekah, had ever looked at him with such amazement and adoration.
"I've waited a thousand years, sweetheart, a few more months is nothing." He'd barely gotten the words out before she pulled his head down, latching onto his mouth with her own. The kiss was filled with the emotions the two refused to speak about, only ending when Sophia's burning lungs required oxygen.
Sophia kept herself wrapped around him for several minutes, still amazed he'd actually postpone the ritual he'd been longing to do since he was turned. The significance of such a gesture was not lost on her, and Sophia could feel her heart swelling. Klaus cared for her and wanted to make sure she survived the sacrifice, no matter how angry she made him at times.
Pulling away, Sophia lightly ran her fingers over his face, the tips memorizing the sharp edges and scruffy feel. Klaus watched her, his sea green eyes warm and soft, something that she was beginning to understand only happened around her.
"I don't want to put it off, Nik. I want you to be free as soon as possible." She couldn't believe she was saying it, but the witch knew the words were true.
"What? You don't want to wait for another elixir?" To say the Original was confused would have been an understatement.
"No…I mean, I want another elixir. But…I can't let you remain shackled by your mother's curse for any longer. I know how much it hurts you, how lost you feel. And I couldn't stand myself if I was the reason you had to wait even longer."
"Love, it's only a few months. I would rather wait then you not be revived." He didn't understand why she would want such a thing. Why would she willingly give up her chance at living just so his curse could be broken sooner?
"We'll look for another coven to do the potion; we'll even look into spells that might save me. But by the next full moon, I want you to finally be who you were always meant to be, Nik. I…I can't stand the pain being cut off from your wolf side causes you." Sophia whispered, the tears finally breaking free and rolling down her cheeks.
"But-"
"No, this is my decision. We'll do the ritual in a month's time and just hope for the best." Sophia said, a determined spark in her watery eyes. Klaus clenched his eyes shut and pulled her back against him, her head nestling against his chest.
"Are you sure, my dear? If we don't find…" Klaus trailed off, not wanting to even think about them not being able to revive her. He was still reeling from the human reawakening all his emotions he'd been ignoring for the last millennia, so he wasn't prepared for the heart stopping fear that coursed through him at the thought of her death.
"We'll find something, I'm sure." Sophia replied, hugging him tightly before stepping away, whipping her cheeks.
The two turned back to their audience, faces flushing with the reminder that they weren't alone. Clearing his throat, Klaus walked briskly back over to Isobel, whose eyes were filled with shock and disbelief. Katherine would never believe her when she told her the famously callous Niklaus had fallen for a mere human.
"You're going to return to Katerina and tell her that you've succeeded in your plan. You were able to reach one of my witches and he told you I've agreed to her deal. You are to act normally, as if nothing is out of the ordinary and go along with Katerina's plans. Once Katerina has you go after Elena, I want you to betray her. Take Elena somewhere safe and call Maddox. When he tells you you're done, I want you to remove your sunlight jewelry and burn until you die. Do you understand?"
"I understand." Isobel replied, her eyes glazing over at the compulsion. Sophia's mouth dropped open in surprise.
"Wait…you're making her kill herself?" Klaus turned back to her, eyebrow arched.
"You're displeased? This woman happily betrayed your own sister for the benefit of Katerina. Would you have rather me let her get away with betraying you?" At his question, Sophia bit her lower lip as she struggled with herself.
On one hand, she didn't want her birth mother to die. She'd already lost her adoptive parents and had no idea who her real father was. If Isobel perished, she'd never get to know her.
On the other hand, she'd willingly sold Elena out to be sacrificed in the ritual so that Katherine could be free. How could a mother do that, even with they'd been separated for years? How could a woman hold her children, give them up, and then betray them without batting an eye? What type of person could do that?
"Just…never mind." Sophia muttered, turning away from the group to head back towards the kitchen. After the emotional roller coaster she'd just been on, she needed ice cream.
"Take her back to her car, Maddox. I want you to head to Mystic Falls to be on hand for when their plans come to a head. Also, I want to infiltrate the group, so find someone who'd I'd be able to possess to get close." The warlock nodded before grabbing Isobel's elbow to lead her out of the room.
"Greta, we need to get everything prepared for the ritual. But look through the grimoires again, this time looking for anything that might save someone from death. I don't care if a thousand other people have to die, find me answers." She nodded, even though she could care less if the bitch was saved or not.
But Klaus would surely kill her if she so much as complained, so she just had to grit her teeth and hope there wasn't any such spell. Even though she was pretty sure she already knew of a linking spell that could work. Damn it.
/*/
Sophia! Oh my god, where are you? I've been so worried about you! And I knew you were in some type of trouble! Are you sure you're alright? I had Stefan searching for you, but he couldn't find anything. I hope you're really okay and are not just saying that.
We all really miss you too. It's hard to believe that's it's almost been a year since you left. Life has definitely been more boring without you here! I have so much to tell you, stuff I can't say over the internet, so come home soon!
Stay safe and get back here as quickly as you can! We love you and miss you!
Love Elena
Sophia sighed before shutting the netbook, figuring she'd wait to reply for a little while. She was still so…twisted up inside about the entire ritual thing that she feared she'd reveal too much in the email.
Certainly, she didn't want to make Klaus wait any longer to break the curse, but she also didn't want to die. I mean, who wants to die at 17? But, along with the reasons she'd given Klaus, the witch just couldn't deal with anymore waiting.
Before, it'd been all about having to wait until the moonstone was found. But now, it everything was in place and Sophia couldn't stand thinking about putting it off, even if it meant she had a better chance of surviving. Patience just wasn't her thing, and she'd go insane if she had to postpone the ritual for too long. It was better to just bite the bullet and hoped for the best.
Looking up when Klaus entered the room, Sophia gave a small smile as she set the computer down on the coffee table. The Original seated himself next to her on the couch, pulling her against him until her head rested comfortable against his chest, his heartbeat under her ear.
"Are you positive you wish to do the ritual so soon, sweetheart?" Klaus hated how shaky, how weak, his voice sounded, but he couldn't help it. After living centuries alone, he was reluctant to give up someone who actually seemed to care about him.
"Yes, Nik, I am. I can't wait for the witches to repower; I'd go crazy if I had to. I just want to get this over with." Sophia said, curling her arm around his stomach and bringing herself even closer, feeling content in his arms.
If anyone would have told her a few months ago that she'd find peace and solitude in the arms of a 1000+ year old vampire, she'd have told them to go check into the psych ward. But here she was, feeling safe and warm in and Original vampire's embrace, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
"I just…I hate not knowing if you'll survive since you refuse to keep the elixir for yourself." Klaus muttered, brushing a hand through her chestnut tresses.
"We'll be fine, I'm sure of it. You found a long lost mystical potion, so I'm sure you'll be able to pull something else out of thin air. I have complete faith in you." Sophia leaned up and kissed his chin, smiling when he titled his head down so he could capture her lips before she moved away.
Pulling away, Sophia bit her lip as she contemplated rather she wanted to do this or not. But, she'd done it on him, so it was only fair that he got to do it.
"Do…I was wondering if you wanted to do the memory spell on me." Sophia said quietly, her eyes never straying from his.
"You mean…so I go into your mind?" Klaus asked, sitting up straighter as he regarded the witch.
"Yeah, that's what I mean. It's just…I invaded your privacy without your consent and have relived all your experiences. I think it's only right, now that you know about Elena, that you get to know me as I know you." Heart thundering, Sophia felt her stomach churn as she waited for him to reply. She was afraid he'd reject her, not wanting to know her as more than a lover.
"If that's what you want me to do, then I will do it." Klaus replied.
"But do you want to do it?" Reading her like a book, Klaus pulled her back against him.
"Yes, I would like to do the spell." Sighing in relief, Sophia relaxed against him for a few minutes as her heart slowed to match the steady beat of his.
"Alright. Good. We'll need to go to the greenhouse again. But, ah, it won't be like last time. You might get a headache, but that should be all." Sophia mumbled, not wanting to bring up her stupidity induced coma. Klaus nodded, resting his cheek against her hair as he stroked a hand up and down her back.
"Let's hope not, as Maddox has gone off with Isobel and Greta is doing research. C'mon, better do it before it gets dark." Sighing in resignation, Sophia pulled away from him and stood from the couch, waiting for him to rise before grabbing his hand. Klaus's fingers curled around hers, sending little shocks up her hand and arm, as he lead her out of the room and towards the kitchen.
/*/
"Alright, step into the circle. We should probably sit for this, as I don't know how long it will take." Sophia said once it was safe for Klaus to enter the sacred circle. The vampire stepped over the candles and seated himself across from her, remaining silent so as not to interrupt her concentration.
Taking a deep breath, Sophia began chanting, placing his large hands on either side of her head. Her eyes darted up to lock onto his, trying to convey how much she was trusting him by laying herself bare. Klaus gave a little nod of understanding and Sophia closed her eyes again and continued to chant.
Klaus's breathe caught as the connection snapped into place, electricity flooding his system. If this was how it'd felt for Sophia, he was surprised the girl had been able to keep the link intact. He shuddered when images began flashing in his mind, taking him from the greenhouse and whisking him away to a large white house filled with laughter and love.
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