Chapter 13: The Originals
******Where We Left Off******
Buffy looked at the stranger. Elena said, "Buffy, this is Elijah, Klaus' brother. Elijah, this is Buffy. She's a vampire slayer."
"No, I'm the vampire slayer," Buffy clarified. "The first and the strongest." She moved to stand next to Elena and eyed the stranger warily.
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Elijah said solemnly. He was so serious, so very different from his brother.
"Why are you here?" Buffy asked, making no time for pleasantries.
"Klaus sent him," Elena offered.
"You aren't taking Elena," Buffy said flatly.
"I can assure you that no harm will come to her," Elijah said calmly. "It's better at times to appease my brother."
"I don't appease vampires. I don't care who he thinks he is or how afraid of him you are," Buffy said.
Her fierceness made Elijah smile. "I am not afraid of my brother. He'd never kill me or truly harm me. Not physically anyway," he added. No, Niklaus knew other ways to inflict harm on Elijah. Harm that was more damaging in the long run.
"Today's my birthday, Elijah. I don't want to deal with your brother. Not today. So many other things are wrong in my life. Give me today. Please," Elena said, a note of pleading in her voice.
"Why are you negotiating with him? You're not going anywhere," Buffy insisted. "Willow! Come up here!"
"Buffy, that's not necessary! Elijah would never hurt me," Elena said. She could never picture Elijah hurting anyone. She knew that he was deadly and that both Salvatore brothers feared him. She also knew he'd killed Rose's best friend, Trevor. However, she thought of him as a friend, and it wasn't in her nature to fear her friends. "He's my friend."
Elijah smiled fondly at her. She really was an extraordinary girl. "You are the only human who would ever say that about me," he said to her.
"Well, he's not mine," Buffy said firmly.
Willow appeared in the doorway with Alaric right behind her. "What's up?" she asked. Then she noticed the new guy. "Who's this?"
"That's Elijah," Alaric said warily.
Willow's expression brightened, and she stepped into the room. "Cool! Giles really wants to meet you," Willow said.
"Giles?" Elijah questioned.
"He's my Watcher. He's a big history nerd and can't wait to grill you with a million questions," Buffy said, relaxing slightly. The guy hadn't made any aggressive moves yet.
"This is Willow Rosenberg. She's a witch. Much stronger than Bonnie," Elena told Elijah. "Let me clarify. Much stronger than Bonnie even after Bonnie channeled the power of 100 witches."
Elijah's eyebrow rose at that announcement. Here was the real threat his brother alluded to. Witches had sealed their fate long ago. Idly, he wondered if this witch was strong enough to change their fate? "It's a pleasure to meet Elena's new friends," Elijah said. The girl seemed sweet, harmless even. However, she had easily defeated Klaus's witches and managed to kill some vampires. There was obviously more to her.
"Elijah here was telling us how it was better to appease his brother in the small matters. He thinks handing Elena over to Klaus is a small matter. I disagree," Buffy said sourly.
"I won't let her be harmed," Elijah said.
"Well, I won't let you take her, so we're going to have a problem," Buffy stated, crossing her arms.
Elijah didn't want to fight or challenge the witch, so he nodded. "Okay," he said easily. "Happy birthday, Elena." Then in a blink, he was gone.
"Wow! He wasn't what I expected at all!" Willow exclaimed.
"Yeah, he's pretty hot, huh?" Elena said with a grin. Then she frowned. "Oh, I forgot. You're not into guys."
"I don't have sex with them anymore, but it doesn't mean I can't appreciate a pretty one when I see them! And there's a lot in this town," Willow said, giving Alaric a wink.
When Alaric looked embarrassed, Elena giggled. "Look, Alaric's blushing!" she exclaimed, pointing.
Buffy glanced at Alaric and grinned. He really was adorably sexy. "Yes, the eye candy abounds," Buffy said as she gave him her own admiring glance.
Alaric tried to look stern and ignore the women's ogling. "Elena, you can't be so trusting," he scolded.
Buffy looked at her. "He's right. What were you thinking?" Buffy asked.
"It's not like I let him in. I turned around and he was there," Elena said.
"He's an Original and Klaus's brother. He even admitted that Klaus had sent him to collect you," Buffy said with a disapproving frown.
"He said he wasn't going to let Klaus hurt me," Elena defended.
"So you just want to go with him and see what Klaus wants with you? And hope that Elijah can keep Klaus from killing you if that's what he decides to do?" Buffy asked.
"Klaus would probably hurt his brother for standing in his way," Alaric said. "Do you really want to risk that?"
Elena sighed. "No, not really," she said in defeat.
"It's a good thing we decided to take you to our place because it's clear that there are too many vamps welcomed in this house," Buffy said. She went to check on Jeremy, shaking her head. If she hadn't shown up, she suspected that Elena would have meekly left with the man. Teenagers!
*****A Short Time Later*****
"I see you came back empty-handed," Klaus said with a frown. "Must I do everything myself?"
"Relax. I have it in hand," Elijah said. "She wasn't alone. The slayer was there and the witch."
"So?" Klaus scoffed.
"Nik, you know big brother doesn't like to be rude," Rebekah said smiling fondly at the brother in question. She put her arm around Elijah. He was always so solid, so polite and dependable.
Elijah returned her embrace. "I missed you, sister," he said affectionately. "I thought you were dead."
"Really? Klaus never told you what he did to us?" she asked in surprise.
"No," Elijah said flatly. He gave his brother a disgusted look.
"Now, that's all water under the bridge," Klaus said dismissively. "No sense in rehashing the past."
Rebekah rolled her eyes. She moved and sat down in a chair. "What happened?" Klaus asked.
"Today's Elena's eighteenth birthday," Elijah said simply and without apology. "I'll collect her tomorrow."
Klaus laughed. "Well, okay then," Klaus said, trusting his brother. "Has anyone heard from Kol and Finn?"
"No," Rebekah said. Elijah shook his head.
Klaus sighed. "We better find them. There's no telling what kind of trouble they're getting into," he said in resignation.
******Mystic Grill******
Kol snickered as he watched his brother Finn try to use the cell phone Klaus gave him. They were at the bar ordering drinks. Kol had managed to convince his brother to unbend enough to have some fun. He looked around the restaurant and noticed a really hot blonde talking to the bus boy. Girls in this millennium were so attractive! "Excuse me, brother! I'm going to go get lucky!" he said happily. He walked over to the hot blonde who was still talking to the help.
"Hey, gorgeous," Kol said, flashing Caroline a flirtatious smile.
She rolled her eyes and Matt snickered. He loved watching Caroline go off on a guy as long as it wasn't him. "Excuse me, but we were talking!" she said impatiently.
"Well, is there any reason why you can't talk to me?" Kol asked with a grin. He held out his hand. "I'm Kol."
When Caroline pointedly ignored the hand, Matt laughed, enjoying the guy's determination. "I'm Matt. That's Caroline. Good luck!" he said as he walked off, carrying his bus tub.
"Sweet Caroline," Kol said. He pulled a chair from the nearby table and sat at the end of her booth.
"Do I know you?" Caroline asked, looking at him closely. He didn't seem familiar.
"No, I'm new in town. How about you take a walk with me?" he asked.
Caroline's mouth fell open a bit at his daring. "Are you high? I don't take walks with guys I don't know!" she said.
He leaned closer, using compulsion and ordered, "Take a walk with me."
Caroline's eyes widened in surprise. "You're a vampire!" she exclaimed.
Kol frowned. The girl wasn't compelled. Was he that out of practice? Then the girl laughed, wounding his pride.
"Are you like a newbie? Who taught you how to compel?" she asked. "Don't you know how to recognize your own kind?"
"You're a vampire, too?" he asked in surprise. "But it's daytime."
"Ah, yes, it is. You are clearly the brains in your family. I bet your mom is real proud," she mocked, amused.
Kol had never met many vamps besides his family who could go outside in the daytime. Then he realized something else—she wasn't compelled. "Why were you not compelled?" he asked puzzled.
"Because vampires can't compel other vampires. Duh!" she said rolling her eyes. When he still frowned, she realized that he was still surprised that it hadn't worked. Then her eyes widened in realization. "Uh, you wouldn't happen to have a brother named Klaus, would you?"
Kol smiled. "Yes, I do," he replied. He turned and pointed at his brother Finn, who was watching them closely from the bar. "There's another brother. Finn. I'm the youngest and obviously best looking."
The restaurant door opened. "And here comes the rest of my family," Kol said waving.
Caroline swallowed nervously as Klaus and Elijah came into the restaurant with a strikingly beautiful blonde girl. She must be their sister. Five. Dread filled her as she realized there were five Originals. Klaus was bad enough. Now he had an entire family. She had to warn their friends.
"Kol, I see you're making new friends," Klaus said, smiling at Caroline. "Caroline, how are you today?"
"I'm fine," she said. "Your brother was introducing himself."
"Miss Forbes, this is our sister, Rebekah," Elijah introduced.
"Hello," Rebekah said, giving Caroline a shy smile. She had never gotten to spend much time around other women since she became a vampire.
"Hi," Caroline said.
"So, brother, Caroline here was laughing at me for trying to compel her. She says vampires can't compel other vampires," Kol shared with a smirk.
"We can," Klaus said.
"I said that when I didn't know who he was," Caroline said quickly.
"It's okay, love. We laugh at Kol all the time," Klaus said, smiling at his brother. "May we join you?"
Knowing she couldn't refuse, Caroline moved over. Rebekah sat next to her while Klaus sat across from her with Elijah next to him. Matt came up to the table. Caroline tried to warn him to stay away, but he was oblivious to her slight head shake. "Hey, what can I get you?" Matt asked, smiling at the newcomers. Then he realized the guys across from Caroline looked familiar.
"We're fine," Caroline said quickly, trying to ward him off.
"Now, Caroline, I could use a drink," Klaus said with an easy smile. "Elijah?"
Matt's eyes widened as he realized who was sitting with Caroline. "No, thank you. I'm fine," Elijah said easily.
"A scotch on the rocks," Klaus said. He knew the human's heart was racing and smiled in amusement.
Matt beat a hasty retreat and got out his phone as he raced to the kitchen.
"So where were we?" Klaus asked. "Oh, yes, you were about to explain how you were immune to Kol's compulsion."
"The twit probably did it wrong," Rebekah said with amusement.
"Maybe," Klaus said. He leaned forward and looked into Caroline's beautiful blue eyes. She was so lovely. "Kiss me."
When her eyes widened in panic and indecision, he frowned. She wasn't compelled. Klaus wasn't used to his orders not being instantly obeyed.
Kol snickered. "No compulsion is strong enough to overcome the horror of that command!" he joked.
"Well, Katherine told the Salvatores that she started sipping vervain. And then some werewolves..uh..tortured me using it, and when we learned that you can compel vampires, we started drinking it," Caroline confessed.
"Stefan mentioned it," Klaus said. "But he didn't tell me about werewolves. Shall I kill them for you, love?"
"No, let me!" Kol offered. "Where can I find them?"
"I can make them hybrids and make them your willing slaves," Klaus offered with a twinkle in his eye.
"I'm over it!" Caroline insisted. "Besides, Elijah sent his witch to help the Salvatores rescue me."
"Finally, a witch good for something," Kol said.
"Big brother to the rescue," Rebekah said fondly.
Elijah shrugged. "I made a deal with Elena to protect her friends."
"And you always keep your word," Klaus observed. That was one thing he could always count on when it came to his brother.
Caroline was taken off guard by how normal they all were acting, even friendly. It felt unreal.
"So Elijah had a little chat with your friend Elena. She said it was her birthday. I figured a girl like you would be helping plan the party," Klaus said easily.
"Oh, I already did!" Caroline replied without thinking. "I had to move it to Tyler's 'cause Stefan and Elena broke up." Then she put her hand over her mouth. Why did she tell them that? They didn't have to use compulsion when she was so stupid!
"Party? I love parties!" Kol said eagerly. "Can we come? We'll be good!"
"Uh, I don't think killing the birthday girl would be evidence of good behavior," Caroline said sarcastically.
"Oh, we may not have to kill her," Kol said easily. "Just take some of her blood."
"Kol!" Rebekah admonished in warning.
"What? She's a vampire. Surely, we have her loyalty," Kol said arrogantly.
"Ah, brother, things have most definitely changed," Klaus said. "Today's modern vamps don't feel any allegiance at all to their elders. They still feel loyalty to their human friends and family." He gave Caroline a frown of disapproval. No one knew their place anymore—it was most irksome.
Kol frowned. Never had a vampire went against his brother. Nor did his brother ever tolerate any type of defiance. "But we're the founding family. They wouldn't exist without us," Kol said.
Caroline couldn't contain her giggle. "You sound like Mayor Lockwood!" she said. The perplexed look on his face was priceless.
Klaus smiled at her, enchanted. "Caroline, isn't like most vamps, however. In fact, just this morning, I saw her challenge a vampire slayer most fiercely," he said, giving her an admiring glance.
Caroline flushed as he smiled at her. "So don't take this the wrong way when I say, you can't come, Klaus. The slayers would be very upset with me. Not to mention, Elena. You murdered her aunt Jenna, remember?" Caroline said with a pointed glare.
"I haven't murdered any of your friends or their relatives," Kol said. "Can I come if I promise not to kill anyone?"
Despite her resolve, Caroline found the persistence of the youngest Original charming. "Well, Elena won't care if Elijah comes. He can bring you as his date," Caroline said grinning. "If you guys will excuse me, I have more details to plan."
"Is it tonight?" Kol asked.
"No, it's tomorrow. Today's a Thursday. No one has parties on a Thursday," she said as if explaining things to a child.
Rebekah got to her feet. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Caroline," she said.
Caroline gave her a small smile as she scooted out of the booth. It wasn't her nature to be rude to strangers even if they were related to a homicidal maniac.
Buffy and Faith came barging into the restaurant. Matt had called Dawn and warned them about the sudden arrival of Klaus and Elijah and some new people.
"What? A party and no one invited me?" Buffy said, eying the newcomers warily.
As they had been trained to do, the three brothers got to their feet at the arrival of the women. Finn moved in behind the two girls while Rebekah took a step to the left, surrounding the two slayers.
"B, why do I suddenly feel like I'm missing something?" Faith asked as she turned her head and saw another man behind them. They were surrounded in a public place with no weapons. This would not end well.
******TO Be Continued*******
I hope you enjoyed this chapter because I enjoyed writing it. We have only gotten glimpses of Kol, but this is kind of the way I picture him being. After I wrote this chapter we got more of Kol on last week's VD episode. I think I'm still pretty close with my portrayal though. This is how I picture Rebekah acting if she had met Caroline on a clean slate.